new fun stuff: swap-bot!

while reading through comments and posts for my online art class, someone mentioned swap-bot. I had never heard of swap-bot, so I looked it up on google and found a whole new community of fun arty people and ideas!
The "bot" is an automated system that randomly assigns partners for a "swap" set up by various moderators throughout the world. Swaps are quick and inexpensive (Favorite Candy Bar) or elaborate and expensive (Disney Scavenger Hunt) with specific themes and requirements. Some swaps allow the participants to share handcrafted items while others are designed to clean out stashes of art supplies. One trait is common among many of the swaps - participants must be "rated" in order to participate. It's sort of the catch-22 of looking for work right out of college where no one will hire someone without experience, but how do you get experience without first being hired? Since you must participate in swaps to be rated (the partner you send to gives a rating after receiving their packages to show that you completed the swap in a timely manner and according to the directions of the swap), there are some swaps aimed specifically at "newbies" to try out the swapping system and get ratings in order to join some of the more fun and serious swaps.
I decided to join one of these "newbie" swaps in order to see if I have time to participate in something like this between caring for sweet Leila, keeping the house somewhat clean (ha) and completing projects for art class. The requirement of the swap was to send one item of each color - red, blue, yellow, green and black - and also one "surprise" item based on what my partners shared in their user profiles. I was floored by the detail that some people gave in their profiles to share their interests, likes and dislikes, but I guess if you want to like what you receive in the mail, you need to be specific.
I sent one of my partners the five colors of embroidery floss and also two fat quarters of fabric in designs I hope she likes! My other partner had specifics in her profile that were unusual, but fun to strive for. She collects bottle caps of unusual beverages so I took a trip to Rocket Fizz (my new favorite place, more about that later!) and picked out sodas based purely on the color of their bottle caps. As I enjoyed the sodas, I saved the caps to send to my partner. She also indicated that she loves kitchen accessories such as hand towels and aprons, so I was excited about the opportunity to embroider a towel for her. Here are pictures of the finished product:

The pattern is from Sublime Stitching, one of my favorite places to find patterns. The picture on the left shows a cupcake with two battered spoons crossed underneath. I thought it looks like the skull and crossbones of pirates :) On the right is a clumsy waitress spilling cups and bowls off of her tray.

It was fun to participate in this swap and send off packages and also receive things (I got some great stickers, stamps and also a really pretty bracelet!) but since I have so little free time to myself these days, I don't think I'll be joining too many more swaps right now. Though I did sign up for the candy swap! I couldn't resist :)

ahhh!

been waiting all week for online art class login and it just came ... right as it's time to feed Leila and get ready for Bible study! argh! I don't think I'll mind waking up early tomorrow ... I'll get my supply list ready before I head north for lunch with Kristen and shopping at The Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria! yay :)

there are two projects already posted ... both would make adorable Christmas presents, I just need to decide who the recipients will be :)

Back to "School"

this morning I enrolled in an online craft class put on by Elsie, creator of my favorite embroidery patterns! It is an eight-week class and by the end we'll finish 30 projects! Thankfully, the instructions and class outlines will be available oneline for a year, since I am still very busy being Leila's Mom and Wesley's Wife every day, so I'm not sure if I could get everything done in the eight weeks. However, I have so missed being crafty and now that I am getting some energy back (recovered from giving birth and regularly getting 6-7 hours of sleep at night) these projects will give me motivation and inspiration to make some cute projects and get back into the swing of creativity. I am so excited!

back again!

lots of changes since February ... and lots of UFOs too ... after Lola's jumper I started a Dale of Norway hat for the baby, but had trouble reading the pattern and in the crankiness of my pregnancy, didn't really have the patience to figure out what exactly went wrong. Same with my other projects ... but now baby Leila is here AND we've moved into a new house with lots of rooms to decorate and projects to work on! The nursery is painted green and mostly finished except for curtains. I also want to make a bed skirt for the crib so we can store still-too-big clothes in spacebags underneath. But my main focus now is for the guest room ... we just painted an accent wall in that room "Fairy Tale Blue" and the bedspread is Nautica's Huntington pattern. A while back I bought elsiecake's Wonderland craft kit and plan to use that as inspiration ... there are a few cute prints that I'll put on the wall and also scraps to make a great collage. Pictures to come as I make progress! Warren and Jasmine are coming to stay with us in a few weeks, so I have some good motivation to get it done!

Eventually, I'll get back to knitting, but it's too hot to really think about yarn at this point anyway :)

how the blanket came to be

A few months ago, Grandma mentioned that she was ready for a new project and may want to pick up knitting again. I had seen this blanket pattern on Knit & Tonic, and suggested it to her since it was pretty simple knitting for the body of the blanket and then crochet edging. However, it had been so long since Grandma picked up knitting needles that even the simple decreases to create the "seam" up the middle of each square seemed difficult, however, the triple crochet edging (foreign to me!) sounded interesting, so I said that I would work on the body of the blanket (I cast on 10 extra stitches per square and also used size 8 needles to make this a little larger for a non-premie baby) and then pass it along to Grandma to finish the edging. I decided I would keep this blanket for myself to use whenever I have babies someday ... I liked the idea of having something that Grandma and I worked on together. Even though she helped me talk me through through lots of difficult patterns and stitches, I don't have anything that both she and I stiched on together.
Sadly, Grandma started failing before I could get my part completed. I don't know how to crochet more than the most basic of beginning steps and I don't feel right asking someone else to complete it for me, so the blanket will remain as it is now. And in July, Wes and I will welcome our firstborn home in this blanket and know that Grandma is loving her greatgrandbaby from heaven.

