grown-up booties

grown-up booties
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

contrary to my complaints about not feeling jiggy with the knitting lately, it is happening. i whipped up these grown up booties this week using 1.5 skeins of debbie bliss' alpaca silk. a pleasure to knit, this mostly garter stitch in an aran weight project was fast and easy. the pattern is theoretically a great gift project, but i discovered a few things about the pattern i wasn't too crazy about.

first, there's only one size, and i think it runs about a woman's size 8. i'm a size 6, so even though i cast on fewer stitches, it still came out too big. the diagram and photos look great, but unless it's felted, the shape really doesn't sit well on the foot meaning it doesn't keep it's well-designed slipper with a rounded square toe shape. the toe corners end up being floppy or misshapen if it actually fits snugly. this brings me to what i will be doing with these--felt them and hope for the best because i really like this super soft yarn.

it was a test knit to see if it would be a good gift. since i'm such a perfectionist, i won't give away a handmade gift that i think is crap. i know. friends tell me most people won't even notice certain things like my less than stellar finishing job, but i can't escape my warped thought of making something that someone would politely accept but not use or think was poorly done. so we'll see how they come out after felting.

hew

hew
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

anxious that even after buying the one ball after the fact that i would need yet a little more, i plowed through this weekend to discover that i barely had enough.

the ribbing at the bottom didn't end up being tight enough for my liking, making the sides sort of hang loosely at the ribbing. if i were to do it again, i would use a smaller needle size, and cast on more stitches. the sweater is definitely designed for the more flat-chested of us. there were a few spots where i fudged things, like casting on the ties, because i wasn't sure how best to do it. i used a cable cast on on the longer tie, but the way it's written, i ended up having a narrower tie on the shorter side. it doesn't bother me so much. it's a cute sweater.

there is some confusion in the pattern, but i asked a fellow knitter for some advice and emailed canarysanctuary who was nice enough to respond with some clarification. on the part where you work the increases for the bust, it says to do so until you have 22 stitches--that would be for each side, not the total. then you continue in stockinette until the desired length.

it is hot today in southern ca, and we have no ac. i rushed the photo taking as i couldn't take the heat in the sweater.

shalom cardigan

shalom cardigan
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

finished! i made some minor mods. for each of the twisted rib repeats on the yoke, i did two less (total of 5 instead of 7 for each section). at the point where i binded off the sleeves, i divided the section to be more even on the front and back and to better fit my body (i have small arms). k22, bo 40, k45, bo 40, k22 (row 45 in the pattern, 39 for my mods). the next row i cast on 10 instead of 15.

in retrospect, i think i would have k a few more stitches in the fronts and bo fewer so the yoke wouldn’t be so flared and the arm opening not so big. considering that the pattern was designed for someone tall, i also made fewer repeat rows (2 less for each section) on the body.

the only confusing bit was placing the marker on the center sides. instead of following the instructions, i made sure i counted the # of front stitches and for the decreases made the stitches so they fell at the center spot. eg. if there were 27 stitches before the center spot, after the decrease, there were 26. same with the increases.

overall, i like the way it turned out.

anthropologie-inspired capelet finis

anthropologie capelet
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

despite the scratchiness, i finished this. once you get going, it knits up pretty fast. mine came out shorter than i like as i followed the instructions at the end without trying it on until i was done. i'd like to take apart the ribbing and add some length to it, but i'd rather move onto another project. what i'd really like to do is soak it in a sink full of conditioner in hopes of forcing it to be softer, but am doubtful it will make a difference. i stilli need to get a button for it. maybe a wood button with some texture to it.

knitted fo: holding hands

knitted fo: holding hands
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i like the star pattern on this even though the p3tog, yo, p3tog in the same loop was sort of awkward. it's a 4 row repeat, and easy to memorize (yet forget where you are and screw up because not enough attention was paid to the task at hand. the irregular hand-dyed color pattern of the yarn--rio de la plata wool--worked well with the stitch pattern. i had a few projects on the needle, so this took a while to finish, but voila, here it is whole in the heat of summer. i have so many scarves now, i may have to find someone to gift this to.

