emmybear

I've Moved!

2010-10-09T17:22:00.002-04:00

To find continued chronicles of my crafting adventures, please visit (and bookmark for your future reference), THIS

Hope to see you there!

Emily

Yarn Crawl

2010-07-11T18:53:00.004-04:00

This weekend I did one of my favorite things: hang out at yarn shops and knit.

On Saturday I went with my mom to A Tangled Skein. I spent time talking to Jennifer, who works there and who used to attend my Tuesday knitting group at Adega Wine Cellars. We talked about old friends and new knitting trends. It was just us three until about 2pm when a swarm of people came in, some who were new knitters and had never been to that LYS before. As I heard them sigh and gasp happily over the large and diverse selection of yarns, I remembered myself doing the same thing the first time I had walked into the store. I sat there knitting my Aramis top and spinning some crappy roving I am trying to finish up. I enjoyed talking to the newbies (one was Happystrings on Ravelry) and giving tips on good projects that are easy but will add new skills (comme le Multidirectional scarf). That night while seeing an excellent production of Evita at RMT, I made loads of progress on some socks:

On Sunday I did my now routine of going to The Yarn Spot to spin on my new best friend, the SpinOlution Echo. I had wonderful conversation with the ladies there and was super productive- I plied like a pro, finished spinning the crappy roving, and finished my socks, which are currently blocking on my new fave knitting tool, wire sock blockers.

Here is the yarn I just finished. It's really soft and you can't tell here but the colors remind me of a mermaid.

Here are some purchases from this weekend:

Flexible lace blocking wires, another skein of Malabrigo lace because it's just awesome, a lace shawl pattern, two skeins of Rock Creek Yarn sock yarn in Cherry Blossom for the lace shawl (to add to another skein I already bought), and Norah Gaugan's 7th Berocco book. I also (finally) got Lily Chin's Knitting Tips and Tricks and picked up a new needle gauge which Jennifer said is the best.

When I got home just now I plied and skeined the crappy yarn, which turns out to not be so crappy after all.

Now I just have to "set in the twist" of these two newly plied skeins, which I don't know how to do yet and which will apparently marry the two plies. It's the same in concept to blocking. Just makes everything more even and stable.

The most awesomest thing about this weekend was what was going on on Ravelry. They asked the users to help classify all 166,000 patterns by type and attributes (design elements, construction, etc) to make searching easier and more standardized. And for every pattern you either classify or double check you get entered to win one of 17 amazing prizes. Not cool, not awesome, but totally amazing prizes. Of course there were those people who only were doing it for the prizes, but for the most part people were really putting thought into it. Reading the threads about the massive project I finally realized why librarians have to go to graduate school. I classified 240 patterns; while I am crossing my fingers and toes that I will win something, my OCD and appreciation for Ravelry got me to this number. It feels good that I can classify some of these lonely patterns from a rare book that I happen to own.

Anyway, I obviously had a good weekend and I hope you did too!

Updates

2010-07-10T08:36:00.003-04:00

I love how my Citron turned out. I titled it "Lavande" in ravelry. Five points goes to whoever can figure out why.
It took me five minutes to come up with a solution for showing off the striped translucency of this shawlette while also having to hold the camera. Let's just say that my bendiness came in handy.

I also finished (a while ago actually) this sock made from a soft soft soft sock yarn in a colorway named "Harry Potter."Due to the pooling that occurred, I decided to stop at one sock and use the remainder of the yarn to make a moderately complicatedly patterned so as to break up the pooling. I will definitely/try to not start any new projects though until I decrease the number of wips!

Back-to-the-Knitting Weekend

2010-06-26T20:25:00.006-04:00

Every time I go into Firefox the first thing I see is that I have 99 blog posts. Well, here's #100 for ya. The 99th post was on March 28th. Funny, I took over my new position on April 5th and have been running around Montgomery County and in my head ever since. This week I have been talking (to myself) about getting back into knitting because 1) I have many many WIPS 2) I have been working too much after getting home from said work and 3) knitting is goshdarn relaxing. There have been several new elements in my quest to get me back into knitting.

First, I started delving into more podscasts. In addition to Stash and Burn, I now listen to The Knitting Show. I love it! It features a brother and sister who live 2000 miles apart and who are both avid knitters. I have a celebrity crush on the guy, Peter. I love both of their midwestern accents. They sound like fun people who I'd want to be friends with in real life, much like the Stash and Burn girlies.

Second, I went to Knit and Stitch = Bliss today and just loved their new makeover. I am a pretty loyal person in general, but when it comes to knitting stores, I am not monogamous. I go to several in the Maryland suburbs of DC depending where I am at the time: Knit and Stitch, A Tangled Skein, and the Yarnspot. (I also love going to yarn stores out of my normal stomping ground just to see what they're like. and WEBS. I love WEBS.)

Third, well I am currently evaluating my UFO's to try and whittle them down. That didn't stop me from buying yarn today though, thanks to AC Moore and Knit and Stitch:

New Debbie Stoller 100% wool yarn on sale 2/$7. I think I will make a gradual color-changing scarf:

And Plymouth Jeanee Cotton/Acrylic on sale for $3 each! Summer tops are in their future:

And this is what I have been working on recently: the Citron quasi-shawl from Knitty:

I am using Malabrigo Lace in hollyhock. This looks a little dusty-rose-ish but it is more of a lilac color. I am currently on the final section which is over 500 stitches wide!

To see my other UFO's I have added updated pics to Ravelry which can be seen in the righthand column. I have also been working on non-knitting craft projects... yes that's right. Actually to be precise, I did find the pattern in a crochet magazine but had already half-way planned this kind of a project. Here it is:

I cut up old t-shirts and sweatshirts from college, originally planning to sew them together into throw blankets. Then in this crochet magazine I get (from which I usually don't like any projects) they suggested crocheting the squares together. I got a 1/4" hole punch for the edges and then crocheted a foundation row using the holes, then I will either crochet or seam the squares together. For the sweatshirts the fleece on the wrong side will add comfort. For the t-shirts, the pattern calls for ironing on fusible interfacing with stitch direction/ stretchability running perpendicular for stability, then crocheting two t-shirts wrong sides together, so there is never a wrong side showing on the final product. I will update you on my progress.

So that's where I am. I hope it is not too long before I write to you all again.

YARN

2010-03-28T10:16:00.002-04:00

First Harry Potter-inspired yarns, then this? I'm in heaven! My favorite is the Smoke Monster colorway...I have always been a sucker for charcoal. Too bad I'm on a yarn fast.

Also interesting: she also designed my favorite pattern from the newest Knitty: Summit

Long crafty weekend

2010-03-14T19:34:00.004-04:00

On my 3-day birthday weekend I was amazed how much I got done. I got about 9" of my Aramis top:

And on impulse I started a new project. I was helping my BFF Alison, the novice sock knitter, on her second ever sock and I felt compelled to be knitting a simple sock. I bought this yarn from ShelbyB at a fiber festival a few weeks ago. She has all kinds of colorways related to the Harry Potter series. I happened to fall in love with the namesake one because of its combination of many colors. And Shelby was able to name why she included each. Here is what happened with the cuff so far, knit in stockinette stitch. So neat!

I also just finished a rad yoga bag with a pocket.

It's my birthday and I can start a new knitting project if I want to...

2010-03-12T14:46:00.005-05:00

I took the day off today since it is my big day, and did one of my favorite day-off activities: going to lunch with my boyfriend, since he works a few blocks from my apartment. We went to eat in Bethesda at Baja Fresh and he brought me to the LYS there to pick out my birthday present. I decided to finally knit something from Norah Gaughan's Porthos/Athos/Aramis trio of patterns since I have bought all 6 of her Berroco books and haven't knit one thing from them yet. The way this trio works is there is a base with optional elements to add. I will be adding the pretty neckline and the elbow-length sleeves.I figure of all the days to let myself splurge on starting another new knitting project, it'd be on my birthday.

I got 9 hanks of Berroco Touche which might become a new favorite. It is soft like Caron simply soft but not acrylic (it is cotton/rayon).

So now with my pico de gaillo breath I am off to stick Coraline in my laptop and knit away.
Oh, and p.s.: This is not technically breaking my yarn fast because I wasn't the purchaser. p.p.s.: the number of stitches to cast-on for my size is the same as my 2-digit year! weird....

Resolution Weekend

2010-03-07T19:23:00.005-05:00

This weekend, I just realized, I worked on two things I resolved to do this year which by definition have been difficult for me. First, I exercised. It helped that I had two incentives to do so. First, I got a new bike for my birthday. Yippee. Second, I rode along this bike path called the Capital Crescent Trail, which happens to have one of my LYS's at the halfway point. It was the nicest day in the DC area so far in 2010, as you can see from this beauty of a photo:(Isn't it backwards that my cellphone takes better pictures than my camera?)

So then God rewarded me for my efforts when I found out that all bamboo circular needles at said yarn shop were 50% off because they are not selling bamboo needles anymore (they will sell only addi's...I love those too but don't get me started on optimal yarn and needle combinations...)

I also knitted a lot and made markable progress on several different projects.

I am a toe away from the first sock of this project:
Can't wait to block.... these are a little snug.

Finished the transition gloves:
I must've been tense when knitting the first one (on the left) because it is way tighter. Luckily I have tiny wrists.

Made progress on my petal halter, which was my Olympics Knitting project:
I give myself an honorable mention for this. If knitting was really in the olympics, SPM would have gold with her fair isle sweater made of sock yarn and I'd be that athlete in 26th place who just barely qualified for the olympics and went just for the experience, knowing that I wouldn't actually win. See how that hanging string is a little wavy? That's because I seamed and unseamed the blasted sides a few times, ending with an unseam. Grr. At least I've made progress though.

I love the progress I've made on the February Lady sweater:
I also made progress on my After Dark Robe. A picture of it would be way too boring to post though.

And I end with something I've been pondering. I have added in the column to the right a countdown to the MD Sheep and Wool Festival. Like many others, I will be making the vow to not buy any yarn until then. Most people call this a "yarn diet" but I propose calling it a "yarn fast" because you are ridding yourself of all yarn intake... using only what you have stored up (stashed), much like a hibernating bear. Just a thought. Feel free to share your opinion.

Round 1

2010-02-14T10:36:00.005-05:00

Emmybear has had a strong performance in the first round of 8 of her Knitting Olympics event, the Petal Halter top. If you don't know about this event, the first 6 rounds consist of making 6 identical petals knit one side at a time from the center-out, the 7th is joining the petals together into a top, and the 8th is making and attaching the straps.

One petal of the 6 is completed and even blocked! And only after 1.5 days. She really made the most of training (if you remember, she made a perfect swatch the first time). At this rate, she may be finished with the halter top long before the February 28th deadline. She had to learn a new skill for this event... the provisional Eastern Cast-on, but with her experience with the Figure-8-style cast-on it was a cinch, except that she tragically dropped two stitches off the cast on, which will probably negatively alter the final product, despite the fact that she made adjustments to make the final stitch count correct. That might be a cause for deduction.

A few times she got too much in the groove of knitting when on the WS selvage and kept knitting when she should have purled, and had to frog and do the row over, which cost her some time. She made up with that fabulous muscle-memory most knitters are known for, which increased her speed. At times she doesn't even need to look at the work as she is doing it. Her only spectator--her boyfriend--was shocked at the ability.

Interveiwed after the event, Emmybear commented, "after doing side one I really got the hang of the complicated shaping and short-rows, and was able to do the second side without looking at the directions too much." She hopes to memorize the petal pattern by the third petal. She also plans on altering the two top petals to add another selvage edge under each armpit. She learned this from Ravelry where others who knit this suggested an alteration there. In regards to the blocking process, she commented later, "I'm glad I opted for a cotton-wool blend rather than the simply plant-based yarn that was called for... It has more memory thanks to the wool while the cotton makes it good for summer."

She showed off her finished first round product to fans:

And for bonus points, while waiting for the petal to dry, she finished the Panel Jacket she made for her mother for Christmas 2009.

Stay tuned for more updates on Emmybear's knitting!

Finally I'm an Olympian

2010-02-11T23:20:00.003-05:00

A knitting Olympian, that is. I joined the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics Athletic Team. I will be making the Petal Halter from the Spring 2009 issue of Interweave Knits:

I am using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in a sort of slate blue. Here is my perfect swatch, completed on the first try after guesstimating that I'd need one needle size down to reach gauge:
I was going to choose the Central Park Hoodie or Swirl Scarf, but I didn't want to end up curled in the fetal position in the corner out of frustration.

Man, I am finding it difficult to wait until tomorrow night to cast on!

Best deal ever

2010-01-26T07:38:00.003-05:00

So I've started my spinning expedition (pictures later...too lazy) and it's going pretty well. I read and read and then went to A Tangled Skein's monthly Sit n Spin, where I felt both part of the community and an outsider at the same time. Some would knit in between spinning and talk knitting terms, but then all of a sudden I would hear strange words like "draft" etc and would have to look them up briefly in the dictionary in my head. I sat there quiet for a while spinning nervously, as I hadn't manipulated roving around a spindle in about a year. I felt like a novice knitter. Whenever I made a mistake like a break in the yarn I felt like stopping and putting up my hands and saying "ahhh I made a mistake," fully expecting a spinning aficionado to come to my rescue, much like my students do with me. But I didn't, I kept on chugging quietly at the end of the table, occasionally watching others' rhythmic movements making yarn. I also listened to them totally supporting Jay and dissing Conan and thought...am I the only representative here from my generation?

A woman my age entered with her wheel, carried by her boyfriend, and parked it next to me. She wore this beautiful sweater that she had handknit, and which everyone fawned over, and whose pattern I have since bought and added to my queue. It's #396. It was around that time that I made a mistake and someone asked me how long I'd been spinning. I looked at my invisible watch and answered sarcastically, "how long have we been sitting here?" They were shocked not because of my quality of work, but because starting to spin is such a momentous occasion for a person, much like knitting is.

