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October 31, 2004
Happy Halloween!
Not knitting related, but we did go to the coffee shop to knit for awhile, even though knitting group was canceled for the week.
Posted by Betsy at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
October 30, 2004
Master SSK
I apologize if you've seen this already, but if you haven't, prepare yourself.
I wonder if those two guys really are knitters.
Not much actual knitting going on in my world. I'm going to have to start knitting on the train again. I think we have devoted this whole weekend to cleaning, school/work, and knitting, so maybe there will be pictures soon. Cleaning really needs to take priority, though. Geez.
Posted by Betsy at 05:46 AM | Comments (2)
October 28, 2004
Two Stitches Too Many
The only trouble with the fantastically soft Dale of Norway baby wool is that it is so thin and dark that I think I misplaced my purl stitch that marked the thumb gusset. Really, I don't have much of an idea of what happened, but there seem to be two more stitches than I planned on the right side of the gusset. Adding to the confusion is that because of the aforementioned small, dark quality of the yarn, it is next to impossible to tell if my gusset is curving or jagged or otherwise obviously wrong.
Honestly, I think the only solution is to tear back fourteen or howevermany rows and add a stitch marker, just to be sure. Depressing, it was going along so nicely.
Posted by omar at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2004
Two brief things
First off, I realize now that *k3 inc1* isn't the process of making three stitches into four, but four stitches into five, so one problem with the Broad Street pattern turns out to be only my own ignorance. All that being said, I've gotten onto the four needle part of the... oh... hey. I better change the name of those, at least until this secret pal thing blows over, lest my pal deduce who I am.
The second thing is that I have made many attempts into the brioche hat from Weekend Knitting, and I think in this pass I maybe did it right. But it's difficult to tell. It seems the kind of thing that could be shown to me more easily than I could learn about it in a book. Even so, any advice from the loyal reader(s) would be appreciated.
Posted by omar at 12:07 AM | Comments (2)
October 21, 2004
knitting drought
There hasn't been much knitting going on around here. I finally re-started the broadripple anklets and got to the heel flap last night. We've been busy. Oscar turned 150 and we had to go celebrate in NYC, prompting us to miss knitting group for the second time in a month. I finally found a student teaching placement and Omar got a job offer. Plus we started watching baseball! Omar was too nervous to knit during game 7, but I managed some sockage.
My big dilema right now is that I am so uninspired by my sweater projects (Kyoto, Melon Blast, Einstein Coat). Kyoto's problem is that unless I do a lot of ripping, I'm not convinced I'm going to like the final product. I hate the Melon Blast yarn (Classic Elite Zelda, looks nice but the wool + linen has no stretch and can't really be ripped out) and right now I'm on the body of the cardigan which is basically a giant stockinette rectangle. The Einstien coast is a giant rectangle of garter stitch.
I am tempted to buy the Kureyon for the Directions Zip Cardi, but would that really help?
Do I need to do some radical ripping and reassignment of yarn? What could I do with the ton of mercerized cotton from the Kyoto? What about the ton of rust-colored bulky for the Einstein coat? Or should I just ignore them until I feel like working on them again?
Sigh. I may never make an adult sweater. Maybe I should start on Omar's Basketweave Pullover.
Posted by Betsy at 05:11 PM | Comments (2)
October 13, 2004
a wicked lot of stuff
Thanks for everyone's comments about Omar's Nature Cotton debacle. He is going to try to contact Windsor Button and the distributor and see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed and we'll keep you updated. If he resells it, I really doubt he's going to get the $6/skein he paid, especially since we will be honest about the yardage.
I now present the happy side of our yarn sale adventure.
Left to Right:
-OOhh. Plymoth Baby Alpaca Brush in Orange. I fell in love. SO amazingly fuzztastically soft.
-Omar's only other purchase, Baby Cashmereno in a lovely muted purple, to make me the gauntlet gloves from Interweave Knits Fall 04.
-Lance, the surfer dude of the Isle of Gladom, who spends much of his time in jail.
-the FINALLY! arrived Uruwool in beautiful shades of blue. Destined to be a scarf for my mom. (They said it didn't ship because it was hiding under something!)
-My big splurge Mountain Colors Bearfoot sock yarn in Wild Raspberry. These will be pair of socks #2, hopefully toe-up with short-row heels.
-two skeins of CP cotton chenille for Reverse Bloom Cloths. woohoo. :)
-A skein of Lionbrand Landscapes in a colorway I couldn't stop obsessing over. Destined to be an ipod cozy for me.
