I don't like to blog much about my yarn acquisitions. I don't like to feel like I am bragging or showcasing any wayward financial behavior. But every once in a while I get something that I just have to show off, and last week was one of those times (onces? whiles?).
Last week I got two lovely packages from Dragonfly Fibers, filled with all sorts of fun goodies.
The first is my May shipment of Club Dragonfly.
As always, the lovely folks who put together these shipments outdid themselves. The pattern this time around was a great pair of socks by RosiG. I am actually not planning to knit these out of the yarn we received, but the pattern is pretty rad. The extra was a lovely set of stitch markers, and who doesn't need more stitch markers? But the kicker, as always, was the yarn.
Dragon Sock in Octopus's Garden
Have I mentioned that this is totally my colors? Because it totally is. I know it's intended to be socks, but as soon as I opened it I knew this wanted to be striped with a grey. Maybe a shawl from the upcoming Knitscene Accessories?
And then, on Saturday, I got the motherload of all yarn packages.
Speaking of grey -- three skeins of Selkie in Black Pearl. This was my very generous payment for the Lonicera I sample knit. When I opened it I just started petting the yarn. And then I shoved it in Andrea's face and made her pet it. And then I continued to cuddle it for a good ten minutes. It's just so soft! On the one hand I'm enjoying the warm weather we are having, on the other I cannot wait for it to get cold so that I can knit this up into something spectacular! I'm thinking something hooded, cuddly, and with enough of a pattern to show up the great stitch definition.
For someone who is not particularly fond of the ocean, I am super psyched about this oceanic themed yarn!
Alright folks, we have survived what I call the "week of crazy". The Avengers opened with great success -- a new box office record and an absolutely incredible film. If you have not seen it yet, you must go check it out. My love of Jeremy Renner has only grown (really, who's surprised by that) Just have some patience with the staff of the theater -- we've been run ragged by the huge crowds. I don't know about elsewhere, but my theater was sold out all weekend.
So today, as a respite from work, I have the urge to do some swatching. Over the weekend I received a box from Knit Picks with some yarn for two patterns from the new Holla Knits collection -- the Holla Back Tank and Umbre Lovre. Both of these are gorgeous patterns and I would like to knit up both of them to take on my honeymoon in *gulp* three months. But I can't decide which to knit first!
The thing I love about the Holla Knits collection is that there is a Knit Picks sample for everything. Allyson seems to really want an affordable product, and Knit Picks is a great option for affordable without that summer camp arts and crafts feeling. To that end, I bought a fantastic quantity of yarn for very little.
First up, Gloss in the Bordeaux colorway for the Holla Back Tank. I love the interest of this piece and the purpley-wine color is one I know will work on my very pale skin (I've decided not to go the traditional route and am not bothering to try to get a tan for the wedding. Too much work).
Door number two is the Comfy Sport for Umbre Lovre. I wrote about this during Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and it really is a pattern that appeals to my fantasy wardrobe aesthetic (the one where all my geeky tshirts are paired with flattering shorts or skirts and everyone admires my fashion forward style). And yes, I bought the exact yarn in the pattern sample. The colors are perfect and since I've never done a colorwork sweater it's great to just let someone else do the work.
So here's my question, dear readers -- Which one do I knit first? I have a bucket of yarn and am overwhelmed by my choices. Help a girl out?
It seems you can't go anywhere without hearing about Downton Abbey. Seriously. It's all anyone ever talks about. And, much to my dismay, I have become one of those people. I love the show, I love the characters, I love the crazy overlapping storylines, and I love love love the costumes. I swore that it would not be my thing, but I was wrong. So wrong in fact that I have signed up to participate in the Downton Abbey swap hosted by Maria of the Subway Knits podcast. I happened to check twitter while walking in to work at the same time she opened sign ups and snagged a spot before I had even seen the second season.
Last week, this love devolved into the only place any of my fandoms can truly end up -- yarn. It is a widely known fact that Roman Hills dyes Downton Abbey themed yarn. And it sells out pretty darn fast. It was one of those things that looks pretty and makes me smile, but surely I would never buy it. Wrong. Last week I managed to hit an update after work and picked up not only the Sybil yarn for myself, but also a skein of the Mary yarn for Andrea (if I'm going to do something, I'm going to enable at least one person to join me). All things can be justified by coupon codes.