It was an overall successful night. I got some tidbits of advice without feeling that I pushed someone into a free lesson, which I wanted to avoid doing (the drop-spinning teacher was there). My new friend with the wheel let me try hers, but it was too overwhelming at the time. I'll try again at MDSW.

* ~~ * ~~ *

I have been inspired all month by craftzine's Make Space for Crafting theme. I decided to embark on the brilliant idea to use one of those cylindrical wine bottle gift boxes to hold my spindle and fiber. I thought Michael's would be a great place to look since I saw them there before and thought, "why the h e double hockeysticks would I ever need that?" Well now I do. I went there on Saturday morning, passing the Christmas merchandise in those metal cage bins outside; crap that they were practically paying people to take home. I circled the store 4 times trying to find those dang wine gift boxes and none could be found. I thought looking near the 1000 shoebox photo boxes would have been a good idea. Nope.

And then...

I remembered a Christmas item I had seen outside. An ugly wine giftbox that had a plush reindeer head glued on, as well as arms. I hurried outside and saw that they were only 49 cents! Jackpot! I grabbed two.

Here is a picture of the transformation from wretched to chic:

Yay :)

Fun fun fun

2010-01-16T11:39:00.004-05:00

Over the past few days I been more creative and productive than usual. I present my three acts of fun:

Fun 1: I have been on Team Conan from the beginning and thanks to Vickie Howell's blog (via Craftzine) I can show my pride:

Fun 2: Also via Craftzine, I made my own gummy candy yesterday! This tutorial is from Skip To My Lou and requires only a small box of your favorite jello, 2 packets of plain gelatin, 1/3 cup of water, and candy molds:I will definitely leave my core gummy candy needs up to the masters, but this was fun, easy and cheap.

Fun 3: This will be a long-term fun project. In reading my new book, Respect the Spindle, I have been revisiting my small group of spinning and roving related crafting stuff that I have picked up from MDSW the past two years (which were my first two years). With knitting as my main passion I have ignored my spinning, a dynamic which I hope to be resolved with Abby's new book. I realized with help a few weeks ago that the yarn I had started spinning (on my $4 CD drop spindle) was in fact felting wool and not intended to be spun. This plus cheap spindle plus not really knowing what I was doing has produced the following--Ladies and gentlemen, I present what I will now refer to as "before":
My first and absolute only attempt at spinning. It's beautiful and totally unworkable at the same time. I will always keep it around, just like my first crochet project; the measly skein isn't enough to knit anything, really.

So at this point I'm reading the book, and have a new spindle and roving ready for when i am brave enough to start. Meanwhile, I am finally getting to some needlefelting that I bought from Thistletown Alpacas last year at MDSW, and am thinking up what I will use the rest of my needle-felting wool for now that I will not spin it.

Call me old fashioned...

2010-01-14T22:22:00.005-05:00

So I have been waiting and waiting for a package to arrive and it finally did!

Background story: I have a Blackberry Storm (not bc I can afford it. i happened to stumble upon it when a family member partook in a buy one get one free sale)

Complete with a picture of my mom's cat taking a self-timeout.

So to help lighten up my purse I transferred the information from my Moleskine datebook into my Blackberry and stowed the obselete paper product away. The Blackberry calendar was ok but there was something about the moleskine that just drew me to Amazon.com to buy it for this year and undo my act of technology addiction manifestation. And finally it arrived!

I outfitted it with a Knitty sticker for a personal yet sleek touch.

Ahh...feels like home.

New danger zone

2010-01-08T18:49:00.005-05:00

Today I went to The Yarn Spot, the new yarn store that opened up recently in Wheaton, MD near the intersection of University and Georgia. For those of you unaware, that is freakin up the street from me. I see empty bank accounts in my future.

It is in a new strip mall off of Georgia perpendicular to the road. The parking lot is a little tight. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the subtle industrial feel; buffed cement floor, high ceilings. They also have the Expedit bookcase (comme moi) to organize all their yarn on. They just have a few more than I do. There were a handful of women sitting and knitting at the large table in the middle of the room. I think one person was a vendor. They were welcoming yet not too in-your-face, which was great (I'm saying this because a post on Ravelry said there were too many employees or something).

But of course the best part was the merchandise. Only about 10% had I seen before. All the rest were yarns and even brands that I had never heard of in a wide price range. I bought a beautiful skein of alpaca/wool superwash sock yarn from the Alpaca Yarn Company for $11 which comes with extra coordinating yarn for the heel and toe (called Paca-Peds), and when I want exquisite luxurious yarn for a special project I'll remember their wide array of Jade Sapphire brand yarn. Here were my purchases:
Said sock yarn in purples on top, 2 skeins of Classic Elite Jill Eaton 100% extra fine superwash merino, and a cotton tote with their cute logo. It's only $10 but is discounted depending on how much you buy. I got out with three skeins miraculously under the discount threshold, but I put out the ten bucks for the bag.

Great customer service, great selection, great location. I will be going back. And my credit card whines.

A neat trick

2010-01-07T15:18:00.005-05:00

I'm no magician, but I wanted to share this neat trick that you can do it when working with natural, feltable yarn. It's called Spit-Splicing and can be used mid-garment when you have to add another skein of yarn. It replaces the knot and subsequent ends to weave it. You can also use it if you come across a knot made by the manufacturer.

Step one: Fan out the ends of the yarn you want to attach together.
This is a single ply but you can of course use it with muli-ply as well.

Step two: spit into your hand and put one of the ends right in the pool of spit. You heard me right. About 1/8 to 1/4 a teaspoon of spit should do. Don't do too much or it will be just wet and floppy and won't really work. If you mess up, you can just cut off that one or two inches and try again.

Step three: Lay the other end on top and sort of intermingle the strands. Then rub the bunch between your palms really fast. Some heat will be generated. This is essentially felting the two strands together.
Step four: Tug lightly on the two ends to make sure they are secure. Tada! Encorporating your new non-knot into your knitted fabric will secure it even more.

I used the method when making this cowl today. It is with my favorite yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky. It is so very thick and squishy.
And no, this wasn't on my list. But it knit up so fast! I discovered another trick today while knitting this: when changing colors in seed stitch, knit the first row of the new color plain instead of in seed stitch and continue with the pattern on the next row. This will make the color change cleaner.

On a different note, since last May , I have been looking for a good starter book on drop spindling. Needless to say, I became interested in spinning while attending the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and therefore have the two basic supplies, but the difficulty of the craft has led to the spindles and roving gathering dust amongst my knitting stuff. I still am interested in picking up the skill and have had my eye out for a good book to get me started (I can't take a class at my LYS mentioned below because it happens to interfere with an obligation).

While at a Sit n Stitch at A Tangled Skein last night, I found the hand spinning book of my dreams: Respect the Spindle. I love that it not only tells you about how to spin on a drop spindle, but goes over the history, science, best practices, and more. I learned while reading it in my bath this morning that the author first learned to spin at 5 while growing up in rural Peru, where it was as expected to be a skill as being able tie one's shoes. I noticed that the book is by my favorite crafting publisher, Interweave. They really do come up with great stuff.

One step forward and one step back

2010-01-05T13:50:00.006-05:00

One step forward:

I finished knitting the French Press Slippers... One WIP off the list.

I knit everything during Little Miss Sunshine and the Price is Right:

To be honest, I did go to the first commercial break into Law and Order SVU. You know, the one after that one shocking scene. But then I was done. Gimme a break, I had to frog one piece and knit it over.

Then the next 1 hour and 45 minutes was spent seaming and creating a pile of ends post weave-in:

Tada!Now they just need a little quality time with some jeans in the washing machine. Which will have to wait until I make it over to mom's in the near future.

So now that I'm riding the productive wave I think I will start my next project. Don't be mad... it is not currently on my list! BUT it is a great stash buster and works up fast. Since I have 3 other identical skeins, I might just make it some brothers and sisters...

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-04T09:28:00.006-05:00

"Last post was on August 14, 2009" Wow. I think that's a record for me. I have been feeling guilty and incomplete about not blogging. I was raised Catholic so I guess that's where the guilt comes in. As I was making crackers today (new Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas!) while on the first day of my staycation, I was thinking, "gee, I have time to spare today. maybe I'll blog. Ohh, I could blog about my new year's resolutions." Then, *lightbulb* "I can add 'blog more' to my new year's resolution list! It's not that long. Totally doable." So here I am.

So I will present my resolutions then explain. Ahem:
1. Exercise at least 3 times a week
2. Bake something at least once a week
3. "Consume"
4. Blog at least once a week

Ok, time to explain

1. I am too poor to enroll in another exercise class. Cardio ballet was fun and all. Ever since they came out with Fluidity I've been yearning for cardio ballet. Then tada it ended up in the Montgomery County Recreation Class guide. It was fun for about the first and last 5 minutes of each class. Then I'd get tired and then lose balance and look like a So-You-Think-You-Can-Dance audition reject. Then there was the false alarm that I might have asthma. Oops, I'm just out of shape, which proves that if you're skinny doesn't mean you're in shape. Ack. Nevertheless, it was fun overall. I just can't afford it. So I am including in this resolution that doing an exercise tape of yoga in my apartment counts as exercise. I can do cardio on the other 2 days.

2. I discovered this year about myself that I love baking and don't really like cooking savory items. Something about following a recipe and watching ingredients completely turn into something else. Probably why I like knitting so much... And as stated above, I got a fancy schmancy Kitchenaid for Christmas. Note: If you, reader, are someone I am close enough to talk to at least once a week, you will be getting free homemade baked goods sometime in the near future. I just can't eat it all.

3. "Consume" to me means to use up all the crap I have around my home that's usable. Crafting items that I've hoarded (including yarn), pantry items, which will also assist in resolution #2, and above all else...all those dang body products. I've actually gotten through most of my BBW items. I worked there for 7 years and bought way too much. But I have accumulated more from other places now that I wouldn't be considered a traitor shopping somewhere else. I want to get rid of crap because if this year is anything like the last 2, I will move. And I will not move excess crap again.

4. Well there's nothing to say about this. I just want to blog more regularly. Like once a week. Two reasons I have been procrastination central about blogging is that it takes time away from crafting and that loading pictures is a pain in the ass. Let's see if it still is.

Yes it is. Oh btw this is my grandma holding up a blanket I crocheted for her. I know what you're thinking. That's backwards. Well shut up she's old now.

You might have noticed something related to #3. I did not resolve to knit more. Although it is always a goal of mine to complete my neverending WIPs, I don't want to make knitting a chore. Maybe I'm bitter from just finishing a Christmas season, (I'm even still knitting a Christmas gift for my mom about 1.5 years late from when my knitting group did it as a KAL). But I am part of a group on Ravelry called LOTSAFOS10 where you list every WIP less than 50% done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is my list, minus the things that are almost done such as

Panel Jacket in Classic Elite Classic Silk ~ 60% done
Socktopus in Random Stash Yarn ~ 80% done
Diamonds and Shells Alpaca Scarf in Blue Sky Alpacas Royal ~ 75% done
After-Dark Robe in mystery cotton from stash ~ 80% done

Current WIPs:

French Press Felted Slippers in Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool ~ 15% done
Sam in mystery stash yarn ~ 25%
Grove in Patons Classic Wool Merino ~ 50%
Transitioning Gloves in Patons Kroy Socks ~ 50%
Clapotis in Arucania Atacama ~35%
Jeanie in Knit Picks Stroll ~ 15% ~ This is my Mount Everest
February Lady Sweater in Patons Classic Wool Merino ~ 15%
Easy Ripple Afghan in Caron Simply Soft ~ 20%

In the Queue:

Another Drop Stitch Lap Blanket in Noro Iro
Sideways Grande Cloche in Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande
Citron in Malabrigo Yarn Lace
Central Park Hoodie in Cascade 220 Heathers Superwash
Hope Hat in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted
Another Noro Striped Scarf in Noro Silk Garden
Petal Halter in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
Another Go Go Garter Stitch Scarf in Lion Brand Hometown USA
Crafty Earrings in Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Crochet Thread size 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will now venture to make the goal to not CO anything besides these things until they are all finished.

Ok, that's all for today. I'd say Happy Knitting like a usually do, but... I feel it's overdone and I've seen it on some other blogs. So.. See you next time, I guess! :)

What knitting emmybear has been up to

2009-08-14T21:07:00.008-04:00

(When my mom called me "emmybear" as a child, she'd use it in the third person)

I've been on a casting-on kick. My wips at one point were up to 15. I'm out of control! So since then I have casted on minimally and finished maximally... not really a word but what the hell... Here are some of the projects I have recently finished, both knitting and non-knitting:

Cookie A's Kai Mei socks
A mixed-media canvas of yarn leftovers in whites and grays:
Something I cannot show you yet because it was made for my biggest blog fan:

Some charity baby hats:

The variances in size don't matter...for a sad reason.

Some alpaca handwarmers from a kit I got at MSWF:
And last but not least, I cut my Blooming Cotton Scarf! I promised many SSKers to show this fringe-cutting process. It was knit in the round horizontally (all 400 stitches). This was post-cast-off and pre-cut:
Cutting time. Eek! Not as bad, though. The stitches don't unravel like you'd think.And...all cut. I realized here that I hadn't inhaled for a while.

The cut edge.It doesn't come all undone. You actually have to undo the previous row to undo the next row. And once you establish how far to pull, it's impossible because of the magic interlocking nature of knitted stitches, for the row to unravel anymore. Just look, because I'm a horrible explainer:
Then you just tie those two ends together. Here is some fringe already done:And one side all done. Notice the lighting change. Flash was required because day had turned to night since I had started cutting.And then there was blocking.

On the third day all of that curliness & stickiness of wet cotton turned to straightness and smoothness of dry cotton:
I love all the varying lengths and random knots from when I changed colors. I almost kept it this way.

And then more cutting.Yeah so there are tons more projects but I'm charging my camera battery right now so just hold your horses!

