knits & pieces

i've moved!!

2009-03-28T12:40:00.002-04:00

I recently moved this blog to a new address. I still plan on blogging about my knitting, but it was time to create a space where I can blog about my jewelry and all the non-knitting stuff I'm interested in, as well! It just seemed like an appropriate time to get rid of the knitting-themed title. All my posts from this blog have been moved over (I think), so please update your bookmarks---hope to see you there! :)

New blog: http://smallbirdblog.wordpress.com/

yes. deer.

2009-03-10T19:58:00.004-04:00

To everything there is a season, and sometimes, in life, you just have to make a deer head. I am smitten with all things antlers these days, and probably have more deer-head-type things hanging on my walls that I ought, none of which are made from actual deer parts, FYI. I really have to learn how to edit, but this was love at first sight. What can you do?

I stumbled across this project while browsing my daily blogs, and immediately sent the link to my most crafty friend. Within minutes, this crafty friend was standing before me saying, "We have to make them." And I said, "Yes." And she said, "But we should make them out of wood." And I said, "Absolutely." Yep, that's pretty much how it started.

First, a mini foamcore deer head prototype was created (more out of deer head project excitement than anything else, really), and revealed that the proportions of the pattern do NOT match the proportions of the deer head in the project photo. And the slits are not the correct depth for keeping all the parts aligned properly. So together we redesigned some of the pieces, correctly measured the depth of the slits, created a new pattern, and started searching for materials. My friend is much more of a grown up than I, so she actually owns power tools AND, most importantly, a place to make a mess. So we gathered our materials and got together for Woodshop Saturday! 2 band saws, 1 jigsaw, 1 belt sander, 1 electric hand sander, 1 Dremel, some sweat, little to no blood, zero tears, and a couple bagels later we had our deer head pieces.

Ok, I glossed over the hard parts. The project was actually more challenging than we had anticipated. But I hadn't played with power tools in a very long time, so it was WAY fun. Would I do it again? Probably not. Am I glad I did it the first time? Oh, you betcha.

My friend's deer head will likely remain as is, with just the natural wood grain, perhaps just a clear coat to finish it. She has what's known as "good taste." For me, when it comes to stylized deer hear wall hangings, I tend to go big or go home. I chose some fabulous, kitschy, flocked paper that I found here, and spent quite a bit of time gluing, trimming, and painting the exposed edges. In retrospect, I should have cut the slits a bit wider. I had a nice, snug fit after all my cutting, which was shot all to heck when it scraped up my beautiful paper upon assembly. Argh. But I worked with it, finally got the thing together, disguised the mistakes, and the overall result is pretty flippin' sweet, if I do say so, myself. :)

I wish I had a better photo of the deer head. Alas, there is no light. There is only rain.

paper 'n stitch

2009-02-23T07:30:00.004-05:00

Recently, a friend of mine (frustrated by searching the entire internet for handmade items) wondered how you find the "good" handmade stuff. One of my suggestions was Paper 'n Stitch. If you're not already familiar with the site, Paper 'n Stitch describes itself as "an online exhibition space for talented artists, designers, makers selling handmade goods, and independent boutiques." In other words, the good stuff. Since the exhibition rotates monthly, I'm continually adding to my collection of favorite indie shops! I'm very excited that my shop will be featured in the latest Paper 'n Stitch exhibition, which runs Feb 23rd - March 22nd. However, the items that appear on Paper'n Stitch are only a sampling of what's available in the actual Small Bird Jewelry shop. The shop was recently updated, so some favorite items have been restocked, and several brand new items have been listed, as well!

And I'd be delighted if you'd vote for my shop as your favorite! Just visit my shop at Paper 'n Stitch and click on the cute little heart icon by my shop logo.

One of the new items in my shop is the Green Sea Glass Ring. I'm sort of completely in love with it. I don't remember exactly what made me want to experiment with sea glass in the first place, but all of a sudden I just had to try it. There's something I love about the idea of sea glass...knowing that it was once sleek and shiny and mass-produced and carelessly cast aside, and that nature has turned it into something lovely and organic and soothing and translucent and soft and dreamy and one of a kind.

Yeah...maybe that's what made me want to use sea glass.

NO PEEKING, Erin!!!

2009-02-17T19:03:00.003-05:00

I finished the first of several baby knits. I'm saying "several" because the list keeps growing. And changing. And growing. I've been getting so excited about all these new people I'm going to meet (you know, when they finally get born) and suddenly baby knits are so stinkin' cute! And have you smelled that baby aisle in the grocery store??? It's heaven. I might have baby fever. Make that: Other People's Babies Fever.

I wish I could knit heirloom lace cashmere afghans for each and every one of these babies, but I'd go bananas. Plus there are so many cute baby things to be ordered online! Some of the baby stuff on Etsy is impossible to resist. So for baby gift #1, I kept the knitting small, but I think mom-to-be will appreciate the entire ensemble. Now, I realize that there are people out there who may be somewhat horrified at the thought of dressing a teensy little bundle of joy this way, but Mom has a tattoo of a flaming roller skate, and in all likelihood, there's a mohawk in this kid's not-so-distant future, so you can see why it was the right thing to do.

I used just a fraction of a skein of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted on size 6 needles. You can find the free hat pattern here, the onesie here, and mom-to-be here and here.

(Erin, did you peek? They should make "punkling" onesies in your size. :P)

the babies are coming!

2009-01-27T18:06:00.004-05:00

Everyone I know is pregnant. Everyone. Ok, not everyone, but I know 4 babies that are arriving this spring, all within weeks of each other! Seem like a lot of babies to me.

The best part is, one of these babies is going to be my first niece or nephew---I'm going to be an aunt! I'm reallyreallyreally excited. (reallyreallyreallyreally...) Of course I'm going to knit for the little peanut, but I kinda can't help shopping in the meantime.

Yes, I bought my niecephew a Small Bird onesie. Turns out, they'll print anything you want on a onesie. With options like that, my sister and brother-in-law are lucky that my business logo is the only thing I tried to put on their kid! (For now.) And my sister loved it. And this is why I love my sister. Because I can cheapen the miracle of life by attempting to turn her firstborn child into a living business card and she thinks it's as funny as I do. ;) Actually, she thinks it's pretty cute, too. But I should really knit this kid something good if I expect to get away with this kind of nonsense.

I'm trying to get my Assemblage cardigan under control before I start my baby garment factory. But I have several patterns all lined up and some of the yarn is already here and I'm having a very hard time NOT casting on. Cuteness...it is hard to resist.

lace legwarmers

2009-01-24T16:53:00.002-05:00

I completed my first finished knit of 2009! Yes, the legwarmers turned out ok. More than ok, actually. I am still aggravated by the yarn requirement issue in the pattern (see mods and gripes in my previous post), but after blocking, they are 16" in total length, which is just right for how I want to wear them. And the yarn itself is really soft and a very pretty, natural color. So overall, I'm happy with the finished product! The process? Not so much. But as I said before, this project was all about the product anyway. All's well that ends well. Heh. Legwarmers...who would've thought?

More pics on Flickr.

...it was going so well...

2009-01-22T08:49:00.004-05:00

As soon as I saw this pattern I knew I desperately needed legwarmers. (And cowboy boots, please.) The lace pattern is pretty and easily memorized, although this project was really all about product rather than process. I modified the pattern slightly, since I wanted them to be the knee-high, rather than over the knee, so I knit 9 pattern repeats and 1/5" of ribbing at each end, even though the pattern wanted them to be about 4" longer. I also eliminated the increases, as the lace pattern seemed stretchy enough. It is important that I point out how much less knitting I did so that you understand how frustrated I was when I realized I was definitely going to run out of yarn after only 8 pattern repeats on the second legwarmer!! Argh! Come ON! And then the yarn circus began. I had to rip out the top of the second legwarmer, take it down to 8 pattern repeats, then divide up the yarn I had left over both legwarmers...oh! but you have to double the yarn just on the ribbed cuffs, so I had long pieces of yarn stretched through my house, then doubled back, which make the cat go berserk, which made me yell. So I reknit the cuffs on both legwarmers, decreasing 10 stitches on the first round, and making them a bit shorter than the pattern called for.

Moral of the Story #1: if you are going to knit these legwarmers, get TWO (2) skeins of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox!!! The one skein that the pattern calls for does not even come close, especially if you want to wear them over the knee, like the pattern photo. I don't know what they were thinking.

Moral #2: Check the pattern notes from other Ravelers BEFORE you start a project. I looked at other knitters' projects AFTER I was already frustrated and ripping and reknitting, and it turned out I was not alone; most people were frustrated by the yarn shortage in this pattern.

So they're blocking, and they look pretty, and I think they'll be just fine for the way I want to wear them, but we'll see.

new year, new shop!

2009-01-01T11:38:00.004-05:00

I'm excited to announce that my brand new Small Bird Jewelry site is finally up and running! I've been working behind the scenes for a while, and I'm still doing a bit of tweaking here and there, but for the most part, things are good to go and the shop is open for business!

I've been selling on Etsy for close to two years, and my time there has been great. I've learned a lot and grown a lot, but after considering all the pros and cons, I felt that it was time to move forward. Just a bit. I'm reluctant and even a little sad to leave Etsy. It's been Small Bird's first and only home...I'm comfortable there...you know how to find me there...and there's something rather nice about being part of the Etsy neighborhood. But I've already started moving items from the Etsy shop to the Small Bird shop, and soon www.smallbirdjewelry.com will be my new online home. I'm excited to have my own little piece of The Internets, but I'm kind of nervous--I feel like I'm moving to a place where I don't really know anyone, so I do hope you'll come visit me in my new digs! Be sure to update your bookmarks and subscribe to the Small Bird RSS feed to see the latest item listings.

I know that you guys--knitters and bloggers--have made up the vast majority of my customers, and I can't thank you enough for your support and kind words and encouragement as I've attempted to grow my little jewelry business.

Happy New Year! I hope 2009 holds good things for you.

post-christmas update

2008-12-28T22:31:00.003-05:00

The handknit Christmas gift were a hit! BOTH pairs of socks fit (miracle) and both sisters loved the cowls. When my sister opened the Tapestry Cowl, she was initially disappointed...because she didn't think it was handknit. Which is, of course, the very BEST compliment. :)

During my various Christmas family gatherings I found a little time to knit and actually finished the Spiral Cowl for myself. It was a quick, easy, enjoyable knit; just what I needed after my Christmas knitting mania. It's intentionally knit a bit on the larger side, so that it can either be worn loose or gathered and buttoned around your neck. Luckily, I had one leather button leftover from the Chevron Cowl. I used 2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Oceanic Mix on size 6 needles. And I just love a picot edge.

Just a couple more pics on Flickr.

Christmas finish line

2008-12-24T08:52:00.003-05:00

I made it. This was the year I thought it really might not happen, but I finished the Christmas knitting.

I made another pair of Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays. I knit a pair for my brother-in-law, and this pair is for my dad. I used chunky yarn on size 9 needles, and followed the directions for the woman's size. (Heh, don't tell my dad I knit him girl socks!) Initially, I used the chunky yarn on size 9's and knit the man's size, but they were clearly too big, so I ripped almost an entire sock and reknit using the smaller size. This is the first time I've ever knit socks and actually, they knit up pretty quickly (Love you, chunky yarn!) but I'm still not sure how well they're going to fit. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning!

Which leaves...(dramatic pause)...the Tapestry Cowl. My knitting nemesis. Oh, boy. I realized pretty early on that I may not necessarily enjoy knitting this pattern, but little did I know I would come to dislike it so. But I should clarify. I LOVE the pattern, I despised the knitting. I think the real issue is that I probably don't enjoy colorwork in general...as much as I wish it weren't true. So having to constantly focus all my attention on the double knitting chart was exhausting. It's complex (which is what makes it so beautiful!) so I couldn't take my eyes off of it or even let my mind wander for a second, lest I screw it all up and have to tink back. And really, I like to do most of my knitting in a state of semi-consciousness, eyes glued to some trashy reality tv show on Bravo. That's just how I roll. So that's one of the reasons that the Tapestry Cowl and I did not get along. But since I chose to knit this as a Christmas gift, having that deadline looming made it that much more frustrating. Yar. Now, if the pattern wasn't absolutely exquisite, I may have quit halfway through. And if you already love colorwork and you get a kick out of impressing the commoners with your crazy knitting prowess, this is the pattern for you! I'm sure many knitters would find this pattern incredibly enjoyable. On that note, the double knitting itself? Well, that's quite the little fancypants technique, that is! It is pretty cool to wind up with a reversible piece of fabric. So I was rather intrigued by the process (if only for a moment) and I did like using the Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine, so...there's that.

I hope I remember to take pictures of the handknit gifts in action...

Merry Christmas!

no time to talk

2008-12-21T11:19:00.003-05:00

Two more Christmas gifts DOWN!

I finished an entrelac scarf for my Nana. I love how pretty entrelac looks after it blocks. That's all. More details on Ravelry.

...and Log Cabin Socks for my brother-in-law. If they look big, that's because they are. I had to knit them to fit his size 13 feet. Size 13? Are you kidding me?? I almost ran out of yarn for crying out loud! And I still don't know if they'll actually fit. Anyway, more details on Ravelry.

twomorechristmasgiftstofinishgottagobye!!

christmas present progress

2008-12-06T19:38:00.005-05:00

I lined up seven projects for myself this Christmas. I now have three and a half done...hopefully I can make it four by tomorrow...? But I'm feeling kind of ok about my Christmas knitting list. Not great, but ok.

So, to my sisters, who poke around this blog every once in a while, and ESPECIALLY my middle sister, who totally used to snoop around for her Christmas gifts when she was little, please do NOT scroll down, because I am about to blog about your gifts. I mean it. Both of you. Just go to another web page. Seriously! GIT!

Ok, just in case my pesky sisters are still on this page, I'm going to give them one more chance to peace. out. and start by admitting that I bought a Christmas gift for myself. It took a little rationalization, but finally I couldn't stand it any longer and I ordered the Namaste Newport knitting bag in "peacock." I am always shoving different knitting projects into different sized totes, and...stuff falls out...and...(sigh)...ok, for real, I am just in LOVE with that color! I had to check several online retailers before I found one that had it in Peacock and now I can't wait for it to get here! I think we will be the best of friends. :)

I am SO glad that cowls are SO "in" right now! They are The Best Thing to happen to Christmas knitting since...I don't know what. It's just such a great way to be able to give someone a really special handknit. They're substantial enough to make a nice gift, but small enough that you can try out a fancy-pants stitch pattern or a fabulous yarn without killing yourself. Not that I necessarily went overboard on either...but you could, you see. Over Thanksgiving weekend I finished two Feather and Fan Cowls for two (non-sister) recipients. It was a free pattern from my LYS, and you can get the details on my Ravelry project page. I can't decide what I love most about this project; that it took almost no time at all, that the feather and fan pattern is so gosh-darned pretty, or that this yarn is absolutely delicious. Each cowl uses one skein of Classic Elite Lush, which is an angora/wool blend and if you've never used it, I suggest you do. Heck, just buy a skein and snuggle your face into it! That's even faster than knitting.

