For Morgan

18 November 2009 at 9:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

My friend Morgan is pretty awesome. We met in library school, and she had the guts to move to Washington D.C. all by herself when we graduated! I admire her for that (among other things– she has great taste in music and movies, always finds the best restaurants, and when you’re with her you don’t always feel like you have to fill the air with fluff)…

Well, I spent the week with Morgan when I went to DC in August, and came home with my beautiful Mirasol yarn, and every intention of making her a winter hat and mittens to say thank you for such an awesome vacation. Here it is, mid November, and I am just getting my knit goods in the mail. I packaged them up over the weekend. And then Monday, I get a huge package in the mail from her for my birthday, filled with baked goods, new music, and an awesome book on architecture (one of my new mini-obsessions!) and I feel like such a loser for not having this stuff done before!

In all honesty, I made the hat four different times, using four different patterns. I started off with Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Ganomy Hat. The Ganomy Hat had been completed– I actually had completed it on the plane on the way home. . . but mine always turn out really pointy at the top though, and I just wasn’t sure if Morgan would like to walk around with a really pointy hat!

Another pattern that I tried was the Better Bucket Hat. This hat has great reviews all over ravelry, and the pictures look so cute! I got half way through it and realized that it takes a TON of yarn, and I didn’t really have enough. Plus, the Mirasol is really dense yarn to begin with, and this pattern would be kinda crazy. a dense pattern with a dense yarn– lets just say it wasn’t a good fit. Plus, I talked to Morgan on the phone, and she told me what she was looking for most was something to cover her cold, cold ears at the bus stop in the mornings!

A  few weeks ago, I finally settled on the Amanda Hat. I think it’s adorable, and it was super easy to knit– actually I had to knit it twice because for some reason it turned out so big hat it came down over my head and over my chin! It didn’t even fit Austin, who has a very big head! But no worries– it’s an afternoon knit, and I had it cut down to size in a matter of hours. I think it turned out super cute, although when I blocked it, it got a funny crease from being folded in half;-) I think that will disappear with a little bit of wear…

I wanted her to have some mittens to go with the hat. Last Christmas (I think it was Christmas… it might have been her birthday!) I sent her some fingerless gloves, but I didn’t have enough yarn to make anything to match them…I wanted her to have a set this time. I love the Zimmerman Mitered Mittens, so I made those for her… They turned out so cozy and nice!

Thanks, Morgan, for the awesome trip back in August! And thanks for the birthday surprises!

Leave a Comment

Jenna’s Autumnal Birthday Scarf

6 November 2009 at 6:32 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

I’ve been meaning to write more about the scarf that I made for my sister, Jenna. It was so nice to make. I really am quite enjoying the whole lace thing– after all, everything that I have cast on in the past month has been lace! And the scarf, I improvised with a lace pattern that I learned from another project (the violet sacque!) The yarn is a mystery yarn– I am pretty sure it is wool. I got it from my friend Heidi, and I am not sure if she dyed it herself or not. It is lovely shades of autumnal oranges and golds.

The pattern was a simple one:

CO 21

2 rows garter

repeat for 3 rows: k1, *yo k1 (k2tog, k1) 2 times, yo, k1*

p 1 row

repeat for 3 rows: k1, *k2tog, (k1, yo, k1) 2 times, k1, k2tog, k1.

p 1 row

repeat sequence for 8 ft (yes the scarf was 8 ft! she asked for 10…)

end with two rows of garter stitch, BO.

Immediately after I cast this scarf off, I cast one on in pink for myself. I wanted a lacy pink scarf;-) I am finished with it, and should have pictures this weekend.

Happy knitting!!!

Comments (2)

Another October Gone

2 November 2009 at 3:33 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

It is November 1st, and once again I didn’t finish my Socktoberfest Socks! What on earth is wrong with me? In fact, I haven’t finished my LAST years socks!!! For shame! But look! I have made some progress…

I have also finished my sister Jenna’s birthday scarf.

I have been so very busily knitting and spinning that I have found it hard to take pictures. Plus, I have experiencing light-shortages (I think this problem will be temporarily fixed with the time change!)

I hope October was fun for you! I’ll catch you around later!

Comments (1)

Mirasol Love

31 October 2009 at 9:32 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

Leave a Comment

OOO

13 October 2009 at 9:44 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

So much has been done in the past week or two! But no pictures yet. I went to visit my grandparents in California, and have been SO busy and tired, and it has started to get dark earlier!

I knitted on the plane to and from California- it was a four day, action packed adventure that included a rendezvous with my folks (also visiting my grandparents), a reconnection with my cousins (who are much younger than I am) and whirlwind tour of my young childhood in “The Valley.” I also got to go see my grandmother’s grave, which I haven’t done in a very long time.

Everything has changed. I had a great time with my parents and grandparents– and my aunt and uncle and cousins– and, I ate so much food! And, well, lets just say wow! I’m tired!

But I did a lot of knitting on the trip, and I will have pictures soon. Everything I finished will be put in a package for someone (several someones) special as the cold weather is approaching. My sister Jenna already has snow in Colorado! That was fast! Summer just ended!

Leave a Comment

The Pleasant Things in Life

26 September 2009 at 4:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

I love my room. I love to sit on my bed in the afternoon and knit. I love the yellows and the  blues hat I have surrounded myself with, and the open window. I love listening to audiobooks! And I love this pattern. It is the Violet Sacque from Vintage Baby Knits. The pattern has a simple 3×3 repeat that creates a simple lace. It is easy to keep up with and works really quickly.

