Shhh...I'm working on a bigger post with photos of Katie's gorgeous bags I just received from her Etsy store but I had to share this photo with you. I've been working with Stephanie on gorgeous, custom hand-dyed yarn, named Virga for my 'opus' of this year, Eunny's Print o' the wave stole. It's not in my hot little hands yet, but check out Stephanie's photos here.
June 29, 2006
June 27, 2006
Greenies
Works really getting me down today, bumming me out with a capital "B". I gave myself a timeout to post up these pictures of ginger I took yesterday just to take a breather and get away from it all. Work is work, I'm tired all the time, and tired of being tired! =) As a rule I work a minimum of 10 hours a day plus sometimes weekends. Working as a female, in a male-dominated industry is tough, somedays worse than others. I find I need to make sure my voice is heard and I often have to take a stand, feeling like I'm trying to walk upstream in a big river, with everyone one telling me to coast along with the group. *Sigh*.....
So...Ginger... Ginger is gorgeous, I love the tweedy yarn, the summery color and the fabulous fit. This is, as I have said previously one of my oldest Fo's, started a year and a half ago (!) knit on US 7 and US 8 needles. I did make it in size 36 (what was I thinking), really should have made the 34, and ended up seaming a little extra of the bulk in to make it work. And work it does! It's the perfect little top with jeans or capris. Flip flops for day, maybe a little pair of heels at night. I love the heels and jeans thing for special occasions.
The yarn is Rowan Summer Tweed in Grass (suprise suprise!) now sadly discontinued and the pattern is from the Rowan Summer Tweed Book. It used just under 4 skeins for the 36 size, although I added two inches on the length as I have to do with all my knits. It's the perfect tunicy length (is tunicy even a word?) and the V in the back is a fun little feature perfect for summer and not too decadent. I had fun taking pics (it's so hard to take photos of yourself) and finally got the husband to take a few. He was so not into it =) Overall, easy to knit except for the back shaping, I think it would be a good Beginner + pattern. 
I have 6 skeins left over from the original bag plus the pattern book I'm interested in offering up for sale. Retail on the yarn is 9.50/sk + 14 for the book (I bought it new) equals 71 dollars new. I'm not interested in making any money off of it, just want to pass the yarn on to someone who would enjoy it so I'm going to offer it up for 28 dollars + shipping, paypal only please. Leave a comment if you're interested. If I don't get any interest I may consider a trade, or post it to the yarn-sale blog.
edited to add: Christine purchased it! Thank you!
June 26, 2006
Habu Bag
Thanks all for the wonderful comments on Seraphim and the Entrelac Wrap. I used random.org for the winning number for the yarn and it was Karla! Congrats Karla, I'll be emailing you shortly for your address.
Moving on...to make up for missing Friday's FO, I have the Silk Linen Shoulder Bag from Habu Textiles knit in Shosenshi Paper and Tsugumi Silk, purhchased from KPIXIE. 
Similar to this link, but a smaller size. 
It was a lovely knit, I ended up getting gauge on US 5 needles.
I started off with Addi's, thinking the metal would make it slippery and easy to knit. It drove me nuts! I finally switched to bamboo, *aaahhh* my hands just about cried with relief. I knit it on Clover straights and the second half went much faster.
Overall I knit the bag to pattern, only extending section "C" by a few inches to give me additional depth and storage space.
When finished I steam blocked it, although the ends were still a little curly. 
It was quick to seam, and easy to finish.
The pattern was written "Japanese Style" which was easy to follow, but different. The majority of the knitting is done to schematic, and you have to reverse the shaping yourself, so I would rate the pattern adventurous beginner.
It's a good thing I have a lot of FO's to show, because I haven't done a lot of project knitting. I've been casting on about a zillion things, but haven't made much progress on anything but Trinket from Kim Hargreaves. 
I'm close to finishing up the first ball of kidsilk haze, and have 24 inches. The instructions have you knit in pattern for 56 inches, so I'm almost halfway there plus the ruffled edging.
It was a rainy day yesterday, the perfect time to stay indoors wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea and knitting.
Later in the afternoon I worked on my Mailorder Project, a fun little needlecase with how-to's on embroidery stitches. It was a fun flashback to my kid days, armed with a gluestick and some scissors!
