Yarn Crawl

Check out my new pan!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may know that I like to bake cakes on occasion, especially with shaped cake molds. I had made a lamb cake maybe three or four years ago (which I may not have shown before - I'm not sure)

and last 4th of July, I made a sandcastle cake (had bought the pan from Williams-Sonoma a number of years back, but finally got around to using it.)

This weekend we're supposed to be going up to our friends' house in South Haven (Michigan) and so last week I was trolling Ebay looking for some unique pans from Williams-Sonoma, as I like their pans best and they usually come with a yummy recipe. I found this one (with recipe) for lemon pound cake - isn't it cool?

The recipe looks super easy too, and I love lemon pound cake. Yum. Jim came up with the idea to bring some limoncello (after dinner liquor/cordial) along with the cake, as we still have some from Capri that we bought and forgot about. I think it will still be good, but we'll have to try it in advance and buy a replacement from Sam's Wine & Sprits if not. That place has everything, so I'm sure they'll have it.

Charity Gala Pic

I think I mentioned that a few weekends ago, Jim and I attended a charity gala for Easter Seals. We've gone to this event once before a few years ago as well. I never took any pictures before we left, but one of my friends who was there sent me a pic just now of the four of us. I cropped them out so they aren't on the internet for everyone to see, as they have a different comfort level with that than we do, but I thought I'd share our picture. Jim actually found a vest that matched my dress pretty much exactly, and he looks great in the picture so I thought I'd share.

I've had this dress forever (like nine years!) and I think it's time to donate it to The Cinderella Project or one of those causes that help girls that don't have prom dresses. It doesn't really fit me that great, and never really did. Kinda loose in weird spots and tight in others. Funny how picky I am about fit now that I make alot of my own clothes. I think it could be a good prom dress for someone. I'll have to get (or make!) another champagne-ish/gold dress to match the vest Jim bought though!

Fixed Colette, and Vienne Progress

After sitting around coughing, blowing my nose and being on a continuous DayQuil/NyQuil drip for the past few days, yesterday I decided to just go for it and try to fix Colette. I'm happy to say it worked like a charm. Since the sweater was constructed top-down, it wasn't as easy as just undoing the bindoff as it would be if it were done bottom-up. I started unraveling the cast-on and after seeing this not work very well after a few stitches started unraveling vertically, I decided to scrap that idea and just pick up around the bottom of the ribbing with a size 2 addi turbo circular, keeping the existing ribbing folded to the inside of the top. This turned out to be the right way to go.

As it was K3P2 ribbing, I picked them up in pattern and worked for about 3/4" (the original length of the ribbing in the pattern.) I debated whether to bind off with the size 2 needles, as I thought it might be too tight, but I decided to just try it, with the thought that it might need that tightness to hold up, and also that if it didn't work, I could easily undo the bindoff and redo it with bigger needles. It worked perfectly!

I decided to leave the inside ribbing that I had previously done intact, almost like a facing in sewing.

I could tack it down like a hem on the inside, but I thought it might show and I'm OK with it as is. The fix makes the whole sweater hang correctly - amazing how a bad fit at the shoulder really impacts the fit of the whole garment. I knew that about sewing, but never thought about it in knitting.

I feel really good about being able to fix it, even though it really wasn't difficult or anything- I was kind of scared to touch it at first, but I just figured, what do I have to lose anyway? I won't wear it as it currently is. It gave me a great feeling of confidence to know that I was able to dive in and not be afraid of it. I needed to tell myself what I tell other people - "It's just knitting, what is there really to be afraid of? Just try it!" So I listened to my own advice.

I also worked on Vienne today and yesterday and finished the body! It's that Tess Cultivated Silk & Wool, which always grows, so I had knit it pretty tightly in preparation for that. It fits well now, although a little snug, but I intended that as I know it will loosen up after its bath, which it's enjoying right now. I wanted to wash it midstream to make sure I knew how much the length changes in the finished project, before I knit the sleeves. They're 3/4 length, so there's a certain amount of fudge factor with that, but I still wanted to know in advance how this yarn would behave (or not.) Here's what it looked like before I gave it a soak - after pics will come later this week after I finish the sleeves - which I am *not* making poofy like the pattern, just normal.

Here's the eyelet hem, which I hope lays flat on its own after washing/blocking.

All in all, the mojo is definitely back!!

Colette Pics

Rip or fix?

Side view - and this is as good as it gets:

Back:

Front

(Rant: I really have to figure out a way to make my dressform actually look like my body. I do have a wide rib cage but not that wide, and I do actually have boobs. If I put a semi-padded bra on my dress form, then she measures too large in the bust, but if I don't, she looks like a linebacker without boobs. Maybe I really am a linebacker without boobs and am just in denial? I think the answer is to buy a petite dress form instead of the "small" misses one, and if necessary, pad it a little in the waist/trunk as the petite dress forms are pretty darn tiny.)

