Costumechick and Her Mind Control Powers

The Tablecloth

2012-01-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

I posted about starting a tablecloth for my mom for Christmas, and I never followed up with a Finished Object post. Guess what? I finished it!!

She was super happy to get her cloth for Christmas, and put it on the table as soon as Christmas dinner was over. The last pic is of it in her Dining room.

I'm so glad to be finished with it, and at the same time, so happy I did it. It was truly a ~~labor~~ knit of love.

2011 round up

2012-01-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

I've been away a bit. Between designing shows, and... well, designing shows, my November and December got crazy. Really. But things have settled a bit, so I decided to do a "Yearly wrap up" post.
I had an ultra boring meeting this morning, so I did a lot of totalling then.... fyi. :)
In 2011, I knit:
37 individual projects, including:
3 blankets
5 sweaters
14 large lace projects
6 hats
5 pair of mittens
and 4 other things like socks and baskets

15 projects were from books
8 from PDFs
4 from magazines
5 from free sources
and 5 of my own design

In 2011 I knit 22,918 yards of yarn, also known as 13.02 miles, and I finished a project every 9.86 days, on average.

Also in 2011, I designed 6 shows, learned to spin on my new spinning wheel, and spun a lot of yarn - two hanks of which were used in above projects.

I think 2011 was a pretty good year! I am notoriously bad a t dealing with resolutions, but I'm going to make a list again, and see how I do in 2012.

2012:
Try to spin lace weight.
Make that cool sideways sweater for myself using some handspun - Rhinebeck!
Keep adding to my crochet arsenal.
Work up the courage to wind up the gossamer yarn. Maybe even start the Shawl of Insanity.
Be better about swatching.

Let's be honest, that last one is a long shot.

I am reaching that point...

2011-10-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Every knitter experiences the moment when you have been working on a long term project for quite some time, and you just... want... to... knit... something... else. I have reached that point with my Mom's Tablecloth. I really enjoy the knitting, even in spite of the random pattern error, but the rows are getting LONG. Like woah.
I am starting to get project wonderlust. I know that Rhinebeck (!!) is coming up, and I will need a take along project for that. Soon enough I will have my "other" project, and for the time being I am satiating the wonderlust with the thought of a new project and trying to decide what it might be.
Maybe something with the Sam Watersheep yarn....

nutcrcker, nutcracker, crack me a nut!

2011-09-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

looks like the "Nutcracker" is back in my life. Today we had first auditions. I think you'll hear more about this project!

It's almost Rhinebeck time!!

2011-09-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should write a song....

(To the tune of "Farmer in the dell")
It's almost Rhinebeck time!
It's almost Rhinebeck time!
Pack your sweaters, make your lists!
Its almost Rhinebeck time!!!
I must say, I am very prepared this year. I finished my Rhinebeck sweater in plenty of time. I even wove in ends and put on the buttons! In past years, I have been doing this stuf at the last minute, even if the knitting was done far ahead of time.

I can't wait to wear it for RHINEBECK!!

I decided to...knit both

2011-09-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I posed the question to you guys about which thing to knit. The shawl or the tablecloth? I chose to start with the shawl because it seemed easier to take along on the trip I was taking home to PA. Before I even got a chance to tell y'all, I went and finished it!

This one starts by knitting the bottom edging first, side to side. Than you pick up along the edge and knit to the center top. After the edging and the picking up of the body stitches, it flew by! WooSH!!!

Of course, I cast off the shawl and locked it, and, literally, I turned around and got an email from the pattern designer that the next pattern in the series was ready to be knit. sigh. So much for feeling "caught up". I decided to move on to the tablecloth though.

Just so you know, the final rows are 1200 stitches long. This might take a while...

Deli-cious Pastel Marshmallows

2011-09-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

Did you ever try those pastel colored, mini marshmallows? They were quite the "thing" in the 80's. I remeber scores of rice krispy squares at bake sales made with those little fruity marshmallows. I think that some parents thought they were making some sort of "fancy" bake sale item when they brought those. It was also unreasonably popular to make "ambrosia" dessert using them. What the hell is ambrosia, you ask?

Its cool whip, marshmallows, assorted canned fruits, coconut, and sometimes nuts, all mixed up into a festive, overly sweet goo. It is very popular at church pot lucks and family picnics. It is a major part of my summer-family-picnic-going childhood. So when I cast on for my latest shawl in the 7 songs series, named "Delius", in a hand dyed yarn that included various shades of pastel colors, in the August heat... I had Ambrosia flashbacks.

I named it Deli-cious Pastel Marshmallow, because I am full of pun. But the varigation is so subtle in the yarn that it looks like you melted those little multi-colored marshmallows together, without stirring.

For what it is worth, I love this shawl. It is a quick knit - even though it took me a couple weeks, I was only working on it sporatically. The cast on is a haul to get through, fyi, but worth it in the end. Like Gary, you have to pay attention to the charts because you have stuff to do on both sides - mainly switching back and forth from garter to stockingette. It is nice to have a little challenge, since overall, the lace pattern is very simple.

I can say that the designer, Corrina Ferguson, is really quite good at explaining her patterns so they are easy to use. What could be super complicated charts and directions, are easy to follow and very user friendly. I highly recommend them!

Help me decide

2011-08-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

My next goal is to finish my Rhinebeck sweater. I only have the neckband and button bands to go! I do need help deciding what to work on after that though. I am torn between starting the third shawl in the Seven songs series - Stravinsky
or starting a tablecloth for my Mom.

The Shawl pros:

Portable! I need another portable project
makes me caught up to the release of the pattens. I love feeling "on schedule"
uses wool. easy on the hands, and I have the perfect colorway

The shawl cons:

requires a chart, so it is not EMINENTLY portable, like a sock
feeds into my weird need to always be "caught up" or "even". Do I need to reinforce this weirdness in myself?
I have no intended use for this yet. It will most likely be a gift, but I don't need to get it done right now

The tablecloth pros:

My mom specifically asked for one, so I know she will like it. It won't be wasted effort.
there is a sense of accomplishment in finishing a tablecloth. It is a knitting bucket list item for me.
it will be small for a while, filling the portable project gap for a little, then can become a stay home project after the sweater is complete.

Tablecloth cons:

cotton yarn is tiresome to work with. But, this is true of starting this project at any time.
i haven't really picked a pattern yet. The one i really WANT to do is in German. That seems like quite the undertaking. I have back up patterns, but am on the fence.
when it is finished I'll need to build a frame to starch and block it. again, I'll have to do this whenever I make the cloth, I just feel like i should figure it out before I start, you know?

so.... opinions?

Early morning, sun comes out....

2011-08-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Evad and I are fans of free things, and when a free multi-stage music festival comes around, who are we to pass it up? Sadly for us, the Scorpions were playing at the same time as another band that our friends wanted to see.

Turns out the band our friends wanted to see was crappy, and Evad and I spent the whole time saying "play Rock You like a Hurricane!!!" while giggling madly, and eating all the snacks. We wanted to be anywhere but there, and the Scorpions were teasing us. After the suck band was over we got to see James Brown. That was cool. I was his birthday.
Even though I did not get rocked like a proverbial hurricane that day, I can now say I have been. Evad and I are fine - we even managed to keep power! There is lots of flooding and damage, but we are safe.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

2011-08-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

...and don't bother coming back another day, either. Damn you. You can come back at night, so we don't have a drought, but leave my last days of summer the hell alone.
Eh hem.
Days like these are perfect for knitting. A nice cup of tea, a cozy sweater on your lap, and a kitty nearby. Ahh. Too bad I'm suck at stupid work. My sweater has no love for me either. The bastard is mocking me from the car!
"You know you want to get me. You can just drape me over your lap to keep warm. Maybe a row or two while you wait for Quicken to update. You are SO cold Costumechick!"
My sweater is mean.
The shawl I'm working on is just as mean, but slightly less enticing. It is much smaller than my Rhinebeck sweater, and therefore has less overall snuggle factor. Still, it would be way more fun than working on loading crap into Quicken....

Seriously more fun.

earthquake!

2011-08-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

WTH Virginia?! Keep your shakey shakes to yourself! New Haven got a good roll this afternoon from the Richmond 5.8 earthquake. I've experienced quite a few types of natural disasters before, but this was my first apparent earthquake. Crazy! I tell you!
At first I thought I was getting sick.
Then I thought the building was being buffeted by high winds, or the train station building project was doing some intense pile driving.
After that, I looked out the window and saw the world moving opposite the direction I was.
Then I heard the creaking of all the windows behind me.
Finaly, I ran out of the building. The entire staff was standing there looking at each other and saying "What the fuck just happened?"
Turns out it was an earthquake.
Sadly, though, Evad missed it.

Train knitting FTW

2011-08-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

I really do like when I have to go into NYC for a meeting. Train knitting time is awesome. Frankly, getting paid to knit is one of the only good parts of heading to the city for work, especially if it is a shopping day. Feeling like a pack mule is totally not awesome.

Not much time to knit

2011-08-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

Along with being back at my regular job, I am helping a draper* friend do some stitching. It has filled most of my nights and weekends for the last two weeks. Sadly, this means little knitting time. Happily it means extra $$ - which is good with Rhinebeck quickly approaching! About all I can muster when I get home, at 11pm, is about three rows on the yoke of my "Rhinebeck 11" sweater, or one hexipuff. In case you are a non-knitter, or a knitter living under a rock, these are hexipuffs:

Cute, right?! The hexipuffs are part of a long term project that will one day be a blanket. I'm calling mine "Hexi-Puff the Magic Blanket", but the designer calls it "the Bee Keeper's Quilt". The little things arefun to make, and take just the amount of awake-ness I have left in me when I get home at night. I also feel they will be an excellent tech project!

*draper - the person in a theatrical costume shop that creates a pattern for a garment based on the drawings of the designer.

Spinning... I do that now!

2011-08-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas my Mom and Dad shocked the hell out of me and got me an Ashford Kiwi! (that is a spinning wheel, fyi) I am getting better each time I give it go! My lastest yarn looks like cotton candy, and is almost as fluffy. I hope WifeMomKniiter is s happy with it as I am, cause this one is for her!

I didn't run out of yarn!

2011-08-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

it was close, but not as close as it has been before...
and definitely not the typical costumechick project that comes up short three rows from the end. Now, to block!

Gary

2011-08-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

One ofmy two current projectsis this shawl. "Debussey", after the composer. It is part of a 7 shawl series based on songs. Sadly, I couldn't remember the proper name, and kept caalling it " something like 'Busey'." so, I named my green sparkle version after Gary Busey and his crazy eye.

lets call it a reboot

2011-08-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

I think I stopped blogging almost a year ago because it was too much work to think of interesting things to say. The pressure of needing to update, and do it at length was too much.

Then, this summer I intended to pick up the blog again, in a new format. Well, here it is August, and I am just getting to it. I forgot my password... it's a long story.

So, from now on I am posting in a shorter format, and leaving off the details of Finished Objects. If you want the gritties, join Ravelry. Also, I plan to post more about life in general, and not just knitting.

Here we go!

It has been a hectic summer. I've traveled, went to a wedding, designed a show, and cleaned my house - which was no small feat. But, even with all that, I managed to do a little beach going.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Beach and knitting. If only my life could be like this all the time.

Summer Knitting Round Up (Part 2)

2010-08-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Shawls weren't all I knit this summer... I also did some sweater damage! I finished a sweater that I have been working on since... um... February.

Name: All purpose sweater

Pattern: Fresco Lace Bodice Cardigan

Yarn:Classic Elite classic 150

Needles: knit picks options 3,4,and 5

Notes: Dude. I cabled. You know I HAD to have a sweater if I was willing to CABLE for it. I also bought yarn SPECIFICALLY for it. This adds up to some serious love on my part.

The sleeves are a little long - which is crazy with my monkey arms. They aren't long enough for it to bother me, but it is odd for anything to be long on my arms. Long story short, the cables were totally worth it, and so was begging yarn off people on ravelry to finish it, since I ran out of yarn. I plan to wear it all the time this winter!

I also knit a tank top this summer:

Name: Red Raspberry Swirl

Pattern: Orange Smoothie

Yarn: Ella Rae Bamboo Silk

Needles: Inox size 5

Notes: I started this as a companion project for my "Thursday Night New Haven SnB Chuck Norris Shawl a Long" Shawl. It also happens to be from my book list. It is a fun little pattern, and it easily adaptable to fit a range of shapes and curves. The most challenging part is figuring out what changes you, personally, need to make.

When it was all said and done, I did two sets of short rows at the bust, and made the straps to inches shorter. I also single crocheted the center back cast off, since the pattern didn't call for any kind of finishing, and it wanted to roll like whoa. I wore it a few times, I like wearing it, but the yarn pills up pretty quickly. I'm still happy with it though!

p.s. the saggy boob thing is because my dress form isn't nearly as endowed as I am in the boobage department.

Then, just when you thought I'd be sweatered out, I started another one!

It is based off of a 1910's pattern. I call it "Rose Ate My Sweater". It is currently my "in the dark" project.

and a pair of socks:

Which I decided to knit upside down and without enough yarn. (eyeroll)

Lastly, I made a little cute baby hat.

Aww.

I have to admit, I didn't feel like I was knitting much this summer, but I guess I was wrong!

Summer knitting round up! (part 1)

2010-08-25T06:55:00.001-07:00

Part one is all about shawls! I managed to start and complete 5 shawls since the beginning of June. 5!

Homage to Ricky

Lava is Hot, Hot, Hot

Merope in Green

Maia
The latest one is "Frank's Lucky Mom":

Pattern: #10 Beaded Shawl from Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2008
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr in "cinnibar"
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 4
Notes: My friend, Frank, asked me to knit a shawl for his Mom, for her birthday. She has been lusting after them in the Long Wharf Theatre Gala Silent Auction for several years, but has managed to get outbid each time. (good for the theatre, but bad for her) I talked with him about what he was looking for, what she would like.. you know, like you do. We decided that shiny is good, color is good and not pastel. Right. I don't think that Frank understood how open-ended this project still remained. I sat down in front of the yarn wall with my laptop, and cruised ravelry and my books searching for the perfect pattern. I know Frank's Mom pretty well, and she is not a "flowery" or "geometric" person. She is an exotic person. I was looking for something that felt Spanish, Indian... maybe Moroccan. I knew I wanted beads - or at least charted and easy to add beads. I came up with three top contenders, and after much deliberation, decided on the Vogue shawl based on sheer awesomeness.

It is, for all intents and purposes, a half circle. BUT, it is also squared off. whaaaaaAH? You see, my dear readers, it is three triangle sections, making it a half of a hexagon. It fits like a half circle shawl, AND is squared off at each triangle. This happens because you are increasing on the two center spines and the two outer edges, instead of evenly across on the "pi" rows like you do in a half circle shawl. Maths are good...

Anyway, it is a unique shape, and the motif feels exotic and non-leafy, and it is beaded. Oh boy, is it ever! Literally a bazillion beads. The beading was totally worth it though. It looks so nice. I am proud to hand this over to Frank for his Mom. He is going to get the "best birthday gift" award, if I do say so myself.

The pattern was confusing at first, since the edging is odd... but once I tried it, we were golden. I like that the beads are denser toward the end, making the bottom edging heavier. The half hexagon is awesome, too. It stays on the shoulders without a pin, and is long enough to wrap up and over the shoulder if desired. As a woman with a sizable butt, I appreciate the lack of "arrow at my butt" on this shape shawl, as well. (What woman wouldn't like that aspect?)
All in all, I am very happy with it, and I hope Frank and his Mom are too!
So, I evidently had an ass-ton of knitting time this summer, because part two is just as packed!

Nothing interesting to show you.

2010-08-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

I am at the stage in project-land where I have nothing to show for hours and hours of work. I've been slamming through some seaming, and some plain boring knitting, as well as the 7 repeats of the body of the Shawl for Frank's Mom. None which make good pictures, frankly.
I am excited to start the edging of the shawl tonight! It means more interesting pictures for you, and new and exciting knitting for me. I counted last night, and I need 408 beads for the edging. I might need to go shopping for more. I'm going to be really, REALLY close.
I did do one interesting thing today. I made this:

It is a special surprise for Evad. I have no idea if it will be good, since I've never made it before. I'm just trusting Betty that she knows how to make lemon squares.

Frankie's Mom gets lucky

2010-07-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, my friend Frank asked me to make a shawl for his Mom. Evidently, she has been a fan of my knitted lace pieces for a long time, and had planned on bidding on my shawl entry in the silent auction for the theatre. I guess she was disappointed that I didn't have a shawl in the auction this year, and Frankie decided to commission a piece for her for her birthday. Such a good son! This is the progress so far!

It's "what's on my lap" tuesday!

2010-07-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

the dahlia sweater is back! I might have solved the issue that lead to it's hiatus. We shall see...

Maia - a cautionary tale

2010-07-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I completed my 6th shawl for 2010, Maia.

Name: Maia

Pattern: Maia by Rosemary Hill

Yarn: Schaefer Anne in an unknown colorway

Needles: Knitpicks Options, sz 4

Notes: This shawlette is named after Maia, the eldest of the Pleiades, and mother of Hermes. She lived on a mountain top, surrounded by trees and nature - which is why I chose the colorway that I did. The combination of greens, blues, and browns remind me of a sitting at Mycenae, looking out at the surrounding countryside. In Ancient Rome, the month of May was named after Maia, and she was known as the goddess of spring and beauty. I think this design is a great homage to Maia, and will be a great gift this holiday!

The most complicated part of this shawl is the cast on. It starts with a provisional cast on, and has beads, lace and edging all in one fell swoop! then you do it again the other direction, and start in right away on the body of the shawl with tons of lace and beads! All the beads and lace aside, the start is actually very similar to the start of a top down triangle shawl. You knit a rectangle, then pick up along the long edge and short edge and start the body. Honestly, once you get past this little fiddly bit, it is all very straight forward.

It was fun to get back to knitting with beads. Even though it can break my stride a bit, the end result is always so pretty. I makes me want to bead everything. Socks for Evad? Beaded! Blanket? beaded! Washcloth? Beaded!

Ok. Maybe not a blanket....

With all this glowing happy knittyness, why do I say this is a cautionary tale? Companion project stupidity. In the picture above, you will notice the 1x2 garter rib, knit flat. while this requires you pay some attention, it is not difficult to do, assuming you can read your knitting. Well, what happens when your companion project is also in garter rib?

I heard you say it. Nothing. It makes it easier!

WRONG.

My companion project was this hat:

Cute right? True, but also a pita. It is in 2x2 garter rib, in the round. Good lord. My brain had some major issues switching back and forth. I shouldn't have to think so hard to make a little baby hat!! Take it from me, heed my warning, think before you leap.... pick your companion project wisely!

companion projects keep me sane(ish)

2010-07-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Those that know me in real life know that I definitely skirt the line of sanity most times. Granted, I'm not a pyromaniac, or anything, but I have a habit of doing things that make others question my sanity in a big way. For instance, designing 4 shows at the same time. Sane people just don't do that.
When knitting, I often find myself working on ill-advised projects (cough. mohair in July cough.) or way too many complicated projects at once. For my own sanity, I really should try to keep it to one or two WIPs at any one time, but it never happens that way. never.

