Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I think I need to knit this before the next election.

usamap

I am thinking that I will make each state a shade of grey. Then I will knit each states as a separate piece. But I will knit each state twice, once in red and once in blue.

Winter Bloom

Winter Bloom

Malbrigo winner

First I have to say I thought a few more of you would submit a story for me. Ruth, I am looking at you.
`
I was excepting a zombie story. Or may a story about a story about giant invisible moths. Or an alien abduction, with aliens who are trying to learn to knit. Well, there will be other contests.

While I had 3 good choice, it was Enid’s post that really made me laugh out. I think it was that is was relevant to SnB. Unfortunately we haven’t see you in awhile, so you don’t know that we don’t really see the Korean Bible study group that much anymore. We are now in a show down with a bunch of evil staring chess players.

Congratulations Enid. Please email me at smittenwknitting@gmail.com with you shipping address.

The good news is that the scarf is out of the freezer. I think I can save most of it. It may have to become a cowl. We’ll see.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Malabrigo conest

Just a reminder that the contest for a ball of Malabrigo ends on Sunday. Leave a comment on this post - http://smittenwknittin.blogspot.com/2010/11/malabrigo-mystery.html.

I look forward to hearing some more good stories!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Yarn Tree

I went to Macy’s about a week ago and saw the coolest Christmas decoration. A yarn tree:

Yarn Tree

Here is a close up shot:

Yarn Tree Close Up

It is a wire tree frame that is wrapped in yarn and has balls of yarn tied to it. How cool is that! I totally want to make one! Can you imagine it all in green yarns with some green Christmas lights on it (not sure if that would be a fire hazard) and some silver balls? I am not sure what to look for though for the frame though. I googled “wire tree,” “wire tree frame,” “wire cone,” “wire cone tree form” and lots of other combinations of those words. This is one of those things where if I lived someplace where I had lots of room, I would try to build it myself (I did some sculptures in college made out of steel wire, so I know how to braze), but where would I do that and store it in the mean time. Any ideas?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Malabrigo Mystery

I am still having issues figuring out what happened to my beloved scarf. One theory I have is that perhaps the scarf got caught in one of the toggles on my coat. Between that and the rain and wind, something happened. But my issue with that is that I think that would make a rip, not a hole. And not so many holes. I still don’t think it’s the the the “M” word, but it is currently hanging out in my freezer just in case.

So here is my challenge to you dear readers. Come up with a theory or story for me on how you think it happened. Something to either educate or amuse me. Leave your idea in the comments. I will pick a winner one week from today – December 6. The winner will receive one skein of Malabrigo sock in Rayon Vert.

Knitting 025

Special thanks to T for the great post name!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Black Friday (with a preview on Wednesday)

Annie & Co Knitting is having a Thanksgiving SUPER Sale!
THIS Wednesday and Friday only! 11am - 6pm

Araucania’s Limari ….was $17… now $10

Araucania Nature Wool…was $11… now $6

Ella Rae Jaspe Wool….was $8… now $4

Ella Rae Superwash….was $10… now $5

Ella Rae Kamelsoft ….was $10.50… now $5

Sheep Shop Sheep Two….was $16.20… now $8.5

Blue Sky Hand Dyed Bulky…….was $15… now $8

Karabella Puffy….was $15.75… now $8

SWTC Karaoke…….was $9.50… now $5

Tibet….was $14… now $8

and some great discounts on sock yarns too!

Regia Design Line – Kaffe Fassett… was 8.50... now$6

Sockina Cotton… $17 … NOW $11

Socka Color… $21 … NOW $11

Step Duett… $24 … NOW $12

Mini Raggi… $8 … NOW $6

Fortissima Kids… $12 … NOW $6

Opal Cotton… $19…NOW $11

PLUS more 50% discounts!

Don't miss out!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

WTF?!?!?!?!

