A Present for Me

You may recall a few months ago I was obsessed with the Kureyon Felted Bag over at Booga J's site. I resolutely put it to the back of my mind until the Christmas knitting was done. Guess what? Christmas is over (let's not ask about the DNA scarf, it is still in progress!). Tisha and I took a trip down to Seaport Yarns , which is a great yarn store inside of a Marketing firm's office. Great selection, even better prices I really loved it and I hope to go back very soon. Anyway the point is look what I came home with:



I am going to cast on as soon as I finish the aforementioned DNA scarf (have I mentioned I hate charts?). I can't wait...

Looky Looky what I got...

My best friend Maribel loves me, I mean she really loves me! Check out what she gave me for Christmas:

You can check it out in more detail at the designer's web site here.

It's really cool and beautiful. Very sophisticated looking. It has tons of room. I currently have the back of the hooded sweater made out of Thick and Quick yarn in it and I still have plenty of room. I wish the little slots for accessories were larger and easier to use, but the one for my cellphone is perfect. I am very very happy with it. It also came with the cutest size 6 bamboo needles. I just love short straight needles, not that I use them much but I think they look adorable!

She also put this inside:

It seems very funny, although I've only read the first few pages.

I finished all the presents I needed to just in time. I must work on the DNA scarf to give to my cousin next week when she gets back. I also have to put together the first baby blanket that we all made squares for. I then need to start my squares for the next one. This time the squares are only 3" x 3" and it is made with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran so they shouldn't be much of a chore. Otherwise January will be devoted to the 3 sweaters I should have made for Christmas but didn't.

Hockey Knitting

I went to the Rangers Islanders game on Thursday. I am very happy to say the Rangers won! I am also happy to say that I finished the hat I was working on. It was something of a watchcap style for one of my co-workers. I did it in LB's Chunky USA which knits up softer than you would expect. I worked on it all through the game and finished the decreases when I got home.

The next day I was violently ill. I thought it was food poisoning but in the end I was running a very high fever, so maybe it was the flu. I was certainly achy enough once the stomach problems subsided. I was too weak to sit up so all I did was lay in bed, read and sleep. I couldn't even hold my needles.

Yesterday I felt much better so I cast on for a London Beanie, for my other co-worker. I wanted the thinner style hat to fit under his motorcycle helmet. He rides in everyday. It was this Sayelle Acrylic in a camouflage color that I had been trying to use for years. It is absolutely perfect for him. I finished it last night. I am about to cast on for the scarf for my boss. I am very torn about how complicated to make it. I was thinking of a Seaman's Scarf but I googled around and frankly I am not crazy about the style of that scarf in any of it's incarnations. I am thinking about this one Cameron's Scarf from this year's Knitlist Gift Exchange but since it must be done by Tuesday morning I am thinking I need something quick and easy. So we'll see which side of the fence I land on.

I got a bit of a reprieve on the DNA scarf which is the only reason I am allowing myself even the possibility of a another semi-challenging scarf. The intended recipient is away for the holidays and I won't see her until after new year. So I can focus on the toddler cap and one more skinny scarf made from Wool Spun this time. Those have to be done by Thursday.

I was devastated last night to discover, as I was 3 /4 s through the second mitten I was making, that I did not have enough yarn. I have never made mittens for men and completely misjudged how much I would need. It is nearly a full ball but I had used some for stripes in the mittens I made for my youngest last year. I was absolutely livid! Thankfully my much more even tempered husband told me to just rip them out and make a hat and so I shall.

Of course I was still too angry and disappointed in the yarn to pick it up again right away so instead I cast on for the Homespun Skinny Scarf was posted to the Knitlist. I am making it for one of the students who work for us here in our office. Tisha is making a scarf for the other student. I am about half way already so I hope to finish tonight and then I will cast on for the hat.

I've Got Pictures

I finally got up off my lazy ass and uploaded some pictures from my camera. I figured out awhile ago how to get pictures onto the blog but sitting down and loading them onto the PC from my camera, resizing them etc., was just beyond my energies recently. But finally, drumroll please, here is the muff...



and showing part of the inside...

