Thursday knitblogging: terrier edition

Okay, terrier/knitting post TAKE TWO! Take one involved blogger opening a new post that I couldn't type in. Thanks, blogger! Why do I bother anyway? If I had that elusive thing known to some as FREE TIME, I would make myself a better blog. But alas, I don't even have time for this blogging. I need a blog that does most everything for me.

Anyway, I would love to post a Rusted Root update, but to tell you all the truth, I haven't knit that much on it lately. I just got past the armpits (you start at the top and knit down) so I was able to try it on last night and it fits GREAT. If I wasn't totally procrastinating right now I'd try it on again and take a picture, but I'm the only one home and we all know those digital camera in front of the bathroom mirror shots are decidedly un-cute. And also, the length of the sweater is about mid-boob right now, and it looks really weird. Trust me. It'll be worth the wait. I whipped it out for Lost last night and did some work on it, but now that it's just straight knitting down the body it's not so exciting.

The good news is I've been cruising right through my second Jaywalker sock! I attempted to take pictures of those, but it was HARD because Cato really wanted to be all up on me at all times, and then I got trapped under him on the couch while trying to photograph my feet (not easy, let me tell you) and the batteries in my camera died.

And OH! I got a new camera! So expect more pictures, very very soon. I got the camera on my fantastic trip to Minnesota (Hi Jenny! Hi Baby Curry!) at fantastic Target. I love Target. And Minnesota is like the Promised Land of Targets. They're amazing. You can get things you can't get at other Targets, I swear to God. In this case, I got a display model clearance digital camera, which came out to about half of its original price. Sure, it came in a manila envelope instead of a box, but this thing ROCKS. Perhaps soon I will be able to take pictures that don't suck! But I'm guessing as long as I remain semi-blind (thanks, repeated eye infections and shitty glasses) and the dog remains not-semi-clingy that crappy photo situation will continue. At least they'll be better in focus now, though!

(Oh - a note about previous photos. Whenever I had photos that didn't suck before, that's because I was using Becki's camera. Her camera is fantastic.)

And without further ado, my (uh, or Ali's, rather) Jaywalker socks:

I wish there weren't little "peaks" where I've started the zig zag pattern on the toe. Perhaps They'll come out in the wash?

Avec terrier, and a slightly more accurate representation of the colors:

And, for everyone's amusement, here's a picture of what I typically find in the living room each morning:
"HI. I'M CATO. HI. I'M ALL RILED UP. HI. WANNA PLAY? WANNA CUDDLE? I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU!!!!!!!!!!"

Yes, he IS possessed. And yes, that IS one of my bras hanging in the background. Oh well.

Rusted Root progress!

Yes, I am knitting a sweater that's called Rusted Root. I didn't name it, and no, I don't like that band. Here's what I have so far, 33 rounds in:


And a close-up of the lace panel:

I am a tower of fuzzy wool.

Here is the pattern - on Zephyr Style. I'm using Inca Wool, which is 100% wool, and I can't tell you much about it because the label is in Russian... All I know is that it was in my yarn stash, and it's green, and green seemed appropriate for a sweater with a panel of leafy lace down the front.

all gussied up and ready to blog

I'm back from spring break and I managed to wash all the NYC dirt off myself. Yes people, I even SHAVED MY LEGS for this blog post. Trust me, I was overdo for getting shorn (ha HAAA GET IT! SHORN. Like a sheep. And I KNIT!). That's how much I love my reader(s). I'll even shave my legs for you, as if this is a date. And I'm going to put out.

So while I was in NY I finished the first in a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalkers for Ali, the world's best composer/music theorist/spinner of yarn. They're Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Candy, in Lemongrass, knit magic loop-style on a 40" US1 Addi Turbo. I'm going to have to have some words with those needles, though. Mainly because I HATE THEM. The stumpy tips drive me insane, the cord is too $*$(&^#@ long even for magic loop, and I BENT THEM. Apparently I have fingers of steel, because these suckers are severely warped. I'd say at their worst they were bent at about a 30 degree angle. I kept trying to bend them back, but that's HARD and it hurt me. I started the second sock on the plane on the way back from NYC, but I think I'm still going to order new needles from Knit Picks (does anyone make bamboo needles in a US1 I suppose? Or would I just snap those like twigs?!!) before I stab something out of anger.

Oh wait, you couldn't even stab a bowl of mashed potatoes with these needles they're so fucking stumpy.

Anyway, the yarn is great - I can't say enough nice things about it. The socks feel so amazing and sproingy! And being cotton and all they won't roast poor Ali's feet in Eugene, the land where wool socks aren't really necessary...


