Binding Off

FO: Gemma capelet

2012-01-29T20:45:00.001-08:00

This is the Gemma capelet from Knitting Off the Axis. The yarn is di.Ve Autumno, which is a merino yarn. I'm not really a capelet person, but I love how this particular one looks and I love how it's constructed. The bottom part is knitted cross-wise. My row gauge was a little finer and I didn't really know exactly what size to make, but I could wrap it around myself as I went along and stop when it felt about the right amount of ease. The top yoke is picked up and knitted upward to the neck, so you can easily adjust the number of stitches and rows to get a good fit. I really like the shoulder shaping because it results in a very crisp and squared look. The collar is nice and fluffy because it is double layered.

I decided to use a seed stitch for the button band instead of the double garter pattern because I wanted a tighter band and one in which I could center the button holes. I used needles 2 sizes smaller for the band to help make it denser. Since I did a seed stitch button band, I went with seed stitches on the collar also instead of ribbing. I also did some increases on the collar at the shoulder lines to make it a bit wider at the bottom. I skipped the cable pattern on the underside and just used stockinette.

I'm hoping I won't feel silly wearing this. I think it looks a bit like something out of Dickens and I should be using a hand muff to go with it. The Other Half thinks it looks like a cross between Sherlock Holmes and something out of Dr. Who.

Chocolate covered bacon

2012-01-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

Gay over at tu tu knits inspired me to make some chocolate covered bacon. I don't really eat that much chocolate or bacon. They are, after all, full of saturated fat, and I'm all about limiting my intake of saturated fat. However, this doesn't mean that I can't enjoy a small treat now and again.
I baked my bacon at 350 degrees in a convection oven. That's probably about 375 degrees in a conventional oven. I used a broiler pan so that they would not be swimming in grease as they cooked. I baked them until they were browned, and it took longer than I expected -- probably at least 25 minutes. Here they are after being baked and cut into smaller pieces.

For chocolate, I used Ghirardelli 70% cacao baking chocolate. I melted it in a double boiler and dipped the bacon and placed them on wax paper. Here they are after dipping before going into the fridge for cooling.

It didn't take long for the chocolate to harden. Here they are in their finished state. They were delicious!

One taster suggested a 60% cacao. Another suggested perhaps a thicker cut bacon would be nice. I used a smoked bacon, and I'm thinking that a peppered bacon might interesting.

FO: modified cropped topper

2012-01-10T17:47:00.001-08:00

This is a highly modified version of the #28 cropped topper from Vogue Knitting Fall 2011. The yarn is called "RichMore Stame", which is a Japanese brand of yarn that I purchased in Tokyo on my 2010 vacation. I really like the yarn -- it's very lofty and very warm and very lightweight.
Here's all that went down with my knitting of the pattern and how my sweater ended up so different:

I liked the pattern for its broken rib stitch pattern and I don't mind the boxy shape if there is ribbing because ribbing will naturally shape the garment a bit. I had to re-do the stitch counts because my yarn is worsted weight instead of the recommended bulky weight

I decided to make it a little longer than the cropped length

After kniting the back and one of the fronts, I decided that I did not want to do the wide ribbed front band because I wanted something different, so I decided to knit a 6" wide scarf to be sewn on for the fronts and collar. I like the way a scarf-type collar sits on the back of the neck.

After finishing the body and the scarf, I had two skeins left over so I decided to just pick up stitches and add some 3/4 length sleeves. Each sleeve used up most of one skein.

When I was all done, the 6" wide scarf looked odd just sitting on the front, and it was also stretching in length. I folded it inward and held the fronts together with a big pin and I'm quite happy with the end result.

FO; Neck Warmers

2011-12-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

I made three, count em', three, of these neck warmers. I made one for myself and the other two as gifts for a couple of friends. The yarn is Burly Spun by Brown Sheep, and it's a really fun yarn to knit with. I used two skeins for the 3 scarves, and I have enough to make one more slightly narrower and shorter one. Each one takes very little time to knit.

I used my favorite reversible stitch pattern over 14 stitches:
K1, *K2, YO, K2tog, repeat from *, K1 on every row, and slipping the first K1 on each row.

Happy New Year to all of you out in the blogophere, and I wish you all a great 2012!

FO: Leaving

2011-12-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

I FINALLY finished Leaving, from Twist Collective Winter 2010. I started it at the beginning of the year (I think), and stopped when the weather got warm. I picked it up again a couple of months ago but progress was slow, partly because I got bored with it. The pattern calls for the panels on both the front and back, and the stitches involve some knits and purls through the back loop, which can be tedious. The yarn is Valley Yarns Northfield hand-dyed, which I really like. My sweater had to withstand a lot of handling because it took so long to knit and the yarn is very elastic and durable. It's also very comfortable against the skin.

I started this so long ago that I'm not sure I remember what mods I made. I do know that I changed the shape from a-line to a low empire, which is what I always do with a-line shapes. I also made it a couple of inches longer than the pattern's length. I'm not that fond of full length sleeves, but in this case, I really like having the full sleeve length with the stitch pattern.

I really like the lace panels on this sweater, and it fits well enough, but I think I'm not going to knit any more fitted pullovers that have one central vertical panel down the front. If the sweater has negative ease, the panel will always stretch too wide at the bust line, and I dislike that look. I think it gives this illusion of top heaviness. The drape neck top doesn't have as much of a problem because it has much more ease.

FO: Fingerless gloves

2011-12-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

The lovely Claudia and her lovely knitted gloves has inspired me to try knitting some fingerless mittens. I had lots of really nice Silk Maiden yarn left over from this sweater, which remains one of my favorite basic pullovers. I found this free Ostrich Plume Mitts pattern
on ravelry, so I was all set. I wanted to see if these fingerless style mitts would really keep my fingers warm even though the fingers are not covered, and they really do work! They are also very quick to knit, even though I still dislike knitting small things in the round because it's just too fussy. Its also easy to adjust the sizing and fit as you go, and I can see knitting different pairs just by changing the stitch pattern on the back. I made mine a few rows longer on the wrist and a tiny bit wider on the hand section.

FO: A scarf

2011-11-15T21:32:00.001-08:00

I knit myself a scarf! That's a big deal since I don't think I've knit a scarf since I learned to knit as a child. The yarn is Rozetti Yarns Tundra, a self-ruffling acrylic yarn. The pattern is the riviera scarf from Universal Yarns, but I did not need to download the pattern because the owner of knitting shop where I purchased the yarn explained how to make the scarf, and it's just rows of 8 garter stitches.

It was actually time-consuming to knit this thing because with the self-ruffling yarn, you have to knit through the thin loops on the top of the tape. I normally knit English style, but I had to knit this continental style in order to pick the stitches through because throwing the entire strand just didn't work.

This scarf looks like a boa, more or less. I figure that by winding it twice around my neck, I can pretend to be a cool city girl.

FO: Baby hat gift

2011-11-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

I knitted a gift hat for a neighbor's granddaughter. The pattern is an adaptation of the Tea Cozy Crown Elf Hat from the Charmed Knits book by Alison Hansel. I used up almost one skein of some leftover di.Ve' Zenith yarn, which is a washable extrafine merino wool. Since I only had one color, I threw in a band of texture stitches. I also decided to add a pom-pom to the top, although I think the pom-pom might be a bit large in proportion to the hat. The Other Half says: "Don't worry, it'll make the kid stronger -- she'll have to hold up her pom-pom".

FO for Halloween

2011-10-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Other than waiting for the trick-or-treaters, I generally don't do much for Halloween. Sometimes I'll try to wear something interesting for greeting the kids at the door. Thanks to the great blogosphere, I discovered, this hallowig pattern on knitty.com. I used TLC Essentials acrylic yarn from Red Heart. I chose it because I liked the pumpkin-ish color. I chose this color figuring that it would be more wearable than a bright orange hallowig, although I guess "more wearable" is a relative concept.

I like the natural flip that it forms on the bottom -- part of which is helped by particular head shape -- I seem to have a deep occiptal ridge, or whatever, as well as a longish neck. I made my bottom section about 7.5" long before starting the bangs.

FO: Drape Neck Top

2011-10-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

This is the Drape Neck Top from Vogue Knitting spring/summer 2011. My yarn is Cascade Ultra Pima, which is a finer gauged yarn than the recommended Cascade Sierra. I knit it at just under 5 stitches/inch, which is looser than its recommended gauge of 22-24 stitches/4 inches. I wanted a very draped look because the top has positive ease.

I changed the shaping to an empire shape instead of an A-line shape, and I made it a few inches longer. Instead of the sleeve bands which sort of stick out, I knitted short cap sleeves. I also omitted the gap at the bottom of the front panel. Instead of using YOs for the holes, I did make-1 in knit or purl and omitted the twist, which creates a hole. This created smaller holes than yarn-overs would create. I didn't want ginormous holes because I wanted to wear this without a layer underneath. It's a spring/summer top and two layers would be too warm.

I'm pretty happy with the top, but I'm hoping it won't stretch too wide with wear.

Craft blog directory

2011-10-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

CraftyRie has decided to take on the daunting task of compiling a list of all the crafty blogs out in the blogoshpere. All you have to do is submit your link on her site, and just spread the word on your own blog.

A couple of yarn shops

2011-10-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all the nice comments about my finished Peterborough!

I recently visited a couple of yarn shops that are new to me. First off, I have to give credit to the Other Half for spotting the yarn shops for me. He is proud of himself for becoming quite the good yarn shop spotter.

This first one is The Twisted Stitch in Monterey. It's located a block up from the famous Cannery Row and a few blocks from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

This is a fairly small shop and its inventory is not large, but it's also only about 15 months old. I believe the owner was there when we visited and she was very nice. They stock a lot yarns by Universal Yarns.

I bought one skein of Tundra to knit this Riviera Scarf. I did not see the pattern there, but there were some samples knitted up and the owner explained to me how to knit it. I don't knit or wear scarves much, and this almost looks kitschy, but for some reason, I found it appealing.

This shop has a lot of nice framed lace art on display, such as the one shown here. They are created by a local artist.

The second shop is a part-time LYS because I am a part-time resident in San Francisco's Sunset District where the shop is located. For those of you unfamiliar with the San Francisco neighborhoods, the Sunset District is equivalent to Outer Mongolia for residents in the trendier neighborhoods. But, I digress. This small shop is named Urban Fauna Studio.

It carries mainly local hand-dyed yarns, as well as lots of supplies for spinning and felting. They have a nice selection of Cascade Ultra Pima, an I bought 4 skeins of it. One of the owners was there, and he was nice and helpful.

FO: Peterborough

2011-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is Peterborough by Norah Gaughan. I love this sweater. It will be perfect for the cooler fall days. The front and back patterned band feels like I'm wearing a cozy long draped scarf around my neck. The yarn is Filtes King Extra Stampato, a very soft merino wool. I think the yarn has long been discontinued. My sleeves are short because I didn't have enough yarn. I knew from the start that I would be short on yarn so I made the sweater a few inches shorter than the pattern's length, figuring that I would have enough yarn to make 3/4 length sleeves. I underestimated how much yarn the front lacy cables required and still ended up short on yarn. Hence, my sleeves are just above the elbow. After the body of the sweater was finished, I had one ball of yarn left for each sleeve. I did a provisional cast-on for each sleeve, knitting about one inch before doing the cap, and then picked up the stitches and knit until I ran out of yarn.

