but anyways...

Most boring post evarr

2008-08-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

I know I've been away, and this post will not be any more interesting than the complete lack of content that has been befallen the blog since April or whenever. Such is life.

Babies coming up:
Choir director's preemie girl -- here! (Saartje's Bootees and maybe the ribbed cardi or the Sweet Baby Cap in matching sock yarn?)
Cousin's girl -- October (can I make something for Wally too? In CA, must be lightweight -- maybe the bunny hat?)
Friend's girl -- October (also in CA - something monkey themed)
Coworker's adopted 1-year-old boy -- um... October?

Projects needing photos taken:
Ribbed baby cardigan
Wee doily
Mystery Stole (oy)
Vest yarn
Bunny hat

Scrolldown Fug

2008-04-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Oy. Where to begin?

So after a layoff of over a year, I finally finished my Noro sweater, made of Silk Garden, for my mom. It had rather strange construction, so I sent it out for finishing by someone who had been recommended to me, and... well...

Here's the model.

Here's the diagram of the construction.

Here's my mom. Please ignore the mid-remodeling wallpaper :P

The top is absolutely PERFECT in fit -- she loves it, and she can comfortably move her arms all around without bunching or riding up -- which is a miracle, considering that neither I nor the finisher put it together using her or her measurements (whatever they were). Don't try this at home, kids. Still, these particular fit problems weren't really due to not modeling it on her; this was the least fitted part of the sweater's "tailoring." The collar could be folded down, but she actually kind of liked it standing up.

We just needed the bottom part to lay equally well... yeah, not so much.

Hey, nice bellybutton!

As you can see, the fit is so nice on the back. When it comes to the cardigan fronts, though, it just puffs out and folds under.

In these pictures, she's pulling it a little to try to flatten it out. The finishing lady sent me an e-mail mentioning that it might need to be blocked more, but I still don't think that'll fix it enough.

So the way I see it, I have a few options.

1) Ungraft the vertical back seam, pull off the button band on the bottom, and see if widening the vertical area a little and making a longer button band loosens it up. The button band is 230 rows long; the directions said to stretch it before sewing it on, and the cardigan edge was 250 rows long. Still, I gave it to the finisher live, with the instruction that she could make it longer if necessary. I guess she didn't think so.

2) Picking out live stitches upside down and turning both the back and front into straight, more standard-looking cardigan backs and fronts.

Any other suggestions or thoughts? Merciful heavens, but this depressed me.

Bits and pieces

2008-04-09T06:26:00.001-07:00

First, big ups to Arcadia Knitting, 1613 Lawrence Ave. in Chicago. I'd been there before, as it's near my brother's apartment, but I found myself hanging out there for longer than anticipated when, after stopping there for 10 minutes last Sunday, I found that my car did not want to start. My brother and I hung out for over an hour while waiting for AAA, and they couldn't have been nicer. They even speak Spanish and have Spanish magazines next to their couch. Two thumbs up for them.

I picked up a couple skeins of that Kaffe Fassett sock yarn in bright blues and greens (ya think?) for the Mexicali baby Ole cardigan I've wanted to make. I hope that'll be enough.

The cardigan for my mom is coming along very well. I think it's partially out of seething fury for my ex-boyfriend, who brought it up as an example of things I don't finish. Well, a) it's not your business, and b) that unpainted office, Goodwill decor, non-running car and invisible wine rack of yours say you might want to back off, buddy. I think I'll send him a picture of my mom modeling the finished project with a caption saying SUCK IT.

Bitter much? Naw.

The second sleeve is finished and I'm on to the first button band. Oh, how I love k1p1 ribbing. OH WAIT, NO. I pulled out a couple dpns because they were the closest size 5s lying around (it's only 16 stitches wide), and I remember yet again why I don't use straights. I'll see if I can find a size 5 16" when I get home.

Anyways, I have this first button band, then a matching one with buttonholes (both about... hmmm... a yard long), then the collar in k2p2, and that'll be it. I went on a fruitless button search at the Sow's Ear last weekend, but when I stopped to ask my mom if she had any preferences, she recycled a set of bronze ones from a sweater she'd planned to get rid of, and they work beautifully. Yay!

I plan to send it out for finishing because it's got a weird configuration. Not only does the front loop around to become the back, the back armhole area is 15 rows shorter than the front. I looked and looked at the pattern, checked for errata online and brought it to my executive consultant, but we both agreed that I was spot-on in construction despite this weird design. I am told, however, that the suggested finishing lady is a whiz with seaming, so I have high hopes that she will be able to figure it out.

Of course, completion depends upon the extra three balls of Silk Garden #203 arriving this week. I don't understand how I can knit tight enough to require extra, yet have to go down two needle sizes for gauge.

Will update with pics when I have at least one button band done.

Unfreezing...

2008-03-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ugh, has it really been four months? (As a side note, I'd like to give half a mo' to Andy of The Hunan Scooter, who shares my love of beginning posts after long layoffs with the old Jim Anchower "Hola amigos... been a long time since I rapped at ya." Early '90s Onion ftw.)

Best laid plans gang aft agley and all that. During my attempt to get some more pictorial life into this here entry, I was somewhat horrified to realize that my photo card reader seemed to be covered in something resembling dried marmalade. How did that happen???

But anyways. Where were we?

My Violets by the River shawl was going just swimmingly until approximately December 8. When my gentleman friend and I took a trip up to visit his family for Christmas stuffs, I worked feverishly during both the long car ride and the inevitable sitting around and schmoozing. I got so much done! Oh, how wonderful to only have six rows left on the twenty-row repeat of 400+ stitches. Oh, it'll totally be done by Christmas at this rate, or at least Mom's birthday on January 2!

OH CRAP I DID THE LAST TWO REPEATS BACKWARDS. ^&^%$#%$@!

She received a lovely Swedish calendar for Christmas, and it remains in hibernation. I believe I still need to do a little more surgery before forging ahead once more.

I did manage to finish the Koolhaas hat. My brother loves it and says it looks like the hippest qofi ever. (Pity he isn't Muslim.)

My Merging Colors scarf seems to be on needles that are too short. It is a pain in the rear to knit with its multiple ends getting in the way. Le sigh.

I started the Frosted Ferns doily in January, and it was going very well. I picked up some nice steel dpns and found that they worked WAY better than the stumpy birches I had lying around, so that rocked.

And then I broke up with the aforementioned gentleman friend, whose mother was the intended recipient, with about 10% completed.

Still, I think I'll eventually get back to it. (And me 'n' the boy have gotten back to friendly terms, so that's good.) I do like lace, especially the ridiculously tiny kind, and I have a mounting/framing plan that I think will make it look awesome. I hope to finish it and keep it for myself, so yay.

In the wake of the breakup, I went back to my mom's Noro cardigan, both for the speed of the knitting and the nice meditative stockinette. I'm almost done with the first sleeve, having ripped it out from last time, but it's getting to be boring as hell. Maybe I'll work on Violets a little before starting the second sleeve.

The aforementioned ex-gentleman friend mentioned, in a wonderfully honest conversation after the breakup, that it drove him crazy to see how I didn't finish stuff. Well, a) it's not his freakin' business, hmph! and b) he's probably right. I didn't have a real deadline on my mom's cardigan, but she did remind me that she would have liked to wear it when it's actually a little nippy out. (Last year. Oops.) I will stick with it. Really. And the Violets shawl really should be a Mother's Day present. She doesn't know it's coming.

Thrills and chills, as always... over and out.

Time for hats!

2007-11-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Ugh, was Monday grody out. Here I was, wearing just a fleece, and a cold, rainy hail started up just in time for my afternoon tromp around campus. To add insult to injury, my hat supply is nil. I have one manly striped chullo hat that everybody loves and asks me if I knit... sadly, it came from Target.

Shedir was kind of languishing, and you know what? It looked like crap. I don't know if it was the yarn (Cascade 220 -- I seriously think this skein is cursed; this is either the second or third hat it Does Not Want To Be) or the fact that I lost my place or the fact that blocking had better work miracles on that thing, because I had no definition. It just looked poopy, and I didn't feel like doing all those teeny little cables.

So last night I pulled up my Ravelry queue (oh, the joy!) and checked to see if I had a reasonably simple non-colorwork hat I could whip up in under a week. Turns out I did: the Parrotfish Topper, based on Cookie A's near-ubiquitous Pomatomus sock pattern. I have some leftover superwash fingering weight stuff in maroon, so it's perfect. Right now I'm done with the 10 rows for the cuff, and it just looks so cute and crisp with those snappy little ktbl ribs! Unfortunately, i worry that I have made a mistake in sizing, as I have a head that is, to quote Mike Myers, "like Sputnik," so we shall see whether a pretty pretty hat ends up on the head of me or someone smaller :P

The lovely and excellent Froggy helped me prioritize: hat for me, then baby presents for two important early-December babies, then Koolhaas.

As for Violets... well, I finished the center section, but then there's this weird stitch pickup thing that I don't really get because Hazel Carter was trying to be helpful but it just confused me. I think I might have it, but it doesn't matter -- I'm fighting with my mom again, and we all know I only work on it when I'm not mad. Grrr, grrrr! I'm sure I'll get to it next week or something, though; I just like a little cool-off period, and then life goes on.

Hello, hello!

2007-10-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have taken to the very grad school pursuit of eating lunch in a locally owned coffee shop near campus. The WiFi is slightly spotty, but I make do. I have yet to find the perfect equilibrium of Awesome Chairs combined with Accessible Plug For Charger (I need at least an hour and a half for my plugless afternoon lecture), but I am here nonetheless. Perhaps me 'n' the blog will see a little more of each other.

This weekend was a good one for knitting. I did a little Violets here and there, but the main progress made involved deciding how big I actually wanted to make it. I think my mom likes slightly small shawls, while I tend toward giant blankets you can wrap yourself in :P Given that Violets has a wide band of edging around the sides, it's not very easy for me to envision how big the finished project will be. Still, between matching it up to a larger sample over at Sow's Ear and having a little discussion with TChemGrrl, I decided to go with 24 eyelet stamps across the top (you enlarge the pattern in increments of three, and the smallest size has 18). I just finished the 21-eyelet iteration, so it's 24 more long rows (8 rows per iteration) to go of the very simple eyelet pattern. Still, though, I always get motivated when I have the end in sight, so I'm very excited to be moving on.

Violets will be my mom's Christmas present. In terms of other holiday planning, my cousin's wife Khrisla found me on Facebook a few weeks back. She has an Etsy shop, and she has been promoting a campaign to buy handmade this holiday season. Given that I am a poor grad student with an overabundance of yarn lying around, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and either make stuff (for my immediate family) or buy stuff from artisans. I have a lot of friends who make stuff, and I LOVE the hunt for just the right unique little presents, so I think this will be very fun.

****DEAR THELMA IF YOU EVER READ MY KNITTING BLOG DO NOT READ PAST THIS PART PLZ KTHX****

In terms of other stuff, I've decided to make Koolhaas for my brother. I love the hat and wanted to make it for someone, especially myself, but I think it will be great for my brother. He has that sort of style (in addition to a shavey head), and he loves the Team Zissou hat that I made him a few years ago. Now, of course I did not end up getting the yarn out of my stash (cheeky stash-plumper...) but I did pick up a wonderful skein of Dream In Color superwash worsted in a semi-solid color called Gothic Rose. (I'd link to the site, but their version is so washed out that it looks pink. It's more like a nice winey color; my gentleman friend pronounced it Fit For A Boy Hat). I think it'll work really well. The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is that a 16-inch unstretched hat seems a bit small for a person with a ginormous melon like myself and, I imagine, my brother. (Okay, more like an orange on a toothpick...)

The Team Zissou hat was made out of plain old Lion Wool. Knowing him, his likely method of cleaning is simply to never wash it, ever, but as he is Lead Fish Guy at a large Whole Foods, I imagine that washing would be nice sometime.

As for my dad... well, that vest is no closer to any stage of starting or completion, but who knows. Sow's Ear has just startd carrying Lamb's Pride Superwash, though, and I love how they're heathered. Somehow the Cascade 220 Superwash colors I see are always so bright and almost primary; I like a little more depth. So his stuff is still out to lunch. Oy.

I'll work on what I have, though, and I am hopeful that the recipients will like them.

Random note for later: I LOVE the Refined Aran from the new IK (not out yet).

giggle

2007-10-21T08:08:00.001-07:00

I love how, in looking over my past blog posts, a good half of the titles have something to do with the fact that I'm either apologizing for my blog absence or simply acknowledging that I am still alive. (I think the rest are complaining about something. Way to be, Mads.)

It is a lazy, lovely Sunday morning, and the sun is out after a dreadfully grody week full of almost-rain and too much wind. Lots of TV knitting took place huddled on my couch :P Yesterday, however, was a perfect fall day. I spent the afternoon out and about, but I think I knit about two rows on Violets by the River while waiting for my bf to finish something on the computer. I THINK I've completed all I need to do for the center section; I'm supposed to end up with 18 little lacy stamps across. Of course, I am not sure if this is big enough -- I like things slightly larger, and I seriously have no concept of gauge. Swatching does jack squat for me and I typically end up way smaller than I should be.

So who knows. I'll stretch it out on my circ (I think it's 29") and maybe pin it out a little. Who knows how big the border will be, either.

I think I should probably do at least two more :P

As for Shedir, it continues apace with one notable change. I switched yarns to a skein of brilliantly teal Cascade 220 I've had lying around since late 2004. It's been frogged a couple times, I think :P The reason was slightly goofy. The Ultra Alpaca was indeed nice, but I realized that it's my mom's favorite color (she likes light, dusky, slate-y greens) and I should probably save it for something for her, since I didn't particularly care what color something was for me. The teal is pretty decent but I'm beginning to wonder if the cables will stand out enoguh with such a deep color. Still, it seems to be okay. I'm a couple rows into the first pattern repeat.

Got the 2007 IK Holiday Gifts issue, and all I can say is WHOA, what a winner! So many great projects, and they're all new. I have to say that I did a bit of public whining with last year's issue, seeing as so many of the projects had been recycled from other IK issues and books. Now, I don't own too many of the books, but I had most of those magazines, so I was a bit perturbed at the lack of new content.

No problem this year! There's a great variety, some of which may tempt me into making some things I normally wouldn't. I LOVE the Koolhaas hat (in fact, I wanted to make that instead of Shedir, but whatevs), and there are a couple pairs of socks that might actually tempt me to pick up the ol' dpns again. That's saying something.

Finally, Ravelry continues to enthrall me. I am always finding new ideas, new tidbits of info, and new (old) friends. What an awesome resource.

It's a small world after all...

2007-10-15T06:25:00.001-07:00

No need to thank me for getting that song in your head now. Here's a fix: "Yellow Submarine."

So I was bumming around on the internet the other day and looking for some new knitting blogs to read. There are a couple ways I can do that; one of them is looking at the sidebars of other blogs I currently read. Anyways, I was reading Jessimuhka Knits because I know the aforementioned Jessimuhka from a LiveJournal community we both frequent. So I was looking at her blogroll, and I see that she is friends with someone whose name looks a little familiar. Long story short, it happens to be my cousin P.'s wife, C., and she and Jessimuhka hang out in a knitting group together. In San Diego. (I haven't seen either C. or P. since my grandma's birthday in 2004, and I've heard news from them only slightly more frequently.)

So. I log on to Ravelry and see that C. is on there too, so I send her a message. She is surprised but happy to hear from me. She says she won't have much time to knit for a while, though, as she and P. are expecting a baby girl. Next week.

Huh.

So that makes [counts on fingers...] four baby sweaters I need by next Monday.

****
I ripped out my Sidewinders on my third attempt because the increases looked so incredibly awful. The instructions said to use a bar increase, whereas I always just increase with a kfb or pfb for everything, but the bar increase left giant holes. I wouldn't have minded quite so much (hey, at least they look vaguely intentional if they're symmetrical) except that the decreases on the other side of the toe REALLY made it look wonky. Back to the ballwinder it went.

(The intended recipient ended up having her surgery and doing just fine, so that's good news.)

I knit furiously on Violets by the River while sitting through two quarters of putrid football at a sports bar last Saturday when I should have been studying for a midterm. (I think the ferocity came from the need to escape brain freeze. I'd like to take this opportunity to mention that I also successfully broke up my Sunday study session by mentioning my plan to use yarn in the corn maze next week.) Just a couple more quick iterations of the main motif across the top and I'll switch the the Feather and Fan along the edges. I'll have to pin it out a bit first, though, to see if it merits a slightly larger adaptation.

Started in on Shedir for myself in a dusky green Berroco Ultra Alpaca because I need a winter hat and, well, I felt like knitting last night but was too lazy to go out to get Violets out of the car :P

My laziness knows no bounds.

Everything's gone mad!

2007-10-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

No knitting in, like, forever. That's what grad school will do to you. The nerve!

After a break of a month or so, I picked up my Violets By The River shawl the other day and did a couple more iterations of the (very simple) pattern. I'm probably about halfway through the main body of the shawl, though the edging is pretty substantial. I'm taking notes for someone in a colloquium I'm doing, so what would otherwise be prime knitting time isn't happening then (though it's no bother). I'm still trying to find my comfort zone, figuring out places to hang out between classes and the like, and when to check e-mail and when to read and when to do all that good stuff, so it's been a while.

