And, I'm back...

Sorry for the long long absence. I haven't really been anywhere or done anything out of the ordinary. I'm not sure where the time went. It just when Whoosh! and now it's almost August. I can't believe it.

I can blame a couple of the weeks on my computer being dead. But now it's all better.

I have been working on Road to Golden (ravelink). (This is my swatch from the beginning of June... I'm using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes.)



It's thisclose to being done, but there's an error in the stitch count for the yoke. And not just a few stitches off. Like a whole sleeve off.
I've knit and ripped twice already and over it.
First time I couldn't get my head through the opening. Not good.
Second time I could have been in Flashdance. Also not good.
It's on time out while I figure out a new plan of attack.

Oh, and fun news. I'm substitute teaching my first knitting class tomorrow evening. Wish me (um, and the new knitters) luck!

Drinking the Kool-Aid

First off, thank you all so much for your responses to my last post. I really feel like we have such a great community here in blog-land. There's so much love and positive energy - you're awesome!

Secondly, congrats to Rebecca who won the contest. I'll be sending you some goodies soon!

I entrusted my wonderful husband with the task of choosing the winner:


In other news, I've recently been drinking the spinning Kool-Aid. My lovely mother got me a drop spindle class with Kristine of A Verb for Keeping Warm at Article Pract.

Spinning is really, really difficult to do correctly, but it's also fun. It might start to take away from my knitting time. And I might already be stalking more blogs of knitters who also spin.

It's amazing that in less than a week, I've turned a pile of wool like this


into yarn like this.



It might not be smooth or pretty or evenly spun, but it's yarn. And I made it. How cool is that?
We have a second class meeting tomorrow where we'll learn how to ply and try spinning other fibers.

Earlier this week I fell down at etsy.com and ordered some more fiber. Like I need another stash...

This could be bad.

Happiness

Today, my 28th birthday, I'm trying to concentrate on what is good in my life. So often I get wrapped up in what I want and think I deserve instead of concentrating on the wonderful things already in my life that make me happy.

I have a family that loves me, a wonderful husband who takes great care of me, a job that keeps me well stocked in yarn, and a roof over my head. I really have very little to worry about.

And yet, I do. Constantly. About getting a new job, about paying the bills, about everything. I hate it, and I'm trying to be better. I'm working on appreciating the little things. I'm trying to not be grumpy. I'm trying to smile more.

In this light, I've decided on the theme for this year's birthday/blogiversary contest! Happiness.

Please leave a comment here, or send me an email (branderson2006ATgmailDOTcom) telling me what you're grateful for in life. What makes you happy?

Entries received before Friday May 16 at 11:59pm will be entered into a random drawing for some yummy yarn. Or, if you're not into that, we'll work something out.

Thanks for playing. Have a great day!

Go wish Nova and Rangsiwan a happy birthday too!

Can you believe?

My blogiversary almost slipped by me again... Two years. I can't believe it!

What a wonderful endeavor this has turned out to be.

Thanks to all of you who visit, read, comment and/or link to my little corner of the blogosphere. You're the best!

Stay tuned for the second annual birthday/blogiversary contest - coming on Monday!!

Kusha Kusha

I only have one word for this one: fabulous.







I really love how it turned out. It might have used a little more felting, but I think it still looks great.



Pattern: Kusha Kusha scarf. Available from Habu as a kit or from the Purl Bee.
Yarn: 1 cone Habu A-21 silk stainless, color 3. 1/2 cone Habu N-58 soft merino, color 18.
Needles: Size 8, 7, 4 and 3 circs.
Gauge: nah.
Start date: March 22, 2008
Finish date (felting & everything): April 28, 2008

Oh, the possibilities

Don't you just hate it when you wake up on Monday morning, get ready and ride the train to work, only to find out that your office has been 'locked down' because of possible asbestos contamination? Yeah, me too.

What will I possibly do with a whole extra day? Goodness, I hope I can find something...

Also, thanks for the comments on the Phildar sweater. Reading my post now, I see I was a little too emphatic on the "omg this thing took forever" as opposed to the "omg I love it." It was a total PITA to finish, but I did finish it. And I really love it. The yarn is fabulous; the buttons are beautiful. It's pretty cute too. I think I'll wear it a lot!

