first-ever sock finished!

had the second day of sock class on Saturday afternoon and learned how to pick up stitches on the gusset and make decreases to make it fit. It wasn't as hard as I anticipated, but I definately think I should have chosen a lighter-colored yarn to learn on. It was hard to see all the stitches to be picked up along the edge of the heel and when it came time to kitchener-stitch the toe together, I had a very hard time seeing the stitches, but it all turned out. and guess what? it even fits my enormous-footed husband! hopefully I have enough of this navy yarn to make a second sock because I don't want to buy any more of this color. I did pick up some beautiful varigated yarn for my second pair which I got down down the leg and turned the heel last night while watching the Oscars. I wanted to do another pair quickly so I could remember how to do all the steps, but needed something more interesting than the plain blue yarn to look at. I'll do a sock in the pink/orange and then go back to Wes' second blue sock, then the second pink/orange one to finish out my socks for now. Too many distractions from my hoodie!!

first sleeve syndrome?

last night I finished my first sleeve for the cabled hoodie. it wasn't hard figuring out the increases, but I was a little frustrated when I realized that one sleeve had more stitches than one of the fronts (hello, my arm is skinnier than my boob). I thought I was on the fast track to finishing this thing, but it's going to take a little longer. I cast on for the second sleeve last night (2x2 rib is boring enough to do during Heroes) and hopefully can get that done faster than the first one since I am anxious to get started on the hood and the finishing touches of this sweater.
I am also not sure it will fit which is making me very uneasy as I have spent many many evenings, car trips, lunch breaks, plane rides and phone conversations working on this since I first cast on in August. I am afraid it will be a little too big, which is especially frustrating since when I first started it was too small. I also had to raid AFY of it's last two matching dyelot balls of yarn (and three non-matching because I knew two wouldn't be enough!). what is my problem and WHY do I use so much yarn?? this project called for eight balls of yarn, I have gone through nine and still have a sleeve, a hood and all the front ribbing to go! I went to a larger needle size when I realized my gauge problem after I had finished half of the (too-small) back so that I wouldn't have to keep buying yarn, but now I have cleaned Lois out of the flecked brown tweed so I hope this is it ...

learning socks, part I

Saturday I headed over to Anacapa Fine Yarns for the first of two sock-knitting classes. I had wanted to take this class before I made the Christmas stockings, but found a pattern for those easy enough to figure out myself (no turning heels or gussets!) once I found out the prior-to-Christmas sock class was full. Lois put me on the waiting list for the next class and I signed up, even though I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear knitted socks. The month of cold weather and no heater working in our apartment convinced me that I would love to wear knitted socks, but of course Saturday was 85 degrees and I had no interest in wool. but off I went to learn new things. I already knew how to knit in the round using dpns, but wanted to learn how to knit circularly with two circular needles. I found it was much easier to cast on and of similar difficulty to get the first round started, but then it was smooth sailing. I don't really mind using dpns, so probably I will go back and forth between two circulars and dpns, depending on my mood when I start a project. But Lois did warn us that if we knit one sock in a pair using dpns, we should use dpns for the second as well because gauge can be affected. once we were all comfortable knitting in the round (some in the class had never done it before) Lois had us put that aside and cast on with new yarn and needles to practice the heel, which she wanted us to complete on our own before next class on our real sock. I was nervous about the short rows and slipped stitches, but it came pretty easily and before I knew it, I had a little heel cup sitting in front of me (teal arrow pointing to it in the picture).
Saturday night Wes and I just hung out and watched a movie at home so I was able to finish the ribbing at the top of the sock and get in most the knitted rounds too. Yesterday I had a hard run at Wildwood with Tia and Wes' soccer game, then dinner and Wes left for work. I sat down to work on my sock again. I finished the rounds and started in on the heel. It didn't take long and I even remembered how to do the slipping and short rows. I wanted to keep knitting, but Lois has only shown us this far and I am even more nervous about the gusset (what the heck is a gusset?) than I was about the short rows on the heels, so I guess I'll put this aside until class next Saturday. but of course I couldn't resist trying it on :) p.s. glad I gave myself a pedicure on Saturday before class. love this pink from Sephora ... it is almost ridiculously too '80s pink, but it makes me sooo ready for summer but then I wouldn't get to wear the brown hoodie ... just the sleeve cap left on one arm, then another arm and pick up stitches for the hood and edging. the end is so close I can see it. maybe that is why I keep picking up other projects instead.

happy candy-hearts day!