Happily, I've loaded up my TiVO with some good stuff, so I'll at least have some quality fodder for watching TV while knitting. In addition, it turns out that a couple of my new friends from class are knitters too, so I'll probably get together with them every so often and have something other to talk about than just "OMG, what's the difference between inter-item and item-total validity?"

Yep, it's just that fun.

BUT!

I know this is a cop-out since, hey, I actually have it and am not using it, but still. I BOUGHT A NEW CAMERA. It is very tiny indeed, and my camera geek friends are mildly jealous of it but helped me make a great choice. It's a Canon PowerShot SD850. This blog will not be quite as boring anymore. Really!

Of course, I have nothing but half-finished FOs to show. There are a couple of car trips coming up, though, so I will hopefully get some good time in on those.

In other news, I took a trip to the WI Sheep and Wool Festival. It was awesome, and I bought some patterns and a wonderful Merging Colors mitered scarf kit in the Cape Cod colorway (yeah, big surprise -- blue and green again), as well as some blue and green (OKAY OKAY I have a problem) soysilk for TChemGrrl to spin for me. Yay! Of course, now I can't FIND my patterns, but as I live in a very small apartment, I'm sure they'll turn up. One, in particular, should be just gorgeous; it's a long stole with a simple pattern in the middle and nice ends. It could be very luxurious indeed. I want 1200 yards of some sort of silk or sheeny something-something in a fingering weight with tone on tone coloring; I'm thinking something nice and deep and jewel-y. I was thinking of the American Beauty colorway of Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple (you can't see, but it has some more wine-y and ruby tones mixed in), but
HELLO, that's like 80 bucks, and right now my loyalty card money is over at the Sow's Ear, not Lakeside (where they carry TT). Still, if Sow's Ear gets a new shipment of Handmaiden Sea Silk (I was thinking of Midnight), I might just be forced to go with that. Boy, wouldn't that be tough?

Finally, I would just like to say that I have purchased non-blue and green yarn recently, so there. I got some Malabrigo Laceweight in some kind of magenta-with-a-little-green colorway, which I'm planning to use for the Flared Lace Smoke Ring... someday.

No, really, I'll totally get to it. After the three baby sweaters in my queue...

Good gracious.

2007-08-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you get into The Zone and then, just as suddenly... you're not?

It's definitely been like that here at Chez Mads. When i get in stressful/heavily scheduled times, or when I'm really churning away at something, things are much better. Recently, though, I've hit some stupid mental snags that have left me sitting at home thinking, "Geez, shouldn't I be knitting SOMETHING tonight???"

Mystery Stole

The Mystery Stole was going really well. I was pretty much on pace with the new clues, so that was exciting and kept me motivated to keep plugging away at every spare moment. Hell, my bus ride is usually only 7 minutes long, and I was bringing the stole along so I could get in two good rows during that short time. Plus I had some choir rehearsals, and the knitting was perfect for breaks -- get some stuff done, get people oohing and ahhing over it ("Oh... it's nothing..."), have an activity that keeps you from getting super chatty and tiring your voice out (this was especially important with a group where we rehearsed for 10 hours over one weekend... owww...).

Then Clue 5 came up. For those of you who haven't followed the Mystery Stole, it was a lovely lacy thing which at that point had had a sort of "cat's paw" pattern for a good hundred rows or something. Very abruptly, we were to switch over from a standard rectangular stole to... a wing. It's not as weird as it sounds; in fact, once the designer had shown off a schematic, I thought that it would work out great.

Unfortunately, I'm using Lacey Lamb, aka World's Most Teensiest Yarn Evarr. Therefore, I need to add a repeat of the cat's paw section, which means 100 more rows of what is basically a three-row repeat. Pretty easy, but more importantly it will take me off the pace. that has been a HUGE motivating factor for me. Needless to say, I have now given it a breather.

Adding to that is the fact that so many people like the wing idea that the designer is now coming up with a two-wing pattern. So, as stated above, I was ready to do the asymmetrical stole as written, but the idea of the double winged stole appeals to me a lot, so I haven't yet decided whether I will go back on my plan and do the symmetrical Mystery Stole thing followed by the symmetrical wings.

Le sigh.

Mermaid's Hair

I finally just bit the bullet and bought a new copy of the pattern at Sow's Ear. of course, three days after that, my mom found the old copy while cleaning out her house. Of course.

I've been trying to pound out some more of that, but the allover samness of the pattern (and the comparative roughness of the wool -- at least compared to Lacey Lamb et. al.) isn't really reeling me in. But... again, plugging away.

Sidewinders

My friend's mom is going in for a little surgery that may or may not turn out to be rather traumatic. I've been itching to try the Sidewinder pattern, so I thought I'd knit her some socks. No idea what colors she likes -- she's a bit conservative in her dress -- but I mused for a while and came up with a gorgeous semi-solid blue and purple skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

This mom is a knitter as well, and while I was hanging out with her and her offspring last weekend, we stopped by my favorite yarn store in her neck of the woods. She was oohing and ahhing over everything, and as we meandered back towards the sock yarn I asked her, very casually, what colors she liked. "Oh, I like, all sorts... gold, blue, pink, you name it," she said. I was feeling pretty good about my selection until she finished by noting that "the only color I really DON'T care for is purple. I don't know why; I just can't stand any sort of purple."

Drat.

Better buy more sock yarn!

At any rate, I picked up a lovely soft green trekking with hints of pink here and there (Leems, I think you've used this in a baby sweater before...?). I'm about 14 rows into the Sidewinder, and I'm very interested to see how it turns out. It's pretty good so far.

The mom is going in for her surgery tomorrow, and god knows I have no idea when the socks will be done. We share a shoe size...

At any rate, please think good thoughts for her. (Okay, and for the success of my knitting, too, whether or not it makes it up to her eventually :P)

Other projects

DUDE I AM NOT ALLOWED TO START ANYTHING ELSE OKAY???

Teardrop Scarf from the most recent Knitscene was earmarked for a leftover skein of red Lacey Lamb, but I ended up giving that to TChemGrrl for our exciting Infernal Design project (designing knitting inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy and other medieval literature). Lemur had clued me in that Borealis was selling some great yarn with great yardage, and I was so tickled when I saw it -- Jojoland Harmony, with yardage comparable to Lacey Lamb but with soft, GORGEOUS Noroesque color changes. LOVE IT.

I was doing really well on the whole "yarn diet, no new laceweight, no new blue/green yarn" thing. Until the last two weekends :P

Side note for locals or those passing through:

Sow's Ear, under new management, has made some really exciting changes. They've added food from the Willy st. Co-op (y0m), expanded the store through the back wall -- a small change, given that they had the back room, but what flow! -- and OH MY LORD, the have Fleece Artist/Handmaiden. Ohhhhhhh. Thank heavens the Sea Silk skeins only have 440 yards, or I would be very poor indeed. My pal Froggy and I basically stood there for a good 15 minutes straight just so we could hold it and stroke it and love it while chatting. Also of note: Claudia Handpainted, especially in softer shades and some gorgeous tone-on-tone colorways. Heavens, how lovely!

I had no clue!

2007-07-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

(First off, hello to any Ravelry-ites out there!)

I was vaguely aware of the existence of this so-called Sidewinder sock, but given that I am not currently a Sock Person (hate wearing them, hate tiny DPN-ness and stopping to slide my stitches around on dpns or long circs) I must have dismissed it as just another sock pattern I'd avoid.

Well, today I happened to catch a picture of it on V's blog, and WOW! How cool is that? Looks like magic! Screw the fact that it requires grafting up the whole front -- I LIKE grafting. (Makes me feel smart, yo.) And now I can go out and actually use all of those awesome colors of Koigu and Gems and Trekking and Cherry Tree Hill and Mountain Colors and and and...

Okay, back up. Not allowed to start anything new until I finish something else.

My current Something Else, of course, is the Mystery Stole. It's smaller than expected, given the use of Lacey Lamb (teeniest yarn evarr), but I think that if I add a repeat or two of section 4 or whatever the repeatable section is, it'll still be nice and long and lovely.

It's purple, you know, the result of a little trip to Arcadia Knitting courtesy my pal Brian while I was in Chicago a couple weeks ago. A nice deep eggplant color. NOT BLUE. NOT GREEN. See? I told you I could stop whenever I liked.

The only thing about the Mystery Stole is that I have this feverish need to complete it by the time the next clue comes out, and I really need to be easier on myself. My summer is going pretty well, and I've had some great times in the evenings, doing stuff like playing timpani in the community summer band, an upcoming choir concert, going to a baseball game, etc. Knitting, especially knitting a wee little project with help from a two-sided chart, isn't always compatible with those things. There's been a fair amount of traveling, and I am usually in the passenger seat, so I've gotten a goodly amount done during those times. This weekend should lead to some more of that.

Also, the Mystery Stole has really brought to my attention how we don't always realize the wonderful things we're doing. I was accosted at the Sow's Ear last week by an older and obviously more experienced knitter who couldn't stop raving about the stole. It's really a beautiful pattern. I find, though, that I'm constantly being self-deprecating about it: "Oh, it's just following a chart." "Oh, yeah, the yarn and the needles are tiny, but it's really no different than using worsted; the stitches are the same." Well, judging by the amount of teeth-gnashing I do when I have to fix something (especially when I drop a damn stitch... LORD I could live without that...), it's not. Doing this is a great test of patience, and that's something that a lot of people can't do. Who knows; maybe I'm in that number.

Sometimes the "craft" makes you overlook the "art". That's a mistake.

Sup.

2007-06-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the middle of a heat wave, and I'm sitting in my office wearing a getting-kinda-ratty zip-up hooded sweatshirt. The office cardigan is no closer to being completed than it was two years ago. Such is life.

I was pretty much done with the increases in my first sleeve of my mom's Noro cardigan, but I suddenly got sick of the endless stockinette. Don't know whether it was the weather or the fact that somewhere along the line I added an extra stitch (or did I just forget one? The world may never know...). Seems like I could find any old excuse for not working on it. So I put it aside for now; she wouldn't be able to wear it for several more months anyway.

I don't know where my Mermaid's Hair pattern ran off to, but it ain't around. You'd think, too, that I'd have it figured out by now, but that is not the case. Why? Well, it seems to move at the pace of frozen molasses.

Meanwhile, my lace jones and my need for something to keep my brain occupied finally led me to start Hazel Carter's Violets by the River shawl. Its simple four-row repeat may drive me nuts like Kiri, but there are clearly defined points of progress that will make me happy. Plus it's a great opportunity to break out the Misti Alpaca laceweight. I've never used alpaca before; I thought, "Eh, I'm sure it's pretty nice." OOOOOH, it's so soft. I want to touch it and touch it and touch it. For 6 bucks a skein, it's a darn good price, too.

In addition, this Friday marks the beginning of Mystery Stole 3. I'll be out of town pretty much all through the weekend and next week, so I should have some good knitting time if I choose to take it. (Hey, I'm not driving!) I tried the first one several years ago and failed miserably, but this time around I have a lot more experience, both with lace and knitting in general. I had a lot of trouble reading the charts and just generally getting flustered, so this should be more fun.

Of course, I do like to match the project to a good yarn, and it's so hard to figure out what to use when I don't know what it'll look like! My laceweight options include a deep teal, a bright red and a very soft mint green. I just don't know. Maybe I should grab something else...

Yarn diet be damned.

Note to self:

2007-06-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Baby sweater that was so cute at Susan's Fiber Shop the other day? (Thank you, new car!) Most likely Mexicali Baby Ole from Knitter's 71. Sock yarn. Cuteness. Do it.

Hey, a meme's better than nothing, eh?

2007-06-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, normal for stuff that sounds intriguing but isn't really a priority, and strikethrough for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up (I started one once. The toe construction was the only part of the sock I liked.)
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater (adult, pullover)
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan Doing it right now.
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn (it's in my bag and ready to be knit!)
Slippers
~~Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)~~
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book (you never know...)
Scarf
American/English knitting
Continental knitting (I try... and my gentleman friend's aunt once admonished me to pick, not throw.)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca (My hands are still tingling!)
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
~~Jewelry~~
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
~~Freeform knitting~~
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories (I think I owe someone a panta...)
Knitting in public

Oh, my heavens.

2007-05-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Craziness, I know, to see me post two days in a row. But it MUST be shared.

My coworker has just informed me that apparently a lady she knows over at the Foundation (the arm of the university that manages our patents and donations and all of the money and crap) is, as her husband describes her, an "alpaca pimp." She farms out the "services" of her prize-winning alpaca Sebastian, and together they will be driving around across our great land this summer, as this woman brings him along in what she calls Sebastian's Love Wagon.

Hilarity ensued while discussing the situation with my pal.

drtvini:
hahahahaaa!
bamp chicka wow wow

Madam:
he is, apparently, also a Therapy Alpaca.
I have GOT to meet this guy.

drtvini:
well, he'll need therapy after tha... oh, wait, the opposite.

Madam:
Oh, I'll bet he enjoys it QUITE a bit.

drtvini:
The tricky part is getting him to cuddle afterward.

Madam:
*giggle*
he probably just wants to lick.

drtvini:
Hee!

It was at that point that I found pictures... and lo, my afternoon was shot.

http://www.alpacanation.com/herdsires/03_viewherdsire.asp?name=16412

http://www.saukcreekalpacas.com/

I may have to really work on my spinning.

I've got problems... whoa-oa-oa...

2007-05-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

First things first: I'm on Ravelry, as Madam. (Friend me!) I'm really excited about it and have begun to update it a bit. I LOVE making lists, and given my stash quirks (discussed in detail below) it would be so fricking helpful indeed for me to keep my stuff inventoried properly. Of course, this would be another great reason to get a camera and be better about taking pictures. I have to remember that digital cameras really help the quality of finished photos because, hey, you only have to keep the non-crappy ones :) So I will hop to it!

Went on a lovely trip up north this past weekend, which brought several of my little issues to light.

I ripped out about two inches of the Noro sweater's first sleeve a couple weeks ago when my lack of a physical row counter got into a fight with my constant near-narcolepsy. Falling asleep when you can't remember how many rows you have until the next increase? Even if there are less than five to go? Baaaad news. So I ripped back to try and figure out where the last increase was... and I couldn't see it very well... and it was crap. Le sigh. This section has at least 100 rows of ever-increasing length anyways, so it's just no fun. I did a bit in the car on the way up, but nothing when I was actually there or on the way back down.

While in the Twin Cities area I stopped by to visit with the lovely Lemur and make our usual trek to Borealis Yarns. This time was especially pleasant because of a) the walk through the neighborhood -- such a gorgeous time of year -- and b) their annual sale. Somehow I managed to get out with less than $20 spent, including the CUTEST Clover notions case evarr. And they have them in alligator, frog, koala and dolphin form, too! Ridiculous, I tell you.

Anyways.

So I managed to get out without buying a crapload of stuff for some nonexistent shawl or whatever, but after I had wandered between the front and back rooms for, oh, half an hour, I still ended up grabbing two skeins of Misti Alpaca Laceweight in a very soft seafoamy green color. The store had a beautiful enlarged Swallowtail Shawl on display, and I have also of late become completely enamored with the Hanami stole. (Never mind that I have a cone of light green Jaggerspun Zephyr sitting at home... or that skein of Skacel Merino Lace that gave me such grief in winding...)

So Leems and I walk back through the neighborhood, and as we're talking she says, "You know how I have a bit of a sock yarn problem? Yeahhhhhh... I think you have a bit of a laceweight problem."

I CAN STOP WHENEVER I WANT.

(I did just pick up Victorian Lace Today.)

So when I got back home to Chez Madam, I decided that I needed to get my yarn out in the open. I've got some empty shelves, and I should really have my stuff on view so I will use my stash instead of letting it languish.

I pulled out my blue yarns... and then the green yarns... and then the bluish green yarns... and the turquoises... and the bluish slate... and the seafoams...

Okay, so maybe I have a blue and green problem too. Because there's a five-foot shelf that's full of nothing but bluish green worsted, and only one of those lots involves more than two skeins of the same thing. I LOOK LIKE MY OWN YARN STORE, PEOPLE.

Hoo boy.

Who knew???

2007-05-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Who knew that amidst all my facetious talk of a faithful readership, I actually had one?

Yes, it's been a while. Babies have been born (and bunny hats still not finished :P), more greenish-bluish yarn purchased (oh, like that's any big surprise...), Mermaid's Hair creeping along like a fricken snail.

I've been very busy due to a few factors. in particular, grad school is coming up in the fall, so I'm stressing a bit about getting my ducks in a row. I've already gained my first sunburn of the season on the back porch of lakeside Fibers, though, which has proven a welcome relief. (Knitting outside, not the sunburn. Silly.)

I've been plugging away doggedly at my Noro sweater for my mom. Yes, folks, it's true: I said I'd start something, and I actually did. So I've got the fronts and back finished, and am now maybe a quarter of the way through my first sleeve. Following the sleeves, I've got two button bands that actually curve around to the back, topped off with a collar. Now, I'm not sure what that collar will end up looking like since I'm not overly fond of the one they have on it, so maybe I'll just do one ginormous button band and make it sort of self-collaring.

