setting up my craft room the day after the move. i think i might need a hard hat!

i have plenty of projects finished and in-progress to blog about. soon. what have you been up to?

i'll have more pictures as soon as i wash and block it. since i'm not ready to post my notes on it, i thought i'd talk about the part of the cardigan i spent the last two weeks knitting, unraveling, and knitting again: the sleeves.

keep in mind, this is a top-down seamless cardigan; they're very simple sleeves and i shortened mine to reach my elbow. at the start of the sleeve instructions, the designer gives you 3 options for knitting them:

slip held sleeve sts onto 12" circular, or spread evenly over dpns or 2 circular needles.

now that i've finished the cardigan, i don't think i recommend any of these methods. here are my not entirely objective reasons why:

12" circular needles only work if your sleeve circumference is larger than that. my upper arm is at most 11" around and i know this isn't the case for everyone. but, if you're knitting this with the specified yarn and needles, your stitches are already very loose and if you're me, you don't want to stretch them out even more on needles that are too long.

knowing this from the get-go, i actually bought a pair of 9" circular needles (so cute!) in US 6... except that after i knitted a few rows i realized these were 4.25 mm instead of 4 mm. guh. unraveled.

knitting with dpns is sometimes not comfortable for me and causes crazy ladders. i think dpns are great for knitting socks with short rows, knitting all things for a baby, or for finishing hats. but, once again because this is a laceweight yarn knit very loosely on 4 mm needles, it just seemed a lot harder to keep my stitches even when i passed from one needle to the next. progress was really slow, so halfway through one sleeve i switched over to the third method.

knitting with 2 long circular needles can be finicky, otherwise i have nothing against it. when you divide stitches between 2 circular needles to knit in the round, it's pretty likely that you're using 2 different lengths of needle, right? i mean, unless you're like me and habitually forget what lengths you have in stock, there's really no reason to have multiple circular needles of the same length. in this case, i had 36" and 24" inch needles; everytime i pulled them out of my bag, i had to untangle them from each other and from the delicate yarn.

although this is usually my preferred way to knit in-the-round, soon enough i was fed up; i removed the 24" circular needle and switched to magic loop knitting on the 36" needle.

magic loop knitting on the banks of lake merrit while i waited for erica.

with this method, i quickly finished the first sleeve. then i tried on the cardigan and decided i'd shortened the sleeve too much; it fell at least 2 inches above my elbow. i unraveled it again.

after those false starts, i actually finished both sleeves in a matter of days using only magic loop. so much faster and easier to handle... project notes soon to follow.

happy knitting!

i rushed over there to meet Hilary on Monday evening, intending only to buy some circular needles and check out their shelving units; i thought it would be cool to furnish my new craft room with shelves and yarn baskets from an actual yarn store.

i valiantly resisted buying any yarn — until i found myself at the counter. really, that was just not the time to say no to the very last two skeins of Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock in "Parry Hotter" colourway, exclusively dyed just for Noe Knit. i bought them. they will become armwarmers to wear to the next movie.

Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock in Gryffindor House colors and size 7 circular needles.

the shop will definitely be missed. it was such a wonderful luxury to have a local yarn store that was open after 6PM; i could always depend on them to have what i wanted when i absolutely could not wait another day (or until the weekend), whether it was a skein of yarn to complete a project or a pair of needles to replace one that had just snapped in half.

...soon, i will be moving to Bernal Heights; there is not a single yarn shop in the neighborhood — hint. hint.

this is probably old news to many; but in the past couple of months i've been pretty out of touch with the knitting blog world... so busy with various things...

and the sunrise circle jacket is one project i've wanted to make since i first noticed it in Interweave Knits's Spring 2006 issue... but i just kept waffling on purchasing the pattern... until now.

this cute little victorian is ours.

you can see some of the repair work has started but there are many more to do before we move in. then we'll take our time turning this house into our home.

i didn't actually follow the pattern at all, since it's written for dk weight yarn and appropriate needles; but i definitely sought to make something similar. i pictured a baby girl sitting and playing with blocks. she's wearing a simple pink cotton jumper over a frilly white cap-sleeved dress. the skirts of the jumper and white dress flare wide around her and cover her chubby baby legs... i was eager to cast on. [ravelry].

cotton jumper for baby stuyi.

