The Yarn Princess

2010-11-30T00:06:00.002-05:00

This is a test mobile post.

Okay - coolest thing ever. I know - I'm severely behind the times. But I just set it up so that I can post from my phone. The "This is a test mobile post" came from the phone. And now I can post from my phone. Amazing. This may (or may not) lead to more frequent posting..

A Sweet New Year

2010-09-19T12:46:00.010-04:00

I don't usually post about non- knitting things, but last week, I made an apple tart for Rosh Hashanah and I was pretty pleased about it.

First I started with a mix of apples. A few Gala and a few macs, so that I had some sweet and some tart:

I was lucky that I didn't need to use all of the apples, so I got to eat a few of them! :) They were delicious. I mean, they were Gala and Granny Smith (oh, I crack myself up). But they were still delicious!

Here are all of the ingredients, waiting to be made into a tart:

A few closeups:

The recipe called for apple brandy, but the guy at the liquor store said I could use regular brandy instead of apple brandy because I had the apples in it themselves, so I did, and it saved me from having to buy a $20 bottle of apple brandy that I would probably never use again.

The pre-cooked tart:

And the tart after it came out of the oven:

It was pretty darn delicious if I do say so myself.

Blocking Lace

2010-09-01T22:17:00.004-04:00

I have never really blocked before. But I made this shawl for my mother, and it was all lace. I used silk yarn, and I knew that it really needed to be blocked. So I'm blocking. I followed the instructions on the Yarn Harlot's website and on Eunny Jang's website. I sort of combined the two. And I soaked. And I pulled. And I pinned. And pinned. And pinned. I think I have nearly 300 pins in this shawl. I hope it's dry by the morning.

Oh My God, I Love the Lace

2010-08-16T13:09:00.005-04:00

Lace has always intimidated me. I made an entire shawl that I wound up ripping because I didn't know about blocking (it may still have been too small, even if I did block it). But then I started making the "Simple Elegance" shawl by Krystopher Dixon. Oh my goodness is it lovely. It's only a 16 line repeat with the even rows being purled across, so it's not too intimidating to get through a whole repeat of the pattern. I bought two skeins of the Tonos Pima Silk for it, and the first skein brought me 29 inches of pattern. So total, it would be about 5 feet long, pre-blocking. I have called the store to see if they have one more skein - I would love for it to be a little longer than 5 feet, but I'm okay with it being five feet if they do not.

But I am loving working the pattern. I am loving that a few little yarn overs brings me this fabulous curvacious pattern snaking up the yarn.

Frogging, Frogging, Frogging

2010-08-12T15:29:00.003-04:00

I finished the baby blanket for my friends who had the baby. It was supposed to be a square. You start off with three stitches and increase one stitch each row until you reach the midpoint, then decrease one stitch each row until you get back down to three. See? Square. Mine? Um, not so much a square. It sort of looked square if you held it up but if you tried to fold it, it wouldn't line up right. So I ripped it. Ripped the whole darn thing. I tried blocking it, washing it in the washing machine and pinning it, steam blocking the heck out of it, killing the acrylic, the whole deal. Didn't work. So I ripped it. It was mildly painful, but not so bad because I hated the way it looked. I will re-do it as a regular striped blanket (with the stripes going the long way to look more like pinstripes). And I have a baby outfit and the shrek hat to give her right away, so she'll just have to get the blanket when she gets it.

Under the Gun

2010-08-04T12:04:00.003-04:00

I don't know why I always do this. I am always knitting under the gun. Friends of mine, L and S are having a baby (well, now, have had a baby). They are big Yankee fans, but it didn't occur to me to make a yankee-themed gift for their baby, so I made the Cotton Candy Jacket I mentioned on June 5th. And of course, at the shower, she mentioned something about how the baby, regardless of gender, would be a Yankee fan. So I started a Yankee blanket. Her due date was 8/9/10, but she had the baby yesterday. A little girl, everyone is happy and healthy. And now, I'm under the gun to finish the Yankee blanket! I'm more than halfway done - it's one of those where you increase until you reach x inches across and then decrease in the ensuing rows.

Pumpkin

2010-07-19T15:48:00.004-04:00

My mom always called me "pumpkin" growing up. And now, I have a friend who is pregnant and is due on October 27th. So I made her a pumpkin hat for her baby. If the baby is early or on time, it will be perfect for Halloween. If the baby is not on time, she may just have to tape the hat to her belly for that day :)

Knitting at the Movies

2010-07-06T17:43:00.001-04:00

Tonight, I have plans to meet a friend for dinner and a movie. I haven't been to a movie in a very long time (being that it is an expense I am trying to avoid). So mostly, if I watch a movie, it is at home. The lights are on, and therefore, I knit. Now, I'll be going to a movie, in a theatre, in the dark, with a friend. Who will most certainly look at me as though I am completely bizarre if I attempt to knit in the theatre. I'm wondering if it is worth trying anyway :)

Babies, Babies, Part II

2010-06-24T15:55:00.003-04:00

H's shower is Sunday. I finished the baby sweater for her:
and a baby hat: I have one and a half booties done. This is the one. Not the half. I love both the hat and the sweater, but I don't love the booties. I think I am going to see if I can find a different pattern to make for her. I used Lion Brand's Baby's First and although the yarn splits sometimes, in general, I really liked working with it. It's part acrylic and part cotton, totally machine-washable, and it's bulky, so it knits up quickly. I think I must knit really tightly, because I knit the sweater on size 10s, which it calls for when you use dk or light worsted yarn, and this is definitely bulky. I wish I didn't knit so tightly because I like the way things look when the knit is smaller.

Overpackaging, anyone?

2010-06-15T23:02:00.003-04:00

And we wonder why we have so much landfill. I bought these big balls of yarn at Amazing Savings a few weeks ago. The yarn is very much like the old "Trellis" which I think has been discontinued, but which I loved using for a shawl. So when I saw these, I pounced on them. I was thinking "320 yards isn't *that* much - there must be something in the middle." Oh, was I right. There was a HUGE styrofoam ball in the middle. These pictures are in reverse order and I can't seem to get them flipped around right now, but what you have (bottom to top) is 1) the box of yarn, 2) the big styrofoam ball from the middle, 3) the wound ball of yarn and 4) the wound ball of yarn next to the original box.

Argh. If I didn't love this yarn so much and if it were still available from whatever company made Trellis, I would have returned these all right away. But I'll still be annoyed by it...

Babies, Babies, Babies

2010-06-05T02:05:00.006-04:00

So two of my friends are having babies. I wasn't really expecting baby showers. One is Jewish, and Jews don't traditionally do baby showers (I was especially surprised because L is particularly superstitious, but I guess gifts trump superstition for her), and H lives abroad and I figured she wouldn't be able to come back for a shower. Wrong on both accounts. So one is June 19 and one is June 27. I'm making the Cotton Candy Jacket from the Better Homes and Gardens Hip Knits book because it is the easiest sweater ever. And it's downright adorable. It's all made in one piece and then you just seam up the sides. I do think that the arms need to be a little longer than they call for in the pattern, and the hood needs to be much smaller. So I'll modify. But the good thing is that I'm almost done with the first sweater. I just have to make myself finish it before I start the second one, because I'm really ready to be done with the first.

Someday, I'll think about these things in advance and have lots of baby sweaters made ahead of time like most smart people do...

This is the sweater:

And this is the close up of the super-cute button:

2010-05-11T18:43:00.002-04:00

In October of 2008, I made the following knitting resolutions:

Make at least one charity project per month. This can be as small as a chemo hat or a square for a blanket that will be joined together by others.
Work down the stash before buying new yarn. I know that this is is a pipe dream, but i am going to make an effort not to just keep buying yarn. S o I am going to try to make at least two projects for any one project's worth of yarn that I buy.
Make scrapghans out of whatever leftovers I have that aren't really enough for anything else.
Finish UFOs.

So let's see. I have not really made one charity project per month. But I have made about 30 granny squares, and they are all going to other people, so I think that sort of counts. Not *really* but sort of. I have, been generally pretty good about working down the stash. Not amazing - not by any stretch of the imagination, but pretty good. I've definitely gotten rid of a lot of the stash by knitting it up and some by sending it off to other people. Scrapghans. Hmmm.. well, not so much, but again, granny squares. All in all, I'm using up yarn. And as for the UFOs, I ripped a few, and finished a few, and have a few left.

Final tally: I haven't *quite* lived up to my resolutions, but I'm not doing *horribly* with them, either. Making a few blankets for C's knitting group should help get rid of some of the stash, too.

Striped Ice Cream

2010-05-10T21:43:00.004-04:00

When I was a kid, I read a book called Striped Ice Cream by Joan M. Lexau. I loved the book. It was sweet, and had lovely life lessons, and family members who truly looked out for one another.

Fast forward about 25 years, and my friend C is making blankets with her knitting group to be donated to newborns. I pulled out some red heart baby clouds in pink, light purple and the ever-so-faintest of light blues. I started doing two lines of each, rotating right around, blue, purple, pink, blue, purple, pink, and lo and behold, what I came up with was striped ice cream. Or, well, striped cotton candy is what I really think it looks like. Did 78 lines, then edged the whole thing in the pink. I love it. I want to give it to C., but I may wait to find out if either of my two pregnant friends are having girls... Or I may just make another.

Unfinished Projects

2010-04-21T08:57:00.003-04:00

I had an unfinished project. I don't know when I bought the yarn. I don't know when I started the project. I think it was for me, but I can't be sure about that. It was a Sunday Market Shawl, in a deep purple. Different from the one I made for my friend L., but also purple. About two weeks ago, I found it, and decided to finish it rather than frogging it. It took a while, because I had it on size five needles, but last night, I finally finished it. Yay! I do have a bit of the yarn left, and it will be fun to find some things to do with the rest of it. I suppose this counts toward my stash knit-down because it was definitely yarn in my stash. I think it's a bad sign if you don't know where yarn came from or when you bought it. It's like yarn insomnia. Not a good sign. Just glad to be done with it.

