Monday, February 27, 2006

fuzzy goodness

i got this in the mail last week...
astrakhan

to make this jacket from debbie bliss simply soft...
shawlcollar

the astrakhan yarn is fun to work with and makes the coolest texture. it takes a bit of getting used to at first. i kept splitting the curly part with the straight thread it was plied with but after awhile it started to go really smoothly. yes i chose the same color in the book. i've been doing that a lot lately and i don't know why. but i did get a really good deal on the yarn in a random ebay auction. nothing beats a good yarn deal. and i started on a sleeve in the hopes that i won't be banished to sleeve island later on. just get it out of the way. this is how it looks so far:

DSC03044

pardon my messy ends. and i still need to seam the atacama sweater and rip the sleeves on the green one. yeah yeah yeah. i'm having too much fun to worry about it right now. :)

wet socks

wow, it's really raining hard right now. that's pretty unusual down here in southern california. it's so nice to snuggle up at home when it's pouring rain outside. it's supposed to continue for several days - yippee! since i was stuck inside tonight, i decided to buckle down and do a bit of seaming. over the weekend, i finished all of the parts of the rowan juniors sweater i am working on. i've never seamed a sweater so i was a bit apprehensive. i was able to join the shoulder seams using what i think was mattress stitch. then i picked up stitches for the collar. after picking up the stitches i realized that the pattern wanted me to just join one shoulder seam, pick up stitches and then knit the collar back and forth. since i had connected both shoulder seams, i would up picking up stitches in the round. it was a bit fiddly but i don't think there was a huge difference in the outcome.

jackseam
my first shoulder seam. looks ok to me.

jackneck
ooh a collar!

so tonight i decided to put at least one sleeve on. i lined it up with the armhole shaping and i was off! but then, something looked odd. after seaming one sleeve it looked like the arm was much longer than the body. i know kids are gangly, but this wasn't right. a look at the pattern tells me that the sleeve should measure 11 inches. how long was mine? how 'bout 15 inches? i thought about just leaving it and hoping the kid had long arms. but then i took the other sleeve out to measure only to find that this one was only 13 1/2 inches long. counting on the kid having long arms was one thing, but long AND uneven? so i ripped out all my pretty seaming and put the sleeves away to be ripped out and made shorter (and the same length). :(

jackbadsleeves
something is fishy here...

and i was so excited to find out that michaels is starting to carry patons merino yarn. i scored two balls of "natural mix" this weekend and am not sure what i will do with it, but i do love me some real wool yarn at the craft store.

patonsmerino

and i got the new rowan mag in and was pretty disappointed. i just didn't think there were very many cute knits in there. however, the new kim hargreaves collection is up and i think it's lovely. how i wish she were still at rowan. well i am off to knit and watch 24 now. happy mondays.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

brownie bites are my friend

ugh, i so have the headache that will not die right now. but fear not, for i have taken some advil and had a big glass of water and i am confident that it will go away soon. the good news is that i don't have to go to work tomorrow. it's so exciting not to be at work on a day you normally are. i don't have any plans really except to sleep late and get caught up on lost. i love lost, but for some reason, the beginning of the season was so intense that i just started to put off watching it every week. now i am 9 episodes behind (i know i know, practically a whole season) and i have friends threatening to disown me if i don't catch up so they can talk about what's happening. hopefully i will be able to watch a good chunk of those episodes tomorrow. i've also recently become addicted to project runway. i just love watching them make clothes in such a short period of time. i wanted to be a fashion designer when i was in high school and i find the show fascinating. kara was wearing the cutest dress in this last episode and i found out that you can buy it from her website here (it's the kimono dress). i just wish it was a bit more affordable. i am not used to spending that much on a dress so i don't see myself buying it. but damn, it was cute.

speaking of sewing, i recently picked up this book:

denyse

i'd been seeing it on various blogs (can't remember which now) and was drawn to the awesome designs in it. i don't have a sewing machine or really know anything about sewing at all but this book is really inspiring me to learn. so if anyone has any other good sewing book suggestions or a recommendation for a starter sewing machine, please let me know. i don't really need another hobby, but sewing is something i've been wanting to do for awhile.

