Sway Knits

Movin' on Up

2010-08-05T23:31:00.002-04:00

I've decided to renovate my life this year and I'm afraid this blog is part of that upheaval. Anyone who is interested can find me over here. It will be a bit of a shaky process moving things over there and I doubt I will delete this blog for a very long time, but any new knitting will be popping up at the other address. Hope to reconnect!

FO: 1 Shawl, 4 Mittens, and a Facehugger

2009-11-02T13:03:00.005-05:00

More FOs!

First off...mmmmmmalabrigo.

Rusty Aestlight
Pattern: Aestlight by Gudrun Johnston (Rav link)
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock Yarn, 1 skein in Botticelli Red
Needles: US 6 circ
Modifications: Just that I bound off the garter triangle before moving along with the borders.

Um...ohmygodthisisthebestyarnever. It was SO SOFT! SO SQUISHY! SO DRAPEY! I get so many compliments when I wear this. I made the smaller size b/c I only had one skein and I wear it like a kerchief with the point in front. My friends keep telling me it looks like something I purchased b/c the bird's-eye lace is so unique and the colors are so rich. I want maybe 700 more of these. Plus, the pattern is pretty fun to knit up.

Next up, we have some fluorescent mittens...

Blinding Birds in Hand
Pattern: Bird in Hand Mittens by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Zara, 2 skeins each in 1727 and 1783
Needles: US 2 circs
Modifications: None

Holy cow are these awesome. I tried to make these with some Mountain Colors yarn I had last year, but it was really hard on my hands to knit worsted weight yarn on such small needles and with stranding, no less. I finally cast on for them again with sport/dk yarn and it worked out so much easier this time. I did mix up the left/right cuff charts, so I just switched to the mirror image on the second mitten. I'm going to make these again for a friend of mine, but I'll make sure to use a provisional cast-on b/c I'd like to get the picot hem out of the way right off the bat.

Little birds! I embroidered them with some leftover Cascade 220 in yellow and Drops Alpaca in black. Don't ask me exactly how...I really suck at embroidery and I was lucky that these stitches didn't migrate.

I also finished these little things in August:

Sapphiras
Pattern: Bella's Mittens by Marielle Henault
Yarn: Laines du Nord Dolly Maxi, 2 skeins
Needles: US 8 dpns
Mods: None

Sigh. This is an example of me being an idiot. I totally didn't even think about what kind of yarn the original yarn was and just went on gauge...so my worsted weight yarn is not knit tightly enough to provide serious insulation. Alas, these are merely decorative. I'll have to knit them again in bulky weight yarn b/c these mittens are pretty fabulous. I haven't even read or seen Twilight and I still love them.

Last, but not least:

Alien Facehugger
Pattern: Alien Face Hugger by Meghan Munro
Needles: US 9 dpns
Mods: None, except I held yarn double and used bigger needles.

My buddy Carys wanted to be Ripley from Alien for Halloween. She was concerned that people wouldn't really get it b/c A) she's blonde and hates wigs and wasn't going to wear a brown curly wig and B) her "flight suit" could refer to anything from Top Gun to Independence Day. So I told her I'd make her a Facehugger so that she wouldn't have to explain her costume all night. Thankfully, someone else had already done the work of making a pattern. I just bought some cheap acrylic yarn and went to town. I cut up some hardware wire and threaded it through the legs, but we ended up taking it out b/c it was poking through and exposed sharp wires + people imbibing at a Halloween party = no good. But she'll eventually get pipe cleaners and make it moldable and safe.

FOs: Socks and Shawl

2009-07-28T13:16:00.008-04:00

Wowee....it's been super long since I posted. I'm wondering if I'm just a terrible blogger or if I just had the summer from Crazyland.

First off, I subletted my place for the summer so that I could stay with my parents in the 'burbs without distraction so that I could finish my novel. Check. Sort of. I have a very rough draft that is all kinds of messy and it's not even ready to send to friends for feedback, but there are 380 pages of something written down on the page.

I also wanted to finish my final revision of my screenplay. Check. No more adjustments will be made to it in the immediate future.

I wanted to get healthy. Check. Lost five pounds and cut sugar substitutes and soda out of my diet. Sort of. I cheat with Diet Coke. I'm sorry, nutrition gods, but Diet Coke is my crack. Mostly I now try to limit my intake to a gargantuan cup of it when I go to the movies.

Wanted to get my mother to enjoy knitting. Check. She made two pairs of socks, a scarf for my dad, and a garter stitch shawl for herself. Now she wants to make a Clapotis. I think I created a monster...especially b/c she just wants to steal my yarn.

Wanted to post about my continued love affair with knitting. Um, not check. I did plenty of knitting, but I forgot (?) to update my blog with my goings-on. But it's always better late than never, no?

Here's the first round of a veritable FO parade:

Fireworks Socks
Pattern: Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn Clark
Yarn: Jojoland Melody, 2 balls
Needles: US 1.5 circular

I. Love. This. Pattern. This pair went by so quickly. I had one and a half socks finished when 4th of July came around. My family and I went up to Tanglewood to see Diana Krall sing (and to drink wine on lawn chairs, of course) and it got very, very chilly as the night went on. I forgot about those pesky Berkshires.

Anyway, my mother put on one of the socks and begged me to hurry up with the other one so that her feet could be warm. I ended up letting her wear a 90% completed sock with a stitch holder around the toe. It was too dark to knit by then anyway.

And this, my friends, is Marlene:

Sea Blue Marlene Socks
Pattern: Marlene Socks by Cookie A.
Yarn: Shibui Sock Yarn, 2 skeins
Needles: US 1.5 circular
Mods: Did one less repeat of pattern on leg

Another lovely, lovely pattern that creates a really elegant sock. I want to make another pair in something richer. Maybe red. Like femme fatale lipstick. But for my feet.

And finally, this is Ishbel:

My cousin is sick in the hospital in Korea. He's lived here since he was little and he was about to head into grad school in New York this fall. Unfortunately, his limbs suddenly swelled and went numb and tingly a few months ago and his parents packed him off to our uncle's clinic in Korea. (A swell example of what lengths people have to go through without universal health care.) Since then, he's been confined to bed and dealing with the unbelievable diagnosis of dermatomyositis, an autoimmune disorder I had never heard of that affects the joints and connective tissue of the body. It's treatable, but incurable. So as my cousin goes through his healing process, my aunt is at his bedside while my uncle runs their restaurant by himself. She needed a shawl. Ishbel was just the ticket.

...and the FO parade shall continue in the next installment.

FO: Jaywalkers and Clapotees...Like Pringles, Once You Pop, You Can't Stop

2009-06-23T16:53:00.007-04:00

Yep, I finished off that vacation clapotis:

Sandy, Oceany Clapotis
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Jojoland Harmony, 2 skeins
Needles: US 5 (I think) circs
Mods: None, unless you count extending the increase section.

I think I could quite possibly make a zillion more of these. It's the perfect travel knitting as long as it's not made with a lightweight yarn. Plus, a bunch of my friends covet mine so who knows. Maybe the birthday fairy will be kind to them this year.

Doesn't it look like a waterfall? Argh, now I have that song stuck in my head. "Don't go chasing waterfalls...Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to..." Oh, the nineties.

I also whipped these up faster than I even had time to post details on Ravelry:

Candy Jaywalkers
Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina
Yarn: Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in Maureen, 1 skein
Needles: US 1 Addi circs

I'd only ever made one pair before (if you don't count the aborted attempt that I did when I was first venturing beyond rectangles and did not think gauge was important at all) and that pair was kind of a ho-hum result b/c the Colinette Jitterbug I'd purchased wasn't enough and I ended up doing one sock cuff down, one toe up. And the toe up one was still about an inch shorter than the first one. Rather than ripping, I use them as house socks.

I thought it was about time for another pair and this yarn, while pretty, looks nothing like I thought it would when knit up.

I thought it would be a pretty, variegated affair, but it turned into crazy one-row color shifts between lilac, pink, and chocolate. I ripped out a bunch of different patterns before I decided not to fight it. Yarn: 1 point; Sway: 2 socks.

I actually like them like this. There's something very juicy and delicious about them. But I doubt I'll be buying more of this yarn b/c I don't want a drawerful of crazy striped Jaywalkers. I think one pair is enough.

Plus, at long last, I've rediscovered my knitting mojo and I started on a cardi for my dad:

It's the famous Jarrett from Rowan Vintage Knits. I'm not going to do the shoulder and elbow patches b/c this will just make the sweater unwearable for my dad. He likes plain. Except for when he joins the pick-up soccer game for the baby boomers at his church. Then he will wear whatever my mother packs for him to sweat in.

Also, I saw this pattern and decided right then and there that I must have them:

They're Marlene Socks, designed by Cookie A. That Cookie A. I sometimes wish she had never thunk to design socks, because I love almost every design she's ever made. Grar. These are addictive and I'm already on the heel of the second sock. Go knitting mojo!

Nicole's Wedding aka "Break Out the Kleenex"

2009-06-23T01:19:00.008-04:00

Well, we did it. On June 13, 2009, we plumb got my best friend Nicole married off.

This is her in all her wedding finery (that's me in the black shawl--this may be the only post ever with my face in it, though, b/c I dislike having my photo taken). She made quite the gorgeous bride and her new hubby was just about busting when she walked down the aisle. I'm not a huge wedding person, but Nicole is the first of my best friends to get married and I couldn't help but start bawling as soon as I saw her on her dad's arm. And people, we are talking bawling. I was soooooo relieved I'd had the foresight to wear waterproof mascara and stick a couple of Kleenex in my bouquet. Because seriously, I bawled when she walked down the aisle, I bawled when she said her vows, I bawled when he said his vows, and I bawled when she walked back down the aisle. And then I bawled some more at the reception.

The night before the sedate Catholic wedding, Nicole and Rohit dragged all the groomsmen and all the bridesmaids (and a few other friends) out for a night of likker after the rehearsal dinner:

That's me, Nicole, and Rachel, a good friend of hers who's moving to NYC by the end of the month and with whom I'm sure I'll be hanging out again.

The funny thing is that this wedding was in Detroit and this pre-wedding night party happened the same night that the Detroit Redwings were playing for the Stanley Cup. I'm not a huge sports fan and I tell you, I was SCARED. I'd never seen that much red in my life. At least, not until the next day, when there were seven bridesmaids, six junior bridesmaids, and three flower girls in red satin.

Well, like I said, we plumb got her married off. Now she heads to India to repeat the whole process for Rohit's side of the family, only multiplied by three hundred or so. Durn it, I'm tearing up again.

Burgers, Pooh, Yarn and Sand

2009-05-29T14:25:00.005-04:00

My trip to LA and Vegas went swimmingly. I don't think I've eaten that much red meat in that short a time in about fifteen years.

Part of the problem was this place:

It's this lovely little bar in LA that serves a gajillion kinds of beer and locally-made wines and they also happen to make the most delicious burger. EVER. There's crazy goodness in it, like caramelized onions and then the fries come with some ridiculous garlic-flavored mayonnaise that tries to kill you with its tastiness. My friend Viv goes there a lot. If I lived in LA, I think I would, too.

On the way to Vegas, I did have to partake of this:

In and Out. I hate to say it, but I really don't get the hype. It was good, but it wasn't life-changing, man.

We also went to Disneyland:

Where I stalked and got a paparazzi shot of Pooh:

And then I stole him and brought him home:

Also, this is Viv's dog, Baron:

He did not want me to knit in the car. And so he sat on my knitting and fell asleep.

We also looked around Santa Monica. Of course, before we even hit the beach, I had to go here:

Where I bought these:

And these:

I know I'm all about using stash right now, but my aunt is going through a hard time (my cousin has just been diagnosed with some crazy autoimmune disorder) so I will make her a nice shawl out of this lovely Auracania fingering cotton.

There are my feet, touching California beach for the first time in my life:

And my first glance at its water:

And my travel knitting, which turned out to be a perfect match for the beachiness of my trip:

It's a lightweight clapotis using two strands of Jojoland Harmony laceweight together. I got a lot done over two six-hour flights and two four-hour drives.

I'm almost tempted to move out there.

Operation: Stasheroo

2009-05-06T15:59:00.004-04:00

I realize the title of this post could make you think I am stashing more stuff. But no, I am all about the using up my stash right now. I figure it's a win-win situation. I am being green and also not feeling guilty about spending money I can ill-afford right now.

Like a lot of people, I'm tightening my belt b/c A) my freelancing always goes down in the summer and B) I have a lot of traveling/wedding-going to do over the next couple months and I need to economize.

The wedding stuff in particular is driving me a little batty. I'm a bridesmaid (this is my first really good friend who's getting married) and it's very strange for me b/c I'm the kind of girl who never really wanted a huge wedding. My idea of a perfect wedding (for me) is to run off and elope on a beach somewhere and then come back and throw a huge party. However, my friend N is a total girly-girl who is having a giant wedding in Michigan and then traveling to India (her fiance is Indian) to do it all over again a week later. Just thinking about it makes me tired. But she's getting married and next week, I will be visiting my friend Viv in LA and then hitting up Vegas with all us girls for a bachelorette get-together. With any luck, I may actually post a photo of my face on this blog. Only for comedic purposes, you understand.

...OK...back to knitting:

I don't know where this came from. It crept up on me and then told me to stop denying that I had started another project and just admit that I am terrible. I admit, I'm terrible.

It's Delphine (Rav link), from French Girl Knits. Only I didn't get the pattern from the book, I got it from the Spring Interweave. I was trying to figure out what to make with some of the Vintage Cotton I had lying around, and this little tank seemed to fit the bill. I really hope that it fits. My bust falls in between the 2nd and 3rd sizes, but the pattern states that it stretches. Otherwise, I'll have to give it away.

And since I'll be on a plane for six hours at a time, I figured I should really plan ahead for some mile-high knitting. So I rolled this up to do a swatch:

This here is a skein of Blue Sky Alpaca. It's purdy. I have a lot more in beige. I'm thinking of buckling down and using my stash to make my dad an argyle cardi.

And remember how I gave my Ene and North Roe shawls to my friend C's mum and auntie? Well, they took us all out for dinner:

It was quite delicious. I think I am still full.

FO: Plummy North Roe Shawl

2009-04-28T16:13:00.005-04:00

Another shawl! This one will go along with my purple Ene to drape over the shoulders of my friend C's mum and auntie in England.

Plummy North Roe Shawl
Pattern: North Roe Shawl
Yarn: Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace
Needles: US 6 Addi Bamboo Circs
Mods: None

This lace yarn is some yummy, yummy stuff. I originally bought two skeins of it for a Hanami, but I started to have misgivings about the sides of that pattern. Most of the center of the stole (I was planning on making both sides from the falling blossoms pattern) would be stockinette and I find blocking rectangular stoles much harder than blocking triangles. I've seen versions of the North Roe all over Ravelry and it's pretty much ALWAYS pretty. So I decided to opt for this as a present instead. It's super economical, too: The whole project must have cost me less than $25.

The open leaf shapes just make my heart go thumpity-thump.

And while I was trying to take photographs of this pretty little thing, there was the craziest ruckus coming from the patios behind my building. It sounded like two cats on uppers and steroids duking it out for cat-wrestling champion of the world. I leaned out the window and caught them staring each other down:

Seriously, I had no idea cats could make that much noise. I'm guessing this cat didn't know, either, b/c she came out to investigate what the frack was making so much noise, too:

I feel like I documented an important aspect of urban cat life.

Pretty Things and Stripes, Too

2009-04-11T17:35:00.003-04:00

I find it funny that I love the smell of violets. Mostly because the actual flower doesn't smell like anything to me. But violet scented/flavored candy and cosmetics just makes me crazy. In a good, obsessive kind of way. Honestly, if you lead me to a violet anything, I have to have it. And this lip gloss is one of the best examples of it, ever.

Moisturizing, violet lip balm-y goodness.

And then this stuff I bought a few weeks ago. It's so pretty I don't think I can make socks with it:

I treated myself to it because I'd finished the second draft of my script. My writing has been going ok lately. This book was a big inspiration:

I honestly don't think I'll ever read a book the same way again. Which comes in handy at the moment since I'm reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it's definitely something that must be read word by word.

Also, I decided it was time for both stashbusting and garment-knitting:

I have no idea what I'm doing here. I'm making it up as I go along. I think that's the back.

More Kor Knits

2009-03-31T16:42:00.020-04:00

I trekked through K-town yesterday, just because I was craving some particularly delicious and ultra-spicy takeout. While I was waiting for them to get my order ready, I popped into the K-bookstore across the street. I had no intention of buying anything, but I walked out with this...

Loosely translated, the title reads: "Hand Knit and Crochet Patterns That You Covet from Movies."

The designer apparently enjoys romantic comedies. Among the movies/knits featured:

Elizabethtown
Kirsten Dunst's red knit cap

Love, Actually
Keira Knightley's Cable Collar Sweater

The Holiday
Cameron Diaz's White Cabled Cardi

The Edge of Love
Sienna Miller's Mustard Leaf Cardi

And then, just for kicks, some patterns that have nothing to do with the movies but that I covet regardless.

Lime-Green Mohair Poncho

Crocheted Wrap Coat

I am back to knitting again, but it's mostly all shawls, all the time. This li'l thing below is Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in a beautiful plummy color. The pattern is North Roe and we'll see what happens with it as I progress.

FO: Ocean Blue Pangea

2009-03-19T15:49:00.004-04:00

I'm baaaaaaaaack.

I'm sorry I am such a bad blogger. But if it makes anyone feel any better, in my time away I finished the following: A short story, a script, a friendship, a freelance project, another year of my life.

And, of course, this lovely little thing:

Ocean Blue Pangea Shawl
Pattern: Pangea Shawl by Sarah-Hope Parmeter (Rav link)
Yarn: Tilli Tomas Demi Plie in Moroccan Blue, 3 skeins
Needles: US 5 Lantern Moon circs
Mods: Left off the last four rows of Chart I

This is a fabulous pattern and a fabulous yarn. If I had the budget, I would only be making shawls with silk.

