blueberry surprise

this is the beginning of the koigu gauntlets i am making my roommate for christmas. koigu is so nice....

i spent last night with my friend knitting and watching the muppet christmas special (not good). she is making fern from the new rowan and i am there to help her out. but rowan patterns can be so vague sometimes that it is just frustrating. it just says "decrease at each end of following 5 rows" but they don't tell you what kind of decrease to use. i mean many knitters can probably figure this out on their own but my friend and i are both new knitters and it would be nice if they at least gave us a suggestion of what to do. why oh why do you make such pretty designs and then have vague directions?

flying turkeys

i hope everyone had a good thanksgiving. i got to visit home for 4 whole days and it was lots of fun. my mom made a delicious turkey and the best part, all the side dishes! sometimes i think i can live on side dishes alone. i got some knitting done, too.

what's this? why it's a completed knit.
pattern: basic cable hat from stitch n bitch nation
yarn: brown sheep lamb's pride limeade (less than 1 skein)

needles: us 6 bamboo for the ribbing, us 7 denises for the rest of it.
notes: easy peasy pattern. looks great in the lamb's pride. love this yarn so much! it looked like the hat was gonna be a bit short so i added 2-3 rows of ribbing before starting the cable and i added a whole cable repeat before decreasing to make sure it was long enough. it turned out just right so i would suggest that most people add some length to it unless they have a really small head. my head's not that big and i think it would definitely have been too short done as stated. oh and no pom pom for me.

pattern: midnight knitter's mittenettes
yarn: 1 skein manos del uruguay in 111, eclipse, a gorgeous colorway with orange, purple, blue and pink
needles: us 6 bamboo dpn
notes: this yarn is so luscious and beautiful. single ply, a little thick and thin with the most gorgeous colors. i die. definitely a desert island yarn. pattern was super simple and i love them! they keep my hands toasty while my fingers are still free to do stuff. go make some now. they only took me a few hours total. great for those single skeins and leftovers you might have.

and what's this? a little added to the stash? click on the thumbnail to see what i got this weekend.

gobble gobble

i was gone last weekend for a birthday party in northern california. i drove up with friends on friday morning. i finished the flap of the second convertible mitten on the way up and they were a hug smash at the party. no one could believe that i had made them and they fit my friend's hands perfectly. phew. my roommate took a picture of him wearing the mitts and i'll post those when i get them. all in all a very nice weekend. my mom had to work so i only saw her for a little bit but a little bit is better than nothing. i'll be driving back home this thursday anyways for thanksgiving. man i love me some stuffing and green bean casserole.

i finished the cabled hat from snb nation last night. no camera to take a picture of it. sadly my camera is not going to be fixed. i've had it for less than a year but it is not repairable. damn sony. i might try and get a new one with my christmas bonus but we'll see. but the hat turned out very nice and i love working with the brown sheep lamb's pride. i like how it is single ply and all that. which reminds me that i picked up this great hand knit vest from a thrift store while i was at home. yes hand made by banana republic (back when they had bananas on their label). the yarn is very much like the lamb's pride and i plan to unravel it and make a nice sweater. not bad for $3.50. :)

photo wednesday

yes here is my copy of stitch n bitch nation finally. i looked through it a bit last night but didn't have time to read all of the articles as i was exhausted after the screening of house of flying daggers and a pit stop at pink's hot dogs (mmm...chili). the movie was pretty good. i thought the plot was a bit cheesy, but that might have been the bad translations. and zhang yimou always has the most beautiful cinematography and choreography. and costumes! love them. check out his other movies, hero, raise the red lantern, and to live to get a feel for this great director.

these are the three patterns that i really want to make in the book right now. i love those armwarmers and the colorway is perfect. sadly the one place i know of that carries noro doesn't have it. and i don't want to pay shipping to order it so i am just going to have to wait. :( i am going to make the cabled hat in some lime green lamb's pride that i have in the stash.