I'll be back...hopefully sooner than 3 months from now.

Advocacy

2009-08-14T20:48:00.003-04:00

I'd like to address the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee issue.

I've been too lazy to blog since May, so you know this is important to me to write. (But as long as I'm here I might as well share my projects with you. See next post.)

If you live under a rock or are a non-knitter I will tell you that my favorite knitting philosopher was attacked by a woman who found SPM's Canada Day post offensive to her as an American (although it seems SPM made fun of Canada more often than America. I myself love both countries. I'm on a Canada kick right now though. I'm rambling.) Here is the post in which SPM addressed this woman's behavior.

Now, this woman is very mean and harassed my friend SPM, but there is another side to the story that I feel like sharing with you. Keep in mind as you read on that I just came from a training on Mental Health First Aid, the final part of which addressed the stigma socieity holds against those with mental disorders.

So I read this woman's blog--because hey, I like drama--to see what she is all about. In it she divulges in a non-socially-appropriate way that she has mental issues and takes meds and even calls herself crazy. She appears to have pretty severe issues with socialization and/or interpreting others' statements, otherwise she maybe wouldn't have written such verbally aggressive comments (on SPM's blog, twitter, personal email, etc). This is not to say that people with these issues are allowed to behave in such a way, but to give us insight on herself and her struggles with mental health.

I myself work with teens who have similar problems (e.g. cursing out 15 male gang members=not a good idea). We teach them how to be socially appropriate. Hopefully someone is working on that with this woman as well.

Also, you only know what you learn and this woman is from Texas and likes George Bush.

Bloom! It's Spring!

2009-05-14T10:30:00.007-04:00

Welcome back. Just wanted to fill you in on what I've been up to. I've been working diligently on my sock wips since I got the new Cookie A sock book and want to get going on some of her intricate designs. I purchased 6 skeins of sock yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (subconsciously all the yarn I got there was sock yarn...Cookie was on my mind I guess).

I'm moving and have been gradually shoveling my stuff all .25 miles over to my new apartment (yay hardwood floors is good for yoga!) Here, Ringo is wanting to spend some of our final days together helping me to dismantle my massive LYS-loving Expedit shelves from Ikea.
I've also been enjoying Spring! Here I was experimenting with a camera feature. I'm sure it has some fancy photography name, but all I know is that the foreground is in focus and the background slightly blurry. I love it.

And this brings me to the focus of this blogpost: the scarf I'm knitting! The moment I saw the Blooming Cotton Scarf in Interweave Knits Spring 2009 I was drawn to it, as you can read in one of my last posts. It reminds me of being laid-back and exciting and daring for having so many colors. I, however, was drawn to some of my favorite Spring colors. I also wanted to save some $ so I got half as many colors and widened each row to 2.

Here it is so far. I wanted to share with you all, especially anyone interested in making it, the amazing design. It's knit in the round. Cast on 400 stitches! The first and last 15 stitches are not knit in pattern. After casting off, you simply cut (CUT CUT eek!) at the beginning of the round and UNRAVEL (eek!) until you get to the beginning of the stitch pattern, tie off, and Wabam! you have fringe.Not to mention the stitch pattern, which looks like fair isle but really isn't (mwah ha ha ha). You simply slip those magenta stitches every round until you knit with the magenta again. It makes these cute little ovals that pucker in. and the one row of purling of the magenta adds dimension too.
And inside each little oval are 2 wee stitches. Again, not fair-isled. They are knit, and all the rest of the round slipped.
Whether my explanation makes sense or not, try it! It's pretty easy and loads of fun! The hardest part is picking out the colors, truly. ...and casting on & the first few rows. Not difficult, but really annoying if you have to rip it out. I literally had to un-knit two rows early on. But it was worth it because it is looking beautiful!

I'll update you when I'm finished...

A home remedy...

2009-03-30T22:53:00.004-04:00

...for the following:

Flickr.com
alacrity_danger

Oh and here's some cute pictures of the cat...

Vara thinks he was posing.
I swear I'm not a crazy cat lady.

surprise...knitty!

2009-03-14T09:46:00.006-04:00

so my last post was a month ago...i'm not even going to comment any further this time...

So I haven't been a good little knitter the past few weeks. I haven't gone to the Tuesday SSK knitting group because I have this new job and I get off at 8:30pm. I haven't read or write blogs. I haven't been on Ravelry, including perusing new patterns. So I was doing the latter just moments ago and I kept loving these new patterns, then I noticed they had something in common...Knitty Spring 2009! I got the email from Amy Singer while at work but put off reading it until rediscovering it this morning. A nice birthday present (my bday was the 12th).

The first pattern I came across--Shipwreck--is simply amazing. There is a list of 67 needle sizes you need to make it, not to mention 5000 beads which I assume you string on before knitting. All that and a whopping 3 skeins of sock yarn (which you have to dye yourself). For me it'd be another Jeanie Shawl (which is sitting in a bag somewhere, 1/6th of the way finished). You need to be a dedicated lace shawl knitter (...dyer, and beader) to make this exquisite thing. Oh yeah, and the first picture on the pattern page looks exactly like me from behind when I was in the seventh grade.
I like the idea and design of Hanne--it looks fun to knit--but I would probably not wear it, even though I think it looks nice. Maybe I will make it then...
Lastly, the bird mobile, named Flock, is adorable and a great way to use up random balls of yarn.
Ok, now I'm off to knitting group. Have a good day!

Sick Day

2009-02-19T11:27:00.005-05:00

So I am having a sick day. More on that later. First, have you SEEN the new Interweave Knits? I think it's the best yet. Here are some patterns that stood out for me, in reverse order (for anticipation's sake):
8. Silk Cocoon Cardigan. Love the matching texture on the shoulders and wrists, although I will probably never get to knitting this.
7. Sweet Tee. This silhouette is one of my favorites to wear. I'd probably make it longer and skip the fair isle, though. Also, will probably never knit this.
6. Float Stole. This is my idea of the ideal lace shawl: lots of coverage. Sorry, but I always question the warmth of those really holey lace shawls. This one looks actually warm. But when I saw the width of this yarn, I had shortness of breath, so I don't think I'm ready to knit this yet. 5. Sculpted Lace Scarf. I am always weak for cables. The lace aspect is good too, since it might counterbalance the amount of yarn it takes to make the cables. I also see in my future small projects for men as recipients (one in particular), and this project looks like a nice one.4. Net Duffel Bag. This just looks really fun to knit. Also strong and functional.
3. Whisper Cardigan. Always love a good cardigan. This one looks good for Spring--just warm enough.
2. Blooming Cotton Scarf. Besides having to cast on 400 stitches, this one looks fun to knit. I love the colors and after searching for different cotton yarns to use, it looks like that to achieve the right effect I might just have to use the suggested yarn. The scarf reminds me of my friend Soyona. Bright and cheerful, yet super laid back and new bohemian/hippie. I excitedly anticipate the weight of it too.1. Petal Halter. Ok, so as of me typing this, 468 people have favorited this on Ravelry, so I don't need to persuade you why this is cool. (but I will anyway) Great shape, interesting construction, beautiful. If you like this, try the book, Knitting New Scarves. Just look. You'll see.So, anyway, kudos to Eunny and all the designers. These were only my top favorite. There is nothing in the issue I wouldn't knit. Great combination of patterns (although they are almost all larger patterns. I like the speed of knitting accessories too).

What is on my needles? What's not?

I finally started Breeze from Knitty, which I queued on Jan 2, 2008 and had the yarn for for almost a year.

I love the heel flap which is made of cables.
And each row in the heel turn ends with the decrease (ssk or p2tog) across the gap only, rather than working one more stitch after it. This created a more boxy shape and defined line on each side which I love.Oh btw I decided that all my hand painted yarn shouldn't be boxed away but displayed, so I did so. I don't think I'll ever have the heart to knit with these, though. It'd feel like killing them! Stretching them out and rewinding them, then twisting and turning them! I think they'd rather stay loosely twisted up like this so we can all see them.
Ok that sounded a little crazy.

So back to my sick day. I went to the doctor and she said, "go home and lay down." Just a regular cold I think. So as I was driving home I encountered heavy traffic and had to take a detour through Bethesda. Oh, gee, there is an LYS in Bethesda and I will drive right past it. I think I'll stop.

The clerks at Knit and Stitch agreed. I need something to do while I'm on the couch sick!

I picked up some Cascade Fixation for something in Knitting Lingerie Style. That's all I'm gonna give you about that...

I was always curious of that shrink-wrapped yarn. Why do they shrink wrap it? Oh, it has elastic in it? Hmm that seems scary. I swatched with it and it's not that bad, actually. Pretty functional. Here is the beginning of my project:
I'll just let you guess what it is.

I also picked up Berroco Geode for Interweave's free Entrelac Scarf for beginners. This technique is also something that slightly terrifies me, so this pattern will be good to try I think. Part of my reluctance to learn this technique comes from watching Rebecca from SSK work on hers for months and complain about how long it takes. I didn't want it to be another Jeanie Shawl (which is currently hibernating).

Oh, AND I bought Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop. A book all knitters should have, they say. On my way out of the store Lyn said, as she saw the book in my bag, "oh, are you knitting the baby surprise jacket?" I said no, but then as I was walking down the stairs I realized that I have always wanted to knit that--the icing on the cake!

So my wips (works in progress) list will be growing today, but who cares? I'm sick.

Here is the view from the couch:

My knitting box, needles, yarn, tylenol pm, computer, crossword puzzle, The Knitting Workshop, pattern books, The Price is Right, and six-pack of Propel Fitness Water (I've already downed 2 since beginning this post).

AND I just realized that I broke my vow from my last post about not buying yarn until MDSW. Oh well.

And now, your moment of zen--what I see whenever I go to get dressed in the morning:
Hello. Just chillin in the closet.

I vow...

2009-02-08T19:38:00.004-05:00

Ok, before I get to my vow, I'll share with you what I've been working on... My most recent love is the After-Dark Robe from the first Mason-Dixon Knitting. I had gotten 8 skeins of this mystery DK weight cotton from a yarn swap and didn't know what to do with it. When I am in the bath one of my favorite things to read is pattern books that I haven't looked at in a while for inspiration. One day I rediscovered this pattern which I originally thought I'd never have enough yarn to make...and tada...pattern and yarn find each other. I couldn't find a good public picure of the robe, but here is what I have so far:The bottom piece is the back. I have advanced a little more on the top piece, which is the left front. It looks like this now:In addition to the 3.5" seed stitch borders, I am in love with what will be the exposed side edges. They have you slip at the beginning of every other row so that after it is all done and sewed up, this slipped edge will look finished. I also found that if you treat the first row as the WS, it makes that bottom edge cleaner and matches the side edge.

I am advancing way faster than I thought I would on this garment. It will make a good movie theater project since the back is knit in stockinette stitch for 23" with no increases or decreases.

Ok, and now for my vow. The idea for my vow began several days ago when I realized that I hadn't bought yarn for a while. I thought, wow I wonder if I can make it until the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival without buying yarn. And like many of you yarnies, I thought, hey that's a good idea.

Then Heidi invited me to Crafts and Kisses where her friends Jon and John were selling stuff. RIGHT NEXT TO their booth was Woolarina. Damn, I'm weak. Especially with $4 off all pink yarns. So then I said to myself, ok, I haven't officially made the vow yet. I thought of how I would state my vow in this blog. I am adding this small fact to explain why, oh why, I then stopped at Now and Then on my way home and bought MORE YARN. Sorry, but this cascade handpainted sock yarn is amazing. Here are my new yarns--
Beautiful right? Yeah, I know... so now, officially,

I, EMILY MCLAUGHLIN, VOW TO NOT BUY ANY YARN
UNTIL THE FIRST FULL WEEKEND IN MAY
WHEN THE EAST COAST YARN FREAKS CONVENE
AT THE MARYLAND SHEEP AND WOOL FESTIVAL

**and if I mess up, I will be honest with all of you.

And now, your moment of zen...

Ringo, trying to get rid of his kitten fat with a little feline yoga.
Or, he's just rolling around in the sun licking himself.

The birth of a pattern

2009-01-25T17:14:00.009-05:00

Today after my plans to see a movie were canceled, I decided to trek over to A Tangled Skein to pick up some yarn. I hadn't been there for a while and was so excited! Also, I got to use my GPS to get there.

After bee-lining to pick out yarn, I sat a while and finished my Oc-TOE-ber socks while talking to Rivka, one of the workers there. I always see her on Ravelry when looking at my "friend activity". Things that she faves, queues, and knits always catch my eye as something I want to make NOW.

I finished my socks:Since starting this project I have abandoned the step in project-adding on Ravelry when you list the exact date you started it. I just got too OCD about it and decided that to keep my sanity I'd just skip it. But I had noted for this project the date I had started it, and it was June 4, 2008!! I can't believe they have been on my needles for so long. I don't even want to think about how long that dang Jeanie shawl has been on the needles....

So anyways...A Tangled Skein is having a 20% off sale starting this Tuesday, but my tendency for instant gratification won and I walked away with some schtuff. I got only the yarn I came in for (what a concept). I also got some cable needles and wool wash.

Red, white, and blue Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted for a fair isle Obama Hope hat, and some Berroco Peruvia in a hunter green for a Valentine's gift.

The recipient asked for a rustic-looking hat, in his exact words, "like you spun the yarn yourself." I failed to mention (on purpose) that I can spin, because he probably would have asked me to do that part too. And then it would have been next year's Valentine's gift because I really suck at spinning.

On the way home whilst listening to Stash and Burn on my iPod (thank you Honda) I dreamt up how I would construct this. I also decided that it is just complicated enough that I could publish it as an easy pattern. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening playing knit designer.

Wind.
Swatch and measure.
Calculate and cast-on.And several hours later (note the lighting change) Tada!
ETA: This pattern was strongly influenced by the It Ain't Jane Scarf. I wanted a drapey, squishy fabric. And I love the texture of these little cables all together. (hint: you can make this hat to match the scarf!)

