Fuzzy Stuff!

I'm knitting my first real lace project! It's a mohair modified "arches and columns" scarf. I didn't much like the stokinette columns so I took two stitches out of every column so now it's arches and.. err.. really skinny columns flanked by eyelets? it's pretty :) BUT the mohair is this weird stuff I got on sale in Japan and is WICKED Itchy! I don't know what to do :( I only have one ball of it, and don't know what else to do with mohair, but I can't imagine wearing it over anything less than a turtleneck!
here's a pick of my measly 3inches of lace so far:

Rowan Biggy Print Woven Scarf

Two years ago I went to a yarn store in Seattle (Tricoter), one of the most beautiful yarn stores i've ever been to, and I had never seen Rowan yarns before. (This was very early in my knitting career). I bought 3 balls of some alpaca/wool blend that I made the vertical striped scarf in the FO section with, and I bought two balls of Biggy Print in Fiesta (?) and black. They only had about 32 yds each, and were quite expensive, but they were calling to me!
So this is what I did with them!
It's not knit, it's woven, on a big cardboard handloom I made, just like you used to make those woven bookmarks in gradeschool. It worked great! The scarf is about 4.5 ft long and 7 in wide. I could have made it longer if it was thinner, of course, or longer if i alternated the black and the rainbow (i had black left over).
Here it is! I'm going to put a big pink button on it to hold it closed and make it look pretty. I've work it through a winter already, that's why it's a little fuzzy.

Sock and Armwarmer!

I just finished my first sock!
It's a little mini test-sock done in Lamb's Pride sock yarn on size US#1 needles. Damn little thing took forever! Next time I make socks I'm doing it with worsted weight yarn, this teenie-tiny stuffis rediculous! looks comfy though, I'm sure I'll succumb again to it eventually :P
I had no problems at all with this little thing! Easy as pie :) turning heels is fun!
Here it is blocking on my patio.


And here's the first arm warmer to match that plaid hat (I had yarn left).
I took the shape from the "Hurry up Spring Armwarmers", but changed the pattern, obviously.

this is not blocked yet (Nor are the ends even woven in!)
The cable does lie in the center of your hand, it's just doing it in this pic, i don't know why.

pictures! whee!

My super-fun Intarsia-Plaid Beanie-Bill for my friend Day:
It's hard to see the pattern in the bright sunlight.. it's kinda subtle in places.
From this: +
(manos Brick and Lava)

to this:
(knitting on the plane home, a million little balls!)

to THIS!:



modelled by my lovely new blue glass head, Shirley, and on me (it's too big, I have a really small head).

Hiatus and Intarsia-plaid!

Sorry about long break, I've been in transit. I moved from Japan back to the states on July 10th.. well, I took a week break in Seattle then came back to my parents house in NY, now I'm packing even MORE stuff to move in with my boyfriend in Maryland and hopefully get a job at this kickass yarn store down there! I've already talked to the owner, who is looking for someone, and provided we get along well hopefully she'll hire me! How often do you find people who are completely flexible with hours AND are obsessive knitter/fiberfiend/teachers?

While I was in Seattle I went to this great yarn store called The Weaving Works. They had a nice selection of knitting yarn, weaving yarn, AND lots of spinning/dyeing supplies! I went there with two friends, one is an ex-knitter and the other is a non-knitter. They had a blast squeezing every ball of yarn in the place :) My ex-knitter friend who I promised to knit a hat for even picked out his own yarn (with some help). We decided on some GORGEOUS Manos del Uruguey (which I had actually never beheld in person). We got a hank of mottled deep red, and a hank of this varigated black-gold-red that knits up a bit like a tweed. Both are absolutely stunning, I think it's my new favorite yarn!

While still in Seattle I was brainstorming in 3D (on the needles), and Dayvd said he wanted the hat to be a beanie-bill, and a work of art, so I should go nuts.
And nuts I went!
I knit the hat flat. It's my first flat hat. It's also done in an interpretive INTARSIA-PLAID based on the Magknits plaid vest. It's a combination of intarsia and slip stitch techniques, and I knit the thing completely patternless. I had about 5 hours on the plane from Seattle to Atlanta, then another 3 hours in the airport to work on it, and have been picking at it here and there since. Yesterday I finlly got the brim done (it's not really a brim, so much as an embellishment), and wove in all my ends! Whoo hoo! And lo and behold, it fits! (my dad, couldn't try it on Day, but they both have bigger heads than me). I really like it :)

Unfortunately, my camera is being retarded and my USB port on it is broken and I don't have a card reader, so I wont have the pictures till tonight because I have to take it to the photo store and burn a picture cd.
But pictures of the amazing hat soon!

