Created by Chancy

Who is this for?

2012-01-29T16:44:00.000-08:00

I'll give you a hint:

I'm still having problems with my rotator cuffs (yes, plural), so no knitting. But I am sewing; slowly plugging along on the back log of baby quilts/projects.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T18:43:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a fun and safe time last night. I've spent the day relaxing and recovering. ;) And, of course, I got some sewing in there as well.

A little Paintbox progress. I hope that everyone's new year is filled with progress in one area or another. To a wonderful new year!

O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-24T13:37:00.001-08:00

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday!

Holiday Knitting

2011-12-21T01:03:00.000-08:00

but not in the way that you expect.

Have any of you seen the latest Old Navy commercials? With grandma bot who does all the knitting? She's a senior knitizen (haha, so clever Old Navy). This video is full of cute knitterly stuff, so I thought I'd share the link for those of you who haven't seen it yet.

That yarn ball kitty is to die for! So how about a little holiday knitting crack? No?

SMS Giveaway Winners!

2011-12-17T22:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks guys for all stopping by. I had some interesting responses to the fave Christmas movie question. Elf was pretty popular and really both Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel are pretty great in it. A few people loved Love Actually although they weren't sure if it counted as a Christmas movie; I say yeah, of course. It takes place during the Christmas season, so why not? I love that movie too. Under that same reasoning someone also mentioned Die Hard. That happens to be one of my dad's fave Christmas movies. And two people mentioned this movie, which I'd never heard of. And one person, after my heart, mentioned their love for Hallmark Christmas movies. Yup, those cheesy made for TV Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies are my Christmas weakness. I just can't say no.

Anyway, onto the good stuff. Winners!

Fabric triangles and pattern go to:

Judi! Who said:
I love the original cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. My definite first choice is the precut fabric :)

Locker Rug Hooking Kit goes to:

Kathy!

I'm partial to the Christmas Story.
Intrigues by the Locker Hooking book and grandparents in Oregon.
I'm a born and bred Oregonian.

I have to admit that I was rooting for her since she is an Oregonian and that is in sync with the kit's origins.

Yarn goes to:

Melissa Ann!

Who said: Is it sad that I don't have a favorite Christmas movie? Maybe the Navitiy that came out a few year ago... but I haven't really seen it yet. I'd love the yarn :)

Thanks everyone for participating. I hope all of you won something and wish you all a wonderful holiday season!

SMS Giveaway Day

2011-12-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

****CLOSED****

Hey guys, it's that time again - Giveaway Day! Welcome to all the new visitors. This year I'm giving away three things.

1st: Precut triangles and a pattern for making a quilt. I have no idea what size the finished quilt would be since I got these in an Ebay score.

2nd: A whole set for rug locker hooking. I'm not sure if that's the correct name for the activity, but I'm taking a clue from the book. Anyway, you'll get this book, a canvas rug, a bunch of strips, and the needle thing needed to do this activity. I scored all this on a trip to visit grandparents in Oregon but never actually worked on it, so it's time for it to move on to someone who will.

3rd: Four and a partial skeins of navy blue acrylic yarn. 205 yards each.

I don't smoke, but I do have cats, so there will probably be some cat hair coming your way as well. It's unavoidable.

The giveaway is running from the 12th thru the 16th at 5pm. To enter, leave me a comment telling me your favorite Christmas movie and which prize you want. Yes, you can enter for all three, but leave a separate comment for each prize. So, have fun, good luck, and I'm glad you stopped by.

Check out all the giveaways here.

Oh, and please remember to make sure I have some way of contacting you.

ps. B. that orange polka dot fabric was Monaluna from Robert Kaufman. And unfortunately I cut the selvage off the snail fabric, so no clue there. Glad you like it!

Sneak Peaks

2011-11-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

More paintbox progress...

which is coming slower these days. Mostly because I've been working on a baby quilt....

and the paper-piecing/foundation pieced quilt from the class I took the other day....

Normally, I wouldn't consider myself the type of person to do a holiday-themed quilt, but that was the pattern the class was using. So, okay, I can do that, I'm just doing in my own style/totally different color theme. It's actually more Christmas-y, but also more modern and whimsical. Here's hoping it turns out well.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. Here's hoping you eat lots of great food, spend lots of quality time with loved-ones, and get a little crafting time in there as well. I'm hoping to meet all three of those requirements. ;)

2011-11-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. I was doing so well, posting on a more regular basis and I guess I just fell off the wagon. But I haven't stopped crafting; I just haven't been talking about it.

I have tendonitis in my shoulders, so I haven't been knitting for the past few weeks. Blah. But.....

I have been sewing. And I finished Evie's baby quilt. Finally. This sucker was a labor of love. Here it is in really bad light because its been rainy for the past few weekends.

And a close-up (you can click on any of these photos to see them better in Flickr):

And a shot of the flannel I used for the back:

I had bought a regular quilting weight cotton for the back, but when I saw this pink and orange elephant print flannel, I knew it would be perfect. Not only does it have elephants to match the front, but they are pink and orange. When I first asked Marie what she wanted in the way of a baby quilt, she only gave me a color combo to work with: pink, orange, and green. But, at the time, I couldn't find any soft orange prints to work into the quilt, so I went with pink and green based on the elephant print on the front. But now, with this flannel back, there is some orange in their as well. Request fulfilled.

This has already been gifted, so I'll have to ask Marie if she can get me some better shots of it when the light is better.

In the meantime, I've moved on to other things. I've slowed down on the paintbox quilt, although it's not forgotten. I'm already working on another baby quilt (I've got five more baby quilts to make...holy cow, fertile-myrtles.) And my mom and I took a foundation piecing class at the beginning of the month and I've been working on that project for that. I kind of love the process of that one. I'll try to remember to post sneak peaks soon. In the meantime, Happy Early Thanksgiving and stay warm out there!

PIQF

2011-10-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

So, I've finished another Paintbox Quilt pair:

This last weekend I also went to the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. If you haven't been and you are at all interested in quilting or even just beautiful artwork, it is a must. The pieces displayed are unbelievably gorgeous. Quilts range the gamut from traditional to social commentary to scenes or portraits. There is something at this show for everyone. And it's huge. It takes us three hours just to walk around and see all the quilts. Then there is the market. It all leads to a wonderful but exhausting day. I always take pictures, but don't normally post any because it is someone else's work. But this time, I thought I'd post just a few of my favorites. I didn't take notes, so I don't have any identifications as to whose work they are, so by all means if you take offense to seeing someone else's work posted or if you see your own work and want it taken down, let me know. No problem. But I just thought I'd show you only a small sampling of the beautiful work to be seen each October in Santa Clara, CA.

Makes my paintbox pair seem like child's play, doesn't it? Hope you enjoyed.

Giveaway winner!

2011-10-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

The free yarn goes to "fowlervilles_deb". I can't find your contact info, so leave me a comment with your email address (which I won't publish) and I'll get that yarn out to you. Thanks to B. for her generosity in bowing out of the giveaway.

And for some picture goodness:

The 11th pair. Slowly but surely.

More Paintbox and a giveaway!

2011-10-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

The 10th Paintbox Quilt-Along pair

Also, I won a prize! Exciting! I won a giveaway over on The Empty Bobbin of her new Zigzagged Quilt. Can't wait to try this pattern out. You know I've got a ton of baby quilts in the queue, so maybe this will be one of them!

In the spirit of giving things away...I'm giving away the left-over yarn from my Clapotis. (I would link to it here, but Blogger is freaking out and won't let me, so check out August 2009.) Anyway, it is pre-wound and kind of wonky, but there is plenty of it left. Two partial skeins, probably around 300-350 yards I'd guess--maybe more. Oh, and I live in a cat apartment, so there is probably cat hair mixed in with that yarn (which is a mohair/wool blend). So, if you are interested, leave a comment and I will randomly choose someone to send it to next week. Enter by Sunday, Oct. 9 at midnight.

Lavalette - In Which I Learn That Sometimes I Like Varigated Yarn Knit Up

2011-09-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

So, I finished my Lavalette shawl; just in time. And I love it. It's the biggest shawl I've done yet and so it fits me better. There was very little pooling of the colors, although near the end, there started to be a few spots where the black started pooling. So, I cut the yarn and skipped ahead a color repeat to change things up a bit. At first I was worried the change was too abrupt, but really with all the color going on in this thing, you can't really tell.

So, without further ado, I give you my latest shawl:

Specs:
Pattern: Lavalette by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops
Needles: US 7
Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy Supewash Sock & Baby yarn in Cleopatra
ravel it here

I think I love the back of the shawl where you can see the reverse stst best. The color mixes look even more amazing on that side.

See?

This pattern is technically free, but Kirsten asks that you donate to the Fisher Center website towards Alzheimer's and Dementia research, which is just what I did. This is a cause near and dear to my heart as my grandmother suffers from Alzheimer's. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but I work in pharma research. And my understanding is that research dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia is hard to fund, for various reasons. The slow progression of the disease means that studies are necessarily long and drawn out. Also, the most direct way to see Alzheimer progression would be to study plaque build-up in the brain, but you can't do that with live patients, so studies tend to rely on memory and behaviour changes which are harder to characterize. Because of this big pharma tends to be reluctant to invest money in something that won't have quick, definitive results. So every little bit helps.

I've had quite a few of Kirsten's pattern in my queue for a while now and I'm glad I finally got around to knitting one up. The only question is which is next...Cerasifera? Coleus? Curatio? Hamamelis? I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

More blocks

2011-09-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

OK, enough with vacations, back to work. I've actually had these blocks done for a week or so, but hadn't gotten around to posting them yet. But as Jen said, back to work.

The 8th pair and the...

9th pair

I've finish the Lavalette, just in time too. Pictures soon to come hopefully.

Vacation and things

2011-09-08T22:27:00.001-07:00

Warning: Picture heavy post.

I've been quiet for the last few weeks, mostly because I went on two back to back vacations. The first one was to Seattle with two of my college best friends. And we had a blast site-seeing and eating tons of food. The seafood there is amazing. A-mazing. A few pics of the trip (some of them are grainy cuz I played around with the ISO settings on my point-and-shoot on night pics and the noise is apparently quite...apparent....hmmm)

a really cool building that was reflecting the sky beautifully

outdoor fountain that everyone plays in

of course we went to Pike Market--oh the seafood...heavenly

the gum wall in Post Alley

this clothing store had an entire window display done with antique singers...OMFG, I heart it!

the space needle at dusk

the space needle at night

the view of downtown from the space needle at night

we took the ferry to bainbridge island (where I stopped by Churchmouse Yarns and Tea ((BrooklynTweed is a fan)) and picked up a skein of laceweight Madelinetosh) and the headed on to Forks....yup, Forks....eh

Forks was unimpressive, but La Push was beautiful

cool fallen tree on the beach at La Push

I won tickets to a Mariners game while there, so that's how we spent our last night in Seattle...they lost :(

After I got back from Seattle I unpacked, packed again and flew to Maryland for a wedding of a close friend from high school and college....who is now pregnant, so I'll be adding another baby to the list of quilts that need to be made and gifted. This list is never ending. Hahaha. Anyway, I didn't take my camera cuz I was tired of picture taking (although I later regretted this), I knew there would be tons of cameras at the wedding--including professionals, and its just extra weight to carry around and with my shoulder every little bit adds up. Kinda wish I had it for the Civil War Museum of Medicine though. That was a great combo of cheesy and informative.

I didn't take any knitting with me (sacrilege, I know), but travelling is really hard on my shoulder so I figured I didn't want to exacerbate it by knitting. Those planes are just not made for tall people. Not only is there very little leg room--which I'm used to--but, and I never noticed this before I hurt my shouldler, the seats are shaped for shorter people as well. The headrest section always hits my shoulder blades. Just pokes right into them. And why does the head section of the seat bend forward? Isn't that bad ergonomics even for healthy people of the size the seats were built for? Anyway, all that to say that I had to settle for reading only during the flights. The Seattle flight was no big deal, being only an hour and a half, but, oh lord, the Baltimore flight is 7-8 hours each way. That's a lot of reading on a plane with no movie service. And just in case anyone is wondering, it doesn't matter if the trip is 7-8 hours long with no deboarding at stops, Southwest does not provide any food besides crackers. Not even for sale. Ask me how I found out. Let's just say that when I landed in Baltimore I ate a meal big enough for 3 people. Lol.

Anyway, now that I'm back and situated again, I've started working on more Paintbox squares and am about 80% done with my Lavalette. I'm definitely cutting it close to the deadline with that one. It's going to be a race for sure, seeing as summer ends in a week and a half.

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and I'll be back soon.

2011-08-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Pair number seven.

The 6th pair

2011-08-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely. ;) Have a great weekend everyone!

2011-08-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

I know it's the same old story, but I really did have good intentions for being more productive blog-wise. But...I've got a small tear in one of the discs of my spine and it's safe to say it's more than a little uncomfortable. It should heal, but I've got lots of PT in my near future. I have been knitting, but its been slow since too much sitting exacerbates the problem. So the knitting is slow, but I'm still determined to finish the shawl before the end of summer. I'm about 2/3 of the way through.

I have been able to sew some since quilting involves cutting and pressing, there is not a lot of uninterrupted sitting. Evie's quilt is almost done; I'm about 2/3 done with the quilting. But I've got the binding all prepped and ready to go.

I've also finished another quilt top...as yet unphotographed. But don't be impressed. The top is going to be the easy part of this quilt. It's the back that might take longer. Ooooh, the mystery...

And since I've been trying to quilt more often...I've started back up with the Paintbox Quilt-Along...
the 5th set of squares.

So...yeah, that's where I am right now. Sorry for the long delay. And I still have a finished knitting project that need photographing...I just lost my normal photographer (the brother) to nursing school. But he'll be on break this weekend, so maybe it'll get done then. Fingers crossed.

Just checking in...

2011-07-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

...to give a little crafting update and let you know I'm still alive and I do have future posts coming up soon.

*The quilting has commenced on Marie/Evie's quilt. Let me tell you that a walking foot just makes life easier. I don't know why I always forget that, but I do and then there is always a slow start and a learning curve. But progress has been made.

*A new baby quilt project is in the works.

*I have some finished knitting to show off, but it hasn't been photographed yet. Hopefully soon. I'm really excited about this one and think it will get lots of wear.

*I've joined Kirsten Kapur's (of Through the Loops fame) Summer Shawl KAL on Ravelry. Dangerous idea, I know, because of my horrible track record with deadlines. But my hope is that soon, this

will become a Lavalette. Normally, I'm not a big fan of varigated yarns, but a few of my favorites of this shawl on Ravelry (especially this) were done with varigated yarn and so I wanted to try it. We shall see. But I do LOVE how the skein wound up. Striking, isn't it?

OK, I'll try to be back soon. <3

Pressing Issues (Pun Intended)

2011-06-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finished the top of baby Evie's quilt. And I love it and all it's imperfections. But pressing this quilt top is labor intensive. (I crack myself up. While pressing the quilt top, I realized this would be a blog post on its own and the word play for the title magically occurred to me. And I felt SO clever. And then I called my dad over and verified my cleverness by making him chuckle as well. See, I had a totally partial judge confirm how clever it was.) Normally I don't mind the ironing/pressing that comes along with quilting. But in this situation, it really did become a task in and of itself.

I mean, look at all the seams in just one individual block.

And now, look at how those add up row by row.

Getting all those seams to behave the way I want them to is sort of a losing battle, although I did my best.

And now it is basted and waiting to be quilted.

Not quite sure what I'm going to do for the quilting yet. I've contemplated copying Red Pepper Quilts' quilting on her version. But I'm also playing around with the idea of doing small double frame lines inside all the green HSTs and diagonal lines across the giant elephant HSTs. I dunno. It remains to be seen. I'm definitely thinking a light pink though for the quilting thread. I can't wait to show you the print I chose for the back. So perfect.

Giveaway Winners!

2011-05-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

I just want to say thanks to everyone for visiting. I briefly entertained the idea of replying to each and every commenter, but at 200 comments, I didn't get very far. But I appreciate every entry and wish you all good luck on all your entries. And now, drum roll please....

The winner of the Amy Butler pattern is Sunni!

and...

The winner of the sock yarn is Mom C!

I will be emailing both of you shortly. The rules for the giveaway state the prizes must be mailed out by Monday, but here in the US, Monday is a holiday and most post office aren't open on Saturday and Sunday. So I will get these packages in the post by Tuesday. Thanks again for all your wonderful comments!

Giveaway Day!

2011-05-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

Giveaway CLOSED!

OK, so I don't know what's going on with Flickr, but it's not letting me upload my picture. So I don't have a picture for you right now of what I'm giving away, but fear not, I am participating in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day.

(OK, Flickr is behaving much better now; poorly lit picture added.)

For the sewers out there, I'm giving away Amy Butler's High Street Messenger Bag pattern.

For the knitters or crocheters out there, I'm giving away two skeins of Fortissima Colori sock yarn in colorway 9073.

If I resolve this Flickr problem soon, I'll post a picture of the goods.

This giveaway is open until 9pm PST on the 25th. Just leave a comment specifying which prize is your first choice. Winners will be chosen randomly. Due to shipping costs, my giveaway is limited to US participants only. Good luck everyone!

Progress Row by Row

2011-05-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

Marie's baby quilt for Evelyn sewn into rows. Next step sew the rows together.

Hat 1 and Hat 2

2011-04-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

I know I've been gone a while, but you know how life goes. Not as planned quite often. ;) But I have slowly been working away at things, so now I have a finished object to show. Well two actually. One recent and one old that I just never bothered to show you guys cuz I'm not that excited about it. Like Dr. Suess' Thing 1 and Thing 2, here are Hat 1 and Hat 2.

Hat 1

Pattern: The Noro hat by Saartje
Needles: US 7 (although I think I used a set of 8s for the crown)
Yarn: Noro (duh) Kureyon in 095
ravelled here

I started this project because I took at class at Knit One One on continental knitting. Knit One One had a Groupon offer and when I saw that, I snatched it up, knowing that there would be something there that I would like. And when I saw that they offered a continental knitting class (back in Feb. I think) I grabbed the opportunity. Knitting continental is supposed to be so much quicker by using less arm motion and I thought that would help me two-fold. One, being the obvious, by speeding up my knitting. And two, it might alleviate some of the pain problems with the "less arm motion" thing. Anyway, the pattern that they were using to teach the technique was this hat. When I saw it online, I wasn't impressed by it. It was too pointy. I know some people like a pointy hat, but to me it brings to mind a clown or a dunce's hat. I don't like pointy hats. But I thought, WTF, its just a hat and its not about the product but about learning something new. Then, when I got to class and saw the hat, it was much cuter in person. And when I tried it on, it was really cute. So I actually got excited about knitting this hat. I hit a few snags along the way. (Oh, Noro and those knots!) And I finished it and then ripped it back when it was too long and baggy at the top of the head. Fixed that by ripping back to 65 stitches and then eliminating a few repeats by doing two sets of decreases in each knitting section. And wallah! I like it!

