Demands of My Sister

My sister gave me a gift card to Debbie Macomber's yarn shop for Christmas. This was delightful because it meant I had to go to the yarn shop before I left town. (Twist my arm...such punishment...)

We went to the shop and I walked around looking at literally every yarn available. I wanted to pick something out that I couldn't easily get online. I also wanted something that would have that festive, Christmas gift feel...so not dishcloth yarn...As I meandered about petting and squishing the pretty skeins, my mom and sister also wandered about.

Eventually Sister came over. Apparently she had found a hat that she HAD to have. Which translates to she found a hat that I was supposed to make for her. This happens fairly regularly when Sister and I go to yarn shops. It isn't that she can't knit. She can. I am pretty sure that we have taught her how. It is more that she doesn't see the point in it when I make her everything her heart desires.

I looked at the pattern and said I would make it if she bought the yarn for it. I would even pay for the pattern. (She seemed shocked that she had to buy the yarn...but that's the way the cookie crumbles.)

She picked out some lovely wool. I made the hat when I got back to TX. I must really love her to make something with stranded color work. I hate color work. It worked out well though, and she was very grateful when it came in the mail...Kentucky has been having LOTS of snow days this winter.

(Oh, and I bought myself some alpaca with the gift card...it is not yet assigned a project...)

Commission Socks

My new boss, Dr. Boss, is a man after my own heart. A man obsessed with socks. Specifically, a man obsessed with crazy, quirky, eccentric socks. His obsession has reached the point that his wife has had to make a rule: for every new pair of socks he acquires, an old pair of socks must be disposed of.

He found out that I knit socks. He heard me wax eloquent on the joys of custom made handknit wool socks. He saw the crazy socks I have made for myself. He decided he needed socks.

Since Abilene has no yarn shop, and since the few craft stores/superstores that carry what passes for yarn do not have sock weight, I emailed him some links to online sock yarn suppliers. I did not realize what an ordeal selecting a yarn color would be for him.

In the end he decided he wanted to go with Berocco Sox, which I was going to order from Jimmy Beans Wool. But even after narrowing it down to a brand, he had a hard time narrowing it down to a color. Back and forth, back and forth...he kept changing his mind. Finally he got it down to two colors: Lancaster and Humberside. He could not decide.

That was when I had my moment of brilliance. I would make two pairs of socks...one in Lancaster for him, and one in Humberside for his wife. That way, maybe, he wouldn't have to get rid of a pair when he got the new pair...after all, she would be getting socks, too!

He went for it, and I ordered the yarn. Unfortunately the Lancaster was back ordered and has not yet arrived...the Humberside is here though, cast on, and started. Maybe I can get the Humbersides done before the Lancaster comes in. Fingers crossed!

It Fits!!!!

I finished the German Herringbone skirt from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits! (I never named this project...strange...it was just the skirt...) The best part is...it fits PERFECTLY!!!!! This is the first full garment (meaning non-accessory item) that actually fits exactly the way I had envisioned in my head! Now I just need to find a cute top to wear with it.

It wasn't a simple project knit, but it wasn't difficult either. The stitch pattern required attention and counting, so I couldn't just brainlessly go at it. But it was very straightforward and well written. I made a few adjustments to the pattern, which just goes to show that I can be taught! Check gauge. Measure often. Try things on. And, despite the fact that I added several repeats of the herringbone to the skirt, I actually ended up with one entire skein of yarn leftover at the end. (Not sure what I'll do with it...I'm sure I'll think of something.)

The only truly disconcerting moment during construction occurred a couple of days ago. I had just finished the reverse stockinette rows, and moved onto the stockinette yoke. I was sitting sideways on my couch. It just so happened that I was wearing shorts, and the skirt was laying over my legs...so I got a pretty good idea of what it was going to look like on. That's when I realized the horrible truth:

The color of the yarn (harbour) was the exact same shade of teal as the veins in my legs! That's right, folks, the skirt brought out the lovely color of my circulatory system running beneath my extremely pale and translucent skin.

Not cool.

Definitely not something I ever thought I would need to worry about when selecting yarn colors though. (I think if I wear stockings though, it won't be at all noticeable...or I could just attempt to actually tan...)

Despite the color foible, it is a GREAT skirt. I am THRILLED with it...and will take more photo-shooty pictures once I find an appropriate top.

Sameness

I am fairly predictable when it comes to color.

My favorite color is orange.

