The Needle and the Damage Done

Knitting Neglect, Part 17

2010-12-18T12:36:00.005-06:00

I've barely knit a stitch since summer.

Losing complete interest in the activity due to a flurry of life. Or, I should say, temporarily lost.

Twenty ten has been an insane year. It has not been a bad year by any means--in fact, it's been one of the best years of my life--but it's been tough as hell. Last year was unimaginably awful by comparison: I lost my job after a year-long stretch of depression (which was really an outgrowth of a life informed by the illness), and my then-boyfriend was laid off from his job, suffered a nasty sports injury, and lost his step-sister to suicide. The lone bright spot in that entire horrific year was the birth of my niece Makenzie, who is slowly growing into a beautiful little redhead.

This year: I intentionally cut many poisonous people from my life, including kicking out my deadbeat roommate. I ended my last relationship when I realized that we no longer wanted the same things out of life, and by that I mean that I wanted to continue growing as a person and he didn't want a single thing to change, even for the better. (He turned out to be a childish prick in the end, something I didn't expect. That still stings a bit, but I've come to accept his willful absence from my life.) I quit a deadbeat job and made strides to redirect my career--I start graduate studies in nonprofit management next month, which makes me ecstatic. I started a film blog that I frequently update, which forces me to write almost everyday. I'm in a BAND. If you'd told me that I'd be writing songs and playing music with other people even six months ago, I would've laughed in your face to hide my longing and sense of personal failure. I've met many really cool people, several of whom are already becoming very close friends.

It's been a year of setting myself up for the future, of directing my own life, of choosing joy and curiosity and excitement over dead ends and ennui. Understandably, in all this madness a hobby that I picked up incidentally during one of the most depressed periods of my life fell by the wayside.

But I've started knitting again. What was inspired by a status update on Facebook in which I bitched about having no interest in it anymore turned into a burning desire to pick up needles again within days. It's interesting because the requirements for successfully knitting a beautiful piece--planning, aesthetic choices of yarn color, stitch pattern, etc., swatch knitting, seaming, blocking--are all techniques that have in a weird way seeped into my other creative outlets. Knitting has informed how I do virtually everything, which is something I took years to recognize. It's like I instinctively gravitated towards an activity through which I would teach myself the skills necessary and applicable to my life as an artist during a time that I was emotionally and psychologically unable to produce work. In that way, it saved my life.

Earlier this year I began work on a shawl for my grandmother for Christmas. She's 75 and the closest thing to a mother I've ever known. (She's even described me as the kid she got to raise the way she wanted to raise her other five children. I'm kinda her do-over, or reset button, as a parent.) I finished the vast majority of it in August and assumed I'd pick it back up in time for the holidays. Well, I'm leaving to visit family in five days and the thing is still in three pieces, awaiting grafting, edging, and blocking.

I hope I finish it before I leave. But I already have other projects swirling through my head, and I also want to finish all the projects that have been sitting in bags in my apartment for months.

That should explain why I haven't updated this blog in so long, but I hope to have more updates soon, with photos. Especially once I finish this shawl, which may be the crown jewel in my knitting cap, if I might horribly mix metaphors.

I Finished Something!

2009-09-28T02:18:00.003-05:00

Terrible photos, but I finally finished my first "real" project in ages, the Nimbus vest from Winter 2008/Spring 2009 Knitscene.

I started knitting the gauge swatches for this at the end of July, taking a month and three different swatches in order to make gauge. Persistence paid off in this case, resulting in what I feel is the first truly wearable piece I've ever knit.

Knit Picks Harmony Wood interchangeable needles are, by the way, worth every penny.

No News...Good News?

2009-01-05T10:51:00.003-06:00

I have not posted any updates because:
1) I haven't finished any projects in months. I made major progress on an incredible sweater, only to be suffering setbacks because the design--bottom-up, with front/back/sleeves attached and knit in the round to the yoke--is far more complicated than I expected. While contemplating frogging the sweater yet AGAIN and reconfiguring the pattern (and I am way worse at this math thing than I used to be), I'm suffering from second legwarmer syndrome. I've finished half of it, but I just can't seem to stay seated long enough to blow through the rest!
2) While my PC technically isn't dead, it's terminal. I broke down and invested in one of the new MacBooks (I'll use Vista over my dead body), which arrived a few days ago. Once I recharge my poor, abused digital camera and pray that it's compatible with a Mac, I'll be able to post photos!
3) I've been busy, or distracted--snuggling on the couch watching old movies and episodes of No Reservations, volunteer work (when I can), cooking and baking up a storm, attempting to read War and Peace, traveling to see my family over the holidays, adjusting to the new job and its responsibilities. I'm in full-scale hibernation mode, as even this winter fanatic's social life has taken a hit during this oddly brutal season.
4) My morning commute involves walking and standing, because my stop is too far south for me to find a seat. The plan is to eventually move further northwest (not because of my commute, but because rent is cheaper...but I've moved so many times in the last seven years that I will stay where I am for awhile), but until then I can only do post-5pm KIP.

Once I figure out what to do about the sweater from hell and finish that legwarmer, I'm at a loss. I'm suffering from acute project indecision. Perhaps something challenging, like Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts? I bought the yarn for this project ages ago, and I want to tackle something a little more complex, even considering my hatred of all things sized 0 (including DPNs). Twist and Shout from the last Knitty is also crying out to me, but I'm a bit sweatered out at this point.

Other plans for the new year include more exercise, more writing, maintaining better contact with loved ones (including you, Noelle!), and hopefully participating in the RPM Challenge, which is like National Novel Writing Month for music.

Anyway, happy new year, good tidings to all! I hope that 2009 is far more productive than 2008.

What are your plans for new knitting projects?

Organic Wool?

2008-12-29T17:34:00.002-06:00

Ever wonder just what makes wool organic? According to my Living Green calendar "the Organic Wool Network brings together suppliers who raise sheep without synthetic hormones or pesticides, on land that’s not overgrazed. The sheep must also receive organic feed and be under continuous organic management from the last third of pregnancy onward."

I recently had the extreme pleasure of knitting with Lorna's Laces Green Line DK which is organic wool. What an experience - I've never touched wool that felt so... not like wool! It was soft and luxurious. I made Hubby a pair of socks and he says they are so soft and comfy that he feels like someone is hugging his feet when he wears them. Awwwwww :-)

Interweave Knits Winter Preview

2008-11-14T10:16:00.000-06:00

Here.

I think this is the first issue of IK that makes me want to knit EVERYTHING. Well done, Eunny Jang and Co!

Please, for the love of God, vote today...

2008-11-04T10:22:00.002-06:00

...if you haven't already.

Don't just vote at the polls--vote with your dollars, your words, your actions, your knitting needles.

This PSA brought to you by the Disgruntled Knitters of America.

KIP in Dear Abby

2008-10-24T11:36:00.002-05:00

Someone else passed this item on to me. What do you know - KIP mentioned in Dear Abby!?!

Dear Abby:

"Curious in the Sunbelt” asked you if it was inconsiderate to knit or crochet while attending a meeting or other gathering. (You said it was.) While it may seem that someone can’t give undivided attention to a speaker while doing something with his/her hands, that person might have attention deficit disorder or be a “kinesthetic” learner. While most people absorb information through seeing and hearing, some actually need to keep their hands occupied in order to listen.

Literature on “multiple intelligences” and other learning theories support this view — and as a former classroom teacher and current psychotherapist, I have personal experience about this reality. As long as the individual is quiet and not terribly distracting, consider this behavior a better alternative than constant fidgeting.

— Jaelline Jaffe, Ph.D., Southern California

Dear Dr. Jaffe:

Thank you for your professional expertise regarding learning theories. I also heard from a pilot who knits while flying an airplane and a woman who pointed out that if knitting was good enough for Eleanor Roosevelt during United Nations Security Council meetings, it was good enough for her. Most readers agreed that if the individual is not disruptive to others, then what’s the harm? I stand corrected.

