I have been knitting....

.... not that you'd know it from looking here!

First off, some successes, starting with "Shrug This, Me Size".


The original pattern garnered a lot of comments about how it fit perfectly... if you were a 7 year old girl! So, I started by casting on more stitches, and continued the raglan increases for much longer than suggested, until things seemed to fit my frame. The pattern was only 30 inches around... who is 30 inches around???

Anyway, I also lengthened the pattern. It has already gotten good use - I just toss it on over a tank top if there is a bit of a chill in the air, and it is just perfect!

Project Details:

Pattern: Shrug This by Toni Kayser Weiner
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 4 skeins, used doubled
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, size 10 1/2 US
Modifications: I cast on eight extra stitches to start out, and did 16 raglan increases instead of the prescribed 12. I then knit 10 inches of body, then did the ribbing and cast off. Had I not done any addition to the body, the shrug would have ended mid boob - and considering my modest bust, this is surely saying something!

Comments: I'm REALLY not sure what adult human the original pattern would fit. There were women who said that they usually buy XS shirts, and this shrug was too small. Additionally, the pattern is only made in one size. However, despite these things, I definitely like the construction and design of this item. It was just the thing I needed to keep away the chill during early summer mornings or late evenings.

Next up, a duo of Noro hats. I acquired a couple of skeins of Noro from friends, and found this groovy pattern on Ravelry for the Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat by Manuele Ducret.



Project Details:
Pattern: Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat by Manuele Ducret
Needles: Denise Interchangeables size 8, magic looped
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, colorways # 138 (the bright one) and 116 (the black and grey one)
Modifications: I got a gauge of 4 stitches to the inch, and cast on 88 stitches. I knit the straight part of the hat for 5 1/2 inches before decreasing.
Notes: I like this pattern! It is simple to memorize, the pattern shows up against the Noro but doesn't take away from the color changes.

I've also been spinning! Here was the fiber I chose; it's from Woolytreasures , and is about 5 oz of merino.


Here are the spun singles. I felt that the fiber was a bit clumped together, maybe even a little felted at spots, but with a lot of predrafting, things turned out very well. I did feel that the colors were very vibrant and well saturated - there were no undyed spots or faint spots.



And here it is, all plied up! My urge is to underply, so I plied it MORE than I thought I ought to, and I think it turned out quite well! There are about 280 yards of worsted weight yarn here, and I'm not sure what to do with it. It's not totally even, there are thick and thin spots, so it couldn't be anything that required a precise, crisp look. There's enough for like 4 hats, certainly enough for a scarf of some sort. I just don't know yet!


I have serious startitis lately. The problem is this: every project I start, I manage to totally screw up somehow, and have to do some major ripping/ restarting. I don't know what the deal is! The Rusted Root WAS finished, but I decided it was too short and have unraveled the bottom ribbing, but don't feel like finishing it. Plus, I have now decided that I don't like the ribbing I did around the neck and sleeves, either. I started the February Lady Sweater, knit to below the armpits, and then decided I really needed to do the next size up. Then, I completed the main part and got maybe 7 inches into one sleeve, then suddenly realized I had knit the sleeve onto the wrong side of the sweater. Rrrrrrrrrrip. Then, I started a toe up sock and I think that I have made the foot part too long.

So, what next? Will I run away from all of these projects, or will I belly up to the bar and actually finish something? All of these projects look like they are going to be really great - both sweaters look like they fit very nicely, and will therefore be faves to wear. but, um, not in their unfinished forms! Aggggh! I even made two hats out of handspun yarn, and had to restart one of them, too! (the crocheted one had to be redone... luckily, it was a VERY quick knit). I'm wondering if I need to do some sort of two hour SUPER EASY project that will be like a reparative experience for me. Or is that just the startitis talking!

Tour de.... Fleece?

Today was the first day of the Tour de France, as well as the Tour de Fleece! Internet savvy knitters and spinners are always dreaming up timely knitting/ spinning challenges, and the latest is the Tour de Fleece.