I love my Sybil yarn already. It is absolutely lovely and the colors are clearly inspired by Lady Sybil's modern pants outfit from season one.
Clearly this skein is too special to knit mere socks, so I have matched it up with another skein from my stash to knit a test of the pattern I am planning to use for my wedding shawl. I have some other projects to work on first, but I can't wait to cast on.
It all started a few weeks ago on Facebook. Dr R (you remember her as my beloved English professor and Buffy mentor) was in England with some students for a summer program and had found herself with a very unusual occurance -- a day free from any previously-scheduled activity. So as any person with intellectual and well-traveled friends might do she posted a request for suggestions as to where she might go or what she might do. I, the armchair traveler that I am immediately recommended that she go to a yarn shop. Sounds weird to suggest to a non-knitter (though the conversion process can begin at any age), but I have known yarn shops to be a unique community and reflection on the culture and thought she might enjoy it. Actually, I just made that up to sound smart. Really I was largely joking and suggesting what I would do if I ever make it to the UK.
Fast forward to last night. I, deep into the second month of my no-yarn-buying-must-pay-rent depression plan, am making dinner for Chris and myself. Because I have no desire whatsoever to leave the apartment I send him out to check my mail for me, from which he returns with a package. It's from Dr. R. I immediately rip it open to find a card and these little lovelies inside.
It turns out that while in Edinburgh, Scotland, Dr R thought of me and decided to stop in at a yarn shop. With the help of one of her knitterly students she picked these out. Even though they're not Scottish, they did come from Scotland and are some of the nicest yarns I've ever had the privileged of owning. When I finally stopped buzzing around the apartment like a frantic bumble I actually took the time to look at the yarns, photograph them, note them in my stash, and then immediately wind them.
Manos del Uruguay is a yarn that I'm sure you've at least heard of. It's one of those in the yarn shop that I always make my mom pet with me. It's manufactured in Uruguay by local artesians. Every skein has the location of its creation hand written into the tag. Essentially, it's one of the most humanitarian yarns you can buy (the Savvy Girls Podcast did an excellent interview with them). This is Wool Classica in some very generic colorway number that in actuality is not generic at all.
The other skein is Scrumptious Chunky by Fyberspates. I couldn't figure out why I had not seen this yarn before so I looked it up. Lo and behold it's an actual UK yarn made in Wales. Wales is insane! This gorgeous yarn is 45% silk and 55% merino, making a delicious soft yarn. The colorway is called Water and it could not be more darling.
Now I must get back to my yarn. I may or may not have immediately started knitting with one of the skeins last night.
It's the first day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Most of the blogs I now read religiously I found during last year's event, so I am very excited to participate. If you would like to read more information about this year's blog week, check out Eskimimi's blog (she's our illustrious coordinator who also made all the cute graphics and banners you'll see around the blogosphere). If you would like to read more posts, you can search using the special tag used for each day to find other participants.
Ok, on to the main event . . .
Today's prompt is to write about two yarns that I've either worked with or have or wish I had. This will probably be the most difficult post for me because I still believe I have not worked with enough yarns to have an opinion. It would be easy to write about the nice yarns I have been fortunate enough to work with, like Malabrigo, or that one time I got Socks That Rock as a personal reward for surviving my first semester of grad school, but I think that instead I'm going to share with you some of the yarns that have taught me some things.
I have been blogging here for over two years, and have been knitting seriously for not much longer. The first project I ever completed that made me think "I am a knitter" was my Bella Mittens. These were based on the mittens worn by Bella in the original Twilight movie, so I wanted them to be the perfect shade of grey. I was a new knitter and did not live near a good yarn shop, so I ended up buying some Lion Brand Jiffy Solid from A.C. Moore (it's a craft store chain if you are unfamiliar). After knitting my mittens several friends asked for pairs and I ended up knitting seven pairs, all in the same grey, 100% acrylic yarn.