As I usually do on Tuesday evenings, I went to SnB tonight. It was a touch cold here tonight, so I decided to wear my favorite scarf…my malabrigo lace scarf. As I left Whole Foods, it started to rain. But I carried on. When I got home I was soaked. So I shed my layers and hung them over the shower curtain to dry. I just went into the bathroom and found this:

IMG_1031

IMG_1033

WTF?!?!?!?!? Where did those HUGE holes come from? They weren’t there when I left WF. They are way too big and too sudden to be anything insecty. Is it possible that the rain did this? I did wet block it when I made it, without any issues. Was it the stress of it hanging around my neck and being soaking wet?

The midsection of the scarf is intact, so maybe I can somehow save part of it. Or maybe I’ll felt the balance of it and make a pillow or something out of it.

I am really bummed right now.:-(.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Monkey Business

I realize this post is a little late, since Halloween has come and gone already, but here it is none the less.

I unfortunately was not at the store when the mother picked up the costume last week. But apparently she was THRILLED with it.

Here are a few shots I managed to take before I handed over the project:

IMG_1011

IMG_1009

IMG_1007

IMG_1006

I also made a little trick or treat bag for the child out of the left over orange:

IMG_1012

The one thing I forgot to take a picture of was the blabla tag I made. I bought some twill tape from M & J and had one of the Needlepoint girls help me trace the logo onto it. IMHO, that is what would have really made the costume.

I hope she is really that happy with it. When I first heard about this project I couldn’t think of anything except “Are you kidding? Really? A life sized knitted sock monkey?” But in the end I really had a lot of fun with it. I also hope this ends up being one of those things that the child wears around the apartment for fun. Just like when I make a baby blanket for someone. I hope that blanket becomes his/her binky/ cuddle blanket/blankie/security blanket…you get the idea.

Hopefully I will have more pictures soon.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

As long as it's Malabrigo

1075526192_zzermerino[1]

You are Merino Wool.

You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to keep you close because you are so softhearted. You love to be comfortable and warm from your head to your toes.

Take the quiz here.

As long as it's Malabrigo







Monday, October 25, 2010

Yikes!

From today’s Yarn Harlot calendar:

You can do whatever you want with this information, but there are about nine weeks until Christmas. I don’t know how fast you knit or what your plans are, but I thought it might be time to start thinking about it. No pressure.

I still have a commission piece I am working on, a pair of socks, a baby blanket and a baby sweater before I can even start Christmas knitting. Yikes!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Hehehe

Those are really big balls of yarn

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Phew

Today was the fitting with the blabla child.

First, I have to tell you how cute this little girl is! Words could not describe! She had the blondest hair. It was that white blonde that little kids have. And she was really sweet too.

Overall the fitting went good. I have a few adjustments to make, but nothing too serious.

I need to redo the top portion of the hat. Although the mom was happy with the way it looked, it was a little too small for the child. Not that big of a deal, although it does mean having to redo the intarsia. C’est la vie.

The “romper” fit her pretty well. I need to make a few adjustments on the bib, good thing I hadn’t keep knitting last night. And the back is a little big on her, but I am going to fix that with some elastic. Very little frogging on this part.

The mittens were a perfect fit.

I also got to see the “original” doll today. This toy has been loved to death! I don’t think I have ever seen a toy this loved. The knitting in some places is thread thin. The mother has sewn parts of the doll back together in several places. Some of the stuffing is missing and what is there is clumped together in a way not originally intended.

I am very relieved to have had the fitting. I was a little concerned that if for some reason the costume was too small that I wouldn’t be able to redo it in enough time. But we are right on schedule to finish for next weekend.

Now…I can start weaving in some of those ends…

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Fingers Crossed

I have a fitting with the monkey girl tomorrow. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Monkey Update

Do you guys remember that George Michael song, Monkey? I seem to have that in my head a lot these days.

