Dove Knits

My daughter is here

2009-06-26T08:08:00.001-07:00

Natalia Genevieve arrived on June 11th at 4:34am, weighing 7lb 2oz.

She is the world's mellowest baby (not to mention prettiest!), and I'm pleased to report that she's already gained a pound on top of her birth weight in the two weeks of being with us.

The other stash

2009-05-19T12:48:00.001-07:00

That's right. NOT the yarn stash (which is slowly dwindling, as I haven't allowed myself to buy new yarn since *gulp* December!).

The diaper stash. This is what's been consuming most of my time and energy! I'm a horrible person, and the reason I wanted to use cloth diapers is that I wanted to try making them. (For that matter, that's also why we have cloth napkins, and had my husband not gone out and bought grocery bags, we'd have handmade ones of those, too.)

I've been at it for months, finding, washing, and ironing fabric, sifting through patterns, cutting, sewing...and last week, I finally finished!

Presenting, my diaper stash!

These are all pocket-style diapers, made of just two layers. The outside layer is flannel, and the inside is either suedecloth or old t-shirt. I used two different patterns, and made 24 Mama Bird's diapers (size Medium) and 12 RRPs (one-size).

They're stuffed with these, which are layers of terry or microfiber towels sewn inside a flannel casing.

Having pocket diapers is probably going to be a pain, but since the stuffers are sewn like that, I can easily lay them inside the diaper for faster changes, rather than stuffing them in the pockets. Also, this means that when Gnarly gets too big for these diapers, I only need to make the shells -- the stuffers are already done! Plus, we're using prefolds for the newborn period, and those make great stuffers, as well.

Of course, these need covers, so I sewed some (from the Chloe Toes pattern):

...and I knit some (Curly Purlies, Fern and Faerie, and a Warm Heart Woolies wrap):

I also made some cloth wipes (because I might as well use cloth wipes, plus I had scraps):

And a diaper stacker for the diapers to live in:

I recycled as much as I could, cutting up old t-shirts, flannel sheets and pajamas, and towels. I used flannel remnants from other sewing projects, too, and tried to use up the scraps for stuffers or wipes.

Watch her not fit any one of these. Just watch.

Pardon our dust

2009-05-08T07:53:00.001-07:00

If you've scrolled through my blog recently, you probably found a whole bunch of broken picture links. This is because, in a fit of misdirected nesting, I moved all my photos around in Photobucket. One of these days, I'll get around to fixing them.

Anyway, apparently being pregnant does not agree with either knitting or blogging for me. I haven't knit as much as I normally do (you know, my frantic several-pieces-a-week pace), but, more unfortunately, I just haven't cared to blog about the stuff I have made, either. So here is a feeble attempt to rectify that, because, by golly, I HAVE been knitting some, and the world needs to know!

This is the first sweater I knit for my daughter. I know, it's totally not girly. I started it before knowing whether Gnarly would be a boy or girl. Plus, for handmade stuff, I'd rather stick to more gender-neutral things, since I'd really like to pass them down to my next kids.

Anyway, the pattern is from Continuous Cables, which I cover badly. Such beautiful motifs! Oh, I just swoon. The yarn is, of course, Paton's. I actually whittled that stash down pretty well with my baby knitting, as I'll show soon.

This was a nice and quick knit, since most of it is just reverse stockinette. I omitted the bobbled border, because, well, I didn't like it.

It'll be a while before this fits her -- I think it's a 12-month size. I figure it'll be fine her first winter, though, when worn over clothes.

By the way, I'm 33 weeks today. So hard to believe that in as little as 5 weeks (and hopefully not less!) I'll have a gorgeous little model for my knits!

And now back to your regular knitting content

2009-02-10T06:42:00.001-08:00

Now that I finally feel well enough to knit, I can't stop!

I've made many things, actually, though some need some sewing to be complete, and will post those soon. But first, something I've been meaning to knit ever since I first saw it: Knitty's Sheldon!

I mean, he's just so cute. A turtle! With a big head and a removable shell! Squee! But I never got around to knitting him until now, for a friend's daughter's birthday. My friend loves turtles, so I thought this would be perfect.

And he did not disappoint:

I even followed the directions, and used the yarn called for: Knitpicks Shine Sport.

And here's the famous removable shell, removed!

It's a...

2009-02-06T08:47:00.001-08:00

GIRL!!!

A perfectly healthy, beautiful, active little girl! We're thrilled, not least because I really wanted to make the Viking hat with braids!

So you're wondering who the winner is, I bet! To decide that, I made a list of all the comments in sequential order in Word. Then I removed everyone who guess boy (sorry!), which gave me a list of 36 sequential names. I then went to the random number generator and it picked #28, who, according to my list, was Cronnity Lady!

Congrats, Cronnity!

Those of you who picked boy -- don't feel bad. I was CONVINCED it was a boy, myself!

Guess and win!

2009-01-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I've been AWOL. Hopefully this will make you judge me less harshly!

We've set the date for our ultrasound for February 5th, 2 weeks from today. At this ultrasound, we will hopefully see a healthy baby, and find out the sex.

So place your guesses here! Am I having a boy or a girl? Will I need to knit the viking hat with braids or without? (And believe me, I'll be knitting one of them!)

PLEASE GUESS BY FEBRUARY 4TH!

I will choose a random winner from amongst those who guessed correctly. Winner will be announced on the 6th (hopefully), and will receive a $20 Amazon.com gift card (new knitting books, anyone?).

In the case that the baby's shy, I'll just pick a random winner from amongst everyone who enters with a guess!

Important EDIT: Please, please, please leave me some sort of way of contacting you. A blog where I can comment, an email, a Ravelry ID, something. I won't spend valuable knitting time tracking you down, sorry!

Piece of cake!

2008-12-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

I occasionally dabble at baking. Usually I make cookies, and, not to brag, but they come out quite tasty. I make quick breads, too, like banana bread, and every now and then I make candy, like toffee.

But I've only ever made a couple of cakes, and some of those times were from a mix, frosted with store bought frosting. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm a from-scratch kinda girl. I like things coming out of my kitchen to be not from cans. I think it tastes way better, and I'm way more proud of it, too.

So I volunteered to bake my husband's birthday cake this year. His favorite is black forest cake, so that's what I went with (recipe here, but I left out kirsch).

And I think it came out quite well!

So the rosettes are a bit uneven, so what?

And it was delicious. Sadly, the layers shifted around during transport (the party was at his grandparents' house), but I was able to fix it cosmetically. It did, however, squeeze out the cherry filling alot, so it was more just chocolate cake (not that that's a problem). Next time I won't use whipped cream between layers and just put the cherries.

Recipe notes, if you want to try it:

-The cake is very stiff and dense, like a brownie (tastes like a brownie, too). It does not rise. I ended up making two cakes to get 4 layers. Thankfully, the density of the cake makes it very easy to work with for layering.

-The cherry filling is awesome, and would work for pie or tarts or what have you, as well. It's nice and tangy!

-The chocolate whipped cream is divine. Lightly sweet, with more of a chocolate essence than full-out whammo chocolate flavor.

-Again, I left out kirsch. I added a bit of cherry extract to stuff, instead.

Another niece sweater

2008-12-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

Since I have two nieces, I couldn't very well just make one sweater!

This one is completely different. It's a seamless bottom-up raglan with a split neck to go over big baby noggins. The cable pattern is "Balanced Rings" from Barbara Walker's 3rd Treasury, which I finally own (squee!).

The yarn, is, of course, Paton's Classic Merino, from my seemingly never-ending reserves of it.

In baby news, I'm at 11 weeks! I'm showing a little bit, and still feeling crummy -- crummy enough not to knit, in fact. Not that I'm too sick to, but I'm just sick and tired enough not to want to. So I've put just about all my Christmas knitting on hold and am buying gifts instead.

Secret knits? Pop Knits!

2008-11-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Pop Knits winter issue came out today.

And I'm in it!

Tiny sweater, but not for me yet

2008-11-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks, everyone, for the congratulations! Naturally, Mr. Pizza Cutter (my husband), and I are very excited about having our first baby. I'm excited not least because now I have more excuse to knit baby stuff!

I'm only 7 weeks along so far, so we still have a long ways to go. I'm also in the midst of that early pregnancy yuckiness -- nothing too bad, but I do feel queasy often, and I'm tired all the time. Oh, and the food aversions are fun. Gnarly the Bellydweller decided that we're still vegetarian and refuses to eat meat. Or even think of meat. Gnarly is now trying to do the same thing with cheese. I'm putting my food down on this one. I happen to love cheese.

Thankfully, Gnarly does enjoy knitting, and I tend to feel beter when I'm knitting. Which is good, because I got the annual phone call from my mom, wherein she yells at me for not making more sweaters for my nieces.

I had no choice.

This sweater is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage sweater, with a round yoke embellished with a stitch called Flower Garden from Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury. For the yarn, I used Elann's Pure Alpaca that I won from Natalie of Keeping Me in Stitches a while back. Size 4 needles seemed to yield nice fabric, so that's what I went with.

The soft, buttery yarn, the cardigan styling, and the soft color all produced a very vintage-looking cardigan that I hope one of my nieces likes.

I think that Natalie would be proud of me for recycling these mother-of-pearl buttons off an old blouse. Don't they complete the vintagey feel?

Hand knitting is for wimps

2008-10-21T08:56:00.001-07:00

From now on, I knit with my WOMB!

I'm baaaaack

2008-10-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

Didja miss me?

I'm really looking forward to reading all your blogs and catching up! It felt good not to worry about blogging, and today I actually wanted to post, so I'll take that as a good sign, no?

Anyway, despite knitting as much as my somewhat limited time allows lately, I only have two finished projects to show you. I had a really bad case of startitis, and have about 6 different things in various stages of doneness right now, but besides these, everything else is either in rather unexciting progress or secret.

Anyway, if you've followed this blog for a while, you may remember that my husband and I taught Sunday school in Chicago. We got really close to all the kids, and it was so hard to leave them. Right before we left, the two oldest girls asked me to knit them toys.

One asked specifically for a teddy bear, and I knew just the one: Teddy in night shirt and cap from Debbie Bliss's Knitted Teddy Bears:

Of course, he's made in Simply Soft. The shirt was a PAIN. So many ends to weave in on such a tiny little thing! Also, I was too lazy to hunt for my size 2 DPNs, so I knit the sucker flat instead of in the round. It was a good experience, as it reminded me EXACTLY why I changed away from that! Never again am I knitting toys flat when I don't have to!

The other girl just asked for "something cute," so I made her the rabbit from Fiona McTague's Knitted Toys:

Somehow he turned out with massive arms, so he looks like a blacksmith. Brute the Blacksmith Bunny is his name.

Both are currently stuffed into a box sailing towards Chicago, since the two little girls are having birthdays! I hope they like their gifts.

I guess I'll make it official...

2008-08-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

I think I'm going to take a little break from the blog. I'll still be knitting, and I will try to get back into reading y'all's awesome blogs, but I am starting to feel so stressed out about the blogging part of it that I think I'll just make it official and call a little break for myself.

I'll be back in a few weeks.

Uninspired

2008-08-13T07:24:00.001-07:00

Hi, everyone. Remember me?

No, I'm not dead. In fact, I'm not even not knitting. I'm not knitting tons, but enough.

I'm just uninspired to blog. You know, there are many knitters who know what to talk about in their blogs, and it's fascinating to read. A technique, a fun yarn, heck, a funny thing that happened in their day, all become blog-worthy material.

Me? I've never been good with words, and prefer the show part of show-and-tell. Showing off a finished project? That I can do. But otherwise? I'm at a loss. Besides, "Ooo, look, the yarn is pretty, and I have 5 inches done," I don't know what to say about a WIP. And FOs, those I don't got right now.

So, since I have nothing to say, and no FOs, I will leave you with a picture of some stuff I won a while back:

Two very generous hanks of sock yarn (the green stuff is enough for TWO pairs of socks!) hand-dyed by Angelia:

And pretty stitch markers and a sock-blocker keychain:

Ironically for someone bad with words, I won these as a second-place prize in a bad fiction contest on Ravelry. The task was to write an introductory sentence of bad fiction, very much like the Bulwer-Lytton contest. Here is my entry:

It was only after extensive cleaning of the bathroom mirror – with much rubbing; half a bottle of Windex and a full bottle of whiskey (one used for cleaning and one to bolster the spirit, though soon after the first shot, their destinies became far less certain); destruction of a small rainforest’s worth of paper towels; amounts of spit and breath-fog that rivaled that recently defunct little rainforest’s annual precipitation in quantity; and tennis elbow as searingly painful as that endured by the poor creature destined to groom Cousin It; efforts unaided in the least by the continuous treachery of the toothbrush, which kept leaping desperately off its uneasy resting place by the sink into the finger-thick layer of kitten-soft dust behind the toilet, which may, at one time, have indeed been a kitten and where, perhaps, the cleaning efforts would have been better directed – and followed by an equally thorough, if less effective, scouring of her eyeglasses, that Doris decided that maybe it was not the mirror or the glasses, but the anti-aging face cream that wasn’t working.

I'm alive, really

2008-07-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I dropped off the face of the earth for a bit there, huh? I guess moving will do that. Were all moved, unpacked, and settled in Cleveland, and I've started my new job, so all's going well. I haven't knit a thing in three weeks until today. Really. Not a stitch.

Good thing I have enough crafty material from the past, huh?

So today I'm showing off a sort-of ensemble I made for my friend S's little daughter. First off, a dress from the same pattern as the toddler dress in my last post:

And secondly, a sweater made in Plymouth Fantasy Naturale (which I won!) from their free pattern:

Not alot to day except that they're all yellow, and the dress was my first time trimming something with ribbon with any degree of success. I'm not a fan of that pattern, though. It's hard to make it neat.

Sweet little dresses

2008-06-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

It happens every summer. Along with mosquitoes, butterflies, and lightning bugs, out comes the sewing bug. And it has bitten me, and bitten me hard.

I know I've already said this before, but sewing and I? We don't get along. I love it. It hates me. It should hate me, because, despite my love for it, I do not take my careful time with it. But still.

Anyway, you know how alot of people will knit a baby sweater to try their hand at garment knitting? Well, for some reason, it never occurred to me that I should sew little kid clothes, to get more practice while using less fabric and lighter, more manageable pieces. But it finally dawned on me as I was browsing Joann's the other day, and, armed with a little girls' dress pattern, I drove home and set to work.

My first attempt (using New Look pattern # 6688), was far from perfect. The inside edges were raggedy, the zipper (my first time installing a zipper, btw) was a bit off, but -- and herein lies the beauty of baby clothes -- the dress still turned out adorable. And it only took two evenings from cutting out the pattern to completion!

When making this dress, I had our good friends who recently moved to Hawaii in mind. I used vintage Russian fabric that my mom bought some 20 years ago. It's too loud to use for adult garments, but for a bright little girl who lives in Hawaii, it was perfect. So here is N (20 months) wearing her new dress:

(I used ribbon for the shoulder straps, without lining them with fabric. This way, they're completely adjustable.)

Of course, if I make a dress for N, I have to make one for her big sister, A (almost 7). A and I are buds. We go way back. So I thought that for her dress, I would use the same fabric that I used for my own dress. It helps that the fabric is purple! I used New Look pattern #6821, and this pattern went much better. I slowed down and took my time, and I'm actually quite proud of the way this turned out. I even learned to make tucks! And the zipper looks much better, though the thread I used to put it in shows very clearly on the inside lining. But hey, it's the inside lining, right?

The dress:

I'm happy to report that the parents love both dresses, and A loves it, too:

(I forgot to say that the amazing pictures of A and N are by Kwong Photography, a talented Chicago artist. If you are in the area and interested in using them, email kwongphotography at gmail dot com.)

Dr. Dove!

2008-06-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

(Dr. and Mr. Dove.)

See? The big purple robes and funny black hat proove it. I'm a doctor! You can't really see the PhD hood, but it's there!

Summer goals

2008-06-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ugh, moving. I'm not a fan right now. My house is half-packed and half-messy, and the half-packed part makes it difficult to correct the messy part. That's really the part that gets me the most about moving -- having all those boxes everywhere, unable to get at stuff easily and having that quiet chaos in the house.

But, in two weeks, it'll all be over, and we're right on schedule, so it's all good. Except that someone broke into our house on Friday and took my laptop. Thankfully, that was the only theft of any consequence, but darnit, I'm mad.

Anyway, in happier news, Ali over at skeinsherway is having a Summer goals contest that y'all should check out.

Here are my goals:

1. Finish the Lover's Knot afghan for my in-laws.

2. Finally make the Mystic Waters shawl.

3. Make a pair of socks. I have all this sock yarn, and haven't made a pair in ages.

4. Finish one of my UFOs -- mystery stole, or Lucky, or something.

5. Write up and self-publish the pattern for the red sweater seen here.

6. Finish sewing the dress I'm making for my friend S's little girl (oh yeah! I've been sewing! More about that soon.)

7. Finish sewing the skirt I started for myself last winter.

And as for my real-life goals (which I'm thankfully better at completing than my crafting goals):

1. Graduate on Friday

2. Pack up the house

3. Move

4. Unpack the house

5. Go on a long-awaited vacation with my husband!

6. Start new job mid-July.

7. Explore yarn stores in Cleveland.

How about you?

Not mohair! Yay!

2008-06-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's because this is not fuzzy and teal, but this is my favorite FO of the last few:

It's the Alexa cap sleeve cardigan by Debbie Bliss, available free here. My mom got me this 80% wool/20% acrylic blend yarn (Filati Fantasia Favorit) in Russia, and she got me seven balls of it. Not enough for a full-out sweater, but the perfect amount for this little number: I had just half a skein left over!