"

So what do you think? I must thank my son Avery for being a model!

I finished one more mitten. I'm trying to work on my son's sweater as my weekend rule says I must, but this Cotton Thick and Quick is very hard on the hands so I may switch off to some smaller projects as well. I want to add a kangaroo pocket to the sweater but I think I need to do a little research to figure ou the best way. Next time I will just buy the Wonderful Wallaby pattern and not stress myself, but there was a great sale on this yarn.

11 days until Christmas

This was like the lost weekend. You would think that with the blizzard I would have gotten tons of knitting done. Alas it was not to be. I didn't even finish the second homespun hat until yesterday. How pathetic is that. Let's not even discuss that today is the first time I am even looking at my blog! I cast on again for my son's sweater, you may recall that I decided to work on sweaters exclusively on the weekends, but all I completed was the ribbing on the bottom of the back piece. Today I took the last pair of mittens with me for commuter knitting and hockey knitting. I am going to the Ranger game tonight and hoped to get some good knitting time in. The problem with that is forgot to bring the larger needle points that I must switch to once I finish the cuff. Damn!

Yet another unproductive day....

16 days until Christmas

I finally got it together and finished the muff and wrote out the pattern. I posted it to the Knitlist this morning but for my few faithfuls out there I thought I should post it here as well. I am hoping to have pictures up over the weekend so you can see just how adorable it actually is! Everyone who has seen it loves it and I have had requests to make some for more gifts (I said not until next year!). This one also attracted a lot of attention while I was KIPing. I had quite a few people comment on it on the subway. So I am feeling pretty damn good about my first original design....

Headband

1 ball of bulky yarn (A) (I used LB's Jiffy)
1 ball of Lion Brand Fun Fur (B)
Size 10 1/2 (US) needles
Gauge: 5 stitches = 2 1/2"
If you want to check your gauge bear in mind that your are casting on double the amount of stitches that you want.
For example for the headband I wanted it to be about 5" wide so that would be 10 stitches, therefore I cast on 20.

Cast on 20 stitches with yarn A.
Attach yarn B with slip knot.
Knit the first stitch on the needle with A. Purl the next stitch with B.
Continue until the end of the row.
At the beginning of the next row twist the 2 strands together so you don't have a gap.
Knit with B and purl with A.
Continue until it is the length you want. I did mine to 23" for an 11 year old girl.
I was a bit concerned about the elasticity of the fun fur, so I then added a small tab to sew velcro onto. Bind off all fun fur stitches only. Continue to knit st st for an inch or so more.
Bind off.
Weave in ends. Sew velcro onto the flap and the other side of the band.


Muff


1 ball of bulky yarn (A).
1 ball of Lion Brand Fun Fur(B).
Size 10 1/2 needles.

Cast on 80 stitches with A.
Knit in the same manner as above.
Continue until piece measures 11'' (or desired length)
When binding off I knit A and B together with A and then I bound them off.
Weave in ends. Sew seam.

I got the double knitting technique from here http://knitting.about.com/library/bldoubleknit.htm so if this is at all unclear you may want to look there for clarification.

So let's see where we are at the end of the holiday weekend. I completed 2 more gifts. The Fun Fur headband and a pair of mittens (made with LB Wool Ease Chunky). The Fun Fur handband came out beautifully and I am now working on the matching muff. The double knitting does work very well but I was a bit concerned about the elasticity of the band so I knit a 2" end piece in just the Jiffy yarn to put some velcro on. I think this will be helpful particularly since I was using my son's head for measurement instead of the young lady it is meant for. The only weird thing was the fact that the reverse side is what shows. Typically when I have done double knitting I have 2 sides of stockinette. This time I have a side with reverse stockingette and the fuzzy side which you can't tell at all but is reverse as well. I think it must be something about the Fun Fur, and the way it comes through the piece. It's fine though because the Jiffy side was always meant to be the wrong side anyway.
The mittens worked out ok after all the gauge issues. I had really hoped to finish a second pair before the end of the weekend, but I think I was mittened out. So I moved on to the muff last night during Alias, and that is coming along nicely. I think I will work on the remaining small gifts during the week and start working on the sweaters on the weekends when I have longer uninterrupted periods of knitting.

