Annie Knits

Rhinebeck

2008-10-29T12:15:00.004-04:00

About a year ago Wannabe posted about her favorite etsy shops and feeling the mood to browse, I clicked through the list of shops she recommended. I immediately fell in love with Plucky Knitter yarns and purchased 2 skeins immediately. She has since become so popular that I can't even keep up with her store. (Hello, everything sells out in 2 minutes, which is probably ok for my already too large stash....) Regardless, I also recommend her yarns so go shop!

Anyhoo, it was with much delight that I got to meet both Ms. Plucky and Wannabe at the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. In fact, our initial meeting was much like the picture above. A lot of squealing, laughing and "woo hoo!"-ing. After that, we just decided that all our photos looked better if we were laughing.

And who can't put a smile on their face when they are surrounded by all things woolly? Rhinebeck is crazy. There were so many people, it was so crowded and geez louise, so cold. But in spite of all that, it is so much fun. There's yarn to pet, bloggers to meet and apple cider doughnuts to eat. I enjoy going every year.

My purchases consisted mainly of my favorites from Brooks Farm Yarn. Willow, Acero and of course a skein of Solo. Back at our hotel room (in crappy lighting) it proved to be a bit difficult to decide which was more delicious. A caramel apple or an armful of yarn.

Just about all that yarn is intended for gifts needed for the next 6 months. Progress shots to come!

An FO and a WIP

2008-10-12T20:13:00.002-04:00

Well I certainly didn't expect it to take this long to update my blog! An FO is always a good reason to blog, and since I left you with my big mess of a mistake while on vacation, I thought it would be good to rectify the situation with a beautiful (if I do say so myself) finished sweater.

I present to you my Drops 103-1 Jacket made with The Fibre Company Road to China yarn in colorway "Jade". Very fitting for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, despite my pathetic finish.

Now you may notice that the front of the sweater seems a bit higher than the rest. I swear to you all is good with the sweater. Just look a little closer at the belly.

Baby number 2 is on the way! I found out in August that I was pregnant and spent September quite nauseous. (That hardly describes it - but trust me it wasn't pretty and I'll spare you the details.) So now do you forgive me for not having written sooner? I'm trying to blog more often and read blogs again, but had a little hiccup with the whole "whoops, I'm knocked up!" thing.

If you're going to be in Rhinebeck this coming weekend, drop me a comment. I will definitely be there on Saturday. Now if you'll excuse me, I am long overdue in setting my bloglines to my new computer. So much reading to catch up on!

Olympic Dreams

2008-08-24T14:30:00.004-04:00

I appreciate challenges and competition. I love the Knitting Olympics. I was psyched to give myself the challenge of knitting an entire sweater in 17 days. I decided to give my Drops 103-1 Jacket another go, knowing that the time crunch was the major part of my challenge, not so much the miles of stockinette. At the end of it all, I would have a gold medal as well as a beautiful sweater that I had made. Well that's just freakin' fantastic.

I worked hard! I knit in the morning, I knit while boiling water, I knit while watching the Olympics at night. It was very challenging - soon after the Olympics began, my babysitter went on vacation. Soon after that, the Annie Knits family left for vacation. It was craziness but progress was being made on my jacket and the end was in sight. Every spare moment was filled with a row of knitting. Upon arriving at our vacation destination I looked forward to lounging on a beach chair and finishing up the last of the sleeves of my sweater and seaming everything in time for the closing ceremonies. What a way to celebrate - Olympic gold on the beach in Bermuda. Our first day on vacation, I open my knitting bag and pull out all my accoutrement. Needles, blocking pins, buttons, extra stitch markers, kitty tape measure.... No yarn. No yarn! I forgot to pack the 3 skeins needed to finish up the sleeves and seaming. Well that's just freakin' craptastic.

There's always Vancouver...

Red Hot Socks for Hotty Hubby

2008-08-01T12:53:00.009-04:00

Secret knitting is really killing my blogging. Hey wait, that didn't stop me from posting to Flickr. Hmm. Ok, ok, I'm addicted to Flickr!

Hi, my name is Annie. I am addicted to my new camera and this website called Flickr. It is sucking every spare minute of my time, more than Ravelry, if you can believe it. I hardly have time to knit.

Hello! Snap back to reality! Must have time to knit. These socks may have taken longer than expected, but they did get finished. For Hotty Hubby's birthday (back in June) I wanted to give him a pair of red socks. I started them in May and I finished them in July but hey, I have a kid. And a Flickr addiction. He was surprised and he loves them. He wears them with his camouflage shorts with air conditioning blasting. It's sweet and a little funny looking.

These socks are my own fudging using a stitch pattern from Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Socks. I knit them toe up with a short row heel to take advantage of as much yardage as possible. I still could have gone on for another inch or so, but 7" leg (including a 2" cuff) was my goal so I ended up with some scrap yarn. Yarn is Socks That Rock Heavyweight in colorway "Brick".

The stitch pattern is a 4 stitch repeat, but on both sides of the leg I purposely omitted the pattern and did a little ribbing instead. My husband has narrow ankles so I wanted to be certain that the socks would be snug around the ankle.

I did receive a request for the pattern, but since it is an adaption of a pattern already mapped out in Charlene's book, (and since I didn't take that great of notes) I will leave you with a guideline of what I did so that you can make these socks if you so desire. The stitch pattern is called "Decorative Ribbing" - page 87.

Red Hot Socks

Queue it!

STR Heavyweight - 1 skein

Size 4us circular needle (36" for magic loop)

Using the toe of your choice, (short row I what I used) cast on the appropriate number of stitches for the width of sock you want to make. Fudge the number to make sure it is divisible by 4.

After completing the toe, work stockinette on half the stitches (sole) and work the other half the stitches in the stitch pattern, making sure that you start and finish with a PURL stitch. This may mean that you have uneven number of stitches between needles 1 and 2, but that doesn't really matter as long as your total stitch count is appropriate for the size you are making and is divisible by 4.

Ok, take a moment now and just measure the toe before the stitch pattern starts. Mine is 2". Make a note of the length of the toe part of your sock. Knit the foot of the sock until you are less the length of your toe. In my case, the sock needed to be 10.5" long for the foot, so I knit (including the toe) for 8.5". At this point, continue with the sole stitches (the half of the stitches that are stockinette, borrow evenly from the other needle to make sure you have half the number of the total stitches) and work a short row heel.

Once heels are complete, continue in the round picking up stitches at the edges if necessary to fill in any holes from joining. (Take the next round to knit 2 tog or purl 2 tog as necessary to get back to your original stitch count.) Continue in the stitch pattern - keep in mind that since you have a stitch count divisible by 4, you should be able to continue with the stitch pattern all around quite nicely. You may not necessarily start a row on the beginning of a repeat per se, but it should work out. Fudge, it ain't just dessert.

I wanted the ankles to be snug, so fudging it a bit, (you get the theme here, right?) I started needle one and needle two omitting the stitch pattern in the first 4 stitches and just did a quick bit of twisted 1x1 ribbing to make sure the legs would be nice and snug around the ankles. It worked with the stitch pattern perfectly and you can see it in the photo above. You do not have to do this at all, but a neat little trick to keep those ankles from sagging should that be a concern.

Keep knitting until 1.5 to 2 inches less of desired length. Continue in 1x1 twisted rib. (Continue working the knit stitches through the back loop.) I wanted a 7" leg so I knit the stitch pattern for 5" and switched to rib for the last 2".

Cast off loosely (EZ sewn cast off is great) and wash, block and wear! Any questions or mistakes, please leave me a comment.

Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. Yah, that suffered too. But I'm back! Miss me?

Garter Stitch Love Fest

2008-06-28T20:11:00.003-04:00

Surprise! This glob of garter stitch is a...

Baby Surprise Jacket! Almost, anyway. I kept waiting to update my blog because I was so close to being finished. I figured I'd wait until I seamed it and added the buttons. And then nearly 2 weeks went by and I still don't know when I am going to go find buttons. So there you have it. My 95% complete BSJ.

I used Noro Silk Garden Lite in color 2015. I wanted to keep the jacket on the feminine side so I cast on using the coral color. Luckily the coral showed up again on the bind off. I am thrilled. It's giving the effect that I was hoping for.

Over all these colors are new for me. They still have the dusty quality that I like, but a bit brighter than normal, plus the striping which isn't typical of my style. I am not usually a fan of yellow and yet I love the stripe of golden goodness in my garter stitch love fest. Yes, love fest. I loved working on this jacket. This is my second BSJ, my first real go with Noro (other than the coffee cup cozies) and I found it all delightful. I hope the recipient feels the same!

Shhhh! My Show is On

2008-06-11T21:33:00.005-04:00

No progress on the Drops Jacket and no progress on Cashew's sweater. I'm pretending they didn't happen so I can have fun knitting another Baby Surprise Jacket. Noro is certainly addictive (Silk Garden Lite color 2015) and so is the pattern. Such a great "end of the day" type knit, which is exactly what I am using it for. After a long day, heck, even a short day, busy day, lazy day, I don't really care what type of day, summertime has some great tvtime. Junk food tv and I'm a junkie. And that means knitting time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to watch the season finale of Top Chef. Tomorrow, it's the season opener of My Boys...

June

2008-06-08T22:41:00.004-04:00

I can't believe June is here. Where did spring go and how did it fly by? Technically I guess it is not summer yet, though the heatwave sends a warning that it is on its way. June has been a nice time for me to get my act together. Last year it was the month that I worked out a new routine with my new baby. Now I (finally) have a new apartment and a fun summer to look forward to. So I have started this June with a little spring cleaning - better late than never.

I find cleaning works best from the closets out. Even though we downsized before moving, we still have boxes of random stuff in random places and it is starting to spill out into our living areas. If I want time to be crafty, I have to be organized, so straight to the guts - the closets. So exhausting going through memorabilia, gear we don't know if we still want, photo projects not done, medication for the cat no longer with us. Oye.

A nice find was a box labeled "winter". In it I found all my fingerless mitts, scarves, gloves and in particular, two items that have previously never made it to the blog...or ravelry...or flickr... I made this cowl about three years ago. It's the Pashmina Cowl from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I used Araucania Nature Wool. I wore it a couple times and completely forgot about it. Cowls seem to be making quite a comeback so after a refreshing wash I packed it back up but placed it on top of all the other woolly gear. Next fall when I am cold and pulling down this box I will see it first thing and will wear it.

Also in the box is something I have not forgotten. In fact, to many of you it may look very familiar. In fact, you may wonder if I have any other scarves at all because I practically wear this every day in winter. For the last four winters! It is simple garter stitch made with Morehouse Merino bought at the Union Square Green Market when Morehouse used to sell there. I had knit this scarf one spring many years ago as mindless project to help me get through a summer job. It is by far the item in my collection of handknits that gets the most compliments. A simple scarf made out of pretty yarn. The scarf has not pilled or faded which I find very impressive for a super soft single ply.

I love that the simplest knits can be the most pretty.

FO Report

2008-06-03T11:21:00.005-04:00

So much to catch up on and hardly a thing to show, other than these socks for my little Cashew. I didn't even finish them while on vacay over Memorial Day Weekend. No, my bad luck followed me to the Catskills. While knitting in the car I realized that I had made a huge error in these tiny socks. I never finished the gusset decreases in one sock and had already knit many rows in plain stockinette. Ripping back is my theme, and one I don't particularly want. So going back to my original plan for ignorant bliss (which you all supported with gusto) I put the socks down and knit this instead.

Upon returning from a lovely vacation in which there were no cell phone towers and a brand new digital camera with no battery, I snapped out of ignorant bliss and got back to work on these socks for Cashew. I improvised my own pattern with Trekking XXL (colorway?) using a 3x1 rib, a few decreases at the ankle and a standard heel flap and toe. I made them a tad big so she can wear them in the fall. She has enjoyed trying them on but getting a modeled shot proved to be tricky.

Watching her toddler two step around the apartment is a riot. My little Cashew is walking!

And because I can't resist a meme for which I have been tagged:

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

June 1998 - I was dodging mean squirrels and teaching dance at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Cashew's laundry.
Update SnK on WWKIPD info.
Reorganize the laundry closet.
Shower.
Take care of a feverish Hubby. Today he truly puts the hot in "Hotty".

3) Snacks I enjoy: Yogurt parfait, Veggie Booty, endive with goat cheese, walnut and honey. Delish.

4)Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Buy a bigger apartment, a country house in a different country, take more vacations, open a fiber arts studio and offer more support to my favorite charities.

5) Places I have lived: Michigan and New York.

Chemgrrl, Wannabe, Allison, Hila, MLE...your turn. Go!

Ignorant Bliss

2008-05-22T08:15:00.005-04:00

I want to knit something for myself. Something that I will finish and love. I have been eyeing the Drops 103-1 jacket and after Tina finished hers in mere hours (mild exaggeration), I was determined to prove to myself that I could knit it up fairly quickly. I had picked out The Fibre Company's Road to China in Jade awhile back. It has been creeping up to the top of my stash pile and it's time to move it to the next level - a sweater.

I happily cast on and knit and knit and knit. The skeins don't have a lot of yardage so shortly after casting on I had to add another skein. Knit knit knit. Happy happy happy. Add another skein and then DUN DUN DUN. Honkin' stripe of grey green right in the middle of my blue green. Not pretty. Ugly. So sad. I have about 11 more skeins of this stuff, how to tell which ones are more grey, which ones are more blue? I guess I should wind them all and knit samples from each skein. Oh what a drag. Once I know how many different skeins I have I can make a plan of action, which will probably be alternating rows from different skeins.

Ugh.

And look, same for Cashew's sweater. I used a new skein for the sleeves and it is a different shade. I have at least 2 more skeins of this yarn (Brooks Farm Solo) and I'm hoping one of them is more like the first skein I picked.

Gah.

Cashew's socks have been a nice diversion as Trekking XXL is always entertaining. However these will not last a little R&R in Hudson Valley for the holiday weekend. I haven't decided if I should bring one of the sweaters to fix or just cast on something new so I can continue knitting in ignorant bliss without worrying about the consequences.

I think ignorant bliss is winning.

