it was just an afternoon

i squeaked into the LYS yesterday afternoon with hopes of sitting and knitting. a handful of the usuals were there, so after a quick turn around the store to make sure i wasn't missing any thing new, i settled in to knit. and knit i did. i had taken my sari ribbon scarf with hopes of getting closer to the finish. after staying late with socializing, i knew i was close to finishing but still had a way to go.

i finished my errands to the market and trader joe's; landed at home for making supper, coordinating teenage activities and make peach preserves. in that order. now i haven't made preserves in quite a while. i just happened to come across two bags of close to overripe peaches that someone didn't know what to do with and all i could think of was preserves.

in the hierarchy of preserves, peach is up there because they need to be blanched for their skins to peel off with minimal loss of fruit. so there i was up to my ankles in boiling pots and peach juice. after a few hours of chopping, stirring and steaming, these were produced...

...and they taste great. there is nothing like fresh, warm preserves on toast. my cute husband immediately got a spoon and started to eat the bit that could not fill a jar (there is a sentimental story about that which i won't bore you with now).

after cleaning the sticky utensils, pots and counters, i felt like sitting and knitting. so i picked up the sari scarf just to see how far i would get. and lo and behold, this happened...

i really like it. the ribbon needs to relax, so before going to bed i hung it over a hanger just to let it drape.

one of the challenges of working with ribbon yarn is that it twists and turns on itself so rarely lays flat. this was difficult for me with this yarn because the sparkles would get lost and it just looked better if knitted with the ribbon as flat as possible. another challenge was weaving in the ends because the tapestry needle kept poking through the ribbon. i had to make sure the needle followed the stitch not poke through the ribbon itself.

but i love the yarn. if i were to use it again, i think i would make an oversize kerchief type wrap. i think it may get more use. but that is a future project.

one would assume there would be movement...

...but no, not really.

i am still in the slumps with the knitting. i picked up a few unfinished projects over the last few days and have ended up frogging what i knitted. never a good sign. i did manage to knit a few rows on the sari ribbon scarf but not quite enough to finish it. sigh.

i have been sewing up more project bags though; gifts for friends.

so hopefully i will have pictures of FO's soon. but in the meantime, breakfast and tea may help.

salved by the chocolate

my sweet friend came home from so cal today. since it was on the way, decided to take a tour of the scharffen berger chocolate factory in berkeley, something i have been meaning to do for awhile.

the factory itself is rather small and would be easily missed when driving down the street. but their chocolate is very big. their dark chocolate is very dark. even their milk chocolate is ok, though i find it pales in comparison to the dark chocolate, excuse the pun.

i took the 11:30 tour which means i had time for a good breakfast. a wise thing considering once the tour starts, chocolate tasting abounds. and once the tour was through i stopped by their cafe for a bowl of hot cocoa and, just for the heck of it, a chocolate scone. it made the knitting so much easier!

it must be mid summer

so i am in the midst of a knitting slump.

my sweet friend and i went away for an extended weekend last weekend and i haven't got my rhythm back yet. it did not help that work was absolutely slammed from the moment i walked in monday morning to the moment i left friday night.

also my sweet friend isn't home. she is visiting auntie pam down in so cal. and going to the beach every day. ahhhhh, to be a teenager on southern california beaches. that is the life. but i've been there and done that; wouldn't want to go back, but wouldn't say no to a beach house either. can you imagine, knitting on the porch of an ocean view beach house with morning coffee? i can smell the sea. or maybe it's the dog. oh well.

i am still in the midst of reading gobs of vvs blogs. you knitters out there are amazing! i am feeling like slow poke knitter! coupled with the fact that i have picked up my knitting once this week. oceane is so close to being done i can feel the bind off, as is the sari ribbon scarf. but do i dedicate time to finish them up. no. yesh. oh well. someday soon.

in the meantime head over to cass's shut up i'm counting blog. she is celebrating her 222 post by giving US presents! amazing.

sunday musings

so here are the books i have gathered over the last week or so. with only one of them read cover to cover!

i am spending way to much time reading various v v s blogs and not knitting. i have therefore missed my personal deadlines for finishing the drop knit scarf and oceane. we are going away for a few days and i wanted them both done by then. since they aren't, decided i may as well pack them because, heaven knows, there is so much to knit and so little time.

ok, ok, ok

so, i reassessed the small blue bag last seen on my sweet friend's head.

i modified the corded closing so there are pull cords from either side of the bag, which makes opening and closing of the bag a bit easier. modifications were done in time for a ferry trip to the city for a meeting; i decided to do a test run with it. i filled the bag with my cute husband's socks, which are being knit on two circulars, a small pair of scissors along with some stitch markers. not only did it all fit, but the bag worked out really well!

the only thing was the bag got lost in my big tote. so i decided it needed a snap tab that would connect it to the tote handle. that way i could snap the tab around the handle of the my tote bag and always have my knitting available and easy to get to. which prompted me to put snap tabs on all of the bags i had made, so now they look like this:

as you can see, there is a big blue bag that matches my small blue bag. i found i had inadvertently cut out more material than i needed for the small blue bag. not wanting it to go to waste, i made a dark pink bag, only bigger and with cording modifications. instead of running the cord from the inside, i put contrast casing on the outside and thread the cord through it. the big blue bag is the perfect size to carry long single point needles without them peeking out the top, which is what i was wanting.

but the most exciting project made this week was these:
needle cases. the straight point case is just that. it was supposed to have two pockets on the inside, one on the bottom for knitting needles and one on the top for crochet hooks. it also was to have fusible batting. i left off both the fusible batting and the top pocket. if i make this again, i would shorten it by about 1.5-2inches.

