First, I switched up my sidebar a little. I made all those little stickers for my groups and rings using
Adam Kalsey's Button Maker. It's fun and a little addictive, but that's ok... it's not bad for you. I also added extra dashed lines. I think my sidebar is a lot more humble and unassuming now. Plus, it'll probably load quicker.
Next, I have been furiously working on a new project, which I successfully finished in 4 days. I am dedicating it to
Lynn who sent me the wool as a RAOK from
Woolsoup. It's hand dyed!
The pattern, which is called Lelah, is from
CRAFTSTER.
It's a little tube top that is all done in the round. I did the lace on the bottom using size 11 needles, and the top is done on size 9's. For the top, I measured elastic around my body, cut it, sewed it into a circle, and stuck it into the top part.
I wish I took pictures of my bind off because it's hard to describe. Basically I folded over the top inch, and then I knit each stitch with a stitch underneath the elastic, so that I pretty much knit the elastic band
into the top. The instructions are in Elizabeth Zimmerman's book "
Knitting Without Tears." I don't actually own the book, but I flipped through it once, and somehow the directions for that bind-off just sort of stuck with me. I was working on my
hourglass sweater at the time, and I thought it seemed like a good way to do the turning round on the edges.
Here's a closeup of the lace, which is not yet blocked:
I am going to name this tank "
Vered" which means "pink" in Hebrew.
Unless you are
Elizabeth or
Jennie, you can stop reading here. The rest of the post contains interview questions! If you want to be interviewed, you can still leave an "interview me" comment... I really like these interviews!
Elizabeth:
- It seems like you watch lots of movies! What are your top 5 movies, and why?
- Wow... you have been to a LOT of states, huh? What is your favorite state, and which one would you like to live in if you could live anyplace?
- So you are a librarian... Do you ever get to knit at work?
- What does "Lonely Wombat" mean?
- What is your most favorite FO (finished object), why is it your favorite, and which yarn did you use?
Jennie:
- What is your favorite fiber to knit with? Do you prefer warm and wooly or smooth and silky?
- This question is just for my ego: Hmmm... I see that my blog is in your sidebar... What criteria does a blog have to have to get into your sidebar? Is it content, pictures, tips, or cool templates? Do you ever take blogs out of your sidebar?
- Wow you've been to Hong Kong? What was that like??
- What is your favorite online yarn store, and what is your least favorite online yarn store?
- What is your favorite recipe? Do you like to cook?
Second Test Knit Completed!
I finished my
SWTC test knit yesterday and dropped it off. I didn't take any pictures because there was a flaw in the pattern and it came out incorrect. I felt so bad that it didn't come out right, but I guess it wasn't my fault... I picked up 2 more
undyed hanks of DK weight Optimum, as my gift. Now I can probably make a huge sweater or maybe a huge EZ Pi Shawl...
Yesterday in my interview I mentioned some Point 5 yarn in my stash. It's colorway Mushroom, and I got it from Ebay. I paid WAY below retail for it. Here it is:
The Ebay seller said that her mom has 5 more skeins in the same colorway that she'd like to sell me. Heck, I'll take it! Unfortunately, she can't FIND it right now, so I have to wait a little while. I want to make this:
It's from the
Colinette Shimmer 5 pattern book. It's called Alina. I think I might make it a little shorter than the pattern calls for. I'm not a big fan of long jackets...
I plan on dying it with Kool-Aid to get more popping colors. It's getting hot here, so I can wait for the other 5 skeins until after the summer if I have to.
The Barbara Walters Interview
Lolly posted some interview questions for me the other day, and I am such a Scatterbrain (yes, with a capital S) that I forgot about them!
Here is the lost Barbara Walters type interview by Miss Lolly:
1) What is the number one thing you like the most about living in Phoenix?
Gotta be the weather. I moved here from NYC in June of 2003 so that I could stop falling in snow puddles and bundling up. I hate bundling up! Here in Phoenix, I never bundle up. It's going to be 80 degrees today and breezy. Back home there's probably snow on the ground. Yep, definitely the weather.
2) How did you learn to knit? How old were you?
I just learned how to knit last year! I guess I was 22... I don't know what made me want to knit, but one day I picked up the Stitch n Bitch book and just taught myself. My grandma tried teaching me to knit and crochet when I was a youngin, but it never stuck. I think I really needed to see the pictures of the hands. The first thing I made was an acrylic red and white "Where's Waldo" scarf. It's hideous. I still have it though!
