Still knitting

Is it really the 19th? Will I finish? Here's the list:

Dec 25th due date:
Pair of socks
Slippers to felt
Whip (before you start thinking too hard - it was promised as a joke for my friend and her band)
Muppet hands (aka fingerless gloves out of some seriously furry yarn)

Dec 27th due date:
FBS

Dec 30th due date:
OSW
Yoga bag

How is it that this list looks so managable? Why am I stressed? Perhaps all the other UFO's in the basket:
Branching out, Claptois, lace leaf socks, blanket, hourglass sweater, garter stitch sweater to re-neck, everything bag, ribbed scarf, rebecca lace sweater.....

Or maybe all the planned UFO's:
another FBS, 3 other lace shawls, 2 entrelac shawls, monster slippers, tea cozy, pocket pals, another red riding hood scarf, brioche hat, lace and tuck ensemble, rebecca skirt....

I have begun knitting on the walk to work again. If I go out to bars, I will bring the knitting with me. More so in hopes of disuading boys I wouldn't like anyways than in the belief I'll really get more knitting done. Knitting interferes with drinking! I have also finally figured out the basics of spinning (after much glaring at the instructions) Not that I'm good, but I made a foot of yarn :) And bought more roving. Sorry for the lack of pictures - I left my camera at home again.

I'm overwhelming glad to be done with finals forever. And one step closer to being done with school. It's such a relief to have direction and solid goals again instead of the ambiguity that is grad school. I will leave here. My knitting and I are off like a prom dress....

Perhaps not the best line to end on :)

Big times

Still frantically knitting - got my "learn how to spin" kit the other day - and still haven't learned how to spin (I'm a visual person) Haven't made it to SnB the past few weeks because I've been working (either with the family or at real work). I'm still in denial about Christmas. Sure, I'll get all my gifts done...

Right....

Things are good since I decided to finish up school (see my other blog of superfluous rambling about it). I'm hoping it'll combat all my problems at once - finishing up school means doing more work which means less time to sit at home and feel frustrated that my boyfriend is far busier than I am (and doesn't think we need to see eachother as often as I seem to think we do. Analytically, I can pin this as a response to my last relationship and its end in Feb)

So. Knitting will be back soon. Promise.

Lapse in posting

I have been frantically knitting and working the past few weeks, realizing that November is winding down (I know that when my birthday gets close I am in serious trouble if I'm still knitting Christmas gifts) Going out to dinner tonight and SF this weekend for my birthday (wonder if I can knit and eat at the same time?), home for a cancelled group meeting (argh), then back north to see my family for Thanksgiving (and my actual birthday instead of this week-long celebration).

In knitting news:

Backyard leaves arrived from Carolyn (please ignore my shiny face and messy room) I really love this scarf, the detail, the color. She did a wonderful job on it and I've gotten alot of compliments on it. Thanks Carolyn!

Started making some Fuzzy feet - no pics yet.


Finished my 'machine/handknit hybrid' sweater - here it is blocking. I'm not too impressed with it - in spite of all my calculations, it still came out a little short in the body (though the arms are fine) Because of the math headache in changing gauge, I decided to use customized graph paper and tracing to rewrite the sleeve pattern. I think this approach worked much better than all the math would have.

Lastly - I've read about spinning so much lately it was inevitible. I was browing the sale room at my LYS, waiting for my car to be ready, when I found it. A drop spindle for 50% off. Sigh. This only leads to more stash accumulation. :)

Socktoberfest

My one sock - I'm frantically knitting up the cuff of the second and will take another (more creative) picture later. I've really enjoyed this - it was my first time making my own pattern (toe up with short-row heel). Though it wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be, I'm still pretty impressed with myself :)

If only research was this simple to enjoy...

Thanks for organizing this Lolly!



Update! I finished them! I'm still getting used to the mismatch of the stripes, but it's not sock yarn so I didn't expect them to match. They're nice and warm for this, um, not so cold October weather? Hmm. Perhaps I should move to a colder climate....



Socks get their own photo shoot.

So far I've knit a scarf and the front of a sweater on my machine - I'm not overly thrilled with my machine (it jams and drops stitches and all that when I try to decrease), but it definitely makes knitting stockinette go much faster. Overall, I like it. I'll include some pictures when I've blocked the scarf.

Additionally, I finally gave in and frogged the bind off on my mom's FBS - I have to block it still, but I think the points will be better this time around. In short, many pictures to come!

