Yet Another Knitting Blog

This morning it took 28 minutes from the time the doors opened at the DMV and $28 to renew my driver's license.

I'm not sure which was the best part. The 28 minute start to finish or the fact that I am wearing a handknit scarf in my new photo.

An on-line friend has been knitting these clever little elephants during the last year. Most have gone to children in foreign countries. A few weeks ago a friend of my friend was trying to put together items for homeless school kids who are so poor that they literally have nothing. No shoes. No tooth brushes. Certainly not toys. These kids don't live in a third world country. They live in Kentucky.

So I tracked down the pattern and started to knit a couple to help her out. Then I knit another one and again, one more. Then I knit a couple more. I have only stopped knitting them for this group because the little guys have to go in the mail on Monday.

This is the funnest thing I've done for charity ever. If this kids enjoy the Nellyphants even a quarter as much as I've enjoyed knitting them, the world will be a much happier place.



Tip loves them too.



Will you please excuse me? I think I need to go knit another Nellyphant.

X-posted to knitterotica

My third pair of socks:



There is actually more done than this but it's all I have captured in photos.

All other knitting has come to a glacial pace since I've been asked to knit some caps for a friend's mom who is going through chemo.

It's flattering that, so far, the only two hats that she can wear are ones that I knit for you. One was the pretty silk beanie that I posted a while ago. The other is a ghastly thing that I knit from some crinkly, fun fur type yarn and was originally intended for a chemo cap drive for a children's hospital. The hospital specifically asked for fun fur style caps because the kids love them.

Long story short, eight skeins of yarn appeared for caps including two skeins of Kiddo Solid in black. Black,fuzzy yarn with no body. Hmmm. Now that the hat is done:



I realize I should have doubled the yarn to give it some heft. There's just no there, there. But it is soft and, if nothing else, she can sleep in it.

Yesterday, my friend and I were lucky enough to have gotten reservations for the The Yarn Harlot's talk at the Los Angeles Library Central Branch*.

We stood in line with a whole whack of knitters from all over in all shapes, sizes, genders and all knitting. The crowd wasn't too huge because the Mark Taper Auditorium has only 230 seats. We arrived early enough to sit in the second row.

Stephannie has a deeper voice than I expected. She spoke for about an hour and a half, starting out with the point that everyone in L.A. is really tall. While many people think of her as a humorist (which she definitely is),she is really an essayist who talks about stereo types, judging people and feminism. She is very funny, well spoken and well worth the trip to see. I'd drive a lot farther now that I've heard her speak.

To support the library and encourage them to have more of these events, I bought her new book, "Stephannie Pearl-McFee Casts-Off, The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting" for her to autograph. The staff was really organized with this, passing out post-it notes so people could write out their inscriptions before hand and having us place them on the title page.

When I got to Stephannie, I greeted her. Then I had to point out that I am from L.A. and I am short - 5' 1" to be precise. She thanked me with a very straight face and remarked that she too is 5' 1."

Following this exchange, she seemed a little distracted as she signed my book. In honor of a t-shirt that I've doctored to say "Evil Knitting Queen", I requested that the inscription read the same. Stephannie apologized for her momentary disconnect. She said she was so happy with the inscription request. I got to tell her that I am the Evil Knitting Queen. She looked me straight in the eyes and with a huge grin on her face said, "You look evil." My little loony fan girl heart soared and I said "Thank you" while an even bigger grin spread across my face.

I let the next loony fan girl step-up to the desk. Stephannie Pearl-McPhee thinks I'm evil and thinks I deserve the title "Evil Knitting Queen." It was a very good day.


*If you have never been here, the WPA art is worth the trip all on it's own.

(cross-posted to teddystutz)

The Friday before Labor Day, I sprinted into the LYS, picked out the five skeins of Cascade "The Heathers" in perhaps five whole minutes, ran next door to order a pizza for my lunch while the saleswoman balled the yarn and was on the road to San Diego thirty minutes later with my new yarn, a photo copy of the pattern, my needles and everything else needed for one of Miss E's dance competitions.

