emmieyiza knitting

Hubris

2008-04-16T07:48:00.002-04:00

Whine.

That's what this entry is going to be, so feel free to move along. Nothing to see here...

When last we met, I was seriously high on spring and high on biking. But I overdid it. I biked to work on Thursday (10 miles each way) and then did it again on Friday. Thursday night I felt fantastic. Friday night, well, not so much. I was way too tired to bike home and I knew it but I did it anyway and it was a serious slog. I made it (and in good time, surprisingly), but my body rebelled. The fibromyalgia that's been behaving itself quite well (with a few exceptions) for the last 12+ years (many thanks to SSRIs) decided I needed to be taken down a peg. Friday night I crawled into bed with that familiar old deep, sickening ache all down one leg and in both arms and hands. It's been much better since then, but I'm still stiff and achey and exhausted.

I didn't take much of a rest over the weekend - Y and I took commuter rail all the way to Long Island (dirt cheap but time-consuming) for the wonderful 40th birthday party of our delightful Raqs. Indian food and belly dancing! And I delivered the Montego Bay scarf I made for her, which went over very well. Here's a picture of me in it, though it looks most at home on its recipient (but I didn't manage to get a picture of it there).

Pattern: Montego Bay Scarf by Amy Singer for Interweave Knits
Yarn: Conjoined Creations Passtimes Soy Silk - less than one skein
Colorway: Joyce
Needles: US8

Anyway, back to the whine. So 5-ish hours on commuter rail + fabulous party + lovely brunch + 5 more hours on commuter rail doesn't exactly equal a weekend of recuperation.

So today I'm taking a sick day to see if my body can catch up. There will be kitties. There will be a movie or two. There will be naps. Maybe a walk. Some reading. Sadly no knitting and no Rosie's knitting circle - must rest the hands.

Really the thing that drives me the most crazy about all this is that spring on the river is marching on without me. The reason I rode two days in a row was that I couldn't stand not to see the next day's progression of blossoms. And now I'm missing so much! The daffs are starting to shrivel and the magnolia petals are littering the ground under the trees and the tulips are out and the next round of cherries are blooming and I'm not on my bike. Feh.

Yellow, Pink, White, Green

2008-04-10T19:30:00.002-04:00

Biking along the river, it is all about the cherry trees. Hot pink, pale pink, white, dwarf, giant, weeping, and... laughing. They're everywhere. 1,000 new cherry trees were planted in the city last year. The renewal of a gift from Japan. Thanks, Japan. They're indescribably lovely.

And the magnolias. The magnolias are in absolute full-on-sexy-peak bloom and I can't get enough. And the thousands of bright daffodils. And the late forcythia. And the early pale purple azaleas that always lead the way for the other colors that come later.

It was seventy degrees F and sunny on the way home this evening. But this morning, it was foggy and gray and fifty and all these colors seemed all the brighter in the fog - especially the intense light green of the budding willows on the opposite side of the river.

************
My internal monologue on these rides cracks me up. mmagnoliaaaa (sugar magnolia/blossoms blooming/head's all empty and I don't care...) cherry trees ripply water scullers like jesus bugs swans! geese (I wonder what it says about me that calling out ON YOUR LEFT to the geese that wander across the trail never ceases to amuse me...) mmm daffs... okay lady, multi-use trail here ON YOUR LEFT uh oh, train coming! It'll block the crossing if I can't beat it out. Go Go Go Go - oh yeah, I can beat it. just push a little harder and I'll be far ahead by the time I get to the crossing... goodbye river! see you tonight! oh for crying out loud, hang up and drive yikes! stupid pedestrian walking in the street plus stupid driver not paying attention = near disaster. don't you even THINK about dooring me you &($$#&^% YES and she makes it in a record 51 minutes! the crowd goes wild...

I feel good. And I could swear the hills are getting flatter.
Happy spring, everyone!

Stuff of Dreams

2008-02-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

I had a dream last night that Rosie's built a new location.

It was like a city.

Striped Baby Mitts Pattern

2007-12-19T21:40:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to post this pattern for a while, since it's the first pattern I ever actually wrote, but I got some new motivation this evening so I think it's time to do it!

I made the first pair of these last winter in the car on the way down to Virgina to see my then 6-month-old nephew. I needed a quick giftie for him, and I had just finished making Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts, so I had leftover koigu and some new techniques on hand...

The second pair I made in a newborn size for Courtney's Clyde (then known only as "Flippy the Bean").

They were a hit at the shower (scroll to the end of Lisa's post for a picture), and when I met the gorgeous 3-week-old Clyde tonight at the Rosie's holiday party, I was delighted to see that he was wearing a pair that Courtney had modeled after mine!

So here's the lowdown:

Striped Baby Mitts

Sizes: Infant (6 months)
Yarn: Koigu KPM in two colors
Needles: Size US 2 (2.75mm) dpns (set of 5)
Size US 0 needles (set of 2)
Gauge: 8 sts/12 rows = 1"
Finished dimensions: 2 1/4" X 3 1/4" (2 3/4" X 3 1/2")

Instructions:

Using italian tubular cast on (that's the technique I borrowed from Eunny's mitts) and size 2 needles, CO 32 (40) sts in MC.

K1 P1 for 2 rows in MC. Distribute 8 (10) sts onto each of 4 needles. Join and work in the round.

Following 6 rounds: K1 in MC, P1 in CC.

*Next 4 rounds: K all sts in MC.Next 4 rows: K all sts in CC.*
Repeat * to * once more.

6 month size only: Next 4 rounds, K all sts in MC.

All sizes: Switch colors. K1, K2tog, K until 3 sts remain on 2nd needle, ssk, K2, K2tog, K until 3 sts remain on 4th needle, ssk, K1.
Next round: K all sts.

Repeat these two rounds 4 times for a total of 8 rounds, switching colors after 4 rounds.
From there on, decrease every row instead of every other, switching colors again after 4 rounds.

When 8 sts remain, K 1 round even in MC. Thread tail through remaining sts and pull tight. Weave in ends.