And here is the pattern:

Just a Little Something Hat
(...because last time I was the victim of the infamous curse
but now I have an excuse because it's Valentine's Day
and I need to give a present anyway
but I don't want it to be too much)

Yarn: Berroco Peruvia (100% highland wool, aran weight)
Needles: 16" circulars in US 8 and US 10.5, double pointeds in US 10.5
Other: darning needle, cable needle if you'd like but you can also try it without
Gauge: 5 pattern repeats = 3.5" on larger needles when slightly stretched
Size: to fit 22" head
Patterns:
Ribbing=*knit 2, purl 1* repeat around
Twisted 1x1 cable=
row 1: *hold 1st k stitch in front, k 2nd stitch, k 1st stitch, p third stitch* repeat around
rows 2, 3, & 4: work in ribbing
Directions:
Cast on 96
On smaller needles, work in ribbing for 1"
Switch to larger needles and work one more row in ribbing
Work in twisted 1x1 cable pattern for 6 repeats (24 rows total)
Decrease rounds (switching to dpn's when necessary):
1: *ssk, p1, k2, p1, twisted 1x1 cable, p1, twisted 1x1 cable, p1* repeat around (88)
2: *k1, p1, ssk, p1, k2, p1, k2, p1* repeat around (80)
3: *k1, p1, k1, p1, ssk, p1, k2, p1* repeat around (72)
4: **k1, p1* 3 times, ssk, p1* repeat around (64)
5: *ssk, *k1, p1* 3 times* repeat around (56)
6: *k1, ssk, k1, p1, k1, p1* repeat around (48)
7: *k2, ssk, k1, p1* repeat around (40)
8: *k3, ssk* repeat around (32)
9: *ssk, k2* repeat around (24)
10: *ssk, k1* repeat around (16)
11: ssk 8 times (8)
Cut yarn and draw through remaining loops. Pull tight and knot. Then weave in ends.
Done!

My knitty valentine

2009-01-15T21:41:00.004-05:00

I like quick projects. I haven't quite pinpointed why, but there are a few reasons well-known in the knitting community that I'm sure you can come up with.

I was bored with my projects on a Thursday night and was skimming through the newest added patterns on Ravelry. I came across a tiny heart pattern. Then I remembered that I had already queued 4 tiny heart patterns, one of which was the English version of the pattern I was looking at.

I pulled out some dpn's and spare Red Patons Classic Wool Merino and got knitting. I also have been looking for a low-key present to knit for Valentine's Day for a new friend in my life. No more mistakes like last time (see my October 2008 post entitled "Progress...and the curse")

About 10 minutes later I had a wee heart:
thanks to Theresa Fox (first link in "free patterns" in the right-hand column).

This was knit completely in the round using the figure 8 cast on. Knitty has a good explanation on how to do this cast-on but I found Cat Bordhi's video very helpful. It's the main cast-on used for toe-up socks.

Then I got curious about those other wee heart patterns I had queued. I tried Norah Gaughan's Heartfelt.
This one is made flat and seamed up the side.Then I tried the hearts by Anna Hrachovec.
Also knit flat. Just knit an identical front and back and then seam it up.Lastly, I pulled out the crochet hook and tried Pepika's 3D Heart. I'm loving amigurumi stuff right now.First you crochet two little circles, and then attach them so they form the two humps. Then you just crochet around and begin decreasing.My verdict? Well just a disclaimer: pick whichever is most comfortable for you. If you hate knitting in the round or can't crochet worth your life, choose one of the flat ones. (although, you should really learn how to do those. they are helpful skills to have. don't give up! you can do it!)

MY personal favorite is the first one I chose to do, the one by Theresa Fox. (The second from the top in the above picture) Knitting in round is really the simplest way to do this. No seaming and you end up with a great shape. I feel bad, though, because I LOVE YOU NORAH GAUGHAN! You have a real aptitude for designing knitting patterns. I love the shapes and interesting construction you envelop in your pieces. I have made 2 tilted dusters. :)

Anyone else have a good mini heart pattern? Share! Share!

And happy valentine's day!

Four Christmases

2008-12-27T11:53:00.008-05:00

Ok I realize that this post is a little old, but still... Here were my Christmases, in a nutshell...

#1: With the Roomies. We made fondue and I received a handknit scarf and handmade belt from Heidi, and a Snoopy Snowcone Machine from Vara. I used to have one as a kid and it brought back the memories...
Although I remember it being easier to get more shaved ice in 20 minutes than 1/2 a tablespoon:Christmas #2: Then I went home Christmas Eve and we made a scrumptious dinner.
And on Christmas Day I got a sewing machine!
Mom loved her hat and scarf.
Edward loved his hat...oh yeah, and mom got him this shirt...no explanation needed.And the cats liked the box of treats and 20 toys from my mom's boss.Christmas #3: With the extended family. My grandma is so cute! Here she is enjoying the penguin calendar that my mom got her.
And my mom made my cousin a balloon-animal giraffe and stuck a 20 in it. Oh, Silly Aunt Nancy...
Family+presents+food= 8-)
I came away with...giftcards...and lots of 'em.Christmas #4: Dad's house. My stepmom Erin made a dessert ensemble topped with champagne and coffee...yum.
They gave me a GPS. 8-)And my bro gave my step-bro a 4' tall k'nex double ferris wheel kit. The three of us bypassed the Christmas movie to build away.
Tada!I wonder how it's coming since we stopped there...

And on the way back to mom's house, Edward and I took a long drive through the neighborhood to admire the Christmas lights...a great end to the holiday.

Hope you had a great Christmas and happy new year too!

Third time's a charm

2008-12-27T10:45:00.006-05:00

Wow a month since my last post...let's not dwell...
Christmas of 2006 was my first Christmas as a knitter and I made the classic rookie mistake. "I'm gonna knit EVERYONE something!" I started in November--while a full-time grad student with an internship and a full-time job--and I of course failed. Shocking. Then last Christmas, I said, ok, I have full-time school and internship so I need to be realistic. I made real knitted things for the immediate family and closest friends and mini sweater ornaments for the extended family who I spend Christmas with (about 10 people). Success!

Then this year I got smart. I chose to again take the leap and make everyone something they could use to keep warm. Some tricks I used were: knitting random patterns I was curious about throughout the year sans intended recipient and hoarding them, and making stockinette hats in the round (Thank you Last-Minute Knitted Gifts). Seriously, people were amazed by how fast I could knit stockinette in the round--non-continentally, mind you--but you would be able to knit fast too after hat #16. Oh, another trick for those of us who are POOR. I used loads of Patons Classic Worsted Wool. Stocking up when it's on sale, of course. And swtiching up colors and knits & purls made it interesting.

So it was a success! Here is my pile of presents all wrapped up:
YES those are brown lunch bags. Hey, who else do you know who got 50 gift bags for $1.50? Some tacky glittered foam stickers and glitter glue later you have a gift bag. I also made chocolate lollipops (AKA I melted confectioner's chocolate into molds and put a stick in it) and tied them off with some spare lengths of yarn. Tada!

Here are some of my favorite presents:

A hat for my brother, Edward.

Another for TJ, my cousin.

A nose cozy for my dad...yeah he's a little weird.

He asked for it and was ecstatic when he open it.

Another hat for my stepbrother Xander.

My mom saw me knitting the Noro scarf by Jared Flood and said she wanted it. Usually she is half kidding and I brush it off, but since it was Christmas I gave it to her.

She loved it and wore it all day.

And I made this hat for my granddad. Immediately my grandmom was like, Yes! He needs one of those for his bald head! (paraphrased)

And for my bff I made the classic Fetching gloves. Again, I was originally going to keep them for myself but decided I needed to concentrate on Christmas.

So next year I hope to advance my Christmas present content with sweaters and socks...we'll see what happens. I should probably start in March.

For complete coverage of Christmas festivities, see my next post.

I'm smitten...

2008-11-23T19:46:00.004-05:00

...with Craigslist. This is a story of having joy in a simple pleasure, let me warn you.

Ok, background story:

For a few years in the back of my mind I've been wanting a paper shredder. Every few months I'd be in Staples or Office Depot and I'd browse for one. There'd be little boxes of shredded paper in front of each shredder down the aisle, showing what each could do. As the size of the shards of paper in each box got smaller, the price of the accompanying shredder got higher, promising more and more security against those terrible identity thieves. I could never fathom spending $40 to $100 on something that I could do with scissors and lots of patience. Oh, what Americans will pay for out of fear... So for a while I've been sneaking bank statements and old bill notices in to work and stuffing them into the "secure" shred boxes, which would be emptied every month by a shady looking character working for a company that only goes around to hospitals to collect things to shred. They probably don't care that Joe Schmo has bipolar disorder, but I didn't trust them with my social security number and credit card information. Needless to say, I wanted to buy a shredder for my own.

So today while I was at work on a Sunday (long story) a light bulb appeared and I went on craiglist and typed "shredder" into the search column. This was at about 10:30am in Rocville. Two therapy sessions, the Sugarloaf Craft Festival, JoAnn's, and a car and metro ride later at 7:00pm, I was in Dupont Circle motioning to a concierge through a glass door. This is another story in itself. I had tried the door which was locked of course. He motioned to the side where one would hold a key card up to. I motioned, "nevermind" and began texting the seller but he came out anyway to ask what I needed. This is when it became interesting. He asked why I was there. I told him I was buying a shredder from someone who lives in the building; that I had just texted her and she would be coming down shortly. Then he stared at me, as if waiting for me to tell him the truth. What did he want me to say? Oh, I have chinese food takeout menus stuffed into my peacoat. I'm gonna sneak in and put them at every door. I'm doing a drug deal in the basement laundry room. Damn, you caught me. No, instead, I repeated my story a few times more. He continued to look at me as if I were a freakin liar. Then somehow we transitioned to talking about the apartment buliding. Why don't you rent here? he asked. Because I have a lease. Oh, leases...no one does that anymore. During our small talk he seemed to realize that I wasn't there as a criminal, as I stared at the elevator doors inside waiting for a woman to exit with a paper shredder in her hands. Finally a girl appeared with a large Sephora bag and clothing steamer, which I found out later she was selling to someone who had just pulled up.

I was tempted to say, See! see! But I'm not that caddy. He was a nice guy just trying to protect the building and who probably just didn't understand the art of buying on craigslist. As I sat down on a bench in the warm underground metro station waiting for my train I pulled out the shredder to admire it. It shreds paper forwards and backwards and has a letter opener and pencil sharpener as well. A good use of any extra voltage, or whatever it's called (I'm no electrical engineer). I looked at the paper shards that she had left in the teeth and tried to figure out what she had shredded. One looked like a check but the rest looked like text printed in a Word document. Hmm...I wonder what she has to hide.

I put it away then and listened to a violinist play a montage of Christmas songs. It was beautiful and after Silent Night I decided that I wanted to take up the violin again. The last time I held one was in the fourth grade. I played for a few months before my mother decided that I sounded like a dying cat and made me stop. Now I'm an adult. I have money to buy a violin and How to Play the Violin for Dummies. Hmm... Maybe I'll look for one on craigslist.

So the moral of the story...I spent years looking for a brand new shredder and never wanted to dish out the money for it, and then in a few hours I had a one for $10 (originally $40). And what made me really feel good is that I am being green by not buying a new one but taking one off someone else's hands. (almost) Everybody wins.

Sorry that this post had nothing to do with knitting...well almost nothing. I did work on wrist warmers as a Christmas present for my cousin Danielle on the metro ride:
Happy knitting!

Political commentary

2008-10-26T22:12:00.004-04:00

I love the fact that I'm continually amazed by knitting. This weekend I discovered a new technique thanks to Cheryl Niamath and her Fetching pattern.Instead of "put next 7 stitches on a holder and continue knitting the rest of the round" followed by having to cast on, pick-up, and make huge gaps by mistake on following rounds, this pattern calls for knitting 7 stitches with waste yarn, putting them back on the left needle, then knitting the next round as normal. So essentially you are creating live stitches on top of each other. And it looks like the hand-to-thumb transition will be be snug. I'm sure most of you know of this technique since on Ravelry there are 7739 noted projects for this pattern. But if you haven't made them yet, do it! It is a fun little project.

Secondly, I am always astounded by blocking. I tried on this vest I'm in the middle of and it felt like it would most appropriately fit a 10 year old. So I doused it in water and streeeeeeeeetched it out to fit my measurements, and so far it looks like that did the trick!
Lastly, some political commentary, brought to you by Lion Brand who made up these cute patterns, and my sore hands, which have been crocheting for hours.

"My opponent wants to RAISE taxes"

"No, MY opponent wants to raise taxes"

Fight!
I can't wait for November 4 when this will all be over.

Almost famous

2008-10-22T19:03:00.006-04:00

This week I have put my projects on hold in order to make my brother these cashmerino convertible mittens. His birthday was the 21st. He turned the big 2-0.I was knitting them at SSK on Tuesday and Lisa was also knitting fingerless mitts and needed help learning how to do cables. I love teaching people to do cables because it's so easy and I love to see their face when they realize that. Anyway, she was making the Fetchings from knitty.com, which I've been wanting to make for a while. They are one of the most popular patterns from the site. I looked at the pattern and realized that it calls for the same exact yarn I was knitting with and seeing that I had plenty extra at home I decided to make it. It might be a Christmas present, but we'll see. Here is my progress so far:
I got on a roll and stayed up too late.

Unfortunately, though, I've been neglecting my other knitting projects this week. Here is the Estes Vest everyone keeps asking about:All wadded up in a corner of the living room, in the same position for days. No I am not done yet. I just need to finish the second pocket then do the i-cord edging, which I hear takes forever.

And my Tilted Duster:Which has been in three pieces for the past couple of weeks.