What I found does work is knitting a simple project along side a complicated one. Some days, following a chart takes too much brain power, or a project is too cumbersome for the situation, or I can't do it in the dark. Those instances call for a "companion project". A project that allows for "brain rest" and ease of knitting.

I am currently floating two:

Red Raspberry Swirl Sweater. I just need to put in ends and do a little crocheting around the neckline. I started this companion project along with my Lava Shawl. Up until the bust section started, it was really mindless, and totally easy to do just about anywhere. It was taken off "easy" status with the bust shaping. Paying attention negates the purpose. But, it is almost finished!

This is my current one:

I call it "Little Blue". It is not only exceedingly portable, but also totally awesome because it will knock another book off of my "to knit from" list. Unfortunately, it might take me twelve weeks to knit this little thing, since it is only worked on at the movies, or in line, and late at night when I'm too tired to do anything complicated. Most of the time, I end up not entering these types of projects into Ravelry because they are so small, and I finish them before I feel like I have enough "project" to take a picture of. Silly,I know.

What, you might ask, is the little hat a companion to? Currently, it is Maia, the next shawl in the Seven Sisters Series. I am almost finished already! Evidently, I am no better at posting about big projects than I am at small ones!

Merope

2010-07-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

I found out about a seven shawl series by Rosemary Hill from Jennsquared. Each shawl is inspired by one of the Seven Pleiades - the seven sisters from Greek Mythology that were relentlessly pursued by Orion. Zeus turned the sisters into doves, then later constellations, along with Orion, so he could ever pursue them. They, along with the Hyades make up the constellation Taurus. Since I am a Taurus, how could I refuse to knit these shawls?

The first one, Merope in inspired by the Mythological wife of Sisyphus - the mortal that had to keep pushing the boulder up the hill. Merope's star is very dim, since she married a mortal, and is often called the is the "lost Pleiades" since she astronomers originally couldn't see her. People are going to be able to see this Merope. Being acid green, and all...

Name: Merope in Green

Pattern: Merope

Yarn: Rowan Kid Silk Haze, 2 balls in color 597

Needles: Knit Picks Harmony, size 5

Notes: This was my first time using Kid Silk Haze, and I love the end result. The yarn has a beautiful halo, and even though it is half mohair, it isn't itchy. (at least to me, ymmv.) But, it is a pain in the ass to knit with. Not a huge pain, just enough to make it frustrating. It is simultaneously sticky and slippery. When you want it to slide, it won't, and when you want it to stay it slides. I didn't have to frog at all during this shawl, thank George, but I can only imagine the streak of unsavory language that would have come out. I have heard that throwing the project in the freezer for 15 minutes helps in the frogging process. I assume it helps lay the barbs on the mohair fibers down, not that the freezer suffocates the thing.

Morope is knit from the tip to the top edge, starting with "all pattern" and getting increasingly more stockinette filled in the center. It is a nice way to knit a shawl. It gets proportionally less "charty" as you go.

What looks like an applied edging on the sides of the shawl is actually a border that is knit simultaneously with the body. Some designers would make the three components of the edging, border, and center all separate charts, that you, the knitter, have to keep track of separately, Romi made hers one chart. Ahh.... one chart. I love simplicity in chart following.

The top edge has my favorite style of finishing! Knit on border! Only 7 stitches to bind off! woo! That was a lot of excitement over an edging...

All in all, I'm very pleased with this shawl, and super excited to cast on for the second shawl in the series. I think these will be great gifts!

knitting lately? Not so much.

2010-07-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

I had a crisis in crafting three days ago. It was over a hundred degrees, I was knitting mohair, and it kept touching me.

Fuck that right in the head.
I switched to my sweater. It's cotton, it'll be fine!

So wrong. It was just as bad.
I decided to work up some squares for the Schuyler Blanket project. I looked through the “ends” bin and found two partials of Cotton ease, and had two more I just got from a yarn swap at SnB. woo!
I thought about knitting them, but had recently been thinking that I hadn’t crocheted anything in, like, 6 years. I didn’t want to totally lose the skill, ya’ know? I looked up an easy granny square pattern and went all Chuck Norris on 'em. 6 granny squares later… I decided I needed a change.

As luck would have it, my crochet stitch pattern book was at work. So I bought the pattern book for the "non granny squares" at AC Moore, along with another skein of yarn. I might have calmed the crochet bug for a while. 14 squares is pretty respectable!

The yarn is all cotton-ease except the orange yarn. The orange is Red Heart eco-ways. I hadn't used the eco-ways yarn before, and I can't say i cared for it. It was irritatingly splitty. It was kind of a let down after the cotton-ease, which i love.
I'm glad the tempurature has finally gone down. I want to knit my shawl again!

Why I long for Knit- A -Longs

2010-07-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

When the Thursday Night new Haven Stitch n Bitch decided to have a shawl Knit-a-long, the first question from almost everyone was "which pattern?" We have quite a diverse group of people, with a wide range of tastes, skill levels, and lace experience. Choosing one pattern would be hard. How do we keep experienced fearless knitters, people with a mess of lace shawls under their belts, and new lace-kateers all going on one pattern?
We decided not to decide. :) Instead, we are having a "knit at your own pace, everyone knit the shawl you like, and we'll cheer each other on A-Long" Since that is a smidge too long of a name, we'll stick with "Shawl KAL".
I decided to knit this one:

Name: Lava is Hot, Hot, Hot!
Pattern:Faroese-Style Lace from Shawls and Scarves: Best of Knitter's Magazine
Yarn: Touch Yarn Merino 2 ply
Needles: Knit Picks classic circs, size 3
Notes: I choose this shawl for the KAL because it was on my "books yet to knit from" list, but also because it was a construction style I hadn't knit yet. It is cast on at the CB neck, but grows straight down the center, with two "triangle" side growing out of each side. You can see the straight center panel below, and the sides.

It also has a slight curve to the sides, making the whole business stay on your shoulders with absolutely no problem. Good knitting engineering! The yarn was a good all purpose base yarn - like Merino Ono, but being variegated, it was hard for me to imagine the final outcome. I loved the colors in the hank, but knit up - there is always potential for it to look like utter HORK. I officially think it does not look like hork. I think the combination of a very liner/ geometric pattern and big swaths of Stockinette makes the color shine and not distract from the final piece.

The edging was a wonderful change of pace when I finally got to it. It is knit on side ways, using up the live stitches as you go. This means, to those of you paying attention, that you only have 5 stitches to cast off at the end. 5!! The worst part of lace knitting is casting off. Trying to get a stretchy edge, that looks neat, and is consistent over 500 stitches sucks. This was way better. I've done edging cast offs before, and I can safely report that I still love it.

Overall, I had a great time knitting this shawl, and I loved doing a free form Knit A long. While most of the group is still plugging away, it is so fun to have a cheering section -and that is the final step of my KAL. Cheer till the last one's done!

a meme!

2010-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

1. What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous)?
I don't have just one. I have a couple go to meals: meatloaf, chicken or pork chops roasted in marinate cobbled together from the fridge, fish in garlic and dill.
2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
When I was in Kindergarten I wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader and the President of the United States - in my spare time. Since that seems unlikely at this point, I'm going to go with "independently Wealthy"
3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)
Right now, I am not reading anything. I have a few things in the cue, but I'm swamped in scripts at the moment.
4. How do you relax?
Knitting! Specifically knitting on the beach or in a coffee shop. Watching crappy tv is always an option too...
5. What color are the interior walls of your home?
White renters hell, baby!
6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Chocolate. mmmmm.... chocolate.
7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?
Bedtime is 1am or 2am or later. Depends. Up time is 7:30 or 8:00 when I'm working full time. Currently, it's when ever the hell I want to get up. :)
8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?
um... 4 hours a week. I don't really know. Not much, honestly.

How about you?

a KAL inspired post.

2010-06-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Every time I do a lace KAL I think about all the little things that go into making lace... The yarn, the needles, the noise level, the general environment. You get the idea. Almost all KAL's end up with a thread or two about the knitter's favorites. Just for the sake of bloggyness, here are some of mine:
yarn: I love the pure silk lace yarns like "Andrea", but my go to is misti alpaca lace.
needles: knitpicks nickle plated. Love the points, slipperyness, and $.
place to knit at home: big chair or couch.
place to knit in public: panera and the beach
noise level: music, tv or talking required, unless I am counting to cast on.
favorite thing to listen to: tv or music- usually heavy metal.

and now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

beach knitting

2010-06-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm officially half way through the body of my shawl, row wise! Woo! I decided it deserved a trip to the beach.

I can post from my phone!

2010-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

cool. I'm working on my shawl, posting on the internet, and enjoing iced coffee. Sweet.

It's Shawl A Long Day!!

2010-06-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

As of 9:30 this morning, I was here:

I'm writing this at 12:30, and have reached row 15. I already have 100 stitches. I have to follow two charts simultaneously, keep a seed and garter stitch border going, and I'm knitting on size 3 needles. I usually knit lace on 4 or 5's, but this will be huge if I knit on that big of needles.

That cast on above? It is 7 stitches wide, 2 garter, 3 seed, 2 garter. It is 56 rows long. This is why I don't read patterns too carefully before I start. I probably would have changes my mind.

Winter woolies, just in time for... summer

2010-06-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

I absolutely cannot help knitting out of season. In my over planning way, this is a good thing, because then I am ready for the next time the cold/warm/holiday season rolls around. The knitter in me that wants to 'WEAR IT NOW' thinks I'm crazy. Crazy I might be, but I did manage to finish two out of season projects this weekend.

Name: Kauni Mittens
Pattern: Mitten 21 from Mostly Mittens; Ethnic Knitting Designs from Russia
Yarn: Kauni Wool 8/2 Effektgarn and Paton's Kroy 3 ply
Needle: Knitpicks fixed circs size 2
Notes: I bought this book for several reasons.

book lust. I haz it.
research. the opening chapters about the history of the people and the textiles they produce is both interesting and totally work related for me. Little details make the costume!
I love color work. LOVE. Am I ever going to make 35 pairs of Russian mittens? Most likely not, but i will make a few. I guarantee it.

I was not disappointed with this book at all! The charts are awesome, all the patterns are in two sizes, the book has one easy to follow "how to use my charts" instruction section, the pictures are fantastic, and the projects aren't yarn specific. You don't have to buy special Russian yarn that only comes from one village, is mailed by carrier pigeon, and can only be purchased by staying up strange hours and sacrificing a chipmunk during the third phase of the red moon. Nope. Pretty much and fingering or sport weight yarn will do.

I popped my Kauni cherry with these mittens. They will forever hold a special place in my virgin-less heart. It really is as awesome as it is made out to be. The color change is so pretty, it isn't splitty, it is smooth on the hands, but still a good grabby for color work. LURVE people. LURVE.

I should maybe explain the green thumbs.... So pretty pretty Kauni, blending away, making my sexy mittens..... then I realize that my thumbs aren't going to be all sexy blendy. Hmm... I could wind off the the same point of color in the skein. Ok. good plan. I'll knit mitten 2, then wind off to the thumb colors for both thumbs. I finished the hand of mitten two, and the Laziness kicked it. I deemed it "too much work", and decided, "It'll mess up the colors for the next project!" (It's called justification.) If they weren't going to match anyway, then they should really NOT MATCH. I used the outside of the ball and made my weird green thumbs. Ta DA!!

whatever. they are for me, and I like them.

My second out of season project came about as a little something to do before the Thursday night SnB shawl a long commences tomorrow. I needed an easy project that I could do while watching movies, and drinking tea, with my friends. A quick look at the "yet to be knit from book list" and a quick stash hunt and we have:

Name: Ridiculous hat of Rhinebeckedness

Pattern: Fat Hats from Hip to Knit

Yarn: Farmhouse Fat Sheep

Needles: Knit Picks Options size 11 and 13

Notes: I love left over/ re-purposed yarn. This was originally for my Cactus Blossom sweater contrast color work. It wasn't right for that project at all, so it was restashed. I opened the yarn chest yesterday to find some yarn for this hat, it was on top, it was (you guessed it) wound. It is now a hat.

I threw the yarn, needles, and book in my bag, and off I went. I stopped to get a pedicure, and cast on. I read the instructions. It wanted me to knit it flat them seam it on the side and the top. Not gonna happen. I don't like seaming. Instead, I modified it for in the round, and three needle bound off the top. Sometimes lazy works to your advantage...

I don't cable often, but these were ok. Right over left are my favorite, since they flow better. If they had been left over right I would have changed that too. Just sayin'. When all was said and done, I put on the hat. A chorus of laughing ensued. Yes, it is not the most elegant hat, but it is a lot of fun to wear, and tassel swinging just cannot be considered anything less than awesome. Evad, D and B think I should make it my new official fiber festival hat. They also think we should all knit them in different colors and wear them so we can find each other in crowds. I can hear it now, "Oh great. here come those loud ass tassel hat people!"

I swear I knit more than just lace.

2010-06-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Truly I do. Sadly, it seems to be the only thing I actually finish, block and take pictures of though. sigh. At least it's pretty to look at!

Name: Homage to Ricky

Pattern: Traveling Woman

Yarn: Lisa Souza Sock! in color... ummm.... Pink

Needles: Knitpicks options, size 6

Notes: I am aware that I have stepped outside my "normal" color range of 'bruise' on this project. It is pink. Like "whoa" pink. That said, I love the end result, even in all of it's super pepto pinkness. Originally, i got this yarn in a swap on Knitty. I had wanted to try the yarn brand, a knitty member wanted to trade some, and voila! I thought, "It's for socks. even if I don't wear a lot (or any) bright pepto pink I can still wear it. It's just socks! " Fast forward 5 years.

I now come across the Traveling Woman Shawl pattern. It calls for fingering weight yarn. I have a ton of fingering weight yarn.

**we should pause here. For those of you that don't know me in person, or those of you that do but don't know me well, this may come as a surprise... I am a truly lazy person. I will work my fingers to the bone when I'm designing/ building a show, but I am just not into it around the house. This extends to my yarn wall, yarn winding, cleaning out project bags.... that said, the rest of my story will make more sense.**

Sock yarn is by far the most random part of my yarn stash. I tend to pick up new types/ fibers/ dyers as I come across them. Therefore, the majority is bought with out true purpose beyond "it's for socks." That is why it is no big deal for me to dig in my stash and pull out some yarn. I didn't have a clear plan for it anyway. "How do you decide which yarn to pick?" I heard you say.

Good question, and the point of all this typing. I decide by... (drum roll)..... which is wound/ pre-balled. I kid you not. There is no "I could use a pink shawl" or "this color would be great for so and so". Nope. It's "this one is balled and on the outside of the stack."

Honestly, it probably doesn't help that the majority of my projects are started after 11pm at night. Who the hell is going to clean off the table, get out the winder and swift, and carefully ball lace or sock yarn at 11 pm or later? Seriously. Ok, if the yarn was perfect, and no easy other solution presented itself, I might, MIGHT, do it. I also am just as likely to keep looking. anyway... this is how I ended up with a bright pink shawlette. Tada!

I am nothing if I am not knit impulsive. I decided at 11pm on a random day, two weeks ago, that I needed a new take along project. The ones I have on the needles are not acceptable for chart following and paying attention reasons. We had been talking at SnB about the Traveling Woman Shawl. It was in my Ravelry queue, the Internet was working, I was able to download it, I had the yarn.... and that's how it happened. Poof. I can say, for as simple as it is, it is a fun knit, and has some little quirks to keep you on your toes. After the initial stockinette section, the increases are all on the sides of the shawl, instead of down the center and at the sides. This makes the shawl curve up at the sides, and purposefully stay on your shoulders without bothering at it.

The lace patterns, themselves, are clearly charted, decently simple, but not irritatingly simple. (Like feather and fan. blergh.) The hardest part is remembering to yo on the rest row. I can't tell you how many times I forgot and had to pick them up on the next row. duh! I knit it as written, but the instructions for customizing the size are easy to understand, and would be easy to follow. (In the interest of science, I weighed my skein. I have 50 grams, out of 113 grams, left over. I could have made it at least one repeat bigger.)

The yarn is pretty typical sock yarn, although it blocked better than I thought it might because of the nylon content. It isn't too soft or too scratchy. Rather Regia like in it's drape and feel. The lovely kettle-dyed tonal quality is beautiful. Overall, I'm very happy with my super pink shawl!

P.S. Because I start my projects after 11pm, I tend to name my projects at 1am... or later. I knit for a bit, then go on Ravelry and add a project. Most of my projects end up with crazy names that I think are meaningful or funny at 1 or 2am. I've also, usually, been watching Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, so my sense of humor can be.... weird.... late at night. This is what happened to this shawl. For some reason, the name "Traveling Woman" made me think of the Ricky Nelson song "Traveling Man", one of my Mom's favorites. I decided to knit it as an Homage to Ricky Nelson, I guess. Welcome to my brain everybody. If you can find a place, feel free to sit down.

Sample of Patience

2010-06-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday at SnB I managed to finish the cast off for my latest lace project:

Name: Rows of DOOM!

Pattern: Sampler Shawl by Cheryl Oberle, from Folk Shawls

Yarn: Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk in light grey

Needles: Knitpicks harmony size 5

Notes: First of all, I love this yarn. I used my leftovers from MS2, and frankly, was unsure if I would have enough. Turns out, I did...but just barely. I had maybe 25 yards left over. (The final edging is a doosy!) I know a lot of people are turned off when they feel it at WEBS, because it has a stiffness to it. Let me just say, "Don't knock it until you've blocked it". Seriously. It is so soft after you block it. Luuuurve.

I loved some stuff about the pattern, and disliked some other stuff. What I liked: changes stitch patterns often, so no boredom; makes a nice big rectangle - good for us larger boobed ladies; & inspirational - makes you want to invent your own! What I disliked: 400 stitch rows; the notes about how many times to repeat a pattern weren't terribly clear; 400 mother fucking stitch rows!! Damn.

It was worth it in the end, because I love it. I really do. The slog through the long long long rows made it good SnB knitting, since I didn't have to constantly check my charts, and the stitch patterns were relatively easy, no need for tons of stitch markers. Overall it was an easy knit for a lace shawl, and ever changing for us easily bored types.

One final bit of advice if you venture down the Sample Shawl route... don't figure out how many stitches you have left to do at any point. Seriously. When I got to 25 rows left I stupidly did the math. When one thinks they are in the home stretch, seeing the sum total of "10,000" stitches left to complete (PLUS a cast off) just about makes you want to die. That is all.

P.S. if my first pic is sideways, my apologies. I corrected it in flicker, but it doesn't seem to want to stay corrected.

February... May... same thing.

2010-05-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

Continuing on with my posts about things I finished forever ago... I present the Pretty Periwinkle!

