Ruby Banshee

For Julie...

2008-06-09T20:51:00.002-05:00

...who continually wants something new to look at, but never answers my Facebook remarks ;)

The Game, on Flickr

I got this idea from Blue Garter, who got it from Kristen.

And, lifted directly from Sarah, who seems to have lifted it directly from Kristen:
The rules:
Using fd’s Flickr Toys,

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

If you play, post it in my comments!!! I think it's bitchin' and I want to see it.

Monkey Socks

2007-09-12T15:28:00.000-05:00

Long ago, I received my amazing Sockapalooza 4 socks from a very prompt and gifted Nelda the Knitting Nurse.

Monkey Mosaic

In a word, they are perfect. The colorway couldn't be more my style. They are impeccably knit. They are a very hot pattern that I haven't had a chance to try yet. Nelda also sent a tub of Knitter's Little Helper hand balm from Blue Sky Alpaca. As a nurse, I think Nelda has some insight into how much I would appreciate this. We have to wash our hands (with water and/or harsh chemicals) about a million times a day. The balm is much needed, and it smells heavenly.
The yarn is Pagewood Farm Hand-dyed sock yarn from San Pedro California. The colorway is Bird of Paradise, and it is superwash (my only Sockapalooza request). When I was visiting family in the Midwest my mom picked up the socks and said, "Where did you get these!?!" I told her, and she couldn't believe that a stranger (kind-of) had picked such a perfect color for me and that hand-knit socks could look so finished and professional.

Thank you so much Nelda. You obviously put a lot of thought and care into these, and I treasure them!

Quickie

2007-09-11T13:20:00.001-05:00

Ruby's back, due to popular demand. I'm so sorry to have abandoned my loyal readers, who clearly depend on me alone for entertainment, for lo these many months. Each year of this blog so far I have pledged to post every month, and (similar to my flossing New Year's Resolution) I fall off the wagon every time. I do pledge to floss more than once a month, though.

So, here's a quickie, as a little warm up.

My cuñadito (dearest brother-in-law) wanted (nay, demanded) an iPod cozy for his new tune-monger. THEN demanded that it not be too "girly." Okay.

iPod Cozy

Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened. Ask and ye shall receive. Such is the way of Ruby.*

My reward?

My charming cuñadito:

is learning from my brother:

how to be a dork:

Specs:
Pattern: Pirate Chart from Hello Yarn. I basically just measured the iPod, measured my gauge and fit the chart accordingly. I didn't think too hard about it, and it worked out. My BIL has added velcro or something as a closure.
Yarn: Unknown, from the stash.
Needles: Un-remembered DPNs.

*Ok, I never said when Ruby would deliver. Keep that in mind if you have requested, say, knitted guitar straps or other such nonsense.

Disclaimer: Today's post brought to you by a post-call haze.

April Flowers

2007-04-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

Did you know

tulips
looked like this?

My friends gave them to me for babysitting their very fun kids, and I was astonished at how pretty they became. Can't beat a

peony or a tiger lily
though.

Laurel is a Knitting Savant

2007-04-03T22:09:00.000-05:00

My friend Laurel is a knitting savant. I recently taught her how to knit while we were watching the Oscars. I don't know about you, but I didn't learn to knit while watching anything other than my needles from about 2 mm away. I taught her the long-tail cast-on. She did it. And even taught me some trick about how many inches of a long tail you need per stitch, which I promptly forgot. Then I taught her the knit stitch and look what she did:

Click for the Big Photo to see how EVEN HER STITCHES ARE!!!

She knit a freakin' hat. For a baby. I myself knit nothing proper for human consumption for MONTHS after I learned how to knit.

The teapot is courtesy of someone in Ike's family, or maybe Ike, I'm not sure. They're all artists and live this totally bohemian lifestyle in Iowa. Ike's mom goes to Knitting Camp, and she's a knitting goddess. I think she knows Elizabeth Zimmerman by maybe a degree of separation or two.

Click for the Big Photo to see how SYMMETRICAL AND EVEN HER DECREASES ARE

Laurel decreased on her first project! Do you have any idea how many scarves I knit before I had the balls to decrease?!?

And to add insult to injury:

Laurel is smokin'-hot

Laurel looks way hotter than I did when I shaved my head. And while I did it for teenaged rebellion, Laurel did it to raise money for kids with cancer. And she's smokin' hot, even when post-call and I'm springing the flash on her.

For further evidence that Laurel is a knitting savant, moments after she finished her first project (which only took her two weeks, maybe, including time for me to finally show up and teach her how to use double pointed needles, which she did on her FIRST PROJECT EVER), she launched into her second project, a super soft hat for her lovely and newly bald head. She demonstrated supreme taste by choosing a lovely shade of Cascade Chunky Alpaca. I told her "Cast on 72 stitches." She did it, without me having to remind her how. I showed her one purl stitch. She purled a few rows, without me reminding her how. I said, "Knit 6, purl 2 around." She did it, deftly switching between knit and purl.

She's doing a truly amazing job AND enjoying it. I'm super proud of Laurel, and her new-found talent in knitting, and I'm very lucky to have Laurel and Ike as my family in Portland.

Qué lástima

2007-03-26T22:55:00.000-05:00

My boots are leaky.

And it's rainy.

Socks 101

2007-03-12T14:32:00.000-05:00

My March socks for Sock-a-month3 are done! With a few weeks to spare. Admittedly, they're kind of cheaters, a fulled footie pattern written by Larissa for her upcoming book instead of my regular fingering weight calf-length socks. I knit them in order to test-knit them (a test-along, if you will), but I stalled halfway through, and decided to rip the first out and reknit them as mediums instead of smalls. They're for my granny for Christmas, a little late. Also, my granny turned 94 last week (holy crap!).

Pre-fulling

After fulling, on location in Laurelhurst park, while walking The Trickster

The Specs:
The Pattern: Socks 101, by Larissa. Attempted as a test-knit for her new book, but due to re-sizing I did not finish in time. However, when I started the better size, I knit them in a day. It's a lovely pattern, and a great way to use one skein of a luscious yarn. They're super super cozy, and I'm planning on using this extensively as a gift knit in the future. I think they're more comfy than Fuzzy Feet, and from the sounds of things, much more straightforward. I can't wait to buy Larissa's book; I think it's going to be a keeper.

The Yarn: Less than one skein of Manos del Uruguay in color 118, Mulled Wine. The pattern calls for two skeins, but it looks like most people have made it with one. I had a fair bit to spare. I bought it at the Yarn Garden. Perhaps you've seen their ad in Interweave. Brief Yarn Garden review: I know a lot of people view Yarn Garden as the end-all-be-all of Portland yarn shops. They certainly have the most yarn. If I can't find it at other shops, I'll find it at the YG. And their cafe is very charming. However, I've found their staff to be a little arrogant. They're very pushy about their classes, and they've treated me as if I have no knitting knowledge, which is irritating. Maybe they are just accustomed to new knitters, but a lot of people do know how to knit already, and know what they're looking for. And, why don't they carry Blue Moon Fiber Arts, especially since it's an Oregon yarn? The staff I talked to didn't even know what it was, even when I mentioned Socks that Rock. Do you live under a rock? In my several visits there, I have had one delightful staff member: the guy working the espresso machine who wound my yarn.
Anyway, I'd never knit with Manos before, and it was luscious. However, (warning: heresy ahead) I prefer Malabrigo. It's much softer. I'll be happy to knit these socks with Manos, or Malabrigo, or Rio de la Plata (from Abundant Yarns), or whatever.

The Needles: Chiao Goo Bamboo DPNs, size 10. Purchased from Yarn Garden. They're fine. I'm not too picky about DPNs.

Thoughts: Great pattern. The only mod I made was too make them a little bit and full them a little more. I haven't sent them to my granny yet, so we'll see what she thinks.

I'm already working on my next pair of socks, another pair of Jaywalkers. I anticipate them taking until April, so they'll be my April socks barring catastrophe.

In other news, today is the last day of my vacation, and Oregon is rewarding me with lots of rain. Maybe I'll get a little house cleaning done. At least the weather was nice for the Shamrock run yesterday. It was a great time, thanks to my hard-core coworkers who rolled out for the race.

Odessa

2007-03-08T11:04:00.000-06:00

Here's a quickie. My friend KR turned 30 this year, and requested a hand-knit hat for her birthday. I didn't *quite* get it done it time, and took the liberty of wearing myself a few times before giving it to her. But we finally connected over pedicures one day when a mutual friend was visiting, and I had the presence of mind to snap a couple of pics.

Em's in town! KR had a b-day two months ago!

Close-up of Odessa

We need to do this more often

The Specs:
The yarn: Rowan Calmer in Peacock, less than one ball. I can't really afford to use Calmer for sweaters, etc. Not that I really knit many sweaters anyway. But I do like to use it for hats. It's soft and warm, and completely non-itchy. I've started another Shedir with my last remaining ball. It's been languishing in the UFO pile, but maybe soon. Anyway, good yarn choice for this hat. And I really liked the Peacock color. The beads were from Dava Bead and Trade in Hillsdale. They're #6 round beads, sort of a purple/blue/green, not really metallic but more like a Raku-ish finish.

The pattern: Odessa, from Magknits, by Grumperina. I followed the pattern precisely, aside from my yarn sub. I love it. Simple, quick, and lovely. The beads are subtle, charming, and easy. Grumperina is pretty much amazing. I've started another pair of Jaywalkers. Has she started a religion yet?

Thoughts: I think I said it already. Love the yarn, love the pattern, love the finished product. I think KR likes it, too.

I'm on vacation this week (thus the blog posts). I decided to just relax in Portland and do things I don't usually have enough time to do, like go to Stumptown any time I want. I'm trying to take Loki out to some of Portland's dog parks that we haven't tried yet as well.

A little Portland flavor for you:

Coffee prOn

To Libby: I knit at night, often, when I should be reading the Green Journal, the Compendium, TeLinde's, Gabbe, Novak's, or Williams. Procrastinate much?

Psychadelic Pomatomuses

2007-03-07T15:36:00.000-06:00

I finally, finally, finally finished my Pomatomi. The Pomatomi I started in October when I was in Sock-a-Month2. The reason I only finished one pair of socks for Sock-a-Month two. And gleefully, my first pair of socks for Sock-a-Month 3. These are actually my February socks. I finished them a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to photo and blog.