And this concludes the long string of recent FOs for now. And considering that I'm moving in 20 days, I should keep it that way!

The last of it

2008-06-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

My last teal mohair creation, the Flower Power shrug (pattern in PDF here):

I omitted the beads, but otherwise followed directions to a T.

And the front, complete with my ugly mug I'm sure y'all are sick of by now:

You know how I told you the mohair multiplies? Well, after I finished this project, I was sure I had only one skein left. Then I went to the yarn box, and AGH! there's a second one!

(I've since mailed them to someone on Ravelry. Let her suffer.)

Portland pullover

2008-06-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

Ever since I saw the Portland Pullover in the 2006 fall issue of IK, I knew I had to make it in my mohair. So, two years later, I finally did:

I really like this, a loosely knit fuzzy sweater shaped by gradually decreasing needle sizes (from 15 to 13 to 10.5). A very simple, mindless knit, round and round and round in stockinette -- perfect for a brain-dead grad student. I don't think I made a single alteration to the pattern, either, which is a bit unusual for me.

And it's warm and fuzzy, too! So what if it makes me look 30 lb heavier?

Another Fitted Knit

2008-05-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Again with the Fitted Knits, and again with destashing the yarn that my mom keeps sending me. Presenting the Bold-and-Bulky mini cardigan:

Made in (thrifted) bulky yarn (Lion Brand Chunky USA) on size 11 needles, this baby was finished in two days flat.

And check out these buttons:

The first in a long string of FOs

2008-05-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much done at my current job. I have stuff I should do, but am done with things I MUST do, so I've been slacking. Alot. I've been going into work for only about 2-4 hours every day.

The rest of the time, I've been knitting, knitting, knitting! And it's been all for me, and I've really enjoyed it, and now I have five FOs and a WIP to share with you.

But.

First, I've been really into mindless knits lately. I'm just too tired to really think about patterns. Secondly, I've sent most of my yarn over to Cleveland, so that we have one less thing to move during the actual move. And since I've been determined to knit from stash, my yarn choice has been limited. And for some reason, one of the things I've kept with me was a mohair blend yarn, Riviera Vichy. You may remember it from the Cold Shoulder capelet that I made a year ago. Well, I had a tub full of this yarn. I originally thought that I only had 16 skeins of it (only). As it turned out, I had more like 22, because I knit one sweater (7 skeins gone), then another (6 more), and then another (6 skeins more), and I still have two skeins left over! I swear, this yarn has been procreating!

So anyway, alot of my FOs have been made in that same yarn. Which is a little embarrassing, because who in the world needs three teal mohair sweaters, but now I've destashed myself of alot of that yarn, and I like all the FOs, so I don't care too much.

Anyway, here's the first FO:

It's the Airy Wrap-Around from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits. It worked up quickly on size 11 needles, and used something like 7 skiens of the scary yarn that wouldn't go away. I stuck to the pattern, but I tapered the wrapping parts, because they were too thick to knot gracefully otherwise.

Of course, it's not so much "airy" as it is "fuzzy," but I am ok with that.

Also, I think I have a legitimate theory for how this yarn multiplies. My house, see, is now covered with teal fur, as is my friend L's house (whom I visited in one of the sweaters), as is my lab (it's been in the 50s here, so my new sweaters feel good to wear still). My carpet at home literaly turned teal in spots. So I'm pretty sure this yarn replicates by budding. Which sucks, because merely isolating the skeins in little baggies won't stop the spread of the scary yarn.

More teal mohair sweaters to come!

My other blog

2008-05-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

A bunch of other ladies and I are all writing a blog on all kinds of things relevant to us as women. Since we're a pretty diverse bunch, that could mean just about anything. It's been very cool so far, plus, May's topic is hobbies, so I thought you guys might be interested in checking it out.

womenswork.typepad.com

(See if you can figure out which one I am. I think it's pretty obvious.)

Mom's shrug, finally

2008-05-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

My mom asked me to make her a shrug/bolero-type-thingie last summer. Dutifully, I bought the yarn right away. I swatched right away. I ran the swatch by her. She picked a pattern. And that's as far as I got.

Of course, I've been hearing about how she only asked me to knit her this ONE thing and I never finished it, and now I won't finish it before summer ends and she'll never get to wear it and how knitting for my mother should be my first priority.

Well, like the parable of the widow and the unrighteous judge, I got sick of hearing about it, so I put finishing the jacket in my spring goals. On the day that I was leaving for Cleveland for my job interview, I pulled out the swatch, measured, and calculated out the back. Since I spent 14 hours on the bus that weekend, I got the entire back knitted and started on a front, and finished it in short order from there.

Mom got her bolero on Saturday, just in time for Mother's Day. Oddly, she likes it, and not-so-oddly, it fits. What's even more surprising, I loved working on it. It had all the hallmarks of something I'd hate to make: it was for someone else, it was in cotton, it had to suit another person's tastes, and it had to be done on a deadline. But I loved doing it. I couldn't put it down. I even literally wore a cut into my guiding finger because I knit on it for so many hours straight.

And I'm very pleased with the result. It features a straight, slightly cropped silhouette; cut-away fronts with a generous V-neck; 3/4 sleeves; and a scalloped crocheted edging that I'm quite proud of. It was made in Elann Sonata DK mercerized cotton, on size 6 needles.

This was completely done by the seat of my pants. I had the general dimensions of the thing planned, and used the Snowflake Lace motif out of -- you guessed it -- Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury, but that was it. Everything was made up spur-of-the-moment, and generally not well thought-out or pre-planned. I actually took enough notes to replicate the pattern, if I wanted, but the sleeve cap, I never got it right, so it's not getting written.

To the winner go the spoils

2008-05-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

As I've already mentioned recently, I've been entering alot of knitting blog contests lately. It's a fun way to find new blogs, and occasionally I even win something! Today, I figured I'd share my recent winnings with you.

First up, I got a very generous prize from Natalie at Keeping me in Stitches:

That's a generous six skeins of Elann's Pure Alpaca in Celery color. Since Natalie's contest was about making more environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices, she also sweetly sent along a bottle of green Method cleaner...and some chocolate!

Secondly, I won the runner-up prize in the Spring Goals contest at Skeins Her Way:

That's a skein of Blue Sky Dyed Cotton, a set of adorable little notecards, and lots of candy! And check out this presentation: how can you resist the springy green-and-pink color theme?

Finally, I got a whole bunch of yarn from Christy at Hissyknit:

Two skeins of soft and sunny Plymouth Fantasy Naturale, and a skein of Crystal Palace Yarns Maizy corn fiber yarn! Corn fiber! How cool is that?

Now to figure out what to do with all this lovely yarn!

(Erm...the candy's long gone...)

Checklist update

2008-05-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

So. I guess I've been kinda scarce around the blog, huh? I promise I have a good excuse! See, I finished my writted PhD dissertation, submitted it, and defended it today -- all went great. (Yes, that does mean that I am now, unofficially, Dr. Dove!). I also went and interviewed for a post-doc position, and got it, so now I have a job for next year. We're currently looking for a place to live, and I'm frantically finishing up my experiments in lab. Oh, and Holy Week (the week before Easter), we spent alot of time in church.

Of course, all that's great, but it does mean that the blog got a bit neglected, as did my reading of your blogs. However, I have a ton of knitting and yarn-related stuff to share with you, so here's something to start us off:

We Orthodox Christians celebrated our Easter last Sunday (Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!), so I dyed some traditional red eggs, and since it was a shame to waste all that vinegary, deep red dye, I threw in the remainder of my Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool.

Unfortunately, the yarn dyed alot better than the eggs did. Check out that color! It's a very, very deep pink, almost fluorescent and very bright, with some lighter spots for interest. The eggs, on the other hand, turned out leopard-spotted. Oh well -- people ate them anyway.

Free pattern: Green Zebra baby sweater

2008-04-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

I made the prototype for this sweater for my younger niece. I was pressed for time and didn’t have a chance to shop for new yarn, so I dug into my stash and used up leftovers. Of course, I didn’t have enough of any one kind of wool to create a solid-colored sweater, so this stripey creation was born.

The body of the sweater is knit seamlessly in one piece, bottom up, using intarsia to create the knitted-in buttonband. Cutting the yarn for each color change would have produced far too many ends for me to want to weave, so I carried the yarn not in use up the edge of the work, tucking it behind the working yarn. The sleeves are knit on DPNs in the round. The sleeves are then joined to the body and a circular yoke is knitted using the principles established by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Once the knitting is done, you’re almost finished – just the underarm seams to close and a few ends to weave in. Add the buttons, and you’re all done.

Of course, you can make variations of this sweater. Ignore the intarsia and striping and knit it all a solid color. Or knit the body all one color with a contrasting buttonband and collar. Or go crazy and make a solid buttonband with more than two colors of stripes for the body. Do whatever you feel like and have fun!

Copyright: This design is mine, and while you’re welcome to use it to knit from, you may NOT republish it, sell it, or give it to a friend. If someone wants the pattern, send them to this site and they can have it for free. You may not distribute my intarsia and yarn-carrying tutorials, claim them as your own, republish them, give them away, or use them to teach a class without my explicit permission. You may, however, link the pattern and tutorials on your blog and send people to this site.

Please do not sell the sweaters knit from this pattern without contacting me and asking me for permission first.

As always, don’t hesitate to email me if you have questions or problems, or, better yet, to show me the finished sweater!

THE PATTERN:

To fit baby: 3 (6, 12, 18, 24) months old

With chest circumference: 16 (17, 18, 19, 20) inches/ 48 (50, 53, 55, 58)cm

Actual finished garment circumference: 19 (20, 21, 22, 23) inches/ 55 (58, 60, 63, 65) cm

Supplies:
-200 (250, 250, 300, 300) yards of worsted weight yarn in color A
-200 (250, 250, 300, 300) yards of worsted weight yarn in color B
-Size US8/5mm circular needle (you won’t be knitting in the round for this, but a circular needle accommodates the stitches better) or needle needed to achieve gauge
-Set of 4 or 5 size US8/5mm DPNs or needle needed to achieve gauge
-7 (7, 8, 9, 9) buttons, up to ½ inch diameter
-Darning needle
-Scrap yarn or stitch holders

Both sweaters were made using leftover balls of yarn, so I wasn’t sure of the exact yardage I used. Using the yardage guidelines given here, you should have more than enough yarn to complete your project, and you can make a cute matching hat with the leftovers!

Green sample made to fit 18 months, using Swish Superwash Worsted in Dublin (dark green) and Paton’s Classic Merino in Leaf (light green). Blue sample made in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Blue Bonnet (darker blue) and Knitpicks Merino Style in Frost (aqua).

Gauge:
18 stitches and 25.5 rows = 4 inches

Handy links:

My intarsia tutorial

How to carry yarn.

Techknitter's jogless join tutorial

Instructions:

With color A, CO 90 (94, 100, 106, 112).

Work seed stitch bottom band:

Row 1: (k1, p1) to end of row
Row 2: (p1, k1) to end of row
Row 3: k1, p1, yo, p2tog, (k1,p1) to end of row -- buttonhole made
Row 4: as row 2

Begin striping (You will continue to work a buttonhole every 12 (12, 12, 14, 14) rows, as above):

Row 5: With color A, k1, p1, k1, p1. Switch to color B and k to last 4 stitches. Switch to separate ball of color A and k1, p1, k1, p1. Turn

Row 6: With color A, p1, k1, p1, k1. Switch to color B, remembering to twist the strands (see my intarsia instructions here). P to last 4 stitches. Switch to color A, twisting the strands, and p1, k1, p1, k1.

Rows 7, 9, 11: repeat row 5

Rows 8, 10, 12: repeat row 6

Now you will work a stripe of color A while carrying color B along the wrong side of the fabric along the right-side buttonband (see illustration below).

Row 13: with color A, k1, p1, k1, p1, k to last 4 stitches. Switch to the second ball of color A, twisting the strands, and k1, p1, k1, p1.
Row 14: with second ball of color A, k1, p1, k1, p1. Switch to first ball of color A and p to last 4 stitches, then k1, p1, k1, p1
Rows 15, 17, 19: repeat row 13
Rows 16, 18, 20: repeat row 14

Repeat rows 5-12, then 13-20 (carrying color B as before) until the piece measures 7 (8, 8.5, 9, 9.5) inches from cast-on edge. Place all stitches on holder or spare needle and set aside.

Sleeves:

Sleeves are worked on DPNs in the round, with the same striping pattern. Make two sleeves the same way.

CO 34 (36, 38, 40, 42) in color A

Distribute somewhat evenly to 3 DPNs (you’re welcome to use a set of 5 DPNs if you prefer, of course). Join stitches, being careful not to twist.

Round 1 and 3: (k1, p1) to end of round
Round 2 and 4: (p1, k2) to end of round

Switch to color B and knit 8 rounds, carrying color A up the back as you did for the body.
Please refer to Technitter’s excellent jogless join instructions to make the color changes as smooth as possible.

Switch to color A and knit 8 rounds, carrying color B up the back as before.

Continue striping until sleeve measures the same as the body from the CO edge. Make sure you end the sleeves on the same row of the same color stripe as you ended the body.

When finished knitting, place the last 5 (5, 5, 5, 6) stitches and the first 4 (4, 4, 5, 5) stitches of each sleeve onto scrap yarn. Place the rest of the stitches onto spare needles, a holder, or a separate piece of scrap yarn.

Joining the sleeves onto the body:

On the body, with right side facing, work across 20 (21, 23, 23, 25) stitches in pattern as set (remember to work the seed stitch buttonband in the appropriate color). Use the stripe color that comes next in the sequence (e.g., if you’ve just finished all 8 rows of striping in color A, you will use color B to work across the stitches).

Place the next 9 (9, 9, 10, 11) stitches on scrap yarn.

Work across the 25 (27, 29, 30, 31) remaining stitches of the first sleeve.

Work the next 32 (34, 36, 40, 40) stitches across the back.

Place the next 9 (9,9, 10, 11) body stitches onto scrap yarn.

Work across the 25 (27, 29, 30, 21) stitches of the second sleeve and across the 20 (21, 23, 23, 25) remaining stitches of the body.

122 (130, 140, 146, 152) stitches on needles.

The sleeves and body are now joined.

Work in pattern as set for 2.5 (2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.75, 3) inches. Remember to continue twisting your yarns when working intarsia and to knit button holes!

Shaping the yoke:

Next row: k1,p1,k1,p1, (k1, k2tog) to the last 4 (6, 4, 4, 4) stitches, k 0(2, 0, 0, 0), k1, p1, k1, p1. 84 (90, 96, 100, 104) stitches remaining.

Work 6 (6, 8, 8, 10, 10) rows as set.

Next row: k1, p1, k1, p1, k1 (1, 1, 2, 0), (k1, k2tog) to last 4 stitches, k1, p1, k1, p1. 59 (63, 67, 70, 72) stitches remaining.

Work next 6 (6, 8, 8, 10, 10) rows as set

Next row: k1, p1, k1, p1, (k2, k2tog) to last 7 (7, 7, 6, 4) stitches, k3(3, 3, 2, 0), k1, p1, k1, p1. 47 (50, 53, 55, 56) stitches remaining.

Work 1 row as set.

If you are on the 2nd or 6th row of a stripe color, work two more rows in that color before proceeding to the collar.

If you are on the 4th or 8th row of a stripe color, proceed straight to the collar.

Collar:
in color A, work 2 rows seed stitch.
Row 3: k1, p1, yo, p2tog, seed stitch to end of row.
Row 4: work in seed stitch.
Bind off in seed stitch.

Finishing:

Remove underarm stitches from scrap yarn and place on DPNs. Graft together using kitchener’s stitch. There may be loose stitches at the edges of each set of underarm stitches; you can tighten those as you weave in the ends.

Weave in all ends.

Sew on buttons.

Wash and block if desired. If making this for a young baby, use baby shampoo to wash to avoid irritating the little recipient’s delicate skin.

Place on adorable baby and enjoy.

Burridge finished

2008-04-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is. Yes, indeed. And I couldn't be happier!

And just in time, too -- my BIL's birthday is today. My husband is en route to Cleveland for the party (I couldn't come due to Stupid Work -- by the way, I'm going right on target with my real-life spring goals), so BIL will get it today.

Let's see -- I've blogged a decent amount about this blanket already, so let's just do a quick sum-up, shall we?

Pattern: Burridge Lake Afghan, by Anna Dalvi, published in Magknits 10/07

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Bone colorway. No way could I have afforded wool.

Needles: Needlemaster size 8. I love my Needlemaster, I really do.

Finished measurements: I didn't pull out a tape measurer, but it's about 6x4 feet. A little under 6 feet in length, but not by much. That's ALOT of cables.

Started: October 2007, basically right after the pattern came out -- I just HAD to make this

Finished: Yesterday, April 4th, 2008

I almost didn't attach the top and bottom panels to this, but am glad I did! They really stabilize the pattern. I goofed the seaming tension on one panel, though, but it's not too noticeable.

I really do love this blanket, despite our disagreements. I hope BIL likes it, too.

And the winner is...

2008-03-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Jeanne from Life in Cleveland!

She has been notified by email, and will receive her gift certificate to wherever she wants.

Thanks for playing, everyone! I got a ton of great patterns!

Spring goals

2008-03-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

I've been getting awesome baby pattern suggestions for my contest -- keep 'em coming, guys! You still have a week left! Some of your suggestions have already made their way into my Ravelry queue.

Speaking of contests, Ali is having one of her world-famous goals contests. So in an effort to get organized, I figured I'd enter and post my goals here for all to see. Maybe that'll keep me motivated?