I recently revisited this yarn when knitting for a friend. With two years of distance I find myself reacting to it quite differently. When I started using it I was alone in my knitting endeavors. I didn't know any knitters and only had these craft stores to source from. I couldn't imagine dropping two week's grocery money on a sturdy 100% wool or soft baby alpaca. I just knew I needed a sturdy yarn that appealed to my color palette and tiny wallet. But I am glad I chose to use it. This last time it made my hands feel a tad itchy and I could actually hear the acrylic squeak, but every time it snows (a fairly unusual sight here) I still reach for those mittens. The yarn has softened over time and I think of it fondly because of all the things I learned when using it (knitting in the round, dpns, cables, decreasing, picking up stitches).
My friend Amanda looking stunning in her self-portrait. Nothing I have knit has ever looked that good.
The other yarn I picked is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Knit Picks Imagination sock yarn is one of my favorite yarns of all time. I've knit two pairs of socks and a pair of mitts out of the four skeins I bought last year. Not only is the yarn named after fairy tale characters, it includes alpaca in the blend. It is not splitty, or squeaky, and is amazingly soft while still standing up to a lot of wear. It says a lot about a yarn when my sister begs until I give her my newly completed pair of socks. I have not knit with a lot of sock yarns, but this is my favorite. It doesn't hurt that it was the yarn with which I knit my first pair of toe-up socks and thus fell in love with the short row heel (nothing is as much fun after a stressful day as a short-row heel).
These are not toe-up, but I love the way the colors turned out. Even if my sister got me to knit them too big.
Ok, now I have to go talk myself out of placing a giant Knit Picks order.
Sorry for long silence. The week before Thanksgiving my computer decided to make my life a living hell and short out the fan. Right in the middle of the most stressful part of the semester. Guess that's what I get for naming my computer after a Dollhouse character.
Here's a few photos of what life's been like and all the craziness you should be glad you've missed out on:
Grading, grading, and more grading. Boy am I glad that's done for the semester.
Malabrigo stress breaks,
Amid late nights spent buried under piles of research (yes, that's Princess Diaries. I was looking at using it for an example in my paper but unfortunately it didn't suit the subject matter)
Thanks to comps, I wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving. But my family came here instead. One of the advantages of living here in a sprawling metropolis? We got to cut an hour off the travel time for Black Friday, a day in which we go buy one or two things and then marvel at the crazy hordes of people. My sister really wanted that giant makeup kit for $15.
No pictures of Thanksgiving food, we ate too fast, but this is my favorite way to use up the leftovers.
Friday was a day of support for young girls everywhere who might feel outcast because of their geek love. This was done in honor of Katie, a now famous first-grader, who was made fun of by the boys because she loves Star Wars. The outpouring of support has been quite impressive to people who are not part of the female geek community. Unfortunately far too many women and girls feel the need to hide their love of Star Wars, BSG, comics, etc. I hope that this story helps continue to change the way people view women and the geek community.
Me? I just can't hide my geek pride, any day of the year. This is actually the tank from the new Boba Fett sleep set over at Her Universe. I turned it into a party outfit because I truly do have a "Boba Fett-ish"
It's the start of the Christmas season! Wednesday I indulged in one of my favorite traditions -- peppermint chocolate ice cream. This isn't the peppermint flavored ice cream you get at the store. Instead I buy the individually wrapped peppermints and crush them over vanilla ice cream. Add some fudge (or chocolate sauce if you have it handy) and it's Christmas in a bowl!
This little terror looks so innocent. . . . Until he drug out my yarn and tangled it all up and down the staircase. . . .
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I can't believe I missed WIP Wednesday again! Well, actually, I can. I've been sick off and on for the past week. Just when school starts getting beyond the point of insanity. But you're not reading this to hear me whine about my life, you're wondering what could possibly make me publicly declare that I don't like my dear old mum.
Well I'll tell you. Two weekends ago, while I was slaving away over school and trying to not be so sick, my mother went to a fiber festival. My mum. The one who has only been knitting for a year? Yeah, that one. She went to a fiber festival. While her dear daughter who takes her phone calls about "how to tell when you've accidentally purled instead of knitted" and "can I send you a picture? I don't think this is right", I've never been to one! I ask you, where is the justice in this world? How come she gets to go? It's just not fair!
But it's ok. You know why?
