stickyfingers

In which I remind people that we are no longer in high school

2009-02-19T16:26:00.002-05:00

Read the title of this post. Absorb the fact that high school was more then a decade ago for me and live with it. (I apologize if you are currently in high school but you should probably know that typical high school behavior doesn't end with high school *le sigh.*)

I'm not really understanding the twitter phenomenon and even more so not understanding the need to broadcast the minute details of your life to people. I mean come on that's what we have facebook for. I'm just getting the hang of facebook why take it away and make it as obsolete as myspace? Twitter is just a no go in my book.

My birthday was Tuesday. I must be getting old because this was the first year that I didn't feel super-de-dooper special on my b-day. Usually I wake up and run around town like the queen of the world demanding things and adoration because it's my birthday. This year I woke up, went to work, went to dance class and ordered in takeout with the boy I'm seeing. We ordered ribs, mac and cheese and corn (I guess I celebrated by eating food that I know probably took a year off my life expectancy!)

I'm trying to adjust to a new schedule (work, school, dance, friends, lovers *tee-hee*) and trying to find me time in all of it. I started this new schedule by going home last night and doing laundry (which is AMAZING!) I will drive 3 hours to Connecticut with a trunk full of dirty clothes. I know if I get all the way up there and bat my eyes at my daddy he will clean my clothes, fold my clothes and give me 20 dollars for being his "favorite" *read most functional* daughter. But last night I did it all by myself. In fact I was so inspired that I dug out my Kauni Cardi (abandoned winter 08) and started finishing the sleeve I'd been working on for over a year.

I realize that I'm stuck in this knitting/crafting rut because I have all these projects that are almost 3/4 of the way done but not close to finished enough to be at that finishing line stage. The finishing line stage is when you are so close to finished that you can't put your project down until you cast off and throw that sucker in the bath for a good blocking. All my projects are close enough to not unravel but far enough to be time consuming before the finishing line phase.

I'm still working on photos I promise!

I Wore a Tube of Bulky Yarn to Work

2009-02-11T14:35:00.002-05:00

Okay so I finished the Shopping Tunic in record time. Cast on last Monday finished last Saturday afternoon, I didn't knit on it at all Thursday and Friday. I blocked it and wore in to work on Monday with black slacks and a black long sleeved tee-shirt. Half way through the day I went to use the little ladies room (I hate the term little girls room, I'm not a girl I'm an lady and don't you forget it!) and saw my reflection in the wall length mirrors they have in the sitting room. OH MY GOD WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!??? I looked like a rust colored inch worm, it was freaking gross, the purl side was bulky looking and the garter stitch edging on the bottom was curling in giving me even more of a pooch area then I already have! I quickly jumped into a stall and turned that sucker inside out, now the knit stitches were facing out and I went and looked in mirror again...so much better. Yes, it's a bulky sweater and bulky sweaters add bulk (duh!) but the knit stitches create a vertical line, where the purl stitches create horizontal ones. If we go back to fashion 101 we remember that vertical lines create length and the illusion of slim lines, where vertical lines make you look stumpy and fat. So lesson learned, and I can still wear my sweater.

Oh and I went with the gray costume on Sunday to rave reviews!!

Weekend Warrior

2009-02-06T16:33:00.006-05:00

Okay so I have planned my weekend out! It's so rare that I ever plan anything, I'm such a "fly by the seat of my pants" type person, but it's nice to have a plan and try to stick to it.

Tonight Molliemoo and her puppy Ruby June are going to come out to Jersey City for a sleepover. First we will go to the Super Pet Expo in Edison. I went to this last year and really if you have a pet and some spare time go check it out. Nothing like people who dress their dogs like children all smooshed together in a convention center. While you're there make sure you check out Elwood the "worlds ugliest dog." I think he's a bit of a cutie but I'm strange.

I would also really really recommend that you check out Nature Valley's frozen raw food diet. I switched Dessie Pup a few years ago and her health has been so awesome since. No more bumps in her skin, and crud in her eyes, another bonus is her *ehm* waste is smaller, harder and less stinky, it makes walking her that much better.

Saturday I'm going to check out a friend's show at this great little Mediterranean place in Astoria Queens called Mezzo Mezzo. Live music, dancing, good food, no cover, how could I possibly say no? I will also be working on a costume for Ariel (a dancer friend from DC.) She has been asked to play Mata Hari in a show at the end of March and in addition to all the knitting I've neglected I'm neglecting a costume for her too. As soon as I find the camera you all will be totally overloaded with photos!

If I have some time (and I really should make it) I will have to fix a costume of my own, I have a performance on Sunday night and I'm really not sure what I should wear. These are my options (you can vote in the comments section)

Red Costume

Purple Costume

Brand new costume that I don't even have pics of me in yet, (this one will need the most work)
Ideas, and input are much appreciated. If you wanna see me dance 8PM at the Grisly Pear. Live music, three dancers and cheap drinks

On the crafting side I'm 1/2 way through the Shopping Tunic I started Monday night, but I don't know if I have enough yarn. I've already forgone the pockets, bulky pockets in poochy places just didn't sound good to me, but I don't know how else to cut the yarn needed, maybe I'll shorten the cowl neck. I am also not sure if this sweater will even look good on me. It really isn't taking so much time to knit so a trip to the frog pond won't be such a let down, but I dunno. I know I'm tiny but I'm curvy tiny. Like Sir Mixalot says " 36-24-36...only if she's 5'3" well I'm not those measurement exactly but close enough to fear looking like a sausage in a bulky tight tube...I guess I'll have to wait and see!

New Year

2009-02-03T12:25:00.003-05:00

Okay like a month late but here I am.

Things have been quite insane on my side of the fence. I will not go into detail but...
Break up

Make up

Watching a friend loose his life to an illness he didn't know he had till it was too late, he's still fighting but its a rigged match at this point :(

The stock market

The bond market

Started school again (slowly but surely I will have my MBA!!)

Weather
Cold weather

Snow weather

Ice weather

Do you need me to go on??

I'm back on the needles and still spinning cashmere. I finished an entire sock (not a pair just the one) and a few other projects. I need to schedule a photo shoot but life has been life and sometimes life has no time to be captured on film.

Oh and the bastards who inspected and tuned up my car stole my f*cking GPS unit. It wasn't even a month old. I sent my dad over there to "talk some sense into them" (that's Italian for threaten) and he did so hopefully I will have a GPS by tomorrow.

I'm going to try to make the SnB in Jersey City at the Starbucks tonight. I haven't gone in like over a year almost and I need some nice knitting time. I also should probably try to do laundry tonight, unless I plan on knitting some clean underwear like tonight. It wouldn't be such a bad idea but knitted underwear just sounds like itchy cooter and unhappy bum.

I miss you all and hopefully I'm back for good!!

OH OH OH and look a photo! Its me this summer in front of the Partridge Family bus. It's the real bus and I don't know how I found it. I was just driving to Howe Caverns to have a stupid, tourist, fun time and saw it by the side of the road.

I climbed on it and tried to break in but the people I was with really didn't want to go to jail for trespassing and grand theft auto (how bad ass would it be if some rough a tumble lady asked what I was in for and I said "stealing the Partridge Family bus!!)

And then I ran out of Excuses

2008-11-14T11:30:00.001-05:00

I have been knitting, spinning, and crafting. I've also been sweating my ability to remain employed in this terrible economy. Working in the financial industry seemed like such a good idea five years ago, but now not so much. My blackberry stopped working the other day and I swore I was fired. I panicked and called into the office but no one I worked for was around. Instead of thinking that it was a blackberry glitch I freaked out all weekend only to find out I was still gainfully employed Monday morning.

On the knitting front I have finished several UFO's that have been lying around waiting for me to knit again. I completed the sweater vest (I love it and it totally got me into a cable kick) and I also finished my lace shawl. I started another hat and picked up the Juno I started knitting for my mom last year around this time. I still hate the yarn, hate hate hate the yarn, but I will finish this before her birthday on December 9th.

Still no pictures. I'm a terrible blogger, and I feel I've neglected so many of you. But fret not the weather is turning crappy lately and when there is nothing else to do I will start documenting my life down to the minute details.

My Brain is Full but My Camera Battery Empty

2008-10-07T11:48:00.002-04:00

I was all set to post up some pics today, but le sigh, it's been so long since I broke out the camera that the battery was all gone. Instead I'll update you on life.

I'm still spinning that yummy cashmere, and I dread the day I'm done because then I'll have to go back to spinning regular old wool again :(
I was all set to go to rhinebeck for the weekend but sadly I have a conflicting event that weekend (for which I've already booked a hotel room) and now I'm all kinds of depressed. I'm thinking I may go to the other event and leave super early on Sunday, stop in the city to scoop up molliemoo and drive up to rhinebeck to do a little shopping. If I miss rhinebeck it won't be the worst thing in the world. Since I've been so busy the stash monster has tripled in size and I still have tons of wool and roving and batts and fleece laying around, maybe not going will spare my (much hurting) bank account and save me closet space.

I'm almost finished with the sweater vest I'm working on, it's the first wool project (for me the baby sweater didn't count) since the summer and it feels so good to be working with wool again. The pattern is from Aurora Yarns but I can't find it on ravelry or the internet. I picked it up as a print out at a yarn store up in Connecticut the last time I was up there. It's not the best pattern but its a quick cabled knit and I converted most of it to the round.

Besides all that I've been going back to school. I started my MBA program back in the beginning of September and damn I forgot how hard school/homework can be. Add to that the stress of working full time and all my extra-curricular activites and damn Stickyfingers has no time. Seriously no time at all. My DVR is full of shows I want to watch but can't and I went so far as to cancel my premium cable (no more HBO, Showtime or Starz) and then True Blood came out and I wished I hadn't done that. I just can't win. Pictures next time, I promise!

I Have a Valid Excuse

2008-10-02T11:54:00.002-04:00

Okay, see here's the thing, I work in finance and well its not a good time to be working on Wall street. But I'm still employed (for the time being) and busy like you wouldn't believe.

I have been knitting and spinning and since the weather is getting cold again I'm going to break out the loom and get cracking on some scarfs. Also does anyone out there get Craft Zine? There's this amazing vest pattern that can be made out of cloth woven with knitting yarn. It's super cute and on my list of things to do.

Jen from Hanks in the Hood (seriously go check her stuff out it's insanely yummy) asked me to help her with a spinning project. I can never say no to spinning and I'm pleased to say that she has me spinning 3 lbs of pure cashmere. PURE CASHMERE, THREE POUNDS OF IT!!!!! I don't know how I'm ever going to go back to spinning just wool after all this.

I have some FO's (I do I really really do) but I need to photograph them. And since the weather has taken a dip over the past days I'm rolling in wool yarn again and happy to do so. Don't get me wrong I love bamboo and cotton and tencel but wool just feels right.

I'll try to get pics this weekend, if the market doesn't fall another million points before the end of the week. :P

Hi I'm Still Alive

2008-08-26T12:53:00.003-04:00

And very busy. Let's play catch up.
Ravelympics - well I failed didn't even cross the finish line. I was in the teeny bikini breast stroke for the Knit Girls and wow umm, yeah deadlines aren't really my strong point. I'm sure it didn't help that I had perfume spill in my purse and saturate the yarn so strongly that in order to work on the bikini I had to be outside on my terrace so the apartment wouldn't take on the smell of a french whore.

Spinning - It's the summer and its nice out and there are a million things to do while its nice out...enough excuses lets face facts, I am being a very bad fiber artist as of late. I have like 4 bobbins of halfway completed yarns that I just need to sit down and finish but I have no time, no time at all.

Life - Umm yeah this is what has been keeping me from doing anything else, so to put it all in one post would be insane. No pics today no details either. Lets sum it up like this a life in flux is never boring.

Till the next time I have five minutes to spare...

Fiber Friday for a Needy Newborn

2008-08-01T11:51:00.002-04:00

Oh yes, Friday that day of the week that signifies your droney work week is almost through. I work in finance and wow, this is not the time to work in finance people. Seriously put your money in a mattress and pray that your home doesn't catch on fire. (I can dole out this information as long as I don't call it "financial advice")

Any who, I've been a project ho (surprise surprise) casting on and abandoning projects like the unfaithful knitter I always knew I'd be. As of right now I have a sweater from the spring IK, two pairs of socks (okay okay 4 pairs but I don't count two of them cause I haven't picked them up in over 2 months), a shrug, a hipscarf, and a baby sweater on the needles. All this isn't even counting my winter projects abandoned cause I can't deal with hot wool in the summer. Oy, I need to stop casting on and browsing ravelry cause I think I may have a problem. Is there like a 12 step program out there for flaky knitters?

On to fiber. The baby sweater I mentioned in my overwhelming list above is for a friends newborn, named Veronica Rose. Veronica was born to term but was very underweight and had to spend the first two weeks of her life in a hospital. This is no way for a baby to enter the world so I figured I’d knit her something to keep her warm until her baby fat had a chance to develop. I dug through my fiber stash and found Rosebud corriedale roving from the Spunky Eclectic FOTM club. I thought the names were kismet so I spun a nice woolen 2ply bulky single to knit the trim on a sweater for the new baby.

But first I ran the roving through my carder with some Angelina fiber in white gold so that the new baby could sparkle.

I liked the blended look of the fiber so much better.
And here’s the yarn I came up with. (Pics are wonky due to a crappy camera)

I thought I would have enough yarn but sadly nope. I am pairing this with some lambs pride bulky in a light gray and using the handspun to knit the trim. The sweater is almost done and I'll be sure to post pics when it is.

Hey Everybody Do You Know What Time it Is???

2008-07-31T11:00:00.002-04:00

It's PICTURE POST TIME!!!! Yay!!!!

Yes, it's a picture post, the posts I do when I'm too busy to type but have a huge back log of photos to share. This picture post is a mish mash of all different things so hopefully there's something for everyone.

I love the long dog days of summer (well I don't love the stink of the city but the lazy afternoons and devil may care attitudes really get me happy.) One of my favorite saturday morning things to do is get Dessie-pup all geared up for the dog park and then stop at the mini-farmers market that sets up every Saturday at Van Vorst Park (a cute little oasis by my house.) She gets tired and dirty and I get produce, cheese, pickles, olives and hummus for the week.
Here's a lunch I made last weekend with Jersey farm tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella. The basil is from my terrace garden.

Yum

Speaking of my garden here's the first thing it gave me to eat this year (yes my gardening skills suck but I'm still holding out for at least one freaking tomato)

Spicy and hot, just like peppers should be. This sucker was so hot I scraped the seeds out and let them sit in olive oil to make a lovely fused spicy olive oil perfect for cooking or a daring salad.

This is my weed "Sandy"

I would normally pick the weeds but this little gal is so persistant growing out of the cracked cement of my terrace floor that I have to let her live as long as she can survive without me helping her out. I'm not watering her or anything and shes' the healthiest plant on my terrace :(

Here are some belly shot from my good friend Erik D. He takes lovely pictures and doesn't mind when I call him an asshole or make stupid faces at the camera (I hate having my picture taken)

And look glow poi pics

Very ravery

A Neglected FO

2008-07-21T15:20:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I finished these arm warmers a million years ago, but I've been too damn busy (lazy) to post the FO with the details. Neglected and un-loved, they sat on my dresser top until my bestie Mollie came over last week. She saw the neglected FO and snatched them up proclaiming her love for them. I gladly gave them to her (I'm just not the kind of person to wear arm warmers) and she graciously let me take pics with her modeling them.

(Without Flash)
Pattern: Spirogyra from Knitty Spring 2008 (Found in the Knittyspin section
Yarn: Handspun 50/50 merino tencel from an unknown vendor purchased at rhinebeck. I spindle spun then yarn and andean plied it using my Louet S10 it was about fingering weight and 300 yards from 2oz
Needles: US2 & US3
Notes: No real modifications to the pattern, however my gauge must have gotten tighter (or my yarn thinner) because the left arm is smaller then the right. I also neglected to do the color thing that Knittyspin used this pattern for, instead I let the yarn do what it wanted and it made these cool thin stripes.

Pic with flash and look at Mollies cool nail polish (I can't wear cool nail polish cause of office dress code)

Shes so happy to have them, and oops I totally forgot to weave the ends in oh well.

A Video in which I Spaz out to Music in Costume

2008-07-16T11:23:00.002-04:00

From my performance at the Showcase Sunday. I was a little buzzed which is totally obvious in my "oh my" faces.

A New Obsession

2008-07-16T10:59:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'm spread pretty thin with all my hobbies and pursuits but I found something new to take up some more time I don't have. Bento boxes and not the ones that can be found in every Japanese/Asian/fusion restaurant in NY. Real bento boxes packed at home and brought to work to curtail my excessive spending and widening waist line.

Now of course to start any good hobby you must spend a little money first. Well look at this website! Cheap cheapy cheap cheap. I couldn't believe the prices, you should look at it even if you can't stand bentos. It's like a dollar store online that sells cute and use full Japanese items. They also sell really amazing USB hubs for cheap that make me smile and hate my job just a little less.

Now I tried to make a bento but it came out bad, like super bad (no Seth Rogan wasn't in a cop uniform) and well whatever, I'll just keep trying. The thing about Bento Boxes is that they are small so you have to maximize your space and you realize what portion control really is. Also you need color and variety to make it look nice and fill you up. I live by a few Asian supermarkets but I've never set foot inside one. I'm going to take a field trip this week and I will report what I find.

On the crafting front, I cast on another pair of socks (yes I have yet to finish the last pair.) I also started a baby sweater from handspun for a friend of mine who just had a little girl. I like baby knitting cause it goes so fast, instant gratification I say. I'll get some pics for the next post. Until then stay cool in this 90 plus weather.

FO for the Weekend

2008-07-11T11:55:00.002-04:00

Okay I made it exactly 48 hours on the master cleanse and I'm never ever doing it again (okay I may try one more time when there are less food distractions to tempt me.)

Onto the FO

Mmmm Sleepy Face
Pattern: Lotus Blossom Tank from IK
Yarn: Cool Crochet by Bernat
Needles: US4 & US5
Notes: Well first of all I'm going to rant for a second. I printed the PDF for this pattern of of the IK website for free. I was about 3/4 of the way through the knit when the PDF, myself and the UFO were all soaked in a freak rainstorm. After letting it dry out I realized my printed copy was no longer legible and went to the IK website to print another copy. Well la-de-freaking-da, IK had pulled the free pattern to put it in their "Best of IK" book (which I do not intend to buy since I have most of the patterns in magazines) I was not going to spend 20 something dollars for a book for a single pattern that on it's own merit isn't very good. Go ahead look at the FO's on Ravelry the good looking tanks have all been modified and tweaked to make this unflattering knit pretty. Well after much struggle, bitching, whining and public airing of my grievances I found a copy of the magazine the pattern was in and was able to finish my tank.
Now for the modifications, buckle your seat belt there are a lot. First my gauge was almost a 1/2 inch smaller then what the pattern called for but this was a good thing because the knit is now fitted. Second I did 6 repeats of the lace pattern instead of 4 to make a baby-doll style top. I added a full inch to the bodice so that it wouldn't cut across my boobs and instead created a more A-line top. I shortened the armholes by an inch to avoid gaping and buckling and to compensate I picked up 10 less stitches for each arm hole. When switching from the lace to the bodice I decreased 10 stitches and then increased 10 stitches in alternated paired increases to create a more flattering line.

This is not the most flattering pic :P

Boobalicious

I should remember to stand up straight.

All in all this was a nice knit, I've worn it to the office and gotten many a compliment on it. The yarn was cheapo stuff that can be picked up at any mass-market store like wal-mart and has a lovely shine to it, slightly sparkly but not overwhelming, it tended to get a bit splitty but the entire tank cost me 14 dollars to make and has a lovely drape and touch to it.
I would recommend knitting this if you, like me, like to tool around with your patterns.