I made the front panel cables mirror images of each other. I did not see that stated in the pattern instructions, but I think it looks better than way, especially since I am fastening the sweater at one central point. The symmetry also looks better in the back where bands join together. I omitted the waist ribbing. I think I prefer the look of one sleek sheet of stockinette. On the front bands, I slipped the first stitch. For the bottom ribbing, I just used the same needle size and cast on the same number of stitches as the body instead of doing a finer gauge with narrower ribbing. I was too lazy to do the latter.

These are just so cute

2011-09-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

These are just so cute. I bought one from CB2 a couple of years ago, and I love it. Now Cost Plus World Market is selling them. I should get another one.

FO from a few years back

2011-09-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

I knit a sweater for Henry, the son of a former co-worker, a few years ago when he turned one. I don't have much experience with baby sweater sizes, and it was a bit big for a one year old. Maybe "a bit big" is an understatement. Henry wore his sweater to his first day of pre-school! He's definitely stylin'.

I don't even remember what I used for the base pattern. I think it was a free ravelry download for a plain toddler's vest and I embellished it with a simple cable down the front.

Winner!

2011-09-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Kitten With a Whiplash, who won my giveaway of the Vogue Knitting Fall 2011 magazine!

Free Vogue Knitting Fall 2011 magazine giveaway

2011-09-02T21:13:00.001-07:00

I've got an extra copy of Vogue Knitting Fall 2010 because I bought one at my LYS thinking that my subscription had run out, but lo and behold, I got the subscription copy a week later. I bought it because I skimmed through it at the shop and I liked quite a few of the patterns. My favorites are in the cables group and the easy fitting group. At any rate, I'm giving away my extra copy. Just leave a comment before midnight PST Sunday Sept. 11, and I'll randomly pick a winner. If you don't think I know who you are, please leave some trace of how I can find you.

Happy crafting, and happy September!

WIPs

2011-08-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

My current projects are for wearing in the fall and winter. The first one here is Leaving. I started this ages ago, but progress stopped when the weather got warmer. This is a wool long sleeved pullover that needs to be worn with a layering piece underneath, so I probably won't be able to wear it until the depths of winter. The yarn is Valley Yarns Northfield, and I really like its springiness.

Next up is Peterborough, by Norah Gaughan. I've been knitting a lot of her patterns recently. The patterns I've chosen are all basically stockinette garments, but with interesting details, usually in the collar. The yarn is Filtes King Extra Stampato. It's also a wool garment, but it's an open cardigan so it won't be too warm. Also, I don't have enough yarn, so I'm going for elbow or 2/3 length sleeves, and my sweater is about 4" shorter than the pattern's length. I eliminated the waist ribbing.

FO: Cable collartop

2011-08-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

At last! I've finished the cable collar top from Vogue knitting Spring/Summer 2011.
The body of the sweater knitted up quickly, but for some reason the collar pieces took a long time, partly because I kept making silly stoopid mistakes.
The yarn is Valley Yarns Southwick, a cotton/bamboo yarn. I really like its soft drape. It was a bit too splitty, but maybe that's the norm for cotton yarns.
The collar is what caught my eye when I first saw the sweater in the magazine. The body is just a normal fitted pullover. I would have liked the collar just as much without the cable because I really like the way the two pieces fold over.

I made my sleeves a longer short sleeve length. For the front collar pieces, I continued increases on the body side until the end of the collar because I figured it would help it fold over a little deeper. I overlapped the back piece over the front lapels by at least an inch instead of having it meet the lapel edges. I did not attach the front pieces to the back piece. Instead, I used increasing needle sizes to make it flare out a bit in the back.

My sleeve openings came out a little too large, and they also widened after a day's wear so that they developed a flared look, which I dislike. I took a crochet hook and added a row of slip stitches to the opening to bring it in and prevent stretching with wear. (The photos don't show the narrower opening)

Sewing FO: Summer dress

2011-07-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

In comparison to knitting projects, sewing projects sure do go a lot faster. I've been sewing a lot more this spring and summer. This dress is Vogue Patterns V8555. I brought in the neckline by about 1/2 an inch on each side, and also raised the front of the neckline by about 1/2 an inch. The fabric is this great stretch cotton twill with pinkish goldfish on a pale green background. The bodice is lined with some lightweight muslin and the skirt is unlined. This dress will be perfect for the ginormous garden party that I host every year.

WIP- Cable collar top

2011-07-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

I do believe this is the most boring looking WIP ever. It's the Cable Collar Top by Norah Gaughan from the Vogue Knitting spring/summer 2011 issue. The most interesting feature of this top is the collar, but I haven't gotten there yet, so all you see now is what looks like 2 very large swatches. I actually find it relaxing to knit a lot of stockinette, especially when it is not in the round so that I can alternate between knit and purl rows.

My yarn is Valley Yarns Southwick, which is a blend of pima cotton and bamboo. It has a really nice drape, and is only slighty splitty. I'm enjoying knitting with it. The top is knitting up pretty quickly.

FO: Ogunquit

2011-06-12T22:18:00.001-07:00

I've finished Ogunquit by Norah Gaughan in the Vol. 8 booklet. The yarn is Rowan Calmer, which is a really nice cotton blend yarn. It's very soft and feels very light. This sweater is a really nice cardi for warm weather.

My row gauge was tighter than the specified gauge so I had to change my number of rows between decreases. If I had to do it again, I would probably slow the decrease rate even more on the lower front sections so that the lower fronts would be wider. For the back, I actually put the decreases closer together to have it flare at the bottom instead of a swing shape.

My hem rolled too much, so I added my favorite edging of single crochet followed by reverse single crochet for both the bottom edge and the sleeve openings. I used a smaller needle to cast on for the sleeves to avoid having the openings flare out.
I knitted the front bands at the same time as the body instead of knitting separate bands and sewing them on. I also slipped the first stitch on the band edges.

Tomokee (aka Large Dog aka Butthead) has no opinion of my sweater, but he was kind enough to pose for a pic.

Antique crochet book

2011-06-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I recently came into possession of this crochet book, published in 1912. It's so old that I call it "antique" and not "vintage".

It's amazing how much fine detail is in the various patterns. I cannot imagine finding the time to make myself ribbon trims like these shown below, but I guess back in the day, these trims were all hand-made. It reminds of these lines from my all-time favorite movie, Gosford Park:
-- Elsie (Head Housemaid): "God, look at this, machine made lace."
-- Barnes: "Hark at her!"
-- Elsie (Head Housemaid): "I hate cheap clothes. They're twice the work and they never look as good."

I also like these collars:

Here are some more complex trims:

I had to search the web to find out that convolvulus is a plant. (To me, it sounds like something medical!)

And finally, these animal motifs are sort of cute:

As interesting as this book is, I'm not keeping it. I'm sending it off to my bloggy friend Ellen who loves to crochet far more than I do, and also loves to collect things far more than I do.

Sewing FO: Vogue V8667 pattern

2011-05-29T22:35:00.001-07:00

I've been sewing a lot more lately, and I really like making things for spring and summer because of all the nice print fabrics that I've found. I really like working with linen and linen blends and the slightly stretchy slightly shiny medium weight cottons. This dress is from Vogue Pattern V8667. The fabric is a linen blend that I purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics. The lining is a light-weight muslin that I also purchased there. I really like this pattern. It's very straightforward to sew and the pieces are cut such that one can easily make small sizing adjustments to various bits.
I might make a second un-lined version from some stretch denim and some sort of print for the just the collar.

work in progress

2011-05-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working on Ogunquit by Norah Gaughan. I'm using Rowan Calmer, which is a great yarn. I had to adjust my decrease rate because my row gauge is off, and I also wanted a faster decrease rate for the back bottom. I think it might be a bit too narrow on the front top parts, but it is probably tolerable. I might wear it fastened at the bottom with a sweater pin. I'm just finishing up the right side and then i have two small sleeves to go. I decided to knit the front twisted ribbing bands together with the front pieces instead of doing a separate band and sewing it on later. I like finishing work, but knitting a long narrow twisted rib band would be too much even for me.

Scenes from the 2011 SF Bay to Breakers

2011-05-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I took part in the only-in-San-Francisco craziness known as the Bay to Breakers. This was the 100th year of the footrace. By the time I decided to register, it was sold out, so I just tagged along with the vast number of unregistered participants who start way after the elite runners have long finished the race. It was so crowded that it was difficult to move faster than a slow jog on many parts of the route. One of my favorite things was watching all the people hanging out on the porches and balconies in homes along the route. Some were throwing things to the crowd -- things which included mardi gras style beads and, for some reason, tortillas.

FO: Nespelem

2011-04-24T22:48:00.001-07:00

I've finished Nespelem by Norah Gaughan. I really love the look of the cabled collar. I think the design is just brilliant and I wish I had enough of a right brain to dream up stuff like that. The rest of the cardi is pretty straightforward, with some ribbing on the sleeves. There's also some ribbing on the back center and waist which I did not show in a photo. My yarn is Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool. It's only 50% merino wool, so I'm hoping it won't be too warm to wear for spring. I made mine a smidgen longer than the pattern's length and changed the side shaping a bit to suit me. For the ribbed fronts and collar, I slipped the first stitch on each row on the front opening side to give it a slightly cleaner looking edge.

The yarn feels soft and comfy when worn and looks nice enough, but I didn't love knitting with it. A new ball has a nice shine, but it's one of these slightly fuzzy yarns that gets fuzzier as you knit, and it's sticky. Also, some parts get thicker than others as you knit, so you end up with a slightly thick-and-thin look.

Baby hat FO from a few years ago

2011-04-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

I knitted a hat for a former co-worker's newborn named Henry a few years ago. I never saw a modeled photo of the hat until recently. Henry is now nearly four years old, but his mom was feeling nostalgic and posted this photo, which shows Henry wearing his hat.
The pattern is from Charmed Knits - Projects for Fans of Harry Potter. The pattern is the Tea Cozy Crown Elf hat. I did not use the red and gold Harry Potter colors -- I just used some purple acrylic yarn with a yellowish-white trim band.

WIP

2011-04-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

At last, I feel like I've made progress on my current works in progress. This one is Nespelem, and I've finished the body and the front band and collar. That front ribbed collar took quite a time to knit, and it actually makes up a good portion of the upper fronts of the sweater. It's also the main feature of this cardigan, and I had to take my time getting the length right and sewing it on just so. Now that I've sewn everything together and woven in most of the ends, I'm on the dash to the finish line, which is just doing the sleeves. Sleeves go pretty fast for me -- I think of them as long swatches.

There's some contrast yarn running through the arm holes. Arm holes and fronts of sweaters (especially the slanted upper fronts) tend to stretch out. I used some contrast yarn to just run some hand stitches through the sweater edge and then pull on the yarn to gather everything in a bit. This was especially useful for the fronts because the slight gathering kept it held together at the correct length and made it easier to attach the ribbing.

FO conversion 2KCBWDAY4

2011-03-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is the day 4 post of the 2nd annual Knit and Crochet Blog week. I can't believe I found material for another topic. Today's topic is "whatever happened to..."

Last year, I knitted this dress. For some reason, I just wasn't happy enough with it to wear it that often, and it was the top half that I didn't like. One thing I didn't like about it was that the neckline was too high a V, mainly because my crochet edging was too tight. I also just didn't like the way it fit, but I don't know exactly why, except that I think it made me look too top heavy. I really like the skirt section, so I decided to convert it to a skirt.