I have been pluggin’ away on the monkey and feel like I have made some good progress:

Monkey Legs

I even attached the tail last night:

Monkey backside

I am a little concerned about the size. It looks a little small to me, but I don’t have a child…so perhaps my perspective is off. I showed it to some of the ladies at knitting last week and one of the girls said that she had a big 5 year old and it would be too small for him. But, this is for a 4 year old who apparently is on the smaller side. By the way, I have yet to meet the child who I am knitting this for. I did measure some of her pants. Her mother brought me a pair of cargo pants and a pair of leggings to measure. I made the monkey legs not as big as the cargo pants, but bigger than the leggings. I am trying to arrange a fitting in the next couple of days. I don’t know what I am going to do if it doesn’t fit. Halloween is creeping up on us.

My other concern is that I may run short on the pink yarn. I had to double it, because it has much more drape than the cotton. I bought a few more skeins, but that is all we had at the store. The romper is supposed to be trimmed with pink, but I may have to use another color. I hope this ok. I know the mother wants it as close to the originally as possible, but I am not sure I have much choice here. Maybe I will get online and see if I can order a few back-up skeins. Since there is so much striping going on I don’t think it will matter if it is a different dye lot.

Friday, October 8, 2010

NYC Yarn Crawl

Refill your metrocard...tomorrow is the start of the 2nd Annual NYC Yarn Crawl. Several New York City yarn stores are taking part in this fun event. Annie's is going to have some fabulous deals. Including an amazing cash and carry sale. Some of the yarns will include Noro Maiko, Rowan Tapestry, Karabella Puffy, Anny Blatt Sublime, Ella Rae Kamelsoft, Katia Austral, Ella Rae Superwash, Schulana Merino Superlight, Punta Balpaca, Elsebeth Lavold Chunky Al, Elsebeth Lavold Calm Wool, J.Knits Soft Twist, J.Knits Superwash Me DK, Sublime Organic Cotton, Bouton d'Or Yak, Bouton d'Or Ksar, Bouton d'Or Laika, Knit 1 Crochet Too Babyboo and S. Charles Victoria. Plus much more!

Phew...that was a lot of typing.

So stop by and say hi...see if youy can find the apple for the scavenger hunt!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bla bla bla bla

Meet Clementine. One of the Blabla dolls.

clementine-monkey-mini-blabla-doll

I bet you are wondering why I am showing you an orange sock monkey. One of our needlepoint customers has a 4 year old daughter who loves this monkey. She loves it so much that she takes it with her everywhere she goes. She even has a backup doll in case she can't find the original. She loves this monkey so much that when her mom asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween, she didn't hesitate.

This is where I come in.

The mother has commissioned me to make a costume for her daughter. A 4 year old sized Clementine.

I started with the easy part. The tail:

Monkey Tail

I cast on 18 stitches and magic looped it till I thought it will be long enough. It should be long enough that the child can twirl and move the tail, but not step on it when she walks (safety first!)

Then I made some cute little mittens:

Monkey Mitts 2

I used this pattern. I made the child's size, so I hope it fits. They were pretty fast too.

The hard part so far? The Monkey head. The mother and I both agreed that we didn't want to obstruct the child's face (again, I cite safety). My first thought was to make a balaclava. I started using this helmet pattern. But it wasn't quite right:

Monkey Head First Try

I started thinking about how to make the heart shaped portition of the monkey face. And then it hit me -- I need to make a cross between a traditional hat and a balacava! But I still had the issue of the heart shape. I knew the answer would include intartsia. So I Ravelry'd "Monkey." The very last pattern was the Punk Rock Backpack from the first Stitch 'n Bitch book. I was so excited that not only had someone else already done the chart for me...but I already owned the book.

Monkey Face

I am really happy with the result. I also finished the ears, but haven't sewn them on yet:

Monkey Head

I started the leg of the first pant...haven't gotten too far. I need to buckle down tomorrow and see how far I can get:

Monkey Leg

Keeping checking back to see my progress...and if I will make my deadline!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Never Forget

This email was sent to me shortly after September 11th by a co-worker. I re-read it every year on this date and I wanted to share it with you. I still get very emotional about this date and can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to do something so hateful.

I will never forgot.