This week I finished cowl #3, Veronik Avery's Chevron Neck Warmer. When I first started, I was kind of "meh" about it, but now that it's finished, I. Want. It. This is for one of my no-good-dirty-rotten-nosy-scheming sisters (are you still reading this???) and I hope she loves it. I used about half a skein of Berocco Ultra Alpaca in "couscous" on size 5 needles and think I have enough yarn left to make another for myself! The cowl stretched out more than I thought it would when I blocked it, but I compensated by sewing the buttons a bit farther in from the edge. I think it will be ok. And if/when I make another I will definitely be getting more of the same buttons. They're really nothing too special---I found them at JoAnn!---but I just love the way that dark leather looks against the natural colored yarn with the chevron pattern. I'm pretty happy with this gift. Hopefully I will remember to take action shots of the neck warmer warming my sister's neck and post them after Christmas. For now, more sedentary shots of the cowl than anyone probably cares to see...

The one gift I'm worried about finishing is the Tapestry Cowl. It's still only about a third of the way done, and I'm SO slow at it. Which makes me procrastinate. Which is obviously not a good combination. So I guess I should go work on some socks now...

how to throw an indie craft show

2008-12-02T09:19:00.004-05:00

I had such a great time as a vendor at the Second Storie} Indie Market this weekend! The women in charge (Shanna, Rachael, Cris, JoAnn, and Karen) are fabulous. I've never seen craft show coordinators go out of their way like this to see to it that the vendors were so well taken care of. Everything from simply providing tables and linens, all the way to having an incredible brunch catered on Sunday morning, truly made you feel like you were a valued part of the event. I thought the variety of vendors was very well-chosen. There were several vendors selling the same type of product, but each had its own unique aesthetic. Since there wasn't much overlap in product, there wasn't the slightest air of competition. I certainly felt honored to be accepted amongst such fantastic artists and craftspeople.

Every single vendor I met was not only incredibly kind, but also incredibly generous with both compliments and advice. Everyone was very supportive of each other's work and the warm fuzzies were flying, but it was also a great opportunity for sharing information on materials, suppliers, techniques, displays...you name it. Lucky me; my table was back-to-back with Amber Mahler, who makes probably--no, definitely--the most beautiful jewelry I've ever seen. And she might be the sweetest person I've ever met, so be sure to take a peek at her shop!

The experience seemed very positive for shoppers, as well. Seemingly small details such as background music, complimentary coffee and hot cider, and a few sofas scattered around, encouraged people to actually spend some time at the event. Rather than buying and leaving, people were taking a few minutes to sit, relax, and mingle with other shoppers between making their purchases. Speaking of purchases, my aunt bought a print from Freshly Blended Press, I helped a friend pick out a set of three prints from Sarah Ahearn, and I was able to snag some lovely, funky little paper journals from Mackenzie Sasser, as well as an ornament and some printed gift tags from Shanna Murray and Hello Handmade.

Not only was it nice to make some sales and talk with the buyers, it was great to meet and hang out with other crafters. I'm so glad to have joined up with the Second Storie} family and I can't wait to see how they grow.

I only got this one photo (give yourself 10 points if you spotted the handknit!), but you can see more photos of the event on Freshly Blended's Flickr set!

give it away, now!

2008-12-01T08:20:00.013-05:00

I was so excited to find out that I won this giveaway on Indie Fixx last week! Rowena of Red Ruby Rose contacted me and simply asked which clutch was my favorite. :) I chose the Aqua Pods design, and I can NOT wait to see it! Obviously, I'm going to need new shoes, now. There are so many gorgeous bags in this shop, and Rowena seems like an incredibly sweet person. I suggest you hop over to her shop, pronto!

Speaking of giveaways...there's going to be a Small Bird giveaway on My Favorite Things this week! Molly contacted me a while ago, and I finally decided it was time to do a little shop promotion out there in blog land. I chose to give away the Cave Earrings, since I think they rather epitomize the Small Bird style, and are simple enough to appeal to a variety of people. If they don't really appeal to you, but something else in my shop does, there should also be a free shipping code (good through the month of December) in the sidebar near my Small Bird logo. So be sure to check out the My Favorite Things blog this week! ...the giveaway starts on Tuesday, I believe.

And speaking of shopping, I'm sure many of you have started your holiday shopping, and some of you have probably taken the Handmade Pledge! Well, I'm not going to pledge to buy exclusively handmade this holiday season (what can I say? I just love H&M too much), but heck, I've been giving "handmade for the holidays" long before there was ever a pledge to take!! So if you can, why not make your own gifts, or get out there and support your local artists and craftspeople and small business owners and favorite Etsy shops? It does a lot of good.

So then since we're speaking of Etsy shops, I now have Small Bird gift cards available in my shop! A printed gift card will be mailed to you, looking all cute in it's little brown paper envelope, ready and waiting to be stuffed into a stocking, or your coworker's mailbox, or tucked into the branches of the Christmas tree, like my family does. :)

The Second Storie} Indie Market was wonderful!! More to come on all that handmade goodness...

second storie} indie market

2008-11-25T20:09:00.005-05:00

Be there or be square, kids.

holiday knitting is ON

2008-11-17T09:44:00.004-05:00

I finally made some concrete decisions regarding my Christmas Knit List and I'm putting the plan into action! Assemblage is taking a seat in the "way back" for now. Jewelry making has been taking up the vast majority of my free time, and suddenly I realized that I probably started my holiday knitting too late. My late start pretty much eliminated the idea of knitting a sweater for anyone...not that I was really jazzed to attempt another sweater for a family member anyway. So I had to choose some smaller projects.

What do you knit for Dad after you've already knit for him two ill-fitting hats, a really gigantic sweater, coffee cozies that he actually likes, and thrummed mittens that he refuses to wear because he thinks they're "too nice"? The answer is, clearly, socks. The problem is that I don't knit socks. Or, rather, I haven't knit socks. Ever. I've had half a Jaywalker sitting at the bottom of my knitting basket for what I think must be years by now. I've just never been able to get into it. But socks were so obviously the solution to my Dad Gift Dilemma, that I decided I had to try again. I've always liked the Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays, but the size only goes up to a men's 8.5! I needed a 9.5-10. So I decided to knit the pattern as is, using larger needles and yarn and hope for the best. (Stop laughing.) I had trouble finding the perfect combination of color (something heathered and natural looking), care instructions (machine washable, since he'd never wear them if they weren't!), and gauge (chunky). So I settled on Plymouth Encore Chunky, which contains...acrylic. Yipe. Being so unsure of my sock knitting skills, I was hesitant to spend more for even a superwash yarn if I was just going to wind up tossing the whole project anyway. Yes, of COURSE I'm regretting it now! (Stop laughing). You told me so. I know, I know. But they're actually looking nice and I think they might even be the right size and I'm fairly certain my dad will love them and positive that I'm knitting another pair for my brother-in-law.

(Know what? Sock knitting is kind of fun. No, I'm not crossing over to the dark side yet. But I am on my tippy toes peeking over the wall wondering what else you guys are knitting over there.)

small bird tweets

2008-11-05T08:46:00.004-05:00

I probably need to join another networking-type website like I need a hole in the head, but when I read the Etsy Storque article on using Twitter as a marketing tool, I thought, "eh, why not?" I figured I could post Small Bird jewelry updates and new Etsy listings, and maybe even get some public opinion on new designs. I don't really have an outlet just for shop updates, so that's what I'll be using Twitter for; self-serving Small Bird propagation. Mostly. ;)

However, Twitter has already proven a bit more addictive than I anticipated, so it's impossible to resist commenting on all the other fantastic stuff you guys are posting on there! But that's the whole idea, right? I'm hoping it will help keep me more connected with the online crafting community, too. So if you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm smallbirdjenna. See you over there!

the craft gods are...moody

2008-11-03T09:33:00.004-05:00

I just found that I have been officially accepted as a vendor at the Second Storie} Indie Market! (With the jewelry, not the knitting.) The vendor list looks very impressive and I'm really excited to be a part of it. It's all going down on November 29th and 30th at The Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. I've been working on some new designs, so I should have a bunch of brand new pieces to show off by then! It's interesting to me how my aesthetic continues to change as I learn more and create more. Most recently, I started experimenting with faceted stones. I used to think that "sparkly" wasn't really my thing. But I kept coming across faceted gemstones while shopping for new materials and...well, they became kind of hard to resist. It must be the girly-girl in me. I think the 6mm stones are just perfect for a lovely little solitaire ring. But I'll have to wait and see. Maybe no one will like them and it will be a short-lived experiment. Or maybe I'll just keep making them for myself.

I should probably just stick to metal, since the yarn is not my friend right now. I finally got the sleeves finished for Assemblage (after knitting one of them 3 times) and started on the left front. After about 8" I realized I was doing the decreases incorrectly. I was decreasing on both sides (like the back) instead of just one side. Sigh...stupid mistake. So...rip, rip, rip. I'm starting to wonder if I'm even meant to knit this sweater at all! They're my own stupid mistakes, but it really feels like the knitting gods are against me on this one.

third time's the charm...

2008-10-14T12:46:00.003-04:00

I just started knitting the second sleeve of Assemblage...for the third time. I thought it was too big because I used the wrong needle size, but as it turns out, I messed up one row containing TEN decreases, so had to rip back to the cuff. Again. (Sigh...)

While I continue to make negative progress on Assemblage, I've started some smaller projects...for "fun." I started the Tapestry Cowl, which immediately told me that it wants to be a Christmas gift. The reversible pattern is created using double knitting, which I had never done before. And even though I have to pay attention to every. single. stitch., it really is a cool technique. However, as cool as it is, and as much as I love this gorgeous pattern, I realized that colorwork is not really my thing. For whatever reason, I just don't enjoy it as much as other knitting techniques. I might have to get over that, though. There are too many beautiful fair isle patterns in my queue...

I was so inspired by Melissa's entrelac scarf, that I immediately ordered some Noro Silk Garden and started knitting away this weekend. I'm not in love with the colorway, but I am in love with entrelac. I'd almost forgotten just how much I enjoy this technique. I know some people find it tedious...but I find it completely addicting. (Just one more square...) I cast on 24 stitches on size 8 needles and followed the instructions for Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style. I think this scarf may also become a Christmas gift, but you never know. It does look rather nice with my rust-colored fall coat.

small bird goes to market

2008-09-26T08:10:00.004-04:00

I joined the second storie} crew yesterday evening to have another go at the South Wedge Farmer's Market. I was the "featured artist" in August, but it rained cats and dogs and I wound up packing it in early. So they let me have a do-over! The weather couldn't have been more perfect and there's never a shortage of interesting people and goings-on in the South Wedge. All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend a Thursday evening. I plan on joining up with second storie} again on November 29th and 30th for their Indie Market. It sounds like it's going to be kind of a big deal.

Speaking of big deals...this is a milestone (of sorts) for me...Oh, I know, I know...Etsy hearts don't really mean anything...and you shouldn't base your Etsian self-worth on how many people "heart" you, but...a thousand?? Kinda cool for little old me.

Time to sit is time to knit, so I did work on a sleeve of Assemblage while I was at the market. I did have two sleeves almost finished, but I had to rip one out. I think with all my stopping and starting and piecing together of this cardigan, I accidentally used the wrong needle size for one of my sleeves. Boo. So Assemblage is coming along...but slowly.

knits & pieces...for real.

2008-08-29T20:59:00.002-04:00

I started Assemblage this summer, and last time I talked about it all I had to show was some oatmeal-colored ribbing. (Snore.) Since then, I did actually get a lot more of the back completed, but it's still not very exciting.

Then I traveled. And I wanted some travel knitting. And I still wanted to work on Assemblage. So I started a sleeve, and brought a bunch of extra yarn. (I'm not afraid of flying, but I am afraid of running out of yarn while I'm flying.) When I got to the point in the sleeve where I had to shape the sleeve cap, I wasn't quite ready to move on. I hatehatehate sleeves that are just not quite long enough, so I wanted to do some measuring and comparing to other sweaters and holding up pieces of knitting to my own arms...and I didn't want to do all of that in the airport. So I started another sleeve! Now have three unfinished pieces of knitting on three different sets of needles and I feel a little crazy.

But starting another sleeve gave me the chance to work on the textured pattern again. I LOVE this pattern. I knit the cuffs longer than the pattern calls for just because I didn't want to stop knitting this gorgeous texture!

impromptu terrarium

2008-08-26T18:09:00.004-04:00

Sometimes you just get the urge to make a mini terrarium, you know? Like yesterday, when I was meandering through the lighting department at my home improvement store, and spotted the exact glass-pendant-light-cover-thingy that Flickr member gemmafactrix had used quite some time ago to make her mini terrarium. Unfortunately, her pics seem to have vanished from her Flickr account, but I always thought her mini terrariums were so cute and clever, and I've been meaning to rip off her design for-EVER! Next stop was the gardening department where I purchased one of those terra cotta-underneath-the-flower-pot-tray-thingers (for the amount of time I spend in the home improvement store, you'd think I'd have acquired a better vocabulary by now...), a variety pack of mini succulents, and some "dish garden topping" (yes, that's actually what it's called). So, over coffee this morning, I whipped up a mini terrarium! Now let's hope it doesn't die. And if you're one of those Green Thumbs who just took one look at it and spotted the fatal flaw, so you know already that it's gonna die for some reason...don't tell me just yet, ok? I still want a little time to revel in the cuteness.

my not-so-shrunken cardigan

2008-08-20T14:52:00.002-04:00

Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan is finished...and there's not really much to say about it---which is a good thing! It fits just the way I wanted it to (you gotta love a top-down raglan) and I'm REALLY happy with the color (I may have accidentallyonpurpose purchased turquoise Mary Jane pumps today.) I used just over 5 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in color 09, verdigris, on size 3 and 6 needles. I almost made it with 5 skeins, but I needed to bust into one more for the last ruffle. I also lengthened the body to 13" below the underarm. The only part I'm disappointed with is that I wish the ruffles were more...squiggly. I think I may have crocheted them too tightly and now they sort of look like fins rather than ruffles. But it doesn't bother me too much. Fall can take its time, but when it does get here, I'll be ready! (Cardigan-wise, anyway.)

