Furry brown monsters

I tried to make hot pads for my sister because she likes the ones I made for my mom last Mother's Day. Until I felted them, I was just calling them the brown hot pads...but then they turned into these furry little beasts (brown and everything). It looked like they should be attached, much bigger, and sprawled out on the floor in a log cabin, bear head attached. ;)

Here is the progress:
After knitting
After felting (when they got their nickname)
After being "groomed"
You can tell that the grooming didn't work all that well. I can't give these to my sister, but I can use them as giant swatches for my Oregon Tote. I got some good advice from KnitList and will use the cat slicker brush, scissors, and disposable razors to the best of my ability to make the bag look good. I only spent a couple days making the hot pads, but I spent quite a while knitting the tote bag with the itchy Lopi so I want to use it! I really like the bag so hopefully it turns out well.

A trip to the washer

I finally did it!! I felted my Oregon Tote! (Pre-felting picture here.) I went to my in-laws' house for a BBQ today and snuck down to their laundry room to felt my tote bag and two hot pads. It was so much better than using the public machines I have at my apartment; I could set the washer on rough agitation, hot water, and small load.

I was surprised how furry the Lopi yarn was after washing. The only other time I felted, I used Manos del Uruguay and it came out beautiful. No additional work required. I vaguely remember reading something about shaving (or something) your felted object to get a more trimmed look. I'll be looking into that. In the meantime--before I post actual FO shots--here are my lovely knitted objects drying. (Look at how ruffle-y the hot pads are. hmmmm.)

knitting class at FIT? *crossed fingers*

Last weekend I posted the finished picture of my summer tank. I wore it the next day to my grandmother's 90th birthday party. (By the way, I gave her her shawl and she *loved* it.)

It was fun to show off my summer tank, but it stretched a little as I wore it...even though it still looked good by the end of the day, it made me conscious of the fact that my two knit tops don't fit my body frame as well as I'd like. I want to learn to customize patterns--especially in the waist. I'm small and when there's no shaping, the tops hang a little.

I was saying all of this to one of my co-workers yesterday and she said she had seen an intermediate knitting class in FIT's catalog. I went to find it and it sounds perfect! It's called "Knitting for Pleasure" and it meets six Thursday nights in a row. I can go right after work! The catalog description is:

"Learn to make hand-knit, designer-inspired sweaters from start to finish. Workshop teaches you to write your own instructions and to measure and convert properly. Assembly and blocking are demonstrated. Recommended for people with basic knitting skills who are interested in producing sweaters at a fraction of their normal cost. Advanced instruction in more challenging designs and stitches available to experienced knitters."

Enrollment is limited to 16 people so I'm crossing my fingers that the class isn't full. There was no way to tell from the webpage and the phone kept ringing and ringing when I called. I just faxed the form in and will check with them mid-week to see if I signed up in time. Cross your fingers for me!

Summer Tank--done!

I finished knitting my version of "Tara's Tank" from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Beyond the Basics. I used about 7 balls of Schachenmayr Toy in color #50, Pacific Surf. I made some changes to the pattern but it seems to have come out nicely anyway. ;)
As you can see, there's one cable going up the front. The pattern says that you must start the v-neck at a specific part of the pattern repeat in order to continue the design into the collar. It looks rather snazzy when it's done, but I had quite a scare when I realized how long the front was getting before I hit Row 10 of the 16 row pattern repeat. After I decreased for the armholes, I measured...and the tank was an inch longer than it was supposed to be. And I was on row 13 so I had almost one whole repeat before I could do the v-neck. I broke into a sweat as I considered my options: I could throw the almost-finished project down in despair, start ripping, or hope for the best. I kept going and it turned out fine. Once I got near the shoulders, I just bound off a few rows sooner than I was supposed to. It just makes the part covering my shoulders a little wider.I wish I had read this article before I started this project. The short-row shaping would have made the arm decreases look better, and maybe I could have done a little more shaping for the mid-section. Oh well. There's always next time. :) I did rip out the shoulders and re-knit them based on the directions in this article. I love Knitty.

Cute kid

I work at a public library overlooking a beautiful lake filled with ducks and other wildlife. There’s a terrace facing the water, but when it’s too cool to sit out there and none of my friends have the same break as me, I’ll go sit in a comfy chair in the corner of the library. The chair faces a window overlooking part of the water. I went there today for my afternoon break and was casting on the front of the tank I’ve been working on when a little girl and her father came over looking for a book nearby. The little girl, obviously a bundle of energy, came to look out the window, saw me, and did that cute little kid stage whisper: “Daddy! Daddy! Look...look at her! She’s...” I smiled at them and helpfully inserted that I was knitting. The little girl plopped down on one of the nearby chairs and sat staring at me, mesmerized by what I was doing. I was a little sorry that I was only casting on stitches and counting instead of doing something fancy. She really would have gotten a kick out of that. :)

p.s. This is how far I got before bed:

tank

How nice is this yarn? This isn't the best picture--I didn't even lay the tank out that evenly--but I'm really happy with this project so far.