Now, my verdict on continental knitting? I like actually knitting that way. It is definitely quicker and required less movement than throwing. But purling? Man, did trying to purl continental kill me in all kinds of new painful ways. It actually slowed me down. Near the end, I switched to doing continental for the stockinette sections and throwing for the purl sections and that seemed to help. So I think I'll definitely use continental if I'm doing loads of stockinette stitch. Otherwise, I'll do it my old way.

Hat 2 (yeah, I know, not the greatest pic)

Pattern: Windschief by Stephen West
Needles: US 6 and 7
Yarn: Three Irish Girls Springvale Super Merino in Zephyr
ravelled here

I love this pattern. I love everyone else's finished hats. I don't love mine. I just can't get it to fit right. First it was too big. So I went down a size. Then it seemed too long. So I shortened it. Then it still seemed too big, so I tried felting it a bit (even though its a superwash yarn). That seemed to help. But now it slides up my head and gets pointy on top. We all know how I feel about pointy hats. (see above) I'm not sure where I went wrong here, but I just don't like it. I have been wearing it for the last few months when a hat was required. But I'm pretty sure this one is destined to be donated. Maybe I'll try again. Cuz I really, really love other people's versions of this hat. This hat may be the hat that teaches me to knit swatches for a hat. And that is saying something. What? I'm not sure. That I'm stubborn and should have been knitting swatches for hats all along? Sure, maybe. That I really, really want this hat for my own. Um, yes, I may have already mentioned that. That I don't learn something until it knocks me over the head...or in this case pops off my head. OK, I'll take that too. Whatever. One day this hat will be mine. But not today.

Here is an up close look.

That's all for now, folks. I am very close to being done with the blocks for Marie's baby quilt. It only two me a week and a half to put all those half-square triangles into strips, but making them into blocks is taking longer due to a shoulder flare up. But I hope to be beyond that soon. So hopefully it won't be as long until the next post. Until then my friends.

In Case You Were Wondering...

2011-03-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

...this is what 200+ one and a half inch half square triangles look like:

Now to go from those to these:

Ta-dah!

2011-03-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I've been delaying posting about this (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I feel like I'm cheating by posting it early since it isn't ready to mail yet; more on that later.), but I finished Jackson's baby blanket a little over a week ago.

And I LOVE it. Love, love, love it! As I should; I mean it only took me almost a year to finish. (It probably will be a year by the time it gets to Carole's house.)

Pattern: Tailgate Rag Rug from Mason-dixon Knitting adapted into a blanket (ravel it)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Lime, Violet, Taupe, and Cream (used 2 to 3 skeins of each)
Needles: US 7 straights
Notes: I decided to do an I-cord border and used this tutorial from Knit Picks, which in my opinion is genius--one of those times, when once you see it done, you think "that's so simple and so obvious...why didn't I think of it before?" My kitchener stitch didn't turn out as it should have, probably because I have never done one before and so starting on i-cord was probably not the smartest choice. But it definitely is passable. And I did a crochet provisional cast-on for the border from this video, although I may have done that wrong too since it was kinda difficult for me to undo and I thought the whole point was for it to be easy to undo. Oh well, all's well that ends well, right?

Here is a close up of the border:

Oh, also I had to add in extra rows in the border when i-cording parallel to the garter stitch. Otherwise the bind off on the garter stitch was a tight enough gauge to pull in the border. There is one corner on this blanket that does pull in because of that and I didn't figure out the solution until after that corner. I contemplated going back and cutting the border at that point and redoing that section. But then I thought, enough is enough. I want to move on to knitting other things.

Here is a detail of the seaming I did:

I am SO proud of the seaming I did! I wish I could remember which magazine I got the seaming instructions from, but I just can't remember and it isn't one I own. I just happened to be glancing thru it at the book store and came across it in my hour of need. In hindsight, I should have bought it just to have that article handy. Oh well. Hopefully I'll remember if I ever need to do something like this again.

So now, this blanket is almost ready to be shipped to Sacramento. I say almost because after I washed it, all my carefully woven in ends decided to wiggle out of at least two stitches. The perils of working with something other than wool. It doesn't grab onto itself. So now I have 72 ends to knot in place and weave back in. Tiny stubs of ends. It's taking some time. But Jackson was born in April, so I'm not too worried about it. This blanket would make a great 1st birthday gift!

Hittin' Up the Club

2011-02-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

So, a long, long, LONG time ago, maybe back before I hurt my shoulder (which would be almost four years ago now), I sometimes participated in a recurring class at Eddie's Quilting Bee called The Strip Club. (I know it's supposed to be clever, but this name always makes me cringe...which is weird because I'm not an uptight person most of the time.) Anyway, the focus of this class would be that the shop would provide a pattern and a pack of 2 1/2 in. strips and you would choose accent fabrics and when all finished you would have a quilt. They always had some of the most beautiful examples up in the store. And so I irregularly joined this class and way back when pieced together a huge queen size quilt. I even paid to have it professionally quilted. (There is no way I could have quilted a queen size quilt on my Brother machine; even now, I could probably only attempt straight line quilting on my Viking otherwise all that fabric wrangling would drive me nuts.) I think pretty soon after I got the quilted quilt back, I hurt my shoulder and it got put aside, so close to finished, but not. I would take it out every six months or so and re-fold it so that the fold creases wouldn't become permanent and think: "Gee, I really should bind this quilt. That's all that's left to be done." And then I'd fold it back up and put it back in the back of my closet. Then about a year or so ago, I got some ants in my pants and decided I WOULD bind it. So, I cut and sewed all the binding together. And then I stuffed said binding into my sewing bag and let it sit there until present day. (Apparently those ants had somewhere better to be.)

Cut to one week ago, when I decided it was time. And so, right about kick-off time on Superbowl Sunday, this baby was pushed out, smacked on the bottom, and called done.

Here is a close up of the gorgeous quilting that Melodee--teacher of said class and professional quilter--did:

Most of the strips were Kaffe Fassett prints, including some of his shot cottons. I used a Kona cotton for the sashing, and some batik style prints for the accents (centers of the squares).

I chose a Kaffe print for the back to keep up with the Kaffe theme. In fact, it's used in one of the sashing squares.

So, around four years later, and I have finished my first "large" quilt. I am extremely please with it and if it weren't for the fear that my cats would tear a hole in it with their sharp claws, it would be on my bed right now. Alas, it is back in a closet. But a different closet. The linens closet, right along with all my other bedding. So that every time I go to put away or take out fresh bedding or towels I see it and it makes me happy. One day, it will take its rightful place on my bed.

Until then, a parting shot:

(And yes, from the looks of these pics, California is probably the only place in all of America right now that isn't buried under snow. It's one of the reasons I love you, Cali.)

We Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Broadcast...

2011-01-29T22:29:00.000-08:00

For a Little Quilting 101. (ps. This post is unbelievably long, so you can skip to the bottom for a recap if you want.)

Hey guys. I've been quiet around here for a few weeks, but it's been pretty productive. (After New Year's, I didn't make resolutions per se, but I made a to do list for the month, and that's been pretty sucessful. And guess what was on the list for every week, quilting and knitting. Yes, I can be anal like that.) But not productive enough that I have anything pretty to show you. Well, that's not quite true, so let me change that to not productive enough that I'm ready to show you any of my pretties.

So instead I have an update with some informative quilting product pictures. That's not really an accurate description. What I'm doing is probably closer to a tutorial except is in no means good enough to be a tutorial, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

So here we go:
UPDATE:
-Marie's baby quilt. Last we spoke, I had 204 half-square triangles (hereafter referred to as HSTs) to go. No, I'm not done with them. (Are you kidding me?) HSTs maybe one of the most labor intensive quilting shapes to make. I'm not saying they are hard to do; they just require a lot of work. And, truthfully, if I had realized/remembered how much work it would be, I might have gone with another pattern. But now that the pattern is chosen and started, I'm in it to win it. And as I type I have completed 60 more with another 12 almost done. (They're just waiting to be trimmed down to size.) Once those 12 are done, I believe that leaves the count 108 done, 132 to go. That sounds much more reasonable...right?

And it's actually going much quicker now because I ordered Triangles on a Roll from the Fat Quarter Shop. And here is where the photo tutorial comes in. (If you're here solely for knitting content, you'll have to wait for the next post...or maybe the one after that. Sorry.)

Let me show you how Triangles on a Roll work.

Basically, it's paper that is exactly what is says it is--triangle templates on a roll.

I have placed my two fabrics--in this case the white and a print) right sides together. That means if the print fabric is on top, the back of that fabric is facing you. With solid fabrics there really is no right side, so no worries there. Then I carefully cut off a rectangle of the Triangles on a Roll and pinned it to my fabric. I did this for the whole length of my fabric strips. The dashed lines are where you sew and they put arrows on them suggesting which direction to sew in. (It's not super important to follow them, I mean a seam is a seam, but it is more efficient.)

Which is what I've done here.

Then you cut on all the solid lines, including the line that runs diagonally through your squares, which gives you two completed HST per square.

Remove the paper. (I do this by folding the paper along the seam from both sides and carefully tearing it. It can be tricky at first, and sometimes it pulls out your first few stitches, but you'll get the hang of it.) Then press your seams. Last time I mentioned how bulky all the seams were in the finished block and how I couldn't decide how to press them. Well, B. suggested a quilting techniques website (Thanks B.!) that mentions that pressing them open will help eliminate bulkiness, so that's what I'm doing. It also said don't do this with white fabric because your seams will show through, but I'm pretty sure this is what quilting goddess Elizabeth of Oh! Fransson does and she doesn't seem to have any problems with her seams. (Pun intended.)

(Btw, if you don't believe me about Elizabeth being a quilting goddess, click on her Quilt Projects link on her sidebar and check out her amazing work. So good.)

Now if you ordered the correct size Triangles on a Roll, you would be done. You probably know where this is leading. I did not order the correct size. I ordered 2-inch Triangles on a Roll because my HSTs before they go in the blocks are two inches. But turns out that when they specify that 2-inch Triangles on a Roll will give you a finished HST of 2-inches, they mean when it is put in the quilt, meaning that they've accounted for the seam allowance. If you don't understand what that means, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I should have ordered the 1 1/2 inch Triangles on a Roll because that is what size my HSTs will be when they are actually in the quilt. So, I have the added step of trimming my HSTs down by half an inch in each direction. Makes things take a little longer.

But even with this mistake, and extra step, the roll still makes things go quicker. Before I was cutting each individual square out myself and drawing on all the seam and cutting lines. Now that is all done for me. And if you ever need to use these it could go even quicker, because I had already cut my fabric into 3 inch strips (for the above mentioned individual square cutting) and so to use the roll, I have to cut off each rectangle and pin it on. If I hadn't precut my strips, I could use a bigger fabric cut and just literally roll on the appropriate number of rectangles and pin them on as one big paper.

Anywho, if all this technical talk is getting too boring for you, all it really means is that things are going quicker around here. (Then why didn't you just say that, Chancy? Le sigh. I know, I know.)

Next update:
-Carole/Jackson's baby blanket. The seaming is done. DONE I tell you. Hold the applause, I know I'm amazing. (Seriously, though. I'm actually kind of amazed with myself that I was able to get this done and have it look as good as it does.) It took me three attempts with different methods before I figured out how to make it look okay. First I tried whipstiching it. Bleh. Pretty much right away, I could tell that I didn't like that look. No way did I work so hard trying to get all those panels to look neat to have the seaming look...unseemly. (Ha! I crack myself up.) Then I tried using one of the methods I learned at Stitches last year. But that was for sewing stockinnette panels together, and at first I liked it. The front didn't look too bad, but the back had these big bulky seams. The more I thought about it, the more I decided I didn't want that. This is supposed to be a comfy, soft blanky for a baby. And I'm sure we all know how uncomfortable big bulky seams can be, especially when you are lying on them. So, I undid the two panels I had sewn together and used a very simple method I saw in an appropriately timed magazine article for sewing garter stitch panels together side by side. And for the ones that weren't side by side, I just winged it, and what do you know, it worked! Not only did it work, but it looks AWESOME! I honestly feel unbelievably proud of myself. And now that I've seamed the blanket together, I think I'm in love with it. It's looking SO good.

So now you're thinking: Where are the pictures, Chancy?! Well, I've decided not to post any until I've put on the border. And I've figured out what I'm going to do for the border. The answer came to me about a week ago and I'm super excited to do it and see how it looks. Plus, after two weeks or so of seaming, I'm excited to get some actually knitting back in the rotation. I started to get the knitting jones.

So, to recap: 108 HSTs done, 132 to go before I can start putting together the blocks for Marie's baby quilt....(which actually I should call Evelyn's baby quilt because Marie had her baby two days ago! So excited for her!) And Jackon's baby blanket is sewn together and just needs a border. I also hope to complete something during Super Bowl weekend that's been sitting in the UFO pile for forever. And I'm going to Stitches for another Market Session. And I have a FO that I still haven't photographed yet. So February will hopefully be a productive month blogging-wise. Til then my peeps. Keep warm and stay crafty.

For My Father

2011-01-12T18:17:00.001-08:00

It was my dad's birthday last week. Shopping for my dad is extremely hard most of the time. Especially considering that his birthday falls a little more than a week after Christmas. Two gifts so close together...the pressure! Combined with being the do-it-yourself type, he is also one extremely smart guy. So pretty much he doesn't like things he doesn't need (one area this doesn't apply to is DVDs) and he things can get/make for himself. He would rather you not waste your money. So in the past five or so years, my brother and I have started making his birthday and father's day gifts be more along the lines of outings. Dinners or lunches. Hikes. Bike rides. Things of that nature.

But I'd been eye-ing the Claudia pattern on Ravelry and knew it would perfect for one of the guys in my life. Ron just got a new hat last year. A few good friends' birthdays came and went and it was too late to gift it for those. I needed a break from working on Jackson's baby blanket and my dad recently started a new gig at an outdoor construction site and it's been cold here. Really cold. He gets up at 5:30 in the morning and bikes to work in near freezing temps. Generally my dad is a warm guy. One of those guys whose internal thermostat runs a few degrees higher than everyone else. I contribute this to growing up in Oregon; us native, warm-blooded Californians can't stand the cold (although this may be contributed to my Mexican heritage). Anyway, I decided I would knit my dad a hat and, gosh darnit, he would wear it--at least for the photo shoot.

Pattern: Claudia by MJ Kim (ravel it)
Yarn: di.Ve Zenith (previously seen on Ron's Ribby Toque)
Needles: US4 and US6
Notes: The pattern doesn't specifiy to do the k2tog thru the back loops and so I didn't, but in hindsight, I probably should have. The decreases look a little funky and I think they would have laid nicer had I followed my instinct and k2togtbl.

And like it and wear it, he did. :)

Here he is putting the hat to good use while taking down the Christmas lights.

As a postscript, I'd like to add: I've known my dad for 26 of my ahem-we-won't-say-how-many years. He's my brother's biological dad and ,technically, my step-dad, but really the only father I've ever known. Of course, like most parental-offspring relationships, we've had our ups and downs (man, I bet those teenage years were hard on him), but as an adult I've come to really enjoy my dad's company. He's not only a parent, but a friend. He's quirky, handy, ridiculously smart, and loving. And he's got this awesome, dorky playful side; he doesn't take himself too seriously. Here's to his last 56 years and to many more. I couldn't have picked a better father.

This picture is a great example of how silly my dad can be. Of course, when I said that we had to go to the park to take pics of the hat, he gave me the look that said, "Sure, silly girl, I'll placate you." But once we started shooting, he started throwing his own silly poses in all over the place. This is the full shot of the cropped shot above right after I mention hiking and biking.

And here he is with horns. My brother found a boomerang among his boxes of stuff that he's going through at my parent's house and wanted to try it out. I mentioned that he had one when he was smaller and he mentioned that it broke when he threw it and it hit the ground. Well, five throws in and my brother throws this one and of course it breaks. My dad picks up the pieces, puts on his horns, and looks at me like, "Aren't you going to take a picture? This is perfect." Yes, dad it is. Perfectly you. Happy Birthday!

Testing, Testing, 1..2..3

2011-01-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

A test to see if my 2 inch half-square triangles (HST) are the correct size. They are! Triangles on a Roll ordered and on their way to my house right now. That should make the remaining 200+ HST an easier task. What's not an easy task: piecing with all those seams everywhere. Should I press all the seams to one side or should I press them all open to get flatter blocks? Not sure. The block above is a combo and while it looks flat in the pic, that's only because it was freshly pressed. It is now pretty lumpy again. Quilting will hopefully take care of most of that anyway in the end, but still...I'm pretty sure more testing is in the future.

Best Wishes

2010-12-31T16:55:00.000-08:00

In about 15 minutes, I'm going to start getting ready for going out tonight. Some years, I don't do anything for New Years eve; other years, I do more. Tonight I'm going out with the girls for dinner and drinks. I've got the outfit narrowed down to a skirt and possibility of six tops...yes, it's rare, but sometimes I am that girly. I also can't decide between an awesome pair of booties that are the tallest pair of shoes I've ever worn or cute flats. I love those booties. But we all know I don't need the extra height. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you all a safe and happy New Years eve. And here's hoping that 2011 improves on 2010. Watch out for drunk drivers!

Half Square Triangles

2010-12-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

I've started making the 2 inch half square triangles needed (by my calculation this should be the correct size) for Marie's baby quilt.

So far 36 down; only 204 to go.

It's the Final Countdown

2010-12-15T23:02:00.000-08:00

(Insert 80's music here.)

I finally finished the last panel for Jackson's baby blanket.

The color is a little off (especially on the blues) and, yes I know, the photo is "upside-down" compared to all the others. But with how the panels are going to be put together, this might be more accurate anyway.

Now for the epic job of seaming the panels together. I know, I know, it's not really that much seaming. But to me, the girl who just wings seaming and hasn't really worked on many projects that require seaming, it's A LOT of seaming. (That was five "seaming"s in three sentences...that's a lot of seaming.)

Then there is the matter of a border. It definitely will need a border to help even out the wonkiness from my log cabins. And I think a border will finish it nicely. I was thinking of just doing a single crochet border, if only for the ease of it. But now, I'm really leaning towards a garter stitch border to be more cohesive with all the garter stitch goodness of the panels. The only thing about the garter stitch border I'm not looking forward too: picking up all those stitches. But I'm thinking of doing each side separately, like a quilt. First doing the border along the top and bottom and then adding the border along the sides. Ambitious, I know. For a second there, I was thinking that I might actually be able to turn this out by Christmas. But then I sank back down to reality and realized Jan/Feb. is a much more realistic goal. (I say February to give myself a little leeway with my self-imposed finish date. Cuz again, we all know about my relationships with due dates.)

