Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Why?
Why what? Why the world? Well if it's Why is that item my favorite to knit it's because they're usually pretty fast, so I can finish a project, use different yarns and have a great finished item for myself or to give to someone else. And they're fast. :)
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Yarn Roundup
Time for a yarn roundup! Here, for your viewing pleasure is all the yarn I have accumulated in the past few months.
This is two skeins of Fleisher's Knitting Yarn that is "all virgin wool."
This is the latest bit of yarn I've been spinning. It's Spunky Eclectic Corriedale in Water Nymph. It's been pretty nice to spin with so far. However, I'm thinking I need to invest in a heavier drop-spindle, the one I have now seems too light to me.
This is the rest of the Vanna's Glamour that I used for the Golden Snitch. I think I'm going to use the rest for a hat.
This is also leftover from the Golden Snitch. No idea what I'm going to do with it though.
This is one skein of NaturallyCaron.com Country in Spruce. The Country is a 25% merino wool and 75% acrylic blend. It will likely end up as a hat but I'm looking forward to trying the yarn. It comes in such nice colors it would be great to make a bunch of stuff with this yarn.
This was a real indulgence. Two skeins of Patons Silk Bamboo in Plum. This is a 70% viscose from bamboo and 30% silk blend. This will also likely be a hat (are you noticing a trend here?) and I'm looking forward to working with it.
And finally we have two skeins of Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend in Midnight Marl. It's a blend of 75% recycled cotton and 25% acrylic, which you have to admit is pretty cool. I also really like that it's this very cool purple, green and blue all twined together.
Well, that's all on the yarn front. I'm still playing around with hyperbolic planes and working on the shawl for my mom that I started ages ago. Additionally, the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival is NEXT WEEK (!!!!) and I'm hoping that a bunch of my friends (from here, Pitt and work) will be coming with me. It should be fun (and costly, but fun).
This is two skeins of Fleisher's Knitting Yarn that is "all virgin wool."
This is the latest bit of yarn I've been spinning. It's Spunky Eclectic Corriedale in Water Nymph. It's been pretty nice to spin with so far. However, I'm thinking I need to invest in a heavier drop-spindle, the one I have now seems too light to me.
This is the rest of the Vanna's Glamour that I used for the Golden Snitch. I think I'm going to use the rest for a hat.
This is also leftover from the Golden Snitch. No idea what I'm going to do with it though.
This is one skein of NaturallyCaron.com Country in Spruce. The Country is a 25% merino wool and 75% acrylic blend. It will likely end up as a hat but I'm looking forward to trying the yarn. It comes in such nice colors it would be great to make a bunch of stuff with this yarn.
This was a real indulgence. Two skeins of Patons Silk Bamboo in Plum. This is a 70% viscose from bamboo and 30% silk blend. This will also likely be a hat (are you noticing a trend here?) and I'm looking forward to working with it.
And finally we have two skeins of Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend in Midnight Marl. It's a blend of 75% recycled cotton and 25% acrylic, which you have to admit is pretty cool. I also really like that it's this very cool purple, green and blue all twined together.Well, that's all on the yarn front. I'm still playing around with hyperbolic planes and working on the shawl for my mom that I started ages ago. Additionally, the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival is NEXT WEEK (!!!!) and I'm hoping that a bunch of my friends (from here, Pitt and work) will be coming with me. It should be fun (and costly, but fun).
Thursday, April 22, 2010
I Just Couldn't Resist
Hey guys, two quick things because it's ri-schlong-ulously late and I seriously need to go to bed but I wanted to get this out there. First off, did anybody watch the TED talk I posted earlier this week? It was sent to me by a friend who is a math PhD student and also sews his own ren-faire costumes. If you ha vent watched it yet you REALLY should. It's FASCINATING!! It's this whole crazy thing about coral, crochet, hyperbolic models and how play is a good thing. It totally blew my mind. I have to tell you, math is far from my strong suit (as in, I suck at it and it makes me think suicidal thoughts) but this was really interesting about how only crochet can properly model this crazy concept (the hyperbolic models) about lines on a plane. Seriously, read more about it right here. It also inspired me to make my own hyperbolic models. 
This is my first one with some green acrylic. I CO 20 stitches and I increased every 4th stitch. I'm going to try making some more of these, they're really interesting.
On an unrelated note, The Wench is now a professional blogger! Read her first post for Coveryourhair.com (click the link on the left for their site) right here! I'm so proud. *sniff*
This is my first one with some green acrylic. I CO 20 stitches and I increased every 4th stitch. I'm going to try making some more of these, they're really interesting.On an unrelated note, The Wench is now a professional blogger! Read her first post for Coveryourhair.com (click the link on the left for their site) right here! I'm so proud. *sniff*
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Perhaps A Picasso-esque Blue Period?
