Duck Knits

Bugger this for a lark...

2007-07-04T13:46:00.001-07:00

Well, this blogger has HAD it. I've done a bit of fiddling, and we're up and moving! Please direct all links over to: http://duckknits.wordpress.com/

I'm still fiddling with the user interface, but all in all I think it looks a good sight better. Feel free to drop by and let me know what you think! :)

There's supposed to be an Arietta post today...

2007-07-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

But Blogger is not bloody cooperating. We'll return later (probably Friday) , hopefully with pictures. Have a Happy 4th everybody!

A Monday Meme

2007-07-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's my first official Meme, courtesy of CCR in MA.

The Meme rules: Enter your birthdate into Wikipedia, and list three events, two births, and one holiday that take place on your birthday. I'm rather fond of this, as I think it's more interesting than the prototypical "Tell me allllllll about you" memes. :)

So here goes:

I was born February 12th 19*coughcoughcough*

According to wikipedia, the following happened on that date:

In 1870, women gained the right to vote in the Utah territory. This is 50 freaking YEARS before the rest of the nation caught on, and we got the 19th amendment. Who'd have thought that area would be so progressive? 1870 is also the same year we got the 15th amendment, banning voting restrictions based on race.

In 1990, Super Mario Brothers 3 is released, and I become an official video game addict. I remember that game being the Biggest. Deal. EVER.

In 2004, San Francisco starts issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It was a proud moment - though it didn't last. I wonder if a century from now, some blogger will be doing the same type of meme and talking about how progressive we were...

The Birthdays:

Duhh, Abraham Lincoln. Sadly, while this was once a holiday, it's been smushed into the all-purpose "President's Day," which is usually two weeks later. Too bad, because I'd love to have my birthday off!

Also born on my birthday - a ton of actors and people I couldn't care less about. Suffice to say that it looks like us Aquarians tend to go for chatty professions.

The Holiday:

Well... there's a couple interesting ones to choose from. Let's talk about Red Hand Day, a holiday that tries to draw attention to the plight of of children who are forced into being soldiers. We've seen a lot about this in the news lately, and it breaks my heart every time. Sadly, I'd never heard of this holiday before - so I'm glad this meme brought it to my attention.

All right, in happier topics: I've finished the other front of Arietta. However, I'm going to save those pictures and updates for Wednesday. I know, I'm such a tease. See you all then!

Y'all know what time it is...

2007-06-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, and it's a return to form with some very special sock yarn.

Every time Socks that Rock starts to ship out, I turn into a little kid about the mail. I race home from work wondering, "Is it here yet?" Well, last Saturday, this turned up in the mailbox...

Yeah, probably it's Socks that Rock, but until you open it you never know...

Yup, definitely Socks that Rock! And ooooooh, the pretty colours...

A lot of people have asked "What do we do with the mini-skein?" I have no idea, but it does make a great way to embarrass the hell out of your boyfriend:

I still can't believe I got him to sit still for that.

Here's the goodies that came with:

On the left is a card with different pictures of this month's yarn in the dye process. The Dyer's Notes this month were really sweet, and I like that there was no "Let me tell you, the buyer, why you're WRONG WRONG WRONG" attitude unlike the Grasshopper shipment. The pattern is brilliant - it comes with instructions for toe up AND cuff down. I'm still not convinced that I like short-row heels, but it fits in really well with the design of the pattern - which is just stunning!

Finally, just the yarn...

I don't even want to use it up, it's so pretty. But this month's socks are a definite MUST knit for me.

In other news, I got another thing I'd been lusting after: My invite to Ravelry! The set-up is amazing, and I'm constantly fascinated by just how clever it is. It's amazing to enter a project and then instantly be able to see who else is working on something and what yarn they've chosen. I still have a ton of work to do on my profile - I plan to spend a part of this weekend updating my stash photos (I'm going to at least try to admit to my total stash) and needle collection. If you're on Ravelry, look me up! My screenname there is LaCane.

If you haven't signed up yet, do it! The wait list is still fairly long, but the two designers are going to work on it full time, so they've said they expect to start plowing through the list very soon.

Coming Soon: Um... More Arietta

When Knitting Disaster Strikes

2007-06-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

No no, don't worry, it's not Arietta.

Arietta is moving along slowly but surely, as I experience a wee bit of knitting project burn-out: That's the second front piece. I'm usually all right about motivation for finishing off second pieces (except for that One Sock that keeps lingering. I really do plan to finish that someday). I think part of the problem with this is that it's the same 40 rows, constantly. Excepting the bottom pieces of course. I'm determined to finish this before I start any other projects, but I have to admit that the sock yarn stash is calling to me.

All right, the disaster. Yesterday, as I was going to put on a shoe, I caught the heel on the Icarus I had so lovingly draped over one side of my dining room table:

Yargh. I'm still in too much of a state of shock to even THINK about fixing this. Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I've at least pondered that a graft might just be possible. But then, I've never been good at getting my grafts to look nice. I have an extra ball of the alpaca I used to knit this, so I suppose ripping back to the beginning of the edging is possible... I don't know, but it doesn't bear thinking about for long periods of time. Part of me wants to throw it in a closet and deny all knowledge.

Okay, enough of the mopey stuff! Today is Miss Violet's (of Lime and Violet) birthday!

Happy Birthday Miss Violet!

It is, of course, her 21st birthday, right Miss V? ;) I hope your day is full of soft and yummy yarn-y goodness!

Coming soon: Mmm, sock yarn

Obsessed? Me?

