1 Down, 1 To Go

Here is my first completed Hedera. I'm using US1 DPNs and Rowan 4-Ply Soft in Wink (left over from one of the baby cardis).



I'm also finished with part 1 of 2 of the mystery project. I'm getting very bored with it though so I may have to rethink how I do part 2.

And finally, especially for Margot, a little orange:



Margot, let's talk about the trunk show on the 26th, I'm totally in to it.

My Neighbor

How awesome is Adrian? This is the coolest pattern ever!

Knit Nerds Are The Best Kind

This product could have real potential.



Some questions I would ask:

• Does it work for both pickers and throwers?
• Would it work if you fair isle with a color in each hand?
• Would you need a different base for each size of needle or one base for all your needles?
• Could it really work?
  

Secret Pal 8

My spoilee from Secret Pal 8 received her final package today and now I can reveal who she is and what I sent her.

Meet Andrea, beginning knitter and crochetier extraordinaire. I have been admiring how this self-proclaimed wip & chain fanatic hooks her way through beautiful items with apparent to be ease and grace.

I had fun spoiling her and sent three packages:
Package 1
Package 2
Package 3 and 3

I had a great time Andrea, thank you for your kind posts.

Best Weekend Ever

We had a busy, perfect weekend. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from Saturday because I didn't think to bring my camera. But Saturday I packed a picnic dinner with fried chicken, potato salad, roasted asparagus and watermelon. Then Elah and I had a picnic with Reba, Ron, Galandrielle and Lucy at Oakledge park. We also did a little kite flying (except me, I did some kite dragging).

Sunday started with Elah, who loves to get up at 6:30 on the weekends, sleeping until almost 10!

Sunday we swam at the pool.


Marveled at the clear sky.


Took Flat Scout to the A&W in Middlebury, along with Reba, Ron, Galandrielle, Lucy, Emily and Bill.


Saw this creepy church sign.

I get the point they're trying to make but it's flawed in two ways:
1) It sounds stalkerish and gives me the heebie jeebies
2) People don't live any better when they're being watched, think Flavor of Love or Big Brother.

In knitting news:

One finished Fetching fingerless glove.


One mystery project.


One finished pair of footies for Elah.


Pattern: Generic
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Color: Hyacinth - 9989
Source: I think I got it at Creative Habitat
Needles: 2 Addi Turbo, US3, 16"
Size: 8 years - Women's Small
Started: July 30, 2006
Finished: August 2, 2006

172

eBay Woes

I bought some Regia Nation (Fun) on eBay with visions of super cute rainbow (it is my middle name after all) stripe socks. I won the auction on July 24 and pain of July 25. Unfortunately I have yet to hear from the seller. So frustrating.

**Update**
I finally heard back from the seller on August 6th. They apologized and said that they were out of stock and should have more in this week. The also said that they thought they had already contacted me which is why I hadn't heard from them.
I understand that mistakes happen but I probably won't be buying from them again.

Knitting Nature

I've been thinking about buying Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. There are a couple of patterns that look interesting but I'm still on the fence. I've heard mixed reviews from Yarn Harlot, Grumperina and CMEknit. Luckily my LYS is having a Knitting Nature trunk show. Any local knitters wanna go with me?

Sighted

Guess who showed up today?

To The Point

Grumperina posted about the possibility of Addis with pointier tips! Can you imagine, they would be the perfect needles. Read all about it here.

Following is the email I sent.

July 27, 2006
Subject: Pointier Addis

Dear Ms. Skacel Haack,

I’m sure that since the possibility of Addis with pointier tips has been put out into the blogosphere (thanks to Kathy aka Grumperina), you’ll be getting many letters like mine. I do not knit lace, though the idea is appealing, but do knit many socks and love cables, and often find myself wishing I had pointier needles.

I love Addis. Their lightening quick finish (some may even say Turbo), superior join and soft, fluid cable make them an ideal choice. Unfortunately, I often find myself knitting with Inox simply because they have the sharper tip that I desire. Should Addi come out with a line of needles with a pointier tip but like the Turbo in every other way, I would gladly and joyfully replace all my non-Addi circulars.

Thank you for taking the time to read my email.

Sincerely,
Emily XXXXXX
Burlington, VT
802-XXX-XXXX

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
-Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)

Thank You!

I think the universe is trying to send me a message. At the post office, while waiting for the postal worker to go get the latest package from my fabulous secret pal I read the following quote on a CF calendar:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

Imagine my surprise when I opened my package and found some sticky notes with the same quote. OK, I'm listening.

My SP also sent a beautiful card and 5 skeins of Gedifra Korfu, 50% cotton 50% microfiber, in my favorite color. Thank you, SP!

