Girl Meets Yarn

A Distraction

2008-10-01T20:21:00.006-04:00

I've been doing tons of knitting lately. Does that mean I have any progress photos to show of my personal projects? Nope, not a one. A while ago I had designed and knit some baby mittens for my Etsy shop. Well recently the last of them sold. And this being the beginning of prime mitten season, and also the time where the holidays are looming (translating into a very good time to stock your shop to overflowing) I decided to replenish the supply. I set a goal of listing 30 pairs of mittens. In my chronic case of delusion on how much knitting I can accomplish, I thought, "I'll have them finished in a week, maybe a few days more." And yes, I did have the sense to consider that during that time I also have to work my regular job, be a mom, and handle all the usual daily tasks like dinner, laundry, etc. But even with that in mind, I remained deluded. I am now one week into it and have completed ten pair. Granted, they are knit in fingering weight yarn. And there was that one little obstacle........I didn't have the sense to keep good notes when I originally worked out the design.......or even the foresight to place whatever notes I had in a location where I could, well, locate them. So I had to start from scratch, however, not being one who enjoys repeating the same mistakes over and over, the very meticulously written pattern is now in a composition book devoted solely to such things. Here's the first of the completed bunch, which I've dubbed the Falling Leaves Mittens:

I don't know that I'll be blogging much in the near future. There are so many things I'm wanting to get done right now. Also, any time I've been on the computer for pleasure lately, I've been reading your blogs. It's something I've gotten behind on lately, and I really miss it. So forgive my silence, but I'm much more in the mood to read about knitting, than to write about it. Now pardon me, I've some wee hand warmers to be working on.

A Cure For The Restless

2008-09-15T13:54:00.003-04:00

I think every knitter occasionally experiences bouts of restlessness, feeling uninspired, or whatever you want to call it. I know I do. And anytime I'm in one of those slumps, I'm very much wishing that I could find a way to recreate the feelings of enthusiasm I normally feel for my beloved craft. I also have a habit of mentally drawing parallels between my life/personality and my attitudes and habits in knitting. I think it stems from an ongoing desire to better understand myself and why I do the things I do.

For example, I know there's a part of me that resists change, that prefers the comfort of the familiar. But I also know that when I allow that part of myself to dictate, I always end up feeling like my life has stalled out. I become restless. Un-enthused. Even apathetic. When I get like that, it's always a sure sign that I need to stir things up. Try something new. Reexamine my goals, and maybe set new ones.

When I recently applied those thoughts to my current frustrating bout of knitting apathy, I felt inspired to push myself out of my crafting comfort zone. I cast on for my first pair of socks:

I chose the Hedgerow Socks, a free pattern from Knitter's Review. It was one of several patterns I was considering as a good first sock project. I went with this one because A) it's a widely knit pattern, so if I ran into any problems, I knew I'd have no trouble getting advice from someone who'd already knit them B) they were rated as an "easy" pattern by the 418 Ravelers who've made them C) I wanted something a little more exciting than plain stockinette, which the pretty texture of the Ribbed Stitch pattern provided, and D) within the pattern there's a link to a basic sock tutorial with instructions for all the techniques used in sock knitting (turning the heel, shaping the gusset, etc.).

I completed the first sock last night.

And? Did it do the trick? Was I able to restore my excitement for all things woolly? You tell me. Immediately after finishing the sock last night, I put it on my foot and admired it from every angle my level of flexibility would allow. Then I walked around my living room noticing how the sock felt, never taking my eyes off that foot (it's amazing I didn't walk into a wall). Then I reclined across the couch in front of the t.v. But I can't tell you what was on the idiot box, because I wasn't watching. I was peeking at my newly adorned left foot out of the corner of my eye. Then I sprang up and ran to my shoe closet to try on my brown healed loafers to see how they'd look with my new sock.

Okay, maybe I've just revealed way more dorkiness than any blogger ever should. But I'm a dork who's happy with her knitting. And that's nothing to scoff at.

When The End Is Not The End

2008-08-27T09:17:00.003-04:00

I didn't intend to go a month without blogging. But at the end of July when I realized school started in only one month, and the end of Summer would be following close behind, I felt the need to squeeze as much sunny day fun as I could out of the remaining time. My computer has seen very little of me lately because of it. But through it all, I have still been knitting.

North of those needles is nearly an entire Buttony sweater. What's missing is three inches of ribbing at the bottom. Oh, and I'm out of yarn. And that yarn has been discontinued. It's Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky in the Petal colorway. But I have not panicked yet. I was able to locate two places where this yarn still exists. One of them is in a fellow raveler's stash, and it's even the same dye lot. I have not yet asked said raveler if she'd be willing to sell one skein (she has 20). That's plan B if plan A doesn't work out. The online shop where I originally purchased this yarn (a year and a half ago) still has some in stock. But she has it listed for sale by the 10 skein bag. All I need is one skein. So I emailed the shop owner inquiring about the dye lot, explaining my dilemma, and asking if she'd be willing to sell a single ball of it. That was three days ago, and I haven't yet heard back from her. Cross your fingers for me............

A Simple Shift

2008-07-24T21:57:00.003-04:00

After a rousing game of Running-from-Mommy-while-she-tries-to-take-my-picture-is-hilarious, my dress model finally settled down enough for me to get a few shots of this FO.

I mentioned this project only once before. It's actually been finished for over a month now, and Sophie's already worn it a couple of times.

The Details:

Started: May 12, 2008
Completed: June 10?ish?, 2008
Pattern: I modified Butterick pattern #B4118 (which you can see in the link above) from a top to dress.
Size: 3 (Which any of you who sew know, pattern sizes don't coincide with ready to wear sizes). Sophie has a narrow chest, but is also tall for her age. So whenever I sew for her, I usually have to blend the width of a smaller size with the length of a bigger size.
Fabric: A blue and white pin striped cotton that's been in my stash for so long I don't remember where or when I got it. It feels good to use up the stash. =)

From The Archives

2008-07-13T13:44:00.005-04:00

Today's post is from an idea that's been floating around my head for some time now. Anyone who's even remotely active in the online knitting community knows that like most areas of human culture, knitting has it's fads, it's "it" projects. Things that everyone and their sister are knitting/have knit, projects that are showing up on blogs world-wide. A perfect example of this is Clapotis, which on Ravelry alone, has 6,662 projects, with another 3,625 people who intend to make it in the future. And how about Jaywalker, Fetching, Odessa, Endpaper Mitts, or the Central Park Hoodie? I'm sure you could add at least twenty more names to that list. And while many of these patterns are on my To-Knit list, the point of "From The Archives" is to highlight some very cool knitting patterns that for whatever reason, never rose to knitting fame. I use the term "Archive" loosely. These could be patterns that were published 4 months ago, or 65 years ago. As for some of the vintage ones, who knows? They may have been a cult classic in their own time, but I wasn't alive to know it. =) Occasionally you may have to look past big hair or tacky accessories in order to see what a purl in the rough an old pattern is. And I may even throw in a sewing or crochet pattern here and there.

My first is example is a sweater from the Fall-Winter 1968 issue of Good Housekeeping Needlecraft.

The "Belted Cardigan" is knit at a worsted weight gauge. I'm considering making this one myself.

Ravelry Stash

2008-07-09T14:17:00.003-04:00

I've started adding my stash to my Ravelry page. I'm doing a little at a time, as I find the time. At this point it appears I only knit with cotton yarn. That's because I keep my stash organized in baskets by weight and in some cases, fiber. I grabbed the basket of cotton yarn and started photographing it first. Other fibers to come as I get to them.

I'm also working on a project that I've yet to mention here.

Most of you will recognize it as the much loved Rusted Root from the talented ladies at Zephyr Style. I'm about 60% finished, and the knitting has flowed without any problems. I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the Perry's Primrose colorway, which I purchased at Little Knits.

Buttons The Second

2008-07-07T19:15:00.003-04:00

Early in the summer, the small town I live in held it's annual town-wide yard sale. I've always enjoyed such events. You truly never know what you'll find, and a large part of the fun is in the looking. Imagine my excitement when the first house we stop at is displaying vintage buttons for sale. The owner must have quickly picked up on my enthusiasm, as she came over and asked where my interest in the buttons stemmed from. I told here I love to knit and sew, and have been actively trying to expand my collection. She then became animated in her own excitement of having found a like-minded soul, telling me she's an avid collector and frequents shows in various states to buy and sell vintage buttons. We talked for awhile, she showing me some of her favorites, and even going into her house to retrieve a tin of her personal stash. She said she had a particular fondness for the old fabric covered ones, holding out a tiny set that were fashioned by the previous owner from a bygone era to match the dress they'd adorned - a muted cream and pink small scale floral. In the end, I chose my favorites and continued on down the street. No other house we stopped at that day had anything like the first, but it had made the whole adventure worthwhile.

On the bottom right, pink and cream celluloid buttons. Celluloid was first invented in 1868, and is considered by some to be the first plastic ever invented, although bakelite, celluloid's successor, actually holds that title. According to AntiqueButtonCollecting.com, "Celluloid is not a true plastic because it is formed of a mixture of both synthetic and organic materials, whereas bakelite is completely synthetic. Antique celluloid buttons from apparel and home décor pieces can be quite fragile precisely because celluloid does contain organic materials, which degrade over time. The celluloid can “crystallize”, which causes the antique celluloid buttons to harden and finally crumble. It is best to store your antique celluloid buttons in a cool, dry place, away from all metals, heat and humidity. However, do not store them in airtight containers, as the celluloid needs to breathe."

The two sets on the left are made of bakelite, which was most popular from the 1920's to the 1940's. The brown ones are known as 'Carved Platters'. These were typically found on coats, which is why they are almost always black or brown. In the center are two wooden buttons with beveled edges. I'm not sure how I'll ever use these ones on my hand knits. The metal shanks on the backside are showing signs of rust. Considering I allow most of the items I knit to air dry, it'd only be a matter of time before some damage was done. Maybe I could coat the shanks in some type of sealant??

And lastly, here are some more modern editions I picked up at the fabric store on my last trip. I must have vintage on the brain, though. Don't the girls remind you of 1920's Flappers?

FO: Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi

2008-06-23T20:10:00.003-04:00

This one is long overdue. It's been finished for nearly two months, but for one reason followed by another, I've only just now gotten to photographing and posting about it.

Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi

Details:

Started - January 30, 2008
Completed - April 30, 2008
Pattern - From Bouton d'Or, No. 14 Layette & Junior, Jacket #23
Size - The pattern only went up to a size 4 years. Based on the measurements, that size looked like it would fit Sophie (who's 6) width-wise, especially considering it's done in a stretchy rib. I added length to both the body and sleeves, and recalculated the raglan shaping on the fronts, back, and sleeves in order to lengthen it to her measurements. There's a very useful explanation of how to do the latter in Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book.
Needles - Pair of size 6 US straights for body, and size 4 US circular for button band and collar
Yarn - Rowan All Seasons Cotton. A worsted weight, cotton/acrylic/microfiber blend with 98 yards per skein. I used colorway 186, which is a dusty lilac. Approximately 7 1/4 skeins for a total of 710 yards.
Mods - Aside from the sizing modifications, I also omitted the cables at the hem and cuff. I didn't like the way they flared out on the model in the book. Oh yeah, and the pattern called for the yarn "Ksar", by Bouton D'or, which I obviously didn't use.
My Thoughts - This was an enjoyable project. I made it with a little room to grow, so Sophie will be able to wear it for years to come. I know she likes it because she requested to wear it often when the weather was still cool, and would tell anyone who'd listen, "My mommy made this sweater." =)

FO: Tooth Fairy Pillow

2008-06-15T17:20:00.005-04:00

This was such a quick project it didn't stay on the needles long enough to gain a blog mention. It's a super cute softie for stowing a child's tooth in while awaiting a visit from the Tooth Fairy. No more worries of a tiny tooth getting lost in the bedding, or waking your child as you clumsily fumble in the dark searching for the errant tooth. The little pocket on the back of our enamel-y friend ensures that. This is a free pattern made available by My Fair Katie.

Sophie discovered her first loose tooth a couple weeks ago, and then I stumbled across this pattern on Ravelry during one of my many project queuing sessions.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

Details:

Started - June 8, 2008
Completed - June 15, 2008
Yarn - 1/2 a skein of Cotton Classic by Tahki, in white
Needles - set of five size 5 US DPNS, and a size 5 circular in a 16" length
Finished Dimensions - 3" wide by 4 1/2" tall
My Thoughts - I thought this was a well written pattern with detailed descriptions of all the needed techniques included. There's also a link to a great tutorial on the provisional cast on - this was the first time I used that technique, and I had no problems. I love how the top indents and has all the nooks and crannies of a real tooth.
Mods - I opted for a fabric pocket rather than a knitted one. I sewed two layers of a floral print flannel together with right sides facing, leaving an opening for turning. After turning, I pressed and edge-stitched the pocket on my machine. Then I hand-stitched it to the back of the tooth. I also used plastic doll eyes in place of embroidering them on.
If I Knit It Again, I Would Change - Nothing! I'm happy with how this turned out. And Sophie squealed when I gave it to her. =) She likes it, and that's what matters most.

There she sits.............and sits........

2008-06-11T20:09:00.003-04:00

I analyze things. I'm perpetually wondering "why?", or "how does that work?", or something else along those lines. I like to understand things/people/etc. And what I don't understand, I feel driven to figure it out. For as long as I've known me, I've always been that way. So when I finished knitting the Summertime Tunic, set it down only needing to block it and sew the straps in order for it to be finished, and then didn't touch it for weeks.............I got to thinking. I do this often with a project. I work on it with enthusiasm until it's so very close to being finished, then I walk away from it. Sometimes for days. Often for weeks. Occasionally for months. And now I understand why I do it. I'm delaying the moment of truth. The moment I find out if a project is everything I'd hoped and dreamed it'd be. I've suffered my share of knitting and sewing disappointments, and ......................er, scratch that. Can I be completely honest with you? Can I admit something that I would be ashamed to tell a room full of knitters? {Deep Breath}
I've never been completely happy with any garment I've ever knit for myself!

There, I said it. Or blurted it out, rather..........................Wow. That wasn't so bad.........freeing, even. And nothing horrible happened. My monitor didn't start flashing red with the notice that I'd been banned from Ravelry, my blog suspended because I'm a knitting impostor, or my stash disappear in a poof of spontaneous combustion, melting all my needles into a molten blob in the process.

