Yarn Crawl

Wordless Wednesday

Crochet Practice on a Snow Day

I woke up today with a cold, which I had been trying desperately not to get (as everyone around me had it.)  So I had been popping Vitamin Cs like candy, taking my multi-vitamins, getting enough sleep, etc.  All to no avail. 

So, as we're in the middle of a blizzard in Chicago, and I felt crappy, I decided to stay in and practice my crochet while watching back episodes of The Apprentice on DVD.  If you've been reading my blog awhile, you know I've been on a mission to "get" crochet for at least a few months. I decided this time on Carol's advice to just sit and make swatches.  I spent some time with the Happy Hooker crochet book and created the following swatches.  I think I'm finally getting it except I still have trouble keeping the edges straight on double crochet for some reason.  I think it is because I'm not making the last stitch in each row correctly.  Experienced crocheters, any ideas?  On the circle, I am a little confused too as to where to start the new round (I know it sounds easy to tell, but I was getting confused.)

Single crochet (Lion Brand Kool Wool with a size K hook):

Half double crochet (Jaeger Chamonix with a size J hook for this and the remaining two:

Double crochet (here's where the wheels come off the bus a little, but still better than my previous attempts):

And a circle (I don't know why I have these holes on the left side):

I know they're not perfection, but they're a start. Knitting clicked with me so much easier, so this is bizarre!

Lucy - Continue or Rip?

Last night Jim and I went out with his Aunt Vicki and Uncle Frank, her daughter Tracy and her husband Walter (the ones with the three little kids that I showed pics of in their Christmas knits a few months ago, who they got his sister to watch for probably the first time ever.)  It was Vicki and Frank's treat as me and Tracy both had birthdays in the last week (the "birthweek" celebrations continue!) We went to one of those Brazilian style steakhouses - this one was one they wanted to try called Sabor do Brasil and it was actually very good.  It started snowing just as we got home, as we had pretty early reservations, so that worked out.

So..last night I didn't want to work on the DB Lace & Bobble Jacket (my hands weren't liking the sound of a 100% cotton lace project after finishing a hemp lace project earlier that day) and I left my Kochoran Skinny Rib sweater at the office as webcast knitting. I decided to start Lucy from Rowan Magazine 37 using some Cotton Tape from my stash in "Bleached."  You may recall I posted about this one and another potential Cotton Tape project last month as stash projects:

So here's the back so far

And a few close ups of the stitch pattern:

My question is: I started the decreases on the 11th row and I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to do these in pattern. The pattern is pretty easy: on the right side you do a K1, YO, K1 all into the same stitch to make those sets of three stitches together - then a Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO to make one stitch by itself. On the WS you just purl across.

I think I figured out that the set of 3 always needs to be done over the lace "hole" from the previous row, but although everything's lining up on the right side it looks a little off on the left side. It would be OK if I only had to figure this out on the decrease rows (and eventually there will be increases to figure out too) but whatever you do, you have to keep it going on the next non-decrease RS rows.

I'm thinking of scrapping this pattern b/c I think it's pretty but a little bulky in the cotton tape anyway (a bulky, done on 10.5s type yarn) and maybe I should do a more drapey pattern in this.

Ideas?

Eiffel: Done!

I just finished Eiffel and I absolutely love it. Even though the stiffness of the hemp gave me a slight knitting injury, I love it anyway. 

Here are some pics before blocking (excuse the pre-color appt hair and purple bra - LOL): I figured I had to try it on before I blocked it just to see how it fit:

And here's where it is now - wet and on a towel. I decided not to bother pinning it to the measurements as it fits fine as is - I'm really just washing it to soften it up and get a better drape from it. It did bleed a little when I washed it, sort of a pinkish tone was in the water (it's dark chocolate brown, so I guess that makes some sense.)

I'm on the fence about putting ribbons on it on the chest and biceps - I think I'm not really a ribbon "type" at this stage in my life - so I'm thinking not. Any thoughts?

