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September 29, 2005
Searching For My Inner Owl
I have had a trying week and feel rather proud of myself for not being a whiney baby. First there is the case of the missing shawl. Still missing after 3 days. Now Liz may not be able to go to Rhinebeck which means I won't be able to go. Which is actually fine since I will now get to sit around and relax while visiting my friends instead of driving around rushing to the festival and back in between flights. Plus of course a bit nicer on the pocketbook because I would feel like shopping quite a bit to justify the expense of flying cross country. A visit to friends justifies but a festival demands loot. That makes no sense but truth be told if I can't say I found some awe inspiring not available anywhere else but another festival of course then I might as well have not gone to said festival. My grandma raises goats and I come from farming stock. Sheep, tho cute, are not worth a flight in and of themselves. Sorry. So anyway I am a bit relieved I get to veg out instead of going to Rhinebeck. Of course I am a bit sad but actually More Relieved than Sad. My flight to East Coast is now officially to visit pals and if we go we go and if not who cares ;^>
OK Shawl, Rhinebeck, and ummm oh yeah the missing book. I ordered a book last Weds and asked that it be sent priority mail. Shoulda been here Mon. ~ right? I called yesterday about book which was sent to wrong zip and not priority. In fact there is apparently a big ol note stating to not send it priority per my request. WTF! I am so not pleased. Anywho I have spent the past few days struggling to maintain some sorta even keel. For the kids sake. I ended up cleaning out some extra drawers{whilst looking for shawl} and found this owl. Made of sandlewood all the way from India via one of Zoe's classmates. Her classmate traveled to visit his family over holiday break one year and he bought home little carved gifties for all the classmates. I claimed Zoe's gift right off. Normally Mr Owl sits in the yarn bins but oftentimes gets claimed by the kidlets so I have no idea why I am ever surprised to come accross him during cleaning chores. I spent some time admiring Mr Owl thinking 'ah for the wisdom of....' when I realized, after almost 4 years of ownership, that my Mr was a Mrs. A pregnant Mrs no less. Or maybe my owl is just so wise that the inner owl is also very, very wise. Elka, being not so very wise, turned to her inner child who whispered 'lace' and promptly CO another shawl. The current WIP count:
Shetland Tea~ block it already
Spiderweb Shawl
Hap Shawl
Oriel Stole
and oh yeah some work sweater.
yarny day and knitterly evenings to all whoooooooooooooo visit me
Posted by Elka at 01:18 PM | Comments (3)
September 27, 2005
More Disclosure = Less Envy
Since I stayed up til 5 am not knitting and am too whupped to knit today and have no progress from yesterday I am left blog fodderless. Well not really. Seems that the cubby post elicited a few envious comments. I realize it was probably faux envy instead of pea soup envy but I decided to go ahead and slide over my doors to show you what normally would remain mysterious. Mystery is supposed to be enticing isn't it? Not in cubby land:
One Day cubby land will be artfully arranged both behind closed doors and out in the open. For now she is still a mess.
If this isn't enough to make yourselves feel better bout your yarn storage system then how about this True Story:
Once upon a time there was a Knitter. Not a too bright or too talented knitter but rather one who muddled through well enough for herself and her family. This Knitter decided to knit herself a shawl. A lovely shawl that took up almost 2 years of stolen moments to complete. Said shawl looked like this:
Yesterday said Knitter went into her closets and drawers to snag said shawl. It was a bit cloudy and the Knitter wanted to wrap her baby in the shawl before carting baby into car for older girl pickup from cheerleading practice. Said shawl is nowhere to be found.
Oh yeah I am feeling the envy.... knit on
Posted by Elka at 01:32 PM | Comments (1)
September 26, 2005
Cubbies
I have completed the back of K1C2 sweater and am plugging along on the front. Didn't feel much like knitting this weekend so am overall pleased with my progress. I did spend some time playing with my latest knit toy~ the cubbies. We have lived in our new house for over a year now and I am just starting to purchase furniture. One of the first pieces had to be some sorta appealing yarn storage system for the yarn room which is, in reality, the sitting room. If the first room you see when the door is opened just happens to be my yarn room it better look nice don't you agree? Add to the first room you come to status but my plans to add a sofa, coffee table, and some chairs for entertaining well.... OK I don't entertain. I never have company. But one day I might have company in which case this is most likely the room they would sit in. Nice yarn storage was needed.