I knit a lot of oranges/rusts/reds/browns.

When people give me yarn they tend to give me a lot of oranges/rusts/reds/browns.

The other color I knit a lot of is grey. I love grey. It doesn't show dirt like white, and it highlights stitch patterns better than black. It is elegant. It is neutral. It is classy.

I decided a few months ago that I needed to break out of my mold.

I needed to try knitting things not in oranges/rusts/reds/browns and not in grey.

So I ordered a bunch of yarn from KnitPicks. I bought yarn at my yarn shop.

...and everything I bought color coordinates.

It is all turquoise/blue/green/purple.

All of it.

(Proof of this is visible in the picture on my knitpicks package post.)

I guess if I really want to experience knitting hue variety I need to print off a picture of the color wheel and work my way around clockwise from project to project or something...

Predictability. It is a curse.

Cable Car

Wednesday was Furlough Fun Day! (All the county libraries were closed due to budgeting...) And so, as usual, my friends and I celebrated our lack of being paid by spending money.

We met at the San Francisco Public Library to get library cards, walked over to the Asian Art Museum and its Shanghai exhibit, and then ate lunch at Francis Ford Coppolla's Cafe Zoetrope. (Which is, by the way, the COOLEST restaurant ever!)

It was still chilly and blustery in the Bay Area...but I was prepared!

I wore my new Cable Car hat!

The yarn is a DK Merino from KnitPicks, and the color is called "fog"...which I thought was perfect for a San Francisco inspired hat!

The pattern is a SuperKnits original...and is being submitted to KnitPicks for inclusion in their Independent Designer Pattern program. We'll see how that goes!

Knox

There is a very nice lady at my church, Perky, who likes to walk in the mornings.

When she walks her ears get cold.

A properly knit cap could solve this issue, so she commissioned me to make one. She wanted, in her words, a "sunshine yellow" toque. (She is married to a Canadian. She says toque, I say beanie...to-may-to, to-mah-to.)

The dilemma here was in the definition of "sunshine yellow". Yellows cover a broad range...so, I asked her to go through her son's crayon box, find a crayon that was the yellow she wanted, and tell me the color name. (I have a gazillion crayola crayons...out of childhood habit, I buy a new box of 64 or 96 every fall...) However, it seems her son's crayons were not Crayolas. She solved this by sending the actual crayon to bible study, care of her husband, the Canadian.

I took the crayon to the yarn shop, and literally passed it in front of every Cascade 220 yellow till I found a perfect match. (It was a good thing I had the crayon, because the color was a little greenier than I had imagined.)

The beanie itself is being called the (Fort) Knox, as in Fort Knox where all the gold is kept. (Partially because the color reminded me of gold bullion...partially because I was serendipitously watching Goldfinger while I knit it.) I carried the "bullion" theme into the stitch pattern by working elongated cables into the ribbing, like little bricks! I am actually very pleased with the design, and think that I will write it up...I can see it looking very manly in a fatigue green...

I delivered the beanie on Sunday. Perky was astonished that I got the beanie finished as quickly as I did. She gladly plopped it on her head, despite having Sunday morning pretty hair, and posed for a picture.

Now when she walks in the morning, people will definitely see her coming! And hopefully her ears will be warm.

Crisis Averted...Sort Of

Thought I would give an update even though it is an "even" day.

After taking a major chill pill last night, I re-evaluated my situation.

I could either unravel the whole project and start over, adjusting it so that the yarn I had would be sufficient. (So not going to happen...)

OR

I could go to different stores and try to find more yarn and hope that the dye lots were close enough that it wouldn't matter.

I obviously went with the second.

Without divulging what the project is, since it is a commission for a GIFT...I can say that it has stripes. So, I am going to intersperse the new skeins with the old skeins until the old ones run out. The new skeins appear to be identical to the old ones, but better safe than sorry. Luckily they should be separated by enough space that any minute differences won't show.

I hope.

(Postscript for my mother: I know I told you yesterday morning that I had purchased the rest of the yarn. But it turned out that it was the wrong brand. I hadn't taken the ball bands in with me at the store, and they had moved stuff around to mask how low their stock was. I grabbed yarn from the right aisle that was the right color, but the yarn I needed was wool/acrylic blend and the stuff I bought was 100% acrylic. I realized the error when I got to work. Called my friend, she told me they were out of what I needed. So...I got the right stuff at another store after work tonight, and will return the wrong stuff tomorrow.)