Bonus for those of you who made it this far - I have one skein of the hemp yarn left, still packaged and unwound. The first person to email me to claim it gets it for just whatever it costs me to ship it to you.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend! I'll have more pics once it dries too!

Fitted Knits Along is Set Up!

Here's the URL for the new KAL - I decided to go with Typepad again.  This will start April 1st to give everyone time to get the book and pick out their pattern and yarn!  It's also been added to the list of 2007 KALs and Swaps.

Shoot me an email if you want to join!

Fitted Knits Review

Yesterday I was wordless but today I am going to make up for it with my review of my new favorite book, Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel (of Glampyre.com fame and creator of the popular Simple Knitted Bodice pattern.)  I am a huge fan of Stefanie's work and have bought every pattern she has sold online - they are all on my upcoming knit list (which I really need to publish on my blog sidebar, but I digress.)

I pre-ordered the book back in October from Amazon.com and had been waiting (im)patiently for it since then.  When it arrived on Tuesday night, I immediately put aside Eiffel and started looking at it.  The first thing I noticed is that Stefanie has held true to her "tradition" of minimal seaming, with the top-down construction prevalent in her other patterns.  Out of the 25 patterns, there are at least half I would immediately want to knit.  There aren't a lot of classic designs here but there are a few.  I did notice she focuses on a number of wide necked designs here, which is good for me but important to know if this style is not good for you - however, there are plenty of others that might be good if even if that isn't.  The patterns are divided into three levels of difficulty:  S for Supereasy, M for Medium and C for Challenge and are signified as such by a different Glampyre crown logo icon and the letter indicating the difficulty.

One thing that is readily apparent to me is that Stefanie does not appear to be a Yarn Snob.  She primarily uses Cascade and even Lion Brand in these designs, making these sweaters easy to duplicate in the recommended yarn (for those who so desire) that is accessible and reasonably priced.

Regarding the "Fitted" part of the title, Stefanie includes a very helpful example of how a theoretical knitter would go about modifying one of her patterns to suit her perfectly.  She includes the knitter's measurements (small, with no hips to speak of, but the concepts can be applied regardless of body type) and includes the math that she would do to determine how many additional increases/rounds/decreases to do to fit the knitter.  This may seem elementary to those who are comfortable with doing this type of math, but I think it will be helpful to see it spelled out for people.  I also liked that she mentioned a few things to look for when trying on your sweater rather than just saying "make sure you like the fit".  I know this was something people were a little confused about on the SKB, as it was kind of like, OK...how do I know it fits me the way it should?

Let's talk more specifics on the patterns.  I asked Stefanie for permission to take some pictures of the patterns for my blog post, but she told me that the publisher is the one who owns those rights, so she actually can't grant me permission, unfortunately.  She was very nice about it.  I'll respect the copyright and just talk about the designs, but if you have the book, you can follow along!  I'll try to do a good job of describing the patterns to give you a flavor of them, but there's no substitute for seeing them.

Here goes:

Split-Neckline cap-sleeved tee - cute, but very young in its silhouette

Coquette Lace tube top - love, love love this pattern- a longer tube top, which I find unique with a center lace portion to the waist and ribbing from the waist to the hips.

Drop-Stitch Lace tank - longer henley-esque sleeveless top with interesting teardrop shaped dropped stitches - I like the pattern but not the button down neck

Spicy Fitted v-neck tee - short sleeved bulky sweater (calls for Cascade Bulky knitted at 3 stitches to the inch) with two rows of lace down the center- maybe a little too bulky for me, but I love the back waist/hip eyelet detailing.  Looks like a fun, quick knit.

Crisp Rectangle Tunic top - long tunic with interesting vertical lines (not ribbing in the traditional sense, but ribbing used to create vertical lines that don't all go all the way from top to bottom of the garment) and moss stitch panel at the bottom: made in Cascade Pima Tencel

Two-toned Ribbed shrug - cute - reminds me a little bit of the One Skein Wonder except with ribbing in the front: made with Cascade 220 superwash

Bold and Bulky mini cardi - again a variation on the One Skein Wonder but bigger and longer, with buttons in front - another quick knit (calls for Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick)

Carie Cropped flared-sleeve cardigan - this one's with Cascade Magnum and hits a few inches below the bustline.  Of course, one could always knit it longer.  Another super-quick knit.

