One more TD sleeve to go and an addition to my stash

Seaming sleeves = NO fun

It's not difficult but it took me HOURS to figure it out on my own. I researched online, asked around in Ravelry, and looked for tutorials in my knitting books. Jeezus! If I drove over to my favorite yarn store and asked for help I would've had it down in minutes. Unfortunately any yarn store is out of the way for me around here. It sucks. The Antioch/Brentwood area needs a yarn store BAD. It would do very well out here considering this area has grown quite rapidly and there are crafty people out here. There's no competition except Michael's and Walmart but us snobby yarn enthusiasts prefer premium yarn stores with great customer service. Know what I mean?

What was I was talking about before my rant? Oh yes, my finishing. So yeah, I need to sign up for a finishing class (too late now to sign up for anything at Stitches West). My shotty job is ok for now but with future projects I would like to make my finishing much nicer. I still need to block and re-do the placement of the buttons. This isn't a great pic, but here it is:

On Ravelry I'm part of a fan group for Showtime's series, Dexter. I LOVE that show and have seen every episode. Carrie, of Socks in the City created Dexter themed colorways available for purchase that are sooo cool. Some of the colorway names are Dexter, Dexter's Canvas, "103", Lila, Hawaiian Shirts, Ice Truck Killer, Dark Defender, Bay Harbor Butcher, Beneath the Bay, and Hooker's Fingernails. If you watch the show then you can only the imagine the colorways. Carrie is so right on with the dyes. The one I had to have is Ice Truck Killer, pictured below. It's a basic superwash sock yarn. I can't wait to knit myself up a pair of socks! I found a little red splatter on the skein. I find it kinda funny, like a little blood splatter that the ITK missed. Not that blood splatter is funny, but if you watch the show...OH nevermind.

I gotta get back to seaming now.

The knitting plan in 2008

This is the beginning of my third year of knitting. I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished so far (such as learning how to knit continental and knitting socks) but I have so much more to learn and many more things to knit. I decided to make a very short underwhelming list of what I'd like to do this year:

1. Knit a Fair Isle pattern...something small, like mittens.
2. Learn how to knit a pair of socks on a circular needle. I have no problem with dpns but the less needles to use the better.
3. Learn how to knit using magic loop methods...which is probably similar to #2.
4. Learn better finishing methods for knitted garments.
5. Figure out how to read Japanese knitting patterns.

Told ya it was short. I'd like to avoid disappointing myself whenever possible. =) I'm sure I'll get sidetracked somehow but we'll see how it goes.

**edit** I need to add one more thing to my list: LEARN TO CROCHET!

Swiftless no more

Bubba will be very happy when I tell him that I don't need him to help me wind up my yarn anymore. My most anticipated knitting toy arrived today. My swift!!! I can now wind skeins independently! I found it on etsy.com (my other addiction) by theknitstore.

It's so inexpensive compared to other swifts I've found online and at yarnstores. I love a good bargain. Plus it's handmade. It's a simple wood swift and you don't have to clamp it on to anything like most swifts. You don't need a winder but it helps to cut down on tons of winding time. TONS.

Here's my set up on the coffee table:


And here's the resulting pretty ball of yarn:


Yippee!

TD update and the "happy" gift recipients

I haven't worked on the tilted duster as much as I wanted to this past week. I thought I was going to knit the entire time I was dog sitting for my brother because I'd be bored out of my mind but that didn't happen. When I finally got a chance to take a breather I figured out how to seam the shoulders of the TD (as seen here)
and seam the sides of of the front and back portions using the mattress stitch seen here:
I love learning new stuff about knitting! I still have so much to learn. Here is the upper body finished:
I'm a bit further along since I took this photo. I knitted one sleeve, skipped the other and went for the skirt next. I'm about 5 inches into the skirt. Picking up stitches for the skirt was a complete bitch. I kept losing count of how many I needed to pick up and for some reason I was having a really difficult time picking up and knitting the stitches because they were really tight. Was anyone else out there having this problem? But anyway, I'm in skirt rib hell right now. It's taking forever. Peruvia is extremely rough on my hands while knitting but after blocking the front and back pieces they were surprisingly soft. I have about 5 more skirt repeats to go, still need to knit up the other sleeve, and then do the ribbed collar. Yup. That's all.

Here's my niece and cousin with their knitted gifts I made them:Marhiel has a purl scarf with some floofy yarn I found at Jo-ann's. Yes, it's acrylic but whatever...it can be thrown in the washing machine. There's no way in hell her busy mom would remember to handwash it. If I used wool it would be a felted mess by now and my efforts would've been wasted and I'd be upset.

Leila got the fingerless gloves and foliage hat made out of Malabrigo worsted. (She wouldn't put the hat on because she didn't want to mess up her hair. Whatever. *rolling eyes*)

If they didn't like them they definitely humored me and flashed a big smile for these photos.

Happy New Year to everyone and more fearless knitting in 2008!