Two for One

2008-05-11T21:10:00.004-04:00

A little somethin' somethin' for my Mom for Mother's Day. Although making a gift takes time, it doesn't necessarily keep it from being craptastic. So I worked really hard on the packaging. If you're gonna go handmade, why not go all the way? Adorable (if I do say so myself) crocheted flowers in Brooklyn Handspun Signature in Mocha Rose to decorate the easiest, foolproof (well, almost) handknit gift for my Mom:

Dishcloths. Sugar n' Cream in Ecru. One skein gave me 2 of the 4-Corners Dishcloth. Seriously, my Mom swears by the handknit garter stitch dishcloth. Sure, she may get a kick out of a handknit scarf, she will admire a pair of mittens, she does wear the socks I made (and hello, they are 100% cashmere!) but garter stitch dishcloths. A winner, as long as I don't get too experimental. Hopefully Sugar n' Cream is as good as Peaches n' Cream, and hopefully this style of garter stitch dishcloth is as good as the favored Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. The truth will come out in the wash. If these are wrecked within a couple of weeks, I know she loves them. Nicely folded in a drawer...wah wah wah.

Oh but look! Happy Mother's Day to me! I have a fantastic stash, but I had an extra 20 minutes and I was near Knitty City and well it is Mother's Day and I am a Mom. Schaefer Andrea in "Dian Fossey".

Uh, behind the lovely green blob? You saw that, eh?

Yah. Schaefer Andrea in "Julia Child". It's also my birthday. Hooray!

Happy Feet

2008-05-04T19:39:00.004-04:00

It is very difficult to maintain a blog about knitting when the current project is a secret one.

I present to you Lighthouse Gansey Socks by Anne Hanson, knit with Trekking ProNatura (wool and bamboo). These were made for the Sit 'n' Knit Secret Sock Exchange. My Secret Feet belonged to Annmarie. Hooray! It was fun scheming and stalking. I chose this pattern because I know she is a fan of Anne Hanson, didn't care for wildly variegated yarn, plus she had written on the questionnaire that the Lighthouse Gansey Socks were something she'd like to have but didn't necessarily want to knit. After looking over the pattern I thought, hey, it's just knit and purl. I nearly cried in my yarn when I realized that I really had to pay attention with every row. And then I realized how bored I have been with my knitting lately because the socks were in fact quite fun and interesting. Annmarie seemed delighted with them so I am happy.

(The rug? I know! Isn't it totally rad? More about that later.)

And for me...Gina made me a pair of Nutkin! I whipped off my shoes and socks and put them on right quick. I love this pattern and the yarn is a merino cashmere blend. Delish! I am very happy with them and am so tickled to have something that is so me yet wouldn't have thought of doing. I have been eyeing Nutkin but the yarn is something I have never seen before.

The exchange was a success and there were happy feet all around.

Going Green

2008-04-22T21:28:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I threw out a little challenge to my knitting group. In honor of Earth Day, I asked everyone to bring a handknit cup cozy to our most recent event. It's a small item that could have a big impact, so I got right to my own challenge. First, I made the Kureyon Coffee Cozy by Michelle Molis. (You can see mine here.) Totally inspired by the gently spaced increases, I set out to try my own interpretation. I present to you the Going Green Cup Cozy. (Ravelry link.)

The increases are worked into the eyelet pattern by simply removing the "k2tog". The pattern is easy to memorize, it's the row count that's a tad tricky. I wrote it out line by line for the memory challenged, but I swear you'll get the hang of it. Think of the pattern happening in sets of 8:

row 1 - Increase 1 stitch each needles 1 & 3
row 2 - knit
row 3 - maintain eyelet pattern
row 4 - knit
row 5 - Increase 1 stitch each needles 2 & 4
row 6 - knit
row 7 - maintain eyelet pattern
row 8 - knit

A crocheted edge adds finishing and a sturdy edge. Knit one and help save a few trees. Woo hoo!

Going Green Cup Cozy

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite (I used color 2017)

Needles: 5 size us6 dpns and crochet hook size G

Gauge: 6 sts = 1”

Size : to fit 12oz paper cup

This pattern has only been test knit by me so if you find an error, please let me know in the comments!

Directions:

Cast on 36 stitches. (If you would like the bottom crocheted edge to be the same color as the cast on, leave a 20ish inch tail that you can use for the crocheted finishing.) Divide evenly between 4 needles – 9 stitches each.

Join in the round and mark beginning of round. Knit 2 rows.

Row 1.* k6, k2tog, yo, k1 repeat from * 3 more times.
2. (And all even rows) Knit
3. Increase row. Needle 1 – k7, yo, k2 (10 sts) Needle 2 – k5, k2tog, yo, k2 (9 sts) Repeat needle 1 for needle 3 and needle 2 for needle 4. 38 sts total.
5. Needle 1 – k5, k2tog, yo, k3 Needle 2 – k4, k2tog, yo, k3 Repeat needle 1 for 3, 2 for 4
7. Increase row. Needle 1 – k4, k2tog, yo, k4 Needle 2 – k5, yo, k4 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 40 sts total.
9. *k3, k2tog, yo, k5 Repeat from * 3 more times.
11. Increases row. Needle 1 – k4, yo, k6 Needle 2 – k2, k2tog, yo, k6 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 42 sts.
13. Needle 1 – k2, k2tog, yo, k7 Needle 2 – k1, k2tog, yo, k7 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4.
15. Increase row. Needle 1 – k1, k2tog, yo, k8 Needle 2 – k2, yo, k8 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 44 sts.
17. * k2tog, yo, k9 Repeat from * 3 more times.
NOTE: Row 18 (knit) – As you finish working the stitches on each needle, knit on 2 more stitches from the next needle. For needle 4, knit on 2 stitches from needle 1. 11 stitches per needle. Now the pattern should be starting from the left again. Move stitch marker to reestablish beginning of round.
19. Increase row. Needle 1 – k10, yo, k1 Needle 2 – k8, k2tog, yo, k1 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 46 sts.
21. Needle 1 – k8, k2tog, yo, k2 Needle 2 – k7, k2tog, yo, k2 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4.
23. Increase row. Needle 1 – k7, k2tog, yo, k3 Needle 2 – k8, yo, k3 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 48 sts.
25. *k6, k2tog, yo, k4 Repeat from * 3 more times.
27. Increase row. Needle 1 - k7, yo, k5 Needle 2 – k5, k2tog, yo, k5 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 50 sts.
29. Needle 1 – k5, k2 tog, yo, k6 Needle 2 – k4, k2tog, yo, k6 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4.
31. Increases row. Needle 1 – k4, k2tog, yo, k7 Needle 2 – k5, yo, k7 Repeat 1 for 3, 2 for 4. 52 sts.
32. Knit.
33. Knit.

Bind off . Do not cut yarn. Continue with a row of single crochet along top edge, and then work a row of single row of crochet on bottom edge. Weave in ends.

After all that work, I believe you deserve a beverage. Coffee, anyone?

Copyright © 2008 by Annie Knits http://annie-knits.blogspot.com

Cashew wuz here

2008-04-18T11:10:00.007-04:00

What started as Mommy going through her stash quickly became a literal activity.

We squished yarn, tossed it, moved on to the next. I admit, I was having a lot of fun, too. Who wouldn't want to dive in to a bag of yarn and roll around in it?

Cashew loves to unravel.

I sensed that she wasn't going to be as enthusiastic about cleaning up yarn (despite it being yarn and that typically takes the edge off of everything) so it was no surprise when she moved on. Rather quickly, I might add.

Excuse Me While I Whip This Out

2008-04-12T19:58:00.005-04:00

I was determined to attend the NYC Ravelry Bobmas Eve party and I was determined to bring the requested donation of a handknit hat for Christmas at Sea. I grabbed some Cascade 220 Superwash from the stash, snagged a pattern from Hila's queue and whipped this out in a couple of days. I was going to be late for the party because I had to wait for Hotty Hubby to come home from work to do the baby trade off but before leaving, I managed to snap a few craptastic pics for posterity. Of course I promptly left the hat on my couch as I took off for the party. Figures.

The pattern is the Classic Ribbed Hat by Frugal Knitting Haus. For my purposes, I have renamed it the Seaman's Cap and you can make all the jokes you want about "ribbed" and "seaman". Oh, and 10 points if you name the movie. (And no more explanation than that, you either get it or you don't. Chemgrrl, I'm counting on you!)

Knitter's Luck

2008-03-29T20:36:00.005-04:00

I have not had much luck with this move. We went into contract when I was in my third trimester and we moved in a week after Cashew's 1st birthday. There have been many phone calls, complaints, bitch sessions, false promises and big letdowns. To finally reach the point where we were packing up boxes was surreal. While the movers hauled our stuff, we happily walked 5 blocks to our new home, ready to start the rest of our life.

As luck would have it, the freight elevator was broken. A little snafu, but we won't let that stop us! And then we discovered the cable line was damaged. The dishwasher stopped washing. The dryer wasn't drying. The phone wasn't ringing. The drains weren't draining.

Socks That Rock "Lagoon"

I was ready to walk out the building (once I found an elevator that worked) and hurl myself into the East River. Ok, not really, my daughter is too cute and my husband too hot and we do love the actual apartment. But I was feeling pretty rotten. And as I did finally get into an elevator that worked, a little bit of my luck changed. No, it's not that I didn't get stuck in the elevator, but I received a piece of mail. My first at the new apartment. A piece of mail from Tiennie. Turns out I had won a little contest, just for commenting on her blog. My first piece of mail was a package containing yarn. Praise the yarn gods! Clearly THEY are looking out for me. Since I had no safe place to put it for a couple of days, I carried the yarn around with me. I didn't have much time to knit, so taking a peek at a skein of yummy, squishy yarn made me happy. That shade of green makes me grin like a goof which is a nice change from the scowl that was making my face cramp. Thank you, Tiennie!

So now that the dishwasher has been fixed, the dryer is humming, the STR getting comfy in my stash (not for long, though), I am ready to take a much needed knitting break. Screw the UFO's, I need to start something new.

L-R: Trekking Pro Natura 1512, Trekking XXL 101, Noro S188, Noro S164, Schaefer Anne

Sit 'n' Knit is having it's second annual secret sock exchange. I have narrowed down my choices. I have a lot of versions of the same thing in my stash, and these are some of the more unique options. Hmm. Which would you choose?

Hey NY peeps! We are selling some furniture and we need to have it gone by Monday at the very latest. See my Craigslist ads here: dining table, couch, chair, medicine cabinet and mirror. Let me know if you're interested!

Someone to Knit For

2008-03-16T21:09:00.004-04:00

Hi Mommy!

A year ago today, I looked at Hotty Hubby and said "Dude" and shook my head after having made it through an intense contraction. A couple, ok, A LOT of swear words later, we welcomed Cashew into the world.

Helping Mommy (un) pack.

Our calm, mellow baby has turned into an absolute busy body with a love for chatter. I have often heard of how the love for your child is unlike any other love you may experience. It often blows my mind the power of maternal instincts and the warm and fuzzy feeling I have for this pooping, peeing, food throwing beast. She rocks my world. And Daddy? Maybe more so!

Today is a big day for our family. We made it through the first year! Happy Birthday, Cashew!

Moving On

2008-03-12T21:46:00.002-04:00

The move that was supposed to happen in ~~September~~ ~~October~~ ~~November~~ ~~December~~ ~~January~~ ~~I give up~~ is finally happening. In 7 days, I will have a new home. At last, we have closed on our apartment. I have been busy organizing the move and finalizing furniture purchases, selling the stuff we no longer need, choosing and then re-choosing window treatments and stressing over white paint. Seriously, how many shades of white are there?!?

Times like these call for stockinette! Lots and lots of it.

3 Strikes

2008-02-29T10:57:00.005-05:00

After a long day of changing poopy diapers, cleaning up food that has been flung and stepping on toys and books, I look forward to an hour or so of evening knitting time in front of the tv. After kissing Cashew goodnight, I quickly put away her toys, turn on the tv and grab my knitting. Ahhhh.

A perfect tv project is Cashew's sweater. It's based on the February Sweater and the EZ "taming with percentages". Round and round I go with stockinette, stopping every few rows to take measurements. Wait, did she just say "stopping every few rows"? Surely something is up if she has to keep taking measurements every few rows. Could she have a case of Knitterly Denial?

Yes. The sleeves are HUGE. My calculations for increases under the sleeve opening were correct. Just not for a sweater for a soon-to-be one-year-old! So I hooked up that sucker to the ball winder and ripped as fast and painlessly as I could. But now there are stitches to be picked up and provisional cast-ons to be fiddled with....gah. I'll work on my socks.

Ok, fresh off of Knitterly Denial, I am catching this one early. The yarn? Lovely. The pattern? Lovely. The yarn and the pattern together? Not so much. Plucky Knitter yarn knits up beautifully, but perhaps not so good for stranded work like Minty's Leyburn Socks. The yarn is fluffing up where left unknit. I have barely begun the sock and the strands are quite fluffy which means the yarn will be destroyed by the time they make it to full sockdom, much less worn. Back to the Ravelry queue I go.... maybe Nutkin... but it's tv time! Surely there is something I can knit right now!

Dude. Lace and the weigh-in on the The Biggest Loser do not go together. Did I insert a life line first? No! I was desperate to knit! This project is meant to be worked during day light hours with a fresh brain after a meal and a reasonable amount of coffee. Somewhere before the adorable stitch marker by Harlem Purls there is yarnover mayhem. It's fixable, but after 3 strikes I think the best thing to do is just take a time out.

I'm Sensing a Trend

2008-02-24T16:30:00.005-05:00

I understand that we all have favorites in terms of color. These favorites help stylize our knitting and I think that's really cool. Lately, I have loved dusty blue-ish green-ish teal-ish. It's so Annie. I can't seem to get enough of it, to the point that I almost can't help it. Honestly, I'm getting a little bored with this color family. My knitting seems a little "one note" these days. I usually see color style as a family of colors, not just one color. So I have decided to move on and knit with a larger variety of colors.

Now everything is pinks and plums!

Baby steps. *sigh*

Spring is in the Air

2008-02-19T15:30:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine had a baby girl February 1st. I thought it was very fitting to make her little bundle of joy the February Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann. The sweater sized out to be about 6 months which will be perfect for walks in the park in the spring.

The pattern was pretty easy to follow once you get the hang of the EZ way to do things. My only modifications were to put three buttons on the yoke and to knit the arms in the round. Otherwise I followed the pattern. Well, as much as the pattern was written! The yarn is Rowan Wool Cotton and the buttons are from Tender Buttons.