And here is my Heidi stitch scarf, all frogged out. Didn't like it much. Used too small of a needle.
But here is the most exciting knitting thing that happened to me this week. I was purusing the knitting books on the way home from knitting night like I sometimes do, hovering because a cute guy was looking at home improvement books right near me, and my eye stopped on this new book:
It's part three of a series (also including One Skein Wonders and Designer One Skein Wonders) There were a few of the shiny new books there, all in a row, like they had been put there that day. I have been waiting for this book for a while. I honestly didn't think that it would come this soon. So why have I been waiting for it? Well I'll answer my own question (my pet peeve). It contains my first contract project, this crochet scarf designed by Amy.It's the brown scarf. It's not that I made that pattern; I made that scarf. As in, my little hands and size E hook manipulated the wonderful Blue Sky Alpacas Royal into a pattern Amy created, and then the scarf was shipped to the publisher who photographed it and printed it in this book. I know, I'm easily amused. Amy always tells me to not be impressed with her fame--the knitting/crochet community is not that big--but still, this is really cool to me.

She gave me a skein of this yarn as payment for my crocheting services, so I can make my own. This is part of the reason why I bought this book, since I forgot how to make the pattern already. I also just love the concept of this book. Being a youngin I can't afford too much of the ultra cher yarn, so when I do buy it I only want to buy one skein, just to try it out. This book is great for that. Yarn experimentation without emptying your bank account.

Go check it out yourself! Happy knitting...

Pick your own

2008-10-18T18:57:00.009-04:00

Today we went apple and veggie picking @ Larriland Farms near Olney/Laytonsville, MD. We had a really fun and exhausting time. On the way in we saw this girl take a tumble on a giant pumpkin and just had to get a shot of it. Cruel, yes.
It was a tid-bit nipply outside. The southern girls were sporting their hoods.
We started on the broccoli. Ever wonder how it grows? Like this:
I stocked up.
There was also spinach, but I passed...
But I was all about dem beets!Ali strangely had enough vegetables. I never thought that was possible.

We headed for the apples. They advertise 18 varieties, but this weekend only like 4 were available. They had some great ones, though. Stayman, Braeburn, Fuji, and Empire.

The staymans were the tallest.

Reach!
She was actually off the ground here.

There was a lot of taste testing. Often followed by the descriptors "tart" or "sweet."
Heidi!Oops I tripped. It's my karma for eating apples I didn't pay for.
We stumbled upon some eggplant. Here's a wee one.
Me and my bff!
And this beauty of a green pepper.
We headed into the market/food/music area and watched this woman carve wood with a chainsaw and torch.
Ahh! I'm stuck under this glass.
And a punkin with some pumpkins. If whenever in the future I have a baby, and I do this, stop me please. It reminds me of Angela on the office when she draped the baby in lettuce. lol. This pumpkin had self-esteem issues.
This pumpkin was all scarred up. I felt bad for it and bought it. It's pretty cool actually.They had the weirdest butters and marmalades in the market. Besides the regular apple, pumpkin, and berry, they had pear, lemonade, and mint apple.
On the way home stopped in a real country store for some grub. I got an awesome pulled pork sandwich.
And back in Silver Spring, the trunk was full of fresh goodies to cook up.
What a great time! There was perfect fall weather and the day was full of great conversation, and old and new friends. Now I'm chillin at home and planning on finishing the Estes vest and perhaps the tilted duster, but don't quote me on that. Wait, err...

Hope your Saturday was fun too!

Progress...and the curse.

2008-10-13T22:19:00.004-04:00

So I am making great progress on my Estes Vest. Here, look:I just have one more front side to do, and then it's finishing time. The pattern fortunately calls for alternating between seaming and edging, which will lessen the bore factor.

And now on a sad note...

Hello my fellow single knitters...I just wanted to share some research I recently completed. It was a mythbusters test on "the curse." Now for women in general, the curse refers to that monthly gift, but to knitters it means something totally different. I believe the saying goes, "never knit your man a sweater until you have the ring." Well, friends, my test confirms this hypothesis. And I didn't even need to knit an entire sweater, just some fingerless gloves. And vamoose. No explanation. But the curse makes sense to me now. Now I'll know for next time.

Still, I swear I should have used Red Heart Super Saver instead of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.

Good luck and happy knitting.

Look what I can do!

2008-10-07T21:22:00.003-04:00

Just checking in...look how much of the Estes Vest I have finished already! This project goes by way fast...

Hello again

2008-10-06T18:31:00.008-04:00

Hi yarnies and muggles,

So I haven't been sharing much about my world with you recently, especially my knitting world. What a coincidence because I am in the middle of a wip-ending-and-beginning phase. I am still gradually working on my ripple afghan and Jeanie shawl (ok, this one not so swiftly. I think it actually has wrinkles now).

But guess what I have (almost) finished?Except that I'm just lazy enough that I don't feel like sewing the sleeves on just yet...

FYI this was my second time around making this and I made an adjustment: I put one extra buttonhole on one side of the collar a few rows after the PU edge to make it come together to a point at the bust how Ms. Gaughan intended.

I am also diligently working on my Oct-TOE-ber socks
and Noro Scarf.And I finally got Heidi to show me how to do the Heidi Stitch. This is what Amy and I call it. Heidi just invented it out of that creative little head of hers. It creates a thick, fluffy fabric, so I decided to use it with this chunky weight Jade Sapphire 100% Mongolian cashmere I was gifted.
But the most exciting thing is my newest project which I will commence knitting tonight.

I waited patiently for my Fall 2008 Interweave Knits to arrive and it never did. So I wrote a polite email to the IK peeps saying, "what's up, yo? I need to get my knit on." In so many words... And I vowed not to browse the patterns on Ravelry either. So I got it last Thursday only a few days after leaving the email. 15 minutes later I was ordering yarn for the Estes vest.

Cause you KNOW I love cables and the yarn that is called for: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky.

The yarn was shipped out Friday and today (Monday) I got this way-stuffed box in the mail.

Drumroll please...Yay! I love this yarn. It is one-ply, pretty soft for wool, and thick, so whatever you make in it will take no time.

Some other things I queued from this issue are the Little Blue Sweater

Dumpling Bag (for a quickie)
and Fresco Fair Isle Mitts
I would note more that I love, but let's face it, do any of us make more than a few things out of one issue? I wish I had the time and money to...

but alas, my Ravelry queue has 269 items!

Beyond life expectancy...yeah...

ok well happy knitting or whatever you do...

Hope it's not another 15 years...

2008-09-15T19:41:00.019-04:00

So I haven't been to the zoo for like 10 or 15 years and have been itching to go, and since Sunday was looking like a great day, Christopher and I decided to head over. First, I went with the roomies
to "Adams Morgan Day," which might have been fun if we weren't totally preoccupied with how hot it was.

Afterwards I headed over to the zoo to meet Chris. Just when I was getting tired walking uphill from the metro and wondering when I would finally get there, I looked up and saw two giant lion sculptures. Oh yeah, it's zoo time...
The pandas were of course adorable. I wanted to cuddle with them, but Chris didn't think it was a good idea. Probably right...
The elephants were anti-climactic
They took my picture and didn't even ask me.Chris said that this monkey looked like it's having a mid-life crisis with this unnaturally looking blond hair.

Weirdest looking animal ever.
Fine don't talk to me.
But his tail was really cool.

A variegated squirrel.
A monkey just chillin like a villain.
A sloth living up to its name.
You can't tell, but these monkeys are tiiiii-ny. The one on the right is probably like 2 lbs.
"What's going on up there?"
So cute.
Mini Meerkat Manor.
Awwww! Can I take you home?
And this was a little creepy. He was staring right at me for a long time. fyi he is laying in this giant hammock.This one kept throwing up and eating his throw up. Gross.
An alligator caught in some elevator doors by the snout.
This figure was titled, "How to eat something that's bigger than your head." If you ever wanted to know.

This frog was really tiny. It was in this giant tank with grass and moss all around, and then these little frogs that were orange or yellow. It looked neat.
And a bright blue frog.

This one took advantage of the water. He ended up going all the way in; the mystery of why domestic cats hate water so much but wild cats like it. I guess it's out of necessity.
This bird was exhibiting attention-seeking behavior.
Some more wildlife. Watch as the homo sapien attempts to work his new camera phone.
A hot dog vending machine...I have no words besides awesome.
Afterwards we went to Tallula. They had really great food and wine. I also loved these stained-glass-ish windows made from wine bottle bottoms.

They had a really efficient way to serve the wine. It would be cool to have this in your house!

So that was my fun Sunday. Hope yours was fun too!

Old, new, and really old...

2008-09-13T23:19:00.010-04:00

Old Business:

here are some pictures from the beach that my dad took that I really liked:
Hanna is messing up my hair.
"And then the wave went like THIS!"
Playing cards on a rainy day.
The sun is back and I really regretted not bringing a bathing suit! The water was perfect. I went in anyway.One of our favorite beach traditions: splitting a giant italian sub from Surf's Up.Then this past weekend I got some neato knitting stuff~

Debbie Bliss the magazine, premier issue. The patterns look so debbie: simple and sophisticated. I love a few of the cabled tops.
Then I got these two Patons booklets that show you how to do different sweater pieces and then combine them however you want. V-neck, crew neck, long sleeves, no sleeves, regular/short body length. I just wish that they had 3/4 length sleeves. I'll prob just try to figure it out on my own. The book on the left is pullovers and on the right cardigans.
And lastly, I'm in LOVE with this Noro scarf. Post Christmas you might see many a loved one of mine in scarves like this.

p.s. I just got a bunch of pics from my dad that he has had forever. If you were ever thinking, "what the hell is she talking about?" when I talked about my Gymkana days, here is a glimpse:

From Maryland Day; I'm the one doing the handstand and Ali is supporting me.

Please, no!

2008-09-11T22:34:00.004-04:00

Here is an email I got from a friend. If you'd like, please read and take action!

Friends, compatriots, fellow-lamenters,

We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since
the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for
the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has
surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce-on the
part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate-that has a
real possibility of becoming fact.

Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms.
Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for
ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is
against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform,
environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of
speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the
librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of
church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack
of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the
planet.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a
mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but
solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for
Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in
the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and
great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so
demonstrably benefited from.

First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not
demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed
that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over
women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.

Therefore, we invite you to reply here with a short, succinct message
about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this
candidate as second-in-command for our nation.

Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of
residence.

We will post your responses on a blog called "Women Against Sarah
Palin," which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please
send us your reply at your earliest convenience-the greater the volume
of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.

Thank you for your time and action.

VIVA!

Sincerely,

Quinn Latimer and Lyra Kilston
New York, NY

**PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY! If you send this to 20 women in the next
hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns
seriously. Stranger things have happened.

Yay Fall 2008 Knitty!!!

2008-09-10T20:54:00.006-04:00

So, yeah, the Fall 2008 Knitty is out and I am SO EXCITED! For those of you who don't know it, Knitty is an online knitting magazine that comes out quarterly. Its readers submit the patterns and pros write articles. All the patterns are hip, practical, functional, and cute. So here are my top 5 faves from this issue:

I'm definitely making Hug, which is just too cute. It's also knit in my favorite yarn, Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky. I already decided at least one person I'm making it for for Christmas, but I'm not telling you who.Then there's Camden, a practical convertible sweater/top. The bobbles are growing on me.I love this sock's texture. They're called Interocking Leaves.
Versatility is another cool pattern. As the name infers, you can maneuver this shawl with its buttons into many different shapes.Then there is the exquisitely knitted Twist & Shout. You KNOW how I love cables. I don't think I'll ever have the guts to make this, though.
Speaking of impossibly complicated knitted coats/jackets, KnitPicks has one too that I absolutely adore. Presenting, the Thick Knit Car Coat.
This is the first knitted coat I've ever seen. Maybe I'll make it someday...

Other patterns from Knitty Fall 2008 that I'm planning on queuing are Slither, Hourglass, and Sidewinder, Maple (sans leaf), and L'illo.

Ahh, knitty, how I love you so...

Hanna can't bring me down...

2008-09-07T22:16:00.009-04:00

So last weekend I went to the beach. Beforehand on Friday, we finally caught this mouse that has been running around Vara's room. It was so little! We let it outside.
Then we headed off to the beach. It was post-Labor-Day so it was really chill there. My grandma has this amazing beach house. I love her style. Very clean and simple.

After an all-you-can-eat brunch where I took a picture of this flower (my dad kept taking pictures of flowers and saying, look what I can do, so I took this one in protest. I really like the pic though)we headed up to the beach to see how Hurricane Hanna was doing.
They just built these giant dunes.It was pretty windy. I cleaned off a film made of salt water spray mixed with mini sand granules from my glasses every 10 minutes.
We were surprised that they still had lifeguards on duty since it was after labor day.
These seagulls were just floating, like statues; no need to flap their wings because the wind was really strong.

Grandma didn't feel like coming down to the water. Isn't she so cute?
Family pic.
We spent the rest of the afternoon inside playing cards and knitting. Well, the knitting was really just me.
I was working on the Broad Street Mittens from Knitty.
Look how many ends I had to weave in! Damn fingers...We played gin rummy. After doing it, Dad regretted picking up this many cards from the discard pile. I think he wtill won that round, though. :-/
For dinner we went to Nantucket's. It was delish. The parking lot was made of broken shells. Only at the beach. It was pretty neat.
The next morning Hanna was visiting our friends in the north, and the skies were left blue as a blueberry. I took advantage of the weather and took some time to knit outside.At this point my camera's battery dies, but my dad took some great pics of me going into the ocean with my clothes on. Sorry, but it was just too nice outside. The water was the perfect temperature and there were plenty of people sunbathing and swimming. I was about to buy a swimsuit at an end-of-summer sale just so I couold swim, but my dad and grandma were like, "just go in with your clothes on." I didn't go all the way in. We also did a little mainstreet window shopping.

On Sunday night when I got home Heidi's friend from school came over to learn how to crochet. We made some pizza and yummy fruity drinks with fruit and basil in it. I decided to strain the bits out of mine, so I put the colander in the sink and just poured it down. :( Then I realized what I had done.