it's a good thing Valentine's Day finally came, Wes and I have already eaten through eight mini-boxes and a bag of candy hearts in the past few weeks and I don't think my waistline can take it anymore! I don't know what it is about those hearts, I just can't get enough. Even when my head is pounding from sugar and my tongue is stained an unrecognizable shade of magenta, I keep eating them! I like the green, orange and yellow ones the best. yum yum. and for the record, I only like the Necco brand hearts and no, I do not eat Necco Wafers during the other 11 months of the year to take the edge off.
no knitting last night, I was busy making a cake decorated with candy hearts! (what is my problem?!?) I wanted to crush up the candy hearts and sprinkle the bits in between the two layers of cake, but someone (who shall remain nameless, but I know now that I should have found a hiding spot for my last box of mini-hearts that was not up high ...) ate the box I was using all my willpower not to eat myself. anyway, it's Valentine's day ... check out Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog today, she has a great perspective on love, it is very refreshing as I come down from my sugar high!
p.s. Wes and I were featured in a Valentine's Day section on the CLU website too ... so cute it makes me want to barf a little bit. Tonight for we are going to see The Departed at the cheap theater. very anti-Valentine's. I love it.

birthday and more!

Thursday evening I found myself in Thousand Oaks with a couple hours to kill, so I headed over to The Oaks to buy myself a birthday present at Anthroplogie. I put on blinders through the front of the store and headed straight to the sale in the back where I and noticed an abundance of knitted headbands. I thought they were cute, but not $30 cute, especially when I have enough yarn leftover from a $7 ball to make four headbands. so I left the store with only a dress and an idea and headed home to finish the pink hat. It turned out great and I hope Margie will love it! I tried it on to make sure there were no bar mitzvahs in there and decided I might need to make one for myself too! I'll make mine with the earflaps (but without the kitty ears, thank you very much) and Wes even tried it on and liked the shape of it on his head too. (he might get two knitted items in a row - I start my sock class this weekend - after all these years of no knitted love. I am sure he's crushed.)
I wanted to give Marge her hat on Saturday when she came over for the birthday shin-dig, but of course forgot, so a picture of that will have to come later. but I had a great birthday weekend ... Friday night Wes took me out to a delicious three-course dinner and we enjoyed the new comedy club in the Harbor. And on Saturday all the girls came over for some wine and fun. (picture to the right is of Marge, Stine and me at Lady Foot Locker fulfilling two of the mall-scavenger hunt requirements: a hat and a green handbag). Sunday things went back to normal and Wes headed to work the night shift, I sat down in front of The Sound of Music (thank you Luke and Kristen!) and cast on for my very own knitted headband. I used the leftover yarn from piggle, used the same needle size (4 dpn) and planned to use the same stitch pattern. I measured around my head where I would be wearing the headband and got 21 inches, I then stretched out my completed piggle that was wide enough, just not long enough and measured. I figured the same cast on would work for a headband as it did for the hat. I cast on 120 stiches on size 4 needles and knit two rows of 1x1 rib before starting in on the four-row lace pattern. I thought that knitting a two-inch wide band would take me an hour, two at most, and I would be done long before the VonTrapp Family climbed every mountain to Switzerland. those of you who are familiar with lace-weight yarn and size 4 dpns can stop laughing now, please! it was another late night of knitting, but at least I saved myself $30 even if I am going to pass out on the run tonight.

improvising

it's a great day outside, cool, but not too cold ... perfect for sitting in the sun without overheating so I took my knitting and headed upstairs for a break this afternoon. of course as soon as I sat down I realized I left my cable needle at home and the next row I was to knit required it. so, I dug through my purse and found a Napoleon Dynamite pen that I got for 50 cents at Target last summer and went to work. It wasn't the best solution, as the pen was slightly larger than the 10.5 needles I was using and I had to physically remove the stitches and twist them before knitting the last three stitches of the cable, but dangit if I was going to stop knitting only eight minutes into my 30 minutes of no phones ringing.
anyway, my plan didn't work that great, I have two funny strands of yarn stretching across my work. one in the back on the c3b and one in the front on the c3f. I might have to use some knitting magic that I picked up at Lois' class last week ... but I already knit the next couple of rows and other than that long strand on the front, it looks okay. maybe I can tie that back somehow instead of redoing that section ...