My friend is a wedding dress stylist. Fabrics and textures and all the details that go with them are her thing, so it was much fun for me to work on something so detail oriented. It was beyond the knitting for this one. The dress, the shoes...

Nothing is ever too pink when it comes to baby girls, me thinks! This is probably one of my favorite baby gifts yet. I just may have to make a February Sweater for Cashew. She's grown out of all her sweaters. What's a knitter to do?!?

A Dish of Towels

2008-02-14T14:57:00.006-05:00

I knew I couldn't go to dinner empty handed. So I packed a dish with towels cuz honey, I don't cook. Ha! I finally gave my friends their wedding present. They opened the box and saw the towels and said "Oh great, we need these!" and then I got to say those words that are always such fun for us DIY crafty types..."I made them." The look of surprise and delight was worth all the drama. They promised that they would use them until they were ratty and worn. Considering how huge they are (33" x 22"! They didn't quite shrink as much as the pattern said they would.) I think they will be good for throwing on the floor to mop up spills and splashes. Hooray!

Ultimately I am very pleased with how they came out. I really thought that my warping issues made this a doomed project. In the end I was able to make 3 lovely towels with only a dash of wabi-sabi. There were supposed to be 4 towels but the rewinding of the warp ate up some length.

One of my New Year's Resolution's is to never let my loom be empty for more than a week. It looks like we are finally moving and I have restarted the process of organizing our things. Time is tight but my goal is to crank out at least one small project before the loom has to be packed up. Perhaps a scarf for me...

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it...

2008-02-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

After having a baby, I find myself constantly juggling. My goal is always to make the most efficient use of my time while enjoying my new role as a mamma and still holding on to the part of myself that is familiar. I love to work out and have always been active. Having not slept well in over a year (I know, I know, it doesn't really get better) it is with great ~~desperation~~ discipline that twice a week I go to the gym in the early morning.

Going to the gym in the early morning is not my favorite thing to do. It's too early, I'm too tired, too cranky but by golly, I want my flat, post partum ass to be a muscular, flat, post partum ass so off I go. I have always enjoyed people watching and the gym is usually a great place to do such an activity. But at the early hours of my gym, there is a specific crowd. They are all over 50, they come to the gym everyday and they LOVE to talk. There's The Cougar who must talk to everyone. About herself. She will get you to talk about her, to her. She enjoys staring at herself and even says so. ("Well you know, I'm a mirror whore.") Her early morning workout is her social hour. It's so annoying, it hurts. There's The Complainer. It doesn't matter what the temperature is, it's part of her routine to complain about it to management. The Enabler of The Cougar. The Male Ex-Dancer Who Does a Ballet Bar in the Middle of the Gym Wearing Only a Singlet. One bright, painful, morning the whole gang was there. As I worked through my series of exercises their conversation started like a round of Row, Row, Row Your Boat with a new voice coming in with each repeat.

"How can you do that? You're amazing!"

"Oh it's nothing, you're amazing!"

"But you look wonderful!"

"No, YOU look wonderful!"

And suddenly the whole gang was going round and round telling each other how wonderful they were and they went on and on and on. Even the guy in the singlet. They were so happy. And I got it. It's part of their early morning gym routine and it's brilliant. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a bit of Stuart Smalley to go along with your morning cup of coffee? Wouldn't that make each day a little better?

"Goodmorning Annie! You're wonderful!"

"Aw, you're wonderful!"

"But YOU are AMAZING!"

"Ok!"

So that's not exactly realistic (and we'll say no more about that) but I was quite tickled to blog surf recently and find my ego boost in the form of a little award that several bloggers passed on to me. (Aw shucks, YOU make MY day!) And now it is with much delight that I pass on this gift.

Chemgrrl right back atcha, especially for this post.
Plucky Knitter I want all that yarn.
Ewephoric for making me laugh online and in person.
The Other Side of the Pom you are not a crazy cat lady...yet.
Yarn Bee happy colors always!
MLE so many sweaters, so little time.

To my entire blog roll, truly...you make my day.

*bell hop*

"Rear Naked Choke" Makes Me Giggle Like A School Girl

2008-02-05T15:01:00.001-05:00

At last, my GSP socks are done. Yes GSP. Georges St. Pierre. These socks are named after Georges St. Pierre. Even Yarn Harlot commented on that photo! And yes, I am clutching my hands to keep from "accidental groping". Hotty Hubby was right there. I had to behave. It was very difficult when Hotty Hubby and his coworker kept saying "How about another picture? Let's take another one! Just Annie and GSP! Stand closer! Ok, another one!" Yep, that IS a shit eating grin on my face.

Oh the socks, right right right. Widdershins with these modifications. Austermann Step yarn. Too big, a bit bulky at the heel corners, nice clean gusset. Can we go back to GSP now?

click to enlarge

Hee hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee. Hee hee.

Sometimes it's really fun to be a fan.

I Shouldn't Be Surprised

2008-02-01T13:25:00.001-05:00

With all my UFO's of '07, I find it hilarious that my first FO of '08 was started in '08. I present to you the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Yarn is Brooks Farm Acero which I purchased at NYS Sheep & Wool Festival, aka RHINEBECK.

I admit, the first time I saw a BSJ, I though "eh." The second time I saw one I thought "hmmmm." And then the third time..."I wanna! I wanna!" To be honest, there are a lot of, shall I say, interesting yarn choices used for the BSJ. Since it is a very popular pattern, there's a whole lot of ugly out there. Thanks to Ravelry, I found myself coming around to this little sweater. It's all about the yarn! And the sweater looks adorable on. And now my friends, there is no turning back. I want to make more!!! Next on my list, a BSJ that will fit a baby.

It all started with my brother announcing that he and his wife were expecting. This little surprise came not so surprisingly early. Woulda, coulda, shoulda made this sweater in December as we all figured this baby would come early since their other two did. My niece arrived a few short days before Christmas, 2 weeks before her due date. But who am I kidding, the holidays were crazy and although this sweater took roughly a week to make, I could barely finish (and still haven't finished) Cashew's Christmas stocking in time for Christmas. Since my niece was born at a healthy 5lbs, I figured that whipping out a little sweater after she was born would be no problem. I had never made a BSJ before and as many of you know, there's no real sizing with this thing. I was slightly under gauge (first clue, duh) but I really thought it would be ok. (Denial.) Cashew stayed at a NB size for the first 2 months and she was 7 1/2 lbs at birth. Surely a 5lb baby would fit in this sweater even if my gauge was off a smidge. So I knit a little this way...knit a little that way, bada bing, badda boom I had a surprise jacket for a surprise baby.

Except one thing. My niece gained 3 pounds in a month. Woulda, coulda, shoulda remembered that all my sis-in-laws babies have gained weight right quick. This sweater fit like, last week. So. The Annie Knits BSJ remains a display piece for now and will perhaps someday be worn by another brand spankin' new baby. Or Cashew's doll. Whichever comes first.

I Can't Stop Giggling

2008-01-28T22:56:00.001-05:00

Georges "Rush" St. Pierre is the #1 ranked welterweight MMA fighter in the world. Today he posed with me and my socks for a picture. Holy crapola!!! Hotty Hubby has become a big fan of the UFC in the last year or so. I saw it as open knitting time. Who would have thought I'd get into it as much as I have? (And it's not just the sweating, shirtless men with ripped abs, honest!) When Hotty Hubby told me that they were shooting GSP for a fashion spread for the magazine and that I could come to the shoot, I was so darn excited. GSP is a brilliant athlete and a high class sportsman. I don't play the star struck bit very often so today the dork factor was fairly high, but considering what a big fan I am and being invited to crash a photo shoot and having a very reputable photographer take a picture of me pretending to knock him out (on film, real print, people!) ... I am getting over my embarrassment. This was just the coolest day ever!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-01-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

Well it has been busy here! Sit 'n' Knit has a new logo! Cheryl of Yarn Bee designed a wonderful logo and I have been having so much fun with it already. (NY'ers will recognize Cheryl's work from the 2007 Spin Out logo.) Releasing a new logo is a great excuse for a party. A party is a great excuse to ask The Plucky Knitter to dye yarn in a custom colorway. A party is a great excuse to play with merchandise. A great excuse for Shameka to make the cutest stitch markers. Merchandise means opening a SnK online store. And while we are at it, start a SnK Flickr pool. And a Ravelry group. Sleep? Who needs sleep?

And you probably thought my absence from blogging was that I just wasn't coming clean about Babette! Ok, maybe I am the only one who's really concerned about my UFO's of 2007, but it's my blog and you're reading. Or at least looking. Babette is coming along, I still have a lot of squares to make, though I am quite close. If I could focus on it, I could finish.

Focus. *snort*

Speak My Language

2008-01-13T18:28:00.000-05:00

I understand that all the weaving mumbo jumbo doesn't exactly compel many of you to read my blog. To paraphrase an already succinct comment by Minty, "Greek Greek Greek Greek Greek Greek pretty weaving picture Greek Greek Greek Greek Greek Greek pretty weaving picture Greek Greek Greek Greek..."

Here's some knitting:

UFO's of 2007. I started these Widdershins (knit with Austermann Step) during the summer. They follow the rule of always having a pair of socks on the needles which is a good thing. The not so good thing is that they were rarely worked on. I have finally gotten through the heel and am enjoying finishing these. Any day now.

And speaking of heel, I figure once I finish the trees on Cashew's stocking, the heel and foot will fly. If only I can finish up those darn trees. Any day now.

Wondering why that doesn't look familiar? That's because it's from 2006! Brooke's Column of Leaves Scarf was put on the back burner, officially hibernating on Ravelry. Every now and then I pull it out and work on a pattern repeat or two. I have every intention of finishing it. I love the colors, I love the yarn (Brooks Farm Acero) I just don't have any deadline for it. So this probably won't be finished any day soon.

Babette? Yah, yah, yah.

Scotty, I Need More Power!

2008-01-10T20:49:00.001-05:00

One of the great UFO's of '07 is a set of dishtowels intended as a gift for a bridal shower back in October. I honestly believed that I could wind the warp and weave the towels in about a week. All was going well until I realized I was 20 warp threads short. I was determined to make these towels by the pattern I was following, but 20 threads short is a lot of threads. And I wanted to make 4 towels. 6 yards of warp. 490 itty bitty threads. Warp speed: sloooooooooow.

I very carefully unwound all that warp, added 20 friggin' threads and rewound. It took forever. I even enlisted the help of Hotty Hubby who not only wound bobbins of thread for the weft (and subsequently got teased ruthlessly at the gym about his "bobbins") but he learned how to turn the crank on my loom to wind the warp and claims to have dislocated his elbow in the process. (Bullocks. But it makes him feel special so play along.) The effort paid off because not only did I have the neatest warp ever, my shed is very clean and I only broke one warp thread! (I know I have lost some knitters at this point but trust me, it's all good.)

I fixed the broken warp thread by adding in a thread off the cone and weighing it with a pack of batteries (Duracell size C if you must know) and have finally started weaving. It's January, but according to Emily Post, I have 3 months to give my gift. The sad part is that I also ordered something off their registry and have been holding it hostage. I understand that I am in complete denial about what I am doing, but I am now so determined to make this happen that I have explained to my friends that their gift is, uh, back ordered and I have been so efficient at getting stuff done during Cashew's first nap that the second nap is dedicated to weaving.

And it's going well. I have finished one blue towel and have started a red one. Of course all this warp drama had me hating weaving and ready to throw in the towel. (Ha! Towel!) But once I started weaving, I fell in love all over again. It is wonderfully satisfying to watch the design grow. I have been doing a lot of plain weave and this "Huck-a-Back Blocks" is very satisfying. The draft is from Marguerite Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book but I got the pattern from Best Of Handwoven: Top Ten Towels on Four Shafts by Interweave Press.

Yes, I am aware that I am pushing it with this Emily Post thing, but I am determined. And completely off my rocker. Woo hoo!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T14:24:00.001-05:00

Like last year, I will reveal my UFO's, what sadistic fun! But not today, as today is for acknowledging all that did get finished. 18 projects and 1 Cashew, not too bad! 2007 has been a crazy year, filled with friends, diapers and yarn. I don't expect 2008 to be much different in the amount of crazy thrown around, but perhaps I will figure out how to get in a few more rows.

I am wishing you all a very Happy New Year. Here's to more yarn!

Salut!

Non-Knitters Can Rule, Too

2007-12-28T19:13:00.000-05:00

Alas, Cashew's stocking did not get finished. I made it to the ankle, and on the 22nd we realized we still didn't have a tree, and with family coming on the 23rd, time was tight. I could finish it, but only if I was locked in a room with snacks and all 6 seasons of Sex in the City. Obviously, that wasn't an option. Luckily, Cashew won't get the whole Christmas thing for a couple more years yet. And therefore, I still rule as the cool Mommy who handknit a stocking for her kiddo. Ok, I intend to finish the sock this week, but am taking a small break to finish some other projects. All this finishing is very difficult after receiving this gift below from Hotty Hubby. It's "Knit Me" Noro Kureyon Sock yarn!

"I know you said you only wanted one skein, but I got you two."

Isn't amazing how a non-knitter can get it? I mean, just really get it? Wait 'til I tell you what my FIL did...

Warm and Fuzzy

2007-12-19T23:20:00.001-05:00

Another FO! Whipped out in a hurry for a very special party. This past weekend was the 3rd Annual Sit 'n' Knit Holiday Party. It gets bigger and better every year! I was very happy with the positive response (60 RSVP's in 24 hours!) and the party was a blast. Of course, having an open bar helps. I mentioned that it was a PARTY, right?

Every year we have had a gift exchange, the rule being that the item must be handmade and the yarn from your stash. I have had some burgundy Malabrigo lingering in the wings and have been eyeing Minty's Bainbridge Scarf. It was a delightful knit! I modified for my yarn by casting 130 stitches and otherwise followed as written.

The gift exchange was a lot of fun and had more variety this year. Scarves, neckwarmers, washcloths, fingerless mitts, Haagen Daz cozies, heck, even thrummed mittens! I received a lovely alpaca/silk scarf and I was tickled that my Bainbridge matched the recipients' eyeglasses perfectly.

This year has been a challenge with being pregnant and having a baby and adjusting to life with a baby. I have struggled to keep organizing Sit 'n' Knit through all the adjustments. Many members picked up the slack by guest hosting and initiating events and suggesting venues. Thank you!!! It has meant so much to me to hear how much the group means to others. I love the color and variety of the personalities that come together for the sake of good times and yarn. It's like the most beautiful variegated yarn knit into a very warm and fuzzy scarf. I am honored to call the members of Sit 'n' Knit my friends!