But it's true. I've never once put on a finished knitted garment and felt that swell of pride and excitement that comes with a job well done. I've made things for others and felt that way. I've made accessories and felt that way. But never a garment for myself.
Did you ever hear the expression, "Asking questions will lead not only to answers, but more questions as well?" I started to wonder why all of my personal projects ended in something less than elation. Yes, there were the standard variety of reasons, including (but not limited to) poor yarn substitutions, impulsive (and poorly thought out) changes made mid pattern, fitting issues, laziness, and freakish sleeves. But there was also one other reoccurring theme. I am incredibly critical of the things I make. Even more so of the things I make and then wear on my body. While I do see the upside to this quality (everything has an upside, right?) - it gives me the drive to continually improve, and insists that I only accept a certain level of quality, the downsides can't be ignored. I drive myself crazy. I forget to notice what is right about my project, because all I can see is the perceived flaw. I fail to recognize that for every mistake I've made, I've learned something. Which makes me a better knitter than I was before I cast that project on. I think it's time I told my inner critic to shut up. Or at least tone it down a bit. She's gotten too big for her britches.

It looks like a shapeless sack, says the crotchety nag who lives in my head.

But I'm going to have faith that once the finishing touches are added, and it's on a 3 dimensional body, I'll have reason to feel a little proud.

Closure

2008-05-26T19:21:00.003-04:00

Something I've never told you guys - I've had this fantasy of being a button lady for quite some time. By that, I mean I imagined having a large collection of beautiful buttons of all shapes, colors, sizes, and materials that I store in a vintage tin. I love the idea for a variety of reasons. Similar to the joys of having a yarn or fabric stash, imagine the fun of rummaging through and admiring the beauty and possibilities of all those practical baubles. Of knitting a sweater and consulting the tin with the knowledge that the perfect closures can be found within. The memories it'll create for Sophie as she whiles away an afternoon playing with the colorful whosits and whatsits at the kitchen table. I already had a small (as in it could barely be considered a collection) assortment of buttons that I kept in an entirely unromantic clear plastic box. And Sophie already does like to take them out and play with them. But I tend to use them up faster than I purchase them. Recently I took a trip to the fabric store and bought a few cards of new buttons, that had no immediate use in mind. Actually, I originally had five times as many cards piled in my shopping cart, before I talked some sense into the impulsive shopper in me (you'd be amazed how quickly $1.50 - $7.00 a card can add up).

When I got home, I called my mom and asked her if she happened to have any old cookie tins lying around. She told me she'd look, and true to her word, the next time I saw her she handed me a genuine vintage cookie tin. I quickly placed my growing collection into their new home and sat back to admire.

Oh, and by the way, it would be completely ridiculous to go into a fabric store and not actually buy fabric, don't you think? I knew you all would understand my reasoning. =)

Unlike the buttons, this is stash with a plan.

The top three are cottons for summer dresses. The pink and white striped is a cozy flannel for button up pajamas w/matching pants. The mauve baby corduroy is for a pair of capris. And the white muslin on the bottom is a very light weight cotton for lining some fabrics that I want to sew summer tops/dresses with, but that might not be quite opaque enough to maintain a girl's modesty. ;)

Never Again

2008-05-18T12:40:00.003-04:00

I can't tell you how many times I've browsed my knitting books or Ravelry, found a pattern I wanted to make, selected the yarn and then discovered I didn't have one of the knitting needle sizes I needed. This was mostly in the case of circular needles. I found it very frustrating to not be able to cast on until I'd hunted down and purchased the right needles. And it was never as simple as buying for example, the size US 6 24" circular the pattern said I needed. I tend to knit loosely compared to many pattern's gauge/needle size recommendations. So I'd have to buy a size 4, 5, and 6 to ensure I'd be able to get the right gauge. Well, those days are over my friends!

I ordered the Knit Picks Options set, the size 0-3 24" fixed circulars that the Options doesn't include, 16" fixed circulars in sizes 0-9, and the 6" double pointed sock needle set. Oh, and one more thing was in the package:

My first sock yarn!

I've never knit a pair of socks before, and I'd like to try in the near future. That's two skeins of Knit Picks Gloss (70% Merino, 30% Silk) in the Dolphin color way.

I was finally able to cast on th Summertime Tunic on Friday. It was one of those projects that I didn't have the correct needle sizes for. More details and pics to come.

When Your Knitting's Got You Down, Say Sew What

2008-05-14T14:55:00.003-04:00

The Mini Sweater, my first top down project..................it's a failure. =( I ripped back and fix the shoulders/sleeves to make them wider. Then I put the sleeves on holders and knit my way down the body, made a nice neat button hole, and bound off. I tried it on right away only to discover this:

It fits in the sleeves, it fits in the front. But the back......................that's a whole 'nother story. In order to fix it, I would have to rip waaaaaay back to nearly the beginning, and well, I have no desire to do that. I could save the sweater in hopes that one day I'll sprout an enormous hunchback and be able to wear it. Or not. I'm frogging this thing. I'm dying to start on some summer projects. Maybe one day I'll attempt the Mini Sweater again. It is such a cute pattern.

I was feeling pretty disappointed from my failure, and wanted a quick project to restore some of my crafting self esteem. So I whipped up a summer dress for Sophie on the sewing machine. I altered top B on this pattern to be a dress:

I just need to make the bow for the neckline, add the elastic to the waist, and sew the hem. But here's a sneak peek:

It's in a light weight cotton blend with tiny blue and white pin stripes that my camera refuses to see.

Spitting On My Knitting

2008-05-02T12:30:00.002-04:00

I've learned a new technique, and I'm a little excited about it. First, see exhibit A:

That used to be two ends of yarn

While working on my Mini Sweater, I reached a point of needing to attach another ball of yarn when I was very near the end of a row. I didn't like the idea of ripping back that row and then waisting such a long tail of yarn. I remembered that recently I had been listening to some of the older Stash & Burn episodes, and they had talked about spit splicing and given a link to a tutorial. The Jaeger Extra fine Merino I'm knitting with is a perfect candidate for this technique (100% wool and not superwash). I was amazed how quickly and easily the two ends felted together - in less than 30 seconds of rubbing them in my palm. Being the skeptical type, who doesn't believe something unless she's tested it out for herself, I of course gave the newly attached join some good hard tugs to make sure they were secure, and they were - impressively so. This is a technique I plan to use wherever possible in the future.

Since we're on the topic of the Mini Sweater, I'll give you an update. You may recall that the last time I touched it was a couple months ago. I had reached the point of needing to slip all the stitches onto scrap yarn in order to try it on, and then promptly set it aside to cast on for another project. Two days ago I finally tried it on and found that it wasn't yet big enough. The sleeves have to meet under your arms before you're ready to move on to the next step. So I put all the stitches back on the needles and knit eight more rows, including four increase rows. Then I tried it on again. The sleeves still didn't quite fit, yet the front and back were starting to look dangerously close to the verge of being too big. Grrr. >= ( It seems my deltoids are a little bigger than most people my size. I'm currently knitting on the sleeves by themselves and hoping that works out.

Remember how my plan was to finish the Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi before I went back to the Mini Sweater? Well I'm happy to report that things are coming along as planned - the Cardi is finished, finito, done-da-done-done-done! And I love it. It's currently sitting on my ironing board, folded up all pretty. I occasionally glance over to admire it. =) I'm hoping to get pictures of it on Sophie and put together an FO post sometime next week.

Happy knitting.

I May Be Knitting These For My Grandchildren

2008-04-27T10:39:00.003-04:00

So I've been pondering how realistic the size of my Ravelry queue is. Which currently numbers 344 (that's including my 'Favorites' which I've already confessed are queued projects in disguise). I did a little math. I'm 28 years old now. If I live to be 88 years old, which is a completely realistic expectation considering the women in my family tend to last until their late 90's, that gives me 60 years of knitting time. According to my calculator, that means I only need to knit 5.73 projects a year in order to complete everything in my queue. Totally do-able if you ask me! But it also occurred to me that when I'm in my later years, I may no longer have the body to wear some of the projects:

Those are four of my favorites from Kim Hargreaves new book, Nectar, that went on sale a few days ago.

The Ripples

2008-04-24T10:47:00.002-04:00

They say that good deeds come back to you. And while I don't think this should be one's motivation to do good, I have to say that it's certainly a pleasant plus side. I went to the post office on Tuesday and discovered a card in my P.O. box. The return address was that of Judith, the winner of the Contest Of Kindness. I could see a lump in the envelope, and my curiosity got the best of me. I opened it right on the mail sorting table. Enclosed were four beautiful handmade (by Judith) stitch markers and a card with a sweet handwritten note.

It was completely unexpected and really made my day. Thank you, Judith! :)

My mind keeps wandering back to this whole subject of consciously making an effort to do nice things for others. I confess I feel somewhat reluctant to keep blogging about it for fear of being labeled "sappy". But at least for today, I've come to the conclusion that this blog is my space, which means I can write about anything I choose.

I've been thinking about the ripple effect of our actions. The idea that you never can tell how far the effect of those actions will reach. It intrigues me to mentally chew on the fact that whoever that anonymous person was that shoveled the snow off of my steps could have had no idea that I would blog about it, and hold a contest that inspired others to look for the opportunity to help others, who may have in turn been inspired themselves. Who's to say where it ends? Who would have thought that shoveling steps would result in two complete strangers sending each other hand crafted gifts? Can the smallest of actions have significant consequences in the long run? I believe so. And there's a whole theory built around just that idea - the butterfly effect. If this is a subject that interests you, follow the link. I think we often feel overwhelmed and powerless when we look at all the things that could use improvement in the world. But I think we each have so much more power than we realize. If you think about any positive change that has occurred over the course of history, you'll see that in most cases the change came about from the culmination of many small actions.

Slowly But Surely

2008-04-21T14:35:00.003-04:00

The Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi is coming along. All pieces have been blocked, the raglan shoulder seams sewn, and what you see below are the button bands in progress (well, one of them anyway).

And because I'm endlessly amused by the photo editor, here's a bonus shot:

As soon as this is completed, I need to finish up the Mini Sweater quick-like. We won't dwell on the fact that I'm finishing two sweaters just as the temperatures are climbing into the 70's. I was wise enough to factor growing room into Sophie's, and I don't think I'll be growing too much before next fall. I'm already prowling around for some summer projects to cast on next. This is one that's being considered (scroll down to the Summertime Tunic). But more specifically, I'm pretty enamored with Knitterella's version that used cute fabric straps.

And the winner is............

2008-04-06T11:12:00.002-04:00

GAH! Good thing I never aspired to be a hand model.

Congratulations Judith! And you're a very thoughtful friend, tanyatho of Ravelry for entering on her behalf. I'll be contacting you through Ravelry just as soon as this is posted. Thanks again to everyone who participated. It's been fun. :)

Showing Some Sleevage

2008-03-31T19:46:00.003-04:00

Okay, maybe my sense of humor hasn't matured past that of a ten year olds, but that title makes me laugh.
I'm a few rows short of binding off the sleeves on the Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi. Then I'm onto the sewing up and finishing.

Have you noticed that every single picture I've taken of this project has appeared a different color? I think this one is the closest to real life so far.

And in a classic move known by bloggers everywhere who lack exciting news to share, I give you some cool links I've recently found:

Fashion Fabrics Club has a HUGE selection of fabrics at amazingly low prices. I have not yet ordered from them, so I can't vouch for customer service, etc.
Free sewing patterns from Burda.
If you use a digital camera and rechargeable batteries, the day will eventually come when the batteries need to be replaced. This site takes the confusion out of purchasing appropriate and quality ones.
Speaking of photography, if you love black and white (and who doesn't), you could piffle away some time here.
A useful resource for looking up knitting and crochet standards, from garment sizing and needle sizing to yarn care symbols and tips for new designers.
Every knitter ought to have a pet lamb, don't you think?
Martha never seems to run out of good ideas.

P.S. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in the Contest Of Kindness! Comments will be closed in a few hours. A name will be drawn and announced within the week, and the winner will be notified.

Update-o-rama

2008-03-18T19:35:00.004-04:00

While wandering the web, I found this site: Help Others.org. Not only was it fun to browse, but I found and promptly ordered my very own Smile Cards.

They're free and you can even print your own out instead of waiting for snail mail. My printer is currently out of commission. In reality, you don't need any cards in order to do nice things. These appealed to me not only because carrying them in my wallet will be a reminder, but also they encourage others to pass it on.

While perusing Ravelry, I found that I'm not the first person to hold such a contest. The Loopy Ewe held one like it this past December. I've never shopped there, but am familiar with them from listening to the Lime & Violet Podcast. And another blogger, inspired by The Loopy Ewe, did the same. If you like reading inspirational stories, and I confess that there was a point in my life where I devoured every Chicken Soup For The Soul book I could find, go read the great comments on her blog.

To reply to some of the comments already left:
Samantha said, "If I win, I'm going to do something similar on my blog!"
I had been thinking about suggesting that when I decided to have the contest. My only hesitations were that I didn't want anyone to feel obligated, and what if the winner didn't have a blog? But since you spoke up, I have to say I think it's a great idea. =) And I don't think winning this contest is a prerequisite for doing so. If any of you decide to, let me know so I can come participate.

Black Sheep Knitting Guild was thoughtful enough to enter her friend for multiple acts of generosity.

And finally, warning: mushiness ahead-
Anyone who knows me very well, knows that my favorite sort of people in the world are children. They posses some of the most endearing qualities, and in my opinion, are some of the most deserving of kindness and generosity. So when I read Aunt Kathy's comment - "I have also started making blankets for a NASCAR charity Victory Junction Gang, every camper goes for free and leaves with a blanket and a teddy bear. They are all terminally ill children, it's a wonderful charity.", my eyes started to feel a little teary. But I also felt inspired. That is exactly the kind of charity that would interest me. So thank you for bringing that one to my attention.

Whoever said, good deeds come back to you ten-fold, had a penchant for underestimation.

For the knitting portion of this post, I'm happy to say I've made some progress. And I have some pictures to prove it.

Two completed fronts sitting atop the completed back of the Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi

The buttons I picked out yesterday

I've cast both sleeves on at once, and will be knitting more this evening. I'm feeling antsy about finishing this sweater and The Minisweater. Both have lingered on my needles long enough that I'm starting to feel bored with them. I want to get a move on before boredom turns into downright apathy. Also, there may be one other teeny tiny reason. See this?

