Knit Lulu, Knit

Winter Knitting

2011-01-26T17:21:00.003-05:00

Outside it continues to look like this:Which means that I will be inside knitting this:
Pattern is Road to Golden by Lisa Shroyer. I'm not totally in love with the colorwork design but I'm going to get a little farther into it before I decide if I should switch to something different. I've been browsing Ravelry and found some inspiring projects that might be more fun (like a hedgehog sweater!).

Not going to lie, I consider myself to be a good knitter, and I happily brag about stuff I've made. Then I go on Ravelry and see someone who has a bazillion projects they've completed, all of which look amazing, and most of them are sweaters (not like my huge pile of mittens and easy hats!) Oh, what's that you're serving? Humble Pie? Oh, I don't want a slice, I'll take the whole thing...

Shovel, knit, rinse, repeat

2011-01-12T20:23:00.003-05:00

We got hit with about 18 inches of snow overnight, the upside of which is that since I work at a college, it was closed and I got a snow day. I'm not sure if I'm a masochist or just a true Northeasterner, because I love a good storm. In bad weather I take a perverse sort of pride in being prepared for the weather. On go the lined L.L. Bean boots, the Smartwool socks, maybe some long underwear, my boiled wool sweater, and best of all, my hand knits. There is no greater feeling than stepping out into whatever weather mother nature throws at you and actually being prepared.
Plus cold, blustery weather just reminds me of why it is so awesome to be a knitter. I can stay cozy and stylish in my hand knit cowl, hat, mittens, or fingerless mittens. Even with all the hard work I did on my snow day (aka watching No Reservations and drinking hot cocoa) I've been able to get some knitting done. I recently finished a bulky garter stitch cowl in a lush single ply and a winter white hue, it was knit side to side and then kitchner stitched together. Then I fulfilled my dreams of having a slouchy beret. The pattern I made was inspired by folk knitting motifs and was knit in Beroco Ultra Alpaca (stash from the MIL mittens I made for Christmas). After blocking it's a little too slouchy and I tried soaking it in boiling water to get it to shrink down a little. Might have to give that a second go since the brim has lost all elasticity, or I could try sewing some elastic thread into the brim. I'm even thinking of ripping out the brim section and working it again on smaller needles since I have had visions of this hat dancing in my head for so long that I want it to be perfect!
As for the fuzzy creature above... no, I did not knit her. But she is a good tool for measuring our snow accumulation. "Look, we got belly-height inches in the last 12 hours." If hoity-toity kings can make their own feet a standard form of measurement, why can't the distance between my dog's belly and the ground become the new standard? It can be called the Ruby system and I'm sure it will be all the rage within the next couple years!

Now to get back to swatching my next project. More on that next post.

Christmas mittens

2011-01-09T13:48:00.002-05:00

This is one of the Christmas projects I wasn't able to show before. They were made for my mother in law out from Berocco Ultra Alpaca (so soft and delicious to knit with, plus I love the slight haze you get from the raised pile on them).
The pattern was Lopi Mittens from the book Folk Mittens. These at first were too small, so I added a pattern repeat on each side, and several repeats before and after the thumb to get a nice long cuff and a good comfy fit through the hand. I also did the same knit braid embellishment along the cuff that I used for the Inga hats I've made.
Folk mitten patterns are pretty irresistible (bold graphics make them visually appealing, and the patterns often have simple repeats making them easy to remember and fun/fast to knit). I'd recommend this book to anyone since the patterns are great but the historical background information is even better! Did you know that mittens used to be used as currency; I wonder how my landlord would feel about me paying my rent in mittens. There also were a lot of traditions around marriage, such as knitting a pair of mittens for every guest at your wedding, or a pair for every member of your new family. I have toyed with the idea of knitting things for my bridesmaids, and I do knit things for R's immediate family, but I feel a little faint when I think of making 100 pair of mittens between now and September! EEK!

Back to the book though... I love so many of the patterns in this book that I'm toying with the idea of knitting my way through the e n t i r e book ala Julie Powell who cooked her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her exploits then turned into the book Julie and Julia (although I have NO plans to be as whiny or melodramatic as Ms. Powell!). 38 patterns would be a fun challenge and force me to get some more techniques under my belt, as well as work on perfecting some skills I already have (gapless thumb anyone?) however with a wedding coming up I don't think I would but a year deadline on myself, that just sounds like a recipe for pain rather than a fun learning experience.

Mission Accopmlished

2010-12-18T15:00:00.003-05:00

All of my Christmas knitting is FINISHED!! All the bundles are wrapped under the tree, ready to be shipped off to their future homes. My mom selected this sweater pattern and has tried it on, so I figured I wouldn't ruin any surprises by showing it on the blog.
This project was a royal pain! I appreciated the unusual construction but the directions for the sleeve were archaic at best. I also had finished it, only to have to rip back on the sleeves and bottom of the sweater to add about an extra inch to each at my mother's bequest. Throughout I kept thinking "anything worth doing is worth doing right..." to get myself through my feeling that it was good enough. Luckily I pushed through and will now be proud to give this, rather than apologetic about a half-assed attempt.

The other finished project? I'll keep that under wraps until after Christmas. Until then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Joyeux Knitting!

Delays in Santa's workshop

2010-12-09T09:18:00.002-05:00

Oh knitting, you fickle, fickle art. Some projects positively fly off the needles (and I'm not just talking about those projects on bulky yarn and size 12 needles!) while others make me run and hide. I had been doing so well on my Christmas knitting and then I got completely stymied by the last pair of mittens.
There were mittens I made this year where I tried completely new techniques, and made up the patterns as I went (see above and below, the ones below are flip top mittens with an attached i-cord for the button loop, hello improvisation!) yet this last one is currently entering its fourth attempt. The first attempt was a new pattern I'm designing, I did the color chart on a hat and liked it, then I started adapting it for mittens, that's when I encountered problems.
I have become a thumb snob on my mittens, when I started knitting, the afterthought thumb was sufficient (it has no gusset or gore which means no shaping, it is the easiest to add to a pattern as the name suggests). Now though I have come to prefer something with a better shape. I'm a big fan of the thumb gusset on the Give a Hoot Mittens which I posted on here. I incorporated it in the mittens above easily enough, but here's the thing about that gusset technique; it does not play nice with stranded colorwork! I figured a side seam gore would do the trick (thumb comes out of side of mitten and you do increases and then transfer the extra stitches to some waste yarn) but was having a hard time getting the colorwork pattern to line up with the increases. Add in the fact that this was going to be done on fingering weight yarn, size 0 needles, and I thought there was no way it would be done for Christmas.

So I moved on to the second iteration of Plantress' Christmas mittens: a folk mitten pattern titled "Mittens from Halland." They were all lovely and good, except that it was worsted weight yarn, on size 2 needles, and I was silly enough to use acrylic yarn. The knitting was at such a tight gauge, that with a yarn that doesn't have any natural give to it, I felt like I was fighting e v e r y single stitch. OUCH! My hands and wrists started hurting and I was making such slow progress that I just stopped by the Franklin Mill Store on my way home from work and bought two skeins of lovely Berocco Ultra Alpaca. Worsted weight, natural fiber yarn on size five needles? I did a mitten in a day! Then, disaster. This mitten was a little snug to begin with (7.5" diameter, and I tend to think 8" or 8.5" is nicer) and it had ... [dramatic pause] ... an afterthought thumb! GASP, the horror! I tried the mitten on and it was too snug, pulling in an unsightly manner around the thumb, and I just couldn't do it. Going with the mindset of "anything worth doing is worth doing right" this mitten is getting frogged. I cringed thinking about someone opening up their Christmas present only to try it on, be understandably disappointed, and then feel like they had to tell me how great they are.

So tonight I start anew. Same pattern, same yarn, but I will add four extra stitches on each side and do some extra stitches before the thumb, and before the decreases to achieve a better fit. Hopefully I can bust through these mittens this weekend. Then I just have to sew buttons onto my mom's mittens and block them, lengthen the arms on my mom's sweater and block it, and Christmasknittingpalooza 2010 will be done!

Mouse Musings

2010-12-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

I think we have mice in our house. I keep finding little singular mouse poops on our kitchen counter. When I told R that I think we have mice he said "oh yeah, I know." To which I had to query "you knew? why didn't you tell me?" I worry that my partner is a little too supportive of mouse rights. I understand he doesn't want to put traps out, but the day I find him hand feeding them Gruyere or asking me to knit them sweaters is the day I pack up and leave.

Over share? I'm taking a page out of Plantress's book and injecting some realism into my blog.
(Plantress is also R's mother and has had a bit of a mouse problem herself lately. You just have to love old houses with all their character).

Christmas-palooza

2010-12-04T10:53:00.002-05:00

Everything is coming up Christmas here! Tree up. Wreaths up. Centerpiece made. Christmas cards started. Stocking made for dog (she obviously had to have one to that matches ours!).

But of course, what would Christmas be for a knitter, if not a time to have a heap load of projects to finish. I think so far I'm making better progress than last year (where I had to wrap someone's present that was still on my knitting needles, when they unwrapped it I said "hope you like it, now give it back to me so I can finish it!"). I have my mom's sweater to finish and ONE pair of mittens left to make (Plantress, they're yours if you're wondering), and then some projects that still need to be blocked and have their ends woven in. I had optimistic plans of crafting some felt bird ornaments for everyone a la Purl Soho but I think I just have to accept that it will not be happening.

I'm not sure if this is part of growing up, but every year it seems harder and harder to get into the Christmas spirit. I try watching my favorite holiday movies, listening to Christmas music, decorating, drinking eggnog, making cookies, eating clementines (these are Christmas for me, not sure why), anything to get that spark of Christmas started. Is it because stores have been decorated for Christmas since Halloween? Or is it just that as an adult your Christmas involves more "have to's" and less of that holiday magic? What do you do to start feeling all Christmasy?

Well I should stop musing and get back to knitting. I'm determined to not have to gift an unfinished project this year!

Happy Holidays!

meet my new fiber animal...

2010-11-16T20:12:00.002-05:00

Wait, that's not a fiber animal in the picture above? Hmm, I'm confused.

Really though, meet Ruby, the new member of my little family. In the last several months I have moved out of Boston and now have a home with land and a view of a pond. I got a car, a job, and a very drooly but loveable rescue dog. I also took an eight week long sewing class and have rekindled my love for sewing. Even with new job and settling into a new house (and cleaning up destruction from our little separation-anxiety prone dog) the knitting has been going strong... or at least going! I will have some finished objects coming up, mostly Christmas gifties for people and I'm planning on casting on for the Delancey Cardigan soon since a girl has to knit for herself sometimes, right?

Shrug it off

2010-08-19T10:02:00.003-04:00

As promised, here are the details of my latest finished project! (I love how the light in this picture makes it look like the sweater is the Holy Grail or something, haha).
I had two skeins of Seacolors wool from my Mom that I wanted to use for a sweater. Last time my Mom gifted me some of this yarn it became the modified Cloud Bolero by Ysolda. While I'm normally not a huge fan of shrugs I decided it might be useful to have in my wardrobe and it seemed like a good solution to the "how to get a sweater-ish item out of two skeins of yarn" problem.
So here it is- a heavily modified version of the Textured Circle Shrug by Stefanie Japel. While there are a lot of things I like about the original (namely the neck and the ribbing details) my yarn limitations required some big changes.
The most noticeable difference is that I removed all the reverse-stockinette texture. I never liked it that much to begin with so that was an easy change. It was harder to say goodbye to the 1x1 ribbing sections but ribbing eats up yarn like the dickens, so that was a no-go. I also knew I wasn't going to be able to achieve the same length so I shaped the front with short rows to try to get as much bust coverage from the yarn and some length in the back, without using up yarn on the neck.
This project was very free-form, I knit until I decided I wanted short-rows, then I added some in, then I knit some more. I kept my eye on the ball of yarn to try to figure out when I should start the border and cast-off. Then I decided I could add some length to the arms (and improve the shaping with decreases) so I ripped the arms back and knit them out again.

I'm not totally in love with this project, and I'm not sure if it's because I'm not a shrug-lover in the first place, or if it's because the modifications make it a little odd. At least my stash-busting adventures have continued, and I'm hoping that once cool weather rolls in I'll find this to be a useful little sweater.

Knitting progress

2010-08-14T14:25:00.003-04:00

Please behold my newest finished project, the Foliage hat by Emily Mooney. This was a fun and fat project and I want it for myself (or to knit another one for myself). It has a really nice slouchy fit to it when it's on. Plus it used up another skein of spare yarn and will be gifted with that scarf I did the other day (forgot about it? here it is) for a combo Christmas and Birthday present . I'll have to post more pictures of it in better light, and I have a secret project that is almost finished and ready for its time in the spotlight!

Awesome Giveaway

2010-08-12T12:19:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite crafting (and general awesomeness blogs) is hosting a very cool giveaway. Go to Jones Design Company and check it out. Or just get some very cool inspiration for DIY projects. I love the paper wreath they show (although my inner librarian definitely cringes at seeing pages ripped out of books!).

Sweater Love

2010-08-08T12:26:00.001-04:00

We need to have a talk. About how in love with this sweater I am!!

Meet the Delancey Cardigan by Alexis Winslow.
This is one of those sweaters that I see and I don't even want to knit, I just want to steal the sample so I can be wearing it Right NOW! Oh wait, it's still 90 degrees outside... But you get the idea, I think this sweater is amazing.
Not feeling it yet? How about the amazing back? And don't even get me started on the delicious shawl collar (my favorite in sweaters). I'm picturing doing one for myself with a soft heather/oatmeal color for the main color, and then a light heathered lavender or purple for the stripes, although the bold orange on white combo is perfect for the retro feel.
Aack! Too much awesomeness for just one garment! I think I'm going to try a little taste of reason however. I'm F O R C I N G myself to knit up more of my stash, and get through some of my Christmas knitting before I buy a whole bunch of yarn and dig into this amazing project.

But Delancey, I'll be dreaming of you!

Twist Collective

2010-08-06T11:14:00.003-04:00

Hi my name is Lulu and I have an addiction to Twist Collective.

Really though, it's amazing, and if you don't know what I'm talking about go here!

Do it now, do not stop, you can thank me later.If you needed a little incentive to click that link here is the amazing Acorns cardigan by Carol Sunday.

Or perhaps you prefer the more feisty Hazelwood by Robin Melanson?
Don't tell me you could possibly resist this absolutely adorable cardigan. The whimsical Cityscape by Laura Chau.
And if you're not already salivating on your computer, how about the lovely Anthera by Janel Laidman which includes a beret, cowl, and cuffs (and I think we all know how I feel about a good cowl).

I absolutely adore Twist Collective, and I'd been itching over the last couple weeks to see when the Fall one would come up. With other pattern sources I might like a couple of items in them, especially with Knitty where I might be lucky to find one thing I like. But Twist Collective is totally my aesthetic; beautiful and classic. Remember my Vine Yoke Cardigan? That was Twist Collective at its finest. Plus they have some of the best articles, like knitting in Peru, or life on a fiber farm. When a new one comes out I always make sure I have plenty of time to read everything and savor all the amazing-ness!

Why are you still reading me ramble on about them? Go. Check. Them. Out!

Winter White Cowl

2010-08-06T10:43:00.003-04:00

The herringbone cowl is complete! I now want to knit everything in herringbone. I'm so in love with the texture, the easy peasy stitch pattern, everything about it!
I think the cowl will be gifted, although I will need to make one for myself. I had always had a cowl aversion but then it's like a flip switched, maybe when I accidentally dunked one of my long scarfs in my coffee one too many times, or when I got it caught in my coat's zipper, again. But now I'm loving these super functional items, and they make amazing stash busting projects. I'm sure everyone is relieved that I have moved on from my love of hats. Just have to say that I never understand people who say "I don't really wear hats," ummmm, doesn't your head get cold?!? We live in New England people! Not Abu Dhabi!!, phew I feel better getting that off my chest.
Anywho, here is one last photo, and it is full of the ridiculousness that comes from finishing knit items in summer, oh the insanity, modeling cowls and summer dresses together in one photo.

Time to pick my next project. Hmm, I would like a hat with a side of stash-busting.

Projects Projects Everywhere...

2010-08-04T13:44:00.005-04:00

But not a cold front in sight!I know in the knitting world there is often the discussion about summer knitting. As in, do you like to, can you, if so what do you make and with what fibers? While I wilt like a fern when summer rolls around, I have obviously not taken a complete hiatus from knitting. Some of my projects stick within the realm of traditional summer knits (aka little projects) such as the cowl above that I finally finished with a picot edge, and the herringbone cowl below.

However my other project I'm currently working on is a sweater for my mom. And no, it's not cotton, bambo, silk, or any other summer-heat friendly fibers. Luckily though it really hasn't been that bad. I definitely took a break from anything fiber related while we had a heat wave in Boston that caused my apartment to be a steady, broiling, ninety-five degrees. That has now passed though and my knitting needles are back in my hands where they belong!
I'm happy to get a start on my Christmas knitting, plus I take Elizabeth Zimmerman's advice in Knitter's Almanac to heart. When suggesting to start knitting mittens and hats in August and September she points out that if you wait till it's cold to start these cozy projects you are going to have some unhappy (and chilly) waiters!
However that should not be my fate as some of my Christmas knitting is already done! Plus I made a lot of progress over the last week on this sweater for my mom. It now has a front and a back, which is good for modesty sake, and they have been joined together. Now it just needs some sleeves and for A L L of those loose ends to be woven in. Eek! I guess that's why God created the audio book though! To distract me through all of those pesky little finishing parts of knitting!

Stash Scarf

2010-07-24T11:29:00.003-04:00

Last night I was up until 2am finishing this scarf, but it is done! My late night knitting was fueled by an America's Next Top Model marathon (I never professed to have good taste in television so don't judge me too harshly) and I was able to get it blocking before I went to bed. I forgot just how amazing blocking is, before I soaked this scarf the purl ridges were super close and this scarf was super short. It was not my favorite project and I was fretting about the proportions: too wide and too short. But, one magic bath and a whole lot of pins later and my scarf r e l a x e d and stretched out.
I'm now very happy with this little guy, and come Christmas I will be able to gift it without shame! Not only is it longer but the fabric is now much more open and relaxed, giving it a nice drape. It should look cute either slung simply around the neck, or doubled up and pulled through the loop (my personal favorite for wearing scarves or pashminas). I'm happy it worked out since I completely improvised on the pattern and instead of doing the feather and fan all the way through the scarf I decided to have it be more solid in the parts around the neck (for warmth and stability of the fabric, and honestly, I just got sick of doing feather and fan). I did two separate parts since the feather and fan stitch has a "direction" and I wanted them to match, once the two sides were knit up I just used the Kitchener stitch to graft the two sides together. Presto!
The best part is that this was stash yarn. A good friend of mine sent me a box full of spare yarn (stash) and some knitting books a couple months ago in preparation for her first baby arriving. I have had a lot of fun finding projects for this gifted yarn. Plus I love any project where I use up some of my stash and this scarf used EVERY LAST BIT of the two skeins that I had.

Goodbye clutter, hello finished project!

I'm back?

2010-07-22T10:44:00.005-04:00

I apologize for my absenteeism, and for what I'm sure will be more of the same in the future. Let me explain by saying that being done with school forever is not as easy as I thought it would be. I completed my Masters degree in May and am now trying to find a job in a competitive and seemingly declining profession. I'm not a big fan of unknowns, I'm a planner, and lately I feel like my life can be summed up as this "no job, no place to live in September, and no idea where our wedding will be." My fiance has taken over the apartment searching which thankfully leaves me with just job searching and intermittent wedding planning.After I graduated I thought I would do a lot of knitting on our road trip but I ended up just relaxing and looking at the scenery. Then once we got back I slept a lot, read a ton of great books, and kept applying to jobs. It took me awhile to rest up and get back into all the projects I thought I would accomplish during my unemployed summer. It has only been in these last couple weeks that I've felt the urge to knit at all (I blame part of this on the obscene heat wave on the east coast) but first I felt I had to tackle some loose ends around my apartment. I cleaned, and cleaned, and organized, and felt so much better about the world. Above you can see my knitting and sewing supplies, all now tidily organized, bizarre stash purged, other stash sorted into future projects and ziplocked up, and finished objects set aside for Christmas (I even sewed a little bag to hold all my buttons and thread). Once our entire apartment was cleaned and organized, I finally felt like knitting again!
This little cowl was the one project I worked on during our road trip and it needs to be finished up. I'd like to add a little picot edge, and sew on a button so it can be worn snug or loose (and I'll conveniently place where I have a wonky stitch happening for a little cover-up).But first I've been working on this scarf. I dug into my stash and have decided to make it a stash busting Christmas (three hats for future sister-in-laws are done). This scarf will take up a spare skein and a half, and then I have some cowls, hats, and fingerless mitts planned to take a chunk out of my hefty yarn supply. I know my stash is microscopic compared to most knitters, but I've never loved having a lot of stuff around so my two little baskets full feels like a LOT to me!

So I guess I am somewhat back in the knitting world, or at least organized and ready to start digging into projects a little bit more.

Baby Clothes!

2010-04-25T09:50:00.003-04:00

My friend's baby shower was yesterday so I can now happily post the finished objects!! It was a wonderful shower, and another friend of mine made a beautiful blanket and bibs (sewn), and there were also a few other knitted sweaters and blankets (this boy will be the most well dressed baby ever!)

The sweater is Sheep Yoke Cardigan by Jennifer Little (a free pattern!) and the hat is Baby Sheep Hat by Melissa Burt and the buttons are little sheep I found at A Good Yarn in Brookline MA.

This was my first time knitting baby clothes and it was so much fun. You have to love working on something that is instantly cute, plus a very quick project! Although for anyone else working on this project I would caution two things. First, beware the floats; I chose to do the sheep stranded rather than with intarsia and I was working with cotton so there wasn't wool's fantastic tendency to stick which always makes my colorwork much more secure. My other recommendation would be to be careful with your color selection. While I love the colors I chose, the black of the sheep heads and legs, do not show up well against the dark green of the field.
At the shower I got some really positive feedback about my projects, women kept coming up to me telling me I should be selling my work (although obviously not this set since I didn't write the patterns for them) which was really nice to hear. While their comments were very flattering I feel like I'd have to become a much better knitter (there are still a number of things in my technique I'd like to improve) before I could actually sell my finished work. Also, right now I love knitting, and I love making gifts for people and seeing how happy they are. I'm not sure I would feel the same if I was selling my work and I would hate to lose my love of knitting. Finally there's always the price issue. How do I charge something that is an adequate reflection of my effort? I'm not sure many people would pay 60$ for a baby sweater, but I feel that's what I would have to charge for something like this.

Any thoughts or comments from anyone who has sold their craft or artwork?

Giveaway and procrastination

2010-04-18T23:26:00.001-04:00

My deadlines for grad school are looming nearer, and as graduation approaches the toxic question of "so, do you have a job yet" occurs with dastardly frequency. This of course means that I'm spending my time knitting, reading about knitting, and planning my next knitting projects (a girl has to have an outlet right?)

I was on Never Not Knitting and saw she had an awesome giveaway going. If you too like pretty colors and procrastinating in a world where things are fuzzier and kinder (or at least fuzzier) then scamper on over and give her blog a read.

Hmm, I think I should go sleep now, but to all my fellow Bostonites, Happy Marathon Monday!

Progress

2010-04-05T11:29:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting here with 40 days between myself and graduation (33 days before classes are done) and I have no motivation to start tackling my pile of work, although I did clean our apartment this morning so that should count for something.

Even with the stress of job searching and finishing school mounting up, I have had some time to knit. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that knitting has become a very necessary stress reliever. Either way, above is my finished beret, it's not as slouchy as I'd like but another blocking session or two might bend it to my will. It was gross and rainy while I was knitting this, making me very much crave a cute cap to see me through to spring, and of course now that it's completed it is beautiful weather here in Boston. I guess that means the hat did it's job huh?

More to come on knitting projects: my friend and her husband are currently expecting their first child. This of course gave me free license to look at baby knitting patterns which I have done. I'll post the pictures of the full set after the baby shower in late April.

Happy Knitting and Happy Spring!

Back to the grind..

2010-03-19T09:27:00.002-04:00

As some of you may know I had a class in Nicaragua over spring break. The class went well (volcanoes and earthquakes non-withstanding) and then we got stranded in Miami for several days due to weather issues in the Northeast. While we ended up making the most of it I was positively itching for my knitting! Airports are the worst in that there's all that idle time that's calling, nay SHOUTING, for a little productive knitting, at the same time airport security is far too much of a bother for me to risk it.

Luckily I am now back in Boston and among other things this means I can keep working on my Selbu Modern beret (shown above). I made a modified version for my future-MIL for Christmas. That one was worsted weight and more of a snug cap than a slouchy beret. I loved the pattern though, very easy to learn but still interesting and a pretty quick knit, and wanted to take a second go at it. The cream yarn is Knit Picks Palette and the purple is a handspun my mom purchased for me. The purple is a super light lace weight and the two skeins I was given were apparently the same colorway but drastically different, my solution has been to knit the two together and it's creating a lovely heathered effect if I say so myself (and I do!).

My calendar shows that I have 57 days between me and my master's degree. This means that sadly the next several weeks will most likely need to be light on the knitting and heavy on the homework. As it is I must now go an analyze HTML code and CSS.

Oh and for anyone interested in pictures from my Nicaragua/Miami trip they are available on my other blog Lulu Abroad, enjoy!

Ravelympics are over

2010-03-01T13:49:00.003-05:00

Le sighhhh. Both the Ravelympics AND the Olympics are done, finished, over. I don't think I have ever enjoyed the Olympics so much before in my life and I had a lot of fun watching and knitting. I would say it was a success, I did a knit monster in a week. Then managed to pop out two hats and am halfway through a third. This might not seem like a lot, but between being a full time student, having a number of part time jobs, planning a trip to Nicaragua for next week, and starting to plan a wedding I'm feeling a little tapped out. Oh, I was also pretty ill with a cold last week and had a beautiful 24 hour bug or something yesterday. Ick!

Well that seems like a sufficient pity party. Time to get back to the ~~knitting~~ homework!

P.S. you may notice my blog now has a spiffy background that I think makes it oh so purty. I got the idea from Plantress who is a fantastic jewelry maker and my future mother-in-law! Go check out her etsy site.

Got the monkey off my back

2010-02-22T13:53:00.002-05:00

A dog and her monster, it's a beautiful thing

Phew! The monster is done and has been given to its intended recipient (who in case you were wondering, is not actually the dog pictured above, although Fiona was fond of him).

No Seamus, don't jump! You're a sea monster, you can't fly, you swim!

As is only fitting, Seamus the sea monster was finished this weekend on an island in Maine where my family has a home.

Showing off his groovy fins and tail (this pattern was heavily modified per my sister's request and rather than wings he had to have "loch ness monster type fins")

I gave him to my older sister who was elated with her little monster Seamus von Swimmy. Ali had been positively demanding throughout this whole process so it was quite a relief to be able to give her the monster.

Notice his wave patterned belly

And as part of her insatiable desire for little knit monsters, I spent Saturday teaching her how to knit so that she can start her own monster factory!

Weeee!

2010-02-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

This is not at all knitting related...
But I am now engaged!! My boyfriend of over three years totally surprised me last night and proposed. We are both very excited and have had a lot of fun calling all the family and just looking at each other and giggling. I really love his family and feel so lucky to be welcomed into it and am really looking forward to starting a family of our own in the future.

Guess this means the Ravelympics brought me good luck!

Here comes a curveball

2010-02-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

See the stash parade. See the crazy yarn take over my office. See me decide to do something about it...

The magnificent Opus Spicatum by Kate Gagnon. A truly amazing FREE pattern available at kelbournewoolens.com

Sitting here looking out at the snow, I realized that once my monster was done I would still have a week left of the Ravelympics. Now, the whole point of Ravelympics is that it's supposed to be a challenge and it just didn't sit right with me that I would have all that extra time. Didn't seem like it was much of a challenge.

This sweet pattern is Zooey, designed by Cassandra Dominick

That got me thinking and as I watched the snow fall down I realized my Ravelympics didn't have to end with Seamus. I love making hats and have a great deal of stash (excess/unused yarn) that needs to be used up: my yarn basket overfloweth. So I decided I could challenge myself to see how many hats I could make once Seamus is done.

Garter Stripe Beanie by Terhi Montonen, don't these look deliciously edible?

As an added bonus all the hats I make will be donated to charity to help keep people a littler warmer in Boston and other parts of the country.

Monster Teasers

2010-02-16T10:21:00.004-05:00

I feel like one of those makeover shows where they don't let you see the full person until the "reveal" and until then you just get little snippets or "teasers." Welcome to a monster makeover then... In the photo above you see the stylist has not quite finished the haircut yet, or the head for that matter.
"This pattern is very slimming on you Seamus, really brings out your sea-monster-ness"
Of courses every sea monster must accessorize with a tail.
And finally some monster eyes...

Seamus is obviously coming along nicely, although he's not quite as chubby as I would like. I'm going home this weekend for my mother's birthday so even though the ravelympics don't end for awhile, my deadline for this little critter is the 20'th!

Vine Yoke Cardigan COMPLETE

2010-02-14T12:22:00.000-05:00

The cardigan is finally complete, and I'm wearing it at this very moment! I'm pretty happy with it, although I might give it a second blocking just to try to add some length to the body and get the shoulders to keep from bunching up. Overall though it was a fast knit and a fun project. I have full information about sizing and modifications over on Ravelry for those who like all those fiddly details, and for those who don't- this post is done.

A teaser...

2010-02-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

Ravelympics have commenced!!

This may be a little vulgar, but it's 1am and I'm tired so indulge me... the picture above is actually my dear little monster's bum!

As mentioned previously, for the Ravelympics I will be knitting Seamus von Swimmy for my sister. Here is a teaser of the progress that was made during the opening ceremony. I am also proud to say that my other two projects were finished with all ends woven in before the opening ceremony and they are now blocking in my living room.
Many more pictures to come, but for now I am le tired. Off for some honk-shuuuuu and then more knitting fun tomorrow!

Your monster is coming sister dearest, he's a comin!

Knitting Goals

2010-02-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

This is proof that I am able to meet some of my goals. This time last year all I could do was hats and scarves, then I learned how to cable, and then I got on Ravelry. This has made me a much less fearful knitter and I've been open to trying new techniques. Last February I would not believe that I could make a sweater, that to me was what "real knitters" did. While I've now made three sweaters I don't yet feel like a "real knitter" but I'm getting there (this is a teaser of the Vine Yoke Cardigan which I did indeed finish, I just need to block it and add buttons!)

I'm sitting on the couch with Rick, watching Bear Grylls do stupid things on Man vs. Wild, and looking through fiber classes in Boston and it got me thinking about goals. Now that I'm at the point in my knitting where I can fairly consistently make a project that at least vaguely resembles the pattern I'm looking to advance my skills more.

What things do I want to work? Well I'm so glad you asked?

Short term goals:

Improve my finishing skills, make each piece that much more "mistake-free"
Learn how to do entrela
Getting more comfortable with cables, oh how I dread those twisty devils
Finally writing up some legible designs, I have a languishing mitten pattern that has no thumbs

Longer term goals:

Learn to dye, I feel like this would be like a kid in a candy store: turning natural fiber into all different beautiful shades (I remember when my Mom used to weave and dye fiber in the basement, people would call and ask for her and I'd respond "Oh, she's in the basement dyeing")
Learn to spin!! (Rick should watch out because I have a feeling this is the gateway to me pushing for us to own and run a fiber farm...)
Join the Knitting Guild Association and do a correspondence course (thinking the professional finishing skills)

Long longer term goals:

Working on a Knitting Guild Association Master Knitting Level 1 (this is a big commitment but I'm thinking once I'm done with grad school and settled into a full time job I'll want something to give me a challenge both intellectually and creatively)

So whatya think? What are your goals?

Knitter's Boyfriend's Observations...

2010-02-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

The following is a list of observations posted to Ravelry by user Padgee. I found this to be uproariously funny and had to share it will all you non-ravelers out there (but seriously, what are you waiting for? go join now!). Enjoy:

"I am not a knitter. I joined Ravelry to see where my girlfriend spends her time on the internet lol. In the 10 or so months that she’s been knitting I’ve been secretly/overtly observing and documenting this crazy thing called yarn and what it does to people. These things I know to be true.

Yarn is NOT string and should not be referred to as such.
Knitting needles are not sticks,stix, or styx.
Casting on is NOT a fishing metaphor.
Yarn comes in different weights, colors, styles. Kind of like drugs.
People dye their own yarn with varying degrees of success.
Knitting is taken everywhere. No exceptions are to be made.
Fun fur is frowned on by “real” knitters.
“Lemme just finish this round” is a lot like me saying “Lemme just finish this round of video games” fair enough
A collection of yarn is a “stash” much like drugs.
Yarn barf is actually a thing.
Ravelry has a weird economy of bartering. Yarn can be exchanged for other goods not related to yarn. ????? Weird.
There are knitting groups, where other like minded knitters knit together and (this part is an assumption) talk about how knitters should rule the world.
Do NOT sit on or around yarn left on the sofa. This will cause knitter in the other room to jump up and rescue said ball of yarn from your evil ass.
Thank goodness there are no shows about knitting on Primetime TV.
Stitch markers are NOT earrings.
Lots of knitters have kittehs. You know who also had them? Witches.
If I want something, “Did you want to go to the yarn store?” are the first words out of my mouth.
Yarn stores are populated by alpha knitters. Some stores are better than others. Michaels is not a suitable substitute for a yarn store.
The needles that are attached with wire to each other, do not make good nunchuks.
Kitteh won’t chase a ball of yarn no matter how many balls you throw at his head.

These things I know to be true."

Like I said, I was significantly and substantially amused so I had to share. Now I will have to find out if my own boyfriend agrees, although I know Rick has had to experience #13 several times.

Happy Snow Day!

Ravelympics

2010-02-09T10:26:00.001-05:00

I have good news for my sister's monster... I will be participating in Never Not Knitting's Ravelympics team and Seamus von Swimmy is my project of choice!

As for what are the Ravelympics? Never Not Knitting herself explained that in her own blog so I'll let you look there.

As for me I better get this Vine Yoke Cardigan out of the way before the Ravelympics start, there's hope for the little monster yet!

Demanding Monster

2010-02-07T08:46:00.001-05:00

The whimsical Tuppy Von Monster, as designed and created by Elli Stubenrauch

The sweater continues to progress well, I am about to reach the left sleeve and then the home stretch! It's been such a fun project to work on, and it's one that's made me so thankful for Ravelry. There are numerous forums about the Vine Yoke Cardigan on Ravelry and they really helped me figure out sizing information, and some aspects of the pattern. I do have to say though that Ravelry makes it look like a super intimidating project and it is not, do NOT be afraid of the sweater!!

On another note, the sweater has been practically flying off my needles because there have been repeated requests for a monster. My older sister (the one who didn't get anything knit for Christmas so I really do owe her) wants a monster. Not just any monster though, she saw the above image for Tuppy von Monster and decided she doesn't just want one, she needs one! I already sent her a scarf to try to buy some patience, but to no avail, the monster needs to be made, and it has to be now.

Seeing as how we're both island girls we've decided that this monster needs to have some special alterations. First, he will be a sea monster named Seamus von Swimmy. Second, the color scheme will be greatly altered for SvS, as will the colorwork charts for his tummy section. Now that you are perhaps as anxious with anticipation as my dear sister, you will just have to wait to see how he grows.

Sweater Progress

2010-02-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

While school has started up the knitting is still going strong, or at least strongish... Anywho, progress has been made on my Vine Yoke Cardigan, I have moved past the arm section and am now getting ready to work 106 rows along the back. It doesn't look like much yet since the sleeve hasn't even been stitched shut and it hasn't been blocked yet. I am relieved however to say that the sizing is looking good so far, I was a little concerned since I changed needle sizes and a lot of people have had sizing issues, but so far so good. Fingers crossed the luck continues!

Portable Projects

2010-01-23T11:34:00.000-05:00

These beauties are a traditional Latvian pattern written out by Lizbeth Upitis. Known as "Graph 53" they are knit on fingering weight yarn on very, very, tiny needles. I'm planning on doing them in a cream with a soft purpley-pink color called "lantana."

I'm very happy to say that I've made a lot of progress on my Vine Yoke Cardigan and have managed to finish the right front and am ready to move onto the sleeve. While I love making progress on it, the sweater is about to reach the cumbersome "I'm too big and unwieldy to get thrown in your bag" stage which means I can't take it with me and work on it on the T and during breaks at work or school. Now enter... The Portable Project (said with a lot of fanfare, maybe even a trumpet).

Continuing with the theme of "little yarn and smaller needles" these mittens are called Sundagsvotter by Strikkepanja. You can probably guess by the title that it was originally published in a language I do not speak, however there is an English translation which I'm hoping I'll be able to muddle through.

Those who know me are most likely familiar with my mitten obsession. For several years I could only knit hats, and my family soon said "enough hats!" luckily they do not yet feel this way about mittens. Mittens are just a great project, small, portable, relatively fast, but fun and intricate enough to keep you engaged. Plus they're a fantastic way to try out new techniques like colorwork, cables, or lace.

This is another great Elli Stubenrauch creation named "Squirrelly Swedish Mittens" for obvious reasons. I love Elli's whimsical patterns and this is a free one to boot! Oh and of course, tiny yarn and tiny needles for this pattern as well!

Given my propensity for mittens, and the fact that my family has not yet put a kibosh on receiving them, Christmas 2010 is the year of the mittens! I've already had a lot of fun picking out patterns for people and will have to start knitting early. For this last Christmas I started knitting in February and I still had one project that had to be finished after the holidays and my sister didn't get anything knit. That means her project will be first on my list (to be fair she has a November birthday and did get mittens for that occasion) to make up for last year.

This is just one of the many SpillyJane patterns I have decided my family has to have, these "Owlmittens" were too cute for me to pass up, and following the theme, they are also knit with tiny yarn on tiny needles.

So while my sweater is too unruly for travel, a series of mittens will be riding shotgun for my knitting pleasure. I can't tell which pattern is for whom but I'm pretty excited about what I picked. I think I'm also going to knit every mitten pattern Spilly Jane has every designed (not really but I do have at least three of her patterns selected for the great mitten marathon!)

Time to dash and take my knitting with me!

Neglected Project

2010-01-21T14:51:00.000-05:00

So I just realized that there is one project I have not yet shared!! The Boyfriend Hat, otherwise known as the pattern "David's Hat" by Kenny Chua. I stealthily knit this for my fantastic boyfriend this summer, telling him that I was making it for my step-brother. This way I was able to brazenly knit it in front of him and have him try it on saying I wanted to see how it fit. Well due to all this stealth this lovely hat had not yet been featured and it is totally owed it's due!
This was a great easy knit! Very fast and satisfying but also with some fun features to make it more than your ordinary hat. This was made at the beginning of my colorwork phase so the simple chart was a fun challenge and not too overtaxing. I think the best part about this hat though is the hem. This was my first encounter with the rolled hem or lining that you can see. Essentially you knit the lining on one or two sizes smaller needles, then once it's as long as you'd like, you change to the color you will want for the outside of the hat and knit two rows, you then purl one row and this is the brim of the hat and "turns" it. Then changing up one needle size to the size you will use for the rest of the project you continue on your merry way. You can either knit an entire hat lining (following the sizing and decreases for the "outer" hat, you knit a very slightly smaller duplicate that is then flipped inside the hat and blocked into submission) or as this pattern calls for, knit the outer section until it is the same length as the lining, and then use a three needle bind off to join the two layers (as shown above). Once the layers are joined you continue the rest of the hat in normal fashion.
While this all might seem like a fussy added step I am now totally addicted to this technique on my hats for several reasons. First, this means that there are two layers of fuzzy goodness covering your ears and this is nothing to scoff at in frigid climes. Secondly, I think that this method for the brim looks much more polished than ribbing. Third (and probably last, don't worry), I like the added structure it gives the hat and find the lining more comfortable against my face than ribbing. So do as you like but if you choose this method for brims I think you'll like what you do!

Decision Made

2010-01-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

I hope my mom can forgive me, because I'm casting on for the cardigan for me! I would like to say that the deciding factor was that Ysolda is donating the proceeds from her patterns to Haiti, or that this pattern is easier, but realistically it's just because I have no self control and I want this sweater! I've been reading all the comments from Ravelry and looking at all the project details and I have to admit I'm a little freaked out. It looks like a number of individuals have had issues with sizing. The body of the sweater is knit in garter stitch, and it's a stitch that tends to stretch with wear. Because of this many people have decided to knit the sweater with negative ease (the sweater is smaller than their actual measurements and will then be a snug fit).
Because of all the hulabaloo about sizing and horror stories about the ever growing cardigan I've been trying to decide what size to knit. There are a couple complicating factors, for one thing, I'm knitting with size 8 needles rather than the size 9 the pattern calls for. This will obviously make the sweater smaller, and the fabric denser and less likely to stretch. I also have a tendency to knit things too small, I'm not sure if it's that I'm a tight knitter or always underestimate measurements but my finished projects come out snug more often than saggy.

After a great deal of back and forth, knitting up swatches to measure my gauge, and even a sweater nightmare or two I've decided that I will knit the sweater in my actual size (not a size larger or a size smaller) but on the smaller needles and with the sturdy Louet Riverstone (it's a nice dense wool, not silky, so I don't think it should stretch too much) and hope that all the different factors balance out to a perfect fit.

I really want this sweater to be perfect so I did some practicing last night of the techniques I'm less familiar with. I have a phobia of button bands and tried Ysolda's buttonhole technique four times before I thought I could pull it off nicely on the actual sweater. Also tried the I-cord edging which gives the collar a really nice finished look. Still a little concerned about all the short rows for shaping and some of the other elements but my patience has run out and I'm going to dive in!

Upcoming Projects

2010-01-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished my Christmas knitting (better late and hand knit than never right?) and am looking forward to a sabbatical from gift knitting. That being said, the image above is the Desert Counterpane Pullover by Pam Allen From Classic Elite Yarns Autumn book. While I may be taking a brief break from giveaway projects, the above pattern was requested by my mom and she purchased all the yarn. Since there's no deadline for it I figured I could enjoyably work on it without any of the stressors of a "gift project."
On a more selfish note, I've been coveting the lovely Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolda Teague from the Twist Collective, which by the way is my new favorite knitting site. While I know I will be making the pullover for my mom, the question is which will get cast on first? The pullover or the cardigan? I have the yarn for each (I have a huge stash of Riverstone Louet in the beautiful "French Blue" shade that I think would be fantastic), I have the patterns for each, and they both require size 9 needles.

While I don't know which sweater will win in the "Knit Me First" competition, I do know both should be an exciting and enjoyable knit. They both feature unique design elements/construction techniques. The pullover is actually cast on in the center of the sweater, then knit out into a large square panels with the yarn overs creating the diagonal "seams," the front and back panel are then joined together and then the rest of the sweater is knit. While the cardigan appears to be simple, it is actually knit from side to side rather than top-down or bottom-up. Both should prove to be exciting knits, if I'm ever able to end up selecting one to cast on that is!

Errant blogger

2010-01-18T20:31:00.000-05:00

The Bird in Hand pattern by Kate Gilbert makes for a drop dead gorgeous mitten, if not the most satisfactory or fast knit. This one is done in Debbie Bliss Fez which is part camel and pure joy to knit!

I was going to call this post "catching up" but then I realized that my last post, that one way back in October, had that same title. I guess that means I'm a regular irregular when it comes to maintaining my knitting blog. Even if my blog has been neglected of late, my knitting has not been. I was a very busy Christmas knitter and have some projects to display.

I did an adapted Selbu Modern by Kate Gagnon Osborn. This was more of a beanie than a beret but was the most fantastic project to knit: fast, beautiful, and deceptively easy, plus it's a free pattern to boot! I forsee many more of these in my future!

Speaking of fantastic free patterns, this is my second Inga by Sheila Macdonald. The first was in snowy shades to match my monogrammed mittens, this one however is a neopolitan confection that looks just as sugary as it is snug and warm. Did I mention this pattern is fast, easy and FREE?!?

In addition to the Inga being a great project, it used up very little of the Rowan super wash wool I had so I decided matching herringbone mittens were in order. Now that I think about it this should be the posting of great free patterns since these beauties come gratis courtesy of Elliphantom's Elli Stubenrauch (she also has one of my favorite knitting blogs!)

Finally, this is one I'm very, very proud of. Designed and made by Moi this Argyle hat is achieved with fair isle knitting rather than intarsia and used only one skein of each color (it's fully lined with the blue shade you see here). I'm thinking of writing up the pattern for distribution, those interested say Aye!

I guess that pretty much covers my knitting conquests of late. I will try to be more faithful to this blog in the future, and as a testament to that I am deleting the my wordpress knitting blog which I was toying around with.

Catching up

2009-10-28T14:27:00.001-04:00

Owl Mittens for an upcoming birthday girl!

I have been negligent in my posts lately so let me catch up and show some of the things I accomplished this summer! I actually managed to get a lot of summer knitting done. I even knit a double knit and lined hat (seen below) while on vacation in Charleston and Savannah, crazy, I know.
The hat is the beautiful (and free) Inga Hat, pattern available on Ravelry, and the mittens are my own creation, complete with initials to prevent theft!
After I managed to complete the hat and mittens for myself school started up again and progress has been a little slow lately.
I have been working on my Christmas knitting pile (like the mittens shown above) however I am starting to have fears that not everything will be done in time. I'm hoping that since classes end December 8th that will give me lots of time for just straight knitting before holiday palooza!

Happy Knitting!

Finished Mittens and Started Mittens

2009-09-19T11:19:00.000-04:00

The christmas/birthday/gift giving knitting factory has been busy! Here's a whole train of mittens, some which have been seen before, some which are new, all of which are cozy! Above are the Owl mittens, all done for my sister's birthday (they do still need some eyes but those will come)
Remember these little guys? Four leaf clover christmas mitts!
The start of my bird in hand mittens (knitting these VERY VERY tight leads to sore cramped hands but pretty stitch definition)
Finally finished my self-designed monogrammed mitts!! Shown with matching Inga Hat. These dragged on forever and knitting your own pattern is much more stressful than knitting a published (and test-knit) pattern! But I love how they turned out with their icey colors and their cozy interiors. Bring on the inclement weather because I am prepared!!

Yarn Coveting

2009-07-24T11:50:00.001-04:00

I was just on Ravelry voting in the Dye for Glory contest and came across these two beauties by Three Irish Girls. It's like someone thought "what are Lulu's favorite colors, and how can I make yarn she will absolutely drool over." As soon as I saw these I thought of doing an entrelac scarf with the warm colors cheering me up on even the most wintery blustery day. Alas, Sea Anemone was not meant to be, it sold out within 12 hours and is now going back into the vault. Luckily I was just as enamored with Georgia Peach (this is a lie, I love Sea Anemone more but this is a good consolation). I will now anxiously await my delicious delivery and hope upon hope that Sea Anemone's time in the vault is not too painfully long!!!

July finish for my February Lady Sweater!!

2009-07-15T08:39:00.000-04:00

My poor little sweater has been sitting in my knitting basket, armless, for ages. The pattern itself is quite easy and goes rather fast, but I just got stumped when I came to the sleeves. I had been working them on my DPN's and my size 8 DPN's must weigh as much as a baby elephant, because of this it was very cumbersome and I had all kinds of ladders and tension issues. I ended up ripping back to where the sleeves had been separated and working them with magic loop (I'm officially now a convert to using magic loop for sleeves, so much better!)
There had been some sweater wonkiness (I need buttonhole tutoring!!) but blocking has solved much of what was bugging me and I'm now just tickled pink about this guy. The buttons are dark brown wood, and I'm thinking of this sweater as my Forest Cardi (my last sweater was Ysolda Teague's Cloud Bolero which became my Ocean Sweater, a Fire sweater would be a fun way to warm up in January, any suggestions for a good pattern/yarn?).

As for Mods, I did much fewer for this pattern than I did for my last sweater. The biggest change was the sleeves. I did garter stitch the whole way down, and started decreases at the beginning of the sleeves, I decreased two stitches every other row (on the knit row) until I had 40 stitches (down from 52 I believe) for a nice snug but not too tight fit. The end result is snug and very cozy (thanks in large part to the Nashua Creative Focus yarn which has a nice plush quality to it). Hooray for another project finished and out of my knitting basket!!

The mittens doth continue

2009-07-05T11:49:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh, attack of the super cool thumb gusset, run for your lives!!!!
So its been mitten-palooza around here lately. I'm working on finishing my monogrammed mittens for me that I designed (on the right) and am working on my sis's birthday present of owly mitts (the patterns is Give a Hoot by Jocelyn Tunney, go check it out on raverly now!) Although he will need button eyes to really bring him to life. So check for finished object and free pattern updates in a little bit!

The Mittens are coming!!!

2009-06-22T09:46:00.000-04:00

Remember the great hat adventures? I believe I am entering into their mitten counterpart. This time though not for charity but for Christmas. Meet the first arrival, mittens for a Christmas Eve birthday of an Irish girl.
I am becoming hopelessly addicted to Fair Isle, plus it makes the projects so much warmer and cozier. Not to mention you get a lot more attention and comments from strangers when you're working with two colors.
Next up will be my own mittens which I designed, Hooray! The mittens are coming the mittens are coming...

Apartment Decorating Time

2009-06-18T09:34:00.000-04:00

My partner and I finally found a new apartment for the fall. While he is now relaxing until moving time, thinking our work is done. I'm thinking about all those hardwood floors and what I'm going to have to do to keep our feet warm. Enter the knit rug!

While I haven't started any projects yet I've been scoping out options. I'm thinking of doing recycled t-shirt rag rugs for high use areas like the bathroom and the kitchen so that they'll be machine washable. For the bedroom, living room and odd little study room I can't wait to get my hands on some extra bulky yarn and a huge pair of needles. Nothing as big as this though! Warm feet will be mine!!!

Self inflicted yarn drama...

2009-05-30T10:52:00.000-04:00

I did a silly thing the other day. I was buying yarn for my February Lady Sweater, and I found some beautiful Louet Riverstone worsted weight in fantastic shade called "French Blue." There was actually a sample of the sweater knit up in the store in the same yarn, and while the yarn looked a little chunky for the pattern I couldn't resist the color and got some. I then met up with my knitting buddies at Windsor Button in Boston, and soon saw some Nashua Handknits in an Alpaca/Wool blend that was the exact creamy-goodness color I was envisioning for the FLS. So what did I do? Well of course I bought four skeins of the Nashua.

What happened next? Did I act like a sane person and return the french blue yarn? No, no I did not. Instead I have begun a frantic search for a beautiful pattern to use every gram of that blue-goodness. That afternoon I drove both myself and the salesperson crazy looking through EVERY book and pattern booklet for a pattern to use approximately 1,100 yards of worsted weight wool in the most lovely color you can imagine. Of course because it is late May most pattern booklets are featuring cotton and bamboo, or fingering weight shrugs. I have not yet given up the fight though, and there are several options that I'm considering but I still haven't been struck by the perfect pattern. I'm counting on Ravelry to help me through this self-inflicted yarn craziness!

Sweater updates

2009-05-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

So here is the second sweater I've been working on; the February Lady Sweater, an awesome adaptation of the February Baby Sweater from Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. It is going ok so far, although I am developing a buttonhole phobia and have yet to make a good one. I think it may be coming out a little small through the chest area and if I can't block it out I may have to gift it. Now it's time to work on the sleeves!

Ignore the weird face I'm making, the sun was in my eyes and so was my hair!!

Here is the completely finished sweater I did (my first!) which was a heavily modified version of Ysolda's Cloud Bolero. I picked mother of pearl buttons because the yarn reminds me of the ocean and I thought the buttons would fit well with the style (rather than doing buttonholes I just fit the buttons through the yarn on the button band, why? see my comment above about my increasing "buttonhole phobia").

Just another Ipod Bag..

2009-05-24T11:32:00.001-04:00

This is my sister's Christmas present, I designed the pattern (graph paper is my new best friend) with some help from the Harmony Guides: Colorwork Stitches. It's a simply 2x2 rib pattern, then one or two plain rows of stockinette stitch before an eyelet row which I threw some I-cord in for a little bit more contrast. It was a little fiddly doing the color changes while also carrying the green and I had to do some fiddly float traps since the pattern has long stretches of main color in between the contrast color. I finished it with mattress stitch up the back, Kitchner stitch along the top, and rather than weaving in all those fiddly ends I secured them and trapped them under the lining (cheating I know! mea culpae). My favorite part of this project is that it is lined (I used the material shown in the photo) so that nothing will snag on the floats and it has an extra bit of fun pink. My little sister is into music and band so I figured what's better than a music note Ipod bag or small purse.

Now that I've gotten through the easy part of my Christmas knitting it's time to start on sweaters, scarfs, and purses OH MY!!

Happy Knitting!

Procrastination

2009-05-14T20:46:00.000-04:00

So I'm just waiting for the Grey's Anatomy season finale, and while I'm on tenterhooks over whether Izzie will live or die I figured I would share some of my favorite knitting blogs with you.

Flint Knits has great patterns including some kick-ass free ones like the February Lady Sweater that I'm very happily knitting right now!!!

Elliphantom Knits great projects and even better writing, every post on here is SUPER!!

Twist Collective mmmm beautiful presentation of fun and quirky patterns, plus fantastic articles (like the spring of lamb-a-palooza!)

and that is all I can share, it is now time for me to cry like a baby about fictional characters...

Ipod bag extravaganza

2009-05-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

On the left is Smariek's Four Cable Ipod bag in self striping sock yarn and on the right is my Cascading Leaves Ipod bag in rowan cotton

Both my boyfriend and I have a lot of sisters. Which means I have a lot of knitting for Christmas. Which of course given my OCDness means I have already started knitting and have finished his sister's presents (stocking stuffers will commence in October). Ipod/Cellphone bags have got to be God's gift to Christmas knitters, done in a day or two they're cute little stash busters that also give you a great opportunity to practice new techniques.

Rick's Masculine Ipod bag (maybe he won't "loose" this one)

For these projects I've actually been able to try (and even perfect one or two) important techniques. I've dabbled in cables, lace, and color work, memorized the Kitchener stitch, and finally have made it to the point where my mattress stitch is not embarrassingly bad. The above piece is actually the first color work I've ever done!

I am prep monster! Champion to all things PREPPY!

This little guy was the second color work piece I've ever attempted, and also the first chart I've ever done!! Once I get a cleaned up version of the chart for the pattern I will share it with all of you.

Happy Knitting!

Cascading Leaves Ipod Bag

2009-05-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

This pattern was created to fit an Ipod classic and would also work well for a cell phone. The stitch pattern "Cascading Leaves" comes from The Harmony Guides: 440 more Knitting Stitches Volume 3 and is a great source of knitting patterns and inspiration.

Yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton, 50g/93 yards pattern uses less than 1 skein
Needles: US size 2
Gauge: 5-6 stitches per inch in stockinette

Pattern:
Cast on 40 stitches on DPN, join to work in the round
Row 1-5: Work 3x1 Ribbing (knit 3, purl 1)
Row 6: p 3, k 3, k 2 tog, k 1, yo, p 2, yo, k 1, ssk, k 3, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 7: p 3, k 6, p 2, k 6, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 8: p 3, k 2, k 2 tog, k 1, yo, k 1, p 2, k 1, yo, k 1, ssk, k 2, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 9: p 3, k 6, p 2, k 6, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 10: p 3, k 1, k 2 tog, k 1, yo, k 2, p 2, k 2, yo, k 1, ssk, k 1, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 11: p 3, k 6, p 2, k 6, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 12: p 3, k 2 tog, k 1, yo, k 3, p 2, k 3, yo, k 1, ssk, p 3, knit to end of round
Row 13: p 3, k 6, p 2, k 6, p 3, knit to end of round
Repeat rows 6-13 five times, or until piece measures approximately 4.5"
Work one row just knit stitches all the way around
Divide stitches evenly between back and front of piece and graft using Kitchner method (tutorial coming soooon!)

Abbreviations:
P= purl
K= knit
K 2 tog= knit two stitches together
YO= yarn over
SSK= slip, slip, knit two slipped stitches together (tutorial coming soon!)

Sweater Success!!

2009-05-06T11:05:00.001-04:00

I am proud (and amazed) to say that I have completed my first sweater! A huge part of the success comes from the fact that Ysolda Teague created a great, easy pattern with Cloud Bolero so I had no problem following the directions for the yoke, and then after that I did some adaptations.
Here you can see the completed version, and for anyone interested in doing the same modifications as me I'll lay them all out here:
1. After completing section 1, rather than binding off arms in picot, transfer them to waste yarn
2. After section one do three rows in garter stitch (to look like purl, knit, purl from the right side) then do stockinette stitch for the rest of the body with three stitches in garter on either edge
3. I didn't cast on any stitches in the underarm section and it's a great fit (I did size medium for a 36" bust
4. At the bottom I did three rows of garter stitch before binding off to mimic the transition from the feather and fan to the stockinette stitch
5. Once I knit the body I picked up the arm stitches, adding one or two extra from the arm pit to make it a tight connection, and knit the arms using the magic loop method. My sleeves measured about 3.5" before I did three rows of garter stitch and bound off.
I'm really happy with this sweater and still can't believe that I made something that wasn't a simple hat or sock. If anyone else out there is like me and struggling with first sweater phobia then Cloud Bolero is the place to start, see my previous post for the pattern source.

This yarn was a birthday present from my Mom and though you can't see it in the pictures there is great color variation. The yarn is dyed in seawater and to me it just looks so oceany with blues, greys, greens, and I really wanted a project that would show the yarn off and use ever precious inch of it!

Happy Knitting!

My all time favorite knitter

2009-05-03T20:11:00.001-04:00

I've been working at the library for 8 hours and still have another 2 to go (extended hours for finals) but luckily I've had my knitting and the internet to keep me company. I've been working on a modified version of Ysolda Teague's Cloud Bolero (more to come on this project later) and had to frog a huge section due to a significant sizing mistake on my part, I'm talking about 10-12 inches of ease, and since I don't believe I will be needing maternity clothes for a couple years I had to get rid of the increases and make it a normal size. Anyways, to cheer me up, here is my favorite knitter, and favorite claymation dog: Gromit of Wallace and Gromit fame.

Welcome

2009-05-01T20:04:00.000-04:00

I am a reference librarian by trade and have recently been dreaming of creating a knitting tutorial or two. Plus my travel blog keeps getting taken over by my knitting adventures, so I figured I would create a happy little corner for all my knitting stories, potential triumphs, hints or suggestions, or tidbits that are just too good to keep to myself. May this blog soon be full of happy knitting goodness!!

Happy Knitting!