(Oh yeah, and I got bangs. I'm not so sure it was the right decision, but they're only bangs. They'll grow out.)

sneak peek

2008-08-14T12:15:00.004-04:00

My Not So Shrunken Cardigan is finished. I just need to find some time to take some action shots.

Hm. Those ruffles aren't as ruffle-y as I'd like...

why not?

2008-08-04T13:02:00.002-04:00

Three sweaters in progress in the middle of the summer??? That's normal, right?

I was so taken with Norah Gaughan's Assemblage pattern that I just had to cast on. I'm using Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK in oatmeal.

Exciting, huh?

This schlumpy, unattractive pile of knitting is Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan---almost finished! I just have to crochet the ruffles and find some buttons and block this thing. Being a top-down pattern, I'm fairly certain this will fit just fine, and hopefully look a lot better than it does in this photo! I have mixed feelings about the yarn...the Silky Wool smells like silk (duh), but I'm really in love with the color. Eh. Oh, well.

For some reason, I was thinking about my Cabled Yoke Pullover recently and how much I liked it when I finished it, but how little I've actually worn it. I think the answer is to turn it into a turtleneck. However, I'm a bit uncertain about how to knit it, in terms of texture and pattern. I think continuing the cables up the neck would be a little wacky. A basic ribbed turtleneck seems like it would make sense, but I'm not so sure I'm digging that either. I feel like the ribbing should be repeated in the cuffs, as well. Which it is not. So I'm leaning toward knitting straight up in the round, to get kind of a slouchy, not-quite-cowl effect. Actually, I'll probably have to add some decreases in there, but I think this is the best option. I think. But maybe it will look strange to have the cable pattern stop abruptly. Oh, I don't know.

vintage aqua naugahyde chair

2008-07-14T21:42:00.003-04:00

I wish I could just refer to it as "my new chair," but I can't. Because it is SO vintage, SO aqua, and SO naugahyde. And it's making me SO happy. My sister spotted it on Craigslist last week, and it was at an antique/vintage/junk shop about 25 minutes away. I sent the link to juuust the right friend and before I knew it she was tossing me in her minivan and whisking us away to the Middle of Nowhere, where they keep all the good chairs. So a sweet deal on a funky vintage chair accidentally turned into a mini room makeover, but I couldn't help it! I want to do right by the chair. I thought I'd have to ditch my other obnoxiously colored orange vintage chair (yikes), but when I found these pillows on Etsy, I realized they were the answer to all my redecorating prayers. So it all stays. I've already made some small changes since I took this photo this morning, but you can see the whole room, with notes, on Flickr.

Here's to Craig, and his groovy list.

mystery mail

2008-07-01T20:26:00.005-04:00

I got a hand-addressed envelope from the United States Postal Service today.

This is me: "Oh jeez...what the heck did I do now?"
I opened it to find this:

Here's me: "whaaa...???"
I wracked my brain, trying to make sense of the mysterious note and mysterious dime.

Me again: "...ok, Joe...Joe who? ...Well, let's see...the year on the coin is the year I graduated from high school...so that must mean...um...that I was right about...wait, what? Hold on, WHO is Joe??!"

Then it hit me. I was at the post office yesterday, mailing earrings to Sweden, and I thought that I had handed the man 4 dimes, but when he showed me that I only I handed him three, I apologized and gave him another one. It wasn't a big deal, but apparently, Joe found the pesky wayward dime after all and mailed it back to me!

I was more surprised when I realized that Joe had taken the time to mail a dime to me than I was when I thought someone had mailed their inside joke to the wrong person!

This dime is NOT going back into my change purse. It's going on the cork board where I tack all the weird things that come in the mail. Or the newspaper. Or the weird things that my grandmother cuts out of the newspaper and sends me in the mail. Hopefully that will also remind me to thank Joe next time I'm in the post office. Talk about customer service!

i love etsy

2008-06-30T16:15:00.002-04:00

I have decided to start offering the Simple Gemstone Rings in my shop in any size. It's a bit of a nuisance to haul out my metalworking tools and supplies and get my soldering station all set up, since I don't have a dedicated studio in my home. So I usually wait until I have a good chunk of time, then try to make several jewelry pieces all at once. The one-at-a-time thing isn't as big a deal when it's just beading and wire work, but during the summer months I do have a little more time on my hands, so we'll see how it goes!

Also, I recently purchased the cutest dress on Etsy! It was made especially for me by Cathy at Tangente. I love this dress so bad I want to marry it. I'm not kidding.

playing with fire

2008-06-24T09:43:00.002-04:00

I've been having some success and much fun working on some new jewelry pieces. I've been firing up the torch every day, and dreaming about jewelry at night. (Seriously.) I tweaked the design of my Cave Earrings ever so slightly by oxidizing the insides, too, and I am sort of totally in love with them, now. I'm not even sure why. I guess they're just "me." I've been wearing mine daily, and this morning a friend told me that "one of my earrings was on backwards and it was really bothering her. " Sigh...when I explained that they were NOT on backward, but that they were concave, she immediately changed her tune and decided she loved them...she's a science teacher. :)

I've also made several more gemstone rings. For now I'm going to be listing them in the shop in a variety of specific sizes, but eventually I'm hoping to be able to make them to size. I'm just not sure I have time in my schedule right now to be able to create custom pieces in a timely manner. And if I can't do it well, I won't do it at all. Soon, though! Summer should free up some serious jewelry making time...

market bag

2008-06-17T17:36:00.003-04:00

Since I'm slow to blog these days, this bag has already made her maiden voyage to the public market! I was able to lug home 2 cucumbers, 6 tomatoes, 1 head of broccoli, 1.5 pounds of coffee beans, and 2 pints of raspberries (which actually weren't all that good and but still served their purpose...as a vehicle for Cool Whip). It held up just fine, and I still had room to spare! In this photo, the bag is stuffed with a bath towel. And not one of those skimpy bath towels, either.

I used this free pattern, and made a few minor modifications. I went down several needle sizes, after reading about how much this bag stretches. I used size 8’s for the bottom of the bag, 11’s for the lace body, then I switched to 9’s and then 8’s for the garter stitch border, although I probably could have gone right back to the 8's. I was afraid of making the opening too small, but it seems to be fine. The top of the bag measures 12" across when you lay it flat.

I wound up knitting 14.5” from garter stitch base of the bag to the bag opening, although I had planned on making it a bit shorter. But when I'm holding the bag by the handles down at my side, the bag doesn't quite reach the ground, although it might if I really loaded it up with coffee beans. So maybe the bamboo handles aren't ideal (digging into your forearms when you're laden with produce), but I really do like the way they look. The bamboo handles have a diameter of 6" (on the inside) and I didn't do anything fancy to attach them, just went round and round and round with scrap yarn after I had bound off the bag.

I used some leftover Rowan Cotton Rope (maybe 3 balls or so?) and this yarn is much happier being a market bag than a lumpy dumpy surplice cardigan. Yes, we're all much happier now that this yarn is a market bag.

More photos on Flickr.

mojo

2008-06-08T12:04:00.003-04:00

I've still got craft mojo...I just lost my blogging mojo there for a bit! I've been knitting Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan using the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool I ordered ages ago. (The stuff everyone told me to knit up immediately.) I've done the entire raglan shoulder portion and now I'm about 3" into the body. I love the color. It's #09, verdigris. I plan the lengthen the body, so I hope I have enough yarn. But I could always make the sleeves a bit shorter.

I made a pledge (to myself) to head out to our Public Market as often as possible and live on cheap veggies all summer, so obviously I needed a new market bag to help motivate me toward this goal! I'm using this free pattern, but I'm making a few modifications. After reading about how much this thing stretches, I went down a few needle sizes, using 8's for the bottom and 11's for the lace pattern, which seems to be working out pretty well. And I'm using reclaimed Rowan Cotton Rope...from the ill-fated Ruffled Surplice of last summer. I'm also planning on attaching bamboo handles, rather than knitting straps...for cuteness.

I'm also working on new items for the Etsy shop! I've been taking a jewelry making class, so I'm re-learning how to form metal, solder, set stones, etc. I have picked up a torch in years, but it seems to be coming back to me. Here's my first class project:

It looked better right after I finished it...but I've been wearing it so much that it could use some polishing up already! And then I made these...

So I've been practicing with smaller pieces and forcing friends and relatives to wear the prototypes just to make sure they're good enough for the general public, and hopefully soon I'll have some new designs available in my shop!

gathered cardi

2008-05-09T07:59:00.003-04:00

The Gathered Cardi is complete. The pattern is from Knit.1, Spring/Summer 2008. I used 6 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in taupe on size 8 needles. The only modification I made was on the gathered seam. I was worried about the gathered seam hitting across the chest, and decided to try to just block the heck out of it. It helped a bit, but not quite as much as I had hoped. However, now that it's finished, it turns out I don't really mind! I'm actually pretty happy with the way this looks. Sure, it's big and swingy and slouchy...but I like it like that. :) It's sort of cute and it's definitely comfy and even though it's a pretty uncomplicated design, I appreciate the simple design elements it does have: the wide seed stitch borders, the cuffed, shortish sleeves, and the big wooden button (which I found on eBay). I'm still really happy with the way I bound off and picked up stitches for the gathered seam---it was definitely worth the pain and effort! Part of me wishes I had chosen a bolder color, but when I buying the yarn I was thinking that a big, gathered, swingy cardigan in a bright color would be a bit too much. Even though it's very similar to my Patti cardigan, the Gathered Cardi looks much more casual (to me), so I don't care much that I knit two such similar garments. There are more slightly blurry photos taken in a smudgy mirror on Flickr!

a worser bucket hat

2008-05-04T20:58:00.003-04:00

Hi. I made a completely unwearable hat this weekend. I used A Better Bucket Hat pattern, and due to a combination of not paying attention, and probably using the wrong needle size, and misunderstanding the phrase "brim's edge," I'm going to have to rip this one. The yarn will be eventually be knit up into something else. The Malabrigo is just too pretty, but I decided that I'm not really a bucket hat girl, anyway.

Hopefully next time I'll have something better for Show and Tell.

need fashion advice

2008-04-25T10:01:00.010-04:00

I decided to knit the Gathered Cardi the moment that another shopgirl gave me permission. :) Ok, maybe I sort of knew all along that I wanted to knit it. I really like the pattern, but since it's so similar to the Patti cardigan I just finished a short time ago, I didn't want to put my heart and soul into this one. So I grabbed some Lion Brand Cotton Ease (actually, I really enjoy knitting with this stuff) and my size 8's and got to work on what I thought would be a quick, painless project.

I mentioned in my previous post that I made a slight modification to the sweater already. Not to the design, so much, but to the technique for creating the gathering. In the magazine photo, the bodice of the sweater seems to spread out where it meets the gathered portion of the body. I was definitely not digging this. So to create a nice, crisp line between the smooth portion of the cardigan and the gathered portion, I decided to bind off the stockinette stitches between the seed stitch borders (on the WS row right before the increase row) and then picked up AND increased the stitches at the same time to create the gathering on the RS row. It was indeed painful. It killed my hands. And it took forever. But it worked like a charm! I have what looks like a nice, neat seam and the gathering looks perfectly bunched. At this point, I strongly suspected that perhaps I was a genius. So off I went, knitting over the 300-some-odd stitches for the body. Heh, so much for quick. And so much for genius...

I also mentioned before that due to my laziness and arrogance (a lethal combination) I didn't do a gauge swatch. Sure, I glanced at the measurements, and I know I always knit a little tightly, so I took that into consideration, but it's not like this cardigan is fitted, by any means, and I did make sure to try it on after finishing the increases for the armholes. I mean, it's knit top-down for crying out loud---what could possibly go wrong?!

Well. Even though I tried it on to make sure it fit (which it does), I was not paying attention to where the gathered seam hit on my body. In the magazine photo, it looks like it's supposed to hit below the bust, although it's hard to tell on that model, since the cardigan looks too big on her to begin with. But the gathering will hit me above that point, since I did the gathering right after connecting the armholes. I should have done some more stockinette at that point, but I didn't. Instead, my brain (the non-genius part that's full of yarn) said, "YAY the armholes are the right size let's get going and knitknitknit so we can finish this thing and wear it nownownow!!"

I have seen garments which are seamed this way intentionally, and I even like the way they look, but I'm not sure how that style might look with a handknit garment. Or on me. And after the trauma of my little bind-off-then-pick-up-and-increase stunt, I do NOT want to rip back. Ideally, I would be able to achieve the correct measurements by blocking the heck out of this thing, but then I run the risk of getting the gathered seam almostbutnotquite in the right spot, which could look worse. (How much does cotton grow when you're blocking? Do I have a prayer?) My other option is to do some deep yoga breathing and just make peace with the seam hitting across the upper chest rather than under the bust. I don't know what to do. And I already have a fantastic button for this cardigan, too.

spring break!

2008-04-22T18:46:00.008-04:00

If you're looking for sordid spring break tales of wet t-shirt contests, margaritas, white sandy beaches, or the like, you're barking up the wrong blog. Maybe next time. This year, my spring break destination was New York City! I was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of cupcakes, a Broadway show, and deluxe air mattress accommodations, so how could I say no? (Hmm...if only the three could have occurred simultaneously...) But I did manage to get a sunburn, so that's gotta count for something.

This time around, my favorite part of visiting Manhattan was the World Financial Center, with two art exhibits ("The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef" and "Amazonia Design, Fashion & Sustainable Economy") which magically happened to be chock-full of my four favorite things: yarn, clothes, furniture, and jewelry---all with an environmentally-friendly message, to boot!

And I have to give Brooklyn props for the Botanic Gardens! I had never been there before and it was really beautiful. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, so that made it even better.

Tired feet left nothing to do but knit in the evenings, so I made some good progress on the Gathered Cardi. Yes, I decided to knit the Gathered Cardi from Knit.1. I also added my own crafty little modification to the pattern and I was all sorts of proud of my sly knitting ways, when I realized I may have miscalculated one of the measurements. And when I say I "miscalculated," what I really mean is that I was too arrogant and lazy to do a gauge swatch in the first place and I am probably going to get exactly what I deserve...

But that's another post.

sweater dilemma

2008-04-14T11:30:00.003-04:00

By the time I finished the Baby Cable Wrap, I already had two new projects on the needles. I found a beautiful skein of Malabrigo in the "brown berries" colorway, perfect for the Better Bucket hat. I love that folded under brim thing. And I have been itching to try the Pirate Mittens for such a long time, that I finally cast on for on those, as well. But 1x1 ribbing in two colors?? Argh. Wait---they're pirate mittens---I mean, "Arrrrrgh!" ...there we go.