I have to admit to being a bit proud of myself because a lot of my Christmas stuff this year is being made with stash yarn, even if just in part. The Jiffy has been waiting around for 3 years for a project, as has this green camoflage Sayelle that I am using for a co-workers hat. They both came from an Ebay purchase I made when I first picked up knitting again, and as I went along I got a bit pickier about yarn so they were relagated to the bottom of the pile. The mittens were made with some leftovers from last Christmas as will the second pair. All in all I'm pretty happy, and my husband is quite impressed!

I am sending off my hat to Christina at Knitting Goddess #9, for her Hat-a-thon. I had the first hat I ever made still sitting in my stash as it was really too small, but it should be perfect for a child.

I have also joined Alison at the Blue Blog in the Holiday Gift Along. I am hoping it will help motivate me when my enthusiasm is waning. So far so good!

You'll notice I now have a link for comments, man ain't I moving up in the world. Now about those pictures....

What is the deal with me and getting the correct gauge. I realize I knit tightly. Typically this means that I need to go up a needle size on most patterns to get the correct tension, but then there are the other times, like today. I was swatching for the first of 2 mittens made out of Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky, which is exactly what the pattern is written for (not a common occurence in my knitting life). The recommended size is a 6, due to the fact that the mitten should be dense for warmth. I tried the 7, so not happening. I was a good inch off, so I go up to a 9. That gave me all of an additional 1/2 an inch. In the end I am working on 10 1/2s to reach the required gage of 4 stitches to the inch, which they wanted you to get with 6s! Damn am I glad I swatch.

I am also having huge issues with hats. I have made succesful, well fitting hats in the past, but lately they are all either too big or too small. I am trying to be a good girl and swatching in the round, but oddly enough that didn't answer any questions. Having swatched knitting straight I got 5 stitches to the inch. So I cast on using the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. It seemed way too big so I continued in stockinette for a few more rounds and measured my gauge, it seemed to be somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 stitches per inch. Except of course that would mean I cast on too few, not too many. It gave me a headache. In the end I took 10 stitches off and it seems to be fine.

I have such issues with the diagonal Scarf pattern. As you'll remember from the last one I made I couldn't get the end piece quite right. This time I ran out of yarn before I got to the end piece! So I frogged back the entire last section on the train this morning and I will knit the end piece on the way home and see how it goes.

I really want to be done by the time I get home so I can work on one of the fun fur projects. Of course I will need to find a different project to take with me to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow as the intended recipient will be there. I am just so damn thrilled I don't have to cook this year!!! My mother in law will be cooking in her house so there is no cleaning up required either.

Happy turkey day everyone!

I had a fairly productive weekend for a change. I finished the last square for the 1st baby blanket due here at work. Now I just have to wait for everyone else's squares so we can put them together. Of course the yarn just came in for the second blanket which is made up of smaller squares, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Can't wait to start those but that is a post Christmas project. I finished the LB Homespun scarf to go with the mittens so that is one gift off my list, yay me!

I started the diagonal scarf this time in LB Homespun (yes, I really like that stuff). I really love how it is going so much faster than the cashmere one, though not as beautiful of course. It's in sort of a bizarre colorway called Prairie. When I bought it I thought it was a beige with red, blue and purple stranded through but in the florescents it actually looks more like a green. It works really well with the pattern though because the colors pool nicely in each shortrow section.

I am hoping to finish by Thursday and then start working on mittens for the long weekend. I have 2 more pairs to make, each mitt usually takes me a day so I think I can really get somewhere if I work at it. That will leave the fun fur experimental projects as well as 2 DNA scarves, a toddlet helmet, 2 chenille hats and 3 sweaters. Thankfully the sweaters do not have to be done exactly by christmas as the recipients all know they are in the works.

I was on a business trip to Chicago at the beginning of the week so I faced the always hot issue of if I would be allowed to knit on the plane. I decided to leave the homespun scarf (that matches the already completed mittens) home as it was on metal needles. So I dug out a plastic circular needle and decided cast on the DNA scarf. All went well, they didn't even blink in the security line. Unfortunately I didn't get much done, not even a full pattern repeat.

