Illicit post.

I'm posting from work, so I don't have any pictures. Oooo, I'm being bad. It feels good, though : )

I've started my Lace Leaf Pullover...ya ever begin a project just knowing it's destined for failure, but you do it anyway and you're not sure why, but you maybe want to watch your own train-wreck, well, that's me with this sweater.

The sweet peoples I knit with on Monday swear that it's beautiful, & etc. Let me assure you that it is not. Actually, you can be the judge when I post its photograph here.

The problem begins with the dye job. I suck at dying. Perhaps I should get some real dyes. I used cake dye.

The problem continues with the yarn. I don't know how to spin a good chunky yarn. When I began spinning, I thought that spinning a thin yarn evenly was a challenge. HA! Ugh. Talk about overspun in parts. It's practically hard in some areas. I'm lucky that I had merino...merino is soft and there's not much even I can do to spoil that.

I'm going to teach a friend to spin on Thursday. Oh, happy joy because I'd love to have someone to spin with! She's got her own wheel, which means that I get to play with a different wheel! Yay!

I've achieved Fair Isle on the bias.

I can't wait for the Olympics to begin! I want to start my new sweater!

I've begun my Olympic training by casting on and completing the kerchief that goes along with the sweater I'll be making. My conclusion is that Teva Duhram is a mad person. Following the fair isle pattern on the bias is, well, it's slightly insane. I can't imagine being able to design that way.

When I'm showing people how to knit from written directions, I always tell them first that they have to learn how to suspend their disbelief. Yes, one should give the instructions a once-over before beginning, but one must try not to think, "Oh that's never going to work." Sometimes it doesn't work and some written directions are terrible, but I've found that in most cases—if one has interpreted and followed the instructions correctly—it does work. Man, did I ever have to follow my own advice for this project. "It'll all work out, I'm sure..." was my mantra during the first few rows of increases.

At first I tried to knit the pattern from the little chart in the book, but when I realized that I had to switch reading directions for RS and WS rows, I gave up and recreated and repeated the chart in Photoshop. My life got immediately easier. Now I just need to achieve gauge. For some reason, I knit more tightly than I usually do when I'm knitting fair isle...



I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I have to say, however, that knitting this is really fun. That statement was made in earnest. I've already decided to knit TD's short-row fair isle next. I just feel bad for my poor Johnke.

Here's the first 300+ yards of my it's so pink roving as yarn. It's highly imperfect, but it's soft. Wow, I really suck at taking photos.

whatevs!

I've got just enough time to say that it's nice to know I'm not alone with my thoughts about socks. I was at one of my local yarn shops a couple of weeks ago and I overheard the owner say, "Well, you know, it's like those people who knit socks..." I didn't hear the rest of his statement because his voice was dripping with disdain. Right, right, he was saying something nice, I'm sure. Anyways, when I recovered from his spitting venom, I immediately thought, "Hey, wow, I'm part of a knitting subculture. Cool." When I look at the blogs of others who love socks, (e.g. Jenn & Erica) I see that they knit other things too. Those who knit socks, whatever.

When I am a young man, I shall wear purple.

I should never trust my memory when it comes to project details. The thing is, I always forget that I shouldn't trust my memory...


I cast on 72 sts and went to town thinking that I always cast on 72 sts and go (uh, no, 60 is my usual number). Alas, the foot of the sock is too baggy on me and so, Johnke will receive a pair of purple socks.

A few posts ago, I mentioned a sweater and declared that henceforth it would be my knitting muse. Here it is (by the way, it's so great to have friend that is willing to indulge even your stranger desires—Jessie kindly allowed me to photograph and fondle her sweater):




NOTE!! My friend, Zab, who is an awesome photographer, told me that she'd had a problem commenting here. I took a look at my settings and I had chosen to allow "Registered Users Only" to comment. Ugh! If you've wanted to leave me a note, but didn't want to be forced into registering, I apologize. I've swapped "Registered Users Only" with "Anyone." Comment away!

Back to socks for a sec. I've decided that socks are my favorite knitting circle project. I used to love to knit socks and while I still love handknitted socks, I'm over the honeymoon I had with sock creation. Now I find them a bit, well, uh, boring to knit when I'm on my own. In company, however, they're a dream knit! Easy, fun, portable, and voila, a few knitting groups down and a pair of socks to boot. Sock knitting pairs up well with wine, heated conversation, and teaching—all activities which tend to distract me from the finer points of what I should be doing with my yarn & needles.

Pink , pictureless, pesky, & soul of the blob.