Broken Heaters

I got a text message from Vodka last week.

This is not unusual. We text a lot.

This particular message had the basics: she misses me, how is my life, we need to get together...

It also gave the interesting update that she loves her new job in Berkeley, but that the heater in her office building is broken.

The poor thing is freezing.

(Not to mention the fact that she has to take BART into work, and BART stations and trains are COLD!)

She needed wrist warmers. So, I obliged! (Actually, this was my ultimate frisbee project.)

We decided on olive green, since it goes with just about every other color. It wouldn't show BART dirt and grime as much as some colors. And finally, it just seems to be a good serviceable color that won't fade out! Why else is it used in so many military uniforms?

Depending on how this pair works out for her, and how soon they fix the heat at her work, I may be making more!

Now...Or Later

I am getting a lot of work done on Les Tuileries...

It is turning out beautifully.

Although, it is a wee bit of a pain having to alternate skeins every 2 rows. (Honestly, they had the same exact dye lot on the label, and looked the same when still skeined...once they were balls though...WOW...huge difference...I'm talking a difference you could drive a Mack truck through...)

The problem is, that I am not sure that the two skeins I have are going to be sufficient for the wrap I have envisioned. If they are not, I will need to introduce a third skein into the mix, alternating it every two rows with the remainder of original skein A, and then every 2 rows with the remainder of original skein B. Which means, I will need to get it now so that I can start the intermingling as soon as possible.

But I am on a budget.

And there is always the chance that the two original skeins WILL be sufficient, in which case I will have spent 20 odd dollars for nothing. AND I will be left with little bits of left over yarn in odd dye lots...

I'll probably just cave and buy another skein...Ugh.

Finally Got Around To It

When NorCalGal was in the process of moving back down to CA, she discovered a really neat little yarn shop in downtown Sacramento. She brought back some rust colored Baby Alpaca chunky yarn for me as an incentive to get me to move. (I figure her thinking was that she could lure me south with the promise of quality fibers...and apparently it worked cause here I am!)

I only had one skein, but that was ok. I had made kool-aid dyed beanies for Sister and Sis-In-Law out of chunky yarn, but never got around to making one for myself. I decided to use the alpaca instead of doing a dye job...the rust was the ideal color, and not one easily achieved with beverage powder!

I had used my swift to ball the yarn prior to the move down. I just hadn't cast on. Other projects kept cutting in the queue. (Besides, I didn't NEED a beanie...I lived in CA!)

Labor Day weekend, I took the ball with me to WA to use as a nostepinde demo. (I didn't want to take my swift, so needed a ball instead of a skein.)I impressed the aunts with my nifty notion, and got a more usable ball in the process. As long as I had it rewound, I went ahead and cast it on. It was a speedy knit, and I got it made up in a single night.

Not a needed item. Not even that impressive of an item. But still something that I can check off the to-do list, and one less ball in the stash!

(It did turn out pretty cute though...didn't it?)

Conclusion of the Matter

I took a poll.

Apparently I am the only human being alive that can tell the difference between the two yarns in JoNo's hat...and admittedly even I can only do it in certain lights and possibly because I know where I joined the new ball in.

I am heeding the advice (*cough* commands *cough*) of my friends and giving JoNo the original hat as is.

I am letting go and moving on.

We'll see how that goes...

No Dye Lot Yarn

JoNo requested that I make him a beanie as his graduation present. Since he has been so sweet lately, I went so far as to agree to make ear flaps.

He wanted it to be dark blue...which was perfect since I had a goodly amount of dark blue acrylic left over from an earlier project (I believe it was a scarf I made as an undergrad for one of the Oblivious Twins...the one who still actually keeps in contact, not the other one).

I merrily began knitting.
First one ear flap.
Then the other.
Then connected them and knit the 1x1 ribbed band.
Then knit the main body of the hat in a 3x1 rib.
Simple mostly brainless knitting that allowed me to enjoy both Funny Girl and Funny Lady.

But then when it came time to start the decreases, I looked down and realized that I did not have enough yarn left to finish the beanie.

No sweat! It was, according to the ball band that had miraculously survived sitting in the stash for at least 5 years: Caron Simply Soft NO DYE LOT YARN.

What a bogus bunch of hogwash. I had Blondie drive me to the store to get some more.
Under the craft store's cheap fluorescent lights, the yarns appeared to match.
Under my less than ideal lighting at home, while I knit it, it appeared to match.
But, now that the beanie is completed and I have examined it in the lovely natural sunlight streaming in through the living room window, it clearly DOES NOT MATCH!!!!

