Mom and Bag Knit

Well hello there...

2010-12-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

So its been a while...

One of my friends requested an MGMT headband for his girlfriend about 3 months ago. I finally had enough time and motivation to sit down and knit it this week. I finished last night and blocked it... and of course now its too big since I knit it in Malabrigo and it stretched out tremendously. I can't decide if i want to chop it in half and sew it back together smaller or if i want to cut a hole and thread a thick peice of elastic through it. I'll figure it out. I've had about 15 requests for a pattern so suppose i should throw one together and post that on ravelry.

And then I started a little beret for myself in anticipation of the freezing temperatures I'm sure to encounter when I come back home for Christmas. I don't know how warm a superwash sock yarn hat will be, but at least I'll look cute? I started with 8 rows of knitting through the back of the stitch 1x1 ribbing and just switched to the stockinette which will be 2 rows of turquoise, 2 rows of gray.

I'm also closing in on being done with an old man sweater I've been knitting on for the past 5 months, but more on that when i take a few photographs. Hopefully it won't be another year and a half between posts.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

2009-05-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Have a great day and a great year! Lots of love & hugs & kisses to you from all of us.

P.S.: The jumper was handknit for you by Grandma Ida. I believe those are embroidered bunnies at the bottom.

New stash

2009-03-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

The yarn party at Savage Mill was a blast. I got to spend time with Tina while checking out all the local indie yarn vendors. Then we both won yarn in the raffle, and there's nothing better than free yarn, is there? I'm going to send you some of it. I gave myself a budget beforehand and I didn't go wild, but there were some temptations that could not be resisted. Here's a brief recap:

First off, I wore my just-finished Hanging Garden stole, which is made with Penthouse silk laceweight from Karida's Neighborhood Yarn Co. She was selling her yarn there and it was fun to be able to tell her how wonderful the silk was. I think I made a sale or two for her while I was standing there. I had sent Karida a rav message about it, and she then evidently had checked out our blog because she said that your MGMT knitting was very cool.

The teardrop beads are perfect, I think:

On to my new stash. When I saw yarn named Elizabeth Bennet from Yarn Love, I had to have some. I was looking for a denim blue fingering weight for a shawl anyway, so I picked up some in Blueberry Festival:

And I've been thinking about alpaca for another shawl. There were several local alpaca farmers there with gorgeous yarn. I got this:

Alpaca with a little bit of bamboo from Alpacas of Windswept Farms of Middletown, Maryland. It's an incredible natural charcoal/black and so so soft. The owners showed us pictures of the animal the fleece came from.

There was more shopping, but it might be coming your way so no photos today. On my needles now is Waves of Grain in Sea silk, but I think I might frog it. You can't see the beads I'm using at all, can you?

I feel a toe nail polish obsession coming on

2009-03-18T11:48:00.001-07:00

Mom,
Yes, I am alive, I just haven't posted in three months... oops. I blame Mardi Gras and the appearance of spring!

hello. we are Caro's toes.

I actually have been working on about ten million blog-worthy projects, but all I have to show for it is what I brought to work today.

Its a very very loosely gauged striped alpaca cardigan in leftover sweater yarn. I'm not sure If I'm going to go for a vest or a cap sleeve, but seeing as its barely halfway through March and it's already too hot to wear long sleeves, I'll probably go for something that is as minimalist as possible.

I'm not sure how I feel about the horizontal stripes... I know they make you appear larger, but I hate vertical stripes and I wasn't about to knit anything color-blocked. I'm not five. And they are thick stripes! Hopefully the lower hip length and the fact that it's a cardigan will help my cause.

And in news of other things you will be happy about, I did not quite my job this morning in order to take a full time bartending position... I guess I'm staying in the antique racket for now.

-Bag

Yarn Party

2009-02-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

Everyone in the DC-Baltimore-Annapolis area: it's time to get the word out about the second annual Homespun Yarn Party, coming up March 15th. Tina & I had a fun time there last year in its tiny space in Takoma Park and this year it's at the Historic Savage Mill, a "bigger and better place" with lots more vendors. Check out the vendor list at Homespun Yarn Party. They have a rav group too.

Do I need more yarn? Do you need more yarn? Let me know. I wish you could go with us but I always love shopping for you.
love ya,
mom

Yes it's been a while...

