Attempting Domesticity

Yarn Oogling

Until I have a new project (erm, excuse to buy yarn) I am holding off on actually making any purchases.  It certainly hasn't stopped me from oogling new yarns online, though.  Here are a few things I've been drooling over...

Yarn CSA

Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm does a Yarn CSA for $150 a share.  Their yarns are gorgeous and the share gets you a delicious blend of cormo and kid mohair/cormo blend.  Being a relatively new knitter, I haven't tried out their yarns but have read rave reviews and just LOVE the idea of a CSA for yarn!  I am heavily flirting with purchasing a share (and, hopefully will hop to it soon because I hear they sell out fast...).  Check out the details here.

New KnitPicks Organic Cotton

DUDE.  I just got a notice from KnitPicks about their new Organic Cotton undyed/unbleached yarns.  I am obviously a total sucker for those neutral tones and these creamy whites, beiges, and tans are riiight up my alley.  Add to that the fact that they've named the colors after food (mmm...ginger) AND are machine washable AND ridiculously priced and YES you will probably be seeing something crop up here in one of these yarns very soon!  Available in sport or worsted.

Shivaya Naturals

I read about Shivaya on another blog a while back and checked out the website and WOW!  They have some really beautiful yarns.  Of course, I always love those oatmeal-y neutrals but I also adore their amazing all-natural colors.  A few of my favorites are the Gaia (sage green and brown FTW!), and allll of the soft, gorgeous pinks.  Oohhh and also Ceja.  Ok, must close window before I go crazy and link to every single item on the page!

Any other knitters out there?  What have you been oogling??

lace knitting can be a real bitch.

Dear Internets,

See that picture up there?  See how I got so crazed and took a picture mid-row?  That is where my knitting still is.  Because I Cannot Bear to pick it up again and need a freaking breather.  Oh silly me, writing my little love song to lace knitting so many posts ago.  Then I had to go off and knock out a blanket and got all confident (you know, with the super simple easily-memorized pattern) and got back to the lace scarf and it was all "wait...wha??". 

Ok ok so..it's not THAT bad.  I mean, I've got a solid piece done, the yo's and the k3togs, etc etc aren't that difficult in and of themselves ... it's just that I got so used to being able to pay attention to other things when I was knitting!  And this project is such an attention-whore!  I cannot even really watch a movie (unless I've already seen it 100 times and am prepared to not pay attention) while knitting it. 

Because if I do...this happens:

Uhh...yeah.  That doesn't look like a leaf at all.  FAIL.  I can't even remember what I was trying to watch or do when this happened.  Knowing me I was probably reading like 3 different blogs and also watching something on YouTube (like...this!..thx Sara!) and also watching a Harry Potter movie.  Not that I have attention span issues or anything but..ooh look shiny things!

ANYWAY, Just for comparison...this is what the pretty leaves are SUPPOSED to look like:

YAY so much prettier, right?  So yeah...I'm taking a little bit of a breather from this project.  It's all bundled up and waiting for me to take some deep breaths, maybe do some yoga, and come back to it in a better and less crazed/ADD of mind. 

new things!

Hello, everyone!  

Check out the sidebar - I've added some new content, including (short but growing) blogroll and links, my twitter updates (in case you were interested in the minutiae of my day - follow me if you're on!), and cleaned up categories/archives.

For the first time in 6 weeks or so I have the WHOLE WEEKEND OFF.  I'm so excited - 6 day weeks were really getting to me!  Finally, I'll have some time to put up some posts I've been thinking about for a while. 

SO! Check back for new posts soon.

Baby Blanket: Finished!

Yay!  This blanket is finished and in the mail to a very darling baby girl who arrived last week.  I'm very pleased with how it came together! I love that a pattern so simple created something so pretty. 

I love taking these pictures next to my sunny window in the morning.  The only thing is that the color reads a lot lighter than it actually is.  I think I may have mentioned here that when I got the yarn from Knitpicks, it was a bit darker than I had expected.  Fortunately, I took this picture today (right after I finished weaving the ends in) and the color really shows well.

As you can probably tell by now, I LOVE the neutral colors (hello, beige!).  I have to admit that especially when it comes to knits, I'm absolutely partial to these creamy tones. 

In projects to come, I'll try to branch out a little -- if for no other reason than to give this blog some color!!

love is a soft blanket

WELL!  I am extreeemely proud of myself because in just about one week of knitting, I am nearly halfway done with this baby blanket!

 I never would have anticipated how quickly it has come together -- or how enthusiastic I have been about working on it.  It's so nice to have a pattern that is easy enough to remember and memorize, but interesting enough to keep me going.  Renting a few Harry Potter movies and spending a lazy Sunday with a good friend, lots of pillows, and this project really moves things along as well... 

 

As I round out the 4th skein, I feel that I've fallen into a nice rhythm:  the knit rows go by so fast and then all of a sudden I'm slowing down just enough with the purling that my mind kicks in and I get excited about the fun row with all the yo's and k2togs. 

Best of all, though, is how nice the blanket feels on my lap.  The shine sport is a beautiful weight and incredibly soft.  Hopefully I'll be posting shortly that the blanket is finished and blocked...because I'm already getting excited about my NEXT blanket project.  More on that to come! 

blanket and cowl updates!

Cowl update:   yaaay it's done! and just in time for tons more snow to get dumped all over us.  it's not the most beautiful thing in the world but I finished it in two evenings and have really really appreciated its warmth these past few frigid days. 