Using size 0 needles, make a 3-stitch i-cord in MC measuring 14" (15"). Leave tail after bind off. Thread tail onto tapestry needle.

Thread i-cord through the V created by the 4th row of MC of ribbing, and on the 4th (5th) rib from the edge of the mitt. Repeat in each rib, working toward the edge and then all the way around. For the 6-month size, leave the last rib unthreaded.

Weave in ends of i-cord, and tie a tight knot near each end of the i-cord.

Enjoy!

Who knew that a syntax error could totally make my day

2007-12-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

WARNING: GEEK CONTENT ALERT

So I'm working in Stata, the statistical analysis software we use here in the office. I know I need to run a "do" file from within the program, but I can't remember the exact syntax, so I give it a shot.

Here's what I typed in:
m:\ccr\data\ccrupdate.do 21

Here was Stata's response:
'do' found where almost anything else expected

Good to know the folks at Stata have a sense of humor...

Heading Home

2007-09-06T19:36:00.001-04:00

Hello all, and thanks so much for your sympathetic comments!

After another night, we decided to ditch the campground, as we really just didn't feel welcome there. If people keep making you cry when your intentions are good, it's time to move on! We checked into a stunning hotel in Waikiki (the Waikiki Parc) and spent the next 3 days there. Very pampering and lovely.

On Tuesday, our tour with Bike Hawaii went off without a hitch. We had a lovely coasting bike ride down a mountain, followed by a sail out to a good spot for snorkeling, where we saw sea turtles and cool fishies. And today we got out of the city for a bit and took a quick hike up in the rainforest, which was incredibly beautiful, and then got ourselves back to the airport in plenty of time to hit the internet stand at the gate. Nice to see more green and mountains before we left.

So I do feel like we got a pretty nice balance of country and city, and having left the place with the mean people made it much easier to put that part behind us and get some real vacationy relaxation time.

Love to all!
Emily

Jellyfish Sunrise

2007-09-02T15:22:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

I'm writing from an internet cafe in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii!

We've been on the island since Friday afternoon, and have had quite a mix of experiences since!

At this moment, the experiences that come to the surface for me are unfortunately the negative ones, though there have also been many lovely ones. We're camping in a rural area on the Windward Coast, which is really lovely. We're *right* next to the ocean - WINDY, but beautiful.
We stupidly forgot to leave the rental car outside the campsite gates this morning, and since they are locked from 7pm to 7am (and 24 hour security apparently does NOT mean that someone is actually awake at 4:30am, and they are VERY cranky and threaten to throw you out of the park if you wake them up at that hour), we missed our lovely plan (and our $200) for our Dolphin-swimming sailing/snorkeling adventure tour with Wild Side Specialty Tours that left from the other side of the island at 6:30am. Serious, serious bummer.

Even worse, though, is the feeling that we are everyone's worst Clueless Demanding Mainlander Urban Tourist Nightmare. We keep inadvertently breaking campground rules and not understanding the way things work in the country. The only thing I can say for us is that there are probably many people who fit this description who are also mean and unapologetic, which is certainly not us. Our problem is just that we don't get it.

So we decided on an urban adventure today. We do feel dorky, since we're dressed more for the country and don't exactly *blend*, but it's a bit comforting to be back in a city where we understand the culture at least a *little bit* better.

But we are still reeling a bit. We're definitely going to spend some time on the beach today, hopefully before it gets horribly crowded.

I definitely need to mention how lovely most of the people here have been and how unbelievably stunning the scenery is. We've been scarfing down local bananas and avacadoes (avacadoes that are sweeter than what we get at home, and *juicy*). We found a truly fantastic vegetarian cafe in a little surfer town on the North Coast for yesterday's lunch. And we stood in the surf and watched the sunrise yesterday morning. Oh yeah, at which time I got stung by jellyfish on both feet. Um, ow. Turns out the bay where we are is jellyfish central this time of year at high tide with a strong on shore wind.

Hmm, I seem to keep coming back to the bitching. I guess that's just how I'm feeling at the moment. Soon, I'm sure we'll have regained equilibrium and be able to really relax and enjoy ourselves. I think that jet lag & noisy nighttime camping neighbors don't help much. By Tuesday, the Labor Day crowds will have thinned, though, and (if we haven't got ourselves kicked out of the campground by then) we should be able to get some better sleep.

In the meantime, we'll seek out our comfort zones. I'd like to find a yarn shop today. Y would like to find a public library. Tonight we'll steel ourselves and head back into the country and try very hard not to piss anyone else off.

Much love to alla youse,
Emily

A Tragic Loss

2007-08-06T13:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know it's been ages since I've posted, but there's a story here that needs to be told.

Last Friday, I had a drink after work with a colleague visiting from Spain. She'd been around the office for a month and was heading home over the weekend, and this was the first chance we'd had to have a real conversation. I'd been her default translator around the office, with my incredibly rusty college Spanish skills, and this was a goodbye drink. It ended up being over an hour of very intense conversation about culture, politics, and personal stuff, almost entirely in Spanish - with a little English or French thrown in when one of us groped for vocabulary. Between the glass of guinness and the intensity of the conversation, I vastly overtipped the bartender - I think mostly because I couldn't think how to ask for change for a five in English by that point. We said goodbye with kisses on both cheeks (how European!) and I headed off happily towards home, Spanish phrases swirling around in my head.

Ten, maybe fifteen minutes later, walking down the street in center city, it hit me. I was carrying one bag. I should be carrying two. The one with my wallet in it was slung over my shoulder. But the one with my knitting in it wasn't.

Must be in the bar. There'd been almost no one in there, so it was probably still sitting there by the bar. I walked all the way back to the bar to check. Nope. The bartender reminded me I'd stopped in the bathroom before I left. Not there. I left her my name and number and a description - totebag with pigs on the outside and knitting inside - but figured I must have left it in the office.

Went back to the office. Not there.