I did not bother with taking it apart and ripping back the stitches because I just don't have the patience for that sort of thing, and the yarn is way too sticky to rip. Instead, I just took some scissors and cut it apart. I used the sewing machine and zig-zag stitches to keep the knit stitches together, and then sewed on a bias facing and encased an elastic for the waist. And voila! I have a skirt that I'm much happier with.

Organization 2KCBWDAY3

2011-03-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

This post is the day 3 post for the 2nd annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. The topic is yarn organization. I didn't have enough energy and/or material to write anything about the first two topics, but I figured I could muster up some photos for this topic. I'm not that organized myself, but I admit that it's fun getting a glimpse at how everyone else does it.

First off, the biggest space hog is the yarn itself. Compared to other yarn enthusiasts, my stash is relatively small. We updated all our bedroom furniture a couple of years ago, so I kept this one chest of drawers and moved it into my office-room for stash storage. There's quite a bit of available space because the drawers aren't that full. I use the wide bottom drawer and one of the middle small drawers for various supplies like buttons, tape mesaures, and such.

My long straight needles just sit in a tall vase, and I use a binder with these zippered envelopes for circular needles.

These cases contain miscellaneous things like stitch markers, cable holders, a set of crochet hooks, etc.

Here are 3 of my favorite project bags. I knitted and felted the two on the left, and the floral one is a Kate Spade bag that I picked up at a thrift shop for the amazing price of 10 bucks.

A lot of times, I can just carry along what I'm knitting in my purse. In that case, I put it into one of the many cloth shoe bags that come with shoes. I never use them to store uses, but I find them useful just as little bags.

WIPs

2011-03-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

I've been knitting the same two sweaters for what seems like for-evah. I'm not sure why progress seems so slow. It might be because I've had a little less knitting time lately. I'd like to cast on for something in cotton or linen for warmer weather, but I will persevere and finish at least one of these first. After all, my blog's name is "Binding Off", and I'm all about binding off and finishing things.

First off is Leaving from Twist Collective Winter 2010. I'm doing the pullover version, and I've finished the back and am doing the front. The yarn is Valley Yarns Northfield hand-dyed. The pattern is not difficult but it is not mindless either, which might be why it has taken me awhile. I'm hoping I will finish it before the weather gets too warm.

The second WIP is Nespelem, from Norah Gaughan vol. 8. The yarn is Louisa Harding Grace Silk&Wool, which I purchased from WEBS at the recent Stitches West. This is a straightforward cardigan, but the collar is what makes it really interesting. I should be able to wear this in spring.

Stitches West 2011 shopping spree

2011-02-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

I went to Stitches West 2011 last friday and shopped the marketplace. If yarn shopping is any indicator of the state of the economy, then it must be booming because the place was packed. I got there shortly after noon and it took several circles around the parking lot to find a space. I remember the attendance being pretty sparse in both 2009 and 2010. I myself purchased more than I did last year.

At the WEBS booth, I bought 3 bags of yarn. Two of them are Louisa Harding Grace-silk & wool. The third is Valley Yarns Northfield. I also purchased the Norah Gaughan volume 8 booklet. I've already cast on for Nespelem using the green Louisa Harding yarn.

From the Woolstock Yarn Shop booth, I bought a sale bag of Sublime Organic Merino DK yarn.

I bought this interesting shawl/sweater "safety-pin" from a vendor selling lots of wooden crafty things, but I forgot to pick up a business card.

I got this interesting button from Bob's Buttons. It's made from a Micronesian palm seed and embellished with turquoise.

Finally, I visited my favorite button vendor and got these plastic buttons which are made to look like metal. They are very lightweight, which makes them great for knits.

FO: Cafe Tunic

2011-02-14T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is Cafe Tunic from Modern Top-down Knitting by Kristina McGowan. I used Fibranatura Heaven, which is a very soft and light merino/silk blend. It's great for wearing with leggings or thick tights. Anything else would be too bulky and show too many lumps and bumps under the skirt section. It's not tight at the bottom, but I find that knits just tend to show lumps and bumps unless they are much looser or much thicker. I made many little adjustments to the pattern to get the look I wanted.

I added the honeycomb stitch pattern to the top and the hem because I thought it looked just too boring with all that stockinette. All my edges are finished with a row of single crochet followed by a row of reverse single crochet -- I think that looks way more finished and less "homemade" that just a row of single crochet.

The part I fussed with most is that middle band. The pattern calls for binding off stitches, then picking up single crochet and skipping some knit stitches for the gathering, and then knitting after that. I knew that I needed that middle section to hug the torso in order not to look frumpy but it also had to pull over my shoulders. I ended up adding a dense row of half double crochets and using it to encase 1/4" elastic and then picking up the bottom knit stitches from that. This brings in the middle nicely. The neckline also took several tries with different hook sizes to pull the it in just so without puckering. Otherwise, it would fall off my shoulders too easily, and I was not interested in achieving the Flashdance look.
For the sleeves, I did not bother with elastic cord -- I just skipped stitches with the single crochet to get the right amount of gathering.
I did the more standard A-line increases on the bottom instead of doing concentrated increases at the top hip area. The bottom flares out a bit because the honeycomb pattern is a looser gauge, but I'm happy with look.
Finally, I added some short rows to the front to keep the gathering level from front to back.

And the winner is.....

2011-02-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

The winner of my yarn giveaway is Melissa! Congratulations on winning some free stash enhancement!

Mid-winter/Groundhog Day/Lunar New Year yarn giveaway!

2011-02-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

Hi there! One third of the US seems to be covered in some sort of giant snow storm right now, but for some reason, the SF bay area has had a few too many days of sun. It's nice and all, but we do need rain. Anyway, to cheer everyone up, I'm giving away some of my leftover yarn. These yarns are all leftovers from one project or another and now they just take up space. Stitches West is coming, and I do need to make a bit of room. What I'm giving away, all in one prize, is the following:
- 3 balls of di.Vé Zenith, used to make this climbing vines pullover.
- 2 skeins and then some of Berroco Lustra, used to make this dress. I recently converted that dress to just a skirt, but I'll blog about that another day.
- 1 ball of Classic Silk from Classic Elite yarns, used to make Ambrosia.
- 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Stella, used to make Mirabella and this cowl
- 1 ball of Fibranatura Mermaid, used to make Ingenue.
- 1 skein of elsebeth lavold Silky Wool, used to make slinky ribs pullover. NOTE -- this one is omitted from the photo.

To win this lovely pile of yarny goodness, all you have to do is leave a comment before midnight, Sunday February 13. If you don't think I know who you are, please leave a clue as to how to contact you. A ravelry id always works, or if I can navigate to your blog, that would work also. Otherwise, you will have to leave an email address.

Happy groundhog day, and good old Phil is predicting an early spring.

Also, since tomorrow is the lunar new year, Happy New Year!

Patterns booklets from back in the day

2011-01-24T18:29:00.001-08:00

I recently unearthed the knitting pattern booklets that I used ages and ages ago when I first started knitting. I knitted quite a bit when I was much younger and had long hiatus until picking it again in 2006. Here are some of these booklets.

I think these date from the 70s, which I refuse to think of as vintage, because I refuse to admit that I'm THAT old. A lot of the patterns really don't look that different from current patterns -- it's just that they were styled differently. The Columbia-Minerva Knit Scene booklet has the best selection of knit dresses. A lot of them look like something Mrs. Peel would have worn in The Avengers TV show.
The image below is particularly interesting -- it's not just vintage knitting, it's vintage computer science! (I believe I've worked with similar equipment -- gaacck!)

If any of you out in the blogosphere is interested in these booklets, leave me a comment. I'll pay for the postage if you're in the U.S. I don't have any sentimental attachment to these patterns, so if no one wants them, they are going off to the recycle bin.

FO: Geodesic

2011-01-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished Geodesic, from Knitscene Winter/Spring 2010. The yarn is Araucania Ranco Solid. This cardigan was started in early October, 2010. It languished a bit because I got bored with it and I don't enjoy knitting with such fine gauged yarn. Now that it's done, I love it. It's very lightweight, so it's suitable for spring. Actually, I can probably wear it now if it stays as warm as it has been the last few days.

I think I knitted mine a little longer than the pattern's version, and my sleeves are a bit longer. I also narrowed the width at the shoulders a bit. I used a row of single crochet to finish the front edges and the back neckline instead of just using a knitted finish for the back. I think the front edges looked a little too scruffy without the crochet trim.

My cardi is actually three different shades of blue. The yarn is hand-dyed, and I did not want to do any of that alternating skeins thing. I had three skeins, so I used one skein for the back, one for the fronts, and one for the sleeves. The sleeves are the darkest shade and the fronts are the most stripey. I'm okay with this -- I'll just consider it a design element!

I tried wearing it without a front closure but it just hangs funny. My local JoAnns is currently stocking a lot of interesting clasp closures. I bought a bunch of them and used one of them here. The top row of my tuck stitches ended up as knit instead of purl by mistake, but I think that looks fine.

FO: Hot pink cowl

2011-01-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

This cowl is a giftie for someone who loves pink and is always cold, even in heated office spaces. It was a good use for some Debbiie Bliss Stella yarn left over from my Mirabella sweater.
The cowl is about 24 inches in circumference and 7 inches high. It is just a simple cylinder. I used a lacy rib pattern and knit it in the round. Any yarn can be used for this, as long as you use an appropriate needle size and figure out how many stitches you need to achieve the size you want.
The lacy rib pattern is multiple of 6 stitches. Here it is for knitting in the round:
Row 1 (RS): K2tog, YO, K2, P2, repeat all around
Row 2 : K4, P2, repeat
Row 3: K2, YO, K2tog, repeat
Row 4: K4, P2, repeat

I might make myself another one of these in a more neutral color.

Yarn art

2011-01-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

This is WAY beyond putting scarves on statues. A friend sent me the link.

Olek and the wall street bull

Her video of the art gallery opening is pretty amusing too.

Last FO of 2010

2010-12-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone out there in the blogosphere! I hope that 2011 will be great year for you all.

This is my last finished object for 2010. It is a cardigan-stole, more or less. It wears like a stole in the back, but the front feels like a long slouchy cardi. The yarn is Shepherd's Wool from Stonehenge Fiber Mill. I think this yarn is probably one of my favorite worsted weight wool yarns. It's really soft against the skin, comfy to knit with, and reasonably priced. The pattern is self-designed. I wanted to make something like this after finishing the textured cardi, which also wears like a stole on the back. I wanted something shorter and without the inverted V back.

This garment doesn't look that interesting from the back when photographed, but up close and personal, the texture stitching is sort of nice. The color in this back photo is much closer to the actual teal color.

WIP

2010-12-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

Looking at the above photo, you're probably wondering what it's going to become when finished. It's probably best described as a stole with armholes. I sort of like stoles because they provide a nice covering for the back without being too warm. However, I don't like having to hang on to them to keep them in place, so I find them a bit impractical. The textured cardi feels a lot like a stole when worn, but it's a bit too long, and I wanted to make something without the inverted V in the back.
So, I created by own pattern for this stole with armholes. I made a "muslin" of my pattern using some inexpensive knit fabric in order to get the pattern right. Here's what it will look like when done, more or less. There's going to be a 2x2 ribbing added at the bottom edge.

