Well hello there...

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!

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

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

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

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...

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

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.

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

Grandma Kay

December 30, 1921--December 1, 2008

We miss you so much

Well, it's been a while

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

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

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?

STEEKING!!!!

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

Ugh

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?

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

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!

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

Playing with yarn

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

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.

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...