Little Knitting Ninja

Read the New Blog...

2008-09-15T21:19:00.002-04:00

If you haven't updated your feed to read my new blog, there are some goings on there.

Moving

2008-09-06T11:36:00.002-04:00

Not in Real Life

but the blog is heading over to http://fibernerd.blogspot.com/

Cat Bordhi + Cast On Podcast + Caffeine = Inspiration

2008-08-18T17:33:00.003-04:00

It's been an interesting day.

When I went to work this morning, I had a killer headache, so I took some medicine. Medicine with about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

This was a risk, as I am very sensitive to caffeine. If I eat too many m&m's, I will get a caffeine buzz for a little while, then get tired, restless and be unable to relax.

To help me feel better, and since I'm lucky enough to be able to listen to music at work, I turned on the new episode of Cast On. And Cat Bordhi was the guest. If Cat Bordhi is the mad scientist of knitting design, then Brenda Dayne is the Kung Fu master of podcasting.

With this perfect storm of energizing forces and creative genius, I had quite the rush of designing inspiration at work. A few new design ideas came to me, and I had a couple of break throughs in some of the older ideas I've had bouncing in my head.

I couldn't justify sketching at the office, let alone play with yarn. Believe it or not, I was actively working. Frustrating!

And even if I could have sketched, I don't have an organized way to keep track of these ideas. Even more frustrating!

So I'm starting a design journal.

And yes, I'm talking about designing, which isn't something I've ever really talked about here. Recently I've been almost exclusively using other people's patterns, perhaps playing with yarn choices. But I would like to start designing more of my own projects. They may not necessarily be published, but if they are, I have some ideas, especially for online publishing. Think of a sweater pattern in a worksheet, where you input your gauge and desired dimensions, and customized instructions are automatically calculated. No math or spreadsheet prowess necessary. If you can type in a few numbers, and hit print, you have your very own custom pattern.

Also, I've been making progress on the Ravelympics project.

This is how it looks right now. I'm not going to post every day's progress picture, because they all look pretty similar. They can be seen at my Flickr page

This energy has made me overly optimistic about what I can accomplish this evening. My to do list is ridiculous! I just hope I don't crash.

More Knitting Olympics Progress

2008-08-12T19:02:00.000-04:00

It's not yet afghan sized, but it's getting there.

Day 2

Day 3

As you can see, Indy clearly approves.

Ravelympics Day 1

2008-08-10T11:06:00.000-04:00

Here are the results of day one of my Ravelympics project.

I didn't take a picture on 8/8/08 because I didn't get home till midnight that night, and I was dead tired. We knitters know how to party.

I've found that, for now, this project is relatively portable. I'm sure once it gets bigger that will change.

Getting Ready for the Knitting Olympics

2008-08-07T19:34:00.000-04:00

This year for our anniversary, Nerdy Husband and I decided to get ourselves presents. He got a Playstation 3. I got these

I ordered the swift and ball winder online from Hank's in Gainesville, and on the day it arrived, I walked in to find this.

It was wrapped in Christmas-y gift wrap and came with a very funny card. It just got better. When I unwrapped it, I found a note written on the side from the awesome ladies at the yarn store.

A ball winder and swift. Good thing too, because I had to wind all this.

into this

That's 24 different shades of Cascade 220. What am I going to do with it? I'm basically copying Brouhaha's Curve of Pursuit. It's gorgeous, and my afghan is as much inspired by her work as it from the pattern from Wooly Thoughts.

That being said, no, I'm not going to knit an entire afghan in 17 days. My goals are to knit every day (which I normally don't do) and make an average of 1 square a day, or 17 squares total over the course of the games. I also want to take a picture of my progress every day.

Although I think I may be crazy to knit a worsted weight 100% wool afghan in August in Florida.

Spinning Class

2008-08-03T18:55:00.000-04:00

So, I was lucky enough to get a spot in a spinning class at Hank's Yarn. The shop is great, the ladies that own it are great, and Ginger's a great teacher. It's so much fun.

There's this

The Golding Spindle that Ginger was nice enough to let me use. It's amazing, and if I wasn't getting a wheel soon, I'd be investing in one.

It allowed me to make this.

Then, there's the wheel.

This week I'm using the Ashford Traditional. I picked it out because I love the look of the Saxony wheel.

Wheel spinning is easier to do than I expected. I've gotten started with this (the same roving as the spindle).

Which has become this

I also made a few purchases. Going into a yarn store on pay day can be dangerous. But fiber is a lot less expensive than yarn. I seem to have bought them in pairs.

It's Yarn: Nameology

2008-07-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

Drumroll please...

I have finally finished Nameology, my Very First Handspun.

After the singles, (see previous posts) I plied.

I made my lazy kate into a tensioned lazy kate with the creative use of a paper clip and some gorilla glue. I put both singles onto separate bobbins and plied away.

(my house isn't really this messy, we've just been cleaning out both of our offices, post on that once our new office is presentable)

I ended up with a very full spindle of two ply.

Isn't it just gorgeous! This picture is probably the truest color.

Then I made use of our dining room chair, since I don't have a niddy noddy.

After a resting overnight, I gave it a quick bath in the morning. Then some good whacks against the tub (yarn's version of a shiatsu massage) and hang up to dry.

It's even balanced enough to hang in an open loop! The strands that are out of place here are because it wasn't hung properly.

The end result:

About 26 yards of a very bulky thick and thin yarn.

It won't grow up to be anything. Its sole purpose is to hang out in a vase in the living room, and be pretty.

Catch Up Post: Random Baby Stuff

2008-07-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

So, in early spring this year, there was a small baby boom in the people around me. People at work, ladies at the knitting group, and even our neighbors were popping out babies. Must be something in the water.

Of course, these new arrivals mean: baby gifts. I made a few.

First, three different burp cloths. The pattern is the Baby Genius Burp Cloth, from Mason Dixon Knitting. The yarn is various shades of Peaches n Cream. I used size 4 needles to get a really tight fabric. These are very pretty and absorbent.

Next, some booties.

The "Free Baby Mary Jane" pattern by Lucie worked in Lane Cervina Madrid Solid gives these

So cute and interesting construction.

I also used the Jimmy's Baby Bootie Set pattern, and the same yarn, to make these.

Also cute, but in my opinion this yarn has a bit too much definition for the pattern. It looks a little wonky.

And lastly, a Baby Bib o' Love (again from Mason Dixon Knitting, and in Peaches n' Cream).

I paired up these gifts (everyone got two), and got some takeout containers from Micheals.

This set went to Deborah from the knitting group (recipient of Super Secret Project #2) who had a baby around Easter time.

These booties (and the pink burp cloth) went to our neighbor. I don't know what colors they like, so I just went with lots of color.

That table is our dining room table. Can you tell that this was during exam season? I wish I could say it wasn't always covered by study materials and/or my sewing machine.

And, for this last set I had no cute takeout container, but I did have a model help me out.

Don't be too hard on Indy, he was having a bad face day. I only did this because he kept getting into the pictures I was trying to take. clicky

In other news, May 19th was a pretty lucky day for me, I passed my exam! Which is good because that one's done, but bad because I have to start studying for my next one, which is a bitch.

Field Trip: The Local Needle

2008-07-01T19:20:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, our knitting group went to the Local Needle.

We were greeted by Joan (the proprietor) in style. She made a sign, and buttons!

The graphic is the group logo made by Kate, one of our members. Joan is so thoughtful and always makes us feel welcome.

And, she has great yarns. As part of my anniversary present (more on that in another post later) I got to splurge a little.

Here's the take:

First, Alpaca with a Twist laceweight Fino, which will probably grow up to be a lace shawl or stole.

Some Wildfoote for some baby booties. I'm interested to work with this yarn.

Dream in Color Smooshy in November Muse.

And least but definitely not least

Pagewood Farms sock weight in Really Red. Besides being the most appropriate color name ever, it is my favorite of the bunch. It was also damn hard to catch the color on a rainy day.

