yarn n. 1: a continuous often plied strand composed of natural or man made fibers 2: a narrative of adventures
Stick a fork in me!
Ribbed Jacket, unblocked in photo, from Debbie Bliss’ Special Knits book.
Ravelry link here.
Possible next project, baby blanket using the snowdrops pattern stitch.
Will I become a baby blanket?
And I’ve cast on for Ishbel, from Ysolda’s Whimsical Little Knits.
I am finally posting photos of my latest finished objects. First up and just in time to celebrate the baby’s birth (she was born last Wednesday!) is the cardi for Katherine Diana.
one of my favorite baby patterns
Here is my completed Cozy V-Neck. I wore it to Rhinebeck, hidden under the layers of clothing because it was so darn cold that day.
For my version of the sweater, I decided on elbow-length sleeves
Next, the Lace Ribbon Scarf, obligingly modeled by a childhood friend.
Veronik Avery's pattern in Knitty, spring 2008
And another scarf, this time a gift from one who likes to go by Artemisia King. It’s so nice to be surprised by a knitted gift!
I love this color green!
The fourth and final finished object, the England-Scotland-Wales hat I knitted for Darren to keep him warm while on tour in the UK.
Pattern is Vogue's Ribbed Cap
Here is a hint from the honey for another project. He really, REALLY wants me to knit him something with Fair Isle.
I get the hint!
Currently on the needles is the Robin’s Egg Blue Hat, I want to make myself the Aspen Hat from CEY Autumn Book 1, and I’m toying around with some ideas for knitted gifts - like every other knitter at this time of the year!
I had the best three day weekend - I did not plan anything and let things happen as they may.
The weekend started on Friday night when Alex suggested knitting after work at The Point - always an excellent idea. (Ran into Veronique while there too!) I planned to start a swatch for a lace wrap from the Vogue Fall 2005 issue. I hauled my huge, bad mammer-jammer cone of yarn with me (see previous post photo, left-most yarn), and when I pulled it out of my bag with the rest of my gear, OH NO, no knitting needles! Luckily, Alex lent me her double-pointed number sevens to start my swatch. That was all well and good until it was time to go home - she needed her needles back so she could finish her project. What to do? I transferred the stitches to my aventurine shawl stick, took the rubber band out of my hair, and wrapped it around the end of the shawl stick so the stitches wouldn’t drop off. Brilliant!
I think I like.
On to Saturday: My girlfriend and I wanted to see a movie. I’ve been jonesing to see Children of Men but I didn’t feel like trekking into the city to watch it. So we went to BAM Rose Cinemas instead and saw DreamGirls. Jennifer Hudson is mouth-dropping amazing in it - I’ve got my fingers crossed for her at the Golden Globes. (Whoowhoowhoo - she won!)
Sunday started as loll around day: Staying in the pj’s and watching the second disc of the Complete First Season of The Gilmore Girls, but then I got a spontaneous invite to go brandy tasting at LeNell’s in Red Hook. Now brandy is not my thing, but it was interesting to compare. My friends and I sampled 17, 20 and 23 year-old bottles of brandy. When I think brandy, I think of 19th century literature when the women faints and someone forces her to drink brandy. I guess the burning sensation is supposed to revive you.
Afterwards, my friends took me to the new Fairway. I had not been there yet. It’s a little overwhelming. I’ve been to the Fairway in the city, but this place seemed cavernous with aisle after aisle of food I want to buy and eat. It’s never a good idea to go shopping without a list. For some reason, except for the bunch of celery, everything else was breakfast food - buttermilk pancake mix, instant oatmeal, granola, yogurt, coffee.
Monday, another very good friend had me over for lunch. I, again, dragged the bad, mammer-jammer cone of yarn to start a swatch for the second lace pattern for the shawl. (Have now decided this project is not for the subway - I’ll end up with crooked shoulders if I do.) She served me a delicious meal - yummy zuchinni soup, and if that wasn’t enough, I went with her to Stinky Bklyn. Yet another store where I want to buy and eat everything in sight. She bought this incredible Jamon Serrano, sliced right off the bone. I walked out with a jar of fig spread. Fig spread! What am I going to do with this? Maybe it will go well spread over buttermilk pancakes, or maybe I’ll add a dollop of it to my oatmeal or swirl it into my yogurt.
