The Purple Blond

The knitting fever has taken hold. Full force and a little scary. I recently drove from my current residence on the coast of North Carolina to my parents' place in the mountains. It's a six hour drive, which means six hours of absolutely no knitting. That's a killer, 'cause I get really fidgity when I don't knit. So to stave off the urge to either red-light knit (yes, I have done that before during a seriously bad traffic jam) or rip my fingernails off, I listen to knitting podcasts. This trip did not include Stash and Burn or Doubleknit, but did have the new Never Not Knitting as well as several new podcasts I have recently discovered, including Electric Sheep, KIPing it Real, and The Savvy Girls Podcast. It seems kind of boring to think about just listening to people talk about knitting for several hours, but I love it. And when I got home the first thing I did was pull out my Evil Stepmother Toe-Up Socks and knit away.

These socks are the product of many hours of boredom and confusion. Not confusion because I didn't know what I was doing, but confusion because I can't understand why in the world I thought I needed to do plain stockinette. I mean, yes it is a variegated yarn. And yes, I was learning a new technique, but still. We all know how bored I get when it comes to knitting a continuous repeating pattern.

But I love (check it. LOVE) these socks. They're soft and so cute. And toe-up with short row heels? Wendy Johnson's book was the best knitting purchase I've ever made. The stockinette part is boring but the short rows are addictive. I was also able to read while I knit them, so that was pretty cool. This evidentially was exactly what I need in my wardrobe. The dumb blond of the knitting world. Seductive, addictive, and absolutely dull socks.

I think I need another pair.

Wonder Shawls and Halter Tops

I have a problem. It's called the lace shawl. And it's a problem a lot of knitters seem to be having lately. See, we love to make shawls. For me, there is not much about knitting that is as fun as an intense chart reading session that ends in taking a rather drab looking mess of fabric and blocking it out into something beautiful.

As an end of the semester celebration I allowed myself the super addictive knitting of a small shawl, using the same yarn from my Top Model Hat. It's gorgous, but the problem of the lace shawl reared its ugly head yet again. It is tons of fun to make, but when exactly am I ever going to wear it? Shawls don't really go with the jeans and tshirt uniform I've adopted on the days I do not TA. Fortunately I finished it just before an end of semester / cinco de mayo party, so I had a fun way to wear it.

Should probably invest in some shawl pins if I keep this up. I had to use the Wonder Woman pin from my backpack to hold it together.

This past week I knit my first real garment (I don't count the Wicked Vest since it was such a disappointment. I actually just gifted it to my sister for her birthday). I went on a recent yarn spree (still hasn't ended), which included acquiring some Knit Picks Shadow. It's gorgeous, but fingering weight so whatever I made had to be held together.

Adopting some modifications I found on Ravelry (credits on my project page), I decided to turn the Razor Cami into a halter top. The pattern is gorgeous and for some reason doing the same two rows over 156 stitches in the round for sixteen inches was actually not boring. It only took me about five days to knit, and while there are some fit problems due to the stretch of the yarn and the sheer impracticality of a halter made of a lace chart, I really do love it.

Now I'm working on a pair of socks I dug out of my in-progress basket (sock, really, I had just gotten to the heel of the first sock) and have a hat blocking and waiting for a button. The knitting life is good.

And remember, knitting needles are fun. Until Hit Girl gets ahold of them. Then no power in the 'verse can stop me from running away as fast as I can.

NYC and All That Yarn

I had this all ready to go back before Easter but blogger is having serious image issues. So here you go, most image formatting issues still present. Enjoy!

It's Easter Break! Usually that means nothing but cramming as much homework into the time that my family does not have in their death grip. But this year they all came to visit me. They're not staying at my apartment, but it just reinforced the fact that I'm living on my own.

I'm loving having everyone here. I didn't make it home for spring break last month because I was in New York City. I know, I know, how horrible that I got to spend an entire week in one of the most exciting places on earth. But seriously, it really was all work, some play, and no rest. I went to do research at the New York Public Library, which was really cool. Really really cool. And when I wasn't there I was going wherever I could get to in Manhattan on foot (Lincoln Center to Columbus Circle to the UN via Central Park -- you try it in 2.5 hours. See how your feet feel). Or Midtown Comics which Frank and Andrew introduced me to. Yes, Echo Alert Frank and Andrew. All Echo Alert hosts were in the same place at the same time talking together. The world imploded and pizza was sexy again.