2009-02-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

I've been knitting a lot of little projects lately. trying to use up some stash yarn. I think you saw the start of this, a lace ribbon scarf in Jade Sapphire cashmere yarn, when you were here. It's so so soft & is really more purple than this photo shows.

But the lace ribbon is going slowly bec this is what I'd rather work on:

Another scarf: this yarn is the merino-silk I got in Alaska that I overdyed bec it had too much yellow in it. Now I love it. I'm following the Old Shale pattern, which I guess is just a fancy name for a basic feather & fan repeat.

Then I started a skinny reversible one-row scarf in some Prism Bolero. I bought the yarn at Stitches East bec it will go with three of my sweater sets & be great for work. The pattern is one of the most mindless things I've ever knitted.

I took your advice and started the Jared Flood Turn A Square hat with the Noro Silk Garden Chunky. I'm striping it with some of the Malabrigo wool you gave me last year. Really nice together.

What are you knitting?

love, mom

On Lace

2009-01-03T10:29:00.001-08:00

Mom (and anyone else reading that can knit),

Feel like test knitting something for me? I still need to draft up the charts, but the line by line write up is done.

Also, the humidity is at 95% here.

Oh, it's been a while.

2008-12-29T08:31:00.000-08:00

On to happier things. Because focusing on knitting keeps my mind from wandering.

A week before Christmas something spectacular happened. I was commissioned by one of my favorite bands, MGMT, to knit a headband with their logo on it. Oh, and it was for their Kids music video!

Here is their logo. They wanted it done horizontal in neon pink, across an 80's style blue or gray background.

Oh. And the headband was for a baby. And they needed it in 2 days. And this was 5 days before Christmas! So, out the window went my knitting and sleeping schedule, and these are what I came up with.

Also, I had to come up with a billing rate, which cause me much distress. I was originally thinking $25-$35 plus materials, but was convinced by both my boss and a knitting friend of mine who sells her stuff all the time that I should charge somewhere upwards of $200. I settled on charging them $15 an hour for six hours of work (the time it took me to design and knit the blue headband) plus materials. They didn't even bat an eyelash.

So. The music video should come out in a month or so. I'm sure I'll post when it does. Oh, and here it is on rav

In Memorium

2008-12-11T13:49:00.001-08:00

Grandma Kay

December 30, 1921--December 1, 2008

We miss you so much

Well, it's been a while

2008-11-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

But I'm still here.

Once i finished my steeked Saddle Shoulder Cardigan I kindof lost some knitting steam. Especially since I bought the perfect buttons for it, and then put them somewhere in my apartment so as not to lose them, but I haven't found them since then. I have the button bands knitted and it's finally cold enough to wear sweaters here in New Orleans, so of course they're m.i.a.

This prompted me to start cleaning my apartment. I've been working from either corner in to the center (I have a wide hallway of a studio). So my kitchen is spotless, as is my bathroom/closet. Clothing is hung in rainbow order (did you know I haven't put on a pair of pants in over six months?) All dresses and skirts!

Here is a crappy cell phone image of my closet halfway through the process. Anyways...

In knitting content, Here is what I've been working on.
Hat,

After Hat,

After failed scarf.

( I frogged this)

But. I have been designing like crazy. I'm having a hard time executing any of my ideas though. Send good vibes my way.

In the mean time. I have started....

Two more hats. The other one is colorwork.

Oh! And I met Sela Ward last night!

Stitches bonus

2008-11-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

Many skeins of yarn and stuff arrived for me today...I won a drawing at the yarn4socks booth at Stitches! I don't know how, although I did stop by their booth four or five times over the weekend bec I really liked the stuff they had. My stash is now quite amazing.

A big, big thank you to Donna at yarn4socks for all the gorgeous yarn, stitch markers, and two notions bags. I'll have a lot of fun with it!

Stitches East 08

2008-11-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

Evidence of a great time at Stitches in Baltimore? My new stash:

Two skeins of Manos silk blend, very soft and fluffy. It's color 3105, brown, black, pink, etc., with 30% silk & 70% merino extrafine wool. I think I'm

going to make a mini-Clapotis with it next week while I'm traveling.

The green is some sock yarn that I couldn't resist, Bamboo Baby from Miss Babs, in case I get around to learning how to knit socks.
The purple is Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere, which is too soft to describe. Very yummy.

