Bits and Pieces
Look! It's puppy parts!
Top to bottom: Tails, head/body, ears, and tongues.
All the pieces/parts have been sewn together and felted down to form baby booties. They're blocking and then I've got to knit on the cuffs. The finished product should be done sometime this week.
Today I realized that I will need to find a new project for the yarn I bought at the farmer's market. I don't have enough yardage for my original idea.
So instead I cast on today for
Cyd. I love starting a new project!
Posted by Mel at 10:11 PM
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Done?
One of my friends stated that it is 'too hot to knit' right now. Huh? Can it get 'too hot to knit'? It sure hasn't stopped me...
I bound off the Ballet-Tee Dress. However, I am thinking of un-binding it and adding a few more rows. While
Kiki (the designer of the "dress" part of the pattern) assures me that the dress will lengthen with wear, the slip I want to wear underneath it is almost the exact same length. I'm afraid it will peek through the bottom. It pains me to backtrack, but it seems like the right thing to do. Maybe just a couple more rows. Or a couple of couple more...
On a positive note, I've got all the pieces/parts knitted for 'project buddy' (see the bottom of the previous post). I'm on a roll!
I'm going on a plane trip next weekend. I need to find a small project to take with me. It's time to poke through the stash and the pattern books for something.
Posted by Mel at 10:06 PM
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Rock-a-Bye
The blanket, she is a-done!
And the shower isn't for another 3 weeks! I'm happy that I didn't push it to the wire -- this time. I'm also happy to report that the scented oil stain and the tiny coffee stain came right out. I used some Zout and then washed it in a gentle detergent from Soapworks. One thing I will say is that I was disappointed in how rough the blanket felt after washing it this way. I had been warned about how awful the Plymouth Encore yarn is, but I had made things with it before and didn't think it was awful at all. So, I rewashed it with fabric softener and dryer sheets. Much better! Here's a more detailed look at the pattern.
The ballet tee dress is coming along nicely. I should have a finished product in the next week or so.
After that...
| I will attempt to make this: | look like this |
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Yes - It's Manos del Uruguay and Yes - I'm going to felt it. Again! Will my madness ever end?!
Posted by Mel at 8:38 PM
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The Show is Super!
I had the opportunity to check out the
knitting installation at the ASU Art Museum this weekend. As the post heading implies, I really enjoyed it. Not only are the Superhero outfits amazing and creative, but there are also some amazing embroidery and cartoons and photographs. I hope everyone has a chance to get over there to see it. It's there until September 3rd.
The rest of the museum is really nice too. I always forget how much I enjoy art museums until I go. Then I can't figure out why I don't make more time to go there, since it's so enjoyable. There is a sculpture there that is an Abacus with wooden people instead of beads. I couldn't help it... I had to touch! I got a little talking to about 'not touching the art'. But if your not supposed to touch, why do they make it so textured that you want to touch it?! OK, I'm sorry I touched the art :-( It won't happen again...
Posted by Mel at 8:12 PM
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Spending Some Cash
My yarn stash is nothing to drool over. There's a lot of acrylic in there, namely LionBrand Homespun and Jiffy. There's a few other things in there that are nice, by my standards, but for the most part I try to keep my yarn budget in check. For instance, if it would cost me more to make it than buy a similar item at the store, I usually lose interest in knitting said item. Something in my taste is changing...
I went to the Phoenix Farmers Market Saturday. I didn't even realize there was a farmer's market until last weekend, when some of us knitters met a lady who sells handspun yarn there. Yeah-- it's really hot. But there was yarn for sale, so I had to go take a look.
I spent some cash on this Acrylic/Wool/Mohoir combo.
The plan for this lovely yarn is a little something for my friend Jazz. We're doing to do a knitted gift exchange. I've got a plan, but I may change my mind. I guess we'll all be surprised when I post the final product.
The colors are so funky. I love it!
The thing that I really went to see and felt compelled to spend some serious dough on -- The Navaho Churro Wool
Isn't it beautiful? 229 yards of handspun gorgeousness!
I have not decided what I will use this yarn for. I think it's very special yarn, so it needs to be used for a special project. Probably something for Me.
In case you were wondering why the quality of the photos in todays post are so much better than usual, its because
Stephen Hartley, a real photographer, was kind enough to take these pictures for me. Thanks Steve!
Today I headed up to Jessica's to check out some of the yarns that I heard were on sale. I'm planning on making a sweater vest with Jaeger Luxury Tweed and it was on sale for 30% off. I was going to use a substiture yarn, because of my frugal nature, but at that price, the yarn was downright affordable. So I spent some major $$ on yarn this weekend. I guess my future is filled with a lot of Ramen noodle dinners to off-set the budget...
Posted by Mel at 10:57 AM
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Isn't this Supposed to Be a Knitting Blog?
Yes. This post is dedicated to knitting. The pasttime we all know and love! It's been one of those weeks where I've been able to carve out a good chunk of time to work on things. And I even finished my 'most challenging project ever'.
It turned out to not be the most challenging, but it could have been. The design on the top of this hat symbolizes perpetual energy. And I may perpetually be trying to make this hat. Since the hat is round, I thought it would be cool to knit it in the round using the pi shawl formula for knitting a flat circle. So I started with 4 stitches on the needle and immediately realized that it was going to take a lot of brainpower to figure out how to do intarsia and knit in the round. Still, I tried it this way for about 20 rounds and realized that I was right. And it got too frustrating. So I ripped it all out and knit the top using fair isle method and knitting back and forth. After the design was done I transferred to circulars and finished it into a circle. THEN I knit the sides and then the brim. Then (and this is where it gets really interesting), I felted the thing in my washing machine. I checked it halfway and it looked like it had felted to the right size. But I decided that I should let it continue to felt until the end of the cycle, and was encouraged by a friend to do so. It's the let's do the opposite of what makes sense and see if I was right syndrome.
Well, here's the result.
It's quite small. It was supposed to be a military-style hat and I SWEAR I swatched first and did the math to make it the right size, but after 2 blocking attempts, I think it may just be that I have to make another larger one that will actually fit on an adults head. The second attempt should go much faster, and I think I still have enough yarn to remake it.
Baby blanket is still in progress. This weekend I started a Ballet Tee. That is one addictive pattern. I can't stop myself from knitting it. I even broke out some hanks of SWTC Soysilk for the occasion and wound them into balls by myself, because I am swift-less. I wanted to use that yarn so bad, I was willing to do the work. I bet it took me and hour per hank. But I'm loving the way it looks.
I'm hoping to make it over to the Wine Cellar tomorrow night for a little Stitch-n-Bitch'en.
Posted by Mel at 11:10 PM
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I Was ROAK'd!
And not with Yarn... I'm actually not in that group. Someone paid for my dinner last night.
On my way to meet some friends last night, I stopped for dinner at a small restaurant. Dining alone, I brough a book to read (A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby. Very good, BTW). I noticed some other solo diners, but I didn't really feel like meeting new people, so I kept to myself and enjoyed my book. When I went to pay my bill, the waitress informed me that one of the other "solos" had paid for my meal. He never spoke to me, we never made eye contact. He just paid for my dinner. So Mister, wherever you are, thanks for the random act of kindness! I think I will take my leftover dinner money and donate to Knitters Without Borders. You know -- Pay it forward!
Posted by Mel at 5:07 PM
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Memorial Day
It's been 1 year to the day that my little Precious suddenly passed away. I've been feeling pretty sentimental the last little while, thinking about her and all her entertaining and quirkly little habits.
For instance, the tongue. That tongue was hanging out of her mouth about 90% of the time. We would have to prod her to pull it back into her mouth. Sometimes she would let it dry out, like a little piece of beef jerky.
Precious was only about 6 inches tall. And her tail was more like a little stub. It was always entertaining to watch her little legs and tail move at lightening speed, even though she couldn't travel very far or very fast!
And such a good watchdog! Well for a dog that had a 'fighting weight' of 4.5 lbs. Every time the doorbell would ring, she was barking and protecting the door. Once you came in, it was another story. Even a knock on the wall or a doorbell on television would kick in the instinct to protect. God help you if her 3 good teeth met your ankle! She wore a spiked collar, just to let everyone know that she was a lot tougher than she looked ;-)
Precious loved to go for walks and hang out at the Coffee Cabana. She had a large vocabulary recognition that included several variations of words describing these activities. And she even knew how to communicate with me and my (ex) boyfriend about how and when she was ready to get out of the house and do one of these activities. Even though I have 2 cats and 1 other dog, I still miss this little dog more than words can say. She was that special to me and even more special to Steve. (That's his arm that she's lying in).
Anyone reading this has probably had a pet that they could go on about in this way. One that they cherish(ed) very much. I hope you all feel as lucky as I do to have that kind of experience in your life.
Posted by Mel at 3:29 PM
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The Shakes are Setting In
For the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, it has been more than a week since I have gotten together with any of my fellow knitters. I've got a little bit of withdrawl going on! I couldn't make it to the last couple of gatherings and it just seems like administrative affairs have taken my attention away from the hobbies. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- It really bums me out when my life gets in the way of my hobbies!
So how are you guys? How are your projects coming along? Any FO's I'm missing out on?
I've gotten some knitting done while carpooling to work and waiting in Dr offices. (I'm fine, btw). Less than 2 iterations left on the baby blanket. Just got word that the Baby shower will be Aug 14th, so I've got incentive to get it done. I want to make some felted baby booties as well.
Hat still needs a brim, then some felting.
Ballet tee is still only a germ of an idea in my brain...
Posted by Mel at 10:47 PM
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