next up, my finished koigu gauntlets:


pattern: elegeant gauntlets from the purl stitch by sally mellville
yarn: koigu kpppm (can't remember which colorway right now but the pic is pretty true)
gauge: recommended gauge for size small/med using size 3 dpns, size 2 for ribbing
notes: very easy pattern and lovely results. i only altered it a bit by using a smaller needle for the ribbing to make it tighter. i also shortened the thumb and hand a bit as i have small hands. i bought another colorway to make my roommate some for christmas. she is oddly attracted to them and when she wears them she is compelled to do ninja/wonder woman likes moves with the gauntlets.



and these are for my friend's birthday (today!) but he is having a party on sat up in northern california. yes we are roadtripping back to my hometown to party it up. they are convertible mittens and i still have half a glove to go and the mitten tops. this pattern is quite annoying and they make huge gloves. this is fine as he has large paws but i don't understand how it would fit anyone else. i will have to show you pictures with my hands in it next time for scale. i need to get these done before we leave on friday. wish me luck!

stitch n bitch nation

barnes and nobled finally got my copy of stitch n bitch nation in. none of the stores in la have it yet. i know because i was at two yarn stores and 3 bookstores this weekend and no luck i ran over there during my lunch break and picked it up. i haven't read any of the features in it yet but i can already tell that i don't like it as much as stitch n bitch. not that it's bad but it just seems to have more novelty knit items (cozies, fishnets, headbands) than i would like. but some people really like things like that and might have not liked the first one because it didn't have any. but there are definitely a few patterns that i would like to make so i will keep it. i'll let you know how it is after i read some of the articles. and i know i don't like the cheesy photos of models superimpsed onto exotic locales.

well i am off to a screening of house of flying daggers tonight. i hope it's good....

tgif

no, i didn't move away to a bush free country. i've just been too lazy to post since i still don't have pictures. but fear not, as i am still knitting every day. i finished my arm warmers and they are blocking on my floor right now. i really like them. i followed sally mellville's pattern without alteration and they look great. i am currently working on a pair of convertible mittens for a friend's birthday next weekend. i substituted patons classic wool for lamb's pride worsted, which is a bit heavier and they look kinda big. but my hands are really small so i can't measure for sure. i am going to make one and see if it's too big or not.

i saw the motorcycle diaries last night (finally) and it was amazing. it was beautifully shot and the actors were top notch (and good looking to boot). it's about revolutionary ernesto "che" guevara and a trip he took through south america when he was 23. everyone kind of knows him from what he did later but this takes a look at what he was like when he was full of idealism and doubt. i think a trip like that would change anybody. i have always had a love for the open road and this movie just makes me want to pack up and travel. go see it if you haven't yet.

have a great friday and great weekend!

good mourning

i can't really get into it but yesterday was a sad sad day. another four years? how could you fail me, america? i need some ice cream now....anyone in new zealand want to house some americans for four years?

onto happier topics- i forgot to take pics of my koigu arm warmers. one is just about complete. all i have to do is make the thumb. it's a really great pattern and easy peasy to follow. i thought that the new stitch n bitch was going to be out this week but i think they pushed it back another week. why? now i have to wait and i even had a borders coupon this week. guess i'll just have to use it on something else.

wait some good news. i have screening passes to see alfie tonight. jude law is too hot for words and the movie is all him. hopefully that will make me forget the mess we're in for a couple of hours. yay.

countdown to the recount

hello, i hope you had a good halloween. no costumes this year for me but i did go see a scary movie or two. note to self: not a good idea when your roommate is out of town. i hope you all go out and vote today. i did it early this morning before work. last night was spent with a few friends going over all of the props and making sure i didn't miss anything. please please go out and vote today. you can't complain about the way the world is if you don't participate in it.

and this is something fun i found at south park website. go here to make your own south park character. i sorta look like this. my hair is usually kind short/mid length but right now it's actually really long because i have been too lazy to get a haircut for awhile. i love south park. go see team america right now if you haven't yet. i think my roommate is going to buy the soundtrack today. whoopee!

been working on some secret stuff, so i can't say much. also bought some koigu (my first) to make the arm gauntlets from sallly melville's the purl stitch. maybe pics tomorrow since my roomie is back with her camera.

please V-O-T-E.