Musicknitter

Yarn Opinions: Karabella Aurora 8

2008-01-13T07:48:00.000-06:00

Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8
Information from the Karabella website and yarn label:
Content: 100% Extrafine Meriono wool
Amount: 98 yards/50 grams
Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch on US #8 / 5 stitches per inch on US #7
Price: $8.75 at my local yarn store
Project: Husband's box stitch scarf

Reality check gauge: It's a scarf, I didn't really care. On US 8's, I had about 5 stitches per inch in my pattern.
One good thing: Aurora 8 is super duper soft. If you don't like scratchy wool, this has no scratch to it what-so-ever. It's also rather fluffy and stretchy, but it wasn't so stretchy that it bothered me, it just made it easier to work with. I just found my new favorite yarn.
One bad thing: At $8.75 per 98 yard skein and 3 skeins required for a scarf ($26.25 total), this yarn just might break the bank.
How does Aurora 8 compare to Knit Picks Merino Style? I'm going to ignore that Aurora 8 is about 4 times more expensive than Merino Style and a different weight (DK vs Worsted). They both have no wool scratch (much softer than you'd think "wool" should be), however, the fluffy/stretchy aspect of Aurora 8 would win me over any day. Merino Style is much denser and not quite as stretchy, it would feel like working with a cotton blend compared to Aurora 8 (even though it's not).
Would you use this yarn again? I'd love to, but I can't imagine spending the money to make anything big, like a sweater (which would be around $100). Maybe wrist warmers or a scarf for me. I think I'll be watching e-bay for enough to make a sweater....

What did you think of Aurora 8, leave your opinions in the comments section.

Another Pair of Country Socks

2007-12-29T08:53:00.000-06:00

I needed a basic pair of socks for a gift for my sister, so I went with the Country Socks from Folk Socks that I knew I liked. They look very similar to the pair I made for myself (since I still had the light blue accent color left over), but since she lives in another state, that doesn't really matter!
I changed the toe decrease, like I did for the pair I made myself. Instead of 4 decreases equally around the toe, I did 2 decreases on the side of the toe instead (I didn't like having one of the decreases under my foot, it felt funny).

Yarn Opinions: Cascade 220

2007-11-11T07:44:00.000-06:00

Yarn: Cascade 220
Information from the Cascade website and yarn label:
Content: 100% Peruvian highland wool
Amount: 220 yards/100 grams
Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch on US #8 / 5 stitches per inch on US #7
Price: $6.50 at my local yarn store
Project: My first sweater, cat sweater, a vest and some felted slippers

Reality check gauge: 4.5 stitches/inch on US 9 needles
One good thing: This yarn is inexpensive and worked very well for the first sweater that I made. There was very little pilling and the sweater has worn very well over the past 4 years. For basic worsted wool, I can't say I'd use anything else.
One bad thing: Maybe I just got a bad batch, but it seems that some colors are softer/less scratchy than others. The green from my first sweater was rather scratchy, whereas the pink I used for the cat sweater and the black for my vest is pretty soft (not soft enough I'd wear it right against my skin though)
You've said before that you like Wool of the Andes for felting, how does Cascade 220 felt? I've made 3 pairs of felted slippers in Cascade 220. It took 4 cycles for one pair to felt and 3 for the other two pairs of slippers. Wool of the Andes never takes more than 2 cycles (usually about 1.5) in my front loader. Both yarns work well for felting and I would happily use Cascade 220 instead of Wool of the Andes if I didn't feel like placing a Knit Picks order. I just happen to like the fact that Wool of the Andes felts faster. This doesn't relate to felting, but in my opinion, Cascade 220 is generally a softer yarn than Wool of the Andes, that combined with the bigger skeins, I'd rather use Cascade 220 for a sweater/other non felted project.
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, yes yes. I will probably do another sweater from Cascade 220 in the next few years and it might also creep into my felting projects or anything else that I want inexpensive wool for.

What did you think of Cascade 220, leave your opinions in the comments section.

What I've been doing lately

2007-11-06T16:53:00.000-06:00

I found the cat sweater pattern on Knitter's Review Forums and just knew that I had to humiliate my cats! It was pretty easy to knit, the hardest part was measuring my uncooperative cat. Naturally, I had to embarrass as many cats as possible, so I tried it on both Alex (who it was intended for) and Angel (the tabby).

Yarn Opinions: Knit Picks Shine Sport

2007-06-18T13:34:00.000-05:00

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport
Information from here and yarn label
Content: 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal
Amount: 110 yards/50 gram ball
Gauge: 6 sts=1" on #3-5 needles
Price: $2.49 from Knitpicks
Colour: River and Sky
Project: Dishcloths

Reality check gauge: 5 sts - 1" on size 7 needles, but when wet I can stretch it to 4-4 1/2 sts = 1"
One good thing: This yarn feels very soft, even when wet. It never split and was very nice to work with.
One bad thing: This yarn stretches some when wet (at least at the gauge I knit at, it might not at a tighter gauge). For dishcloths, it's not an issue. For a sweater, it might be.
Did the cats like the yarn? They didn't care one way or another. They only seem to do wool.
Just so ya' know: This yarn did not bleed in my dishwater at all. Sky blue does look darker when it's wet though.
And, if you were trying to decide to buy Sport weight or Worsted weight shine to make your dishcloth, Sport weight is plenty thick for me, a Worsted weight dishcloth would seem pretty heavy to me (but I've never really used hand knit dishcloths until recently, so I might grow into thicker cloths)
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, certainly for any future dishcloths. Possibly for a summery top, but probably not for a big sweater.

If you've used Shine, please feel free to post your opinion in the comments section.

Cat Sized Log Cabin Blanket

2007-04-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

This blanket answers two questions. What do you do with leftover yarn? What do you do with cats that sleep on your knitting or your wool sweaters that you leave out, EVERY time you leave them out?

I used mainly wool leftovers since my cats like natural fibers; the more expensive, the more they like them! The red is Rowan Wool Cotton (50% cotton/50% wool) and the Yellow is Cascade Sierra (80% cotton, 20% wool), otherwise everything else is 100% animal fiber (wool, alpaca, mohair). Look back through past posts, you'll see some of these yarns in their original form!

Working on Estonian Stockings

2007-03-02T10:37:00.000-06:00

I've been working on the Estonian Stockings from the book Folk Socks and along with the Folk Socks Knitalong. I just finished the heel, the top of the sock is not as long as the pattern calls for, but I'd rather not run out of yarn. I'm using Knitpicks Essential sock yarn that I had on hand in Grey, Black, Navy and a Light Blue.

Finished Norwegian Stockings

2007-02-07T12:41:00.000-06:00

I finally finished my Norwegian Stockings (after putting them off for many months) . The pattern is from Folk Socks and the yarn is Knitpicks Essential sock yarn. The gauge wasn't exactly the same, but I have long narrow feet, so they actually fit almost perfectly.I also broke down and ordered from Knitpicks, I pretty much undid all the yarn I used in January (since I'm keeping a running total for Stashalong purposes)

Finally, a pic of the sweater for my sister!

2007-02-04T07:39:00.000-06:00

It's not the greatest picture, but enough that you get the point. I took this before I mailed this off to my sister about a week ago.The pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple #996 and the yarn is Jamieson's Soft Shetland (see my opinion of it here). The sleeves are super duper long since my sister has super duper long arms; she says that they are actually long enough for her. I started the sleeve ribbing (k2 p2) about 4 inches from the end of the sleeve, that way she could easily fold up the sleeves if they are actually too long.

Yarn Opinions: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton

2007-01-26T11:50:00.000-06:00

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton
Information from here , here, and yarn label
Content: 100% Cotton
Amount: 84 yards per 50 gram ball
Gauge: 18 sts over 4 inches on size US 7 needles
Price: $5.45/skein at my local yarn shop
Colour: 405 Phlox (purple) and 404 1/4 Indigo (blue).
Project: Bunny Hop Side Wrap Kimono

Reality check gauge: Um, yeah, I forgot to check this before I mailed the sweater & hat off. I think it was 18 sts over 4 inches on US 7 Needles
One good thing: This yarn is very soft and machine washable. Basically, it seems to be the perfect baby yarn.
One bad thing: Like I would expect with any cotton yarn, there is no stretch to this yarn. My hands got tired after a long period of knitting with 1824 Cotton.
One odd thing: The purple was considerably softer and not as tightly spun as the blue. I bought the purple last summer and the blue in December. I think that Mission Falls discontinued production while they switched to a different mill about a year ago. I wonder if the purple is from the old mill and the blue from the new mill? I had no problems with either colour, but I found it odd that there was that difference.
Did the cats like the yarn? They didn't care one way or another. Willow did try and play with it a little bit, but I never caught Alex taking a nap on it.
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, certainly for any future baby items. I'm not sure I'd knit an entire sweater for myself with it as it would be pretty heavy (I don't like that heavy cotton sweater feel).

If you've used 1824 Cotton, please feel free to post your opinion in the comments section.