Baby Otis

My old college roommate and running partner, Tia, is having a baby next month! They aren't finding out if it's a boy or a girl, but the nursery is jungle-themed so for the shower a couple weeks ago I made some generic animal onesies and wrapped them up with bibs from her registery and some all-purpose pads to look like a sushi roll ... something Tia's had to do without over the course of her pregnancy and I know she misses it!! I got the sushi idea from etsy a while ago and hung onto it since I knew I could make it for Tia myself with homemade goodies :)

Charlotte Rose

my boss, Christie, had a little girl in October named Charlotte Rose so I used my new Alice in Wonderland-themed embroidery patterns to make her a onesie with a rose theme ... The front has "painting the roses red" and the back has a rose on the butt, like Lola's pirate :)

I also made an Alice tank for Charlotte's big sister, Kate:
with Alice and the Cheshire Cat on the front and a "bread & butterfly" on the back"

Lola Pearl Murphy

when my friend Heather said she was pregnant with a little girl, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her ... anything with pirates on it!! :) Since I am totally in love with all things elsiecake, I first went to work on embroidering a onesie with a cute skull on the lower back, because I knew Lola would be sassy.

next I revisited a favorite pattern (Taylor's Jumper!) and altered it a bit to be 100% pink with just one skull pocket. I took the skull pattern from a patch in Son of Stitch 'N Bitch and it fit perfectly! The buttons also have skulls on them - I found them at The Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria!

I know Heather will love it ... what do you expect from someone who throws a Dia De Los Muertos baby shower?? :)

Never Neverland

A little more embroidery to show off. These Neverland patterns are from elsiecake on etsy. I love the towel to show all the different Neverland aspects and will be using the pirates on baby stuff for Lola too. I just started on Wonderland (like Alice in...) embroidery this weekend and will share pictures when I have more to show. For now, here is a little more detail on Neverland.

embroidery!

been spending more time embroidering than knitting recently ... shown here is a towel I stitched using "Krazy Kitchen" from sublime stitching, which has been my favorite place to find embroidery patterns for a long time. However, I recently discovered elsiecake on etsy, and might have a new favorite!! I am currently working on a neverland-themed towel and plan to use the same patterns on some items for soon-to-be-here baby Lola Pearl Murphy!! I also recently purchased alice in wonderland-themed patterns and can't wait to get to work on those!! thanks to Monday Night Football, I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot more crafting/knitting/embroidering now, and I'm so excited!!! :)
so anyway, about this kitchen towel: the two spoons are on opposite corners on one side and along the opposite edge is a row of all the other kitchen appliances ... there were too many to show in one long picture. but i think it turned out really cute and I am so proud of the french knots on the stand mixer!! a new first for me!! after embroidering so much for other people, I am glad to have some embroidery that I can use in my own kitchen! after I finish the neverland towel, I will get back to work on presents for others, but I have to admit I am enjoying this little bit of selfishness ...

Taylor, part 2

Wes and I took a little road trip to AZ last weekend. I was so excited about all that time in the car for some knitting, I started a new project for Miss Taylor. The adorable Girl's Skinny Tank by Wendy Bernard from Blue Sky Alpaca. I thought I could finish it all in the car on the way out there, ha ha ha ... forgot about how long it takes me to cast on (hours, apparently) and dinner breaks (greasy fingers aren't good for knitting) and the inevitable darkness that comes when you drive from LA to Arizona and don't leave LA until after 4pm. But I got a good start and made really good progress on the way home (actually stopping for dinner and being able to wash my hands after makes all the difference!) and now I am just about finished on this cute thing. It does call for an i-cord bind off which I haven't ever done before, so I am excited about the chance to learn something new!
Also, as a bonus, I am making the tank in navy blue, which I bought new, but for the stripes I am using the leftover sky blue and magenta from Taylor's jumper! so cute!!

awake

so Wes has been in his new position of DETECTIVE for a few months now and I have gotten used to having him around at night and on the weekends and looooove it! I love it so much that I forget he is on call 24 hours a day, which means when something goes down in Carp. at 3 in the morning, he gets a call and has to report ASAP ... which is what happened today. and of course now I can't get back to sleep - so I have a little unexpected time to work on the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan. I have been working on it more this week and I am really enjoying it after a little break. Of course, I would not trade in time with my husband for more knitting time, but I am glad to have something to fill the time without him, even if I should be asleep!
but this seems like an appropriate time to recommend Power of A Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. When Wes was on night shift, I'd read a chapter a night in the chronological order in which they were written. Now, I flip right to the chapter that I think Wes needs the most at the time. Today's chapter: Protection.

Picking it back up

Though im making good progress on the front of flutter sleeve, as i packed for a quick trip to vegas to visit our fulfillment center i decided i needed something smaller to stick in my carryon. Reintroducing clessidra! Havent worked this pattern in 7 months or more but it is coming back pretty easily. I think i just needed a break from the details but now i am enjoying it

Distractions and Progress

it's been a long month without knitting around here ... first I was distracted by crochet ... then a trip that despite being a passenger on train, plane and car (the latter for over 24 hours of awake time), produced no stitches ... then this weekend Wes and I got a Wii!! however, tonight in front of TRIPLE overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (go Pens!) I pulled out the Flutter-Sleeve Cardigan and got to work.
I haven't been able to figure out what went wrong on the back ... if it was my misinterpreting the pattern as I tried to make short-row shoulders, or if I just miscounted the rows, but I threaded in a lifeline and started ripping out the last few inches and of course, didn't thread very evenly so this frogging will take more work than I thought.
Instead of getting discouraged, I just left the back on the lifeline and cast on for the first front half!! so far so good there :) I'm going to try and solve the back problem before I get to the shoulders on the front so I can decide to try short-rows, or just bind off as the pattern suggests, but no thinking tonight ... I'm writing now in the intermission between 2OT and 3OT and the game is back on!!

This is new ...

Crochet!?!? Striped scarf from Happy Hooker my beginning chain was too tight so it is curling a bit as my stitches are getting looser as i get the hang of it. we'll see how it turns out. im just glad to be using up the yarn from Taylor's jumper finally

best husband ever

I am so proud of Wes for getting an awesome promotion and starting Tuesday he won't have to work night shift anymore! Of course, this will cut into my knitting time a bit, but I am so excited about having more time to spend together!!