2007-06-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I get hold of a project that overcomes my tendencies to work wantonly on several projects at a time. Arietta seems to be that project. Despite an overwhelming urge to join the current slew of Jaywalker knitters, I've been nothing but faithful to my sweater.

So, to recap, last time we met I had a left (not right, sorry) front that was this big:

Late Saturday afternoon I picked up the needles, and put on a Mythbusters marathon. By Sunday evening (don't worry, I didn't knit all Sunday - cleaning and eating happened too :)) I had this:

That's a full left front, nice and attached to the back. This sweater uses something I've never tried before - a three needle bind-off on two needles. I find it dreadfully clever, and if I must knit in pieces, this is how I'd like to do shoulder attachments.

Here's the bind-off up close:

The only thing I don't especially care for is that the brown peeks through a little, but I suspect it's only noticeable up close. Otherwise, the fact that the pattern lines up so nicely fills me with knitterly glee.

Here's everything I've got so far:
I'm already a wee bit into the right front, but only as much as the picture of the left front, so I shan't bore you with it. I'm hoping that I can get this thing finished in the next two weeks, job and life permitting. The fronts go VERY fast, but I suspect the sleeves will be a bit of a slog. Then there's the button band, so I'm going to have to do some buttonhole research - it seems like there are millions of ways to make a buttonhole, and everyone has their favourite.

Of course, I also have to buy buttons.... sounds like a whole new thing to get obsessed over.

Coming soon: Oh, just guess.

The Audience is now... Deaf!

2007-06-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

No knitting news today. The Grad-Student Boyfriend and I went to see Skinny Puppy last night along with Jessica and her man, and needless to say - no knitting got done. Mind you, it would've been nice to have a few sock needles for protective purposes (note to self: next time, stand further away from the mosh pit). Still, it was a great concert, even if the opening acts sucked harder than my Dyson. Only problem is, today I'm about at half hearing, and my voice is shot.

Jo, thanks for the advice on the set-in sleeves! :) One of my biggest "issues" with knitting is I hate hate HAAAATE to pin, but I'll make myself do it right. I'm one of those types that tends to try and speed through finishing once the knitted pieces are complete, and it bites me in the arse every time.

All right, stealing a page from Crazy Aunt Purl's book here. I have nothing else, so here's a cat making a silly face:

That is all. See y'all again Monday.

Nothing New to See Here

2007-06-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

But for those of you who are enjoying the progress on Arietta, you're going to love this post.

So yesterday, we were here:
Today we are here, and then some:

That's a finished back, mind you, and the beginning of a left front piece. It's sort of disheartening to realize that even though the back is a ginormous piece, I've still barely made a dent in the actual knitting. Thank goodness the fronts get small fairly fast.

My biggest worry right now?

The seaming up when I'm done. Per the pattern (and forgive my big fat fingers in the picture, you all know how stockinette curls if not held down), I carried my colours not in use up along one side. This has made for one side with a very thick edge. I'm hoping I don't end up with gigantic uncomfortable seams.

I also realized that this will be my first set-in sleeve sweater. I was thinking to myself that surely, having made two cardigans and five pullovers I must have set in sleeves at some point in there. But I haven't! The Eris sweaters are raglan top-down in the round, as is the Simple Knitted Bodice. My favourite off the shoulder sweater was raglan knit flat. The Tulip cardigan is just sort of cap sleeves. And the Noro sweater of Doom was just... bizarre. But no sleeve setting.

I wonder if I'll ever be at a point in knitting where I won't regularly run into things that make me feel like an utter novice. Now, if that sounds like a complaint, it's not. I'm the type that gets bored easily once I know something more or less inside and out. I'm just consistently amazed that a hobby that involves making loops with thread can be so incredibly complex and endlessly entertaining.

Coming soon: Well, probably even more Arietta. I'm in the "obsessive knitting" stage right now. We'll see if it lasts.

Actual Arietta Progress

2007-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well, despite having survived last week entirely on Stress and Frappucinos, I did manage to stick to my goal of working on the WIPs. I did NOT cast on for anything new (I know, I know!). I've made progress on the Grasshopper sock, but the damn thing is wildly uninteresting to look at. I mean, "Look! One inch of... more p2tog yo."

Anyway! The last time we saw Arietta, she looked like this:

Now she looks like this:

I've got a few more inches to go up the back, and then it's time to move on to the fronts. I have to admit, a cardigan on size 3 needles is slow going. Still, the result is lovely, and I think worth it.

In case anyone's interested, here's a closeup of the pattern itself:

I still haven't made up my mind if I like those purl bumps. The pattern says that it adds texture, but I think I like a slightly smoother fabric. Of course, we've yet to block, so who knows what'll happen to it then.

Someone on the Knittyboard was considering making the new Unmentionables pattern from the same yarn I'm using, Shine Sport, and was told it was too heavy a yarn. I never thought so until I got this far in the cardigan back (it's so light in the skein) - this is going to be a sweater with WEIGHT. I'd be worried if it wasn't the yarn the pattern called for.

That's it for this Monday - with any luck this week will allow me to get more done. I know "in progress" pictures are infinitely less interesting than "look! it's done!" pictures. :)

A Friday without Sock Yarn...

2007-06-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, my Dad the Cop had this great cartoon-y mug that read "Kissing a Cop without a Mustache is like eating an egg without salt." Of course, that was the late 80's, and all the cops I know are clean-shaven now. Anyway, this is a Friday without sock yarn (I know! Shocking!) but I think it's still salted-egg good.