June 22, 2006
End of a chapter
You better put your feet up and get comfortable. There's a small parade of FO's coming your way this week in case you hadn't noticed. I'm finally putting the finishing touches on lots of projects that have been in the works for ages and it feels good to spring clean, or I guess summer clean. I like being organized! =)
Today's FO brings us back in history a little bit. Remember this post, when I asked for knitting store etiquette? Well, many of you asked what ended up happening, this was back in my blogger days, where I wasn't posting much and I wasn't really ready to share yet, because it was still bugging me. But with this FO it is over and done with and I am OVER it! =)
After the abrupt phone call from the Red Needle Owner in Savannah who was very upset I had not bought my yarn from her (even though I told her I had a few balls from another place) and even though I tried to buy the remainder of the yarn from her (3 or more balls) however she did not have my color in stock, I reassessed the situation. Part of what made it easy is that my Parent's-In-Laws were in town visiting from California and they wanted to go do other things, like drive to Hilton Head. I chose not to go to the class. I figured it someone would treat me that badly as a customer without even knowing me, who knows how they would treat me in class. I certainly am not going to drive all that way so that we could "talk about it" and have her either A) not allow me to take part in the class or B) treat me badly and tell everyone in the class what had happened. Either scenario was unacceptable. How does that LeAnne Rimes song go "Shame on you if you fool me once, shame on me if you fool me twice?" I certainly wasn't going to be fooled twice. I debated briefly about asking for my money back, however when I signed up I was told no refunds. I decided not to hassle with it. To me it wasn't worth 40 dollars to be aggravated or have to deal with this women, I could just walk away. And without a doubt I will never set foot in her store again. Which is a shame, because they had a good needle selection. =) What's even more funny, is that when I returned home after the first class, there was a sweet as sugar message on my machine, asking me if I forgot about the class. People, honestly, I don't get it!
Anyhow...so...long story, I finally taught myself entrelac, which is what I would have been learning in the class and made a big stole/wrap out of Berrocco Foliage which is akin to Noro in terms of colors, but a little cheaper. I enjoyed working with the yarn, it was very soft.
I used portions of different patterns to make what I wanted. The core of the pattern was danica from knitty but did the math and ended up doubling the width and CO 40 stitches. It was knit on US 11 needles, a relatively quick knit. It blocked out to a little over 6 feet long and two feet wide using 7 balls of yarn, including fringe. If I had to do it all over again, I would do the entrelac squares over 8 stitches instead of 10, I think it would have broken up the colors a little more (similar to lady E in scarf style) Overall, I'm very happy. I have it sitting on the back of my new knitting chair, and as soon as it gets cold I can see me wrapping up in it nice and cozy.
Free Yarn Part:
I have a extra ball of this yarn that I'd like to send out if anyone is interested in giving it a try. Just leave a comment, and all the comments that are left in the 24 hours after I post are entered automatically. I figure it's only fair, I don't like the first come, first served types of freebies. I'll mail to US and APO addresses only, since it's a freebie yarn and I don't want to pay more in shipping than the ball is worth, kay? =)
June 21, 2006
Seraphim
Whew *wipes sweat off brow* the Seraphim Shawl is finally done! 
Well, it's actually been done for a long time, but I managed to get pictures of it. It's hard to take a picture of yourself in a mirror, but you'll have to make do with these.
I mailed it off to my mom for her birthday (it's the same weekend as father's day) So, without further ado, Seraphim! The shawl itself is lovely to knit. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it on Mim's blog but had trouble finding the right yarn. I ended up stash diving and found two skeins of knit picks dye your own. My first time dying so I went with something easy, koolaid! 
The colors turned out very minty with a small amount of variegation.
I used every ounce of 2 skeins to make the shawl and ended up with only 2 inches to spare! It was really scary there for awhile but I got lucky and the knitting fairies smiled on me. All in all it took about 2 months to knit on and off. I highly recommend it as a good beginner lace project.
It was knit on US5 Inox's, 24" long, but later switched to a 29", I still could have gone with a longer cord, by the end the stitches were quite scrunched. I never get tired of the transformation of lace when it's blocked, just lovely.
Mystery Stole 2
Last year I participated in Mystery Stole 1, the pattern was gorgeous but I picked the wrong yarn. It was pastely and variegated and sock-weight and it felt so heavy and hard on the eyes!
This year, I won't make the same mistake twice...my yarn will be jaggerspun zephyr in jade knit on size 3 needles. You can knit both sides at the same time, so I purchased an extra set of needles from Webs...this will be fun! If you haven't joined yet, come on over here... the group is very lively and talkative!
June 20, 2006
Here, there, everywhere
Well, I'm still here in GA. If things had all worked out I'd be in Az right now but unfortunately things changed (got cancelled) and I'll be staying in georgia for the summer, trying not to melt! I'm bummed, honestly. I have a travel bug and like to get out and go places. We're still going to try to take a few days off and fly back to california to visit the husband's family, he hasn't seen them for a long time.
Getting a wonderful package in the mail yesterday from Catherine really brightened my day. 
I had sent her some leftover habu yarn to try out for fun, and sweetheart that she is, she sent me a little something! I've already dove into the tea and put the postcard on my pinboard by my desk.
Check out her beautiful 'mama llama' stitch markers! These are the nicest stitch markers I have used, they are so well made, there's no little places to snag on your yarn or needle. She's a real proprietress now, KPIXIE sells her stuff, you should go check it out! I feel so lucky to have a wonderful set in my knitting bag now, thank you Cath!
I haven't been knitting much, I've been more in a finishing phase (*gah!* that word!) I normally hate finishing but I have a bug to finish everything and clean out all my WIP's. 