the case i truly love is the circular needle case. it holds my circulars snugly, including my new size 7 natura's, and though i had a difficult time envisioning the way it was put together, it was rather easy to make. the material selection for the pattern was a little odd. it calls for 2 contrasting colors and a remnant. the remnant is for the front and back (dark blue); contrasting colors are for the inside. i found what i really needed was 3 contrasting colors. 1 for the outside, 1 for the inside and 1 for the pockets. luckily i sort of figured it out, but didn't really think through the pockets so had to use some muslin i had lying around. if i were to make the case again, i would choose material and colors differently. cases and bags are a butterick. if you would like the pattern numbers, let me know.

in knitting news, i once again goofed up the eggplant stole. i spent a couple of sessions trying to get it back into knitting shape instead of unknitting it. and i think i may be there. wish me luck!

ahhh, a sale

when i arrived at the yarn sale, not only had i missed meeting davimack, but it looked like a cyclone of knitters had whooshed through, looking through every box, bag and ball for something they may have the slightest interest in and once satisfied that all possibilities were explored, whooshed out again. needless to say, the staff was a bit worn out.

the up side being, i had the place, and staff, to myself. so i walked a few rounds, finding various this's and that's, stashing them in a bag to be decided upon later. the initial round was mandalay raw silk in a cafe au lait color that gave way to a cream color to make a shell; louisa harding kashmir dk in a pastel blue; stone blue debbie bliss cotton cashmere for a top of some sort with musings of what to do with gobs of bright magenta or bright blue bamboo because the bright yellow bamboo was not a color option but knitting with bamboo was an enticing thought.

the second round found some jo sharp aran cotton in a blue similar to the db. not enough of this to do anything substantial with so found some in white with thoughts of making something striped. started to seriously consider if i would make anything to wear out of the lk pastel blue kashmir dk; considered making a baby blanket out of it along with the pink and yellow pastels that were available. quickly followed by the thought of why would i knit anything cashmere for baby spit up? noticed the boxes of pick up sticks felted flower brooch kits.

on the third round, considered a bag of ggh cotton ribbon for a shawl; found louisa harding sari ribbon in the gorgeous orange colorway; gave up the jo sharp because i am not really a stripe gal; said goodbye to the lh kashmir dk; ruled out the bamboo and found a bag of muench sir galli yarm, 100% silk in a brown white tweed and dark cream color. solicited the opinion of the 2 staff and 2 buyers about which color would be best for me; got 2 set of answers so walked another round.

by the end of this round i was done. decided no on the lh sari ribbon; looked longingly at the jo sharp aran cotton one last time; and decided the dark cream color raw silk was totally boring on my skin so went for the brown and white tweed; still had the db cotton cashmere, grabbed a box of pick up sticks flower brooch kits (whose packaging tickled the fancy of my sweet friend).

as i was waiting to check out i overheard staff talk about how much knitters had spent on yarn. i had a slight twinge of missed knitting opportunities. but i am pretty content with my choices. i got some lovely yarns. hopefully there will be another yarn sale before davimack leaves the country.

two hits and a miss

sorry, couldn't resist. the allstar baseball game was played in san francisco last night and the whole city seems to be gripped by the frenzy of it all.

but it is true. two out of three project bags turned out well. the third one just fizzled.

the two that worked out are just square lined bags; the light pink bag has 12, count them, 12 buttonholes that gather the bag in an interesting way. the darker pink bag was supposed to be all frilly and beaded. i chose to leave the frills and beads off. which threw the casing off because one of the frills was supposed to be along the top of the bag, which helped create the casing. since there was no frills, i had to do something different with the casing. but it all worked itself out and i like both bags. next time i will try making the dark pink one a little taller so straight needles will fit without poking out the top.

the miss was the circle bag. it also had extra curricular frills etc. which i left off. which then prompted some modifications which didn't work out. so i thought i would modify the modifications just to discover the bag wasn't big enough to hold a knitting project. which ended my interest in the bag. my sweet friend modeled it as a hat with no better success.

sew until next time.

dear vvs secret pal...

thanks for the great card! it sure was sweet.

i sent you an email but am not sure if it got through as the return email address was a bit uncertain.

any way, thanks! hope you are doing well and having fun knitting!

take care

all in a sunday afternoon

so this is what occupied most of my sunday afternoon.

it may look like a heap of odds and ends, but this heap represents 3 project bags, 2 pairs of pants, 1 circular and 1 straight needle holder.

i am not fond of cutting out patterns so tend to cut everything out at once. will keep you posted on their progression.

nestled among the various pattern pieces are two balls of sugar and cream. it must be selective reading, but my first encounter with this yarn was via my stitch n' bitch desk calendar where it was a yarn of the week. i had never even heard of it. as i continue to explore knitting blog world where knitted dishcloths seem to have a life of their own, this yarn is mentioned a lot. so when i saw it at joann's fabrics i thought, why not! let's see what all the hub bub is about. doubled with tea and cakes sharing a really sweet dish cloth pattern which looked extremely enticing in a different colorway of this very yarn. thought i would give it a whirl.

in other knitting news: oceane is going well. i like the way the smaller needle size is making it look. and though i am a slow knitter, this is knitting up very quickly.

even though i do not need another project, i couldn't resist. i was really just meaning to make the hank into a ball, but the yarn was so pretty and i bought new brittany needles in just the size i needed for it so...i cast on and it practically started knitting itself! so, yes, the sari ribbon yarn is in the midst of becoming a drop stitch scarf. and i really like it.

happy 4th

for those of us in the states, it could be a day of sitting in the hot sun during the town parade; visiting with friends over a bar-b-que; eating way to much apple pie and home made ice cream and for me, knitting all the while.

or it could be a nice quite, sit at home day, doing whatever takes our fancy. either way, it is nice to have a breathing day in the middle of the week. happy 4th of july!

open to suggestions

so i have been knitting with circulars a lot lately. most of my circulars are crystal palace and though i love c.p. needles, the transition from the plastic strand to the needle is driving me crazy. with all of my various circular needle projects, the yarn is consistently getting stuck there and i have to cajole it onto the needle.

i have found clover needles to be to blunt; lantern moon to be to expensive; i am not fond of the steel addi turbos but do have a couple of pairs of their natura needles, which is their bamboo needle line. the trick being,very few stores carry them.