What are those colored thing sticking up from the yarn?! Why, they're mermaids from the Isle of Gladom! Oh no! Nigel the shark has caught one for his dinner. Mermaids courtesy of a fantastic RAOKer.
Hopefully you will see better shots of this yarn when it is in use!
I must have had some good Karma coming, because not only did Omar get the Trekkies 2 soundtrack in the mail today, I got two of the gifts pictured below.
Thanks, Secret Pal! She sent me Simple Knits With a Twist, which I think is a great book. I also love the satin ribbon slippers on the front, and some of the other nontraditional materials (tulle purse is adorable) And who can live without UPCing their dog?
I got a great RAOK that I can only assume is from the lovely creator of the Mystery Kits. I think we figured out what the pattern will make, but only time will tell!
Also pictured: a straggler mermaid (they're slippery!) and some cool stitch markers from Stephanie, and the coveted yellow acryllic from Lisa. Thanks, everyone! What a great mail day/week/month. I hope I got all the links right.
I am supposed to be writing my first lesson plan, but before I do that, I'm going to make a list of the holiday projects I'm at least somewhat comitted to doing.
-3 reverse bloom cloths (Cotton Chenille in red, purple, teal. I might try to make one of them a star) (Omar's mom, sis, SIL)
-a pair of fingerless gloves (dad)
-a pair of broadripple sokcs (mom)
-a scarf with the blue Uruwool (mom)
-intarsia project involving the yellow acryllic (Captain Tom Bucket)
-Luggy Bonnet from Weekend Knitting for friend's baby
-Sophie purse(magknits warm) or Hallowig (Knitty Fall 04) for same friend
I am just fed up with my big projects and I'm going to focus on these small gifty ones. Also, I want to make a pair of Fuzzy Feet for Omar, mostly because they are so fun to make and mine are almost done. There's also his sweater to consider, now that we have that ballwinder the 23 balls of Lana D'oro seem more approachable.
Posted by Betsy at 02:31 AM | Comments (4)
October 12, 2004
Omar's bad day
My poor boy. He was so excited about buying yarn to make his first garmet.
We went the 20% off sale today at Windsor Button, and he bought yarn to make the hoodie from the Sally Melville Purl Stitch book. Well, he bought 14 skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton Yarn, which purports to have a yardage of 165 per skein.
The yarn store lady warned us that it was low on yardage, she said maybe 110 and not 165. Well, he decided to take the risk, figuring he could drum up the $ for a few additional skeins if necessary. We got home and wound it on our niddy noddy, and by our calculations, this is about 87 yards, almost half of what the labels says! How can they get away with this? We can't return the yarn because it was on sale, and he really wants to make the hoodie, but he would need another 14 skeins! I just niddied up another skein to see if there was a lot of variation between skeins, and it was about the same.
Has anyone else noticed this with this yarn?
What can we do? The website listed on the yarn, www.araucaniayarns.com, just says "under construction" (in Spanish). The US distributor, Knitting Fever, doesn't seem to have a commerical site (just one that requires a password). There is an email address on the yarn (info@araucaniayarns.com), but we're not too hopeful.
I think he is probably going to just try to sell the yarn on ebay. I'm sad for him! It is lovely soft yarn, a lovely color (yellowy-green), and would look great on him. Damn these people for lying about yardage!
A few other places online I've seen the 110 yd number that the lady at WB gave us. This is weird.
Posted by Betsy at 12:42 AM | Comments (9)
October 10, 2004
One Giant Foot for Mankind
Womankind, actually, me. These are the Fuzzy Feet felted slippers from Knitty, well, one of them. They are my second pair, the first, as I said, having recently gone to my mother. I finished the kitchener tonight and am on the heel of the second. They are dark olive with a raspberry cuff. Yes, I've caught on to Omar's laziness and we're using his camera phone, which is noticeably less crisp than our Casio Elixim. He can post to Flickr directly from his phone. I'll have better photos later.
Posted by Betsy at 02:20 AM | Comments (2)
Felted Sheep
Leaving me with thie felted sheep to work on this evening. Thankfully, there wasn't a whole lot left to do. On the other hand, the "three rows" of neck turned out to have something like a dozen wrap and turn it it. Still, here I am, at the end if its garish, unspeakable nose.
Posted by omar at 02:20 AM | Comments (0)
First Invader Complete
Then I tore into this invader, but this afternoon, I bumped into a coke glass and spilled soda on it. Which is just as well, because every now and then I lose faith in it. Now, it still looks kinda like a space invader, vaguely, but it definitely lacks that crisp blockiness of old school video games.