On Saturday during the competition I knit the swatch shown. My stitch gauge is about an inch and half too large. I think this is going to be okay as I am not busty but a little chubbier than I should be given the size of my bust-line.



The sleeve was started Sunday. And Monday. I've ripped and re-knit countless times. For some reason I was just having a lot of trouble keeping track of the moss stitch. But I have it now and am only about 1" away from the shaping which I'm knit once I'm done with LJ.



I'm not completely happy with the evenness of the stitches but when am I ever? That said, I really don't think it's that bad either and may block out. Will I actually have a first sweater that is actually wearable. Stay tuned to find out!

My friend anonymisty sent me several skeins of Lion Brand's Fancy Fur while I was on bed arrest last spring. After knitting a bunch of scarves from this yarn for Miss E's friends as holiday gifts, I couldn't face another one. So, I made this little envelope purse. The photos are a little off. All that fuzz is hard to photograph.



The button is from my button box. Not quite vintage but it will be soon.



The fabric is from a little quilt shop in Bridgeport, CA. I'm very proud of the match. I picked it out while 400 miles away from the yarn.


I love this fabric. The metallic ink on the black background makes the whole thing really pop.

I've decided to finally knit a sweater. I'm going to try the "Minimalist Cardigan" from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. Here's the yarn I ordered:



Isn't it pretty? It's the wrong freaking yarn. It's Cascade Pastaza, not the Cascade 220 that I ordered. So, why am I an idiot? I didn't notice it was the wrong yarn until after I checked the dye lot numbers, paid for five skeins, had the yarn shop ball it for me and got it home.

I've checked out Ravelry for inspiration but nothing I see sweater-wise makes me jump up and down. Plus I think I'd need more for any sweater that needed that bulky a yarn. I'm sure I'll make something out of it. Hmmm, maybe a vest...

Following my Mom's stroke, I spent a lot of time at my parent's house running interference. It was horrible and especially so when my Dad kept trying to give things that belonged to my mother. Long story short, my mom eventually told me to take all the yarn which I did.

I didn't keep much of it because it was acrylic - the old yucky kind of acrylic that's squeaky, crunchy and makes your teeth hurt when you work with it. What a friend didn't want went to Miss E's old elementary school for crafts.

I did keep some balls of "Peaches and Cream" cotton which have been stuck in a drawer until a few days ago when I got bitten by the dish cloth bug. Except mine aren't going to be used as dish clothes I guess. fingle has commandeered them as guitar polishing clothes.



cross posted to teddystutz

Pattern: Argosy from Knitty.com
Yarn: Diaelissa
I blogged about the yarn when I got it in August of 2006. I bought it in Hong Kong. It's a Japanese yarn. I think it's wool, mohair and something else but since I don't read Japanese, I could be wrong.

The colors are beautiful, shifting from one to the other very subtly. The color shirts are so subtle and the repeats so far apart that I keep re-winding the balls to find the exactly the right spot. I had wanted to ends to be in the same color range but it may not happen. The scarf is six fee long now and it's still a long way from something similar to the starting color.

This was a quick knit that I made for a friend's mom who is going through chemo treatments.

The yarn is "Tao" (100% silk) by Collinette. The pattern is "Cherry" from the Collinette book Arboretum.



I haven't figured out why the reverse stockingette looks blurry in the photo. The stitches have good definition and look clear when the photo is larger.

(x-posted to teddystutz)

I'm teaching myself intarsia. It sucks. I'm not ready to quit. I'm just sayin'.

I joined a spin/knit along to kick my fanny into gear with learning to spin. Some how I think there will be more suckage in my life soon. I must be a masochist.

One of the incredibly talented knitting bloggers, Januaryone put up a contest today. The person who wrote and submited the best haiku would win sock yarn. Well, actually several skeins would be awarded randomly but the two best would win yarn. The caveat? You had to use four words from a list she provided. Check out the entries. Some are funny, some are some seriously well written haiku with all the traditional elements.