The best part of this pattern is how you start of with little clover-ish shapes:

And then you move onto these odd, foamy little figure eights that look perfect in true blue:

Which eventually lead into steady little arches and gentle scallops:

Shawls are making me incredibly happy right now. I'm still hoping to finish that damn cabled coat, but my sweater-knitting is going mucho slowly at the moment. Doesn't help that the weather shows signs of warming up.

BTW, you know the best thing about making a shawl? Blocking the bottom of into such precise little points.

FO: Baby, It's Cold Outside

2008-12-23T15:30:00.004-05:00

Yeah, it's 29 degrees outside. Yesterday's high was 24. In my brilliance, I chose yesterday to take my first spinning class in a year. My hamstrings are really not happy with me.

I know I've been a "bad" blogger. It's just that life has been getting in the way and this turn of events has brought with it the knowledge that I've been burrowing in my apartment over the past half-year like a recluse. OK, maybe not a real recluse, but a semi-recluse. I'm sorry for not keeping up with the knitting blogs I love to follow. I'm going through my comments and bloglines slowly but surely!

Along with this knowledge, my knitting fever has dampened somewhat. I still enjoy it, but it's not quite as pressing as it once was. I was spending way too much time on Ravelry when I should have been working. No one should be alarmed, though. I'm still knitting. I just won't be knitting with the same dogged determination of "Imustfinishthisrightnow." Turning 29 in the new year is turning out to be a swift kick in my rear end. That and the spinning class last night.

But here's some knitting cheer for the holidays:

Hollyhock Harvest Mittens
Pattern: Yellow Harvest Mittens, Vogue Knitting Fall '08
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Hollyhock, 1 skein
Needles: US 9 DPNs

These were super quick to knit up. My hands were in sore need of some Malabrigo warmth and these mittens were so fun to make that I'm tempted to make more pairs just to have around.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through my brother's Christmas socks...

And I've made some headway into a new cardi...which should be recognizable to anyone paying attention to really, really popular knitting patterns.

Lastly, I bought some shoes over Thanksgiving weekend. They are yellow. They make me very happy.

More Shooting

2008-12-06T17:37:00.003-05:00

Alas, no new knitting content yet...

I have come to an impasse with the freaking cabled coat. The seaming of the thing is a ridiculous endeavor. I messed up three times. Ripped three times. Cried twice. So I'm on to a couple other things right now, but haven't had a chance to photograph them b/c I was working on yet another shoot that involved a lot of high school extras and some freaky art studio in Brooklyn.

The backyard of the studio, however, yielded some very interesting photo results that remind me of strange circus freak movies. I'm sharing them with you so that maybe someone will agree with me and I will feel slightly less silly about how this yard gives me the heebie-jeebies.

An abandoned factory with strange sculptures littering the yard:

Sunlight casting a menacing shadow over both school bus and heavy construction equipment:

Aluminum children at play:

Half a car growing decrepit behind a barn:

Blue clay bowls sitting like serving dishes:

Shells collected from shore and dragged inland:

And a sad Pooh, fading in the sun:

FO: Selbu!

2008-11-11T15:58:00.002-05:00

I finally finished sumthin'.

Selbu Modern
Yarn: Shibui Sock Yarn, 1 skein each burgundy and citrus green

Me like this pattern. Me like this yarn. 'Nuff said, no?

Ok, ok, so I'll embellish since this is the first knitting-related post I've managed to come up with over the last month.

I have a love/hate relationship with fair isle. I love it for the results and the detailed work it takes to bring it all about. I love it for the rhythm it creates when I'm knitting and the way I can see the end result growing row by row. But on the other hand, I hate it for its fiddly nature, I hate it for its time and mind-consuming craziness, and I hate that my tension goes from even to uneven.

But can anyone really argue with the beauty of the finished product?

So prettttttttttttttttty.

This must be why fair isle is the rock upon which I beat my furrowed brow.

I also kind of want to abandon my WIPs temporarily and start a new sweater. Am I bad?

This morning...

2008-11-04T09:51:00.005-05:00

This morning at 7 a.m., sunlight streamed through the changing trees...

My roommate D and I armed ourselves with steaming cups of coffee...

We walked down the street to this location...

We ran into friends as we stood for an hour and forty minutes in this line:

To do this...

Afterwards, we contemplated what this day could mean...

For every child who has ever felt that there were limits on what he or she could accomplish...

Busy-ness

2008-10-27T15:26:00.005-04:00

So...it's been a long time since I updated this thingamajig.

That's because I've mostly been doing stuff like this:

This is what's known as getting short movies made. I spent most of late September/early October helping two of my friends as they prepped and shot their thesis films for graduate film school. I was running craft services, making round-trip two-hour drives to Pennsylvania, cooking dinners for 20 people, offering massages, and helping with production design to dress fake freezers and scary basements.

My whole body hurts. It was an intense, sleep-deprived, stressful and bonding experience. But it was all worth it. My friends have their footage, our actors are still alive, and all of us learned oodles of good things.

We even had our own mascot:

Oscar, the pitbull/boxer mix who was rescued by our producer only a few months ago and got a bit snappy at being left in a barnyard while the rest of us were at work. But those puppy eyes got a lot of love.

I tried to knit. I did. And this is about all I managed:

I dug into stash (b/c I'm growing a bit embarrassed by it) and pulled out two skeins of Shibui Sock yarn and decided I must have the Selbu Modern. I plan to start a sweater as soon as I finish up that darn cabled coat. With luck, this will happen within the week!

Almost a year, almost a sweater

2008-09-19T16:45:00.003-04:00

The Norah Gaughan Cabled Coat, which was featured in Vogue Knitting's 25th Anniversary Issues last year, was an ambitious project. I knew going into it that it would take me a long time. Wowee...it's been almost a whole year and the thing is still not done.

But take heart, fellow knitters. I am on what some refer to as a "home stretch." I don't really know what that means b/c I am not a sports enthusiast, but whatevs. It is very nearly complete.

What you see here is the first eight inches or so of the cabled collar. It says to knit two separate pieces to be seamed later. I try to avoid collar seams as much as humanly possible so I am just knitting one long piece. I'm obsessive-compulsive about certain things, but symmetrically-cabled collar pieces are not among them.

And then, of course, since I need yet another distraction, I went crazy over this:

It's from the Rowan Cocoon Collection. I used Cocoon last year to make the Helsinki Hat Scarf for Annie's. The yarn is scrum-diddly-umptious. So, now that it's available in colors other than earthen, I bought up some in green.

It looks a bit matted here but it's not...I think my po' photography skills are making it look sad and scrunched. But it's a beautiful jewel green and I foresee a winter full of green and blue knits. I'm a bit obsessed with both colors at the moment.

But now...going back to finish that crazy coat. I want to wear it this fall so I'm getting it done if it kills me.

FO: Tweedy Ene

2008-09-03T15:16:00.007-04:00

Ene is one fiiiiiiiiine lady...

Tweedy Ene
Pattern: Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in Sigh, 4 or 4.5 balls
Needles: US 8

I only say 4 or 4.5 balls because most of this Felted Tweed was ripped from the back and front of a sweater that I abandoned two years ago. I have no idea how many actual balls I used, but I estimate it at about 4 or 4.5.

Other than using a bigger needle (to account for thicker yarn), I made no mods. This is a wonderfully clear, well-written pattern. It's super. Casting on a gazillion stitches in the beginning it actually not as bad as I'd feared.

It is, however, a ginormous shawl:

I think the wingspan of the shawl is 80+ inches. Didn't actually measure, but I know I could have blocked it bigger if I'd wanted.

It's nice and cozy (especially in air-conditioning) but I think I'll be able to let go of it and give it to my friend to give to her mum. I'm sure I'll make another Ene at some point and how many shawls does a gal need, anyway?

I also finished Clint's Ph.D sweater, but neglected to get a photo of him wearing it. Sigh. I was too busy being sad he was leaving. But he loves the sweater and promised to wear it to death and get a photo of it in blustery Chicago weather. Speaking of blustery, don't I have more sweaters to knit?

Hemlock Tam Pattern

2008-08-27T16:46:00.005-04:00

OK, this is more of an adaptation of the original Hemlock Ring Doily pattern (made famous as BrooklynTweed's Hemlock Ring Blanket) than an actual pattern.

Again, this is not so much a pattern as an outline of how I made the tam you see in these photos. I checked everything, but as my life is full of errors, these instructions are probably not immune and it's been a while since I knit up this hat. If you find any errors, please let me know at my email address: swayandswish@gmail.com.

Supplies:

1 ball Teva Durham Loop-D-Loop Moss in Pink. (I used less than one ball)
5 DPNs, size US 3

Gauge:

I did not measure my gauge while working b/c I was playing it by ear.
Post-blocking, gauge = 7 stitches x 9 rows in stockinette. The yarn is labeled as a DK weight but I worked tight on small needles.

Instructions:

Start working the Hemlock Ring Doily pattern.

Work until you finish Row 47.

*Rows 48-50: Knit around.

*Row 51: (YO, k1) 2 times, YO, k2, [skp] 3 times, [k2tog] 3 times, k2, (YO, k1) 3 times.

*Rows 52-54: Knit around.

*Row 55: (YO, k1) 2 times, k2 [skp] 3 times, [k2tog] 3 times, k3, (yo, k1) 2 times. (152 sts)

*Rows 56-58: Knit around.

*Row 59: (YO, k1) 2 times, k1, [skp] 3 times, [k2tog] 3 times, k2, (YO, k1) 2 times. (136 sts)

*Rows 60-62: Knit around.

*Row 63: (YO, k1) 2 times, [skp] 3 times, [k2tog] 3 times, (k1, YO) 2 times, k1. (120 sts)

*Rows 64-66: Knit around.

*Rows 67-76: (k1, p1) around.

Bind off all stitches.

Block around a large dinner plate.

Stashbusting Mania!

2008-08-22T19:15:00.004-04:00

I may have purchased more stash and pattern booklets. We'll get to that next time, but in the meantime, my guilt has targeted the massive amounts of Ultra Alpaca in my knitting bin:

Months ago, I saw Lolly's Jacquard Pulli and lusted after it, but thought I should wait until more WIPs reached FO status. However, after staring into my Ultra Alpaca basket and trying to figure out what to do it all, I decided fair isle was the perfect medicine. Turns out I was right!

Fair isle is one of those wonderful (or horrible, depending on how you look at it) things that are impossible to put down. I started this two days ago and the ribbing was slow, but as soon as the colorwork started, I was zooming along like Michael Phelps, Olympic-style. Here are some guts:

I'm using five colors of Ultra Alpaca, a red Ultra Alpaca Light, and a beige Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool. I redid the color chart on Excel in order to compensate for the similar color values my yarn has as opposed to the colors Rebecca 34 uses. Yes, I know I have just added more WIP to the WIP pile. But I don't feel bad since I'm done with the back and one front of the Snowdrift cardi, I'm done with the back and 90% of the front of Clint's sweater and Ene looks like this:

I have two repeats of the third chart and the final chart left to do.

Snow Falling on Sway

2008-08-13T13:31:00.002-04:00

So...thanks to Estela's lovely completion, I had a fever. And the only prescription...no, it was not more cowbell. The only prescription turned out to be some pristine white wool from the mountains of Peru.

This here is Berroco Peruvia, knit on 10s, to make this:

I saw this cardi on the cover of the book, Inspired to Knit, and I knew with a mad, manic flash that I MUST have this cardi. There was simply no walking away from this. I didn't, however, like the idea of spending so much on something that is clearly outerwear. The gorgeous cabley cuffs are too bulky (and pretty) to be buried under a coat and the zipper lends itself to use as a fall cover-up. So instead of splurging on something pricey that would be buttery soft on the skin, I chose a workhorse yarn that's less cloud-like but ultimately more sensible. And what can be more sensible than 100% Peruvian wool? I'm planning on lengthening it a bit to better serve as outerwear.

Speaking of snowy projects, Irish Cream needs a time out. He got all mad that I didn't pay attention to him and decided to oh-so-sneaky-like fall off the dpns and unravel himself nearly a full border repeat. We're talking a 20+ row repeat. Yeah, he is SO in the doghouse right now. Or the froghouse. I honestly don't know what to do. The more I look at Irish Cream, the more I think he behaved this way b/c he wants to be something else. We shall see.

In other news, I'm finishing up the back of Clint's Ph.D. sweater and decided to do a stashbusting exercise.

It's Ene. Pretty, pretty Ene. Instead of lace, I decided to use up this purple Felted Tweed I've had in my stash since almost the beginning of time. About two years ago, I bought it for my second "big" project, which was supposed to be Elise from Rowan Vintage Knits. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I was screwing things up. The final straw came when I pulled it out in the subway to work on and a full ball of this yarn fell onto the track. I assure you, it was tragic. So I was now a full ball short for the project and I loathed going back to the store where I bought it because they made me feel so yucky. I frogged the whole back of the sweater and two inches of one front and stuffed it into the back of my dresser drawer. But that's enough time to pass for me to give the yarn a second chance.

I'm working on size 8s. This thing might be HUGE. Casting on almost 400 stitches sucks, but it makes the shawl a wonderful project because each right side row gets shorter and shorter.

And I finally finished reading that tome, Of Human Bondage. It was a wonderful read. I honestly didn't expect it to be as funny as I found it. There were moments when I laughed aloud on the subway and looked like a perfect idiot. There were moments when I hated Mildred so much that I wanted to reach through the pages and throttle her. There were moments when my heart broke for Philip and then other moments when I wanted to slap him and tell him to have some backbone. It's a long read, but worth it. I haven't been so eager to find out what happens to a character in a while.

Since I'm already gushing about Maugham, here he is with the next couple books in line:

I think I need to start attending British Writers Anonymous.

FO: Estela, Mi Amor

2008-08-06T15:05:00.003-04:00

Here she is...me encanta a Estela.

Estela Dress
Pattern: Estela, from Debbie Bliss Prima
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Prima, 13.5 balls in Emerald
Needles: US 5 and 6 circs
Modifications: Eliminated side vents, shortened torso after sleeve shaping.

Apologies for the overexposed photo, but even after learning how to deal with the timer, I am still at a loss as to how to take a good self-portrait without a lot of luck on my side. I also apologize for the cleavage...I guess I just have to buy a slip that rises a little higher in the front.

First off, I needed more yarn than the pattern called for. I made the 36" bust size, which calls for 13 balls but I needed to go into a 14th. I think this is due to the fact that the yarn had many knots in it, which brought out my anal-retentive side and forced me to abandon long lengths of yarn to the side seams.

Aside from the knotty issues, this is really beautiful yarn. I don't mind knots so much as long as the yarn makes up for it and this stuff sure does. It's got a beautiful sheen (from the 80% bamboo) and great squeezability (from the 20% wool). It snags if you're not careful, so be extra cautious if you wear jewelry on your hands (my ring caught some of the plies a few times). Steam blocking the dress made the stitches bloom and the fabric gain extra drape.

I eliminated the side vents b/c I thought it would be too swingy and I'm glad I did. I think the dress would fly all over the place if I'd made it as written. I also shortened the torso a teeny bit after the horizontal garter stripes. I waited until the armhole shaping was complete and then did a few less "straight" rows than the pattern specified.

All in all, it was a terribly satisfying knit. The fishbone lace panels are super easy and broke up the endless monotony of stockinette. My only complaint is that despite being a mostly bamboo yarn, this is NOT a dress for the heat o' summer. It should serve when the weather only reaches about 75 degrees, but not a single degree hotter. I plan to wear it as a layering piece when the weather transitions in the spring and autumn.

And would you look at that...all this FO'ing got me to start up with Norah Gaughan's cabled coat again. But new knits are still out there, calling to meeeeeee.

The Cliffs of WIPsanity

2008-08-01T13:28:00.003-04:00

I am stalling. On many things, but knitting in particular. It is NO HELP that Rowan, Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, and Twist Collective are tempting me to cast on new projects.

In the meantime, I am plugging away (albeit slooooooowly) on Clint's sweater. The goal is to have it finished before Clint leaves for Chicago at the end of August.

Knitting it is yummy. It's a bunch of Rowan Cashsoft Chunky and it's heaven on the hands. The colors aren't so...girly...in real life. Ribbing is in a chestnut brown and the stockinette is a deep maroon.

Estela is coming along, but it feels like it's taking FOREVER right now. I feel guilty for leaving my lovely cabled coat alone for so long. I feel guilty for leaving my lovely Irish Cream stole alone for so long. I feel guilty for leaving yet another sock in single sock mode. Sigh. I don't know if I will continue Oblique after all b/c Mom requested a different kind of sweater recently.

All of which is making this:

...call out to me in the name of procrastination. It's two balls of Jade Sapphire's Lacey Lamb and I might make a present out of it. But I s'pose it'll all have to wait. Booooooo.

However, the knit-stalling is partially due to the fact that I've been working feverishly on my script. So I guess it's all a give and take, no?

I also found some of those wonderful Savannah College of Art and Design notebooks at B&N again:

B&N is very, very tricky. I resisted getting that $25/yr membership card for so long. But it sounds so appealing when you realize you're about to purchase upwards of $100 of reading/writing material and if you pay $25 for the membership, you get at least $10 off right this second and then you only have to get a total of $16 in discounts for the remainder of the year in order to make the membership worth it. Damn you, B&N. You are tricky.

FO: Clapotis o' Human Bondage...and a bit o' crochet

2008-07-28T16:14:00.007-04:00

Finally, we have an FO 'round these here parts...

Clapotis o' Human Bondage
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM color P117, 5.5 skeins
Needles: US 4
Modifications: More increases and more straight rows for a proper-sized Clapotis.

Although I enjoyed making this, I named it the Clapotis o' Human Bondage because 1) I will forever link this to reading Of Human Bondage and 2) it really does slog on through the last bit of straight rows.

When I bought the Koigu, I battled a terrible guilty conscience due to the 'spensive-ness of the yarn. However, I had coveted this yarn for quite a while and decided that since I couldn't get it out of my head, I should buy it and make something that I could keep for a looooooong time. Clapotis it was.