so i am open to suggestions. what are your favorite needles, circular or otherwise? i would love to know.

and now we have...

last weekend was a productive knitting weekend.

i finished my sweet friend's skirt...and panicked. the length was correct but the width seemed way off. then i put the elastic in and lo and behold, it all came together! and it fit her! and she thought it was cute, in the tone that said, "this is much cuter than i anticipated and i would even consider wearing it!", not the tone that said, "never in a million years."

the skirt is a mac and me pattern with the suggested knitting yarn being blue sky alpaca organic cotton in white. in an effort to support my LYS i substituted cascade's cotton yarn, sierra, in pink. in the meantime i have been exposed to blue sky alpaca's organic cotton and told my sweet friend if she ever wants another skirt, it will be knit out of this. but the sierra was a reasonable substitute.

when i first read the pattern it said the elastic could be woven into every other stitch after the skirt was finished or knitted in. i chose the former, which was fine. the trick being, elastic is white, the skirt is pink, so the elastic shows. and there was no way i could get it into every other stitch without feeling like i was wrecking the skirt. so i am thankful the style is longer tops, so they cover the elastic.

i also fixed the feathery lace stole. i have finally memorized the pattern and have been knitting two rows at a time whenever i can as a mini meditation because, though i have memorized the pattern, i still really have to concentrate on the stitch. yesh! i find if i don't concentrate on it completely, i mess up. which is what i did last thursday. i knitted 4 rows and discovered what looked like YO's in places where there should be no YO's. the thought of correcting the real YO's and SKP's for 4 rows was daunting to me, but i took it slowly, approached it with gobs of patience and humor, and, luckily, made it right again. whew! and now i am off and knitting, but with no distractions of any kind, no talking, no movies/tv, no ipod. just me, saying the memorized stitch, over and over again.

but the real fun of course was being able to start a new project. the goal was to use the much anticipated louisa harding sari ribbon. i have only 122 yds of the sari ribbon so whatever i made had to be relatively small. so i googled "ribbon yarn patterns" and found a simple drop stitch scarf pattern that i think will do nicely that is within the needed yardage requirements. except that i needed size 10.5 circulars; or size 13 circulars; or size 15 circulars. none of which i have. and it was 9:30pm on sunday night. and i HAD to start a new project right then. so after much shifting of stash, i settled on a french girl shawl pattern, oceane. i am knitting it in the suggested rowan linen print yarn, only in the smoky colorway instead of the blush. and knitting on size 17's instead of 19's because that is what i had.

so, i have gobs of knitting to do. yay.

truly, it was for research purposes only

i had a meeting in the city which ended early and found myself with a some free time. so what to do? go to the nearest LYS of course.

artfibers can be found up a creaky stairwell in the heart of the san francisco financial district. their yarns are a mix of various natural fibers with their own unique colorways. artfibers strives to be eco friendly by selling their yarn on recycle able/returnable cones but also has recycle able/returnable ball cores available for smaller purchases. the only place to get their yarn is at their store or on the internet. so i thought this the perfect place to scout out some unique s.f. yarn for my yet to be named virtual vacation swap buddy. and boy was it fun.

the store is relatively small but packed full of truly beautiful yarn. most of the yarn is swatched which made it helpful to see how it looked, felt, draped, etc. knitted up, along with a nearby index card with content of the yarn, gauge and sometimes a pattern suggestion. a couple of services i thought helpful was a computer system that can adapt any pattern to the size you need, instantaneously! as well as a corner that has samples of their yarn available for knitters to knit and experiment with.

so after wandering around touching everything, i spotted this really lovely, quite simple scarf that was knit out of this beautiful, shimmery silk, mohair and wool yarn. one skein would knit the really lovely, quite simple scarf. a great idea for my vvs buddy. or not....? hmmmm...am i sure? what to do? got it! experiment with the yarn myself. just to make sure. i mean, i wouldn't want to send a dud yarn. so i did the only responsible thing, i bought the yarn which came with the pattern for the really lovely, quite simple scarf with the intent of making sure it would be an appropriate yarn to share with my vvs buddy.

so i will see how the yarn does. make sure it's ok. and if it proves to be unsuitable for my yet to be named vvs buddy, i can always regift the scarf!

i missed the deadline

my sweet friends skirt was supposed to have been done by today. it is close, but not close enough, about 20 rows away from being done.

but it has been a busy week. it is the last week of high school for the big guy. grandma is up for graduation; the house is being prepared for a celebratory open house and the big guy is ready for his next phase.

i suppose i am also, but not quite as excitedly as the big guy.

but this is what it is all about. all the nurturing, the support, the involvement, the parameters, all culminate to this, his leaving home. i guess, as parents, we are supposed to look forward to it. but it feels a little empty. i have been told i'll cry the first week and after that it will be "who?". time will tell on that one.

in the meantime, i will finish my sweet friend's skirt.

i can't believe it

so today while measuring my sweet friend's pink skirt, i discovered it was at the 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) in length it is supposed to be before i begin the finishing touches. while eyeing it on the needles i thought it not quite long enough to be considered a skirt. but i had my sweet friend try it on and lo and behold! it is long enough. which means i am very close to finishing the pink skirt. the goal was to finish it by the big guy's h.s. graduation, which is this coming saturday. so if i quit blogging and start knitting, i may just get it finished in time. huzzah!

a reason!

friends of ours are having their first baby!

besides being very excited for them, i am very excited to be able to knit baby things. i was a sewer when i was pregnant and had babies and though i knit for my kids now, i did not get to knit baby things.

so now i have an excuse to make cute baby booties and matching hats, etc.. the challenge being which cute baby booties and matching hats, etc. the baby is not due until december so there is plenty of time to decide! but i can start looking and stewing now!

ohboyohboyohboy!