Here is my entry which is the 5-7-5 style with a tonku ending. I bolded the words used from the approved list:

Poor worm without feet,
shivers during the cool fall.
Can't knit socks - no hands.

One question for the poor thing.
Dude, at which end is your head?

I think, I would change the second line though so it reads:

Poor worm without feet
shivers in cool air of fall
Can't knit socks - no hands.

It seems silly to worry about form when writing a knitting haiku but there you have it.

Last night while Miss E was at dance class, I met some friends for Happy Hour in bar near the studio. Is it morally bankrupt to spend your daughter's dance class drinking discounted alcoholic drinks? Nnaaahh. Plus I arranged to have fingle pick her up so that I could linger.

I didn't want to bring both my purse/briefcase and my knitting bag while I held down the fort until my friends arrived. So I stuck the curvey scarf into open middle pocket of my other bag. It didn't fit all that well but it would do. Fast forward to 9pm. Happy Hour and dinner are over, we're standing in the parking lot to exchange good-byes. As usual when I see my friend Wally, I can't find anything in my purse. I plop everything on the hood of my car to fish out my keys. I keep dropping needles, yarn & assorted other small items on the pavement. Wally keeps laughing at me. I keep dropping things. I finally find the keys, throw the blasted bag into the car on the passenger side, get in the drivers side, roll down the windows because it's a nice night, gaily wave good-bye and go on my way.

A half mile up the road, I have the following conversation through the open passenger side window with a man sitting in the back seat a silver Escalade.

Me: On the headset talking with fingle
Man: "Excuse me, Miss?"
Me: "Yes?"
Man: "You're not going to believe this."
Me: "You'd be surprised at what I believe." (Chuckling in my ear)
Man: "Well, you have an entire ball of yarn trailing out of your door." (Snort of laughter in my ear)
Me: "Oh, that's easy to believe. Thanks!!"

I pull over and it's five or six yards of loose yarn, plus the rest of the skein. *sigh* I guess I should have taken a picture of what happens when you drag a skein of yarn in the street for five blocks. It was very sad. At least it's relatively inexpensive yarn and not some beautiful hand-spun.

(cross posted to teddystutz

Yesterday, we went to see our friend, Tim Powers at an autograph session for his new book. The bookstore is in what could have been a very dangerous shopping center. Not only is there a book store, there is a knitting shop and a needlework shop. Turns out I don't need to worry about the needlework shop as it was almost exclusively needlepoint canvases. Very little in the way of fiber or fabric for embroidery. Plus, I was given the "I don't know you and I don't want to" look from both the staff and the obviously regular customers.

The yarn store on the other hand... Very small but there was a lot of inventory stashed in there. The owner, Trudi, helped me find a substitute yarn for the baby sweater. It's acrylic mixed with microspun. It doesn't make my teeth hurt at all. Additionally, when I showed her at hat that I want to make for a different baby, she offered me her Tahki Cotton scraps for the little flowers instead of making me buy entire skeins in six or eight colors. I didn't take her up on the offer - yet.

In the completed items category. Here is Fionn modeling version II of the slipstitch hat. It doesn't go as well with my coat as I hoped so I will probably give it as a gift.



I don't usually torture the dog like this but he really did get paid-off in a big way. Rib bones will get me every where.

Now that the Divine Miss E is back in school, you'd think I'd have more time to knit and blog. No such luck. I'm going into the office more days than I expected, I've done a whole bunch of errands and the driving is maximized, what with trips to school twice each day, driving to the library two to three times per week, driving to dance lessons twice per week, driving to work, driving to run my errands. Why doesn't this place have a decent public transportation system. Sometimes I really hate Orange County and Southern California in general.


Here are my current WIPs. That hat has had the top knit and re-knit. I just can't decide what it needs to be. The sock is just past having the heel turned. I missed placed the book (it was under the seat of my car)and lost momentum. The scarf is a pattern I've knit before but the yarn is new to me. It's wool and soy. None of us, including my parents could figure out which part of the soy is used. Bless Google, the internet and the Crackberry. While driving around Palmdale, I was able to look up the information. Soy fiber is made from the "soybean dregs" that are left over from the process used to make tofu. A whole conversation ensued about whether anything in the world was truly synthetic when all items are made from materials that come from the earth is some way, shape or form. Either way, I like the yarn.