Hope you have a gorgeous Monday.

HSADTFFFO*

So, it's March. What do you say to the first FO post of 2008 here at LK? I know, right? Crazy talk.







The Phildar Asymmetrical Sweater is finally finished. Alert the press.

Pattern: Asymmetrical Sweater from Phildar Tendances 456 Fall 2006 (Ravelink)
Yarn: RYC Silk Wool DK (13 or 14 skeins) (Ravelink)
Needles: US size 4 Inox circs and size 2 Addi Lace circs
Buttons: from Britex. I love that place.
Started: February 14, 2007
Finished: March 22, 2008

What I learned: ribbing sucks. No really. In a lot of ways. All ribbing = no waist shaping, and really it's the waist shaping that keeps me going when I'm knitting a sweater. It's something to look forward to. Something to pay attention to.

And really, the freakin ribbing is the only reason this sweater took more than a year to finish. Ok, so, imagine if you will. You're knitting along on the back, you pull out your measuring tape and think, "Wow, what great progress I'm making. I'm almost ready to start the armhole shaping." And then you streeeetch it out and pin it down and think, "Oh, I actually have about eleventy billion more centimeters to go before I start the armhole shaping. Awesome!" Because, logically, this thing loses height when you stretch out the width. Right? So eventually you start counting rows going, "Ok, so if a train leaves Philadelphia at approximately 3.4 rows per centimeter, and it's already traveled 29 centimeteres, how many rows until we get to New York?" Rangsiwan might not remember, since it was about six months ago, but she saw some of this algebra in action. She was sitting nicely knitting on her sock, and I was mumbling and cursing to myself and frantically working out math equations on the back of the pattern. Nice first impression.

Anyway, I also learned how to graft live stitches to a cast off edge. The button bands are grafted onto the edge of the sweater fronts, which was a bit mind-bending for a while. I can graft the toes of socks closed, but I just could not make it work in this case. Then Montse Stanley walked into my life and made it all better. For some reason the up/down description she uses (as opposed to the knit-/purl-wise directions I had been using) made so much more sense.

And, I guess since it's now officially spring, this little friend joined us momentarily during our photoshoot.

So precious.

Right, so hopefully there will be more FOs around here soon.

*Holy Shit, About Damn Time Freakin' Finally Finished Object

Stitches West

Ok, I know I'm like WOW late with my Stitches West wrap-up post, but here goes anyway.

I got the goods.


Clicky for details.

This was my first Stitches. I took my mom and we had a fabulous time. But I have no pictures. Not camnesia per se, but memory card-nesia. Had the camera, just couldn't take pictures. Great job. I also forgot my knitting on Thursday. Dork. Here's proof we were really there.

We signed up for a class, so got to go to the market preview on Thursday. The market was definitely overwhelming. So much yarn! So shiny!

I had a plan of attack all lined up, my map with little stars and notes and highlighted names and a pocket full of cash with YARN written all over it. I made a total fool of myself and got Cookie A's autograph. I became an instant enabler and my mom went from "not going to buy anything" to spending almost as much money as I did.

I got plenty of what I had wanted (see above). But, not all. You'd think with a warehouse full of yarn, I could get anything my little heart desired. First off, I missed out on Norah Gaughan Vol. 2 and Malabrigo worsted in Azul Profundo, but most disappointing was the yarn for Venezia (ravelink). I wanted to knit it in two colors (like this one), but other than Black Water Abbey's fingering yarn (that only comes in natural sheep colors), I didn't see any appropriate fingering sweatery yarn. It was either superwash or too heavy or too light... Poo.

So, what's a girl to do with $100 left at the end of a yarny weekend? Order from KnitPicks of course. Palette saved the day, and now my Venezia is only costing $20. Nice.

The class I took was Design your Dream Sweater with Leslye Solomon on Sunday morning. I have thought about trying my hand at designing, but was always too freaked out by the math and the thought of making it fit together right. Like the armscye? First of all, what the heck is an armscye, and secondly how do I make it the right size? Eek. But Leslye had some really good tips and now I'm not so afraid. Now if people would just stop publishing patterns I like maybe I could convince myself to design my own. My mom took a class on log-cabin knitting, and has decided that she hates garter stitch.