My oldest WIP is "Ginger" from Rowan/Kim Hargreaves knit in Rowan Summer Tweed. The pattern leaves a lot of direction to the imagination, you're increasing over a certain number of stitches on one side in a set of rows, and on the other decreasing 1, then increasing more over another certain set of rows, not the same as the other side! PHEW! 
It was so confusing I had a mind melt and stuck it in the depths of my closet for almost a year. I found it the other day and finally forced myself to sit down and chart the neckline, or should I say backline? =)
Once I had it charted, it flew. I had it done in two evenings and blocking the next. Now I wonder what I was doing procrastinating that long! The seams are sewn and I'm waiting to sew in the ends on the shoulder line until I try it on again to make sure they don't look wonky (which I have a feeling they will!) I really should have grafted rather than sewed them, now I have a big piece of fabric that seems bulky for the drapiness of this top. I guess we'll see how it goes.
June 13, 2006
First Quilting Foray
Although I've knitted for a few years now, I am not the most accomplished sewer. Remember I joined Sew! I Knit? I've tried a little here and there through the years but never made it my full time passion. A few weeks ago I ordered the new Denyse Shmidt book from amazon, and so many of her designs were so pretty and so modern! I could see many of them fitting in to my home.
I decided to start with the hot water cover, but disliked the asymmetry. (I think I'm so new at this that people won't know it was sewed at an angle on purpose :) I created my own pattern pieces, measured and cut from pieces of paper. Although it started out large, I made a rookie mistake and forgot to add enough for seam allowances. The piece turned out really small, so after quilting it, I made it into a pillow instead.
My goal was to use a piece of each of the lovely fabrics I purchased in Pacific Grove, before I moved out here. Separately each one is gorgeous, but together, whoa! put on some sunglasses! ;)It's a pretty pillow and not bad for my first foray into quilting. I was really interested in trying it out, there's a quilt shop in sierra vista so I'm going to try and take classes this summer if I can fit my machine into the car.
Oh, btw, the books you see the pillow sitting on are two of my favorites that I'm rereading. The Twentieth Wife and Feast of Roses are both by Indu Sundaresan. Both are well-written historical fiction that are endlessly fascinating. I recommend them highly.
June 07, 2006
Knitting Kits
I've been eyeing Kim Hargreaves' kits since her site launched, so lovely, so pretty and well, so pricey ;) Unfortunately the exchange rate isn't the best for us US folks. In april she ran a special for free shipping, and it gave me just the impetus I needed to order one as a splurge, but then somehow a second made it's way in as well, I couldn't resist! 
I ordered Trinket because the design is lovely for a scarf and I really enjoy knitting with Kid Silk Haze. Over at Yarnstorm, she knit one and from there, I was sunk, I had to knit it! I had a hard time picking a sweater kit for me, they are all beautiful, but Christy won overall. I chose to knit it in the pictured grass color, to get a little more color in my life, just as Project Spectrum is always encouraging us to do!
They came beautifully wrapped, with little details like buttons, beads and Kim Hargreaves labels to sew in, how cool is that?!
You may ask why I'm posting about them now, seeing as I've had them over a month now. Well, I just got word that my husband gets to go on more training, this time for 2 1/2 months! The training is getting never-ending around here, really. Anyhow, a bonus of working remotely from a home office is that your office is really anywhere you, your computer and a internet connection exist. I have vonage (voip) line so I can take my business line anywhere. I asked work and they approved me to work from AZ, Ft. Huachuca to be exact. I'm excited to get to go, I love travelling and going someplace new and exploring. Ft.Huachuca isn't new to us, we were there when he had training for his MOS, just after basic. However, this time we'll have a lot more freedom. We'll go climb camelback mountain in Phoeniz, and drive to the grand canyon to hike and camp. It will be fun! I'm really happy for the husband because his family is in california so we can drive up and visit for a weekend and they can come down. He grew up in a big family, so he really misses them, being so far away. On weekends he plays virtual golf with some of his brothers and it really makes him happy.
Anyhow...so...rambling. Sorry! What does this have to do with the kits you may ask? Well, the first thing that crossed my mind when I found out I could go, is, WHAT IN THE WORLD SHOULD I BRING TO KNIT?!?! This is serious business people, what if I brought too little yarn and there was a yarn shortage! Devastating! Anyhow, I plan on bringing the kits and a few socks, and well, maybe the mission falls cotton for a mitered square or two. I think I need to bring all my needles because what would happen if I wanted to start something new?? There's a few yarn stores in Tucson, that's about 1 1/2 away. I plan on making a trek up there, and there's got to be yarn stores in phoenix too, I'll have to stop there as well.
Going to Huachuca brings back mixed feelings for me. It's where I taught myself to knit, with a small little kit from Suss Knits that I saw in a magazine. I had no idea what a skein, or yarn winder was for that matter so I tried to knit from the skein and it ended up so tangled. My husband sat on the floor with me for hours, untangling. Now that's love for ya!
So...how much do you think a human being can knit in 2 1/2 months??? Guesses welcome!
Recent Comments