The dark, dark blue yarn is Araucania Ranco Multy, which is wool with polyamide.

The bright blue is Malabrigo baby merino wool lace, which I've wanted since last year's Stitches, where I had gotten a timy sample. More soft, soft stuff. I think I'll make Juno Regia http//www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/juno-regina-stole with it.

And saving the best for last: the double Handmaiden SeaSilk.

I forgot to take a photo of the Kollage square circular needles. I love them.

Love you too. I'm so happy you were able to get to B'more. Are you brave enough to post everything you bought?

Guess What I'm Doing Tonight?

2008-10-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

STEEKING!!!!

(Well, before I head to The Faint concert at the Republic)

Ugh

2008-10-22T08:09:00.001-07:00

So I'm done with all the garter stitch and I couldn't be happier. But my next question is:

Should this be the front of the sweater?

Or should this?

I know I need to just try on the stupid sweater and decide for myself, but I'd really like some input.

Mom, where are you?

2008-10-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

So Kevin was in town this weekend and we had a glorious time, and ate quite heartily the whole way though. After my last visitors I came to the realization that I need to diet the week before I have guests or else I feel bad about eating things like fried green tomato and shrimp remoulade po boys.

I think I did a good job of feeding/showing Kevin what the city is all about, and he spent some time on his first day just exploring on his own. Also, we enjoyed a seriously delicious meal at Luke's where we enjoyed P &J oysters and something called a flamenküche. Which is like a pizza topped with cheese, french onion soup, and fried bacon. Thanks so much for funding that experience. New Orleans sure knows how to make everything as fattening as possible. Oh, and he also got my Jacques-imo's leftovers as soon as he got off the plane (blackened redfish and chili hollendaise).

Anyways, amidst all that eating, it became knit weather again in New Orleans! Well, sort of. At night at least. And so I made something I've had in my sketch book for months.

A red Slouchy Scaley looking hat. I made it out of about 1.2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes, and I've already gotten quite a few complements on it. Kevin did say that he thought it was a little too emo/hipster for me, but I think I can rock it.

So. Bad pictures aside and all. I'm a big fan. [Rav Link]

So I'm a Moron

2008-10-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

I cast on for another sweater because the Saddle Shoulder Aran was much too large to carry around with me now that I've united the sleeves to the body. So, low and behold Suvi S's Baby Cables and Big One's Too which I am so very in love with.

I'm knitting it out of discontinued Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK, which i got on Sale at Cucumber Patch for quite cheap. The only problem is that I bought a bag of 10 balls, enough to make the size 32". But thanks to genetics, and a healthy amount of fried oysters, I'm making the 36". So. I'm not sure how to work out ravlery stash trading, but I'm sure someone can enlighten me.

Here is a crappy picture of the beginings of my sweater as posed on an olive jar

I cannot wait until Sitches East! Design classes here I come!

Progress!

2008-10-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

5 Rows away from having the second sleeve completed.... Then comes the exciting part... decreases!

Playing with yarn

2008-10-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

This is one of the skeins of merino-silk I got in Alaska last year. It's beautiful and really soft, but I haven't wanted to knit anything with it. I just couldn't get past imagining how much the yellow part would stand out when knitted up.

So I decided to overdye it. Tina suggested icing dye, and after reading on knitty how to do it, I finally did. I used Wilton's icing colors, teal plus a tiny bit of brown.

And here it is dry.

I love it now that the yellow is sort of foresty green. I seem to have felted the yarn a little bit, but I think I'll be able to wind it up.

And I had the best time in New Orleans with you, especially all the knitting time we had:

Long live the streetcars of New Orleans!

What I'm all about these days

2008-10-01T11:05:00.001-07:00

Sheepfold Cable tweedy sleeve goodness
[for my Saddle shoulder Aran]

Which I haven't gotten sick of yet, I suppose because I let myself knit a fiddlehead mitten

Oh the Colorwork. I knit this up in a day I was so in love with it.
It's Noro Silk Garden and Knitpicks Merino Bare in Fingering weight held double.
[Raveled here]
(apparently I like to take pictures of things in trees)

Also I'm in love with the fact that it's finally cool enough in New Orleans to wear a scarf.. Sorry mom, the temperature dropped ten degrees once your plane took off.

I'm done with Hurricanes.