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty!

2007-12-17T17:17:00.001-05:00

La, la la la la la la, la, la la! At last, Juliet is complete! I started this back in October in hopes of wearing it to the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival. But that didn't happen. And then I thought I could finish it in time for Tawana's baby shower. But that didn't happen. And finally, I was determined that I would have it done in time to wear to the Sit 'n' Knit Holiday Party and by golly, that happened!

So why was I so slow? Well, life with a baby cuts into knitting time. That and I kinda fell out of love with this project. I am not fan of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky. (Here's why.) I started second guessing the style for my figure. I was worried that it was going to be too baggy because of a small error I made. And then I finished it. AND I LOVE IT! More than I thought I would. Finally, a sweater I made that I will wear in public!

After perusing the Juliet's on Ravelry and learning that this sweater tends to run big, I decided to make the XS. I did an extra set of increases at the arm holes, which in the end, I probably didn't need to do. My mistake came when working down the body after the arm holes. I forgot to decrease to get back to the correct number of stitches. Thankfully, I was only over by 4 stitches. Even so, 4 stitches is practically an inch at this gauge. I was in too much of a rush with various deadlines to get this puppy done, so I was not going to fiddle with the math for the lace bit. So I just added the extra stitches to the edge, making the border 5 garter stitches as opposed to 3. It worked out pretty well, though I thought the body was going to end up as big as a ball gown. I haven't blocked it yet, so we'll see what happens.

The buttons are from Tender Buttons. I had a bunch of different buttons laid out on a table at the store and this guy walks by and points to the ones in the photo above and said "I like those." and walked away. I immediately put the other buttons away and purchased these lovelies. Sometimes you just need someone else to make the decision for you. Thanks, man!

As for the scarf from my other post, no, it was not for the Sit 'n' Knit Gift Exchange. My clue was subtle, but I thought for sure that my mom would get the hint. (She didn't. "Blueberries? Who's in Maine?") The scarf was sent off to Helga in Finland! As for the Sit 'n' Knit party, it was a blast. I have a whole separate blog post for that one!

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

The Annie Knits Dance Team presents... click me!

The Gift of Blocking

2007-12-05T21:42:00.001-05:00

And now we take a break from the creepy knitting to bring you this finished project! The Gift of Friendship Scarf by Christine McKnight knit with Schaefer Anne.

This was a great knit! The pattern is very easy to memorize. A bitch to tink, but using a life line was a life saver. I used a fingering weight and didn't really worry about gauge. What I should have worried about was pre-blocking vs blocking. Note to self - knit a swatch and wash and block to calculate percentage of growth next time you knit a lace project where gauge isn't critical. Duh.

Pre-blocking the scarf measured 7.5" wide and 32" long. Kind of short, I know. I figured I'd knit until I got good and tired of knitting. Schaefer Anne has a lot of yardage so I got good and tired of knitting a little sooner than I expected. I kept guesstimating how long the scarf was actually going to be, and I guess all that thinking hurt my head because one night I just decided that I was done. (See the note to self above.) I finished the garter edge and decided that I had planned all along for a shorter scarf. And truthfully, I like this scarf shorter. It's not meant to be a muffler, just some fluff for the neck area to keep out the draft. I like how it looks draping across the front of the neck, crossing the ends behind the neck and bringing the ends back to the front and tucking. (Basically the exact opposite of how a scarf is traditionally wrapped.)

With blocking it measures 8" wide and 44.5" long. Not too bad! I love how the mesh highlights the subtle color changes in the yarn. The yarn reminds me of blueberry bushes. Any guesses as to where this scarf is going? It is a gift, after all...

I Tried to Knit Good

2007-11-27T10:53:00.000-05:00

Well. This started as a stranding project. I was so excited about knitting with two hands. That's right. Throwing with the right and picking with the left. Then I got to the (creepy) children and I thought ok, this is where it's gonna get fun. LIKE, SO NOT. The gaps are too big to carry the yarn in back. I tried intarsia. Yah, that's difficult in the round. So I read about the Festive Knitting method. Works conceptually but this project is too small and fiddly. Finally I settled on duplicate stitch. Tons and tons of duplicate stitch.

That's a lot of ends to weave in. I don't know if my adult onset ADD can handle it.

Knowwhaimsayin?

2007-11-25T12:10:00.001-05:00

The weather has been chilly and a pile of handknit socks sit in my drawer. I put this pair of Jaywalkers on this morning and had this deep thought: There is nothing quite like the feel of handknit socks - period.

Hooray for knitting!

36 Days 'Til Christmas

2007-11-20T12:12:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to (blogless?) Sharon for winning my No Movement Move Contest! I look forward to seeing a picture of your completed smoke ring scarf thingy.

I loved reading all the comments! It was quite interesting how those 2 skeins of yarn called out to everyone so differently.

Now I haven't much time to chat today. There are 36 days left until Christmas and I have a very important project to finish!

KNIT, KNIT, KNIT!

The Current Situation

2007-11-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

Remember the Great Terrace Tragedy of '06? Apparently it was just a warm up.

Last winter, Hotty Hubby and I started shopping for an apartment. We found one. We hired a lawyer and made our down payment. The building was a rental and is in the process of being converted to condominiums. How nice! Brand new apartment, a couple customized renovations worked into the contract... We should be able to move in August. September. October. November. Someday.

Le sigh.

Needless to say, our current apartment is just a tad too small and thus the reason for the move. (Though no matter how big or small your family is, you can pretty much make that statement for any NYC apartment.) I have been spending every spare moment downsizing. I call it "downsizing" when the truth of the matter is I am just "sizing". Baby gear and Hotty Hubby's wine habit coupled with my yarn habit has us bursting at the seams. I am basically trying to make everything fit right now in the hopes that we can survive a few more days/weeks/months in this space.

Anyhoo, I went through my yarn and decided that knitting really isn't my thing so I put my whole stash for sale on ebay.

Oh I am funny! Yes, indeed! Ok, I am not about to quit knitting and certainly not selling my entire stash. I did put some goodies up for grabs and you can bid on them here. Better hurry, bidding ends soon!

However, what fun is stash-busting without a freebie?

I have this here Morehouse Merino laceweight. I bought it at the Union Square Greenmarket about 2 years ago. I am not exactly sure of the yardage, I am guessing there is a total of 420 yards with these two skeins. I love the vibrant yet earthy colors, but never made anything with it. Morehouse laceweight is very unique. It has a rustic look to it. I think it is quite neat. So why am I giving it away? I think YOU can make something better with it. And don't worry, I have other Morehouse Merino laceweight in my stash, I truly am cool with passing this on.

So, if you want this yarn, leave me a comment (with your email address AT DOTcom thing) stating what you envision it as. Could be knitting, crochet or weaving. From those who leave their artistic musings, I will put their names into a hat and have a drawing. The winner gets the yarn! How's that for getting your mind off a bunch of "Say no to Crack" Plumber Butt Contractors?

I'm an FO Ho!

2007-11-05T13:26:00.000-05:00

Well, look at that! Another FO. Go me. Cashew isn't quite ready for her hardcore winter hats that Grandma brought from Finland, and her other little cream cap is too small. Thank goodness Mommy can knit. How ever could this bumpkin continue on the cuteness factor without a sweet little bonnet?

Baby Bonnet from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. Yarn is Morehouse Merino, I am not sure what colorway. Natural and more natural? Anyhoo, I got gauge, it's soft and warm and is cute to boot. My only modification was to add a couple extra rows of garter stitch to the bottom edge to sufficiently cover Cashew's ears and get a little more wear out of it as her noggin grows. My favorite part is the i-cord edging. I can't believe that this is my first time doing an i-cord edge. It is so cool! It's neat looking and easy-peasy. So adding that to the Annie Book of Knowledge to pull out next time I want to get all fancy with my knitting.

And speaking of fancy knitting, I have a couple more projects to finish before I can get to work on Cashew's Christmas stocking. So many stitches...so little time...

Cashew Finally Has a Sweater

2007-10-31T22:22:00.000-04:00

My Mom knit me this sweater. Ho hum.

I want to eat it, not wear it. it's only going to fit me for about 2 more weeks, anyway!

Child's Placket-Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. Knit with Manos Cotton Stria in colorway number...uh, pink. Size made is 6-12 months, no modifications and pretty much spot on with the sizing in the pattern. Wood beads were found on Etsy at Jingjingdesign. I have made this sweater 3 times, it's a good one! Made in cotton, machine wash and dry, what's not to love?

Pity Party

2007-10-25T21:01:00.000-04:00

Friday morning I woke up feeling like hell. No sleep, a head filled with fog. I had been in denial for 2 days. I couldn't possibly have a cold, I have a power immune system! But considering that for the last couple of weeks the words "lacking", "in need of" and "sleep" found their way into every other sentence coming out of my mouth, I finally crumbled. Just in time for Rhinebeck.

Hotty Hubby, Cashew and I made our way up to Rhinebeck late Friday afternoon. After getting Cashew settled, I crawled into bed, downed whatever homeopathic remedies were considered safe for a breastfeeding mum and used up every tissue available to me. Somehow I managed to work 2 lace repeats for Juliet. But that's it.

We have hardly traveled with Cashew. And where as we know things are different, and we need to plan and be incredibly organized, the words "lacking", "in need of" and "sleep" once again took their toll. We were running late for everything! We were spending the weekend in Rhinebeck to attend a friend's wedding, so we figured we'd spend the morning at the Sheep & Wool Festival and then make our way back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

Ha ha.

We did make it to the Festival, but not until about noon, which left me an hour and a half to yarn shop, meet fellow Ravelers and play Blogger Bingo. Stuffing my pockets with tissues and doing my best not to get anyone else sick (People whom I recognized tended to hug in glee, I am really, really sorry if you caught my cold.) I just started walking up to random groups of people and saying "I'm Annie Knits!" Knit Bloggers looked at me, looked at their Bingo cards and shrugged. They all had the other Annie Knits. I didn't meet one person who had me on their card!

Desperate to walk away from Rhinebeck with at least something other than a pocket full of snot rags, I decided to splurge on this Qiviuk blend lace weight. It is just lovely. Expensive. Lovely. It was my only purchase on day one. Feeling pressed for time and stressed, I frantically shopped a few other booths and I pushed into crowds of people and grabbed and searched in desperation but I felt nothing. (TRY, Morales, all alone!)

Hotty Hubby however, had an excellent time! The cheeses, lamb barbecue, cider doughnuts, venison... When we met up to make our way out of the fairgrounds, he says to me "We are SO coming back tomorrow!"

Ok. Twist my arm.

Since I was so depressed and disappointed after day one, I decided day two has to be better. So I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, and I tried...to shop!

With Hotty Hubby and Cashew as my collective muse, I found the best medicine for my sniffles. I knew I wanted mostly solids, and I paid more attention to fiber content. Oh, I am so happy! There's yarn for sweaters for Cashew, socks for Hotty Hubby, socks for me, yarns to weave with, yarns to pet, delightful! (If you really want to know specifically what all those yarns are and what vendors I visited, I summed it up here.)

And even though Cashew may never enjoy knitting the way I do, and I don't expect her to, I couldn't help but giggle as she smiled in glee as she squished yarn at her first Sheep & Wool Festival!

Despite "lacking", "in need of" and "sleep", we had a great time.

Rhinebeck

2007-10-18T20:30:00.001-04:00

I'm trying, I'm trying! I am sneaking in as much knitting time as possible, but yee gads, if I get this done it will be by the skin of my teeth. We are leaving Friday morning for Rhinebeck. Maybe if Hotty Hubby drives, I can knit. Maybe at lunch I can knit. And maybe Friday night I can hole up in our room and knit. And then maybe, just maybe I can sew on the buttons Saturday morning. And maybe I will show up at the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival wearing Juliet.

Maybe.

One thing I know for sure is that Cashew will not be wearing her sweater. I can't finish both sweaters, and this one is being sacrificed because it is too big. Cashew may be growing (2 teeth!) but she's still a tiny thing. So I've slowed down on her sweater.

One thing I will definitely be wearing is my pin. So catch me if you can, I'll be there Saturday morning!

Gah - Part III

2007-10-14T08:28:00.001-04:00

The Zephyr Gals totally pulled through! They answered my email and helped me get my hands on that pattern. Juliet has begun. Hooray! Yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky in color 16023.

So why the Gah - Part III?

See those 2 threads hanging there? There are supposed to be 26 of them hanging there. I am missing 24 threads.

Go ahead, say it out loud. I did. GAH.

Gah - Part II

2007-10-11T14:21:00.000-04:00

It's not like I don't have raglan decreases to do.

Or a scarf to finish.

Or heck, heddles to thread.

No, I decided that it would be more fun to spend this rainy, gloomy day bucking my head against a brick wall. Last night while trying on new jeans (hooray!), I decided to try on Blouson. It just doesn't fit right. The bottom pleats are really bothering me and the neckline is too high. It just bugs me. So after seeing a cute sweater in a store the other day, I thought, hey, that looks a lot like Juliet! Hey, I could knit that! Hey, I could knit that and wear it to Rhinebeck!

So today I virtually hopped on over to Zephyr Style and clicked on the pattern and hit that button which says "Buy Now". Yes, please! And up pops Paypal.

Add curse word here: _______

After the lesson with the beads, I thought, note to self - keep a low balance in Paypal account so you don't have to wait for checks to clear. Especially checks written for ridiculously low amounts like $7. When did I remember this note? After I bought my pattern for $5.50. Guess when the check is scheduled to clear? OCTOBER 16.

Sometimes despite waiting for a check to clear, the merchant will send you your item. I have yet to receive my pattern via PDF. I have emailed them asking for an alternative way to send payment so that I can get my pattern like, today. I have yarn! I have needles! Will knit! But I haven't heard back from them yet.

Gah.

Gah.

2007-10-10T09:23:00.000-04:00

I know, this project is not part of my Holiday Plan. But it is a New Year's Knitting Resolution so I've added it to my growing pile of WIP's. (What happened to the discipline gained with my June Plan? It got rewarded with more yarn which resulted in more WIP's which proved that I have a lot of work to do in the focus department.)