A Thrifting Virgin No More

2008-10-19T21:24:00.003-05:00

I did it! I'm no longer a thrifted sweater virgin - I was a little nervous about doing it at first, but after I snagged this sweater for $2.50 from a rummage sale I decided to go for it. It was fun!

This is what I started with: a size small Gap sweater - 42% wool, 28% alpaca and 30% nylon. I read through a tutorial on recycling yarn that I found here and voila!

I now have 689 yards of lovely chocolate brown yarn. I’m thinking it’s a bulky weight - it’s three strands loosely plied together - it is really soft but I’m hoping the nylon content will give it strength. I promised hubby another pair of Ragg hiker socks from this yarn - I think I might have enough for the whole family :-)

I washed it and after it dries I'll wind it into hanks. The tutorial recommends frogging wool sweaters first and then washing the hanks (reverse is true for cotton) so the curlyness should flatten out.

New Yarn Source

2008-10-16T19:06:00.003-05:00

Talk about reduce-reuse-recycle! I've heard of this - collecting, spinning and knitting with your dog's hair/fur. This is the first time I've seen photos or even a book on the subject - check it out here.

I think the sweaters look kind of cool! Too bad Kiki the greyhound doesn't shed...

Noble Knits Cabled Bag KAL

2008-10-06T13:31:00.002-05:00

I'm going to attempt my very first KAL. I have been saving this lovely super bulky 100% alpaca that my LYS had on sale at their Once-A-Year big sale for a few years now. It was too nice to use for just anything, but I only have 6 skeins (about 70 yds each) so I was rather limited in what I could make. Then I saw this cabled bag KAL and thought "bingo!". I also splurged and ordered the suede handles and bag bottom that they suggest - they look great and if all goes as planned I am going to have one gorgeous tote when this is all done!

Cabled Bag KAL

Lorna's Laces Delirium

2008-10-04T16:34:00.008-05:00

I only bought one bag! Really, only one bag - I displayed such restraint. Really I did - what? Don't you believe me?? OK, OK, more on that later.

Let me go back to the beginning...

This morning my knitting guild went on a little field trip to Lorna's Laces, right here in Chicago. They are a small, hand-dyeing yarn studio. As you can see above they are located in a rather industrial part of Chicago - those are the L tracks right above us. Walking to their studio felt like we were sneaking into a secret club. But oh, was it worth it.

This is Pearl (no, not Purl as you might think) the house Great Dane. What a lucky dog to be able to spend her days surrounded by all that lovely, soft, hand-dyed wool! As soon as I took my camera out she scooted away and almost hid from me. I guess she's a little camera shy.

We were given a dyeing demonstration and amazingly it is all done by hand about five hanks at a time per dye lot. Here are some recently dyed hanks hanging to dry.

Ohhhhhhhh, the yarn. We were able to go through their mill ends and shop to our hearts content. It was all lumped on tables such as this one but talk about thrill of the hunt! There was another group there too and you could almost feel the tension when we walked in - eeekkk! Competition for the yarn! Grrrrrr - step away from the yarn .....

We all had a lot of fun feeling the yarn and sorting through the piles looking for matching skeins. I was on a hunt for a skein or two of Black Purl and after about 15 minutes BINGO! I found one! That is the good news, and I guess that's the bad news too - couldn't find a second skein - darn.

HEY! Who slipped that picture in here?? OK, so the Everlasting Bagstopper market bag can hold a lot of yarn, as you can see above. To be exact, 19 skeins of sock yarn and 9 skeins of DK organic merino - part of Lorna's "Green Line". This name is a cute double meaning - the Green Line is also the name of one of the L train lines. I love that subtle reference to their Chicago connection.

Here is a closer picture of the Green Line yarn - I snagged 5 skeins of Verve and 4 skeins of a beautiful brown/olive/purple colorway. This organic wool is so ridiculously soft - I can't believe it is wool! And you can even feel the lanolin in the yarn - it's hard to describe but it feels like an extra bit of smoothness in the yarn.

I've already started to plan how I am going to use my haul - two pairs of ragg style hiker socks and a Clapotis to start - can't wait to get knittin'!

Organic Wool

2008-09-02T11:59:00.004-05:00

Excerpted from Ideal Bite's tip of the day today:

"Organic wool is a fabric that's wicked warm and has natural antimicrobial properties. Looking sheepish ain't such a bad thing.

The Benefits - less chemically processed sweaters. Conventional wool is double-dipped in chems: pesticides first, and a chem bath that strips away lanolin second.

sheep re-grow wool amazingly fast (merino sheep produce as much as 40 pounds per year).

Organic sheep farmers must maintain pastures without chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides, and sheep feed must be certified organic, sans antibiotics or hormones. "

Some options for pre-knitted clothing using organic wool are listed below; or better yet, use these for inspiration to design something yourself and using organic wool.

Stewart+Brown Merino Bell Cardigan - we can't afford it, but maybe you can: beautiful, hand-knit vest made from free-range merino ($245).
Kelly B Big Button Jacket - black or red jacket with military-esque details ($160).
SmartWool Midweight Zip-T - sporty, comfy-cozy merino wool sweater; 10% of all online orders go to an eco-charity. Also: a men's version ($80).
Nui Organics Felted Double Breast Jacket - cream-colored eco-merino wool for style-conscious infants ($70).
Teko Ultralight Micro Socks - nonbulky, water-wicking socks made with sustainable EcoMerino wool and recycled polyester. Also: a men's crew version ($13-$17).

(above also from Ideal Bite)

Swaps

2008-08-12T20:04:00.008-05:00

I am loving the swaps I've been in on Ravelry.

This is what I sent to my partner in the "Dyed Sock Blank Swap". I dyed my sock blank yellow with purple stripes (using Kool Aid). I called the end result "Grape Limoncello" hence the lemon themed items I included with the blank. Unfortunately my partner is having "computer problems" or something, so I haven't heard a peep from her. It's a bummer because a lot of the fun that comes from the swaps is hearing what the recipient thinks about your package.

This is the package I received in the swap. I love the shade of blue and all the colorful dabs of color she added to it. I'm about half done with my first pair of "2 At a Time Socks" and I'm loving the resulting socks.

Here is the package I received from my "Swap on a Budget" partner - a really thoughtful person from the East coast. It was cool that she has a lot of the same thoughts about the environment and being "green". She did a fantastic job picking out yarn with complimentary buttons and lots of great extra goodies too - even an organic dark chocolate bar :-) She even knit me a needle and scissors cozy too!
This one I just got two days ago - from my "Starbucks and Yarn Swap" partner who lives in Korea. She and I got along great and I feel really lucky to have a new friend in knitting half way around the world. Her box included a very neat Starbucks cup with Korean characters on it, a giftcard to Sbux, tons of cotton yarn (I'm thinking market bags!) a measuring tape, really neat little sewing scissors and my favorite:

The Quinn bag (pattern on Ravelry). Isn't it amazing?? I absolutely love it!

Contest

2008-08-11T08:21:00.003-05:00

I'm entering a stitch marker contest on Ravelry - I would love to have those little caterpillar and worm markers!

Hmmmmm, what did I think the first time I saw mkvral 's ravatar (which I now know is a caterpillar with a butterfly). Honestly, the first couple of times I saw it it creeped me out - OMG, I just looked at it again and realized it's an eye with a butterfly next to it, not a caterpillar!! I'm sitting here speechless - I can't believe I missed that for months...

