Friday, September 30, 2005

Yin-Yang

2 packages in 2 days! Now what could this be? Oh my lawd, a big honking hank of Skacel Merino Lace, 100% hand-dyed for me! Natasha, you are too kind. Too too kind. The colors are so delicious that I am at a loss for words. Heck it looks gorgeous on a hank that I might just wear it as is. How's that for a new fashion statement? And look, she even included a card. Aww... she called me "beeeutiful". Thank you so much, Natasha. Truth be told, this has been a crappy week. Only 2 more experiments to go and I would have completed my thesis, and the machine flat out BROKE and had to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repair. I have a conference to go to at the end of the month and the timing couldn't have been worse. What can I say? There's the yin and the yang. Cursed in experiments, blessed in the stash department. A certain knitter dubbed me the Crazy Speedknitting Lady.. girl, it ain't that crazy when you're stressed out over work and can't sleep at nights. Those wee hours in the morning just bought me precious knitting time. So if you happen to drive by my neck of woods and see the light on at 4am in the morning with the moving shadow of a knitter, it's me. Stressed on research, and knitting like a maniac (and constipated, of course. We must not leave out the important details.)
I don't know what I am going to make with this yet, but I know that it has to be divine. Incidentally, isn't life funny? I just totally blogged about how great Skacel Collection is yesterday and today I receive a hank of yarn by Skacel. Ah, the mysteries of life.

posted by winnie @ 6:25 PM 1Comments:

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Double Happiness

Now I am slower than most when it comes to finding good patterns, but ever since I saw this little number on Elann I've been very tempted by it. But to order all those yarn just to have a peek at the pattern? I think not. To my knowledge, this pattern book has sold out and is out of print. The last glimpse I had of it was on Ebay and sold for 20 buckaroos (not including shipping.. which was.. like.. another 6 bucks). Undaunted, I googled the internets and found one knitter who referenced this pattern book. Lucky for me, Kim of http://curliegirl.blogspot.com/ is kind enough to send me her copy in exchange for the Japanese wool yarn that I used to knit Stephanie's Spring Grass Socks. Whew, that was a long sentence. In addition to the lovely bomber on your left, I also fell in love with this cala-lily sweater here.
Guess I have to re-evaluate my opinion on sweaters knit w/ chunky yarn huh? And wait, there's more. How about this sweater that is on every knitting magazine this fall? So there is another point to this story here. After I sent my first email to Kim about this pattern book, I also emailed Schoeller-Stahl to see if they have copies of the bomber and the cala-lily sweater that I can perhaps purchase - cuz I thought my chances of Kim parting with this pattern book would be slim. Turned out that Skacel Collection is the US distributor of Schoeller-Stahl, and one of their representatives emailed me back saying that though the pattern is out of print, he could make photocopies of the 2 patterns that I like for me. Yipee! Instead what I found on my doorstep today was THE WHOLE PATTERN BOOK with a note that said: (note the pink pen)And then there were two....
Update: So Andrea brought up a question. "Will I be willing to part with one?" The answer is Yes. I received the pattern book from Kim as a trade - my sock yarns for her pattern. The second one was just by sheer dumb luck. If you love the patterns as much as I do, we could always do a My Duplicates for Your Duplicates trade. No duplicates? Make an offer - Cream Puffs sound good to me. Ha ha. Try me - I'm easy (in a good way.. tsk tsk tsk)

posted by winnie @ 8:50 PM 12Comments:

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

I blame it on Diana

That's right, girl, it's all you. 13 balls of Den-M-Nit in Dark Indigo to make Raspy. Let's hope I have enough, or else I'm gonna cry.
Inspired by Wendy, Terhi, Joy, Kris and Crafty Wench's detailed analysis of the denim yarns. But all in all, I blame it on Diana. There I've said it. Come and get me.
Update: Uh oh.. are my eyes playing tricks on me? Shouldn't I get wider swatch with the sz 6's? Should I resort to Sz 4 and 5 for my Raspy?

raspy swatch

posted by winnie @ 9:30 PM 3Comments:

The sweater that knit itself

Look no further people, cuz I kidnapped the knitting fairy. After fiddling around with the Barf Opal without success, I rolled it up and threw it to the side so it can evaluate what it had done wrong. Then it suddenly occurred to me :"When was the last time I showed a finished knitting sweater on this blog?" Too damn long ago that's when! Armed with my Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and the whacked out Rebecca pattern, I summoned the knitting fairy and told her that she needs to sprinkle some magic dust in this household. Voila! This baby started knitting itself last friday night and magically finished in 5 days. 5 days people! That's a piece a day. Holy cow, they don't call her the knitting fairy for nuthin'. So that's a little preview before the seaming party this weekend. Hm, need to summon the seaming fairy too. Heck, I even got some buttons. So which one do you think will work better? Yea I know this indoor lighting is crap for true colors.. but you get the idea. (The sizes are about the same.. just so you know)