This post is approved by mermaid stickyfingers

I think I'm stupid

2008-07-08T09:52:00.002-04:00

Okay, let me explain. I went to MA for the weekend to see my family and hang out by the beach. All was well except the weather didn't behave and instead of hanging on the beach I ate and drank and ate and ate and drank....So you get the point. I drank at Karaoke (then I did a kick ass rendition of "Because I got High" by Afroman and scared all the working class middle agers who practice all week for Karaoke) and I drank with dinner, I drank in the afternoon and I drank at night. It was pretty gross, I'm not even a big drinker so suffice to say I did my body a major disservice.

To remedy the bad treatment I had indulged in I decided the best thing to do would be to detox. And some googling took me to the "Master Cleanser" or "Lemonade Diet" this is a fast in which I eat NOTHING, that's right NOT A DAMN THING. Instead I drink this "lemonade" which consists of lemon juice, filtered water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. I'm also allowed to drink herbal tea and water but not a solid thing is to cross my lips. You're supposed to torture yourself for 10 days, but that ain't happening. I'm on day 2 and I think I may shoot for 72 hours and consider it a success. I'm craving food like Shepard's pie and pizza, it kills me to walk down the street because the smokey smell of charring meat from the Halal carts may drive me to homicide. The upside is when I woke up this morning I felt great. I woke up half an hour earlier and had no desire to beat the crap out of the snooze button for and extra ten minutes (or thirty.) My skin is clearing up and the dark circles are going away. I don't know what I should do plug away and try to do this as long as possible or simply give in and eat something tomorrow.

Just had to rant, this post has nothing to do with crafting, my apologies for anyone who was looking for knitting or spinning.

A side note, I will be performing at the Lafayette Lounge in NYC Sunday at 6PM as part of a showcase. If you like middle eastern dance check it out. I think you need to make reservations because the last one sold out real quick.

Dragging my Ass

2008-06-30T10:22:00.002-04:00

Well, the title of the post should say it all. It's been a crazy time at Casa de Stickyfingers and I could really use a few days of R&R. Sadly all my time off has been taken while I was sick and undergoing treatments (yes I was stupid and didn't apply for sick leave.) So no vacations for me this year.

I find my life is in a very different place then it was a year ago. Breaking up with Rob may have been very difficult, but I find myself enjoying who I am and what I'm doing more so as a single girl then as someone in a long term relationship. I forgot how nice a quiet house can be and no one fights me for the remote or argues about what we are doing for the weekend. When I was a "couple" Rob and I would take almost every weekend away from the city, driving up to his house in PA (god I miss that cabin on the lake) or my parents weekend place in CT. It was fun to get out of the city, but I forgot how many insane things happen in the city in the summer. I accidentally stumbled into the LGBT parade (or the pride parade as most people know it) as it worked it's way downtown. Even in the pouring rain it was so nice to see people out enjoying life and being proud of who they were. Though I'm not part of the community myself I felt a strong connection to these people just because I feel like loving yourself and loving what you do makes you a more complete individual.

This was an extended weekend for me, not that I had any extra days off, but I went out Thursday night with some girl friends and then Friday night and then Saturday night. I need a week away from booze and bars to restore my chi or at least escape the beer bloat. In all this insanity I realized how much fun it can be to just be young and not worry or stress or plan. It's like social soul searching and I'm learning so much about who I am.

Anyway onto crafting. I'm almost done with the lotus blossom tank. I'm nervous about how it going to come out because I see such wildly different looks when I browse the pattern on ravelry and the anticipation has been so much of the project that I haven't even tried on the tank as I knit it. Everyone cross your fingers and hope for a good FO!

Damn!!!

2008-06-24T11:43:00.004-04:00

Okay so here's the deal. My apartment is SUPPOSED to have central AC, notice I capitalized "supposed" because honestly that shit has not been working since the temps climbed above 80 degrees. I don't consider myself a picky person but damn if I don't need some cool air every once and awhile. I don't mind sleeping without AC, in fact when I do sleep with AC, I wake up groggy with an itchy throat, but my poor, poor puppy has to sit in an un-airconditioned apartment sweating under her fur coat, and that's just wrong. I've been leaving water for her in different locations, and I open the terrace door so she can go outside when she wants but I feel awful for her.

I contacted management several times and was told it was a building issue, not a unit issue, well I ran into the building manager yesterday and asked when the AC would be back on. He looked at me like I grew an extra head and said it should be working. Well it SHOULD be but it's not, so what am I supposed to do. I had to contact my landlord last night and ask him to replace the unit. He asked me why I took so long to contact him about it and I told him I was told by management that it was a building wide problem. He laughed at me, yes he LAUGHED at me, and told me moving forward to contact him immediately. I don't know if that's gonna do me any good because the closets that are off track (which were like that when I moved in back in October) are still off track even though I told him about it back in October. Ahhhh, I think I need to just buy a farm somewhere and escape this urban nonsense.

Well since it's been so friggin hot, I haven't been spinning all that much. I currently have some hemp on the bobbins for that Brighton Bag from Knittyspin Spring 2008, (yes I know the pattern calls for flax but hemp is a bit easier to spin.) The problem with spinning hemp is that you need to wet spin it, which I do by dipping my finger tips in a bowl of water, which causes pruney finger tips and softened skin which then starts to flake if you spin too long. So I've been spinning the hemp for almost a month now because I like my finger tips with skin on them, thank you very much!

But The Knit Girls are running a fundraiser, and though I don't like a lot of the infighting that group engages in, I think they're mostly a cool bunch of chicks, so I broke out the wheel and some fiber and spun up a super funky crazy "bad girl" skein which I call "Sid & Nancy"

I'm thinking of spinning an entire line of "doomed lovers" because I have such a high opinion of love right now :P

It's a 90/10 wool mohair blend, spun into two singles of mixed pink batt and black and white roving, then I plied the two together adding bits of crazy funky novelty yarn where I saw fit.

There are a few coils in there too but I didn't get any pics.
If you donate to the knit girl fundraiser you too can be in the running to win this awesome yarn.

Oh Saturday was the Mermaid Parade, which is "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" day out on Coney Island. It was crazy and fun and super hot, I got a tan to end all tans, and had my pic taken by a bunch of strangers (no touching though, people kept asking to touch and I would give them the death stare.)
I had a friend with me who's a photographer so I'm waiting on his pics but here's a preview of the insanity.

The Votes are In

2008-06-20T11:28:00.003-04:00

And it's a three way tie.. AAAAAAHHHHH now I have to be decisive and figure out what to cast on by myself. What I should do is finish my Lotus Blossom Tank (ravelry link) but all those tiny stockinette stitches in the round make my head all hurty. I'll try to finish by Monday so I can cast on something new.

Ahh the allure of the new project, it's almost too much to bear. The funny thing is I get all excited, I get my yarn and find my needles (sometimes I'll even swatch) and then I cast on, and I swear about halfway through the cast on project I get bored and wonder why I cast on in the first place. I have such crafting ADD it's not even funny. I have these illusions of casting on and holding a perfect FO an hour later, like some sort of super knitter, and when I realize it may take days or even *gasp* weeks to get my FO I feel dejected and frustrated.

Enough of my neurosis I have an FO to share.

Pattern: Ribbed Lace Bolero
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Aurora (don't look for this yarn in stores I found it in the dollar bin at Big Lots and I don't think they make it anymore)
Notes: This was a nice knit, simple and easily modified. The pattern isn't really a pattern but a guideline for you to follow based on your own personal measurements. I may make another using a different lace stitch but this came out well. I would encourage you to make a size just a wee bit smaller then instructed because a lot of FO's on ravelry seem to be comming out huge. I think I knitted this 2 inches smaller then the pattern instructed and I'm quite happy with the finished product. I also think this shrug makes my boobs look big, which was reinforced by the guy staring at my chest the entire train ride to work this morning. The yarn was garbage, it's a weird thick flat yarn, think linguini not spaghetti, and it's a 50/50 blend of cotton and acrylic. the result is a little scratchy and rough, but the entire shrug cost $3.50 and I was able to reduce the stash monster (even just a little bit counts) so who am I to complain.

My hair looks big today

Oh look at my sleepy face. See boobies gallore!

As days go by

2008-06-18T11:49:00.002-04:00

Oh my word, I love those few weeks before the official start of summer don't you. The sun shines well into the night and the green on the plants is vibrant and alive. The heat isn't unbearable (well it was a few weeks ago but still) and the city has yet to develop it's eau de summer stench that haunts my nostrils when I think about it.

I've been slowly getting back into crafting. I'm almost finished with my mermaid costume for the mermaid parade on Saturday. If you're in NYC you really should come out, it's supposed to be like Mardi Gras in Brooklyn :) I'll post tons of pics if you can't make it so you can pretend you were there.

I also posted a new roving to the etsy shop I call it Lagoon in June (it's a little Dr Seuss sounding but I like it) and it's superwash wool

I also cleaned out my refrigerator (not that there was much to clean since, Rob moved out I don't really do much food shopping) and found all this almost rotted fruit. It wasn't bad fruit, just ugly. So I took the blueberries and peaches and a cup of sugar and a lemon rind

and simmered them for hours with a touch of amaretto and wow I made an awesome compote/fruit preserve.
Here it is on some sugar free pudding

Yummy!

I've been working on the bolero, I cast off this morning and will sew it up tonight a totally gratifying knit if you ask me. Now I'm pondering my next summer cast on. I have one project waiting for me but its miles of stockinette and god that bores me so much. I'm trying to decide between a few projects: (all ravelry links below)
Mirabella Cardigan
Gigi
Rosalind
Two Toned Ribbed Shrug

more at twiigs.com...

Aha

2008-06-13T15:10:00.003-04:00

I had a moment this week that put my knitting into perspective. I knit things mindlessly sometimes, not knowing if I'll wear/use them but knitting them for the sake of knitting or because I think they will look pretty. I'm of the mindset that if I don't like an FO I can give it away or gift it to someone who will look better in it then I will.

There are certain items I have knit and kept but really had no idea when or where I would use them. This week I experienced such a smack to the forehead moment that my knitting life is changed for the better. It was stupid hot in the city this week. Gross hot, yucky hot, draw a cold bath and eat and ice pop at the same time hot, and my office has a "no bare shoulders" policy. What's a sweaty girl to do? I could, like some of my co-workers, buck the policy and wear something that made me more comfortable in the heat; or I could suffer and sweat it out for the sake of corporate responsibility. Well I did neither, instead of the listed options I dug out a sun dress with spaghetti straps and then (oh I'm so smart) I found a shrug I knitted over the winter. This FO to be exact. Now cashmere certainly ain't a warm weather fiber, but my office seems to not be affected by external temperatures and I figured I'd be okay.

Now you may be saying to yourself what's my big discovery? Shrugs serve a purpose!!!! I know brilliant right, have I blown your mind yet? I never thought of shrugs as anything else then a nice knitted accessory, if you will, something cute to layer, but not something integral to getting dressed in the morning. Now I know, shrugs help you cheat your way around the company dress code and are usually small enough to stuff in your purse (if you carry a large purse like I do) when you don't need them. Now I'm on a shrug knitting frenzy.

Just thought I'd share, and yes I do realize this entire post makes me sound like an idiot but I'll embrace my idiocy.

My Alter Ego

2008-06-12T10:57:00.001-04:00

Meet Tanya the bellydancer

She lives my other life where I put on shiney sparkley costumes and dance for strangers. She's happy to meet you all.

Heat Stoke

2008-06-10T16:24:00.002-04:00

OMG , yes it's so hot I've resorted to interwebz speak, I can't move. It peaked out at 97 degrees today, 97 and steamy wet like only NY can be. I got stuck on a PATH train that had no working AC, and wow the people I live near stink to high heaven!

It's too hot to knit, too hot to spin, most definitely too hot to dye anything. I've been hand sewing some things for my other life's personality. I'll reveal more in the days to come, but it's too hot to thread a needle. My poor Dessie pup is burning her little paw pads on the asphalt and I swear to you my flip flops have melted just a bit.

My weekend was interesting, mostly living in my other life's persona but I think I invented a new Extreme Sport. I call it "Late Night Turnpike Driving on a Doughnut." It's gonna take the world by storm. Seriously, I was stone cold sober but my car was acting drunk, those tiny, dippy, itsy tires are just no good to drive on. It was 2AM and I was driving with the windows down and the radio on blast in case I drove off the road someone would find me from the noise. Terrifying, and then getting the car fixed was even worse.

I know a bit about cars but for some reasons mechanics see dollar signs when I walk into an auto repair place. I went to get the tire plugged and an oil change and walked out 110 dollars poorer. Apparently I needed some bulbs changed and a tire rotation too. They tried to charge me for changing my wiper blades but I told them I could snap those suckers on myself so just throw them in the backseat. I guess they were a little taken back because they did them anyway and didn't charge. And the guy who rang me up gave me a 5 dollar discount "cause you look so pretty today" (barf) and I'm like, if I look so damn good, give me a better discount. Ah well such is life.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a cool and nice 88 (still hot but compared to the last few days it's a god send) how have you been staying cool?

I got dumped

2008-06-05T16:28:00.002-04:00

Okay this is a non crafting post, more ranting then anything else so if you wanna read about the crafts scroll past please.

I got dumped. I honestly don't think I've ever been dumped before. I mean I've had break ups, and ended relationships, but no one has ever flat out dumped me. It's a little odd and hard to get used to.

The strange thing is that I was dumped by someone who I was never really in a relationship with. I mean I had Rob, and Rob and I were together for 4 years (2 of which we co-habitated) and really I let that one get beat to death. I mean Rob and I probably should have lasted only 3 years but whatever, and by the time it was over I wasn't grief stricken on obsessed, I was ready to move on.

But this guy, I met him 6 weeks ago, we spoke for 2 and dated for 3 and then wham, out of no where I'm on the express train to dumpsville, population me. It was so out of no where and poorly handled. I mean we went from seeing each other at least twice a week and speaking 5 nights a week to a sudden collapse in communication. When I did finally get him on the phone it was dump time.

Him: Um this isn't working

Me: What do you mean, "isn't working" you were at my house with fucking soup and walking my dog cause I was sick last week.

Him: We're different people

Me: Obviously, you can't date your damn self.

Him: I didn't want to disrespect you.

Me: Then you should have had the balls to do it in person and not over the phone.

Him: Well in person it would have been a drawn out thing I mean your obviously angry

Me: I think I have that right.

Him: Maybe it's just we took things too fast

Me: You're the one who wanted exclusivity

Him: I mean I want to keep talking to you.

Me: I have enough friends

Him: Well maybe it's not done but I need a few days to think things over. I'll call you, I promise.

Me: And do I have a say in the decision.

Him: You can choose not to pick up the phone.

Me: Fine bye, go think.

That was over a week ago, now obviously a few days can be longer then a week but puh-leese, I'm not a moron. You're not going to call, cause you were just trying to get me off the phone.

Today I sent a text message, despite the fact that I was trying hard to put up a strong front and resist the urge to contact. I simply stated
"I have your jacket and a tee-shirt, I'm not holding on to them past tomorrow, let me know what to do with them or I will throw them out."
I have yet to get a response, I am so totally dumped. I need a scotch and a girls weekend.

The strange thing is that I didn't even know him enough to have like any sort of emotional attachment, for all I know he kills bunnies for fun in his spare time, but I think it's because I didn't get to know him, or figure out who he was and how I should respond to him that I'm making myself even crazier. I didn't love him, he didn't love me, so why is this making me more nuts then when I ended a four year relationship?

What did you do when you got dumped, any tricks to coping?

The Long Awaited FO

2008-06-02T14:37:00.002-04:00

Pattern: Cropped Cardigan
Yarn: Shirley by Kramer Yarns (Hand painted by me)
Notes: Well I lengthened the body a bit, wish I had done a bit more. And I also wish I had started the ribbing a bit later because the ribbing line crosses the bottom of my bust and makes my rack look stunted. I knitted this with the modified neckline instructions which can be found on the pattern page on Ravelry. I kind of wish I had included a button hole, (that's a pin holding the sweater together) but I can pin at the bust or the neckline. This was a quick knit because the yarn is bulky and the sweater is small. I have one skein leftover and I'm trying to decide if I should rip out the bind off and add some length.

I went yarn shopping for the first time in a long time today. I bought some wonderful Fiji yarn in a soft pink (so not my normal color scheme) to make another coachella. I'm plugging away at my warm weather knitting and I have officially retired my unfinished sweaters until next fall.

I also bought some crazy/ugly novelty yarn for a costume for the Mermaid Parade this year on Coney Island. This is the last year for Coney Island before the rip it down and build condos. Kind of makes me want to cry, everything will be condos, Starbucks, CVS and banks soon. Gentrification can suck big time. Anyway if you're in the area come check it out. If you're up to it join up and march with us, let your freak flag fly!!

Blech

2008-05-28T12:17:00.002-04:00

I'm down right about now. Just things in life interfering with things I'd rather be doing. I lost my mojo (like so many other bloggers seem to be doing these days) and I haven't been spinning, knitting, weaving or crocheting like I should.

I try not to let things get me down, but sometimes it's a bit overwhelming. Life has a way of straightening itself out, but wading through the muck of the hard times can be draining and tiresome.

On a happy note I took that wonderful South African Fine Spunky yarn and knit a baby sweater.

Pattern: One Skein Wonder Baby Sweater from the book "One Skein Wonders"
Yarn: Handspun bulky south african fine from Spunky Eclectic's Fiber of the Month Club "Think Spring"
Needles: US 10's
Notes: The pattern claims that no button holes need to be added since the stitches are so loose that buttons will just fit through. This idea may work if you are gifting this to another knitter but if you are giving this to a non fiber-friendly individual I would suggest adding button holes to idiot proof the end result. I added a simple yarn over button hole every 3 inches in the second to last stitch of the sweater.
I loved this pattern it was a nice quick knit and the lack of seams makes me super happy. Also it looks great in a nice uneven rustic handspun. I wish I had one big enough for me to snuggle right about now.

See it's lumptastic!!

I have an old FO to share as well but I'll save that for later in the week so it's not another 10 plus days until I post again. Gotta dole out my rations in small portions otherwise this blog will starve!

I have pictures!

2008-05-15T14:15:00.002-04:00

See I knew it, I blog about something and then I get all guilty that I have no pics to prove that I did anything so it's a self fulfilling prophecy "write about it and pics will come!"

First up an FO

Pattern: Daddy & Me Po' Boy Caps by Fully Woolly
Yarn: The blue yarn is Lambs Pride Bulky and the stripe is the Handspun from Hanksinthehood I showed you all last post.
Needles: US 5's 7's and 8's I wanted a looser gauge then the pattern called for.
Notes: Umm no real modifications to the pattern except maybe the stripe. I think it's a cute kind of jaunty hat and I hope I can wear it somewhere.

(ugh I look so effing sick in this picture, I should have put some lipstick on to pretend like my face had some color)

And here's a pic of the top of the hat, it's got that nifty pinwheel effect going on.

My friend said it looked like a rasta hat with a brim so maybe I'll wear it while I spin more hemp (I'm going for a theme with this hemp thing if you couldn't tell.)

And I have more yarn to share. This is the Spunky Eclectic FOTM "Think Spring." As you can see the colors are so obnoxiously girly that there was no way I could do anything but knit a baby sweater out of it. I'm knitting the One Skein Wonder Baby Sweater out of it and I think I have just enough yarn to make it.

It's a bulky yarn with some slubs and thin spots but it makes a wonderfully textured sweater all knit up. This is a fast going knit, I cast on Tuesday night and should be done by this evening, I knit in bursts no real time dedication to this project.

Doesn't it just scream BABY GIRL!!!!

Any who, the flu seems to be clearing up a bit. Thank you all for your kind words, I hope I'm well enough for this weekend I have some really cool things planned. If any of you are in NYC on Saturday swing by the Dance Parade in the 20's I'll be the bellydancer with Isis wings and a huge shit-eating grin. And my bestie Mollie graduated college (I'm so proud of her you have no idea) and she's planning a blow out, which I can't attend if I'm ill. Hopefully I'll get a few pics of the sweater before the weekend.