Since I've been home the only thing I've done is finish the homespun scarf. Now I'm trying to finish the last square for the baby blanket. I just got the yarn for the sweaters I am making for christmas so I need to get my ass in gear. I have about 4 gifts done so far with many more to go...

In case you haven't noticed up in the left hand corner there I now have a cool new button courtesy of Missa, who will make a button for you if you ask her nicely.

My experiment went well. Basically I did a swatch using fun fur and Jiffy, double knitted. I want to make some accessories to go with the scarf I made but I am afraid fun fur won't be warm enough. So I want the fur to go on the outside with the regular yarn on the inside for warmth.

I'm hoping to actually write a real pattern for the pieces I make, so stay tuned...

So tomorrow is a relative term.

I am interrupting my knitting commentary to say Matrix Revolutions WOW! Kick ass! It's all the action that was missing from the second one and then some. Plot wise- well who really sees these things for the story. I mean it had all the good religious underpinnings, issues of faith and the importance of free will but I'm sure many people will think it quite full of itself for all of that. But I loved it. Jada Pinckett-Smith is my new hero, she is awesome! And Keanu still looks good to me after all these years.

My final word is go see if you go to the movies looking for fun but don't use to much brain power on it. Just let it wash over you.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled knitting.

I finished both mittens and hope to sew them up tonight so I can begin on my secret project. I hope to be able to post about it on Monday.

Ok I am finally far less frustrated. I have finished 2 squares for the baby blanket that finally came out at the right gauge (I switched to 10s). Tisha's scarf was still a problem in the end because the decreases for the final piece didn't work out right for me it just kept going after the edge of the scarf, so I frogged back a bit and did double decreases to compensate and it is better. I may go back and do it one more time starting the double decreases earlier or I may try to block the irregularity out. I haven't decided yet. The London Beanie was coming out too small so I need to rework but I considered the first 20 rounds or so my gauge swatch so I wasn't devestated by this discovery.

I recently finished a scarf made of Lion Brand Fun Fur in Lilac for my goddaughter. I plan on making a couple of accessories to go along with it but as I am actually attempting to design something fun and different I am not going to say much about it until I have found them to be successful!

I currently am chugging away on the second of a pair of Homespun mittens for my friend Leslie ( I have 2 Leslies in my life this is the East coast version). It 's in a pretty blue and gold colorway and I was quite pleased with the first one. I am also going to make her a matching scarf in a simple rib.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about Matrix Revolutions! No spoilers don't worry

I am in an extremely frustrated mood. I had to rip out the square I started for the group baby blanket because I was off gauge. Then I was working on Tisha's scarf and I had to keep ripping that out because I was either going in the wrong direction or I had dropped stitches. At one point I was so frustrated that when I pulled on the yarn for the next stitich I broke it (it is extremely fragile). So I put that aside. Then I discovered that my gauge was off on the sweater for my son, am I an idiot or what! Mind you it's not like I don't know better, I should have done a gauge swatch. But after a few inches I measured and I thought the gauge was fine, but I was wrong. It would probably still fit him since I had gone up a size but he wouldn't be able to wear it very long. So I will send it to the frog pond. I tried to go up a needle size but that swatch was too big. I am thinking of making the smaller size with the bigger needle. All to avoid math!

So I decided to re-do my husband's hat from last year. It was a too big and he's been asking me to fix it. So I pulled it out and have started the London Beanie pattern. It's actually going quite well. I started it on dpns which is usually a problem for me, but it's coming out quite well. I am on round 13, I have finished the ribbing and the increase row. I need some instant gratification to make me feel like I am a good knitter again.

Having calmed down quite a bit from my euphoria of yesterday, I had to find something new to excite me. I am completely obsessed with boogaj's Kureyon Felted Bag. I wish it was the beginning of the month so I could actually buy some Kureyon and start this bag (I only get paid once a month...it's a bitch let me tell ya). So I look at it a few times a day, dream of which colorway I will choose, send the link to all my friends and salivate when no one is looking. Maybe I'll find money in the street!