Anyhoo, there is this thing that I'm sure you all have heard about called Secret of the Stole. I jumped right in because it sounded like fun. I have been wanting to knit serious lace and made it a New Year's Knitting Resolution for 2007. Yes, "serious" lace. Not lacey socks, or a kinda lacey scarf. Lace lace. Choosing a pattern and yarn has proven difficult and I couldn't move forward on my resolution. Until Shameka told me about Secret of the Stole. Suddenly I found myself shopping for yarn and beads. BEADS. I don't DO beads, people. I don't DO stoles. I don't DO purple...but I saw this Aubergine by The Plucky Knitter and I emailed Sarah about it and bada bing, bada boom, she dyed two skeins for me and I started shopping for beads. BEADS.

My knitting group had a Sit 'n' Knit in Secret to kick off the knitalong. And my yarn arrived just in time. As in, on my way out the door I chatted up my mailman to check his mail bag for a soft package and he said "No, I don't think there's anything here...." THAT one. That looks like yarn, Mr. Mailman! So he grabbed the last package and sure enough it was my yarn.

Puhleeze. I am an experienced knitter. I know when a package has yarn in it.

But my beads? I love Paypal. It has been my enabler on many occasions. But when you've used up your yarn money stash and it has to link to your checking account, it can take many days to clear a check. A check for $7. I have been practically harassing Sarah about my yarn for two weeks and in the end it's the BLEEPIN' BEADS holding me back.

I hope my serious lace is seriously beautiful because this is seriously coo coo.

I'm Funny! Really!

2007-10-04T10:41:00.001-04:00

I'm guessing that by the lack of comments on my last post no one got my joke. Or, eh hem. Maybe I just wasn't that funny. Or interesting. Chante laughed though. She knows I am the worst spinner ever, evidence in the photo posted the other day. Heck, you should see the photo she posted on her blog. That horrible blob on the left side of the bobbin was spun by ME. With my own little hands and feet and it was a MESS. It was fun though. But it will take a lot of practice before I can spin anything worth keeping. So I'll stick to knitting, crochet and weaving at my loom for now. I see you all nodding in agreement, except Chante. I can almost hear her saying "No! No! You just need a little more practice....get a wheel, you'll love it!"

Heh heh.

So knitting. Things have been busy here, and I haven't had much time to knit. But with Rhinebeck coming up soon, I need to get crackin'! Today I will work on the sleeves for Cashew's Rhinebeck sweater. And perhaps finishing that project will lead to an interesting and witty post. Maybe not.

Fiber Filled

2007-09-30T11:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend was filled with all sorts of fiber fun. I had a lovely time at the Spin-Out in Central Park. Chante sat me down at her wheel and taught me how to spin. Above is a picture of my very first handspun on a wheel. Not bad huh? Pretty good for a beginner. Too bad Chante is not that great of a spinner because that blob on the left is embarrassing. *snort*

All you enablers, I know practice will make it better, but I'll stick to knitting the yarn you spin. I don't see a wheel in my future. But I did invite Chante to sit down at my loom and have a go.

And speaking on knitting while others spin, Sit 'n' Knit met up as well. I am making Cashew her own Rhinebeck sweater using Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria and the good ol' Placket-Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

And upon returning home, I wove a couple more placemats. A good day, indeed!

Get It? Got It! Good.

2007-09-26T08:28:00.001-04:00

I have finally moved on. After asking the same questions over and over again, I walked away from the loom for a couple of days. I stopped thinking about the two threads per end thing. And then this past weekend I sat down at my loom and began to thread. There are two threads per warp end and I am going to thread them as singles.

The grand revelation? It works just the same.

So all you experienced weavers out there who are wondering with furrowed brow what to do when you come across two threads per warp end and you only need one and are utterly confused by this little dilemma - you can measure your warp with "two ends in hand". It doesn't mess up the cross, it doesn't mess up the shed. In fact, it can make things go more quickly. So pluck that little tip from the Annie Tree of Knowledge and finally get a good nights sleep. If you need any more help, just let me know. I'm here for you.

The poppana? Eh. I decided not to use it and instead am making placemats using Nashua Ecologie Cotton in various colorways. I'm loving this project now!

And for all my knitting buddies that got a headache from all this weaving speak...

Thanks for commenting anyway!

Koigu for Sale

2007-09-19T10:30:00.001-04:00

I am desperately trying to sell this yarn. 13 skeins of Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe in color 1144. All skeins are the same dyelot. I have listed it on ebay and the bidding ends today. I bought it for $13 a skein and have started the bid at $75. (Worth $169!)

Help me make room in my stash! Bid!

Blouson is On!

2007-09-15T13:56:00.001-04:00

Well there it is. My Rhinebeck sweater. 1824 Blouson by Mari Lynn Patrick from Interweave Knits Summer 2007. Knit with Cascade 220 The Heathers, color 9450. I LOVE this color. Unfortunately the lighting in my apartment was not cooperating this morning and it looks more gray and washed out then it actually is. I can't fire my photographer because I'm married to him and he's the only other person in our house who can hold a camera without chewing it and drooling all over it.

For the most part, I am happy with this sweater. I even like the reverse stockinette! This pattern was easy to knit yet not boring because of the interesting finishing details. (My pleat tutorial is here.) My woulda, shoulda, coulda would be the size. I don't knit a lot of sweaters for myself, so I was fudging my size vs ease. I knit the smallest size which measures a 34" bust. I learned the hard way that the drape is not built in to the pattern. You have to knit up a size to get the drape. You can see more information about that here. (Wish this info been posted earlier!) If I could do it over, (and I probably won't) I would knit the next size up. I love the blouse effect of this sweater. I love how the sleeves turned out, but the waist isn't blousey. I blocked the hell out of it, but that just flattened the pleats, so there is not much of a blouse effect at all. Maybe when my boobs go back to pre-breast feeding size, there will be more blouse in my Blouson.

If I Understood I'd Tromp as Writ

2007-09-10T16:56:00.000-04:00

So my mom emails my family in Finland. Liisa reads my blog. She talks to her daughter Anna-Leena on the phone. Anna-Leena posts a comment to my blog translating the piece of paper. While all that is happening, Natalie's boyfriend tells her that "reunassa vahvikelangat" means "sides have re-enforced wool". Christine emails me, providing me not only with a manual of Finnish weaving terms, but a picture of what my weaving will look like. At least we think it will look like. I still have questions. So since the blogosphere has been a great help, let's go for round 2, shall we?

My loom - LeClerc 4 Harness
My weft - Poppana
My reed - 10 dent ordered and on it's way

According to Christine, I use 2 harnesses and thread them and treadle them as written. I don't understand how I treadle 1,1,1 though. According to Anna-Leena and Liisa, I am supposed to thread 2 threads per dent for the first two holes on both sides, (I think that explains the "reunassa vahvikelangat") and all the other dents should be threaded with a single thread. With a single thread. But each warp end has two threads. I am lost in translation. Is it each warp end per dent, or each thread per dent? Warp end (two threads) makes sense to me, but oh whoah is me with the new weaving terminology mixed in with a foreign language.

I have all these errands to run and phone calls to make and I can't because there are 2 threads per warp end. Do I thread through the heddles with a warp end or a single thread? If I am supposed to thread the reed with single threads per dent, why is the warp made of doubled thread? Where's that email from Christine with the Finnish manual? I am trying desperately to wrap my head around what is probably the simplest and easiest project ever.

Single thread per dent, but there are 2 threads per warp end.

Help.

Apua

2007-09-09T10:03:00.001-04:00

Every summer my mom goes to Finland. I must say, this works out very well for me, as she always brings back some neat yarn from the country where it seems like everyone knits and weaves. One summer she brought me this weaving project. The warp and weft are ready to go and I have been waiting to get better at weaving before I put this on my loom. I didn't want my beginner clumsiness to screw it up. However, I think the bigger problem is the little piece of paper that seems to hold some instructions. I don't speak Finnish. No biggy, right? Using my Finnish to English dictionary, I have figured out some words, and I am hoping that as I wind the warp on my loom some of these numbers will start to make sense. Meanwhile my brow is furrowed as I stare at this piece of paper, willing an English translation. I see Botox in my future.

If you speak Finnish or know anyone who does and can offer some assistance, I'd greatly appreciate it! So would my forehead.

Kiitos!

Clean Dishtowels

2007-09-06T19:21:00.000-04:00

All this knitting really slows down my weaving. So this post is dedicated to my poor dishtowels, which have been finished for over a week and have been patiently waiting for their moment to show off. And seeing as these are my first dishtowels ever, I really need a moment to toot my own horn. Oh wait, I was writing as if my dishtowels were alive and had feelings... but who are we kidding.It's my blog and my bragging rights. Rock on!

So above is a photo of my Fibonacci inspired towels fresh off the loom. Kind of stiff looking. Kinda eck. But the beauty of weaving is similar to the thrill of blocking lace. Give them a hot bath and a hot iron and ta da!

They shrunk about 2 inches in length and one inch in width. They are much softer, though still burlappy. A little thick. And then I remind myself that they are handwoven dishtowels, not machine made towels from Williams Sonoma. That's right. Snuh-ap!

While admiring them, Hotty Hubby asked if we could actually use them. Use them? As flattering as I think it is that my very Hotty Hubby actually wants to sop up whatever dark, greasy whoknowswhatthatgoois with them, I am not ready to stain these towels. I promised him that I would make him his own set that he could trash with coffee grounds all he wanted.

Knowing that the fibers will bloom when washed, I was still nervous about my very obvious threading sequence remaining visible. See how the vertical lines in the towel are making their own little pattern?

After two hot washes and two tumbles in the dryer, everything bloomed just fine. The only thing that bothers me is that even after ironing, the fabric is very wrinkly, like a brown paper bag that was crinkled and that flattened out. I don't know why this is, perhaps it had to do with tension? Or the cotton used? Or my sett? I don't know. Overall, I am very happy with my first go at dishtowels and I look forward to making more. I have another warp for a different project ready to go and I am debating winding it on the loom and trying to bust out another FO before we move. Hmmm....

Let the Finishing Begin

2007-09-04T07:49:00.001-04:00

After blocking the front and back of my Blouson, I was worried that they were a tad short. My row gauge was a bit off, and it was naturally going to affect the fit. I had used a crochet cast on which made it very easy to unzip and put the stitches back on the needle and knit down another inch or so. This also gave me a chance to experiment with the pleats. The pattern says to pick up the stitches from bound off edges, here I would have the opportunity to make the pleats with live stitches. My sleeves were pleated using the method called for in the pattern, the front and back are pleated with my own method. Let's have a looky at how it's done and the finished results.

First I pinch and folded my pleats. (Sidenote on this matter, the pattern calls for 1.5 inch pleats on the sleeve which is huge compared to the pleats for the body. I did 4 smaller pleats instead.)

Using a crochet hook I picked up stitches and placed them on a needle. When I came to the pleat, I picked up through all three layers of fabric.

And there you have it, a nice, clean pleat! Each pleat was about 4 or 5 stitches wide, roughly 1 inch. This one is 1/2 done.

For the front and back pieces which had live stitches, I started with a life line. If all else failed, I could rip out my pleats and start over with the creating the pleats as written.

I marked the pleats as before, which was in a way easier to do as I could count stitches to make my total number of stitches accurate. My pleats used 9 stitches total.

I picked up each stitch one at a time, keeping my life line in place.

When I got to the pleat, I picked up the 3 stitches from each layer. They have to be lined up, which if you take the time and care to work that out beforehand, like the picture above, the pleat is really easy.

The finished result! Looks pretty much the same as the pleat that was picked up from a bound off edge. The time it took to do either was about the same, the level of difficulty was about the same. The live stitches might be slightly more tedious, the major difference was on the wrong side.

To pick up the stitches as written results in a very bulky edge. Considering there is still some stockinette to go with a hem, that's a lot of stuff around the cuff. (Rhyme intended, thankyouverymuch.)

So there you have it. The pleats of Blouson. A neat detail for a basic sweater. I am so close to being finished...

Contest Results

2007-08-31T17:34:00.001-04:00

"It has raisins in it. You like raisins."

For the 1000 yards of Brook's Farm Primero, contestants had to quote the movie Better Off Dead. Hilarious! 33 names were entered into the hat. (Wow!) Most common quote was of course, "TWO DOLLARS!" Some of my favorites: "Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn!" "Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky" "This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?!?" "Now that's a real shame, folks throwing away a perfectly good white boy like that." Most obscure quote came from Jesse: "I've been going to this high school for 7 1/2 years. I'm no dummy. I know high school girls." Rock on!

And now the moment you have been waiting for...the name drawn by Hotty Hubby (with his eyes closed) was Chemgrrl! (no blog listed) Congratulations! You be getting yarn.

"I like to party so I like my Jesus to party."

For the 500 yards of Brook's Farm variegated Primero, contestants had to quote the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Again, hilarious! 23 names were collected for the drawing. Interesting, I thought this movie would be easier for people to quote, but Better Off Dead proved popular. (Or maybe it was the yarn?) Most popular quote, "Shake and Bake" and "If you ain't first, you're last", of course. My favorites: "Hi, my name's Ricky Bobby. If you don't chew Big Red then f*ck you!" "If we wanted wussy boys we would have named them Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman!" "I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew!" "I don't know what to do with my hands." "Dear 8 pounds 6 ounces baby Jesus, new born, not even spoken a word yet..." Could go on and on...but I won't... Quote that made me laugh the most was from Lori: "Dear Lord baby Jesus we thank you so much for the bountiful harvest of Domino's, KFC and always delicious Taco Bell."

And now to the big winner ....Hotty Hubby drew Jesse! Congratulations! Yarn is coming your way, hooray!

If you have yet to see either movie and need a couple of laughs, well you know what to do.

Contest Closed

2007-08-30T11:06:00.001-04:00

Everytime I check my email, I am laughing as I see a new quote come in. Yah, that's a good one, yep, one of my favorites, too. Oh look, another person talking about getting kicked out of Applebees! Hilarious! Everyone who sent me a quote (or quotes) will be entered into a hat. The drawing will take place tomorrow and I will post the winners by tomorrow evening-ish.

ETA: I haven't published the comments from people who have entered the contest. I will tomorrow! So don't worry if you don't see your comment in the previous post. However, if you are worried that you forgot to include your email address, go ahead and leave a comment! They are still being moderated. Mostly because I am too lazy to change it.

