Tres Chic Veronique

Rhinebeck!

2009-11-01T16:01:00.006-05:00

Can you believe I knit a Rhinebeck sweater? OK, fine, it was a baby sweater... But still!
This little lamb seems unimpressed.
Deets:
Debbie Bliss Duffle Coat (Rav link) from Essential Baby (my rav link)
Yarn: Frog Tree Merino.
Needle: Size 6.
Buttons: little wood buttons from MJ Trimmings.
Notes: boy, this yarn sheds. It's a single ply, so I should've known... Well, at least it's super soft. And the halo makes it fuzzy and warm! I just don't like seeing the baby with little bits of yarn in his mouth.

I also managed to make 2 matching Aviatrix hats. (One for Sam, one for a faraway friend).
I like that this hat has a tie under the chin, even though Sam likes hats and doesn't take them off. But the best part is that it covers the ears!

Sam is in his oral phase and wants to eat everything. Even the books that I'm reading to him.

There's been some crafting going on...

2009-08-03T21:47:00.003-04:00

After Sam got his 2 month shots, he fell asleep for most of the day. I seized this opportunity and made these rompers:

I first saw these rompers on Elizabeth's blog, and bought the pattern immediately. That is how cute her daughter is! Of course, it helps that Elizabeth is an impeccable seamstress.
Sam is going to be a ring bearer for his aunt's wedding in 3 weeks, and I want him to wear a seersucker version of these rompers. This was the practice round, and it went pretty well. The pattern is very detailed and easy to follow. I can't wait to dig into that seersucker.

This is not new crafting per se, but my little baby fits into the pyjamas I made when I was pregnant!

and he loves the lobster roll!

Oh, and there's been some knitting going on too... I finished Cherry, at Jillian's suggestion and just need buttons.

2 months already?!

2009-07-21T21:10:00.002-04:00

We've been floored by your craftiness and generosity!
Vanessa (Coloursknit) sewed Sam some booties and an adorable bib. The booties make him kick even faster!

Jillian (Sknitty) made Sam the coolest vest. It's got owls all around it! Sam thinks they are delicious.

And the talented Connie designed and knitted a snazzy cardigan. It makes Sam all dreamy eyed...

The countdown is off!

2009-05-14T10:25:00.002-04:00

We are incredibly proud and exceedingly happy to introduce you to the most beautiful baby in the world. We have seen many babies, so we are not making this statement lightly. Check it out for yourselves:

Samuel Elliott was born in the birthing center on Saturday May 9th, 2009 at 5:37AM, just as dawn was breaking and after 10 short hours of labor. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20.5 in long.
A few minor health problems necessitated his admission to the NICU, where he spent the first 3 days of his life.

We are now all home and have started the adventure that is our lives as 3 in earnest!

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, ONE!

2009-05-08T10:12:00.002-04:00

As Katie says, I am a ticking baby bomb.
Don't believe me? Check out the belly:

At 36 weeks, my waist had increased by 12". By 38 weeks, it was a lucky 13", and now, at 39 weeks, my waist has increased by a whopping 14"! This baby is GROWING. And kicking. And still hiccuping.
I'm starting to run out of time, crafting-wise, so I'm trying to do only quick projects.
Here is one from the Purl Bee blog:

Instead of making magnets, I clipped these sea creatures to my photo mobile. It only took a couple of evenings!
I also whipped up a quilted burp cloth:

I used 2 baby wash cloths for the back. I don't know why, but we've been gifted many bath items, and have about 20 washcloths! And the fabric is some leftover Heather Ross.

Having my hands busy keeps me from wondering when this baby will make the decision to come out! But he's going to come out at some point, right? Right?!

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, TWO!

2009-05-04T16:09:00.003-04:00

Two weeks left until my due date?! I can hardly believe it.
Our hospital bags are packed, and waiting by the door.

They are waiting rather impatiently. (By the way, I realize that I never blogged about the Weekender Bag that I made in December 2006. Oops!).

I finished my diaper bag, just under the wire :)

(Pardon the scowl, but this is the best shot out of many pictures). As I mentioned in my previous post, this bag is a variation on the Everything Bag by Amy Butler. It's slightly smaller than the original pattern, and I added a zipper at the top. I've had this japanese fabric in my stash for a while, and love the fake french. It's the french equivalent of engrish.

And I did indeed finish the smaller-sized Baby Garter Kimono.

And now I'm thinking that it might be too small. I guess I'll have to bring both to the birthing center and see which one fits...
Oh, and I snuck in a baby blanket! Can you believe I didn't have a hand-knit baby blanket?! I've had a few balls of Rowan Cotton Tape hanging out in my stash for a few years now, and I married them to the Garter Chevron pattern (February 26th in the knitting stitch calendar). I swatched with one whole ball, calculated the area (in square inches) I could get out of that one ball, then figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on to make a square blanket. Thankfully, on size 10.5 needles, it only took 3-4 days!

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, THREE!

2009-04-27T18:29:00.002-04:00

I'm still here! I just couldn't blog without having some kind of FO to show you...

This is Simplicity 5756, a super easy pattern. I can't really tell you which "view" I made, since I made the short sleeves from the shirt pattern, but followed the directions for the dress. I used a modern flower print from Purl. I finished this dress just in time to wear to what turned out to be a surprise baby shower!
I also finally made the second baby bootie.

This is a very clever pattern: it's knit from the sole up (I started with a magic 8 cast on), and it's done all in the round. I must admit that the translation (from german) was very confusing, but as you can see, I figured it out!
And, last but not least, I finally cut out the pieces for my diaper bag!

I'm basing it on the Amy Butler "Everything Bag" from her "Little Stitches" book. I had the idea to make a bag that was a hybrid of the Weekender bag and the Everything bag, but then I saw Fancie Pants Knits' version of the Everything bag... Well, it's so cute, I settled on making the Everything, with a zippered top!

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, FOUR!

2009-04-16T15:57:00.003-04:00

Oh, I look so casual, leaning against the wall... But do you see that little pink dot? Right there, on May 14th? It's a moving target, as babies can decide to make their appearance up to 2 weeks before it or 2 weeks after it. Who knows where that little pink dot will actually land? (Everybody thinks early, but I have no idea why).

I've been slowing down on the crafting front, as my hands are hurting. One of my midwives mentioned the possibility of pregnancy-induced arthritis, and my reaction is: *fingers in ears* LA LA LA LA LA. I WILL finish the take home cardi that I'm reknitting in a smaller size, oh yes I will.

One thing that cheers me up immensely these days: people who give me their seat on the subway. I'd only heard stories about pregnant women not being able to get a seat, but my experience is the exact opposite. Some people get up of their own volition, others will ask a seated person to give me their seat, and not a single person so far has refused to give me their seat when asked. And believe me, I'll ask!

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, FIVE!

2009-04-10T17:42:00.002-04:00

The baby quilt is done, except for the binding! As you can see, I opted to make a small (30" x 23"), double-sided quilt. Yes, double-sided. I thought it would be so easy! Ha! Lining up both sides precisely was .... how shall I say it... time consuming. I hand basted with super visible hot pink thread, checking that both sides aligned with every single freaking stitch I made, then machine quilted it.
Now I just need to choose a binding color that will complement both sides. Brown? Red?

I also made a pouch sling, from this free online pattern, and using my lobster fabric purchased 8.5 months ago in Maine ;) Now I can have a lobster roll with me at all times!

Oh yes, I also got an Obama "change" poster for the changing table. Cracking myself up over here!

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, SIX!

2009-04-03T12:42:00.002-04:00

Well, this WIP has 6 weeks (+/- 2 weeks) to become an FO. It seems I have become a one project kind of girl too. A lot of work going into this one! I feel like I'm spending my days going to physical therapy (oh, my aching back...) and to the pool (yay!), as well as lots of lounging on the couch and complaining about how the joints of my hands hurt. Seriously, the joints of my hands?! I hadn't heard that one before. They're not even swollen!
Not much craftiness going on as a result, although I have made a teeny bit of progress on the baby quilt:

(Turns out that planet fabric that I used to cover the crib bumper is pretty popular: Julie Frick used it too!).
Oh, and my family threw a baby shower for me! It was a whole weekend extravaganza, and they purchased almost every item on our registry. Wow.

In other news, I think my baby has learned kick boxing. *Punch! Jab! Kick! Repeat from *, all day long. It is highly entertaining, both for me and others, as this activity is visible from the outside.

Countdown: 10, 9, 8, SEVEN!

2009-03-26T15:56:00.003-04:00

Still lots of craftiness going on...
Pyjamas from Amy Butler's "Little Stitches For Little Ones":

Fabric on sale at Superbuzzy! I bought some in red for myself. Is it wrong that I want matching pyjamas? It's not like I'm going out in public with matching mother-son outfits... And he will be too young to remember...

I also whipped up Tom the owl from Lucinda Guy's "And So to Bed" (in Lion Brand Cotton Ease). Although, in the book, he is named Otto, but we felt he was more of a Tom.

Tom loves the Boppy bouncing seat (thanks Schrodinger for the advice!). He is fascinated by the toys. He will stare at them for hours!

And here is the hiccuping one:

We learned today that he is head down! Good boy :)

Countdown: 10, 9, EIGHT!

2009-03-19T13:47:00.002-04:00

Eight more weeks! We went on the hospital tour last night, and got to check out both Labor & Delivery (hectic, loud) and the Birthing Center (calm, focused). Can you guess which one I'm planning to use?
I finished the Garter Stitch Baby Kimono, only to realize that it's a little bit on the large side (as per my midwife, what, you thought I knew these things?) . Not really ideal as a take home sweater.

No problem though, I have 6 skeins of Knit Picks' sock yarn, so I cast on for another cardigan with fewer stitches! Yes, it's knit on size one needles, but it's so tiny...
And I made a bootie!
I thought I'd have a nice belly shot for those of you interested, but it turns out that I need to familiarize myself with my camera's autofocus a little bit more.

Oops.

Countdown: 10, NINE!

2009-03-13T13:41:00.003-04:00

9 weeks to go! I'm pregnant enough that people are now offering me their seat on the subway and the bus! That is quite the milestone in NYC.

Not everything is coming up roses though: my modified garter yoke cardi looks like crap. Entirely my fault.

I added gussets to the sides to accommodate my ever-expanding belly, but now it looks like a tent. It does not have the swinginess I'd anticipated. I'd much rather wear a regular cardigan and leave the bottom buttons open, just like for Lush & Lacy...
I'm especially bummed because I've been using my precious New Mexico Organic yarn :(
And I'd even picked a cool stitch pattern:

I don't have the heart to rip this one. Maybe a time out in the WIP basket?

30 weeks?!

2009-03-06T15:05:00.003-05:00

Can you believe I'm 30 weeks pregnant? I don't know why I feel like 30 weeks is a turning point... (Maybe I'm confusing it with the big three oh?) I feel like now, I'm REALLY pregnant --you know, because for the past 7 months I've only been a little bit pregnant.

Miraculously, I haven't experienced any of the horrible, awful, you're-barely-going-to-make-it symptoms that every pregnant lady with access to an online forum loves to scare you with (uh, knock on wood...).
Let me give you an example: I've read multiple posts about how the orange-flavored glucose drink you have to take for the gestational diabetes test is god-awful. As in, it tastes terrible, nobody can keep it down (can you visualize a pregnant woman vomiting all over a crowded waiting room?) and it makes them dizzy... Well, in reality, it's flat orange soda. What is the problem with flat orange soda?! Why all the hype? Sometimes the internet is a bad thing. Although... I read these forums to cheer myself up when I'm having a bad day!

Anyway.
First and second trimester crafting inertia has finally disappeared, and I'm on a roll!
I made a Peapod Baby Cardigan in Tess' Designer Yarn Superwash Merino (purchased a Brooklyn General a long time ago, in the yummiest shade of green, and awaiting the perfect project).

I love it (even without buttons...), but I'm confused about the yardage requirements. The patterns states that ~500 yds are needed, and I had 560 yds in one hank (!!). I've used about half of the yarn. How is that possible? It's a knitting miracle!
And I started a baby quilt with vintage-looking fabric (from The City Quilter).

I also made an Angle cardi. This is my third, love this pattern.

And I'm almost done with this Debbie Bliss cardigan (the ribbon edge cardigan, but I don't think I'll add a ribbon):

We've also been preparing the nursery. I cannot tell you how excited we are to get it all done! I'm covering a bumper with the cutest planet fabric (seen above), and making a sling baby carrier with some japanese robot fabric. Oh, and I got some sunny yellow fabric to make curtains.
Look! We got a crib! (Seeing A Mingled Yarn's nursery inspired us, and she gave some useful tips).

Like I said, crafting mojo is BACK!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-17T16:24:00.003-05:00

I started this project, Lush and Lacy (Rav link) a year ago. Yes, a whole year. Back then, I powered through the back and 2 fronts, and then the sleeves just seemed like too much work... I didn't like the flare and wanted to change that, but I'd already changed the lace pattern and my gauge was off. It was just too much...
Well, this week, as I was cleaning out my craft room to turn it into a nursery, I stumbled upon this abandoned project. And remembered that Lisa posted about her Lush and Lacy recently, and that I loved hers. Back on track! I decided to make straight sleeves. Yup, straight. No increases, no decreases, just STRAIGHT. (I did have to recalculate the sleeve cap as the math was wrong for my size). Two days later, I was done.

I finished seaming on Valentine's day and wore it all day. And that's when my husband noticed that the lace pattern looks like hearts! (All this time, I thought they were honeybees). How fitting.

Blue, blue everywhere!

2009-01-29T12:59:00.002-05:00

Well, it seems that things are happening so fast around here that I can barely keep you updated!

Blue news #1:

A sapphire engagement ring! Followed on January 17th by a matching wedding band. Both were designed and made by Caroline Glemann and Michael Fitzgerald of studio 174 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We gave them the sapphire, and they immediately came up with design ideas. A couple sketches, a mock-up ring in silver, and one month later, I had a ring on my finger. They rock.

For the wedding, I wore my Hyrna Herbogar shawl. I guess I'm superstitious, because I didn't want to tell you when I blogged about this FO that it was to be my wedding shawl... But I laugh about that now:

I also wore: orange earrings by Sandra and a Two Toned Ribbed Shawl (by Stefanie Japel in Fitted Knits), knit in a black cashmere blend. I had never knit with black yarn before! Did you know it was impossible to photograph? Yes, you probably did.

Blue news #2:
Bring on the baby blue yarn! We're having a boy!

I can still knit!

2009-01-05T14:05:00.003-05:00

Oh yes I can!

I started this scarf a year ago, and let it take a time out for a while (check it out on Jan 2008). It's a 2 color star stitch with 40 sts, using Fable's Baby Alpaca and a mohair/silk blend, on Addi lace size 6 needles. I've made one of these scarves before, for my sister, but never got a chance to wear it... I had some left over Baby Alpaca from a yet-to-be-published pattern (you can see the book cover in Yahaira's sidebar), and oh, it is so soft! It had to become something I could snuggle up with. Unfortunately, I used up tons of alpaca to make fringe, and don't have enough yarn to make a matching hat. Doh!
By the way, does that photo make me look pregnant? Does it?! I know it will soon become obvious, but I really wish I was showing more... Baby is kicking actively, I'm gaining weight, and I'd like to have something to show!

Just before Christmas, I realized that I needed to craft at least one present. I decided to make 2, for a darling little girl named Daisy. (Yes, I already made her a Daisy hat).

The Soto Softie Penguin pattern was just what I needed. Except that my hand sewing looks like crap... Next time, I think I will machine sew the feet, legs and eyes to the body *before* assembling the penguin (instead of machine assembling the body and hand sewing the added body parts). The pattern is very well written, with little diagrams to show you exactly what to do! I always thought that sewing patterns needed diagrams.
Then, I had a moment of hesitation. What if Daisy doesn't like penguins? What if her parents think she might tear off a penguin limb and ingest it? (Which is entirely possible). This little hat came to the rescue!

It's the Who? pattern, found for free on Ravelry. I used double stranded Habu Soft Wool on size 6 needles, and it took about a couple of hours to make. And just as long to embroider 7 pairs of eyes in rainbow colors! This gift was, thankfully, a hit, as Daisy needed a new hat. (The penguin was a hit too; those large floppy feet inspired Daisy to make her penguin run all over my apartment, among 20 guests).

Woo hoo!!

2008-12-22T10:11:00.004-05:00

Some of you have noticed a decrease in my knitting productivity, and have been concerned enough to check up on me. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to have such good friends :)

Here is the reason why I (temporarily) lost my knitting mojo:

The picture above was taken at 12 weeks (around Halloween), and I am now at 19 weeks. Our next ultrasound is on Christmas eve, and we hope to find out the gender. Oh, we are so excited!

And you'll be happy to know that my knitting mojo is slowly returning. I've made a hat from Boutique Knits, a scarf, I'm almost done with a shrug and I've started a maternity version of Knitting School Dropout's garter yoke cardigan from Knit1. I would knit baby items, but I'd like to know if I should use blue yarn or pink yarn...

Lace!

2008-11-20T16:41:00.004-05:00

I'd had my eye on this gorgeous Icelandic shawl for a while. I almost choked when I saw that the book costs $45, but I had to have it!

Of course, it took a while to find the right yarn for this design... I finally settled on Habu's super shiny, super slippery 100% silk.

It's easy to knit with it, once you have filed your nails are completely snag free. Hey, at least I took good care of my nails while knitting this shawl!

