All Witty Knitty

It Makes Me WANT to Want to Wet My Pants

2011-01-06T17:07:00.000-08:00

See, this is why I lookbook...

This one got me huffing and puffing and stomping around like a scorned four year old whining, "Whyyyyy didn't I think of that!!!!"

Can I haave it??? Pleease, can I?

And just click around at her other looks. Go on. WHERE is this girl getting her woolens? She doesn't say, but I want it to be meeee.

This is my client and everything I make from now on will be for her.

I don't actually want to wet my pants, but I want to want to.

Oh. Happy New Year.

Boutique Belgique

2010-12-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already noticed, this blog changes direction often. At one point I wanted it to be something more organized, but I've decided it should be where my brain comes to de-clutter because writing helps. I hope you're riding this roller coaster with me. If there's anything you want to hear more about or see more pictures of, leave a comment!

I really enjoy Lookbook.nu for inspiration. I'm always looking for new ways to wear the clothes I have. It makes my closet look a lot more interesting than it is. But my favorite reason to look at lookbook is to find out how people are wearing their knits. There are tons of variations on a theme (sheer tights with jean shorts is the things this winter), but sometimes I find something that really intrigues me.

Today, it's this:

Lookbook.nu - Moment of Silence

I'm such a tights girl and I loved these immediately when I saw them. She says she got them here:


Boutique Belgique

It's kind of an adorable boutique from what I see in the pictures. The blog is pretty new and the boutique is quite new in Köln.

From the look of the mannequins

Boutique Belgique

and the people in the shop

Boutique Belgique

there's kind of a relaxed, "sporty" style to this boutique. Very comfy and cozy and a little rustic, but in a chic way.

Boutique Belgique

Has anyone else noticed that pallet furniture is kind of in vogue right now? I found some really cute pallet furniture online. I decided not to write a post about it because people have already, but if you do a Google search, you can find some really inexpensive, do-able ideas that actually look right at home in a space that needs a little rustic charm.

It's right up my style alley. I'm not really a girl-y girl, so I like to take a girl-y concepts and pair them with something a little masculine. Pink with brown, skirts with work/hiking boots, "boyfriend" cardigan and jeans with rolled up cuffs and heels, a lace slip with a tailored jacket.

Lookbook.nu - Summerbreeze

I found that outfit AFTER I listed those things but it was actually tougher to find than I was expecting. I should probably take more pictures of me. In any case, that's all for now. Off to think really hard about decorating some more for Christmas.

Pringle of Scotland: Check it Out

2010-12-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

Dear and lovely readers,

I'd like to start with a sincere apology for the number of times I said "check (it) out" - five or six times, I think. I know plenty more ways to say, "Hey, why don't you look at this?" besides "check it out" and I promise I won't use it this post at all after this paragraph. Thank you for bearing with me. On to your irregularly scheduled program.

I thought I might go into some more depth about some of the stores I mentioned in yesterday's post. By more depth, I mean MORE PICTURES! Hurray!!! Especially since yesterday was really word-heavy. So today's topic is Pringle of Scotland.


Pringle of Scotland

I love Pringle because Pringle loves knitwear. The company began in 1815 and became iconic for cashmere knit sweaters, argyle, and the "twinset" - a matching cardigan and sweater set. There is a photo chronology on their website that briefly outlines some of the history of Pringle of Scotland. Get this:

Pringle of Scotland - Argyle

If you look closely, you'll see that's the original knitter's graph paper that someone colored in by hand in the 1920's to create the argyle pattern that we know so well today. If you go through the timeline a bit, you'll see some fun things like 'The Pringle Bar', where Pringle sold their twinsets,

The Pringle Bar

a very dashing young Richard Gere wearing Pringle on the cover of Men's Vogue,

Richard Gere on Men's Vogue

and one of the best animated brand films I've seen, though I'll admit I haven't seen many.

(sorry if there's something wonky about that. I was messing with adjusting the sizing).

In any case, at least that pub isn't this:

Horrible, horrible thing about magical creatures stalking you and tattling to Santa since he's too busy to stalk you himself. How frightening. I saw this on tv and I was literally scared. My heart started racing and I was too afraid to go to the website at the end to find out what the heck it was. I saw it again at Borders and complained about how creepy it is and a very kind lady in front of me told me about it. Does anyone else find this scary or is it just me?

Merry Christmas?

The North Circular

2010-12-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sure I'm late on this one, but I'm kind of excited about The North Circular. Do check it out!

Lily Cole is heading a group of models and knitters in a really interesting, if not a bit nostalgic, business collaboration.

The North Circular has rescued some Wensleydales, keep a tally on each garment's tag to let you know how many sheep they've saved, and briefly introduce you to Ernest, the shepherd for those Wensleydales in Yorkshire. The knitters are "...grannies, girls. …and a few strong men..." but I promise, the folks at The North Circular are really mostly focused on the "grannies".

Granted, the focus comes out of a respect for the craft and for the beautiful knit work that Lily's own grandmother has done, as well as including the consumer in essentially every moment of the process from sheep to garment, I still feel a tiny bit left out.

As I knitter, I simultaneously love the concept and hope people buy, as well as knowing I probably won't buy the items myself. I'm hoping people buy hand knits from me, so it seems ironic if I'm buying hand knits. I don't really need to get to know my knitter: I already know mine.

That said, look at the goodies!

Bobble Hat

Skip the 'For Kids' and 'Ready to Wear' sections and just check out the accessories. These are lovely knits for the non-knitter, and lovely pictures for the knitter. Check out the extra thumbnails and you can figure out the construction pretty easily. It's not ground-breaking design, but the concept is fantastic. If you aren't a knitter and you care about the earth, I'd say go for it!

By the by, The North Circular is participating in Prince Charles' Campaign for Wool: a program to support the woolen industry. There are some great companies supporting this initiative like Pringle of Scotland (always a winner), Happy Socks (love love love!), Elizabeth Lau (who designs some knitwear for anthropologie - not a supporter, but they're still fabulous), The Wool Room (lovely lovely woolies for your home - I'll be buying from them soon) just to name a very very very small few.

Check out the Campaign for Wool website - it's aesthetically pleasing and concise - and then check out the brand supporters and make your retail therapy a little bit greener.