Now excuse me as I run, I have a knitting date with Penelope. (Crying worked!) My Austerman Step in color 22 is divided and ready. The question is, will it be knit into Widdershins or basic toe-ups? Stay tuned.

All Better

2007-08-28T11:29:00.001-04:00

Like a wilted flower that's been given water! 24 comments left on my previous post. Y'all are just swell. And since some lurkers have come out of lurkdom, I have new blogs to read! Now I'm in such good spirits, I want to give away yarn. Yes, give it away! In a contest, that is.

1,000 yards of Brooks Farm Primero in a rich coral/salmon color. 100% mohair in what I would call a heavy lace weight.

500 yards of of Primero in a variegated colorway that includes the salmon/coral, lavender and a goldish hue. Lovely.

To win, you must write in the comments section your favorite quote from the movie "Better Off Dead" for the 1,000 yards of Primero. Your favorite quote from "Talladega Nights" for the 500 yards of the variegated Primero. Names will be put into a hat for each batch of yarn. Give me quotes from both movies, you get entered in both hats. Give me more than one quote, I will enter your name as many times (up to 5 times.) Don't forget to include your email address so I can contact you. (Do the blankATblankDOTcom thing if you are worried about spammers.) No email, no contest for you!

ETA: Comment moderation fixed! So you can't cheat.

"Better Off Dead" quotes for the 1,000 yards, "Talladega Nights" for the 500 yards. May the best quoter win!

Cry Baby

2007-08-26T13:03:00.001-04:00

Sit 'n' Knit is on a break. I really enjoy organizing the group and planning events, though this past year has been more of a challenge, with having a baby and all. Thankfully the members have really helped to keep it going. I am taking this time to come back with a bang in September and get most of the fall's events organized. However, I am sad. I miss those weekly get together's, gosh darn it! With all the laughter and stories and knitting progress (or lack of).

So here I sit at home. It's a Sunday afternoon and Hotty Hubby has baby duty. I will be knitting. Alone. After I sit here and blog. Alone.

Plus, I am averaging about 6 comments per blog post and tumbleweeds posing as email in my inbox.

Do I smell?

Seriously, I miss y'all and just because Sit 'n' Knit is on a break, doesn't mean that I am not up for parking my butt somewhere with a glass of ice tea (spiked or not...well, preferably spiked, me thinks.).

And would it kill you to comment?

(Yes, I need attention. I love my knitting buddies. Do you love me?)

The Plan

2007-08-22T10:57:00.001-04:00

Gift of Friendship Scarf, Schaefer Anne yarn

Blouson pieces are blocking, so what better time to cast on for more projects? I was thinking that this year I wouldn't make any gifts. Truthfully, I'm not sure my recipients understand that I knit my gifts because I really do like to knit and am not some psychotic Martha Stewart type. Someone recently said to me that they didn't know what to get us for a baby gift since I had knit their son a sweater. Oh geez.

So no handknit gifts this year. Truth is, how much time do I have to make anything? That was my thinking sometime midsummer. And now here I am today, suddenly with a list of things I want to make as gifts. WHAT HAPPENED? Perhaps it was the last couple days which were cool and rainy. Fall is in the air. Oh crappidy crap. I have the best of intentions, and I think my long list of gifts comes out of thinking of the person and wanting to show how much I care through one of my favorite activities: twirling yarn with sticks.

How will I do it? Two important things I have learned since having a baby. First: be prepared as early as possible with a plan. Second: be prepared to ditch the plan. So, the most important gifts that I really, really think are truly necessary, they will be knit in September. Should they take longer to finish than anticipated, they will still be finished before the holidays. Next level of gifts will be knit between October and November. These recipients will most likely appreciate the gifts and find it neat that I made them, but won't be expecting anything so if I have to ditch, I won't look as lame as I'll feel about it. And December is for baby gifts. A baby gift can be given at any time, so not as much of an intense deadline. But somewhere between all those projects, there is a sweater for Cashew to wear to Rhinebeck, boot socks for me and a lace shawl before the end of the year. Did I mention that we plan on moving in November? Yah, that's were lesson #2 comes in. Something will be ditched. Ah well.

September - VERY IMPORTANT
Christmas Stocking for Cashew
Gift of Friendship Scarf
Log Cabin Socks

October/November - Would be nice...
Man socks (Nancy Bush?)
Calla Coasters

December - BABIES BABIES BABIES
Baby Blanket
Baby Socks
Baby Sweaters - possibly 3!!!

That list seemed a little longer in my head. I think that's because I look at my stash and say ooh, I wanna make this...I wanna make that... But this list is just gifts. For whom, you ask? Like I'm gonna tell you.

So there are a few more days left of August, a few more days left of summer. I have just a little bit more weaving to do on my loom, some tweaks on Blouson, and so close to being finished with all my squares for Babette. FO's by Labor Day! That's the plan, anyway...

Say What?

2007-08-15T16:48:00.001-04:00

My world is reverse stockinette. Sometimes I feel bad about not doing something more complicated than Blouson. And then I remember that knitting is knitting. The yarn is pretty and I do not tire of looking at it. The front and back have flown and I am already on the sleeves so I am not tired of working on it. The finishing will be interesting and different. Wait...am I actually enjoying monogamous knitting?

Whoah.

Aw, Shucks!

2007-08-09T10:43:00.001-04:00

Thank you to MLE Knits for nominating me for Rockin' Girl Blogger! I woke up very cranky this morning and when I checked my bloglines at the crack of dawn, I found myself chuckling in glee.

So, in honor of MLE giving me a shout out for being a crafty mommy, I'd like to pass the fun on to my fellow crafty mommies.

Knittypants - 4 children. Homeschool. Knits while breastfeeding. 'Nuff said.

Liz K - She wrote a fantastic post about knowing when to set the yarn aside.

Gleek - My email pal. Nice to know I'm not the only one feeding at 1:30am.

Hila - I know her secret to all that knitting progress. An established bedtime routine. 7pm. Noted!

Chante - She knits, spins, makes stitch markers. And her son is a sweetie.

Now go read their blogs! (Yes, mom!)

Blous On!

2007-08-07T16:42:00.001-04:00

Well, I guess I answered my own question. After spitting out all my thoughts about Blouson, I just kept knitting. I made it to the shoulder decreases and started decreasing. I'll save an EZ experiment for an EZ pattern. And at the rate that this project is going, perhaps I will start one sooner than later!

Isn't it funny that when starting a new pattern, there is a section of the brain that starts rewriting before you even really know what's going on? I don't know that my way would have been easier, just different. Maybe that is part of the attraction to knitting - I get to problem solve even when there really isn't a problem.

Better to do that with my knitting than with something else?

WWEZD?

2007-08-06T11:50:00.000-04:00

It is with much trepidation that I start my next project. I have been wanting to make Blouson since I first opened the summer '07 Interweave Knits magazine. I have the cast-on jitters. I recently acquired some Elizabeth Zimmermann books (thank you Ravelry, for linking directly to Amazon.com) and even though I am new to the EZ experience, I can't help but ask, what would Elizabeth Zimmermann do?

The sweater is all reverse stockinette, so it is the construction that I find myself picking apart.

Knit the back piece, knit the front, knit the arms, seam.

Wouldn't it be easier if I knit in the round, worked the back and the front back and forth once I got to the shoulder decreases? Knitting in the round would save me roughly a half inch in width, and since I am worried about the sweater being a tad too small despite getting gauge... plus hello, all that seaming. What if I knit both sleeves in the round, joined at the shoulder shaping and grafted the armpits?

The pleats are made by folding and tacking into place and then picking up the bottom hem through 3 layers of fabric. The hem is then folded and sewn into place.

Can't I knit the pleats from the beginning? I get that the sweater is fashioned after a sewn blouse, but picking up a stitch through 3 layers of fabric? It is a knit sweater, after all... And that bottom hem, sew into place, eh? There's gotta be a way I can do a provisional cast on and knit together to avoid all that seaming, that would require me to knit the hem first, figure out pleats second, knit in the round, kitchener in sleeves and pray that all the work of completely rewiring Mari Lynn Patrick's pattern would still give me the same sweater.

What do you think, would it be EZ to make the modifications?

Shout Out to Sidewinders

2007-08-05T09:11:00.001-04:00

Well there you have it. My first (and probably last) sideways sock. I knit these for the Sit 'n' Knit Sidewinders Knitalong. The pattern is Nonaknits Sidewinders: a PerpenSOCKular Pattern. The construction of the sideways sock is fascinating and they fit really well. All the grafting was annoying and I cheated for the leg and did a 3 needle bind off. It was fun to try knitting a sock sideways, but I prefer knitting tubes. It's really as simple as that. I used The Plucky Knitter's sock yarn in "A Thistle" colorway. The yarn was absolutely delightful to knit with. If you are looking for a serious happy place while knitting, I recommend this sock yarn. Super soft yet strong!

It is SO nice to have a finished project. Sure it feels good to put them on without the needles still attached or loose ends crying to be woven in. It's nice to know these will keep my feet toasty in the cooler weather. Yadda yadda. I can now cast on for something new! WOO HOO!

Vanilla, Please!

2007-07-28T20:51:00.001-04:00

Has a week gone by already? Yeowser. Here's a plain ol' update. Nothing fancy, no humorous story, no puns. Just vanilla blogging. Things have been busy here at Annie's House of Yarn and Diapers. Between house guests, litter box chores and strollercize, there has been some crafty magic, but I tell you my friends. I am tired. Babette has kept me sane. (Sometimes it's nice to have a project that you really have to look at to work on and keeps you from having to keep up conversation.) It's moving along and I have to start working on the bigger squares.

I finished one Sidewinder, and am tinking more than knitting on the second one. But I will finish. The "one yarn discipline at a time" thing is killing me. I really really want to start Blouson. By next weekend, garsh darn it!

One dishtowel down, and working on the second one. I only know one finishing technique for the edges of my dishtowels. I'm not sure how I feel about fringe for this project. I guess I'll find out!

I have also, of course, been Ravelrying. I do a lazy knitters version. I click on 'friends'. Click on 'friends activity' and look at all the projects everyone else has added to their queue's and add them to mine. Y'all have great taste in knitting projects!

More clever analogies of life and yarn to come, and I promise some updated pictures of Cashew! In the meantime, feel free to read how "knitting and purling" found its way into my birth plan.

Procrasti-ravelry-ing

2007-07-19T07:25:00.001-04:00

My MIL is coming to visit tomorrow. I should be cleaning. But my procrastination goes something like this:

Hum dee dum dee dum...I'll just check my email real quick. Oh look, I left Ravelry up. Just for fun, let me type in "sweaters" and see what everyone is making... OH *bleep*! Add that to the queue, add that to my Amazon shopping cart....I wonder if I already have yarn to make the Central Park Hoodie? Let's visit my favorite yarn store (aka My Stash) oh look, I have 7 skeins of Cascade 220, that's enough for a CPH...

An HOUR goes by. I have been warned that Ravelry is a time suck. It is a yarnaholic's paradise, but for all the time I spend deepening my love for patterns and yarns and project ideas....I could be knitting!

I mean, I could be cleaning!

Hmmm.

I could be knitting!

What's the point of having a queue if you don't get to the knitting? The "What if....Someday...." game only works for so long. What I love about knitting is the actually sliding of the needles through really pretty yarn. My Ravelry is getting ahead of my knitting. I feel a panic coming on. I'm so cool, I'm on Ravelry...smoke and mirrors! Hot jeans but no ass! Fancy bra but no boobs!

Next up, a sweater to wear to Rhinebeck. I will not have a lame Flickr mosaic thingy in January to recap the 2 scarves and a baby blanket I made in 2007. I will push on to be the cool, hip, super knitter that I dream to be. *sniff* I believe in actual knitting, and lots of it.

You know, I can keep going. Anything to keep from vacuuming cat hair.

Fun with Fibonacci

2007-07-12T15:48:00.001-04:00

One of the things I love about weaving is design. You can take something as simple as dishtowels, use a plain warp and play with the weft like crazy. So I had me some fun with Fibonacci. Fibonacci was a mathematician. (Go read about him here.) So to play with Fibonacci, you gotta make like a bunny and bust out your linear recurrence equation. A linear recurrence equation is a recurrence equation on a sequence of numbers expressing Xn as a first-degree polynomial... Fine, so I looked that up on Mathworld. Stop laughing. Here's how I understand it...start with 1 and 1. Add them together, you get 2. Now take the last number (1) and add it to 2. You get 3. Now add that to the last number and you get 5. Are you following me? 1,1,2,3,5. Those numbers will act as your number of rows for a given color. That's the basics. Now play.

I actually started with the number 2, and I took it to the number 10, and then came back the other way. I assigned that sequence to green. I then reversed it and assigned it cream.

Green - 2, 2, 4, 6, 10, 10, 6, 4, 2, 2

Cream - 10, 6, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 10

Hmmmm. Technically I think there was supposed to be another "2" in the cream, but whatever. That's my Wabi Sabi.

Neato, right? And not just cool for weaving. Knitting, crochet... (Flickr pool, anyone?)

Now a weaving question. Is it normal to see your threading sequence? That will tighten up in the wash, right?

Together at Last

2007-07-08T20:59:00.002-04:00

Is Cashew in awe? Is she in shock? Does she merely have to poop? Who knows for sure. One thing that is for sure is that Curlicue is done! Off the needles! No longer in a pile by the knitting chair! Grab that flask and take a celebratory swig!

There it is in all it's glory. It's a bit rumpled in the photo, but it did block very nicely. A tad tricky to photograph, so it may not be as creative as yesterday's salad but at least it's a full view.

So the technical knitter stuff: The pattern is Curlicue Coverlet by Oat Couture. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Dusty Sage. I started this blanket mid-winter with hopes of finishing in early March before Cashew was born. Swollen fingers kept that from happening, and any remaining knitting was done during naps, bedtime and walks to the park. It was finally completed in late June. My modification was to do a provisional cast on. Instead of seaming the blanket, I kept the stitches live on the last section, picked up the stitches from the cast on, picked up stitches past the cast on (makes sense when you are working on this blanket), picked up a couple stitches in the center to close the hole and did a 3 needle bind off. Over all it is a fairly easy blanket to knit. The sections go by fast because they are all short rows. The pattern is easy to memorize. I was able to do it with Placenta Brain AND New Mommy Brain. That, in my opinion, is quite something.

