« August 2004 | Main | October 2004 »
September 30, 2004
In the bag
Wheee - more FOs! Last night I finished up with the Flower Basket Bag (formerly known as Landscapes Bag 1), and Landscapes Bag 2 (which I couldn't come up with a witty name for.) I am very pleased with my first foray into felting (yay alliteration!)
I also finished the I-cord and added a crocheted edging for the shimmer bag (my first time hooking... hee). I'm making up a swatch (yep, swatching after the fact is fun!) to test if I can iron this yarn, as it's largely synthetic. I hope so, as being able to use fusible interfacing would certainly make lining the thing easier, and it really needs lining.
I also finally took pictures of all the knitting-related goodies I brought back from my grandparents' earlier this month. First off, I snagged a decent number of needles in sizes I didn't already have, some bigger ones that D was playing with (not knitting... he twirls pens [yes, this is a competetive endeavor, at least in his department at his work], and he was having fun twirling the bigger needles), some crochet hooks, stitch holders, etc...
I also got some yarn. I left the obviously, plasticky, acrylic ones there. Unfortunately, everything was unlabeled. There are 15 skeins of the off-white, which I burn-tested to make sure it's natural fiber, but know nothing else about. I also snagged a bag of embroidery floss in various colors, which has already come in handy, as I used it to attach buttons to the purses last night. Not pictured are the heap of zippers and box of random buttons I also snagged.
And, finally, here are all the old knitting magazines and pattern books I brought back. A few of them have things I might actually want, and will be staying with me, but most of them will simply have amusing pictures scanned (I'll share some of the best on here), and then move on to a new home.
--------
Posted by Shannon at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2004
My Gallery Opening
My list of FOs on the sidebar was actually starting to get a bit long (!) and is very close to expanding further, so I started up a finished object gallery yesterday. It's pretty basic, but I just haven't had the inspiration to do any sort of complex web-design since I stated working on a computer full time (hence my use of a pre-made template on this blog... I really do want to change that, though - I find it disconcerting when I click on a link to a blog and it looks just like mine!) *sigh* I ran across a picture of Butterfly yesterday on Wendy Knits!, and absolutely fell in love.
Unfortunately, I would need 14 skeins of Kureyon to knit it, and that is way beyond my budget, even on eBay or the cheaper online stores. Oh, well... someday I'll be able to afford to knit gorgeous things like that.
In the interim, I continue making primarily small projects. I felted both of the landscapes bags over the weekend, and picked up buttons for them yesterday, so I hope to have them completely done tonight. I finished the body of the shimmer bag, as well, and knit up about half of the I-cord at Lint's open knitting last night.
Speaking of Lint, they're having a first anniversary party and sale on Saturday, so I'll be back there soon. Saturday night we're going out to dinner for my mom-in-law and sis-in-law's birthdays (actually on Friday and Sunday, respectively), so I won't be able to make it for the food, drinks, and bellydancers at Lint in the evening, but that's ok. Instead, I'll be giving away my first 2 handknitted gifts - I hope they like them!
I just checked my email, while uploading this post, and found a gift certificate for Adagio teas from my SP! Thank you sooo much, SP! I have an entire cabinet shelf in my kitchen devoted to teas, plus a few different varieties I keep at work, and I just bought a pretty new red teakettle, so this will go to very good use!
--------
Posted by Shannon at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2004
Thanks SP!