Despite giving up on my last Clapotis, this one was not difficult to stay faithful to. Koigu is like buttah. These colors are subtle but rich and will make a perfect scarf (see above pic) for many winters to come. It can also serve as a wrap:

And as ninja headgear:

The Clapotis, I have discovered, is lovely as a thin, lightweight fabric. The fingering weight is perfect on US 4s for a warm but feathery wrap. The dropped stitches and the wrong side look--appropriately--like waves and pebbles.

I also dug out this oooold project:

This crochet bag is the Caban pattern from Rowan 35. It's made of Reynolds Saucy and it was my first crochet project, ever. I loved the bag so much that I bit the bullet and learned to use a hook properly. I'm thinking of making another one now that I am much better at crochet (if you look closely, those bobbles don't quite alternate at even intervals).

Also, this project taught me that my sewing/finishing skills were lacking:

Since I didn't know how to do it, I just whipstitched the lining to the bag. That resulted in this:

Note to self: Whipstitching is not a very sturdy way to put together a bag.

But in other crochet news:

I couldn't stop myself anymore. I hate alternating yarns every round because it creates so many ends to weave in, but I found a perfect compromise between crochet motifs, blankets, and Kureyon Sock.

Do you see those little orange flecks? I love the way Kureyon keeps presenting me with little surprises.

Knit Lit 101

2008-07-15T01:30:00.002-04:00

After many attempts to learn to read and knit simultaneously, Sway has finally figured out how to make this magical combination work:

This, my friends, is what happens when one digs up a rusty, seldom-used old music stand, drops it down to eye level, and places a delightful tome upon it to peruse whilst running one's hands over easy-peasy knitting. As you can see, Clapotis 2.0 is coming along nicely.

The book ain't so bad itself...

My good ol' dad is not much of a reader. Mom keeps her hand in by devouring Mary Higgins Clark and Jodi Picoult. Dad, on the other hand, tends to read books with lively titles such as "LAN Networking" and "Internet QoS." He never really got into the habit of reading "for fun" but he always speaks fondly of this book. Methinks this is because this is the only book he ever finished in his entire life.

I walked past a used bookstore a few months ago and noticed this in the dollar bin. And if you know me, you know that I cannot pass by a dollar bin at a used bookstore without plunking down some change.

It's a bit long, but I'm quite enjoying it. For whatever reason, I always feel as though W. Somerset Maugham is speaking directly to me and that he means for me to understand him. Also, Philip Carey seems like my doppelganger. Aside from the club foot. And being male. And British. And, you know, fictional.

Wrapping Up in Comfort

2008-07-07T19:14:00.006-04:00

So...

I have had a couple of mean, stressful weeks. It started the last week of June (having to do with miscommunication with the accounting dept. of work) and then continued on through Fourth of July (having to do with miscommunication with friends and family). Not to mention the frickin' storm clouds that have apparently chosen to take up permanent residence over the skies of Manhattan. W. T. F.

So...

How does one go about comforting oneself when it's too hot for chicken soup? Why, one goes to see many summer popcorn movies and then buys up a load of Koigu to make oneself the Clapotis O'Dreams.

Here is Clapotis O'Dreams prior to dropping any stitches. Ain't she a beaut? The colors are less bright than the photo reads and they're all my favorite colors. The blue shifts from dove gray to deep blueberry, the berry shifts from pale carnation pink to dark wine, there's goldenrod and jewel green and some dusty purples scattered about.

I went the marker route this time. My last attempt, with the Colinette, did not end so well. I figured out that 1) I dislike having to purl the dropping stitches on the right side b/c this interrupts my flow during the knit row; 2) I dislike having to knit the dropping stitches on the wrong side b/c this interrupts my flow during the purl row; 3) I like markers. Problem solved, case dismissed!

Also, I don't believe that I really wanted a wrap made of synthetic fiber. While the yarn was gorgeous, the whole thing never felt "right" to me. This time, although pricey, I told myself that I was making an investment. Not only do I love to knit with Koigu, but it holds up fairly well in my socks so it should likewise hold up very well in a wrap. The colors are exactly right for me and gosh darn it, I need a pick-me-up. I'm knitting on a US 4 and added several increase sections for a substantially-sized wrap.

As for movies, over the past week and a half, I've gone to see Wall-E, Wanted, and Hancock. I highly enjoyed Wanted. It starts off so completely over the top that I just settled in to see lots of things exploding and crashing and people hitting each other. Hancock, on the other hand, is fairly entertaining but I was getting dizzy from some of the camera movements (not a fan of the "let's spin the camera around the hero's head a dozen times" move) and the surprisingly cheap-looking special effects. But the highlight was definitely Wall-E. You must all go see this film. I laughed, I cried, I loved it.

Warm Fuzzies

2008-07-01T14:34:00.003-04:00

The back of Estela is done. Here she is, attempting not to be a wrinkly mess:

I bought a couple extra balls of this yarn because it looked like I might run out. Will have to do a complete review of the yarn itself once I'm done b/c there are a couple of issues with it that are driving me a little batty. The pattern is heaven.

Speaking of heaven:

I'm making this as a sample for the store. It's a kit of 10 colors of Artyarns Silk Mohair that are knit into a giant stockinette stole with ombre color changes. This one is a neutral colorway, but I know there are brighter colors available. The stockinette is giving me an excellent chance to work on my continental knitting skills and it's easy as pie.

Honestly, I think purl stitches are just more enjoyable in continental knitting. The yarn itself is so soft and squishy that I want to swim in it. Mohair isn't always super-soft, but this stuff really is. I want to make one for myself if I ever get the time later this year. As it is, I am limited to working on this fluffy mohair in my air-conditioned bedroom or the store.

And for more weather-inappropriate knitting, I bought me some oodles of black cashmere:

Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere. Enough to make a shrug. I will be having fun with this shortly.

FO: North Sea Stole

2008-06-29T20:03:00.003-04:00

North Sea Stole
Pattern: North Sea Stole from Folk Shawls
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr Lace in Mahogany, 1.2 balls
Needles: US 5
Modifications: Did not make two halves for grafting; I just returned to the first pattern and knitted in the same direction.

This yarn is deliciously yummy. The recipient, my friend M's mother, travels a lot and always brings back little trinkets for me so I thought it was about time to return the favor. I gifted it to her over the weekend and she loved it.

I ain't a newbie to lace or blocking it anymore, but the transformation from crumpled lace to blocked lace continues to amaze me. I now understand that I need to get me some blocking wires b/c I have had it with the pins. I had to pin this thing out a hundred times (yes, I exaggerate) and then gave up and threaded cotton through the sides to hold it out evenly.

I only had time for a few quick timer shots on the camera and this was the best of the lot. Fuzzy and overexposed, but you get the drift.

Summer Eats

2008-06-24T18:53:00.004-04:00

I'm really done with the North Sea Stole, but I haven't gotten my lazy rump to weave in the ends yet or take photos. So instead, I leave you with an abbreviated version of the past few days chez Sway:

George Harrison tunes at Karaoke w/silly, drunken friends

A bowl of ripe avocados

Cherry Tomatoes, sans salmonella

Sprigs of Cilantro and some squeezed-out Lemons 'n Limes

A handful of diced red onions

Ta-da!

Add a picnic blanket, blue corn tortilla chips, several cold Coronas, and the Philharmonic in Central Park's Great Lawn, and we have ourselves a wonderful summer night.

Un vestido azul para el verano

2008-06-17T16:48:00.002-04:00

I confess. I gave up on the Roped Shell. I realized at a certain point that the project was going to be of the slogging variety. You know, I could finish it if I really really made myself, but my knitting time of late has been limited and I can't bear to spend that valuable knitting time making something that I might enjoy wearing but is not pleasing to, you know, knit, actually.

I just watched "Painting with Words," a half-hour David McCullough interview on HBO. He is so eloquent and earnest that I found myself looking up his speeches and lectures. At Boston College's commencement this spring, he gave a speech in which he implored the graduating class:

"And please, please, do what you can to cure the verbal virus that seems increasingly rampant among your generation. I’m talking about the relentless, wearisome use of the words, “like,” and “you know,” and “awesome,” and “actually.” Listen to yourselves as you speak.

Just imagine if in his inaugural address John F. Kennedy had said, “Ask not what your country can, you know, do for you, but what you can, like, do for your country actually.”"

Ahem. Point taken, Mr. McCullough.

Moving on, I knew I needed some other type of soothing summer knitting that was interesting enough to keep me from poking my eyes out with the needles but easy enough that I could work on it with only half my brain present.

Enter Debbie Bliss's Estela:

One of my Spanish professors in college was this crazy language genius. She had been born in Iran, spoke Farsi and Arabic since childhood, went to school in Paris and then Madrid, and immigrated to the U.S. She was fluent in five languages right there. And then she started taking Mandarin Chinese courses.

I only mention her because she used to say that of all the Spanish cities, "Me encanta a Barcelona." I know "me encanta" is a very common Spanish expression, but for me, it is always tied up with the way she said it. "Me encanta" seemed to denote something alluring and positively delightful.

And that is the only way I can explain my reaction to Estela. Me encanta a Estela.

But not without modifications. I couldn't imagine donning a "waistcoat," so I eliminated the slits on the sides. I'm debating about whether to keep the full button bands for the front. I was thinking I could perhaps just make it solid with a placket at the bust, but I'm pleasantly making headway with the back, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

FO: Leaves o' Gold Socks

2008-06-09T14:10:00.004-04:00

Since leaving Korea when I was but a wee toddler, I've only been back once. After my freshman year in college, my a cappella group traveled through Asia for a month and we spent five days in Seoul.

The local chapter of our school's alumni treated us to a lunch and one of the men, the CEO of some large company I can't remember, was reminiscing about his drinking days back in college. Jokingly, he informed us that the Koreans are known as "the Irish of Asia." Apparently, my people like the likker.

Later that night, wouldn't you know it? We came across an Irish bar right in our own hotel. You know what it was called?

O'Kim's.

I kid you not. And ever since then, I am a little obsessed with using the o' in random and inappropriate places.

I like to think these socks are an homage to the little bit o' Irish in every Korean.

Leaves o' Gold Socks
Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt
Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Gold, 1 skein
Needles: US 1 circs
Absolutely no modifications except for making it shorter to fit my feet.

I cast on for these because I was taking a few days to visit the 'rents and I didn't want to lug by large lace shawls or sweaters on the bus. I flipped through this pattern and thought it looked simple enough and I headed out. Whew. Two days later, I had eaten my fill of a large home-grilled steak, plenty of grilled veggies, watched two rather bad thriller movies, slept like the dead, and bound off these socks.

I really love how easy this pattern was and how it flows so smoothly. The toes are perfect. The leaves are perfect. The yarn! Sea Wool is a teensy bit crunchy while knitting, but softens after blocking to a beautiful fabric.

Also, these socks make me think of Eva Cassidy's beautiful, beautiful cover of Sting's "Fields of Gold." If you haven't heard it, go here to listen. It makes me all kinds of sad and happy.

Now on to a tale of two batteries:

You notice how the one on the right reads, "CR2," while the one on the left clearly reads, "123"? Apparently, I cannot read. I spent $14 buying two of the 123 batteries when what I really needed were two CR2 batteries. $14 is not a huge loss, but it is if I basically just threw it into the trash. It's not even like buying two AA batteries you don't need. You can always find uses for AA batteries. But 123? ARGHHHH.

Anyway, I need the batteries for this:

It's my old Pentax camera. I bought it several years ago from a friend who had no more use for it and then I promptly abandoned it when I realized I really needed a digital camera. This one ain't digital. It's old school and uses film. I don't even know if I remember how to handle film.

I never even learned how to use this thing properly, but my roommate Don is a photographer and he promised to teach me how to work it. That is, if I can ever get my brain straight in the drugstore and buy the proper batteries.

FO: Gathered Pullover

2008-06-03T14:04:00.004-04:00

I love perfume. I don't wear it often, but these are some of my all-time favorites: Chanel No. 5, Chanel No. 19, Gucci Eau de Parfum, Editions de Parfum Frederic Malle's En Passant and Lys Mediterranee.

Yes, I like the old-fashioned ones. The woody scent of sandalwood, however, might be at the very top of the list for me.

Sandalwood Gathered Pullover
Pattern: Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason
Yarn: Louet MerLin Tristan, a bit less than 3 skeins
Needles: US 8 Addi Naturas
Modifications: Knit the body longer before starting knot, knit full-length sleeves. Started sleeves with XS measurements, increased to S measurements at cap.

This sweater is making me so happy and so sad all at the same time. Happy because it fits beautifully and feels all wonderful and yummy. Sad because it is too darn hot to wear it right now. The Louet MerLin is stupendous yarn. Stupendous, I tell you. I steamed it to block and it just softened the linen part of it to give it elegant drape. I decided to make the XS size (even though I am not extra small) because everything I read implied that the sweater stretched a bit due to the loose gauge. Halfway through, I was nervous...but it ended up being a perfect fit. Hooray for Ravelry's pattern pages! I stuck with the S numbers for the sleeve caps because my upper arms are...uh...not quite toned.

Also, I knit this--with modified full-length sleeves and a lengthened torso--out of 750 yards of yarn. 750! That's remarkable! I love it so much that I'm considering buying up some Euroflax and making a summer tank dress from the pattern. I don't think I'd need more than 3 skeins considering there would be no sleeves and just additional length. We shall see.

On to book reviews, both knitting and not:

Of all the knitting books with men's patterns, this one is by far my favorite. It's full of classic silhouettes that have been updated with modern color palettes and I can actually see my friends and family members actually wearing this stuff.

Case in point:

A manly shawl-collared chunky-knit sweater. This one needs to be made before August. One of my friends, Clint, is moving to Chicago to start a lengthy M.A.-Ph.D. program in film studies. A month ago, he was deciding between programs in Santa Barbara and Chicago. He liked Chicago, but was scared of how cold it would be. To allay his fears, I promised to knit him a "professor" sweater. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have the winning pattern.

I also finished this short li'l book:

It's been translated from Korean and it's an odd story. Basically, the narrator is a man who searches for "clients" but doesn't tell you what he does for his clients until halfway through. And no, he does not offer sexual services. The story also involves several searingly lonely women and a pair of estranged brothers. It's terribly sad and bleak, but it also manages to be lyrical and beautiful. It's a quick, short read and I highly recommend it.

In other knitting news, I've started the border on my diamonds and triangle stole. I'm kind of afraid this is going to be gigantic.

Loveliness

2008-05-20T18:14:00.004-04:00

It's been quite a lovely week over here Chez Sway.

I started the Roped Shell in Vintage Cotton:

It's super easy to knit and I'm excited that there will be no sleeves to knit. Maybe tanks are the way to go. The slipped stitches are popping out of the fabric right now, which explains why the gauge instructions demand that you block. I'm not completely sold on the color combo. I think it's a bit too bright still and a bit too...orange. But I decided to knit it up and see how I feel at the end and if I still need different colors, one of my friends will be lucky.

I also have swatched for Flicca (Rav link), Oblique, and Annikki. I've promised myself that as soon as I finish knitting either the Gathered Pullover or the Cabled Coat, I'll be able to cast on at least one of these lovelies.

Also, I got some minor good news. I wrote up a very short treatment for my screenplay, which I really want one of my good friends to direct. She works part-time for an Oscar-nominated director and one of her jobs is to pitch him potential screenplays. She chose to pitch mine to him last week and he gave so many wonderful comments and encouragement! He was excited about it and asked to read it when I finish. I'm flabbergasted. Truly, truly flabbergasted. I've been out of school for almost six years and it's been a long time since I've gotten any kind of academic/professional comments on my fiction work. I'd forgotten how it felt to be proud of my personal creative writing and I am on cloud nine.

To celebrate, we went out to dinner and got quite happily drunk on some fantabulous red wine. The next day, still aglow with excitement, I treated myself to a bouquet of peonies and lilacs.

Alas, the peonies had a very short vase-life. The lilacs, however, are hardy as hell.

There are now real flowers in my window instead of socks and I get to enjoy them despite the dreary weather.

FO: Flowers in the Window Socks

2008-05-16T13:03:00.002-04:00

Flowers in the Window Socks
Pattern: Show-Off Stranded Socks by Anne Campbell

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, Color P530121, 2 skeins
Needles: 1.5 US circs

Have you ever heard the Travis song, "Flowers in the Window"? It's such a great song. I love Travis. I went to see them once in Boston and I have very good memories of that concert.

Anyway, these socks remind me of flowers in a meadow. And all these photos were taken in the window. So it's kind of like having flowers in the window. It's raining a lot here right now and my allergies are acting up, but it's nice to be wearing cushy socks that remind me of flowers.

Koigu is, of course, wonderful. Also, these gussets are charming. Instead of knitting the heel back and forth and then picking up stitches, you're supposed to increase stitches between the heel and instep. When you have enough, you short-row the heel and gusset together and then continue on with the foot. Ingenious! It fits perfectly!

The coolest part is I can add this to Project Spectrum. Yay!

Two Sleeves, Both Green

2008-05-13T15:31:00.004-04:00

Le Sleeves of le Cabled Coat are complete:

That's a lot o' moss. Seriously. Don't let sleeves fool you. They take up a lot of yarn. I think the sleeves actually take up more yarn than the half-hexagon fronts. Now I have just one of those half-hexagons and the collar to knit up and then this baby is getting seamed, but good.

One of the things I love about knitting is the creation of what I see as living, breathing fabric. I use those words because this kind of fabric carries a little bit of human movement in each of its hundreds of stitches. The fabric looks and feels alive to me, as if I am Dr. Frankenstein and I have created something sentient out of nothing more than yarn and lightning. It's ALIIIIVE!!!!

Ahem.

I am also on an intense sweater kick. I love socks, I do. I love scarves, I do. I love hats and mittens and every little knit in between. But there is something so satisfying about making something that encircles one's torso. To that end, I realize I now have enough yarn stashed up to knit at least five sweaters. I also have a bunch of Noro Niji (Rav link) that I'm using to make a store sample.