vvs questionaire

1. If you could visit any state in the US, which would it be and why?
hawaii, so i could lay on the warm beach and then hike in the cool rain forests.
2. If you could visit any country in the world, other than your own, which would it be and why?
france, because i love paris; and i have always wanted to live in france
3. Have you ever driven across several states/providence/countries?
yes; once from saratogoa springs, ny to st. louis, missouri by way of nyc, new jersy, virginia, west virginia, kentucky, illinois, missiouri and a tip of kansas; then once from san francisco to rexburg, idaho via nevada and utah.
4. Have you ever visited someplace you consider exotic? Where was it?
took a cruise with my sister to the caribbean, which was great.
5. What was your favorite "travel" vacation? Why?
europe because it was before we had kids so it was just my husband and i traveling with our backpacks going where ever we wanted to go.
6. Have you ever played tourist in your own home city/state (if international, country)? Explain.
yes; we live in the san francisco bay area so when we get visitors we take them to places they would like to see and then to places we like to share that may not be in the tourist guides.
7. Are you a museum visitor, beach comer or an amusement seeker?
a beach bum/comer first and museum visitor second.
8. What's your favorite type of yarn?
my first choice would be wool because there is such a wide variety of wool available and there are so many ways it can be knit. but i am equally fond of alpaca, silk and cotton.
9. What's your least favorite type of yarn?
i would say acrylic more because i have never really been inspired to knit with it. though i have used various ribbon yarns with great results.
10. What items do you like to knit/crochet?
i am an accessories knitter stuck in the "s's": scarves, shawls, stoles, socks though i am in the midst of knitting a skirt and i have made some hats. i also like lacy knits. i find myself drawn to patterns that have a lace repeat or trim/edging in them.
11. What do you pack, knit/crochet wise when you go on vacation?
depending on the project(s) i have going. socks are always good because they are small. usually i take something simple so i can take it places and not have to worry about missing a stitch count. plus i always reason there may be a yarn store where i am going where i can pick up a little something!
12. What other crafts do you do/would like to do other than Knit/Crochet?
i sew, bake, make jewelry.
13. Are you allergic to anything? (Yarn wise or treat wise)
thankfully, no.
14. What is your favorite color? Least Favorite?
favorite color is royal blue; least favorite color is difficult because any color in the right tone or shade is workable, but off the top of my head it would be yellow or orange.
15. Sweet or Savory (Treat not personality)?
sweets, please!
16. Anything else we are forgetting to ask that you think your partner desperately needs to know?
i have a high energy level so caffeine and i parted ways many years ago, much to the delight of my assistant, though i do love strong tea and coffee, just decaffeinated. and i love chocolate.

can i just tell you

i have to confess that i am pretty tired of knitting in the round. by some odd coincidence, all my projects, save the feathery lace stole, are being knit in the round. i find myself knitting a few rows on the feathery lace stole daily just for variety! which isn't such a bad thing since i really do need to finish this project.

my goal was not to start something new until i finished something currently on the needles. i may side step this by taking a sock class with the sock guru at the LYS (her june socks are lacy!). the catch being, the new project will also be knitting in the round! though i may actually try knitting on DPN's instead of two circulars. that alone could be entertaining.

and if knitting on DPN'S isn't entertaining, the ladies at virtual vacation knitting swap will be. i missed the knitting swap tea and cakes organized earlier this spring, so when i heard about this one i was really excited. if you are interested, stop by their blog site and take a look see.

in the meantime, i will be here, knitting in the round!

mmmm....almost

so the intent was to do nothing but knit on monday, which was the memorial day holiday.

though i did knit some, it definitely wasn't a whole day of knitting. i puttered; i did a little of this or a little of that, always with the same intent, "as soon as i finish this, i will sit and knit". but i did not quite get there until we went to supper at a friends house and then i was able to just sit and knit.

but i did make some bread to take for supper. this bread was not as chock a block full of good things as wish i were baking puts in his bread; the kids don't tolerate much more than a bit of white whole wheat; along with the bread being some sort of sourdough! but i had not baked bread in quite a few years; the house smelled of rising and baking bread. the family remembered how much they loved that smell and the bread. it was great fun.

since i forgot to save some dough for a levain, i will have to bake some more bread. some friends just bought their first home a few blocks from us. i think i will bake another batch as a home welcoming gift and walk it over. i almost feel like donna reed!

yes, but what about the knitting?

i am so itching to start a new project. just the thrill of casting on a new yarn for a newly selected pattern. but i am trying to stay focused on finishing the projects that have been languishing on my needles for awhile. sigh. so much for new yarn and new patterns.

the project i have been working on the most is my sweet friend's pink tennis skirt out of sierra from cascade yarns. i took it to nyc and got a bit of it done on the flights, but since i am truly wanting to finish it, it is now accompanying me everywhere. the first 4 inches (10.2 cm) was a k2 p1 rib, but after that it has been just plain knitting in the round which makes it an easy to take everywhere project. i am about 1/3 of the way done and it looks pretty cute. the current goal is to have it done and wearable by the big guy's high school graduation next month. we'll see.

the next project i am working on is my cute husbands socks out of the chocolate and white lorna's laces. the pattern is from sensational knitted socks. i had my hesitations on using a fingering weight yarn, but this is knitting up pretty smoothly. plus the yarn is so wonderful to knit with, i find i am really enjoying it.

still on the needles is the cowl. it, too, is an easy knit and can be taken everywhere. but since it also is endless knitting in the round, between it and the pink tennis skirt, it is a little to much knitting in the round. coupled with the fact that i won't need this until next winter and that i can knit and knit and feel like it isn't getting any longer!

also on the needles is the flying v scarf from exquisite little knits. it is being worked up in mohair frappe from crystal palace. this is a gift from last christmas that is consistently left at the bottom of the knitting pile. it is quite an easy knit, if i would just spend some time with it, it could be finished relatively quickly.

