01.30.06
Posted in General at 8:58 am by Rachel
Today is my dear mother’s birthday, and for her present I got her two-thirds of a reversible rib shawl! Which is just the right length to make a very nice cape for her Super Mom costume. (You do have one of those, right, Mom? You should.) I was planning to post a picture of myself modeling the shawl in a cape-like fashion (I was envisioning it with the camera angled upward, the red shawl blowing straight out off my shoulders against the blue sky), but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to ask Matt to take a picture of me doing something so weird with my knitting. Plus his sister was visiting this weekend, so it just would have been an awkward photoshoot.
Anyway, two-thirds down, one-third to go! I hope you can hold out just a little longer for your present, Mom — I think it’ll be worth it. It’s looking really purty. In the meantime, have a wonderful birthday!
Permalink
01.26.06
Posted in Reviews at 8:47 pm by Rachel
I’ve been rather lazy about my big plan to post book and yarn reviews, so as one aspect of my new year’s knitolutions (yes it’s January 26 and this is the first you heard of them), I’m going to rededicate myself to them. We’ll see how long it lasts.
First up is Vintage Knits from the staff of Rowan. I can’t remember what first drew my attention to this book, but I took it out of the library last week. The projects fall into three categories (of my own determination, not as delineated in the book): attractive and classic sweaters, sweaters that someone other than I might be able to pull off, and sweaters that should not exist. Of the 30 patterns in the book, a full 16 of them fall into the first category, which I think is pretty darn good. (The only downside is that, in about half of those patterns, “attractive and classic” is a nice way of saying “boring.”) A good example is this sweater that I was considering for the Knitting Olympics (sadly, I think I have decided to be a cheerleader rather than an athlete this round) as well as this purple sweater. I like plain and classic things, so this type of pattern appeals to me. There is a fair selection of nice if unexciting men’s sweaters as well — many of them perfect for the vintage professor in your life.
Eight more patterns are the sort of thing that, while I would never make them for myself (or probably anyone else), I wouldn’t condemn them as bad patterns; I’m sure there’s someone who would look good in them. A person who has a distinct and overt style can often pull off unusual looks that include pieces that draw some attention to themselves. My personal sense of style, which dates back to junior high, consists of dressing as non-descriptly as possible. If anyone comments on any aspect of my outfit (including something like “I love that shirt!”), I take it home and set it on fire. Having one’s clothing noticed is a huge risk that often ends in sitting alone at lunch while the popular kids whisper and giggle together while throwing glances in your direction. Remind me to tell you about my puffy paint sweatsuit sometime.
But I digress. Point is, just because I would not wear a particular sweater does not mean I can’t see it on someone with style and, well, a bit more self-confidence than yours truly. That brown cardigan with flowers is good example. There are also a couple interesting t-shirt patterns that fall nicely into this category, including a lovely 1950s-style one made with a single strand of Kidsilk Haze. As my career of knitting with a single stand of mohair began and will end with the reversible rib shawl, I include this pattern in the “maybe for someone else” category.
Okay, last but not least, the “Argh, my eyes!” category. These are purely my opinion, of course. If you like sweaters with little bobbles, bright contrasty colors, or crochet squares, you might like these patterns. I personally do not. However, a mere six of the patterns in this book fall into that category, which is a tiny percentage compared to most books. Not bad at all.
The vintage patterns and vintage models are beautifully photographed in the vintage French countryside. (I guess you can tell it’s vintage because lots of them are on bikes and wearing funny hats.) I have to complain that at least in a couple cases the models are kind of slouching, which makes it very hard to see the shape of the garment, but that seems to be a problem throughout the knitting pattern industry.
One minor but nice feature is that each page had a heading on it that says the name of the pattern. It’s very useful for when you’re flipping through the book looking for your pattern — you don’t have to go by the photo pages only. I dunno why I like it so much, but I think it makes each pattern feel like a cohesive section.
So I’ve had mostly positive things to say here. However, I should tell you that there are only two patterns that there’s any real chance of my ever making personally – most of them are either too boring or too, well, “interesting” for my taste. However, I think there’s a real chance someone else might get a higher yield, so I encourage you to check it out from the library and then, if you like it, purchase it from your LYS.
You can see more photos using the “view inside pages” feature at KnitPicks.
Permalink
01.24.06
Posted in Finished Objects at 9:24 am by Rachel
Pattern: Bobblicious from the Winter 2005 Knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in green heather
Notes: First of all, today is my sister’s birthday, and this is her present. Happy birthday, Carrie! Carrie loves being warm (as far as I know the only redeeming aspect of the two years she lived in Phoenix was the 90-degree heat during most of the year), so when I saw this silly pattern, I thought it just might be the sort of thing she’d wear around the house to take the edge off the chilly indoor temperature of 72 degrees. I don’t see it so much as a wear-in-public garment, but that’s up to her.