Although I'm making it sound as if I didn't enjoy making these socks, I really did. The pattern is intriguing and engaging. And, it looks pretty wicked, too. But they're not exactly mindless knitting, so they simply took a while. I couldn't pick them up during my weekly lectures, and they sort of simmered for a while as I was focusing on a wee bit of holiday knitting. I enjoyed making them, love the look of them, and I'm glad they're done and I can start some different socks.

A photo montage:

The yarn

Better colors in this shot

The yarn, on my new, totally radical Nostepinde by Hello Yarn

I've been using my Nostepinde for a couple of months now. I got it from my mom and dad (who henceforth shall be known as Ole and Lena) for Christmas. No, it's no fancy, shmancy ball winder, but I like the low techiness of it. I'm starting to get very even, very appealing balls of yarn from it. And it definitely beats by previous low-budg solution: winding it around my index finger.

Close-up of the yarn on the Noste

#1, in progress, on 2 circs

Close-up of los dos finished Pomatomi

Gusset, heel, and ankle

Are your eyes going buggy yet?

Vertigo

Ok, I will be the first to acknowledge that this was perhaps a busy yarn choice for an already busy pattern. But, you know what? I don't care. I wear scrubs to work almost every day, so socks are my way to spice things up a bit. The Pomatomus pattern still looks awesome, and this yarn is one of the best I have used so far. Very soft, very squishy, very durable with no pilling or other ickiness after a few runs through the washer AND dryer.

The Specs:
The Yarn: Spunky Eclectic SUPER SOCKS. Hand painted Superwash Merino Wool. Fingering weight sock yarn. 100 g = 420 yards. Colorway is Aztec. I won this yarn in a contest on Jennifer's blog. I really love it. It's durable, soft, and very comfortable. The colors are fantastic.
The Pattern: The famous Pomatomus. This is the first one of Cookie's patterns I've knit. I'll agree with the pattern description in that it's a bit of a challenge, as far as most sock patterns go. But if you've knit lace before, or you know how to read a chart, then it shouldn't be much of a problem. The pattern is repetetive, so you do get the hang of it after a while. The only problem I had was in Chart B. Make sure you note the highlighted stitch in row 1. It says: Slip 2 st. Place two slipped stitches back on left needle. Knit three together tbl. I had mistaken it for a similar symbol for "Knit 2 tog tbl" for a while and it was messing up my pattern and stitch count. Overall, the pattern in the work of genius.
The Needles: As per usual for my socks, socks on two circs. Addi Turbos #2.
Thoughts: This sock is very, very stretchy, and is very comfy. I would lean toward a tighter versus looser guage. I made my feet a bit too long, as well. But they're very, very comfy, and I will enjoy them very much. On their virgin voyage out in the real world, I received several compliments from non-knitters.

Part of what was stressful about these socks was knitting them cuff down from one large skein of yarn. I don't have a scale, so after sock #1, I felt I had enough for the second sock, but no objective way of knowing. As I knit down on sock #2, I started to have the sinking feeling that I would run short. Since sock #1 was done, this would mean ripping it all the way back, past the heel, to take out one pattern repeat in the leg (I had done 3). I decided to risk it, but I was really hoping to make it just to the toe of sock #2, where I would not be totally heartbroken to finish the toe in some other crazy leftover yarn. Miracle of miracles, I made it. I have a little bitty nubbin of a ball left. I'm so glad I was able to make it through both socks. After working so hard on these, I really wanted them to be near-perfect, but I would not have had the energy to rip both socks back past the heel again.

I'm elated with these socks and recommend the pattern to anyone up for an engaging sock-knit!

Child's Placket Neck Sweater

2007-02-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

A lot of things came together for this knit. One, I've been wanting to knit for a niece or nephew for a while. Two, I've wanted to knit this sweater ever since the errata came out. Previously, I also wanted to knit it, but only ever heard about the problems with the pattern. Third, I wanted to knit this sweater in a fun, vibrant, hand-dyed superwash wool. I found a beautiful skein of Mountain Colors at Depth of Field in Minneapolis. Altogether, a recipe for a great Christmas knit.

First official Aunt Ruby knit

The Specs:

Pattern: Child's Placket Neck Sweater, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson. This pattern is available for free on Purl Soho's website. I think it's a winner. I didn't really modify it, other than by using a different yarn, and it's available in a wide range of children's sizes. I would not at all be surprised if I use it again sometime. I made the 1-2 year size.

Yarn: I used Mountain Colors Bearfoot (60% Superwash, 25% Mohair, 15% Nylon), in the color Sunburst (you have to click on the thumbnail). I used a bit less than one 100 g. skein, 350 yards. Now, the guage is listed as 5-6 stitches per inch on US 3-4 needles. I think this is a misprint, because other skeins of Bearfoot had a totally different gauge listed. I knew this yarn was closer to fingering than sport weight, but I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't want a really bulky sweater from this pattern anyway. I got gauge with size 6 needles, I think. It resulted in a nice, lightweight fabric. More like a shirt than a sweater. At any rate, the yarn is absolutely beautiful, and worked well for the pattern. It didn't really pool, and the colors are perfect. After I blocked it with a good steaming it also softened up very nicely.

Needles: I used my Denise Interchangeables, size 6 I think, and double points for the sleeves up to the join.

Thoughts: As I mentioned, I would make this again. I think it turned out beautifully, and is one of the knits I'm happiest with. I used little lady bug buttons at the top, which you can't really see in the pictures. I'd love to try this pattern with Hello Yarn's Fat Sock Yarn. That was my initial plan, but there weren't any colorways I liked at the time. Now there's tons. Hmm.... But no, there are other knits planned for Baby O. Must move on.

Miss T gets her cute on

2007-02-14T17:03:00.000-06:00

I know. You don't need to lecture me. It's been a while. In the meantime, I've delivered 125 babies, more or less (45 by c/s, sorry). So I've been busy. But I've snatched a few days off, just in time to enjoy a downpour, downpour in sunny Portland. Good time to get back into blogging. And what better excuse than pictures of our favorite Miss T getting her cute on.

Mrs O, even in the face of motherhood, has continued to do her auntly knitting duty, to good effect. T got a poncho and has been working it.

Looking coy

Looking playful

Cameo by Sir B

I really appreciate that Miss T used this piece to bring out some new looks for her knitwear modeling career. Watch out, Zoolander!

The Specs:
Pattern: Mother/Daughter Ponchos (but only the daughter one) from Handknit Holidays by Allison Isaacs and Sarah Lucas. Mrs O says, "Pattern was given for ages 1-2 or 5-6 so I split the difference and made it for a 3-4 year old."
Mrs. O will Miss T's mom be getting a poncho, too? Oh, and is that bottom lacy part knit or crocheted? It looks like crochet in the pic.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora (80% angora):50g = 99 yds 2 balls
in rose and 1 ball in natural. Whatcha thinka that yarn, Mrs. O? Make your nose tickle?
Needles: Size 8 circs.

Many thanks to Mrs. O, as always, for blogging encouragement. I actually have lots of projects lying around waiting to be blogged. A major sock victory was achieved today, so they'll get blogged as soon as PDX gives me some picture taking weather.

Long lost wristlet

2006-10-01T14:59:00.000-05:00

I finally found the pics for this wristlet purse that I knit and felted in one day about 9 months ago. Geta (Mr. and Mrs. O's Brittany) gave me some lovely yarn for Christmas: 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Soho. I loved the colors and the feel of this yarn, and I was itching to felt with it. So I cast on the next day, just made up a simple pattern, and felted the bag and sewed in a zipper all in about 3 hours. You can get some efficient knitting done when Mrs. O is on hand with lots of episodes of Little House on the Prairie!

Thanks for the Christmas present Geta!

In Progress

Knit up and in the ball

Close-up of knit up yarn

Finished pre-felted

Little House for Scale

Finished, with flower

Specs:
Pattern: I wanted to knit a triangle shaped wristlet, top down so I could just knit until I ran out of yarn. I think I started with 58 stitches, and placed a marker at the beginning, and halfway (knitting in the round). I knit for six rows, then increased before and after each marker on every other round. When I got to the end of the first ball of yarn, I picked up six stitches at one of the corners at the top, then knit a six stitch i-cord, probably about 12 inches long, and sewed it to the opposing edge of the same corner to make a wrislet loop. I used the rest of that ball to finish the bottom of the bag. When I got to the end of the ball, I closed the botton with a three-needle bing-off. I then used some blue wool that Mrs. O had in her stash to crochet a flower, based on this pattern. Thank goodness it felted nicely, because I am such a bad crocheter, it looked like total ass before felting. Then I bought a basic zipper, and just stitched it in quickly by hand. It has held up really well.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Soho, 2 balls. I think it's color 07.

Needles: I think 10 1/2 bamboo circs.

Thoughts: The yarn was luscious. It was fun coming up with a (very easy and basic) pattern on my own. It turned out exactly how I envisioned it. This is easily one of my most used knitted objects. It is the perfect size, and so easy to carry around with it slung over my wrist. It's great for my wallet, keys, camera, and some lip stuff. I get compliments on this bag every time I use it, even from non-knitting men. People often ask me where I bought it. Success!

Thanks Geta!

Be Patient....

2006-09-30T16:39:00.000-05:00

In reference to the sock photos I've been posting lately....

Last weekend my Favorite Sister called me. And I could barely hear what she was saying because she was laughing so hard. She was absolutely hysterical. Completely unglued. I got off the phone and thought, Wow, she is really drunk. All she told me was that she had something really funny to send me. And she was right. They had been out for Chinese food, and I guess she got my fortune in her fortune cookie.

There's this big joke in my family, because once I was complaining to my grandmother about how I was the only that inherited the Hook Nose that she and my mother have. She replied, "Well, you got your thick calves from your other grandmother." Touché.

