You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2008.
I keep having dreams of returning to my old job. It’s creepy and I don’t want to look into it. Also, never heard back from the boutique. All is well though, I’ve been applying to at least 3 jobs a day. Something’s got to stick. I may start looking in New York. I could always commute until I’ve saved enough to move there.Onto knitting!
Pattern: Little Arrowhead Shawl
Source: www.interweave.com
Yarn: Brunswick Promfret
Needles: Inox US 7 Circular
Notes: All done! I have no complaints about the pattern. It was super simple and easy enough to modify. I ended up doing one less repeat than the pattern called for. When I started this shawl, I envisioned wearing it tied around my neck. Think knitted bandanna. My one concern is that it will be too long after I block it. I’ll have to be careful not to stretch it too much. I decided to follow Yarn Harlot’s guide to blocking lace. This is my first time blocking lace like this. My blocking skills need a little work:
It’s a tad crooked. If I were a perfectionist, I might try to fix it for the millionth time. Luckily, I’m not. Side note: The smell of wet wool reminds me of the house I stayed at in Jordan. It’s not wet wool in general just this specific wool. Strange.
I really love the way it drapes. In fact, I really just love the whole thing. I find that my feeling towards my FOs usually range from meh to IN LOVE. This is one of those FO’s that I want to constantly wear and look at. The wrong side is also nice which, doesn’t make it wrong at all: (I think I took one too many photos)
This project has definitely inspired me to look into more intricate lace projects. I want to knit a lace shawl for everyone I love. The funny thing is, I started knitting this as a “looking for something else to knit” project. Does anyone else do that? Have a project you work on until your next big inspiration comes along? Who knew that this would actually become my new inspiration?
Pattern: Deep V Argyle Vest
Source: www.eunnyjang.com
Yarn: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK
Needles: Clover US 4 circular
When I knit my gauge for swatch for this, I was spot on. Right yarn, right needles, right tension. Perfect! Right? Well, not so much. After a few rounds, I noticed that the stitches looked slightly longer in the actual project than in the swatch. I took out my needle gauge and sure enough, my stitches per inch had gone up ever so slightly. Thankfully, the the width of the garment didn’t change too much. It is slightly less fitted than intended but the length was the problem. I have a short torso as it is and I could tell the vest was going to be way too long.
I’m not sure why this happened but I do have two theories: The first being that the combination of small circumference knitting and DPNS allowed me to knit at a tighter gauge. With DPNS, I tend to be more careful because I don’t want my needles flying everywhere and to drop stitches left and right. I was probably keeping a tighter tension out of fear of messing up. On circular needles, there is a slim chance your work will slip off the needles and you can stop mid-row more often. In other words, I got lazy.
My second theory is that the the circular needles and DPNs were slightly different in size. In my experience, bamboo needles wear down with use and become slightly smaller in width. I checked both sets of needles and honestly, I can’t tell. My eyesight is not that good. Let’s just go with theory 1.
I decided to keep knitting on and improvise later. Which, worked out just fine. After I started the armhole steeks, I decided that once the armholes were long enough to fit, I’d begin my back neck decreases early and decrease at the front neck with more frequency. In the end, I left out about 10 - 15 rows of the pattern. My original plan was to do the crocheted steeks but after several attempts on my gauge swatch it looked like the yarn I chose was way too slippery. I even used a sticky mohair blend to set the steeks but still no luck. That’s when I broke out the sewing machine. Keep in mind, when I sewed the steeks, I had not sewn in years so my lines are a tad bit crooked.
Click the photo for a larger view. You’ll be able to see just how poor my sewing skills were. On to cutting the steeks. My favorite part.
There is something just SO satisfying about cutting through your knitting. Maybe because it is absolutely the worst thing that could ever happen to one of your knitting projects. After cutting all the steeks and seaming the shoulders, I wore the vest and started stretching the neck and arm holes. I wanted to be sure that the sewn steeks would hold up. They did…in retrospect, I wonder if that was a bad idea. Whatever! I ran out of the black yarn after knitting up the arm bands. Jaeger Extra Fine Merino is a discontinued yarn so I after scouring the net for a good three hours, I finally gave in and went on Ebay. It’s virtually impossible to find just one ball of a discontinued yarn. You either forget it or order about 9 more balls of yarn than you actually need. Which, is what I ended up doing. Long story short I ordered from some place in the UK and it took a little over 2 weeks to get here. 2 weeks of waiting for a neckband. And here is it:
My FINISHED Deep V Argyle Vest. Probably the most difficult project I’ve taken on. It is also the most wearable garment I have ever knit.
Next Up: Blustery
Pattern: Simplicity - Builty By You 3964 by Built By Wendy
Fabric: Black Cotton and an Alexander Henry print
I think this will be my final Built By Wendy pattern. I’m ready to move on! I love this shirt. I’m not thrilled with the sleeves because they’re not really sleeves. Just pieces of fabric that jut out but I like them well enough to wear the shirt.
I’m in love with this fabric. It’s so bold and vibrant. It reminds me of Spain. I’m currently making a shirt. You can sort of the make out the pattern in the next photo:
It is that blue and white top in the center. I’m using the above fabric for the main body of the shirt and black for the details. I’m seriously considering buying more of this fabric and making a huge pillow out of it. I want it everywhere! I should be finished with it tomorrow. My goal was to it have to done by tonight but I just ran out of steam. Tomorrow is my birthday and I celebrated last night with friends, 90’s music, a lot of dancing and beer. Needless to say, I’m pretty exhausted. It was great seeing my friends though. I’m going to have go up to Boston at least once a month. If I don’t, I feel like I’ll just lose touch with everyone. I’m pretty bad at communication and maintaining relationships with people especially when they’re more than a 20 minute T ride away.