As far as knitting goes, I need to:

1. Finish Burridge by April 5th for my BIL's birthday
2. Finish the pajama teddy (even if it's without a robe for the time being) by March 30th
3. Knit my mom's jacket by Mother's Day
4. Knit something for Warm Woolies, because I can, and because I can't stand the fact that there are freezing children out there when I have tubs full of wool
5. Write up patterns for the green striped sweater and Ricky's sweater (I have to write up this one, because L will kill me otherwise)
6. Knit up a super-secret project!
7. Finish an outstanding UFO -- Lucky, maybe? Or maybe Mystery stole?

It doesn't sound like alot, does it? Well, consider my real-life goals:

1. Finish my dissertation by April 4th
2. Have a committee meeting to decide what's wrong with my dissertation
3. Defend my dissertation by the end of April
4. Correct and submit my dissertation by May 9th
5. Finish experiments and submit my paper
6. Find and interview for jobs
7. Pack up the house
8. Find a place to live
9. Move
10. Go visit my family sometime in there
11. Spend as much time with my Chicago friends as I can before I leave

What are your goals like? Better yet, don't tell me here -- go enter in the contest!

Contest!!!

2008-03-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Nearly two years ago, my blog was born. To celebrate, I'm having my first-ever contest!

Getting straight to business:

What you have to do:

I don't know if you've noticed, but it's been a while since I knit any baby or kids items. And by "a while," I mean, of course, three months. So, my wish for you, dear readers is to suggest for me my next baby/kid knitting project in the comments to this post. Easy, right?

It really is. But read the details below, please.

-I will choose the winner by random draw. That means that I do NOT have to pick the pattern you suggested for my next project. So you don't have to be a psychic :)

-Any pattern, for anything for a baby/toddler/child, aged 0-14 years, and either boy or girl, is fine by me. For some reason, there are tons of kids in my life at all times.

-Sweaters, pants, dresses, socks, mittens, toys, blankets, etc. are all welcome. What I do NOT want is hats. I don't like hats. Hats bore me, both to look at and to make. Please don't suggest hats. Literally everything else is fine.

-No hats.

-The pattern can be available online or in print, free or not. I prefer that the pattern were NOT out of a magazine, though, because back issues are a pain to track down, and please no patterns that are not available without a kit.

-In your comment, please provide a link to the pattern. Either a link directly to the pattern (if it's online) or to its Ravelry page is ok. If the pattern is from a book and, thus, has no direct link, and you do not have a Ravelry account, please provide as much information as possible about the pattern so I can look it up on Ravelry.

-If you've been a regular commenter on my blog (i.e., I've seen you comment before), I'll enter your name into the contest twice. Because I love you :)

-If I absolutely LOVE your pattern and add it to my to-make-in-the-near-future list, I'll enter your name into the contest twice, too (if you're a regular reader, you get yet another extra entry).

-You MUST leave some sort of way for me to contact you. Email, a link to your blog where I can post a comment for you, Ravelry name, something. If I have no way of contacting you right away, I'll pick another winner. Because I'm mean like that.

Deadline: You have until 11:59pm on March 26th to get your entry in. I'll announce the winner on my blogaversary, March 27th.

How the winner is chosen:

I'll determine the winner by random draw. I'll toss everyone's names into a hat and pick (or have one of my nieces pick). I'll notify the winner and post her/his name here on that day, barring some sort of disaster.

The prize!

This is what you really want to hear about, isn't it? Well, I thought long and hard about what my prize should be. I, personally, prefer prizes of yarn. But what kind of yarn? The stuff I have on hand...well, most of you wouldn't want it. Buying a prize yarn involves going to the LYS, which isn't feasible with my always-hectic schedule (and is dangerous, anyway). Plus, not everyone will like the same yarn, and I want everyone to be thrilled with their prize.

So, instead of having a regular prize, I decided to give away a $25 gift certificate to the yarn store of your choosing (provided that I can purchase the cert online). So Knitpicks, Elann, WEBS, Kpixie, or your favorite LYS-with-a-website is fair game. I'll even get you a card for eBay or Amazon.com, if you'd prefer.

So, go ye forth and find me your favorite kid patterns. Enjoy!

Duplicate duplicate stitch stitch

2008-03-13T20:55:00.001-07:00

That's what's been consuming my life.

Having finished and seamed together the big panels of Burridge Lake, I realized that, hey, I still have a bit of time left for this one. I also realized that, hey, my best friend's birthday is coming up, at right around the same time as it happened last year (funny how that works, right?). And I still hadn't finished her teddy bear that I started last year at around this time.

Bad, bad Dove.

So I dug up the pieces of the teddy bear's pajamas, and saw that I actually finished knitting both the top and the bottom to the PJs, except the little pockets. So I seamed them up and started on the duplicate stitch on the pants -- they're plaid PJs, see.

And I spent days on this. Each stripe would take me about 30 minutes to do. But I finally did them all. Only to realize I wasn't happy with them, at all.

So I ripped one stripe out, and tried crocheting a line instead, poking the hook down into the underside of the fabric to bring up the yarn and pass it through the loop. Muuuch better! Slimmer, neater, quicker lines.

The bottom stripe is duplicate; the top two are crocheted. Big difference, right?

So now I'm busy ripping alllll those stripes out. Every. Single. One. Because even though I'm not at all a perfectionist, I just couldn't live with this thing.

Fortunately, the crocheting goes aloooot faster.

I still have to knit the fronts of the robe. And then all those ends to weave it.

Happy Leap day!

2008-02-29T06:48:00.001-08:00

To celebrate, I have completed all three main panels of Burridge.

Huzzah! There was much rejoicing.

Now -- seaming and the top and bottom panels.

Seamly seams

2008-02-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

Oh, Burridge. After an enormous exertion of willpower, I plowed through the two side panels in just a couple of weeks. Well, actually, I still have three pattern repeats on the last panel, but it'll be done by the end of the week.

With that said.

Today's will be an educational post. Obviously, with three panels to put together, seaming must be done. Obvious seaming. Seaming I can't hide under the arm or on the inside or on the bottom. So it had to be nice seaming.

And I think I finally found a good way:

Can you find the seam in the above picture? No? Good. You're not supposed to.

I'm sure the method for making such a seam is totally common knowledge to everyone, but it was news to me, so I figured I'd post it.

First, you put the needle through the panel with the stockinette edge. To do that, you go through the middle of an edge knit stitch top to bottom, like so:

Then you put the needle through an edge purl "bump" on the other panel, top to bottom, like so:

Return the needle back to the first panel, going through the next knit stitch, top to bottom as above. Voila -- tidy speech.

Come to think of it, I should have waited with this post until I had more brainpower left to phrase things better, but no such luck. I hope the pictures prove their 1000 words worth.

Also, in biggish personal news, after 5 years in Chicago, we're moving to Cleveland. Well, Husband is moving back to Cleveland, and I'm moving there for the first time. We'll only be there a year or two, but it's nice to be sorta going home. Although I will be sad to leave my Chicago.

Huzzah for organization!

2008-02-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

I finally got tired of keeping all my knitting supplies in a plastic pencil box. It's fine for notions, but I also keep all my DPNs in there, all mixed together, and it takes several minutes to find all the needles I need.

So I decided to make my annual sewing project a needle roll. I've seen alot of them on other knitting blogs, and have wanted one for a while. I've seen some tutorials, but didn't really follow any; it really wasn't hard to figure out.

I used some vintage Russian fabric for the outside and some much tamer green cotton for the lining. The vintage fabric is much too bright for anything else, really, but I think it makes a pretty needle roll!

It's very long -- over two feet -- but it fits all my DPNs, alot of my crochet hooks, my stitch holders and cable needles (I haven't used a cable needle in over a year), my gauge/needle size checker, and my tape measurer (which is why it's not round, but squished-looking). Everything tucks in, and the top folds down, and the thing rolls up and ties in a pretty red ribbon -- voila! Organization!

You make my day!

2008-02-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

I was very pleased and surprised to get the You Make My Day award from Misa! In case you don't know Misa, you should! She's a new blogger, but she's terrific. She has wonderful taste, her knits are beautiful, and her photography is great. You make my day, too, Misa!

So I guess now I have to tag 10 people, too. How can I choose only 10? I guess I'll have to try...

-Twig always makes my day with her humor and puppy pics

-Bonnie makes my day with her beautiful lace

-Sarah's art in everything she does makes my day

-The Golden Iris makes my day with a wide variety of crafts!

-Modest Purls makes my day with adorable pictures of her kids and her cute teddy bears!

-The Life in Cleveland blog makes my day with her adventures as well as her knitting

-The Stitchingnut makes my day with her felted art

-Cara's knitting makes my day

-Lynn makes my day with her stunning pictures of all her crafts and her beautiful family

-Anny designs adorable kid clothes, which makes my day!

I had to pick 10, and it was very hard, because if I regularly read and comment on your blog, you make my day!

Monochrome

2008-02-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

Nono, don't click away from this site! You're on the right blog!

(Provided, of course, that you're looking for Dove Knits. If you're looking for stamp collecting blogs, this is, indeed, the wrong blog.)

I know what you're thinking -- Dove doesn't DO monochrome. In fact, I don't generally do any color that isn't ~~loud~~ vibrant. And here I am with black? What gives?

Well, it turns out that my dad's feet get cold at home, so I was asked to knit a pair of warm house socks for him.

Now, my dad, unlike my husband, is very, erm, traditional in his color choices. He goes for black, navy, gray, dark brown, and beige, mostly. Sometimes a deep burgundy, if he's feeling adventurous.

So basically, nothing from my stash was going to work, and the rule of not buying any more yarn had to be broken. Off to Joann's I went to get some Classic Merino -- and black just made the most sense. The remnants of my gift certificate and the sale on Classic Merino made these socks free, and we like free.

The pattern, of course, is Thuja, a very elegant pattern that's perfect for my dad. On size 5 needles, I finished the pair in two nights.

Photographed here on Dad's Russian newspaper. I hope he likes them.

I couldn't come up with a witty title today

2008-01-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

First off, I've been entering blog contests like crazy -- hey, why not? Most recently, I entered one at House of Wool. Go play, and be sure to let the world know you heard it from me :)

And now, a story:

There once was a girl -- for the sake of the story, let's call her "Dove" -- who hated vests. "How pointless!" thought she. "My arms would get cold, and who wants that?" She particularly hated those Christmasy button-down applique vests (of which her mother once thoughtfully sent her TWO, so she could match her grandmother-in-law, and which now resides at the local Salvation Army, but that's another story and not one fit for this blog). But a close second were sweater-vests, which were just too dorky or too preppy for her tastes.

(The fact that she was a cell biologist and, therefore, entitled to a dorky wardrobe, somehow eluded her.)

And then one day, she met a vest pattern and fell in love. Her husband did not approve of the affair, calling the vest "ugly," most likely in a fit of jealousy, because when was the last time she looked at HIM like that?

But really, it was hard not to fall in love with this pattern. The gorgeous center cable -- "Dove" may hate vests, but she loves cables -- and the fact that the designer actually made the flanking cables mirror images. The twisted-stitch baby cables. And the basketstitch made such a lovely alternative to trinity stitch or moss stitch while being both interesting and quick to work. The square, deep neckline was what really sold her, though. Finally, here was a vest that looked cool. (Incidentally, it was the neckline that repulsed the husband -- he claimed it looked too much like a tank top.) Of course, there was still the functionality aspect of the thing, what with the arms getting cold and all, but "Dove" no longer cared. She was in love, after all!

Anyway, "Dove" and the vest pattern eloped (while the husband was conveniently out of town) and had a lovely vest together, with the help of Knitpicks Mainline (conveniently residing in "Dove's" stash until then). And if "Dove" and the vest can manage to love each other despite their general differences, then everyone else can, too.

The end.

(Pattern:Aran Accent Vest from Paton's Cables booklet.
Yarn: Knitpicks Mainline in Cocoa, 80% cotton/20% wool, just under 9 skeins.
Size: XS, and I am NOT an xs. And yes, I'm dead-on gauge. It's just the vest is very stretchy.
Needles: size 5 for ribbing, size 7 for the body.
Modifications: none
Comments: very straightforward pattern, nicely charted, no mistakes. Very quick to make, too -- this took a week from casting on to finishing, and that's with two nights devoted to the the circle cardi)

A UFO no mo'

2008-01-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a contest is just what you need to get your knitting butt in gear and finish a project. Especially one that you were REALLY psyched to start in the first place and only had a sleeve left to do.

So I finished:

Ta-daa!

Presenting the finally finished art-knitting circle cardigan from Garnstudio, which I had started, oh, 18 months ago. Once the pattern came out, I just HAD to cast on right away -- and did. And in a couple of weeks, I made most of the body, except a couple of rounds, and almost all of a sleeve.

(The back. Isn't it awesome?)

And then I ran out of yarn. Not surprising, since this thing ate yarn like crazy! I used two strands of Knitpicks Merino Style (Frost colorway; and yes, it's a different color from Husband's sweater) on size 11 needles (size 10.5 for the sleeves, don't ask why. I didn't realize there was a 1.5mm difference!). I ordered 14 skeins to start with, and that wasn't enough. Waiting to order more yarn caused me to put the sweater aside and forget about it long after the yarn came in.

(In total, I ended up using 18 whole skeins of yarn, and starting off two more. For a size small sweater. Yeah. Yarn eater.)

Well worth it, though.

I steam-blocked this baby, because doing my usual method of soak-and-spread-out wouldn't have worked. The sweater is heavy enough when dry; lifting it out when wet would have instantly given me a hernia. And it doesn't have buttons -- probably won't. I'm using a hair stick to hold it closed, in case you're wondering.

Free pattern: honeycomb cable reversible hat

2008-01-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

Update 1-31-08: Thanks to blogger Carla, I've found and corrected a mistake in the increase round on the cabled side.

As you can probably tell, I have a thing for very, very warm hats. Given that I live in Chicago, that’s not surprising. While a single-layer hat may be sufficient to block out the cold, once the wind blows, your head is freezing. Therefore, I try to make my hats at least double-layered, if at all possible.

(The honeycomb side.)

This hat was designed to match a scarf my mom bought me, which has a honeycomb cable pattern all over. However, I didn’t want to make both layers of the hat cabled to save time, so I knit the second layer plain. Now I have a hat that can be worn two ways: with the cabled side out, or with the plain side out. There are two layers of wooly warmth (made even denser by the rather close gauge and cables) all over, and the fold-up brim (or cuff. I never know what to call it) gives FOUR layers to protect the sensitive ears. I test-drove (er, wore) this baby this past weekend, with temperatures being a balmy 0F (-18C) and with 20mph winds, and my head was very, very warm. So you know this hat really works.

(The plain side.)

The two layers of the hat are achieved by first knitting hat with a ribbed brim and honeycomb cabled top, then picking up stitched along the cast-on edge and knitting another hat with a honeycomb cabled brim and plain top. One hat then folds up into the other, and the brim folds up, creating a hat that’s all cabled on one side and plain with a ribbed cuff on the other side. To accommodate the double thickness of the hats, each hat/layer is knit LONGER than a hat should be. Be careful to try your hat on if you decide to make yours single-layer so that you don’t end up with a jester’s cap.

Size: to fit my 22-inch head. The hat is meant to fit snugly, though, so it should stretch to accomodate most noggins.

Materials:

-Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool, 1 skein (you’ll only use about half the skein). Feel free to sub any worsted weight wool; you'll need around 200 yds.
-Size US6/4mm needles (1 19inch circular, 1 set of 4 DPNs)
-Cable needle
-Stitch marker
-Tapestry needle

Gauge: 22 stitches and 32 rounds = 4 inches in honeycomb rib pattern (unstretched). As I have given all instructions in inches rather than rounds, don’t worry if your round gauge doesn’t match up exactly.

Honeycomb rib cable directions:

Worked in multiples of 10 stitches:

Rounds 1-3: (k8, p2) to end of round
Round 4: (C4B, C4F, p2) to end of round
Rounds 5-7: (k8, p2) to end of round
Round 8: (C4F, C4B, p2) to end of round

Abbreviations:
k=knit
p=purl
C4B = slip 2 stitches onto cable needle and hold in back of work, k the next 2 stitches, k the 2 stitches from the cable needle
C4F = slip 2 stitches onto cable needle and hold in front of work, k the next 2 stitches, k the 2 stitches from the cable needle
CO: cast on

Directions:

First layer (honeycomb cabled top):

Using the circular needle, CO 100 stitches. Join, being careful not to twist. Mark beginning of round if desired. Work in k2, p2 rib until work measures about 2.5 inches from CO edge.

Increase round: k8, p2, then (k7, m1 knitwise, p2)10 times. 110 stitches.

Next round: begin honeycomb rib pattern starting on round 2 (k8, p2 to end of round). Continue in honeycomb pattern until hat measures 9 inches from CO edge, ending with round 8 of honeycomb pattern.

Begin decreases (switch to DPNs once the stitches start to stretch too much on the circular):

Round 1: (k8, p2tog) to end of round. 99 stitches
Round 2: (k8, p1) to end of round. 99 stitches
Round 3: (k3, k2tog, k3, p1) to end of round. 88 stitches
Round 4: (k7, p1) to end of round. 88 stitches
Round 5: (k2, ssk, k3, p1) to end of round. 77 stitches.
Round 6: (k2, k2tog, k2, p1) to end of round. 66 stitches.
Round 7: (k1, ssk, k2, p1) to end of round. 55 stitches.
Round 8: (k1, k2tog, k1, p1) to end of round. 44 stitches.
Round 9: (k2tog) to end of round. 22 stitches.

Break off yarn, leaving a foot-long tail. Using a tapestry needle, thread yarn tail through all the stitches on the DPNs, taking them off the DPNs as you go. Pull yarn end tightly to secure.