One down -

One (sock) more to go. I'll post pictures as soon as I remember to take them :)

Lots of knitting this weekend - I've been at home sick (haha, I typed sock) with a cold the past few days so I've put my sweater machine to use and churned out the front and half a back for a sweater. I still feel strange making something "machine knit." Then I look at all the yarn crammed into my tiny room and get over it. There are still plenty of things to knit by hand :)

Realizing I've got alot to do for my Christmas list:
2 shawls for mom
A few OSW's for friends
Some fingerless gloves for friends
2 pairs of socks for dad and possibly brother
That infamous sweater I had to frog and restart....maybe next Christmas....

Hmm...what am I doing at work when I have all this knitting to do?

FO's and Soctoberfest!

First off - a finished OSW (I think this is my third?) I'm still learning how to tweak the pattern - brilliant me figured out the stitches between the markers correspond to the shoulder-to-shoulder measurement - so if my guage is off all I need to do is figure out how many stitches match that measurement and STOP. Though I think her idea of 18 inches is smaller than mine....


Next - Hillary's Turtleneck Shrug for Stitch ya neck out

I've enjoyed working on this (no seams! How exciting!) though I was frustrated to run out of yarn despite being on gauge and having the amount of yarn the pattern called for. It'll go out in the mail soon.

Lastly, I joined Lolly's Soctoberfest
And learned how to do a figure 8 cast on - I have to say I like toe up socks now that I've done a pair (more so than the cuff down socks I learned on from Weekend Knitting) Seems easier to customize to your feet and yarn.

Yarn Crawl, FO's, and WIPs galore

This weekend Teresa and I went on a yarn crawl through Long Beach and Orange County (I'll send you to her blog since none of my pictures turned out). We began our journey at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company, where I had to seriously restrain myself - only the first store and I'm already overwhelmed by the selection of hand-dyed yarn (my thing these days) and mohair and....well, you get the idea. I bought a couple of Rowan magazines and ran out to avoid spending more. We then went to Lis Cat, where the folks at the table offered us coffee (they must have known how sleepy I was) Cute place with a pretty good selection of yarn, but nothing for the projects on my list. We then took a break to eat at Sushi of Naples - a short two blocks for Lis Cat and offering a wide selection of sushi and non-sushi. I'd have to say my favorite was the choice of sides you could get with your rolls: boiled spinach, vegetables, rice, and french fries. Yes, french fries in a sushi place. Of course I ordered them :)

Refueled on sushi, Teresa and I made our way to the Yarn Lady - I'd been looking forward to this store the most (ever since I saw her selection at the TGKA convention last summer). I wasn't disappointed - I found more yarn than I hoped for and even gave in and bought some Rowan yarn for once. The selection is amazing and we browsed for at least an hour. Finally, credit card pleading for a break, we went on to Velona Yarns and Needlecraft. I was a little wary given some of the reviews I'd read (one in particular has vowed never to go back). It's true, the store is crammed with yarn and very hard to browse. That didn't stop me from finding some more Rowan though :) And seeing a 45-year-old wallet.

Finally, our last stop was Stitches in Time in Bellflower. The streets were empty - no one on the sidewalks and not many cars on the road. We got what we thought was rock star (or Doris Day) parking only to find the front door locked. Peering in, we saw people and decided to try for the back door. The owners were very friendly and they had a good selection (including a yarn called "Frisky!"). Point of note - there's a store called Hootchie Mama Party Clothing a block down on the other side of the street. Just in case you wanted to know.

Our credit cards tired and our bags full, we headed home, encountering just enough traffic to remember why we'd left LA. The goods:


The blue is slated for this:

Lady Elenor Entrelac Stole from Scarf Style

The tweedy grey for this:

Lace and Tuck Ensemble for Interweave Knits Fall 2004

And the other grey for this:

Long Shawl-collar Coat from Hollywood Knits Style
sans child of course.

Finally - Turtleneck Shrug for Hillary from stitch ya neck out is mostly done - I've run out of yarn and bound off, pending discovery of more of the yarn in the same dye lot. I'm a little disappointed in the pattern writer - it seems like everyone on the swap list who made this ran out of yarn a few inches short of the neck end. But it is cute :)

I leave you now with some WIPs:

Everything bag, side 2, from Hollywood Knits Style

Another OSW

Lace knee highs, sock 1, from Interweave Knits Winter 2004

Somewhere in there I'll be making some gifts too....somewhere....