Posted by omar at 02:16 AM | Comments (2)
Benjamin Bear
Last night at 1369, I dusted off Benjamin Bear, and stitched up his arm. Now comes the worst part, I have to stitch up his neck and actually get those ears onto his head.
Posted by omar at 02:09 AM | Comments (0)
Feather and Fan Stole
This is the stole I'm making using this yarn from ebay. It's gorgeous yarn, and I'm supplementing it with some scrumptious iced peach moahir and some Classic Elite Commotion that matches so well it's uncanny. I haven't made a lot of progress on this since I started it a few weeks ago.
I feel I have to report that I have been less satisfied with the same ebay seller's website, handpaintedyarn.com. I placed an order on 9/18 that still has not been filled, nor do they seem to have any record of it. I paid via Paypal. Someone wrote me about it several days ago and said he would sort it out, but I haven't heard from them yet (just wrote to check on it again). This is the first I've heard of anyone having this kind of trouble with them, so it could be anomalous. There were a lot of their fans on the livejournal knitting community.
Posted by Betsy at 02:01 AM | Comments (1)
Gifts from the secret pal!
More delights arrived in the mail yesterday, and we promptly devoured the two snickers pumpkins that came with the package. Yum!
Also seen here: pattern a day knitting calendar for 2005, a geek disguise kit (thought whether for it's disguising a geek or disguising me as a geek is anybody's guess), and some halloween candies in truly disgusting shapes!
Thanks again!
Posted by omar at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2004
feetsies
I feel like all I ever do lately is complain about my knitting. I finished one fuzzy foot except for the kitchener, after having to rip out the heel and toe at least once. Still, they go quickly.
What does NOT go quickly: Broadripple socks on 2s, particularly when the crappy needles you bought are so pointy they hurt your fingers. I got the "set" of 24" US2s at Central Yarn Shop in Portland. The woman gave me two different types of needles, and I didn't really look until I got out of there. I think they are both Inox, one is sort of a nickel-plated addi knock-off. The other is like the Susan Bates Quick Silver, that crappy coated grey aluminium with the bends at the joins. They suck. I keep dropping stitches because I'm trying to keep the stitches so far to the right on the left needle to avoid having to make contact with the points of doom.
I felt the tips of Omar's Brittany 2s and they aren't sharp at all.
I don't know why I have this block about knitting with DPNs, I can do it fine, I just don't want to do a whole project on them. I prefer metal needles most of the times, addis or the SB knock-off version, Silvalumes. They stopped carrying those at Fabric Place, though. I was almost done with the cuff and I am going to have rip out again because the YOs look all wonky and I know I dropped stitches. My options are 1. buy some DPNs and pray I can actually work with them without going crazy 2. Buy yet another set of 2 circs, either Addis or perhaps clover bamboo, but I don't know if they come that small.
Anyway, seriously, if anyone wants a set of 2 uberpointy 24" US2s described in detail above, leave a comment and they're yours free of charge.
I'm starting to think I will never finish a sweater. None of the three I have started (Kyoto, Einstein coat, or Melon Blast) inspire me at all.
Posted by Betsy at 02:19 AM | Comments (3)
October 08, 2004
Perfect Fit!
Is it German expressionism or Winter Hill fashion? Let posterity decide.
Posted by omar at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
Cooking Up A Felted Hat
Guess what I finished last night?
Sometime during the dysfunctional sexual antics of Nate and Brenda, I polished off the I-cord and tied it into a knot. All the same, I think I'm going to wait until I'm done with the sheep until I do the felting. We'll see if I hold out, though.
Benjamin Bear is also sitting around staring his dejected eyeless stare at me, begging me to finish him. The only thing the ratty sheep has on him is that I don't know where in the world the double pointed tens got off to.
Posted by omar at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2004
Go Pam!
Pam finished her Kyoto!
Posted by Betsy at 01:05 AM | Comments (1)
October 06, 2004
IT'S ALIVE!
Well, not just yet, but the arrival of our ball winder and swift meant that in short order the Fisherman's wool was wound into neat little yarn wheels, and I will soon be ready to get going on the felted sheep once more. The little graffiti-sheepy will live again!
Anyway, the other pleasant side effect of this is that I was just around the end of my skein for the flappers hat, and so I wound some more Cascade. And that really looks like a wheel more than a ball. Not that I'm complaining mind you, it was such an incredibly painless task that I am deeply grateful to my wonderful girlfriend for getting us these fine labor-saving devices.