Also I got to go to the new Adirondack Yarns Knitting cafe here in Lake Placid! They just expanded and the new store is really cute, and was packed with people! They had some really really lovely handpainted specialty yarns along with all the old favorites. I managed to walk out with NO NEW YARN, but did pick up Stitch and Bitch Nation, Nicky Epstein's (sp) Knitting Embellishments (chotto takai$$$), and the summer Vogue Knitting with the great summer scarves in it :)

Next project I think will be matching armwarmers with the rest of the manos!
And I will have roughly 28 hours in the car (to MD, and back up, then to MD again) to knit! yay! I love how knitting makes sitting around while going places sooo much more enjoyable :)
I haven't knit in the car in a long time though, hope I don't get motionsick...

Monk Hat with Pattern!

All these hats I made for the family I'd been living with in Japan, and here's the last one! I made this hat for their Dad, the Zen Buddhist Priest, hence, it's The Monk Hat :)


Supplies: 8mm 16"(40cm) circular needle
(MC)1 50gram ball of worsted weight 100% wool
(CC)1 50 gram ball of worsted weight (or slightly thicker) fluffy boucle-style yarn (I used a wool/acrylic almost eyelash blend from Filatura di Crosa, but it may be discontinued, i don't know the name) This stuff has the texture of Lionbrand Homespun, actually, but it's part wool. You could really use any other interesting, accent yarn for this part.

gauge: 10st/10cm (or 4 in). this is an estimate, actually, i have no ruler right now. Try on your hat after making the brim to test the size.

Holding together one strand each of mc and cc, cast on 48 st. Join.
Knit in garter st (RS knit, WS purl) for 7 or 8 rows, ending on a purl row.
Switch to two strands of the worsted wool (I pull one strand from the center and one from the outside) and continue in stockinette st (plain knitting) until the hat measures 8 inches from the bottom (add a few more rounds for someone with a larger head). The hat should cover your ears when you try it on at this point. If it does not, add a few more rounds.

Decrease rows and finishing:
Row 1: k6, k2tog
Row 2: k5, k2tog
Row 3: k4, k2tog
Row 4: k3, k2tog
Row 5: k2, k2tog
Row 6: k1, k2tog
Break the yarn and thread a yarn needle; run through all the stitches and pull tight.
Pull the yarn on the needle through the center hole and weave in tightly and you're done!

I love garter st brim hats :) they give the look of a folded-over brim without actually having one, but are still warm because of how the fabric pulls together and traps air.
More variations!


The Blue/Orange hat and the Green/rainbow hat are done using one strand of Super Bulky wool.

Hats are so satisfying

I could make hats all year I think :) Wish I had space in my suitcase, my lys here still has tons of awesome super bulky sale yarn perfect for cute hats, but I dont have the money or the room. I finished off the hat yarn I had with this beauty :)

3rd Hat done!

Ok now have one hat for each child :) I hope they like them..
Here's number 3!

sorry I'm not smiling, it was right before I went to bed

I have extra yarn so I'm making one more. don't know quite what I'll do with it yet though! it will be dark pink and bright yellow.

I've given up on my neon green cotton yarn for now, it didn't want to be a halter top. At least, not right now. I think I'm going to make a really weird hoodie from some red heart I have lying around, mostly just for pattern purposes (who would actually want to wear red heart? god, i've turned into such a fiber snob :P )

I've noticed that I post a picture every post. Also, I tend to not read people's blogs so much unless they have lots of pictures. Who wants to hear about a new hat when they cant see it?

2/3

Second of three hats finished! I am loving making these :) I hope the kids like them, they're pretty wild! also I hope they fit.. i have a pretty small head, and all of kohki(the youngest child)'s hats fit me, so I'm making them to fit me, and they could stretch bigger. They don't fall off though, so they should be ok.
Blue-Orange hat modeled by me:

and again on Mr. Fishes:

New Hat!

Tday even though it was nearly 90 degrees outside (and inside) I sat and listened to some of Chuck Palahnuik's (sp) new novel "Haunted", which is really good, and knitted up the first of 3 hats for the kids I have been working with for the past 9 months! I may knit up hats for my host mom and dad too, we'll see. ALSO this is the super sale yarn I got on my birthday, so this is a $2 hat! (not indluding time, of course).


The brim is garter stitch with a double strand of this SUPER soft thick-thin wool, and the body is the brand-less ball of chunky grass green I found that is kindof scratchy, but fine for the middle of the hat. Knitted on 8mm 40cm circular needle. It's my first plastic needle and I really like it a lot! It's Clover brand.

Birthday Loot!