Sort of ugly but really functional

2010-12-12T10:21:00.001-08:00

I picked these up at a thrift shop recently for 25 cents each. I don't really like their looks that much but they are the best thing ever for keeping slippery garments like knit jersey dresses from slipping off the hanger.
These were crocheted over basic wooden hangers, and I should just make a few myself because I think I would find them more attractive if I just chose a different color scheme.

Fall color

2010-12-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

We don't get much in the way of fall colors in the SF bay area. However, our one Japanese maple tree will do its thing once a year. I'm not sure if it's my imagination or what, but it seems a bit late this year.

Sewing FO: You can't go wrong with animal prints

2010-11-29T17:50:00.001-08:00

Actually, I think this is more like a quasi animal print, but it's a fun dress anyway. The pattern is Vogue V8552, which I made earlier this year in linen. This fabric is a strange polyester/lycra moleskin, which is sort of slick on the wrong side. It does not hold a pressing at all, which makes it annoying to sew with, but it's actually pretty comfortable to wear. I got it on sale at JoAnn for a very low price. This time around, I eliminated the pockets and sewed the tucks as pleats on the inside. For winter, it's a bit chilly to wear by itself, but it looks good under a black cardi or shrug.

FO: Faux capelet cardigan

2010-11-14T19:15:00.000-08:00

I just finished this cardigan that is loosely based on the Boho Blouse by Stephanie Japel. I liked that capelet-like look when I first saw the pattern, but I didn't think it was cape-y enough, and I thought the trim hit too high on the bust line. I wanted the sleeves longer, but I couldn't just keep knitting further until separating out the sleeves because I would end up with ginormous armholes. I ended up separating out for the sleeves at the normal place, casting on a few stitches for the body section, then continued knitting the sleeves flat with additional increases. I made the sleeves end at the same point where the body trim ends, but instead of sewing the sleeve sides together, I sewed them to the sweater body itself. This helps the sweater look a little more capelet-like.

The pattern as written calls for a very fast rate of increases on the yoke such that all the increases are completed by 4" of yoke. This would cause the upper part of the bodice to be too loose, which I didn't want. I did the more standard rate of increases. My yarn is a very textured wool blend that I bought on my Japan vacation, so I omitted the cable stitches in the pattern. Finally, I wanted a cardigan instead of a pullover.

That blurriness you see on the sweater is not due to my camera or your eyesight. I partially felted my sweater by accident. My sweater ended up a bit large when finished , so I decided I would soak it a tiny bit, then run it through the dryer to shrink it. I did try this first with my swatch, and it worked well. However, for the actual garment, I decided to try a longer drying time, and I was amazed by how much it felted and horrified by how much it shrank. Luckily, it was still quite damp, so some of the shrinkage was reversible. I ended up wearing it all day, dampness and all, so that it would dry and form to my own body's shape. I also kept tugging at the various hem parts all day to keep the length from shrinking, which must have looked odd indeed. Ah, the things we knitters will do.

In the end, it's a bit shorter than I would like, but the width fits nicely. I lost the lovely yarn texture, but I gained the soft felted fuzziness. I'm pretty happy with the end result.

I have a theory about why my garment kept growing in size. The yarn is heavily textured, and all the texture-y bits don't pull through the stitches easily so the stitches start off fairly tightly knit. As I handled the garment more and more, the little bits of texture worked their way through the stitches and opened them up and the gauge got bigger as did the sweater.

Veterans Day

2010-11-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Today is Veterans Day in the U.S.
It coincides with Remembrance Day, or Poppy Day in countries such as U.K. and Canada. I like the Poppy Day concept, so I decided to crochet a red poppy to wear today.

FO: Goodale

2010-11-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

I've finished Goodale and I'm very happy with it. The yarn is Brown Sheep Serendipity Tweed. My biggest modification for this sweater is adding increases along the front. I started the increases at about 2" from the top front edges. By the time I reached the hem, I added about 3" to each of the fronts. This keeps the sweater from flaring wide open in the front.
I made some other customizations as well, because customizing my knits is just how I roll.
- I made it longer and added waist shaping.
- I made 3/4 length sleeves because I had a lot of spare yarn, and longer sleeves are better for fall.
- Instead of sewing the bottoms together for the folds, I folded before the ribbing and picked up 2 stitches together for the front ribbing.
- I sewed down the tops of the front lapels up to the pocket openings.
- I made my I-cord 1 stitch wider but used small needles to keep it tight. I twisted it for a figure 8 in the center.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:46:00.001-07:00

I don't really do much for Halloween other than wait for trick-or-treaters. We usually get close to a hundred kids or so. I don't think we have that many kids in the neighborhood, so I'm not sure where they come from. I decided to at least dress up a little more festively this year. This was my ensemble for greeting the kids.

On the needles

2010-10-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm one sleeve away from finishing Goodale. The yarn is Brown Sheep Serendipity Tweed. I had a lot of yarn so I decided to make longer sleeves. Longer sleeves are better anyway for a fall sweater. I love the front lapel pockets on this pattern, but I don't like the wide opening. On me, sweaters like that tend to sit even more open than shown on a model. I added increases to the front of the sweater. It still flares open when worn, but it's a much narrower opening.

I'm also working on the Geodesic cardigan. The yarn is Araucania Ranco solid. I knit all of the back of this cardi during the various airplane and train rides on the Japan vacation. The pattern is written for knitting the body in one piece, but I converted it for flat knitting. Smaller pieces are much more portable. Also, this is a hand-dyed yarn, and rather than worry about alternating skeins and color changes, I just decided to knit the different pieces from different skeins and not worry about color shade differences.

Japan souvenirs

2010-10-09T20:14:00.001-07:00

I just returned from a vacation to Japan, spending 4 nights in Tokyo and 3 nights in Kyoto. I had a great time, even though I got bitten by a gazillion insects and the plane ride home was a breeding ground for respiratory infections because of all these passengers who were sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and phlegming (I don't think that's a verb). Of course, in addition to the sightseeing, I had to look for a few yarn shops and buy some souvenir yarn.

My first stop was at Okadaya in Tokyo. This is a seven story craft shop, with most of the 6th floor devoted to yarn and other knitting goodness. The address is 3-23-17 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, very near the train station. Thanks to pinku for posting a list of Tokyo shops back in 2006. Now, even though I had the address, it's still not easy to find it. Although I knew that the Tokyo address consists of the subareaNumber-blockNumber-buildingNumber, I did not know that the building numbers are not spatially ordered. I found out later that they are ordered by their construction dates. So, you sometimes have to walk around a block to find an address. Also, not all blocks have their numbers displayed anywhere, and many shops don't display their own addresses. After a while, I realized that for larger shops, it's easiest to just look upward for large signs instead of looking at doorways!

They have a large selection of Japanese and imported yarns. I just decided to focus on the Japanese brands.

I ended up purchasing 8 skeins of this really luxurious merino/alpaca/acrylic yarn. Don't you just love the phrasing on the label?

Next up was a trip to La Droguerie, which is a French craft store with several shops in Japan. The Tokyo address is 4-13-9 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, in the very chi-chi Omotesando shopping district. They have a smallish selection of pricey yarn, but tons of unique trims, beads, and buttons, also pricey.

I ended up buying some buttons and spent enough to receive a promotional giveaway bag. (Notice the Eiffel tower bead).

Now, on to Kyoto. While there, I decided to check out the Kyoto branch of La Droguerie. It's located on Kitiyama-dori, right across the street from the Kitiyama entrance to the wonderful Kyoto botanical garden, and we were going to visit the garden anyway. The merchandise seemed to be about the same as in the Tokyo store, although there might have been more yarn. I just bought a few not-very-exciting beads to hang on that safety-pin closure that I bought earlier.

Next was Avril, which is sold in New York as Habu Textiles. They are located in a restored building called the Sacra building in the center of the shopping zone, at the corner of Sanjo-dori and Tominokoji-dori. The shop space is like a huge loft, and they have an amazing collection of yarn, many with unusual textures and exotic fibers, and much of it costing more than I would ever spend on yarn.

However, even the priciest of shops has a sale basket, and in it I found this great textured wool/nylon yarn in fall colors. I bought 2 skeins.

In the same building as Avril is the Idola buttons and beads shop. It is smallish, but stocks a lot of very unusual buttons.

I ended up buying just two of these silvery buttons.

The amazing thing is -- I managed to pack all of this into my luggage!

FO: Textured Cardi for fall

2010-09-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is the textured cardigan by Rebecca Taylor in Vogue Knitting fall 2010. This is a fun cardi to wear. On the front, it wears just like a long shrug, and on the back, it feels like I'm wearing a stole. It's comfy and cozy without being overly warm. The yarn is Shepherd's Wool from Stonehenge Fiber Mill, which is really nice and soft and is not itchy to me.

This garment is just knitted as a rectangle and then cleverly seamed to create the sleeves. For the body, the only thing I did differently was to add 2 stitches on what would become the front edge. I knit them on the right side, and slipped the first stitch on the purl side. This creates a neater and tighter front edge.

I decided to just use the same yarn for the pockets instead of trying to find a matching fine-gauged yarn. Since the yarn is heavier, I only made the pockets 38 stitches wide and my cables are 6 stitches each instead of 10 so they aren't as dense.

For the bottom back ribbing, I had to sew a slanted seam that starts out about 1" wide and narrows down to one stitch. If I didn't do that, that bottom section pokes up and outward and looks like the rear end of a duck. I recently saw a ready-to-wear version of this sweater by Rebecca Taylor at Bloomingdale's. The stitch pattern is not the same and the pockets are bigger, but it's definitely the same cut and shape. For that sweater, the back bottom ribbing is knit with increases so that you get the same mitered effect with a normal seam. It's interesting that the knitting pattern does not reflect this.

I love the shape of this cardi-shrug enough that I'm going to try and a make a much shorter version of it. I'll find a simpler stitch pattern, and I will change the shaping a bit by using increases and decreases to create a V-shape for the bottom of the back -- that way the front sections won't have to pull up so much to joing the back and the back bottom will be relatively flat.

Knitting updates

2010-09-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

I've been making progress on Goodale. I'm adding increases to the front sections so that the sweater will not be as open. I'm also making it a bit lon ger and adding some side shaping. Progress has been slow because I've been sidetracked with knitting this textured cardigan by Rebecca Taylor from Vogue Knitting Fall 2010.

I was fascinated with this pattern the moment I saw it in the magazine's online preview. I love the texture and the unique construction. What's interesting to me is that I'm the one and only person on ravelry who is knitting this garment, and there are only 11 others who have queued it up. I wonder why so few other knitters find it as fascinating as I do.

This is really a simple knit because you just knit a 6 ft x 18" rectangle and sew it up. It's just like knitting a scarf for a very large person. I have to admit that it's getting a bit monotonous, especially since there are a lot of P3tog stitches in the pattern, but I've got about 4 ft. done, so onward I go!

Sewing FO

2010-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

I've finished a sewing project, and I LOVE this dress. The pattern is Vogue V8552, with a few mods. I avoid sewing a lot of dresses because they usually require a big fitting effort, and to do it right requires sewing up a muslin version for at least the bodice portion, and I'm too lazy to do muslins. This pattern is an easy fitting one, so I figured I could adjust it as I go, and I wouldn't need to do what The Other Half would call "fire a test shot".