The right hand corner on my Ravelry profile page

I currently have 215 projects queued and that list keeps growing. And um, see where it says "97 faves"? Well my favorites are actually more queued projects, where I liked one persons version of a project way better than the one displayed on the main page. So I'm finding that having 312 potential new projects swimming tantalizingly before me is sort of motivating towards finishing up my stale old projects. By the way, I'm curious..........I can't be the only one with such a large queue, right?

Contest Of Kindness

2008-03-08T16:11:00.007-05:00

It's happened four times now. I've come out my front door to discover that someone has shoveled the snow off of my porch steps and walkway. No one in sight, no indication left behind as to who was responsible. I've called friends and neighbors to ask if they knew anything about it. No one has a clue (or at least they're not telling me). I feel like I should say thank you. I very much want to say thank you. But how do you do that when you don't know who to thank?
Every single time it's happened, it instantly brightened my day. I was so touched that someone would take the time and effort to do something kind, and then not expect any recognition for it. Two out of the four times, I was having a very stressful day. The kind where you (even if just for a moment) start to question the basic goodness of humanity. Walking out my door and coming face to face with such a simple but thoughtful act, completely turned my mood around.

Now, if you've been on this earth awhile, you may have noticed that like breeds like. In other words, from polar bears spring forth more polar bears, horses produce more horses (bear with me here, I do have a point), when someone does something nasty to us, we tend to want to retaliate with some nastiness of our own. When someone does something nice for us, we tend to want to go and put some more nice into the world. And that brings us to the point of this post. As my way of saying thank you to an anonymous person, and to pass the good along to others, I'm going to have a contest. Here's how you play - go do something nice for someone. It's that simple. Is there an old man who lives alone in a house not far from yours? Invite him to coffee. Have you been stressed out and so busy that you really haven't spent any real time with your kids lately? Set aside a half hour and play whatever they want to play. Do you know a struggling single parent? Anonymously place $10 in their mailbox. Call up the local animal shelter and ask if there are any supplies (pet shampoo, food, etc) that they could really use. Knit a pair of mittens and donate them to the retirement home. Leave your husband a note stating 10 reasons why he's wonderful. Take your mom for a pedicure. Buy a book from a friend's Amazon Wish List and mail it to them. It could be anything. Use your imagination. It can be as small or as large as you'd like. It doesn't have to cost money. It doesn't have to be anonymous (but bonus points if you can manage that).

And once you've done that, leave a comment in this post telling us about it. Comments will stay open until March 31st. I'll then place the names of everyone who's participated into a bowl, and draw one. You can enter more than once if you'd like - if you do five good deeds, your name goes in five times. The prize? You can have any one thing from my Etsy shop free of charge. Anything. It doesn't matter if it costs $5 or $50. I'll even pay for shipping. I add new things weekly, so your choices will continue to grow as the 31st approaches. Two more knitting needle cases in progress, that'll be going in the shop tomorrow:

In knitting news, here's how far I've gotten on the Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi:

One completed back, two fronts knit up to the armholes.

I've been stalled at this point for over a week now. The pattern in the book only goes up to a size 4 years, but I'm making it to fit a 6 year old Sophie. I had to recalculate the raglan slope on the back, and will have to do the same for the fronts and sleeves. It's not hard, but reaching that point on the front caused me to just set it aside for 'later'. I'm going to sit down with it tonight and get back on the road to progress.

**Comments are now closed on this contest**

It's Like That

2008-03-04T19:51:00.004-05:00

Do you ever meet a new person, and the more time you spend with them, the more fond you grow of them? You start thinking thoughts like, "Why didn't we meet sooner?" Well that's how it is with me and felt these days. The first time I really worked with it was a few months ago when I made the felt drink coasters. I then had a little obsession with baby shoes. And now I'm making mice, fish, and little sheepy DPN cases.

I've added those to my Etsy shop. Speaking of Etsy, I just got a shop makeover that I'm very happy with, from Springcart Designs. I described the type of look I was picturing in my head, and she did a great job of translating that into a new banner and several matching avatars. And she was very friendly and accommodating throughout the whole process, which won even more points from me - I'm huge on customer service.

As for knitting, progress has slowed on my personal projects due to general life distractions and the time I've been spending on my shop. I haven't touched my mini sweater in quite some time. I did finish the back of the Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi, and am nearly done with the two fronts. Also, I did an interview on Ravelry.

Got Gauge?

2008-02-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

My apologies. I was intending to have this post up a couple weeks ago. But that week, I was blind-sided by a little (understatement) unexpected stress. In order to deal with the problem responsible for aforementioned stress, everything else had to take a back seat. I think every time I've mentioned life stress on this blog, it's all been pertaining to the same situation/problem. Right now it's all coming to a head. Which is a relief because it means (hopefully) the end is near. And now that my extremely vague explanation is out of the way, let's march onward, shall we?

The following is by no means intended to be an exhaustive resource for altering the gauge of a pattern or substituting yarn. If for no other reason than, attempting to blog that would be, well, exhausting. With that said, there are many fantastic books available for those who would like to explore the topic further, some of which I will mention and/or link to.

How would you like to be able to knit any pattern in any yarn you choose? All you need are a few simple tools and some basic information.

The Tools:

Your brain
A calculator
Paper
Pen or pencil
Gauge swatch of your chosen yarn, knit in the stitch pattern of the project you're wanting to make

Basic Information:

The stitch and row gauge of the pattern
The stitch and row gauge of the swatch you knit

* One thing to pay special attention to is the multiple that stitch patterns are worked over. You'll see what I mean in a little bit.

Now to show you what to do with those things, we're going to use a basic generic pattern as an example. This one is for a run-of-the-mill adult's winter hat with a stockinette stitch body and K1,P1 edging.

Itsa Hat Pattern

Yarn: Approximately 90 yards of bulky weight

Needles: Size 11 US 16" circular
Set of size 11 US double pointed

Gauge: 12 sts and 16 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch in the round, on 11 US needles

Finished Size: 21" circumference

- With size 11 circular, CO 64 sts and join
- Work in K1,P1 ribbing for 2"
- Rows 1 - 16: Knit even in stockinette

Beginning of decrease rows (Note: switch to DPNs when there are too few stitches for circular needle)
- Row 17: K6, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 18: K5, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 19: K4, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 20: K3, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 21: K2, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 22: K1, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 23: K2tog. Repeat to end of round

- Cut yarn, leaving an 8" tail. Thread through remaining sts, secure, and weave tail into wrong side of hat.

Now say you want to make this hat in a DK weight yarn. The first thing you need to do is knit a swatch in that DK yarn, in the stitch pattern of the hat, which happens to be stockinette. Let's imagine that you did that and your gauge was 22 sts and 30 rows = 4"
So we now know that the pattern's gauge is 3 sts per inch, and yours is 5.5 sts per inch. In order to find out how many stitches you need to cast on in order to get the same circumference as that in the pattern (21"), you need to divide your stitch gauge by their stitch gauge:
5.5 divided by 3 = 1.833333333
We're going to neaten that number up by rounding it to 1.83 . So now you know that you need to knit 1.83 stitches for every 1 stitch that was knit in the bulky weight yarn to end up with same size garment, which makes perfect sense because your yarn is thinner than the bulky.

If you look at the pattern, it tells you to cast on 64 stitches. Multiply that number by 1.83 to find out how many you need to cast on with your DK weight.
64 x 1.83 = 117.12 which you would round down to 117.
You can check your math like so: The pattern had a gauge of 3 sts per inch in bulky weight and told you to cast on 64 sts. 64 sts divided by 3 gives a width of 21.33". If you cast on 117 sts with a gauge of 5.5 sts per inch, 117 divided by 5.5 gives a width of 21.27". That's extremely close. In fact, I'd be willing to bet a pretty penny that no one is going to walk up to you and say, "That hat would look so much better on you if it were just 6/100 of an inch wider."

Now do you remember the part above where I told you to pay special attention to the multiples of stitch patterns? Well the K1,P1 ribbing edge of the hat needs to be worked over an even number of stitches. Otherwise, you'd K1,P1 across but when you got to the end, you'd K1 and there'd be no more stitches to finish with the P1. So with that in mind, we know that we need to cast on an even number of stitches, which 117 is not. At first glance you might think, "Well cast on 118 stitches and let's be on our way." But take another glance. Are there any other parts of the pattern where stitch multiples are important? See the first decrease row where it says, "Row 17: K6, K2tog. Repeat to end of round."? Think of that as a pattern worked over a multiple of 8 stitches (K6 plus the 2 you'll be knitting together.) Once again, if the number of stitches on your needles is not divisible by the multiple of 8, you'll be knitting along only to discover that you've run out of stitches at the end of the row before you were able to finish the pattern. So we know we need the closest even number to 117 that is divisible by 8, which would be 120.
Cast on your 120 stitches, and follow the patterns direction to knit 2" in K1,P1 ribbing. The next set of instructions say to knit 16 rows in stockinette, then you'll be starting the decrease rounds. But remember, your row gauge is smaller than that of the bulky weight yarn. If you only knit 16 rows, you'll have a very short and dorky hat. Instead, you need to figure out how many rows you need to knit in order to create the same length of fabric as the bulky yarn makes. And to do that, we're going to do the same thing with the row gauge as we did with the stitch gauge. Divide your row gauge by their row gauge:
7.5 divided by 4 = 1.875, which we'll round up to 1.88.
Now multiply that number by the number of rows the pattern tells you to work:
1.88 x 16 = 30.08, which we'll round down to 30.
So after your K1,P1 edging, you need to work 30 rows in stockinette before you start the decrease rows.
I told you this wasn't very hard. =) Only one more adjustment to make. You can see that there are a total of 7 decrease rows. And since you know the row gauge of the pattern (4 rows/inch), you can figure out how much length is added to the hat by those seven rows:
7 divided by 4 = 1.75"
But knitting 7 rows in your thinner yarn will only add .93" of length - 7 (the # of rows) divided by 7.5 (your row gauge) = .93. The quickest solution I see to this problem, would be to add a row in between each decrease row. So the instructions would read:

- Row 17: K6, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 18: Knit
- Row 19: K5, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 20: Knit
- Row 21: K4, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 22: Knit
- Row 23: K3, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 24: Knit
- Row 25: K2, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 26: Knit
- Row 27: K1, K2tog. Repeat to end of round
- Row 28: Knit
- Row 29: K2tog. Repeat to end of round

You're now working the decreases over a total of 13 rows. Let's check our math. 13(the # of rows) divided by 7.5 (your row gauge) = 1.73" which is very close to the 1.75" of the bulky weight hat. Yay! And now you're all done. :)

You can use that same technique to alter other patterns. One more word of advice though. When altering sweater patterns, I've found when I come to the armhole shaping, and plug this formula in, even though all the maths add up and the stitch counts are what they should be, in some instances I come across a problem. I inadvertently alter the slope of the armhole, and when it comes time to sew all the pieces together, they don't fit like they should. Obviously, the more shaped the armhole construction is, the more likely this problem will occur. For that reason, I use another set of techniques to recalculate the shaping. Like the previous technique, it may sound intimidating at first, but I swear it's not hard if you're pointed in the direction of the right resources. As this post is already long-winded, I'll end it here. But if enough of you are interested , maybe I'll elaborate on altering armhole shaping at a later date.

I leave you with a list of links to some wonderful books that are rich in easy to understand info on altering your patterns:
Sweater Design In Plain English, by Maggie Righetti
Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book
Stitch 'N Bitch Nation, by Debbie Stoller
Teach Yourself Visually: Knitting Design, by Sharon Turner
Designing Knitwear, by Deborah Newton

A Light Bulb Moment

2008-02-03T18:14:00.000-05:00

I can not put into words how excited my little knitterly self is about the following:

Do you see that?! There is a whole sweater growing right off of my needles!! It's the Minisweater (a.k.a. Boobholder) and it's knit top down. I had heard of that technique before, but never really stopped to think about what it entailed and what benefits it lent to sweater knitting. There will be no sewing of the shoulder seams, no meticulous setting in of sleeves, no picking up stitches to make the garter stitch border. And I can try this thing on as I go to ensure a perfect fit. And look how pretty and perfect the knit in raglan sleeves look:

I may be getting a little ahead of myself in my excitement. But I'm thinking I need to learn how to convert patterns that are knit from the bottom up into top down versions, so I can knit all of my sweaters that way. I wonder how difficult it is to do that? If anyone knows of a source ( a book maybe) that explains how to do that, please let me know.

So I knit the minisweater to the point where the pattern tells you to put all stitches onto a length of yarn, and then try it on to determine whether or not you need to knit more rows before dividing the back, sleeves, and fronts. Then, instead of doing that, I cast on another project. What can I say? I was in the mood to knit. Not fiddle around in front of the mirror.

It's the sweater on the left:

From this catalog:

There are many cute designs in that issue. You can see them all here. The book calls this sweater "veste (jacket) 23". I'm giving it a slightly more appealing name, Child's Classic Ribbed Cardi. I'm making it for Sophia in Rowan All Seasons Cotton, shade 186, which is more of a dusty lilac than how the color is showing up on my monitor.

P.S. I've been working on the tutorial about how to alter a pattern to be knit to a different gauge yarn. It should be up mid-week.

Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers

2008-01-27T15:57:00.000-05:00

FO: Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers

From: A free pattern on Wine and Needles blog, which you can find here.
Knit For: Me!
Size: These are a One Size Fits Most pattern
Yarn: Challenger by Chat Botte. A vintage french yarn - 94% acrylic/6% wool, light worsted, 102 yards per skein, shade - Blanc (more of a cream color than white). I used just a few yards short of one skein.
Started: January 20, 2008
Finished: January 22, 2008
Modifications: I knit an additional 8 row repeat for wrist warmers that were slightly longer.
My Thoughts: Okay, let me first say that I do like these. I wear them often, like the way they look on my hands, and have even received compliments on them. However, I am slightly disappointed with them. You may recall that I first made a pair of these for my Mom in Jaeger Extra Fine Merino. I chose the Chat Botte yarn from my stash because the color perfectly matched a store bought hat and scarf that I wear often. But compared to the Extra Fine Merino, this yarn was not nearly as enjoyable to work with. It had the slightly grippy/crunchy feel that acrylic yarn can have. But even more disappointing, was how my yarn choice effected the end product. The Extra Fine Merino was so soft and squishy with a beautiful hand and fantastic memory/elasticity. The same can not be said for the Chat Botte. When I take these off they do not contract back into cabley/ribby goodness. They remain stretched and limp, reminding me of an overcooked noodle. I'm pretty positive that it's only because I'm a knitter, that I notice or care about this.