2.25 FOs

The two refers to Stine's socks and the .25 to the half of the back of my flutter sleeve cardigan! I went with size 6 needles for the under-bust ribbing and when I measured it came out perfectly! The real test will be when I put it on, but of course won't know that until a lot more knitting is complete!

did they not consider MY needs?

having a little bit of frustration with the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan. Thanks to lots of good knitting time last week I have finished the back up to the under-bust ribbing! Unfortunately, the ribbing is supposed to be done with a needle that is four sizes smaller than the largest needle used to knit the body. since I am using a size 9 for the main body knitting, I needed a size 5 to knit the ribbing ... one of the few needle sizes I do not own. so, my project was put on hold for a few days until I could get to AFY on my way home from work today. imagine my surprise when I pulled up (just 10 minutes before closing, new job is a little farther away than my old job) and saw the closed sign on the door. now really, I shouldn't be surprised, AFY has been closed every Monday for the past two years, but really shouldn't they be open on the one day of the week that is convenient for me to stop by?
so, headed down to the local Michael's to see what I could find - while I was mesmerized by the spring silk flowers for 50% off, I was very disenchanted when I discovered that Michael's does not sell circular needles smaller than size 6. I have plenty of size six needles and plenty of size fours, but come on! what I really need is some size fives. I am bound and determined to get some knitting in tonight, so now I am faced with the decision of whether I should go a bit smaller or a big larger than recomended. normally I would go a bit smaller, but my lack-of-excessive-running gut is telling me to go a bit larger. if my brain could keep up, I could always knit one row with 4 and one with 6 and hope for the best, but I think I would forget and then it would look even weirder to have half the ribbing coming out to about a 5 and the other half (when I inevitably forget to switch at the end of a row) either too small or too big.

new sweater cast on!

Wes is back on night shift and since my new job is in the same city that he patrols, I had the brilliant idea to stick around until after his briefing and have dinner together tonight! I figured I'd be knitting at home anyway, may as well knit in my car, looking at the beach, and then get to see my handsome husband for a little while. It was a good use of time and I was so happy when I left work to know that I had lots of knitting time in front of me, instead of a drive. Traffic isn't too bad usually, but it's certainly better at 7:30 than at 5pm.
So, I made good progress today on the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan from the Spring issue of Interweave Knits. I was frustrated while doing the gauge because the pattern calls for size 7 needles and I know I usually need to go up one or two sizes, but I wasn't able to get gauge with 10.5! but then I double-checked the pattern and realized that size 9 was perfect, so still two sizes above pattern, as usual.
Above is a badly lit picture (the yarn is actually a lovely shade of pink, not white as it looks) of my progress so far. It's 108 stitches across the back so taking a while to get lots of length, but I am already starting to decrease for the waist shaping. There aren't too many decreases though because in order to get the waist band, I'll just switch to a smaller needle size and do some ribbing to create the smaller waist. So far I am loving the yarn (Rowan - Calmer in shade 495). It is really easy to work with and creating a nice fabric.

general news and updates

so the last few months I have not been a very good blogger - that can be attributed to lots of reasons: we were out of town for two weeks, it was Christmas and New Year's, then I was a desperate housewife who only really had time to start on one pair of socks (Stine's Irving Park) before I got a new job at CKE Restaurants where I am blocked from blogging at work, unlike at my old job where the majority of blogging was done from work. so it will take a little extra effort to keep this up, but I have such great projects ready to start I want to share them!! I am almost finished with Stine's socks - just a few more inches on the cuff to go! Then I was seduced by Interweave Knits' spring preview a month or so ago and had to rush out to buy the new issue and yarn to complete the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan right away.
So, like I mentioned, Wes is back on night shifts now so I think tonight I will make my swatch for the Cardigan and make sure I have the right needle size and enough yarn to start this project. The socks can be finished in a couple more lunch breaks while looking out at the ocean from the bluffs of Carpinteria :)

My new lunchtime knitting view

It really is too hot to knit today but the ocean breeze makes it bearable :) so these are stine's socks that didnt get finished before i saw her for dinner last nite. But i have good motivation to finish them now that wes is back on nite shift

Hawaii socks done!

today I finished up another pair of toe-up socks ... again in Lorna's Laces and this time in Hawaii! I solved the too-tight at the top problem by casting off using size 10.5 needles ... a huge size difference, but it worked. The tops are perfectly stretchy. I didn't realize it would come off the needles so stripy. When they opened up the skein to wind it at AFY, half was pure white and the other half was a blend of the green, blue and purple, but I still like it. I had these in mind for Tia, not for anything special, just that I saw the colors and thought she would like it, so I hope she is pleased! We have the same size feet, so I didn't have to do any extra math to make the pattern work. Also in the picture is the start of another pair in Irving Park - Stine's choice for her socks. So far all I have is the toes on dpns, but plan to work on them the rest of the afternoon. One of the luxuries of not working right now :)

a month later

The day of my last post was my last day of work ... it's been almost a month but between the trip to DC and all the Christmas excitment I haven't really noticed until now. Today is the first day I am a little bored being at home and I've even gotten the apartment the most organized it's been since we moved in eight months ago.
So, I am ready to get into some good knitting and take advantage of this time off. I have to finish the Hawaii socks and then I would love to finish up the brown hoodie already.
P.S. the picture is Wes and I in DC both wearing headgear knit by me :) Wes in his celtic beanie and me in Calorimetry! The National Archives are behind us (where all the official documents of our country are stored - the Declaration, Constitution, etc).

you wanna hurry this up, Clark? I'm freezing my baguettes off.

been working on the hat for Wes a little more this week. Once I got past the bottom ribbing (hard in double-knit! lots to keep track of), it has been going pretty smoothly. Just follow the color-work chart visible in the picture to the left. That picture was taken on Tuesday at lunch - I was just starting the first row of colorwork. I have had time this week to knit at night and at lunch a couple of days, so I have made pretty good progress! Tuesday night Wayne came over and we just relaxed since everyone had to get up early for work and tests so I was able to get in a few rows. Last night was really mellow too - Wes and I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (I still like Elf better!) and I kept knitting after dinner.
So after a few quality chances to knit (finally! I haven't had that much time all at once since we flew back from Austin in October), I am almost finished with the colorwork. The double-knitting isn't a problem as I switch between the two colors like I was worried about. I have a pretty good rhythm and it is coming along faster than i thought it would. I actually think it is easier to do colorwork in double-knit than in regular knit since you don't have to worry about where to carry the unused yarn across the back and if you're pulling too tight, etc. It all just gets worked at the same time. Since there are large sections of color as opposed to just a few stitches at a time like on the argyle scarf, I don't have to refer to the chart every other stitch which saves time too. Once the color is finished, it will just be straight double-knitting and decreasing rows to the end so it should be finished in the next few days, if I have time to work on it. We have a busy couple of days until we get on the plane Tuesday morning, but it snowed in DC yesterday (wedding day forecast is partly cloudy and a high of 43), so I have extra motivation to get this hat finished ASAP!

knitting for warmth

Wes and I fly to Washington DC in eight days! I am so excited for the vacation and the fun times we are going to have with Wes' brothers, sister and significant others (pictured from our 2005 trip to Kansas: Ashley, Wayne, Whitney, Jasmine, Warren, Wes, me. missing: Whitney's BF Goo) celebrating Warren and Jasmine's wedding :)
According to the 10-day forecast, our trip will be about the same temperatures it has been here the past few days which is COLD (to a native California girl and boy) and rainy. So, while I am very anxious for my argyle scarf (in turquoise and grey ... so pretty!) I need to focus a little more on keeping Wes warm too and he needs a hat! In the new Stitch 'N Bitch (for guys!), the pattern directly after the double-knit argyle scarf is for a double-knit beanie with a Celtic knot pattern.
I already had enough yarn because Wes had asked me to knit him a beanie last spring when the weather was unpredictable, but by the time i bought the yarn it was mostly warm so I never got around to it as I was distracted by Mom's shawl and learning to knit socks. But Wes liked the beanie pattern and I was excited to continue my venture into double-knitting, so I used the already purchased yarn and cast on for the Celtic Beanie. It took a long time to set up, but I got in a few good rows at lunch today while listening to my favorite Christmas CD in my car at the tennis club parking lot near work (also where we got married!). Not sure what tonight has in store for Wes and I but getting this beanie done before we land next Tuesday is definitely a priority. Socks (even the soclosetobeingdone hawaii toe-ups and all pairs planned for the lorna's laces order that arrived this week) are on hold until after DC.

In other exciting news ... this is my last week of work at Ehlert! Then DC, then Christmas, then ... ??? who knows! I have some things in the works, but nothing for sure yet.

perfect storage

I have always admired the needle pouches sold on websites such as StitchDiva, but they are so expensive! So, I decided to try and make my own and I asked Grandma to help me with the sewing machine stuff and making sure that my idea was even possible.
I had in mind a kind of tri-fold wallet with pouches, but didn't really plan it out until Grandma and I were at the fabric store.
I fell in love with the green corduroy for the outside and found the paisley fabric with similar green and it all came together! We had a little math mishap on how much paisley we needed, but other than that it came together pretty well! I am very pleased with the finished result, it cost less than $12 all together and loved spending some time with Grandma too! Since it folds flat it is easy to store with my project bins and I love not having to dig through bins of knitting odds and ends to find the right size needles. My next project will be for dpns ... but I don't have a master plan for that yet ...
Here are some pictures of the finished project (the lovely brown background is our new, super-comfy, amazing couch):





ta-dah!!! there are three rows of four pouches each, so I can hold twelve different sizes. I have a lot of duplicate sizes for socks, but I store them in the same pouch.


and an extra special THANK YOU to Grandma for putting up with my crazy ideas and letting me mostly figure stuff out for myself :) and of course for putting in all the sewing time! I had a really fun day - thank you!

argyle!!!!!

my book came!! I'm off for some lunchtime yarn shopping ... hurray!

sock portrait

finally a picture of some FINISHED socks! the all navy blue ones are Wes, I started that pair in my first "learn to knit socks class" last year and finished them just before we left for Colorado for our anniversary. it has been sooo cold the last couple of nights, so even though it was hot in Colorado and he didnt' need them, I am glad they are finished now!
the purple/blue/green ones are me and those are the socks I made in the "toe-up sock class" last month. I finished them a few weeks ago. I knit the two cuffs at the same time and got a little greedy on finishing up the whole ball of yarn, so the second sock to be bound off it a little tight at the top because I was running out of yarn. It's just a little hard to get on and off, once they are on it isn't too tight and they are sooo warm. Perfect for lounging on our new couch in handknit socks! :)

motivation ...

... to finish my brown hoodie

p.s. and I hope this goes on sale before we fly to DC!

finally finishing these socks

After a Saturday shopping excursion with Tia, I made it over to AFY to learn what I missed in toe-up sock class last week. Turning the heel on toe-up socks is way easy - I think I am going to make toe-up socks as often as possible!! Once I turned both heels, I put both socks on the same needles, so I could knit around and around until I run out of yarn, or I could be about done with this pair, pictured on the right, and use the leftover yarn to make matching socks for Taylor!! But if I keep making mine higher, they'll be warmer. It has been cold in our apartment the last few nights ... bring on fall!!

socks, interrupted

had an unexpected family emergency last weekend that preempted knitting classes and other activities for a few days. thankfully, everyone is understanding when sick grandmothers are involved so tomorrow I can go to AFY and meet with Karin to finish up learning about toe-up socks, even though I missed the official class last week. before we knew we'd have to fly to Texas, I had finished through the instep of both socks and was all set to start the heel. I am hoping Karin can also show me how to knit both socks at the same time when I meet with her tomorrow. My Lorna's Laces order from last week was placed with specific people in mind, and I also just promised to make socks for Renee, Kristina and their girls. Luckily the little girl's pairs will go quickly - I brought materials to cast on for Taylor's with me to Texas, but spent most of the waiting around time on Clessidra. I have just one and a half more cable pattern repeats (18 rounds total) to go before I start turning the heel on the first sock. These are taking such a long time due to the tiny needles, so I am anxious to get some worsted weight socks going too. I think I'll take a break from Clessidra tonight and cast on for Taylor's little pair and maybe practice knitting both at the same time too ... it's easier to try new things on little socks, because it doesn't take as long to start over.

instead of dishcloths ...

thanks to Lois at AFY for helping me get all the beautiful colors of Lorna's Laces I want to knit socks with! I stopped by last night and put in the order, so soon I will have way too much yarn hanging around my house! I think I might make worsted-weight socks be my new car-knitting project. The dishcloths are great for practicing lace (so maybe I can finally cast on for the Lucky wrap cardigan that I bought yarn for over a year ago?), but there is a definite chill in the air and I am about to dive head first into warm sock mode. Last night during The Office and Grey's (yeah TiVo!) I finished up through the gusset on my second toe-up sock for class on Saturday. I am hoping that Karin will show us how to knit both socks at the same time after we learn the heel shaping so that from here on out, all my pairs can be completed at the same time, which will ensure that both socks in the pair get made in a timely maner :)

want some socks?

went to the first of two Saturday classes this week to learn how to knit socks from the toe up, as opposed to the traditional cuff-down style. The pattern we are using is totally customizable for each individual person, so if you want me to make you a pair of socks, measure the length of your foot (stand on a tape measure and note how far it is from your longest toe to where your heel hits the ground) and around the widest part of your foot (where your foot connects to your leg) in centimeters. The measurements should be fairly close (mine are two cm off, which is more than usual. a lot of ladies in my class had the same measurements for each part of the foot). Don't forget to pick a color and send me your request :)

socks, socks and more socks!

another leg picture to show off my growing Clessidra. I have five more pattern repeats before I start turning the heel. This tiny yarn is taking a long time! I have another tiny yarn sock pattern I was going to alternate with this one so I don't get bored, but last night I went over to Marge's house to watch Grey's and Stine requested some socks, so I think I'll go back to making a pair or slipper socks on size 4s with my leftover bittersweet yarn for her as my alternate to tiny yarn socks. then she and Grandma can be twins!

Also, starting Saturday morning I am taking another class at AFY to learn how to knit socks from the toe-up! I have a few patterns I want to try that are toe-up, but like learning regular socks, I wanted to take the class first to be really sure I know what I am doing first. Check out this beautiful yarn I got to learn on! It is also Lorna's Laces (like bittersweet), but this color is called Lakeview. I already bought the pattern we'll be using in class and it looks like it is customizable to each foot, so probably I will make these socks for me, since I'll be the only one there to customize them for. I haven't made any socks for me yet, except clessidra, which is taking forever. the class socks are size 4s too, so shouldn't take long.

I <3 Organizing

Wes wants to get bowls of bubble-eyed goldfish to fill in the extra shelf space. I'd better hurry up and buy more bins and fill them with yarn! :) those fish creep me out! anyway, mostly I am happy to have some organization and to not have a blank wall anymore!! I still leave clessedra all over my chair, but at least all the other projects are put away. the before picture isn't even that bad because I cleaned on Friday. before that, there were all sorts of books and yarn scraps and other patterns under the little round table on the left. now the books are stacked and I have a folder to organize loose patterns.
the calla lily picture is way cheap at IKEA and I picked it because I had calla lilies at our wedding ... those are all wedding pictures surrounding the larger flower picture. awww ...

me + size 1 needles = BFF!*

here is the top of one Clessedra ... the result of lots of nights knitting. Probably this is normal because it seems like lots of socks are knit on size 1 or 2 needles, but I learned on size 4, so this is a little rough on me. however, I am loooving the pattern and I have gotten it memorized (a small feat in itself, though maybe not to remarkable if I tried to count how many hours I have actually been working on this), so I only need the chart for the hourglass cable that runs up the back of the leg, and even that is just to double-check since I now know what a pain it is to rip out while trying to keep all the stitches in the right place. but, it's fun to work on and here in SoCal it is still too hot for knee socks anyway, so I am not really anxious yet.
*Best Friends Forever!

dishcloths and storage. the joys of non-homeownership.

I am really enjoying making the dishcloths! Well, dishcloth. So far it's just the one. But it is always nice to have a little project to work on when I have ten or twenty or sixty minutes to kill in the car. (No, I don't knit while driving, though I wish we had a train or lightrail or something I could take to work. All the Denver people who were on their way home from work while we were on our way to the Rockies game looked very relaxed and content on the lightrail reading books.)
Anyway, this linen yarn is a little crazy. As Charlie at AFY was winding it for me (by hand, after it jumped the spool!), a woman sitting at the work table commented how there is no give in the yarn and I didn't get it until I started knitting and realized there is no give in the yarn. (perceptive, aren't I?) It's also a lot rougher than I am used to and I think if I knit dishcloths for the duration of time I knit socks or sweaters in the evenings, I would rub my fingers raw, but I can handle it for an hour or less a day. I am really anxious to get this first cloth finished so I can throw it in the wash. Supposedly the yarn gets softer and softer with every washing, like the flour sack towels I embroidered for Grandma a few Christmases ago.
ALSO, Wes and I have come to the realization that we won't be out of this apartment by Christmas like we'd hoped, so I have taken on the task of making our apartment more livable and am actually decorating and organizing things a little better. My task for tonight while Wes is golfing with the boys (weird how he sees my girlfriend's boyfriends more than I see my girlfriends), is to drag out one of the bookshelves we originally stuck in the black hole of storage and use it to organize my knitting. With (over) three projects on the needles right now, I am spread out all over the living room, which Wes just loves. I ran to Target on my lunchbreak today and got some cute, cheap plastic bins that will fit perfectly on the shelves and are deep enough to hold, hopefully, a whole brown hoodie in progress. The lids snap on and have handles, so it will be easy to transport projects too, if, for example, I decide I want to take something larger than dishcloths on the road trip to San Francisco this weekend. (also at Target right now, totally amazing OFFICE products. I am now the totally proud owner of an "I *heart* Jim" mousepad and pens featuring Michael and Dwight-isms. LOVE IT.)

more new projects!!

soooooooooooooo guess who went to the yarn store today and got two skeins of fabulously cranky linen yarn (in colors 55 and 48) to make dishcloths from a new book I got at the library (yay free books! more money for yarn!). The book is appropriately titled Knitter's Stash, as I have now started my own little stash of current on-the-needles projects. They aren't even all listed in the sidebar to the left ... I think I would depress myself if I had them all listed. But most of these dishcloth patterns are about 60 stitches across and even with some fun lacy patters, I should be able to just whip out a few on lunch break knitting. All my other projects are sort of cumbersome and I don't really like dragging them out to my car every morning on the off chance that I'll have some free time to knit during the day. Then I bring everything back upstairs at the end of the day to work on while Wes watches baseball, or I am home alone knitting to avoid housework after eight hours of sitting in a cube. So, these dishcloths, which require no fancy tools (cable needles, etc), can just live in my car all the time, so I will never be without a project to work on while I'm waiting for Wes to meet me for dinner, or on a lunchbreak or I don't know what else, but it seems like I do a lot of sitting in my car.