Miu Miu Pre-Fall 2010

2010-11-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

I love style.com. It's the first place I ever found where I could see full collections as they come out. It's an amazing place to see color and style trends straight from the source.

I've been looking back at the Miu Miu and Prada PF2010 Collections since they came out. They took knitting so seriously. Here's some items from Miu Miu that I particularly like:

style.com

The mittens, the thigh-high socks and vest are right up my alley for design inspiration. They're all a bit elaborate for my taste, but I love the spirit they're coming from. And if you were wondering what's hiding under the coat in that first picture (and didn't quite get enough from the vest), the lovely folks at Prada...

style.com

...made it into a dress. The extravagance is really nice. I wouldn't wear it, but I wouldn't hate if I saw it on someone else. Fun.

Pull and Bear

2010-11-15T08:08:00.001-08:00

I was over at lookbook lurking, as I frequently feel inclined to do, when I saw this:

lookbook.nu

She calls it "Camel From Head to Toe...". As a lover of browns for winter, I am in love with this outfit. As a knitter, I want to be this woman's friend. Look! Just LOOK at that corset. Yeeeessss!!! I hopped over to her personal page to find out where on earth she purchased this wonderful piece of knitterly excellence.

It's from Pull & Bear, which I had never heard of before. Popped over to the site and found these:

pullbear.com

These are just two of the photos I saw there that I really loved. Note the knit rug on the floor in the second photo.

These are good. Really really good. There is all sorts of inspiration to be had here.

On Suicide and Homosexuality

2010-10-10T02:36:00.000-07:00

I woke up not too long ago and, against what judgment I still believe myself to possess, hopped on Facebook. After playing around for a few minutes, I noticed I had been invited to participate in this "event". Jump on over. I'll wait. Read some of the comments and then you can return at your own leisure. Trust me, there's plenty there...

Back? Great. Let's talk.

I have noticed that people really like to remember things that make them upset. We're constantly having some "in memory" of wars, deaths, hatred, violence. What happens when you remember those things? You get angry, vengeful, fearful, hateful, and depressed. What happens when people feel those things? Wars, deaths, hatred, and violence. Or, if you don't feel or do any of those things, then you can feel nothing.

What you need to do is STOP giving so much power and attention to all the things that we DON'T WANT! Have an event in memory of a life, not a death. Be more vocal about resources for teens, gay or otherwise, so that they don't think their only option is to commit suicide. Spread the word that they are loved, no matter what some people think.

Reading those comments, you notice the lack of respect people have for each other and for themselves. Raise your hand if you're surprised that hatred comes from both sides. We will never get rid of all the things we don't want in the world, but so what? Choose your focus. Life is amazing. So much more good happens in this world than we give attention to and we wonder why all we notice is the bad. Statistics (that's real simple math I'm talking about) will tell you that it's a tiny percentage of bad going on out of all the good.

If you want to sit in the 0.0113% of people committing suicide, feel free. I'm gonna sit in my 99.9887% of people who don't commit suicide.

And to answer the question, sure, I'll wear purple. And I'll wear green, and brown and grey and any other color I feel like wearing on any day of the year while I remember how many people are living and help think of ways to keep people happily alive.

The only time you can be happy is any time you decide to be.

Knitting Needles on Planes: A Rant

2010-10-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

As my imminent trip nears, I consider all of the things necessary before I depart. Packing, for one, would probably be a good idea at this point.

I intend to bring three bags: 1) the one checked bag that I am allowed, under 50lbs with everything I can manage in it; 2) one carry-on bag (my "purse") with my laptop, a novel (John Steinbeck's East of Eden) and some essential documents; 3) one carry-on with yarn and needles.

Now, that said, I decided to check one more time and make sure the international airlines don't have any restrictions against knitting needles. For a while now, they've been accepted on planes here. I'm flying Lufthansa and they have no issue with knitting needles and say specifically that they are acceptable items to carry on-board.

I was curious, though, to see what else I could find about knitting needles on planes. I came across a thread in which a person asked why knitting needles are accepted on planes, as they are sharp and thus deadly.

This person has clearly never touched a knitting needle before. You have to get pretty small before they get sharp. How sharp? Approximately as sharp as a dull pencil. Most knitting needles small enough to puncture the skin are double pointed (they are equally pointed on both ends), so if you're gonna stab someone with it, you have to push on the opposite sharp end with your hand or a finger. If you give it enough force to puncture someone else, you've given it enough force to puncture yourself and that just seems counter-intuitive.

As a matter of fact, being punctured by something just hurts for a second, it isn't deadly. People have been impaled by huge stuff and walked into the emergency room with it.

In short, people shut up about knitting needles on planes unless you're ready to give up your pens, pencils, styluses, long fingernails, most earrings and lots of other kinds of jewelry, chopsticks, and anything else that's long and slender and "sharp".

End rant.

This is why people think knitting takes patience

2010-10-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Not much to report today. I delivered yesterday's items. I didn't even have to talk to anybody else. It was fantastic.

Yesterday's progress on the sweater is a little disappointing.

I know it looks like a lot from yesterday, but it's less than I wanted. I'm kind of surprised that the relaxed width is SO much smaller than the stretched width. I'm still learning this machine and I don't like to swatch. What I'll likely end up with is a sweater that fits rather than a large jacket. Oh well.

So what you see there is the back, and no, you can't see the fronts yet because I don't feel like taking another picture.

There was quite a bit of knitting on my mom's gloves last night. Result:

Looks almost identical to yesterday. Why? Because I started the thumb gusset and almost finished it when I realized that without the colorwork continuing up the glove, it's coming out too wide. FANtastic. So I ripped back to the colorwork. Actually, I don't rip, I tink, cuz I'd rather take forever going back than try to pick up all those tiny stitches when I get there.

Did anyone notice what I didn't mention? Work. Yes, actual work projects. There are bags and arm warmers and mittens etc to be knit and I have forfeit them for this sweater and maybe that's a bad idea cuz they should really be up before I go... I suppose if I'm shipping them from overseas, I can post them overseas...

Help! I need somebody. Help!... I suppose it could be anybody...

2010-10-06T06:06:00.001-07:00

I finished a cowl and a headband yesterday for two former coworkers.