So we just sat and knitted/crocheted. Just the four of us. No tv. It felt a bit like...craftnite...again.

At the beach I went to Sea Needles and finally bought some Noro Kureyon for Jared Flood's Noro Scarf. I'm in love with this scarf!

That's all.

Happy Knitting!

I'm down with NYC

2008-09-03T20:02:00.018-04:00

day zero: traveling

The Bolt Bus was nice, besides the girl in the back who didn't realize that there were OTHER PEOPLE on the bus and would laugh really loud while others were sleeping. Other than that...ok.

Plus, I had my gummy bears... :)

Cabs now have tv's in them, complete with news, Zagats, maps, and cab fare info. You can even pay by credit card. So cool.
We had some really interesting cabbies, though. There was the one that lied about his credit card machine not working, apparently an ongoing political issue there. Then one kept yelling the worst obscenities at other drivers, and another one who almost killed us with his driving. And no, we didn't find the Cash Cab :( But we looked.

day one: shopping

The first thing I had to do when daylight hit was see the view from Meredith's apartment, which is on the Upper East side by the water.

These two kids were rolling down the hill on a skateboard. After a while, the girl just sat at the top, bored.
"what have I gotten myself into with this boy?"
Then after some coffee and entemann's doughnuts, we set off.

There are dogs everywhere in NYC. There are two in this picture if you look hard enough.
We hit the subway to head down to Soho for brunch.Ahhh! I'm falling...
Musicians everywhere. We couldn't figure out what instrument this was. Everytime I took a picture, though, he would start singing.
Cute sculptures.

Soho was soooooo cute.
We went for brunch at Bone Lick Park. For only $13, I had a big breakfast with eggs and bacon and the works, as well as unlimited mimosas. Surprisingly, they filled most of the flute with the champagne.This man was cutting his hamburger with a knife. lol
On the way more south in soho we passed an artistic memorial for Sept 11.I found a Bigelow store! For all of you Bath & Body Works junkies (I worked there for 7 years), you can appreciate it. I used this store countless times in sales pitches to customers. "This line of products comes from a real apothecary store started in the 1800s in new york city. It still exists today." Yeah it still exists...and they not only have Bigelow products, but also real pharmacy products like mylanta and colgate, as well as a prescription counter. It was awesome.

Some vendors sold used books outside on the street.
Welcome to Greenwich village!
We finally found Purl, this super famous knitting store. I ended up buying only two stitch holders.
Here at Vara's favorite jeans store is a table made of jeans compressed into a cyinder, with a big circle of glass on top.
I thought this was funny because this is what I usually doodle on paper: swirls.
We shopped tons. I got some shoes that were like 80% off, a tibetan scarf, and a cute long black jersey dress. We were so tired and sore, so we went home a vegged out for a while.

At night, we went to a restaurant on the rooftop of the Gramercy Park Hotel, not realizing until we got there that drinks cost $20 each. It's ok, we're only young once, right? Plus, they were really good...a lot of depth.
This room was so awesome. From the ceiling hung thousands of small light bulbs, only a few lit.

day two: chillin like a villain

On the second day I began by going to the roof while the sleepyheads slept, to take in the view.

I brought up my knitting.

We ventured out late morning. We noticed this awesome sky-ad, most likely made by plane exhaust or puffs or something. so cool.
We went to a cute little market and got some prepared food for a picnic in central park.

Hi Vara!

Cutest Yorkie ever. This girl looked like a stereotypical young new yorker, complete with a little dog.
I like looking up into the trees.
Ahh, the weekend...
This guy made a point to sit under this awesome tree to read.
A legal pad...so many uses...such as sun blocker.

Ack farmer's tan. That looked like it hurt. It looked way worse in real life than in this picture.
This couple was being cute. After leaning on each other, they switched to laying on each other. :)
Then we left to try to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art before it closed. We passed some artisans. When I asked this guy if I could take a picture of these, he said, "yeah, as long as you don't put me in it."
The ceiling of the Met was amazing.

Gotta check out the jewelry, even if it's from ancient Egypt and not buyable.
a real live mummy, well, not so much "live"
I love sculptures. I call this one, "invisible chair."A few faces.

It looks like he is holding his breath. lol
mm..

To get a sense at how big this is, look at the bottom right corner. That is a placard describing the piece.
I wish my hair looked like this, though not so much made of stone...

Far
Closer
Really close.
Ahh, here's my medium...repurposed goods...
Now from far away.
Then they kicked us out. There were so many visitors, it was like they were herding sheep.

The New York Psychoanalytic Society?!?! yes!!! and my dorkiness emerged...

day three: savoring the final moments

I took alone time at the beginning of the day to go to another yarn store.

On the way I passed another corner market. I love how they do this, it is so convenient. If I lived here, I could make something other than Lean Cuisines :)

Only in New York...He was being pommeled by ten cute-ass dogs. And getting paid for it!
I finally found the Woolgathering. I bought some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for a special gift. :) I talked with the owner for a while and when she found out that I was a social worker, she wanted to give me a present. I was thinking it would be something small, but then she gave me 2 skeins of 100% cashmere!

On the way back I actually saw some cats. I had forgotten about those.
Then we trekked back to DC and I was reminded of one of my fave things about this city: the amazing architecture in the metro stations.
So New York was a success. I tried to never take advantage that I was in THE city; to really appreciate the fact that I was there. It was amazing...

Speedy Gonzales, the maturing sweater knitter

2008-08-24T09:09:00.007-04:00

I used to see sweaters as a huge commitment, as if when perusing through pattern books and magazines and websites all the sweaters had "neverending wip" duplicate stitched right on the front. I'd admire the design and picture myself wearing them and even put them in my Ravelry queue. I'd also fret that I'd spend my whole paycheck on the yarn. So you can understand my surprise, now, when I stepped back and realized how far I've suddenly progressed in my most recent sweater. I had almost banished it to hibernating status when I picked it up again after finishing a whole bunch of wips recently. The sweater is the ever-popuar Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan.

I know what you're thinking my loyal blog readers, didn't you already finish this? Yes, yes I did. I made it last year at the height of its popularity. Here is a very graceful picture of me with the finished product: I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease in this beautiful blue heather. I started the project when I was oblivious to yarn quality. While I have and will use this yarn in the future, it didn't fit this project. I needed to block the stockinette parts flat, which a yarn with 80/20 acrylic/wool just won't do. Plus, I didn't like the drape and I made it one size too big. I ended up giving it to my best friend and it fit her like a glove. There are few people I would give something to that I invested so much time and energy in, and I knew she would treasure it.

So this time I'm using Cascade 220, which I find drapes better. and the stitches are somehow more even. hmm... maybe that has more to do with my increased skill since last year, my increased knitting maturity if you will. (I have only been knitting for a couple of years).

Here are the pieces so far:
So back to my startling realization: I am just flying through this. I thought sweaters were supposed to take forever unless they were knitted with bulky yarn. I'm halfway through the skirt, and then just have to do the collar and sew on the sleeves. I think for the collar I'm going to set the first buttonhole lower so that the points of each front truly come together with no gap. I saw on Ravelry that a lot of people had done that. I could in theory finish it this week.

Another awesome thing about this project is that I think I will actually have some yarn LEFT OVER. I know what you're thinking, big deal. Well for someone who always finds herself scrambling and fidgeting through that last ball to see if it will be enough, and then finding out it isn't and I have to somehow find another to buy in the same color and similar-enough dyelot, it is a big deal! You should have seen me last week at AC Moore. I was on the floor with my almost finished lotus blossom tank and 5 balls of the same color yarn trying to figure out which dyelot matched the best. By the way, after trying many methods including knitting a few stitches with each ball (which I'm sure the employees there would have LOVED) I found a good method for finding a close-to-matching dyelot. I laid a yarn end with then ends of each of the five balls together on a white receipt I found in my purse, and eliminated one at a time until I had the one I wanted. I found that when you take away the most contrasting ones first, you are better able to see the contrast between the ones left. I haven't showed you the lotus blossom tank yet, for two related reasons: I don't like how it turned out (my gauge was off and I don't think I picked the right yarn) and I haven't woven in then ends yet. Right now it is just hanging out in a bag somewhere.

So back to the discussion at hand. When I finish the tilted duster, I will only have two wips left, the Jeanie reversible cable drop-stitch shawl (which IS taking forever) and the ripple afghan.

This weekend I started and finished a trio of cacti from the most recent Crochet Today.I used random leftovers and I think they turned out so cute! Amy had a pattern in this issue too. These wonderful crocheted socks using the new Red Heart sock yarn, Heart & Sole. I watched her make them and made sure the girl ringing me up knew it. Politely :) Coincidentally, I realized later, I bought that new yarn at the same time I bought the magazine. I think I'm going to knit it though instead of crochet it. Sorry, Amy. I really want to see the self-striping-ness! I think Red Heart is realizing their bad reputation because this new yarn is not scratchy acrylic but 70/30 superwash wool/nylon. And softer than some $20 balls of sock yarn. They have another new yarn called Eco Cotton, which I think is 100% organic cotton. I also picked up Patons Bamboo Silk, which is 70/30 (duh) bamboo and silk. It is so soft! I think I'm going to make a lacy scarf with it.

So that's how my knitting is this week. Heidi and I are off to the Takoma Farmer's Market, and then I plan to take my last dip in the pool for the summer (I'm going to NYC next weekend). I finished the Friday Night Knitting Club this morning so I'm off to start my next book: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle Eastern Conflict. I want to be able to truly understand what is going on over there. Tonight I'm going to Wolftrap, which looks like it's going to be an amazing time. I'll keep you posted on the sweater.

Sunday with the girls...

2008-08-17T22:30:00.005-04:00

Today we went to the Eastern Market. It was my first time going there and Heidi was showing us the ropes. Thanks to her for all of these photos.

I got a pair of earrings, a wooden block pendant, a bag of veggies, and a peach. We stopped at a Mexican/Salvadorian eatery. I got a chicken empanada. It was ok; very homemade-tasting, which I liked. Then we went to this awesome bookstore that the fire marshall should never come into. It used to be a tiny row house, no more than 12 or 15 feet wide, including staircases. They had books EVERYWHERE. Stacked from floor to ceiling in the front window, completely covering it. Four-foot stacks on each stairstep. In the door-less closets and kitchen cupboards. Even in the bathroom which they made public, they have books; there is a sign on the door that says something like, "when you are finished using the bathroom, please leave door open." They also had these great signs on simple index cards describing what was there. I bought a tiny book of Buddha's teachings for $2. At the end we took advantage of the free books table outside. We of course had to stop by the neighborhood's yarn store, Stitch DC. It was a great day. We were so tired by the end!

Stash and Burn....ing Yarn

2008-08-16T09:29:00.005-04:00

Hi! I'm back! I'm really progressing on my wips. I finished the socks for Amy (I'll get them to you soon!). It's from Sensational Knitted Socks and is made from Neighborhood Fiber Company yarn. Amy is friends with Karida Collins, the owner, who makes a colorway for each neighborhood in DC. I think it'll be nice for Amy to have something knitted from a DC friend in a DC yarn :-).I'm also making amazing progress on Interweave's Lotus Blossom tank. But the blossoms look like aliens to me, thanks to comments made on the Stash & Burn podcast! Grr. I can't get that viewpoint out of my head now. I still love you guys. ;-)
Yesterday and today I played around with this leftover small ball of thick&thin yarn that I got from the craft exchange at the Crafty Bastards fair. I really like how the garter stitch on size 10 1/2 needles turned out.
I think what I will do is just add on more to this scarf with yarn from leftover projects. I started with plain worsted weight yarn so the edge wouldn't be thick& thin. It will also be cool to have around when someone visiting wants to learn to knit, an idea I heard about in Weekend Knitting.

I was really interested in seeing the content of the yarn, even though I was pretty sure it was only crappy acrylic. My naive idealism took over and I did a test I learned from a worker at Woolwinders: burn it! Apparently, acrylic will melt and smell like burnt plastic, and wool will not even catch on fire since it's fire resistent and will smell like wet dog (I wonder what different proportions of wool blend would do). Well here are the results:
Totally acrylic!

How about this segue...I lit the yarn with matches that I got from DC Coast. We got dolled up and went last night for restaurant week. We got an appetizer, main course, and dessert for only $35.08 each (though with wine, tax, and tip it ended up a lot more, but so worth it!). I got the Warm Balsamic Shrimp with wilted spinach, roasted peppers, and garlic toast as my appetizer. My main course was that night's special: Tilapia with garlic mashed potatoes and escargot. I really wanted to try a new fish, since I've only ever had salmon, canned tuna, and whatever whitefish is breaded and frozen into fish sticks. It was awesome. It was my second time having escargot. Last time was at a french restaurant in Georgetown and it was doused in garlic, which wasn't horrible. I actually liked it. But here I could taste the escargot more and it was really good! For dessert I got Creme Brulee, which is something I've been craving for a while. I don't love it, but it makes me feel so worldly eating it, and it was made well, with a slight almond flavor.

Also yesterday Wrap Style, which had been on sale for $5 on the website. I had given up on getting it, since I ordered it like a month ago and it seems like they didn't charge me. It was a nice surprise.

Well this weekend I am off to meet mom for lunch, get another ball of sugar n cream cotton for my alien...err lotus blossom tank, trying desperately to find a colorway that comes close. I swear next time I buy yarn for a project, no matter how exactly I calculate and buffer how much yarn I need, I will buy another extra ball. I hate running out of yarn!!

Happy knitting!