The pattern is completely charted out, which really helps visualize what you're about to do. Still, I messed up a couple of times and had to tink back occasionally. But, as with all lace knitting, you eventually find a groove :)
Details on Ravelry here.

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

2008-11-05T16:09:00.006-05:00

Well! So much has been going on... The usual culprits I'm afraid (work and ... work), but also a death in the family. I was so down, I didn't even go to to Rhinebeck.
Anyway. On to the good stuff.

In order to celebrate the election and my third blogiversary (oops, it was on October 14th), here's a cowl pattern :)

Yarn: Koigu Kersti, 1.5 skeins, or about 160 yds. (Color K1110, dye lot 33).
Needles: US5 (4.75mm) Addi circulars, 24". I tend to knit a little loose, so you might go up to a US 6 needle, which is what's recommended on the ball band.
Gauge: 18 st=4". (Wow. Nowhere near the recommended ball band gauge of 22 st=4". I'm a rebel).

Pattern: Cast on 90 sts. Join in the round and work in garter st (knit one round, then purl one round) until you have 3 garter ridges (6 rounds total). Work in Baby Bowknot stitch pattern for 10" (or until you reach your desired height). Work 6 round in garter st, then bind off.

Baby Bowknot stitch pattern:
Rnd 1: knit.
Rnd 2: knit.
Rnd 3: *k3, p3* to end.
Rnd 4: *k3, p1, k1 in st below, p1* to end.
Rnd 5: knit.
Rnd 6: knit.
Rnd 7: *p3, k3* to end.
Rnd 8: *p1, k1 in st below, p1, k3* to end.
Repeat rnds 1-8.

Although this stitch pattern may appear complicated (8 round per repeat?!), I promise that it is actually very intuitive. After one repeat, you will get it and not need to look at the pattern again!

The width of the cowl is 18-19". I made it deliberately narrower than Sandra's La La Love You cowl cause a girl needs options. Sometimes you want a loose cowl that can show off a brooch, sometimes you want something to hug your neck a little more... And also, this rust orange color goes well with my new gray winter coat. So there.

I'm now making matching fingerless gloves!
Oh, and I finished Hyrna Herborgar :)

I'm on a blue kick, apparently

2008-09-26T13:03:00.003-04:00

Since I saw Jillian, I realized that I had one more skein of Malabrigo in Stone Blue, and I cranked another La La Love You cowl in about 2 hours (Ravelry deets)

What's that? Why, yes, I *did* get a new camera. I stupidly dropped my beloved point & shoot and it broke. I was in denial, and went to several repair stores, convinced that someone could fix it for ~$40. Oh, I was so naive! Once reality sunk in, I briefly considered buying the same camera, but I've been dreaming of getting a digital SLR for a while now... So after a few emails to Sandra and Heather, I became the proud owner of a Canon Rebel XTi! I definitely hyperventilated on my way out of the store, and I'm hoping this is not a big costly mistake...
I have to admit that I thought the manual settings on my P&S and the dSLR would be similar, and that the transition would be smooth. Uh, no. Most of the pictures do not come out as I intended, especially in low light... Good thing you can take a gazillion pictures and select the best one! I'm getting the hang of it, but s-l-o-w-l-y.

Moving on...
I finished my second Esther sock! (Ravelry deets). You might remember that I started the first one last Summer?

For the first sock, I had maybe one foot of yarn left, but for the second sock....

Yikes!

New, Better and Improved

2008-09-04T13:03:00.004-04:00

Why finish old projects when you can buy yarn for new ones? And meet a knit blogging friend while you're at it?
When I heard that Jillian was going to be in town, I immediately sent her an email and promised I would show her a good time if she agreed to meet up with me. Thankfully, she agreed!

(Yes, we both bought Purl totes. They rock).

I must admit that I was not the best hostess: I didn't verify whether School Products or Habu were going to be open. They were not. Oops!

But! I did invite Connie to join us AND I made Jillian a cowl, from a pattern that wasn't even out at the time (Sandra's La La Love You Cowl, pattern on PopKnits in Stone Blue Malabrigo). Surely that counts for something?

(By the way, I think that my gauge is wildly different from Sandra's, I had to cast on 24 fewer sts than she did. Am I such a loose knitter?).

And then: fate! Jillian and I chose the same color of Koigu from Purl's wall of Koigu! Internet friends are the best :)

Jillian's yarn on the left, mine on the right. As we speak, it has started to become the Tapestry Cowl, by Pepperknit. But, uh, well, I might have to go down a needle size or 2...

Red Bamboo

2008-08-26T16:17:00.003-04:00

After many false starts with other projects (Habu's Chinese Top Pullover, the Flutter Sleeve cardi, Lush & Lacy, Olga's jacket--all shamefully semi-abandoned WIPs), there is finally one that caught my interest long enough to actually complete it.
Presenting...... Kate Gilbert's Camellia! (Deets on my Ravelry page).

One good thing about the lag between uploading my pictures on Flickr and an actual post on my blog? I already know what you're going to ask! In this case, let's cut to the chase: Swedish Sven clogs purchased at Refinery in Brooklyn. I believe that they design their own Sven clogs based on all the various elements that Sven offers: different heel heights, colors of wood, color of leather and shape of cutouts. The possibilities are endless! You can also make your own clogs from scratch here.

This neckline goes well with my Figs & Ginger necklace, don't you think?

I made 3 sleeves for this top: originally, I thought that the cap sleeve would look better on me than the flutter sleeves, but that was not the case. Flutter sleeves it is!

Final verdict? Overwhelmingly positive! The bamboo yarn was so soft and silky that I didn't mind its lack of elasticity. This top had just enough lace to keep me entertained but not too much so that it would become a chore. I'm just hoping that the bamboo won't stretch out too much...

And finally, I have to give a shout out to Caren, who I found through Ravelry. She very kindly sold me one ball of SWTC Bamboo yarn in the same dye lot, which I desperately needed.

What I Did While On Vacation In Maine --Part II

2008-08-18T15:18:00.003-04:00

I bought yarn. Oh yes I did.
I came prepared, as I had read Carrieoke's review of the Portland, Maine LYSs.

Let's break it down:
You know the stores that sell the good ol' yarn staples? Cascade 220, the whole Rowan collection, a smattering of sock yarn? These stores feel like home. Such was Knit Wit, in Portland Maine. There was even a sale on Kidsilk Aura, which the owner remarked had not been a great seller. I got 7 balls at 50% off! This is a heavier version of my much beloved Kidsilk haze, but with crummy yardage (82 yds a ball). I hope I can eke out a lacy sweater or bolero out of this.

Then, I went to Tess' Designer yarns (also in Portland). This yarn is somewhat hard to find in stores, and the colors are just so fantastically saturated! This is not the kind of store that sells notions (as Carrieoke noticed), nor the kind of stores where the employees know how to knit. In fact, the employee will be more interested in chatting with a friend than with you, one of two customers. But the yarn! Oh, the yarn is so lovely...
I got 2 skeins of laceweight merino in a buttery yellow.

And a skein of sock yarn in eye-searing magenta.

Finally, I stumbled upon a real Maine yarn store. I found it by following a sign on the side of the road that said, simply: "yarn". (Well, actually, I may have yelled out "YARN!!!" and forced my boyfriend to follow the sign). We drove up to a house, where several dogs and a duck enthusiastically greeted us. The owner showed us her sheep --yes, from which her yarn is made--:

then guided us to a garden shed -- aka the store:

She has some award-winning yarns:

It was only later, when I looked at my receipt, that I realized we had been in Woolwich, Maine. Fate!
After all of this yarn shopping, I could not justify stopping by Halcyon Yarn, in Bath, Maine or Seaport Yarns (in Portland and NYC)... This just means we'll have to go back :)

What I Did While On Vacation In Maine - Part I

2008-08-14T15:37:00.002-04:00

I ate lobster.

I ate lobster rolls.

I bought live lobsters.

I watched cats sniff lobster butts.

Stay tuned for part II: Maine yarn!

Score One For The Knitting Mojo!

2008-07-30T15:22:00.001-04:00

Yup, the Knitting Mojo is definitely back! I've been progressing on 2 projects.

Now that my yarn stash is displayed (mostly) in glass cases, I can hang out in my craft room and wonder which of these beauties will get knit up next, and what pattern I should marry them to. Two and a half ball of SWTC red bamboo yarn (a donation from Fig & Plum Jess, which she had been using to make a Razor Cami), called to me. The bamboo yarn is so unbelievably soft and drapy, and its color is glowing, and I really, really wanted to knit it. But what did it want to become?... I chose Kate Gilbert's Camellia pattern. The pattern is very well written (if you can figure out a lace pattern worked on both RS and WS rows, eep!), and I cruised through the back and the front. Except for one thing. One teeny, tiny problem.

See that little ball of yarn up there? That's all I have left. *gasp*
It was time to get scientific. I weighed the back: 126 g. (Oh, you knew I'd break down and buy a digital scale, right?). Before knitting the front, I weighed the amount of yarn I had left: 120g. Uh oh. And what about the sleeves?!
Ravelry to the rescue: wouldn't you know that one person is selling just one ball of this yarn in the same exact dye lot? Phew! And that Sharon (GimmeSanity) saw my Flickr photo and that she also has the same exact dyelot and she's up for a trade? The internet is a wonderful place, my friends :)
(Well, except when getting comments telling you that your crafting is "hideous", "poor ethetics" -sic- and that you have "dumb ideas". Wow. Really, you took time out of your day to let me know how much I suck? That's ridiculous! Also: you know you've made it as a blogger once you get hate mail).

Moving on: Project #2 to emerge form the craft room: Hyrna Herbogar.

Again, I've had both the yarn and the pattern for quite a while. This is 100% silk from Habu, the shinniest, splittiest, snaggiest yarn I have ever seen, and I love it. Not that you can tell, since it looks like a crumpled mess.

Knitting Mojo Status: It's Back!

2008-07-17T12:55:00.004-04:00

I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear that the Knitting Mojo has returned! The trick to reviving a tired Knitting Mojo? Baby sweaters! Oh, they are so cute, and, most importantly, small.
I had Tora Froseth's Angle pattern in my Ravelry queue for a while now, and with 2 baby showers coming up, decided to take a crack at it. Well, it turns out that this pattern is so enjoyable that I knit it twice.

One in blue:

For: My friends Chad and Karen.
Yarn: ? Uh. I'm stumped. I went to Knit NY, near Union Sq, and their selection of yarns is somewhat ... eclectic. I found a fingering weight, machine washable yarn and got 2 balls of "ballpoint blue" and one ball of greenish yellow. I honestly cannot remember the brand!
It was only once I knit with it for a few inches that I realized that I was making an Ikea sweater. Damn.
Needles: US 4, could have gone down to US 3...
I love how stretchy this pattern is. Unstretched, the sweater looks all blue, but when stretched, the stripes pop out! Perfect for a growing baby.

And one in pink:

For: Schrodinger and family.
Yarns: 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby in dark pink, one ball in light pink, and a bit of black Angora Merino by Sublime. The angora makes the sweater pet-worthy... I was hesitant to add black to a baby sweater, but I ran out of pink yarn for the edging. I seriously considered adding a copy of the book "Urban Babies Wear Black" (which I saw at the MoMA store) to make sure that the color choice was justified and wouldn't shock or offend anyone. Thankfully Cathy liked it! Phew.
Needles: US 3. Learned my lesson!

This sweater is worked all in one piece, without any seams. However, be warned, there is a lot of grafting... And quite a few ends to weave in. I learned pretty quickly that it is best to weave as you go along. If I hadn't, who knows?, my Knitting Mojo might have disappeared. *gasp*

Knitting Mojo: Where Art Thou?

2008-07-02T15:13:00.004-04:00

Did I ever tell you about the awesome Pride Marigold socks? Oh, yes. Yes, I did. In freaking February. Well, they've been done since April... But their insane brightness saturates my camera in a hideous way.

Deets:

Pam's pattern.
Regia Fun Nation yarn (which I used previously).
Size 1 Addis, magic loop.

There is further evidence of my vanishing knitting mojo:

Exhibit A: The Lying Gauge Swatch.
I bought some Habu Shosenshi paper yarn about 3-4 years ago, with no specific project in mind. I thought it had an amazing texture, ok? I had no idea what to make with it until I saw the Chinese Style Pullover from Setsuko Torii's Habu book. *drool* Instead of wasting my newly purchased yarn on a swatch, I decided to swatch with the older yarn. It turns out that the new batch of yarn is *much* thinner than the older batch. I only figured this out when I had knit the entire front (or back, they're the same).

Swatch on the right, completed front on the left.

Exhibit B: Fiddly Finishing Failure.
The Flutter Sleeve cardi needs one button band (out of 2) and some finishing on one sleeve. Great pattern, meet impatient knitter.

Time for... Summer dresses!

2008-06-19T13:15:00.001-04:00

Wow. I posted pictures of my latest FO a few days ago on my Flickr page, thinking that I would write the post to go with it a little later, and that the pictures would go (somewhat) unnoticed. Boy, was I wrong! I have never had so many comments on a Flickr picture. Thanks everyone, you made me blush :)
(Now will someone let me know if it's weird to have completely random guys add me to their Flickr contacts? I mean, to have a crafty woman add me to her contacts list is very flattering, and I'll reciprocate, but a guy?).

Built by Wendy design 3835.
Fabric: Alexander Henry Raindrop Stripe.

Oh, this seemingly simple dress has been incubating for a while... I cut out the pieces in the Fall (Thanksgiving-ish?), then just let it sit there. (Actually, I cut the pieces in this crisp cotton fabric, then set it aside because I bought some tweedy wool fabric and ended up making the wool dress first. It was a bust, so I think I buried everything in my stash to forget about the whole thing. I didn't even blog about my completed dress!).

The pattern comes with 3 sleeve options: 3/4 length with bunny ear looking ties, above the elbow and short. I originally cut the longer sleeves, only to realize that they were really tight (and that the weather had gotten so warm that I didn't want to wear long sleeves right now, fickle me). Then I realized that I cut the sleeves wrong: unlike most knitting patterns, the sleeves are slightly asymmetrical-- they are wider in the back and narrower in the front. I didn't flip the pattern over for the second sleeve, so I had 2 right (or left?) sleeves. Oops.
Solution: fudge it! I cut the sleeves so that they are symmetrical.

But that's not the end of my mistakes: I then realized that I cut the back on the fold (ie in one piece instead of 2) and the front in 2 pieces (instead of one). I decided to switch them around-- turn the back into a front and vice versa. The only difference between the 2 is that the front dips lower at the neckline and the back sits higher. Well, not on mine!
Solution: fudge it! The front and the back both have a lowered neckline.

Boo boo #3:
I originally liked the lined collar, but it sits so high up on the neck that it choked me a little. I "settled" on the elastic collar, and now I like it better than the lined collar.
Solution: fudge it! Well, ok, I didn't really fudge, I just changed my mind. And I'm glad I did.

I think I've mentioned how much I love the hemmer foot on my sewing machine, right? It takes 2 minutes to do the whole hem, and it's so perfectly perfect. I could never do that by hand.

After all these issues, I did not have high hopes for this dress, but.... it came out perfect! In fact, 2 of the Flickr comments were from strangers who had noticed the dress at Renegade. It's a small world we live in.
I think there are more Summer dresses in my future...

I'm a collector.

2008-06-16T13:43:00.004-04:00

This weekend was long anticipated: it was the Renegade Craft Fair!

I can't believe this was the 4th year (in Brooklyn), and I've been every single year. I feel that this fair is getting bigger and better every year. The first year had a lot of overpriced hey-I-could-make-that crafty items, such as tote bags or iPod covers, and a few, uh, novelty items like duct tape wallets. Seriously, duct tape wallets. However, amidst these not too exciting items, there were a few gems: jaw-dropping crafts that I admire but can't do myself, like ceramics or jewelry making. Unfortunately, these beauties were pricey, and I passed. Year 2, I bought all the things that I didn't buy during year 1, as described in this post. Year 3 went unblogged, but again, I did not hesitate to purchase cleverly conceived (and executed) items. You gotta support independent designers! Year 4 did not disappoint.

Here is my loot:

Necklace from Figs and Ginger, whose website I checked out beforehand. (I've learned that research and arriving early are key to a successful RCF experience). I kept an eye out for their booth and pounced on it. They were even kind enough to make me a slightly longer necklace!

I'm a fan of Perch! and their sleek but slightly retro designs and have purchased a piece each year. I love this basket,*and* it was on sale! The sock yarn was an impulse purchase from Lulubeans, but I could not resist that variegated yellow.

I've also been a fan of the orange retro molecules on a stark white ceramic background by Neutrino Designs, sold through Art Star, and I've building up a collection. And it was on sale too!

I could not resist getting some strawberry milk (to go with the skim milk, chocolate donut and 2 bananas that I already have) all made by My Paper Crane.

After being out in the sweltering midday sun, seeing and talking to so many crafty people, I had an urge. An urge to CRAFT. I needed a quick project with instant gratification. One crazy thunderstorm later (lightning hit a block from my apartment, it rained sideways), voila: a pincushion! I hope all the vendors at the McCarren Park pool were all right...

an actual FO

2008-05-29T14:27:00.004-04:00

Finally, I present to you:
Plucky Hanami!

This stole was knit as a sample for Sarah, the Plucky Knitter, who sells her hand dyed yarns here. It is a merino/silk blend, and it is so smooth and slinky! The pattern required quite a few more yards than I had at my disposal (880 yds versus my 600 yds), so I had to improvise... I worked a provisional cast on, and knit the second half of the stole first (the "falling petals" or "asymmetrical YOs"), because it has a fixed number of rows. Then, I knit the first half of the stole (the "basket weave") until I ran out of yarn. I worked 3 repeats instead of the recommended 7 (actually, I started the 4th repeat, ran out of yarn and had to rip back!). Finally, I grafted the two halves together. I used US 4 Lace Addis, which are awesome, but smell like metal (you know what I mean?).