I am overly fond of cubbies. As a single poor college student way back when I decorated with milk crates. I stacked them up and formed my own cubby wall. I worked in a restaurant so milk crates were free. Also free were cinder blocks out of which I fashioned book shelves with some wooden planks salvaged from some construction site[fine! absconded with not free for the taking. I think the statute of limitations has passed in the oh 22 years since I did it] I painted those blue. The little holes in the cinder blocks provided nice miniature cubby holes for stashing little treasures. Lately I have been reading Organizing from the Inside Out and the author recommends the Kindergarden method of organization. You know centers with all you need to complete the task in said center system. I doubt I will ever be craftily centered or any way centered but I do think of cubbies as a Kindergarden thing. Good thing I like em eh? My daughter says they do not have cubbies in Kindergarden. What is with that? Anyway I have a cubby full of books/patterns, another cubby with tools of the trade aka needles/tape measure/waste yarn for CO etc, and several cubbies stuffed with yarn. The real reason I will not ever be organized is cause I have too much yarn~ apologies to Cassie. I guess I better plan on ebaying stuff soon. I really would like all my yarn to fit into the cubbies but this is only a teeny tiny portion. Still I am pleased with the arrangement of sweater kits and lace yarn stash. It really was a good weekend after all
yarny days and knitterly evenings y'alls
Posted by Elka at 10:29 AM | Comments (4)
September 23, 2005
I had forgotten...
This new knit I am working on has some real subtle shading going on so when I finished the first ball I wanted to wait til morning's better light for next ball pickage. I ended up ripping my RS and using my handy dandy niddy noddy for reskeining. While I was reskeining I went ahead and did the Donegal Tweed from my recently ripped Rogue. I twisty tied them together last night and here you see the results. Pretty nice together IMO. The purple tweed just happens to have a few indigo flecks but the picture is a wee bit overexposed. Anyway those yarns are now sitting in a sink soaking up some dekinking water. The K1C2 knit:
I am really enjoying this yarn. Its a single ply with obviously long color transitions. Very nice. It feels kinda lanolin~y. So much so that I actually sniffed the yarn a few times but no discernable sheepy smell. I am using my Noble Needles. I rarely knit with them for fear that they will break. Plus I tend to use smaller needles and those, in wood, tend to appear fragile. When I first started knitting as an adult I purchased Brittany Walnut needles. I liked the ornate turnings at knob end and the rich brown color. Then I purchased Knitting in Plain English, Sweater Workshop, Knitting in the Old Way, and EZ's books. I was a convert to circular needles.
BTW SP since its a Q on Questionaire I wouldn't mind a copy of Fee's book since its a new revised and I parted with my old version a while ago.
The real problem with being a circular needle convert lies in the obvious lack of wooden needles for circular knitters. Every time I knit with wooden needles I slow down and enjoy the whole process more. Very sensual. More so than the most luxe of handpainted yarns. I may have to get some Lantern Moon needles at Rhinebeck and ignore the whole circularly knit thing. Totally serious here~ I had forgotten how much I enjoyed knitting until I picked up my Nobles.*
Happy Knitting
*they are no longer in production so I am not fishing for Nobles from my SP
Posted by Elka at 11:11 AM
September 22, 2005
Not the Smartest Cookie
Pattern: One of Susanna's 'Off the Cuff' class handout pattern available elsewhere
Yarn: Rowan True 4-ply Botany in black with size 8 Japanese Seed Beads
Notes: fast and furious pattern. Just a couple of days knitting needed per cuff
I really wanted to make the heavily beaded cuffs and didn't want to pay shipping on the pattern. This means I took the class at Stitches Midwest and was reminded of the nifty crochet provi CO I showed you last week. Please don't mention the wisdom of paying $90 for a class vs $4 for shipping. I know I'm not the smartest cookie. Anyway I think I want to go down yarn size and bead size for the other cuffs. First off I have purchased every appealing size 8 seed bead my Local Beading Store LBS carries. They do not have the nifty chartreuse I covet. Nor do they have any reds. Only one purple and one periwinkle. NO good greens. The size 12 seed beads, tho much more expensive, come in a much wider color palatte so I have to figure out something between baby weight and laceweight for yarn and look into new needles. Size 2/0 down. These cuffs were knit very firmly on size 0 so finer yarn &smaller beads =thinner needles. Somebody save me from myself.