The idea is to spin along with the cyclists, but on our spinning wheels instead of on bicycles. So, I spread out my stash and surveyed the scenery, to decide which fiber to start with:


Yeah... there are a lot of options there! I decided upon a gorgeous 5 ounce braid of merino from Wooly Treasures on Etsy.

Now, it appears as though most participants are just going to spin like crazy, but my goal is going to be a little different - my goal is to both spin AND knit this up into something, since I've already spun a bunch of yarn and haven't managed to actually KNIT any of it! I think that this is because I'm sort of afraid that the yarn will be inferior and will fall apart as soon as I start to knit it or something! I hope I'm wrong! :)

I started spinning this morning along with the riders. At first, I was all confused and upset, because I could swear that today was Day 1, but it was called "Stage 1" instead of the "Prologue". Where was the prologue? Where did it go? When was it? Fortunately, I figured out that I did not miss out on anything, there was no Prologue this year.

I didn't take pictures of my spinning from today, but will update as I go along.

Jeans!

I am always in search of the perfect pair of jeans. My long legs immediately render most pants of any type completely unwearable. I have no sympathy whatsoever for short people who whine about having to hem pants - at least you have that option! There is no option to lengthen jeans, my short legged friends. Even a lot of 'long' pants only have a 34 inch inseam, which is juuuuust a bit too short for me. Bummer, right?

My second problem is that even when I DO find a pair of jeans that are long enough, chances are they have a too-short inseam or are too boxy in fit, so that the hips are tight, but the waist area is several inches too big. Once again, it is not possible to lengthen an inseam, people!

Now that I am done whining, I will note that a LOT of people have a hard time finding that perfect pair of jeans. Enter the solution: you can MAKE YOUR OWN JEANS! At this website, you select a type of denim, you enter certain measurements, pick a cut (boot cut, baggy, skinny, etc) choose any add ons you like (various pocket designs), and add in any other specifics... and presto! Perfect jeans! Including shipping (from India), most jeans are about $65, which is certainly cheaper than a lot of jeans out there. I am absolutely going to try this. If it works out, I truly may never try on a pair of jeans in a store again. They even have a maternity option, and they even offer a Brazilian cut jean. I have always wanted Brazilian jeans, because they accentuate the posterior, while offering enough seat coverage to avoid 'plumber's butt'. However, they are not made in sizes appropriate for a woman with Amazonian proportions! :)

Now, who says that late night web surfing doesn't pay off! My only problem now is to decide which jeans I want. They have a page of customer appreciation shots, and it certainly does look as though the 'customer is king'... there is one dude who appears to enjoy a TWO INCH FRONT INSEAM (that particular photo is not for the faint of heart), and presto... he gets what he wants! They will make ANY waist size, although the cost goes by waist circumference... there is even an option for a waist size above 68.1 inches.

I am beside myself with delight. I really hope this works out!

Belated 'Vacation' Pics

Every spring, I trek up to two great bead stores up in Maine. I had been trying to decide whether to make more than a 1 day affair of it, and the a/c breaking down in my building over a scorchingly hot weekend sealed the deal for me.

I started the weekend by driving up to Freeport to shop at The Beadin Path, and to do a bit of window shopping in town. I found these nice flowers and stopped to take pictures:


I then drove down to Portland and checked into my teensy hotel room.... the bathroom was down the hall and was hysterically small. Here is the glorious chandelier in my room:


And here is the room itself... I was standing in the 'closet', if you could even call it that. The room smelled like cheap carpet cleaner, but the a/c was delightfully arctic.


I stopped in at a yarn store on my way downtown, and they had a huge number of buttons.



I then strolled around downtown, and made sure to check out the waterfront.


What a very good name for a boat.


If you like a good lobster roll, get one here:


Who is that bewitching woman?


No, it is I who will be sightseeing YOU! (I got that little girl to wave at me, haha)


I don't have pictures of the bead spoils, but I assure you I stocked up on a good number of seed beads.

Knitting Trauma

Lately, I have been running into knitting problems. I was working on a hemp tank top, and realized that I didn't like the look of the gauge I was knitting it at... and ripped the whole thing out - days of work, on size 1 needles. I have knit back up 4 inches, but now am trying to decide if I REALLY want to do THAT pattern, or maybe I might want to do a different tank top pattern.