3) How big is your stash? Give us the dirty details :)
Oh man... it's scary. I have a FULL SIZED DRESSER filled with yarn! 4 Big Drawers. One of the drawers is filled with acrilycs. I have them from when I was making and selling fun fur scarves. I never knit with them, and they are taking up space, so if anyone wants them, they're yours. They aren't the soft kind. They are the $.86 kind of Walmart.
Then there is a cotton drawer that has lots of Cascade Fixation, Kitchen Cotton, and Lion Brand Cotton Twist. The wool drawer is probably the most full. I have lots of sock yarn in there, and I also have some hand-dyed that Lynn sent me, and then a BUNCH of Plymouth Outback from Elann. There's more too, but I can't remember. Max is sleeping in there right now (in the bedroom, not the dresser) so I can't go in and check it out.
Then, there is my favorite: The "OTHER" drawer. This is where I keep my HUGE stash of cashmere... just kidding. There's some mohair, cashmerino, Big Alpaca, Bamboo, Soy silk, Rowan R2, and lots more. I definitely don't have enough to make whole garments, just enough to be annoying.
THEN, there are 2 boxes that don't fit in the stash. One box is filled with 9 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece that I bought on Ebay for cheap. It's a really nice chestnut color. I think I might make Marnie's Valentines Coat from it. Sometimes I think I'll save it for when Max and I get married so that I can make him a sweater. We'll see. The other box is new- 5.5 skeins of Colinette Point 5 in colorway "Mushroom." More on that in a later post...
Have you ever been to Israel?
I sure have! Gosh what a blast! I went on a free trip to Israel for 10 days. It's called Birthright Israel, and it's free for Jewish kids ages 18-26. We spent most of our time in Jerusalem. It was so beautiful! I never felt unsafe even once. We had 6 armed soldiers with us at all times, and can I just say HUBBA HUBBA! They were so sexy... it helped that they had ouzis strapped to their chests too! I felt safer there than in NY, and it was January 2002!
5) What is your favorite book?
Favorite Knitting Book: Stitch n Bitch Handbook- hey! I learned how to knit from that book! It's gotta be my favorite!
Favorite Regular Book: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's a great book with 2 story lines that converge at the end. It is VERY funny, and there is a lot of interesting Jewish history in there. The author is a Jewish kid from Queens, and he was about 20 or so when he wrote the book. It's outstanding and I really did laugh and cry...
If you want ME to interview YOU, please leave me a comment saying “interview me.” If you leave a comment, make sure you leave your blog address. I will go in the order that people asked to be interviewed, and depending on the turnout, I cannot promise more than 5 interviews a day. I don't get much traffic, so I am not too worried about THAT. I will respond by asking you five questions here on my blog.You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.
I have a new
favorite blog. Check out the
free patterns for a cute felted bunny. Happy Easter!
Top 10 Reasons Why I Have the Best Secret Pal EVER
There are lots of pictures in this post, so let them load. It's SO worth it.
Number 10: Snoopy playing the guitar. I used to play folk guitar at camp, and Snoopy's guitar looks just like mine did! Snoopy is playing the D7 chord, kind of. This little guy is very cute and retro!
Number 9: Your return address says Astoria, NY! Even if you just used that address to throw me off, Astoria is one of the BEST PLACES EVER! The studio where every Sesame Street episode is filmed is in Astoria. They filmed some episodes of Sex in the City and Sopranos there too (not in the same EXACT studio). Cafe Bar is in Astoria which is one of my favorite places to drink coffee. Astoria is my secret lair.
Number 8: Dilbert Pin! Dilbert is so funny and nerdy. I am going to wear this pin on my hip college campus, and you'll see- it is going to be the biggest fad! Every girl will HAVE to have a Dilbert Pin. Then, it will go out of style. Then I will keep it for 20 years and it will be BACK IN STYLE! We can reminisce about college and those trendy Dilbert Pins! I love it. I am going to pin it to my felted bag and just leave it there forever.
Number 7: Rad Charlie Brown Pez! Pez is so delicious in a Flintstone's Chewables sort of way. I especially like Cherry. Also, Charlie Brown shares my birthday with me. You know how you can look in those books to find celebrity's birthdays? I looked in one and it said that Charlie Brown was born on October 1st. I don't exactly "get it" because Charlie Brown is a fictional animated character... but who cares! Let's celebrate.
Number 6: You shopped for me at a posh New York Yarn Shop! It sounds very luxurious with it's Madison Ave. address and all. I bet Russell Crowe buys all his yarn there. He knits; I read it in Stitch n Bitch.