Now some of you may wonder: "It's already Fall. What the hell is she doing with a summer sweater? She must be on crack!". That's right my friends. Come on, we're in L.A - Land of Hollywood and Fake Everything. It's all about the looks here. Fashion ladies, not function. My titties may be freezing, but I'll look hot! (okay.. you may all boo now. I totally deserve that).

posted by winnie @ 4:07 AM 19Comments:

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Self Patterning Woes

Meet Exhibit A -- the highly acclaimed, highly coveted sock yarn. Her name is Opal.
So after knitting a few pairs, I thought I had gathered enough experience to splurge for a pair of Opal socks. You know, just to see what it's like. So I bought Exhibit A, pulled out a few yards of the yarn, saw that it had two repeating segments, and pondered: "Hm, self patterning. That should be interesting." I went about my usual routine - you know, the Sz 0 toothpicks and 60sts for my toe-ups, and knit knit knit. Holy crap. The stockinette looks like barf. Okay.. since it's so crazy looking, might as well throw in a Chevron pattern to see if that helps any. Woah.. more barf. Okay.. maybe.. ribbing would help - you know, conceal the color changes. Knit knit knit.. ah shit, that trick is for self-striping socks. Duh. Then I thought: "Must be the toe-ups. It's screwing with the patterning. Oh man.. does that mean I gotta do 'em top down?" So, CO 60 sts and knit a few rows just to see if any pattern emerges. Do you see any? Well, yea, neither do I. Self-patterning my ass. Is there some kind of a magical CO # that I'm missing? Shoulda gone with the Opal Uni's instead. Bleh.

posted by winnie @ 4:35 AM 7Comments:

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

For Anna

Well lookie here, what's that? Oh a finished Backyard Leaves Scarf for Anna!
Backyard Leaves -SYNO
Pattern: Backyard Leaves (Scarf Style)
Materials: 3.25 balls of Knitpicks Merino Style (DK weight) in Petal (123 yds/ 50gms), Sz 5 needles
Notes: I've always wondered about Knitpicks' 100% merino yarn and lucky for me, Anna happened to choose this yarn for her SYNO scarf. This yarn is soft, albeit a bit halo-ish when knit up, but is delightful to work with. The original pattern used a worsted weight yarn and Sz 7 needles, and since my original attempts with sz 6 seemed a bit holey, I dropped down to sz 5's. The resulting scarf is drapey and soft, and I hope Anna likes it. It's my first attempt at knitting for another fellow knitter, so I hope the results are up to par.
The book does not tell you how to graft the two halves together other than telling you to match the leaf veins -- which I found impossible to do. The 10 CO sts in the beginning were done provisionally, so in the end I just put those 10 sts back on the needle and picked up the 5 additional sts from the 3rd row and kitchener stitched it. Since I have no shame, here's the grafted portion. Before blocking, the scarf looked very 3D. I kinda liked it the way it was, but that would be a pain to wear. So in the end, it became the 2D version after blocking.
Anna, I hope you like it. If not, let me know what I could have done better to improve it so my next participation in swapping knitted items with other knitters will be better!

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posted by winnie @ 12:27 PM 6Comments:

Friday, September 16, 2005

Runway =/= Realway

spring grass knee high
Just a few pictures before I bind off. Some wonkiness in the increases.. will improve later on. Now, girls, what the hell do I wear these with? I am definitely not a mini-skirt kind of gal.
Update: Every year, when fall rolls around, all fashion magazines start featuring knee highs and stockings in bazillion colors featuring shots of models in their high heels. Sure it looks interesting on the pages, but let me tell ya girls.. runway doesn't equate to real way. Come on, how would you wear this out on the streets? (feel free to ignore my rolled up jammies. Yea and that indoor apt lighting..ignore that one too)
Runway?
P.S. Each sock requires less than 180yds for a 60 sts foot and ankle, 64-68 sts calf, then back to 60sts just below the knee.

posted by winnie @ 11:53 PM 12Comments:

Thursday, September 15, 2005

SYNO progress + Sock

This is what I have on the Backyard Leaves for Anna so far. I'm knitting both halves at once, so I can avoid the 2nd half syndrome. Merino Style is wonderfully soft for this scarf, and I'm knitting the scarf on Sz 5 needles as opposed to the sz 7'z mentioned in the pattern. Then again, the pattern called for a heavy worsted weight yarn while I'm knitting with a DK weight. I hope to get this done soon and send it off so Anna won't be cold and scarf-less in Canada. I hear Ottawa is an icebox in the winter. Just to prove to y'all that I do knit with colors other than pink, here's my progress on Stephanie's Spring Grass socks. I have some fingering weight 100% wool Japanese yarn in my stash and it wants to be these socks. I charted out the lace pattern in Excel so it's easier for me to follow and so far, knitting these have been a breeze. They want to be knee-length socks. Psst.. I forgot to mention that I used Purly White's tips on YO Short Row toes for these babies. Much much better than the wrap short rows. She posted an awesome demo and you should all check it out!

posted by winnie @ 4:04 AM 5Comments:

Clapotis : Take 2

Pattern: Clapotis from Knitty
Materials: Handpainted Merino from Uruguay, 3.5 balls (supposedly 218 yds per skein. I still feel I was shorted), Sz 7 circular needles (Gotta love Denise Interchangeables)
Notes: Soft, warm and non-itchy. Forgot how many repeats I did on this one, just kept knitting until I felt it was the right length.
Update: Thank you all for your lovely compliments! I've received a few questions in regards to where I purchased my yarn. It's from an ebay seller under the name 100purewool. Just make sure you got more yarn than what you THINK you actually need. And while you're at it, if you have a yarn meter, please check whether or not they really come in 218 yd hanks. Don't want you to run into yarn shortage problems like I did.

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posted by winnie @ 3:58 AM 11Comments:

Monday, September 12, 2005

At long last...

The yarn for my SYNO swap has finally decided to appear at my doorsteps, on my birthday too! Funny how that turned out. Took the US postal service long enough. I will be knitting Backyard Leaves for Anna. It's interesting too, since I have been dying to try out Knitpick's Merino Style, and that's exactly what she sent. In pink nonetheless. I predict it's going to be an enjoyable knit.And on top of that, she sent a pack of Canadian delicacy - Smarties! Wow the last time I had those was.. um.. when I was still in college. Brings back some fond memories. And the packages didn't stop there. My 1 skein of yarn from Uruguay arrived today too - I guess that means finishing the Clapo2 won't be too far ahead. Perfect for fall.
Oh, I've been tagged by Miss McSpazzitron. It's one I did in July, so here's the link to it.

posted by winnie @ 5:02 PM 2Comments:

Happy Birthday to me

I'm 26 today. And in addition to the lovely yarn winder, check out what else my BF got me! Yea, I know.. shameless blogger. Bwa ha ha ha.... not only does it store ALL of my favorite tunes, it allows me to listen to my favorite radio station too. hm.. gots to have my updates on wordly events and new tunes on NPR.

posted by winnie @ 2:15 AM 7Comments:

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

When in doubt, accessorize.

Finally finished BF's socks.
Pattern: 4x1 rib, 68 sts to 7", 68+2 sts for 1" (8"), then 68+2+2 sts until 9" before turning heel. For a man's US sz 9 feet. BF likes them a little snug.
Materials: Sz 0 needles, Trekking XXL Color 111 (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 100g/ 459yds)
Just having fun with Photoshop. And oh yea, the headband is a Finnish pattern and the translation can be found here. I used 2 strands sportsweight yarn with US sz 5 needles. I think the pattern is written for worsted weight yarn.
Edit: Just discovered two beautiful sock patterns. Click here.

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posted by winnie @ 3:14 AM 6Comments:

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Hi Mom, it's me, Casper the Friendly Ghost!

100% inspired by Emily Mills. Here's my two-cents.

Yarn: Nature Araucania Wool Chunky
Needle Size: 11 circs
Notes: For this hat, I based the directions on Knit One Felt Too's Classic Cloche, and used some cream colored wool I had lying around. After felting repeatedly in my teeny tiny bathroom sink (now I understand why Emily Mills charges $200-300 for a hat.. damn.. that was hard work), I took my scissors and went at it. Oh, did ya notice my awesome hat blocker? It's a round bowl stacked on top of my IKEA pot. Just the perfect size, 21-22" around. For the embellishments, I bought a yard (who sells roving in yards? Don't they sell them by weight?) of orange roving at my LYS when I picked up a set of felting needles. From then on it's just stab stab stab stab... very therapeutic if you ask me. Good workout for the flabbies on the arms too....

You didn't think that's all did you?....BAM!


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posted by winnie @ 5:09 PM 20Comments: