For your viewing pleasure:

I present the entrelac head wrap, also known as Quant. The yarn is something I picked up (for free!) at the first ever Winterthur S&B. It's made of soy. I love the colors, but I think I may have a slight soy allergy. I felt kind of weird every time I worked on this project. I have yet to wear it in the great outdoors, so can't make any comments on its actual utility. Perhaps tomorrow I will sport it while I journey to Philadelphia.
And the really exciting thing:
Interestingly, another object made of completely free (to me) yarn. The green is the yarn I received from Jen for my birthday last year. Her own homespun, made of...? Do you recall, Jen? I sure don't. It was great to knit with! It did make me a little nostalgic though. I kept thinking of all the times we used to knit at your house back in Bmore. The grey is from Knitpicks. One time, I ordered some yarn and needles from them and they sent me two of everything, even though I only paid for one. And they let me keep the extra stuff! I even called and tried to send it back to them. So thank you Jen and Knitpicks for providing me with the materials to create this awesomely warm cowel that will keep me comfortable in the library. I'm looking forward to next semester so that I can use it...

Proof that knitters have infiltrated the government

A newbie

Yes, Sam is now a knitter. Here she is, balling her first skein of yarn. Don't you just want to pinch her cheek?

Her first project is not a dish towel. It is Calorimetry, which does in fact require the use of short rows. Sam did wonderfully on that aspect, it was gauge that got her. Version 1, which I do not have a photo of, was...large. Way bigger than any head on earth. So she tore it out, took out 12 stitches (based on my precise measurements) and...still too big. Closer, but not functional. Photos are forthcoming, though I'm unsure if Sam will actually let me take a pic of her wearing it. I might have to step in as a model.
On my needles? Quant. In a wholly different colorway. Will be done with that soon.

Pillows and an Improved Yarn Balance

I started these pillows a really, really long time ago. I was attracted to them because of their colors and because they looked challenging.


Critical miscalculations on my part: The yarn I bought, Knitpicks, was not the yarn used in the pattern. Thus, not the same colors. Whereas the pattern looked like something that would be mellow, almost rustic, mine came out "circus like" and "bold."



See how the back of the one pillow is all vertical stripes? Yeah, that's about 12 inches of intarsia using something like 25 different strands. Challenging? More like heavy, frustrating, and not something you want to pick up to work on for "a few minutes." I could have made it easier on myself by using fewer bobbins and just carrying the yarn more, but I wanted to do it "right." Pff.



Buttons. They cost money. Wasn't really a problem when I started the pillows and had this great job where I could just show up, do easy work, and earn the little extra money I needed. I bought these buttons in Portland, ME while on a research trip for my Master's thesis. If that doesn't say poor, I don't know what does. The buttons are my only souvenir from the trip. I guess that's one reason to keep the pillows around.
One really valuable thing came out of these pillows, besides learning that I shouldn't do vertical intarsia stripes: I learned that I was mounting my purl stitches backwards somewhere in the middle of the first pillow. You can totally see the line where I went from improper purls to proper. Long lasting evidence of my folly.


And, on the lighter side, one night I was balling some sock yarn and I was like, "Huh, how will I know if these two halves of this hank are close in weight?" Sam came to the rescue with her ingenious handkerchief/hanger balance scale. And no, she did not dress as Justice for Halloween.

Jen's hat





SO CUTE!
I would have loved to pose for a cute picture in the snow but it's quite warm and I wanted to get one up before we leave on Tuesday.

If you missed the first year slideshow, by the way, here it is:

Brrr...

It's time for the winter knits. We had snow and thunder today. It was a big wet pretty snow. I got out my boucle scarf and Ellery wore the sweater Jen knitted.




Also, last week I helped host a shower for a friend that is expecting twin boys. I got out the ol' Debbie Bliss seed stich hat pattern.


One more thing: Jen, I know you aren't much of a tv watcher. But I'm wondering if anyone saw last week's episode of Pushing Up Daisies. Knitting played a big part.

