Apr 8 2007

A Little Yarn Porn

For those so inclined…


This is Alchemy Haiku (40% silk, 60% mohair) in amethyst. Purchased at Purl Soho – a very dangerous store for any yarn addicts. This store is very small but they have only the most exquisite yarn. I consider it an “artisanal yarn store”. As mentioned in my previous post I was going to get some more of the Rowan Kidsilk Haze but since the dye lots were so different, I decided to get something completely different and now this is going to be for my next lace project. All of the Alchemy yarns are heavenly. This one is so soft and the color is so rich. I can’t wait to use it!


Apr 8 2007

Lace Beginnings

Now on to a new project. I’ve been drooling over everybody’s lace projects from Victorian Lace Today so I finally got myself a copy of the book and now I want to make nearly everything in it! Unfortunately, I’ve never knit lace before but now’s as good a time as any to start! I actually have nearly an entire skein of Rowan Kidsilk Haze left over from the embroidery on my Shriek sweater so I figured I’d use that for my first lace project. I tried to get a few more skeins but the dye lots were just too different so my first project is just going to be a long skinny lace scarf. I’m using the diamond pattern in Victorian Lace Today with far fewer repeats. Here are my small beginnings:


I’m using the new Addi lace needles which I really like. Having never knit lace before I can’t really give any authoritative review but I can say that the very pointy tips do seem to be very helpful.


Apr 8 2007

FO-Fetching Mitts

PATTERN: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath from Knitty Summer 2006
YARN: Knit Picks Andean Silk in Sangria
NEEDLES: Takumi Bamboo DPNs, US size 6

I loved knitting this pattern and I’m really happy with the end result. This was my first time knitting with double pointed needles which is a bit like wrestling with an octopus especially when you add in a cable needle but I more or less got the hang of it and it was a quick and easy knit. The Knit Picks yarn is nice and soft and, of course, very reasonably priced.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be making a few more pairs of these as I’ve already had several requests for some Fetching gifts!


Feb 19 2007

FO-Shriek Sweater

PATTERN: Shriek by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan #32
YARN: Rowanspun DK in #747 “Catkin” (4 skeins), Rowan Kidsilk Haze in #592 “Heavenly” for embroidery
NEEDLES: Addi Turbos US size 6 & 3

Finally finished! I blocked this sweater with my fancy new blocking board and put it together this weekend. This is a perfect beginner’s sweater and no sleeves meant it was that much less work. I used the spec’d Rowan yarn which I was not crazy about – it wasn’t very soft and broke easily. And I ran out of it only to discover that it had been discontinued – no surprise. Fortunately, the internet is a wonderful place and I just did a google search and quickly found myself another skein.

Now, we’ll see how long it takes me to finish my Union Square Market sweater… I am almost done with the body but this sweater has sleeves and I know those take a long time!


Jan 13 2007

Learning to make socks

While I was visiting family and friends over the holidays in Los Angeles, my pal Janel took me to a wonderful yarn store called A Mano. The two women who run this place are the greatest and the store had the nicest vibe with people sitting around chatting and knitting. It was the friendliest yarn store I’d ever seen. So, of course, I had to buy something! I’ve been wanting to learn how to make socks and Janel was buying some sock yarn so I did too. Now I’m making these socks with Lorna’s Lace’s sock yarn.

And here’s a quick progress update on my Union Square Market sweater. I’ve just gotten to the armholes and have divided the front and back which means I can now lay it out flat. Do you like my method of blocking with crap (post-it pad, battery charger & container of binder clips) sitting on my desk???


Jan 13 2007

Christmas Stash Score!

So I’m pretty late in sharing my total score of Christmas loot. My friends and family completely spoiled me and I got some great fiber/knitting stuff over the holidays.

I can finally block things with this great blocking board from KnitPicks.


I can now knit the Lace Leaf Sweater since I got Teva Durham’s book “Loop-d-Loop” which has that and several other groovy patterns that I hope to make someday when I actually know how to knit better.


My good friend Janel who runs Chameleon Colorworks overwhelmed me with spinning supplies. I got a pound of this luscious Blue Faced Leicester fiber in the black cherry colorway as well as this beautiful bottom-whorl spindle.


And then she also gave me some super luxurious samples of exotic fibers – baby alpaca and baby camel with silk! I wish this blog had “touch-o-rama” capabilities because these are like buttah!



Nov 18 2006

Wishful Knitting

As I’m slogging away on the many rounds of stockinette stitch required to finish my Union Square Market sweater, I am already wistfully thinking about all the other things I want to knit. Here are a few of the patterns I have discovered recently that I can’t wait to get started:

Teva Durham’s Lace Leaf Sweater

French Girl’s Isobel Sweater

French Girl’s Violette Hat

Interweave Knits (Winter 2006) Wine and Roses Mitts

OK, maybe I should get back to knitting rather than looking at all these fun things to knit…


Nov 9 2006

Are you ready for your close-up?

Well, beebonnet asked for a close-up photo of my sweater hem so here it is. Therefore also giving me a convenient topic for a new blog post as I hadn’t done anything post-worthy in the last few days.

Here is the front of the hem. It keeps curling which I am hoping will be fixed in the blocking process.

And here is the “behind the scenes” view which thankfully no one will see when I actually wear the sweater since this is clearly where things got a bit messy…


Nov 6 2006

Union Square Market Sweater Progress

Well, now I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself for updating my blog two days in a row. Of course, I may not update it again for two months in a row… Not sure I’m ready to commit to steady blogging yet…

But here is a progress pic on my second sweater effort – the Union Square Market Sweater from Interweave Knits.

I’ve got about 6 inches done. Keep in mind it’s knitted in the round on size 3 needles so a nice chunk of knitting is done. But it is a big project and I still have A LOT to do. Plus I don’t understand all the directions so I’ll need to ask for the help of my trusty knitting guru, Janel.

This sweater has a cool hem on the bottom that I had to do about 5 times over before I got it to work. The technique sounds easy enough when you read how to do it but the actual doing it is much more tricky. There are some boo boos in mine if you look real close but overall, I really like this way of hemming a sweater. It’s a nice change from a ribbed bottom.

Just an FYI, that is Nino, AKA the grey devil, sleeping beside the sweater. Much of his fur is knitted in the sweater.


Nov 5 2006

Indian Wedding Scarf

OK, I really don’t know how people find time to keep their blogs up to date on a regular basis. I mean, I barely have time to just do the things that I want to show off here…

Anyway, I didn’t do much in the way of craftiness over the summer. I live in New York City where the summer is hot and sticky and pretty much the last thing you want to do is touch wool. But now that there is a nip in the air I’ve gotten back to spinning and knitting. I finished knitting my Rowan green sweater but no point in posting a photo since the second side looks exactly like the photo I posted earlier – well, I made different mistakes, but whatever. I still need to block it and put it together. Then I’ll post a pic.

I did however finish my first project using yarn that I spun myself (from “Indian Wedding” Merino Silk roving that I got from Janel at Chameleon Colorworks) which is pretty exciting. It’s this scarf using a pattern I got from the Yarn Harlot.

So, what did I learn with this project – that I still need to work quite a bit on consistent spinning – or not, if I want that “handmade” look which I do like but prefer to have more control over making it look funky. I really wanted my yarn to be bulkier so that is something to work on…

Always learning.