in other news, i am almost done with the last sleeve on the atacama sweater and i finished all of the pieces of the rowan kid's sweater i am making. once i finish the atacama sleeve, i will have a seaming party and do both sweaters. i am a little apprehensive, as i don't think i've ever actually assembled a whole sweater before. well i did do that one debbie bliss baby sweater, but it was made all in one piece. cross your fingers that everything turns out alright. and i apologize for the lack of pictures but the camera is still in the shop.

well my head is feeling a bit better so i think i will read a bit before going to bed. and if you're up, tune in to tbs cause o brother where art thou is on right now. tim blake nelson makes me laugh so much in this. night!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

no poison

wow, it feels like the week has just been so long. but i am glad to say that i am back in my apt. the fumigation went well and it doesn't look like we're going to die from any gas left over from it. i still have to wash a bunch of pots and pans but we've pretty much put all of the food back into its proper place and things are starting to look pretty normal again. but my camera is broken and has been sent away for repair. so no pictures from me for awhile. this is my second sony camera in two years to break down on me. thank goodness i bought the best buy warranty on this last one or i'd be screwed yet again. i gotta switch digital camera brands when i get a new one one of these days. those sonys just don't hold up very well. i bought some new knitting/crafty books this weekend but i am just too tired to post about them now. soon, i promise. :)

Saturday, February 04, 2006

bang my knee

happy lunar new year, everyone! sorry i've been out while but i took a few days off and went back up to the bay area for the holiday. my mom was very happy to see me and feed me, as usual. the weather was quite lovely up north. i am always amazed by how wonderful the clouds are up there. they're just so fluffy and three dimensional and i just want to touch them. we don't get clouds at all in la (unless you'd like to call the brown haze one big "cloud"). i wish i had taken some pictures but my camera ran out of batteries and the parentals didn't have any aa's lying around and i was too lazy to go buy some. this week has been super busy at work, too, and i haven't had a chance to breathe. not to mention that our landlord called on tuesday to tell us that they were scheduling a fumigation next week, that we had to pack up all of our food in plastic bags, and that we would have to vacate for three days. yeah - let's just say that i am pretty annoyed. this is is the state or my kitchen at the moment:

kitchen

it's just stressing me out. and our building managment were kind of being asses about it. one woman in my building threatened to move out and/or stay in the apt with police when the fumigation was going to happen. i think they finally settled it but ahhhh, where is all this food going to go? anyone want to come over and help me eat some frozen pizzas? not to mention that i am not even around this weekend because i am housesitting for a friend. she's actually got a really cute house out in sunland with a gigantic yard and a "spool" (i guess that's what people called a spa/pool combo). i also get to take care of her lovely pets: two dogs and a cat.

mckenna
that's mckenna, a super sweet doggie

oliver
this is oliver, the biggest non-fat cat i've never seen. oliver also left me a nice #2 in the bedroom this morning. thanks, oliver.

there's also liddy, the super hyper dog but i couldn't get her to sit still for a picture this morning. it's nice to take care of them but that, and the fumigation is just a one way ticket to stress city. but what's better for stress than starting a new knitting project? after seeing eunny's awesome shedir hat here, i knew i just had to have one. i'd also seen a sample made recently at a yarn store and thought it was super cute but i wasn't into the feel of the rowan calmer the pattern calls for. i mean, calmer's nice and all, and probably great for someone with no hair, but i wanted something with the spring and warmth of wool. eunny made hers out of just one ball of rowan felted tweed and i had one ball in the stash so it was off i went!

shedir
i think this color is called melody

i am doing what eunny did and am twisting the knit stitches to give it a bit more definition. felted tweed is so yummy to work with and i can't wait to finish this hat. seems like i must be in a hat mood because i fell in love with allison's we be pirates hat (feb 3 post) the moment i saw it. pirates are awesome and this hat is a perfect thing for a pirate lover. a quick stop to unwind after work yesterday and i came home with this:

pirates
blue sky alpacas for my very own pirate hat!

alight that's all i have time for now. have a great weekend, everyone!