yarn :: Rowan 4ply cotton, Color 120 orchid, 1 Skein.
needles :: US 2 (2.75 mm).
finished measurements :: suitable for 6-12 months. i don't remember specifics.

similar to erika knight's pinafore, this jumper has a picot turned hem and is shaped with four lines of decreases along the length of the skirt. i didn't want to seam too many pieces together, so it's knit in the round. in the end, the only seaming i had to do were the shoulders; and i did a really poor job of that. i used short rows to shape the front and back collar, and i think miscalculated one of the sides; i hope the mismatched shoulders aren't too noticeable... i kept the collar and armhole edges very simple; just picked up the stitches, knit one row, and bound off the next.

side-view, modeled by my lovely yarn swift.

:: stitch details

each of the 4 paired decreases are knit as ssk, k1, k2tog; i really like to use feathered decreases along a seam. luckily, the shaping of the skirt aligned very well with the armhole decreases. the shaping of the flared skirt, which you can see much better from the side view above, is in my opinion very cute.

i used a lace bind-off to to bind off the stitches i picked up along the collar and armholes: k2, pass to left needle, k2tog; k1, pass first st to left needle, k2tog.... basically, the technique used in the shawlettes i've knit to date (flower basket, swallowtail, and ishbel).

:: yarn notes

rowan 4ply cotton. i've knit a few things over the years with this yarn, and generally like the fabric it produces when knit with US 3 (3.25 mm) or US 4 (3.5 mm) needles. however, when knit with US 2 (2.75 mm), it produces a very stiff fabric... i actually planned to make a soaker to match the pinafore; but really, i didn't think the stiff cotton would be a very comfortable diaper cover.

overall, i like what i knitted. and i hope it fits baby stuyi...

my first sewing project was a little ambitious — a dress modified to look like a Star Trek uniform. and though i was more than satisfied with the results, i was determined to start a new project that i felt was more suited to a beginner; LMPQG was the perfect source and Peanut the Elephant was the perfect project:

friends joe and keely's baby boy, benjamin, and his new denim elephant.

Pattern Peanut the Elephant.
Source Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.
Fabric Recycled from old pairs of denim jeans and khaki pants.
Modifications Did not add eyes; otherwise not really any mods. the use of thick denim made this project a little bit more tricky. as for color scheme, i stuck with denim and contrasted with khaki under the ears and for the blanket over its back.

this was such a fun project! i especially enjoyed pinning the pieces together before feeding it through the sewing machine:

i think i quickly learned not to point the pins outwards...

as i continued, i loved seeing the fabric pieces joined together and start to resemble the finished project:

look! — there's half the elephant shape!

and soon, the only thing missing were the elephant's ears:

eep! it was late and i was getting cross-eyed from hand-sewing the blind stitch.
the ears had to wait for the next day.

here it is, finished at last!

i really like how the denim and khaki looks... you can see more pictures here.

overall, i think it took me about 5 hours to complete; most of that time was spent pinning the shapes together for sewing and then hand-sewing a blind stitch to hide the seams. i don't recommend sewing this with denim and probably won't do so again unless i scale the elephant up in size.

i really really want to make another one... in a pink and floral-patterned cotton.

Update May 20, 2009: when i gave ben this elephant (the first picture), he seemed to happy with the doll; but, i noticed he kept trying to pull the little blanket off the elephant's back. once that was accomplished, he kept kicking the elephant out of his stroller while industriously sucking on the khaki blanket! can a 7-month old be teething already?

buscando azul... i think i found it; isn't the color amazing?

it made me think over hannah fettig's tutorial for her cardigan, in which she discusses M1 increases for raglan sleeve shaping...

there's a perfectionist in me that insists on symmetry when i knit — i don't think i've ever NOT used pairs of slanted increases or decreases when shaping a garment...whether it's the side seam of a fitted pullover or a raglan yoke, it's only natural that one side should slant to the right and the other side should slant to the left. and in the case of raised slanted increases, i really don't think one requires any more effort than the other; i love the result:

a closer look at the back left-side raglan.

i've probably mentioned before that whenever i'm in doubt about a knitting technique, i typically follow interweave knits's glossary; so my right and left slanted increases were done in this manner:

M1L With left needle tip, lift strand between needles from front to back. Knit lifted loop through the back.
M1R With left needle tip, lift strand between needles from back to front. Knit lifted loop through the front.

the featherweight cardigan itself is very elegant in it's simplicity — for me, it was love at first sight. but other than raglan shaping, it's all pretty much just stockinette until you get to the edge; then, it's knit and purl ribbing... yes. you can read into this that it's not an exciting project; the tediousness is only relieved by the beauty of Malabrigo. i'm very anxious to finish this — and yet, i want to knit at least another one...

happy knitting!

starfleet commander sophy t. o'donnell!