I tried saying "prune". It failed.

The Kitchen Cabinet Project

2008-05-19T14:51:00.005-04:00

I have never received so many questions about a crafty project as I have with the Kitchen Cabinet Project! As fancy as I may make it sound, it's actually quite simple. So simple, in fact, that there is not a single online tutorial... *light bulb*

Here's an illustrated explanation of what I did (aka A Super Easy Tute):

I cut the fabric (Etsuko Furuya's Yellow Honeybee fabric, by Echino, purchased at Purl and Crafty Planet, thanks to Pam's eagle eyed tip), adding one inch to EACH AND EVERY side (1" for the top, 1" for the bottom, 1" for the left side, 1" for the right side). If your cabinet door is 18" X 30", you will cut a rectangle that is 20" X 32". --Why, yes, for the first cabinet door, I did not add enough ease, how did you guess?-- I used my rotary cutter, but I think it would be easy to cut with scissors, especially if you have picked a fabric with a geometric print like mine.

See how I have one FULL inch on each side?

Um, obvious: we unscrewed the handle. (Note: one person can easily do this project, I had to hire a set of hands to cover this door so I could take action pictures. Action pictures!).

We used regular thumb tacks. We started with one tack per side, making sure to pull the fabric taut:

Then we added a few more tacks on each side.
Now, on to those tricky corners! I folded the middle part, then flapped the 2 sides over, and stuck a tack right in the middle.

Ta da! One covered kitchen cabinet door!

Then, we just attached the door back on the kitchen cabinet frame, and screwed in a (new) handle through the fabric.

And voila! A fresh-looking kitchen!

It's so easy that we made one itty bitty mistake. Can you spot it?

Next step: Scotchguard the whole thing, thanks to Preita's tip!

Kiwi Flutter and Echino Kitchen Honeybees

2008-05-15T14:30:00.003-04:00

When is it really going to be Spring? It seems like it's warm for a day or two, so I finally break out my summer dresses and t-shirts, and then the next thing you know, it's cold and rainy again! Of course, I could be grumpy simply because I have a full-time job, and therefore cannot knit or sew all day lone (as I secretly want to).
Instead, I limit myself to crafting in the evenings. Proof:

I started the Flutter sleeve cardigan on April 13 (good thing I wrote the date on my Ravelry page!), with yarn purchased on sale at Webs. The reason that I'm not done with this quick project is very simple and very sad: knitting with non-stretchy yarn KILLS my hands. All I have to do is knit a few rows, and my hands will hurt for days afterwards. (Oh! Maybe that's why I'm grumpy...).
In the meantime, I've been improvising a new project: I'm covering my ugly kitchen cabinets with the lovely Echino honeybee fabric pictured above. Did you know that there is not a single tutorial for reupholstering kitchen cabinets? Fortunately, it's not very difficult!

Banana Coriolis

2008-04-23T16:36:00.002-04:00

Do you also keep a mental list of things you want to do or buy? (I hope I'm not the only one...).

Every once in a while, I'll reward myself by indulging in something on my list. This is how I came to purchase the latest Cat Bordhi book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters (I bought it from Knit Picks, where it is a whole 10 bucks cheaper than Amazon!). Its placement on my mental list was confirmed after reading Steph's post about it.
Upon receiving it (3 days after ordering it!), one detail made me like it right away: the author's picture on the book is taken by the Yarn Harlot. Actually, it's one of her famous "hold your sock at arm's length in front of your camera" shot. Hee hee!
I followed the instructions and made one Sky sock. Meh. Next step: the Coriolis sock. I liked this pattern much more, and finally got to use the Lorna's Laces Angel (70% angora) that I received in the Spider's holiday swap 3 years ago from Virginia.

Happy banana and bruised banana purchased from My Paper Crane at last year's Renegade Craft Fair. (I also have a strawberry frosted chocolate donut and skim milk. My collection grows every year).
Oh, and I forgot to make the instep slant in the opposite way when I made sock #2. Oops!

Next on my list: the Habu book! The rumor is that only 2,000 copies of Setsuko Torii's book were printed, and I managed to get my hands on one. Can I blame this one entirely on Olga? Her love of all things Habu is contagious...

Noro Charades

2008-04-15T14:13:00.003-04:00

It seems that maybe, just maybe, Spring is here to stay. I'm not so sure though, this NYC weather is always unpredictable... Nonetheless, I've boldly put away my winter coat, hand knit scarves and mittens. And now I'm pondering Spring knits. Actually, I'm pondering all over the place, as Spring has made me very scatterbrained. (It seems that Spring's energizing effect is being felt by others).
Hopefully, Spring will not distract me too much from knitting a mate for this lovely Charade:

I'd been checking out Noro Kureyon socks on Ravelry, trying to decide what the best pattern would be... I couldn't decide between 2 row stripes or Sandra's Charade pattern, until it hit me: I can do both!
Note: I used size 0 needles, as many Ravelers noted that this yarn can be very thin in spots. Do you know how annoying it is to knit on size 0 needles? Fortunately, it is balanced out by the addiction of Noro's self-striping yarn and by Sandra's interesting stitch pattern.

I really like the greens on the foot.

And the turquoise on the leg.

Also, I've come to term with the fact that the second sock will be a fraternal, not identical twin. That's how much I like this yarn and pattern combo!

However... I might just like Plucky Knitter's silk/merino yarn and the Hanami pattern even more. And I'm drooling on IK's Spring 2008 Flutter Sleeve Cardigan...

Plucky Hanami

2008-04-08T14:58:00.005-04:00

My knitting mojo has been picking up :)
I am halfway through Hanami, a project I am knitting for the Plucky Knitter. She needed a few handknits to show what her fantastic hand dyed yarn looks like all knit up, and I immediately volunteered my services. I already have some of her sock yarn, and I could not pass up knitting with more of Sarah's yarn... She was kind enough to let me choose any pattern I wanted, and, well, I've always had my eye on the Hanami stole!
I could not resist these before blocking/after blocking shots:

After knitting half of the stole, I decided to be scientific about yarn amounts. You know, because I'm a scientist, and because I get a certain satisfaction from applying scientific principles to my hobby? Well. As you know, logic is heartless: it does not care that you are hoping against hope that there is enough yarn to finish your project... My lab scale shows that the completed half of the stole weighs 60 grams, and that I have 37 grams of yarn remaining. Argh!
I have a plan though...
Next up: half of a pair of socks!

Still no knitting...

2008-04-01T12:15:00.004-04:00

Yahaira's second book, Pure Knits, now has a cover! Quite a few knit bloggers have a pattern in here (myself included!) , and I'm sure you'll have a blast recognizing everyone. The concept of the book was to have only white designs, to emphasize stitch patterns and shaping. I spent a good portion of my summer knitting an alpaca cardigan and trying not to sweat on it. The book should be out in the Fall.

By the way: I lied in my title. There has been *some* knitting going on. Sock knitting, to be precise. I've finished (and worn) my pair of Pride Marigolds, and I've been working diligently on a pair of striped Charades with Kureyon sock yarn, on size 0 (ZERO) needles. Yeah, it's going to take a while...
I am deliberately not showing you any pictures, because, people, I am living the life: I just bought a new camera! You might say this is essential for a knit blogger, but it still feels like an extravagance to me...
My previous camera, a Nikon CoolPix 5200, had lived its life to the fullest. Not that I am an accomplished photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but even I was getting frustrated by its limitations (the least of which was a battery cover held together by tape). A seed was planted after reading Claudia's post about getting a new camera.
After a little internet search, I settled on the Canon PowerShot A 590 IS, mainly because it has both manual and automatic settings, lots of megapixels, a good zoom, and is cute. And it costs only $150. Sweet!
Pictures soon...

Craft Room- part 2

2008-03-28T13:27:00.003-04:00

Well, I was going to wait until the craft room was perfectly set up to show it to you. Do you know how long it takes to unpack and reorganize boxes and boxes of crafty stuff? No, actually, take that number and double it! The painting didn't take too long:

Just 2 coats and only one wall.
OK, fine, I'll show you what the craft room looks like now:

My favorite part might just be the Ikea Asker rail, with shelf and hooks that I strategically put above the desk, easily within arm's reach when seated. As you can see, things are still thrown about. But I'm keeping the Echino Honeybee fabric right there where I can see it: it's being discontinued! (Obviously, since it is now precious, I want to see it all the time). It seems that the designer, Etsuko Furuya, has moved on to a new collection. I suppose it was time, and I'll admit that I like the polka dot panthers, but: no more honeybees? *pout*
Speaking of new fabrics, have you seen Joel Dewberry's new collection? I can't decide which one I want to buy first when it comes out in May! Perhaps the gray and yellow flowers, they remind me of Olga.

(In case you were wondering: nope, no knitting content. Decorating has sapped my knitting mojo).

my very own craft room!

2008-03-05T14:27:00.004-05:00

I have a craft room! I've been plotting the decor for a little while, and finally decided to paint it blue.

It occurs to me that I've seen enough pictures of blue craft rooms to subliminally absorb it as my own original idea... Have I been brainwashed into painting my craft room blue? Or do I just have my finger on the pulse? After all, that's how I got back into knitting in 2001: articles sprinkled about in mainstream media, coupled with a few ads for yarn stores made me think *lightbulb* "I know! I'll pick up knitting again!". It wasn't until later that I realized that I was one of many.
Here are a few craft rooms that I find particularly drool-worthy: Posie Gets Cozy has the awesomest 1950's chrome kitchen table and the cutest, most precious decor, Pie Knits picked a very vivid color, and Soule Mama has an enviable fabric stash and 3 (three!) tables.

My new craft room seems pretty big to me (11 x 8.5) and has a very tall window. Since I don't want to overwhelm the room with a too strong blue color (would it feel like being inside an ice cube?), I've decided to limit myself to one wall. I've picked Benjamin Moore's "Fairy Tale Blue". While I'm at it, I might as well paint my boring Ikea table to match! (In a previous life, it was orange, to brighten up a dark and dreary living room). I don't want it to be too mitchy matchy, so I got the same color as the wall, but a little bit lighter, a color that is named "Serenity". Hopefully the paint colors' names will have an influence on my crafting... Not much serenity in the craft room right now, and if this is a fairy tale, then I'm waiting for my fairy godmother to wave her wand and transform it into something more organized.

In a major Ikea binge, I purchased two glass cabinets (which make the craft room look like a yarn store--a very good thing in my book) and a clever organizational system which allows me to hang things on the wall (Asker). I also want to create an inspiration board.
To be continued...

Pride!

2008-02-22T17:56:00.003-05:00

After struggling to force the stripes of the Vesper sock yarn to match Pam's Marigold pattern, I gave up. But I got back in the saddle again, this time using Regia's sock yarn in Fun Nation. I met Pam in real life (love it when that happens!) and she dubbed them "Pride Marigolds". Word. And then we went out to dinner with Minty and had my favorite, Nutella. Mmmmmm...
I finished one sock pretty quickly:

And started the second one right away. In fact, I turned the heel at a taping of the Martha Stewart show. It's an episode about knitting, and it will air today, Monday, February 25th. I hope there's an audience shot where you can see me, Wanett (who invited me and got me a ticket!) and Tammi.

(I modified the Lush and Lacy pattern so much that the fronts don't match the back... The knitting is fast, but the calculating, not so much! Socks are so much easier).

Lush and ... Honeybee?

2008-02-12T21:53:00.004-05:00

I swooned when I saw Gloriana's Lush and Lacy cardi and immediately bought the pattern from SweaterBabe.com. Well, ok, I might've checked out a few versions on Ravelry first... The pattern is knitted using Classic Elite Lush, an angora blend, but suggests Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran as a substitute. As it so happens (!), I have 9 balls of that very yarn that I bought at 50% off from The Point a while ago. In fact, I remember that then-pregnant Steph bought a few balls in a pink color because she knew she was having a girl. Her little Peanut is about to turn one, so that gives you an idea of how long the yarn has been in my stash... (Not long, not long at all).

After swatching, I realized that I was going to have to recalculate a few things. Not a big issue, but while I was at it... I'm not a big fan of the diamond lace pattern. After going through my Barbara Walker stitch pattern books, my eye fell on something familiar: the honeybee pattern that Schrodinger used for the Honeybee socks! My jaw dropped when she casually took those out of her knitting bag and I just could not figure out how she made that intricate bee. Next thing you know:

Check out the Bees:

I think they look like hearts! Very a propos for today ;)

Mmmm, chocolate...

2008-02-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

These socks have been the perfect beat-the-winter-doldrums project. Sandra's Charades pattern is elegant (not fussy) and easy to memorize (a must!). Throw in some addicting self-striping sock yarn (Yarntini's Chocolatini) and voila... comfy and cute socks!

Deets:
Well, I changed a few things from the pattern. Toe up, figure 8 cast-on, 64 st, US 1 Addis (2.5mm), magic loop, Misocrafty's no-holes short row heel (my fave!) and K2P2 ribbing at the top.
Sandra recently had a poll about matching/not matching self striping socks. Now, not only is the mere *thought* of non-matching socks making me hyperventilate, but I'm always nervous about the heel. You can be churning out perfect little stripes on the foot, and then you get to the heel. Oh heel! You can throw everything out of whack! Well, a minor miracle happened with these socks. Observe:

I can guarantee that each sock was made from one continuous strand of yarn. After I worked the heel, the yarn magically continued to stripe perfectly.

I love everything about these socks except the photoshoot. My boyfriend has been avoiding my camera, and I had about 30 seconds to take these pictures. Behold the action shot:

On the plus side, he is wearing them at work today!

Awwww!

2008-01-24T14:18:00.000-05:00

I've just been awarded a "You Make My Day" award by the Plucky Knitter! Aww, Sarah, you're making me blush...

Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.

This is going to be tough, as I read .... (checking Bloglines...): 147 blogs!
1.I'm going to cheat a little and name the Spiders' homepage. That one site will give you access to 21 blogs :)
2. Yai Ann. Rangsiwan is a multi tasking expert: she can knit! She can sew! She can cook! In fact, she started Defiantly Domestic along with Yahaira and Leah, a blog in which all 3 authors follow the same recipe. Brilliant idea! Rangsiwan has a pretty cool thigh high sock pattern in Sensual Knits. So avant garde in fact, that during the photoshoot, they were mistakenly worn as slouchy, below-the-knee socks. I can assure you that once stretched, the lace pattern is very nice.
3. The ADD knitter. Witty and clever, Heather brings a smile to my face every time she posts! She introduced me to the term "chocqua"--the baby that results from the marriage of brown and blue. As soon as I showed off my new vocabulary word, my boyfriend put in a request for a chocqua quilt. Thanks Heather.
4. No More Sweaters. Faith can find the best links! Sometimes, she links to something that I've already read, and then I feel like I'm in the know. Ha!
5. Flint Knits. I think we have all read Pam's post about "the" Drops cardi. Then, we collectively drooled and 1,407 of us added it to our Ravelry queue. Also? She has kick ass tattoos.
6. Whispering Pine. Blossom makes everything look so easy...
7. Slipped Stitch. I "met" Alice when she was my secret pal, and I haven't stopped reading her since.
8. The Plucky Knitter. She put me on her list, and I'm putting her on mine. Is that allowed? Her hand dyed yarn makes me drool.
9. Six and a half stitches. Where, oh, where does she get her amazing japanese fabrics? I strive to have her sense of style: it is always clean, pure and refreshing. And I wish I had thought of it first.
10. Say What? Emily's quickie posts never fail to either crack me up or make me think.

And now, I'm all linked out. Phew!

No Resolutions.

2008-01-10T12:41:00.000-05:00

Last year, I joined Wendy's Knit From Your Stash 2007 endeavor. I think I did well, mostly thanks to the exceptions to the no-buying-yarn rule (phew!). For example, you were allowed to buy yarn if the project was a gift, and you were allowed to purchase unlimited amounts of sock yarn. Also, Knit From Your Stash only lasted from January until September 30th, 2007. Just in time for Rhinebeck! I used my Get Out of Jail Free card to purchase 20 balls of lovely olive colored Rowan's All Seasons Cotton from Yai Ann, and then completely broke down at Habu and made unallowed purchases, but, give me break, that was on August 21st!

Here is a tally of what I knit in 2007 and a look at where the yarn came from:

6 baby items:

-2 group blankets with new yarn (allowed!)
-3 baby sweaters: EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket *stash yarn*, EZ's February sweater *stash yarn* and EZ's Baby Bog (new yarn, allowed).
- 1 baby hat, *stash yarn*

2 lace shawls: (Shetland Triangle and the Blumengruss shawl) both with *stash yarn*
4 pairs of socks: Embossed Leaves socks with *stash yarn*, the other 3 (stockinette knee highs, Hederas and Socks for Veronik) with new yarn, but that's allowed!
2 cardigans: Agnes with a gift certificate I received from the Spiders for my birthday (allowed!) and VK's Ruffled Jacket made with new yarn purchased 10 days before the end of Knit From Your Stash...
1 scarf: new yarn, but was a gift (and my own design), so it was allowed.
4 sewn dresses: all new fabric, but there were no rules about buying fabric, so there!