No more gift knitting till next year

The Red Sox Socks I'm giving to my friend are finito.I'm over my sock anxiety. This is a good thing since I have some sock stash yarn waiting for me. But that will have to wait. I'm off and running on the Tilted Duster from IK's Fall 07 issue. I'm using Berroco Peruvia in Sea Turtle. I swatched it up last night and got the correct gauge on the first try on Size 10 needles.
I casted on this morning and mid-way through finishing the upper back. A pretty quick knit so far and it's looking good.
If I didn't knit up my last cardigan in gray I probably would've chosen a gray shade for this one. I love green, but not sure about this green. There's a bit of gold in it that I didn't catch before and not sure if this will suit me. On the other hand, how can I go wrong with Oakland Athletics colors?

Second time around

Back in August or September I started one sock. It's twin never saw the light of day. It came out wonky and huge. I felt defeated, gave up, and moved on to other projects. Since this is a Christmas gift I'm on a knitting deadline now. I frogged the unfortunate sock last weekend and made myself knit it over. I am halfway done with the second sock. I notice myself slowing down with the 2nd sock and dragging it out. I would love to learn how to knit 2 socks on circular needles at the same time. It wouldn't take me 5 months to finish a pair of socks.

I HAVE to stay away from yarn shops

Purchase overload!!!I walked into the Yarn Boutique in Lafayette intending to only buy 2 skeins of Shibui sock yarn and check out the Berocco Peruvia colors for Interweave Knits' Tilted Duster. That's all. I couldn't help myself. They had just got in a huge stock of Peruvia in every color. I fell for the Sea Turtle colorway and purchased it...and the sock yarn...and more sock yarn. Wow. I guess I'm making socks.

The blue Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn on the bottom I received via UPS today also. It's for the Montego Bay scarf from the IK Summer 2007 issue.

Gosh I love green. I can't seem to steer myself away from it.

Anyone have a clue on how I can sprout 2 more sets of arms and hands so I can start all these projects at the same time?! I can't decide on what to start next! These are all selfish purchases BTW. It's all for me me me! Well, except one pair of socks if all goes well.

I thought it was done

Juliet has become a work in progress again.

It's been sitting in my closet for over a month, unworn because I wasn't happy with the results. The armholes were ginormous. I seamed them up and it looks much better now. It finally has the cap sleeve effect that I've seen in other Juliets.

I'm not loving the buttons either. When I find buttons I like better I'll change them out.

Foliage Version 2.0

I made a few modifications inspired by a cute slouchy hat I found at Old Navy the other day. It was chunky with a soft brim. I think it was crocheted, but I had to figure out how to make a knit version.

Modifications:

• Knitted double stranded for chunky Foliage version.
• Added brim. After looking at knitted hat patterns with a brim I settled on using knitty.com's Topi brim.
• Repeated leaf pattern 2.5 times (instead of 2 for chunky version) to make a bit slouchy.

I'd like it to be a bit slouchier and maybe blocking it will do the trick. The brim is a bit thick and should have knit it single stranded. It's not exactly how I wanted it to turn out but close enough. As much as I love Malabrigo, this colorway isn't the best for the lace pattern.

I suppose I have no excuse now to not work on gift knitting. Back to working the socks. Maybe after I make more fingerless mitts with the extra Malabrigo left over.

Selfish Knitteritis

I couldn't resist. I have to make one for my own noggin before I start Christmas gift knitting. I've been thinking about not knitting as many gifts this year because I had a flash back of this time last year. I was literally knitting during every free minute I had and my head was spinning. To my knowledge I know that everyone I made gifts for loved what I made them but mannnn...it became too much. I know it's poor planning on my part knitting last minute but that's just how I work, dammit. I don't think about knitting for other people until the end of the year because I'm too busy making stuff for myself. =)

Alrighty...gonna get a move on and work on my Foliage. I'd like to make one modification to it. I don't want to mention what it is to avoiding jinxing and botching my idea.

Quick Mitts

I can't believe I got a pair of fingerless mittens out of 92 yards of Malabrigo left over from Foliage and there's still a yard or two left. It fits snug on my hands because I should've used size 7 needles instead of size 6, but I think for the recipient it should fit perfectly.

One Christmas gift done...more to go.

Like a Plum Tree

Except on my head!I can't say enough good things about Knitty's Foliage hat pattern and mmmmMalabrigo yarn. The combination makes me happy.=) It reminds me of my big plum tree in my backyard. Unfortunately I have to part with this. I decided I'd get some Xmas knitting out of the way early. The lucky recipient better love Foliage as much as I do.

Loops and Buttons

Woo. Finished.

Love love love Artfibers

Last weekend I took a continental style knitting class at Artfibers in San Francisco. Their 3-hr workshops are very reasonably priced. Amy was the instructor for the 4 person class and she was super patient and very helpful with any questions we could come up with. She kept encouraging us to ask more. The 3 hours went by so fast! I got the hang of continental knitting but still a bit slow at it. Getting the right tension will take some practice. I'll eventually get my rhythm.