The actual color is somewhere between the two pictures. It's amazing. Amazing enough to convince me to get some color in my life. I bought two skeins to make some fingerless mitts and socks. I'm contemplating getting some worsted weight for the February Lady Sweater.

When Ducks Attack...

2008-06-24T20:05:00.000-04:00

No fiber content at all in this post. I apologize for the following long-winded story about duck bullies

My neighborhood has a family of ducks. They're not just any ducks, though. These are some pretty mean ducks. Today, one of them chased our dog.

Indy has a history with ducks.

This is a favorite toy, err, training device, named "Dinner", as in "Indy go get Dinner". It looks like he's hugging, but he's really just waiting to attack.

He's tough on waterfowl.

Chasing ducks is one of his favorite past-times. He stalks them, like a lion on the Serengeti, and then charges. Shih Tzu means "Little Lion", and when Indy hunts you can see how they got that name. We keep him on the leash, and don't let him get close enough to really threaten them.

Our previous apartment had normal, non-scary ducks. Once, a duck flew into his path. Indy lept at it and I thought he was going to bite it, but all he did was to touch it with his nose (his mouth was even closed) as if to say "Tag, You're It". It is definitely a game to him.

Indy also sees it as protecting us when the animals become aggressive. At our old place, a belligerent goose once tried to attack my husband. Even though this goose had a good 10 pounds on Indy, he ran away when the dog charged at him. Because he's a bird, and birds are supposed to be afraid of dogs and people, right?

When the neighborhood was new, there weren't any ducks at all, even though we have a pond. Soon, however, a few ducks wondered in and people started feeding them. Over the months, they've grown used to being fed, and gotten more confident.

Last winter, we noticed they were getting pretty comfy when one wondered up to us while we were grilling.

Some of our neighbors encourage us to let Indy chase the ducks, in hopes that they would leave.

When the ducks first showed up, Indy would chase them into the water, they would run away, and come back again probably in a few minutes.

Then, some babies were born. They are obviously off limits, as we don't want to scare or hurt any of the cute ducklings, and mamma ducks are supposed to be aggressive. So we kept Indy away from them until they were grown up.

Now the ducks are pretty much full grown, and for the past month or so, Indy's been allowed to chase them. But they've learned.

They know that while he may come running at them from across the street, he's not going to get within a couple of feet of him. So they ignore him. Yesterday, I decided to test how brave these ducks were. I ran at them, and stopped a bit closer than we let Indy get. And they ignored me!

So today, when we went walking I took the camera, hoping to get a shot of the ducks and Indy trying to chase them. Indy was a few feet away from the ducks, when one of them charged him! We had to pull him away!

The funny thing is, he's so submissive, if a duck attacked him, he'd probably lay down and take it.

So Indy's duck chasing days are over, for the time being. Luckily he has stopped wanting to chase them as much, because where's the fun in chasing something that doesn't run.

I know violent gangs could ruin neighborhoods, but I never imagined we'd have a gang of ducks terrorize our dog.

Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day and The Celtic Tote

2008-06-22T16:03:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday was Worldwide Knit In Public day, and to celebrate, our group went to an event planned by a few LYS's: A Stitch in Time, The Local Needle, and Fran's Knitting Boutique.

It was a great time. There were at least 35-sih people. I got to meet some new people and see some faces I hadn't seen in a while.

Unfortunately I had camnesia (and only took a few very poor shots) and didn't do nearly enough mingling, because I was too busy working on Arrgyle socks for Nerdy Husband.

Just in time for Knit in Public day, I finished my Celtic Tote.

Pattern: Celtic Tote, Interweave Knits
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Wild Oak (embroidery in Sable)

I was such a good little knitter, I not only made a swatch, I made an extensive one to make sure I liked the decreases and increases, and to practice needle felting on the embroidery.

And I even felted the swatches (no pictures of that, you'll have to trust me).

Here's the completed bag before felting.

I used half a skein of Sable to do the embroidery, (thanks Brenda) and needle felted the yarn down. Instead of using a brush to support it while needlefelting, I used a pillow form. When I tried using the brush on my swatch, it caught on the fuzzier fibers and made a huge mess. See, those swatch things are useful.

The mesh in the bottom wasn't really that wonky, that's just how it was hanging.

And then I felted it.

Somehow, during that felting, the mesh in the enclosed pouch managed to double itself over. And the bag overfelted a little, so the pouch was too small for the mesh. It was a pain to work it out.

When I finally got the mesh as flat as I could, it was clear that the mesh and the bottom of the bag were bent. Since the only way I could get it out would be to cut the purse, and that didn't appeal to me, I had to find a way to straighten it.

What I came up with was a bit strange, even for me.

Behold the Leaning Tower of Totebag.

I figured that I needed to put weight on the bottom of the purse to flatten out the bottom, but didn't want to put weight on the handles, but still wanted them to dry in a sort of natural position. So I hung the purse on a doorknob and got enough random things to reach from the floor to the bottom of the purse (a bucket, our new phonebook still in the plastic bag, and the box from our Wii Fit). Then I raided our pantry for cans (for weight) and plastic bags (for shape), and stuffed it to the shape I wanted.

I then turned down our dehumidifier, said a prayer to the Fiber Gods, and went to bed.

It worked out reasonably well, with the exception that the bottom didn't really dry well, not being exposed to air and all. Putting a towel under the purse would have helped, but the inside would have still been wet. The basic shape of the bag was right after drying in the tower overnight, so I stuck it on a hanger and let it dry naturally, turning it inside out a few times a day.

The other problem was the fuzz. It took over the purse, and then became aggressive. Some of it tried to escape in the form of pills that came completely off the purse while felting.

Some of it even tried to eat me.

This is probably what happened to Cousin It and Chewbacca.

I had limited time to find a sweater stone before WW KIP day, and the best I could come up with was one of those shavers. It had absolutely no effect on the swatch (handy little thing) and I think I killed the motor trying.

The purse was still wet and fuzzy and unlined when I went to the event, but I was happy as anything it was there.

It's not quite as fuzzy as it seems in the closeups, but it's close.

A few days after the event, I stayed up till 11:30 lining it.

It brought back memories of sewing with my mom, who always seemed to be sewing late at night. It makes sense; with several munchkins running around and a full time job, she had her hands quite full. That woman taught me a lot about balance.

Lazy Kate

2008-06-10T18:45:00.000-04:00

Here is my lazy kate and bobbin.

Well, by bobbin I mean a dowel from a home improvement store, that has been cut into pieces, sanded, and rubbed with Paste Wax.

The lazy kate is a decorative shoebox bought from Joanne's.

Doesn't match this yarn, but oh well.

First steps in spinning

2008-06-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

Not much today, just pictures.

On Monday, I took my predrafted fiber and turned it into a single ply.

It's pretty thick and thin.

Predrafting...

2008-06-03T21:46:00.000-04:00

Sunday evening, after getting home from the graduation, I finally let myself mess with the fiber. I'd had the roving and spindle since Wednesday, but I was too busy to sit down and start.

I got started with the help of Maggie Casey's Start Spinning and Megan LaCore's drafting video.

This is the roving before drafting

all spread out

This is the one step that I hadn't picked up on until the video

splitting the roving into strips. At first I was trying to draft the entire roving, and it was almost impossible. I got it all sorted out and made some pretty little birds nests.

Gorgeous!

Tomorrow: some actual spinning!

Gone to the Dark Side...

2008-06-02T18:18:00.000-04:00

Spinning!?!?

I can no longer resist the urge to spin.

Blame Meghan from the Stitch It Podcast and Brooklyn Tweed. After fighting this bug for a few months, it's no longer possible to resist.

So last week I ordered this

my very first drop spindle.

It's workable, but not great. The Etsy vendor isn't a spinner, and it isn't well balanced. The main benefit is that it can be either a top whorl or bottom whorl spindle.

I also went on a fiber binge. The first purchase to arrive was this little number from tehandehness on etsy.