I have somehow (over the past few years) gotten myself into a situation where I feel weird and antsy if I don't have a sweater on the needles. And right now I don't. And I feel weird. And antsy. But what do you knit when it's 56 degrees out? (Come to think of it, what do you even wear when it's 56 degrees out?) Do you go for a so-called "summer" knit in anticipation of warmer weather? Even though I never wear these warm weather knits, ever, I'm still very tempted to cast on for one of these: The "Yellow Top" from Rebecca 36, or the "Halter Swimsuit Style Vest" from Knitting Classic Style.

Or do you try to finish a "spring" knit in time to actually wear this spring? What if it's the Gathered Cardigan from Knit.1 Summer 2008 and it looks just like the Patti Cardigan you just finished? :)

Or do you just do the right thing and start on the sweater for which you already have the yarn and pattern? I ordered some Silky Wool in color 09 especially for Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan. I have both yarn and pattern in hand, so I could just get started on that.

baby cable wrap

2008-04-11T20:16:00.004-04:00

I thought I was going to be pressed for time with this project, as the recipient turns one year old this week, but knitting this little sweater actually went pretty quickly! Even picking up stitches and knitting the borders and ties was fairly painless. Of course, I procrastinated on seaming it up. And of course, it took no time at all...after I finally made myself sit down and do it. The pattern is from Baby Knits by Lois Daykin and I used 6 balls of Filatura Di Crosa Zara on size 3 and 6 needles for the 18-24 month size. I was so happy to find this pattern and I really love how it turned out. I wouldn't be surprised if I knit this sweater again whenever another one-year-old baby girl crosses my path. However, this is the first baby pattern book I have actually purchased and it really is chock-full of cute stuff, so I might have to try some of the other patterns, first.

(There are a couple more photos on Flickr, which is no longer displaying en Espanol, by the way.)

I've already got new projects on the needles...somehow a hat got started the other night while I was procrastinating on seaming the baby sweater...and there may also be some mittens happening...and a box of Silky Wool just might have arrived on my doorstep this week, too. :)

short and sweet

2008-03-25T16:59:00.003-04:00

I finished the body of the Baby Cable Wrap cardigan. I really love it so far. I can't wait to block that cable/lace pattern!

That's it.

p.s. Did anyone else's Flickr account go Spanish today? Am I not getting the joke?

knotted baby hat

2008-03-20T10:00:00.002-04:00

I knit a baby hat. On Sunday morning. Before brunch, no less. I have to go to a spur-of-the-moment-ish baby shower next week and wanted to give something handknit, but it had to be quick. I had planned on spending all my knitting time over these next few weeks working on the Baby Cable Wrap for this other baby I know, but then this baby shower suddenly showed up right out of the clear blue sky! So I found this simple, but cute hat pattern on Ravelry and cranked it out in just about two hours. I used half a skein or so of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora on size 6 needles in a dark olive green (don't worry, it's a boy bun in the oven) and I'm knitting some booties to match.

patti cardi

2008-03-11T16:30:00.007-04:00

I think I love it. (Don't let that sourpuss in the photo fool you.) Patti is complete and yes, there are some things that could be better, but overall, the fit is excellent, I really like the color, and it looks just like something I would buy for myself (except that I spent 3 months knitting it instead). I used 8 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed, on size 3 and 5 needles. I almost had to get into that 9th skein of yarn for the seaming, but I just made it with 8. The length of the sleeves and the body are right where I'd like them to be, and there's a little extra room in the armholes, but that's no biggie. The button band is pulling a little. 5 buttons would have been better than 3, but maybe I'll move the buttons over a smidge so that it's less noticeable.

I really love the pleats. Yeah, they give the garment (and the wearer) a triangular shape, and so maybe the swing jacket thing IS kinda trendy right now, but I can't help it! --- I still think the style is cute. And I'm no longer worried about coworkers thinking I'm pregnant. I just make sure I don't wear swingy sweaters two days in a row! :) The construction of the pleats is very cool. The stitches that make up the pleats are slipped on every other row, so the fabric just wants to fold that way on its own and they're nice and crisp. Hopefully this sweater will behave itself and hold its shape. If so, this may now be the handknit I wear the most!

(There are a couple more pics on Flickr.)

almost there...

2008-03-09T14:59:00.002-04:00

Patti is blocking. Michelle asked me at knitting club the other night if I thought I would love this cardigan. My response was, "I think, maybe..." Of course I hadn't so much as thrown the unblocked pieces over my shoulders to try to get an idea of how it would fit. I had done WAY too much stockinette to get all disappointed right before seaming it all up, and I was too nervous to even check. So I figured it'll be what it'll be, and pressed onward. After a seaming marathon last night I tried it on and I don't want to speak too soon and say that it fit perfectly...but...

We'll see.

I'm just glad to finally have Patti practically finished so that I can now focus my attention on the Baby Cable Wrap. The color of the yarn is exactly what I was hoping for! I ordered Filatura Di Crosa Zara in what I believe is their cotton candy colorway. It's sort of purpley-pinkish and very pretty, but not too, too pastel. I have to get this one done in a few weeks, so it's back to the knitting needles for the rest of this afternoon!

little knits

2008-03-03T09:48:00.007-05:00

It's unseasonably warm today. And sunny. And I know it's a total tease, but it gets me all excited for warmer weather, anyway. It's days like this that usually get me thinking about which pretty little springtime garment I'll knit this year, BUT---I never wind up wearing any of those springy little garments I knit. I'm going to try not to get suckered into any of those warm weather patterns this year, but I make no guarantees. The only little knit I want to finish is this Cable Wrap from Baby Knits by Lois Daykin. I wanted to knit something sort of special and sort of chic for a friend's little girl who will be turning 1 in April, and this was exactly what I was looking for. I have already ordered the book and the yarn, and I just realized I'll only have about a month to knit this, so now I'm getting nervous.

Small Bird has been taking up a lot of what used to be my knitting time, but I just completed a bunch of new jewelry pieces this weekend (be on the lookout for new items in the shop over the coming weeks!) so I actually had some time to make some more progress on Patti! Button bands are now complete and the collar is half-finished. The sleeves have to be seamed, the buttons have to be sewn on, and the thing needs a really serious blocking. No photo because the thing looks like a hot mess right now. My goal is to get this one under control before the pattern and yarn arrive for the Baby Cable Lace Wrap. Hurry up, pattern!

floppy hat

2008-02-18T14:50:00.002-05:00

I finished my floppy hat yesterday. It was a simple hat that should have taken me a couple days, but I worked on it quite spurratically, so two days turned into, um...a month. I was so excited to finally have a finished object, that when I got home from the gym today I immediately decided to take some pictures of myself! Oh, brother. What a dumb idea. I blame the endorphins. So you're only getting one photo, the cream of the crop...red face, braids, and all. Yikes. But the hat, at least, is kinda cute. And if we ever get some decent snow (don't yell at me, you snow-haters) this floppy hat will be perfect for snowshoeing! The Malabrigo Worsted is nice and soft and warm and I knit about 9" before decreasing for the crown, so the hat definitely covers my ears. I used size 8's and cast on 100 stitches, but I probably should have used about 88. I think I would have preferred it to fit just a bit snugger, but at least there will be lower risk of Hat Head this way. Thanks to Leslie for the inspiration!

Oh, and Kristen, Hilary, Jane, and Mary said I made their day! :) Aw, shucks! Thank you! I'm supposed to name ten bloggers, but I'm going to give you six, and count the knitters who tagged me as my other four, because they make my day, too! Although most of these ladies have already been tagged, my floppy hat is off to:

cosymakes
geeyouknit!
knitting school dropout
luxe loops
tentenknits
{by elin}

not dead, but not really knitting.

2008-02-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

Yikes, it's been a long time since I posted! I knew it was getting bad when Erin asked if I was "dead."

So the craft show went really well---thank you for all your good wishes and a big thank you to everyone who stopped by! The whole Small Bird venture has been wonderful over these past 10 months and continues to get better. It was so nice to get the jewlery out of the online shop and into the real world, in the company of other crafters who are also in love with what they do. Thank you Second Storie}! Here's your virtual tour of the Small Bird table at Spot Coffee...

p.s. Kelly is the best for helping me out. I couldn't have done it without her!

It's like you were really there, huh? :)

As for knitting...right...well, I don't have much to show. I'm still working on that Malabrigo hat, and it's nearly finished, but lately I've been picking up Patti every time I get a few minutes to knit. Patti is also getting close to being done. I have the back, both fronts, and 1.25 sleeves completed. But there's still the collar, button band, and finishing left and I have a feeling that's going to be a little bit of a headache. I should have some time to tackle it next week.

i {heart} handmade

2008-01-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

If you're in the Rochester, NY area on Friday, February 1st, come check out the "i heart handmade" indie craft show at SPoT Coffee from 6 to 10pm! I'll be selling my jewelry, and it looks like there are going to be a lot of other great vendors there, so come pick up some unique Valentine's Day gifts, or just stop by and say hi! More info can be found at second storie}. See you next week! :)

no time to talk...or knit.

2008-01-21T17:58:00.000-05:00

I've been a busy bee...work, the Etsy shop, etc. So I haven't had much time to knit...or to blog...but I would have blogged about how I have no time knit, and who wants to read about that, anyway? I was cruising right along on Patti up until a week or so ago, when I found out that I'd be participating in an indie craft show on February 1st, so jewelry making took over, and when I did finally find a bit of time to knit this weekend, Patti just required more brainpower than I had left. So I knit a little bit of a hat. Malabrigo Worsted. No pattern. More about the craft show and the hat and Patti (I hope!) later.

stella's hat

2008-01-10T08:29:00.001-05:00

This hat has been done for about a week, but I just hadn't got around to posting it until now. Stella's Hat, by Melissa, was a quick, fun knit. (Excuse the crummy, lifeless pictures. There's just never any sunshine when I need to shoot photos. Ever.) I had to adjust the pattern to work with my gauge because I used Lamb's Pride Bulky on size 9's, but the hat came out nice and dense and warm. I modified it by casting on 72 st., and then starting with row 3 when I got to the decreases. Originally, I had wanted the top to flop over, but as soon as I started knitting, I knew that the fabric was just too dense. And then I realized I would have run out of yarn, as well. So I knit about 1.5" inches longer than the pattern called for, which allowed the quirky, squarish top of the hat to maintain its quirky squareness by extending past the top of my giant noggin just a bit and still keep my ears warm. I would knit this hat again in a heartbeat! But probably in a funner (yes, funner) color next time.

new knits for me!

2008-01-03T16:37:00.000-05:00

I love the beginning of the new year, when I can switch gears from gift knitting to selfish knitting! I started Patti over Christmas vacation. I purchased yarn for this sweater quite some time ago, and I was a very good girl and didn't even swatch until I was finished with all my Christmas gift knitting! But I became increasingly unsure about this pattern, since the swing coat style of this sweater is kinda trendy right now. Should I spend so much time working on something that I might not wear next year? Will it even be in style when I finally finish it?? Are people going to start assuming I'm with child if I wear too many of these types of sweaters??? After pondering these important questions, I decided that not only did I get a great bargain on the yarn, but I'm always behind the trends anyway, so I should get a satisfactory return on my "investment" in this one. I finished the back and most of the left front panel. I thought the stockinette would be driving me up the wall by now, but it makes great tv knitting.

And then I decided I wanted a new hat. I think the new snowshoes that Santa brought me may have been the catalyst. I added Melissa's Stella's Hat to my queue as soon as she posted it, and when I saw Leslie's Garter Ridge Hat the other day, I decided to combine the two. I purchased some Lamb's Pride Bulky, so my gauge was much different. I cast on 72 st., and when I get to the decreases I'll start on row 3 and continue from there. I'm planning on knitting the hat longer than the 6" that are called for in the pattern to get the slouchy top portion, like the garter ridge hat, but I suspect that the bulky yarn will not have enough "flop." So I ordered some Malabrigo worsted in some yummy turquoises and greens and if the bulky hat doesn't flop just so, I'll stick to Melissa's pattern for this one and try again with the worsted yarn. I figure I should really see what all the Malabrigo fuss is about, anyway...

christmas wrap-up...so to speak...

2007-12-31T09:29:00.000-05:00

All the knitted Christmas gifts were a success! Everything fit and everyone liked (or did a really good job of pretending to like) their handknit items. My sisters were surprised by their slouchy hats, even though I thought Flickr might have ruined it, my brother-in-law has already worn his Utopia hat out in public, my dad has been raving about his java jackets, and his thrummed mittens did fit, although he refuses to wear them to snowblow the driveway, as I suggested. The Lucy in the Sky Cardigan should see some action after New Year's Resolutions kick into high gear. Apparently it does fit, but not exactly the way the recipient would like. Meh. You know how chicks are.

I finished my grandmother's cabled gloves in the nick of time. This pattern was from Vogue Knitting, Fall 2007, and I used Rowan Cashsoft DK in misty gray. Although, she also expressed concern over actually wearing them, after she noticed that they contained something like 10% cashmere. She's old skool. :)

All the sitting around doing nothing except watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Lost over Christmas vacation gave me a good head start on my first big project of 2008, but that's another post for another time.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

thrummed mittens

2007-12-17T16:33:00.000-05:00

The thrummed mittens are done and (I think) a success. Of course, I won't really know if they fit my dad until Christmas morning, but I have a better feeling about these than I did about the sweater last year...and the hat the year before...and the other hat the year before that...yeesh...

I used one skein of Patons Classic Merino Wool on size 3 and 6 needles, alpaca top that I purchased at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival over a year ago, and a combination of several free patterns: the Yarn Harlot's recipe, the Yarn Forward pattern, and Hello Yarn's instructions for knitting the thrums and her staggered placement thrum chart.

I've been wanting to try thrummed mittens for along time, and I'm glad I finally did. These things are so soft and squishy and warm that I would absolutely knit them again! You don't have a lot of dexterity while wearing them, but that's hardly the point.

thrum, thrumming, thrummed

2007-12-12T07:29:00.001-05:00

Is it really called "thrumming," or am I just knitting thrums into my thrummed mittens? Is it a verb or a noun or an adjective or all three? At any rate, I used the term "thrum" fairly indiscriminately during my long car ride this weekend, since I did a lot of griping about thrumming. The car ride was not as productive as it should have been since I kept messing up. My first mistake was making the thrums ridiculously long, so I had to re-thrum the thrums before I could carry on. My sister generously offered to thrum along with me, so that made the thrums add up much quicker. The rest of the messing up involved trying to guess what size my dad's hand are while knitting. I kept worrying aloud that the weren't going to fit...to which my sister helpfully responded, "...but don't you always knit Dad something that doesn't fit?" As if I wanted to keep THAT tradition alive. But now that I have the first mitten figured out, I'm flying through the second. And the alpaca thrums that I thrummed into these thrummed mittens are soooo soft.

i'll try to keep it short...