As I don't have Osama bin Laden's email address please forward this letterto as many as folks as possible so that he may receive my heartfelt thanks!
Dear Osama:

Allow me to thank you for your recent visits to our country! I am a 49 yearold male, 4th generation, well educated, prosperous and yes, a spoiledAmerican. I have never really understood our nation's history nor theactions of the past generations. You see I grew up in a time period when wehad our unpopular war in Vietnam and it wasn't cool to be a patriotic. Wentthrough the space generation, the love generation, the me generation andthe x-generation without any real appreciation for what went on before mytime. I couldn't understand why men would rush to sign-up to defend ourcountry in the World Wars. Nor could I even really appreciate why we hadVeteran's Day or for that matter the Fourth of July. For my generation, itwas merely a holiday which was a day off from work.My hero's weren't fireman, policemen, soldiers, or politicians. They weresports figures, business tycoons, movies stars and the like. Why wouldanyone take one of those low paying, dangerous positions when you couldhave more money, more respect, and have a whole lot more fun as one ofthese others?

My view of the world was; USA against the rest of the world because nobodyappreciated what we did for them. I was never concerned about the rest ofthe world or really cared for their well being...except to dole out moneyfor food and medicine thru one of our relief programs (like the$171,000,000 we gave your countrymen last year). All I ever thought aboutwas maybe a vacation to their corner of the world to experience theirculture.

Your visit here has changed all that! So I want to tell you "Thanks"! Isincerely mean it too. You have no idea how your visit has changed allthat. You see I realize now what my forefathers fought for and why theyrisked their lives. I understand what Memorial Day and the Fourth of Julyare all about. Upon seeing our Flag, my chest expands, our national anthembrings tears to my eyes. My fellow Americans are truly my brothers and Iwill defend them with all my might.

As you watch CNN (from our satellite) broadcasting our American familyportrait, I am sure you have noticed a different pose. We are all one now.Racial barriers have been broken, religious barriers are gone, as webelieve and trust in any and all religions that support a just and mercifulSupreme Being. My heroes now are firemen, policemen, soldiers and yes,even our politicians. The outside world as I have known it has now embracedus. Taking us in during our time of need and given us the support we so
desperately required. Our enemies of the past are not.So, you see, Osama, we OWE you. Thank you for realigning our perspectivesand values like no one has done before. Your actions have created more
good will than any one single act I have known in my lifetime. I know youdidn't think this would be the outcome, but rest assured this is what youhave created!! You made us understand a lesson we hope to never forget ortake for granted again.

In closing it is a custom in our country to express our gratitude. So weand a few of our friends (the rest of the world) are going to stop by anddeliver a message to you and yours. I hope it comes soon and swift butdon't worry if you don't see us right away we won't forget...not now, notever.

In Appreciation,

Dave

Friday, August 27, 2010

Hats

We had a little cold snap here in NYC this week. And when I say cold snap, I mean it was below 80°F. But it started me thinking about my hat project. I haven’t made very much progress this year on it. For those of you who don’t know, last year I collected 139 hats, 10 scarves, 1 pair of gloves and even 1 sweater. I donated these to New York Cares in conjunction with their coat drive. When I dropped them off, and told the woman what I had and they were all hand knit, she said she thought she might cry. She thought it was so special that people would donate hats. And it made it even more special that they were hand knit.

I did receive some lovely hats from Karabouts’ mom who lives in Ohio. CityMinx also gave me a few hats. And I have managed to make a few myself. But I am not quite as far along as I was last year at this time.

Starting today I am going back to only knitting hats during my lunch hour to try and increase my production. It is a great lunch hour project. It’s small so I can keep it in my desk. The hats don’t need to be complicated, so I don’t need to worry about having a pattern, row counters, stitch markers, etc. And they go pretty fast.

I know we are all really busy with life and knitting projects for ourselves and our loved ones, but one hat can make a big difference. I keep thinking about these people who have nothing. No place to sleep at night and not enough clothes to keep them warm. It warms my heart a little to know that I can make a difference in someone’s life by doing something I already love to do.