P.S. Today the new knitty came out, just a day after I discovered all those new patterns at zepherstyle ... what are they trying to do to me??

bad timing for a new obsession

just after I finished outlining (mostly as a reminder to myself) all my current problematic projects on the needles and me without time to fix them all, I stumbled across zephyrstyle.com from one of my frequent reads (knitandtonic, where Wendy is making Juliet) and am now ready to quit my day job, never do housework and cast on for each of the funky, beautiful sweaters designed by the zephyrstyle ladies. not that I need a new knitting project to make me want to leave cubicle-world and forgo vacuuming ...

frogging and putting it off

have been taking a little break from knitting recently. partly this is because I have been too busy being on vacation in Colorado and attending two weddings in one weekend to knit too much lately. but mostly it is because all my "obligatory" projects (ones that are already started and really should get finished before I start new stuff) need some frogging and I am way too stubborn to give in to the frogging just yet. But here is the situation:
project 1, Sahara - I started to pull out the lace inset a couple weeks ago and gosh, I tied everything off really tight! what a stupid thing to do, even though I realized as I was binding off that I probably wouldn't like it the way that it was. so, I am afraid I will have to just cut my losses, literally, and cut through the lace inset and not worry about salvaging this bit of yarn. I can do it because I have a whole ball and a half left over with which to re-knit the inset, but it's more the principle of the thing.
project 2, Central Park Hoodie - you may recall that I was making good progress on this last fall until I had to stop and make Christmas presents, then I continued making good progress until it got hot and I put it away in favor of more weather appropriate projects, like Sahara. well, September is upon us, so it's time to get back into fall knitting. However, in the six or eight months or however long it's been since I put the cabled hoodie away, my tension has gotten looser (mostly, I think as a result of mom's shawl, which I intensionally held very loosely, and it carried over into my other projects). I made one sleeve last winter, but left the second one to do now and i am afraid that my second sleeve will be much bigger. I am afraid of this because: I started knitting Wes a pair of socks in March when I took the class from Lois. Even though I bought a huge skein of yarn, Wes has the biggest feet ever and I ran out of yarn halfway down the instep of the second sock. At the time, I had already made one sock for grandma out of the bittersweet yarn and was anxious to get the second one started, so I just put the stitches for Wes' blue sock on scrap yarn and started in on grandma's second sock right away. by the time I remembered to get more blue yarn, the heat made socks pretty far down on my priority list. But last week prior to our anniversary trip to Colorado, I decided I wanted to finish the socks for Wes, so I put the stitches back on needles, found the second ball of yarn and finished up Wes' blue socks. Now it is very obvious which sock was my second sock. not because you can see the join in the yarns (I actually have gotten pretty good at hiding the ends), but because half of the second sock has a noticeably looser gauge than the rest of the sock. since these socks are meant to be more like slippers for Wes, I don't think it will be a problem, but it has gotten me nervous for that second sleeve on the cabled hoodie. Especially because I am already using needles 2.5 sizes larger than the pattern instructs, thanks to my previous super-tight tension. I have half a mind to rip the whole thing out and start over on smaller needles (after doing a new gauge swatch, of course!). If I did start over, I would adapt my pattern to use some of the tips from the KAL, such as knitting the bottom in one piece and short rowing the shoulders.
project 3, knee socks - I cast on for these socks after I finished mom's shawl because I had been drooling over them since May, and had bought yarn and everything already, and needed a new easy-to-carry project. I cast on and had no problems adapting the dpn patterns for my two circulars and was making good progress on the complicated cable patterns. Once night after a long knitting session, I noticed that I had cabled the wrong way. Since the cables are so small, probably no one would notice if I left it, but I am trying to be a more conscientious knitter, so I started to un-knit my rows to re-do the project. Lois had shown me previously how to fix a wrong-turned cable without pulling out all the stitches after it, but I thought the twist was just one row down and it would be less of a hassle to just unknit one row. I realized too late that it was more like three rows down (darn tiny yarn is deceiving!), and I had royally screwed up the hourglass cable pattern in trying to get back to the one little cable that was twisted the wrong way. because the hourglass pattern is so complicated, it was very difficult to accurately pick up the stitches after I frogged back to before I made the mistake, so I ended up throwing a little tantrum and frogging the whole sock. After a week in Colorado, I was feeling better about it and cast on again on Thursday night, this time with no problems except I have misplaced my small cable needle, so have only been able to complete the top ribbing.
So now I am in protest. At least until Wednesday when Wes goes back to work for four nights in a row and I would rather knit cranky projects than vacuum.

Cabled Hoodie, round 2?

I have been very good lately. Despite a few stops to AFY (to sign up for intarsia and toe-up sock classes!), I haven't bought any new project yarn since the eyelet cardigan train project because I don't want anything to distract me from finishing up mom's shawl (could have finished it this weekend, but got distracted by Friday's Dodgers game ... whoops!) and since I hate ripping out work, I know if I have a new fun project to make, I will never rip and fix my Sahara lace inset either. However, it is now mid-August and there are back-to-school sales everywhere and I'm thinking it might be time to finish up the brown cabled hoodie. All that's left is one sleeve before I can start seaming, then I'll need to PU stitches for the hood and then the ribbing around the edges, so it should only take me a week or so if I really get to it. Maybe I could finish all three projects before Wes and I take off for Colorado at the end of the month? Is that too ambitious?
Anyway, I found a KAL for the cabled hoodie today and signed up. There are tons of tips and suggestions from other knitters who have completed the hoodie, and I wish I would have found this a long time ago! There are tips for short row shoulders and all sorts of things that I would love to do ... it's too late now for me, but maybe I'll find some good hood tips or something :)

stitch 'n bitch - argyle!!!!!