Baby Sweater and Hat Finished

2007-01-26T11:34:00.000-06:00

My friends that were due at the end of January went and had the kid a couple weeks early, so this comes a little late for them, but it's a 6-9 month size, so it should still fit. Before I mailed it off, I took these pictures. Willow wanted to help, so I let her: Yeah, the hat was a little too big for her.
And the "real" picture:
Sweater Pattern:
Bunny Hop Side Wrap Kimono
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton 3 skeins of 404 1/4 Indigo (I've never seen a fractional color number before, so I'm not sure about the 1/4 after the 404 on the yarn band, 404 on the Mission Falls website is Indigo and they look the same) and, less than 1 skein of Phlox (#405)
Size 6-9 Months (too big for an 8 pound cat)
Hat:
Kids Cotton Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Same yarn as sweater
Size: Baby (too big for a cat)

My Stashalong

2007-01-15T08:01:00.000-06:00

I'm hoping to move sometime in the near future so I decided to join the Stashalong to help me along. I need to reduce my stash by 5 skeins each month or 30 skeins by June; I can buy yarn, but if I do that means I need to knit faster or give something away.
To keep me honest, here is the list of everything I have right now. It's not much of a stash, but I'm afraid it'll reach critical mass and start reproducing soon if it gets bigger.
10 Berroco Pleasure
13 Knitpicks Mainline Cotton
~~2 Misti Alpaca Chunky~~
2 Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud
1 Cascade Fixation
1 Cascade Cotton
1 Recycled Silk
2 Cascade 220
1 Cotton Classic
1 Rowan Kid Classic
1 Sunshine Sock Yarn
1 Cotton Fleece
4 3 Rowan Wool Cotton
2 Fortisima Sock
9 3 Knitpicks Wool of the Andes
3 1 Knitpicks Shine
10 Berroco Olympic
8 3 Knitpicks Essential Sock Yarn
8 5 Knitpicks Merino Style
~~1 Ugly blue yarn that I can't remember what it's called~~ Donated
1 Brown Rowan that I can't remember what it is
5 1 1824 Cotton
1 Superwash red sock yarn I can't remember what it's called
6 White cotton sock yarn
5 Rowanspun Chunky
~~1 Soft Shetland~~ Knitted
~~1 Redheart~~ Donated
~~4 Mysterious green yarn~~ Donated
~~1 Decadance~~ Knitted

Start: 105 Skeins Total
Now: 75

Yarn Opinions: Jamieson's Soft Shetland (Now Heather Aran)

2007-01-14T08:33:00.000-06:00

Please note: I purchased Jamieson's Soft Shetland when my LYS changed owners and the new owners held a major destash sale. From what I have read online, in 2005, the company redid their colours, changed the weight of the skeins from 2 oz to 50 grams and renamed the yarn Heather Aran. Other than the above changes, I believe that the yarns are identical, though I have not seen Heather Aran in person.

Yarn: Jamieson's Soft Shetland (now Heather Aran)
Information from http://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/knit/jamiesons.htm#heather and yarn label
Content: 100% Shetland Wool
Amount: 2 oz/120 yards - Heather Aran now has 50 grams and 101 yards
Gauge: 16-22 stitches/20-24 rows equaling 4 inches US Size 6-8 needles
Price: $3.71 per skein as my local yarn shop. Regularly $6.75 and I got it 45% off.
Colour: 234 Pine, from their old colours, now HA-234 and still called Pine
Project: Top down sweater from Knitting Pure and Simple #996

Reality check gauge: 18 sts over 4 inches on US 9 Needles
One good thing: This is a good "workhorse" yarn. It knits a nice even stockingette, it slides across my needles fast, it doesn't split while I'm knitting.
One bad thing: This yarn isn't very soft (it's the opposite end of the spectrum from Merino wool), and it's much stiffer than many other yarns I've used (it almost feels slightly prefelted). I would not wear this yarn against my skin, for the sweater I made, I would recommend wearing another shirt underneath. This would not make a good wrap around your face scarf. I never found it itchy while I was working with it, however I have not worn the sweater (it's for my sister) so maybe it would feel itchy up while wearing it.
Did the cats like the yarn? YES, Alex liked to sleep on the half finished sweater when I wasn't working on it (see pictures in this post). I think I need to make her a wool blanket or buy her a sheep.
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, especially if I could get it as cheap as I did! I would make myself a sweater out of Heather Aran. I know it would do a great plain (stockingette) pattern, but I feel it would be wonderful for a cabled pattern.

If you've used Jamieson's Soft Shetlend or Heather Aran, please use the comments to tell me and others what you think about this yarn.

My recent knitting...

2007-01-08T14:50:00.000-06:00

I've been knitting. Lots. But it doesn't feel like I've been doing much.
I've knit a bunch on my Norwegian Stockings. I have one all the way done, except the foot is too short. The other is getting close to the heel and I can guarentee that I'll try very hard to not make it too short and it'll probably be too long.
I have friends that are having a baby at the end of this month and I REALLY should start the baby sweater for the kid. I'm sure they'd like the sweater when it's still winter.
The thing that has taken most of my time is the sweater I'm knitting for my sister.
About now, I know that you want to see what this sweater looks like so let's take a look at the progress I've made.
Here is what the sweater looked like 3 weeks ago.

Here's what the sweater looks like today.
Alex really likes the wool I'm using (Jamieson's Soft Shetland, I'll write my opinion about it later). This is a Knitting Plain and Simple top down V-Neck pattern. The pattern has you finish the body and then start on the sleeves. I wasn't sure if I'd have enough yarn (I bought it on sale and there were only 7 skeins) so I wanted to make sure I'd have enough for the sleeves and adjust the length accordingly.

Hopefully I'll have some baby sweater pictures to post soon!

Yarn opinions: Misti Alpaca Chunky

2006-11-19T09:47:00.000-06:00

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky
Information from www.mistialpaca.com and yarn label:
Content: 100% Baby Alpaca
Amount: 108 yards/100 gram ball
Gauge: None listed on yarn label, the website gives 3.5 sts/1" on size 10 needles
Price: $12.50 per skein as my local yarn shop.
Project: Top Secret from Knitty

Reality check gauge: 3 sts/1" on size 11 needles
One good thing: Misti Alpaca Chunky is very, very, very soft. Did I mention that it's soft? On the Misti Alpaca webpage, they say "Softest Yarn Ever" I'm not sure if it's the softest yarn ever, but even if it's not, it's very close.
One bad thing: This yarn sheds, not much, but when the yarn is red, you really notice it. I noticed some fibers on my shirt when I finished knitting for a decent amount of time and after the first time I wore the sweater, the shirt I wore under the sweater was absolutely covered in red alpaca fibers. Most of what was shed was 1-2 inch long fibers; I assume that it's just from not being very tightly spun. I'll try and edit this post later to let you know how the yarn wears over time.
Just one warning, this yarn is very warm. Alpaca is supposed to be warmer than wool and this sweater makes me believe it. Combine that with the fact it's chunky weight and you'll stay nice and warm.
Did the cats like the yarn? YES, they liked to sleep on the half finished sweater when I wasn't working on it. Why do they only like expensive yarn?
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, but only for another large turtle neck sweater if I'm realy cold when I start knitting. This yarn is warm and would make a wonderful hat or scarf, but a sweater is almost too toasty and I only need a couple really toasty sweaters in my wardrobe! Don't use this yarn if you live in Florida.

Update: I've worn the sweater a few times and have not had any problems with pilling. The sweater is VERY warm which is why I've only worn it a few times (the times I did were days where the temperature was below 0 and the house wasn't very warm). The yarn is not at all itchy, the parts of the sweater that were against my skin did not bother me; regardless of how soft the yarn is, it feels strange not wearing something under a sweater.

If you've used Misti Alpaca Chunky, please use the comments to tell me and others what you think about this yarn.

Yarn Opinions: Rowan Wool Cotton

2006-11-19T09:43:00.000-06:00

Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton
Information from www.knitrowan.com and yarn label:
Content: 50% Merino Wool/50% Cotton
Amount: 123 yards/50 gram ball
Gauge: 5.5-6 sts/1" on #5-6 needles
Price: I bought it so long ago I don't remember what I paid. The Knitting Garden has it for sale at $9.95/skein
Project: A second, slightly modified Cavern cardigan.

Reality check gauge: 5.5 sts/1" on size 7 needles
One good thing: Stitches really show up well. This could be a bad thing if you knit an entire top in reverse stockinette and then decide that you really don't like the way reverse stockinette looks (not that I would EVER do anything like that....). I think moss stitch would look neat in Wool Cotton, it's just after the reverse stockinette incident, I decided to play it simple with good ol' stockingette lest I get to frog the yarn again.
Oh, and this yarn is very soft in a non-itchy sort of way.
One bad thing: If you're going to sub this for wool, you'll find that it's heavier and has more drape. In fact, it seems drapier (is that the right word?) than Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. Maybe using a smaller needle size or a different stitch pattern would have suited this yarn better.
One random thing: If you've knit something in this yarn and frogged the yarn, you'll end up with some pretty kinky yarn (I'm sure this goes for most yarns though). If you try knitting with this really kinky yarn in stockingette stitch, it will look like you were drunk when you were knitting; all your stitches will be very uneven. If you don't want uneven looking knitting, you have several options. You can wind the yarn tightly in a ball and wait a few weeks. You can make a skein and let it hang for quite a while. Or you can take your steam iron to the skeins and have non kinky yarn in about 5 minutes.
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, though I'm not sure exactly what I would make with it. I think it would be great for a spring or fall top since I could wear this against my skin without itching to death.