If you are interested in making hats you can drop them off at Annie and Company Knitting on Madison Ave in NYC. Or email me at smittenwknitting@gmail.com for an address you can send them to.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Ten!

I was sitting in the park at lunch today, knitting on my noro sock and thinking of my in progress list, when I remembered a project not on the list! It is hibernating (and for whatever reason I never put it on Ravelry) so that is why it didn’t come to mind when I was typing my list the other day. It is a top-down wool/alpaca hip length cardigan in grey. I was working on it when Murray died and for whatever reason, I just couldn’t knit on it anymore after he passed. I am emotionally ready to pick it back up again, but it’s really warm and we are having an above normal summer here in NYC. So I won’t be touching that one for awhile either. I think I need to rent a cabin in the woods for a week, so I can stay up all night knitting to get some things done.

My Knitpicks order was shipped the day. It is currently in Edison, NJ according to the FedEx website. But it says it’s not due until Monday. Why? It’s just across the river. Why do they want to torture me!?!?!?! I guess its ok; I am only on row 5 out of 16 on the border. And I have other things that need to be finished first. So close, yet so far away.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Update

I must be the WORST blogger ever! I feel really bad…but apparently not too bad, or I would have blogged before this.

I don’t know what is wrong with me but I have been obsessed with lace lately. The last 2 pages on my Ravelry queue is all lace shawls. That is all I want to knit. Lace, lace, lace. Have I knit much lace lately…not really. Here is a list of what is on my needles:

1. A pair of Noro socks for Jon – a swap. Basic rib and cable socks.

2. Veronique in a pretty purple cashmere. I don’t know why this is taking me so long. Miles of stockinette stitch I guess.

3. A Lady Kina in a (you guessed it) pale pink. I had some Rowan Wool/Cotton in my stash and I felt the need to cast on.

4. A pair of Anastasia socks in Punta de Este MeriSock. I love this pattern. I love this yarn. So why am I not done with these yet?

5. A pair of striped socks from some yarn I got at Renegade Art Fair a few yarns back. This one, I know why I am stalled. I did make one sock last summer in this yarn…but it wasn’t as long or tight as I would have liked. So I decided to use a solid to go with it and do stripes using smaller needles. I had some solid blue in my stash from quite a few yarns ago. I am not really loving the color combo. This may go into the frogging pile.

6. A tweedy blue multi-directional sweater. I like this one, but since it is all in one piece it is way too hot to knit on during the summer. So this is hibernating until the fall.

7. Charity hats (this is always on the needles…in my desk drawer at work…you know in case of emergency.)

8. A secret project I can’t talk about here…yet.

9. Finally…a lace shawl. I am using some Rhinebeck yarn in a raspberry. I am making the Dover Castle Shawl. I have tons of yarn, so I decided to make it a little bigger than the original pattern. I started the border chart last night which is only 16 rows. I can’t wait!

Wow, that's more than I thought!

But what I am most excited about…after a lot of hymning and hawing on my part, I broke down and ordered some lace blocking wires. Like I said before, I have really been into lace lately…so it seems like a good idea. I ordered them yesterday from Knitpicks. Hopefully they will be here soon. I am hoping to time the bind off of the Dover Castle Shawl with their arrival.

I think my next shawl is going to be Ishbel. Although it starts with lots of stockinette, I am hoping I will motor though it in hopes to get to the lacey bit. I think it will be very wearable. I have seen lots and lots of pretty ones on Ravelry. I think I am going to use some grey alpaca I have from Rhinebeck a few years back. I have about 1800 yards, so I will have left over yarn. I can always make another shawl out of the left over, right?

Do you see the other trend here? Yes that’s right, I am using Rhinebeck yarn. I told myself I couldn’t go to Rhinebeck until I had used all the yarn from the previous trips. I have been really wanting to get out of the city lately and have been dreaming of a cool autumn day upstate. So I have been planning out my projects to use all my Rhinebeck Yarn. Or at least start using it...that counts, right?

