Thursday, November 22, 2007

The Debbie Bliss yarn came in a lot sooner than I expected. I think on Monday the LYS owner let me know that it was in and I could pick it up. So yesterday on my way home from work, I decided to swing out to the shop and pick it up, along with some yarn for the one and only Christmas knitting I will be doing. I unfortunately made the wrong decision and took the longest most traffic filled way, when I thought that it would actually be fastest. I took the highway that EVERYONE takes when trying to get to San Francisco (or the airport), so it was nice and backed up... at 2pm. Then I had to go through a tunnel, which wouldn't have been so bad, but a car fire was blocking one of the lanes and backed it up for about a mile. Whew! But I made it and my happy little perfectly matching ball of yarn was waiting for me.
This was the first time I was in The Yarn Boutique in about 2 years, and they had moved locations since I had been in there. It's a nice little place, and looks like they have more space than at the old location, and each inch of the store is certainly taken advantage of for housing yarn, books, and notions.
When I got home, I was excited to start knitting my sweater again, without having to worry about running out of yarn. I seamed up the sides and was knitting some of the collar when I got too excited and pulled it over my head. When I walked to Mr Kiwi, he popped up out of his chair and was sure to tell me how great and cute the sweater is and how much he likes it. (I think he's gotten really good at putting up a show about my knitting ;o) ) Because of the super chunky yarn, it is pretty heavy to hold, but once it is on, it feels so soft and warm. The pattern makes the sweater slightly loose and not fitted at all, but it looks nice and is very comfortable. I think this sweater will be in competition with the Placed Cable Aran as my favorite go to sweater. I've also noticed how similar they to are to each other with the cables running up the front and back.

To all of the American readers: Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone gets massive food induced comas all day and all weekend, and still manage to do lots of knitting!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Sweater Knitting

I had been working on the Simply Marilyn throughout the week, and brought it to Stitch n Bitch with me on Wednesday. Before I left, I realized that I might need one extra ball of yarn. I had just finished the sleeves, and needed to attach everything and knit the collar. About 30 minutes into SnB, I ran out of yarn. So close to finishing the sweater too! I have found an LYS that found one ball of not only the color I needed, but the same dye lot too! All I have to do is wait for it to come in, and then my sweater will be finished soon after. Hooray!

While I'm waiting on that, I figured I should do some more stash busting and knit something out of the yarn I already have. I have decided to knit the Minimalist Cardigan with Alpaca with a Twist that I got on some crazy sale while visiting Booth Bay Harbor. So far, it is going very well. Because I am using such small yarn, with all the ribbing and seed stitches, this will be a pretty long project compared to my track record. But it feels so nice, so I'm really going to be enjoying this one. The alpaca is also a smaller gauge than the yarn they require, so I am simply following the directions for a larger size in order to get the size I really want.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

It's Back!

After Thursday's post of not enjoying the Mustard Parallelo, I decided enough was enough. It's unfortunate that I'm not going to finish that project, but on the bright side, I now have enough yarn to knit two much more enjoyable sweaters instead of the one. I might even have a ball or two left over from one (or both!) to make a hat or scarf from. All of these are much better situations than fighting with the darned pattern that will only make me think of how frustrating the knitting was each time I wear the sweater. Not something I want to think about each time I put on one of my own projects. Instead I will have two or more that will be more exciting to knit, and more fun to wear.

Friday after getting off of work, I sat myself down to try to find a new project to work on. I decided to walk away from GGH Bel Air and Soft Kid this time, and I'll focus on frogging later. My mother in law had sent me some yarn for my birthday that I haven't done anything with yet, so I figured it would be a good idea to use that up. Plus, since it is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky, it will end up being a quick project.

..little did I know....

After a bit of searching, I found Simply Marilyn which called for the exact yarn I have, and in the exact quantity. Great! I cast on Friday evening, and now Sunday afternoon, I have finished the front and back, and am working on the sleeves. This is much more rewarding than the last sweater; it's going quickly, it's enjoyable, relaxing, and I am looking forward to when I get to wear it.
Perhaps I'll get some pictures up when Mr Kiwi is around and let's me use his camera.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Rebecca Magazine

Perhaps I got cocky. I plowed through my first two sweaters with absolutely no problems, and even modified as I went. I had too much faith in my knitting abilities. Now, I am one who rolls my eyes and mumbles "shut up!' when someone says "I am scared of [insert technique here] because it looks so haaardd and scary!" It's really annoying, and dammit, there is no reason to fear multiple circular needles, DPNs, cables, socks, etc. It's only knitting.

However, as I work on the Mustard Parallelo, with is pattern 32 from Rebecca Magazine Number 32, I find myself learning where UFO's and abandoned projects come from. These patterns have all been translated from German, and I have been having problems with it since I cast on. Nothing is described in a way that I can understand, and somethings simply don't make sense at all. Following suit with my last project (yeah, that lace scarf that no one really knows about), I feel like throwing this damn half finished sleeve in a corner and doing something else.

I know this can be a great sweater. A very comfortable sweater. But when I can't even figure out what the hell the pattern wants me to do, it makes me want to take the yarn out and make something completely different that does not come from a translated Rebecca magazine. They have very cute patterns, but dammit if I am ever going to try to knit one of them again.

Glute Rant

Okay, so what's the deal? I've been in level2 for a year and a half, and I still can't walk and squeeze my glutes at different timings. This is most basic move, the foundation of my dance, and I can't execute it. What the heck is wrong?! My butt's not working right!!

This is definitely a situation where my brain is many levels ahead of my body and it is so incredibly frustrating.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

IK Winter 2007 mini review

Wow, I have not been posting as much as I used to! Why am I posting now? Well, it's turning into winter. When does winter officially start? How about when I get my Winter 2007 of Interweave Knits! I got my copy in the mail on Friday, and at least waited until I had to distract myself on the BART before cracking in and looking at everything. I must say that this time none of the patterns really jumped out at me screaming "Make me NOW!!" as some had in previous issues. And I actually found some of the articles were very good and drew me in more than the patterns (wait.. there are actual articles and not just pictures?! ;o) ). I found the alpaca information very interesting, and seeing as how I have only made two sweaters and was never told anything about sleeves, I was very interested in the Designer Secrets on Set-in Sleeves. There was a lot of good information that will definitely have me marking this page so that I can refer to it when playing with sweater patterns (which I am apparently apt to do).
Maybe it's me, and maybe I need to get myself up out of my never ending slump before I can really appreciate the patterns in this edition. Some look good, and I am impressed with the Ivy League Vest, however I have never done colorwork and I don't really wear vests. So while I can appreciate it, it's probably not something I will see myself making.
If any knitters really do subscribe or read my blog, leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of the issue. I am interested to know!