In other news: My camera has arrived!  I'm very thrilled to have a functioning camera - my last was really a mess.  In celebration, I present a picture of my not-so-gorgeous- BUT -very-functional cowl.  huzzah!

mmm..warm. 

Also! I got my knitpicks yarn in the mail finally.  I spent an excellent Sunday morning (er, afternoon) watching PBS travel shows and casting on the blanket.  I made a last-minute change to a (very very slightly) different feather and fan pattern that looked a little more workable to me - and didn't require navigating around color changes I won't be doing.  It is "Janice's Easiest Ever Lacy Blanket" and is available on Ravelry.  I cast on additional stitches for 2 more repeats of the pattern because I wanted to make sure it was a usable blanket for the longest period of time! 

I cast on in the Willow, which is growing on me.  When I first saw this in the package, I realized that it was a bit more camel-colored than the soft beige I was expecting.  I photographed it against the blue practice swatch so you can get a better sense of the actual color. 

hmm, yes?  I think the thing that gets me is that there's more yellow/red in it than like, cool green (which is the beige I obsess over and have painted on nearly every wall in my apartment).  Fortunately there is also the divine Silver Sage skeins to pacify me...if I make it through this one blanket, there will be another in that color coming soon!

brrrr it's cowl'd!

Well, unfortunately I don't have pictures of this yet as amazon has apparently JUST shipped my camera (which was ordered like 10 days ago) but whatevs.  I have had the no-mail blues lately because in addition to my camera, my package of softy soft knit picks yarn hasn't arrived yet either! 

I was going cross-eyed and needed a break from the leaf lace scarf...combine that with the fact that it's been absolutely frigid here and voila:

I cast on my first cowl and confronted my fear of knitting in the round! 

All I can say is that learning to knit in the age of YouTube is pretty fantastic - one quick video and i was set to go.  I am using this pattern from Kelly at Kelly Wtihout a Net - found through Ravelry.  It's coming together nicely and I can't wait to finish it so I can wear it this weekend - what with our sub-zero wind chill and all.

brr!

pictures as soon as my camera arrives!

practicing a new pattern

hi!  I wanted to give you guys a little peek at what I've been playing with!

It's a little wonky, but this is a practice swatch of feather and fan.  It was actually quite simple, and after some more practice, I feel like I'll be in good shape to start off on a baby blanket in this pattern.  The only drawback is that it isn't a double-sided pattern - you can actually see the double-sided pattern that I tried out on top of the feather and fan but decided to not use because, obvs, I kept screwing up! 

So, feather and fan it is!  It has a nice, easy pattern to remember with just enough to keep my attention but not so much that I can't watch copious amounts of West Wing while I'm knitting (btw: where oh where is my real-life Sam Seaborn?). 

(don't you just want to smoosh your face on this??)

I used a random yarn in my knitting bag (totally can't remember when I even bought it!) but for the actual blanket, I ordered some Knit Picks Shine Sport - chosen because it is machine washable and made from natural fibers.  I had a lot of trouble picking out colors, finally settling on silver sage (after looking at a ton of pictures, it looked less minty green than I originally thought) and I also ordered willow as a backup. 

Now, I'm just trying my best to be patient while I wait for the package! Can't wait to get started...

leaf lace scarf update!

pictures!  here is the small amount i have knitted on the leaf lace scarf.  it's very delicate and gauzy and the yarn makes me think about those big spools of string they use to tie up little packages of happiness at mike's pastry. 

Here's a pretty hazy (oops!) close up of the scarf.  I think my meandering leaves are getting a bit more uniform and I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this pattern.  I have learned a valuable lesson about noting on the pattern which row I just finished because a few times I would purl back and be totally confused about where I was in the pattern!  Ok one more picture:

And there it all is!  I didn't get a good picture of the scalloped edge, but I just bought a new camera and will be sure to post more pictures as this scarf gets longer, though I must admit that my attention has been stolen away by a new project.  I just ordered yarn for a baby blanket for some dear friends who are expecting a little one!  More on that next post!

lace knitting update!

SO! when I left off, I was just about to go fondle yarns and buy new needles to start a lace project.  That afternoon, I groped my way around Woolcott and found a lovely fingering weight yarn in a creamy white natural color and bought some size 4 lace needles (only slightly bigger than those bamboo skewers I was complaining about in my last post). 

I was a little worried that it would be WAY too fussy for me and that it would just basically not be fun after a few repetitions.  I'm pleased to report that so far this hasn't been the case!  I'm really enjoying the yarn and the pattern is so gorgeous - it's hard to believe that just a few simple k3tog's and yo's can make such an interesting pattern - I love it!  and i love the way this (tiny tiny thread-like) yarn is knitting up. 

Details:
Size 4 needles
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino
Color: Champagne
Pattern: Leaf Lace Scarf

I also have to say that I am SO impressed with ravelry!  If you're a knitter or crocheter you should really check out the site - it is an amazing resource for everything from yarns to patterns and there are so many experienced knitters on there who can offer advice through the forums.  So far I haven't even posted any questions because I've found so many answers just searching the forum topics.  It's incredibly user friendly as well which really helps when you're flipping out about something during a project. 

The other thing I'm really loving about ravelry is that it's an easy way to organize all of my projects so I can remember what I've been up to AND also makes me excited enough about knitting to really stick with it this time rather than starting a project in the winter and dropping it in the spring!

Next up: some PICTURES, finally! and a new project to start.