So the last two projects I've completed in my blog hiatus are two more slouchy hats that I am making to wear in the future when I'm married (that is if I can ever afford to do that). One is a slightly smaller, shorter and blue-er version of the green snood I gave to The Wench's husband's brother's fiance done on size 5 and 7 needles with Ocean Spray. 
The other is a Chunky Slouch Cap done on size 7 and 8 needles (CO 80 stitches instead of 44 to adapt to the yarn and needles) with Lion Brand Incredible ribbon that I've had sitting around for AGES. This poor yarn was a crocheted hat, then got frogged, then was a shawl, then got frogged, and now is this hat, which, if I must say is a good incarnation for it.
So that's all for the made stuff, coming up is a show-off session of the stash of yarn I bought.
PLUS we are gearing up for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! The Wench and I are SO EXCITED for it.
The other is a Chunky Slouch Cap done on size 7 and 8 needles (CO 80 stitches instead of 44 to adapt to the yarn and needles) with Lion Brand Incredible ribbon that I've had sitting around for AGES. This poor yarn was a crocheted hat, then got frogged, then was a shawl, then got frogged, and now is this hat, which, if I must say is a good incarnation for it.
So that's all for the made stuff, coming up is a show-off session of the stash of yarn I bought.
PLUS we are gearing up for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! The Wench and I are SO EXCITED for it.
Forty-Five Minute Friends
One of my (now former) co-workers is one of these people that you meet that have just an entirely magnetic personality. The kind of person where you meet them like once and think "I want to be this person's friend." Since this is the case, his birthday came around (aka showed up on my Facebook feed) and I decided to make him a birthday gift. He's a HUGE, like INCREDIBLY obsessive Harry Potter fan so I thought it would be awesome to make something for him that was Harry Potter related. However, most projects that are out there are House Scarves, Weasly Sweaters, and otherwise large and time consuming items so I was mildly discouraged. That is, until I came across a pattern for a KNITTED GOLDEN SNITCH! So using size 1 needles (aka toothpicks) and Vanna's Choice Glamour in Topaz and some Coats and Clark Royale Metallic Crochet Thread in Gold and some bizarre fuzzy gold yarn I inherited from my Mom I created a Golden Snitch. This was a pretty easy pattern to follow, though I think if I made it again I would knit the ball in the round instead of flat. 
I LOVE how it turned out though. What's more though, the recipient (my friend from work) absolutely LOVED, LOVED this. I got a HUGE hug for it and it is now sitting on a stand in his apartment. And while it can't quite compete with the Movado watch that his husband gave him for his birthday, it came in at a close second. I didn't think that a little thing that I whipped up in two days would be so well received but it was and I'm pretty darn proud of myself.
*PS* I just realized what a non-sequitur the title of this post is. It's because this friend and I keep trying to find time to hang out which is pretty difficult considering I'm Sabbath observant and he's not Jewish and I work at least one of my jobs on the other 6 days of the week. He said this was very frustrating and I offered that we could be friends between 5:15pm and 6pm (time between my two jobs) or after 9pm to which he responded that we would be 45 minute friends :-D
I LOVE how it turned out though. What's more though, the recipient (my friend from work) absolutely LOVED, LOVED this. I got a HUGE hug for it and it is now sitting on a stand in his apartment. And while it can't quite compete with the Movado watch that his husband gave him for his birthday, it came in at a close second. I didn't think that a little thing that I whipped up in two days would be so well received but it was and I'm pretty darn proud of myself.*PS* I just realized what a non-sequitur the title of this post is. It's because this friend and I keep trying to find time to hang out which is pretty difficult considering I'm Sabbath observant and he's not Jewish and I work at least one of my jobs on the other 6 days of the week. He said this was very frustrating and I offered that we could be friends between 5:15pm and 6pm (time between my two jobs) or after 9pm to which he responded that we would be 45 minute friends :-D
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sexy Stripes
So back in December I made the Manly-I-Cord Scarf for The Cowboy for Chanukah. Considering you get a pretty good bang for your buck with Patons Classic Wool, I had leftovers and decided to make a hat to match the scarf. I went with Jared Flood's Turn-a-Square hat because it's simple, classy and not girly. I want to take a second here to rave about Jared Flood. I don't know how its possible but between this man's patterns and photography, he makes a pair of mittens or a sweater look breathtakingly sexy. Yes, sexy. Like I seriously get all light-headed and drool when I see his patterns. You should definitely check out his site and his blog, it's beautiful. *END TANGENT* Anyway I ended up with this lovely striped hat and The Cowboy was kind enough to pose for a photoshoot for me ;-)
How cute is he?
How cute is he?Spud-ette Emerges
So I don't remember if I mentioned it, but The Wench gave birth to an ADORABLE baby girl in Februrary. Of course, being the first granddaughter she was gifted with several beautifully knitted items from BubbeBia (the woman who first taught me to knit). However, I would never neglect my 'niece' so I crocheted a little hat for her and made some booties of the same yarn. It's some Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby in Cheery Cherry. It's a very soft acrylic and totally fine to work with. The hat is a crochet pattern from yarncat.com. 