OK, back to what I thought when I thought it was a caterpillar and not an eye. I thought of that weird guy from "Silence of the Lambs" - the one that was killing women and then skinning them. He had a ritual where he put a cocoon in their mouths or something to that effect. And the poster advertising the movie had Jodie Foster with a butterfly over her mouth. So, unfortunately it reminded me of that which further creeped me out.

Anyways, while I was originally rather disturbed by the ravatar I'm used to it now and I know mkvral is a very nice Raveler so I actually kind of like it.

The Pink Ribbon Hat

2008-08-06T13:29:00.003-05:00

My latest, and currently my most favorite, FO - the Pink Ribbon Hat.

Read more about where it is going here.

Noelle Is Secretly Plotting Blog Domination

2008-07-23T19:27:00.005-05:00

Ordinarily I'd wait a few days after Noelle posts before writing a new entry, but it's obviously time to make my presence known! Mwahahahaha!

A bit of housekeeping:

I have no pictures (yet), but I made out like a bandit in the Rogers Park SnB yarn swap. I still have a few odds and ends and some sock yarn to unleash upon an unsuspecting knitter or two, but I did far better than I expected.

Charity blanket squares have been coming along like mad. I have approximately eight balls of Lion Brand acrylic/wool blend that I'm using, and I'd like to have these all finished before I move. I'm not sure I'll meet that lofty goal, but I might come close.

As for my Bad Penny sweater, the cat urine smell didn't come out after multiple soaks. *sob* So much for that. I still have four or five balls of the Cascade Pima Silk I was using--all is not lost! I might have to track down more of it, though, or use a contrasting color for some stripes.

I still haven't finished the Ms. Darcy cardigan. On the last sleeve, STILL. I can't even remember where I left off, and I've been far too lazy to retrace my steps.

In my humble opinion, the upcoming issue of Interweave Knits looks mega promising (unlike the last issue, which was a snoozefest), while the new Knitty blows. I think now that Knitty no longer has any real competition on the free pattern front, they've slipped significantly. I hope the next issue is an improvement.

In non-knitting news, I'm interviewed out. I sent out sixty or so applications in my first week of job hunting, and I've been taking it a little too easy ever since. I've had four interviews, all but one went well...and I'm still waiting to hear back about scheduling another interview for next week.

I've also been doing my fair share of volunteer work. Open Books (you may remember them from the book drive at work last summer, Noelle) has a Reading Buddies program in which I've spent the past few weeks participating. If anything has lit a fire under my ass to pursue education as a career, this has been IT. These kids are rambunctious and smart and FUN. I've also been doing random events with One Brick.

I'm becoming a damn fine cook as well. :-)

Next week is the big move, so I'll post more details and pictures once I'm settled into my new home.

New Addiction - Kool Aid and Sock Blanks

2008-07-23T14:02:00.007-05:00

As if I needed another facet of knitting to become hooked on. I've now been introduced to 1) dyeing my own yarn with Kool Aid and 2) dyeing sock blanks from Knit Picks. Oh My Gosh - it is FUN!!!! There are even two Ravelry groups for just these two concepts "Sock Blank Artists" and "A Kool Way to Dye". Of course I now belong to both and have learned a lot from reading about everyone else's successes and failures; however the first thing I did was read this tutorial on Knitty.com - it is a terrific step-by-step guide and I followed it to a "T".

After doing all my research my girl and I decided to try our first attempt at Kool Aid dyeing together. Well, it was supposed to be together, but after I organized everything and was ready to go she promptly took over and I didn't get to do anything.

She soaked the sock blank.

She opened Kool Aid packets (in this case a Wyler's fruit punch).

She poured them into the water, stirred it up and after I poured the "dye" into a squirt bottle away she went...
Squirting furiously, a mini Jackson Pollack if you will. Just look at the concentration - she's very focused at the task at hand.

Unfortunately, the subtleties of hand-dyeing were lost on her. She tended to want to just empty out the entire 8 oz bottle in one place until I reminded her "no, no, move the bottle around!"

So, the end result is a little bit odd looking - on the up side it looks rather Christmasy (her color choices were fruit punch, black cherry and lemon-lime). On the down side it looks like we mopped up a bloody nose or something. However, my friends on Ravelry all assure me that what you SEE in the sock blank is not necessarily what you GET when you knit up the blank and make socks. Most times you are happily surprised when you finish knitting and end up with a lovely pair of socks no matter how much they looked like a bloody rag when you started knitting.
As a little memento of our mother/daughter venture into sock blank dyeing I think I'm going to knit up a pair of socks for each of us with the yarn.

Gauge As You Go

2008-07-17T17:38:00.002-05:00

This is a good tip that I found in my Stitch 'N Bitch Page-A-Day calendar:

"Ever finish your sweater and find that it doesn't fit in spite of careful gauging? That's probably because you didn't check your gauge while you were knitting as well. After you have knit about 12 inches, get out the ruler and see how you're doing. Hold your knitting up vertically because the stitches hang the way they will eventually be worn. If the gauge isn't working at 12 inches, you won't have that much to frog"

I never thought of checking gauge this way but it makes sense!

Swaps on Ravelry

2008-07-13T20:35:00.007-05:00

In the past month I have become a complete Ravelryaholic. It's bad, very bad! But I love it!!! What a great community of people and knitting resources - I can easily lose myself there for hours, much to my husband's chagrin.

Anyway, I also discovered "swaps" - didn't know exactly what that meant but have since figured it out and promptly signed up for three. The first one was "Swap On A Budget" - $20 budget, you must include one handmade item (not necessarily knit) and one skein of yarn plus whatever "extras" to bring you to the budget. This swap is an impressive feat - and testament to the organizational abilities of the SOAB "founder", Miss Becca, as well as all the supporting players - the moderators. A really fun group of knitters and ultra organized - I think there are over 100 people participating in this swap. I just finished up my swap box and mailed it off on Saturday - here is a picture. This is a secret swap so I'm not going to post any info about why I put what I put into the box until I know my "spoilee" has received it.

The next one is "Starbucks and Yarn Swap" - I actually signed up for this one before SOAB and it's a smaller group, a little less excitement and camraderie but the moderator for my group, Neila, has done a great job keeping us informed and everything organized. I'm in the process of finishing up that swap box - the requirements are one handmade item (since this is a coffee-themed swap the options for handmade items are cup cozies, coasters or a bag), one skein of yarn, one Starbucks item (either a lb of beans, a mug or a gift card) and whatever extras to bring you to the swap budget of $25-$35. This is not a secret swap, so I have actually emailed with my spoiler, Kathie, who is currently an expat in Korea - pretty neat! She even asked for input on the handmade item and posted pictures of it - check out her progress here - isn't it gorgeous?? I feel spoiled already :-) The person I am spoiling is named Joann and I'm about 50% done with my handmade item... still brainstorming some aspects of it, but if all goes as planned I think it will turn out pretty great - I'm excited to try some experimenting to (hopefully) get what I'm visualizing in my brain :-)

The last swap I signed up for is the "Dyed Sock Blank" swap which introduced me to a whole new aspect of knitting - dyeing the yarn yourself. And even more yet - dyeing a sock blank, which if you don't already know is a machine knit rectangle of off-white sock yarn that you hand dye, and then you can knit right from the blank by just unraveling the yarn - cool, huh? The blanks are made with two strands, so I think the point is to knit two socks at once so they will look like an actual pair with the same colors in the same direction. So the point of the swap is to dye your own sock blank from Knit Picks and then send it off to your spoilee for them to enjoy and knit up into socks. Knit Picks also has a tutorial for dyeing as well as free downloadable patterns for Toe-Up Magic Loop Socks - which I am definitely going to need to check out.

My daughter and I used Kool-Aid to dye my first blank and it was fun to do, but the results were not something I would wish on anyone else, so I think I'll be knitting that blank up for a pair of socks for Grandma. A Grandma would appreciate my daughter's choice of colors (green, red and black cherry). I'll post more on that soon...