In the meantime our order from Herrschner's arrived. We got 8 skeins of Red Heart Baby Sport. Four of us here at work are going to do the Patchwork Baby Blanket from Knitting for Baby for a pregnant co-worker. We're going to have to double strand it, but the colors are gorgeous. We have 2 mint green skeins, 2 cream skeins, and for the main color 4 skeins of a varigated called seashore, which is blue, green , lavender and cream. There is some concern that it will be too boyish but we'll have to start knitting to really find out. The colors are all pretty soft though, and the lavender should balance the blue. Twelve 10x10 garter stitch squares, you want to talk about mindless, I'm thinking of bringing it to the gym at lunch time to do while I'm on the bike.

Ok I am really excited, my pictures were included in the Knitlist 2004 Calendar. Granted my life is somewhat pathetic if this is what I get excited about. Nonetheless I am excited. You can find it at CafeShops.com.
Check out September, I made the black and red Constant Companion bag and the liitle purple booties.

I think I really need to set aside a specific time to blog each day. Last week I kept meaning to do it but I just never did and suddenly the week was over. Oh well I'll try to do better this week. I finally got some links up to my favorite blogs thanks to Blog Rolling, yay!

I went to see Whale Rider this weekend, God that was a great movie! Everyone should see it...go now...don't worry it's out on video week after next so you don't have to rush out to a movie theater.

I'm feeling a little bored of my current projects. Tisha's scarf feels like it takes forever and it is very redundant in it's stitch pattern. My son's sweater is made with cotton thick 'n'quick so it is very, very thick. It feels like I am knitting with rope. That being said I have finished the back and I am halfway through a sleeve. I decided to do the front last because I want to try to add a kangaroo pocket and that will be the most complicated part of the project.

I took a break from them both over the weekend. I attempted a sock for my toddler with Bernat's Hot Sox yarn, but I got lost somewhere around the 6th round and started knitting on the wrong side. I guess I was paying too much attention to my son's soccer game (which they lost!). On Sunday I spent the entire day knitting a doll for my husband. Odd as that sounds, it was at his request. I adapted a garter stitch teddy bear pattern, into a superhero, Nightwing to be exact. For those who don't know Nightwing is Batman's first Robin, all grown up. He is my husband's favorite and he felt a need for a doll, but they don't make any plushes of this guy. It came out pretty well (I've given up on promising pictures one day they will be here, I just don't know when that will be!) just the head is a bit freaky. I may re-do it at a later time, but all in all for a day's knitting he was pretty impressive, and freehand at that.

Ok I've been a bit busy. I finished the basic bag. I am not overly thrilled with it. My seaming doesn't really work for it. I should have checked the page with Sally Melville's seaming suggestion but I was overly confident. Still it came out pretty well and once I sew in the lining and sew on the button I think it will be gift worthy.
Once I finished that on Saturday, I got out my beautiful handpainted cashmere hank to wind it into a ball. It was a nightmare. At first I had my husband hold it for me, that didn't work. Then I put around the back of a chair but it was too wrapped in itself so I just laid it down and started rolling the ball. It became a tangled mess. I was up until 2 in the morning working on it until I just couldn't do it anymore. When I woke up I went back to it. In total it took me 6 1/2 hours to finally get it into balls. To make matters worse it is so fragile that it kept breaking even with the slightest pressure.
Once I was done I cast on for the Short Rows Scarf. The cashmere is like knitting with air. I didn't get very far but I did get to the first short row section and it was really simple.
I decided for my travel knitting I should work on the hat and mitten set I want to make for the boys' baby cousin. I have a lycra merino blend in a beautiful rose variagated. The pattern for the hat said it could be done on circulars or dpns but once I cast on I saw there was no way that I could do it on the circular and unfortunately I don't have size 6 dpns so it will have to wait until payday.
So I needed another travel project, the scarf is portable but it's a gift for Tisha and we work together, and ride the train home together often so it would be hard keeping it a secret. I cast on for my eldest son's sweater. It is made with Lion Brand Cotton Thick and Quick so I am hoping it will go fast. It's a hooded sweater, in a blue varigated called denim. Of course being the trouble maker that I am I have already decided to add a kangaroo pocket, which it doesn't have and I didn't like the bottom edging. The pattern calls for 6 rows of stockinette and then 6 rows of 1 by 1 rib. I don't like the curling edge look especially not at the bottom of ribbing. So I did 12 rows of rib instead, it looks really good.