In other news I think the frogs (yes I know it's really a toad) are trying to reassert their first place status. Observe the new resident in my flowers:

Burn Baby, Burn

Pattern: Generic, a bit from Handy Patterns, a bit from Sock Soar on 2 Circs, a bit from my own brain, a bit from the web
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck
Color: Brights
Source: Kaleidoscope Yarns
Needles: Inox Pearl Grey, US1, 29"
Size: 8 years - Women's Small
Started: July 9, 2006
Finished: July 19, 2006

This is my first official pair of top-down socks with a heel flap! I was concerned about casting on too tightly so I cast on US3s using the Twisted German Cast-On method. I am in love with this cast-on, it is neat and super stretchy. I love the yarn and Elah thinks it looks like fire. I also made this pair a tad big so Elah won't grow out of them so quickly. She loves them. One day I'll make myself a pair of socks...

Jack Frost Nipping At Your Nose

I know it's summer and I know it's 95+ outside but winter is just around the corner. Will you be prepared?

You could knit a GIGANTIC scarf:


Or, if you hate your ears and want them to fall off, one of these:

It Takes A Village

I am finally done with both of the Baby's First Tattoo sweaters. They both knit up quickly but then sat around my house, in pieces, waiting to be seamed. Enter Jessica to the rescue who graciously agreed to take both sweaters home with her and seam them. When they came home all I had to do was pick up the collar stitches, kit the collar and seam that last 1/4 inch or so at the top. Awesome! As a thank you gift I got Jess some wooden US1 Blue Sky Alpacas DPNs is a beautiful tin (They're new so they're not on the web page yet). They're perfect for all her sock knitting.

The green one went to my landlord; he and his wife recently adopted a baby from Guatemala. The pink one has been sent to the woman who was Chair of College Council when I was Chair-Elect. Coincidentally her daughter's name is Rowan.





Pattern: Baby First Tattoo Sweater from SnB Nation
Yarn: Rowan 4-Ply Soft 100% Merino
Colors: 388 Military & 367 Leafy (green), 389 Expresso & 377 Wink (pink)
Source: Yarn Market
Needles: Inox Pearl Grey, US2 circ (pink), Addi Turbo, US3 circ (green)
Size: Child's 18 mo.
Started: April?, 2006
Finished: July 13, 2006

I have to apologize for the poor quality of the seam pic, I forgot to take pictures of Jessica's beautiful seams before I sent the sweaters out so I had to take a picture on the fly with my phone.

Knit up the yarn is lovely, soft & squishy, and I love the stitch definition. Unfortunately when I was knitting the 4 plies felt cordy running through my fingers and the yarn sometimes hurt. I'm happy that the finished garment doesn't show any signs or retain any of the discomfort felt while knitting.

Technically these two sweaters are my first completed sweaters. The pink one, which I finished first is a little wonky around the collar and there are some bits on the green one I'd like to do better the next time around but all in all I'm happy with them.

All Aboard!

What to know what this is all about? Go here.

Toe Up From The Flo' Up

Remember how I said I was going to post some short row tutorials? Well I could never compile a more complete list than Sara over a Knitwerks so instead of reinventing the wheel I'll just redirect. The only link I would add is the short row (wraps, not YOs) video over at knitting help. Enjoy!

Done!

Pattern: Wendy's Toe-Up Sock Pattern
Yarn: Schoeller and Stahl Fortissima Colori / Color 9069
Source: My Secret Pal - Thank You!
Needles: Inox Pearl Grey, US1 29"
Size: Child's size 1.5-2 (shoe)
Started: June 25, 2006
Finished: July 2, 2006

I was a little nervous about this yarn because it seemed a bit scritchy but one wash revealed a soft, super comfy sock! I used Wendy's pattern but after swatching I actually used the Handy Book of Patterns to figure out how many stitches to cast on and then I used Booty McCutie's feet to measure as I went along.. I bound off with a US4 Addi Turbo because I bind off tightly. They fit perfectly, maybe a little too perfectly. When you have a 5 1/2 year old who is as tall as an 8 year old you should know better than to buy or make items that fit perfectly. If you do, they only fit for about 2 weeks.

E loves her sock and wanted to wear them when I had only finished one; she said that mismatched socks would be fine. I made her wait until they were both knit and laundered.

PS Technically this is my first pair of socks. In the past I knit other socks but had a serious case of SSS and never finished (or even started!) the second sock. The result was a couple of socks living in my stash mismatched in yarn, color, and size; they've since been frogged.