2008-09-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

So I've cast the Central Park Hoodie aside. It's completely seamed together and only missing the button band. But, it's decidedly shorter than I wanted and I can't bring myself to pick up all those stitches and knit 3 inches of ribbing. That just sounds boring.

So I cast on for Elizabeth Zimmerman's Saddle Shoulder Aran made famous by Brooklyn Tweed. I kindof want my version to look like Gumboots'. Oh yeah, and I have to cut a steek when I'm done knitting this beauty.

I'm knitting it in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK. I had a hard time deciding between this color (frog) and a pale blue. I ended up with this color because it has these beautiful blue and yellow flecks of tweed in it.
I took those pictures a few days ago. I'm much farther now, but it is currently raining buckets and this was the best pictures I could muster.

As I was walking to work the other morning a water droplet hit me square in the head. I looked up to see what that was all about and saw these storm shudders...

I was busy watching tail lights

2008-09-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what happened,

We closed up the shop last Friday evening and I proceeded to several different hurricane parties. Hurricane parties are where everyone brings all the perishable food or alcohol they have in their refrigerators to a central location and commences drinking/eating/speculating on whether or not the storm will hit. After a little drunken deliberation (yes, I do live in the Quarter, but I was already without power and damn is it hot without air conditioning) I decided to leave.

I woke up Saturday morning with one monster sized hangover and had my last New Orleans meal at Camelia Grill. I drove back to my apartment so I could pack up and get on my way to Dallas. The Quarter was eerily quite, but there were still some die hard gay couples walking the streets. This past weekend was Southern Decadence, which is essentially the gay Mardi Gras. I didn't get any pictures but I saw gold and silver lamé everywhere I looked.

Once I cleaned out my fridge, closed my storm shudders, and had sufficiently packed my car with three boxes of wheat thins, water, coffee drinks, and any clothing or yarn I couldn't live without, I got on my way to my kickball coaches house. I dropped off everything that was left in my fridge, frozen chicken, cheese, and ranch dressing (and a few lean cuisines, though I'm not sure what he did with those). He was having a Hurricane Party later that night and then staying through the storm so he needed as much food as possible (he did end up leaving after hearing Nagin's "Mother of all Storms speech")

I then drove over to the West Bank to my friend Beth's sister's house. Their family was kind enough to let me Carravan with them to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area. I showed up at their house around 8pm and attemped to take a nap, but was far to anxious to sleep. I ended up playing cards and knitting with Beth and her cousin until we decided it was time to leave at around 1:30am. We drove with realtive ease until we got past Orleans Parish and then slowed to a crawl. I was already starting to crash and we weren't even out into the Bayou yet. Traffic sped up after a while, and I staid awake by bouncing around to bad pop punk music. Once we passed Baton Rouge we stopped at a Waffle House and Beth's boyfriend Greg drove for about an hour while I took a nap. When I woke up it was light outside and HOT. They had started contraflow, which is a great idea in theory, but it basically takes a two lane highway and makes it into a four lane highway (which no one can get off for about 40 miles) and then turns it back into a two lane highway. It is desgned to get people out of the immediate damage area, but it just creates even worse traffic when the two lanes need to merge back together again.

So, in short. I got to Dallas. It took me 16 hours and I was awake for most of two days, but I made it. I had a great time there and spent Labor day at a pool party once I realized that watching the news was only freaking me out more. So I indulged in three of my favorite things, water fights, deviled eggs, and Coors Light and had a great time.

On Thursday morning I decided it was time to drive home. Beth and her family had gotten back Wednesday night after the ban on letting people back into the city had been lifted, and they said that it was safe to come back. So I drove. And drove and drove. I made great time until I hit Lafayette and had to start heading east on I-10. Traffic slowed to a crawl before every exit and didn't pick up until well after the on-ramps. I'm pretty sure that this was because there were rumors flying rampant that gas and food were very scarce in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. I also saw a lot of these:

Flipped over exit signs... but only in the westbound lanes. I'm not sure if these were remenants from Contraflow or what, but there were at least 20 of them. I finally made it back into the city at about 8 o'clock that night and headed to Avenue Pub. One of their regulars had picked up 300 frozen hamburgers for them on their way back into town and they were serving hot Cheeseburgers. As my first meal all day that didn't consist of Ranch wheat thins, I ate that sucker with gusto and then went on a mission to find my cat. She had staid out the storm at the shop I work at, along with the other three shop cats, a blind dog someone had rescued, and the two guys that live in the back of the shop. I grabbed her, and some cat food from my apartament which was fine, just very very dark, and then immediatly headed back to the Lower Garden District and fell asleep on a friend's couch.