This is my third project that involved cables, and I'm finding that I really like knitting them. There's something so satisfying about creating them. While knitting away, I find myself thinking things like "Look Ma! I'm knitting in 3D!" (Did I just admit that?)

I cast on for the Minisweater/Boobholder on Thursday. Here she is:

Did I ever mention that I love pink? Cause I do. From shades that are so pale that they seem to bashfully whisper their color to the world, across the spectrum to ones that make me feel like I'm celebrating being a girl by wearing them.

Invisible FOs

2008-01-23T16:32:00.000-05:00

I finished the blue Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers that I was making for my Mom on the 18th. But I ended up giving them to her before I thought to get pictures of them. She seemed to like them, and thanked me more than once. Yay! Two days later, I cast on a pair for myself in a white vintage wool/acrylic blend by Chat Botte, called Challenger. I took this picture yesterday.

One's completed and seamed, and the other was nearly finished. But then I ended up finishing them last night. They still need blocked, so the FO post and pics will have to wait.

So, I'm curious. Are you starting to notice something in regards to my color choices for projects? Call me unobservant, but until a few days ago when I opened up my "Projects" page on Ravelry, and the last nine things I've knit were staring back at me, I hadn't realized that every single one of them is either white or pale blue. How could I not have noticed?! It reminds me of the time when I was about 16, I opened up my closet and suddenly realized almost every piece of clothing in there was green. I get on color jags, where I'm unconsciously drawn to a certain color over and over again. But now that both pairs of wrist warmers are done, I'm on the prowl for some new projects to cast on. I swear for the sake of variety, I will choose yarns other than blue or white. =)

One potential project I'm eyeballing is the Minisweater (a.k.a. Boobholder) by Stefanie Japel. Though, the original is a little too foofy for my tastes. I really like this, this, and this version. I shall be swatching a.s.a.p.

One last thing for now. Thank you to all of you who take the time to leave comments on my humble little blog. It's so much fun to hear your thoughts and feedback. Often times I want to reply to your comments, but I've never been sure how I should go about it. Should I leave my reply in the comments? Should I email my reply? Should I reply in a future post? Should I reply in the comments on their blog? Well, I've finally realized that all this over analyzing has only resulted in one thing - me not replying to comments. So I've decided to quit it, and get on with it. Suzy, who is a new knitter and just started a blog {Welcome, welcome! I think you'll find that the worlds of Knitville and Blogland are very fun places to visit. =) }, left this comment on this post:

" Steph! I am a newby and just started a seed stitch sweater in All Seasons Cotton yesterday. The folks at the LYS said I could not knit the bonnet in ASC but needed to knit it in the yarn it called for. Then I saw your beautiful set and wondered if you had to adjust the bonnet pattern for the ASC. Loved the Mary Janes! Do you sell that pattern on ETSY? Thanks for any insight!"

Okay, first I want to confess that I feel the urge to stomp into that yarn shop and lecture those people for telling you that you can't knit the bonnet in All Seasons Cotton but have to knit it in the yarn called for. In my opinion, there are very few "cant's" and "have to's" when it comes to knitting. It frustrates me that someone in the position of a LYS owner would impress that on a new knitter. I think knitters (and crocheters, and sewers for that matter) should be encouraged to experiment, and feel empowered to alter any project as they see fit. Yes, you can knit the bonnet in All Seasons Cotton! How do I know this? Because I just did! I very rarely knit a project in the yarn called for. And I very often alter a pattern to be knit to a size or gauge that isn't given in the pattern. More than once, I've thought about writing a post explaining how I go about doing this. Alas, laziness has always deterred me. But that comment gave me the motivation to do it. I'll try to put the post together within a week. If it takes me a couple days longer, don't hold it against me. Sometimes life's pesky responsibilities get in the way of my plans.
As for the Mary Janes, I often make my own patterns (mainly for sewing, but a few for knitting), but I've yet to ever organize one enough to present it to others. It's another one of those things that I've thought about, but my horrid laziness prevents me from doing. =) If I ever do, I think I want to give at least the first few out as free patterns. My reason for that is, I'm so often amazed by how many wonderful free patterns knitters and sewers so generously put up for other's use. And well, generosity inspires generosity...........

6

2008-01-22T19:44:00.000-05:00

The days leading up to last Thursday the 17th were a whirlwind of shopping, house cleaning, baking, and juggling a million little details. Why? For a very important event of course. A certain girl that I am extremely fond of experienced the momentous event of no longer being able to count her age on one hand. Sophia turned 6. =) In tribute, I give you a look back at some of my favorite pics from her younger days. (2 years old, to be exact. Prior to that age, I owned one of those dinosaur, non-digital cameras.)

My Sophia:

Adventurous

fun-loving

sometimes grouchy

and always sweet.

I love you baby girl. You're my grandest creation by far.

Out With The Old, In With The New

2008-01-13T22:24:00.001-05:00

January's a fantastic time to do just that. I got the idea to make the Seed Stitch Dress, Marshmallow Bonnet, and Mary Janes for Bekki and her baby waaaay back in October. And now they're finally completed, wrapped up pretty, and ready to meet their recipient.

There's a buttoned opening at the back neck because we all know that one of babys many charms are their disproportionately large head to body ratio.

I *love* these buttons. =) They add just the flavor I was looking for.

FO Details

Seed Stitch Dress: (a.k.a. the Picot Dress)
From: Special Knits by Debbie Bliss
Knit For: Bekki & baby
Size: 6-12 months
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton, worsted weight, 98 yards/skein, shade 204. I didn't keep track of how many skeins I used per knitted item, but it took a total of 4 skeins to complete all of them. This is the first time I've worked with All Seasons Cotton. I will definitely use it again. It's so soft and has a great sproingy hand to it.
Button: An antiqued silver with floral etchings.
Started: October 16, 2007
Finished: January 10, 2008
My Thoughts: I've written plenty about this project before. So I'll just sum it up by saying that there was a point where this dress was a bit of a pita, and had me feeling pretty disappointed. But once I got over that, it wasn't very hard to alter the pattern for sizing/gauge issues. I'm so glad I finished this. I love it, and even more so, I love how all the pieces go together.

Mary Janes:
From: These are my own design.
Knit For: Bekki & baby
Size: 6-12 months
Yarn: Same as above.
Started: October ?, 2007
Finished: A couple days later
My Thoughts: This is the second pair of these that I've made. The first ones were done in dk weight yarn. These were done in worsted weight, and I found that the seams were a little bulky. I pressed them with my iron and a wet pressing cloth, which helped a lot. Next time around though, I'll use a thinner yarn for the seaming. Otherwise, I'm so happy with how these turned out.

Marshmallow Bonnet:
From: Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson
Knit For: Bekki & baby
Size: 6-12 months
Yarn: Same as above.
Started: October ?, 2007
Finished: A couple days later
My Thoughts: Such a cute hat, like so many others in the book. The pattern was very well written, and a piece of cake to follow.

So that's the old. What's the new? These:

That's an Irish Hiking Wrist Warmer. It's twin was cast on tonight and knit past the first repeat (there are 5 total). I'm making these for my Mom. I had wanted to make them for her for Christmas, but it just didn't happen.

Speechless

2008-01-11T00:54:00.000-05:00

This has nothing to do with knitting. Before tonight, I had never heard of PostSecret - a site where people anonymously mail in there secrets that are written on handmade post cards. When I found it, the site was having problems so I went to YouTube to look for stuff about it. I watched many videos like this:

I was moved to tears. And I'm speechless................sometimes I forget how vulnerable and beautiful people really are.

The Blogs I Read

2008-01-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

The first blog I ever read was Yarn Harlot, back in the winter of 2006. This came about because I had just read her book Yarn Harlot - The Secret Life Of A Knitter. I loved it. It was the first time I had read stories completely devoted to knitting, and specifically the humorous/human side of the craft, as opposed to technical/instructional writing. And I wanted more. I noticed on the back cover of the book that it said she had a blog. I went to check it out. I decided that I should start with the archives and read through to the present. It took over a month of reading in my spare time to get to her then current posts. But I was hooked. Especially due to the fact that I didn't know a single other knitter in real life, it was so much fun to read the thoughts of someone who loved the craft as much as I did. I went on to discover many other knitting and sewing blogs. To this day, if a blog looks like one that really appeals to me, I start reading it from the beginning. I can't imagine doing otherwise. It would feel like picking up a book and starting on Chapter 6 - I would miss so much of the story. I find new blogs that I want to read all the time. And when I do, I bookmark them in a folder I have designated to blogs. When I start reading a blog, I add it to my sidebar. When I've finished reading one all the way to the present, I start on a different one, but I still check back for new posts on the ones already in my sidebar. The one problem with this, is that I discover cool new blogs faster than I can read them. So there are currently 68 in my bookmarked queue.
How do you read blogs? Do you start from the beginning? Is there a system to it? Are you pretty loyal to certain blogs you read? Or do you jump all over the place? Do you remember the first blog you ever read?

In project news, I'm happy to report that I've stuck to my No-New-Knitting in order to finish the Seed Stitch Dress and accessories that I'm making for Emily, who's expecting her first baby in February. The buttons are sewn on the mary janes and bonnet, which makes them officially finished. I've added the picot edging to the neck and one armhole of the dress, and sewed one side seam. Now all that remains is the edging for the other armhole, sewing the last side seam, and adding the button to the back neck opening. So close! And I'm so relieved. I had let this project slip to the wayside so much, that I had completely lost interest in it. It took some self control to get back on track enough to finish up. But I'm really glad I did. I'll have an FO post in the near future.

I've also turned into a shoe maker:

These things are so fun and addictive. I was just playing around with making a pattern about a week ago, and they kind of took on a life of their own. I'm planning more in other color combinations as soon as I can get my hands on more felt.

You're Not Perfect, But I Love You Anyway

2007-12-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

The Very Vanilla Mittens were finished on December 23rd. But with the chaos we call "Christmas", this is the first chance I've had to blog about them.

FO Details:
Project: Very Vanilla Mittens - that's the name I've given them. They're actually called Classic Mittens and you can get the pattern for free at Free Vintage Knitting.
Started: December 09, 2007
Completed: December 23, 2007
Made For: Sophia to match her Sugar On Snow hat. And they're also my December project for the Do Something New KAL as they're the first mittens I've ever made.
Yarn: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky in shade 021 (cream). It only took 1 skein (69 yards) to make these, which I'm very impressed with. =)
Modifications: The pattern called for worsted weight yarn, so I modified it for the chunky.
My Thoughts: Overall I'm happy with these. In hindsight, the one thing I would change is that I'd have made them just a little wider. When Sophie wears them, they stretch a little across the widest part of her hands, making the fabric thinner. I worry they won't be as warm as they could be, or that they won't completely keep the snow away from her skin. There is no snow right now, so I'll have to wait to find out. I really like this pattern though, and I could see myself using it again. It gives a large range of sizes, from 2 years all the way through men's medium. This is a vintage pattern (I'm not sure what year it was published), and I did find the way the instructions were worded to be very strange in some places. I've been knitting for 3 years, but I wondered if it might have caused some confusion had I been a new knitter.

And now there is nothing on my needles. There's a couple reasons for that. The first, I've been busy sewing for my Etsy shop. The second, I've procrastinated massively about adding the finishing touches to the Seed Stitch Dress, Marshmallow Bonnet & Mary Janes. In an effort to give myself a kick across the finishing line, I've imposed a No-New-Knitting rule until those are completed. I tend to be defiant when rules are imposed on me. So, the only thing that's going on right now is me defiantly avoiding finishing them, while I longingly gaze at new stuff. =}

Hope you all had a great Christmas. Here's a favorite pic from ours:

A Letter

2007-12-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

To whom it may concern,
I'd like to officially opt out of the need to sleep. With 6 to 8 additional hours every day, I could have this, this, this, this, and this, and this, and this, and a pair of these, and a few of these knit up in no time at all. Now, I'm sure your very busy and get a lot of requests like this. And I have made many attempts to forgo sleeping on my own. But I would not call any of them successful. Without exception, they've resulted in things like my daughter walking around muttering, "Where did my Mom go, and who is this cranky crazy lady?" Or embarrassingly frequent incidences of me walking into a room thinking, "I know I came in here to do something .................now if I could just remember what it was........." I thank you ahead of time for your cooperation on this matter.

Sincerely,
Steph

P.S. If you could kindly point me in the direction of who I need to speak to about no longer needing to shower, it would be much appreciated. Specifically, if I could just take one shower and have it be enough to keep me sufficiently clean for the next 50 to 60 years that I plan to be here. Twenty minutes a day may not sound like a lot, but it really adds up over time. I've attempted to take that matter into my own hands as well, but I really missed having my friends come around.

And Mittens Too

2007-12-12T15:56:00.000-05:00

I really like knit hats, but there's one thing I like more. Knit hats with matching mittens. So I searched around for a pattern to make a pair to go with Sophie's Sugar On Snow hat. I looked through my knitting book collection, poked around Ravelry, and did a Google search. I found many, many different patterns, and some were quite beautiful. But none of them were what I had in mind. I was looking specifically for a rounded, classic, simple shape. Then I came across these. While the whole one-is-red,-one-is-green-embroidered-"stop"-and-"go" thing didn't appeal to me, the shape of them was exactly what I was looking for. Plus the pattern is free, which meant I was able to start on them right away. Click on the link on that page to get to the pattern for the very appropriately named "Classic Mittens". I cast on Sunday night, and even only being able to work on them a row here, a row there, I'm nearly done. One mitten is finished and blocked and the other is knit to the point where I increase for the thumb. These are my first mittens by the way. I can say with much certainty, they won't be my last. I'm using Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky, the same yarn I used for Sugar On Snow. So far I've only used 3/4 of a skein. How can you not love a project that knits up so quickly and is likely to use up not much more than 1 skein of yarn?!

I'm naming them the Very Vanilla Mittens, for obvious reasons - both color and simplicity of design. Sophie asked me, "But what if I get them dirty?" I said, "I'll wash them. Don't worry about it. Get them as dirty as they need to get, in order for you to have had fun playing." She smiled. I've just never been one of those "Don't get dirty" moms. I don't divide clothes into "School Clothes" and "Play Clothes". I think material things are there to be enjoyed, not worried about. But the biggest reason I have that attitude, is that I think childhood is a precious and fleetingly passing part of life. Soon enough, Sophie will be initiated into the adult world with it's many responsibilities and endless sources of stress. I say, play in the mud, have a who-can-get-the-dirtiest contest, chase the bugs as they fly through the air, eat grass for no other reason than to see what it's like to be a horse. And love every minute of it, for that time will pass so much faster than you could ever imagine. Or better yet, carry that energy and zest for life with you into adulthood. I leave you with a detail shot of our Christmas Tree.