This is "Grizzly", a domestic wool blend. It is very pretty, and the colors are so me. It's a soft muted pink, with not-too-bright teal and brown. And it's gonna become my first handspun EVAR.

I don't plan on using this yarn as anything but a decoration. It will be thick and thin and slubby, but when plied it will be very very pretty.

Over the next two weeks I want to try and post every day (hah!) with my progress.

Back Home
Last weekend I went back home for my little sister's graduation. I knit a grand total of 3 stitches (one row of a finger tip for my Dad's gloves). We were too busy doing stuff.

Like taking ATM-surveillance-quality photos of ourselves in the fish-eye lens of the side view mirror of an AT&T truck

and watching my youngest sis lead the pledge at her graduation.

What would they have done if she didn't show? Find someone else who knows the pledge? I jest. We're proud of her, there were a lot of people there, and she did great.

Busy Busy Busy...

2008-05-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

Actuarial exam season has come and gone again, hence the long absence. That and the addictiveness of Ravelry.

Things have also been pretty busy around here.

There's been a field trip

and a yarn swap

Indy turned 2, and we celebrated by giving him a plate of apple and banana, his two favorite foods

Somehow throughout all of this I was able to get some crafts done.

Indy helped by modeling a baby bib.

I made a few burp cloths and some baby booties because of a recent population explosion among people around me.

(notice the dining room table covered with study materials)

and a crocheted finished object

and omg, stop the presses, I broke out the sewing machine and have two FO's to show for it!

a practice project bag for me

and a project bag for Jen's birthday.

but most of my time over the past three months has been spent with this

thats 11.4 pounds of study materials, and that's not all I used

There is hope, since I'm going to spend the next few weeks with this

and here

Super Secret Group Project #2

2008-04-05T13:22:00.000-04:00

Here is Super Secret Group Project #2:

and the other side

It's a baby blanket for Deborah, a member of our group. A bunch of people from our group did individual squares of all different stitch patterns and colors. Most of the squares were knitted, and there was one crocheted square.

We planned on putting together the blanket at one of our meetings, because we didn't think she'd be there. We thought she wouldn't be able to make it, but she showed up!

It was good and bad. Good because we had a chance to get the blanket to her that night, bad because instead of a seaming party, we had a seaming work camp.

So we laid out all of our squares on the table at Panera.

And started seaming. We got most of it done, but at the end of the night, it was still incomplete, and we hadn't even started the border. So I took it home and finished seaming it up.

Then gave it a bath (you can see the vinegar and dish soap).

And wet blocked it.

After it was dry, I crocheted on a border and lightly steam ironed it.

It turned out as a beautiful, cuddly blanket for the new arrival!

Super Secret Gruop Project #1

2008-03-16T10:37:00.001-04:00

So, I'm really far behind in my blogging, because this Super Secret Group Project #1 listed here was made and gifted in February, and I've really wanted to share it since. This is just one more reason why our knitting circle is teh roxor.

All this icord was made by the group (hand knit, a little machine knit, and crochet). What could it be for?

Indy wonders why I've once again knit something taller than I am.

Well, it's to make these:

Wait, that doesn't make much sense. Donna, Brenda and Susan, let's try it again!

There we go.

These signs are for Jodi (shown seated)

She ran her first marathon. And to show our support we marathon knitted icord to make some signs which Brenda put them together for us. Jodi thought we were joking when we said we'd be there cheering her on with big signs, and she certainly didn't know we would knit them!

They got a few comments at the race, and they made Jodi do a double take. She saw us, high-fived Donna, who was taking pictures, and kept running. Then, when she was about fifty feet past us she turned around and starting pointing wildly at the signs. We all laughed and told her to keep going, she was doing great, we'd talk about it later.

At our next meeting, we all signed the signs and gave them to Jodi. And she's been displaying them in her house ever since!

And yes, since this is Super Secret Group Project #1, there is a #2. It's in the works right now, and will hopefully be complete and gifted soon. But probably blogged about much later...

Following Trends: Jaywalkers

2008-03-03T21:24:00.000-05:00

I had this really original idea of making Jaywalkers in a self striping yarn.

So this is about the billionth pair of Jaywalkers, so I don't feel bad that there aren't many pictures.

This is a Christmas present for my mother-in-law, who received them last weekend. Not that they weren't done by January 1st, but because I wanted to deliver them in person, because I was afraid they wouldn't fit. These socks had very little stretch, so I wouldn't make them as a gift unless I had a model handy. As it was, I had a stand-in at knitting group with the same size shoe who was gracious enough to try them on multiple times (thanks Jen!).

Unfortunately I don't have a stand-in for the gloves I'm making my Dad for last Christmas. They're still in progress because I can only work on them when he's around to try them on to make sure the finger tips are all the right size. Well, he'll probably have a nice pair of think wool gloves for June in Florida.

Nike + iPod = Crochet

2008-02-21T18:13:00.000-05:00

Here is the Nike + iPod hack version 2.0

Much more inconspicuous than v 1.0. It's sturdier too.

Here it is while it's open.

It's attached to the shoe by running the flap through the slit, under the shoe laces then buttoning it. It is more secure than the previous version, and has the added benefit that the sensor can be removed.

I think I'll write a tutorial or patter, but it's simple. The bottom is a tube and the top is just worked back in forth to make a flap. The slit is worked as a horizontal button hole.

Nike + iPod = Knit?

2008-02-17T21:41:00.000-05:00

My latest project took me about 15 minutes to make, and is about the size of my thumb, but it's one of the things that gets the most use of everything I've made, and it can't really be store bought.

Well, not cheap at least. My husband runs, and he uses the iPod pedometer (http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/). There is an attachment to the iPod and a sensor that is supposed to go inside of these specially designed Nike running shoes that have a slot for it.

However, Nerdy Husband doesn't like the Nike shoes in that line, so our DIY spirit kicked in and we figured that we'd find some other way of attaching the sensor to the shoe. NH found an article with a hack for it.

So the version 1.0 was born. It's essentially a tube knit around the sensor. In my infinite wisdom I decided to make in in 2x2 ribbing, out of Lion Brand Microspun. It was ugly, as this was B.S. (Before Socks) and I was unfamiliar with the figure eight cast on, and the yarn and ribbing were bad choices. It was sewn onto the shoe, so in order to take it off, he had to unlace his shoes.

It's pretty wonky, but it's functional. Unfortunately, the sensor is knit into the tube, so when the battery of the sensor died last week, NH asked me to make him another cozy. This led to Version 2.0, which is infinitely better.

MMMmmmm Alpaca

2008-02-12T18:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I went to the Alpaca Fest with some people from the knitting circle.

We came for the

and stayed for the

I thought that fiber would be the highlight of the show, but those animals are so darn cute, they totally won us over. My main goal was to pet an alpaca. And I did. Here's proof:

There were so many alpaca there. There were chocolate alpaca

and dirty alpaca...

and surfer alpaca...

and emo alpaca...

Some were shy

and others have so much hair they can't see

and many were gorgeous.

This one looks like living, breathing Lorna's Laces or Socks that Rock. This picture doesn't do it justice.

We felt up some fiber

and got tattoos (thanks to Jen, you rock)

and I may or may not have bought some yarn

This is undyed alpaca light weight, from Long Skinny Ranch. It came off the alpaca like that. Amazing.

As amazing as the animals were, we were equally amazed at how nice alpaca people are. The folks at Breath of Heaven Alpaca Ranch were there spreading the good word of alpaca, and our knitting circle will probably be taking a trip out there soon. I got some interviews and clips of alpacas humming for the podcast, and everyone I asked was more than willing to answer questions.

Can it be....

2008-02-04T20:12:00.000-05:00

So, if you're bored, let's try a little experiment:

1. Go to the iTunes store.

2. Search for Orange Blossom Knits.

3. Hit subscribe.

4. Listen and tell me what you think.

Because yeah, Jodi and I are now officially podcasters. Alright, all that's there right now is some test stuff. Our Promo and Episode 1 should be out soon.