That's why. Wednesday night a gorgeous teal and green skein of Brook's Farm Four Play showed up in my mailbox. Along with some gum and a clipping from the funny papers. But it's Brook's Farm Four Play! The woman has gone from "what's a purl stitch?" to picking out gorgeous, well crafted yarn in just a year! I'm so proud. And that's why it's ok. A) Because she gave me yarn which automatically placates hostility, but B) also because she used good taste. She claims it was on sale, but that just wows me more. My mother sniffed out a wool/silk blend with enough yardage to make a scarf and IT WAS ON SALE! That's how amazing that is. I can't wait to knit it.
And yes, that's a Doctor Who novel on the table there. It's my latest fun book. You'll hear about it soon, I'm already halfway through and it only arrived last night. I've already ordered more (thank you Amazon Prime!)
It's not often that I get to fall under the spell of yarn it its actual physical presence. Usually it seduces me from afar, across the internet, wearing me down until I finally invite it over and then wait nervously to see if it will truly be as its photo and profile promised.
But this time the little balls of temptation found me in person
.
This is my new love. Sublime cashmerino DK. I actually fell so hard that not only did I buy this little collection of blue, but I invited its friends of the green persuasion to come back with us to my place. And lest you think that I was taking advantage of this poor yarn, let me reassure you that I was on a mission of mercy, rescuing this and a few other yarns from a going out of business sale at an LYS. It practically leaped into my $30 bag, bringing along as much angora and Alpaca Sox as would fit.
But as it was the blue that made the first move, it got first dibs on a pattern. I've already cast on the Ms. Marigold vest and let me tell you, as far as yarns go, this cashmere does not disappoint.
Sorry for the dark picture quality. The little temptress wouldn't let me off my bed to go photograph until well near midnight last night.
Last week was the start of the giant summer sale over at Knit One (coincidentally featured in the new Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2010, which you must read). So I, of course, went on the first day. Cause you want to be sure you see everything, right? The place was pretty full. And while, sadly, there was no sock yarn on sale (let my sadness at this fact be officially on the record), I got some really nice yarn.
All for twenty dollars!
The two smaller skeins are Freedom Spirit from Twilleys of Stamford. It's a 100% wool that comes from England (I seem to have a thing for UK yarns). I haven't used it yet, but supposedly it knits up to look like intarsia without all the crazy juggling of multiple yarns. I can't wait to try it out. Someone's going to be getting a really nice pair of fingerless gloves for Christmas this year.
My big score of the day, however, was this gorgeous cotton from Araucania. It was fifty percent off! I'm hoping to make a sweater vest out of it. Aren't the colors awesome?
And that is the last of the yarn I buy for personal use for a while. I'll be buying for gift knitting, but I have plenty to knit for myself and really don't have the money to buy yarn. I really really want to make another sweater, but I'm going to wait and buy something really nice for myself as a birthday present in October. Plus I just bought several patterns in Ysolda's 25% off sale for her birthday. I love her and her designs and justify the purchase because many of the patterns will be perfect gifts this year. Can't wait to knit them!
Oh, and just to create some fun suspense, here's a peak at what I spend my Saturdays working on.
And remember, knitting needles are for knitting. And for threatening people who want to come talk to you in the coffee shop when clearly, you are working! Gosh!
Wow what a week. I started school and then there was just no time to do anything else. That's not to say that I haven't been doing other things, but there really should not have been enough time.
For those of you wondering where I am, I'm taking an intensive Russian summer program at the University of Pittsburgh. It's almost full immersion five hours a day five days a week. I'm behind my classmates and struggling a bit, but I love it. Russian is such a beautiful language. One of the things I'm really excited about is the Friday afternoon singing class. I know it sounds lame, but it is taught by a woman from St. Petersburg and it really is going to help my pronunciation a lot. And on Wednesday afternoons we have Kino (movie) Wednesday. This week we saw Sonny (English translation) which won all sorts of awards last year. It's excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes movies.
Plus, I'm taking classes in the second tallest academic building in the world, the Cathedral of Learning, which is gorgeous.
I love this city. Pittsburgh is just a really fun place to be. My lunch breaks are spent sitting on a park bench outside knitting (because I eat too fast). The side of the cathedral I sit next to is across the lawn from this beautiful chapel. Such a nice view to relax in front of.
On Thursday I used my student ID to get my free bus ride over to Knit One, the yarn store Mom and I found last week. I spent a nice hour just sitting and knitting on the couch with some lovely ladies. Rochelle, the woman we had met previously, introduced me as "Faith. We're adopting her." This is why I love yarn shops. For the most part they welcome you in to their community and make you a part of their family.