Anyway I CO for the second cuff when I finished the socks and only have to weave in my yarn ends which are artfully tucked under cuff. Very fast knitting. Good thing too. The casting on for cuff instead of facing the RS. I think the knitting goddesses were actually saving me from a lot of grief. Not the stress of under the wire knitting which I have become accustomed to over the years as a sample garment knitter. Nor the compulsive mirror imaging of all the cables. Forget the gauging issues. Nope. I got some yarn from K1C2 to knit up into a cabled sweater. For work. Can you imagine the horror of trying to complete a cabled sweater for work and another even more heavily cabled sweater for show in the span of 3 weeks? I am feeling much better realizing I was blessed by the truelly odd as in unusual for me misgauging.
Happy knitting
Posted by Elka at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)
September 21, 2005
Finally FO
Pattern: Michelle's Mahrvelous Dahrlink Socks
Yarn: Trekking XXL Color #66
Notes: picture taken outside so looks brighter and more colorful than real life. They really are rather dark and moody. OK I'm a mole ;^>
I didn't wash for bloomage so my lovely uneven knitting shows through quite easily. And for the full yarn porn effect a close up of the yarn taken outside again:
A big shout out to Miss Toni for telling me how to center pattern note text. Now to figure out pop ups.... Yarny days and knitterly evenings y'alls.
Posted by Elka at 11:12 AM | Comments (4)
September 19, 2005
ramblings
OK in the bleh department Liz upgraded Movable Type and I don' t like the new version. OK thats off my chest.
I have been very sad lately cause the knitting goddess most commonly known as Mare has decided not to blog anymore. Very very very sad. Beyond sad. But in the good news Julia is up and blogging again. Woo hoo.
I was sick all weekend. Horrid flue like symptoms with cold sweats and hot chills. Sore achey ickyness. I would like to say I was defeated by knitting snafues and the knitting goddesses should now let everything flow from my needles trouble free. But I know that wasn't exactly the case. I barely knit at all tho I did work a teeny tiny bit on my sock. And did you know I am a bad email checker? I went and checked my yahoo account and had 3 RAOK-ed cards sitting unclaimed on page one alone. I suck. I need to write everybody notes telling them I suck. I suck, suck, suck, suck, suck. Plus I still feel a bit under the weather. Can you tell?
Posted by Elka at 12:58 PM | Comments (1)
September 16, 2005
How did this happen?
OK the under the wire knitting aka RS has hit another snag. I was knitting along and when I finished two pattern repeats 48 rows I decide to measure the length. From what I can see this is about as far as I should have to knit before I start working on the front. No wicked short. I work another full repeat and call for more yarn. Only prudent thing to do considering I am having to knit half as many rows over to get length. But wait! Lets measure the width. Oh NO! And lets double check the width of our swatch again. Here is proof that my swatch was the correct size:
4 inches VS sweater which is way too too narrow:
How in the world did this happen?
Good stuff tho~ I was RAOK-ed by Julie who sent me a wonderful origami paper crane. I forgot to take the picture and am struggling to figure out my new cam. and program so won't do go up to take one at the moment. Also I received a card from my SP6 and here is the image that accompanied it{yes saved to my own computer tyvm}
How did my SP know that I used to make soap? A long long time ago. Over a decade ago. Before I had children and decided lye solution was probably not the thing to have sitting around. DUDE soap and sheep. My SP slays me!
Posted by Elka at 01:04 PM
September 15, 2005
Icky day all around
So we had no power most of the day. Have my faithful blog readers spotted a trend? The one where our power is out every two weeks for about 6 hrs a time? Very annoying. Even more annoying is the fact that its just my block. Not the block as in accross the street but block as down my street round the corners to street whose backyards cozy up to our backyard. The houses opposite us are all cheerily lit up.
During the black out, which did start mid morning, I couldn't very well knit on my slate cabled thingy. Well I coulda but it was dark outside due to rain and dark yarn with lotsa cables. I worked on my sock again since its pretty darn hard to screw up stocking stitch in the round. Lets see; knit, knit, knit, and knit a bit more. I didn't get very far. I also treated myself to a few rows of the hap shawl since thats plain garter stitch at the moment. More knits. While I was happing along I remembered reading somewhere that the plain ol garter stitch shawls, the ones we consider almost too plain for our jaded lace addicted tastes, were once reserved for the most skilled knitters of all. Why? Because gauge issues, the ones made by stopping and starting again over weeks of knitting, are most clearly seen in plain knitting. How funny that garter stitch is now considered the beginner stitch and sometimes gets scoffed at by more experienced knitters. And thats where my head was at today.