2007-12-05T20:32:00.000-05:00

Recently, a couple of my knitter friends and I were discussing how we like reading short blog posts...with nice pictures. So you might want to start skimming now, because here comes a longish post...with terrible late-winter-afternoon-and-there's-really-no-light photos and also some too-lazy-to-get-up-from-my-desk-to-take-a-photo photos. The reason for the long post is that I have so many finished projects to show! I didn't think I would be saying this on December 5th, but I have most of my Christmas presents done! I expected to be knitting furiously through the night on December 24th, but things are in good shape right now. Sooo...maybe some of them aren't masterpieces...but I think they're things that the recipient will like and appreciate and actually use.

Most importantly, the Lucy in the Sky Cardigan is finished. It blocked beautifully and I found a tailored shirt with just the right purple stripe to accompany it. I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and size 7 needles. The only modification I made was to knit the neckband right into the sweater as I went, rather than knitting it separately and seaming it. Grafting the end was a little wack, but I got it. I'm pretty excited to give this gift!

The Trinity Stitch hat is finished. Kim lent me her size 10.5 16" circs, which made knitting the stupid trinity stitch go much smoother, especially with that stupid scratchy Lopi (2 skeins, but I wouldn't recommend it for this stitch!). But as much as I hated this stitch, the hat came out really cute and I think my sister will really like it. Unfortunately, I kinda want one for myself now. I don't normally model gifts I've knit for other people, but this hat really didn't look like much without a noggin inside.

I whipped up some Super Mittens this week. I had almost forgotten how much I love this pattern from Weekend Knitting. And I definitely forgot how fast they knit up! I threw a cable in there just to spice things up and these were done in no time. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease. It's the "wheat" colorway and I have to say that I do like the way this particular yarn looks. And now they're washable and perfect for snow blowing the driveway or whatever.

So, I also knit some Java Jackets. I always thought these kinds of patterns were kinda...er...dumb...? I didn't think anyone would actually use them. True, as soon as I saw this pattern I thought it was so ding-dang cute that I added it right to my Ravelry queue without a second thought, but I never expected to actually knit it for someone. Then my dad came up with an "idea." He thought it would just be the cat's pajamas if someone knit up some kind of sleeve for a coffee cup because the place where he buys coffee to go doesn't have the cardboard ones anymore and he's always burning his hands. So guess who's getting one smocked java jacket and one cabled java jacket for Christmas? I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease for these, too (worsted weight this time) for the machine-washable factor. I cast on 56 st. Knit in the round, in pattern, for about 3.5-4" and bound off. Done and done.

Now I have just a few fingers to finish on my grandmother's cabled gloves and I'm also going to knit a pair of thrummed mittens for my dad. And I have a car trip this weekend, so that should be enough to finish the gloves and put a major dent in the mittens! Bring on the eight tiny reindeer, the sugar plum fairies, and all the rest of it!

trinity stitch

2007-11-29T15:28:00.000-05:00

I just started another hat, for another sister. It's a slouchy beret, using the trinity/popcorn/blackberry stitch. I love the way the hat looks, but I had no idea I would hate the trinity stitch so much. It makes me feel like I just learned how to knit. I do not have the dexterity to k1,p1,k1 into the same stitch without being VERY deliberate about it. The other part of the problem could be my yarn choice. Lopi. I like the rugged, wooly look of it, but purling three together with this stuff really brings out its scratchy, unforgiving qualities. I feel like I'm working against this yarn rather than with it. Anyway. I hope the finished result will be worth the headache (handache, wristache, elbowache...) because I'm going to power through. I'm on a roll with the Christmas gifts and I don't want to change horses midstream!

(That is the saying, right?)

christmas crafting update

2007-11-25T14:01:00.001-05:00

Although I've been crafting my little fingers to the bone, I realized I haven't been blogging about it! So here's what I've been up to...

The Lucy in the Sky Cardigan is nearly finished. This was the Christmas gift I had been most worried about finishing, but things really sped up after I got up to the arms. As soon as I make myself graft the armpits, weave in the ends, block, find buttons, then sew them on, this one will be good to go. Except that I knit the bottom half on size 7's, accidentally knit the sleeves on size 8's, then went back to the 7's for the yoke. Ermmm...I sometimes don't pay attention so well. But I can't even see a line between the knitting on 8's and the knitting on 7's, so I'm ok with it.

I finished another Gretel beret (slouchy version), so there's another Christmas gift down! I used 1 ball of Nashua Creative Focus worsted. I don't think I would use this yarn again for cabling. It's not plied and doesn't have much "give," so it was a little stressful on my hands, but the color was so perfect for my sister that I couldn't resist! This time, I did NOT block the brim. It stretched like crazy on my first Gretel. On this hat, I stuffed the whole thing and sprayed just the cables and it worked perfectly!

I finished one of the Cabled Gloves (from Vogue Knitting Fall 2007) quite a while ago, and started right up on the second, but this project has been dormant for several weeks. This is next on the list of Christmas Knitting Priorities, and the second should go much more smoothly than the first.

And here's a situation from Christmas Past...I knit a sweater for my father last year, and he finally admitted that it's too big. (Which I already suspected.) He asked if there was a safe way to shrink it, and the best answer I could come up with was some kind of steeking process to actually re-seam the sides and arms and cut away the excess. Anyone know if this will work? I've never steeked before and my dad was horrified at the notion of cutting the handknit sweater, but as far as I know, if you machine sew the holy heck out of it, it should be fine, right? Yes? No? Someone?? Anyone???

I have been making jewelry like a fiend, so I think I've created enough inventory that I can keep listing new items in the shop, while still having time to knit in the evenings. The trouble is, I keep getting new jewelry ideas...

cabled bangle

2007-11-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

So I finished one Cabled Bangle. I finished it over the course of three evenings, without working very hard at it. You could make one of these in a day if you really wanted to. I used Dale of Norway Heilo on size 3 needles. The weight of the yarn was just right, since I could still get my hand into the bracelet, but the needles were probably a little small for the yarn. Although, this was fine by me, since I didn't want any of the bracelet to show through. Because the bracelet is not pretty. At all. I cast on 20 stitches and used a 10 st cable chart from Vogue Stitchionary II. Although the swatch fits around the bracelet nicely, the cable looks a bit stretched. I think next time I will try an 8 st cable, and one that's a bit more "solid" looking. Maybe just a basic twisted cable.

But the next bracelet is going to have to wait. I am suddenly nervous about how many knitted gifts I had planned on for Christmas! One year I made myself crazy, last year it was ok. This year is looking sketchy...and I kinda don't feel like stressing myself out over this beloved hobby which I enjoy so very much. :) I have decided to prioritize and try to work on one thing at a time, but some projects may just have to get eliminated. First on the list is the Lucy in the Sky Cardigan, which has been a little bit of a pain in the neck so far. It has nothing to do with how the pattern is written--I just can't memorize the diamond chart. It's not difficult, but I do have to make sure I pay attention to my knits and purls. (Boo for paying attention.) But I'm almost up to the armholes so it should only get easier from here.

good evening

2007-11-02T15:30:00.000-04:00

Good things kept happening yesterday evening...

First, I was thinking about my next selfish knit and was trying to decide between Patti and the Gathered Pullover from Interweave Winter 2007. The descision was made for me when I accidentally found Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool on closeout at Webs for $3.49 a ball, which, let's face it, is practically free. That's what I figured I'd use for Patti anyway, so I bought 9 balls of dark brown and ordered the pattern and I am telling myself (sternly) that I will NOT be casting on until the Christmas gifts are finished!

Then I checked on my Etsy shop and saw that a whole slew of people had added me to their favorites and I thought: hmm...that's curious. And lo and behold one of my necklaces was in someone's Treasury on the Etsy home page! And then the necklace sold about 8 minutes later. That was a whirlwind of excitement (for me). :)

And then I headed off to knitting club. Just when I thought knitting club might be fizzling...some of my favorite knitters and a couple new knitters showed up at the bar and it was very, very fun and restored my faith in knitting club. While at knitting club, I worked on a Swatch Bangle. I need to add to my Christmas queue like I need a hole in the head, but I couldn't resist trying these! I bought some ugly bangle bracelets on eBay and I'm in the process of covering them with cabley goodness for my loved ones...whether they like it or not.

I wish all Thursdays were this pleasant!

8 things

2007-10-27T10:57:00.000-04:00

I was tagged by Another Shopgirl! The Rules: once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

And since I don't have much in the way of knitting to blog about anyway, here are 8 random things about me:

1. I am the oldest of three. And if you look up the personality traits of a first-born, that's me all over. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

2. I don't do scary. I don't do scary movies, haunted houses, masks, even upside-down roller coasters. Scary is not for me.

3. I forget birthdays. If you didn't reserve your spot in the remembering-birthdays-portion of my brain before 1996, don't look for your card in the mail because I guarantee I didn't send one. I will probably call you a couple days later.

4. I've always been artistic, and almost became an illustrator/graphic designer. I considered changing my major in college and actually did an internship in graphic design, but in the end, I went a slightly different route.

5. I've never had glasses, braces, or broken bones...but I desperately wanted all three when I was little.

6. I hate those individually wrapped moist towelettes. I hate everything about them. I suppose there are certain times (in the wilderness) when they might be of use, but in regular civilization, I would rather walk to the restroom surgeon-style with my chicken wing covered hands in the air to use actual soap and water then use a Wet-Nap. I just hate them. They are so gross to me.

7. I always sneeze three times. Two little and one big.

8. I can't read the words "infrared," "segue," or "flatiron." I'm a pretty smart cookie, and I do know what these words are, but they always take an extra second to register. Let's just say that if I came across these words while reading aloud, my audience would be in for a treat.

I'm tagging Olga, Tracy, Stacey, Melissa, Erin, Elinor, Schrodinger, and Amanda.

utopia hat

2007-10-22T19:28:00.000-04:00

I caught up on some tv this weekend and finished up the Utopia Hat for my brother-in-law. The two skeins of Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran I had were more than enough for this pattern, using size 8 needles. I didn't swatch, since I figured the rib and cable pattern would be pretty forgiving, and the size is just right. I would knit this hat again in a heartbeat. The pattern is easy enough to knit while watching tv, but interesting enough that it didn't bore me, but not SO "interesting" that my mild-mannered brother-in-law wouldn't wear it. :) One Christmas gift down...on to the next!

ready, set, go!

2007-10-17T19:51:00.000-04:00

This year I am beginning my holiday knitting cheerfully and willingly! (Maybe it's because I've been doing so much knitting for myself lately...heh heh.) Oh yes, I said holiday knitting. I know I'm not the first to start, but I'm starting earlier than I did last year. And I have a plan. And I made my sister swear that the family doesn't hate getting handknit gifts from me every year.

The first thing I've done is resurrect a project I started about a year ago: the Lucy in the Sky cardigan. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a really pretty dark, muted purple. I'm also working on the Cabled Gloves from Vogue Knitting Fall 2007. I've already run into problems with the cable chart. Actually, I pulled one of my signature Panic First, Think Later moves. I could NOT figure out the instructions for the "right twist" and sent a frantic message to a fellow Raveler (knitsynthesis) who replied promptly and explained the "right twist" in perfectly plain English, leaving me wondering why the heck Vogue couldn't do the same thing?! Well. Turns out I was reading the directions for the Cabled Coat, instead. Boy that would have been a surprise---to think you're knitting a glove and wind up with a cabled coat! The chart is still a little whack, but I've got it under control now. Sometimes I wonder how I get anything knit at all.

I also started a hat for my brother-in-law. Originally, I wanted to knit the We Call Them Pirates Mittens for him, but I showed the pattern to my sister, who felt that he was not the "plundering type." Boo. She said he would DEFINITELY wear a hat if I knit one. I sent her about six different patterns and she picked the most boring ones for him. I didn't want to knit him something he could just get anywhere, so I took matters into my own hands and decided to knit the Utopia Hat by smariek. I'm using Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran, since I had 2 full skeins left over from my Dad's sweater last year, and the color was just right for my brother-in-law. Now I'm hoping I have enough yarn.

drops asymmetrical jacket

2007-10-07T18:25:00.001-04:00

Finally finished! The knitting went VERY quickly, but this jacket took forever to dry, and then I had to sew on the buttons, which proved to be an exercise in creative problem solving since I knit the thing WITHOUT BUTTONHOLES. I don't actually read through patterns before I start to knit. I should, but I don't. (This bad habit comes from the days when I was just learning to read knitting patterns and all those abbreviations were so intimidating that I decided I would just start knitting anyway and when I got to something I didn't know, then I would look it up. I never kicked the habit.) Now, the whole time I was knitting, I was thinking about how I had a patterned shirt that would match perfectly with the plum yarn and what shoes might look good with that and hey, what if I got some big leather buttons to match my leather shoes that match the shade of tan in the patterned shirt, yeah that's the ticket...so even without reading ahead in the pattern, I knew this jacket was supposed to have buttonholes. For the buttons I was dreaming up the whole time. Yet, in my fervor I completely forgot to pay attention to these things known as "details" and I knit the whole thing right up without buttonholes. Giant DUH. I sewed in three crocheted loops instead. I also hid some small buttons on the inside to keep the collar from shifting.

I knit the bulkier version of the pattern. About that reading ahead...right...I didn't even notice it was written in two gauges until I had already cast on for the bulky version. I liked how quickly it knit up, that's for sure, but I'm tempted to knit this pattern again in the smaller gauge and in a more subtle color, since I bet I would go from liking it to REALLY liking it. But I'm not really one to knit the same thing more than once. For this jacket, I used 7 skeins of Berkshire Bulky in "plum" on size 10.75 needles. I almost got away with 6 skeins for the medium size, but needed a little extra to seam the thing up. I really like the Berkshire Bulky. It's soft, affordable, and comes in some really beautiful colors. The sheep smell was atrocious when I blocked it, and I'll have to see how it wears, but I think I'd use this yarn again. And I blocked the garment after I seamed it. I usually block the pieces first, then seam, but I have to re-block so often that I thought I'd wing it this time and just seam it up, then block it once. It seemed to work out just fine. Ok, I have to go take this sweater off, pronto. It's still summer weather here in the Northeast and one other thing about Berkshire Bulky--the wool/angora blend is warm!! But if fall ever shows up, I'll be wearing this jacket a lot!

jacket blocks while cat supervises

2007-10-01T18:51:00.000-04:00

Actually, my cat is probably giving serious consideration to plopping his furry white belly right down in the middle of my Drops Asymmetrical Jacket the second I'm not looking. Or perhaps sinking one--maybe two--claws into that Berkshire Bulky...just to see what it feels like.