Virtual wool

2008-07-31T20:47:00.004-04:00

I was listening to NPR the other day and heard a story about yarn. They gave us that "tease" at the beginning of the hour, and I had to listen through business and money related stories on gasoline prices, food prices, mortgage prices, and the stock market...and then finally, the piece on what's really important...yarn. If you want to listen (or read), here it is:

YARN

They consider several causes. First, that knitting is going out of fashion. What? I don't THINK so. Just look at Ravelry. I'm not going to even entertain this notion. Yes, the trend began rising in 2001 after you-know-what and peaked in 2005 (maybe because of Katrina and the charity mentality aftermath?) So every trend waxes and wanes. I think knitting is on a slow and steady rise.

Second, more knitters are going to the Internet. Umm, yeah I can see this. It's easier, saves gas, there are mad sales, there's more stock at your fingertips, and then you forget that it's coming and you have a little gift one day all of a sudden in the mail.

The downsides? You don't get it right away. I used to go to Knit and Stitch = Bliss a lot and would always see afellow shoppers at the nearby Starbucks minutes later, often starting new projects. Second, you can't feel the yarn, which is SOO important to me. I've heard it's a good idea to put it on your cheek to see if it will make a nice fuzzy non-itchy scarf. On the other hand, if you already know that you love the yarn and/or brand, you'll know you are getting a good yarn even if the picture doesn't make it look appealing (sorry, knitpicks, but I don't think your pics are good representations of your quality yarn. I bought some based only on your good reputation and love it).

I also think a disadvantage is not having the helpful staff there to answer questions. So many new knitters depend on them to help them learn what yarn is all about. I unfortunately didn't have a good experience on my first LYS. I'm not here to name names because it's been said that there is a certain compatibility between knitter and yarn store (which is a little exclusive I think), but others have described that they felt as if they were "intruding on a private party" which described my feeling aptly. In the recent past, however, I found an LYS (A Tangled Skein). The new knitter loves the yarn store because it's a haven where questions can be answered and a place where muggles (thank you SPM) don't look at you funny when you yell at a half-made sock and throw it across the room/metro car.

I think the ease and accessibility of the Internet is a major reason why people turn to it for yarn. One of the business strategies is to have an online yarn store as well as a brick-and-mortar store. They interviewed Jimmy Beans Wool. Webs also comes to mind.

But I think that yarn stores aren't becoming as sparse as the story stated. As long as they have a good business plan that puts its customers and future customers first, and listens to their needs, then they will be in high demand. But I'm not a businesswoman, just a lowly knitter.

Yoga Mat & Strap Bag

2008-07-27T11:55:00.004-04:00

So my best friend Ali asked for a yoga mat for her birthday (which is today). I of course, needed to find something to make to go along with it. I had some simple ideas for the bag, including a scrapped idea for the "om" symbol/word in purl bumps. What I was really stumped on was how to make the strap. All of the straps I have made for purses, etc. have been too stretchy. Then this lightbulb appeared over my head. Yoga uses a strap. Hmm... And you know how I love reusing. So presenting, the Yoga Mat & Strap Bag.
It uses your yoga strap as the bag strap, but not permanently, so you can take it off as needed and use it.

I also am writing this pattern to help those novice knitters who want to dabble in the make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach. It's not scary, I swear!

Materials I used:

2 entire balls Sugar n Cream, one solid and one variegated.
1/4 of another SnC ball
2 D-rings that fit the width. I used 1.5" ones, but if I make another, I'll choose 2" ones to be more accommodating for the strap.
Size 7 Circular needles at least as long at the width of the bag (I combined lengths of denise needles)
Size 7 DPN's
Yarn Needle

Gauge doesn't really matter since you will be customizing it, but mine was: 17.5 sts and 25 rows: 4" in stst

Body:
CO the width of your mat. You cannot just rely on the length of the cast-on since the stitched are slanted, and then straighten out and become wider after the first row, so you will have to work a few rows to find out the actual width. This is the guess-and-check portion. I casted on 110.
Knit is stst until the length of the piece matches the circumference. Add a few rows if you want it looser. Make sure to slip the first stitch of every row (put it on the working needle without knitting it). This will help you later.

I switched between solid and variegated every two rows, but you can do whatever! Experiment!

Then bind-off loosely and seam the cast-on edge to the bind-off edge. You can either do it using the Invisible Seam (thank you Anne Modesitt), or a three-needle bind-off (see the video at the bottom of this KnittingHelp page)

Now you have a tube!

The bottom will be a hat decrease.
Pick up stitches on the edge using the dpn's (tip: if one of your side edges is tighter than the other, use that for the bottom, since you won't have to try to stuff the yoga mat through it). Anyway, I picked up 40 sts. Make sure you pick a number to pick up that can easily be divided into a number between 5 and 8. Knit the first round. On the next round, decrease every * stitch. For example, if you picked up 40 stiches, you would decrease every 8th stitch by knitting the 7th and 8th stitches together.
Decrease every other round until you have less than 10 stitches left. Break the yarn, thread it through the yarn needle, and slip it into these last stitches. Pull tight and knot, and then weave in the ends. While you have the needle out, you might as well weave in the other ends. I usually find that if I set that needle down, I will never weave ini those damn ends.
Ok, so for the top, you will pick up the same number of stitches you did for the bottom. Knit for two rounds, then make little eyelet holes evenly spaced out. I did a hole every 5th stitch like so:
Knit 3, yarn over, K2tog. And repeat until you are at the end. By number was divisible by 5, so make sure you pick an easily divisible number. Then knit three more rows and bind off LOOSELY. You will after all be stuffing the may through here.

For the drawstring I just braided three strands of the same yarn and then wove them through the eyelets.

Attaching of the D-rings:
simply whip stitch them more securely than you think it needs (it will stretch when you sling the bag on your shoulder) on the top and bottom of the bag. See last two pictures. I would do more whip stitches than I've done in this picture, though. Weave in ends.

Then thread your yoga strap in and tighten. You're set!

Proud to be an american...sort of

2008-07-18T18:21:00.009-04:00

Well, last Saturday was a typical American afternoon. Going to several large chain stores in shopping centers in the suburbs--going in just to do something--and coming home with several large (plastic) bags full of crap I don't need, and spending money I shouldn't have spent. Hey, at least it wasn't put on credit cards. But on the other hand, the stuff I bought was so cool! When I went to Micheal's, I was immediately immersed in an end display of merchandise brought to us by the publishers of Generation T. If you haven't realized the wonders that are this book, I will tell you know now. It centers around just about my favorite craft at the moment: repurposing. T-shirts is what this book is focused on. I have 2 other books about this, but I like that this book doesn't just "give you a fish." It teaches you how to redesign t-shirts by offering a design suggestion and then alternatives so that you can really get into the mindset of creating your own masterpieces. Plus, it stresses our need to reuse, and it offers more than just skimpy shirts, but also stuff for guys and accessories too. Yes, some of the designs are simply turning t-shirts into their former being--jersey fabric--that you can creatively sew into anything you want if you are inclined in sewing clothing on the fly (see Heidi). I tend to gravitate more to the designs that take advantage of the fact that it is in a t-shirt shape already. Anyway, regardless, I love this book.
I picked up some decals and stuff that are meant to be used in this process. The pack in the lower left has a "running with scissors" patch that I thought my brother would like, and the other packs have recycling-themed patches and iron-ons. And you know that after I had all of these in hand, I was at the mercy of American retail. I just "had" to get the book. No, but seriously people, I am the worst at being swayed by advertisements. I have literally watched a commercial on tv at home, seen a product I like, and then have gotten up and left the house after the commercial ended to buy it. And this is why it took 2 days for me to move my American shitload of crap to another apartment in the same complex. Grr... I now have Niecy Nash in my head (from Clean House) while I'm shopping, asking me if I "really need that." I think this is why I was such a good salesperson at Bath and Body Works; because I really believed that everyone needed 16 lotions because they "are only $5!!" Ok, sorry. Just had to vent.

So here are my creations:

a wrap shirt that uses the former front as the back

a bias-cut
a tie-back

a scoop neck
and this one that fit really well except for that it was too short, so I plan on sewing this failed bottom piece of a shirt on to the bottom. Haven't gotten around to sewing it yet.

I also have been collecting/hoarding bottle caps since we moved in. Yeah, ok, we drink a lot of beer. Hey, we also had a party with lots of guys who could hold their alcohol. I don't know what I'm going to make with them yet, of course.

I also picked up cupcake liners in three sizes and pipe cleaners at Michael's to try my hand at some flowers.

I think it turned out ok. I will probably now bury the supplies in my craft boxes and find them in a year and say, "Oh yeah. I remember impulsively buying this a year ago."

So it's now the weekend again and I can't decide whether to craft, read, or clean...

I will now go to do one of those things.

Happy crafting!

Reinforcing the hoarding behavior...

2008-07-09T21:46:00.007-04:00

Hi! So this week has been a low-key crafting week. Some old business: I looked on the wall and realized that I hadn't shared this project with you yet. I had been inspired by a wallpaper I saw online of these abstract queen anne's lace. I had one of those moments where old craft supplies that you have been saving for the right project and new craft supplies that you should throw away but can't come together in a craftravaganza. I was painting the walls of our apartment and had some extra paint left over. Then I looked over at two stretched canvases I'd been hoarding. After painting the background and flower stems monochromatically, I put on contrasting buttons for the buds with a hot glue gun. I think it turned out great! I made two and put them on either side of a doorway.So back to this week. Yesterday I went to American Apparel with my new income and bought this skirt I wanted to buy many weeks ago when I was poor. I got a two for one: the actual skirt, and the skirt as a pattern. I plan to lay it across some fabric (at a bias of course since there is no hem) and cut & sew away! I'm still trying to figure out the elastic waist. Maybe I'll do a drawstring instead.
This week I've also been working on Elisa's Nest Tote by the purl bee by doing the attached i-cord straps,
those socks for Amy (she wants knitted socks but doesn't want to knit them),
and a baby kimono from this Lion Brand crochet kit I got on sale for only $8 from Border's. Granted, it included less-than-desirable yarn and 5 plastic crochet hooks, but also 50 project cards of varying degrees of difficulty.
I had another "aha! my hoarding paid off!!" moment today when I found this clipboard at work that was covered in teenage-boy permanent marker graffiti. The back was even worse, with one of my kids' names plastered all over. I thought I'd modge-podge it, and then remembered these silver stickers I've been hoarding. They are from by Bath&BodyWorks days. We had used them to seal this one brand's shopping bags, but my boss who was trash-happy decided we didn't need them anymore, so I of course swiped them before they were chucked since I can't see perfectly good raw found objects just be wasted.I did a straight-across design on the front

Layered to hide the spaces.
And concentric circles on the back, layered like crackers on a cheese plate.
I also layered them double to eliminate the spaces.Then I just trimmed the edges off.
Piece o' cake!

I might mo-po it since the surface might not be good for writing, but we'll see. I was also thinking about a duct tape border since it's silver too.

Man my hands look just like my mom's here.

Happy crafting!

...auf wiedersehen, goonight

2008-07-05T12:58:00.009-04:00

On Wednesday we went for our last craftnite. Amy's house was gutted and the contents en route to Alaska, so we were at her neighbor's house. It was beautiful. Just my style. Lived in, yet colorful. Diverse furniture. There were lots of places to sit, which was inviting. Full of interesting things. Lots of love.

Selma treated us to some piano and Jay was just cute as a button as we all took turns trying to get him to stay in bed.
We snacked on tartlets and chocolate covered cheesecake bites.We ended the craftnite tradition how we began it: with a truly green craft. After days and days of packing boxes, Amy had tons of empty packing tape tubes. She thought it'd be cool to make a holder for her drop spindle.

Step 1: Measure to see how tall you want it. You can use it to store anything really--knitting needles, crochet hooks, writing/drawing stuff, etc.Step 2: Tape rolls together with packing tape
Step 3: The bottom. We cut a piece of corrugated cardboard into a circle and taped it.
Step 4: For the lid, Heidi and I were on the same page: she cut one of the rolls widthwise
and then inserted a little strip of cardboard into the opening.

This made a roll that was just wide enough for a lid.
Then they taped another cardboard circle onto this top, just as they did for the bottom.
In the meantime I was trying to make a thick disk for the top by cutting another tape roll into strips lengthwise, stripping the layers to make it thinner, and then spiraling them. I sort of gave up, but came out with this cute puck-looking thing that Amy ended up attaching to the lid, maybe as a handle to help take the top off?

What else than roving to put at the bottom to protect the end of the drop spindle?

Then we spent the rest of the night just knitting/crocheting, talking/gossiping.
We do plan on continuing craftnite at our place, but maybe on Sundays instead of in the middle of the week. We'll have to see...

We will still definitely be missing Amy's presence.

So long, farewell...

2008-07-05T11:25:00.008-04:00

So last Tuesday was a special day at SSK. It was Amy's last day. I arrived late because I was working on something that I haven't told you bloggers about yet, since Amy is probably my most avid reader. I contacted the SSK gals via Ravelry with an idea to make a rememberence blanket for Amy as a going-away present, to show her how much we'll miss her and how much she has brought to our group: teacher, fellow yarn fondler, resident famous designer who we can brag about, and most of all, friend.

I had given few directions: worsted weight yarn and 12" x 12". The maker could choose whether it was knitted or crocheted, the color(s) and yarn cuontent, whether it was lace, fair isle, intarsia, granny square, whatever. Some were stumpted as to what they should do. My only suggestion was, "make something she'll remember you by." From the end of May until the end of June, SSK members got the squares in secret. Some met me in front of the Giant in my apartment complex, pulling up to the curb and giving me a secret package (which looked like a drug deal a bit). Others sent me them in the mail, and--my favorite because it was the most sneaky--most snuck their warm and beautiful squares into my bag on Tuesday nights with Amy sitting right there. At the beginning of knit night we are all walking around the tall table, settling in, eating, and seeing what each other has been working on since last week. The knitter/crocheter would say, "hey Emily," give me the look of I have my you-know-what for you-know-who's blanket, to which my response would be the look of, come over and slip it in my bag while Amy is up there getting her food, and the drop would happen. I accumulated in my room a pile of diverse squares, which the cat seemed to enjoy playing with. And I, of course, procrastinated until he very end in assembling the blanket.