and last but not least is the feathery lace stole also from exquisite little knits. this is being knit out of eggplant misty alpaca. for some reason, i have to really concentrate on the lace pattern, though it is quite easy. and since i have to concentrate on it, it makes this project difficult to knit in social situations. which is making this a very slow knit. i find i need alone time in order to work on it. the trick being, i need those needles for other projects! so guess i better find some alone time.

though i am knitting on all of the above projects pretty consistently, i have this agreement with myself that once i finish one of the above projects, i can decide what to make with the louisa harding suri ribbon yarn and cast on. i would really like a little something light and lacy to wear during the warm summer months. guess i better get knitting!

another sunday

there are many things going on in the world, some heart breakingly sad, others tremendously heart warming. either of these can stop us in our tracks, inspire us to reassess and to continue moving on as best we can.

as women/mothers we take our take our strength and talent for granted. yet there is rarely a knitting site or blog that i am not inspired by in some way.

and so on this sunday that is set aside to honor mothers, my best wishes to all mothers everywhere, as we bring our creative best to our children, families and friends.

and the seasons, they go round and round...

it doesn't seem quite so long ago, but it has been 18 years since the big guy came into our lives. the very long labor should have clued me into his temperament, it takes him forever to make a decision. he has to look at all the options before he comes to a conclusion. kind of reminds me of someone i know.

but he is a really good person...he is kind and considerate and giving; he honors his commitments and treats people respectfully; he is well liked.

today he has crossed the precipice from being a teenage boy to being a young man. soon he will be on to other adventures that won't always include his father or i. all i can do is hope he is safe and well during these journeys. and be here when he needs me to be.

happy birthday, big guy. thanks for the best adventure ever.

knitting with the dali lama

this past weekend the dali lama was in san francisco for two days of teaching and one day of public speaking. though we are not tibetian buddhists, my cute husband and i attended the two days of teaching.

as i usually do, i carried some knitting with me. i chose to bring the cowl i was knitting out of the taupe ry cashsoft dk. it is just plain knitting in the round, nothing to count or keep track of, just endless knitting in the round for 12.5 inches (31.8 cm) on size 5 (3.75 mm) needles.

so i would knit while standing in line waiting to get into the teachings; i would knit once i was inside waiting for the teachings to start and i would knit when the teachings became difficult for me to understand and i needed to balance it out with something i knew.

i got quite a bit of knitting done. and i don't think the dali lama minded a bit!

yes, it was fun

the trip to new york city was great fun. i enjoyed the city much more than i thought i would. i loved being able to walk everywhere; i appreciated the subway; and i came to understand what uptown, downtown and upper east side mean. once it was explained to me and i could apply it, it made perfect sense.

since i was one of the chaperones for 43 high schoolers, half my time was spent getting them to where they had to be, going with them, getting them back and keeping track of them during their free time; minimal time was for sleeping (we were in nyc after all); the time left over was free time for me. i saw some sights, did some shopping, loved the street vendors, was enthralled with grand central station, was blown away by time square being just as bright at midnight as it was at noon and took the big guy to dinner and a broadway show. we had pasta at this great place on 8th and went to see rent. it was really fun.

but i was hoping to find a moment to myself so i could slip off to an LYS. i had taken a list of nyc yarn stores with me and had two i really wanted to see. both being in greenwich village, a couple of subway stops away, it was just finding the time to go there.

friday seemed the perfect time. a group of kids and i went to the metropolitan museum of art friday morning. though we went as a group, once there, everyone went their own way. my goal was to see the egyptian collection, the impressionists and hopefully a mary cassatt or two all of which i was able to do in about 3-3.5 hours. by then my brain was totally full and i needed fresh air. a fellow chaperone said i had enough time to get to greenwich village and back before our 6pm dinner cruise. so i zipped back to the hotel via subway, once again checked in with my kids via phone, asked the concierge how to get to where i wanted to go, zipped off to another subway, got on and just as i was about to panic thinking i had gotten on the wrong train, there was my stop.

since i was not sure how much time everything would take, the plan was to find at least one LYS and hope i could find the other the next morning. i chose to go to purl soho, whose owner is the author of last minute knitted gifts. just when i realized i had the wrong address and concerned i would not find the shop, i decided to walk one more block, and there it was. purl soho is a lovely shop. extremely compact (not a lot of room in greenwich village) but lots of beautiful yarn packed into very tall cubbied shelves, which made looking at things on the top shelves a bit of a challenge. i found it interesting that the yarn companies were the same as the ones back home, but the yarn from those companies was totally different than what i was used to seeing. the staff was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. they carried quite a few patterns, but very few notions. i assumed it was a space issue since this was a very compact shop.

i had hoped to find some mac and me patterns. there were two in particular i wanted, the shorty ruffle scarves and the silk and alpaca wrap. purl had both of them in stock as well as the blue sky alpaca which is the mac and me signature yarn. while i was debating whether to get yarn for the shawl, a light bulb went off. i had already bought a few nyc mementos for my sweet friend, josh was in nyc gathering his own mementos and my cute husband didn't want me to get him anything at all (though i did buy him a deck of cards from the top of the empire state building which will get use.) so there i was, standing in the midst of a very sweet yarn store, willing to buy yarn just because i was on vacation. what better way to satisfy that urge and bring a token from nyc than to buy yarn to make items for others! the yarn for my shawl could wait, but i could buy scarf yarn for both my sweet friend and myself. and the boys could get socks. so nine hanks of yarn that needed to be made into balls later, i left the store completely satisfied by my purchases. my sweet friend gets the two pink blue sky alpaca yarns for her scarf, which she also gets to knit, light pink for the scarf, bright pink for the ruffle; the grey and lavender bsa yarn is for me, gray for the scarf, lavender for the ruffle. the chocolate brown and white lorna's laces yarn is for my cute husbands socks and the caramel and white lorna's laces yarn is for the big guy's socks. not bad.

while showing off my purchases to my oh so wonderful roommate, kathleen, who oohed and aahhed over the sock yarn is when the second light bulb went off. i had wanted to get her a little something as a thanks for being a such a great roommate gift. knitting her something would be the perfect thing.