(No, I'm not making the matching skirt. That might be a bit much, even for my mom.)

This sweater is GORGEOUS. I'm making it in some sort of green/blue/deep reddish brown/gray colorway. I love how I can get motivated to knit more quickly by following the color changes. "Come on, green!" "Okay, blue, haven't seen you for a while... just a few more yards!" (Yes indeed; I'm a big, big geek.)

Unfortunately, some weird stuff has gone on. Here's my diagram of the sweater's construction:

So you can see how the unique construction curves around to turn the back into the fronts. Ingenious, no? Well, somehow that armhole on the back is about 15 rows below the armhole on the front. And it ISN'T MY FAULT. The front calls for 55 rows of stockinette, while the back calls for 42ish. I've looked all over for errata and find myself at a loss.

Eventually the only thing I could do was to cart myself out to the Sow's Ear and ask a helpful lady to pull and prod it to see if it would SOMEHOW go together. I mean, really. How is that possibly supposed to match up? It's not short rows or anything to accommodate ample frontage (though I've got a good seven inches on my mom, at the very least... oy...). Still, I was assured that it will turn out okay in the end.

I remain skeptical.

I think I will have the helpful lady sew it up for me. Normally, I'm all for doing it myself to learn, but wouldn't you know it -- for my first completed sweater, I've chosen something in which the seams are completely cockamamie. The helpful lady in question is actually a friend of my mom's, so maybe we can just stand my mom up on a box and tack it onto her like a dummy. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Hey! Guess what?

2007-03-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

I finished Kiri.

I bound off with big needles.

I still stink at blocking, even with wires.

I think I may have bound off too tightly despite all of my best intentions. Twice.

Also, I purchased some Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy for a very specific baby project, subbing for DB Cotton Cashmere, only to find that it is too small in gauge despite assurances to the contrary. I may just run to Lakeside and pick up some Cotton Classic, but the time, she is running out.

*tears out hair*

I give up for tonight.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

2007-03-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

I'm here. w00t.

Things have been shaken up a bit in Madamland. For those who may be unaware, Mister Husband and I split up on... well, on Thanksgiving. Things are amicable and we are both well ensconced in new apartments, but there has been a lot of activity swirling around. Add to that my acceptance into two master's programs here at UW (LaFollette School of Public Affairs and journalism), with the possibility of a third option (Life Sciences Communication), and it's been downright hectic. I can barely keep a feeding and sleeping schedule straight, let alone knitting time. On the other hand, I'm making it a point to get out and do things that are new to me or that i'd previously considered "not me." It's going well; it's making me think about myself in different ways, which is both needed and nice.

ON THE NEEDLES:
Kiri just received her 12th repeat, which should be good enough for a smaller shawl, but I intend to go for the full two balls of KSH in the body for a width of around 60" at least. I think the intended recipient is a bit less long-limbed than i, so it should be good. It's just taking for-rev-vurr. I was so excited to reach the end of this repeat, only to hold it up to my blocking yardstick and... feh.

The Bomber Jacket? Yeah. That's not really happening anymore. I bought some great 220 Superwash in a color that my mom was completely mistaken about (she admits it).

When we went back to Sow's Ear to check out our other options, she became completely captivated with a Noro sample from several years back -- it's a cardigan (Y660) from Noro World of Nature #13, the one with the cutaway front and matching skirt. I'm really excited about being able to use Silk Garden for a garment (especially on her dime and my punch card...). Ah, vicarious living. While Kiri is my stay at home project, this sweater has lots of stockinette in different places, so it's easy to take along with me. I'm about 20 rows in on my first front piece. The construction is ingenious, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I don't even know what's next in the queue. Should be something for ME. What, though?

I'll be very excited if I actually get off my ass and finish that sweater for my mom. I remain optimistic.

Knit on!

Progress!

2007-01-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

You may notice that the little Kiri bar on the side has gotten a little more blue. Just for faithful reader Brian, aka Quigsie (who doesn't even knit but likes to pull for me anyways), I have updated with my progress -- and what progress it is! I've made it pretty much all the way through the first ball. Of course something as mundane as joining the second ball (even in KSH, which involves basically knitting six stitches together and letting it fuzz to itself :P) will probably drag me under, but such is life. Maybe that's my goal for the evening: attach the second ball so I have no excuse, dumb as it may be.

When I told Brian that I'd updated my progress, he was tickled pink. "Sweet!" he replied. "I'm so happy for me... erm, I mean, you..." That's the kind of reader I like.

Oh, who am I kidding. I like everyone. (All ten of you.)

New projects
My pal Thorny hadn't seen each other in a while, and we ended up going to Sow's Ear yesterday. It was kind of an unexpected jaunt, since we'd planned to go to Lakeside, but since our schedules had changed a bit we decided to make the trek to a store that didn't close at 3. (The siren song of the Taste of India buffet took precedence.)

It ended up being a good jaunt for several reasons. First, I could pick up the self-published Hazel Carter Shetland Lace Knitting From Charts booklet I'd been meaning to get for Froggy.

(Side note: it occurs to me that I refer to a whole lot of pals with wacky names, mostly because a great deal of our communication takes place on the intarwebz. I suppose this is somehow cosmically related to my mom, who wished she had friends with wacky names like HER mother's pals Doppy and Mudge.)

I also happened to see that they had an ample supply of my mom's chosen color of 220 Superwash for the Bomber Jacket, so I snapped that right up. Hopefully I can get started on that pretty soon.

Sadly, my new needles are STILL not here, so I thought I'd pick up some 5s in another size... no such luck; they were out.

Finally, much hemming and hawing occurred on behalf of the lovely Lemur. See, I'm going up to visit in a couple weeks, so I thought I'd bring her some Blackberry Ridge, since she probably can't get it as easily up there. But their in-stock supply wasn't huge, and I couldn't picture the kind of stuff she liked to knit for herself, other than "stuff with Noro" and "screaming alien green." Although we see each other fairly frequently for being (stop me if you've heard this one) internet pals, and e-mail/IM/forumize on a regular basis, the funny thing is that I've rarely actually called her on the phone. Yet here I was with my cell phone and her number in the phone book (a remnant of the last road trip). I can only imagine how odd it must have seemed to receive a call out of the blue: "Uh, yeah, it's Mads and I'm at Sow's Ear; whatcha want?"

Update: she liked it. And who wouldn't? It was purty.

Brief update

2006-12-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

--Kiri continues on in that "I love it/I hate it" sort of way. I love it because I keep nuzzling the fabric: so airy, yet so snuggly. It has also proved really easy to memorize... which, I suppose, leads me to hate it for its monotony.

I'd heard horror stories about Kidsilk Haze, but I was enjoying it thus far. no problems, barely missed a stitch anywhere. Somewhere along the line a few nights ago, though, I must have fallen asleep and continued knitting, because I've completely lost my place in the row system. It's a simple leaf pattern, but it seems that within multiple rows I've varied the counts somehow. Why this should happen two weeks into the project is beyond me. Anyways, I've had decent luck tinking, so hopefully I'll just head back and count carefully to get back in.

I'd been dragging it around with me everywhere, though I've really only been knitting on it in the evenings. Still, I'm not even close to being done with the first ball (of three) yet. CRIPES.

--I got bored with Kiri and went back to Mermaid's Hair one night (mmm, more lace, and a pattern to follow too!) but only succeeded in a) identifying a major problem, b) ripping it out and fixing it, and c) finding another major problem that may or may not have been caused by the first fix. Hmph. So I finally ripped back eight or ten rows, and hopefully that'll at least get me back on an even keel. Still, I don't think I'll get back into it until I get my new needles (see below).

--Why no, I haven't finished either my own hat or the bunny hat yet! Funny you should ask!

Stuff I bought
I didn't get anything knitting-related for Christmas, so my next book purchase may well be Gathering of Lace. I did, however, spring for the first of what will hopefully be a whole new set of Inox Express circs today. Oh, they're so wonderful. I've noticed the difference quite clearly when switching between the aforementioned projects; the Clover joins are really tripping up Mermaid's Hair. It'll really be nice to have some smooth needles I can count on.

My mom will hopefully pick out a color for her Bomber jacket soon so I can get a start on it before the weather gets too warm :P

Things I have watched recently while knitting
--Pride and Prejudice (2005/6 feature film version with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen): OH, it's so pretty. I had to watch the end multiple times just for fun. If you have a problem with compressing classic novels, however, you might want to choose something else.
--Jane Eyre (1997 TV movie version with Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds): Not very good. Ciaran Hinds is really distracting as Rochester, and here I thought I'd like him a whole lot more.
--Jane Eyre (2006 BBC miniseries version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens): Much better, although I have the niggling feeling that the casting could still be a tinge better. But Toby Stephens (son of Maggie Smith) was much better.
--Upstairs Downstairs, first four episodes on DVD: A delightfully pleasant way to spend Christmas Eve morning; my pal and I lolled on her couch and petted kitties and ate quiche and pannettone whilst examining a 1971 interpretation of Edwardian class system. Both of our mothers practically went into hysterics when they heard that we'd be watching it; I guess the previous video incarnation didn't have many of the episodes. Kind of slow moving, but I found myself wishing that we had more to watch :)

State of the Knitter

2006-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Long time between posts. Again. Yep.

I went quite a while without really getting to knit anything. I did mostly finish two hats, but the Finishing Ogre has me by the hair. Why else would I be on my third week of not sewing on three lousy little whiskers of my Stitch n Bitch bunny hat? (The baby, belonging to Mister Husband's officemate, arrived last week.)

Trip to Blackberry Ridge
TChemGrrl and I went with my mom to the Blackberry Ridge open house several weeks ago. We had a lot of fun, and I ate so many cookies that I got verrrrry sleeeepy. (Didn't help that on the way there and back I had to sit under the world's largest couch cushions. Thanks for cleaning out the trunk, Dad!) It was crowded but very pleasant, and although we didn't get to take an official tour I did get a peek over their rows of giant industrial machines. I do mean giant -- it looked like a factory floor out of Dickens or something. (Only without, you know, the child labor and the losing of fingers.)

I'd never used their yarn before, but I was pretty pleased with what we got. After much hemming and hawing over the possibility of some sort of Hazel Carter kit, I finally bought three skeins of laceweight yarn for my pal Froggy in Seattle. The yarn was half silk, half merino in a color called Samarkand blue, and I was immediately jealous of her on my own behalf :) I have no doubt that she will turn it into something truly gorgeous, and can't wait.

For myself, I bought the Celtic Harbor Hat kit in their medium-weight wool, with red instead of white contrast yarn. The wool is plied but still a little bit rustic, but it's wonderfully springy and... well, the word I keep using is "wholesome." It's like granola; it's good and good for you :) I finished knitting the hat the other day, but because of its wacky foldy construction and two picot edges, it will definitely benefit from some blocking. I will just have to find myself a styrofoam head one of these days.

My mom picked up two sock kits and a pattern for the Bomber Jacket, a simple cardigan. I told her I'd make it for her; it seems pretty straightforward and should go pretty quickly. (Note to self: Dark Sage.) I was pretty tickled that my mom was so enthusiastic about going (she doesn't knit, but had a lot of fun looking at all the possibilities).

New stuff
Several weeks ago, I was over at the Knitting Tree and picked up some Kid Silk Haze in color Hurricane (kind of a dusky aqua). No idea what I was going to do with it, but I was feeling a little bit crazy :P A couple days ago, I cast on for Kiri, intending to give it to an aunt who has been having some tough times. As per usual, I will probably go nuts over the repetition and the ever-growing rows, but it sure is pretty. I started it on 6s but switched to 4s, partially because the pattern is a little more "together" and partially because I have good INOXes in that size. I'm definitely loving the nickel INOX Express needles much more than any others, especially since the joins AND tips on my Clovers are driving me nuts with some other projects.

Yesterday at Lakeside I finally picked up a copy of Folk Shawls and the pattern for the Fiddlesticks Lotus Blossom shawl. Of course, the yarn I'd picked up most recently was all laceweight (including a gorgeous teal Skacel, and a cone of over 2400 yards of light green Jaggerspun Zephyr), and these shawls all seem to use a DK or greater. Le sigh. I'll just have to buy some more yarn. What a pity.

Still on the needles
Still working on the Blackberry Ridge Mermaid's Hair pattern. Really hoping it'll block well, because it's looking awfully short. I think I should have enough for an extra repeat, though.

Still on the needles... and not going anywhere
UGH, the Dad Vest! The patterning wasn't really doing anything for me, and now I worry that doing it in plain stockinette will give it stripes that are too narrow. Entrelac might work well, in whole or in part, but I've never done it and am not too sure how to pick it up from a preknit cuff. (TChemGrrl assures me that she's got a good resource, but I haven't checked it out yet.) So it's sitting on top of my Casio with about an inch past the ribbed cuff. Hmph.

The Sienna Cardigan is similarly languishing. All I have to do is pick a damn cable pattern or some such. Get your brain in gear, Mads!

Still, I've got lots of movies in the TiVo queue and a GLORIOUS couch on which to knit. Recent flicks: The Goodbye Girl (very Neil Simon, pretty cute, but again with the Richard Dreyfuss... I swear it isn't a theme...) and Fitzwilly (very cute Dick Van Dyke movie from 1967, in which he is a good-hearted but larcenous butler, but it cut out on the last 5 minutes, which TiVo almost never does. Boo!). Life is not bad.

Been a while...

2006-10-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Feels like I'm dragging out of a coma right now. *shakes self off*

Late August through mid-October, despite spanning my birthday, is usually not actually my favorite time. Now that I'm not in school, it's not really leading up to anything in particular, and things just get very hectic. My birthday is a weird time, where I don't want fuss but I do... but I don't... and with the prospect of grad school on the horizon, but wondering what field to pick when my m.o. has always been "Do what's fun and the connections will form on their own," I found myself in sort of a funk -- the kind where (oddly enough) it's the many opportunities available that blind you and make you want to retreat into a fuzzy corner with some cocoa.

Happily, however, I've gotten my focus back, and with it another go at many projects.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS
--A knitting group!
I am now ensconced in the TChemGrrl Mostly Grad Student Knitting Group Of Doom. Which is great, because it's every week and is full of awesome people who mostly live near me. I'm so tickled.

--New books! Picked up Louisa Harding's Natural Knitting for Moms and Babies through a swap on LJ for some Koigu I had lying around. Great book, but not very heavy on the "simple, quick stuff for coworker's Baby Of Indeterminate Gender." Maybe I'll just make a hat and some booties; the kid's due around Thanksgiving.

Also, I received volumes 1 (knit and purl patterns), 2 (cables) AND 3 (color) of the Vogue Stitchionary series for my birthday. The giver had seen them in the store when we were poking around, and he was really impressed by them, so it was a great present. Of course, the third volume didn't come out until just last week, and for some reason the entirely separate Amazon order he'd placed that included my requested Mason-Dixon Knitting (also new, also exciting) wouldn't get shipped without the unreleased Stitchionary 3, so I had to wait for that, too. Bummer. But now everything is here and I am tickled pink.

I have to say, though, that Volume 3 is perhaps the least useful. So many of the color patterns are the kind of thing you could easily put together with some graph paper, and they look kind of Eighties. Still, it's a good resource, and I'm sure I'll use it. I think the sections on using color AND texture (bicolor cables, for example, or putting little knots of color on a different background) are the most interesting, and I'll definitely try them out.

--Tools 'n' stuff! So, uh, for those of you who don't know, I won a bunch of money on Jeopardy, and after socking away most of it I've bought a few things. I like to think I've been pretty good about it, only getting stuff to replace things that have gotten worn out (or, in the case of living room furniture, buying stuff for the gaping empty floor space that prevents me from having people over).

Last week I went on something of a shopping spree at Lakeside Fibers. Good: went through my second punch card and well into my third. Bad: got my card declined. Oops. (That's what happens when you buy a couch, a hutch and a seven foot bookcase in one week.) It wasn't a huge deal, since I just went in the back and transferred money from Happy Fun Account into The One With The Card, but it did make me say, "Okay, pardner. WATCH IT."

I'm glad I limited myself. But let me tell you something right now -- I STILL would NEVER call up a yarn company and say, "Send me everything new," and regardless of that, I have ZERO skeins of sock yarn in my stash. Do you hear me? ZERO.

That said, I've bought 12 balls of Lana Grossa Soffice (see below), 4 balls of Kidsilk Haze (why? WHY??), EZ's Knitter's Almanac, blocking wires and a swift. FINALLY. Of course, I don't own any tables or desks that is swift-appropriate, but I'll figure something out.

Still looking for a niddy-noddy, primarily for winding recycled yarn. I wonder if that Nancy's KnitKnacks one with all the bells and whistles is worth it, though I do like the idea of having the varied sizes right there.

ON THE NEEDLES
Dad's vest: I FINALLY started it! It took for fricking evarr, but finally I just threw up my hands and laid out the cash on some yarn. And what a yarn it is: Lana Grossa's Soffice, a new WASHABLE merino/cashmere/acrylic blend. It is sooooo sofffffft. Oh my gracious, is it soft. The colors are just beautiful -- it's got lovely variation within the strands, but it also gradually changes color, almost like Noro. I'm a little worried about color matching when I get to the end of the ball (not wanting to waste too much yarn trying to get to a matching spot), but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I picked up 10 balls of color 009 for the vest and two balls of 008 for a hat or scarf for myself. Dunno what I'll make, but I don't want it to shrink like my poor Celtic Cable hat :( So many possibilities! (So snuggly!)