Checking in

2010-12-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hi all. I know I disappeared for a while and I had no intention for it to be for SO long. My shoulder flared-up and then when I was able to start working on things again, I caught the worst cold ever. I lovingly refer to it as "The Plague". But I'm starting to get over it and I have been working on stuff. I have a finished hat to show you, I'm almost done with the last panel for the baby blanket, and I've been sewing on Marie's baby quilt. I'll check back in again soon (or sooner rather than later) hopefully with some pictures. Talk to you all soon.

A Little Peak at the Future

2010-10-16T00:19:00.001-07:00

A baby quilt for my best friend's unborn baby girl. Based on Red Pepper Quilts Lady in the Lake Quilt. Marie wanted pink, green, and orange, but there aren't a whole lot of orange options out there right now, so its going to have to be predominantly pink and green. But, come on, don't you just love the pink and green elephants?! I couldn't resist.

Five Down, One to Go

2010-10-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

The last panel might go a little slower though...my shoulder has been aching more lately, so I have to rest it more often. But really, the end is near. So close. I can feel it.

3rd panel - redux

2010-09-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

Way better the second time around!

2010-09-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

Guess what? I finished something...and I kinda love it.

Pattern: Herbivore by Stephen West
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Damson Velvet
Needles: US 6
see it on ravelry

I like the graphic-ness of the pattern. Stephen's patterns really appeal to me. There is something great about the simplicity of them. There is detail in the pattern but it's understated--not flashy. What I LOVE is the saturation of the yarn; this yarn is gorgeous. The only drawback is the low yardage for a skein of sock yarn.

This is the second shawl that I've done. I love the concept of the smaller shawl. The larger shawls, I would never wear like traditional shawls are worn. But the idea of casually tossing a shawl around my neck, kerchief style is again understated goodness. But I think I need to start making these shawls a little bigger. Because I am so big, they look smaller than usual on me and they don't quite wrap around enough. So my next shawl, I hope to extend the pattern. Despite that, I love this FO. I think the color signed the deal for me. There was no not loving this once I saw the way the yarn was knitting up.

Some more shots:

This last one really shows the slight variation and deep saturation in the color of the yarn. So yummy.

Oh, and I didn't realize until all the photos were taken, the I had the shawl backward for most of the pics. Instead of the purl ridge bumps, it should be the stockinette stitch that shows. Oh well. Hahaha.

Back in the Saddle

2010-08-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

4th panel:

Love how this rectangle turned out. And because of that, I'm ripping out the 3rd one and doing it over. There's no room for shoddiness here. So the next panel will be a repeat....but hopefully a better looking repeat. Until then. (Why do I feel like saying "Stay thirsty my friends." here? Hahaha! I can't help but love the most interesting man in the world.)

ps. Thanks for all the applique pillow love guys! Seriously. Your comments were so sweet and made me smile. Sometimes I wonder if I should quit the blog, but your comments made it worth it.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

2010-08-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

...or at least it sure feels that way. So I finally finished something. I know! Crazy, right?!

I started this project back at the end of April for my friend Lisa's birthday. But then I was in the accident and sewing got set back a while. But finally, last month, I decided to try some sewing out again and it didn't go too badly as long as I broke it up into small time increments. An hour here. An hour there. So finally, three months after the fact (almost to the day), I have finished Lisa's birthday present.

Cluck Cluck Sew's tree applique pillow from this tutorial

Lisa is a graphic designer by trade and at heart. She really loves anything to do with design. (As an example, like a lot of graphic designers that I know or have heard of, she loves font. To me font is just used to put words out there, but to her it is an art.) Her being a graphic designer means a couple of things: 1. she appreciates handmade goodness and 2. while she may not really be into sewing, etc., she can appreciate the fabrics and what taking individual pieces and putting them together can form graphically. So, when I decided that I wanted to try and make more presents for people, I knew she would be on my list. But it also upped the ante, because I knew that she would be more prone to judge the final product that others.

When I first saw this tutorial, I knew that I loved it, but it made me nervous cuz I don't really applique. But the design of it just resonates with me. So, when I decided to make Lisa's bday present, this was really sitting in the back of my mind as the perfect choice for her. At first, I wanted to use many different colors for the tree, like in the tutorial. But then I got intimidated by the color/fabric choices. I know myself, and I know that if I didn't love how it all came together I would be disappointed with the final product. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that while I love the modern look of all the different colored leaves, it would also look pretty cool done up in different green fabrics as well. Plus Lisa has a green couch or chair, so it would be perfect for that. And you know what? I really love how it turned out. I thought it might be too traditional going for green leaves in a tree, but it really works for me...and I hope for her too.

And once I got the hang of the applique and learned that I just had to go slower than I thought, the leaves didn't turn out too bad. I did unpick four or five along the way, because the stitching was just too wonky. But overall, I'm pleased with myself. I did not use the free form foot on my machine because when I tried it, my stitches were horrible. Differing lengths, not straight. It was an ugly site, trust me. So I just stuck with the quarter inch foot and winged it. It was not the easiest sewing, but well worth the effort. Here's another closer look:

Sorry about the dark lighting in these photos. I don't get much light in my apartment and I didn't want to be the weird girl running around my complex taking pictures of a pillow in the bushes/on the lawn/etc.

I did have a problem with the size of the pillow. The tutorial is supposed to make a 16x16 pillow. You cut 17in background pieces and using quarter inch seams on all sides, you should end up with a 16.5 in square. I followed the instructions and was careful in measuring and cutting. But when I bought a 16 in pillow form and put it in, there was excess fabric on all sides. I mean a lot of excess. In fact, I would have given this to Lisa a week ago except the damn pillow was too small. So this last weekend, I finally got around to going to Joann's again and picking up an 18x18 pillow form. That's the next largest size so I was really hoping it wouldn't be too big. And it wasn't. It worked out pretty well. Hopefully Joann's will take the 16in form back after the package has been opened. Lesson learned: try to pillow size out before taking it out of the plastic wrapping.

For the backing I used a cool, green, graphic print from the Heather Bailey Nicey Jane collection.

Anyway, I hope Lisa likes it. The origins of our friendship are kinda funny. Lisa is the younger sister of one my best friends, David. When I lived in Sacramento, David called me up and asked if I would be her friend. Hahaha. She had just moved there for a job after college and didn't know anyone. I had seen/met her before when visiting David's house in high school and college, but had never talked to her. Turns out she's awesome! She moved back to the Bay Area before me, but ever since I've been back we've hung out more frequently and now she's one of my favorite people. I've got much love for her. Thanks, David, for hooking us up girlfriend-style. (It seems weird writing that cuz I don't usually use the word girlfriend to describe my friends who are women. But I couldn't think of another way to put it.) And don't say anything to her about the pillow. I don't think I'll have a chance to give it to her until the BBQ in a couple of weeks.

(B., was this soon enough? I've got more coming, as well.)

Oops.

2010-08-04T18:33:00.001-07:00

Totally flew by my giveaway date. Well, I think I'll put a pause on those for a while anyway cuz the response dwindled. But I'll be back real soon with some FOs. Promise.

Prize time!

2010-07-17T19:30:00.001-07:00

OK, only one person entered the giveaway this month (which was surprising since its an Amy Butler pattern), so by default B wins! Congrats! I'll be emailing you shortly. (Hmm, I just realized that I have no way of contacting you, so please comment and leave me your email address.)

Sorry I've been quiet lately. I've taken a mini-break from the baby blanket and am almost done with the Herbivore shawl from Westknits that I started over the 4th holiday. I went up to Quincy to visit my good friend Katie and her super cute son, Nathan. This is the Nathan, whom I gave the dinosaur backed quilt to last year. This year I brought him these awesome dinosaur slippers that I bought for him before he was born. They are still quiet a few sizes too big for him, but still he was so cute in them...see:

Here he is giving me a big ROAR!

I also had a chance to wear my Windschief Hat while in Quincy and unfortunately its a little too short; it kept slipping off my head. I think I'm going to rip back and add an inch to the straight-away, so I'll post pictures after I get to that.

While on a day trip to Reno while in Quincy, we randomly ate lunch at Chili's and behind the restaurant was Jimmy Beans Wool so we stopped in and I picked up a skein of sock yarn that I think I'm going to make a Traveling Woman shawl out of. They had a great selection of yarns. It took a large amount of willpower not to come out with more than my one skein of yarn.

And just right now, while looking for a good picture of Nathan in his slippers I came across a picture of Logan with the quilt I made for her, that I don't think I ever posted.

This is her almost two years ago and now she is the cutest 2 year old with a great personality. She is so adorable. Which makes sense, since her parents are awesome and she is looking more and more like her mom and her mom is pretty adorable too. I love you, Steph!

To wrap things up, I won a fat quarter of Scarletfig fabric from Nova's birthday giveaway.

Isn't it great? I've got even more friends who are pregnant, including my best friend, so once she finds out the sex, if it's a boy, I think I'll try to use this great fabric. Thanks Nova!

OK, I hope to be done with my shawl very soon (hopefully in time to wear it for my bday next weekend) and then it will be back to the baby blanket, so don't worry peeps, it will get done soon.

And on top of the queue for next months giveaway, yarn, so stay tuned.

July giveaway and baby blanket goodness

2010-06-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

....or more like baby mediocre-ness. This is the worst of the panels so far. There are lots of small errors. I may have to redo this one. It depends on how I feel about it (and the blanket as a whole) when all the panels are done. I may be ready to move on at that point, so we'll see.

Here it is:

And here's the thing. For the first panel I kept track of all the counts, the rows, the stitches, so that I could replicate it in the following panels, but once I got going, it turns out that sometimes the different colors are knitting up at different gauges...or maybe I'm not being consistent with my gauge. But at that point if I followed the previous counts, my rows would have been different sizes. So instead I knit according the measurements. But I think that is throwing me off too, because of the stretch. I try to be consistent, but it doesn't always work. Ack. The perfectionist in me is having a fit. But I'm just going to keep going and make a decision at the end. I guess that's the good thing, since it's done in individual panels, I can keep going and then just redo one instead of having to redo the whole thing if I so choose.

Anyway.

I'm posting July's giveaway early because I'm going to be extremely busy on July 1st. July is my birthday month and so I've been saving my best giveaway for this month.

Ta-Da!
An Amy Butler pattern. I love this pattern...but after having attempted one of her simpler patterns, this one would kill me for sure. If the one pattern I have made is a fair representation, the Amy Butler patterns tend to be more difficult than they have to be. So if you're game for the challenge, leave a comment...telling me your best birthday story! You have until 10pm on the 15th of July and I'll pick a winner the next day.

Happy 4th everyone!

Stuffs

2010-06-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

I think finally things are starting to slow down a little. I bought a new used car. Yay! But now its having fuel injection problems. Boo! But I got a really good deal, so the cost to fix it will hopefully still keep the cost of the car reasonable. Yay! And I'm definitely glad to be done with the whole car shopping thing. Turns out, car shopping is very stressful and tiring....and time consuming! So, anyway, now that is all done.

I finished the hat I started while flying to Baltimore. Did I mention that I went to Baltimore? I can't remember. I did. To visit one of my besties from college. Lots of sightseeing was done, beer was drunk, and fun was had. On the flights there, I started the Windschief by Stephen West. Love the look of the pattern, plus he's closer to the east coast so I considered it appropriate. This is Hat Tour 2010 Hat #2. Except, it was too big. First, when I tried it on, I thought it was just too long, so I ripped out about an inch, starting the decreases at 4.5 inches instead of 5.5 inches. Yes, it had that much extra length. There was poofiness all over the top of my head. But then when I finished it and tried it on again, there was still some poofiness along the decrease lines. My suspicion was that I need to make it smaller overall. And when I put it on my brother's head (which is 2 to 3 inches bigger than mine) it looked fine. Suspicions confirmed. So I ripped the entire thing and started over. Now I'm about 2.5 inches in. If I work on it all week, I should probably have it done by the end of the weekend. No, I didn't say that. We all know what happens when I give myself deadlines. I'll finish when I finish.

But I did finish rectangle 2 of Baby #2 blanket, here-to-after known as Jackson's blanket. So here is some poorly-lighted picture goodness.

Two down, four to go.

June: Giveaway #5

2010-06-01T23:57:00.000-07:00

Phew! I almost forgot about this month's giveaway. Life had been pretty busy to say the least. And because of that this is going to be a pretty quick post (I'm making the self imposed June 1st posting deadline by one minute...if you count the start of the composition of this post).

This month I'm giving away a quilt pattern: Kiko's Kimonos.

(forgive the horrible photo quality, please)
I seriously don't know how I ended up with this. Maybe my mom gave it to me. It's cute (those kimonos are 3D), but it's just not my cup of tea. For anyone interested, comment on this post by 10pm on June 15th. I'll (try to remember to) choose a winner on the 16th. Oh, and this pattern is fat quarter friendly for those of you who have those nagging fat quarters that you have no plans for. Comment away.

ps. The neck is healing and I've got a 2nd rectangle for the baby blanket done, I just need to take pics of it. A more informative update soon.

And We Have a Winner!

2010-05-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

First off, thanks for all the well wishes! I wanted to reply to all of you, but, as these things go, of course I was in the accident one week before I was flying across the country. And the day before the flight, I got sick. Such is life sometimes. But now that I'm back, I get to announce that the winner of this month's giveaway is: Eva! Eva, I'll be emailing you either tonight or tomorrow to get your address.

Sorry for being so flaky last week and a pre-apology for being so flaky in the (hopefully only few) weeks that follow. I'm back from visiting with an old friend in Baltimore, but now, I've got to scramble to try and finish my final project in my beginning photography class...which is going to be hard because I missed two weeks due to accident and illness. And I'm probably going to have to start searching for a new car very soon...it all depends on how much they are going to pay out for totaling my beloved Camry. Sure it's 10 years old, but it would have lasted another 10. Bummer.

I did start a little side knitting project on the trip (something to work on during lay overs) and now that I'm back I can work on the baby blanket again. I can still knit, although it depends on how my neck is feeling that day on whether I want too. I haven't attempted sewing yet, since I think it puts more stress on my neck, which is a bummer because I was in the middle of a birthday present. And the birthday was last week. Oh well, later is better than never, right? So hopefully I'll posting less whiny news again soon. Til then, Eva keep an eye out for my email.

Oh, and everyone knows that it's Giveaway Day at Sew, Mama, Sew, right? I wanted to participate, but with everything going on, didn't have the time. But you should definitely check out all the cool giveaways...just don't win anything I want. ;)

Verdict:

2010-05-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Whiplash....could've been a lot worse considering the damage to the car. Still waiting to hear on the car.

All New Babies Need a Good Rug...

2010-05-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

...or not. My good friend, Carole, finally had baby #2. They actually had to induce labor; apparently #2 was super comfy were he was. That's right: He. Jackson. So now that I know the sex of the baby, I have started on baby blanket #2. His big brother, Maddox, got a quilt from me. But at the baby shower, Carole received a huge, awesome quilt from the mother of a friend, so I didn't want to double up on the quilt giving...so I decided to knit a blanket instead.

At first I was going to do Modern Log Cabin Baby Blanket from the Mason Dixon Knitting book, but as I was perusing the book (as I am apt to do), I remembered that I kind of loved the Tailgate Rag Rug. And then I thought about it, and figured that that pattern could easily be turned into a blanket pattern. Instead of three rectangles all lined up side by side, I'm going to do six rectangles, with two rows of three. Does that make sense? I've created an excel spreadsheet that is color coded so that I can keep track of my plan. I'm using four different colors of Lion Brand Cotton Ease. So far, I've finished one rectangle...not bad for about a week's worth of knitting.

I'm definitely doing something wrong when I'm picking up stitches along the side selvedge of the blocks. I kept getting big gaping holes, when I went to knit those picked up stitches, but I don't get holes when I pick up then knit the cast on or cast off edges. Hmmm. Couldn't figure it out, but eventually I eliminated the holes by twisting the picked up stitches...I think, or at least that what it looks like I did from the finished product. I'm kinda bummed that the log-cabining (again with the verbing of words...heehee) doesn't quite look right, but at this point, I'm not about to start over. But I definitely want to learn how to do it correctly one day.

Anyway, I'm starting on rectangle #2, but am not as far as I'd hoped. I meant to post about all this yesterday afternoon, but instead got rear-ended when I was out running an errand. I'm pretty sure I'm mostly okay, just sore/stiff muscles for the most part, but I do have an appointment to get checked out on Friday afternoon, just in case. So it might be a little slow here on the posting front for a little while.

May: Giveaway #4

2010-05-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

April showers (and Lord knows we had plenty of showers in April) bring May....flowers.

For May, I'm giving away four floral fat quarters. Comment on this post by May 16th at 12am. I'll pick a winner on the 17th. You get a little longer than normal this month because I've got stuff going on on the 15th.

Paintbox update - 4th pair

2010-04-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

The latest pair of paintbox squares. For some reason even though I'm trying to be super accurate when cutting my strips, my squares are always off when sewn together. You can't tell here, but the square with the purple outside has one purple outside that is 1/8th of an inch smaller than the one opposite it, and yet the square is the right size. For the life of me, I can't figure out how that happened. I think I'm going to double check the accuracy of my quarter inch seam.

Yay me!

2010-04-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but I won Ryan's giveaway of a $25 gift certificate to Hawthorne Threads. I'm one of those people who never wins prizes. Seriously. That's why I felt so bad for Eva (who was the only other entrant for this month's giveaway), because I've been there...had a 50/50 chance of winning something and come out on the losing end. But now, I've won two great prizes (the other being this) in a relatively short period of time. Maybe my luck has changed...or maybe it's karma--I'm giving things away, so the universe is giving things back to me...well the universe and Ryan and Jennifer and Crystal. Thanks Ryan! The hard part about using the gift certificate is going to be narrowing down my choices...so many great fabrics. You guys should definitely check them out. And while you're at it check out Ryan's blog too--he's doing another giveaway and his blocks/quilts always provide inspiration for me.

Paintbox Update - 2nd and 3rd pair of squares

2010-04-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

The solid green is not that dark but I couldn't get accurate color and get the print to look right.

The Winner Is....

2010-04-15T20:00:00.001-07:00

Beth! But she didn't leave me an email address. So, Beth, contact me via this blog and let me know your email address so we can get the yarn shipped out to you. I'll wait a couple of days for a reply and then I'll give the yarn to Eva.

ps. I'm cooking Quinoa for the first time, and it turns out it stinks when being cooked.

The Craziness Takes Hold

2010-04-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

So, I don't know about you, but for me, I keep track of my upcoming projects on my Ravelry queue. The top ten projects in the queue are things I'm looking forward to knitting soon. Every once in a while, I'll change the order, or take something out or move something in, but for the most part, it is fairly consistent for large chunks of time. So I surprised even myself when all of a sudden I had an urge to knit hats...not just a hat, but many hats.