When I have a slow day at work, I often find myself searching for new knitting books or patterns. This is the case today as I searched Amazon to see if Debbie Stoller's new Stitch 'N Bitch book is out yet and imagine my happy happy surprise to see ARGYLE on the front cover! (I love argyle so much. I tell Wes all the time that I can't wait until we are rich so I can afford to shop at J. Crew and I have been searching in vain for almost a year for a flip-up argyle iPod case). The book doesn't come out until November, but I've already added it to my Amazon Wish List. It looks like the scarf may be double knit? which would be cool because I have read about it, but haven't ever tried that method. Lois has also mentioned that there will be a colorwork class offered at AFY in the fall, which I am planning to take and could be very helpful for the pictured pattern. I wonder if I could have a new argyle scarf in time for December in Washington DC??

reasons to buy fresh basil

more and more recipes, I'm noticing, call for fresh basil (or other herbs) instead of the old dried standbys, but buying fresh is expensive and goes bad just as fast as spinach and other bagged salads. Plus, do you really want to make that many Italian dishes in a week to use up the basil before it goes bad? (well, I do, but most people probably wouldn't). so until I have room in my home for a cute little herb garden, I usually just buy the $4 box of fresh basil and end up throwing most of it out. That was the case when I made Giada DeLaurintiis' Simple Bolognese sauce this weekend which calls for eight fresh basil leaves. It is sooooo good and a nice change from the regular spaghetti sauce that it seems like we eat every week. The Bolognese takes a little more effort, but makes a huge batch, so I like to freeze half for later. The sauce is versatile too; usually we just eat it over pasta (bowties or spirals are the best because the pieces of meat the veggies get caught in the nooks), but last night I baked a potato and dumped a whole bunch of sauce over it and that was excellent too. (The recipe is also included in Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook.)
Anyway, I still had a lot of basil left over but didn't really think much of it until the other day while farting around on epicurious.com, I found this delicious-sounding recipe for a mayoless tuna salad sandwich. It is called "Tuscan" which I guess is Italian, but it doesn't taste Italian to me (at least not in the lasagna, meatball, Parmesan chicken category or Italian food). I made it as instructed, except without olives, because I couldn't find them at the grocery store (what section are they in? I looked under canned veggies and by the pickles and other condiments. anyway, I didn't miss them in the sandwich so maybe it's okay!). Also, I didn't put any greenery (watercress, spinach, arugula, etc) because of the aforementioned quickness in which it goes bad, so I never buy it unless I know I'm going to eat it all at once. but it is so nice to have lunch almost ready when I am scrambling to get out the door in the morning. yesterday I put one layer of bean spread, then a layer of tuna, but it seemed like the second piece of bread was pulling away too much, so today I put bean spread on both pieces of bread with tuna in the middle and it was much better.
So, go get yourself some fresh basil and make these two delicious meals!! One more thing: unless you REALLY like basil and add extra to both dishes, you'll have some leftover so I suggest a caprese salad with marinated mozzarella and fresh sliced tomatoes to go with the extra basil ... but that might be too much Italian food for you :)
okay, two more things: both recipes also call for fresh parsley, but since parsley doesn't really have a flavor, I never buy it fresh, but use the dried stuff that is always in my cupboard. Also, it is good for adding to garlic mashed potatoes, so they look fancier, or to any dish I want to freak Wes out with and make him think there are weird spices in it.

A Note on the Knitting too: still making progress on Mom's shawl!! Worked on it for a long time last night since my dinner (leftover bolognese sauce and baked potato, remember?) was practically cooked for me by the time I got home. New deadline for myself is next weekend when I am planning to head down to HB again. Tonight should be another good night to get many more inches in! Wes will be at work and I just got a bunch of new movies in the mail!

some enchanted shawling

well ... despite my not knitting on the shawl for 2.5 hours a day, I still thought I was getting pretty darn close to finishing it up in time for the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday. On Thursday I thought I was on my last ball of yarn and knitting like crazy on Friday too. Then Saturday morning I found two more balls of yarn! So, I guess I still have a ways to go, but it's okay. The shawl was going to be a little short if that really had been my last ball and I would have had to blocked it to shape which I haven't done before and don't know where I would block something that is supposed to be 70 inches long anyway. So, hopefully after these two last balls are added on, I won't have to block at all. but once I found them, I didn't have much time to use them up! Saturday night was a GOLD Night at Sharkeez in SB and also Fiesta! I drove up with Tia, Amanda and Marge to revel in the drunkeness (yay for being the DD ... it is so fun to chat with people who are drunk and happy!).
Then Sunday got up and made cookies to take to the Bowl for Grandma's birthday outing. I was really excited to go because I'd never been to the Hollywood Bowl before, but I just loved it! The show was South Pacific, which I didn't know much about either, but I liked the story line. Wes enjoyed it too, but we decided we are anxious to go back when there is something a little more to our tastes there. But Reba McEntire had the lead on Sunday, so it was cool to see her in person too. I've never seen her in concert. (click on the picture to see all five of us!) Mom wore her old shawl and I know she is anxious for the new one! Especially if we keep going on fun outings like to the Hollywood Bowl .. or Irvine Meadows, as Dad prefers ...

unexpected shawling at work

I've had some surprise knitting time this week when a network failure at work left me with no access to email, production servers or internet for most of Tuesday, so I ran out to my car to grab mom's shawl and got in a good chunk of knitting done while I sat around waiting for the phone to ring. that was really great because then I could work guilt-free on the eyelet cardigan when I got home that night. I wish that I could knit more often at work while I wait for approvals (seems like I spend half my days waiting, that is a lot of knitting time!), but I try to stick to things that at least look like work - reading other knitting blogs and writing out pattern alterations aren't as suspect as actually whipping out the needles in my cubicle. though I did just pull out the whole shawl to measure it on the slick top of my desk (as seen above, next to my Pirates of the Caribbean lunch pail. yes, I am 26.), as opposed to the couch at home where the material can stretch, and realized in my quest to keep this shawl airy and not knit too tightly, that it is about three inches wider than requested ... I'm afraid this will leave me short on the length when I run out of yarn, but I guess we'll have to see when I get to that point. Since there isn't any shaping to this rectangular shawl, I don't have to plan ahead in decreases or other shaping methods.
speaking of shaping, oh my gosh the eyelet cardigan is full of shaping!! it took me three nights to work on the sleeves (soooo glad I cast them both on at the same time! I'm going to remember that trick) and last night all I got done was seaming the shoulders together and picking up for the neckband. I learned my lesson with Sahara so kept pulling out sections and repicking up to make sure it was even. I guess I'll find out tonight if my efforts paid off. I'd really like to get the button band done and pick up for the button holes tonight so I can go get some help tomorrow on the button holes. Taylor's jumper was the only other thing I've done that required button holes, but they didn't have to be spaced evenly or anything since there was only one at a time. Also, the buttons for the cardigan will be bigger than the little butterflies, so don't know if there is a special method or anything. I guess I'll find out!