The pattern is vaguely based on the Diamonds vest from Knitty. I measured a vest that my mom said fit my dad well, and it had a 44" chest (and a finer gauge). I bumped it up a little to about 45 or so, because a 228-stitch circumference allows me to use a 12-stitch-repeat diamond pattern from the Vogue Stitchionary, vol. 1. This is really my first time sitting down and doing the math for something, but it should be good. I like patterns that tell you to knit for a certain amount of inches, instead of a certain amount of rows; that will camouflage any gauge issues I might run into.

--Sienna Cardigan from Fall IK: Finished the back, and was about six or seven inches in on the right front, but I just was not feelin' the faggoting on the front. (Yeah, I'd be lying if I said the name didn't feel uncomfortable too.) The yarn I'm using gets gauge but isn't fluffy, so the holes are more like places my fingers and zippers will obviously get stuck. No good. After I let it sit for a while, I decided to just rip it out and replace it with a leaf or cable or something of similar width. Still sitting around -- I think I might look at one of the Nicky Epstein books, if not just take the mirrored halves of a cable from Stitchionary vol. 2.

Mermaid's Hair scarf: Went to the sheep and wool festival with TChemGrrl and bought a beautiful pattern, only to realize that it was actually a modification of that danged Print o' the Wave motif that I'd had such trouble with earlier. also that a scarf with holes isn't that warm. PAH, I say! I'm making it anyways! I'm using some berry-red stashed GGH Merino Soft, a discontinued fingering-weight superwash. I'm about halfway through the fourth repeat of a 36-row pattern; it's listed at eight repeats but I might go for nine for length. It's going well, but it's going to take forever, and between the TV watching and the chatting at knitting group it's not great for production. Still, I'm excited to see how it'll look all blocked out.

IN THE HOPPER
--Building on the TChemGrrl strategy of "just fricking ASK them what they want, okay?", I'm working with my mom to make her a shawl. Last year, she wanted an "evening wrap" for a wedding, and she said she wanted something "gossamer," but despite my continued Kidsilk Haze prompts she kept saying she wanted something even thinner. So unless she has some inside line on Tinkerbell spit, I think she's going to have to modify her expectations :P I think, however, that we will be able to find a nice compromise in there somewhere. She did love Icarus, so that's a start.

--She and my husband could also both use hats with earflaps. Think, think, think about what to put on them.

That's the news from Lake Madam's-desk, where all the women are awesome, the men are cuteful, and the children are not yet zygotes.

Progress!

2006-08-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's ALIIIIIIVE!!!!

That's right -- I'm actually getting somewhere with something!

I started the Grumpecue last week and plugged along doggedly. "Hrm," I thought, "this'll take a while." And I'd really like to get it to her at our next haircut, but school starts soon and my husband is looking a little shaggy, so I guess we can't draw it out very long.

Then I was hit with Frogitis, forcing myself to reknit approximately 20 rows in whole or part about five times. (Note to self: watch the damn scallops WHILE you're knitting them, not AFTER.)

BAH!

Sunday morning, that thing was no match for me. My rapier points shot through those defenseless strands like a finger through Cheez Whiz. Not only did I finish the last 50 rows or so, I then took a two-hour jaunt to lakeside for color selection and returned to knit 80 more rows -- the long ones, no less. I'm no Wannietta Prescod, but given that it had taken me a week of spits and furts to do what I accomplished yesterday alone, I was feeling pretty speedy indeed. I'm now more than a quarter done with the whole thing.

This was due in no small part ot the Summer Under the Stars marathon on TCM and the aid of my beloved TiVo. Over the past weekend, I watched the following, trying to clear out the ol' queue:

--The Nun's Story is a VERY good movie, but it's dreadfully sad. Incidentally, I completely didn't recognize the guy playing Dr. Fortunati as Peter Finch, the guy who played Howard Beale (Mr. "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" in Network.
--Wait Until Dark is rather hokey. I LOVE Audrey Hepburn, but she has this pause before she does the "I'm so confused and frightened" scream that confuses and frightens me in turn -- who does that in real life? And Alan Arkin... good gracious, he was cheesy.
--Keeper of the Flame, on second viewing (fell asleep the first time), was still pretty boring despite the early Tracy/Hepburn pairing, and for some reason I could barely see it since it was filming an outdoor scene in the woods at night in black and white (or, more accurately, black and black).
--Always -- cute movie. John Goodman is always funny. Richard Dreyfuss, however... I don't think I'll ever be able to watch him without seeing the "Richard Dreyfus screen tests for C3PO" skit in my head.
--Ninotchka -- I'd never really seen Greta Garbo before, and this one was pretty cute.
--Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House -- love Cary Grant, love Myrna Loy.
--Travels With My Aunt -- again, kept falling asleep. I rewound the end twice and still couldn't follow it. Darn you, Maggie Smith; couldn't you do more than just drag the poor guy between a series of hotels that look exactly the same?

(If you're reading this with your mouth agape... yeah, I did watch a lot of movies yesterday, but I was multitasking. So nyah.)

Back to the knitting...

I was also thinking about my dad's vest again. Still trying to find a yarn with a good color depth and texture without a lot of pooling. Mountain Colors Bearfoot? (OH, the price! I love the guy, but 20 bucks a hank is just not going to cut it until I get my Jeopardy money.) Trekking XXL? (OH, all the stitches with those tiny needles!) Rowan Feted tweed is looking really good, with the perfect weight and color distribution, but my mom was very clear that I should aim for easy washing if at all possible.

Who knew making the Cosby Sweater's younger sibling would be so hard?

In pattern news, I also picked up Evening in Eden. Gorgeous, yes, especially in that color, but I don't know where I'll wear it. (Though it's a stole and not a shawl, so it's more my style, at least.) still, even though icarus was much easier to pick up/put down and plow through without looking, I still feel the twinges of a small lace jones. A small one, mind you, but present nevertheless. We shall see.

Back on the horse!

2006-08-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

After some spits and furts (as I like to call them), I feel like I'm back on track for my knitting. The apartment looks decent and I FINALLY have a good project going. I was also able to buckle down and do some more yarny enrichment over the past week, which felt good. Overall, then, I'm hoping to get some stuff done and use this to help me focus on enjoying the new place. (Not that it's hard.)

NEW PROJECT...

After much hemming and hawing I finally started up a couple of projects. I've got almost two full skeins of this lovely seafoam green Gems Pearl, so I thought I'd start some socks (even though I hate wearing socks :P), but that didn't go so well. I need a fuller complement of sock needles; right now I have a set of too-long bamboo size 1 dpns, four size 2 short birch dpns (stupid Key West stealing the fifth one), a couple of 24" Inox circs and a single long metal #3. I think I needed a single long ) for this one, or at least 0 dpns. I did okay switching from the smaller dpns to an approximation of Magic Loop before, so I'll have to check some of those out. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and get those KnitPicks circs.

I'd started a baby blanket for Jenny's baby in my eggplant 220 Superwash, but the large needles and fusty pattern made me sad. So I swapped some Lion Wool with a chick in Delaware (hi, V!) and got a copy of the Oat Couture Curlicue Coverlet. I was thinking about making it as-is, but really I was going for Grumperina's Grumpecue variation, which is basically a simple pinwheel knit in segments instead of from the center. Since starting it last night I can already tell that it'll be a long haul, but I like how it looks and feels on 7s. It's fairly intuitive as well, so I'm hopeful that it'll make good TV/movie knitting.

Note to self: I think each of the sections is 105 rows, so that's 630 rows for percentage purposes.

NEW SUBSCRIPTION...

I finally gave in and got myself a subscription to Interweave Knits on Sunday night. Of course, then I geeked out and bought the fall issue from a local bookstore so I could have it right away. (Incidentally, for local folks who are downtown, A Room Of One's Own has a small but decent selection of knitting books and magazines... they've got IK and the British knitting, as opposed to UBS, who only seem to carry VK and Family Circle or some such... and about 85 random embroidery mags :P)

NEW STORE...

I was over near Monona on Saturday when I thought to myself, "Self, you really need to go find that yarn store you keep hearing about." I'd heard that there was a new place on Femrite Drive, only a few doors down from Monona Drive... which was odd, because I knew exactly what was a few doors down from Monona Drive, and it was certainly not a yarn store last time I checked. Let's just say that about 12 years ago a certain high school sophomore had a friend of a friend of whom her mother would definitely not approve. Okay, nothing terrible went on, and he was mainly an accessory to any incidents that DID, but he had long hair and listened to loud music and was surely held to be a Bad Influence. And he and his 28 stepbrothers lived in a rambling old farmhouse at that very location.

So I pulled up in the back, and there it was -- the yarn store, right in Matt's kitchen. Huh. And when I explained my confused expression to the owner, she introduced herself as his stepmother. It was all very Twilight Zone.

But anyways.

I should fricken review the store already for those of you out there who aren't suddenly having flashbacks of hockey games at the Coliseum and clandestine late-night phone calls.

I wasn't able to spend a lot of time looking around because we had errands to run, but I did get the story of the shop and a good peek. The shop is called Off the Beaten Path, the owner's name is Karen, and she and her husband opened after a fair amount of consultation with the Knitting Guild, of which she is a member.

They'd been thinking about opening a store for a while; they'd scouted locations but hadn't seen anything that jumped out. One day they were captivated by the Yarn House in Elm Grove, which was apparently THE historic house in the village. They'd looked for a similar house around Madison, but either the place was too far or the renovations would have cost more than the property. Suddenly Karen realized that the house they'd lived in for 23 years was both a historic farmhouse and mostly empty of kids, so they moved upstairs and opened the shop on the first floor.

The property is actually quite lovely on its own. As I noted, it's only a few doors away from a main artery (and very close to the Beltline), but it's remarkably peaceful -- a large, shady corner lot with seating in the yard and on the porch. Karen welcomes community groups to sit in the kitchen, which is fairly spacious. They have three or four other areas which are chock full of yarn on the walls and in the middle of the room. I didn't catch a lot of brands because I was in a hurry, but aside from the usual suspects I did note some brands which I hadn't seen as frequently at other local stores. Specifically, I saw Cherry Tree Hill, Sandnes and Frog Tree, as well as some soy yarns. In googling them, I see that they also sell K1C2 and Wool in the Woods, as well as roving.

Karen also described the philoosphy of the store. I'm totally going to get this wrong because the Pit of Despair (aka my bottomless purse) is not yielding her card, but it's something like "sustainability, community, serenity." (There's a fourth one in there too.) From the website (a work in progress): "We believe in thinking globally and acting locally. We look for and promote yarns made by artists, cooperatives, women-owned businesses, environmentally responsible mills, and eco-friendly processes. We believe that knitting and knitters can change the world."

They've crammed a lot of good-looking stuff in there, and they are clearly eager to become part of the knitting community, so it's definitely worth a stop.

Off the Beaten Path
215 Femrite Drive (corner of Femrite and Roselawn)
Monona, WI 53716
Phone: 608-221-0219
Fax: 608-299-1407

Hours: Guild Mondays: 2-6pm
Tues, Thurs, Friday 10-6 pm
Wed 10-8pm (6-8 open knit)
Saturday 10-4 pm

Not dead yet!

2006-08-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hola, amigos... been a while since I rapped at ya...

Mostly because I haven't done a darn thing since I finished Icarus. Partially for good reason, but I'm also still in a bit of a knitting funk.

(To give you an idea of how long I've been percolating, this post was started on July 25th.)

First things first: the shawl, she is lurvely. I've never actually blocked anything like that; I blocked my Branching Out scarf by casually manipulating a sopping puddle of yarn into a straight line on three towels. Not so easy on Icarus. There was much gnashing of teeth and bending of pins and continual repinning-until-good-enough-for-government-work. I used the Yarn Harlot's method of stringing the sraight edge on a separate length of string/yarn and pulling it to either side, but it sagged dreadfully, even when I added a few more pins to stabilize it. So I'd continue to pin out the spikes, and then the other side would get too low, so I'd repin THOSE... lather, rinse, repeat for about two hours during some episode or other (I think it was the one with the pups) of Project Runway.

Happily, though, everything worked out. Not a moment too soon, either, for reasons to be explained below. Pictures to come. (I actually took some.)

IN THE INTERIM

Rehearsals quickly moved from "sitting around waiting for my turn to sing while seated" to "Let's polka around the stage and hang off of ladders!" Not very knitting-conducive, though I suppose I could have done some backstage. (That's all we needed on top of a wheeled cow and a giant creaking chariot... another strand of something on which to trip.) Shows went well, but I found myself pining away for a project, especially since the boring part of Icarus was nonetheless a good rhythm to work with.

The big news is that we magically decided on a whim that we wanted to move.

Oh, it's nothing drastic; we only moved up four flights in our building. But after I *cough* won a little money on tee-vee, our landlord joked that we'd be finding a bigger place. We laughed him off, since my winnings would be a lump sum and dedicated to grad school tuition, but we also found ourselves thinking, "You know, we've paid off some other stuff, so we can afford a little more, and it'd be nice to not live in the basement anymore." So we called him on Thursday, saw the apartment that afternoon, and as of now we've been there for about a week and a half.

We got rid of a CRAPLOAD of stuff, including furniture, and as soon as the giant cardboard check arrives we'll probably buy a couch -- something we haven't really owned. Of course, until that time I don't have much of a knitting spot.

So that's the main reason I've been slackin' something fierce. (Also why I actually had floor space on which to block Icarus :P)

WHAT I'M DOING NOW, WHICH ISN'T MUCH...

My current project (and the first one I've worked on in forever) is a blanket made out of eggplant-colored Cascade 220 Superwash for our hairdresser/neighbor's Baby Of Indeterminate Gender, due in a month or two, and two inches in it looks like crap. Needles (9s, I think) are too big, and even if the pattern were tighter it'd still look old and fusty. I wanted something relatively quick to knit, and I looked around in all of my books and sites for inspiration, but sadly this won't cut the mustard. But i wanted something simple but with a little more flair than just a moss stitch, basketweave or Big Bad Baby Blanket (which I can't find anyway since I think I lent my snB book to someone), so we'll see. Debbie Bliss's alphabet blanket is simultaneously calling to me and screaming, "You're crazy! You want a TV-watching project, not something requiring constant staring!"

Maybe I'll use the herringbone pattern from the poncho in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Use that with a moss stitch border or some such. That'd be kinda cool.

ADVENTURES IN CRAFTING...

I also made myself a PVC niddy-noddy last weekend and felt very capable indeed, but the T-connector on one end popped after only a couple hours of use, so I guess I was too much woman for it. Le sigh. And here I was looking forward to actually winding and using the remnants of a sweater we unwound approximately three years ago.

IN THE FUTURE...

Thinking about doing the Lucky wrap cardigan from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. Considering KnitPicks Shine or Dale Baby Ull. The sleeves are a bit too short and belled for my taste, but otherwise I think it could be good. Comparing it to the similar Arisaig from Knitty, I like Arisaig's slightly closer silhouette, but not so much the ribbing. (Okay... not at all.) The tighter knit of Lucky is also a bit more appealing. Worth investigating...

Annnnnd... I'm spent.

i ROOL!

2006-07-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

w00t! I finished knitting Icarus last night during the second of four hours in the car. It looks... well, scrunchy, but we all knew that.

The yarn situation was just ridiculous... I got practically to the end and was holding my breath, but 1/4 of the bindoff took about 1/2 the yarn I had left for that row. I tried to think of another bindoff I could use, but I could tell that this one was really what made the edge so nice and flexible. I was visiting the lovely Lemur who let me stash dive a little, so first I tried some leftover Shetland. It was lime green and contrasted nicely, but was a bit too bold. So I ripped out again and picked up some Gems Pearl in what was probably Aqua (hello, Borealis Yarns!) before heading on the road. Pearl has more sheen and a more defined ply, and it's obviously not handpainted like the rest of the shawl. Still, the color match with the dominant shade of the handpaint is amazing, and I think it looks great. Throwing out a wild guess, I'd say it probably took 10 meters or so, and I bought two skeins, so I'll think of some other project to use up the rest of it.

Now to the ends, the blocking and the pictures. (And the inevitable must-find-new-project letdown.)

(x-posted to icarusalong.blogspot.com)

Icky-icky-icky-PTANG!!!!

2006-07-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Polly the Shawly-Wawly (aka my Icarus shawl, because maybe the cute name might distract from the crappy repair job :P) is sitting pretty around 93%. I'm sure I'll finish this week (famous last words) because I have a holiday and a long car ride coming up.

Will I make it to the end with my original yarn?

NO MAN CAN SAY.

(Citizen Kane++)

Say Madison folks -- anyone have some spare blocking wires I could borrow? No biggie, but this one seems tailor-made for their use.

More later, after rehearsal.

Younger knitters in Madison?

2006-06-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

i started writing a comment on Madisonienne's blog, only to realize that (like most things I blog about here) it was getting giant and unwieldy in that rather philosophical way. You know -- picture speaks a thousand words and all, but I still haven't gotten in the habit of taking pictures. (I'm just full of excuses. Note the huge posts and few FOs.)

