Fashion Girl

My son called me a 'fashion girl'. In z-a-nese, a fashion girl is a girl that is pretty or dressed well.

This is why he called me a fashion girl. This is actually knit wire bracelet number 2. Number one was given away this weekend to a 13 year old girl on her birthday.

Specifications:
yarn: 32 gauge wire (less than half a spool)
needle: US6 metal dpns (2)
beads: #6 glass beads in varying pinks
start time: July 29, 2007
end time: July 29, 2007 (very quick project)

A couple of notes on the picture: I'm actually petting my cat (that's the mass under my hand). And the other note is my hand is looking old. That's something they don't tell you about...how your hands age. Very sad. However, pretty bracelet.

Pithy instructions for FASHION GIRL:
String on a whole passel of beads.
Cast on 11 stitches using e-cast on.
knit and add beads as the fancy strikes you.
Purl the next row.
Repeat knit purl rows until 7 inches (when stretched out).
'kitchner' together to form loop with purl side out.
Slip on wrist and stretch out width so that the bracelet fits wrist.

A couple of comments:
I only added beads on the knit side.
I liked the purl side out better because it causes a natural flaring out of the bracelet, verses the bangle effect with knit side out (remember how stockinette curls)
As I was knitting, every once in awhile, I would 'expand the knit fabric and pull it again so that the stitches would become more uniform.
I slipped the first stitch.
I did not bind off, the stitches were 'live', but it was wire, so it didn't go anywhere.

So, I'll call this the 'fashion girl bracelet'.


This was so easy and fun that I believe I shall make more of them, and maybe even investigate 'lace w/ wire'. hmmm...

And you should make one too. The wire is thin enough it doesn't hurt your fingers and I think every one should be a fashion girl.

Stitch n Pitch wrapup

Here's my version of the event, and I'm sticking to it.

z had swimming lessons at 5pm, so I packed everything up and off we went to pick up the boy and go to the class. (he's doing quite well learning, btw. Very close to swimming for real). z&a's dad arrived at 5:40pm to take them, and off I went.

Met up w/ the ladies at the Ferry terminal, 'cause there's no better way getting to the game**
It's just too bad you can't use discount coupons for the game rides, oh, well.

It was enjoyable getting to the ball park, and the fact that the boat dropped you off at the stadium, well, that was purty cool. We picked up our goody bags, only to find that we were missing a few items. The folks were super accommodating and when I wanted a different pattern, the guy let me look through the various bags to swap the pattern.

Garlic fries were delicious, and the chicken, not too impressed (I've had numerous tastings with z 'cause that's one of his favorite food groups -- chicken nuggets). The game? Oh, yes, the game. Not too much happened, then our group decided to leave and as we're leaving, yep, you guessed it, THAT's when they scored.

So, long story long is that we sat in line for a really long time because the game went into extra innings and we were tired and cold by the time we got back to the island. And I just talked to one of our group and they got a flat tire, so they didn't get home until 3am! Brutal.

What did I bring to work on?
1)the pattern and one ball of yarn for Wicked
2)MS3 yarn and forgot the pattern
3)bibs

What did I actually work on?
I purled a row for MS3 and since I forgot the pattern, it was not meant to be.
I finished one bib in Giant's orange and started another one. So yay, I had an almost FO.

Here's the loot:

Stitch n Pitch

Okay, that was fun! I'm cold, but otherwise, very fun.

I wish they gave out yarn instead of these honking 19in clover needles.

Will show pic of goodies tomorrow. Of course I forgot my camera, so I didn't take any pictures of the event.

However, there will be a SnP at Oakland on September 16. This time, I think I'll take the family.

Another EZ Feb baby sweater

I made this sweater for a sweet girl turning one (birthday party tomorrow). Yet another February baby sweater, this time out of new cotton ease.

Specifications:
yarn: Cotton ease in violet 1.5 balls
needles: new Options US6 and US8 with 40in cables
pattern: from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac
start date: July 17, 2007
end date: July20, 2007
modifications: As before, I knitted the sleeves in the round. The garter yoke was knitted with US6 needles and the lace was with US8. The pattern was followed except that I didn't cast on additional stitches for sleeves or body. I took a 12 month sweater and knit to that specifications. However, I did block out the sweater when I realized that she is bigger than A.

I also only put buttons on the top because I like the look.

I hope it fits.