For the mods, I added waistline tucks to the front to give it a little more shape. I narrowed the pockets a bit and also widened the placement. I really liked those gaping pockets in the photo, but in person, they stuck out way too much. The dress is unlined, but I decided to line both the pockets and the cap sleeves with a contrasting green cotton. The pattern called for sewing down the pocket flaps, but I decided to just tack the corners down by hand, and I sewed a button on each corner of the flaps.

My fabric is a heavy weight linen that I purchased at a local fabric shop in San Francisco. (Is there such an acronym as "LFS" in the sewing world"?). I subsequently looked for it online and found it sold here as drapery fabric. I should keep drapery fabric in mind in the future if I want heavy weight linen.

I'm thinking of making this pattern again with a much softer fabric and sewing the side pockets. I might also just sew the tucks as inside pleats, and wear it with a thin belt.

If I saw this dress hanging on a rack in a shop, I would probably never try it on because I would dismiss it as shapeless and unflattering. This reminds me that I should be a little more willing to try on garments because sometimes, they just look quite different when worn.

FO: Ambrosia

2010-08-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've finished Amnbrosia from Interweave Knits Summer 2010. This is actually not quite Ambrosia because my front cables are more squiggly because I sort of neglected to read the cable pattern and just did something that I thought looked like the picture. It doesn't quite look like the picture, but I didn't even notice until I finished the entire body of the sweater! The yarn is Classic Silk from Classic Elite Yarns. I had a hard time capturing the color in photos -- it's sort of the color of a fruit smoothie.

I'm very happy with this sweater. In addition to the accidental difference in cable design, some other mods include omitting the waistline ribbing and using a single crochet followed by reverse single crochet trim on the neckline instead of the I-cord. I added one stitch on edge side of the cables and slipped that stitch at the start of each row, then applied a row of crocheted slip stitches onto the edge for the finishing. This gave me sturdy and non-stretchy front edges. For the sleeves, I went down one needle size shortly after picking up the stitches, then went down one more size for the ribbing. I wanted to ensure that the sleeve openings don't flare out.

For the fasteners, I bought some jumbo hook and eye tape, which made the job a lot easier. I especially like the large-sized hooks and eyes. What I don't like is that it's white in color -- it doesn't show through on the front, but you can see the white inside if you look down onto the neckline. It's not a big deal, but I wonder if I should have dyed it or something before using it.

WIPs

2010-08-07T19:53:00.001-07:00

I'm almost finished with my Ambrosia-more-or-less, from Interweave Knits Summer 2010. I say more-or-less because it wasn't until I finished the entire body of the sweater, including finishing the edges and sewing on the hook-and-eye tape, that I realized I had done the front cables differently from the pattern! When I started, I just sort of read the stitch notations, then did the stitch pattern without really actually reading the instructions -- I just did something that I thought looked like the photo. But, it doesn't matter since I like it anyway, and it has basically the same look and feel as the real Ambrosia. My cables just look a little more wavy.
I omitted the middle ribbing section on purpose -- I've discovered that narrow waistline ribbing doesn't really do that much for me and I always fuss too much about its placement. I also raised the neckline a bit so that it's just above the point where the body is split from the sleeves.
It seemed like too many knitters were not entirely happy with the neckline I-cord, so I decided not to try it. Instead, I did my favorite edging of a row of single crochet followed by a row of reverse single crochet.
My yarn is Classic Silk by Classic Elite Yarns. I'm quite happy with this sweater, and I just have one sleeve to go -yay!

I recently cast on for Goodale, using Brown Sheep's Serendipity Tweed. I really like the little pockets formed by folding the fronts over, but I don't w such a wide opening in the front, so I'm adding increase stitches about 3 inches from the edge. That should put the front pieces much closer together after the folding over.

Yarn bombing sighting

2010-07-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

We took a short vacation to the Lake Tahoe area this last weekend, and the trip included a stopover in Reno, NV. While there, I spotted this lovely piece of yarn bombing located in the river walk area.

While we're on the subject of artsy sitings, Reno also has painted recycled pianos scattered about town. Here's one of them. I did notiee anyone playing on it though.

FO: Jordan

2010-07-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the nice comments about my two-toned shell. If you're celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, I hope you're having great one!

I recently finished the Jordan pattern by Wendy Bernard. The yarn is one of my favorites -- the discontinued Jaeger Trinity. I bought this last batch from Robin.

This a great pattern. I don't really like very lacy garments, but for some reason, this one appealed to me. The two lace stitch patterns are easy to memorize, and it knits up very quickly. For the arrow lace pattern, I did 4 repeats instead of 3 because I realized that I wanted a little more length when I reached the first set. I also played with changing needle sizes here and there. I used one size smaller on the midsection to give it a tiny bit of waist shaping. For the shoulder pieces, I changed over to one needle size larger after about 3 inches, so the pieces gets wider towards the center, and I get some shoulder shaping. The lace patterns alternate between 11-stitch and 9-stitch repeats. The topmost stockinette section is supposed to be an 11-stitch repeat, but I kept it at 9 stitches because for some reason it flared out too much at 11 stitches. All in all, this is a great summer top!

FO; Two toned shell

2010-06-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've finished the two toned shell from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2010 (ravelry link). It's a great top for warmer weather. The Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy is fun to knit with and really comfortable to wear. I converted this pattern so that I could knit it as flat front and back pieces. I also added the lace trim to the armholes because the top in the magazine just looked a little incomplete around the armholes. I'm very happy with the result.

I did have some issue with the pattern for the yoke because I think the stitch counts don't match the pattern schematic dimensions. I adjusted everything to my liking and the gory details are documented on my ravelry page. I widened the neckline a bit also because I don't like crew necklines. I omitted the buttonhole and just sewed the button through both layers.

Summer WIPs

2010-06-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've currently got two tops on the needles, both of which will be nice for summer.

First off, I'm almost done with the two-toned shell from Vogue spring/summer 2010. (ravelry link) I have to just add the lace trim to the other armhole. I really liked this pattern when I first saw it, but it just looked like there was something missing on the armholes that made it look unfinished. I think an I-cord would have looked just as nice, but I thought I'd try the lace. It took two tries on first armhole. My first attempt was to do a trim that did not circle the entire armhole, but that came out loose and floppy at the ends. My yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, and I really love it.

Next up is the new Jordan pattern by Wendy Bernard. I normally don't like stuff with a lot of lace, but this one looks more modern than others, as does a lot of her patterns. When I got to the arrow lace pattern, I decided I wanted a little more length so I'm doing 4 repeats of the arrow pattern. I'm also knitting this flat, and I used needles one size smaller in the middle to give it a tiny bit of shaping. The yarn is one of my favorites, the discontinued Jaeger Trinity. I bought this last batch from RobinM.

FO: Sewing interlude

2010-06-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

We interrupt the normal knitting content with a little sewing content. This is my once-or-twice-a-year sewing project for this year. I wanted to make one of these double-layered skirts that I often see in Anthropologie and other stores. I wanted something nicely printed for spring and summer, but not too fussy or flowery. This is from Vogue 8295. I made view D, but using two skirt layers. The bottom layer is cut shorter than the top one and I added a ruffle. The top layer is a fairly lightweight cotton print, and the bottom is a broadcloth.

I do wish to pass on two sewing tips that helped me in making this skirt. One involves invisible zippers. With these zippers, I always find that it's difficult to sew up the last bit of seam after the zipper has been applied such that it meets up perfectly with the zipper seams. For some reason the bottom of the zipper gets in the way, even if I'm using a zipper foot. I tried it and ripped it a couple of times and decided that it would be faster and easier to just sew it by hand. I used small back stitches and sewed up the last 3/4" of the seam by hand and it gives a perfect seam that matches the zipper seams.
I learned my second tip eons ago when I watched my mother do it. I don't have a fancy sewing machine, so this might not be a problem for everyone. However, when I sew a thick piece on top of a very lightweight fabric, in this case the zipper on top of the top skirt layer, I get puckering on the bottom thinner fabric. To solve this problem, I simply place a piece of paper (such as printer paper) underneath everything and sew the fabric layers along with the paper. When done, just rip out the paper, and voila -- no puckering. This also helps if you are sewing two very thin pieces of fabric together because that can sometimes pucker also.

FO: Tuck stitching summer top

2010-05-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

I recently finished my self-designed summer top. The main decorative elements are the rows of tuck stitches, which are on only on the front. I wanted the center tuck stitches to provide a little ease for the bust area. I think they ended up placed a little too high, but that turns out not to matter much. In addition to being decorative, the lower tuck stitches compensate for the extra fabric on the sides created by the center tucks. The bottom edge is a narrow folded hem started with a provisional cast-on. I must remind myself to use needles that are 2 sizes smaller for the hem instead of just one size smaller because there is still a little too much flaring. I used my now favorite crochet edging of single crochet followed by reverse single crochet for the sleeves and neckline. The "sleeves" are just gradual increases at the armhole area, with short rows to shape the shoulders a bit.

The yarn is Jaeger Trinity. I think this yarn has long been discontinued, but I love it. I should stockpile some more from ravelry sellers. I knit it in a slightly looser gauge than recommended. The top has a nice texture and drape. It's also substantial enough and provides enough coverage that I don't need to wear another layer under or over it. This might turn out to be one of my favorite warmer weather sweaters.

WIPs and knitting in the flat

2010-05-15T19:43:00.001-07:00

I'm almost done knitting this self-designed simple summer pullover. The yarn is Jaeger Trinity, and the tuck stitching is the main decorative element. The armholes extend outwards a bit to form small cap sleeves. The bottom edge is a a small rolled hem started with a provisional cast-on. All I have left to do is the neckline edging and a few more loose ends to weave in.

I've also been working on the two-toned shell from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2010. I'm using Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy. At 6 SPI, this is the finest gauge knitting I've ever attempted. It's been going relatively quickly, probably because it's mainly stockinette, and I love knitting with this yarn. I will most likely add the same bottome lace pattern as an armhole trim.

It seems de rigueur these days that patterns knit from the bottom are knit in one piece and then split at the armholes. I'm not sure why this is so, except that perhaps designers cater to modern knitters, many of whom don't seem to like seaming. Many knitters will convert a pattern in pieces to knit it in the round. Not I. This pattern is written as knitted in the round, but I decided to convert it to knitting as flat front and back pieces because I prefer to do it that way. I'm not sure if there are many other knitters like myself, but for some reason, I feel compelled to list my reasons for preferring to knit my garments in pieces and sewing them up:

I knit English style, and I use long straight needles so that I can rest the right needle on my forearm. This allows me to release my right hand to throw the yarn without expending any energy to keep the right needle level. I can knit and purl at the same speed.

It's a lot easier to change yarn and weave in ends if there's a seam to hide a multitude of sins.

If I have to rip back, then I'm ripping back one half the amount, or one quarter the amount in the case of the cardigan front pieces, as compared to knitting seamlessly.

I think that seams really do stabilize a garment in many cases and can prevent strange stretching over time.

I don't like carrying large pieces on the needles. Smaller pieces are more portable. Also, it feels like I am making faster progress as each piece gets done.

One can try on a garment as one goes along if it's knitted in the round, but sometimes I find that annoying because I have to take all or parts of it off the needles to do that. I find it much easier to use a finished well-fitted sweater of a similar shape, drape, and weight and just hold the flat pieces against it and use that as my sizing and shaping guide.