Not a Plastic Bag

2008-07-05T16:18:00.003-05:00

I just completed my first Hemp String bag - check it out here . It is the "Everlasting Bagstopper" pattern on Knitty.com. Fun, easy and yippee I finally used the hemp I bought a year ago (almost to the day!)

I also found out that hemp has natural antimildew and antimicrobial properties which is kind of cool - maybe a good fiber to knit up some dishclothes.

Resistance

2008-06-29T15:32:00.005-05:00

I am increasingly feeling the need to destash like mad. I'm not just talking yarn--I want to get rid of most of my needles as well.

Am I completely insane?

I just keep looking around my room and seeing so much stuff. I'm attempting to pare down and get rid of/sell/donate as much stuff as humanly possible. I could recoup a hell of a lot of cash from my stash at this point, and it would make moving far easier.

I know it's a necessity in knitting to plan projects far in advance, and sometimes yarn will sit for YEARS before it's used...but this requirement is completely antithetical to my natural impulses.

Just stop me before I do something I'll regret.

Also, pink sweater update: The cat piss smell came out, but not before someone went into my bathroom last weekend while I was out of town and threw up all over the place. Only a tiny bit got on the sweater, but I think I'm just going to cut out that bit of yarn and not even bother with cleaning it again.

I just can't win, huh?

[Rereading this post, I realize this sounds depressing. I'm just trying to sever myself emotionally from physical objects, aside from records. I'm donating approximately 40% of my well-loved book collection and multiple trashbags filled with clothes to charity in the coming weeks. Everything is up for reevaluation, and my knitting just happens to be on the brain at this moment. I don't think I'll be giving it up anytime soon...but I might use this as an excuse to get rid of my current needles and upgrade to those gorgeous wooden Knit Picks interchangeables.]

Summer Dress

2008-06-15T14:54:00.004-05:00

Whew - I finally finished the summer dress I was working on for my daughter. It took me a little longer than I expected, but I made it by my self-imposed Father's Day deadline.

Her dad loves her in dresses, so it was extra special that she debuted this little number today. It is made with 9 skeins of Wildflower DK which I picked up for 50% off on close-out for $2.25 a skein. Somehow I still ended up running a little short so I left the sleeves off. Please excuse the state of her hair - she wanted pig-tails but her hair is a bit short, so it looks a little Einsteinesque.

She picked out the navy blue star-shaped buttons at the shoulders and I think it completes the dress nicely!

Eco-friendly Knitting

2008-06-10T22:39:00.005-05:00

Check out these yarn-oriented tips from IdealBite.com:

"Delving into the details of your next knitting project? Before you needle one more moss stitch border diamond, grab a skein of yarn from Lorna's Laces new Green Line. The yarns are made from naturally dyed, 100%-certified organic merino wool that's softer than the regular stuff, and comes in nine cool colors with feel-good names like mirth (dusty pink) and courage (deep orange). Plus it's pesticide-free and more renewable than its synthetic counterparts - and hip enough to show off at our local stitch 'n' bitch. The verdict? More knitty, less gritty.

Wanna Try? Arcadia Knitting, 1613 W. Lawrence Ave. b/t Paulina St. and Ashland Ave. (773-293-1211). Lorna's Laces worsted wool, $21/skein; DK wool, $16/skein.

Nonorganic yarn comes from sheep potentially raised on pesticide-laden pasture and feed; acrylic yarn is made from a petroleum byproduct. Add silky bamboo, soft organic merino, and stylin' recycled fabrics to your list of yarn options. How about recycling an old sweater and re-using the yarn?

NearSea Naturals Merino Wool Yarn - naturally dyed yarn in three neutral colors; made in America ($17/skein).
Green Mountain Spinnery Maine Organic Yarn - affordable wool yarn in six basic colors; made in the United States ($12/skein).
Shirts of Bamboo Yarn - incredibly soft, 100% bamboo yarn in seven bright colors - but it's made in China ($9/skein).
Knit One, Crochet Too, 2nd Time Cotton Yarn - spun from recycled cotton and acrylic fabric; available in blues, purples, and neutral colors ($7/skein).
No Sheep for You - fun pattern book focused exclusively on nonwool fibers ($16).

If all U.S. sheep were raised under organic standards, we'd keep the weight of 80 adult ewes in insecticide out of the environment each year.

If 10,000 Biters buy one 100 g skein of organic wool, we'll help keep 49 acres of sheep-grazing land organic.If 10,000 Biters buy one 100 g skein of organic wool, we'll help keep 49 acres of sheep-grazing land organic.

P.S. to D - I still have not knit my hemp string bag!!!

A Penny Saved Is a Sweater...Earned?

2008-06-09T14:25:00.003-05:00

I restarted Bad Penny (as seen in my previous post), with new numbers to make the damn thing fit.

In a fog of bad judgment, I left the project at the home of a friend for whom I've been house/cat sitting for the last two weeks while she carouses in the UK. This morning when I arrived to feed her cat, I saw my knitting bag on the floor and it appeared unmolested by the kitty. I shoved it in my purse and went on my merry way.

Prior to heading out of the office for lunch, I started rustling through my bag and noticed a very weird smell. I pulled out my knitting bag and was smacked in the nose with that sickeningly sweet pheromone stench.

No, the cat didn't paw at and deconstruct my knitting.

She just pissed all over it.

I'm starting to think that I'll never be able to finish this sweater.

PNW'd

2008-06-03T09:07:00.003-05:00

Economic stimulus payment leads to irresponsible, impulsive trip to the Pacific Northwest!

Having never been west of Iowa, I decided to finally take the opportunity to see some conifers. Kelli, one of my roommates from college and probably damn near my favorite person on the planet, has lived in Steilacoom, Washington, for a couple of years now--we haven't seen each other in three years, and I thought it was about time for a visit.

This trip started out as the grand breakup recovery voyage, since I got dumped on Mother's Day. (That wasn't fun, and I frankly don't wanna discuss it further in a public forum.) But being stubborn and never giving anyone such satisfaction, it quickly morphed into my own riot grrrl pilgrimage (read up on that group here) when Kelli suggested we stop by Olympia.

So here's a brief list of cities and towns I visited while there:
--Seattle
--Tacoma
--Lakewood
--Steilacoom
--Olympia
--Portland
Not bad for a two day trip, if I do say so myself.

From the highway, you could vaguely see Mount Rainier in the distance. I've seriously never seen that many evergreen trees in one place in my entire life. It's a stunningly beautiful landscape.

[Knitting content alert] I started on Stefanie Japel's Bad Penny, just in time for what little bit of spring we'll have in the Midwest. Here's what I knit while on the plane:

That was one hellishly long flight, and there's the evidence.

Met Kelli at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, on a gorgeous, unseasonably warm Saturday. We ate Greek food for lunch in Lakewood (since that was just about all I could think of that I could possibly eat), pissed around Steilacoom for awhile, and finally made our way to Seattle.

First stop: Pike Place Market.

Twas fun being a tourist--watching the fish get thrown, looking at the beautiful local produce and flowers, sniffing soaps and eating cookies. (Yes, I found gluten-free cookies!)

Next: The Space Needle

We didn't go into it, but we were close enough for me.

Experience Music Project was nearby, so we looked around for a bit. I'm still not sure if it was worth the price of admission, but the live Hendrix footage being shown in the theater was pretty amazing, if typically lowest-common-denominator appeal. I love Hendrix, but perceptions of his work in the US are pretty off the mark.

Here's a shadowy, mysterious Kelli:

That woman has the best posture in human history.

Stumbled upon a nearby folk music festival, which consisted of mostly young punks playing trad fare...and some fundamentalist Christian protesters. Jesus, they really are everywhere.