But the cat is most likely enamored of the Drops Jacket because it SMELLS LIKE WET SHEEP. This is not new. A lot of my handknits smell like wet sheep when they're blocking--I'm sure most knitters have this problem. But I always forget that my handknits are going to smell like wet sheep until after my whole place smells like wet sheep! I never think to pick up any woolwash-type stuff until after the blocking and the stinking have begun. Notice the Febreze in the background? All it's doing is helping my cat watch the jacket dry. Can someone tell me what WILL work to eradicate the wet sheep smell? Before I block anything else around here??

(Gotta love that beach towel blocking board, eh?)

how'd that get there?

2007-09-27T17:30:00.001-04:00

I don't know how it happened. I finished weaving in ends on my Front and Back Cable Sweater at knitting club last week, and so I cast on the for the Drops jacket, you know, just to have something to do, and after just a couple evenings of knitting this week, I had the back piece and left front panel finished, and now I'm halfway done with the right panel. And this includes an hour or so of working on it at knitting club, which is usually counterproductive to my knitting progress! I'm using Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky in plum, and size 10.75 needles. I'm not so sure about the color yet, but I can't complain about how fast this thing knits up! And I didn't knit at all last weekend because I was making jewelry like a fiend. Here are the pieces I am currently having a hard time parting with...

The silver bracelet isn't in the shop yet, but it will be.

So speaking of knitting club...is it over? My friend Kim says the word on the street is that the knitting fad is finished and that it's just the die hards left, now. It seems like there's been a decrease in knit club attendance over the past 6 months or so, and it kind of has a few of us scratching our heads. But perhaps those of us scratching our heads are such die hard knitters that we cannot comprehend why anyone would NOT knit. (Die hard, nerd...Tomato, tomahto.) Last week there was an article about our knitting club that appeared in a free publication, which may have enticed a few more people to show up for our knit nights, had I not come off sounding like a supreme ding-dong. Turns out, when your say things to reporters, they actually write them down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your gracious comments on my Front and Back Cable Sweater! I felt some serious love from you guys. :)

front and back cable sweater

2007-09-23T19:16:00.001-04:00

Finished the Front and Back Cable Sweater...and still haven't come up with a better name for it. I'm really happy with the way this came out, despite the headaches at the beginning. The pattern was from Gedifra Highlights 033, but I scrapped the pattern long ago, since it was seriously weird, and decided to use the cable chart only, knitting top-down. I tried it on approximately eleventy-billion times, but it was worth it. It grew after blocking, so it's perhaps a little long, but that's better than being even a smidge too short, in my book. I wound up using 9 balls of Rowan Cashsoft DK on size 4 needles. Since I knit this top-down, instead of bottom-up, I just had to read the cable chart top to bottom, left to right and it did what it was supposed to do. And I think I have a major crush on this cable, even if it does look like a spine. :)

I've already started another sweater, and there's a "newspaper" article and new Small Bird projects to share, but that's another post for another day. Right now I think I'll kick back and savor this FO.

design on the fly

2007-09-08T11:15:00.000-04:00

I was nearing the end of the body of my Front and Back Cable Sweater, and I decided to add ribbing at the bottom of the sweater, instead of the rolled edge in the original pattern. Then I decided that the cable should really extend all the way to the bottom and the ribbing should be next to it, to mirror the design of the neckline. All this was going through my head WHILE I continued to knit away toward the bottom of the sweater. By the time I made my final decision, I was past the point where I should have started the ribbing. So every other two stitches I dropped two stitches down 12 rows and changed each of them from knits to purls with a crochet hook.

Presto! Change-o!---Ribbing! Ok, it wasn't so much "Presto! Change-o!" as it was "Grumble! Glare at my knitting! Exasperated sigh! Change-o!" but it still worked and I'm glad I went back and changed it. Next time...think first, knit second.

pattern, schmattern.

2007-08-30T10:37:00.000-04:00

I've been working away on my Front and Back Cable Sweater. (Did I mention that I am also super creative at naming things?) Using Rowan Cashsoft DK is dreamy, especially after working with Elann Sonata for so long on my Summertime Tunic. I've tried the sweater on several times and I'm pretty excited about how it's turning out. The cable chart is easy to memorize and I'm just working out the shaping as I go along. It's making me wonder why I'd ever knit a sweater any other way.

Edit: The pattern is from Gedifra Highlights 033, but it was a mess, so I'm knitting top-down. The only thing I'm using from the pattern is the cable chart.

summertime tunic

2007-08-26T13:53:00.001-04:00

The Summertime Tunic has been done for a while, just waiting for ribbon to finish it off. I wound up using 6 skeins on Elann Sonata. Toward the end of this project, I decided that I didn't really like the orange after all, and I could kind of tell that I wasn't going to be in love with the tunic, anyway, so I decided to overdye it after all the knitting was done. One package of black Rit dye in the washing machine turned it a nice rich brown. (The uneven coloring in the photo is due to shooting the photo in the mirror, not the dye.) The ribbon I found actually matches quite nicely, but I don't know if I'll really wear this one. I like the length, and it's comfy, but I did something strange where I wound up with way too many stitches on the front, so it's bunchier than it should be. I don't mind it too much, but even after washing, the yarn is a little stiff, so it doesn't drape as nicely as it could. Really, it's just not very flattering and has that homemade (and not in a good way) quality about it. Maybe I'll try wearing it. But I'm sure there a more than a few mass-produced items in my closet that would look much better on me. I think I'll wear it around the house today and then see how I feel.

sexyback

2007-08-20T12:27:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you're wondering why my blog looks so alluring (even in Internet Explorer) and it's all thanks to Steph! She offered to help me fix my banner, but it turns out that I super-stink at performing HTML CPR via e-mail, so I relinquished control of my blog and she had it looking hott in about 30 seconds, since she's the Jedi Master of blog repair. While Steph was busy working under the hood here, I just sat around weaving in ends on my Summertime Tunic and eating bon bons. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Steph! It looks fab. :)

girl bloggers

2007-08-19T18:06:00.001-04:00

Wow. Lilybeth tagged me as a...

This may be the first time I've been tagged for anything, so I humbly accept! :) I found it difficult to pick just 5 girl bloggers I admire, but here they are:

1. knit lit - Kate is so creative and cool. I mean really. I want to enroll in Kate Lessons whenever the next semester begins.

2. a Friend to knit with - I think I might want to have her life...or at least her bike. :)

3. Fig & Plum - I've been reading Jess's blog since I started reading knitting blogs. I've always been inspired by her knitting and entertained by her writing.

4. let's go on a holiday - She has such fantastic taste in patterns and she finishes things. LOTS of beautiful things. And then she posts beautiful photos of them.

5. Anything Indie - As if I wasn't already completely addicted to Etsy, she regularly posts the most amazing finds from all over the Indie craft world.

Thanks for all the great blogging, girls!

moss stitch beret

2007-08-17T16:33:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist the beautiful photo of Kent's Moss Stitch Beret when I first saw it on Ravelry, and decided it would make a nice little travel project. Kent has indeed made updates to the pattern and assures me that the new version works for real. :) But even a perfectly written pattern cannot stop me from making my own knitting blunders! For starters, I used the wrong stitch. I looked up moss stitch on the good old internets and found British Moss Stitch and American Moss Stitch. So I used British Moss Stitch. Which is what I would normally refer to as seed stitch. Why I chose the British version, I do not know. I'm not British. Maybe I thought it would look better with some British flava. Maybe I thought that Kent thought that it would look better with some British flava. But I was evidently supposed to use American Moss Stitch, also known as...moss stitch. Right. Anyway.

I used one skein of Cascade 220 Wool, and I checked my gauge, but this thing must have mutated to gargantuan proportions after blocking. It. is. huge. It's bobby pinned into place in the picture, to show what it should look like. I really like the would-be result, so I think I'll rip it and try again with much fewer stitches. When I re-knit, I think I'll use ---hey!---American Moss Stitch! This will also give me a chance to do a fancy contrasting lining inside the brim like Kent's second beret. I don't think I'm much of a beret-type girl, so this will probably be a gift.

What I like best about this pattern is the construction of the brim. No, let me clarify. I LOVE the construction of the brim. The brim is sort of hemmed. (Do we have a different name for that in knitting?) You knit 3" of stockinette then fold it under and knit the CO edge into the rest of the hat. I forced two of my knitting pals to look at it, and one of them was moved to exclaim, "Wow, it's like a real hat!" Now that's a compliment.

gretel

2007-08-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Ysolda posted a pattern update, and my Gretel beret is finished! (More pictures on Flickr and Ravelry.) I knit the "slouchy" version, and I'm quite happy with it. Ysolda gave this hat just the right amount of slouch, and I love the all-over lattice cable pattern. Although the pattern calls for 230 yards of worsted weight yarn, I got away with one skein of Cascade 220, in heathered gray. Even though I checked my gauge, I wish the brim was just a teensy bit tighter. However, I may just knit this pattern again, so perhaps I'll go down a needle size or two. I see myself getting a lot of use out of this hat when the cooler weather finally hits, but I'm in no rush! :)

P.S. Anyone know what I need to do to get my blog banner to stretch all the way across my page?

P.P.S. I changed the dimensions like Ann said. (Thanks Ann!) It looks great in the Blogger preview, but it's shifted to the right on the real live internet...any more suggestions?

flying by the seat of my pants

2007-08-12T14:38:00.000-04:00

I have been traveling and knitting. And with both activities, just getting there was the hard part! I did most of my knitting during several delayed flights, but the patterns I chose to bring with me didn't exactly make things any easier.

I first attempted the moss stitch beret, using Kent's pattern, which I came across on Ravelry. It looks like the pattern has been updated more than once since I first printed it out, so I won't bother saying anything about the issues I ran into. But it was nice of Kent to post the pattern and it was fun to knit. Here you can see the beret, before blocking, with the remainder of my skein of Cascade 220. (It was a close call.)

Then I began working on Ysolda's Gretel pattern. I got about 3" into it before coming to the conclusion that something was wrong and ripping most of it back out. Unless I did something very strange, it looks like the directions for T3F and/or T3B are incorrect. So I used the pattern to help me do the increases, and other than that, just followed the picture rather than the instructions to do the cables. I'm glad I ripped it back, though, because I think I might love this hat when it's done!

Oh, and where was I flying to? A variety of destinations Out West.

Top two photos courtesy of Kelly.

ribbed lace shrug

2007-07-30T15:52:00.000-04:00

I thought I was out of my shrug phase, but this pattern appealed to me for some reason. And now, after finishing it up, I think I will get a lot of use out of this little shrug. The free pattern is by Kelly Maher and uses the same simple, clever construction as the Craftster Circular Shrug. You could really add almost any stitch pattern between the sections of ribbing. I tried to make mine a bit roomier than the pattern intends, so I did 14" of lace, and it worked out just as I had hoped. I also wanted to make sure that the shawl collar had enough length to fold over nicely, so I did 4" of ribbing on each end. As I mentioned in my previous post, I really did like knitting with the Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, and can definitely see myself using it again in the future. This was a great summer knitting project! (More pictures here.)

so far, so good

2007-07-29T14:48:00.000-04:00

I started both the Ribbed Lace Bolero, and the Wide Cable Sweater before leaving for vacation. Due to some flight delays and several hours of riding in the car, I got quite a bit accomplished! The lace shrug was a fun, quick knit and just has to be seamed now. I'm using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in taupe and I have to say I really like this yarn! It's nice and soft and the acrylic gives it just enough squishiness without making it feel like squeaky acrylic. And it comes in some really beautiful Debbie Bliss-esque colors.

I finally got around to doing some crazy math for the Gedifra sweater. I really think the pattern is off (even the knits and purls are mixed up!), and since it's a raglan design anyway, I decided it would be best to knit the whole thing top-down. I used my gauge to figure out my CO number, adding extra stitches to account for the amount of shrinkage that would be caused by the wide cable, and estimated the placement of the sleeves. I just have to read the cable chart top to bottom, left to right and it does what it's supposed to. So far, so good.

not much

2007-07-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

I've made some (boring) progress on the Summertime Tunic. The knitting is going just fine, but I do think I'll wind up trying to dye it. It's a cute pattern and I've chosen a rather uncute color.

I'm still deciding what to do about the Gedifra pattern. I haven't been able to muster the strength to actually swatch the entire 42 stitch, 99 row cable chart...if you can imagine that.

And I'm definitely ripping the Ruffled Surplice. Ugh. I hope the yarn will one day become Girlfriend's Swing Coat Sweater, a gift for a friend's daughter.

In non-knitting news, my Etsy shop was featured on Anything Indie! :)

2007-07-07T00:04:00.000-04:00

Am I crazy?

I swatched for the Gedifra cabled sweater and my gauge is a little smaller than what the pattern calls for. But I don't want to go up another needle size because I really like the way the Rowan Cashsoft DK knits up on size 4's. However, the pattern only offers sizes 32"/34" and 36"/38" and since I'm smack in between those two sizes, I figured I'd knit the larger size, knowing that it would come out a bit smaller. And I'm knitting the body in the round because the front and back pieces are exactly the same. I cast on, and after a couple of rounds I noticed that I had a lot of excess fabric bunched onto the needles, even though I was using 32" circulars. So I took the knitting off the needles and it was HUGE. It was only after all this time and knitting that I decided to take a good, hard look at the pattern, because that's how I roll.

The gauge for this pattern is 5.25 st per 1". And for a size 32"/34" it tells you to cast on 120 st., which will wind up being the number of stitches across the chest, as well. Is my calculator (or my brain) broken or does that come out to a whole heck of a lotta stitches?? That will knit up to almost a 46" chest, won't it? Wouldn't one need 84 stitches on both the front and back pieces to knit a 32" chest? Are the cables going to pull in the sweater that much?

It entirely possible that I've overlooked something. (I do begin most of my knitting projects by panicking.) But if my math is correct, how do I fix this problem? I don't want to have to rework the entire pattern, because the sleeves are bound to be a major pain in the neck. I was thinking...what if I just knit this thing top-down? Would I knit the cable chart upside down? Upside down and backwards? Or should I knit bottom-up and...isn't there a way to knit the raglan sleeves and top portion of the sweater simultaneously?

It's past my bedtime. Someone please set me straight.

boo.

2007-07-06T11:39:00.000-04:00

Well, in light of my one year blogiversary, it makes sense that I'd enter my Terrible Two's all angry and frustrated and wanting to throw things. Stupid ruffled surplice. Thank you so much for all of your fantastic suggestions! I guess I could fix some of the problems if I really wanted to, but I think there's just too much wrong with this pattern. I can already tell I wouldn't wear it very much, so I think I'll be ripping this one. There are a lot of cut ends, but I may be able to salvage some of the yarn for some kind of smaller project. I'm also trying to see this as a learning experience... Lesson #1: Size 8 needles are just too big for something that's supposed to be a rather delicate style. (Although I thought I already learned that lesson once...or twice.) Lesson #2: I am too old to wear ruffles.