Granny Squares

2010-04-06T09:49:00.003-04:00

Confession: I hate Granny Squares. I think they're ugly as sin.

However, I have been in stash-busting mode for a while now, and am trying to get rid of as much yarn as humanly possible without just sending it all to people (although I am doing a bit of that, too). To this end, on Ravelry, I joined a "Friendship Square Exchange" in which people trade 6" squares. I don't want any, I just want to be able to send them to people. So I contacted the moderator, and she said she would keep me as an "angel" which I guess is just kind of what you have when someone doesn't get whatever it is they are supposed to get in their swap. To be on "angel" status, I told her I would commit to one square a month, and would go from there. I was just going to make one straight-across six inch square, but I thought, "hmmm, let me see if I can make a granny square because then I know it will be 6x6 rather than 6x6.5 or 5.5x6 which is what usually happens when I try to make squares. So I tried it.

And O.M.G. Granny squares are SO MUCH FUN!!!! I made 20 of them this weekend. I blew through a bunch of my smaller balls of scrap yarn. I did different combinations. I did solid squares, squares of variegated yarns, squares of two or more yarns. I have ones that look like flowers because of their colors, and ones that are color-coordinated with others. I have ones that are so ugly that I cannot stand to look at them. I have five made out of the Lion Brand Imagine in a sea green that I think would work well as four corners and a middle of a blanket. As soon as I take pictures, I am going to post them and figure out how to get them to the best homes possible.

I still hate Granny Squares. I still think they're ugly as sin. But I LOOOOOOOVE making them.

Just One More Row

2010-03-24T19:05:00.007-04:00

I found this site:

Waaay down at the bottom is the "Progressive Procrastinations of a Knitter."

http://anacleta.homestead.com/knittinghumor.html

It is so me. When I was a kid, I used to do this with reading. My father would come in and tell me to turn out the light. I would say, "I just want to finish my chapter." He would make me show him how much I had left, and he would say, "Okay, I'll be back in a little bit." I would read voraciously until he returned, and would make sure I was into the middle of the next chapter. He would say, "Time to turn out the lights" and I would say, "Oh, but look, I just have a few pages left until the end of the chapter." I cannot even imagine how many extra hours of reading I scammed in this fashion while I was a kid. Now that I'm an adult, I have to be the bad guy myself. If I don't have work the next day, I have been known to stay up until 3 or 4 to finish a book. I'm not always such a good bad guy.

And yeah. Now I do it with knitting, too.

Frogs on His Nose

2010-03-18T23:21:00.002-04:00

Passover is rapidly approaching. One of the parts of the story we tell on this holiday recounts the 10 plagues that God sent to entice Pharaoh into letting the Israelites leave Egypt. They are (funny, in my head, I can recite them in Hebrew, but for the English, I have to go look them up):

Blood
Frogs
Lice
Flies
Cattle Disease
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of the Firstborn

It's not so much fun to sing songs about cattle disease or boils, maybe, but there's a really cute song we always sang as kids. It goes, "One day King Pharaoh awoke in his bed/there were frogs in his bed/there were frogs on his head/Frogs on his nose and frogs on his toes/Frogs here/Frogs there/Frogs were jumping everywhere."

Yeah. Sometimes I think we might be mildly ill, you know, as a people. But for my seder (the dinner and telling of the story) I wanted to make a couple of frogs. I decided to make them Amigurumi. I made one, but he looks a little funny. I'll take some pictures of him this weekend. He didn't come out as cute as Ralph the Octopus, but maybe I'll feel differently about him once he's completely finished.

And, no. I'm not knitting hail with which to pelt my guests...

Multi-Tasking

2010-03-17T23:08:00.002-04:00

Things I can do while knitting:

Talk on the phone
Watch TV
Carry on a conversation at a cafe
Listen to music
Enjoy live sporting events
Ride in/on trains, planes or automobiles

A new thing I have discovered (in addition to the existing list) I cannot do while knitting:

Eat sunflower seeds with the shells on.

Again, lesson learned.

Blocking Lace

2010-03-07T09:48:00.002-05:00

I've been reading all of these posts on Ravelry about how important it is to block lace, and how it really makes the pattern what it is supposed to be. Which leads me to a few dilemmas. First, I'm making this Easy Lace Stashbuster Scarf out of brushed acrylic. I know that acrylic doesn't really "block" but I don't know if this would be any different. So I don't know if it would work at all. I should just do a swatch and try to block it, but the lana polo that I'm using does not rip well at all -- it becomes tangled in itself and I just have to throw it away. I know that if I do that, I would wind up throwing away the swatch because there would be nothing else that could be done with it. Second, if it does work, I have no idea how long to make the scarf pre-blocking. I have trouble determining how long a scarf should be to begin with, before you throw this blocking stuff into the mix. Someday, when I can afford nice, natural fibers, I'll be better able to predict stuff like this.

I am NOT a Morning Person

2010-03-03T10:16:00.002-05:00

Case in point. Last evening, I cast on the Easy Lace Stashbuster Scarf. I worked on it through a few television shows, and got about a foot into it. I was good, and at about 12:30, turned off the TV, and actually got into bed. If I had my druthers (such a strange word - dictionary.com tells me that it comes from the combination of "I'd" and "rather" - who knew!) I would stay up all night knitting until 5 or 6 am, and then sleep until noon. This is not limited to knitting. It is also my favorite way to read, clean, or do any number of other projects. I am, and have always been, an "owl" when it comes to circadian rhythms. I am not, however, a lark, never have been, never will be. In fact, after my shower, I like to crawl back into bed for a 15 or 20 minute "post-shower nap." This morning, however, I decided to do just a few rows on my scarf instead of indulging in the nap. Boy was this a mistake. I did a row, and then had to tink it back because I only had 19 stitches in between my garter border instead of 20. I think I did this three times before tinking back the row below and realizing where I had messed it up. Then I did a few more rows, and somehow wound up with 17 stitches. I had to tink back once again -- this time a few rows. Let me just share: mohair (or acrylic's mohair equivalent) does *not* tink well.

Lesson learned. Tonight, I knit. Tomorrow morning, I nap.

Under the Gun

2010-03-02T10:36:00.004-05:00

Why must I always wait until too close to my deadline to start any given project? I have a party coming up on the 13th. Less than 2 weeks away. Have I known about this party long? Only, oh, since about the middle of January. Why did I not start on something to give the birthday girl before now? No answer to that. No reason. No valid reason, at least. I think I just wasn't thinking about it.

I figure, though, that I do have nearly 2 weeks, and I might be able to finish a nice lace scarf for H, my birthday girl. I am going to attempt this: http://hockeymomknits-donna.blogspot.com/2007/08/easy-lace-stashbuster-scarf.html -- I think it is beautiful, it looks fairly easy, as I do not have a lot of experience with lace, and it was made for a "fuzzy sport weight acrylic" which is exactly the yarn I have for it. So I hope I can do it, I hope I can get it done, and I hope she likes it. It's a friend from London, so I hope a hand-made gift looks charming and thoughtful, instead of cheap.

This is the scarf in progress:

Would It Be So Wrong

2010-02-25T23:08:00.003-05:00

... to wish for snow? Two, three feet of wet, heavy, packed snow that blocks the roads and closes governmental offices and stops the trains and makes it impossible for me to go to work tomorrow and requires, instead, that I stay home and knit and bake? Since September, I have had exactly two days off from work, and have taken 2 sick days -- days when I was really, truly, unbelievably sick and couldn't get out of bed (stupid migraines). So really, would it be so bad if I could have a fun snow day at home?

Somehow, I don't think it's going to happen. Just like I don't think it's going to happen for me to win the 99 million dollar mega-millions jackpot. Doesn't keep me from wishing, though.

Ralph

2010-02-25T01:16:00.010-05:00

This is the cutest thing ever. I wouldn't have made it - I like functional things, generally, but I showed it to my friend and she loved him and said she would like one for her office. So I made an Octopus Amigurumi. He is made entirely of stash yarn - about 138 feet of it - and he only took an evening to make. I think he's rather adorable.

Peachy-Keen, Jelly Bean

2010-02-23T23:19:00.003-05:00

Denise of Lost City Knits is giving away yarn through a contest on her blog, http://www.lostcityknits.blogspot.com/. In return for your contest entry, she would like to know how you eat peaches. Of course, I entered. What I said was: My favorite peach-eating method is fresh, with a nice somewhat firm resistance in the skin, and the feel of the fuzz against your lips. The kind that you eat with a paper towel or a napkin in the non-peach hand ready to catch the juices that escape the mouth and rapidly cascade down the chin threatening to drop onto whatever clothes you are wearing - no fabric avoids the peach nectar.

What I didn't add is that my non-baking grandmother had a recipe for peach pie, which of course she made with canned peaches, but the description of which was accompanied by a hand motion indicating how one is to lay out the peaches. Although my grandmother has been dead for nearly twenty five years, the hand motion survives.

Also the Body Shop used to have these perfume oils (they may still have them - I just don't know) and my friend and I used to go and get the sample paper things with the peach oil on them. We stuck one in between the pages of a journal we kept of important things, and years later, when I opened the book, I was instantly transported due to the lingering scent.

The Elephant in the Room

2010-02-17T09:39:00.005-05:00

If I don't mention how long it's been since I last posted, maybe no one will notice. Right?

I've been very busy knitting, and not so busy blogging. Since last post, I made a blanket for K, a bunch of scarves, two hats for L, a bunch of squares to send out to people on the RAK list on Ravelry, a blanket for K&L, a garter for C's wedding, and a scarf out of the Sunday Market Shawl Pattern that I wound up ripping because I didn't like it.

Last weekend, I joined up with the Ravelympics, and have been having fun challenging myself. The challenge for me hasn't been so much of the sort where I say, "I'm going to make three sweaters during the Olympics" but rather something where I can look at my stash and my projects and let the Ravelympics sort of guide it. I think it's been fun.