Regarding "finding the right knitting group in Madison," I don't know what the deal is, or what I want, really. I belong to an established crafting group, but they're only half crafty and half "gossip about the club and eat yummy food." Which is SO not a problem, except that they were a) established long before I came around and b) don't really knit, though there are a couple who do small starter-type projects. I went to a Madison SnB once and it was fun, but because it was sort of in the beginning stages I think everyone was a little wary. (And someone came who was significantly different from everyone else in terms of age, lifestyle and interest, which wasn't terrible but made things a little stilted.)

personally, one challenge I have (as I said to her) is that I don't have a car. I'm constantly bumming rides to my craft group, which is a pain because only a couple people live further west than I do, and they don't always come. I really hate asking or hinting for someone to drive out of their way to pick me up. In the summer it's not so bad, but no matter what time of year it is I'm not very comfortable riding my bike, my scooter or the bus for a significant distance when it's dark. I think a fair amount of people are probably in the same boat, either carless or sharing a car with someone else, and it's too bad that more yarn stores aren't open later.

I guess it's kind of like finding a doctor you can trust. On the one hand you have first impressions, and the skill should be the primary concern, but on the other you have to really cultivate a relationship and give it time to see how it goes. That's hard. You don't want to waste your time on something that won't pan out, but at the same time you want your needs to be met and are willing to give it a chance.

It's sometimes difficult, too, to strike a good balance between the sort of SnB hipster cutesy stuff and the big sack sweaters or shawls that you see geared towards older knitters. Obviously we all do things on a project basis, but for younger, intermediate knitters it's more of a challenge. I suppose, too, it parallels what a lot of us are trying to do with life in general -- some of us are further along the life curve than others, whether by choice or by circumstance.

Know what I mean?

The Non-Schmoozy Actual Content Post

2006-06-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

I'm such a dork. In my haste to come up with even mildly creative headings, I usually resort to terrifically bad song parodies. For the three of you out there who read this blog, I'll give a dollar to anyone who can figure out what I'm quoting. Okay, and I'll make you a userpic or blog button too. (The second one's a gimme.)

"The shawl creeps on apace... my guilty fingers cramping..."

First (and best): with the advent of rehearsal for my July show (Patience, with the Madison Savoyards… you should, like, totally come see it), I seem to have worked through my major issues with our friend Icarus. I’m finally into the middle of Chart 2 and though the rows are long and (mildly) more complex, it’s actually GOING.

I may reach the end of my second ball today, however, which brings me to my major issue. Can’t remember if I mentioned it before, but according to my handy-dandy shawl percentage calculator I am DANGEROUSLY close to running out every time I get near my target point. I’m something like right on or only a row off when I reach each third (I’ve got three balls).

So yes, the obvious issue is that I did not have enough wiggle room with my given yarn. It’s hand-dyed yarn from a secret pal, so it’s neither easily matched nor easily obtainable. I accept the fact that I am a doofus and should have planned better.

But what do I do at this point? Since I’m on the edging, do you think that I could move down a size in my needles to get just a “metric snad” (as my conductor calls it) more yarn? It’s an obvious transition point in the patterning anyway, so maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal. And I’m trying to think about where I could lose a couple stitches in width or something.

Bad Madam. Must think more next time, even if it IS supposed to be a sort of random project.

(Currently in the middle of row 199, where I should finish row 200 if I am to get to 66.6%. Fingers crossed.)

"See my vest, see my vest!"

Every time I go to the Sow’s Ear I see another little hat, of all things, that inspires me for my dad’s sweater vest. I wish I had pictures, but for now you’ll have to just rely on my descriptions.

Both of these are Amy Anderson hats, and I think that she’s written the patterns to be knit in multiple shapes. (Yeah, I still like to use garment patterns to help me figure out how to knit stitch patterns. At least I’m buying locally…) The first is called Osmosis and involves what is either a slip stitch or just an alternating stitch pattern so that single-stitch vertical columns of a solid color (black in this case) alternate with single-stitch vertical columns of a handpainted yarn (in this case, a reddish/orange Koigu, doublestranded). I think that might be a nice nod to the Cosby sweater aspect of the project without getting too out of hand.

The second is her Mix and Match hat, which has… hmmm… Imagine alternating vertical columns (one or two stitches wide) of two solid colors. Imagine that near the middle of the hat, one column stops and the two columns on either side make 45 degree turns to form a little square “roof” on top. Then a square on its point, also with a smaller square of color inside, fits neatly into the space between the “roofs.” (I have got to work on my descriptive language. Either that or get some rudimentary painting program on this computer to make some highly technical diagrams.)

I was thinking, then, that the Mix and Match pattern would be great to add some detail to the chest area without looking all preppy. Two issues, though. If I used the solid-with-handpaint technique that I liked in Osmosis, the handpaint would then be the “main-color” yarn used across the yoke up to the neckline. That might lead to pooling and other tomfoolery. The other issue is the comparative weight and time needed if I were to use what is essentially two layers of yarn. I want the vest to have a nice supple hand, and I don’t think that’ll do it. It might not be too bad if I used a thinner yarn, like a single strand of Mountain Colors or the like, but that’d be even worse than ribbing a whole garment and most likely involve small needles. Oy.

My final query for the day involves a sleeve and shoulder dilemma. So many projects I see have great patterns and allover shaping that I like, yet I’m sure they’d look hideous on me because they have raglan sleeves. Some very simple raglan sweaters look okay on me, but I have such large shoulders that even regular old set-in sleeves look like raglans if they’re too tight. I’m huge, Tiny Elvis.

So if I see a pattern that I really like except for the raglan sleeves, I know that turning it into a pattern with any other kind of sleeve will dramatically change the way it is constructed. Are there any hard and fast rules for it? Can you say, “Okay, I’m going to chop the sleeve off here and that’s how long it goes because the shoulder will make up for it”? I will have to figure that out.

Schmoozing at the Sow’s Ear

2006-06-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

I've had to split this up because it was honkin' huge and this part is of little interest to non-local knitters.

Last Friday, after the slowest day at work evarr, Alexandra dropped by around 6 and we drove out to the Sow’s Ear for late night knitting. We were immediately greeted by the chick who had been behind the counter last time we stopped by, saying, “Hey guys, welcome back!” Geez – our second visit and already we’re regulars. I have to say, though, that after that night it sure felt like it. First off, we spent a good three hours eating, knitting, pawing yarn and lolling over the couches upstairs. The place was PACKED, but it was nice to have different areas so it didn’t feel so busy.

I started running into people almost immediately. My friend Lora, who comes to my crafting group in Madison sometimes, was there with her very tall high-school-aged son who was knitting a scarf for himself (yay!). I saw a teacher from high school and some other folks I recognized. Apparently there were also a bunch of Madison SnBers as well. This confirms my thought that it skews a bit younger than other stores, which surprised me a bit. I wonder where all of the younger knitters hang out in Madison – do they stick to coffee places?

Somewhere in the middle of the evening I went downstairs to look at patterns and the counter chick called out to me, “Hey, you’re the one who wrote the Wendy thing, right?” (I guess this is my claim to fame. I MUST branch out.) “You know TChemgrrl, right? She’s here!” So the counter chick escorted me over to the tables, and there she was, Ms. Nano Pants herself. I must say that the photos on her blog (and in Bowerbird Knits’ Sweaters From Camp-along) don’t do her sweater justice. The colors are richer and more subtle than they appear on a monitor. I didn’t realize that she’d taken a design, inverted the colors, and turned it into a cardigan. It’s just stunning. I’m so happy that we got to meet so I could see it up close!

(Side note: apparently she's feeling the same sense-of-community pangs as I. We'll have to remedy that.)

I really hope to be able to do that again sometime. It was a perfect way to relax after SUCH a long, hot week. I’m just sorry that it’s a bit of a drive… but hey, it’s certainly not as long as Alexandra had to go. I’m happy that it’s worked out for us thus far. (Alexandra, I totally owe you a sandwich or something next time we go as a token of thanks for carting yourself down here.)

Frippery? Stuff and nonsense!

2006-06-10T07:43:00.001-07:00

Wriggling my way back to the keyboard to post my outrage, OUTRAGE! at the apparent trashing of poor Eunny's Graceful post of a few days back. I guess most of the comments agreed with her, but she received a few rather nasty ones, some not-so-nice blog entries on the subject, and what she describes as "unbelievably vituperative emails from invalid addresses."

I KNOW she said not to comment supportively (didn't want to fish for compliments), but damn it all, I had to:

****

It makes me so sad and angry that your quest for quality and personal expression (in your own blog, no less) has been ripped down like this. I'm at a complete loss.

I laughed when you used the word "frippery" because it sounds JUST like something I'd say. Please know that there are many folks out there who are under the age of thirty and find it perfectly acceptable to balance forward-thinking tech savvy and progressive inquiry with old-fashioned values like politeness, solidity, good grammar and things that aren't "cheap." (For the record, I'd much rather buy a well-made pair of wool dress pants at Goodwill for $4.99 than spend $50 at the mall for predistressed khakis with weak seams. Blecch.)

Your attention to detail and construction results in timeless, well-made, NON-STODGY garments that may be treasured for a long time.

Don't back down, you! You're a beacon of hope for those of us upset with the sea of bad choices out there. I treasure your entries because they bring me that much closer to moving off the fashion "grid".

****

I realize that I am hardly one to talk, as I sit here in my elastic-waistband Adidas track pants which have rarely been used for actual athletic endeavour. And I'm a prime offender in the "wear jeans to work" category. But you know what? In an age where clothing isn't built to fit my body type, I still take a great deal of pride in finding things that fit (more or less... no guarantees on accidental belly-baring, but at least I TRY). And on special occasions, you can bet I'll dress appropriately and well. I love performing because sometimes I get the chance to really gussy up. Why else would I own the same number of evening gowns as pants? I pine away for the day in the future when I get invited to snooty charity functions. I think it makes things more fun when I DO dress like a schlump all the time but manage to break out the goods every once in a while. It's like when Kaylee bought that pink confection on "Firefly" -- love that Cinderella feeling.

(Also, regardless of outfit, I am on a quest to bring back the wearing of hats. Who's with me?)

So boo on the haters. *shakes fist*

In a side note, I was reading in the comments how many people not only loved the pink thing in the picture (as did I, described in the post immediately preceding this one) but immediately referenced (as did I, uh, again) a Go Fug Yorself post about Faye Dunaway. (Picture in question to be found at the bottom, below the fug.) I had to bite my fingers and obey my own advice to stop from immediately posting in the Knitting LJ about that one. "ZOMG U GUYZ. beige swetr so pretty. how u knit smocking????"

And so you're back... from outer space...

2006-06-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Blogger seems to have been down, but that’s no match for Amazing Madam Of The No-Posts!

I totally don't want this blog to turn into the way things are with my friend Kristine. I love her to death, which means that I have a lot to tell her and ask her about, but I either forget it all or try to save it up for one long phone call, and then it all goes to hell and I get ashamed for not calling at all :P

It TOTALLY won't. No. Seriously.

Let’s see here… where to begin?

Visit with Alexandra and Sow’s Ear

Last Saturday I had a lovely jaunt out to Verona with Ms. Alexandra-of-Artisokka.com. (I’m finding myself using more of these rather neo-medieval titles so I can accurately communicate their relationships. “Today I saw Eric-from-the-garage-sale, who was hanging out with water-aerobics-Amy.”)

I haven’t been out the The Sow’s Ear since the very beginnings of my knitting experience. My aunt had breast cancer and I had heard that Berroco Chinchilla was an exceptionally soft yarn for use in a hat, so I hightailed it out to the Sow’s Ear to pick some up. Of course, I didn’t know anything about anything and my aunt (being an expert knitter herself) probably never wore it, but I think it’s safe to say that wanting to do that was really the reason I actually sat down and stuck to my knitting. As for the Sow’s Ear, though, I hadn’t been back since I’d gotten a much better grasp on knitting and yarn selection, so it was a welcome excursion.

When I had described the Sow’s Ear earlier in this blog, I think I referred to it as more of a Knitting Guild place. Interestingly, the presence of two younger employees made me think that it skewed more youthful than I’d originally thought. They had a great selection of Dale in loads of colors, including a sample sweater knit out of Svale, which I don’t think I’ve seen in any large amount at other local stores. Mmmm. Definitely felt like something worth saving for.

The highlight probably came when one of the girls asked Alexandra, “Uh, you look really familiar. You have a thing in… Knitty, right?” Hooray for internet celebrity! That was fun :) While we ordered lunch (she had a ~~ham and cheese~~ prosciutto and brie sandwich; I had a very tasty ~~cherry~~ blueberry turnover) we gabbed a bit more about the state of knitting blogs. We all agreed on the complete stagnation of Wendy vs. Eunny’s intricate marvels and cheerful tutorials.

It’s always interesting to try and think about why you like particular things in particular situations. I don’t really enjoy reading the Mason/Dixon Knitting blog, but upon skimming the book I thought it looked pretty nifty. And I can’t say as I’m a huge fan of Glampyre designs, but I pay attention because I respect Stefanie’s ability to try out different styles and carve out a niche market. Someday I’d like to dream up some patterns of my own, so I like seeing/hearing about what’s involved when a designer tries to piece ideas together and market them or just format them properly so that others can enjoy them too.

Icarus Shawl…

…keeps on keeping on. You know, I really need to get an auxiliary project going on the side with this one. Happily, I started the last full repeat of the first chart. After that, there’s a half repeat before going on to the next four charts, each of which take only one repeat. Now, of course, that will probably bum me out because it’ll prevent me from wandering around without carrying the pattern with me, but I think I’ll live.

No more whining! Grrrargh!

Okay. I feel better now. (I wished I could have finished it today. It was cold.)

Dad’s Vest

I’ve seen some nifty stitch patterns lately which have made me think about some new possibilities. Marnie MacLean’s recent post had a diamond lace pattern that I thought could be very subtle, while Eunny’s Almost Argyle Socks intrigued me as well. And Eunny’s most recent work has SUCH a pretty pattern which I’d love to try for myself.

Back to Marnie’s, though… the Silky Wool she was using seemed like it would be just the perfect look and texture without being too stiff and traditional, but I am told that it is still quite scratchy. Though I realize that a sweater vest would probably not have skin contact… hmmm…

This weekend we are dogsitting again, which means that we get to use a car. I have half a mind to go out to The Sow’s Ear again, though I will also be pretty close to Stitcher’s Crossing, which I haven’t seen in a year or so.

Decisions, decisions.

You know you're getting popular when...

2006-05-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

...you get your own automated spammer. Woooooooo!

I've turned on word verification. I'm hopeful I won't have to turn off anonymous comments. Come on, spam gods; you can do better than my humble little blog.

Made by magpies!

2006-05-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Icarus is progressing slowly but surely. I'm a few rows into the second repeat of rows 19-42. I must confess that this has been more of a learning process or test of patience than I'd bargained for. Here I think this is a nice simple pattern, and all of a sudden I realize that I've got an extra stitch at the end of the row before the YO. So I've had two or three major "rip out the triangle of stitches around this one" sessions, which has slowed my progress significantly. Still, I think I'm getting better at looking out for them and faster in between.

Only now do I remember that I'm the kind of person who needs constant reassurance and benchmarks to get motivated, even if they're self-imposed, and "do this thing five times" doesn't really cut the mustard. Moreover, when each of those five repeats gets wider and wider... yeah, this is another reason why I haven't done shawls. Still, it's moving along and I like the texture and look of it. I'm about 10% done. We'll see.

In other news, I decided to start looking in earnest for some ideas about my dad's sweater vest. I'm pretty excited about the prospect, but I'm having a hard time narrowing down my options.

My dad is a great guy who decided several years ago that his interpretation of a midlife crisis would involve purchasing fashionable clothing that a) is neon in color, b) is covered in blue flowers, c) is based on a venereal disease (such as his gonorrhea tie, viewable midway down the page) or d) uses a Coogi sweater as its centerpiece. (Yes, these are the Cosby sweaters on crack. The one he owns involves pretty much every color on a simple color wheel. He once offered it to my in-need-of-Homecoming-outfit boyfriend. Ouch.) In short, he enjoys clothing that is, as Mister Husband would describe it, "made by magpies." I have little problem with this, as he is generally properly dressed and seems comfortable.

Obviously, I could get away with something a little more complex. However, I keep leaning toward the more drab tweeds as a way to mute the effects of said bright-orange or deep purple oxford shirts. But I want to give it a bit of flair that would suit him well, and not just splatter a giant argyle strip across the chest. So here I am right now, trying to decide what direction I should take with the design. Ideally, I'd also like to put this into publishable form for something like MagKnits or Knitty, although I say that about all of my ideas and have yet to put anything actually into play. Still, it's nice to have a goal, even if it doesn't end up happening.

I want to make this of a slightly finer gauge yarn -- at least a dk. He can wear regular wool, but my mom assures me that he spills, so a washable drab color, probably heathered, would be ideal. I'm just debating what kind of allover pattern I might be able to get away with. He has some muted sort of diamond-pattern ones that I might like to replicate, but I have yet to really sit down and examine the necessary variables for that.