I spent last week and weekend crocheting a white border on each square, trying to make exactly 45 SC's on each side with a corner of 3 SC's. I'd mark each corner with a removable stitch marker, and then a piece of waste yarn when I ran out. I finished the squares Sunday night, and then began putting them together on Monday. I thought I'd never finish! I attached the last stitch as I fell asleep, then Tuesday after work I finished up by doing a border and weaving in ends.

Then Heidi and I headed off to knit night to present it.

It was a great night full of friends,

Some who don't stop by that often.
Hint!
Hint!

I had also made an amigurumi doll which I like to call Amy-gurumi. In my psychodynamics class (i.e. Freud & less extreme stuff), we learned that a transitional object can be used to help a client cope with termination of therapy. So I made this:

as a gift to the group. She will come to group and represent Amy.

I presented it after the blanket.

It was such a fun night.

Crafters unite!

2008-07-01T22:56:00.006-04:00

So this past weekend was the Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring.
Here are some pictures I took of some of the handmade crafts, before the artisan from the second pic's booth politely asked me to stop taking pictures.
Art School Dropout had some cool plastic-chic pendants.
And Alitas makes awesome jewelry out of hardware, all twisted and chained together. So cool.

They had bookmaking and t-shirt silk screening workshops. It was also cool to see that this place is a giant working art studio.
Some functional art.
I stopped for some refreshment. It was HOT outside. I had Carmen's mango italian ice.
I saw so many vendors and was very impressed by all of their creativity. I didn't take any more pictures out of respect, but here are some of my favorites, with links so you can discover them too.

The first purchase I made was at Biggs and Featherbelle, whom I greatly respect, since they have done what I tried and failed to do. They make 100% natural body products that are good. I first discovered them last summer when they were giving away samples at Whole Foods. I ended up buying a mint lip balm and lavender face&body soap. I also love that they are reasonably priced.

There was a lot of great jewelry.

Ashley Pickin of Normal is Boring makes earrings, pendants, bracelets, etc. from used balloons! How green. You go girl! I told her that my mom is a clown and then she shared, "yeah, I'm a children's entertainer too." Makes sense...

Check out Realm for some very creatively combined jewelry using many different elements.

Liz Mathews has some beeeeautiful pendants made with a combination of stones and silver.

I lovvvved Dandelion Blu's ceramic pendants.

And we all went gaga over the Broken Plate Pendant Company.
Beth Pohlman bends metal into very feminine designs. Right up my alley.

Imogene has some beautiful metal cutout jewelry.

Now here's a medium you wouldn't normally guess as apt for jewelry: paper. I beelined into the back of Bright Lights Little City, past the beautiful paper lampshades, to her origami stars. I got little star earrings and a kit to make a necklace.

Onto other goods.

I loved the simplicity and the fabric patterns of Mogo.

I nabbed a shawl at red prairie press, made of jersey with flowers printed on either end. Heidi got 2 tops too.

Inside and upstairs, we were amazed by Closed Caption Comics and Molly Colleen O'Connell's drawing (and printing, and folding) abilities.

I also spent some time at Pistol, Rebound Designs, My Favorite Mirror, the Weekend Store, Kari Minnick Art Glass Studio, Block Party Press, The Devil Made Me Do It, Spooky Daddy, Loyalty and Blood, This Chickadee Loves You, and Rar Rar Press (where I bought a pin that says, "I'm a craft mother fucker."

After all that, a rain storm, and a quick stop at Plaza Art Store, Vara and I were pooped and moseyed on home to relax in the a/c and pool, respectively. I took time to pull out my goodies first and take a picture.

They gave us this bag that I plan to embroider colorfully.
And you can see my star necklace kit, jersey shawl, soap and lip balm on the left. Next to those are two ceramic pieces that I bought for a steal from the chick who also makes the balloon remnant jewelry. And the best deal of all? All that yarn and other miscellaneous craft stuff is from the craft mutiny swap. I paid only $5 or a lunch bag full of whatever they had out. I got lots of cotton yarn, some ribbon, and beads.

On the bottom is the kajillion business cards I got.

It was a really fun day, and 'm looking forward to the crafty bastards event that is happening in Adams Morgan in September. It is supposedly gigantic.

Happy crafting!

Daaaaaa da dada, daaa da dada

2008-06-23T19:42:00.018-04:00

So I went to a wedding. My first peer wedding. I know most of you have had lots of experience in this, so think back to the day that you went to your first; when you first realized that you were growing up. This current feeling is of course combined with the fact that I also have a new job--a real job.

So back to the wedding. I tried to forget my plight and enjoy it, and subsequently had a blast. It was in the Ronald Reagan Building in D.C., which was really convenient or us metro riders/drinkers.

Before the ceremony:
Orchids...ces sont tres chere...et belles. They reused the room--and the floral arrangements--for the reception. Genius.

The happy groom
The march of the bridal party:

This is Angela's sister, who really has grown up since I last saw her in 2000!
And Sara, a good friend from high school.
"ok, here's what you do. pick up some petals, then just chuck 'em"

Then the beautiful bride. If the picture is blurry, it is because I was tearing up.
He gave a synopsis of how they met and everything. It was great. The ring exchange
You may kiss the bride!
And then the reception began. We waited for them to set it up while having hors d'oeuvres and Matt&Angelatini's.
The table assignments were given on these little chairs, filled with Kisses.
The beautiful cake
And the newlyweds with me. I felt bad because they probably had to pose a trillion times that day.
The room had metamorphasized from the ceremony into the reception by little elves.
My chair place-holder.
One of the reused arrangements.
"I know, let's get the same purse, but in different colors!"Not to be mean, they're probably nice girls.

At their table for two.
The groom's cake. All edible pictures, even the top.Our table (from the right): Sara, Reza (her bro, like an older bro to us too), the hole where I sat, Ali (my bff), Anna (who I hadn't seen in 12 years...we picked up where we let off), Dan (another HS friend), and Jackie (his friend).
Ang switched to jellies! So cute, and reminded me of middle school when she and I were in the creek and I lost one of my jelly shoes in the mud.
The back of her dress was just beautiul.

Cutting the cake. They didn't mess up each other's faces. What a disappointment.About to take the dive.

almost...Got it!
Followed by drunken dancing by all.
The party favor was make-your-own candy goody bags. All the candy was in the wedding's colors: green, lt pink, and dk pink.

It was a really fun night.

I'm in love

2008-06-23T18:50:00.008-04:00

So the new Knitty came out (like last week) and I love it! As I was sitting at work waiting to figure out something to do (I'm new) I made a list of what I definitely will make, and what I'd like to make but probably never will.

I love the ziggy socks (b/c I love kureyon)

eloping (b/c I love making things that are fast and that are pretty...and this is both)

(p.s. i know i don't need a garter belt b/c I'm not getting married, but just leave me alone)

and byob (bring your own bag). (i'm into the reusable bag thing)

I'd love to make but most likely won't get to:

Gigi

Helena

and Seascape
Like I have any time right now to make any of these. Once I get everything in order...I will return to you, beloved Knitty.

Crazniess

2008-06-18T18:38:00.006-04:00

So the week has been pretty crazy since my last post. I started my new job on the boys adolescent rtc unit at Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health, and I feel like all of my attention is on this new position. It is my first job as a social worker, and I am learning a lot about what it means to be one in this setting. There is a lot of coordinating with other agencies; something you pretty much only learn with experience. It doesn't help that the unit is short-staffed. One of the intake social workers, who has been filling in as a social worker on my unit, has been giving me an unofficial orientation. She is keeping me sane. Anyway, I try to leave work stuff at work, so let's talk about knitting! My newfound roommate and job situations have left me out of the house a lot and busy doing all kinds of stuff on the weekdays and weekends, so I haven't had much time to just sit and knit, apart from knit night and craftnite.

I just updated Ravelry and I have 11 wips! Here they are:

3 tops(tilted duster part 2)(Heidi's raglan top. This is what I will now call it since she has made like 10 of them)(lotus blossom tank)

2 bags

(market bag)(amy's mini messenger bag)

2 socks
(for amy)
(my first tofutsies!)

1 shawl

(jeanie; taking forever, borderline hibernating)

1 blanket
(coma tv project)

1 baby hat
(for my new friend who is preggers)

and one access card holder.
(improvised by necessity)

I don't know where to even start explaining about these. I'm overwhelmed right now in many areas of my life, and like a bad social worker, I don't wanna talk about it (if talk to me outside of the blog, you know. If not, don't worry it's not that bad; I'm just sick of talking about it). Maybe if I finish some of these projects (and clean my room), I will feel more in control. They really are almost finished. Maybe I'll knock some out this weekend. Just sit at home on the couch with a couple movies; coffee, tea, or beer, depending on the time of day; these wips; and my roommates and/or the cat. Sounds lovely.

MIA

2008-06-12T22:07:00.007-04:00

Last week we missed craftnite because Amy was packing for TNNA, Heidi had class, and I...well, I don't remember what I was up to. My camera was MIA in Amy's house, and although I could have gotten it anytime, I waited until going to her house yesterday for craftnite to get it. HENCE, no post since May 31st, because I am a hardcore right-brainer and build my posts around the pictures I take, usually.

After munching on Lemonade popsicles on the porch with Selma, the night began with Amy saying, "Oh, did you see the suitcase of yarn in the living room?"

me: "NO" She knows I am not only in awe by lots of pretty yarn, but also by lots of free yarn. Since Amy the designer has several yarn companies as clients, she often gets free yarn to experiment with. I think this batch was probably one of the biggest. So without further ado, here it is, the giant suitcase of free pretty yarn:

Dun...
Dun...
Dun...

DUN-DUN!Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun....

you get the idea. My fave is the Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky. I love how soft it is and that they can get a one-ply (my preferred) to be so thick!

But we weren't there to simply drool over yarn. The craft of the night was making t-shirts for WWKIP, also known as World Wide Knit in Public Day. This day is on Saturday, June 14, 2008; but I claim that every day is knit-in-public day.

Selma and Marley were ready:
We joined them in the planning steps.Amy chose the stencil and fabric spraypaint method.
I chose the free-hand fabric pen method:
But I dabbled with the spray paint sa per Amy's suggestion, not always staying in the lines. Oops; at least she's moving soon!
Tanya also tried both methods, getting much spray paint on her own fingers.
The night was nice. It will be one of the last of its kind, unfortunately.

The new knitty came out (summer 2008), but I haven't had time to skim it yet really. I started work this week and am already overwhelmed. I guess what they say about social workers getting burnt out it true...ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaa....ok not funny anymore.

My next post will hopefully feature a knitty summer 2008 pattern discussion as well as what is on my needles right now.

In the meantime, happy knitting!

I'm baaaaaaaaack

2008-05-31T21:36:00.010-04:00

Ok, so I've been away for a while and have felt really guilty about not posting recently, like you guys are on the edge of your seats or something. Well, I've been busy doing a lot of moving and unpacking, and not a lot of knitting or computering. My OCD is urging me to document my time spent since I last posted on the 18th with as much detail as I usually post, but my sanity might win this one. Here is my week in pictures and brief commentary.

I packed for a week
whilst attending the usual knitting group and craftnite,and spent time at the House of Houck helping Amy organize pre-move to Alaska(whilst doing yoga. Apparently, I do forward fold without thinking about it).Amy got an arm tattoo. SIKE! It's a tattoo sleeve.

I saw this bumper sticker and thought, "oh, yarn over" Alas, it was actually Youngstown, Ohio. poopie.
Then Friday night before the move we had a painting party. Wasn't a whole lot of fun at the end, but we got it done. It literally took 2 hours to get the paint mixed at the hardware store. They do it by hand at this one. Next time I'll go to Home Depot.

Heidi had the good idea to paint a chair rail by putting tape one yard stick's length up the wall. Then you paint one color below the tape and one above. You'll have a white stripe in between where the paint lay. I copied but with thicker tape.
Tommy stopped by.
Vara was a virgin wall painter. She did a really good job.
Lilac and chocolate. In the wrong light, it looks like neapolitan ice cream.We were re-energized by pizza late into the night.
So the whole next day was spent moving, which was a bitch, and I also had no time for or access to picture-taking. I'm actually trying to block the day from my memory. I swear I'm gonna sell a bunch of shit before moving again.

That night we drank it up. First at this thai place in downtown silver spring. I had never had thai before. it was delish. We thought this'd make a good pic.

Then we stopped by the Q-H. It was me, Heidi, her awesomely fun friends Sean and Kelsey, who are also artsy peeps,
and Tommy and his friend Dan. Then the following week was spent unpacking (which I'm still doing), going towhere I bought these cookies for craft nite, among (lots of) other stuff, going to knitting and craftnite
and going to my new work for a physical. Oh did I mention that I got a job? It's at a residential treatment center in Rockville, MD, working on an adolescent boys unit; I'll do family, individual, and group therapy, assessments, and other social-worky things.

The rest of the week I schmucked around unpacking and finally knitting again. Today we did a mall trip and then decided to go get a manicure and pedicure. We found an inexpensive place that is right across the street. They were really good. They scrubbed our feet
and it tickled a little.

My lady was really funny. She spoke no english and I think she had never used a digital camera because she picked mine up off the counter and made a face that was a combination of awe and confusion. She decided to try to take a picture.This is her.
The other girls got their eyebrows waxed too. Ouch. I need to do mine too soon. This pic was followed by "I can't believe you're taking a pic of this."
We came home and made sangria
and a scrumptious dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach; all from scratch.
And that brings us to right now. (When I was a kid my mom would tell me the story of what we did that day as a bedtime story. She would always end with, "and that brings us to right now" or something like that, and I would always giggle).

Right now we are sitting eating cookies and watching Something About Mary. I'm blogging, Heidi's crocheting, and Vara is relaxing from a long day of mall walking and stuff. Now I'm off to shut down my comp and knit.

Bonne nuit!