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. I've been busy with the podcast, rescheduling the knitting group, getting into exam season and just taking care of the million little things we do every day called life.

Coming soon: posts about the Amazing Shrinking Jaywalkers, the 3 am Cable hat, and more.

3 a.m. Cable Hat

2008-01-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

I just finished the 3 a.m. Cable Hat, the dk weight version.

And I bought a head to show it off. May I present Jayne:

OK, so Jayne has a smallish head, and the hat's a little big. Which is good. At least Jayne can wear my Kittyville Hat and I can wear the cable hat.

See:

Sorry for the poor lighting and bad angle. That is indeed the same hat, NH was just too lazy to stand up when asked to take a picture.

The yarn was Alpaca with a Twist "Highlander" in color 0299, a deep gray with flecks of white and tan. It's warm, soft, and yummy-liscious, and it makes me want to move to a climate where I can wear alpaca on a regular basis. Speaking of which, I finished this hat at knitting group the day after our only coldsnap broke, when we went from a hard freeze to t-shirt weather in less than 48 hours, and it's stayed unseasonably warm.

During that cold snap, on the coldest day of the year, my husband turned to me and said "You know what would be good right now? Some hand knit socks." My husband, who only recently received a hand knit sweater from me. The one who watched me work feverishly to make hand knit socks for his parents' Christmas gifts. The one who I asked a had asked a week before the cold weather broke if he wanted socks and didn't seem too enthused about the idea. I love him, but seriously...

So he's getting a pair of Arrgyle socks to match the pair I'm making myself. The Yarn Harlot's post on her argyles has a lot of information and I'm just going to go for it.

As to whose socks are getting made first, I still haven't decided.

Yarn Shop Review: Knit and Stitch, Cocoa, FL

2008-01-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

While visiting family for the holidays, I was lucky enough to get away from everything and meet up with a friend who lives in the area that was able to get away from everything too.

She suggested we meet at this wonderful shop, called Knit and Stitch in Cocoa Village.

This shop was great. It's biggest allure is that they are very customer-oriented. It may seem strange that a small business wouldn't focus on making customers feel welcome, but trust me, I've been there and it isn't pretty. But that was not the case at Knit and Stitch.

The setup of the store is very nice. There's a big table in the middle of the shop, with comfortable full backed desk chairs around it. There were other people sitting at the table when I arrived, and before I even sat down, one of the ladies offered me refreshments. It seems that the regulars help by welcoming newcomers, which is very nice.

Everyone was very helpful and friendly. Advice was offered in a positive way, as was encouragement and praise.

One product that stood out were afghan kits from Art Yarns. Sample afghans were hung from the display as well as on the chairs.

This store is crochet friendly, but I didn't see crochet specific products. There was also a good amount of cross stitch, but I avoided that side of the store because I don't have the time to get sucked into anything else.

I'm sure I'll go back when I get the chance, it was a really great experience.

Thanks for coming out and knitting with me Hannah, and for showing me this awesome store!

Full DIsclosure

2008-01-03T20:16:00.000-05:00

So, it's the new year and I'm starting a new tradition. As I generally have New Year's Day off, and I'm recovering from (read: trying to finish) frantic holiday knitting, January First will be my annual "evaluate the stash" day, where I'll empty out every single project bag or box with yarn in it, organize it all, and evaluate.

And take pictures.

There it is, every bit of yarn that isn't in a FO. It's embarrassingly small, but I almost always buy yarn for specific projects, then cast them on right away. Since I've been finishing up things, the yarn's been cleared out.

I've learned that I have way too much sock yarn, and found some partial balls to donate to someone in my Knitting group.

I also finally let go and ripped out a crocheted shrug that was looking absolutely ghastly, so that I can move on to cuter ones, namely MimiCat's Purple Shrug.

Podcast Update

We recorded a promo and a short intro segment at knitting group this Saturday. Squee.

Dishcloth Set for Grandma

2007-12-30T12:26:00.000-05:00

So after expressing some optimism that I might actually get all of my holiday knitting done on time in the last post, I totally dropped the ball and ended up only getting 2 of the 4 gifts done on time. In fact, I haven't finished anything since that post.

Here's something that did go out on time, a set of dishcloths for my grandma.

The term set may be a little pretentious for two dishcloths, but they're coordinated. In fact, the patterns for both came from the same book, Mason Dixon Knitting.

First is the Mason Dixon Dishcloth, which has already been posted about. It's yellow Peaches n' Cream.

Next is the ball band dishcloth.

This is the same yellow Sugar n' Cream, along with Peaches n' Cream Baby Ombre. The color pooled in the most awesome way, with diagonal strips of pink, blue and white. It looks great.

Look at the texture (ignore the slightly uneven stitches, this is before washing):

This was well received, and grandma is probably going to use them as decoration. I'm ok with that.

Probably my favorite (and most unexpected gift) this year was this:

Sock yarn from my knitting group. There's a ball of Lana Grossa and some Socks That Rock. STR socks are what's in the cue as soon as I get my MIL's Jaywalkers done.

And for a last little bit of Christmas spirit:

Santa or Hagrid? You decide.

I Think I Can Make It...

2007-12-21T17:41:00.000-05:00

It's December 21st, we have all of our Christmas shopping done, and I think I'll get all of my Christmas gifts out this year, on time even. This is only because we aren't seeing the in-laws until a week after Christmas, and I've been knitting feverishly. It also doesn't hurt that we're leaving tomorrow to see the parents

In addition to the Coriolis socks in this post there are a pair of Jaywalkers for my mother in law, two dishcloths for my Grandma, and a pair of gloves for my dad.

For a while there I was a 24-hour a day knitting machine. The Jaywalkers bag had a permanent home in my purse or hanging from my belt loop. I knit at the movies, at stoplights while I was driving, and even found out that I could knit the simple chevron pattern while in the car in the dark, as long as I counted.

This must be proof that I love them. The people, not the patterns, although I choose patterns that I want to do, or that present a challenge, because otherwise I'd let the projects stagnate and not work on them for months at a time. Case in point, Husband's Ugly Brown Sweater.

It's coming...

2007-12-15T17:32:00.000-05:00

The OrangeBlossomKnits podcast is coming soon.

This time I mean it.

We'll be recording a promo and a short episode soon.

Husband's Ugly Brown Sweater

2007-12-11T18:06:00.001-05:00

So, it's finally done. It may have taken six months or so, but Husband's Ugly Brown Sweater is completed. Mostly. I have to tighten up the armpit vents created by my provisional cast ons, but more on that later.

As far as pictures go, I have a few close ups, but none of the whole sweater that are worth looking at yet, as during the photoshoot the camera was set on close-up focus and Nerdy Husband was wearing superman pajama pants.

But here is the super cool thumb hole that I added at NH's request:

Pretty cool, huh. It's 2x2 ribbing, I worked back and forth on double points like I was making a muli-row buttonhole. The dpns were used as opposed to magic loop because that was the best way to keep the 40 or so stitches that I had in a somewhat natural position and not stretched out at the top and bottom of the buttonhole. This way, he won't have to tear a hole in the sleeve like he's done with almost all of his other sweaters.

Here's one of the provisional cast on's in the neck.

It's a top down raglan knit in one piece, so provisional cast on's were used at the back of the neck, and the front, and in the armholes. I couldv'e used a standard cast on and picked up or grafted the stitches, but I'm a fan of the provisional cast on. The only problem is that in the armpit, at the beginning and end of the provisional cast on, there are some really loose stitches. I'm going to tighten them up by basically duplicate stitching them.

The pattern comes from SweaterPro, but I lost the pattern during the four month break that I took from this project. I got distracted by something new and fun and not miles and miles of stockinette, big surprise. But getting it done has been part of my effort to buckle down and finish things, and since it should be getting cold here soon I have no excuse to put it off. NH was teasing me about not doing it; we'd go shopping and he'd say "Wow, those knit sweaters look awfully warm. I wish I had a sweater...". I tell him that it's not winter when the highs are still in the 80's.