Posted by Elka at 08:26 PM
September 13, 2005
Secret Pal
I signed up for SP6 despite mixed experiences with SP3. My gosh have there been 2 since then? Seems like yesterday that I was plotting my surprise for Lolly. Every once in a while I drop into her blog and/or I hear from her. Because she was so fab I decided to go ahead and give it another shot. Button forthcoming or at least I believe Liz is working on taking off the #3 and replacing it with #6. So here is the questionaire:
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? Yeah I kinda am a yarn snob. Brand and price doesn't really make a huge diff to me but I do tend to stick to natural fibers. A bit of synthetic blended in is OK. What would socks be without that 15-25% of nylon? And microfiber added into wool or cotton yarns gives a certain cushy goodness to the whole shebang
2. Do you spin? Crochet? I like to think I spin. No I don't crochet nor do I have an interest in learning
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)I just quit smoking Aug 1st so am avoiding the smell like the plague. I have excema which is irritated by perfumed stuff tho I sometimes do spritz a bit on. However I cannot wear scented lotions because I am too tempted to slather tham on everywhere instead of safe zones. I am "deathly" allergic to cats.
4. How long have you been knitting? I have been knitting steadily for 10 years, almost all of 20 years with a year or two off here or there and off and on for over 30
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No but if you have an overwhelming desire to purchase a book for me I will make one
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)I like citrus or spicey scents. Those cinn. stick holiday candles rock. Carnation is my favorite of all time smells followed closely by lemon, grapefruit etc
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? oh my yes
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Except for knitting I am not the least bit crafty tho I keep wishing I was.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I am pretty computer illiterate and have no idea how to access MP3s etc.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? I am a 'winter' so gravitate towards kewl colors~ purples, greens, blues. I am intrigued by mustard yellows, umber, paprika or pumpkin oranges, yellow greens etc but cannot wear them in large quantities. However they are fab for an accent color. The only thing I really do not like is sweet pastel colors or non blue based reds.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married with 3 kidlets
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I compulsively purchase lace yarns. I guess it is safe to say those are my favorite. My absolute fave tends to be whichever laceweight I am working with at the moment so for the next few months its gonna be Shetland 2 ply. There are some that are almost too nice to knit{unless I stockpile enough of it} such as the yak/silk blend I blogged about last month. That stuff is OMG to die for.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? N/A but check Q#1
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? I have been knitting lace daily for almost a decade. Well not right now cause I am doing a rhinebeck sweater but usually its my warm up to the daily knitting.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I struggle to not cast on for another shawl
17. What are you knitting right now? 2 shawls, socks, aran, and a beaded wrister
18. What do you think about ponchos? ewwwwwwww
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? circulars
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? bamboo tho I just purchase a complete set of Aero needles which I love. I have a slight nickel allergy so had to replace my turbos
21. Are you a sock knitter? only cause I am fond of warm feet and have poor circulation.
22. How did you learn to knit? My mothers best friend Celia taught me on a car trip before I turned 10 I retaught myself as a teen and then again in my early 20's~ I'm 40 so the almost all of 20 years covers the last taught myself bit
23. How old is your oldest UFO? Nothing is more than a few months old right now. Only cause I ripped all but my shawl UFO's a few weeks ago
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Secret Squirrel and friends... the colors were so fab on that cartoon. Sheep cause its required and cutie birdies.... I managed to finally snag some Amy Ruppels!
25. What is your favorite holiday? any holiday I get to see my mum which is usually Thanksgiving
26. Is there anything that you collect? sheepie stuff like the total knit dweeb that I am. I also really love those beaded stitch markers some crafty gals make. Lately I have been collecting japanese seed beads for knitting with [size 8 or 10] Am trying to stash up so that when I want a certain color I can look and voila its there
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? none tho I sure wish I had Twists and Turns or Woolgathering. Probably my Xmas giftie to self this year
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? not that I can think of right now. There are a few that look interesting but I haven't seen them yet to develope a gonna die if I don't get it mode
29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another?? There's always a new pattern out there but nothing I can think of off the top of head.
ETA: 30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like? I use Michelle's sock pattern for my socks and those fit my feet ab fab. I have never actually measured my foot but I gather its a woman's avg. I think the feature I most enjoy is the ribbing over top of foot part~ makes for a very nice fitting sock.