Pattern: Ethereal Fichu by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer

Yarn: Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk in color 20/ periwinkle

Needles: #5 glass needles from glasspens.com

Notes: I enjoyed knitting this shawl. I really did. You wouldn't think so because it looks like the same pattern for miles and miles, but it actually has 5 different charts and different construction that the other two ways I've made triangle shawls. This one is knit point up, but starting with just a few stitches like center down shawls. The other point up shawl I've made cast on the entire long edge, and got smaller as you went. This style was interesting because it started small, but the last row wasn't nearly as long as the last row on a usual top down shawl. Also, the lack of a center "increase line" means it has less of an "arrow pointed at my ass" quality- a quality I appreciate.

This project also hammered home my love of knit on edgings. Every time I do one I remember how much I love it. They are just so pretty! Plus, they don't feel like you are binding off - just more knitting, then you get to the end, and POOF! Bind off a few stitches! Cowboy Bob's your uncle!

As always, much love to the Valley Yarns Peeps at WEBS. I love this yarn. It is a little rough to work with right off the cone, but it softens and halos so well after washing. The combination of the alpaca and silk is not only pretty, but so smooth and slidy on my glass needles. Knitting with nice stuff makes the knitting that much more fun, IMHO.

The pattern was really well written, easy to follow, and thorough. No complaints from me. I also give it bonus points for the inclusion of a pattern adaptation that allows you to make the shawl wider with out making it longer. Us short and broad people approve! Overall - a great project.

Now... if I can only manage to block the one I'm almost finished with LESS than three months after I finish it.

Join the Circus

2010-05-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

you know you want to....

come on....

ok. fine.

At least admire the Circus socks!

Name: Circus Socks

Pattern: Diagonal Lace Socks from "Socks From the Toe Up"

Yarn: French Hill Farm French Twist

Needles: Knitpicks Classic Circs, size 1 & 2

Notes: as per usual in the costumechick knitosphere, I altered the pattern. Well, ok, it's partly because I can't help it, but it also has to do with changing shit on the fly - which I also cannot seem to help, so maybe it is just one reason. hmm...

Anywho....I started these socks for a co-worker's mom. I made a pair for the coworker and her Mom kept stealing them. I saw this as a good endorsement of my knitting product, and promptly cast on a pair for her. Best laid plans. I got a few repeats into the socks when I realized the folly of my ways. Said coworkers mom is a pretty "staid" person. The developing socks were rather....um....colorful.

In fact, they were circus colorful. I quickly changed direction and decided they were for Evad. Ta-da! He likes colorful socks, and the "lace" pattern is really more of a "vent hole system". Really, there isn't even much pink. Really.

As far as pattern changes, I decided to rib the back of the leg for maximum stretchiness, plus add extra purl stitches on either side of the pattern section as I worked up the leg. Overall, the shaping and fit are pretty good!

The yarn is pretty, although being handpainted yarn, the two skeins were quite different after being knit up. It's my own fault. I know better. I should have blended them together, but, I haz a lazy. The most awful thing about the yarn was the panic that I had trying to complete sock #2. I ended socks #1 with 10 or so yards left - what I thought was a good buffer for the inevitable difference in yarn amounts in handpainted yarn hanks. Haha. ha. I ran out of yarn on sock #2 before the ribbing. WTFBBQ!

I was in Backstageknits' car, swearing my brains loose, trying very hard to not throw them out the window. I ended up being creative with all the random bits of yarn - you know the tails at the toes, the ten yards off of #1. Ribbing on #2 is nothing like ribbing in #1, but it works! I ended up with this much yarn:

I can't say I didn't get my money's worth!

How you know it's been a long time

2010-05-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. 6 months since I last posted. Funny, though, I didn't realize I hadn't blogged for so long because of the "last post " date, it was due to the build up of yarn and FOs that needed to be blogged about/ entered into Ravelry.

Yeah... that is a shawl, two sweaters, and a pair of socks. I also finished a sweater that I already gave away and a pair of socks - also gifted. That isn't exactly high output for 6 months, but pretty good considering that I also designed 4 shows in there, as well as worked my regular job. At least I found time to actually knit!

You might notice that the black sweater isn't assembled. That is because it needs to be blocked first. Blocking just wasn't going to happen these last few months, so it got put in the yarn wall. The same thing happened with the other projects - Yarn wall limbo. I decided it was time to clean out limbo when I returned from my birthday weekend with Evad, with a few stash acquisitions. I realized how cluttered and in need of a proper "restack" it was.

My rav friends will notice a sudden spike in stash activity. I didn't really buy all that this weekend - I just entered a bunch of stuff i hadn't bothered about before. I must say, there is something cathartic about cleaning out project bags. I can't tell you how many times I thought "Oh, that's where that is!" The bad thing about reorganizing is the sudden realization that you really want to knit about a thousand things that you have yarn for. All at once. Right now.

Instead, I am trying to block the pile I have already knit, weave in ends, finish button bands, etc. I also have a shawl that is 23 rows from being completed that I will not give up on now! I am trying to finish it by 6/15 before Thursday night SnB starts our Shawl KAL. It can be done, but 400 sts a row gets tiring. ( I was doing good until I realized that I had 10,000 stitches left at 25 rows to go. Knocked me off my "I'm almost done" horse!)

Well... that is about it for now. I want to try to blog more, but with my work computer being a biotch, I'm not sure that I am going to get to it as much as I want to . We'll see!!

Watercolor Sweater

2009-12-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

I've always been the kind of person that ate their least favorite candy first after Halloween, saving the "good stuff" for last. I did my least favorite homework first - usually math- and saved the reading until the boring stuff was done. I use up the plain instant oatmeal first, and save the apples and Cinnamon for last. If I clean, (notice I said "if") I do the worst task first - the bathroom. I have always been like this. I didn't realize i was like this in knitting, until I went to knit this sweater.

It shouldn't have been, but it was a total surprise that I enjoyed knitting a sweater that had all the boring stuff at the beginning, and saved the "good" stuff for the end. It was like a huge bonus for getting through! The body and sleeves are knit in Stockinette, flat. Then, you seam the raglan bits, pickup some stitches, and knit the yoke in the round. Now, because I like to get all the boring stuff done first, if at all possible, I did all the seaming before I did the yoke. Oh how the yoke was sweet, sweet reward!

Name: Watercolor

Pattern:Yoke Detail Sweater by Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Fiesta Naturalle Wool in Dyer's Bugloss

Needles: Knitpicks Harmony size 6

Notes: This pattern was well written, and frankly, really easy. The only change I made was to knit nupps on the yoke instead of bobbles, and I did one more set of decreases. Aside from being a PITA, bobbles are weird looking on grown up clothing to me. Accessories - fine, but sweaters? Nah. The neck, as written, was kind of a boat neck, but I thought the intended recipient would like a crew neck better, so a little more decreasing, and voila!

The yarn is really nice to work with. It is soft, and lofty - so smooth. I can't say anything poor about it! I choose it for this sweater because my brother's fiance is in school for Zoo science, and always concerned about animals and environmental impact. Fiesta Naturalle is dyed with natural, plant derived dyes, with minimal impact to the environment - something that I knew she would appreciate! I plan to include a label for her, not only because of washing instructions, but also because it has information about the plant, and the earth friendly processing!

Overall, I'm very pleased with this sweater although, I randomly guessed on the size, so everybody cross your fingers!!

edited to add: Yeah totally not going to fit her. I am instead giving it to someone else, and knitting her a different sweater. More on that next week....

Knitting Events.... way after the fact

2009-11-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

Want proof that I went to Rhinebeck?

Where else would one meet Bob?

awwww yeah.....

BackstageKnitter, HeadwigBC, AlainaJane, Evad and I all went to Rhinebeck this year, for a fiber rich, freezing cold, lamb burger filled weekend of excitement!! Of course, I suck, and didn't take many pictures, but I made up for it in yarn buying!

The only thing missing from this picture is the two skeins of Briar Rose Fiber's yarn that I have all ready knit with. Ooops. I managed to stay in the budget and pick up a mess of gorgeous stuff that I can't get anywhere except from the dyer. I still haven't officially put it way. I keep getting it out to pet it.

I also went to Star Wars in Concert! Ok, not a traditional knitting event, but I did knit during it!

Anthony Daniels was awesome in person, and the MUSIC. OMG. THE MUSIC. The whole thing was fucking fantastic. Really. GO see it if it comes near you. You don't have to bee a SW geek, the story is narrated as the concert goes on, and film footage is played behind the orchestra to help "tell" the story. The lobby display is totally cool too:

Just in case you wanted to be inches from the costumes like me!!!!!!

Neck things

2009-11-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

Did you know that "Neck Things" is a category of knitwear to me? I didn't either until I just typed it. It is fitting though, since I've knit 4 "neck Things" since my blogging hiatus.

1. Evad's Rockstar Bodyguard

Ever since I knit myself the 'rochoke', Evad has wanted one for himself - in blood red. Since I am always in favor of encouraging Evad's love of all things knitted, I, of course, agreed. There is no pattern- just knit a shape, felt it, and add a clasp. He wore it to Rhinebeck with great success, and hopefully it will get some more use this winter. (The name comes from his Rhinebeck status. He is a big guy, and can move people out of the way when the rockstar (me), or her entourage, needs to get through.)

2. Angora Leaf Scarf from Vintage Knitwear for Modern Knitters.

This is a holiday gift, gone slightly awry. In theory, I thought I had enough black angora to knit this scarf. One ball, and less than 1 leaf into it, I realized that I in no way had enough angora to knit this. I dug about in the yarn wall and came up with a few balls of wool/poly with sequins. woo! I combined it all together, shortened the pattern, reshaped a leaf, and *just* eeked it out. All in all, I'm pretty sure the recipient is going to love this! It's sparkly and soft!

3. Monet Shawlette

A little holiday gift for my Intern! The pattern is "Sunshine and Shadows" from Evelyn Clark's "Knitting Lace Triangles" book. I love this book. If you are an aspiring lace designer - who plans to design triangle shawls, you should totally read this book and knit a few things from it. Seriously. The yarn is from Briar Rose Fibers. I got it in the sale bin, so I'm not sure on the colorway or yarn, but I think it is "Celebration in 3014". At any rate, it's pretty, and the colors remind me of a Monet painting. The pattern was a great knit. It took me like 16 hours total to knit this thing! Perfect gift knitting!!

4. RAHA!

Another Holiday gift in progress! This one is for (soon to be) Mrs. Ship. (A lace scarf is the decider of her 'knit worthy-ness'. We shall see how it goes.....) Oh, and yes, this is the same yarn as #3. I had a second ball, with a slightly more blue overall color and thought it would be great for a gift for her. I went to my personal library and pulled out this gem of a book - "Knitted Lace of Estonia". It's not too feminine, not too plain... a good medium interesting. Hey, it's hard to knit for someone you never met!!

Oh, and for those who are counting - #2 ,#3 and #4 are all from books on the list! I have 21 left to go, and one in progress! Dear god. I shouldn't have counted. It seemed like less....

I HAZ SWETTERZ

2009-11-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm a sweater machine

and I don't work for nobody but you

ye-ah baby!

I've been cranking away on the sweaters, semi-recently. I can't really say "recently", since I am including the near 2 months of almost total blog silence. Although, in knitting time, 2 months isn't that long....

I digress. I've been knitting, and surprisingly, completing sweaters! I've completed 2 adult size sweaters, and am rounding towards home on a third!

First up, my sweater KAL sweater!!

Name: Iceberg Lettuce

Pattern: Lettuce Sweater from Custom Knits

Yarn; Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted in Silver Sliver, 6 skeins

Needles: KP Options, 9, 10, 10.5, and 11

Notes: To quote the Yarn Harlot, "If I change the decreases on the sleeve, make the bust bigger, add shaping and short rows in the front and knitted darts to the back, subtract some length, leave off the collar, and change the neckline to a V... when/if it doesn't work out, I do not have the right to speak ill of the designer's abilities."

yeah. My sweater, besides the back yoke and front to the bustline, in no way resembles the pattern i set out to make. it has short rows, the skirt starts further down towards the waist, the sleeves have different cuffs, and the skirt has a different stitch pattern AND is shaped totally different as well. wee! I only had to rip back three times to make it fit properly...

But, I love it. I got it finished in time for Rhinebeck, and before the end of the KAL. Lamb's Pride is one of my favorite yarns, but man does it shed the first few times you wear it! The seat of the car I was sitting in on the way to Rhinebeck was coated in a nice thick layer of silver wool hairs. heehee.

I also knit a holiday gift sweater for my Mom!

Name: Mom's sweater

Pattern: Classic Open Silk Cardi from Classic Elite 9098

Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa "wave" in colorway 11

Needles: Knit Picks Options 5 and 7

Notes: My mom isn't a "fussy" sweater person. She likes clean lines, a little detail, and semi-fitted shapes. Mostly, she owns fine knits in Stockinette, maybe a few cables. Finding a pattern for her is oddly hard. But, I think I found a winner!

Purple is her favorite color, and this is one she should be able to wear well, based on her coloring. It knit up very quickly, even if it was a tad dull to knit. Frankly, this would be a great travel knit, since it doesn't require much thinking at all, and the pieces are small enough to be pretty portable. let's hope she likes it!!

Last up is another Holiday gift:

I'm to the part where I join the body and sleeves, and do some yoke knitting magic! This sweater is very... um.... plain to knit, until this point. It is like you get a treat for making it through the SS slog. good thing my "soon to be SIL Kate" is a small person. I also hope she likes it. She is a little bit tomboy, and a little bit girly - just like this sweater feels to me. (cross your fingers that she feels the same way!)

bloggers block

2009-11-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

I know I said I was going to update you with all my FOs and WIPs, but I have had a serious case of blogger block. I think about it everyday, plan what to blog about... but never get there. I'm just more interested in actually knitting, instead of just blogging!

I'm forcing myself to write today, in hopes that I can shake my blockage. (Insert Activia joke here) I ate the roughage of a good Sunday spent just sitting on the couch knitting, only getting up to pee and make food. I think I am ready to write!

Since I last 'really" blogged, I finished 3 projects for Schaefer Yarn. The one was a sweater that I enjoyed knitting, but never took a picture of. Sigh. She was 'Jamie Lee', and it was a really fun and quick knit! (Hee, insert second Activia joke) The neck/collar construction is really awesome. I wish I would have taken a few snapshots. Oh well.

I also knit up this cutie:

Name: Peter Sweater

Pattern: #62 Nichole Collared Pullover

Yarn: Schaefer Yarn Co, Nichole, in Peter

Needles: us 6 and 7 knitpicks options

Notes: This sweater was ridiculously entertaining to knit. You wouldn't know it from looking at it, but the stitch pattern is just interesting enough that you just... want... to ...keep... going! Plus, it is a kid's sweater, so it goes quickly anyway.

I'm not usually a huge fan of variegated colorways, but I did really like this one. It had blues and greens mixed together, but they were very close in tone, and it almost feels like a solid knit up. I ended up knitting with two skeins, alternating, so that I didn't get a lot of pooling, but I imagine YMMV. Different size, different knitter...different outcome. The shot of the full sweater is the closest to the real color. It is a nice vibrant color, and for some reason my camera was just not interested in capturing it completely. :(

Overall, a very fun project, quick to make up, and cute as a button!

I also knit a pair of socks for Schaefer...

Pattern: Bines

Yarn: Schaefer Yarn Co, Anne, in Thistle

Needles: US 1 knitpicks classic circs

Notes: This is not a sock pattern for the faint of heart! It has no rest rows, twisted stitches, and tons of purls! That said, I TOTALLY think it's worth it.

Bines is based on a 1x1 twisted rib, with "lace" elements. The twisted rib is not hard, and becomes almost second nature after a repeat or two. It took me unit the foot of the first sock to not need to refer to the pattern every row, but they are also written to be ankle socks, so I didn't have much leg to memorize the pattern. I cruised through the second sock though, hardly needing to look at the pattern at all!

If I had anything to say to those thinking of knitting these beauties, it would be:

1. write down how many repeats you did of each chart on the first sock. This is a hard pattern to "see" your rows if you go back and count - specifically at the toes

2. try them on after you get the cuff and one repeat of the leg finished. The gauge you get in SS is going to be different than the gauge in twisted rib, making the socks snugger than you would think they would be. Twisted rib is just like that! It's aways better to check before you get a whole sock finished!

Overall, though, they were a very fast knit, and quite pretty. I was sad to send them off!

I think next I will try to update on the sweaters I've knit since before my blogger block. Yes, that was plural. I've knit 2 and half sweaters since then. bad blogger. bad. Tonight I shall get some more knitting roughage and be prepared to blog again reliably! (Activia joke 3!)

Angee Mink

2009-10-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

I shall now speak in prose about my love for Cookie A.

A knit designer named Cookie

had stuff that made me lookie.

her book rocked and rolled,

on it, I was sold

and I now have a gift "off the hook"ie.

how about in Haiku?

swirling, warm and soft

knits and purls dance across socks

all hail Cookie A

In all seriousness, I LOVED knitting these socks. Cookie A's patterns are the bomb-diggity.

Named: Angee Mink

Pattern: Angee from "Sock Innovation" by Cookie A

Yarn: Dye Dreams Twinkle Toes in Mink

Needles: Knit Picks classic circs, US 1

Notes: I love love love a lace pattern that has a nice long chart. It fills me with so much glee when I realize "huh, I only have to knit this chart twice before I get to the foot." It really feels like you are making soooo much progress! Also, Cookie A (did I mention that I love her patterns?) has a great way of creating patterns so that it looks hard, but when you really get into the sock, it isn't hard at all! her book is crazy informative about sock designing, pattern writing, and customization - not to mention the butt loads of awesome patterns to choose from. If you love to knit socks, and you haven't knit a cookie A pattern yet, go forth and knit! She has a few free ones on Knitty - including the ever popular "Monkey". You should try one. Go. I'll wait.

See?!

I knit these socks as a holiday present for a person I work with. I hope she likes them as much as I do. The yarn is beautiful - kind of a purply brown when you get it in the light. It has a shine to it too, which comes from the tencel blended into the yarn. It is so silky to knit with, I was almost sad to be finished! The skeins are very generous too, making it easy to get larger socks from one skein, if needed.

Overall, I'm incredibly pleased with these socks. they were a very fun, and quick, knit. Highly recommended!

WTF Costumechick?!

2009-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Were the hell have you been?!
Well, dear readers, I've been swamped. We had some man-power cuts at work last summer, and while losing two people from your department doesn't seem like a big deal, it is when your department was only 7 people to start with. We started this season with a massive show involving magic tricks, magic costumes, and 20 separate costumes. 20 costumes isn't that much, really, but when they are all engineered for magic tricks and built from the ground up, with 5 people - one of which is an intern, with only 3 weeks to do it and zero lead time... it's a lot. Any way, we survived, the show rocks, and we have a lot of great portfolio pieces. Oh, and even with all of the craziness, I did manage to keep knitting. I actually knit quite a bit. I didn't have time to blog about it, or to update Ravelry, but I still found a moment or two to wave the sticks about!
I'm going to try to catch ya'll up over the next few days. (I feel like I'm talking to a friend I only get to see once a year....)
In the month and a half since I last blogged, I have finished the Angee Mink Socks, My Iceberg Lettuce Kal sweater, a felted neckwarmer for Evad, the Classic Open Silk Cardi sweater for my Mom, the Peter Sweater for Schaefer, and Adult size top for Schaefer (that I won't blog about, considering I didn't even take a picture of it), and the Angora Leaf Scarf from Vintage Knitwear for Modern knitters. I also cast on, and am about 1/4 of the way through, another pair of socks and another adult size sweater. I also went to Rhinebeck. In other words, there is a lot of back log in the blog and Ravelry update world.
Bear with me folks. I still have to get some pictures of the FOs before I can properly take care of the back log. But.... they are coming...