So I ordered yarn for my next big project. Model 509, from Gedifra Highlights 033. I'll be using Rowan Cashsoft DK in misty gray and I have high hopes for this one! I don't know if I'll be ready to dive right in when the yarn gets here or not. If not, I'll continue to occupy myself with the Summertime Tunic.

blogiversary

2007-07-03T23:39:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that Knits and Pieces turned one year old on Sunday! Although I started this blog as a way to keep track of my own knitting progress, I am so appreciative of the support and assistance I have received through the comments as well as how it has allowed me to become a more active member of the online knitting community. Knitters are just the best. :)

Happy Blogiversary to me!

what to do?

2007-07-02T20:09:00.001-04:00

The only thing left to do is weave in all those ends on the Ruffled Surplice and maybe block it again. But I don't know if it's worth it. I decided that I like the color. I remember now why I chose it in the first place. And I really like the length and how it's longer in the back. Although it's got some cuteness, I swear this thing feels like a damp beach towel when I pick it up! It's adding bulk where I don't need it to, the shoulders are way too big, and I feel like the ruffles (especially on the sleeves) are crossing the line from "cute" to "cutesy." The shoulders are the worst part, I guess. If anyone has suggestions on what to do about the shoulders and sleeves, I'd love to hear all about it.

knitting fears

2007-06-27T09:23:00.000-04:00

I've found myself riding in the car a lot lately, and I took the opportunity to spend some quality time with my knitting needles. The Ruffled Surplice is nearly finished. I have two more rows to knit on the bottom ruffle, then just weave in the ends and block. Sounds simple enough. In fact, it's been in this state for a couple of days and I really could be done by now. But I'm at that point in the project where you worry that you picked the wrong pattern and that the yarn is WAY too heavy and the texture is way too bulky and the color is probably a little obnoxious and so you hesitate to finish the thing because then all your fears will be realized. I do this all the time. Sometimes it all works out ok. But I have a really bad feeling about this one.

So, like the brave little knitter I am, I avoided finishing the surplice and started a new project! I've had yarn for the Summertime Tunic from Interweave Summer 2007 for quite a while, and after one trip to New York City (and back) (in one day) (don't ask) I have a good portion of it done. And speaking of obnoxious colors---watch out now! I'm using Elann Sonata in Grand Canyon and I thought I was going to get a muted terra cotta, but I am knitting with pumpkin orange. I think I need to dye it, but I'm still deciding. Has anyone ever dyed something after it's all knit up? Tell me it can be done.

a song for alice

2007-06-24T12:14:00.000-04:00

I received the most wonderful gift in the mail the other day. I love artist's books to begin with, but this one is made by Erin, queen of all things lovely and cute and quirky. You can see the whole thing in her Flickr set, but here are my favorite parts.

My most favorite part is that it came tied up with this:

Thank you Erin! I adore it!! :)

the bunny

2007-06-13T10:04:00.000-04:00

I finally organized all my past projects in Ravelry. (At least from the time I started taking photos of my projects.) I can't say enough about what a fantastic organizational tool this site is!! For anyone not on yet, I wish you speedy invitations! It's totally worth the wait.

To assist in the organizational process, I had to dig out my old knitting journal to remind me of what I'd done over the years. My journal seems both archaic and charming to me now with Flickr and Blogger and Ravelry, but it did provide a nice little trip down memory lane... I learned to knit in October of 2003 and started keeping track of my projects in my knitting journal in December of 2004. What I thought was SO difficult and impressive just a couple years ago seems sort of silly to me now! It's funny to look back at the pattern choices I made and the project notes I jotted down. While looking through it, the words "what was I thinking" came out of my mouth more than once. However, there is one project that has stood the test of time. One that I was as proud of then as I am today. It's the Bunny Finger Puppet. The bunny keeps on keepin' on. I think he's adorable and guess what else...I have the pattern. Alright, it's not specific and surely won't be chronicled in the knitting annals forevermore, and maybe you can knit a bunny finger puppet with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back, but this was very early on in my knitting and I was pretty impressed with myself for not only figuring it out, but actually writing it down. And so I'm sharing. :)

Bunny Finger Puppet

Needles: #2 straight and #6 dpn (you'll be knitting tightly to make the finger puppet sturdy!)

Yarn: worsted weight scrap yarn in white, black, and pink (or whatever color scheme your bunny prefers)

Gauge: meh.

Body:

Using white yarn and size 6 dpn's CO 18 st.
Join for knitting in the round and knit 18 rows.
Cut yarn and run through all stitches. Fasten tightly.

Ears:

Using white yarn and size 2 needles CO 6 st.
k1, p1 for 13 rows.
Cut yarn and run through all stitches, pull tightly to make the top of the ear appear narrower.
Make another.

Sew both bunny ears to the top of the bunny body.

Weave in ends.

Use black yarn to make eyes and pink yarn to make a nose. I don't have a special method for this. I just wrapped the yarn around one of the stitches and tied it on the inside.

Enjoy!

ravelry

2007-06-11T13:39:00.000-04:00

I got my Ravelry invite the other day! I haven't had time to do much, but OH! the possibilities!! Thanks, frecklegirl!

i still knit

2007-06-03T17:28:00.001-04:00

Although I've been spending most of my craft time making jewelry, I swear I'm still knitting! But my progress makes for boring blogging since I've been working on the Ruffled Surplice, exclusively. Just more of the same. The back and both the fronts are blocking and the sleeves are almost finished. Then I just have to knit a few miles of ruffles and I'm done! I expect to have my spring knitting finished just in time for fall. :)

P.S. From what I can gather, it looks like most of my Etsy shop visitors have been knitters and knit bloggers. Thank you so much!!

at the same time

2007-05-15T07:52:00.000-04:00

After ripping and starting for a THIRD time on one of the front panels of the Ruffled Surplice, I'm actually making significant progress. Slow, but significant. Why did I knit this thing THREE times? Because of "At the same time." My least favorite phrase in all the knitting instructions in all the world. I like to think I'm kind of a smart cookie, in general, but my brain throws up its hands and takes a coffee break when it sees "At the same time."

The real reason my knitting progress is slow because of my new craft addiction. My free time is now divided between knitting and jewelry making. I guess my addiction is not that new, actually. I used to make jewelry several years ago, which eventually took a back seat to soap making. For a while, I sold my handmade bath and body products at craft shows and through a couple boutiques in my area, but my interest eventually fizzled and the soap making was replaced by the knitting. It's not that I've lost interest in knitting, but I've rediscovered my interest in jewelry making. I guess I enjoy crafts that are somewhat functional. Having the Etsy shop has been fun, too. (Although my friends and family keep scooping up the good stuff before it's in the shop for very long!) I want to keep a variety of items in the shop, and I expect to have several more fine silver pieces in there very soon, but ever since I acquired the proper tools and found out where to get good beads, I can't stop making rings...

summer knitting?

2007-05-11T12:54:00.000-04:00

I've had to restart the second front panel of the Ruffled Surplice twice, now, and the jewelry making is really taking up most of my crafting time nowadays, but I'm already looking ahead to my next knit, because I am a craft addict and possibly a glutton for craft punishment. I intended to knit Butterfly this summer, but...(sigh)...all that thinking...I just don't feel up to it right now. I looked at the Interweave Knits preview online, and my favorite pattern happened to be the Summertime Tunic, which happened to be one of their free ones! I don't lovelovelove this tunic, but I like it 7-balls-of-Elann-yarn worth. So I ordered some Elann Sonata in "Grand Canyon," which is exactly where I may wind up knitting this! How could I resist?

good gifts

2007-05-02T07:39:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, I finally got to give the EZ baby sweater and the felted fox to the new baby and new big brother. I'm assuming that most knitters get at least a little excited about giving a knitted gift that they put much time and love into, so I was so happy to hear that my gifts did more good than I had imagined. I hear there was much oohing and ahhing over the sweater, but apparently, the fox really eased the transition for new big brother. At two and a half years old, his parents were more than a little nervous about how he'd handle meeting his new baby sister. He was a bit freaked out by being in the hospital, but as soon as his parents gave him the gift, it took his mind off of it right away. Not only did he relax, but he immediately wanted to go share his fox with his new sister. They have some wonderful photos of the new family in the hospital and that fox is in every single one. Who knew?

Anyway. My hot pot kiln arrived this week and I finally tried out the precious metal clay. It was actually a little harder than I thought it would be. I think the difficulty resulted from trying to work on such a small scale, combined with my paralyzing fear of wasting this expensive material. Consequently, I made some junk. But firing them in the kiln was VERY fun, and I did get one successful piece out of it:

These earrings will be a birthday gift for my sister this weekend. The disks are made from precious metal clay, and so are 100% silver. I stamped a flowered pattern into them and gave them a patina to bring out the texture. They were a little boring until I added the freshwater pearls, but now I really kind of like them.

I made another pair at the same time, which I will add to a my Etsy shop, eventually. They still need finishing touches and I also need a scale to weigh them and figure out how to price them properly. I'm looking forward to experimenting more with precious metal clay. It's so satisfying (and unexpected) to be able to make a high quality piece of jewelry on your front steps!

arts & crafts

2007-04-27T07:15:00.000-04:00

Boy, I hope the blocking fairies come in the night and turn this into something nice...

This is only one of the front pieces of the Ruffled Surplice. It would be coming together more quickly if I hadn't started other craft projects. I've been experimenting with jewelry making using a few different materials: polymer clay, photo transfers, shrink plastic, glass, wire...but I'm still experimenting. I set up an Etsy shop, in the hopes that this might turn into a fun little business venture, but since I'm still in the experimental stage, the shop is pretty weak. I did, however, go buck wild craft crazy and ordered an approximate pantload of supplies including a hot pot kiln for precious metal clay! I can't wait for them to get here. I think about that little kiln every day. I haven't been this excited since I learned how to cable without a cable needle!

shopping tunic

2007-04-22T14:40:00.000-04:00

It's not often that knitters experience (relatively) instant gratification, but if that's what you're after, the Twinkle Shopping Tunic fits the bill! It felt like it took no time at all, and I wasn't even working on it very consistently. I used 3 skeins of Twinkle Soft Chunky in "urchin," which is sometimes purple, sometimes blue, and sometimes gray, depending on what kind of light (and mood) you're in. The color is gorgeous, but very difficult to capture on camera. I knit the small even though I am NOT a size small, because I had heard that the pattern was very stretchy, and it fits just fine. I ran out of yarn before doing all 13.5" of the collar, but I don't really mind. It's still cowl-y enough for me. The only modification I made was to switch up the reverse stockinette stitch part of the way through the collar so that the reverse stockinette would still show it's reverse side when the collar was folded down...if that makes any sense. Overall, this was a very satisfying knit. It was quick and fun and I think I'll actually wear it!

make room

2007-04-17T12:58:00.000-04:00

Now that I've got a couple more projects off the needles, I've made room in the knitting basket for newer knits! I began the Ruffled Surplice while travelling last week and I've finished the back and about half of one of the front panels. I love the color of the Rowan Cotton Rope, but it's not the most fun to knit with. Since it's 55% cotton and 45% acrylic, I thought it might have a little more "give" than another cotton yarn. But after a while, the process feels more like beating the yarn into submission rather than knitting and purling. It's a bit stressful on the hands... wrists... elbows... or maybe I just knit too much. I'm also knitting on size 8's, and the ball band suggests size 10 needles, which could be adding to the problem. But I got gauge, and I really can't imagine this yarn on size 10's, anyway.

Now---scoot over and make room on the bandwagon, 'cause I got this the other day:

I've already started on the Shopping Tunic using Twinkle Soft Chunky in "urchin." I'm skeptical about how this sweater will actually look on me, but it's fun to have something knit up so quickly!

lace hoodie

2007-04-14T18:01:00.000-04:00

One of the things about having so many works in progress is that all of a sudden you have a bunch of finished objects! (Love that.)

I finished the lace hoodie from Rebecca 32 during a couple of rainy days during my spring vacation this week. I was unsure about this project right up until the very end, but I'm really happy with the results! I used Patons Classic Wool Merino on size 8 needles, and made just a few small modifications. I knit the body in the round, and eliminated one pattern repeat, because the lace pattern was so stretchy. I also knit the sleeves to three-quarter length, rather than full length.

I have to block the hood again because I don't actually know the proper way to block a hood, so I'll try another one of my mad scientist techniques tonight to get rid of the wonkiness. I'll never actually wear the hood up, but there's a photo here. The hood construction is pretty interesting.

Although I was less than thrilled with my previous attempt at a hoodie, I see myself getting a lot of use out of this one! The fit is just right and it'll be something a little different to wear in this in-between-seasons weather.

ms. oni opera gloves

2007-04-08T20:10:00.000-04:00

I didn't expect to be posting this FO so soon, but once again I found some extra time to work on them, so here they are, the Ms. Oni Opera Gloves! The pattern is Kate's fabulous creation, so thank you thank you thank you, Kate, for letting me knit them! I used Yarntini in cherry cordial, just like Kate, because I pretty much want to be her when I grow up. The Yarntini was so much fun to knit with. I think that's part of the reason these went so quickly. If I hadn't gotten distracted by so many other projects, they would have been done in no time. And this is such a fantastic way to use sock yarn! I might never be a sock knitter, but I do love sock yarn. This pair of gloves is definitely one of my favorite finished objects yet! It almost makes me wish the cold weather would hang on a little longer, just so I can wear them. (Almost.)

one down

2007-04-07T10:38:00.000-04:00

I fully intended to work on the lace hoodie this week since I had many hours of travel time to kill. And I forgot my knitting needles. My knitting needles. Stitch markers? Got 'em. Row counter? Check. 3 different cable needles? Completely unnecessary, but yes, I had them. Knitting needles??? Nope!

Although I am not smart enough to bring the tool most crucial for the craft of knitting, I am somehow smart enough to bring a back-up project. So I unintentionally made serious progress on the Ms.Oni opera gloves. I completed the right-hand glove and only have 4 more fingers to knit on the left.

P.S. I am in love with them.

non-knitting bridal shower craftiness

2007-04-01T12:26:00.001-04:00

I feel like I haven't been knitting as much lately. There are a variety of reasons, but basically things are just very busy for me right now, so I have a bunch of other things sucking up my knitting time. Since I don't have much knitting progress to post, I decided to break my self-imposed rule of only posting knitting content (I'm sure it's a slippery slope from here on out) and show you some of the bridal shower craftiness I've been working on!