So yesterday was my birthday (I'm 23! whee!) and I was in downtown Fujisawa and stopped in at my local LYS to look for discounted wool to make hats for the 3 brats I've been taking care of for the past 9 months, as a thank-you gift for all they've done for me. In the center of the store was the usual sale-bin, with nothing really good in it, but as I turned around to leave I noticed baskets and baskets of discontinued sale yarn along the fall wall! whee! Most of it was only single balls of any color or brand, but since I want to make bright crazy kids' hats that was just perfect :) Especially since a whole bunch of it was chunky thick-thin yarn in wicked bright colors, all for $1 or $2 a ball! (this is yarn that would normally sell for between $5-10 a ball). Each ball is small in yardage, but I think I got enought to make 3 kid hats.
PLUS I found a few random balls of mohair including a lovely varigated lavender-pink-green one (that I will pair with some pink wool for a skinnyscarf I think), and a ball of black mohair-blend, AND a ball of NEON GREEN mohair! I couldn't resist it, but what exactly does one do with one ball of bright green mohair?
AND I also found two more balls of Muschio in the colors I needed, so now I have enough to make my mom a hat :)
14 balls of yarn for about $20! score!


ALSO I just created a fantabulous links/reference page with free patterns I like, more knitting blog links, and tut/trick links. please check it out!
RedThreadReferences
The link is also in the sidebar under Links.

To read the full account of my Birthday Adventures go to my Livejournal page:
Alizarinorchid

Back on the Horse

So since I've gotten utterly tired of my washi bag and my green-top-that-doesn't-want-to-be-made, I started a small felt purse, of my own design. It's in a houndstooth check that is very pretty and very fun :)

the red is actually more of a berry, and the black is charcoal gray.

Only problem is that fair-isle takes a lot of yarn, and I don't have much, so we'll see if I make it! I can't get any more, it was discontinued colors of Filatura di Crosa Primo 100% merino, it's nice stuff ;) I bought it with a hat in mind so I didn't think I'd need very much.

future projects

The new Knitty is up.. I must say I'm not impressed.I guess I was hoping for some fun summer stuff, and most guys stuff tends to look the same to me. The belt was cool though. and the cigar gloves are clever. And I've met the woman who did Kumo.

Anthropologie, however, has been much more inspiring! There fall catalog is out now and it includes some gorgeous and inspirational stuff like these:
Short Sleeve one-button cardigan
An Openwork Cardigan that looks like fun but I wouldn't wear it
And this Frilly Thing looks fun but a lot of work.
THIS however, I am definitely going to try to figure out a knitted version of though.

As for WIPs I've hit a wall. I ripped out what I had for my tank top for the 3rd time or so because my gauge was off. That's my biggest problem right now: Sizing! It's a royal pain. I really want to do this though so I'm going to cast on again (with fewer stitches) after my yarn has a bit of time to unkink from my last attempt. I must say though that this cotton-rayon stuff is holding up well to all the abuse! In the meantime I think I'm going to start a small felted purse.

And this is just perfect :) I will have to do it.
Maye if I get bored I'll save and re-upload these pics so I can post them here :P

Frustration and Compulsion

I haven't posted in a little bit because I've been too frustrated with my Noro washi and linen purse. I have about 10 rows left and no more linen :( This means that I have to rip back about that many rows so I can have enough to attach the handle, and then my bag won't be as deep as I would have liked it :(
Here's where I am:


BUT I went to my LYS yesterday, party because I felt I needed 4.5mm needles and partly because I was in the building to take Sheana to violin, and because I am such a compulsive yarn-buyer, especially when yarn is on sale, I had to walk out with this: Filatura di Crosa Rossana, 40% viscose, 28% polyamid, 23% mohair, 9% wool.
I think it will also be accent yarn for another purse.

Cable Tutorial

you're welcome Amanda...
sorry about the crappy pictures.

Example is a 6 stitch front twist cable, twisted every 4th row. Do not attempt cables until you are comfortable with ribbing.

Step 1)work in p6,k6 rib for 4 rows. (remember that for ribbing you knit on the Right Side and purl on the Wrong Side, so row 2 will be k6, p6, k6)
Your purl st will be your background and your knit stitches are your cables.

(picture swatch shows only one cable, and not all 6 purl stitches on either side)


Step 2) p6, slip the next 3 st Purlwise onto your cable hook or dpn and let hang in front of work.



Step 3) remember to move your yarn to the back and knit the next st on the left hand needle. Pull tight.
knit the next two knit stitches.


Step 4) The twist. Slide your stitches on your cable hook or dpn to the right side.


Knit the next 3 stitches off the cable hook or dpn as if it was your left hand needle. The first stitch you slipped should be the first stitch you knit.