Anyway, my secret pal asked me some questions, and I've been too lazy to answer them, until now. The next thing I want to learn is cabling. Betsy has asked for the cabled gauntlets from the fall Knitters, and I'm getting pretty good with the glove-making part. The one kind of yarn I'm desperate to find these days is anything light enough to stand in for the wool called for in Weekend Knitting for the finger puppets. The trick, of course, is I want lots of colors of really thin yarn, but only a little bit of each color. I've been reluctant to test things out, because I don't want to have to buy a gazillion colors only to find out I've bought a weight that's too big. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much. Still, itty bitty yarn. Short lengths, lotsa colors.
You may have also noticed that no sheep instructions have yet been formulated. That's coz I'm too busy knitting! Uh, yeah. Oh! I also started the ribbing for the “real” pair of mittens, in the art yarns and the Dale of Norway baby ull. The baby ull is a lot tinier than I expected, actually, so I am the slightest bit worried about gauge and fit and things.
Posted by omar at 11:36 PM | Comments (1)
Japanese knitting blogs and a nonponcho
For those who are Omar and like minded:
Space invader wristband
Octopus hat
I have had 0 sucess in locating Japenese knitting books/magazines in this area. Here are some knitting blogs to tide us over:
Creator of above, tokkyu2222.
Kenko knits
one more
Here is the nonponcho I want to make for myself in aubergine. I'm thinking Cascade 220. I think I got the picture for the Nordstrom poncho-madness page someone linked to awhile back. Originally I thought that the bow band part was knitted, but now I think it's just a ribbon. Hmm, what to do.
I also just cast on for a second pair of fuzzy feet (I finally gave up and gave my too-small first pair to my mom). So I really don't need to be worrying about new projects.
Posted by Betsy at 10:22 AM | Comments (30)
October 05, 2004
My first 100% sheep!
yarn: KFI Spice Novelty
needles: crappy susan bates 10.5 circs
stitches: garter, with inc/dec points on the ends
recipient: former professor
Posted by Betsy at 04:14 AM | Comments (2)
October 04, 2004
important decision
Some of you have asked about my Kyoto progess. To be honest, it is nonexistant. I have tossed it into a corner and tried not to think about it.
I think I have come to an important decision about it, though. I think I'll try knitting a double seed stitch collar, double or triple wide (at least 5"). We'll see how that works. If it doesn't, it might be on the fast track to the frog pond.
In other Kyoto news, I updated the list of knitalongers. Did I miss anyone? We will have a gallery soon. If you want, you can email me progress pics.
Today we stopped in at the Central Yarn Shop in Portland, ME. We were both a little disappointed, although they did seem to have good sales. We were more impressed with the other leetle yarn store/cafe in Portland called Knit Wit, where she has a lovely array of local fibers. Anyway, at least I got 2 circ 2s at the CYS.
I'm almost done with the novelty yarn scarf for my former prof. I also have definitely decided I need to redo the thumb on the second Kersti mitten. Then I'll have pictures!
I also started a Reverse Bloom cloth for a gift for Omar's mom for xmas. Does anyone care at this point? These are such old news. This time I'm actually using CP Cotton Chenille instead of Sugar N Cream.
Posted by Betsy at 02:54 AM | Comments (1)
October 03, 2004
$^%#! frog
The broadripple ankle sock had to be frogged. (After I finished the instep, I realized) I didn't swatch (don't even start with me) and I ended up knitting at 6 spi instead of 7.
:(
I've had a run of bad knitting luck.
On the other hand, I found $20 on the ground today. So I can buy two circular 2s.
=P
Posted by Betsy at 03:34 AM | Comments (1)
October 02, 2004
BALLS!
In celebration of my student loan check (the first of many celebrations, to be sure) I bought us a ball winder and swift. I got both new from ebay, and I paid about 36 for the winder and 42 for the swift, including shipping.
Really, with two knitters in the household, it's totally justifiable.
We should have a ball winding party when it gets here.
Posted by Betsy at 05:35 AM | Comments (1)
October 01, 2004
a'KIPing we will go
Two weeks ago there was this dour old man who was extremely pissed of when our knitting group began to assemble and left in a huff. He left us his cup to bus, too.
So now we find out that he posted this rant on craigslist. It is really pretentious and totally sexist. Note how he bashes the male knitters (including Omar) and generally tries to highlight how much more important it is for men to have public space to write than for women and sissy-men to have space to do something so paltry as knit. I'm not so sure my feeble female brain can understand his references to Kerry, as if it's so amusing that women whose floating wombs make them so simple-minded could discuss anything so lofty.
I hate people.
Posted by Betsy at 04:15 PM | Comments (6)
It's true, EVERYONE has a blog
I love it! The fiber blog of a housecat.
Posted by Betsy at 03:42 AM | Comments (0)