yarntherapy

the joy of making

Wow - it's amazing how the simple act of making something can be so rejuvenating.

I moped around the apartment all weekend, did a little knitting, but mostly blew off the stuff I had planned to do. Was it the weather? My mood? Who knows?

I finally got my shit together to mail my brother's now-belated birthday present and after I wrapped it I decided to decorate the wrapping paper since plain blue tissue paper was really not special enough for a belated handmade birthday gift. So I got out my glue stick, scissors, and a pack of origami paper that I picked up ages ago, and made a flying kite design on the package.

That was it, that was all I did.

But suddenly, I felt the urge to DO STUFF!

I knit a few more rows, I went to the wine store, I changed the ink in my printer and finally printed a bunch of stuff I've been meaning to print, I made salmon and quinoa and a salad so I have food for a couple of days....

Wow. I caught myself and tried to figure out where this sudden burst of energy had come from, and I realized that I hadn't done a single productive thing all day until I sat down to do my little art project. Afterwards I just felt so focused and organized....... I obviously need to do more things like this first thing in the morning!

out cast

I was crushed that I had to miss the Spin-Out on Saturday due to the weather-induced change of venue, but Cara did an amazing job finding a new space on short notice, and it looks like everyone who went had a great time. I had hoped to try some different spindles before I buy a new one, and I really wanted to give a wheel a try. Oh well. Maybe next time. There will be a next time, right, Cara?

In other knitting news, I had a  devil of a time settling on needles to use for Icarus. The Alpaca Cloud is super fine, and Addi Turbos were much too slippery. I need a US 2 since I knit so freaking loosely - I really wanted to avoid bamboo needles mostly because I just hate them, but also because I was afraid that such a small size would be more prone to breaking (I found a broken size 2 Addi Natura *in the package* at Knitty City - not a good thing at all.) I picked up some Susan Bates Quicksilvers which I've used and liked in the past - they're a coated aluminum that has just enough grab to keep from being slippery. Unfortunately, once I started using them I realized that there is a bump at the cable join which kept catching on the yarn. So I made it through the first chart and went looking for new needles. I really really wanted to use Bryspuns, with their wonderful pointy tips, but the smallest size they come in is a 3. Bummer.

So finally, I picked up some Inox circulars, which have a much smoother join and a more flexible cable. They're also coated aluminum like the Quicksilvers. The points aren't as pointy as I'd like, but so far they're working out just fine. It's slow going, this project...... you start by casting on 5 stitches, and the rows just get longer and loooonger. I kind of dread the bindoff - 523 stitches bound off in pattern. Purlwise. Eek.

Sitcom Chic had to go on a short hiatus due to the fact that my craft closet is a giant black hole and ate the last four balls of yarn. I had to tear the whole thing apart to find them, and now I'm faced with the daunting task of organizing everything in a practical and functional manner. Yeah, we'll see. This apartment is so frustrating - I really do have a ton of space (even for Manhattan) but I just have so much trouble using it efficiently.

And now, because what I really need is another expensive, space-hogging hobby, I am dying to make a quilt. Sigh.

now you see it.....

Now you don't!

This is my brother's rather belated birthday present - I'll get it in the mail in the next day or two. The pattern is Rosalind, from the May Magknits, and it was my first experience with the illusion knitting technique (actually, believe it or not, it was my first time ever having two colors working at once. I'm not a very multicolored sort of girl.) Very, very fun to knit! I was even able to make it a traveling project by laminating the chart and marking the working row with a post-it. Reading the chart from left to right took a bit of getting used to, but you can always reverse the chart if you want to.

The yarn is Lily Chin Chelsea, a merino/cotton/acrylic blend which I thought would be nice for a northwestern climate - not too warm, not too flimsy. I used one ball of each color - a really pretty royal blue and a heathery charcoal. I was afraid I'd run out of yarn, but it was actually perfect - I used all but a couple of feet of each color and the finished product is about 5 and a half inches wide, and 58 inches long. I did add a three-stitch garter border on each side. Blocking it was a real treat - I just gave it a quick spritz of steam with an iron and it tightened up and evened out and just looks and feels great. I think the color will be gorgeous on my blond blue eyed baby bro!

I don't remember needle size - I think I started with a US 4 Addi Turbo and went down to a US 3 to tighten it up and make it a better width.

All in all, a very satisfying project! I have a feeling I may be making more of these for my brother's co-workers when they see it. (Those scientists love a good sight gag!)