Stitches was completely amazing. We had a lovely time!

Let the yarn diet commence!

Crisis averted

It has recently come to light that either I shouldn't be allowed to knit and watch movies at the same time, or that I'm just an idiot.

Saturday morning I had proudly reached arm-hole level on the Cambridge Jacket and asked the Man if it was long enough. I held it up to his back and yelled in anguish.

Exhibit 1:


Can you see it?

Exhibit 2:


Hi, I'm an idiot.

The sweater was promptly put on a "time out" until further notice. But, with some coaxing and encouragement from my LYSO, I fixed it on Sunday afternoon.

Exhibit 3:

I got myself to the correct stitches. And then triple checked to be sure I really was at the correct stitches. I dropped them off and pulled them out, and then crocheted them back up properly.

Exhibit 4:

Ta da! All fixed. What a relief.

And what comes dragging behind...

So, now that we've seen what I accomplished last year, let's take a look at what is still lingering...

In first place, the long-languishing Hex Coat:



This is not a recent picture, but it's all I have at the moment. Started in June 2006! All the pieces are finished and seamed up. And I've knit three of the hexes. And I can't muster any more. I'm just not convinced that I'll ever wear it, but I can't bear to rip it, so I ignore it.

Any suggestions?

Coming in second, the U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits:



Again, not the greatest picture. But see the green blob that isn't the Hex Coat? Yeah, that. I've had a bunch of Patons Canadiana (read 100% acrylic) in the stash for 5 years or so and figured I should do something with it. But I'm such a yarn snob these days, I just can't even handle it. So, it's going to get ripped and the yarn donated somewhere. Nice. Check one off the list.

Ok, third. Last seen here, the Phildar Asymmetrical Cardigan:



Once again, I'll apologize for the outdated photo. This was seamed up over the long Thanksgiving weekend, and is just waiting for the stupid buttonbands to be grafted on. I tried three times and couldn't make it look right, so it has been in a time out. Time to pick it up and finish it once and for all.

And fourth, the Gentleman's Dahlia Socks:



I finished the first one in September, and put it down for more interesting projects. But, I cast on for the second one this week and am carrying it around with me. Yay for transit knitting.

Ok, are you still here? Finally, we come to the Faux Russian Stole:



Knit out of my own KoolAid dyed Knit Picks yarn, this is still chugging along. There is a lot going on with the pattern, and is definitely not a lace chart that I would ever be able to memorize. But I haven't abandoned it, and still sit down and knit a few rows when I have a moment and a brain.

This week I cast on for the Cambridge Jacket for the Man, so there's that too... and my Ravelry queue.

I am hoping to do wrap up all of these WIPs shortly. There are a few deadline projects coming up which will hinder my progress, but I'm looking forward to having no "Hibernating" projects in my Ravelry profile. (More details about each project are available to Ravelry beta-testers here. Or you can just ask.)

Have a great weekend!!

2007 craftiness

What a year it has been.

Thank you so much for supporting my little piece of the blogosphere. I appreciate every visit and comment.

Happy New Year! May 2008 be the best year yet :)

Salina

NaKniSweMo was a success!






Pattern: Salina from Rowan Vintage Style, size Small (34in)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in Phantom, 6 balls
Needles: Size 4 Inox circs, Size 2 Addi Lace circs
Mods: 36cm sleeves just wasn't going to cut it, so they got increased to about 41cm. They're still a bit on the short side.



What I learned: Project monogomy can produce miracles. I really didn't think I'd be able to finish a whole sweater in a month. I cast on on 11/2, and finished on 11/30. Amazing, especially considering the Phildar cardigan has been on the needles since February and still isn't finished.

So yeah that, and backstitch is my new best friend. I was running low on time, and decided I didn't have time to do mattress stitch for all the seams. (For some reason I've always thought matress stitch was the 'right' way to seam.) Not anymore. The seams on this sweater are perfect. The sleeves fit into the sleeve caps without wonkiness the first time. No pulling out and doing over. And it's so much easier! And I'm not saying this just because I was on deadline. I really think this is my best sweater yet. The Man agrees.