Monday, February 27, 2006

fuzzy goodness

i got this in the mail last week...
astrakhan

to make this jacket from debbie bliss simply soft...
shawlcollar

the astrakhan yarn is fun to work with and makes the coolest texture. it takes a bit of getting used to at first. i kept splitting the curly part with the straight thread it was plied with but after awhile it started to go really smoothly. yes i chose the same color in the book. i've been doing that a lot lately and i don't know why. but i did get a really good deal on the yarn in a random ebay auction. nothing beats a good yarn deal. and i started on a sleeve in the hopes that i won't be banished to sleeve island later on. just get it out of the way. this is how it looks so far:

DSC03044

pardon my messy ends. and i still need to seam the atacama sweater and rip the sleeves on the green one. yeah yeah yeah. i'm having too much fun to worry about it right now. :)
Read More


wet socks

wow, it's really raining hard right now. that's pretty unusual down here in southern california. it's so nice to snuggle up at home when it's pouring rain outside. it's supposed to continue for several days - yippee! since i was stuck inside tonight, i decided to buckle down and do a bit of seaming. over the weekend, i finished all of the parts of the rowan juniors sweater i am working on. i've never seamed a sweater so i was a bit apprehensive. i was able to join the shoulder seams using what i think was mattress stitch. then i picked up stitches for the collar. after picking up the stitches i realized that the pattern wanted me to just join one shoulder seam, pick up stitches and then knit the collar back and forth. since i had connected both shoulder seams, i would up picking up stitches in the round. it was a bit fiddly but i don't think there was a huge difference in the outcome.

jackseam
my first shoulder seam. looks ok to me.

jackneck
ooh a collar!

so tonight i decided to put at least one sleeve on. i lined it up with the armhole shaping and i was off! but then, something looked odd. after seaming one sleeve it looked like the arm was much longer than the body. i know kids are gangly, but this wasn't right. a look at the pattern tells me that the sleeve should measure 11 inches. how long was mine? how 'bout 15 inches? i thought about just leaving it and hoping the kid had long arms. but then i took the other sleeve out to measure only to find that this one was only 13 1/2 inches long. counting on the kid having long arms was one thing, but long AND uneven? so i ripped out all my pretty seaming and put the sleeves away to be ripped out and made shorter (and the same length). :(

jackbadsleeves
something is fishy here...

and i was so excited to find out that michaels is starting to carry patons merino yarn. i scored two balls of "natural mix" this weekend and am not sure what i will do with it, but i do love me some real wool yarn at the craft store.

patonsmerino

and i got the new rowan mag in and was pretty disappointed. i just didn't think there were very many cute knits in there. however, the new kim hargreaves collection is up and i think it's lovely. how i wish she were still at rowan. well i am off to knit and watch 24 now. happy mondays.
Read More


Sunday, February 19, 2006

brownie bites are my friend

ugh, i so have the headache that will not die right now. but fear not, for i have taken some advil and had a big glass of water and i am confident that it will go away soon. the good news is that i don't have to go to work tomorrow. it's so exciting not to be at work on a day you normally are. i don't have any plans really except to sleep late and get caught up on lost. i love lost, but for some reason, the beginning of the season was so intense that i just started to put off watching it every week. now i am 9 episodes behind (i know i know, practically a whole season) and i have friends threatening to disown me if i don't catch up so they can talk about what's happening. hopefully i will be able to watch a good chunk of those episodes tomorrow. i've also recently become addicted to project runway. i just love watching them make clothes in such a short period of time. i wanted to be a fashion designer when i was in high school and i find the show fascinating. kara was wearing the cutest dress in this last episode and i found out that you can buy it from her website here (it's the kimono dress). i just wish it was a bit more affordable. i am not used to spending that much on a dress so i don't see myself buying it. but damn, it was cute.

speaking of sewing, i recently picked up this book:

denyse

i'd been seeing it on various blogs (can't remember which now) and was drawn to the awesome designs in it. i don't have a sewing machine or really know anything about sewing at all but this book is really inspiring me to learn. so if anyone has any other good sewing book suggestions or a recommendation for a starter sewing machine, please let me know. i don't really need another hobby, but sewing is something i've been wanting to do for awhile.

