Back to Mine

Yes, I totally swiped this blog title from one of my favorite music compilation series. If you've never heard of them, do a search on Amazon My favorite is the Everything But The Girl's Back to Mine.

But, anyway... back to mine...

I just got word that a close friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Hunter Riley. I haven't met the new guy yet, but when I heard his name I immediately thought of some Heather Ross fabric I had. The couple didn't find out the sex of their baby ahead of time, so I have no idea about color schemes, etc. I hope this is to their liking. If not, I hope they let Hunter run wild and drool all over it.

This has been my first chance to start a quilt in my new apartment. (Not so new anymore, but you get it.) I cannot express the sheer joy I have experienced being able to quilt in a normal-sized space. I mean, whoa. What a difference. I don't have to take apart furniture, or ask Mr. Migglesworth to stay on the bed, or use inappropriately-assigned furniture for things like ironing. I have a nice little area for cutting, my ironing board is out and can stay out, and my sewing machine has a permanent spot. I really feel like I'm finally able to get back to me.

I've also been able to tack up some batting as a makeshift "design wall". It's ironic that I've played around with this design wall for an entire day and ended up with the original layout. It's like shopping for a prom dress. You end up buying the first one you tried on.



The pattern is from The Purl Bee - Zig Zag Quilt. I love the simplicity of it. I also love that it reminds me of Charlie Brown's t-shirt.

Next post will have the completed quilt. (Hopefully!)

Summer? Already?

I'm sure I'm not alone in this thought, but how can it be June already? My spring season was dominated (and I don't use that word lightly) by my parent's visit. It was a true gift that they could stay with me, though. After living in one-room studios, they were finally able to stay in our "guest room". It's really my crafting room, but that nifty little aerobed sure can make anyone feel at home. And to make it all worthwhile, my mom made my favorite homemade goody - dumplings.

I had spent a night traveling for work and when I got home I was greeted by this little line-up. Thanks Mom!



Anyway, I should have known the warm weather was here. Subconsciously, I must have been getting tired of all the heavy wools, and thick cashmere. I lost complete interest in the two sweaters I had been working on, one thicker than the other. My mind started wandering towards my sewing machine. My poor little machine had been neglected since last fall.

I decided I needed to pick up the sewing, which apparently is my warm weather craft. To me, it's lighter in a lot of ways. And I'm sure I'm not alone in that notion either. I had been planning to make the Luxurious Wool Blanket from The Purl Bee for quite some time. I had bought the O-Wool Organic Wool material months and months ago, probably more like a year ago. And, I had bought this beautiful french linen from The French General when I was in LA. While I had no plans to use the linen for this project, it seemed like the perfect match.

I never worked with linen before. I prewashed both materials, and the linen became incredibly drapey. I was a little surprised since it's so stiff when it's new.





It's a wonderful and quick project. Hand sewing binding onto a quilt is one of my favorite things to do, so this was a real pleasure.

Now... how will I be able to keep my little girl from making this blanket hers like all the others in the house?

Nesting

It's been three months since I've moved into my new apartment. It has been exhilarating.

This is the first time we've owned our home. And after renting countless apartments in Manhattan (eight to be exact), it has also been a culture shock.

I was terrified of mortgage payments and entering the world of adulthood, but I have to admit that it's been absolutely wonderful.

Investing in my home has felt like a privilege these past few months.

While I haven't been knitting and sewing as much as I'd like, I've been preoccupied with cooking, baking and furnishings. Here's an idea of what I've been doing.



It's taken my pug quite a bit to get used to the stairs. Instead, she'd rather take rest on the sofa.



I now understand the work to be done in one's home is endless. I'm thinking I should turn my attention back to the much more instantly gratifying work of knitting and sewing.

February in March

This is my third February Baby Sweater on Two Needles from Elizabeth Zimmermann. Every time I knit it, I'm always amazed at how simple it is, but how delicate the result. I just love it.

How fitting that it's snowing today, the first day of Spring.



