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!

finding dorrie

the finch died last week. it was about 6 years old, which isn't bad for a finch. but i have a feeling it was age, the fact that our house is way cold and drafty and just a smidge of changing its water every other day or so instead of every day.

my sweet friend took it real hard. it made her quite sad to not have her musical pet around. after a teary evening we sat and chatted about it. we decided not to get another finch right away. we may get fish!

something simple

with the specter of surgery looming in the not to distant future and my concern that my knitting abilities after surgery may be stalled, the need to clean up some of the knitting bags is strong. so what do i do instead? i decide i would like a new shawl to wrap myself up in after surgery.

after various trials and tribulations about the yarn, the color, the pattern, i finally decided on jo sharp silkroad ultra for the yarn in a color called tamarind with a color called lake for accents. it is a chunkier yarn and i am knitting it on size 11 needles. i cast on three times with a different number of stitches each time before i got the number of stitches that sucked up the least amount of yarn yet gave me a size shawl i wanted. it will be a rectangle, hopefully about 60 x 20 with a small ruffle at each end.



and it is lovely. this picture does not do it justice. it drapes well, it makes a simple pattern look like a million bucks and it feels sooooo nice. as the LYS owner would say, it is a mindless knit. but it is so lovely. i can't wait until it is done.

yes!

finally! the "fetching" fingerless gloves from knitty.com are done! whew!

this project, which was heralded as a quick weekend knit took me about three months to complete. granted there were the holidays and the knitting flurry that surrounds it. coupled with a case of DPN phobia, which prompted adapting the pattern for two circulars.

which, on the whole, was really no problem. i learned dividing the stitches evenly between the two circulars did not work as it does in socks. the stitches knit better if divided by pattern repeats. the pattern stitch was a 5 stitch repeat so i had 20 stitches on one needle and 25 on the other. which worked really smoothly.

my only hiccup was the thumb. i could not figure out how to pick up the stitches from the waste yarn and then pick up the additional stitches needed on the two circulars. so i went down to the LYS, borrowed a pair of DPN's in the size i needed, picked up and knitted all the stitches on DPN's for the pick up round only. then i switched the stitches to two circulars and zipped through the thumb to the end. et voila! ce finis!

the other interesting thing i learned was that i knit inside out when knitting in the round. i had observed this before but thought nothing of it until someone at the LYS noticed it and promptly turned my sock right side out, at least to her. i was totally lost. i found when the pattern said knit, in order to keep the stitch patten going, i had to purl, and vice versa. so, when i came to my first thumb, i suddenly realized the stitch pattern was not matching, even though it said to knit and i was knitting. so i un-knit down to the p/u row and purled, which matched the stitch. except for the p/u row, which i had p/u and knit when i should have p/u and purled. so around the base of my left thumb is a ring of purl stitches. a little something to remind me to pay attention. which i did on the right hand where i p/u and knitted the thumb stitches inside out, at least to me, and the thumb turned out perfect.




and the gloves are great. they are warm, comfortable, pretty and practical as i am wearing them as i type. and i am really glad something is finished! yay!

a special treat

the owner of the knitting store took us gals out for pedi's as a special surprise treat! true heaven! except i haven't put socks on yet so my feet are truly cold now!

a bit of a concern

i took a spill the beginning of last july. i was at a friend's house celebrating his son's 3rd birthday when i slipped on a slick spot and landed in a sitting position with my hands at my sides. i knew my right shoulder was in bad shape, but it felt like it had been badly jammed and just needed a good stretch. so i was gentle with it but kept using it. for the next 5 months.

finally in december i decided my range of motion was not improving and i still could not put weight on it, especially in certain yoga poses. so i decided to go to a doctor. there is a group of orthopedic surgeons who are quite well know in the county and who have helped quite a number of athletic teams with their various injuries. this group also did my cute husband's back and neck surgeries successfully and i trusted them. so off i went.

a couple of appointments and an MRI later i find i have ripped all 4 layers of my right rotator cuff and the muscle(s) are pulling away from the bone. the doctor drolly pointed out it didn't seem to be healing on it's own, so it is surgery for me. and after surgery, six weeks of wearing a brace that will keep my arm/shoulder in a "healing" position.

had i been told i needed surgery and then been whisked off to surgery, it would have been no problem. but now i get to stew about it for the next six weeks so i can get really anxious. and hopefully, prepared. i went through my sewing patterns for elastic waist pants patterns and then went to get material for them. my thought process being since the brace will limit my range of motion, it may be easier to wear pants that have no buttons, buckles or zippers. i'm not sure about tops though. i am a basic jeans and t-shirt girl. but i may not be able to wear t-shirts since i won't be able to lift my arm. so will a button down shirt be more accommodating? all of these things to stew over.

