02.28.06
Posted in Knitting, NYC at 4:04 pm by delipics
I love starting a new project!
Last night I swatched for my guy’s new hat, got the right gauge right away, and cast-on. I am using my circular Addi’s (#7) for this hat, and I haven’t used them in a while. I forgot how goood these knitting needles are. They feel comfortable in my hand, pack well for travel, and the yarn slips off so easily. (The other types of knitting needles I am devoted to are bamboo - either Clover or Crystal Palace.) I took this hat for subway knitting this morning - a perfect project for the daily commute. Helps me relax after the morning crush and exasperation with my fellow humans.
I am still on the hunt for Kool-Aid. I looked up my Kool-Aid dying notes and found I can also use food coloring. I am going to look at food coloring after work at the baking supplies store in Chelsea. I think this is the place - New York Cake & Baking Distributors, Inc., 56 West 22nd Street off of 6th Avenue.
Nine hours later . . .
Yup, that was it — I bought the N.Y. Cake & Baking Distributors food coloring dyes in the 2.3 ounce squeeze bottles. I have seven warm colors in the red/orange/golden yellow/fuschia family. I am still going to look for Kool-Aid. I’ll be at the parents this weekend and since they live in the suburbs of Virginia, I am hoping one of those big grocery stores out there may have it. A fiber-friend also mentioned Key Food and K-mart so I plan to check-out those stores too. (Did I mention my Key Food closed while I was away in L.A.? What the hell is that!!! How can a neighborhood have no neighborhood grocery store!! The only thing that would make up for that is if a yarn store opened there - but that is just a fantasy . . . )
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02.26.06
Posted in Knitting, NYC at 5:23 pm by delipics
. . . to go to Smiley’s Yarns way up in Queens (to the tune of Duke Ellington’s famous A-train song)
If you have never gone to Smiley’s, this is a long subway trip, but once the J-train leaves Manhattan it’s all outside and you get to see different neighborhoods of Brooklyn & Queens. This is one of my favorite elevated subway-line trips. Highlights include going over the Williamburg Bridge, the Broadway Junction, and Cypress Hills Cemetery.
A Bit of Nostalgia: I learned to knit before the knitting-craze took hold. I only knew of one over-priced yarn store and a craft store with a limited supply in the city when a work-colleague and fellow-obsessed-yarn-addict told me about Smiley’s. Back then, I had yet to learn the joys and pain$ of fine yarn, so Smiley’s was just right for a beginner. Try to imagine - a new knitter takes the subway to God-Know-Where in search of yarn and she walks into a store with shelves and shelves of yarn. I was giddy, I did not know where to start; basically I walked around with my laundry basket (this is what they provide to carry your yarn purchases) for probably half an hour over-whelmed by the choices.
The years have made me a more experienced yarn shopper. I know what I want, which store to go to for the right yarn for the project and the right price. (I do not have my digital camera yet so I will do the best that I can here with descriptions and links.)
For my crochet fiber project:
I bought Reynolds Lopi and Lite-Lopi. They are the width of yarn I want but I could not find the right color. I decided to buy white and dye them with Kool-Aid. Now I am on the hunt for Kool-Aid packets (so far I can only find canisters).
Another hat for my guy:
I purchased Patons Canadiana, worsted weight 100% acrylic yarn. This way he can toss it into the wash without worry. The color is called “Flagstone Ombre” - a masculine mix of grays, browns, and khaki. I am going to use Vogue Knitting’s Ribbed Cap pattern.
For a cute spring purse:
Lane Cervinia’s Oslo in blue to match my blue spring raincoat. I am following the pattern, “Half Moon,” from my new “Family Circle Easy Accessories” book purchase.
I also bought a back issue of Knit.1 - the men’s issue and read it on the subway trip back. I think I got the yarn-buying bug out of me for a while. I have enough projects to keep me busy through the spring. This new fiber project is the challenge - dying the yarn first, finding the right-sized metal rings, and then actually making it. It’s all part of the fiber adventure here!
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02.23.06
Posted in Crochet, Knitting, NYC at 8:21 pm by delipics
Really, I was not planning to buy anything!
There’s this little art supply store near my job, and I popped in just to look around. I walked out with a set of cable needles and two books: Family Circle’s Easy Accessories: 50 Chic Projects to Knit and Crochet and Erika Knight’s Simple Knits for Cherished Babies.
I love Erika Knight’s books. I already have three of her other books — Comforts of Home, Simple Knits with a Twist, & Simple Crochet. Her designs are classically simple and inspiring. I’ve been meaning to get her baby book for some time now so I am happy I bought it.
The Family Circle book is just my speed. It’s got a good mix of the expected accessory-type projects to pick from - scarves, mittens, hats, bags, socks, etc. - and a final chapter called “fast & flirty” showcasing some different projects, like a crocheted mesh, swimsuit skirt cover-up and this cute shrug/shawlette with a fuzzy, fringed edge.