If you've used Rowan's Wool Cotton, please use the comments to tell me and others what you think about this yarn.

I've been busy knitting

2006-11-01T13:19:00.000-06:00

I've finished 3 pairs of felted clogs since I last posted and I'm about half done with a sweater for me and also about half done with a vest for the husband.
Here is the picture and the info for the clogs:
Pattern: Fibertrends Felted Clogs
Yarn: Wool of the Andes in the colours Snickerdoodle/Amber Heather, Firecracker Heather/Coal and Amethyst Heather/Coal (can you tell I tried out their new Heathered colours, which, by the way, are great)

Another Cavern Finished

2006-09-24T09:29:00.000-05:00

I started a cardigan about 3 years ago in Rowan Wool Cotton. The pattern I was using called for reverse stockinette stitch. After I finished almost the entire cardigan, I realized that I really don't like reverse stockinette so I never finished or wore this cardigan. This partially finished cardigan has sat unfinished in my yarn drawer for the past 3 years hoping that someday I would either finish and actually decide that I liked reverse stockinette or would find a better project for it. Well, that better project finally found itself. I really liked the last Cavern that I finished, so why not make another, only slightly different.
I began the journey of unraveling the entire old cardigan and wound up with something that looked like hair for a Raggedy Anne doll (red with lots of kinks). I wound up several balls and began knitting since all the kinks in my yarn wouldn't matter once I knit it up, would it? After I finished about two inches, I rethought my previous statement. Kinky yarn DOES matter; it made my stockinette look like I kept changing my tension every single stitch. So I unraveled that much, ironed a few hanks of yarn to get it straight again and began again with greater success. (The balls of yarn that I used towards the end of the project had worked out the kinks just by being in a ball for about a month and I did not need to iron those, so if you're planning on recycling an old sweater, either plan to iron the old yarn or leave it in balls/hanks for a while to straighten out)
And I ended up with:
Pattern: Cavern
Modifications to pattern: Cast on 91 stitches instead of 71 and divided the stitches 22-11-25-11-22 stitches between markers so there were 10 extra stitches on each front panel.
Instead of seed stitch I used a broken rib stitch:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: *K1, P1, repeat from *
Yarn: Rowan's Wool Cotton colour number SH911, "rich".
Needle Size: 7
Gauge: 22 sts=4 inches

I included the cats because it was naptime, they were there and I didn't feel like dealing with two grumpy kitties.
Slightly closer up if you want to look at detail.

Yarn Opinions: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted Weight

2006-08-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

Yarn: Knit Pick Wool of the Andes Worsted Weight
Information from www.knitpicks.com and yarn label:
Content:100% Peruvian Highland Wool
Amount: 110 yards/50 gram ball
Gauge: 4.5-5 sts=1" on #6-9 needles
Price: $1.79 per skein though they just raised their prices to $1.99 per skein
Project: Anything and everything felted.

Reality check gauge: I've never actually used a needle size that is remotely close to the size listed on the yarn label; I've only used this for felted projects so I'm using size 11 needles or larger. And it's felting. I don't check gague when I felt, I just throw it in the washer until it's small enough.
One good thing: This yarn FELTS!!! (perhaps this could also go in the bad things column...) The only other wool I've used to felt is Cascade 220 and in comparison, Wool of the Andes Felts so much faster. I have made my husband 2 pairs of slippers, the first one was out of Cascade 220 and even though I liked the result, they took 4 cycles through my front loader machine. The 2nd pair of slippers was out of Wool of the Andes and they took 2 cycles in the same machine (I really should have pulled them out halfway through the 2nd cycle, but I forgot and had to stretch them out a bit). I wanted to see a little stitch definition in the Felted Christmas Stockings and they took about 1/2 a cycle. Just be warned that it does felt fast so if you're making something fitted, watch it like a hawk. Otherwise, be prepared to save water.
One bad thing: I expect all 100% wool to be a little itchy and Wool of the Andes meets my itchy wool standards. I have never tried wearing WotA against my skin and I don't think I'd want to. I'll keep using WotA for my felting projects that only have minimal skin contact.
I'm also going to note that I felted my Christmas Stockings in seperate loads and stuck a Color Catcher in with the red stocking because I was afraid it might bleed. The Color Catcher was red when I pulled it out, so the red did bleed some, but not enough to ruin the green. I've felted other projects using multiple colours such as 3 shades of blue or blue, purple and black (I don't remember which ones, sorry!) I didn't notice any bleeding with these projects, but the colours were pretty similar. My point, test felt a swatch before felting if using drastically different colours such as red and yellow.
Would you use this yarn again? Yes, for any and every felting project. I would not use it to make a sweater for someone that might accidentally throw it in the wash.

So I haven't blogged in a while...

2006-08-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

I really have no excuse for not posting anything in the past few weeks. I took a long weekend to visit relatives, but otherwise I've pretty much been home not doing much. I start back to school stuff officially on Thursday; so I'm going to have two days to get my butt back in gear and stop being so lazy.
In knitting news, I recycled some Rowan Wool Cotton from a cardigan that I didn't like the first time around (I just didn't like the way reverse stockinette looked). I started another cardigan based on the Cavern pattern (hey, it works) but with a few changes.
I also got a nice bag of yarn from Knit Picks and finished some of my Christmas knitting. My sister in law and her husband wanted knit stockings for Christmas (they requested this last Christmas), so I used Wool of the Andes and a revised version of the Christmas stocking pattern in Knit One, Felt Too. Currently, my house smells like wet wool since I did the felting this morning. Just a note, they picked the colours that I used and they decided not to have matching stockings.

Yarn Opinions: Classic Elite Bam Boo

2006-07-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

Yarn: Classic Elite Bam Boo
Information from http://Classic Elite's Website and yarn label:
Content: 100% Bamboo
Amount: 50 grams/ 77 yards
Gauge: 5 sts/inch on size 7
Price: $7.75 per skein at my LYS.
Project: Mystery Knit along (read the comments here if you want to know what project this is)
Colour used: 4947 "Bluebird"

Reality check gauge: 5.5 sts per inch on size 5 needles.
One good thing about the yarn: The lace pattern that I chose to knit looks wonderful, as does the basic stockinette; this seems like the type of yarn that could handle most any stitch pattern (not sure about cables though and I don't have enough leftovers to give that a try)
One bad thing about the yarn: Okay, it seems like I'm always saying, "the yarn splits easily" I take back every time I have said this in the past because this takes the cake. I had a very hard time with the lace pattern because the yarn would split into about 50 seperate plies any time I did anything other than knit or purl (K2tog, psso, or if I had to unknit/reknit anything). Mind you, I'm not the most experienced lace knitter, so some of that could be the person using the yarn.
I've never felt Bamboo yarn before, what does it feel like: Comparing it to cotton blends, it feels much silkier than Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece (50% cotton, 50% wool) but pretty similar in slinky silkiness to Knit Pick's Shine (60% cotton, 40% viscose).
Did the cats like the yarn? They didn't seem to care.
Would you use it again? Yes, but not for a lace pattern. It's also pretty heavy and the skeins are so little (and somewhat expensive), so I would not do an entire long sleeved sweater out of this yarn. Another stockinette summer top maybe.

I'll post updates here about how this yarn wears.

Please share your yarn opinions about Classic Elite's Bam Boo in the comment section. Let me and others know your opinion of this yarn!

Cool, random, blogs.

2006-07-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

I'm just about done with the knitting guess-a-long. You'll have the final product in the next couple days.
Until then, here are some strange, cool, neat, etc blogs that I ran across while randomly surfing blogger. I don't know any of the bloggers, I just found all of them by hitting the next button in blogger. I'm trying to decide if I should add any to my bloglines or if I have enough to read already.

Serious:
A Bunch of Keys
Social commentary in India. Different view on life for me.

Funny:
Blob
Um, yeah. I'm not going to try and explain it. Go read it yourself.

Darn cute:
Famiglia Ignazi
I don't speak Spanish? but the pictures are cute.

Food porn:
A Subterranean Kitchen
The picture of the cupcake made me really hungry...

Smart?
The Maple Leaf Gnostic
Social commentary mixed with a little sci-fi.

My act is back together...

2006-07-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay. I finally got my act together and sat down to knit some more. I was gone for a few days and all I had to knit was row after row of stockinette; so even when I did knit, I didn't want to bore you by posting a picture that almost looked the same as the last one. Remember you can still keep guessing or you can look back in the comments to satisify your curiosity.