I am off to Nashville for the weekend, and I hope I do get some knitting in over the weekend- I never can tell when I visit family!

Have a great weekend!!!

Leave a Comment

Violet Sacque, I love You!

23 September 2009 at 8:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

Isn’t it lovely! I have never blocked lace before– I didn’t really bother formally blocking my green scarf– and I think it is fun!

I am knitting really fast… I have started the left front already, and I expect to speed right along. Maybe I’ll have it all done by next week! I am using Shibui superwash merino sock yarn. I have four hanks of it, so maybe I’ll have enough left for some other tiny cute thing in addition to the sweater.

Comments (1)

Delightful

20 September 2009 at 12:53 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

That is how I would describe the yummy bread pudding I made today.

I confess, I am an epicurious junkie. I use the site unabashedly for my every day cravings. The pudding is from Bon Appetit Oct. ‘01. I am on a bit of a quest- I am going to give my sister a bread pudding journal for Christmas, since we both have a firey passion for it. My recipes will include savory as well as sweet dishes. I have a few of the savory ones already, including a mushroom and asparagus pudding from the vegetarian times a few months ago;-) You would have never known that I was a bread pudding fanatic, but I thought it was time I shared my deep, dark secret with you. Cats out of the bag. Share your favorites with me if you like- I always love a new recipe!

I have news! This week I finished Jill’s Wrap AND my green lacy scarf! I also finished reading David McCullough’s John Adams! I knew I had it in me- I just had to give myself some time.

I frogged two projects last night. Both are from Rengren’s Vintage Baby Knits. I LOVE that book.  I had started a little Violet Sacque. The pattern is so precious. But I couldn’t find the right sized needles- I needed 2.75 and all I had was a 3.5– as you can imagine, it altered the pattern immensity, and I broke down and bought a new addie turbo 2.75 circular last week. So that project has been restarted and wow it sure is a cutie! I also frogged a little pixie hat. Once again, the gauge was completely off, and  I just wasn’t happy with the result. I think before long, I am going to make every single thing in that book!

Leave a Comment

Green Lacy Scarf

7 September 2009 at 8:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

Progress!

If I were reading my blog, I would think that I wasn’t up to much these days! But hey! I have gotten a lot done! I find that I am more compulsive than normal, always having to have those needles in my hands. Even when I am on a trip.

I went to DC last month for a short trip. The husband was on a 2 week research trip to the Folger Shakespeare Library, so I came to visit him. After all, he was going to be up there for our anniversary, and I needed a vacation! It was awesome, I got to see some dear friends who are in the area, enjoyed some AWESOME food, and got some knitting in!

This is the Knitty.com pattern Lace Ribbon Scarf. It is officially my first (successful) venture into lace, and I must say it is going well! I had to learn a few very painful lessons about not using lifelines. I love lifelines now. Lifelines are my friends! I started this project, I kid you not, 20 times before I got the hang of the ssk 2 yo k2tog yo k3– I found myself an unfit match for the counting, and I gave up on the project at least 2 times, but I kept coming back to it, and I am completely a lace convert now. Converted to the point that I have started another lace project in addition to this one! Of course, I haven’t finished this one, so that is bad.

I am in a season in my life where things are getting started, and will get finished eventually.  I have 4 or 5 knitting projects going right now. I am in the dead center of 10 different books that I can count, and I am sure I have started others that have fallen out of memory as they were case to the side. I am in the middle of countless tv series, and they are queued up in my netflicks instant watch- endless possibilities of watching and knitting and reading. I will get some focus here soon. I will finish a few things, and it will make me feel so good! But for now, I am content to start things. So many things! The world is my oyster and I intend to enjoy the possibilities, for now!

Leave a Comment

The Bitter End

31 August 2009 at 6:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

It is now the end of August, and I have a mere few rows and a bind-off to complete Jill’s Wrap. This project has been with me all summer, and through it I have grieved for my friend. I am finding myself reluctant to finish. I am not through grieving. And I am not ready to let such a physical reminder of my friend go, even though it would be such a comfort to her mother. Jill passed away the Wednesday after Mother’s Day, with less than an eighth of the wrap finished. I have been working on it on and off since then.

How do we let go of the things that mean so much to us? How do we let part of our lives drift away, no longer connected, no longer with us– no longer PART of us? I know Jill will always be part of me, but she is not in my daily life any more. I have no idea how to let go. Her birthday was last week. It was a melancholy day. I wrote a card to her mom and it is still sitting on my coffee table, unsent, irrelevant now. Perhaps it was to raw and soul-baring for me to deal with. I don’ t know.

Knitting helps me deal with the trials of life in a way that no other activity does. I have turned to knitting time and again when I have felt upset, or angry, or sad. I have leaned on it like a crutch for years. Each time I have found out that someone else in the world is pregnant, I have started a new project. Each of my close friends have received bundles of hand-knit goods upon the arrival of their little ones, and their second, and even third. Now, in a rather therapeutic manner, I have started kniting my own little baby things, in hopes for the future (and no I am not pregnant).

What other ways will I turn to this activity in the future? Time will tell. I do need to finish that wrap though. It’s high time that project begins it’s therapeutic journey with someone else.

Leave a Comment

Older Posts »