This kid tried his damndest to charge me a dollar to watch his skateboard tricks...but I took his picture instead:

Day Two: The Trek to Portland

On the way to Olympia, I had to get this picture:

In Oly we visited a coffee shop and bakery that Kelli loves called the Bread Peddler. From there we found the Olympia Co-op, where I could actually find breakfast.

Onward to Portland, which I quite frankly found boring. The city where provocative artists go to make babies and die, I've decided. The whole city seems to shut down at 6pm--I walked around by myself for a few hours after Kelli had to drive back to Washington and couldn't find a damn thing to do with myself.

[Knitting content alert] After continuing to work on Bad Penny during my flight home, I discovered that, even after my severe adjustments to the pattern to make it fit my scrawny self...the damn thing is still too large for me. I haven't restarted it yet, but I have a feeling that I won't get to wear it until fall.

I think I had more fun hanging out with Kelli than I did being in the Pacific Northwest, if that makes sense. This trip, if anything, drilled into my brain that Chicago is home to me now. You jerks are stuck with me, whether you like it or not!

(More photos from my trip can be seen here.)

In other news, I'm more than likely moving to Humboldt Park. I apparently enjoy gentrifying working class neighborhoods.

How the hell is everyone else?

A Mean Go-Getter (and possibly NSFW)

2008-04-14T10:33:00.005-05:00

As so many of you already know, I'm a hoor for Stefanie Japel's patterns, and I have her weblog linked on the sidebar. She frequently has excellent ideas, and here's yet another one: Knit all of your gauge swatches as 9x9" squares, and donate them for charity blankets.

I love it.

No other personal knitting news to report (I've been exhausted lately and all of my current projects are too difficult for that state of mind), aside from the fact that I knit a, um, "crotch cozy" for one of my friends as a gag gift. I used Lorna's Laces worsted weight, in a linen stitch...so he's the only person on earth with the potential to possess a spiral striped penis.

Yeah, I'm sick.

Also, RIP MagKnits. We hardly knew ye.

Knitorious

2008-04-11T08:47:00.004-05:00

This past Wednesday I went to my first meeting of "Knitorious" a group of knitters that hang out at the local Borders two Wednesday evenings a month. I heard about them from a knitter who was in the Fair Isle hat class with me two months ago and it's taken me this long to get myself organized and actually go! They post their meeting dates on http://www.meetup.com/ (a really cool idea in itself - I found a ton of knitting groups that meet, but Knitorious is the one closest to my house).

This is a lively group of women - there were 14 of us this week - all ranging in ages from twenties to retirees. New knitters to well-seasoned knitters but all very friendly, chatty and eager to show off what they were working on, look at what I was working on, talk yarn and future projects. Thankfully I found them when I did because the group has become big enough that Wednesday they decided to close it to new members - whew!

I'm looking forward to making some new friends, getting out of the house by myself two nights a month and learning some new knitting skills as well.

Blocking with a baby

2008-04-02T20:10:00.004-05:00

I live in an itty bitty house. It's so small that the only place I have enough floor space to block all 4 pieces of the 3timeschic sweater from Knitty.com is in the middle of my living room floor. I guess I could spread the parts out and put one piece in each of the 3 bedrooms and the 4th piece in the basement, but somehow I felt that all the pieces needed to be near each other as they went through the blocking process. Unfortunately, I underestimated nap time so my baby boy was up and about way before I was ready for him to be. He spyed the sweater and promptly decided to investigate all the pieces!

You can see in the picture that he has tossed his bottle aside in order to sit on the front of the sweater as he tries to figure out how to get the tape measure to work.

The good news is the pieces were dry enough that I was able to just pull them back into shape, no harm done. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to seam the shoulders so that the ribbing won't look bad. I'm thinking now that I'm going to rip out the bind offs and use a 3 needle cast off instead. Have any better idea??

Spring!

2008-03-25T10:46:00.002-05:00

I know it doesn't feel like spring, but my stir-craziness is getting the best of me.

I wore skirts almost all last week. Today I'm wearing capri pants (with knee-high boots, of course). I cut all of my hair off this past weekend, and it made me realize that I am NOT MADE for long hair.

But spring is not only a time for being unseasonably ridiculous--it's also a time to finish...Christmas presents?

That's right, I have a confession to make: I have yet to finish my grandmother's and niece's holiday gifts.

I did finish one project for my grandmother, the Bainbridge scarf. I had initially promised to make a lace scarf for her out of the GORGEOUS handdyed purple sock yarn (courtesy of Kristin Roach and Green Prairie Fibers), but I kept screwing up the lace pattern. This yarn double-stranded, I discovered, was the perfect gauge for Bainbridge, and it turned out beautifully--I'll take photographs this weekend and post them here.

As an addendum to her gift, I started on My So-Called Scarf a few days ago. So far the pattern is simple but fun, and it's perfect for the handpainted Misti Alpaca I'm using.

But the gift I'm feeling most guilty about is my niece's sweater. All I have left is seaming up the sleeves. Usually I'm not intimidated by any knitting-related task, but I dread seaming these sleeves. I just want this sweater to be perfect...which it won't be. But I have to make myself do this.

The Mrs. Darcy cardigan for myself just needs sleeves as well. I've been too lazy to pick up stitches for it, but I need to get that finished...in time for spring!

And the post comes full circle.

My body is telling me to stop hibernating, and I'm listening...even if I freeze my ass off in the process.

Fair Isle hat picture and a cutie pie too

2008-03-12T21:45:00.003-05:00

It's been so long since I promised to post a picture of my Fair Isle hat that I thought I would just write a new post all together.

Here is the hat that I made for my husband. He insisted on the ear flaps, which were part of the pattern, but I think something about them looks off. However, I don't want to make too big a deal about it because then he won't wear the hat at all. Gotta walk a fine line there.

I am, however, pretty happy with my first attempt at Fair Isle! The yarn is 100% wool, a superwash, DK weight. Hopefully it will be easy to care for although I noticed after I blocked it it felt bigger. But that turned out to be OK, thankfully.

This is another hat I made a few years ago - my first attempt at a hat, really. It is my daughter's hat but she didn't want to pose, so my little guy is helping me out. He is so good about that! Please disregard the runny nose. I'm just glad he sat still long enough for me to get the picture.

Progress

2008-03-02T15:16:00.003-06:00

Watching anything develop and grow is a remarkable phenomenon.

I have personally gone from this:

To this:

All grown up, though not much bigger. It's almost a shame I'm not wearing my Wonder Woman t-shirt for a better comparison.

Finished project
Deep V-Neck by Stefanie Japel, from Fitted Knits, second and FINAL attempt.
Knit Picks Shamrock in Kelley, 8.5 balls.

I think it looks pretty good, even if it is still a wee bit too large in the bust. I guess I'll take what I can get, because I ain't knitting it for a third time.

And here's the progress on the Ms. Darcy cardigan:

Six inches in, she's coming along nicely.

I've decided to experiment with the sleeves. Instead of knitting them separately and seaming later, I will be picking up stitches, starting close to the top of the shoulder, and working in short rows to the armpit before joining the sleeves in the round. It seems like a BRILLIANT idea, and while I'm sure it's been done, I'm surprised that I haven't seen things like this done more often. So many knitters hate seaming, and I hope this attempt is successful. We'll see.

