new year cheer

seems like i haven't written since christmas eve and now it's new year's eve. i wish i had been organized enough to write a really christmas-y post like a lot of bloggers did but i just really couldn't get it together in time. christmas was pretty low key. woke up and opened some gifts. my brother actually gave me something (which he never does) and it was a copy of knitting on the edge by nicky epstein. i didn't have the heart to tell him that i already had this book in my library. i am going to try and exchange it at borders this week, hopefully for a copy of folk socks. i saw these two awesome pairs of norwegian stockings and now i can't live without them. i ordered some knitpicks essential sock yarn for a pair and now just need to get the book.

and remember that kid's sweater i was trying to finish? yeah i didn't. i stopped for awhile to make these:





my dad was complaining that he couldn't find any of his scarves so my mom and i made a trip to communkity. i actually had another motive for going there besides dad's scarf needs. i seem to have misplaced some mittenettes i made last year out of manos and really wanted to grab another skein to make a new pair. i knew that communkity carried manos so we decided to find dad yarn there, too. this was what we came up with:



the three skeins on the left are #106 i think and is a great color called granite. that's what we used for my dad's set (the scarf is just 2x2 rib and the hat i kind of made up, if you want to know) while the blue i bought just because it was pretty and the multi skein is for my new topless mittens. i love love manos though. the colors are so pretty and it knits up gorgeously and i just want to roll arond in it. defnitely be a desert island yarn.

so progress on the kid sweater stopped to make those for christmas. i was also having a hard time with the neck decreases so i put it down for a few days. however i picked it up again a couple nights ago to finish the front and start a sleeve. now i have this:


the color is more true in this picture


sleevage

i don't think i am going to finish before i leave on monday but that's fine, i can just mail it to my mom to give to the recipient. i don't like working on a deadline. it just stresses me out. i actually didn't do much holiday knitting this year and i am glad. i'd rather make something for me that i know i'll enjoy than stress out making something for someone who might not even appreciate that it was handmade (yes i know people like that).

well my ride is here to take me to a new years bbq. be safe everyone, watch those wet roads and happy new year!

tiny lights

happy holidays, everyone! pardon the lack of posting but i have been enjoying myself at home with my parents in northern california and haven't had a moment to post. it's so nice to sleep in and eat good food. it's so sunny and pretty here today, even though it was sort of rainy this week. i hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday!

funky monkey

ugh- i am not feeling too well today. yesterday we had to evacuate our builiding because it was starting to smell like toxic fumes on our floor. the president of the company sent out an email encouraging us to leave the building for awhile. i was getting this icky, swollen feeling in my throat and i chalked it up to the weird smell (that came from roof construction we found out) but now it seems like i am actually sick. and it's so not fair because i was just sick before the last holiday. but yesterday two wonderful ladies at work took the three assistants in my dept out for a special holiday lunch at aroma cafe on tujunga. it's this really cute cafe in studio city that has tasty food and is connected to the coolest little bookstore. afterwards, we did a little window shopping and i stopped by the yarn store across the street called yarn garden (sorry i can't find a website but it's 4361 1/2 tujunga). i didn't really get to shop much but i did pick up a skein of lamb's pride worsted yarn to make some toys from the jess hutch booklet and the new winter issue of interweave knits. i can't say that i am blown away by this issue but i do like the sweater on the cover, along with the aran pullover, the lace socks and 4-3-2 ribbed pullover.

it's been madness lately, as i've been shopping and wrapping and writing cards non-stop. i think i am close to nearing the end of my christmas list, but there are still a few people i need to get things for. seems like there's been a flurry of activity lately of bloggers making gifts for loved ones. i, however, know that i couldn't handle that kind of pressure and so instead just make things for me and give away knits on a less stringent schedule than christmastime. however, there is one item that i'd like to finish for christmas and that's this:


it's jack from the rowan junior book. here is my progress so far:


that's just the front of it. i am doing it in some plymouth encore worsted instead of the rowan dk that it calls for. i wanted something a little loftier and smooshy and not so cotton heavy. so far it seem to be working out fine. i don't know if i will actually get this done in time, but one can hope, right?

well off to take some nyquil i go. tomorrow is an office christmas tradition called the smackdown, where my coworkers sign up to perform (we do work at a music company after all) in front of everyone else. not my cup of tea but i'll know los of people performing so i don't want to be sick and miss it. happy wednesday!

a quick fo for you

this is the vintage velvet scarf from the infamous scarf style book. i finished it awhile ago but never got around the posting the details, so here they are.
pattern: vintage velvet from scarf style
yarn: 5 skeins of muench touch me in the discontinued 3660
needles: 4.50mm bamboo straights
size before felting: 5" x 60"
size after felting: 5" x 60" (after a whole lot of stretching)
pattern notes: well, i got gauge by going down a few needles sizes and thought everything was going fine, until i noticed that i was getting down to the last ball, and my scarf was going to be much shorter than the "before felting" size specified in the pattern. i knew this would mean my scarf would end up being too short (i like to be able to wrap my scarves with a decent amount of length). my yarn color was discontinued so i decided that i'd felt it anyway and try to block it after i felted it. in the wash it went and dang if it didn't look like an ugly, drowned rat. then i brought it back up to my apt and stretched it as much as i could and help the ends down with books for about a day and a half. at this point, it was still a bit wet but it wasn't soft at all. it was sort of matted and gross. so i threw it in the dryer for a cycle and voila! it transformed into something plushy soft and fuzzy. i guess this yarn really does need a turn in the dryer to make it work. i don't think there were any mistakes in the pattern and if i had to do it again, i would just use one more ball of yarn so that i could just throw it in the dryer after felting it.
yarn notes: lots of people complained about worming with this yarn but i didn't have a problem with it. sure, it was slippery but the bamboo needles helped a lot. and the whole felting process was very interesting.