I'm also test-crocheting a pattern, and apparently, not doing it right at all... That will be remedied this week, I hope!!!

Dry Spell

2009-07-26T06:30:00.004-04:00

Eek. Four months. The days passed and I was doing things, I was knitting, I was even occasionally taking pictures of my knit things. And yet, I failed to blog. I don't know why. I simply didn't do it. I was recently hanging out with my cousin and he said to me, "Do you blog?" I said no. He meant that I should blog about legal stuff, which, really, I have no interest in doing. I have enough trouble blogging about the knitting, which requires only the emotional connection and no research or substantiated opinions.

So. In the past four months, since the slouchy beret (I will take pictures, but I think I may be frogging it in favor of making a lacy scarf), I made a blanket for my cousin for her graduation party, a blanket for my secretary's son and his wife for their new baby, a scarf, hat and mittens set for the grand-daughter of one of the women at work, a pair of mittens for my friend, and sixty (yes, sixty) sachets for my friend's bridal shower favors. I have loved each and every project in its own way. I especially love these favors, though I will admit that I was exceptionally bored with making them by the end.

The favors:

Spring Star Crossed Slouchy Beret

2009-03-16T00:52:00.002-04:00

I started the spring star-crossed slouchy beret. The yarn is yummy, the pattern not too difficult (although I think I may have made a mistake). I didn't have 24" size 11 circulars, so I used size 13s. I think I may have to rip it and make it on 11s. But I think I will finish it first to see if I like it.

This hat will either look amazingly dumb on me, or will be really cute.

Knitting Dreams

2009-02-21T12:42:00.003-05:00

So last night, I had a dream that I was supposed to have brunch with my friend at 10 am. I called her to tell her that I was going to be a few minutes late, that I just had to stop into the knitting store. I went into my LYS (which was in a different place and looked completely different, but the owner was still herself) and I stayed there until 7 pm knitting and hanging out with the other people in the yarn shop. I just kept calling my friend and telling her that I was going to be a little later, and a little later. I just didn't want to leave. It was a great feeling. But a weird dream.

February's Charity Project

2009-02-19T21:42:00.004-05:00

My February charity project was not very big. Merely six inches by six inches. But it makes me feel really good. It restores my faith in the future, and encourages me that we will be in good hands when the next generation comes along.

Reiley is a 12 year old from New Mexico. For her school's Pay it Forward project, she started a group on Ravelry to collect 6x6 inch squares to be combined into blankets. She has had great success and has collected dozens and dozens of squares and has completed lots and lots of blankets.

Check out her blog here: http://thehookiepookie.typepad.com/

This is the square that I contributed (this is Reiley's picture of it -- I forgot to take one before I sent it off).

And that's the stationery behind it, that I used to write Reiley a note when I sent her my square.

If I had been more on the ball, I would have made more. But I was glad to at least be able to complete one. Thanks Reiley for doing this project!

Sunday Market Shawl

2009-02-03T16:31:00.002-05:00

I started the Sunday Market Shawl with the Rowan Cashsoft yarn. I love working with this yarn. It's so smooth and soft. I am a little worried because the shawl says that it should be 65 inches after blocking. Right now, I'm two skeins into the project and I'm at about 44 inches. I am hopeful that I'll be able to get another 20 inches or so out of the last part of this third skein. And then I hope that it will get a little bit longer when I do the drop stitch part and then I may still be able to block it to be a little bit longer.

The knitting itself is getting a little bit frustrating. I feel like I've been working on it forever, although I know that it hasn't really been all that long. I'll be happy when it's all done.

Wow, this sounds like a really griping post... Guess some days are like that. Even when we're doing what we like to do.

Working Down the Stash

2009-01-20T00:03:00.002-05:00

As always, a goal is working down my stash... I don't know how I acquired quite so much yarn, and so I am trying to get down to the point where I mostly just buy what I need for projects and then only have a few skeins lying around in case I need to quickly make a gift or something.

Today, I started a blanket for project linus (it will be my January charity project, as per my goals in the Busting Up The Stash Group on Ravelry). Because someone mentioned that crochet takes up more yarn than knitting, and because I don't particularly like having to border blankets in knitting, I decided to crochet this one. I'm using a size J hook, and crocheting six rows of red, two rows of white, and on and on until I am finished. There is something about it that reminds me of Little Orphan Annie, but what I like about the bright red is that it is appropriate for either boys or girls. Of course, now I am worried that I won't have enough yarn to finish it, but I don't mind buying a skein or two to get 10 out of my house. The logic is slightly fuzzy, yes, but I am not only the princess of yarn, I am also a princess of rationalization. I can rationalize almost anything -- especially yarn purchases....

Birthday Yarn

2009-01-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

Last week was my birthday. All of the people from work chipped in and got me two skeins of yarn. One is the Misti Alpaca handpainted chunky in a color called delphinium (I have always wanted to try Misti Alpaca) and one is a Jo Sharp Kid Lustre Alpaca in a bright fuchsia. I love them both. Of course, I returned to Modern Yarn in Morristown to purchase the rest of the Jo Sharp that they had in that dye lot because really, how much can one do with one skein of it? Not much. So now I have four of them. I want to make something other than a scarf or a shawl, because I feel like that is all that I do, but I don't have enough to make a sweater with it. I am thinking maybe fingerless gloves, but it's always like a hundred degrees in my office.

With the Misti Alpaca, I am making the Sunday Market Shawl, but I did 30 across and there wasn't enough yarn. I'm now trying 15 across. And if that doesn't work, I will probably give up on this pattern and seek to make something else. Today I had to convince one of the givers of the yarn that it's really okay that I started something and ripped it (I didn't confess that I got all the way through the ball of yarn).

Today, I also had to entertain questions about my row counter. It's a question I get more than just about any other. I get asked how it knows to switch. I have to say, "Um, because I move it." People don't get that. They assume that it's going to move all on its own, and I have to explain that no, what I'm doing is actually making the creation process less automated by knitting by hand. People are funny.

Whackadoodle

2009-01-06T17:42:00.000-05:00

One of the women at work keeps calling other people in our office “whackadoodles.” I’d never heard of it before, but I want to make her a whackadoodle. What do you think one would look like? Post your pattern links here or in response to my post on Ravelry. The winning pattern suggester will win a prize (to be determined – I have to decide on the prize yet…)

Seedy Stockinette Baby Blanket

2008-12-28T14:32:00.009-05:00

My friend is having a baby, so I made a hat, booties, and wanted to make a simple blanket. I didn't find any pattern that I liked, so I created this one:

Seedy Stockinette Baby Blanket

Finished Size: About 36" wide and 40" long
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, 7 oz Soft White, 7 oz Light Blue, 7 oz Dark Blue
Needles: Size 6 (4mm). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows = 4" (10 cm) in St st
Skill Level: Easy

Cast on 130 stitches.

Rows 1-14, Soft White, seed stitch.

Rows 15-28, Do 10 stitches in Soft White in Seed Stitch. On stitch 11, switch to Dark Blue, work in stockinette stitch until last 10 stitches. Switch back to Soft White, work in seed stitch until end.

Rows 29-42, Soft White. Work first ten stitches in seed stitch, work in stockinette until last 10 stitches. Work last 10 stitches in seed stitch.

Rows 42-56, Do 10 stitches in Soft White in Seed Stitch. On stitch 11, switch to Light Blue, work in stockinette stitch until last 10 stitches. Switch back to Soft White, work in seed stitch until end.

Rows 57-70, Soft White. Work first ten stitches in seed stitch, work in stockinette until last 10 stitches. Work last 10 stitches in seed stitch.

Repeat Rows 15-70 until blanket reaches about 38" or desired length. End with 14 rows of seed stitch in soft white.

Knitting for the Office Christmas Party

2008-12-23T18:25:00.007-05:00

I finished my knitting for the Office Christmas Luncheon. I put the scarves in these absolutely adorable bags. I fluffed them all with tissue paper. I gave them to their recipients. Only one person even opened hers, although I will say, she loved hers. I was very happy with the way they all came out, and I hope that when the other four people open theirs that they like them. I may be joining the "Selfish Knitters Group" on Ravelry. I really worked hard on the scarves, and it was a little disappointing that no one even cared to see what I gave them. A big part of giving gifts, for me, is the joy in seeing someone open the gift, the joy in knowing that they appreciate the gift and will use it. I'm trying not to feel too snubbed with my gifts...

These are the scarves that I made:

For JC:

For DA:

For MLB:
For DJV:
For TB:
And these are the bags for them:

friday freaky fun fact & foto

2008-12-20T16:51:00.013-05:00

Yesterday, Velma tagged me in her friday freaky fun fact & foto post. This is the first time anyone has done anything like this, so I hope I do it correctly! And I suppose mine is really a saturday freaky fun fact & foto, as it were...

Okay. the freaky fun fact: Prior to digital, you could really tell the difference between professional photographers and lay photographers, generally speaking. I find now that far many more people will get really good digital cameras. But before that, if you had really good equipment, people assumed you were a professional. So one time, I went to this balloon festival, and because I had great equipment, I simply walked around the little orange fencing and into the press tent and started changing my film. I was chatting with photographers from the local paper and USA today and the NY Times and Time/Life. No one asked me for my press pass or asked what I was doing there or where I worked. Granted, you couldn't do this now (and in a post 9/11 world, I am glad that you really can no longer do this) but these are some of the shots I got that morning at 6 am before the launch:

And now for the tagging. I tag:
Joanne
Jane (if she is feeling better!)
Froggie
Marie (if she can tear herself away from the oven!)
Mamabear

Naming the Animals

2008-12-13T09:19:00.006-05:00

Naming the Animals

by Anthony Hecht

Having commanded Adam to bestow
Names upon all the creatures, God withdrew
To empyrean palaces of blue
That warm and windless morning long ago,
And seemed to take no notice of the vexed
Look on the young man's face as he took thought
Of all the miracles the Lord had wrought
Now to be labeled, dubbed, yclept, indexed.

Before an addled mind and puddle brow,
The feathered nation and the finny prey
Passed by; there went biped and quadruped.
Adam looked forth with bottomless dismay
Into the tragic eyes of his first cow,
And shyly ventured, "Thou shalt be called 'Fred.'"

"Naming the Animals" by Anthony Hecht, from Collected Later Poems. © Alfred A Knopf, 2003.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/06/26

And lest anyone get all copyright crazy, I would submit that I rely upon the fair use doctrine for the printing of this poem here rather than the mere linking to it on the Writer's Almanac web page which did obtain it with permission. The fair use doctrine consists of an inquiry into four questions: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. As for (1), the use is merely personal, not commercial at all. I derive no income from this blog, and it is being used to educate and illustrate the source of my title; (2) because the poem has previously been published, the author has been able to derive pleasure, notoriety and income from the publication of the poem, and therefore, the nature of the work lends itself to the fair use doctrine; (3) although a complete poem, the fourteen lines of text represent but one page of a 250+ page book and one of countless entries on the Writer's Almanac page, which includes an RSS feed of daily poetry, and (4) not enough people read my blog that it could ever be interpreted to have a negative effect upon the potential market or value of the copyrighted work. If anything, maybe one person might decide to check out the rest of Mr. Hecht's poems, which I encourage greatly.

(If I had the ability to footnote, the above would be footnoted)

And now on to the regular part of the post:

Somehow, I have no problem naming my blog posts. The names frequently present themselves, or are simple, descriptive names. Projects, on the other hand, give me all kinds of trouble when I am attempting to name them. All too often, I wind up just naming them whatever the person named the original pattern. I am attempting to be better about this, but I rarely am able to break away from the original pattern titles. Often, as I am moving through life, I come up with things that I think would make good titles for short stories or songs or would make good band names. I think I may have to start using some of them for my pattern titles. They would be random, but it may just work.

Lesson Learned

2008-12-12T19:58:00.003-05:00

There are certain patterns I can do while I am on the phone, and certain patterns I cannot. I know this. I have experienced this before. You would think that I would be able to internalize this and remember it. You would think that I would know that a pattern like this cannot be done while I am on the phone.
You would be wrong. I attempted to knit this while on the phone with my brother. I had to tink back 10 rows because I did something very very wrong. Lesson learned. I promise.

Until the next time...

Living Up to Expectations -- the followup

2008-12-09T01:18:00.002-05:00

I received the loveliest thank you note from my friend for the blanket I made her for her wedding.

She writes:

"OMG! We love the blanket! We opened it up in the car on the way home and E kept reaching over and burying his hands in it -- it is so soft and warm and cozy." She went on to tell me how decorating sort of intimidates her, and so she hadn't picked colors but that she loved the color of the blanket, so it will be an accent in the house.

Yay! Success!

And on an unrelated note, I started the scarf I want to make for one of the women at work, but I don't know if I like it. And I was going to post a picture of it on Ravelry, and ask opinions, but i can't seem to take a picture of it that actually looks anything like what it looks like in real life... I might try to get some in-person opinions tomorrow.

Hauling Yarn, or How I Lost Respect for the F150

2008-12-07T13:54:00.004-05:00

I have always been a fan of various Ford vehicles. For almost as long as I can remember, my dream car has been the Mustang convertible and if I were to get a truck, I have always said that I would get a Ford F150. But now I'm not so sure.

The most recent Ford ad lauds steps that lead in and out of the cargo space. The voice over implies that it is a big deal for anyone who has real cargo. The voice says, "unless all you're carrying is yarn, it's a no brainer." Oh really? And what if you are carrying yarn? Do you not deserve the steps? Is yarn not worthy of being carried in the F150? Why? Is it not manly enough? What's heavier, a pound of yarn or a pound of cement?

I hope the Madison Avenue geniuses who created this ad never ask the knitters in their lives for hand-knit watchcaps. A big thumbs-down to Ford, and to their ad agency for continuing and promoting negative gender stereotypes.

One of the things that I love about modern knitting is that knitters defy gender stereotypes. Ian Johnson is a hero of mine because he combines crafting and football, two things I adore:

Draft Dodger, an apolitical post

2008-11-29T21:31:00.002-05:00

Whenever I think about the fact that I am knitting a "draft dodger" it makes me think about burning cards and bras in the 60s. But no, this is an apolitical post, and I am making a "draft dodger" for my windowsill. I decided that I am using up whatever scraps I can find on it, and if I need to add a smidge of yarn from something larger, I will. But I hope not to have to.

I started it and some of the yarn was slightly thinner than the other yarn, which was pretty much your regulation worsted weight yarn. The thinner yarn came from a project that someone had started in a weaving loom that I bought second-hand. I wasn't a fan of the project and wouldn't have had the yarn to finish it if I had liked it, so I merely ripped it out and decided to use the yarn for something, though I didn't want to throw it out. I had little snippets of the yarn in different colors, so I thought that this draft dodger would be a good project for it, especially because no one would see the inside strands hanging out. I contemplated doing stripes, but quickly gave up that idea. Too annoying to carry the balls of yarn and not get them tangled. If I had just two colors, I might have done that, but I decided to go with the randomness approach.

So the problem with the slightly thinner yarn is that, well, the worsted weight yarn was the end and the slightly thinner yarn then is the next part of the dodger. Pictures would probably help, but I am not so fond of the idea of posting what greatly resembles a brightly colored and sometimes striped portion of the male anatomy.

I am hopeful that when I stuff the draft dodger, it will fill out in all the right places and will resemble a dodger and not the male anatomy...

Living Up to Expectation

2008-11-13T19:45:00.005-05:00

So my friend got married, in a small, private ceremony with just family. Her mother decided that she wanted to have a party for her for her family and friends. So on Saturday, my mother said that she thought I should make my friend a blanket. I looked at her and said, "Are you kidding? I can't finish a whole blanket in a week!" But then, well, I did... Granted, I had off for Veteran's Day, but I managed to finish the blanket. I'm pretty excited that I was able to make it on such short notice. AND, I got rid of 8 skeins of yarn doing it! It's just basic -- just a plain single crochet with a size P hook (the big honkin' blue one). But I think I'm sort of happy with it. If I had more time, I probably would have ripped it and made it a little longer and narrower. As it happens, I kind of worked around my mistakes...

I hung it on my couch to take pictures -- I wasn't sure how else to do it...

Knitting Resolutions

2008-10-28T20:46:00.004-04:00

In moving, I have learned that I have too much yarn. And yes, sadly, it is possible to have too much yarn. In particular, it is possible to have too much acrylic yarn. Acrylic yarn is the staple of my stash because I don't have a lot of money. I was also never really all that good at knitting, so I didn't know what I was buying. Or I would buy bulk instead of quality. Now that I have gotten better at knitting, I know I want to start using better yarns, and I want to treat myself to the experience. I am still a little nervous about screwing up more expensive yarn, but I know I would like to use better yarn more often.

So my knitting resolutions:

Make at least one charity project per month. This can be as small as a chemo hat or a square for a blanket that will be joined together by others.
Work down the stash before buying new yarn. I know that this is a pipe dream, but I am going to make an effort not to just keep buying yarn. So I am going to try to make at least two projects for any one project's worth of yarn that I buy.
Make scrapghans out of whatever leftovers I have that aren't really enough for anything else.
Finish UFOs.

Anyone else have any other suggestions of knitting resolutions?

Oddities of moving

2008-10-25T13:41:00.003-04:00

A few things that I have discovered in moving:

I have too much scotch tape. I understand why this has happened. Whenever I go to wrap a present or something, I invariably cannot find my tape and I have to buy new tape. So I understand why I have more scotch tape than I could possibly use in my life.

I have about a dozen sets of tweezers. Unlike the scotch tape, I don't know where these all came from. I don't use tweezers -- I get my eyebrows waxed. I don't buy tweezers -- or at least I don't ever remember buying tweezers. And yet, there they were. In my medicine cabinet, the drawer of my night-table, one in my sock drawer. I don't know who is hiding tweezers among my possessions, but I don't particularly appreciate it.

And other than that, my big problem is that I just have too much stuff and not enough motivation. I feel like I'm not going to get everything done before Thursday, when the moving people are coming... I am definitely taking Thursday off so I can be here when they move us -- I may have to take Wednesday off, too, if I can't get everything done tomorrow. It's a little intimidating. I mostly worked all day today and got through a lot of crap. I'm taking a little break to watch the Penn State/Ohio State football game (Go Nittany Lions). And then tomorrow, I have to really do the rest of it.

What I Have Learned From Moving: A List in Three Acts

2008-10-18T00:02:00.002-04:00

Prelude: The packing began in earnest today. The countdown is 13 days until I have to be completely ready to move.

Act I: Morning

I have too many papers.
I have too many books.
I have too many candles.
I have too much yarn.

Act II: Noon

I have too many pictures.
I have too many clothes.
I have too many pillows (odd, right?)
I have too much yarn.

Act III: Night

I have too many shoes.
I have too many dishes.
I have too many CDs
I have too much yarn.

Epilogue: In my next life, I want to be a minimalist. And only to buy the yarn I'm going to use.

New Digs

2008-10-16T01:07:00.002-04:00

I put a deposit down on a new place to live today. It's great. I think it will be a really good place for me. It was time for me to leave this apartment, and the new one is in Hoboken. The good news is that it is about a half a mile from the PATH and the better/more dangerous news is that it is about half a mile from Patricia's Yarns. Hopefully, I can go and get lots of ideas for working down my stash before I go and spend lots of money on new yarn. But I'm excited about living in Hoboken. For many people from my area, it is sort of the pinnacle of destinations before you buy a house. It's where all of the bars are, where all of the young people are, it's not NYC (which turns a lot of people off) and it's close to public transportation. So we shall see. All I know is that I am hoping that everything goes smoothly and that I can pack up all of my garbage. I'm trying to throw away as much as I can and get rid of whatever I can...

Falling off the Face of the Earth

2008-10-05T15:07:00.002-04:00

Oh, I had no idea it had been so long since I last posted. Whoops. Life is what happens when you're making other plans, right?

I started taking a baby sweater class with Patricia at Patricia's Yarns. During one session, these two women walked by and we overheard one of them say, "I'd like to take classes there but they're so expensive." Patricia and I had a good laugh over that one. For the three sessions, Patricia's class was $45. At three sessions, an hour and a half per session, that's $10 an hour. Minimum wage in NJ is $7.15 an hour. Yeah. She's barely breaking even on these classes! And I've learned a few new techniques that I can take into other projects, and I'm almost finished with the baby jacket (pictures soon).

I'm also making a shawl. I was looking for something fast and easy to remember. I started making one but it was much too difficult to remember how to do. But then I found the Crescendo Shawl, http://www.freevintageknitting.com/shawls/crescendo-shawl-pattern.html which I like because it is easy (cables on rows 3 & 7 but the rest is just knit and purl) and I don't have to keep looking at a pattern. As long as I remember to knit 2 before and after the cables on the 3rd row and knit 5 before and after the cables on the 7th row, I'm good. And I messed up on one row (I didn't discover it until much later) but you can't actually see it unless you know what to look for (I've asked non-knitting friends to find the mistake row and they couldn't). So I think I'm leaving it rather than knitting all the way back.

ScrapGhan, or The Garrett, reincarnated

2008-08-11T22:56:00.005-04:00

I started another "Garrett." In some circles this afghan is called a scrapghan. Which is cute. But in my world, it will always be the Garrett. I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but it's a good way to work down the stash. There were a few balls, colors, etc. which were just too small to make it worth selling. And I started this before I knew that I had to sell all of my stash, so maybe some of it would have been worth selling.

But I'm finding that evidently, people don't want my yarn as much as I would have liked them to have wanted my yarn. Although I've raised about $100, it is nowhere near the $2000 that I need by the end of the month. Some friends have said that they would all kind of chip in and help me scrape the money together, and I will have to do that and pay them back as I get my paychecks. It's not how I wanted to progress, not how I wanted to enter my new job, but I suppose it is what it is... Not much I can do about it now.

Back to the Garrett Scrapghan, though. I may be donating it somewhere if I can find a good place, someone who will appreciate it. I may see how I feel about it when I'm done. Right now, I can't imagine it having a home in my home.

Sold some more yarn...

2008-08-10T02:25:00.003-04:00

I am putting the thermometer on the right side of the blog, and will keep a running total for it there.

I'm not deducting my shipping costs, though to be truly accurate, I really should. It's too much math, though. As my law school friends all know me to say, "I went to law school because there was no math on the LSAT." So, you know, it will have to be an approximate.

Edited by a Moderator

2008-08-09T23:06:00.003-04:00

Whoops. I got edited by the moderator of the Destashing group on Ravelry for saying that in addition to trying to sell my stash, I would also welcome any donations. Apparently, many people complained that I had put the donation part on. Who knew? I, of course, thanked her for her moderating, because I understand that one needs to keep the groups orderly and serving the purposes for which they were created, but I looked at the group's main page, and it says *nothing* about donations in any way. I am pretty good at reading into things, but I can't tell from that main page what would upset people enough to complain, or how putting the donation part would go against what the group was created to do.

In con law parlance, we would call that vague and overbroad. It regulates speech that the individual has no way of knowing would be regulated. I don't have a problem with a group being against a particular action. But please, let us know what that action is! Or give us some hint, at least.

Oh well. In any case, to keep the donation button present on the blog as I post more, I have made it a button on the right. Everything is very much appreciated.

Apartment Woes

2008-08-08T13:37:00.003-04:00

And a thermometer to keep track of my progress.

Free fundraising thermometer

No Knitting is Not Good Knitting

2008-08-06T00:07:00.002-04:00

Yeah. So the bar ended last week, and I have puttered around with the knitting and haven't really done much of anything. I'm working on my stash-gahan, modeled after the "Garrett" blanket, but with worsted weight yarn. Maybe tomorrow I'll take pictures of it, and post them.

I wanted to make the Phoenix shawl from Ravelry, and I bought the pattern and some of the yarn, but I seem to be having some trouble with it, so I think it may have to wait until September when I can go into Patricia's Yarns on a some-what regular basis and ask for her help with it as I progress.

And my list of things that other people make keep growing. I don't know how, but I manage to get very sucked into making things for other people all the time... And just because I was doing minimal knitting doesn't mean that people weren't asking for things. Oh well. I guess it just means I should get off my tuchus and start really knitting again.

randomized photographs

2008-07-05T01:39:00.003-04:00

I saw this on Yberry's blog, and I thought it was a really cute idea.

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

This is mine:
1. San Michele di Pagana, 2. Cookie, Anyone, 3. Ha'penny Bridge, 4. double and supernumerary rainbows, 5. Dwayne Johnson, 6. Tossed Cookies, 7. FIRE SHOT, 8. Apple Pie, 9. Joy of life, 10. inspiration..., 11. Another stick in the wall..., 12. Kiss

Music

2008-06-29T22:57:00.003-04:00

I found this on "Left of the Dial's" blog. You sort your music library by name and then write down the first song in each letter. I think it's fairly representative of my music -- some classical, some pop, some current, some old-school rock, some religious, some long-ago female vocalists, one song from a television show I watched as a young child, and even one track that is spoken boring-ness incarnate about quasi-contracts as I'm studying for the bar.

A-Tisket, A-Tasket – Ella Fitzgerald
B.J. Don’t Cry – Moxy Fruvous
Cadillac Car – Dreamgirls Soundtrack
D’Yer Mak’er – Led Zepplin
Eat for Two – 10,000 Maniacs
Fade Away to Blue – Dave Murphy
G-chord Song – Suzzy Roche
Ha’azinu – Craig Taubman
I’d Rather Go Blind – Etta James
J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite # 5 – Mstislav Rostropovich
Kaddish – Debbie Friedman
L.A. Woman – the Doors
MacArthur Park – Donna Summer
N.Y.C. – Annie, the Musical, soundtrack
O.R.R. – Lynryd Skynyrd
Pain – Elton John
Quasi-Contract – PMBR Remedies
Race You Down the Mountain – Paula and Carole
S’wonderful – Diana Krall
T.B.D. – Live
Umut – Rafet et Roman
V’ahavta – Doug Mishkin
Wait – Michael Convertino
Y Te Vas – Motel
Zak and Sarah – Ben Folds

What are you listening to these days? I'm especially looking for good ideas of up-music -- what makes you sing along and lifts your mood every single time you hear it?

The Garrett

2008-06-23T00:53:00.003-04:00

I was going to try to post this pattern on Ravelry, but I don't think I did it right, so until I get that fixed and taken care of, this is the story and the pattern that emerged (and someday, maybe pictures).

My friend Garrett (see him in his kitschy Budweiser hat in a previous post) is colorblind. One day he said to me, "I want you to make me the softest blanket you can, but I don't care what color it is." You know, because he wouldn't be able to tell anyway. Right. So I was going to buy new yarn for it, and then I realized that I had all of these scraps hanging around from old blankets that I had made. I collected them -- and begged a few off of a friend who also crochets -- and got white for my border. The original Garrett Blanket was knit, intarsia-style for the border, but since then, I mostly prefer to crochet them because it makes weaving in the ends easier as I can do them as I go. Garrett LOVED his blanket, and his girlfriend talks about it all the time.

How to make "The Garrett"

Knit (any gauge will work, any size needle, any yarn, and any stitch. I tend to do my borders in seed and the body of the work in stockinette because I find it goes the most quickly). Cast on as many stitches as you want for your blanket.
1. Separate your yarn by weight. Each blanket will be one weight of yarn. Save your other yarn for a different blanket.
2. Begin with 4 rows of your border color.
3. On the fifth row, knit 5 stitches in your border color, and then add in your new color. Knit to the last five stitches of the row, knitting the last five stitches in the border color. Repeat this row until you no longer have any more of your inside color left, but end at the end of a row.
4. Knit 4 rows in the border color.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4, using your next color and the border color until you are out of colors or your blanket is long enough.
6. Bind off and weave in ends.

Crochet
1. Separate your yarn by weight. Each blanket will be one weight of yarn. Save your other yarn for a different blanket.
2. Start with a color, and chain as wide as you would like your blanket to be, absent your border. If you only have a little bit of each color and would like the blocks of color to be larger, make the body of the blanket a little narrower, but be prepared to make up for it when you crochet around with your border color at the end.
3. When you have run out of color (at the end of a row), add your border color and crochet 4 rows of border color.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have run out of colors or your blanket is long enough.
5. Single crochet around the outside of the blanket with the border color as many times as you think it should be for a substantial border.
6. Weave in ends.

It's really that easy (and flexible). Garrett is supposed to be sending me a picture of his, but I will probably wind up posting the new one I'm making. I like the colors to be truly random, so frequently, I will put them in a dark and solid tote bag, close my eyes and pull out a color. Whatever color it is, whatever brand, I will use it next.

A Diversionary Project

2008-06-15T01:08:00.003-04:00

I studied all day. I'm not sure if I learned anything. In fact, I may have officially forgotten everything that I learned in law school. But at some point, I gave up because I simply couldn't handle it anymore.

So I made this:
It came from http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=194286.10 and it was super-easy, super-fast, and and easy cable, which made it super-fun.

It will be on its way to Leah on Monday. I had read this book about Starbucks: http://www.amazon.com/Pour-Your-Heart-into-Starbucks/dp/0786883561/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213507097&sr=8-3
and one of the things that the company was concerned about was the environmental effects of using all of the cardboard that they did. Having the coffee at a certain temperature is key to the enjoyment of the coffee, but it was so hot that people were using two cups so they could hold it. And then the company made the coffee sleeves so that it wasted less paper. I like this because it's even more environmentally friendly! This way, Leah will keep it in her purse, and when she treats herself to Starbucks, she'll use this instead of a cardboard sleeve every time. I'm quite excited about it - all of my friends and family may be getting these as their next presents...

Here are a few more pictures of the coffee cup sleeve:

In homage to William Carlos Williams

2008-06-07T08:26:00.004-04:00

This is just to say

I am still here
on the planet
and in the existential sense.

The bar exam is approaching
in fifty-one days.
Forgive me,
There has been no knitting.

A link to the original, one of my favorite poems ever:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15535

PS - for some reason, it's not actually linking. But I have to get back to my studying for evidence, so you're all on your own to copy and paste. In august, I'll fix it ;)

Graduation

2008-05-27T22:06:00.002-04:00

Friday, I graduated. It was a remarkable day. It's been a phenomenal weekend, all around. But no time for knitting. That's for sure. I did ask for some various knitting stuff (including lessons at Patricia's Yarns) and people didn't get the knitting stuff for me. I'm sort of surprised... At some point, I'll get to knitting again. But not too much between now and the end of July when I take the bar.

Bryant Park: A non-knitting post

2008-05-13T14:26:00.002-04:00

A few pictures from my stroll down sixth avenue this morning.

The magnificent Empire State Building

The Maju Tank Top -- a perfect fit!

2008-05-12T12:35:00.003-04:00

I finished Mom's tank top in plenty of time for Mother's Day and gave it to her yesterday. She was *so* excited about it. I made her try it on right away and it was a perfect fit.
Not too much more to say about it... I'm just glad that I didn't have to rip it!

Finished with Law School

2008-05-09T13:19:00.002-04:00

Three years. Gone. Done. I don't know how I feel about it yet. But it is what it is. And I'm going to go with that for a while...

Patricia's Yarns in Hoboken

2008-05-03T21:00:00.004-04:00

This afternoon, I went to Patricia's Yarns in Hoboken (Fourth Street & Washington for anyone who wants to visit). I've been there before, but just to buy yarn a few times. When I went in, there were a bunch of people in the store, just hanging out, knitting. It was fantastic. Patricia herself was out of town this weekend, but her husband Adam and their dog Riley were manning the store. Margaux helped me find the perfect yarn for the tank top that I wanted to make for my mom. It's blue sky alpaca yarn in the thistle color. I love it. Look how inviting it looks in the adorable (and environmentally-friendly-because-it-is-so-strong) Patricia's Yarns bag:

And how gorgeous is the yarn itself???

Here's a closeup:
At Margaux's suggestion, I did a gauge swatch. It's a good thing, too, because the yarn I originally chose would have been much too small. Apparently, I am a very tight knitter. The pattern called for size 8 needles and the thinner yarn. I wound up working on size 9 needles and this much thicker yarn.

I'm excited about the tank top! The yarn is so soft and fabulous to work with!

2008-04-26T21:18:00.001-04:00

Yes. It's Saturday night. It's 9:20 pm. Do you know where your yarn princess is?? Yes. That's right -- in the library. Boy oh boy do I love finals...

The Times Square Shuffle Revisited

2008-04-22T13:26:00.002-04:00

For those of you who thought I was kidding:

A Change of Plans

2008-04-17T20:55:00.006-04:00

I decided that I am not going to be able to finish the Asherton purple scarf by Monday afternoon, both due to all of the studying that I have to do this weekend and due to the fact that it is Passover this weekend and my time will really not be much my own. So I picked up another ball of the lilac color and started to make just a 2x2 rib on size 5 needles. I figure I can sort of fly through that a little bit. I think I will be able to finish it by Monday. And then I can always give her the other one later if I finish it. I think the Asherton scarf really is so pretty, and would hate the work I have done on it to go to waste, but I just don't think it's going to be finished by Monday. Maybe if it weren't finals time...

This morning, I also made sugar cookies because a few of us were all going to have our last day of work. The cookies were because my one friend wanted "Last Day of Work Cake." I didn't have all of the ingredients in the house for a cake, but I did have the ingredients for these cookies. They are quite possibly the easiest cookies I've ever made and I just love the way they all crinkled. They're crispy on the outside and nice and smushy in the middle. And everyone who tasted them loved them. Not what I should have been doing this morning, but it worked out.

Hugs on the 2 Train

2008-04-15T17:40:00.000-04:00

I got my Smile Cards in the mail on Thursday of last week. There were ten of them. In much the same way that my mom always used to say my brother’s birthday money would be “burning a hole in his pocket,” the Smile Cards were truly burning a hole in my pocket. I found myself thinking about them – to whom would I give them, what would I say, would I have to create a reason, or would one present itself? As of yesterday, I still hadn’t given even one Smile Card away. It was frustrating me, and I was thinking that I might just not be looking hard enough for the right SO (Smile Opportunity). Then yesterday, when I went into the post office to mail my taxes (I’d only been carrying them around with me for 10 days…) the woman working there, finding herself confronted with a long line of people, was, well, not her usual bubbly self. I handed her one and said, “I know people must be driving you crazy this time of year – whenever they do, you can look at this and it can help make you feel better.” I felt okay about that SO, but it wasn’t phenomenal. I was wondering if maybe I wasn’t doing something right.

But then, this morning happened. I entered the 2 train at 72^nd Street, and grabbed onto the middle pole. The train was crowded, with many people standing, but it wasn’t packed, certainly no one was squished into the car or holding a flat palm against the ceiling in the hopes of anchoring themselves. A woman got on and was holding onto the pole near the seats and a man got on behind her. There was plenty of room for him to hold onto that pole, or the pole to which I was attached, or the pole to the left of him. For whatever reason, though, he thought this woman should have moved so he could get further into the train and could hold onto a pole on the opposite side of the car. He was curmudgeon-y (though not all that old) and kept mumble-yelling at her. I couldn’t hear what he actually said. She was able to move and he pushed through, knocking her into the walls of the train car and he moved through and away. Another young man and I tried to chuckle with her and roll our eyes at the nerve of people on the subway to kind of make it all better. “It’s just been that kind of morning,” the woman said. “Well,” I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out a Smile Card, “maybe this can help make it a little better.” The woman was visibly moved. She showed it to the man, and I reached in and grabbed one for him as well. He said he was going to get some to give to all of his friends. She said she was going to buy them right away. They were both so excited about helpothers.org. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” she said, and she hugged me. A random person hugged me. On the 2 train. In New York City. I didn’t pay her bills or give her food or shelter or clothing. I didn’t do anything to change the problems in her life, or eliminate them in any way. And yet, she told me it made her day. Which of course, made mine.

I'm bored with my blog

2008-04-13T22:19:00.002-04:00

I'm not bored with the content of my blog, though I feel now like I have been working on this purple scarf for a while and because it's a scarf you can't really tell too much about the progress. As a result, I feel like it isn't really worth taking new pictures of it and posting them. But maybe I'll take some later. The real boredom with the site, though, seems to be the design. I feel like I need to shake it up a little bit -- maybe even just change the color scheme. But maybe later. I guess this is me just feeling antsy before finals... Two weeks left of classes (officially 14 classes left in my law school career) and then it's finals, and the bar. But you know, one step at a time.

And, randomly, I'm craving milk.

Knit Your Own Karma

2008-04-12T12:49:00.002-04:00

I was poking around on IMDB and eventually found myself on a page for a movie called "Knit Your Own Karma." It doesn't appear to be anything like what I would think it would be for that title. Apparently, it's something more like a bleak future world. But I liked the title. It seems to go much more with the Smile Cards that I got in the mail yesterday.

I ordered the Smile Cards after seeing the post on Steph's blog, "Girl Meets Yarn" http://theadventuresofknitpearl.blogspot.com/ about her random acts of kindness. I guess I was sort of on the lookout for good things to be able to do. Wednesday morning, my friend said she wasn't feeling well. She had been sick since the weekend, and was really feeling terrible. When she went into her office, one of her co-workers said, "You don't look that bad." What she wanted was sympathy, she said. What she wanted was for someone to offer to get her chicken soup. So I called a local deli near her office and had them send her chicken noodle soup, a sandwich and a soda. She was very excited about it.

What's your good deed of the day?

Humbling Knitting: It Helps to Read the WHOLE Pattern

2008-04-10T01:15:00.005-04:00

Yeah. So I'm an idiot. The reason that my version of the scarf didn't work was that I had apparently only written down half of the pattern. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and why my pattern didn't look the way the original one did. Yeah. This would be why. D'oh!

Before I figured it out, though, I tried it on size 4 needles, thinking maybe that would make the difference. I then realized that I had done it wrong, and ultimately decided to do it on the size 8s once I did it the right way. I liked it on the 4s, but the needles are *really* small if I want to be able to finish it in time to give it to my friend before the end of finals (and actually study for my finals, too...)

This is the pattern on the size 4s:
Ironically, I guess because of the way the photographs are, I don't know that you can actually tell the difference between the size four needles (above) and the size 8s (below).

This is what the pattern is supposed to look like. I like it a lot more now that I did it the right way...
Also, I still think this pattern really deserves a darker color. Someday, maybe if I ever make anything for myself... A nice solid dark in a bamboo, cotton or silk would be nice, on small needles. But I think when I do really spend the money and make something for myself, it should be more than a scarf.

The Times Square Shuffle

2008-04-08T15:09:00.006-04:00

So I was in the city the other day and I saw a sign that said, "Seventh Avenue flyover not in operation -- use the Times Square Shuffle." And I thought it was a misprint -- that it was supposed to be the Times Square Shuttle (which isn't really a shuttle, but there's a shuttle (the gray 'S' train) that goes between Times Square and Grand Central). But apparently, no, there is a new traffic pattern that the city is calling the "Times Square Shuffle." Next time I'm there, I'm taking a picture of the sign.

I still think it sounds like the name of a band...

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/timessquare.pdf

Up Close & Personal

2008-04-07T01:07:00.004-04:00

I feel like I need a macro lens to accurately take pictures of my knitting. I don't know why I can capture a hummingbird sucking the nectar out of a bird of paradise but I can't seem to accurately convey the detail of the knitting.

This scarf, like so much that I have been doing recently, comes from SMarieKnits. Surprise, surprise -- most of the patterns I have been doing lately have been hers. They're fantastic. Easy patterns that look complex and fancy, but that I can actually manage to work my way through.

This is the Asherton Scarf. http://smariek.blogspot.com/2006/09/asherton-reversible-scarf.html
However, it doesn't look anything like hers. :( I know that's not a prerequisite in a scarf, but I chose the Asherton because I liked the way it looks. I wonder if mine might look more like the prototype if it were done on smaller needles. The problem isn't so much that it needs to look like the original as that I don't know if I like it the way it is. And so I ask your opinions:

1. Should this be on smaller needles?
2. Should this be narrower (it's nearly 6.5" wide now, which would probably be helped by smaller needles.
3. Is this the right pattern for this color (the color requested by my friend) or does this pattern look too much like a baby blanket in this light lilac)?
4. If not this pattern, any suggestions for a free, easy-ish pattern like this one?

Big Blue Wrecking Crew

2008-04-05T15:18:00.004-04:00

Firstly, I think that someone far more talented than I should create a crew-neck sweater and call it "Big Blue Wrecking Crew." The extent of the title's relevance to me, though, is just a scarf.

Andrew had originally asked for a scarf in "Giant's Blue." He then changed his mind and decided that he needed more of a tannish mustardy color because then he could wear it all the time. But I decided that he shouldn't be deprived of having a scarf for during the football season, too. So I made him this, in Giant's Blue (also known as "Red Head Blue" or alternatively "Olympic Blue" in other earlier posts). It's just a five by five waffle knit, and I'm almost done with it. It's been a nice easy fast knit. I'm debating whether or not to block and iron it. I like the bumps of the waffle knit itself but I don't necessarily love the way the edges look. They're a little un-finished looking. Granted, I don't know if they'll be any better if I do block it.

And then I'll find more black yarn in my stash and get to finishing Matt's Rutgers scarf. After the bar, I'll think about making something more complex. But not until then. Until then, I may or may not make anything, but if I do, certainly nothing more complex than like a 2x2 rib scarf...

Comments

2008-03-24T01:44:00.000-04:00

By the way -- does anyone know how I can reply to people who leave me comments? If nothing else, I wanted to be able to say "Thank you!" but there doesn't seem to be a way to e-mail the people who leave me comments on the blog. So a big "thank you!" to those of you who have commented so far (and anyone who comments in the future). If I can figure out how to contact you directly, I will do my best to do so, though probably not too frequently between now and the end of July when I take the bar.

The Hat was a Hit

2008-03-23T19:48:00.001-04:00

Yeah. Garrett loved his hat. Everyone else did, too. :)

Under the Gun

2008-03-21T12:38:00.003-04:00

Suddenly, all of my projects are time-sensitive. I decided that I think I want to wear the dress from my brother's wedding for our ball next week. The only problem with it is that the shawl for it didn't match the material of the dress. Which I don't get, because it was from the dressmaker. So I want to make myself a new shawl. I started making this pattern, but I don't know if I made it too long. Wide, that is. I always have a problem with shawls not being big enough to hang comfortably on my shoulders and wrap well.

This is what it looks like so far (I've layered it a few times around)...

Kitsch Completed

2008-03-21T01:21:00.004-04:00

The hat is completed... It doesn't look anything like the one on the Stitchy McYarnPants website, but I still like it. I didn't think I would like it as I was doing the brim, but now I am totally in love with it.

The Definition of Kitsch

2008-03-20T13:25:00.002-04:00

I also started a hat for Garrett's birthday, but it is entirely different. I am making him this: http://www.stitchymcyarnpants.com/tincan/beercan.html and I am so excited about it. I'm excited because he's having a party on Friday at a place in the city and he will *so* wear it there. If anyone would wear this hat, it is Garrett. My roommate was kind enough to drink the cans of beer I needed for the hat. He did make fun of the safety goggles and protective gloves that I got to be safe while cutting the aluminum cans, though. Which is understandable. I must have looked ridiculous. Cutting the cans was definitely the most difficult part. I didn't want to be crocheting and worrying about cutting myself on the cut sides of the cans, so I got this tape for the edges.
I put it around the edges (it does make it a little more difficult to punch the holes in it) and then punched holes and crocheted around the edges. I just have to find out from Garrett what size hat he wears because I don't know if six panels around will be too big. I feel like it will be. I asked him what size hat he wears, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. As soon as he does, I can finish it. All in all, it wasn't too difficult, it was lots of fun, Matt got to drink lots of beer, and it helped me work on knitting down my stash.

This is a sample square:

And this is a sample semicircle for the brim:

A Finished Hat

2008-03-17T15:37:00.007-04:00

I finished the hat for Jeanna, and went to her birthday party. At one point we were talking about knitting something and Jeanna said that I was a great knitter and that I made them all scarves. I was excited that she mentioned it -- I love when people appreciate the stuff that I make, and I haven't actually ever seen Jeanna wearing the scarf that I made her. This is the same color as the scarf, and she was excited that they would match.

This is Jeanna wearing the hat that I made for her:

Cabled Hat, or "I Am an Idiot."

2008-03-14T11:11:00.001-04:00

So I started this cabled hat for Jeanna for her birthday tomorrow. I like it. I am a little enamored of cables these days, the hat goes very quickly, and I love working on double-pointed needles. I like double pointed needles for many reasons, and I will admit that part of it is how absolutely floored everyone is when they see you using dpns, despite all protestations that they are really no more difficult than straight needles once you get the hang of them.

I have sets of five dpns, so I can work around in a square. I was sitting on my couch, working around in my little square, and all of a sudden, I had FOUR needles. Not five. Just four. I cannot find the other one. I have looked under the couch, behind the couch, in my room, in the kitchen, under the cushions. I have NO idea where it went. It has truly vanished into thin air. Unbelievable. I thought I was going to have to go to the yarn store and get another set, which didn't bother me, except that I was worried that I was going to go in and buy more yarn. But then I spied another set. So I worked on four wooden and one metal size 8 dpns. It worked out.
And now the hat is done, and I just need to figure out how to block a hat.

A Little Lovin'

2008-03-12T22:17:00.003-04:00

Melanie loves her scarf! I gave it to her yesterday and she *skipped* to get to me. I haven't seen her without it around her neck since. Score one for me. Yay.

Mother-Frogger

2008-03-10T22:50:00.005-04:00

So I generally had a good knitting weekend, but I also had a tough knitting weekend. I had made this shawl for my mother, and it took me forever. It's lace and beads and you put the beads on with a 1 mm crochet hook. But apparently, the gauge piece that I made wasn't really as accurate as I thought it was. The shawl came out barely large enough to drape over the shoulders. It really and truly took me forever but if she isn't going to wear it, it's not worth having. So this weekend, I ripped it. If she won't wear it, it's not worth having. No matter *how* much work it was to do it.

This is the shawl, pre-pond (frog pond, that is...)

As upset as I was to have to frog it, there are places you can see that I messed up, so I'm happy to have an opportunity to fix it the second time around. No guarantee that it will be any better, but at least I'll have a second chance for the same initial price layout of yarn!

Blockhead

2008-03-09T13:28:00.004-04:00

First, I found a new knitting store on Saturday. It's called The Skein Attraction and it's on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, NJ. Not far from my parents' house. Looks like I may be visiting home more often... The ladies there were lovely, familial, and helpful. Shaina, Adina, and Julie Friedman own the shop -- I think they were all there when I went in. Everyone was very helpful and kind, whether working in the store or sitting and knitting. I went in primarily to ask how to block. I needed to block Melanie's scarf. I had no idea it was so easy! I went in, and the ladies there helped me out, no problem. Sunday, I blocked, tonight fringe, and tomorrow, the presentment.

Here are some pictures of the blocked scarf:

(on the ironing board)

(and on Mom, in her library, her favorite room of the house)

Of course, I bought something from the Friedmans, one skein of Ritratto in a beautiful plum and orange color. I am going to try to make myself a shawl to wear with the dress from my brother's wedding. I wanted to take it to really look at it next to the dress in different lights and to ask my mother's opinion. $13 a skein is a bit much for me (I am used to using cheap acrylics, remember) but I thought I would splurge. So Tuesday when they open, I will be calling for the remaining 3 balls in the same dye lot. I don't think I can knit enough to be ready to wear it on the 29th, even if I knit, didn't go to school, and didn't sleep until then. But I may very well try. I also didn't want to just go in and ask for advice on how to block without first establishing a relationship, and well, also, I'm sort of a sucker, despite the goal of working down my stash.

In addition to my yarn, they gave me this:

How freakin' cute is he? He's a sheep, and he's smushy and he has their name and phone number on his back.

Tonight, I start the Swirled Pearl Shawlette (minus the pearls) to make for myself. I don't think I will finish it by Barrister's Ball on the 29th, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try...

Almost finished

2008-03-05T14:26:00.003-05:00

I am almost finished with Melanie's scarf. The only thing left to do is to block it and put fringe on it, if Melanie wants fringe. I haven't decided if either she is a fringe person or if the scarf needs it. I think I am going to have to block it first, make a decision and then, if it doesn't require fringe, ask her if she wants to have fringe. It wound up being a little more than one skein to knit, so I have the extra yarn. I'm feeling like for length purposes alone, a little fringe might be useful.