pink hat to make up for piggle

started on this pink hat Sunday night to make up for the too-small piggle. the pattern is the Kittyville hat from the first Stitch-N-Bitch, but I won't be adding kitty ears. I may or may not add the ear flaps and ties, I guess it depends on how much yarn I have at the end. I only bought one ball, and I'm already nervous that I should have bought two, so with two balls of yarn, I should definitely have enough leftover for ear flaps and ties. But I'm feeling better about this one actually fitting. As you can see from the picture, it is too short now, but I haven't even started decreasing yet. This is how piggle looked when I was done binding off! I love the variegated yarn, it is only the second time I have used non-solid colors and I think I am going to have to use more!

more of Taylor's jumper!

she is sooo cute! and check out that great outfit :) When I was in Arizona last month is was freezing; a perfect time to wear a cute knitted pinafore. I wasn't sure while I was working on it in the warm California summer, knowing that it was a bajillion degrees hotter in AZ at the time, but it fits her great, right at the coldest part of the year! perfect!

need some help navigating SAHARA

I know I still have a ton of work to do on my brown hoodie, but I can't help getting excited about a new project (the fact that there is a an-anti Super Bowl event at AFY this Sunday with a card sale up to 50% off doesn't help either). I have already decided that my next project for myself will be SAHARA, designed by Wendy Bernard. I am very excited to make one of Wendy's patterns. I read her blog regularly and have been dying to try one of her patterns from The Garter Belt for months now (specifically sizzle and fad classic, can you tell I'm getting anxious for warmer weather too?). My problem is I don't know what color to make my new Sahara top. I have decided on the sleeveless and think the white that the sample is knit in looks great. I also thought about black, since the beading on the trim makes it seem like a fancy-pants top, but if I used black, the stitches wouldn't show up very clearly and if I am going to spend hours making all those little stitches, I want them to show! Also, I have been in a neutral clothing rut lately and can't seem to see past the whites, blacks, browns and navys. Please help! Check out these colors and let me know what you think would look best. The accent yarns for neck, sleeve and bottom edging will probably come from one of these, depending on how much this yarn costs (of course they don't put that on the website) and how high a card I pull on Sunday.

Knit fixes!

had a miserable day at work yesterday and was so thankful that I signed up to take Lois' "knit fixes" class ... otherwise I would have gone home and drank a whole bottle of two buck chuck.
but the class was great and I learned some really really helpful tips on how to fix problems in my knitting without ripping out whole rows. I even used the crochet hook a few times! Grandma would be so proud :)
Had I taken this class a week ago, I wouldn't have had to rip out six rows on the right front of my brown hoodie on Sunday night once I realized I forgot to make a cable twist. Anyway, I just ripped it out and re-knit those rows. Last night after the class I finished up the right front and started on the first sleeve. I'll have to m1 a whole bunch of times on the sleeves and I've never done that before, but I'm sure I can figure it out!

Seriously? Seriously. and Shalom.

sooo ... finished Piggle last night in a flurry of wine, white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies and McDreamy over at Marge and Nicole's. As the the emotional music swelled and characters pensively reflected on the events of the past hour, I tossed the hat across the room to Marge for her to try on. Apparently, I knit some magic into it because when she placed piggle on her head, she transformed into a little Jewish boy wearing a yarmulke. Soo ... anyone have a good hat pattern for a grown-up??

Piggle Progress

worked some more on Piggle last night and watched A Prairie Home Companion. I didn't really follow the story line, but I enjoyed all the singing. Anyway, I am into the decreasing rows, so it shouldn't be long now. I may even have some time to finish this up on my lunch break today. The pink spots are where the pig-tail holes will be. I knit those ten stitches per hole with waste yarn, and will pull it out and pick up those stitches again to bind off the holes. In the original pattern the pig-tail holes were on either side of the head above the ears, which is okay for a pre-schooler, but not a 20-something tearing down the slopes :)

in the zone

had another busy weekend without too much knitting time ... Shannon and Robert got married on Sunday and on Saturday I had lunch and shopping dates :) but when I got home Wes wasn't feeling good so we kind of vegged out in front of NFL playoffs and I cast on the right front of the brown hoodie. I am through the ribbing and have completed a couple of cable repeats.
Last night Wes was at work and I was beat ... it felt like the end of a long week, but it was only Monday! so I was more than happy to catch up with some TiVo and knit my butt off on the piggle hat. I've finished up to where I need to place the holes for the pig-tails to stick through. After that it's four more rounds in pattern, then each row following is a decrease row, so I should be able to finish this tonight. I am making it for Margaret who is headed back to the mountains this weekend and hope to gift it when I see her on Thursday. Probably wont' have much knitting time tomorrow ... we'll be watching the NHL All-Star game over TV dinner, then meeting with our Realtor to make an offer on a house!! eek!!