Is anyone else feeling the pressure to finish their winter knitting? It's getting brighter and sunnier and unless the project is lace weight I always give up my wonderful wool for warmer fibers in the summer. I try to spin still but I stock pile it until that first fall afternoon. What kind of projects do you like to knit in the summer?

Bad Bad Blogger

2008-05-13T11:32:00.002-04:00

I've been slacking. But I have good excuses. See I got my flu shot this winter, the company gives them out for free (I think its more cost effective to pony up for the vaccinations then to incur the sick days people would use) and I got mine when they were doling them out. I made it through the winter, no flu, barely even a head cold and then as soon as it gets nice and warm WHAM I'm sick with the flu. It's been a trying week, I've been trying to craft, trying to watch tv, trying to feel productive, but I'm failing miserable at everything. I spun some yarn
Shocking" 70 % Merino Wool 30 % Bamboo from Hanksinthehood

It's only an ounce but I got almost 80 yards bulky weight from it

I knit it into a hat as a nice stripe, as soon as I stop looking like day of the dead I'll take a pic to show it off.

I also purchased some hemp, and when it arrived I started wet spinning it while listening to Bob Marley (it seemed some how appropriate.) Hemp is nice to spin, its grabby and a bit stiff but I like it and I think I'm going to make the bag from the latest knittyspin when I'm done.

I also spun up some South African Fine from Spunky Eclectic's FOTM (no pics yet) it was the "Think Spring" colorway that so many people didn't like, pale pink and pale yellow aren't really my colors either, but a friend of mine just had a baby girl so I'm going to knit her a sweater out of it. I mean if anyone can wear pale pink and pale yellow it's a baby girl.

The guy I'm seeing came all the way out of his way last night to bring me chicken soup, a blockbuster movie, and gatorade. He also thought it would be best to walk the dog for me cause as he put it "damn you do look like hell" (so sweet he is.) But it was a nice gesture and it makes me feel good that someone's looking out for me. Anyway may you avoid this evil spring flu and hopefully I'll be up to pic taking later in the week

Monday Manic Monday

2008-04-28T12:40:00.002-04:00

This weekend I spun Alpaca:

2 ply sport weight 300 yards 3.8 oz from a fleece I picked up last year in PA.

I tried many different processing techniques to see what worked best. This is a whole fleece with some guard hairs (alpaca doesn't have too many but there are some in there) and seconds, (the shorter bits of fluff from the second shearing.) The fleece itself isn't dirty so much as it is dusty so I prefer to bathe my alpaca in a modified fleece cleaning style. Usually just a couple of cold water rinses and soaks to remove the dirt and dust. Then I water my plants with the gunky water, which sounds gross but plants love love love it. Every time I wash a fleece I take the cold water soak (make sure there's no soap) and I water the terrace and indoor plants. After the cold water rinses I give the alpaca one good hot soak with just a touch of soap and then another warm water soak to rinse it out.

Alpaca tends to get static build up and when you run it though the drum carder or use your hand combs you can see the electricity make the fibers fluff out and stand on end. To combat this I usually give it a spritz of water/conditioner solution 5 parts water 1 part conditioner to tame the static and prevent crazy fly aways. But this alpaca didn't blend very well on my drum carder (I think the Louet fine cloth is more like a medium cloth on other carders and alpaca needs a fine cloth for the best processing.) So with the drum carder out of the question I started combing. The combed alpaca looked lovely and spun thin and smooth but I wanted a fuzzier yarn and it wasn't really happeneing. Plus I was feeling lazy and all that combing to get like 1/2 an once of roving was starting to grate my nerves.

Then I did something unexpected. I rushed to the closet where the stash monster lives and dug around my smaller monster (the tool monster) and found my hand cards. Hand cards? Yes, hand cards, those things I almost threw away when the drum carder arrived on my door step. Hand carding isn't as easy as drum carding but the rolags I made were just the thing I was looking for. No static issues or fly away problems with hand carding and if you really concentrate on just having the card teeth barely touch it's not so hard on your arm and back muscles. I carded a few ounces worth of rolags and spun two thin singles using the long draw method. The end result is a fuzzy, soft yummy yarn that I was proud to send to a fellow ravelry user in a swap.

I also spun another batch of alpaca, but this is from a batt I received in a carftster swap, it's a wool/alpaca/angelina blend. It's a single dk/sport weight about 100 yards from 2oz

The interesting thing about this yarn is that it's spindle spun. I've been spinning on my spindle more and more because I've been traveling. When I first got my first wheel I took it everywhere, but these days I simply pack a batt and a spindle in my bag and I find that it's much easier to carry my luggage. I wasn't the biggest fan of using spindles (as soon as I could afford a wheel I abandoned my student spindle) but I find that I almost have a more intimate relationship with fiber when spindling it. There is less control and the fiber really tells you what it wants to do when you spindle, when I spin with a wheel I have ratios, and tension and all sorts of options to whip that fiber into submission, but spindling is basic and organic.

Believe my I won't be getting rid of my wheel anytime soon but I think it's a nice change up.

I also carded batts:
3oz wool/mohair/angelina "Paper Boy"

You can find these on the etsy

As the Days Go By

2008-04-22T14:53:00.003-04:00

I woke up one morning and it was spring. I'm not quite sure where winter went, but I'm amazed at the weather these days. It seemed that winter was taking a long ass time to leave us but then it was 70 degrees and sunny. There was no in between, no days of temperatures in the middle 50's so I could wear my denim jackets and cute blazers, oh no it was 30 one day and now it's very much not.

I decided that it was definitely time to start planting on my terrace. The plan was to get this done on Saturday in the lovely almost 80 degree heat with the sun helping me get out of bed, but sadly Saturday came and went and I stayed in bed sick as a dog. So Sunday would have to be planting day, but Sunday was cloudy and cool with droplets of mist in the air, definitely not planting weather. I kept to my schedule though my body resisted, I got in the car and drove to the 14th street greenhouse to stock up on annuals, vegetables and herbs. A few hours and bags of dirt later I have my little urban oasis ready to sprout. Tomatoes and hot peppers are planted next to peonies and Gerber daisies. I have basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley and maybe they will all last through the summer (I have aspirations of a green thumb but I am the Dr. Kevorkian of the plant world.) I also picked up some plants for inside the house, succulents and orchids are bringing some much needed cheer to chase the winter blahs away. I will post better pictures of the terrace when it more impressive, tiny saplings do not make great pictures. Until then I have some shots with the blythe dolls at the bottom. (I keep these away from the content for you Harlempurls, I know how much they creep you out.)

As it got nicer on Sunday I ventured out of the house to the Drum Circle for wounded war veterans and the Woodstock Project at the VFW in Saddlebrook. Say what you will but you haven't been to a fundraiser that is more insane and hilarious then this one was. Old hippies, families, enthusiastic special needs children and 80's hair band rejects pounding their drums while others dance in rapture (some on the beat others, not so much.) It was worth every penny of the 20 dollar donation at the door and I had a good time hanging out with people who I normally wouldn't cross in my everyday life. I tried to get some pictures but then I realized that I didn't have permission from these people to post them on the Internet so in the spirit of goodwill I have nothing to share except my memories.

On the fiber front nothing too interesting going on. I finished one spirogira and have about 80% of the second to do, I'm fighting that second sock syndrome and I keep abandoning it for more alluring projects. I'm still plugging away at the Kauni but at this rate it will be done next December. I spun up some alpaca for a swap but I need to photograph it and I'm currently working on some cormo for another swap, but cormo has a tendency to be fun for only so long and then I want to rip my bobbin off the wheel and spin some boring merino or superwash. On a side note anyone know where I can get some flax? I figured that I could try something new. I want to spin flax for the project up on knittyspin but I'm having a bitch of a time finding any. Do you think I could use hemp instead? Ideas are most appreciated.

So Satisfying

2008-04-15T11:36:00.002-04:00

There is something magical about a project you start and complete in less then a week. Even if you have to knit like your life depended on it to get it done. When my sister called me two weeks ago to ask what I was getting for our grandmothers birthday she caught me off guard. Of course I remember that my grandma's special day is in April but the way I've been running around I was positive it was still March (it wasn't in fact she called me April 7th so now you know how off my game I am.)

I'm lucky enough to have both my grandmothers around. My fathers mother is a salty progressive up front kind of woman. She'll tell dirty jokes and curse when she feels like it. She's most un-grandmotherly but she's always a riot and I never feel uncomfortable getting drunk with her. My mothers mother, who's birthday I was anticipating, is the exact opposite. As she's gotten on in years she's become increasingly girly, favoring pinks, roses, lace and potpourri, she is what one thinks of when they think grandmother. She loves my fiber work and will wear anything I give her with pride, even if it's not her colors or something she would normally choose herself. I wanted to give her something special, something she would love and I wanted to have it done in time.

Pattern: Little Arrowhead Shawl by Pam Allen (links to PDF)
Yarn: Handspun 3 ply Tencel Merino blend spun from roving from Hanksinthehood
Needles: US 7 Addi Turbo Circs

Notes:
This was a wonderful quick knit. Cast on and off in less then a week. It's a small shawl, and if I had more yarn I probably would have added at least one more repeat but I only spun enough to knit the pattern Exactly. The lace is simple and easy to memorize. The shawl itself needs an good wet blocking even though the pattern suggests a light steam block, I soaked it good and stretched it as much as I could to get mileage out of it. Knitting lace in a DK/Worsted weight is super gratifying because the lace builds quickly and you can see each stitch, this would be an ideal project for a first time lace shawl knitter.

And here's the woman of honor, seated next to her life partner (my grandma is so cool) of 40 years, a man who is 15 years younger then her.

89!! I should look so good when I'm 70

I'm Dyeing

2008-04-10T11:48:00.002-04:00

Really I am. I was out of work sick for two days (damn treatment getting me down.) And as any loyal reader knows, I suck at lying in bed all day. Too much to do, to much to see to be horizontal all day long. I took advantage of the time at home at carded up some batts for the shop. I also messed around with some roving. Here's one of them I think I'm calling it "Desert Rose" it's 4.5oz superwash and I'll list it tomorrow.

Dessie has taken a shine to my batts and I find her stealing them if I leave them on the floor too long. Now while most dogs would chew and destroy something furry and fuzzy Dessie has a different approach

She drags them to a sunny spot and snuggles them. When I look at this picture I can almost hear her saying "Mines all mines, you can't haz it." Yes Dessie speaks like a lolcat in my head.

On the knitting front I've been working on the Little Arrowhead Lace Shawl. I spun up some Merino/Tencel from Hanks in the Hood, yes I love that shop, it was 4oz (ha-ha I originally typed 40oz but that wouldn't be a fiber thing) and I spun a dk 3 ply and stretched it to about 250 yards. I'm almost done it's a quick knit and the tencel makes it shine and gives it a lovely drape. Hopefully it will be done before Saturday because I'm intending it to go to my grandmother for her 89th (I'll give you a moment to process how old she is) birthday. I figure if you're lucky enough to live to see 89 then you deserve a beautiful handspun hand knit shawl.

I love my grandma, she's a wonderful woman who at the age she is has yet to give up her independence, she is an inspiration to me and the woman who inspired my love of fiber. At the age of 5 she decided I should learn to crochet and started me out on some Red Heart Supersaver and a saize h hook. I'm sure I didn't make much but I do remember chain stitching a mile long chain for a school project ( I think we were studying measurements of length) in the 3rd grade. Grandma thank you for inspiring me, I'm sure you had no idea what an obsession I would develop.

Fiber Friday

2008-04-04T11:51:00.002-04:00

Okay..I'm not feeling too well. But here's some yarn I spun this week. It's all for swapping except the last yarn (cause I can't give it all away!)

I need to start the chart for the hat pattern cause I realize some knitter prefer charts but I can post the pattern without the chart tonight so let me know which you prefer. I know I've been procratinating but cut me some slack cause I'm sick.

I've so been using the I'm sick thing to my benefit I think it may be the only good thing about having cancer. I haven't had to do my own laundry or food shopping since I got sick and my father has taken to sending me random checks, like money's gonna make me feel better (okay it can't hurt) but I know that this is how he does things so I'm not going to complain.

Raspberry Sorbet from Hanks in the Hood on Etsy. I love this store I signed up for their fiber club which is an entire POUND of fiber (good stuff too like tencel, bamboo, merino and alpaca) each month for three months for the AMAZING cost of 60 bucks TOTAL. (I'M USING CAPS BECAUSE YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND WHAT AN AMAZING DEAL THIS IS!!!!!!!!)

It's 50% Alpaca 45% Wool Top 5% Mohari 2 oz total spun lond draw to about 100 yards worsted weight 2 ply. It's so soft I can barely give it to it's rightful owner.

Up next is "Into the Blue" Hand dyed and carded by me it's a 50/50 wool top bfl mix that I spun long draw into 130 yards dk weight fulled singles.

Up next is 110 yards worsted weight fulled singles Wool Top Mohair from my Electric Razzberry colorway.

"Rose Garden" sport/dk weight Corriedale and glitz spun from batts on AspenMoonArts on etsy. About 130 yards fulled singles

The colors didn't really photograph well this is a much richer yarn then the pictures would have you believe.

And lastly the yarn I'm keeping for me. 270 yards 3 ply (I navajo plied it) superwash wool/nylon blend for socks. I'm testing out a product I hope to list soon called Sock Batts which would come with the batt and some contrasting batts in just nylon for heels and toes. I still need to spin up the contrast yarn but here's what I have so far.

Whirling Dervish

2008-04-01T11:28:00.002-04:00

I've been spinning like a mad woman the past few days. I signed up for a few too many swaps and now my treadle foot has to pay the price.

I also want to mention that I'm featured in the Yarn Museum's current show "Singles." My White Witch Yarn

is displayed for all to see. Yes it's listed under my legal name "Tanya" so now you all know stickyfingers has a normal name. (Don't tell too many people I would hate to loose my air of mystery.) It's also for sale at the shop so if you really like it you can make it yours!

Onto other spinny things
Here is Spunky Eclectic's Fiber of the Month for October 2007 called "Goblin Eyes."

It's romney and I know it's blasphemy to say but I really don'l like romney that much. It hasn't embraced its sticky sheepy nature like Shetland does and it isn't soft like merino or sproingy like cormo. Romney to me is like a wool that wants to be something greater then it is. I say embrace your lowly roots be scratchy and greasy or be soft and smooshy but this in between shit just ain't cutting it for me right now. End rant.

Well I didn't know what to do with this fiber but I had two swaps that requested green or purple yarn and being the lazy sick lady I am these days I really didn't want to go through the hassel of dyeing up something new and experimenting with the dye pot, then waiting for the roving to dry, I wanted to spin and I wanted to spin NOW!!!. I dug through the stash monster (which is reaching epic proportions) and found the Spunky roving.

The first yarn I spun woolen with a short draw and then andean plied it on itself I wound up with about 80 yards of dk yarn

(it's not that green I don't know whats going on in this photo)

See it's nice, simple earthy and perfect for it's intended recipient.

Then I took the other half of the roving and went nuts. It seems that everyone is reading the Lexi Boeger (Pluckyfluff) books and spinning nutso crazy almost unknittable yarn. I love to look at the stuff but I would never (I'm saying never even though I know I'm probably gonna eat my words) use the stuff. I can't see how a super coil would make anything usefull but I love how it looks. I just don't have room to display all my yarn on bookshelves and not do something more productive with it. But I digress, I spun the second half of the roving also woolen and over spun it a bit. Then I plied it with quilting thread strung with metallic beads and created a boucle which has *gasp* coils!!!!

See I'm not gonna knit this, I'm giving it away so I can have the fun of spinning crazy ass yarn but not the pressure of figuring out what to do with it.

Everyone sing with me now "I've got the best of both worlds..." Okay excuse me my Hannah Montana moment and just bask in the yarn that comes from the same roving but looks very different, I like to think of these yarns as the twins from the Parent Trap. Each will go with a different parent any maybe one day they'll meet again at summer camp.

An FO that slipped my Mind

2008-03-26T15:18:00.002-04:00

Okay, I've had a bit more to worry about then posting my knits but I feel bad since I like this sweater so much.

Pattern: Airy Wrap Around Lace Sweater (Ravelry link) from Fitted Knits
Yarn: Venezia Color by Lang Yarns
Needles: US 13
Notes: I lengthened the body by one cable repeat (this was done accidentally cause I'm a careless knitter) but the length helps the look.

I shortened both sides considerable since many people who had knit the sweater before complained that it created a sausage effect when two huge scarfs are wrapped around the waist. The longer side is long enough to cross over the front, around the back to the other side. The other side is half that crossing over the front only.

I also created a hole on the shorter side to thread the longer tie through. I did this by picking up 15 less stitches then the pattern called for and simply casting 15 stitches on in the middle of the pick up row so a gap would be formed.

When the sweater was finished and blocked I tried it on and the neckline was wonky so I crab stitched with a crochet hook from shoulder to shoulder to tighten the neckline and give it some more shape.

Since I modded the wraps I used less yarn then the pattern calls for and I still have 2 or 3 balls of this stuff lying around. The yarn is nice, not too scratchy and it doesn't shed like most mohair.

I'm happy with this sweater and I've already gotten compliments. It's just a little finicky to wear and I find myself adjusting it periodically during the day.

Here's a detail shot of the hole I created for threading the tie through

Where has Sticky Gone?

2008-03-25T11:08:00.004-04:00

I'll be honest with you all, I'm sick. Well I was sick and now I'm getting better. I ~~have~~ had cancer. I was seemingly well out the outside thanks to what they call "mild treatment" which means I get to keep my hair and not look like a walking corpse, but I still haven't felt well in a long time. Before my last treatment I took a trip to Florida for some sun and relaxation. And yes I started a warm weather knitting project to bring with me. I forgot how annoying knitting with cotton can be but also how liberating it is to know that your project will be done in half the time because you don't have to knit full sleeves.

Here's some pics to distract you (I am knitting in one of them) and I'll have that hat pattern posted in no time.

I swear the ocean never fails to make me feel better

Playing with the macros setting on my new camera

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One of these birds crapped on my cousin

Turtle orgy!!

See I told you there would be knitting. The pattern is Lotus Tank from IK which is a free pattern if you join Knitting Daily

It's nice seeing bright colored flowers in March

It wouldn't be Florida without coconuts and palm trees.

Fiber Friday (And More Excuses)

2008-03-14T11:44:00.002-04:00

Okay I finished the second test hat and my dad liked it so much he took it, its the same yarn as the first one only I went up one needle size (which is probably better.)

It doesn't fit him so well which leads me to believe that this hat is best suited for a woman's medium sized head, though it is knitted with a rather tight gauge so I guess one could just knit in a looser tension to make a larger size and the cables have a lot of stretch and give. I'm finished writing up the pattern and I promise I will type it up tonight.

In the meantime I'll distract you with pictures of yarn. Spindle spun Merino/Romney X about 1.1oz Sport/Dk weight 45 yards. Plied with gold thread and gold beads.

Did I mention how much I love the macro's on my new camera. I could have never taken this pics with the old one.

The new fly wheel for my Majacraft Little Gem arrived but I'm so busy with other things that I haven't gotten bit by the spinnning bug. I'm trying to finish sweaters before it's too warm to wear them but I honestly think that the Kauni is going to take me another year to complete. I'm like 1/3 done with the first sleeve, but I still have to steek and knit the second sleeve and then steek the sweater body and neck and pick up like a gazillion stitches for the button and neck band. My head hurts just thinking about it.

I'm almost 2/3 of the way done with a cropped cardigan knit out of some wonderful yarn I hand dyed, but it's another bulky yarn knit so I can't take credit for how fast it's going.

I need to start thinking about warm weather knitting/crocheting. I haven't even looked in the new spring interweave because I still have warm woolies to finish and I'm trying to stick to this yarn diet (which I have already cheated on but shhhh. Don't tell!) I bought some cotton yarn from Seaport knits for a crochet project.