I haven't really done any knitting in the past couple days. On Monday I finished one side of the basic bag. I tried to pick up the stitches for the other side but I was just too sleepy. I somehow ended up about 10 stitches short so I pulled it out and went to bed. When I was getting ready for work yesterday I decided that I needed to take a break from it, plus I didn't really want to pick up the stitches on the subway. So I brought magazines that I needed to catch up on instead. I did spend lunch in a knitterly way as I was helping Tisha with her garter stitch baby sweater from Knitting For Baby which is coming out beautifully. She separated for the back and the sides yesterday, so she finished the back last night. I am quite impressed with it!

I picked up the cashmere this weekend to wind it into a ball, my eldest loves to sit and hold a hank for me, but I could not find the ends. I did find a knot in it so I am wondering if those ends that are knotted together are the actual ends of the hank. I couldn't get them apart and interestingly enough I could see white under the knot so I guess it was put there before the dyeing.

I should have gone back to the bag last night but I did laundry so that had me busy. I also exercised so I never even sat down to look at it. It's another reading catch up day. I will make sure I do it tonight. Her birthday is exactly one week from tomorrow. I need to get to work!

Finished my little guy's hat. It came out a bit larger than I planned so I decided to forgo the ear flaps and just add straps. I picked up 4 stitches on the inside of each side of the hat and then I did about 22 garter stitch ridges. It came out quite nicely.
The Mary Maxim Kashmere skein finally arrived today. I had ordered it about a month ago but after 3 weeks I called them to say it hadn't arrived. So they shipped another and it got here in 5 days. That's service! I wanted to test it for a sweater for my best friend Maribel. It's the Pebble Beach sweater from Interweave Knits Spring 2002. I haven't completely finished the swatch but I think it will work. It is pleasant to work with (especially for an acrylic), soft but not slippery. It also seems to have good memory. I suspect it would be great for cables.
Speaking of acrylic, I am working on the Basic Bag in Red Heart for my mother in law's birthday, which I just realized is in less than 2 weeks. The problem is I can't stand the feel of it anymore. I chose it on purpose because I wanted industrial strength durability, but since I bought it I have worked with merino and cashmere and who the hell wants to go back! But I refuse to become a yarn snob, it is exactly the yarn I want this bag to be made of so I just have to suck it up.

The booties are finished and they came out quite nicely. Now back to my Christmas knitting. I am taking a chance that my friend Tisha does not read my blog because I must tell you about the cashmere I bought on e-bay.

It's 100% handpainted cashmere, 350 yards of it. It is taupe, burgundy and blue. I am going to do a shortrow scarf for her. All of this is because of another blog that I read and she knits too. She tipped me off to the pattern and the yarn. All I can say is thanks!.

I will cast on as soon as I finish my little guy's hat. Which I ended up buying more yarn for instead of using the contrasting color. Hey I was in School Products they had it what was I supposed to do.

So I am really not very good at lace knitting. Where the hell did that come from you ask? Well I decided to make some booties for a friend's new granddaughter. I figured quick, easy get them done in a night etc. etc. So I found a cute pattern with lace cuffs pulled some baby yarn from my odd balls(baby soft by lion brand in twinkle very cute!) and started. I was doing ok until row 9 of the lace pattern, I was missing a stitch. I figured I was tired so I went to bed. This morning on the train I tried to tink back to find the mistake and what with the yarn overs and psso it was impossible. I ended up pulling the whole thing out and starting again very carefully. I was almost at my stop, I finish the 8th row and something's not right. I count my stitches and sure enough I am again 1 stitch short aargh!!!. I've decided to fudge it with a make 1 increase. I don't think it will be very noticeable.

I did a few rows on the basic bag last night while my son worked on his knitting. He finally seems to be getting it. He's up to 4 rows. I have him do 2 a night. I showed him the english way which is how all my friends do it, I for some odd reason knit continental. I also got to the color change on the baby's hat so I was quite prolific last night.

