Wednesday, June 29, 2005

the mean reds

Lately I've had the knitting mean reds. I was just in a total funk. I didn't want to work on my current project (the cloche) and I couldn't get inspired to start a new project. Last night, I was cured by attending Open Knit Night. First, I sat down to page through a book, which happened to be Exquisite Little Knits: Knitting With Luxurious Specialty Yarns.
I picked it up because I have this belief that there is nothing new and exciting going on with all those novelty yarns, but am somehow always trying to prove myself wrong. Turns out, I'm pretty much right. This book offers such exciting variations as instead of knitting a Fun Fur scarf, you can make a Fun Fur shrug. Right. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I didn't see anything I thought was unique.

After reviewing my book, or rather eyeing it cynically, I decided it was time to take a stab at the cloche. Much to my astonishment, once I picked it up I felt the surge of knitterly conviction running through my veins. All the way down my arms and into my fingertips was the tingle of knitterness. Or maybe it was the red wine I was drinking. Either way, I got over that bit of the mean reds.

On to what you have been waiting for........just what exactly have I decided to knit for my second project? Before I tell you, I must lay out a disclaimer.

1) Please disregard what I said only a few moments ago about novelty yarns while thinking about my project

2) I do not like ponchos............at all...........none.........yuck

3) This is not really a poncho.........................per se

4) I am working with fingering weight yarn to make a difficult hat...... I need something quick, easy and instantly gratifying

Okay- now that we have that out of the way, I am making a poncho. But not really. And it uses novelty yarn. But not alot. Actually this gal showed up to OKN last night wearing this wonderful 'thing'. Sorta a poncho, sorta a shawl, sorta a scarf and very easy. Just one rectangle sew together. You've all seen them, I know you have, I just can't describe it. She had it on over a black t-shirt with a pair of jeans and looked absolutely adorable. She knit it on size 15's and said it went super fast. So last night I raided my stash to pull out all the odd bits of novelty yarn I had lying around to try and put a theme together. Then I flipped through this awesome book that my knitting guru got me for Christmas, whose name I can't remember right now, and found this neat lace stitch. Alright, enough of the obscure descriptions. You'll just have to wait until I get it started and scan a portion of it. For now, be content knowing that I am over the knitting mean reds.


By the way, if you don't know what mean reds are, go watch Breakfast at Tiffany's

la barista

Thats what you may call me from now on. We got an espresso machine at work today and I have been making espresso all day long. I could possibly grow an addiction to making espresso even stronger than my existing addiction to drinking espresso. From the very minute I was taught, I fell in love with steaming milk. I love that deep grumbly sound that gradually rises. I like the smell of the steamy milk pouring out of the pitcher and I like the almost black color of the pure espresso grounds. So what does all of this have to do with knitting you ask? Well, um, I'm not sure, although if you were to push me I would have to explain that its because I like to drink espresso while I knit. But the truth would be that I just wanted to brag and post a picture of my first ever espresso. Without further ado:


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Monday, June 27, 2005

Sweet organization

I did it! I sat down and organized all my knitting patterns. I slipped them into plastic sleeves, divided them up by category and labeled them with dividers. Unfortunately, I still couldn't find anything I was just crazy to start knitting. Maybe I need to just start shopping for the perfect yarn......and when I find it, I can decide what to make!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

WANTED

WANTED: A Second Project

I feel like the erte cloche isn't giving me enough knitterly satisfaction right now, so I've decided to take up a second project. I was thinking perhaps the Amelia Earhart Aviator Cap, but am hesitant on that one because I'm currently making a hat. I thought about flipping through my binder of patterns, but I just bought a bigger binder for everything, and I have yet to organize it. Looking at my patterns means first organizing them. I'm in a rut..... maybe I'll actually start work on the clapotis, since I've been admiring that since I saw it. On the other hand, now would be a good time to get started on the Giraffe sweater, maybe I could actually get it completed before winter! Or maybe, just maybe, I could justify buying one of the books that I have been eyeing. So many options!!!!

Books, cloches and a really bad cold

Last night I went to open knit night at Lint. Normally, I like to start off my night by perusing through their enourmous book section. Last nights selection was Loop-d-Loop, by Teva Durham. Let me tell you, what a friggin' awesome book! While I'm not crazy about every pattern in the book, some of them really push the boudaries of conventional knitting. The pattern that stands out in my mind is a fair isle that seems to move in uneven waves. By all means, go check this book out.

Afterwards, I worked on the cloche for a bit. I finally got my 4 inches and can now start on the reductions. I had one slight mishap, when I was dividing up the stitches into 6 equal groups of 25. One of my groups only had 24! No biggie, I just picked up a stitch. I'm hoping it won't show in the long run. The weird part is, I can't find where I dropped a stitch to begin with.

And on to the cold. Its one of those evil colds that is not so bad that I have to stay home from work, but is just bad enough that I feel like shit all day long. The weather today is grey and rainy, and honestly I wish I could just chug some Dayquil, put on some sweat pants and work on my knitting.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Hello... my name is McKenzie...

....... and I knit too much. (You reply: Hello McKenzie) But its all okay, because now I own a copy of the Yarn Harlots new book, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Much. I just barely made it through the intro without getting all teary eyed. Maybe my blood sugar was just low. Either way, its really cute and fun. On that note, I almost got caught knitting today when I should have been working. I had to throw my knitting under my desk really fast and pretend to be typing. The entire time I was nervous that during the cloche's flight, or perhaps on its crash landing, some stitches might have decided to commit hairy carry and jump off the needle. Luckily, all the stitches survived their emergency exit intact. Maybe I should stop bringing my knitting to work.......








.....yeah right

pictures!

ssssshhhhhh....... don't mention anything to my boss, but I borrowed the scanner at work to scan a bit of the erte cloche. So without further ado, here it is.

Image

In the upper left corner you can see a bit of the moss stitch. Under the row of pink is stockinette, doing something I've never seen stockinette do before (see post "the bitchin'est little stitch).

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

whew!

After much searching of my already heinously dirty house, I found my knitting project cowering under the bed. My new little dog loves to carry objects around the house, particularly plastic objects. Since my project happened to be in a plastic cosmetic case, I'm guessing the little runt took it under there. I therefore apologize to Nana for blaming her, but I'm still miffed about my shoes. When I get the friggin' scanner working, I will scan a portion of the cloche so you can see the excellent looking stitch.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

LOST!

Oh no! I lost the little clear plastic zip container that contained my erte cloche! I'm very distressed. I'm afraid that it may have gone the way of my checkerboard Vans. That is to say, my grandma came through my house like a tornado and swept up anything she didn't like/ know what it was. These things somehow, accidentally, definitely not on purpose (sigh) made their way to the Goodwill. I am feeling quite a bit put out, as you may have guessed.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

knitting group

Following up to the 'social implications of knitting' post, I recently attended an Open Knit Night (say that 10 times fast) at Lint (see links section), a local knitting shop that I adore. I had an awesome evening. I met some wonderful people and some wonderful knitters. While I tend to knit as a personal thing (somewhat like therapy........ or a couple of percosets and a shot), sometimes its nice to shoot the breeze with fellow knitters. I'd definitely like to go back, if I can work up the energy to walk back down there.