But I could not turn away from this:

This here is four balls each of Karabella Vintage Cotton. Colors 304 Rose (top) and 330 Orange (bottom). They will become this.

The Roped Shell is knit in Filatura di Crosa Luxury, a fingering weight silk. While I like the idea and all, I'm not sure I will get much use out of this shell just yet. If I wear it a lot in cotton, I'll revisit the idea of silk.

And...that might be the end of new stash for a while for me. I am starting to feel burdened by the weight of my amassed yarn. I need to knit through some of it before I will feel comfortable adding to the bunch.

A Happy Weekend

2008-05-11T18:44:00.004-04:00

Last night, I arrived home at my parents' place to see these two munchkins at play:

These are my cousin's daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline. Elizabeth just celebrated her first birthday and Caroline is turning four in a month. Notice how Caroline is trying to help her mother by separating the lettuce heads while Elizabeth is mimicking Caroline? Not a coincidence. Caroline wants to do everything her mother does and Elizabeth wants to do everything Caroline does. Today, we had a grand feast for Elizabeth and then Caroline serenaded us with a karaoke rendition of children's songs. Elizabeth tried to steal the microphone whilst drooling over her very lovely pink dress.

I brought home flowers for my mom. There were white roses, daisies, black-eyed Susans, gerber daisies, and hyacinths. Stupid me forgot to take my camera home.

Plus, I gave my mother this:

I finally finished the durn thing. I love how needlepoint looks, but I don't know if I can become a huge fan. It just takes too long. I gave her the Veronik socks as well. The actual name of the socks is "Socks for Veronik." Well, now they're "Socks for Mom." They fit her perfectly, but she says no more socks for a while since summer is upon us. She wants a cardi.

I have to pause here and say a bit about my mother on this lovely Mother's Day. She was the middle of five children and a pastor's daughter to boot. But when push comes to shove, she can be pretty fierce. I once had a mean boss who was abusive and said horrible things to me. When I called my mother and cried, she released a torrent of curses against that boss. It would have made a sailor proud. That was the only time I've ever heard her swear.

My mother really truly believes that I can accomplish anything. It's hard for her to watch her Ivy-educated daughter struggle through freelancing while trying to write stories, but she bites her lip and lets me do my thing. When I get discouraged, she talks me out of it. I can only hope that when the day comes, I will be half as good at mothering as she is.

She keeps wondering how her mother's love of knitting passed right by her and into me. Here are two sleeves, brown and green:

The moss stitch on the cabled coat was getting to be too much for me. So I had abandoned it for a while. Then, voila! I learned how to knit and purl continental-style and am now breezing my way through the second sleeve. In the meantime, I have to find a cardi pattern for my mother now that she has specifically requested (nay, demanded) one.

FO: Fuchsia Veroniks

2008-05-08T15:58:00.002-04:00

Fuchsia Veronik Socks

Pattern: Socks for Veronik by Mona Schmidt - IK Holiday 2007
Yarn: Artyarns Ultramerino 4
Needles: US 1 circs

I only made one mod: Using a standard go-to toe with matching ssk/k2tog on each side. I got impatient with the idea of the pattern-mimicking toe. If I made these again, I'd go with the patterned toe because I did something weird and the toes are kinda pointy. I'm pretty sure I should have stopped decreasing sooner.

The lovely lace pattern is gorgeous when the sock gets blocked.

These are my first pair of socks in Artyarns Ultramerino 4 and I must say that this is beautiful yarn. It's kind of springy and very soft. We'll see how it holds up. The bottoms of my STR socks have felted a fair bit and I'm a bit worried.

I also purchased this:
Let me start by confessing that I don't particularly enjoy watching Keira Knightley. She is beautiful, to be sure, but there is something very mannered and self-conscious about her performances. Also, I think many people cast her in inappropriate roles because a) she is a movie star and b) she is beautiful and c) she is actually British. There are so few beautiful British movie stars her age (at least ones that are well-known on this side of the Atlantic) that she seems to have cornered the market.

With that said, I went to see this movie in the theater in February. The first third of it completely got to me and all I was thinking was that the pacing was just s'wonderful...

...until the war scenes. Some of my friends have waxed rhapsodic about the war scenes, saying they were truly moved and were brought to tears. I personally am not convinced. The war scenes seemed so abrupt and so out of place. Yes, war is horrible. But the strong points of this story aren't so much about war but about three people who are locked in this miserable struggle for things that they will never obtain. There's one tracking shot in the middle of the movie that really annoyed me when Robbie is on the beach and the camera begins to show us his point of view but then abandons it to whirl around a chorus of soldiers singing. Grar.

But there's a reason I purchased this movie and it's because of its overall effect on me. love Romola Garai and I love the basic ideas of the story. The music is marvelous. I find Keira Knightley perfectly palatable here. And in the end, the film does move me. Now I'm going to have to go ahead and read the book.

Speaking of books, I started a bit of a project.

I can speak Korean thanks to my mother's best efforts, but my reading comprehension and ability are somewhat...slooooooow. Not to mention the blatant atrocity of my spelling. Instead of slogging through workbooks, I decided to read Harry Potter in Korean. I estimate that I read Korean like a first-grader. I'm trying to up it to at least a fifth-grade level. I estimate it will take me at least two months to finish this book, which is only the first half of The Prisoner of Azkaban.

FO: Violent Violet Beret

2008-05-02T16:31:00.006-04:00

Violent Violet Beret
Pattern: Rose Red by Ysolda
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sportweight, 2 skeins
Needles: US 6 DPNs and 16" circ

I basically spent the better part of knitting this beret thinking of that line in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when Violet Beauregarde's father screams, "You're turning violet, Violet!" Because this is one intensely violet yarn. I also caught part of the Alec Baldwin SNL retrospective on television the other night and the word "scrumptrulescent" kept repeating in my head. Because this is one intensely scrumptrulescent pattern. There's nothing more to be said. It took me a while because knitting in the round on 16" circs is fiddly. But each stitch was lovely and the pattern is so clear it threatens to turn transparent. Yes, I make bad jokes.

This one is going to my friend, but I reallyreallyreallyreally want one for ME. I am going to have to scour for some pretty angora-blend yarn so I can have one of these pretties for my very own. Alpaca worked great, but it's not quite as fluffy as I had expected.

Scrumptrulescent. Yep, this is indeed a scrumptrulescent hat. I love it so much that I went ahead and purchased Ysolda's Gretel pattern, too. Argh, what the hey am I going to do with 10,000 berets???

A Tale of Two Linens

2008-04-30T17:17:00.002-04:00

Sandalwood is growing.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that she is not growing quite enough. I've tried her on and she seems fairly drapey, but is she drapey enough to make me feel not quite like a sausage when I wear her? Only time will tell. I'm not ripping at this point so if she's too tight, I'll either have to lose five pounds or give her to a friend. Let's wait for the final installment before making any rash decisions.

Also, this here is another lover-ly linen sweater:

This was not knit by me or any other human being. It's a machine knit linen cardi my mother bought for me last summer. It was the most wonderful linen cardi ever until this happened:

BOOOOOOOO. That's all that can be said. I have no idea how this occurred and if I ever find the culprit (probably a sharp piece of jewelry on me or some other person), I will be very mad at the inanimate object and give it a real talking to.

I'd fix it myself, but...where in the world am I to find laceweight linen?

I've compared to my fingering weight yarns and this stuff is much finer. I wonder if Habu would have laceweight linen in a similar sage color.

Also, I had to buy this book this week:

Yep, it's a book called Sway. It's about the Rolling Stones and Charles Manson. Haven't read it yet, but it's a must since he named the book after meeeeee.

Scattergories & Stashbusting

2008-04-24T15:49:00.008-04:00

There are periods in my life when my brain just cannot stay focused. This is one of those times. I've been sweeping out my room and trying to sweep out the dusty corners of my head, but I seem to be making little progress.

I think I've figured out why I have such bad luck with dates. I'm always looking for things that sweep me off my feet in a wave of emotion. I like rushes. I'm a seeker of immediate immersion. Unfortunately, this means that I don't have the patience to stick with something through the slow opening stages. I often read ten pages of a book and put it down for months or knit up half a front of a sweater and put it down for months. Also why I will go on a date and decide within fifteen minutes that I do not want to be there and there is no way on earth that I could ever end up in a meaningful relationship with this person.

This is the play-by-play in my head on a typical date:

Hmmm. I suppose you're empirically attractive, but why have you not shaved? I know you're all artsy and angsty, but that doesn't mean you have to sport perpetual five o'clock shadow, does it? You seem reasonably intelligent. Wait, why are you bringing up your fight with your sister on a first date? Doesn't bode well for my confidence in your ability to keep confidences. At least you're not a picky eater. I hate picky eaters...and now you're pushing all the carrots on your plate into a little bunch and not eating them. Yes, let's move on to movies. You don't like Back to the Future? What?? I'm just beginning to think that men with chest hair should really button that top button. Yes, that unbuttoned button is really starting to distract me. I need another glass of wine. Wiiiine, where are youuuuuu???? Maybe you're funnier when I'm tipsy. Let's try that. Nope. Why has my best friend not texted me about later plans? I may have to enter a convent. My cheeks hurt from forcing myself to smile. God, I am going to grow old and alone and live in a rickety Victorian mansion with only cats for company. I will be surrounded by mountains of stash and pull a Miss Havisham and wear a moldy vintage wedding gown and really mess up a little girl's life by poisoning her mind against evil, evil men.

Whew. Basically at this point in the night, I've decided this will never work. I'd rather read a book. Or knit a sock. Sad little single socks, that is.

Look at them, all alone in the world without a partner. But they are amongst friends, no?

I've also been distracted by more projects. I am a project ho. Fo sho.

It's Ysolda's Rose Red Beret pattern, but I'm making it in an electric purple for a friend. She says it's her favorite color. It's quite electric.

And I was looking through my stash and decided this wonderful Louet MerLin Tristan needed to be knit. It was crying because I'd ignored it for so long.

It's the very humble beginnings of a Gathered Pullover. I never really thought about this pattern until I saw Eunny's (Ravelry link). She used this same yarn and I suddenly knew that I must knit this sweater. It's so beautiful but in a streamlined, subdued kind of way.

The yarn is simply elegant in terms of structure and drape. This pattern calls for a sportweight yarn on a slightly larger-than-normal needle. I got gauge on a US 8. It's perfect for my wandering mind right now.

Look at the little purl bumps. The plies are so pretty. I am trying to think of dating like I think of this project. I thought I knew what I would do with the yarn (Linen Kilt from Knit 2 Together) but ignored its potential and simply let it sit in the stash for almost a year. All at once, an external trigger launched a closer look at the simple beauty of the yarn and I felt that immediate rush. So one day, maybe I will realize that both Mr. Wrong and I deserve a second chance. Here's to wishing.

Lace is All Around Us

2008-04-21T18:26:00.003-04:00

I once sat next to a girl in grade school and saw her write down in the margin of her notebook, "I want a dimen necklace." I couldn't find that word in the dictionary and it took me two weeks to realize that it was just the most unusual spelling error I'd ever seen (up until that point). I seriously thought for those two weeks that maybe a "dimen" was some kind of obscure gem that I hadn't heard of.

Speaking of dimens, my Irish Cream diamonds are expanding...

I'm pretty sure this lusciously soft shawl will go to my mother. If she chooses to be unselfish, she can give it to one of her sisters since they all complain that my mom is the only one who got a daughter who knits.

I was unsure of the match between variegated yarn and lace, but I like this project a whole heaping bunch.

Besides a lot of swatches and lonely single socks, I've also got a non-variegated lace project on the needles.

It's the North Sea Shawl from Folk Shawls. It's going pretty quickly and it's for a friend's mom who has been kind to me. The yarn is Jaggerspun Zephyr and it's also my first time working with this stuff. It's a great weight and feels just beautiful. I think I'll skip the middle panel and just use this stitch pattern for the whole bit. The color is actually a maroon and I am not good enough with Photoshop to alter colors yet. Durn. But at least I'm reacquainting myself with lace, which bodes well for the hot summer days ahead.

And some belated thick house socks for Mum:

The main yarn is Artyarns Ultramerino 8 with Karabella Merino Superwash for the toes, heels, and cuffs. I was supposed to make my dad a pair as well, but I need more yarn. But the Artyarns Ultramerino is so squishy that now I'm lusting after a sweater in it.

Friday Eye Candy

2008-04-18T19:29:00.006-04:00

This is what my books tend to look like if I'm using them for work:

Can I just say that those little Post-It flags are the best things ever? I flag and highlight everything I need to remember and then go back after I'm done for a marathon session of writing those things down on individual post cards that I file away in their respective boxes. I am not always OCD, but I do have my moments.

The other day, it was gorgeous out and I took a walk. They're doing construction in Washington Square Park.

You see that red brick building to the right? Yeah, that one? Now, if you've seen I am Legend, then you know what building that is. Yep. That one.

Then I had to take a photo of this because I am curious like a cat:

Now, how do people get up there and graffiti the very tippy-top of buildings??? Is graffiti worth risking life and limb?

Also, the trees...they are a-blossoming.

InStash Gratification

2008-04-14T16:50:00.004-04:00

I dunno what's come over me. I keep buying yarn. My only excuse is that I had a good month freelancing. Freelancing means not being able to count on the same amount of income at any given month so I took advantage of the fat times to tide me over in the lean ones. But I have to stop now if I really want to make my trip to Paris this summer.

The other excuse is that I got a good bargain on this here pile:

It's a whopping seven skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi in Aslan. Leanna (Ravelry link) destashed this little treasure trove for a ridiculously low price and I decided I would be nice enough to take it off her hands. It's luscious, this stuff. The color is beautiful and I've no clue what to make with it, but I'll keep myself occupied by knitting up a swatch:

It's got a teeny tint of olive thrown into the mix and the browns range from pinky beige to sable. I am going to have so much fun trying to figure out what to knit.

Now, there's some more brown yarn I just acquired:

I didn't mean to take the "Earth" portion of Project Spectrum so seriously. But I've been meaning to design a sweater for my dad that resembles one my mother knit for him when they were dating. I decided this color of Sheep Shop Three would be perfect since he's very fussy about itchy/overly warm sweaters. This is another seven skeins:

There is something about these oodles of yarn that reminds me of all the mischievous noodles enveloping the whole town in Strega Nona.
I loved Tomie dePaola when I was a little kid and this was my favorite of his books.

In other, more grown-up reading news, I finished that BTK book. I am now officially taking a break from reading more serial killer books. I'll probably have to refer back to the ones I've read so far as I keep writing, but no more new ones for a while. I've started to get to that point where I think a night light might be useful.

FOs: Adventures in Beret Knitting

2008-04-11T16:34:00.006-04:00

There are again birthdays galore 'round these here parts. I have no idea why, but most of my friends seem to have been born in April.

Eliza's birthday was Wed. and I wanted to give her a quick but pretty hat. Enter a random skein of Mountain Colors and a wonderfully adjustable beret pattern!

Eliza's Birthday Beret
Yarn: Mountain Colors New 3-ply Wool in "Glacier Teal"
Needles: US 9 DPNs and 24" circular
Pattern: Through the Loops! Beret Recipe (see above link)

It's a wonderful yarn, Mountain Colors. It was just terrifically yummy to knit with and I've decided that some sort of scarf is in order next fall. The pattern is also lovely. It's super easy, super quick and really delivers a great beret shape. You can make it with whatever yarn and needles you want. The 3-ply Wool needs a bigger needle, but I only had the US 9s available. I figured it would block out drapier. I was right. It's a bit bigger than I thought it would be, but it's still warm and slouchy.

I also fiddled around to make this:

Pink Hemlock Tam
Yarn: Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham Moss
Needles: US 3 DPNs and 24" circulars
Pattern: Fudged from the Hemlock Doily pattern made famous by BrooklynTweed's Hemlock Ring Blanket

Basically, after seeing everyone's gorgeous renditions of these blankets, I was jealous. Mostly because I knew I had no use for such a blanket, but it was so pretty that I wanted one anyway. I've been really interested in the center-out construction of berets lately (I can blame Ysolda for that). When this pattern wouldn't get out of my head, I wondered what else I could make. It finally hit me that since the pattern is from the center out, I could just knit out until about 8" in diameter and try to decrease appropriately to create the slouchy and brim sections.

In the end, I'm 80% satisfied. I don't think I knit it to be slouchy enough. I think I'll try fiddling with the numbers again and incorporating less even decreases for the beret part but more decreases right before the brim. Another idea is to knit it without the feather and fan part and just stockinette instead with YOs only outlining the Hemlock pattern. Argh, dunno yet. You know how Comedy Central's election coverage is called "Indecision 2008"? My life is Indecision Central.

Regarding the Moss, I'm not such a huge fan of it. It's soft enough in the ball, but working with it is weird because of the nylon content. When I blocked it, the wet fabric just felt gross and squeaky. It's terribly good yardage, however. I made the whole hat with one ball. And the colors are lovely. I doubt I'd use it for a sweater, but it probably serves well for items that require durable yarn.

In Which I Am Bad

2008-04-09T14:19:00.002-04:00

I have not finished the pair for the Veronik socks. And yet I cast on for another pair. I am bad.

But it fits so well with Project Spectrum! It's Koigu! OK, I am still bad. But in a good way.

These are green movies. I only own movies that I love, so there are no negative DVD reviews to be had from me. Amelie was one of those movies that I went to see three times in the theater because I loved it so much. I wept a lot. Not just cried; wept. Mostly because I was going through a tough time and it just renewed my faith in beauty. Little Women is still surprisingly good. I thought I'd outgrow it, but that was a foolish thought. How could I outgrow a movie in which a tomboy singes her sister's hair off? Ghost World is just delightful. I especially love the whole "found art" scene. If you have a chance to read the comics, do it. I wouldn't have except my brother is a huge fan of Daniel Clowes and had a bunch of them. Last but not least, I Capture the Castle is one of those rare incidences when I love the movie as much as I love the book. Both are stupendous. Read/watch!