With a flat piece, I find it easier to get an accurate width measurement and a really good gauge measure after a few inches have been knitted.

If it's a pullover with a lot of stockinette (which I sort of like) I will be doing both knitting and purling, which is a lot more interesting than knit, knit, knit, especially since I do both at about the same speed.

Finally, I really don't mind seams, and I find the straight side seams to be satisfying to do. They go quickly, and the speed I gain from the first three reasons more than makes up for the little time I spend on side seams.

Miscellaneous

2010-05-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

If you like Rowan yarns, I see that fabric.com has a 20% off sale today. I'm thinking I might like some Summer Tweed to try.

The latest Interweave Knits summer preview is up, and I think I might actually purchase this issue. I haven't bought this magazine in a while because none of its styles appealed to me. My favorite garment is the Ambrosia cardigan, but I think I would eliminate the ribbing at the waist.

Parasola is finished!

2010-05-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

I just finished up Parasola, from Nora Gaughan Vol. 6.. I love the look of the circular ornaments on the front. That's what sold me on buying the booklet when I saw the sample at Stitches West. The yarn is the recommended Berroco Pure Pima. It's very soft and has a nice sheen, but it is a bit splitty to knit with. The finished sweater has a very nice drape and I'm very happy with the fit.
I changed the shaping of the sweater from an A-line to the standard decreases-at-the-waist shaping. I also started with a 2-inch narrower circumference at the bottom because I didn't want too much positive ease. I modified my sleeves to be slightly puffy. With the flat sleeves, this sweater was just too tight at the shoulder joint because the gathers at the neckline pull the upper bodice inward and makes it quite narrow at the top. The puffing gives me a nice comfortable ease at the shoulders.

Small FO and a WIP

2010-04-20T22:28:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd get an early start on the mother's day gift project and knitted up this neck warmer for my mother. She loved the neck warmer I knitted for her last year. She loves the neck warmer concept because it keeps her warm without having to deal with scarf tails. I figure if she likes them, she clearly needs more of them. This one is based on this free pattern. I used a different yarn with a finer gauge. I really like the soothing look of the mistake rib stitch pattern.

Next up, I'm currently finishing up Parasola, from Nora Gaughan Vol. 6. I had to buy the booklet after I saw a sample garment knitted up at Stitches West. I just finished doing the large ornament, and it seemed to take forever. Before embarking on it, I thought of searching da web for a crochet stitch that would give the same look, but I got lazy and just decided to knit it. It probably would have been much faster done in crochet. This is partly because I'm not that adept at small circular knitting.
I changed the shaping of this sweater from A-line to the more standard waist shaping. I also reduced the width at the bottom by about 2" from the smallest size because I was afraid of ending up with too much of a tent-like look.

FO: Tarte

2010-04-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished knitting Tarte, a Berroco free pattern. The yarn is Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK, a merino wool, microfiber, cashmere blend. I chose this pattern because I really liked the cables combined with open stitches in the front. (The back is all stockinette). The red color is more of a winter cheery color than a spring color, and I started it back in February in the post-holiday/Valentine's day/Chinese New Year red season, but I'm happy to wear in the spring because it's just the right amount of warmth.
The biggest adjustment I did with this pattern was to make the front narrower. In the smallest size, the front is 42 stitches wider than the back, and that just seemed too wide to me, even allowing for the scrunching effect of the cables. I made my front only 18 stitches wider. I based this on the fact that there is a maximum of 6 3x3 cables at any one time, and I allowed 3 extra stitches for each cable to compensate for the scrunching. In order to do this, I also had to narrow the stitch pattern a bit because the original pattern was wide enough to cover most of the front. I changed the four strips of open stitching from 4 YOs each to 2 YOs and also changed the K3tog and SSSK to K2tog and SSK, respectively. I also made my usual shaping and length adjustments for a good fit.

One of my favorite things about this vest pattern is the edging used to finish the armholes and the neckline. It's done as a row of single crochet followed by a row of reverse single crochet. The end result is this cool looking braided effect that does not even look like crochet to me.

Springtime shenanigans

2010-03-18T20:31:00.001-07:00

Spring is in the air, and I felt that it was time for another yarn bombing event. I wanted to decorate something downtown with a bit of spring color. My first yarn bombing was during the last holiday season, and it lasted for about 3 weeks. I was happy with that. Here I am in my best nighttime ninja outfit doing the install. The Other Half took photos and drove the getaway car. He thinks that in this photo I look like someone "fresh off the saucer".

Here it is the next morning, looking very colorful. The Other Half says the pom-pom on top makes it look very proud. The location is this dirt patch that is right at the entrance to the downtown zone. I'm glad I got the photographic evidence because unfortunately, it was gone by the end of the day. :(( I've gotten over it -- and I have a different destination for another try. This second site won't have quite as much foot traffic. This was a crocheted piece, which goes very quickly with double stranded worsted weight yarn.

FO: Puffed sleeve pullover with attached scarf

2010-03-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

This is my self-designed puffed sleeve top with attached scarf. The main yarn is Mirasol Yarn Tupa, a silk/merino blend, and the scarf yarn is Crystal Palace Mini Mochi. I've always like the Mini Mochi colors, but I didn't want to make a scarf that wraps closely around my neck. An attached scarf on an open neckline is great because it's not too warm. I also wanted to try a top-down raglan with puffed sleeves. I'm very happy with the result. It has a quasi vintage look to it. I could have done with a little less volume in the sleeves, but I'm okay with this. I wanted enough volume for a nice pleat at the bottom.

The bottom of the sweater is knit in a broken rib pattern. The scarf is done with the same simple reversible open stitch as for my long kimono vest. Every row is just
K1, *K2, yo, K2tog; rep from * to last st, end K1, and I slipped the first K stitch.
The neckline was finished with single crochet, then crocheted slip stitches were used to attach the scarf, which was knit separately.

Stitches West goodies

2010-02-27T21:33:00.000-08:00

I went to my third Stitches West on Friday. Being a Silicon Valley denizen, it's easy for me to just drop by and do a blitz shopping session at the marketplace. My first purchase was a Norah Gaughan booklet. I've never been a big Norah Gaughan fan, but for some reason, I LOVE the spring/summer designs in this booklet. I bought it at the WEBS booth, where they had a few of the patterns knitted up as sample garments. That really helped sell the booklet.

I bought myself some Berroco Pure Pima, which is used in several of the patterns. One of my favorites is parasola (ravelry link). I also purchased some Valley Yarns hand-dyed Northfield, but I have not idea what I will knit with it at this point.

I visited my favorite Buttons! booth and went a bit overboard on the buttons. I say overboard because I actually don't knit that many cardigans that have full front button bands because I don't like the button gaposis issue.

Finally, I got one of these shawl pins from Gita Maria. Mine is more of a silver color.
All in all, I thought I exercised great restraint. I only purchased a small bag of stuff. Others seemed to be trailing rolling carry-on bags stuffed with yarn.

An alternate giveaway winner

2010-02-22T22:56:00.000-08:00

Renee never left me contact info and never returned with a comment, so I picked a new winner for my January giveaway. It's Gay over at gaysknits.... Congrats!

FO: The dress is done!

2010-02-21T17:01:00.002-08:00

I've finished the Folded Mini Dress (ravelry link) from Reversible Knitting by Lynne Barr. I did mine in a nice lady-like above-the-knee length, and I love the finished result. Woo-hoo! My yarn is Berroco Lustra, which is a little thicker and the gauge a little higher than the pattern's specs. I knit the smallest size, and did some other little size adjustments on the bodice to make it fit me. I chose the lower V neck for the front and threw in a couple of short rows for bust shaping. The color on the 2nd photo is the closest to the real thing. It's a sort of burgundy red.

Technique wise, I just used 3-needle bind-off for the shoulders instead of grafting. I didn't see the need to bother with grafting since I decided to just always wear the reverse stockinette as the right side. For the edges, I did not slip the first stitch. Instead, I used a crochet hook to add a separate slip stitch edge. I think that gives it a more finished look. It also made the armholes tighter (good), and the neckline tighter (not as good). I made my V neck slightly higher than the pattern's because I wanted a neckline I could wear without a layering piece underneath. As it turns out, the crocheted slip stitches makes the neckline less stretchy so I should have just left it alone because the neckline came out a bit too high.

I'm really surprised so few ravelers have knitted and/or queued this dress. The pattern is actually very straightforward and it's easy to customize for size. If you do knit it, do go with a little negative ease on the skirt. It has quite a bit of thickness, and if you knit it with positive ease, it might look too heavy. It needs to be stretched a bit too look good.

I'm looking forward to shopping at Stitches West this coming weekend. I'm thinking I should wear it then.

Stuff

2010-02-15T22:59:00.001-08:00

First off, Renee (not Renee G.), the January giveaway winner, has not gotten back to me by leaving a comment with some contact info. So, Renee, if you're out there, please leave a comment. If I don't hear from you by midnight, February 22, I will pick another winner.
On the WIP front, I'm almost done with the folded not-so-mini dress from Reversible Knitting (ravelry link). I just have the upper back to do, and some finishing work. It's looking good.

I've also made progress on my self-designed puffed sleeve raglan pullover which will have an attached scarf at the neckline.

Finally, if you've ever wondered what a package of Tuxedo cookies look like when it's been run over by a car, you need wonder no more! I find this image hilarious, for some odd reason. I think the cookies are some sort of Oreo knockoff. A friend ran over them (not on purpose) and they belonged to one of our neighbors.

Giveaway winner and a WIP

2010-02-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

First off, the winner of the giveaway is Renee (not Renee G.)! Unfortunately, I cannot view your profile, so I don't how to contact you, so if you check back on this blog, please leave me a comment about how to contact you, and then you'll receive the goodies.
On the knitting front, I've been working on my folded not-so-mini dress, from Reversible Knitting. I
I've finished the lower folded skirt section. woo-hoo! It did not take as long as I thought it would. Using the higher gauge yarn helped a little. The skirt fits nicely, and the top should go pretty quickly, since it just knits up like a vest with minimal finishing.

January giveaway

2010-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Over the years, I've realized that I sort of like the month of January. A lot of other people probably don't because they are immersed in the depths of winter. I like it for several reasons.
- All the angst of the holiday season is behind me.
- The days are getting longer, so I look forward to spring. Living in the S.F. bay area means spring does come pretty early in March.
- I look forward to Stitches West in February.
- There are lots of really good bargains to be had as stores clear out merchandise and make room for spring goods.

So, I thought I'd add some cheer to your January by having a small giveaway of some knit lit. I'm giving away my copy of Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding. This book has some lovely photographs and nice patterns. I look through it once in a while and think about knitting something, but I just can't get interested enough, mainly because I like to focus on knitting garments. It deserves a good home with someone who wants to knit accessories. I'm also including a couple of issues of Yarn Forward, a really fun magazine from the U.K. I kept them for a while, but have realized that I'll never get to knitting any of the patterns.

So, to enter, just leave me a comment on this post. I'll take entries until midnight, February 1st. Be sure to leave some trace of how to contact you. A blog name or a ravelry id will work, and use email as a last resort. Oh, if you wish to comment, but not enter the giveaway, please let me know.