Late to the party

2006-09-30T11:52:00.000-05:00

In case you're wondering, Mrs. O guilt tripped me and got me back on the blogging bandwagon. And since we're talking about socks, lets just keep at it. I finished these Jaywalkers in June. They were my moving socks. I started knitting them when I was packing (I hate packing, hate it more than almost anything. It's almost paralyzing, and I can't get much done.), and they did help me procrastinate, I'll admit. So the first was knit during packing. The second was knit on the train from Minneapolis to Portland. Why on earth would one take the train, you might ask? Well, it was only $125, and they let me take 6 boxes. And once you get through NoDak, which is no easy feat I'll admit, the scenery is gorgeous: Glacier National Park and the Columbia Gorge. And you definitely get to mix with an interesting cross-section of humanity. The Amish and I got a lot of good crafting done on this trip. I was also exhausted from packing and got to sleep a lot.

This is still in Iowa City, with some of my stuff as backdrop:

Progress Shot

I didn't want to forget what yarn I used:

Le Ball Band

I love how the heel stripes turned out on these:

Heel

Some finished shots, west of the Great Divide:

the foots

Full frontal

My feet look happy

I am totally fine with fraternal socks, and when I knit with variegated yarns I don't really care if they match at all. Same colorway is good enough. But since these were self-striping, I figured it would be easy enough to match them, but I wasn't about to go to any extraordinary measures, like cutting out segments to get the stripes to match. Fortunately, it worked out great on its own!

Matching Stripes! WTF!!!

Specs:
Pattern: Jaywalkers, by Grumperina. I was totally late to the party, because these were a viscious craze a little while ago, and I can see why.
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Forever Jacquard, one 50 g ball per sock was the perfect amount with a bit left over for repairs, etc. 75% superwash wool, 25% polyamide. Color 210. Purchased really cheap from Elann a long time ago when those self-patterning yarns were big. I never knitted them, obviously, but then when I saw people making these socks in this yarn I got excited about it again. In the pattern, Grumperina says that self-striping yarns may obscure the zig zag, but I think it accentuates it, and that it makes self-striping yarns look really cool. The yarn itself is a little scratchy in the ball, but it softens up when washed and holds up to machine washing really well. Very durable. The colors I used are totally obnoxious, but all the better for my current work wardrobe.
Needles: Addis #2.
Thoughts: I love this pattern, and will very likely knit it again, probably to use up the self-patterning yarn in my stash. I love the finished product. Very comfortable. The zig zag makes them hug your ankles nicely, while allowing stretch for your calves (more on that later).

September Socks

2006-09-29T00:18:00.000-05:00

I am now officially participating in Sock-a-month 2! I was "participating" before, but didn't get my "August" socks done until September. It was close, but close doesn't count.

I finally knit Elfine's Socks (.pdf), and I finally used the really, really pretty Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn I bought ages ago from Little Knits. Here's a whole mess of shots of these very comfy and vibrant socks.

Halfway

Love the yarn, love the colorway

The stitch pattern

Specs:
Pattern: Elfine's socks. A very enjoyable and pretty pattern. It's a little obscured by the variegated colorway, but that doesn't really bother me. It's a leafy pattern, and a leafy color, and that works for me. I really like the garter stitch cuff. I wasn't sure what to think of it beforehand, but I'm glad I just went ahead and followed the instructions. It works really nicely with a patterned sock. I'm looking forward to trying some of Anna's other sock patterns, they're all quite lovely.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock: 100% luxury merino fingering weight 420 yds/4 oz hank. I love this yarn. Its delightful to knit with, and feels so soft and lovely on the feet. The colors are just incredible. I've heard they fade. I handwashed these the first time, and there was no bleeding of the colors into the water. We'll see with time, I guess. For now I plan to knit with it again.I have a good bit leftover. I just added it to my pile of sock yarn endings, planning to make the Stashbuster Spirals someday.
Needles: Addi US #2, because that's what I always use for socks. If I knit these again, I might try #1s to tighten the gauge a little. They're very very comfortable in the gauge I knit them in, but they might wear a little better if a bit tighter?
Thoughts: Now that I'm wearing scrubs all the time, I love to have nice, very colorful and comfy socks. This pattern was great, the yarn was great. And I've completed my September socks!

In other news, I had a great weekend. In short, good food, great weather, and the company wasn't half bad either (moustachio notwithstanding).

I live in Portland!

Fuzzy Baby Jacket

2006-08-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

Another day, another post with an uninspired title. But I'm getting my old projects documented! And I've been knitting like a Banshee, though not with stash yarn, naughty.

I made this little baby jacket for a good friend of mine who had a baby a few years ago. It was pre-blog, and maybe my second project after not having knitted for quite a long time. I was just starting to read knitting blogs at the time.

Front

Back

Sorry for the craptastic photography.

Complete with dorky buttons, and pretty cute hat

Specs:
Pattern: One of those free ones from Red Heart that you tear off the pack at Joann's or Michael's. Classy, I know. I've come a little ways since then. I made up the hat pattern. ETA: Here's the link.
Yarn: Red Heart Baby Teri. I actually (Red Heart) really love this yarn for baby things. It is so soft, and I've heard it washes well, though I'll admit I haven't tested it myself. I used the leftover balls for about a bazillion Preemie Project hats.
Needles: Size 8 and 5 bamboo straights. A sign that it was early in my knitting renaissance. Now I almost entirely use my Denise Interchangeables or Addis.

A few things. I know the buttons are dorky. Things have gotten a bit better, but knitting was new in its upswing at the time, and there were not decent buttons to be found in the Iowa City area. I know the jacket itself looks a little bit dorky, but it's really cute in person, and very very soft. I will not defend every dorky knitting project I've finished (see the Ugliest Sweater Ever in the sidebar for my own scathing review), but this one I will. I also didn't know how to carry the yarn up the side for stripes at the time. Weaving in all of those ends of Baby Teri almost made me quit knitting for good and forever. Amen.

I missed the State Fair Knitalong meeting at Abundant Yarn yet again last night, though I was resolved and even dressed cutely (the green one). I got caught up in furniture shopping, and bought a dining table and chairs instead. Alas.

Booga booga

2006-07-31T15:55:00.000-05:00

In keeping with my new tradition of mining my seedy past for blog fodder, here is my Booga Bag. I knit it a couple of Christmases ago (same as mom's hat and mitties) for my beautiful grandmother. She helped me learn how to knit, though didn't teach me, because she wanted me to learn how to knit Continental, and she does not. She's always there with the knitting opinions, though, which I never follow and then wish I did. "You are never going to want to sew all those squares into an afghan, mark my words" = oldest FO in the bin. "A knitted skirt is a bad idea, AND you cast on too few stitches" = least likely to be finished FO in the bin. It wouldn't be so bad if the yarn weren't so fuzzy. Austermann Candy, a microfiber yarn in black. Not very pug-friendly, shall we say. I've got a couple of balls left, anyone want it? If not I'll use it for the Preemie Project, it's really soft.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I've got really cute pictures of my mother and grandmother in their knitted goods from that Christmas. They're on my external hard drive, though. I'll update with those pics soon.

Specs:
Pattern: Booga bag. This was a knitting blog favorite for a while and is still a knitting store sample favorite. I just saw one at Knit-Purl the other day, and at Northwest Wools I think, too.
Yarn: Three balls of Noro Kureyon. You can kind of just knit until you run out. I don't know the colorway.
Needles: 10 1/2 bamboo.

This was a fun, easy knit. The Kureyon didn't felt as well as I thought it would. It took several trips through the washer. If I had it to do over again, I'd felt it even more. Grams loved it.

An interesting thing about my Grams. Her grandparents came over from Sweden, and she learned Swedish growing up. Her important documents (baptism, confirmation) are is Swedish, because they used Swedish in her church in Minnesota. She has always complained that her name (Ebba) is so odd, but when I was in Sweden this year (hi Stockholm Knitters!) I read in the paper that Ebba was the second most common name for female babies last year (right between Emma and Ella).

Mini-LYS review:
The people at Knit-Purl are really nice, by the way. And they've got some hella pretty yarn. Lots of stuff I haven't seen in real life before. Shibui, Blue Moon (what they have left is 40% off right now!!!), good Debbie Bliss and Rowan stock, Koigu. I bought some Noro Daria for a Corded (sis is getting married this weekend, and I've got a pretty dress). The other day I bought a Noni pattern, which is in process. I promise I'll show and tell. I also bought some of the Blue Moon angora stuff for baby hats (not for Preemie Project). So soft.

Northwest Wools is also nice. The yarn is organized first by color. I think I like it better organized by brand or fiber type. I bought some Lamb's Pride Bulky for my Noni baguette in progress.

Sorry, no pics. I haven't gotten used to my camera being fixed yet. Thanks again, Advance Camera in Beaverton (I said I'd tell my friends)!

Mmmm....Silk Garden.....

2006-07-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

I swear to Jebus I've been knitting new stuff. But a while ago I uploaded pics of a bunch of old stuff to Flickr. So for now, it's easier to blog the old stuff. Can anyone tell I'm on vacay? I'm posting! Hurrah, hurray!

I made this hat and mitten set for my mommy a couple of Christmases ago. The mittens is a standard mitten pattern I use (not on hand at the moment), and the hat is just a roll brimmed hat with standard spaced decreases. For the tassel, I braided three strands of yarn together, then tied on the tassel. I'd made the same hat and mitten set out of a different colorway of Silk Garden (34, my fave) for myself a few years ago, and only attached the tassel with one strand. Needless to say it busted. I think the braided tassel resists bustage, and I like the tassel hanging down a bit. My mom even wears it, and she looks really cute in it. No pics of that though, maybe this winter.

ETA: It's Silk Garden 211, btw.

Back in action

2006-07-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jordan and one of the technicians I never laid eyes on at Advance Camera Repair in Beaverton, I am now back to blogging. To celebrate, though, I decided to blog a project finished long ago, with photos long uploaded to Flickr. Just too lazy to download and upload right now.

Someone left a comment on my Flickr account, and reminded me about these guys. I made them about a year ago, I suppose, for friends who had a baby.

Specs:
Pattern: "Suede" Booties
Yarn: As specified, except I only used the lighter color.
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, but I can't remember what size. Probably as specified.

This was a really fun pattern to knit. And it looked really cute, probably cuter than real Uggs.If anyone is thinking about making it, let me know, and I'll send you the Berroco Suede I have left. It's not a lot, but it might save you one ball. When I made this pattern, the owner of then-LYS was super nice to me, and wound me off part of a ball of the Plush that she had only used part of, so I wouldn't have to buy a whole ball just for the trim. I mention this because this particular LYS-owner gets a lot of flack in the area for being rude sometimes. Yes, she's a little intimidating at first, and certainly opinionated, but if you stick with it she definitely warms up to you. AND she supports the local feminist clinic by sponsoring their events as an advertiser.