Cowl is, of course, in Patons Classic Wool in Chestnut Brown. The headband is three different colors of skinny green ribbon. Not ribbon yarn. Just ribbon. Pain in the behind.

In any case, I packaged them all pretty, drove 30minutes out to give them their goods,

and realized I had left them at home. Ugh.

Now that I'm finished with things for other people, I'm working on a jacket to take with me to Germany. So far, I've done the ribbing.

I'll be using some stitch patterns from Katharina Buss' Big Book of Knitting again. I like that one. Updates as it comes along.

In other news, I had been making these headset covers for work (hint: it was a call center).

We have to have our own headphone covers to cushion our ears. I'm sure it's something about germs and stuff. I lost one of mine and didn't want to pay $2 for another pair, so I made one.

Then people started asking for them and in all kinds of crazy colors.

It was getting too tedious keeping up with all the colors I had available and all the colors people wanted, so I just made and packaged a bunch.

Now I have extra and I don't work there anymore and I'm trying to come up with something else to do with them. They're kind of shaped like little doll hats and can flatten to a disk with a lip. I wish I could explain that better. Any suggestions??? Help me out.

Only the kind with fingers

2010-10-05T04:33:00.000-07:00

I'm seven days from a trip to Germany/France and I'm pretty excited. I was supposed to be using this week to work on my shop, but so far, I've been working on other things. Here are just a couple of quick pictures of things I have done recently.

This hat was from a pattern on Ravelry. I'll put it in when I find it. Used the usual Patons Classic Wool in Water Chestnut and Dark Grey Mix. Sold. I've done a bunch of hats with this basic shape as a template, and I don't like having the increases all the way around, although the taper seems about right. In any case, I'm going to reformat for my shop hats.

My mom's birthday is also coming up so I started to make some mittens for her:

No pattern. I am using a chart out of Katharina Buss' Big Book of Knitting, though.

This pattern circles the wrist. I need some clever, relevant way to divide this from the hand section. I may try to two-colored braid if I can find a book with those in it. Otherwise, I'll just make stripes.

I'm using Knit Picks Palette in Mist and Lipstick (I think).

I asked my mom last night if she likes mittens. Her reply?

"Yes, but only the kind with fingers."

Good thing I asked.

Hello, thee, blog

2010-09-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

Hi, there folks.

I realize it's been a while since I've posted. Ok it's been months and months. Lots has been happening, but the important stuff is....

... just a sneak peak of a few of the first items that will appear in my etsy shop, all witty knitty. Suuuuper excited. Pics of the knits to come soon. Stay tuned!

I think I am crazy

2010-02-10T21:23:00.001-08:00

Guess what I'm doing???

Yup you got it. The Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics! Hurray! It'll be my first participation in any Olympic knitting and I'm pretty psyched. My challenge? I'd like to finish writing the pattern for the socks I've designed, as well as test-knitting three different sizes. That's three pairs of socks and a pattern NOT including the pair I'm finishing now. That's just the design pair. By the by, I have pics of the first completed sock of the pair:

Heh... I know they don't look exciting. That's some fabulous Paint work to hide the stitch pattern. Ok, I know I'm being overzealous, here, but I'm keeping it on the safe side. I LOVE the color. It's Knit Picks Palette in I forget what color but it's lovely.

I will tell you that the stitch pattern reflects my personality pretty well. It's not really frilly, but it's just lacy enough to be a little feminine. It's got a little directional interest without being swirly and it's a pretty easy stitch pattern without being ridiculously boring or annoyingly fiddly.

May I diverge a moment to have us all take a look at that FANTASTIC short row heel? That's the best one I've done. It's beautiful and the first one I've done to actually fit my heel properly.

Back to the sock. I'll tell you something, Palette starts to pill if you rip too much, but if you're nice and rip gently, it holds up pretty well.

As an(other) aside, yes, that's my foot on the steering wheel of my car. No, I'm not driving that way.

I've got to find a way to slow my brain down or else get a lot better at sketching my mindstuff because I can't keep up with all of the ideas I have. Or maybe I should just get better about choosing what mindstuff should be real...hm...

Snow Day 1 - 2010

2010-01-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

The fall and winter came so quickly last year that I was sure we'd have a long, hard winter. There has been a very little bit of frozen precipitation - it snowed some huge, fluffy flakes in mid December and there have been a couple of days of freezing rain. The weather has been a little more extreme than usual. We've always gotten warm spurts in winter (often in the 60s and 70s), but this time, each lasts about 10 days and it's either warm or it's freezing. All of that is to say that today it snowed, so I figured it was a good time to take pictures.

Well, to be totally truthful, it snowed a little last night, and since then, there has been a consistent frozen rain. Really. It hasn't stopped at all and won't until tomorrow. So what we have is about six inches of tiny tiny frozen droplets that are packing together. It's the kind that you walk on top of instead of fall into.

That picture brings me to my next point. Mittens. I used Adrian Bizilia's Generic Norwegian Mittens template. I read that the sizing is meant for a standard sport weight yarn. Instead of swatching (you know where this is going) I decided I would just check yarn labels. I picked out Classic Elite Fresco from my stash, a luscious 60% wool/30% baby alpaca/10% angora blend. The pattern called for 3.25mm (US 3) needles and the yarn called for 3.75mm (US 5) needles, so I figured it would work out. I drew out my pattern on the template and jumped in. What I ended up with was one, beautiful, delicate, soft, squishy mitten...

... that would fit a 5 yr old.

I re-knit it in worsted weight, which of course was too big, but with the colorwork, it worked out reasonably well.

To take it back a couple of months, just before the Harlot caught site of them, I saw the French Press Felted Slippers (do you even NEED that link? I'm sure you know where to find them) and was immediately enamored. I'll put myself in knits from head to toe. These are the only slippers I've seen that are cute (!!!) and that you can wear outdoors, as everyday shoes. I thought I would make dozens of pairs. I've got plenty of Patons wool around and I wanted them in every color. I worked for a few hours the first night I got the pattern and started to hand felt (because I had JUST done laundry) and this is how far I got:

I got through to the felting on one, did almost all the knitting for the other (can't find the other pieces in my UFO box), and haven't looked at them again since. As you can see, I didn't even finish the felting. This isn't complicated or time consuming, but it's easy to get distracted since there's not much that's actually fun about making them. The knitting is boring, the seaming is boring, and the (hand) felting is boring. I will finish these though, because I so want the finished product. If I can delay gratification long enough to work through something tedious (this is an overall affliction of mine), I can get something quite good at the end.

Next up is my Valentine's Day doll. A simple doll made out of Lion Brand Thick and Quick with a small heart out of Patons, layered buttons for eyes and both stuffed with polyfil. I was thinking of making a couple of these to put in some care packages for loved-ones overseas. It's a nice squishy for a baby and is a super quick knit. You can even add your favorite scent and send it to your love who's far away. When they squeeze it, their body heat will release the smell of you. It's very comforting. Oh and he's about 12-14" tall.

I'm working on some things to sell. Progress is slow.

A seed stitch hat and mitten set. Not quite finished and still working out some kinks. I'll let you know how it goes.

Finally, the big one. I heard about Knit Picks' Independent Designer Partnership Program and I thought it would be a great idea to really sit down and write up a good design. I've always just knit things, so technically I've designed, but I never write down a pattern or anything.

I was inspired by a gorgeous snake called the Northern Red-Bellied Snake. LOVE those colors. I decided to do a yoke sweater but the only KP yarn that had the right colors was Palette, a fingering weight. So I bought enough to make a whole sweater --I figured if I didn't have a pattern at the end, I'd at least have a sweater -- and I swatched...

and swatched...

and charted...

and swatched some more...

and I couldn't figure out what the problem was with the colors. I don't like them knit together as much as I like them side-by-side. After weeks of markers and Microsoft Paint and crayons and colored pencils and graph paper I realized something:

The orange and yellow should be on a dark blue background. Duh. Again, I'll let you know.

The New Year

2010-01-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while now, so I suppose I'll update.

I graduated in December and for my graduation present, I asked my mom to take me to St Lucia to visit our family. It had been ten years since we'd been and my great grandfather isn't gonna wait another ten years for us to visit. It was fantastic:

It was warm, it was beautiful, it was relaxing, (it was one week),

and of course, I got a good amount of knitting done.

(Gratuitous sheep pic. They're just hanging out, tied up everywhere)

These are sweaters for my two little cousins. Honestly, my mom made a fuss about how much stuff they get and don't appreciate, so they may get frogged anyway. I asked them each to design their own sweaters. CJ asked for the Transformers logo on green and Ariel wanted Hello Kitty. Problem: I forgot to look up the logos before I left, so I got to the color work parts of the sweaters and didn't have a reference OR anything else to knit, so I just kept going and I finished them both by the time we got back. I think I'll give these sweaters to other cousins (yea I realize there's a name on one. I got it) and go for matching mittens and hats with the Transformers and Hello Kitty.

New topic - my stash. It's out of control.

There's a huge tub that was full of tangled yarn. ALL of what's' in here, was tangled... Ugh...

...there's a laundry basket full of stuff that just needs finishing (ends, buttons, etc)...

and then there are the shoe boxes. All of the ones you see there are FULL (I mean packed and there are about 25 of them) with yarn. Now I have an office chair over there that's also got yarn piled up on it. It's a serious problem. I'm imagining that if I ball everything instead of leaving it in it's original ball/skein, it might take up less space. That may be a bit of an illusion. My realistic brain says i MIGHT save 30% of the space I'm using now. But I have to believe...

Next item on the agenda: All Witty Knitty

So I'm committing to being full time with my business (as well as having a full time job outside of home) so that I can make some progress. I opened up my etsy shop and ordered my business cards. Once I get some decent pictures, I'll have some up in the shop! Excitement!

Well, that's my loooooong-assed update. Hope I see you again soon...

I'm so terrible at this blogging thing

2009-11-25T20:23:00.001-08:00

t seems that if you want to have things to write about in a blog, you have to be doing things. Actually, I'm pretty much constantly doing knitting things, but I never take pics. Here's a pic of the Every Way Wrap I knit for my mom for her bday last month:

Nothing Much to Say, I'm Afraid

2009-09-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

So here are like, two pics from WWKIP Day:

At Panera in Chapel Hill, on Franklin...

...at Lake Crabtree in Morrisville...

...and at Great Yarns. They were super nice that day. I'll say nothing more about that.

I realized only just that I don't have pics of any of my recent (nearly) FOs. Gotta work on that.

We went to Duke Gardens. Friday it was raining and my hair was a mess, but Saturday was beautiful

Catch Up

2009-09-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

I'm so bad at communicating. I can't even say I'll get better cuz I don't even believe that...

Anyway, current projects on the needles (and fresh off...)

I've been working on a laptop case for Stephanie. Patons Classic Merino (it's cheap and Michaels is still open when I get off work). Cream with pink and green embellishments. Pics to come eventually.

Cast off Stephanie's bday sweater aboout two weeks ago. It just needs buttons and a good blocking now. It's a little odd, but I think it'll block out normally. I increased a little too much under the arm, so there are little pouches under there, but stretching makes them disappear so I don't think it should be a big problem. Rowan 4ply. I was nervous about so fine a weight for a whole sweater, but it only took about a month. It might have been faster if I had worked more, but I had it out a lot, so I think I made ok time.

I'd like to finish her blanket before the end of the month, but it might be nice to have something to mail to her while she's in Spain.

I have an idea for a really gorgeous, semi-sparkly club shirt. I intend to make it about triangle shaped, a close-fitting halter that ties at the top and the bottom, open back. I think it should be flattering on my pencil-shaped body. Probably red. I've got one skein of red berocco seduce for embellishments, to add the 'sparkly'. I'm not sure what fiber goes with... um, seduce... but maybe a bamboo so it's cool and not gross when i sweat. Actually, now that i think about it, maybe i'll do two overlapping triangles. i'll sketch it and see how it goes.

A Knitting Day

2009-08-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

~written 07/29

So, today is an update day at work, so we're in conference all day. I suppose most people dread these days, but I love them, because it means I can sit in the back of the room, listening to these people blabber on about our marketing and sales (about which I could not possibly care less) while I work on my cardigan.