Speaking of yarn loving communities, today was World Wide Knit In Public Day. This is the day that around the world knitters grab their knitting and go to the park, coffee shop, or anywhere else they want to sit and knit. Some cities do coordinated events and lucky for me the Pitt event was held next to the Cathedral, a short walk from my apartment! It was held by the Three Rivers Crochet group (they welcome knitters too). They gave me one of the warmest welcomes I've ever had.
These are crochet socks worn by Christine, who was working on another pair while we were there. I'd never seen crochet socks before, so I had to snap a picture.
And did I mention that they had a raffle? They had enough for everyone and when your ticket was pulled you got to go pick something off of the table.
These two darlings are from Sheep Shop Yarn Company. I picked them because there is over 300 yds per skein and they are 30% silk / 70% wool. And the colors are so fun! I was certainly surprised to find out when I got on Ravelry that this company has actually gone out of business. That makes this yarn even more valuable and me even more excited to have it. I'm already making plans for what to knit with it. I think the green is going to have to be a scarf, maybe Ysolda's Scroll Lace from WLK2.
We'll see. For now I have to run. There is much homework to do and things to accomplish and yarn to play with.
And remember, needles are for knitting. Which apparently mesmerizes tourists when they are on campus tours.
Yes, we went to another yarn shop. I needed more needles, ok? Anyway, we had another shop we wanted to check out before I leave for language school. This time we headed up the mountains for to Hendersonville, North Carolina.
(not our car, though we wanted to steal the dog)
Yarns to Dye For is a family run yarn shop just outside of town. When we got there some other customers were leaving, so we had the place to ourselves with the husband and wife who run the store. They are a really friendly couple, checking in frequently without hovering. Mom enjoyed talking with both of them while I walked around and touched everything.
The store itself is bigger than it looks, with both yarn and other equipment for sale and a large, open loft-like area for classes. Not only do they teach knitting, but they also have classes on silk painting (something my aunt does that looks cool but I doubt I could pull off). Oh, and the man who works there makes all sorts of food stuffs that we could not help but indulge in, chief among them a date shortbread thingamabob and some yummy smelling herbs.
So of course I picked up some needles. But I couldn't stop myself from acquiring some other "much [un]needed" as well. I've been reading a lot about wool-washes that knitters use because it does not have to be rinsed out of the yarn after it has soaked. But I didn't want to spend $20 on the internet just to try something different. Well, turns out I didn't have to. The shop carried a small $4 bottle of a eucalyptus formula that is supposed to also help deter moths. I blocked some socks in it tonight and so far so good. It even helped to mask the wet dog smell of soaked yarn.
And because I'm on a sock kick lately, I also picked up two skeins of Wendy Happy. I'm not sure, but I think this might be a yarn that is not regularly carried by US vendors (consequently, they are the only shop I've seen carry another yarn that I bought during a Webs sale that I believe is also a European or UK brand). This yarn is for the eccentric in me. It's self-striping but not too much and all the colorways are named for constellations! I picked out the blue (Pises) for myself and Mom picked out the red (Virgo) for herself (as in socks for me to knit for her). Evidentially she read about the advantages of bamboo as sock yarn so we're giving it a try.
Lastly, I picked up some stitch markers. One for me and one for my sister. She's just starting to knit beyond the one pattern she learned on and last night was asking me questions about what she needed to make Calorimetry. It calls for stitch markers, so I thought a nice beaded hand-made one would be a great luxurious start for her notions collection.
Because of this, today knitting needles are not only for knitting, but for displaying beautiful beaded works of art.
Yes, I know I haven't updated in a week or more, but I think I have a good excuse. Giant paper plus Western Civ test grading equals get out of blog jail free card? Normally I wouldn't even feel guilty, but I have to announce who won the free signed comic book giveaway from last week. But for those of you who don't care about that, what has been going on in the life of this geek girl?
Well, like I said, giant papers and grading, which amounts to quite a bit of stress. Ironically, our Bible study tonight was about dealing with stress. And how do I deal with stress? I knit of course! (well, and I write random promos for Buffy Between the Lines, but that's not important)
Since last I blogged, I finished Fetching. I loved this pattern and can definitely see why it is so popular. The construction is grand and with my naturally small gauge they fit just right (I have been told I have small-ish hands). Though I loved the green in my Summer Beret, I didn't think that I would like using it in the gloves. Boy was I wrong.