I haven't really made any resolutions for 2008, and look what happened:
Project # 1: Charade socks for my boyfriend, using Yarntini's Chocolatini colorway (purchased from the Plucky Knitter)

Project #2: A scarf for me, using Fable HandKnits's delicious baby alpaca (left over from my Sensual Knits 2 project) and a random mohair/silk blend from the stash (purchased at Yarnivore way back when!). My own design, using the two color star stitch. Unblocked and looks like crap here...

Project #3: Marigold socks, by Pamela of FlintKnits, using Vesper Sock yarn in Strange Little Mama (purchased for me by Lisa, who selflessly hit the reload button on the Vesper Etsy site until this colorway came up). Since Pamela's lace pattern is worked over 7 rows and the Vesper stripes are 5 rows, I had to fudge a little.

I made a garter heel, inspired by Gleek. She used this heel quite some time ago (October 2006!), but I had it squirreled away in my mind and knew I would use it eventually. Especially since the heels of my other pair of Vesper socks wore right through. I think the garter heel will be sturdier.

Catching up.

2007-12-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

Lately, all my posts have been proudly displaying an FO. Well, I felt like posting more than once a month, so this time, you'll get to see some WIPs!

I started making the Socks for Veronik from the sold out IK Holiday issue. I felt like I had no choice, really, since they are almost named after me, and since the designer, Mona Schmidt and my sister share a name! I lusted after the STR in the color Brick, after seeing it at Rhinebeck, but the line was way too long, so I purchased it online. I immediately noticed that the yarn *might* be a little on the thick side for this pattern, but trudged along nonetheless. You know what happened next, right?

Yes, the socks are too wide... Luckily, a little stash diving unearthed some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the Purl custom color Sunshine Stripe. Perfect!
Oh, and the sock blockers? I got some for Marie for the Spider's party, but you know, if you pay for shipping, you might as well get more items, right? Right. The eBay vendor Chappy's Mom was fantastic.

I've also been working on Olga's cover jacket from Sensual Knits. I'm using DB Cashmerino Aran in the discontinued and awesome color 609 (a rusty, glowing orange), and recalculating for my gauge. See? I really do like knitting math!
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Check out the serious waist shaping!

At last, Some Knitting Math!

2007-12-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

Two years ago (January of 2006, to be exact), Marie of Brooklyn Handspun had a dyeing party. Everyone was dyeing sock yarn (after all, that is Marie's specialty!), but I dyed 4 balls of Misti Alpaca Sport Weight (bought at Little Knits because it was cleverly listed as a good substitute for whatever yarn is used for Evelyn Clark's Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style).

This Thanksgiving, I finally cast on! As with most triangular shawls, the beginning went by quickly (especially with my size 6/4 mm Lace Addis), and then time stood still...
Since I only had 4 hand dyed balls, I wanted to use every last yard I could on this project. This can mean only one thing: doing a little knitting math! If you know me at all, you'll know that I looove doing knitting math. (Ask the Spiders. They know).
The Shetland Triangle has a leaf motif. After the 1st repeat, you've knitted one leaf on each side of the center axis, or 2 leaves total. After the 2nd repeat, you've added 2 leaves to each side, or 4 leaves for that repeat. That makes a total of 6 leaves. After the 3rd repeat, you add 3 leaves to each side, or 6 leaves, for a grand total of 12 leaves. This adds up pretty quickly: after 8 repeats, you have 72 leaves total, after 14 repeats you've got 210 leaves!
It was easy to see where I'd joined ball #2, 3 and 4, and calculate how many yards were used to knit a specific number of leaves. For ex, one ball (146 yds) makes 72 leaves.
146/72= 2.03 yds of yarn is required to make one leaf.
Two balls (146 yds x 2= 292 yds) can make 132 leaves.
292/132= 2.21 yds makes one leaf.
I extrapolated, and realized that I would have enough yarn to knit 14 repeats and the edging and bind off row.

My Shetland Triangle cannot believe that 2007 is almost over! (MoMA calendar).

I heart leaves! I used a centered doubled decrease instead of the left leaning decrease, because I like symmetry. (Slip 2 tog, just like for a k2tog, k1, pass the 2 slipped over).

I like to toss this shawl around my neck (scarf-like!) and pair it with a black sparkly beret. Incidentally, I realize I've become a walking advertisement for Marie, as she spun this black alpaca for me!

And now, I must plot what I can make from the book that I received from Katie at the Spider's Holiday Party! She also gave me some sparkling rose, but here's what happened to it, and here was my reaction upon opening this fantastic gift. Thanks Katie :)

It's the little things that count.

2007-12-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

It's strange, once I had a good handle on knitting, the only things I wanted to knit were full garments: sweater and cardigans. I figured that once you've mastered the many steps involved in making a sweater with your own two hands, shouldn't you knit a bunch of them?
Today, there are so many patterns that I want to knit that I sometimes limit myself to smaller knitted items, like socks, mittens and scarves. Fortunately, there are enough smaller item patterns out there to keep me busy for a few years. (Did you see Kate Gilbert's leafy fair isle mittens, Wintergreen?)

This summer, my mom looked through my sock yarn stash , and selected some orange Artyarn Ultra Merino 4 and Mona Schmidt's Embossed Leaves socks pattern. (I knew this pattern was popular, but according to Ravelry, 695 knitters have made these socks. Damn). While knitting the first sock, my mind was racing ahead to how I could tweak this pattern. You know, to avoid Second Sock Syndrome? Now, this pattern is pretty close to perfect, so there's very little wiggle room. BUT! I developed an idea... In the original pattern, which is knitted from the cuff down to the toe, the leaves are pointing down. I decided to knit the second sock in the opposite direction, that is; from the toe up. It turns out that I'm not that clever, because now the pattern doesn't flow as well from the cuff into the lace pattern, and from the lace pattern into the toe... But I did learn to work a toe up gusset heel, based on the Widdershins pattern!

View of the toe-up gusset:

Head on view of the toe:

Patterns specs:
Yarn: Artyarns Ultra Merino 4, purchased on sale at the Point.
Needles: Crystal Palace US 1 needles, 8" length. After this pair of socks, I decided to try knitting with 6" long dpns. I poked myself way too many times with the longer ones.
Mods: I couldn't figure out how to work a matching toe for the toe-up sock, so I cast on provisionally, knit the whole sock, then picked up the live stitches and worked the 2nd toe in the same way as the first.

The scarf recipient has been wearing his scarf for a few weeks now, and I managed to sneak a little photoshoot on a sunny, cold day.

I am somewhat frustrated by the result. I thought I was *so* clever with my 3 flanking garter stitches, but a mere 3 stitches is not enough to prevent the dreaded Scarf Curl. I uncurled it for this photo, but do not be fooled... *sigh*
This scarf is super duper long, as long as the recipient is tall-- 6'1"! But Cashmerino s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s. I'll let you know how big this ones gets by the end of winter.

Pattern specs:
Yarn: 6 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in ... turquoise-ish blue?
Needles: Addi US 7, 24" long.
Cables: lifted from a stitch pattern book. They seem very similar to the cables in the Bubble Cable Dolman in this winter's IK. My finger's on the pulse!
Pattern design: improvised by me!

Sensual Knits is out!

2007-11-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

Look what came out early! The release date for Sensual Knits was supposed to be January 2008, but many Barnes & Noble stores shelved them right before Thanksgiving. Heather, the ADD knitter, was the first to call this to my attention. Not only that, but she actually went out and bought me a copy which she dropped off in Brooklyn this weekend. Wow. Thanks Heather!

I have 2 designs in this book. Joie de Vivre has been knitted 3 times. Yup, THREE times. The first was a prototype for myself, in Karabella Margritte that I dyed purple. I submitted this design for publication, but was asked to reknit it with longer sleeves. Marie of Brooklyn Handspun donated and dyed some marvelous wool/silk blend yarn in a lovely icy shade of blue, and Jamie Cary took quite a few glamorous photos (Flickr set here).

When Yahaira saw me wearing this cardigan last November at a knit blogger meet-up organized by Rangsiwan, she expressed an interest in it, but I had promised it to another publication. Well, that deal fell through, so Yahaira snapped it up. But not before she gave me some red bamboo yarn (similar to this) and asked me to ditch the zipper. I loved working with bamboo yarn! It's so fluid and shiny and soft... The overall effect is very kimono-like, which is completely different from the wool/silk version. I can't decide which one I like best.

The other design, Tranparencies, was knit in silk/mohair yarn. The sample was made with Shibui Knit's Silk Cloud (color Rust), and I'm currently re-knitting it for my aunt in Habu's Silk/Mohair (I was totally tricked into it! That'll teach me to show off...).

There are so many designs in there that I want to cast on for right now! Olga's cover jacket is definitely on my list.

Bravo Yahaira! The publishers were so impressed with her work that they asked her to prepare a second book. And I have another design in there :)

Paint the Town Red!

2007-11-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else have a lag between the completion of a project and the photoshoot/post? It just takes me so long to get a photoshoot idea and then to find time when it's actually daylight out. I find it very frustrating.
And that's why I pestered my roommate-with-a-fantastic-camera! She's got the fancy camera, a little bit of time, and her tried-and-true backdrop (aka our front stoop).

Pattern specs:
Pattern: Ruffled Jacket (#44), by James Coviello, from the Fall 2007 Vogue Knitting magazine.

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted weight, purchased 7 skeins in color American Beauty (#502) from More Than Yarn ($10.40 a skein!), but I used only 5 skeins (1,080 yds total). That means that for $73, I got a sweater *plus*: opera-length armwarmers (ahem, not photographed), and (soon) a Rem Koolhaas hat. Pretty sweet.
Now, you might think that buying an additional 2 skeins (432 yds) is a little bit of overkill. I have 3 excuses to offer you: 1. The pattern instructs you to use 8 balls of GGH Soft Kid (1,208 yds) and 7 balls of GGH Bel Air (994 yds). Why the discrepancy? Well, I sent an email to VK, and was told:"Thanks for writing. The yarn amounts are correct, as backward as it seems. (Soft Kid) is much finer, and takes more yarn to go inch for inch with the thicker (Bel Air)". I really couldn't wrap my brain around this concept, but thought it wise to get *at least* 1,208 yds of substituted yarn. 2. Have you ever purchased too little yarn for a project and then been unable to find the same dyelot? Oh, it makes me hyperventilate just thinking about it. Six skeins of Malabrigo would be 1,296 yds, but really, that's a mere 100 yds more than the recommended amount, and who knows what disasters could happen? 3. This yarn was on sale. The recommended yarns would have cost me $170, so I saved $100! And anyway, if I have a lot of yarn left over, surely the Spiders will buy it off of me.

Buttons: 3 big ass, bright red plastic buttons, purchased from The Point.

Needles: Although I thought that I owned Addis in every size known to man (or, in this case, knitter), it turns out that I did not have the ones that I needed. This is where Jess steps in and hands over US 9 (5.5 mm) 32" long Addis. Phew! The recommended needle size was US 10.5 (6.5 mm), but I got gauge with Malabrigo on 9s, so 9 it was.

Mods: Oh boy. Lots.
1. The back cable is one of the major selling points of this pattern.

Lovely right? Well, the chart is wrong! I'm sure it's just a typo, but I think at this point VK was sick of answering my emails, and there's no errata. I posted the corrections on Ravelry.

2. If you look closely at the picture in the magazine the stitches on the sleeve seem to be pulled really taut in the shoulder area. It turns out that the sleeve cap is super narrow due to *double* decreases on each side. This decreases 4 sts per row instead of the usual 2 sts, which creates an abrupt slant. Perhaps there's a logic behind this, but in the end, these sleeve caps simply didn't fit, so I unpicked my seaming, ripped out the sleeve caps and improvised.

3. Seaming. There are miles of seaming with this cardie, but no tips on seaming. Now, I know how to seam, so this didn't appear to be a problem. Not a problem that is, until I tried on my completed cardie, and saw the ruffled edges droop outwards. This gave an overall wilting feeling to the piece and made the V neck overly wide. At that point, I discovered that Anthropologie sells this sweater. Yup, you read that right. For $368, this cardie could be yours! (For $228, you can get the Twinkle sweater that was on the cover of VK last winter). After zooming in, I noticed that the Bell ruffle is seamed "backwards", ie so that the bulk of the seam is facing the outside, not hidden on the inside as seams usually are. This neat little trick forms a pretty braided edge and forces the ruffle towards you instead of away from you!

Verdict: I love the girliness of this pattern! The plunging V neck! The elaborate cables! The ruffled edge! *swoon* Yes, there were plenty of mods but really, you can figure out the chart typo after row 2, and re-knitting the sleeve caps took a few minutes with this bulky yarn. It took me a little over 2 weeks to knit this cardigan! And Malabrigo is the softest, dreamiest yarn a knitter could want (but I'll pretend that I don't notice the slightest bit of pilling on the sleeves after 2 weeks of wear).

Mint Mojito Hederas

2007-10-29T15:49:00.000-04:00

One of my summer subway/lunchtime knitting projects has been Hedera socks, using the second installment of the Yarntini Sock Club, a variegated sock yarn made of 50% tencel and 50% superwash wool in the colorway Mint Mojito. This blend was just the thing for summer knitting. These socks have been completed for a little while, but had been waiting for the perfect photo op: an apple orchard near Rhinebeck!
I chose the Hedera pattern after drooling over Jessica's nearly identical socks: they are lacey, but there's only 2 lace rows, and they are easily memorizable (full disclosure: I still screwed them up here and there and had to rip back. *sigh*).

I used size 1 Crystal Palace needles, the only dpns that don't break. Seriously, I've broken all the wood dpns I've ever used, but bamboo rocks! And I'm afraid that with metal dpns, the needles would just glide out and be scattered all over the subway. Somehow, somewhere, I got tired of magic loop...

Next up: a completed Ruffled Jacket, with matching armwarmers (because the elbow-length sleeves left my forearms cold).

Obligatory Rhinebeck Post

2007-10-24T13:18:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but I love reading about Rhinebeck over and over. I'm just so curious to find out what treasures knitbloggers have discovered, and I never tire of sheep, alpaca, llama and angora bunny photos.
Like this:

It's a snobby polka dot llama! It's tough to look snooty when your name is Cookie Dough, but if anyone can do it, this llama can.

I had a great time this year, and forced myself to do more than just shop. Because after a while, all the undyed farm wool looks the same from one booth to the next...

Here's what stood out for me:
Hanging out with Brainylady Alison, sheep shearing (check out my slide show), the Windy Valley Muskox stand (specifically this lace pattern that was *sob* sold out), Green Mountain Spinnery's New Mexico Organic yarn (which has a thumbs up review on Knitter's Review--so I got 8 skeins), eating apple crip, "french" artichokes (even though I have no clue what makes them french) and lamb kebabs, sheep dog trials, dogs catching frisbees, and petting these cashmere goats.

The drive on the Taconic parkway saturday morning was beautiful and relaxing:

The ride back on sunday evening? Not so much...

Yep, bumper to bumper traffic all the way to NYC... Good thing a knitter is never bored (unfortunately, the same cannot be said for drivers). During the 85 mile trip from New Paltz which took 3.5 hours, I finished one Embossed Leaves sock! Oh, and check out the cube bag I bought a while back from Cathy (aka Schrodinger). She sold the Spiders her first batch of cubes before putting them up on her Etsy store. We unanimously adored them, and sure enough, they've been selling out pretty quickly :)

Next up: an FO photoshoot in an apple orchard.

Wow, you really like orange!

2007-10-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

If you can believe it, this has been the very first contest on my blog. I was surprised and happy to see my comment box explode! I've discovered quite a few new blogs too, which is always a blast. So thanks to all my readers who have delurked to participate!

And the winner is.....

----drumroll---

Emma, from StitchnSue!

Emma suggested using my Fuzzy Navel colored yarn to make Drunken Bees, a pattern by DomestiCat. This brilliant idea really cracked me up. Bees getting drunk on Fuzzy navels! Hee hee! Emma, this 260 yds skein of merino sport weight sock yarn with matching lip gloss will be on its way to you shortly.

The pattern that was on everyone's mind though (mine too), is Flint Knits' Marigold (<--pdf link). Am I the only one who thinks that it looks even better in self-striping yarn? (Check out Katie's version and Sandra's if you're not convinced). The only thing keeping me from casting on right away is the difficult problem of choosing the perfect yarn. I have a choice of Vesper's Strange Little Mama, Yarntini's Chocolatini and Mimosa...

By the way, like most of the east coast, I went to Rhinebeck this weekend!
Pictures and stories for the next post.

Happy blogiversary to me!

2007-10-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

ETA: Contest is now closed! Thanks for participating!

Happy blogiversary to me
Happy blogiversary to me
Happy blogiversary to meeee-eeee
Happy blogiversary to me!
2 years!

In order to celebrate, I'm having a little give-away. This traffic-cone orange yarn is the third installment of the Yarntini sock club from PureKnits. Whoever finds a fitting project for this unusually bright color (called Fuzzy Navel) wins the skein! There's also Yarntini Fuzzy Navel lip gloss!

Yep, there's knitting going on...

2007-10-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

All that sewing was a blast! I made all sorts of mistakes, I learned lots of new techniques and I even made a few wearable dresses. Along the way, I've somehow amassed a sewing pattern and fabric stash. (Did you know that Simplicity sells Built by Wendy patterns on sale and with free shipping?! Did you know that Purl Patchwork has beautiful fabrics? Oh wait, you knew that).