I couldn't be more pleased. Three cheers for NaKniSweMo!!

A quiet month

Sorry to have been out of touch lately. Knitting progress is being made, and I hope to come back from a long Thanksgiving weekend away with a few FO's (or a lot of FO's if I'm lucky) to show you.
Have a beautiful and safe holiday if you're celebrating, and a wonderful week if you're not.
I am thankful for all of you! Thanks for being here.

Phildar Cardigan cont., or, somebody blocked me!

Over the weekend I took your advice and got up the gumption to block the Phildar cardigan. In water, even. I used my fabulous common sense skills and figured that if I ever wear this thing, I will eventually need to wash it, and so will have to wet block it at that point. So I went ahead and did a trial run.

(Thank you, by the way, for all the helpful comments last time!)

And I took pictures for your benefit. (This is just what I did for this piece. YMMV and all that. For a really good blocking tutorial, look here to the master.)

First I gathered all my tools.

Blocking wires purchased for this momentous occasion, yard stick with centimeter marks since this is a European pattern, measuring tape, lots of pins, thick towels, garbage bags and the pattern.

Then I set all of the pieces to soak in the sink with a little Eucalan for good measure.


Once the pieces were thoroughly wet I pinned each out one at a time. First I rolled them in the towels to get as much of the water out as possible. Then I inserted the blocking wires into the straight edges. Because of the ease provided by the ribbing, the pattern didn't call for waist shaping. This really saved me a lot of pins. And then I pinned out the shaped bits.

I know some people prefer to block on towels, but I think garbage bags on carpeted floor or a spare bed provide the best surface. Since towels absorb water, it seems that it would take twice as long to dry. But, hey, that's just me.



The most difficult part of the blocking was squishing the pieces down to the appropriate dimensions. Before they were blocked, the pieces were too narrow and too long. During the blocking I stretched them to the appropriate width, but had to prod and coax them down to the right length. But that's what blocking's for, right?

When the pieces were dry, I found that all my fears of flattened ribbing were unfounded. The ribbing sprung back nicely while still keeping the right size and shape. Hoorah!

Seaming and all other finishing duties have commenced, interrupted only by NaKniSweMo. With luck, there will be two sweaters finished chez Librarian Knits in November! Stay tuned.

Have a great week!

Phildar Cardigan, or, somebody block me!

So, I have a dilemma, and I need the guidance of the ever helpful knitblogosphere.

I have all the pieces of my Phildar Asymmetrical Cardigan finished! Hoorah! Finally!

Ok, so. Here is what it's supposed to look like:



And here's what all the pieces look like: (sorry for the craptastic photos. It gets dark so early!)


Two freakishly long sleeves, two fronts, two buttonbands and a back. (Yes, I still have to bind off one of the buttonbands. Sue me.)

Here's the dilemma. The whole sweater is 3x3 ribbing. Which seriously diminishes the size of each piece. Allow me to demonstrate.

The back, in its natural state:


And the back, quickly pinned out to the required dimensions (with camera case for scale).

Dude, that's a lot of stretching.

So, what would you, dear readers, recommend as a method of blocking this thing?
I want it to be close to the required size, and need to have a good edge for seaming, but I don't want it to be blocked so harshly that it doesn't have any give left. I'm leaning toward steaming it, but would like your feedback.

Any thoughts, input, advice, comments or anectdotes welcome.
Thanks!

Coming clean

My official yarn diet ended on Sept. 21st, so I guess it's time to come clean.


This is my lace stash. It's enough for about 5 scarves or stoles, with one already in progress. (Clicky for details).

Not too bad, right?


This is my sock stash. Enough for about 13 pairs of socks, with a couple in progress and a Baby Surprise Jacket also in progress.

Again, not too terrible.

Now, we get to the troubling part.

This is my sweater stash. We see the Hex Coat and the Phildar Asymmetrical Cardigan in progress, and enough yarn for 9 more sweaters/tops/garments of some sort. Yikes.

Considering that in the past year I have only knit Orangina, Ms. Marigold (both hardly considered 'sweaters') and Tatami, my current stash should last me about three years.



And finally we arrive at the random bits. This is yarn left over from old projects, yarn for small projects, sweaters to be recycled, etc.