Let me explain the scope of this tragedy. The contents of this bag were as follows:

1. Eris. Pullover version. Overdue birthday present for my wonderful, sweet sister. Almost entirely done. Missing only the bottom hem and one sleeve. Done in a yarn that Brooks Farms only sells at festivals. Here are the only photos I have, back from when I was almost done with the collar.

2. Bayerische socks. Also almost entirely done. I was midway through the last pattern repeat before the toe on the second sock. Probably two inches left at the most. Done in lovely Koigu. As seen below, Davy loved these socks almost as much as I did. I don't know how I'm going to break it to him.

I spent another 40 minutes retracing all my steps since I left the office. Scanning the sidewalk for a place where I might have just dropped it. (Did I mention how hot it was on Friday? 90 degrees F and thickly humid.)

I held out hope over the weekend that I MUST have left it at the lab where I had a blood draw Friday afternoon. The last time I worked on it was in the waiting room there. I stopped in on my way to work this morning. No dice. I even remembered that I'd stopped in the Wawa to get cash after my appointment, but they hadn't seen it there either, and there would have been no reason for me to put it down there anyway.

So I think I'm going to have to accept that it's gone. Most likely I left it behind in the bar and someone picked it up and took it away with them hoping it had a wallet in it. When they found it didn't, they probably trashed it. I can't even imagine how many knitting hours were represented in that bag. A hundred, maybe? More? And now, they're probably at the bottom of a dumpster, headed for a landfill.

I'll check with the bar again this evening. Maybe I should report it to the police lost & found? Serious longshot. Might as well just say goodbye. Owwoooooooo!!!

Oh, and it was in my honey's favorite totebag, which she's being INCREDIBLY gracious about. Sigh.

Parthenope

2007-04-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, I still plan to post about more of the stuff I knitted in 2006, but I'm already getting behind on 2007!

My Most Exciting Knit so far this year has been Parthenope, designed by the lovely Courtney Kelley of the Smith Island Pattern Factory and Rosie's Yarn Cellar.

Here's the story of the yarn.

In January, Y and I visited my dear friend E in Manhattan. Now, E is sneaky. Way sneaky. She took us to a yarn shop, observed me carefully, found out what I coveted most in the world, and came back later and bought it for me for my birthday!

It was a skein of Sireno from The Great Adirondack Yarn Co., a fingering weight 50% merino wool, 50% silk, in the Kenya colorway.

This is serious luxury stuff. Soft as a soft, soft thing, with rich colors and an incredible sheen.

I pretty quickly thought of Parthenope. I really liked it when I first saw Courtney's sample, but I'm afraid to say that the yarn it was designed for, the much-loved and beautifully dyed Schaeffer Anne, is just too scratchy for me to wear next to my neck and face. Since my wonderful in-laws gave me a gift certificate to Rosie's for my birthday (woo hoo!), I went looking for a second skein of Sireno in Kenya to add to the one I had. With none to be found, Courtney suggested I pick a complementary colorway of Sireno and knit every other row with the other skein. We sifted through them all, but I kept coming back to a colorway called Fire (shown here in a different one of their yarns).

There's a lot of overlap between the two colorways in the greens, blues, and golds, but Fire adds in the reds. I twisted the two skeins around each other and let them get personal under the full-spectrum light for the rest of Knitting Circle night, and by the end, there was no separating them. Kenyan Fire was born.

And about six weeks later, the result was what Y has dubbed "Parthemily." (Click images for bigger view.)

The bed was the only place to block it, which presents some problems in a one-bedroom apartment with two people and three cats. Y and I slept on the air-mattress in the living room with cats jumping on our heads all night, while Parthenope dried all pinned out on the bed. I think I'll invest in or borrow blocking wires for my next big lace project, as the scalloped edge didn't come out that distinctly. (It doesn't bug me enough to reblock it, though!)

I did 21 repeats of the tile pattern instead of the 19 specified in the pattern, and I ran about a round-and-a-half short of yarn. Rather than frog the whole lotus border to take out a tile repeat, I just bound off after one ridge of garter stitch instead of two, which didn't end up bothering me at all.

I couldn't be more pleased.

And while I originally thought of it for fancy dress-up, I can't seem to manage not to wear it every day. Thank you D & J (the in-laws), E, and Courtney!!

Back the Blog Up!

2007-03-15T13:22:00.000-04:00

There are so many things I meant to blog in 2006, and even though the first quarter of 2007 is already nearly done, I can't quite let go yet. (I haven't finished sending out the holiday cards yet, either. And no, I haven't admitted to myself that it's not going to happen. Yet.)

So here are a few highlights of last year in the world of knitting, cats, and miscellany...

Three Mariahs
My first finished object in Jan 2006 was Mariah, designed by Jodi Green for Knitty.

This photo was taken in March 2006 on a walk by the Schyulkill River. I loved knitting this, and I've worn it so much in the last year that it's in serious need of a good de-pilling and a little zipper repair. I used Patons Classic Merino in Chestnut Brown.

I ordered 10 skeins and only used 5 for this, so I decided to make another one for Y as my Knitting Olympics project (since I loved the cabling so much!). Only she wanted a pullover instead of a cardi, and a little collar instead of a hood.

Here she is, showing off her cutie dimples. Oh, and there's some nice cable work on the sleeves.

I didn't get the Olympic Gold for this, though I did get all the way to the collar by the deadline. I knit and ripped the collar many times to try to get it right, and ended up with a mere few yards of yarn leftover. Unfortunately, the collar is still too tight (difficult to get on and off), and I'm planning to rip it back and try it again. Eventually.

Last but not least, when my dear friend M had the guts to ask for a Mariah like mine and bought the yarn for me to make it, (more Patons Classic, this time in Deep Olive), I feel like I got to fix all the tiny mistakes I made on the first one. I finished this in late October, and mailed it to M in the UK for a Happy New Year/Happy you-finally-got-a-tenure-track-job-after-years-of-academic-nomaditude present. I took the opportunity in November for a photo shoot of the sweater on my own self, since I know M hates having her photo taken. (I still want one, though!)