Specifically the Dorthea pattern and the booties are the Sockabooties by my friend The Evil Knit Genius.
Specifically the Dorthea pattern and the booties are the Sockabooties by my friend The Evil Knit Genius.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Social Networking
One other thing guys, before I call it a night. I've mentioned before but I'm on Ravelry as Klevitan17. Also, I put up a "Follow Me" button for Twitter and an "Ask Me Anything" box for formspring on the left hand side of this page. Feel free to use them!
Some Things Are Not How We Intend It To Be
So with the leftover yarn from my sister's scarf I decided to make a slouchy hat for myself. The yarn drapes really nicely and it would be good to add to my collection of Emunah headcoverings. However, it turned out a bit slouchier than I wanted.
So I gave it to The Wench's husband's brother's fiance. She really likes green and seemed pretty excited about it, and considering she's getting married early this summer it was timely enough. Except that since the hat was made bigger than I intended I had bought another skein of the "Green Sheen" Naturallycaron.com Spa. So I made another green slouchy hat for myself, which I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 
I love the texture of it and the yarn drapes really nicely (even if it's a bit splitty and annoying to work with at times). This still left me with a ton of the green yarn and no desire to make any more green hats so I traded it with The Wench
for a skein of pink Cotton-Ease which will likely be another Emunah Hat.
So I gave it to The Wench's husband's brother's fiance. She really likes green and seemed pretty excited about it, and considering she's getting married early this summer it was timely enough. Except that since the hat was made bigger than I intended I had bought another skein of the "Green Sheen" Naturallycaron.com Spa. So I made another green slouchy hat for myself, which I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 
I love the texture of it and the yarn drapes really nicely (even if it's a bit splitty and annoying to work with at times). This still left me with a ton of the green yarn and no desire to make any more green hats so I traded it with The Wench
for a skein of pink Cotton-Ease which will likely be another Emunah Hat.Belated Birthday Gifts
So in my last post I mentioned the blizzard that happened here in Baltimore this past February (or Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, or Snowverkill as they were "affectionately" called). This of course was the week that my parents jetted off to Arizona to visit my little sister who is currently teaching out there. While this was bad for me because the littlest sister and I had to shovel out the car, it was good because I could send along this lovely scarf that I made for the sister for her birthday (it was only a week late!) 
This was made with Naturallycaron.com Spa on size 7 needles. I used the "Green Sheen" and the "Ocean Spray" colors. I really like the softness of this yarn, it's a bamboo and acrylic blend, but it's VERY splitty which makes knitting with it a little harder than I'd like, it takes a lot of concentration. Overall though, my sister loved it and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
This was made with Naturallycaron.com Spa on size 7 needles. I used the "Green Sheen" and the "Ocean Spray" colors. I really like the softness of this yarn, it's a bamboo and acrylic blend, but it's VERY splitty which makes knitting with it a little harder than I'd like, it takes a lot of concentration. Overall though, my sister loved it and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Purple-y Goodness
Ok blogosphere, I'm trying my best to get all caught up now. I think I'm going to do one post per item. That said I want to show off this lovely Calorimetry headband I made back in February. 
The yarn was leftover from the French Press Cozy I made and from the first Emunah Hat. It took me just about a day to knit and was great to wear in the gigantic blizzard that was here in Baltimore. One thing I did learn was that if I wear it with the bind-off edge in front it seems to stay on better. I think it's because it's less stretchy. Either way, I love this and plan to wear it a lot in the winter.
The yarn was leftover from the French Press Cozy I made and from the first Emunah Hat. It took me just about a day to knit and was great to wear in the gigantic blizzard that was here in Baltimore. One thing I did learn was that if I wear it with the bind-off edge in front it seems to stay on better. I think it's because it's less stretchy. Either way, I love this and plan to wear it a lot in the winter.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Shamefaced Apology
Dear Blog-readers (if there are any of you left),
I am SO sorry about my lack of blogging. I have not been slacking on my knitting and fiber crafting, just letting you know about it. For this I am truly sorry. I hope to get caught up on it sometime this week (April 11th-17th) but I cant make promises. Please bear with me, I have pretty things to share. In fact, here's a taste of what I've done in the past 4 months.
So dear readers, please stick with me, I'll do my best to get better at this blogging business. Feel free to post questions, comments or criticisms. I'll take it all. :-)
~Yours, Rebecca
I am SO sorry about my lack of blogging. I have not been slacking on my knitting and fiber crafting, just letting you know about it. For this I am truly sorry. I hope to get caught up on it sometime this week (April 11th-17th) but I cant make promises. Please bear with me, I have pretty things to share. In fact, here's a taste of what I've done in the past 4 months.
So dear readers, please stick with me, I'll do my best to get better at this blogging business. Feel free to post questions, comments or criticisms. I'll take it all. :-)~Yours, Rebecca
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