I really like Eunny's experiment with a subtle brocade. I don't know if I could go into that much detail, but it seems that if I used a fine enough yarn I could make a fabric that might still be fairly drapey but would have a neat pattern to it, especially if I used sort of a tone-on-tone effect.

On the simple end of the spectrum, I was thinking of doing something like an 8x3 rib with seed stitch in the "gutters" instead of just plain purls. But I can't help but think that, for my very special dad, that would be too plain. Something across the chest would be add more interest, but I don't want it looking too preppy or golf-shirty.

So many options... I just don't know. I'll have to go over to my parents' this weekend to peruse his closet again.

Blog improvements

2006-05-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

This will be an updatable list of ways the blog could look better and little doohickeys that I want to add in here somewhere. Even though I'm using a template, I like trying to play with the code. It makes me feel not quite so wussy.

--Find a wider template that allows for more text.
--Photos of past FOs: Mom's socks, Tim's We Call Them Pirates hat, Hello Yarn fair isle hat, Celtic Cable (now fuzzy), Tilling the Soil vest, Space Invaders hat, bunny hat.
--See where people are linking from.
--Organize sidebar more attractively.

Stuff to buy

2006-05-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

This will be an updatable list of stuff I want to buy, either in the near future or down the road. Includes yarn, patterns and books.

--A brush-holder, maybe, for dpns?
--That KnitPicks zippered circ binder thingy
--More small but long circs for socks
--Consolidate and check off what needles I do have

Books and magazines (also listed on Amazon wishlist):
--Big Girl Knits
--Knitting On the Edge
--Knitting Over the Edge
--Knitting Beyond the Edge
--Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments
--Quick Baby Knits (Debbie Bliss)
--Special Knits (Debbie Bliss)
--Barbara Walker treasuries, vols. 1 and 2

Things to knit

2006-05-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

This will be an updatable list of stuff I want to knit, either in the near future or down the road.

Name: Office cardigan
Pattern source: Maybe the Lucky wrap from SnB Nation
Recipient: Me.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine?
Timeline: Any time now. It's fricken cold in here, and it's the middle of August.

Name: Fair isle cardigan of some sort
Pattern source: Maybe Dale of Norway's Ingeborg?
Recipient: Me.
Yarn: Falk, perhaps? I'll have to look into it.
Timeline: Back burner. Oy.

It's Eeyore kind of weather.

2006-05-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Before I start, a hearty hello to anyone wandering in here from the Midwest Knitters ring. I swear I'm not usually this mopey. Really!

It's been One Of Those Days for more like six weeks here at Chez Madam. Last week I had The Spring Cold, like I do every year, from Sunday all the way through... well, through today, when I'm fighting off the residual crud and hoping that the people at my concert tomorrow won't notice me sniffling between "Three Little Maids" and the finale to HMS Pinafore.

I ended up staying home on Friday, but I didn't have any yarn to play with. (Okay, I didn't have THE yarn, GOOD yarn, whatever that was. Just say yes and we'll move on.) So I tried to reserve the nearby car in the car fleet we use, only to find that it's too short of an amount of time to do online and I have to call the lady to plead for an exception over the phone. "I'm sick and I have to make a quick run to the *cough* store," I say. You know what that cough was hiding. So I walked up the two blocks to the garage, the first time I'd been out all day, and... the car was gone. Some guy had driven off with an unconfirmed reservation. No yarn for me.

So my husband and I went out on Saturday in the now-returned car, and there at Lakeside Fibers we beheld the glorious Wall of Cascade 220. I bought 6 skeins of eggplant 220 Superwash for the aforementioned should-be-in-Lush lacy cardigan, returning three leftover intended-for-babywear skeins.

Why I Love Lakeside, Yet Again: I give the yarn back, saying, "I didn't take it out of the bag, so I can just trade these three for another color, right? I bought the two using this receipt, but the third was from a month ago or so, and even though it's still got your label I wanted to make sure--"

The lady interrupts me. "Don't worry about the receipt. I remember helping you that day."

Then I get home and swatch it. Lo and behold, the sweater I'd coveted for nine months, first as a store sample and then as a pattern sitting on my desk waiting for yarn? Eh. Needs a bit more "line" to it to give it a smidge more architecture. Sigh. The yarn, of course, won't go to waste, but the jury's out on the sweater.

Happily, though, I did pick a new project. You'll notice that in my continued efforts to spiff up the blog I neatened up the sidebar again AND added a progress calculator (I've always wanted one of those!) for the Icarus Shawl from the most recent issue of IK. I've never been much for triangular shawls (okay, I think they look too granny) and as we have previously established, lace and I do not go well together. The pleasing solidity of the piece, though, drew me to it. Yeah, I know that's typically made by using this magic technique called "not knitting lace." It's amazing!

I still have the laceweight lying around from the ill-fated Print o'the Wave, so I thought, "Why not?" And not a moment too soon, either, as Froggy has created an Icarus Knitalong. No time like the present to jump on a random bandwagon, eh? I started and found it refreshingly simple.

I got to the middle of row 25 and felt pretty pleased with myself. Of course, then I lost a stitch somewhere in an eyelet pattern. I made like a dishwasher and "let it soak" overnight before tackling it again tonight after rehearsal. Might I say that I may not be more than a row ahead of where I was yesterday, but even though I had to "ladder up in pattern" over a 5 row x 5 stitch area, I FIXED IT and now I can be on my merry way.

That's what finally made me feel like a real knitter all those months ago: I messed up, but I fixed it. Well, I may be REALLY real with this lace, but maybe I won't need to wrangle it too much. It's turning out delicate and soft, and at the very least I'm looking forward to the thrill of blocking such a scrunchy bunch of lace.

More later.

See; things aren't that bad at all.

All Done (The Sweater Song)

2006-05-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

sweater
Originally uploaded by Madam.

First, a picture post for all of the visual learners out there :)

This is young master Max, wearing a very stylish pullover. To quote his dad in the thank-you e-mail accompanying this photo, "It's unusually cold and rainy for May, but it doesn't matter to this young lad as he warms his feet by a roaring fire in his stylish, hand-knit V-neck."

I decided to eliminate the button on the placket, partially because it looked pretty well finished as-is and partially because I stink at buttons.* I guess the sizing was a little wonky, because I aimed for the 9-12 month range (working by measurements and not rows, no less), but here he is at what I was told was an "average-to-small six months old." But since the weather's been crappy here, he gets to wear it right away, and danged if he doesn't look happy to do so. Matches his socks :) The picture looks a little more olive than the actual color.

Thoughts on the pattern:
Overall, I found this a fairly quick knit with an easy-to-follow rhythm and a clean product with less-than-tedious finishing. However, I did run into some pattern-related issues, cleared up when I finally checked out the errata. For example, if you had never knit a bottom-up raglan sweater before, you might wonder how the sleeves and body got put together. The short story is that the edition of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts that I have neglects to mention that the underarm stitches get grafted together at the end. Which I kind of assumed, but seeing ZERO mention of those eight stitches at any time following "put them on holders" made me spend two days trying to decipher the instructions and make highly technical diagrams (reminding me, suspiciously, of health class and the female reproductive system) in hopes that I could get someone online to help me figure the danged thing out. (And now my picture's shrunken. Woe!) To wit:

Now, see, that's just sad.

*Yeah, I know they're easy, but sewing onto larger-gauge knit fabric is a little different than, say, fixing one on the cuff of an oxford shirt. As evidenced by my mom's gorgeous vest, which would be perfect if three of the eight buttons weren't accidentally sewn through the button AND hole sides when attempting to hide the tail securely :P Anyone have a tried-and-true reference book for improving your finishing? I know there are multiple options...

Followup on the Wendy Phenomenon...

2006-05-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am spending entirely too much time on this issue. it is one that has perplexed me for some time now.

Upon further discussion over a light repast (mmm, fish sammich), Mister Husband and I have agreed upon several points. To wit:

First, she obviously has values that differ from mine, and it is entirely possible that my values will become more like hers as time goes on. However, I also believe that it is entirely possible to live the Bad-Ass Knitter Manifesto in a way that is not quite so... hoardworthy, just a little more connected to others in the world through better use of resources.

You know the inspiration vs. perspiration equation? I forget the actual proportions, but suffice it to say that they're both present in an activity requiring exertion and/or talent. We want to se hard things made easy, or at least shown in a way that says, "You know, it's accessible to me if I do X/Y/Z." For example, why do we watch This Old House? We want to see complicated things broken down into smaller, simpler steps, expertly done.

It's the PROCESS of the matter, and Wendy seems almost exclusively a process knitter. Except that when she describes her process, she doesn't really describe the process. Sure, there's a bit of explanation as to yarn selection, and she does not admittedly spend much time writing as opposed to knitting, but as Mister Husband said, "dropping a wad of cash and applying brute force until it works is not 'process.'"

The knitting world is about utility, individuality and inspiration. You learn to knit so you can create unique items, or items that serve purposes or fit in a particular way, maybe both. So now we go back to the book. Why do people buy knitting books? You're most likely looking for tips, tricks or inspiration -- even if you don't LOVE a pattern, you can use shaping, for example, or add an edging.

This reminds me of my mom's writers. My mom teaches a writing class to mostly-octogenarians, and she helped a woman write her memoirs of growing up in an Italian neighborhood. Others wanted my mom's help to do the same, but my mom couldn't help them all. In particular, she kept trying to encourage one woman to be more descriptive. "We went to the dance, and it was such fun," the woman writes.

"But Gertie, WHY was it fun?" asks my mom.

"Well, there were lots of people there, and it made for such a lovely time."

Similarly, getting a book that says, "I went out and bought it, and came home and did it..." Who wants to pay money to do that? That's not inspiration.

*facepalm*

(Not so) quick and dirty book reviews, with accompanying thoughts

2006-05-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

I suppose that if I start a book review with a load of disclaimers, I probably should wait until I’ve actually had time to digest it. But… you know, first impressions and whatnot. And I DID sit down and do a concentrated skim, which is usually more comprehensive than what most people would consider a flip-through.

But anyways.

On my last trip to Large Corporate Bookstore, I specifically wanted to check out Big Girl Knits, the much-discussed book of patterns and techniques for garments that flatter Ladies Of A Certain Size and those who share some of their curvy attributes. I am pleased to say that it looks to be a winner, albeit with one reservation which I’ll discuss later.

It is colorful and well-constructed, with very nice pictures and some great strategies. I am particularly fond (as are many others) of the book’s overall tone. I’d describe it as dual-pronged: first, that just because you’re large doesn’t mean that your clothing shouldn’t fit close to the body; second, that curvy women are curvy for different reasons in different places (sometimes in combination). “Finally!” I can hear women screaming. “Finally, a book that splits the difference between potato sack and Anna Nicole Smith!” After all, hardly anyone is a straight-out Size [insert number]; regardless of size, so often women are left to make do with clothing that hangs like a curtain because it’s the only thing that’ll fit our busts, or clothing that hugs something higher than where it should.

While I haven’t yet adapted a garment to fit my own needs, this should prove an invaluable resource. Much has already been said about the “boobs, belly, butt” system the book outlines. I was VERY impressed by the extensive, easy-to-follow diagrams and guidelines for each area. In addition, I enjoyed the mini-What Not To Wear-esque suggestions of which necklines and silhouettes flatter best. I won’t go into a lot of detail since it’s been discussed elsewhere, but suffice that I have the greatest respect and admiration for the straightforward manner in which it is presented. Too frequently there’s this see-saw between “make me look skinnier” and “Go out there and be FAAAAABULOUS, girlfriend!” This book helps carve out a niche which shouldn’t be a niche: helping women larger than model-skinny find clothing that makes them look and feel their best. To me, properly fitted clothing shows, more than anything, that you are confident about your body in its normal state and that you take the time to care about finding clothing that shows this. I know I speak for many when I say that I neither want to draw unnecessary attention to myself nor blend in with a crowd; this book understands.

That said, my only reservation is the patterns. I’ll have to go through again and reread, but I’m not sure I’d make many of them. I think some would work very well with a couple of modifications, but what was it that I just didn’t like? I’m not sure. Of course it’s worth buying just for the reference alone, but I’ll have to look closer. One commenter noticed that some of the model garments didn’t fit quite right or hadn’t been blocked to perfection, and I’d have to agree. They’re not sloppy, but there’s a sense in a few of them that even though this is a larger garment, it shouldn’t sag here and there. However, it’s definitely worth checking out. I hear that before the publishing date they were already planning for a second volume :)

My second, and a bit more perplexing, read goes to Wendy Knits: My Life in Knitting by the infamous Wendy D. Johnson. Ah, Wendy. How to describe? For those of you (few) who haven’t been to her blog (see sidebar!), word on the street says that she must be harboring a garret full of Guatemalan immigrants, since a Norwegian ski sweater that would take regular people six months takes her about two weeks. Including yarn spinning.

I can’t describe Wendy’s particular allure. Let’s get some business out of the way: yes, I am insanely jealous of her. Seriously, who wouldn’t be? She’s got time to knit; she’s got a near-infinite vocabulary of skills; she’s got money to burn. That’s a dangerous combination. Now, of course, she has these things because she has chosen to live her life in this way: she gets up early and has a long commute on a subway (though, really, if I had to commute I’d probably enjoy that time), she has no kids aside from the ubiquitous Lucy Of the Cat Pictures… she’s also considerably older than me, so she’s got many more years from which to draw.

I suppose this is partially a review of her book and partially my long-simmering philosophical rumination on the Wendy Phenomenon. First, though, the book.

I’ve got a couple of beefs with it. First, it’s in black-and-white. That shouldn’t be a big bummer, but it would have been really nice to just make like Stitch n Bitch and put in a couple glossy picture pages in the middle. The smallish black-and-white pics on regular matte paper makes it hard to see some of the detail.

Second, I don’t know if the book really knows what it wants to be. Is it a tell-all memoir of the glamorous life of a superstar knitter? Is it a how-to primer on Living Like Wendy? Is it a pattern book? (No.) I was skimming through Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears this past weekend looking for tips on seamlessness and baby sweaters. It occurred to me that EZ occupied a similar niche, in that her books were conversational yet no-nonsense as they outlined techniques and reasonings behind them. And of course there were the inevitable jags into “I came up with this because we were living in X Location and my kids needed Y, and so I [personal reflection].”

Maybe this is my issue with Wendy. She knits in the kind of vacuum that I can’t fully grasp. She knits almost exclusively for herself, which is well and good, but then she DOESN’T WEAR THEM. She’ll say, “This is just too heavy,” or “It fits in a wacky way.” Then she puts them in a corner, and they stay there. I suppose they fit the bill as “process” sweaters, but come on – they’re some of the most complicated sweaters you’ll ever see, and with the kind of yarn she’s using that’s easily $100-$200.

At this point we’ve got the philosophical debate about Art vs. Craft, and paying for enjoyment. I waffle back and forth thinking, “Geez, I could never pay that much for yarn!” except that I find myself remembering, “Okay, so not only do I not have to BUY this thing, it’s also providing me with both an activity and a sense of accomplishment.” If I cook something, does that mean I have to save it for posterity? There’s this sort of Zen koan aspect to the situation.

The other philosophical aspect is that Wendy very clearly endorses what she calls the Bad-Ass Knitter’s manifesto: knit what you want, when you want, how you want, and don’t let people pooh-pooh your method or your madness. And she’s obviously not looking for acceptance in the blogging world, as she’s been around forever and seems to write mainly as a fun little record of what she did. And that’s great. She’s picked up readers like couches pick up cat hair, and I am one of them. I just don’t know why.

So then we get back to the book. It’s like reading an extended blog entry at times. “I wanted to start spinning, so I bought this stuff with no problems, and it probably cost a lot but whatever, and I just did it.” Not very deep and not really acknowledging that most people have neither the time or money to do things quite so easily. Now, I realize that in many ways we live vicariously through people who have the appearance of being more fortunate than you or I, such as wearing colors and makeup like we see in Cosmo or trying to copy a room from Architectural Digest. And it is fully my choice to read said blog, just as it is fully my choice to purchase her book.

But her book just seems so… shallow. Maybe that’s what I was going for.

I agree with her that the first priority is doing things in a way that satisfies YOU. I think, however, that there’s a difference between a free blog and a book you pay for. I don’t know what people are looking for when they buy her book, and it’s not my concern since I won’t be buying it any time soon, if at all. However, I think that perhaps when you are trying to reach a mass audience that will pay money to read your thoughts, maybe you should take some pause and examine the responsibilities of being a role model. Yeah, Charles Barkley didn’t want to be a role model -- but no matter how much he protested, he was.

I don’t know why this bugs me so much. Maybe it’s just my nature as a person who has been raised to think about other people in a particular way. If I’ve decided not to buy a book, that should be it.

I guess the jury’s still out on that.

"Math is hard! Let's go shopping!"

2006-05-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Blogger seems to be on the fritz today, so I began writing this offline. [EDIT: ...and they're doing their thing messing with the links again, which drives me bananas... so none of those links to Amazon will work. Dear Blogger, why you gotta be hating?]

I'd been meaning to churn out a post on some recent book skimmings. First, however: the March of the Babies.