Let me explain what's going on in this picture. As you have probably guessed by now, this is some sort of garmet. You are looking at the side of the garmet, the part that would go under my arm if I were wearing it. The front is the bound off edge and the back is on the stitch holders (the pattern called for scrap yarn but I hate using scrap yarn). As always click on the picture and it will get really big.

We have a winner!!!

2006-06-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

Congrats to alyssa for correctly guessing what I was knitting.

You can read her answer in the comments to Guess-a-long Part 3, but I'm not going to post it here so those that haven't guessed can still play along; or you can go read the comments and be enlightened!

If you want to keep playing:
I don't have any new pictures to post. I've not had the chance to knit more than a couple rows since I posted last night.
I will give you one more "clue" (and for those of you that know what I'm knitting, you probably want to know this too): The yarn I'm using is Classic Elite Yarns Bam Boo in colour # 4947 aka Bluebird. My LYS only had two skeins of bright pink in the yarn that was actually called for in this pattern, so I decided to substitute since I'm not a fan of bright pink!

Guess-a-long Part 3

2006-06-26T21:38:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: WARNING don't read the comments if you don't want to know what I'm knitting. I'll let you keep playing, just don't read the comments.
Congrats to alyssa for the first correct guess!
Congrats to anyone else that has figured it out since alyssa commented!

The photos turned out clearer this time, but darker than I would have liked. Some year I'll actually get a good pic from my digital camera. And then it will break. As always, click on the photos to fill your screen with my wonderful full of mistakes, unblocked knitting.

If you want to take a guess, leave it in the comments. If you want to take a guess but don't want others to see it, you can find my email address in my profile.

Clues: I am using size 5 needles, the same size that the pattern calls for for the body of the work. You start on a different sized needle though (you'll see the insanely short circs in my first post, yeah, those are a different size). They are 24" not to turbo addi turbos (I just bought them and there is a flaw in the cord, I haven't had the chance to take them back to the store yet, so I just deal with their lack of turboness)
I am knitting the smallest size this pattern gives.

Pattern note (that may take you back to algebra class): The pattern called to repeat the lace pattern N number of times until the knitting measured L number of inches. If I had repeated the pattern N number of times, L would have been too long. So I repeated the lace pattern N-1 times and dealt with the fact L was a little too short. I was sick of lace anyway.

Close up:

Not close up:

Guess-a-long Part 2

2006-06-25T14:46:00.000-05:00

I tried to take some nice detailed pictures so you could see nice and close up the pattern. I wish they turned out better, but with my photography skills, you get the best I could come up with. Hopefully the next post will have wonderful, sparkling, clear photographs.

Same deal as before, see the ground rules, the pictures are big so click on them if you want to see them better. And don't yell if you're on dial up.

I have not changed anything in the pattern that is different than my last post.

Close up:Not so close up:

Guess-a-long, Part 1

2006-06-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

I'll get on this and give you your first chance to guess almost right away. No sense in keeping you waiting.
Please see the ground rules for more information about what exactly I'm doing here.

Changes:
1. I'm using a different brand of yarn than the pattern suggests. The fiber content is still exactly the same though the colour is different.
2. I'm using more markers than the pattern instructs me to.

I apoligize for the fact that I only have 16 inch circular needles in this size, I tried to unscrunch my knitting on the needles so you can see it.

The photo should be pretty big. Sorry if you're on dial up and it takes forever to load. Click on the photo to make it bigger.

Guess-a-long

2006-06-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

Instead of posting that I'm knitting a certain pattern, I'm going to post pictures and make you guess. I really don't have enough of a stash to offer a prize from my stash to the first person who guesses correctly what I'm knitting. You just get the honor of being the first person to guess correctly.
Some ground rules:
1. The pattern was published on paper in English in the past two years. It was/is sold at at least one LYS in my area (Twin Cities) and should be available all over the US and probably some places outside the US.
2. The pattern is unique enough that I think someone can figure it out. In other words, it's not a basic garter stitch scarf or something pretty generic like the Hourglass Sweater.
3. I'll let you know if I in anyway deviate from the pattern, though I may not be entirely specific about what I changed (i.e. instead of saying "The pattern said to cast on 150 sts and I only cast on 125 sts", I might just say "I cast on fewer stitches than the pattern called for")
4. I might make mistakes. Deal with it. If I make a big one, hopefully I'll notice and fix it before I take a picture.
5. If I photograph anything other than the right side of the work, I'll let ya know. (no tricky wrong side photos!)
6. I'll try and take very detailed photos. However, I'm not a professional photographer.
7. Post your guesses in the comments or find my email address on my profile page.
8. The progress bar for Mystery project in my sidebar is just an estimate for how far along I am. I haven't counted rows or anything to get an exact number.

Seattle and Baby Ground Squirrels

2006-06-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

I was in Seattle this weekend for my sister's college graduation. We also went and saw Mt St. Helen's. I would post pictures, but I forgot my camera and had to borrow my parent's camera and haven't gotten the pictures yet. Hopefully in about a week I'll have some pictures of Mt. St. Helen's.
How Seattle is different from the midwest:
1) There are little drive through coffee places EVERYWHERE. We have Caribou and Starbucks with drive throughs in a number of locations, but nothing like these little coffee shacks that are about every half mile. Do these people sleep?
2) Gas is more expensive. As a Minnesotan on our hotel shuttle said "Damn liberals"
3) They really don't need to include weather on the news because almost every day includes "scattered showers and partly cloudy" My sister says she never pays attention because it's always the same and usually wrong anyway.
4) Lots of people=traffic jams for no reason. On the interstate to Mt. St. Helen's, we were in the middle of nowhere and there was a traffic jam for no reason. In the Twin Cities, at least something causes our traffic jams.

I came back and discovered that four baby ground squirrels had taken up residence near my patio and are eating the bird seed that the birds drop. Before we left the cats were very excited to watch one adult ground squirrel (mom or dad?) so you can imagine how thrilled they are to see four babies! (mmmm...snack, if only mom would let us out)
The picture is through my screen door since they didn't want to stand still if I opened the door.

Finished Vintage Cami

2006-06-11T20:09:00.000-05:00

And it still badly needs to be blocked. (at least I don't like the wrinkles from where I wadded up my knitting and the edges still want to curl, just a little)
Added: Here is a picture after I blocked the cami and with me wearing it. Guess it doesn't work with low waisted jeans unless you want to see a little tummy (sorry 'bout that).

Yarn Opinions: Cascade Sierra

2006-06-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

Yarn: Cascade Sierra
Information from http://www.cascadeyarn.com/cascade-sierra.asp and yarn label:
Content: 80% Pima Cotton and 20% Wool
Amount: 100 grams/ 192 yards
Gauge: 4.5 sts/inch on size 8, 5 sts/inch on size 7
Price: I bought this last summer and it was on sale. I honestly have no idea.
Project: Vintage Cami - pattern - my version
Colour used: 07 (they don't give it a cool name)

Reality check gauge: 5.5 sts/inch on size 5 needles - I used size 5's to obtain the gauge required to knit the vintage cami.
One good thing about the yarn: It was pretty easy to work with and produced a very well defined stitch. I mainly just used stockinette, but it showed the crocheted edging nicely. I think lace patterns would show up nicely in Sierra. I hate to do this, another good thing is basically that there weren't any bad things except,
One bad thing about the yarn: It split pretty easily, especially when I was doing the crocheted edging it was quite a pain in the butt. I suck at crocheting so that might have something to do with it, but still, regardless of what I did, even when I was knitting the yarn seemed a litter too eager to split into it seperate plies.
Can you compare Sierra to other similar yarns you've worked with? A couple weeks ago, I gave my opinion on Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece and other similar yarns, which include Cascade Sierra. Please forgive me that my answers are going to be the same. This yarn is almost identical to Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. Why wouldn't it be though, the content is almost the same (Sierra- 80% pima cotton and 20% wool, Cotton Fleece- 80% cotton and 20% merino wool). If you can't find one, use the other. I thought that Cotton Fleece was just a tad softer (but I haven't washed either garmet yet). I have also worked with Rowan's Wool Cotton (50% merino wool, 50% cotton) and it's just a little softer (probably the larger content of merino wool), but once again, basically the same only usually more expensive. The last yarn that I have worked with and is close to Sierra is Knitpicks Shine. I have worked with only Sport weight, but they have recently come out with a worsted version of Shine that would be closer in weight to Sierra. Shine is 60% pima cotton and 40% modal. Shine has a slinkier feel to it. It's still soft, but it just feel slipperier than Sierra, probably because of the modal. It's nice to work with, but I wouldn't automatically sub it for Sierra like Cotton Fleece.
Did the cats like the yarn? No. Maybe I just knitted at the wrong times, but it never needed to be attacked. Or maybe it's the colour? Who knows when cats are involved.
Would you use it again? Yes, probably for a summery tank/short sleeved top. Not sure I'd want a long sleeved sweater in cotton, but I might change my mind.

I'll update you on how the Vintage Cami wears, naturally, the day I finished, the temp took a dive into long sleeve weather, so it might be a while.