learning lace and how to crochet

this weekend, in addition to running in the freezing cold, I learned a new skill and started a new project. On Thursday evening I stayed with Grandma and I had asked if she would teach me how to crochet. I am not sure I am really ready to take on a new skill set, but I have seen some really cute crochet patterns lately and some knitting patterns also require crochet for finishing and edging so I figured it wouldn't hurt to know a little about it. It was much harder than I expected and after an hour I had little to show for my efforts. I did learn the chain stitch and single crochet (as evidenced in this picture to the left), but I am far from starting any big projects. I will keep practicing and ask Grandma for more tutorials when I am down south, but this is not an immediate skill that I want to be proficient in right away. It is fun to learn something new though!
I was very happy to start a new knitting project on Friday morning sitting at the airport. I cast on 120 stitches on to size 4 dpns (the pattern called for size 2! but I am knitting this for a grown-up, not a child, and I know my stitches are a little tight anyway so figured 4 would be okay. Plus I could not bring myself to purchase size 2 needles. way too tedious!) and got most of the ribbing done before I got on the plane. I didn't have too much time to knit while I was in Arizona, but got a couple of the lace pattern repeats finished by the time I got off the plane again in California on Sunday. I am enjoying this lace pattern though and I think it is of similar difficulty to the stitch pattern on the lacy wrap I bought yarn for a year ago and haven't been brave enough to cast on for yet. Once this hat is successfully finished, I think I will have the confidence to cast on for that wrap.

running in Antarctica Arizona

a few months ago I told Wes that someday I wanted to run in Antarctica after reading an article about the races offered there in a recent issue of Runner's World. He laughed at my ambition and I got pissed because I feel that a husband should be supportive of his wife in all her goals, no matter how crazy (usually he is very good at this. he has repeatedly let me buy a new houseplant after I kill the previous one in less than a month). but for the past week, the entire southwest has been in a cold snap and after standing on the start line at the Rock 'N Roll Arizona half-marathon yesterday in 29-degree weather (first grade science class reminder: water freezes at 32 degrees), I decided that maybe I don't need to run in a place where the average temperature is 34 (even though yesterday's low was only 35! six whole degrees warmer than it was in Phoenix). Especially with no fringe benefits. Anyway, despite the cold yesterday I was able to run a good race and beat my goal time of two hours and set a new PR for that distance (previous best 2:15). It was great to cross that finish line knowing I had achieved a goal and that I worked so hard to get it. I felt good for the first ten miles and then started hurting (my knees still ache today, but muscles aren't too sore) but kept an eye on the clocks at each mile marker to keep pace and finish in 1:52:41.

left front: finished!

last night, despite every intension to put away all the Christmas decorations, pack for Arizona and do the dishes that have been piling up since Sunday night before picking up my knitting ... I started in on it right after a quick run and dinner and didn't look up until I had finished the left front. I told Wes on Sunday that I wanted to have both fronts done by last night, but once I had to pay attention to all the shaping it took a lot longer than expected. Partly because I kept comparing to the finished front piece to make sure everything is going to fit together correctly, and also because I kept getting up to search for stitch holders (couldn't find them, used a 16-inch circular to hold the live stitches) and switch CDs that I was uploading to iTunes (looove my new iPod with capacity for more music!). I did do the dishes before I went to bed, but will need to pack before date night tonight and Christmas will have to stay up until I return from Arizona. I could bring yarn and supplies to begin the right front with me, but I did find an airplane project and have asked Grandma to teach me how to crochet after dinner tomorrow, so I might have enough to keep me busy. It's only an hour flight and between visiting and running I won't have much down time while I'm there.