The tank top is on a time out for the moment.

Next, I found a very dismaying error in my Rusted Root the other night, when I was about 3/4 of the way done with it. Somehow, I added a stitch, and the error lies right in between my boobs. It is exceedingly noticeable., especially when the sweater is on. The problem spot is just to the left of the lace panel, about 4-5 full lace repeats down from the top:


In for a closer inspection:


A macro shot to further highlight the disturbing truth:


Right after I took these pictures, I ripped out about 10 inches of knitting. The error is even above the sleeve area. U.G.H.

Do you know how to pick beets?

Cuz I do! At least, as of today, I do!

I went to visit my friend Heather today, who lives in Newburyport. We started the day by going to a local farm, and we picked strawberries (a whoooole lot of them), lettuce, rhubarb, and beets. We asked another woman in the beet row, and she explained what to do... and then we were off and running!

We made a nice salad for lunch - lettuce, strawberries, a little red onion, some mozzarella and pine nuts, with a little balsamic vinegar sprinkled on top. Yum!

After that, we walked into town and strolled around for a long time, poking into stores, sitting for an inappropriately long time in furniture stores, and generally having a groovy old time.

I'm kinda pooped after being out in the sun all day - I'm going to sleep well tonight, and I'm okay with that!

Hmm.

I had my suspicions a couple of weeks ago, but a definite pattern has now emerged: It appears as though I have been unwittingly cultivating mosquitos in my car. Every time I get in, there are a couple of them lazily bluzzing around, waiting for an exposed part of me to munch on.

To their credit, they have chosen a great place to locate their operation. It's guaranteed that I'll show up almost every day, and when I'm in there, my ability to swat and smash is highly limited: I'm strapped in and immoble, and I'm concentrating on the road.

Little jerks.

*scratch scratch*

Yikes!

Near where I work, there is a low bridge that trains go over. It's under 12 feet tall, which means that a lot of 18 wheelers cannot get under it. Every once in a while, a truck gets stuck underneath. Yesterday was one of those days. As I was leaving work, there was a truck that had REALLY mangled the front/ top of the storage part of the truck. Dunno what the technical term for that is, really... anyway, there were little bits of truck in the road, even, perhaps fiberglass pieces? Cars were driving around the truck, and I did so, as well. However, traffic stopped, and I was stuck RIGHT underneath the lip of the bridge, right next to the crushy part of the truck. Suddenly, the guy hopped back into the truck and started backing up! Chunks of broken truck were raining down on my car, and I was completely helpless to do anything about it!

Finally, traffic moved and I got the heck out of there. I'm just glad a chunk didn't hit the windshield.

May I also mention the weather yesterday? How is 99 degrees in June an acceptable temperature for New England? Plus, two out of two banks agreed that it was 103. Completely gross. That's the kind of weather that a car air conditioner just can't get ahead of, you know? Bleh.

Tappa, tappa, tappa!


Last night, I had my first ever tap dancing lesson! It was really fun! I signed up for private lessons, so I'd learn nice and quick. I learned a few of the basic steps, like the shim sham and the Cincinnati - totally cool! It is a little awkward for now, but the teacher kept saying, 'this is the easiest class I have ever done!" So, I guess I'm catching the drift of it. ;-)

Good Evening


Today was one of those rainy, humid, oppressive days that are just so heavy that you fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon, unable to remain vertical for one moment longer.

It's about 8 PM, and the sun is peeking out a bit just before it sets. I peered outside my window, to check out the atmosphere out there, and noticed that I could see the reflection of a couple of downtown steeples in the window across the alleyway. I sometimes wonder if my alleyway neighbors have ever seen me taking pictures of things on my windowsill, or outside the window... do they think I'm a creepy peepy? Not sure, really.

Hewwo

Many things to report. So, away we go!

Finished socks! I have no idea why the picture is so pixellated, but you get the point.