Hey I'm back. Work is finally calming down to a dull roar, so I have finally have a chance to breathe (and blog) again. I finished SFKB this weekend (up late watching Clerks on HBO). I am so not crazy about it. The armpits are way to low and I find the edgings way too unfinished looking, of course I haven't blocked it or even weaved in the ends yet so that may be a bit unfair. I am thinking I could pick up stitches around the bottom of the armhole and knit it higher but at this point I think I will put it away for awhile. It does fit great though so I am pleased about that.
I finished the mittens for my son which came out beautifully. I am now working on a hat for him with the same yarn but I think there is not enough to finish it. I decided to do a stripe with some merino that I have in a similiar (slightly darker) color. Then I will do the earflaps in the contrasting color and that should carry me through.
Having finished my sweater I have finally picked up stitches on the strap for my Basic Bag from Knitting Experience (still waiting for my Purl Stitch volume to arrive!). So I will work on that at home in the evenings and the hat on my commute. I am trying to cast on for a pair of socks to keep in the car (oops the car died this afternoon guess I don't really need that anymore!) but I am having a hell of a time getting them started, the stitches keep falling off or getting twisted. I don't mind working on dpns put I have a really hard time starting with them.

We have reached the insanity levels at work. This time of year is never fun but there comes a point where it is beyond all control and you just have to do your best to tread water. I don't know how often I will be able to post but I'll try to make it at least 3 times a week.
As for what's on my needles, I finished the scrub sack for the husband. It came out pretty cool, he seems to like it. I have cast on for mittens for my little one with the super yummy cotton cashmere blend I picked up at school products for a song. I haven't really done any work on my sweater but I have faith it will be done soon. I am doing the mittens for travel knitting and the sweater will be my evening knitting. It may take longer this way but it's the only way I can get moving on the Christmas stuff (the mittens and hat set are a present).
Speaking of presents, we have 3 babies expected at my job. We decided today that the knitters in the store will knit squares and we will put them together to make blankets (of course one of the expectant moms is one of the knitters lol). I have lot's of plans for baby stuff to make. They are all due in late winter early spring so I should have time after the holidays to make some nice sweater sets or something.

Blackout knitting...damn I didn't do any!!! We walked from my job in the Village up to 125th st, the streets were too crowded to pull out my needles. Then we crammed on a shuttle bus to take us across the bridge to the Bronx, definately not enough room to knit there. Then we crammed onto another bus and by the time I got a seat I was too exhausted to think. When we got home a little over 5 hours after we started I collapsed into a heap on the living room floor with the rest of my family (hey it was the coolest room in the house!) So I feel cheated.
On Friday I did some work on SFKB. Then we went to the park with the kids and my best friend, Bel came out to join us. She and I spent some time knitting on the bench. I was working on the honeycomb scrub sack for the husband, she was working on a scarf. That was fun. We got a pizza and made it a picnic.
Then we all came back up to the house where Bel and I drooled over the new Knit Picks catalog. We also checked out Mary Maxim where I had her pick out some yarn for her sweater (I'm not so good with the secret keeping). That was it. My ISP went out over the weekend, a day after the blackout so I couldn't work on getting my pictures up. All in all not a very productive weekend, but at least it was pretty relaxing.

So tired...must... stay... awake... to post on my blog...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well I was hoping to talk about adventures in short rows tonight but upon looking at my half done sweater this morning I decided to measure my favorite tank top for length. Once I did I discovered that I would need two more inches than originally planned to make it the length I like. So I need to go a bit further before trying the short rows.
Meanwhile I am seriously thinking about making the sweater that my best friend asked me for over a year ago (when I was still sweater-phobic). I am not sure why I feel accomplished enough to tackle this now considering I have not even finished the sweater I started (and technically never will since it has mutated so far from when I started), but what the hell you gotta take the plunge sometime.
It's a cute hooded sweater from the Spring 2002 Interweave Knits. It's actually the cover picture. They made it with Garnstudio Karisma Angora-Tweed but I don't think I will. I think it's time to hit the yarn shops and start fondling!