I've decided to turn my pink yarn into a Yarn Girls sweater—Cables in Chamonix (I think that's what they call it). So, this:


plus this:


will eventually become a sweater I can't find a picture of...Which means that I've got two sweaters planned for the it's NOT a gift KAL. Um, I just have to finish making the yarn, so I can actually knit them. Jenn, here's the button again. I'm hoping that if you take it from here, you won't have problems uploading it. I've tried re-posting the original file and it worked for me. No "invalid format" messages came up.


I was so glad to hear that Jenn liked the button. I was afraid that I'd horned in on her button scene just to deliver something to her that she'd feel obligated to use without liking. Oh, well, maybe she is just being polite? I hope not!

And this is a cute, fun game (Katamari Damacy). I keep asking myself, "Why am I having fun play-acting as a digital entity that rolls things up into balls?" I don't know. It's just fun, that's all.

Luge, baby!

Aaww yeeeaaah. I'm joining the Fair Isle Knit Team for the upcoming Olympic games...Have I knitted fair isle before? Only kinda. Am I scared? Yes. But, I'm excited! I can't believe that I was just going to knit socks and finish stuff up when I could be knitting on the edge of sanity instead. I've prepared Johnke—not that he has a clue. He looked at the pattern I've decided on (Teva Durham's Bias Fair Isle Pullover) and said, "Do you have to count? Or do you just do it? Hey, there are a lot of colors." I said, "Sweetie, I won't be talking to you for a while, you know." What I didn't say was, "At some point during the 'games' I'll probably lunge for your throat if you insist upon talking to me." I think that this sweater choice is like me entering the luge competition.

I'm addicted...

Although I'm not an Illustrator pro and by no means a graphic designer, I've discovered that I really enjoy making buttons. This one is for Jenn, who is hosting the "it's NOT a gift" KAL. Here's to hoping that she likes it.

I'm still trying to decide what to knit for the knitting olympics...I signed up and listed socks & all unfinished objects currently languishing in my bin, but that seems so mundane. I'm trying to decide if I should go for something a bit more exciting.

New button!

I'm being realistic.

This was my attempt at self-photography. I would have used the self-timer function, if I could have figured out how. Anyways, what I'm attempting to illustrate here (unsuccessfully) is that while I'm not massive, I'm not miniscule. Why? Because I'm thinking that although I love it, the Lace Leaf Pullover might not be what my body is asking to wear. The gauge is: "10 sts and 14 rows = 4" (10 cm) in St st." It's CHUNKY ! Oh, but it's so alluring on that model. Look at her, though. She's little. I don't have that body. I'm thinking that I may make a Lace Leaf Pullover derivative sweater by using skinnier yarn and copying the shape, incorporating leaves and perhaps skipping the YO pattern on the right sleeve... Any opinions on that plan?


Here are my main reservations about the "derived sweater" plan: What I love about the sweater is its overall gestalt. I think that it's likely the chunkiness that makes the sweater. Specifically, I like the ribbing at the end of the sleeves, at the neck, and at the edge of the body. Doesn't the ribbing look this good because of its chunkiness? Oy, what's a girl to do?

Maybe I should go ahead and make the sweater without any changes and when I wear it, I'll be all, "Hey, I'm chunky today, dammit. It feels good."

nowadays this might be happening in my head

"blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog glog blg blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog blog bog bog gog log blog blog blog"

I am sorta obsessed with blogging and blogs.

I finally admitted to some of my friends that I've begun a knitting blog (oh, well, actually I told Kevin last week via email, but I'd never expect him to judge—he's not like that...oh and Breana, but she's got a livejournal). I mean, I know that anyone reading this understands about blogging, but what about people you've never heard say the word blog? No one laughed out loud. Phew. Bianka even wrote the url down. Hi Bianka if you read this!

It's working...

The two thousand socks knit along seems to be working on me. I've become more conscientious (or maybe just more compulsive) about knitting these socks since joining the knit along.

This afternoon I helped a friend choose yarn to make her very first hat/knitted garment. She chose this color of Malabrigo yarn for the bulk of the hat and a grey angora for a bit of contrast.

Usually, when I teach someone to knit, I have them first make a gauge swatch, or a book mark. This way, they can learn to cast-on, knit, purl, and bind off all in one session.

[I know that it's a lot of stuff to absorb in one lesson, but I find that getting a person to do each of those actions while I'm available to answer their questions allows them to experience the complete feel of knitting. I've noticed that when I've taught someone to both knit and purl pretty much at the same time that they get good at both fairly quickly, but that when they only do knits for a long time they have a harder time learning to purl.]