The yarn is Moda Dea Washable Wool. I don't actually think the sweater is ugly, and there's enough yarn left over that I may actually make myself something. But if I do, hubby and I are going to have to coordinate, because we accidentally dress in matching clothes way too often, and usually don't notice till we leave the house.

Baby Kimono

2007-11-30T20:06:00.000-05:00

This is what I really did over Thanksgiving.

I really like this pattern. The whole concept is pretty cool. It's worked in one piece, starting at the bottom of the back, increase for the sleeves, bind off for the neck, work the left front and then the right front separately.

The yarn is Peaches n' Cream Baby Ombre. I was using size 4 needles, but I still couldn't get gauge, and I didn't want to go any smaller, so I had to adjust the pattern. I also compensated for shrinking in the wash. That's right, not only did I swatch, I washed my swatch and even used the measured gauge. **Big pat on the back**. I think this was inspired by the class with Lily Chin, as well as the knowledge that cotton can be unpredictable.

I used a seed stitch border around the edges, and two pieces of icord for closure. The idea for the icord was to make a little bow, but I didn't make it nearly long enough, and the cord was too thick to make it the right size for such a small garment. If I could do this again I'd either use a button or some ribbon as the closure, perhaps a row of eyelets kind of like a belt.

The baby is a little girl, and I gave her daddy the sweater this week. It was such a great feeling. This is the first baby gift I've ever made. I love giving gifts, especially when they're well received, which it was in this case.

With that done, I've started the Jaywalkers for my MIL's Christmas gift. Twice now. The first time I completely messed up the short row toe (I"m doing them toe-up), and it took me until I had the whole foot done to realize that they were huge. So, I'm trying a different hold, still continental but wrapping the yarn a few more times around the finger. It seems to be working.

In the non-knitting world, the other day and I went to the Cummer, the Fine Art and Garden museum here in town. After walking through the exhibits inside, we took a stroll in the gardens outside. It was a gorgeous day (there were people painting), and they're gorgeous gardens.

The rest of the photos can be found on my flickr page, with the tag "Museum".

Back Home... Coriolis Socks

2007-11-25T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Coriolis socks for my father-in-law are all done. Here they are:

Husband was kind enough to model them:

I really like these socks. The thickness (due to double stranding) will make them perfect walk around the house socks, which is perfect for the recipient. I may make a pair for myself. This pattern is totally appropriate for hand-dyed, highly varigated yarn, here is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Pinstripe. These socks took about two skeins on number 5 needles, cuz I'm super loose. I'm not worried about them not fitting, because if they don't, they'll go to NH, as they obviously fit him.

A pair of Jaywalkers in the same yarn will be going to my mother in law. However, I couldn't start them this week for two reasons. One, I don't want the inlaws to see their presents early, even though they know what they're getting. Secondly, I had to finish the Baby Kimono for a coworkers newborn. That got done, with pictures to follow after it's washed. I also got a little bit of Husband's Ugly Brown Sweater done, and hopefully will have it done within the week.

So, for all my good intentions, I didn't get a chance to visit any yarn shops while in South Carolina, or even to take a decent picture of the absolutely gorgeous trees. These are the only pictures I have, they were taken on the way out there.

We had 8 people for Thanksgiving dinner, which is a lot for Nerdy Husband's family, but a lot less than would be expected from my family, (our holiday get-togethers are closer to 20 or 30 people). We also had 4 dogs, all very cute.

Here they are being wrangled by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The dogs (from left to right) are Indy, Snowball, Bosley, and Nico:

We even managed to get three of them without people to hold them down. Snowball is a proper lady, and doesn't play too much with all the boy dogs and she opted out of this one. Nico's wearing a cute blue hoody.

We ended up leaving a day early, so I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the trees or visit the lys which I have been trying to visit for over a year. It was a good thing we left when we did, because when we got back I had a call about a family emergency down South, so we got to pack up and head out again.

Now we're back home, and I'm listening to Christmas music on Pandora, and there's chili in the slow cooker. This time of year is great, even though it's still in the 70's here.

Victory in the Giant Dishcloth Campaign

2007-11-20T18:24:00.001-05:00

Well, not complete victory, not yet anyways. But a step in the right direction.

I ran out of yarn shortly after joining the petals to knit the center of the flower, which will be of considerable size. The yarn used is LionBrand VelvetSpun in pastel yellow. It's a bulky polyester chenille in light pastel colors. It couldn't be less desirable. I had originally picked up the yarn as a filler in Grandma's afghan, which was going to be pink on one side and yellow on the other. I wanted big big stitches to make the afghan go fast and have that squishy feel.

However, when I found out that I had more than enough pink yarn for a blanket, I scrapped the yellow idea and faded from pink to white rather than from pink to white to yellow. The result is a lot of yellow yarn, some nice and bought from KnitWitz, the first yarn store I visited in Jax (the first trip there I bought several single skeins in yellow and pink), the rest was not as nice yarn from big box stores. Yellow is not my color. I'm more of a gray, brown, dark blue person, so this yarn has been "marinating", waiting to be used.

Anyways, when we chose the daisy dishcloth pattern for our first Knit-a-Long, I thought the VelvetSpun would be perfect, because Brenda had made them out of chenille and they turned out great.

But, as we all know by now, I didn't check gauge and ended up with this.

And I ran out of yarn.

I thought that since it was big craft store yarn it would be no problem finding it. So I go to the Micheal's where I'd bought it, and there was no VelvetSpun to be found. Same story at Joann's. In a panic, I checked LionBrand's site and Yarndex to see if it was discontinued. Thankfully it wasn't. Then I checked Micheal's and Joann's websites to see if they still sold the yarn. Yep, it just wasn't at my stores here. No vendors on ebay were selling it at a cheap price with low shipping. And I wasn't going to spend like $10 on this yarn. Heck no.

So, while in Orlando for the ONS, I stopped at the Micheal's near our friend's house where we were staying. The woman there knew exactly where it was, and pointed me straight to it. I let out a little pirate-like "Ya-har!" (an affectation picked up from the Nerdy Husband), which startled the prim little old ladies that were shopping. I didn't care, it was a victory!

I still can't believe that this was my real find for the show weekend. Not the best yarn I got by any means - what was there was gorgeous - but this was my most highly anticipated yarn of the weekend.

When I returned, I also found this in our mailbox:

It's cotton baby yarn (Peaches and Cream Baby Ombre). Someone at work just had a baby, and I'm at that age where supposedly all of our friends start having kids, so I want to be prepared to do some baby knitting. The thing is, though, none of my friends or family has little babies. So this guy at work is getting a Baby Kimono for his new daughter even if work isn't having a shower. Congratulations, here's a gift whether you expect it or not!

That, finishing Nerdy Husband's Ugly Brown Sweater, and maybe finding a glove pattern for my dad are in the line up for our trip to the Carolina's for Thanksgiving. It's always prime knitting time, and I'll probably post some, because it's prime online time as well. Nerdy Husband and his Techie Father usually get the internet on our laptop before all the bags are unpacked from the car, so access is never an issue. Maybe visiting a yarn shop with mother in law (who used to knit) and her daughter. My SIL started learning to knit last Christmas when I showed her a few stitches and lent her my copy of SnB. This year, she's making her mom a sweater. It's great!

The Orlando Needlework Show

2007-11-18T11:35:00.001-05:00

Let me start off by saying that I am very disappointed in myself, because while I remembered to bring my camera and extra batteries to the show, I was so excited (then disappointed) that I forgot to take any pictures. Until I was leaving. Then I got the fountain outside. I have some gratuitous puppy pictures to make up for it, though.

The Fountain
Originally uploaded by shishyb

We arrived in at a friends' house in Orlando late Thursday night. No one was there, but we were greeted by Quima, their german shepherd. Quima and Indy got along great all weekend. Pictures at the end.