Meet Schaefer silk yarn in the colourway Bette Davis:

Back:

Lounging indolently in the bookshelf:

Now, truth be told, I was always more of a Joan Crawford fan. The woman may very well have been batshit insane, but she was still one hell of an actress. Still, the colours in this yarn are just too damn pretty to resist.

This yarn is also part of my summer projects (no really, I swear). While making the Noro scarf, I decided to switch over to continental knitting for a little while. I've got the continental knit stitch down pretty well, but I'm still having issues with the purl. I guess that's not surprising, since it took me for-bloody-ever to learn to purl English style.

Since learning a new style slows me down considerably, and I prefer to knit fast, I knew it was going to take something extraordinary to make me make an entire project without switching back to English. I believe this yarn is it. It's destined to become a sideways skinny scarf, preferably in stockinette so I have loooooooong sections of purls to get good.

Now, don't worry, I'm not joining the Anti-English Knitting style crowd (and boo! to them). Unfortunately, I picked up one of the most labor intensive ways to "throw" my yarn (not the way my best friend's sister taught me, mind you! :)). I don't drop the yarn, but I hold it between forefinger and thumb, and it involves a whole lot of arm movement. I'm told I'm a fast knitter, but I'm convinced I could be faster if I wasn't swinging my arm all over the place. I'm also hoping this will cut down on hand pain. We shall see...

Well, that was a hell of a lot of picture followed by a hell of a lot of text! If anyone's still reading down this far, I'd like to use this space to say:

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Yes, it is the amazing Grad-Student Boyfriend's birthday. Feel free to leave well-wishes in the comments. :)

Have a great weekend everybody, and I'll see you on Monday!

Moment of Truth: Sock Yarn edition

2007-06-13T07:34:00.001-07:00

Like many knitters, I have a few unfinished projects languishing around my house. I'm hoping to spend the summer getting those finished. The Rose of England shawl hasn't been touched in months, and I would like to actually wear that during summer when a silk shawl will actually be appropriate! I also have that poor Tulip sock I haven't worked on since autumn of last year. I don't know WHY I haven't - I can finish those socks in a day.

Anyway, one of the projects that's been sitting around is my Socks that Rock grasshopper sock. I'm not actually doing it in the sock yarn that Blue Moon sent, because the yarn is just way too pretty to be broken up by a lace pattern:

There! It is a SOCK IN PROGRESS! It's my first time working a sock on two circs, and even though I could reasonably switch to dpns at this point, I am nothing if not determined to finish on two circs. At this point on the leg, it's just constant p2togs, yos. At the rate I'm going, I should have a good knee sock by... oh, let's say 2012.

Oh, that moment of truth? Here it is:

That's the sock yarn stash, excluding the yarn for the other Tulip sock. I don't know when the hell it got this big. What's even more distressing is - I don't want to knit most of these skeins. They're too pretty. I know when I make them into a sock they will never look the same. I don't do this with other yarn... just skeins of sock yarn. They're like my mini pieces of art. You don't knit art, right?

I can't be the only person who feels like this. Reassurance in the comments would be appreciated! :)

Coming soon: Hopefully, I stick to my main projects. Don't be surprised if I cast on for Lizard Ridge soon, though.

Pretty colours and a Cat That is Not Mine

2007-06-12T07:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of Monday post. I'm trying to keep to a Monsday, Wednesday, Friday update schedule. Unfortunately, work intervened last night, and I didn't have time to take pictures!

A little teaser, first...
Regular readers have probably noticed I have a thing for blue hues, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that this is one of my favourite sections on the scarf.

Here's the whole scarf:

Please to ignore my dirty fire-place. I only have so much time to clean. ;) This was a great mindless project, even with my hatred of 1x1 rib. It even inspired me to practice continental in sections, and I'm determined that my next project will be all continental. I'm thinking a sideways skinny scarf in stockinette, so I have the chance to REALLY practice my purl.

I'm also thrilled to say when I was done with this scarf, I had approximately two inches of yarn left. There will be no teeny bits of Noro reproducing in my stash this time, thanks very much!

And finally, a Cat That is Not Mine:

This is Miss Sophie. I'm a volunteer for a local homeless cat center, and I happen to KNOW I have local readers (Hi guys! ;)). I thought every once and again I'd try and use the blog for something other than shameless self knitting promotion. We have a lot of really great cats, and so if anyone is thinking about adopting this summer, I encourage you to look into your local organizations. For those of you who, like me, love cats but think they have plenty already - look into volunteering this summer! I spend two hours a week at a socialization center. It's not a huge chunk of time, but the cats and I both get a lot out of it. And of course, summer season is kitten season - consider fostering a kitten (get them while they're cute and fluffy, and then give them to someone else! ;)).

That's your PSA for this Tuesday. Hey, maybe that could be a new feature here at the blog, PSA Tuesdays... or maybe not. ;)

See you guys tomorrow, and knit on!

Two stars and Norma

2007-06-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Oh Hooray, it's Friday, and you know what that means around here.

That's right, sock yarn! We're still in a Lime and Violet sock yarn run. I've discovered their merino/tencel blend, and it is sooooo pretty and shiny! Those who know me well know I am unable to resist The Shiny.

Here's Pegasus:

I think Pegasus is my favourite of the lot. It's such a pearlescent looking yarn in person, and I can't wait to figure out what to make with it.

Here's Aquarius:

I'm trying to stop buying all-blue yarn, but this one was too pretty to resist. Also, I'm an Aquarius, so how could I resist?