This cardigan is one of my newest projects. I originally intended for it to be for Stephanie's birthday. I was working on my previous cardigan -- an off-white "leftover" cardi. I was using the Soft Sea Wool that I intended to use for a shawl. Unfortunately, I don' see myself making another shawl real soon unless I can make the pattern up. I just don't have the patience for patterns these days. I figure if I'm gonna have to do math on a pattern that someone else created anyway and it's still not gonna be quite what I want, why not make my own.

Anyway, when I was about finished with 'Leftover,' (Top down, raglan cardi, knit in one piece flat, stockinette, garter stitch borders, button band knit in - not on), Stephanie decided that she liked it and that I never finish anything that's for her so I decided to make her one for her birthday. It was Monday and her birthday was the following Wednesday - 9 days away. I thought I would go out and get the same weight wool, but a different color and definitely not Soft Sea Wool again... There was so much junk in that yarn...

Anyway, I went to the yarn store and couldn't find any DK weight that wasn't ridiculously expensive for an entire sweater... Really, I was thinking more of a sock weight but what I ended up with was fingering weight wool. Rowan 4-ply soft in a dusty blue. I love the color and the weight isn't so bad because it's knitting up pretty quickly on my Addi Turbos (yay!), but it's already been a week and i'm only halfway down the torso. Oh, btw, it's another top-down raglan, one piece, knit flat. Mostly stockinette, but there's a little interest (lol reverse stockinette, terribly interesting, I know) above the bust and drop stitch below it. About the knitting flat, I thought I would prefer knitting in the round, but I'm still super afraid of steeking and I REFUSE to learn on a 4-ply. It's just not gonna happen. But now that I've been knitting flat, It's a lot more interesting knitting. I would just die if I had to do the freaking knit stitch exclusively. The knitting is going super fast, so I'm thinking I'll at least be complete with the body by next Monday and the sleeves by the following Monday. (ETA: I finished the body last night, Friday Aug 7 and I LOVE it) That's including some expected break time for another project. What is that project, you ask? I'm knitting a Domo for my cousin because he asked for it. I'm using Patons Classic Wool Merino which might be stupid if he intends to get the damn thing dirty cuz i'm sure he's not gonna remember not to wash it in hot water. Oh well. I knit the body bottom up with the magic cast on so the 3-needle bind-off is at the top. Dumb. I'm thinking about doing it over, but I already stuffed the thing. We'll see how it goes.

Lost and Found

2009-08-04T15:09:00.000-07:00

**some "back issues"
~July 12, 2009~

I tend to consider things that are lost because it interests me that objects can exist independent of a person. I usually think of lost things sitting some place hidden waiting to be found.

The phrase 'Lost & Found' though somehow seemed redundant. ''Of course it's found. Everything that's lost is found. "

I'm an organized person. I rarely lose things. I like to say that people with very organized brains don't have to be so organized in practice. They can remember what random peace they put their keys or that piece of paper. Me? If there aren’t a limited number of places for a thing, it will never be found when I need it.

I also have an organized idea of how to find things that works for me 100% of the time (when it works). First, you look in the obvious places, places it should be. Then, retrace your steps to the last time you had it. This is an absolutely fool-proof method save a couple really important qualifiers.

First, I lost the item in transition. That usually means I probably dropped the item in a parking lot. People almost never recover what they drop in a parking lot.

Second, I forget something. Mainly, I forget where I went, which is either where I lost the thing or when I put it wherever it is. The other part of that is I forget what I had on.

Perfidy

2009-05-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

–noun, plural -dies.
1. deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery: perfidy that goes unpunished.
2. an act or instance of faithlessness or treachery.

So today I feel like life is conspiring against me. I'm in the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. I work at A Southern Season and they had asked if I could work on the 9th, the day before mother's day. I said sure. The next day, my mom told me she wanted to spend Mother's Day weekend in GA visiting my sister at Fort Gordon (is that the right fort?). Anywho, she decided to push the trip to the following weekend. This coming weekend. That's all well and good.
Today, my calendar reminded me that the YarnHarlot, who hasn't ever really been near here, is gonna be in Atlanta on the 16th! That's the closest she's been in and will be for quite a while. That would have been some darn good luck if 1) Raleigh weren't 6.5hrs or so away from Fort Gordon, 2) Fort Gordon weren't in Augusta, 3) Augusta weren't another 2.5hrs away from Atlanta, 4) the YH is gonna be in Atlanta, 5) my mother didn't hate driving already, and 6) my mother didn't think I am unreasonably obsessed with knitting. None of those bode well for an impromptu trip nearly 3hrs out of the way. Never the less, I do intend to put it on the table.

Clicking around the interweb, I recalled that the Durham Bulls StitchNPitch game is coming up. I clicked over to the calendar. It's the 16th. Yes, the same day I'll be in Augusta, not seeing the YH in Atlanta and there isn't another one for a year.

Talk about your perfidy. I've lost faith in the randomness and/or justice of the universe.

A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events

2009-05-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

I told a good story the other day and, as it's about knitting, I thought I'd write it down. Then I remembered that I sometimes write about knitting on this blog, so here it goes...

A few weeks ago, I wanted to start some socks. I really like bamboo needles generally and I had some leftover Shibui Knits Sock yarn (in Sky) so I bought some 0's, 1's, and 2's in bamboo. It was the first time I'd used smaller than 2's, so I struggled through more than half of the Absinthe foot chart before I realized that I was having a hard time because the yarn was sticking to the needles (I knit tightly) and they were too flexible. I decided to buy some metal dpn's. This is where the story really begins:

I went to Michael's in Cary (near where I work, about 30mi from home) to find some inexpensive metal dpn's (I'm on a super tight budget these days). I craft a lot, so it's really been my go-to craft store. They didn't have any sock needles. NONE. I left, disappointed. It suddently occurred to me that there was an AC Moore nearby and I thought I'd give it a shot. I got there and found a lovely set of 4 sets (of five, of course. Michael's didn't even have ONE set of five) Bates sock needles in a pack (not to mention a vastly superior collection of needles in general) for $10.99. I took them to the register and proceded to pay for them with my ATM/Debit card. They were having a bit of a sale and rung up a 25% off coupon for me. However, my card didn't work. They said that happened sometimes and I should try another time. Sure, I thought. I'll just head home after work (did I mention I should have been at work?) and go to the AC Moore in Chapel Hill and buy them. I stopped by Michael's in Chapel Hill first, thinking I might find something else there, but with no luck. Back to AC Moore I went and found the needles easily (again, vastly superior needle collection), went to the counter where the cashier used a 30% coupon, ran my card, then told me I couldn't use that card. I gave in (because I really wanted to finish the socks and could NOT knit with the bamboo another torturous minute) and got cash out of the ATM. When I got back, I picked up my needles, and the newest cashier rang me up with a 50% off coupon. I paid, left, and went directly home to knit. It was SO much better. You know what was the best though? An entire day of searching for needles, four stores, five times and I ended up paying FIFTY PERCENT of a price that I thought was crazy reasonable in the first place. What a fabulous day!