I've decided that it's no crime to not blog on the weekend. There are never enough hours in the day anyway. I'm about halfway done on SFKB. Tomorrow I will start playing around with the short row shaping. It may or may not work with the style of this sweater but I figured it was a good project to play with since it's sleeveless and quick to knit (so if I have to frog it back it won't take me forever to knit it back up).
Now I'm looking for a beret pattern to knit up for my 10 year old cousin for Christmas. I'm sure everyone is quite impressed with all my early holiday planning, now let's see how much of it actually gets done.
Didn't really get to do much work on the web site to get my pictures up. But hopefully it will happen soon. I did finally get my e-mail link working on this page so I can say I achieved something.

So yes I am a horrible blogger, I mean my first week and I've already missed two days! Honestly it's been insane at work and I must admit I have been happily obsessed with the new Greg Rucka novel Fistful of Rain. If you have never read Mr. Rucka then run, don't walk to your local bookstore and pick up Shooting at Midnight absolutely one of the best books I have ever read, with one of the coolest characters around, and I am not just saying that becauses she's a tough white chick from the Bronx (like me!?!) although it helps. His other books starring Atticus Kodiak are great also, Shooting is a spin off from that series. The new one was completely different. It's about a rock star who gets kicked off her tour for being an alchoholic and the sinister things that happen when she gets home.
Obviously not much knitting has been going on. I'v done a little work on the SFKB but not much. I do like it better now. Last night I started a scrub sack for my husband using a honeycomb slip stich that I got from Liz Maryland's Crafty Bitch Stitch of the Week. But I'm not crazy about the way it is turning out I think I will frog it and switch to the trinity stitch.
I hope to get some work done on the blog this weekend including getting some pictures up. I have web space from the University I work for so I am hoping to get them up on it. We'll see how it goes.

So I'm riding the train home last night, knitting away on my Brisa and I take a really good look at it - and it hits me- I don't like it. I think I was trying too hard to like it because I really wanted to finish my first sweater, but this is why knitting is so cool, I can take the things I like about the sweater, discard the things I don't like and voila! a new sweater is born. So when I finished dinner last night I frogged it back to the ribbed portion. From here I will continue in plain stockinette until I reach the bust when I am going to attempt to try Bonne Marie Burns' short row shapping lesson, we'll see how that goes. Then back to the pattern for the straps. Thus the birth of the sweater formerly known as Brisa or SFKB as my husband like to call it.

I've never really been one to follow a pattern slavishly so I'm not sure why I got so caught up in doing it on this one. I suspect it's because I am more than a little intimidated by making a piece of clothing. Gauge matters so much more, measurements are very important etc. Most things I make I have a bit of leeway with one way or the other so I'm not as afraid to experiment.

As a consolation to the wonderfully gifted designer of Brisa, Theresa Vinson Stenersen,(like she's crying over my opinion) I really think that it's the yarn that makes me dislike the way the sweater was turning out. It's a beautiful light blue, very soft and a pleasure to work with but I think it is far too limp for the lace pattern. It needs a bit more stiffness to it to hold it nicely (though of course that may have been solved in the blocking but I'm not that patient right now).

Now I need to get to work to finish it. I've decided that I am going to wear for the first day of classes here at work. It is so insane and stressful that day that I think it would very empowering to wear it. Besides my co-worker ( and 1 of my official knitting proteges) showed me the scarf she is making for herself out of the merino lycra blend that we picked up at School Products. It is a lovely red colorway and it is so gorgeous that I can't wait to start the hat and mitten set I am making for my toddler cousin for Christmas.

So I have finally gotten around to starting my blog. Let's see how disciplined I am about posting! So currently I am working on Brisa from the Summer issue of Knitty. I got a little frustrated at one point and put it down. I then made a child's hat and mittens set to send to Afghans for Afghans. Which will not arrive in time for their August 1 deadline. I'm just glad they can use it for another shipment. I am using Sonata from Elann for my Brisa, I finally picked it back up yesterday and have been plugging along. I am in the ladder lace section but the holes kind of drive me nuts so we'll see if this thing manages to stay out of the frog pond. It's my first sweater so I have high hopes.