Finally, the "odd yarn out," Norma:

Again, my camera skills aren't doing justice to this yarn. It's such a pretty springy series of greens, with a very light pink shot through. Norma was part of my plan to add some new colours to my stash, and I'm so glad I picked this skein up.

Lastly, here's the 3 skeins hanging out together:

Mmmm, sock yarn.

In Actual Knitting News (tm), the Noro scarf is still going. I'm trying to use up all the yarn (Noro leftovers seem to breed in your stash - but only in small unuseable amounts that you can't seem to throw away), so this is going to be a loooooong scarf. I'm thinking it should be done by next week. Just in time for a week that will be 80 degrees plus. I always did have a fabulous sense of timing.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I'll see you all again on Monday!

Torn between two crafts

2007-06-06T07:25:00.001-07:00

Knitting is totally a gateway drug. I blame this on two things: 1. If you knit long enough, you will encounter patterns that require you to learn something that is Not Knitting (crochet, sewing, embroidery, etc), and 2. Once you realize that by paying attention to a pattern, you can actually have a garment that fits like it was made especially for you instead of someone 6 inches taller and 5 pounds lighter, you get to thinking...

So I had a thought. I had a thought based on every pair of jeans I have ever owned being too damn long, and gaping in the back. I own a sewing machine. Actually, I have two in the house, as my best friend sort of docks her sewing machine here (Hi Jessica!). I have a sewing table. I have a load of supplies after my foray into sewing my costume for the Ren Faire. I have made a bodice (with copious help from Miss Jeanne's mother, who is a saint for teaching me to sew. I am NOT by nature a crafty person).

So I meandered down to the craft store, bought a pattern (and holy sticker shock! Sewing patterns are a LOT more than knitting patterns - luckily all the Vogue patterns were 50% off) and some fabric.

Several days later, I have these:

Hooray partially finished jeans. Now, in my defense, I didn't do much last weekend because I had the cold from hell. These are going to have to wait till this weekend to be finished. We shall not mention the morning of realizing I had made two left legs, please.

Closeup of the inner pocket:

And a closeup of the back pocket detail:

Obviously, my sewing is not high-caliber. I'm doing my best to not be all over the place, but I'm feeling pretty good about this project so far. It's my first time sewing for a garment and not a costume. So far, the jeans fit like a dream. A bit loose, but no gaping (I haven't put on the waistband yet though, so we'll see how that goes). The legs are exactly the right length. I probably should have paid attention when the women in the fabric store told me that jeans are one of the hardest projects to sew... but since when has that stopped me from doing anything?

I'll post pictures when they're done. Sorry for all those of you who have read this far and hate sewing. ;)

There is still knitting, don't worry:

The Noro scarf progresses. No cat model this morning, as she was busy leaving orange fur all over my nice grey carpet.

By the way, Saloni, you are an eeeeeeeeevil yarn pusher. ;)

It's a love/hate relationship...

2007-06-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

Noro is like the bad boyfriend that you could never seem to break up with. When it's good, it's so amazing that you want to knit everything with it. Then, all of a sudden, you start... finding things. Bad things, like random stickery briar-like bits. You pick them out and tell yourself it's just this one time. The yarn just made a mistake, and we all make mistakes, right? Then, in the middle of a colour scheme: a knot! A knot joining two wildly different colours and ruining the colour progression! You try to remind yourself that no one's perfect. After all, there was that little fashion disaster in the 90's that you're still trying to forget. You keep knitting.

Then, the yarn FREAKING BREAKS IN A REALLY INCONVENIENT PLACE BECAUSE IT'S UNDERSPUN AND OMG I HATE THIS YARN SO MUCH SOMETIMES. You take a deep breath. You spit splice and wait. You go absolutely mad trying to match up stripes, but it's to no avail because the colour progressions in this yarn are random, no matter if you do have all the same dye-lot. Finally, you've had enough. You look at the sweater, realize it looks better on one of your best friends, and decide that's it. You're breaking up with this yarn. You go a perfectly reasonable amount of time, and you see Noro occasionally and admire it's lovely colours. You tell yourself you're strong enough to resist and you'll never be burned by this yarn again.

Then you see something like this.

Goddamnit.

I'll break up with Noro again. Just after I finish this scarf. I can be strong.

What's that you say? Lizard Ridge?

*cries*

If it's Friday, it must be sock pr0n

2007-06-01T14:59:00.001-07:00

In a return to form, I've got more sock yarn to show off. After completely missing the last Baywood Yarns update at Nine Rubies, I managed to snag a few skeins this time!

Baywood has recently started to use Louet Gems as their base yarn, and while I had no complaints with their original sock base (it's all held up REALLY well), the Gems is so much nicer. It has more squish to it, and feels almost like Socks that Rock.

The pr0n:

Oooh, ahh. :) I'm trying to get out of my pink phase, but this is too pretty to resist.

Perfect boyfriend sock colours. Ever notice how freaking hard it is to find multi-coloured sock yarn that your boy will wear? At least, assuming he's not willing to wear crazy colours (for those of you whose boyfriends WILL wear pinks and purples and such, can you have them talk to mine? :P).

Colourway "Napa Road," need I say more? In fact, a good glass of Cabernet is sounding like a great plan right about now...

I <3 unexpected colour combos.

Are we all pr0nned out now? Good deal. Here's some actual knitting:

See, occasionally I do knit up all that yarn I buy. This is the back of Arietta, a fabulous little cardigan from the Spring Issue of Knitty. I've been looking for a reason to use Shine Sport from KnitPicks, as fabrics made with Modal fibre make me very happy indeed. I'm fascinated by the way the other colours turn the grey to a blue-y grey.