My main modification to the pattern was that I knit these socks toe-up. I used these tutorials on toe-up sock knitting as rough guides and mostly followed my instincts, which, as it turns out, is a good way to go. I used the provisional cast-on as described on knittinghelp.com (here - scroll down - I love these videos. SO. helpful.), a short-row toe and heel, using this tutorial on Misocrafty so as to avoid holes. (By the way - Misocrafty?!?! That's the best craft blog name EVER. I so wish I had thought of that.)

Well, I'm through cursing like a sailor about socks. Here are some more pictures of my finished sock:


And another:


Agh, is it me or do these photos look better in flickr than on my blog? Why IS that?!?!!

And, because it's SO HARD to blog without including a dog photo of some kind, here's me wearing my sock and Cato wearing his socks, so daintily:

bejeweled!

Alas, what with being in school and all I have very little time to knit. I finished my bejeweled scarf a few weeks ago, waited a couple weeks before blocking it, and now I've been wearing it all over town for a little while and just took the photos today.



Here are the specs:

Pattern: Bejeweled Scarf, by Lisa Shobhana Mason, as part of the informal Bejeweled Knit-Along

Yarn: 200 yards of 100% alpaca from Almost Paradise Farms in Oregon, from Beneta and Rose (presumably these are the little buggers this yarn was shorn from) As an aside, this is the most deliciously buttery yarn I have ever knit with! They really aren't kidding about alpaca being the poor man's cashmere. I love it. Also, there's no way (for me at least) to capture the depth and range of these colors in a photograph, either. This isn't just a gray scarf - you can distinguish individual bits of fiber ranging from black to white and every shade of gray in between.

Needles: Addi Naturas US8, I forget the length of the cord and it's not really relevant anyway.

Mods: I didn't make the scarf as wide as the pattern calls for since I only had 200 yards of yarn. (The pattern calls for 270.) I forget how many stitches I ended up increasing to... But I'm happy with the width, although every time I wear it this sucker gets longer and longer. I wrap it around my neck three times and tie it in a knot now, and it still hangs down to my belly. I may block it again. I may even shell out for blocking wires, because pinning this thing down was a complete son of a bitch.

Pictures taken with a Panasonic DMC-TZ1 (Becko's camera!)



And, because I am now one of THOSE PEOPLE, here is a crappy cell phone picture of Cato laying on the scarf:

a *successful* blog entry

I hope. I typed that subject heading first, actually... So who knows. But with no further ado - MY NEW SOCKS!


Why yes, I wear socks and tights together with torn denim skirts on a regular basis, thank you! Don't worry, I put some very tasteful cowboy boots over them when the time came to leave the house!

And a close-up of the stitch pattern:



Photos courtesy of MY MOM. Who had very little patience for me bossing her around about how exactly the pictures should look. Go figure. Doesn't her camera take way sexier pictures than mine, though? That's because it's fancy and new!

Here's the specs:

These are the Embossed Leaves Socks, by Mona Schmidt, from the Winter 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. I started out on 2 US2 circulars by INOX, but switched it up to magic loop for the last portion of the second sock just for fun. (Woooo knitting fun!) The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (wool & nylon) in the Sherbet colorway.

I used a super-loose regular old cable cast-on instead of the funky one described in the pattern. I think I wasn't understanding it as written right off the bat and got antsy. Needless to say, even super-loose, my cast-on is pretty damn tight. Also, I had to block the bejesus out of these to get them to be long enough for my feet. I should have just come to terms with my huge feet and added a little length...

Next FO post: white cashmere headband! I'm also due for an update of some works-in-progress. But first, to update my sidebar...

what kind of blog is this, anyway?

...because I appear to have very little focus. I'd say it's a knitting-food-school-other things leo does hybrid. So here's some knitting!

This is something I've been working on, and they're SO SO CLOSE to being done! Tomorrow, maybe, I will finish them, because I have the whole day to clean up the house and do my laundry before heading to Oregon for Christmas ... so yeah, there will be some knitting breaks involved. Then I can take them home, completed, and show my mom, who I mentioned before reprimanded me recently for working on millions of things at once and told me that I must finish, I think it was three of my current ongoing projects before starting anything else.

(OH, and tomorrow I'll have to think about what knitting project to bring home. OH THE AGONY!)

With no further ado, I give you the socks:


I'll have you know I cut my toenails just for this photo shoot. Ohhh pretty.