My secret pal sent me an email today noting that one of the reasons I've gotten very few comments on here may well be that I had comments restricted to blogger members - DUH! I am such a dork! Anyway, I have them opened up, now... so feel free to comment away! (pleeeease? ;-) ) --------Posted by Shannon at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2004
Finishing School
Warning: This post is photo heavy! I just got my camera replaced, and I had some catching up to do! Ahhh... so nice to spend a whole day at home! I haven't had one for over a month, and although I didn't get anything done out of my planned housework for the day, I don't have any plans for tomorrow either - so that can wait. I spent most of the day just chilling, hanging out with Trin, and knitting - wheee! So, let's start off with my surprise - at about noon today there was a knock at my door, which turned out to be Larissa with the materials for my meathead hats! I was rather surprised, and not really prepared for company, so I think I may have come across as a gigantic dork -- but hopefully I'll get a chance to remedy that at some point (like the installation opening party). I got right to work, and they are all ready to head back to her now. I just have to decide whether it would be better to drop them in the mail, or drop them off directly - since her address is only about 4 blocks from my work.
I have two other new FOs as of today, as well! First off, Barb's Boucle scarf is now entirely done, including weaving in the ends - just in time, since her birthday is this Friday!
Then, I finished off my Sierra Poncho. I adore this yarn, so I tried to make it up in a way that once the poncho craze is over, I'll be able to rip it out and reclaim the yarn. It's not enough to make a sweater from, unfortunately -- but I'll find something to do with it, because I love it too much to let it go to waste. Below is a picture of the poncho before finishing, click on it to see it finished and modeled.
I also have a number of unfinished objects that I haven't gotten around to mentioning in here yet. I have 2 purses in Lion Brand Landscapes going - I need to buy an extra ball of each color to create the straps, and I need to sew the bottom together on the darker one. They'll both be felted once I get them finished - the pastel one is going to my 7-year-old sister as part of her Christmas gift, and the darker one is going to my sister-in-law, who turns 21 next weekend.
And, I'm working on one other purse, an evening bag that I'm calling the Shimmer Bag. I went to open knitting at Lint on Tuesday night, saw this yarn (Stacy Charles Ristratto), and the vision of it as an evening bag just jumped into my head. I'm knitting it on size 5 needles, and it makes for a fabulous carry-around project. I'm currently decreasing for the flap, then I have to decide if I'd rather use a chain or an I-cord for a strap, apply whichever I decide, and sew up the sides. As much as I adore the look of this yarn and the fabric it knits up to (it's got a strand of black mohair, the multicolored synthetic strand, and a sparkly strand all together, so it ends up shimmery and furry-soft and beautiful!), I don't have any real occasions to carry a bag like this, so I plan on selling it in a craft fair this November. I should have enough left over to make a little talisman bag or something for myself, though.
Today was also a fabulous mail day. I got packages from Elann, and one from The-knitter.com.
From Elann - 15 skeins of Plymouth Cottrica in a silver-grey/white colorway to make the Leather Tie cardi from the Suss Hollywood Knits book; a guide to yarn requirements (I got the last one - woot!); and 5 cards of sock reinforcement thread that was too cheap to pass up.
From The-Knitter - 3 skeins of Lang Jawoll Superwash in a grey and red colorway to make the socks D requested, and a pattern for felted llamas & alpacas. I also ordered a pattern to make adorable felted koalas, but it hasn't shipped yet.
Okay, this post is long enough! Thanks to anyone who made it this far! By the way - if you read this, I'd love some comments... I've gotten a few since starting the blog, but not many, and it's always nice to know people are reading. I leave you for the day with one more photo: a gratuitous one of Trinity in one of the boxes we shipped the goodies from Kansas in - isn't she adorable?
Hee... I just spellchecked this entry... I love that blogger has a built-in spellchecker, and I find it hilarious that the dictionary it uses does not include 'blog'!
--------
Posted by Shannon at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2004
Quick Update
I'll be heading out of town in about 15 minutes, but I thought I'd check in here first... don't want to leave my blog abandoned for too long.- Knitting accomplished recently: about 2 feet of a scarf very similar to the Falling Leaves scarf (see the FOs on the sidebar), in shades of red. I cast on too many stitches, though, so it's more than twice as wide. I want tit to be looong, but I don't want to frog, so I'm just gonna go with it for now and see what happens. I bought similar yarn in a few other colors as well, and all scarves made from them - including this one - will be put up for sale at an online craft fair in NOvember (stay tuned for more details). I wanted to do more on my Sierra Poncho, but left one needle at home, so none has been done.