I did a much cleaner, more durable job on the zipper installation on this one, and I managed to get the two fronts even since I figured out that the selvedge edge was meant to continue all the way up past the cabling, and lining it up made for a perfect match.

M, for her part, displayed that while she is sassy-bold enough to ask for a knitted gift, she also way, way knows the spirit in which to receive one. Most gratifying!

There's lots more of 2006 to review. I'll try to keep it up!

SHE SAID YES!!!!

2006-12-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

Eight and a half years ago, I asked Y to marry me.

Seven and a half years ago, we got married in front of over a hundred of our friends and family members.

Today, I asked Y to Civil Union me in New Jersey. She said yes.

On July 10, 2007, our eighth wedding anniversary, Y and I are gonna go get CUed.

Today is a good day.

*grin*

Finishing Anxiety

2006-12-11T21:37:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else get like this when the time comes to finish a big project?

I’ve been working on making Elsebeth Lavold’s Jarngerd for my Mom for months now. She wanted a cardi with pockets. I found the pattern and she approved it. I gave her yarn options and she chose one (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK), chose a lovely color (#05 Clover), and bought the yarn for me.

(This is the only photo that gives a good sense of the color - though it's not quite so blinding as the flash makes out. The rest do better justice to the texture.)

The way has not been entirely smooth. There were some errors in the pattern that required me to chart things out for myself. (There were some not-entirely-satisfactory emails with Ms. Lavold about these.) There were instructions for short rows that happen at the same time as a fairly complex cable pattern, followed by instructions to “reverse shaping” for the opposite side (one of my least favorite pattern instructions in general). Over Thanksgiving, I discovered that I’d made a rather stupid mistake from the beginning when reversing the instructions for the left front, which I didn’t fully grasp until I was all the way up to the shoulder. Rip rip rip rip rip rip.

So now, as the Christmas home stretch closes in, I find that I have a mere few inches of stockinette on the last pocket left before all I have left to do is seam the rest up. One sleeve cap is attached. The tricky cabled yoke that joins around the back of the neck is done and sewn in. The buttons are on (I love them).

So here’s the thing. I’m so freakin’ anxious all the time. I have these lurking thoughts that actually my gauge is way off and the whole thing will be too narrow. That the sleeves won’t have enough ease. That the place on the back of the yoke that pooks out won’t settle down with blocking. That there are more errors in the pattern that will become obvious when it’s all put together. That once it’s blocked, it’ll be clear that the sleeves have to be entirely redone, and the washing will have fuzzed the yarn up enough that it’ll be impossible to rip things out to redo them.

I feel that I will, in fact, do whatever it takes to get this sweater so I’m happy with it. Well, almost whatever it takes. Starting over is NOT an option. Neither is redoing any of the really big pieces. But redoing the sleeves or the yoke is not out of the question. So if I’m resigned to that, why do I want to crawl out of my skin every time I look at it?

Now, I know I’m a perfectionist in lots of ways, but I know with all my heart how wonderful a knitted item can be even when it’s far short of that. Heck, one of my favorite sweaters of all time is the first sweater I ever made (when I was seventeen), and it could fit about three of me in it.

But this design is so elegant, so cleverly conceived, and so perfect for my Mom, that I have a deep sense that the finished object Must. Be. Perfect.

I want my Mom to adore this sweater. I want it to fit and flatter her perfectly. I want the pockets to be just the depth she was hoping for. I want it to be as if I was giving her a hug each time she wears it. I want everything about it to be right, even if everything about me isn’t always right.

I guess all I can do is forge ahead, one seam at a time, and see what happens. But the suspense is killing me.

Equinox

2006-09-22T19:54:00.000-04:00

The swifts will be leaving soon.

Their northern kin have joined them,
beckoned to the prime chimneys they've staked out.
Every night now, in the breezy September sunset,
there's a great family reunion.

They zip and swoop,
dozens of them,
as if stirred
in a stew-pot by a giant wooden spoon.

They are hoards of children playing tag
in the dusk.
A different game, though.
Each time their chittering whorl
passes over the chimney, a few make feints
at it. They hover over,
flutter,
drop --
then dodge, and zip away laughing.

Every now and then, one does drop in.
Then two and three and five at a time.
Until only a dozen are left,
circling the neighborhood, soaking in the joyous sunset.

But now there's no more chitter -
they're silent.
The game turns melancholy.
How can they bear to go in, when the night is so so perfect,
the bugs so tasty,
the flight so clear and fast?

At last, only a few remain,
and then each joins the rest,
after taking in one more tiny lungful of evening.

I tiptoe over to the chimney.
Inside, they are chatting away,
their warm bodies close,
overlapping like shingles,
talking over travel plans.

Oh, look! A blog!

2006-08-14T20:58:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's been rather a while since my last post. If there's anyone still out there, here's a brief update, with more to follow before too long (I hope).

BIG NEWS! NEW NEPHEW!!

Baby A was born on July 17th, at 7 lbs. 11 oz. Ain't he pretty?

His big sister is coping admirably, and likes to give him hugs and show him how to play with rattles. We spent a week helping out, including taking care of S for 3 days while her folks were in the hospital. And there was much bonding. And it was good.

So here's what we're up to more recent-like:

Went picking Raspberries and Blackberries at Willow Creek Orchards in Collegeville last weekend. Yum! Perfect picking weather!

These pics were taken a mere hour or two before major drama ensued when Y's mom accidentally ran over my foot with the car. Um, ow. Miraculously, no broken bones or even very bad sprain - just a big ow, a case of shock, a little passing out, some ER, some very happy morphine, and some x-rays. But I never needed the pain killers they sent me home with and it's hardly even anything now. Funny how when I trip over my own feet I'm on crutches for weeks, and when I get run over by a car, I'm barely using a cane 2 days later.

More soon!

Dream Comedian

2006-05-25T12:13:00.000-04:00

After the alarm went off this morning, but before she was awake, with a big grin, Y sang...

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
But his socks made it out okay!