How about a WIP update?

2009-08-31T07:10:00.000-07:00

The lack of reliable pirated Internet at home is getting annoying! Sheesh! Don't these people know that I depend on stealing their service? ow am I supposed to do blog updates and waste copious amounts of time on Ravelry with no Internet service? I had planned on doing a couple WIP posts spaced out over the weekend, but obviously, that didn't happen. SO you are getting the sweetened condensed version.
The KAL sweater AKA Iceberg Lettuce

I have started the second sleeve! the first came out great, and fits really well. The skirt, however, is a different matter entirely. I will be ripping it back and re-doing. I am stalled at the moment while I try to decide what I am going to do. I might need to rethink the stitch pattern.
Angee Mink Socks

These never even made it to the blog. I started them the 22nd of August, and just didn't get a post written before now. I'm on the gusset of sock #2. The pattern is an awesome Cookie A. sock from her book. The yarn is called "twinkle toes" and I picked it up at the CT Sheep and Wool Festival last year. I've been really random about working on these socks, since they are my travel project right now. That said, they are flying off the needles!
#62 Nichole Collared Pullover "peter"

I'm naming this after the colorway of Schaefer Yarn Nichole. Peter Sweater. It's fun to say. Try it! It is a test knit, so I've been concentrating on it the last two days. I made a pretty good dent! I'm about 1.5" from finishing the front, then I have the sleeves and the finishing to do. Not too shabby!
You are now officially caught up in the knitting world of Costumechick. Congratulations, and please be careful debarking the ride!

The aformention post re: all my damn books

2009-08-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

I am a major bibliophile. I have been all my life. When I was potty training, I had a stack of Golden books on the toilet tank. I would 'read' them for hours. My parents had to threaten to take them away if I didn't get off the pot. Actually, my parents threatened to take away my books all the way until high school. I always had my nose in a book, often (in my parents' opinion) to the detriment of chores, social interaction, and other activities. With so many kids that HATE to read, it's hard to imagine a parent needing to limit a child's reading time! Before I started knitting in earnest, reading was my main hobby. I still enjoy a good book, but I take my time and really enjoy it now. I have knitting to pass the time!
In all seriousness, I can read a novel in a day. Two days if I have to work. I would go to the library and check out a stack of books - literally - and bring them back a few days later. It is an awesome free service! The problem for a bibliophile is that the book isn't yours. You don't get to keep it. It is gone forever once you take it back. Yes, you can check it out again, but it still isn't in your collection. Sitting in front of the collection and scanning the titles is as good as actually reading.
So, as you can imagine, my collection of books has grown and grown... and grown. It probably doesn't help that I married a bibliophile. We enable each others book collecting something fierce. Almost any topic can be met with the phrase "I read a book on that" or "I have a book about that." Come to think of it, it also doesn't help that I am in a field that I need a vast amount of period research at my fingertips. This is why I have books about the history of the outhouse and decorative finial designs.
What does this have to do with knitting? You didn't think it stopped at research and novels did you? Oh my no! Knitting books - I haz dem. I have vintage ones, new ones, history of ones, stitch dictionaries, easy pattern ones, hard as hell pattern ones, hardcover, softcover, falling apart,.... I could go on. My point is, I have a lot of knitting books.
I have read all my knitting books - cover to cover. Not just the descriptions and intros and useful information sections. I've read the patterns. Beginning to end. Every one. Even the stitch dictionaries. Why? why not? I like to read how each one is constructed, where the needle sizes change, what the designer's idea of body proportion is, and so on. I knit each pattern in my head as I read, making a little three dimensional knitted thing in my head. I always read the parts with unique shaping/ construction multiple times. (It's the best part!) I realize that this might border on insane, but I liken it to reading recipes and imagining how all the flavors will fit together.
Unfortunately, I discovered that I have a lot of books that I have never even knit one pattern from in my collection. This shouldn't bother me as much as it does, I don't think. But, for some reason, this is a REALLY BIG DEAL to me right now. So, I made a list. I love a good list!
When I made the list, last week, I had 32 books on it. (eep) Since then, I have knocked two off. (yay!) I still have 30. 30!! Now, according to my SnB friends, I don't need to count the books I bought as "work research" (i.e. vintage pattern books) or stitch dictionaries. Great!
I recounted.
I still have 25. Crap. So I picked a project from each book. If I make a list, I'll stick to it! (maybe) I totalled the projects up. (this is funny)
on the list are:
5 large lace shawls
11 sweaters
1 hat
3 baby items
2 gloves/scarves/other
7 pair of socks
Now, dear readers, I ask you this, "What are my chances of knitting all of these things before I buy another book?"
secondly, "Since this is impossible for me to do, as I love books too much, and am afraid I'll just buy more magazines to keep having patterns to read, how long should I try to not buy more books before I can claim success?"

Gradient

2009-08-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Summer is an interesting time to be a knitter. Really, there isn't much you can knit when it is 90F in the shade, with out feeling like you are laying under a bear skin coat. The loose fibers stick to you, the extra layer of insulation is unpleasant - at best, and sometimes even the fiber running through your fingers is enough to make you want to sit in the freezer. It is this time of year where I end up working on little things - also usually quick things because the idea of the yarn touching me is nearly unbearable. I finished a little sweater on Saturday that I started for just this reason.

Name: Gradient

Pattern: Seamless Yoke Sweater from Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in sea spray and hazelnut

Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 7

Notes: As per usual, Ann Budd's patterns are easy to follow, super customizable, and accurate to a fault. Unfortunately, I wanted to knit a sweater smaller than 2T, so I had to do a bit of resizing. I just combined info from other patterns with her basic instructions. Not too hard!

I knit the body a bit long to be a regular sweater, so I decided to dub it a "jacket". I hope it is useful to whomever I give it too. It should be warm, at least. I put buttons the whole way down the front to be a good "bundled up" type of jacket.

It took me a few tries to get the button band picked up "just so". It probably did not help that I was on pain pills at the time. The first time, I forgot button holes. Ooops.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my little jacket with gradient stripes. It makes me happy!

doo dee doooo

2009-08-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'm a little loopy from my pain meds! The surgery went fine, I'm not too sore, but I'm a little swollen. It is much much much better than the one in March was!

I did do a little knitting today, as I was convalescing.

It's a hat!

Name: Bruise snail

Pattern: Snail Hat by the queen mother of knitting, Elizabeth Zimmerman

Needles: Us 10.5

Notes: Yep. another project that came about about because it just did. I knew I needed something relatively easy to work on whilst high on vicodin, but fun to knit, so I didn't try to knit on any of the more complicated projects I have sitting around, and inevitably fuck them up.

I should have been catholic, because I have a butt load of guilt about random things that I shouldn't really waste time worrying about. This current obsession I have with knitting form every book I own is becoming quite overwhelming. When I am not quite so loopy, i have a longer post to make about my list of projects, but you should know, this was one of them!

The pattern was fun, and EZ is awesome. I have read "Knitting with out Tears" several times, and I always get something new out of it every time. Her humor just resonates with me. Anyway, the pattern is a great little unvented thing, and did not disappoint in anyway. The yarn was another matter. I bought it originally because I thought it might be a potential "Noro" sub. It is really soft, the colors are great, and the color changes are nice and long. It is a little too much like noro in the knits department though. (boo) 4 knots in one skein! That was a little irritating, to say the least. I would have been more frustrated, I think, if I hadn't been loopy...'

I held the yarn double - using the inside end and the outside end at the same time. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, color wise, but I am happy with the end results. I have no plans about who this hat is for, but it'll be someone that likes "bruise" colors, like me!

I ate it again.

2009-08-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

See:

Evad reminded me before I took the second bite that I wanted to take a picture.
I didn't *just* eat for the past two days. I also finished the silk purse/ sock bag!
Pattern: Silk Pure from Knitting Classic Style
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite
Needle: Knit Picks Classic Circ, size 3
Notes: I made this bag considerably larger than the pattern (on purpose, for once). I wanted to be able to fit a 100 gram skein of sock yarn, socks in progress, pattern, and whatever else one needs to knit socks. I think I succeeded. The finished size is about a 6" diameter, and 8" workable length - with room to close it. Aside from just upping the needle size and yarn weight, I also added length before the eyelet row for the strings. I did 8 extra rows, adding about an 1" in length.

I managed to use all but 6 yards of my skein, which is how I like it! No extra stuff to store! The yarn itself is a bit stiff to work with. I has no give at all. this could be a one day knit if you had undivided knitting time. I couldn't say that I could do it with SG though. I need hand rest time, especially after all those purl 3 togs. In a nice wool sock yarn, this could be easily knit in a day, if you had too.
Blocking it was the hardest part. Finding a tall cylindrical thing with a 6" base isn't as easy as you would think. I ended up with this:

Cheap Vodka at work for the win!

So far so good.

2009-08-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have no right to complain about having a bad day. Things could be much much worse - and for many people they are. I get it. really, I do. I'm just happy that I seem to have broken my little irritating streak of sand in my shorts style annoyances!
I went to breakfast with Evad today at our favorite breakfast place - CHIPS. http://www.chipsrest.com/ They have fan- fucking-tastic pancakes and omelets. Today, though, they had something that called to me from the specials menu:
Raspberry and Blackberry Croissant French Toast.
Oh.
My.
God.
It was three slices of croissant, prepared like french toast with glorious mounds of raspberries and blackberries on top. It was drizzled with a raspberry reduction, and dusted with powdered sugar. No, I didn't take a picture. I was too busy eating. The one owner came up to see if I liked it. Ha! I told her I want to eat it everyday - possibly live in it. Three of my favorite things in the world in one food dish. Heaven.
Excuse me while I wipe drool from my chin....
In knitting news, I worked on my KAL sweater last night! Evad and I went to see Julie and Julia. It was really something special. We enjoyed it intensely. Movie knitting is perfect for this sweater - especially the skirt bit. (No shaping to worry about!) The air conditioning was awesome. I hadn't been working on the sweater because I was too hot at home, but two hours of uninterrupted air conditioning knitting kicked ass!

tuesday wasn't much better

2009-08-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

OK. I know the universe reads my blog. So I'd like to say, here and now, "Cut it out."

I went this morning to get my window fixed - the one that refuse to go the whole way up yesterday. Evad and I took the door apart last night and determined that it was not a simple mechanical issue. It wa a burnt out motor. Right. SO we called around and found a place to do it today. We ghetto-fied the car last night, in case of a thunderstorm, and went to the car place with high hopes.

HA! 6 HOURS later, they finally fixed the car. Granted, we had to wait 45 minutes before they could even look at it, but we knew that going in. We didn't know that they had to get the part delivered from Sweden by horse and buggy. Seriously. They didn't have the part, and sent someone out to a competitor to buy the part. Meanwhile, we sat. It's good our schedules are flexible.

I, of course, used my time wisely. Last night I finished the knitting on my little sweater.

I didn't take it along to work on because I thought, "Oh, we won't be there long, and the button bands are fiddly." HA! Again! I could have finished it, wove in the ends, and knit a damn hat!

Instead, I looked through my list of "books yet to be knit from" and pulled out a good take along project. "Silk Purse" from Knitting Classic Style, knit in Noro Silk Garden Lite.

I got a lot done - like most of it. Can I say, I love a project that carries its own yarn! I'm embarrassed to say how many books i have that I haven't knit from yet. Maybe that is a post for tomorrow...

Anyway, it took so long at the car place that I missed lunch and ended up eating drive though. This doesn't sound bad, but it is. Too much sodium makes me really sick, so I've had a sour stomach ever since.

Finally, we had a big "financial accounting systems" meeting at work. It sucked. It pissed me off. And, it ended a completely ass ended day in a completely ass ended way. At least my knitting looks ok!

You know it's Monday

2009-08-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a great weekend, only to have rotten things happen on Monday that ruin the whole experience? Yeah. I hope this trend is not going to continue. I have fun things to do towards the end of the week, including a hair appointment on Thursday. I'd like that to go well. Well, Friday isn't really fun. I have oral surgery, but really I'd like that to go well also.

What happened?

Let's start with the weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day. It was sunny, and hot - but not oppressively humid. Dee, CBeth and I went to a wedding reception for a co-worker of ours. Carpooling is awesome. (If you are going to be late, be late together!) It was outdoors, but in a gorgeous shady backyard. There was a large pond for swimming and kayaking, copious amounts of booze and amazing food. The bride and groom made all of the snacks and salads - mostly from fresh stuff grown in their garden. The event was decorated with homegrown flowers, and veggies, and leaves from all manner of plants. It was very unique and very them!

The hot portion of the meal was catered, and equally as tasty. But, the best part was the cake. Evidently, one of the grooms relatives is a cake decorator and baker. It was three tiers of vanilla goodness, with marzipan inside, and nougat! The bestest best part was the decoration on the cake. Our co-worker has a thing for painting still-lives of cabbages. Her invitations had cabbages on them. The event was decorated in cabbages. The cake had a full size chocolate sculpted cabbage on top!! It had cabbage leaves on the base! It as amazing looking! From what I understand, she made molds from real cabbage leaves ( and kale for better texture) and poured chocolate leaves. SO cool! We all got a pieces of dark chocolate leaf with the cake. mmmm. chocolate......

After the three of us over came our sugar shock, we drove back to CBeth's for tea. Ahh. Much knitting occurred, and I nearly finished sock #2 of the Charity socks! All in all, a good day.

Sunday was hot from the time the sun came up. Perfect day to go to the beach. I called up Dee to see if she wanted to go with Evad and I. We all met at the beach, us with knitting, Evad with book. (even if I could convince him to try it, he wouldn't do it at the beach. I guarantee it.) I sat in the sun trying to take a little of the "pasty" off my legs for about 15 minutes. Holy crap. It was way too hot. You could just tell you were going to get burnt if you stayed in the sun. Thankfully, we have an umbrella. The three of us crammed under the umbrella all afternoon, but it was still nice to be outside, and by the water. As usual, I got a lot of knitting done! I love the beach!

I finished my socks:

Name: AIDS Project New Haven Charity Socks

Pattern: Van Dyke Socks from 'Socks From the Toe Up'

Yarn: Gedifra Fashion Trend Sportivo, 2 balls

Needles: Knit picks classic circs, size 2

Notes: Not much to say, really. The pattern is very clearly written, very intuitive, and has a great finished look, for not much work! Like every book, there is errata, and this pattern has one. Of course, I didn't look if there was any until after I couldn't figure out why my stitch count was off. (duh) It was an easy fix, though, and quite successful after I noted the error in the chart.

I do like this book. It has great info about changing socks to fit you, different types of heels and toes, and changing patterns from DPNs to ML or 2 circs. The Patterns are lovely, too! The patterns are broken down by yarn weight and by lace, cabled, and textured patterns. SO, for example, I knew that I wanted to use sport weight yarn, so I flipped to the sport weight section. So much easier than reading every pattern to see which ones are for sportweight, or could be modified for sport weight.

I chose the red yarn because it is for AIDS Project New Haven's annual Gala Silent Auction. I hope someone will love them and donate lots of money! This yarn has been in my stash for ummm.... 4 years? I think? I got it at WEBS, on clearance, right after I started knitting socks. I knit up the other colors long ago, but this colorway just didn't want to jump on the needles until now. I guess it was waiting for the right reason!

Since I am a smart cookie, I knew that I didn't have enough sock left to make it though an afternoon on the beach. There was no way I was working on an 'all in one piece' WOOL sweater on the beach. I'm crazy, but I'm not insane. I quickly looked though my 'small project' yarn and decided to cast on a lil'un' sweater with some cotton-ease. I photocopied the "Child size Seamless Yoke Sweater" instructions from Ann Budd's "Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns". I'm making shit up as I go along!

I got to the armpits, and one sleeve done last night! I like it so far!

Back to my story.

All was going well. we had steaks for dinner. Mad Men season premier was on. It had cooled down enough to sleep.

Then I woke up this morning to a (personal) leak on the bed (gross, and tmi, I know), a soggy played with ball of yarn (thanks kitten), and a car window that won't go up the whole way. Good. Lord. Let's skip to Tuesday. I'm afraid to knit today. It can't go well!

Progress

2009-08-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Progress is often a hard won enterprise. I think we, as humans, take for granted that we move forward, develop technology, even generally accomplish tasks. It strikes us as weird when we move backwards, or have an insurmountable obstacle in front of us.

Why the waxing philosophical? Well, a couple reasons. I have a friend going through a very rough time right now, and she is just trying to tread water. She is measuring progress in millimeters. Just trying to keep her head up, and not be sucked down the river to the waterfall. Still, she is remarkable, strong, and every minute of every day is a milestone on her progress chart. I think of her everyday, and want to be a big branch sticking out in the river for her to grab onto when she is too tired to tread. Her progress is slow and cautious.

The other thing omnipresent in my mind is the Health Care reform bill(s). There are many reasons that this issue is important to me, some personal, some social, but mostly, it is about progress. Often we look at eras in history and define them by advancements - progress, if you will. Most times, the eras that see the most development of technology, art, and science, also see a major leap in health and life span. This isn't happening now. We are going backward in health. Blah blah blah - I know it has to do with diet and sedentary life styles, but not having access to all the medicines and medical advancements plays a part too. I'm not saying that if we have universal health care no one will get sick, but at least they won't be near death before seeking treatment! People will still die, accidents will still happen, and doctors will still make mistakes. I could go on to say why I'm for it, but that isn't my point. My point is that we, as a nation, cannot seem to discuss this issue with out someone screaming down whoever else is talking. I don't get it. Having your Representative hear your opinion is important. That is what they do. Screaming and shouting like a moron isn't helpful. No progress comes of it. It doesn't further debate, it doesn't make your argument stronger, and it certainly doesn't make you sound rational. Frankly, it is starting to wear really, really thin on me. I watched another shouting person video today, and wanted nothing more than to be able to tell him what I really thought.

In that spirit, I'm writing an open letter to the (majority of the) screaming idiots at the town hall meetings. Feel free to flame away. I don't care. Just know, I'm serious.