PS: Just a note, I could have easily found the needles at my LYS, Yarns, Etc., but they don't take my ATM card (I don't have one with a credit card logo on it and I don't use a credit card), I was really trying not to take out cash, and by the time I leave work each day, they're already closed.

Stymied

2009-04-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

-noun a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.

I just want to start by saying that I almost never watch the news. By almost never, I mean I might watch ten minutes once a year. I hate watching the news. It's artificial and depressing. Instead, I prefer to get my news from public radio, where people have intelligent discussions about what's going on. Maybe I should be more diverse, but I'm not. I deal pretty well with that.

Anyway, today, I started watching the news because it came on HLN after Clark Howard. They did a quick pre-blurb on crocheted graffiti. Like, Knitta Please style. What stymied me? They said it's "... graffiti that even your grandmother could enjoy...." and "... this ain't your grandmother's crochet circle..." and it's a "...radical approach to an old-fashioned craft..." All in TWO blurbs, not more than thirty seconds, of talking about the craft, BEFORE the actual story. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE my grandmother. She did, in fact, crochet. As a matter of fact, I'm teaching her to knit. But why does the media make it sound like there's some reform going on to make the crappy-old crafts that our grandmothers did into something hip and glowing and new? Is it not worth talking about unless we make that point? I think the crocheting that my grandmother did was awesome and beautiful and useful and artistic, just like knitting and crocheting are now.

I just saw a commercial on tv that included fishing. Something that men stereotypically do. Older men, in fact. Perhaps our grandfathers. But nobody talks about what our grandfathers do in a demeaning way. I don't even think that most men who fish recreationally, eat those fish. It's certainly not necessary for most people to fish. Why no stigma?

The ladies are here, and I have to forgive the announcer because the ladies used the words "old" and "grandmotherly" in the interview.

I'm not upset that's it's called "grandmotherly," I'm more upset about how they make that sound: not warm, hardworking, nurturing, and artistic, but "cute" and "old-fashioned".

Castigate

2009-02-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

verb. 1. To criticize or reprimand severely 2. To punish in order to correct
So, I watched Cat Bordhi's video on YouTube demonstrating a proper Magic Cast-On. You know, the one I've been ignoring (well, neglecting to learn, really) in all the sock patterns that I've looked at recently? Yea, that one. I have to say, I'm AMAZED! Especially since every non-knitter I've encountered, children and adults alike, ask me why there's a hold in the toe of my sock. Then, I have to explain that it gets closed up at the end and they may sort of understand once they see me close it, but today. TOSAY!?!?! Today, I ask myself the same durned question! Why, Danni!? WHY is there a hole in the toe of your sock!? WHY are you tortuting yourself with the sewing up, which you HATE to do, as little as it may be, and at the END when you KNOW you have no patience for it anyway and do a bad job!?!? WHY do you torment yourself so? Well. My only answer is that I knew not what I did. I didn't understand the implications of this kind of neglect (or procrastination, I guess I figured I'd learn it some time). Now I understand and I'm sooooooo sorry, self, for putting you through this for all the months (at least) that it's been since I first heard of the magic cast on. I will most certainly change my ways...

Incommensurate

2009-02-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

adj. Not commensurate; disproportionate; inadequate

It started last night. I had just started Chart 3 of the Adamas shawl. I feel like I started that shawl forever ago and I was so excited to be nearly finished so I worked on that instead of my homework. I set my alarm for 8am so I would have enough time to get dressed and do hw before class at 11.The alarm went off at 8 and I definitely hit snooze... Twice... Then I just went ahead and set it for 8:45am. At least I felt a little more rested when I got up finally.
Once out of bed, I started preparing my life. I had to get dressed, pick up a book I need for class from the office at my apartment, pick up the wireless keyboard I ordered for my pda and send my sister some stuff at the post office, get to campus, and finish hw before class. Since it was 9, I expected to have all of the errands done and be on campus by 10. I decided I even had enough time for a shower and since I was gonna take a shower, I'd wash my hair. That wouldn't take long. I took a shower and washed my hair super quickly and got out of the shower at 9:45. Ok, so it wasn't all that quick.
I got dressed and left. I picked up my package from the office from our maintenance guy who took his sweet time looking at all eight packages after I told him which one it was. I went to the post office and ended up at a teller who took her sweet time putting 5 items into a box because the last item was just too big but it fit once you cut the top off and do I want to buy any packaging products and do I need any stamps today and no wonder your sister needs arch supports for her boots while she's in PT...
I got to campus at 10:45 and prepared to park in my normal space when I realized I didn't have my parking permit and I wasn’t driving my normal car so I had to pay for parking. Paying for parking also meant I had to walk to north campus from south campus and I wore heeled boots because they're the only ones that don't get wet in the rain.
I got to my first class (the first one hw was due for) five minutes late, but had plenty of time to finish it up before we turned it in.
I had a test that I forgot to study for in my next class but which was essentially a review from the first test. I also had a homework due that I managed to finish in the last half of my previous class.
My third class was fine and we got out 5 minutes early which left me enough time to check out what the HW assignment was for my Spanish class. It was long enough to make me 15minutes late to that class, which was really fine, cuz I’m never late and I finished my hw.
I went back to my car to stop at home and eat before our THReaDC meeting and was paying for parking. The lady took my $10 and was about to give me change but noticed she made change for a $20 and couldn't figure out how to fix it and the machine wouldn't take it so she let me have my $10 back.
I think the day went ok. What do you think?

I was gonna blog today...