Strawberry Fields

2006-05-20T19:35:00.000-04:00

Here are our two intrepid heroines (I'm on the bottom) off for a day at the beautiful and organic Willow Creek Orchards in Collegeville, PA.

And the fruits of our labors. We picked twenty-seven pounds!

Emily made salad (with strawberries!), and jam, and has plans to make strawberry-orange sorbet and strawberry meringue pie tomorrow. I am a lucky woman. Below is one bunch of the two bunches of asparagus we got, as well. They were grown by Willow Creek but not picked by us.

Also new in our life is the beginning of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share, which began yesterday. The first load looked particularly good, we thought, with mustard greens, baby beet greens, salad greens, romaine lettuce, scallions, pea tendrils (not the peas themselves, but the little shoot-ies, which were delicious raw and in stir fry), and asparagus.

Happy Harvest!!

Emily adds that a couple of weeks ago she finished the Shedir chemo cap from Knitty.com, and shipped it off to the lovely J with fervent wishes for a speedy recovery. Knitting it was a complete blast--beautiful cables, and such clever decreases.

This was done on size US3 dpns using Classic Elite Premiere yarn (50% pima cotton, 50% tencel) in color "Frosted Blue"(#5220). The yarn is super-soft and luxurious, and was picked with the help of a customer at Loop who had had chemo before and had some very helpful suggestions. (Including, "If it's for breast cancer, for God's sake, don't make it pink!")

Knitter's remorse

2006-05-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

I've come to one of those belated "what was I thinking" flashes of insight.

After putting it off for weeks, I finally washed and blocked the stripey dress for Baby Jane. And I'm afraid baby Jane will have to wait for a new project, because I just finally started listening to that little voice in the back of my head saying, "Something is just not quite right..." This dress is taking a one-way trip to the frogpond in cement sneakers, if ya know what I mean.

Kinda cute, right? Also stiff as a board, thick, bumpy, bulky-seamed heinousness. Any baby wearing this dress would cry incessantly. This dress is so stiff, if she was sitting, the shoulders would hover around her ears somewhere. Not to mention that this nice, summery-looking cotton dress would be sweltering in the heat. Here's the story.

When I started getting very into knitting again a few years ago, I bought out someone's entire stash on Ebay. I paid about $80, including shipping, and I've been knitting with it steadily ever since. I've certainly made over a dozen projects with yarn from that stash, including Y's favorite sweater, two lace bookmarks from crochet cotton, at least three pairs of baby socks, and the list goes on. I decided to consider the cost of each project as an equal division of the $80, and each one (including the full-sized sweater) is now well under $10. Good deal!

There was a fair amount of crappy yarn in the stash, most of which I've given away at this point. But I always figured I could do something with the pink and white "Softball" cotton. This stuff is the kind that has a little thread wound around it that makes it a little wiggly (not sure what that's called). So when this pattern for a cute pink/white striped baby dress showed up, I thought: perfect! Here is where I am a dunce. This stuff is solid worsted weight. The ball bands even say to use size US7s. The pattern calls for Rowan Cotton Glace - a DK weight yarn - and US4s.

Here is where I have now, finally, learned a very important knitting lesson:

Just because you CAN get gauge with a given yarn, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Knit up on size 7 needles, this cotton could have been fairly decent, flexible, and soft (though I doubt I'll ever use it again - the colors are a little too cotton candy, really). On size 4s, it's just ridiculous. Not to mention that I KILLED my hands picking up the stitches for the edging. Silly, silly girl.

In my defence, I did cast this on at least a year and a half ago, and I've learned many things since then about yarn and helping each yarn find its destiny (like the Pippa yarn, which had been knit too loose for it's weight). The only shame is that when I picked this project out of a drawer a few months ago, I didn't immediately smack my forehead, say "Doh!" and rip the sucker, but instead thought, "Hmm, I've missed the boat on this one for Baby Charlotte, but wouldn't it be perfect for Baby Jane!"

Sorry, sweet Jane! I'll make you something nice, I promise! But believe me, you'll thank me for finally listening to that little voice and not subjecting you to this dress.

Happy Birthday, S!

2006-05-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

Well, it's two days after my niece's second birthday, but her prezzie is now done!

Pattern: Reid by Brooke Higgins for knitty.com
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold's Cotton Pattine
Main color: Lilac #16 (4 balls)
Contrast Color: Damson #5 (1/2 ball)
Yarn Source: Loop (Phila, PA)
Needles: US4 metal circulars, size D crochet hook

Highly satisfying. I had to learn to crochet to do the edging, but I'm sure I knew once when I was a little kid, so it came back without too much trouble. After, that is, I discovered from about.com's description that I hadn't known the difference between a chain and a single crochet. I was so tense doing it, since I'm not used to the movements, that I started to get a little worried about nerve damage to my left hand, but I convinced myself to take enough breaks that I seem to be fine. Also, I seem to have unknowingly bent the crochet hook rather significantly while I was working. Heh heh.

Also, Y finished her second full pair of socks! These are the "Bravery Socks," because knitting them helped her relax during the flight from Detroit to Toledo, which was on a much smaller plane than she's used to. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Pattern: Y's own
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool
Color: something like "Dark Plum"
Yarn Source: Loop again
Needles: Clover US6 bamboo dpns

By the way, these are the first socks that Y has done by herself, start to finish, turning the heel, grafting and all! Y loves this yarn. In fact, her previous call for gifts of sock yarn is hereby officially replaced with a call for one skein, any color, of Cascade 220 Wool.

Y also swam 22 laps (1/4 mile) today, despite still recovering from the GI Ick From Hell. Woo hoo!

Being sick for weeks on end does lead to Finished Objects! A few days ago, I also finished these socks for Y.

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Mystery German sock yarn
Yarn Source: Ebay
Needles: US1 metal dpns

I cast these on in February while Y was in SF visiting our nephew. They've been worked extremely intermittently, but finally done! They're a bit tight through the ankle going on and off, but she says they feel good once they're on. I turned the cables into ribs mid-foot to accommodate the extra width of her arthritic feets.