Monday, May 24, 2010

Abrazo

I have been thinking about lace and shawls lately. So when I saw the pattern on Twist Collective for Abrazo I knew it was going in the queue. I have been trying to use stash yarns as much as possible and found a pretty purple ball of Trekking. The pattern calls for about 400 yards (however Ravelry said about 420 yards, so I knew this was it.

IMG_0855

I cast-on on a Friday night, and by the following Friday I was done (with the knitting anyway…I had to wet-block it). It was a quick knit…even with me tinking back a couple of times (apparently you have to do the YOs and not just the decreases when you are knitting lace).

IMG_0853

Over all I am happy with it, but I do wish it was a little bigger. I do realize that my gauge is off and that accounts for the smaller than expected size. I was really planning on wearing it more like a scarf than a shawl anyway. But I do like the idea of the short row shaping. I will be making more shawls in the near future and will keep this concept in mind.

I also couldn’t help but thinking of the mastercard commercials when I was blocking this on my living room floor. You know the ones where they find unexpected faces in random things? Here take a look:

IMG_0852

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Photoless...

Right after I wrapped my gift for Mother's Day, I realized I never took a picture! Too late now. It is wrapped, packaged and stamped. Will be going in the mailbox on the way home today!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Did you see…

Army of Knitters (aka my friend Heather, not that I am bias or anything) has a great new website. It launched today. I love the new look. The colors are great. Not to mention the designs. I personally love Erquy. How could you go wrong with a little lacey tank for the summer? Or do you need a cute lacey cardi to go over all your summer dresses? Then Benodet is for you. I might have to make mine a little longer though, to cover the gut.

Not only is the spring/summer stuff great, but she has a teaser up for fall. Cables on the sleeves…you know I love it!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Gauge and the Olympics

Gauge really enjoyed watching the Olympics with me. He especially liked the figure skating.

Gauge watching the Olympics

He was a little upset when I told him they wouldn’t be back until 2014.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Close…

…only counts in slow dancing, shuffle board and atom bombs, apparently not in my RavelOlympics project. I was so close. But I ran out of steam towards the end.

I only have about 1 inch on the sleeves and the button and buttonhole bands left to do. And of course weave in the ends. And I guess also sew on the buttons - once I get some. OK, maybe a little more than I thought. But I am still pretty proud of the amount I did. I made a cardigan in sport weight in 16 days. Considering how busy I am, that’s really good.

Part of me wished I had done something a little more complicated. Looking at the Yarn Harlot's project is so inspiring. But then again...I would probably only have the solid part done. I am not really a fan of color work. All those colors equals twisting and turning, which equals tangling of yarn, which equals Claudine on the floor crying.

Of course it would have helped if I didn’t get distracted by my new Clapotis. I saw the yarn at the store the day before the Olympics began and I knew I was in trouble. (Funny how you can look at something a million times and then all of a sudden, you have to have it.) I am using Claudia Hand Painted in Cabin Fever. I was planning on 4 skeins, but I am towards the end of the second skein and I see that I will need at least 1 more than I had originally planned. So much for knitting from the stash.

But the real problem...I am having serious startitis. I am curving my itch for now, but I am not sure how long that will last. I have in the queue (in my mind, anyway…let’s not talk about how long my queue in Ravelry is) a Silk Kerchief out of handspun that I got from Malia in a swap, a baby blanket that was requested (have to have this one done by end of March so that is going on the needles next), a version of this gorgeous Valentino shawl I saw (the one I saw was in in blue/green and was GORGEOUS), this side to side garter stitch cardi, something in lace weight (not sure what, just can’t stop thinking about lace lately), and not to mention that I really need some new socks. If only there were more hours in the day!