Another project I have in mind is Grumperina’s Odessa hat from the February edition of Mag Knits. What a great hat design - the spiral design, those beads - bellisima! Too many yarn projects, not enough time . . . sigh.
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02.22.06
Posted in Crochet, NYC at 5:58 pm by delipics
Sometimes when you are doing something mindless the best ideas come to mind. Mine happened on the subway while paging through a magazine. All of a sudden I got a great idea for a new crochet wall hanging. The image literally hit me like a Mac truck — or perhaps the better metaphor here would be a subway car? The idea is safely in my little notepad that I always carry around for such “aha” moments. I will need to buy new yarn for this and look for large metal rings . . . . hmmmm.
Other random things:
Take the “What NYC Yarn Store Are You?” quiz at Tres Chic Veronique’s blog. FUN!
Crochet Alert: The Michael Kors Fall 2006 collection is sporting crochet floppy hats and beanies. See photos on New York Metro. Little did I know I was so ahead of the fashion times. I’ve got a crochet beanie that I periodically wear as part of my winter accessories. My friend’s grandmother made it. I do like how M.Kors pairs it with dresses and casual outfits . . .
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:31 pm by delipics
What’s that I spy? A stylish blue Boyfriend’s Birthday knitted hat!
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02.21.06
Posted in Knitting at 6:50 pm by delipics
The trip to the West coast was extremely fruitful fiber-wise:
- I watched “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on the incredibly long flight to Cali in which Audrey Hepburn, along with looking fabulous in all her outfits and living the NYC glam-girl life, is also filmed knitting! Except I don’t know what she is knitting - it looks like a strangely proportioned sweater in red.
- I read my fiber mags on the plane.
- I got a lot of knitting done on the lace scarf (on the plane and while sitting in a warehouse in the O.C. listening to my boyfriend’s band rehearse).
- Drove by Black Sheep Knittery but boo! it was closed! (must give kudos to the boyfriend here - he found the store while driving one day and remembered it so he could take me there - he is numero uno!)
- Yet again, while driving found a great store called Sueno (put a tilda over the n). They feature modern, tribal and antique textiles+furniture+more. Store owners were very friendly, considering I walked in just as they were closing. We talked a little about where they buy their textiles and learned about amate papel from Mexico. They had an amate wall-hanging but it was not painted on, the woven pattern was striking enough.
- I took photos of my guy wearing his birthday hat while strolling on the beach.
BUT
I left my camera in Cali! With all the rush, I left it in his car. I am so bummed-out. I was so looking forward to posting photos of my trip and the boyfriend modeling his hat. What’s an artistic goddess to do?
I had such a wonderful time in L.A. and now I have to adjust — it’s back to business in Brooklyn.
Fiber Things-To-Do:
- Start a new fiber art piece
- Price tripods for the digital camera - must take photos of fiber art work to post on this blog!
- Start another hat for my guy - thinking maybe the cable patterned hat from Stitch & Bitch Nation?
- Think about signing up for some sort of knit or fiber class.
- And, of course, keeping knitting the lace scarf!
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02.15.06
Posted in Crochet, Knitting, Scarf at 4:37 pm by delipics
A phrase I wish I knew the last time I was in Italia. Instead of being able to ask the locals, “Where is the nearest yarn shop?” I just wandered around Sienna aimlessly until I found one — which I did. Thank goodness the new knit.1 issue has translated important fiber related words and phrases from ten different languages!
knit.1 is my newest fiber publication subscription. In the past I’ve subscribed to Vogue Knitting & Interweave Knits. As much as I loved both those mags, I felt like I rarely made anything from them. I definitely got inspired by the projects and there were always relevant articles for me. knit.1 (which is from Vogue) seems much more project-accessible and I love the fashion forward projects. I would subscribe to all of them if I could, but I try to put a budget on myself on all areas of fiber spending or else I would spend mindlessly. So for now, I’m subscribing to knit.1, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot and FiberArts. (Of course, I still check-out all the mags at my local mega bookstore so I can buy the ones to which I don’t subscribe - my excuse is I only buy the ones I really want . . . )
Projects I want to to make from knit.1 are Gayle Bunn’s self-finishing caplet, Mari Lynn Patrick’s A-line skirt or crocheted chevron stitch top, Kate William’s crocheted pearls, or Vickie Howell’s blanket/pillow.
I wish I could knit-up VK’s blanket/pillow in one night because I could use it for tomorrow. I’m leaving for the West coast for a long President’s Day weekend. Yeah sun and warm weather! I am all set for the long flight — I’ve got my lace knit scarf to work on the plane and my new magazines to read. When I come back, I should have new photos to post of the scarf and of the trip!
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