After my previous post, I realized that I had missed TWO OTHERS. One is more pressing, but thankfully it’s also giving me a chance to take advantage of a book I liked but hadn’t used yet. I’m SO CLOSE to ~~being able~~ not being too lazy to do the math to make my own sweater patterns. (I’m sure that I am entirely capable at the present time.) I also haven't sewed up the sleeves on my Debbie Bliss cardigan... must get on that.

The newest baby in question belongs to Mister Husband’s coworker and partner in crime. He was recently adopted from Korea and is about six months old. Leems, you’d appreciate the fact that he already owns his own Ramones t-shirt :) Given the circumstances of the adoption, we knew the baby was coming, but I heard that they had run into some bureaucratic issues with the INS and it wasn’t happening just yet. Imagine my surprise when I found out that not only had they adopted him, but his dad had been on leave for a month and was ready to return this week. Curses! Didn’t they know I wasn’t ready yet?

I made a mad dash out into the crappy weather on Saturday and bought some yarnage at ye olde Lakeside. Of course, their supply of Cascade 220 Superwash isn’t too extensive yet; they seem to be slowly building up the variety, so they mostly have girly pastels. Which wasn’t exactly what I wanted for this kid, given that his dad is kind of a no-nonsense hipster who is fond of earth tones. I ended up with two skeins of Hyacinth, a nice solid blue, but there’s a SMIDGE too much purple in it to really satisfy me. Plus the care still wasn’t QUITE as easy as I thought it could be. So I grit my teeth and broke into the 2000-yard cone of a hunter green GGH Samoa clone (a worsted cotton/acrylic blend) that I bought last year for my own first sweater. Hopefully it won’t make TOO big of a dent.

The pattern I’m using is the Child’s Placket-Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I got it from Lemur last year, and while I like the simple look of the patterns, nothing has really jumped out at me as being something I’d make for a gift (last-minute, a present to myself, or otherwise). I’m very much an in-the-moment sort of knitter; for all my pattern bookmarking, I have to knit what feels right for a particular giftee, and thus haven’t used many things that I nevertheless like a lot. I had searched all sorts of sites and books and leaflets for a sweater knit with a minimum of seaming and a minimum of fussy stuff, and somehow I missed this sweater on my first go-round. Thankfully, when googling blogs to check out some recent baby FOs (another good way to see what sources people use), the pattern came up. It is good! We are saved!

As for modifications:
The book uses Koigu Kersti, which is a merino wool that I believe has a skinnier row gauge than what I’m using. The pattern is mostly stockinette, so it’s easy to just go to the specified length instead of counting rows and measuring all the time. I also changed the edging from eight rows of seed stitch to six. I liked the slightly thinner look, and it’s probably wide enough anyways given the row gauge. I’m also debating whether to just let the neckline flap open without a button or two, or maybe just add one button. It’s a raglan design, so I’ve made the body up to the point of separating out the stitches for attaching the sleeves. I’m maybe a third done with the first sleeve (stupid long dpns and two circs… grrr, must buy longer 7s). So far I like the yarn; it’s provided nice clean definition, but it should still be both soft and sturdy enough for a cute little boy. It’s on the big side, but I have hopefully timed it so that he’ll be able to wear it from September all the way through next March :)

On a side note, I’ve realized yet again how spoiled we modern knitters are when it comes to interesting patterns with good yarns. Sure, I might not like everything out there, but there’s SUCH a difference between what most of us see and create and what our grandmas did and do. The number of weird-looking variegated pastel acrylic bonnet-and-dress combos I’ve seen… oy. You’d think there would be more patterns out there with clean lines that are suitable for either a boy or a girl – in essence, something closer to what you’d see in a store. Apparently not.

In fact, the dad in question seemed to harbor some reservations when his wife took an interest in knitting last year. I think he was worried it was too much of a granny activity – and wth patterns like those out there, who wouldn’t? Mister Husband, however, couldn’t wait to show him all of the cool things in my Stitch ‘n’ Bitch book to prove him wrong. (Hey, maybe THAT’S where it went…)

So. Two thumbs up for the pattern and the yarn. Also of note: the cotton chenille baby Bath Blanket feels even more horrendous in comparison and is still a royal pain to work with. Hmph.

To knit or not to knit...

2006-04-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

I have this... etiquette issue that needs resolution.

Astute readers will notice the gaggle of prospective baby knits. At last count, it stands as follows:

--Coworker's son (born last week)
--Mister Husband's assistant's Baby Of Indeterminate Gender (May 6th)
--Family friend's daughter (May)
--Other coworker's BOIG (Julyish)
--Parents' neighbor and our beloved hairstylist's BOIG (Septemberish)

Here's the dilemma: Absent from this list are my OTHER other coworker's twins, a boy and a girl born in July of 2005. Around that time, I'd been knitting a set of leaf-edged hats for them while minding the mailroom at work. People saw me knitting them (that is, people who weren't the dad in question). I knit the first one -- great. I knit the second one -- eh. Both needed seaming. My seaming stank. Finally, FINALLY, I had them both together... and one was approximately 50% the size of the other. Who knew my gauge would be that crappy? In desperation, I knit another completely different hat. Of course, the yarn wasn't quite as nice and I felt embarrassed. It took me a while to bring them to work, only to discover that I'd inadvertently brought the tiny one instead of the normal one. It went on like that forever.

So now the kids are almost a year old and those damn hats are still sitting in my desk. I could very well give one or the other to someone else. However, I feel terrible about not giving the twins anything, and it wouldn't be very nice to give handknit presents to the babies of two other coworkers and not the one. I'm sure the twin-dad doesn't remember or care, but I do.

So I've got two options here. Which way should I go?
1) Make items for the coworkers and then give the twins something neutral like stuffed bunnies for their birthday. Of course, I hate seaming... any better ideas?
2) Impose a moratorium on handknit gifts for coworkers' babies... which just seems so strict!

I believe that the preventative measure in relation to this problem is simply to continue making baby knits regardless of actual oven-bun statistics. That way something will always be ready, and I'll have a crapload of projects with quick gratification instead of continually making myself hats that don't fracking fit. *shakes fist at giant melon on top of neck*

As for the family friend and the neighbor/stylist, I think they get nicer things anyways. For the family friend, I'm almost done with the cardigan from the cover of this Debbie Bliss book. I just have a couple of seams left. It was a super knit -- very quick and rewarding, and SO CUTE. I liked the way that, just when I'd start getting bored with the stockinette, something would happen to change the shaping. It went by in no time. I also used this garment as a sample piece for Cascade 220 Superwash, and I was really pleased with the end result. It's very snuggly and the color and shaping will be great to break up the endless array of pink I hear the kid will be wearing :P

For the neighbor/stylist, I was thinking of a blanket. Originally I'd thought of the Pinwheel Baby Blanket. This differs, though, from the Grumpecue (Grumperina's take on the Curlicue from Oat Couture, seen 3/4 of the way down) and similar in that those are knit segment by segment. (The Pinwheel Afghan, at the bottom of the page, seems like it'd be another option as well.) Maybe those would be easier and more fun; I like patterns which have definite tracking points to tell you how far you are instead of just saying, "Okay; knit around and around and around until you get to the size you want."

Incidentally, the present I'd been aiming for with the just-born kid-of-coworker isn't going very quickly. It's the cotton chenille baby bath blankie I'd discussed earlier, I believe. It's only garter stitch with a little slip and increase/decrease along the edge, but I don't like it all that much. Maybe it's due to the yarn being so catchy and twisty that I have to pull in weird ways to get it to stop curling around itself. It'll look fine in the end, especially if I add the hood and fold it up all cute with a duckie or something, but the gauge is off in a couple of places most likely due to this issue. I don't like fighting with yarn. (Who does?)

But anyways. We'll see.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2006-04-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

I'm making a few changes to the ol' (okay, new) blog. It's always an adventure, trying to figure out HTML by wrangling it to and fro just to see where the little line or image ends up. I guess it's getting a little easier... maybe.

I've joined a few blog rings, and hopefully that will help me not feel like I am all by my lonesome in this corner of the blogiverse.

More substance coming shortly, as soon as I (yeah, yeah...) figure out the new camera.

Such excitement!

2006-04-08T20:35:00.001-07:00

And I'm not even referring to our DUAL NCAA championships in both men's and women's hockey. (Or AM I????)

But anyways. (After writing this entry, I thought I should go back and warn that this is a rather "cleaning up loose ends" post with not much meat. Kind of the mealy crabcake on the appetizer platter of blogland, so consider yourself warned :P)

After that last entry I thought a bit about the knitting_snark community. I don't particularly want to encourage what my husband refers to as the "nattering nabobs of (k)nitting negativity," and I decided to remove them from my friendslist.

Of course, given that I still wanted to read them on occasion, I didn't actually leave the community...

And then, after a particularly galling spate of idiocy elsewhere, just SCREAMING for commentary, I refriended them...

Who knows. I shall, however, try on my own behalf to keep things in the spirit in which they are intended -- which is to say modding things quickly and cheerfully so people don't keep making themselves fodder. Blecch.

In other news, I found out that the daughter of a family friend is not only pregnant but due next month. Heavens. This brings my baby-items-needed count up to somewhere between three and five. I've got quite a lot of nice baby superwash lying around, but who knows if I'll have time. I've got a rather haphazard trip to LA coming up next week, so hopefully I can arrange a proper little kit that will travel well.

My baby bath blanket, the only project actually in progress, has now passed the halfway point, and the lunch/baby shower was postponed due to the mom's bed rest. So I do have a little bit of a reprieve. But I've been working on two other big non-knitting projects recently, and those have been taking up most of my evenings for the last month or so. One's a silly little artistic thing that I could finish tonight if I buckle down, but it's just getting completely tedious and feels like gilding the lily. The other thing will be done by the time I get back from LA. (Cryptic, I know.) I'm just really looking forward to finally getting to work on all sorts of other little projects.

Finally, the most exciting part: we FINALLY got a new digital camera. Yay! The blog should be a much more interesting place. I'm still bummed that nobody got pictures of some of my earlier FOs, but hopefully we can make up for that with better frequency in general.

In addition, a well-timed jaunt to IKEA by a friend resulted in the acquisition of my new storage unit Antonius (a combination of a rolling metal frame with four fabric drawers and a wooden worktop). It's compact yet spacious, and it looks so much nicer than just a plastic bin. Very customizable, too. I could probably even attach my ballwinder to that instead of my computer desk. Unfortunately, they were out of the Fira unit, which I'd hoped to put on top for a more organized circular needle storage solution. I suppose that's an excuse for us to roadtrip back down again. Really -- who can resist the big blue store and a stop at the Belvidere Oasis? Not I.

So. Huzzah and all that, and I'll catch you on the flipside.

Craziness, yo.

2006-03-30T17:12:00.001-08:00

I know that the first rule of blogging is to make people want to come back, which is why I feel dreadful that anyone coming back to my undecorated corner of the universe hasn't been rewarded with new content.

Things have been crazy at Chez Madam. I recently received word that in two weeks I have to whisk off to do something which has pretty much been a life goal for as long as I could remember, and yet it's something I can only do once. So I'm sitting here thinking, "Geez. I am SO not ready for this." Trying to prepare for it is probably not helping much, but I suppose it gets me in the right frame of mind. Bottom line, though, is that it means I can't knit as much as I want to. Oh... wait... I suppose I could, really, but I'd have to take it more places. I suppose I'll have to mull that over.

Today's musing comes to you courtesy of the knitting_snark community on LJ. I didn't know it existed, but I thought, "Hey, it'd probably be a nice release from the junk in Knitting." I'm one of eight mods over there. I don't know why, since I've only been knitting for two years and still have a lot of questions I ask in there myself, but the others magically bestowed it upon me after I volunteered to write the "knitting on airplanes" entry for the memories.

Of course, I had to search through it to see if I'd been snarked in recent memory. Wouldn't you know, I had -- instantly recognizable without even linking because the poster points me out as a mod. (Not going to link it because it's locked.)

Eh... I had a longer entry here, but I edited it. I probably could have googled, you know, but Knitting's fricken huge and it's dreadfully difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff even by googling.

I guess my problem is that I'm in that awkward stage where the only thing that truly intimidates me are prices and care requirements. I'm prety sensitive when people snark about that; despite having a cushy government job, my name is not Wendy D. Johnson. Being on the larger end of average, the yarn for a "regular" sweater could easily cost me between $60 and $100, and because I want to keep it and show it off I have to be tremendously picky. That's the price of a couch in my world!

So having a place to ask questions is what I really need, since I can't go to the LYS every day. I just don't know how I could successfully ignore Knitting and still know I wasn't being an idiot when I asked something there. (Because, as we know, everything in the world can be solved by just f'ing googling it.)

Blargh.

Auntie... Meme?

2006-03-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Man, Blogger sure is biting my ass as I try to figure it out. Yesterday I got all excited about putting in pictures in various and sundry locations until I realized that a) it only wanted to put one up at the very top of the post, and b) when I tried to undo my work and add it again because I wanted to see if I could work the text wrap better, it gave up on the text wrap entirely and decided never again to confirm the addition of any pictures. Ever. So I had to manually code in the image. (That's a laugh, eh?) Now today I notice that my links don't work to Jacquilynne's LJ and Puzzle Pirates site because, despite coding them the way in which they should be coded, it wants to insert "www.blogger.com" before the URL I put in. Which, of course, leads nowhere, because why would anyone make a page called "www.blogger.com/jacquilynne.livejournal.com"?

Anyways.

Perhaps later on I will post another picture from the archives -- that of the late, lamented Space Invaders hat. Le sigh. But for now, I think I'll start in on actual non-kvetchy content by introducing "Auntie Meme" (har har) from those nutty Knotty Girls Jen and La, whose idea I found through Carrieoke. Think I'm done with the namedropping yet? Hardly! They decided to start this one because "most of them, in our opinion, suck ass." For now, I'll just post it here while I muse on its little challenge, but if anyone wants to join me, I'd love to see what you come up with. I'll post my results when I come up with 'em.

*********

HA. YOU’RE TAGGED AGAIN. Yes, you. This time we are sending you on a Knit Blog Scavenger Hunt.

Rules:
-Your finds must come from knit blogs.
-You may not use a blog for more than one item-all items must come from different sources.
-Finds can come from current entries or archives.
-You must post your answers with the title of the blogs they were found on and a link to the blog/item (permalinks where appropriate) on your blog. If no permalink is available, give us the post date.
-Do not steal anyone’s bandwidth-which means you should not hotlink pictures.
-You need to comment and let us know when you have completed this meme.

1. A blog which you think people have not discovered.
2. A blog whose author lives close to you physically. Just get as close as you can, it’s all relative.
3. An unusual or weird animal picture.
4. An entry that made you laugh and got you strange looks from family or co-workers.
5. An idea you wish you’d thought of.
6. Something you’d like to knit.
7. A picture of something you consider beautiful
8. A blog whose author you’d like to one day meet in person
9. A blog of someone you have already met in person.

Now, be sure to leave a comment so we (and others) know to go check out your finds! Happy hunting!

Babies! Yarnage! Pictures in glorious >>>Blog-O-Vision(tm)<<<

2006-03-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

This is my pal Benjamin, aka Baby Nemo. He models a dashing chapeau resplendent in shades of scarlet and eggshell, accented by a boldly patterned blankie with... uh... swords on it.

See, in Y!PP we've got this swordfighting puzzle that's vaguely Tetris-esque. Blocks have different colors with different types of swords on them. So some friends and I got together and decided to each make patterned color blocks that looked like those in the game. The simple variation between knit and purl stitches proved more than adequate for patterning, and we decided on mercerized cotton for its washability and brightness. Jacquilynne (in Toronto) did the finishing and the blue and yellow, also creating the patterns in Excel, while Lemur (in St. Paul) took the green and I took the red. I also included the baby stripey cap seen here. In the game, particular patterns of colors score in different ways based on what sword you use, so we picked a pattern and arranged the color blocks accordingly. Then Jacquilynne finished it all off with a cabled gold binding made to look like rope. (More detailed pictures of its construction can be found here -- trust me when I say that's actually blue, not purple.)

I'm sure that some people would have been a bit mystified by the patterns, but how awesome to be able to take something that Benjamin's dad had a hand in and make it into a bright, snuggly gift. We couldn't have been happier with the end result, and as you can see we had a very happy baby (and mom and dad!) as well.

Okay -- it's official.

2006-03-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

I'm sure anyone with a vested interest knows this already, but thanks to my intrepid pal, the 5'3" Alana, we may now certify that Clapotis is, in fact, too short. It isn't just 5'7" me and my linebacker shoulders/long torso. Validation... but oh, the cost.

The problem is, of course, compounded by the fact that unlike many other stole or scarf patterns, it isn't so easy to just tack another couple of repeats on the end. Because it's knit on the bias, the long row repeats end ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT gradually decreasing rows before the end. That's a goodly amount of work for a near-slowbie like me to rip out, add to, and knit again. Alana tried to cut 'em off at the pass and planned ahead to add an extra six rows, but alas -- to no avail. The shaping means that it's not even that easy to estimate the triangular end piece from the increased section at the beginning.