But now that it's Fall, I'm back to knitting. And I finally found the Perfect Fall Pattern: James Coviello's Ruffled Jacket #44 from this Fall's Vogue Knitting. It's made in heavy worsted yarn, so it's nice and warm, but it has very feminine details like cute cables and frilly edges. I swatched with Malabrigo (oh, Malabrigo!), and wouldn't you know, I got gauge! Well, almost... After an exhaustive online search for 7 skeins in the same dye lot (apparently I am not alone in my love of Malabrigo, 1426 Ravelers have stashed it), I finally made my purchase (in the color American Beauty) from More Than Yarn. I had never heard of them, and was hesitant to hand over a chunk of cash to an unknown company. They totally came through: not only is most of their stock on sale, but they also included a nail file with sheep printed on it, and teeny tiny knitting needles. Oh, and since they're in Jersey, I got my package in 2 days. (My only gripe is that my Addi lace needles were shipped separately and have disappeared, but they are responding to my emails).

At 15 st per 4", I've whizzed through the sleeves, the back and one front. Unfortunately, this cardi has not one, but TWO edges. Sure, casting on 300+ stitches will not be fun, but I've convinced myself that it will be worth it. Right? Right. --Please remind me in about a week when I'm moaning and groaning about it.--
What's that? You want to see more of the back cables? It's true that you can barely see them in the postage stamp sized photo in VK... And that the chart in the magazine is wrong.

(If this picture is not enough, you can check out the other Ruffled Jackets on Ravelry).

Finally, to prove that it's Fall (even though it's ~80 F), I baked a cake. Not just any cake, a Fig & Plum cake! I drooled when I saw the ADD knitter's pictures, so when my friend Liisa gave me figs from her fig tree (A fig tree! In NYC!), there was only one thing to do. My roommate and the blue scarf recipient approved.

The last summer dress.

2007-10-02T12:57:00.001-04:00

My goal this summer has been to make 3 dresses for myself. After the success of my Black Heart dress and the Fishies dress, I thought I had gotten the hang of this summer dress thing. Well. That was until I decided to make the very popular Butterick Misses' Wrap Dress. Others have made very cute versions of this dress, so I thought I was on solid ground.

Pattern specs:
Pattern: Butterick 4790, reissue of a vintage pattern. Purchased at Sav-A-Thon in Brooklyn.
Fabric: red with orange polka dots (4 yds) and solid orange (1 yd), purchased during a massive fabric binge at Purl Patchwork.
Notions: Lots and lots of red bias tape (4 or 5 yds), purchased in the garment district. No zipper!
Notes: I made no mods to this pattern, and the fit is terrible. The construction of this dress is such that I'm not sure how to fix it. It is too big in the bust, waist and neckline. The heavy full skirt pulls on the shoulder seam. It is awkward to wear 2 half skirts. The orange underskirt has a tendency to scooch itself towards the front, and the 2 red fronts get blown back as you walk. I haven't flashed anyone though (but have gotten pretty close)!
I was so discouraged that I didn't go for a full photoshoot. This pic was taken at the Central Park lake, on a row boat. Do you remember the exchange that I had with my friend Sarah? I made her a dress, and she took me on a row boat. She even rowed the whole time!

The only thing about this dress that I'm happy about is the discovery of the hemmer foot on my sewing machine! If I'd chosen to hem by hand, I'd still be hemming this full skirt right now. I started this dress on tuesday night to wear to a date on wednesday night (Feist at the MacCarren Park Pool!), so thank you hemmer foot!

Next up: finished socks and a Fall sweater project...

Another summer dress...

2007-09-26T19:01:00.000-04:00

I had a choice, one thursday night in August, of either cleaning my room before my mom came to visit for the weekend, or break out the sewing machine.
Can you guess which one I chose?...After the success of my black heart dress, I bought enough fabric at Purl to make 3 more dresses this summer. On that particular thursday night, I remembered that I had this cute New Look pattern (I had seen Yai Ann's pin tucked top and want to give it a whirl) and even cuter fabric.
Anyway, it took me 7 hours, from 6pm until 1am to make this (not counting the one hour I spent on the phone with my friend Liisa, who has cast on for the Minimalist Cardigan and had a few questions).
Pattern specs:
Pattern: New Look 6239 view A, with belt.
Fabric: from Heather Ross' Lighting Bugs and Other Mysteries collection, "Goldfish". Check it out: all the goldfish have names! I have studied them closely and come to the conclusion that I cannot pick a favorite among them.(OK, fine, I love Malcolm, who dared to turn around and show his butt, and Bubbles's confused expression makes me giggle).
Mods: Why are sewing pattern sizes so baffling? I take my measurements, compare them with what's on the envelope, then deduce what size I'm supposed to make. So far, so good. And then the garment inevitably ends up huge! Why? Is it done on purpose? Do they add a lot of ease? Do they think that sewers will underestimate their measurements? Do they think that it's better to have a dress that's too big and that you can take in rather than a garment that is too small? I had to completely re-do the top orange part... Very annoying.
Check the pintucks! A little fiddly, but so worth it! First impression: Well, I must admit that once I finished the dress and tried it on, I panicked. You see, without the belt, it looks like an old-fashioned night gown (think Little House on the Prairie). Good thing my roommate Jess insisted I make the belt (I was ready to ditch the whole thing and go to bed). The finished dress, with belt, looks lovely, and has already gotten a lot of wear. Oh, and the Heather Ross fabric is fantastic: somehow it's a crisp cotton and it's soft, all at the same time. This dress is a winner!

And now that you're wondering whether I have crossed over to the sewing side... Well, I *did* buy a sewing-themed bag at Brooklyn Industries. But look! I still take my Misocrafty knitting pouch with me everywhere.

Blue and More Blue!

2007-09-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

A quick update before I show the 2 last dresses of the summer that I sewed at the very end of August...

One friday night at Spiders, I noticed that Schrodinger was knitting the most beautiful socks that I have ever seen. The pattern looked like butterflies, or chromosomes depending on the angle... I was smitten. She emailed me the pdf of the pattern (by the way, it's"Esther" by Stephanie van der Linden) that she found on a German Yahoo sock group (Sock-Creativ-List), and as soon as I bought sock yarn at Seaport yarn, I was off! The next thing you know, other Spiders had realized how lovely this pattern is, and a few cast on as well. I'm not sure who was first, but we sure jumped on that bandwagon.

OK, fine, this is a crappy picture of a sock on my arm, and you can't even see the butterflies very well. Let's say that I don't want a full reveal until I've finished at least one sock, ok?

Now, I'm still looking for a good Fall Sweater Project. You know what I mean: a good meaty project, with a complicated pattern and an all-encompassing "perfect yarn" search? I want to make Olga's jacket, from the cover of Sensual Knits, but the book is not out yet... I have a couple of design ideas, but they're not fully formed. What to do?... A scarf!

Here is my trick on designing a scarf: you find an awesome stitch pattern, and you add 3 stitches of garter stitch on either side. Voila! This stitch pattern is from one of the Harmony Guides (maybe this one?), and the yarn is the super soft Cashmerino Aran. I picked the shade to match the recipient's eye color! The pattern is easy to memorize and I've discovered that locking stitch markers make perfect cable needles. All in all, perfect subway knitting.

Fell Off the Yarn Diet Wagon

2007-08-21T14:07:00.000-04:00

Oops. Temptation was too strong...
I accompanied my roommate Jess to Habu, and managed to convince myself that she absolutely required my expert advice. As if Jess doesn't know anything about yarn...
I needed to buy mohair/silk yarn for a sweater that I'm making for my aunt (I boasted about one of my designs for Sensual Knits--out January 1008!-- and she paid me so many compliments that, the next thing you know, I'm knitting her a sweater. Yes, I get cajoled easily). As my aunt is paying for the yarn, that purchase is allowed according to the guidelines of Knit From Your Stash 2007.
And then ... I found some black tweed lace weight yarn on sale.
Tweed lace?! I've never seen such a thing! All of a sudden, I felt a competitive buying urge. I *had* to buy it before Brooklyn Tweed saw it! (Don't feel too bad for him though, there was a cone of similar yarn that I didn't buy, and I emailed him about it). Somehow I rationalized this purchase because my aunt was paying for it. It was a little gift from her (that she doesn't know about)! Right? But when I had to make my roommate promise she wouldn't blog about my purchases or tell the Spiders, I knew, deep down, that what I had done was wrong. Well, wrong in the sense that acquiring gorgeous yarn can be wrong. Which it's not! Right?

One week later, my friend Liisa decided to make the leap into sweater knitting. She's only knit more straightforward items such as squares for a blanket, a feather and fan scarf and a cape. Liisa has a tendency to improvise with any instructions, and when you're in the beginning stages of a craft, it can turn against you. (I found this out the hard way: the first 3 sweaters that I knitted were absolutely unwearable). For this project, she vowed to get the yarn called for in the pattern and stick to the instructions to the letter. After emailing back and forth, she selected the Minimalist Cardigan from this Fall's Interweave Knits. We went to Seaport Yarn this weekend to buy Lily Chin's Park Avenue yarn. Well, the next thing you know, I found some Louet sock yarn in the most unusual shade of blue, a vivid turquoise (destined to become Esther's socks<--Ravelry link. Cathy just sent me this amazing pattern!)

A lace yarn that I love and cannot find in any bricks and mortar store (Ornaghi Filati's Merino Oro). I've used this yarn for the Mystery Shawl 2, purchased at One Fine Yarn-- $16 for 1,300 yds! It is so soft...

and laceweight linen (surprisingly soft!) in an icy blue color...

I have no excuse whatsoever.

The Schaffer Post

2007-08-07T13:16:00.000-04:00

My friend Sarah Schaffer, who is not a girly girl, decided it was time to jump into this intriguing and oh-so-pretty world. Since she admired my black heart dress, I offered to sew her a summer dress, and she did not hesitate to say yes! After a long internet search for green polka dot fabrics, we shopped at Purl Patchwork on July 3rd, and came out with... brown fabric with light blue flowers. Yes, fashion works in mysterious ways.
Once I got home, I immediately washed, dried and ironed the fabric, then cut out the pieces and did some basic assembly. I knew from experience with this Simplicity 4170 pattern that both the bodice and the skirt would need to be pinned on her to ensure a perfect fit. (Our male friends were very curious about this process, but we told them this was a girls-only event. Sorry guys). On July 4th, Sarah came over to my new digs, we made a few adjustments, and voila! A dress in one evening and one afternoon! (The zipper is seriously wonky though, oops. Also, this dress fits Sarah in a completely different way than it fits me: the waist actually hits her waist, whereas I am apparently too tall and get an empire waist effect).
In exchange, Sarah will take me on a row boat in Central Park. We plan to take a day off of work, wear our dresses (and hats) and drift...
Sarah seems very happy with her new dress, don't you think?

It's even comfortable enough to take a nap in!

Next up was Sarah's husband Mark. Again, the Schaffers were so vocal in their admiration of something that I was making that I made one for them. (They are very clever). Here is Mark moping his brow with a Mason Dixon Warshrag during one of his shows at Arlene's Grocery. It was a rocking set and he made good use of the Warshrag! You can check him out in action in this brand new video (I was actually present at the shoot!).

All socks all the time!

2007-08-03T11:39:00.001-04:00

Although I feel like I'm more of a sweater or big project knitter, but I cannot resist the call of self-striping sock yarn...
I signed up (just in time!) for the Yarntini sock club, and drooled over the first shipment. As you might recall, I tried several stitch patterns until I finally came to my senses and decided to knit all stockinette.

(How do you like my new Ikea lockers?)

Specs:
Yarn: Yarntini self-striping yarn in Pure Breeze.
Needles: Addi size 1 (2.5 mm), 40" length, magic loop.
Pattern: As I was winding the yarn, I counted the number of white stripes: 28 total. Therefore, I planned on knitting 14 white stripes per sock, and to work them toe up to use this gorgeous yarn to the last drop. (Kaitlyn thinks I'm crazy, but really, it was the thing to do, no?).
I started off with a figure 8 cast-on. I love this cast-on: it's completely invisible and so neat! --When Grumperina raved on her blog about Judy's magic cast-on, I became very curious about this cast-on to beat all cast-ons. Not to mention jealous that someone knew a cast-on that was better than the one I knew. Turns out that they are one and the same! *Phew*--
Started with 16 st (8 on each side), increased to 54 for the foot. Misocrafty heel (and got NO HOLES for the first time ever). Once I got to the leg, I realized I had to fit in some increases to accommodate calves. So I threw in 2 increases at each dark blue stripe, for a total of 10 st increased.
I finished off with k1p1 ribbing, and bound off with a tubular bind off. Although it's the best bind-off for socks, it's quite tedious...
Another thing that's quite tedious? (You know this already). Taking pictures of your own legs. Here was my first attempt:

As soon as I was done with one pair of Yarntini socks, I only wanted to do one thing: make another pair! Good thing that I received the second Yarntini sock club installment, a variegated merino/tencel blend in "Mojito Mint". I decided that this was a perfect summer sock yarn, and that I needed an open, airy sock pattern. Hedera!
Here's what I have so far:

Why, yes, I *do* have a fire escape in my new apartment. Why do you ask?

Ah, Summertime...

2007-07-24T14:56:00.000-04:00

Wow, this summer is turning out to be epic! I've always cherished summertime, when you can *finally* stay outside and play all day long. Well, ok, maybe not all day long, as I do have a job...
So far, my weekends have been spent camping, gambling in Atlantic City, watching fireworks, sitting around bonfires chatting with friends until the wee hours of the night, and playing a cutthroat domino tournament every sunday at the Beer Garden. You can imagine how these activities have cut into my knitting time!
But fear not, I have still been crafting. And partying with crafters! (See how the partying gets in the way of crafting?). The Spiders inaugurated their first Annual BBQ Gala. Our rockin' hostess, Virginia, amazed us with her gigantic rooftop deck, bountiful food and provided us all with tiaras. See? (From left: Lisa, Marie, me and Katie).
The highlight of the evening was most definitely the game of Spiders Jeopardy that Virginia had prepared. Yes, you read that right: Spiders Jeopardy!! We created 2 teams: Team Awesome Kick Ass --seen below--

(from left: Abby's arm, Carrie, Sandra (who somehow managed to snag a sold out Ravelry tote), Jess K., Cathy and Steph)

and Team Tiara. Oops, no pic of Team Tiara.
The categories were: Yarnalicious, Super Star Spiders, Sweet Needles!, Know Your LYS, Rockin' Tha Skillz, and Bad Ass Bloggers.
Here are a few sample questions:

How many yards separate the Point from Brooklyn General? (If one were walking over the Brooklyn Bridge).
Name 3 materials that needles are made of.
Name 3 of Marie's colorways.
Name 3 employees at the Point.
What is the zip code of the Point?
What is the weirdest blog handle? (The judge, our newest member, Julia, agreed with Team Tiaras' answer: Craptina. Hee hee, we just had to poke fun at our hostess!).
What is the difference between a k2tog and an ssk?
What is the diameter of the world's largest hand-held knitting needles?
How many Spiders are there? (25!)
Where is the largest ball of yarn located?
How many Spiders live outside of the 5 boroughs? (And no, Jersey does not count as one of the NYC boroughs).
How do you pronounce this word: "meme"?
Which Spider was a high school physics student of the year?
Name the founding Spiders, in alphabetical order.
In one minute, name as many Spiders blog handles as you can.
Identify this fiber (it was a big blue ball of wool!).
How many Jaywalkers has Sandra knitted? (Even she didn't know: 10).
What size needles is Mr. Knit1 (pictured below) knitting with?

I picked Rockin' Tha Skillz for 400, and wouldn't you know, it was a lace question! It went something like this: "You cast on 15 st. On the next row, you slip 1, k3, yo, k2tog, k3, ssk, yo, k4. How many stitches remain on your needle?". I didn't even have to make Virginia repeat the question as I was keeping count, and yelled out "15!". Score 400 points for Team Awesome Kick Ass!
The final score was Team Awesome Kick Ass: 3,900 and Team Tiara: 3,300. Maybe next year, Tiaras...

Next up: Enough with the parties, show me some FOs! I've got Yarntini socks, another dress, a new pair of Yarntini socks in the works, a Mason Dixon washcloth hard at work moping a musician's brow at Arlene's Grocery and a super secret design for Yahaira.

Knitting in the New York Times!

2007-07-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

There's an article in today's New York Times about the resurgence of knitting and sewing your own stuff! Obviously, we've been doing this for a while, but it's nice to see it in print. Here's a link to the article (you must register, but it's free). Actually, if you don't want to register, here's my username and password: veronique9 and treschic. (Can you believe there were 8 other Veroniques before me?).

This article has lots of nice quotes!

Teva Durham is an unlikely idol, a soberly outfitted, plain-talking mother with a passion for quirky yarns. But to her fans, who snap up her how-to-knit books by the tens of thousands, Ms. Durham is the undisputed mistress of stitchery.

Formerly neglected domestic arts like knitting, quilting, sewing and embroidery are being eagerly embraced, especially by the young. Their passion kindled by the abundance of handcrafted looks on the runways, they are blowing the dust off these folksy skills and lending them the bright sheen of style.

“I do think the runways were inspired by people doing crafty things at home and by how inventive this generation is,” said Ruth Sullivan, an editor at Workman Publishing, which publishes large numbers of crafts books. She added that designers may also be looking at the Internet, where rafts of people are designing their own patterns and posting them on blogs.

The ardent pursuit of the needle arts has fueled a $1.07 billion industry, according to the National Needlework Association. That figure does not take into account mass merchants and chains. “This is no mom and pop retail phenomenon,” said Sherry Mulne, a marketing consultant for the association. “This is big business.”