In other news, the first month of my residency went pretty well. I feel like I've learned so much in the last month, but it's not even a drop in the bucket of what I'll learn in the next four years. So far I'm really happy with my program and the people and place. I'm so so so thrilled to be in Portland. I'll post pics of the kick-ass view from my miniature deck sometime soon. I can usually see Mts. Hood, St. Helen's, and sometimes Ranier, but today it's a bit cloudy (and only 65 degrees to those of you in the sweltering Midwest!). My favorite brother and favorite sister-in-law (the infamous Mrs. O) came out to visit last week and it was hella fun.

I'm on vacation this week since my favorite sister is getting married (again) to my favorite brother-in-law (long story). I'm sticking around PDX until Wednesday. I hope to buy some furniture in the meantime. So far, I've only got a few deck chairs (shrewdly purchased with the help of Mrs. and Mr. O.). Then I'm heading back to IA on Wednesday.

Tonight it's the Oregon Brewers' Festival in Portland. I'll see you on the other side.

p.s. Good luck moving Megan. It is so, so, so painful.
p.p.s. You, too, Michelle. Anutha knitta moves to PDX!

Mrs. O felts to impress

2006-06-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

Everyone who reads this blog (yes, both of you) knows that Mrs. O is especially good at two things: knitting for her niece and nephew, and providing me with blog fodder. I actually have several knitting projects to blog right now, but that would require taking pictures, downloading them to my computer, and uploading them to Flickr before I blog. Mrs. O just sends me the pic and it's all too easy. Thanks Mrs. O!

This time Mrs. O made a special request for her neice, Miss T. Mrs. O had made herself a felted tote, and Miss T loved it so much, she requested her own in her signature color, orange. Not one to falter in auntly knitting, Mrs. O stepped up to the challenge. It was not only done in time for Miss T's birthday (!), it also met with such approval that Miss T posed for a picture, as she is not normally wont to do.

Look at the buttons

Specs:
Pattern - From a pamphlet put out by "Two Old Bags" Pattern
name was: 'Felted Tote Bag' "Made smaller," not otherwise specified.
Yarn - Cascade 220
Needles - #10.5 24" long circular and size 10.5 double pointed
for the straps.

And for the record, there's a lot of other great things about Mrs. O. She's very organized and helps keep us all on top of special occasions. She's funny ("You may be a doctor, but I watch TV."). She catches big fishes for me to eat. She's going to be my first visitor in Oregon. The list goes on and on. Thanks again, Mrs. O!

Super Weird

2006-05-16T10:29:00.000-05:00

I found this quiz on Rhonda's blog. It was too weird to resist. In other news, I'm still knitting Kiri, and maybe can start the edging soon? How do you know if it will be big enough/too big when blocked? I'm getting to the point where I just want to start the edging, because the rows are getting so long and boring, especially the purl rows.

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?

You will be sucked dry by a leech. I'd stay away from swimming holes, and stick to good old cement. Even if it does hurt like hell when your toe scrapes the bottom.
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Worcester haul

2006-04-21T09:50:00.000-05:00

Twice in two days! Back on the horse!

I realized yesterday that I don't think I ever blogged my Worcester, Mass, yarning experience. And I'm currently using my souvenir from Worcestor to knit the Kiri shawl (pdf!). The local yarn store was Knitter's Paradise, which I enjoyed very much. It was definitely the highlight of my trip to Worcester (nuff said). They had a wide variety of stuff, and especially things that I've never seen in real life before. Peace Fleece, I think. Thrummed mitted kits. The people were very nice, and I had a lot of fun there. I bought 5 balls of Crystal Palace Kid Merino, I think in the color 5449 Kiwi. The color I really like a lot. I knew I wanted to knit a shawl with it, and settled on Kiri because I could knit until I ran out of yarn, more or less.

So far so good, except...

I frogged it.

Everyone who has ever frogged mohair was absolutely right. It's a bitch.

Notice the scissors.

The frogging actually went pretty well, except for the stitches at the beginning and ends of rows. I had knit Chart 1 and three repeats of Chart 2, found myself to be one stitch off (again) and decided that I had just made one too many mistakes. It is my first attempt at shawl knitting, and my first attempt using lace-weight mohair, so I was being pretty forgiving at first.

Doesn't it have a taunting look about it?

That little swatch looking thing is actually where the yarn broke. That part was sacrificed to the waste bin. I really only used the scissors to tease apart the scissors in a spreading, anatomy dissection-like fashion, but after it broke I said screw-it with the rest.

Fresh start.

I took the opportunity to start again, insisting on something a little closer to perfection. I am through chart 1 again now, without mistakes, unlike the first time. I also started over on size 6 needles instead of size 7. It just felt a little too sloppy on the larger size. No photos for comparison, stupid me. But this time I placed a lifeline, and will continue to do so after every satisfactorily completed repeat. Then I can count my repeats and ensure that I won't have to rip nearly so far next time to maintain my close-enough-to-perfection standard.

It was also funny, because I was listening to Cast On the whole time, and the episode when I started reknitting was the one where Today's Sweater was about ripping out a whole sweater of mohair. Ouch.

Lesson learned: Don't f*ck with the mohair.

Banshee is back.

2006-04-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

I have been gone a long time, and I have FO's to prove it! Now let's see if I actually have pictures of any of them on my laptop or Flickr, so I can blog them while I'm still in Sweden!

It should also be noted that while in Stockholm, I've been knitting on Tuesday nights with the nicest, most fun, most welcoming knitters in the whole world. And I haven't mentioned it previously, but when I return to the states, I will be moving in June to my favorite city, Portland Oregon. As a result, I have committed my Stockholm knitting to stashbusting a little bit. So I'm trying not to buy any gorgeous yarn at any exquisite local yarn shops. So far, the stashbusting is not getting very far (I've acquired no new yarn, but only knit through one complete skein). Lorette pointed out to me that I might need to do some souvenir shopping in Stockholm and the yarn stores might be a good way to do that. And you know, I just might agree with her on that count. So, I think my dear readers may expect to see some yarn store reviews before my time in Stockholm is up.

But, we mustn't forget the last round of souvenir yarn shopping! That is mostly what I have committed my stashbusting to while in Stockholm. Remember the Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Mountain Tango, from my residency interviews in Utah? Just to remind you, it is 60% Superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon, 350 yards of sport to fingering weight yarn. I wanted a good one skein pattern that would showcase the gorgeous colors in this yarn.

This scarf looks really good, if I may say so, with my green wool coat, but Katarina looked so cold on the grounds of Karolinska Sjukhuset (hospital) in April.

Katarina and my scarf

Katarina looked cold

Macro of the colors

Close up of the feather and fan pattern

Pattern: Let's see. I used Wendy's pattern, except I purled row 2 in order to have a garter ridge that stood out more from the stockinette background. I also slipped the first stitch knitwise on every row and knit the first and last two stitches on every row (two stitch garter stitch border). Wendy is pretty much buck nuts over feather and fan these days and I would have to agree with her. I will have some feather and fan socks someday soon.
Yarn: Mountain Colors, as above. It's awesome. I really love it. The pattern worked really well with the wild variegation of this yarn.
Needles: US5 Susan Bates. I like to knit on circs just to be able to stuff it in a bag more easily.
Thoughts: I started this scarf in Guatemala and finished it while visiting Mr. and Mrs. O in Illinois. I love it. I've gotten tons of compliments on it, and I think it really fits that hand-knit but not obviously home-made criterion. I will probably use this pattern again with special and beautifully variegated yarn. It's funny, this scarf was so easy and simple, but it might be my favorite thing I have knit!

I have started stashbusting Malabrigo from Michigan with a cross-hat mitten, hat, and scarf set, and I'm stashbusting mohair from Worcestor with a Kiri shawl. While listening to Brenda complain about it on CastOn! But I think it was the one-project Olympic knitting that got her down. If you haven't checked out her knitting Podcasts yet, you've got to. I expected it to be good enough to have on in the background while I knit, but I really truly enjoy it and can't wait to listen to the next episode. And the intro is hilarious.

Worst. Blogger. EVER!!!

2006-03-25T07:22:00.000-06:00

A little while ago, Libby thought she was the Worst. Blogger. Ever. She was wrong. Why? She had only gone without blogging for 13 days, and upon return she showed knitting content.

I am here today, only to tell you why I am the worst blogger ever. It has been almost 13 WEEKS since I posted, and I'm not even going to show you anything! But knitting has been done, and I will hopefully show it soon. I just wanted to sign in today to make sure this blogger bit still works!

I'm leaving for Sweden this afternoon for six weeks (my last med school rotation!!!). I will hopefully have some good time for knitting and getting back into blogging. And I'm really looking forward to meeting some Swedish knitters!

New Kids in Town

2005-12-23T08:20:00.000-06:00

Today's post is dedicated to some new arrivals. First, and most importantly, there's a new pug on the block. Some friends of my parents had been long awaiting offspring of Loki and Freyja, my parents' pug. But, when we found out Loki had fertility issues (technique and physiology both, sadly), they started to look elsewhere. Enter Guinness. She just came home last week, and we went to visit. This is also the first foray with my new digital camera, so bear with me.

And then, the yarn haul that has made my house it's home. About halfway through interviewing for residency, it occurred to me that the weary traveler might be made less weary by incorporating local yarn stores as a way to focus my tourist exploits in each stop. It would also be a nice benchmark for comparison of each location, were there not fabulous findings in every locale.

The pinky yellowy greeny woolly stuff is from Busy Hands in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the last stop on my tour. The wool is three skeins of Malabrigo in the Melilla colorway. It's beautiful and oh-so-soft. My only concern is that the strands appear to have felted together very, very slightly during the dying process. I don't think this will be a problem though. I will wax no further on the lusciousness of Malabrigo, as Alison has taken care of that lately. It goes nicely with my coat, and I'm not wearing hand-knit accessories right now (scandalous), so I think I'm going to use it to make My So Called Scarf, and a hat a mittens with the same stitch pattern, probably using Gifted as a guide for the mittens. I would like to knit the hat in the round, so I'll have to figure out how to alter the stitch pattern to do the same thing from one side. Otherwise, I'll have to knit flat and seam it.