Anyway, I'm just not loving this, but the yarn will be unusable if I rip. The yet-unwoven ends are fraying just from washing it twice.

On a happier note, here's a pic of somewhere I'd like to be right now - the lovely isle of Capri. Jim and I were here in 2002 on our wedding cruise, a few days before we got married.

Happy weekend everyone! I think part of my doldrums lately has been that I'm in the process of getting sick. I had a sore throat starting a few days ago, body aches last night, and now it's turning into a full fledged something. I have absolutely nothing planned for the weekend, as our dinner plans tonight with friends got cancelled, so we'll be staying home and relaxing - my favorite type of weekend.

In Need of Inspiration

I have been feeling really blah this last week and haven't felt like doing much of anything. I finished Colette yesterday, but the neck is too wide for me, despite a few trips to the dryer. I don't even want to rip it out as the Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo, which I thought I liked, turned out to be a fair-weather friend - too splitty, too drapey. The neck's ribbing is too floppy as a result. This pattern is gorgeous but needs a different yarn in my opinion - something with more elasticity. I'll show a picture of it but it's not very appealing. I should know that I always have problems with boat neck designs falling off my shoulders. I may be giving this one away to someone who wants a sweater with a finished bust measurement of 32" but has broader shoulders/is taller than I. Volunteers?

Anyway, I am thinking about re-knitting some designs that I made before that really worked for me - Ariann (except in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece this time instead of Brooks Farm Riata, for a summer version), another Opulent Raglan, another Cable Down Raglan...also on the list is Bijou, which I have the yarn for, and Paloma, which I'll be knitting with Debby.

I also bought the yarn for Wrenna from Elann, but after some substantial attempts at reworking the pattern to be knit at a smaller gauge and resized to be about a 33-34", I've given up as the lace sections just aren't working out, and I don't feel like knitting a not-quite two stitches to the inch sweater right now. BTW, I saw the model for Wrenna in the latest issue of Interweave Crochet, and she is definitely wearing Wrenna with zero or negative ease (and the smallest size is a 37.5") as she was modeling the plus size patterns featured in the issue and it indicated how much ease there was on the designs (inconsistently - which is why I can't figure out if it was zero or negative ease - but still I know that Wrenna wasn't modeled with positive ease - and that I really have no idea how it will end up looking on me as it was shown on someone of a different size than myself. Usually the models are about the same size as me in the bust, although a lot taller, so I usually have a better idea of how things will look on me by looking at them. I know, welcome to the real world - people deal with this all the time.)

I did buy some fabric yesterday from Fabric.com's deal of the day - 2.5 yards for a wild dress of some sort

and I ripped back Vienne to rejoin higher up so the neck wasn't down to almost my navel so I could work on that - but just not feeling the knitting mojo lately. At all! Which sucks as I will be at the biggest yarn buying fest next month - hopefully it comes back by then. I know I want some more of the Tess superwash merino, at least, and I'm excited about meeting the people who will be there.

I'm going to swatch up some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in pattern for Ariann and see if that makes me feel any better.

Not much to report, but it's FRIDAY!!!

Sorry it's been so quiet over here, but I've been super busy and haven't had much to show. I did make a new (sewn) top and am working on the hip shaping on Colette already. On Saturday Jim and I are going to a charity gala downtown, but other than that, NO PLANS and it feels good. Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!

Wow! Just WOW!!!

I got my final SP13 package and was COMPLETELY blown away by it!! I am just flabbergasted and amazed and in awe. Wow. Just WOW!!

I put all of the pictures in one set out on Flickr called SP13 Big Reveal, but here are the best pictures of all the amazing things my pal got me. (More on who this amazing person is at the end, after I marvel at all the things she selected for me....)

Here I am sitting down with my Corona Light and very heavy priority mail box - right after putting on my "comfy pants" - strapping myself in for the ride:

LOVING the yarn she handspun for me - it is super smoothly spun (I don't know the spinning terminology - but she did a quality job) and a lovely colorway - it couldn't be a prettier set of colors.

Checking out the stitch markers she made for me - again LOVE - green is obviously my favorite color and they are just the perfect shade:

Next up - some really pretty dark forest green ITY jersey - 2 yards - LOVE!! (Seeing the theme here?)

You can see by the look on my face how excited I was about this next gift:

The Knit Picks binder!!! I had sooooo wanted one of these!! She even included the needle sizer and a pair of size 6 and 8 needle tips!!!