Pattern Simplicity 2922; modified to look like the skant-style Starfleet uniforms that Deanna Troi wore in the first Season of TNG.
Size 12... i do not understand this sizing chart at all. by the measurements, i did not think this would fit. but in the end, it was huge on me and provided plenty of material to work with.
Modifications i modified mine to match the starfleet commander's uniforms, with dark red for the contrasting color. added colored piping between the collar and yoke. divided the front panel into three. added a sort of v-necked collar shaping. removed the gathering in the back — why is there gathering in the back? — instead, i cinched the extra fabric between each of the notches (that indicated where to gather the fabric) and sewed princess seams along those two lines.

hilary selected this dress pattern, Simplicity 2922; and really, most of the mods we made were her ideas: the piping and the contrasting color panel in the front. initially, i was pretty reluctant to make any major mods... i mean, i had no idea how to sew on the piping... and i thought breaking the front panel into three sections would be more difficult than it actually was. in the end, i'm glad i followed her plans and i think we both did an amazing job with our dresses (though we'll each point out the many flaws if you ask us). if you haven't already, check out hilary's science officer variation!

i actually did try to put more of a v-neck shape to my collar; but as you can see it turned out very slight... very "sort-of" v-neck. also, i probably could have gotten away with not using some pieces, but i was determined to use every single panel that i cut out. and, i did. in fact, i tried to follow the pattern to a T — at least, as far as i understood what it was telling me to do! this worked out for everything except the zipper, which looks completely fine... for a costume. i just didn't read the instructions before i sewed it. oops.

on movie day, i wore my dress to work... the popular comments from my coworkers were, "i can't believe you wore that to work" and "it's not short enough". i also got a few comments from some businessmen in the local deli i went to for lunch, "did you see that girl in the star trek costume? why is she wearing that? oh yeah the new movie."

i was very productive at work that day, but it was entirely too long before we were standing in line for the IMAX theatre:

Uploaded on May 9, 2009 by the yarniad.

the movie was awesome! anyone who is avoiding it because they're not Star Trek fans is missing a damn good and thoroughly enjoyable action flick. i can't wait to see it again.

many months ago, i did this to prepare for this (more here); and i didn't really know what i was doing. not too long after that, hilary and i agreed we would make costumes to wear to this movie.

the movie premieres in San Francisco this week — i'm ready!

my Star Trek costume, modeled after Deanna Troi's mini-dress uniform from TNG season 1.

hopefully, i'll find my TNG pin by Friday, or maybe the ToS pin will be more appropriate... I think i do need some pips, though... commanding officer and all... okay. Adam's shaking his head at me now. (i'm very jealous of those in Austin who saw the surprise screening!)

this is my first actual sewing-from-a-pattern experience and i have a lot to say about it, but i'll save that for another time with better photos... perhaps hilary (my science officer) will stage an away mission with me!

whenever possible, i use a picot turned hem.

Pattern Ishbel beret by Ysolda Teague!
Yarn Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply, #269 Blessed, 1.5 skeins.
Needles US 3 (3.25 mm) and US 6 (4 mm).
Start-to-end April 12 - 15, 2009.
Finished size Not sure, but it fits my head.

the ishbel beret pattern is pretty clever; i love how it used the same vine lace pattern as the shawl, yet still looks pretty unique. it's not any more difficult than the shawl pattern; however my knitting of the vine lace portion was fraught with errors caused by the required shifting start position. there's a yarn over either before or after the marker, and in the course of knitting the round, the yarn over wouldn't stay in place. very confusing moments; but once again, i didn't really have too many repeats to knit. truthfully, i don't know if i followed the pattern to the letter, but it looks alright.