It all started with the Ribby Toque in the latest issue of Knitscene. There is something awesome about its simplicity (simple ribbing) but great graphic vibe. Then I realized that I also wanted to knit Stephen West's Windschief. And maybe another Koolhaas. And there are more, oh so many more. So I'm giving in to that craving. I'm starting the 2010 Hat Tour. It's not going to be a straight through tour, there will be baby knitting going for Carole's baby #2. And I've got to finish my mom's scarf. And I do want to knit a shawl and maybe a vest, but I think I can at least get in four or five hats this year. (I'm totally jinxing myself by saying that...)

So, to start the tour off, we have the Ribby Toque, otherwise known as Ron's Ribby.

I knew that this hat would look great on my brother and be something simple enough that he would like it. And I just happened to have yarn in my stash that I thought would be perfect for it.

Pattern: Ribby Toque in Knitscene
Yarn: di Ve' Zenith
Needles: US 7
Start date: Mar. 22, 20101
End date: Apr. 2, 2010

Again, I love the simplicity and graphic-ness (not a word, I know, but I just made it a word) of this hat. The only problem with it was that in the magazine and in people's finished objects on Ravelry, there was a lot of extra fabric at the top of the hat which created poofy-ness (again with the making up words). To combat that, I added extra knitting rounds in between the decrease rounds. Specifically, I did Round 4 and 6 of the decrease section twice and I knitted an extra round between Rounds 7 and 8. This also made the hat a little longer, which helped combat the shortness that almost everyone on Ravelry also mentioned. I also went a little further than 5 1/2 inches before starting the decreasing. I did an extra round of the k4,p1. Personally, I think I could have added more p4, k1 rounds as well. Maybe two more rounds to make it just slightly longer, but Ron thinks its long enough as is. And I only had maybe one round worth of yarn left over in the single skein. I do love how it turned out though. It looks really good on him, and he looks really good in it.

Just Wanted to Let You All Know That...

2010-04-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

(I couldn't fit awesome on one line--mostly because I'm computer illiterate. You can do this over on Spell with flickr.)

April: Giveaway #3

2010-04-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all! It's time for another giveaway.

This month I have 10 skeins of some novelty boucle yarn.

It's acrylic/polyester blend. 94 yards per skein. The label recommends US10 needles, but my gut tells me that would be a very loose gauge. The colors are a mottle of pinks, yellowish-tan, and grayish-blue; from far away it looks gray but up close it reminds me of spring...new colors coming out of the winter gloom. This was one of those yarn purchases made when I very first started to knit. And then I never did anything with it. I gave a second bag of this stuff away to my grandma's nursing home and if no one wants this bag, that is where it will go as well. As always, post a comment if you want to be considered; maybe tell me what you're excited to do now that spring is upon us. You have until 8pm PST on April 14th (the earlier hour will give me a little time to pick a random winner so that I can hopefully post said winner earlier on the 15th).

In other news, I've given in and started working on the Paintbox Quilt-Along. I've made one pair of squares.

I'm using Kaffe Fassett fabrics and a Dark Palette Kona roll. I'm hoping to get one pair done per week, so it will be slow going.

I've also been working on a pieced border for my african print quilt.

Knitting-wise I'm working on a hat for my brother and a scarf for my mom's birthday in early May. After that, it's baby knitting--Carole's baby is due at the end of the month, but really she's big enough that she looks like she could pop any day now.

Now I'm off to cut another pair of fabrics for my paintbox quilt.

We Have Some WInners!

2010-03-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Now that I'm home from work, we have a couple of winners.

Winner of the yarn is:

Kitten With a Whiplash

and

winner of the fabric is:

Sylvia

I'll be emailing Kitten With a Whiplash right away. Sylvia however did not leave me an email contact, so Sylvia, please contact me. If I don't hear from you soon, I'll redraw.

Guess what? I'm also a winner! I won the last giveaway from Modify Tradition! Jennifer and Crystal sent me this lovely tote plus some goodies!

The tote arrived with two matching dishcloths and some awesome gift tags with cute sayings like "Please act surprised when you open this, okay?" and "I made this just so you know. So don't say anything mean about it." I've heard of these gift tags and wanted them but just never got around to buying them, so these were perfect. Thanks!

March: Giveaway #2

2010-03-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have two giveaways this month, which I'll get to in a little bit. But first (if you want to skip to the giveaway, scroll down to the bottom, I won't hold it against you; otherwise, read on)....

Stitches West!!

Let me just say from a personal perspective, this was my best stitches experience yet. All other times that I've gone, I've only gone to the Market. There was one year that I signed up for a class but then had to cancel because of unforseen travel plans. So this year I decided last minute to use some of my credit from that cancelled class to attend one of the one hour Market sessions...on seaming. And thank god I did. Stitches was my haven this weekend. It saved my sanity. I literally walked into the building with tears streaming down my face over frustrations about a lot of different things that have been going on. And I left there feeling so much calmer. SO much calmer. I shopped, went to the seaming class, and shopped a little more. What a little shopping and successfully learning something new can do for the soul...

First, the shopping. Previous years, only going to Stitches to shop the Market, it has always seemed harried and rushed. People are everywhere, and you're trying to weave your way in and out of a crowded maze of yarn hungry shoppers. Also, the last time I went, I decided that my plan would be to get yarn for specific projects. This year, I went with the intention of not buying much (did not work), but also of only buying yarn that I've heard about and been interested in (mostly independent dyers) but have not had access too. And I also was determined to not sort through discount bins trying to get a good score on yarn I really didn't have any plans for. And I succeeded in both counts; well, there was one little slip on the independent dyer plan, but so be it. And for some reason this made navigating the realms of the Market much easier to deal with. I would walk down the aisles glancing at the booths, and if they looked like they carried only stock of major brand yarns, I completely bypassed them. Or I would do a quick walk through, but not get sidetracked. I've never made it all the way through the Market before, at least passing every booth, and this year I did. I was tired at the end, but nowhere near as tired as I've been after other years. My score: two skeins of Madeline Tosh Vintage from Imagiknit, one skein of fingering and one of worsted weight yarn from Miss Babs, one skein of lace and one of fingering weight yarn from Wabi Sabi, and three skeins of Cascade Eco Wool from Yarn Barn (the only purchase that didn't fit the plan, but I was shopping for KnitKlips and Chibis and saw it and I have a few projects in the queue that could be done with that so I figured, why not and save on the shipping). I'm sorry I don't have pictures, but I'm really bad a taking pictures of yarn and truly capturing the subtle color variations. But I already know that one skein will become a Citron and one a Hamamelis.

And then the class. I took Simple Seaming from Cynthia Craig. Since it was only an hour long, she had the swatches already done for us to practice seaming on. That was great to me. Not having to make swatches for homework. I did luck out on my swatch though because she had two kinds. Mine was acrylic dk weight. But some people had bulky nylon rope. I think the bulkiness of the yarn would be helpful, but not in such an inflexible medium. Anyway, we learn how to seam two bound off edges together and how to seam two stockinette side seams together. And let me tell you: those practice seams were the nicest seams I have ever done. I only hope I can retain what I learned. She did give us handouts and I did take notes, but I am definitely a hands-on learner, so hopefully I'll have a chance to practice soon. (Maybe my Sideways Grande Cloche...which I am nowhere near finishing. But what did I tell you about me and craft deadlines?)

Anyway, I've never understood what knitters mean when they talk about the zen of knitting. I am definitely not a zen crafter. I stress too much about the outcome of the crafting. I want it to be as perfect as possible. But I have to say that this Stitches experience was pretty zen. I went in a complete wreck, but came out relaxed and calm. It really is amazing what successfully learning something new can do for, not only your confidence, but your peace of mind. It gives you something to focus on and then when you succeed, there is that blissful "Yay!" moment.

OK, now on to the giveaway. I've got two prizes, both green. For St. Patrick's Day and because, who couldn't use a little extra green? For the knitters out there, I have:

2 skeins of Schoeller Stahl's Fortissima Colori Socka Color sock yarn
That's 458 yards.

And for the sewers out there, I have:

2 fat quarters and a 1 yard remnant from Joann's

Just leave me a comment between now March 14th, specifying which prize you want. Or if you want to be included in both drawings that's fine too.

I Got the Cold Weather Blues...or Blue

2010-02-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

I give you my finished Big Montana Tunic:

Pattern: Big Montana Tunic by Cecily Glowik MacDonald in the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits (ravel it)
Yarn: Tahki Yarns Montana in Navy (008) 5 skeins used
Needles: US 9, 11, and 13
Start date: Oct. 11, 2009
End date: Feb. 7, 2010 (there was a month long break in there where I avoided untried techniques and became obsessed with the Milkweed Shawl)

I seriously love this knit! Like really. Like I have a huge high school crush on it. hee hee

I think this is the first garment that I've knit that I truly love and will actually wear. I fell hard for this pattern the second I saw it in the Fall 2009 issue of IK. There was that voice of reason saying: Don't do it...its done in bulky yarn...you're not exactly tiny...no good can come of a bulky sweater on a big person. Well, I am so glad that I basically put my fingers in my ears, stuck out my tongue, and said "I can't hear you!" to that voice. Take that voice of reason. (Before anyone writes in commenting on weight issues, let me clarify: I'm not saying I'm overweight. I'm just a large person. I'm over six feet tall and have to wear large size clothing not only for height but for girth as well. So, while I'm not amply endowed with lots of cushion, I am by no means small....and let me just say that I purposely did not include a close-up of the back because it made me look like a line-backer. Seriously.)

A lot of people who've knit this on Ravelry commented on how bulky it was and that they'd wished they'd made it more form fitting. Well, I think that is exactly the answer to this project. Unless you are a very tiny person, on whom even big potato sack dresses look fashionable, this should be knit with negative ease. Also while I love the light heather gray used in the original garment, I think the choice of dark yarn helps detract from the bulkiness.

Originally I had planned on knitting the size 39" bust. But when I used the suggested size 13 needles, I was way off on gauge. So, I used size 11 needles for the body (and adjusted the other needle sizes accordingly) and knit the next size down. It was a guessing game, but I tried it on along the way to estimate how it was fitting. After the last decrease in the pattern, I decided it was still slightly too large, so I threw in another decrease round. This left the counts slightly off, but I just fudged the decreasing for the sleeves/shoulder and it seemed to work out fine.

This sweater is the first time I've ever split something for the front and back and the first time I've picked up stitches. I totally winged the picking up stitches too. I just couldn't pick up the numbers they were recommending. I had to pick up way more or there would have been gaping holes. For example, I think I picked up close to 15 extra stitches for the cowl. Maybe more. But it seemed to work out fine; the sleeves, the cowl, they don't look like there are too many stitches crammed into those spaces.

All in all, I think this FO was 50% skill and 50% luck, but what ever it was, I 100% love it.

It occurs to me that maybe I should explain the title of this post. Blue as in the color of the sweater; cold weather as in this is the perfect sweater for cold weather...nice and toasty. Hmm, maybe that wasn't the best planned out title ever.

And the winner is....

2010-02-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

One Sheep. Congrats!

Sorry for the delay in the announcement guys. I changed all my comments to moderation cuz I started getting spam and apparently when you do that they don't send you email notification anymore. So I logged on thinking I was going to post about how no one reads my blog and no one wanted my prize. Yay! You have restored my faith in the giveaway process. (And I totally feel like Kevin Bacon in that Will & Grace episode when he finds out he has a stalker and is happy...I have at least one confessed lurker! Yay me! :D)

Anyway, One Sheep I will email you right away to get your address.

A hint for next month: knitting and sewing supplies...things you cannot knit or sew without....stay tuned!

And I finished the Big Montana Tunic and should post FO pics next week. And now I've started the Sideways Grande Cloche (unofficially for the Knitting Olympics...but we all know what I do with deadlines...fly right past them! Hence the "unofficially".)

Giveaway #1: February

2010-02-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

I don't know when the thought to make the giveaways psuedo-themed first occurred, but at some point I realized that many of the initial things I want to give away thematically co-incide with holidays/month themes, etc. So to start things off we have February--Valentine's Day--over-commercialized gifts...aka jewelry!

This month I'm giving away Bead Knitting by Mary Libby Neiman.

Seeing as I have more than enough yarn to last me a decade, I hardly think I need to find something new to start knitting with. Truth be told, I just have never been that interested in incorporating beads into my knitting and definitely have no interest knitting actual jewelry. This book was a gift and I'm being rude and re-gifting it. ;)

A brief glance through this book, leads me to believe that this book should be a pretty good intro into knitting with beads. It has the obligatory how-to sections in the beginning, including what kind of tools, needles, etc. you will need to become an ardent bead knitter. It also labels each project as a beginner, intermediate, or advanced project.

It has various types of projects, bracelets, necklaces, earrings,

(these are my favorite looking project in the book)

...and even some projects incorporating beads into items knitted with yarn, which probably appeals to the masses more.

(these are wrist warmers)

So, if you are at all interested in my non-used copy of this book, you can comment on this post any time between now and midnight on Feb. 14...oh my gosh, Valentine's Day! That worked out well. I'll draw someone randomly on the 15th.

ps. I'm so close to being done with the Big Montana Tunic that I can just taste it...err, wear it??...I just have to put the ribbing around the arm-holes. Fingers crossed that I'll be posting FO pics soon!

pps. The pics are all badly snapped pics of the pages in the book that I took with my digital camera. All real credit goes to the publisher, etc. Does anyone know if I'm breaking any laws by posting them here? I hope not.

Update

2010-01-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

So, it turns out that the Kona rolls for the Paintbox Quilt-Along mentioned in the last post are on back order. So that idea is on hold for a while and I'll be postponing my participation in the quilt-along. It's kinda killing me cuz I love all the awesome blocks being posted in the flickr pool. But I guess it works out for the best because...in the meantime, I'm trying to finish up one of my very first quilting projects. When I first started quilting, I bought some really great graphic African prints at PIQF. And I couldn't wait to use them. So I looked around for a quilt pattern that matched my skill level and started working on this:

Love the dashes of bright green and fuchsia mixed in with the darks.

Here's a slightly closer view of the prints...sorry for the lighting. We've been having crazy stormy weather.

Then it fell to the way-side while I worked on other things. But I've been trying to finish up some works in progress, so completing this in on my list of things to do. I've gotten pretty far. It was in block form when I started back up on it. Now I need to put the strips together. It is looking a little small, smaller than the finished dimensions say it should be. So I think I'm going to add a border of some sort. And I also think I'm going to attempt to do the quilting myself. All straight/graphic lines, so it shouldn't be too hard, but I've never quilted something this big on my little machine. We'll see if I regret it.

After that I need to get started on a baby quilt for Carole's Baby #2, sibling to this cutie who I made this for. Again Carole and Alex have decided not to find out the sex of the baby, so I've got to make this unisex. At first I had this really great idea about a zigzag quilt in citrus colors (orange, yellow, and green), but then I started to feel that that might be a little too feminine still. But then my mom came to the rescue with a baby quilt kit that she got for a steal on ebay. It's perfect. It will involve trying something new, so there is the possibility that the result could be a bit wonky, but you never learn until you try, so...

Anyway, so postponing the Paintbox Quilt is probably a good thing, cuz these two quilts will probably keep me busy for at least a few months.

Oh, and I've decided to go ahead with Program Giveaway. Starting in February, on the first of every month (or really close to the first) I'll post what the giveaway is, then I'll leave the giveaway open until the fifteenth and post the winner soon after that. Anything that doesn't get claimed, will be donated.

I think that covers everything for now. See you on Feb. 1, if not sooner.

Out With the Old, In With the New

2010-01-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

OK, not really since I still have one work in progress from last year on the needles, but come on, cut me some slack. Also, I guess I'll go ahead and be the last to say Happy New Year. I know I'm a little late on that, and there were good intentions, etc, etc, blah, blah...oh well. I'm saying it now. Happy New Year!

And for the first post of the new year, we have (drum roll please) the Milkweed Shawl.

Project: Milkweed Shawl by Laura Chau ravel link
Yarn: Tess' Designer Yarns Super Sock & Baby (from Stitches West '08...yay to using stash yarn!)
Needles: US 4
Start Date: 11/5/09
End Date: 12/25/09 (hello Christmas present to me...and hello relatively quick turn around time for me)

First confession: For the longest time, I thought triangle shawls looked ridiculous. And I still don't necessarily like them all fancy and worn shawl-like (see pics below). But then everyone started being all hip and wearing them like scarves and they started to grow on me visually. And they grew. And then they grew a little more until all of a sudden my aversion to them had sprouted into a full blown love.

Second confession: I got a little addicted to knitting this thing. I chose the Milkweed as my first shawl because A-I liked the graphic visual look of it and B-it's mostly garter stitch, so I figured that would make it an easier knit. Despite that, I had to rip out and restart this thing like five times. No joke. I kept ending up one stitch short somewhere along. I think I kept forgetting to do a k1fb every once in a while. I even started using a lifeline so I wouldn't have to rip out all the way, and I still had to start all over. (Aren't lifelines supposed to be done using thinner yarn that the main yarn? That's what I did the first time and then when I had to rip, it got so tangled up in my yos and and k2togs that I just had to rip the whole thing. I ended up using thicker yarn...which ended up not mattering because by then I got so anal about counting and double-checking that I didn't have to rip anymore.) Anyway, even with all the ripping and starting anew, I couldn't stop myself from working on this shawl. I got a little obsessed with it. And I'm so happy with how it turned out. I heart it (as you can see by this goofy pic of me).

And some more detail shots:

As for that work in progress mentioned at the beginning of this post, I'm almost done with the Big Montana Tunic. It's blocking and then I have to add the cowl and the ribbing at the sleeves. I really hope this turns out good, because I would love to wear it. And right around New Years I started a blanket. I had a couple of bags full of worsted acrylic from a Webs sale, so I figured I'd better start to use some of it. I'm really going to try and knit from all stash this year. I've got so much yarn, I don't know what to do with it all.

And as one of my not-New-Years-resolutions* I've joined the Paintbox Quilt-Along going on at Oh, Fransson! I definitely won't finish it in 10 weeks, but my Kona roll is on it's way. I was originally planning on doing a Classic Monochromatic version (her first example), but then read about someone's idea to pair the solid colors with different black and white prints. That sounds intriguing too, especially since I spent last year collecting a butt-load of black and white prints. Hmmm, we'll see when the roll gets here.

*I'm not doing New Year's resolutions this year, but instead am thinking of doing something along the lines of this. Although I'm having a very hard time coming up with 101 things.

Third and last confession (at least in this post): I was thinking about doing this thing where I have a give-away every month where I post supplies that I've collected that I no longer think I'll use. Fat quarters, patterns, some yarn (mostly novelty). My taste has changed so much from when I started crafting, that I don't see myself using some of the stuff I've collected. I was thinking something along the lines of a new give-away at the beginning of every month for a while and then choosing around mid-month. My worry is no one will want them and that not enough people read this blog anyway so no one will know about the giveaway, which would be more than a little deflating. :( But then maybe this would get more people to read the blog. What do you think?