I think there's a picture of me as a kid at Christmas making this face while checking out my new toys:

Next up, some additional Cascade Pima Tencel for Sandrine!! She checked out how much I already had in my stash, and bought me the difference! The dyelot looks perfect too!

Again, looks like Christmas photos from my childhood:

and now for the BIG REVEAL - contained in the beautiful handmade card...

Reading the card....

Doing the happy dance, jumping up and down!!

My wonderful SP13 pal was the amazing, talented and incredibly generous SHELBY, the fabulous woman who STARTED the Secret Pal Exchange!! She picked ME of all people to spoil!! Can you believe that?? How lucky could I ever get? Thank you SOOOOOOO MUCH Shelby for being a wonderful pal and one who completely surprised, delighted and exceeded any expectations I might have had. So back to the title of this post - it takes a LOT to render me speechless - but Wow! Just WOW!

Remainder of Weekend Update

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments on Habanero!! I really like this one. I ended up going to Wool & Company, my not-so-local LYS that day and showing it off to the girls there. It was fun. I was there because I knit up one skein of that Louisa Harding Thalia yarn on Friday afternoon and really didn't like working with it or how it knit up. Even though it was soft, it just looked kind of ratty and my needles kept getting stuck in the mohair strands. Bleah.

Soooo even though I NEVER do this, I decided to return the remaining untouched skeins for store credit, which they cheerfully exchanged for six new skeins of Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo in a lovely cream color for the latest design by Margit Sage/Fiber Fiend in the new Twist Collective issue, Colette.

In what must have been some sort of record for me, I cast on as soon as I got home and knit feverishly until Jim, our friend Tim, and I went to Sakura for a dinner of sushi and then on a whim, we decided to go to the Hollywood Casino . We hadn't been to any of these local casinos in years and we remembered why when we got there. At least now there is no smoking allowed, but there were hardly any blackjack tables that were less than $25/hand, mostly just slots. We like the $5 minimum blackjack tables, and the 25 cent slots - there were a LOT of $1 slots and I can't justify playing those. So we ended up netting $50 on blackjack and left after about an hour.

The next day I decided to go to the first day of the spring knits sale at Vogue Fabrics and I got five pieces of fabric for $60 (basically netting out the random casino winnings the night before - funny how things always seem to work like that, at least for Jim and I.) They didn't have any good remnants in the remnant room - seems like either they have good fabrics in the "designer room" and nothing in remnants, or vice versa - usually both aren't good at the same time.

Anyway, here's what I got:

3 yards ITY jersey for a dress:

another 3 yards of chocolate brown ITY jersey for another dress:

1.5 yards ITY for a top

another 1.5 yards jersey for another top

2 yards of stretch cotton for a dress or skirt/jacket

Then I got home and started working on Colette again - here's a pic I took yesterday afternoon, but I got a little crazy and worked on it the rest of the day until I actually separated the sleeves! Can you believe it? Not bad for 5.5 stitches to the inch gauge either - I think I actually knit with smaller needles faster than I used to. They're just so much more comfortable in my hands. Size 5 needles are my fave now.

I really love this pattern. It's so much fun to work on. Most of the rounds have been straight stockinette, with just the two lace panels on the sleeves. My favorite kind of project - most of it stress-free and relaxing, with some interesting aspects thrown into the mix to keep it fun. And of course, top-down and seamless. What's not to like?

Habanero - Modeled!

Here is Habanero - got Jim to do a photo shoot as I am wearing it today! I am super behind on my emails/comment responses, but I will get to them. I love all your comments - please keep them coming even though I've been slacking on responding! It's not from lack of appreciation!

Specs:

Pattern: Habanero by Stefanie Japel from the most recent issue of Knit.1
Size: between smallest and second smallest
Yarn: Tess Silk & Ivory

And goofy outtakes:

Happy Friday and Knitting FOs!

It has been a REALLY crazy week for me. Busy, busy, BUSY at work, which has made this workweek fly by. But I'm really glad it's almost over. I'm hoping I can blow out of here a little early today, or even just take 1/2 day vacation this afternoon as I need a break.

I have managed to finish two projects - Habanero and Fantine - but I don't have modeled pics yet (and I haven't woven in the ends on Fantine/gotten a button for it yet.)

Here they are:

Habanero - this funny sunrise light-infused picture actually shows the true color very well. It's evened out considerably and I like it again.

Fantine (pre-end weaving/button finding)

Other than that, I hit a $1.99 pattern sale yesterday at lunch at Hancock's and I bought these two Simplicity patterns:

2647:

and 3503:

No big plans for the weekend - just plan to knit and sew! Jim and I are going to a "Southern Hemisphere wine tasting" tonight at our local wine shop/bar, so that should be right up our alley. Have a great weekend, everyone!