I generally use whatever is at hand for stitch markers - Contrasting yarn, little slivers of colored drinking straws, (clean) hair elastics. Today I broke down and made these little guys. Nothing particularly original or particularly well executed but they get the job done. I really like the rough polished peridot. It is from the Jade Market in Hong Kong. I have a bunch more and may make as set. You can see a fourth marker in the first photo. It has a blue bead with a little crescent moon and some stars on it.

I'm hunting for the perfect baby yarn for my first ever baby sweater. Everything is either far to difficult for a new mom to care for, is too sklunky to consider or doesn't have the contrasting colors I want to use. Maybe when Velona's re-opens after their vacation.

I've stalled with projects. The slip stitch hat is languishing because I don't like anything I've tried for the top. The last one was too flat. This one is too...stripey? Not slip stitchy? I don't know.

The second sock for my friend Laurie stalled until I could find the book that I've used to knit the other one. I don't have my own "sock recipe" yet. I knit a swatch for another sock with some yarn I bought in Phoenix. It's very thick after knitting with socks on the little needles.

I tried looking for yarn for the baby sweater but the most local Local Yarn Store didn't have much in the baby yarns and everything they recommended was too bulky. The biggest YLS is closed for vacation until the end of next week.

Last but not least, the gorgeous book by the Shackleton Sisters doesn't have yardages. What's up with that?

I have been haunting all kinds of knitting blogs of late. I am not a knitter. I have knitting needles of all sorts. I have yarn. I have a knitting bag and I have knitting books. I have knit several socks. I have a funny (to me anyway) knitting blog name. But I am not a real knitter. Yet.

I am trying to learn to knit lace, thanks to all these blogs. I have some "Lacette" by Paton. Maybe I should try to teach myself to knit lace with something so fuzzy. This stuff which is only 25% mohair wants to felt like nobodies business. Not so good for tinking - a term which I learned reading knitting blogs. I am doing a lot of tinking as I learn to knit lace. Eventually I will post a picture of my poor ratty little experiment. I know lace has to be blocked but can mostly fake lace weight be blocked? Maybe I'll experiment with the stupid cotton sock yarn that I dropped in the mud in Seattle.

About five months after the knitting bug bit me, I started to travel quite a bit for work. During the first major trip to Hong Kong, it never even occurred to me to try and find yarn shops. Besides, I was so stinking busy, who had time?

Long about the time that I left on a tour, I had been bitten by a second bug - the "good" yarn bug. The allure of novelty yarns waned (no doubt to wax again around Yule) and the quest for fine yarn began. I made it a goal to try and get to an independant yarn store in every stop the tour made. It didn't happen, what with the crazy schedule and all. On the other hand, I did manage to go to yarn stores in Tucson, San Diego, Seattle and Portland.

So during last week's business in Hong Kong, it occurred to me. HK must have yarn stores. It was owned by the British, for crying out loud! A little Google here, a little map research there and Voila, two yarn store within walking distance of an MTR stop.

After getting turned around several times, I finaly managed to find one shop. Tiny, hidden on the second floor, full of people knitting - none of whom spoke English. Who needs English when you can point at fiber and hold up what you think is the appropriate sized needle? The models in the store were exquisite. All were far beyond my abilities. I didn't think to look at any of the pattern books. I assumed they would be in Chinese.

After much pointing, I left with something I thought was wool and little something else. I took the balls to work hoping that a co-worker could translate the labels. L was able to do that for me - despite the label being written in Japanese not Chinese.



I like how the high gloss on the dresser reflecting the labels.


See how the Chinese characters are made of yarn? Love that!

And, my current WIPs:


The second sock from the yarn I bought in San Diego and another slip stitch hat. The hat is from some Patens Classic Wool and a fancy ribbon yarn from Seattle called "Cleo" in "Denim". Hopefully the finished hat will match my vintage Pringle of Scotland coat.