Also, a new hat in progress! Shedir from Knitty.com. Yum.

I now only have two projects on the needles - this one and Pippa - and I may finish the Shedir before I start anything new. Stay tuned for progress!

Y's 3rd sock!

2006-04-27T13:06:00.000-04:00

Y has finished her third sock. This is her first sock using sock-weight yarn. She calls these the "Mint Anklets." They are done using the self-patterning yarn I used for my first socks, plus some dark-green accents.

She is very proud. And well she should be. I cast these on, turned the heel, and picked up the heel gusset stitches, but she did everything else, INCLUDING the toe grafting. Wow. It looks fabulous.

She took a little convincing that she should keep going as long as she did. She was sure I was trying to get her to look like "Long-toed Charlie." Who is he? Ask Y. She is now convinced otherwise. It fits her very nicely.

Y is also finally feeling herself again after what turned out to be a particularly heinous GI virus. We ended up back in the ER again for all of Monday night, getting her rehydrated. She wasn't even looking at socks for quite awhile, so this is a wonderful sign of returning health and happiness.

I, on the other hand, have come down with the ick that laid her low. It's not hitting me nearly as hard as it did her, just mostly lots of dizzies. I'm being very cautious about eating small bland things and staying hydrated, and I'm hoping I'll escape the worst of it.

Oof. Getting woozy again.

The swifts are here!!

2006-04-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

No, no, not these...

...these!

We just got home from an incredibly stressful trip to Toledo for my Grandmother's memorial service. The service was lovely, and the relatives were warm and dear, but Y passed out at the reception, so the rest of Saturday was spent in the ER. They ruled out anything too scary and it seems that the whole thing is likely caused by goo from a sinus infection that's messing with her middle ear and causing vertigo. We managed to get ourselves home yesterday, thanks to my heroic Mom for driving us to Detroit so we could avoid having to take more than one plane, and we are more glad than we can say to be HOME. This morning, I felt like I was getting the flu and went back to bed. Now I think I probably just needed a serious recovery day. Feeling much better and will be back at work tomorrow.

And we were welcomed home by the chippity-chipping of the chimney swifts, back from their winter in South America to grace the chimney of our apartment building with their charming selves. I was tickled to be the first person (I think) to report sighting them in the Philadelphia area to the people at chimneyswifts.org. Can't wait to spend some good time on the roof watching their daredevil swoops above the neighborhood.

We were also welcomed home by my incredible in-laws, bearing homemade Indian food AND New York Super Fudge Chunk. ("Somewhere in my wicked, miserable youth/I must have done something good...")

Some serious knitting occurred on this trip, by the way. And there have been some serious new yarn acquisitions as well. Very exciting.

1. Y and I stopped back in at Loop on Wednesday since I had picked up not quite enough yarn for the Darling Niece's Second Birthday Sweater. Loved the "Reid" pattern from the spring Knitty, and had to do it - then Y found the perfect colors for it in Elsebeth Lavold's Cotton Pattine (Lilac for the main color, Damson for the contrasting border) while we were waiting in line to meet the Yarn Harlot last week. I've finished the back, the front panels, and started the first sleeve.

Nice pattern. Love the lace. Interesting, challenging, but not hair-pulling. I'm hoping it will boost my lace skill and confidence for when I get back to the Frost Flowers & Leaves shawl. Not to mention be adorable on my darling niece.* Lovely soft cotton yarn, though a bit splitty. But the colors are to die for.

After the Y-passing-out crisis, though, I needed some soothing comfort knitting with no charts. A definite call for...

2. Pippa. Still lovin it. The yarn is a delight. The pattern is a delight. The back is done. Right front panel in progress.

There's more (way more projects planned and bought for than I've ever had before), but I must sleep now.

*My niece and her daddy went to a coffee shop. Daddy ordered a coffee. S said to the guy behind the counter, "I'll just have a sippy cup."

Check it out!

2006-04-19T14:15:00.000-04:00

Y (and I) got on the Yarn Harlot's blog! Wonderful talk at Loop last week!

I'll do a real post again soon...

Aubergine Sunset

2006-04-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

For those with low squeamishisity, click here for a view of the bruise on my hip where I landed. I've been trying to think up names for the colorway represented. Aubergine Sunset? Hip/Sidewalk Interplay? Contusion Confusion? Coordination Fanfare? Bedrest Surprise? Plum Sunshine?

***

Y finished her first socks, and they are SO cozy! I did the cast-on and the toes and turned the heels and did the gusset decreases, but she did everything else. They're made from Rowan All Seasons Cotton on US6 bamboo dpns. Aren't they awsome? She's a knitting maniac.

And now she's graduated to real sock yarn and US1 metal dpns for her second pair, which will be anklets. I love the green stripe in the middle of the minty-colored self-striping yarn.

And here is my new love, Pippa. This pattern is so simple, yet so incredibly elegant. Just the slightest twist on the completely straightforward to make it intersting and lovely. And I love working with this silky, gorgeous yarn.

I'm a little nervous that I might be off gauge again, but I'm trying not to stress about it.

Okay, a little less grumpy now

2006-03-31T16:02:00.000-05:00

Y and her wonderful parents took me out for a picnic in the park. It's 75 stunning degrees today, and though the crutching was hard work, it was SO worth it. We decided that all food tastes exactly 50% better when eaten outdoors, and the first picnic of the year tastes 50% better than that.

Knitting news:

I actually met my lofty goals last weekend.

1. Finished the felted mousie for the cats. This was from Simple Knits for Sophisticated Living.

Here it is unfelted,

and felted (note my less-than-stunning embroidery skills),

And in action.

I think I'll restuff it with something lighter than rags at some point, as it feels a bit more like a brick than a stuffed toy. Will add some catnip to the mix when we get some, too.