Project Details

Pattern: Diana's Knee Socks (ravelry link)
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici (striped color) and Essential (solid brown)
Needles: Knit Picks circs in size 0 US
Notes: I did a garter stitch short row toe and heel, and once I ran out of striped yarn, I made a big ol' ribbed cuff until the socks were as long as I wanted. I ended up using all but a couple of yards of the solid brown yarn! If someone shorter than I were to make these socks, they would probably not need the entire third ball, but I would still recommend 3 balls for knee highs.
I like this pattern - it fits very nicely, and the increases worked nicely. I started the increases one inch later than suggested, since my legs are so long and my calves start up higher than other people's!

Next up, the beginning of the Victoria Tank from Interweave Knits Summer 2004. I've actually made this tank before, but misestimated what size to make, and am making it a wee bit bigger (wider and longer) this time. I'm even using the same yarn, Elsebeth Lavold's Hempathy, but in a different color.


And next, another Clapotis! I'm making it full size this go around, with Kauni yarn I bought at a newly discovered yarn store up in NH, The Yarn & Fiber Company. They are moving a little further away soon... which I'm sad about, because it's a wonderful store! Bummer, dude.

The Kauni yarn has very wide bands of color, and the colorway I chose is all greeny blue colors... very nice and subtle. Plus, since the shawl is knitted on the diagonal, the wide swaths of color run perpendicular to the stitch drops, for a pretty cool effect. Here is a shot of the first couple of lines of dropped stitches:


Another project I've been dipping into is dyeing yarn with Kool Aid! First, I did a ton of test swatches, with straight up Kool Aid and some mixes. Here are the test swatches:


And, here is the first actual skein of yarn that I dyed:



I had fun, indeed!

Obviously, I have a lot of projects going on at the moment, which is not par for the course... usually, I finish one and move on to the next... but really, why do I need to do that if I don't feel like it? If I want to start a new project before finishing the last, well, why the heck not!

The Loot

Cece, Suzanne and I met up at Webs to do a leeeeeetle bit of yarn shopping at their annual tent sale. Here are the two of them with their loot:

I pre-shopped ahead of time online, so I knew what I wanted to get. It was a good thing, because it was utter mayhem in there! I would have gotten a picture, but someone probably would have stolen my yarn had I put it down. No, not really, but that would have made for a good story! The checkout lines were maybe 20 people deep, maybe more. And because people were buying so much, they moved along pretty darn slowly!

Enough of that, let's get to the loot flashing.

They had fiber vendors outdoors under tents. I bought very little fiber, but I did buy some "Angelina" fiber to add into things that I spin - it adds a little sparkle to the mix:

I also bought some Hempathy from Elizabeth Lavold. I plan to make the Victoria Tank with it (Ravelry link).

Next up, some Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep. I am going to make Rusted Root (Ravelry link), which is a nice short sleeve springy sweater. The pink is not quite as bubble gummy in real life. Really.

Rowan Kidsilk Night. It was on quite the sale. Normally, I don't go for the Kidsilk, as it is a bit too halo-y and doesn't show the stitch definition as well as I'd like. However, at this price, I was willing to give it a chance. I have no idea what I am going to make out of it yet. There are some ideas floating around in my head, such as perhaps Ice Queen from Knitty.com. Who knows, really!

Kidsilk Spray. Ditto as for above.

And finally, some nice Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky. It was on super duper closeout, and was just right to make this cool cardigan from Garnstudio, elegantly named the 103-1 Jacket. Those Germans and their ueber practical names for things! And yes, it should be "ueber". I learned that from a German friend. When you don't have access to the umlaut, you add an 'e' afterwards. Now you know.

So, those are the yarns that I purchased. Now, I find myself in the enviable position of having a whooole lot of project- specific yarn - more than I am used to, really. I shall be knitting away, quite happily, for some time!

Howdy.

Various things are going on in my life today. I woke up and knew something was sorta... wrong... my throat was extra tickly, and when I tried to talk, I had pretty much no voice! The verdict? ALLERGIES! I never had regular seasonal allergies until a couple of years ago. I had been all smug, thinking I was out of the woods (pun intended), having reached my 30's without suffering from hay fever and whatnot. Not so. For the past couple of springs, I have been sneezly and watery for 2-3 weeks. Not really SO horrible, but still not unusually fantastic. I'm dosing up on Claritin... we'll see how that goes.

