Bartering February 29, 2008

Growing up, it was common for my family to swap fruit from our orchard (200+ acres) for services and other goods.  Of course, there was the time that my grandfather kept failing his driving test for his license and he took down two buckets of cherries and returned with two empty buckets and a license.  When I found the site (see yesterday’s post, I’m too lazy to link again) about swapping socks for needles, I was all over it.  And look what I got!

A set of 5 hand-forged bronze size 1 DPNs.  Want a closer look?

I can’t imagine what it takes to stamp the “1″ and the initials into such small needles.  Someone is probably going to ask if the swirl ridges catch on the yarn.  No, not really.  They catch about as much as a bamboo DPN would.  They are a bit heavier than say a Boye or Susan Bates aluminum DPN, but for me, the love is in the asthetics.  Well, and the fact that they were bartered.  Sometimes the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Random February 28, 2008

Something cool:  last summer I participated in a swap with Molly at Celtic Swan Forge.  She doesn’t knit, but loves handknit socks.  So, if you sign up at the right time and knit her a pair of socks, she’ll make you a set of hand-forged DPNs.  My socks can be viewed here (scroll down a bit, “Tidal Wave”).  I’ll arrange a photo of the needles when the sun comes back out.  I very much suggest you stalk the site this summer and sign up for her next swap. 

Something to totally waste your time on:  flight of the hamsters, first brought to you by the Yarn Harlot.  Totally addicting, and I absolutely love the “Flight of the Valkries” theme to go with it.  We won’t discuss my score, suffice it to say that my hand-eye coordination does not extend much further than my knitting/tatting/crochet skills.

 And now, to go meet my husband for coffee.  Coffee coffee coffee.

ETA:  Something amazing:  I was the 3rd person to comment on the Yarn Harlot being totally alone in slasher-flick-type woods.  The 3rd!  Somedays I amaze even myself.

Some days I wonder February 27, 2008

Living in a house with two small boys, you sometimes happen upon the strangest things.  Monster trucks in the bathtub, legos in the dryer, sticky creatures hanging from the ceiling… you get the idea.  This was this morning’s offering:

Apparently, “Piggy” had a rip-roaring time last night and, um, “withdrew” some of his savings. 

Got Nada February 25, 2008

No progress or finished project shots today.  You’ll have to make do with my “gumby” son. 

No, I have no idea why he was sniffing his teammate’s knee.  I don’t ask questions like that anymore, I’m too afraid of the answers.

Library Hat February 24, 2008

Pattern:  Koolhaas Hat, IK Holiday 2007, Jared Flood.  Yarn:  Moda Dea “Washable Wool“, 1 skein. 

Modifications:  I knit the ribbing for 3.5″, knit the rest of the hat, then flipped the ribbing back into itself with the brim in, and stitched it in.  My older brother-in-law has a brimmed hat that he adores and his wife decided that it would be great if she and her son had one.  The first attempt with the Koolhaas “brimmie” ended up in the brim flipping up and down, which is not a good thing.  So I sat down with my BIL’s brimmie, traced around the brim on his, and this is the result.  The material I used for the brim is stiff fusable interfacing that is used for making fabric bowls.  I got mine at JoAnn from the quilting project section.  It’s flexible, washable (doesn’t say it specifically on the packaging, but it survived my washer and dryer), and, unlike plastic canvas, has no sharp edges to cut through yarn or poke people.  I’m having my SIL test-wear this one, and then we’ll see about fixing my nephew’s hat. 

A review of the Moda Dea “Washable Wool”:  it is comparable to Heirloom “Easy Care” in the feel and structure.  It didn’t pill on initial wash, and it softened a bit in the wash.  Overall, for an $8 skein, not too shabby. 

Where Missing Socks Go… February 23, 2008

Hmm.  I know I put a pair of socks here…

Wait, what’s that…

Naughty kitty!

Little Sky Socks, Learning Sock 1, from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters.  Yarn:  Claudia Hand Painted Yarns, Worsted, “Teal Party”.  The gals at the LYS and I agree that Cat must have a lot of time on her hands to think up these rather insane techniques that really do work.  I haven’t had a baby to try these on yet, but when I do, I’ll report about the fit.  As for the Claudia Hand Painted Yarn, well, it’s beautiful, it’s soft, it’s squooshy, but it also dyes like no tomorrow.  I could tell exactly how I carry the yarn in my left hand for days after I worked with this yarn.  We’ll see how it bleeds in the wash. 