I used three skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Sportweight from Purl Soho. And those cute little rhinestone encrusted buttons are vintage buttons I found in my travels. Unfortunately, I only had three, so I staggered them with some plain gold buttons.

Practicality Reigns

No, it wasn't exciting to knit. But will I wear it? You betcha.



Pattern from Rowan's pattern book, "The Cocoon Collection". Pattern is the Lyra Sweater. I removed the eyelet motif at the bottom edge of the sweater ensuring that it be the most practical garment I would ever knit. Yarn is Rowan's Cocoon in color Frost.

I wanted something I could throw on and would be easy to wear, and I got it.

Is it still winter?

As much as I complain about the cold weather, I find comfort in racing home, changing into my fluffiest sweats and burying myself in some nice woolly yarn. Having just moved, I've unfortunately had less time burying myself in wool as I have... putting up towel racks for instance. (Why would they install one towel rack IN the shower and not on the wall? Endless amounts of questions about the mental stability of contractors and developers come to mind.)

But I have been able to sneak some time away from my new best friend, the cordless drill, to knit. And I was able to finally finish this beautiful design from Olga, the Cabled Cowl. It became a birthday present for my dear friend who lent me her car during our move.



It was perfect. I met up with my friend right before she was leaving for the snowy Midwest, and I hope she's putting it to good use!

Natural Progression

When I think back on 2008, I become overwhelmed. I usually face a new year thinking of all the things that I want to tackle, and reminisce about all the things I accomplished (more likely didn't accomplish.)

But this past year has been historical in so many ways that I find it difficult to think about little ol' me. It has been eventful, and I've finally been able to take a deep breath and look around.

Mr. Migglesworth and I finally bit the bullet and bought an apartment. We moved in just a few days before Christmas, with just a few days notice and the chaos began. Let me just say this: when the movers... big men who move people for a living... keep exclaiming, "Wow, you guys have a lot of boxes," you know you're in trouble.

I have also been incredibly lucky and fortunate to have been hooked up with a knitwear designer, Shirley Paden, and was working on my second project for her during the packing and moving. I thought quite possibly that I would lose my mind.

This second project is going to appear in Vogue Knitting's Spring 2009 issue, and I can't believe I got it done. Looking back, I'm happy I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that I was knitting something that was very difficult for me. Using yarn and knitting in a style I am not accustomed to, made it challenging to say the least. But thanks to Shirley's unending encouragement and priceless advice, I got through it. She is not someone you meet everyday.

Many many posts to come in 2009!

Iceland from Rowan

I like this sweater. It was fairly easy to knit up. And the pattern made it fun to knit.

The silhouette is definitely not the most flattering. I can't decide if I should wear it lower down around my hip/butt area, or pull it up to sort of cinch in a little.

I added the turtleneck onto the sweater so I didn't have to worry too much about what to wear underneath it. It adds a little much needed structure to the top too. Otherwise, I'd be channeling Flashdance with that wide neck. Not sexy - at least not in 2008.

If I had to do it again? I'd probably just knit the bottom waistband in the round and forgo the buttons. They don't necessarily bother me, but I don't think they add much to the whole thing. The leaf pattern gives it enough pizzazz.

Liberty Charm for DQS5

I joined my first swap - Doll Quilt Swap 5 - and was so excited to make something special.

Just as I started to get going with ideas, I also got my very first handknitting freelance job. As all you crafters out there know, you can't do much else while crafting. I can't even get the audiobook thing down.

When my fingers needed the rest, I worked on my doll quilt bit by bit. And last night, the night before the due date, I finally finished this little quilt.



I love the result, and I hope my swap partner does too.

I used some Liberty fabrics and used a solid red to bind and back. I like the simple but colorful result.

As much as I love this little guy, I felt opening a package of just this doll quilt might be disappointing, so I'm including a bundle of scrap fabric from the French General, one of my favorite stores in LA. I hope my swap partner likes the little fabrics. I can't wait to see what she does with them!

Cabled Cowl

I love everything about this project.

The pattern.

The designer.

The yarn.

The color.



So why do I keep getting distracted?