Aw Suga' Suga'................Honey Honey

2007-12-04T22:05:00.000-05:00

My Sugar On Snow FO
Started: November 19, 2007
Finished: November 30, 2007
Knit For: The Do Something New KAL, and given to Sophia. For the month of November my new technique to try was cables. And let me tell you, these were some easy cables. They consisted of "K2tog but do not drop stitches from left needle, k into first of these sts again, drop both stitches from left needle." Prior to doing this project, when I thought of cables, I envisioned things like using cable needles, or learning how to do it w/0 the cable needle, and having to focus to be sure I was crossing in the right direction. I had no idea such simple cables as this existed. Once I realized how simple this pattern was, I was a little disappointed. I had been looking forward to really expanding my knitting techniques. But if anything, it whetted my appetite for cables. Expect to see more adventuress attempts in the future.
The pattern: I thought it was really well written and found no errors. I appreciated the authors thoughtfulness in things like giving gauge in stockinette for the purpose of yarn substitution, and advising that if you choose to substitute a merino wool yarn (which has more spring) in place of the recommended Alpaca/Silk, then you should work an additional repeat to ensure the hat will be long enough.
Yarn: I substituted Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky (in Cream) for the Knit Picks Elegance. Used Tahki Cotton Classic (in Red) for the I-cord.
Modifications: From reading about other peoples experience with this pattern on Ravelry, I saw that a lot of them were disappointed that theirs came out shorter than they had hoped for. So I was careful to try the in-progress hat on Sophia quite a few times. I ended up working two whole extra 4 row repeats beyond what the pattern recommended in order for it to be long enough to comfortably cover her ears. If there's anything that will ruin my opinion of a hat that I otherwise would love, is its being too short. I think it looks dorky.

Convicts, Felt, Christmas, And Squirrels

2007-12-02T20:08:00.000-05:00

I happened upon the cutest Christmas crafting book at the library the other day. It's brought to us by none other than Martha Stewart. I'm really not sure what my opinion on her is, other than the fact that I love her crafts. I read one of her many biographies awhile back, and it certainly didn't shine the most flattering light on her. However, I also know that just because some thing's in print, it doesn't make it true.
The book is called Classic Crafts And Recipes Inspired By The Songs Of Christmas. There are quite a few projects I would definitely make. And I had taken more pictures than the ones that are included in this post. Unfortunately, the sun seems to have gone on winter vacation from my area of Pennsylvania, so a lot of the pictures didn't come out. Anyway, it was adoration at first sight when I saw the felt stockings and coasters.

So much so, that I felt inspired to make my own coasters, plus give them a little bag to be tucked into when not in use. These were really fun to make.

My favorites are the acorns with the squirrel bag. And yes, I have been knitting too. I finished Sophie's Sugar On Snow for the Do Something New KAL and I love how it came out. I'll try to post FO pictures of it on Monday or Tuesday.

Many Thanks

2007-11-22T23:42:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for.........

Sophia. The person who changed my life. She showed me how shallow my concept of love was before she existed. Opened my eyes to the fact that most of the things I used to value and worry about are ridiculously insignificant. Taught me that "now" is the only moment we ever have, and not to waste it. She reminds me that it's the little things that count, and not to overlook them in my effort to get the "big things" perfect. And she gives the best hugs. =)

My health. Without it, I wouldn't be able to enjoy so many of the things I take for granted.

My ability to create things with my hands. It's been an immense source of pleasure since the first time I picked up a crayon.

Nature. God is the most awe inspiring artist of them all.

The lessons life has taught me thus far. I may not have enjoyed them when I was learning them, but they've made me better than I've ever been.

Books. I can't imagine my life without them.

Friends. Not acquaintances, I mean friends. The ones that you know will drive X number of miles to pick you up, when very few others would. Both literally and figuratively, they would never leave you stranded.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

UnBlocked

2007-11-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

For the last few days I've been wanting to work on Sugar On Snow. Wanting to knit. Wanting to sew. I've been wanting to blog too. But couldn't seem to do any of those things. That place in me that creative endeavors and forms of self expression spring forth from was blocked. I'd swatch for the hat, rip it out. Swatch again, make mindless mistakes, and rip again. Choose a new color, hoping that would make a difference. Started knitting the hat, feeling completely distracted and disconnected from what my hands where doing, misinterpret the (very simple) pattern, and have to rip back again. After hours of effort, this was the extent of my progress:

My mind would wander off on things I wanted to blog about. And though there seemed like there were more words than could fit in my head, I couldn't organize them into anything tangible, anything worthy of others eyes. I was feeling the complete opposite of inspired.
And bubbling not so very far beneath the surface of it all, was the undeniable cause of it all. I was angry. The kind of angry that follows a person around relentlessly, like an unwelcome house guest who never shuts up.
In the last few months, some very stressful things have happened in my life. Some of them hurt. Some of them left me feeling completely disoriented. And some made me more pissed off than I've felt in years. For the purpose of this post, I don't think it's necessary to go into detail about those things. And if I'm being completely honest, I'm not quite sure I'd be comfortable writing about them here. Since this blogs inception, I've struggled with the question of how personal I want it to be. And I still don't know the answer to that. I do know that first and foremost, I want it to be about my knitting, sewing, and craft projects. But I also feel that my personal life and my crafting life are very much intertwined, that each is influenced by, and shows up in the other.
I think sometimes when difficult events happen in our lives, we convince ourselves that we are in fact "dealing" with them, because we manage to carry on with the tasks and responsibilities of life, in spite of it all. But in reality, instead of truly facing the unpleasant emotions, we shut off some part of ourselves in order to cope. What I'm noticing, is that I don't get to pick and choose which emotions I stuff down and ignore, while still having access to freely feel the ones I want to. In order to keep inspiration flowing, I need to pull the stopper out my bottled up emotions. I don't know if everything I've just written makes sense to you. But I know that I feel much better just for having acknowledged these things to myself. Look, I can knit again!

I'm Dying

2007-11-15T15:41:00.000-05:00

To knit something for myself, that is. =) You may not be able to tell from all of my recent blog posts, but I really do love to knit adult things. And especially adult things for ME. But unfortunately, it'll have to wait a bit longer. Both the front and back of the Seed Stitch Dress are completed and blocking, though you can only see part of the front in the picture.

Yes, it's sad, but true..............I do not own a blocking board. My ironing board will have to suffice for now. Or in instances like this one, where all the pieces will not fit on my ironing board, a folded up towel. =)
The next thing that's going on my needles is my November project for the Do Something New KAL. It needs to be something I can complete by the end of November. I've never knit cables before, and having lived in Florida for the last three years, Sophia's collection of winter hats has dwindled down to a pathetic level. So I chose Sugar On Snow from the Fall 2006 Knitty. I'm planning to choose a yarn from my stash and swatch tonight.
Now, onto something exciting I've been meaning to blog about for almost two weeks. Do you remember when I lamented about the fact that Kim Hargreaves patterns (which I LOVE) can only be purchased in kit form? Well, not only has Kim come out with a beautiful new collection of patterns, she's made them available in book form! That's right, I can purchase the whole collection for a mere £16.95, which works out to somewhere in the neighborhood of $30.00 US. I have to practice self restraint, and not purchase it yet, as there are two very expensive events that are quickly approaching - Christmas and then Sophie's birthday not even a month later. But it makes me so happy to know that purchasing just the patterns is now an option. And I'm crossing my fingers that she'll eventually make her past collections available in book form too. Here are some of my favorites from the book:

Validation

2007-11-12T21:23:00.000-05:00

Not only is Ravelry alot of fun and a great way to organize all of my knitting related paraphernalia, it's also proving to be a very useful source of reference. After I discovered what the problem was with my seed stitch dress, I looked it up on Ravelry. (Even though I've been calling it the "Seed Stitch Dress", it's actually called the Picot Dress.) It was so convenient - I could view pictures and opinions of thirteen other people who are making/have made this same project. And what do you know?! Just a quick glance around shows quite a few others who talked about having major problems with the sizing of this dress!
Last night I ripped back, made the necessary alterations, and I'm back on track. I'm about five little rows away from a completed back. {sigh} It's such a relief to not have this thing laying stagnate in the bottom of my knitting bag anymore. =) (We won't talk about She Who Shall Not Be Named who was also laying at the bottom of the above mentioned knitting bag. When I saw her, I shuddered and quickly stuffed it out of sight.)

Earlier today I had a photo shoot with Persnickety and Clyde. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to take good pictures of hand puppets by yourself? I think I inadvertently performed some advanced level yoga moves.

These are the first hand puppets I've ever made. And I have to say I'm quite proud of how they turned out. Did I mention that I designed every aspect of them? =)
They've been listed in my Etsy shop.

Gauge In Seed Stitch May Be Larger Than It Appears

2007-11-10T22:58:00.000-05:00

I finally sat down tonight with the almost finished back of my Seed Stitch Dress. You know, the one that was way too wide. I had the pattern from the book, my revised pattern, a calculator, and a measuring tape in front of me. For about an hour I checked and re-checked my calculations. I checked my gauge to make sure it hadn't changed after I'd knit the gauge swatch. I measured and remeasured various points of the dress back. I got to a point where I was frustrated because I couldn't find the error that led to my dress having a chest circumference that was 2 1/2" too big (which is a pretty significant amount on a little baby's chest). My math on my revised pattern was dead on - no mistakes. I figured out what the problem was when I noticed that the width at the last portion of stockinette stitch (right before you switch to seed stitch for the bodice/chest) was the right width. And the last row of stockinette also happens to be a decrease row, which I revised and knit without error. Yet the portion of seed stitch that immediately follows and makes up the chest area, is too wide. Do you see what I'm getting at? My gauge in stockinette is 20 1/4 sts = 4". The pattern in the book gives the gauge over stockinette stitch. However, when I measured my gauge on the chest which is done in seed stitch, it was 19 sts = 4". There you have it - a larger gauge in seed stitch gave me a seed stitch chest that was too large. And that means very good news for me. I don't need to rip back the whole thing, like I first thought. I just need to frog to the last decrease row right before the seed stitch bodice, and decrease more sharply to give me fewer stitches to accommodate my larger gauge in seed stitch. Now, I just have one question? Am I right in assuming that everyone would get a different gauge in seed stitch than they do in stockinette? I have no way of knowing if Debbie Bliss somehow gets the same gauge in seed stitch, because that gauge is not given anywhere in the pattern.

Stupid Knitter Tricks

2007-11-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

Another title that was in the running for this post was, "I Want To Kick My Own Ass". What is with me and mindless knitting mistakes lately?! I worked out a pattern for Clyde's sweater and knit the back and front. I did have to frog and redo the neck shaping on the front. My first try left me with a neck that decreased too slowly, and was therefore to deep. So anyway, I sewed the right shoulder of the completed front and back together, leaving the other shoulder un-sewn so I could pick up the stitches for the turtleneck with straight needles. I was trying to avoid fiddly double points, because I often have trouble with ladders at the joins. While I was picking up the stitches, and the whole time I was knitting the turtleneck, I was listening to the Lime & Violet podcast. I must have become a little too absorbed in listening to them (they're hilarious). Because the next thing I know, I've bound off the turtleneck, and I go to seam the last two shoulders together and discover this:

See how I've magically made one shoulder disappear?! Would you like to know the secret behind such an amazing trick? Well...............alright. But first, a disclaimer:

This trick was performed by a professional knitting moron, and should not be attempted at home.

You see, it's really quite simple. I picked up and knit stitches all along the neckline and the left shoulder. =}

I Am A Greedy, Greedy Girl

2007-11-02T18:43:00.000-04:00

I got out of work earlier than usual today. So I decided to ignore all other responsibilities, and play on the internet for a while. I added more knitting books that I own to my Ravelry Library (I'm pretty sure you'll have to be a member to view that link). So far it has 60 in it. I actually have more, but they're not in Ravelry's data base yet so I can't add them. Then, since playing with virtual knitting books was so fun, I went and updated my Amazon Wish Lists. I've created links to them over in the side bar. It was then that I came to the conclusion that I am a greedy, greedy girl. Here's why:
I own approximately: 75 knitting books
and: 32 sewing books
I currently covet: 64 knitting books
and: 17 sewing books

For a total of: 188 knitting & sewing books I feel should be on my shelves

That doesn't take into account knitting and sewing magazines and sewing patterns I own or covet. And yet, it all seams perfectly reasonable to me. However, I know if I shared those numbers and thoughts with a non knitting/sewing person, they would look at me like I had grown a third eye. But that's precisely why I'm sharing this with all of you, and not my brother or my neighbor. =) So without further ado, I give you:

Ode To Knitting And Sewing Books I Do Not Own

Oh how I covet thee
Spines tight, pages glossy
There's always room on my shelves for new
Though fickle is my lust for you
As soon as I've been under your covers
I'll toss you aside in pursuit of others
But hate me not for my trolloping style
And let me lay my hands on you awhile
For now, you're all my eyes can see
Oh how I covet thee

So now that Rabbit is finished, and I haven't yet mustered up the motivation to figure out how I made such a mess of Seed Stitch Dress, what is on my knitting needles? My very first attempt at designing my own sweater! And I took to heart the advice to "start small". Remember these guys? Well this is Clyde. And he is in need of a sweater.

(He's a little embarrassed about being photographed naked.)

As none of the books on my shelf bear the title "Knits For Puppets", I'm designing my own. I'm nearly done with the back. His sister Persnickety is all finished and dressed in her ducky best.

Nature Walk

2007-10-31T15:33:00.000-04:00

Aaaaaaaah, the wonders of Fall. The crisp, clean smell of the air......

The fiery colored leaves perform their ballet dance to the ground....

Mother nature tucks herself in for a long winters rest.

Wait a second.......what is that thing?! Let's take a closer look.............

Why....it's a rare white wild rabbit of the genus Fat Assicus! Let's move slowly. We don't want to startle him.

Oh looook! He wants me to scratch his belly! What a friendly little guy. I think I'll adopt him. He'll make a great companion for Mr. Whiskers during the times I'm away from home.

See - they're great friends already! What's that you say? Mr. Whiskers looks annoyed? Oh, well he can be a little slow to warm up...........but I'm sure he'll come around.