But before I met up with my friend, I took a couple of photos. This was the best one out of the bunch.
Specs:
Notes: This is a very quick knit. (Despite my running out of yarn, taking over a month to find more of the same dye lot and the holidays interrupting knitting time.) I loved that it was seamless, I love the raglan increases, I love the look of the ribbing. I changed the sleeves a tiny bit. Instead of knitting in stockinette for 7 rows then changing to the K1, P1 ribbing, I started right off with the ribbing. I thought the proportions looked better on my arms. Blocking had me worried - the yarn stretched so much when wet, and I had a difficult time arranging it on the sweater dryer to the recommended measurements. I was so happy that the cardigan dried to the right proportions. One mild frustration is the front of the cardigan - maybe it’s the yarn, but I cannot wear this without using the shawl stick. The cardi always falls open on its own without it, which would be okay if it draped open in an attractive, casual style . . but it doesn’t. I am debating with myself if I should add an I-cord tie or some other type of fastener. I foresee this being a staple for my wardrobe - perfect for casual Friday or with jeans on the weekend.
Yup, the best three day weekend.
Picture me sitting at my desk, typing away on the computer. It’s all quiet in the office. I turn to my left and someone has left a box on my extra chair.
“MY YARN! . . . oops, sorry, that was loud.”
A very spontaneous outburst in the workplace. I was slightly embarrassed but then I excitedly opened the box of yarn from Yarnela. I was so happy to know that I can finish my cropped cardi - but then I realized I first have to finish knitting my Christmas gifts.
Why do I wait to the last minute to do these things? But it gives me a good reason to go to The Point over the weekend and sit with Alex and knit. While there I started a new knitted Christmas gift and she finished one of her Christmas gifts. (I wish I could show photos but everything is top secret until 12/25.) All the other knitters at the stored oohed and aahed over Alex’s project and several asked for a pattern. She’s so talented!
We also had a discussion on knitting ethics - if someone gives you yarn as a gift, and you knit this yarn up into a project as a gift for someone else, are you regifting? I laughed and said I should send this to The Ethicist. We decided it wasn’t regifting because you are creating something new out of the yarn.
But back to my cropped cardi - how can I schedule this in with all the holiday gift knitting that needs to get done? One gift is about 90% done - just needs fringe. A second project is almost 50% done. I haven’t started a third one yet - yikes! I’m just going to have to sneak in some knitting-for-me time and hope no one notices.
Besides knitting on my cropped cardi, I delivered in person the L.A. Baby Cardi.
This is Mathilda, the very special recipient.
Isn’t she beautiful? I can’t wait to see how the cardi will look on her.
Specs:
I also went on a date! This is very exciting for me to actually go out with my honey considering our busy, crazy lives. He took me to see Jodi Long in Surfing DNA at the East West Players and for dinner we discovered a fantastic noodle shop in Little Tokyo.
This is like upgraded ramen. The broth was savory, the pork tender - a very satisfying meal! The restaurant is set up like a diner and it had these retro post-war advertisements on the walls.
And look who to got meet a rock and roll legend! It’s all soooo very L.A.!
All those hours knitting in the dark of a rehearsal studio led to this:
I am holding up a halfway-through-the-project-progress. In the light of day, I did find one section of purl where it should have been knit, but considering how dark the studio was, I’m suprised I didn’t have more mistakes.
In the midst of all the musical running around during the weekend, Darren remembered we were near a particular yarn store:
But then he told me we only had about fifteen minutes before we had to go to the theater* . . .
Look at all that Alchemy Yarns! (Thank you to the photo-taker!)
I did not walk away with any yarn, which is really okay because I have all that Rhinebeck swag to make my way through, but I did buy the Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts.
*Want to know what is going on muscially? Read about it here and here.