Step 5) Bring yarn in front and purl next 6 stitches. Repeat twist for each cable (set of 6 knit stitches)in this row.


Step 6) Next 3 rows treat as p6,k6 rib. 4th row repeat cable twist (this should be a RS row).

(finished cable twist plus two more rows)

random thoughts...

This will be my next haircut. Color included. I've always loved it, but because I've been afraid of bangs for some reason I've never gotten it. Also, any cut that only has one look kindof scares me, but then again I never do anything different with my hair anyway, so I'm being silly :P Have to let it grow out some first though.

I like the scarf, but it's crochet. blech.
Oh, it's from Kim Hargraeves, by the way.

Also, just got accepted to the Knitting Blogs ring Whee!

Cast on for my halter top, not sure if I'm liking the brioche edging on the bottom, it uses way too much yarn, but I'm going to keep going with it.

Finally told my parents about my knitting cafe plans, my mother was less than supportive. *shrug*
I also learned that there is already 2 in NYC, one in LA, one in Portland Oregon, and a few bitty ones scattered around the midwest. It's an up-and-coming idea!
Nice to see people are making it work though, that's inrpiring :)

SWAP!

So I finally got the Summer Interweave Knits Magazine that Amanda of Frenchtoastcake bought for me!
She also sent along some lovely yarney goodness that I have no idea what to do with :P Including some goat-wool roving she dyed herself, and some unspun raw silk roving. Maybe I'll learn to spin?
In return I sent her some sugoi-kawaii Japanese stuff, like a photo album with happy pancakes on it, and crazy engrish Dinosaur socks!
here's my package!


Yay for mail!

new stitch!

My host-mom has this sweater with these beautiful stitch panels that I couldn't figure out for the life of me, so I took some pictures and posted them in LJ Punk_knitters to ask for help, then ended up stumbling across exactly what it was by myself anyways :P
It's Brioche stitch, and it's fabulous :) and I'm going to incorporate it into my next design :)
Easy, beautiful, reversible: what else could you ask for in a stitch?

The stitch on the sweater:


and here's how you do it:
Row 1: * Yo, sl 1, k1; repeat from *. (Note: When you slip stitches, insert the tip of the needle as to purl. See details below. Also, notice the yo slants diagonally over the slipped stitch.)
Row 2: * Yo, sl 1, k2 tog, repeat from *. (Note, when you k2 together, you will slip knit the slipped stitch and the yarn over of the previous row.)
Repeat Row 2.

close call

My LYS has had buckets and buckets of sale stuff since March, and I picked up a whole bunch of odds and ends including a few balls of Filatura di Crosa "Primo" 100% Wool that I thought would make a great felted purse. Since I don't want to have to ship yarn home in August (although I may have to) I figured I'd better get started on it. I pulled the wool out of my stash-bag and noticed something that had previously gone unnoticed: 100% Merino Wool, SUPERWASH.
ARGH!
Would this mean the end of my felted purse idea? Would I have to make a whole bunch mre gray hats? (i've already made 3 this year).
I looked at the label again, and while it does say Superwash, it also says "Handwash in cold water, do not tumble dry" Maybe I have a chance after all. So I knitted up a teeny tiny swatch and scrubbed and rubbed it in the sink.... and it felted! It took maybe a bit longer than regular wool, but I think it will work, especially if I knit it very tightly.
Is it bad to felt Merino? Should I save it for something more cozy where its softness will be appreciated? I haven't decided. I realy don't have that much of it.
It's too hot to be knitting with wool right now...

p.s. I just applied for a spot on the KnittingBlogs ring! wish me luck!

lace hates me, but I love it anyway

I'm designing a halter-top using the rest of the chartruese cotton-rayon I used for my minisweater (I hope I have enough). I was looking for a lace edging to put along the bottom and came across This , and decided to try the second one. But not only does the pattern not seem to work out right, I was an idiot and orginally tried doing it in the round, forgetting that the pattern was written for work that would be turned after every row. SO, I frogged that, tried it again flat and it still didn't work, so I'm now looking for a simpler edging. Anyone know any pretty knitted lacey edgings? That are free?

Also, I want to do a pointed chest panel/strip, right under the..er..chest area, but I don't know whether I should continue the panel aroud the back, or what to do with it.
Also all this is with laceweight yarn on 3.3mm needles, so tedious as well as complicated :P

They have gorgeous 3/4 sleeve bolero/shrugs at FCUK right now, in a lace rib with ribbing all around the collar area and the back. They're sooo expensive, but would be extremely tedious to make :(
I can't afford to buy OR knit one anyway.