I also went to the Frick Collection, which is the most amazing museum I have ever been in (and I've been in a lot. I'm a history major after all). It was only $5 for students and it was absolutely breath taking. I was *this* close to paintings by Monet, Degas, Van Eyck, Renoir, and more. I couldn't believe it. So many I had seen in books and films since I was a kid. In fact, a ton of them are important enough that we teach them in Western Civ. Needless to say I was geeking out.

I didn't get to any knitting places this trip (though I did go to a cool haberdashery with my aunt where we bought hats), but there were a few places I went last time that need to be mentioned. First and most exciting among them is M&J Trimmings.

If you're a knitter or any kind of garment crafty person, you must go here. It is just giant rooms of trimmings. Most exciting for me? The button store-front. I was overwhelmed. The place is enormous and has every button and size of that button and color variations on that button that you can imagine. I bought some little pearls for my Pixie Mitts. See?

The other cool knitting place I went to was Knitty City. This store was so welcoming, well organized, and stuffed to the rafters. The cool thing, at least I thought, was that the people working there didn't come up to you and hover or try to talk to you as soon as you came in the door, an experience I've had far too often. Instead, I was able to just browse the walls and lose myself in the beauty of the yarn. And did I mention I saw malabrigo there? Oh yes, it's gorgeous.

My purchases there made my Browncoat Hat, so named because I used the Serenity pin Heidi sent to me after 2008 Comic Con. The hat itself is Piper by Christa Giles (surely I'm not the only one who immediately thinks of Charmed. Did you know they're getting a comic book continuation?) and was a ton of fun to make. I have enough yarn left to do another one if I felt so inclined. The whole thing is knit top down in one piece. The piping is made by knitting a few rows below, which is delicious fun, and the brim is folded and knit back into the bottom of the hat. So cute!

I have been knitting a little lately. But nothing of consequence yet. I'll let you know when I finally finish a project (or at least get halfway through).

In the meantime, remember, knitting needles are not only for knitting. They also work well for scaring away tourists who want to sit a little too close on the subway.

And You Thought I Was Eaten By The Library

Contrary to popular belief and the proof offered by my facebook and twitter stati (status, plural. Statuses? Whatever), I have not been utterly consumed by my research and projects. My hands may be the only part of me not inside this monster but hey, that means I can still type!

Weird metaphor, I know, but go with it.

I have, unfortunately, lost my knitting mojo. I don't know why. I still love my yarn and think my needles are so nice and smooth, but I can't seem to actually pick them up and use them. This might be thanks to the fact that I moved (I know, again) at the end of January. Or it might be thanks to all the Christmas knitting. Or it might actually be the fact that I spend 15 + hours a day working on school work.

Part of me thinks that it is because I pushed myself to finish my first pair of socks before the start of 2009. Yes, I knitted a pair of socks. No, I never got around to blogging about them because I wanted to wait for my sock blockers to come in the mail (knit-picks! Woo!) and I wanted complete pictures. And then the move happened, go figure. But finally, here it is. The story of my first socks.

I was really scared to make any because I tend to wear out my socks on account of always wearing them (well, until I moved here where beach weather + random rain storms necessitate outdoor sports sandals). Finally I decided to make them because I'd been an all-out knitter for a year and I felt like a real knitter would knit socks. So I bought some destashed Trekking on Ravelry and picked out my pattern, Sell Your Sole Socks.

A little side note: I grew up in Western NC, so when I went home for Christmas break this year we got slammed by snow storms. We were actually snowed in at my parents' house for a day or two before we could get down our driveway. Ok, back to my socks.

Over Christmas break, my family decided to visit our relatives on the East Coast. We left NC at 6 am and drove to Pennsylvania. From there we drove to New York state and Fulton, NY where they have had all that snow this winter. Then we went to New York City for 2 nights with my aunt and uncle and then drove all the way home on New Years' Eve. We were in the car all but 2 days for a week. It was pretty intense and probably won't be repeated for a very long time (when I have kids and force them to do the same thing).

(The mini Statue of Liberty in the Susquehanna River)

In the first two days I knitted the first sock. I turned the heel at the Pennsylvania line. Mom was pretty proud because she was driving for all of this. It was my first dutch heel (or any heel for that matter) and the explanation in the pattern was excellent. It has pictures and little thought bubbles and everything.