enter saturday. we were leaving late saturday afternoon and checked out of the hotel relatively early. this meant we had quite a chunk of free time. a group of us, both kids and chaperones, decided to take the subway to greenwich village and walk around. the only planned site to see was washington square park and the infamous arch. once that was done, navigator pat asked if any one had any place in particular they wanted to go to in the village. well... so off we were to the point cafe, a yarn store and coffee house all in one (i can hear the sighs from ireland). since it was quite a few blocks from washington square park, we had a nice walking tour of the village.

finally the yarn store. considering the point is both knitting store and coffee house, it is quite compact. a lot of the room is tables for coffee and knitting, which means the yarn has to be creatively stowed. which it is. some in big wire baskets attached to the wall and some in cubbies in the back. both knitting stores also string yarn from the walls, like laundry drying. since i was with a group, i did not really look around. i went right for the sock yarn and bought a quirky lorna's laces colorway for kathleen who has a wicked sense of humor. the yarn i did see was once again, yarn companies i recognized, only different yarns. since the baskets are high on the wall, an employee or stepladder is needed in order to see or touch them. though i am sure this would be no problem since the staff is friendly and willing to help. being mid-morning saturday, there were knitters enjoying a cup of coffee and company, as well as a beginning knitting class going on. the point was a bustling and friendly place. a nice place to knit while visiting with friends over a cup of coffee.

the yarn purchases rounded out my nyc visit. my sweet friend and i would love to visit again so we could shop til we drop. but that is for another trip. right now, i am just thankful for this one. and thanks for asking davimack.

clearing the needles

so, before leaving for nyc, i was determined to clear up some needles, which meant i needed to finish the projects that were on said needles.

nice thought, but...

i did finish two hats though. one i took to nyc and one i did not.

the one i took was jo sharps urban ribbed beanie which is designed to be knit out of jo sharp silkroad ultra. this is what i made my post surgery shawl out of. had i known i would turn my shawl into a poncho, i would have knit the hat to match it, but so it goes. instead i supplamented the "lake" blue colorway i had leftover from the shawl with an "elm" green colorway. the hat is knit flat then seamed together. since the smallness of the finished circumference worried me a bit, i added 10 stitches to the original pattern and it fits perfectly.

this is the first hat i ever made. on the whole i like it but the stitch decreases at the top look a bit messy and uneven to me. it may be because i was in a hurry to finish it or because i added ten stitches to the pattern or because the yarn is real chunky so the stitches show more. who knows. the bottom line is it kept my head warm in nyc when it was 42 degrees outside with a wind chill factor. and for that i was thankful.

the second hat was the bell from pick up sticks. this is a felted hat which i made from left over cascade 220 yarn. i like the way it came out; even my sweet friend commented on how cute the hat was. it would not felt at first so i added some towels along with a full teakettle of boiling water to the washer, set it to agitate a second time and the hat came along nicely. once the hat was at the size it needed to be, i actually followed the directions and removed it from the washer, rinsed it in cold water and squeezed the excess water out it with a towel. and though i knitted the flower, i did have thoughts of leaving it off, but found it added just the little something the hat needed to be kept from being boring.

i would definitely make this hat again. next time i would look for a different flower(s) to knit up for adornment.

so i cleared out two sets of needles. now on to the pink skirt so i can clear up those size 9's!

so impressed!

check out brooklyntweeds saddle shoulder aran tweed cardigan (scroll down). it is absolutely inspiring. more on my own knitting soon!

tangled up in...

so there are a variety of things going on...

since i converted my shawl into a poncho, i don't really need another poncho. which means i have 1100 yards of atacama alpaca yarn in colorway 505. instead of returning the yarn, i have decided to take the plunge and knit a sweater. preferably a cardigan. since the yarn is variegated, the pattern can be relatively simple. i just need a pattern. nothing from my various books or patterns have caught my fancy or my gauge requirements (4.5/inch on size 7 needles). neither have any of the patterns at one of the free pattern sites i frequent. peace fleece has a couple of nice patterns, but i have no idea what the gauge is. so i am on the lookout. suggestions welcomed.

the big guy and i go to new york next week. he as part of the h.s. jazz choir, me as one of the parent chaperones. i have never been and i am quite excited. we are staying in midtown manhattan, next to grand central station. i only know of a couple LYS' in the area and hope to visit them in our wanderings. again, suggestions welcomed.

am taking my sweet friends pink skirt on the plane with me since the flight from sfo to nyc allows me plenty of time to work on it. also planning to take the cowl pattern from last minute knitted gifts, which i have started knitting up in a dark taupe color out of rowan cashsoft and my cute husbands socks out of a self striping regia yarn instead of the heavier madil iceland (yes it is ok with the airline, already checked. whew!).

i was hoping to finish knitting up a couple of hats before i leave so i can take the needles and the hats. i may be able to finish the cap, but the felted bell shaped hat may not be finished until after we return. oh well.

so for picture sharing, here is me with my brace. i have been wearing it 24/7 since surgery four weeks ago. i have a minimum of two weeks left. though my physical therapist says i am doing well with my range of motion, i am not allowed to lift any weight with my arm at all. thank heaven needles and yarn hardly weigh anything!

they are done

now that the arm is being more cooperative and spurred by the fact i may see my monk friend soon, i thought about finishing up the socks.

i took them out thursday evening just to see how it how it would go. i was able to finish the gusset in no time. since i was to be music room sitter during the friday evening performance of my sweet friends spring musical, i thought it the perfect time to, excuse the expression, knit my socks off. and i did. by the time the performance was over, i was already to the toe decreases. and though it was late, thought i would try to finish them up once i got home from that nights cast party, and what do you know, i did! yahoo!

so here they are, my first pair of knitted socks. they are really quite warm and wonderful. hopefully they will keep my monk friends feet warm even when he is slogging down a rainy mountain side at 4:30 in the morning.