Over the course of our discussion, she asked if I'd considered using it as a scarf instead of a stole. I did, but since I made it from the marvelously fuzzy Malabrigo, a rather lofty worsted, it bulks up way too much for my taste. Too short as well (whoda thunk?). I mentioned that I'd be trying to block it to within an inch of its life in an attempt to wrangle a little extra length out of it, but she brought up an interesting point. Seems she really likes the extra nubbliness and waves of texture that the lack of blocking brings, and I can't say that I'd disagree. So maybe I'll mull it over for a little while longer before I make my final decision.

Design matters...
Miss A. and I moved on to more pressing concerns after that, bemoaning the relative lack of truly original piratical designs out there. Certainly, we loves us some Hello Yarn, but even with the advent of the Knit Like A Pirate community on LiveJournal it's always the same. "Ooh, I put a skull on a hat!" "Ooh, I put a skull on some wristwarmers!" (Okay, so Snowball's Chance in Hell was actually pretty flippin' sweet.) I'm sure y'all know what I mean, though, especially since I know for a fact that piratical knitting is right up there on many of your lists. (All, uh, seven of you :P)

So here's my question: what patterns (graphic) or patterns (garment/whimsy shapes and features) could we come up with to make a dent in the rather low-key oeuvre that's out there right now? Certainly we could at least refine a stripey cap, or provide a few more options for ye olde skull pattern, but maybe we can branch out into full-fledged wench tops and sashes.

For those of you who aren't familiar with one of my other hobbies, I am involved with an MMORPG called Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates. Mister Husband and I have lifetime subscriptions, as we were alpha testers over three years ago, and we've gotten to be friends with some of the people who make the game. In particular, the current lead arrrrtist did some custom non-game art for us a couple years ago, and I returned the favor in part by helping to knit some happy little nummies when he and his wife had their first kid.

As i mentioned earlier, I figure there's no better way to start posting pictures in here than to introduce Baby Nemo and some of his swag. But for some reason the picture integration in Blogger isn't really letting me put the picture where I want it, so I'll have to start a new post. Excessive, yes, but nothing too good for display of my collaborative handiwork. Or something.

Onward, and keep those comments a-comin'.

Putting the L in LYS

2006-03-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

A little shout out to blog visitor Alexandra, commenter and designer of such fine patterns as Coronet and That One Pretty Kinda Argyley Sweater I'll Probably Get Around To When I'm Richer, who inquired about Lakeside and its friendliness. I'll discuss some of the relative merits of the locals, but if you'll permit me to digress briefly into a description of Vegas knittery...

It's always so interesting to vary my usual orbit a little. Last week we stopped in a place in Vegas which branched out into roving and starched knit/crochet wall art. Kind of an odd combination, but I liked seeing how they varied the supply based on climate and preferences. I think they probably had a lot of newer knitters, based on the people knitting in the back and the particular variety of patterns. The roving was kind of a surprise, then. I only bought stitch markers :P Two other hardcore knitters in the house, and... well, the result of that can be found in the "booooooo" section below. Such is life.

In Madison, for so long I stuck solely with Lakeside Fibers; they were the closest, the most well-stocked and the most friendly. Of course, much of that comes from the utter slogging necessary to find and purchase something at the Knitting Tree, the second-closest store. How I ever shopped there, I'll never know -- they had the shortest hours, which limited my time over there to the occasional Saturday jaunt resulting in getting stuck between a Lady who Lunches, a poodle and a teetering display of unpriced cashmere. (Because really, if you hahhhve to ahhhsk...) One night I went over there and couldn't get out the door because the (now-former) owner was blocking the doorway from outside as she yakked on the cordless. She was originally from New York and designed sweaters which usually required a) ample supply of Colinette, b) feathers or c) both. I remarked to friends that I now knew what it looked like when a peacock threw up.

The most galling thing, to me, involved a chance stop over my lunch hour one day. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd see if they had some long #2s so I could play with Magic Loop. (I'll readily admit that I still haven't found my sock comfort zone :P) So I ask the chick behind the counter -- not the woman-from-indeterminate European-country-who-always-dresses-like-she's-going-to-a-ball, but some rather ditzy type who didn't strike me as being very well informed. She's standing right in front of the needles; I can see that she's got 36" circs and 2s, and the 36" ones are in the teeny sizes, but I don't see exactly what I want. So I ask.

"Oh, do they even make those?" she says. "Because I don't think they exist."

She's got three different needle manufacturers, and she doesn't even bother turning around to check. Of course the needles were all on the wrong hooks anyways, so why would she know? I pressed on, considering the possibility of a different project:"Okay... how about Denise [interchangeable needle] kits? Do you have those?"

The counter lady shuddered and lowered her voice. "Ohhhhh noooooo. Melissa [owner] thinks they're just the most horrible thing. We will NEVER carry those. UGH!"

So it's not enough to deny the mere existence of what I'm looking for... you're going to insult something else I want? Granted, I've since decided that i don't want to get the Denise set for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't change the fact that some people (people who don't knit on their morning treadmill run and don't already own full sets of Addis in aluminum and bamboo, natch) choose to buy the set to save a little money instead of getting individual circs or straights... how rude! How completely unwelcoming!

Lakeside has never been less than helpful to me. It's true that they'd probably have reason to get a little exasperated with me, given my just-silly-enough questions. I like to hope that my enthusiasm and willingness to experiment outweighs anything eye-rollable... especially when I, like, buy stuff. I shopped there maybe once every couple months or so and didn't realize that my hour of wander-and-paw had made any impact until a customer was eyeing the last copy of a pattern I'd just looked at (that Lush leaflet, in fact) and the manager called out, "If [Madam] doesn't want it go ahead." In baseball terms, I'm probably about a Double-A knitter, so I was pleased and surprised that she considered me a regular. (It's always nice when you realize that, isn't it?)

The other two shops I've been to around here are Stitcher's Crossing and the Sow's Ear. Stitcher's Crossing is, I think, more of an embroidery and quilting store, but they have a fair selection of yarns in the back. I recall quite a bit of various Plymouths (including quite a bit of novelty instead of a larger supply of basics, unfortunately), some gorgeous Manos and a surprising amount of more nontraditional yarns like soy silk and bamboo. They may also have longer hours than some of the other shops, but I'm not quite sure as I've only been there a couple of times.

The Sow's Ear is the one that most of the older, Knitting Guild-type knitters I know frequent --rather, gush about lovingly. I really couldn't say much about it, since the only time I'd been there was in search of some Berroco Chinchilla for my first project. (Chemo hat. I had a reason!) I do know that they were the first in the area to offer a coffee shop atmosphere (and hours! open at 6 AM!) to go along with the yarn. Unfortunately, it's in Verona and I am carless.

Back to Lakeside, though... perhaps it's a fact of becoming more familiar with different techniques and styles of knitting requiring truly different things, but I'm actually glad to branch out a bit and check out other places. After the Knitting Tree changed hands, the atmosphere calmed down a lot. I was pretty pleased to see the change, and quite plainly I wasn't the only one. So if I need a little Encore or some Rowan yarns, I know I can go over there and not have to deal with the crazy elitist harpies anymore. We'll see if my preferences shift substantially within the next year or so.

YAY and BOO

2006-03-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

I suppose that I should encourage positivity by starting with the YAY part.

YAY for my dear sweet LYS, the ever-lovely Lakeside Fibers, for finally starting to carry Cascade 220 Superwash. I know, I know... I should really just grow up and learn how to care for regular wool garments. Which shouldn't actually be too hard, given that Mister Husband washes everything in cold. Still, I don't trust our combined brains enough to watch out all the time. Witness, for example, the Celtic Cable Hat, my pride and joy, getting turned into a near-yarmulke last month because it was just a leeeetle too close to the basket at wash time. (I suppose, though, it does provide me with a reason to make myself another awesome hat... no! STOP IT! There is nothing good about shrinking stuff in a non-purposeful fashion! Don't even think about it!)

So I've waited for ages to figure out just what to use for my lacey cardigan (Classic Elite leaflet #9001, specifically the purple one on the right here). It's supposed to be made in Lush, which is 50/50 angora/wool, but that would never happen. Even without the washing concerns, the angora would shed like mad. Plus it was like 9 bucks a skein at 124 yds/skein, which would have easily run me between $80-$100. I think, though, that even though the C220 Superwash won't bloom as nicely as the Lush, that it'll work quite well. It should only take me about six skeins, so if I buy a whole bag I'm sure I'll have something else I could do with it.

I won't be making it in that lavender, though. The store model was in kind of a dark celery color, which I thought looked quite nice, especially with spring finally here. It was one of the things I kept seeing that made me go bonkers wanting to knit something light and fresh instead of yet another cabled or fair isle hat suitable only for matching with a giant parka. Lakeside only had four colors in, none of which particularly struck my fancy (they were sort of Lands End-y colors -- just a little TOO bright in coral, or butter-yellow). However, I did get to check out the color cards. I think the most suitable would be 841, which resembles the celery I liked in the model. I also liked... umm... 803, which is a deep plum that doesn't come out very well on my current monitor. 811 is akin to one of my favorite regular C220 shades as well. However, for the springy look and the ability to go well with jeans, I think the green's the way to go. (I need to branch out from my 80-shades-of-brick-red look.)

The BOO this round goes to my friggin-fraggin-grmph!in Print o' the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang. This would be my second attempt at lace knitting, and my first with an actual decent pattern. (I tried the Mystery Stole-along, but -- forgetting for a second that nobody's made this thing before, and nobody knows what any of it looks like -- the pattern was written in a fairly confusing manner, and even after I rewrote it to suit my brain I had terrible counting issues.)

So a couple of weeks back I got into it on the bus and plane while headed to my Vegas shindig, and got about five rows in before losing a stitch near the end of the row. No matter how I counted and looked, the row seemed to be okay but the stitch was suspiciously GONE. So I said, "Eh, I'll live," and added one on the end in an inconspicuous manner. Everything went well until I got back up to row 11 and realized that I had the same problem again. Moreover, I found that my k2togs now bookended my stitch markers, which got me all in a tizzy worrying that I'd missed another couple of stitches elsewhere and had shifted all of my stitches down. Which, with an 80-stitch row and lots of weird tinkings, would have been a picky, niggling little nightmare to frog back.

After a little question-and-answer session with Eunny herself on LJ, I was satisfied that the stitch marker issue was just a figment of my imagination. However, this missing stitch thing, and the fact that I had added the stitch markers AFTER my row-five issue, made me go back and start over again. So I did. Got to row five, realized what I probably did wrong (spot with regular knit instead of k2tog -- the only row where this occurred), plowed through, got to row 11... missing a stitch. Counted again and again and again. Threw up hands and added another stitch at the end. Looked fine. Started in on repeat number two of the 12 rows... it looks like crap. The zigzagging effect looks like it's totally off, even though it shouldn't be, and suddenly I find that the stitch markers are causing more trouble than the problems were meant to solve.

So I've had it. I think this lovely greenish laceweight will just have to take a time out in the corner, because while it is obviously eager to be something, this ain't it. (Neither is a teeny tiny Clapotis, but that's another story entirely.) I'm still wondering if I'm cut out for anything that delicate anyways. I like my stuff sturdy and strong, whether it's the color or texture or yarn. Even in airier things I tend to go for denser, all-over patterns in repeats.

Furthermore, while I must stress repeatedly that Eunny herself couldn't be friendlier or more patient, I need only point you here or here to demonstrate that she is fond of projects that are, how you say, gorgeous but crazy. The girl makes up brocade in size 1 for fun. MIND-NUMBINGLY TINY fun, even -- that Frost Flowers shawl was meant to be on 6s but she did it on 0s just 'cuz. Ouch.

To sum up, this has added to my already long string of rather... unsuccessful projects. My Clapotis was nummy but too short, my We Call Them Pirates hat was too tiny... For cripes' sake, one of these days I need to do a project for myself which not only fits but is easy to fix if it doesn't. Grr.

On the needles:
I have three office baby projects coming up within the next few months. One's due mid-April and will be receiving a baby bath blanket in cotton chenille, a free pattern from Lakeside. The secoond is my husband's assistant, who is due May 6th (I think). The third is another person in my department, but she's actually due later in the summer, I think. I don't know what I'll do for the latter two, and I kind of forgot which needles I was using on the first one since I pulled them out last month for Clapotis. Tee hee. I guess we'll figure that out when I start it up again and it looks DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT. (Maybe the baby won't notice. Yay for developing eyeballs.)

In the meantime, I really need to get going on that cardigan. Really really.

Family tree

2006-03-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

In the process of starting this blog, I played around with some different names and headers. I figure I'll continue to do so until I build up some more posts and features to get a sense of what the blog will actually feel like. What I started out with and what I have right now reflect some facets of myself, of course -- anyone who's been around me knows that I have a fondness for, uh, tangents -- while also serving as shoutouts to various members of my family.

Originally I picked "You Can't Go Wrong With Navy Blue." It bit the dust due to my chosen templates being green :P My maternal grandma was the great knitter in my family, the one who taught me when I was eight (before I knit a one-inch scarf and abandoned it for eighteen years). However, she was also the paragon of all other domestic skills and etiquette. "You can't go wrong with navy blue" became a mantra for all situations, sometimes completed with "...and a nice strand of pearls and some pumps." (The number two spot would probably go to her admonition to my mother before her high school choir trip, during which she would stay in someone's home: "Don't use more than two inches of bathwater.") When I started knitting, I didn't have a very good memory of my grandma's projects, aside from the pile of baby blankets she always had next to her chair. She'd died about a year and a half before I started, and she hadn't knit for a while due to Alzheimer's. I remember seeing the pieces of a very old and very intricate traditional aran on a table at her funeral and asking if I could have them. My aunts and uncles told me no; they treated the knitting as if it were art. At this point in my knitting career, I certainly don't have her speed or her innate knowledge, but I've done a fair amount of cabling and know I'm capable of just about anything if I follow a pattern. Still, it'll take me years to work up that level of finesse, but I'm really excited to have that connection.

The "but anyways" part does reflect my typical manner of speaking. You've probably noticed that already, between the parentheses and the ellipses. I do tend to use the phrase "but anyways" fairly often. However, this phrase also has family significance. I'd say it runs through my great-uncle Verne, Grandma's brother.

Verne's a fairly well-known sculptor. I suppose that working with giant sheets of metal and an oxyacetylene torch isn't exactly akin to knitting, but I've always felt more of a kinship with 3D forms than most others. Verne and I share the habit of telling stories, though I wish mine were half as interesting.

But anyways... but anyways, he says that you can tell what branch of the Shaffer family we're from because of the Split. Somewhere between Princeton, IL and New Wilmington, PA there's an imaginary line clearly delineating the usage of this phrase. To the west, it's "but anyways" and to the east it's "but anyhow." I can't say it their way, and they probably can't say it mine. Go figure.

A travesty. Two, in fact.

2006-03-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

First, the knitting-related.

Finished my Hello Yarn "We Call them Pirates" fair isle hat today. Yeah, it's too small. As Lemur says, quoting Abby at Borealis (I think), "the hat IS the swatch." Guess I'll be making another "swatch" of some sort... I intend to offer it up to one of my smaller-headed fellow pirates.

The second... well, I picked up the premiere issue of a magazine about arts and crafts homes. My parents have a lovely 1917 Craftsman, and because they have 1974563053 things on their plates and I live in a two-room box, I live my renovation fantasies vicariously through them. (Yes, the dishwasher we bought two years ago IS still sitting on the back porch in the box. No, they don't have a working dishwasher, unless you consider my dad.)

Anyways.

Flipping through it, I was particularly struck by photos of extensive built-ins in a previously gutted house. Gorgeous three-part butler's sideboard, powder rooms inspired by those on a luxury ocean liner, window seats flanking a small desk all the way along the wall of a sunroom... breathtaking. What had originally caught my eye the most involved what I assumed to be the main staircase. Several staggered longer shelves ran along the inner wall of the stairs, while the space under the stairs included multiple doors and drawers of different sizes resembling a tansu chest (something I've had my eye on for several years). The overall effect really showcased a great sense of space usage and a bit of contemporary design within the traditional.

So I kept reading through the article to find out more. Turns out the house had been neglected for many years before this renovation, and within the remodeling process the owner had decided to add on to reach a total of 6,000 square feet. That should have been a red flag right away, but I kept reading. The same owner who decided to increase the square footage then decided before occupancy that the house would be too big, and put the house on the market following the renovation's completion. It sold.

The person who bought the property, however, was more interested in the land than the house and proceeded to GUT IT AGAIN. All that's left of the brand-new woodwork? The pictures.
Jaw, meet floor.

I'm here.

2006-03-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

I kept getting jealous of everyone with the knitting blogs, and the yarn porn, and the hula hoops, and the short pants, and the Trapper Keepers, and the listening to the No Doubts...

So here I am.

More interesting posts will be dependent upon getting a better digital camera, and actually getting around to cataloging my finished objects. I haven't actually taken pictures of most of them, but I have several lying around the house and could probably rustle some up. Meanwhile, I could certainly start with the pictures of Kniterati Project One, aka the Baby Nemo blankie. Because, really, who couldn't use a picture of a perfectly joyous little snugglebun?

Anyways. I'm workin' on it. Any suggestions for things you'd like to see, or stupid features that you KNOW nobody else is dorky enough to do... I'm your gal.