In regards to Busy Hands...they had a lot of yarns I haven't seen in person before, which is what I like about visiting different LYS's. I chose this as my Ann Arbor yarn stop because it was easy to get to...right on Main Street in a little hall mall of boutiques of various sorts. If you google them you'll find lots of reviews. My impression is that they have lots of novelty yarn in about every shade, and then some very nice wools. They have a great selection of Lopi, for example. I found the woman there to be very helpful. I know she has a once-a-week class night where you pay a little bit and then just bring whatever project you're working on and get whatever help you need. I personally like this format. And she limits the class size so you'll get the attention you need. Flying Sheep was recommended to me as the LYS several times, but being on foot/bus in the middle of a blizzard kept me from seeking this one out.

The other skein is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Mountain Tango. It is 60% Superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon...100% gorgeous. The colors are what got me. It is 350 yards of sport to fingering weight yarn. I am considering either Branching Out, a feather and fan scarf, or fingerless mittens...maybe the ones from Holiday Knits. Any thoughts?

This skein was from Black Sheep in Salt Lake City. A very nice store. They have a wide selection of yarn and patterns. Their yarn selection spans the whole spectrum from lace to bulky. Almost all natural fibers; I don't remember them having much in the novelty department. They also have a lot of nice needles and accessories. I saw a lot of really beautiful yarn here; it was very hard to decide on something. They have all of the standards, plus some remarkable luxury yarn...cashmere, qiviut, etc. Also, as it's on 4th and S. Temple, it's very walkable from downtown. Everyone there was also extremely friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I've heard that Soul Spun in Salt Lake is also awesome, but once again, not as walkable.

I can't wait to knit up both of these yarns. Stay tuned for my Worcester MA haul as well. Let's hope Mrs. O has brought her Little House on the Prairie DVDs home for Christmas...we've got knitting to do!

Holiday Knitting

2005-12-18T20:03:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness for Mrs. O. You may have noticed there has been little news of late on this here blog. I've been a little busy trying to figure out where I want to live, work, and learn for the next for years. And, since wanted to be open-minded, it's been a bicoastal process. Though I'm now back, I have v. little in the way of holiday knitting to show. Enter Mrs. O. What would Ruby Banshee be without her? Sit back, pour yourself some Silk Nog, and behold:

The Specs:
Pattern: "Classic Christmas Stocking" from the book "Holiday Knits" by Sara Lucas and Allison Isaacs
Yarn: Cascade 220 worsted weight -- doubled, and Feza Lady yarn for the top (The Pattern recommended Jaeger Yarn and Jaeger fur - so these were substitute yarns.)
Needles: size 8 for the body and size 15 for the top.
Comments: To better show the shape of the stocking, the stocking is stuffed with paper. It is a very tight, stiff knit stocking which will natually hold shape.

The irony of this project is that now that it's done (in record time) and looking so good (a la Teen Girl Squad), it can't really be hung by the fireplace because a Brittany named Geta wants to chew up that fuzzy stuff. Who wouldn't?

I've looked through the Holiday Knits book, and there's lots of great stuff in there. I want to make the fingerless mitts from this book, with some new yarn (to be blogged tomorrow), if I don't use it for a lacy scarf. Stay tuned.

Thanks again to Mrs. O for the blog fodder. Don't worry, she will be amply thanked in due time in the form of lots and lots of hand knits when I have nieces or nephews to knit for! (Wink.)

Shedir and That Other Cabled Hat

2005-12-04T09:31:00.000-06:00

In the midst of jetting back and forth to bicoastal interviews, I've been knitting some chemo caps for a friend who has breast cancer. I ordered four balls of Rowan Calmer, in Calm, Drift, Joy, and Peacock from Angel Yarns in the UK and set to work.

Here's the Cable Knit Cap from Headhuggers:

This hat was very easy, and would make a great first cabling project. I think the top looks especially cool. I had about 1/3 of the ball of Calmer left. I knit it on a size 5 Susan Bates circ, and switched to two circs for the decreases. If I were to do it again, I might do one more cable repeat, because it gets tight around the top with the decreases.

And finally, Shedir:

Again, I think the top looks really cool:

This is a really great pattern. For some reason, though everyone else has made this on size 3 circs, mine had to be on Size 1s. I thinks 2s might work also, as this Shedir was quite snug. I did all of the cabling without a cable needle. I think this is a great cabling project for someone ready to move beyond the basics. You have to follow the chart line by line. I got so many compliments on it as I was making it and once I was done, I think I may have to make some of these as gifts. When Jenna Wilson says it takes the whole ball of Calmer, she means it. I went through the "running out of yarn" paranoia that everyone has gone through with it, but sure enough, I had about 5 yards left over (if that).

I went on to make Jenna Wilson's Celtic Hat. But when I was done, I didn't like how shallow it was and ripped the whole thing before taking a picture. Or measuring my row gauge, which would have been helpful for customizing the sizing! Oops. But I will knit it over again using the longer chart, and maybe a picot hem instead of a rolled edge to add a little length. It was also a great pattern, with lots of sizing and edging options; I just didn't swatch or pay attention to the fact that I thought it was too shallow as soon as I reached the first pattern. It didn't take long either, so hopefully I will be showing one soon! I can see why everyone raves about Jenna Wilson as a pattern designer. She's very thorough! The Celtic Cap pattern was 14 pages long, with all of the options. I see a Rogue or an Eris in my future!

Any other recommendations for cabled hat patterns? Maybe a Hermione, though I don't know if one ball of Calmer would be enough. Maybe with a ribbed edge without the foldover.

Mrs. O Strikes Again

2005-11-25T16:27:00.000-06:00

She's back, Mrs. O, that is. With a vengeance. Check out this bag she knit and felted for me (I mean, for herself). I keep trying to test drive it for her, but she won't let me.

Here it is unfelted, with a Dansko for scale.

Holy Huge Bag

And felted, with the same Dansko.

It really works!

And an upright view:

Isn't the button cute? As you may recall, Mrs. O is a stickler for cute buttons. She got the button at Needleworks, Inc., in Champaign, IL. This place is awesome. It's huge, and they have a pretty comprehensive selection of pretty much everything. I spent an overwhelmed afternoon there a few weeks ago.

Here are Mrs. O's stats for this project:
Pattern - From a pamphlet put out by "Two Old Bags" Pattern
name was: 'Felted Tote Bag' Pattern has a modification for a
tote bag vs. a purse -- I did the purse since it was a little
shorter -- but I previously did the tote bag which was taller.
Yarn - MANOS del URUGUAY
Needles - #10.5 24" long circular and size 10.5 double pointed
for the straps.

She's already well on her way to finishing a new, great project. She's making the Classic Christmas Stocking from Holiday Knits by Allison Isaacs and Sarah Lucas. I think it will be done by the end of the weekend, after catching up on a few old "Little House on the Prairie" episodes. It's Mrs. O's secret vice.

They left out hot, and smart...

2005-11-12T14:05:00.000-06:00

Your Birthdate: May 27

You are a spiritual soul - a person who tries to find meaning in everything.

You spend a good amount of time meditating, trying to figure out life.

Helping others is also important to you. You enjoy social activities with that goal.

You are very generous and giving. Yet you expect very little in return.

Your strength: Getting along with anyone and everyone

Your weakness: Needing a good amount of downtime to recharge

Your power color: Cobalt blue

Your power symbol: Dove

Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Bad Blogger

2005-11-12T11:01:00.000-06:00

I'm back! I've been knitting like crazy, but progress has been slow. I finally decided to throw in a progress shot instead of holding out until this is actually done. I'm knitting Shedir from the Knitty Breast Cancer Special Issue (.pdf) for a friend of the family. I am using Rowan Calmer, in the color Calmer that I ordered from Angel Yarns. I also ordered a ball of Peacock, Joy, and Drift, so I will probably make a few hats in different (not as complicated) patterns also. I do really love this pattern, but much attention must be paid. Cabling without a cable needle is a lifesaver on this one. I also had to cast on four times in order to get guage. Everyone else seems to get it on US 3 Addis, but I am doing it on 1s. I don't knit particularly tightly; maybe it's the elasticity. I had to go way down in needle sizes for my Ribbed Shrug out of Paton's Katrina too.

Shedir

I'm also, of course, doing the "Will I run out of yarn?!?" panic that everyone has done. I'm feeling better after getting into the decreasing, but time will tell. I still have 20 pattern rows left! Hopefully I'll have an FO to show tomorrow.

Knitting Night Madness

2005-10-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Y'all, med student knitting night (or knitting knight as I always want to type) is getting so huge. It tempts me, a la Yarn Harlot, to feel as if knitters are taking over the world. That would be nice. But I'm satisfied with merely taking over my living room on Wednesday nights.

Ginny and Sara, taking a breather while Loki chews on his Bullystick

Josie is knitting an adorable raglan sweater for her very own baby, which will be born a lot sooner than the last time I saw Josie!

Josie allowed me to perform Leopold Maneuvers on her. Babe was in transverse lie, as far as I could tell.

Greg considered taking up knitting after trying Maggie's Orange Chocolate Mousse

Sarah and Stephanie

Sarah is knitting with Lion Brand Landscapes, which I really want to try. Stephanie is a crocheting machine on her baby blanket. She also conquered the biggest yarn tangle I have ever seen (that says a lot, coming from swiftless, ball-winderless me).

The Craft Couch

From left to right, I'm knitting a sock toe-up. Then Naomi finished her first sock, but was too distracted by the mousse, wine, and socializing frenzy to start sock #2. Maggie is rocking her multi-directional scarf. Zach is using my e-tray (or L-tray, if you prefer) to do maths. We let him count maths as a craft, similar to how Avi counts drinking beer as a craft. If you like my e-tray, you can email my brother from his website (see sidebar) and order one from Close-Enough Construction.

See you at the next knitting night!

Progress Report

2005-10-20T22:32:00.000-05:00

So I guess I've been knitting, just not posting. But tonight we're going to get back on the horse. I've got to follow up the Ugliest Sweater Ever with something, right? Don't answer that question. It may seem like a crime against humanity to allow the creator of that sweater to continue to knit, but I'd like to try to redeem myself somehow.