I received excellent news today; my supervisor called me on the phone and informed me that the superintendent (or her designee, according to my union contract) had approved my request to take a personal day on my last day of work before summer vacation. The contract states that I'm not allowed to take a personal day before or after any vacation, unless I receive special permission. I got it! Oddly, though, my supervisor received notification... but I never did! Thank goodness she let me know... I would have still been in the dark. That's bureaucracy for you! Whoa. Bureaucracy can be hard to spell if you're not paying attention!

I made yet another excellent meal from Vegan with a Vengeance... this time, it was Jerk Chicken served with Coconut Rice, with sweet potato and sauteed swiss chard on the side. It was great! Unfortunately, there was a bit of a chili powder snafu, and I ended up dumping a TON of it into the marinade, because I was expecting the sprinkle top to be on the jar, instead of NO sprinkle top. Ewps. I dug out as much as I could, but suffice it to say that it was QUITE spicy. Still really good and edible, though! Thank goodness.


Also, I'm sure you'll be surprised to know that I've been doing some more spinning! I spun my way through another batt by TerraBellaSpun - her colors are just lovely. Also, she was very friendly customer service - wise... I have bought from a few other people who sell fiber on Etsy, and she was the only one who wrote me a personal 'thanks for your purchase' note. It was very nice!


I received many votes regarding the knee socks... the consensus appears to be that a 3-4 inch cuff would not be out of place. Therefore, I will press on... and move on to sock #2.

I've been spinning! AND knitting!

I turned this fiber from Copperpot on Etsy:

into bulky thick and thin yarn plied with matching brown thread:


Here is some yarn I made with fiber from TerraBellaSpun on Etsy:


And here is another one from Copperpot:


And here is an unspun batt from TerraBellaSpun - isn't it delicious?


Here it is, sitting on the bobbin. I haven't decided how I want to ply it - either two ply, or Navajo ply.


I'm also doing some knitting. I have put the Noro knee socks on hold - I have decided that I would like them best if I actually used a contrasting yarn for the toe, heel and cuff, because that way, the color changes would not be broken up around the ankle. So, I have to gather up the courage to start reknitting them! In the meantime, I decided to test out that 'contrasting yarn' theory by knitting up some stripedy knee highs, inspired by Stacey... well, not so much inspired as directly copied, really...


I did contrasting toes and heels. I'm up to the cuff. However, once again, there really is not enough of the main yarn. The cuff will need to be like 3-4 inches high. I'm not sure yet whether this bothers me. At least with these socks, there are matching toes/ heels. Sigh...

New Hampshire Sheep & Wool

This weekend was mother's day. My mother just so happens to live within 20 minutes of the Hopkinton Fairgrounds, which is where the festival was taking place... it really only made sense for me to check it out, wouldn't you say? Yes? Well, that is what I said, too! I brought caaaash money and an empty shopping bag, and left with LESS cash money and a full shopping bag. During lunch, one woman's husband noted that there was clearly enough room left in my bag for one or two skeins of sock yarn, but I resisted. (that was one lucky wife, with such an enabling husband! I wonder what her yarn/ fiber stash looks like!)

I liked this festival. It was a bit bigger than the CT show, but you could still see everything in a few hours of concerted effort. There were animals (sheep, goats, alpaca, a llama or two, and sheepdogs), raw fiber, processed fiber, yarn, spinning accessories, and so on... and all were well represented.

A nicely shorn alpaca:


Corriedale from The Sheep Shed:


Four different merino/ tencel blends from The Sheep Shed:


Merino from The Sheep Shed:


Merino/ Silk from Avi's Web:


Bamboo fro Avi's Web:



Merino and Merino/Tencel fiber from FiberFetish:


It was a nice show. I would definitely go again, especially now that I know about it, and because it is on Mother's Day weekend - very convenient!

I ought not to let this post go by without noting that I had a nice time visiting my parents and grandmother. It's always nice to see them! The card I got my mom was true - now that I'm older, she is a friend in addition to being my mother.... more of a 'frother'! haha.