The yarn is the 80% acrylic, 20% wool called for by the pattern. I ordered it online and was sorry to discover when I received it that it’s the least awesome color in the world. Not that I was really going for awesome, but I was expecting something quite a bit paler, which I thought would look very wintry. This, however, is an unashamed heathered teal, which is the anti-awesome. After knitting it up, though, I think it’s perfectly acceptable for the job it’s being asked to do here. The yarn is pretty soft after washing and drying, and I test-wore the garment enough to know that it’s fairly cozy.
There are some differences between my finished object and what the pattern calls for. First, I only did three rows of bobbles rather than five. I was leaning toward this anyway, but when I saw how insistently my bobble rows were curling (I’m pretty sure I was doing them wrong, but I’m not sure how), I decided just to let them behave that way and form a narrow bobbly cuff. Since they rolled toward the stockinette side, I decided (after trying it both ways and soliciting some opinions) to have that be the outside, even though the original pattern has the reverse stockinette on the outside. So it looks a little different, but I think it’s still very much in the spirit of the original.
This pattern appealed to me because I liked the idea of a warm, bulky item that would go on easily over anything. I also pictured it working particularly well when the wearer is sitting up in bed reading or, say, knitting — it covers the upper body that is not under the blankets while leaving the hands free, and because it isn’t long it doesn’t bunch up the way a bathrobe would in this situation. I took it upon myself to test this theory. It worked.
Anyway, I hope she likes it. I have now knit her three things in about 8 months (a cat mat, a felted lunch bag, and this), and she probably opens each one thinking, “Would she just buy me something from Crate and Barrel already?”
In other news, I am four rows away from hitting the halfway point on the reversible rib shawl. I should reach that milestone and pass it tonight. I can’t decide whether I’m pleased to be halfway done or disheartened that I’m only halfway done. Kind of both.
Permalink
01.18.06
Posted in General at 10:31 pm by Rachel
Well, the weekend full of knitting anticipated at the end of my last post did not go quite as planned; Saturday morning we received the sad news that Matt’s long-ailing grandmother had passed away, so that afternoon we packed up some somber clothing, picked up one of his sisters in Connecticut and the other in New York City, and headed to South Jersey for the funeral and related rituals. It was a nice weekend, all things considered, and I didn’t mind the change in plans (aside from the sad reason that caused them). However, while I was willing to forego knitting during the time with Matt’s family, I was not going to let the twelve-hour round trip in the car be wasted. Unfortunately, at least part of the time in the car was going to be after dark, so, inspired by Angela over at A Girl’s Gotta Knit, I raced out and purchased myself one of these. I was so pleased about the additional knitting hours it provided for me on the trip that I didn’t even care when Matt dubbed it (and persisted in calling it) my Dork Light.
Okay, so it’s a little silly looking, even setting aside the fact that this is a horrid picture of me. But pattern repeat six of the Reversible Rib Shawl was made possible by its powerful LED microbeam.
Aside from that, there isn’t much knitting progress to report. I finished the secret birthday present noted in the sidebar, and shortly I should be able to publish FO pictures. With that out of the way, I was all set to focus on the RRS exclusively until it was finished, when I came across this challenge over at the Yarn Harlot’s blog. (For those who don’t want to click the link, she proposes the Knitting Olympics, in which knitters take on a particularly challenging (to them) project to be finished within the timeframe of the Winter Olympics.) Suddenly all my self-discipline went out the window. A challenge! A cyber-knitting-community activity! An excuse to knit something other than mohair K2, P2 for hours on end!
I have not yet decided whether to engage in this challenge. I had planned to cast on for a sweater for myself after finishing the RRS, so this would just provide a fun context for it. And the cast-on isn’t until February 10, so as long as I quit my job and withdraw from society, there’s a chance I could finish the RRS before then! Hmm, what would I knit? I came up with three possibilities, each one delusional.
First is the Premiere Pullover from the Summer 2005 Interweave Knits magazine. I have loved this sweater since the first time I saw it. It would challenge me with lace and cables. I could knit it in Knitpicks Shine. If I did a good job, I could even wear it to work, which would be a bonus. Possible pitfall: I could only knit this sweater in two weeks if I was hopped up on speed the whole time.
The second option that came to mind is a Fair Isle sweater similar to this one, which is from Vintage Knits. I have recently been really drawn to this look, though I’m not sure this is the exact pattern I want. If anyone else knows of any similar patterns and wants to direct me to them, I’m interested. A pattern like this would challenge me with stranded colorwork, which I’ve done before but not on this scale, and would make a fantastic weekend sweater. Possible pitfall: I could only knit this sweater in two weeks if I was hopped up on speed the whole time AND had one of those time-turner things that Hermione uses in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Final possibility: Tubey from the winter Knitty. This is actually the sweater I was planning to make after finishing the RRS, and while it does not present the same level of challenge as the first two, it occurs to me that perhaps it would qualify as a Knitting Olympics-worthy challenge by virtue of the fact that, again, knitting it in two weeks (knitting anything in two weeks) would be a bit of a stretch for me. What’s that you say? The photo to the right is not, as far as you can tell, a picture of a sweater? Ah, allow me to explain. This Restoration Hardware catalog arrived at our house earlier this month and I instantly knew that I must must must make my Tubey in the exact color scheme featured on the cover. (Then if I redecorate our bathroom with Restoration Hardware products, I can play endless hilarious practical jokes on Matt that involve my camouflaging myself amidst the hand towels.) Anyway, therein lies another challenge of this sweater: finding the right worsted-weight yarn with the right shades of pink, green, and brown. Any suggestions?
Whether I engage in the Knitting Olympics or not (oh how I covet one of the promised “gold medal” blog buttons for finishers), I am getting very excited about upcoming projects. But for now, the RRS is calling my name.
Permalink
01.13.06
Posted in General at 11:05 pm by Rachel
Nothing helps you overcome the letdown of having your holiday vacation be over quite like…well, taking another vacation day. I took today off from work as a consolation for having to, you know, work all the time, and I headed up to New Hampshire to spend a full day with my mom, a fellow knitter.
We had a wonderful time. I got there last night, and we knit. We woke up this morning and had tea and knit. We went to lunch and then came home and knit. We had afternoon tea and knit. We have been trying to have this knitting day for six months, but there were always intervening activities that prevented us from just sitting and relaxing and talking and knitting. Today we got it all out of our systems…for a short while, anyway. (Note: We don’t usually squish into one chair like that. There were, in fact, plenty of chairs to go ’round. You’ve forced me into admitting that this was not the most candid of moments — we asked my stepfather to snap it just before I left so we’d have some documentation of the day.) (I guess that isn’t really an explanation for why we’re sitting in a single chair, as opposed to, say, on the sofa. Does everything have to have a good reason, people?)
After school my mom and stepfather’s exchange student, Diana, came home and joined us with the hat she is knitting. She is getting ready to decrease at the top, and after some frustration with the instructions, she decided that perhaps the hat is actually already finished. Here she is demonstrating how unnecessary “finishing” really is.
Diana is actually quite an adept knitter, given that she just learned a couple of months ago and is balancing it with a heavy school load, a busy social life, and an impressive attempt to see just about everything this country has to offer during her 9 months here (this includes, unfortunately, the television show Beauty and the Geek (produced by Ashton Kutcher, so you know it’s good), which I caught her and my stepfather watching when I arrived last night, but I hope that’s not what she remembers as representative of America).
Anyway, it was a restful and enjoyable day. To top it off, I have the next three days off as well. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say it’s likely that they will contain more knitting. Life is good. Happy long weekend, all!
Permalink
01.08.06
Posted in Works in Progress at 3:35 pm by Rachel
I am not the sort who likes to spread gossip about others on the internet, especially people I don’t know, but it is evident to me that Joelle Hoverson smokes the crack. There is no other explanation for the fact that four hours into her two-to-four-hour legwarmer pattern (in Last Minute Knitted Gifts), I am one-quarter of the way done. When I realized my progress after three straight episodes of Six Feet Under on DVD and two episodes of Scrubs on TiVo, I checked back to see whether perhaps the pattern was in the “Three-to-Four-Hundred-Hour Gifts” chapter. Alas, no. Not even close. Now, I’m not the fastest knitter in the world, but I’m quite confident that I’m not the slowest either. Therefore, I am forced to conclude that Joelle H.? She smokes the crack. (By the way, the yarn is Cascade 220 and a strand of mohair, just as called for.)
After all my whining about how I’ll have nothing to post about this month aside from Reversible Rib Shawl progress, I realized I actually haven’t posted a progress photo since October and could probably get away with doing so today. I must confess that given the slow going on this project, I’ve entertained notions of what else this garment could be that wouldn’t require the full 70 inches of length. Currently I am considering threading ribbon through the top and gifting my mother with a Reversible Rib Apron, as shown. What do you think?
A few months ago Matt showed me how to wrap the text around the photos in my blog posts. I think it creates a more professional look, but there’s one major drawback: you have to be sure to include enough text to reach the end of the photo, or the text from the previous post winds up jumping up and throwing the whole template off. Therefore, most of the ends of my posts are just me blathering about anything I can think of, trying to guarantee enough text. Actually, I bet there’s a way around this. Matt? Help?
Oh, I thought of something real I can say: Thanks to all who responded with humor and encouragement to my fretting about my blog content in my last post. Ya’ll are the best never-met-in-person friends a girl could ask for.
Permalink
01.04.06
Posted in General at 4:59 pm by Rachel
Sorry for the downer title, but it’s hard to be peppy when the last night of Chanukah, the last night of your vacation, and New Year’s night all coincide to give you a triple punch of melancholy. I’m choking on my own nostalgia just looking at this picture. (Also wondering why the tree looks so un-tree-shaped in its reflection in the window. She’s got some curves on her, that Christmas tree.)
I’ve been taking the tree down a bit at a time. I went back to work on Monday (on a federal holiday, no less!). Tuesday slush fell from the sky all day. This morning was characterized by Providence’s other trademark winter rain: nearly frozen droplets suspended in the air so you have no choice but to plough through them on your way anywhere (rendering umbrellas pointless). It’s cold and gray. Spring is very far away.
I think the transition from Most Wonderful Time of the Year to Least Wonderful Time of the Year is made more difficult by a particularly good holiday season. You have a lot farther to fall. I posted below about how nice Christmas was this year, and it was followed by a very enjoyable Chanukah, complete with a visit from Matt’s sister for the last three nights. On the second-to-last night, which coincided with New Year’s Eve, we had a party for which we fried our own doughnuts! Well, Matt and and his sister fried them; I photodocumented the event. The doughnuts were a big hit, and I encourage any slightly adventurous cooks to give them a try.
At least January is a good knitting month, what with how well it lends itself to hot beverages, kittens and quilts on couches, and the possibility of occasional snowboundedness. Add knitting to the mix, and I can almost forgive January for existing. Unfortunately, I am worried about my blogging content this month: I have been devoting substantial time to the Reversible Rib Shawl, yet I am only now a quarter done. So unless you’re all interested in seeing a photo of the shawl after each half inch, pretty much all I’m going to have to post is “Still at it!” every few days. Please don’t abandon me, readership!
Speaking of readership, and blog content quality, I have gotten a bit of a bump in traffic as a result of my nomination for the Knit Blog Awards and an extremely kind mention over at Bowerbird Knits (I expressed my gratitude by adding her to my blogroll at Bloglines — it’s the best way I know how in the blogging world!). As a result, I have become a little tense about my posting. What used to be a casual and relaxed pursuit, witnessed by a handful of family members and cyberknitting friends, has in my overimaginative mind abruptly become a performance for a vast and demanding (yet unknown) audience. I suddenly feel clunky and stupid and painfully uninteresting (yes, even more than usual!) — especially with very little knitting content to lean on. As a result, the coming weeks’ posts will likely be marked by my trying too hard, coming across first as a bit overearnest and ultimately as completely insufferable. Enjoy! I have given you fair warning!
Permalink
01.02.06
Posted in Finished Objects at 8:16 pm by Rachel
Pattern: Coronet from the Winter 2003 Knitty
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk in “Sangria”
Notes: I finished this hat in 30 hours. (Not knitting hours. I mean 30 hours elapsed from start to finish, and that included arriving at my family’s home for Christmas, schmoozing and lightly boozing, playing a cutthroat game of charades, sleeping, and massive, massive amounts of eating. Point is, it was a really quick knit.)
I made this hat for Matt’s grandmother who, when I was walking out the door after saying good-bye at Thanksgiving, indicated that she just might like a knitted hat. I’m sure she would not have been at all disappointed if I hadn’t made her one, and most likely she forgot all about it shortly thereafter, but she has been a terrific and loving grandmother-in-law (especially given my total lack of Jewish credentials), so I wanted to do it for her. (She probably would have been even happier if I had given her her first great-grandchild, which she has asked after far more often than a knitted hat, but the hat required much less of a commitment on my part.)
I am very happy with this pattern. I think it is nicely versatile — it looks good here on my mom’s and stepfather’s 16-year-old exchange student from Moldova, and I also think it will look good on Matt’s grandmother. You can’t always count on that degree of intergenerationality (I am perfectly comfortable making up words — Shakespeare did it all the time. Check out a list of words he’s credited with here. Of course, likening oneself to Shakespeare — in a knitting blog, no less — is more than a little insufferable. Anyway…) in a knitting pattern. I highly recommend it.
As for the yarn, Andean Silk has a beautiful sheen and more than enough warmth and softness. As is usually the case with Knitpicks, you get much more than you pay for. I would definitely use it again.
Permalink