Back to the crafts. I have been doing what I always tell myself I won’t do: start another project without finishing the one that is currently in progress. I’m working on a shirt, vest, shawl, hat and a pair of socks. I also just finished my Deep V Argyle Vest. I’m in love with it. I’m going to make a post soon with the finished product along with progress photos and details. I took photos throughout the whole process because it was a lot of firsts for me. More on that in the future though. Ok, one photo.
Tomorrow, I’m headed back to Boston to celebrate family birthdays. I will not be driving so I will have 2-3 hours of prime knitting time. I’ll be in the Davis Sqare area which means I will spend at least a half hour in Magpie. One my favorite places to buy jewelry. Ten Thousand Villages has become my CT spot for jewelry since moving. Goodnight.
I have a hard time saying Stitch n’ Bitch. I can type it all I want and say it in my head but to say it aloud?? Can’t do it. I feel that way about most knitting terminology. I can type out FO, WIP, LYS but I would never say “eff oh” or “finished object”. Maybe because I’ve never really hung out exclusively with knitters. I prefer to refer to the SnB as a knitting group. Of course then, it sounds like I’m going to a Knitters Anonymous group. “Hello, my name is Brenda and I’m a knitter”. I’m over thinking this. Anyway, as you can imagine, I went to my first knitting group in New Haven. It was super awkward at first and the only thought running through my head was “Get my out of here! I could be home watching some lame re-runs and knitting all by my lonesome!”. It’s awkward being the new girl as it is but of course there wasn’t any room for me at the table so I was stuck off to the side on these cushions. I felt so small, like I was sitting in the children’s corner staring at the adults, confused by the big words coming out of their mouths. About a half hour passed and a few people left. I got a seat at the adult table and all of a sudden things started to make sense again. I talked, I knitted, I laughed! It was kinda great. I’ll definitely be going back next week. This time, I’ll show up a little early to guarantee a seat with the big kids.
of an unemployed fresh-out-of-the-university gal. The first week of being unemployed and living with mom and dad entailed getting up at 11am and making Belgian waffles. This sort of thing catches up with you though. After eating Belgian waffles for breakfast 7 days straight, you start to look and feel like a belgian waffle. So now I present to you the yogurt parfait: So simple, yet so delicious and fun to make. Not as fun as eating it because let’s be honest, yogurt and Belgian waffles really are clearly two different animals. It’ll do.
So, moving on. After I’ve woken up and have carefully prepared a parfait, I usually read or watch a bit of TV (the parents have Tivo!). Currently, I’m reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Even though, it’s about a woman undergoing some sort of mid-life (1/3 life?) crisis, I find that I’m really identifying with it. I’m really drawn to books about people going through their (insert time period here) crisis. They always seem to discover some new fantastic thing or skill about themselves. I’m looking forward to my crisis.
Anyway, after my daily dose of reading or television, I start to get some energy and I craft! Unemployment allows plenty of time to knit and sew. I have knit 2 pairs of socks and I have sewn 4 garments. I just started sewing so there are plenty of mistakes. Hopefully, my photography will hide them. Below is my 4th and favorite garment. The pattern is from Simplicity 3835 Built By Wendy. I love Built By Wendy patterns. They’re pretty simple and easy to follow. Plus, most of her designs are classic so I know I can wear this stuff for a couple of years to come.
I’m really fascinated by sewing. Following patterns has really helped me to understand the construction of clothing. I really want to branch out and start designing my own patterns. First, I need a dressform. (Mom? Birthday present?) I’m trying not to let sewing get in the way of my knitting. Knitting is still my number one but sewing has provided me instant gratification. Did I mention this already? It takes me weeks to complete a sweater and only a day or two to make a dress. The processes are completely different though. I find that knitting is a lot more relaxing than sewing. Also, sewing in general seems more about the finished product than the actual process. But what do I know? I’m new to this sewing thing.
So back to a day in the life. This is actually pretty much it. We’ve reached the end of the line. My average day consists of eating, reading, tv-ing, knitting and sewing. What else do unemployed people do with their time? It’s been a nice 2 1/2 weeks but I’m feeling antsy. I’m missing the human interaction. I’m not looking forward to the draining 9 -5 days but I am looking forward to seeing the word “deposit” in my bank statements again.
The reason you had to endure this long post is because my blissful and not so blissful days of unemployment may be coming to an end. I have a job interview tomorrow morning at 9:45 am at Glee. Glee is a little boutique in Guilford. It will probably just be a part-time gig but it’ll buy me some time to continue to search for a more career oriented position. I hate retail but I like clothes. It might work. Now all I have to do is turn on the charm for the interview.
Here’s the thing. I knit and I sew and sometimes I do other things like eat, sleep, and think. I really like the idea of having a place to share these things but the truth is, I’m lazy. I also hate writing but I always come back to this blogging thing. If this doesn’t work, I’m done. So, to get started I’m going to write one post each day and share my various projects. If I don’t have a substantial amount of posts by February 22nd, then I quit!
So this is my Little Arrowhead Shawl which, will not end up being a shawl at all. I’m going to do less repeats and just make it into a triangle scarf. I’ve never done lace like this before so it’s been an interesting process. I’m using Promfret 4-ply Sport yarn in Royal Blue. I got this yarn from my boyfriend’s aunt a few years ago and I’m just now getting around to using it. I have about 6 skeins of this stuff. I’ll probably end up donating the rest.