This is my first stab at Mosiac knitting, and I'm pretty fascinated by it. Appearance of colourwork with no stranding? Sign me up! The only thing that I'm a wee bit worried over is the texture, which is a little bumpy. I'm hoping some blocking flattens it out a little.

What's that I hear you good knitters saying? Make a swatch and wash it? That would be WAY too easy. Besides, I like the element of surprise.

Administrative note: This blog made a slight error in describing Jocelyn, the first model of the Angelina Cardigan. She is, in fact, utterly fabulous. :) This blog is also rabidly jealous, as she's already into Ravelry and I'm not *whine*. Also, she looks better in my sweater than I do. ;)

Coming soon: So... Lime & Violet updated again... more sock yarn on the way. I'm an addict, what can I say? And! Noro regains its hold on my soul.

What have you knit for me lately?

2007-05-31T19:11:00.001-07:00

I think I may be the worst blogger ever. I have been knitting, but I'm painfully lazy, and so I never upload photos so I never have anything to talk about!

Anyway, I've finished the Angelina Cardigan from White Lies Designs. Sometimes I forget how truly fun it is to work from a tight, well-written pattern. Joan's patterns are concise, but not obscure. How many knitting magazines patterns read something like "Then decrease using the method one Finnish knitter with no internet access made up, and we have chosen not to illustrate here"? Not so with Joan. This pattern has No. ERRATA. None. I'm so used to patterns having at least something wrong with them. Joan has spoiled me.

All right, enough of my yammering, and on to the sweater. Since a majority of people on Knitty seem to loathe the mirror self-portrait, and I still haven't trained my cats to be photographers, these first two are non-modelled shots.

The front:

The back:

So today, I had an idea. I always like to see a project on several body types. I mean, EVERYTHING looks good on the 12-year old models you see in fashion mags.

I started nice and normal, with an accomodating Nine Rubies employee:

I love that I can show up, say "Hey, I want to use one of your for my blog!" and they are TOTALLY cool with that.

But you know, you've got to find the non-standard body types too...

In case you ever wondered:

Yup, looks good on dogs.

But we're not done:

Yes, it even looks good on men! ;) Now THAT'S a pattern!

Coming soon: Yours truly tries her hand at Mosiac knitting, and my descent back into Noro-love

Thank Lime & Violet it's Friday

2007-05-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ah, finally the weekend. I'm so ready to settle in with some knitting and not emerge until Monday morning. And just in time I came home to find...

Sitting happily on my doorstep.

What's inside?

Note the nice thank-you card. I'm not kidding when I say I continue to be extremely impressed by dyers who do this. I know L&V ship a freaking LOT of yarn, so it's nice to get a personal touch.

Oh, you want to see the yarn?

Hee. I love the pinks they use, and the colours they contrast them with. The one on the far left reminds me of one of the skeins of Yarntini I couldn't get. Hooray for the pretty!

I think the sock yarn stash may be getting a little out of control though...

Oh well, it's a weekend, and I'm not going to worry about stash!

Coming soon: Something not sock yarn. I swear. Maybe a sock, but also something totally Not A Sock.

Pure-ly pr0nilicious

2007-05-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

I never meant for this blog to become 100% sock yarn pr0n, I swear. And yet... it happens. The ladies at the Lime & Violet boards have a bad habit of alerting us susceptible sock knitters when something especially scrumptious goes up for sale.

Like Yarntini. I love Yarntini yarn, but the stuff is awfully hard to find - and don't even TRY finding it on eBay. People seriously gouge on the price. I'm convinced non-knitters are buying it as yarn speculation, because surely another sock knitter wouldn't do that to us? Right?

Anyway, the place I bought the Yarntini from is called Pure Knits and I will definitely be buying from them again! They carry a number of luxury brands (including my love-to-hate it but love-to-love it too Tilli Thomas yarn), and the prices are good.

All of the above would be reason enough for me to return. The frosting on the cake was the way the yarn came:

Tissue papered, bag tied with a ribbon, and a Hand. Written. thank-you note from the proprietor. Now, I have a lot of favourite yarn companies, but I've never gotten a hand-written card before! Too cool. If you're looking for yarn, Pure Knits is a great place to try!

Of course, I got a shot of the yarn out of its little bag too:
Isn't it just scrumptious? The feel is very similar to Socks that Rock, and I'm actually sort of tempted to use it to make this months STR pattern in the knee-high version. We shall see...

Speaking of Socks that Rock...

Hee, so luscious. I love the way it looks all curled up with its baby bit of yarn.

Eris likes it too:

Sadly, that's it for posting today. The heat has made me endlessly lethargic (although, not too lethargic to dream of knitting loads of socks).

Coming soon: MORE sock yarn. I'm not kidding. Blame Lime & Violet, for they are vile yarn temptresses.

Yarn Pr0n and Even! More! Miscellany!

2007-04-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

You may have deduced from my button on the sidebar that I am a Lime N Violet fan. In actuality I'm a fan of Lime N Violet in much the same way that the Pope is awfully fond of Catholicism. If you're not listening to them, you should be, because they are quite possibly the funniest women alive.

Like many of us knitters, LNV have what some might call a slightly unhealthy obsession with sock yarn (we sock knitters know it's just a very strong love, that's all. What do you mean you've seen us casing the LYS for new sock yarn? We were just in the neighbourhood. I wasn't salivating over your Socks that Rock, I just... had allergies, yeah, that's it). They've even started dyeing and spinning their yarn to sell on etsy (and NO I AM NOT SHARING THE LINK! MINE MINE MINE! *ahem*). The last update... well... as Violet said on the podcast "Sharks? Meet Chum."