Knitting note: Uh, yeah, I'm still in the process of taking pics of Agnes... And I finished the Yarntini socks in Pure Breeze from the first installment of the sock club! And I cast on with the second installment, Mint Mojito.

I'm rated G?!

2007-06-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

Damn, I thought I swore more than that! *pout*

I have finished Agnes (here's a sneak peek), and I will put up a full post about it, but I'm moving tomorrow! Only 5 blocks away, but I still have to pack and eventually unpack...

Oh, I finally met Olga (who designed the cardigan that's on the cover of the soon-to-be-released Sensual Knits), Connie (who has 2 designs in Sensual Knits, and one must-make-now design in the winter edition of a magazine we all love), and Vanessa (who takes the most gorgeous pictures of Habu yarn). Quite the knit blogger meetup!

Here we are, seconds before parting (aka the moment when it occurred to me to take a picture): Sandra, Melissa, Olga, Connie and Vanessa.

Finishing. Ugh.

2007-06-06T15:59:00.001-04:00

Why is finishing such a pain in the ass? Seaming Agnes took me several evenings, and even then I just could not get the sleeves to fit in perfectly. And I found one errant stitch at the end of a row that I'd forgotten. It was just there, live, hanging out. Oops! I just fudged it and sewed it into the seam. I'm guessing no one will notice that one of my fronts is one stitch off. But I'm wondering how this happened... Huh.
Then I spent an evening figuring out how to work a french knot, only to decide that they are too bulky. I'm doing just a plain knot now. After working about 10 of them, I'm already bored... Only ~100 to go...
Oh, and the collar? Also boring and tedious... I anticipate that sewing buttons will be just as exciting.

What? Who said I had an obligation to be nice all the time?!
*sigh*
All right, fine, how's this?
To console myself, I bought the coolest necklace on Etsy:
The vendor's name is KirinCo (a k a Lara Cameron), and the necklace is Blue Dot necklace - red wire. Although I bought jewelry, I actually drooled over her hand screened fabrics for quite a while. I hesitated, and now most of them are gone!

Oh, and I loooove all the hand carved wood earrings by Orno (a k a Carla Smiley).
Somehow, Etsy has gotten so big that it's frustrating. I mean, I can surf for an hour and it's hit and miss. What are you favorite vendors?

Non-knitting FOs!

2007-05-30T23:06:00.000-04:00

I finished the Simplicity 4170 dress!

(I had a very hard time taking pictures with a self-timer today. Either I cut my head off or my head's in the pic, but everything's blurry. And I wanted to show off my new Vidal Sassoon haircut!).
The dress was a bit of an adventure. I was between sizes, so I cut pieces for the larger size, assembled everything, tried it on and... it didn't fit right. Good thing Katy was there to give me tips. The next day, I took all the pieces apart and reassembled them. Kind of scary when you're not quite sure what you're doing. But it now fits perfectly. *phew*
Although it took just 3-4 evenings to make, I don't think it will replace knitting for me. Too stressful!
Oh, what's that? You noticed I'm wearing a new bracelet?

This bracelet was a birthday gift from my aunt Tina and my uncle Jeff. I made a little list on my Hintbug page (found through Jess), and they picked my favorite item! I'm thinking that it's so geeky it's cool?
PS: Agnes is nearing completion. But now that I've shown you one front and one sleeve, the other front and sleeve won't seem so exciting... You'll have to wait for the big reveal!

Chugging Along...

2007-05-21T13:04:00.000-04:00

Yup, I'm just chugging right along, nothing new, nothing exciting... This is a sleeve, and, as per my calculations, once I am done with this sleeve, I will have completed 2/3rd of the Agnes cardigan (from Rowan 35)!

I *just* noticed that Agnes matches the Alexander Henry fabric (Heart to Heart) I bought recently... Just love those black hearts! I plan on making this dress:
Now, I found all sorts of summery dress patterns on SewingPatterns.com (there's 10 that I like...), but I bought this one because you can download the pattern and *immediately* print it out! As I am of the impatient sort, I got a special thrill out of printing out 40 pages and taping them all together. Yes, it takes a while to do that, and to cut out the pattern pieces. But still, you can't beat the sense of instant gratification!
While I was at it, I also downloaded and printed a free Burda Styles dress pattern.

Edited to Add: Did you see MichelleKnits on page 26 of the latest Adorn?! Eeeeee! Congrats Michelle!

Knitting guesstimates

2007-05-16T09:13:00.000-04:00

The main complaint I hear from non-knitters about why they don't want to knit an entire sweater is that it "takes too long". Every single time I show off an FO to a non-knitting friend, the first question out of their mouth is "how long did it take you to make that?!". My answer (uh, I dunno, about a week? a month?) never really satisfies them... If I go into details, explaining that I usually juggle several projects at once, they just seem confused.

However, it is crucial for me to be able to guesstimate how far along I am on a project. I cannot predict the time it will take, but I must calculate how much knitting I've completed and have much knitting I have ahead of me. I've got to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
So, here are my guesstimates:
I postulate that a sweater or cardigan is made up of 6 equally sized rectangles (or units).
1 sleeve= 1 unit
1 back or 1 front= 2 units

A cardigan is made up of:
2 sleeves= 2 units
2 half-fronts= 2 units
1 back= 2 units
2+2+2= 6!
So if you've knitted, say, the right front (1 unit) and the back (2 units) of a cardigan, you're half-way done! (3 out of 6 units).
At this point, you can check whether your half-completed cardie goes well with your summer wardrobe.

It does!

For socks, I assume that the foot is longer than the leg. The question is: how much longer? Not really twice as long.... I guesstimate that if the foot is 2 units long, then the leg is 3 units long. That's 5 units per sock, or 10 units total for a pair of socks. So if you're working toe-up socks and you've just turned the heel, you've done 2 out of 10 units, of 20% (or 1/5th).

Check out my Misocrafty heel. I was ready to abandon the short row heel because of the inevitability of holes, but various Spiders have raved about Misocrafty's tutorial. The title of the tutorial, "How to Knit a Short Row Heel or Toe Without Holes" does not lie.

Ouch!

2007-05-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

Agnes is progressing, although I suddenly remember how much knitting with cotton hurts my hands. Especially moss stitch, because I have to tug each stitch tight. (Yes, I could go down a needle size but: a. I'm already knitting with 3s, and b. the row gauge would then be off). Good thing I started with a half-front and not the back!

I did make a few minor changes... After knitting the moss stitch panel, I realized that I hadn't been instructed to slip the first st, so that the edge where the buttonholes will be looked bumpy and lumpy. Ugh!
I had to rip...

And re-knit:

Ah, much better! I was so happy at how well this half-front turned out that I decided to work the back. All I can say is: ouch!! My hands are killing me! I know that Katy understands what I'm talking about.

I've also been playing around with my Yarntini sock club yarn...
I started with 60 st, and grand plans to work the Mermaid pattern from the book we received with the yarn. Well, although the Mermaid sock in the book is worked in winding k2 p2 rib both on the top *and* the bottom part of the foot, I decided to work the bottom part of the foot in stockinette. Who wants ribbing under their foot? Did I notice that the pattern biased? Yes, but I didn't think it was that important. Rip. Then I decided to work k3 p1 ribbing. Oops, 60 st is too many. Rip. So I worked k3 p1 ribbing on 56 st. Didn't like the look of that ribbing. Rip. Then I tried k2 p2 ribbing, but not only was 56 st still too big, it turns out that I don't like the look of ribbing with self-striping yarn. Rip. Finally, *finally*, I settled for plain stockinette on 54 st.
Here's a visual summary of my Yarntini misadventures:

Good thing that this yarn is a joy to knit with!

Yay for May!

2007-05-05T13:24:00.000-04:00

There are two important events in May: it's my birthday and the weather finally starts getting nice:) And, this year, the arrival of my first Yarntini sock club package made it even better.
Without further ado:
A Misocrafty pouch in one of my favorite Amy Butler prints, and self-striping Yarntini yarn in "Pure Breeze Stripe".
Blue! I can't seem to get away from this lovely color! I guess there are some things you just shouldn't fight...
I love this Misocrafty pouch! And check out a new detail: a tab. My previous pouch sadly lacked one, and I boldly emailed Joelene. And the next thing you know, voila!, a tab. I just love crafters.

But check out the other goodies:

Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet-- Six Exceptional Sock Patterns for Printed Yarns

Pure Breeze Lip Balm by Yarntini

Stitch markers by sarkasmo.etsy.com

and a little sample of Soak in Citrus.

I immediately wound the yarn and started a toe-up sock. Thanks to Yahaira, creator of Pureknits for putting together such a great sock club.

But the fun doesn't stop there! I received a birthday gift certificate to Brooklyn General from the very generous Spiders. As a coincidence, we happened to meet up at Brooklyn General, so I had to spend it... I got 11 balls of Rowan's Cotton Glace in a soothing, summery shade of pink (Peony). I already cast on for Agnes, from Rowan 35. This mag came out in 2004 (it's the one that has the popular Audrey sweater, I think it was the first knit-along that I lurked), and I've had my eye on the Agnes pattern ever since.

Thank you Spiders! And especially to Virginia and Lisa who are the organizers behind the Spiders birthday exchange. They not only remember everybody's birthdays, but they collect funds, have fantastic gift ideas, and they have even created a Spiders' bank account! And they decided that if there's leftovers, we'll have a smashing party!

And finally, I'd like to show you exactly how much yarn I started with for my Bloom shawl:

And how much yarn I have left over:

*phew* Just made it!

Oh, one last thing: I have 3 invites for Ravelry. Anybody interested?

Bloom!

2007-04-30T13:27:00.000-04:00

This shawl has sucked the life out of me! (My temporary blogging hiatus has even prompted an ex to call me and ask when I was going to post. I'm now imagining all sorts of lurkers out there... Hi mom! Hi Chloe!).

Pattern Specs:
Pattern: Blumengruss Shawl (aka "Bloom", aka "My Maid of Honor's Shawl for Mom's Wedding!"), from The Art of Heirloom Knitting. I bought the book at Kinokuniya at Rockefeller Center, where I spent the better part of an hour looking at every single japanese craft book they had. It was hard to narrow it down to 2 books! (I also got a sewing book of skirt patterns, and realized when I got home that all the skirts come in one size. And I don't think I'm that size...).

Yarn: Habu Wool Roving, a-81, 8 oz (224 g), or 1,488 yds. I used almost all of it! Since this yarn is $2.80/oz, I spent a grand total of $22.40! Yarnmonster and Gleek wisely bought 8 oz each...
Marie generously allowed me to use her dyes, and the result was this beautiful blue/green color.

Needles: Oh, lots and lots. I made the first piece, a triangle on 2.75 mm (US 2) needles (which you can't really see in any of these pictures because it's in the folded-over part), then started the Feather and Fan along the edges of the triangle on 3 mm (also US 2!) needles. I was supposed to switch to 3.25 mm (US 3) half-way through, but I forgot... Then the edging was knit on 3 mm (US 2) needles. So this entire shawl has been knit on size TWO needles. Whoa. I didn't realize that...

Notes: Edgings take forever. For-freaking-ever. I thought I could bang it out in a week, then forgot that I was going to a conference for the first 3 days of that week, where every minute of the day was accounted for from 8 am to 11 pm. You can imagine how frantic I was by the end of the week... My deadline was looming... I knit on the train to Boston (Subway Knitter was right: the Acela is awesome!). I knit in the cab on the way to the hotel. I knit throughout the rehearsal (oh yes I did!). I knit throughout the rehearsal dinner. I knit until 3 AM. I knew it would be worth it: the wedding day was supposed to be cold and rainy. And then... Well. It turned out to be warm and sunny. *sigh* I did wear the shawl for about 5 minutes, and my aunt Tathy noticed and snapped a pic :) Hey, I wonder if she's lurking?

Date started: Well, the yarn was dyed on March 11th, and I started soon after that.
Date finished: April 28. Wow, that was long!

Sunny room and wheel courtesy of Yarnmonster.

I'm feeling.... blue?

2007-04-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

No, not that kind of blue! (Although, come to think of it, this inexistent Spring is getting on my nerves. It's 40 F/5C, dark and poring rain: boooo!).
I've suddenly realized that all my projects are blue! Although I'm not actively participating in Project Spectrum, I'm sure that all the blue I've been seeing on everybody's blogs during February and March has had a subliminal influence on me.

First up, the Bloom shawl. I stared and stared at the chart and the photographs in the book, and came to the conclusion that I followed the directions properly. Then how come their shawl is triangular and mine is not?! I thought about it while knitting a few more repeats in Garter Feather and Fan, then decided that perhaps through Aggressive Blocking I might be able to create a more triangular shape. Ah ha! Aggressive Blocking is a knitter's friend :)
This shawl is getting big, so I've been pinning it to an old comforter. I want it to be bigger still, and then I have to add a border all the way around. My deadline is in 2 weeks. And it's on size 2 and 3 needles. *deep breaths* But on a positive note, you can see that I have more than enough yarn.

I've also been working on the new Amy Butler bag, Frenchy Bag. I think I bought it based on the name alone... And wouldn't you know, I just happened to have purchased this adorable honeycomb and bees fabric by Etsuko Furuya. (I had my eye on the yellow one, but it is too cute to stay in stock anywhere. I was told at Purl that this fabric takes the slow boat from Japan. But I want it now! *pout*).
I'm still working on the lining, but I'm loving it so far.

And finally, I've also done some japanese embroidery/quilting called Sashiko. I stumbled upon the printed canvas and the thread at City Quilter, and immediately loved the bold geometric patterns. In fact, I showed it to Yarnmonster, who liked it as much as I did and bought a kit and a book a few days later!

Hmm, I think that the intent of Knit From Your Stash 2007 (ie to stop buying yarn and use what you already have) is completely lost on me, as I seem to go out and spend money on other crafts!
I might as well admit that I bought some fabric for a dress...

So Easy!

2007-04-01T20:46:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a knitting project is so easy, so obvious, it just flies off the needles.
My friends Jamie and Curtis just had a baby which they named ...... Daisy!
Well, of course, I had to knit a Daisy hat!

I have to admit that I was inspired by Blue Blog's flower hat, but since I didn't have the Itty Bitty book she used, I improvised.

Pattern specs:
Hat: based on the hat in Last Minute Knitted Gifts (baby size), but made a no-sew picot hem because I thought it would be more flower-like.
Flower: from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments.
Yarn: Paton's Grace in yellow, about half a ball, and oddments of white Merino Grignasco.
Needle: US 2 for hat, US 4 for flower.
Started: March 31st.
Finished: March 31st.

This success was offset by an annoying realization: the Blum shawl is not coming out triangular. And I thought I could simply follow the chart and disregard the japanese instructions... I am not ripping this out, and I'm thinking of adding little triangles on the side. What do you think?

Pink and Green: good news!

2007-03-27T09:39:00.000-04:00

I'm so happy today: it's warm and sunny and my late afternoon/early evening meeting has been cancelled! Yay!
Hopefully my good mood will rub off on you.

Here is: ------drumroll-----

Peanut's EZ Baby Surprise Jacket (I got the pattern from Knitting Workshop). It is indeed a surprise: as I was knitting it, I tried to fold various edges in all sorts of ways and could *not* figure it out. Huh. In fact, I cast on for it saturday (because I was feeling guilty for having ripped it out previously and because I knew that the Gleek family was on its way home from the hospital at about the same time), and I could not put it down. Curiosity kept me going! I finished sunday evening.
Here it is, all unfolded. As EZ mentions in the pattern: it's going to look odd, but press on! And so I did.
But then, you lift up the upper corner and fold it up...
... you lift up another corner...
... you do the same on the other side...
Voila! A baby sweater!
And the back (of which I am particularly proud of, since I could not get those decreases to line up properly):

Now Peanut has 2 Baby Surprise Jackets, the first one, which inspired me, was knitted by Sarah.

Pattern Specs:
Yarn: 1 and a smidge balls of Noro Lily in variegated pink/blue/green (which has been dubbed "Easter Colors" by the Spiders), gifted by Jacqueline, and one and a bigger smidge balls of Noro Lily in Lime Green (actually, what is called "Vert Anis" in France: not quite as neon as Lime, and not as acidic as Chartreuse).
Needles: US 6 Addis, 24" length.
Striping pattern: 5 ridges color A, 5 ridges color B, 2 ridges color A, 2 ridges color B.
Buttons: TBD...
Started: March 24, 2007
Finished: March 25, 2007 (well, except for a teeny bit a seaming, but come on, I consider it done!).

PS: I would totally buy Vesper sock yarn again. I'm a sucker for self striping yarn. And she picks the most amazing colors! In fact, in my stash right now, I have Strange Little Mama, which was kindly purchased for me by my fantastic roommate, Lisa, who knew that I could not be near a computer at the time of the Etsy shop update and therefore hit the re-load button many times until she got the colorway I wanted. And she didn't even buy anything for herself! Anyway, I have to check if I have the new 80% superwash wool/ 20% nylon. But even if it's the "old" 100% merino, I still love it! (Just not with cute little flats).

Pink and Green: bad news

2007-03-26T15:46:00.000-04:00

I have worn my Vesper Watermelon socks exactly 3 times. *sigh*
I bought this yarn a while ago, and I believe that Ms. Vesper is now using a different base yarn. It's hard to tell from her shop, because she is perpetually sold out!

Tomorrow, you will have GOOD pink and green news!

**Edited to add: I could have avoided this problem if I'd worn open back clogs, I suppose. But no, I wore these cute flats. Lesson learned**

Hurrah!