2009-02-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

...but i just couldn't get my life to feel right so this came out instead. I apologize for how it came out, but this is what it might be. It is for interpreting. You know how the mind does. These things can't be helped. Here's my mindsplatter...

~~~

are you proud of me now?

when you breathe you're such these perfect shades of pretty pink and purple and sunset me well my breath has kind of a gritty tone i move i fidget i wiggle with my fingers of course like a child i want to make to make you proud of me but i get inside and drive away from you away from me because i haven't done or made or moved my imperfection bleeds out my mouth my eyes where your perfection lies please don't give me another chance i need to hurt for a while to console myself with cold bodies get pissed because you don't get it there can't be much more blood you rip out of me would that you find you're happy in the place where my happy left me so much alone isn't good for a body leaves too much space to watch a pink and purple and sunset disappear for just long enough to turn the world stupid grey so...

... are you proud of me now?

WIP Wednesday

2009-01-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

A quick update on my WIPs...

I'm still working on the bolt blanket which, despite hours and hours of work, show no detectable signs of progress. A picture would be depressing.

I started a yellow bias scarf for Stephanie (that I forgot I didn't have a picture of until now). Hope says it'll be submitted in the FO pile for Friday... fingers crossed. Very simple pattern, (out of my head and stuff...) Lion Brand Cotton Ease in whatever that corn-looking color is.

More by Friday...

Social Experiment

2009-01-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. I've been thinking about what I'm gonna write so much that it feels like I've already done it! Yeesh!

Anywho, I'll be conducting a very simple social experiment in the next who-knows-how-long of my life. I'll be talking to people. Simply. I don't know when, but at some point in my life I became paralyzingly shy. I get anxious about meeting new people, especially. It's really a problem. So, I've decided to start talking to people, chancing the risk that if I begin a conversation, people may (or may not) want to continue it. Who knows? Maybe one of us will say something interesting....

I'm a little sick with the organizing sometimes and I really don't know why that is. I was trying to think of a theme for every day of the week for posting but it was getting crazy (like TossUp Tuesdays where I discuss anything I like that's in the news. I don't know why I'd need to designate a day for that. What if I wanna talk about the news on Thursday!?). In any case, I'd like to commit to posting at least three days a week so I've made it easy for myself with the following outline:

Monday - Weekly "news" Round up
Wednesday - WIPs
Friday - FOs

Fair enough. That way I won't feel like I have to post pics every day and so not post. I'm lazy. What can I say.

Witty Knitty World Yarn Tour!

2008-12-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

So I'm at work and bored (shhhh! Don't tell!) and I think that what I want to do with my life is begin a world-wide yarn tour. But I suppose I should start small and say America first. Or maybe I should start even smaller and say North Carolina, cuz lored knows I've only been to two yarn shops in the state. So the plan is, every year I pick a state and visit all the yarn stores in that state and blog about them. Sound good? I think so. I'm imagining I can trek an entire state in less than two weeks. Does that even sound possible???

PS: I just found out that it costs more to take a train from Durham, NC to LA, Ca. What does that even mean? Do you think they'll let me take a bike on a train?

Balance? What balance?

2008-12-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

I want to really see how many days go like this, so it must be logged.

I intended to wake up early-ish (by 9:30) this morning but I had a rough night so I stayed in bed until about 10:30. Fine. I got up, cleaned the kitchen and made pancakes for breakfast. I never make breakfast. I leave the other half for Stephanie. Stephanie comes home about an hour later and has a sandwich.

I have a linguistics paper due Thursday. I picked the topic (semantics of comparatives), so I kind of know what it should be about, but I have no idea what kind of format it should be, what exactly the content should be, or HOW LONG it should be. I asked. I wait.

I was way overdue on an english paper (as were five other students in the class) and hadn't said anything to the professor (neither had they) and we all got properly reamed the day of the final and STILL got a chance to turn it in. I turned mine in yesterday with a written note of apology. This morning, I got an email that the prof accepted my apology and the paper was ready to be picked up.

Okay, I'll go to campus, print out some stuff (cuz oh yea, my printer at home doesn't work, although it's not so much the printer as my laptop, Libby, seems to have beef and won't talk to the printer so now the printer won't talk to Libby and it's a huge dramatic mess. I tried printing to a different printer but Libby got even more mad and stopped printing to any of them. That's what I get for undermining her), sell my english book (because I get $50 back for the $100 I paid for it and I need money), grab my paper, take Libby to the doctor so they can fix her printer aversion and take a little time to enjoy the unusually mild weather.

I come to campus, visit the techs first. They don't see the stupid printer message that pops up exactly five times every time I boot up, but they can tell it doesn't work. They remedy Libby's no-printing: I can now print to the university printer system again: hurray! I just have to reinstall my printer when I get home. I can handle that.

I'm sitting in the printing lab when Stephanie comes in to print something and run to work. She prints. She runs.

I hit print, it sends the document to the printer, and I realize I don't have my OneCard, necessary for making the document come out of the printer machine. Stephanie left long enough ago that she'll be late to work if she comes back. But maybe the techs fixed Libby and she'll print from home anyway so it's okay.

On the way out of the library, I decide I'll try to find the Friday Night Knitting Club audiobook because I was given the second book as a gift and I don't like reading/watching things out of order. It's here! Which is nice because last time I looked, it wasn't. I go to check it out and wait! I need my OneCard. I can use my ID# but only the lady in charge can do that and she just left. Maybe I'll just get the book. I go upstairs and they say I have one opportunity in my entire college career to use a form of identification other than my OneCard to check a book out. It's not that serious. I'll come back after I go home.

I go to pick up my paper but as I walk into the building (and I mean as soon, like at the door), I see the professor and honestly, I still feel a little ashamed to face her, so I back out. No problem. I'll come back later or tomorrow.

I'm hungry. I'll sell my book and use the money to get something to eat.
I walk across the way to student stores to sell my book and realize that I can't sell my book if I don't have it. Unfortunate. I have to go home.