Carolyn's fiancé Andrew requested a scarf in Giant's blue, so I sent him a bunch of patterns to look at and he chose the Miranda http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/06/miranda-scarf.html. I had told Carolyn I thought she needed a cabled scarf, and sher chose the same one. She said, "We are clearly meant to be together because we chose the same pattern." She's thinking a burgundy for her and he wants this color:

Yes. He found the color on the internet and sent it to me. I told him that he has to come to the yarn store with us because I don't think that I will be able to match it from the internet to the store. I'm happy to have the fun projects.

Melanie's Scarf, Take Two

2008-02-28T12:53:00.002-05:00

I happened to have been at WalMart today and picked up two skeins of Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Red. It does not advance the mission of working down the stash (nor does ripping out a whole bunch of old scarves and hats that I never did anything with or gave to anyone). I started the seed stitch on size six needles for it, but I didn't like it because you lose some of the softness. So I tried this one: http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/bernadette.html. So far, I really like it. It really keeps the softness of the yarn, which I think is important, because if you're going to have such a soft yarn. If Melanie doesn't like it, I might just finish it and keep it for myself and make her another one. It will require some major blocking, though -- all smushed together you don't really get to see the cables as well. They just look like waves. Which is nice, too, but I like it better when it's more spread out.

First Comment

2008-02-24T00:28:00.002-05:00

I had my first comment on my blog last evening. Which means that someone (other than myself) is reading my blog! Who knew! :) Many thanks to MamaBear for being my first comment. It's a very interesting thing in the blog world -- this concept of writing in a vacuum, of wondering whether anyone is actually reading what you write. I guess someone is reading what I write, and I'm not just blathering on to myself about my knitting. This realization makes me wish I were far wittier than I am. But I am not. Oh well, such is life...

Frogging in the Storm

2008-02-22T11:16:00.002-05:00

Melanie did not like the color of the scarf. So last night, on the train, we ripped it. I was explaining to her how freeing it can be to frog something. She felt bad. I said that it really wasn't a problem. Because my feeling is that if she won't wear it, it's not worth making it. I don't want to make something if she won't wear it. I'd rather rip now, and make her something that she loves. Because if she doesn't love it, then it's just going to sit in a closet somewhere.

Subtlety Doesn't Work

2008-02-12T22:29:00.003-05:00

So I tried to throw some hints to find out which scarf my friend would like better. I could tell she didn't know I was talking about her, and she was trying to be diplomatic. Which would have been fine, if she hadn't been so good at it. So now I am starting the pavilion scarf for her. Which is good, because I needed another project -- I can take Melanie's with me on the train but I won't be able to do that with the Pavilion. I'll have to do that one from here.

The light lavender one is done, so I won't rip that one and I'll probably give her a choice and let her pick which one she wants.

Slow Going

2008-02-08T14:04:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so Melanie's scarf is going to take me forever. It's my own fault for knitting on size ONE needles. I'm not sure what possessed me to do that. Except that I liked it. So it will be a long time project, and she'll be able to wear it next year for the winter.

I also decided to make a blanket for my boss for when I stop working for her in May when I graduate. She's a great boss, and I'd like to say thank you. She's big into browns and beiges. It's not my thing, really -- I like color. But she likes it, and it means that I can use some more of my stash. I'm quite excited about that. I decided to be sort of uniform about it rather than as random as I might have been otherwise (like I was with my mother's light blanket for the family room) but I feel like Tara might be happier with something more uniform. So this is it so far:

I also decided to make scarves for my two co-workers. One of them said that her favorite color is lavendar, so I'm starting a scarf for her in the light and lofty baby clouds lilac. I started it when I went to the movies last night to see Juno. I'm probably the only person who goes to the movies and knits. But I got a lot done on it.

The Secondary Blanket

2008-02-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

When I made Robin and Burt's blanket, I had some leftover yarn. So I made this one. It's the shell blanket stitch that they show on the projectlinus.org website. I've made it a few times, and I always love it. I should remember it more often. Red Heart Soft's label says that it is no dye lot yarn, but you can clearly see some differences in the skeins in this picture. One friend told me that it is what gives it character. I am trying to believe her. Overall, I was happy with how it came out, though.

Here's a close-up view of the stitches. They're five double-stitch clusters.

In some ways, I am happier with this secondary blanket than with the original one. And I do love a solid color blanket. Mostly, I'm very happy with how much yarn I've been able to use up from my stash recently. This stuff didn't really count as much because I had bought it for Robin & Burt's blanket, so it wasn't truly using from the stash. But everything else from now on will be from the stash. At least for a little while. I'm trying, really, I am trying.

Perfect Day for Knitting

2008-02-01T14:42:00.001-05:00

Today is a dreary, rainy day. It is a perfect day for knitting.

Last evening I started Melanie's scarf. I started originally on size 0 needles. I've never worked on anything that tiny before. The only thing even close was my father's scarf on the size 2s. Somewhere I had found these size 0s, and I'm not even sure where they came from, but they're plastic. Why anyone would make size 0 needles out of plastic is beyond me. Because when I attempted to cast on, this is what happened:

Yep. The needles snapped right in half. So now I'm doing it on size ones, all in seed stitch. We'll see if Melanie likes it. She is worried that the Paprika color might be too orangey for her skin.

So far, I'm pleased with it, though, and I might continue with it even if it's not right for Melanie.

No More Floundering, or a Thank You to Melanie

2008-02-01T01:17:00.000-05:00

I had been floundering a little bit because I didn't know what to knit next. And then, on the way home from class tonight, Melanie was admiring the scarf I made for Lisa, and she has requested one of her own! I'm quite excited becasue not only do I have something new to knit, I also will be using some of my stash -- the extra skein of Red Heart Soft in Paprika from Robin's blanket. I feel like she might do well with a fun and funky pattern like from Shannon's scarf, but she's reqested a simple seed stitch type of scarf, and I'm happy to oblige! I might just have to make her two -- one that she has asked me to make and one that I discover newly on my own.

2008-01-31T00:54:00.000-05:00

I started this scarf to try to get rid of some of my scraps. I don't know if it is the fact that it is white, or whatever, but I started and all of a sudden it was all light and pastel colors. Which is fine, but I don't have quite enough of them. The good thing is that I really only need about 3-4 yards of each color. The bad part is that it means I am running out of colors. I'm also not wild about the fact that it means that there will be all of these ends for me to weave in when I'm done.

And now I'm going to have to start begging my friends for worsted weight pastel colors so I can finish it. Or maybe I should just stick to the larger blanket I'm making in the same concept...

Two finished projects

2008-01-30T04:47:00.000-05:00

This is Lisa's scarf. Her husband calls it "red head blue." I tend to agree. All in all, I was very happy with the way it came out. There is another picture of it down at the end of this post because I can't figure out how to get them next to one another.

The only problem with this scarf is that it was quite portable, being an easy pattern, a smallish piece and one skein of yarn. Now that it's done, I feel like I'm floundering just a little bit. I know I want to make something, and I want to make something more than a scarf or a blanket. I feel like I need to be able to make something more substantial. But sweaters kind of scare me, especially the sleeves, and I don't really have anyone to knit sweaters for right now, anyway. I also am still on this kick where I have vowed not to buy any more yarn until I make a significant dent in the yarn that I have, so I am trying to find projects that use something like 8 ounces of dark purple worsted weight acrylic yarn. Someday, I will have money and will be able to afford to buy real yarn. Until then...

This is Shannon's scarf. It was mostly done in 2007, but I did technically finish it in 2008 not only because I was working on it during my flight home from California on January 1st, but also because the fringe came in a few weeks later. I despise finishing pieces, and that includes sewing things in, lining up sleeves or adding fringe. I'm just not a fan. One of my favorite things about Robin's new blanket is that when it is done, it will be simply *done*. No ends to weave in, no borders, nothing. Just DONE.

Here's the pattern up close. I've had varying opinions on whether it is better blocked or unblocked. This is unblocked. I like the texture of it. And I think this pattern would look so pretty as a sweater. I'm just not sure how to make it one.

Appreciation

2008-01-27T18:06:00.000-05:00

This weekend, my cousin became a bat mitzvah and one of the things they put together was a cute little video. It starts with her getting out of bed one morning, and on her bed as she turns down the covers is the afghan that I made her a few years ago. She always says how much she loves it and how she uses it all the time, but it's so nice to see that even in a video, there it is. I felt very much appreciated.

And another cousin shared this picture of Ari under the new blanket I made them -- she said that everyone in the family (including the Corgi!) loved it and shared it. It feels good when people like what you make for them.

The right amount of patience

2008-01-22T23:57:00.000-05:00

I had taught my friend how to crochet some years ago, mostly because her boyfriend at the time told her that she wouldn't have the patience and the only thing stronger than her lack of patience is her desire to prove someone wrong. She has since said that crochet requires just the right amount of patience. Which I like about it, too. It and knitting, both. Though I do find that there are certain patterns that I can make when I am talking to other people or watching tv, and certain ones that I can't. The only downside is that I have practically gotten to the point where I can almost just *not* work on something when I'm sitting somewhere. And forget about the subway. I need something to knit, crochet or read or I am SUNK.

While talking with my friend's family, though, I made good progress on my cousin's shell blanket. I am hoping that I will have it finished by the end of next weekend when I see her, but I am not counting on it.

2008-01-18T20:12:00.002-05:00

I tried to put together a knitting blog some time ago, but never kept up with it. Now, I can't even remember the password for it. This will probably be much the same, but I will try. I don't frequently remember to take pictures of things while I am knitting them, or before I give the finished product to someone as a gift.

The goal for this year is to get through as much of my stash as possible before buying any more yarn.

Right now, I'm working on this: http://knitswellwithothers.blogspot.com/2002/02/alpaca-furry-goodness-scarf.html for my friend L in what her husband calls "Red Head Blue." Which is that kind of royal blue that looks fabulous on red heads. I did it on much smaller needles -- fives as opposed to the tens that the pattern calls for. I still like it, but it looks very different from Kathleen's version. I also wanted to e-mail Kathleen to thank her for posting this pattern, but I can't seem to find a way to e-mail her through her blog.