Dear screaming moron in the back,

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day of handing out inflammatory propaganda pamphlets and protesting at "Planned Parenthood" to be with us. I understand that you don't want people to have health care access. That is fine. You should know, you will still be able to utilize the current insurance plan you are on, if you choose, whether that is private, group, or the kind that you just "pray that God will fix it". No one is going to make you see a doctor about anything. But, if you want to keep going to the doctor for your boner pills, since we know that is how you get it up to reproduce and made all 16 of those kids, and since you only get a stiffy naturally at your 'men's prayer group' on Wednesday night, you can keep right on going to him. That said, please sit down, shut the hell up, and let the rest of us talk for a little bit. we have important things to discuss. If you choose to keep trying to talk while others are already speaking, I will come back there and shut you up myself. The jail time will be worth it just to have the chance to kick your ass so hard you forget your name.

Thank you again for coming to this meeting. Oh, and please remember, "louder does not equal better."

Costumechick

/political rant for the day

In other news, I'm making steady progress on my knitting projects. The AIDS socks are about 3/4 finished. I just reached the heel on the second sock. I hope to finish them this weekend.

I've also picked up the Iceberg Lettuce sweater again, since it is marginally cooler now. I managed to get the "skirt" part of the thing - after mucho modification of the top. Then I ripped back to the start of the skirt. (backwards progress) I didn't like the brioche rib. It looked like ass. I'm doing a plain slip stitch rib instead. It makes me much happier.

I took a look about for buttons too. I have two choices. Which do you like better?

Later!

too hot to knit

2009-08-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Seriously. We've had a very nice and temperate summer. It really hasn't been "hot" at all. It has been muggy a few times, and kind of hot-ish once or twice, but not "oh-my-god-I-want-to-climb-in-the-fridge-even-if-I-suffocate-and-die" hot. Until yesterday. It was blistering, Hell hot yesterday. It was so hot I couldn't even fathom knitting my KAL sweater - even if it has a 'cool' name.

What to do?

I considered just sitting and watching TV, but the song "too drunk to fuck" by the Dead Kennedy's kept running through my head with the lyrics "too hot to knit" embedded. Not knitting was as bad as knitting. I needed to cast on a hot weather project.

I remembered seeing a call for donations of hand knitted socks for AIDS Project New Haven on the Nutmeg Knitters forum on Ravelry. I went over and re-read the post. They are looking for hand knit socks, to fit adults, to auction off in their silent auction. The money goes to AIDS Project New Haven and helps the local people dealing with AIDS in our community. "I can do that", I thought. I contacted the poster regarding the project- and to make sure they still needed donations. They did, and I cast on for a pair of charity socks.

I got pretty far, considering the frequent 'stand in front of the fan' breaks. The yarn is sport weight, so they are going really quickly. Also, I picked a pattern that has a ten row repeat, so you can really see the progress. Obvious progress always motivates me even more. They need the socks by the beginning of September, which is a bit close, but won't be a problem if I keep going a this rate!

I am trying to knit these socks for an "average" foot. Considering I have wee-tiny weirdo feet, I have to just guess at a good length. I went with this much longer than my foot:

Good system, eh?

Other than feeling good about helping a charity, these socks are a bit selfish. I cast on a pattern from a 'yet to be knit from' book, thus aiding my 'knit from every book you own before you buy more books' project. Double win!

Vestage!

2009-08-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

DUuuuuuude.
Dude.
Dude!
Dude... we have achieved Vest-age!
Totally.

Pattern: #109 Elaine Scoop Neck Vest
Yarn: Schaefer Yarn Company Elaine, 2 skeins Ash
Needles: Us 10 and 9 knitpicks options
Notes: Wow. Quick knit! I knit the back in two easy going evenings, the front on Friday, seamed and knit the waist band on Saturday, and finished it up in a couple hours on Sunday! Not too bad. Overall, it might have taken me 20 hours to knit this vest. That, my Friends, is my kind of knitting!

I knit the medium size, which is 38" finished. Just for fun, I tried it on. It is a bit short on me (by a lot) but it does go over my copious boobage. SO, it has a lot of stretch! If I were knitting it for me, I'd definitely do a size with negative ease for a nice close fit.
It is quite an easy knit, advanced beginner, maybe? You have to pick up stitches at the NL, WB, and AE to finish, which seems a little harder than beginner to me. I could be wrong though. I'm not good at judging what it "hard" for other people. Every one's scale is different.

Like always, the colorway is beautiful, and the yarn was really soft. After I got through my learning curve with the thick and thin yarn, I didn't mind the texture so much. The bonus to the highly textured knit surface is the "sin hiding" factor. Picking up stitches can sometimes be a real bitch. You get holes and lumpies, or tight spots and pulling. You really can't see much in the way of "perfect" or "not perfect" with the Elaine! It just is. I liked that part very much!

I don't know if I'd knit this again for myself. It's not really my personal style, but I enjoyed the process of knitting it, so I'd consider it for a gift. It is fun to knit outside of your "normal" box once and a while!

Something new!

2009-08-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of new stuff going on in my knitting world right now, including my Iceberg Lettuce sweater, but I have a *new* new project too show you!

Schaefer Yarn sent me another model to knit, this time in "Elaine". The yarn is thick and thin wool in "Ash" - one of my favorite colorways from Schaefer! (I love to knit with grey. I am sooo boring.) The project is a scoop neck sweater vest, woman's size medium. So far, I managed to complete the back.

I haven't knit with thick and thin yarn before. Well, I might have, but it was so long ago I can't remember it, so I'm going with "haven't". I had an OCD moment when I started, that went something like this:

Ack! Not even! Ack! Ack!

I moved past it pretty quickly, reminding myself that the yarn was doing what it was supposed to do. I also had a problem with my gauge swatch. How do you measure it when it is so different place to place? Ack! Ack!

Ultimately, I measured a few places and took an average. It seems to have worked. I cast on the back, knit a few inches measured, and according to the "finished size" I am on target, so I suppose my method worked!

I'm alternating two strands of yarn, to keep the "pooling" to a minimum, which also seems to be working. (I have a good trend going here, so I'm hoping to keep it going!) The Slip stitch pattern is just enough to to to keep it from being boring, but not too much that you can't talk or watch tv. The vertical element is nice too. I'm a fan of anything that gives me vertical length, being short and busty.

Maybe I'll have a finshed vest to show you monday!

Ants in the Pants... and possibly the lettuce

2009-08-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Around and about the house of Costumechick, seemingly rash and sudden decisions are often made, especially when it comes to knitting projects. Really? Are any of you surprised? After all, I am the queen of procrastination and impulsiveness.
i heard that. Some of you don't believe me. (The rest are laughing heartily.) For the ones that are less than convinced, let me give you an example. Last year I had several knitting "due dates" looming shortly on the horizon, at the same time I was designing/building 5 shows. One would think I would work on my knitting projects with looming due dates in my very limited free time. haha. You would be wrong. No, I'm the crazy person that casts on a hat, or a pair of socks, or a bib. Then I knit like a person possessed when a due date is just days away, all the time thinking, "I thought I had enough time to make this!" Then, even when I do finish a project weeks ahead of schedule, I block it and NEVER weave the ends in. Unless it is a pair of socks, (and especially if it is a shawl) I will put it away, never weaving in the ends. This isn't the end of the world for most people. Normal, non-procrastinators, would get the gift out a day before the gifting event and weave the ends in and wrap the gift. haha!!! again! I am the one running to Target a hour before a gift giving event to buy wrapping items, then rush home to weave in ends and wrap the thing up - with care instructions, all while cursing like a sailor and promising to not do this again.
Incidentally, I did it again last weekend. The Fountain Pen Shawl and Fountain Lace Hood were given away to great response, but I managed to wait until an hour before I needed to be at the Gift Giving Event to weave in ends and wrap them. At least this time I bought the gift bags 3 hours prior, and wasn't wrapping in the trunk of my car.
Which brings us to yesterday evening.
I said on the blog that I would knit through the armhole decreases on the front of my Dahlia sweater, then cast on for my KAL sweater. I actually did. (I know! I'm shocked too!) I decided a month-ish ago to knit the Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits. ok. good. it'll be an easy knit, but with lots of finishing, making a KAL a good idea because they will poke me until I weave in the damn ends. End of story, right?
You are so wrong. (You are bad at this.)
Two weeks ago I got a bee in my ass about knitting at least one pattern from all my books before I buy more books. (This isn't going to happen, I guarantee it. But I'm giving it a shot.) So guess what happened? I felt guilty about knitting from a magazine instead of a book. Go ahead. Roll your eyes. I'm rolling mine. So I went to my ravelry queue and perused my sweaters. I don't know how the hell I did it, but 9/10th of them are magazines or free patterns. As you can imagine, if I felt guilty about knitting a pattern from a magazine, I would not be knitting a free pattern. So I went to my ravelry Library and searched through the patterns I had at my finger tips - but in book form. I would have just thumbed through them on the floor in front of the bookshelf, but I was a work.
Two front runners came into focus. I dug through my yarn. I did maths. I thought I had a plan. I was going to knit the cable and lace sweater from French Girl Knits. (the one with no cables). I had my yarn out. i had my needles ready. I finished my Dahlia armhole shaping! I cast on and knit four rounds of the sleeve! It is at this point that I realize that the yarn sucks for this pattern. mumble mumble fuck mumble mumble.
At 11pm last night I got all of my sweater yarn out of the closet, spread it all over the bed, and proceeded to see if I over looked any yarn that would totally rock for this sweater. I did not. I had several choices that were 'ok', but not what I wanted to knit with. DAMN IT! So instead I used the opposite approach. I found yarn I wanted to knit with, and decided to find a stupid pattern to go with the yarn.
My favorite all purpose yarn of goodness came with me to the living room - Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted. I had my neutral yarn, now all I needed was a cardigan pattern. The previous choice wouldn't work because I didn't have enough LP to do it, and it has funky construction that would make it hard to alter for length.
Insert elevator music while I flip through books....
Ah ha!! I found it! The Lettuce Coat form Custom Knits! How did I miss it before? It has a similar feeling to the Tilted Duster, but next to no finishing, and it is from a book! And easy to adjust for being a little short on yarn! So before I had time to think about why I didn't want to make this sweater, I cast on for the damn thing.

I managed to get the back yoke and 2 inches into the front done before I went to bed. No swatching, no thinking. Hell yeah! Impulsive Costumechick decision for the win!

It's been a week?!

2009-08-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Really? Well, tech will do that to you. Time just gets away from you when you are watching dress runs. That said, I did manage to knit up a pair of socks and get up to the armholes on the front of my Dahlia, Darling sweater! Tech might suck for blogging, but it rocks for knitting!

Get ready to go "awwww".

Name: Tiggers

Pattern: Frankie Striped Socks from "Vintage Baby Knits" - size 6-12 months

Yarn: Brown-Lang Jawoll Superwash Solid; Orange - Conjoined Creations Flat Feet

Needles: Knit Picks Classic Circs, size 0

Notes: Tiny socks are so cute! They are also so fast! No time to get bored! They also seem to make me use exclamation points!! I named them "tiggers" for obvious reasons, but they also remind me of candy corn, and 'witch socks'. (I think I have autumn on the brain...) Still, 'tiggers" seems best, seing how babies tend to be a tad on the wiggle-wormy side of things at 6-12 months.

The pattern is well written, easy to follow, and generic enough that you could just use it for size and gauge info, and knit your own sock. Of course, just like with any striped sock, you have to deal with the color jogs and carrying the unused yarn up the sock, but it's hardly difficult - especially on such a small scale.

I used leftover yarn for these, and had plenty of leftovers leftover. Enough to make a stripy hat I think! I used less 50 grams of yarn, but my scale at work only goes so low, and I can't measure accurately. I do know that it isn't much.

I was a bit concerned that they are too "girly" to give to a baby- to -be -of- yet -to- be- determined-gender. Evad told me I'm crazy. He'd wear them. I don't think that means much except that evad is willing to wear loud socks. But, I like them, and if i have find a baby to give them too, then they will be perfect!

In other "knit news", I am 2/3 through the front of my 'dahlia, darling' sweater. No rash has come back yet, so I don't think the yarn was to blame. (hooray!)

I have yet to cast on my KAL sweater, since I feel like I'm cheating on this one. Maybe I'll knit through the armhole shaping tonight, then cast on the KAL sweater.....

Last Minute gifting

2009-07-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when you decide something seemingly simple, only to discover that it impacts several other things in a (sometimes) less than desirable way? Umm, yeah. I did that.

I decided to give the Fountain Pen Shawl to a co-worker of mine. It is exactly her style, and I know she will love it to death. Cool. good. fine. Right?

No. Not so much.

See, my co-worker is the woman that directs a lot of the shows I design for ECA. I like her very much. BUT, if I give her an "opening night gift" for our show that Opens Aug. 1, I kind of have to give a gift to the other woman I work with, as they are of equal standing. The lady getting the shawl is the director, and my artistic collaborator, but the other woman is my boss, and the artistic director of the program. It's like office politics, but without the offices.

We all know where this is going, right? Costumechick has to knit a "something" for the other person, so as not to upset the local artistic ecosystem that is required for Costumechick to keep getting design gigs.

Really, I don't mind, as she is also knit worthy. I have no doubt she will adore, fawn over, and otherwise make a Big Deal over what ever I give her, but i have to select the knit gift wisely. (Just like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but with out the mummification and exploding dust thing) I decided on this:

Name: Silk Fountain Hood from Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, left overs from a sweater - 2 skeins-ish

Needles: Knit Picks Options, wood, size US5

Notes:It took me almost all night to decide on a pattern. I knew I didn't have time to knit another shawl, unless it was a shawlette. A shawlette, next to a full size shawl would be kind of insulting - like getting second prize. I felt the same way about a lace scarf. (Oh, you. Here's the less time and effort gift for you.) I doesn't matter that she isn't really a shawl or lace scarf type. It's all about appearances.

Hat and gloves? meh. Purse? I've never seen her with a purse. (and my track record for actually finishing purses is slim. Anyone remember the Via Diagionale 18 month project?) Socks? I have no idea what shoe size she is. A Crab from the Summer Knitty? haha! Apropos, but not a good idea. I finally settled on a neck warmer/hood because it was very functional; girly, but not something you have to 'deal with' when you wear it; quick; and could be made from fancy yarn, thereby making it 'better'.

I love the yarn as much now as I loved it when I knit the sweater from it. It's so soft and easy to knit. Lurvvvve. It really shows the lace work well, which is always a plus, and won't be too hot to wear, since it is lace. Win win!

I hope she likes it as much as I enjoyed knitting it. The pattern is dead simple, and not the dreaded Feather and Fan, but not at all boring to knit. It is also quick! I cast on on Wednesday night, knit for about an hour, worked on it for a few hours at SnB on Thursday, and finished it up on Friday evening. I could have probably cranked it out in one day if i didn't have to work or anything.

The results are very cute, if I do say so myself. I think it is a great gift!!

Madame Defarge

2009-07-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Socktopia had a great theme this month:Madame Defarge. How could I resist knitting a pair if socks dedicated to the main villain in Charles Dickens's, "A Tale of Two Cities"? In case you are unfamiliar with the book or the character, here is a quote form Wikipedia:

"Madame Thérèse Defarge is a fictional character in the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. She is a tricoteuse, a tireless worker for the French Revolution and the wife of Ernest Defarge.
She is arguably the main villain of the book, and ruthlessly seeks revenge against the Evrèmondes, including Charles Darnay, his wife Lucie Manette and their child for crimes a prior generation of the Evrèmonde family had committed. These crimes include the deaths of her sister, father, and brother-in-law. Eventually, her quest for vengeance results in her downfall and death.
Defarge represents one aspect of the Fates. She knits, and her knitting secretly encodes the names of those people she will have killed. The Fates used yarn to measure out the life of a man, and cut it to end it."

sweeeeeeet.

So I knit a pair of socks in honor of an awesome villainous!

Name: Madame Defarge Socks

Pattern: My own, top down

Yarn: Socks That Rock Medium weight in Tanzentite

Needles: US2, Knit Picks classic circs

Notes: For some time now I've been boiling an idea in my head to knit a pair of socks consisting of two different patterns, but using the same yarn. For example, knit one "Monkey" and one "Zokni". They would be the same color, but different patterns, and therefore, no SSS! This would be especially good for socks that you realize half way through the leg on #1 that you are going to dread #2. Oh, and as a bonus, it would be like wearing mismatched socks, except nobody else would realize they were mismatched, unless they really looked. I finally implemented the plan this time!

These socks are inspired by Madame Defarge, but I couldn't stand the idea of knitting peoples names into my socks that I didn't like, although the idea of forcing a few choice people to "smell my feet" or walking on them all day was appealing. Instead, I chose to knit her name into my socks 5 different ways.

Sock #1 has Madame Defarge written in "binary" down the center front,

and her initials on the underside of the foot.

Sock #2 has her name written in braille at the top,

"Madame Defarge" written with purl stitches running down the front,

and her name in Morse code on the sole of the foot.

I did use the same ribbing at the cuff, and on the foot, although, since I was making it up as I went, sock #2 has angled ribbing on the foot. "Derfarge" has 7 letters, so my last 'E" ended up below the ribbing line. It's a design feature.

Overall, I love these socks. I gave up my STR cherry on these, and I don't regret it. I am in LOVE with STR. I now understand the big deal. It's even better that they are one of a kind, unique to me, (who else would want a pair of mismatched socks dedicated to a villainous) and totally cool pair of socks.

The shawl from hell is finished!!

2009-07-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

I suppose it isn't fair to call it the "shawl from hell". It isn't hard, and it is well written. There are no mistakes, and even the yarn was nice to work with, but MAN oh MAN! This thing was BORING. Holy Crap. I almost fell asleep while knitting it every time I picked it up - and not from sleepiness. That said, the person I decided to give it to will love it!

Name: Fountain Pen shawl from IK spring 2009

Yarn: JoJoland Harmony

Needles: size 5 glass needles from glasspens.com

Notes: Have I said "boring"? It is my fault though. I knew it would be boring, I just wasn't prepared for the extent of the dullness. I wanted something "easy" for a car trip. I got "easy". I should have taken something with a *tad* more meat on it, I now realize. I guess the real problem is that it isn't soooo easy that you can just go on auto pilot, and not hard enough to feel like you are really creating a work of art. The FPS lives in the ether between these two states of knitting. It isn't difficult, but you have to pay attention to most of the rows since some of them intuitively line up, and some of them don't.

I think it is the same problem I have with feather and fan. I have to count every. damn. row. I cannot do it intuitively. (For what it's Worth, I seem to be the only person that HATES F&F.) Anyway, if I hadn't purposely distracted myself with other knitting it would have been a relatively fast knit. As it stands, it took me 5 weeks. It might not sound it, but that is slow for me and this kind of shawl.

Another part of my ennui towards this project was the yarn. It was ok to knit with, but compared to the angel fart, pure silk yarn I had used on the shawl previous, it was like bailing twine. Maybe it is like Gilbert and Sullivan's "Ruddygore". The Mikado was a HUGE hit for G&S, and it didn't matter what came out next, the fans were going to hate it because Mikado was so fucking awesome! My biggest complaint about it is the colorway. I thought I loved it. It looked like 'beach in a ball' on the shelf. Then I started to knit with it. It went from beach to dirty river. Yerg.