So the colors: it's damn dark out in Chicago today. Really ugly weather. So there's no sunlight AT ALL in my apartment. I'd say the most accurate representation of the color of that yarn is on my left foot there, the sock in progress.

Here's the specs: these are the embossed leaves socks from some old Interweave Knits. (I'll be more thorough when posting them as a finished object, I swear...) I'm using Inox US2. I started out using 2 circs, but just switched to magic loop, you know, for the hell of it. I like it. Less just hanging around my hands while I'm knitting. So now that sock in progress is on on 29" US2. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80% superwash wool, 20% nylon) in the color "Sherbet." (surprise surprise, I'm knitting something bright pink!) I started a second skein shortly after the heel on that second sock, so I'll probably end up with about 2/3 of a skein left there... maybe I'll make some bright pink ankle socks!

My thoughts on the pattern so far - what's with the cast-on this pattern calls for? I'm not sure I understand it. Also, although the fancy decreases in the toe that coincide with the lace pattern are neat, I have big-ole feet and I think I could have standed to knit these a little longer. We live and learn, I suppose, and I am learning how to make socks that fit better... Also, I can already tell that the decreases underneath my toes are going to piss me off. But DAMN those are some cute socks.

i'm addicted to yoga

It's like a drug. I love it so much. Especially when it's HARD and it HURTS. I've never liked exercise. I ran around in the yard and climbed a lot of trees and swam a lot as a child, but actual exercise... that was something else entirely. It's probably just because I was teased a lot as a child. I was awkward, I was kind of weird, I liked to read and play music and be by myself (these are still among my favorite activities), and when it came to gym class I was ALWAYS the kid who got hit in the face with the soccer ball (seriously.) and it would break my glasses.

Also, I apparently have some kind of weird double-jointed elbows or something because at yoga tonight I could do something with my arms that I shouldn't be able to. And trust me, it wasn't HOT. Just kind of creepy and weird.

So, here's one of the MANY items I've been knitting lately, on paper-writing breaks:

From knitting

It's slow going, only knitting on breaks from writing a paper. But it's going to be a cold-weather headband thingy, because I'm vain and I hate putting a hat over my hair. I got the idea here: from this craftster thread. But I've been altering the pattern quite a bit, and I'll post the results here when I'm done. Basically, it's a long ribbed thing that gets wider in the middle, and when I'm done I'll sew the ends together. It's in this really sexy cashmere that I got for cheaps off ebay. (this seller) It's probably the fanciest fiber I've ever knit with, and it feels AMAZING in my hands. Buttery, even. I can't wait to have it on my FACE.

From knitting

That picture comes nowhere close to revealing the sexiness of that yarn. I am ashamed for even having taken it. The one of the headband in progress is better, actually. That way you can see the nice halo. The yarn fuzzes up quite a bit when it's knit, but it's not shedding everywhere...

But seriously, I am for some reason extremely sensitive about even slightly scratchy things touching my face. (Perhaps this is related to my other issues concerning personal space and touching?)

The other great thing about this project (besides the fact that I'm going to have something very warm and fuzzy on my ears that won't mess up my hair very, very soon) is the needles I'm using:

From knitting

(yes, and that one is slightly blurry, isn't it. Well, I tried my best.)

Those are CLASSIC. Red heart brand. With little hearts on the end! And they're plastic, and you know, they're really not bad! (size US4) Besides their inherent cuteness factor, I love them because they were my grandmother's. She died this summer, and she was the last grandparent I had. And the toughest. (this is the understatement of the century. she was an awesome lady.) It was so sad and bizarre when my parents and I went to her place for the weekend of the funeral.

(A little background is required here: my parents live in Oregon. Everyone else in the family is in New Hampshire. We always stay at my grandmother's house when we go to visit.)

There was a lot. of stuff. in that house. There was a lot of stuff related to crafting. If you name a craft, chances are my grandmother did it one point or another and there were supplies for it in that house. Most of what was there was to be negotiated between my grandmother's four children, but clearly no one was interested in the yarn/knitting/crochet supplies besides me and my mom. My grandmother could never knit with me because when I took it up (in college, probably about 7 years ago) she was already too arthritic to deal with needles and yarn. Most of the yarn that was in her house was old acrylic and realistically, I'm just not going to do anything with that and there are other people out there that would buy a big bulk lot of that, and/or actually use it... There were lots of needles, though, and I did manage to find quite a bit of wool, and I've started making a blanket for my dad with some of it. (pictures as soon as there is more than an inch worth of knitting to show you) These needles with the hearts are my favorites, though.