Please share your yarn opinions about Cascade Sierra in the comment section. Let me and others know your opinion of this yarn!

Vintage Cami

2006-06-05T15:18:00.000-05:00

I started the Vintage Cami last summer. I forgot about it. I found it. I started knitting again. AND, I'm almost finished. Currently, the only knitting I have left to do is for the from the arm holes and up in the front. I'm going to make it slighly less low cut (there's that thing about teaching teenage boys and low cut clothes...), but there still isn't that much to knit!
However, I have to do the crochet edging. I can single crochet with the best of them. Only, this isn't just single crochet. I THINK I know how to do the chaining, but I've never tried before. We'll see how it goes.
For the record, I am using Cascade Sierra in colour # 07 (such an original name!) on size 5 needles.

Finished cavern

2006-06-01T15:27:00.000-05:00

It's hard to get a good picture that shows detial (without also showing cat fur), but here it is, the final product! Now if only it would stop being so darn warm so I could wear it a little more!

Some pattern notes. You can find the original here. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece as called for in the pattern. However, my gauge was way different than what she gave in the pattern so you probably want to do one of those swatch things before you start knitting this. I only used 3 skeins of Cotton Fleece and only did 3/4 length sleeves; you would need all 4 that she calls for to do full length sleeves as I hardly had any yarn left. Hopefully, I can get someone to take a picture of me wearing this so you can get a better perspective (the cats don't make very good photographers).

Tasty, Gratuitous Tofu

2006-05-29T18:13:00.000-05:00

As much as I enjoy reading the food porn on Vegan Lunchbox and Muffin Meals, I promise not to turn into a pictures of yummy food blog. However, I recently nabbed a marinated tofu recipefrom Muffin Meals. Muffin made tofu burgers and then posted the marinade recipie (I requested it since, hey, they looked good) and how she used the leftovers to make tofu nuggets. Being a tofu neophyte (which is odd since I've been vegetarian for about 7 years and have little tofu cooking experience- I eat it at restaurants, just never cook it) and not having any hamburger buns on hand, I decided to try the nuggets and only made 3 so I didn't ruin all my tofu if I had a cooking mishap. They turned out great! The only bad thing was I used whole rosemary instead of crushed rosemary, so I had to pick out pineneedly things from the surface of the tofu. I'll get out the mortar and pestle next time...

Yarn Opinions: Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece

2006-05-28T17:11:00.000-05:00

I found the pattern for Cavern the Pattern through a free pattern post on the Knitter's Review Forums. Check out my rendition of Cavern here. Of all strange things, I actually found and used the exact yarn and colour that it called for (I usually can't stand the colour the pattern used) which is:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece
Information from http://brownsheep.com/cf.htm and yarn label:
Content: 80% Cotton and 20% Merino Wool
Amount: 100 grams (3.5 oz)/215 yards (197 M)
Gauge: 5 stitches per inch on size 6 needles
Price: I'm supposed to pay attention when I buy yarn and not just hand them my credit card. DOH!!!
Colour used: "Cavern" CW-005

Reality check gauge: 5-5.5 stitches per inch on SIZE 7 NEEDLES (note different needle size than listed on yarn label. Also, I guess I knit tighter in the round than back and forth since both my sleeves had a gauge of 5.5sts/inch whereas the body knitted back and forth had a gauge of 5sts/inch. (If you knit Cavern, she lists gauge as 18 sts over 4 inches or 4.5 sts/inch on size 7 needles, I wanted a smaller bust size and took the chance and went with the smaller gauge. Luckily, it worked!)
One good thing about the yarn: After everything I had read on Knitter's Review Forums about cotton yarns and how they stretch, hurt one's hands and do evil things, I must say, I LOVE THIS YARN. It's soft, it didn't hurt my hands, it was easy to work with and my cardigan hasn't grown or anything (yet). I'll update after I've worn Cavern if I still like this yarn.
One bad thing about the yarn: Um, my wooden needles that were a standard tan wood colour are now kinda a sickly black. Granted, I knit ALL of Cavern (3 skeins of yarn) on this one pair so there was plenty of opportunity for the colour to wear off. I never noticed that I had black hands or fingers while I was knitting. Added: While I was weaving in ends, I remember that there were two breaks/knots in one skein and one break in another, the third skein was knot-free.
Can you compare Cotton Fleece to other similar yarns you've worked with? Immediately after finished Cavern, I picked up a top I had started last summer with Cascade's Sierra (80% pima cotton and 20% wool) and never finished. I have both garmets sitting on my desk and they feel very close. Sierra seems to be a little stiffer and not quite as soft as Cotton Fleece (is it the regular versus merino wool that makes the difference?). Watch for more on Sierra coming soon. Rowan's Wool Cotton (50% merino wool, 50% cotton) feels smoother and a little softer than Cotton Fleece (once again, comparing knitted fabric). The last comparison is Knit Picks Shine (60% pima cotton, 40% model). Shine in worsted weight compares in weight, but here I only have Shine Sport and it is not knit up. Shine feels smoother, a little stiffer and denser; it's not nearly as fluffy as Cotton Fleece. If I were in a yarn store deciding on yarns for this pattern, I would pick Cotton Fleece over Shine to knit Cavern with.
Did the cats like the yarn? Yes. Willow tried to have some fun. I caught Alex playing with it once too. Added: I forgot the first round to mention that this yarn picked up tons of cat fur. I'm sure my knitting during shedding season didn't help. What I don't understand is, how does black cat fur show up on a black cardigan?
Would you use it again? Yes, possibly for another cardigan or pullover but I'd really like to do a summery type top. Any suggestions?

Black=doesn't photograph well

2006-05-24T12:14:00.000-05:00

Not that you can really see much, but here's how the Cavern cardigan looks after I had plenty of time to knit in the car on the way to Door County. Technically the sleeves are the last step, but I wanted to make sure I had enough yarn, so I did them as a middle step.
If you could actually see detail a little better, you would notice the seed stitch edging at the edge of the sleeves and at the top of the neckline. However, since you can't, just pretend you like the way it looks.
I'm almost down to the seed stitching at the bottom edge and will hopefully have a better picture of a finished cardigan to post in a few days.

I planted stuff

2006-05-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

Since I moved into a townhouse last summer, I don't exactly have a garden anymore. So my garden consists of several pots on my patio and front step. At least the limited space prevents me from ending up with 3,000 cherry tomatoes that just end up going to waste; at least I hope that 2 plants don't produce that many tomatoes!!!
I planted Husky Red and Husky Gold tomatoes; they are supposed to grow well in pots.

Asters, because they look cool (only they aren't flowering yet):
And petunias, because you have to plant petunias (at least I do though I can never decide what colour):

I have an excuse for not posting this past week!!!

2006-05-20T18:47:00.000-05:00

I've been gone to Door County, Wisconsin. The husband and I decided that the cats needed a vacation from us and we needed a vacation from them. I'm sure the cats slept all day, played all night and were angry that they only got fed once a day. We enjoyed not getting awoken by cats and ate at lots of nice restaurants (like here and here).

We stayed at the Blacksmith Inn in Bailey's Harbor. I don't remember the exact information, but it's a pretty cool historical building (and from that comment you can tell I'm not a big history buff). There are old open beams and the building looks really cool. Check it out if you're in Door County. And they serve good food for breakfast.

Which had a really cool brick parking lot with bricks to mark parking spaces.

And a great view of Lake Michigan (taken from our Balcony):

We went wine tasting and tasted way too much wine and bought even more.

I'll post this before I start sounding like a travel guide for Door County.

Glad I fixed the comments!!!

2006-05-13T21:39:00.000-05:00

Wow, I wonder how long the comments have been broken?
For those of you that don't know, I had set comment moderation but didn't enter an email address in which to be notified at so no comments were getting to me to get posted. I'm really sorry if you tried posting a comment in the past I'm not sure how long and blogger ate it.

With the yarn I dyed in my last post, I want to make the yoga mat bag from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. However, I need to order more yarn from Knit Picks first and being cheap, I want to have an order over $40 so I can get free shipping. But I want to finish a few projects first so I can order yarn for whatever next project I decide on.

Dye Job

2006-05-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

My first time dying yarn with kool-aide! I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Natural and the kool-aide flavors Grape and Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade. I didn't want the colours to mix, I wanted the varigated yarn that I ended up with; now I just need to see how it knits up!

Viruses suck.

2006-04-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

I spent the weekend feeling really icky. Sore throat, fever, achy, tired. The strep test came back negative so I had a virus and the "get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids" that goes along with a virus.
Needless to say, I didn't do much at all over the weekend. I tried knitting for about 5 mintues Friday evening when I was just starting to feel back, but my hands even ached from the fever. So much for that, I had to watch TV and NOT knit
I would post a picture of the Cavern cardigan, but that would be pointless since it almost looks the same as the last picture I posted.

And I started something else...

2006-04-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

As if the list on the sidebar of current projects wasn't long enough, I started another project. I want a summery cardigan that I can wear with my tank tops to stay warm inside. I found Cavern the Pattern almost by sheer randomness. I hardly ever read the free patterns section of Knitters Review Forums, but happened to click on one of the links there and found a cardigan I actually like! This is using the yarn specified in the pattern, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the colour Cavern.