knitted fo : juliet

knitted fo
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i actually completed one of my to dos yesterday and finally put buttons on this. i loved the yarn and the pattern so much i wanted to find the right buttons.

knit with art fibers' kyoto (silk, mohair, wool blend)
i love that there is minimal finishing. knit from the top down. fairly easy. i ended up going down a needle size on the bottom part so it wouldn't be so flared. it stretched some after blocking. i would have preferred the top section to be a little shorter. other than that i think it came out beautifully, owing much to the lovely yarn. the silk gives it a silvery sheen.

little knitting

orangina
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

since our vacation, my knitting has been almost non-existent. true, i had some time on the flight out, but after that, i was just too busy. starting up again was a little awkward. i hadn't worked on this for weeks, and had to refresh my memory. overall, a fairly straightforward pattern. sweater construction consisted of two rectangles seamed together. i was feeling better about the seaming, but still not enjoying it as much as the rest of the process.

the post-project doldrums are blowing through. the other two projects i'm working on are either too simple and thus boring or too attention intensive to inspire a hungering to work on. apparently, word games and programming are more engaging. speaking of the latter, i can't iterate enough how much i hate microsoft and its crappy browser.

lace smoke ring

lace smoke ring
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i finished this a couple weeks ago. the pattern was easy to remember. even though there were five charts, they were merely variations of the same basic pattern. i made it shorter than the pattern recommended, since i have no intention of wearing it over my head. sometimes i don't like the ends of a scarf coming loose. the compactness of the neckwarmer is nice. i also enjoy knitting in the round and being able to tuck this under a jacket. hard to say, but it certainly has the promise of becoming a favorite scarf.

tyger tyger burning bright

tiger eye scarf
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

so the scarf's not so bright, but i'm liking the earthy burnt sienna, and will post to my mom tomorrow.

jaywalker finis!

knitting fo
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

a repeat of two rows, these jaywalkers were an easy knit, yet look "fancy" enough with the zig zag pattern. this was the perfect project for knitting whilst watching tv or socializing at the snb meeting. i blocked these on my recently acquired sock blockers.

it's odd, but the first one, i knit a little loose, so went down a needle size as i got close to the ankle and continued in the smaller size through the foot to get gauge. the second sock ended up being tighter, so i didn't need to go down in needle size. they appear to fit the shape of my leg really well, but looks can be deceiving as i learned. my one peeve is that the socks don't stay up. they slip and bunch around my legs when i get up and walk around. i'll have to look into fixing these so they stay up and making sure future socks don't end up like this. oddly, after wearing my first pair of knitted socks (these are my second) they too started slipping. i thought wool was suppose to be elastic and snap back into shape? well, i'll have to incorporate some elastic then.

otherwise, i like the color, though i'd like to start knitting more neutrals. so happy & ready to move on to more sock knitting adventures.

fast & furious

knitting fo
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i wanted to knit myself another hat to take to montreal. after perusing through several books and patterns, i settled on this one, called "clara" from hip knit hats. the pattern is interesting looking, but not so complicated that it couldn't be finished on the plane ride over. since we were stuck in miami for an additional 4 hours between flights, finishing was no problemo. i even started to worry that i had not brought enough knitting projects to work on. yikes!

i really like the color and texture. i don't know if it will be a favorite hat as the top came out a little pointier than in the photo. my favorite hat is still a knitted black cashmere one with braids on either side i received as a gift from my friend edlyn, who saw me eye-ing it at banana republic in 2000. i may have to try to recreate that one or something similar in a different color.

the never-ending scarf

knitting fo
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

not sure why, but this scarf seemed to take forever. a pattern that is so simple in fact that it bored me to tears at times, thus sat unknitted for long periods of time. i've looked at it for so long, i can't even tell if i like the color any more. towards the end, i did throw myself into a knitting frenzy, determined to finish the darn thing, and inadvertently knit it too long. it comes out to around 10' after blocking. so silly of me.

it made a great tv watching project, and was the second knitted item that i actually blocked, and the first that really needed it. the pattern causes the sides to curl up. i couldn't completely remove the curl, but flattened it into a sufficiently flat scarf shape. i think i will wear it tomorrow,

lacey cowl/neckwarmer fo

lacey cowl/neckwarmer
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

the momentum on knitting this cowl has been sporadic, with moments of it flying by, and then pauses while i was distracted by other projects, but i finished and posted this on friday. i am happy with the way it turned out. the pattern was interesting enough to keep the momentum up, but not too difficult to memorize and work while watching tv.

the original pattern calls for a laceweight yarn and comes out to be 22.5" around. i thought that was large, so i modified the number of cast on stitches to be 20" circumference using a sock weight yarn. it was still loose, presumably to fit over the head, although i would knit it at 18" next time, so i bought a beautiful handmade pin to secure it.

the yarn, artfibers' carezza, is a blend of baby alpaca, silk & wool. the silk gives it a subtle silvery sheen, which i love, and the baby alpaca and merino wool are soft and slightly fuzzy around the neck, which i also love.

knitting fo

knitting fo
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

finished these up this morning. the thing about doing something in pairs is that the second one is a little less interesting and slower to finish up. i guess it's the one sock syndrome.

turning pens

woodturning
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

almost every sunday morning, i lay in bed wondering why i signed up for such an early class, and try to think up ways to leave early to come home & sleep, but once i'm there, things change.

i made these pens. compared to the bowls, they were pretty easy. they were turned at the highest speed, and it was easier than cutting butter. I made the one with the gold band first. I really liked the silver better, so i made he first one, figuring i would make more mistakes my first time around, but it went well. the only thing i didn't really like about the first one was getting too much glue on the wood, and it left a slightly darker ring at the join with the tip.

there was a shortage of bushings ( these metal tubes that are used as reference for how thick to cut the different parts of the wood to match up with the end, tip & band ), and i had to give my mandrel & bushings to someone else to use after i finished the first pen. i was able to get another set from someone else, but didn't pay close attention, and made the mistook a spacer for a bushing so the end with the clip was too small. I also mistook which piece was which, so the part with the tip was cut too short. i did not realize my error until i was half-way through assembling the pen, and the pen was sticking too far out. my poor instructor had to help me disassemble the tip, which was near impossible. we were able to salvage it, so the only thing is the end being too small. most people probably wouldn't notice, but my eye is immediately drawn to it.

making these were fast and a lot of fun. i would like to make fountain pens & mechanical pencils, since those would be more to what mike & i would use, and in some exotic woods.

with about 2 hrs left in class, i opted to try turning a knitting needle. you would think that it would not be difficult as it is straight, but turning something long and skinny and consistent in thickness is tricky.

turned lidded bowl

turned bowl
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i turned my second green wood bowl (from ash) today. practice does make perfect or at least much improved. the turning and the sanding was much smoother. i'm debating bothering to further sand the first bowl of its imperfections.

after lunch, i made a lidded dish out of mahogany. i thought it would be easier since it's like a bowl, except with a lid. the thicker grain in the mahogany made the edges prone to breaking out, and trying to make it thinner to accommodate the lid was tricky. i didn't sand as much as i would have liked to, but i thought it better to finish it today than spend too much time and make it worse.

the lid fit the first time i cut it, but i screwed up gouging the inside of the bowl, and caused a chunk of the side to break off, so i had to cut it back. then the lid didn't fit, so i had to thin the sides, and I went a little too far.

it looks nice with the tripoli & wax polish.

knitted fo

rolled stocking cap , brown sheep lamb's pride worsted in limeade
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i finished my first knitted object, done in the round. i don't know if i did it incorrectly, but decreasing seemed to create these rather large holes at the very top, even though i tightened it. the simple pattern was from knitting pretty -- not crazy about the way it was decreased - so will investigate other hat patterns.