Yesterday morning when i woke up I went back down to the Quarter and walked around a little bit. Most of the stores were still boarded up but there were a few tourists walking around amongst the heavy presence of National Guardsmen and Police Officers.

This picture was taken this morning across from Jackson Square. I'd say the amount of National Guardsmen with HUGE guns is a little weird, but I think that is only because it is so very reminicent of post-Katrina New Orleans (I also saw one showing off his gun to drunk college kids outside of a bar). Last night I went all the way uptown for a dinner party and even St.Charles Avenue is littered with tree branches and many of the neighborhoods are still without power. I read somewhere that 250 of the 450 stoplights in Orleans Parish are working. I drove by my old house and the tree in the front lawn had been blown over. This was one hell of a storm.

Anyways, I decided to open up the shop today, as I would like to return to some sense of normalcy (and earn some money). I've had about five or so couples walk into the shop. Everyone is very friendly, and many have interesting storm stories. I just want to say that I am thankful that I got through this with relativly little heart ache and that I think the city did a great job evacuating people.

Worry

2008-09-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

You were driving, so you didn't get a chance to see this

or this

or this.

But we couldn't stop watching and worrying. So glad you made it safely to Dallas.

love

mom

Gustav

2008-08-30T13:52:00.001-07:00

I'm headed to Dallas. Pray for light traffic and that this doesn't fuck us like the last one did.

House cleaning

2008-08-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Caro,

I'm cleaning the basement.

I'm working on some of the stuff you left behind. I'm donating a lot of it. I don't think it will break your heart to part with old AE tees and short shorts.

And I'm sure you don't want to keep the kelly green corduroy pants with whales on them, which I can only think you wore to one swim meet?

But I'm not giving away the batman cape,

or the swim caps.

Do you remember all these crazy socks you used to wear?

I didn't get the ones with the tree frogs on them in the picture, but they're here somewhere.

And I don't know what to do about all of these:

That one on the top? X-Files. One of many. Miss them?

love,

mom

I'm knitting a sweater and its neither blue nor red.

2008-08-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Which is so very unlike me. This is the first sleeve of the Central Park Hoodie. I think I started it some time last November. I have the back and I thought I had both fronts done but I can only seem to find one of them. The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in some sort of green, though I don't know what kind because the owner of the Quarter Stitch doesn't like the way the tags look and pulls them off. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I only forgive her because she has such a large stock of it, even after that factory fire Malabrigo had.

I starting pulling the yarn from the bottom of the ball. I hate when I do that.

Last Saturday was Dirty Linen Night. It's the more low rent version of White Linen Night. Most of the galleries and shops on Royal Street stay open and serve cheese and jambalaya and drinks. I was quite pleased to find out that my shop was going to be closed, so I was able to participate. It gave me a great opportunity to go into all the shops on Royal Street that I usually just pass by on my walk home. Anyways, I bought this bracelet at a shop called the Latin Quarter. It was made by someone in Argentina I think. It's pretty freaking cool, but makes my hands smell like metal.

Oh, and my fingers are healing nicely.

Knitting Accident

2008-08-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've burnt two of my fingers. You think by age 23 I'd be smarter than to just pull a bowl out of the microwave all willy-nilly. Nope. Burnt the index and middle finger pads on my left hand (thank god). My knitting ability was slightly impaired with band-aids on my fingers. So I improvised and have mostly been crocheting.

So yeah, I'm a moron. Here is terrible picture of my Shetland Shorty. It's been raining nonstop for the past three days. Which makes it hard to take pictures in natural light.

I'm Alive.

2008-08-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

... and hot. It's pretty gross. I've finished my Shetland Shorty. But as I don't think I ever posted here that I had even started to knit it, I'll explain that bit. I started off knitting the Silk Shrug from Debbie Bliss's Silk Book. I actually bothered to swatch, got gauge with some beautiful blue Collinette Jitterbug, and I started knitting the 34" size. I wanted to give myself 2" of negative ease, seeing the shrug is all kinds of cables and that Jitterbug, a Superwash Merino, is much more sproingy than the pure silk that the pattern called for.