Has anyone made an adult Feb sweater?

steg legs

So, I'm knitting steg, right? And I put down this project to work on a birthday present for a little girl (this Sunday). And I picked steg legs up again the other night because the yarn I got wasn't the same dye lot and was substantially different (hello?! Cotton-ease? new colors, can't get the colors even close?). And I had to go and buy another ball hopefully of the same dyelot.

Anyway, picked up the legs and knitted in the round so that the legs will be identical. Yep, you guessed it. I thought they looked wonky, so I counted stitches. Somewhere around the knee area, I screwed up, one leg had 31 stitches, the other had 39.

So, partially ripped the one leg and am knitting. And will have to do the same with the other since clearly I increased twice on one leg and missed the increases on the other.

Remember, the whole reason I'm knitting it 2-at-a-time was so that they'd be the SAME! duh.

Yeah, yeah, I managed to work on MS3 after drinking a couple of cocktails, but I can't manage to knit stockinette in the round.

Alameda Yarn Co. Info

So I went by again...yesterday there were piles of boxes outside (I'm assuming there was a big delivery of yarn) and today, I stopped by and saw Gail in the shop. So, she was the owner of Creative Accents down in San Leandro that closed earlier this year. She's now opening up the yarn shop one building over from Tuscany.

I'm thinking the boxes were from Plymouth, because I saw lots of Encore. I will try to go to this yarn shop more often than Tuscany. I seriously went there less than 10 times total the whole time they were open.

Must support LYS.

Dino II - the Rise of Steg

You might remember a bit back when z asked for a steg 'just like the one on the computer'. Well, that would be chemgrrl's awesome stegosaurus for her nephew. Anyway, I was all going wild on the color combinations...blue steg with yellow plates ala UC colors, purple steg with black plates (UW?), green body with yellow (UO) etc. He wanted a green steg...good thing I have been stockpiling yarn (green especially). Then I asked what color for plates. I wanted pink (very retro 80's preppy) and was told that it was 'too girlish'. What about yellow? nope.

Anyway, ends up he wants green with red plates. So that's what he'll get ( I warned him it might look Christmassy, but that's what he wants. chemgrrl has a great technique for getting the plates to stand up and that's what I'll do too.

Here's a picture of the progress thus far. Not looking too cool right now, is it? The yarn is a surprisingly soft (for acrylic) vintage Spunkist yarn in 'avocado'. On the new Options US3 needles. Why, that would be two back legs, modified to knit in the round with magic loop two at a time (the same way you'd do socks). But I think I'll do the front legs flat because I'm not saving that much time by knitting in this manner.

started July 11, 2007

New Lace knitting group

I just read about it -- Lacis has a lace knitting group that meets once a month. Lacis, as in less than 10 miles from me. And there's a group of lace knitters that meet at the beginning of each month on the East Bay. I'm too chicken to go tho'. I've seen the work these folks do and yes, just a wee bit intimidated.

I wonder how much lace knitting goes on? I can watch fluffy TV and knit lace, but I don't bring these types of projects to my group (unless I'm purling the other side). I just think that I'd be too distracted by beautiful lace to actually get any knitting done.

Maybe I'll try to saunter over there and pretend I'm buying something at the same time as their next meeting. Naw, I'm clucking...

MS3 Clue 3 finished

Here's clue 3 finished yesterday. What more to say? uhmm...I bought beans and it's onward to bowling, steg, wicked, and others...

Alameda Yarn Co?

What's this? a new Yarn shop? in Alameda? One building over from a now-defunct yarn shop? Anyone have any info? Anyone?

The sign on the door says they'll be open at the end of this month. hmmm...

funny little hedgehog

I've been thinking about 'hugable hedgehog' from Fiber Trends. But I'm not going to purchase another pattern. But I'd swap for it...alas no takers.

I did have a swap for FC: Easy Knitted Toys. I traded sock yarn for this book. And even tho' the swapper found out that the book was out of print and worth a bit, she still made the trade.

btw, I don't have startitis, I have anti-startitis. I'm stalled on my other projects.
1) Cropped cardi--so almost finished, but not quite. It was suggested that I do a felted decorative thingie for the cardi to cover up the eye hook. So, I've got to do that.

2) Bowling pins-- the sand in the film canister has a center of gravity that's too high and will more likely to topple before while being set up, so I've got to go to a store and buy beans.

3) MS3--awaiting the next clue.

So, what's a girl to do? I've picked out my next project (Wicked), but should I use old Cotton-ease or new -- that would be black verses uhmmm faded black. Or should I use my BS Cotton Fleece (also in black)?