in other news, i am almost done with the last sleeve on the atacama sweater and i finished all of the pieces of the rowan kid's sweater i am making. once i finish the atacama sleeve, i will have a seaming party and do both sweaters. i am a little apprehensive, as i don't think i've ever actually assembled a whole sweater before. well i did do that one debbie bliss baby sweater, but it was made all in one piece. cross your fingers that everything turns out alright. and i apologize for the lack of pictures but the camera is still in the shop.

well my head is feeling a bit better so i think i will read a bit before going to bed. and if you're up, tune in to tbs cause o brother where art thou is on right now. tim blake nelson makes me laugh so much in this. night!
Read More


Sunday, February 12, 2006

no poison

wow, it feels like the week has just been so long. but i am glad to say that i am back in my apt. the fumigation went well and it doesn't look like we're going to die from any gas left over from it. i still have to wash a bunch of pots and pans but we've pretty much put all of the food back into its proper place and things are starting to look pretty normal again. but my camera is broken and has been sent away for repair. so no pictures from me for awhile. this is my second sony camera in two years to break down on me. thank goodness i bought the best buy warranty on this last one or i'd be screwed yet again. i gotta switch digital camera brands when i get a new one one of these days. those sonys just don't hold up very well. i bought some new knitting/crafty books this weekend but i am just too tired to post about them now. soon, i promise. :)
Read More


Saturday, February 04, 2006

bang my knee

happy lunar new year, everyone! sorry i've been out while but i took a few days off and went back up to the bay area for the holiday. my mom was very happy to see me and feed me, as usual. the weather was quite lovely up north. i am always amazed by how wonderful the clouds are up there. they're just so fluffy and three dimensional and i just want to touch them. we don't get clouds at all in la (unless you'd like to call the brown haze one big "cloud"). i wish i had taken some pictures but my camera ran out of batteries and the parentals didn't have any aa's lying around and i was too lazy to go buy some. this week has been super busy at work, too, and i haven't had a chance to breathe. not to mention that our landlord called on tuesday to tell us that they were scheduling a fumigation next week, that we had to pack up all of our food in plastic bags, and that we would have to vacate for three days. yeah - let's just say that i am pretty annoyed. this is is the state or my kitchen at the moment:

kitchen

it's just stressing me out. and our building managment were kind of being asses about it. one woman in my building threatened to move out and/or stay in the apt with police when the fumigation was going to happen. i think they finally settled it but ahhhh, where is all this food going to go? anyone want to come over and help me eat some frozen pizzas? not to mention that i am not even around this weekend because i am housesitting for a friend. she's actually got a really cute house out in sunland with a gigantic yard and a "spool" (i guess that's what people called a spa/pool combo). i also get to take care of her lovely pets: two dogs and a cat.

mckenna
that's mckenna, a super sweet doggie

oliver
this is oliver, the biggest non-fat cat i've never seen. oliver also left me a nice #2 in the bedroom this morning. thanks, oliver.

there's also liddy, the super hyper dog but i couldn't get her to sit still for a picture this morning. it's nice to take care of them but that, and the fumigation is just a one way ticket to stress city. but what's better for stress than starting a new knitting project? after seeing eunny's awesome shedir hat here, i knew i just had to have one. i'd also seen a sample made recently at a yarn store and thought it was super cute but i wasn't into the feel of the rowan calmer the pattern calls for. i mean, calmer's nice and all, and probably great for someone with no hair, but i wanted something with the spring and warmth of wool. eunny made hers out of just one ball of rowan felted tweed and i had one ball in the stash so it was off i went!

shedir
i think this color is called melody

i am doing what eunny did and am twisting the knit stitches to give it a bit more definition. felted tweed is so yummy to work with and i can't wait to finish this hat. seems like i must be in a hat mood because i fell in love with allison's we be pirates hat (feb 3 post) the moment i saw it. pirates are awesome and this hat is a perfect thing for a pirate lover. a quick stop to unwind after work yesterday and i came home with this:

pirates
blue sky alpacas for my very own pirate hat!

alight that's all i have time for now. have a great weekend, everyone!
Read More