I just realized that chocolate fits in with this round of PS.

At least, that's my excuse. Muahahahahaha.

And I took a photo of the sky behind my parents' house last weekend.

Isn't it marvelous?

Earthiness

2008-04-05T16:11:00.007-04:00

So Project Spectrum is all about Earth. I am visiting mis padres for the weekend in NJ and scoured the house for green, brown, and metallics.

Here are some that are green:

The top two are pretty self-explanatory. I loved them when I read them as a child and I will love them until I die. Henry Green is such an under-read writer and Loving is excellent at portraying the daily goings-on of a "family" of servants. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is one of my all-time favorite books. Yukio Mishima was deeply disturbed (as evidenced by his rabid obsession with weightlifting and eventual death by ritual suicide), but his books are intense and moving and ask big questions about how violence intertwines with beauty and sexuality.

Here are some that are brown:

Again, several are self-explanatory. As much as I get annoyed sometimes at Sylvia Plath's "I have it so hard because no one understands what it is to be beautiful and talented" tone, I still think The Bell Jar and much of her poetry demonstrate that she was one of the strongest women's voices in literature, ever. The Talented Mr. Ripley was turned into a pretty good movie, but the book is far more intense. I heart Patricia Highsmith. The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction is a fascinating history book about what happened to a group of Irish Catholic orphans around the turn of the century. In New York, where the Irish were looked upon with disdain, no "white" families wanted Irish orphans so they were sent to Mexican Catholic families in Arizona. In Arizona, however, where Mexicans were looked upon with disdain, the white families took away the "white" children from the Mexicans and threatened to lynch the local priest. It's an incredibly crazy look at how relative our definitions of race really are.

Here are some other earthy things:

A tiny potted cactus.

Moss growing in a pot my mother left out on the deck all winter.

Eight silver pear-shaped salt and pepper shakers. Can't figure out why my mother has eight.

Our faithful upright piano. He's been with us since I was in middle school.

A whorled knot in our deck.

Earth-inspired knitting:

I bought some Great Adirondack Sirino the other day because I am in loooooove with this color. It's Irish Cream. I want to buy some Bailey's so I can engage in some tipsy knitting. I'm going to turn this into "Diamonds and Triangles" from Victorian Lace Today.

Also, here is an ancient FO:

This was basically my first serious knitting project. Clapotis. In 2006, I bought 7 balls of Rowan Tapestry from a yarn store that I have since stopped patronizing because of meanness. It cost about $60 and I had a minor heart attack because I was spending that much money on yarn. Ha. If only I had known it was the beginning of a downward spiral of yarn spending. I made this and gave it to my mother, but only used 5 of the 7 balls. It's not as wide or long as I had planned, but the yarn has worn surprisingly well. My mom loves it, but she deserves one that she can wear more comfortably without pulling. I'm going to buy some more Tapestry and make her another one.

In closing, I realized I have just been tagged by both KnitWit and Vorare for blog awards. I am really bad with computers and it took me this long to notice what was going on. Thank you both for the kudos!

Here's my list of blogs that make me happy/blogs that are excellent:

Ask a Korean! - This guy is hysterical. I'm Korean and it's always wonderful to have someone explain it all so that others can figure out the difference between what's culture and what's stereotype. I also love people who are unapologetic about referring to themselves in the third person.

Domesticrafts - Her cats are the cutest I have ever seen. The cutest. She provides drink recipes. Me like. I am jealous of her beautiful house.

Elliphantom - I love the photos and their captions on this site. It was one of the first ones I started reading and it makes me feel nostalgic for when I thought I could never knit the "hard" things.

Fluffbuff - Francesca's knitting is beautiful, but I also love that she's following her heart and starting up a whole 'nother blog about cooking and culinary school. I'll be reading and wishing I could be eating.

HeyOkay - This site is just funny. Weird, hysterical photos. There's also one in the archives of a rastafari crocheting something large on the subway while wearing an entire crocheted outfit. Crazy.

Knitting on Impulse - This site is pretty and I love her jewelry designs.

LollyKnitting Around - Lolly is also one of the first blogs I started reading. I love her photos, her nature walks, and Project Spectrum.

NiñaBomba - This is the cutest website and her knitting is fabulous. I also love that it's in both English and Spanish so I can practice reading Spanish and keep myself from getting too rusty.

Sixoneseven - Again, gorgeous photos. Before I knew that knitters and knitbloggers were mostly friendly people, I wrote her an email to ask her a question about a certain yarn. I was scared b/c I'm pretty shy and didn't think she'd respond to li'l ol' me. But she did and was so nice that I realized I was being a scaredy cat for no reason. Her knitting and recipes are wonderful.

Tiennie Knits - Tiennie is the sweetest. Her children are wonderful sock models. Her knitting is gorgeous. I love reading her blog.

FO: Pagoda Asymmetrical Cardi

2008-03-31T18:53:00.007-04:00

I heart the Malabrigo. I heart it. I've been busy at work and just got this cardi done under the gun for Project Spectrum's Fire theme.

Pagoda Cardi
Pattern: Asymmetrical Cardigan from Knitting Nature
Yarn: Seven skeins Malabrigo Worsted in color "Pagoda"
Needles: US 8 and US 9
Extras: Three wooden buttons from Annie and Co.

There weren't really any mods worth highlighting. I lengthened the ribbing on the bottom. That's about it. I originally thought I'd make it symmetrical, but then I thought it would lose its appeal. Now I think it's kind of fun how it gets lopsided while I wear it.

I tried to mimic the photos in the book, but it's cloudy out and I have no tripod. I did put on a dress underneath the sweater. But somehow, it just looks like I'm wearing a big fluffy cardi over a nightie. Durn.

I also love the subtle shading of the Malabrigo colors. This photo captures the true color:

My one regret is that I didn't knit the collar longer. Since the collar is knit up separately and then move into the button bands, I followed the instructions and didn't realize until I was sewing it up that I couldn't just go back and knit the collar some more, which I could have if I had picked up stitches and knit the collar out. But overall, the pattern was easy to follow and fairly easy memorize. By the time I'd finished the first three repeats, I no longer had to refer back to the chart.

The one problem I can see is that the arrows pointing to where in the chart you should begin your pieces are kind of...ambiguous. The arrows seem to point to the lines in between squares and this confused me greatly. Was I supposed to start with the square to the left or right of the arrow? In the end, I just kind of said, "What the hey." I guessed and it didn't turn out too crazy.

Since I didn't really know what square I'd started the fronts with, I had to adjust the cast-on stitches for the back neck. By that point, I knew exactly how many stitches I needed per repeat of the chart and I ended up taking out maybe ten or so stitches. Then I worked down to the correct number of stitches for the back and sort of fudged everything when it came to seaming.

I found pretty wood buttons at Annie's:

Folded up the cuffs for more practical wear. The sleeves come out super long (I made the medium size) and the whole cardi is pretty big. But it's cozy and nice and definitely warm.

I tested it out by sitting in my armchair with a good book. Verdict: Malabrigo and Norah Gaughan score an A+++.

Now on to finish my other giant Norah Gaughan project for Project Spectrum's Earth!

FO: Build Me Up, Buttercup Baby

2008-03-28T15:19:00.007-04:00

Buttercups are fun. Plus, they are diverse.

Buttercups in a field:

(from gilest at flickr.com)

Buttercup Powerpuff Girls graffiti on a wall in Europe:

(from metaphorge at flickr.com)

Buttah-cup, the Princess Bride:

And now, Buttercup Cardi:

Buttercup Cardi for a Toddler
Pattern: My own (see below)
Yarn: Schaefer Elaine and Misti Alpaca Chunky
Needles: US 11 and US 10
Extras: Flower buttons

Buttercup cardi with butter cream cupcakes!

Lilac buttercup buttons!

I declare, 'tis a feast for the senses! OK, OK, enough with the buttercup variations. I started with a skein of Schaefer Elaine in color "Snooks." It was so lovely that it cried out to be knitted into a child's garment. I paired it with Misti Alpaca Chunky in color "Lemon" for a quick raglan cardi with a short-row shaped collar.

Here's the (very quick and easy) pattern:

******************************************************

MATERIALS:

(MC) 1 skein Schaefer Elaine (99% wool/1% nylon; 300 yds) - color "Snooks"
(CC) 1 skein Misti Alpaca Chunky (100% baby alpaca; 108 yds) - color "Lemon"
Pair of US 11 and 10 needles
Tapestry needle
3 Buttons

GAUGE:

12 sts x 16 rows = 4" square on larger needles

BACK

With larger needles and MC, cast on 42 stitches.

Begin stockinette stitch for 4 inches.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit until last 3 sts, ssk, k1.

St st for 5 rows.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit until last three sts, ssk, k1.

St st for another 9 rows.

Begin raglan shaping

Next row: (RS) Bind off 3 sts knitwise, k to end

Next row: (WS) Bind off 3 sts purlwise, p to end

Next row: k1, k2tog, work to last 3 sts, ssk, k1.

Next row: Purl all stitches.

Repeat last two rows 6 more times.

Bind off all stitches.

LEFT FRONT

With MC, cast on 21 sts.

Begin stockinette st for 4 inches.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit to end.

St st for 5 rows.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit to end

St st for another 9 rows.

Begin raglan shaping

Next row: (RS) Bind off 3 sts, k to end

Next row: (WS) Purl all stitches.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit to end

Next row: Purl all stitches.

Repeat last two rows 2 more times.

Begin neck shaping

Next row: (WS) Bind off 3 stitches purlwise, purl to end

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit to end

Next row: p1, p2tog, purl to end.

*At this point, you're shaping the armhole on the right side (knit side) and shaping the neck on the wrong side (purl side)

Repeat last two rows 2 more times

Next row: Knit all stitches.

Next row: P1, p2tog, p1.

Bind off.

RIGHT FRONT

With MC, cast on 21 stitches.

Begin stockinette stitches for 16 rows.

Next row: Knit to last three stitches, ssk, k1.

Work 5 rows in St st.

Next row: Knit to last three stitches, ssk, k1.

St st for another 8 rows.

Next row (WS): Bind off 3 stitches, purl to end.

Begin raglan shaping

Next row: knit to end.

Next row: p1, p2tog, purl to end.

Repeat last two rows 2 more times.

Begin neck shaping

Next row: Bind off 3 stitches, knit to end.

Next row: P1, p2tog, purl to end.

Next row: K1, k2tog, knit to end.

*You are now shaping the armhole on the wrong side (purl side) and shaping the neck on the right side (knit side)

Repeat last two rows 2 more times.

Next row: p1, p2tog, purl to end

Bind off.

SLEEVES (make two)

Using CC yarn and larger needles, cast on 22 stitches.

Knit 5 rows in garter stitch.

Change to MC and St st for 20 rows.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit to last three sts, ssk, k1.

St st for three rows.

Next row: k1, k2tog, knit to last three sts, ssk, k1.

Next row: Purl

Repeat last two rows 6 more times.

Bind off.

FINISHING

Sew sleeves to back and fronts.

Block to measurements.

Sew sleeve seams and side seams. (I left the cuffs of the sleeves unsewn to create a little vent detail)

BUTTONHOLE BAND (Right front)

With right side facing and smaller needles, pick up 30 stitches with CC.

Knit 1 row.

Buttonhole row: K10, ssk, YO, k3, ssk, YO, k3, ssk, YO, k3.

Next row: Knit all sts.

Bind off.

BUTTON BAND (Left front)

With right side facing and smaller needles, pick up 30 stitches with CC.

Knit 3 rows.

Bind off.

BOTTOM HEM

With right side facing and smaller needles, pick up 86 sts with CC.

Knit 3 rows.

Bind off.

COLLAR

With right side facing and smaller needles, pick up 56 sts with CC along neck edge.

Knit 3 rows.

Begin Short Row Shaping

Knit to last 16 sts, turn. Repeat.

Knit to last 12 sts, turn. Repeat.

Knit to last 8 sts, turn. Repeat.

Knit 10 rows.

Bind off.

Final measurements:

sleeve width: 9"; sleeve length from hem to neck: 10"

front bottom hem width: 8"; front chest width: 7"; front length (MC) from top of hem to point of raglan: 14"; front length including garter hem: 15"

back length: 14"; back length with garter hem: 15"; back chest width: 14"; back bottom hem width: 16"

**********************************************

At the moment, I've only written up the one size. Haven't had time to do calculations for other sizes, but will in the near future. Also, I left the sleeves a little short because I thought they were cute as 3/4-ish sleeves. But I had yarn leftover to make full length sleeves. Just add another inch worth of sleeve before raglan shaping. It's my first stab at writing up a pattern, so if there are any errors or you have any questions, just let me know.

In closing, I cannot take credit for the cupcakes. They are from Magnolia Bakery. They are delicious. Magnolia has opened up a store on the Upper West Side. I am going to die from sugar shock. An extra shot of cupcakes for a happy, happy Friday!

Fluffy Bits

2008-03-24T14:08:00.005-04:00

Last week was stressful. It was all capped off by my losing my cell phone in a cab and figuring this out only after I was ensconced in my PJs. I have lost my phone, oh, about five times over the past four years. The first time was a pickpocketing, so maybe not my fault. Second time I left it in a cab. Third time I left it in a bar. Fourth time was an unfortunate incident when I tossed my jeans into the washer...without checking my pockets. This brings the total to five. I was about to give myself an ulcer.

I borrowed my roommate Don's phone to call my friend Maya to ask if I had left my phone at her place. She said she'd seen it in my pocket as I left but checked again anyway. No phone. As I was on her land line, she got a call from my cell phone on her cell phone. She asked what the caller's name was, and heard a garbled, "I like this," after which the caller hung up. So she assumed that the caller had just decided to keep my phone. We decided I needed to cancel the phone. While I was in the process of canceling the phone, Maya called me again and told me to cancel the canceling. The girl had called back and said, "My name is Alexis." Maya had somehow misheard "Alexis" as "I like this." Long story short, Alexis's mother called me back and told me to meet her on their corner this morning and I did. She gave me my phone back. I gave her a Starbucks gift card as a thank you for relieving me from potential ulcers. There are some really nice people in the world.

Easter and all that stress is now over but I'm still into the pastels.

This is a ball of Schaefer Elaine. It's 99% wool/1% nylon and it's a thick-and-thin yarn with a sproingy texture. I've been staring at it lovingly in the store for a while but couldn't think what I would make with it. So I'm making the store a sample out of it.

It's going to be some sort of raglan cardi for a two-year-old size. I'm kind of making it up as I go, so who knows what it will look like in the end. It looks like a candy necklace melted onto cream.

Even the leftover Peeps are coming out to play:

BTW, I tried these new "sugar-free" Peeps the other day. Yuck. That's all I have to say about that.

I also seamed up the Asymmetrical Cardi and I just need to knit up the collar and button bands.

Friday Brain Candy

2008-03-21T11:58:00.004-04:00

First off, I've finished decreasing for the back of my asymmetrical cardi:

Like I said, it's zooming along. I actually think I'll finish this by the end of next week. Too bad spring is rapidly approaching.

Now for the brain candy:

From top to bottom: Journey Into Darkness by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Inside the Mind of BTK by John Douglas and Johnny Dodd, and The Age of Innocence: A Portrait of the Film by Martin Scorsese and Jay Cocks.

I've read the first, am in the middle of the second, am emotionally preparing for the third, and just flipping through the last for the beautiful photos and the feel of the era. Mostly, I bought the last one because it was being sold by a street vendor for a measly buck. I was browsing and opened the book to this page:

It's a heartbreaking quote and reminds me so much of when I read Kate Chopin's The Awakening for the first time. I've been having these weird dreams lately (some of them mildly frightening) about teeth falling out and being replaced and ordering food and having people cheat me out of five dollars. While none of these situations is life-threatening, I keep waking up with these awful feelings of vulnerability and helplessness. And I think the Wharton quote just alerted me to the reason why.

I read an interesting article a long time ago that talked about how our society projects what we want to on women, but not on men. Men can tell us what they stand for, who they are, what they want, what they need. But we tell women what they stand for, who they are, what they want, what they need. And if women aren't what we want them to be, we get mad. How dare a woman decide for herself? Our society allows women to be "whatever they want," but do they really? Because I see a lot of women being pressured into or punished for their choices every day. Not just strangers, but good friends as well. Right now, I'm like that old R.E.M. song on a loop. "Everybody huuuuuuuuuuurts...sometimes."

This book doesn't hurt...it's just lovely.

Two very short but loaded words. It's in my top ten list of favorite books. The title comes from a repeated sentence throughout the book: "There's no such thing as autobiography there's only art and lies." It's not a perfect book, but I still love it for its imperfections. It's an odd little fictional/philosophical story and her language is overinflated occasionally, but her heart is there.

FOs: Flourish Nightingale

2008-03-17T15:33:00.005-04:00

Liqueur Flourish Scarf
Pattern: Flourish by Kim Hargreaves

Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Liqueur, 5 skeins
Hook Size: M (9.0 mm)
Extras: Lots of beads from Toho Shoji NYC

What can I say...I love this scarf. I am passionately in love with it. Not so passionate about the last part of making it, though. I do plan on making this again one day (maybe for a friend, maybe for me) but I have learned my lesson: The beading ain't worth it. It looks lovely on the finished scarf, but the beading took about as long as it took to crochet the entire scarf. Finishing the beading was anti-climactic since the scarf looked wonderful even without the little sparkles. Scarf: A+. Beading: C.

It counts for the first wave of Project Spectrum, which is Fire: Reds, Oranges and Pinks.

Here's another photo head-on to get a better look at its texture and flounce:

I'm surprised I'm not more flexible after trying to take photos of knitted objects on my own person.

I also finished up the weaving in of ends on Caroline's Nightingale.