fastest sweater ever

i guess if I had a 10-hour train trip and then a quiet weekend following, I could get a sweater finished in nine or ten days all the time ... while that isn't at all realistic, that's what's happening with the eyelet cardigan. With Wes at work on Friday at the end of a looong week for me, i was more than happy to stay home and knit, so that's what I did ... finishing up the front pieces of the cardigan. Saturday I met up with Nicole and some other girls she works with to see Ratatouille at the El Capitan in Hollywood, then went out to dinner, but Wes was at work again when I got home and I wasn't sleepy yet, so I cast on for the sleeves (both at once using two separate balls of yarn) and worked for a few hours. Yesterday I worked a little more in between running errands and making dinner while the Dodgers went into extra innings, and I have just the sleeve caps left for the actual pieces. Then I'll have to stitch the seams together and pick up edge stitches for the neck band and button holes. I've never done button holes before, so I might need to enlist Lois' help again, but I've already let her know I'd be looking for it. I picked out some great abalone buttons to use too that will look gorgeous with the yarn color.
p.s. I guess I didn't put in my 2.5 hours a day on the shawl this weekend ... but once I finish the cardigan, I'm not casting on for anything new until I get more progress done on the shawl! I promise!! :)

math major

i just did some math and figured out that I will need to work on mom's shawl for 2.5 hours a day every day between now and August 5 when we are taking Grandma to the Hollywood Bowl for her birthday. I am not good at math, so this might be wrong, but I am going to pretend it is right and maybe work on the shawl for 2.5 hours a day. If I stop going out to lunch with the guys at work I will
a) save money (BBQ tri-tip is not cheap!),
b) save calories (BBQ tri-tip is not low-cal!),
c) have an hour to knit in the middle of the day.
but I like going to lunch, so maybe I will just stop going so often. I didn't go today because Tia and I have the first of six 5k races this evening and In-N-Out is not good pre-race food. Don't ask me how I know this.

anyway, I would like to finish mom's shawl by the next time I see her, which is going to be at the Hollywood Bowl. plus, the Hollywood Bowl is outside, so she might be cold and like to have her shawl. we'll see if 2.5 hours a day is realistic ... if I could knit at my desk while waiting for the phone to ring, I could definitely do it. I wonder if Jenn would notice?

any excuse to knit all day

I guess a sign that you're a little too excited about knitting is when you make travel plans that begin at 6:30am the morning after a bachelorette party ... well, that is what I did this weekend. I flew up to San Francisco with Tia (the bride-to-be), Amanda, Shannon and seven other friends for two nights of celebrating. We stayed at the gorgeous Stanford Court by Renaissance (I highly recommend it! the service was excellent) and just had a ball. The picture to the right is of Tia and I on Saturday night. Instead of the traditional veil or feather boa to distinguish Tia as the bachelorette of the group, Amanda and Shannon (two of her bridesmaids and the organizers of this trip) found a bunch of cute cop stuff for her to wear, including handcuffs, which Tia slapped on me at one point in the evening. This was right after I ordered my favorite drink of the night - Bitchin' Cadillac - which was just Captain Morgan and Dr. Pepper ... can't believe I never thought of it before! yummm!
but I didn't drink too much since my bus to the train station was scheduled to pick up at 7am! I had decided to take the train home because I wanted to the view of the coast (which actually didn't start until after San Luis Obispo!) and I was looking forward to having a whole day with no obligations so I could knit and not have to talk to anyone after the weekend of sharing a hotel suite with 10 other girls. My just-for-the-train project is gorgeous and I am loving the color of yarn I picked out. I got the whole back finished in the ten hours of train time + a couple hours sitting in the Oakland station waiting, since the train was three hours late! So, I got up at 6:30 to take a cab to the Ferry Building where the bus would pick me up to take me to Oakland to catch the train scheduled to arrive at 8:50 and the train didn't come in until a quarter to noon! I had a vending machine cinnamon roll and Dr. Pepper for breakfast (they were out of my first three choices, in order: water, apple juice, orange juice) and didn't get to the snack car for lunch on the train until almost 2pm when my sugar coma was well intact. But once I was settled on the train (in a row all to myself for most of the trip), I pretty much just knit the whole way south. Since we were so late, by the time the ocean came into view it was almost dark - but there was a great sunset during dinner in the dining car where I sat with a fun older couple from Kansas. After dinner though, it was dark outside the rest of the trip so I missed the ocean view I really wanted to enjoy, from Carpenteria through Ventura where I so often run or drive. Despite being behind schedule, I did love the train and my day of knitting. Next I'll have to figure out when Wes and I could take a train trip together!

in the meantime

even though I mostly love Sahara (except for the funky lace part) and am anxious to be able to wear it, I am still bummed that I have to rip the funky lace part out and do it over so I have been ignoring it this week and focusing more on mom's shawl and also going to bed earlier than I would if I was working on lace insets.
this weekend is Tia's bachelorette party and we're traveling a fair distance to celebrate. in my quest for an affordable way to get home on Sunday, I chose to take the train! Amanda completely called me on it when I told her how I was getting home and figured I was doing it for the twelve hours of uninterrupted knitting! though I don't know how productive I will be after getting up at 7am after going to bed at who knows when. But I bought new yarn and a pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas that I am hoping won't take too long due to the thicker yarn (color: azul) and cropped style of the cardigan. I will also bring along mom's shawl since I know I can't work twelve hours on the same pattern, so I'll try to mix it up. I am hoping for a west-facing window seat, though if I get that I might not do any knitting at all!

nevermind ...

wore my newly finished Sahara out last night to dinner and to see Transformers (oh my gosh, it was great. I would recommend it to most anyone.) and after wearing it for a couple hours, decided that I'm going to pull out the lace inset and re-do it. I didn't pick up the stitches evenly around the edges and one side is more bunched up than the other side. Probably no one would notice, but it bugged me enough to want to rip and start over, which I never do. so, I guess I'm not quite done yet ...

Finished Sahara!!!

Just finished Sahara! will try to get better pictures later but maybe its ok there isnt too much detail here. anyway, off to see TRANSFORMERS!