And thats how that turned out. Why I bothered to keep knitting, and knitting, I'll never know. Well, I kindof do. Nevermind... I feel bad about ranting about it here. Knitting is supposed to be relaxing, right? So I picked up one of my remaining balls of yarn and cast on for the Shetland Shorty.

Here is what it looked like three weeks ago.

It's done now, but I'm lame and haven't taken any pictures of it. Mostly due to the fact that it is New Orleans in August and the temperature has been hovering somewhere around 100 degrees.

MS4

2008-08-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Caro,
Did you sign up for the Ravelympics? I looked but did not jump in. I never finish anything in 20 days. Instead (because I don't have enough things to knit OR enough stash), I've signed up for Mystery Stole 4 [ravlink] . I've wanted to do a knit-a-long thing but never got my act together before. The shawl takes 1100 yards of solid color laceweight that's "drapey" with good stitch definition and a slew of contrasting beads. The first clue will come out on Sept 5 so I need to get yarn & beads & start swatching now! I'm thinking of a silk-merino blend or a cashmere blend yarn but haven't seen any colors I love yet. Maybe a silvery gray or a dark purple?

Am I nuts to even think of knitting something when I don't know what it will look like AND it doesn't use up any of my stash?

No need to answer that.

love mom

Don't be jealous

2008-07-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Caro,

I have two new cool bags: On the left is the Maruca bag I bought at CatchCan when you were in town. It may be the most perfect bag I've ever had for commuting. It's not huge but my knitting and lunch and stuff still all fit inside. The outside pockets are thin and perfect for my smartcard and ipod.

On the right is a linen market bag, the fourth I've made and the prettiest one yet I think. The pattern is Amy Singer's Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty Spring 07, modified to have knitted handles. The yarn is Louet Euroflax, the color is called French blue and is lovely. Want one?

love, mom

BTW, I love the ipod and have been loading it up with knitting podcasts. I found a mother-daughter knitting podcast called Knitmoregirls--check it out.

ETA: also, there is a rav group, Mothers & daughters who knit, which I just joined. How come we didn't know about that?

When You Give a Cat a Felt Ball....

2008-07-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

She'll Attempt to eat it.

I am trying my best not to become one of those people who only posts pictures of their cats/dogs/children/lunches, so here is some yarn.

Question: What is wrong with me, that when I come home to visit, I first pack yarn and then see what clothing will also fit in my suitcase?

I-cord obsession

2008-07-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Caro:
When I was in downtown Athens at the Kangaroo yarn shop, I saw this:

I thought it might be an I-cord maker, which I knew was something that you've wanted for forever, but I wasn't certain it really was one and I couldn't understand the shop lady's explanation. I bought it anyway (it wasn't very expensive in Euros). And, wow, it works great:

I'm sorry that you are unable to stop.

Very, very, cool.

love, mom

Babette Progress

2008-07-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

First off, I think i have poison ivy, and I am one itchy, itchy girl. No one needed to know that.
So... distractions!

The cat wants to be a supermodel. Maybe I should look into becoming a stage mommy.

I've run out of steam with the Babette for the time being. I think I'll let it sit and pull it out during that two hour layover I have in Chicago Saturday night. I've been working on my Shetland Shorty instead. I got through the bottom band and ties last night. Which doesn't sound like much, but 280 stitches x 20 rows of garter is a tiresome bit. Especially when you're trying to refrain from scratching the bejesus out of your arms and knees. Don't ask.

Happy 8th of July

2008-07-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

I don't have any knitting content today, I left most of everything I'm working on at home. I did start the Shetland Shorty last night. I'm knitting it in turquoise (suprise, suprise) Collinette Jitterbug. All I've done so far is cast on 280 stitches so I'm not too sure how I feel about it.

So, for the sake of something interesting,

Here is the pizza I made last night, which was loosely based off smitten kitchen's recipe And here are some 4th of July fireworks. We closed the shop at 3 that day and I walked around the quarter with some of my friends then we went to go eat at Arnaud's Remoulade (and you know how I feel about remoulade)Yep, thats a man with a pony.
And then we saw the fireworks and some little kid threw a popper at my feet. Definatly the highlight of the evening (yes I still have all my toes).