Number 5: Behold the Snoopy Zipper Pull. I loved zipper pulls when I was little. Hey who am I kidding? I STILL DO! I had more zipper pulls than toys, or even zippers. It did NOT matter that zippers came with their own zipper pulls built in. Oh no. I LOVE zipper pulls. For some reason, I didn't hold on to any of them. I missed them. Did you see the little scarf that Snoopy is wearing? How did Snoopy know that scarves are TOTALLY IN STYLE? What a little fashionista dog!
Number 4: You sent chocolate. You didn't send a BAG of chocolates, because that would be evil, but you sent just one little one. That is so classy. Unfortunately it got a little melty because it's already a gazillion degrees here, but that's ok. I ate it already anyway and it was perfect.
Numbers 3 & 2: You sent NORO! Noro is only my favorite yarn EVER. Noro and chocolate in the same box? How did snoopy
not have an orgasm? The colors are so rich too. The picture is (of course) not as great as the original; it's got reds and purples and magentas and... gosh this is nice yarn! I'm going to incorporate it into a future sweater pattern.
AND THE NUMBER 1 REASON WHY I HAVE THE BEST SECRET PAL EVER IS (drumroll): Snorks! You sent me a snork! In my secret pal survey, I stated that Snorks were my favorite character. You remembered. You are so sweet, thank you so much. This little Snork means so much to me. It's a baseball snork too which is awesome. If Snorks were a team, they would be the NY Mets, for sure. His little snorkel is even bendy! Thank you Secret Pal!
Look what Hila made!
Hila is my best friend in the world. We have been friends since Kindergarten, and we never EVER hated eachother. I have known her for
19 years! 2 weeks ago,
I taught her to knit. This was a huge deal for me, because
knitting is my life, and
Hila is my life. Now my lives converge.
Hila's sister just had a baby, and she wanted to make a baby hat. It's an ambitious first project for most people, but not for Hila! Since Hila doesn't have a blog (yet!) I will post the pictures here for everyone to drool over. Check it out:
Is that incredibly cute or what?
Hila is going to put it on the recipient head tonight and send more pictures. I'll keep you all updated.
I am so proud!
Anne of Green Cables
My grandmother gave me a BUNCH of her old knitting magazines when I went to NY last time. They are so beautiful, and retro! After I finished my last test knit, I got 5 balls of
Bamboo yarn that were burning a hole in my stash. I decided to make this:
I am calling it Anne of Green Cables, even though I am making it in Fuschia. When I finish, you can be sure that I am going to get the fake flower, attach the kerchief, wear the sweater, and have Max take that exact picture.
Here is what I have so far:
I know, it doesn't look like much yet... I am trying to work on the front and back simultaneously, so I don't just make one or the other. We'll see how that goes. This will only be my second cabling project, but I think it should turn out just fine.
The patterns in this magazine, which happens to be from 1973, are surprisingly well written. The cool part is that the magazine, "Women's Day 101 Sweaters You Can Knit," cost 75 cents back then. Awesome deal, don't you think? 75 cents for 101 sweater patterns? Hm... can't shake a stick at that one.
Wait a second... is that how the saying goes?
Soy Silk Sale
Yesterday I went to a huge sale at Soy Silk Central,
Southwest Trading Company. I didn't get any soy silk, but I did get these:
It's not soy silk, it's a wool yarn called
Optimum in a DK weight. It's really soft, and I have enough to make a sweater. I am going to dye it with Kool-Aid, but I haven't decided on colors yet. I also bought that spindle up there. It was 2 bucks and I figured I should really give spinning another chance.
Back to the Kool-aid, though, I found this awesome
Kool-aid Color Card and it tells you how to make specific colors. Here is what it looks like, but you really should click on the link.
My favorite part is the purples. It's really hard to make a decent purple, because Grape just turns everything black. I think that the Grape Berry Splash should be a good one.
By the way, yesterday I had an error in my post- I am taking the
yarn bus on
May 15th, not May 12th. I am arriving in NY on May 12th. Everyone take out your calendars.... just kidding.
Fry's had Kool Aid on sale...
It was something ridiculous like 1663773 packages for $1.00, too. Today
Kiki,
Letoya, the kids, and I dyed yarn. We used
Yentala's "Yiddish" tutorial to make space dyed yarn. I found out today that space dyed yarn just means that your hank is very wide. In other words, the circle has a bigger diameter. That way, it will stripe instead of variegate.