Cropped Cardigan with Leaf ties - I think this is SO CUTE.  I like cropped sweaters and I even love the bright green color this one is shown in.  I also like the added details of finishing the neckline with knitted on i-cord and the picot edges on the hems.

Airy Wrap-Around Lace Sweater - another one I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.  This calls for a mohair/nylon blend (Plymouth Softer? never heard of this one) knitted on bigger needles (2 1/2 stitches to the inch) for an loosely knitted open sweater that wraps around and ties at the hip.  I love the simple cables at the bottom of the three quarter length sleeves.  Perfect for spring and I will be swatching for this one with my Brooks Farm variegated mohair.  Yum.

Puff sleeved feminine cardigan - I'm not into puffed sleeves, but this one is a button down cardigan with a mandarin collar and a peplum, knitted out of Knit Picks Merino Style.  Looks very cute on the model (I swear she is Marcia Brady) with a button down short-sleeve oxford worn underneath and poking out for a few inches at the bottom.

Short sleeved cardigan with ribbing - button down cardigan with sleeves that are go to the elbow and have ribbed panels on them to match the bottom ribbed panel. Kinda cute, but not my favorite.

Elizabeth Bennet cabled cardigan - now this one is very cute.  It's a cardigan with many small buttons from the mandarin collar to the bottom cabled panel and has a matching long cable panel (from about the bicep to the wrist) on the sleeves.  I usually am not so into the mandarin collar look but this one is beautiful and very unique.  I also love how the back waist shaping looks with the cable panel - very flattering.  I will definitely be knitting this one as well.  This one is not as much of an "immediate gratification knit" as it's knit at 5 1/2 stitches to the inch and has cables, but will be well worth it.

Back to School U-Neck Vest - another one I LOVE.  This is the cutest vest I've seen in a long time and I don't usually like vests.  The top section is an interesting waffle-like stitch pattern to just under the bust with ribbing down from that point.  I love it and I will definitely make this one.

Perfect periwinkle turtleneck tube vest - another one I love.  I like the one piece construction and deep ribbing.

Keyhole-neck blouse with eyelet details - another great one - I like the ribbing at the bottom and on the bottom half of the sleeves, and the front and back darts used for shaping.  Knit from Cascade Cotton Rich (4 stitches to the inch.)

Cozy V Neck Pullover with deep ribbing - this one reminds me of the Easy V Neck Raglan that I bought and made previously (at least with the modifications I made to it to make the ribbing deeper.)  Are you getting the theme here of lots of deep ribbing?

Boatneck Bluebell sweater - another one I absolutely love.  A boatneck version of the SKB with ribbing instead of lace panels.  Great!

Textured Tunic with Side buttons- I LOVE this one.  This is the one that is shown on the front cover.  LOVE the boat neck, the textured bust panel with matching section on the sleeves, and the keyhole opening on the shoulder.  Very unique and I will definitely be making this one.

Alexandra ballerina top - I absolutely LOVE this one as well.  Made from Lion Brand Landscapes (which actually has some beautiful colorways and I would buy this specifically to duplicate the colorway of this sweater as pictured) - this one is a quick knit.  A pullover with two large cables down the front and a wide neck, with shaping only in the back.  Beautiful.  I will be knitting it.

Thick and Thin Cardigan Coat - maybe I would like this one if it were in a different color.  Or maybe I just don't like the Cascade Jazz yarn used for the body.  It's an oversized body with almost no shaping.  I'm just not into big sweaters or sweater coats.

Long Coat with Chevron Lace - this one I actually do like, even though it's a coat, but I would make it in mohair to make it less bulky.  I like the chevron lace pattern.