2009-12-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it took me this long to finish/photograph this....and really I'm not sure it's finished. Finally, I just sucked it up and took blah photos in mediocre light. And without further ado, I give you the Cloud cardigan.

Pattern: Cloud bolero by Ysolda
Needles: US11
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza bought at Article Pract
Started: April 4, 2009
Finished: Sept. 25, 2009
(ravelry link)

After seeing a bunch of awesome cloud cardigans on Ravelry (this and this are some of my favorites), I knew I wanted to make this adaptation of Ysolda's bolero. I had to rip this out and restart it once because somehow my placement of the stitch markers was off and I couldn't figure out where I went wrong. But once I started over it was smooth sailing. I'd read that the arm holes were really large as written so I only cast on 4 stitches instead of 12 as the pattern stated. The arm holes are still large and I easily could have gone without casting on any extra stitches under the arm. Also, I got carried away with the straightaway part and it turned out longer than I'd originally wanted. But I think I like it.

I'm not sure how much opportunity I'll have to wear this, but it is definitely one of the most wearable items that I've knit. The only thing I'm not sure about with this knit is the closure. In these pics I've just threaded a single blue ribbon through both sides and tied it together. But I also have two great buttons that I could sew on to close it from the top down. The pattern didn't have buttonholes written into it, so I'd have to see what I could work out, but its a fairly loose knit done on big needles so I think it would work.

OK, that's it. The Big Montana Tunic is close to done, so I hope to finish it before the end of the year. And the Milkweed Shawl is finally coming along (knock on wood). I've had to rip and restart this shawl three or four times already. But this time it seems to be going well.

Second verse same as the first

2009-11-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

I made another unoriginal hat. This one is for a friend for her upcoming birthday. In fact it's for Katie, the mother of Nathan, the receiver of this quilt. (Word has it the quilt was well received and is the new favorite blankie...music to my ears.) Anyway, Katie's birthday is December 1st and I know she'll appreciate a handmade object and she lives in the mountains about an hour outside of Reno where it snows in the winter, so I figure this hat should get some use out of it.

Project: An Unoriginal Hat
Start Date: Sept. 30, 2009
End Date: Oct. 5, 2009
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia in Ms. LaRock
Needles: 7.0 mm
ravelink

Soon after I started this, I recalled from the first Unoriginal that it takes pretty much all of one skein and that I might have even omitted some rows. Turns out I totally did. On this second version I omitted rows 6 and 8 in the second repeat. Good thing I did, cuz I had very little yarn left, even with the omissions. Also, this hat seems a little bigger than the first (although that could be because I blocked this one and I didn't block the first...that I can recall). Oh well, as long as it isn't flopping around on her head, Katie should be able to use this. She is coming down to visit the parents at Thanksgiving, so hopefully I will be able to get this to her then.

ps. I've also finished the Cloud cardigan, but have not been able to get my lazy butt to the fabric store to find some ribbon for the closure. I hope to get that and a photo shoot of it done before the end of the month. New pojects include the Big Montana Tunic (of which I am more than half way done) and the Milkweed Shawl. All of a sudden the love of triangular shawls wrapped around then neck in a casual hipster scarf kind of way hit me like a ton of bricks. Will I be able to pull the look off? That remains to be seen. Until then.

2009-10-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming and I blew past my self-imposed deadlines more than a few times, but I've finally finished the baby quilt for Nathan.

Katie is my oldest friend in the world. We've technically known each other since before kindergarten. We went to the same private elementary school (therefore having to wear the same school uniforms day in and day out) and had the same baby-sitter. We both had the chicken pox at the same time and would stay at each others houses counting each others spots. And while we've grown up and moved on in many ways, she is extended family. So when she announced that she was pregnant, I knew I wanted to make something big for the baby. But then life got in the way. It wasn't until I started sewing semi-regularly again this last year, that I started to consider attempting to make this quilt. And I'm glad I did. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love the process of quilting. I love watching it slowly all coming together. Every step gives you a new image which in turn motivates you to see what the next image will look like. I love it.

So, here it is, Nathan's baby quilt:

This quilt pattern was taken and adapted from a quilt in New Cuts for New Quilts. I thought the quilt in the book was a little busy and so I simplified it. I love how this came out. The irregular nine patches. The pieced inner border. The quilting. I wasn't at all sure how to do the quilting. I knew I didn't want something straight-laced and uniform since the nine patches are all askew. So I thought stars would be good, but I wasn't sure about the color to use for the quilting. My dad suggested going with green to match the borders and that worked out great. I just followed the top seam of the nine patch and winged it from there. It took me a while to realize that I had to support the weight of the blanket while sewing the stars otherwise the stitches got all tiny and uneven. Here are some pics of a few of the stars up close:

Then again for the outer border I was at a loss as to how to quilt it. But again my dad came to the rescue (go Dad! who knew you had it in you?!) and suggested moons.

The moons were much, MUCH harder to do than the stars since they weren't soley composed of straight lines. I ended up making a template and stenciling it on and then trying to follow the stencil. Drawing with one of those quilting pencils on fabric is tough work! Not easy at all. I thought about using a blue quilting chalk but I did a test patch and it wouldn't wash out of the fabric! No way I was going to risk that.

And then for the back, I used this cute flannel dinosaur print, since Katie and David went with a dinosaur theme for Nathan's room. It's crazy bright and busy, but I love it.

And so, almost two years after Nathan was born, I'm finally going to gift him this labor of love. It's pretty big for a baby quilt so I think it should last him some years yet (hopefully). And I hope he loves it and thinks of Aunt Cece when he uses it. This kid has one of the best personalities in a kid, I've ever seen. He's a full on lady's man, mischievous, animated, happy little boy and I've got nothing but love for him. So time well spent. I'll try and get permission to post a pic of him after the quilt has been delivered.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage,....

2009-09-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys, but I guess I'm at that stage in life where all my married (and a few non-married) friends are popping out babies by the bucket full. Does anyone remember the next line to that nursery rhyme? Something, something in a baby carriage? Anyway, my good friend Tram (I've known her since junior high and we were housemates in college) announced earlier this year that she was due with her first baby--a girl. The due date was late October and the baby shower was scheduled for mid Sept. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to whip up something elaborate, but I figured something small...like baby booties...well, I just couldn't resist.

Project: Saartje's booties (ravelink)
Start date: August 14, 2009
End date: September 22, 2209
Yarn: Peaches and Creme in Pink Lilacs (barely broke into the skein)
Needles: US2

I could have and would have finished these a lot faster, in fact I was done knitting them a week or two before the end date--they just needed seeming and buttons--, except Baby Zoey decided to make an appearance six whole weeks early (one week before the baby shower even). So needless to say, the shower was postponed until who knows when. Baby and mom are doing fine. But this gave me the perfect excuse to procrastinate on my worst skill set in knitting: seaming. Ugh. I just can't seem to get a nice consistent seam for nothing. And these booties were no exception. My horrific seaming job made them a bit wonky and they won't stand on their own. But I imagine they'll sit on a baby's foot just fine. So I'll be shipping these out tomorrow; the sooner they get to Zoey, the longer she might be able to wear them, cuz these suckers are miniscule. Seriously tiny.

I also think that one bootie is slightly larger than the other and I think that has to do with me loosening up on the second bootie. It took getting used to knitting a such a tight gauge before I got the hang of it. And I'm not sure I will knit at such a tight gauge again--killed my hand and arms. But these turned out adorable and therefore worth it.

OK, that's it for now, but I also have pics of a finished baby quilt to post and I've finished my Cloud Bolero (which is not really a bolero); it just needs blocking and some kind of closure. I know, I know, I'm on a roll. Knock on wood.

Clap If You Love A Finished Object

2009-08-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

So it's a month later than I said it would be, but I finished something. Technically I finished it two weeks ago, but it needed to be blocked and then it waited for some prime picture-taking-time.
And now on to the finished object...

Project: Clapotis (ravel link here)
Is it just me or do you cringe at the name of this shawl? Everytime I say it mentally in my head, I can't help but think of The Clap. This is like one of those baby names where you just know that the kid is going to be tortured for life...like Pilot Inspektor. Just sayin'.
Yarn: Brooks Farm Duet
Needles: US 7
Start Date: Jan. 6, 2009
Finish Date: Aug. 9, 2009

Yes, this project took FOR-EV-ER! I started it for a KAL in the Newer Knitter group on Ravelry...in January! And this again shows why I shouldn't join things like that; I never finish in time. This just dragged on and on. But in the end it was worth it because I love the look of it. Even if it doesn't get much wear (which might be the case, cuz this sucker sheds like a mother), I love it. Once you get the pattern down, it's super easy. And yet it produces something so geometric and yet soft looking all at the same time. (Yes, it's just a rectangle, but its got those lovely diagonals running through it.)

A couple of notes:
I bought this yarn specifically for this project, but in hindsight, another yarn would probably have worked much better. It turned out beautifully, but the mohair made dropping the stitches semi-difficult. That, and have I mentioned that this thing sheds. I mean S-H-E-D-S! It's kind of a tragedy really (and I use the term tragedy here loosely...it's not as if I'm comparing the tragedy of the shedding to freezing children in the Afghan moutains) cuz it's such a beautiful shawl and it deserves to be worn with nice outfits. But nice outfits don't look nice with pink fuzz stuck all over them.

Also, there were a couple of times when I forgot to twist the stitch after the drop. But I checked in a forum on ravelry (can't remember which one, otherwise I would mention the helpful peeps here) and it was deemed not to make that much of a difference. Which was good cuz there was no way I was going back and redoing it. And, honestly, I can't tell where those spots are, so good advice.

And that's all I have to say. But here are more pics of this blackhole of a time consumer. I tried really hard to get some decent pics this time and I think I did a decent job, so I'm posting them! :P So there.

2009-07-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'm back (well, I've been back) and I've got a finished object.

But first, Texas was...AWESOME! I had SO much fun and it was really great catching up with my friend and just hanging out. I didn't get super tan, but I did get a little darker. (Yay!) We hiked, we swam, we ate, and just overall had a fabulous time. Here are a couple of pics from the trip.

This is an awesome Czech bakery in West Texas. They make the most amazing cookies. Seriously. They're called crakken (sp?)...but we called them crack because they are SO good.

We went on an awesome hike the second day in Austin. It was about 20 minutes along a river path amid the trees until you cross a bridge and round the corner and come upon this beautiful scene.

Now, for my finished object: the La-La-Love You Cowl by Sandra. I already had a few things on the needles (the Clapotis is rounding the finish line btw...finally into the decreases), but when life started throwing me crappiness by the boatload, I decided I needed some easy instant gratification. So I figured Malabrigo and a quick cowl were just the thing. And knitting this did help calm my nerves, but I think its true what they say about projects taking on the emotion you are feeling at the time you work on them...cuz while there isn't too much inherently wrong with this, it's not quite right. That and I think I associate all the bad juju with it. Here it is.

The color is most true in this picture. And this is the way Sandra suggest wearing the oversized cowl...with a pin. Not sure I can rock that. Although I'm sure the T-shirt isn't helping.

Started: May 10, 2009
Finished: May 22, 2009
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Azul Profundo (beautiful color)
Needles: US 8
ravelry link here

I eliminated one of the repeats around, but its still a little larger than I would've preferred. And in hindsight, I think it could have used more height. It just feels a little short. But I haven't blocked it yet either. Procrastinating...again with the bad juju. Even semi-decent pictures were pretty much impossible to take. (Let's ignore the fact that I couldn't be bothered busting out an appropriate outfit for the photos...let's also ignore the clashing yellow t-shirt...in my defense, it's my awesome "I love my captain" t-shirt.) Anyway, I'm just not sure how I feel about this FO. For, now I've been avoiding it.

I've also got an update photo of the baby quilt for Nathan.

The photo is a little dark. Sorry. It was probably close to midnight when I took this.

No, it's not finished yet. The extra pieced border was definitely time-consuming (but oh-so-worth-it) and there was no way I was going to finish by the 4th of July. Turned out that I didn't need to, because I got horribly sick and ended up canceling my trip. The rescheduled trip is at the end of this month and I hope to have it just barely done by then. I'm in the process of quilting right now. And loving it. I have to confess that I think I love the process of quilting better than knitting. At each step of quilting you can start to visualize the finished piece coming together, whereas with knitting, sometimes you just have a huge blob until the end. I'm a very visual person and that aspect of quilting really resonates with me and keeps me motivated.

Well, I hope to have pictures of a finished quilt and Clapotis by the end of the month if not the beginning of August.

Be the Crazy You Want to See in the World

2009-06-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes life just throws all kinds of crazy at you? Good and bad crazy, but crazy nonetheless and it becomes hard to find a moment when you don't have a list of things to do, think about, and take care of. (Which can be good because when you have lots of downtime, the bad might creep in and overwhelm you.) Well that's my life lately.

I was supposed to be blogging about a finished knitting object, but while it's done, I haven't been able to get good shots of it yet. I've got crappy shots (well, crappier than normal) and those will go up later, but I haven't had time to even upload them to flickr yet. (Don't even get me started on how spotty my internet access has been the past few weeks--AT&T, you are my nemesis!--; I never realized how dependent I am on the internet until I didn't have it.)

But instead I have more progress shots of Nathan's baby quilt. I'm going to visit them for the 4th of July (more busy-ness...but good busy-ness), so I'm really hoping to finish it in time. So far pretty good. Here are some gratuitous shots.

My original intention was to just add another green border and call the top done. But now I think that looks just blah. So I'm going to make things harder for myself by adding a small middle border made up of stripes from the blues and yellows. My body may regret that decision. And don't get me started on how I'm going to actually quilt this sucker. I have no freakin' idea. Nada. But I do have the cutest flannel fabric for the back. My mind is all over the place...with this blanket and everything else...what can I say? I know, can I say that I love the way the crazy nine patch squares are? So visually awesome. I love them crazy much more than regular. Hahaha, in more than one way. Kidding. But not really. ;)

And now, I'm off to bed and then off to Texas tomorrow. I was going to bring my Clapotis to work on. In fact I was looking forward to major airport time to turn that sucker out. But alas my shoulder/arms have been starting to give me trouble again...more than usual...so I'm just going to take the time to rest. And I'll just have to say no to jet skiing.

Did I say how excited I was to be going to Austin, Texas? At first I was just looking forward to seeing my good friend and spending some QT with her. But now I think we are really, really going to have fun! And the weather here in the Bay Area has been ridiculous for June. I had to use my freakin' windshield wipers last night...are we kidding me? In Texas it's going to be 100 degrees. A lovely 100 degrees (I'm irrationally hoping to get a great tan within two days). And we've been emailing back and forth for the past couple of weeks about staying at the lake and hiking and checking out downtown and eating lots and lots of good food. I'm am super excited to say the least. Every time I think of Texas in my head, I shout it. TEXAS! It's also a little mini escape from reality for me. I'm already starting to regret only going for four days (and only two full days). If only the tornado that's hitting Ft.Worth/Dallas right now doesn't affect my flight tomorrow and my shoulder doesn't freak out from the flight. Whatevs. I'll just pop a muscle relaxer and hope for the best.

Alright, I'll see you guys when I get back. Texas, ready or not, here me and my crazy come.

Winner, Winner, Pumpkin Dinner!

2009-06-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, you guys amazed me! I had no idea so many people would enter my contest. Cool.
To make matters even better DangAndBlast! mentioned that I was the only person giving away sock yarn...does that make me the popular kid for once?? Cool x 2.

Also, you guys cracked me up with all the cat hair love. I mean really I was just hoping to avoid killing someone who had a serious animal allergy, but you guys were all over it.

Anyway, I used a random number generator (who did not turn out to be my friend David...Pi...seriously, you are such a nerd) and the winners were Stephanie and Sara. I've sent the emails and am just waiting for responses. And Tina, I can't seem to find your email, but if you see this and send it to me, I'll send you a little birthday gift. Happy Birthday.

Next up, there is a finished object. I just need to block and take pictures. I was slightly worried about wearing wool to take the pictures, it being June and all, but there is a rumor that it might rain here in the next few days. In June. In Northern California. Enough already.

Giveaway Day

2009-05-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

I've decided to participate in Sew, Mama, Sew!'s May Giveaway Day. Hopefully people will enter my contest. I'm giving away two sets of two skeins of Schoeller Stahl's Fortissima Colori Socka Color sock yarn in colorway 9073.

Anyone who leaves a comment here between 9am on Wednesday May 27th and midnight on Sunday May 31st will be eligible to win two skeins of this self-striping sock yarn. That's 210 meters per skein for a total of 420 meters or 458 yards. I will randomly select two winners after that and contact you to get your address. Be forewarned that while these skeins have been safely stored in a plastic bag, I do have cats in the house and there is a possibility that car hair will come as part of the package. Also, please make sure that whatever method you use to leave a comment has an email address associated with it (otherwise I won't be able to contact you to send you your prize). That said, have fun with Giveaway Day and good luck!

The non-felicity inducing Felicity.

2009-04-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

I made a slouchy hat.

I don't know what I was thinking when I started this. (And truth be told, I probably won't ever learn my lesson--my ravelry queque is filled with similar items.) I saw pictures of this on others and it looked so cute and nonchalant. And it was made with less than a skein of Simply Soft Caron (acrylic--can we say bleh?).

Without further introduction:

Pattern: Felicity by Wanett Clyde
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Navy
Needles: US7
Date started: Jan 11 2009
Date finished: Feb 15 2009
ravelry link

The truth is (and I'm really showing off my geekiness here) that I started this for Hatz for Rpatz. I had recently discovered and finished reading the Twilight series and fallen in love with it. (I have a thing for vampire stories, what can I say?) And so I joined the Twilight group on ravelry and that led to this hat. But my slowness prevented me from finishing in time and so I now have this hat. A hat that requires a certain amount of style to pull off that nonchalant, careless look. The one that says "Oh this old, thing? I found it laying around and just threw it on and here I am in all my fabulousness." I don't have that style. (I think it's because I'm too paranoid. I try to achieve the nonchalant style and then I start freaking out that I look ridiculous which leads to me thinking I do look ridiculous.) So, this hat...I think it makes me look ridiculous.

Here's a detailed view of the side/back.

Let's start with the yarn. It did nothing for me except make my arms/hands hurt. There is just no give with acrylic. It's official; I've finally become a true yarn snob. Acrylic...bleh.

And the hat itself is tight. I'd read that others had the same problem and so after the first few rounds, I tried it on and boy was that sucker tight. So I ripped and cast on an extra 10 stitches. Ten whole stitches. It only had 70 to begin with. But apparently that wasn't enough. It's my own fault really, not doing a gauge swatch. I've said it before and I'll say it again: gauge swatches for hats, not that practical IMHO.