Wool of the Andes sure knows how to felt...

2006-04-18T20:02:00.000-05:00

After one washing the husband says the slippers fit (I think they are a little bit big around but seem okay lengthwise). The previous pair that I knit using Cascade 220 took 4 washings. These took 1. I'll make him wear them around for a little bit and it may end up taking a second washing. But that's still half as many loads as with Cascade 220! (Don't get me wrong, I like this yarn, just not how long it took to felt).
And, these were felted in a front loader washer. I can pause my mid cycle to check on them. I usually just toss in my stuff for felting and let it go and it felts just fine. I'm sure I could always try putting in a pair of jeans and maybe it would felt faster, but that has never seemed necessary. Especially when I use Wool of the Andes.

I've actually been knitting!!!

2006-04-16T12:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I forgot to post yesterday....I've been doing pretty good lately at least.

Willow is not that large of a cat. She weighs about 8 pounds. Still, these unfelted felted slippers are HUGE. They are supposed to felt into a men's size 11, right now I think Willow could live inside of one (she laid down on them after I snapped the picture). These were knit using the Fibertrends felted clogs pattern in mist coloured Wool of the Andes. Felting to happen sometime soon. However, it's almost summer so there really isn't any rush for new slippers.

Who needs Starbucks?

2006-04-14T12:53:00.000-05:00

So it doesn't look quite as nice. And I used flavored coffee instead of espresso (next time I'm just going to buy good ol' plain flavored). It tasted good and was about $3 cheaper than Starbucks. And better for me. I didn't feel obligated to get a larger size (it's not that much more for the next size bigger!).

Duck, duck, cat!

2006-04-13T07:50:00.000-05:00

My indoor only cats are supposed to watch for birds and let me know what is going on outside. This morning I looked out and there were two ducks outside and no one had mentioned anything. I don't live near water, so ducks are very out of the ordinary. You think my cats would realize this!!!
They flew away shortly after I took these two pictures, and don't worry, the only cats around were inside eating their breakfast.

Recycled Silk Wrist Warmers

2006-04-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a bad picture of my recycled silk wrist warmers. Seriously, it's not easy to take a picture of both of them at the same time while I'm wearing them! You can see my opinions about working with Mango Moon Recycled Silk here.

And the green grass grows all around, all around....

2006-04-11T15:35:00.000-05:00

...the green grass grows all around. (not)
The date says it's spring. The temperature says it's spring (it was in the 70's yesterday and 60's today). The grass was slow in getting the memo. At least it's getting green.

Etsy

2006-04-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

Since I first found it, I thought etsy.com was really cool. It's all people selling handmade stuff. And I make stuff. So shouldn't I be able to list a few things there?
I took that step today and listed 3 stretchy bracelets that I made when I was on a beading kick.
So for today's picture, here's one of them. If you like it, see my other two here:

Which dead German composer am I most like you wonder?

2006-04-10T13:13:00.000-05:00

Take the Dead German Composer Test!

Alex wants to teach other cats about computers...

2006-04-09T12:58:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what she was doing but she still doesn't know how to type or use a mouse.

First photo:

2006-04-08T22:25:00.000-05:00

Since I just got done promising a picture every day, I'm going to get off to a good start and post one RIGHT AWAY!

Here it is (drumroll please):
I always thought that marigolds were like 6 inches tall, not 3 feet! I somehow got one packet of free seeds two summers ago and planted them in an empty space not planning to get a bush of marigolds. My sister likes marigolds, so I snapped a picture and sent them her way.

43 Things

2006-04-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

I just ran across 43 Things
One of the goals I've added is to blog more often. I've not been in the knitting mood and likewise have not had knitting related stuff to post. It was my goal when I started to post at least several times a week; I don't want to be one of those bloggers that drops off the face of the earth for months at a time.
Based on my 43 things goal, I am going to try and post a picture every day. Writing does not come naturally to me (I suck at spelling and spend lots of time fretting about words). And I recently ordered a scanner which should be arriving soon (that means more options!!!). Will my photographs be knitting related? Sometimes. Maybe. Don't count on it.
So, sit back, relax and enjoy my digital camera show.

Oh, and to keep trying to contribute to the useful content on the web, I will keep adding yarn opinions as I keep using new and different yarn, I'll always link to them on the sidebar.

Do I even have a stash to flash?

2006-04-02T15:14:00.000-05:00

So I missed the official Flash my Stash Day, here's my belated Flash my Stash day post.
Here's my little tiny stash, that seems very inadequate after I've been looking at everyone else's stashes:

This is all the yarn I own minus the stuff currenly on the needles and the less than 100 yard odds and ends (ie, the yarn that I'll never knit anything out of but keep it around either to fix stuff I've already made with it or for other craft purposes) There is no yarn in the box, just the paper bags...

Here is a better picture so you can get an idea of what was in the large paper bag.

Yarn Opinions: Mango Moon Recycled Silk

2006-03-18T13:22:00.000-06:00

I am in the process of making "Himalaya Ribbed Wrist Warmers" from February 10th of my knitting pattern a day calendar. I am about half way through the second one right now. You can see my progress here.
Yarn: Mango Moon Recycled Silk
Information from the tag on the yarn, no further information on the Mango Moon website.
Content: 100% Silk - Spun from recycled silk saris
Amount: 150 yards, no weight was listed.
Gauge: None listed
Price: $18.50 a skein at my local yarn shop.

Reality check gauge: No gauge is provided on the tag that came with the yarn or on the Mango Moon website. I used size 8 needles and am getting about 4 sts/inch. This is a thick/thin yarn so I can understand why no gauge is listed.
One good thing about the yarn: The colours are wonderful and the yarn looks and feels great knit up! (These wrist warmers will be considerably less scratchy than my wool wrist warmers).
One bad thing about the yarn: I HATE thick thin yarn and this is VERY thick/thin. Some places are so thin that I'm afraid they'll break while there are large chunks in others. It's the large chuks that really annoy me. Especially weaving in ends. My yarn needle wouldn't go through certain places in the yarn and these big pieces also didn't want to pull through the fabric.
Were the colours what you expected? - Since the colours in this yarn are so varied, it's hard to tell what to expect when looking at the skein. I knew I was getting the pink/red/purple colour scheme but didn't know how it would knit up. There are some bits of a yellow/orange and green throughout the yarn that gives it a little character, but not enough to annoy me.
Did the cats like the yarn? Willow played with it a little, but only when it was threatening her (when I was knitting)
Would you use it again? Yes and no. I would only use it for a small project, right now I'm thinking I'll make a headband out of the remaining yarn. I don't think I could work with more than one skein at a time. Silk is so heavy and not very stretchy, I'm not sure I would want a sweater from this yarn. Besides, with a gauge that isn't real exact, I'm sure a larger garment would decide not to fit me.
One random thing: When they were winding my recycled silk for me, one of the employees at my LYS mentioned that she has found breaks in skeins before. None were found in mine during winding, but some places are so thin that I can believe that some skeins might break in places. I have not found any knots either, but I've also not used the entire skein.

Recylced Silk Wrist Warmers....

2006-03-13T20:23:00.000-06:00

Thanks to having a snow day today, I'm off to a good start on my recycled silk wrist warmers from Feb. 10th of my Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar. I finished the first one shortly after taking this picture and began work on the second one. I love instant gratification!

Yarn Opinions: Knit Picks Simple Stripes

2006-03-13T09:14:00.000-06:00

I just finished three pairs of socks in Knit Picks simple stripes. Here are my opinions of simple stripes.

Yarn: Knitpicks Simple Stripes
Information from www.knitpicks.com:
Content: 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon
Amount: 231 yards/50 grams ball
Gauge: 7-8 sts=1" on #1-3 needles
Price: $2.99 per ball
Colourway I used: Crayons

Reality check gauge: In stockinette on size 3 dpns my gauge was 7.5 stitches per inch.
One good thing about the yarn: This is a good basic sock yarn. It compares in texture to the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock that I've worked with before (minus my one bad thing below), only it's just a little thicker. The stripes made knitting fun. (okay, that's two good things).
One bad thing about the yarn: There was the occasional rough loose fiber; I would be knitting along and find one rough hair sticking out of the fairly soft yarn. Not knowing my fiber terms very well, I'm not sure if there is a more specific term for this.
Since you ordered this yarn online, how did the colours compare to the ones on the webpage (keeping in mind that my monitor might be wonky): I used the Crayons colourway. The colours are brighter than what showed up on my monitor; they actually seem kind of washed out on what I see on knitpicks site. There are three different coloured stripes in this yarn; there are specks of other stripe colours in with the solid stripe. I thought the effect was cool in the blue and pink to have little specks of colour, but it almost made the yellow look dirty since it shows up so much stronger in the yellow stripe. I went back and looked at the picture on their website, and you can see this speckled effect in the yellow stripe.
Did the cats like the yarn? Somewhat, Willow played with the yarn some, but mainly when she was sitting by me when I was knitting.
Would you use it again? Possibly. I'm not real wild about the colourways they offer, but they seem perfect for my kindergarten aged cousin. The yarn is very nice and compares to higher priced (Lorna's Laces) yarn that I've used. The stripes were fun to work with.
Obviously, the socks are too small for me to test wear and see how the yarn feels knit up.