Second layer:

From the CO edge of the first hat, use the circular needle to pick up 110 stitches. (If you can’t pick up 110 stitches, pick up as many as you can and work an increase round to bring you up to 110.)

Work honeycomb rib pattern until the second layer measures 3 inches from CO edge.

Decrease round: (k7, k2tog, p2) 10 times, then k8, p2. 100 stitches.

Next round: (k8, p2) to end of round. Continue to work pattern as set (that is, k8, p2) until second layer measures 9 inches from CO edge. Follow decrease directions as given for the first layer, switching to DPNs when too few stitches remain on the circular needle to work comfortably.

Weave in any yarn ends EXCEPT for the yarn ends at the top of each layer that you used to thread through the leftover stitches. Fold second layer inside first layer. Using the yarn ends left from binding off the leftover stitches, sew from one layer to the other, securing them together in the top center. Tie yarn ends securely and thread to the inside of the hat to hide.

If you fold up the brim, you should now have a hat that has a honeycomb rib pattern on the top and the brim. If you turn the hat inside out, you’ll have a hat that has a wide rib pattern on the top and a k2,p2 cable brim.

Enjoy!

As always, please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions (my email is available on the “About Me” page). And if you make this hat, please let me know how you like it…send pictures! Of course, if you find a problem with the pattern or if something is unclear, please let me know, also, so I can fix it for future users!

Extreme(ty) knitting, part 3: the head

2008-01-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure whether I should consider the head as an extremity, but, well, it's not the torso, so I'll call it that for our purposes, k?

(Yes, I realize that "extremety" is misspelled. Deal with it.)

After finishing the Hurry Up Spring armwarmers, I still had most of a skein of Kureyon leftover. What better way to use that up than the Fakeisle hat? I just happened to have some black unidentified (but most likely wool) yarn sitting around for the background, too. And colorwork was one of my knitting resolutions for the year.

It came out lovely. Even the inside was pretty tidy (except when I switched to DPNs. I just could not tension correctly between the needles). And for one of my first attempts at colorwork, it was not bad at all. And enjoyable: I really got into the swing of carrying one yarn in each hand and throwing English-style.

But.

You knew, of course, that there would be a but, right?

It was too big. Too long and too wide.

No problem! I just picked up the cast-on edge and knit in a lining. Double-layer hats are warmer anyway. And since I had leftover Kureyon, I wrote a little message on the inside (and no, I'm not telling you what it means):

As you can see, Husband is quite pleased with his rather, erm, rainbowy hat.

On a completely different note, I realize I've been starting all these projects and haven't actually finished any of those UFOs I've been meaning to complete. Seeing this contest was just the kick in the butt I needed. Since I saw this late, I'll have to finish something easy: namely, the circle cardi that I started, oh, two years ago. It only needs one more sleeve and a few more rounds of edging. Stay tuned.

Extreme(ty) knitting, part 2: the hands

2008-01-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

A.K.A., The ADD Knitter gets a heart attack.

I know I promised myself not to buy anything until June, but last Wednesday, I had to go to the dentist. I hate the dentist. This time, I had to go in to get a crack filled in my tooth that wouldn't have been there had my tooth not been filled the last time. The sheer injustice of having to have my tooth drilled again was just too much, so I decided I'd treat myself to a trip to the LYS that's next door to my dentist. Oddly, it was even open.

It was the most disorganized LYS I've ever set foot in. Just because you had a yarn of a particular brand, color, weight, or fiber on one shelf did not mean that adjacent shelves would have the same brand, color, weight, or fiber. I mean, there was no rhyme or reason to this store. Half-empty bags of yarn were laying around on the floor. You get the idea.

I meant to buy lace yarn, but the store only carried the mohair variety, and, well, never again. So instead, I thought I'd try Noro Kureyon. Obviously, everyone raves about this yarn, so I picked two skeins of pretty colors (#182) to make the Hurry Up Spring armwarmers from Stitch&Bitch Nation, and went home.

The mittens, completed in 2 nights (size 7 needles), are lovely. I made them a leaf-repeat longer than the book said, and only used 56g of Kureyon, giving me plenty of leftovers. Stay tuned.

And here is where I give the ADD Knitter a heart attack. I disliked Kureyon. Sure, the colors are nice-- but just nice. Alot of the time, the transitions looked just plain muddy to me. But what got me the most was that for the $9/skein I paid for this stuff, they didn't bother to spin it. Or they got a blind monkey to spin it. I mean, really. I don't mind paying $9/skein, but not for yarn that's sometimes roving, and sometimes too fine to knit! And there was grass in it.

So. Never again, unless it starts to sell for less than half that price, will I buy Kureyon.

Extreme(ty) knitting, part 1: the feet

2008-01-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

I whipped up a few FOs this past week, all of them covering extremeties. My next project is to finally finish Burridge, so I'm gonna spread out these FOs for as long as I can, because God knows that blanket will take me at least another month.

Anyway, first up are some simple top-down socks in Regia Cotton Surf (Atlantik colorway):

I won this yarn on the Christian knitters group on Ravelry for being weird. I never would have picked this yarn in this colorway for myself (I don't like blue all that much), but I ended up really loving it. The gentle hues and the smoky quality of the colors just worked very well. The one downside is that I knit these on size 1 needles, when it really should have been 0. They're quite loose at the ankles, but, more concerningly, one of the socks' stitches are really loose at the toe. That's a hole waiting to happen.

Also, does anyone have this problem? If I knit socks, my first sock's gauge is always looser than my second sock's. Always. So even though I knit the same number of rounds, my second sock is shorter than my first.

In a word, I wouldn't call this pair a winner, but I'm awfully fond of them.

Speaking of socks, thanks to my wonderful brother-in-law, there's lots more in my future! Look what he got me for Christmas:

Isn't it gorgeous? It's Fleece Artist Supermerino in Polar Sea. For a girl who doesn't like blue, I'm sure using alot of it! Just look at how gorgeously rich that color is! My BIL also got me enough Lang Jawoll for two more pairs of socks (one pair blue, one pair orange). Did I mention he's my favorite BIL?

No pictures post

2008-01-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

You may as well skip ;)

I realized that it's almost halfway through January, and I haven't even talked about my yarny goals for the year, nor reviewed the year that passed. How embarrassing!

2007 was a hard year for me personally. I struggled with literally crippling anxiety for most of it, and I'm still shaking off the last of that. But knitting-wise, it's been a great one, and that's what we're focusing on here, no?

2007 saw:

-30 projects, which is alot less than last year, but I refused to knit if it wasn't enjoyable or became stressful. Of these, there were 13 baby/toddler items; 7 toys; 2 blankets; 1 bag; a gorgeous shawl; two clothing items for me; 2 pairs of socks; the completion of 4 previously-languishing projects; and two men's sweaters, both of them original designs.

-The Rona Lace shawl, which remains one of my all-time favorite knit. And others', too! It's been favorited 147 times on Ravelry!

-A break with patterns! As in, after a while, I just stopped using them. I designed a vest for my dad; a sweater for Husband; and several knits for babies and toddlers. Most of these, sadly, never got written up, but that's what 2008 is for, right?

-Lots of stash knitting, and not a whole lot of yarn-buying!

My favorite projects are hard to pick. Besides the nativity scene, Lucky, and the baby dresses, I loved everything I made -- really! But Rona and Husband's sweater are definitely up there.

In 2008, I hope to:

-Finish Burridge Lake by April.

-Finish Debbie Bliss's Pajama Teddy by late March.

-Make Mom's lacy jacket by Mother's Day.

-Finish my Lucky and the Mystery Stole 3 from 2007, and Irving Park socks and Circle cardi from years past. (Can you tell I have alot of finishing to do?)

-Buy no yarn (you heard me) until June. I broke that rule yesterday -- more on that later -- but otherwise, no yarn. We might have a cross-country move this summer, so I'm trying to keep the clutter as low as possible. Plus, it'd save me money to buy nicer yarn later, right? Good thing I have so many projects to finish, eh?

-Do more original designs! As original as mine are, I guess, which isn't very, but still. I love doing things free-hand.

-Write up more of my originals to learn basic pattern-writing, and include different sizes.

-Submit a pattern for publication. If it gets rejected, that's fine.

-Start a quilt!

So, what are your goals?

Because it's Russian Christmas today...

2008-01-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

Jean Greenhowe's nativity (from 28-Page Christmas Special), given to my husband's grandparents. That's as far as I got -- they'll have to wait until next year to get the magi and shepherds, although I did make about half a sheep.

Yes, Joseph looks like a terrorist. It's not his fault. Although I've also been told he looks like Hagrid, and I like that much better :)

A note on Christmas: I actually celebrate it December 25th, as does my church, but in Russia, the church calendar is 13 days behind the regular calendar. Russia's regular calendar and church calendar used to be synchronized (and 13 days behind the rest of the world), but the real calendar changed at some point around the revolution (I think). The church stuck with theirs. So Russia and Serbia and a few others have the old calendar, while Greece and the OCA go by the new.

That, by the way, is NOT why Orthodox Easter is on a different calendar! That has another explanation to which I can't do justice.

My man is not afraid of color

2008-01-04T11:29:00.001-08:00

I often hear knitter wives complaining that their husbands won't wear anything that's not black or charcoal gray, or maybe navy.

As you can see, I don't have that problem:

This is the sweater that he designed for himself. He chose the yarn color (it had to be electric blue), the cable pattern (from the old Harmony Guides Vol. 2), and the overall design. I made up the rest, with EZ's help. He was so excited about this sweater - he'd pet it while it was still on the needles, and just couldn't wait for it to dry after blocking to wear it. So I didn't mind staying up several nights in a row to finish it for his birthday.

The yarn is Wool of the Andes in blue bonnet. I heard horror stories of pilling, but this is holding up pretty well, considering how much he's already worn it. I tried using size 8 needles, but it was too lacy, so I went down a size to 7s, and 5s for the button band.

I actually submitted this design to Magknits, but they never responded, even after I emailed to check up on it. It's a good thing, too, because this sweater has many issues. I need to have made the neckline higher, and still might. The button band gaps, so I'll need to reknit it on smaller needles, placing the buttonholes closer to the body of the sweater. And (and this is testament to my nonchalance about my knitting) I put one of the sleeves in crooked. I realized this after I'd stayed up late the night before to knit the yoke, which was more than halfway done at this point, and I only had two more days to work on it before his birthday, so I said forget it. So one of the sleeves was put in two stitches off-center, but I can't even usually tell which it is.

You know it's cold when...

2007-12-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

...you step outside and see this:

Penguin invasions are always a problem this time of year. You know, they only LOOK cute, but stay away if you value your fingers.

(Pattern by none other than Jean Greenhowe, from Knitted Animals. I think there are only 2-3 patterns from that booklet I haven't done already. It's just packed with cuteness. And the little "trees" are Habu stainless steel wool, sent to me by a friend. Don't they look like little Christmas trees, though?)

Baby shrugged

2007-12-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

Finally a knit to show y'all: a baby shrug/bolero by Debbie Bliss (pattern here) out of my last ball of Classic Merino Wool in royal. Solid red trims.

Not much to say about this one. I'm not crazy about the color pooling, but I think it's cute anyway. It'd be even cuter with a baby inside.

I knit it in the 12-18-month-old size, but my gauge was so loose that I followed the 6-month old sizes. It seems a little big, still, but DB likes her baby knits loose, so I think that's why.

Not alot else to say. I'm very tired: I'm trying to write up and publish my research (and finish said research) so I can graduate in June. When not at work, I'm scrubbing down my house, because my parents are coming to visit at the end of the month, and I've gotta get it all done by next weekend. And, of course, I'm finishing Christmas gifts. Thankfully, this was one of only 3 knits I planned. Burridge is getting left until my BIL's birthday in April, so that's a bit less of my plate. So, yeah, very tired.

New directions

2007-12-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

I've been dying to try my hand at quilting for a while. Pretty cottony quilts have been popping up on so many people's blogs, and they're just so sweet and cheery even when sophisticated.

It didn't help that I found a big huge quilting book on sale over Labor Day. And bought it. And drooled a puddle over it.

So this was bound to happen eventually. I grabbed my Joann's gift certificate, and a sale later I was the proud owner of this:

A Friskars cutting board, ruler, and rotary cutter set, and some quarter flats. I know they're not the fanciest, bestest fabric, but it'll do just fine for my first quilting attempt, no?

You know you want to see the fabrics up close:

My husband picked out this set. I love the way they go together.

I haven't yet decided if I will use all of them in one big quilt, or just use the trios to practice making squares. We'll see. Right after Christmas, and right after all my outstanding (meaning unfinished, not wonderful) gift knitting (Mom's jacket, BIL's Burridge) has been finished, I shall quilt.

Also: I collect erasers. If you've ever wondered what an eraser collection looks like, you can see for yourself here.

A solution for the frazzled holiday knitter

2007-12-03T13:15:00.001-08:00

Silly knitters. Every year, we race against the clock as we knit gift after gift. As the result, our loved ones are flooded in dish cloths, and we have ulcers.

It's quite simple, really. Even the fastest, smallest knitted gift, like a hat, dishcloth, or bookmark, takes, what, at least three? five? hours. It's hard to accept, but sometimes, there just isn't enough time to knit a gift for everyone you love.

That's often my problem. I love giving handmade gifts, and most people I know love getting them. However, most people I know have no use for small knitted projects. For some reason, everyone I know has conspired against me to never wear hats, use knitted dishcloths, or like mittens. It's all about the more time-consuming gifts for them -- which I'm happy to provide, but not last-minute.

Here's where I brag. Last week, I went home, pulled out my beading box, and in the matter of three hours or so, I made gifts for 7 people.

Earrings for coworkers:

(Left: green jade and Bali sterling silver. Right: porcelain, Bali silver and Swarovski crystal. Both with sterling hooks and wires.)

(The best shot I could get of these Swarovski crystal beauties. See how they swing.)

Bookmarks for friends:

(Sterling, Swarovski, fluorite, and green jade, from left to right.)

And a pearl and crystal necklace for a great little girl. However, I've already given her her necklace, and the only pictures I had of it were awful, so you'll just have to imagine.

So, the moral: next time I'll remember about my beading supplies sooner. Plus, this saved me quite a bit of money, since I already had all the supplies, and they were quite inexpensive then, too. I think each pair of earrings, made in high-quality materials, cost as much as a ball of Sugar'n'Cream cotton.

ETA: That's not to say I'm not knitting gifts this year. I'm making a nativity set for my in-laws (remember that project? Still haven't finished. They're just getting the Holy Family, and I'm gifting them the rest of the characters over the next couple of years.), a shrug for a dear friend's beautiful baby girl, and a sweater for my husband. On a whim, I decided to try and publish the sweater, so I'm not showing it here, but he's SO excited about it. He got to design it -- he picked the color, style, and stitch pattern. He goes over and pets it, and gets a nice dreamy look on his face when he's thinking about it. It's the cutest thing.

Dear Burridge

2007-11-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

I guess it was inevitable. We fell for each other, hard, but what burns hot, burns fast, and so we've burned.

Oh, how I loved your cables. But let's face it: you could be very demanding. You couldn't bear to have my attention divided, could you? No, it all had to be focused on you, you beautiful, greedy thing. And still I knit, and still it wasn't enough. Sixteen pattern repeats, you said, and I knit on, despite aching shoulders and sore fingers. Five repeats. Seven.

And then you stopped being demanding, and became something worse. You became...predictable. I came home every night to the same cables, the same stitches, over and over again. Nine repeats. Ten repeats. Twelve.

And besides boring, you also became unwieldy, and spent most of your time lounging on the couch, hogging the remote control:

(Although, granted, you sure were nice to snuggle under, and warm.)

And by the time the sixteenth repeat was done, I thought it was over between us. I could barely stand to look at you, let alone touch you.

And then you did something unexpected: you gave me another panel. Suddenly, everything was exciting again. A new and less demanding you. Oh, the beauty of that Saxon braid. The nubbiness of trinity stitch (I can't believe I've never tried trinity stitch before!). The reduced number of stitches. The temporary portability. It was falling in love all over again.

I love you, Burridge. Let us never fight again.

(Of course, there are 24 pattern repeats in this panel. And then panel C, which is its mirror image. So I'm not throwing away the number of that couples therapist just yet.)

The feeding habits of lions

2007-11-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

I'm used to seeing all kinds of small wildlife in my backyard. Rabbits. Birds. Rats. An occasional neighbor.

But this morning, I spotted something rather unusual: A lion! Devouring a plastic zebra, no less!

Wait, if I stand very still, maybe it won't notice me...

Aw, crap. It saw me. Too late.

"ROOOAAAARRRR!!! Can't a lion have breakfast without being disturbed?"

Thankfully, this lion seemed to prefer plastic to human, so I was left unharmed, if a little miffed at this rather rude treatment:

(Pattern from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys;" Caron Simply Soft on size 2 needles. A bit disappointing in its awkwardness, but I like him anyway. He was supposed to be a Christmas present for the Husband, but I decided to finish early and give it to him last Thursday. Because he defended his thesis dissertation!!!)

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

And my good friend L made this one:

Cable heaven

2007-10-28T18:51:00.001-07:00

It was love at first sight. The moment I laid eyes on the Burridge Lake aran afghan, I knew we had to be together. I had to make it. It was destiny.

See, I'd been imagining a blanket pattern just like that to make for my brother-in-law. I hadn't found one online, so I figured I would design it, but Ms. Dalvi read my mind and designed it for me.

Getting started on it, however, was no easy task. First, the yarn I ordered -- Caron Simply Soft off-white -- turned out to be actually yellow. I figured BIL wouldn't like that, so I shipped the yarn back and ordered the bone colorway, which is what you'll see below.