Caro's Nightingale
Pattern: Nightingale from Rowan Story Book of Little Knits
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Dolce Amore
Needles: US 2
Size: 3-4 years

The pattern says to turn up the hems and insert a drawstring-like ribbon for the sleeves and body. After the nightmare of stripe ends haunting me like spaghetti demons, I decided I had had enough of finishing. Besides, it's cute enough without adding ribbons and frills. My cousin can fold up the sleeves if they're too long. It'll still be a wonderfully casual little pullover for playdates and playground frolicking. Maybe not so great for keeping sleeves out of food or finger paint. This book is so adorable, I want to make Caroline the entire wardrobe. I justify it by telling myself they can save the clothes for her sister Beth to wear a couple years down the line.

And since I finished two (count 'em, two) WIPs, I started my fiery li'l Asymmetrical Cardi. Man, this one is going fast:

Mayhap it is because Malabrigo is like a heady, psychotropic drug that affects me in surprising ways. For instance, it makes me forget that there are responsibilities that I must attend to other than knitting this sweater. It also makes me forget that I am hungry, I have to pee, and I have to go meet friends. I want a gazillion more sweaters in Malabrigo. Yes, I've heard all the warnings. It pills, I hear. But that's okay. Because when my sweater pills badly and can no longer be worn in public, I can make another one! Yup, that's using my noodle.

Look at that soft, squooshy goodness.

Friday Eye Candy...literally

2008-03-13T17:34:00.006-04:00

One of my favorite candies: Gummi Life Savers. They have certainly saved my life (or at least my sanity) on occasion.

Tea & Sympathy

2008-03-11T16:05:00.005-04:00

I think my old allergy to milk is coming back. This makes me sad because it means I shall no longer be able to indulge in lattes or ice cream. We'll see how it goes after three weeks of abstaining from dairy.

In the meantime, I am indulging in lots and lots of tea:

Tea is lovely. It is soothing and calming and good for you. I like the ritual of it, too. Berryblossom White is my current favorite, but you can't go wrong with traditional green or Earl Grey.

This week's sympathy goes to Mrs. Silda Spitzer, who is doing the ol' stand-by-your-man pose this week. Despite how badly I feel for her, I really wish she would just kick Eliot where it counts. She is a Harvard-educated lawyer who gave up her career for him to go into politics. If I were her, I would do more than just kick. I would maybe rip his heart right out of his ribcage and throw it on the ground and stomp on it until I diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiied...

But on to prettier things. I crocheted up something fairly rapidly for Project Spectrum, which I decided to join last week. I think it'll be good inspiration and may get me to explore colors that I normally ignore. The first phase, "Fire," puts me right in my, um, element.

It's Flourish by Kim Hargreaves. It was originally on her website, but the pattern is now available in Heartfelt. It says four skeins of Kidsilk Haze. Ha. I have to dip into a fifth. But of course, when it comes to scarves, I don't swatch or care much about gauge, so it serves me right. I've finished it, but was debating about the beading. Clearly, the beading won. I'll post photos of me wearing it as soon as I'm done with the sparkly work.

I also bought two more pattern books:

The one in the background is "Summer Breeze," which features Rowan's Bamboo Soft and Luxury Cotton DK. I am in love with this little thing:

The gray book is the new Studio 8, which focuses on Rowan's tweeds.

This little number would be supercute over a dark cowlneck and jeans.

Aside from knitting, I'm doing pretty well with my goals for the year. I read 1.5 books in January and then read 2.5 books and a screenplay in February:

John Douglas is pretty much a big part of my life right now. He started up the criminal profiling unit at the FBI in the '70s and these books are really not for the faint of heart. Sometimes I just want to cry reading about these cases. But if one wants to write about murderers, one must attempt to understand the circumstances surrounding them. I'm well into another Douglas book and thinking of starting a nice, normal fiction book to take my mind off of psychopaths.

Birthday Presents are Gooooood

2008-03-03T15:17:00.005-05:00

I went home on my mom's birthday to have a joint mommy-and-me celebration. We had strawberry ice cream cake and lots o' sushi.

My family just isn't big on huge birthday celebrations or present-giving, but I can always count on old-fashioned pocket money from my parents. I remember when I was a kid and they'd hand me about twenty bucks at the end of the month for the chores I'd done. I could make that twenty-dollar bill stretch pretty far on candy, a paperback book, maybe a scented body lotion. Given the inflation rates these days, my parents like to offer a little more than a twenty for my birthday pocket money. But instead of spending it on a momentary splurge (e.g., shoes), I decided to invest in a more time-consuming alternative.

Annie's just got in a ton (I honestly think it might be a metric ton) of Malabrigo yumminess. There are so many colors in the laceweight, the silk blend, and the regular ol' worsted that I wanted to stuff a swimming pool with it all and sink into it. Maybe I should join Yarnaholics Anonymous. I really, really, really wanted a big cushy sweater made out of the worsted, so I bought seven skeins in the Pagoda colorway.

This is what Pagoda shall be:

Honestly, I overlooked this cardigan for a long time because the model's eyes are kind of freaky. They're a lovely color, but she's frowning and staring at the camera so intensely that I half expect her to burn a hole through all the pages of Knitting Nature. But I saw several beautiful renditions of this cardi on Ravelry and the knit-lust consumed me. As soon as I brought the Malabrigo home, I swatched:

First on US 10s, then on US 9s. The 10 is recommended, but I like the 9s better. There shall be other adjustments as well, since I am not that fond of asymmetry when it comes to the fronts of cardis. But one thing stands between me and Symmetrical Cardi:

Caroline's Nightingale is pretty much all knit, but I'm still finishing. There is a lot of finishing required of this li'l sweater. The seaming is just the beginning of it.

I'm a little afraid of this:

Stripes are lovely. Sewing in all the ends...not so much.

On top of that, I went through a long process of inventory. There are some WIPs in my stash that are just not going to happen. I cry uncle. Woven Trellis Scarf? There's no way I'm finishing that in the near future. I seriously do not have the patience. Mindless knitting is one thing, but 500+ inches of tiny tubes = crazy making. My Clapotis made of Colinette Lasso? Blech. The colors are pretty, but it won't be that warm and it's not draping the way I had hoped. Argh. Also, my Lady Eleanor is not to be. The yarn is beautiful and the pattern is fantastic, but I realized that I simply won't get much wear out of it. Nope. The Noro is so lovely that it deserves to be seen. So that will be ripped out and turned into a sweater of some sort. This is a bit sad, but really it's refreshing. I don't feel so obligated to these dead-end projects anymore.

But on a happy note, my BFF gave me a curious little bird:

His name is George. He is an owl. George tells me that I am a cool cat and he likes hanging around. George tells me that next year, he will protect me when every last one of my friends wants to buy me a drink for my birthday. He promises he will ward them off so that I will not wake up with the kind of headache I suffered this year. I've learned my lesson and I've learned it well, George.

Birthdays Galore

2008-02-20T11:38:00.009-05:00

The gals in my family apparently like to get pregnant during a specific two-week period. There's an overabundance of Pisces in our family and I'm one of them. My cousin (mother of Caroline) has her birthday this Saturday. My mom's is on Monday. Mine and my cousin Joseph's birthday is on Wednesday. My brother's was two weeks ago, but he was two weeks premature, so you do the math. This makes for a happy and celebratory Sway with no money at the end of February.

This striped pullover I've been working on went into overdrive because I realized my parents will be seeing Caroline this weekend. This is a present for her and her mom. The pattern is from Rowan's Story Book of Little Knits, which is a beautifully presented pattern book with lots of gorgeous, wearable children's clothes. No Rowan 4-ply cotton anywhere close by, so I settled for the very very similar Dolce Amore from Filatura di Crosa.

One sleeve left to go and then seaming. I think I've become addicted to stripes. Stripes are fun! They're easy! Perfect combo for my poor overworked brain.

Also, Annie's has a wonderful relationship with Iris Schreier at Artyarns and she keeps sending us lovely colors of yarn. I don't know if this is available at other places, but it's the first time I've seen this color:

It's Ultramerino 4 and the color is a bit off here. The grays are right, but the "red" stripe is actually a deep hot pink/fuchsia. It makes me want to rock out.

Also, it is not a good thing to be in the vicinity of people who do other crafts. It makes you want to do them, too.

Instead of jumping into any crazy needlepoint and getting confoozled, I opted for this small makeup bag to stitch for my mom. She likes ladybugs. I don't think I'm very good at this (you can sort of see the canvas through my uneven stitches), but it's fun trying.

Ice, Ice, Baby

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

This week, winter weather finally decided it would show its face. Unfortunately, the snow hasn't been sticking and I am sad. I'm always sad when it's a snow-less winter. I'm one of those weird people who like blizzards. Maybe I should move to Minnesota, where apparently the temperature hit 40 below zero this week.

I've also been "under the weather." Muahaha. I caught bronchitis two weeks ago and shuffled miserably through a week of fever, chills, dizziness, and the coughing up of lungs. Haven't been that sick in ages. All I could do was fall asleep in front of the TV and pray desperately for the fever to break. I've decided Mucinex is maybe the most useless OTC medication I've ever ingested.

But now that I'm feeling better, thanks to much orange juice and sleep, here's a fine sprinkling of snow from my bedroom window. It ain't much of a view, but us NYC'ers make certain sacrifices.

My poor little camera just couldn't capture the snow as well as I wanted. It's okay. The camera can't help that it's poor and little.

It did, however, capture the ice that's forming on my window ledge.

I heart snow.

Unfortunately, that whole bronchitis issue also left me completely incapable of putting together sentences, walking without holding on to the wall, and picking up my needles. I did not knit for a week and a half straight.

When I picked up the needles again a few days ago, I realized my brain is still not 100% present and I cannot concentrate on anything other than stockinette. Can't do it. So it's the perfect time to make a little striped pullover for my toddler niece. (My family refers to all younger cousins and such as nieces and nephews. She's actually my cousin's daughter.)

It's cotton, since she lives in DC and it will not be very cold for long there. I'm not a huge fan of cotton, but I do see its strong points when it comes to knitting for small children.

I think Caroline needs a reward for drawing this masterpiece last week:

It's her interpretation of VeggieTales when Viking veggies fall into the water and call fo r help. I had no idea it was vegetables at first and was worried that she was drawing people drowning.

Pre-virus, I finished up the first Veronik sock:

Again, second sock syndrome is upon me.

When Knitting Is Painful :-(

2008-01-24T14:36:00.001-05:00

Argh. Not too much knitting this week. Had some finishing to do for customers and it cut into my precious hours of knitting time. I did finish one Pomatomus, and I'm experiencing this sad feeling of...well, for lack of more eloquent words, "bleh."

Don't get me wrong. The sock itself is quite pretty. The lace is pretty. All is pretty. But for the first time in my short sock knitting experience, I have no immediate desire to cast on for the second sock. None whatsoever. In general, I'm a little underwhelmed with no understanding as to why I am underwhelmed. I'll try this pattern again in a bit and hope for better rapport with the project.

And then, of course, there's my old nemesis, Mr. Smoke. I tried a few repeats with the Prism lace held alongside Suri Elegance. Again, like the feel of it but underwhelmed by the visual results.

I think the navy alpaca does too good a job muting the handpainted colors of the Prism lace. What to do? Must I rip again? Boo. More tears.

In addition, I started a sock. Veronik's Sock from Interweave Knits' Holiday issue.

It's Artyarns 4 in a brilliant fuchsia color that I love, but...those damn p3togs. Not only are my fingers cramping, but this happened:

My needle is all bent out of shape. Even she objects to p3togs and she doesn't even have nerves.

Aside from knitting, I'm also kind of blown away by the fact that Heath Ledger died this week. I was a huge fan of his work and had spent more time than necessary over the last week watching trailers for The Dark Knight and marveling at his talent. And every time I think of his daughter, I just want to cry.

In Brokeback Mountain, there's a moment when Jack and Ennis have to separate again and Jack says: "There ain't never enough time, never enough..."

For Heath and the brilliance he was starting to exhibit, there certainly wasn't.

Fish & Sheeps

2008-01-16T15:02:00.001-05:00

I resisted making Pomatomus for a looooong time, but I couldn't hold off anymore.

I bought this yarn months ago with the express purpose of turning it into a pair of Pomatomi. This pattern is kinda interesting. I thought it would be very difficult, but the pattern's pretty easily memorized. I shouldn't speak too soon, considering I just got to the heel. Also, I'm a little annoyed because the YOs that occur at the beginning of a needle are a little...big. We'll see how they look once they're on actual feet.

The knitting mojo that I thought I'd lost? Came back with a vengeance. Next up, we have one half-hexagon or one front of the Norah Gaughan Cabled Coat.

I made one big boo-boo amidst all the cabling. When I finally noticed it, I figured, eh, what the hey. I'm not ripping out fifteen rows of cable knitting to fix it.

I did, however, rip the next project out to the very beginning twice. It's from the 2001 Kids Issue of Vogue Knitting. One section offers pullover designs for the four seasons and Spring's is an adorable intarsia pullover knit from Tahki Cotton Classic of a meadow with sheep and embroidered daisies. Here are one and a fraction sheep:

I switched out one of the grass colors for Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. I thought it would be a nice textural contrast and I really like the effect. The sheep faces are also 1824 while the sheep bodies are knit out of Sublime Angora Merino. It's my first time with intarsia and I'm a little sad about the uneven stitches, but I hope steaming will fix the problem once I'm done with the knitting. I'm eliminating the sheep from the back of the pullover and the legs are charted for intarsia, but I'm opting to use duplicate stitch later on for simplicity's sake.

I never understood the purpose of bobbins until now:

But I am having fun staring at the absolute mess presented on the wrong side of the piece:

It's like yarn tentacles. Grar.

FO: Scottish Monkeys and New Year Reflections

2008-01-09T12:52:00.000-05:00

I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like putting that much pressure on myself. Besides, I never successfully reach any of them. So this year, instead of going all crazy, I’ve made only one: I will take care of myself this year.

Now, this is why I’m all sneaky. That one l’il resolution is more than enough to cover a wide variety of bad habits I’ve accumulated over the past 27 (gulp! almost 28!) years of my life. That one resolution encompasses the following:

*I will go to the gym more often.

*I will eat more fruits and vegetables. Hell, I’ll just stop ordering so much takeout.

*I will stop drinking Diet Coke. (Again, inner demons laugh maniacally)

*I will read at least two books per month. This might be accomplish-able if I stop listening to Queen on a loop when I’m taking the subway.

*I will focus on my spiritual essence. Whatever that means.

*I will try to remove my UFOs from their sad little shelf. They cry every day and I meanly just shove them to the back and refuse to give them supper.

*I will finish my novel. I will finish my screenplay. I will finish the seven short stories that mope in a little folder in my computer. I will publish something fictional instead of just lots of informative articles regarding your physical health and/or lipstick.

*I will go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. If I can somehow cure my addiction to that little gadget known as “snooze.”

This all sounds crazy. Yes, crazy. But the one secret, magic weapon that makes this all OK is the wording of that one resolution which encompasses all things. I will take care of myself. And taking care of myself means I give myself permission to fail on occasion. It means overall, I commit to living a better life by focusing on areas of improvement but not whipping myself if I mess up. I can slip up and eat French fries and sip my Diet Cokes and not read a blessed word for a whole damn week if I want. But I can do it knowing that I will get back up on the well-behaved horse the next day. I figure as long as I allow myself to act like a complete child once in a while, the adult in me (I know you’re in there!) will, for the most part, emerge to take care of the little brat that likes to take up residency fairly often ‘round these parts.

For example:

Scottish Monkey Socks
Pattern: Monkey Socks from Knitty.com
Yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight in Scottish Highlands

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship between me and some STR. I did notice that I have this problem with socks. The first one is always way tighter than the second one. I have one of two choices: I can either move to smaller needles for the second one or I can make a conscious effort to knit the first one looser. Boo. I know consistency ain't my strong suit, but I had no idea that this translates into my knitting. But look, I finished one of the projects that had been crying on my shelf! I'm already moving in the right direction!

Also, the heels on these socks resemble Scottish meadows. I watched Braveheart the other day with my roommate while knitting these up. I like Scottish accents. They are muy sexy. Maybe I'll add that to my yearly goals...meet actual Scottish people so I can listen to that accent on a consistent (!) basis.

Prospero Año y Felicidad!

2008-01-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

I did not knit a lot over Christmas. Too many cheesecakes to bake, too many cookies to frost, and too many movies to see. I finally saw The Simpsons Movie, which caused me to laugh so hard that I thought my vocal cords would go on strike. I saw The Painted Veil, which was a lovely movie despite the fact that Edward Norton's English accent is only passable at best. I also saw I Am Legend and have conflicting feelings towards it. It was fun and I definitely cowered a lot, but I've read synopses of the book it was based on and the original story seems so much more compelling that I'm surprised the movie says so little about what the title actually means. But that dog was so damn cute. I want German Shepherd puppies. I also saw...(drumroll please)...Sweeney Todd.
IloveditIloveditIloveditIlovedit! Johnny Depp is sexy, even as a mass murderer. Alan Rickman is sexy even as creep. Sacha Baron Cohen is sexy, even in skintight, electric blue pants. Timothy Spall is...not sexy, but he's still wickedly amusing. I did think it was odd that they removed all the ensemble singing, but overall the visual spectacle of everything just reels you in so that you don't notice how weak Helena Bonham Carter's voice actually is until you listen to her on the soundtrack. That's when her singing sounds so obviously lackluster. I have a feeling that Tim Burton was so entranced by her singing lullabies to their baby that he was deluded into thinking she had the voice of an angel. Ah, well, even with the nepotism she's still a good actress.

Here's a sampling of my Christmas booty:

The Sweeney Todd movie soundtrack (and now I have to go get the original cast recording because I lost it and I miss Angela Lansbury), a supercute snowman mug, Pixar's short films, a short story collection by Mavis Gallant, and two Hitchcock movies. There was some other stuff and I finally got myself a pair of Uggs (which I know are as ugly as their name implies, but my desire for them had less to do with fashion and more to do with comfort).

Also, I did knit a little bit. I finished my dad's scarf (which was promptly stolen by my mom because she says her neck is colder than his). So I must knit my father something else. I ended up not finishing the blanket (big surprise!) and bought my mother some cookbooks and mystery books.