What season is it?

2006-03-12T15:23:00.000-06:00

I saw the first robin of the season today (sorry, didn't get a picture), the past few days have been sunny with highs in the 50's. AND we are in a winter storm warning for this evening, looks like a decent amount of snow (4+ inches) is coming our way in a few hours along with some wind and freezing rain. At least the snow won't stay for very long...I do love big snows in March.

I'm a nerd (but I knew that...)

2006-03-09T21:07:00.000-06:00

Pure Nerd
65 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

Find out what you are here

Started Norwegian Stockings...

2006-03-08T15:59:00.000-06:00

This go 'round of the Folk Sock knitalong is the Norwegian Stockings. Since there is so much to these socks, it was agreed that we should take 3 months on them. After all the Olympic knitting maddness, I finally got started.
I am using Knitpicks Essential (it's hard to find a superwash solid coloured sock yarn!) in black, burgundy and ash.
Here is the first inch of my Norwegian Stockings:

Sock Pictures:

2006-03-06T16:34:00.000-06:00

I have a new cousin on the way in a few months. These are for my new cousin and his/her older sister. I had enough yarn, so I made three pairs.
These socks were done using Knitpicks Simple Stripes in Crayons colourway. The Navy stripes in the largest pair (Child Medium) use Knitpicks Essential.
Patterns:
All sizes were done on size 3 needles.
Baby and Small Child: Classic Sock pattern from Yankee Knitter Designs (the generic top down pattern I had setting around). The cuff is in K2 P2 ribbing.
Largest Size: Toe up, I mainly made up the pattern hoping that my previous working in this yarn would get the socks the right size. I used this free online generic toe up pattern to help me with the heel turn. The cuff is K5, P3 ribbing (as inspired from the Country Socks in Folk Socks). This was my first toe up attempt. The socks are too small for me, but I think the heel turned out okay.

Finished Baby/Big Sister Socks

2006-03-05T21:42:00.000-06:00

I'll post pictures tomorrow. That's 3 pairs of socks ranging from baby to large child sized. Now I just need to do a pair of baby booties (which will go quick) and get the shipped off.

Mittens finished!!!

2006-02-26T11:20:00.000-06:00

I finished the second thumb last night! I'd say I was able to pace myself pretty well.
Here are the pictures:

Yarn Opinions: Knit Picks Merino Style (an on the needles perspective)

2006-02-22T20:24:00.000-06:00

If you read back one post, you'll see that I'm still in the process of making the September Mittens from a Year of Mittens for the Knitting Olympics. Read back to here and you'll see that I'm using Knit Picks Merino Style. Here is a review from the knitting standpoint. I will post more after I have worn the mittens to add if they do anything funny.

Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style
Information from www.knitpicks.com:
Content: 100% Merino Wool
Amount: 123 yards/50 grams ball
Gauge: 5.5 sts=1" on #5 needles
Price: $2.29 per ball

Reality check gauge: My test swatch was 6 sts=1 inch on #5 needles and my actually Fair Isle mittens are closer to 7 sts=1 inch on #5 needles. (with most yarns, I am ususally very close to the listed gauge)
One good thing about the yarn: It is SOOOOO soft. It would be perfect for anyone that dislikes wool because it's NOT at all scratchy.
One bad thing about the yarn: The plies split apart really easy. I used it for Fair Isle and was often twisting and switching colours, the yarn seemed to come untwisted very easily. If I had to unknit and reknit anything the yarn became somewhat untwisted. This is not noticable in the finished project
Since you ordered this yarn online, how did the colours compare to the ones on the webpage (keeping in mind that my monitor might be wonky): Vanilla and moss were what I expected, they looked just a tiny little bit different when I held the actual yarn up to my monitor. Dusk was actually a little darker then I expected, possibly the lighting was brighter in the picture shown on their site. If I were matching to something, I would order a colour card just to be certain (but that goes for any yarn I'd order online). I also received both "old" style and "new" style skeins. The old style were wound tighter and made the yarn seem thinner than in the new style skeins. Once the fabric was knit, I could not tell a difference.
Did the cats like the yarn? No, it does not appear they used catnip during processing. (The cats never chewed on or attacked this yarn unlike some yarns that they won't leave alone).
Would you use it again? Yes, but for a smaller project. The skeins are so little that I probably would not do an entire sweater in merino style (all the ends to weave in!!!) I think it would be great for a hat, scarf or anything else worn close to the skin.

UPDATE 3/18/06: I have been wearing these mittens for about 3 weeks now. The yarn is SOOOO soft and I love wearing them (I wear them even when I don't even need to!). After several snows and wearing the mittens while cleaning off my car, I find that my hands don't even get wet (I know part of this is the size 5 needles used and the tight cloth I created). The yarn is wearing nicely, the palms of the mittens are a little worn, fuzzier than the rest of the mitten and almost a little felted. After this short period of wearing, I would use this yarn again and again and again (I want to try a sweater for my husband out of Merino Style, if I can find a pattern he'll wear).
UPDATE 5/23/06: I washed the mittens for summer storage and found that the blue bled just a little into the white, not enough that it would show up in a picture (or that you would notice if you just casually saw the mittens), but enough that I caution you to be careful about using white and other colours if you really care about your finished product after you wash it.

Mitten #2

2006-02-21T20:29:00.000-06:00

It looks like Mitten #1 only less finished and cooler because it is mitten #2!!!
Just a quick post a picture to show off mitten #2. These have been really fun to knit and I am already trying to decide who I should knit another month for.

I'm addicted to,

2006-02-20T18:53:00.000-06:00

not alcohol, not drugs, nothing gross on the internet. No, I'm addicted to Burt's Bees lip balm. It's a cheap hobby to support. I buy the lip balm in the tins and it lasts forever. I first became addicted in college when many members of the orchestra were addicted. Like most addicts, I figured that I'd give it a try ("just one tin") and loved it so I tried it again, and again and again. Then I moved on to their hand lotion and now I'm hopeless.... It doesn't help that they sell Burt's Bees EVERYWHERE now (used to be I could only find it at the local co-op).
So, what are you waiting for, go get yourself addicted!

Ice Dancing is even less exciting when you aren't watching.

2006-02-19T20:23:00.000-06:00

I didn't get much knitting done during the week but I've gotten a decent chunk done today. I finished mitten #1 and am slightly less than 1/3 of the way through mitten #2.
Because colourwork is involved, I don't watch the TV that much. Most events the commentators do all the work for me and I can watch my knitting; except ice dancing (and figure skating), the whole point is to watch. Today's ice dancing music has at least been pretty cool: latin themes.

And now for what you have all been waiting for (drumroll please), the finished mittens and progress on mitten #2:

Don't you like how the thumb blends in? I think it's pretty cool.

Swimming upstream....

2006-02-18T19:53:00.000-06:00

Have I gotten anything done this week that I can post cool pictures about? No.
Did I mean to post at least once between Sunday and today? Yes.
So, what HAS happened since Sunday?
Sunday - I blew up our microwave. Okay, it's still intact, it just flashed once and smoked a bunch after only being on for about 10 seconds. Probably not good.
Monday - I had a stupid meeting after school and then husband and I went to buy a new microwave. So you have something cool to check out, here is the microwave we bought. We like it so far. And it makes good popcorn.
Tuesday - Not sure what I did. I think I went to bed early. Glad I did something memorable!
Wednesday - Lesson teaching evening. I don't get home until late.
Thursday - Went shopping AGAIN. More like we went to dinner at the mall and ended up shopping too. Didn't get home until late.
Friday - All day was the state music teacher's conference so I was at that all day. I was rather tired by the time I got home and I had eaten too much free chocolate so I didn't feel very well.
Saturday - More state music teacher's conference then lessons in the afternoon. I turned in a paper for class and have the Olympics on now. Time to go watch and knit.

I get Monday off, so you'll have so much from me to read by the end of my long weekend, you won't know what to do with me.

After knitting for most of the day,

2006-02-12T21:26:00.000-06:00

I feel like making a list.
(warning, I like lists)
1. My goal is to have the 1st mitten finished by Friday. I think I will probably finish it on Friday.
2. It's been a while since I've knitted with two colours.
3. I was swearing alot in the first few rows.
4. It got easier after the first few rows when I stopped getting my yarn tangled all the time.
5. Do you like my braided edging? I've never done THAT before. Yay me for following directions.
6. I'm on row 26 (out of 56) of the main mitten. The cuff is 27 rows, so really I'm on row 53 (out of 83), but the pattern isn't written like that.
7. Did #6 confuse you? Good.