Speaking of developing, my days in NYC the week before last were probably some of the most incredible times I've ever had in my life. I saw so many amazing things--modernist art pieces at the Met, the MoMA, and the Guggenheim; Central Park both with and without snow; early silent cinema at the Museum of the Moving Image; more random acts of kindness than I've seen since leaving the South (lemme tell you, Chicagoans are RUDE...I now do NOT understand how New Yorkers have that reputation because it's completely undeserved). I ate delicious vegan food, got sick in Chinatown, bought "I (Heart) NY" shirts for my nieces (who are progressing beautifully themselves), started and completed reading James Agee's A Death in the Family, and tried to sleep while hot Irish guys got smashed and puked at my hostel. I didn't get any knitting done on the trip, which only served to make me want to knit more once I returned to Chicago. I also lost my job while I was gone (over something I wasn't responsible for in the least, I might add), but I've already got a far better gig starting Tuesday.

I still haven't absorbed everything, but I'm getting there.

I've spent the last six months slowly figuring out my limitations and strengths. I feel like I know myself better than I ever have before--I can now say, for the most part, with confidence that I know what I want from life, and I know what I want to give to the world. I've made large leaps in some directions (diet, turning off my consumerist impulses, charity work) and baby steps in others (artistically, education-wise). I've made many new friends and an equal number of missteps. Yet I still have a long way to go.

I do want to thank you here, Noelle, publicly, for your kind words, your friendship, and your support. We should meet up again SOON to knit and chat--I miss our little lunchtime knitting and griping sessions.

Update

2008-02-21T11:43:00.002-06:00

Hello - I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I was just deep in the knitting doldrums. I was feeling extreme pressure to finish the IOU Christmas gifts but just not feeling like doing it which made it all the worse. I solved the problem by 1) taking a Fair Isle hat w/ ear flaps class to try and jump start myself and 2) sending my sister-in-law a check for her gift instead of continuing to stress over the 1/2 finished sweater. However, I have committed myself to finishing it in plenty of time for NEXT Christmas! How many days do I have until 12/25/08??

The Fair Isle class was fun and I feel like I can take on another Fair Isle project with the experience I gleaned from the class. In fact I made TWO of the hats - one with ear flaps for my hubby and one without for me. And I think I have enough yarn to finish a third hat - by changing the colors around it feels like a new project each time and it really doesn't take much time at all. I'll get pix posted later today.

I also FINALLY organized my yarn stash this weekend. It wasn't quite as bad as I thought and fit in three large plastic bins and three XL ziploc heavy duty bags (the ones that look like giant shopping bags). I also found some yarn in my old knitting basket that I used as a kid . It must have been over 25 years old. It was kind of sweet to look at it and remember how little I knew back then (this was all acrylic yarn - ick) and also to remember some of the stuff I used it for. After reminising I packed it up and posted it on Freecycle for someone else to get some use from! In fact she is coming to pick it up today - yay!

So after organizing my stash and realizing it wasn't as bad as I thought I felt justified in ordering more yarn for the "3timeschic" sweater on Knitty.com. Lamb's Pride Bulky was on sale at Discontinued Brand Name Yarn http://www.discontinuedbrandnameyarn.com/. Actually, I was suckered in by the freebie gift bags they were including with all orders. I'm looking forward to jumping in on this one as soon as I receive my new yarn.

Of course I'm ignoring the two sweaters I started for myself pre-Christmas... they are in my WIP basket looking sad in their partially finished state. I'm well aware that if I wait too long I won't be able to remember what I was doing and I'll have to frog the whole thing. There must be a name for this psychological phenomenon, or maybe we should create one for it, what do you think?

Planning

2008-02-18T12:06:00.003-06:00

So much of knitting involves planning, adjusting, and waiting.

It's my least favorite thing about knitting. I'm far too impatient--I wanna hear those needles clacking and feel the old stitches drop off as soon as the new loops form. I want my sweater, and I want it now.

After the last sweater I tried to knit (and finally finished, once I ripped back, retooled the pattern to fit the boobs I had instead of the boobs the pattern THINKS I have, and started again), I'm making a concerted effort to plan ahead.

Last week, I knit a gauge swatch. Not only did I knit it, I also washed it, knit another one on smaller needles, washed that, and made gauge on this sassy-frassy-brassy little number:

Mods: Size 8 needles, knit in one piece until the sleeve shaping (because, as we all know, I hate seaming with a passion only rivaled by my hatred of the Republican Party and Modest Mouse).

I'm knitting it with Rowan Summer Tweed, a pretty cotton/silk blend that I've been reading is fairly difficult to work with. So we'll see how this works out.

In the meantime, I'm taking a trip to NYC this week (leaving Wednesday! Whoo!), so I've been hunting for a smaller project to take up my antsy time at the airport and on the plane. I can never focus enough to read at airports, so it'll be useful to have something to do with my fingers while waiting.

And I think I have found it:

I'm either using hand-dyed blue/chartruse yarn or some rust variagated alpaca. Leaning more towards the hand-dyed yarn, even though I'm not sure how I'll like the cabling with all those colors.

Have a great week! Stay warm and dry.

Election Day!

2008-02-04T23:14:00.000-06:00

You can vote for whomever you want...but tomorrow, to steal a phrase from someone on a message board I frequent, I'm "gonna Barack out with my cock out."

Sorry, I just thought that was worth repeating.

I finished the rust sweater from hell and wore it to work today, even though it was way too warm for it. I'll take pictures soon, I promise.

Happy Exercising Your Societal Obligation Day!

Interest

2007-12-31T18:19:00.000-06:00

Guys, I think I really burned myself out with the holiday knitting. I don't want to pick up a needle of any sort for a long time.

That said, I still have to finish my niece's and grandmother's gifts. Maybe in another week or so, once I recover from the holidays and the sudden flurry of activity I had this past months dies down, I'll feel like finishing them.

What do you guys do when you get the urge to sell all your yarn and needles and just read books?

On a lighter note, I want to wish everyone a belated happy holidays. Here's to a killer 2008.

The from-hell-cardigan update

2007-12-13T18:17:00.000-06:00

OK, I'm a knitting slacker. You have been able to get so much done!! I love the pink and white scarf - how pretty and your own design to boot. Actually, all your projects look great! You are making terrific headway on getting all your gifts done in time. Me, on the other hand, may be wrapping up a single knit sock and sending an IOU on the from-hell-cardigan since I'm beginning to think I won't make the 12/20 deadline... the good news is that I thought I needed to knit 29" on the cardigan back (which seemed AWFULLY long for a size medium) when I realized it was 29 cm (remember this is the Sirdar pattern from the UK)! So, I had actually done 5 cm more than I needed, but I ain't ripping any of this tulip lace out. My pictures aren't good when I am trying to show detail, so here is my attempt to do so. This yarn is a minty green, not really the shade in either photo, but you can at least see the pattern.

Not to upstage Noelle, but I'm bored at work

2007-12-10T16:15:00.000-06:00

First, the Clapotis did not work out, primarily because I haven't had the time to dye the yarn I bought. But I did make this:

It's my first crocheted project, made with Patons SWS. It took two days and less than two skeins. It's not as lovely when it's wrapped around my head, but hopefully Mom will like it. The colors are not quite what I was going for, but she likes oranges and greens.

Here's the jacket for my youngest niece:

I haven't finished weaving in the ends or sewing the armhole seam, but I'll get there. I don't really have a choice, haha.

I'm also working on this:

I got commissioned to do this by my friend Mesum. Poor guy tried to learn to knit so he could make something for his niece...and I got suckered into doing it FOR him. He did, however, give me a ride to the airport in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning, so I kinda owe him. All I have left is the fringe on the ends! It's my own pattern, too, and I think it turned out well.

My mittens, they are finished.

Also, I am very intensely obsessed with John Lennon's solo work these days. I've always been enamored with Plastic Ono Band, but now I keep feeling urges to pick everything else up. Even Milk and Honey. What's wrong with me?

WIP Updates (how many more days til Xmas??)

2007-12-07T12:11:00.000-06:00

Oh, the pressure - why do I do this to myself every year? Actually I think I would have done great had I not lost weeks with the Creative Knitting sock pattern error and the bizarre pattern instructions for the Sirdar cardigan. Anyway, the good news is I have completed one toddler cardigan - just have to weave in ends and add my "hand knit by Noelle" label. It's the "Chunky Jacket" from "The Gift Knitter" which is a great book full of baby knits and doggie jackets - cool combination, huh?

and, one Koigu lattice scarf. I'm 90% done with a second one that needs to be blocked,wrapped and turned over to the recipient by tomorrow evening! Whew, I'm sweating that one. Unfortunately, the colors didn't come through very well on this photo, but they are warm, autumnal shades of olive, orange, brown and black. Hubby picked the colors and while I wasn't sure when I saw the two skeins, I think they blended pretty nicely.

Still need to finish the Sirdar cardigan-from-hell (my wonderful knitting guru friend Barbara made a suggestion and that is I'm going to skip the crazy edging which has eluded me for months and just do a simple garter stitch there, then pick up with the tulip lace pattern after that) complete the second sock to go with the one I am 90% done with, as well as complete and customize one sock monkey.

I was so excited when I found out I have Jury duty on Monday, but then realized I can't bring my knitting needles! Here I thought I would have hours and hours to sit in the jury waiting room and knit, but that isn't going to happen. I'm hoping I can smuggle in a sewing needle so I can at least do the sock monkey while I'm twiddling my thumbs.

So much for something happier...

2007-11-17T15:33:00.000-06:00

You know that lovely rust-colored v-neck sweater I was working on?

Well, when I tried it on before I started the sleeves, the bodice seemed to fit alright--a little loose, but not in an unattractive way. I just tried it on again, near the end of sleeve one (finally)...

And it is WAY too big in the bust. Like a good 2-3" too big. (I believe this phenomenon is referred to as "batwings"?)

I'm knitting at a smaller gauge than the pattern requires (15 sts for every 4" instead of 14 sts for every 4") and that's still not helping. I guess it doesn't help that the smallest size is written for a 36.5" bust...and I'm more like 32". Even with my gauge I should be getting 34", which you'd think would fit okay, right? I think it's the fact that the ribbing is done on smaller needles, which makes the waist way smaller--ribbing on the same sized needles, or no ribbing at all, would probably make the sizing disparity a little less obvious.

What do I do now? I know I have to unravel this thing (sniff) and reknit it. (The worst part is that I did Russian joins throughout the sweater...ugh, I don't want to think about rewinding that). I guess I need to refigure my math and do fewer raglan increases...I don't even want to think about that right now.

Well, happy turkey day anyway!

Something a little happier

2007-11-07T10:52:00.000-06:00

While I've been too busy (or lazy, depending on your standards) to gather up my WIPs for subjection to my crappy digital camera, I'll put a few pictures here now.

First, though, this may very well be the most important thing you read about yarn substitutions in your life. I was asking on Livejournal (which has a lot of knitting groups and is a really good resource for pesky questions and tips) about sweater patterns for a particular 10-year-old girl, and someone posted this. Super helpful, and I'm never going to skip a gauge swatch ever again. (So she says...)

Now for the photo parade:

This would be my Halloween costume. Thrown together at the last minute, I couldn't find a decent wig or silver hairspray, so a brunette, ponytailed Edie Sedgwick I was.

A better picture of my first sweater.

Sweater No. 2 (3 if you include the jacket I made for my niece) in progress. I've since finished the collar and most of the first sleeve. I love top-down raglans...

In other WIP news, the herringbone scarf has been ripped, rewound, and traded from some soft, squishy Cascade 220 Superwash in a lovely chocolate brown. It's working its way into a plain-Wayne ribbed scarf for my brother. (See, Noelle? You've started a trend!)

I've also started on some mittens using leftovers. I may just be a masochist, because I'm making it way too difficult for a simple mitten pattern...but they will be beautiful!

I'm trying to start a band, too. If anyone reading wants to join me...

I'll get around to taking more pictures soon, I promise!

Update: Here's the mitten progress so far...

I think I want to marry them.

Caligula

2007-11-04T01:06:00.000-05:00

My family had to have our dog Callie put to sleep this morning.

I am not a fan of dogs, but I loved this one. She acted like a cat. She would lie around and lick herself all day. She was extremely good natured, and yet she had enough psycho tendencies to fit right into our home. We got her when I was 13 or 14, after my mom had sworn off pets forever. She originally belonged to my aunt Barbara's mother, and I don't know all of the circumstances in the decision making...but I'm sure Barbara was very persuasive. Mom would get mad when I'd call her Caligula.

Callie got older, as all things do. She started developing weird moles and sores, and eventually you could see the cataracts growing over her eyes. She would run into legs, furniture, walls; she was tormented by Sam, the demon kitty (who I still love), until her final day. But she was still affectionate, even as her dependence on Mom and Mamaw increased due to her disabilities.

I knew this would be coming, and I've even tried to convince Mom in recent months that putting her out of her misery would be for the best. She seemed relatively healthy when I visited in September, all things considered, and I didn't expect her to be gone so soon. She had a good life, a peaceful death, and a cozy plot in the backyard in which her body will deteriorate.

She was a good dog. She will be missed.

And now I know for certain that I'm never getting my cat back. But Mom and Mamaw need Sam more than I do right now, so it's okay.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T20:02:00.000-05:00

The first sweater I knit for my little guy - it's a little big!

This is the first sweater I knit for my daughter - two years later (and her 3rd fall season in it) it is just right and will be the last time she can wear it...sniff, sniff :-(

OK, I didn't knit the M&M costume, but my hubby did make it himself! He's pretty good with a hot glue gun!

Store bought Halloween costume, but it's cute, isn't it? Our neighbors grew that giant pumpkin in their backyard which is especially amazing since we live in the suburbs of Chicago!

WIP - I'm stuck!

2007-10-31T11:50:00.000-05:00

Remember a few posts back I had a pile of black, white and pink wool (roving) and asked you to guess what it was? Well, here is what it TURNED OUT to be - a little Boston Terrier for a friend's birthday gift. I had never tried needle felting but it wasn't too hard at all. Hard to believe that just by stabbing those piles of wool with a felting needle I was able to create this little 3-D doggie with jointed limbs and everything!

The rest of my WIPs (for Christmas) aren't going nearly as smoothly. Still stuck on SIL's cardigan (set it aside until my next Knitting Group on 11/7 - hope someone there can help me!) and just became stuck on my mom's socks (made from two skeins of Regia sock yarn). Either the pattern (from the current issue of Creative Knitting) has an error or I made a mistake. They look good up until I have to work on the gusset and then it doesn't make sense, so I'm going to try and omit the 11 k stitches that I think are the mistake and see what happens.

So, in order to not feel like a complete failure, I started a scarf for Christmas. It is made from 2 skeins of Joseph Galler Peruvian tweed alpaca. The yarn is so pretty and has so much texture that I decided against a complicated pattern and just went with a simple 2x2 rib - I'm SO pleased with the results! It is thick, soft and feels luxurious on the skin. Hopefully the recipient will feel the same and not lose it the first time he wears it.

Knit along Anyone?

2007-10-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

Ever do a knit along? I haven't and this one sounds like fun plus I would love to learn how to do Fair Isle. Does anyone on your Christmas list need a hat? Maybe this could serve two purposes - knock off a gift from your to-do list but still be something fun and (hopefully) quick to knit up?

http://nobleknits.blogspot.com/2007/10/our-first-knit-along.html

"Today we will begin unveiling our first knit along! It is the Mystery Fair Isle Hat. This is a great project for those who have never tried their hand at knitting in the round, fair isle knitting, or working on double pointed needles. It will be a very fun project!"

W(h)IP Guilt

2007-10-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

I have been on a self-imposed moratorium from personal knitting lately.