my sweet friend soberly pointed out that i would not be able to knit during that time. i said i had every intention of being able to knit but perhaps not the first week. where upon she promptly replied, maybe not for the first two.

i may save the really easy stuff for after the surgery, like the felted hat, so i can have something simple to knit. or i may just make the and then make another as a gift. or make myself a really cool felted bag. i would like to finish up a couple of lace pieces i have started so they can be done. and of course the socks and gloves. but after that, i may just make myself a scoochie shawl to wrap myself up in after the surgery. the possibilities are endless.

i didn't mean to! honest!

so i zipped into the LYS on saturday, just to say hey to jen and have a look see at what yarns were on sale during "secret saturday". since i was working at the LYS the next day, i wasn't going to stew about the yarns, i was just going in for a quick, light, look around.

little did i know i would be hoodwinked as soon as i walked in the door, because there it was, waving to me from it's cubby, the louisa harding sari ribbon...on sale! OMG! the yarn that had my heart and senses since it first arrived at the LYS available to me! i tried to be cool but failed miserably due to the very excited squeal of glee coming from the vicinity where i was standing.

i did respectfully made the rounds to see what other yarns were on sale but knew they paled in comparison to the sari ribbon. i also asked jen for suggestions on what to make with it, just so i didn't feel like i was making a frivolous purchase, heaven forbid! but in the end, it really didn't matter. i purchased two hanks, but have yet to buy the louisa harding book that has the great scarf pattern using two hanks of sari ribbon (some mental/financial blocking of having a book with the one pattern you need cost gobs more than the yarn that caused that need).

so until i figure out what to do with it, i will just admire it longingly and be thankful it is in my stash box. sigh.

one down

finished one of the fingerless gloves! finally! doesn't look bad for an experiment. will supply pics when both are done. the second one is already on the needles. now i just need time!

a new year

the holidays have gone by in a swoosh. after one serving of the christmas dinner i had spent all day preparing, i was completely full. it never ceases to amaze me that so much time and effort is spent on something that goes by so quickly.

and now it is the new year. if all goes as planned, the big guy will graduate from high school and be off to college this year. my sweet friend will make it through her first year of high school and my cute husband and i will just keep working to keep it all rolling. but who knows what surprises the new year will bring. hopefully we will be able to roll with them.

but today is just the first day. so, for this moment, may the new year bring us all peace, good health and happiness. happy new year to all.

yarn stash?! no, not me!

i have never considered myself a knitter with yarn stash.

yarn was purchased when a new project was being planned and about to be knit. economical and non-frivolous. that was that. so imagine my surprise when i found my non-existent yarn stash filled a whole cardboard storage box with virtually no room to spare!

my first unconscience inkling that perhaps i did indeed have yarn stash was when i needed a present for the office gift exchange. i wanted to knit something personal and realized i had two balls of crystal palace red mohair frappe in a bag in the sewing room that just might make a great flying v scarf from exquisite little knits. and it did.

my first conscience inkling that i had yarn stash was when i went to the LYS' secret saturday sale and bought two skein's of noro kureyon with a pattern in mind but no one in mind for the finished project. that was the day i thought, "hmmmm, i wonder if those various bags of yarn stashed around the house constitutes 'yarn stash?' ". and lo and behold it did.


who knew? obviously not me! as my cute husband would say, i have been living in the state of denial!

so this is what a non-existent yarn stash looks like. some of it is earmarked for a project, like the blue cotton and silk frogtree in front, which will hopefully turn into the shell game, a pattern from the garter belt. then there is the various sock yarn; in the upper right hand corner is this truly lovely lavender and green cotton and silk yarn by the name of fable from artyarns. the dark yarn next to it is rowanspun aran in a lovely navy tweed color that has hopes of someday being the bookworm vest from cheryl oberle's folk vests book.

but the rest of it is just stash. i fell in love with the ry cashsoft in various colors. also the jo sharp silver grey kid mohair. the most unusual find for me is the gray skein of fingering weight yarn from black water abby yarns in ireland (yarn next to the blue frogtee). i had read of this yarn, looked at their website and found a nearby trunk show. i look forward to knitting it up. the two bags in back are filled with leftover yarn from various projects. there is enough brown cascade 220 leftovers to knit up a felted hat from pick up sticks! yeesh!

amazing how yarn can just multiply like that! now i guess i should actually knit something with it all! so i better get to it! happy holidays to all!

christmas blooming

i am home sick today and instead of resting i am taking pictures for my blog! oh brother! but all seven of the african violets are blooming at the same time and i could not let this kodak moment slip by. they seem so content on the kitchen window sill even though it is quite cold outside, by northern california standards anyway.

now i will go rest...and knit the red mohair scarf that will not be finished by tomorrows gift exchange. think it would be tacky if i gave it away on the needles with promises that it would be finished soon?!