Secondly, getting started on such an intricate pattern is always slow. At first, you're juggling three charts: one for the placement of the pattern, one for the directions for each pattern, and one for the abbreviations. Besides that, you're reversing the cabling on one side to make it a mirror image of the other. The first cable repeat feels like you will never get the hang of it and surely you shall die, but eventually it clicks, and now I'm no longer even following a pattern.

(After 5 repeats of the center panel. I'm now on the ninth repeat.)

Finally, there were some mistakes in the pattern, most of which are corrected in Magknits, and the designer was kind enough to point them out to me. Of course, that didn't stop me from making some mistakes of my own. Here's a hint of where they are:

(No, I'm not correcting them. BIL will not notice.)

...And still more baby knits

2007-10-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

Now that Twig has received her non-grandkids' stuff, I can post it!

These are for a set of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl.

So, for the little guy:

A henley-type sweater I made up on the fly. It reminds me of a lumberjack's jacket :) This came out really little, but I think it would fit him. The buttons are sky-blue, not white. The stitch pattern is Sailor's Rib from Barwara Walker's 2nd Treasury.

For the little lady:

A raglan cardi, pseudo-EZ percentagey, obviously made up as I went along. I can't remember the exact name of the stitch pattern, but it's one of the brocades. There was a similar baby sweater in Vogue a few months ago, I think.

Both sweaters are in Caron Simply Soft.

I've seen Saartje's bootie pattern (PDF) all over Blogland. Now, usually, popularity is enough to turn me off a knitting project. Not on purpose, but it just kinda so happens -- I rarely fall in love with a very popular pattern, although there are exceptions to that trend. But these booties are just so cute. So, so, so cute. I've been dying for a chance to knit them, and I got it! And I certainly did not regret it -- this pattern is wonderfully written and even illustrated for your convenience! And goes so fast -- I knit both pairs in about a day.

Because they're twins, I made them matching. Because I'm cheesy like that. But they're not identical, see?

I made these in leftover Swish, and I had to change the pattern a bit to make them work with the yarn. I cast on 25 stitches, I think, and only knit 8 rows straight instead of 10.

Finally, I had to make hats to match:

Just plain ol' little garter stitch hats, knit flat and seamed (not very tidily, alas), in Swish.

Dove: now with more baby knits!

2007-10-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

You didn't really think I'd stop at just one toddler sweater for Big Niece, did you? Come on, folks, you know me better than that. OCD are my middle initials.

Here's number 2:

(Not as lopsided as it looks, it's just stretched that way.)

This is made using up some more Paton'c Classic Merino. I bought a whole big bunch when it was on sale for $3/skein, and this sweater destashed about 1.5 skeins. See, knitting for kids is totally economical! Acrylic kids' sweater at the store: $20 and up. That's for acrylic.

-Wool yarn for niece's sweater: $5.
-Needles: $6 (and are reusable!)
-Total: $11
-Knowing that my beautiful niece is warm this winter: priceless.

This sweater was also designed by me. It's a seamless saddle-shoulder pullover, made following EZ's instructions in Knitting Workshop. The "seams" turned out a bit messy, but blocking evened them out nicely.

(A more accurate representation of the color.)

You know, I really like EZ. I was very frustrated with her at first, because it was hard to understand exactly what she meant. Then I relaxed and followed her advice of not worrying about a stitch or two. If it looks right, I probably did it right. It just generally made me get over alot of my perfectionistic tendencies, which felt great.

And, of course, I couldn't leave Baby Niece sweaterless, so I pulled out my leftover skein of leafy green Classic Merino and the leftover Swish, and made her this:

Another EZ-type sweater, this is a round yoke cardigan. I knit the sleeves in the round and tried the jogless join for the first time. I don't have close-ups of the joins, but trust me when I say that they're nearly invisible. Thanks, TECHknitter!

In a previous post, I'd already discussed how I carried the yarn between stripes to avoid having to snip it and weave in 129,703,456,345 ends.

I'm pretty pleased with these buttons, too.

Well, that's not right

2007-10-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

I started knitting that raglan cardigan for Big Niece a bit ago. I was basically winging it, sort of using the EZ percentage system, but not really, because I made the sleeves 40% instead of 33%. They just seemed too small at 33%. Everything was going fine.

The problem came in with doing the raglan decreases. How deep are a two-year-old's shoulders? I used the chart from the Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan for help. It said that a 2-year-old's raglan should measure 7 inches.

I looked down at my all-but-finished sweater. That was definitely NOT 7 inches!

Frog. Reknit. Still not 7. Frog. Reknit. Yes! Seven inches! Knit the collar, add the buttons, and huzzah, we're done.

But wait a minute. This doesn't look right, does it?

The way that sweater's knit, the sleeves start at her elbows. That can't be right!

Finally, a stroke of genius: the chart meant that the circumference of the raglan was 7", rather than measuring if you lay the sweater flat and go from armpit to neck.

You know what follows. Frog. Reknit. This time I listened to EZ: she suggests making the yoke depth as a quarter of the body measurement. In my case, for the 23 inch chest, that was about 5.5 inches.

That's much better, isn't it?

And check out these adorable buttons. I think they go great with the autumnally warm yarn!

Culinary delights

2007-10-15T10:02:00.001-07:00

Lots of knitting to show you guys this week -- check back often!

But first, a little something for the taste buds.

I had this dish over at Jenny's house, and it was so amazing that I had to try to recreate it at home:

Whole-wheat pasta with olive oil, chopped garlic (lots of it! I heated the olive oil with the garlic in it to bring out the flavor, but didn't roast the garlic), halved cherry tomatoes, and feta. So good, and so, so easy to make. I forgot the basil, but it was still delicious.

Fresh steamed asparagus on the side.

Then I decided I had to learn how to make apple pie. Something about the weather getting colder and gloomier just drives me to bake. And what better to bake in October than apple pie from scratch?

The fact that I've never made apple pie, and have never made pie crust from scratch didn't stop me.

I was also undaunted that I had two hours to make this thing, between church and going to babysit. During those two hours, I also had to get butter and eggs and make lunch. I left to go babysit with the pie in the oven, trusting the husband to turn it off. He bakes alot, too, and probably better than I do, so he did a good job :)

I found a crust recipe. It WAS easy, and came out great! I cut the recipe in half and threw the flour and butter in the food processor. That gave a pretty workable dough, so by the time I added the water and egg it was nice and pliable. I rolled it out between two sheets of wax paper and flipped the
bottom crust out into my Pyrex pie plate:

The apple filling was very easy! Five Gala apples (a representative sample shown below):

(Like lambs to the slaughter, aren't they.)

The apples were peeled and cored and chopped to half-inch cubes, which took no time thanks to a peeler and an apple corer. That was the hard part, too, because adding the sugars and spices and stuff was a breeze.

And it baked up delicious! I was told that this recipe has too much sugar, but I liked it. So did my Husband. It was certainly sweet, but not annoyingly so. It was, however, quite rich.

For the record, the crust is great. Very buttery and flaky, almost like shortbread, but without the sugar. It set off the sweetness of the pie well, but the crust would also do well in savory pies, I think.

Startitis

2007-10-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've definitely got it bad.

Exhibit A:

That's a Classic Merino pullover for Big Niece. It's almost done, with only the underarm seaming (it's knit in the round, following EZ's directions for a seamless saddle-shoulder sweater) and end-weaving remaining. But did I spend the remaining hour to finish this off before moving on? No, of course not. Instead, I cast on for

Exhibit B:

A striped cardigan, knit in one piece, for Baby Niece. Knit in alternating stripes of Classic Merino (the lighter green) and Swish Superwash left over from Robin Hood, with a seed stitch buttonband border knit in in intarsia as I go.

I'm pretty proud of myself on this one, though, as I've found what I think is a good way to get around cutting the yarn for every stripe and leaving myself with all those ends to weave:

The way this is knit, I never have to trail my main leafy-green yarn, because it's always in use to either work the buttonhole band or to do the buttonhole band AND the stripe. The dark green, though, is trailed every time I knit with leaf-green, and since I have to use a separate piece of yarn for the button band, that gets trailed when I'm knitting the leafy green stripes. (Come to think of it, I don't ever have to trail that. I could just use intarsia and keep knitting the button band with it even though I'm not actually doing a color change.)

Anyway, whenever I have to trail the dark green, I tuck it behind the working leafy-green yarn as I go. It's almost invisible from the right side, unless I really stretch the fabric, and avoids having a big loop of yarn on the reverse side. This means that there are much fewer ends for me to do!

And, of course, I'm still not done with the raglan from my last post. I did get done, but I have issues with it, which will be detailed next, once I rework them.

I also started a Christmas present for my husband, but I'm not posting that on here, because he occasionally reads. If you have me on Ravelry, though, you'll see soon enough :)

Oh, and when the new Magknits came out, I just HAD to make the Burridge Blanket. I've been meaning to make an afghan for my brother-in-law, and this was exactly what I envisioned for him. Unfortunately, the yarn I originally ordered (Caron Simply Soft...what, you think I'm made of money, to be able to afford a blanket's amount of wool?), though claiming to be off-white, was actually butter-yellow. Despite my husband's assurances that it looked nice, I'm sending it back and getting Bone instead. Because the husband is also the one that liked the Autumnal Gay Flag blanket. So. He obviously can't be trusted.

So, lots of things to work on! The baby stuff has to be done first, because I need to mail that next weekish. That leaves me with the Nativity, Burridge (which may be done for Christmas, or left for BIL's birthday in April), husband's gift, and, hopefully, a sweater for Husband. He knows all about the sweater, so that'll get posted here.

Hi there!

2007-10-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm definitely out of my knitting slump and knitting up a storm! I've finished all the baby items for Twig's non-grandkids, but I'm not showing these quite yet (although I've made no effort to hide them, either). I don't think it's giving too much away, though, to say that each kid will get a sweater, a hat, and a pair of booties. So that was kind of alot of knitting all in about a week.

I'm back, baby!

Then I got an accusatory phonecall from my mom:

Mom: So I've been scouring stores looking for warm sweaters for your nieces. Where am I supposed to find wool sweaters in Georgia?? And it's not like they have an aunt who knits or anything!

Me: Ok, casting on a sweater right now!

So I did:

It's just a basic percentagey bottom-up raglan cardigan. The yarn is Paton's Classic Merino in Royal. A friend gave me three skeins of it for Christmas, and while the colorway is gorgeous, and so rich, I just couldn't figure out what to do with it. Not enough for a sweater. I don't need a hat or scarf, and don't know anyone who does AND who would wear such bright colors. For a while, I was going to combine this yarn with the same yarn in Petal Pink, of which I also have 3 skeins, to make the Rambling Rose cardigan (scroll down), but that was a fiasco. So it's just sat, and glared at me accusingly. (My stash in general has gotten rather oppressive, and I've been trying very hard to work from it, successfully.) And so when my mom called, I figured this would make a nice toddler sweater!

The only thing is, the fabric is pretty thick. I mean, it's worsted weight (size 7 needles). It's fine for an outer sweater, but she'll be wearing it under her jacket. Hopefully it's flexy enough. I think it is. I just really didn't want to go out and buy lighter weight yarn without destashing some.

I think the Petal Pink Classic Merino will, too, become a toddler sweater. My baby niece, who can still be swaddled and who has inherited all the wool sweaters I made for Big Niece, will get a sweater, too, and it might just be leftovers from the pink and Royal yarns. They'd be nice striped together in a simple raglan.

Of course, I have an ambitious Christmas knitting list, but more about that later. I've already mentioned the Jean Greenhowe Nativity set, though, and I've been plogging along with it:

Get your minds out of the gutter, people! That's Joseph! Obviously, much work remains for him. And then there are all the other figures to make. But I figure I have Mary and Baby Jesus already, so with Joseph (and a manger), that's a complete nativity, and if I never get around to the Wise Men and Shepherds, I can make them for Christmases to come to be added to the scene. In fact, I might do just that.

What was I thinking???

2007-09-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

You'll be happy to know that the blanket from my previous post has been frogged. What was I thinking? It was hideous! I tried taking out some colors, and changing the stripe patterns, and all that, and it was still hideous.

*shudder*

Catty-corner

2007-09-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

I decided that my in-laws need an afghan for their living room. They recently remodelled, and don't have one that matches.

It's a very simple, garter-stitch blanket made on the diagonal. It grows deceptively quickly, because you start out so small, which is encouraging. But unlike triangular shawls, which end with their widest repeat, I get to start decreasing it halfway through. So hopefully, that means a quick start and then an encouraging finish as it gets smaller and smaller.

The colors will, I think, match the in-laws living room perfectly. They have sage-green couches and the rest of the thing is done in, basically, autumn colors. Rich red and deep orange. The purple and gray complement the others.

Oh, I found the pattern in All-Time Great Afghans, a book from the early 80s published by McCall's. I got it for free, and most of the patterns there involve Tunisian crochet and embroidery on the finished afghan. Because if I'm gonna spend weeks crocheting an afghan, I then want to spend another month embroidering it. I do not think so. But some of the patterns are quite doable and quite nice.

As usual these days, I'm stash diving. This is Caron Simply Soft, which is coming out quite nice and snug feeling. I'm turning into a yarn snob, but I can still stand this stuff :) I'm loving the texture of garter stitch, too.

There has been more knitting for Twig's not-so-grandchildren, but I'm not posting those until I've sent them.

Watch out for flying pigs

2007-09-16T12:35:00.001-07:00

I haven't touched my needles in three weeks.

What happens when you're not paying attention

2007-09-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

It seems I accidentally started a catfight on Ravelry...

(It starts out civil enough, and ends with people calling people "comment whores," which, obviously, starts a fight. Oops...)

And I didn't notice until today. Shows you how well I pay attention. Actually, I avoid participating in forums for that reason; I forget I said anything and never see the responses.

Did I ever tell y'all about how I single-handedly, and completely innocently, started a post-doc fight my first day of work? My very first day of working in a real, grown-up lab, when I was a fresh-faced lass of 18, I was shadowing a post-doc to help her with her project and, you know, gain work experience. My lab experience, until that point, consisted of two college bio lab classes, and even though I had tried my hand at alot of different techniques, I was't what you'd call experienced. I needed alot of explanations and alot of hand-holding that first day, so I was feeling like I was being a real pain-in-the-neck. Because, well, I WAS, even if I couldn't help it. Thankfully, the post-doc I was working with was extremely kind and patient.

Anyway, that first day, I, my post-doc, another post-doc, and another woman are all going to lunch. The other post-doc asks, "So, what did you learn on your first day?"

Someone else said, "Maybe she's taught her post-doc something!"

Other post-doc: "What could she teach her?"

Dove (who, remember, was feeling like a complete pain): "Patience!"

The other post-doc (the one who wasn't training me) wheels around on my post-doc and the other woman. "PATIENCE? Are you saying I'm not patient? Who is talking behind my back? What did you say to her?"

Etc.

Yeah. Oops. Great way to start off my scientific career, right?

Anyway, I have a knack for accidentally starting fights, it seems.

Birthday loot!

2007-08-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

I forgot to show you my fantabulous birthday loot! How silly of me.

First off, a friend sent me this lovely Alpaca Boucle from Plymouth Yarns:

Three whole skeins! I wonder what to make with it...

Another friend sent me Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael and Bead Knitted Bags by Julia Pretl. And I bought myself Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits.

I never even considered Knitting Lingerie Style until I got it, but I am very, very taken with it. There's knitted lingerie and underwear, true, but there are also alllll kinds of garments. Socks, tops (shaped as camisoles or corsets), skirts, pants, shorts, and a dress. And while I may never make knitted undies (and if I do, I may never tell you), I'm definitely making at least some of the tops from that book!

And the beaded bags book is definite eye candy. Each bag pattern is preceeded with a smaller project to help you learn the techniques, and I want to make all of these! I love the feel of beaded fabric, and I'm a total magpie for everything shiny. And the book even comes with a DVD to demonstrate the techniques!

I'm also quite happy with Fitted Knits. It is pretty repetitive with the patterns, but since I like one of them, I like the rest. I am certainly planning a few things from there. Ooo, maybe I can make one of the shrugs with my Alpaca Boucle!

And I also got baking stuff. My sweet husband got me THE coolest Bundt pan ever:

He is so sweet. He says he thinks making and decorating this cake will make a great tradition for our kids. You know, the future, hypothetical kids.

And I got myself a shortbread mold:

Though the shortbread made in it doesn't quite come out crisply stamped, it has, nonetheless, been delicious.

And a question for you guys: do you listen to knitting podcasts? If so, which? I recently joined a gym and need something to keep the boredom at bay while I work out.

Call me Ahab

2007-08-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Remember all those projects I was working on? The nativity scene. The Mystery Stole. Mom's jacket.

Yeah. Me neither.

Because, like captain Ahab, I am obsessively in persuit of the Great (off-)White ~~Whale~~ Sweater. And everything else lies forgotten until I finish them danged sleeves.

One sleeve is done. I knit it in the round, and then switched to knitting flat for the raglan shaping. I'm less than thrilled with it. See that "seam" line? It kind of twists itself around the sweater, and it's not really in the middle. I'm afraid it'll show, although, trying the sleeve on, when it's centered on the shoulder, it's mostly under my arm. Depending on how the knitting for the second sleeve goes, I may frog the raglan cap and center it better.

(I'm obviously not a perfectionist. If you want perfect knitting and problem solving and dilligent correcting of mistakes, this is not the place for you :) If, however, you want "creative" and "time-saving" solutions to glaring problem that eventually make for the frustration and time-wasting for the knitter (i.e., me), you've come to the right place.)

Anyway, yes, that is a few inches of the second sleeve that you see! It's been another very busy few weeks, so little knitting has occurred, but it's moving along slowly.