I'm going for it

2010-01-17T20:42:00.001-08:00

I've been obsessing over this pattern (ravelry link) from Reversible Knitting by Lynne Barr ever since I bought the book. I waited until others have knitted it, and they did, and they look great, so I figured it's time to go for it. I'm using Berroco Lustra in a slightly higher gauge and knitting the smallest size. It still feels like the skirt section will take forever, especially since I have to knit it longer than the pattern's mini length. This is one of those time that I'm grateful for being relatively short. I figure I just have to get the skirt to look great. If the top half turns out wrong, I can just frog it and finish the garment as a very interesting skirt.

It's just as cute up close and personal

2010-01-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

I ordered up one of these recently for the family room because it is just so cute. It arrived a couple of days ago, and it's still cute, and its color goes with my throw pillows. It's also quite comfy as both a footrest and as a stool. It feels like a very firm bean bag chair.

FO: Why have one collar when I can have two?

2010-01-09T20:28:00.001-08:00

This is an adaptation of Nimbus, a free Berroco pattern. I used 11 skeins of di'Ve Autunno. I did my own sizing since my gauge is finer. The body is longer, the sleeves are longer, and the sides have shaping. I wanted a higher neckline with a wide asymmetrical collar. When I was knitting the sleeves, I kept trying on the sweater body trying to figure out what I didn't like about my collar. There was nothing horribly wrong with it -- it just seemed too Peter Pan-ish, a little too flared because the circumference was a little big, and way too boring. Then somehow I got the idea to just add on a second collar, and now it's much more interesting! I knitted the second collar separately and sewed it on instead of picking up stitches, figuring that would provide more flexibility for placement.

The bigger collar had the same increase rate as for a raglan sweater, averaging 8 stitches every other row, and that's too much. The smaller collar was knit with six increases every other row and about 3/4" with no increases at the neck.

Gotta have it

2010-01-05T21:43:00.001-08:00

I boosted the economy today by ordering one of these. It's just so darn cute. I believe Design Within Reach had a larger and much much more expensive version of this ottoman a year or two ago. This is one much more affordable.

WIP

2010-01-02T22:30:00.001-08:00

I recently cast on for a variation on Nimbus, a free Berroco pattern. My yarn is di.Ve' Autunno, a really soft single-ply merino yarn. My gauge at 4 stitches/inch is much finer than the pattern's gauge, so I did my own sizing. I also wanted a longer cardigan with side shaping, and I wanted a higher neckline and a wide asymmetric collar. My sleeves will also be longer at about 2/3 length. This is really quite a quick knit, even at worsted gauge. I started it just before Christmas and I'm now doing the sleeves. I had a couple of false starts with the collar in an attempt to get the circumference and the asymmetry exactly to my liking. I think its circumference ended up a smidgen too big so the collar might flare up a tiny bit, but I got tired of fussing with it, so it will stay as it is.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to all you gentle readers out in the blogosphere, and I hope that 2010 will be a great year for you.

This photo was used as our holiday photo greeting card this year. Large Dog is wearing the same cowl that I used in the yarn bombing escapade. I first yarn bombed the dog, took the photos, then dressed the statue.

For those of you who are curious, the knitwear stayed on the statue for just over three weeks. We think it might have gotten removed when additional street decorations were added to the downtown area.

FO gift and a WIP

2009-12-18T20:54:00.000-08:00

I finished this vest as an Xmas gift for my mother. For some reason, knits for others always seem to take longer than I'd like, probably because it's not for me, me, me! This is a variation on the diamond quilted vest pattern (ravelry link). The yarn is Valley Yarns Amherst. I decided to do buttons instead of a zipper, and I used seed stitch for the bands and bottom. The neckline came out too wide for a standing collar, so I just made a tapered one by using gradually smaller sized needles. The overall color and style of this vest is too subdued for my own taste, but I do like the faux-quilted stitch pattern. I can see using a different yarn and a different treatment for collar and bands to knit a more modern look for myself.

Since I finished the vest, I can get back to knitting for me, me, me. This is a self-designed top-down raglan pullover. It will have short puffed sleeves that will be brought in with pleats at the cuff. The yarn is Mirasol Tupa, a merino/silk blend. The neckline will be finished with a narrow attached scarf knit with the Mini Mochi. I've always liked the Mini Mochi, but I don't like scarves wrapped closely around my neck because it's just too warm. Also, I just don't like dealing with loose scarves. A narrow attached scarf on a wider neckline would be a fun way for me to use this yarn. I'd show a sketch of my planned sweater, but I'm afraid my sketches are undecipherable to anyone but me.

Shawl pins

2009-12-07T21:54:00.001-08:00

Thanks for all the nice comments about my kimono vest. I thought I'd post something about that shawl pin, which some of you seemed to like. I actually have 2 of these in different sizes. I bought the smaller one at Stitches West this year, and the larger one from an LYS. The interesting thing about these pins is that they were originally marketed as hair ornaments, and you can buy them online here. The interesting about them is that they are flexible, and they have no sharp points. The bars are curved and stay attached to the ornamental figure 8. I found that with the larger one, it's best to actually bend the figure 8 a bit or else the bar tends to separate.

FO: Long kimono vest

2009-11-30T22:41:00.001-08:00

This is the long kimono vest. I used 4 skeins of Malabrigo merino worsted, one of my favorite worsted weight yarns. Mine is shorter than the pattern's version -- it's about 29 inches from shoulders to hem. I chose this vest because I really liked the stitch pattern, and I wanted to make something that I could wear over leggings. I wanted a garment that was more or less age-appropriate, because even though I love leggings, I'm almost as old as dirt, and I did not want to look ridiculous. I'm very happy with the result.

The pattern is basically knitting 3 large swatches and sewing them together. I did add some 2x2 ribbing to the bottom, and I knitted a shawl collar. My shawl collar starts out as 2x2 ribbing, then changes to 3x3 ribbing, and then it's knitted with needles one size higher for the 1" depth of short row shaping around the neck. It sits nicely flat on my shoulders and back. I added an infinitesimal amount of waist shaping by using smaller needles for a 5" middle section.

On a styling note, I did try wearing this with a wide stretchy belt, but I think I looked like an elf, even without the elf shoes and hat!

A WIP and some yarn

2009-11-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on this long kimono vest, a free pattern. Mine won't be quite as long as pattern's version, but it is long. I chose this because I really like the stitch pattern. It's semi-open so my vest won't be too warm, and it's easy do. Also, the pattern shows up even with this dark Malabrigo worsted yarn I'm using. The color is a dark blue-black that looks great in sunlight because these overtones of blues and greens appear. In dim light, it looks like the color of squid ink. With a flash, as shown here, it looks like a medium gray. I'll have to be sure I show the FO in sunlight. I added a ribbing on the bottom, and I'll do more of a shawl collar. The vest in the photo doesn't look very trendy, but I've seen lots of long vests in the shops lately. I figure I can wear it over leggings if I want to be au courant this winter.

On the subject of Malabrigo worsted, I recently bought 5 skeins of this cognac color. I purchased the yarn on a recent trip to the Lake Tahoe area at the Lake Tahoe Yarn Company. I also bought 5 skeins of dark grey Shepherd's Wool, which is the store's best selling yarn.

Yarn bombing update: He's stylin'!

2009-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

I did my little yarn bombing thing on Thursday night, Nov. 12, and I was pleased to notice today that not only is my statue still wearing his yarny goodness, but he's been re-styled! Someone else has styled him to look like a cool snow-boarding dude.

Yarn bombing

2009-11-14T17:22:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've become mildly fascinated with the yarn bombing concept. I've even purchased this book, Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit and Crochet Graffiti, which has photos of some great fiber art. The authors' website is www.yarnbombing.com I decided it was time for me to try a little yarn bombing myself, what with the holidays coming up and everything. So, I decided that this statue in our little town center clearly needed some holiday cheer.

I did this at night, and The Other Half helped with the photography and driving the getaway car. The next morning, I went back to take a daylight photo, and I was ever so pleased that no one had removed it. Doesn't he look nice with his cowl? (or is it called an infinity scarf?)

The Other Half has decided that my pseudonym should be "Yarnabomber". I'm not sure I like that name.

A sewing FO

2009-10-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

I used to do a lot of sewing years ago, but I don't do it that often anymore. Once in a while a random neuron fires and triggers the urge to sew something. Recently, I came into possession of an interesting piece of embroidered fabric. It came from someone's estate and has an aged vintage-y look to it, but I don't think it's really that old because the fabric feels like polyester. It looked perfect for one of these trendy loose-fitting blouses, so I put the sewing machine into action. This is McCall's M5885, sans the front ruffles. This pattern is a very loose-fitting top. I cut to size 10 for the top section, but narrowed the bottom to the size 6 width. I also shaped it a little more on the sides and added a couple of long darts in the back. I could have probably cut the top parts to the size 6 and it would have been fine. I'm quite pleased with the result.

The pattern is really simple -- it's the embroidery on the fabric that makes this top interesting.

FO: Felting Experiment #3: Peace out, man

2009-10-29T20:57:00.001-07:00

First off, thanks for all nice compliments about my Flourish Vest. I think that pattern would look great on a lot people, and it would be easy to do small size adjustments since most of it is in reverse stockinette.

This is my third felting experiment. It's actually more of an experiment with intarsia and felting. I really like those small gift-bag shaped bags that you get from a lot of retail establishments. I use them often to carry a lunch or other small items for transport. I decided to make a similarly shaped tote bag that is a tribute to the sixties. You know, peace, summer of love, Woodstock, flower power, whatever. There are probably some people who believe the sixties never ended. This bag here, it's my attempt at keepin' the dream alive. Here's one side, with the peace symbol.

And on the other is my attempt at flower power. I think it would have been better if I used a different color for the center of the flower, but by then I was sort of tired of this intarsia thing.

I knitted this with Cascade 220, using two strands, and size 10 needles and size K crochet hook. I used about 3.25 skeins for the main color. Before starting, I knitted an 8"X8" square and did the whole wash-wash-dry-wash-dry cycles to get the final dimensions for gauge determination. The bag is knitted as a long rectangle, then the sides are knitted as smaller rectangles and attached with single crochet. The handles are done with half-double crochet.

Here are a few things I learned from this experiment:
- It's hard to get a good smooth stitch pattern when the gauge is large. As The Other Half said to me: "You don't have enough pixels"
- It's really important to keep yarn held on the underside during color changes very loose with a good amount of excess because the washing and drying will shrink this yarn and pull the pattern too tight if there isn't enough spare length
- I really don't have enough patience to do multi-colored knitting, especially if the yarn has to be held doubled.

FO: Flourish Vest

2009-10-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

I love this Flourish Vest from Knitscene Fall 2009. The yarn is Cascade Greenland, a superwash merino yarn. I think it's a great pattern and I'm surprised there are so few ravelry knitters interested in it. I knit the smallest size, but my gauge is looser at 17 stitches/4". My row gauge is also bigger, so I eliminated one of the smallest cable patterns (18 rows) to compensate for the extra length. I adjusted the placement of my waist decreases and increases accordingly. I used needles 3 sizes smaller for the front bands to achieve a tight button band and I used 5 instead of 4 buttons. Both of these things were done to prevent the dreaded button band gaposis.

I used 3-needle bind off on the shoulders, as I usually do. I had to do decreases on the last row of the front shoulders because the pattern is written to have more stitches on the front shoulders than on the back.