I hadn't been to the new Seaport Yarn store front, and wow, it's like a million times better then the scary abandoned office of yarn occupied cubicles it used to be. There is actually someone sitting by the door when you come in and it's set up like a real store. The new location is like 2 blocks from the WTC path station which is dangerous because I may start making yarn detours on the way home. But I will not allow myself to do this until April because I really don't need yarn or fibers until I use what I've got.

Psychic Puppy

2008-03-13T15:16:00.003-04:00

Madam Desdemona predicts a hat pattern will be posted here sometime in the near future.

She also says that the spirits are telling her that you have an ancient curse on your head and the only way she can remove it is to send her 100 milk bones.

I know you're probably thinking if Stickyfingers has enough damn time to dress her dog up and take humiliating photos then she has enough damn time to retest and post that pattern of hers. And well, you're right but a girl needs to have her fun!

Someone Explain to Me

2008-03-10T10:50:00.004-04:00

Why in NJ there are like dozens of St. Patrick's Day Parades, none of which occur on St. Patrick's day?

It boggles my mind that the Irish get like 3 weekends worth of parades to celebrate a holiday that is best known for drunks and leprechauns.

That said, this weekend I participated in one of these superfluous parades. A friend of mine performs at children's parties as the Disney Princesses, singing songs and painting faces...The company she works for was contracted to send in all their numerous characters to sit on floats for the Jersey City St. Patrick's day parade. I planned on going out to watch the parade and to cheer for her.

Late Saturday night, about 12:30 AM my phone rings, it seems that one of the "Princesses" has gone MIA and they need a quick fill in, I agree to help out. I am assigned Princess Jasmine ,from the movie Aladdin, she is the princess who wears the least amount of clothing. I reluctantly agree knowing that the temperatures in Jersey City are due to reach a whopping 40 degrees with wind gusting up to 30 miles an hour.

For over 2 hours I smiled and I froze, and when all was said and done I ran home to thaw my body out and hopefully regain feeling in my toes. Here are some pictures of my public humiliation.

See I'm damn near naked!! (I'm wearing a body stocking so I have no belly button, I'm anatomically correct underneath.) Oh and look at those gloves, they are knitted, I couldn't have a post with zero crafts in it ya know.

Belle gets to wear an entire dress!

My charming prince, and yes I am wearing a totally pimp looking coat.

It's not an Irish parade without a leprechaun!

I have no idea what Ariel has to do with the Irish, although she does have red hair, maybe she's some sort of Celtic fish.

If you smile long enough your cheeks start to hurt.

The Irish Woman of the Year was conspicuously missing from the float which puzzled me.

Okay enough, I look a damn fool, enjoy my humiliation, I still can't feel my tootsies.

Poi Pattern

2008-03-08T18:27:00.003-05:00

Here is a pattern for some practice Poi. I just started spinning poi and I didn't want to wait for the poi I ordered to arrive. If you want to learn more about Poi I suggest checking out this website.

For this pattern you will need about 200 yards of worsted weight yarn. I used caron simply soft (to be honest I had no idea how this pattern was going to turn out and I didn't care if I had to throw the yarn away) from my stash monster and a H sized crochet hook.

Poi Pattern

Handle and String
Chain 80 stitches (you will need to add more stitches if a 20 stitch loop is not big enough for your hands)
1st row: HDC (half double crochet) in 20th chain from hook, creating a loop where you will place your fingers later. HDC in each of the next 50 stitches leaving a tail of 10 sts left.
Break yarn

Poi Ball
You may want to mark your rows with a stitch marker. Just mark the first stitch of each round so you know where the next row starts.
Chain 4 stitches join to create a loop
Row 1: HDC into the loop 12 times
Row 2: HDC into first stitch to join the round, *2 HDC into the next stitch, 1 HDC into next stitch* repeat to the end of row (18 sts total)
Row 3: HDC into the first stitch and each stitch after (18 sts total)
Row 4: Repeat Row 2 (26 sts total)
Row 5: Repeat Row 3 (26 sts total)
Rows 6 & 7: Repeat the last two rows once more (39 sts total)
Row 8: HDC in each stitch to the end
Row 9: Repeat row 8
Row 10: HDC in first stitch, *Decrease 1 stitch by HDC the next two sts together, HDC into next stitch* repeat to end of row (26 sts total)
Row 11: HDC into the first stitch and each stitch after (26 sts total)
Row 12, 13, 14 & 15: Repeat the last two rows two times more (12 sts total)
Break yarn.

Stuffing the Poi. I stuffed my poi with some old jersey fabric to give it weight but make it soft enough so it doesn't hurt when I get whacked. I would not suggest poly fill because it is not heavy enough.

Once the poi have been stuffed attach the handle to the ball by taking the tail of 10 chain stitches and threading them through the open end of the ball. Draw through closing the opening and fasten with a good knot. Weave in the ends and voila.

I'm not the best crocheter and I'm sure I've messed up some of the terminology please feel free to post any errors or corrections you may find in the comments and I will correct my mistakes.

Here's a little video of the poi in action. Please ignore my "I'm concentrating" face.

Leaving You In Suspense

2008-03-03T16:25:00.002-05:00

The pattern is still being written (and by written I mean translated from scribbles and markings into something tangible and legible to all.) Until it's ready amuse yourselves with this picture of yarn.
Spindle Spun (yes I still know how to use a spindle) 350 yards light fingering 2oz Merino/Tencel Blend

Oh and I had a great video of me frogging a sweater but blogger keeps rejecting the file so just picture me frogging a sweater and lamenting the idea that maybe my psychic gauge estimating abilities aren't really up to snuff.

Okay I Really Can't Make Up My Mind

2008-02-28T14:58:00.004-05:00

I've had a few great names given to me both here and on Craftster.org but really I can't pick a name so help me out. You can vote as many times as you want but please don't stuff the ballot.

more at twiigs.com...

Name That Hat

2008-02-26T11:07:00.004-05:00

Here's the deal I created a cabled hat pattern. I want to share it with you all but I have no name for it. I will post some pics below and leave a comment with a suggestions for the pattern name. Please help me my brain has turned to mush and I love this pattern so. If I pick your name you get an acknowledgement and I'll make you a set of some custom stitch markers (who doesn't like free presents!)

The hat in the snow

The hat on my head (I'm watching you...)

I May Have a Problem

2008-02-25T13:37:00.003-05:00

I think I might be addicted to fiber and yarn. I realized this after dropping almost a hundred bucks at In Sheep's Clothing a wonderful store in Torrington CT (near my parents country home.) This was the same store I had purchase my loom at last weekend so if I add my two purchases together plus the 125 I spent replacing the drive wheel of my majacraft I have spent almost 500 dollars on fiber related things this month.....

Please wait a moment while I rest my head on the desk so I don't pass out

Okay, I'm back. I think this spending means I have to go on another yarn diet. For some reason I suck at food diets but yarn diets allow me to rediscover all the wonderfulness that is hidden in the stash monster. I think I'll diet for a month and see how that goes. This diet should give me incentive to start (and um, finish) all the projects I currently have yarn for.

I cast on another pair of socks out of my handspun this weekend. Its my sock pattern as seen in the side bar over to your right.

Now you may ask why do I keep casting on socks? I've stated before that I don't really like knitting socks, but knitted socks are so nice to wear and well, everyone else likes to knit socks I feel like an anomaly for not knitting them. What can I say I guess I'm a follower.

Sock one is done, but I left this project in CT. I think I have an overwhelming desire to leave UFO's wherever I go, like some demented knitting obsessed Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs to find their way home. I have UFO's at my mothers apartment, my parents weekend home, in my purse, in the glove compartment of my car and one at my sisters place which I'm sure she has thrown out.

Woolly Wonders

2008-02-22T11:38:00.002-05:00

First the FO I've been keeping you waiting on

Pattern: Urchin
Yarn: Handspun from KnittyDirtyGirl received in a swap
Needles: US 10
Notes: I made the large size to use up most of the yarn but I probably should have made the medium since the FO is slightly too big for my noggin. This is a great one skein project and it really shows off the wonderful qualities of handspun yarn

Sorry for the wonky pic, it's hard trying to photograph the back of your own head.

I then used the left overs to knit one for one of my Blythe Dolls (warning creepy doll pic ahead) I also changed her eye chips so no more pink or orange eyes.

Then I broke out the loom (I'm loving weaving its so nice to do in front of the TV cause it doesn't require half the attention knitting does.) I searched through the stash monster and came up with two balls of Ella Rae Classic wool. I warped for a plaid weave, I'm kind of making shit up as I go along, I'm not sure if I'm doing anything "right" but I am having fun and that's what counts!

It has tons of errors but it was a good learning experience and I think I got a pretty cute pillow out of it

Please note that the weave isn't lumpy the pillow is. I didn't have a pillow form so I just stuffed the pillow cover full of poly fill.

Since the wheel's still broken I haven't been able to spin, but I have been carding like a mad woman. I even broke out the spindle but I remembered how damn long it takes to spindle yarn. I'm still spindling but I'll probably be done with the yarn next May.
Here's some pretty batts to distract you. (Psst, I hear they're for sale at the etsy but don't tell anyone, I wouldn't want a stampede....)
Wool Top and Cotswold Locks

BFL

BFL & Soy Silk

Cotton, Bamboo, Wool Top, Mohair and Soy Silk

This post is approved by Dessie who is happy to announce that spell check is fixed

Back in black

2008-02-19T14:27:00.004-05:00

Three day weekends are awesome. An extra day to rest and craft, but somehow I can't help feeling like they still aren't long enough. I'm 27 now, super old : P (old enough to be married with children if you ask my grandma, who still hasn't forgiven me for not making this happen sooner.)
You know you're getting old when you get excited about a vacuum cleaner as a present. My old one died from all the yarn, fiber and bits of thread I made it consume and the new one is a kick ass hover upright bagless. I know this should some how equal a clean house but I assure you it won't.

I bought myself an Ashford Riggid Heddle Loom as a birthday prezzie to me and look at what I made yesterday

The warp is Noro Kureon and the weft is some fuzzy Alpalite which is only 82 yards a skein. This is what I love about weaving, it took one Noro and less then one Alpalite to make an entire scarf which means a woven scarf uses like a thousand percent less materials and I can now use my orphan skeins to make things that are usfull. Not that a mug cozy is useless but lets be honest it kind of is...

Here's a few more shots of Dessie's new sweater. These were taken with my new camera, another birthday present a Canon Powershot that kicks the crap outta my old camera (which is 7 years old, and it's served me well)

I added some toggle buttons to make it look more professional

And I tried to knit the shopping tunic but I had the wrong sized yarn, which didn't stop me from knitting it but it did stop it from fitting me. I'd show pics but they are way to embarassing (even for me someone with little shame)

I have an FO to share but I'll save it for later in the week. Here's a hint, lets see if you can guess what it is.

They Say It's Your Birthday

2008-02-15T11:00:00.005-05:00

It's my birthday too yeah!!
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time.

My birthday is this weekend. I'll be running away to CT to spend some time with the family so they can harrass me about when I'm getitng married and producing little people to carry on my gene code.

But enough about me. How about some yarn?

I call it "Aquamore" it's 390 yards 2ply fingering weight 1.7oz spun from the roving I combed up in a prior post

Then I gave one of my blythe dolls a hair cut and perm, (if big eyed creepy dolls scare you don't read any further!)

She's wearing a mini version of Twinkle's Shopping Tunic from Big City Knits that I knit up for a blythe swap. I'm going to knit the big version for myself this weekend.

Happy friday everone, kick back relax and enjoy the extra day on monday!

FO for the Puppy

2008-02-14T12:03:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentines Day all, I don't celebrate (I know all single people say that but I didn't celebrate when I was hooked up either) but I won't hold it against you if you do.

I finished the sweater for the puppy. I need to buy buttons, but I'm using large beads until I do

(Crappy cell phone pic, I'll post better pics later on)
Pattern: Warm and Wooly from "Doggy Knits"
Yarn: I skein Berrocco Foliage and 1 Skein Lambs Pride Bulky
Needles: US 10 & US 11
Notes: I modified this pattern a bit, first by adding stripes and second by increasing the ribbing on both the bottom (1 inch) and the top (2 inches) I think the yarn requirements are off because the pattern said I would need 3 balls at 140 yards but I used only 2 balls and had lots and lots of yarn left over. This was a quick knit, I cast on Tuesday night and cast off last night around 10PM. Dessie is not the biggest fan of sweaters but she hates the cold even more so she has to deal. I would reccomend this pattern to anyone who is sick of tiny stitches and fiddle patterns, straight forward simple and well written I loved knitting this.

I'm still clicking spell check, but at least I know nothing's gonna happen!

Well That Was Interesting

2008-02-13T11:26:00.005-05:00

It seems the best way to direct traffic to my site is to insult something openly and with as many curse words as possible. I'm over it, hat attack was like a bad breakup that comes out of nowhere and leaves you feeling more angry then sad. Moving on.

I went to SNB last night at the Merchant and someone was knitting those SNUGGs I've been coveting. What's super awesome is that she's gonna lend me the pattern so I don't have to buy it, because really who just buys a pattern? If I was gonaa buy the pattern I'd buy the kit, and then some yarn to keep it company, and then before you know it the stash monster is larger then ever. I have no FO's today and no pretty pictures, no wait, I'm lying I have some sock yarn to show off.
These are in my "almost solid" series. These yarns are perfect for cable and lace socks because you don't want all your hard work getting lost in lovely colors that distract from the stitch details.
"Eat Your Greens"

"Hearts Aflame"

Hearts Aflame was dyed using a shibori method. First I skeined up the yarn, then I tied it off in several locations with a cut up plastic bag to resist the dye. Then the yarn took a trip to the dye pot and soaked up some maroon. Next I lifted the skein out and removed the ties, the yarn then went back in the dye pot in a yellow brown. the result is light shifts in the color that creates a cool illusion but doesn't distract from stitches that deserve the spot light. As usual these can be found on my etsy.

It snowed yesterday, the heavens must have heard my lament about such a snowless winter. Beautful white flakes covered the surfaces of Jersey City making everything look clean and bright. I love how snow reflects the light at night giving everything a dreamy halo and turning the sky lavender. Dessie loves snow too, but hates the rock salt that people use to get rid of snow. It cuts into her little paws and she had a freak out during our walk. I literally had to carry her like a child back to the apartment and then wash her paws because they had started to bleed. There must be something better then rock salt, which aside from hurting dogs, ruins cars and kills trees. I felt so bad for her I cast on a sweater from "Doggy Knits" a book that no one seems to know about. I'll post pics when it's finished which should be tonight. Until then....hat attack can still kiss my ass (I'm over it I swear)

Spell check as usual isn't working, why even have the button anymore? It just tortures me to know that my illiteracy could be fixed with a click but no. I think it's pavlovian at this point that I keep clicking away hoping something will happen even though the better part of me knows nothing will.

Hat Attack Can Kiss My Ass

2008-02-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

This post will probably draw ire from those who take an opposing view point but I don't care. I signed up for Hat Attack and read all of the directions carefully. Hat Attack is like Sock Wars for people who don't like to knit socks, and though I do knit socks, I don't really like knitting them. I signed up eager because I'm a quick knitter and I like knitting hats. I also figured I could stash bust a bit for this. Well I got the pattern dug out a yarn and 5 hours later I had my hat. I packed it up and sent it FedEx. Well here's where my ass gets chapped, I was supposed to knit it right handed for it to be up to code. And if I didn't knit it right handed well then I should have thought like a right handed knitter (which would be difficult since I'm fucking LEFT HANDED) and crossed the cables the other way. But see the directions say you have to follow the pattern exactly, and if I follow the pattern exactly and I knit like a left handed person then my cables will cross the wrong way. No note was made for lefty's to knit the cables reversed, no indications that the cables had to face left the only thing the patten said was mis-crossed cables wouldn't work. Well my cables are not mis-crossed it just so happend that I like 10% of the population do things with my left hand. So all in all Hat Attack can kiss my left hand loving ass!
Here's the hat in all it's mis-crossed glory
Knit out of Patons SWS

Fiber Friday

2008-02-08T11:26:00.000-05:00

A few musing before I get down to business. Has anyone out there seen the "Little bit of Luck" commercials the New York Lottery is airing and putting up in the subways? That creepy little guy with the big head an bad hairline gives me the heebie jeebies and makes me not want to play the lottery, he makes me want to check under the bed to make sure he's not hiding down there.

I'm kind of upset that Mitt Romney dropped out of the race, he was making such a good case for why another Republican shouldn't be president. The Daily Show ripped him a new one last night and I laughed so hard I choked on my peppermint tea.

Okay enough personal ramblings on to the crafty goodies.

First I have some yarns to share
This was spun for Marisal on Ravelry as part of a trade for a Boye Needlemaster set
410 yards dk weight 6oz wool top

And this one is 400 yards 1.7oz (!!!) laceweight wool bamboo blend.

This fiber was purchased at Rhinebeck on the cheap but it appears to have been dyed so poorly. When I put the skein in the water to set the twist it bled so much that my sink got stained pink. I'm going to try to heat set the dye with citric acid when I get home.

Now heres a blending tutorial for wool combs (I love my combs and I hope this helps others who use combs)
I'm blending a 50/50 mix of Coopworth and Kid Mohair. Both fibers have equal staple lengths, when blending with combs its best to have fibers with similar staples because otherwise the longer fiber will comb out leaving the short fiber behind.
First I load the Coopworth

Then I layer some Kid Mohair on top
Then I repeat these two steps

ending with Kid Mohair
I spritz the fiber with a solution of water and conditioner. Just a teaspoon of conditioner to 2 cups water. I do this to eliminate static and to prevent fly aways. You can see my spritzer in the corner of the photos above.
Then I start combing, I like to do three passes, this picture is after two passes

After three passes I give the fiber a little tug to losen it up a bit

Then I take my diz and start to pull a Roving

Here's my roving all pulled out

Remember to leave a little bit of fiber on your comb when pulling the roving, this end fiber is usually considered "throwaway" but I card it up to make crazy blended batts.
I like to spin my combed roving with in 24 hours of when it was combed. I find it starts to loose it's loft and the fibers stick together (like a commercially prepped top) if I wait too long.
Look at these beautiful balls of roving waiting to be spun

I like using this prep for lace weight and sock yarns. This blend is currently being spun into a lovely two ply laceweight for a shawl.

Well I hope this helps you use your combs for interesting blends. I love to experiment with all types of fibers to see what works best.

And fyi spell check still doesn't work.

No Excuses About It!

2008-02-07T14:35:00.000-05:00

Here's the FO I mentioned earlier in the week. I sat down in front of Law & Order last night (that show has gotten so much better since they brought in Jeremy Sisto, whom I have a major crush on, its good TV again) and wove in the ends to this sweater. I am proud of this because it's the first "sweater" project I've finished, it's not a shrug, it has full sleeves, and it isn't cropped so there for it's the first "sweater." I never finish large objects and this one took me less then a month so color me impressed.

Pattern: Excuses from Magknits December 2007
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic (bought on sale for 2.99 a skein) 3 skiens and a mystery ladder yarn of DK weight less then 1/2 skein.
Needles: US 7 for body and US 9 for trim

Notes: The pattern gives directions for eyelets and a tie to be woven through the band under the chest, but I left those extras off because I thought it would be too busy and I'm not using the sari ribbon yarn which makes more sense as a tie. I knit the small size and used considerably less yarn then called for, I now have two lonley skeins of this yarn to add to the stash monster, so all things considered at 2.99 a ball this sweater cost me 9 bucks plus shipping! I love this FO and wore it to work today, where many people complimented it not knowing it was handmade. The seamless raglan construction is brilliant.

Dessie for some reason likes to be in these type of shots (I swear I don't do this on purpose)

I'm posting this even though my butt looks lumpy (I assure you it isn't....Well maybe just a little.)

