09.22.08
Posted in Baby/kids at 7:30 pm by Monica
I hate to admit it, but I think my baking obsession has taken over. Maybe I should make a combined knitting/baking/crafting blog so there’s always something to look at?
I’m sad to say that I have finished my first finished object of 2008 and it’s already September! That tulip sweater I started before my niece was born? It’s just finished now. However, as luck has it, it fits her perfectly:
I learned how to do an attached i-cord and it wasn’t scary at all!
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03.13.08
Posted in Musings at 1:27 am by Monica
I’ve been away from this blog for so long, I didn’t even realize it got all wonky. And then when I realized it, I didn’t have time to fix it due to that last pesky year of school for me. I’ve really been short on time knitting, but I hope to actually knit this year considering I won’t have to deal with writing papers or assignments. The only school I’ll be doing is a baking course. Much more enjoyable.
Where I volunteer, someone has started a Thursday knit group so on the Fridays I volunteer I have a bunch of people I can show the ropes and teach them how to knit or help fix simple mistakes. There has been one or more generous yarn donors and the whole back room is full of yarn. Here is where a bit of guilt comes in. When I think of donated yarn I think of acrylics and crappy scratchy wool. Some of what we have: Rowan (Cashsoft), Noro, Jaegar, another Japanese yarn brand that I can’t remember, GGH, and other really fantastic yarns. And not all of them were just one or two balls, but there was a whole sweater lot of Cashsoft. This yarn, in my state of weakness, was just too good to use as beginner yarn. They wouldn’t be using it to their potential. I thought “What if I substituted this awesome wool, with some decent wool of mine? No one will know…”
I didn’t swipe (or swap) the yarn of course, but I had an epiphany and I could knit clothing such as hats, mittens, and scarves with the nice yarn and then donate them to the clothing centre where I volunteer at. Next week, the yarn I was eyeing was gone. Some were already cast onto needles, some just disappeared completely.
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12.10.07
Posted in Baby/kids at 12:19 am by Monica
My niece has finally arrived, and I’m proud to present Isabella! She is an amazing 7 pounds and 10 ounces. During my visit with my sister at the hospital I managed to start on the Tulip sweater. I’ve made good progress, and I want to finish ASAP, but knitting may be limited as my tendonitis seems to be flaring up again from all the computer usage (having a course via internet doesn’t help).
By the third stripe sequence I was wondering why I wasn’t getting those cute ridges. It turns out I didn’t read the pattern notes carefully enough and only read the first part. Not a big deal, I still like it so no ripping is needed.
I’ve also started a cooking/baking blog here as my baking obsession is rapidly growing.
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11.29.07
Posted in Accessories at 1:55 pm by Monica
It’s getting colder outside so I finally got around to making a hat!
I had severe tendonitis the last couple of weeks, so I couldn’t do much knitting or computer work. I hardly ever watch television, but the food network and I became best friends for a bit.
The hat is the Basic Cable Hat from Stich ‘n Bitch Nation. I didn’t change needle sizes because I have a small head, but I think it may be a touch too tight. I’m hoping that it will stretch enough for a better fit. The downside is that it doesn’t mostly cover my ears so I’ll need to make a new one with yarn from my stash (yarn ban still going on…10 more months to go). I also need to make one more mitten so I have a pair to keep me warm in the winter.
My sister is due any day now and it looks like the baby will be about 7.5 pounds instead of the estimated 6. I wonder if the new born booties I made will fit…
And somewhere between writing my thesis and a billion papers I need to start on that Tulip Sweater before the baby comes and grows out of it!
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09.25.07
Posted in Accessories, Stash Acquisition at 10:55 am by Monica
This throw is made out of Lion Brand Thick ‘n Quick Chenille. I bought this yarn less than 5 years ago. It is finally done. Even though it was on big needles, there was only so much I could knit on it and it was often left neglected for months, or years at a time.