While waiting to make the decision, I figured I needed to do something with this crazy novelty yarn from my new-to-me book. Don't you love it? novelty petrochemically beauty.

Since I do not have the hedgehog pattern, I opted to make baby hedgehog. Here's my rendition: It's not the size they claimed (6inches), but then again, I used a US3 on worsted weight. Mine turned out to be maybe 4 inches. They had you cut felt out for the feet, but I knitted them instead. So, can you believe this little guy required 5 separately knit pieces?! There's got to be a better way...aha, next time, in the round!

Bowling

I am knitting a bowling ball set for z. It's from New Knits from the Block (many thanks to knittinmama for the pattern idea and loan of the book). This project was started while the sweater was blocking also. I couldn't decide between lace and toy...I figure when I get tired of doing one, I can switch to the other--'cause one's mindless and fast (doubled worsted weight in the round) and the other is just a pleasure but requires concentration and very thin yarn.

First off, I've never knit a ball before, so I don't know if there's a 'proper' way. My ball turned out a little off. Not that round, but that may have been partly due to my modifications. In the original pattern, there are no finger holes, instead, you stitch in circles in white. Well, z would have none of that. How can you have a bowling ball without finger holes?!

So, I put them in. I guestimated and here's the result:

I think that I may knit a larger bowling ball for z -- heck, it really didn't take that long. Maybe this will be the prototype ball. Oh, and the black yarn I received as a RAK (or is it a RAK if you ask for yarn?!--it's a AK). Anyway, thanks goes to knitherapy for the black acrylic yarn. She also sent me a skein of lovely silky wool...how cool is that?! the silky wool will become a scarf at a later point.

As for the bowling pins, he actually wanted each pin to be a different color, and the coordinating part being the red stripe for all the pins.

Again I test knitted this. I doubled worsted weight yarn and decided that was way too small (don't ask me how I figured that one out). I trebled the yarn and started knitting a pin...uhh...the pin was going to take more than one skein of acrylic! Not only that, but I projected that the finished object was going to be ginormous. So, that got ripped.

Tried the doubled yarn again and this time, used US7 needles instead of US4 and found that the knit fabric still held and yet looks nice.

So, that's the shocking green yarn in the back. It's recommended that you add beans on the bottom of the pins to help them stay up, but I think that the pins might get nasty. So, instead, I've got some old film canisters that I will fill up with sand, and then tape well and use that to see if that bit of extra weight would work for the game. Altho' I guess that if they are too heavy, this will be akin to the carnival scam games where you can't knock anything down.

MS3 Clue 2 finished

I suppose I'll just keep posting my progress on this project. I finished Clue 2 yesterday (July 8, 2007). We're now in the straightaway portion. Janis at Yarn! (see side for link) claims to see a face in there...and now, that's all I see...

oh, hey, like my lifeline? the only time I used it? yeah, when I was trying to knit w/ the lifeline in as I started clue 2. I don't usually put in lifelines, but I figure since I have no idea what it's going to look like, I'd better.

Here's a picture. I'd better get crackin' on my other projects now.

Oh, Darn! I'm G-rated

I really don't post this stuff too often, but yes. I am for general audiences.

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

* pain (2x)

Get a Clue! MS3 clue 1 finished

Did I mention that after I decided not to start MS3 until I finished the cardi? Well, I finished the thing and cast on for MS3.

Materials:

2 skeins of elann.com Peruvian Baby Lace Merino in parchment.
1 tube of pearly white #8 beads (a pain to find)
1 32" US3 Addi Lace turbo
1 #13 crochet hook


I wanted to do the bead thing with this stole because I've not knitted with beads and I thought this would be interesting.

So, first off, procurement of materials.
YARN: I had black laceweight yarn and some pale-ish colors, but I didn't have white/off-white yarn. Oh, I take that back. When we were up in Oregon last year, I got a ball of alpaca laceweight, but there wasn't enough yardage (yeah, that's it...not enough yardage...). btw, they're now out of the parchment color.

NEEDLES: I wanted to check out Addi Lace Turbos so I went to my LYS (Article Pract) and they actually had it on sale. Of course, they had mislabeled the needles so I thought I was getting an even better deal...sigh...but it's still pretty good.

BEADS: I checked every big box store in the area for the right size beads -- to no avail. Okay, I found red #8 seed beads at J's but I didn't want a huge contrast. I then went 'Doh!' and remembered that there's actually a bead store on the island. I'm sure I was annoying the ladies at the store because I couldn't decide between 2 colors. I guess I could have bought both, but that would have been extra lame. I settled on the pearly off-white.