I'm still hungry. Maybe I'll just swing by the ATM, although I'd rather not, and grab something really quick. Crap, the wallet that contains my OneCard also contains my ATM card. Home.

I go to the bus stop and take out my knitting (the blue sock) only to find that I have FOUR size four needles, not five (I just lost one of my fives a couple weeks ago). I dump out the entire contents on my bag on the sidewalk. Not there. Fabulous. I don't want four. I want five. I put it away. That's still okay.

New plan: I'll go home, eat, grab the size fives and the wallet and the book, try to print from home, come back to campus, sell the book, take the money and go to Home Depot and buy dowels and just cut them down and make new needles. Not as nice, but organic and more economical than buying five more of both sets.

I get home and I eat. In the meantime, I see if Libby will print. I boot Libby up and what do I see but those five printer messages. Not good. It's ok. They said they fixed it. I plug in the printer. Nothing. I download a patch from HP. Nothing. I download again. Something, but then it's waiting for something and so I hop over to Harlotville to waste time. Forty minutes later I wake up and that download? Nothing. That's ok. I'll just read my articles online.

I sit to read my articles. Two hours later, I wake up and my articles sit unread. Maybe I should go back to campus.

I grab the book, Libby, needles, and the wallet and head back to campus. I drive around and find a parking space near where I'm going but I need quarters. I reach into my bag. No change purse and I don't have any cash. Oh well. Find another space a bit farther, but for free and head straight for Student Stores. I walk up to the building and pull the door. It's locked. They close at 8pm. I look at my clock: 8:01. AUTOMATICALLY SCRATCH the book-selling, and the dowel-buying and the needle-making, and the drink that I thought I was gonna get cuz I'm PARCHED and the water fountain isn't doing it. I look in my bag and find my coin purse. Well that's good. I'll just print my articles, get my audiobook, go to the student union, buy a drink, and read.

I go back to the printing lab and print my first article. I'm feeling ambitious and think one might be too short so I go to print another. I follow the same protocol as before. Three times. and get nothing each time. Turns out they've had problems with laptops communicating with the print service. That's fine, I'll use the pc. I print my articles, check out my audiobook and head to the union. I walk down the the drink machines. $1.25 for some juice or water. Okay. I check my change purse. $1.20. You've GOT to be kidding...

Anyway, that's where I am now. Broke, parched, with a textbook I can't sell until maybe tomorrow, and four US4 and US5 needles (each), but with a free parking space, a lovely audiobook, and the articles I need to write the paper I haven't started that's due Thursday... wish me luck...

So Much Junk

2008-12-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

I just took pics of all my UFO's. There are soooo many... so here goes:

I started this sock a couple weeks ago on (what I thought was) size fives, lost one, got size fours and they're bigger... wtf?

It's just a three-row diagonal 2x2 ribbing. Comfy.

They're for Stephanie.

This is my first pair of socks, Chrissy Gardiner's Knotty or Knice out of Interweave Fall '08. Also my first cables... neat. Finished these in about three days last month. They are Stephanie's.

This is a crappy picture, but this is a blanket (also for Stephanie, noticing a pattern here?). My own design. There's no pattern but I might write one for funsies. We'll see I guess. I just started this one a couple weeks ago. It's Lion Brand Thick & Quick. Thank heavens for bulky yarn... I was gonna try to knit her a whole big blanket in worsted weight... ugh. That was a nightmare.

I thought it would be cute to make ornaments for my family for Christmas. Then my mom reminded me that most of them wouldn't appreciate it. Hm. These are Knitted and Felted Ornaments by Leigh Radford. Check it out.

Thick and Thin from Fitted Knits seriously adapted and now taking FOREVER to do the trim. I haven't worked on this in months.

A hand towel (that was supposed to be a bath towel) and beginning of a washcloth for a co-worker. There were also supposed to be two sets, but it ain't happening.

These two pics are Eve Self's Houndstooth Scarf (I think that'll only work if you're on Ravelry). They were for my sister for her bday. I was halfway through it on Thanksgiving (the day *after* her bday) and she decided that instead of a scarf, she would prefer arm warmers. Good thing it's knit in the round then.

the inside...

There you go. Now I have to update my Ravelry.

Procrasti-Nation

2008-11-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

I just want to illustrate what kind of procrastinator I am.

I bought a WHOLE lot of Cotton Ease this summer. It was a particularly fun outing because I made sure to find matching dye lots when I could, so I got several skeins in two lots.

Three weeks ago, a lovely woman from California found me on Ravelry (if you haven't found ravelry yet, go now! ...Waiting...) having searched a particularly elusive dye lot of Cotton Ease (in Charcoal, if you'd like to know) and found that I have it. She sent a very nice message asking if she could buy or swap it because she needed the one I had and couldn't find it anywhere in California. I read it a day or so after she sent it and responded about two days later, during which time it occured to me I had another dye lot. I told her she could try finding that or just get the one I have (that she knows she needs) and she opted for the latter. The whole conversation lasted about a week. I told her I would send it the following Monday.

Wanna know when I sent it? Today.... ugh... not good.

So I gifted the yarn cuz she was gonna pay for it and I just felt too guilty for having made her wait this long. Am I right?

Whoa...

2008-11-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

So I've been reading the Yarn Harlot's blog for like, I dunno, two days now and it's grossly entertaining and when I say gross, I mean like real nasty. Like I-think-about-her-when-I-can't-read nasty. Like I-talk-about-her-to-my-gf-like-we've-met nasty. Like I-wanna-be-friends nasty. No but really, mostly like I-wanna-start-my-own-blog nasty. Yup that's it right there. I'm starting this blog for no reason aside from the fact that I so enjoy reading hers. Too cool.

Soooo, I suppose we should talk about me a bit.

Why should you read my blog?
1) It's about knitting and if you don't like knitting, I don't wanna be your friend anyways.
2) I love knitting in an all consuming kind of way. Maybe that could be interesting.
3) I dunno. I have good grammar? Just do it. It'll make me feel good.

I've been knitting for four (or so) years. Kinda had a short glitch for a year, but I'm officially obsessed as per my mother, father, and girlfriend who find it strange that a 21 yr old will sit at home and watch crappy tv and knit on a Friday night instead of going out with other twenty-somethings and getting yucky drunk (cuz that's what kids do, right?) and spewing nasty all over, waking up with a splitting headache and nearly no recollection of the previous night's atrocities. I can see why they're confused. I'm intrigued.

I'm working on an organization at my university to stitch-n-bitch, teach beginners, and donate to charities. I want every word of my proposal to be perfect so it's taking a while. We'll see what happens there.