Tuesday, November 25, 2003
i'm preparing for my thanksgiving travels and taking a break from said preparations. tomorrow, i am off bright and early for the suburbs of new york city, where i will spend the next five days with my dad's side of the family and adam. yes, adam is going too. he's meeting that side of my family for the first time, and as scared as i am, i am also excited. he gets to meet my little sisters and everything!! but i still have to clean the kitchen, do laundry, pack, pick knitting project for travel, etc etc etc. plus, i seem to be getting a cold or the flu or something. i definitely feel rundown. but! knitting content! here is the photo of the finished booga bag, which i used all weekend, and it is certainly roomy and easy to carry.
i also bought a skein of lionbrand imagine in colour 'blue on blue' at ac moore (which is truly the best of all chain craft stores) and yesterday knit up a quick multidirectional scarf. it isn't as long as i like scarves, but if you do the folding it in half and pulling the end through the loop method, i think it'll serve nicely as a neck warming little number. plus, it's really pretty.
so i better get a move on, i think i'm going to need a bit of a nap today. happy thanksgiving to all you americans out there. i'll have my computer with me, but i doubt i'll be updating much, so- see you on monday. xoxo.
9:41 AM /
Friday, November 21, 2003
i must be on a kick! i swore to myself that i'd take a couple day knitting break upon finishing the baby blanket, but as it turns out i picked up the booga bag almost immediately after putting down the tapestry needle and now i have a completed bag!
bag has been felted (one wash cycle! and is currently drying on top of a shoe box. i'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. more photos to come once bag is dry and assembled.
i'm going to get started on adam's anniversary mittens (charcoal grey with a skull on the back of each hand). our anniversary is on sunday, and they'll not be done by then but i'd like to get them finished. i'm off to erie, pa sometime tomorrow, and back sunday night. happy weekend everyone. xo.
ps. my lisa has updated and redone her website. go see it and tell her how lovely she is.
2:35 PM /
Thursday, November 20, 2003
the super secret baby blanket is finished!!!!!!! it turned out pretty great. photos and details to follow, once it has been received by jenn, jason and the soon to be born hunter.
ps. gallery is updated with all projects from may up to present (without blanket- that'll be added next week).
2:45 PM /
Monday, November 17, 2003
i had such a lovely weekend! adam even braved the yarn shop (he even held my purse), though the trip was pretty much a bust- they had one of four or five things on my list. i've learned it is worth my while to drive the half hour to the other yarn shop. live and learn. i finished my mittens on friday afternoon, i had enough yarn for both:
the yarn (a noro) is called 'sarubia' and i cannot find it online, anywhere. but believe me. mohair? silk? oh so lovely. i also bought a new winter coat for only 33$ at walmart! while i may not agree with walmart's business practices, even i'm not above a 33$ coat.
adam has so far been unable to locate the hat and scarf i made for him last year. i will NEVER knit him another scarf after the 10foot monster of days past, but i let him pick out some yarn for a new toque. he chose wool-ease thick and quick (which was surprisingly nice to work with) and i was to model it after some hat one of the beastie boys wore in a video. it didn't quite turn out to his height specification, but it turned out VERY nice and warm, and he loves it, see?
and that's about it. i'm so on the home stretch as far as the secret blankie goes, and with luck it will be in the mail by monday next. i can only hope hunter stays put another week or so (hear that, jenniper??).
12:39 PM /
Friday, November 14, 2003
knitting the white portion of the baby blanket is rendering me blind, so i took a break yesterday to put some more colour into my life. 