Posted by Elka at 09:25 PM | Comments (2)
Two Down One More to Go
My RS starts at the top with two saddles. First step CO provisionally. There are quite a few ways to do a provi CO. I used to do some sorta Itsy bitsy spider weaving in and out with needle between two different yarns bit. There are actually several varients on this manuever~ I like Barbara Walkers in Knitting from the Top. Then there is CO with different yarn and change to new yarn either before or after knitting a few rows to inches. And then there is the crochet a chain with a handful more chain sts and pick up purl bumps method. I recently learned a varient on this crochet CO and tried to take pictures.
The method is to make a loop with a different yarn, I use a smooth cotton, and place onto crochet hook. Snug it up. Now place your working needle between crochet hook and working thread. The needle is above the working thread. Take the hook over the needle, catch your working thread, pull it down to make a chain. You have just wrapped the working thread around the needle in the process of creating a chain. Your working thread will now be over the needle and between needle and hook. Run the working thread around needle tip to back of needle. Don't loop it over the needle! Ok pictures which hopefully will clarify:
OK we see the original loop on hook, needle over and between working thread/hook, grabbing working thread, pulling working thread down over needle into loop to create chain, moving thread back behind needle between needle/crochet hook, working thread back in positio, several stitches being worked and finally When you have CO one less stitch than called for in pattern~ slide the loop on crochet hook onto needle. Leave a few inches tails on both ends of chain and switch to your main yarn.
For the title of todays post we turn to snafu #2~ being a dumb eff. I worked my provi CO, taking a slew of pictures {4X what you see here so I could edit out the suck ass ones tyvm} like a good blogger, and started my first saddle. First thought "hmmm why isn't she having us work a plain knit row first? This sure is gonna be hard to pick up sts in order with them being knits and purls and increases and all...." Second thought " hmmmmmm why didn't she mirror image these cables? I cannot possibly be the only person who likes mirror imaged cables....." Finished the first saddle CO for second and whats the first sentance 'knit one row' Arghhhhhhh. I went ahead and knit the first row since it had been a mental flag moment during first saddle and muttered yep much nicer. OK we needed to knit 3 saddles. And since we were gonna knit a third anyway why not just mirror image those little cables? Here are saddles one and two:
On the right you might be able to see how the yellow thread is kinda weaving in and out of bottom edge which would make it harder to pick up those stitches evenly once unzipped. And now a closeup of second saddle with mirror imaged 1/1 cables or crossed stitched. A real wasted effort considering how dark the yarn is and how its near impossible to see the cables anyway. Still it pleases me to know I did it.
Kidlet has checkup today so look for sockity progress tomorrow. Great yarny day and knitterly evening y'all
Posted by Elka at 07:37 AM | Comments (2)
September 12, 2005
Back in the Saddle?
Try as I might I cannot seem to get organized and with it lately. I have not purchased my handy dandy blocking aids and have not done a cheesy blocking job sans aids. I really will blog the whole process when I do all that.
Last week I finished up a reknit for Colinette gals and it was a major bummer. I hate reknits. To reward myself for completing this task I called, yes on the phone, my friend Ms Liz to inquire if I still had an open invitation to crash at her joint. Yes? Yay! Off to Rhinebeck I go.
Rumor has it that all Sheepie fests require a special garment. One knit under the wire. With tons of updates on blog to show our inability to complete the garment in time. Here is a picture of my first ever Rhinebeck sweater:
I am having a wee bit of a problem getting gauge so my strip shows 3 different 'swatches.' I get row gauge on the first swatch but its too big stitch wise. The center swatch is spot on for sts but wicked too short. The third is spot on stitch wise again and halfway between first and second row wise. Since I enjoy a nice firm fabric I am going with the wicked short gauge. Don't ever let Elka accidentally knit a too firm fabric whilst swatching. She will usually prefer the firm to the limp. Please don't go there.
Now that I have set up my Rhinebeck sweater with first challenge properly blogged I can mention the second, more likely to maybe be completed in time, Rhinebeck knit. Socks. Remember the sock I had finished last week and Co for the second? I know I stuck a picture up somewhere. Here is the crazy progress I have made:
Oh yeah baby. Mad skills. Zoom zoom zoom. natch. Til laters~ yarny days and knitterly evenings y'all
Posted by Elka at 09:57 AM | Comments (2)