I have two options:

1. Give it to JoNo and hope he doesn't care, since it really is only a wee bit on the crown and not MILES off in color.

2. Knit a whole new beanie with the new yarn, and unwind the old beanie and reknit it as a child's size or without earflaps.

ARGH!

Techno Knitting

I have an iPhone.

I love my iPhone for many reasons: the built in iPod, the built in GPS, constant email access, remote facebook access, internet at my fingertips, high quality camera, etc.

But now I have a NEW reason to love my iPhone: the "EweStash" app.

This app allows me to not only catalog and keep track of all the yarn in my stash by color, fiber, gauge, and yardage...it is also fully searchable, AND lets me take a picture of the skein with my phone to save with the record. It also has a section to catalog knitting needles and crochet hooks.

Needless to say, this is a library knitter's dream come true.

Now when I am out at the store, if I come across a pattern I can make sure I don't already have the yarn at home. And, once I use a skein, I just delete it from the stash!

I am in love.

Super Knitter...CROCHETS!!!

Fact: It is faster to crochet a baby blanket than it is to knit one. (I don't crochet often...but like to since I have a WICKEDLY COOL CROCHET HOOK!!!!)

When Blessing was a baby, or rather before she was born, I crocheted a spring green baby blanket for her. Actually, to be technical, I crocheted a spring green baby blanket and put it in the gift stash until SOMEBODY had a baby to give it to. But BFF loved it, and asked for it, and so received it. (In addition to a custom designed quilt and sundry other gifts...the advantage of being my BFF is you get TONS of handmade stuff.)

Now that BFF is expecting again, I needed to crochet another one. I discussed in a I'm-trying-to-be-sneaky-but-you-know-good-and-well-I-am-making-you-something sort of way what colors BFF wanted to do the baby's stuff in. To my surprise she said she wanted the same green that Blessing's blanket was.

This posed a conundrum. I don't like to do the same thing twice, but unfortunately I am pretty much a one-trick pony when it comes to crochet.

Solution: Instead of the double crochet pattern I used on Blessing's, I did a giant granny square. Also, instead of a solid green like before, I used a variegated green that had bits of blue, turquoise, and purple in it.

I brought the blanket with me to Denver as a preliminary gift, and can put off the quilt until this summer!

It's Been Too Long

I haven't seen BFF since September of 2005. We keep in touch, and are pretty good about calling and writing, but it just isn't the same!

I had a vacation scheduled to go visit Sister in KY, but that ended up falling through. So, with Southwest offering insanely low prices, I decided it was time to go to Denver. (We all know how much I LOVE plane trips...so much knitting time!)

I got in Thursday afternoon, and it was amazing. It was as if I had seen BFF just yesterday, nothing has changed between us.

What HAD changed was Blessing, BFF's daughter. There is a large difference between a nearly 4 month old and a nearly 4 year old.

Blessing was shy at first...it is weird to have your mommy's invisible friend turn out to be a real person...so I did what I normally do:

I woo-ed her with handknits!

I had knit a felt-able purse for her (same pattern as Angel's). I used a chunky yarn that was uncolored. Then we made quite a mess dying it with kool-aid Friday morning while BFF went to a doctor's appointment. We followed the method I got from Knitty. When Blessing had it colored the way she wanted, I sewed on the bangle bracelet handles, and we felted it!

Getting Ready for Aunt-hood

This weekend I went to Sacramento, to Brother and Sis-In-Law's house, to help them get the baby room ready.

Since they are adopting, they don't know what gender their baby will be, when it will arrive, or what it will look like. Those are a lot of unknowns for a knitter like me who does not deal well with uncertainty. What am I supposed to knit? What color should it be? When is my deadline? AAAH!!!

Baby will be my first niece or nephew, so NOT knitting something is not an option. Neither is waiting until Baby arrives, because NO niece or nephew of mine is going to go a day without a hand knit demonstration of my love!

I am overcompensating. I have yarn to make a girl sweater and yarn to make a boy sweater. These will wait till after the arrival. I have also started a crocheted receiving blanket.

Until then, I am falling back on my old standby...BURP RAGS:

And It's About Time, Too!

THE BABY SWEATER OF DOOM IS FINALLY FINISHED!!!!

It only took me, what, two years to do?

I think it is adorable.