Nice Thong

Someone asked me if I could find a pattern for a thong sock but I can't remember who so I'm posting it here. I also am not quite sure if it was a thong sock or a sock that's like a glove for you feet but hopefully I got it right.
Link

*Update There's another pattern in the new Knitty

Teach Your Children Well

Count no day lost in which you waited your turn, took only your share and sought advantage over no one. -Robert Brault

Sorry, Charlie

So the frog has been my favorite animal for many years, with the octopus coming in a very close second.



The frog just got replaced.

Thank You

That is my first package from my Secret Pal. I actually got received the package Friday but had a crazy busy weekend (which consisted mostly of getting a ridiculous sunburn) and then was out of town for two days for the President's Council retreat (I could wax poetic about the leadership in this college but I'll spare you). Long story short it's taken me almost a week to properly thank my secret pal. So, without further ado...

THANK YOU!

What you see above is a notecard with a frog on the front and a handwritten note on the inside. Two single pot bags of coffee from Paul deLima, a roaster local to my SP, both fair trade. A bag of Honey Acres Honey Gummies. Two skeins of Schoeller and Stahl Fortissima Colori yarn; a self-patterning sock yarn, 75% superwash, 25% nylon. And, last but not least, an assortment of three items from Stonewall Kitchen, grapefruit thyme hand lotion and bar soap and rosemary lime antibacterial hand gel. To top it all off my SP wrapped my gifts is orange tissue paper, my favorite color. Thank you again, SP.

Speaking of sock yarn...I couldn't wait to try the Fortissima. I cast on a pair of socks for Elah on Sunday evening, observe some progress.

Girl Who Has Casual Sex

Maybe because it's Friday and I'm exhausted but I thought this was hilarious.

Websites as Graphs

source site

So I was over at MDK today and saw a link to this site. I thought I'd pop over to see what my little ol' blog looked like when rendered as a graph. Watch out, it's addicting. Before I knew it I was typing in blog addresses I often visit just to be mesmerized by the beautiful unfurling of the graph. This is one of the many reasons I love nerds.

blue: links (a tags)
red: tables (table, tr, td tags)
green: divs
violet: images (img tags)
yellow: forms (form, input, textarea, select, option tags)
orange: block formatting (br, p, blockquote tags)
black: root (html tag)
gray: all other tags


source site

source site

source site

source site

source site

source site

source site

source site

source site

Enough of that. You can see what other people have done here.

Knitter's Word.A.Day

This week's theme: professions that exist mainly as surnames.

mercer (MUR-suhr) noun

A dealer in textiles, especially silk and other fine materials.

[From Old French mercier (trader), from Latin merx (goods). Words such as market, merchant, commerce, and mercantile share the same origin.]

Then there is mercerization. To mercerize is to treat cotton thread or fabric with caustic soda to enhance its strength and luster, and to increase its affinity for dyes. The word is an eponym, coined after the calico printer John Mercer (1791-1866) who patented it in 1850.

And calico -- a kind of cotton cloth printed with a pattern -- is a toponym, coined after the city of Calicut in India. The city is now known as Kozhikode.

*yawn*

The knitting blogosphere has been pretty quite lately. I chalk it up to summer time; we're all spending more time outside and less time in front of the computer, plus those of us with children have kids who are home more and need to be shuttled around from a friend's house to summer camp to driving you crazy.

The bonus of summer? Items you block dry in about 3 seconds because it's 90° in your house and all the fans are on.
Observe:


It's the Baby's First Tattoo sweater from SnB Nation. When I knit the first one I used intarsia for the swallows but I am going to sew the skulls on this one. Now all I have to do it sew it together (and the first one I knit). I'm hoping to have it done by the weekend. By the way I decided to use a bulletin board because with a 5-year-old, a 20-year-old and 2 cats in my house I have very little safe horizontal space. I got the board for free by posting a message to my local freecycle board.

Question

Savais-tu que ça prend trois moutons pour faire un cardigan?

Answer

Je ne savais même pas qu'ils pouvaient tricoter.

Nerdlicious

I made a knitting iMix here: iTMS link. Hope you like it.

Sooo, it's not often that I partake in the online quiz but I couldn't resist the pictures for this one. Don't worry, the indulgence will pass.





What type of Fae are you?

Spin Out & Win!

Those of you familiar with january one have surely heard about the but for those of you who don't spend as much time in front of a computer as I do...

In conjunction with Spin Out 2006, january one is holding a contest. For every $10 you donate to Heifer International you will be entered into the prize drawing once. Not only is this a great cause but there is the possibility of winning wonderful fibery goodness - it's win/win. The registry is here and more information about prizes can be found at january one.