this mitten has a bit of a story, which i'll now share (as much for you, dear reader, as for me). i studied weaving and textiles for many many years. back in colorado, the textile department at my university was very poor (though were were located about 45 minutes away from the headquarters of interweave press), and did not have yarns for the students to use for larger products. we did a lot of ordering (mostly from halcyon) and also made regular pilgramages to a shop in fort collins, called lambspun. on one such occasion i picked up this yarn. it was a beautiful kid mohair/silk/wool blend. i hadn't knit seriously for years, but i picked up the yarn and said 'i'm going to knit mittens out of this'. well. i never did. i used a bit for some weaving projects (i'd bought two or three skeins) and packed the rest away. a few months ago, i noticed that the closest of yarn shops carried this same yarn (of course, i can't expect the same dyelot, what with about a five year purchase difference) and the yarn has been on my mind since. the other day, lisa and i were discussing noro yarns and i mentioned how much i loved this yarn. i decided that i was going to make those mittens. i began and finished the first all last night, and think i have enough for the second (if i don't, i'm going to the yarn shop this weekend, anyway). i love this yarn. i can't remember the name of it, though i look every time i'm at the shop (it is something like 'sarnuba', or so my memory insists), and now i've got a beautiful mitten and i've followed through on a promise i'd made to myself a lifetime ago.
and that is my story. adam is coming in this weekend (yay!), so i've got some straightening and whatnot to do. i hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and thanks for the comments about my hat. xoxo.
9:34 AM /
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
on sunday night, fed up with the novelty nightmare, i decided to cast on for nora's skull hat. i had been planning on making it for my friend chris for the holidays, but i wasn't sure i could pull off the fair isle-ish colourwork. i'd never tried before, and i was a touch scared. well, i grabbed my black and hot pink yarns (please, like i'd use anything else?) and taaa daaa!!
i'm pretty happy with it, and REALLY happy that i did the skulls with absolutely no problem at all. it was soooo easy. i'm not sure i'm in love with the roll brim. i'm trying to decide if's worth it to doctor a bit and make a small ribbed edge, i'm scared to cut at my work, but who knows. i might get brave one day. my only problem was the needles i used. yes. my first unsatisfactory experience with the denise kit. first, i was using the size six needles and my yarn was not sliding from needle to cord very well, until i REALLY loosened up my tension (not to mention the fact that the kit doesn't have a 16" circular option). so i dealt with that. and THEN? as i was scooting stitches around? one of the size six tips SNAPPED right at the indentation at the bottom. i nearly cried. i finished on size 7s with slightly tighter tension and you can't tell at all, but what a bummer! and now i'm back to the secret baby blankie and blah blah blah. some mitts for adam for our anniversary (two years, in a week and a half). and that's about it. but i love my hat.
9:38 PM /
Thursday, November 06, 2003
fuzzy feet done. it took me a long while to get them felted, i was really unsure if i was even doing it right. my washer's hot cycle runs hot/cold. so i would let it get past the first draining of the hot water, and then reset it. i did that a few times, maybe four or five, before they reached the correct size. i shaped them on my feets, defuzzed them with scissors and a lint roller and voila!! they're still a touch damp, so i'm letting them finish drying, before i attach them to my feet and never let them go. now, i have to get back to secret blankie and mom's scarf.
12:29 PM /
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
rapid changes in weather make me get sick. so guess what else is new? but seriously: i had a lovely weekend up north. spending time with adam is always good good. i knit two rows on mom's scarf, and that was it. ah well. so much for taking all three projects with me. since arriving home, however, i've passed the halfway point on mom's scarf, begun my nanowrimo novel, and finished fuzzy foot #1 (and began #2).
i've only ever made felt from roving that i've lovingly carded and layered out by hand (not to mention agitated and FELTED by hand), so this machine felting of a knit object thing should be pretty interesting. i suspect i'll have felted them by bedtime tonight, i'm pretty jazzed about them. of course, now the weather is warm again, so i don't need wooly slippers, but it is november. ohio is bound to freeze soon.
my trip to NY is off, unfortunately- postponed til thanksgiving. that gives me this weekend to really try to finish up the secret blankie. i spent last night hanging out with my jessi, who just completed crocheting her first kippah as a gift for her boyfriend's birthday. i'm pretty proud of her, as she likes to start things and never finishes. she used a regia jaquard sock yarn and an itsy bitsy crochet hook. i told her i would post a photo for all the world to enjoy!
i'm off to knit and write some more. happy wednesday (it's humpday, you know).
9:38 AM /
i'm rachel m, i'm 25 and i live in cleveland, ohio. i knit, bead, read,
crochet and talk- a lot. i have a steady sweetie, two chubby cats, a full time job
and a messy apartment.