Of course I bought some yarn to practice what I learned. No way I was leaving Artfibers empty handed. I purchased a cone of Ming (half silk/half merino wool) in a bright teal color and a ball of Bambusa (97% bamboo/3% silk) in a mossy green. Bambusa is soooooo soft that I'm considering making another Juliet Cardigan out of it. They were out of the color I wanted so I'm waiting for them to notify me when their next shipment comes in.

I'm do plan on taking some more classes at Artfibers again and learning more techniques.

Juliet is almost finished

Sorry for the crap photo...gray on gray blue doesn't work well.

All it needs are buttons. I'm headed to SF this weekend for a knitting class at Artfibers and afterwards I want to go to Imagiknit to find buttons. Last I saw they had a cute collection of them. Can't wait to start wearing this by next week. I'll have better photos to post by then.

In the meantime, I'm going to get going on the next project.

Juliet: 2nd time around

Sheesh. I don't have very much luck with picking out the correct size. Not sure if it's the patterns, the raglan style, or me. Probably all three...the latter more than anything.

I didn't think starting the lace pattern right after binding off the sleeves would've looked flattering for my chest size. Instead, I started the lace pattern right under my chest. I'm hoping I made the correct choice.

I'm 3 lace repeats in. I'll decide what to do after 3 more repeats...stop or move on. We'll see how it goes. I'm so anxioius to get done. I'm taking longer than I wanted to work on this. I have some other little projects I want to get my hands on. I'm really tired of the feel of cotton fleece.

Sizing raglans are a bitch!

Juliet was coming along nicely until I tried it on 10 minutes ago. Hmmm....I'm seriously thinking about ripping it back. The sleeves are gigantic and I feel that it's knitting up too big for me. You think after knitting 2 raglan patterns from the same designer that I'd know this already. So frustrating. I'm scared that it may come out smaller than I want if I do go one size down and I'll have a fit (knitting and PMS...not a good combo). I'll sleep on this. I'll decide tomorrow.

I Couldn't Wait

This is the first few rows of my Juliet cardigan. I had to start it last night. I now have 3 WIPs on the needles. I'm usually not this bad. I like to finish a project before I start another. I'm still working on the Filigree scarf and I need to partially rip out the Red Sox Sock and figure out what went wrong at the heel. I got bored with the scarf. I haven't made a scarf since the beginning of the year. I did get the hang of the lace pattern after repeating it tons of times. It's very pretty but it was killing me. It's one of those projects I can keep in my purse and pull it out to work on every once in awhile when I have nothing else to do.

I waited a week before I casted on Juliet. That's as long as I could handle. I received the pattern for my birthday from Bubba's aunt last weekend. I squealed inside so as not to let his other family members feel bad since I didn't want to be overly excited about showing how much I LOOOOVED the knitting stuff she gave me (not that I didn't like what others gave me because I did and I'm very appreciative...but ya know..it's knitting stuff!!). =)

I REALLY want to love this cardigan when I'm done. I'm way too excited about making it and I don't want to be disappointed. The only thing that concerns me is the size I chose. I've done 2 other Zephyr Style top patterns and I've always had to go down a size or two. I did the same with Juliet and *crossing my fingers* I hope it comes out fine. Fortunately I'll be able to try this on as I knit it. This will be an incredibly fast knit since it's a chunky yarn pattern. If I like it I may have time to make a second in a different yarn and color.

How Dashing!

I forgot to mention I finished Bubba's Dashing fingerless gloves last week.

They are much longer and snug than the Fetching gloves I made for myself. I don't know if the snugness is due to the yarn not being as stretchy or the small gauge. I'd like to make another one of these gloves for myself but I have too many future projects in mind that I'd like to start. I'll get another Dashing on the needles eventually. OHHHH but wait, I wanted to make the Mermaid Fingerless gloves too. SEE? Too many projects. Moving on...

It's Official

I fucking hate knitting lace patterns. Absolutely hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. For real.


I'm working on my filigree scarf with the yarn I purchased from Artfibers in SF. I was doing just fine until I lost concentration about 3 inches in. Bah! I'm the only one who'll care or notice the mistakes but it's still annoys me to no end trying to figure out how I screwed up. I know I'm not that far into the scarf but I'm not the kind of knitter that will frog and start over unless I've really messed things up.

I got a surprise thank you gift from my brother and his girlfriend for dog sitting for them back in July. =) A tote bag from knitty.com!!!


It was very thoughtful of them. Do they know me or what?!

I also found myself at Imagiknit yesterday. Fortunately I found parking a block away uphill. I can never walk away empty handed! I purchased enough yarn to make the Juliet cardigan. I chose Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Slate Charcoal.

I nearly had a heart attack getting back to my car but this store is worth it. I totally forgot to look at the button section there before I left. Then again, it'll be an excuse to go back to pick out yarn for the Trapeze cardi. I'm always thinking ahead when it comes to the next project. =)