- Knitting to be accomplished this weekend: I'm bringing the poncho and the scarf with me, but I'll be very surprised if I actually get any knitting done. These monthly ttips to Eugene are very busy, and knitting time rarely happens unless I find someone to carpool with (not this time).
Posted by Shannon at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2004
A Parenthetical Entry (You'll understand soon enough)
Hello, hello, I'm back! My trips went well, and I did get quite a bit of knitting done. Barb's Boucle is now a nearly FO - I just have to weave in the ends. I also made the body of a purse to felt for my little sister (I need to buy another ball of the yarn to make a strap for it, though). I started a poncho with my ggh sierra, but one ball only got me about 6 inches in, and I only have 5 balls! So, I frogged it and started again on huge needles (the 19s I bought for the Meathead Knitup - my husband D is making fun of me for "knitting with baseball bats"), and now it's looking much more promising. I also started the r2 scarf, but decided I want to go up on the needle size for that, too... Why no photo love, with all these new and nearly finished works? Well, unfortunately I dropped my digital camera on Friday, jamming the motor for the lens. The good news, however, is that my camera was purchased from Costco, and they have the best return policy ever! The broken camera has now been returned, and a replacement is on the way (they sell the model on costco.com but not at the local store). Until it gets here, however, I will probably be without the photo joy (unless I can nab D's camera.) ;-) I did manage to pick up some knitting goodies from my grandma in Kansas. I took the needles the had in sizes 2-4 (since my denises only go down to 5,) a variety of stitch markers, stich holders, a few needle caps, and any yarn that seemed to be natural fibers or at least reasonably soft (including lots of off-white worsted yarn I believe to be wool... we took a match to a small piece to test, it's definitely natural, but there were no lables so I can't be certain what it is). I also snagged a number of her old pattern books and knitting magazines, some of which actually have patterns I might use, but lots of which have value to me only in the laughter they can provide. I'll probably scan the funny pictures in from those (I'm sure I'll share), then either offer them up on here or drop them at goodwill. My grandparents had all sorts of interesting things I would have loved to take, but that just weren't practical: A dining table set that my grandfather had shipped back from Denmark when he was there for a conference; a harpsichord my dad and grandfather built together, a bunch of pendleton wool fabric I know I'd never sew anything from... *sigh* I am happy with what I got, though, and happier that I made it back to spend time with them. Some new SP3 questions came out, I'll go ahead and throw the answers to those in here, too... 22. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Ummm.... I like dragonflies, my favorite animal is the tufted puffin... I'm not really that into cartoons. 23. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween! I love costumes, and I love that it's a holiday that is predominately about fun. Unfortunately, I'll be working out of town and unable to really celebrate it this year - but I'll make up for it next year! 4. Is there anything that you collect? Things with a spiral motif. And Pontiki. (I also really like lotus flowers as a symbol... and orchids and gerber daisies simply for their beauty... but I wouldn't say I collect them.) --------Posted by Shannon at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)
September 03, 2004
Off to See the Wizard
I probably won't be blogging for a bit over a week. We leave early Sunday morning for Kansas to help my grandparents clear out their house to sell it. I'm hoping that my grandma still has some of her old knitting stuff and will let me take it (she hasn't knit, that I know of, in years.) We'll get back late Thursday night, then Saturday it's off to the coast for my company's employee picnic (they're actually paying for us all to stay Saturday night - how awesome is that!) I should, however, be able to get a good bit of knitting done, what with 2 loong plane rides, a few long drives, and not much to do in the town we're headed to. So, hopefully I'll be able to give you an interesting update once I get back! --------Posted by Shannon at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2004
Secret Pal Update
Whee, SP3 is beginning! I've gotten an email from my (receiving-from) secret pal already (HI!!!) and also gotten the contact information for my (giving-to) pal. After looking at her blog, I think I have quite a bit in common with my (giving-to) pal, and I'm really looking forward to actually introducing myself to her... but that will have to wait. For my (receiving-from) pal, here's the questionnaire that came out in the first SP3 newsletter (I'm glad they sent this one out to us, because I wanted to put the answers up here anyway, after seeing all of the SP2 people answering it...). But first, in order to counteract the long stretch of text that follows:
Meet the toys that live on my desk at work. Hanging up at the back, there's a string of monkeys from a Barrel of Monkeys - a holiday gift from one of my coworkers the year before last. Off to the left is my squeaky alligator, brought back by my old boss from a business trip to Louisiana. In the middle are my juggling balls - I learned to juggle about a year and a half ago, and last spring I bought a set of these balls for home and a set for work - they're a great way to take a short break from the computer or something stressful. Scattered across the front are my Pontiki, a little toy from Japan that I am absolutely addicted to. The all have body parts and pieces (like eyes, mouths, and random shapes) that are interchangeable - kind of like a funky, techy Mr. Potato head.