And the shaping, it looked fine in all the ravelry photos, but when I finished the increases and decreases were so steep that it looked like a chef's hat. You know, the big white ones with the giant poof on top. Yup, that. And to confirm that thought, when I pulled the hat out to photograph it, my brother laughed and said, "What is that, a chef's hat?!"

And so this photo just had to be taken:

That is me wearing the felicity, drinking from a gigantic spoon of nothingness, because this hat leaves me lacking in the felicity department.

Heh heh heh.

(And if you think I've just been sitting idle all these months, I haven't. I've been slowly working away on a couple of knitting projects--this and this. And--I can say this here, because I'm pretty sure Katie doesn't read this blog at all, or any blogs for that matter--I finally started sewing again and have started the long overdue baby blanket for Nathan. Here's a pic of the progress.)

Finally!

2009-01-28T17:18:00.000-08:00

Another FO! Woo hoo!

The title of this post refers to both finally finishing this project (it was a long time in the making) and finally getting around to posting about it. Cross it off the check list.

Pattern: Moebius vest by EZ in Knitting Around
Yarn: Beaverslide Dry Goods Fisherman weight in Wood Violet with Shooting Star trim
Needles: US9
Started: Aug 2007
Finished: Dec 2008
Ravelry link

When I first got Knitting Around and looked through it, I saw the moebius vest and knew that my grandma would love something like that. She is the only person I know so far who really wears vests. And the simplicity of the knit and construction of it lured me in. The perfect easy but big project. Miles and miles of garter stitch--perfect TV knitting. But I didn't work on it straight through. At first it was going to be a birthday present...and then a Christmas present...and then the next birthday present...and you know how the story goes. I had to stop whenever my shoulder would act up. And I was tempted by other smaller, easier projects that offered more immediate gratification. Finally, I got so close to finished that I knew I had to get it done in time for this past Christmas. That and my grandma had some health complications in the last quarter of 2008 that made me not so certain she would be around if I kept putting this off. (She's actually holding steady for now, thankfully.) So, on Christmas Eve eve I finally finished this bad boy. It was a long time coming.

Probably the best thing about this project besides the ease of garter stitch was the yarn. The Beaverslide is a great workhorse of a yarn. And it's one of the least scratchy yarns I've worked with. My only complaint is that the Shooting Star colorway for some reason was not as strong as the Wood Violet. If I gave the Shooting Star a strong tug it would snap. I'm not sure if that has something to do with the dying process, or what; it was a little frustrating though. But since the majority of the vest was knit with the Wood Violet, I didn't have to deal with it too much.

Here's a shot of the garter stitch close up.

Love the tweedy-ness of it. (If you enlarge the shot, you can see cat hair all over it. It can't be helped.)

This was my first attempt at I-cord and I thought it was pretty cool. But since I did it with a second color, the first color showed through on the back of the trim. Ordinarily this wouldn't matter because the back of the trim would be inside the garment, but since this is a moebius vest, for about half of the vest, the inside is switched outside. I read on Ravelry that this is common with I-cord trim and that the way to get around this would have been too knit the I-cord separately and then sew it on. But since I was on a deadline and that would have been a ton of sewing/seaming (which I'm not so good at yet), that wasn't going to happen. It turned out good enough in the end.

I was going to try and get a picture of my grams wearing the vest for this post, but since she's less mobile these days and doesn't really have much say in what she wears, I don't know if that is ever going to happen. Oh well, I guess that's what can happen when you keep putting something off.

That's a wrap for my 2008 knits. I hope to be as equally successful with my 2009 knits, if not more.

A Finished Object!

2009-01-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'd heard probably a bazillion times that Malabrigo was like crack for knitters. That it was unbelievably soft. That it came in fabulous colors. But I'd never seen it in person anywhere. Until fall of last year, when I decided to visit Commuknity in San Jose (so sad that its closing). And, let me tell you, people weren't kidding. The colors. The softness. I bought three skeins right there (possibly for the circular shrug). And then I went back a few weeks later and bought another skein with no intentions in mind. But that didn't last. I had to have this knit up into some soft goodness to wear next to my skin....and quick. So I decided on a cowl.

Cowls are popping up everywhere in knitland...and at first I thought they were weird. But I've come around. I still love a good old-fashioned scarf, but a cowl's a scarf but without those long dangle-y scarf-arms hanging in front that can have a tendency to get in the way. You just wear it like a necklace. And (even better) if you don't connect it, but instead add buttons to it, you don't even have to mess up your hair by putting it on over your head. It definitely has practical potential to it.

Without further ado, my anti-gloomy day cowl:

Pattern: Ilean Cowl
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in vermillion, less than 1 skein
Needles: US7
(ravelry link)

This took less than two weeks for me to knit up (even for me and my slow/limited knitting pace), but I slacked on adding the buttons (Jo-Ann's).

It's official. I. LOVE. Malabrigo. Seriously. The softness.

(Psst. Stick 'em up. Give me all your money.)

I have another FO to post (I know, can you believe it?!) but it will have to wait until next time. I want to try and get a few more pics of it.

The Most Wonderful Time of Year

2008-12-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

So, its been two months since I blogged last. But I won't let that little fact get me down...because it's a little over 20 days until Christmas! Yay! Even though finances are tight for everyone this year (myself included) and job outlooks are shaky, I'm very excited about the upcoming holiday season. I've decided not to exchange gifts with anyone except family, I'm getting a week and a half off from work, and I'm looking forward to a low-key, relaxing break with family and friends. In these crazy times its nice to remember that simple things can be just as enjoyable and entertaining as big crazy blowouts. Staying in bed all day reading a book. Playing board games. Watching videos. Eating.

Mmmm, that one deserves a second mention. Eating. I can't wait for Christmas dinner. A delicious, traditional, home-cooked dinner...6 hours or so after the yummy homemade waffles that we have every Christmas morning before opening presents. This year the family went to Santa Monica to visit my cousin for Thanksgiving. And while I enjoyed the time with the whole family together, my stomach missed the traditional holiday food. Turkey. And so it has been decreed that we shall have turkey for Christmas. Oh turkey, I am counting the days until we meet.

Anyway, I've gotten waylaid from the point of posting. It may have been two months since I've posted last, but I haven't been sitting idle. I have been working on a couple of gifts. And I finished one. The Koolhaas hat by Jared for my friend Sean (who isn't family, but I decided to do this before the whole economic crapper exploding situation).

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared
Yarn: Crystal Palace Aran Marl in Midnite Blue
Needles: 8US 16" circular and dpns
Beginning date: mid-October
Ending date: mid-November

What can I say about this pattern that hasn't been said before? I loved it. I loved watching the complicated knitting come off the needles from not so complicated stitches. I loved that the cables were small. And I love the finished product. The only thing I didn't love was the ache in my elbow from picking up and putting down the cable needle all the time. I was going to try and learn cabling without a needle, but then got nervous since this was a gift. So a cable needle was used and towards the end of this project I had to start pacing myself because I was over-working the elbow.

I don't know why I was so nervous about the cabling without a needle thing just because it was a gift, when the fact that it was a gift didn't make me nervous enough to swatch. That's right no test swatch was made in producing this hat folks. I just decided to knit the small and jumped right in. And it's a good thing I went with the small because I still think its a little long. But hopefully it will fit Sean alright.

Here are a few more pics (this is my brother modeling it btw solely for the purpose of this post):

(Psst. I see you.)

There will (hopefully) be one more finished knit before Christmas comes-a-knocking so keep your eyes out. Til then, let the Christmas countdown begin!

Sew Making a Comeback!

2008-09-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I met up with a bunch of old co-workers from Davis and went camping at Yosemite overnight. (We heard bears roar so loud during the night that they made me think I was in the movie Jurassic Park, which made me think that maybe camping at Yosemite isn't such a great idea after all, but that's another story.) Since this gathering was all about old friends hanging out (at least for me) and I knew my really good friend Steph was going to be there with her new baby Logan (girl Logan, not boy Logan), I thought I'd try to finish up an old project to give as a baby present. (Logan was born in May but I was in the middle of a semi-bad flare up, so there was no handmade goodness from me to go with their new addition.)

Arriving at the campsite (about one hour before dark--yeah, i know we cut it close), I exited the car with this in hand.

Here's one where you can see a little of the border, pardon the bluriness in these.

This wasn't started with the purpose of a baby present in mind. In fact this was started probably a little over a year ago (maybe closer to a year and a half--but definitely before all this crazy shoulder business) when I took my second quilting class. (Shout out to EQB here. And an even bigger shout out to Bev (she's in the second square down), who has taught all the classes I've taken so far. She's so cute and she rocks.) Close to the time it was started, I got all the way through the quilting, making the binding and sewing it on. But I never got around to sewing down the binding. It just sat in my unfinished pile for (what seems like) forever.

But I felt a little guilty about not giving something handmade to Steph.* A lot of my friends (good friends) have been/are having babies lately and in an ideal world I would be making them all baby presents, but its just not feasible and truthfully I don't think all of them would really appreciate the extra effort anyway. But Steph, she's is different. I LOVE love her, insert big heart here. She is my best friend from Sacramento, and probably one of the few friends I actually feel gets me emotionally; whenever the shit starts to hit the fan, I know I can turn to her and she'll understand and be supportive. My other friends will be sympathetic, of course, but for most of them, I feel a certain amount of disconnect, like they don't really get how it affects me, how I take it because of who I am. She does (or at least that's how I feel). She really sees me. Plus she is all about the love for crafty goodness.

And so, about a week before the camp out I started considering attempting a little sewing to finish off the quilt and giving it as a gift. I used sewing the binding down as a little test to see how my shoulders and other achy parts handled it. And they did okay. I don't think I could sew for hours on end, but a little bit here and there I think I could swing. My mom bought me a new sewing machine right after the initial shoulder injury (not realizing it would be such a long term thing) and I'm actually thinking that I might be able to handle the special class that teaches the ins and outs of the machine works. (Is it crazy that that thought excites me a little?!)

Here are some closer detail shots of the quilt. Pardon the wrinkly-ness of the quilt, but it was a late night finish the night before camping and there was no way I was busting out the ironing board and iron to de-crease it. (heh heh heh, de-crease.)

The whole thing was based around the dragonfly print, which is just fabulous. Pretty and feminine, without being over the top. And then I found all the supporting fabric to pull the colors out of the dragonfly print. There isn't much quilting on this blanket--just the purple triangles in the pinwheels (man, those pinwheels were a bitch to sew on my wimpy old machine, let me tell you)--and that worries me a little. Hopefully it will stand up to the test of time. But it's Bev's design/instructions and after the 50 or so odd years of quilting that this woman has under her belt, it is not my place to question. She's a veritable encyclopedia of quilting experience. So, I hope this doesn't fall apart on Baby Logan (at least not within the next few years). In hindsight, I probably should have quilted in the ditch around the border to help stabilize it more, but I was tired and my arms were tired (I'd been packing, washing mess kits that never got used, and baking for the camp out in addition to the sewing), so oh well.

In the end, I love this quilt. And to tell the truth, I considered keeping it for myself. I love the color combo; it's fantastic (IMHO--or not so humble opinion ((IMNSHO?)), whatevs). But I knew that it would probably never get much use from me. I would keep it just to have it cuz it's pretty. And I thought if anyone deserves this quilt, it is Steph. If I was going to give away something I love so much, it had to be to someone I love so much. Plus it worked out since baby Logan is a girl, but her mom is not super girl-y and didn't want super girl-y gifts--so this quilt suits perfectly I think. And it met the requirement of "no pink".

Yay! So this is a resounding success both literally in how the quilt turned out and emotionally in making me happy that I was able to give someone I love so much something so personal from me. I hope you love it, Steph.** And I hope it is well used, Baby Logan.

(I meant to take pics of Logan with the quilt and the beautiful Yosemite as the backdrop, but there really wasn't much synchronized Chancy and Logan time. I also gave my other great Sacramento girlfriend, Marie, a scarf that I knit a while back for her birthday, but didn't get any pics of that on her either. If either of you think of it, pics would be great.)

*Steph, I know I shouldn't have felt guilty and you completely understood, but it was there anyway, so don't sweat it.

**Steph, I know you do, even if it's just because it's from me. That's how great you are.

Success!

2008-08-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever, but...I finally have a finished object! Yay! It's the Ribbed Bolero.

I got gauge using the suggested size needles and followed the directions exactly and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I haven't tacked down the neck yet, but it fits pretty well, and that makes me happy. I was especially nervous about the fit since A) this was my first article of clothing for me and B) my calculations had me cast on the same amount of stitches that the designer did and she called that a small. I am definitely not small. So, I was a little nervous throughout the whole knit, but it actually turned out ok. Here's a view of the back:

This took much longer to knit than it should have, but that's only because I can only knit so much at a time. It was extremely easy and I didn't have any problems interpreting the pattern...except for when I sewed the edges together wrong and freaked out about why it looked so wierd. But I figured it out eventually, so all's good that ends good. (Hehehe, love the grammar. ) Anyway, even though I'm pleased with how it turned out, I'm not sure its really something that I will wear, so I'm not sure how much play in the wardrobe it's going to get. That doesn't bother me though. I'm just happy it turned out well.

On another note, one of the recent Sunset magazines had a blurb about a peach orchard in the heart of San Jose.

Turns out its owned by the Cosentinos. My mom took me to that grocery store all through my childhood. One of the brothers has an orchard next to his home and they grow all kinds of fruit, but the peaches and the nectarines are my favorite. Plus, the don't use any toxic sprays. They run a little stand and there is a box where you can leave the money for the fruit if no one is there.

I've gone back a few times since, but the first time I went, I knew exactly what had to be done with the peaches....

...mmm, peach sundaes. Just like in Oregon. Yum!

The Game

2008-07-01T15:55:00.001-07:00

Geesh, it's been forever since I've posted. But that's what happens. A few weeks back I saw this visually cool game on Skrilla Knits and thought I'd play along. I think I might make it a reoccuring game. It might be fun to track how the image changes as time passes, new photos appear, answers change.

1. Chancy - Geneve, 2. My first strawberries of this season..., 3. Day274, 4. Cd Art, 5. gerard_butler_02, 6. Rocky Rolly Horror Picture SlideShow, 7. Jump!, 8. Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with Raspberries, 9. The Earth is God's Canvas., 10. "Norouz" is coming!..., 11. When I'm sleeping, I slow down my breathing...Living in dreams, dreams that come true...thinking of the color blue... ZZZzzzzzz..., 12. Toad in a Puddle Quilt 2

Here are the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Books, lovely books

2008-05-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't really participated in any memes, but I thought this one (borrowed from Rycrafty) was totally up my alley.

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you’ve read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
**One Hundred Years of Solitude**
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi :a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
**Jane Eyre**
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
**1984**
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
**Beloved**
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
**The Catcher in the Rye**
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

That's 28 for me. (I starred the ones read for school since I didn't want to be bothered hunting down the underline function.) That's 27%. Not too bad, I think. And there are definitely a few of these sitting on my bookshelf waiting for their turn. To me keeping books on the shelf for the sake of appearance would be a waste of valuable book space. So at some point the ones that I have will be read.

Summer Preview is here!

2008-04-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that the summer preview for IK is here. In reality, there is only one thing from the preview that I really love--the Apres Surf Hoodie--and at least three things that I think are pretty hideous, but with the ongoing shoulder issues, the majority of my knitting emersion comes from reading about it...pattern books, magazines, blogs, etc. So, hideous or not (and trust me, if you look through the preview, you should easily be able to spot the top of the hideous list), I totally stoked!

2008-03-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

I've had another flare-up with the arms/shoulders again, so to pass the time while I wait for it to settle down, I thought I'd post about a long ago (seemingly forever, but not really) finished object: The Bulky Baby Hat I made for Maddox when Carole was pregnant.

Now the picture for this pattern is the cutest picture ever and so I couldn't resist. (Seriously, I'm exactly the type of consumer advertisers love, right? Put a cute baby in your ad and the shoppers will come.) And man, did I pay the price for falling for their trick. It wasn't a hard pattern at all; it was just very, very frustrating. First, the pattern says that you only need one skein no matter what size you do. OK. So, I cast on for the largest size and realized about 1/2 of the way through the pattern that I wasn't going to have enough. So, I ripped it out and cast on for the medium size. A little while later it became obvious that there still wasn't going to be enough yarn. So, I googled for errata and found out that one skein will only make the smallest size. So, I ripped it all out and cast on for the smallest size. Fine. I'm chugging along, making great progress, but soon I start thinking that the way they have this written, it's going to be one long hat. But I keep going. When I'm about half way through the decreasing, it becomes very obvious that my intuition is right; this is going to be one long hat. I look at the picture and I look at my hat, and they don't match. The picture shows a cute beanie type hat that fits the baby's head snugly. The hat in my lap is so long, it decreases into a sharp point, ending up looking more like a dunce hat. I reread the directions and I haven't made any mistakes, so I don't get it. In the end I ripped out back to the beginning of the decreases and decreased much more frequently to get more of a domed hat. My guess is that the hat in the ad may have a point but you just can't see it from the angle photographed. Boo. Totally false advertising. I can understand wanting to go with that great shot of the baby, but still don't you think the hat in the ad should actually look like it will turn out??? Anyway, none of this was super hard, but after you almost finish the hat for the third time and then have to practically start over again, frustration has definitely set it. Despite all the setbacks, it still only took me one night to do. And it was worth it because the recipient finally got some use out of it.

Here is Maddox in Tahoe, nice and toasty in the snow:

Project: Bulky Baby Hat from Blue Sky Alpacas
Needles: US 17 dpns
Size: smallest
Yarn: Blue Sky Bulky Hand Dyes in Granny Smith

Those pictures alone are worth the frustration. And check out those cute booties he has on. They are the cutest thing.

A Few of My Favorite Things.

2008-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

1. This. My highest score so far is 531ft. I can't believe how addicting this is.

2. And this. The picture on the pink blanket is classic; he's practically making love to the camera. That Alice sure knows how to work the fair isle and the dog poses. That is one talented woman and one cute dog.

Rockin' the Noggin

2008-01-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

Ah ha. My first FO of 2008. And an easy one at that.

Pattern: An Unoriginal Hat by Yarn Harlot
Yarn: 1 skein Socks that Rock (STR) Leticia in Love in Idleness
Needles: US11 dpns
Mods: omitted two rows in the second repeat of the pattern

I have to say I'm very pleased with this hat. It looks a lot more complicated than it is and it keeps my head nice and warm in this dreary, wet weather we've been having lately. It took me a lot longer than it should have to knit this, but then again I can only knit so long at one time. So, what should have taken me one or two nights, two me about two weeks. But that's fine. I'll take what I can get.