Just further proof -

that if it exists, you can make a cozy for it. If all else fails, give 'em a cozy. Well, only if they're women....The last thing a woman wants is a cold tampon. :)

Busily knitting away at Hillary's turtleneck shrug - I fear I'm running into the same problem as everyone else. Even though I'm on gauge, I think I'm going to run out of yarn. I'm at 5" now in the neck, but the pattern calls for 8". Going to have to email Hillary and see what she thinks...

Starting also to realize I haven't started any of my winter birthday and Christmas gifts yet....uh-oh!

Knitting Support

877-SOS-KNIT. Toll free and hilarious. Thank you Yarn Harlot :)

So apparently a bunch of grandmothers knit a big, pink bunny. Oh, really big. And on top of a mountain. And, um, they're going to leave it there for 20 years....I just want to know who got stuck with the finishing....that's got to be alot of seams...

By far, the more creepy of the two pictures. 

You can't really see it, but this is the beginnings of branching out using a silk-wool blend. I'm hoping it'll show up more when I block it! 

My mom's second FBS - I'm not as pleased with this one as I was with the first. I didn't pay attention to the bind-off (seems to be a common problem with me these days) and couldn't pull out the points. So I blocked it upside down...still contemplating frogging the last row, but I don't really want to pick up that many stitches.... 

Cindy's OSW - ignore the little strings in the corner - I was trying to hide the ends I hadn't woven in. I think (hope) it'll fit now after I redid the bind-off. I love the yarn - soft and very red - I may need to get my own! 

Finally - pictures. Here's a lovely shot of Amy's 2nd sock - one of the 2 projects I have at work with me. I'm using Kim's pattern for a toe-up short sock - seems to work well with cotton yarn! 

Hillary's Turtleneck Shrug, also with me at work :) I'm an inch or so from the bind-off from the shoulders and should get alot done tonight at SnB!

If you haven't checked it out - Margene and Susan have been tracking Red Cross donations from knitters - over $65,000 right now.

Slowly digging through the stash

I've been making some good progress on all my projects - Amy's socks, Cindy's OSW, Mom's FBS, Steve's penguin, and the scarf pal's Turtleneck shrug. I also failed to resist the urge to cast on more projects. Oh well - knitter's ADD.

Socks - I like the color and texture of the yarn, but I don't think I'll be making socks with cotton again any time soon. They just aren't elastic enough - though it's less of a problem with the footlets I'm making.

OSW - beautiful yarn - I'll get Cindy to take a picture when I give it back to her. Despite checking guage, it still turned out a bit small. So I took out the last row, did another round of ribbing on larger needles, and did some crazy bind off that's supposed to be more elastic. Once I find it in the pile of boxes, I'll weave in the ends and maybe block it....though it may be ok for now....

FBS - sigh. I did the wrong bind off for this one and so blocked it upside down to cope with the tight edge. I thought about undoing the last row, but decided I wasn't into that much pain.

Penguin - pattern from knitty. When I first started bringing my knitting into lab I got alot of requests from the boys for knit items. The most realistic were the finger puppets. Steve wanted a sloth, but settled for a penguin finger puppet. Now he gets a stuffed penguin to keep it company. :)

Turtleneck shrug - still coming along nicely. Ribbing doesn't seem as hard as it did when I first started. I think Nate's sweater had alot to do with that. I'm slowly approaching the bind off for the shoulders. I'd better get cracking though!

It's been very busy lately with packing and travelling and moving. I'm in the last stages of unpacking/purging. I still have way more stuff than I need, but I can see my floor. And open my fridge. I finally got to have tea this morning - little steps...

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Knit 1 purl 2

hope I don't have to frog you

The new little ditty than runs through my mind as I work on the Flower Basket Shawl on the bus. The first one around I did fine on. However shawl #2 has some issues - mostly because I was watching a movie on a plane to New York when I started it ;) Just a little distracted....But it's almost done and I don't think the mistakes are big enough to show....

I gave in and ordered a swift to make the ball-winding go faster. Thank goodness for 50% coupons as JoAnn's! I also received my scarf swap materials this week and will be casting on for the Turtleneck Shrug. Sony wrote me to say they got my camera, so hopefully I'll be back in business in the next month or so for pictures!

Still plugging away at gifts for others and scaring people on public transit everywhere. :) The guy next to me on the plane gave up as soon as I pulled out my needles :) Didn't phase the old men on the bus today though. Though that may have been due to the beer they were drinking at the time...

This weekend brings a major cleaning out of my stash...must...free up...space!

On a roll

of posting that is. I'm still bummed about my camera - still waiting on the receipt to get it repaired. I'm inching closer and closer to finishing this OSW - I'm loving how this yarn has subtle little darker and lighter areas. Part of they beauty of hand-dyed yarn.