Strolling with Monet February 22, 2008

I told a few people that I wouldn’t start on this scarf anytime soon due to other projects.  I’ve finished a lot of those projects.  And who could resist this silk?!

Pattern:  Rosepath Scarf by LavenderSheep.  Yarn:  Silk Sport in “Monet” by LavenderSheep.  Beads are from here.  I tweaked the pattern a bit by adding a row of beads right after the cast on to add some weight and more sparkle, and I’m slipping the first stitch of every row.  I just like the cleaner edge.  The only pain in the tush on this project is the 170 beads you place on the yarn before starting, and then sliding said beads along the yarn as you go.  170 size 6 beads get a little heavy after a while, and they sometimes grab at the silk.  The bead shop suggested I use size 8 beads, but I was worried about the beads mangling the yarn, or even potentially sawing through the silk and leaving loose ends. 

Sunlit Photos February 21, 2008

The sun has made its appearance, so here are some pics!

 ”Star of the Day” Hat by I’m Knitting as Fast as I Can.  Rowan “Wool Cotton” in Khaki.  An interesting little top-down hat that I will probably make again.  I modified the pattern by joining the first round and knitting one plain round before starting the pattern in the top of the hat.  I also omitted the i-cord cast-off because I couldn’t figure out how not to make it look like arse, so I knit a bit of stockinette and cast off with a needle 2 sizes larger.  It works.

“Sweet Baby Hat” by Gros and “Christine’s Baby Booties”, pattern found at Fuzzy Galore, or can be found behind the counter at some knitting stores.  This is my go-to baby bootie pattern as it takes little time (about an evening) and little yarn (one skein of Lorna’s Laces “Shepard Sock” makes at least 2 pair with ties).  The hat is a new pattern for me, but it was very fun.  It took maybe half a skein of the “Shepard Sock” for both the hat and the ties.  It’s fairly straight forward and well-written.  I would suggest using stitch markers as it’s easy to forget how many stitches between decreases after initital increase/decrease rows.  The front of the hat will come down a bit over baby’s forehead and sides will cover baby’s ears a bit, or so it seems from the pattern.  I haven’t seen this hat on a baby in person, so these are my hopes.  The colorway is “Icehouse”.  I modify my baby booties by slipping the first stitch of each sole row to make it easier to pick up stitches later.  On the hat, I added a few additional increase/decrease rows to make sure that the hat was long enough for the recipeint, little cousin E, born at a solid 8lbs 13 oz. 

**Links to either the books or free patterns that I use can be found in the sidebar under “finished projects”. 

Waiting for Sunlight February 21, 2008

I know there’s sunshine out there, hiding behind the fog.  When I drove my husband into work in Bellevue, I saw it.  Until then, no pictures. 

Odd thought of the day:  a certain pizza company has come out with a new pizza called “pizza mia”.  What cracks me up about this name is that “mia” is one code word for “bulemia”, as in “I’m a friend of ‘mia’”.  And to add to this, the commercial I’ve seen only has women in it.  Just another in a long line of mis-named and poorly marketed products. 

Redemption February 19, 2008

In Seattle, midwinter can get ugly.  Really really ugly, what with approximately 70 percent of the population having SAD (seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as “winter blues”) and seeeminly unending rain and clouds.  You think you’re doing fine, still getting out to your son’s basketball games, showing up to volunteer meetings, not smacking another mother in the school parking lot because she desperately needs it.  You’re not pulling a Jack Nicholson in “The Shinning” sort of thing, nor do you think you’ve crawled into a cave. 

Then you get an email from a concerned friend who works at your absolute favorite LYS, and you realize you haven’t been spinning or gone to the store just to shoot the breeze in almost a month.  You’re still knitting, you’re still alive and somewhat well, but people who really matter in your life don’t quite know that.  And it’s a shocking revelation.  You go for a visit, reset yourself, and figure you’ve got to make a change. 

Then the sun comes out to give you nudge. 

A friend sends you some fantastic hand-dyed silk for a project for your mother.  Ooooooh, shiney, sooo shiney.

And you find the simple pleasure of the combination of cables and a cheap, colorful cable needle. 

Thank you for your patience.