My moody shot, okay I'll be honest I had a brain fart and forgot not to take a picture with light behind the subject.

And I added a new Combed top to the etsy it's an 85/15 Wool/Mohair blend with a killer black stripe running through it. Check out the first colorway "Acid Trip"

Spell check still isn't working, I'm going to buy a dictionary on the way home!

Argh!!!!

2008-02-06T10:58:00.001-05:00

There is a crack in my drive wheel of my Little Gem. A crack that runs along the rounded edge, and sadly I think the wheel is past warranty. I can't seem to find replacement drive wheels anywhere, I've looked high and low and even contacted the good folks at Majacraft to see what they suggest. The first suggestion was to use wood glue and C clamps to try and repair the crack. I'm going to give that a go cause honestly, am I gonna break it more? If that doesn't work I'll cry and whine and throw a tantrum (it seemed to get me things when I was a child) and if that doesn't work I'll suck it up and try harder to find a replacement wheel. This hasn't stopped me from spinning and I realize that I've been ignoring Louie the Louet. I may sell him because I don't use him any more and I'm not thinking I will unless the Majacraft is beyond repair. To sooth my mind I dyed some roving

And then I pulled out this kid Mohair

and this Coopworth

and started combing them together using the Indigo hound combs. The staple length is about the same so it's blending nicely. I load the combs in alternating layers then give a light spritz of water and dog conditioner to kill the static and comb three times. Then I pull a nice roving. I started spinning it into a very fine laceweight to make a 2ply for the Flower basket shawl from IK Fall 2004. I know you're probably thinkng that I already have two lace projects I'm ignoring but reasoning falls on deaf ears.
I finished the "Excuses" and I love it. The sweater blocked out beautifully and all I have to do is weave in the ends and take pictures but I'm still not feeling so great and I'm super lazy so that will have to wait for a later time.

I leave you with this pic of me taking out some "broken spinning wheel" agression on old crappy knitting needles.

Hot!

P.S. Dear blogger,
Fix your stupid effing spellcheck option. I hate when people know I'm less intelligent then I ~~clame~~ ~~claime~~ claim to be!

Staying On Track

2008-02-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't been feeling to well. Fighting off a cold or something worse is very tiring, my temperature has been hovering at the 100 degree mark, but my mom always told me a fever is higher then 100 so I perservere and plug on.

Congrats to Betzi who was chosen by the random number generator as the winner of the Bloggy giveaway. Betzi please email me as thrifty.girl@gmail.com asap if I don't hear from you by Friday I'll have to pick another winner.

I was quite productive this weekend knitting away at many UFO's despite my urge to knit something new. Okay I'm lying a bit I knit something new too, but it was a small project and I wanted to use up some stash yarn (which I should get bonus points for.) First up is this:

Pattern: Danica from Knitty Winter 2005
Yarn: Patons SWS (4 skeins)
Needles: US 9

Notes: This pattern was fun at first but after my millionth repeat of entrelac I started to feel my teeth itch from boredom. I put this sucker down for almost a month then picked it up as a pact to finish UFO's. I then figured this would be a great opportunity to knit backwards, since the constant turning of the work was making me batty. I can now knit lefty in continental style and righty in english style. So all in all I got something good out of this project. I was planning on the Lady Eleanore Stole but I think Danica cured me. The Patons SWS has a lovely sheen and feels nice to work with, but it can get a bit splitty. It was great to be able to spit splice my ends together so no weaving necessary. The final product is itchier then I thought it would be since the yarn itself didn't feel scratchy. But live and learn, now I just have to figure out who I'm gonna give it to.

(Oh lookie at my sassy hands on hip pose, I'm sooooo cool!)

I also in a fit of boredom cast on a hat.

Patten: Official Kittyville Hat
Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted (1/2 skein tan & 1/2 skein brown)
Needles: US 6 for seed stitch and US 7 for the rest of the hat

Notes: Left off the ear flaps and pom-poms. I figure I'll look stupid enough traipsing around manhattan in kitty ears (two guys at work have already made fun of me, but I think they secretly like it) ear flaps with huge pom-poms would be like wearing an "I'm a mentally defecient person" sign.

I can't get blogger to check my spelling and I can't spell for shit so I apologize if this post is making your eyes bleed.

P.S. Yay Giants! It was a boring game until the 4th quarter, good thing I spent most of the first three quarters watching the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.

FOs!

2008-01-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yes you read that title right FOs, as in plural. I have two to share today; I'm feeling productive and happy. Finishing these two inspired me to dig out some other UFO's and get cracking. If I can finish the small UFO's by this weekend then I'll tackle the larger ones. I'm resisting the urge to cast on new items. I want to cast on in the worst way. My fingers are itching for new wool, new needles and new ideas, but I will not cave in to my urges I will plug along and finish what I started. If I can do this then I will buy myself a Snuggs kit for adults in tan and light blue and I will be a happy little crafter.

First up on the bragging block is my Ripple and Ridge Scarf. I designed this myself from the Ripple and Ridge stitch pattern in Vogue Stitchionary Vol 1. I'm not sure if its okay to write up the pattern for sharing since all I did was that stitch pattern in repeats and set the yarn weight and length, but if you really want it I'll put it up for you.

Pattern: Ripple and Ridge Scarf

Yarn: Handspun Lace weight Superwash Merino/Tencel (50/50) dyed by Spunky Eclectic (its the September Colorway) 310 yards 28 wpi

Notes: This was a nice simple gratifying knit that would work well for variegated laceweight yarn that looks funny when knit in a more complicated pattern. The ripple effect really plays up the colors.

Here's a close up of the stitches to show you how they look.

I'm impressed with this knit, I loved it and I gladly gifted it to a very lovely co-worker who was ever so grateful and happy to receive it.

The next FO was a quick knit that I'm loving ever so much

Pattern: Sugar Plum Shrug from Interweave Knits Holiday Issue 2007

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere (bought 50% off at WEBS)

(Ignore my face it was early I'm not wearing any makeup and I'm sick as a dog)

Notes: This pattern is supposed to be knit in a mohair airy yarn, well I already have a shrug in brushed alpaca in white and I needed something different. This pattern required exactly the amount of cashmere I had so I figured I'd try it out and if worse came to worse I could frog. Knitting with the cashmere was like dipping my fingers in heaven, so soft and yummy I didn't want this project to end. The body is knit in one long piece and the lace pattern is easy to memorize. Then the cuffs and edging are knit separately and sewn on. I loved this piece so much I sewed the whole thing up as soon as it was done blocking, and wore it to work the very next day. I recommend this knit as a quick and gratifying piece, it’s a shrug so it knits quickly but it looks far more elegant and complex then it actually is. I can't tell you how much I love this shrug there are no words.

Subbing the worsted weight yarn for the mohair worked perfectly and I may knit this again in another non-mohair worsted yarn.

I end this post with the sun setting over Jersey City. I'm happy it stays lighter longer because I love coming home to this sight

Stickyfingers Blog Giveaway!!

2008-01-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

I have decided to take part in the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

I am offering up this hand made crocheted cotton clutch purse like the one pictured below (if you like this one I'll gladly send it out but you can request your own colors too)

How to win
It’s real simple! Post a comment. That’s it! REAL easy!
Some details
On Friday, February 2nd at 11:59 PM EST, comments will close and a winner will be selected using a random number generator. The winner will be posted on Sunday, February 3rd.
Duplicate comments will be deleted.
This giveaway is open to bloggers and non bloggers for US shipping addresses only.
The winner will be notified on Saturday, February 2nd via email.
The winner will have 4 days to respond with a shipping address. (Don’t forget to check your Spam/Bulk folders.) If I don’t receive the information within the time frame, another winner will be chosen by random number.

Other Crafty Persuits

2008-01-24T11:03:00.000-05:00

I had a strange dream last night. I dreamt I went to a party and woke up covered in tattoos, and not good tattoos either. I panicked and woke up with a start knocking poor Dessie off the bed. Not sure what it all means but it still haunts me even though I am very much awake right now.

This weekend I decided that my walls were still too nude and I must do something about it. I thought I would paint something, but it appears my paints were lost (thrown out by an asshole) during the move. What I did have was tons and tons of fiber so I thought I'd give felting a try. two hours later I had this

I don't know why the background is photographing brown, its gray. I wet felted the whole thing in the tub and added the sparkle and yarn design by needle felting after it dried. By the way wet felting may be one of the past ways to release frustration and tension, if jumping up and down barefoot in a tub full of suds and fiber doesn't make you feel better, nothing will. If memory serves me correct the background is wool blend, the dark blue is BFL roving, the purple is leftovers from the drum carder, the light blue/aqua is corriedale locks and the orange is Lincoln locks. I had to reinforce some of the lincoln locks becuase they didn't want to stay put.

I also made a clock for over the table out of a two dollar plate from target and a cheapo clock from the sale bin

It matches my new placemats, which I picked up at Target as well. I swear it's no good for my bank account living so close to a Target, that place is like a black hole of spending. Your money goes in and never comes out...

Then I rasterbated (get your mind outta the gutter this instant) a picture of Bettie Page to go by the empty wall near my bed.

I don't think this is permanenent but it will be a good place holder until I find something nicer to replace it with

I have other crafty things to show off but I'm gonna save them for a more traditional stickyfingers post. Oh and please please please vote for me, I'm loosing people loosing by alot and I can't deal with rejection right now : (

Long Weekend Lots O' Craftin

2008-01-22T13:55:00.000-05:00

I wove! I wove something wearable and I'm impressed (you probably should be too :P )

The warp is Brown Sheep Worsted and the Weft is Universal Yarns "Jewel." This was a present to my sister for her birthday which occured while she was overseas in France. The entire scarf is like 9 feet long (I know I went a little overboard) but it was fun and easy (completed start to finish in a single night) and my mother has already requested one in white.

As for the FO I was talking about last week
Pattern: Corazon from Knitty Winter 2006
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sportweight (2 skeins; 1 Green, 1Tan)

The colorwork is hard to see in photographs because the yarn is a bit fuzzy but it came out well. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn but I couldn't get gauge and Frog Tree Alpaca yarn is softness in yarn form, soft and warm these mittens are already well worn. I guess I got better as I knit because the second mitten was snugger then the first but blocking took care of that issue. I love this pattern and recommend it to anyone looking to try colorwork. It was a quick knit taking only 3 days from start to finish and the end results are lovely and impressive.

Currently on my needles is Excuses from Magknits which is proving to be a nice mindless TV knit. I'm hoping this is a sweater I'll finish. I've finally completed the body of my kauni and I'm procrastinating on casting on the sleeves. I kind of feel like the close I get to finishing that knit the closer I am to steeking and I'm not sure if my heart can take the stress.

I took a trip to Knitty City yesterday to buy more yarn (cause I really need more yarn) I actually have a good reason this time. My mother wanted me to weave her one of those scarfs and my cousins are in from Boston and begging for some thick yarn socks to wear with UGG type boots. I use a Lion Brand pattern that escapes me mind at the moment but is used with "thick and quick" to crochet these wonderfully squishy socks. I'm using Brown Sheep Bulky instead because wool is nicer on feet then acrylic. My sister then requested another pair as well but stupid me, I calculated the yardages wrong so I will have to stop by the yarn store again.

While there I picked up some sock yarn, I figure I'll give sock knitting another go round. Rob's birthday socks (which he'll never get cause he's an ass) are still on needles somewhere but I figured I'd go for a nice basic pattern and knit a small size so they would finish faster. If I can complete these I'll dig out the Rob socks finish them and give them to my dad or another man who isn't an ass.

And once again I'm still in the running (but badly losing) for February's knit girl. C'mon people this is good practice for the presidential election so get out there and vote (for me)!

Shameless Self Promotion

2008-01-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

I'm in the running to be a Bad Knit Girl (think suicide girls plus knitting and minus cooter)

Go vote for me I deserve your vote because February is my birthday month so I should be February's girl. That and I'm kind of awesome and totally dorky and us dorks need love.

A Study in Color

2008-01-18T11:26:00.000-05:00

So I promised a crafting post a dammit I keep my promises (well most of the time I have broken promises in the past but I assure you they were probably broken for a good reason and not because I can be a lazy cow!)

I dyed up some roving for the etsy two weeks ago but I just got around to taking pics. These are interesting because they are both from the same dye bath, dyed at the same time but the color results are very very different due to the nature of the wools in question.

Roving number 1 is a superwash merino. Superwash is well known for its dye sucking abilities, most people recommend letting your protein fiber soak in a bit of acid before dyeing so it takes the color better but I don't recommend doing this with superwash. There is something that happens to the wool during the process that makes it superwash that causes it to suck up dye like an alcoholic at happy hour. I soak my superwash in water only before the dye bath to avoid splotchy dye spots and uneven tones. This particular roving started out a hideous shade of yellow and was begging for some color to make it a bit less puke worthy. Here's the final result

I'm going to call it "Swamp Thing"

The second roving is 2oz of cormo that appears to have been pin drafted. I know a lot of people have issues with cormo, but it is super lovely to work with and so springy and smooshy, I would sleep though the night in a bed made of cormo. Cormo's trick is to not over process it, its elasticity makes it difficult to card but if you tease the locks open and comb it looks/feels wonderful. If you want to card cormo I reccomend teasing open the locks and spritzing them with a bit of water and fabric softener to beat them into submission and prevent the static from making you crazy. Here's the roving I'm calling it "Think Pink"

Now I know you're probably thinking, these two rovings could NEVER have come from the same dye bath. Well you're wrong, let me explain what happened here. First the dye bath was made from black Wiltons food dye. The black food dye breaks very easily because of all the colors used to make it appear black. I like using the black food dye exactly for this purpose, it gives a tie-dye effect to the finished product. Second, one must remember that superwash absorbs dye much better then cormo so the superwash roving took most of the color. Thirdly red and pink must reach a higher temperature before they will penetrate a fiber so as a result all the pinks were left in the dye bath for the cormo to absorb. And thus we have two very different colorways created from the same dye pot.

Onto spinning

"Snow Day"
130 yards Merino/Angora/ Angelina 55/40/5
Spun from batts I carded using the long draw method. I fulled the final yarn to create a fuzzy, soft, and strong yarn. I find that angora tends to want to break when I knit with it and fulling helps it hold its structure.

I also have an FO to share but I'll save that for next week!

One Door Closes

2008-01-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

I have been waiting for a promotion for 6 months now. It was promised to me, and I was given the work that I would be doing once I was promoted. For 6 months I have been working two jobs waiting and hoping that the promotion would just happen already. I was told this week that I would not be getting the promotion, and to make matters worse my current employment is now being questioned because so much of my time was spent doing the other job. I feel used and foolish, somehow I still believe the grade school saying that "hard work will be rewarded." It won't, at least in the corporate world it won't, the new saying is "shady dealings and backroom deals will be rewarded, all others will be cast aside as their usefulness runs it's course."

Enough griping....I'm starting to bore myself with all this complaining...Onto the crafting. I've finished a pair of mittens and I cast off the body for my kauni, lots of knitting to be featured soon I promise.

80's Prom Dress NYE Pics

2008-01-14T12:58:00.000-05:00

Before:

After:

Action Shot:

I had surgery last week so not much to write about. I got a ton of knitting done (recuperation and knitting go well together) watched another Degrassi marathon and sat through all 3 seasons of arrested development on DVD (my love for Micheal Cera is most unnatural.)

I'm Hooking Again!

2008-01-04T11:34:00.000-05:00

Get your mind outta the gutter, I'm just crocheting. I had some time to kill and the closet re-org helped me discover old yarn that I forgot I had or spun. I found this alpaca, which was my first attempt as spinning and prepping from a raw fleece

Its a bit over spun and thick and thin but damn it was soft and alpaca is warm. Jon bet me I couldn't finish a hat in a night, and I knew that I couldn't if I knit it, so I broke out the hooks and The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller and 2 hours later I had this.

Pattern: The PDQ from The Happy Hooker
Yarn: Handspun Alpaca worsted/bulky weight 250 yards
Notes: I finished the hat in 2 hours and then tried it on. I almost cried because the flaps stuck out funny and I forgot how inelastic alpaca can be. I threw the hat aside in a tired cranky rage but this morning I attached braids to the flaps and now I like the hat much much better. Because alpaca is so warm the holes really don't let my head get too drafty.

Onto the story of the dress. I was asked out by a friend to a New Years Eve gala. I don't really own any fancy schmancy clothes and lets be honest, how often am I gonna need a really fancy party dress? I had an idea that I sprung on Mollie who was totally into it. First we went thrifting for the ugliest 80's dress I could find. (Mollie has my pics and I will post them later) then I bought a ton of tulle and a pair of scissors. The gown was black and gold with a corset bodice and black long skirt (down to the floor), it had a gold stripe made from that awful 80's metallic fabric across the top and lace over the bodice. It looked very Madonna in her material girl phase and I knew it could be great. First we cut the skirt at the knees (the skirt material was acetate so I didn't feel guilty about ruining it) and then sewed the tulle underneath to give it a poufy look. I removed the gold stripe and added a halter tie. I loved the dress and everyone thought it was a Betsy Johnson. When I told my date that I was wearing an 80's prom dress he freaked (and maybe whined like a 7 year old girl) but even he told me it looked good. With shoes and a light jacket (both from target) I spent a total of 32 dollars on my outfit, 8 of which were spent on the dress itself. I've never really reconned an outfit before but I loved it.

Something New

2008-01-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

New Year, new craft...This is not a long post but I just wanted to show you what I've been up to

Weaving. It's like knitting but a bit more mindless (not mindless in a bad way.)

New Years day I cleaned and organized the craft closet, I now have only one crafting closet. I used to have one crafting closet, one box in the clothing closet and another box in the middle of the bedroom. Yeah I collect way way way too much crap. But look, organization in all it's glory

I knitted another Scraptastic Stashbusting Scarf

This one is for sale on the etsy I've also listed a few supplies that are still in their original packaging which I never used and probably never will.

New Years Eve was, overwhelming, I now have a reason for staying low key in the future. Much fun was had and the tale of the dress will be rolled out in the next post. Let's just say the tale revolves around a hideous $8.00 thrift store 80's dress and the determination of my ability to make anything nicer.

End of Year Wrap Up

2007-12-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

I should make some resolutions but instead I hope to make real changes. I never keep my resolutions. I will no longer stay in relationships long after they should have been dead and buried. I will stop trying to save those around me and instead try to save myself. I will spend less on things I don't need and save more for the things I do. I will try not to indulge in gossip (though I'm sure I'll be gossiping tonight.) I will love those around me with all my heart and remind them of my love as much as I can. I will rub Dessie's belly at least once a day and take her for at least a 30 minute walk when I get home from work. I will eat less crap (though I will not cut the crap out of my diet entirely.) I will throw away my scale, it brings me nothing but pain and no arbitrary number should have such an impact on my daily outlook.

On to the crafting. I bought myself a 10" rigid heddle loom as a Christmas present and I've been tooling around with it a bit, I hope this will be a good way to use all the handspun I've accumulated over the year. Weaving seems to have the ability to really showcase the beauty of handspun without much effort. Of course I know nothing about weaving but Mollie and I were up in Connecticut so we arranged an impromptu yarn crawl. (By yarn crawl I mean two whole stores, but shut-up and don't judge me I'm fragile.)