Finally shipped my yarn off for the swap - it's a somewhat boring yarn, but I really liked the color and I already had it :) Though with my stash, that's not a suprise...

So behind!

So much has been going on lately - did my first round of yarn dyeing with Kool Aid on Saturday - I would have taken pictures but I found out my camera is broken :( A call home luckily tracked down the receipt so I can get it repaired under warranty (whew) I'm very pleased with how it all turned out though, will have to do it again soon.

Started up my friend Amy's socks using a pattern from Kim's blog - this will be my first pair of toe-up socks, so we'll see how it goes :)

Started another OSW, reorganized all my yarn into project bins (in the hopes I would be able to find things faster. In reality, I just wanted to see how much yarn I could spread on my floor. Marie the cat about died and went to heaven)

Most fun (so far), I went to San Diego with Teresa to go to the Yarn Harlot's book signing. So much fun - Teresa makes a good road trip partner and we've already started plotting an "around LA" yarn crawl. This was only the second time I'd been back to SD since Nate and I broke up, which made it a little weird. But having travelled to SD so much came in handy when tracking down food afterwards :) The Grove was a neat place - mixing of books, jewelry, and yarn (add shoes and beverages and I am moving in) Being surrounded by so many other knitters is always fun too :)

Sigh - back to work, then to group meeting. Fun stuff this research bit.

And the finally finished poncho from Weekend Knitting. Mostly pleased with it, don't know when I'll wear it here. LA isn't exactly in poncho season right now.... 

Yet another scarf - progress in depleting stash? Eh, it goes :) 

This and that

First of all, I've joined my first swap - Stitch ya neck out I'm really excited, but nervous too...should be fun.

Last night's SnB was great - showed off Asana, saw some other amazing FO's. Heard all about the Scientology trip (aka Hypocrisy with a Homebase) Something about their approach and aversion to therapy though what they put you through could qualify as therapy...well, really irks me. I have a low tolerance for hypocrites. Which makes me somewhat hypocritical...ooh, my head hurts.

Also learned about some fun blogs - Overheard in New York and Overhead in the Office. Though with yesterday's office conversation about a farm in the Northwest that caters to bestiality...well, I'm not sure I'd want to overhear any office conversations.

Finally, ran across this technique for knitting in the round (Magic loop). Though I usually do ok knitting socks and stuff, this is awfully tempting to try out. Would make my projects more transportable. Though I wouldn't be able to use these any more :(

Lots going on in the knitting arena - still a sock to be finished, the poncho, Cal scarf, BART scarf, and Clappy....and I know more projects will be started :)

Realizing you can sew snaps on to interchange straps?

Priceless

Marvelous revelation last night at JoAnn's. I'd picked out the lining for Asana and was browsing the ribbon selection. Now, I'm a huge fan of ladybugs. But the black and white with pink dots really matched.

And then I realized....

I could sew snaps into the tank and onto the ribbons to make removable straps....in other words, I could buy both ribbons :)

The other customers in the ribbon aisle weren't nearly as excited. Perhaps a little scared, but not excited...

Ribbon 2

Ribbon 1

It's alive!!

The finally finished Asana! Well, almost finished. My seed stitch is a little too loose, I'm going to have to line the top (or wear a hot pink bra, one of the two) But I'm really pleased with how it turned out. If I could only figure out how to fasten the straps with it on....

The back of Asana :) 

The in-flight scarf - took me a few tries with different needles and cast-ons, but I like how it turned out :) Very like a boa... 

The beginnings of the Hourglass Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. Using my own version of Wild Stuff (cuz I'm too cheap to buy it) I'm not too sure about it yet - the lengths of each yarn that I cut make it such that you get about a row of each. Which will make the sleeves very interesting...

Vacation's over kids

The boss and the postdoc are back, no more obvious slacking off at work (ie knitting at my desk while I watch the Muppet Show on my computer) Though with all the financial issues I'm having, I'm tempted to go on strike (see my other blog for full-on ranting about it)

Not much new to report on the knitting front. Asana is coming along nicely, only a few more rows before I have to figure out all the finishing instructions. I've put down socks for a bit, actually made a scarf on the trip up north (figured circular needles would have the best chance of getting through security). Not sure what I'll transition too after Asana - I'm feeling tempted to get some more of the cotton yarn and make Lelah....hmmm....

I'll post some pictures soon!

WIP and FO gallery

A not-so-spectacular pic of me, a good pic of One Skein Wonder. I foresee alot of these being made in the near future :)