Did I mention I was drugged on drammamine which makes you drowsy? Oh yes. It's crazy.

I barely finished the second sock in time, but I did. New Year's Eve. It's a little smaller than it's supposed to be, but I blame the fact that we weren't consistently in the car for several days. But now that it's blocked out I'm the only one who notices the mistakes.

Overall, I love the pattern. Loved the experience of knitting socks (actually got Cookie A's first book and Wendy Knit's Knitting Socks from the Toe Up for Christmas but haven't actually used them. The pictures are very pretty and inspiring). But I HATE the yarn. I don't know if my feet have just gotten really sensitive or if the yarn has too much nylon, but they are actually somewhat painful to wear. They're softening up a bit, but the yarn, especially on the smaller sock, is sharp. They're pretty but I would not recommend this yarn. The pattern, however, is just stunning in its simplicity.

And remember, knitting needles aren't just for knitting. They're also for drumming on the back of the driver's seat in an epic road trip band.

On Looking Hot in a Trench Coat AND Having a Brain

Normally things that enrage me never make it into the blogisphere (unless it's a knitting snafu that others might also run into). But since this attacked new media itself (which isn't just twitter, but also podcasts, blogs, and other social media) it merits a response. Plus, when you further attack the integrity of women as beings with the ability to work hard and use their brain to make their way in the world, you open yourself up to the most vicious of attacks.

It's no secret that I am a big fan of Felicia Day. Her impact on the internet world through Knights of the Guild and then other projects (no, I'm sorry. Her impact on the world. PERIOD) has directly influenced the future of television and the web-based viewing a large number of us enjoy. I have often said "Felicia Day is my hero," and that statement is always true.

It's also no secret that I am a huge fan of Twitter. I have either met or enriched my relationship with many (maybe all) of my closest friends through this medium. It has also allowed me to engaged in a community of individuals around the world, all connected through our common interests and internet activity. I'm not so much talking about the overall twitter community, but the many different realms in which I interact that are based on the various podcasts I either listen to or am involved in. And I'm NOT talking as one of those people who lives alone and has no human contact beyond their computer (though Windows and I would probably have a lot of things in common). I have a life outside of my computer, but Twitter has significatly enriched my life through contact with other people who are into the same things that I am (ie Buffy, Smallville, knitting, etc).

Yesterday Felicia Day wrote a blog post about a Vanity Fair article in which she was featured along with several other women who are entreprenuers and very successful. What connects them all? They are very successful Twitter users. Sounds like an awesome study of how New Media is emerging and maybe even how it is becoming the chosen vehicle of intellectual, ambitious women.



(I mean, look at that picture. How awesome?)

Unfortunately, the author took this opportunity to marginalize these "Tweethearts" (seriously? Could you be more condecending?) She frequently refers to them as "girls" and uses all sorts of supposed Twitter slang that is viewed as juvenial by actual users. Her treatment of these women as unimportant individuals who are unable to achieve success without engaging in an online popularity contest is offbase and very offensive. It is very hard to understand why this woman is trying so hard to put down other successful women unless she herself views the world as one giant popularity contest and must put down others' success to make herself sound more intellectual. Honestly, it totally had that highschool vibe.

Ok, I'm not going to rant anymore. Geekweek has an excellent response if you would like to learn more. All I have left to say is, Vanessa Grigoriadis, you have just declared war on informed women everywhere. And we are a formidale opponent.

Christmukkah (minus the mukkah)

Christmas has come and gone and somehow I managed to get all of my gifts made in time. I'm serious. It was a race to the end, knitting up one last gift a few days before Christmas under a blanket as we watched a movie as a family, but somehow I managed to get them done (did I mention we got snowed in the weekend before and were trapped in the house together?)

With one notable exception, all of the gifts I made this year were hats. Figure if you're going to make something for everyone you might as well follow a theme, right?

I started my sister's hat back in October[ish]. It was the only gift that was knit on schedule, but it turned out quite nicely. She's rather quirky and artistic, so the unique butterfly pattern seemed perfect. Sofiya Cremin's pattern is a lot of fun to knit up, provided you don't lose count in the decrease section (or do as I did and put it down for a while and forget where you were).



My mom's hat is one that most knitters will recognize -- Ysolda Teague's Riply. I knit it up in Borocco Alpaca Light and still have some left over. The color is an almost navy shade of blue, but has a lot of other colors flecked into it. Mom's a PE teacher, so I thought she needed a more girly hat. Hence the lace band. And those pleats! So much fun.