FO Details:
Pattern: "Rabbit" from First Knits by Luise Roberts and Kate Haxel

Yarn: I substituted white Bernat Baby Boucle for the recommended brown Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran

Needles: A pair of vintage Hero US size 6 straights

Started: October 22, 2007

Finished: October 31, 2007

For: The Do Something New KAL. It's the first stuffed animal I've ever knit. It will now belong to Sophia.

My Thoughts: This pattern was very easy to knit, and almost as easy to assemble. The directions said to "stuff quite firmly". I think I might have taken them a little too seriously, as my rabbit is quite a bit fatter than theirs. =) I'm not too excited about how the embroidered eyes came out. After I was finished with them, I had the thought that I should have sewn buttons on for the eyes. Ah well, we live we learn. I'm happy to have finished this in time for the October deadline which is today. It was a close one.

KAL Rabbit

2007-10-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

Here are all the pieces of Rabbit, knit up and blocking for the Do Something New KAL.

I'm going to sew it together tonight while I listen to knitting podcasts. It's knit in Bernat Baby Boucle in white. Though I loved the way the example in the book looked knit in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran, I don't have any of that in my stash. I do have other brown wool yarns, but I was also very curious how this pattern would look knit up in a fluffy white yarn. Also, the Bernat Baby Boucle was one the first yarns I ever bought, before I had discovered the wonders of natural fibers. I honestly can't imagine myself wearing anything made from this yarn, and I'm happy to have a chance to use it up. (Now what should I do with the six or seven other skeins of white, yellow, and blue that I have?) The three tear drop shaped pieces will make up the body, and the two rectangle shaped ones will be the ears. I made the pom pom tail this afternoon. After all the pieces are sewn up and stuffed, I just have to embroider the eyes and nose. I'll be using white embroidery thread to sew the pieces together, as I think using the boucle would be difficult and have a disappointing result.

It Was Worth The Wait!!!!

2007-10-22T20:11:00.000-04:00

I don't even care how obnoxious I may appear right now with my excessive use of exclamation points. I was bored and decided to check my email. Lo and behold - my Ravelry invite was sitting in my inbox! I felt like Charlie discovering the golden ticket in his candy bar on Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. I clickety clicked my way to the sign up screen. I am now GirlMeetsYarn on Ravelry. Hee hee! And for anyone who's still waiting - oh my goodness. It's like walking through the pearly gates of heaven and discovering that everyone's a fiber-obsessed knitter who would love nothing more than to talk about projects, help you work the kinks out of your first design, recommend the perfect yarn for that sweater you've been drooling over, etc., etc.

And as if that weren't enough knitting crack for one day, I also got my invitation to join the Do Something New KAL that I've been waiting for. I have to knit something I've never knit before and post a picture of it on the KAL page before the month of October is over to be entered in the drawing for this month. That means I have about 9 days. I've picked my project:

It's Rabbit from First Knits by Luise Roberts. I've never knit a stuffed animal before, and this is perfect because it's small, should be quick, and gauge doesn't really matter so I won't have to waste time on a swatch. This knit along continues through January 31, 2008. The idea is to knit something that's new to you each month. I plan to be a little more adventuress in the coming months, when I'm not so pressed for time to meet the deadline. Fair Isle, cables, beaded knits - there's lots I haven't done yet, but would love to learn. Speaking of rabbits, I feel like the white one on Alice In Wonderland - "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say Hello. Goodbye. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!". Much knitting and exploring to do. =)

That Sinking Feeling

2007-10-21T11:39:00.001-04:00

Last night I was happily knitting away on the back of the Seed Stitch Dress. I had just completed the armhole shaping and was feeling quite pleased with how quickly this project was coming along. I paused to hold it up and admire, when I got that sinking feeling. The one where a red flag goes up in your head and a tiny voice tells you something is not quite right. Now, I've ignored that tiny voice on more than one occasion. But every time, it's led to disaster. And given the fact that I had made a visit to the Yarn Harlot's blog yesterday morning, and saw an example of knitterly denial (Scroll down through the October 20th entry. You won't even need to read the text to know which one it is.) that was still fresh in my mind, I decided to face reality right then and there. No matter how unpleasant that reality is. Here, let me show you. Here is what I've knit so far:

It is no coincidence that there is a measuring tape in that picture. Want to know what that tiny voice was saying to me? It went a little something like this -
(I hold the dress at arms length with a happy little feeling of accomplishment)
Tiny voice: "Wait a second........does this thing look a little wide? If I'm not mistaken, it looks to be about the same size as one of Sophie's shirts."
This is the point where I decide to use my impressive reasoning and problem solving ability, honed through many years of f**king up projects. See if you can follow along with my incredibly complex thought process:

The Facts
a) I am knitting the dress for a size 6-12 month baby.
b) This dress is just as wide in the chest as one of Sophie's shirts. (See exhibit 1)

exhibit 1:

c) Sophie is 5 years old and wears a size 6 clothing.

The Conclusion
Bekki better have a seriously fat baby.

You may have noticed in the first picture that the back measures 11 inches wide. If I subtract the two stitches for seaming, that leaves me at 10 3/4 inches. Multiply that by two to get the total chest circumference, and we have 21 1/2 inches. That sounds pretty damn tiny to me.......... However, here's a close up of the first picture:

See where it lists the actual chest measurements for the different sizes? 21 1/2 inches puts me at just a tad smaller than the 12-18 month size. Some other important things to point out: There is no 6-12 month size - I altered the pattern to knit a 6-12 month size, as that is the size I made the bonnet and mary janes. Also, if you look at the bottom left corner, you'll see the gauge given for this dress when it's knit in Baby Cashmerino - 25 sts and 34 rows to 4 inches. I'm knitting it in All Seasons Cotton with a gauge of 20 1/4 sts and 28 rows to 4 inches. So I also altered the pattern to be knit with my gauge. And somewhere in all this fiddling with the pattern, something has gone horribly wrong. I am left with no choice but to rip it all back, figure out what the hell I did wrong, and start all over again.

My Seeds Are Growing

2007-10-18T22:15:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a week since I requested your votes on the Seed Stitch Dress/Beaded Cardigan dilemma. And while quite a few people have visited this blog during that time (there's a page visit counter), only three spoke up and voted. Thank you craftybernie and string theory blog for your input (the other person who voted was anonymous). Which means I have a bunch of lurkers in my neck of the blogging woods. I'll bring you out of the shadows yet, I will. What will it take? Giving away free yarn? ;) While I do understand lurkism, as I read blogs for the longest time without ever leaving one comment, the biggest reason I started my own blog was to be part of a crafting/sewing/knitting community. And until I can get you guys to comment and participate in this here little blog, it's kind of like having a one sided conversation where I talk on and on endlessly. Anyways, I'm just saying.......

So, since there weren't enough votes to go with a majority's decision, I chose to go with the Seed Stitch Dress. Why? For a couple of reasons. But the biggest one is that there are so many other projects I want to start. I want to get this one finished, wrap it up all pretty, hand it over to it's recipient, and be onto the next one. I'm just not one of those people who likes to have ten projects on the needles at once. It bugs me. Plus I very rarely knit a pattern exactly how it's written. And if I have projects all over the place, it's hard for me to keep track of which alterations I made on which patterns. And anyways, I cheated. I actually cast on for the dress late Tuesday night. Hee hee. =) But in my defense, there were still only three votes at that point, and it didn't seem very likely that eight of you were going to be reformed from your lurkitis before Thursday. And I've been knitting on this thing every chance I get. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the back. As you may recall, this dress has no sleeves to knit. So I'm hoping to have a finished project within the next 3 - 5 days. It would be even sooner, but I have to work Friday and Saturday. >:( Apparently my employers didn't get the memo that there's important knitting to be done.
Here's a picture that was taken this morning, and I've knit on it since then. Those are the buttons I bought to go on the bonnet, mary janes, and at the back neck opening of the dress. On my monitor they look bronze. But in real life they're an antiqued silver. Can you see the flower design etched on them?

When I was picking out the buttons, I also looked for a zipper to finish up the circular knitting needle case. I need one that's at least 32 inches long. The only choices they had in that length were black and brown. The colors of the case are dark denim blue, white and red polka dots. Since I am just not feeling the thought of black or brown with those colors, I'll have to look again elsewhere. In knit along news, I'm still patiently awaiting my invite. Does it normally take this long for KAL hosts to respond to a request to join? This being my first, I wouldn't know.
Until next time, I wish all of you an abundance of yarny goodness.

I'm Going To Be Knittin' Along

2007-10-15T15:51:00.000-04:00

I've found my knit along. I just got done sending my request to join. I'll let you know when I choose my project for the month of October. I think it'll have to be something small, as the month is already half over. Weee! I'm excited to be doing my first KAL. =) Hmmmm, I just had a thought - if I knit the beaded cardi from the last post, that would count for my October project because I've never knit with beads before. By the way, thank you to the ladies who've left feedback about that. I really enjoyed hearing your input.

If I Wanted Your Opinion....

2007-10-11T10:51:00.000-04:00

I would ask for it. And I am. I'm stuck in a rut of indecisiveness about the gift-for-friend-having-a-new-baby #1. I can't decide between knitting a seed stitch dress, or knitting a sweater and sewing a dress to go with it. Here's the seed stitch dress:

It's from Debbie Bliss Special Knits. I would make it in the same yarn (Rowan All Seasons Cotton) that I made the bonnet and mary janes in. And though it's called a dress, as you can see in the picture, it actually fits the model more like a long shirt or tunic. I would lengthen it slightly so it did fit like a dress. Here are my pros and cons for this option:

Pros:

It would knit up fast and easy, and I could be done with this project.
It's convenient that it's done in seed stitch, so the whole outfit will looked planned and well matched.
I just think it's a really cute dress. =)

Cons:

Part of me feels like it will create a blue seed stitch over-kill. The outfit will look, well, just kinda "flat", in comparison to option two.

Here's the sweater (also from Special Knits) and fabric I would use to make the dress ( a simple A-line). It's 100% cotton with a floral print panel on the bottom. :

Pros:

I think the different texture and fabric of the dress will add visual interest to the outfit.
Having a dress and a sweater makes it more versatile to accommodate cool or warm weather.
I would get to knit something with beads, which I've never done before.

Cons:

Obviously making two more articles of clothing will take longer than making just one, and the lazy bastard part of me keeps reminding me of this point.
For some reason that I can't figure out, Debbie Bliss wrote the pattern for the sweater so that you knit it first and then painstakingly hand sew each bead on one-by-one. I flat out refuse to do that. So I would have to re-work the pattern so as to knit the beads in. I'm a little intimidated by that, because as I mentioned before, this would be my very first ever beaded knit project.

I would really like it if you would let me hear your opinion on this matter. Which do you like better? If it were being given to you, which option would please you more? Leave your vote in the comments. If I get at least eleven (I chose an odd number to avoid any ties) votes by next Thursday, I'll go with whatever the majority chose.

So this is what Sophia and I did after school yesterday:

Decorated the mantle above the fire place.

Soph wanted her room to look "Hallo-weeny" too, so we put a giant spider web across the corner with the bookshelf. Can you see the spider?

He's stuffed with leaves and sitting on our front porch.

Our spooooooky front door.

Sophie's jack-o-lantern. She drew the face, and I cut it out. The things you see on the sides are his ears. =)

The pumpkin I made. It's teeny tiny compared to hers - about a tenth of the size.
She was so excited about all of the decorations, and had so much fun doing them. Having kids makes holidays so much more meaningful, and their excitement's contagious. =) I haven't enjoyed the holidays the way I do with Sophie, since I was a kid.

No Cutting In Line

2007-10-04T16:56:00.000-04:00

So I finally jumped on the Ravelry bandwagon a month ago. I checked today, and it says I am:

#31,972 on the list (Wow, that's a lot of fiber lovers.)
8,683 people are ahead of me in line
7,589 people are behind me in line (It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere by the fact that there are nearly as many people behind me as there are ahead of me.)
58% of the list has been invited so far

Now, I can't help but wonder if the whole "waiting list" was a publicity scam. Did you ever hear the story about the guy who wanted to open a restaurant, but was well aware of how competitive the whole restaurant business is? So he decided to make his restaurant a "Members Only" type of place. He handed out memberships to several hundred of his co-workers. The only way other people could get into the restaurant, was if a member decided to grant them a membership. The restaurant turned out to be a smashing success. Of course the food was delicious as well - you can create all the hype you want, but if you don't have the product to back it up, people will quickly lose interest. Anyway, if the waiting list was implemented just to create the effect of thousands and thousands of fiber fanatics beating down the door to get in, well it worked. And I say kudos to the founders for finding a way to stand out from the millions (billions?) of websites that make up the world wide web. As to whether they've got the "product" to back up the hype? If you're behind me in line, I'll let you know when the 8,683 people ahead of me have been ushered in.
I've been working on the hand puppets that I blogged about yesterday. For all purposes of comparison, making the heads of these puppets is the same as making a doll's head. Let me say I have found a whole new respect for soft doll makers. It is a lot harder to make a doll's head and not have it come out looking like a lumpy mis-happen potato than I had first imagined. I became very frustrated with the one I was working on last night. I set it down on the kitchen table and busied myself with other things. A little while later, a friend came over, saw it, and made the comment that it looked like a stoner/skater doll. This was soooo funny to me because I had had the exact same thought, but she hadn't known that. I was intending for it to look like a cute-little-girl puppet. I think what had made it look like a stoner/skater was that I had knit it a hat, which was too small and looked more like a skull-cap, I hadn't used enough yarn when making her hair, so it looked thin, limp, and greasy, and her face was very long and slumpy looking. I wish I had thought to take a picture before she got her make over. I think you would've laughed. Anyway, it was definitely a learning experience.
I mentioned awhile back that I was going to be searching for a KAL to join. Well I have been looking, but I just can't find one with a project them I'm dying to do. And yes, it did cross my mind that I could start my own based on whatever project I want. But I'm still up in the air about whether I want to take on that responsibility. I have a huge perfectionist's streak, especially when other people are relying on my efforts. I hate the thought of starting one, and then dissapointing people because I don't have the time to make it a really well hosted one.
And since I don't like to post without offering some visual candy, here's a Karabella pattern that has been in my must-knit (someday) pile for about a year or so. Isn't it gorgeous? It's called the Glimmer Lace Top, and it's knit in Glimmer - 90% Rayon, 10% Lurex. Has anyone knit it before? Or know someone who's knit it?