So now I can finally move on to something else. I have so many beautiful yarns in my stash, I have decided to have fun with stash busting. Must make room for Rhinebeck!

The Menu

2007-07-07T09:02:00.000-04:00

I really loved my June Plan. Yes, I was tired from trying to fit so much in, but the upside is all the options I now have. It's like going to your favorite cafe and picking something from the menu. Shall I blog about my Babette short stack?

Or perhaps my fiber rich dish towels...

Or shall I go straight for a Curlicue salad? Decisions, decisions!

The Curlicue Crunch

2007-06-26T09:18:00.000-04:00

Babette has been hidden.

The door to the loom room has been shut.

I'm tired of blogging about it, you're tired of reading about it. It's crunch time for Curlicue! Can she do it? Can she finish by Saturday?

Checking In

2007-06-21T21:35:00.001-04:00

The June Plan has been implemented. I have learned that maintenance is key, along with automatic litter boxes. My warp has been sleyed through the reed, now I just need to tie it to the front beam and start weaving! Could there be a dishtowel or two before the end of June?

Babette is coming along. I'm still loving this project. It's nice to work on something that is so entertaining. Each square is fairly quick to make and each one is different. Love that. I am thinking about adding two more colors. Perhaps an earthy pink and a dirty teal. Hmmm.

Curlicue. It's almost done! Can you believe it? Two more sections to go. The only way it will get finished is if I get knitting.

So I guess I should go knit.

Daddy & His Mini-Me

2007-06-17T13:13:00.001-04:00

Same hair, nose, smile, dimple and chin(s).

Happy Father's Day!

Yarn Therapy

2007-06-16T10:27:00.001-04:00

I don't have time to go to therapy. I don't want to drink the Tom Cruise Koolaid. I just need a little something, a little fix. Wannabe posted about her favorite indie businesses and I followed the link to The Plucky Knitter.

Emilee's Wallpaper

I feel so much better. The yarn itself is so unique, so soft. It's like Malabrigo as a sock yarn. I've never done a garter stitch short row heel and yet I imagine one with this yarn. This yarn is so beautiful, I even wrote a fan letter to Sarah.

A Thistle

This yarn hasn't made it into the sock yarn stash pile yet. It's so pretty, I leave it out. Hotty Hubby laughed at me yesterday, "Are you petting your yarn?" Silly man.

Me Likey

2007-06-14T23:17:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had a project that you enjoyed so much that you actually had to hide it so that the rest of your life could happen?

If I see this yarn out, I can't help but work on a square. I get a little bug eyed and it starts with "but what if I put these colors together..." I have had to hide it so that I can get other things done, like eating, sleeping and feeding the baby. And then one day, after I hid the yarn, I innocently went online to check my email. I just happened upon (eh hem) the Babette Flickr Pool and spent the next hour browsing photos and upgrading my Flickr account to Flickr Pro so that I could document my Babette progress. Because you know, blogging isn't enough.

And I have so many more to go. Yay! Curlicue? Deep into section 13. I swear!

Stacked

2007-06-11T08:43:00.001-04:00

Barely bigger than a quarter and quick to finish, I couldn't put my crochet needle down this weekend. If there is a Yarn ADD Paradise, Babette is it. I have 8 color options and get to play with all sorts of combinations. I just....can't...stop....

And despite what you think dear Hotty Hubby, these are not for my ta-ta's.

June Plan

2007-06-08T15:34:00.001-04:00

I have decided that June is a time to challenge myself. Similar to the lesson learned with the self striping sock, I have learned that a lot can get done during nap time. So a little focus, some specific goals, and we'll see what happens. First up, I will be a monotonous knitter. I mean monogamous. Curlicue is my only knitting project, though that wasn't part of the original plan. And that's why I need a plan. I still haven't finished that darn thing. So I figure if I focus on one project at a time, I will get it done ala Penelope. Or I will poke my eyes out with my knitting needles from boredom ala Penelope.

The warp on my loom has started to sag and it looks so sad. So I must find time to weave every week in June. Even if it is just 15 minutes. The project is simple dishtowels.

My crochet project is the Babette Blanket. I don't expect this to be finished in July, but I'm worried that if I don't start it now, it will never get done. I will use it as part of my challenge. Let's see how many squares I can get done by next month.

Also part of the plan - everyday I must do something for the betterment of our apartment. Originally this meant overhaul but I have decided that basic maintenance qualifies. Let's face it, after a diaper blowout which manages to soil clothes, back, belly and hair topped by a good pee which results in heading straight to the bath in which more pee joins the bath water.... emptying the dishwasher and refilling it is considered an overhaul towards the betterment of our apartment.

Progress will be documented on the blog. So far I have knit a bit on Curlicue, sleyed a few more threads through the reed on my loom, and tonight I hope to wind some yarn for Babette. I overhauled the Loom Room to help inspire progress on the June Plan and recently did the laundry. I think Mommy needs a celebratory cocktail!

Dr. Annie

2007-06-04T13:39:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was determined to finish something. Closest to being finished was the Baby Shrug so I focused on that. Now I realize that you may be asking yourself why it would take so long to finish such a simple project. It comes from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby after all. "Simply" implies that the patterns will be uncomplicated and quick. Well let me tell you, I think the title should be Simply Baby, Easy to Muck Up.

What makes it easy is that the shrug is knit in one piece with the ribbing being knit from picked up stitches. Where it is easy to muck up, well paying attention to the pattern. (Duh.) I accidentally was short in the back by 4 rows. There was no way to alter the front to match with out doing a lot of redesigning. Puh-lease it's a baby SHRUG. Not even a sweater, not worth the effort of all that calculating decreases yadda yadda. My fix was to knit extra ribbing on the back. But lo and behold, the bottom of the shrug has shaping to make it more circular. Extra ribbing would look silly at such a large gauge. Instead I performed surgery. Thanks to Knittypants and her tutorial, I cut off the bottom and knit down reversing the shaping. Yes my darlings, I cut my own knitting and it worked.

I thought about doing short rows for the shaping instead of binding off so that I could pick up live stitches. But no, no, no. Debbie likes to write patterns where there are 52 stitches for the back, but for the ribbing you have to pick up 58 stitches. 18 stitches for the back of the neck, but you have to pick up 26. 45 options for stitches at the cuff, but only need 34. Simply Annoying.

The back turned out quite well despite ripping out the ribbing several times and calculating how to get the correct number of stitches evenly. The funny thing is that in the end, the shaping didn't even matter. It looks pretty straight despite blocking. No Cashew shots because it is still a little big. (Phew!)

I was showing the completed shrug to Hila yesterday and filling her in on my drama with the back shaping. She looked at me and said "Why did you bother?" I paused for a moment, looked back at her and said "What else would I have to blog about?"

A Decent Dishcloth

2007-05-31T15:21:00.001-04:00

My goal for Memorial Day Weekend was to finish the Baby Shrug and finish section 11 of Curlicue. June is well, here, and I have a plan. This plan did not include the Baby Shrug and Curlicue so I have some editing to do for my plan. Dishcloths were also not a part of the plan, any plan, for that matter. But while in Michigan I saw my mom's ripped up and worn out dishcloth and I thought hmmm, I know what to do for a thank you gift.

There is one handknit that my mom likes more than any other handknit, and that is the basic garter stitch dishcloth. All my life she has used these and swears by them. I learned the pattern as a kid, but in the 20+ years I have been knitting, I haven't made her any since. The ones she had left were crap, so a trip to Walmart and for less than $3 I had two balls of Peaches & Cream cotton. I whipped out two dishcloths and left them hanging in the (Finnish) bird feeders outside. When she finally saw them, she practically jumped for joy. "I can't find these anywhere!" Hey, what happened to the church craft fairs with all the knitting grannies and their dishcloths?

20 years of knitting. A taste for fancy shmancy yarns. $3 at Walmart. Sheesh, Christmas is so easy this year.

Finnish Feet

2007-05-31T08:07:00.000-04:00

This past Memorial Day Weekend, Hotty Hubby, Cashew and I took our first trip to Michigan. Most of my family still lives in the U.P. (Yah, eh!). It was such a nice change of pace to be around trees instead of buildings! We stayed at my parents cottage and the cottage is Finnish. Everything in it is from Finland. Everything. The furniture, the dishes, the towels, even the toothpaste. Both my parents are part Finnish, but it has really been something for my mom to travel to Finland and find the other half of her family that did not come to America. So the cottage is a storybook of all her trips and a little bit...a lotta bit... of Finland. And of course, a fiber enthusiasts dream house. In our bathroom we found these socks handknit by our relative Helga who is 89 years old. Knowing my mom, they were for decoration, as much as she appreciates handknits, she doesn't really wear them.

The first morning we walk downstairs to a table set with all of Finland's finest and my mom says "Did you see your socks?" And we said "Yes", "Aren't they nice" and "We won't spill anything on them". And she says "Do you have them on?" Uh... then she shows me her feet. She has on her socks made by Helga. Helga has her special cuff which is a little wide which my mom says is very inviting. I got a kick out of that and being the knitter that I am, gave them a full inspection to see what exactly Helga did. (I think I figured it out and am saving the info for a pair of socks that I am going to knit...soonish...)

So then my Dad comes in and whaddyaknow, he has a pair of Helga Socks, too. Well you don't have to twist my arm, I don't need to tell you that I'm all for handknit socks! What a great idea to have a couple pairs for guests. We can all shuffle around with our Finnish Feet, enjoying coffee and pullah and a breeze off the lake.

Suits me just fine!

I Wanna Play!

2007-05-29T15:45:00.001-04:00

Ok. I have seen this "7 Random Things" post at least 10 times and not one person has tagged me. What's with people not tagging? That's not how this blog spam works! Here's my list, and oh, I'm not going to tag anyone. If you want to indulge in exposing your quirks and things that make you go hmmmm, you can jump off that bridge all by yourself. *snort* So being the exhibitionist that I am, I'm jumping off with a big bell hop.

1. My degree is a BFA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography.

2. I was a Lindy Hop dancer. In fact, in 1999, I won the American Lindy Hop Championship in the Classic Division. I have traveled all over the country performing this American art form. I was only dropped on my head once and suffered a mild concussion. It would be cool to say that it happened while competing but the truth is, there were margarita's involved.

3. My picture was on the back of the Purina Cat Chow box, Indoor Formula. Oh look, they still use the picture on the website.

4. Hotty Hubby and I love karaoke. We only sing karaoke in our neighborhood frat bar. It's mostly locals and you know, everybody knows your name. Sometimes I bring a cowbell, or a plastic recorder like what fifth graders have to play. It's stupidly fun.

5. Hotty Hubby and I met on Friendster. I bookmarked him.

6. I watch UFC fights. It's mostly Hotty Hubby's thing, but the Randy Couture vs Tim Silvia fight was awesome. I knit while watching men kick some ass. Good times.

7. I am very organized. In my head.

I'm tagging Nicole, Debbie, Allena and...Penelope...I think those are the only people who's blogs have been without the randomness. Anyone else who hasn't been tagged, by golly, get yer guts up on yer blog!

Now I have to get back to my knitting. Ta ta.

Red Hot

2007-05-22T22:34:00.001-04:00

Red hot socks for Cashew! I did finally finish these. I am trying to perfect infant socks - getting the heel the right length, how long should the decreases go for the toe. It really comes down to one thing, knitting faster. Those little feet become bigger feet fast!

These socks are based on this pattern, but I've been messing with the pattern. I made the cuff longer, the heel longer, did the gusset decreases like a regular sock, same with the toe and did a kitchener finish. They look a little pointy in this photo, partly because they are not blocked, a tad too big, and well yah, they are just pointy. The yarn is an extra skein of Koigu that I had from Hila's socks.

Baby Shrug is almost complete and Curlicue is not!

The Turtle

2007-05-16T08:05:00.000-04:00

Apparently I am the slowest knitter ever. Le sigh. As much fun as I have reading Penelope's and Tina's blogs, I'm starting to get depressed from them. I thought I had good finger dexterity, but I guess I am lacking in caffeine. Seriously, what are you gals taking? Maybe I need to practice Continental. Throwing the yarn is taking up too many precious milliseconds.

Curlicue, officially starting section 11. There are 15 sections total. I want to finish this project by May 31 so I can start fresh with new projects for my June Plan.

I'm up to the sleeve shaping for the baby shrug. This also must be finished by May 31. Allena gave me the cute project bag for my birthday! She sews them herself and rumor has it she will be selling them soon.

My plan was to try and have these done for the Sock Exchange so that Cashew could wear them. Clearly that didn't happen. If it takes me until May 31 to finish these I will be very embarrassed.

(BTW - Cashew is modeling her Lacy Bonnet here. )

My Rockin' Celebration

2007-05-13T18:47:00.000-04:00

When I look at this yarn, I think of the word covet. Socks That Rock have been the definition of covet for about a year. I don't know why it has taken me this long to get my hands on some. Perhaps it's because I know this stuff is knitting crack. Geez, my first purchase is 5 skeins. Not one skein, FIVE. But it was my birthday and a little more yarn rammed into my stash pile is better than drugs. Not that I was considering anything more addictive than yarn, but you know what I'm sayin'.

So from left to right, colorways are Downpour, Puck's Mischief, Lunasea, Scottish Highlands and Covelite. All in lightweight. Art direction by Hotty Hubby.

I have come up with a plan for June. It will help me get going on weaving, knitting and crochet projects. Yes, many projects. Big ones. For Mother's Day, Hotty Hubby got me the yarn for this. What a guy!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-05-11T14:42:00.000-04:00

May 11, 2006 Hunky Boyfriend surprises me with a trip to Paris. Life is good!

June, 2006 Hunky Boyfriend and I talk about our future and talk about looking at rings. Neato!

July 13, 2006 Dinner with my girlfriends. Complain about PMS over a glass of wine, yadda yadda yadda. Chum casually mentions that I should take a pregnancy test, since PMS and early pregnancy are a lot alike. Yah, right.

Later That Evening, July 13, 2006 On the way home, decide to stop at CVS for a pregnancy test and a vitamin water.

20 Minutes Later, July 13, 2006 Stare at " + " sign. Grab purse and decide to get the digital test. Walk all over my neighborhood, all pharmacy's are out of digital test. Sweaty and a little more frazzled, end up at original CVS where I bought first test. End up with the same check out person.