Now I just need to decide which baby this one goes to.

Unlike past years, everyone this year appears to be having a girl.

I am pretty sure it will end up going to Blossom since I used Ark and Fish for motivation.

Once I got past the mental block about this sweater, it actually was quite simple to knit. Also, fairly fast and appropriate for television knitting. The biggest hurdle was actually finding ribbon to use as ties. The color is too peach for most pinks, and too pink for most peaches. I ended up waiting to do the making up till I was home for grad school last weekend. (I had exhausted all ribbon resources in my area, so decided to try the ones in WA. Funny...I ended up knitting ties in the end anyway!)

I already have yarn in stash to make a couple more. But I will be smart, and make sure I can find ribbon for them BEFORE casting on.

Am I that obvious?

I received some lovely Christmas gifts from a friend.

They included sock yarn. Orange sock yarn. Self striping orange sock yarn.

Said friend and I had met via email through a mutual friend.

Apparently I talk about knitting often enough, and my love of all things orange, that he knew just what to get me. (Not just everyone would appreciate a gift that requires effort on their part. No-siree-bob!)

Here is the first finished sock:

Just my regular old plain jane sock pattern. 2x2 rib with a flap heel. Nothing super exciting since I didn't want to detract at all from the yarn's coloration.

I already cast on the second in an effort to stave off Second Sock Syndrome, and will take it on my trip this weekend...it will make a good purse project.

I Want to be the Yarn Harlot

Apparently, I really DO want to be Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

Not only was I inspired to make the Wunder-Scarf based solely on her samples...she has dictated yet another project.

She mentioned a sweater she wanted to make on her blog, it's called the February Lady. Then she went about discussing all of the spinning, and swatching, and knitting she was doing for said sweater. I thought it looked neat. I thought it was even better after I read the pattern itself.

I went out. I bought the yarn. (It was almost free since I had a full stash card discount to use!)I ended up choosing Cascade 7809. It took 5 balls.

It has been a lovely sweater to work on. I started it just before I left for DC, and got a lot done on the plane. Unfortunately, I didn't find buttons for it at the convention last weekend, but I am keeping my eyes peeled.

I was unable to finish it in February, which had been my goal, due to the amount of school work and time-essential projects I have had. However, it is with great hopefulness that I reset my goal. Now I am wanting to have it done in time to wear when I am back in Seattle for grad school the first weekend in April. Can I do it? Yes I can!

The Scarf That Went With Everything!

I needed to knit something for myself. I know that this sounds horribly selfish, but every now and then it's true.

I spend so much time knitting for other people, and gladly doing so, that sometimes I neglect my own warmth needs. (The exception here is socks. With very few exceptions, socks are ALWAYS for me.) Still, it is like the old saying about the cobbler's children going barefoot. I get cold, and have nothing with which to wrap my neck. At this statement I fully expect everyone I know who has seen the bin-o-scarves to burst into uncontrolled laughter...the thing is that the bin has a lot of scarves, but they are all very outfit specific. I don't have just a good go with everything scarf.

Or at least I didn't...until now.

I was reading "The Blog" back in November and, since the Yarn Harlot is essentially the mother ship/inspiration for all knitting bloggers/She-Who-Is-Without-Equal/my knitting idol, fell in love with the scarf she was making. Granted, she called it a fad from a year ago, but I must have had my head in the proverbial sand when it was going around (or just been totally caught up with moving to CA).

I went to my LYS and picked up some Noro.

I started the scarf.(Pattern is available here. Misplaced the ball bands, so am not 100% sure, but I think I used #08 and #284.)

Other projects got in the way, but I continued to work on the scarf. It was fun, not knowing what color was going to pop up next. I only had to break the yarn once due to the stripes bleeding together too much.

It was even the project I was working on at New Years.

Well, I finally finished it. And just in time, too, for my trip to Washington DC. I wore it with pride all day on Saturday, and have worn it several times since I got back. It is amazing. It literally goes with EVERYTHING I own. It has every color in it, and can work with the brown neutrals or the grey neutrals. It can look dressy enough with a sweater for church on Sunday morning, and at the same time is casualy enough to go with jeans and sneakers for walking around. I LOVE IT. I am thinking of making a beanie out of the left overs.

In my head I have already knit several more of these lovely things in my head, including a very masculine one for one of the guys in my family. (Now I just have to get through a few more stash projects so I can justify purchasing the yarn for said scarves. They are addictive!)