I finished another Pinwheel blanket! How's that for progress?!? This one is for other friends who had a baby several months ago. Neither Pinwheel has been gifted yet. The pattern is by Genia Planck, and it's lovely. The yarn is three skeins of Skacel ArtDeco in a slightly different colorway than the first, purchased from the wonderful Little Knits (Noro on sale!). Denise Interchangeables were so great for this project, as you can keep adding cable length as the diameter of the blanket gets bigger and bigger.

Pinwheel #2

With flash

If you average the color in the two shots above, it's about right. I need photography lessons.

Close up

In person, the variegated yarn doesn't make your eyes go buggy quite as much.

In other exciting news, I'm making my first toe-up sock! I've now done about two pattern repeats. I'm trying to use up my sock pal yarn. I really hope I'll be able to at least get a short sock out each partial skein that I have left. Toe up really seems like the way to go. Of course, I haven't done the heel yet, so check back later when short rows are driving me to distraction.

I'm off to take part of my boards in Chicago tomorrow, then to Champaign, Illinois to visit my brother and Mrs. O.

Pumpkin Patch

2005-10-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

It was a Preemie Project weekend for me, and it's amazing what one can accomplish when she does not want to work on her residency application. And when she found cute flannel on sale at JoAnn's.

First, the hats and booties:

Hat and bootie sets

In 1-3 pound and 3-5 pound sizes. Wow, they're itty bitty, especially that one set of booties. I made the booties, and the hats were made by my friend and budding knitter, Maggie. I have some hilarious pictures of her trying them on various body parts, for scale you know, but I can't figure out how to get them off Snapfish and onto my blog. Flickr 4-Ever. Here she is in an old knitting night photo instead.

She's the one on the left. Isn't she cute? And she can knit pumpkin hats for premature infants like you wouldn't believe.

Then, I found some really great flannel at JoAnn's so I made sixteen small blankets for the Preemie Project. You can hit the link in my sidebar to find out more. This is a really fun group. We make a monthly donation to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit. This is especially meaningful to me, since I'm on an obstetric service right now and know some of those babes.

Sixteen Small Blankets

I did not blanket stitch the edges, as Laura and Libby have done, though this makes them look more finished and very sweet. I just don't have time. I also discovered a little trick. These are easy, since you just sew the front to the back, and then turn it right side out. But you have a few inches that is not sewn by machine so you can turn it. I was dreading sewing all of these gaps by hand, but my brilliant friend Nicole suggested using iron-on adhesive tape. It worked like a charm and only took one hour instead of several. Now they're all packed up and ready to go. They ended up a little smaller than they're supposed to be. I had been warned to pre-wash the fabric, as it shrinks with washing and it's best if it does this before you sew it together. But, I still for some reason cut it to the final size before washing and it did indeed shrink. And the two kinds of flannel shrunk in different directions, so I'm really glad I did it!

I hadn't sewed, really, since 8th grade home economics. But this project went so smoothly! I'll be making more of these for the Preemie Project, and for baby gifts. I also made progress on Pinwheel #2 this weekend, but I'll spare you boring progress shots.

All work and no play

2005-10-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

Howdy y'all,
I'm definitely a dull girl these days. So instead of featuring all of my non-knitting, I'll direct you to my recent post on Iowa Chicks Knitting. You can see my new goodies.

ICK Swag

One week left of my senior rotation in high risk obstetrics. I'll be knitting and posting more regularly on my Dermatology Dermaholiday.

Peace

Pinwheel!

2005-09-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was little, we didn't have cable television, and I was so jealous of my friends who got to watch Pinwheel. One time, I was invited to Maggie Wenstrand's house, and in my excitement to catch Pinwheel, I went right after school instead of later. Nobody knew where I was, and they found me and brought me home right when Pinwheel was supposed to start. To replace this traumatic event with something more warm and fuzzy, I have knit a Pinwheel blanket! This is for friends who had a baby a long time ago.

Loki is supervising

The Center

Loki is sad: It's not for him

The Specs:
The Yarn: Skacel Art Deco from Little Knits. This is color 09. It's 60% machine washable wool, 25% acrylic, 15% polyamid. I washed it in the sink, and it washed and softened well. The colors did not run. It comes in 200 m skeins. I love Little Knits. It's my new favorite place to get a good yarn deal. I got some beautiful Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn there, and Noro is on sale all summer!
The Needles: I used size 9 US Denise Interchangeables, so it would be nice and floppy. The ball band recommended 4-5 mm needles. I started it on two circs, with the Denise needle as one, and a Susan Bates aluminum as the other, then switched to the Denise when it was big enough. Denise needles were awesome for this project, because I could keep adding length to the cable as the blanket got bigger.
The Pattern: See above. It's great and highly recommended. Quick, easy, and cute.
The Finished Product: I love it! I've already started another one is a slightly different color (06) for another friend. Three skeins (600 m) made 39 inch diameter after blocking (which added about 5 inches).

Los Calcetines Rojos

2005-09-25T13:57:00.000-05:00

Today I get to show off my very wonderful socks from my talented sock-pal, Laurie. I've taken some pictures, but hers are way better. Check out her blog and scroll down to her August 1st post. Best pictures of the best socks ever. Also, read her September post about how she renamed the socks. So funny. She wrote to me that she renamed them Siren Socks (a.k.a. Mermaid Socks by Lucy Neatby), because they lulled her into a false sense of security, and then dashed her on the rocks of You Don't Have Enough Yarn Left Island. Hahahahaha. We will forgive the yarn (or at least, I will) for tricking her, because it is so wonderful. It's nothing less than Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock (100% Superwash Merino), in the color RUBY SLIPPERS!!! Isn't that perfect? And the color is, not surprisingly, luxurious. I have always wanted to try this sock yarn, and now, even better--someone else did it just with me in mind.

Standard On-the-foot Shot

All Backlit and Luminous

Feet in the Grass

Now that you've all seen them, I don't think I need to tell you that I'll be wearing these All the Time. They're super-comfy now, and they'll be absolutely perfect after-work socks this winter.

I'm very thankful to Laurie for her thoughtful and indulgent choice of yarn, her very fine work (even reknitting some of it!), her timeliness in finishing them, and her great sense of humor. Thanks Laurie for a great knitalong/swap!!!

Preemie Project

2005-09-17T10:43:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update. This week I spent an evening knitting with Laura, Libby, and Megan of the Preemie Project here in Iowa City. And I turned in my first Preemie Projects!

Preemie hats

I made five white hats (3-5 lb size) to be matched with unmatched colored booties (one hat is not shown). I used the Lots of Eyelets Preemie Hat and the Seed Stitch Hat from Preemie Hats in Two Variations for the white hats, in Red Heart Baby Teri. This yarn is really soft. It says it's machine washable, but I haven't tried it.

The pumpkin hat and booties are in the 1-3 pound size and they are itty bitty. They're done in plain old Red Heart. It's the only orange yarn I could find! It's Becky's Pumpkin Hat and Michelle's Preemie Booties.

Finishin' up stuff

2005-09-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

Boards are over! For the time being at least, until I find out whether I passed or not! In the meantime, I've finished up a few looming projects.

Before I unleash upon you the horror of horrors that is the Ugliest Sweater Ever Made, I will give you time to look away by showing you instead the fine women who had to view this monster in person. Maggie, Sarah, me, and Aislinn. The effervescent Naomi is behind the camera.

Knitting night 9/7/05

Everyone is still smiling only because they haven't yet seen the Ugliest Sweater, and Sarah brought some badass banana bread (see above).

And here it is, also vying for the title of Biggest Waste of Plastic to Create a Garment, the Ugliest Sweater Ever.

The horrifying front with non-"wick-away" hood

The no less horrifying back, with complimentary saggy ass

The only appropriate thing about this sweater: My Shame

This sweater came about as I was trying to get back into knitting a few years ago after a significant hiatus. That is my only excuse. I wanted a cheap project to with which to wet my feet but also learn some new skills. I have learned from it, though. I now understand, partly, how good intentions can bring something purely vile into existence. This explains such previously unfathomable phenomena as the Flowbee Haircutting System, Taz tattoos, and the more-and-more-unfortunate-by-the-day re-election of a president we never elected in the first place. I can't even link anything for that last one; there are just too many options.

Specs:
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun. I don't remember the color, although it is the one thing about it I actually like. I won't link you to it, or facilitate any more information about it, because I hate it. If you were caught in a fire it would melt instantly and permanently to your skin. It makes you feel like you are coated in Saran Wrap. If you are knitting something for anyone you remotely tolerate, do not use this yarn. In My Humble Opinion, of course.
Pattern: Free from Lion Brand Yarn, but again, I would not recommend it for its flagrant frumpiness and will therefore not link to it. I shortened the pattern a little too much to prevent it from spreading over my hips and ass.
Overall impression: I would burn this sweater were I not in fear of the noxious gases it would likely emit. Have you better ideas for it, please leave them in the comments. What to do with the small balls of Homespun that remain as well? Maybe they'd be fine for a stuffed animal or something.

I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again. Here's to blogging even your disasters.

Sophie

2005-09-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm really busy these days studying for boards and working on some research, but I can report on something I finished a few weeks ago. I made Sophie, from Magknits, for my friend Josie. We had a delicious breakfast with Josie and Nik, while waiting for her surprise birthday party to show up. Josie was so much fun to surprise, and it helped that she was so unsuspicious that the surprise wasn't even spoiled when early guests announced to her that they were there for her surprise party. Yikes.

Prefelting

Done and adorned

I love how this yarn looks when it felts. More interesting than just a solid yarn, I think.

Closeup of the flower and fabric

The felt flower pin is super easy, cute (I think!), and has potential for lots of different variations. I found the template here. Don't be concerned that it's not well-centered on the bag in these pics. I was in a hurry. It's a pin, so it can be moved or removed!

Nick wants one, too

But maybe Nick will get one that's not quite so girly. A man purse, if you will.

Specs:
Pattern: Sophie, by Julie Anderson for Magknits. It's a great pattern. I didn't change a thing. And I had just enough yarn left from one skein to help with the flower pin!
Yarn: Cascade 220 Quatro, color 9437. It's a great felting yarn, and at one skein, it made a very affordable and very quick project.
Needles: Size 10 1/2 Denise Interchangeables.

Happy Birthday, Josie!

Sockapal-2-za socks done!