I started casting off and then I noticed that the cast off was too tight so I used a bigger needle. Once I was finished, it was still too tight. I tugged on the end of the blanket a bit to sort of stretch it out and the yarn snapped! Right in the middle of the cast off edge. I did a sloppy job of mending it back together with some yarn. the proper way would be to unpick the cast off edge and re-cast off with new yarn, but I don’t even know if I have enough left over for that. And even if I did, I just can’t bring myself to work on that throw again. I’ve been eyeing a Colinette throw for years now, but I think I need to generate a little mojo first before I consider tackling on a throw with yarn that is much more expensive than Lion Brand.
I also got a call from Lettuce Knit telling me that the Tulip baby sweater kit I had put on hold months ago has arrived. That pesky yarn ban for a year was about to get in the way. I’ve rationalized my purchase (I thought about it for a day, and then bought it) is that I wasn’t on the yarn ban before so that doesn’t count. And it can be a Christmas present for my niece (who will be arriving in the next 2 months) so it doesn’t really break my yarn ban. So from this point until September, no more yarn. Really.
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09.15.07
Posted in Accessories, Baby/kids at 5:18 pm by Monica
The leftover Koigu from my Charlotte’s web shawl has sat in my stash and I’ve been wondering what to do with them. The smaller balls are perfect for little baby items.
These will be a little surprise for my sister’s other baby shower. I hope she likes them! Pattern is Saartjes bootees pattern. So cute and so quick! I was a bit worried about the centre seam, but it’s not like newborns will be standing up on their feet anyway. I got the buttons from MacFab which have a huuuge selection of buttons. It was my first time being there and all the fabrics were amazing and inspiring. I can see why people go gaga for Amy Butler fabrics, they’re beautiful! It really makes me want to learn how to sew. I’d hope that my fabric stash wouldn’t be as big as my yarn stash.
I still have to cast on for the baby pullover from Weekend Knits in the bamboo yarn. That needs to be finished for next month so I still have plenty of time. The only other project I have picked up is my throw from Lion Brand Thick ‘n Quick Chenille that was started years ago. All the other projects are at a point where I have to figure out where I’ve left off in the pattern and I’ve been too lazy to do that. I’m finally on my last ball of yarn so I’d like to finish the throw before I pick up another unfinished object to work on.
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09.11.07
Posted in Accessories, Baby/kids at 6:28 pm by Monica
As I can’t simply show up empty handed to my sister’s baby shower (she has a total of 3, I am attending 2, hosting 1) these are a very quick knit. They are definitely newborn size so I hope the baby isn’t larger than 6 pounds!
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09.04.07
Posted in Baby/kids, Musings, Stash Acquisition at 12:25 am by Monica
I’m back from spending 16 days in California! I got some knitting done and some unsuccessful crocheting.
First, the Anthropologie inspired capelet:
I used recycled yarn from a knitted ribbed tube top I made and never wore. Of course I ran out of yarn, but was determined to finish so I used the crochet bind off that I found on the Yarn Harlot’s site. I already knew this was a bad choice of casting off for arm holes because of the inelasticity, but I was determined to wear it with the dress I bought and when this capelet looks this nice, who really needs to consider having proper blood circulation in your arms? I’ll be donating this piece so that perhaps a little girl can wear this and not have to worry about why her arms are so tingly. I would like to make this again in cotton for something to throw over tank tops.
I didn’t get much knitting done in the car. I thought with the many hours spent in the car during my road trip I could churn out a few things. It turns out when you’re driving through the desert with the windows rolled down, the last thing on your mind is knitting with a big ball of wool. During the drive home when it was much cooler I did manage to get a hat done for my future niece:
I thought I would also have time to complete a sweater, but it was taken up trying to crochet a hat my boyfriend requested. It was unsuccessful. I don’t follow a pattern when I crochet and so I winged it and it was too small. I should probably learn how to check gauge for crochet. I now have two balls of O-Wool Balance which will probably be knit into a hat instead of crocheting it.
Of course, this trip meant visiting a few yarn stores, namely Artfibers, A Mano Yarn Center, and Wildfiber.
Visiting Artfibers was like visiting a candy store! ALL the yarns had swatches so you could see how it knitted up and you were allowed to “yarn taste” where you could knit up a swatch in any yarn they had.