Bits, Pieces, And Body Parts

2007-10-03T18:25:00.000-04:00

That's what you'll be getting today. Random bits and pieces to update you on, and the body parts part...........well, read on to find out. It's not as scary (or creepy) as it might sound. I want to say thank you to FiddleLee and Amanda for being brave enough to guess what those polka dotted thingies were from this post. While FiddleLee's answer (pockets to be sewn onto a diaper bag) made me consider new possibilities I could use in the future, Amanda's answer was right. She guessed that they were part of a case for circular knitting needles. They're pockets to be exact. And they'll be 24 of them inside of an outer case that zips up. I really wanted to have the completed project to show you before I revealed the answer. And I would have, except last night when I went to put the zipper on, I discovered that I don't own a zipper that's long enough. Which was kinda surprising considering that I have a plastic box full of zippers. Let me explain. You see, like most crafters I like to hoard/collect crafting supplies similar to the way squirrels stash nuts in the fall. Except unlike squirrels and nuts, my habit is not a seasonal thing, done only in preparation for dropping temperatures. I'm constantly on the look out for new stash enhancements. But I feel that it's necessary to have a very large stash, simply because of the way I go about creating most of my projects. I very rarely choose a project, write a list of all the materials needed, go the store and buy those things, and then start the project. 99% of the time I get an idea out of nowhere and want to start on it while the inspiration is there, in other words, right now. Or I'll impulsively decide that Sophie doesn't have enough sweaters in the middle of the night, and want to start on a new one. Since I can't exactly drag her out of bed to make a trip to the 24 hour yarn store that doesn't exist around here, I have to have supplies on hand. A large variety of supplies, so I'm not limited because I don't have the materials I need for a project.

I'm about to reveal how much of a dork I really am, by how excited I was to discover this! Pink Hat SEO featured my blog on her Sunday Blog Review! It's the first time (to my knowledge) that anyone's ever written about Girl Meets Yarn on their blog. I've only been blogging for about 2 1/2 months, and it made my blog feel a little more real by being acknowledged by somebody I don't already know.

I'm always on the look out for craftistas with amazing style who blog. Last week I found Pinka's blog. I ADORE her creations. Very original and bursting at the seams with cuteness. Also, check out the Flickr Gallery of Cupcakes For Clara's work. The cupcake aprons on the second page fill me with the irrational urge to buy 20 or so of them, and figure out what to do with all of them later.

Last night when I came to the frustrating realization that yet another project would be added to the "almost done pile" until I make a long overdue trip to the craft store, I did the only thing a person can do in that situation. I started a new project. What you see below are the makings of 4 hand puppets. They still have to have their personalities added. You know - hair, noses, mouths, maybe a hat for one, glasses for another, their own unique outfit, and whatever else my impulses dictate. So one day soon, maybe I'll have a finished-project-showing extravaganza.

This photo caught my eye when I logged into Photobucket today. It actually caused me to say "Aaaaaaaaw", aloud, so I thought I'd share. Doesn't it make you want to go hug your kitty? =)

Um........

2007-09-27T21:13:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been so tired that you know that being anywhere other than in bed is just ridiculous? That's how I feel right now. However, that's also when my mind is the most defenseless and easily lured into clicking on any link/icon/advertisement that is even remotely appealing. I wandered over to Spell With Flickr and made these:

You know, just a random smattering of words............................So, um..............just out of curiosity.........are any of you overly tired and susceptible to subliminal messages right now? If so, I can give you my address........................you know, just cause it's a good thing to have.............you never know when you might need it.

Manic Crafting

2007-09-22T13:09:00.000-04:00

It's funny, 'cause a few weeks ago I was stuck in one of those knitting/crafting ruts. You know, the kind where you really, really want to have a project to work on, but no matter how many books or patterns you look through, nothing appeals to you. I find it to be a very frustrating feeling. Well now I've done a complete 180. I have projects and plans coming out the ears. Here are parts 1 & 2 of gift-for-friend-having-a-new-baby #1. The bonnet is the "Marshmallow Bonnet" from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson. This is the first project I've made from it, and so far, I can't say enough good things about that book. Clear-as-day instructions, not one mistake in this pattern, beautiful photos that clearly show the knitted item, and spiral bound to lay flat while you work. Also, each project starts out with a list of techniques that are needed to complete it, with the page number that explains the technique in parenthesis beside it. Say you're knitting along and you come to a part that tells you to P2TOG TBL. Has it been awhile since you've done that technique, and your memory's a little foggy? Or is it one that you've never done before? Easy-peasy. Simply turn to the first page of the pattern, and it'll tell you exactly what page the instructions for that technique can be found on. There's no having to get up and search through your knitting book collection to find an explanation. How handy is that?

Anyway, the bonnet's all done and just awaits the perfect button for the chin strap. Unfortunately, that "perfect button" is not in my button stash. So a trip to the craft store is in my future. I'm picturing either a dark, polished wooden one or an antiqued silver one. I made the 6 - 12 month size and substituted Rowan All Seasons Cotton for the called for RYC Cashsoft Baby DK.
The mary jane shoes are my own design (also knit in All Seasons Cotton). They need blocked and sewn up, but I propped one of them up so you'd have an idea of how they'll look. The stitches that are on safety pins are going to be knit into straps, which will button with ones matching the button that goes on the bonnet. I'm going to make a dress to go with the shoes and bonnet. But I haven't yet decided whether to knit one or sew one.
Another Project in the works? Can you tell what those are below?

I'm curious to hear your responses, so leave a comment if you think you know. I'll reveal the answer in my next post.
Yet another idea that's been swirling around my head, is a new fall jacket for Sophia. I'm picturing a navy blue corduroy pea coat with a small print floral cotton lining and a waist belt. I'll keep you updated. Happy crafting. May your projects be plentiful and inspiring. =)

It's Not What You Think

2007-09-17T21:13:00.000-04:00

Ever since I created this post, I've developed a fascination with porn. Yarn porn, that is. You know - ogling attractive images of yarn for the sheer pleasure of it. Here's yet another color combination that really appeals to me. And one that I hope to use in a project in the near future.
(The yarn insisted on throwing in some gratuitous "sexy" poses, for all you other yarn porn connoisseurs out there.)

While surfing my collection of favorite knitting sites the other day, I discovered that Kim Hargreaves new Fall Collection is out. Here are my favorites:

While I wouldn't necessarily choose those colors if I were to make it, I love the boat neck and the light, airy texture of the fabric.

What can I say? I would feel so French and sophisticated in this. ;)

I absolutely love the neckline on this. And it doesn't hurt that the colors of the sweater and hat together, are one of the combinations I currently have a crush on.

Another recent discovery? The Etsy shop of Margin. If you crave cuteness, click that link - you won't regret it! I've already imagined many of those prints plastered all over my daughter's bedroom walls.

Shhhhh, listen closely

2007-09-16T21:32:00.000-04:00

Worn out from a long day of coloring, parade watching, ice cream eating, and chasing the cat around with the camera,

the knitter's daughter takes a rare nap.

The knitter responds by gathering up the following:

Her current project, a new addition to her book collection, and mood-enhancing chocolate. Are you listening?...............Did you hear that? It was a sigh of contentment. =)

Colors and Babies

2007-09-09T14:57:00.000-04:00

Lately my friends are becoming pregnant like it's contagious. And in a knitter's world, new life means new knits. In my search through my knitting books and yarn stash to find baby gifts to make, I've found my appreciation of color being renewed. For me, color has the power to make my insides swell with appreciation and awe, to invoke emotion, feeling, and enthusiasm. I'm entertained by the endless ways colors can be combined. And how changing the proportions or combinations can create an entirely different feel. I also notice that I'm inherently drawn to certain combinations. The first picture is one such combination.

Whenever I encounter an image with those colors, I find myself pausing to admire. It brings to mind the words "soft", "feminine", "beginnings", and "spring". When I was editing the photo for posting, I felt the urge to experiment. I ended up with the second photo, which I find equally beautiful, but in a whole different way. When I look at it, my mind thinks of rich, creamy toffees and silky caramels, sandy beaches and hand-knit teddy bears. In the third photo, I removed all color and was surprised to find it left me with a feeling of sadness and loss. Let me say that when it comes to photographs of people, I love black and white. It takes away the pretenses and distractions, and more fully highlights the infinite things I find beautiful about a human being - from the curve of a jawline to a hint of mischievousness that seems to dance from a gleam in an eye. But when it comes to yarn, so much of the pleasure I derive is in the colors. To take that element away, is to lose an integral part of what I love about knitting.

Do you ever stop to truly admire the colors all around you? Have you ever gotten lost in the hue of a flower? Has doing so ever made them seem to grow in intensity and even pulse with life, like your noticing them for the first time? Can you imagine our world without color? Doing so makes me realize what a gift we've been given in color. And as with any gift, the value is found when we take the time to appreciate it.

Here's to new life and color. We humans are blessed to experience both.

Simple Is As Simple Does

2007-09-04T19:59:00.000-04:00

It seems I've taken an unexpectedly long hiatus from posting. My apologies. My life feels like it's slipped into fast forward over the last few weeks. And the part of me that makes plans, writes my to-do list, and dreams up projects seems to have failed to realize that there are 24 hours in a day, not 48. =)

I have quit a few changes to report. First of all, the look and even the name of this blog. I've changed the name from "The Adventures Of Knit & Pearl" to "Girl Meets Yarn". The former was just too much of a mouthful for my tastes. The reason I chose it in the first place was because I had this whole theme and story planned out with two cartoon girls, one named Knit and one named Pearl. But since I've started this blog, the reality set in that I don't currently have the technical know-how, nor the time to learn how to create the page I had imagined. As my schedule continues to grow more demanding lately, I've felt the need to simplify where ever I can. I've left the URL the same (http://theadventuresofknitpearl.blogspot.com) so as not to create dead links or erase the time and effort I've put into submitting the URL to search engines. I admit, the perfectionist in me is slightly bothered by the discrepancy in my blog name and URL. But once again, the desire to keep things simple appears to be taking priority over everything else.

I've also added a widget of my Etsy shop to the side bar. I opened the shop a couple months ago to sell crafting accessories that I make, like knitting needle cases and project bags. And also children's clothing and anything else that I feel inspired to create. The shop is not nearly as well stocked as I want it to be, but I'm going to be adding as many more items as I can over the next few weeks.

And the biggest change to report? Sophie has started Kindergarten! I am as proud and excited as a mama could be. =) I love hearing about her day - the friends she's made, the games she's played, the things she's learned. I love watching the excitement on her face as she discovers this whole new world of school and all the fun things that go along with it.

Knitting - I haven't done nearly as much of that lately as I would have liked to. With that said, I am painfully close to being finished with She Who Shall Not Be Named. By "painfully", I mean that I want so badly to be finished with it so I can feel free to dive into other projects. It has been by far the most frustrating and emotionally trying knitting project I've ever done. I wanted to give up so many times. And two days ago, in a fit of frustration, I tore it from the needles and threw it onto the floor. Childish?..............yes, I don't deny it. =) I don't mean that there were any techniques or required skills that were difficult - not at all. It was pretty basic shaping, reverse stockinette, yarn overs, and picking up stitches. But with the combination of (many) errors in the pattern, my own I-want-to-kick-myself-mistakes, having to rip back multiple times, and the recent discovery that I can not find the last skein of yarn needed to complete this project, well.............you get the picture. And did I mention I haven't seen the elusive skein since I've moved? Which makes me think that it's laying lost and scared behind the U-Haul seat. Or in a corner of my former closet in Florida, some 1,200 miles away.

The back and two fronts are completed, the shoulders seamed, the collar picked up, knit, and bound off, and one side seam sewn. All that's left is the right side seam, the crocheted edging, the two ties, sewing in the ends, and blocking. I've unraveled the gauge swatch and I think I'll have enough to finish the seaming and maybe the edging (fingers crossed), but there's no way that I have enough to knit the ties. So a desperate search for a skein of Classic Elite Provence, color #2622, dye lot #N975 seems to be in my near future. {Que the "Unsolved Mysteries" theme song} If any of you out there reading tonight have any information on the whereabouts of a skein of this yarn, please contact the author of this blog. A reward is being offered in the form of cash, a yarn exchange, or the willingness to beg for your amusement.

Sheer stubbornness has brought me this far, and I refuse to give up. Until next time, happy ( and stress-free) knitting.

Phildar, I think I love you

2007-08-14T16:06:00.000-04:00

As promised in my last post, some of the pretty things in my very first Phildar catalogue. I realize this might be old news to some of you, as it's an older issue. But I'm pretty excited about it. And it doesn't hurt that everywhere I look, I hear nothing but good reviews on Phildar patterns as far as their accuracy and detail. For anyone wondering, it's Phildar Tendances No. 425.

Coming soon - progress photos for She Who Shall Not Be Named, and my search for a Knit Along, which would be my first ever. I don't know what it is with me lately, I just seem to be bent on trying as many new things as possible. I guess I'm feeling an adventuress, expand my horizons streak these days. And to be honest, I'm quite enjoying it. =) So until next time, happy crafting.

I spy with my wandering eye......

2007-08-12T00:02:00.000-04:00

......a 25th Anniversary special edition Fall issue of Vogue Knitting, Kim Hargreave's website, and my first Phildar catalogue. How's a girl supposed to stay loyal to a project with so much temptation around?

I saw the new issue of Vogue on an innocent trip to the grocery store to get milk yesterday. I bought it but have not looked at it yet. Partly because I have a mile long to-do list that's keeping me very busy lately. The other reason is because I'm determined to finish the Side Tie Vest I've been working on. I've gotten so annoyed with the errors in the pattern (yes, there are errors) that I'm only using it as a reference point and improvising the rest as I go. I think I understand now why I had so much trouble finding anybody who admitted ever having knit it - there are random houses around the country with a half completed Side Tie Vest stuffed behind their couch. From this point on, that project will be known by the name "She Who Shall Not Be Named". I've finished the left front and started the right front. I'm afraid if I start something shiny, pretty, and new, She Who Shall Not Be Named will gradually get pushed to a dark corner where it'll collect dust. I've been knitting long enough to know that my self control is a very fragile thing. I'd start off by telling myself that I'm just going to flip through the pages, look at the designs, maybe read a few articles. Then I'd spot something that made my heart rate quicken. Of course I'd have to check the gauge of the pattern, you know, just to see if there's something in my stash that would work. The next thing I know, I'm sitting on the floor surrounded on all sides by baskets and bags of yarn. "What's the harm in picking out the yarn now?", I ask myself. When I've singled out what I think might be a perfect candidate, I'm left with that nagging feeling of, "How can I know for sure unless I swatch with it?" And well, I'm sure many of you know from personal experience how the story ends.