One of my dearest friends is having a sweets-themed bridal shower and since I'm much less likely to do irreparable damage with a glue gun than with a cooking utensil, I quickly volunteered to do the centerpieces and favors. I was a little stumped at first with the theme, so thank goodness for Martha Stewart! Or rather, thank goodness for the minions who work in her design department. Either way, these projects came out so stinkin' cute I can hardly stand it! I got together with one of the other bridesmaids (another dear friend) and we had a girly, crafty evening, whipping up monogrammed cookies and candy topiaries. Both projects were very easy and kinda corny, but quite lovely, just the same.

The idea for the monogrammed cookies was stolen directly from Martha's website. Now, I'm no Betty Crocker, so we used premade sugar cookie dough and cut out the cookies with a flower shaped cookie cutter. I got a flat-tipped icing applicator thingy (see? NOT Betty Crocker!) to do the lettering with chocolate icing. I was glad the bride's new last name didn't begin with a more complicated letter! After the icing had set, I popped them into cellophane bags, used twist-ties to close the bags and attach the "Thank You" tags we stamped, and finished them off with bows. We made the cookies a couple weeks in advance, so they are currently residing in my freezer.

For the topiaries, I began by painting the dowels white, and painting the flower pots with geometric patterns, using white and off-white acrylic paint, accented with metallic gold. I jammed some florist's foam in the bottom (I had to trim it to fit with a serrated knife), stuck a 12" dowel into a 4" styrofoam ball, and then slapped the ball/dowel apparatus into the pot. Thinking that I wanted the centerpieces to be ultimately edible, I pinned the foil-wrapped candies into the styrofoam ball using straight pins, but in retrospect, I probably could have hot-glued them without corrupting the candy too much. I tied a wide ribbon and a narrower ribbon at the top of each dowel, and covered the florist's foam in the pot with the leftover candies. I used a lot more candy than I thought I would for the three topiaries. I actually made two trips to the grocery store to pick the pinks and reds out of the bins. I think it took about 4-6 pounds, total.

In the midst of all this I realized that I must have a penchant for corny, themed bridal showers. Last spring I threw a Mad Hatter Tea Party for my sister's shower (photos below). It was a lovely affair, complete with flamboyant homemade hats. I don't know that I'll ever top that soiree (it was a good one!) but I hope this bride enjoys her sweets shower!

EZ baby sweater

2007-03-28T15:22:00.000-04:00

I gave myself plenty of time to finish the EZ baby sweater, but it's still a bit of a relief to finally be done with it. Especially since the mom-to-be recently remarked that she feels like the baby might "fall out" at any time. (Yipe.)

This is the well-known, much-knitted February Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I thought the construction was a bit wacky, but it all worked out in the end. It's a pattern I would knit again, but next time I would use my own top-down know-how rather than following EZ's "pithy" instructions so closely. I used 3 balls of Karabella Aurora 8 and I can NOT seem to capture the color on my camera. The true color is a deeper, darker raspberry, rather than the bright fuchsia that appears here. I usually steer clear of pastels for baby knits--just a personal preference---so I hope mom and baby both like the color. The felted fox will be given to the new big brother. I'm excited to give both gifts, so Baby Girl can go ahead and fall out any time now!

The "lemonade" Rowan Cotton Rope I ordered for the Ruffled Surplice Sweater arrived the other day and the color is just what I was hoping for! I would describe it as...hmmm...lemonade! Go figure.

spring knitting

2007-03-22T08:46:00.000-04:00

As if I don't have enough in the knitting queue already, it's time to get crackin' on the spring knits! Ok, so organized, conscientious knitters have been crackin' on their spring knits for quite some time, now, since it's actually time to start wearing your spring knits, but I have a tendency to be perpetually late to the party. I picked up the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits a couple weeks ago, and I think the Ruffled Surplice on the cover is just so pretty. Yesterday I ordered some Rowan Cotton Rope (on sale at Webs) in "lemonade." I know it's a gamble ordering yarn online, and I have been disappointed by colors in the past, so this time I looked at the Cotton Rope colors on every website I could find. The "lemonade" varied from Big Bird yellow to pale pastels, so I'm hoping for something in between. What I'd really like is a light, springy, kind of acidic, retro shade of yellow. If you know that's NOT what I'm getting, don't tell me yet. I'm currently using sheer force of will to MAKE it that color when it arrives on my doorstep.

Here's the status of the Other Projects:

- The EZ baby sweater is almost ready to block. I will definitely beat the baby to the finish line on this one!
- The body of the lace hoodie is finished. It needs sleeves and a hood and this should be a good project to take to knitting club, since I have the pattern memorized.
- The Ms. Oni Opera Gloves have been moved to the back burner. I've made some more progress on them, but they'll be a good summer project, on those lazy days in mid-July when you want to knit, but don't want to have a giant pile of wool in your lap. And they're knitting up so darn quick, I doubt they'll be in the bottom of the knitting basket for long.
- I ripped out most of the Kristin Nicholas pillow. I decided that the main fair isle motif was a little too Southwestern for my taste and selected another pattern from this website, which I suggest you all bookmark immediately. (Unless you already have. Like I said, perpetually late to the party.)
- Lucy in the Sky and Jaywalkers? Um...what Lucy in the Sky and Jaywalkers?

I finally get to give the Child's Placket-Neck Pullover to the new mommy this weekend! I know it's wrong, but I really want to win this baby shower.

zip-up hoodie

2007-03-13T07:23:00.000-04:00

Finally, after two months in the making, my hoodie is finished! This project took quite a bit longer than I intended, mostly because my initial "plan" was pretty weak.

I incorporated bits and pieces from about 4 different free patterns to create my zippered hoodie. (Maybe I should have called it the Frankenstein Hoodie or something, but I've never been good at giving titles to things.) I've never had much interest in creating patterns, but necessity is the mother of invention and I needed a hoodie fix. After an impatient 20 minutes of surfing the internet, I couldn't find a pattern I liked. But I found something that I thought might get me started, since I wanted to cast on for the hoodie like, now, and didn't want to have to think about it too much. (Maybe I should call it the My Laziness Knows No Bounds Hoodie.) I took what I needed from these patterns and tossed the rest. When a pattern ceased to meet my needs, I found another to pull from and kept right on knitting. I took the garment off the needles several times to make sure I was on the right track. Of course, the great thing about top-down sweaters is that you can try them on as you go, and adjust your knitting when necessary. Ok, there was some math, but not much. With all the cutting and pasting I did, I don't know if that actually makes this conglomeration my design or my pattern or whatever, but I don't mind telling you how I got here...since some of you asked. (Although I can't imagine why!) But this is NOT a pattern. Not even close. I guess "tutorial" would be a more appropriate term. Feel free to use what you can from this tutorial and toss the rest!

I used 800 yards of worsted weight yarn and size 8, 32" circular needles. I didn't check my gauge because I just figured I'd try it on as I went, but it worked out to about 6 st/1".

I only did one garter stitch on the very edges of my work all the way through the pattern. This was probably a mistake, as I had hardly anything to attach to the zipper, and had to sew it in by hand. I'm not sure what a better solution would be, since I wanted to make sure that the cables would meet in the middle, so it's something to be aware of. It came out looking nice, and the zipper keeps the edges from rolling in (the cable on the hood still rolls in), but it was a pain in the neck.

CO 86 st.

Set up row: k1, p2, k4, p2, k 2, pm, k 14, pm, k 36, pm, k 14, pm, k2, p2, k4, p2, k1.

You will be working basic cables on either end of your work. I cabled forward on one side and cabled back on the other side, so that the cables would wrap inward toward each other. I worked the cables every 6 rows throughout the pattern, although they probably could have been worked every 4 rows.

Working (mostly) in St st, increase on both sides of sleeve markers using kbf increases, as you would for any top-down raglan, remembering to work the 8 st cable panel at each end of your work, and the one lonely garter stitch on each end, if you so choose.

At the same time, increase on front edges of hoodie by doing m1 increases next to the cable panel (so that the cable panel remains at the very end of each row) every 4th row until the front pieces of the cardigan are wide enough to meet in the middle. I think it took me 81 rows to make the cardigan close in front, but I've got some extra room in there (heh, as usual).

After you have enough stitches to allow the sleeves to meet under the arm and the cables to meet in front, put the sleeve stitches on scarp yarn and continue to work the rest of the body.

After working 3" from under the arm, I began decreasing. I did some good old fashioned math to figure out how many stitches I needed to decrease and how often. Make sure you place markers in what would be the center of the sides of the hoodie. Knit to 3 st before marker, then ssk, k1, sl m, k1, k2tog on each side. I decreased every 5th row 4 times, then worked 1" even. I then began increasing by knitting to 1 st before marker, m1, k1, sl m, k1, m1, in order to mirror the shaping in the top half.

Knit the body to the desired length, including 1.5" of ribbing, then BO. I used 4x1 ribbing, but I'm not sure that it's quite sturdy enough to keep the bottom edge from rolling. I might have used 3x1 ribbing instead.

Using dpn's, knit the sleeves to desired length, including ribbing, BO.

Pick up the 86 stitches along the neck for the hood. I worked even in stockinette (aside from the cable panel) to 11". When working the cable panel, notice that you'll have to switch the forward and backward cables. On the body you were working top-down, now you're working bottom-up. Just make sure it looks right. After knitting 11" I found the center of the hood to place a marker, and decreased 2 stitches in the center of the hood on each RS row 14 times by knitting to 3 st before marker, ssk, k1, sl m, k1, k2tog.

Either graft the top of the hood together or bind off and seam. I tried to graft the top of the hood, but it came out more like a seam, which was fine by me.

I blocked, then installed the zipper (El Diablito).

If you do attempt this tutorial, please remember that it should have a giant disclaimer attached to it all about how I actually have no idea what I'm doing and that you should knit at your own risk. Enjoy!

radical

2007-03-12T10:21:00.000-04:00

I recently had the opportunity to spend a long weekend in New York City. Jane was my travel buddy and expert tour guide and...we didn't kill each other! (And what I really mean is that she didn't kill me.) Not only did we not kill each other---it was a fabulous weekend. I'm embarrassed to admit that it was my first time visiting New York, even though I live relatively close by. Shame on me. We did some touristy stuff and some non-touristy stuff and I LOVED every minute of it. I loved it in the way that I know I'm going to need to go back every so often just to get a fix.

Thank goodness Jane's a knitter, since I was dying to see the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at the Museum of Art and Design, and not everyone would have been so easily swayed. There were some wild pieces in the show. Some of it was easily understood, being very obviously connected to the craft of knitting, and some of it was a bit more conceptual and esoteric. But it was appealing and intriguing, nonetheless. Hey, an entire art exhibit about knitting? That's something in itself. If you can get there before June 17th, go see it! My favorite piece was the lace car parts. But not the actual car parts themselves, it was the lace pattern in the dust on the floor that got me.

what's one more?

2007-03-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

Since my Works in Progress list is currently a mile long...I started something new! But it's something I've been meaning to start since December. After much harassment and badgering and begging and other unbecoming behavior on my part, Kate gave me her original Ms. Oni opera glove pattern! I wanted to start right away, and was searching around for self-striping yarns, but Kate convinced me that I really, really MUST use Yarntini. Since Yarntini is such a commodity, I had to wait. But I received my yarn last week and Kate was right, the yarn is incredibly soft and the striping is fantastic and the colors are unique and vibrant. I fully intended to use a different colorway, but Kate (of course!) picked the best one. Kate and her darned good taste.

I'm up to the arm hole shaping on the lace hoodie! Actually, I reached that point a week or so ago, but I put it down because I'm not quite sure if there are any modifications I need to make in the pattern. I eliminated one pattern repeat in the body and I'm knitting in the round. If I follow the shaping for the armhole and eliminate a pattern repeat when I knit the sleeve, will all even out? That's probably what I'm going to try unless someone points out why I'm headed for disaster.

The zipper is gradually being installed in the zip-up hoodie. It's a chore. I should just power through and be done with it already, but it's no fun. So I procrastinate. The only thing that made me feel any better about it was this sympathetic item that I received in the mail today:

Accompanied by this note:

It's probably the kindest, weirdest, most thoughtful piece of mail I've ever received.

Only Erin...

hoodie frustration and hoodie elation

2007-02-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

The zip-up hoodie is one zipper installation away from being finished. I made two attempts at the i-cord edging, but it muddled the edge of the cable too much. Since I rushed headlong into this project without really thinking, the only thing on the outer edge of the cable is one garter stitch. I'm not really sure what the right answer would have been, since I wanted the cables to meet in the middle, but wanted to prevent the edge from rolling too much. I could have added a ribbed edge, but again, I really wanted the cabled to meet in the center. So I decided to block the thing and hope for the best. I figured I would have to sew the zipper in by hand, since I hardly left myself any room to work with. I finished sewing one side last night, and was pretty pleased with how it looked. It was then that I realized that I purchased a zipper that does NOT separate at the bottom. (sigh...) This is SO like me.

My refuge from this frustration has been a lace hoodie pattern from Rebecca 32. I started this at knitting club last week, and (of course) butchered the lace pattern for the first couple inches. The pattern is knit flat, but I decided to knit in the round and my novice brain has a bit of trouble comprehending what I should do on wrong side rows when knitting in the round if it's not written out for me. The good thing about ripping it all out was that I realized that it would have been way too big, so on my second cast-on I eliminated a couple pattern repeats. It's going smoothly now and I love the way the lace pattern is shaping up.

I plan on finishing the zip-up hoodie by this weekend, as soon as I drag myself to the store to get the correct materials. I swear, this is SO like me...

snow day slippers

2007-02-14T16:31:00.000-05:00

There's no better feeling than a snow day. It's euphoric. I know not everyone gets snow days anymore, but I am one of those people who has been lucky enough get them every once in a while, even in my adult life. Sometimes I have a hard time going back to sleep after hearing the news because I get so childishly excited. (It's true.) I love my job, but you can't beat a surprise day off in the middle of the week when you get to veg out and drink hot chocolate and watch bad daytime tv and knit.

So today, with the snow falling at the rate of 1-2" per hour, I knit myself some slippers. I found the Side Cable Slippers pattern through someone's blog or Flickr account, but of course I can't find it anymore. So if it was you, thanks! I used about 75 yards of chunky weight yarn, double stranded (150 yards total) on size 15 needles, and knit these up in a matter of hours. In my family, we have a tendency to receive really ugly handknit slippers. Of course, we always wear holes right through them, no matter how ugly they are. Anyway, although I had other color choices in my stash, in the spirit of ugly handknit slippers, I had to go for the rust orange. :)