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Tres Chic Veronique

 

Knitting in the New York Times!

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.


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By Veronique
On Thursday, July 12, 2007
At 7/12/2007 01:15:00 PM


 
 

I'm rated G?!

Online Dating

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!
Bloggers can (and do) meet in real life!
Here we are, seconds before parting (aka the moment when it occurred to me to take a picture): Sandra, Melissa, Olga, Connie and Vanessa.

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By Veronique
On Tuesday, June 26, 2007
At 6/26/2007 11:46:00 AM


 
 

Finishing. Ugh.

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?

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By Veronique
On Wednesday, June 06, 2007
At 6/06/2007 03:59:00 PM


 
 

Non-knitting FOs!

I finished the Simplicity 4170 dress!
Heart to Heart 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?
Blog 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!

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By Veronique
On Wednesday, May 30, 2007
At 5/30/2007 11:06:00 PM


 
 

Chugging Along...

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)!
Agnes sleeve
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!

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By Veronique
On Monday, May 21, 2007
At 5/21/2007 01:04:00 PM


 
 

Knitting guesstimates

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.
Agnes 50%
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).
Yarntini sock club
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.
Yarntini heel detail

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By Veronique
On Wednesday, May 16, 2007
At 5/16/2007 09:13:00 AM


 
 

Ouch!

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!
False Start
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...
Rip!
And re-knit:
Agnes-- Much Better!
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:
Ripping...
Good thing that this yarn is a joy to knit with!

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By Veronique
On Friday, May 11, 2007
At 5/11/2007 01:20:00 PM


 
 

Yay for May!

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:

  • Pure Breeze Lip Balm by Yarntini
  • 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:
Dyeing with Brooklyn Handspun:
And how much yarn I have left over:

*phew* Just made it!

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

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By Veronique
On Saturday, May 05, 2007
At 5/05/2007 01:24:00 PM