I managed to snag three skeins before everything was gone (a time period of about 13 minutes from update):

Ooooh, pretty pretty pretty.

Here's the skeins in slightly different light:

The colours came out very true in these pictures, so hooray. They're all named after sideshow characters, which I just love! I was tempted to buy from the later update of spinning batts named after movies, but I still can't spin... so no Last Unicorn batt for me. The skeins arrived SUPER quickly, which helped to make up for Socks that Rock shipping my sock kit to my boyfriend instead of me. I love the way they package their yarn - it comes in tissue with a sticker that says "Wool Porn" on it. :)

Speaking of Socks that Rock, I am trying SO hard not to be spoiled on this month's colour. Is it just me? Does everyone else run to peek at blogs right away? I guess I just crave surprise. I think Blue Moon must be getting a lot of spoiler complaints, because there's a rather testy message on the official blog saying that they can't prevent them. What kind of peeved me was the suggestion that if you don't want to be spoiled, don't come to the club blog at all. I mean, I joined for the community as well as the yarn, and that seemed a little excessively cranky to me. But, the yarn is fab, and I've no complaint on the kits!

In the miscellany file:

What do you do when faced with a sweater like Morrigan? If you're like me, you have a minor breakdown and start working on something that's 100% garter stitch:

Yes, that's the ever-growing Log Cabin blanket. At some point, I hope to have it Afghan sized. Turns out, this is an excellent project for Homespun - it looks great on size 6 needles, and doesn't stretch so much.

Also, some of you crazy folk like to see modelled pictures:

That's my Monsoon sock of heel-tightness. I made the leg a wee bit shorter than called for, because a) I like my sock legs short and b) I couldn't bear to do that cable any more. Good reasons, yes?

Coming soon: Spoiler pictures of Socks that Rock (my boyfriend is coming this weekend and bringing the yarn!) and possibly more log cabin-ing.

Miscellany

2007-04-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

My quest for a true craft-room continues.

I finally managed to sell off the Bowflex that some of you might have noticed lurking in the background of the Craft Room photos. This freed up much needed book space!

Once I had all my knitting books organized, it was off to Target for some Simply Shabby Chic containers. I am so madly in love with Target, and that line of stuff fits my house so well. They have a bunch of different style containers that are perfect for different needles. I even got something (not pictured) that sorts my DPNs! Brilliant! The random circulars are in the box on top, straights in the box on bottom, and the cloth container to the left is the official WIP box. Sorry, I've got a few top secret projects, so no photos of what's inside for now...

In a moment of rare organizing frenzy, I even finally got around to putting all my loose paper patterns in a binder - in sheet protectors no less. I suspect I may have been hormonal...

Here's a photo so you can see the full-on YARN CORNER!

Everything knit-related in one spot. I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me.

Now, the more observant of my readers may be noticing that very... colourful.. poster in the background. Forgive the knitting deviation, because I love to talk about this thing.

Way back when, when Jeanne and I were fledglings at community college, I used to spend quite a lot of time in the local library. On their third floor, they had an ongoing booksale - most paperbacks were 25 cents a piece. For whatever reason, this library had a disproportionate amount of bodice-ripper covered romance novels for sale (please note - I love romance novels, I loathe only the super clinch covers; this is in no way a stab at romance novels or authors :)). Somewhere in my demented college brain, an idea began to form...

Cut to a week later, where Jeanne and I buy about 20 books from the extremely amused librarian. She didn't ask what we were going to do, we didn't tell. We spend an afternoon cutting off covers and arranging them to our liking. We confronted difficult existential questions such as: do we put all the pirates together? a line just for Indian-themed romances? do we put all the "Savage" titles together or sprinkle them throughout? A little duct-tape, and we had a poster.

Of course, a duct taped poster doesn't look very good, even for an ironic craft-project. So we had it framed. To recap: 20 books at 25 cents a piece... 5 bucks. Getting the sucker framed? 60 bucks. The looks on the faces of the people at the framing shop? PRICELESS.

So now I am the proud owner of a $65 romance novel cover poster, and I love it.

Anyway, back to the knitting. I've finally gotten around to working on the February (really March) sock kit from Socks that Rock. Tales of needle sizing woe had kept me away, and the first time I tried to knit it with the recommended size needles, I got a toe that would have fit Bigfoot. I tried again, using size 0s until the heel and leg, and got this:

Back heel shot:

It's gorgeous, but damn is it hard to get that leg over my heel. Least. Stretchy. Cable. EVER. Still, it's a reasonably fun pattern (although I have no desire to knit a sock on 0s ever EVER again), and I'm already working on the second one. It's interesting to see how the colours start to spiral once the needle size changes.

Finally, (and boy isn't this a long-winded post), a hint of the Project of Madness:

Looks innocuous, doesn't it? A simple little cabled sweater... Google "Morrigan Sweater," (it's from No Sheep For You) and then come back.

Back yet?

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE cabling?

I'm doomed.

Coming soon: Why the hell I took on this crazy project, and hopefully more socks!

A Simple Plan (Or Tragedy and Triumph and Why Customer Service Matters)

2007-04-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

All right: The Trip back in Time that I promised. My darling boyfriend got me the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern last Christmas, as he'd seen me drooling over it many a time. Then came Stitches West, where Dreamweaver Yarns had the biggest selection of Tilli Thomas yarn I'd ever seen.