I really liked knitting with this yarn. 100 grams gets you only 137 yards, so it's not one of these light and lofty yarns. It feels very sturdy and really springy. My vest wears like a garment that contains lycra, which is actually a good thing because it results in a really good fit. The yarn is so springy that the ribbing bounces back to its unstretched state even after lots of steaming.

WIPs and giant fuyus

2009-10-22T20:07:00.001-07:00

It's time for an update about my works in progress (WIPs). I'm almost done with my Flourish Vest from Knitcene Fall 2009. All I've got left are the two armhole bands. It fits wonderfully so I'm very pleased with it. I eliminated one of the smallest cable repeats at the top.

I'm also working on this faux quilted vest as a Christmas gift for my mother. It's not yet Halloween, but I figure I'd better work on it now so that I won't stress about it later. This is actually a very simple and quick knit. I'll be knitting a front button band instead of installing a zipper. The stitch pattern looks nicer than I thought it would. It really does have a nice "quilted" look.

One of my favorite things about fall is the arrival of the fuyu persimmons at the fruit stands. Even better than that -- I can harvest my crop from my own giant fuyu persimmon tree. (The "giant" refers to the fruit variety, not the tree size.) Woohoo!

Slinky ribs FO

2009-10-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

It seems like this sweater took a long time, but I'm finally done! This is Slinky Ribs from Custom Knits. My yarn is the recommended Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool.
I ditched my original idea of wearing it as reverse stockinette -- it looked good that way laying on a flat surface but not as good when worn.
I changed the lower ribbing pattern because I thought the V formation might provide a more slimming illusion for my mid-section. I used garter stitch for the bottom rows to prevent rolling. My neckline is done with purl stitches to roll inward. I did not bother with buttonholes -- I just sewed the buttons through all layers. I raised the neckline by almost 2 inches.
I really like the style and fit of this pullover. The biggest disappointment is that I'm stuck wearing a t-shirt under it because this yarn is just too scratchy. I raised the neckline just so that I could wear it standalone, but it's not going to happen. As a skein, the yarn felt okay against my skin. Oh well -- I'm hoping the short sleeves will prevent it from being too warm with the T-shirt underneath.

On the matter of the sleeves, I did not pick up stitches and knit from the armhole. I knit standard set-in sleeves and sewed them on. I'm not fond of the "afterhtought sleeves" technique in the book. I think that picking up stitches will result in sleeves that are too wide because you end up having to pick up enough stitches to cover the armhole. If you look at the schematic for this sweater's smallest size, the short sleeve circumference is 13.75", which is about 2" wider than I like for pullover sleeves. For the Lettuce Coat, I did pick up stitches for the sleeves but the pattern calls for smaller needles to keep the width smaller. The stitches at the top of the arm look a little stretched as a result.

Throbulating

2009-10-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

I bought a new knitting book today, and I love it! The book is Reversible Knitting by Lynne Barr, and it is chock full of really unique knitting stitches and some very cool patterns. Even if I don't knit the designs, they provide plenty of good ideas.

I'm throbulating over this dress pattern. This could look really fabulous, or really really bad. I could wear this with leggings, and I love leggings. The problem is, it would take a lot of knitting for me to find out if it's really good or bad. Plus, once leggings go out of style next season, I'm stuck with a too-short dress or a too-long top. I'm thinking of trying it anyway.

Home improvement goddess and WIPs

2009-09-28T21:46:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the nice comments about my green leafy cardigan. As for trying to write up and publish a pattern, that's just too much work to think about. Actually, writing a pattern just for my size wouldn't be so bad, but trying to figure it out for all the sizes, now that's way too much work!

I have to brag about being such a home improvement goddess this last weekend because I got so much done around the home front. First off, I sewed three throw pillow covers -- the two celadon leafy ones for the living room and the embroidered fabric one for the family room.

I also took down most of an overgrown aging potato vine that was collapsing the arch that used to support it.

It used to look like this:

For my biggest feat, I removed the old rotting mailbox post and installed a new post along with a brand spanking new mailbox.

To top off all this domestic goddess-ness, I baked cookies this evening.

I had to reward myself with some knitting after all that hard work. I'm close to finishing the body of Slinky Ribs from Custom Knits. I'm showing it on the reverse stockinette side because I intend to finish it and wear it that way. (I like the way it looks inside out). I changed the bottom rib section a little bit.

Finally, I cast on for the Flourish Vest from Knitscene Fall 2009. My yarn is Cascade Greenland. I'm going to shorten it a little bit by removing one of the smallest cable patterns. My gauge is a little looser, so it will be a little wider than the smallest size, which is what I want.

Green Leafy FO

2009-09-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

This is a self-designed cardigan. The yarn is Plymouth Royal Silk Merino. The gauge is 19 stitches/4". I used about 900 yards.
I guess I'm calling it "green leafy" after reading your nice comments from the last entry. It's a standard construction cardi, knit in the round and split at the armholes. The sleeves are knit flat and sewn. I would have preferred to knit the body in flat pieces also, but I was afraid my seam would not look that great at the folded hem and the tuck stripe. I wasn't that picky about the sleeve underside seam, as it's not very visible. Those seams turned out fine after all, so I could have knit the body as pieces.

Here's a summary of the sweater's main features:
- The sleeve and bottom hems are narrow 6-row folded hem, begun with a provisional cast-on.
- A 5-stitch attached I-cord is used to finish the front and neck.
- A tuck strip done by picking purl bumps from five rows below separates the top and bottom sections and also delineates the "cuff".
- The leaf pattern is called a pea pod eyelet pattern in my Super Stitches Knitting book.
- I included some short rows in the front bust section so that the tuck stripe stays level from front to back.
- I found a cute duck button for it.
- It is sized at about zero ease for the body and a little positive ease for the sleeves.

The technical tip that I learned from knitting this is that narrow folded hems and tuck stripes require a smaller needle size to prevent flaring because those stitches tend to stretch and widen the gauge a bit.

Contest Winner and WIPs

2009-09-10T21:12:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for entering my giveaway contest! I was surprised at how many people dropped by to my little nook in the blogosphere to say hi. I eliminated the non-entry comments, then used random.org to pick a number. Without further ado, the winner is ... (drum roll please)...|chee-uh| from |muhng-keez| |luhv| |yahrn|! Thanks for visiting my blog, and enjoy the yarn and the knitting book!

Now, onto my latest knitting projects. I've been working on Slinky Ribs from Custom Knits. (ravelry link) Mine will be a variation of slinky ribs. First off, I've made the front neckline a little higher so that I will be able to wear it without a layering piece underneath. Then, I decided that I will finish this as a reverse-stockinette sweater. This yarn looks good on the purl side, and the knit stitches on the lower pattern section would stand out. Finally, I'll be changing the bottom rib pattern a little bit.

Secondly, I'm almost finished with my self-designed one-button cardigan. The bottom is a narrow rolled hem done with a provisional cast-on. The accent below the bust line is a tuck stripe. The front and neckline edges are finished with an attached I-cord. Sleeves are 3/4 (or more like 5/6) length. This is going to be one of my favorite cardigans, I think.

It's a giveaway contest!

2009-09-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hi there bloggy friends! I've decided it's time to have a giveaway. I've never done one before because I figured that the number of entrants would be in the single-digit range, and that would be just too embarrassing. I might be able to hit the two digit range by now.
I've purchased quite a bit of new yarn lately, and the leftover skeins from prior projects are taking up space in the yarn bureau. These are all yarns that I've used for garments that I still wear. I think there's enough of each for a simple accessory.
Here's the prize haul:
-- 2 balls plus a little extra of magenta Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran, which I used to make the Lush and Lacy cardigan.
-- 3 balls of butter yellow Debbie Bliss cashmerino dk, which I used to make my self-designed pullover.
-- 2 skeins of powder blue Tahki Yarns Sierra, used to make Nadine.
-- 2 balls of Gerifil Spaghetti, used to make this skirt. I think this yarn has long been discontinued, but it would be great for making a market bag.
-- 1 skein plus some extra of elsebeth lavold silky tweed, used to knit this top. The remainder would make a nice airy scarf. I would knit one myself except that I don't wear scarves.
-- The Simple Style book by Ann Budd. This book has a lot of nice patterns, but I will admit that they don't quite appeal to me. They may appeal to many of you other knitters out there.

I guess this is a de-stashing and de-lurking contest. All you have to do to enter is just leave a comment and say hi, or anything else, as long as it's nice! Please note that I cannot respond via email to most comments, so make sure that you leave some trace of how I can find you. A ravelry id will do. If I can navigate to your blog via your comment, that will work also. If all else fails, you can leave an email address.

If you want to say hi, but not enter the contest, just let me know.

I'll close the contest at midnight Pacific Daylight Time, Friday September 11.

Yarn crawl

2009-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a short vacation to the northern California wine country and San Francisco, and of course I had to check out some yarn shops. My first stop was at Knitterly in Petaluma. This shop has a really cute store front and a lot of unique yarns. I also like that vibe of lots-of-yarn-everywhere look.

I purchased some more Knit One Crochet Too 2nd Time cotton there.
Next up was Sonoma Yarn in Sonoma. This is a relatively small shop, located away from the main shopping area. The staff does include Frances Purl, the dog. I did not find any yarn to buy, but I did get some long straight Bryspun flexible size 3 needles, which are also known for their sharp points.

In Napa, I visited Yarns on First. This shop has a modern look with great lighting, and all the yarns are organized by color. The owner is friendly and the front of the shop has a table where friendly knitters were doing their thing. The wall shelves do go quite a ways up in height. I purchased some Berroco Lustra there.

My last yarn shop stop was at the ever-so-fun Imagiknit in San Francisco, where I purchased some Plymouth Fantasy Linen.

FO: Felting experiment #2

2009-08-19T22:47:00.001-07:00

After using the big felted bag for a while, I decided I really liked it. I wanted to try another felting project, but making something smaller. Between knitseashore talking about felted bags and Mr. Puffy talking about beading, I got inspired to try making a beaded felted small bag. This is what I would call a "casual dressy bag", whatever that means.

I really love the end result. I used some Cascade 220 sitting around in my stash, knitting with 2 strands, using an improvised pattern. I had to fuss with the bead placement and the decrease rate on the flap to get it just so. The beads were purchased from Global Beads, Inc., a local bead shop. They were only a dime a piece. The bag came out nicely dense and shrank a goodly amount in the wash cycles. I was a bit surprised that it did not fuzz up as much as I thought it would. It's mainly air dried. I did not want to risk using the dryer and having the beads bang against the walls. I stuffed a wash cloth into it while drying to shape it a bit.
It's large enough to hold a small wallet, phone, and a few other essentials. After all, what more does a girl need when attending some fancy soiree.

WIPs

2009-08-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is one of my current works in progress. It is from an improvised pattern. I decided it was once again time to do something on my own. The yarn is Plymouth royal silk merino. It's going to be a simple single-button cardigan, where the button will sit below the bust line. This is the bottom section, which has a narrow folded hem and a simple pea pod eyelet pattern. This is my favorite type of stitch pattern -- I don't need charts or cable needles, it's simple, and I can fix errors one or two rows further on. I guess I'll just leave it at that and post a couple of other pics as I move along.

I also cast on for slinky ribs (ravelry link) from Custom Knits. There's not much to show there since I only have 3/4" done.