I used the yarn that my Secret Pal got me- the
Kitten Mohair that's actually not made out of kitten (false advertising, huh?). It's 30% mohair, 20% wool, and (here's the kicker) 50% acrylic. Acrylic isn't supposed to dye with Kool Aid, but I guess the yarn had enough other dyeable stuff so that it worked. See for yourself:
That's the soak in the sink. I wish I could still take soaks in the sink! My grandmother has an awesome picture of her giving me a bath in the sink. Hmmmm I should scan it in and post it on my blog for the whole world to see... NOT.
Color Breakdown:
- Red: 3 packages of Tropical Punch
- Yellow: 2 packages of Lemonade
- Green: 4 packages of Lemonade plus 1/2 a package of Lemon-Lime
- Turquoise: 4 packages of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade plus the other 1/2 of the package of Lemon-Lime
Here's the hank:
I just love it. Thank you so much secret pal! I would have never bought this yarn for myself, but I ADORE it! You are so awesome! Let's ride the yarn bus together on May 12!
Hmmm... speaking of
yarn bus.... I am riding it on May 12th and I will be spending the day. I got the earliest bus out of the city and the latest bus back in. My friend Hila (whom I taught to knit this weekend) is coming with me. Hopefully
Bevin and Sooner will too. I think we should fill the bus with NY knitting bloggers. Help me out here!
Furthermore, I am arriving in NY on May 11th and will be there until the end of May. I would LOVE to meet people for knitting and yarn shopping. I am supposed to be saving up for the shopping part Unfortunately, if you look at the number of times the words "yarn," "fiber," or "paypal" show up on my debit card statement, you would quickly see the extent of my so-called yarn diet. It's not pretty.
Here it is, your moment of zen (cue ending music):
I'm crazy toilet paper roll man...now give me some candy!
I realized as I was uploading some pictures for everyone's blogging pleasure, that there was a theme. I have been very interested in
candy named yarn, especially yarn for socks. First of all, there was my near conniption the other day over Artful Yarns
Candy. I ended up buying some at Fiber Factory (thanks
Becky!) for $7.50 a ball. Thanks to
Gina and
Shannon, for telling me the
online store that carries this yarn.
Here is a link to the color card, and here is what I bought:
It's
Sour Apple and
Taffy. I'm definitely going to make socks. I want to do them toe-up, without a provisional cast-on. If anyone has any suggestions for this, please do tell.
Next, I got some fun sock yarn from
Alison. It is the striped yarn from
Knitpicks. It's not as soft as their merino Sock Landscape, but it's DEFINITELY softer than Lion Brand Magic Stripes. I think it sort of feels like Opal sock yarn, but that's just my opinion. The name of this yarn?
Sweet Tarts!
I am going to also make socks from these, also toe-up. I am looking for a pattern that shows off the stripes pretty well. Any suggestions? It doesn't have to be a toe-up pattern, because I could just modify that. I would prefer a free pattern though.
Last up, on the candy ride, is
Jelly Bean Sock #1:
And, the profile:
The Jelly Bean socks are made with Lion Brand Magic Stripes color Jelly Bean. I used the
Knitty Broadripple Pattern which is my favorite sock pattern yet. I don't really want to make any other patterns, ever. The second sock is already on the needles, in fact, I am up to the gusset.
In keeping with the candy theme, here is a recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Bars. I made these and there are none left to take a picture of. The recipe comes from
Allrecipes.com and it's SO good.
Chocolate Raspberry Bars
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup shortening (I used vegetable oil)
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used Nestle Swirled chips that have chocolate and white chocolate together)
- 8 ounces raspberry preserves (I used the one with seeds)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease the bottom and sides of 9x13 inch pan.
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl blend butter, shortening (or oil), white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla together until creamed. Stir in the eggs, one at a time. Blend flour mixture into sugar mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Spread 2/3 of the dough mixture evenly in pan. Cover top with 8 ounces raspberry preserves. Dot remaining dough randomly over the jam.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, or until done all the way through.
- Try to stop yourself from eating the whole thing all at once.
I think there are probably lots of things you can do with this. Some ideas I thought of were:
- Cherry Preserves and Chocolate Chips
- Apricot Preserves and Butterscotch Chips
- Strawberry or Grape Jam with Peanut Butter chips (like a pb&j sandwich)
Enjoy, and eat lots of candy today!
Random Stuff
Everybody take out your Spring 2005 Interweave Knits.
DO IT! Now turn to page 21. Are you there? Where can I get that yarn? Kiki and I were talking about it last night, and we can't find it anywhere. I tried searching for it but I can't find it! If you don't have your magazine in front of you, it's called "artful yarns CANDY" and the colors are gorgeous. More importantly, though, is that it's a cotton elastic blend like Cascade Fixation. If you're like me, you are thinking
Socks and
Bikinis. Please help me find this yarn.