2007-03-21T09:24:00.000-04:00

Remember all the secret knitting I've been talking about? Well, here is my big secret: I have 2 designs in Yahaira's book, Sensual Knits!
Here's how it went down: Yahaira asked for design submissions back in November. I gave her 2 sketches and pictures of one completed project (which was originally destined for an online knitting mag, one that you all know, it starts with a K and ends with a Y, but although the editor told me she would publish my design, she inexplicably bailed. I've since heard that this is not uncommon with her).
I can prove that this book actually exists: the Amazon page is up!

One other contributor is Mim (designer of the Icarus and Seraphim shawls). There plenty of others, most of whom you've heard about, but I will wait (impatiently) until they announce it themselves. (I somehow feel that I'm not allowed to "out" anyone). OK, fine, I'll give you a few hints: one of them takes "Fiber Fix" photographs, one lives in San Francisco, one has a line of alpaca yarn, one made a gorgeous Weekender bag, one is becoming as obsessed as I am about Habu yarn, one makes cool knitting pouches that sell out the day they are posted, one makes self-striping yarn that sells out just as fast if not faster, and one is british.
I'm so excited!!

Bloom, take 2

2007-03-15T14:05:00.000-04:00

I have good news, and I have bad news.

I'm going to give you the bad news first, ok?
I'd been working merrily along on Blumengruss (which, by the way, is such a harsh name that I'm going to rename it Bloom. Ah, much better).
Bloom is made of 3 parts:
1. You start with a triangle, knit from the bottom up. So the rows get longer and longer and lonnnnnnnger. I decided I'll keep the stitches live at the top.
2. Then, you pick up stitches along the 2 sides and you knit a V shape. (Yay for Vs!) Again, I will leave the stitches live at the end.
3. Finally, you knit a border all the way around, and pick up one live stitch every other row.
Here's a schematic, a la Grumperina:
Here's how far I got after about 3 days:
Cute, right? Well, what you might not be able to tell from this picture is that the yarn is an eye-searing, traffic-cone orange. In order to squelch this overly bright color, I decided to purchase new (neutral colored) yarn for the stripes. Don't look at me like that, buying new yarn is allowed if it's to complete a project! I immediately found this lovely Habu lace weight merino at my LYS:
The colors are called Brick and Whiskey.
So there, I was, chugging along, and then, one person said, in the kindest tone possible, "hm, those colors are very... 70s?". See for yourself.
And that's when it hit me. Those colors are hideous together. Want to see a close up?
I then spent the weekend asking anyone I knew whether these colors were not atrocious together. One friend said to me "I love you, but yes, those colors do not go together". Well then.

On to the good news!
I'm using the yarn I dyed with Marie last week!
And finally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Gleek will have a first-day-of-Spring baby!

Behind the Scenes: Brooklyn Handpsun

2007-03-11T14:15:00.000-04:00

There are times when it's really nice to know a lot of knitters in the city... Marie, of Brooklyn Handspun fame, is always generous about sharing her dyeing expertise. I emailed her last monday about the 1,500 yds of Habu single ply laceweight that I wanted to dye, and she invited me over to her place on wednesday! First, we wound my center pull ball into a big hank. How big? This big!

Then, we dyed a little swatch that I'd knitted with the yarn.

Here are my top 3 contenders:
Blue Spruce, upper right corner. Meh, too soft. I want a color with more pop. Next: Moss, bottom. Ooh, I like this one! And finally, Mallard Green, upper right. It's a green with a lot of blue in it, very unusual.
And the winner is......

Mallard Green!
I let it dry overnight, and here is my yarn all wound up. My Paper Crane donut included for scale. This ball is huge!

Oooh, nice. Much lighter than I anticipated, but nice!
Now, it hurt my arms to wind 1,500 yds of yarn, but Marie doesn't have that problem... She has an electric skein winder!

She puts the hank on the umbrella swift (in front), and hooks it up to the electric winder (in back). And then she just lets it go!!
Why this additional step of turning a hank into another hank? Well, the final hank is a slightly different size than the original hank, and therefore the colors mix up, giving you a glimpse of what it will look like knitted up. See?

Lest you think that everything is going perfect over here, here is proof that I make mistakes. I've been trucking along on EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket. That is, until I decided to count my stitches between markers.

Oops, looks like the 2 "sides" are not at all the same shape! Start over.
Although baby Gleek will be born soon, I don't think she'll need a jacket this big right away, phew! And when I say soon, I mean Gleek is already on maternity leave, and probably sitting on her couch knitting as I type! She can't possibly be in labor as she *promised* to text me the minute she goes to the hospital. I've had a few scares already where she hasn't responded to emails with her usual promptness and I assume that she's had her baby without telling me... I know, how dare she! :)

For me??

2007-03-05T18:47:00.000-05:00

Oooh, I could not believe it when I saw a package in front of all the mailboxes . Every time I see a package left out in the hallway (ie which could not fit into the mailboxes), I hope against all hope that it's for me. And this time, it was! (By the way, for those wondering about the christmas gift that my dad sent me from France, it got returned to sender! Grrr).
Whatever could it be?
Yarn? Yarn?! For me? A book? Chocolate?!! I'm in heaven!

This treasure comes to me courtesy of Jacqueline at Serendipity. I think I mentioned already that she was giving away prizes for her 2 year blogiversary. Yes, you read that right, she's giving yarn away. Just in case you can't tell from the picture, I'm going to spell it out for you: that's 2 skeins if KSH in Blushes, 2 skeins of Noro Lily (70% cotton, 30% silk --hmmmm), one ball of Opal, one chocolate koala filled with caramel, and one cute notebook.
I already have plans for all of the yarn. I think we can safely say that my knitting blahs are over!
1. I've been dying to make the Retro Rib socks (here's what Sarah's look like). Hot pink is a good color, don't you think?
2. The Noro screams baby girl to me, so Gleek is getting another baby knit. Maybe EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket... Gleek just posted a picture of the Baby Surprise Jacket that Sarah made for her, so it was the first thing that popped in my mind. I know, I should probably make something else, but the Baby Surprise Jacket has such an unusual construction that I have to try it. Thanks for the inspiration Sarah!
3. I have to make myself a bridesmaid shawl for my mother's wedding. It's at the end of April in Boston and my dress is short sleeved, so I know I'm going to freeze. And wouldn't you know it, I've had my eye on this japanese shawl pattern! It's from "New Style of Heirloom Knitting" aka the book that Am Kamin (the cardigan that's the subject of the Crossed in Translation KAL) and the Mountainash shawl that Grumperina is making are in. (Note: I bought the book at Kinokuniya, but you could order it from Yes Asia).

I'm going to use the pink KSH, orange Lacy Lamb (from the stash), and purple cashmere (also from the stash). I could also use the 1,500 yds of Habu single ply laceweight that's in the stash. In fact, I'm going to dye it at Marie's this week! See how good I'm getting at this Knit From the Stash thing?
This shawl is called Blumengruss, after the lied by Hugo Wolf. Every design in this book is music-inspired: there's a Debussy sweater (l'Isle Joyeuse), a Ravel sweater (Ondine), Mountain Ash is named after a piece by Jean Sibelius, and Am Kamin after a Tchaikovsky piece. Fancy!

Thank you Jacqueline!

Yarn Purchase Withdrawal Symptoms

2007-03-01T15:02:00.000-05:00

I think I'm experiencing yarn-purchase withdrawal symptoms: I have a headache. I want to sleep all day. I'm cranky. I WANT TO BUY YARN!

Normally, when all my projects bore me (Rowan's Pam aran cardie, Hanne Falkenberg's half completed Mermaid, Gentlemen's Lozenge sock -one more to go!-, one third of Birch that I'd forgotten about, a stalled Goth right at the start, Panache which I'm somewhat bored with, etc etc), I solve my existential ennui and irritation by buying yarn for a new project. You know what I mean: it's the lure of the new! This project will not have gauge issues! This project is going to have the perfect yarn that does not make your hands ache like that other yarn did! This project is going to have an error-free pattern! This project is going to fit me perfectly!
Oh, in that moment, you just *know* that it will be the best project ever...

Well. As you know, I cannot buy yarn. This is making me very irritable. I try to avoid going straight home from work. Instead, I go out with friends. (What a new concept!). If I am home, none of my half-completed projects thrown about on the couch appeal to me. Each project has something wrong with it, some aspect that I dread: Now that I've knit the 2 fronts of the aran cardie, I realize what long rows lay ahead of me for the back. Ugh. I have to rip out about half of Mermaid, and wash the yarn. My arms are sore just thinking about it! I cannot memorize the Lozenge pattern. I put Birch on scrap yarn, and it will take a long time to get it back on the needles. My st count is off for Goth. Where did I put Panache? Oh, just listing everything that is wrong with these projects is giving me a headache... Of course, the fact that I stayed out late last night and saw these ladies perform might be contributing.

Even the prospect of making a lace shawl does not tempt me. (Now you know it's serious!). I need a shawl for a wedding at the end of April, otherwise I will freeze in my bridesmaid dress. I have some laceweight yarn. (How much is "some"? Oh, about 8 shawls' worth). I have a few patterns I've been thinking about... But I'm just not excited about it. *sigh*

Any known cures for the knitting blahs?

The Last of the Secret Knitting Revealed!

2007-02-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

I was holding off until all gift knitting had been gifted... Well, we had the baby shower this sunday, so I can finally blog about knitting for Curtis and Jamie's baby! Now, I'm assuming that you enjoy seeing pictures of knitted items at least as much as I do, *however*, these particular pictures pose somewhat of a problem. You see, on one hand, they are the only pictures I have of these gifts, but on the other hand, I'd been drinking, um, well, a few mimosas.
If you are a nice person, a really nice person (and I know you are, I took a poll!), then you might call these "artistic". If not, feel free to leave a snarky comment.

First off, Liisa's Bitty Baby Booties, which she customized to look like Converse. Pattern by Heather Bailey. Check out the Bitty Booties group on Flickr. And check out Liisa's pic.

Next up: EZ's February baby sweater! (Made with odds and ends, some Zara, some Aurora).

What do you mean, it's blurry? OK, I'll use the flash:

Hm. That didn't help. And my subjects lost interest.

And, finally! Drumroll please! Preeeeeeesenting the piece de resistance, the MITERED SQUARE BLANKET!!

Aww, mitered squares will make anybody happy :)

(Not pictured: a gift certificate from a few of us for a few weeks of cloth diaper service. This company gives you enough clean diapers for a week -did I hear 80?!-, and picks up the dirty ones too!)

Specs:
The Mitered Square Blanket was made by (in alphabetical order): Betsy, Liisa, Maureen, Rebekah, Sarah and me.
Yarn: Rowan's All Seasons Cotton, 10 balls of Mocha and 10 balls of Sea Spray, a color that Rowan decided not to release after all. Why? It's a lovely turquoise/teal color.
Needles: I used 6s.
More deets: We made 42 squares, each 6". Yes, there was a marathon seaming session, which I ran mercilessly. Don't worry, the girls are still all speaking to me. Kinda.

All right, this time I'm really done with all the secret knitting. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to indulge in some girl talk (and perhaps a bit of partying?) with a certain someone who is about to leave this continent for a few months :(

I won! I won!

2007-02-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

I always enter contests, knowing the odds are against me. But if you don't sign up, you will never win, right? Well, this time, I entered this contest and I won! Wheee! Jacqueline at Serendipity celebrated her 2nd blogiversary by giving away some of her precious stash, and let me tell you, she's giving seriously sweet gifts. Thanks Jacqueline! I feel like I might jinx myself if I mention exactly what those gifts are, as I'm still waiting for my parents' Christmas gift which the US customs is holding hostage. *sigh*

In other news, I've been busy knitting baby items. I know 3 babies that will be born in March. Three! I made a Baby Bog jacket for Gleek's Peanut. (I was about to crop Beth out of Jess's picture so as to show off the Baby Bog, but really, how could I crop Beth out? She is seen here holding up a Log Cabin Blanket made by Katie and Amanda).
Speaking of Beth, we wore matching outfits at the Spider Double Baby Shower! See?
(Now that I see the picture, it would have been funnier to have us pose sideways. A sort of Before and After pose if you will).

Pattern: Baby Bog Jacket from EZ's Knitting Around
Inspiration: Jess's Bog Jacket looked so good, and the construction seemed so intriguing that I had to try. And a baby-sized sweater is done so quickly! I look forward to helping Lisa write out the pattern for her Bog Jacket...
Yarn: Karabella's Windy in Raspberry and Chocolate (at least, that's what I call those colors, Karabella calls them 8 and 11). 100% cotton. This yarn is available at School Products, but I don't think it's been released yet. It is a DK/worsted weight *super* soft cotton.
Needles: Addis, size 6. (Not size 9 as recommended by the silly label).
Mods: Since garter st is so thick and I didn't want Peanut to be weighed down by this jacket, I knitted it all in stockinette. Oh, and I added some fair isle checkered squares (2 st by 2 rows) at the bottom. The jacket seemed a little plain, you know?

Now that I am almost done with baby knitting, I look forward to knitting for me me me. However, there are too many choices! I started ripping out Mermaid, I still have Panache and the beginning of a scarf somewhere in my living room... And then I got Glampyre's book, Fitted Knits. Here are my faves:

This book really has something for everyone. I brought it to Marie's fabulous spinning party (which I didn't even blog about!) and we each had a favorite pattern!
Oh, and I'm dying to make Domiknitrix's Goth sweater from her book, but the pattern hasn't been included in the book for space constraints and I've been told since November that the pattern will be released imminently... I have no patience. And I love Joan McGowan-Michael's Swan Lake short-sleeved cardi from the Spring IK.
I am holding strong on my Knit From Your Stash 2007 resolution though, so excuse me while I go stash diving...

Secret Project #2

2007-02-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here is the big pile of red bamboo that is Secret Project #2: After an 8am grafting session (not to mention a marathon knitting session last night), I am ready to send it out. Phew.
Now, Ladies (as most of the readers of my blog have identified themselves as such), I can knit for myself!

My hometown is in the NY Times!

2007-02-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

Check it out! (Although you might have to register for free to read the article).
Who knew that my hometown of Strasbourg would become suddenly hip enough to be in the NY Times? (And yes, I know most of the bars mentioned in the article).
And do you remember the picture of my high school that I posted in April? Well, apparently the NY Times likes my high school too: it's in the slideshow accompanying the article! Although they call it the "Lycee school", which literally means "high school school". First of all, my high school has an actual name : the Lycee des Pontonniers. Secondly, my hometown is the fifth largest town in France, and , as such, has more than a dozen high schools. This caption makes it sound like there's only one... Anyway, I can find more than one mistake in this article, but I'll stop being negative, ok? Cause my hometown is in the NY Times!!

This reminds me of a pet peeve of mine. I've been quiet about this because the knit blog community is a happy, positive bunch. As I've lived both in France and in the US, I'm always interested in "American in Paris"-type blogs. And here's the thing that drives me crazy: the majority of these bloggers complain about how silly and annoying the French are! (The lovely exception to this rule is Aimee). I remember one, now defunct blog, made fun of how weird French keys looked. Yes, *keys* WTF?! Ooh, it just makes me want to leave nasty comments! And this weekend, I did, I left a snarky comment on one of these blogs. I'm afraid to check my email now...

The New Fad Among Spiders:

2007-01-31T13:28:00.000-05:00

Presenting: the Anemoi Mittens!

From left to right:
An Abundance of Lisa, me, the Yarnmonster. Don't ask me why we are holding our noses. The Point smells good, I swear! (Oh, if you are very good at playing detective, you might notice some red bamboo --no, not that Red Bamboo-- in the photo. It's for Secret Project #2! Which is half-way done, in case you were wondering).

Speaking of Secret Projects: well, they're secret. You'll have to make do with non-knitting related posts for now. And I have to point out that you seem to like these non-knitting posts. I can't believe the number of comments I've received, and the number of people who have delurked all because of my hair! (I'm now reading 11 new blogs). Who knew that the Chi straightening iron was the Addi turbo of knitting (it's expensive, but once you try it, you're hooked!)? My hair has been shiny and amazingly straight ever since. I can't believe I've been walking around with frizzy hair all this time!

Goodbye long unruly hair, hello sleek short hair!

2007-01-23T21:25:00.000-05:00

Well, there's been a lot of knitting going on, but nothing that I can show... You'll see it eventually, I promise! (I can reveal that I have fallen in love with this yarn, and hope to knit with it again soon. Hell, I might use my get-out-of-jail-free card to buy some more of it. In the "ink" color).

In the meantime, I do have some blog-filler material. I went to a workshop at Vidal Sassoon today.
I started out looking like this:

Then Heather made me an aluminum foil hat.

Look, she bleached a diamond-shaped panel of my hair!
Then she added lots of red and orange (and even purple). Finally, April hacked off quite a bit of it, and straightened it.
Check out the fancy details in the back:
Now, I realize that April is a professional and that she could straighten my curly hair with her bare fingers (probably even by just looking at it sternly), but she swears by the Chi hair iron. I'm thinking that since I'm saving lots of money by not buying yarn, I can get a fancy new toy, right? Right?

In knitting news, the Interweave Spring preview is up! And I learned how to do the italian tubular cast-on, since Angela seemed surprised that I didn't know it (gotta live up to people's expectations!). This was part of a knitting technique exchange with Lisa: she taught me how to do this cast-on and I'll work out the math for her EZ Bog Jacket.