The above is Satori which I ended up buying. 69% silk, 25% super kid mohair, and 6% extrafine merino. I bought enough to make a little scarf. If I had the cash, I would have dropped some serious money for enough yarn for a Clapotis. It’d be nice having a yarn with very little ends to weave in.
A Mano Yarn Center is where I picked up my yarn to make my boyfriend’s hat as well as the FiFi pattern I saw here from Ravelry.
After visiting Wildfiber in Santa Monica I have been bitten by the Habu bug. First I ended up with this:
Even though I didn’t know what to knit with it. I had to have it, I’m sure you understand. Then, after searching Habu on Ravelry I found the Kusha Kusha scarf. I remembered seeing it in the store and I thought what would I ever make with stainless steel yarn? The scarf looked so interesting and it no longer became just a scarf, but sculptural art. So of course I had to have it. They didn’t have the kit so I had to improvise with wool stainless steel and geelong lamb wool instead.
It was after this (oh, I also have some Tilli Thomas *cough* on the way as well…) where my boyfriend decided to impose a no yarn buying for a year rule. I kind of had to agree as I have a bunch of unfinished objects and my storage containers have been quite full. So now until September I will be knitting from the stash. In all honesty, it will probably take me a year to get through all of my projects especially if it includes socks.
Later on, he asked me a question that I wasn’t quite prepared to answer:
“Exactly how many projects can you make with all the yarn you have?”
“Well, not including oddballs….umm…” I start counting in my head… “uh, just a couple…”
“More than 3?” he asks and I try not to laugh.
“More than 5?” I reply with silence and an uneasy look.
“Is it more than 10?” he finally asks.
“I don’t know, I stopped counting after 10.” I reply.
So if I knit 1 project a month (which is an optimistic goal), I will be able to make it through this yarn ban easily.
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08.01.07
Posted in Accessories at 7:47 pm by Monica
Baby booties are done:
Yarn is from leftovers of my first pair of socks. I think it’s 50% merino and 50% angora which makes for VERY warm booties. Good thing the baby will be a winter baby!
I’m now swatching for the pullover in Weekend Knitting. I bought some bamboo yarn on a whim before I knew which project I wanted to do. So now I’m swatching with different needle sizes to see which size I should cast on for. I love the soft feeling of the bamboo yarn, but it’s like trying to knit with strands of loose embroidery floss. Luckily I haven’t been snagging the yarn too much.
I’ll be off to L.A., San Francisco, and Las Vegas in 15 days for a little over 2 weeks. I decided to splurge and get the Tilli Thomas yarn for the Simple Knitted Bodice I plan to make uh…hopefully by next year. My boyfriend has limited me to 2 yarn stores that he will visit with me. The first one is near his A Mano Yarn because he wants me to crochet him a summer hat and he wants to pick out the yarn. The second one is ArtFibers in SF. It’ll be a big huge road trip so I’m deciding what to bring to knit. Most likely a couple of baby items to knit and maybe my dreaded second sock? I’m near the point where I need to increase for the calf and if I only have that to work on then maybe I’ll get some progress on it.
I also need to clear out some things in my stash bin. I’ve got a bunch of mohair that I don’t think I’ll be using…maybe for a shawl, but since I haven’t worn my Charlotte’s Web shawl out ever, if I made one, it wouldn’t be for me. I also have to get rid of all the novelty eyelash yarn I bought to make a sweater. I’m glad I didn’t make it, novelty fun fur sweaters aren’t exactly a “classic” style. Also, anything that makes me look like Chewbacca’s daughter probably isn’t a good thing.
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07.21.07
Posted in Accessories at 11:49 am by Monica
I’ve finally finished my contribution to my volunteer organization with this scarf. There will be one more person who is warm this upcoming winter.
I don’t know why it photographed as blue as the yarn is purple, so here is a photo that shows it’s colours better:
Now I need to finish the baby booties and I can start on the baby pullover from Weekend Knitting. In my Ravelry queue I have 6 projects out of 10 that are baby related. I could easily add more. Am I being a bit too baby crazy with my first soon-to-be niece? Should my boyfriend be worried?
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