Looking at the completed and blocked FO, it isn't as bad. It is too stripey for my taste, but I thought of a gift recipient that will love it for that very reason. I don't care for the really light, almost white, stripe right in the middle. I have another at the edge, but it is such a long series of rows, it isn't as noticeable. If that white bit wasn't there, I'd go from "eh" to "ok" on the project love scale.

PS. I'm working on the Dahlia sweater again! do a 'no rash' chant for me!

Little Black Cat Hat

2009-07-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

I guess putting all that WIP/UFO crap on the blog yesterday inspired me to finish something. I blog-shamed myself!

Name: Kat's Hat by Diana Foster

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino - 2 skeins

Needles: US 4 vintage DPNs

Notes: This hat has a crap ton of ends to weave in. And black yarn sucks for weaving in on the right side of the hat. I had to sit under a spot light to see the stitches so I could get a nice hidden yarn tail. Sheesh. That said, it is soooooo cute!

I used google eye buttons, and embroidered the rest on with left over sock yarn. The white is Louet Gems Pearl and the pink is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton ringel. It took longer than it looks like it would. ( Not totally because I was stretching it out to avoid the shawl. really.) If I were to knit this again, I'd do the ear flaps first, with a provisional cast on, then cast on the brim, putting the ear flaps in as I went. I wouldn't save me any ends, really, but It would be less stitches to pick up.

The hardest part of this pattern is getting the ears and ear flaps and face straight and centered and even. Holy Crap. Maybe it is easier in a different color. Oddly, this is not what stalled my progress. Even all the finishing isn't what really ground this hat to a halt. The size is what did it.

Ok. I didn't really read the pattern before I started. I thought it was a baby hat. It is not. It is a "child's hat". I kept thinking, "this looks big for a baby" and "knit 6" before shaping the top? really?" But did I rip back? noooooo. I waited until I had the ears and the ear flaps finished before I tried it on. Guess what? It fits my absurdly small head, which is "child size". It's cute, but not my style.

So, last night I finished it up, still not knowing who I am going to give it to. I guess I'll put it in the gift pile!

PS. I did two rows on my shawl too. Progress is progress!

Blogging about.. well, not much at all

2009-07-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Summer is so weird around the Costumechick blog. I am not at work a whole lot - mostly because I need to use up my Vacation days, and my pirated (yes, still) Internet at home is spotty, at best. But I am trying to post when I am actually at work, and have time, since I have lots 'o crap to do because I'm not here much. It is a vicious cycle.

What I've been up to:

1.The Dahlia Darling sweater. I'm still love it, but am not working on it. I developed a rash. I stopped knitting it, just in case, and a week has gone by. My rash is gone. Could be a coincidence. I am going to finish a few other things, then pick it back up. If the rash comes back, I'll have to take evasive maneuvers.

2. Fountain Pen Shawl.

I pretty much hate it. I dislike the yarn and colorway, but I am on the last repeat, so I am finishing it anyway. It's hard to stay on top of it though. I can find a million better things to do. That said, I'm not frogging it. If I don't like it now, I'm not going to like it better later. Instead, I'll overdye it when I'm done, providing it looks as much like ass as I think it is going to.

3. Little Black Cat Hat. I cast this on in umm.... May? All it needs are eyes and ends woven in. How lame am I? You know, I could avoid the Fountain Shawl tonight and finish this.....

4. Mark's mittens. I forgot I even cast on for these until I looked at my Ravelry WIPS. Sad.

5.Cloverfield Shawl. I cast on for this in the fall for a play at work. We ended up not needing it, so I stopped working on it and put the project in my desk cubby at work. I keep looking at it and thinking "just finish it". At the same time, I know there are errors that I just fudged around since it was just a prop, and i think "rip the fucker out." Really, I'd just like my needles back.

6. Three sweaters of crappity crap. I have three (THREE) sweaters that I need to frog. One is done to the armpits, and I realize it is three sizes too big. One is done, but fits like ass. The last is Evad's mutton chop sleeve sweater of Doom. Seriously. It's been 4 years. Sad Sad Sad

7. Madame Defarge Socks.

Obviously, I have nothing else to knit, so I cast on for my Socktopia, July socks. The details will come later. Just know that it wasn't *all* Fountain Pen avoidance.

Whew. But you know, despite all of that, I did manage to cast on and complete two quick projects last week.

It's a hat and a scarf from some RAK yarn that I think is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky. I still have a ball left, so I might make more some more quick hats. I don't know if they are a gift or for charity yet. We'll see!

Oh, and I heard that! I know I had lots of things OTN, but I didn't have any good movie knitting. My dahlia sweater was on Time Out, otherwise the ribbing on the front would have been perfect, I hadn't cast on the socks yet, and the rest are too complicated or involved, in some way, to do at the movies. I am practical, you see.

Cuties Booties!

2009-06-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

Why are baby things so damn cute?! I dare you to not go "awwwww" when you see these:

I'm right aren't I? It's not just because I made them either. They are adorable because they are wee, and the little toes that go in them are wee. It's a conspiracy.

Pattern: Baby's First Socks, by Ann Budd

Yarn: Left over Trekking and Regia

Needles: Knit Picks Classic Circs, size 1 and 0

Notes: Aside from the fact that these socks are too cute to resist knitting, I do know a few ladies that are cooking up some babies right now. Totally awesome for me, mind you, as I have little baby knits to work on - great summer knitting - small, light, and quick! I'm not sure who they will be for, but I'm sure the mommy and baby will love them as much as I do.

I knit one sock with a contrast toe. I can pretend that it was on purpose, but I'd be lying. I ran out of yarn. That's what you get for using left over yarn. Anyway, I pulled some regia out of my left over bin, and finished sock #2 with that. I like the look, frankly. I liked it even more after I embroidered the wee little heart on the toe. Both yarns are superwash, and dryer friendly - go knitter!

When I cast on for the booties I started on 1's, like the pattern called for. They seemed a little too big, so I went down to 0's after the first pattern repeat. Now they flair at the top. I'm calling it a design feature. Besides, babies have chubby legs, and little extra flair can't hurt.

What you have to know if you are going to knit these:

They have a shit ton of purling. I don't mind it, but if you do, these might not be the socks for you. Also, the heel and gusset construction are different from normal, and the instructions for the heel/gusset and toe are written out - line by line- since you are decreasing in pattern. You have a lot of pattern following to do. It's not hard knitting, just "pay attention" knitting. Oh, and Ann Budd - Three needle bind off for the WIN!

Lacey Goodness

2009-06-18T09:10:00.001-07:00

I realized this morning that I took pictures of, updated my Ravelry project page on, and *thought* I had blogged about my Aeolian Shawl. I did the first two, never did the third.
Shame! Shame on me! Bad Knit blogger!
So, today I am posting a much belated post about my Aeolian shawl!

Name: Aeolian Shawl
Pattern: "Aeolian Shawl" from Knitty.com
Yarn: Schaefer Yarn Company Andrea in colorway "Ash"
Needles: Knitpicks classic circulars, size 3
Notes: I knit 6 of pattern 1 (yucca), 1 of pattern 2 (agave), and the edging. (Of course, all the appropriate transition charts included.) I was going for something in between the small size and the large size. I think I did pretty well!

In my last post about this shawl I said the yarn was like knitting with Angel farts. I firmly stand by this statement. I really is. It is so light and fluffy and smooth and shiny and down right awesome! I switched back to wool for my next project and it is like knitting with barbed wire in comparison. The color is great too. Just a little variegation, and a nice warm purply grey. Beautiful!

The beads were really loaded on this pattern. I cut out the beads on the first 5 yucca's, and still went through a billion! (Maybe not a billion, I might be exaggerating.) Still, It was two packs worth! Most of the beads are in the edging, which took a hell of a long time. Row 42 of the edging is BITCH! A beautiful, ass slapping, mean bitch - but totally worth it.

Normally, I like to say things like "it wasn't as hard as it looks" or "This is a great pattern for a first or second shawl" at this point. I am not going to say that about this one. Don't get me wrong, the knitting itself is pretty easy - all standard stitches, well explained in the key, but the executing was at least intermediate. Lots of slipping stitches, placing a bead, slipping it all back, twisting K3togs. It is a knit that requires some patience, and a lot of chart reading.

The over all shape of the shawl is wonderful. The curve of the top edge is great to wear. It doesn't bunch at the neck, and the curve keeps the sides firmly down in front of you. I wore it to two formal events in two weeks, and had nary a slip off the shoulder - with no pins or clips. (the second one even involved a bit of drinking) I am sold on this shawl shape!

Currently, I am plodding through the Fountain Pen Shawl for Interweave Knits. It is down right dull after this one!

There and back again

2009-06-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

It's not really a Hobbit's story, but I was gone! Then I came back! I went to Kentucky to my cousin's wedding last week, and just didn't have time to update my blog before I left. I have two FO's to show you, that I finished before I left, and three more I started since then. At least 12 hour trips are good for something!
I suppose I will start with the oldest FO today. Not this past Friday, but the Friday before that, I finished my Wiccan sweater!

Name: Wiccan Sweater
Pattern: Niobe: Lacy bell-sleeve pullover from French Girl Knits
Yarn: Gedifra Fashion Trend Color, 6 balls
Needles: Knitpicks Options Interchangables, size 11
Notes: This was a really quick knit. Wow. 7 days quick. Big yarn and big needles are fun sometimes! Of course, I have to wait until October to wear it, since it is crazy warm, but that's seems to be the way the yarn barfs. Sigh.

I knit the largest size in the book, and did not add any length or short rows to the bust because I was really worried about having enough yarn. I'm glad I didn't because I *just* squeaked in under the line. I have about 6 yards left, and tails. I really did knit this sweater on the edge. (Ok. The proverbial knitting edge, but it's still an edge) I had six balls of yarn, no clue as to the dye lots, and no clue of the yardage. I wasn't even totally sure they were complete balls. I bought the yarn on clearance at A.C. Moore about 4 or 5 years ago - pre understanding dyelots. I liked it, but had no idea what to use it for. Along came the book "French Girl Knits", and I knew I had a match for my yarn!
I maybe should have mixed the yarn together as I knit, just to make sure it all looked ok together, and wasn't a dyelot travesty, but I didn't. (Edge - remember?) All in all, I think it turned out pretty nice! There is a dark spot in the yarn at my smallest place on my torso, making it look even smaller (bonus!) The stripes aren't as stripy as they appear in the photos, which is awesome, and the sleeves blocked longer to accomodate my monkey arms. Sweet!

The lacy bits are fun, and not too involved, making this a good "second sweater". Unless you know how to read a chart or have knit other lace in the round, I wouldn't choose this as a "first sweater". The pattern does assume that you know some things about lace and sweater construction. It's not hard, but it doesn't hold your hand either.

Did I mention that it is seamless? Oh yeah.... no seams, baby! If you did this in 100% animal fiber you could spit splice all of your joins, and only have 4 ends to put in! This is my kind of sweater construction.

I didn't get any action shots for you, but I can tell you that it fits great! Knitting by the seat of your pants worked for once! If I could always be so lucky.

Belated Birthday

2009-05-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

Most years, Evad and I spend our "Annibervisday" doing fun things just for us.

"Your what?"

Sorry. Our 'Annibervisday' - the combo of his birthday, my birthday, and our Anniversary into one event. His b-day is the 15th, mine the 16th, and our Anniversary is the 17th. It's terribly convenient. Anyway... We usually go out of town, or go somewhere special to splurge. This year was kind of different. We couldn't leave town because I had Midsummer Nights Dream strike on my Birthday. Poop. We did, however, find time to make a birthday trip to WEBS. oh yeah....

Denise came along, and Evad took pictures. My birthday just happened to coincide with the tent sale (WOO!) so you know we had a good time!

We shopped for yarn.

and shopped for yarn.

then waited in line.

I didn't go with a plan, really. I went with an idea of some things I might like, and the knowledge that it was my birthday, and I was buying me a present!

I tore myself away before I did too much damage, but not before two lace projects, two sock projects, three sweaters projects, a baby project, a Della Q bag, and a bunch more Noro for my blanket jumped in my basket. We followed WEBS up with a stop at Fitzwilly's, and a very stuffed trio drove back to New Haven, high on yarn fumes, blueberry beer, and beer can chicken.

It was a super birthday. Only made better by the super Anniversary the next day. 12 years!

WIP wednesday

2009-05-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

I NEVER actually do a WIP update on Wednesday. I'm excited to use the alliteration! I am also a dork.

As promised, I am going to catch ya'll up on the goings on in the knitting world of Costumechick. It may not be as exciting as an update on my secret plot to take over the world using my mind control powers and a roll of duct tape, but this isn't my blog about trying to take over the world... or is it?

First up is my Aeolian Shawl:

I'm using Schaefer Andrea in Ash. Oh My God. It's like knitting with angel farts. Love love love it. I do need to get more beads though. I am almost out, and only through the second pattern. I still have the edging, which I understand to have the most beads in the shawl.

The pattern calls for beads throughout. I didn't start them until the last repeat of the first lace pattern - "Agave". I knew this would be a heavy shawl with all those beads, and wanted to cut a few out in a logical way. I think it works ok.

This shawl also has nupps. I don't mind nupps, but others seam to think they are of the devil. Just a fair warning to those wishing to knit it. It is really pretty though, and easy to follow, chart wise, so it's really not as adventurous as it looks. The adventure comes in trying to finish it to wear for a June 6th wedding. I wanted to get it done for a May 30th wedding, but that ain't lookin' likely.

The other project:

Niobe from French Girl Knits. I'm calling it my Wiccan sweater. I knit one sleeve last Friday night, and tried it on when it was about elbow length. The sleeves bell at the cuffs, and Evad said "it looks like those things Wiccans wear."

I said, "what?"

"You know. Wiccans."

"You mean arm warmers? They are a 'wiccan' thing?"

"It's the hangy downy part. They wear them a lot."

"uh huh......"

Then Denise and Beth laughed at us. Anywho, it is now my Wiccan sweater. The yarn is Gedifra Fashion Trend Color, and I only have 300 grams. In theory, this is enough. If not, I'll find some coordinating something for the yoke. This yarn has been in my stash since AC Moore used to sell "good" yarn - like 5 years ago. It was on clearance for super cheap, all tangled in a wad. I unwadded and wound it... and it has sat ever since.

Why did I cast on for a heavy sweater in May? umm... good question. Really, it was because I needed an easy project to knit. I was going to hang out with Beth and Denise on Friday, riding on the train to NYC on Saturday, and going to Massachusetts on Sunday - I needed take along, easy, and not socks. I flipped though French Girl Knits, saw the amount of yarn I needed, thought of the lonely blue Gedifra yarn and cast on. Ta da!

Anyway, three days of occasional knitting and I have two sleeves and most of a body. Woo! I could have busted the rest out last night, or on Monday, but I wanted to work on the shawl, and I need a project for tomorrow at my hair appointment. Beads and nupps do not equal "under the smock" knitting.

Well peeps, that's it. You are WIP caught up. Next installment is all about my Birthday, my presents, and some S.E.X.

Ahh. Spring...

2009-05-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap! It's been a million years since I had the time to blog, not that I would have had much to blog about - knitting wise - anyway. The shows all opened, and all but one already closed, and I survived! I managed to do a little knitting, mostly to keep my sanity, but it was slow going. So much has happened in the past few months of near blog silence, I almost don't know where to start! I think I'll try to do a few days of highlights for ya'll...

Today, we'll look at the blanket I finished on friday.

Name: Hydrangea

Pattern: Lace Luncheon Mats by Coats

Yarn: Cotton Acrylic blend, recycled

Needles: US 10.5, knit picks options

Notes: First off, let me tell you how much I still love this circular blanket thing. Loooooooooove. Self contained, next to no purling, and always looks harder than it was. All good things in my book! Granted, the rows get a bit tiresome towards the end, and the cast off always takes a lot more yarn than you think it will, but it is sooooo worth it. (Yes, that it "so: with 4 extra "o's". That's how good it is.)

My friend YankeeL named the blanket at SnB last Thursday. She said it looked like Hydrangeas. I agreed. I liked the name much better than my original "purple blankee"or, for that matter, the pattern name "lace luncheon mat". Oh, and as I predicted, at least three people asked me what kind of yarn I was using at SnB. I kept saying "cotton acrylic blend". Well, it is! The problem is that I recycled it from a sweater I bought at Macy's, so I have no idea about the yarn at all! Macy's had a big sale three (cough) years ago and I bought four new sweaters for a total of about 15 bucks. None of them was the right size, or a pattern I wanted to wear, but the yarn was awesome! So, I frogged the sweaters, and finally decided to cast something on from some of the yarn!

This wasn't th e most complicated blanket I've ever made, but it was a great mindless project, which, frankly, was all I could handle the last couple weeks. I would be a good first circular blanket, should anyone want to try one for themselves.
Tomorrow, a wip update!

Up for Air

2009-05-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Life has been hectic around Chez' Costumechick, but never fear! I am still alive! (and knitting. Albeit slowly...)

I managed to finish 2 projects, one which I didn't take pictures of. (dumb) The baby sweater turned out so cute, I could smack myself for not snapping a few pics before I gave it to Christina. Oh well. I guess I have to wait to see it on the little one...

I DID, however, take pictures of my latest Socktopia Socks!

Name: Fantastical

Yarn: Conjoined Creations, Flat Feet

Pattern: Inspired by Rib Fantastic Socks form "Knitting Socks with Hand painted Yarn"

Needles: Knit picks Classic Circulars, size 1 & 0

Notes: First off, let me tell you how much I love this book. Really. It's awesome. Even if I only use it for inspiration, the information and ideas are great. I was flipping through it, looking for an easy "I don't have to think too much, and can do it in the dark" pattern, when Rib Fantastic Socks caught my eye.

I had wanted to use my 'Flat Feet" for a while, and thought the pattern and yarn paired up nicely. When I read though the pattern it became obvious to me that the pattern was a little to difficult to be an "I don't have to think too much, and can do it in the dark" pattern. The knitting itself wasn't hard, just an all over lace pattern, but it was going to be hard keeping track of the uneven repeats in the foot. So, my options were to just knit the leg in pattern, and do a solid stockinette foot, or be a little more creative.

I chose "be a little more creative". I did one pattern repeat down he middle front of the leg and foot, with stockinette base for the foot. Once I reached the leg I did a k2p2k2p3 rib base. Other than that, I used my basic toe up formula and short row toe and heel. Just enough interesting stuff to keep me going, and not enough to keep me from knitting through movies and tech. Nice.

The yarn was weird to knit with at first. It's preknitted and hand painted, then you unravel it as you knit. It's super easy to take along, and really doesn't frog when you don't want it too. The act of pulling out another length of yarn is very cathartic. I had a good time going "RIIIIIIIIIIIP" knit knit knit "RIIIIIIIIIIP" knit knit knit. The weird part it the preknit bumps. Y'all have knit with yarn you have frogged, and it's weird because the bumps when you reknit never match the bumps from the first knit. It made my knitting look all weird and uneven.