(Me pretending to be artistic. Hey, I only have 2 hands and do my own photography)
The weather here has been wonky so fingerless gloves have been great for early mornings or late nights that I have to be on campus and fit nicely in my purse. I'm wanting to make more. Maybe Susie's Reading Mitts? Though those are knit in yarn that isn't sock yarn and that is currently the bulk of my yarn collection. I've recently been on a yarn spree via Ravelry users' destashing. Most (ok, fine, not most. All) of it has been verigated sock yarn. But I promise I'm finding uses for it. A couple weeks ago I bought some Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Knitters Without Borders colorway.
I just love the colors in the skein and had this vision of a haunting vampire style shawl/scarf that would look stunning around my neck. Well try as I might I couldn't find anything . . . until Ysolda released this last week as part of the Whimsical Little Knits 2 collection (sorry non-Ravelry users. It's not on ysolda.com yet). It's perfect! Right? Well, I hope so. I cast on last night and the white is a little more striking than I'd like but I think once I get a bigger portion completed it'll look like what I imagine.
And speaking of shawl-like things, I finally blocked my Angela Shawl. I was very unsuccessful in pulling out the points (asking for blocking wires for Christmas), but I think the result is still great.
Only problem is that I still don't see myself wearing a shawl almost ever, but I wore it this way yesterday (it was so warm outside by the time I got to church I had to take it off).
I also knit all of the pieces for the French Press Knits slippers (ballet flats actually) pattern on Friday night (told you I am stress). I put the pieces of one together but haven't gotten around to finishing the second, let alone felting. Not an exciting task. Overall I'd say I've been quite productive this week.
Oh! You wanted to know who won the giveaway? Well that would be Dariclone and Crystal! Email me with your address (tharensolo@gmail.com) and we'll get those sent out to you straightaway!
Looking at the calendar it is hard to believe that it's already October. We actually experienced a weather change here last week but it was back up in the 80s again today. Sad as it is, this is what life is like when you live at the beach (evidentially. I've only lived here since May so I don't know yet). October is my favorite month. Not because the leaves change colors (though I'm from a mountainy area and do miss that), and not because it's my birthday month (Saturday. The 10th if you're wondering. I accept cash as well as material goods), but because of that weather change. I've always loved the sudden crispness to the air and the way it burns the back of my throat just a little. I have this old ugly sweater I pull out to wear that I've had since I was, oh I don't know, 8? 9? 10? It's a hand-me-down from some old neighbors so God only knows how long that rust-green and royal blue have been cohabitating.
Knitters, I've discovered, are very fond of this season. It's like a new year of knitting just opens up to us. Here on the east coast and especially in our humidity in the South, it's really hard to knit with heavy or sticky yarns during the warmer months so you end up doing a lot of fingering-weight projects or just taking time off altogether. But when it gets cold suddenly you can knit in wool and heavier yarns that would just cause itchy misery no matter how soft and beautiful (I'm not saying wool is itchy. This humidity could make anything itchy. Even the air gets itchy).
I currently have two beautiful cold-weather projects on the needles but they're gifts so they must remain locked away in my ravelry page until they are finished. BUT, I finally splurged and bought Whimsical Little Knits 2 (only the digital version. I can't afford the print add-on at the moment), so I'm planning on making one of everything very soon. Particularly Ripley and Veyla. And maybe Damson if I find some yarn that just speaks to me. I'm very excited because I recently purchased fourteen sets of bamboo 8 inch double pointed needles. They're gorgeous and only cost me $20 total because I bought them on Ebay!
Because of this I may very soon knit my first pair of socks. I know, it's Socktober so I should of course be knitting socks, but with November looming with all of its giant deadlines (one of my classes doesn't meet again after Thanksgiving) I don't know if I've got the time to teach myself such a skill.