6 weird things about me

2007-01-06T23:02:00.000-05:00

Sarah said we could consider ourselves tagged!
Now, I know we all have funny little quirks, and I want to find out about yours! Consider yourself tagged if you feel the urge to reveal a few things.

So here we go: 6 weird things about me. With pictures, for your viewing pleasure.

1. I hate eggs. Except in french toast, when they don't taste eggy.
2. I count in my head. Now, this used to worry me a little, but then I started knitting lace, where you have to count *all the time*. Phew!

3. I never get weird Google searches. Seriously, I just looked, and people find me by searching for "tres chic veronique", "treschicveronique" and "veronique". Isn't that weird?

4. I severed the tip of my left index finger when I was 5 years old. You remember when you were little and your mother told you to *not* to put your hands in the doorway because the door might slam on it? Well, I'm living proof that your mother was right. (Just in case you're worried: after a little trip to the OR, I was fine. Somewhat traumatized, and mad that my mother didn't pick up the tip for the surgeons to sew back on, but fine).
(These are severed finger cookies by the way. Just FYI).

5. I love to eat organ meats. It's all the non-muscle-y meat, like tripe, tongue etc. Americans are so squeamish and boring when it comes to food!
Here's a meal I had in France during my last vacation there:

6. I learned to speak english because of "The Wizard of Oz". The movie was playing on TV, in english with subtitles, which my (american) mother was very excited about. Not only did I not know english, but I was 5 years old and didn't know how to read! My mother had to read the french subtitles to me. She decided then that she would teach me english. I have absolutely no recollection of either the movie or the lessons that ensued, but they must've worked!There. How weird was that?

Knit From Your Stash 2007

2007-01-01T21:50:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Véronique, and I'm a yarnoholic.

I reorganized my entire stash, to see if I had enough yarn to knit from in 2007. I thought that if I did not have enough yarn, I would not join. Well.

I have enough yarn to make 26 sweaters, 15 of which I bought with a specific pattern in mind and 8 I'd like to design myself.
I have enough yarn to make 14 pairs of socks.
I have yarn for 8 lace projects.
I have yarn for 21 small projects (hats, toys etc).
I have one box filled to the brim with left-over yarns.

I think I might join this Knit From Your Stash group.

Last FO of the year!

2006-12-31T11:04:00.000-05:00

I finished my Anemoi mittens just in time to be the last FO of 2006! And wouldn't you know, it's finally cold here. Well, it's 40 degrees F, but that's cold enough to wear mittens, right?
Can you figure out what my trick was to keep from getting second mitten syndrome?

That's right, I switched the main and contrasting colors on the second mitten!

It seems everyone's tackling fair isle these days. After reading this post by Carrieoke, I checked out Nona's advice on dominant yarn. One of Nona's commenters left a link that made the whole issue crystal clear for me. Now, normally I hold both of the yarns in my right hand: the main (or background or most-used or dominant-?-) color over my index, and the contrast color (or less-used color) over my middle finger. I do this for convenience's sake only: since it is easier to knit with the yarn over my index, I'll put the yarn that is most used over my index. But Nona's post clearly explains that the yarn that is being held under is the dominant yarn. For me, that's the middle finger yarn! Oops, I was doing it backwards! So I switched over, mid-mitten.

Perhaps you can tell: this is subtle for the pink mitten, but obvious for the brown mitten. For this pattern, which creates diagonal lines, if the "diagonal" yarn is dominant, those stitches are a little bit larger, and the stitches touch, which creates a nice solid diagonal line. If the diagonal yarn is not dominant, the stitches do not touch, so it looks more like a dotted line, and the diamond pattern disappears... In the brown mitten, the brown diamonds completely disappear when brown is the dominant color (lower part of mitten, below thumb), and they really pop when pink is the dominant color (upper part of the mitten)!
So now I'm totting mittens that I can use as a lesson for anyone who wants to learn about yarn dominance. (By the way, yarn dominance was not an issue for the assymetrical design on the front of the mitten, phew).

Moral of the story? I learned the hard way that the yarn that is used most often is *not* the dominant yarn. Let's say that again: the color which dominates the pattern because it is used most often is NOT THE DOMINANT YARN. It's the contrast, lesser-used color that is dominant. Now why is that never spelled out anywhere? Mmm?

PS: the Habu cashmere, once washed, feels divine.

Holiday Crafting

2006-12-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

As you know, I did not have any holiday knitting deadlines. Yay! But I did craft through the holidays (and I'm still at it). Here's what I have to show for it:
Project #1:
One Anemoi mitten. Ever since Lisa discovered this pattern (by Eunny), I've been as smitten as she is. Smitten by a mitten! I scrounged around in the stash, and found this Habu cashmere that I got on sale a few months ago. These colors (bright-ass pink and eggplant) are discontinued, so I snapped them up. I had no idea what to make with them when I bought them! See, I just had to wait for the perfect pattern to pop up. By the way, I was surprised at how rough this cashmere was, but that was until I washed it... Oh, it is so soft! Also, in order to prevent second mitten syndrome, I've come up with a slight variation for the left mitt. You'll see.

Project #2: The Weekender Bag!
Marie inspired me, and since Brooklyn General now sells *all* of the many parts needed (thanks to Kaitlyn!), I finally tackled this project. And it gave me an excuse to buy that adorable green apple corduroy fabric... Not done yet (and, man, I am so not a good seamstress!), so this is just a little peek. Now, let's hope that all the parts actually line up. Oh, and I used up one entire spool of thread, so I have to go back to Brooklyn General.

The Professorly Argyle Scarf and Gift Theft

2006-12-20T12:44:00.000-05:00

(That little label that's whited out by the flash? It says "Tres Chic Veronique"!)

Pattern specs:
Pattern: My own! I found the chart for the knit/purl argyles in one of Jess' many knitting books (seriously, this girl could open a knitting library!). Since I lost the chart the very next day, I recharted it from "memory" on graph paper. I'm sure I unintentionally added some personal touches... I worked 3 pattern repeats, plus 3 edge st worked in garter st. Also, to avoid those annoying garter bumps at the edges, I slipped the first st of every row *with yarn in front*: this creates a nice braid-like edging. Oh, and I started and ended by working 6 rows of garter st, to prevent curling.
Yarn: Chocolate alpaca from A Touch of Twist, purchased for the ridiculous sum of $20 for over 600 yds at Rhinebeck. No wonder there was such a long line!
Needles: US 4 addis. Man, knitting a scarf on size 4 needles takes forever.
Width: ~10" depending on how much you stretch it.
Length: For some reason, I'm under the impression that scarves should be as long as the wearer is tall. So I made a 6 foot long scarf. I had *just* enough yarn. See how much I had left after binding off?

Happy Holidays, Prof M!

Have you heard about the Spiders' annual holiday party? We had a White Elephant gift exchange, where you can either open a gift or steal one of the already-opened gifts. Now, although I get a thrill out of ripping through wrapping paper, when you're the 10th person to open gifts out of 16, it makes sense to steal, right? Sorry Cathy! Here she is (streaked lights and all), opening the gift that I eventually stole from her:
It's a Misocrafty pouch!! I have been trying to get one of these from PureKnits, but they are perpetually sold out. (Yes, I'm on the mailing list, but I'm just not quick enough. Amanda, who gifted this, somehow managed to buy 3. THREE?!).

One Year in Chic Knitting

2006-12-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

Instructions -- Copy the first sentence that you posted in each month of 2006. (Swiped from Sandra).

January:
Let's see, what have I accomplished in 2005?

February:
(Warning: I think I've blown my monthly quota of exclamation points in one post). Note: I had just received a package from my awesome Secret Pal 7, Alice.

March:
More great stuff from my Secret Pal, Special Mittens!

April:
I had a great time taking pictures of my stash and rediscovering yarn that I had completely forgotten about.

May:
I went back to my home town, and here is what I saw:

June:
Sadly, I do not have any knitting pictures to show. (Note: Oh man, that is so sad. In my defense, I was looking for a new apartment and I had just started a new job).

July:
I have a new place! Wheeee!

August:
I just need one little nudge to push me into action. (Note: seaming woes....)

Sept:
Finally! It took me long enough, but I'm done seaming (well, for the time being at least).

October:
After Jenna changed the aesthetics of her blog, it hit me all of a sudden that my own blog was looking pretty bland.

November:
It's fall, and all I want to do is stay home by the fireplace.

December:
(Title: I left NYC) Don't worry, though, I'm back!

There you have it. One whole year. It just flew by.

I left NYC!

2006-12-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, though, I'm back. It was just a business trip to CA. No knitting to speak of, but I did take a few pictures from the plane.
The Grand Canyon was on the other side, but this side is still impressive, don't you think?

I don't know what this is, but I liked it! Pieces of the earth have been gouged out.

Desert meets civilization!

OK, fine, I *did* knit a little. I started Panache, but I'm still chugging along on the stockinette part, waiting impatiently to get to the smocking part! And, because I'm knitting in one piece, each row is 170 stitches. Ugh.

And, unfortunately for you, dear readers, I have tackled on 2 super secret projects. They are due in Jan/Feb, so I will have no pics of WIPS for a while. You notice that I said "unfortunately for *you*". I'm on cloud 9!! Let me just say this: I am getting free yarn. That's right, FREE YARN. Wheeee!

A New Hat: Felted

2006-11-29T13:03:00.000-05:00

There's been demand for the post-felted Shedir hat. (A couple of comments constitutes "demand", right?). I have to admit that I am not too happy with the results. Obviously, I lost a great deal of stitch definition. See for yourselves:

Even this brain's gyri are more pronounced than the cables! (By the way, this is a book cover, not an actual brain. Just wanted to point that out since the picture is so realistic).

But you know what cheers me up? The Yarn Riot! We found a pretty tweed yarn (100% wool! 10 balls for $30!) that I was just itching to buy, even though I couldn't quite figure out what to knit with it. But Gleek came to the rescue and astutely noted that the Sunrise Circle jacket was a perfect match. How did she know that I've been drooling all over Kate Gilbert's design? I like her Equestrian Blazer in this winter's IK too... Sold! This will be stash yarn for a little bit though, because I'm knitting on quite a few projects already. But I'll get to it someday, because this pattern is just too clever. (Aah, the justification of the stash. We've all been there, right?)..

A New Hat

2006-11-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

Pattern Specs:
Pattern and Inspiration: Prof M --who had been searching high and low for a good hat pattern-- looked over my shoulder as I was reading Brooklyn Tweed's blog, and immediately exclaimed "I want that hat!". You have no doubt recognized it as The Girl From Auntie's Shedir hat.
Yarn: Chocolate alpaca purchased at Rhinebeck. Oh, this alpaca is so soft...
Needles: US 2 Addis, 40" length (the best for magic loop!)
Mods: How did you guess? The original pattern calls for Rowan Calmer. You cannot find Calmer anywhere in NYC! (Except at the Yarn Connection, but Jane only had pink left). I decided to use my Rhinebeck haul. Yay for stash yarn! It turns out that my alpaca is much thinner than Calmer, so I used needles one size smaller than called for (2s instead of 3s). The hat turned out just a smidge too big, so I ended up hand felting it. Lucky for you, I took this picture before felting, so you can see all the lovely cables.

This hank of alpaca is huge (700 yds!!), so huge that others have called it "never ending". But I haven't given up! I'm still knitting the alpaca! Just a little scarf -my own pattern- to go with the hat.

I have a little over 2 feet of this scarf, and, boy, am I sick of it. Size 4 needles and a chart which I cannot for the life of me memorize.
(Maybe that's why I cast on for Panache last night...).

Kirk: the last stretch

2006-11-15T10:52:00.000-05:00

Oh, I am so close to finishing my brother's Kirk!
I tried it on, and had a moment of panic. I've been blocking pieces as I finish them, but I didn't want to stretch them out too much. As a result, the ribbing is still very tight. In fact, it's so tight that you can't really see the cables!
Not stretched:

Stretched:
Ah, much better! Is it me, or do those cables look like little chromosomes?

I have my next project all figured out. Prof M owns this scarf:
Do you see where it says "100% acrylic"? *gasp* (At least he had the good sense to buy it on sale. Although, wait a minute, $15 for an acrylic scarf?!). I must remedy this situation right away! I have some chocolate-colored alpaca from Rhinebeck...

Panache

2006-11-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

It's fall, and all I want to do is stay home by the fireplace. OK, fine, I don't actually have a fireplace. But if I did, that's where I'd be! Knitting quietly by the fire... Oh, it sounds so cozy. *sigh*

Instead, I get some sporadic knitting done here and there. I'd like to focus on my brother's Kirk cardigan. I knit the 2 sleeves fairly quickly (this summer), and I'm almost done with the back! And it's on size 10.5 needles, so I really have no excuse. I'm posting the pictures to try to shame myself into finishing this project (it's an old trick of mine, but it ~~usually~~ sometimes works). I'm trying to imagine my brother, shivering in his cold apartment. Aww, poor little brother!

But what I really want to do is start a new project. Yeah, yeah, I know, I have plenty of WIPs. Who doesn't? No, I want to start something fresh and engaging!
How about.... a cardigan of my own design?
Let's call it "Panache". Oh, it'll have flair! Here's a tentative sketch:
Elbow length sleeves? Long sleeves? Hmmmm...

The pattern is based on this simple observation: some stitch patterns "pull in" compared to stockinette. Cables, ribbing and smocking all accomplish this. You've never heard of smocking? (You haven't seen On and Off the Needles' Smocked sweater?!) Here's a swatch:
My idea is to start knitting (from the bottom up) in stockinette, then switch to cables/smocking instead of working waist decreases. The stitch count will stay the same! And then I'll switch back to stockinette for the bust. I'd also like the bottom to flare out a little bit... I have tons of Cashmerino for this (trust me: 29 balls).
Now, do you think I should go for a V neck, or a prim and proper rounded neck?

Thrums!

2006-10-25T12:55:00.000-04:00

Oooh, thrums are so exciting!
Check out my almost-completed first mitten:

Nice and fluffy.
But the best part? Thrum innards!

The Yarn Harlot's thrumming tutorial was extremely helpful. Ripping out little pieces of roving is as much fun as dropping stitches on the Clapotis. Seriously. Try it.

(Thanks to Prof M for letting me use his bookshelf. The mitten feels smarter already).

You guessed it: this post is about Rhinebeck.

2006-10-24T12:59:00.000-04:00

Rhinebeck, as I had assumed, was overwhelming.
The Spiders had warned me about the crazy quantities of yarn and assorted fibers. They told me to pace myself. And I did! But what took me aback was the knitters! Knitters everywhere! Knitters whose blogs I probably read! I met so many people and barely squeaked out a couple words. For example, when Carrieoke recognized me (recognized *me*!), my response was "hi"...

Here's what we saw:

Dogs herding sheep.

Shorn and not-yet-shorn sheep.

Peaceful coexistence of sheep and cashmere goats.

And here's my loot:
A sheepskin. (Sorry, vegetarians).
2 huge hanks of alpaca (600 yds each!) from A Touch of Twist (that's Twist, not Twits as I originally heard). One in Chocolate and one in White. You cannot imagine how soft and fluffy this alpaca is... Those should become scarves and hats, as they must be worn against the skin.
3 hanks of Zephyr merino/silk in Emerald, also from Twist.
Goat's milk hand cream!
From Greenwood Hill Farm, a felted sheep kit (the white yarn) and a thrummed mitten kit. These kits were a hit: the Jess's and I each got one. I switched things up though: instead of the white roving that came with the kit, I'm using roving from Habu in Nutmeg and Plum. Want a closer look? Sure you do.
Oh, thrumming is so much fun! (Tricky to do on the subway though).

One Year Blogiversary!

2006-10-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

I completely forgot my own blogiversary! My first post, dated Ocober 17th, consisted of a picture of Rowan's Butterfly

and not much else, aside from the obvious "I have a blog!" acclamation.

Since that post, I have knitted:

9 cardigans
0 sweaters
2 pairs of socks
4 hats
3 pairs of gloves or mittens
3 lace shawls
7 scarves
1 toy robot
2 dresses
2 baby blankets
1 camisole.

I started my blog because it was a sine qua non condition on becoming a Spider, and I really, really wanted to be a Spider. --Check out their blogs if you don't know what I mean-- OK, now I have to get a little mushy and say that I love my Spiders! I can't believe we've known each other for only one year. It seems like much longer. Kisses!
Oh, and I can't forget my readers! I'm still surprised and flattered when I get a comment from someone I don't know. I usually eagerly check out their blog and add them to my Bloglines list. Kisses to you too! Mwah!

Where did Fall go?

2006-10-17T12:45:00.000-04:00

My knitting plate is overflowing.
I'm cramming all the knitting I can on a Secret Project. My hands hurt, and my right elbow too! The almost-completed back of my brother's Rowan sweater has taken permanent residence on my couch. I thought that if it was within eyesight, I'd pick it up and knit it. Wrong. All it does is make me guilty every time I glance at it... I've put Rowan's Pam on hold. I cast on for Interlocking Balloons from Scarf Style using merino in the most awesome shade of chartreuse I have ever seen (ask Jess, she knows what I mean...). I've knitted a swatch for VK's Retro Sweater. I knit and ripped the beginning of a Dairy Queen hat.

And then.... the IK preview comes out! Seriously, there's Fall patterns that I haven't had time to make, and now the Winter issues are upon us already?!! *sigh*
I want to make this:
and this:

and this:

Next up: Rhinebeck!!

What do you do when you read a post that just pushes your buttons?
	Leave a snarky comment. The author has an idiotic opinion. You must rectify it.
	You are a lady. After all, your mother always told you "if you have nothing nice to say, shut up".

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