2. Finished the cotton baby dress - just needs blocking. This was from Double Knits.

3. Finished ripping the diamond-lace sweater and washed and dried all the yarn.

I did some new "just making sure" swatches last night with the mock-cable in the Pippa pattern, and found to my great dismay that my gauge is off. In fact, this is a sport weight yarn, and the Baby Cashmerino called for in the pattern is DK weight. Fooey. I tried a swatch on US4s, but it had the same floppy quality that I didn't like about the old sweater, plus the gauge was still off anyway. SO, I've decided to -gulp- do the math and adjust the pattern to work with this yarn. I worked it all out very carefully this morning and was very pleased with myself until Y pointed out I'd done half of the adjustments backwards. Arg!

Boy, it'll be pretty if I can pull it off.

I also did a few rounds on Frost Flowers & Leaves this week. I'm trying to follow the wisdom of lace guru, Eunny Jang, and keep the larger pattern in mind rather than blindly following the chart, square by square, but I'm not quite there yet and feeling a bit dense about it.

A few other things have been knit on this week. A red sock finished in the ER needs to be grafted, helping Y with her first pair of socks (!!!) on which she is kicking butt.

Time to watch a DVD with my honey. Hope everyone's enjoying good weather today!

You'd think I'd have the walking thing mastered by now

2006-03-31T12:36:00.000-05:00

Yup. That's my leg.

Did I fall off my bike?

No.

Here's what happened. I was walking down the sidewalk on Tuesday, and a big hairy monster reached up out of a manhole and wrenched the flangdang out of my knee.

Actually, I tripped. Over my own feet as far as I can tell, though there may have been a manhole cover involved in some way.

Nothing broken, or much swollen for that matter, but there's no question of putting weight on it. Crutches for me. No biking for some time. Hoping to see a Sports Medicine specialist next week (walking's a sport, right?). Frustration in extreme doses.

Knitting post to come - believe me, I've had some time to knit.

It's a nephew!!!

2006-03-24T12:16:00.000-05:00

My sister had her 5-month ultrasound today, and IT'S A BOY! I know they were hoping for one of each, so I'm so happy for them. Y's bro's son will now have to share the title of Best Nephew. Grin. I can't wait til July!

Y bullied me onto my bike again this morning, for which I thank her heartily. Spring is way sprung. Still chilly enough for the balaclava, but the daffs are out in full force, yellowy-green willow blossoms hang over the river, and there was a lone person in a bright red jacket and dark blue cap doing T'ai Chi on the bank, framed by cherry blossoms.

Sometimes I sing to myself as I ride - a favorite these days is Devon's "Keep Your Silver Shined." (She plays this one in the "Studio Virginia" interview posted on her site.)

Running out ahead to be
The reddest heartbeat beating
Out on the scene
Busting blood through a young body

Maybe the body's not that young anymore in my case, but this is how I felt on my bike this morning, fast and red and busting with blood.

****

And in knitting news...

I'm very close to done with the baby dress, but I keep getting distracted from the onerous task of picking up al those stiff little stitches for the edging on the back.

Knitted the body of a soon-to-be felted mouse for the kitties, from Simple Knits for Sophisticated Living, which I got out of the library. Blue snatched it off my bedside table this morning and rolled all over the kitchen floor with it with a look of complete bliss. I hope he likes it as much when it's felted and has mousy ears and whiskers! This will be my first experiment in felting! (Blue had a busy morning, actually. He also found the hole in the plastic zip-up bag I keep my wool in and had a field day pulling out skeins before we caught him. Gotta fix that hole!)

A very strange thing happened yesterday.

A few days ago I picked up the wonderful Yarn Harlot's second book. I haven't had hardly a peek at it yet, but Y got reading it "so she could understand me better," and is loving it. So she called me very excited yesterday and said, "I want to learn to knit socks." She'd read a section in the book about it, and said Ms. Harlot made an excellent case for sock knitting that appealed to her homemaker frugality. Y emphasized repeatedly that they would NOT be pretty, just functional, this would NOT lead to a love of yarn, and she would NOT, repeat NOT become a capital-K-Knitter, just maybe a knitter. So I suggested she look at my books to figure out how to cast on and practice her knit stitch, and by the time I got home, she had a reasonably evenly stitched garter swatch, with only a few unintentional increases in it - quite impressive!

The current plan is for me to start the socks (since the dpns are easier to handle once there's some fabric to hold them together) and do the heels and toes until she's ready to learn those. I tried to cast on for her with some leftover Rowan All Season's Cotton and Clover bamboo US7s last night, but couldn't quite figure the gauge right so ended up ripping. (Y is very excited about getting to use fancy terminology like "frog pond.") I'll get it right for her tonight. I can't tell you how cute she is when she's concentrating on making a stitch - her jaw goes all to one side, her brow all furrowed.

And it's Friday. How good is that?

Lofty Goals for this weekend:
- Finish baby dress
- Finish felted mouse
- Finish ripping diamond lace sweater
- Start washing claret wool for Pippa

Requiem for a Cardigan

2006-03-18T09:54:00.000-05:00

My gauge on the swatch for Pippa looked just right, so I dove in last night to my first yarn recycling project. It helped that I had a migraine I couldn't shake without Excedrin, so I was up until 2am on a caffeine high.

Here's the original sweater and a bit about its history.

Sometime in the mid-1990s, I decided I needed a new cardigan I could wear to work. I was tired of getting sore, cracked finigers from working with rough wool, which all my projects up to then had been, so I splurged on a little luxury - a silky merino wool/microfiber blend bought in a yarn shop in Rochester, NY. I called it burgundy before, but (though I don't really know much about wine) I think it's really more like a claret. I think I spent something like $80 on it. I'm afraid I've long lost the ball bands, so I have no idea who made it.

The pattern was from the booklet "More Patons Cardigans to Knit," published in 1991. It was my first pattern with any kind of lace, and I was enchanted at how nicely the diamonds came out.

I hadn't quite finished this when fibromyalgia hit, and my hands hurt so bad I couldn't knit (sometimes couldn't even cut my own food) for some time. It was 5 years or so before I pieced it together, and it lived another several years with no buttons. Y used to wear it writing in her office on chilly days, but that's about all the lovin it got. It never did get worn to work - too big and floppy and the yarn seemed to lose all it's lustrous sheen when knitted up and allowed to pill. So mostly, it's languished in a closet for the past dozen years or so.