and yes, made a couple of modifications: (1) instead of a purled (straight) turned hem, i knitted an eyelet (picot) turned hem. i don't know why, it seems pretty habitual that i will use a picot hem whenever and wherever i can. (2) there's no way you can mistake this for a beret. after i finished the vine lace portion, i tried it on and thought that even after washing, it would fit pretty snugly, so i altered the crown decreases to make it more of a beanie: i knitted 20 rounds for the crown, decreasing in rounds 7 and 15.

so there you have it: my ishbel shawl(ette) and beanie.

over the last week, as i wore the hat about, i've come to realize that it would have totally worked as a beret. the yarn is way more elastic than i gave it credit. i was very tempted to unravel and reknit this properly; but i didn't and i won't. really, i'm very happy with these two finished knits; they'll be favorites to wear together and separately.

happy knitting!

the first time i took this picture, i forgot to make the bed...

Pattern Ishbel shawl by Ysolda Teague!
Yarn Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply, #269 Blessed, 3 skeins.
Needles US 6 (4 mm).
Start-to-end April 4 - 9, 2009.
Finished size Approximately 40 inches wide (across the top) and 17 inches tall (along the center line).

:: the pattern

this is such a fun little pattern; i still found myself making mistakes rather more frequently then i like with lace patterns... i mean, i know i tend to be quick to frog or unravel if i find a mistake, but i really wanted to just fly through this.

of course that didn't stop me from unraveling when, halfway through the stockinette portion, i discovered that i'd forgotten to increase on a few wrongside rows (the pattern requires you to increase every row, not just every other). i restarted it and made sure to double check the edge stitches. (i'm lazy and prefer not to count stitches every row... err... ever?)

oops! slightly blurry -- i blame it on the sunlight and mirror!

everything went much smoother once i started the lace portion. thanks in part to the fact that the lace pattern itself is very easy to remember -- familiar territory perhaps? -- well i did make some mistakes here and there (definitely familiar territory), but they were easily recognizable and reparable. (luckily, did not require unraveling; unraveling lace ranks pretty high in the 'no fun' category.)

of course, if you're knitting the smaller-sized shawl, you really don't have a lot of repeats to do... i felt like, in next to almost no time at all, i was finished!

it looks like wings on the blocking board!

:: the yarn

i've gone on and on about how much i love love this yarn and will miss it when i've used up my stash; do i need to say more? of course i do!

the color of this yarn is "Blessed", a mix of pinks and purples. it might look dull in some pictures, but i actually rather adore the muted mauvey-ness -- especially because it suits the sweetness of the garment. sweetness? no. i didn't try to eat it. i think the shape of the finished shawl is just very feminine and delicate (without being granny-ish like most other shawls).

everyone should get a squishable -- and knit a shawl for it!

after blocking, the yarn softened and falls with a really lovely drape; very unlike my other very lightweight shawlettes (this and this) and my much heavier flower basket shawl.

so yes. this is a keeper. and because i had a skein and more leftover, i also made a matching beanie...

happy knitting!

#269 blessed (pink, purple); #277 explode (black, white); #286 graze (green, yellow)

:: reminiscing

i bought the yorkshire tweed 4ply when i discovered it in a bin of discontinued yarn on clearance at Rosie's Yarn Cellar sometime in 2003 (maybe 2004). i don't know why, but tweed yarns have always called out to me; and this was a cry i could not ignore. it started as 4 skeins of the blessed and 4 skeins of the explode. before i'd even thought of what to do with those eight skeins, i bought 8 more in graze and 4 more in explode. i'm pretty sure i bought out Rosie's clearance stock of the yarn, actually.

:: the tweedy project list

i had the vague notion of using all this yarn to make a long cardigan with colourwork. but, since that never happened, i just wanted to go through my projects i actually did make with this yarn over the years. the more recent projects (and even some old ones) are unblogged; for those, i'll just point you to ravelry:

tweed and kidsilk haze striped vest
this was probably my first sweater vest, based loosely off a short-sleeved striped pullover from Sarah Dallas's Vintage Knits. this was well before i started blogging and i didn't take pictures of it before i sent it to a friend. though, i do mention it in another post, here.