I got the yarn, Schachenmayr Toy, from Elann and have been happily knitting away since it arrived on Thursday. I’m hoping to finish the back today and, weather permitting, wear it on Sunday to my grandmother’s birthday party.

Big shock: I’m straying from the pattern. For a relatively new knitter, I like to make changes…sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. At least I’ve learned to buy extra yarn. Here goes: instead of using the stretchy rayon yarn suggested in the pattern, I’m going with cotton and acrylic yarn. And instead of using the gauge in the pattern, I’m kind of doing my own thing…one size up from what I usually make. (Even though the gauge is supposed to be the same for the two yarns, knitting the Toy to the gauge mentioned in the book would have been unattractively loose.) We’ll see how this little experiment goes, but I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll fit. If it’s unwearable, I’ll rip it out and try again. The yarn is nice to work with—very soft—and looks like it’ll have a nice drape. We shall see.

Bloggiversary post (a little late)

On April 13, 2005, I began blogging. I wrote two posts, one quick one about how I started knitting and why I love it and the other about young knitters.

If I could edit that first post, I’d say that knitting has turned out to be the most expensive hobby I’ve ever had. I’m constantly finding new projects to work on, more yarn to buy, new tools to try, or yet another interesting book or magazine. As costly as it is, I can’t tear myself away from it—-and don’t want to. It calms me down after a day of dealing with the public, gives me the satisfaction of creating something, makes me proud of myself (FOs!), and entertains me while Dennis grades, plans lessons, does homework, or watches baseball. I’m a happier person since I started knitting. :)

If I could add on to my second “first” post, I’d say I’m glad to be a young knitter but wish I'd learned earlier than age 25...for the reasons mentioned above, but also because I’d be so much better at it!! ;) I just recently finished making the item I’m most proud of, the Cabled Yoke Sweater. Back in December 2004 when I first felt the urge to knit (a friend brought a lovely hand-knit scarf to work), I never thought I could make something so elaborate. I’m still shy about knitting in public, but I do plan to “show my sticks” on June 10th.

2005 FOs

• Scarf "Necklace"


• Mom’s Green Cardigan


• Winter Hat


• Red & White Blanket


• Practice Sock


• (One-sleeved sweater)


• Mitten Christmas Ornament


• Ribbon Shrug


• Bag Holder


• Cabled Mini Bag


• iPod Case


• Camera Sleeve


• (Sophie purse)


• Knitted Needle Roll


• Trio Knit Tote


• Felted Potholders (5)


• Bookmarks (3)


• Drawstring Pouch

2005 Reads

• 1/2 of 'Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen,' by Julie Powell


• Lost in a Good Book, by Jasper Fforde (on CD)


• 1/2 of 'Adam and Eve and Pinch Me,' by Ruth Rendell


• Killing time, by Linda Howard


• The Eyre affair, by Jasper Fforde (on CD)[!]


• The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath [!]


• 84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff


• The Dark Tower, by Stephen King (all 845 pgs.)


• When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka (on CD)


• Prep: a novel, by Curtis Sittenfeld (on CD)


• Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen


• The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler (on CD)


• Falling Angels, by Tracy Chevalier (on CD)


• The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth (on CD)


• The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood


• The Mermaid Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd (on CD)


• Rosie Dunne, by Cecelia Ahern (on CD)


• Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro


• True to form, by Elizabeth Berg (on CD)


• (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith)


• My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult [!]


• We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates (on CD)


• The Shop on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber


• The Virgin Blue, by Tracy Chevalier (on CD)


• The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (on CD)


• In the Bleak Midwinter, by Julia Spencer-Fleming [#]


• Vanishing Acts, by Jodi Picoult (on CD)


• After You’d Gone, by Maggie O’Farrell [!]


• The Conspiracy Club, by Jonathan Kellerman


• The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus


• Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald


• The Librarian, by Larry Beinhart

[!] = Highly recommend!

[#] = Disappointing

Cabled Yoke Sweater - done!

I finished my Cabled Yoke Sweater yesterday!! I finished knitting it late Saturday night and then I wove in the ends and washed it yesterday. I was hoping it would be dry by the time I got home from work today, but no. I'm not surprised because my dad's cotton sweater dried really slowly. If it's dry by tomorrow morning, I think I'm going to wear it to work!

I ended up changing the pattern a little. I decided that I didn't like having ribbing all around the mid-section; I thought it looked too busy. I knew this change would affect the way the sweater fit--and it did, making it a little looser--but I still think it looks better than the picture. If I ever do this again, I'll be sure to do a little shaping around the waist.

OTN now: second pink sock.

Up next: another spring/summer sweater! "Tara's Tank" from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Beyond the Basics is a V-neck with a single cable going vertically up the center of the front. I think I even know what yarn I'm going to use (one of the blues) but I have to wait until Saturday to buy it. (I only have about 1/2 the money in "yarn cash" and have to wait til payday.)

[It dried and I'm wore it to work on 5/2, even though it was a little chilly.]