Trying to finish up as many holiday gifts as I can, I've discovered that many of my original plans for presents are either not working out so well or insanely boring to knit. The herringbone scarf? Snooze. I hate finishing and blocking--I just want to knit!

My solution: Something pour moi, perhaps?

I feel guilty. I should be trying to figure out more stuff for my family, but right now it's just not working out.

So I'm down to either this:

Or this:

I have enough yarn for both. Hmmmmm...

Good Knitting Gone Bad

2007-10-10T20:51:00.000-05:00

I guess I always learn the hard way - do I want to actually READ directions in advance or just jump right in and then regret NOT having read the directions until I realize I have a problem.

The toddler backpack was a good example of this phenomenon for me. Earlier you saw the pix of my completed toddler backpack (it was so cute!) but what you didn't see is what the first one looked like. Here my little guy is not wearing a purple fez, he's wearing what was SUPPOSED to be my first attempt at a toddler backpack. I realized I made a few mistakes, namely in order to felt it I just threw it in the wash with a pair of jeans and let it go. When it came out too big, I threw it in again. Never occurred to me to check on it every few minutes to see if it was getting too small. Too much trouble! But not as much trouble as it was to have to completely knit another backpack. I was able to salvage the straps and drawstring, since I learned from my original mistake of over-shrinking. I also should have shrunk a gauge swatch since I guestimated that the yarn would shrink about 1/3. I don't know why I thought that, I just did. Turns out it shrunk more like 1/2!

The second mistake is much more painful... the Sack sweater from SnB. This was my first adult sweater and I was finally making something for myself! I did a gauge swatch and even checked the measurements of the individual knitted pieces against the pattern - all looked good! I was so excited when I started to assemble it. When I had one arm attached to the front I thought now was a good time to hold it up against me and see how it would fit! Well, it doesn't.

It looks too small when I hold it up against my chest. I don't know what happened - it was supposed to be a baggy sweater, so I figured I had some leeway on sizing - if it was a little too big it would look fine and if it was a little too small one wouldn't notice. I'm really bummed, but I'm not going to tear it all out. Maybe once I block it that will help, or maybe my 2 1/2 year old daughter can wear it in about 15 years.

The last painful knitting I experienced this week was my SIL's cardigan (for Christmas). I was hunting all over to find the *&#@^$* yarn (Sirdar's Tropicana cotton-effect) which apparently is only sold in the UK. Finally found it on eBay and even in a good color. I thought I was home free! Well, the Sirdar pattern is written in English but it was written in the UK and not only are some of their abbreviations different, but why would you do a yfwd and a yon back to back? Aren't they the same thing? Guess not - I tried the first 8 rows over 7 times - cast on 101 stitches, run through the pattern and every time I was either losing stitches or gaining stitches. I don't get it and I don't have time to keep tearing out all my work and starting over. So, I'm looking for another summerweight sweater I can make with this yarn. Found a promising pattern on Knitty.com but the gauge swatch had the right amount of stitches for 4" across but was 4" tall before I completed the required number of rows. So, I'm going to try smaller needles and if that doesn't work, well, maybe I'll throw in the towel on knitting my SIL a sweater.

Any thoughts or tips, D or anyone else out there?

88 Knitting Days til Christmas

2007-09-23T20:15:00.000-05:00

Yay! Computer re-format has been completed, so I can now post my pictures :-)

My little guy "helping" me out with my knitting :-)

The back of the "Sack Sweater" from SnB - the first piece of clothing I am knitting for myself! Actually, the first adult sweater too - everything so far has been either kid garments or a few adults scarves. Who better to experiment on than myself!

Can you guess what this is?? I'll give you a hint - it's another craft, but uses wool too! Being the kind of person who tends to take on much too ambitious projects, I am trying to learn this craft before Christmas as well.

I've been a knitting fool this last week!! I took full advantage of the 5 hour car ride (each way) to St. Louis and finished my Toddler Back Pack (pictures to be posted shortly), knit two "Umbilical Cord Hat" (from SnB) baby hats and tried to modify the pattern to knit a companion hat for one of the baby's older brothers - it isn't quite as cute in a toddler size.
"Umbilical Cord" hats from SnB

Toddler back pack - I love how this turned out!!

I think I mentioned earlier that I'm planning on knitting a Christmas gift for each person on my gift list - I was worried if this was going to be too big of a project, so I'm only doing one short-sleeved sweater and the other gifts will either be socks or one of the Koigu lattice scarves that I made for myself earlier this year.

I had been looking for the Sirdar "Tropicana" cotton effect yarn for the s/s sweater and was only finding it in the UK, even on eBay. My LYS couldn't even order it, which seemed weird. Anyway I got lucky this week and found it on eBay and it was even in the U.S. I think it was fate! So when that yarn arrives this week I'll have to start that project, but until then I'm making myself the Sack sweater from SnB - it knits up fast, so I'm having fun seeing it appear before my eyes so quickly.

I WANT!

2007-09-22T10:58:00.000-05:00

Those Harmony wood needles from Knit Picks look amazing, and I've been hearing really good things about them.

One day, they will be mine!

Picture Book

2007-09-12T23:06:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm back from Tennessee (Dollywood was involved), here are some pictures:

This is me and one of the most amazing women in the world.

Current progress on the Minimalist Cardigan: so far, so good.

The herringbone stitch scarf for my brother. Shhhhhh, don't tell him!

A hat I made for my roommate's girlfriend.

My Two-Toned Shrug just needs the ends woven in. I've been too lazy to do that.

My first finished sweater! The Shopping Tunic from Twinkle's Big City Knits took fewer than four days to knit. Lots of mods--here's what the original looks like:

See why I changed it?

Finished Danica. I gave it to my sister-in-law this weekend, and she loved it!

The bloody thing is longer than my couch!

Not true to the yarn color (damn flash), but you can see the detail really well here.

Knitiversary!

2007-09-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

It's approximately ONE WHOLE YEAR from the day I first picked up sticks and thread and started making things. Happy Knitiversary to me!

Also, Tuesday is my birthday, so I'm flying back to Tennessee tomorrow to see my family. I hope you all have a safe and lovely weekend--I'll have lots of knitting updates when I return. Noelle, pictures!

To Dye For Yarn??

2007-08-31T19:07:00.000-05:00

OK - now I have the perfect excuse to bid on that white Shetland lace weight yarn on eBay!! I found this link http://cache.lionbrand.com/Newsletters/45307.html that explains how to dye yarn with vegetables - just like the good old days! I'm sure there are many more sites on the internet with examples but this looks like a good place to start.

I remember you mentioned using Kool-Aid to dye yarn too? Much more vibrant colors, certainly, but something about dying with onion skins and knowing that is how they did it in Pilgrim times (Thanksgiving is only 3 months away, isn't it) is something I want to try. What do you think? Have you ever used vegetables to dye yarn? How color fast is it? How about with Kool-Aid?

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

2007-08-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

The Fall Interweave Knits is AMAZING--Noelle, if you do not have this yet, get it NOW. I just got it in the mail the other day, and I've already cast on for this lovely thing:
.

Also good:

And especially this:

Now I know everyone else has probably talked about this issue, and I'm so behind. But I don't care.

My roommate just made me watch this, which is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen.

Obvious First Post

2007-08-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes, I named this blog after a very serious Neil Young song on a very serious subject. Yes, it's a bit of a sacred cow, and even still (or partly because) I love it. But would you rather this be a blog about drug use or setting suns?

So eventually we'll get around to talking about knitting, but until then here's a video.

I love how Neil tries to get the crowd to stop the rain. That makes me love him even more. (Sorry Noelle, you won't be able to see this from work.)

Now that the opening ceremonies are over, welcome. Make yourselves at home. We'll bust out the needles soon enough.