But I did do this:

It's the back and godet of Norah Gaughan's Cabled Coat from the 25th Anniversary VK. I am in love. I am in love with the pattern and in love with the yarn. Why can't the world be made out of Berroco Pure Merino? I bought this yarn months ago specifically for this project and can't figure out why it took me so long to get here. I'm trying to knit through some of my stash and this seemed appropriate enough. At first, the pattern seems pretty intimidating, but once you work through some of it, the process is somewhat intuitive. There are definitely errata and the VK website only posts one mistake in the chart so when I finish I'll make a list of the things I noticed.

Fields of moss stitch are so soothing.

And the cable design reminds me of architectural details. I am having lots and lots o' fun.

FO: Fiery Shetland

2007-12-18T15:02:00.001-05:00

"Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames." -- Rumi

Viv's Fiery Shetland Triangle
Pattern: Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style
Needles: US 8 Lantern Moon circulars
Yarn: Sheep Shop 3, 1.6 skeins red-orange
Mods: Left off last two rows of edging, did 10 repeats of main body chart.

The above quote by Rumi seems so appropriate here. Vivian has been one my best friends for eight years. We met in college and quickly became friends with two other girls, Nicole and Maya, and the four of us have basically shared a brain since then. We do a good job of fanning each other's flames, both positively and negatively. I am not a confrontational person, but these are the first friends I ever had with whom I felt comfortable arguing and fighting. There's something to be said about meeting non-family who will love you no matter what you do or say. And there's definitely something to be said about meeting people who will always tell the truth even if it's unflattering.

So, this is my Christmas present for Viv. A bright, fiery, lacy, cuddly shawl. Seriously, this shawl is almost neon. I half expect it to burst into real flames.

And although the pattern refers to a "fir cone motif," I say, "Pshaw!" This ain't fir cones. This here is what I call fire. Ok, maybe not fire, but at least a flickering candle.

I left off the last two rows of the edging chart because I saw it done so often on the Ravelry lists and I liked the subtler, gentler scallops. The rest of the pattern flows so beautifully that it seems a shame to end it with sharp points.

The underside of the shawl actually does remind me of fir cones. Or maybe sea foam on an ocean of fire. One of the most beautiful things about nature, in my humble opinion, is the repetition of shapes and forms and colors and textures. As if every little thing understands its intrinsic relationship to everything else around it.

I also cannot wax poetic about this yarn enough. This is my first time working with Sheep Shop and I can assure you that it won't be my last. There's just enough shading to lend dimension and depth to the finished product and the color hardly bled at all once it hit my Woolite wash. The feel of it is like the softest of feather down and reminds me of that Little House on the Prairie book when Pa shoots a swan thinking it's a goose and they use the swan's down to line the hood on baby Grace's coat.

Final verdict: This shawl is a quick knit, looks much harder than it actually is, and my other friends say that Viv will faint when I give it to her. I think that's a good verdict.

I Didn't Start the Fire...

2007-12-11T13:33:00.001-05:00

...but I can't seem to stop the impulses of startitis. Mostly because I hate shopping for Christmas presents. In NYC, it's basically a bloody nightmare times six, six, six. People shove you around, yell at you because you don't walk fast enough, yell at you because you move too fast, glare at you for taking more than three whole seconds to figure out what you're ordering at Starbucks, and generally transform an ordinarily optimistic gal into a growling, troll-like misanthrope. Did I mention I don't like shopping for Christmas presents?

This is why, when December reveals the true colors of venomous shoppers everywhere, I try to take refuge in things that don't involve waiting in line for three hours to buy the perfect gift. This is also why, inevitably, I fail to finish many Christmas presents and end up running around on December 23 like a chicken with its poor head cut off.

I'm older and wiser now. I'm not trying to knit everyone a present. But Mom and Dad will get one and my friend Viv will get one. Viv has been one of my bestest friends since my sophomore year of college. We bonded over a cappella, Muppets, and our combined sense of mischief. Unfortunately, she moved to LA a year and a half ago to go over to the dark side (e.g., law school). She'll be in lots of offices that pump the a/c like crazy so I offered to knit her a shawl for Christmas. She said, "Can it be bright? How about yellow? I like yellow." Um...I am not knitting her a bright yellow shawl because it will make her look like a banana. This is the compromise:

The beginning of a crazy bright Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. The real color is a blazing coral red with glimmers of orange. I'm a little obsessed with silk/wool blends right now and I'm going to work through a few brands one by one. This one is Sheep Shop 3 and it's heavenly. Soft and light but with enough weight to create a nice solid fabric.

The other project I cast on is the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm kniting it up in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which is luscious without breaking the bank.

It's a big project. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. But it's entirely garter stitch and I'm knitting on it every chance I get. I chose camel, brown heather, bright purple and plum. My mom and I have birthdays two days apart in February and the amethyst tones seemed appropriate. And its Mondrian-inspired lines make me feel like my simple garter stitch rows are like fine art. But I may have to plan on a small back-up present in case my knitting powers are not as strong as I imagine.

I also finished up the Helsinki Hat Scarf a couple weeks ago and it's sitting pretty at the store:

I'll try to get a better photo of someone actually wearing it. For now, it's pretty happy sitting on that chair and being tried on by random passersby.

There's also been some indie yarn pr0n Chez Sway:

Top: Chewy Spaghetti in "Serendipity;" Bottom: GypsyKnits BFL Fingering in "Whirlygig," both from The Loopy Ewe. Colors make me happy. Now I have to go finish my Christmas shopping. Durn.

Young Scarf

2007-12-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

When I was 10, my father finally put aside his Ph.D. studies and got a job for the first time. That year, we bought our first house and that Christmas, my parents finally sprang for a Christmas tree. A week before Christmas, my dad came home with a giant turkey provided by his office to all the employees as a sort of Christmas bonus. My dad's first name happens to be Young and his co-workers had played a little joke with his turkey crate. Instead of "Young Turkey," someone had added " 's" to the "Young." My brother and I thought this was the funniest thing we'd ever seen. We ate "Young's Turkey" for Christmas dinner.

Since my dad keeps making sad little comments about how many things I've knitted for my mom and how I've knitted nothing for him, I am knitting him his very own Young Scarf:

I'm using Noro Iro and the Braided Mischief pattern by Teva Durham in Scarf Style. At first, I thought about seed stitch, but my hands are not that deft right now for whatever reason and I found it fiddly, especially with chunky yarn. I moved over to a broken rib pattern and was seriously displeased with the curling. I figured I should look through Scarf Style since I've only made one pattern out of it so far and it was like seeing the pattern for the first time. The sample in the book is knitted with Felted Tweed, but the Iro is so much squishier.

I also read this:

I cried a lot. I haven't seen the film version yet, but I hear it's equally heartbreaking and moving. Jean Bauby was the editor of French Elle when he suffered a massive stroke in 1995 that left him paralyzed. The only part of his body that he could move was his left eyelid. Using this one movement, he and his nurse figured out a method of communication by which he eventually wrote this incredibly uplifting and beautiful memoir. The title comes from this passage in the book: "My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court. You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still-sleeping face. You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions."

I am always in awe of those who refuse to give up despite the awful things that can happen in this world. A year ago, when I was in the depths of despair, I read some poetry by Wislawa Szymborska and found the following sentence: "Not without its charms is this terrible world; not without its mornings worth our waking." This book captures that idea so perfectly.

I also couldn't stop myself. I knitted a sock. Monkey pattern again, this time with Socks that Rock Lightweight in Scottish Highlands:

I think the pattern complements the dye job beautifully. The hills are aliiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuusic.

FO: Giant Sea Urchin Beret

2007-11-27T13:59:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, I used to be a pre-med. I thought I would devote my life to saving small children from malaria epidemics in Africa. Thankfully, I reached the understanding that I was not meant to be a medical doctor before I wasted my time and everyone else's by groaning my way through the rest of my chem labs and even through med school with a big frown on my face.

But I did enjoy science a fair bit and I liked my freshman year bio lab well enough. Our TF once handed us male sea urchins and told us to inject the male urchins with a chemical that caused them to ejaculate. Then we were told to take the...um...stuff...and fertilize sea urchin ova. After that, we had the fun of looking through a microscope as the cells rapidly divided.

That's basically all I was thinking about while I knit this the other night:

Giant Sea Urchin Beret

Pattern: Bulky Beret by Lipp Holmfeld in VK Holiday '06
Yarn: Rowan Big Wool, 1.3 balls in color Mulberry
Needles: US 13 24" circulars and DPNs

This may be my absolutely most wearable knit. The thing is, I am not a hat person. Not at all. I hate how they make my head look, I hate how they flatten my hair. Yuck. When I wear a normal hat, I keep thinking of Tom Hanks' line in A League of Their Own when he mutters to the umpire, "Did anyone ever tell you, you look like a penis with that little hat on?"

But this hat is different! Yes! Different! Better! Not hair-flattening! Love-worthy! So much so that I stuck a little feather on it and called it macaroni.

Yep, Yankee Doodle ain't got nothin' on me. I actually stuck them together because these are the colors that make me happiest. Deep green, gold, and vibrant purple. I am a bit obsessed by that little feather pen. When I'm down, I dip it into (violet!) ink and scribble away in my journal and imagine I am Charlotte Bronte.

And here is me modeling it in oh-so professional fashion without even changing out of my pajamas. I have also decided that Rowan needs a big round of applause for creating the most perfect plum-purple shade EVER. It's not coming out right in the photos, but the true shade is like the purpliest of purples that leans juuuuust enough towards burgundy. Big Wool is also a scrumptious yarn and I finished this in an hour. You heard me. One measly hour. Truly, a last-minute knitted gift. Only this one is a gift for me.

Totally off-topic, but if you haven't seen No Country for Old Men, get thee to a movie theater!

It was so good that I went through an existential panic attack during the last scene. Ok, that doesn't sound like a positive recommendation, but the movie gripped me in a way that very few movies have over the last year. It's incredibly sad and incredibly thought-provoking. Tommy Lee Jones' weathered face and his understated performance are both just wonderful and Javier Bardem continues to convince me that he's a fantabulous actor with (gasp!) depth.

In addition, I also saw American Gangster this weekend and was a bit disappointed. Denzel is Denzel and Russell is Russell. Not much else goes on other than glamorizing the drug business and painting most of drug law enforcement as crooked. But the common denominator in both movies: Josh Brolin. Who knew that Brand from The Goonies would become a fantabulous actor in his own right? Somewhere, Andy Carmichael is very, very glad that she gave Troy back his letter jacket.

Brought to you by the numbers...

2007-11-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

...2 and 8!

Meaning the winners are, in order of my hand pulling numbers out of a hat, Punkin and Tiennie! Punkin, the Cluckers has your name on it and Tiennie, the mag and Louet Gems are antsy to get to your house. So you two need to email me and lemme know your mailing addys so I can send some lover-ly goodness your way!

All your comments were so fantastic, though, and it really got me excited for the holiday season...which is upon us in about, oh, ten seconds. I was also lucky enough to start reading some of your blogs! Over the weekend, I was extremely grateful for friends. I have never really been particularly lucky in the romance department, but my cup runneth over in the friends department. (I'm trying to learn how to scoop some of the leftover friend ju-ju into the romance cup.) I discovered that one girl I've been peripherally friends with for over a year actually loves knitting, too! We had a little gasping session over sock yarn.

Och, and I've kissed the Blarney Stone:

Mighty handsome, no? He'll keep me calm while I try to adjust to the pace of the next few months. This is what my life looks like right about now:

I've committed to writing a screenplay for a friend and I am starting research on it in a major way. I'll continue working on my novel, but I think I need to re-familiarize myself with that thing we refer to as a "library." In my downtime, I am a bit obsessed with Six Feet Under. It also lends me some insight into my screenplay plot so I'm starting to pore over every detail. That last book is my favoritest knitting book evah. I flipped through it a few times and I seriously want to make every single project in the book. Every last one. We'll see how far I get, but most of the projects are small-scale, so I think I'll be reaching in a lot for quick Christmas gifts.

Speaking of quick knits:

Simple Garter Scarf
Yarn: Trendsetter Yosemite, 2 hanks
Needles: US 19 Lantern Moon straights

I know those ruffle-y scarves are referred to as the potato chip scarves, but these chunky garter stitch yummies are my potato chip scarves. Yosemite is some fantastically squishy yarn (50% wool/50% acrylic) and the colors are vibrant. The total length in yards was about 150 and it's nice and long. I casted on 13 stitches this time with just one strand of yarn. The chunky bits remind me of circus peanuts.

I also, er, did some shopping. But part of it was on a gift certificate.

I got two hanks of Schaefer Anne yarn in the Althea Gibson colorway (I think). I can't figure out exactly which color this is because Schaefer doesn't label the colors. This is earmarked for the Trinity Stitch triangular shawl in Victorian Lace Today.

I also bought my first ever knitting bag:

It's the Sanibel bag from Amy Butler's Sweet Life line. It's huge and can double as a weekend bag when I go visit the 'rents in Joisey. I just keep cooing to it and singing, "I think I love you."

FO: Noro Sock...and a ThanksGIVEaway!

2007-11-13T16:33:00.001-05:00

First we have a finished stockinette Noro sock. It's sad. It's rone-ry. But there's another one at the store that it can play nicely with when I take it in on Sunday. I've named her Rainbow Brite. 'Cause she's like, seriously bright.

Rainbow Brite Noro Sample Sock
Yarn: Half skein of Noro Sock Yarn sample
Needles: US 0 Inox circulars

I didn't really "conquer" the short-row heel and toe, but I did make progress. They ain't gonna lick me anytime soon.

Also, I put in an order at Blue Moon Fiber Arts to buy some sock yarn. I know, I don't need more sock yarn and I haven't even started knitting the one STR that I own, but I. Don't. Care. I got all excited about the Raven series but didn't really feel that I wanted to knit socks that were that dark. I'll wait until I find a perfect lace pattern and buy some Lightweight Raven for a shawl instead of socks. Although, this is making me feel mighty tempted to go ahead and order some anyway.

So, I ordered four skeins:

Clockwise from the top: Saratoga, Cluckers, Rooster Rock. I love these colors. The Saratoga has a blend of butter yellow, lavender, brown, sky blue, and orange-y rust. The Rooster Rock (which I'm sure everyone has seen) is brick, slate, brown, fuchsia, and beige. The Cluckers is sage, coral red, ochre, tan, and a grayish-purple. The Blarney Stone is...

Wait, what's that you say? There is no Blarney Stone in the photo? Well, it seems we have a problem here. Blue Moon sent me an extra Cluckers instead of a Blarney Stone!

At first, this made me terribly sad. I love the Cluckers, but I really wanted four different colors. I have specific plans for the Cluckers and Rooster Rock and don't know what I'd do with another Cluckers. I e-mailed Blue Moon and asked if I could exchange the skein because of the error. They are just the nicest people ever and I got an email today saying that they would ship me the Blarney Stone and I can do whatever with the extra Cluckers. How nice is that?

It seems that free knit blessings are just falling into my lap right now, since a non-knitting friend of mine also got me an issue of the Interweave Holiday Gifts after I'd purchased one for myself.

I've been so lucky this year when it comes to knitting. I started blogging and joined Ravelry around the same time and people have left such nice comments and introduced me to their blogs, all of which really make my days a little bit happier. I'll be honest and say that I'm just coming out of a few not-so-good years personally and this season, I finally have my head on straight, I know who I am and what I want to do with my life (at least right now), my family is all healthy and whole, and my friends are just some of the best. I am an incredibly lucky and blessed person this season. I know from reading some of the blogs out there that other people are going through some hard times and we all need a pick-me-up once in a while. And it's easy to get lost in the horrors of rampant consumerism during the holiday season and forget the whole point of just sitting back, taking stock of our blessings, and just being truly grateful for the good things in our lives. So in honor of giving thanks, this is my ThanksGIVEaway. Excuse the cheesy portmanteau.

Leave a comment sharing what you're thankful for this month. It can be funny, cheesy, tragic, simple, complicated. You can be thankful for the moon. You can be thankful for cheese. You can be thankful for indoor plumbing or Johnny Depp. The cut-off will be 11:59 pm., EST, on Friday, Nov. 16. At midnight on Friday night, I'll pick two random comments. The first will get the STR lightweight in Cluckers and the second will get my extra copy of Holiday Gifts along with two skeins of Louet Gems in Crab Apple to make either the Sweetheart or Veronik socks featured in the mag:

The things I'm grateful for right now: Socks, Law & Order re-runs, the power of email, brand-new giant towels, and my mom's health.

FO: I Love Autumn Scarf

2007-11-06T16:14:00.001-05:00

I didn't even blog about starting this li'l thing:

Simple Garter Stitch Scarf
Yarn: One strand of Berroco Hip-Hop and one strand of Manos del Uruguay Wool
Needles: US 19 Lantern Moons

Really, though, there ain't nothin' to tell. I started it at the store last week during a slow hour and finished it that night when I got home. I cast on 16 stitches with the two strands and just kept knitting until the yarn ran out. It took up two skeins of the Hip-Hop in Karaoke and one skein of the Manos in Prairie.

Sometimes, simple is goooood. Autumn is my favorite season and I'm always so sad that it seems the shortest. The smell of the air changes and I just feel right. I grew up in New Hampshire where there are lots o' woods to explore and the scarf reminds me of a particular gravel path that always got littered with falling leaves as soon as October hit.

Speaking of leaves...I went for a run this morning (which is highly unusual for me nowadays, but I'm trying to make it more usual) and these leaves were just lying on the ground and waiting for me to notice them.

I have no idea what tree they're from, but their waxy sheen and brilliant color reminded me of a vintage necklace a friend of mine bought me two years ago:

I wish red were not such a difficult color to reproduce via photographs. The true color is just so much richer than what's showing up on my computer screen.