I did finally finish hand-winding all of my Three Irish Girls Adorn sock yarn (I don't reccomend this if you can help it. It got tangled right away and took me FOREVER), but I don't want to make socks with it. I've been thinking for a month or two about a shawl pattern that actually seems to be becoming popular on Ravelry. It's called Traveling Woman and is partly inspired by the character of Angela from Bones. It was written by Liz Abinante from feministy.com. It's a gorgeous pattern written for a single skein so it's be perfect for this gorgeous yarn.
And speaking of yarn, she also has a very unique and awesome collection of yarn over at her Etsy shop. If you look at the sock yarn you'll notice that five colors are from her True Blood collection. I know, awesome, right? They're $23 so it might be a while, but I definately want to try at least one of these to work with while I listen to the audio books (I'm on book 3).
Another thing I've been doing to keep myself from becoming emotionally unstable because of all of this work (I feel like I complain about school alot. I actually love school. It's been better than I could have hoped) is I have started running. I was in a car accident at the end of August and suffered some injury to my neck so I'm not able to do my pilates for a while until it heals. Because of this I have no form of physical activity left to me. I know, it sounds sad. All there is for me to do is run. It's my last resort. And I don't necessarily like it. But it has been good for me and I love the way I feel when I finish. I'm not that good yet. I think I ran a total of 10 minutes today (3.3 songs or so) and walked a comparable amount. Anyway, the point is that I was remembering this passage from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and it really describes how Bridget is running again after letting herself wallow in self-pity for a very long time. She runs and starts to feel the freedom of being herself and the burden she's been carrying starts to ever so slowly slip away. That's how I feel. That freedom. I'm not saying I enjoy it. I still hate running. But the freedom is starting to kick in, and that I truly love.
Single Skein September ended last night. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, September is the month set aside by listeners of the Stash and Burn podcast to knit those random single skeins that knitters inevitably have lying around. Unless you're me and you actually don't have much of a stash and actually have to go buy the skeins for those projects. Kind of defeating the purpose, but that's ok. I'm the moderator for the Ravelry thread so starting tomorrow I have to start counting everyone's projects to put in the spreadsheet. It is a lot of work but it's also fun. I'm getting to see all of this beautiful knitting and getting great ideas.
For example, I'm becoming obsessed with fingerless gloves. I really like Fetching which has been the #1 glove pattern for a while. I started looking at Debbie Bliss yarn last night on Ravelry and had to convince myself I don't have the $7 quite yet that I'd need for this pattern. I also really like Suzie's Reading Mitts and CanCans so I'm thinking I'm going to use that extra skein from my Summer Beret.
My own contribution that I'm most proud of is URCHIN! Yes, I finally finished and just in time for the hint of a season change. I'm hoping to find an excuse to wear it this weekend because I'm so excited to finally have it finished. Despite the headache it caused I still love it so much.
I'm now wanting to make more designs by Ysolda. In particular I'm really liking the things I'm seeing come from Whimsical Little Knits 2. Especially Ripley and Veyla. I could just buy the patterns online which would be about $10 or so, but I want the book version to, which means I'd spend around $22 because it's shipped from Scottland. I should probably just buy the digital version and get the print add-on later, but I'm not sure I can afford it so I just keep looking at the patterns and sitting on my hands while I drool.
School's keeping me super busy (surprise!) but I did find time to hit our LYS here, The Quarter Stitch, for the first time today. It was a wonderful experience. There were women knitting and talking and the store had that close in, friendly feeling. Yeah, I loved it. I'm still such a newbie when it comes to knitting (not a noob, that implies incompetence and I think I have the hang of most things now. Except socks. I have yet to knit a pair of socks). When I go in a store I just have to touch everything and I'm shocked by the amount and variety and the colors. It's like a sensory overload. So of course I bought some things (duh!). I picked up these amazing Japanese bamboo circs for the project I'm making for my twitter friend Amanda's baby due at the end of the year/beginning of '10. Can't tell you what it is because it's a secret, but I promise to post a preliminary picture once she gets it and later a picture of the adorableness once the baby is born. I also picked up a skein of Borroco Ultra Light Alpaca in color way 4288. I know, sounds like nothing, but it's a stunning deep grey-ish blue with flecks of dark purple. I fell in love with it and the fact that it was under $6 guaranteed I was buying it.