Never fear! Blocking's here! A little soak and some time blocking fixed the problem (mostly). I wasn't worried, really, but I do like that I knit fairly evenly, and the weird bumps were driving me a little crazy.

Over all a very enjoyable take along project, perfect for Socktopia, and they fit great!

I must go. Two more weeks of insanity, then I will have more blogging, knitting, and (hopefully) resting time!

REVENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-05T20:17:00.001-07:00

Some time ago, in an alternate universe, I purchased some geek yarn with the intent of making Evad some socks. A while passed by; comic plot lines came and went; geek movies were made and panned; then finally, the time was right, and I struck with socky vengeance!!

Name: REVENGE!!!

Yarn: Dyeabolical Yarns Alter Ego sock yarn in colorway "Luthor's Revenge"

Pattern: My own top down Evad size basic sock

Needles: Knit Picks classic circs size 0

Notes: Evad is not one to wear his "geek" on his sleeve. He likes to keep his "geek profile" low, so that the average person on the street won't instantly know he likes Star Wars, or LOTR, or Discworld, or Warhammer, or Comic Books, or......well, the list goes on. The thing is, he DOES like all those things, and ALL those things have built in gift potential, providing said person likes to wear t-shirts with Orcs emblazoned on them! Evad does not. On occasion you might find him in a hat or shirt with a small emblem, but that is about it. Really. What is a wife to do? Why, knit geek socks!! Of course!

This way, he can still wear a little geek, and not give away his secret identity to the world. Smarty smart! The colorway is quite eye popping, and chock full of Lex Luthor's 1970's Uniform colors, and "kryptonite" green. Seriously, can you imagine trying to take over the world in these colors? Talk about standing out...

But Luthor wasn't about taking over the world, all the time. Sometimes it was about unadulterated REVENGE! Seeing as Evad's motto is "revenge is a bitch.", I just couldn't resist buying this yarn when I saw it on Etsy. Turns out, the base yarn is fabulous. It is soft, squishy, and totally unsplitty. Sweet.

I hope he likes his socks as much as others seem to! I also hope he gets to wear them before it warms up too much!!

Vernal Equinox Shawl!

2009-03-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Really, I am sorry about the FO only posts, but I'm having trouble keeping up with life right now. But, I have managed to finish the latest in my Mystery Shawl KALs. (and only a week late!)
Name: Vernal Equinox Shawl Surprise
Yarn: Winterbury Hill Farm Coopworth Yarn 2 ply Lace weight
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony interchangeables, size 5
Notes: This shawl was knit in 7 clues, and uses the "pi" method to increase. It was quite fun, easy to follow, and the clues were of a manageable size.

I've never knit a half circle shawl before, so I was excited to see that I was when I finished clue 1! It really does stay on the shoulders well, and covers your whole arm, with out having a point down to the back of your knees - like a triangle. I might be a half circle convert.

The yarn is a little stiff when you knit with it, but it softens wonderfully after a wash. I was afraid that the added "sparkles" would make it scratchy, but it really isn't. The natural color of the wool is beautiful, and is not too warm or cool. The bonus is that is is from CT! Home grown, spun and knit!

I decided to do the crocheted cast off instead of the knit cast off variation. I don't mind a crochet now and then.

Pinning this sucker was quite the adventure. A billionty pins later, I really like the outcome. Be prepared if you knit this one. buy stock in pins.
Well, I shooould go. I need to get back to making armor. Woo Hoo!

tap... tap... is this thing on?

2009-03-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I interrupt your regularly scheduled radio silence, to bring yu a brief update.
Since I last posted on the blog - ten years ago - I have been a busy gal.
*Mr. Ship came to visit.
*I went to see WWE Raw at Mohegan Sun

*I teched and opened a play called "Death Dances the Tarantella"
*I had an oral implant removed
*I started and finished one knitting project, knit half of another, and have almost finished my Equinox shawl.
Unfortunately, I expect that my quiet blog will continue until the middle of May. I have four shows between now and then. One new play, one old play, one opera, and one Shakespeare. I'm going to try to keep you updated with at least FO pics....
My latest FO - Migrations Scarf!

Look familiar? Well, it's because I've knit it again for Schaefer Yarn's. This time in Susan, in (I think) Elizabeth Blackwell colorway. I had to go the whole way down to size 4 needles, but it was worth it!

I also might finally have the gist of grafting "in pattern". What do you think?

The 100% cotton was a little slower in the knitting, since I had to take more breaks, well, and I was a little slower due to the pain meds from the oral surgery.

All in all, still a fun knit, and still addictive!

She's ALIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!

2009-02-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Really, truly, I am. I've just been really really busy. It's not about to let up anytime soon, so ya'll will just have to bear with me.
In all the busy, I did manage to knit a little. I finished the "Blackhearted" Socks.

I finished clue 5 on the current mystery shawl. Still no pictures, but I am so close to the end, I might as well wait for the money shot at this point.
And... that's it. Sadly. I'm mostly working on costume designs right now. Sewing and sewing and sewing.
Later!

It made me cry

2009-02-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

I was going to post about the super bowl party and sale last weekend. Then I saw this:

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
It made me cry.
If you feel the same way, please consider taking the action proposed at the end of the video. Much love.

Da Cutez Bebes!

2009-02-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a week since I posted last, and I'm feeling mighty behind. I have so much knitting stuff to show you, and not enough time to post about it. Part of the problem is that my Pirated Internet is shoddy at best, so I can't post from home. At work, I've been crazy busy - between actual work and teaching 4 days a week, so posting here is hard too. (Sheesh. Making me work at work. Lame.)
The bad thing is that I don't think my busy schedule is going to slow down anytime soon. I'm an insane woman, evidently, because between now and May 16 I am designing a 20 person play, an opera, and Midsummer Night's Dream. Frankly, I only have myself to blame, but if I still have hair in June I will consider myself lucky.
In knitting news, I have competed clue #3 on my equinox shawl. I really need to take some pictures of it. So far, I like it very much. I plan to give it to the Gala Silent Auction at LWT, so I have to stay on track! When I start getting hella busy, it might be the only thing I am working on!
My Black Hearted Socks are coming along. I have reached the stage in sock knitting where you knit and knit but the sock doesn't grow. The gnomes are ripping it at night.

Mr. Ships Mittens have stalled again. I'm just not sure they are going to fit. hem haw. hem haw.
But, in the midst of all my slow progress, I managed to knit three baby hats for Charity!

Name: The Cutez Bebe hatz evah!
Pattern: Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, basic hat 6-12 month
Yarn: Naturally Caron Spa in "Ocean Spray"
Needles: 4mm DPNs
Notes: Aww da wittle bebes are da cutez! Making baby hats always insights choruses of "awwww!!" and "OOOOOOOO!". Unfortunately, it also invites the "Are you pregnant!?!" question and the dreaded, "OMG! WHEN ARE YOU DUE??!!?!?" (Yeah thanks for thinking I look pregnant. Makes me feel awesome about my body.) But, they really are fun to make, even with the comments and questions.
The first one was seed stitch and stockinette.

#2 is a slip stitch pattern.

The third is seed stitch ribbing.

I am surprised I got three hats form this one skein of yarn, and I still have left overs! It was nice to knit with, but a lot splitty. The end result is so very soft, and since it is mostly bamboo, it should wear well. I don't know that I'd want to knit a big project out of Caron Spa, but it was fine for a small project like this.
I have another skein of yarn at home that I think would be great for baby hats, but I'm not sure that I am going to get to it in the next week. The hat collection is next Thursday, and I'm booked a little tight until then. You never know though!

Rok Star in my Rokchoke

2009-01-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away called "Rhinebeck", Costumechick came across some back wool yarn with bits of silver melted onto it. She fell in love with the yarn, and just KNEW that she had to make a neck warmer for herself. The yarn was called "Heavy Metal Wool", and it needed a rock star pattern to truly do justice to the totally rock star name of the yarn.
Costumechick set off on a mission into the bowels of Ravelry to find a suitable rock star pattern to compliment her rock star yarn. She searched and searched, only to be disappointed in the level of rock star-dom of neck warmers. Finally she stumbled upon the coolest of cool; the rockingest of rocking; and the most pattern less of patterns. From it was born.... Rokchoke.

Pattern: Blakchoke by John Brinegar was my "muse"
Yarn: Heavy Metal Wool by "Little Barn Yarns"
Needles: 10.5 knitpicks harmony interchangeables
Notes: The original "pattern" isn't really a pattern at all. It is more of an explanation of an idea. I gave credit to the pattern because it was my inspiration. In all honesty, I fell in love with the closure and the asymmetry.

I felted the piece, like the original, but that is the end of the similarity in construction. Blakchoke was knit as a stockinette rectangle, then felted into a asymmetrical shape. I just knit up an asymmetrical shape to begin with. I added safety pins to clip my "dog clip" to, and to hold my "dog clip" on. What is more rock star than safety pins and dog clips?

I like to wear it folded down in a fashion I think of as "new wave" style, as opposed to the above picture that I took to show off the closure. (I think that makes it look like a neck brace.) The yarn was a little scratchy before I felted the piece, mostly due to the silver bits, but after felting, it is soooo soft. It still looks bad ass, but it is really cushy. Oh, and warm too!

Just call me Joan Jett

2009-01-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

I started a pair of socks yesterday. (A big surprise, I know.) They are a heavily modified version of a pattern form the book 'Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn". I think I will name them 'Blackhearted Socks' after the color way I choose, and they will probably be finished around Valentine's Day.

Now I just need to keep weighing my little ball of pink and purple yarn so I don't make sock #1 too long, and have an anklet for sock #2....

Migrations

2009-01-20T09:15:00.001-08:00

Schaefer Yarn sent me another project last week, and this one had beeeeeaaaaaddddds. I don't want to send it off!

Pattern: Migrations Scarf
Yarn: Scahefer Yarn's Nichole, in "Indira Gandhi"
Needles: US 6, knitpicks harmony interchangeables
Notes: I love beaded things, and it has been a while since I knit a beaded anything, so I was happy to have this as my next project! It is knit from the ends, then grafted in the center back. The beads are only on the ends, as it would be really heavy with beads throughout.

The yarn is wonderful. It is so springy and next to un-splitable. I love the colorway as well. Ya'll know I'm not a "bright color" gal, so I was excited to see a color way that was colorful, but muted. Complex colors make me happy. I really like that even on the wrong side of the knitting, the yarn knits up into a pleasing mix.

Also, the yarn is superwash! Now, I know that nobody in their right mind would throw a beaded scarf in the washing machine, since glass beads and agitation seem like a remarkably bad idea, but I can envision lots of uses for it! It is soft enough for baby things too!

Overall, this was a very quick project. I knit side one on Thursday and Friday. Side two worked up quickly on Saturday. I waited to graft it until Monday, and a good block on Tuesday. I suppose, I could have done it in three days if I tried. I'm not that crazy. (usually) I just had some good free time for once!

I've also started the Vernal Equinox Shawl. 2 clues down! Some pics to come!

Call me Ms.Fitzgerald

2009-01-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

I went to WEBS, and I fell in love with some yarn. That isn't really a surprise, is it? I also fell in love with a pattern. I bought the book "Boutique Knits", a while ago, for a bunch of patterns, but mostly for one "to die for" hat. But, when I went to WEBS, and saw another hat from the book, knit up in the most beautiful yarn I have ever seen, I knew I had to knit it. I had to knit it RIGHT NOW. I had to knit it in THAT YARN, RIGHT NOW! The end result is my Silk Slip Cloche.

Pattern: Side Slip Cloche, from Boutique Knits
Yarn: Plymouth Mulberry Silk - 52% mulberry silk, 48% merino
Needles: Size 4 DPNs and Knitpicks Harmony circs
Notes: Let me say it one more time... I LOVE THIS YARN. It is the softest, shiniest, prettiest yarn in the whole world. (Until I fall in love again.) Love love love love love.

This hat pattern, like most of the patterns in this book, is not fundamentally "easy". It has some advanced techniques. It isn't "hard" per se, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first hat to someone. I decided to knit my hat on smaller than called for needles, since I have an ubertiny head. I also knit only 3.5" of crown before decreasing. The results were a great fitting hat!

You can wear this little slice of heaven with the ruffle on either side. I can't decide which way I like better. Opinions?

Frankly, this was some great instant gratification knitting. Oh, and I can't beat the fact that I feel like Zelda Fitzgerald with it on. I love cloches.
I almost forgot! I took a picture of Denise, knitting with her beaver. Aww... pretty beaver.

Organization

2009-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

In my heart, I am an organized person. If you were to visit my office or home on any given day you wouldn't think so, but I really am. I swear. I think it stems from my love of containers. You see, I LOVE me some containers. Tins, bins, baskets, bottles, shelving, bags - I'm a container whore. All my containers do actually contain stuff - unlike those sick people on HGTV that use them purely as "decoration". I am banned from the container store. I've never even been in one. It is too dangerous. The last thing I need, aside from more yarn, is more containers.
So guess what I did yesterday, with my day off?
Bought Containers. How did you know?
But, these are important and useful containers! They are for yaaaaaaaaaaaaaarn.

I took all my yarn out of the closet, and reorganized. I am insane, but soooo happy.
I found the bags at target for 3 bucks each! I have two more. I am not using them for yarn. I plan to use them for bed linens. Not yarn. (at least for now....)

Not so black Blackroses

2009-01-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

Actually, "black" is the furthest from accurate description you could give these socks.

Pattern: Blackrose Socks, Knitty winter 08-09
Yarn: Knit one, crochet too, Ty-Dy in color 1574
Needles: US0, Knit Picks classic circs
Notes: I had a great time knitting these socks! even though they are in the "Knitty spin" section of Knitty, commercial yarn works just fine, imho. I knit them as written - with the lace panels different on each sock, except for the heels. I did my trusty short row heel - it just seams to fit me better.

The yarn looks great, and as usual, I love waiting for the next stripe. I am easy to please, I guess. My only caution would be the splitty factor. It could be because I was using super pointy needles, but I think that was a small part (if a part if all). The splits didn't prevent me from loving the yarn and the knitting of said yarn, but I did have to pay attention more.

I do think it is funny that the stripes almost line up exactly opposite each other. I couldn't have done that if I tried.

I'm looking forward to wearing these! They are really soft, and fit like a glove. Hopefully they wear well. Oh, and they are my January Socktopia submission!

A post from the dark

2009-01-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

Technical rehearsals, also known as 'tech', can be four days of crazy stress inducing panic... or four days of the most boring, mind numbing droaning. Rarely is it anything in between. Today I'm sitting through a whole lot of the second kind. Blergggghhhhhhhhhhh.
I am using the time to do some boring work paperwork, but soon, soon...... I will be knitting.
Anyway, I have no pics, but I popped on to tell you about a Mystery Lace KAL, just in case you are interested. No need to sign up, just watch the blog for the clues.

Equinox

Criss Cross Crossed off!

2009-01-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

I finished up the Criss Cross Wrap for Schaefer Yarns last night!

Pattern: #299 Laurel Criss Cross Wrap
Yarn: Laurel from Schaefer Yarn Company
Needles: US 9
Notes: I knit this for Schaefer Yarn Company as a model. Overall, a very simple pattern that shows of the variegation in the yarn really nicely.

The criss crosses are made by dropping yo's and criss crossing them. It is garter stitch based- so no purling! A little fiddly, but definitely not a hard project to accomplish.

The fringe was the hardest part. Honestly. It was only hard to do because it required a little finesse.

Overall though, a very satisfying project, quickly knit up, and easy to finish!

WIP Roundup!

2009-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

Yee HAW! I'm starting the new year off with a BANG!
Ok. Enough of that. It's quite irritating.
Really, I needed to post about three projects that are currently OTN, that never made it to the blog. Sad, but true. (ooo. Good Metallica song)
First up, the Three Cornered Lace Shawl in Clover Pattern, from Victorian Lace Today.

I started this ambitious project for work. (I know. My job sucks.) There was a possibility that we would need a Civil war era lace shawl for our World Premier production of Paula Vogel's "A Civil War Christmas." I don't know if you realize this, but real shawls from the civil war aren't easy to find - at least in usable condition. I realized that if that scene stayed in the play I needed to start knitting NOW. (This was the end of October) I started. Somewhere about the week before Thanksgiving-ish time it became apparent that the shawl was cut and was going to stay cut from the show. I stopped working on it. It has been sitting on my desk waiting for me to knit the last chart since then.

I got a little busy with Holiday gifts, but I am coming back to it soon. I think I am going to donate it to the Theatre Silent auction when I finish it.
In the midst of the final Holiday gift rush, I got an e-mail from the nice lady at Schaefer Yarn Company. She needed emergency model knitters. So I took on the "#299 Laurel Criss Cross Wrap".

It was not super easy to knit, cause it was a bit fiddly, but it wasn't hard to knit either. I was on a quick deadline to finish, so I didn't even post about it at all.

It is blocking now, and only needs the fringe detail to be a FO. If only it would dry....
Finally, I started a pair of socks for me. These will be my January Socktopia socks, should I actually finish them in January. I see no reason that I won't, but you never know. The pattern in Blackrose from the new Winter Knitty.

And... that's it! Not to shabby. I'll try to keep ya'll updated better. I promise.
I have a big boring tech coming up this weekend. Most likely, I'll be doing a lot of sitting. Hopefully, lots of knitting will accompany the aforementioned sitting.

2008 in review.

2008-12-31T09:28:00.001-08:00

Well my peeps, another year is coming to a close. It has been a hectic year in some ways, and a relaxing year in others. Gotta love the roller coaster ride of life!

I took a look back at my entry from last New Year's Eve, and I was very disappointed in myself. This is what I wrote:
I want 2008 to be the "year of peace". Of course I want world peace - don't be silly - but I really want to strive to be at peace with myself. We care all critical of ourselves in some way, I just want to try to minimize the criticism I lay on myself. I get enough of that crap from other people at work. To that end, I will try to go to the gym regularly, and therefore feel like I am making progress on my physical outlook. I will take better care of my kidneys. I really want to start evaluating why I choose to do things. I want to choose events to attend, projects to design, and even what to eat for dinner based on what I want, not on what I'm expected to do. My 2008 goal is to be happy in my skin and thankful for having the skin to be in.
Part of being at peace will be to keep learning and experiencing, like always. When I "pull up the learnin' stool" this year I want to come away with at least one Intarsia project, finish poor DH's Sweater of Doom, enter a lace piece in a fair, and learn to use the weight machines at the gym. I still want to go to Vermont. I want to continue to develop existing friendships and maybe create some new ones. Maybe this year I'll cross to the dark side and try spinning on a wheel!
ok. I did good at the first paragraph. I really feel like I've made progress in all of those areas. I haven't been perfect, but nobody is perfect. The second paragraph, however, I didn't do so well at. I went to Vermont, made some new friends, made tighter bonds with existing friends, I learned to use the weight machines at the gym, and um.... that's it. No Lace project entry. No Intarsia. The sweater is still in the bag, unfinished. No spinning wheel spinning either. Sigh.
On that note, why bother makng resolutions? I suppose it's to at least partially motivate us to do well and be better people. SO once again, I will make a list. Once again, I will try to accomplish the things on my list. Maybe this time I will succeed...
In 2009 I want to:
* Do a freaking Intarsia project
* Keep participating in Socktopia
* Go to another place I've never been
* Deal with the falling apart furniture in my apartment
* Design a lace something for me

This is not a big list. I just be able to do it!