I've also been doing baking. What's with the baking lately? Who the hell decides that the height of summer heat is the time for running her oven? Seriously, Dove. And remember, dearie, this isn't a baking blog.

Oh! But there are so many great patterns out for the fall! I just picked up IK's issue, and love it. I love Eunny Jang's cardigan -- that's a must-make; Hedgerow coat; the Placed Cable Aran; Minimalist cardi; Mirepoix bodice; and am still going back and forth on a few others. I love the Twinkle design, but, let's face it. Very few of us can actually pull off bulky knits.

I love the Vogue Knitting anniversary issue, too! Did you know the website has ten free patterns? And they ain't bad! As always with VK, there are some patterns that just make me boggle as to who the heck would ever wear that, let alone make it, but also patterns that I just gotta knit.

In sad news, Pushkin died. The fish, not the poet, though the poet's not so alive, either.

Meet the newest member of our family

2007-08-12T12:49:00.001-07:00

This is Pushkin. He is a goldfish.

I was volunteering at a fundraiser yesterday, and the centerpieces on the tables were fishbowls with goldfish. We were allowed to take them home at the end of the night -- the fish would have probably just gotten flushed if we didn't. After a rather harrowing 1.5 hour journey, he settled comfortably at my house.

Of course, this free goldfish has already cost us $40 in supplies -- the bowl he was in really was too small, so we got a bigger one. And the gravel. And the food. And the little net to fish him out with. Yeah.

He's obviously not knitting related, and, given that I have no intentions of knitting aquarium cozies, never will be. But he sure is pretty!

Dead

2007-08-09T08:30:00.001-07:00

The heat and humidity killed me. Send ice cream.

MAKE IT STOP!

2007-08-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

See that? That's most -- not all -- of sleeve 1 of Lucky . Sleeve ONE. As in, one more still to come. This has taken me all week to make. And I'm still not done, despite knitting in the round, which, for me, goes quite a bit faster.

The second sleeve is mocking me. As is the super-long neckband and tie. As is all the assembly work.

And it's the same pattern over and over again!

Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop MAKE IT STOP!

Can you tell I'm no longer enjoying this?

I swear, if after all this it doesn't fit, I am burning it. There will be NO reknitting of this, only conflagration.

On the bright side, it's my birthday! I am 26, which is an odd age. It's neither here nor there, but starts its slow creep towards 30, which is a bit intimidating. Of course, I got yarn -- pictures to come -- though not as much as in previous years, thank God. I've run out of storage space! I did, also, get a gift certificate to Joann from my in-laws (I'm their favorite to shop for, I think. They get me the same thing for every single occasion, and I'm just as thrilled with it each time), but I think that will go towards sewing notions!

Quickies

2007-08-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

1. What the HECK was I thinking, starting an adult-sized sweater in fingering-weight cotton on size 2 needles? What? The? Heck! I cast on for this thing a month ago, and I just got the back done. And I still have the sleeves to go! Must find out if I can do the sleeves in the round; might very well be possible. And then, of course, the assembly, knitting the neckband, etc. I see now why people grow to hate Lucky. I'll be lucky (get it?) if I finish this before I've gained or lost such significant amounts of weight that it will no longer fit.

2. Just in case you were curious about what pattern Mom picked from the Giant Swatch of DOOOM , it was the snowflake lace.

3. Measurin', calculatin', and ramblin' on Mom's lace jacket coming soon. Don't worry, you get to be with me every step of the way -- oh joy! I'm a bit nervous, designing, but I did do it once before with Dad's vest, so I think I'll be ok? Of course, this jacket will involve sleeves. Must read up on sleeve cap shaping.

4. Mystery Stole clue out today! And I still haven't finished the last clue! Slacker! And...I'm totally confused about Clue 5! YAY!

I'm tired....

World's biggest swatch!

2007-08-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Actually, I'm sure there are bigger ones out there, somewhere. But this one is pretty dang huge. It incorporates four different patterns plus a stockinette area, and took up an entire 50g skein of Elann's Sonata.

This is for my mom's lacy jacket, and she gets to decide which pattern she likes best. Which is good, because I'm at a bit of a loss! I kinda like all of them. Except maybe the snowflake pattern. Not too big a fan of that.

Like any reasonable person, I just pulled out my Barbara Walker Treasury (Vol.2) and flipped through all the lace patterns. There are many more that I found appealing, but I think these show a nice variety, so that Mom can choose what she wants.

Here is a pretty large, all-over lace pattern -- Fountain Lace. It has the disadvantage of being a bit difficult to shape, but it's pretty, and slimmingly vertical.

And here's another very airy lace, but with a smaller pattern -- Spider Lace. Has the advantage of being super-easy to do, but the disadvantage of being, possibly, too open.

A more demure fabric, this is Snowflake Lace. I'm not wild about it, but it's easy to execute and to shape, and might be more covering.

I do like this Leaf Lace. Also quite covering, with an interesting texture in addition to the eyelets. It has a small pattern repeat, making it easy to shape, but it's a two-sided lace, which means I don't get purl rows to "rest" on. That's ok, though.

I'm a big fan of this yarn, too. It's smooth and soft, knits up nicely, has a nice gloss and beautiful drape, and isn't as hard as some other cotton yarns I've used.

Anniversary roses

2007-07-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

The roses my husband got me for our anniversary. I have a weakness for sunset-colored roses.

Eye candy Monday?

2007-07-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Honestly, these were my only creative accomplishment this weekend:

They're almond chocolate sandwich cookies, and they were dang good, if very time consuming. The recipe is from Mary Engelbreit's Cookie Cookbook.

Partly because these actually took quite a bit of time to make, and partly because I was busy re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, not alot of knitting got done this weekend, though I did finish about a third of this week's Mystery Stole clue.

See? It's longer.

Everything else is kind of on hold. I haven't touched Lucky in a few days.

Don't expect this to change this week -- I still have all of Deathly Hallows to read!

Faceless

2007-07-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

But otherwise completed:

Here's Mary holding baby Jesus. The way I caught her sleeve on her gown, she can't actually hold him, but he'll be in a manger anyway (which is what I'm knitting now).

I think I'll be ok for finishing the nativities. These two figures only took a couple of hours, and they really don't have that many pieces. Mary consisted of the body and head, which I knit in one piece; two sleeves; two hands; and the headpiece. So a total of six pieces, and making her up was record-fast -- maybe half an hour. The Baby was a body and head knitted in one piece, and the headdress (those are not arms. That's just the headdress.). As always, everything I can knit in the round, I do. You have no idea how much seaming that saves!

I need to find my black yarn and embroider the faces, obviously.

I've also been busy baking:

Deliciously sandy sugar cookies decorated with colored sugars by me and a friend. The recipe is pretty basic, but I got it from Mary Engelbreit's Cookie Recipes, which I can't seem to find a link to. This weekend, I'm takling almond-chocolate sandwich cookies from the same book.

Three times as strong as the rope that you buy domestically

2007-07-18T08:31:00.001-07:00

I got hemp yarn:

Isn't it purdy? It's Hemp for Knitting's allhemp3.

Unfortunately, it has to go back. It's not pure white, which is what my mom wanted for her jacket. And thinking about it, I think it's a bit too rustic for Mom's tastes, anyway. Maybe I'll keep a skein to play around with, but the rest are going back (there are 11).

Instead, I think I'll order some Elann.com Lara (a sportsweight, mercerized cotton) for my mom's jacket. The weight and color are right, and it's inexpensive. I'd still love to do bamboo or soysilk, but I just can't afford it right now, esp. if Mom ends up not being crazy about it. I know she likes cotton, so I don't think I can go wrong with that...

Kudos to Kpixie, though. I ordered this yarn at around noon last Saturday. An hour later, it was shipped to me, and it came this morning! How's that for awesome service?

There once was a Mary

2007-07-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Who looked like a shoe:

This is how far I got with the Nativity scene I'm making for the in-laws. I figured I'd start with Mary, just in case I only get that far. Oddly enough, she's halfway done here! Only the Baby/manger, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, and sheep to go! And the Husband says that his grandparents will want one, too. Oh well. I still have time before December!

(Guess what yarn I'm using. Just guess.)

The Lucky cardigan is progressing nicely. Nothing really to say or show - it basically looks the same. I'm almost up to the sleeve shaping on the back.

And the third clue for the Mystery Stole came out Friday. By 2am Saturday, I was done with it. It's coming out so pretty!

Sadly, no new clue this Friday because of Harry Potter 7! Yes, I am a HP fan, and have the book ordered, so there may or may not be an update next Monday.

Babbling

2007-07-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

No pictures today, just writing out what I need/want to make by Christmas.

For me:

1. Finish Lucky.

2. Finish the Mystery Stole (third clue out today! Eeee!).

3. Finish the Circle Cardi.

For others:

1. My mom wants a lacy summer jacket/shrug-type thing. She's pretty specific with what she wants -- not too short; lacy, but not too open; comes together at the front, even if it doesn't button; three-quarter sleeves; WHITE; not wool or synthetic. I was thinking of designing this myself in crochet, and of using a yarn I've never tried before. I'm deciding between bamboo, soy silk, and hemp. Hemp is the most affordable of these options, so, given that this will be crocheted, I might need to resort to that. Plus I know hemp will be cool and durable, whereas I'm not sure about bamboo or soysilk.

2. I want to make the Jean Greenhowe nativity (you can view it by flipping through the 28-Page Christmas Special book over here) for my in-laws and/or for my husband's grandparents. I should get started now and make a toy a week or something.

3. My in-laws just got new living room furniture, and I'd like to make them a throw to go with it.

4. My brother-in-law just moved into his first grown-up apartment, and I think he'd like a throw, too!

But two throws might be a bit overly ambitious at this point, given how little time I have to knit these days. Ah well. My projects can *sniff* wait.

Eye candy cupcake Wednesday

2007-07-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate eye-candy Wednesday than with a plate of cupcakes?

You can read the whole story behind the cupcakes here.

For those curious, I used this cupcake recipe, which had a pleasing texture but was very bland. I "frosted" these with whipped cream that I whipped, and overwhipped because of the heat, and filled these (using the cone method such as described here) with fresh strawberries. A few hours before filling, I diced the berries and sprinkled them with sugar, letting them macerate in the fridge.

As I've said, though, the cupcakes were disappointing -- too bland, and the strawberry filling didn't help the "lid" to stay on. But I had some uniced ones left over that we just spread Betty Crocker chocolate icing on, and that worked a bit better. And the strawberry burst in the middle was very refreshing and nice.

Hubris

2007-07-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Warning: this is long and picture-heavy.

Well, it keeps me humble, huh? I just finished what I thought was a lovely FO -- Rona -- and thought I was pretty hot stuff. "Hey," I thought, "I can do lace! And lots of it! And in a circle! Go me! I can do anything!"

Um, yeah. Not so much.

Enter sweaters:

1. This is an oldie bot goody. The Sweet Mary-Jane, the pattern for which is now off the Knitpicks website. I swatched and everything, and decided that the medium size would fit me well. I cast on, and dilligently knit about, oh, six inches. It was coming out quite pretty!

Then something possessed me to take it off the needles and measure it.

See that? That's the body of the cardigan folded over. That's 22 inches, you're reading it right. That means that I'd end up with a 44 inch chest to fit my 36 inch frame. And ease is good and all, but not THAT much!

Frrrooooggg.

I wanted to cast on for a smaller size, but lost the pattern, so, instead, this became the Mystery Stole 3 stole. More on that later, but it's going much better. The yarn, btw, is Knitpicks Shadow in Lost Lake, a really gorgeous mossy green.

But that's not why we're here. We're here to talk about FAILURES, so let's move onto

2. I've been dying to make the Rambling Rose Cardigan by Laura Zukaite (scroll down). I even had the what I thought was perfect yarn for it -- Paton's Classic Merino in Regency for the background and Petal Pink for the lacy parts. I swatched, carelessly (in my defense, what do I ever make that requires precise swatching? Not shawls. Not socks, really, especially since I know the yarns I work with now. Not baby things, since I knit loosely and the babe WILL eventually grow into them. And definitely not toys.), and discovered that my gauge was a bit loose -- 16 st/4in rather than the 18 (I think?) called for in the pattern.

Not to worry. I sat down and cranked out the chest measurements that my gauge would give, and decided that the resulting 36 inches (I think) would fit me better than the 30 inch chest the pattern was written for. So I boldly cast on, omitting the shell pattern which, I think, really detracts from the crisp lines of the cardigan. And, of course, I was knitting the back and fronts in one piece.

Everything was going great -- I was even digging the way the variegated yarn was working out for the pattern -- and then I remembered that my waist is NOT 36 inches, and the cardigan had no shaping. And part of why I loved this pattern was the sleek fit. So I decided to give the pattern some shaping. By just throwing in some decreases:

See that buckling? Yeah. I could fix that by placing the decreases differently, but that would make the lace panels all wonky. Maybe if I made it tight enough, the stretch would even the lace out, but I'm not sure I want to knit an entire cardigan only to find out I hate it, so I think this will get put aside.

On the positive, though, I love intarsia. The way it creates a seamless, tidy fabric from two colors is just magical to me.

But I do not love this about intarsia -- the tangles.

Now that we're back on a sour note, let's continue with

3. Having found the thorns of the Rambling Rose (har, har...), and having danced my last dance with Mary Jane (har...har...), I scrambled around looking for any sweater (because I HAD to make an adult sweater, dangit) pattern I could find, and stumbled across Lucky wrap cardigan from Stitch'n'Bitch Nation. Perfect, thought I. I even have the yarn for it -- the Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet thread in Natural, that I got last year with birthday money. I had 8 skeins of it, and have worked with it before, and thought it would work nicely.

I went back to the original gauge I made back in January and measured it, and with size 3 needles, as the pattern called for, got dead-on gauge. Dead. On. So I cast on for the small size in the car on our way to Cleveland. That seemed too big, so I frogged and restarted with the XS. By the time I finished the back during the ride back, however, it was obvious that it was too big and too loose.

Yes, I know, I know. Always swatch meticulously. Lesson learned. You got me.

This one has a happier ending than the rest, though (although the Mystery Stole is quite happy, too), since I discovered that I get great gauge with size 2 needles, and the fabric looks much better:

The old back is on the left, the newly reworked front is on the right.

I'm still making the XS size, because it is a little bit too loose still. It measures like it would fit so far. I have, so far, made the fronts and started the back. I'm hopeful.

A note on the pattern: it's going smoothly so far. I altered shaping to account for my different row gauge, but that's it. It's also not as boring as I feared -- there's enough going on in there to keep me interested. The cotton is a bit hard to knit, though.

And now, of course, the positive: the Mystery Stole. Please forgive the poor pictures--it's an awful color to photograph, and it was already dark out.

I'm having so much fun with this! I've never done a KAL before, and was reluctant to join this one. I only joined because I figured, hey, free shawl pattern. Then I saw everyone's pictures! And then I went back and looked at Melanie's other patterns, and they are just gorgeous! So I had to start right away, and, despite being a week behind, finished both clues in one weekend. I'm so hooked! I hate having to wait until Friday for the next set of directions, but I love reading the chart and seeing this nifty pattern emerge.

(BTW, I've found a good way of keeping my place in the pattern. I took a four-pack of hi-liters and went through and colored every other row with a different color. That way, I know I'm following just the yellow, and my eyes don't wander all over the place, losing my spot. And I've found that knitting the chart for the right side backwards works better for me than reading the right side chart and then the left side chart. Which is nice, because I don't have to worry about piecing together the two sides. Someone warn me, though, when it stops being symmetrical.)

And, FINALLY: Happy anniversary to the most wonderful man in the world. I love you so much, Darling.

Baaaaa!

2007-07-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, I, too, have succumbed and joined the Mystery Stole 3 KAL . I haven't started knitting it yet, of course, but I'm excited to begin.

And also, a manifesto:

(Somebody hum "America the Beautiful." Or "O Canada." Or "Old McDonald.")

My dear readers, I have been remiss in blogging, and I feel that this must change. The blogosphere has suffered greatly without my adding regular knitting blather to its ranks. And we can't have thinning in the blogosphere, now, can we?

With this in mind, I would like to introduce to you A Format. A structure, if you will, for my future blog posts. This will allow you, dear readers, to count on several weekly posts from yours truly, as well as to allow you to skip material you may not find interesting.

So, the following format will henceforth be followed, unless there is a Good Reason not to:

1. WIP Mondays: this is self-explanatory. The status of my current projects will be discussed, with pictures when possible. The weekend will allow me to take pictures, so this is why WIP day is placed on Mondays.

1. Eye Candy Wednesdays: This will include, well, anything that I feel like showing you that is also aesthetically pleasing. It will usually pertain to knitting -- pretty yarn skeins or books, pictures of old FOs finally modeled by their recepients, etc. In particular, this will include the Cute Kid edition, with pictures of all the Cute Kids I knit for showing off their knits. But this may also include things like the botanical garden shots from my last post. Just anything pretty, because there's just not much blogging time during the week!

3. Free Speech Fridays: This can be anything -- anything craft-related, that is. FOs, future projects, stash-flashes (that didn't make it to Eye Candy Wednesday), book-coveting, more WIPs, whatever. If it's craft (and usually, craft = knitting in my case), it'll be here.

Of course, this doesn't mean that I'll never post on a Tuesday. But this is the format I'd like to try sticking to, just to discipline myself to blog and document my work. It's for my own good, really. Of course, there will also be Mondays when I just have nothing to show, or Fridays when I'm out of town. But, in general, this format will be observed.

Thank you for your attention.

In bloom

2007-06-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just in time for my department's graduation party, I completed the Rona Lace shawl.