I finished my Eris sweater, and immediately cast on for the SKB. Apparently I angered the Gods of Knitting by starting another sweater so soon, because this turned out to be one of the most hellish projects I've ever worked on. It became immediately apparent that my silk yarn was Full. Of. Knots. So I wrote the company a polite e-mail letting them know that this was pretty uncool considering the price. They responded nicely, saying send us back the faulty yarn, and we'll send you some un-fucked-up yarn (not in those words exactly). So I ripped out 3 hours of knitting and mailed the yarn back.

I wanted to finish this sweater quickly, so I knit as far as I could with what I had (those Pure and Simple skeins go a LONG LONG way, by the way - excellent yardage for the price). That's when I realized I had a slight... problem:

This was where I ran out of beaded yarn. With the cuff of a sleeve, and ONE FREAKING ENTIRE SLEEVE AND NECKLINE to go. I sent off another e-mail to the company, which was sort of stupid, because I made it sound like I wanted to BUY another skein of beaded yarn (I searched everywhere for another skein of my colour before e-mailing - none was to be found). They quite rightly told me that they couldn't sell me yarn, because they're a wholesaler.

So I started calling local yarn shops. I finally found a place that sold the multi coloured yarn, but it was the Ritz line, which is like Rock Star but with a metallic thread. It was about a half hour from my house, so I figured I could tink out the bottom part of the sweater, use the Ritz there, and maybe match the arm lace. Labour intensive, but at least I'd match.

So I got in my chariot:

(Yes, that is a totally gratuitous shot of my car. It was looking awfully pretty that day). I drove to the yarn shop, picked up the Ritz (while I've loved Tilli Thomas' other yarns, I have to say, Ritz is pretty gaudy) and went home to finish my sweater. The Ritz had at least 5 knots, among other quality control issues. Of course, I only found this out after I'd unpicked the bottom of the sweater. I put the sweater down, considered setting it on fire, and vented my wrath on the Knittyboard.

The next day, I decided (based on Bina's excellent advice) to CALL the company and tell them my tale of woe. Not only did they send me a new skein of the Rock Star, they sent me a cheque to cover the crummy Ritz yarn. The lady was super nice, and was very apologetic for all the issues I'd had. I can say that this made all the difference in the odds of me ever buying this yarn again. I'll definitely be wary, and be buying extra, but it truly is lovely, and now I know if I have further problems I can get good, quick service from them.

Once I got my new skein, it was off to the races to finish. Luckily, the finished product is gorgeous, because if it hadn't turned out well (NINJAS!) I would be sobbing quietly in a padded room right now.

The actual finished photos:

Hanging, sadly, the best angle I could get.

And the crummy self-portraits:

Close up:

The Vital Statistics:

Pattern: Simple Knitted Bodice
Needles: Size 3 and 6 (I had to go up a size, because I am the Super Tight Knitter of Doom)
Yarn: Tilli Thomas Pure & Simple (100% silk) in American Beauty, Rock Star (100% silk with beads) in Multi Red/Ginger
Total Knitting Time: Due to yarn wait, two weeks. Without wait time it would have been done in about a week.
Total Knitting Irony: I had a full skein of the Pure & Simple left over, and about 2 yards of the beaded yarn left over. If you're making the medium of this sweater, get /3/ skeins of the beaded yarn.

Coming soon: The project that may actually put me in that above-mentioned padded room.

A Dream Fulfulled

2007-04-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

So this blog has been remiss, apparently, in mentioning one of my chief Partners-In-Crime, my darling mother who helps out a TON with getting things done around this house. Cheers to Mom, who is so good about putting up with her crazy daughter.

Anyway, on to the main bit (sorry Mom! ;)). Yesterday I mentioned that I was thinking of making a yarn closet. Today I decided to make it happen with the help of my best friend and other Partner-in-Crime, Jeanne. There's the old saying that a good friend will bail you out of jail at 2:00 am, but a great friend will be sitting next to you in jail laughing about what a good time you had. This is not true. A great friend is willing to do construction projects with you.

Here's the closet before doing anything to it:

It's been the sort of random storage closet. Anything I didn't know what to do with went in there. It's also one of the scariest closets in the house, as it was never painted. We affectionately referred to it as the home of Zoonga the Demon Spider. So at 8:30 this morning I was vacuuming and scrubbing the icky, icky walls.

Then it was off to pick up Jeanne. Her dad helpfully provided us with a stud finder and a square to find out if my walls are square (they're not - big surprise). As we left, I swear her Dad was laughing about what we were about to try (when you pick your friends, it helps if they have handy parents - trust me on this! ;)). We measured and fortified ourselves with lunch and coffee, and it was off to Home Depot. Jeanne found a gorgeous pine that was perfect. We picked up drywall screws, shelf braces, and figured we'd be done in a jiffy.

Somewhere, the Gods of Construction were laughing. Our drywall screws were too long, so a return trip to Home Depot was in order (at this point, we fortified with coffee once again). Then the braces were the wrong height. By now it was around 3pm, and I was feeling weepy. Jeanne and I persisted, though, and ended up with this:

A nice, clean, painted closet with level shelves. You'll note that they may appear to not be level, but that's actually because the closet itself is tilted. We ran for the yarn and filled the shelves.

Here's Jeanne, with that look of construction triumph:

And here's a general view of the yarn closet:

Sock yarn and laceweights are on top, general yarn is in the middle, and the acrylic crap and scraps from leftover projects are on the bottom.