Tweedy V neck jacket and skirt set - a nice idea - I would someday like to attempt making myself a knitted suit, just for the novelty of it.  This one has attractive shaping on the jacket that I think would be flattering (especially like the back shaping) and the skirt is just a pull on slight A-line.

Saturday in the Park perfect dress - very interesting too. A very pretty dress, with an attractive mock cable pattern and a U-shaped neckline, all knit in one piece.  I really like this, and if I attempt a knitted dress, this would be the one I'd try.

OK, now I'm exhausted and it's only 8 am. 

So, after everyone has a chance to buy the book - is anyone up for a Fitted Knits Along?  I just thought of this idea and I think it would be great.  I'm not sure if I would do it on the Blogger platform or on Typepad again (like the Manly Gift Along) as I think there are pluses and minuses of both.  On Typepad's side, it is reliable and doesn't duplicate/eat your posts, but you need to sign your posts as it doesn't show up for some reason.  On Blogger's side, it adds the participant names to the sidebar automatically, but duplicates/eats posts, at least at this point.  Hmm, I think I know the answer already....

Wordless Wednesday!

Itching to Cast On Something...

Ever feel like you just are dying to get started on a new project?  I'm in that situation right now.  I'm shooting for completion of Eiffel by Friday (in time for the weekly Sweater a Month KAL update) and I probably will be done with the Skinny Rib Kochoran sweater the week after that.  Debbie Bliss Lace & Bobble Jacket - probably the next week.  Then I'll have NO UFOs.  What a concept.  From the girl (and yeah, I do call myself that and don't think it's incongruous with my feminist outlook on life) that had about 15 unfinished projects back in August when joining the UFO August KAL, to a total of THREE right now.  Amazing.  I know I will never be one of those people that can cast on a project and practice project monogamy.  Nope, I'm a knitting polygamist (I'd call myself a yarn harlot, but that moniker's already taken) or said less nicely, a knitting slut.

So anyway, I'm overwhelmed with the sheer number of projects I'd love to start right now and don't know how I will narrow it down.  The only parameter is that the yarn needs to come from my stash.  Should I do another winter sweater, or a springy one?  Decisions, decisions.  Maybe I should take a poll.

Joined Eiffel!

I finished the second sleeve and just joined the pieces of Eiffel - looking good so far! I'm hoping I can finish this by the end of the week!

35! Hard to Believe!

Well, today is my 35th birthday - I am still happy about birthdays, rather than dreading them, which I don't really think will change.  I look at it like another year of opportunity and growth and accomplishing what I want in life.  It is a very weird feeling though to be 35.  I am in my mid 30s now - surreal.  On the inside, I feel like I always have, although I don't want to say I feel like I did when I was 20, etc. because I feel so much better.  I was so stressed out and insecure and uncertain about how my future would turn out at that age.  I truly feel like every year gets better for me.  Yeah, there are some lines on my face that I didn't have 10 years ago, but I got them while fulfilling one of my dreams of enjoying the sun all over the world as well as in my back yard by the pool.  Me and Jim went through the ringer and back over the last year, but we really got our issues out in the open and I feel like that was necessary in order to grow in our relationship.  I do feel confident that we are right for each other long term and provide what the other needs in a yin-yang sort of way. 

Anyway, enough navel-gazing.  I'm off work today for President's Day and Jim has to work, so I have a full day ahead of hanging out, knitting and relaxing.  I do have class tonight and I'm going to go (I debated not going) so I have a little bit of homework to finish up later too.

Knitting- I finished the first sleeve on Eiffel and have about 20 more rows on the second sleeve.  I'm planning on getting the second sleeve done and connecting the sleeves to the body later today, so I'll have some pics then!

Also, thanks to everyone for their nice comments on Wicked!  I really appreciate it!  I am so happy with how that one turned out.

I also really enjoyed Blue Man Group - very unique and interesting!  Afterwards we went to Japonais for some fabulous sushi and martinis.  It is very much a "people-watching" kind of place - when I was there once before we saw Juwan Howard and an entourage of four model-like women, and I've heard Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn were spotted there before.  It was great!