October 2004 Archives
I know... the last picture is gratuitously big. But I love this jacket!
Do not:
- Frog Kidsilk Haze while driving up the 405 freeway. The resulting fluff will make you think you just drove into a blizzard. You may also miss your exit and drive 3 miles along aimlessly before consulting your map.
- Frog Kidsilk Haze while wearing your impress-the-client black wool pants on your way to a presentation. My new nickname is now Fluffy Butt. Also, check weather. Black wool pants + grey turtleneck + sunny weather = sweaty girl.
- Cut Kidsilk Haze tangles with your teeth. Unless you want to floss with fluff. Right before a client presentation. Use real floss. Or go with scissors. I hear they're great for cutting.
On a less grumpy note: the new Rebecca Home issue is out! I'm lovin' the little animals and the round pillow! The bedspread would take a lifetime, though...
Perhaps you've heard of it. It's quite close to Sleeve Island, in fact, the same people get marooned there too.
Reversible Cable Scarf This pattern came courtesy of Vogue's American Collection. My version of Lily Chin's Reversible Stole has 136 less stitches, narrower cables, and tweed yarn. I knit about 16 inches going to and coming back from climbing this weekend, about six hours in the car. BF complained about my left needle poking his arm. Gotta learn to use circulars!
Moonstone Lace Scarf This is coming along nicely (needs blocking, though). I finally decided to use an oldie but goodie, the Feather and Fan pattern. This is an easy knit. The yarn is thick and thin but maintains an overall worsted weight. I wish I bought another skein of this particular colorway, the colors are very yummy!
Kidsilk Haze Stole Well, technically not a scarf, but it's long. So there. Here's the first 3 inches of the stole. It's like knitting with spiderwebs on big #9 needles! The halo makes it soft and fluffy, and when I put it away I basically scrunch it up on the needle and stuff it in a baggie. It's terrifically light. Having said all that, I may frog it (horrors!) because my cast-on row is too tight: I used a long tail cast on and I must have had a bad day when I did it. I'll try a simple cast-on next. Wish me luck on frogging!
I got this from my Candy-Along pal, Laurie, a week ago. Chocolate! Even better, scary chocolate! Mwaaaa haaa haa ha! I inhaled everything, of course: lips, fingers, eyeballs (eyeballs in cute box were quite creamy), coconut stack, brownie, ghost... Well, I did share some body parts with various co-workers curious about me dipping into my desk drawer followed by the crinkle of foil... There's a picture of me with the vampire lips somewhere, I'll have to find it and post it to the Candy-Along. Thanks Laurie! Candy is always welcome at the Yummy Yarn household.
Got home from the gym last night to find this sitting on my office desk. The last package from my secret pal, Elizabeth. BF didn't even tell me! Postman problems aside (is it too much of a problem to walk 60 feet to our door to drop this off so it doesn't sit in the rain, you poopie), I was *really* happy to receive this. So I pulled out the X-acto and sliced through to find...
Elizabeth sent lots of goodies! The card, of course is my bookmark, and the ghost soap is in the bathroom. My addled brain thought it was white chocolate at first. Har dee har har. The bag, which BF helpfully pointed out came from Hamburg, was mysteriously heavy and bulky. Shall we proceed?
Books! And they're in much needed categories in my knitting library, which is arans, fair isles, and simple knits. And an Ann Norling pattern calling out to the last few balls of cotton in my stash. Elizabeth included a thoughtful note about Country Knits, which was that their patterns weren't charted but written. Aah. Lastly, she included a printout from Rowan site about yarn substitutions which is so thoroughly helpful, as now I can figure out different yarns for some patterns from my treasured Vintage Knits. Thank you! The books are so timely because I still need a pattern for BF's dad's scarf, and I may find it in one of these.
Yarn! More of Adrienne Vittadini's Natalie so I have 6 balls with which to make something a little more substantial. I'll have to ask Elizabeth what she made with hers to give me an idea of its characteristics. A ball of Rowan Plaid in #163 Kelp, a lovely mix of brown, blue, and green. So soooft! I'm going to make a hat with this, which means my skein of Mountain Mohair (another SP2 gift) can be used for something else. Don't you love it when yarns volunteer duty for each other? ;) Lastly, three balls of pure virgin wool Valuruguai Artelan Tapestry in pink. Ooh, these virgins are soooft and smooshy. Methinks they'll make a scarf for me in the future! Yep, I do!
Thank you for making this Secret Pal experience interesting, entertaining, and exciting for me, Elizabeth! I now have a stash of great yarns and books that will be put to good use in the future.
Why have I been linking Elizabeth's name like crazy? Click over to her site; she's got some lovely yarn to give away. Go on, click now.
Only Dooce can have an entry devoted entirely to this subject, and have its own category, and have 530 comments. Yes ladies and gents, just for pee-oh-oh-pee. (And oh yes I did add a comment.)
Update: 546 comments. Who knew that poop was such a hot topic?
Or is it scarf-itis? I've been quite picky the past couple of days.
BF’s dad took a liking to the cable hat we sent for BF’s brother’s birthday. So I decided to knit a surprise scarf for him using some yummy Rowan Felted Tweed in #144 Conker. This project should have been easy, except that I frogged the yarn at least 6 times because I ended up disliking every simple pattern I tried. Whether it’s a moss stitch (slow, boring), rib (slow, boring), cable rib (been there, done that), checkerboard (moss stitch on a large scale, how much more boring can you get?), cable plus rib (zzzzzz), garter plus stockinette inserts (snore), I can’t seem to like anything. The DNA Scarf pattern is nice, but a 40-row repeat? The yarn is looking kind of frazzled; its plies are separating due to overuse. I think I’ll try the Seaman's Scarf for Matthew Shepard pattern next. Cross your fingers!
Moonstone Lace Scarf has been frogged. I completed a pattern repeat, pinned it out and just looked at it. And I disliked it. Too open, perhaps. Or too lacy? I was not getting happy vibes. So Moonstone languishes in a baggy with a lavender sachet until I find another pattern. I think that with those colors I’ll need a simple pattern.
KSH Lace Scarf is still a pair of sticks and balls. 'Nuff said.
Let's end this post with something positive, shall we? Mittens #2 is all complete so that’s another person off my Christmas list. Yay! Grace is completely seamed up. I still have to take some pictures and I’m going to do that this weekend. Yay!
There's an end in sight for Grace, I believe! The sleeves have been blocked but I haven't cut the yarn in case I need to knit some additional rows. Twenty-two more rows for the collar and I can seam! Woohoo!
Do I show the mitten? Yep, it's just like the first pair. Only smaller. Yep, it's pink. And it's got a ribbed cable cuff. Yep, same pattern. No, I shouldn't. Hmm, maybe I should. No... Okay, here it is. Yep, boring! Let's move on...
I bought 2 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in #589 Majestic. It's a very subtle grape color that my grandma would love. Except for my love of pink, I share the same fashion sense as her: simple lines, unusual but understated colors. I have a choice of 2 patterns with which to accommodate the 460 yards: a simple yo/skpo/k2tog pattern from Scarf Style, or the lace scarf pattern from the latest Rebecca (2nd from left). I'll probably start on it after finishing Grace.
Finally, this is for all the people who comment on blogs: thank you! It's good to come home after work to find that people find the time out of their day to say something to others. Encouragement, enabling, decisions, or just kind thoughts can make a person's day. I totally believe in the knitblog community, no matter how different we are from each other. Much thanks and appreciation to all.