The Class: My Yard is only 27 Inches
Friday morning, I had a class, "Crochet Tips and Tricks", with Lily Chin. It was great. Lily is so creative and really funny. She talked about "the butt hair of the Botswana Armidillo" when talking about ridiculously rare fibers, "trophy wife stitches" which are pretty to look at but a bear to live with. I even got her to crack up. At one point she told us to measure out about a yard of yarn before cutting it, by holding our work in one hand, and reeling off yarn with the other, cutting it at about our nose. I ran out of yarn, and she asked if I had done as she asked. I replied "I did, but I'm little, so my yard is shorter than yours". I measured it this morning, it's 27 inches, as opposed to 36 (translated for the benefit of number-hating or the lazy people).

Lily had a ton of great tips, and most of them are actually going to be in her next book, funnily enough called "Crochet Tips and Tricks". I really learned a lot.

The class was also cool because I met Hannah and Tracie, two cool Floridians who knit and crochet. As there was a lack of events besides classes and the vendors, classes were really the only way to meet people.

And yes, I did say crochet, not knitting. Even though you couldn't tell it from my blog, I do crochet; I just haven't done any in a while.

The Show: As disappointing as the movie Ultraviolet

After the class, we went to check out the vendors. I was a little afraid, because I had watched the vendor list since I found out the show, and I only saw a few yarn vendors.

My fears were justified, it turns out because there were only three yarn vendors. What vendors were there were wonderful, but there was a distinct lack of yarn companies. Since there were so few, I can review them all.

The Local Needle
This is a local yarn store near Jacksonville. I've been to there before, and I know the owner. She is very nice and always very welcoming. She even remembered what some of the yarn I had bought there over a month ago, so it was good to see them doing so well. I got some lovely Pagewood Farms hand dyed sock yarn in Navajo, shades of blue and a little brown.

Pagewood Farms Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Navajo
Originally uploaded by shishyb

Picasso's Moon
This is a local yarn store with a twist in Sarasota. What sets this store apart is that the owner does some pretty cool things, such as taking four different very light yarns and combining them into a single ball of a heavier yarn. Again, this owner is very warm and has an awesome sense of color. She also had kits that had several balls of rag strip yarns in coordinating colors and patterns, as well as single balls of rag yarns and lots of indy dyers, and a few balls of what looked distinctly like Cascade 220 in the corner. If I'm ever near Sarasota, I'm definitely going to check out her store. I got just one ball of hand dyed wool yarn, in pinks and browns. I have no clue as to what to do with it. Actual stash yarn!

Handpainted Wool from Picasso's Moon
Originally uploaded by shishyb

Tess's Designer Yarns
This was the only true (traditional) yarn company. This booth had some gorgeous yarns, in some very interesting fibers. Everything was smooth and shiny here. They're located in Maine, but a lot of their yarns were blends that would be very appropriate to warm weather wear. All of their display pieces were tank tops and mesh wraps, with the exception of the cutest child's capelet.

All in all , I got out in under $30. Here are the disappointing results.

ONS Stuff 1
Originally uploaded by shishyb

On the right, you see the bags that I brought with me. This includes class supplies (in the striped bag graciously gifted to me by Donna), the Coriolis socks (in a bag made of grey jersey material that a set of jersey sheets came in) and my purse (featuring the face of Jim Morrison). The brown bag on the left is the bag that holds my purchases and other acquisitions (including three free magazines). I'm sorry Brenda, there are no pictures of me swimming in yarn, because I didn't buy nearly enough. Had some of the other less accessible yarn vendors been there (Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Webs, indy dyers this means you) I would've got more. Oh well, since Nerdy Husband's car is in the shop, and with the holidays coming up, I guess I don't need much more yarn. I have enough to get through the holiday projects, and I shouldn't start anything for myself right now.

And now, here are the puppies to lighted the mood. Here's Indy and his new girlfriend, Quima.

Indy and Quima 3
Originally uploaded by shishyb

She's a older woman, and I think she's a retired police dog. I say this because the owner is a police officer, and the dog was really well behaved. I kept trying to get good pictures to compare their sizes, but for the first time in his life, Indy was camera shy.

Heading back to O-Town

2007-11-15T18:24:00.000-05:00

No one that lives in Orlando calls it O-town. Mostly because we don't want to be associated with mildly popular boy bands.

But it's not all bad. There's the Orlando Needlework Show. Dude, a fiber show in Florida. And Lily Chin is teaching classes.

I'm all signed up for Crochet Tips and Tricks. Hopefully this will renew my interest in crochet a little, because I've really fallen out of it. The only thing I've crocheted in months is the swatches I made as homework for the class.

And I may pick up some cross stitch supplies. That's something I really haven't done for a while. 15 years at least.

I'm so excited about this show! Too bad Blue Moon Fiber Arts won't be there. I need to feed my sock yarn addiction with Socks that Rock. You know, the good stuff.

I'm bringing the Coriolis socks for my FIL, I'm nearly done, and I'm looking forward to starting some Toe Up Jaywalkers in the same Lorna's Laces for my MIL. The Dishcloth Incident is turning into an unmitigated disaster, as I cannot find any LionBrand VelvetSpun , and I am very nearly out of yarn. I thought I wasn't supposed to be still making rookie mistakes, but who ever heard of a dishcloth that took more than one ball of yarn (colorwork notwithstanding). I guess when it's the size of a placemat, that can happen.

No other knitting news, except that our knitting circle totally took over a Barnes and Noble cafe last night. 18 people. Seriously.

Fall is in the Air

2007-10-30T20:12:00.000-04:00

Forget spring, fall is my favorite season. It's here, and this is how I know.

One branch of the trees behind the condo has turned a beautiful orange. Not sure if it died or is changing for the season. We're going to go with changing, as some of the other needles have a tint of orange as well.

We've cleared most of the boxes out of the dining room, and made some good finds at some pumpkin patches to make a nice centerpiece.

This is the Mario Mushroom gourd

and the Biohazard Squash

Here's the first round of pumpkins and gourds, set up all nice and pretty.

Then one of our pumpkins (the big one of course) started oozing onto our new, never-before-used table. Nice. So, we ended up going to a pumpkin patch while we were visiting my family, and found the Mario Mushroom Gourd. After we got back, we carved the pumpkins, and added our new squash, and this (and some pumpkin seeds) is what we were left with.

Here's My Nerd's skull Jack-o-lantern

and my Maleficent.

Not bad considering we used steak knives and a nail as our tools. We used the paddle from our rice cooker as well, it was great for scooping out the guts and seeds. The pumpkin seeds themselves are no where to be seen in the pictures, mostly becuase they don't last long enough to get pictures taken of them. And they're just seeds.

In the past week, I've made most of the first Coriolis sock of a pair I'm giving my father in law for Christmas. I've also been working on a dishcloth along with my knitting group. And it's a disaster.

The KAL in general is going ok. But I've made a serious error in judgment, one that I shouldn't have. Because I just wrote and recorded a segment on gauge for the podcast. And I've had gauge disasters before. I figure that since it's a dishcloth, gauge isn't that important. Well, instead of a dishcloth I have a bathmat. A small one, but a bathmat nonetheless. It's huge. I didn't realize this was a problem while making each of the five petals because it's the worst photographed pattern ever, and you can't see how large the petals are compared to the center. I thought the petals comprised most of the dishcloth, and that the center would be small. Then I saw a finished one at my group, and almost cried. It's almost all center, the petals are very small. I also ran out of yarn, and I started with a full ball. That should tell you something.

I never planned to actually use it as a washcloth, as it's made out of Lionbrand VelvetSpun that I had in my stash. I don't know how the polyester chenille would hold up to regular washing. I will probably use it almost as a doily, on part of my desk that I don't write on. Or perhaps under my computer monitor. Or maybe, if I ran some icord just inside the border where the petals are joined, I could make it into a purse. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who would wear a bright yellow chenille purse with petals around it.

Either way, I think this qualifies under "Disaster" on KnitWars.

Doxes and Thriller and Socks, Oh My!