After that, I have them knit a hat, scarf, or mittens (flat). This method seems to work well. Last week, though, I let someone choose a sweater as a first project...then I let her sally forth and choose her own yarn...I'm feeling guilty. For some reason, I didn't have the heart to tell her to begin with a simple accessory. She picked the actual knitting up very quickly, so I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed that all goes well. We've begun knitting together every Monday, so at least I'll be around to help.

tres mal

I've decided that my site looks tres unrefined (& using French won't help it in the least).

Anyways, I've also made up my mind to knit Teva Durham's Lace Leaf Pullover for the iNagKAL (it's NOT a gift KAL). The pattern is from the book, Loop-d-Loop, but Interweave Knits excerpted it in the summer 2005 issue—that's where I got the pattern.




Now I have to dye a bunch of merino green and spin that up. Um, I've never dyed with anything but Kool-Aid and I didn't have the best experience with Kool-Aid green. I think that I'm going to have to go commercial dye on this job.

I also have to decide what I'd like to do with my it's so pinker.

One more, then off to Johnke : )

This is sorta typical of my neighborhood. Hee-hee. Sometimes things like these live on the sidewalks and one of my dogs is afraid of them. He has a hard time walking near them.

The actual purpose of this post is to say that I've joined TWO knit-alongs! 2! One is the It's NOT a Gift KAL and the other is the Two Thousand Socks Knit-Along.

This just in

I want to begin or join a knit-along. I want to begin a knitting co-op (store). One of these ideas is feasible.

I just can't stop!

I also want to mention that yesterday, my friend, Jess (did I mention that I have a friend?), had a great sweater on yesterday. It had a ribbed mock turtleneck that wasn't tight and it featured a close-up rendering of two wolf heads (or they could've been coyote) and a mountain backdrop. It was all done with contrasting outline in natural oatmeal, green, and not quite brown/black. I've got to beg her for a photo and a source and use it as my muse. Could animal imagery be more popular?

Oh yeah.

Last night, Jess and I also decided that there is a category of people who are "eco-goth" and that they are the "new post-goth" sect as well. Just thought I'd fill you in. Love, e.

ANIMALS RULE!

I meant to post a different picture today, but it'll have to wait. Here's a baby quilt that I should have ironed before photographing...IRON? huh? what? Oh, that thing with the pointy tip that gets hot on the bottom? I mostly wear t-shirts and sweaters and jeans. Pretty sad. I made this quilt for my friends, Holly & Kevin & their new baby, but I still haven't sent it. Pretty sad indeed.

I watched Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man last night (hence the title of this post). Wow. I'm so glad that I didn't see it in the theater because I had some pretty intense reactions (screaming, snorting, gasping, & etc.) that I'm not sure the audience around me would have enjoyed. I can't get Timothy Treadwell's voice out of my head today. My friend, Jessie, is having the same experience, but we keep hearing different sound bites. I hear, "NO, NO. DON'T DO THAT. NO. BAD BEAR. NO. Oh, I love you. I love you. I love you. OK. Yes, I love you. Good bear." That might be slightly misquoted, but the message is identical to Timothy Treadwell's. I'm also hearing, "That's a BIG Bear, that's a BIG Bear! That's a BIG BEAR !"

So, I'm new to blogs and I have a lot to learn. One thing I need to learn now is: when people have a button that you can "take," how do you take it? I've been linking to the location of their image, but is that the proper protocol?? I've sent some appropriate emails out, but until then, I'll be placing their buttons on my site by using their image location. Is that rude? The LAST thing I want to do is offend the very people I'd like to befriend! Ai yaaaaa.

Yucky sinus yuckiness, blech.

I hate being sick! Yesterday I could barely open my eyes because everything hurt. Today I sucked it up and took drugs.


A Zab pincushion with shiny pins


Awesome Zab cards adorned with her most excellent photos, which I think she should begin posting on flickr so that I can look at more of them


Here's what I did with the first bit of it's so pink. I should have put cables on the flap, but I didn't think of it because I'm no design genius.


It looks much better like this, with the flap tucked inside.

(aside: I have been sitting in a bent over indian-style position while posting and now both my feet are completely asleep) I know that cell phone cozies have been all the rage for ages, but I never really felt the need for one until I got my new phone. My new phone is nothing special, just a run-of-the-mill Nokia, but for some reason it begs me to protect it. I used to have sort of a phobia about non-completely rectangular candybar cell phones, but I've gotten over it due to the fact that all of the completely rectangular ones are cost-prohibitive. Anyways, I've warmed up to my tapered candybar and now I've even created a garment for it...