endpaper mitts
by now, you probably know the story of how hilary and i met: she was knitting her endpaper mitts on caltrain and i asked if she used the "italian tubular caston" as instructed in Eunny Jang's pattern. she convinced me that it was a very simple project and before long, i made my own. [ravelry]

herringbone tweed hat
the realization of a herringbone project dream. i even wrote the pattern for this hat and a few knitters have actually queued and completed it! [ravelry]

lace leaf scarf
this project combined my two obsessions: tweed yarn and lace leaf pattern. i can't believe i never blogged about this, actually. perhaps i will do so soon, if only to update the photos for this scarf. [ravelry]

stripey baby vest
a simple striped vest for my baby cousin who was born a couple of months ago. pretty much used what i had learned from knitting the striped tweed and kidsilk haze vest to make this little project. [ravelry]

ishbel shawl
i finished this lovely shawl last week and after washing the yarn, it's soo soft. i think i've worn it every single day since. more about this soon! [ravelry]

ishbel beanie
i barely let this hat dry completely before i pulled it over my ears and wore it to work. since it was a cold day, i didn't take it off at all. (yes, i know; it's supposed to be a beret.) more about this soon![ravelry]

tiny shoes
i used leftover yarn from the stripey baby vest to make a pair of these adorable tiny shoes designed by ysolda teague. i love them. i love them. i love them. and one day soon i'll blog about them. [ravelry]

:: using every last bit

that's right, i'm holding out to the very end. these last bits i think will soon become two more pairs of tiny shoes, in two colors like Ingvild's version; i'm thinking, graze-explode and blessed-explode. (afterwards, i'll finally blog about all these finished tiny shoes....)

i can't believe i'll soon say goodbye to my yorkshire tweed 4ply stash. i don't think any other rowan tweed yarn since has compared to the quality of this; though, felted tweed has come close. at least i prefer it over scottish tweed...

update 04/20/2009: hilary asked whether i would be sad or relieved when i do use up the very last bits... my answer: a little bit of both, really. saddened that i won't be able to find this yarn again. relieved that i finally used up all of it. (yay stash busting!) but also satisfied that i made a number of accessories that i have already worn many times and will continue to wear many more times.

:: and the winner is...

beki! i sent you an email. thank you everyone for leaving a comment and participating in my malabrigo lace yarn giveaway.

happy Friday—knitting!

another project post at last... i was quite obsessed with this pattern after i saw Larissa's finished shawlette. it's taken me a while, but after finishing a couple of tiny shoes, i couldn't wait any longer to start it. [ravelry]

just off the needles!

Pattern Storm Cloud Shawlette by Hanna Breetz.
Yarn Rowan Kidsilk Haze, 1 Skein.
Needles US 7 (4.5 mm).
Finished Size Approximately 40 inches wide and 20 inches tall (down the midline). including ruffles in the measurements.
Modifications I knitted with smaller needles than instructed because kidsilk haze is such a lightweight yarn (the haziness is deceptive).

the pattern

i'm calling mine, "midnight storm clouds" because of the color of the yarn and because i imagined this as a small ruffly wrap on top of a grey or silvery dress with spaghetti straps... not that i have such a dress...

the pattern itself is very simple... the project really just flew off the needles. i would recommend it to everyone! i do really love how it turned out and the striations that indicate the increase rows; it looks really cool. unfortunately this is going into the gift pile. read on to see why...

a little bit closer!

the yarn

kidsilk haze was probably not the best choice of yarn for this project; the shawl is so tiny and airy, that it really feels like you're wearing nothing. also, even with the smaller needles that i used, the ruffles don't really show up as ruffles. then again, i think it just might be suited for someone younger or with slimmer shoulders....erica???

i definitely want to make another one... in a grey color, perhaps. and definitely in a thicker weight of yarn... at LEAST fingering weight or 4ply. or if i use kidsilk haze again (stash busting!) i would double it.

blocking it really just made it a little less hazy.

it's really not easy taking any detailed pictures of this shawlette! then again, i could have waited until morning...

happy knitting!

who wants to take this little ball of yarn home with them?

just leave me a comment (with your email address) by 5PM on Friday, April 17, 2009. i'll pick your names from a hat and contact the lucky knitter/reader.

the big news? — Adam and I bought a house. well, the sellers accepted our offer. we finished inspections. and we are now officially in escrow. i guess that doesn't mean we're homeowners yet; but, it's been an exciting week.

i'll be back soon with some actual news about finished projects: 2 more shawlettes, 2 tiny shoes, and a belt; so until then, happy knitting!