thanks to all of you who gave me great suggestions when i got stuck, especially when picking up stitches. i truly appreciate your time and efforts. i decided the only way to get better at making socks and picking up stitches was to keep doing it, regardless of how apprehensive it makes me (yes, cheryl, i feel your fear). so i am already planning the next pair. they will be for my cute husband, out of the same yarn, different colorway and pattern. i am going to try a pattern from sensational knitted socks, which has instructions for using two circular needles so i won't have to modify a DPN pattern. the sock possibilities from this book are endless, so i am hoping once i get more comfortable knitting socks in general, i will get more comfortable modifying DPN sock patterns.

and i figured out what makes me knit inside out, which i don't usually worry about but for sock knitting threw me for a loop. so next time i will try knitting socks right side out and see if it is easier. can't wait. will let you know how it goes.

a new perspective

it was champagne and chocolate day at the LYS today. i happened to be working so it was nice to have a busy store and be able to visit with everyone.

in between the business, i shared my shawl with a fellow shawl loving co-worker and told her how i discovered what i really needed was a poncho when she said, "make your shawl into a poncho. it's a rectangle so just sew up the sides and leave a space for your head to slip through." well, duh! here i had been looking at patterns that basically did just that and never once thought of applying it to my shawl.

which is why i love being at the LYS. because while we sit and knit and chat, i may discover a solution to a problem i have encountered; or see a yarn or pattern differently due to the way someone else is using it; or i become inspired to try something out of the ordinary or more challenging; or i learn to do something in a new or improved way. no matter what it is, it is always fun.

so this evening, i sewed up one side of my shawl and converted it to a poncho. and it worked! it may get a few stares because of there being a ruffle along one side or because, despite my best efforts, the pinstriping does not line up, but oh well. as a poncho it will stay in place and keep me warm. which is what my intention was when i made it. all i needed was a new way of seeing it.

it's back!

i love the shawl. really i do. it is warm and comfy, like a blanket. and i love the ruffle at either end. i carry it with me always and wear it quite a lot. but i discovered i need two hands to maneuver a shawl and if i had truly thought about the consequences of surgery, i would have made a poncho.

last year i knitted the mini poncho from interweave knits poncho loco out of a rowan biggy print in this wonderful deep chocolate color. i once again found myself wearing it all the time because it was easy to slip on and off. but i need something warmer.

so the quest was on. could i find a poncho pattern that i liked? in a pattern that was simple and fast enough to knit while wearing my brace? i looked through all of my books and found this lovely herringbone poncho pattern in last minute knitted gifts. it was perfect, dressy and functional. but i was concerned about my ability to knit the "through the back loop" stitch with a brace and semi clumsy fingers. then i thought i would just design something simple, but decided now was not the best time to design my own poncho.

so after dropping my sweet friend at rehearsal this afternoon, i zipped over to the LYS to see if i could get inspired. after wandering to and fro for over an hour, owner christina came to my rescue. i told her my plan to knit a poncho, ideally out of alpaca so it would be warm and hopefully one that was a quick and easy knit. she suggested atacama 100% alpaca in the blue variegated colorway #505. while showing me a picture of how the yarn looked knitted up, i turned the page to find a simple rib stitch poncho pattern! it was a sign. i left the store with yarn and pattern in hand.

now the only challenge was could i knit for long periods of time. i knew i could knit, albeit slowly, but i could not knit for long and it wore out my shoulder. and though the pattern was a simple rib, it was 142 stitches long.

so with a wee bit of apprehension, i cast on. and then i knitted the first row and then the second and then the third and then i got interrupted. but i was able to knit. and with no soreness. wahoo! it's back! and i am so very grateful and excited!

and so it goes...

it has been a week since surgery and what an interesting week it has been. the meds made me unfocused and nauseous; having the brace on 24/7 means sleeping sitting up and it hurt to knit.

i am med free now; am able to get around much better, no longer being tethered to the cold therapy unit. i actually drove to get my hair washed and take my cute husband, who has been an absolute angel through all this, to lunch.

and since we were downtown and within walking distance, stopped by the LYS where i met a woman who had a similar surgery a year or so ago. it was nice to hear what she had to say and see how the surgery was of benefit to her. she said she was able to knit a couple of weeks after surgery. at first, just a RS and WS; then a RS, WS, RS; then until her arm tired. it was just good to hear it came back, especially from someone who now loves to knit socks.

so i think i will try to knit again tonight. just to see how it goes.

honest, i did finish it

yes, really, i did finish the shawl. i just needed by blog model to return from her visit with auntie pam in l.a. so here it is.

i decided to go with the brown ruffle instead of searching around for more blue yarn. my sweet friend (who doubles as my fashion consultant) and i both agreed it would flow better if the ruffle were brown. and it does. but i do love the blue stripes. my next goal is to learn how to knit/weave in the yarn ends as i am knitting. most of the the stripes are only two rows in width so i had lots of yarn ends to weave in!

but it is warm and lovely. the wool is chunky and smooth. and, though the pattern is simple, i really like it. i look forward to knitting it up again with totally different yarns and colors. surgery is a week away, so i have not worn the shawl yet. the plan is to wear it home. i can't wait...or maybe i can.