And now I have started a fabric stash too.

So, I have devised a new yarn/craft diet scheme. Until my stash reaches an acceptable size, I will only buy supplies (be it fabric or yarn and a pattern and all the necessary accoutrements) for ONE project (be it a hat, quilt, sweater, etc), after I have finished TWO projects.

Awesome. Now the fine print. "An acceptable size," I said. Hmmm. I will leave that to myself to determine at a later date. Given the fact that my stash is pretty large, and I haven't been a very productive knitter lately, the diet will probably last at least a year. The diet does not apply at Stitches West. I may engage in a preemptive stash enhancement, but only once before meeting my two-project quota. I may also save up stashing credits and splurge. So, to illustrate:
Say I finish one project and then go buy two skeins of Koigu. I now must finish 3 projects before purchasing again. In the same line, if I finish 4 projects without any preemptive stashing, then I may buy supplies for two projects.
Oh, and no fair knitting earwarmers for the neighbor's parakeet or anything like that just to have a finished object. That's cheating.

So, do you think I can do it?

Paying it Forward

Rosina of Noteworthy Knits (via Octopus Knits) has generously offered to spread the wave of crafty goodness, and now it's my turn to pay it forward.

"It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange, based on the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return... just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness continue to pass it along as well. Here’s how it works: I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

If you're interested in playing along with me, please post a comment here and send an email to branderson2006 AT gmail DOT com with your name, shipping address, ravelry id or flickr id if you have one, etc.

I'm already planning the surprises!

On the Street Where You Live

Thank you all for your kind words on our first anniversary. It really doesn't feel like a whole year could have passed since our big day. We spent a lovely weekend up in the Fort Bragg/Mendocino area. We ate some really good food, including some locally made chocolate, explored the local towns, and, of course, went to a knitting shop. (And they were having a sale. More on that later.) All in all, it was a very relaxing time.

A few of you asked about our wedding, so I'll give you a few details. We were married at my mom & stepdad's ranch in San Luis Obispo. They are glassblowers, and grow olive trees for oil. They did so much work, and really turned their backyard into a beautiful spot for a wedding. From using olive branches in the boutonnieres, to having little bottles of their olive oil as favors, we really took advantage of the surroundings to enhance the beauty of our day. (The labels on the favors said, "Olive our love to you." Har har!)

Anyway, I didn't mean to be so absent this past month. I really do have so much to tell you, but I haven't been motivated to post. My yarn diet ended and I'm starting a new and improved one, I finished my quilt, and my list of future projects continues to grow, but I'm not inspired to finish anything. Which we already know is a problem. My first Charade sock has turned the heel, the Faux Russian Stole is a little longer, and the Phildar sweater almost has sleeves, but I really don't have anything to show for myself.

Part of what is making me so blase these days is the progression toward winter and the shortening of the days, but mostly it's a frustration with this place where we live.

San Francisco, home of some of the best restaurants around, some very famous landmarks and just an all around lovely and lively place, is not for me. There, I said it.

Like any city, it's noisy and crowded and dirty and smelly, and I'm getting tired of it. I need my space and am ready to move on. Unfortunately, though, I can't just pick up and move tomorrow. I have a husband and a job and obligations, and not a clue about where I would go.

So, in an effort to make peace with where I am, and where I live, I'm choosing to say nice things about my city.

Enter my take on Project 365. I pledge to take a picture of something lovely, or something I like particularly about San Francisco and my life here each day. I hope you'll watch my progress on Flickr.


August 26, 2007 (Day 1) I like... knitting my way to work.

One year...

Photo by Colleen Rosenthal

This could become an issue

The quilt (oh right, I still haven't said it out loud) is thisclose to being finished.
I totally swiped Ashley's idea, ran out to the library and got Museum Quilts, stopped by the Quilter's Cupboard on a trip to visit my parents.

And every weekend I've been sewing.

A glimpse of Labor Day weekend:







And this past weekend:



I never thought quilting could be this fun.

This might be a problem.

Only the binding remains, so stay tuned for an FO!

(Oh, and if you're at all interested in quilting. You should read this primer post Ashley wrote. And in case you couldn't tell, I want to be Ashley when I grow up.)