Help me remember

Ok, I have a project in mind, but I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it. Knits is the likely source, but I don't have the magazines with me at the moment. I want to make a wrap/cowel thing that goes around the shoulders in a continuous circle. The front is sort of like a knot, but it is knitted that way. It's possible that this pattern is in a book dedicated to wraps/cowels. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I think the one in the pattern is a dark red color.

Aha! I found it! The thing I was thinking of, or at least a close approximation of it, is in Wrap Style, Published by Interweave Press Anyone have a copy I can borrow?

what's with all the variegated?

Remember this?


Now it's these!



Remember these?



Now they are this!





Can I say how much I love my new sweater?

This!

Yarn.


There you go, the yarn haul from Portland. The light green in the hank and on the needles is the Peace Fleece. The other ball is sock yarn made by...Schaefer Yarns (Anne). (had to go look at the tag). I'm knitting up the Peace Fleece into Henry. I'm thinking of it as the boyfriend scarf redux. If the scarf doesn't scare him off, the socks might. It's sort of like a 1 - 2 punch. Freaked out by the scarf? Bam! Have a pair of socks that are so amazing they make you want to cuddle something that belongs on your feet. I guess time will tell how this pans out. Let's keep in mind, though, that this is the guy who held my yarn a mere 6 weeks into our relationship.

Note: After reading over the post, I realized that it sort of sounds like I'm knitting this lucky man beautiful things in order to scare him off. Of course, that's not the case. I mean, he did hold my yarn! I'd like to keep him around. However, we all know about the taboo knitting-for-the-boy and its typical results. Here's hoping I can dodge the bullet!

Caved.

oops. I wasn't supposed to buy any yarn...but I did. I'm not proud of me, but it was so pretty and so soft. And it smelled good (did not taste it). My only redemption is that, a) I did NOT buy that $25 hank of luxuriously purple lace weight alpaca and, b) everything I purchased will be used for gifts. I mean, I had to buy the boyfriend something for Christmas and his birthday (which is only a few days before Christmas) eventually. Better I buy it now so I have time to knit it into something, right? RIGHT! Ok, so I'm already feeling better about this illicit yarn purchase. So much better, in fact, that I've already balled one hank of Peace Fleece.
(PS I would totally post pics but stupid Photo Booth is stuck and won't open or close. Guess you'll have to wait...)

Portland

I'm in Portland (for research at the Maine Historical Society).
They have yarn stores.
I will visit these stores, however purchase of yarn is unlikely (given the financial situation brought about by said research trip).
I can still touch, see, and smell the yarn. Maybe I'll try a taste while I'm at it. One of the yarn stores does have a cafe...
(No pics yet, will have some upon return to Delaware)




There must be a horrible lack of knitting activity since we've stooped to cartoons and pictures of adorable babies to entertain each other.

I actually fell so hard Tuesday and skinned both hands so badly I haven't knitted since!! I haven't fallen like that since I was 10. I'd post the wounds and bruises but they really don't entertain in the same way babies do! The non-knitting is starting to make me twitch...

Introducing...

Milam



In yesterday's paper




If there was a team category we'd totally win.

Speaking of Intarsia...

Remember those pillow cases I started years ago (really, it has been THAT long)? I finished knitting them. And I only show these pictures as evidence. They are not done...but the intarsia part is. I have embroidery to do on the yellow flower case and then seaming. I finished the embroidery on the other case and thought I had finished the seams...
Notice that the back of the second case is a little...screwed up.
Well, I sewed both seams together, flipped the case right side out and realized I'd put it together all wrong. So this is the pillow case seamed properly on one side and improperly on the other. I still have to buy some buttons for these things. I can feel it...Soon I will have 2 pillows!

I'm also working the Mystery Shawl:
Not sure how I feel about the "wing" so I haven't worked on it for a while. This is it unblocked and barely worked into clue 2. Oh, and someone was wondering where I've been. I just got back from a week long traipse through New England with my class and 3 others. We went to many, many museums. Most notably the Peabody Essex Museum, the Yale Art Museum, and the RISD Museum. I think I saw something like 10 historic houses in addition to those. It was rigorous but amazing. I didn't take many pics, but if anyone else posts theirs online I'll send you guys a link.

What do you do...

What do you do when you have a bunch of warshrags to knit up for a wedding present and only a day to do it? You try a completely new technique that you've never tried before of course!!

I give you the entrelac "dish cloth." (If you use a schmancy technique like entrelac it suddenly becomes a "dish cloth." The pattern actually called it garterlac since it doesn't use stockinette.) It was really fun to try something new knowing that if you messed up, it wouldn't matter since the recipient was simply going to scrub holes in it anyway. I understand entrelac better now but I also understand why it is often referred to as annoying. It looks cool in sugar 'n creme but truly what doesn't look cool in sugar 'n creme. LOVE the kitchen cotton baby!!


It only needs a baby


Ta-Da! The blanket is finished, one day past my sister's due date. It was totally worth ripping out I think. Now if that little boy would just make an appearance.

Carolyn, aka poodle queen



Couldn't show this one in progress cause my sis-in-law comes here sometimes (Hi Carolyn) but the cat is out of the bag now or should I say the poodle is on the bag...


This was a request from her. She found an image on line and I tried to copy it. Here's the image she sent so I think it's pretty close!





I've also finished Pierce's birthday sweater and even though I haven't given it to him yet, since he's only turning one, he doesn't come here sometimes...



p.s. If you want to see more of the poodle bag (and why wouldn't you!) you can check it out on my flickr page, search for jeekeehoo to get to the page and then click Carolyn's bag. You can see the other side which is the reverse color and the lining, which I think is cute.

If only all FOs could be like this.

So, this project was just a vague idea in my head yesterday morning. Went and got the ball of yarn, cast on last night, finished tonight. Really, I can't say more...I wouldn't want the blog entry to take longer than the FO.


A little hat and thumbless mittens of my own designe for a new couple at church who just had a baby last week.

...and there's even been some knitting.

It was supposed to be a relatively quite little summer, a time to be contemplative and get loads done. Instead, it seems to be flying by! Anyway, I have tried to get some knitting in there too.

Most recent FO, just off the needles today in fact. File under strangest looking knitted object when not on.

What is it you say? Could it be some newly discovered sea creature washed up into the harbor of Baltimore City? You thought I was knitting a mushroom cloud? Silly.

It looks better on, though not much better since it's ON ME.





Max likes it though and these shots on the dark blue more truly represent the color. (Of course you two saw the color directly)


I don't know why all my recent knitting looks deformed when not on me. The sock actually fits wonderfully!! It's Trekking yarn and I can't wait to finish the second one.



These are my own handspun and my attempt to make something like Trekking. I shouldn't say it but I really love them, maybe more than the Trekking. I just keep expecting my handspun to disintegrate in my hands. I couldn't really have spun SOCK YARN!! The picture is a blurry but I really love the texture of the pattern too. It seems to work with the color changes.


Here we have one of the banes of my summer existence. Remember the cream cardigan...you would if you were me. Nothing but trouble, the black hole of knitting, only to discover that due to some wild cruel turn of fate (or perhaps the fact that I didn't really do gauge properly, take your pick) the shoulders would fit a football player...in pads. Oh, well, it's going in the cedar chest for a while...I can't face it anymore.


There's a few other things on the needles at the moment, but I'm simply not patient enough to keep loading pictures!!

Turning back time

Well when I did the math it still wasn't going to work out. Unless I bought a lot more yarn it was going to be very rectangular, and I wasn't sure that would work with the stripe pattern. So, here we are.



Actually it has advanced from this state. I ripped out and then immediately cast on again, but a couple inches less stitches. I'm doing a different pattern this time. It will be 4 squares with the same color on the diagonals. I knit Friday night and Saturday morning and then went and got my Harry Potter book, so all knitting stopped.

Let me know when you finish the book, Jen, and we'll discuss.

Stuck

When I bought the yarn for Baby Brother's (as he is called) blanket a nice lady at the LYS used some chart to help me figure out how much yarn I should buy. Well the chart was wrong people. Very wrong. A few weeks ago I was happily knitting along when I realized I was at the end of my ball of yarn. This was not good because I only had two more balls of the dark blue stuff left and was nowhere near one-third of the way through the blanket.

So yesterday I headed back to the LYS and explained the situation. I gently mentioned that someone there had helped me with the calculations, not because I wanted them to feel bad but because I didn't want them to think I was stupid. They were most apologetic and tried their best to help me. Anyway, there was not anymore of the yarn from that dye lot. Stinky huh? So now I have the blanket with uneven sides that I decided to go on with, but now I can't go on. (Is any of this making sense? I had lots of coffee at bunco night last night and didn't sleep till about 2am.)

I went ahead and bought two more balls of the gray yarn since they did have the right dye lot for that. So I am thinking my options are some kind of stripe, or maybe just a gray box in the middle. Ideas? Opinions?

Here is a picture so far. I am not quite through half of the blue yarn.



And here is a not-to-scale diagram of what I think my options are should I choose to continue with the blanket. I like #2 best though I haven't done color like that before and am a little squeamish about adding another variable to the project. Other options would be ripping and starting over completely or making a hat.

The apple doesn't fall far

Ellery is crawling now. The world is hers! Where would she like to go?

Fitted Knits

This has been done for a while, but I've been too busy, then out of town, then sick, then just lazy, to post. It knitted up really quickly (once I figured out the errors in the pattern) and I'm still wrestling with the strap idea. And no, I have not worn it out of the apartment yet.

I'm not sure if you can tell in the pics, but the colors in the hanks were slightly different so that the bottom half is more green than the top half. Luckily, I blended the hanks over 10 rounds so it's not a drastic change, but I can see it in the finished piece and it sort of irks me. I'm trying to think of it as a cool color grade that I never could have done on purpose...

Here's another fitted knit, made of that beautiful yarn I bought at Sheep and Wool. Remember, after I bought it I was skipping? Yeah, this picture does not do the yarn or the sweater justice. When I knit this in public, I literally have to stop every 10 minutes to talk to someone who is commenting on the color or the yarn or the pattern. I love this sweater already. Come on winter! (Just kidding...I can wait.)


These are the socks I took with me on my trip South (we went to VA, NC, SC, and GA visiting historic houses and other historic sites all along the way). The grey sock is nothing special, it's waiting for me to kitchner stitch the toe closed. The pink/tan sock IS special. It's another Sheep and Wool purchase. Silk and Merino blend. I can't even describe how good this feels on my foot. The pattern I got from Knitty, but I revised it to make a toe up sock (my first ever attempt at this type of sock making). I like the toe up method. I'm not at all worried about whether I'll have enough yarn to make the toe...because it's already there! Amazing.


Finally, our house guest. Meet Thurston. Sam's mom's dog (i.e. Sam's brother). He's staying with us while his mommy is traveling the world. Sam is traveling next week too, so Thurston and I will be holding down the fort. He's pretty cool: sleeps, eats, goes out twice a day, and likes to play with the b-a-l-l (apparently he recognizes the word thus spelling it is necessary). I discovered yesterday that it only takes about 15 minutes of ball chasing before he gets tired. Perfect.

Tatting Tracker?

So, absoooolutely no knitting to report. The cream cardigan is completely out of control. The mushroom cloud, little fitted knit vest has a snag--I can't decide what the directions are trying to say. I have two pairs of socks on the needles but I'm too lazy to take in process pictures even though I'm really excited about the one because it's my most recent handspun. So I will distract you with tatting...




...and ELEPHANTS!!!



does PETA monitor knitting weblogs I wonder? I guess we'll wait and see how many angry comments we get...these big guys we saw yesterday seemed very happy and healthy to us!! I've always wanted to run away and join the circus. Does the circus need knitters? I could make all the dogs in the dog and pony show little outfits. And really, the camel looked cold. I have some camel wool I could spin and knit something...see, you didn't think I could make the circus relate to fiber arts but I did!!