(and, in case you were wondering, no, i don't have a model fetish. this room doubles as the sewing room so the pictures in the background are of fabrics and styles and the cuts of clothing that i like even if i don't dress anything like the pictures.)

knitter's block

i learned to knit specifically to knit socks. it was something i had always wanted to do. every time i come across a sock pattern i ohh and ahh inside and think about the yarns i would use, or the colors i would pick and who the socks would be for. but right now i am stuck at picking up the gusset stitches on the second brown sock. and i have been here for awhile, perhaps a week. every couple of days i give it a try, knit myself into a problem, try to fix said problem and end up ripping it out. i feel i am close, but i am not quite there yet. sometime soon there will be a breakthrough, and i will look back on this and chuckle. but until then, the sock just sits there in it's knitting bag, patiently waiting.

i had to finish something

so, with concentrated effort, the shawl is finished!...except for the blocking, which i plan to do right after this. it is lovely. will provide pictures as soon as it is blocked.

the bug has bit

the upside of all of this sewing is i came across a bunch of leftover pieces from previous sewing projects. these leftover pieces once again got me thinking of knitting needle cases.

about a month ago i made a needle case for straight points but i made it to big. i made one big rectangle which i folded in half. the rectangle had the ability to store straight needles on either side of the fold, with the tops of the needles toward the center. the problem being, when being unfolded for use, half of the needles would fall out. also, since the rectangle was big and made of corduroy and flannel, it was a bit bulky.

so i cut the rectangle in half, sewed a flap into the open seam to protect/prevent the needles from escaping and voila! a new straight point needle case. it can hold about a dozen pairs of straight point needles of various sizes, as well as my size 3 dpn's and it is a lot less bulky.

the original plan was to make a circular needle case holder also. i had seen a couple of designs i liked which i thought i may be able to recreate somewhat. while figuring out the design, i discovered i have so many circulars, i would need a minimum of two of these type of cases. or, if i made it big enough, the case would be so big that it would be to bulky and i may not like it.

but i am really liking the newly revised single point holder! especially since all of my single points needles can be in one place and easy to transport.

so i made pants instead

i am participating in a costume "sweatshop" for the kids spring musical so i felt the need to finish up the pattern cutting clutter in the sewing room.

i finished cutting out the last pair of pants and decided to ride the pattern cutting momentum by continuing with the blouses. i have had various blouse material since forever and chose some white material for one of my favorite blouses. i got out all of the pattern pieces, laid them out on the material to make sure they all fit and proceeded to pin and cut. then i moved onto the next blouse. after gathering and arranging all of the pattern pieces i came to the conclusion whoever decided 2 and 1/8 yard of fabric would fit this particular pattern had not taken their morning medication. and then i noticed it, a stray pattern piece. pattern piece #13, a side back piece. i thought it odd since the pattern i was working on didn't have a piece #13 or a side back piece. and then it dawned on me. this was the side back piece from the previous pattern, which used up all of the material i had. so i had this very essential side back piece but no material in which to make it. and i had no idea where i got the material. had i picked it up at britex during one of our city jaunts or had it come from the local joanne's fabrics.

i sat there gobsmacked. between not being able to fit the second pattern onto material that, technically, should have been sufficient to finding a stray pattern piece i had no material for, i decided pattern cutting was over for the night.

so i looked through the various pant patterns i had cut out, picked the easiest one and started sewing, determined to finish them to wear the next day. thankfully they came together pretty quickly (2 cd's worth of time) and i had a new pair of black pants to wear to work on friday.

and i will take a swatch of the material down to the local joanne's fabrics in hopes they have it or a reasonable facsimile so i can finish making my favorite blouse. if my sweet friend stops laughing about this whole situation long enough, i may even take her with me.

switching gears

so i am a smidge over halfway done with the shawl. it looks great and i love it. but i had a pause for concern moment while working on it earlier this evening. i realized i may not have enough of the lake color yarn to finish with the pattern i had envisioned. the concern came because these were the only two balls of this color the LYS had. should i call around and see if other stores had this yarn in the needed color? or...

so i took a breath and realized maybe a tamarind ruffle on either end of the shawl would be nicer than the envisioned lake ruffle. there is plenty of tamarind yarn at the LYS and in my stash bag. and though the lake ruffle would match the stripes, it may be a bit jarring at the end of all that tamarind.

so i will have to see what happens when i get to that point. i will have to see what the shawl calls for. and until then, there is no need for pause.

did i happen to mention...

sometime before christmas, while in s.f. for a work holiday luncheon, i walked to a well known knitting store to take a look see. while there i found madril's iceland washable wool in a chocolate brown, the perfect yarn to make my monk friend a scarf. while making the purchase, the woman behind the counter mentioned a newly released book which used this yarn to make a pair of men's hiking socks. my dream come true. so i purchased another ball of yarn, the book and off i went.

i cast on, using two circulars and started knitting. the ribbing was a cinch, the st st between the ribbing and the heel, no problem. the heel flap, ok. i thought to myself, this is going so quickly these socks will be ready for A2 when i see him next weekend. but then the heel turn came. a few rows into the heel turn and the instructions went a little vague. was the work to be turned or knitted till the end of the row? it wasn't stated. so i continuted knitting to the end of the row. it made the heel turn look a little odd. then i tried to p/u stitches. there were huge gaps in the knitting. this did not happen with the other sock i am knitting on size 3 needles. so i put the sock aside, missing the gifting date i had set for myself.

during the LYS holiday gathering, i brought the sock out for some suggestions. our master knitter said i had to knit back and start the whole heel flap over again. so, i un-knit it back to the start of the heel flap. started to re-knit it, but still had questions about the heel turn. took it back to the LYS at a tuesday evening gathering, where gisella, the sock guru, looked at the heel turn pattern and agreed there was something awry. she suggested the heel turn from another pattern. so i knit that instead. it looked great until i noticed that there were purl stitches on the knit side and knit stitches on the purl side. one of those knitting inside out in the round quirks. and the p/u stitches still looked a bit gappy to me. so i un-knit it again, bought an hour of gisella's time so i could re-do the heel turn and have her help me p/u the stitches for the gusset.

and it was well worth it. gisella went over the heel turn one more time; she showed me this great way to p/u stitches that produced no gaps and once again, i was off.

so here it is. my first finished sock. as i mentioned this sock is to fit a man with a size 9-12 foot so my foot doesn't quite fill the whole sock. and it is meant to be worn with boots. the yarn is quite chunky which makes it a relatively quick knit (i'll see if that prediction holds true while knitting the second sock!), and it is knitted with one size smaller of a needle then is called for on the yarn label. but it feels heavy and warm. and i am so very excited about finishing a sock! socks are what i have always wanted to knit. and now i have! yay! so on to the second one!