PLEASE!
I haven't posted all week because I have been busy and disorganized. I am also working on a part of a project that reads:
"work 13 inches of stockinette stitch in the round"
so there is not much knitting to post.
Here is a list of what is on my needles right now (ahem, obvious filler). The colors represent the actual color of the item.
(Disclaimer: Knit Powers to Peace is not responsible for differences in individual monitors' colors)- Broadripple Socks with Lion Brand Jelly Bean Magic Stripe (I'm up to the toe on the first sock)
- R2 Paper Hourglass Sweater (up to the second sleeve, except I yanked out the needles to make something else, and now I have to try to get them back in, or rip the entire thing out)
- Hello Knitty Cutie Booties out of Rowan Big Wool (not actually on the needles, since I finished all the knitting, but I do have to sew them up and make pompoms)
- Test Knit Tank Top for Southwest Trading Company out of Bamboo
- Vintage Pink Cabled Tee-shirt, also out of Bamboo
- Half-finished bag that I am going to felt- my own design- I yanked the needles out of this one too, though, and I think I might rip it out
On a brighter note than all that ripping, Spring Break started today! Whoopeee!
Non-Alcoholic Body Shots
Sorry, no tequila here.
I have been having a jolly old time knitting. Right now I am working on a surprise project. I can't show it because it's a mother's day gift. It's REALLLLLY cool though. I wish I could take some pictures of it!
I wore my chickami for the first time the other night! The soy silk chenille got so soft and wearable when I blocked it. Here I am wearing it:
I decided after all to just thread some of the fiori yarn into it and make it a babydoll cut (I think that's what it's called). I want to wear this every day. Thanks for all the compliments lately!
I mentioned yesterday that I am obsessed with Regia #5398. I am so obsessed that I memorized the number. Something about it... I just want to make 7 days worth of socks out of it! This is what it looks like:
It's called Neon Nation from Regia's Nation line. Most of the line consists of the colors of a country's flag. Then there is this neon nation. I think there is also a fun nation. I want to
live in neon nation.
My friend from class was telling me that she likes to sew, so I am going to give her my cleo top to sew the elastic in. I made her a scarf to thank her. She always wears red and black so I made her a fun fur scarf in those colors. Last semester she even had red hair! Like the color red, not like redheads have. I think she'll appreciate the scarf.
Have a great day!
More Broadripple Madness
I think I love the
Broadripple pattern, so what am I so afraid of? I'm afraid that I'm not sure of a love there is no cure for... What song is that? It's in my head...
The yarn is Lion Brand Magic Stripes (which was on Knitty Gritty on Monday). It's not so bad. I think it's the only yarn that they make that I like. The actual composition of fibers is the same as Lorna's Laces, except with 1/4 of the quality. I guess I probably would not buy this yarn again though. The towel is a souvenir from "K Rock Dysfunctional Family Picnic" of 2002. The needles are the same needles that my grandma used to knit socks for the troops during World War 2.
Also related to socks- I learned the 2 circular needle method. I figured it out from the book "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles." It's a very easy and fast way to knit socks. I am going to make my next pair of socks that way for sure. I really want some rainbow striped sock yarn. Maybe
Flying Fingers will have some in May. I am obsessed with Regia Nation #5398. Yes, seriously.
Been Blocking
Yarn Bus Update: I got an e-mail from Kevin of
Flying Fingers that I am scheduled for the yarn bus on May 15th! Maybe we can fill the yarn bus with NY knitbloggers? Secret Pal- I saw your return address- wanna come?
I blocked my tanks this weekend! I use the instructions from Stitch n Bitch Handbook. I call it the
2/3 method because it takes
2 towels and
3 soaks. Here is my sink with my chickami in it:
And here it is all layed out and blocked. I pulled it down a little so that it would be longer and narrower.
I also blocked the peices for Cleo, which are finished. Check it out!
Everything is damp so the colors are darker. I really like how the colors pooled around the top lace band (far left). It's like a cool diagonal stripe. Are you all tilting your heads to the left now? Good!
I did all that on Sunday, and by now it's almost dry. Soy silk doesn't block as well as wool does. It didn't really keep it's elongated shape. That's ok though. Knits pull down a little anyway. I tried on the chickami this morning, and I think I might put a ribbon through it right beneath the pink part. That way, it will be "empire wasted" (I think it's called that) and it will be "mucho sexy" as they say in Japanese.
I'm almost done with one sock which I will show tomorrow. I also have a new project. Leave em in suspense and they'll keep coming back... that's what I always say (no I don't).