I re-dyed most of the pinkness and made it even pinker. More terrible photos to come. Apparently, daylight doesn't help me. I am just a bad photographer, perhaps due to impatience. Ironically, I got the Best Photographer award in my senior year of high school. HA! What a joke! There must've been no other senior year photographers.

The gots new shorts!

I went away this weekend and forgot to bring the computer, knitting, and reading. I did manage to bring dog food, clothes, toiletries (I had to look that one up for spelling purposes)—all of the responsible stuff. So, nothing new in the world of fiber arts to post.

BUT

When we got home, there was a note from the cornershop next door that they were holding a package for us. I'll have pics of all the awesome handmade stuff that Zab showered us with later today, but The insisted we put his picture online immediately. The says, "I LOVE my shorts, Auntie Zab!!!!" Needless to say, he also said, "Eat my shorts, NO, eat them. Eat them. Eat 'em up like a snack!"

Yo, check it.

I've made contact with the fine individual at Knitty Knit Knit and am now eagerly awaiting a reply. I shall indeed get my hopes up! Rather than emailing her, I stuck a comment into her last post. Will she check it?

Hey, it's so pink is spinning! I'm trying to make something along the fatness lines of a Rowan Yorkshire DK Tweed.

hey!

I just found out that there's a knitty knit knit out there. Hm. Interesting.

ramble ramble

Turns out that I somehow slightly felted that pink roving. Boo. HOW? I didn't agitate and I don't think that I heated too quickly. I definitely allowed it to cool all by itself, just staying on the stove. Did I do something bad when I rinsed it? Can one make felt by crowding too much fiber into the pot? I put like 4oz into the pot, which may have been 2oz too many...Oh well, it's still spinnable — hey, I spun one lb of beast. If you know the beast, then you know that it can have some downright felt-like qualities.

Here is the sock that I got halfway through, then decided to frog (because it wasn't worth knitting) and then compulsively began again (one year later). It's Brown Sheep Wildefoote, in the Columbine color. It's pretty, but so not luxurious. I don't know if it's the nylon content, the way it was spun (too worsted, i.e. no fuzz at all), or what, but it feels chintzy. It feels the opposite of ahhhhh. It feels, huuuh?

I'm not a hoarder of yarn and I love to finish projects, so I'm conflicted about this...do I keep it, do I give it up? Foist it on someone else? Hmmm, that last option sounds good. If this blog had a readership, I would definitely put it up for adoption. I've got another skein besides the one pictured and they both go to the best 500 character essay.

Here's a photo of my absolute favorite sock yarn. It's pink, brown, tan, and orange Trekking XXL yarn from Skacel. Get it now! One ball makes two perfectly perfecto socks and I even had yarn left over. I'm not exactly positive that the link I just created is for the exact same colorway. It looks similar on my computer monitor, but it doesn't mention orange and it does say 'black,' which doesn't make an appearance on my socks. Why did I lose the ball wrapper thing??

look! bad photos.

Ok, so in the future I'm going to have to remember to take photos during the day & probably outside. How do people get those cool photographs of their objects on just white backgrounds? Do they just photograph the stuff on white backrgounds?

Here's a pair of socks that I knit from my first self-dyed and self-spun sock yarn.


I haven't been spinning lately, but today I did this:


How pink is that?? I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet. I think that I'm going to knit that "it's a shrug, no — it's a scarf!" piece from the Scarf Style book. I have to decide & spin it before Monday evening when I host my first knit & drink & flap yr gums in Philadelphia.

hark! knit knit knitty knit appears!

Here's another knitting blog!!!! I love knitting blogs and sometimes I can't stop reading them. I'm afraid, however, that no one will ever read my blog and I'll just end up feeling like a blogging loser. But hey, that's the chance one takes when one gives oneself up to the incredible world of online fun.

I'm a knitter who's recently moved to Philadelphia, PA from Athens, GA. Is that too much information right off the bat? It's hard to know where to draw the line once the mind has warmed up to the idea of becoming slightly exhibitionist. I feel like I should jump right into the getting to know me thing, but then again, maybe I should take it more slowly.

Now, because I'm feeling giddy as I create my very first entry and I want to give you a photo (I love photo-rich knitting blogs), but don't have any knitting pictures on hand, I submit:

It's not knit, but it is wool and I did handcraft it. It's a computer bag made from an old coat. I kept the original buttons and button-holes because I'm lazy. It's conservative on the outside, but it's libertine on the inside. It's double layered and protects very well. I travel with my laptop inside an old backpack, tucked in amongst books & sundries. If you are a sewer, please find an old coat and do this. It's so much cheaper (and more satisfying) than buying a computer sleeve!