Towards the end of the knitting I was getting worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn left to finish, which is why I shortened it by two rows, one row on each side of the small cable in the middle of the repeat. Despite this, it's actually still slightly too long. If I make this again, I'll omit those rows in both repeats. As for the yarn, its lucious, really soft, brilliantly colored wool. I haven't washed it yet and I've never worked with STR before, so I don't know what to expect, but I hope the color holds. It is already starting to pill a bit, but I treat it rather roughly. In this cold weather, it is worn almost constantly outside and then shoved into my pocket when in doors. So really, what do I expect? Here is another shot with more detail in it as opposed to the pasty girl up top. (It is becoming very obvious to me that I need to make the effort to get outdoors more this summer and get a little sun action. Now if only the sun would hurry up and appear; we've beat the drought already.)

The Green Light

2008-01-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Since I've last written I pointedly ask my physical therapist about whether or not I am able to knit without doing damage to myself. And the awesome verdict is yes! I just can't do it for more than a half an hour at a time; after that I need to take a short break. So, WOO HOO! The knitting is on! It's slow, but it's on. On that note, I actually have a finished object to show you, but that will have to wait until the next post. I'm having computer issues and can't load pictures right now, so it'll have to wait until I get the opportunity at work to load the pics up to Flickr.

Until then I do have some fun pics from my recent attempts at being more social this year. So far I'd say I've been pretty darn successful. Last weekend I went to see Super Diam0nd (Neil Diam0nd cover band) play in the city. A really good friend of mine bought tickets for everyone as a wedding present to his fiance. Not being a huge Neil Diam0nd fan, I really didn't expect much, but I had a great time. Turns out I know a lot more of his songs than I thought. And it there was a really good vibe at this place; everyone was out to have a good time.

Here I am sneaking in my good times in the back of the room with my recently engaged friend. (What her fiance doesn't know wont' hurt him, right?)

And then the next day I met up with some friends from college in Berkeley for lunch. After stuffing our faces we went to the Sho Chiku Bai factory for some awesome sake tasting. Mmmm, mmm, mmm, good stuff. I never thought of myself as much of a sake fan, but now I think that's just because I'd never had good sake before. They gave us six or seven tastings and it was all pretty good. And very reasonably priced too. Their catch phrase on the posters in the factory was "Happiness you can pour." Ah ha ha ha. Love it. So wrong, it's right. We all walked away with some happiness to take home. Afterwards I kicked it with J0hn Lenn0n outside.

Which is weird in a way because of the Featles I know, Lenn0n is probably the least happy one in my mind. But we had a good time. Hmmm, is it me or do he and I have very similar hair; he just needs to find a pair of shades and we could be family.

OK, next time a finished object. See you guys later.

Happy Holidays and Merry New Year!

2008-01-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

I've been quiet for a long time, but I wanted to take this opportunity to tell everyone that I hope they had a fabulous holiday season. Pictured above are the holiday cards I sent out. Since I couldn't knit or sew and was totally feeling the crafty withdrawals, I decided to make my own cards. When I was in high school, my mom got really into the whole stamping phenomenon for a while and we collected a lot of supplies. After seeing Domesticraft's cards from last year, I knew that I wanted something as equally simple and elegant. So I borrowed my mom's embossing fan, bought some cards, a stamp, and some embossing powder and went to town. Even this small project took me about three evenings. My arms just couldn't do that much work after working all day. But I'm extremely happy with how they turned out.

This being the first day of the new year, it is of course meant for New Years Resolutions. And I have two sets of them. So, without further ado:

2007's Crafting Resolutions

1. I will not buy any new yarn until I've finished (completely finished) three projects with yarn from the stash. This does not include any yarn needed to finish these projects. Also, Stitches West (and possibly my birthday) will be exceptions to this rule. And deeply discounted Noro Kureyon will be an exception since I'm trying to collect skeins for the Lizard Ridge blanket from Knitty.

2. I will not have more than three active knitting projects going at one time. It's a year for finishing up and limiting UFOs. (This does not include baby gifts.)

3. I will try to blog at least twice a month. I know it doesn't seem like much, but if I achieve it, it will be more than last year.

4. I will bind the two quilts I have done and finish the one in progress before starting any new ones. (Again, this does not include baby gifts.)

5. My goal for new things craft-wise this year is to learn to knit socks and lace.

OK, that's it for now. Pretty good goals, if I do say so myself. I know it seems like there are a lot of exceptions, but it would never be doable without a few loop-holes. Just like a diet, you know? You can't be so ridged that you set yourself up to fail from the start.

2007's Life Resolutions

1. Work really hard to take care of my arm. I've had an MRI and EMG testing done on my neck and a pinched nerve was ruled out, although there is a possibility of a slight disk bulge. (According to my new PT guy, Isiah--who is probably my favorite person that I've met in dealing with this whole situation, the disk bulge is lowest of the bad things besides a simple muscle strain that can go wrong.) Plus, as I just said, I've been approved for a new round of PT with a new person specialized in arm/shoulder injuries. My horoscope in the January issue of InStyle said that this was my year for successfully getting in shape. I was going to set goals and meet them 100%. I'm really, really hoping that that applies to this.

2. Get back in shape in general. All these injuries have made me quite the couch potato, while still keeping my previous appetite. I haven't gained that much weight, but I'm definitely soft around the edges instead of being firmer and more muscular like I used to be. So, I want to start walking regularly again. (Well, not again, cuz before I used to run. But I have bad knees and with the arm/shoulder injuries the jarring-ness of running just won't do.) And when my arm is up to it, take up swimming again. Again, Jan. horoscope; time to bust my ass.

3. Drastically reduce my intake of sugar. Actually, it's more like eat less dessert and candy. New sugar goal, one dessert a week.

4. Be more social. With this whole arm injury, I've fallen into a rut of sitting on couch and laying around the house instead of going out and seeing people. It's easy to do with painful injury. You're in pain and every movement can hurt. But, I've started to feel like life is passing me by. I never used to be the "go out and party every night" type of girl, but my social life definitely decreased in the last year. I shall have to remedy that.

And that's it. I think I can do it. Especially the life ones. They are more long term beneficial goals than quick, unreasonable goals that are doomed to fail from the beginning. What about you guys? Do you have any goals? Let me know.

And to sign off, here is a little eye candy of Maddox of the Toad in the Puddle quilt fame.

If he isn't the definition of cuteness, I don't know what is.

I hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve and has a wonderful and healthy 2008. Here's to new beginnings.

The Big Score

2007-10-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

OK, so I can't do much crafting. But that doesn't mean I can't stock up for the future. And that is just what I have been doing. I could boggle your mind with lists and pictures of all the yarn I've been snatching up (I think it has to do with the fact that I can't knit right now, so instead I shop for knitting). But I won't do that to you (what I really mean to say is I won't embarass myself by showing the world how much I've accumulated in such a short time). Instead I will show you only one...the best one in my opinion. And why is it the best score ever? If you're a woman, you might guess what I'm going to say next. Because it was the best sale bargain I've ever gotten on yarn; maybe on almost anything. And we all know how a woman can't resist a sale.

So, here is the story. Right around the time my injury started acting up again, I went to Salem, Oregon to stay with my grandfather while his wife went to a 50th reunion slumber party. It was my duty to keep him active and eating. I think he felt it was his duty to keep me entertained. Being freshly reinjured, I was in so much pain that really all I wanted to do was lay down and wallow; but I wouldn't allow myself too much of that because my job was to keep grandpa busy. Well, I asked about yarn stores in the area and he took me to a LYS. IMHO, they just didn't have very much of a selection and since I was feeling pretty miserable, I wasn't going to stick around for blah. I think that my grandfather was pretty disappointed that I didn't stay in the store long and I didn't buy anything. He kept offering to take me to another big craft store; I kept declining. Really, I was thinking that we have big craft stores here, Michaels, Joann's. How much more different can it be? Well one day after lunch he tells me to come with him he wants to go somewhere. Sure. So, off we go to the other side of town and we pull up to the Craft Warehouse. This place is kinda like a Michaels and Joanns combined with a Cost Plus type store and really huge. They didn't have a large yarn selection, but you know what they did have?? Berroco Suede for 2$ a ball! TWO DOLLARS!!!!! We are talking yarn that is normally around 10$ a ball! Well, after looking through Nature Knitting at least once a week for the past half a year, I knew that this was the find of a century. Here I could buy enough yarn to make the Snapping Turtle skirt without taking out a small loan. I couldn't quite remember how many balls it required....so I bought 20. That's right. Twenty balls of Berroco Suede for 40$--no sales tax. When I checked the pattern, it requires 16 balls, so I'm all good. Now, the dye lots aren't all the same, but they are all comparable and since the yarn is slightly varigated anyway, I don't think it's going to be noticeable. We'll see, won't we.
Here is a pic of the score of the century:

And here again are some late Eye Candy Friday pics. Fridays are generally happy days anyway. I think we really need Eye Candy on Mondays, when we are still facing the rest of the work week.

Some pretty reminders that life and fresh beginnings still abound as the warm weather season and the year start to draw to an end.

Looking ahead

2007-09-23T18:04:00.001-07:00

So, things are still quiet on the crafting front. I'm having some serious problems with the whole arm/shoulder/back thing, but I've switched over to a new specialist and hopefully she'll actually be able to diagnose me and help me get better. But my guess is that I'm probably off of the crafting until somewhere around the end of the year. Which is a shame. I mean, besides being in pain, I can't really do much, so it would be great if I could at least knit. But no.

And let me tell you, all this time to think about knitting and sewing, but not being able to actually knit or sew...I've got plans for projects. Lots of plans. Plans, plans, plans. There's a shawl I want to knit, sweaters, scarves, socks. Yeah, I'm craving my first pair of socks. And I really wanted to knit my grams a Mobius vest for Christmas. My first EZ project. And of course, there is some quilting floating around in my mind too. Katie is having a baby boy! I know what quilt I want to make, and I've got some fabric choices made. I need to narrow it down to three yellow and three blue fabrics from these.

And look at this cute frog fabric I got. I think I'll use some of it for a border.

Oh, and I got a picture of baby Maddox on the Toad in a Puddle quilt. He's so cute.

He's got plenty of quilt to grow into. :)

And even though its a little late, here's a little eye candy for last friday. Not that I'll be keeping up with every Eye Candy Friday.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

2007-08-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a while, has it not? I had all the best of intentions when starting this blog, but sometimes life just gets in the way--you know? Anyway, to keep the update brief, I reinjured my shoulder/back at physical therapy and it was like starting from the beginning in healing again. Bummer. So there hasn't been any crafting of late.

But I did manage to finish and deliver the baby quilt for Carole's new baby boy--Maddox--before the reinjury. And man (if I can toot my own horn here) did it turn out great. I'm totally pleased with it. Part of me (a very small part) wants them to keep it tucked safely away, so that it will never be contaminated with baby poop, drool, or barf; but most of me is realistic and wants it to be used for it's purpose of warmth and comfort, even if that does mean gathering stains and germs along the way. (Really, isn't that what life is about...surviving while gathering stains and germs? No??) Anyway, here are some pics of it while it was pinned out and ready for quilting.

I used the Toad in a Puddle quilt block from Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift book. But Carole doesn't like baby colors that much, so I went with primary colors and played around with the color scheme to accent different parts of the pattern. The letters in the center of the blocks don't spell anything; they were chosen because the picture was cute and actually fit in the designated space. Anyway, I'm completely pleased with it. I even backed it with flannel. Maybe sometime soon I'll be able to post a picture of the baby its for.

Around the 4th of July I also went to visit an old friend of mine near the California/Nevada border in a little town called Quincy. It was the weekend of the High Sierra Music Festival and it was pretty cool. (Not weather-wise; weather-wise it was baking in hell hot...which I kind of liked. I'm a hot weather person.) Anyway, I had a great time. The music festival was cool (next year I might want to go and camp out for the whole weekend). And I had a great time visiting with Katie--we've known each other since before kindergarten. Crazy, right?! And because it was so hot, we went swimming in a swimming hole that was freezing ass cold. Good times. I have some pics from the music festival.

This was the fire dancing show. It actually wasn't as cool as it looks. Half of it was "I'll just dramatically wave my arms around while holding candles" type stuff. Not cool. And some of the costumes were ridiculous. Like this guy. His knit/stretchy pants had biker flames up the sides of them. But some of it was cool. So it was alright.

And this is a shot of the Floyd Family Players (I think that's what their name was). They are a group of drummers and percussionists that walk around the festival at night playing great heart thumping sets of rocking music. That guy with the whistle, he holds up signals with his hands and everyone just follows along. Seriously, they were awesome. And they had cow bells. COW BELLS PEOPLE! In my best Christopher Walken voice: "We need more cow bell!" Ah ha ha. Loved it.

And I got to see Katie just starting to show. Yup, another one of my friends is pregnant. She's got a boy due in December. The baby making and baby gift making never seems to end!

Where the Knits Begin and End

2007-06-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

Yay, knitting update!

I finally finished the Baby Bibs. And they are cute. But man, I can't weave in ends to save my life. It was good practice though. Let's see, here are the specs.

Pattern: Baby Bibs O' Love from Mason Dixon Knitting
Needle size: 6US
Yarn: Peaches and Creme worsted weight (Shocking Pink, Persimmon, Yellow, Pink Lemonade, and Daisy Ombre)

I have to say that I'm glad to be done with these. They are cute (don't you just love the buttons), they were great TV knitting, and I actually liked how the varigated yarn turned out, but all that garter got just a tad old after a while. And I was itching to start something new. And start something new I have. Two something news, actually.

I've started Flair. I haven't gotten very far, though.

I also started Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style. You can't really see it well, because of the darkness of the yarn. But I can't wait to see how it felts. I really hope this turns out well. The yarn is divine to touch. It kind of sheds running through the hands though. But still I love it; I love the idea of it.

And to end the post, I thought I'd introduce you to my babies. They are so cute.

Simon.

And Moochie.

...and see, no crap. ;)

I Heart Crap

2007-06-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

...and crap hearts me.

This last weekend was the first weekend in a long time that I haven't had plans or some craziness hasn't happened. I was really grateful for the down time. While I did get some crafting done (I finished Carole's baby quilt--her having the baby was good motivation), I spent a lot of time doing nothing but sitting around and watching TV. You know what I figured out this weekend? I love the new Simple Life season...Paris and Nicole go to camp...or something like that. I'm not even really sure they aren't repeats. I was watching the marathon on E!. So great. Much better than the second season; I only could stand to watch one episode of that season before quiting. But this! This is SO much better crap. Every week there is a new kind of camp going on that the girls are counselors at: fat camp, beauty pageant camp, love camp. And the girls aren't as stupid and ridiculous this time around. Don't get me wrong. There are still many moments of ridiculousness, but overall, most of the shenanigans (if you will) aren't preposterous. And what is wrong with Paris for not liking Hunter? Are we kidding me? He is way too hot! I mean really, Paris. You'll date Nick Carter but you won't give the hot counselor a little action?! This guy is so good looking that I really think he might be a hired model or something for the show. (How naive do I sound right now?) What are the odds of someone that hot being a camp counselor? Shoot, let me tell you, my summer camp counselors were never that good looking! So, really and truly, I love crap!

And briefly let me go through all the reasons crap loves me:
1. My jacked up arm. I'm in physical therapy now. And it does seem to be doing better, but it still definitely has its moments.
2. Two weekends ago I got the stomach flu. Ended up in the ER until 2am. Lots of IVs. They kept trying to hydrate me but I seriously don't think I was dehydrated. Don't get me wrong, I did have the typical stomach flu symptoms (if you know what I mean), but that really wasn't the main problem. The main problem was the excruciating stomach pain. We're talking can't move, can't breath, might pass out pain. My mom said I looked like I was in labor because the pain would hit and I would double-up, stop breathing and scrunch up my face til it started to pass, and then start breathing real fast...kinda like Lamaze (spelling?). They couldn't figure out what was wrong, so eventually the shot me up with anti-nausea meds and then morphine. Crazy! I've never had morphine before. Even that didn't make the pain stop but it certainly made it bearable. Once that was determined, they sent me on my way with some Vicodin. It took a few days to get past the worst of it. As of now, everyone in my family has gotten it. None of them with the crazy stomach pain, but most of them with worse puking and, well, you know.
3. The Thursday after that, I got a call that my uncle was in kidney failure, had decided not to do treatment, and had a month to live. So, that Saturday, we headed up to Oregon to say our goodbyes. He died while we were in transit. He's had all kinds of health problems (stemming from Type I Diabetes) that have totally been exacerbated over these last few years. So really, he is resting easier, but still. My biggest regret is that I didn't really know him anymore. He was my favorite uncle and when I was young, we were pretty close despite the fact that he lived in another state. When he would come and visit he would pow-wow with me in my room and just ask all about me and my life and what was going on. We would talk for hours. But when I went to college, I just didn't have the time off anymore to visit. My dad didn't visit him much, and when he did it was always while I was in school, right in the middle of classes. So, I lost touch. Last year, for a summer vacation, my dad and brother and I went to visit all the relatives in Oregon and that was the first time I'd seen him in 10 years. By then he was blind and had had a stroke. He wasn't a happy camper. I just feel like I missed out, you know? I should have visited more and called him and talked to him while I had the opportunity. We just aren't as close with my dad's side of the family and so...I missed out. Lots of regrets--I'm crying just writing this. My grandfather didn't even know he'd been in the hospital because, it turned out that my grandfather had also been in the hospital having an emergency removal of his gallbladder. That plus his heart condition prompted his wife to wait about telling him. So, we got to help break the news. Heart-wrenching. Then we visited my grandmother who was, of course, also distraught. More wrenching of the heart. Oh, and the night before we left Oregon, was when my brother came down with the stomach flu, which was really worrisome as he already has some pretty serious long term health problems and the last time he got seriously ill, he ended up hospitalized for a week. This time, while he was really sick, it didn't end with him in the hospital. So it was stressful, but ended up ok.
4. I don't even want to talk about how I strained the muscle in my hip region. But I did. And it's been bothering me. Technically I could file another workman's comp claim, but I'm really trying to avoid that. Having two workman's comp claims going at once just doesn't sound like a good idea. So I went to the doctor at Kaiser. She poked at my butt muscle and declared that I have a predisposition to inflamed joints (this is also the doctor I initially saw about my arm) and basically said that I will never be able to run or lift weights or play volleyball or do anything shocking to the joints again. After I left and stopped crying (I mean, come on, at this point, I am one big emotional wreck), I got pissed. Whatever. Seriously, she's going to diagnose something as drastic as that without any real tests? Her solution to my strained leg was to slowly start walking (I told her that walking actually makes it feel better--which to me doesn't sound like upset joints), never do any muscle strengthening to support the joints and in six months or so my leg should stop hurting. She also just recommended shoulder rolls for my arm and now that I'm doing the PT, there are all kinds of things they are having me to do to help it. I get that she is more new age-y in her treatment. And she is super nice. But still, second opinion, please. So, I've requested to see a specialist.
5. And just now, as I was writing #4, my mom just called and said that she took my grandma to the doctor's today since she's been so sick with the stomach flu. Yup, they found some craziness going on with her heart. It's beating erratically and too fast. She already has a heart murmur, so lots of testing and monitoring in the next few weeks to see what they can make of it. And when my mom called my aunt to tell her, my aunt just got the news that her blood platelet levels are low, really low. So they are going to do another test in a week and if it doesn't improve they are going to have to do some bone marrow testing for leukemia. Shit.