And since we're on the subject of things that make me happy:

Fairy tales and the scholarly discussions they inspire are two of my favorite things. I still love the expurgated, Disney-fied versions just for fun, but the actual fairy tales themselves are what's fascinating. Mostly because they offer such insight into the moral and psychological depths of different cultures and societies. Also, I love that the authors tell children that most adults are not to be trusted and that girls can be the heroes. Word.

And finally, my latest obsession: These beautiful, beautiful notebooks.

Barnes and Noble sells them for about nine bucks a pop. The graphics are done by MFA sutdents at the Savannah College of Art & Design and it's like carrying around a little work of art. They're good for journals, reminder books, sketchbooks (they sell ruled and plain), and whatever else you want to scribble. I think I'll ask my parents to get me a bunch more for Christmas.

Ebony and Ivory...living in perfect harmony

2007-11-01T15:05:00.000-04:00

The other day, my roommate C's girlfriend told me I have the craziest memory of anyone she knew. My other roommate, J, overheard this and started laughing. All this came about because I was rattling off a very long list of old Disney songs without forgetting any of the lyrics. I can't help it. I heart Disney. I also apparently heart many old 80s songs that should be forgotten.

But I started a new (and I hope very fast) project for the store and every time I pick it up, those lyrics just keep poppin' on up like a frickin' Pop-Up Video episode on VH1. Yes, I watch VH1. I'm only 27 and I haven't been able to keep up with the crazy MTV kids since I was about 19.

This here is the Helsinki Hat Scarf (very creative name) in Rowan 42. The yarn? Is the recommended yarn, Rowan Cocoon. It feels like cotton candy, just without the stickiness or the gaudy fluorescent colors. It's truly, truly beautiful. A bit pricey, as is most of the Rowan line, but scrumptious. The needles? They are ebony needles from Lantern Moon. My first pair. Definitely not my last. Someone kept raving about them and I buckled and bought them for this project since I promised my cousin to make him an Urban Aran at some point and it'll use the same size. They're so smoooooth. (If you get the obscure Dead Man on Campus reference, I heart you, too.) I think I love them even more than Addis. Dang, this knitting thing just keeps getting more and more 'spensive.

We also got in a huge shipment of Noro Silk Garden and I decided to rip out the Kureyon Lady Eleanor and start anew:

Methinks this will be given to my mother. She wanted a big shawl and I don't have the patience to go through another Clapotis, considering that I haven't finished the one that's on the needles.

I also participated in my first swap. Ravelry's Fiberflix group hosted a Halloween scary movie/yummy yarn swap and my lovely swap partner, Lisa (who unfortunately doesn't have a blog) sent me movie snacks (all of which I promptly consumed within a period of 24 hours) and Shaun of the Dead, which I watched twice over the weekend. Zombies + British humor + Queen = Good Times. She also sent me the most beautiful skein of Smooshy, ever.

The color is called "Dusky Aurora." I told her my favorite colors were the "in-between" ones. Burgundy, teal, plum, rust, etc. I was floored when I got the package and the yarn contained every last one of those colors.

I could stare at this yarn for a week. I think I have. Wow, I need to get a life.

Eye Candy, presented to you in Technicolor

2007-10-26T13:00:00.001-04:00

This here, folks, is somethin' special. I now give you...(drumroll please)...

...Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn!

Now, this ain't available yet. For good reason. The prototype that we got at Annie's is 100% wool. It's basically li'l Kureyon. It sticks to itself like buttah on bread. Just trying to reskein the durn thing so that two people could each knit up one sock was an ordeal. But apparently they're reworking it and they're planning on adding some nylon to it before they start selling it en masse. In the meantime, I get to knit a sample sock out of half a skein. The label said the skein has about 430 yds. I decided to conquer short rows -- both heels and toes. Take that, you pesky turn-and-wrap holes!

I'm still trying to figure out what garment I shall make next, but all this Kureyon talk got me weak in the knees and I had to go and do this:

Lady Eleanor, baby. But I keep wanting to write it "Elinor," like Miss Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. The entrelac is highly addictive. Every time I want to put it down, it goes, "No! Another rectangle will give you yet another color change!" What can I say? I'm a cheap date.

I started with two balls of different colors and I can't decide if I should continue alternating those two colors or just keep picking up whatever color catches my eye next. Do I want two-color elegance or do I want multi-color ragamuffin-y goodness?

Also, my pick-ups don't look bad, but the side that's ssk or p2tog looks raggedy. Is this normal or am I incompetent?

FO: Like sands in the hourglass...

2007-10-23T00:20:00.000-04:00

I've never watched a full episode of Days of Our Lives in my life, but I always liked that narrator with his booming, authoritative tone telling me that these are, indeed, the days of our lives.

With that melodramatic start, I now present an unfussy, plain ol' stockinette FO.

Mossy Hourglass Sweater
Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Karabella Aurora Melange, 12 balls
Needles: US 7 bamboo circs
Mods: Seed stitch at wrists and hems; contrast color at inside neck lining; row gauge recalculation; extra decrease/increase on body

Verdict: Love. It. To. Death. At first, the yarn seemed clingy and didn't drape very well. But after a good wet-block, it really blossomed into a beautifully bloom-y, softly draping fabric that feels luscious and falls flatteringly. And I have used up my adverb quota for the day.

I admit, the photo is a bit lazy. I realized I wanted to blog about this sweater before moving onward to exciting things, but by the time I remembered and found someone lying around the apartment to take the picture, the sun was already setting and I knew I'd lost out on prime sunlight. Whatevs. It fits, it's soft, it's purdy.

The length worked out to perfection and I really can't ask for more considering it'll be a casual sweater for me to slip on over t-shirts and tank tops as the weather grows chillier (which it's choosing to do at a maddeningly slow pace). I lengthened the top half (the increase half) of the body in order to accommodate my, um, assets and I'm starting to see the really wonderful aspect of knitting something specifically for one's body type. The yarn...I cannot say enough about the yarn. I know 12 balls of Karabella Aurora ain't cheap, but it's highly worth it and I got a great deal on it. It feels wonderful to knit and looks wonderful to wear.

FO: Purple Overload Socks

2007-10-16T17:28:00.001-04:00

Purple is supposed to symbolize mystery and royalty. It's also apparently connected to the spiritual seventh chakra in feng shui applications. I think I'm needing something spiritual lately, because I'm obsessed with purple.

Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks
Pattern: Favorite Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Virtual Purple
Needles: US 1 circs

I definitely f'ed up the toe on the second sock so that they're not even. Whatevs. I was working on them at my parents' place last weekend and my mom wanted them for herself. I may actually cave this time. She grabbed the finished one out of my bag and tried it on while I worked a few rows on the second. Then she dropped hints like, "You know I like purple a lot" and "My feet are very cold." Sometimes I think she's the silly kid and I'm the serious mom. And then I remember I'm really not very serious so maybe we're both just silly.

I definitely will be making these socks again at some point. They're really easy and the yarn goes so well with them. I have another skein of the Smooshy but I think I'd like to try making this pattern again with a slightly more variegated yarn.

When the sock is left alone and unstretched, I really appreciate the spirals that appear. Btw, this yarn lasts forever. I did ten pattern repeats on the leg and nine on the foot and I still have enough yarn left over to make another short sock.

Now, here's some more purple. Basically, the purple loveliness of the Kid Classic is annoying me right now because I continue to try and get gauge and it will not happen. I am just going to have rewrite the pattern for my gauge and I am mad. So, lovely and fluffy Kid Classic is sitting on my bookshelf while I painstakingly go over the pattern. In the meantime, I started the Woven Trellis Scarf for my best friend. She wants a scarf. I thought I was through with scarves, but at least this one is not a lot of work for a very impressive result. Although I might kill someone when I reach the end of the fifth cord and still have to knit another one.

I also decided Mr. Smoke Shawl is going to have to deal with a partner. Part of the reason I'm finding him so fiddly is that I do not like the feel of cobweb-weight yarn while knitting. I like the end product, but it's not something I like working with. I'm terrified of snapping it, it feels more like thread as it runs through my fingers, etc. This is sad for a part of me, but the other part of me likes the fact that I know this about myself now and won't make the same mistake again. I'm going to buy another lace or fingering weight yarn in a navy or midnight blue and pair Mr. Smoke with it.

I am also sooooo close to finishing the Hourglass:

Yes, this looks like a lump of moss. It's really a finished sweater that needs a wet block and a sewing-in-ends marathon. Badness of superwash wool is that you can't spit-splice the ends, durnit.

I did the neckline hemming in a contrast color. It looks wonky but it lies flat when I put it on. The first time I knitted the sleeves to the yoke, I got two inches in before I realized I had sewn in one sleeve facing the wrong way. Dammit, I can't live with a mistake like that. A slightly wonky neckline only when folded or flat? I can live with that. Those ends are just the tip of the iceberg, man. You should see the inside of the sweater. Yikes.

A Bad Case of the Blahs

2007-10-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

I am running around frantic half the time trying to get things in order for MFA sundries such as letters of rec, requesting BA grade reports, narrowing down the list of schools to apply to, streamlining my creative submission, writing a personal statement, etc. That last one is pretty amusing since half of my work involves editing other people's personal statements and I can be a pretty harsh critic.

On top of all this, I started working two/three days a week at an LYS, Annie & Co. Needlepoint and Knitting. The needlepoint store has been there for ages, but the knitting part is new and has only been open for about six weeks. I took the job because I work from home and hardly ever see anyone unless I'm going "out." Also, I am no longer in denial and admit that I am absolutely obsessed with knitting. While I love working there, I'm going to have to be more productive non-knitting-wise during the other days of the week.

Also, I've swatched a bazillion times with the Kid Classic and I cannot get gauge to save my life. Boo. Gauge is suggested on US 6 needles. I've tried 4s, 5s and 6s. I sort of fall in between the 5s and 6s, so I'm trying it this time around on US 6 Addi lace needles as opposed to regular Addis.

And for whatever reason, I am just sad this week. You know, when nothing's "wrong" but you just aren't really at peace with the world? It usually passes within two weeks, so I'll just have to bide my time until it lifts.

These make me a teeny bit happier, though:

The pattern is the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks from Favorite Socks. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Visual Purple. The yarn is, indeed, smooshy. And every time I say it, I think of that part in Finding Nemo when Dory finds a baby jellyfish and says, "I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy." I can only say that I loooooove this yarn. I want to eat it. And make a mattress out of it. It's also a tremendous value. It was $22 for 450 yds. Yowza. I finished one sock and have one repeat done on the second.

Complete non sequitur: Doesn't this look like Bart Simpson wearing a big purple turtleneck???

Maybe it's because I caught an Inside the Actors Studio last night while finishing the first sock. Instead of one guest, they featured the entire regular voice cast of The Simpsons. It was highly amusing. Watching Nancy Cartwright while the voice of Bart Simpson comes out of her mouth is really interesting. Same with Dan Castellaneta and the voice of Homer.

I did make some progress on Hourglass:

What you see here is one finished sleeve and one just-started sleeve which is now actually a one-third finished sleeve. So I just have to finish two-thirds of that sleeve and join everything up for the yoke.

Big Girls Don't Cry...

2007-09-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

...but they are muy triste when their nice gentlemanly Smoke Shawl decides to be VERY BAD over one weekend visit to parents and require unraveling to the very beginning. I had about six or seven repeats of the main chart done and I can only say that Mr. Smoke Shawl was just VERY VERY BAD. I can't even provide details because it's too traumatic. My brother kept telling me it wasn't such a big deal until I threatened to both stab him in the arm with my US 4 Inox needles and throw some turpentine on a painting he'd been working on for several weeks just to show him how it feels. That made him shut up good and quick. I'm only going to work on Smoke maybe one or two rows at a time for a while now. That's how mad I am. He needs to be punished.

But when I came back to my apt. today, the yarn goddesses took pity on me and delivered my supply of Kid Classic for Rannoch:

Clearly, I'm not going with the original color scheme. I'm make the body a deep purple (it came out looking raspberry-ish in the photo, but it's a true royal purple with a heathered quality). The fair-isle on the sleeves will include the same purple, a medium brown, a beige, a deep midnight blue and a lighter icy blue.

And last week, I also got some Rowanspun 4 ply from Cucumberpatch on eBay. It was so cheap and I was up really late one night. Bad combination. This is for a future Bressay Hap Shawl in the same Rowan as Rannoch.

Also, I saw Across the Universe this weekend.

If you haven't seen it, go. Now. Seriously.

I agree with all the critics. The movie is clearly imperfect, a little too long, has major plot flaws, etc. However, in the end, I just didn't care. It's directed by Julie Taymor, who also directed Titus and Frida and the Broadway version of The Lion King. If you go see this movie, I guarantee you will see the following things: Cute boys with earnest faces who sing! Amazing visuals! Psychedelic drug trips! Eddie Izzard weirdly rapping out "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite"! Joe Cocker dressed up like both a homeless man and a pimp while singing "Come Together"! Bono pretending he can act before singing "I am the Walrus"! Anti-war protests! And last, but certainly not least, Beatles' songs!

I was prepared to dislike the singing (the actors all recorded the songs live on set), but there's this raw, un-polished, unpretentious quality to it. Franz Kafka once wrote, "A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us." I think Beatles' songs will do the same.

Now, back to the daily grind, but the Beatles will pull me through and get me to post progress photos of my Hourglass sometime soon.

FO: Uptown Boot Socks

2007-09-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

"Uptown girl...You know I can't afford to buy her pearls, but maybe someday when my ship comes in, she'll understand what kind of guy I've been..."

Uptown Boot Socks
(aka I-have-no-brain-cells-right-now-to-give-them-a-cooler-name)
Pattern: Uptown Boot Socks from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM P105D, 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Lace circs, US 1.5

Ooh, I spy some brand new red sock blockers from The Loopy Ewe. They make it much, much easier for a gal to take photos of socks without resorting to childhood contortion experiments. Yeah, 27-yr-olds ain't flexible spring chickens.

Speaking of not being a spring chicken, I've been a little harebrained over the past week because I decided finally that I am going to be applying to MFA programs. It's just too stressful for me to worry about where my next job will come from and I can't help but feel responsible for making my parents worry about it, too. I was resistant to school because I don't know that it will help my actual writing, but I finally let Practical Sway out of her cage (I don't let her out often) and she said, "Grow up and understand that it's a great safety net to have the degree and be able to teach so that you can write and have health insurance, food and yarn all at the same time." She's so smart. I kind of feel bad that I keep her cooped up in the attic.

OK, now that random venting is over, back to the socks: Aren't gussets boo-tee-full?

I'm going to try short-row heels eventually, but I will really miss the pretty gussets. Even the word "gusset" is pretty. Kind of like when people used to "gussy up" before leaving for a night on the town.

Now, "P105D" is not a very descriptive name for this colorway.

It makes me think of ancient gods and goddesses in a forest making wine and getting drunk and merry. Kind of like this:

The clip is from Fantasia, which my uncle took my brother and me to see when it was re-released in theaters. He was confused and thought it was a new movie. He fell asleep in the middle, but my brother and I loved it. It's still one of my favorite movies. Fantasia 2000 was not nearly as good, but I still loved the Firebird sequence.

Just some more photos of the colors. They come out so wonderfully in stockinette.

And this last one really does remind me of a field of flowers.

That design I'm working on is still going on...I can say it's a pair of something and that I need to work out some issues regarding construction. I originally wanted to submit it to Knitty, but that's not going to happen at this point. So, I'll finish when I can and then probably post the pattern here for free.

Peh-Shun Nee-Tuh

2007-09-12T12:56:00.000-04:00

Last week, my mom came into the city to take me to lunch in K-town. We were meeting my cousin at the restaurant and got there a bit early, so she asked to check out the Korean import bookstore next door. I realized this was a good chance to see if they carried knitting books and I lucked out:

The title is in the green circle. It says "Fashion Knit" only it's phonetically Korean, so it reads more like, "Peh-Shun Nee-Tuh." Isn't the cardi on the cover yummy?

The knits are actually really nice. There was a book in the store that was basically a translated version of one of Zoe Mellor's baby knits books and another one featured kind of hideous clothes.

But I fell in love with this purple swingy thing, aka "Poncho-Style Pullover":

I have never knit with Noro before, but I think it might be perfect for this. There's also a pattern for a matching beret.

I also don't really go for novelty yarns, but I might be persuaded by this:

It calls itself a "Vest with Rabbit Tails." Hmm. I think I'm going to have to forgo the rabbit tails. I have no desire to remind people of snack cakes.

Here's the ultra-posh "Chanel-style Jacket and Muffler":

Yes, Korean people refer to scarves as "mufflers." My mother says all the Asian people picked up lots of words from the British when they were trying to colonize, but I'm not quite sure the "muffler" is a British term. Anyone?

More than anything else in this book, the reason I bought it is this li'l number:

It's very creatively named "Double-Buttoned Long Coat." I'm not sure what would be an appropriate yarn. I think Noro might be too multi-colored for this. But it's so pretty. And will take me seven years to knit. That's a conservative estimate. Whatever, one can dream.

This one looks like an advertisement, but it's not:

I love the patch pockets and the little tracks up the front. It's called "Hawk Tie Brown Coat."

The last one that I love is the "Belt-Tied One Piece":

The name is a lie, though. I'm pretty sure the belt is not knit and the vest is not knit in one piece. It's an interesting construction. You knit one long piece that becomes the front and back yoke. You then pick up stitches on the back yoke and knit down to the back hem.

There are a bunch of other knits in the book, but these are my faves. Take a look at the actual pattern page:

On the positive side, I must say the schematics are pretty fantastic. There are a gazillion measurements for each piece. Rowan and Debbie Bliss should take lessons from Asian pattern books.

There are a couple negatives, though. Yarn requirements are given in weight, not yards. She also does not provide yarn brands or labels, so you're pretty much making slightly educated guesses with how much yarn you actually need.

Also, the patterns are only available in one size. And yes, aside from that voluminous one-piece vest, 96 cm is the biggest bust measurement for women, which makes it just shy of 38". This is for a coat, which needs more ease. Grar. I thought I'd left all my math days behind me when I quit pre-med, but it looks like knitting is making me face my old enemy.