It may also be called my most favorite FO ever. It was wonderful to knit, and the constantly changing pattern kept me interested. In fact, one of the reasons I picked this pattern was that it combined various lace motifs. Y'all know how quickly I get bored. And this did not disappoint! I barely got the urge to knit something else at all, and, in fact, I had a very hard time putting it down!

The second reason I picked this particular pattern was that I thought that the flower motif would complement the bright, spring-green color of the yarn. See, I bought the yarn first -- an impulse buy. I apparently am completely incapable of resisting alpaca. It's just so soft! And the color was nice and springy (I bought this on my husband's birthday...in December). And it was on sale. So, yeah. In the end, I think that the pattern and yarn worked very, very nicely together.

Plus, the color of the yarn complements my favorite dress, which has embroidery of that exact shade of green in it. And, when folded in half, the shawl is the perfect size for me to wear, measuring a little over 5 feet in diameter, or just long enough to reach my hands and cover my whole back.

I love how it looks worn. And it's warm without being at all stuffy or sweaty. I should know -- I wore it last night :)

Of course, the specs:

Pattern: Rona Lace Shawl by Anna Marie Jensen, distributed by Knit Picks
Yarn: Misti Alpaca laceweight, colorway Maize
Needles: Boye Needlemaster size 5
Crochet hook: Susan Bates size H (the pattern didn't specify, so I just picked the size that seemed closest to the size of the needles)
Notes: There are apparently mistakes in the pattern, but I didn't notice. There is an errata page, and this has been covered on the Lace Shawl KAL blog.

Because I just can't get enough, here are some detail shots:

It certainly looks nice blocked (though I couldn't, for the life of me, pin it into a nice circle, and I ruined the peaks on the edges), but it didn't look TOO bad before blocking, either, though a bit too ruffly:

And speaking of things blooming, my husband and I had a lovely date last weekend at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

Beautiful, no?

And here's my handsome husband:

A conversation with my husband

2007-06-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Husband: So what round are you on with your shawl?

Dove: 135 of 153.

Husband: If you were dyslexic, you'd be done by now.

(I'm actually now on round 148! I am so, so close! Of course, the shawl in question is still Rona, my beloved.)

Twinkle, twinkle

2007-06-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

In my recent stash diving adventure, I found a UFO that I'd left to stagnate for a year or so. It was taking up most of a box, and I had been knitting it out of a baby sweater I'd started and was frogging.

So I pulled it out and finished it:

It's the Little Star afghan that was ubiquitous around the crochet community for a while. My mom found some fluffy yarn at Big Lots, and I couldn't think of anything else to make with it. That's the white and pink stuff you see here. Those two colors didn't give me a big enough blanket, so I added some Bernat Baby Boucle, from a baby sweater I became disillusioned with.

So, yeah. It's done. I'm not sure whom I'll give it to.

And I can't resist putting up this picture of Baby Niece wearing the the Trellis I made her:

I also tried to buy sock yarn today, but the store didn't carry any solid-colored sock yarn. I was sad.

Wouldn't you?

2007-06-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

At my last dental checkup, I found out two things:

1. I have a small cavity that needs to be filled (boo! This is despite my taking EXCELLENT care of my teeth, by the way. Not fair!)

2. My dentist is on the same block with a yarn store!

Alas, the day I scheduled my ~~torture~~ filling appointment is the day the yarn store is closed.

Am I the only one who would seriously consider rescheduling for a day the yarn store is open?

Of course, I don't want to start associating yarn with negative stuff like dentists, either.

In other news, I do have an FO to show you. I can't, though, because my husband took the camera out of town with him.

And, finally, I just got my Ravelry invite. If you're on there, look me up -- I'm blakdove. Actually, if you see something by blakdove online, chances are, that was me. Bonus points to anyone who picks up the song that nickname references.

I can stop any time I want.

2007-05-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

And this, folks, is why I needed to go on a yarn diet!

That's ten (10. TEN. TEN!!!) Rubbermaid bins full of yarn, plus that big cardboard box, plus the canvas bag on the left, plus several skeins in my work basket (not shown). When I pulled it out into the dining room, I couldn't get around it.

I have since organized and catalogued all of it, and will post a list at some point, maybe!

Incidentally, I've been doing very well with the yarn diet, only buying things needed to finish a project. I got four skeins of Wool of the Andes for my dad's DNA vest, and when that turned out to be too much, turned the skeins into a teddy bear. I bought black Wool-Ease to finish the crazy-square afghan. And I bought 8 skeins of Shine Worsted for the secret publishing project, which I haven't even started on, so that was out of keeping with the diet, but hey, I'm human. And I've done a decent job destashing, too!

I've been tagged for the 7-things meme by both Amanda and Cara, so I guess I have no choice but to answer. So, here goes! (I did a similar one a bit ago, but this is all new.)

1. I married my first serious boyfriend, and I was his first girlfriend. In a word, we really lucked out!

2. I came very close to having a black belt in Shuri-Ryu karate.

3. I pierced most of my own ear piercings. With a stud earring. Only one ever got infected, and it was because I was fiddling with it after I pierced it.

4. I floss twice a day, every day. Incidentally, I haven't had a cavity since I started flossing regularly.

5. I've never been able to do a cartwheel.

6. I've lived in Moscow, Atlanta, middle-of-nowhere-Ohio, and Chicago. To people's disappointment, I have neither a Russian accent (though some claim that I do have a very slight one, most agree that I do not) nor a Southern one. If anything, I have a Midwestern accent. I attribute my general lack of accent to learning English by watching TV.

7. I had my very first Circus Peanuts last night, and I must say, they are as vile as I've always heard they are.

I'm not tagging anyone, because most of y'all have already done this, but hey, if you want to, go for it.

Summer knitting goals

2007-05-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

So, there's apparently a fabulous knitting contest thrown by Skeins Her Way. You know that cute tank you see in all the advertisements for Blue Sky Alpaca? Well, she designed it. Yeah.

(By the way, it's kinda a long story of how I heard about this. I found out about the contest from Lolita Blahnik's blog. And the way I found out about HER blog is by using Google Analytics, which is a free service that tracks traffic to your site. It records where people are coming from. Try it, you'll be surprised how many hits your blog gets! I get about 60-100 visitors per day, mostly from Knitting Pattern Central, where I posted my free patterns (see sidebar). Anyway, Lolita Blahnik apparently found my Cold Shoulder capelet. So, yeah, anyway, that's the story of that.)

So, here are my summer goals. I'm a bit boring, so many of them are just finishing old stuff:

1. Finish my lovely, delicious Rona Lace Shawl. It just screams summer.

2. Finish that circle cardigan I've had on the needles for a year now.

3. Finally make that original pattern I intended to publish in Knitty, and try to get it in SOMEWHERE.

4. Start (and maybe finish!) a new sweater for myself. That's a bit vague, but I'm just still undecided about what to make first.

There. Modest, but I'm busy, since I'm starting my last (I hope) year of grad school!

So, go post yours!

Knitting on the road

2007-05-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

No, not the book. The ACTION!

What's the best way to clear off the WIPs on your side bar? Well, lock yourself into a car for 14 hours one weekend with nothing but unfinished knitting projects to work on. Voila! Before long, everything is done!

Like the Plymouth Sockotta socks I started a few months ago. I actually completed an entire sock and the cuff of the second one, but stopped when I came to the heel. See, I have flap-and-gusset heels memorized, but not short-row heels, and the self-striping yarn really looks better with those. So I put the socks down until I could sit down long enough to work the heel from instructions. And, of course, once I lost momentum, it took a while to regain it.

In fact, it took a car drive. In the dark. Yes, I knit these in the dark without looking. I mean, they are just stockinette. Although I goofed and made them longer than the first pair and had to go back and fix it.

I like these. I wore them, but just to bed. I can't say I enjoy the feel of Plymouth Sockotta -- it's too...cottony and rough, and not very elastic. But the socks feel nice on. Plus, I shaped them to fit my calves. They're slouchy at the ankles, but don't let that fool you -- they actually DO stay up.

Also, they are not identical. Obviously, the yarn striped differently, especially since my gauge was quite a bit looser for the second sock than for the first -- don't know why -- but I also did the cuffs differently. I don't know why, but the first sock has 2x2 rib and the second 1x1. I just didn't look closely enough or something.

But, yeah, to sum up: Sockotta yarn, size 1 needles. Basic top-down stockinette sock with short-row heel.

And then there's these socks that I started back in July (!!!):

See? These were finished on the road. And modeled on the road. And I still had 4 hours to go, with no more knitting. I somehow survived.

These socks are in Knitpicks now-defunct Sock Garden in Daffodil, and are wonderfully soft and snug, but I'm sure will wear out quickly when I wear them with boots in the winter. They're knit on size 1 needles, top-down, using the Chevron pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks (where else?).

As with the previous pair, I knit the first sock and half of the second one, to the heel. These have "afterthought" heels, and I worked the first one per Charlene Schurch's instructions -- you cast on separately for the heel as you come to it and basically work it like you're doing a toe decrease, then knit the foot of the sock. Well, of course, since this isn't flap-and-gusset, I didn't know how to do this off the top of my head, and lost momentum. As it was, I ended up working the heel of the second one differently -- rather than working the heel immediately, I knit half the stitches on scrap yarn and then continued knitting the foot of the sock as a tube. Then I undid the scrap yarn stitches and decreased the heel after the rest of the sock was done.

I really prefer "forethought" heels to short-row heels. They LOOK nicer, are easier to do, and don't have those holes. I just can't avoid holes along the sides of short-row heels, no matter how hard I try!

Also, for some reason, the second Daffodil sock took alot less yarn than the first. And I have a decent amount left over of the Sockotta. I'm saving my sock yarn scraps so that I can one day make crazy leftover socks, with different-colored heels and toes and stuff.

Finally, the reason we were on the road:

My little brother-in-law graduated from college this weekend. This was one of his gifts. The pattern -- you guessed it -- is a Jean Greenhowe (from Knitted Animals).

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

2007-05-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

...it is a duck!

I finally got my butt in gear and finished off the duck-surprise for my good friend's baby, E. I saw the pattern in Fiona McTague's Knitted Toys, and couldn't resist. He's such a folk-art style toy. He just had to be made.

Speaking of butts, his is a different color from the rest of him:

I was running out of my the yellow, so I found a nicely coordinated lighter yellow in my extensive acrylic stash. The undersides of the wings are like that, too.

As you can guess from having read my blog before, it's all in Simply Soft acrylic. The feet are Perfect Match, and the gauge is slightly off, but, eh, it worked out:

I knit the body in the round, as always, but followed directions pretty much to a T for the rest of it.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with him. He's soft, too.

I forgot what all I was going to say on here...

Procrastination

2007-05-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

So.

My best friend's birthday bear still needs clothes.

My other best friend's baby's surprise gift is still in pieces.

I was planning on making my brother-in-law a Jean Greenhowe graduation owl mascot for his college graduation next weekend.

And then there's the project I was going to design and submit to Knitty.

And we won't even mention all the incompletes on my side bar.

Have I been working on any of these things? Of course not.

Meet the current object of my ~~affection~~ obsession: the Rona lace shawl

I know it doesn't look like much, all scrunched up like that. But this shawl is an evil, evil temptress. I started it on the drive to Cleveland last weekend, thinking it will be an innocent enough project. Little did I know that it possessed charms that would prevent me from putting it down for the next week and a half!

I love everything about this shawl. I love watching the pattern grow and change. I love having to read instructions for every single row rather than being able to memorize and repeat, ad nauseum, the same several rows over and over. I love the lovely soft Misti Alpaca laceweight yarn, airy-soft in my hands. I love how relatively quickly it goes -- I'm on row 107 of 153. It won't be a very big shawl at all. (I've completed quite a few rounds since taking the picture.)

I'm a bit confused, though, at the fact that it doesn't really increase in stitch number round to round. It does, but slowly. This makes it go faster, but also makes me, someone inexperienced in knitting flat circles, wonder if I made a mistake somewhere. We'll find out soon. Tonight, though, I have to put the shawl down and work on the surprise baby gift.

Color me crazy

2007-05-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am so sorry for not keeping up with y'all's blogs for so long. I've been pretty out of sorts and not really following knitting online. I promise to catch up.

Secondly, I finally completed a project so bright, you may want to put on sunglasses before proceeding.

I'll wait for you to go get them.

Ready?

Ok.

Ta-daaa!

See, I told you it was bright. Here's the other side:

I started this blanket right after we got married. Yes, that's almost two years ago. I basically pulled out my stash of Caron Simply Soft and started going through 200 Blocks to Crochet by Jan Eaton. It was a wonderful project for my nonexistent attention span. I was always doing something new! I loved it.

The problem was, even though all the blocks are designed to be the same size, and even though I used the same yarn and hook throughout, the sizes were all over the place. I sorted all my squares and decided that the most commonly occurring size was, and redid the other squares -- half of them -- to be that size.

Then there were the ends to weave in. Yeah. Ouch.

Then there was the joining. I just didn't have yarn that went with it, until recently. So two weeks ago, I sat down and started joining. I did a sc border in black around each square and then joining them using the slip stitch method and going in a diagonal like the book recommended. Then I ran out of black yarn and that lead to the crochet spree seen in the previous post. Then I bought more yarn and finished joining (during which I lost a square, made up a new one, joined it, and found the one I lost), did a border (two rows of dc, then a shell border), and then wove in all THOSE ends. And now, I'm done!

Now, I know it's ugly. But I love it. I can't help but smile when looking at it, and what more can you as for of an FO. It's big enough to use as a real blanket, too, and I've been sleeping under it.

The specs:

Size I Susan Bates hook. Various colors of Simply Soft for the squares, and Simply Soft, Wool-Ease, and Microspun for joining and borders. All square patterns are from the book indicated above. The finished blanket is about 6 feet by 4 feet, and is not nearly as lopsided as it looks hanging on our fence.

And I'm sure you're just dying to see all the squares individually. You can do that here. The colors are more washed out here, and the full blanket pics are much more representative.

Tune back in soon if your retinas are still intact!

Things you didn't know I was working on

2007-04-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

Actually, these are things I didn't know I was working on, until I was done! That's how quick they were. So, to make up for my MIA-ness, I present you with not one, but THREE FOs.

All of them *gasp* crocheted!

I just haven't felt like knitting. Something really evil has been going on the last two weeks, you know? The shooting is the worst, but other, more minor things have been happening to just about everyone I know. People getting sick or hurt. People's kids getting sick or hurt. Everyone feeling out of sorts. You know. Everyone seems to be recovering ok, but I'm really hoping for a new streak with this coming week.

Anyway, I needed some soothing-type projects to work on at night, and for some reason, none of the things I have on the needles were appealing. At. All. In fact, knitting wasn't appealing at all.

Moreover, it had to be something for ME.

So I dug out this crazy square blanket I started a while back and started joining the squares. Once I ran out of yarn, I suddenly remembered that I have this enormous stash of mohair-blend yarn that my mom bought at a thrift store a while back. She bought every ball they had, so I have 18 balls of it.

It was just destined to become the Cold Shoulder Capelet from The Happy Hooker:

I made more repeats than the pattern called for to get this length, but, despite the fact that I did not swatch, this yarn worked perfectly for this project.

By the way, the yarn is Riviera Vichy, which, as far as I know, is discontinued. It's 26% mohair, 24% wool, 19% nylon, 18% acrylic, and 3% polyester, making it the most blended yarn in my collection. It's also not a terribly pleasant yarn to work with, but I like the color. The capelet took less than two balls; I've got to figure out what to do with the other 16.

When this was finished (and it took me about 4 hours), I just had to keep crocheting, so I started the Fat Bottom Bag, also from the same book, in Sugar'n'Cream (less than 2 balls):

I even had handles lying around.

The crocheted flower is also from a pattern in Happy Hooker.

Finally, digging around my stash for yarn to finish the blanket with (I just KNOW I have two more skeins of black acrylic. I just cannot find it), I found some more super-old yarn. This was a 60% acrylic/40% wool blend my parents brought me from Greece 7 years ago. I started out with four skeins each of green and navy, and kept thinking they needed to be used together, but hated that color combination. Over the years, I used half the navy, but almost none of the green.

Then I decided it would be perfect for the Knot Ugly shrug (also HH). And it was!

I shortened the sleeves, certain I'd run out of yarn. I didn't. I could have made longer sleeves, but I like it this way. I also made the neck too wide, so it's more of a boobholder than a shrug, and I'm not sure I like it that way. Even adding two rows of double crochet around the edges didn't make it more, um, covering.

I dig the cute button (a plastic daisy), and do like it with this yellow tank. And the crocheted bag!

So yes, lots of FOs for MEMEMEMEME. And some destashing, which makes me happy. It was humbling, though, to see how much my crochet skills have atrophied! Wow, I'm so used to being a decently good knitter that it's hard to remember that I'm only a mediocre crocheter!

Still no knitting content

2007-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

First off, Christ is risen!

Secondly, last week was Holy Week in the Orthodox church (well, actually, all Christian churched). So I was never home, between working days and going to church every night. Needless to say, not much got knitted.

I don't know. I'm just not knitting as much lately, and I can't figure out why that is. I don't think I'm all that busy, but apparently, I am! Really, only four FOs in four months? Unheard of!

I guess I'm close to being done with my friend's teddy bear. I ran out of the yarn I was using for her bathrobe, so I had to wait until I went and got more. I have all the pieces to the pajamas knitted and need to assemble them. I have the back and one front of the bathrobe knitted, as well. I still need to knit the other front, the sleeves, the pockets, and the belt, and assemble the robe. Finally, I need to make the slippers.

While waiting for the trip to the store, I started on a super-secret project for a dear friend's baby girl. I've seen her read this blog, so I'm not gonna go into specifics until I'm done and she receives the thing.