2005-09-05T09:46:00.000-05:00

Hey there!
I've had my sock-pal socks finished for a while, but now I'll finally post about them. And now I think I've finally figured it out so you can click on the photo for a bigger shot. So go for it.

Here's the pair, in their finished glory. Number 1 (knitted in Oregon) is on the right, number 2 (knitted in Iowa) is on the left. The striping occurred at different intervals, but still in similar fashion. I'm ok with that; I hope my sock-pal is, too!

Los dos calcetines

Here's a closer shot of what I'm talking about.

Maybe my row gauge is different?

I suppose I should give Sock #2 it's own moment in the sun.

Made with love, in Iowa

And here's the final product again.

So cozy.

The specs:
Yarn: Bejeweled, by No No Kitty, purchased on Ebay. I love this yarn, the colors and the feel of it. I haven't washed them yet, so that will be the final test. They are handwash only.
Pattern:River Rapids Socks by Sockbug. This was a really fun pattern, and I will likely do it again, perhaps toe-up to use up the rest of the No NO Kitty yarn (I think there's at least a shorter pair of sock's worth left). Her other patterns look great as well (and they're free!). Check out the Shari's Lace and Crooked Cable patterns!
Needles: Two #2 Addi Turbo's (socks on two circs method), for a gauge of 8 stitches/inch in stockinette.

Now all that's left for Sock-pal-2-za is to wash/block the socks and package them up a couple of goodies that I've bought for my sock pal, including an Iowa Chicks Knitting totebag. It makes a better postcard than pictures of corncobs wearing sunglasses or suckling piglets. This is my first official knitalong, and I'm done with time to spare! Thanks so much to Alison; it's been really fun. I can't wait to see the rest of the finished socks.

AND...I've picked out my next sock pattern. It's Anna's Elfine's Socks. I bought Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in Life's a Beach on LittleKnits today! It's 30% off! And she's donating ALL of her profits right now to the Red Cross. I also bought a superwash variegated Skacel Art Deco in two colorways to make pinwheel blankets. I was supposed to be knitting through my stash only, but I couldn't resist the sale.

The Sock's Oregon Vacation, part two

2005-08-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, so the sock got to go on some outdoor adventures, too. (I've been busy finishing sock #2, so cut me some slack on my blog slacking, please!) Even if it had never left the yard, it would have been content with some beautiful foliage.

Calla and St. F

Hydrangea

Stargazer Lily

Not only that, but it also got to go the Oregon coast, in Pacific City. It was gorgeous, we didn't get rained on (!), and the Pelican Brew Pub is right on the beach. We had the Doryman's Dark Ale and the Tsunami Stout, if memory serves. This was right after watching the doryman land on the beach.

The beautiful, yet chilly, Oregon coast

Surfers!

Apparently, this is the stretch of Oregon coast that has the most shark attacks.

The sock watched from the car as we hiked down to Crater Lake later in the week, but it did enjoy the view as we drove around the rim.

Wizard Island in Crater Lake

Crater Lake

Llao bait

And last, but not least, it enjoyed the starkly beautiful landscape of the high desert near Bend, Oregon, while those less claustrophobic than I enjoyed some of the local caves.

High Desert

So Brave

It was a truly, truly wonderful Oregon vacation! Good company, good coffee and beer, good food, and lots and lots of fun times, inside and outside. And sock knitting time, we mustn't forget that!

The Sock's Oregon Vacation, part one

2005-08-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

Though I neglected to actually photograph the sock while it was being knit on its very own spectacular Oregon vacation, rest assured that it was shown a really good time. Scenery and out-of-doors amusement aside (check back tomorrow!), the sock was almost certainly spoiled rotten in its share of delightful entertainment.

First, there was a very, very romantic wedding, on a dinner cruise up and down the Willamette River in Portland. The ceremony was so sweet, and then there was dinner and dancing while the sun set, the stars came out, and the night skyline lit up.

Romance

Then it got to go to a fantastic concert. The Weepies played at Mississippi Studios. It was a good show, and a very charming space, and yours truly was complemented on her "fashion" x2.

Good Music, Cool Venue, Horrible Picture.

The sock also got to help host a fantastic party, with terrific food, beer, and Oregon summer weather.

Great Party!

It looked on helplessly while berries were devoured.

Blackberries and Raspberries In-Season!

It watched another hand-knit work the party.

Ribbed Shrug from Interweave

This is the Ribbed Shrug from Interweave. Made longer than specs, but still only used a little over 2 balls of Paton's Katrina in Limon. I can't remember what sized needles I used, but it wasn't close to the pattern recommendations, and I started over about a million times. This yarn is really stretchy and weird, but nice in the end. Just be warned with substitutions! Use something stretchy! Consider this my FO post on this shrug. I actually wear it a lot. It gets lots of double takes in public places, which I kind of like, and it also makes a nice scarf when you don't want it on your arms. I call it "my arms."

Arms again.

Good arms, bad picture.

The party went pretty late. It's a good thing there was firelight!

Fire Circle.

Things got a little crazy.

Four Eyes.

Eeeeeew.

Even I think that's a little bit gross.

Colin Looking Crazy.

That's when the sock took a hint and went to bed.

It's not afraid of late nights, though. Especially when kept awake with espresso martinis. (Oregon is so amazing.) And when given the not at all trivial pursuit of watching the women thoroughly and severely dominate two teams of men in Trivial Pursuit. Twice. Two women achieved 12 pie pieces for 5, I believe, that were won by the men. Ouch.

The Victorious Moment.

Come back tomorrow for the sock's outdoor Oregon adventures.

Sockapal-two-za Update!

2005-08-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

Finally, I am back blogging again! I don't know why I haven't really been doing it. Maybe it's because I've actually been knitting a lot instead. I've got enough FOs backlogged that I have more than ample blog fodder for several days. Sigh. We'll see how it goes now that I'm back in the saddle.

The most pressing matter, though, is to finally do a Sockapal-two-za update. I'm one of those making Alison nervous by witholding proof of progress. But progress is indeed being made! My 10-day vacation in Oregon was lovely, providing me with a lot of sock knitting time and the sock with lots of stunning scenery. Oddly, though, I never remembered to take a picture of the sock with the stunning scenery. So they'll have to be side-by-side here. I also bought my sock pal some postcards from the places I spent time in Oregon. Iowa's postcard array is embarrassing. If it doesn't have pigs or corn in the picture, it doesn't exist. If this yanks yer chain, so to speak, go read my Iowa State Fair entry on Iowa Chicks Knitting for lots of photos. There's even knitting content as it shows the knitting entries' display.

Sideview

From the top

Close-up

In action

Josie takes a closer look

Josie approves

Anyway, as I said before, I'm using the Bejeweled colorway from No No Kitty Yarns. The mini-mock cables that I was planning to use with the Sunshine Sock pattern didn't show up that well, so I switched to the River Rapids sock by Sockbug. I kept the mock cable for the ribbing, which works well. I think I almost could have used one skein for both socks, but since I wasn't sure I started a new skein for the second sock. It's striping a little bit differently, but not dramatically, I don't think. I just didn't want to have to start a new skein mid sock and have the switch happen then, since it is handpainted. I'm down to the heel flap on #2, so I think I'll be done by the end of the coming weekend! I've started gathering a few nice things to throw in the package with them, as well. I'll put a little bit of the leftover yarn in for fixing if necessary, and then I want to start a toe-up pair of the same pattern to use up the rest of the yarn!

I think I'll start showing the sock's tour of Oregon tomorrow!
Cheerio!

My New Favorite Guy

2005-08-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

Here's a quickie, in case I don't get my next post done. Sorry I've been gone so long.

My new favorite guy (the dog I mean). Make sure you watch the videos. I'm in crush.

http://skateboardingbulldog.com/

Ok, so The Trickster can't skate, has a low sperm count, and suffers significantly from sleep apnea, but shiver me timbers, at least he makes a cute pirate (see the banner, if you don't believe me).

2005-07-26T23:14:00.000-05:00

Since all I've been working on is the Ugliest Sweater Ever, I vow not to show pics until The End. So, we'll get a few snaps of the garden in.

Let's start with the near-beginnging:

The Flower Garden Before

The Veggie (a.k.a. Tomato and Basil) Garden Before

And now for proof that the soaker hose is working. It's on a timer to facilitate our laissez-faire gardening style.

The Flower Garden Last Week

Night Shot of Echinacea (Purple Cone-flower)

My Favorites: Tiger Lilly

There's a Trickster in My Garden!

The Veggies are in Utter Pandemonium

Otherwise known as, if you live in Iowa City and want basil, email me.

Maters!

We already have way more tomatoes (and delectable, at that) than we did all summer last year! Caprese for all!

My Orchid

My pops got me a beeeeautiful orchid for my birthday. Here it is finally. It's owner is remembering to water it and care for it.

Don't Even Think about My Martini

Obviously the owner of the orchid is being watered and cared for as well.

Well Watered

You know, anything not to wilt in all of this heat. Carwash makes a mean martini. Those are my only feeble excuses. Forgive me.

Mrs. O's Update

2005-07-16T19:44:00.000-05:00

Since I have no FO of my own to report today, and since my substantial progress this week has been on the Ugliest Sweater Ever*, I'm going to air the incredible nephew knitting of my sister-in-law, Mrs. O. Now, having no nieces/nephews/children of my own, the nephew knitting was for her sister's new arrival, Brodie. Mrs. O worked so hard on this sweater. She demanded nothing but perfection, and it shows in the results. Mrs. O's work on this sweater re-emphasized to me how thrilling it would be to have a niece/nephew to knit for: She knit tirelessly with fingering weight yarn on tiny needles (almost) without complaint. She knit staunchly on, through dog-induced adversity (there may have been tears). She started sufficiently in advance to have this ready for Brodie's arrival. For anyone less than a niece/nephew, this project may easily have been scratched for bluer skies at many points along the way. The buttons may not have needed to be so cute, the seams not so perfect. An aunt's job is important, and the joy of nephew knitting prevailed over difficulties encountered. Her effort has me duly impressed, and I have started a list in my mind of appropriate projects for that glorious day when I might start knitting for my own nieces/nephews. Ok, enough of the heavy-handedness (except to say "Take your folic acid!" to all potential niece/nephew producers). Here's Mrs. O's fine work.

Front of Brodie's Sweater

Sorry about my shadow.

Back

Ditto on the shadow, but would you look at that seam?!? I have never had seams as nice as Mrs. O's.

Closeup

Please take note of Mrs. O's custom labels, which are adorable. This is heirloom material people. The buttons just about did me in. So. Cute.

Sleeve

Last, but not least, a closeup of the sleeve, in which you can really see how the yarn stripes. It looks so good. There is not one speck of funky pooling on this sweater.

Pattern: I have no idea.
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Baby for Tahki Stacy Charles, Zarina Superwash Merino, color 4000 I think.

All guilt-tripping about wanting to be an aunt aside, though, I am really proud of my SIL for her impeccable work on this project. She's a great aunt, and will continue to be (I myself can only promise to be the aunt-that-is-weirder-than-their-parents, which I'm ok with; someone's got to do it). I'm even more proud of her for moving promptly on to knitting a felted bag for herself out of nothing less than Manos del Uruguay. What can I say, she has good taste.

*Believe me, the FO pics of this beast will be more than enough.

Whoa!

2005-07-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in almost a month! Unacceptable!
My excuses:
1. Vacation: Camping on north shore of Lake Superior. A few pretty pics and stories to come.
2. Internet was out for a week, rendering me completely dysfunctional and crabby.
3. I started rotations again with four weeks of surgical subspecialties = very early mornings and pretty long days.

There's knitting content though!

The New Knitting Queens

Reigning Over Knittingdom, One Stitch ('n' Bitch) at a Time

M and N came over a couple of weeks ago for quasi-supervised knitting. M (left) is knitting a totally badass scarf which an interesting stitch pattern and richly colored yarn. She knows how to knit and purl; now she's kicking it up a notch. N has many knitting projects behind her, but has never done socks. I helped her get a start on her first sock on two-circs. Both of these women are fantastic and interesting disproportionately to medical students at large, like every other med student knitter I know. I hope to see more of them as we all settle back into rotations.

Next up: Carwash's socks are finally done...

Nice legs

Not-so-scandalous, but oh-so-strange spontaneous bathtub shot

***Here I am sparing the readers from another bathtub shot that caught a poor glimpse of the socks and a great view of other bits and pieces, otherwise better left to the imagination. You're welcome.***

The details:
Yarn: Sock-It-To-Me Collection Colori in Cancun Fiesta from Elann.
Pattern: Simple Socks from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles, no frills added by me.

I really like how these socks came out, and so does he. I like the pooling. It's Muppet-ty or something.

More details a few posts back, if you want them.

As far as other WIPs are concerned:
1. Sock pal socks are cast-on, but only one row has been knit: not update worthy. I need a little break from socks before diving into these with gust.
2. Mary Ella: taking a little break to focus on some long-neglected items.
3. The Ugliest Sweater Ever: I started this a couple years ago out of Homespun (blech) when I needed a practice project to get back into knitting. I am finishing it now for closure, and because I've finally gotten to the interesting part, and I want to clear out some space in my stash.
4. An afghan that I knit in one million squares in 1999 and still need to seam together. Also for closure, space in stash, and because I think I'll actually like it when it's done.
5. I finished the Ribbed Shrug from Interweave, but now I can't find it to take pics. It's nice, though! It's in Limon (green) of Paton's Katrina.I'll show it when I find it.

More soon!

p.s. What's with the numbered lists today?!?

Ladies Night v.6.16

2005-06-16T23:58:00.000-05:00

Thursday night, once a month, we've recently started a Ladies Night amongst the attendees of our dinner club, and other women that we like. Tonight I hosted, and the theme was beading. It was really a wonderful time, whether anyone beaded or not. Thought I finished a mere two rows of MaryElla (camera's batteries are dead), there was a lot of creativity flowing, and even better conversation and delightment in each other. Here's the proof:

Action Shot 1: Frantic beading

Action Shot 2: Protecting the innocent by witholding names

Ann beads and wins

Ann bravely beaded for the first time. She boldly placed her fate in the hands of the experts at Dawn's Hide and Bead Away. After a few short hours (in which the hostess distractedly knit 8 mere beads out of a thousand something into her MaryElla), Ann crafted a necklace and anklet that are fantastic with her brilliant red Birks. Applause.

Unstoppable

There is furthermore no stopping Jill. Did she make all of these pieces tonight? I have no idea. What I do know is that she is unstoppable. Forgive my foot which I am too lazy to crop.

Unstoppable 2

Even in the face of crushing a bead with her sheer might, she mocks this fleeting barrier. (Can you tell I'm up past bedtime? Melodrama creeps in.)

MaryElla update

Follow-up from last time: These are my new 4 ought knitting needles, compared to my gargantuan-in-comparison US 2 Addi circs. I seriously felt like I was knitting chunky, no bulky, weight yarn on US 32s after switching from MaryElla to my fingering weight socks earlier today. Crazy.

Next time: how I learned to knit for the earnest beginner plaguing my comments (wink!).

As a good-night note: After spending the evening with some new and expecting mothers, I would like to remind concerned parties that I am ready, willing, and able to be an aunt in the very near future. Peace!

Mid-Week WIPs Report

2005-06-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

I arrived at my house today to find I had completely forgotten house keys two hours away (a long story). Though I had used the hidden key last week when I did this, and failed to replace it, I had smartly left one with a friend when we bought this house three years ago. Ultimately, I tracked down this friend, caught up with her a bit, and strolled through the farmers market with her. (I am currently snacking on some delicious organic sugar snap peas from some local Mennonite farmers!) My friend quickly located the key in a random container in a random drawer, and I left, stopping by the library to pick up Season Six, Part 2, of Sex and the City to enjoy in relaxation tonight. However, I momentarily got frazzled by other would-be parkers, and promptly locked my car and newly reacquired house keys in the car. Not Even Joking. Fortunately, at this point this was all so hilarious that I almost didn't mind shelling out so many dollars for Mike's Lock and Key to bail me out. I drove home (nearly running over a cat), unlocked everything I possibly could, replaced the hidden key with a spare, and prepared my friend's key for return to her tomorrow. Now I am going to settle down and wait for tomorrow.

So, here's a little update of my current projects. We'll save languishing or should-be projects for another time. Those posted below are actually imminent.

1. We're beading at my house for Ladies Night. Hence:

Wha?

Hopefully soon that will be MaryElla from Knitty Winter '04. Dawn's Hide and Bead Away, one of my Favorite Places in Iowa City, had a dazzling selection of 11/0 seed beads (on the order of hundreds of different colorways) at about $6 for two MaryElla's worth. Crazy. And I bought beautiful size 0000 needles from Purse Paradise on Ebay. I'll post a pic of my own at some point.

2. Next up: Socks for Carwash (DBF):

No flash, with flashy knitting bag, and a well-deserved Sprecher Pub Ale

With flash, flashy knitting bag, and a well-deserved Sprecher Pub Ale

This is Sock It To Me Collection Colori in Cancun Fiesta from Elann. Though I don't mind random pooling with colorful yarns, why is mine doing this, while Mindy's first sock is coming out with wonderful flecks everywhere? I am also doing this as the Simple Sock from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. I've made another pair of these in a different colorway of the same yarn; I'll post them someday. After this I'm moving on; there are several other patterns I'd make from this book.

3. Sock Pal Yarn?

Bejeweled

I just got this yarn in the mail from No No Kitty Yarns. She was clearing out some stuff on Ebay last week. I also got my Sockpal2za recipient's info yesterday, and I'm thinking this might be just right for her. I might try it first with the Sunshine Sock pattern from the Knitting Zone Sock Challenge. Warning: that's a large .pdf file. The pattern I'm looking at is a few from the end.

Well, I'm spent from all of that flickring and linking. I have a finished object to post, but no pics yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Fitness Friday

2005-06-10T18:54:00.000-05:00

Hey Kiddos
It's Fitness Friday! My answer to addressing the change in ass gauge that accompanies too many hours sitting and knitting. There's a great knitalong with many different perspectives and levels of fitness. It's in the sidebar; check it out.

So in Fitness Friday I will just check in about my week of fitness (or lackthereof) and maybe post links to different resources, whatever.

This week, I ran for about 50 minutes yesterday (I was probably running about a 10 minute mile--slow! It is a common route, so I will measure it sometime), and swam one mile (outside in City Park, hurrah!) today. Of course, after a torturing humid and sunny day, the sun went under the clouds the minute I showed up at the pool. Earlier in the week I worked several overnight 12-hr shifts, in addition to working on research during the day. Since I go from one end of the hospital to another over and over, I typically don't feel the need to squeeze in another workout on those days.

Here's the link of the week, which I found on my University's Student Health page:
Healthy Running

Check out the training programs in the sidebar.

Here's another link:
Troops and Trihawks Triathlon

It's a sprint triathlon in Coralville (next to Iowa City) on Sept 18! The course looks great, despite the measly 500 m swim (aka the only part I'm sure I can do). Hardly worth getting wet for!

Tomorrow there will be an actual knitting update, with a recently completed shrug and various works in progress.

Hit the ground running

2005-06-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, let's cut the crap and get things started with a Finished Object. One I really need to get in the mail before the kid grows out of it.

Reclining in the peonies.

Drunkenly inhaling the scent of the peonies.

A close-up of the little bits in the yarn.

The back of the sweater with the grosgrain ribbon.

Peonies
The Pattern: "Classic Cashmere Sweater from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies.
The Yarn: Magic Gardens "Buttons" in 880 Hot Pink (83% Pure New Zealand Wool, 17% Polyester Effect Yarn). I used almost all of three balls (133 yds/123 m per 50g skein, double knit weight). Purchased from my LYS The Knitting Shoppe in Iowa City.
The Needles: Size 5 US Susan Bates aluminum circs (stuff into a bag more easily than straights).
Comments: This is a great pattern, and an adorable machine washable wool yarn. I didn't change the pattern, aside from using a different yarn and ribbon than suggested. It was knit in one piece from the bottom front edge over the shoulders and down to the bottom back edge. I would definitely knit this sweater again, but I would probably knit in the round up to the sleeves in order to eliminate side seams and avoid purling every other row in stockinette. This is for my cousin's new daughter...if I ever get it sent (tomorrow, I swear!!).

I need a shower

2005-04-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting for 2 weeks straight.