WHAT in the...

Wow. Do I have a lot of practice ahead of me, or what?



What the heck kind of knitting is this?! It looks like I used my fingers and teeth.

Good googamooga... this fancy fair isle knitting is real tricky.

Fairest Isle Of Them All

I've never attempted this technique of colorwork - fair isle. Was I intimidated? Maybe a little. I love the fun and quirky yet classic and countryside effect of this technique. But, every time I found a pattern I liked it was overwhelming. I would need a magnifying glass, and one of those chart readers just to be able to get through the chart. And usually many many more than just two colors would be used throughout the entire project. I always said, "Someday."

Well, someday arrived. When my crafty friend suggested we take a class at The Point in NYC, I couldn't resist. Our goal was to knit this hat in order to get used to working with a chart and handling two strands of yarn at once.

Much to my surprise, I felt like I got the drift of this technique fairly easily. I think there were three things working to my advantage.

1) I used to knit english style, but switched over to continental. So when holding one strand in each hand was not a problem. I knew which direction to wrap the yarn and could switch between left and right, and the two colors quite comfortably.

2) Loving cables has taught me to read charts efficiently as well. You start to pick up little patterns within the chart and use those to your advantage.

3) After putting in miles and miles of knitting, you start to knit without looking. Since this hat was knit in the round, I only had to deal with knitting and no purling. I could keep my eyes on the chart and keep knitting without having to pause and make note of where I was every time my eye had to move between the chart and the knitting.



Definitely not my style, but I do feel like I got the hang of working with two different yarns in the round by the time this hat was done. We started this hat in class, and I was able to finish it when I got home. A great idea for a holiday present, I might add!

The provisional cast-on was a really nice touch on a hat like this, too.

My only advice: knit LOOSELY. I tend to knit rather tightly, which did not jive with this technique. You'll notice towards the bottom of my hat that the white stitches looked sucked into the brown stitches. That's too tight. Way too tight. I really loosened up towards the top and you can see the stitches look more even.

I'm ready to tackle my second fair isle project now! Maybe another baby gift? A hat, perhaps? Oh, the possibilities! That is definitely my favorite aspect of learning a new technique. I feel like another door has opened with the possibility of a gazillion knitting projects behind it! Just waiting for me!

It's the little things

It was hard coming back from vacation. Parrot Cay exceeded our wildest dreams. This private island near Providenciales in Turks & Caicos was heavenly.



You could see all the beautiful shades of blue as we flew closer and closer to the islands. Sandy, who showed us around the resort when we landed simply asked, "Oh... well, what color is the water where you come from?" I was a little embarrassed trying to find some "J. Crew"-type word for sh*t brown.

So, I made the conscious decision not to bring any knitting to Parrot Cay. I didn't want any pressure to do anything.

After not knitting for almost a week, I came home and decided to start with little projects. The first thing I had to start on was a doll quilt for DQS 5. I have to send it out by December 1st. So, not to spoil the surprise, here's a sneak peek at the little charmer.



Is that Liberty fabric you spy? I say nothing.

Then, last Saturday was my little puglet's 7th birthday. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I can still remember her first day at home with us. Her big head with her even bigger eyes on her tiny little body. She was 3.3 pounds. Now, she's 20+. My little cutie.

For the upcoming winter, we bought her a cute little Wagwear quilted coat. It's getting fleece put into the lining, so we don't have it yet. Pictures will definitely come. It's adorable. But, I had to give her something she'd actually appreciate. Being the little nudist that she is, the quilted coat is more of a torture device than anything else.

So, I baked her some oat-rolled peanut butter treats. She definitely enjoyed them. She swallowed them whole, so actually, I can only guess that she enjoyed them.



Finally, I have a baby shower next Friday. Yes, another baby shower. Thankfully, it's for a great friend, so I wanted to make something special. A keepsake. So I thought I'd try the Blue Sky Alpacas's Baby Bobbi Bear.



I decided to use Cascade 220 Superwash because I wanted to use white yarn. The thought that this little baby may not even know polar bears to exist on this earth disturbs me. So, I made him a polar bear. At least he'll have that.

Autumn Beret

Thanks to Ravelry there is a cornucopia of free patterns all on a single site. It's like hitting the jackpot everytime I browse through them.

I came across this pattern for a Spring Beret. Knit in cottor, it does make a wonderful springtime accessory.

But, I needed to make something for my dearest friend's birthday and it's on November 4th. Not springtime.



Here it is in Malabrigo's worsted wool. It took less than one skein, and I even threw in an extra repeat of the 8-row pattern to make it floppier.

I still think it cold be floppier and roomier. (I admit. I do have a rather bulbous head.)

Kicked me in the ass (and still kicking)

SO.

I do like this pattern - Bacchus Socks from IK Fall 2008. And, I do like the way this ONE sock has turned out.

But lemme tell ya... if this sock up and threw itself out the window of my apartment, I wouldn't run downstairs to see if it made it. I'd draw the curtains, and turn off my lights like I did when that vase accidentally fell off of my window ledge and shattered all over the sidewalk. But, that's a whole other story. (No one was hurt.)

With this particular design, I discovered quite a few things. First, the Turkish cast-on. Achieved, but not without a lot of cursing. The Interweave Knits instructions were lacking, shall we say. So I turned to EZ and Meg. They tipped me off to the two circular needle way of doing it.

Did I have two circular needles in a size 1? Of course not. So the cursing continued.

My second discovery: no matter how much you pay for dpn's, they can break. Please see previous post.

Thirdly, the smaller the stitches, the harder to pick up dropped one's. Just sayin'.

Finally, the invisible cast-off. The annoyance built up inside of me since the instructions were for either 1x1 rib, or 2x2 rib. This pattern has a 2x1 rib. I know I know... easy enough to translate. But I just wanted to read instructions and follow them. Is that so wrong?

Again, EZ to the rescue! I did her sewn bind-off... purl through two, knit through first, pull off that stitch. Easy enough. The result... eh. It definitely isn't an invisible cast-off. But that's what happens when you take shortcuts.

I am not amused.



The punchline. Wait for it... wait for it...

The sock doesn't fit me.

!@#$%^&*

I was more than happy to splurge on a set of Lantern Moon Sox Stix. I already had one set, and really enjoyed using them.

So, on my very first go with my brand new Size 0 set I broke a needle. (Rosewood, btw.)



Like... seriously... WTF?! W. T. F.

I'm pissed. And oh so annoyed.

Men's Alpaca Scarf

Inspired from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts' Men's Cashmere Scarf. I didn't have cashmere on hand, but I had some nice rich gray alpaca.

I know I know, gray is so boring. But, I'd rather my recipient wear this scarf than admire the color as the scarf hangs on the back of a door.



Very easy, very quick and it only took two skeins of Misti's Baby Alpaca Chunky.

The edges do curl (argh), but some wet blocking took care of that.

Rainbow Sprinkles

I've been digging through books and sifting through ravelry.com trying to find quick yet impressive holiday gifts to make.

I stumbled across Elizabeth Zimmermann's Spiral Hat, also better known as the Snail Hat or Dairy Queen Hat. Personally being a huge fan of Dairy Queen, I looked at the "vanilla" colored hat in The Opinionated Knitter and remembered how I had always been such a sucker for anything with rainbow sprinkles on it.

I pulled out some Sheep Shop Yarn that was rainbowy, and got started.



A quick knit, but I'm not sure who this could go to. I think it's such a cool design, but wearable?

Be honest - do you think it's too goofy?

One for you; one for me

After making Shady a seed stitch scarf, I had to make one for myself. I loved the feel of the baby alpaca, and the look of the seed stitch.

I added fringe along one side of the scarf making it more blanket-y. I planned on doing both sides, but it looked a little crazy.



Used Misti Alpaca Chunky vs. Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky this time. Can't say that I notice a difference. Both super super soft and lovely to work with.

Thanks to 1/4 of an inch I found this kneat-o site!