It's too damn hot here.

Improvements

2008-07-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

So I've been working pretty much exclusively on Babette since I last posted. It's pieced together in log cabin like strips. I have five of the nine done, and am well into the sixth. Unfortunately that means I'm only a third of the way through.

I keep getting really annoyed at myself that I'm moving so slowly, and that I have to actually LOOK at what I'm doing when I'm crocheting. But then I think back to my first knitted scarves and I feel better. I at least I'll avoid that scratchy acrylic/fun fur faze in my crocheting. Not that I'm admitting to ever having used fun fur willingly. Bleech.

Can't wait to see you next week,
Bag

Babette

2008-06-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

So here's what I'm doing with our Koigu scraps. My first crochet project.
Interweave's Babette Blanket. These are all I brought in to work to photograph, but I have about 25 2 round squares done (half of what I need) and varying amounts of the other size squares. I'm terribly proud of them, remembering back to some of my first relearning to knit projects. Red heart and wonky stitches, oh my!
This is my favorite square.
Well. My work day is over. So I shall run.

Dream of a Rowenta

2008-06-23T11:08:00.001-07:00

DSCN0450

Dear Caro,
I had to get a new iron--mine must be older than you are--and of course all I could think about was getting a Rowenta, having just read Mason-Dixon Knitting again, in which this question is posed: Is it possible to love a steam iron?
Answer: Absolultely, if it's a Rowenta.
Wait till you try it.
love mom

Thank you Dale!

2008-06-23T10:58:00.001-07:00

DSCN0449
Originally uploaded by srheylman

This is the OTT craft lamp I got with my birthday gift certificate from Dale. I love it, the light really makes a difference in seeing stitches while knitting and it truly makes reading lace charts easier. Thank you so much!

Stitch and Bitch in a Bar

2008-06-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last night was the first night of Stitch and Bitch at Avenue Pub (the bar that I play kickball with). It was great fun (especially after everyone had had a beer or two). There are two amazing crocheters, me, and a few knit and crochet beginners. I'm bringing extra needles and yarn next week to teach lessons.
I finished my first Jaywalker

And then realized that grafting toes together without a tapestry needle is best done while sober.
I was grafting inside out. Lame.

Next up:
Adventures in Seasilk. (Most defiantly another Montego Bay Scarf, only this time, wider)

Fathers day

2008-06-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Caro--

Went with dad to a classic car show today. We both had a great time. Here are two of my favorite signs:

And for knitting content, here's the latest pic of the baby blanket:

love, mom

First log cabin

2008-06-09T10:10:00.001-07:00

I'm so happy with the colors of Manos cotton:

which so far, looks like this:

But I've got lots more to go and I'm already soooo bored with garter stitch.

I forgot to take a picture of the outside of my new office building, but here's what my new space looks like:

Yes, that's Chinese on the sign outside, and no, I don't know what it means.
Come visit!
love, mom

Finally a Quarter Rat

2008-06-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

So I've finally moved into my apartment, and I'm sorry I haven't posted any pictures, but my camera died. I'm sure I packed my camera cord somewhere completely reasonable, but I haven't been able to find it.

Anyways, I went to the Mid-City Stitch and Bitch on Tuesday, where i knit on my Leyburn Socks. I had gotten about an inch and a half up the calf when i tried them on, and they were nearly impossible to get over my heel. I'm thinking I may need to knit them top down, and then graft them at the ball of the foot.... which sounds like a pain in the ass. I'm just not sure WHAT to do...

So, I started a pair of Jaywalkers in Yarntini's Blue Hawaiian variegated sock yarn. I thought I was buying the self-stripping, but beggars can't be choosers, as her stock usually sells out in minutes. I ended up really, really liking them.

The colors in the skein are actually more accurate than they are in the sock.

Also, my koigu log cabin squares are actually a Babette Blanket, and they are coming along well. It's just that it's not a very good travel project, as it required many many skeins of yarn, and since I've been traveling a lot recently (you know, from house to house) It has been set aside in a Tupperware bin. I'm VERY excited about the use of the Cotton Stria, I think it's going to look amazing.