a weekend of excess and recovery

have you ever had one of those weekends that on Sunday night you wish you had another weekend right away to recover from the one that just ended? This is how I felt last night!
Friday I left work at noon and met up with all the girls to drive south for Shannon's bachelorette party!! It was fairly tame by bachelorette standards (champagne and presents, dinner and margaritas, comedy club with two drink minimum and bar with a mechanical bull!) but I was so happy when I got home on Saturday afternoon and Wes was watching football playoffs and in a let's-make-boboli-and-rent-a-movie-tonight mood. Once I poured myself a giant glass of water I sat down and cast on the left front of my cabled hoodie! I was soo excited to be working on this project again - I can not wait until it is finished!! I made decent progress on the bottom ribbing before it was time for dinner and a trip to Blockbuster and put the knitting away for the rest of the night.
Sunday morning I woke up to complete my last long run before the half-marathon next weekend. Tia and I certainly weren't prepared to run 11 miles on Saturday! It always takes me a few hours to feel like myself again after a run of that distance. I am a little nauseous, but know I need to eat to replenish my energy; I am exhausted, but don't want to sit for too long and cramp up. Also, Wes had a soccer game at two and then would be leaving for work so I wanted to spend time with him too! So we hung out got some lunch before his game, then I did some housework and made Wes dinner to take with him to work. By the time I finished being responsible Wes was back from his game and leaving for work. Once he left I made myself some dinner and sat down to knit knit knit! I got three of the seven pattern repeats before the arm shaping finished in between more cooking and cleaning. This pattern goes quickly, especially on the front portions because all the cables go the same direction on each side. I dont' have to check the chart to remember to hold in front or back every time. I would love to have both fronts finished by the time I go to bed Tuesday night (Wes works tonight and Tuesday and running is light this week to rest up for the big race!) but I don't know if I want my first attempt at sleeves to happen on the airplane and in Phoenix far away from Anacapa Fine Yarns and the infinite wisdom I can get there. I might need to scrape up a little airplane-appropriate project while at AFY tonight.

last giftie!!

This week has been a little bit of a frenzy to get this Cleo Clutch finished by today (Friday) since it's Shannon's bachelorette party tonight. I wanted to make her this because at my wedding I didn't have a little bag to carry my camera or lipgloss and gum or even the money from the money dance (yehaw!). Also, I know their wedding bands are going to have the Celtic braids on them and this bag has a similar cable pattern. I embroidered the inside lining with the R&S monogram that is on their invitation stationary. The colors are bright and NOT bridal white because Shannon is not a plain white kind of girl. Her wedding colors are red, purple, green and yellow! Tia suggested the purple for the bag and I think it turned out really nice. I felted this one a little less time than the blue Cleo so the bag is a little larger, but also the cabling stands out more.
This was my last gift-item of the Christmas season and now I can finally get back to my brown hoodie! Saturday night I will need to recover from the bachelorette party to complete my last 11-miler before the half next weekend, so probably will cast on the front then. Hopefully I will finish the hoodie in time to wear it before it gets too warm again.

week-late Christmas: Sushi

This was a last-minute gift after another idea I had for Tia fell through. I had an extra ball of Noro Kureyon after scrapping the Hurry-Up Spring Wristwarmers from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation in favor of the Wonder Woman wristwarmers for Kristen. I used one of the Noro balls for my Calorimetry and decided to knit the other into a bag. The back side of the bag has all shades of pink and red, but I didn't take a picture of that. The button is abalone shell ... same as on Calorimetry. I didn't have a pattern for this bag, I just cast on 45 sitches and started knitting. I made a YO button hole and a couple K rows towards the end of my yarn, then folded it over and stitched up the sides.

As soon as I saw these sushi patterns at Sublime Stitching, I immediately thought of Tia because she love sushi. I used a bright blue to match the blue on the bag for the cat's collar and the chopsticks.

Also, I tried to make the sushi pieces look realistic, but since Tia is the only one I see on a regular basis who enjoys sushi and would know how to make it look authentic, I certainly couldn't ask her and had to figure it out myself. Hopefully it is accurate! Even though the white embroidery floss I picked out was a pain in the butt to work with (very slippery!) it stands out nice on the off-white fabric, so I'm glad I picked it for the rice.

week-late Christmas: Cleo

had a good night for finishing up projects yesterday while Wes was at work and I needed to just chill after a crazy New Year's Eve. I had hoped to finish this before Saturday afternoon when Amanda (recipient of this gift!) arrived at my apartment, but ran out of time between work and lots of running last week. I had the bag knitted and felted way back in September, but just bought snaps for closure and the fabric for lining last week. Had I forgotten about the lining I could have given this to Amanda on Saturday, but I bought the fabric for the lining specifically for her, so wanted to be sure and include it. I had wanted to embroider the lining for this bag as I did for Sushi, but couldn't find anything at Sublime Stitching that screamed "AMANDA" ... but when I found this chili pepper fabric I thought of her immediately. I think it turned out really cute and I love all the bright colors. This is going in the mail today - hopefully to arrive before Shannon's bachelorette on Friday! I have another skein of Cascade 220 in this same great color so might make myself one too (get in line!).


P.S.