2007-10-21T19:10:00.000-04:00

Braided Cable Socks

Last weekend, Nerdy Hubby and I went on this very eventful trip to Middle of Nowhere, Florida for a wedding. Luckily, the travel and the lack of
anything to do gave me time to finish my Aran Braid Socks.

I chose these socks purely because at the time I was compelled to try some braided cables. Something about the braided speaks to me, and when I get gripped by a knitting pattern, I have to try it, (this is probably why I have so many projects going at once, more on this later). Here's a close up of the cables on the side.

They were made using just about one ball of Regia 4 ply. This is my first top-doen sock with a heel flap. The cables start just after the ribbed cuff, and are continued on a smaller scale down the foot.

They turned out marvelously, except for one cable left purposefully twisted the wrong way, so that I can tell the left sock from the right. It's on the inside of the left sock, on the foot where no one will see it when I'm wearing shoes.

Here are the socks with my new pirate loafers, in honor of my Ravelry name (KnitPirate).

...and on the foot.

That is definitely the most unflattering angle ever for someone with big calves, like me. But I'm not very photogenic anyways.

Knitting Project Infidelity Syndrome
I have a terrible case of Knitting Project Infidelity Syndrome (KPIS). It's a good thing that UFO's don't get jealous, because I always get distracted and start new ones. I have months where none get done, even though some are close to completion. I've gotten a little bit better about it recently, because I've started keeping track of my UFO's in my planner. I write them down in my to do list, like grocery shopping or laundry.

The inability to stay faithful to one project and my neurotic over-preparation leads to me carrying around an "obscene" amount of knitting and knitting accessories whenever I go somewhere to knit. The word obscene is in quotation marks because I have been told this. I usually don't ever go to a knitting group with less than two projects, plus maybe a FO to show off, all of my regular supplies and notions, and two extra balls of yarn and extra sets of needles just in case we find someone with no supplies and wants to learn to knit. In truth, people have been pretty good about asking for lessons ahead of time. However, just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it won't happen; in fact I think there's a good chance that the manager at the Panera where we meet will want to learn soon. He's very friendly and always talking to us, so it's only a matter of time.

Trip to Nowhere, Florida
The trip to a small rural town was, in a word, eventful. Before I continue, let me tell you that I grew up in a small town. I had grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins a few blocks away, and the best man at my parents wedding lived two doors down from us. So I have no problem with small towns. The thing is, the small town where I grew up was close to a bigger town, which was close to a small city. The small town that we went to for the wedding was near... nothing but empty roads. I thought I had seen most of what Florida had to offer, since I've lived here all my life and traveled most of the state. I was wrong.

We were meeting some friends on the edge of town the night before the wedding. This involved driving about 20 miles down a dark, desolate, foreboding, winding, steep two lane road. I didn't even realize Florida had roads this steep; it's essentially a two-dimensional state, other than overpasses and the occasional sand dune. The directions were given in terms such as "quite a ways" and "a little bit", so while driving down this road, we had no idea how far we were supposed to go. "A good bit" into our drive, something ran across the road, narrowly avoiding a fate that could be featured in an instructional video for teenage animals called "Blood on the Asphalt". We couldn't decide whether the creature was a dog or a fox, so it was termed a dox (as fog would have just been confusing).

Luckily we made it to see everyone that night, and we took a longer, more well lit route home. For directions to the wedding the next day, we decided to depend on Google Earth. It hadn't ever failed me in the past. But it did that day. Google for the lose! We only made it to wedding because we noticed a man in a passing car was wearing a suit, and followed him.

At the reception, the normal dancing and alcohol-related hilarity ensued. The highlight was near the end of the night, when someone told the DJ that one of the guests danced a mean version of Micheal Jackson's Thriller. Well, the guy was reluctant but a little tipsy and probably quite confident in his dancing abilities, so he agreed to do it. He wasn't alone though, a four year old girl accompanied him. She actually did a very good job of mimicking him. All in all, it was the best rendition of Thriller that I've ever seen a drunk guy and a four year old perform. They were both quite good. Unfortunately, I don't have the video, so this will have to do. Youtube, it's a good thing.

I love dancing like no one's watching, I'm all for doing it at weddings, mostly because that's the only place people will do it. Well, weddings and IBar in Orlando, but that's a whole other post.

She's Here

2007-10-16T18:24:00.000-04:00

May I present to you Lady Eleanore Stole in all her entrelac and fringed glory.

Despite my best efforts, puppy managed to sneak into this photo. He's the Photo Ninja. See his tail behind the chair? He's at his watchpost, sitting on my computer and staring out the only window in the house that overlooks a sidewalk. Someone's gotta spy on the neighbors. But enough about the cuddliest guy I know.

LE, as I affectionately call her, took only 7 - 3/4 balls of yarn. And she grew during blocking, despite the fact that I didn't pin her. I didn't pin because I thought she was the perfect size already, but apparently the friction with the carpet was enough to stretch it out, and it was too long for the smooth blocking board. Before blocking she was 70 inches long (5 foot 10 inches) and after she was 76 (6 foot 4 inches). It grew in width as well, from 21 inches to 22. Next time, I'll use the old plastic shower curtain that's currently packed in a box.

Ignore the terrible picture. As I said, it's is the perfect size. I was able to use it like a blanket on the drive out to Middle of Nowhere, Florida for a wedding last weekend (knitting and stories about the best rendition of Thriller ever performed by a drunk guy and a 4 year old will are to come). I also use it at work, where they thought it was a blanket. It's comfy enough that it feels like one, as it covers the top of my arms and my lap.

It is very soft after being washed in hair conditioner and fabric softener. I keep fondling it, which seems to intrigue my coworkers. The recommended yarn for this project is La Lana, which has a market value of $330 (15 balls at $22 per ball). One hundred or so dollars for Noro doesn't seem so bad to the hubby now, does it? The Noro Silk Garden is great for this pattern, and the variegation is absolutely beautiful. Plus, pure wool would've been too heavy for regular use here in the Sunshine State, and the silk-mohair blend is so squishably soft and really pet-able.

Lady Eleanore is coming...

2007-10-08T20:49:00.001-04:00

My Lady Eleanore Entrelac Stole is blocking right now. I feel like I just put the kiddies to bed and now I can play online. Look how sweet it is while it's resting:

This wrap is absolutely gorgeous in Noro Silk Garden. This was my first time using Noro, and my first time spending a good amount of money on something for me. I'm a little disappointed at the number of breaks in the yarn, with an average of about one per ball, and as many as five.

I really like the colors, even though they came out darker and more rustic than I planned. It doesn't seem like this will be fancy enough to wear to the wedding I've been making it for. Doesn't seem like it will be necessary either, as it's supposed to be 85 degrees in Tampa this weekend, not exactly wool-blend-stole weather. Here's what it looks like in natural light:

I made it a little bit bigger than I needed it to be. I want it to be able to wrap around me. It is now the second scarf that I have made that is bigger than me, but that's not really hard to do, as my pal Donna pointed out (still love ya chica). I do come in just under 5 feet, and unless I hit a random growth spurt in my mid-20's that's not changing.

Also, I think I'm being watched. I didn't tell the dog to get in this picture, he just sneaks in. But he does add some cuteness.

The fringe comes after the blocking. I've washed it in fabric softener and hair conditioner which sill supposedly soften the Noro up a bit. This is the first tip I've gotten off of Ravelry.

Yeah, I finally got my invite, and I was so excited to get on, I really didn't think carefully about my screen name. Unfortunately, LittleKnittingNinja was too many characters, and I couldn't find another combination of Knit and Ninja that was available, and somehow I ended up with the screen name KnitPirate. I don't like it at all.

It Won't FIt!

2007-10-06T16:19:00.000-04:00

It's one of the dangers of being adventurous and jumping in with both feet. My second project ever didn't fit.

It was the Kittyville hat from Stitch n' Bitch. Made out of Lionbrand Woolease, so even if it had fit, it would've been too itchy to wear. Mmmm, fuzzy acrylic. Is it obvious that at this point in my knitting career I had never been into a real yarn shop?