Amazing Lace - X-tremely strange goings on...

The unsuspecting knitter had no idea what she unleashed when she decided to embark upon a summer-long adventure with her good friend Icarus......

events galore this weekend!

Happy World Wide Knitting in Public Day!

(though every day is a KIP day for me!)

There's an "official" get-together in Central Park this afternoon, which I can't get to. I will, however, be hanging out in WorldWide Plaza (50th & 8th) around 5:30-6 tonight if anyone wants to knit a few rows with me.

Also this weekend - Crafts at Lincoln Center! I'll be going tomorrow morning.

And - this makes me crazy - Stitch n' Pitch is an official thing now! Unfortunately, the nearest event to me is in Pittsburgh so I don't think I'll be attending any games, but I'm totally jealous of the lucky folks who have one in their city.

simple pleasures

• cleavage enhancing bras that actually fit
• the pigtailed four-year-old on the A train who asked me what my name was, only to discover that we share not only the same (slightly unusual) first name, but the same middle name as well! As they were leaving, she shook my hand and said "maybe we'll see you around today!"
• Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate Ice Cream
• great baseball games
• the way my apartment smells after a shopping spree at Lush
• the NYPL online picture collections

 

Amazing Lace - choose your partners, here we go!

When I decided to join The Amazing Lace (and really, how could I not?) I figured that I would finally knit the River shawl I had been wanting to do for ages, and even had two colors of Kidsilk Night to choose from.  No brainer, right?

Then I started thinking. Oops.

First, I went into the yarn closet to pull out the yarn to decide on a color - and I realized that, um, I actually have kind of a lot of laceweight yarn....

OK, it's not like a crazy-huge stash like those wacky sock yarn people have, but it certainly has enough variety to get one thinking.

(Clockwise from left) - Cream colored wool/mohair by Heirloom Yarns "The Australian Yarn Company" - this was a Secret Pal gift from Annie. Not strictly lace weight, but I really want to do a lace project with it. Hey, I have some in green as well!

Variegated handpainted Italian merino from School Products. So. Pretty.

Rowan Kidsilk Night in in Moonlight (silvery grey) and Starry Night (black with silver sparkles). Dying to make an evening wrap from this - won't River look pretty all sparkly?

Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Iris (heathery lavender) - soft! So so very soft!

Knitpicks Shimmer in Happy Dance (red/fuchsia/pink with yellow accents) - soft! and bright!

(It's pouring rain and grey and ugly and the only place in my place with decent light right now is the kitchen, hence the location for these pictures. Don't you love my tile countertop and the patterned backsplash? Totally the reason I took this apartment!)

Anyway, looking at all these goodies really got my juices flowing. First of all, will I really be needing a sparkly formal wrap any time in the next few months? Then like a good blogger I consulted the knitalong, only to find that while everyone loved the finished project, the overwhelming feeling was that this was one booooring knit. Hmm. Impractical and boring? Not so much what you want in a partner.

I started looking at patterns and again, realized that the lace-related wishlist is rather large, featuring such treasures as Elizabeth, Arisaig, several things from Scarf Style, the Flower Basket Shawl, and several free patterns currently on the Knitpicks website (their last catalog has a whole section on lace, and the site is featuring lace as well.)

Hmm. It appears that I may have encountered my first detour!

(Detour: a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons.)

This detour? Quantity or Quality?

In Quantity, the knitter will attempt to use up as much of her stash as possible on several projects. The pros include....well, stash busting, the portability of the project, and a heck of a lot of variety. As for the cons....well, do I (or anyone I know) need yet another lacy scarf? We'll see.

In Quality, the knitter attempts one project, larger and more complicated than just a scarf or two (but within the knitter's ability to complete said project within the allotted time - I ain't a masochist!) The cons are pretty much the opposite of the pros above - no stash busting, very little variety.

But oh......the pros.......the challenge. The challenge is what this is all about, right? A nice, fat, lacy challenge. Something involving multiple charts.....teeny needles......skinny skinny yarn. But something I will actually use - something pretty and soft and interesting, that will start conversations and remind me of this summer.

I was repeatedly drawn to this:

The Icarus Shawl from Summer 06 Interweave Knits.........

I kind of love it. And I think the Iris Alpaca Cloud will be stunning. Wow. Decision made.

Quality it is.

I would like to present my partner for the Amazing Lace:

Irisicarus.

The world is waiting!