What else can life throw at me? They have these signs at the SF Zoo near the monkey exhibits that say "Beware, I throw my feces." I feel like life is throwing its feces at me. Crap loves me right now. I haven't even talked to a lot of my friends because I've just been so overwhelmed with everything. Which is kind of weird. Because I miss my friends and I need to laugh, but I just am busy dealing with everything, so I haven't seen them. I need a vacation. With my friends. I need to laugh.

Whew, anyway, did I say that would be brief. Sorry. Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll have a no whining and bitching, knitting only update.

My Life in Pictures

2007-06-05T23:21:00.000-07:00

OK, after spending three weeks in a sling, I got tired of it and decided that was it. I've been doing exercises prescribed by my mom's chiropracter/physical therapist and things are really starting to feel better arm-wise. (Don't even ask about other injuries.) Starting last week I finally started knitting again and am almost done with the Baby Bibs-O-Love. Just need to get some buttons and sew them on, which is a good thing considering that my best friend from childhood is leaving on Saturday to be with her pregnant sister when she gives birth. Needless to say, I don't have any knitting pics right now, but I do have a bunch of pictures from all the travelling I've been doing (in a sling--SO not easy). I went to Ottawa for a training course and then the following weekend I went to Santa Monica to visit my cousin. Both trips had highs and lows. It seems that I've lost my travelling mojo. The actual travelling part (flying, rental cars, etc.) was crazy--a whole other post unto itself. I'm really hoping that I get my mojo back and soon. I'll be going back to Ottawa in July for another course and in September I'll probably be going to Oregon (and maybe Washington) to visit my grandfather. So, anyway, I just wanted to check in and say, yes, I am alive. And show you some pics from the trips.

This is some cool chalk art I saw when wandering around Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (I'm so loving the skulls right now.)

And here are a few of my favorite shots from the Tulip Festival. I've never seen so many tulips. Beautiful.

Of course, the batteries on my camera died the day before I went (you just don't think about these things when you're inured and flying to another country); so I bought a disposable camera and did the best I could.

And my parting shot will be of the jack-a-lope in my cousin's room at the home. It actually belongs to his roommate, but I got such a kick out of it that I had to take a pic.

Hee hee hee.

Until next time (when I'll actually have some FO's to talk about....

Signs of old age

2007-05-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

I've been absent from the blog lately, for good reason. That hurt arm, it turned out to be a strained trap muscle that had in turn irritated and inflamed the nerve running down my entire arm. Very painful. But the nice doctor gave me muscle relaxants and pain killers to help get over it. And getting over it I was, until Wednesday. I'd been treating my arm very gingerly while in Davis for work again and by Tuesday, it was feeling so much better. So much better, in fact, that when the alarm went off on Wednesday morning, in my sleepy haze, I swung my healing arm up and over to shut the alarm off...and restrained it. In fact, I think I not only restrained my trap, but pulled my deltoid as well as some other muscles. I'm so mad at myself, you wouldn't believe. And I'm running out of pain killers and muscle relaxants. And I'm out of the country for work next week except for Monday. How much of a druggie do you think I'll sound like if I call up the doctor and ask her for refills? Have I mentioned that I am SO mad at myself?! And I haven't been able to do much, let alone knit. And I missed Carole's baby shower due to being in a doped up muscle relaxant haze that makes it not good for me to drive, so needless to say I didn't finish the baby quilt in time. And now I think I might miss one of my best friend's, Tony's, graduation/engagement party for the same reason. And I am typing this with one hand. And.....SUCKS! That's what. OK, I'm done complaining...for now.

Oh, I meant to add that when I went to the good doctor for the initial diagnosis, she looked at my age (nearing 30) and said, "Yup, that's about right. When you get to this age, you act like you're still young but your body is getting older and you generally don't give it enough tender loving care." Well, she didn't say that exactly, but that was the gist. So, I'm thinking that once I get over this arm thing (and before any new ailment befalls me) I'm going to take up yoga, regularly. My plan was to do this at the beginning of the year, but I was nursing a pulled back muscle and then pretty soon after that (I did get to try the yoga once) I got plantar faciitis. And now this. Seriously, I've gotten the message. I'm going to put more effort into taking better care of myself.

Tough Love

2007-04-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

No knitting news here. Don't ask me what I did to my arm, but I sure as hell did something because it's hurting like a mo fo. I don't know if I strained it or pull something or what; seriously, I don't remember doing anything specific to it. It feels just like it did the time my brother broke me while we were on a family vacation (story for another time for those of you who don't remember that incident)...but not quite that bad. I don't feel like passing out or hurling yet. Geesh, for the past six months or so it has been injury after injury. Just when I start to heal and think I'll be able to stop being such a couch potato and get off my ass and start working out again, something else comes up. And, for the record, I don't think it's a knitting (or repetitive motion) injury because it's my left arm and I'm right handed all the way. Alright, enough with the bitching (with all the swear words can you tell that I'm in pain?...well, actually those of you who know me well enough would just think that I'm finally starting to sound like myself on this blog). But, anyway, in this case, no news is definitely not good news. But while there hasn't been any knitting, there has been sewing. I'm almost done with the baby quilt for Carole's baby shower this Saturday. I probably shouldn't be working on that either with my arm jacked up, but I am determined to get this sucker finished in time, damn it. I was never, ever on time picking Carole up in the morning when we were carpool buddies, but I sure as hell am going to finish this quilt on time. I'm making a point of it. And it is turning out SO cute. Oh, I can't wait to take pictures and post them. But not yet. So, this is a no picture post.

So, no crafting news, but a little life rambling...which will probably shock and disgust some of you, but hey, if you want to know the real me...Today at work as I was walking through one of the desk areas, I rounded a corner and saw Tom (our ordering guy) at his desk staring off into the lab. And I had the urge to throw a gummie bear at him (his head specifically). So I told him so. (A gummie bear because Salena has a whole container of them on her desk.) Anyway, he didn't seem to take the news very well. I told him that was a good thing and he shouldn't take it personally, but he seemed kind of doubtful. So later I had to go back and explain.

Remember grade school? Remember how boys and girls showed their affection? By picking on each other! That's right! Well, I don't think I've ever fully gotten over that thought process. In fact, mentally speaking, I've probably elevated it. My friend David (that's dancing shoes David to you) and I have this joke (only it's not really a joke) about me and my violent toughts. In high school, I would have random violent thoughts about my friends...and I always thought they were hilarious. (I once checked with a couple people to see if I was a freak and the verdict was no because I didn't act on the thoughts. That makes it official to me. So if you think I'm a freak, well you're just wrong.) A couple examples:

This is the one I gave Tom. Once, in chemistry class, after we had taken our exams so we had a lot of free time, I was walking by David's desk (yes, the same David) and he was sitting cross-legged on top of it playing cards. And for some reason I thought it would be great to just push him off and watch him fly. Don't worry, I didn't; but I did tell him about it. And we both laughed...me, cuz I thought the image was hilarious, and David probably because he thought I was crazy, but let's not be picky.

Another time I was walking down the hallway with a group of my friends and this girl (who was part of our group but I won't tell you her name because I never told her this story) was walking in front of me. And in my head I thought about kicking her in the butt and watching her fly down the hallway...and then I started to laugh because this image was also hilarious to me. David was there too and when I told him why I was laughing, again he laughed too. See, I'm either not crazy or I'm too scary for people to admit it.

Wow, I just realized how crazy I must sound. I'm not crazy people, I swear. Anyway, so the point, as I explained to Tom, is that if I have violent thoughts towards you, then that means I like you; you are my friend. Well, as long as I find those thoughts amusing anyway. (Sometimes I have violent thoughts towards strangers, but that's because they are royally pissing me off, and there is nothing funny about them.) This doesn't mean the opposite is true. I can totally love you and never have violent thoughts about you. Tom paraphrased it like this...if I like you, I'll beat the shit out of you. Mentally anyway. Which isn't necessarily true, but he's sort of got the gist. It's more like a (mental) sucker punch in the face = love. : ) Which cracks me up, because what would someone think if instead of saying "I love you", I said "I hit you in the face"? Alright, even I admit it, I am crazy.

Blue Suede Shoes?

2007-04-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

So, Picnic Day didn't go exactly as planned. Rained out. In fact, it didn't just rain, it poured. And me, I am not at all about walking around in the rain. But that was okay, because on Friday I got an email saying that Knitter's Playground was having a huge sale. So, no Battle of the Bands, but plenty of stash enhancement.

This is Lorna's Laces, Helen's Lace in Aslan. I just love the muted earthiness of it. I'm thinking maybe the Icarus Shawl from IK Summer 06. First time lace project on the horizon.

And this is di Ve, Zenith in 33903. I'm going make the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style.

And finally this is Madil, Eden in 631, such a lovely cafe mocha brown. The pictures really don't do it justice. And the feel of this stuff; it's bamboo and heavenly. I have no idea what I'm going to make with it.

I guess you could say I was in a brown mood.

When I said finally, I meant that in regards to yarn. I also picked up a set up size 17 dpns and Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature. (All at 40% off! I love a good sale.) You know, at first, I didn't really think much of Knitting Nature. Ocassionally I would walk into a Border's or Barnes and Noble and look through it, but wasn't that impressed. But recently, I picked it up again and it was like looking at it with fresh eyes. Maybe my tastes have changed, maybe I'm maturing (I am turning 30 soon, after all...ugh), but all of a sudden I like most of the patterns in the book. Surprising that it took so long, really. Its the perfect blend of science and knitting and Norah did a lovely job with the writing in addition to the patterns.

Anyway, it was quite a score. And I still managed to get some knitting done on Sunday, finishing the baby item with the Bulky Hand-dyed Blue Sky Alpacas and starting another bib-o-love. I can't show you the FO yet, but the baby shower is in two weeks, so after that. It's so cute. But, oh, the pattern. I'll definitely have something to say about that experiment.

That's really all I have right now, ooh, except, I have this last crafty picture. It may not look crafty at first, but it is. It is full of craftiness. Now, you may think that these are just shoes and what is so special about "just shoes"--to which I could say that that question holds no place in my life; shoes are always special. But anyhow, these are no ordinary shoes, no. They are dancing shoes. My good friend David, who is a computer genius and helped me set up this blog, loves to swing dance. But swing dancing requires slippy shoes. They have special (not as cool, in my opinion) slippy shoes that you can buy specifically for this, but David of course found a way around this. He bought some normal shoes (which were probably much cheaper than the "dancing" shoes) and glued suede to the bottoms of them. Wahla. (Should I admit that I've retyped this word a few times now and have no idea how it is really spelled?) I present to you the totally cool Slippery Dancing Shoes.

The Mad Dash

2007-04-11T22:26:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, I know, but suffice to say I have been very busy. Just not always with knitting (or sewing). Some of you may have heard, and some may not have, but just so everyone knows...my boss walked into work last Tuesday and announced he was leaving....in slightly less than two weeks. My boss is the Director of our department, and since I work for a small company, our department consists of him, me, and recently one other guy. But don't be fooled by the smallness of our group; it is the central hub of the company and without it things would quickly fall to pieces. Its a pharmaceutical company and we are the analytical core. His announcement has meant that I have spent this week and last week trying to learn everything there is about some very complex instrumentation. Instrumentation that it can take years to become proficient with. Honestly, I was going to be learning this stuff anyway, but just not in such a compressed timeframe and with him around to guide me. It has been a mad dash to say the least and I am VERY tired.

And then, for added excitement, Monday, while at work, I got a call saying that my old roommate from college was in town and a bunch of us were trying to get together for dinner. We met up at the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley; good beer, mediocre food. But it was a great time. After dinner, which for us ended at 10:30 (a lot of people coming in from all over the Bay Area and some from Sacto), I had to go back to the lab to do a little bit more work. Well, that proved harder than one would think since the brand new building that they have almost completed across the street was on fire! That's right on fire! Now, I didn't actually see any flames, but the police had the block sectioned off and the lights were flashing and the fire ladder was up and the hose was going. It definitely took a little extra manuevering to get into work and back out again once I was done.

Craziness I tell you, craziness!

The mad dash is also going on when it comes to baby gifts. I did start working on the Bibs O Love project from Mason-Dixon Knitting. And, let me tell you, these things are easy to crank out. (Well, they should be considering they squares of garter stitch with straps on one end.) I'm doing them in the suggested Peaches and Creme and they are right when they say that this is the softest 100% cotton yarn. I was a little weary about this stuff when placing the order, but i love it. Great , cheap yarn. Here are some pics. I have bib done in Shocking Pink and am almost done with on in Persimmon. The two skeins in the background are Pink Lemonade and Yellow.

Sorry for the crappy color quality in these pics but by the time I get home on weekdays there isn't much good daylight to work with.

After finishing the Persimmon bib, I'm probably going to have to switch gears and do something with this.

This is Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Hand-Dyed in color 1017 that I picked up from Knitting Arts this last weekend.
And the something I'm going to do with it is very specific. (Oh, get your mind out of the gutter.) It's going to become a hat for a very special baby. I'm going to Picnic Day with the family to visit my brother this weekend and I hope to crank this sucker out while listening to the Battle of the Bands. I would link to a pic of what the finished product should look like (so cute) but its a surprise and the baby shower is in a few weeks, so it will have to wait.

And so will what this sewing project will become

I'm very excited about how this is going to turn out. Fabulous, I hope.

OK, there was more to write about my friend's shoes, but since this is the second time I am writing this (having a problem with Blogger), that will have to wait until next time.

Revisiting the past (part 2)

2007-04-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

In between times of eating at my favorite Davis restaurants and hanging out with old friends, I managed to knit...a lot...for me at least. After finishing the Endpaper Mitts, I got started on my Sunburst Sling Bag from Just One More Row. I'm using recycled silk (no particular brand, just stuff picked up at Stitches West) on size 8US needles and let me tell you something: this stuff isn't the greatest. First off, it can be really rough on the hands, which probably isn't helped by the fact that I keep finding twigs and rocks embedded in it. Also, I don't think I've wound one skein that hasn't either been broken with the ends tied back together or just left loose. Uncontinuous yarn. I hate that. It really bothers me. Just when you are getting into the rhythm of winding, the yarn ends. For each skein I was getting up to three balls. One super small, one small, and one medium. Every skein. Let me tell you, that's the poop. The upside of this stuff is that it is beautiful. So colorful. Here, take a look.

And because it is so unfinished, you really can't tell where one strand ends and the next one is tied on. I am almost finished now, just knitting up the strap. Then all I will have to do is seam it together and add the lining. Does anyone know how I go about adding the lining? The pattern includes instructions, so I guess what I'm really asking is, do you sew it in by hand (which is what I would guess) or use a machine? I'll probably go to the LYS when the time comes and see what they have to say. But that may be a while, because.....

everyone and their mother is getting pregnant. I've got two friends who are due in June and another aquaintance who is a couple months along. So, it's probably time to get started on some baby knitting. One of my best friends from childhood, her sister, is having a girl in June, so I think I'm going to do some Bibs-O-Love from Mason Dixon Knitting. I got the Peaches and Creme in the mail last week. Funny thing is the colors are all pinks, yellows, and greens--all this months colors for Project Spectrum, which I'm not even signed up for. And then I'm going to do a baby hat for another friend of mine and that will be green too. I don't sign up for things like that, because most likely, I won't finish or stick to the rules, but here I am following the April/May colors. Anyway, it might be a while before I finish the bag or get to knitting anything else for myself....

which is a shame because while I was in Davis, I found a new (well, new to me) yarn store that I LOVE. It's the Knitter's Playground. It's my new favorite yarn store in Davis. They have great yarn and, more importantly, a great atmosphere. They have a great big table set up where you can walk in and sit down and knit. Everytime I went in, someone was sitting at that table. And Rebecca (the owner) is very nice and also very helpful if you have any questions. While there, I couldn't resist buying four skeins of Cotton Fleece in Wisteria for this. I can't wait to get started on that...or Flair, or The Somewhat Cowl. But babies come first. So, for the next couple of weeks, it's bibs. Colorful bibs. Be prepared for lots of garter stitch.

Revisiting the past, part 1

2007-03-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

For almost all of March I've been in Davis, CA for work. For those of you who don't know me, Davis is my alma mater. GO AGGIES! I had forgotten how beautiful Davis is in the spring (although, technically, it wasn't spring until half way through my visit--but you know California and its unstoppable sunshine). The temperature is perfect--mid 70's to low 80s with a nice breeze. Sometimes this lasts for only a two week period between the rain/cold and the unbearable hot summer with 90 and 100 degree weather, so it was great timing for me to be there when I was. I took some pics to share with you.

These last two pictures I just had to include. They are from in front of the building where I was working. Normally buildings have rows of planted flowers in front of them, but not the Plant and Environmental Sciences building; it had rows of vegetables--with nice signs asking you not to pick them yet. This is SO Davis. We were actually allowed to pick them while I was there and I got to take home some red onions and greens. All in all, Davis was pretty great. I also loved seeing all my friends from that area. We had good food and great conversations. Good times.

Of course, I also got some knitting done. Normally, I am a very slow knitter, but being away from home and running samples on an instrument that is for the most part automated leaves a lot of sitting and waiting. I finished Eunny's Endpaper Mitts.

I used Koigu KPM, one skein each color (2239 and 2235), and 4US dpns. This was my first fair isle project. I don't think I'm very good at it. My stitches are totally uneven and wherever I switched from one dpn to the next, I've got a crease in my mitt. Maybe if I used two circulars instead. The uneven stitches thing I think improved throughout the project and the second mitt came out much better than the first. Despite the flaws, I love them. I learned to knit continental and waded into uncharted territory. They were a labor of love. Initially, I tried using size 3US needles and my gauge was too small, by a lot. So, I moved up a size in needles and just went for it, thinking that if I went too big in needle size my fair isle pattern would turn out funny. I don't know if this is true...do you? Anyway, everything worked out ok. They are snug, but definitely wearable--next winter, since it is now too warm for scarves and mittens and such.

There is more knitting and scenery to post about, but I'll save that for later.

But I do want to say that this being my first blogging experience, I hope you enjoy reading. I'm sure there are many little flaws and I hope to be making improvements as I go along. But mostly I hope this helps connect me with all of you, as a more constant form of keeping in touch with those I already know, and as a chance to meet new people.