But I digress. The real tragedy here is that since I failed to properly use a gauge swatch, the hat came out too small for my head. Notice that I said "failed to properly use" instead of "failed to make". I knit a swatch. Part of me knew that I needed to swatch, especially because I didn't use the recommended yarn. I think my swatch was within one or two stitches of the pattern gauge, and I figured that would be good enough. Knit wear is stretchy and most hats fit most heads, right?

WARNING: Shocking Images are contained in the following segment, and may not be suitable for some viewers, such as children and people who slave over knitwear.

In addition to the fit problems, my hat is scarred. I added one of the cat ears, and realized that I would wear the hat much more if it didn't have cat ears. So I did just about the stupidest thing I have ever done and I took scissors to the hat. I was definitely fearless as I was clueless. At this point, I wasn't able to recognize what was ear and what was hat, and I cut a few holes right in the hat. I also wasn't familiar with how to darn knit fabric, so I took some of the leftover scratchy, fuzzy yarn and knotted it and wove it through the holed until I was sure it wouldn't unravel on me. The result is a very noticeable line of knots, extra yarn, and small holes. Here's the aftermath of the botched ear removal surgery.

The holes are obvious next to my dark hair. It's hard to see, but the stitches near the hole are also skewed.

These graphic images are not meant to shock you, but rather to illustrate the dangers of reckless cutting. And always swatch up before you start a new project.

And please, never drink and knit. Well, that's another post.

Mason Dixon Washcloth

2007-09-29T21:56:00.001-04:00

Mason Dixon Washcloth 1
Originally uploaded by shishyb

This is the Mason Dixon Washcloth as part of my review of Mason Dixon Knitting. This book has a wide variety of patterns at many different skill levels. Even more valuable is that the authors try to help you make the projects your own, by offering multiple yarn selections and multiple versions of the same project, and encouraging readers to experiment.

I had a lot of choices for what to make form this book. I probably chose the Washcloth because I was drawn to the hexagonal shape. It is very suitable for gifts because of the low cost, and short time to completion factor, as well as the presentation shown in the book. The washrag is shown with ribbon run the eyelets, which transforms it into a small bag, just big enough for a nice bar of soap.

It is knit in the round, from the outside in. I used the knitted cast on, just to give the edge a different look. Bobbles are made near the edge, which creates the corners. The eyelets and decorative decreases add interest. Here's a closer look:

There is one errata in the pattern, and it's listed on the Mason Dixon Knitting blog.

I made it in Sugar n Cream, which made it 100% cotton, machine washable and dirt cheap. Since I am a loose woman, I used a size 5 to get gauge, and, more importantly for this piece, to get a fabric that looks and feels right.

I had two minor issues with the finished product that are worth noting, but wouldn't prevent me from making this again.

First of all, my washcloth just won't lie flat. It can be coaxed into a temporary flat state, but it seems that the decreases just aren't fast enough at some point in the first 10 rounds, because there is an ever so slight ruffle. I blocked it in hopes of fixing this, it reverted right back to its original noncompliant state once I picked it up. Here it is during blocking (for scale, these are 12 inch tiles):

After blocking, I tried machine washing and drying it. This only made it curlier, as you can tell here:

The second issue is the center isn't shown in the book. It's made in the same way that many hats are: decrease to a certain number of stitches and draw the yarn through the remaining loops and close up the hole. In hats, this isn't prominent, and it doesn't look bad. But in this application, it is the focal point, and it looks odd to me.

These aren't fatal flaws, I would still use this pattern again. For our new condo, I might make a set of guest towels using this washcloth and the hand towels in this book. The hand towels are beautiful in muted colors of linen, and the MD washcloth would too, especially if the center is embellished with a small flower. However, I don't think I'll be attempting full-sized bath towel to complete the set.

Geeky Knitting - The Super Mario Video Game Cozy

2007-09-15T20:06:00.000-04:00

Here is a joint effort from my husband and I: the Double Sided- Mario Mushroom Game Cozy:

I say it is a joint effort because while I did all of the knitting, hubby designed it, down to the mushroom chart. It holds his DS and PSP.

The yarn is Lionbrand Microfiber, which should be electronics friendly. However, it isn't knitter friendly. It splits like nobody's business. On size U.S. 3 needles, it also knit to a very small gauge. Also electronics friendly.

It begins with a black tube, sewn shut on one end. It is made in 2x2 ribbing to be super stretchy. Then, a pocket is made with the mushroom chart and a seed stitch border. It is then crocheted onto the tube, to make 2 pockets. Run some icord around the top of the tube to make it close, and it's done.

With the seamless sides and the ribbing, it has very little structure. I may machine sew some piping along the sides and bottom to fix this.

Grandma's Afghan Post # 2

2007-09-10T20:01:00.000-04:00

Here is Grandma's Afghan in the process of being washed. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it between being balled yarn and it's soak in the bathtub.

This is the light end of Grandma's Afghan being washed:

and this is the dark end:

As you can see, it was much larger than the bathtub. It was about six feet long and four feet wide. Here the darks appear much darker than they are.

I used three strands held together, and a size 35 needle. The blending was done by using several different yarns, of different textures, weights, and shades of pink.

Here is the completed afghan while it is being blocked.

The color changes look a little dramatic here, but I think that is because it is wet. When it dried (after about 6 days) they were less obvious, and looked like this:

In the end I loved the result. The fabric was so springy and comfy I wanted to make myself one. This would be a good way to get rid of those half balls of yarn you have, if you went from color to color, like from pink to white to yellow, or blue to green to yellow.

I'll post the final pictures of this afghan later, once I find them, along with everything else that disappeared mysteriously during the move...

The Story of My Grandmother's Afgan

2007-09-09T19:57:00.000-04:00

Well, to start out, heres part of the yarn for my grandmother's afghan. It's about $100 worth of decent yarn, from a lys here in Jacksonville.

I only used pink and white yarn for this blanket. What's here was supplemented with filler from Micheals. I used blending, so that it fades from dark to light. I used three to four strands held together, depending on the thickness of the yarn, and size 35 circulars. It is in a fan and feather lace pattern. It measured about three feet wide and six feet long. With blocking and time, it should stretch. No matter what she'll appreciate it.

Part of the reason for doing this is because every year, she makes quilts for every one of her 10 grandkids. When I gave her the blanket, she said "No one ever makes anything for me". So I think next year, we'll do something where everyone in the family makes something for her.

Anyways, when I gave it to her, my grandma actually cried. She thought I had forgotten about it, since I just moved. Usually, when I'm making something for someone, they know it, becuase I keep them updated and ask them a million questions throughout the process. But, I guess I hadn't mentioned it to my grandma.

Pictures of the afghan are coming soon.

My First Project - A look back at a few years

2007-07-22T21:25:00.000-04:00

Here is an old post about my first project:

Indy Models My FIrst Project
Originally uploaded by shishyb

This is my very first knitting project. It's what I worked on the night before my wedding. And it kept me company when the hubby went back to work in the desert.

It is Zeeby's bag from Stitch n' Bitch, in cotton. I used 2 or 3 balls of Preaches and Cream and didn't immediately line it, so it is not surprising that it has grown a few inches. It really couldn't hold any amount of weight. I think I intended it to be a project bag, but as it was unlined, that didn't work. So it spent a lot of time just waiting to be used. It went to the Renaissance fair, but that was about it for the first two years.

When I got a sewing machine, it became one of my first machine sewing projects when I added the lining. It was poorly done (I'm not a good sewer), but now the bag is usable. I bring it to work when I don't need to bring text books, and use it a beach bag.

When Indy saw me take out the camera to take a picture of the bag, he figured that meant that I wanted to take a picture of him, so he walked across the room to pose for me. That should tell you just how many pictures of this dog we have. Perhaps he thought he could lend some cuteness to the project.

I keep it as a testament to how far I've come in knitting, and one day hopefully it will be the same for sewing, too.

Motto of this bag: Jump in and try it when you don't know what you're doing. Just don't expect to get professional looking results.