On your mark, get set, KNIT

2006-02-10T15:42:00.000-06:00

What you can sort of see on the needles is my test swatch (my "training"). Here is what I will be using to make the September mittens for the knitting Olympics.
You will be seeing this yarn in various forms quite often in the next two weeks.
The yarn is Knitpicks Merino Style in:
Vanilla (white, Dusk (blue) and Moss (green)
Size 5 DPNs (metal since the kitties will help)

Now, let's see if I can finish in two weeks!

Alex likes the poncho

2006-02-09T19:09:00.000-06:00

Alex decided to camouflage herself with the poncho I'm in the process of knitting using Sirdar Snowflake. Maybe if I got some glitter for Alex, she would blend in a little better?

Knitting Olympics Training...

2006-02-06T19:37:00.000-06:00

I did my test swatch for the Knitting Olympics and my gauge was on on the first try. Is that a bad sign that something will go horribly wrong down the road? The background colour will be this white and the patterns will be in green and blue...tune in on the 10th and I'll post ALL my yarn colours.

Things that make you go, huh?

2006-02-05T18:28:00.000-06:00

While surfing randomly through blogger using the "next" button, I expect to find one or two stellar blogs, many average ones, some in foreign languages and a few odd balls. On my last "hit next" mission, I found one great one, one foreign language blog and MANY oddballs.

This one has to be badly translated from another language. Chinese maybe? Or someone with no grasp of the English language?
West Nile Virus anyone?
Can't say I read it very thouroughly, but I have no idea.
Umm, Chinese again?
Glass ornaments....?

At this point, my bad blog luck ran out and I got two average ones in a row.
If you were wondering, here is the one that I liked.

Lesbian Kitty Action...

2006-02-04T17:01:00.000-06:00

I wonder how many strange google searches that will bring here....or how many people won't be able to view this because of the title.
Anyhow, here is how Angel and Alex spend a great deal of their time. Cuddling, licking each other and sleeping, in other words, being cute cats. Must be rough.

When you need a wrap/poncho NOW...

2006-01-30T16:40:00.000-06:00

Go yarn shopping of course!
The husband and I are going to the orchestra on the weekend and I want to wear my new little black dress. However, it's winter and it's COLD so I want something on my arms.
I'm trying to do a long rectangle and sew it together to get a poncho like garmet that hopefully keeps me warm enough.
The yarn is Sirdar Snowflake .

Finished Country Socks!

2006-01-29T09:32:00.000-06:00

I found the Folk Socks Knit-a-long at the beginning of this month and immediately cast on for the Country Socks (their December/January sock). Fortunately, I already had yarn I could use and I had a week off at the beginning of the month so I had lots of work time. Back a few weeks when I finished the first sock, I decided that I didn't like the toe the pattern calls for. So the two socks have different toe decreases, I plan to redo the first sock when I have time.
Here they are, the finished country socks:

You may wonder what is sticking out of one of the socks, while struggling to photograph the socks, I discovered a do it yourself sock blocker made from a wire hanger.

Anyone out there take the Praxis II?

2006-01-27T09:22:00.000-06:00

I plan to spend the next few weekends studying for the Praxis II which I take March 4th. I don't have much faith that I atually learned much in my classes and I don't want to have to retake the test, so, I bought a big thick book and am reading what I need to know for the PLT test.
Hopefully the music section is as easy as the sample questions online since I'm not going to study for that section.
So if I don't have as much knitting to post, its because I'm busy reading about Praxis II test topics.

The exciting world of the kitties

2006-01-26T10:16:00.000-06:00

Ahh, most of the day off. Now I get to see what the kitties do all day. Alex curled up and went to sleep, that is until I poked her after I took her picture.

Willow decided to help me try and take pictures of Angel who was sleeping under the bed. She thought walking by right as I started to take the picture was helpful. Thanks Willow, oh, and nice butt.

More help from Willow...

And finally, Angel sleeping under the bed.

First Toe Up Sock= Success

2006-01-22T20:30:00.000-06:00

Even without specific heel turning instructions, I present to you, my first toe up sock. Now, I just need to finish its mate!

Knitting Olympics

2006-01-20T18:15:00.000-06:00

I found the knitalong Knitting Olympics and will knit the Year of Mittens September mittens during the Olympics. The September mittens are the ones you can hardly see in the upper left hand corner.
If you aren't familiar with this pattern, they each have a cuff and hand pattern that relates to each month; September has corn on the cuff. Since my birthday is in September and my grandfather raised corn, I like this pattern!

First toe up attempt.

2006-01-16T15:47:00.000-06:00

I'm starting to get sick of this yarn (and I bet you are too). Only 1.5 more socks until the baby/big sister set is done! I don't think I'll have enough of the stripy yarn so I'm adding the navy stripes and heel.
This was my first attempt at a toe up sock, hopefully I did the heel turn right as I did not have specific instructions for this size of sock.

Finished Big Sister Socks

2006-01-14T21:12:00.000-06:00

After Wednesday's delightful meeting, it is no big surprize that I finished the medium sized big sister socks.
Next project: Large sized big sister socks but using a toe up pattern (I've only done cuff down before).

Stupid Meeting

2006-01-12T09:18:00.000-06:00

I had the delight of getting talked to from 8:30 to 3:15 yesterday (with an hour break for lunch). The presenter made no effort to make the meeting at all engaging. Thankfully I
A) was in the back row and
B) Brought knitting.
The sock pictured below was less than in inch long before the meeting started.
This is sock #2 of the big sister socks (see completed baby socks below). They are "child size small". I also plan to make "child size medium" in the same yarn since I'm not exactly sure of her shoe size and I know she will grow. Hopefully she enjoys having socks that match her new brother/sister's.

One country sock done...

2006-01-10T08:30:00.000-06:00

I finished one of my country socks last night (From Folk Socks, see Folk Socks Knitalong). I think the navy is too dark to really show the pattern, especially in the picture.
I am not sure if I like the toe shapping as it is in the pattern. The pattern calls for a decrease at four points evenly around the toe and it puts a row of decreases on the bottom of the foot. All the other socks I have made have called for a decrease at two places up the side of the sock; I went ahead and followed the pattern since I can't tell if I don't like it until I have tried it!

Yarn comes in mail!

2006-01-07T09:32:00.000-06:00

Thursday, the day before I got my wisdom teeth out, my order of Berroco pleasure came from Webs. As soon as I finish my other two sweaters on the needles (which probably won't happen until after I'm off the "good" make you drowsy pain med) I plan to start Syncopated Ribs from Interweave Knits, Fall of '04

Teethwise, everything is still going well. I am not in that much pain, except when I use that stupid bad tasting prescription mouth rinse! I can tell that I have swollen some, but unless you know me real well, you wouldn't be able to tell.

More about teeth

2006-01-06T21:48:00.000-06:00

All 3 of my wisdom teeth have come out (never had a 4th) and I'm really not feeling that bad. I would post a picture of my swollen cheeks, only, they aren't swollen....yet (it’s only been 12 hours and they say to expect the most between 24 and 48 hours).
I'm on a low dose of the "good" pain killer and the only thing I feel is that my jaw is stiff and my cheeks feel a little bruised if I touch them.
And I never bled any once I took out the gauze when I got home. I never liked having the gauze in my mouth and I was afraid I would have to bite on the stupid stuff all day.

I did enjoy getting knocked out. They gave me laughing gas first, which did not make me laugh but did help me relax LOTS. I don’t remember anything after they gave the IV so that stuff must has worked fast! Next thing I hardly remember is them moving me to a different room for me to lay down a bit and put ice on my cheeks. I got to ride in a wheel chair to the car (I’ve never ridden in a wheel chair before!).

So, to anyone that has not had their wisdom teeth out yet, it’s really not that bad. Though I say that now and I’ll get an infection or something nasty…

Wisdom Teeth

2006-01-05T12:57:00.000-06:00

I have the joy of getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow morning! I do not like needles or blood and am not really looking forward to this. Not much I can do though, they can either come out now before they cause problems or later when they are causing problems and are probably harder to get out.
Wish me luck!

Country Socks

2006-01-04T08:48:00.000-06:00

I cast on for the Country Sock from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush using Knitpicks Essential colors dusk and navy. I was inspired to do this project after I found out about the folk sock knit-along (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Folk_Sock_Knitalong/ ). Unfortunately, the pattern does not show up very well with such a dark color, however, I had already planned to make socks with this color scheme.

First Finished Knitting of 2006

2006-01-03T08:15:00.000-06:00

I wish my feet were this little. I have a new cousin on the way and wanted something I could knit for the baby and the baby's older sister. Naturally I did the easiest (littlest) pair first and am still working on the "big sister" pair.
These are out of Knitpicks simple stripes in the colour Crayon. They are baby sized from my generic sock pattern. Having never put socks on a baby, I hope they fit!

The kitties

2006-01-02T21:21:00.000-06:00

Naturally I must post pictures of the kitties. (Okay, so this is my attempt to figure out how to post pictures, but you need to see the kitties anyway).

First Post!

2006-01-02T21:08:00.000-06:00

I have finally launched myself into the 21st century. What use is a digital camera if I don't have anywhere to display the pictures I take?