Currently OTN

2008-06-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Since my office moved last week, I've been taking the metro to work. Sometimes it's so crowded knitting is impossible, but when I get a seat, this is the wrap that I'm working on:

The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon silk that I got at the Takoma Park homespun yarn party last March. It's really yummy soft, and the shades in the colorway actually are just like the colors of the Aegean Sea (I started this in Greece but lost a lot due to a Denise needle crisis--again). The pattern is mindless & perfect for subway knitting:

Row 1: K2, YO, *to end.

Row 2: K2, drop YO, *to end.

What I want to knit all the time, but which takes attention, is my Hanging Garden Stole. I love the pattern (Sivia's), the beads, and the yarn (Neighborhood silk). I've finished about a third of it, and I don't care how long it takes me to finish. I think it's already the most beautiful thing I've ever knitted.

Plus I'm still working on the Be Sweet bamboo scarf and a market bag. And I'm going to cast on a Borders Log Cabin baby blanket or [rav link] with the Manos Cotton Stria I've had stashed for forever. My first attempt at log cabining. I'm going to use hot pink, orange, turquoise, purple, and green. Cool, no? Pictures soon. Whatever happened to your koigu log cabin squares?

love, mom

2008-05-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
10% off Seasilk.

Also, I'm 90% moved out of my old apt and ready to collapse.

-Bag

Moving Day

2008-05-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, really moving day is tomorrow, but I couldn't be more thrilled to get out of my current place and finally move into the French Quarter. I have something fun and bright to go along with my mood.
Kureyon Socks! I've been wanting to knit with this yarn for quite a while. The colors are as brilliant and as fun as I hoped, but the yarn itself doesn't seem like it will lend itself well to socks. It's a single ply roughly spun yarn, much like kureyon itself and boy is it thin... I've been told that the yarn blooms after a good blocking, so keep your fingers crossed.
These are mintyfresh's Leyburn Socks. Which is a great great pattern, and seems to look great in both solid and variegated yarns.

I'll leave you with this...

I'm Hungover

2008-05-28T09:53:00.001-07:00

Mom-
Of course you list it as kangaroo yarn. People will thinks is cheeky and cute! As for what to make of it, I would say this shawl but I think the pattern is in Dutch. Get Kevin to learn Dutch and translate it for you. Anyways,

Remember this?

I think this was at one point an aborted Christmas present for you. I started out knitting Scarcelle and was so disgusted by the parallelogram that was formed by knitting on the bias that I frogged the whole thing while we were in Alaska last summer and started this. It's the same basic stitch pattern, but knit straight and with five garter selvedge stitches on either side. I also knit on this while I was in China, as something to preoccupy me when sweater knitting got to unbearable. So. It's been around the world.
The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill, some combination of two kinds of silks I believe, purchased on closeout in 2006 from Simply Socks. It's very reminiscent of Sea Silk. So, of course, I adore it. In the process of moving I have packed the other half of my yarn. I now only have 25 or so more yards to knit with until I've moved into the quarter. Well, I hope that I've already packed that yarn and haven't misplaced it.

Oh! and while reading the Gambit last night I found out that the produce part of the french market reopens June 13ths. Of course New Orleans is throwing a three day festival for this joyous occasion... I believe it has something to do with Creole tomatoes, which are about to come into season.

I miss the pool and your tomato and mozzarella salad.

-Bag

P.S.

Athens Kangaroo

2008-05-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Bag: In Greece last week I managed to find an hour for a yarn store adventure. I had the addresses of six stores in Athens from a ravelry post and it turns out that three were in the same block in the downtown shopping district. The stores mostly had Italian yarn and lots of cotton. When I saw fingering weight yarn with a knitting kangaroo on the label, I had to buy some, even though I wasn't exactly sure about the content, because the info is all in Greek. Really. How do I list this on ravelry? Kangaroo yarn?

And it came in a very cool Kangaroo bag:

which I'll save for you. It was 4.50 euro per 120m skein and I got 6 skeins for some kind of shawl. Any suggestions?

love, mom

Happy Birthday Mom

2008-05-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've just finished my Montego Bay Scarf [rav link], and did a little photo shoot in the garden at work.

Montego Bay Scarf
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk
Pattern: Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Started: May 13th
Finished: May 26th

Verdict: Loved it, got a little monotonous at times, but it knit up quickly, and I love the result. Next time I would add a few more repeats to make the scarf a bit wider, though maybe I should block it before I start complaining.