Christmas Recap

2008-12-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

I love going home to my parents' house! It's not because of the gifts, or the food - it's for the years worth of stories. This year was no exception in the story department!
My hand knits were well received, and much gushed over by a few specific people. I, or course, failed to get many FO with recipient pictures. I did get Mr. Ship with his socks though!

He is such a dork. Mr. Ship also received an "Emergency Jail Kit" since he is so "bad-ass". Included was a doo-rag, candy cigarettes, nail file/shiv, harmonica, metal cup, soap on a rope, "prison approved porn" (Victoria's Secret Catalog), and a mirror - among other things. Since we open our presents on Christmas Eve at about 1 am, the family is usually pretty slap happy by the time we get to the funny gifts. It isn't hard to get your brother to try on his Prison Survival Gear at 2am.

It also isn't hard to get your Dad to try on the "Learn to be a Princess" accessories from the joke gift you got your Mom.

Then you stop taking pictures because you are laughing so hard you think you might die when your other brother puts on his new "old fashioned" motorcycle goggles with his half helmet, that just happens to have a red Mohawk down the center. When the laughing subsides, you start to relive the evenings events for brother #1, since he was at his Fiance's house earlier. This year he missed going to Grandma R's. It is too bad because this year is the year my family decided to cause trouble.
Uncle Gene's family sits on the only couch in the basement every year. They ALWAYS sit on it. My family decided to see what would happen if we infiltrated the couch. Mom went first. Then I took another empty spot when one of them got up to get food. On and on it went. The whole night we were giggling like kids, gene's family was wandering around trying to decided what to do, and The rest of the people at the party were completely confused. You had to be there to truly appreciate the chaos we caused. It was great.
Now we are all wide awake, and our sides hurt from laughing, so we decided to make popcorn in Dad's new Popcorn cart. At 3am. Yep. All of us watched the second half of A Christmas Story and ate popcorn until 4am. Then we got the Christmas dinner ready so we could go to bed. Nothing beats sleeping in until 11am when guests are coming at noon! All we had to do was pop in the side dishes, The turkey was already cooking, all the sides were prepared to go in the oven, the potatoes needed to be cooked and mashed. It was awesome. Sleep deprivation makes everything funny - even Aunt Florence.
I received some very nice gifts this year, especially from Evad. He rocked the gift giving world with an Immersion Blender, an Aero Garden, and YARN! He also gave me two knitting books I have been lusting over - GlamKnits and Knitting Lace Triangles. Then the yarn kept coming! Princess Evangeline gave me yarn too! There is nothing like the scent of Christmas balls and cones!

The two cones of lace weight and the teal lace weight bison (!) yarn are from Evad. The rest is from Princess Evangeline. I am one lucky knitter!
All in all, we had a great Holiday this year. The gifts were great, but the laughs and fond memories will be what endures.
Till tomorrow!

2 Days late...

2008-12-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

...with my last Christmas Gift. I almost made it. Oh well, better late than never I suppose!

Name: Colbert Socks
Pattern: Stephen Colbert Socks: The First Amendment as Expressed by Socks
Yarn: Fibranatura Yummy
Needles: KnitPicks classic Circs size 2
Notes: I knit these crazy socks for Evad. They were supposed to be for Christmas, but, I missed it. It's just how things go sometimes, I guess.

The pattern is really more of a "recipe" in which you cast on, work in 2x2 ribbing, and cable at will. You cable as much or as little as you want. Then you work a heel (or not. your choice), do the foot, then do a toe. I forgot the pattern when I got to my first heel so I made one up. Hey, these are my First Amendment socks!!

I am proud of myself that I managed to complete sock two with a relatively similar amount of cables to sock one, and didn't resort to just ribbing the whole damn thing. I think I am over the cable needle for a while.

When I saw this pattern in Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, I knew I HAD to knit it for Evad. He is majorly into politics, and loves the Colbert Report. The red yarn is a little subtle compared to the pumpkin orange ones I knit him last, but still vibrant enough for him, I think.

Now that I have knit two "man sized" socks in a row, I am eagerly awaiting my next pair of me sized socks. And the panic of "am I going to have enough to finish the second toe?" is soooo much less when knitting a pair of small women's socks. I squeaked in with this pair. I might have 10 yards left. That is plenty, but it is still a bit disconcerting when you are knitting away on the toe and wondering with every row wether you are going to make it.

I just realized how well travelled these socks are already! They have been to FL,CT, NY, PA, MA, and NJ. Huh. Pretty good for one pair of socks!

Up next, a Christmas update!

Packin' up gettin' ready to go

2008-12-23T09:36:00.000-08:00

Packing up gettin ready to go. I'm packin up gettin ready to goooooo.

Don't know that song? It's in Black Nativity, if you so desire to hear it.

Anyway, Evad and I are packing the car, shortly, to leave to PA. I'll attempt to take some "FO on recipient" pictures while I'm there. I'm bad with the pics though - as ya'll know.
Happy Holidays everyone! Drive safe! Be kind to your fellow man!

Fishy Hat update....

2008-12-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

It was a success. I lost count, but I think it was stolen 8 times! Two of the people that had it stolen away from them really want me to make them one. I guess I'll be doing a little "after Christmas" gift making this year....

(Oh, I got a security whistle, in case you were wondering...)

Bad Santa!

2008-12-18T09:01:00.001-08:00

We do a Bad Santa swap at work every year. Basically, you bring in a gift you don't want, wrapped up. Everybody draws a number out of a hat, and you choose a gift from the pile in number order. The catch is that each person can choose to steal someone Else's gift, or to open another one from the pile. If someone steals your gift, you then get to open another gift. It gets to be quite crazy.
All manner of crap, er... I mean, "treasures" are entered into the swap. What I find amazing is that one person's trash is an other's treasure. I decided to skip the random knickknack this year and make a swap item. When I saw the new Knitty, and the Fish Hat, I KNEW I had to enter it in the swap. It's just insane enough to be fought over!

Pattern: Fishy from Winter 08 Knitty
Yarn: Leftovers - Knitpicks WOTA, Rowan Magpie, and Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 7
Notes: Super Fast Knit! My parents were up visiting this last weekend, and I still got it finished. I started Thursday night, and finished on Sunday Night. It could be a one day project if you had a whole day to just sit and knit. Frankly, it took longer to deal with the eyes than it took to knit the hat!

I didn't modify the pattern at all, except to 3 needle bind off the tail instead of sewing it up. Oh, and I used buttons for eyes instead of felt. I Russian joined the whole thing so as not to have ends to deal with, since I am the laziest finisher EVER. (smarty smart)

I do hope that the staff members fight over this hat. It's fun to have a few things in the mix that are "interesting", yet also desirable. Oh, and early reactions by those who have seen it are very positive!

Dirty Mittens of Pride!

2008-12-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

6 months, 4 testicle references, 3 penile references, and 1 rainbow of color later... you get the Dirty Mittens of Pride!
I finished up the last pair last week, and passed them all out to my peeps at work! (to many happy smiles and such, I must say)

the last pair details:
Name: Woolly Strawberries
Pattern: Wool-Stuffed Mittens from Favorite mittens
Yarn: Reynold's Lite Lopi
Needles: Vintage Size 4 and 5 Dpn's
Notes: WOOO HOOO! Last Pair!!! No mods from any of the other pairs. I think I have burned this pattern in my brain forever though....
Speaking of Holiday Gifts.... Check out my "to wrap" pile on Sunday.

The only thing missing is the socks OTNs, and the fishy hat. The fishy hat is finished, btw! It is drying right now. It is freaking hysterical, IMHO. I'll post more about that tomorrow. In the picture is 4 pair of socks, 2 blankets, 3 shawls, and 7 pair of mittens. Sheesh! Oh, and I did all but the one pair of socks since June. That's a lot of knitting, my friends!

Winding down the Gift knitting

2008-12-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, dear readers, it is about that time of year again. It's that time when all good knitters start weaving in the ends of their gift knitting, dreaming of projects intended just for them, and trying to guess what size sweater to make while calculating in the expected extra holiday poundage. (eh-hem) The bad knitters (I personally don't know any one like this) start saying things like, "I could knit one more scarf for Aunt Betty," and "I can easily knit a sweater between now and December 24 for my size 54 chest Grandfather!" There is nothing like having a deadline and next to no time to knit to drive a knitter to drink, which only slows down the knitting more. It is a vicious cycle.
I never succumb to this type of pressure.
I'll wait for you to stop laughing.
This year I am doing really well. I am half way through my last pair of mittens and have one more bib that only has to be completed before January - PLENTY of time. So I of course decided to make one more itsy-bitsy gift.... socks. Cabled socks. I am insane. I realize it. No need to point it out, thank you.
I did finish the last bib I was working on, like 2 weeks ago, but whatever.

Name: Giraffe Bib and cloth
Pattern: Baby Bib O' Love
Yarn: Sugar and Cream cotton ombre Summer Splash
Notes: um... it's a bib. It was awesome tech knitting though! Not much to say, really.

The last pair of mittens is underway:

And the aforementioned last minute gift that may, or may not be completed in time. I am going to try not to stress about it. I'm not very good at not stressing, so this could be interesting, to say the least..

Some year I will be a good knitter. Some year....

Furry Carrots

2008-12-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

One more pair of mittens to go!
I finished number six last Thursday, at SnB. Hurray!!

Name: Furry Carrots
Pattern: Fleece-Stuffed Mittens from Favorite Mittens
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted
Needles: Vintage US 4 and 5 DPN's
Notes: As if any one is reading these still.....

I cast on for the last pair last night. I can't wait to sew in the ends. Also on the needles: a pair of socks, a shawl that is mostly done, and hasn't made it to the blog or Ravelry (I suck), and a baby bib. I vow to do some blog catch up this week!!

Christ on a Cracker!

2008-12-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I actually finished something! It has been way way way too long since I did a real post, and I haven't had any time at all to knit, so I am lucky I finished anything! But, I did!! WOO!!
Saturday afternoon I kitchnered the last toe on my Dad's Christmas socks!

Name: Classic Dads
Pattern: Classic Socks from the Knitting Man(ual)
Yarn: Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband, 2 skeins
Needles: KnitPicks Options, classic circs, size 2
Notes: It took me 2 months to complete these socks. Not because the stitch pattern was hard, or because I got busy, or even because I got distracted by another project. I simply did not enjoy knitting these socks. I like the finished product, but, DAMN, I hated the knitting part. The stitch pattern is four rows long, so every pattern repeat feels like it doesn't get you anywhere, and it is the kind of pattern that you have to pay attention to - at least a little - since you have a semi-fancy maneuver to accomplish every other round. Therefore, not good movie knitting, and not good "in the dark" knitting.
I also forgot to photocopy the pattern out of the book, so I didn't have heel instructions when I got there on my first sock. I opted for my standard short row heel instead. I also opted to not do the stitch pattern on the foot. I would love to say it was because my dad wants smooth socks in his shoes, or something like that, but really, it was because I am lazy, and I could knit the foot at the movies if I did it in SS. Pure laziness decision.

The second sock started out promising. A few SnB nights and I would have the leg finished. Then I got stuck in heel land. I didn't want to start the heel until I knew I'd have enough time to finish it, and that time didn't present itself for a week or two. Finally, I made my heel, and in only a few short days I finished the second sock!

Whew. I tell you, it was quite the slog to finish these up. The very exciting grey yarn might have something to do with the boredom that became these socks, but I mostly blame myself. I know that socks with short pattern repeats are boring to me. I know that socks I have to "look at" while I'm knitting them bother me - unless they have big complicated repeats. Why I picked these socks to begin with is beyond me. But, I can say, my Dad will love them! I do wonder if he'll appreciate the Yarn Harlot conection though?

This was my first time using Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband, and I found it enjoyable. It seems as though it will be pretty rugged, and it comes with heel and toe reinforcement yarn. I did use all but about 10 yards of each ball, so if you have a bigger than men's size 9 foot, you might want three skeins for a pair of socks.

So, another Holiday gift finally comes off the needles, after ONLY two months. (eye roll) I only have two pair of mittens left to go! I almost can't decided what to knit next!

Just to let you know I'm alive

2008-11-26T08:49:00.001-08:00

well, and because I haven't had any knitting time....
I'm doing a meme.

The things I have done are in BOLD! My comments and things I plan on doing are in ITALIC. Things I don’t plan on doing ever are just straight regular font!

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band Rock, Marching, and Concert Bands
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity I have given to charity, but not more than I could afford
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis eww. no.
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child I'd do it, if the oppurtunity arose
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train It wasn't fun, since it wasn't a sleeper car.
21. Had a pillow fight uhm yeah! It's what girls do together.
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Hasn’t everyone???)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon HAHAHAHAHAHA
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language I'm trying - Telemundo works for me!
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing well, on an indoor wall.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant Evad did this before.
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie I've been on tv quite a few times, but never a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox twice.
89. Saved someone’s life Yup. more than once.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Doin' stuff.

2008-11-18T07:05:00.000-08:00

I've been doin' stuff. Ok - mostly working, but, in the little time I am away from the theatre, I have managed to get some knitting done. Of course, I chose to spend my time knitting, in stead of blogging, so you guys didn't even know I started these projects, let alone finished them. In fact, I didn't even get them loaded into Ravelry before I finished them. Feel free to roll your eyes at me. I'm rolling mine.
I finished another pair of Holiday Gift Mittens!!

Name: Shaggy Squash
Pattern: Fleece Stuffed Mittens from Favorite Mittens
Needles: Vintage DPN's in size 4 and 5
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire in Gold
Notes: Yup, more Penile references. I'm a 12 year old boy. This is my first pair with black thrumming. I like the effect, although the black is somehow harder to work with. It is softer than the cream was, and therefore less "grabby". But, it is softer, and therefore amazingly decadent to wear. I have two pairs left to go, and both get the black thumming. I think I might actually get them all finished with time to spare! (knock on wood)
I also knit up another baby bib.

Name: Baby Grossness Protector
Pattern: Baby Bib of Love from Mason Dixon Knitting
Needles: US 5's
Yarn: Sugar and Cream Ombre - summer splash
Notes: These little bibs are so cute and fast. Much faster than a baby blanket - just saying. Anyway, I knit most of this during the new James Bond movie. (Growl!) I finished up the last strap last night, and found the cutest button this morning. Awwwww.

If this little piece of knitting wasn't for catching all manner of grossness that comes out of a baby's mouth, I'd say I just want to eat it up. I plan on making two more of these for imminent baby arrivals. They will be good tech knitting I think...

So I gotta go. Work is calling. It sounds like a blasted Christmas song.

For the Love of all that is Yarny

2008-11-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

Attention all blog readers!
eh hem.

I have finally finished something, in a respectable amount of time - even with the current work load form the underworld- AND am managing to blog about it!!!

Oh, hold on a minute. We have to wait for a few people that fell over.

Better? ok!

Name: Pink Pangaea
Pattern: Pangaea Shawl by Whatifknits
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18, in Ladyslipper
Needles: KP Harmony options, size 5
Notes: I am a sucker for a KAL shawl. I really really am. I am also not a quitter, so quite often I find myself knitting to finish a shawl that I am not totally in love with, just to "get it done". The Pangaea Shawl does not fall into that world. I really do love it, and enjoyed knitting it. Evad might disagree, since he heard the bulk of the cuss words that I flung about when trying to p3tog and doing the last 5 or so rows.

But, on the whole, a nice lace project. It wasn't too easy - causing boredom. It wasn't too hard- so it could go to SnB. Nice medium hard lace. Well, except that edging. ok. ok. it wasn't hard, per se, just fussy. I have been quite stressed at work lately, and knitting has been helping to relieve that stress nicely. "True Lace" knitting is not on my stress relieving short list. I'll just leave it at that.

I plan to give this bit of lacy goodness to LWT for the radio auction. I hope it sells well. The one last year did, so I have high hopes. Hey! I just realized that I finished this hella early! The radio auction isn't until February! I rock so hard I'm gonna have a stiff neck for a year.

As always, knitting with Zephyr is wonderful. The sheen after blocking is fan-fucking-tastic. It blocks so well. Dream lace yarn. And it looks like cotton candy. sweet.

Well peeps, that is all from the land of Costumechick. I'll try to post a bit more often, but I am finding the darkness at 5:00 a deterrent. I can't manage to move my considerable ass is the morning to get good progress shots in the daylight. Then, at night it is dark when I get home. Oh, and I am actually working at work, so no time for blog post then either. Sigh. Oh well, at least this only lasts for two more hellish, Christmas filled weeks!!

some thoughts

2008-11-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm coming out of my Christmas show infused craze of a life to post a few comments about where I've been, what I'm doing, and my thoughts about the last few days.

Where have I been?
Working, bitches. Christmas show is hugely hugely big. I have a metric shit ton of stuff to do, o I am not getting to blog. I think of stuff to say everyday, feel guilty for not posting everyday, yet still don't manage to actually do it. The return of semi-regular posting is coming, I promise.

What am I doing?
Aside for the Christmas show from Hell? Um.. Still working on the socks form my Dad. They are really dull. I did finish the first one, finally. I am on the last clue of the Pangea Shawl. It's pretty. I should post pics. (roll eyes)
I am also working on a shawl for the Christmas show that will not Die. It's big. It's black, it's lace. Pics would be nice of that too....
Yeah. That's it. work, knit lace, sleep. It has been, and will be my life until after Thanksgiving.

What are my thoughts on the last few days?
I had a day to process, so I can skip the "WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO" portion of my post and go directly to the meat of my thoughts.
I am happy, super proud, and elated at this countries decision to elect Obama. I know lots of people didn't agree on the choice, or else he would have 100% of the vote, but then we wouldn't have had a real election. Choice is a very important thing.
Speaking of choice... I don't live in Colorado. I visited it once. It was nice. But, I am proud that they managed to see why "defining when life begins" could be a problem, and a step towards thwarting a woman's choices about her body. I am firmly in the "keep the government out of my uterus camp."
While we are keeping the government out shit..... what the hell California? What the hell, rest of the states that voted on Marriage definitions? Seriously. My heart is aching for all my gay and lesbian friends. I'm glad that CT didn't vote to have a "Constitutional convention", but I am heart broken about the other decisions across the country. Prop H8te won't be decided for at least another week, as all the provisional ballots have not been counted, but still... why is this even close?
It seems a bit extreme, but what if next the religious nut jobs decided that non-christians can't marry? Evad and I are, respectively, Atheist and Agnostic. We don't believe in "the bible". (don't get me started in how you can't believe in a book, but believe instead in the mythology in the book. I'll go on for days, and I have work shit to do.) How big of a leap is it really for the fundies to say, "Marriage should be defined as a union between one christian man and one christian woman."?
I'll leave it at that.