So last night, I started ripping. And continued ripping into the night. Strangely satisfying. I wrote a few haikus while I was at it.

Steady clock ticks near
Gentle wheeze of snoring cat
Knots tied now undone

At one point, Y, sleeping, held out her hand and said with a sweet smile, "Blue keeps bringing them bit by bit." Our cat, Blue, likes to fetch crumpled up bits of paper.

She talks in her sleep
Gentle grunt of snoring wife
Dreaming of smart cats

Her cupped hand waiting
For crumpled bits of paper
Fetched by a dream cat

(That's Blue's brother Davy snoozing in the background.)

I finished ripping the button bands, one sleeve and one front panel, and finally felt enough of the caffeine had dissipated that I could sleep.

I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Today is clear and cold. A walk in the Wissahickon is definitely in order.

Morning Ride Report

2006-03-17T09:41:00.000-05:00

I woke up seriously grumpy this morning. Feeling like there was no good reason for me not to bike to work, but really not wanting to.

My brilliant wife convinced me that I should suck it up and bike in, and I'd feel much better. My wife, she is brilliant.

It was 40-ish F, with a wind-chill more like 33, but the sun was warm and oh so cheering. Deep purple crocuses, soft pink cherry trees, and those foolhardy, doomed magnolias! It always pains me when they come out too early, and then get turned to brown mush overnight when it freezes. Ah, but they're so beautiful while they're here. And surely some will stay sensibly, cautiously tucked up inside their buds until the danger has passed.

So by the time I got to work, with flowers and blue ripply river and sunshine and "Sugar Magniolia blossoms blooming" running all through my head, yes, I feel so much better. Ungrumpy, energized, strong.

Oh, crap. I forgot my glasses. Add squinty to the list.

:)

And in knitting news...

Finished the back of the stripey baby dress (from Double Knits by Zoe Mellor) and got 4 or 5 inches of the front done. Fretting that my guage might be off and this might end up being for a seriously short, wide baby. I *think* it's okay, though.

Had a stroke of inspiration last night after much lusting after Amelia Raitte's Pippa and balking at affording that much baby cashmerino. I have a sweater I made some dozen years ago that has hardly ever been worn, as I knit it too loose and made it up badly and it just flops all over the place. The yarn, however, is a lovely burgundy merino wool/microfiber blend, and I think the weight might be just right for Pippa. I knitted up a swatch last night and blocked it out. I'll measure it tonight and see if it would work. My first adventure in yarn recycling may be approaching!!! I'm hoping too that being knit on US3s instead of 4s, in addition to making a much nicer fabric for this yarn, will maybe make it pill less??? If not, I promise to trim the pills and wear it anyway...

Oh yeah. Work...

Emily's Knitting History: Lesson #1

2006-03-14T12:53:00.000-05:00

I think my Mom taught me the knitting basics (knit, purl, long-tail cast-on, cast off) when I was very small, but the first thing I remember knitting was a fair-isle ski hat. I think I was probably something like 8 years old.

My babysitter, the wonderful MJP, showed me how to chart a pattern on graph paper. This hat was made of dark-blue worsted wool with a snowflake motif in creamy white. It had a fold-under hem that actually had my initials knitted into it (wow!). I was so proud of my even stitches and the lovely pattern.

But my tension was so tight on the carried over bits of yarn in the charted section, that no one, not even me with my little 8-year-old head, could wear this hat. I can't tell you how disappointed I was. I'm not sure what ever happened to it. I probably threw it away.

Thunder and knitting

2006-03-12T09:19:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to the first thunder of spring. A long, growly roll that scared Bianca off of her window perch.

2006 appears to be the year of knitting so far. I haven't read a single book, except for the wonderful graphic novel, "The Rabbi's Cat," which Ellis got me for my birthday. Aside from that, all my bus/subway rides have been spent knitting.

Yesterday was a wonderfully satisfying craft day. I finished two projects, and picked up a long-dormant UFO. Here's the scoop...

Finished off some socks. Tried and tried to get a photo that showed the color right, but I think our camera is slightly yellow-deficient, so they end up looking kind of blue instead of the forresty green they really are.

I used the "generic sock recipe," which I'm starting to get bored with. (I see Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks in my future - just got a gander at it at borders the other day, and yum. I see what everyone's talking about!)

These were supposed to be for Y, but she says they're too tight so they're for me. Cast on 56 stitches on US0 dpns. The cuffs, heels and toes are in Opal, which I got for Sara's socks a few years ago. The rest is a mystery german sock-yarn I got off Ebay. I'll try to find the label at some point. They feel pretty good. I'm happy with the cast on - I did it onto two needles held together. Also, since my last pair of socks I've learned how to properly weave in ends so there are no knots. A definite improvement.

So after I finished those, Y reminded me that I MUST weave in the two tiny little ends on Sara's scarf, which has been languishing in UFO land for at least 8 months, if not more.

I did that, and then realized there was really no need to go with the curly nature of it, as I'd been planning to do. I blocked the sucker, and it's SO much nicer. This is made of some beautiful handpainted sport-weight chenille I bought in Burlington, VT a few years ago. (There's a whole story behind this chenille that may show up another time.) It's got a lovely drape now, and I'm quite pleased with it. Hope Sara is, too!

So then, feeling the momentum of finishing things, I felt I must keep on! I grabbed the cotton baby dress that's been in a drawer for the last year or so and started in. I'm hoping to finish this up for Baby Jane in Boston before she gets too big for it (since it was orginally destined for Baby Charlotte, who is WAY too big for it now).

Nice to work on a few small projects after the Olympic fervor. More on that later...

Now off for some breakfast and a walk in the rain with my sweetie.

Another blog...

2006-03-08T13:26:00.000-05:00

Having roamed around in other people's knitting blogs for some time now, I figure it may be time to start my own. Stay tuned...