Midnight, July 13, 2006 Digital pregnancy test mocks me with blank spot before the word "pregnant". Call Hunky Boyfriend who is in LA.

July 14, 2006 Leave Doctor's office with a sonogram of a blob and a prescription for vitamins.

August, 2006 Take a much needed vacation to Bermuda. While there, Hunky Boyfriend and I decide we'll get married before the baby comes. Woo hoo!

September & October, 2006 Plan a wedding.

November 17, 2006 The night before our wedding, Hunky Boyfriend proposes.

November 18, 2006 Hunky Boyfriend becomes Hotty Hubby.

November 19 - 26, 2006 Honeymoon in Italy. Take home 11 skeins of cashmere. Poor me!

December, 2006 Holidazed

January, 2007 Crack down on getting ready for baby. Order enough toilet paper, paper towels, soap and batteries to take care of an army. That "nesting" thing is nuts!

February, 2007 Decide to buy an apartment. Start losing my mind.

March 16, 2007 Welcome Anastasia to the world!

April, 2007 Get very little sleep but don't care. Yay!

May 11, 2007 Breathe. Reflect. Decide that such a big year needs a ROCKIN' CELEBRATION!

One More Time, With Feeling

2007-05-09T12:41:00.000-04:00

Debbie Bliss Baby Shrug. Cashmerino Aran. Let's try this again...

Secret Knitting Makes Me Giddy

2007-05-07T09:41:00.000-04:00

At last, the Sit n' Knit Sock Exchange! My secret knitting is finally revealed. First, the packaging. All part of the fun, me thinks. My "Secret Feet" likes black, gray and red...

So of course I found a box that is black and white so the red will pop. Of course, of course.

The pattern - Grumperina's Roza's Socks from Interweave Knits Spring 2007. Koigu KPM in color 1110. I pretty much followed the pattern as written. I used us2 needles to make sure they were nice and stretchy. Maybe too stretchy? I figure it's better to go a tad big than a tad small.

The look on Hila's face when she opened the box made me all warm and fuzzy. She whipped off her sandals and put the socks on immediately.

WOO HOO!

And just to prove that I really did knit them ... here's a photo from our daily walk to Charles Schurz Park. Cashew sleeps, I knit.

Being a Sock Exchange, I didn't just knit for someone else...

Chanin made me a pair of Monkey socks! LOVE! I have been eyeing this pattern so I am absolutely delighted. The yarn is Koigu though I am not certain of the colorway.

I put them on immediately (with one hand, thankyouverymuch), wore them all day and all evening. I took them off right before I went to bed. Now they are waiting to be washed so I can wear them again. Thank you, Chanin!

I wasn't sure how I would end up liking a sock exchange. Wouldn't I feel bad if someone complimented me on my socks and I couldn't say that I knit them? (Ego, anyone?) In the end, I didn't feel that way at all. We all want our recipients of hanknits to "ooh" and "ahh". This was a guaranteed audience. We all understood the skill that went into knitting so it was a fantastic display of talent with complete appreciation. Definitely doing this again! (If you want to see photos from our little party, you can find them here.)

Blown Away

2007-05-05T20:50:00.000-04:00

Today at the Sit n' Knit Sock Exchange party I was the recipient of a wonderful surprise!

My knitting buddies had secretly knit a blanket for Anastasia. I am simply blown away.

It was a lot of work to put this together! Turns out they had started this project in the fall and had been secretly meeting. They even referred to themselves as "The Blanketeers".

I was honestly moved to tears.

Thank you so much! I think this is one of the coolest blankets ever!

THE BLANKETEERS!
(Most of them anyway, a few participants are missing from this photo.)

It's Over

2007-05-01T07:01:00.000-04:00

My affair with the Baby Shrug ended tragically. I could no longer go on living in denial. It just wasn't going to work. (And there's a reason you should do a gauge swatch.)

Feeling down and embarrassed (I mean, I know better! But my eagerness got in the way. I couldn't drink, so I knit. Carelessly.) I console myself by whipping up a swatch for something else. The Debbie Bliss Matinee Coat. In pink.

Anastasia Socks

2007-04-27T15:43:00.000-04:00

I have picked out yarn for my next sock project which is Minty's delightful Anastasia Socks. This is Mocha Rose by Brooklyn Handspun. I think the soft variegation from beige to pink will work well with the pattern.

While I was pregnant, it was hard to imagine this little baby and I had trouble picking out things for her. Obviously with a girl, you can always go for pink, but I was anti everything pink. I didn't want rosebuds and applique. Bright and primary seemed more our speed. Funny how from the day she was born, I have covered her head to toe in pink. Yes, including the pacifier. And everyday her Daddy and I coo at her with baby talk and make absolute idiots out of ourselves. We are loving every minute of it! Our little "WOOPS!" has become a big "WOO HOO!"

So in honor of Anastasia, I will knit these socks out of pink yarn. I actually already made her a little pair of socks from my Brooklyn Handspun. I figure that I will still have enough yardage to complete a pair for myself and a new, matching pair for her. I know only knitters will get the whole "socks in honor of" thing, and trust me, I am still plugging away at Curlicue and have more sweaters and such to come!

Spring Fling

2007-04-22T20:48:00.000-04:00

This weekend was absolutely beautiful so Hotty Hubby and I took our darling Cashew to Central Park for the first time. (Side note - yesterday HH looks at a book of mine on the coffee table and asks "Isn't that the Yarn Harlot?" Why yes it is! And he says "Oh my GAWD, I can't believe I knew that was the Yarn Harlot." Heh heh. We're training them well, eh Chante?)

The only project I am working on right now is a secret one. Life has been a little stressful lately and I still can't hit the liquor cabinet, so I decided to cheat on my current project and have a little fling with some Manos Cotton Stria and a Debbie Bliss Baby Shrug.

The shrug is for this little bundle of yummy goodness. Here we are modeling our Mommy & Me socks. Hurry up and take the picture Daddy!

Desperate Knitter

2007-04-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

Order yours today!

Return of the Curlicue

2007-04-10T14:02:00.000-04:00

I am back to working on the Curlicue Coverlet! My fingers are still a bit numb/tingly at the tips, but it is so much better. I hardly notice it anymore. So here I am half way through section 9. These sections go fast, but my knitting time is quite sporadic. I finally figured out how to knit and nurse (ala knittypants), but that's only good for a small project like socks, and really only for a couple of rows. At least until I build up power forearms that can hold a growing baby. Now if I could pump and knit, that would be awesome. Pumping has got to be the most boring thing EVER. Sit, hold nozzle, wait. Shoot me, I'm a knitter! I can't just sit there and be milked like a cow!

But I digress. So here's a blob of Curlicue. 6 more sections to go!

What's that? You want a picture of cute baby? Happy to oblige.

Our little Easter Tulip. Any doubt about making one of those petal bibs from One Skein? Just delicious. (Biased, of course.) This bib was a gift, but I see myself making some in the very near future!

Really, I'm Knitting!

2007-04-07T11:41:00.000-04:00

I can't show you, it's a secret.

Shout out to Tina! Thank you for the outfit. (Yep, that's Curlicue in the background...)

My Feet are BACK

2007-04-01T18:07:00.000-04:00

Falling Leaves are done! Schaefer Anne yarn, size us1 needles. Two at once using magic loop.

These were my first toe-up socks and my first go at a short row heel. I dig it! As I had suspected, they are just a hair too big, but I have decided not to care about it. They are very comfortable and I love the way the yarn knit up for this pattern.

A couple nights ago, I sat at my computer with my sock and learned how to do a tubular bind off. (Savannahchick has GREAT instructions here.) While fussing over it, I had an AIM conversation with my pal Nancy. 3/4 way through the finish, she informs me of an easier way to achieve a stretchy bind off for a toe up sock. "M1 every other stitch and then just bind off!" UGH! Would have been so much easier, but then we both agreed that a tubular bind off is quite pretty and Schaefer Anne is worthy of it. So for you Nancy, I include a close up of my tubular bind off.

My feet aren't swollen anymore and they aren't hidden by my belly. Yippee yahoo yah! Next up, a set of "Mommy and Me" Anastasia socks by Minty! (Yah, yah, still working on the Curlicue, too.)

Fallen in Love

2007-03-25T20:56:00.000-04:00

Thank you to everyone for welcoming our little Cashew into the world! I was so touched to look at my last post and see over 40 comments!

So to catch up...It's been a crazy week! The joy over having this little person in our world has been something I never could have anticipated. It is truly thrilling.

Here she is wearing her Baby's First Tattoo sweater. Gee, Hotty Hubby isn't convinced that he's the father. HA!

I promised my birth story so if that's your thing, keep reading. If not, here is the latest photo of Falling Leaves. I was 2 rows away from finishing and I jokingly said to Hotty Hubby, "I bet I'll finish these, wash and block and leave for the hospital!" As you can see from the fact that I ditched these mid row, the contractions simply got too intense and the socks had to wait!

So Wednesday, March 14, I started feeling contractions. They weren't too painful, but they clearly weren't Braxton Hicks. They started coming regularly and we could time them. A call to our doula to tell her what's going on and then...they just disappeared. Well, a good night's rest would be nice, and maybe they will start up again.

Thursday I woke up in disbelief. Nothing. I had an appointment with my holistic chiropractor so hotty hubby accompanied me and she worked on some accupressure points and checked my body's alignment. Everything looked good so I went home and sent hubby back to work. Around 1pm I started getting contractions again, but about an hour apart. As they started getting closer together, more calls to the doula. And then...nothing. Good grief, I was having False Labor. There's nothing really false about it, it's more like labor with training wheels. A little bit of labor followed by a break. The break is nice, but geez, after awhile you just want things to get going!

Around midnight I tried to go to sleep, but I kept thinking I should take a bath to help me relax. I woke hubby up and asked him to help me. (Hugely pregnant and a tub full of water is tricky and quite honestly, quite comical!) Tried to sleep... 2am I woke up to a strong contraction. 2:15 another one. I got up and waited. Another one but this was the first one that truly made me catch my breath. I woke up hubby and the contractions kept coming. A call to the doula, more contractions, more calls to the doula...we stayed up all night timing. They were 5 minutes apart, sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes even as long as 30.

Our doula encouraged us to eat and rest, and we tried. I had an appointment with my OB to check my blood pressure in the afternoon. I called to let the doctor know what was going on and they said to definitely come in. And then about 20 minutes before my appointment something changed. A searing contraction. ANOTHER call to the doula but this time she finally said "I'm on my way!" Hubby and I grabbed our coats and made our way outside. Of course it was freezing cold and sleet and slush and ugh. I live 9 measly blocks from the hospital and no cabs. Searing contractions. Should we walk? Thankfully a cab pulled up and we grabbed it!

Into the doctors office we go - imagine a waiting room full of couples in various stages of pregnancy and here comes the hugely pregnant woman gripped with searing contractions. I probably terrified all those people! It wasn't like I was screaming my head off, but I could tell I was the freak show in the room. Anyway, my doctor examined me and I was 4-5 centimeters dialated! He told us to head on up to labor and delivery! Our doula met us in the hallway and by 3:30pm I was dealing with full on labor. I wanted as natural a childbirth as possible and even though the pains of contractions are no joke, I had the support of my excellent doctor, my doula, the nurse and my husband. (Of course having the mouth of a sailor and swearing with gusto helped me deal, too.) Soon I felt the urge to go to the bathroom and announced to everyone that I HAD to go. The nurse said "WAIT!" and grabbed the doctor for another exam. 9 centimeters! The doc let me start some pushing for relief and to hopefully break my water. It worked, my water broke! After pushing in a sort of kneeling position for awhile, I was getting frustrated and wanted to see my baby. It was suggested that I switch my position so I tried laying on my side. I never thought this would work but all of the sudden there I was in the final push! Amazing how simply changing position can put everything in place. I could hear the baby's heart beating strong on the monitor and one more push... there she was being placed on my chest! I looked down and saw these little eyes looking at me and her little nose and fingers and felt the weight of her body. We just stared at each other and then she looked back at her Daddy. The most euphoric moment of our lives!

I'm Not Pregnant!

2007-03-18T17:31:00.000-04:00

Anastasia Marie
Friday, March 16th, 2007 7:31pm
7lbs, 8oz

Birth story, pictures in handknits and other yarn goodness to come. First...a nap!

I'm Knitting My Wardrobe

2007-03-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

Similar to the time I was knitting my apartment, I am knitting my favorite items from my wardrobe!

These colors quite simply make me happy. Falling Leaves are the only thing I am working on these days, and just a little bit at a time. However, they are coming along! (Now if only the baby would do the same.)

Short row heels complete. I would love to try them on, but uh, yah. Marshmallow feet and ankles. I did double check my gauge, and it appears to be fine. I was worried that these socks would be too big, my gauge is off by half a stitch. That really isn't too bad considering that I have somewhat wide feet anyway. I'm staying hopeful!

Torpedo Belly

2007-03-06T15:14:00.000-05:00

Still pregnant.

So anyhoo, Sit n' Knit is having it's first ever Secret Sock Exchange. The Secret Knitters have been assigned to Secret Feet. Now the big question is, "Do I have anything in my stash?" I DO! I DO! But I can't show you exactly what I have planned. Heh heh.

Still Knitting

2007-03-03T07:42:00.000-05:00

At last, some knitting progress. I love these socks! The Schaefer Anne is delicious. I absolutely love the colors. The pattern is entertaining and easy to memorize. My hands can handle this project more than the Curlicue. (Curlicue feels like knitting with turkey basters and rough twine, ugh.) The only problem with these socks is that I think my gauge is a little loose, probably due to my pregger fingers. They seem to fit my pregger feet, and my feet are currently having issues fitting into a size 8 shoe. Normally I am a 6.5! Post pregnancy I figure I'll be a size 7... probably could have knit these socks with a size 0 needle. But I'm at the point of no return. So maybe they will be a little big. Maybe a handwash in hot water will do the trick? *Gulp*

Hooray for Baby!

2007-03-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

Sit n' Knit threw me a knitting baby party! This is the crown that (blogless) Tomo made for me, heh heh. Thank you to Judy for organizing. It was a lot of fun and I loved the party!

It was so great hanging out with everyone for one last hurrah before the baby comes. And they brought gifts! Above are some of the handknit/crocheted goodies. Burp cloths, socks, bibs, a chew toy (bite the head off!) and those hats! So very cute. I love everything. Now we just need the baby to arrive. WOO HOO!