One last thing. I just heard from Frank that Echo Alert has been in touch with Miracle Laurie and she remembers the scarf I was making for her. She will be at Big Apple Con this month and wants them to give it to her there! I'm so excited (even though I won't be there). Of course because they're giving her something I've made, but also because they get to meet her. Yeah, I'm really really really jealous.
Ok, I'm stopping for now. But the fact that I have more to say is a good indicator that I'll update sooner rather than later (provided my classes don't cause me to jump out of my second-story window. JUST KIDDING MOM!)
Today was the first day of classes. Yes, it is that time of year, and this time things are a little different-- I am in my first year of graduate school. That feels so weird to say. I'm on a two year track to get my masters in history, which is simply bizarre. Today was my first day of class for an independent study course and a Russian course which I'm auditing. Tomorrow I start one of my two regular graduate courses, which I'm quite excited about as well (despite the fact that they are 3 hours long). In addition to this, today was also my first day as a TA. I introduced myself to the class, held my first office hour, and had a student come up to me after class to ask a question.
Why could you possibly care about my classes? This is a knitting blog after all. Why in the world would I drag academia into it all! Well, it just so happens that I'm addicted to syllabi. I love getting a new file or handout that lists all the new opportunities and possibilities for something fun and exciting. I know, I'm a nerd. But a new syllabus is a lot like new yarn. New opportunities to create something beautiful and enjoyable.
Last week I ordered some new yarn via the "trade/sell" option on Ravelry. First I got some of the super popular Three Irish Girls yarn. There was a thread in the Stash and Burn forum and it piqued my interest. I'm still very new to yarn buying and since I don't have a lot of money to spend on yarn (being a TA is not the most lucrative field), I've never gotten in on the ground floor of something like this. But thanks to Ravelry, I now have some very fancy, very beautiful new yarn!
This is a sock yarn called Adorn. It's super soft and so pretty! The colorway (Erin) is actually a little brighter than it shows in the picture, but it is a definate sea green style color. The thing about Three Irish Girls yarn is that it is dyed to order, so if you order from their site they don't dye it until you pick your fiber and then your color. I'm very excited to use it, and am planning on making a gift for a very special person who I think will love it.
In addition to the above, I also purchased some destashed Cascade Jewel. It is 100% wool and is quite a lovely shade of purple. And it is not going to be a gift. I've been planning on making a hat for myself with this yarn, and after looking at other people's projects using this yarn on Ravelry, I think it has to be Ysolda Teague's Urchin, which was published in the Fall 2007 issue of Knitty. I've never made a Ysolda design, but I'm really looking forward to it, especially since I've never done grafting before.
With regards to my own knitting, there really isn't much to say. I'm working furiously on Miracle Laurie's scarf (which will get its own post when it is done) and it is almost completed. The Great Gatsby Dress is once again in hybernation as I am easily bored with such large projects. I am also working on some projects for friends, including a baby gift for a dear friend of mine on Twitter. No details until she recieves it, but if it works I know she will love it. I really should start gift knitting. Since school is starting and there will be tons to do, it would be fortuitous to start now rather than later, right?
This time it is officially complete. I finally bought buttons at my local A.C. Moore and put the vest together. I love it, despite the fact that it is too big. I was worried that it was going to be too small because I made the smallest size and tend to knit rather tightly. I guess I should give in a buy a measuring tape and figure out how to rewrite patterns for my measurements. Because I'm self-taught, I've been learning these things as I go, so I already have some idea of what I need to do. I still love it. I mean, after all, it is my first sweater, right?
In other knitting, I finally picked up the hockey gloves again. My boyfriend keeps whining about how his hands are cold when he plays, so I finally gave in. The only thing in the winter hand wear that I've ever made are the Bella mittens, so it's yet another completely new venture for me. They are made on straight needles, which is another foreign concept to me, but things are starting to take shape. I've finished the thumb on the right glove, and it's actually starting to look like a glove, so we'll see. I'm hoping to have them done by the end of the month.
The Great Gatsby Dress hasn't really made any progress in the past week, but I'm still liking it. However, the daydreaming has begun about other patterns. I bought the pattern for the Alene Camisole by Joan McGowan over at White Lies Designs back in March. I never got around to purchasing the yarn, but now I really want to make it. I think the move to the coast has had something to do with the desire to make this. It would be really cute over another camisole. Just have to find the right yarn to tolerate the humidity. Any suggestions?
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