The first store was Hither and Yarn on Route 4 which is a lovely store stocked with all sorts of goodies. I fingered a 70 dollar ball of quivut but be proud because I didn't buy it. I purchased some 10" circs and a lovely set of redwood 11 straights. I also bought a bag of orphaned skeins which I've turned into the first in my series of "Stickyfingers Scraptacular Scrap Yarn Scarfs"

These are great for tv knitting and stash busting

Then we headed out to In Sheep's Clothing, a strange little store situated over a dress shop operated by a bona fide knitter, weaver, and spinner. I have shamefully never been to a yarn store that promoted spinning and weaving and Ginger, the woman who owns the store, was so kind and helpful I picked up some yarn for warp and weft for a cute scarf and also I couldn't help myself I grabbed two ounces of the most delicious kid mohair in blue tones

I have some spinnies to show off. The first is mohair worsted weight 270 yards 5 oz

I had never spun pure mohair before but I like the slippy/grippy feeling. Too bad I hate to wear mohair.
The next is a 50/50 merino silk blend dyed by Momascrapalota and sent to me with the wheel I purchased from her. This was a dream to spin. In a perfect world I would spin nothing but merino silk. This is just over 300 yards of dk weight 2 ply

I don't even want to do anything with this, I just want to use it as a pillow.

The last skein is merino X spun from batts I received from mandalinn for a craftster swap. The colors aren't really me but I have about 150 yards sport weight 2 ply which I may make into a drop stitch scarf or sell on my etsy. This was spun with a modified long draw to make it super squishy and soft. There was ton of grease on the batts and I think even after three soakings the yarn still retains the lanolin feel.

That's it for now. I'm currently knitting another scrap yarn scarf as mindless knitting for my law and order new years eve marathon. I have a wonderful story about the dress I'm going to wear tonight but that's another tale for another time. Details to come. May all of you have a healthy and wonderful new year and I hope the best for the days to come!

FO for the Holidays

2007-12-24T12:17:00.001-05:00

I needed a hat, a nice hat, a white hat to match my camel coat. I dug into the stash monster and found a half used ball of Patons Classic Merino (not the best yarn but a good bargain for the price) and found my IK holiday issue. I had been eyeing the Koolhaus hat, and even though everyone else is knitting it I found myself following the pack.

Pattern: Koolhaus from IK Holiday Knits
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino
Notes: Um this pattern with all the friggin cable stitches drove me insane. What should have been a 2 hour knit took me three days cause my hands would start to cramp and I would get frustrated. I love, love, love the finished product but wow what an effort. I made a few modifications. I did an extra repeat (I'm not so good at reading patterns) and so to compensate I blocked the hat with a fold at the ribbing, which I like better then the beanie style. This hat is wonderful, exactly what I was going for (which doesn't happen often) and I'm going to wear it until it falls apart. White goes with everything you know.

On a side note I finally got around to taking a picture of the Lacey Coquette Tube Top from fitted knits(a bad pic but still a pic.) I knit this in brown sheep cotton fleece and though it looks good here this top stretches to a huge size during the day. Here's the pic and look at all the attitude I'm giving, Tyra would be proud.

FO x 2 and Other Weekend Goodness

2007-12-17T10:49:00.000-05:00

I knit like a mad woman this weekend. Working on multiple projects and dying up goodies for the shop. Friday night I stayed up until 2AM just working away sipping a good glass of Cabernet and watching all my DVR shows from the week. My hard work was rewarded with not one but TWO FO's to share.

The first was the Scarf for Jon. I worked this entire scarf up in three evening spending about 1/2 - 1 hr each night. Its a bit short (my stupidity in thinking a 6'1" man needs a scarf the same length that I a 5'2" girl would wear) but the colors are nice and the yarn is soft and squishy.

Pattern: Made up by me using a stitch pattern in Vogue Stitchionary Vol 1
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky in Taupe 3 skeins 213 yards

Notes: I goofed a bit on the garter stitch edge on a couple of rows carrying the pattern all the way over, but its not noticeable unless your a knitter or incredibly astute. I love this yarn its all kind of goodness all wrapped up in a machine washable package. I will definitely use this yarn again and the pattern is a nice quick knit done in chunky yarn with US10 needles. Both the "right" side (bottom area) and the "wrong" side (top area) make for an interesting pattern so it will be a scarf that can be worn either way

I rushed to get this scarf done because Jon was coming over to help me set up my tree. I realized that without the help of someone larger then me I would have to get a tiny tree, and I've had tiny trees in the past but this year I wanted a real tree. We drove out to 440 farms and after a few mishaps involving tying the tree to the car and then having to cut off bottom branches this is what I got

Yes the tree is next to my majacraft little gem

Decorated

lights on with flash

Lights off without flash (very blurry but you get the idea)
I'm happy with the tree, I need to go buy a tree topper I think I'll get a star cause I don't like the idea of an Angel with a pine tree up it's butt.

Jon wanted to see the scarf so I gave it to him and he loved it, but he wants me to wrap it up and give it like a real present so he left it at my house. He helped my bake shortbread cookies and wow they are yum, but very very very fattening (2 1/2 sticks of butter!) so I brought a tray into work today. I figured my co-workers will get fat but love me for it.

The second FO was cast on Friday and finished last night.
Pattern: truffle clutch from Yarn magazine online.
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Vanilla and mystery cotton from when I used to shop at the Yarn Co (I hate to even suggest I patronized those bitches)

I didn't follow the pattern for the lining instead I used fusible interface and ironed on some cotton fabric, the interface really helps the bag keep it's shape

I used a small snap as the closure and sewed a bead on top to make it more pleasing to the eye

Here it is blocking out. You can see that the sides are a bit wonky but I was able to fix that when I sewed the bag together.

After all that crafting I sat down Sunday night with a hot cup of tea and watched the sunset

I listened to the wind howl and rattle the glass in my window panes but I felt good and warm.

How many days left??!!

2007-12-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

I have yet to buy a Christmas tree and for some reason my grandmother has taken this personally, like me not buying a tree equates less love for my roman catholic roots. I'm half Jewish and half catholic which meant twice as many presents growing up, and also twice as many religious responsibilities. In fact if you combine all the things you're not supposed to do from the bible and the Torah I think you're left with sitting, standing and sleeping (but not too much sleep lest ye be guilty of sloth) as acceptable activities. Anyways my catholic grandma is demanding to know why I have my menorah out but have yet to buy a Christmas tree. I love Christmas trees, real ones with their piney natural smell decked out in all the ornaments I've hand made or collected over the years, but to be honest I can stash a menorah in the back of my closet in a shoe box and I can't really do that with a Christmas tree. I am caving in to her pressure and Saturday the tree will be bought and decorated.

I started the scarf for Jon from my holiday knitting list and I'm 2/3rds done with the thing already. No pattern is being used, I'm making it up as I go along and I borrowed a stitch pattern from the Vogue Stitchionary Volume 1. Here's a pic I took before I knocked out another 1/3 last night.

(yes that's Dessie in the background, I couldn't get her off the couch so I could take the pic)
I'm using Debbie Bliss cashmerino chunky and its a lovely yarn, which is also machine washable because if I've learned anything about knitting for men it's that whatever you make them better be able to go through the machine (men do not hand wash!) I only bought 3 balls and its 71 yards each I'm afraid the scarf will be too short and I don't have enough time to order more yarn, but I'm gonna block this sucka out until it begs for mercy.

Next on the holiday knit list, ("HKL") is the Juno sweater for my mom. I finished the back last night and if I can finish the scarf I'll cast on for the front. I hate, hate, hate the Skye Tweed yarn I'm using but it's what I have and my mom loves the color.

For my sister I've added another item to the HKL, the truffle clutch, which is cute and tiny and should be a quick knit and a stash buster.

My coworkers scarf is coming along and I may be able to cross this off the list soon. Its now officially too long for subway knitting.

I received my package for the Art Yarn swap I organized over on craftster and my partner LUBEE spoiled me rotten. Just look at all the goodies she sent to be turned into one fantastic skein of crazy, gnarly art yarn.

I've spun a few art yarns before but I can't wait to see what I can come up with.

I also received my partner for the Secret Ground Hog Bunny Swap (Its a non-denominational holiday swap on Ravelry) but I have no idea how much stuff to send. If anyone out there has participated in a secret partner swap please let me know what is an acceptable package cause I'm a little lost. Thanks in advance!

Cleaning Out My Closets

2007-12-10T11:19:00.000-05:00

I have an FO, of course it's not any of the projects I listed in my last post (that would be too logical.) I was cleaning out my crafting closet, I must decrease my stash monster before the new year and I really have taken on too many hobbies that I don't actively participate in anymore, when I came across my fingerless gloves from One Skein. I started knitting these all the way back in march and I have been like 10 rows shy of finishing them for the longest time. I sat down at the boob tube (the pattern is simple garter stitch in a small gauge but easy enough for tv knitting) and cranked them out in less then an episode of Degrassi High (a guilty mindless pleasure of mine) which was being shown as part of a 24 hour marathon!

Here they are, bad pictures abound because I have no one to help me photograph and taking pictures of your own hands can be precarious.
Pattern: Fingerless Garter Mitts from One Skein
Yarn: Hand spun hand dyed silk yarn from my first foray into spinning silk hankies, 200 yards (give or take a yard or 10) of fingering weight 2 ply.
Needles: US1
Notes: Ran out of yarn for the second mitt so it's a bit tighter then the first, but my hands are two different sizes and I was able to block out the difference. This is one of the few patterns I've knit from the book, I bought it expecting more but it has good potential for dealing with those lonely skeins of handspun I have lying around. I really can't figure out if I'll ever wear these, it seemed like a good idea at the time but now I dunno, I can't wear them to the office and I'm not sure how effective they would be on a night out.

On to the pics

On the creepy doll front, I received my package from Carrieme for the craftster Blythe Holiday swap and she sent me the most amazing package. Have a look (if the dolls don't give you nightmares, I find them charming)
The loot

The girls in their new Pj's testing out their new lounge chairs

Thanks carrieme you're the best!

Holiday Knitting

2007-12-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

Every good crafter does it, we tell ourselves we will give out handmade presents (or at least stocking stuffers) and then wait until almost the last minute, drive ourselves insane and then fall into a crafting coma. I am no exception to this effect, I realize now its closer to Christmas then not, and Hanukkah is already here. I have the great pleasure of being born of Catholic and Jewish parents which means that I get presents twice in December, but also have to give presents twice in December. I have been up late nights with my pointy sticks and string, and though I'll admit it here, I'll deny in person that I have also broken out the crochet hooks, beads, clay, and felting supplies. Its hard to craft things for everyone, people tend to be picky and many of them don't realize the special qualities of nice handmade gift. Though I have not taken the "buy handmade pledge" touted by etsy (I mean c'mon I'm not going to find anything for my picky, crabby father on etsy he needs like tools or a good smack in the back of the head for the holidays) I am trying to at least buy stocking stuffers from etsy shops.

Here's what I have pending
-I have like more then 2/3rds of my mothers Juno to knit.
-My sister is a fashionista and I can't figure out what I'm going to make her, for the secret santa swap at work
-I'm making knitty's Danica out of patons sws in black gray and white (nice and gender neutral because I don't know if my present will be picked by a man or woman)
-Laura at work is getting the super secret pattern I'm working on.
-Both grandma's will be very angry if they don't get something made of wool.
-Jane is coming into the city this weekend and I have no present for her as of yet (hello late night knitting!)
-And there's a guy who I'm seeing who I promised a scarf to only after he begged me (I know knitting for guys = bad luck, but hey if its not gonna work its not gonna work no matter how long you hold off knitting for them)
-Mollie wants a Pullip doll and I'll probably cave in and get her one, but she's a beginning knitter and I think I'll spin her some mollie-tastic yarn to play with.
-I still have Rob's socks on the needles and even though we're not together anymore I think I'll give them to him, they are way way way too big for my teensy size 6 feet.

In addition to all that I need to make tiny things to give out to unexpected people, I don't know who I'm spending Christmas with but my family is large and I'll forget someone and then run around the house like a chicken whose head has been cut off looking for something I can quickly wrap and won't miss too much.

Even though I'm under all this pressure I managed to dye up some new yarns. I'm now offering Super Fat Sock yarn which is a sport weight yarn good for house socks or boot socks have a looksie at what I did
Ripe Banana
210 Yards Sport weight
100% Superwash Merino

Super Sock
Sangria
340 yards fingering weight
100% superwash merino

As always they are available on my etsy.

Do you have a ton of holiday knitting? Commiserate with me in the comments. I'll have interesting notes on my weekend adventures.

Pondering

2007-12-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

I am working on a new pattern, this one is good for left over laceweight yarn, you will only need about 300 yards to create something lovely. Anyone out there have use of a charting program and some time to donate so I can make this pattern as readable as possible. I'm still knitting away to finish the item. I'll give you two hints, I'm using the Aspen yarn I posted two posts down and I'm borrowing heavily from the Vogue Stitchionary 1. If you can help me, I promise to repay you in gratitude, I would be the happiest blogger on the block.

Still Recuperating

2007-12-03T11:21:00.000-05:00

Oh my aching weekend. Instead of taking it easy (as per my doctors orders) I got it in my head that it would be a good idea to go out with some friends to enjoy my single status. Well cut to my stumbling into a cab at 5AM (yes 5AM, I thought I was still 21 at the time) I can't even remember most of what transpired during the night though I do remember asking a bouncer to carry me to the bathroom because I was tiny and people weren't moving out of my way (the funny thing is he obliged and wow do I feel like an ass about it.)

Its Monday morning and I think I'm still hungover, somewhere during the night I switched from my usual single malt scotch on the rocks to beer and then to tequila, (my tummy hurts just thinking about it.) I also remembered why its a good idea to eat dinner before one goes out drinking.

Enough of my crazy life, I'm checking myself into a convent on the way home, no more shenanigans for me, I'm too used to living like a married lady to really enjoy the single in the city life I used to lead.

On the fiber front I have another FO, with a sad after thought about how I lost one of my wonderful mittens during drunken debauchery. That's the bad thing about knitted items they should never leave the house because I will loose them, (drunk or not.) Hopefully my friend will find it at his apartment or Mollie will find it in her pocket, those are the only two places I haven't been able to look.

Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty
Yarn: Handspun Cormo from locks sold by AspenMoonArts on Etsy. I rewashed and combed these out spinning a light fingering 2ply yarn.

And Modeled by Dessie (who hates when I dress her up in my knitting)

It snowed yesterday, the first snow of the season, I think we got almost an inch and I forgot how clean everything looks after the first snow fall, white and crisp.
Here's some shots from my terrace cause I was too hung over to go out to get some real pics

(See even Jersey can look nice in the snow)

Accumulation on my terrace.

I'm off to finish working, which is what I should be doing while I'm posting this, but I won't tell if you don't : )

Happy Friday

2007-11-30T11:45:00.000-05:00

I need this weekend. I had to take the day off work yesterday due to some shellfish finding its way into my chicken piccatta. I spent the morning in the hospital getting holes pocked in my arms for IV's cortisone and some new blood. (I now officially have someone else's plasma flowing through my veins and it kind of creeps me out.) I woke up at 6AM yesterday unable to breathe and when I made my way into the bathroom a balloon from the thanksgiving day parade was staring back at me. Out of the hospital at 12PM they gave me strict orders to remain in a seated position for the rest of the day (something about lying down and airway blockage) so I did what any hyper obsessed fiber artist does. I spun. I dove into the stash monster and pulled out some roving. Spunky Eclectic FOTM from September in the Aspen Colorway
50/50 Superwash Merino Tencel
2 oz
26wpi (laceweight)
300 Yards

Then when that was done I picked up some yarn I had spun from locks bought from Aspenmoonarts on etsy.
This started out as like so

3.7oz of Merino Corriedale mixed locks
I washed them using my handy dandy small batch technique and then combed them out using my indigo hound double pitch combs that were purchased at rhinebeck. The final combing resulted in about 2.2 oz of usable roving, the rest was sent through the carder to make the Sea Glass batts for sale in my etsy.

Then I spun two bobbins of worsted technique laceweight yarn and plied them together to make 220 yards of fingering weight.

Which is slowly becoming a Branching Out for my mom's Birthday next week

Speaking of my mom, she's now officially a star. Through some very random turn of events she now stars in her own commercial. Click here to watch her, I honestly can't get through the thing without dying of laughter and calling her up to scream 'Tender to the Touch" over and over again but that may be because I'm immature and she's my mom. On a side note my mother really does have Fibromyalgia and I'm glad that she can help get the message out about this strange disease.

FO!

2007-11-28T10:31:00.000-05:00

Here's the Thrummed mittens I had posted about in all their finished glory!

Pattern: Thrummed Mittens by Knitfreak
Yarn: Handspun 70% Coopworth 30% Silk spun from 3.4 oz batts sold by AspenMoonArts on Etsy, I think I may still have enough yarn to make a matching hat but I don't think the yarn is good hat yarn.
Thrums: Mill Ends from the sheep shed dyed with Brazilwood
Without flash

With Flash

Thrum side out

This was a great pattern for tiny hands like mine. I must say it was a daunting first steeking experience. The pattern has you pick up stitches on alternating rows and then cut the row in the middle with no reinforcement what so every. My first steek was a bit clumsy and I had to sew up the ends with some leftover yarn but my second steek was very pretty. It is nerve racking cutting into your knitting but I think this was good practice for what I'm going to have to do to the Kauni when I'm done. The thrums are super soft and squishy and I know these are going to be warm mittens, they feel like UGG boots for the hands. This was a quick knit probably taking only 6 hours knitting time total and I knocked them out during a wine and turkey induced haze from thanksgiving.

Hot B*tches making out

2007-11-27T18:47:00.001-05:00

Ha-ha the only hot bitch in this post is my dog, she's one warm little puppy!

Family Overload

2007-11-26T10:29:00.000-05:00

This past weekend (and by weekend I mean Wednesday - Sunday) I spent more time re-countimg the reasons Rob and I were no longer together then eating turkey, watching football and sleeping combined. I can tell the story backwards and forwards in my sleep and as far as my family is concerned I will never produce children for them to dote on (not that I intended on producing children in the first place but I digress.)

Late Wednesday night I picked up my sister and drove out to CT where we would stop for the night before continuing the drive up to Bahhhh-ston. My family is not from Boston, we are true blue born and bred New Yorkers. My Grandparents were born in NYC as were my parents and me but my Uncle's family lives in Boston and they have the biggest house so each year we pile into the cars and travel 6+ hours to eat turkey and say "wicked cool" or "go Sox!!" (I'll never willingly say the second one as long as I live.)

I knitted to stay sane and finished the thrummed mittens. They are quite cute and still blocking (stupid wool won't dry) so no pics yet. They were a great quick and easy project and it was my first steeking experience. I must say there is no greater rush/revulsion at cutting up your knitting. The pattern is a bit precarious because instead of giving you a steeking area you pick up stitches on two rows and then cut the row in between, which gives you an entire steeking area of 1 row!! I'm quite thankful I used handspun made of coopworth/silk blend. Coopworth is a sticky wool and better for steeking then superwash or even merino would be.

I got home Saturday night and was wired from the weekends activities. I knitted the Kauni which I'm proud to say I still haven't abandoned. I cast on the extra stitched for the arm holes last night so I'd say I'm almost 60% done with it. I worry about the yarn being so damn itchy because the last thing I need is another itchy sweater.

I finished spinning the corriedale merino locks I bought on Etsy. They needed a good washing and combing but spinning combed wool was nice and easy. I have about 210 yards of fingering yarn and I'm thinking a lace scarflette for my mothers birthday in two weeks. Any suggestions for a good pattern?

I received some wonderful craftster swap packages this weekend. First from Ilovemystarbursts in the Blythe Pullip Swap I received these great Jeans for my girls

and from Mandalinn I received all these goodies (she really out did herself I feel like my package was not even close to what it should have been)

On the Etsy front I combed up some batts this weekend and they are listed for sale
Mermaids Tail - Merino/Alpaca with gold glitz 3.7oz

Sea Glass - Merino, Angora, Bamboo, Wool Top, Corriedale and white gold glitz 3.4oz

Hiya Chuck!

2007-11-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

I love that line, I love all things peanuts and proudly declare my love in printed tee-shirts and pajama pants. Nothing pleases me more then curling up on the sofa with Dessie-pup a hot cup of tea and a Charlie Brown holiday special, last night was no exception. Though I have seen all the holiday specials more times then I can count, and can repeat the lines word for word before the characters say them I still find great joy in their simplicity and honesty.

Last night my knitting group tried a new location. We abandoned the Beechwood Cafe (too many snotty attitudes and the kitchen closes before a normal 5 year old's bed time) and ventured into the wild of Jersey City. We settled on the Brownstone Diner and though it wasn't as "roomy" as the Beechwood there was real food, light and blessed silence. I'm not sure this will be a permanent locale but it was a nice change of pace and I had a good dinner.

I took my Mystic Water stole with me, and I must admit I'm terribly behind in this endeavor. There are people out there who jump on the clues and finish in a day or so, but I'm lagging back on row 61 and no where near where I "should" be. I blame this on my yarn. Its Valley alpaca silk and its lovely but fuzzy and the plies keep splitting apart making what should be a straightforward lace project aggravating and slightly stabby making. Still I plug along, I should also not that I am way way way behind on the Nautical Knitter stole as well so I'm going to need to find some serious lace knitting time. On a side note, bringing a lace project to knit night is not really the best idea, I feel so consumed that I couldn't really enjoy myself like I should have, next time I'll bring the garter stitch jacket I'm working on, nice and mindless so I can talk and maybe even order an adult beverage *gasp!!!!*

I got home last night and though I should work on the Kauni (its been sitting there way too long) I cast on for yet another project. I have about 220 yards of DK handspun from my October Spin Along on Ravelry and I've been coveting thrummed mittens, I figured I have Ugg boots for my feet so I should have "ugg" mittens for my hands. I cast on from this pattern with this yarn

and some mill ends roving I dyed up with Brazil wood awhile ago. The effect is nice the yellow/green yarn seems to go well with the pale pink/peach of the roving and I will post pics as soon as the first one is finished.

In other knitting news I finally Cast Off the baby sweater I knit for Nicollette's baby

Its from this pattern, but I decided to knit it up in Berrocco Foliage yarn (which is bulky thick and thin) and not change colors because the yarn is variegated. I have one skein of the yarn left and I am trying to figure out if I should knit a hat for the baby or a hat for her older son. I don't think I have enough yarn for both but maybe I can blend it with something I already have in the stash monster.

I also listed a new item on my Etsy Store

Hand dyed washed alpaca fleece in "Dusty Rose"

Isn't it lovely, I love this alpaca (I have like 10 lbs in the stash monster) its soft and clean and with a little combing or carding it spins up so well. I like to wash my alpaca before I spin it because all the dust and VM makes me a bit ill but I know there are people out there who like to spin without really cleaning or prepping first. As they say to each their own

In Craftster news I'm organizing a handspun art yarn swap so if your a member and want to join up click here.

As they say in Kindergarten "gobble gobble happy turkey day!" (which doesn't make sense because I don't think the turkey is very happy)

Three Day Week

2007-11-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile and you all should scold me for being so neglectful but I have updates and I promise at least one pic this week.

I sat down on Saturday with a bag full of washed and dyed Merino/Corriedale locks, and my Indigo Hound double pitch combs and combed away. 4 hours later I sat with a basket full of top and a bag full of short fibers that are begging to be run through the drum carder. I worked at my Majacraft little Gem and began spinning what will probably become lace-weight 2ply. I've been working in lots of blues lately (my fav color) and this is no exception, its a little more sea foam then blue but its nice and heathered from the combing process. I've grown to appreciate the combs, they are not as easy to use as the drum carder but they are much easier to use then the hand cards. I've also started creating Diz's in all different sized because pulling roving is so much fun and very stress relieving.

I was able to finally enjoy a quiet weekend. After all the insanity that has been going on in my personal life it was a true joy to just sit quietly in my new home feeling comfy and warm. There is something to be said to peace of mind and quiet time to ponder one's thoughts.

I enjoyed a nice walk Saturday with puppy-girl and after we played in the dog run (haha I just typed god run) I stooped by the farmers market that sets up shop in Van Vorst Park and bought some squash and fruit. I do like the farmers market and I will miss it during the winter months.

This is a three day work week for me so I'll be enjoying an 5 day weekend!! I'll also be answering all my families pressing questions about the state of my love life. I can't wait!!

Freaking Tired

2007-11-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

I swear I can't keep my eyes open today. I'm sitting at my desk trying to figure out how to crawl into the space underneath and nap a la George Costanza. Mollie had a terrible week last week and called to tell me that one of her room-mates made a racial slur about her brother. I love Mollie like a sister, and even though she is very light-skinnded (as she likes to say) she is still half black and any comments about African Americans strike her deep because she knows that most people can't tell she's a minority from the surface. Well you best believe that when she told me this girl called her brother a "half-breed" I was in the car with my war paint on in 2.5 seconds. No one insults my girl like that and damn if I can't help her get through this. I've been having her sleep over until the room-mate leaves and well lets just say angry friends and too much wine don't make for a restful night.

Rob came to get the last of his stuff this weekend and though my heart is heavy its really for the best. There is something so sad about seeing physical holes in your bookshelf and realizing that they are a poignant metaphor for the holes in your life.

On the craftin front I have some spinnies from last week
"Butter Nut Squash"
110 yards
1.7 oz
fingering weight
70% Coopworth
30% silk

And
"Lady of the Lake"
74 yards
3oz
bulky novelty yarn with slubs and beads core spun around cotton thread
mohair and corriedale

Lady of the Lake is available at my etsy

I also finished my Blythe/Pullip swap package and sent it out. My partner received so I'll post what she got
This hand sewn jumper with a snap clasp in the back

These hat sets

The purple hat came with a wrap around shrug and the white had came with a drop stitch scarf. I think I may offer the white hat set at my etsy because its an excellent use of left over yarn and the pattern is 100% original.

Random Photos

2007-11-06T10:38:00.000-05:00

Halloween came and went in a chilly October night. Seeing as I have no children and a terrible sweet tooth I dressed up the dog for some trick or treating.

She kind of hates me for this. But I too got into the spirit

Fimo devil horns made during the 11th hour the night before. I strung them up and actually wore them to work. I think I was the only adult on the train in costume at 8 in the AM.

I created a new colorway
Arctic Chill

Then I exhausted the dye bath on some Border Leicester locks

both are available at my etsy.

I have been working on teeny tiny doll clothes for the Blythe/pullip swap over at craftster and I think I have created a good slouchy hat pattern that I will post. I also knitted up a drop stitch hat from some handspun which I can post but I have to work out the math first. I tend to knit first and take notes second but I promise I will try my best.

This Is The Way We Scrub Our Wool

2007-11-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of having some time this weekend to scour some wool for Necia so she can spin it up for stranded mittens. I figured that this was a good a time as any to take pics and post a tutorial for my scouring method. I like my method because even though you can only scour small batches (think 12 oz) it works well and you don't ruin the washing machine or dirty the tub beyond recognition. I would like to note that if you can't get your tap water hot enough it really makes it easy on your self to keep a pot of water at a low simmer through the process to add a bit of boiling water to the bath. I'm also assuming that you have picked all the large bits of VM out of the fleece, because that's what I do, though I think you could use this method if you haven't picked out the bit first.

Scouring Wool
You will need the following items
1. A large stock pot
2. Dirty dirty dirty fleece (seriously this guy was skirted but smells like an old urinal)
3. A sieve or colander
4. A towel
5. Powdered laundry soap (not pictured)

Lets get a closer look at the dirty fleece

Yucky!

Step 1
First run some cold water into the pot

Then place the fleece into the pot

Push the fleece down using the sieve or colander. And let sit for 10-20 minutes.
Use the sieve/colander to lift the wool out of the pot

(Please ignore the blue, I figured since I was washing for Necia I could clean some dyed merino too :)
Your water should look like this (or worse)

Empty the cold water and give the pot a quick rinse.

Step 2
Get your detergent and take 1/2 a scoop and put into the pot

Add hot (as hot as you can get) water to the pot with the soap.

If your water isn't hot enough this would be the point where you would add a few cups of the simmering water you have on the stove to the tap water you have in the pot.
Add the fleece back to the pot of hot soapy water and cover with the lid.

The lid helps the water stay hot. Leave the fleece in the hot water for 15 minutes. Do not leave it in too long or the water will cool down and the lanolin will redeposit itself on the wool, making your efforts null.
Scoop out the fleece from the hot soapy water

Drain the pot and rinse, repeat Step 2 one to two more times with the detergent, and then without the detergent until the water looks clear when the fleece is taken out

Step 3
When the water looks clear after a washing the fleece is clean. Lift the fleece out of the water and allow to drip dry in the sieve for an hour or two

Once all the excess water has dripped out place the fleece on a towel

Start to roll the fleece in the towel gently squeezing to remove excess water

Now the fleece should be comfortable in a nice towel burrito

Find a nice dry spot (outside or in) and lay the fleece out an a different towel to finish drying

Want to see a side by side before and after?

It looks like a totally different animal.

I hope this helps you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Fleece cleaning is not a daunting as it may seem.

You what's more difficult then cleaning a fleece? Cleaning a dog!

Seriously at least the fleece doesn't struggle with you and look at you with sad dog eyes as if saying "why are you doing this to me? I do not like this thing you are doing!"

And yes that is the fleece in the pot sitting next to the dog I bathed them together. So I would only have to clean the tub once (I'm so lazy/smart)

Buying Impulses

2007-11-01T16:34:00.000-04:00

I can't control myself, I see pictures of lovely yarn and beautiful fiber on the Internet and I lose control of my fingertips. In the past few days I have made three different purchases from etsy shops and then on a whim I googled Cormo fleece....Big mistake.

I kept hearing about how soft Cormo fleece was and to be honest I've spun a bit from wool top but never dealt with the fleece itself. And I know you're probably thinking, "Tanya didn't you just buy a fleece at rhinebeck?!" And well I did, but I wanted to buy two fleeces, but having a practical friend with me (who not so gently reminded me that if I blew all my money at the first stop I wasn't allowed to purchase shiny pretty, woolly things at all the other stores) prevented me from buying two fleeces. I took home the Romney, but I wanted a Cormo. I still have a Border Leicester on the terrace and the Romney is keeping it company and now in the mail I have a Cormo coming to make it a threesome. It was a good deal actually a 2lb hogget (baby sheep)fleece, covered part year, skirted, with a 3.5 inch staple classified as "fine fine crimp." I understand that Cormo usually has a 4 inch staple length, but the shorter length means I can run it through the carder instead of combing it all by hand. I'm excited to play with it and if I have leftovers I may dye up some locks and list them on the etsy.

Speaking of the etsy I listed a few more things today, one new listing is already sold. The dyed silk hankies I had mentioned in the previous post, here they are in all their glory
"Sangria" Hankies 1oz

Then I dyed up another sock yarn (okay I didn't dye this up last night, I dyed it up a few days ago, but I just listed it)
"RenFair" 340 yards fingering superwash merino sock yarn

I absolutely promise to post those tutorials for dying and fleece washing next week. I am taking all my supplies to my fathers house in CT this weekend where I will be a prepping and dying machine. If you have any pictures that remind you of fall please send them my way I am looking for inspiration for new colorways.

Good Ventillation Is Always a Must

2007-10-30T10:37:00.000-04:00

I've been dying lately, dying and prepping. I have lots of free time on my hands now that I'm all alone. It gets quiet in the house, but if I stay busy and keep the TV on for background noise I'm okay.

When I said I had lots of free time I was lying, I now have to do what two people used to, all be it for one less person but damned if I know how to do laundry. Rob was the clean one and I was the crafter. Moving on from my pity party, and into the creative process...
My Little Gem arrived last week, the Monday after Rhinebeck to be precise which was perfect because I have all these things to spin now. It takes a little getting used to when switching from Irish tension (the babe and Louie) to Scotch tension. I have yet to name the wheel so for now she will be called Majacraft, she is most definitely a female where as Louie is so masculine. In addition to my new wheel I bought Indigo Hound Double Pitch Combs at rhinebeck and though I have poked little holes in my finger tips I find the learning curve on these things isn't so bad at all. Youtube and the internets can teach a lot especially when you find this woman. She is a little loud and very energetic, but stick around and watch her fiber prepping tutorials, she should have a show on DIY network or something.

I scoured my first wool fleece in a sink this weekend and I think I have a technique that can't be beat, (don't we all say that) I'll do another batch this week and post photos. It really is a good technique because it saves you from scrubbing the tub. And last night I spend a few hours combing and spinning the wool that was dry. Spinning from combed wool is a dream, super easy and the final results are lovely. I was using a long wool so the final product won't be soft on the skin but I'm sure I can make something lovely out of it. I was truly amazed at how the fleece turned from a dingy yellow, stinky, greasy mess to a lovely white cloud that smelled only slightly like wool and more clean then any yarn I had knit with lately.

I also spent the weekend dying with the new colors I picked up at rhinebeck. I did some hankies, which I don't have a pic of yet, they are super lovely, vibrant and warm. I'll take pics tonight and post as soon as I can.

I also did sock yarn, here's the first

Abominable Snowman

this yarn is based on this guy (the big dude in the back)

And then I did some roving based on the sunset I watched from my balcony

Both are available at my etsy shop.

I am thinking I will do a post on my dying technique as well. I do both and and cold pour methods, but I also do a pasta jar method that makes color blending a snap, its best for small batch dye jobs, but those are the only ones I do anyway. All yarns and fibers are one of a kind and difficult to replicate, though I can come close.

My Credit Card Got a Workout Part II

2007-10-29T12:26:00.000-04:00

So I hope you are all caught up on the events leading up to the besetest day of my year so far. Sunday was the main event and Mollie and I were well prepared. We woke at 8:30AM and got dressed, packed and ready as fast as we could. We had decided the day before to have IHOP for breakfast because neither of us eats there with regularity and there is something magical about silver dollar pancakes with 5 different syrups to dip them in. And after realizing we would have to wait for a table, and then pondering if it was worth waiting for a table (yes it was pancakes and different syrups are always worth the wait.) We decided to stick around and stuff ourselves with carby goodness.

Full of starch and fat we headed north to the fairgrounds for some serious fiber shopping. We got there early enough to get parking that was kind of close and paid our 10 buck entrance fee. I was overwhelmed by what I saw, this was my first fiber fair ever and OH MY GOD it was just sensory over load, best told in a picture post.

First stop was the fleece sale and even though most of the good fleeces had been sold I bought myself a lovely Romney (long wool, good crimp, white)

The lady in charge was marking down the cormo's that were left and I so wanted one, but even at sale prices it was just too rich for my blood.

We walked up and down the barns picking and buying what interested us. Mollie was far more reserved the I was and well, its good to have a person who will whisper in your ear, "do you really need two whole fleeces?"

We saw lots of animals and I had to keep stopping myself from buying one of these adorable angora bunnies. They shed a bit too much and I don't know how princess puppy Dessie would deal with another animal fighting for my love.

I saw lots of sheep and alpacas

This guy kissed me while I was trying to take his picture. His tongue was slimy and his breath was deadly

This gal had just received a haircut and I'm sure she wasn't too happy that I took a nudie shot of her.

This one was getting a haircut and complaining to the stylist the entire time

This sheep was in blackface, I asked Mollie if she was offended and she said I "should stop being cute"

Rams doing what all men do on Sunday, lay around the pen

After all this shopping and animal petting I was famished, I saw the Artichoke French stand and squealed with delight. Mollie was no way no how going to stand in line with me so she perused the food building, bought wine, got lunch and came back for me before I was even served

But they are so worth the weight/wait (haha)

In our hasty planning we totally missed Building A which housed all the bestest stuff. Live and learn as they say.
We packed up the car and headed home, tired, sun-kissed and broke

Here's my total haul

If you click this link you can see the flickr page which has notes on everything

It was a good weekend with plenty of purchases and good company.

For Sale Babe Pinkie Spinning Wheel

2007-10-27T10:33:00.001-04:00

I now interrupt my normal blogging to post an ad:
Hello everyone, I am parting with my babe pinkie wheel. I used this wheel mostly as a travel wheel supplementing my louet but now that I have a Little Gem I have to make some room. A wheel like this usually sells for 194.00, but I am willing to part with it for 120.00 which includes shipping. It comes with two regular bobbins and a jumbo/plying bobbin. I will throw in a few batts for fun if you like at no extra cost. This wheel is a good for children, or as a secondary wheel, I can also see it being useful for plying. The pictures below show the wheel as is but I will most certainly clean it up before I send it out.

Yes I do spin barefoot, but those will come out with Mr. Clean Magic Erasure, and I will remove them before I send out.

For more information on the babe pinkie wheel check out this site .

If you are interested please email me at thrifty.girl@gmail.com

THE WHEEL HAS BEEN SOLD THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST.

Back to your normal blogging posts Monday.

My Credit Card Got a Workout Part 1

2007-10-23T13:19:00.000-04:00

So here's my full Rhinebeck recap. I don't even know where to begin. I'm sorely lacking in photos because my arms were full of fiber and fried artichokes for most of the day. I'll start at the beginning and finish at the end, but I have so much to tell it will be two posts long.

Friday
Friday night I loaded up the car with Dessie and a weekend bag full of clean clothes and some knitting projects and headed into Manhattan to pick up my best friend in the whole wide world, Mollie. Mollie is a newbie knitter and not yet prone to fiber induced insanity but I hoped this trip would make her a full blown addict. Mollie is a severe overpacker and this worried me because if there are too many bags of clothes then there will not be enough room for bags of fibery goodness.

We drove up to my fathers house in CT to drop off the dog for the weekend and to crash a bit closer to our final destination. We went to bed early knowing full well that we would be leaving as soon as possible to get where we needed to be. We had no plans to go to the festival on Saturday, too crowded and I get evil when I'm pushed around, so we figured we'd make a day trip of it.

Saturday
First stop was the back of the community my father's house is in to get pictures of the fall foliage.

I walked to the waters edge and saw this

It reminded me of the Kauni sweater I have been ignoring, I figured it was a sign and vowed this would not be a project I left in the pile.

We then headed out on the road stopping only to eat friendly's fried food and ice cream sundays.

Around 4PM we arrived at the hotel and checked into our room. Mollie had to do her hair, a process I soon found out that takes an hour plus, before we went out. I quickly grew bored so I broke out a spindle I had made and a batt that I purchased on etsy and spun to quiet my anticipation

We headed out and decided we would try to hit up the Headless Horseman before the Ravelry party. It was a very elaborate haunted house, 3 haunted houses actually and one hay ride that was ripe with clowns (I hate clowns) which caused me a panic attack. At one point I could have sworn that I was being hit on by a few demons, but brushed it off as silly fun, until one demon actually pulled me out of my group to "scare" (get my name) and if Mollie hadn't come back to get me I'm sure I would still be there right now.

After we were thoroughly frightened we loaded back into the car and headed to Riccardi's Hideaway for the Ravelry party. And when I say headed I mean we drove in the right direction, though it was the wrong direction, back tracked, figure out we were right the first time, turned around, stopped at a gas station or 3 for directions and got lost at least 4 more times. We got to the bar 10 minutes before the raffle in just enough time to grab a gin and tonic, and cold cheese burger and a winning ticket!!

That's me snuggling my new superwash merino roving from Spunky Eclectic in the Ravelry colorway.
There were lots of people at the party

That's Casey and Jess in the background. I met Amy from Spunky Eclectic, and promptly couldn't think of a thing to say, so a babbled for a moment and literally stopped talking! It was so awkward, I'm not good at meeting people.

I also met Necia, who I could talk to but mostly because she did the talking for the both of us. She is so outgoing it was hard to be shy. I saw the Yarn Harlot rocking her Kauni, but the New Yorker in me refused to let me introduce myself to a "celebrity" (us New Yorkers like to pretend with think celebrities are like regular people but we point to them when we are not looking and are probably as in awe as anyone else in the country, but as New Yorkers we must appear cool in all situations.)

Around 11:30 things calmed down a bit and Mollie and I headed back to our hotel to open the Riesling I had bought and drink and knit. We would go to bed early because Sunday would be the big day. We went to bed tipsy and dreamed of yarn and sheep, tomorrow we would go for broke. ....

Updates

2007-10-22T10:48:00.000-04:00

I went to Rhinebeck this weekend. Full post to follow, I still have to upload my photos and sort through my new stash.

I'm updating the blog look. I didn't like the brown anymore it was crowded. Let me know if this is better.

I added a few new things to the shop last week
Dracula Batts 4.4oz Merino, corriedale, mohair and gold glitz

Lily Merino Roving 1.9oz

I finished clue 1 for the Secret of the stole

And I have been slowly chugging through the second clue, I am behind, this is not good. I must finished up to at least half of clue 3 before the week is done.

On the moving front, all is well. My new couch was delivered last week and its perfect, cushy and comforting it blends well with the carpet and my decor. I love my new apartment its perfect for me and the pup. Rob and I have hit a rough patch and he is not living with me at this point. I hope things will work out, but being in a new cheery place makes the difficult transition all the easier. I keep myself happy with lots of sunlight and even more fiber.

Did you go to Rhinebeck? What did you buy? Let me know which vendors I absolutely can not miss for next year. I think I may get an Angora bunny, they are too fluffy if you have one please let me know how it works for you.

Things to do instead of unpacking

2007-10-09T13:12:00.000-04:00

I left Rob this weekend to handle the house mess. He's really gone above and beyond what I thought he would be doing. He and his parents moved the entire apartment with the help of a U-Haul and a floor dolly. I couldn't believe the stack of boxes when I returned to the apartment.

Its nice being up high again, seeing the sun and knowing I can walk the dog at night without issue. I loved my old place, it had a tiny backyard and it was cheap cheap cheap! But one can only live with one window for so long. The damage to the building was becoming unbearable and it was time to step it up a level (or 15!) Now I reside in a studio apartment, it is bigger then my old 1 bedroom, but still one room can take its toll, with a large terrace, doorman and parking. Things are moving along but I procrastinate to craft as any good creative person tends to do.

I drove up to Connecticut to spend the weekend with my folks and brought Dessie along for the ride. As boredom set in my itchy fingers whipped up some drop spindles for the Etsy shop. Here they are in all their glory
Top whorls; 1.2oz 1.5" whorl, 12" shaft

Bottom whorls: .9oz, 1.5" whorl, 12" shaft

I love how the beads catch the light when spinning and create a visual effect that is quite pretty. This was my first successful attempt at wire wrapping.

I cast on the Secret of the Stole on Friday night and though I though the double point would be a pain, it was easier then I expected. So easy that I just signed myself up for another mystery lace project the "Mystic Waters" KAL I don't want to buy another bunch of yarn so I think I'll frog the Print O The Waves stole for this project. I didn't really want to pick up all those border stitches anyway.

I order a bunch of Henry's attic yarns yesterday so this weekend my Terrace is going to be yarn dying central. I'll be adding sock yarn to the etsy shop soon. I may have a "name this colorway" contest.

I also bought a used Majacraft Littlejem 2 from another user on ravelry. Don't get me wrong I love Louie, but I want to spin thin and I want to be able to carry my wheel with me if I need to. I'm going to sell the Babe pinkie wheel. I was using it mostly for plying anyway. If anyone wants a slightly used pinkie wheel I'm selling the Double Treadle for 125.00 I've spun less then 30 hours on it, and I will throw in some fiber to play with as well. I'll post pics soon. Its a great wheel for children, plying and travel it just doesn't suit my needs anymore.

Le Sigh

2007-10-05T12:24:00.001-04:00

I guess I am important enough to be spammed. I don't know whether to be flattered or furious. I don't want to turn on comment filters but I guess I have to.

FO! And pics from my trip

2007-10-04T12:21:00.000-04:00

I finished the "Shug This" from One Skein Wonders its a quick pattern that uses very little yarn and even less time. I knit this in the suggested yarn "Rowan Kid Classic."
I made one modification to the length. Instead of 6 rows after the sleeves are joined before the ribbing I knit 12 rows and then the ribbing. This used up almost all the yarn and I think made the top look a little less absurd

I also blocked the crap outta the sucker to make it more airy and less tiny. I like it and I recieved many compliements when I wore it to work yesterday. I went very well with a black tank and patterned pencil skirt and was the perfect warm up on a not quite fall day.

Here's some pics from the road trip to Toronto. These were all taken at Niagara falls on the Canadian side, which for some reason reminded me of Atlantic City. There was all this bustling tourist action on the main drag but behind it was an area of poverty and ugliness. I didn't shoot the ugly side so you'll have to make the trip and judge for yourself.

This is me in a rare photo of myself

Maid of the Mist, we rode this thing into the falls it was exhillerateing

The Horseshoe Fall

Suited up in our blue ponchos for the boat ride

On our way into the water

The wall of water

Spinning Out of Control

2007-10-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

I know everyone else on the blogosphere posted about this on Monday, but I'm slow so sue me.

It was a lovely Saturday morning and I was excited and nervous. Why was my stomach in knots? Well for one I was moving in four days to my brand spanking new apartment, and I was going to the NYC Spin Out in Central Park. I spent Friday night prepping fiber and drinking Campari and soda (its a disgusting drink that I love) to take the edge off. The drum carder and my arm go quite a work out as a carded up Glittergirl94's Alpaca into fluffy brown batts. Then I spent some time creating mixed media batts for the Etsy. Take a peek.
I call this one Sherbert, it has Mohair, bamboo, and wool top dyed with coachineal and brazilwood

And this one is Christmas Candy, it has mohair, bamboo sari silk and alpaca dyed with acid dyes

I fell asleep around 1AM and woke before my alarm. was supposed to go off at 10AM. Rob and I took a drive to grab breakfast at the bagel place and we sat and talked about the move. I told him I would be out for most of the day to meet spinners in real life. I've met many spinners over the interweb, but never have I met a real life, flesh and blood spinner and I was so giddy. Back to the house for some quick packing and then I loaded Louis (That's my wheel Louis the Louet) into the back of the car and swung by Mollies apartment to kidnap her so I would have company on my journey.

We arrived in Central Park around 2PM which gave me ample spinning time. I carried Louis into the park on my shoulder wishing the entire time I had a portable wheel. People stared at me like I was a three headed monster. One person built up the courage to ask what I was carrying and I said "its a spinning wheel, I'm sure you seen people walking their wheels in the park before!"

Finally I made it to the clearing and I spotted the wheels and spinners.
Here's some pics from that day
Mollie and Louis

The NYC Meetup group "Spin City" working on their drop spindles

The Lendrum Ladies with knitters for company

More Lendrums (they sure are popular, I think if I don't get a littlegem I'll get a lendrum)

Me, Louis and Mollie (she's learning to spin on a cd spindle)

Me and my bad posture, I have to remember to sit up straight

I met Harlem Purl and her cute little victoria, I had such wheel envy when she folded it up put it in her backpack and walked away. I also met Brooklynhandspun, her haircut looks great.

It was a great day and I loved meeting everyone.

FO! With bonus pattern

2007-09-27T10:28:00.002-04:00

Here are my fractal stripe socks I was posting about before. I used Spunky Eclectic's Fiber of the Month "Tulips" which was 4oz of BFL. To spin I split the roving into two equal strips lengthwise. I then weighed them out to make sure I had close to the same amount in each batch. Then I took one half and split it into thinner strips, breaking away lengthwise and predrafted a bit. I then spun it up into a very variegated yarn

I then took the other half and predrafted, trying my best to maintain the color runs. I would up with a less variegated yarn

Then I took the two bobbins of yarn and plied them together so this

became this

the resulting yarn fell somewhere between worsted and Dk weight.

I wanted to knit something to show off the fractal stripes I had created, but the idea of a scarf just wasn't appetizing, plus I only had about 230 yards so it would either be a real skinny or real short scarf. So I'm thinking about what I wanted to knit and I was reading the yarn harlot book "Knitting Rules" and she has this great sock recipe. I have only knit one pair of socks before and like a fool my first pair was baudelaires which are very intricate and I knit them with twisted stitches and I couldn't even shove my chubby calf muscle in the opening when it was finished. But I said to myself that was years ago, you are a more experienced knitter and you should try socks again. So being the fool I am I decided to not only knit socks, but design them as well. I scoured the interwebs for patters and borrowed heavily but the end result was this!

And now for the pattern

Fractal Stripe Socks
Makes on pair socks (will fit up to a size 8 foot)
Materials
Heavy sport/light DK weight wool yarn approx 250 yards
US 4 DPNs or size needed to obtain gauge

Gauge
21 st over 29 rows = 4" x 4" in st st

Cast on 48 stitches and divide between 3 needles work in the round making sure not to twist when joining the ends.
Work in knit 2, purl 2 rib stitch for 5" (or desired length) ending the round on the last needle.
K14 then (P2 K2) x 3, P2 K16
Slip last 14 stitches of last round onto needle and knit 12 stitches of new round on needle for heel (needle should have 26 stitches with 22 stitches left for instep)

With wrong side facing and working heel stitches only, work the following
Row 1 - (p2tog p2) six times, p2tog - 19 stitches
Row 2 - K1 *slip 1, k1 repeat from * across
Row 3 - K1, pearl across to last stitch, k1
Repeat rows 2 & 3 until heel measures 1 1/2 inches end on row 3
K5, Make 1, K5, Make 1, K5, Make 1, K4 - 22 stitches

Slip 1, P12, P2tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, k5, slip 1, k1, psso, k1, turn
Slip 1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn
Slip 1, k7, slip 1, k1, psso, k1, turn
Slip 1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn
slip 1, k9, slip 1, k1, psso, k1, turn
Keep knitting in this pattern (increasing 1 stitch more before every decrease stitch) until 14 stitches remain. End on a right side row.

With the same needle, pick up and k9 stitches across side of heel with second needle work 22 stitches for instep in k2 p2 ribbing, with last needle pick up and k9 stitches and first 7 stitches of heel (54 stitches total)
Divide stitches needle 1 16 st, needle 2 22 st, needle 3 16 st
Working in k2 p2 rib for instep and st st for all other stitches knit as follows
Round 1 - Knit to last 3 stitches on needle 1, slip 1, knit 1, psso, k1, knit across needle 2, on needle 3 k1, k2tog, knit to end of row
Round 2 - work even
Repeat round 1 & 2 until 44 stitches remain split into the following, needle 1 - 11 stitches, needle 2 - 22 stitches, needle 3 - 11 stitches

Work even in st st all the way through the round (no more rib stitch for instep) until foot measures 1 inch less then desired

Round 1 - K to last 3 stitches on needle 1 K2tog, k1, K1 slip 1, k1 psso, knit to last 3 stitches on needle 2, k2tog, k1, k1, slip 1, k1 psso, knit to end of needle 3 (40 stitches)
Round 2- Work even
Round 3 - Work even
Round 4 - Repeat round 1 (36 stitches)
Round 5 - work even
Round 6 - Work even
Round 7 -Repeat round 1 (32 stitches)
Round 8 - Work even
Round 9 - Repeat round 1 (28 stitches)
Round 10 - Repeat round 1 (24 stitches)
Round 11 - Repeat round 1 (20 stitches)
Kit 5 stitches from needle 1 and place stitches from needle 1 & 3 onto one needle (10 stitches on each of 2 needles) cut yarn leaving a 16 inch tail for grafting

Grafting toe
With instep facing you thread yarn tail onto darning needle and proceed as follows
Pass yarn through 1st stitch on needle 1 as if knitting and slip stitch off
Pass yarn through 2nd stitch on needle 1 as if to purl, but leave stitch on needle
Pass yarn through 1st stitch on needle 2 as if purling and slip stitch off
Pass yarn through 2nd stitch on needle 2 as if to knit, but leave stitch on needle
Repeat these last 4 steps until all stitches have been grafted.

Movin on up!

2007-09-25T12:03:00.000-04:00

Rob and I were approved by the co-op board last week so we can finally move out of the dumpy dump that is our current apartment. The living situation in and around NYC leaves much to be desired and unless you have a trust fund or are willing to sleep with someone who has a trust fund finding affordable housing is next to impossible. We found our soon to be new home on craigstlist and though it was a bit more then we wanted to pay we figured we would make the sacrifices in order to live nicer life.

For Rob's birthday I gave him his present early, it was tickets to see the Beastie Boys in Toronto on Friday the 21st. We packed up the car Thursday night for a long ride to Hamburg, a cute little town a few mile outside of Buffalo for our first night's stop. We left the city at 6:45, the delay was caused by my yarn diet lapse. I found myself outside Knitty City on the UWS of Manhattan with a few minutes to spare and the next thing I know I'm buying Austerman Step sock yarn and metal DPNs (doh!) This means I will have to extend the yarn diet to the end of the first week of October so I don't feel too bad for cheating. The yarn will be jaywalkers for Rob so I have something to give him for his Bday. The colorway is light and dark gray with hints of tan and I think that the Jaywalker pattern is manly enough in these colors. Teva Durham was giving a lecture and trunk show while I was in there and I found myself keeping a close distance to hear what she was saying. The next think I know Rob is calling me and telling me to come outside already because he had been waiting 15 minutes (oops!)

It was a long drive to Hamburg, almost 8 hours due to traffic and construction. I was able to finish my fractal stripe socks. (Will post pics and pattern soon.) We stayed in a comfort inn, which had the NICEST hotel bed I have ever slept in, and woke up early for the free eats. We then went back to sleep for a bit before getting back in the car. I was exhausted but since Rob had done all the driving the night before I volunteered to drive to Toronto. We passed into Canada with relative ease and drove past Jellystone National Park (home of Yogi bear and future site of my next vacation!) We made it to Toronto around 1PM and checked into the Park Plaza hotel, which was lovely and in-expensive, but undergoing renovation. I worked on my Kauni for a bit before we set off into the city.

Toronto is a lovely city, clean and bright. Living in NYC for so long has spoiled me on so many other cities, but Toronto was one of the few places I've visited that seemed 'city' enough for me. We headed back to the hotel for a nappy and some knitting, I cast on Rob's new socks as he slept away. And then back to the city for Beastie Boys.

The concert was amazing, they haven't lost touch and they still put on a great performance even though they are all in their forties(!) now. I sipped on a Canadian beer and rocked out to Sabotage which they performed as their finale. Then we cruised around the city looking for good eats at 11 o'clock at night. We found a cute sushi join and tucked into some grub before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we stopped in Niagara to see the falls from the Canadian side, and we rode the Maid of the Mist which was exhilarating and breath taking. I'll post pics soon.

FO!

2007-09-13T16:37:00.000-04:00

Well I hate to procrastinate, but I actually finished my Coachella two weeks ago. Here's the FO with my mods listed below

I only used about 3 balls of yarn. The 4th is sitting in my stash waiting for something to do.
I knit a size down, I opted for the smallest size because so many knitters on ravelry and craftster were complaining the size was off.
I did the short row shaping for C cup ta-ta's, because I have c cup ta-ta's and I was worried the my decision to knit down a size was in error.
I added two additional hip increases
and I shortened the final length, because I'm short.

It was a good knit, quick and painless, great for tv knitting. The yarn is not my fave and tends to stretch out like a cotton yarn would during the wearing process. When I first tried on the top it was way small but by the end of the night it had loosened up significantly.

I don't get the awesome drape that some other knitters have gotten, but I think this is because I opted to downsize a bit.

I happy with this top and I've worn it twice. Too bad the summers over already, I guess I will have to wait until next season to enjoy it to its full potential.

As the circle of life continues in it's perpetual spiral as on knit falls off the needles a new one is cast on in place

That's my Kauni Cardigan. Its my first stranded knit EVER!! I think its a great entry into fair isle. The kauni yarn is beautiful, but scratchy and sticky as hell, I'm knitting on metal as opposed to wood like most stranded knitters because I can't deal with the stickiness. There are also bits a pieces of vm stuck in this yarn, like it was dragged through the woods before skeining.

On to spinning, I was working the black Alpaca I swapped with glittergirl on craftster for, I volunteered to clean and card and spin a bit for her with the understanding that I could keep the other half of the fleece, when my footman to treadle connector broke! I looked it up online and I realized that I didn't even have the correct part. The person who sold me my louet on ebay had replaced the plastic tube with what appeared to be cable cord. On closer inspection I see that this has caused my treadle to start splintering. I'm totally freaking out because as much as I love my spindles I will die without my wheel. I was told to contact louet for a replacement, so we'll see how it goes. In my desperation I ordered a replacement connector, and a yarn winder as well (what did you expect me to pay for the shipping and NOT get my monies worth?) I swear my logic makes sense to me. So until then its spindling and knitting, I'm already in withdrawal.

The Sky is Crying Over NYC

2007-09-11T10:29:00.000-04:00

Today marks the 6th year anniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center. As a New Yorker who was employed by the city as an EMT it also marks a very sad milestone in my life. Today marks the anniversary of a 4 day trip through hell in which I witnessed and experienced things that no human being should. I think about all those across the ocean experiencing similar travesties without the comforts of home and family. I'm floating through today as if I'm not fully awake or aware. People have stopped to ask if I'm ill, and I guess I am. Please take a few minutes of your day to call you loved ones and remind them that they are special and important in your life, tell them you love them and care for them, you never know what fate will bring.

Update

2007-09-06T15:25:00.000-04:00

I've been taking photos of Lola for someone's project revolving around fashion week. I thought I'd share the pics here.

And here's the roving I dyed up this weekend for the September Spin-along at ravelry

I used wiltons and natural dyes with alum mordant. I hand painted and wrapped the roving in plastic wrap then shoved it in a ziplock. It microwaved on level 3 for 20 minutes and then it got a warm bath to rinse out the extra. I'm happy with how this came out and I can really see how mordanting makes a difference in the outcome.

I joined the Secret of the Stole KAL and I am hoping to spin the yarn for this kal. I made myself a deal that I will purchase no yarn for the entire month. *suffers withdrawal symptoms* and I will stick to this promise. A stash dive proved futile as I do not have enough lace weight on hand. I have one skien of Valley Alpaca silk, but its the same color as my print o' the waves stole and my two stoles should be different colors! Also a few hundred yards short of the reccomended yardage. What I did have was this lovely soy silk (8oz worth) and I figured if I got spinning now I could have 1200 yards by October 5th. I've never spun soy silk before so I may be over my head but what I have on my bobbin is looking good. I may have to buy size 8 beads to fit the yarn though because as with all handspun I have thick areas.

What to do when you're home sick

2007-09-04T15:40:00.000-04:00

I have issues sitting still, I guess that's why knitting and I get along so well. Knitting gives me something to do while I sit to watch TV/Movies/car rides. Spinning is a good distraction too, just not a portable (it would be funny trying to sneak my spinning wheel into a movie theater.) I was sick on Thursday, fever of 103 and cranky attitude. I called out sick and did what any sane person does when they're home bound by fever, I dyed wool and baked bread! Oh and I knitted, but that doesn't count, I'm always knitting.
Le Slouch
Knit on 6's and 9's
Made good use of my Spunky Club "Nightshade"

Dessie is so not happy with my request for her to model

I still have about 70 yards or so left over, any suggestions?

Then I got baking, its a quick and easy 1 hour honey wheat recipe
1 Package yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp salt
4 cups whole wheat flour
olive oil
Corn meal

Turn oven on to 200 degrees
Dissolve honey, salt and yeast into water and let sit until bubbles form (5 - 10 min)

Mix in flour and knead into a ball

Turn off oven and wait until temp drops to 120-150
Place ball in pan and let sit in oven until dough has doubled in size.
When dough has doubled turn oven on to 400
Coat ball of dough in olive oil and add a few slices on top so air can escape.
Coat bottom of baking pan in corn meal
Sprinkle 1 tsp salt on top of dough (optional)
Bake at 400 for 10 minutes
Drop to 300 and bake for another 20-30 minutes (until bread is firm)

Taa-daa sick day bread, excellent with honey butter or strawberry butter and easy on the tummy too!