I hope to have pictures of both of these projects soon.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Dilemma

I have been pluggin' away on my Tea Leaves Cardigan. In fact I finished binding off the hem the body last night. The problem you ask. Let me show you:

Misc 155

See those nice bands of color? The yarn is hand dyed and I obviously did not strand the project. I am regretting it now. As you can see, those "stripes" are hitting me in all the wrong places. Even Gauge sees how bad it is:

Misc 152

So here is my dilemma...do I rip the sweater now and forgo the Raveloympics? Or do I put the sweater on the back burner? The other thing that throws a wrench into the mix is that I am doing a baby blanket for hire in March. I told the person I would be able to start it at the beginning of March, which means I wouldn't be able to pick up the TLC until April (which would be too late in the year to wear it by the time I get done with it.

Another question is do I rip the whole thing and start stranding from the get go, or do you think I can save the yoke? Another option maybe if I rip the whole thing, I could do it in the round and steek it. It would go much faster if I do that. Would that qualify it as a "new" project and be able to use it as my Ravelolympic project?

Any opinions?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Hello

Once again too much time has passed since I have posted about knitting. I would give a list of excuses, but I know you don’t want to read that. So instead I will show you a picture of the baby blanket I am working on:

Misc

I feel like such a copy cat. Every time Jared designs a baby blanket, I end up mkaing it. I made the Tweed Baby Blanket and now I am working on a version of the Wool Leaves.(Ok, maybe not ever time, I didn’t make a Hemlock Ring, but I did help block one...does that count?)I have honestly always loved this lace pattern. It’s easy to memorize and still very pretty.

I am using some Malabrigo from my stash in an effort to knit it down to a reasonable amount. I had 9 skeins to start with. I think I will be using about 3 to 3 1/2, so there will still be enough left over for me to make a sweater or a shrug (thinking about this one, once the pattern is released)

I have also been working on a Tea Leaves Cardigan, but have no photo to show you. You will just have to trust me that it is pretty. I am using some Road to China Light that I had in my stash in a very pretty pinky/purple color (I know—shocking…Pink…?) I am almost to the “hem.” So really just the sleeves left.

I am hoping to have both of these finished before 6 PST on February 12th, so I can start my RavOlympic project(s) without much guilt. After much internal debate, I have decided on a pair of Esther socks. I have some soft pink (I know, I know) Kogui I bought a few years ago. I have been doing some reading online about using nylon sewing thread as a carry along to help prevent holes. I am going to run down to City Quilter later and see if they have some. Hope it works. Sewing thread comes in almost every color imaginable, so it will be less noticeable than using the reinforcement yarn. My second project will be a stockinette pair of socks in some hand dyed I bought at the Renegade Art fair a few years ago. And this time it’s not pink! I am going to stripe it with some blue sock yarn my mom bought me a couple of Christmases back. This is going to be more of a time challenge than anything. But I figure 2 pair of socks in 16 days…that should be good. Plus all my socks have holes in them, so at least I will have 2 more pair by March.

Does anyone else see how much stash knitting I am doing?

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Gauge Matters

Every knitter knows how important gauge is. Without it, that sweater you meant to make for yourself might be big enough for a young niece. Or have that hat you knit your new nephew fit his dad. We have all been there. Since knitting is a big part of my life, and gauge is a big part of knitting, so it was a no-brainer what to name this guy:

Gauge

Meet Gauge, the newest member of the Smitten household. I adopted him from Animal Care and Control (I encourage everyone to adopt, rather than buy a pet) last weekend. The shelter told me he was 6 months, but I am thinking he might be younger than that. He is a shorthair grey cat with light grey markings. I didn’t realize that he had some Tabby in him until I got him home. And I love the fact that his markings on his face are just off center.

Gauge 2

He is a big cuddler already and a major purr machine. He loves to eat (growing boy and all) and is very energetic. We had a little trouble with the box the first few days, but last night he used it twice. So I am hopeful we are on the right track. So far out of all the toys I have bought him, his favorite is a wrinkled up piece of paper he found in the trash. Typical.

He has keep me on my toes and pretty busy the past few days. I have barely had time to knit. But who could resist this?

Gauge Sleeping