Okay, back to the secret pal thing:
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
Hmm... I think the most accurate way to answer this is that I am as much of a yarn snob as I can afford to be. I love love love the luscious stuff at my LYSs, but can't really afford much of most of it. I have been known to plop down on the floor at a yarn store with a handful of different yarns, trying to take into account weight, yardage, and price to mentally calculate which yarn will be least expensive to use for a specific project. EBay and sales, so far, are my biggest blessing and my biggest curse, because they allow me to get fabulous yarns for cheaper, but I can also tend to get carried away.
I do know that I want to stay far far away from the super cheap acrylics. That was what I bought when I first decided I wanted to teach myself to knit, 3 or 4 years ago... And, I now believe, one of the biggest reasons that I quit. I'm such a tactile person that the cheap yarns are just a horror to work with, and although I wish I could handle them, for my pocketbook's sake, I just can't.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
Nope. I might like to learn to spin eventually, but I have quite enough to do right now... and crocheting doesn't really appeal to me (though I have recently seen a few really pretty openwork crocheted things that might eventually get me to reconsider.)
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Smoke is a big, bad no-no. Yech! Otherwise, I'm good.
4. How long have you been knitting?
Somewhere between 2 and 3 months. Wow, it sure seems longer!
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yep - Amazon list, recently updated, right here!
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Hmmm... Well, I like spicy scents, exotic florals, vanilla, sandalwood, lilac... nothing overly sweet.
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
I have a dark-chocolate tooth... that and caramels are my real weaknesses. A lot of other candies and goodies are actually too sweet for me to handle. However, I'm in the midst of a pretty sizeable (heh) weight loss - 25 lbs down so far - so I'm limiting my intake on those sorts of things.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
Well, first off, I make cards and other stationery goodies - you can see them here. I also do some sewing, mostly of bellydance costume bits, and make a bit of jewelry on occasion. I want to learn to do mehndi (henna tattoos), as well.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if you want to make her a CD)
I have really eclectic music tastes. I don't like a lot of country, or hard-edged rap/heavy metal/etc, and I'm not a fan of most bubble-gum pop. But my music collection ranges from middle eastern, to folk, to nerdy rock, to celtic, to jazz, to classical, to pop, and just about everything in between. I dislike people who sound like they are whining in music. I converted all of my CD's over into mp3s for ease of dealing with them a few years ago - so yes, I can play mp3s.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
My favorite color is currently purple... it used to be a toss up between purple and green, but purple has taken the lead over the past few years. I am really drawn to rich colors (jewel tones, etc) and bright colors... basically, things that are highly pigmented and vibrant. I've had a sort of unnatural obsession with orange over the past couple of years, as well.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
My household is made up of me, my husband, and our 2-year-old cat, Trinity.