Speaking of super-secret things, I have decided that I am going to design, write up, and submit a project to Knitty (or Magknits). I have the design in mind and the yarn at home, and an adorable little model all lined up. I can't go into specifics, but it's a baby item...I think that's safe to say. I'm aiming for the June submission deadline -- wish me luck!

No knitting content

2007-04-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Just to let y'all know -- don't expect any crafty content from me until at least next week. I will not be home.

The Orthodox among you: I wish you a blessed Holy Week and pray for your strength. It's beautiful and moving, but also very demanding.

On a sad note, I ran out of yarn for the pajama bear! I need to get more, which will delay the project's being sent out anytime soon. It's already late, though, so I guess my friend won't mind waiting a couple more weeks.

Happy blogaversary to me!

2007-03-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable -- it's already been a year since I've started this blog. It's been fun.

What better way to celebrate than to show you my latest WIP?

It's a teddy bear. It will eventually be a pajama teddy bear with bathrobe, from Debbie Bliss's Teddy Bears. I just couldn't resist all the adorable details, like the pockets on the PJs. So I'm making her for my best friend's birthday. It'll be late, and that's ok with both of us.

If the yarn looks familiar, it is. I was left with nearly 4 extra skeins of Wool of the Andes from my dad's vest (which he received and liked, by the way), so this is sort of stash-busting, except the yarn hasn't sat around long enough to be a stash. But anyway, this teddy neatly took care of three of the skeins.

Her PJs are going to be Caron Simply Soft in grape, and I'm making them pinstriped rather than plaid because that would leave me with far, far too many ends to weave in. I also knit the teddy herself in the round, combining pieces and ignoring DB's instructions to break off yarn and restart again, because I didn't want to end up with a mess of pieces like I did last time (scroll down). The PJs are being worked similarly, and I'm not too thrilled with them at the moment, but we'll see.

I'd have a blogaversary contest, but, frankly, I have no prize ideas. On the bright side, since I have a loyal but small readership, just about half of you would get prizes if I did have a contest! Oh well, maybe another day.

It's done! It's done!

2007-03-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, with no time to spare, the DNA vest has been knitted, finished, washed, blocked, and dried! Just in time to be mailed out tomorrow to, hopefully, arrive in Atlanta by Saturday (Dad's birthday is Sunday).

Not too bad, if I say so myself:

The above picture is a HORRIBLY inaccurate representation of the color. It is definitely not powder-blue-ish; it's dark gray. Better depiction of color, and a detail of the nifty cable and neck decreases, here:

And modeled by the dashing Pizzacutter, although he's a bit bigger than my dad.

So, to recap:

FO: DNA cable vest for my dad
Pattern: Mostly my own, using the nifty DNA helix pattern and assisted by this pattern from Berocco
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Mist, about 8 skeins. I originally ordered 8 skeins, then freaked out that that won't be enough and ordered 4 more. The 8 was enough; I could have unraveled the swatches I made, but instead I used one of the new balls. I'm currently destashing the remnants of this with a Debbie Bliss teddy bear for my bestest friend

Well, let's see. I finished knitting the front Sunday afternoon and joined the shoulders and knit up the neck, only to realize that the neck was too small. Like, can't get over your head sort of small. So I had to rip out the neck band, undo the shoulders, frog the entire front, and reknit it. I HAD to get this thing washed Sunday night, or else it wouldn't have dried to be shipped on Wednesday, so from 7 pm till 1 am I was firmly rooted to the couch, knitting, joining, knitting, weaving in ends, and some more knitting. I finally washed it and pinned it out to block at 2:30, giving me enough time to get 5 hours of sleep for work. Yay. Well worth it, though!

The sucker grew horrendously during washing, especially in length. After some panic, I patted it to desired length, and left. It seems to be ok now.

I really, really loved every minute of this one. Even the reknitting. And I am so pleased with how it turned out, though I'm afraid the armholes are just a bit too snug. See how the bunch Pizzacutter's sleeves? But my dad is a smaller guy with smaller shirts, so...

Almost there!

2007-03-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

That's the whole completed body up to the armhole split. I was happily surprised that my calculations were, indeed, correct, and that it does, in fact, measure 21.5 inches across (the desired 43 inches around), and the front, 8 stitched larger than the back, lines up nicely with the back. YAY for math!

I'd be done with this by now, but of course, I hit a couple of snags:

1. In this picture, I split off and knit the back exactly as it's described for this pattern. It worked well. BUT I did my decreases all on the first two stitches. That made for messy edges which I, of course, ignored until I had knit the whole back and was halfway up the front. I then decided I couldn't live with said messiness, and frogged the front and back and redid them.

2. I decided that the way the neck was done in the pattern linked above would give too low-cut a neck. So I started mine a whole two inches higher. Which was fine, except when I (re)knit the front, back, joined the shoulders, and picked up and knit the neckband, that made the neck so tight, I couldn't pull it over my head. Frrrroooooggggg.

3. There were also several other instances of frogging and reknitting while I tried to establish the decreases that would look the nicest.

But...it's coming out so nicely! I love the way the cable is working out, and the way the 4-stitch cables frame the DNA. I love that it actually should fit! I love that I've (almost) knit something, an adult garment, nonetheless, that I pretty much designed myself. Obviously, I've followed stuff from that pattern, but I did the math, the layout, and everything. And really, there are only so many ways to decrease armholes and a V-neck.

Lenten recipes

2007-03-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

I'm Orthodox Christian, and right now, we're in the middle of Great Lent. That means some interesting eating restrictions, and I've heard several people wonder about what to make for dinner.

I'm also vegetarian, and most of the things I cook have no animal ingredients. So I decided I'd post some of my recipes for anyone who wants them. Obviously, feel free to modify them!

Apparently, the only thing I know how to cook is soup, though. But all of my recipes are very easy (really, do you think I'll spend more time in the kitchen than necessary? There's knitting to be done!).

Anyway, here goes. Let me know if you try any of these!

Freezable, reheatable lunch burritos:

(Number of servings will vary. See below.)

Ingredients:

-1 cup cooked rice
-1 can refried beans (8 oz)
-2 tomatoes, diced and seeded
-1/2 cup salsa, drained as much as possible
-1 pack of tortillas (my pack had 10)
-Cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt to taste

In a big bowl, mush refried beans with the spices. Add rice, tomatoes, and salsa, and mix until relatively homogenous. Cut pieces of foil, wax paper, or plastic wrap to about 12 inches square. Place a tortilla in the middle of each. Fill tortillas with rice/bean/veggie mixture -- I used two heaping spoonfulls per tortilla, but it's up to you. Bend top and bottom of tortilla slightly towards the center. Now fold the sides over each other to complete the burrito, and roll tightly in foil.

Depending on how big your tortillas are (mine were about 8 inch diameter) and how loosely you stuff these, you may make 8-10. For larger tortillas, I'm guessing this will make about 4-6.

Eat right away, or freeze until needed. I love taking these for lunch. They're easy and filling.

To defrost, unwrap from the foil, wrap loosely in a paper towel, and microwave on high for about 1 minute.

Pea Soup

(Four generous bowls.)

Ingredients:

-1 Tablespoon cooking oil (or olive oil)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-a couple of slices of onion, chopped
-1 lb bag dried split peas (pick through them. I've almost broken a tooth on a stone in a bag of these!)
-7 cups water
-Salt, pepper, dillweed to taste

In a large pot, sautee the garlic and onion in the oil for a couple of minutes or until they turn caramely-brown. Add water and peas. Add the spices. Cover.

Heat over low heat until water boils. Then continue to cook until peas are nice and mushy (this does take about an hour, but you're not doing anything in the meantime). Stir occasionally (every 10 minutes or so).

Once the peas are nice and mushy, dump the whole thing into a blender and blend until smooth. Serve hot and with toast or oyster crackers.

If you refrigerate this soup, beware. It'll be perfectly edible the next day, but it will resemble green mashed potatoes.

Awesome potato soup:

This was modified from this recipe . My husband LOVES this.

Depending on how much liquid you use, this will make 4-6 servings of VERY hearty soup. Beware, though -- it's spicy.

Ingredients:

-6 largeish potatoes
-4 cloves garlic - 2 coarsely chopped, 2 minced
-2 cups veggie broth or water (you will adjust this as necessary)
-1 cup water (or more broth)
-1/2 package frozen peas
-1/2 package frozen corn
-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
-cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper to taste

1. Throw the potatoes into a large pot, cover, and boil until soft. I threw mine in whole and unpeeled (and then peeled the boiled skin off with my fingers, just to make it easier; I washed the pot before readding the ingredients to it), but you can peel them and cut them into LARGE pieces (because you will not be making the soup in this same water).
2. In a blender, combine 3 potatoes (lopped into several large pieces), the chopped cloves of garlic, and veggie broth or water.
3. In a large pot(I used the same one I boiled potatoes in, washed), briefly fry the garlic, peppers, and salt in vegetable oil on low heat.
4. Add the broth/potato blend, still on low heat.
5. Cut the remaining potatoes into chunks -- mine were big because the potatoes were so soft. Add to the broth/potato mixture. Here, if the soup is too thick, add a cup of water or broth. Add more liquid if desired.
6. Add the frozen peas and corn. Simmer until everything is tender and you're hungry.

This soup freezes very well in sealed plastic containers.

Tuesday Night Dinner:

Ok, this one isn't soup! It's a dish we make every week (on Tuesdays!), but when not fasting, we also add goat cheese. It's one of our absolute favorite dishes.

If desired, make quinoa instead of cous-cous. Quinoa has all the amino acids and lots of fiber and iron, and is generally more nutritious. But not everyone likes the taste. Sometimes we mix half couscous and half quinoa.

This serves 2-3. We eat big portions, though, so it may serve more at your house!

Ingredients:

-1 cup dry couscous, to be prepared per package directions.
-1/2 package frozen spinach
-1 tomato
-lemon juice and/or lime juice
-pine nuts if desired

1. Cook couscous per package directions (boil 1 cup of water per cup of couscous. Turn off heat. Add couscous, cover, and let sit until fluffy, or about 5 minutes). If desired, add 2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice to the water for cooking couscous.
2. Boil enough water to cover the spinach, and add spinach. Cook until it's fully thawed.
3. Dice the tomato.
4. Drain spinach and mix with the couscous and tomato. Top with pine nuts, if desired (and goat cheese when not fasting).

Pizzacutter's rice and beans

Also not a soup! My husband's recipe. The mandarin oranges in this, besides adding great taste, also help your body absorb iron from the beans (thanks, Vitamin C!)

Ingredients:

-Two cups cooked rice
-1 8-oz can red beans, black beans, or whatever kind of beans you want except green beans
-1 8 oz can apricot halves
-1 8 oz can Mandarin oranges

Ok, folks, this one is really easy to make.

Ready?

Open all the cans. Drain beans, apricots, and oranges. Chop the apricots some more. Mix everything together. Eat. Yay!

My mom's bean and potato soup:

Ok, this isn't really a recipe, because I haven't tried to cook it yet! But basically my mom diced a couple of potatoes, opened a can of beans, and cooked them together until they were nice and tender. Then she sauteed a few pieces of onion in some olive oil (reserve recipe for oil days!) and added the oil and onion to the soup. It was SO GOOD.

And, finally:

Vegan fruit bread:

This has seen many, many incarnations. I love it. It does tend to come out quite thick and dense, but to me, that's a plus. Jenny, this is the recipe for the bread we brought over for y'all that one time.

Anyway, I always make it a bit different every time, depending on what I do and do not have/feel like using at the time. Hence, I've divided the recipe into core ingredients (ones you must use) and extras. Feel free to use all or none of the extras, and/or add your own.

Core ingredients:
-1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
-3/4 cup sugar (white or brown; you can easily use less, and I usually use alot less, as the applesauce and bananas are very sweet anyway. Also can use 1/2 cup honey or molasses.)
-2 mushed bananas
-2.5 cups whole wheat flour (use half wheat and half white, or all white if you want. The all-wheat version is denser)
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-0.5 teaspoons salt
-Optional: 1-3 tablespoon vegetable oil (for moistness)

Extras (use all, some, or none):

-1/3 cup wheat germ
-1/2 cup flax seeds
-1 large apple, diced (I didn't bother to peel it)
-1 cup walnuts
-1/2 cup chopped dried figs
-Whatever else your little heart desires :)

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine applesauce and sugar.
3. Add bananas, flour, salt, and baking soda and stir very well to mix (I don't bother using an electric mixer). Add oil.
4. Stir in the extras
5. Pour into loaf pan (the pan will be very full, so you can split it into two pans, or a pan and some muffin cups).
6. Bake 1 hr - 1 hr 15 min, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Freezes well.

I love this by itself, or, when not fasting, with butter or Earth Balance.

DNA vest update

2007-03-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

I'm liking it so far!

Take a look:
It's been a very fast knit, actually. Since this picture was taken, I've gotten quite a bit farther along, but really, it looks the same. Just longer. About 12 inches from the cast-on edge so far.

I haven't been knitting much. First off, Lent started, which meant extra services at church, and therefore less time at home. Secondly, Lent started, which means I'm no longer watching TV, which means I get bored more quickly when knitting. Thirdly, I've been reading more, and while I CAN knit and read at the same time, I can't do cables. Especially complex cables. But still, even though I've been knitting for an our/hour and a half every day, it's going quickly.

The in-the-round construction is great. First off, I don't have to deal with knitting the plain, boring back. I have the cable panel on every single round, which makes it interesting. Secondly, no purling. I like purling, but it is slower. Thirdly, no purling. I like purling, but it makes for messier-looking stockinette for me. Fourthly, there will be no seaming, and since I'm split-splicing the yarn, there will be almost no finishing. Yay!

The goal is to have the body knit by the 13th, do the armholes and neck by the 16th, so that I can have the thing washed, blocked, and packed by the 20th. Dad's birthday is the 25th. I think I can do it.

Also, I bought yarn. I held out until March, as was my original plan. But I thought I'd need more yarn for Dad's vest, so it had to get ordered now. I also got a bunch of Knitpicks colorcards, and some Shine for a sweater I'm designing to submit to Knitty or Magknits. Yes. Fingers crossed.

On a somewhat different note, we went to Atlanta this past weekend to visit my parents and my brother's family. The daisy dresses I made for my nieces were a great success! The parents loved them, and V (the older niece, 18 months) grabbed hers, ran around the house with it, and then started putting it on over her clothes. I'd say she liked it :)

I tried to get a good picture of her wearing it, but this is the best I could do:

Normally, she looks like this:

I didn't get a picture of K's dress, but imagine one just like the blue one, but in green with blue trim. And smaller.

Finally, my husband is so cute with his nieces...

And the nieces are so cute with each other

Designing

2007-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Lookie what I finally swatched for!

That's right, it's my dad's custom-designed DNA vest. I think the DNA isn't really obvious, but that might not be a bad thing. Subtle isn't a bad thing on clothes for my dad.

Anyway, I armed myself with this huge swatch (knit mock in the round with strands in the back, AND washed AND blocked!), a generic V-neck vest pattern, and Knitting Workshop by Zimmerman, and set to work.

My swatch measures 18.5 stitches per 4 inches on stockinette. The DNA panel, knit over 20 stitches, is 3.5 inches wide.

I want the chest to measure 43 inches around (my mom measured my dad's favorite vest, and that's what she got). If I were knitting in stockinette, then, I would cast on (43/4)*18.5 = 198.9 stitches, or 200 stitches for the same of ease. (I am planning on working this in the round up to the armholes, then back and forth to shape the armholes and neck.)

HOWEVER.

There is the DNA panel, which will be front and center and framed by a four-stitch cable on either side. It pulls in alot more than stockingette -- I get 20 st/3.5 inches = 5.7 stitches per inch in the DNA pattern, and 18.5 st/4 inches = 4.6 stitches per inch in stockinette. That means that my vest will pull in quite a bit in the center, so casting on 200 will not be enough.

So. The chest is 43"/2 - 21.5". Of that, approximately 7 inches will be taken up by the cable panel. (This I figured because on either side of the DNA panel I will have k2, p, 4 stitches of cable, p1, k2, p1, return to stockinette. That's 11 stitches per side, or 22 stitches total, in cabling, which, I'm assuming, will pull in almost as much as the 20 stitches of the DNA panel. So 7 inches total.)

Those 7 cabled inches will comprise 42 stitches (22 for side cables, 20 for DNA). That leaves me with 21.5-7 = 14.5 inches to be worked in stockinette.

(14.5"/4)*18.5 = 68 stitches of stockinette for the chest.

68+42 = 110 stitches for the front. The back, however, will not have the cable pattern, and so will need only (21.5/4)*18.5 = 100 stitches. That's 210 stitches total, which is not divisible by 4, so I dropped two stitches to make it 208.

So, I have cast on 208 stitches and am working the ribbing on size 7 needles. Once that measures about 3 inches, I will switch to size 8s, place all kinds of markers, and go to work.

Erm. I think I just confused myself with the math. Am I doing this right? I guess we'll find out. Once I get about halfway up the back, I'll try it on The Husband for fit. He's not too much bigger than Dad, so I'll be able to gauge it from there and frog if need be.

Also, before shaping the armholes, I'm going to lay that sucker flat and see where the side-most stitches are. If they leave 100 stitches for the back and 108 for the front, as I predicted, great, but if not, I'll be able to adjust that before I start working the armholes. Yay for knitting in the round!

UPDATE: Since pre-publishing this post, I decided I didn't like the side cable pattern, and changed it to k2, p2, cable 4, p2, k2, p2, giving me 14 inches. I had the body of the vest all cast on, so I was working with those 108 stitches for the front. That meant that the sides of the front became 30 stitches instead of 33. That goes against my math a bit, but we'll see how it works out. The ribbing around the cables will give me some leeway in terms of size, I think.