CROCHET HOOK: Okay, lesson learned the hard way. For one night, I couldn't find my crochet hooks and ended up fashioning a bit of 20 gauge wire into a hook device thingie and used that to get beads on. Then I found my crochet hooks only to realize that the smallest size crochet hook I own is 12. That hook looked itty bitty, but only ~15% of the beads slipped over okay. I sorted through the beads to find the ones that would fit over the hook. So, I limped along using a crochet hook that was too big. So, yesterday, I broke down and went to Lacis in Berkeley (yes, I know how lucky I am that this store is in my hood) and purchased a hook for less than $2. Oh, drats! if I'd know how cheap hooks were, I would have gone by there earlier. I purchased a 13 and got home and read that I should have gotten a 14. Oh, well. The great news is that all the beads fit on this size. YES!

I did have to tink back 4 rows yesterday because I realized that I made an error the night before. Yes, I tried knitting this after we got home from watching fireworks -- very lame. Note to self: do not knit lace when exhausted. The only other thing is that I forgot 1 bead in the center. I'm not sure how I did that, but I wasn't about to rip back 8 rows to replace it.

We received Clue 2 today. After a bit of yahoo group reading, I thought I should put in a lifeline before I started clue 2. Yeah, well. Putting in that lifeline? yep, I screwed up somewhere. Need to figure out where I went wrong on 1st row of clue 2. It figures...

Cropped cardi complete (almost)

That I-cord edging got easier, not any less tedious mind you, but easier. I did hit a point, maybe 3 inches in, where the aha moment occurred and it became mindless-- and not a struggle. I finished it off at my knitting group and started to sew on the clasp. Oh, please let me back up. I knitted a loop-o-i-cord for a button, but a 5 stitch I-cord button hole looked way too clunky. I then decided a simple lime green button...didn't find one that I liked. Hey, I know, a eye hook thingie. But then I saw a simple silver clasp. Why perfect!Okay, not so perfect. After I sewed it on and tried it on, realized this is 'decorative' in the sense that it does not stay clasped shut. After much cursing, took the clasp off and will go back to getting a eye hook.
edited to add: the picture is upside down, but the clasp still doesn't work.

Oh, and when I tried it on for z&a's dad? His first comment, isn't it a bit short? I guess that even tho' I had lengthened the sweater, it's still cropped. Yeah, whatever.

So, I wet blocked it and I'll get an eye hook thingie later.

Specs:
Pattern: cropped cardi from Fitted Knits aka Leaf from Knitty
size: 37.5 inch version with mods
Start time: June 24, 2007
End time (without clasp): July 2, 2007
Yarn: limeaid Cotton Ease
Amount used: less than 4 balls
needle size: US6 circs and dpns
modifications: made a total of 3 increases down the front of the cardi every 8 rows (both sides) and at the front, only cast on 3 stitches. In summary, instead of casting on 9 stitches in the front, I had a total of 6 stitches. I also did the sleeves in the round because (well, just read my darn blog, will ya--why knit flat when you can knit in the round?). Lengthened the length by another inch--clearly not enough.

In hindsight, I should have made the sweater even a abit longer. Altho' I wonder if a bit longer would have made it look dowdy...it really wouldn't have been the same sweater. I do wish I did something to pay homage to the leaf motif. I really liked the leaf motif that Stephaneener used on this sweater. Oh, well, it's not like I'm going to rip out the picot edging on the bottom and put in a leaf lace detail...maybe for another sweater, tho.

The photos didn't happen

Well, good intentions I had, but picture taking didn't happen today. However, I did finally manage to finish clue 1 of MS3 -- with beads.

More info tomorrow.

Happy 4th!

There's the FO, and projects started...will post pics tomorrow


Happy 4th of July!

Leafless Not too cropped sweater

Easy knit. Except for the attached I-cord. I'm having issues with it. Not that pretty--I'm talking about mine, I think it's a very nice edging for the sweater, that's why I'm working on it. And that tie? I can totally see me always fiddling with it, so instead, I'm going to make a little i-cord loop and on the other side, sew on a button.

But besides the i-cord, it's finished. I lengthened the sweater a bit. I even sewed up the picot edges. Very purty. A pita to knit that much more that gets folded over, but it's a very nice finish. I think I shall have to revisit picovoli and make one that actually has a picot edge.