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Heh... I'm still trying to get really clear on the specifics of this one. I want to go into either counseling, life coaching, or facilitating personal growth/communication-type seminars. I also hope to eventually bring in a profit from Dancing Spirit... I also want kids, but not for at least a few more years. I want to
travel a lot (I have good friends going to Bhutan and Thailand later this month... I am so jealous!!!), and always keep learning.
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I can't say that I really know, yet.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Once again, don't really know yet.
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Knitting. ;-)
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
<broken record>I haven't really knit enough things to have a good idea of that, yet...</broken record> I do want to knit things that I see myself wearing, though, which means I'll probably be mostly steering away from intarsia and sticking to somewhat more sophisticated things.
17. What are you knitting right now?
The scarf below (Barb's boucle)... also the fuzzy scarf, and a hip-scarf for bellydance that hasn't made it up here yet. I really want to start branching out more, though.
18. What do you think about ponchos? (this is really a curiosity question for us)
I actually really like some of them - I'm too young to have any baggage from the last time they were popular. ;-) However, I'm very reluctant to put a lot of time and/or money into them, since I don't believe this trend will last all that long, and they are so different that I don't think they'll be especially wearable once the trend dies. I do have plans for one in some gorgeous mostly-red ggh Sierra, and I have a cheapie black one I bought months ago at a teeny-bopper store in the local mall... I can't imagine I'll need another beyond that.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
I got myself a set of Denise Interchangeables off eBay, since I figures it would be easier and cheaper to start off that way than to build a collection piece by piece as I needed things. Before I got them, I had been mostly working with the cheapest aluminum straights they sold at Michaels, and I have found that I really like circulars, in part because they make everything so much more portable.
20. How did you learn to knit?
The first time I taught myself I bought a little "Teach Yourself How To Knit" pamphlet from Michaels. This time, I looked things up online, and then bought Stitch 'n Bitch.
21. How old is your oldest UFO?
I think I still have a scrap of a scarf I was going to make that first time I taught myself, although it has been pulled off the needles and stuck at the bottom of a bin, and I have no intention of completing it. As far as things I actually plan to finish, the fuzzy scarf is about a month-and-a-half old, and I haven't touched it for about 3 weeks...
--------
Posted by Shannon at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)
Progress Report
I got very little knitting done this weekend, which is no different than I expected. After all, first I was off enjoying myself here:
(I know, the lighting's a bit off, but I'm posting from work and the only image editor I have here is Paint!)
Then I went to Eugene and kept myself very busy working at my internship. Despite all that, I have made some pretty good progress on Barb's Boucle. It's now a bit over 3 feet long (around 9 inches wide), and I've just joined the 4th ball of yarn.
Speaking of the fourth ball of yarn, it's the first of the two I bought on ebay, as mentioned in my last post. I did manage to resist buying anything else, as I had already spent way too much on yarn for the month. The truly miraculous thing about ths ebay buy, though, was that when the yarn got here, I saw that it was the SAME dye lot as the yarn I already had. Dye lot had not been specified in the auction details, and it was a good enough deal that I figure's I'd just work with whatever came, but I never expected it to actually be the same. Whoo-hoo! So, knitting the rest of this scarf just got way easier!
The other interesting thing that happened to me was a few days ago, when I decided to make a trip after work to a somewhat local, small chain craft store (Craft Warehouse) that I remember as having a pretty decent yarn section - though I haven't been there since a long time before I took up knitting. I got there, and they were in the process of evacuating the store... it seems someone had set a fire in the back of the store. They told me that they would only be closed for 20 minutes, so I did some other shopping and came back a while later, but they still were closed, with a fire truck and 3-4 other police/fire vehicles parked outside. At that point I decided to just head home - I'll be going back tonight, though. Hopefully, to a flame-free store!
I want to write about Secret Pal stuff, too, but I think I'm going to make that a separate post.
--------
Posted by Shannon at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