so, while i like the scarf, i just don't think it's my style. it's a bit too slinky feeling for me to be comfortable with it and i think i'll gift it to a needy friend. however, a big pillow out of this yarn would be lovely...

variegation is the spice of life

once again i haven't posted in ages. it just seems like i never have the energy to put together a coherent post and i don't want to waste y'alls time with a lame post. however, i hope to get my act together today to catch up on all stuff that's been going on lately here at chez fun. i've been working diligently on my atacama tshirt sweater. i finally finished the back earlier this week, thanks to the kind help of johanna. she sent me an email detailing how to work the back for short row shaping and a three needle bind off on the shoulders. this time i actually did it right and ended up with the correct number of shoulder stitches. thanks, johanna!


i took this picture earlier in the week, before the back was even done. i've been good and have been alternating skeins every couple of rows. you can see the difference in color between the back and the front piece. the back (left piece) is much more red than the front, but i don't care because no one will be seeing them together anyway.

i also finished the double knit hat i was working on a few weeks ago. unfortunately i gave it to my mom during the holiday and never took any pictures of the finished project. you'll have to take my word for it that it was cute and my mom likes it a lot.

last night was my company office party. i've never been to a company christmas party before but i've seen so many of them in films and tv that i fully expected bad karaoke and some drunken embarrassments. luckily, most people contained themselves at the open bar, though there were a few really drunk people there. we stayed long enough to eat and be a bit merry but then made a break for it. i had fun though and oh they gave us gift certificates as gifts. i got one for macy's. i might hit up the makeup counter with that one. and i did have a mini crisis trying to find something to wear for the party (i don't dress up at all normally) but was saved by my lovely coworker who loaned me a cute sweater/camisole set and my roomie who lent me her shoes. after all that excitement, i was very happy to be able to sleep in this morning. not that i stayed in super late but it's nice to wake up when you want. i made a run to santa monica this morning to hit up yarns unlimited, where i picked up this:


the stuff on the left is enough cascade 220 and some gold dalegarn free style to make a gryffindor scarf from this pattern. and it's not as pink as it looks in this pic. bad lighting, wouldn't you know. you didn't think my potter fever had subsided that quickly, now did you? i started reading hp and the half-blood prince but i am reading it uber slow. it's like i want to savor it and save it since i know there's no book after it and the next one is supposed to be the last one, right? the brighter red yarn on the right is actually from unwind that i got earlier this week. with all of this i plan to make this little ensemble set:


pattern for the hat and mittens (not shown in this pic) were purchased from here. i wanted to buy some yarn for hufflepuff scarf (yay cedric) but i want to see the movie again just to make sure what kind of yellow the huffies have settled on in the new film. and i am itching to make a weasley sweater from alison's pattern, but i am waiting for some midnight felted tweed to be available for a good price. and jenn (check out her nov 30th post) is working on the pattern for the new weasley sweater and i just know i'll want to make that, too. potter brain is what i call it. i also stopped by wildfiber, since i was on the westside today and couldn't resist this:


i bought 9 skeins of this rowan plaid and it's so lusicous and soft and the colors are beautiful. it was on clearance so it was a decent deal. but let me say that those wildfiber people are kind of rude. some of the yarn was tagged at a certain price so i made my assumption that the rest of it would be that price, minus the discount. when i got up to the counter i was informed that the price tag was an "old price" and the real price was $2 more. i might have put them back but she had rung it up already and it was gorgeous yarn after all. unfortunately the ones tagged were not the same color as mine but wouldn't you assume the same thing? i hate it when i have to ask for every single price at a yarn store. and how many prices does their yarn have anyway? they have a lovely selection of koigu and lots of other fabulous yarns at that store, but their prices are extremely high and with this kind of attitude, i really doubt if i'll be spending much more time there in the future. but i did have fun buying yarn today. a little present to myself. what is it about buying yarn that makes you feel so happy? i just love it! and my friend and i got my other co-worker into knitting, too, so she's getting the bug alright. i am doing my best to spread knitting around the world, one person at a time.

one more purchase made this week were these:


i know, i know - they're trendy but kind of ugly and yes, they're fakes. but oh they're so nice. it feels like i am walking on big pillows when i wear them and they're perfect for going to a movie in a chilly theater. you can laugh and say i am following a lame trend but i love my new sheepy boots, though i won't be wearing them with a mini skirt. give me some credit at least. i so want another pair in black or green. they're totally toasty and fun.

and that's the weekend so far. i am going to go work on my atacama sleeve right now before i go out to see aeon flux tonight. karyn kusama (who wrote and directed the film girlfight) is directing and a bunch of good people are in it. it looks pretty interesting visually and the animated cartoon was so freaky and hopefully the film will be good. happy weekend to everyone!