There are so many talented knitwear designers out there. But if somebody said to me, "Quick, name your favorite designer!", I would say Kim Hargreaves. Her designs are classic, tasteful, feminine, original and beautifully void of atrocious fun fur.

I think I found her website about a year ago. I periodically go back to drool. I've yet to purchase a kit though. All the kits have Rowan Yarns, which I love. But it's Rowan Yarns at retail price, which I almost never pay. Why would I when there are places like this or this or this? Warning: you are going to see me knitting a lot of projects with Jaeger Extra Fine Merino. Not too long ago, I visited the first sight listed above and stumbled onto a sale of full bags for $40 (they retail for $90) with..............brace yourself...............free Airmail shipping from the UK!! Let's just say I was intoxicated by all the pretty colors, too many to choose from - so I didn't. I got one (and in some cases, two) of each. When I awoke from my greedy seizure, my bank account had a size able chunk missing. So visit the above sites at your own risk. Any-hoo, my whole point before I got off track was that I wish I could buy just the patterns from Kim Hargreaves sight, because I can find Rowan yarn so much cheaper elsewhere.

I discovered Phildar Tendances through reading other knitter's blogs, and quickly added it to my obscenely long list of coveted knitting things. Then I won a back issue on ebay. Want to see some pretty things? =)
Well I would love to show you. But first I have to figure out which unpacked box has the Phildar magazine in it. Next post.

Um...........Oops!.........Ramen noodles, anyone?

2007-08-02T17:46:00.000-04:00

Okay, there was a mistake with the left front - more than one actually. And not all of them were the fault of Vogue Knitting. Remember how I said "the maths weren't adding up?" Well that was because I did the math wrong. All my fault. After knitting a good five inches and things were looking a little strange, I re-checked the math and got a completely different number than I did the first time. So I had to rip back those five inches. I confess, when it hit me than I would have to pull out that much, I seriously contemplated whipping the whole thing behind the couch and acting like it never existed. =) Then I gave myself a little pep talk about "how the people who give up at the first sign of difficulty don't get very far in life (or knitting)", and "think how glad you'll be that you didn't give up, when it's finished and your wearing it", yada, yada, yada. Then to make the whole ripping process a little less painful, I decided to let my five year nephew Toby have the honor. It was fun to watch the enjoyment on his face while he did it - for once he was actually being asked to "destroy" something, instead of getting in trouble for it. And is it just me? Or does the curly pile of yarn you end up with after you've frogged something, remind you of Ramen Noodles?

Anyway, I did find another mistake that's not corrected on the VK website. The Staggered Rib Pattern has an eight row repeat. On the instructions for the Back piece, they have you work a total of eight rows of Staggered Rib. Okay, great - I did that with no problems. But on the Left Front, they instruct you to work the Staggered Rib for a total of nine rows. That would leave an extra row of Staggered Rib just sitting around at the top, looking out of place. Plus, I took a nice close look at the picture of the one on the model, and it definitely didn't have that extra 9th row on it.

There's one other part where there might be a problem. But I won't know for sure until I've spent some more time with the pattern, calculator, pencil, and tablet. I've learned my lesson about prematurely pointing fingers - my humble apologies to Vogue Knitting for blaming them for my questionable math skills.

I did a Google search to try to find anyone else who had completed this project and blogged about it. I only found two people, one of which had a blog - yes, i MADE that (scroll down when you get to her page). So far that I've found, she made no mention of having problems with the pattern.

And lastly, look what I signed out of the library today. Being a new blogger, there are about a million and seven questions I have about customizing my page. Hopefully this book can answer a few of them.

Viewer Discretion Is Advised

2007-07-31T17:45:00.000-04:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog posting for an emergency broadcast from AFCY (Advocates For Clean Yarn).

In the late evening hours of Wednesday, July 25, 2007 an innocent knitter's yarn stash was brutally urinated on. The suspect is described as a one foot tall, male, siamese tabby with blue eyes and white and grey fur. He is known by the name of Mr Whiskers. An interview with the victim follows:

Reporter: Stephanie, how has this senseless crime made you feel?

Stephanie: @!#$%^&$ * (&$?(*&;^:{>? * *#@"'^;?>!! +=_-&* %!!##@ {Sob} $~`&"???! > {sob} {sob} WHY MEEEEEEEEE?!?!?!?!?

Reporter: It's okay. Take a moment to compose yourself......................................................
Now Stephanie, has Mr. Whiskers ever exhibited behavior like this in the past?

Stephanie: No. And that's what makes this all so shocking. We had just moved and apparently in all the confusion, he mistook a basket of yarn for his litter box - they're very similar in shape and size. Either that, or it was sheer laziness or even revenge for having the audacity to disrupt his peaceful little kitty world by moving.

Reporter: Thank you, Stephanie.

And in typical feline behavior, where only the best will do, the basket contained high quality yarns made of luxury fibers by Rowan, Jaeger, and Classic Elite. Mr Whiskers calculatingly bypassed the basket of crap yarn made by Red Heart and Caron.

A trial was held the very same day in the case of Stephanie vs Mr.Whiskers. The appointed Judge was Stephanie. The plaintiff's lawyer was Stephanie. When asked if he wanted to exercise his right for legal council, the defendant's response was "Meow", which we all know does not mean "yes". The jury was Stephanie. The evidence submitted was:

A) Mr. Whiskers is the only cat in the house.

B) When the victim checked the litter box, she discovered it had not been used in the entire two days since they'd arrived at the house.

C) When asked who urinated in the yarn basket, Mr. Whiskers responded by saying ME(ow).

There you have it folks - a confession. He then proceeded to stare blankly ahead and show no signs of remorse. And I think I'm correct when I say, such cold, heartless behavior didn't win him any points with the jury.

A ball of Rowan Cotton Glace took the stand. And in a heart-wrenching account that left not a single dry eye in the courtroom, told of how ever since it had been a tiny little cotton plant growing in the fields, it had big dreams of being a lacy tank top, or even a fair isle cardigan. And now all those dreams may be shattered.

The jury debated for thirty seconds and then announced a verdict of "Guilty of first degree yarn defacement."

A sentence of immediate banishment to the laundry room was imposed, where Mr.Whiskers will remain for a minimum of one day, with a possibility of parole for good behavior (using the litter box).

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Hi every one. I've been wanting to post for the last few days, but I'm currently locked in a standoff with my computer. I'm trying to set up a wireless Internet connection, and so far the computer is kicking my butt. I'm writing this post from a friend's computer. I've made progress on the lilac colored side tie vest from Vogue Knitting (Spring/Summer 2006 for anyone who was wondering). I've finished the back and left the shoulder stitches on holders so I can try my hand at joining the shoulder seam with the kitchener stitch. I saw side-by-side comparison photos in a magazine recently, between shoulders done with kitchener stitch and the so called "invisible" horizontal seam that I normally use, which leaves that not so invisible ridge.
I'm about halfway done with left front. I've run into to some possible problems with the pattern. The maths are just not adding up, and if I knit as the instructions tell me, the actual knitted piece does not look the same as the schematic. I went to the Vogue Knitting website to check for errata before I even cast on. I don't know if you've ever looked at their errata page(s) before, but from the sheer number of mistakes in each and every issue, I made a mental note to always check for errors before starting one of their patterns. Anyway, there was a mistake with the pattern, which I wrote down and followed accordingly. But it's a whole other part of the pattern I'm having problems with. I know I'm being kind of vague, but I want to have pictures to show when I go into detail about it. And that won't happen until I can convince my computer that we make a better team than enemies.

Those who knit for children are very brave (or masochistic)

2007-07-20T14:13:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: I am utterly exhausted from lack of sleep and all this moving business. Therefore, if the following post is complete gibberish, I can't be held responsible as I'm pleading temporary insanity.

I'm posting my first finished project for this blog! Follow along with the pictures, to hear all about my exciting photo shoot with Sophia.

Sophie glaring at me because I've put all her toys into big boxes and taped them shut, and the last thing she wants to do is pose for me.

Sophie (sort of) smiling because I've bribed her with candy. (All right! All right! I might have kinda threatened to only ever make things for me from this day on, if she didn't cooperate.) (Okay FINE! There was the teeniest amount of pouting on my part, about all the time I put into that sweater and now she's giving me such a hard time. But in my defense, sometimes bribing, or threats, or guilt trips don't work when used on their own, and you have to find the right creative mix to get the result your looking for.)

Sophie running away. {sigh} There's only so much you can ask of a five year old.

No such thing as too many books

2007-07-18T18:59:00.000-04:00

So I've been packing for the last couple of days, and the end is still nowhere in sight. Today I got to the book shelves, and had the idea of showing you what's in my knitting, sewing, craft collection. This of course doesn't include all the knitting magazines I have. =) But as the title of this post states................and in my opinion, that especially applies to craft related books. And there are still so many more on my wish list. I started an Amazon.com craft book wish list. And sometime in the future, when my life's a little less chaotic, I'll start adding them to my collection one by one ( or maybe five by five ;) ). Anyway, if you see any in the pics below that you've been thinking about buying but would like a better idea of what's in them before you spend your hard earned money, let me know and I'll post pictures of the projects inside. Also, I would love to see what's on other peoples book shelves {hint, hint}. Sorry about the glare from the flash, I tried taking pics without it, but it's been cloudy and raining all day, and they didn't come out too good.

RRRRRR! After I published this post, I saw that it had cut off the right side of the pictures because the center panel isn't wide enough. I went and messed around with the HTML of the template, but didn't suceed in making it wider. My knowledge of HTML is very limited. If anyone knows how fix it, please let me know. Of course, I could make the pics smaller so they'd fit with the template, as is. But I like large clear pictures. And more importantly, I don't like being told what I can and can't do by some stupid template. >: (

My reason for everything

2007-07-17T01:30:00.000-04:00

I reserved my moving truck today. That simple action really locked it into my head that "this is real". I'm really moving across the country in a few days. I can't even begin to explain how many emotions that stirs up in me. Some are good, and some.............not so easy to process right now. I'm moving because it's my choice. And I whole heartedly believe it's the best choice for Sophie and me. But part of me is very sad about saying good bye. Good bye to friends in this part of the world. Good bye to sunshine nearly every day of the year. And palm trees. Good bye to the house and rooms that hold so many memories of the last three years. A temporary good bye to a feeling of order and familiarity, until we get settled and life develops a rhythm again.

But I'm also saying hello to a lot of things. Hello to family and friends that we miss so much. Hello to fiery colors in the fall. Hello to snowmen and sled riding. Hello to sweaters, and mittens, and hats.......that I get to knit! =) Hello to Sophie's first day of Kindergarten. I'm going to cry on her first day of school. I can see it already. Just the thought of her in her first-day-of-school-clothes with a Hello Kitty back pack that's almost as big as her, stocked with Crayola crayons and Elmer's glue. Eeeeeeeee!
And that's why. That's how I know that no matter how chaotic this move is currently making my insides feel, it's all okay. She's my reality check. My reminder of what really matters. My reason for everything.

W.i.p. it good

2007-07-16T01:49:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post tonight. Here's a project that's very close to being finished:

It's the bolero from Debbie Bliss' Junior Knits. It's for my daughter Sophia. The cool thing about this pattern is that the back, fronts, and sleeves are knit all in one piece. Super easy and no shoulder or armhole seams to sew. =) All I have left to do is seam one side, sew in the ends, and block it. I substituted Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran for the Cashmerino Aran. Plus I knit the cuffs shorter. I didn't like how bulky they looked in the picture when you knit them long and rolled them back. Other than that, no changes to the pattern.

This is my other W.I.P. :

It's from a back issue of Vogue Knitting. I'm almost done with the back. I used Classic Elite Provence in place of the yarn called for (can't remember off the top of my head what it was).

And these are some of the other patterns in the above magazine that I'm eyeing. Though there are soooo many things I want to knit, that I don't know if and when I'll get to these. :

Sweet dreams. I'm off to catch up on some much needed sleep.

You can't get were you're going if you never take the first step......

2007-07-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about starting a blog for about two months now. But I kept putting it off because "it just wasn't a convenient time in my life to take on something new", or at least that's what I kept telling myself. But today I decided I didn't want it to turn into "one of those things I never got around to." Wow..................the first step really is so much easier than we often convince ourselves it's going to be. You see how simple that was - I just typed a few sentences............and lookie here! I have a blog!!

An-y-way, I'm going to start with, let's see......................seventeen, yeah seventeen sounds like a good number -

Seventeen Things About Me (A.K.A. The Good, The Bad, And I Don't Know You Guys Well Enough To Admit That):

I drink WAAAAY too much coffee. You know how a car will just sputter out and refuse to move if you don't keep an adequate amount of gas in it? Well that's the same kind of relationship I have with coffee.

I love, love, love knitting and all things knitting related.

Sadly, I don't know one single other real-live knitter. Only the ones I see in blog land.

The above often makes me feel slightly dorky and deprived among my non-knitting friends. Sometimes I wonder if this knitting isolation has anything to do with the fact that I live in Florida. Maybe people just don't knit in a place that gets so freakin' hot.

I'm moving to the Pennsylvania/Ohio area that I'm originally from, in one week. Which I'm excited about because among other things............you guessed it - real live knitters!!! I KNOW there are alot of yarn shops up north.

I also really like to sew.

And read.

I have a five year old daughter who is the best thing, and the most stress-inducing thing that's ever happened to me. One of the things I find most challenging about parenting, is how difficult it is to have the luxury of an uninterrupted thought.

I'm currently obsessed with the color red. I hadn't even realized it until a saw a bunch of the things I've recently made sitting next to each other.

I am a horrible speller. I just learned that nifty little tid-bit about myself when I hit the spellcheck ten seconds ago.

I love socializing, but also have a very introverted side to me, which often gets mistaken for snobbery. And I hate that. I'm one of the least snobby people I know. =)

If I could have one super power, it would be to have the ability to pause time. So I could do whatever I want for an hour or so, while the world just stood still.

I'm happiest when I'm learning. Not necessarily in an academic environment, but I'm a huge advocate of that old saying - "If you're green you grow, if you're ripe you rot."

I'm 27 years old.

I have a cat named Mr. Whiskers and sometimes I think about getting another that's a female, just so I can have a Mrs. Meow and Mr. Whiskers.

I would love to move to a European country (I'm not sure which one) and see what it's like to live in a culture that's very different than that of the U.S.

One day I'm going to teach myself to speak French.

And to wrap up this post, a picture of Matilda, who was just born today: