In the works

Well after what felt like a sea of scarves, my interests are finally turning towards some bigger projects that have been waiting in the wings:



Unfortunately I have no progress pictures to post of this nautical sweater from Phildar, but so far so good. I ran into a bit of snag last night in terms of some weird pattern translations from them but at least they give you the french copy to refer to as well. I was over at my folk's place getting some maternal help on a couple of lines that just made no sense to me whatsoever, and I am happy to report that as of last night the back of said sweater (always the most tedious part) is finally done, and I've now cast on for the front. Why does it seem like the nicest looking things are always in the most boring stockinette?

That sweater is pretty much occupying most of my free time these days, thereby putting these two projects on a wee bit of a hold:



The angora mittens are actually a little further along than that photo indicates. One mitt is done as well as the cuff of the second. It's 100% angora, so I have to do it all in dribs and drabs since I've discovered that I am insanely allergic to it. It's like knitting with a living breathing fuzzy bunny in my lap. Even my cats don't shed this much. Not even sure why I'm pressing on. They will only fit my child-sized hands, and I doubt if I can ever wear them! Oh the injustice! But who knows I may sit down and just finish them some evening just to remove them from my line of sight. The other black thing pictured there is the dropped stitch vest from stitch n bitch nation. It is a BEYOND tedious thing to knit, so as a result it's become my "leave it at work" knitting. I can't imagine it will even be done in the next decade.

I'm also cue-ing up another sweater --so thanks to Julia for turning me on to all of the new Drops patterns...it's going to be an exciting knit-tastic fall. I bought a bunch of yarn for this baby:



And again, frugal bastard that I am, I'm doin' it on the cheap! Yes, you read correctly, 75% acrylic. That's a first for me. But given that I have yet to make a sweater that I actually want to wear, I'd rather spend 35$ on the ingredients than $300. And that aside I was having a lot of difficulty finding a decent "chunky" yarn subsitute that didn't weigh a ton. I think I could have done it entirely in natural fibres, but it likely would have been 3 times as heavy as the yarn it calls for. I'm trying not to beat myself up about it. I have plenty of acrylic store-bought sweaters that I love, right?

And lo and behold, what also arrived in the mail last week?
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is it winter yet?

I am so ready for summer to be over. The more scarves I knit the faster fall will hit, right?



I knit this for my mother's 70th (!) birthday. The argosy scarf is quickly becoming my "gift to make" of choice. It's detailed enough to look impressive, yet once you memorize the pattern it goes up pretty quickly. --which is not to say that there weren't several rounds of serious "unknitting" involved mind you, but I will spare you those frustrations...



I'd had a couple of books and gift ideas thrown together for my mother (she's easy--knitting books!), but then when it dawned on me that it was actually her 70th, I decided to knit her something. Plus the woman NEVER knits anything for herself. EVER. Nor would she ever do something like this for herself, or choose this kind of yarn. So, I'm happy to report that she was quite chuffed with it, which makes me very, very happy. A knitter appreciates a knitted gift so much more than a non-knitter, I think.

It took me two evenings of solid knitting and just over two balls of what is currently my favourite yarn: Lang Silk Dream. I think the colour was called Rust. Some of you may remember that I knit my first clapotis in a cranberry version of this wool and I definitely got a lot of wear out of it. I think of it as the poor man's version of the Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb that the clapotis pattern called for originally. But who can afford that? And don't get me wrong...Silk Dream is still expenssive, but is far more palatable than the Lion and Lamb ---which I really can't get around these parts anyway. Silk Dream is 50% merino and 50% silk. I love it. My only complaint is that there aren't more colours available.

And I have to say that on a second knitting of this scarf (you can see the first one again here ) there were far fewer mistakes on my part.

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On the first one you can tell that the rows of YO's are lookin' a little wonky in spots, not to mention, that for a stretch the WS is visible on the RS, and I basically didn't notice until the very end, so I couldn't be bothered to go back and fix any of it. Anyway, this pattern is also all about the blocking. Particularly with a fiber that has so much silk in it, it really comes out looking smooth and fabulous in the end.

I think she was happy with her prezzies, even though there's definitely a certain uh "winter" feel to all of it! (Again me summoning the anti-humidity gods, because I am read-y!)

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And I may have to steal that "holiday knits" book back because I really want to try my hand at some colour work and the little cosmetics bag that's in there might be a good way to start:

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cute, non?

There's a new sweater that's consuming much of my evenings of late, but I'll update more on that later and the joys of Phildar! I think I've blathered on enough for now.

scarf party winds down...

She's done!



yarn & pattern: fleece artist kidsilk scarf (80% kid mohair, 20% silk)

This thing was so niggley, and I had to "un-knit" it so many times. There were times I felt like crying due to the loosey-gooseyness of some of the stitches. HOWEVER: I can not over-state how in love with this scarf I actually am. the yarn, the colour, the way it feels, the light airy-ness of it--I love it!

Unforunately the photos are a bit off colour-wise...the tealy-ness of it is totally scrumptious!



What's that? You want more photos of it? D'okay.

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Oooooh. Aaaaah.

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Ok, well, I'm not sure what else to say about it. i dig it. I will probably wear it a. lot. Isn't everything from Fleece Artist great?

I have much to report

It's been almost two weeks since my last real post, and as my two weeks of vacation draws to a close I suppose it's time to post something before falling into the depths of despair that is a-return-to-work-in-two-measly-days. yargh. I am already counting down the days to my next week off in the fall. How sad is that?

A few things surpringly did get completed in the last couple weeks though. I'm not much of a knitter when travelling, so it's all the more surprising still.

Felting project number two, Archie's bed is done. Here's the before and after:



My feet are there deliberately so you can note uh, "shrinkage". It wasn't one of my Nana's inadvertent yet patented "thumb in photo" shots.
yarn: Noro Big Kureyon (sorry not sure of the colourway #(it was a teal & black combo)
needles: Denise interchangeables size 13 U.S
pattern: Pi Kitty bed

Does Archie love it? Well, I guess we'll see in the winter, since it's already packed away. Shockingly he's not so keen on hangin' out in felted wool in the 42 degree humidex. I can't imagine it will replace his favourite bed, but we can hope. At least he indulged me in a few pictures.



If you're looking for something to use up all of that old lopi you've got hanging around give this baby a whirl. Then you can donate all the beds you make to your local humane society and make all the puppies and kitties a little bit happier.

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So, has everyone Simpsonized themselves yet?

wow

Am i gonna have to take up crochet now too?

This baby prefers uggs to drugs

Another item for my BFF's first born girlie:



pattern: Suede Booties
yarn: I dunno...scraps. I pilfered my mom's stash again. Saved me from having to actually buy any of that white stuff (the white stuff which I can only describe as feeling like "damp toilet paper")
needles: 3.25 mm bamboo straights

If only things for ME could knit up this quickly!

Not much to say about this, apart from they are SO cute, I hope she likes them! They probably only took about three hours to knit in total. I notice there is also a corresponding hat that you can knit as well, though I think I'll likely give that a pass. Though hmmm, one in an adult size for yours truly might be okay...

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A totally cute knit. If you find yourself in need of something last second for a baby shower, I'd definitely recommend it.

I've currently got three other things on the sticks right now. My kidsilk scarf is chugging along. It's pretty much been my "work only" knit which I'd attempt a pattern repeat of every lunch hour. I've finally clued in that this is not a work friendly project. Evidenced by the fact that I've had to rip it back about 3 times now. It just requires way too much concentration and should not be attempted while simultaneously trying to do the crossword and maintain a work-gossip conversation. Who knew? But then looking at all these yarn overs, I guess that's no surprise:



This yarn is gorgeous--I absolutely love it!

I've also finally started the Kitty Pi bed for my youngest son in Noro big kureyon, which I'm starting to think is actually too nice of a yarn for this kind of project. Particularly when I a) already have so much lopi I should be using up and b) it's eventually going to get felted and subsequently matted with cat fur anyway. Ah well, these kitties are my babies...I'm actually not that far into that bed and am already bored with it. I inititally entertained the notion of knitting up a whole bunch of them to use up that lopi, and then donating them to my local humane society, but I guess I'll see how the first one goes. One bad experience with felting has left me somewhat wary of this particular project.

The third thing I actually cast on for last night in a fit of boredom with the other two projects. It was intended to be my summertime knit since it's 100% cotton, and I am finally getting around to starting it:

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It's the dropped stitch vest from Stitch n Bitch Nation. Size 3.5mm needles and 24 gauge mercerized cotton in BLACK means that I have officially begun another big, long, tedious project. Miles and miles of tiny stockinette. You don't even get to the fun part of dropping stitches until the very end. I think I knit 5 rows of it last night and it took me about an hour. One hour for half an inch. Plus I'm starting to clue in to why my mom always claimed to hate knitting with black wool--it really is difficult to see what's going on with the stitches. And the sizing I'm not so sure about. They have the medium as a 38 bust, and then the large suddenly jumps to a 48 bust, so I'm kind of torn. I'm definitely no 48, yet I am still fearful of knitting a "medium".

I'm not entirely sure how much knitting I'll even have time for in the next couple of weeks. Could be tons, could be none. Either way, there is some serious relaxing ahead!

A story of two dudes

I mean DUDS.

First up, the Fulled lopi tote. This was my first attempt at felting something (well, on purpose, that is!) Here's a before and after felting shot:



hmmm, I probably should have put something in there for the size ratio--the before photo is actually about twice as big as the after. You get the idea though. And while I'm thinking of it, what is the correct terminology here? Felting or Fulling? Is "fulling" the Brit version of America's "felting", and as a Canadian, does that mean I should be using the word "fulling"? --I kid, I kid. See the identity crisis we face as Canadians! ;)

This was knit entirely with scrap lopi that I pilfered from my sister's stash that she'd hung onto since her lopi addiction in the eighties. I have a lot more of this to get through as well, so I am ALL about the felting projects right now! The pattern itself was a fast and easy knit. Though I must say that mine didn't turn out nearly as good as the one pictured in the actual pattern.

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I kind of hated this project actually. The felting made a giant furry mess, which I guess can be expected. And i'm not sure what happened with my handles. The hole felted up wider than they were in the first place, so I suspect that it possibly got hooked on the agitator in the washing machine and that's why it got all stretched out. And speaking as someone who is pretty into BIG bags and purses, I really have no use for a tote this size. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it actually. I don't think it's good enough to "gift", and I can't think of another good function for it that doesn't make me itch and break out in hives just thinking about it. I do have a lot of felt flowers left over from craft sale days that i could add to it to liven it up, but I'm not sure if I can even be bothered.

I'm starting to wonder if Knitty's french market bag would have been a better way for me to go, but by the same token, probably not much of a different experience. I suppose it was a good enough test for my first run at felting, and should just chalk it up to "not being my thing". Truthfully I don't really even like the way felted stuff looks. Is that weird? I really can't knock this pattern though, it went up in a couple of half-assed evenings of knitting, so that's always a plus. My biggest dilemma lay in deciding which buttons to put on it!



My SECOND dud to report about today is this little sucker --trial run number one on the knit cactus front:



It's cute enough, but I'm not really that happy with it. The body of it isn't as long as i'd hoped (though you can't really tell from that photo), but that could be down to the gauge I never bothered with. Another fast knit done with scrap DK weight yarn. The pattern for it can be found in Funky Knits. I plan to keep at these cacti, but I think I'll likely just come up with my own patterns and add beads and felt flowers. They're easy enough to manipulate, so as not to be any kind of exact science.

Two more days till Vay-kay! boo yeah.

Fruit protectors~

Ok, time for a bit of a silly FO!



Doesn't everything in your life demand it's own wardrobe?



I don't know how much protecting of the fruit these little cozies will actually do, but they were a fun knit nonetheless. I got the pattern for both out of Funky Knits. Definitely a very teen-centric book, but they had a couple of patterns for the knit cacti that I'm also in the process of making, so I just went for it. Why I felt I needed a pattern for what amounts to a small tube, I don't really know. It's definitely a pretty silly book. There's actually a pattern in it for knitting yourself a guitar case. I question how well that could ever turn out.

The yarn was all 100% cotton scraps. I own zero cotton. I had to raid my mom's stash (as I am also presently doing for the baby ugg booties...) and pilfer what I could. Fortunately for me, her stash is ENORMOUS. And essentially the polar opposite of most everything I would ever buy for myself. So suffice to say, I'm not sure what brand any of it is. The little bit of brown for the banana is the only exception there, as it's Paton's Decor and a wool blend, unlike the rest. My gauge for the banana was a bit off, I think it should definitely fit a lot more snuggly, and that's a big banana I've got in it, so that's definitely not it. Jeez why do I perceive that last sentence as sounding so dirty?

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I was toying with the idea of giving silly things like this away as Xmas presents at work this year, but now I'm not so sure. And really, I'm talking about the folks on my team here, so I did want it to be something small (last year it was scarves and toques for nine people--never again!). Now I'm thinking that a little knit cactus for each person's desk might be a better route to take. Though I must say, they do eat a lot of fruit here...

new buttons!

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The garter stitch jacket and hat is now "officially" a finished object! Kiss it good bye on my sidebar. And it's an excuse for me to show off some of my lovely dawn dolls...that's me--crazy cat-lady, crazy doll-lady. I am seriously hopeless.

I finally got around to sewing buttons on to the little sucker, and once I actually set my mind to it, there were a lot of cute options out there. And by "set my mind to it" I actually mean that I couldn't MAKE UP my effing mind, so I wound up spending, oh, about 30 bucks on dinky buttons. ack. It was no repro depot button BONANZA or anything, but i'll take it. I'm still pissed that they won't ship here. Don't they know that I NEED my pity kitties?!

For some reason I was obsessing on the fact that it had to be apples. And there were lots of cute apple buttons out there, but nothing that was quite the right colour.

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And then I tried out these little cowboy boots since Marnie is into all things "cowgirl", but I wasn't liking how they worked either.

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And it was also very nearly these lucky cats, but again, too cutesy.

In the end I went for the same buttons I was originally thinking about, but in a colour that was a little more matchy-matchy. That coral colour was a serious bitch to "compliment"!

Here's a close-up, plain Jane buttons, just like her Aunt Cara!

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Sometimes simpler is better. It's the old adage of trying to cram ten pounds of shit into a five pound bag I guess.

Is it me, or did I swear a lot during this post?

Zed is for Zig Zag

Finally posting about this puppy!



pattern: Chevron scarf from last minute knitted gifts
needles: bamboo straights
yarn: Koigu! kpppm -painter's palette premium 100% merino in colours 854 & 519

I love this scarf, and it was a super simple pattern. I really didn't love the actual knitting though, it felt like it was taking forever to grow, what with the small sock yarn and small-ish needles. But koigu, much like the fleece artist merino sock yarn is a dream to use. Every stitch looks perfect all the time.

My begrudgingly handsome model:



I was also super happy with my colour choices in the end, so thanks to all of you that weighed in :) They really seemed to flow together well, and I was surprised as I went on how the colours developped. I really didn't seem to have a lot of the colours "pooling" issues that I saw others complaining about over in the Chevron flickr pool.

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It needed a good blocking to get some of the curling out of it, and I couldn't understand why I was a few inches shy of what the finished measurements were supposed to be (again resolved with blocking...) until I re-read the pattern and realized it actually called for TWO skeins of BOTH colours. Say what? Man if I felt like it was taking long before, I can't imagine what doing double would have felt like. Oh wait, yes I can --my own personal hell. So really, I don't understand the point. One skein of each was fine for me, it seems kind of pointless to buy two more when I was only about two inches off the mark in the end. Particularly when you'd then be stuck with two not-quite-complete skeins of mis-matched koigu. As it was I bought that yarn on ebay so I wasn't about to go hunting for more of it.

I'll probably get a lot of wear out of this scarf this year...if nothing else I'll have a big new selection of scarves to start choosing from this fall!

howzabout a cuteness injection?

If anyone mentions Avril Lavigne or Ashlee Simpson here, I might have to kill them. Particularly when I myself own a couple pairs of converse that are in fact older than those two 'lil ladies. (It's true, I am old. I have two pairs of chucks that I've had since I was 13, so those babies are twenty freakin' years old now!). The red pair and the green pair. Remember when we would wear a different coloured shoe on each foot? (to go with the three pairs of swatch watches you were wearing at the same time of course...). Man I am so dating myself here. But in my defense, those sneakers got packed away for a long time and are presently in better shape than the other four pairs I own! Someone needs to come up with a baby bootie pattern for my Stan Smith's so I can bust those out of hiding too.

Anyhoozle -- on to the specs:
This was a pattern that I bought off etsy, from this seller. All the yarn I used were stash/scraps...mostly acrylics I think. I inititally tried double-stranding the white yarn so it would be a cushier sole, but the white I was using was way too bulky for it. That one came out like this:



Not so hot. So I re-did them (top photo) and am happy with how they turned out. The pattern's great...very quick, very detailed, super-easy to follow, and she provides lots of photos to help you along the way. I notice she's also selling an "adult" version of the knitted chucks as slippers too which were pretty funny.

I've changed up my blogger colours a bit. Mostly 'cuz I think I effed something up with my last post. I tried to fix it but miles and miles of html was making my head hurt and I wasn't sure where the problem was, but I was getting this big weird long gap on my sidebar. Who knows what I did, gah. I was gettin' tired of the pink anyway ;) Hopefully this one won't give me any grief. (knocks wood)

clapotis redux

pattern: clapotis from Knitty (*BUT a half version --see explanation below)
yarn: Rowan Tapestry (70% wool & 30% soy) in colour #173 "antique"
needles: 5mm Clover bamboo straights

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Ok, well I think this may well be the same yarn that the lovely miss J did her clapotis in, and I had about 5 balls of the stuff and was dying to do another one for myself. Couple that with the never-ending chevron which I was desperate to take a break from, and well, there you have it.

Man o man did this ever knit up fast. I really wanted to do more of a "scarf" version. My previous clapotis was the enormous full-sized version, and it still remains the nicest yarn I've ever worked with. I'm seriously thinking about INVESTING in silk dream, it feels SO beautiful to wear. I pretty much wore that thing day in and day out. Not so with the Rowan Tapestry--it will no doubt be strictly a winter scarf.

I managed to find a pattern for a smaller version of the clapotis at k pixie, which for some reason I am now unable to find online(***update at bottom***). I essentially did this version of the clapotis, but then doubled the number of straight rows it suggested. It would have been way to short for my liking if I'd followed their specifications. In retrospect, I'd probably go back and actually triple the number of straight rows with this particular yarn. It fell a few inches shorter than I would have liked, but I knew I could probably get this from the majic that is blocking.

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Blocking really made this yarn beautiful. The fibres really needed to be flattened out, and again, I got a lot more length out of it. I think if I had done the full-sized clapotis with this yarn I likely wouldn't have bothered blocking and kept it nice and wavy, but since it's now half as narrow, it was just way too curly to be able to wear properly. It really only took me just under two balls to complete this, and it was essentially done in a couple of evenings. The great thing about doing a half-clapotis is that you get to start dropping stitches almost right away, and that's the fun part!

I haven't decided yet whether I'm keeping it for myself or gifting it. I have enough of that yarn left that I may actually try the argosy in it as well. I'm just not sure if the colours do anything for me.

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As I knit it up I was convinced it was browns and beiges...now that I look at it, it's mauves and golds. I do like the way it looks as though the sun is streaming onto it when it's laid out flat.

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I was just about to go into my long-ass schpiel about buttons, but then I realized duh, I don't have the requisite photos handy. And also, this is already entirely too long as I talk endlessly about things that are no doubt obvious.

***update*** --here's the link to the "mini" clapotis:
http://www.midnightknitter.com/knitpixiepatterns/uploads/clapotis_bamboo.htm

scarf party

Where have I been? I'm not really sure. As my best friend Jaye once said to me the first week I met her: "I should have never taken that anti-psychotic that guy offered me. Now I've missed three days of school!" I knew we'd be fast friends.



pattern: kerchief scarf from LMNG, of course
yarn: leftover Debbie Bliss Alpaca silk in coral
needles: bamboo straights

Well, what can I really say about this thing? It's a bandana. It's a garter stitch triangle.



It's the same yarn I used for the baby jacket in my last entry, so I guess it's kinda nice that I actually get to keep some of it for myself in some form. I'm tempted to cast back on and make it slightly longer even, since there's still about half a ball left, and really, what else am I going to do with it? In retrospect this yarn was way too thick for this pattern, but I was on a mission! I'm thinking about making a summer version of it in a thinner bamboo.

Now that my chevron scarf is also finished I plan to put that book back on the shelf for a while. This is the fourth thing I've made out of it which must be some kind of record (for me) for consecutive knits from the same book.

I've made a bunch of little things lately that I'll try and update on soon. I've been super lazy about taking photos of stuff and loading it onto the computer though, so I've finally gotten off my ass and around to that.

Another work in progress that's been sitting at this stage for about two months now is my kidsilk scarf:



It came as one of those little fleece artists "kits" with the attached pattern, though I haven't been able to find a link to it so I'm not sure if they even make it any more. The wool is amazing (much like ALL fleece artist yarns!)--kid mohair and silk, and I absolutely love the colour, so I'm not sure what my problem is. I'm doing the pattern that came with it which is lots of yarn-overs and flowy and pretty but I'm totally uninspired by it. Mind you, I have recently finsihed about 4 other scarves, so therein might lie my apathy.

And happy belated Canada Day to all. I was sick pretty much all weekend so could only really listen with increasing nausea to the frat boy keg party happening two doors down, and all over my neighborhood for that matter. Bah humbug.

go go garter stitch

pattern: Debbie Bliss, the baby knits book
yarn: Debbie Bliss alpaca silk (80% baby alpaca, 20% silk) in coral (#25010)
needles: 4.5 mm bamboo straights

A quick knit! I even did the little matching garter stitch hat to go with it. In the end it took me just over 7 balls of the alpaca silk, which is totally outrageous. I knit the smallest size, and checked my gauge, but I think it's definitely still a lot bigger than originally intended. Though I guess with baby knits, it would be better to grow into anyway, plus it's a jacket so it can be a bit big, right?

And with two and a half balls left of this gorgeous yarn, I'm not exactly sure what to do next. I'm thinking about making a kerchief for myself (only because I at least want to have a small sampling of that yarn to wear myself!) --or maybe a matching cowl for the baby's mama?

It's not 100% done as I still need to find/sew on some decent buttons for it:



It's somewhat of an odd colour with neither red nor pink working all that perfectly, so my thoughts of little cherries or strawberries may be dashed. There are so many cute options at Repro Depot, but again. NO EFFING SHIPPING TO CANADA. grr. Anyone know of a Canadian option for stuff like this?

I've been a bit of lazy-ass in the knitting realm lately (although these posts don't seem to reflect it...) but I'm actually not all that motivated to do much knitting in the evenings any more for some reason. Perhaps it's just a phase. I definitely have no desire to purchase new yarn (though there is a lot that I am covetting) and like the tireless "purger of stuff" that I've been known to be I am seriously scheming ways to use up a lot of my stash. The sudden additional space I find myself with after using up all this coral alpaca is what's spurring me on I think. Out with the old before I can get on with the new!

***Button update found here: buttons!

Time for a new bed...

...cat bed that is.

Some of you may remember this. Archie uses that bed a lot. But nothing like his absolute favourite bed, the mysterious kitty cuddler!. Archie's three now, and I'd say that we've probably gone through five or six of these in his short life. It's getting out of hand since he always seems to need a new one. They start out nice, like the one pictured in the ad:



But then after much suckling and kneading and flopping onto, and playing in (it also unfolds into a "play-tube"), not to mention a whole bunch of this:



Well, lets just say that it takes it's toll. We often try to transition him from one to the other by placing the new one on top of the grody old one (no doubt the old one is a total bacteria farm)--note before and after here:

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blech. Boy, I'm really airing my dirty laundry now, aren't I?

I'm not sure if it's the "wooly-ness" of the cuddler that he likes or what, but I think I've come up with a solution. Though only time will truly tell. But it starts with a dab of this:

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and a dash 'o this. I've borrowed the link to that pattern off the unwound podcast site, which I'm so disappointed to hear is now no more. Wah! There are so many knitting podcasts out there now but very few that I seem to be able to really get into. I'd love to hear what everyone else out there likes (and not just the knitting ones!) These days I listen to more podcasts on my ipod and in the car than I do actual music. Is that wrong?

So, fingers crossed that he likes this bed a little more than his at present never-ending supply of 30 dollar kitty cuddlers. I guess it's a good thing I don't have kids, and it may be a moot point right now since I haven't even cast on for it, but I was so excited when the yarn arrived that I just had to post. Once again, Noro "big" kureyon = unavailable around these parts.

the finished argosy

pattern: Argosy
yarn: Noro Silk Garden lite
needles: 4mm bamboo straights
more details on my knitting progress can be found in my previous entry on this scarf (here)



This was a fun project. I love the modular geometry of it, and I'll no doubt do it again, though possibly in a solid colour next time. You definitely can't get away with not blocking this one. Note, the left side unblocked here:

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And after:

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Much better! Plus after blocking my whole "inverted bottom" issue (you can see it in the top photo --the burgundy end) really wasn't very noticeable, so I plan to just leave it. I figure when you wrap these things around your neck inevitably the wrong side ends up showing in some spots anyway.

Last photo of it:

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This puppy is loooooong. I think in the end I did about 32 of the pattern repeats. The pattern gives you two options --24 and 36 or something like that, so it's odd that mine is quite as long as it is (but I'd be lying If I said i checked my gauge on it --come on, it's a scarf!) But the width still appears to be right, so i don't know what's up there. I haven't quite decided yet who I'm going to gift this thing to.

In other news I've also started a chevron scarf from last minute knitted gifts. Can I just say how much I love this book? I guess I should expect nothing less from the people who brought us Purl, but having just finished another item in that book, the instructions on everything are amazing. I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of this book. Plus after seeing how great this looked, AND having the exact same yarn, I really wanted one for myself.

So off I went. I decided that since it was a chevron scarf that I should actually try and combine two different varigateds together. I used Rowan Tapestry's "antique" and "pot pourri". Both gorgeous yarns on their own.

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But put together I got this:

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I don't know, I just really wasn't feeling it. Considering it's a sea of pinks and golds and purples, why is it looking so muddy all together? I've since frogged it and have cast back on using "only" the antique colour. But i've now stopped that as well after seeing all of THESE! on flickr, I caved and ordered some more koigu. I think it's the kind of pattern that really requires a bright sock yarn for the pattern to stand out. So, the chevron scarf is officially on hold, and hopefully the colours I've chosen will actually go together when all is said and done.

As for the Rowan yarn which I'm dying to use, I think a half clap is what I'll be reserving that for. Notice I said HALF clapotis. Another blanket I don't need!

Alright, sorry for the epic photo novel, now back to my regularly scheduled vacation.

What the heck is an argosy?

There's been a lot of buzz on the internerd about the Argosy scarf I've noticed, and given that I'm such a follower of most trends (ok slight sarcasm there) you know I just had to give it a whirl. It didn't really appeal to me via Knitty, but after checking out all the argosies (sic?) on flickr, I was pretty impressed. Is it the new clapotis? hmmmmm. The jury's still out on that one, but then I guess nothing could ever be that big.

I searched in vain at my local yarn stores for the requisite Noro Silk Garden Lite (or light as it should correctly be spelled...) only to be informed that it was (like most things) not yet available in Canada. From a consumer's standpoint, nothing good ever is. Or worse, no one wants to ship here, and it is endlessly frustrating.

So I began my ebay hunt knowing that 2 skeins couldn't possibly break the bank, and I got them both for 6 bucks! A deal--unheard of! I knew I wanted some dramatic colours that would really show off the geometry of the pattern, so I chose colourway #2014, and hit "buy it now". I thought I was being really clever in my colour choice until I re-read the pattern and discovered that it was the exact same yarn and colour recommended. How bizarre. Not so original after all.

And then it arrived:



hmmm, a little on the um "loud" side, wouldn't you say?



To me this is borderline "tie-dyed", and a hippie I most assuredly am not. But after all the fuss, I decided to make do anyway, and hope I'd be surprised in the end. There's definitely a lot of lesbians in my life who would no doubt appreciate a "rainbow" scarf! --I always rag my friend Shelia that she has single-handedly ruined the kitsch factor of rainbows for me and my straight compadres. Ah well, at least the gay community has left me my unicorns!

So it was an auspicious beginning. Not sure how noticeable it is in this photo but I missed a row somewhere at the beginning which basically inverted the first couple of inches, so it's purled for about 15 rows when it should be knitted. I didn't even notice it until I was this far along:



And I wasn't about to turn back at that point. Plus I was praying it wouldn't be noticeable after the blocking. The pattern was quick to memorize, but requires some concentration, particularly at the start, or you will get not so straight rows of yarn overs like I did:



yargh. Honestly, I don't know where my brain was at. So after that half-assed start things went a lot more smoothly and it's actually a really fun, easy knit. It's now done but I have yet to upload any photos, so those are soon to come.

I think I would have been way more into this colourway if the bright green and turqouise weren't included. I loved the way all of the other colours flowed into each other, and it really spurs you on when you're anxious to see how the next colour will look.



That is until of course I ran into the dreaded "Noro knot". Everything is flowing all Roy G. Biv, and then blam-o! Ball 2 they've tied a neon green onto a purple. Annoying. Winding it one way and then the other didn't really help me either, but I did the best I could to make it all flow.

So, finished photos to come, as I begin ten glorious days of vacay! La Sapiniere and Tremblant, here I come!

Vestibule

pattern: Gilmore Vest
yarn: 5 balls of Fable Handknits 100% baby alpaca in "grey"
needles: 3.5 and 4mm bamboo clover straights

I cannot believe that I am finally finished this thing. This vest has been on the back-burner I think longer than any other project. I got a great deal on the yarn at pick up sticks. It was all 50% off, and it's the softest stuff I have ever knit with, so I kind of went a little crazy buying it. I bought 3 balls in "mist" as well, with which I knit this cowl (pattern from the same website), 3 balls of a coral colour, and 3 balls of the black which I'm thinking about making another cowl in as well. I got a lot of wear out of the light grey one this past winter so it stands to reason that black should take me a lot farther!

As far as the pattern itself goes, I wouldn't recommend it. It was riddled with type-os for starters (though after checking it again on the site it does seem as though some changes have been made), and a lot of the number counts were off in the larger sizes in terms of how many stitches/rows you should be at at any given point. By far the most annoying part though was the V-neck:



Which you had to knit seperately and then pin into place to seam it on. Saying that I am TERRIBLE at this would be the understatement of the decade. Particularly given that it's the last thing to do, and I really just wanted to get it done, my efforts at this were half-assed at best. Plus the ribbing didn't really seem long enough to fit the gaping neck hole, so I had to stretch it (which for ribbing is fine), but means that it's seriously puckered around the back of the neck where there's too much material. I know these are all mistakes that no doubt only I will notice, but you know how that goes. I have yet to block it though, so that could make all the difference. I also didn't block the front and back prior to seaming them together either (I know, I'm bad) but they were appropriately sized so I just went for it.

This vest looks a lot longer in these photos than it does on me (due in large part to my giant rack, no doubt!)

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I likely won't get around to wearing it until the fall, plus somewhat like my last angora experience, I think I'm allergic to it. Though that kind of thing doesn't affect me so much in the wearing as it does the knitting, so it's probably just as well I worked on it in fits and starts.

One more item to go before the board is cleared and a whole HOST of new projects can begin. Inappropriately it may be a wee scarf party for me this summer!

It's a mod, mod world...

So I'd heard a little rumour that a local yarn store was shutting it's doors forever more and that "everything must go!". Normally this might excite me, as it's the knitting store that's pretty much the closest possible to me, but truthfully it wasn't one that I frequented often. I always referred to it as "the old lady store", since there's always this same 'lil lady in there, and she's pretty old school about what she keeps in stock etc. No joke, her cash register looked like this:



Which I'm sure worked just dandy, particularly given that they had a cash-only policy. Every now and then I'd pop in there if I needed something that was a no-brainer (I think she had a selection of about 6 aero circulars, that kind of thing), but it was a small store, so that's understandable.

Needless to say I wasn't clamouring to get there for amazing deals on cashmere or anything like that, but decided to pop by Saturday after my french class (and as a little last class French graduation present to myself) on the off chance that there was something great there.

What I had FORGOTTEN about was the massive collection of patterns she's had since she opened the store in the fifties. As soon as I saw the words MARY QUANT, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven:



She had hundreds of mint vintage patterns going for a couple bucks apiece. And when I say hundreds I mean at least a thousand. It's a miracle and a shame that I only made it out of there with six. I was feeling a bit guilty though. She's fallen ill (which unfortunately is the reason they're shutting down), so it was just her (husband? elderly son?) running the place, and the system by which you purchase these patterns was a bit convoluted. He's got these massive binders that you flip through, select the one you want, and then he goes to some filing cabinet hidden deep within the bowels of the store to retrieve you a fresh copy (the older the pattern the more difficult a filing system it seems...). So by about the sixth one I was feeling supremely guilty for putting this guy through his paces, and I had to kind of cap it there. I could have easily kept going though and am not ruling out a reconnaissance mission. Really what I should have said was "please, just bring me to the mystery cabinet and let me rifle!"

Anyway, he was desperate to see the back of me I think, so I didn't want to push my luck. Plus how many of these (if any) will I even get around to knitting. I just new that I particularly couldn't by-pass the Mary Quant patterns. I felt as if I'd stumbled upon a pucci dress!

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In other news, my thoughts have turned to mother's day, and in light of my recent obsession with the fabulous Elizabeth Zimmerman (...I've just added the Rorschach to my list of must-knits!), I've picked up the opinionated knitter for my mother.

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(But the Manos is for me!) I hope she likes it...she can be a bit picky about this kind of thing ---being herself an opinionated knitter (and hopefully she's not also reading this, thereby spoiling one of her surprises). Oopsy.

In knitting news, the Alpaca Vest should be done tonight. I've never loathed a pattern quite so much.

how weird is this thing?

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It's like a half a sweater for a giant with teeny tiny arms. When I look at this photo I think "no wonder it felt like I was knitting FOREVER". Maybe if I shape it into an approximation of how it should be worn it will look less weird?

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nope.

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and no again (wilting cat grass notwithstanding).
Like I get that it's supposed to be weird --it's a shrug. It's a back with arms. But, shrugs don't usually have a back that spans from the middle of my head to the bottom of my bum. Just how the hell am I supposed to fold this thing?

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Ah yes, much better.

Anyway, I'd be lying if I said this thing wasn't agony to knit. The ribbed border that goes all around the honkin' rectangle: 506 stitches in 3x3 rib. It was cruel. If the pattern had started off with that I likely would have given up, but when you get to that point you feel as though the end is in sight. What a cruel joke that was. I timed myself on how long it would take me to knit ONE row. Result: 25 minutes of my life that I will never get back. I think I need to stick to sweaters that are just sweaters and that don't have so much crazy crap going on with them. I need to accept that I'm a plain jane, and that I'm totally okay with it. There's a reason my wardrobe is a sea of black, army green and brown (with the occasionally gawdy sixties polyester dress thrown in).

The ribbing that almost killed me:



and the specs:

pattern knit 2 together "the pimlico shrug"
yarn: Rowan pure wool DK in spice (the M/L took me just over 11 balls)
needles: Denise interchangeables

The other thing that's kind of weird about it for me is those ribbed arms. It's like you've got giant bat wings that then terminate into socks for your forearms. I have yet to block it though, so that might help with the "drape" of it. I do like it, it just is, as I said, kinda weird. I feel like it's one of those things that I will always be pulling at when I wear it: trying to have the back not ride, trying to have the flaps not gape open, trying to stretch the ribbed arms out, etc. etc.

Also I think I need to take some kind of class on finishing and seaming as well...I sewed the sleeves on too tight in my zeal to get 'er done.

AND, might I add, there will be no new projects begun until that vest and those stinking socks are also complete!

phone-y Mcring-ring

whaa? two posts in one day!

I just saw these and couldn't resist posting them. Bet they'd be tough to shear...





And this one speaks to me as the supposed "black sheep" of the family:



Jean-Luc Cornec's telephone sheep, from the Museum of Telecommunication in Frankfurt.

F is for Flair

Flair has actually been finished since last week, but I've had serious issues getting a decent photo of it (apparently impossible to get one of myself in it AND impossible for the BF to work a camera properly...)

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pattern: Wendy Bernard's Flair
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 100% superwash wool, colour: Cocoa (I think...or possibly "Earth")
Needles: size 5mm Denise interchangeables

Do I like it? the jury's still out. It's way to big for me. I did it in the large, and added more swing to it, so it's kind of my own fault. I don't know if I can bring myself to tear it back at this point though. It's totally comfy and I will still wear it.

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Modifications: well I added AT LEAST 5 inches to the length, and I still find it too short for my liking. It still hits me at the top of the hips, and this is not because I am tall (far from it) but I think more because my "shelf" boobs hike it up overall. I'm starting to clue in that you need to be a stick in order to have handknit items actually look good on you. It may be a sea of hats and scarves for me from here on in. I also have a lot more buttons on mine. If I did it again I think I'd space them further apart. I don't think I spaced them as far apart as the pattern called for, and because I added to the length, it made for a lot more buttons overall. I chose some white squares because I thought it would be a nice "mod" touch, but now I'm finding them a bit too stark and I may swap them out for some darker ones after all.

Sorry, these are all flash photos so they're not necessarily the truest representation. In terms of the yarn...I really liked it at first. For 100% wool, it was as soft as cotton. It was a bit of a pain because it was a 4-ply and seemed to split really easily. Every now and then I would run into a knot in it as well, but it was usually a knot within one of those "plys" instead of the whole strand of yarn that you could untie so it was a bit of a bitch to deal with.

I also made the neck about an inch and a half higher, and I really liked it, it was my favourite part. And then I blocked it. And while I needed to block this sweater to get all the curled edges out and to add a couple inches to the length, it wound up making the neck all floppy, and now it doesn't stand up on it's own the way I originally liked. Apparently I should have blocked everything BUT the neck! I may reblock the neck to try and stiffen it up a bit.

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Also, because this wool was such a loose ply it really made it difficult to put the buttons on the inside flap (not visible) with minimal pucker. I re-did them about three times, and am satisfied with the final results (though I still notice it...) but it can't be helped. The interior buttons are sewn on so loose they are barely hanging on, but because this sweater is so baggy I'm just pulling it on over my head anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Anyway, I think that's all you could have ever POSSIBLY needed to know about this project, and I am more than ready to move on from it!

Wow, re-reading this I sound like a serious complainer, so I really should iterate that I actually liked this pattern and enjoyed knitting it. I am as usual, hyper-critical about my own role in it!

the Cashmere Cowl

Well, it's been finished for a little while now (I've even managed to get some wear out of it before spring has truly sprung) so it's time I updated about it:



Pattern: the purl bee
Yarn: Posh Yarns 100% hand dyed cashmere (colour: raspberry)
Needles: 5mm addi Turbos



Well, there's not much to say here, it's your basic 1X1 ribbed tube. I did it an inch or so shorter than specified, mostly because this yarn was lace weight and I'd doubled stranded it. I rolled up the second ball using my best guest, so when it ran out I just bound off rather than add any more yarn. The colour is great, darker and lighter in spots, up close it's really beautiful. I blocked it as well and stretched it a bit longer and wider so it's nice and floppy. (Though not as floppy as the alpaca cowl I had previously done). At one point I threw it in my purse at work, and my favourite hand cream exploded all over it, so it kinda sorta got a second blocking after that. But now it smells AWESOME. I want to eat my neck whenever I wear it.

Not sure why this took me so long to knit...I feel like I am seriously bored with everything I'm knitting right now, but I'm trying to force myself not to start anything new until at the very least Flair is done, though it looks like I'm about to run out of yarn (so far I've made the thing about 5 inches longer and with a lot more "swing") so I guess it's no wonder. I'm praying wool tyme will still have some left in the same dye lot.

Next update, BIG purchases on the horizon!

My mom is a dynamo

I was at my folks place this weekend doing my usual mooching: laundry facilities, car borrowing (see previous post for ol' gummy's dental surgery), knitting help (she's the closest thing I have to a SNB, though mostly she just bitches about my pattern choices -hah!), and FOOD, always food. She made me grilled cheese sandwiches as only a mother can (one bite of yum yum pickle for every bite of sandwich). And oh yeah, often I steal toilet paper, and whatever I can get my hands on from the freezer. She's the ultimate fifties putz-frau and I, my siblings and nephews particularly get to reap those rewards.

So I took the opportunity for a couple of snapshots of knitted items she's donating to my fabulous sister's children's caregiver auction. (I'm sure I got that wrong, but anyway, she's the director at this place.

My mom will agonize over the details of little knitted things in a way I could never be bothered with. How cute are these?



Her current M.O is to purchase the book that the child care provider will be reading to the children and then KNIT THE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS IN THE STORY. So I'm sorry I didn't get a better shot of that Old Macdonald book, but she's literally got the dog the same as the one in the book, the donkey the same, etc. etc.

She also did a similar thing with Snow White and the seven dwarves, which I've mentionned before, but here they are all packaged up with the book:



Too Cute! Usually at Christmas she will purchase new Barbie dolls, knit additional dresses and outfits for them, stuff those down inside the box the doll comes in and THEN drop it off at the toy drive. Who does this?

If I had her knitting skills I would probably use my powers for evil instead of all that good she does.

And oh, I'm heading to Montreal tomorrow ---any fantabulous yarn stores I should be aware of?

Tears were shed.

May I introduce this weekend's two problems:



1) Flair

2) Poncho


Let me start with Flair...and I say this mostly for Sarah's benefit in an effort to save her some of the anguish I experienced this week. Hopefully you haven't already started your Flair (honestly I can't say that word without chuckling about my minimum 15 pieces of flair), though even if you have cast on already, you're likely not dumb enough to make the same mistakes I did!

So, friday night, this was my flair:
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It was exciting --I was four balls in and half done the body. I was literally just about to divide the sleeves off and really sink my teeth into finishing it. And then: hmmm, something appears to be weird with the front section.

Now in theory, knitting everything all at once is a great idea. Not having to seam anything in the end, I am ALL for that. But herein lies the intrinsic flaw with knitting everything all at once: If you make a mistake in ONE section, you can't just fix it. Every section becomes infected with the problem. And that was my problem: too many stitches in the front section. SO even though my entire back portion was half done, BOTH sleeves were half done, my three inches of edging and button holes were half done...I had 19 extra stitches in my two front sections. Everything had to be torn out. I literally felt like crying. Particularly when you're knitting everything at once like this, and each row is 300 plus stitches, it's incredibly frustrating. One row would literally take me about twenty minutes to knit across. And the purl rows? blech.

I have frogged it all and started over. I'm about one ball in again and feeling better about it. Much like writing, I chalk the starting over process up to being an opportunity to make it better the second time around. Even if I wrote the great American novel (Canadian novel?) and it all went up in a fire, I know that draft number two would still be far superior to the first, right?

More annoying still is that it's the pattern that threw me, right from row number one.

So here's my own version:

Row 1: do it the same as the pattern indictes with all the KFB's and blah blah blah. The part that threw me is that the very first stitch is a KFB then SM, which I will come back to.

Row 2: purl

Then the pattern says repeat rows 1 and 2 three times more. This is where it got a bit confusing for me. You can't just start off with a KFB, SM again like in row #1 because you've already created an extra stitch the first time around. And you know, I'm a realtively new knitter, so these things aren't always intuitive for me. So I just pressed on, doing my KFB as the first stitch on the front section every time. WRONG. This is why I had so many extra stitches.

So I present to you how those pattern lines should probably have been written (apologies to anyone uninterested in this pattern and already snoozing at this point):

Row 1: same as pattern indicates
Row 2: purl
Row 3: K1, KFB, SM... (continue on as row 1 indicates...)
Row 4: purl
Row 5: K2, KFB, SM...
Row 6: purl
Row 7: K3, KFB, SM...
Row 8: purl

This way your increases will at least always be in the right spot--this all becomes more relevant when you cast on additional stitches and place another marker that you should NOT be increasing after like all the others (the seed stitch reminder), though the pattern doesn't really indicate this. I also encountered another issue later on with button holes, where you're expected to start a button hole on the 14th RS row and then subsequent 12th RS rows. The confusing bit here is that RS rows are always odd numbered, and this indication therefore makes no sense. I'm basically just starting my button holes on every 13th row and hoping that this doesn't somehow bite me in the ass later on.

Archie did enjoy helping me tear it all apart though.

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OK, this post has already become a bit of a novel, so I will spare you the über details about Poncho's emergency dental surgery yesterday (3! extractions) for my groggy senior who will heretofor be known exclusively as Gummy Joe. More hilarious was his initial visit to the vet on Saturday as 1) we didn't realize the St. Patty's Day parade was going on and 2) we had to park ten blocks from the vet and weave through the world's most obnoxious parade with a cat that was about to explode with fear. All to say that I think Poncho officially hates the Irish now.

In other knitting news, I've completed the back of the Alpaca Vest, and the new thing I learned here was the "t-wrap". Which I might add was impossible to find any info on, but knittinghelp.com calls it a short row with wrap so it's no wonder I couldn't find it. I did find a good written explanation for it here. I'm still not entirely sure that I did it right, and am just hoping that because that yarn is so fine, in the end it may not matter. As my mom said when helping me "why must you pick such complicated patterns?!" But in my defense I thought "It's a vest, how hard can it be?". As I read ahead I'm realizing that the ribbed V-neck portion gets somehow seamed back on which has the potential to be annoying. My current knitting mantra is "ignore the problem and it will go away".
If only.

will the real Slouch please stand up...

...or flop down.



pattern: Lopi pattern book #24 (hodd)
yarn: Alafoss Lopi #9962 (ruby heather) & #9970 (raspberry heather)
needles: 12 mm (US #17) bamboo circulars

This is probably the fastest knit on record. I think it took me less than two hours. Not only is it knit on giant needles, but it's knit using two strands at once for half the hat, so it went up very fast. Provided no one has a problem with "itchy" wool I can see myself using this for a number of Xmas presents this year. A couple of things I would do though is probably shorten the number or ribbed and straight rows. It's VERY floppy. Far floppier than le slouch that I'd made earlier. maybe "floppy" is the wrong word, actually. BIG or chunky might be better.

I knit the entire thing on circulars which became incredibly challenging the last couple of rows. Do you think I could find a set of size 17 douple pointed needles anywhere in this town? nope. ebay? nope. yarnmarket.com? yes. They were 18$. Shipping was $20. No thanks. At one point I actually contemplated elastic-ing (not a word, surely?) two or three sets of smaller DPNs together to finish it off with, but then just thought better of it. So I went as far as I could on the circs and then just kinda winged it. Next time I should probably just grab a couple of branches off the tree out back and whittle my own.

ooo, arty:

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noo, lazy. How lazy? I really wanted to show the floppiness of this hat on me, but could not even drag myself away from the computer to take a proper photo. The computer wasn't. even. on. Also I'm home with a broken neck (well not really) today, and simply could not muster up the strength to put any make-up on for a photo. So, that's what you get. A photo that at first glance looks like a black screen. But that said, I'm way happier with how this hat looks on than any of the other hats I've knit recently, though it is very warm. If I ever wanted to climb Everest in style, this would be the hat.