(this is the "Faith, stop taking my picture!" shot)

The other two members of the familiy, Dad and my brother, recieved identical gifts. Or at least that was my intention. As you may remember, on Thanksgiving my family ran a 5K (yes, we trot for our turkey. Though some of us may have walked for a bit), and as it was rather chilly, the male half of our four-person group was not too happy with their lack of hat choices. Well what's a girl to do but knit running hats for the ones she loves?



(photos courtesy of Jen Marriner Photography)

Both hats were knit from the same pattern, the Seaman's Cap, which you can still find on Ravelry (though not the actual details of the pattern). Unfortunately, halfway through the second hat the pattern seemed to disappear from the internet. Now we know, kiddies, always print your patterns if they're not a download! I managed to improvise from what I remembered but it came out shorter than intended. Fortunately, my brother loved it. I mean seriously. I don't think he even took it off when he went to bed.

I made 5 other hats at the last minute. Fortunately they only took 2 days and maybe a total of 4 hours.



They're Jayne hat ornaments! Sent to a few of my online friends to decorate their Christmukkah trees or fingers as the case may be. Easy and fun, I just copied this pattern for Jayne hat pins.

Oh, and I made one more Christmas hat.



It's Hermoine! Better known as my BFF[fffffffff . . . well, you get the idea]. Now she is truly chic geek as she chases her students around the playground (I don't actually know if she chases them, but I think it'd be entertaining).

The last thing I made was 1 nearly completed glove for the boyfriend to wear when he plays hockey. He's only been asking for a pair since March. Maybe next Christmas he'll get the other half.



I have much more to tell you about, but haven't the time right now. But I promise to be back soon. Until then, remember, needles are for knitting and stabbing annoying people at the grocery store.

FO Frenzy

There is nothing quite so satisfactory as the sudden empty time you have once the semester ends. After tons of papers and researching, grading and testing, you're suddenly faced with entire days in which you might have nothing that must be done. What is a girl to do with all of this free time but knit?

During the first week of finals I had tons that I had to do. I would stay up until 2, 3, 4 in the morning and crash when I got home in the afternoon. In the midst of all of this, one day I fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon, only to be jolted awake by the doorbell. Now, I'm not very nice when I'm woken up, least of all by people who I do not know (sure, it could be someone I know, but no one I know at school knows where I live). In addition, I do not have a way to see who is at my front door, so I've gotten into the habit of answering the door with a giant bread knife, just in case. Fortunately, if it's the mail or UPS they've left the package and gone on their merry way before I make it to the door. So wasn't I pleased to open the door and find . . .

My package from the ladies of the Stash and Burn Podcast! Inside were all sorts of goodies. Stitch markers that are beaded... a yarn postcard... a delicious chocolate bar... this beautiful case for circular needles (I've never seen anything like it. I've been showing it to everyone)... and TWO skeins of Malabrigo Chunky in the Vaa colorway (never used Malabrigo before. It's heavenly).

Of course I had to knit with it right away! I stopped whatever paper writing I was working on and started pattern stalking. The result was Braided, a really fun scarf pattern by Susan B. Anthony. Yes, it's got measurements, but I just got started and just knit what I felt like. The result was a fun quick knit that looks way more complicated than it actually was.


(the yarn is not nearly as blue as it looks in this picture. It's actually a deep green)

I also decided to call it quits with my French Press Knits slippers. Not that I don't love the pattern. Not that I don't find the creation absolutely fun. But this was my first felting project and I don't think the straps turned out well. I still really like these. I wear them all the time when I'm home, they're very warm and comfy. Totally worth the $7 for the pattern.



Today I finished the Vine and Leaf beret pattern from the Fall09 issue of VogueKnitting. I had to go up 2 needle sizes to get gauge, but it ended up being much bigger than what I was expecting. However, it's really really nice (my family is in love with the color). I may thread in some elastic in the ribbing. If anyone feels like making this, I would highly recommend using a smaller needle for that part to help keep it from falling off. In any case, of all my FOs, this was one of my proudest moments as it is my first Vogue project (and yes, that is Top Model McKey modeling).



I'm also all but finished with Veyla. I need buttons, so pictures will come after I get some (so, like, never).

There is just way too much more to write about, but break is upon us, so you never know when I'll appear!