Then we fell on the couch and stayed there for about an hour recuperating. Thanks again to Jeanne for putting up with me, and the foul mouth I develop when things go wrong. ;)

Finally, the light was a bit better today, so here's the best picture I could get of the Tulip sweater:

It's still not a great photo, but as good as it's going to get.

All right, I promise I'm going to to get to the Simple Knitted Bodice story and pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow, we'll see.

Until then, beware the urge to construct!

And now for something completely different!

2007-04-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I actually do non-knitting crafty things. I know this comes as a shock to you, dear reader, and so I'll understand if you have to look away from the screen for a moment to recover.

...

Are we better yet? Okay, good to go. I've had a mind lately to turn my back room (which has always been sort of my random room) into more of a craft-centric room. I've inherited my grandmother's old Kenmore sewing machine, along with a number of sewing accessories and some truly, TRULY vile-green shelves.

We repainted the vile shelves, and decoupaged their drawers with a nifty brocade we found at Jo-Anns (when it comes to fabrics, I'm still a craft store girl - recommendations for nice fabric sources are encouraged!). The final touch was finding nice drawer pulls, which we managed today at a local hardware store.

We pulled it all together, and this is the result:

Don't mind me lurking in the background! :) Mr. Petey got something new too...

A freaking cool corner cage. I knew they made corner fish-tanks, but this is beyond nifty. Since my rooms are small, I have to try and make use of as much space as possible, and this is perfect for him. The little jerk is thrilled. I'm going to claim the cage is crafty as well, because I had to put it together TWICE (we had to take it apart to get it inside this room). The directions had no words, only vague pictures. I thank my knitting experience for getting me through the assembly, because I don't think I could have made it through otherwise!

Here's another angle of my crafty corner, and of course, nothing gets done here without a cat involved:

This is a close-up of the sewing machine. My guess is that it's a late 60's, early 70's model (based on the avocado colour, which is actually sort of nice in this room...).

Funny story about this here sewing machine. My grandmother has always kept in great condition, so I wasn't sure if it would need servicing. When I started it up, it was SUPER sluggish. Like a sewing machine sewing through molasses. I pondered for a bit... and then Mom mentioned that Grandma used to have to oil it occasionally. A light-bulb went on in my head... My gun cleaner/lube! A few spritzes and a bit of clean-up later, it runs perfectly. I feel ridiculously smart. Sewing machines and guns, who knew? I wonder if I should write the lube company...

Last picture, a close-up of the shelves we painted. These began life as deep avocado green, with lighter yellow-green drawers. I sanded them down to the base wood, primed, and painted them with a barely there vanilla colour.

The top shelf is my sad little fabric stash. Since I'm not a very accomplished sewer, I only have what's left from past projects. I'm tempted to make a few pillows, and try to improve my sewing ability. This sewing machine has BOXES of accessories that I need to learn to use!

This room also has a walk-in closet. I have a lot of yarn. I'm thinking, some shelves from Home Depot, and I might just have a yarn closet.

Ideally, I think I'd like to get most of my crafting materials into one place, so I'm not running around the house wondering where the glue is, or where I left the scissors.

If I do the shelves, I'm make sure to take lots of pictures. Until next time!

Tie One On

2007-04-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well, there WOULD have been posts this weekend if I could have found my damn camera. Thankfully, it has reappeared, and here we go!

I'm going to start with the most recent completed project, and then we'll have a little back in time in further posts.

Saturday saw the final touch on my first Rowan project - The Tulip Sweater from Rowan Knit & Crochet magazine #41. It heavily features a new summer yarn called Damask which is just stunning to look at, and suprisingly comfy to knit with. It's a viscose, linen, acrylic blend (sounds just awful doesn't it?) and the drape on this yarn! I can't even begin to describe how nice it is. I'm glad I got past my anti-acrylic blend prejudice and gave it a try.

Anyway, the sweater! Here it is laying flat, which does it very little justice, but does show the construction fairly well.

The sleeves are part of the front and back pieces - you just increase till you have wee little sleeves. I'm very fond of that, because I HATE that feeling of "Oh yay! I've finished the front and backs, I'm nearly done! Oh wait... Sleeves."

Here's a better picture, and this is more how it looks when worn:

Those ties in the back are WAY too long, and that's the only part of the pattern I think I'd change if I were to knit this again. They are a k1, p1 rib - and supposed to be 100cm long (approximately 39 inches, according to Google). They end up looking silly unless they're tied in the back. They look artsy in the pattern photo, but not so useful in real life! Not to mention, being an English-style knitter, k1p1 ribbing is sort of the equivalent of water torture for me.

The border - or rather, the instructions on how to put ON the border - nearly did me in as well, but thanks to the friendly help at Nine Rubies, I was able to figure out how it was supposed to be knitted on. The directions seem to assume that you've probably knitted a border onto a bound off surface before, and know what the heck you're doing! In my case, that's totally untrue. :)

The Vital Stats (for those who care):

Yarn: Rowan Damask (colour mica) - 8 balls (the pattern for my size called for nine, but I think they expect you to use a new ball for the ties - I had more than enough left over to do the ties without breaking into a new ball)
Needles: Size 3 for ruffle border, Size 5 for body
Pattern Designer: Marie Wallin
Total Knitting Time: A week and a half

Tomorrow or thereabouts (depending on my roaming camera): The story of the Simple Knitted Bodice, or why customer service REALLY matters.

An administrative note: I have NO EARTHLY IDEA how to respond via e-mail to comments (I could swear I used to be able to, but I can't figure it out now). If you ask a question in the comments, I will reply there. :) I'm not ignoring you, I'm just not so good with the internets. :)