shower craft

saturday i attended my cousin's baby shower. for the forthcoming bambino, i made a few crafty gifts. not all of them were yarn craft, but there was some of that as well (as always!). first, something we have seen before.

bambino is a little boy, and he will have the cashmere bootees i knit a few months ago. i added a blue ribbon to each to make it a little more "boy" and to help prevent him from kicking them of his little feets.

at the shower we had to pass the bootees around because everyone wanted to touch the cashmere.

in addition to warming his piggies, i made something to adorn the bambino's nursery walls. jess liked the winnie the pooh gang a lot when we were little, so i decided to make some pooh themed wall hangings. these four little guys are about 2 inches tall in their frames.

very cute and super fun to make.
each one took about 2-3 hours to stitch and frame. i have not done a lot of cross stitch since 2000, so this was a big change of pace for me. i enjoyed it a lot once i got the hang of the technique again.

finally, i created a "least common denominator" craft--iron-on transfer. i was at jo-ann's a few weeks back and saw these iron-on transfers and could not resist. super cute on blue onesies. they were a pretty big hit

there may be more shower and/or ohio pictures to come.... BUT! i am entering tech this weekend, so updates will become sparse soon.

out of town

i am i ohio right now visiting with my family and attending my cousin's baby shower. right before i left, i finished my dad's sweater. about freaking time.

i know it didn't take me long to knit it, but it felt like a dog's age because there were so many unexpected mistakes in the numbers. i was following the pattern carefully, and then it stopped following itself. and there is no errata for this pattern!

boo.

the project...

i ::heart:: my dad
a.k.a. Unisex Knock-Around Cashmere Pullover
by Teva Durham
published in Weekend Knitting

size 44". knit in Cascade 128 Tweed (7 skeins #7622 olive green, 90% Peruvian Wool, 10% Donegal.) on size US 10 needles.

started: july 24, 2008.
finished: august 11, 2008.

let me start by saying that this sweater is beautiful. let me also say that i really enjoyed making it up until the last 20% or so. and let me conclude this initial assessment by posting my ravelry notes into the blog.

it had such a positive start...

i have started my christmas knitting. i work on this project around my boyfriend because i get distracted easily by our conversations, and this pattern is very simple.

i am considering modifying the sleeves.

07/27/08: finished both center panel sections. i have sewn them together at the side seams and picked up the stitches for the bottom of the sweater to knit in the round rather than picking up separately and seaming later.

me = lazy

i should not have been lazy. or i should have done a bit more thinking. i picked up the total number of stitches for both sides and knit them. well, if i had been thinking, i would have taken away stitches for the seams. two stitches on each side get used in the seaming, and i had no seams.... so my bottom section of the sweater flared out.

in the end, i decided to seam in darts on each side to reduce those stitches--flare taken care of.

07/30/08: finished bottom portion of the sweater body, picked up stitches for front body and sleeve increases.

08/04/08: finished the top front/front sleeves. i was knitting away and thinking “wow, this is taking a long time” until i looked at the reality of what i was knitting–the top of the sweater body and both sleeves at the same time. silly knitter, trix are for kids.

i am a little nervous about the collar looking good!

nd my nerves started at the right time. my knitter's spidey sinse was tingling because it got tough from here on out.

08/06/08: i knit the collar last night, and it looked good, but despite carefully reading the directions, my collar is about 5 stitches too far to one side. in this bulky yarn, that is more than an inch! gah. i need to go back to being a sock knitter.

08/07/08: i fixed the collar yesterday and it is now in the correct spot. for the life of me, i could not make the pattern numbers work, so i just employed my old pal logic.

08/09/08: i knit the back following the instructions, and it is all sorts of jacked up. i cannot even describe the absurdity.

08/10/08: okay. i managed to fix the back by completely ignoring the directions and decreasing the sleeve stitches MUCH sooner than the pattern recommends. i did the 3 needle bind off written in the pattern, but it looks assy, so i am riping it out and redoing.

i have had such a hard time with the last haul on this pattern, but there is no errata on the pattern.

i am dubious.

08/11/08: sweater is done. drying from the blocking. pics to follow soon!

i ended up pulling out a second three needle bind-off and simply binding off the back section and sewing it to the back center panel. it looks much better.

as if the pattern problems were not enough, i was thisclose to running out of yarn!

my final problem with this pattern is the serious amount of extra yarn i needed. i am glad i bought two extra skeins because th pattern called for 660 yards for the size i made and my skeins totaled 896 yards. that is more than 100 yards over the amount called for with the next size up.

i used all but the tiniest scraps. i have one 4 yard piece and 4 pieces of yarn longer than 8 inches. the rest is the clippings from the ends.

08/12/08: blocked and photographed. thank you to rW for standing in as a sweater model.

in the end, i can say... i like the sweater. it is very pretty, and i hope my dad likes it and actually wears it. i can also carve another notch on my knitting belt. i have now officially knit a man sized sweater! yeah!

more when i return from ohio. maybe even some non-knitting craftiness.

blargh!

there is something seriously screwed about the pattern from which i am knitting my father's sweater. it was smooth sailing until i hit the final 25% of the knitting. then the pattern numbers stopped matching up in the book, and all sorts of chaos ensued.

the collar was in the wrong place, and then the backs of my sleeves and the back of the body suddenly became too long well before they should have been "done". i think i need a break from oddly constructed sweaters that are made all in one piece.

when you have to rip back, you have to rip back a lot.

let's look at a few things that were not headache.

froggy
designed by Lion Brand

crocheted in Berroco Touche (3/4 of a skein of green tea and scraps of bleach, 50% cotton, 50% rayon) with a tahki cotton classic embellishments with a size H hook.

started and finished: august 4, 2008.

this guy is super goofy. he takes very little skill to create, and he is a very fast way to get the crochet fix. he has other friends from the same set on the lion website, and i plan to give him some company. i may gift the frog and his future friends as a whole menagerie or parse them out to people over time. we shall see, but i am pretty sure he will not be mine forever.


piggy
designed by Lion Brand

crocheted in Mission Falls 1824 cotton (3/4 of a skein of #408 Foxglove 100% cotton)and mystery pink stash cotton and tahki cotton classic embellishments with a size H hook.

started and finished: august 5, 2008.

the pig was designed as a buddy to the frog, but i did a lot of modifications to the pattern to make him cuter (in my opinion). he has a real snout and a tail in my version. he also looks more like pig and less like a ball.... his body instructions are actually identical to the frog.

now you can see how much i modified him.

whew.
i feel better now. i think i may have it in me to put the stitches back on the needle and then... suck it up and deal.

beet dis... RAK!

i joined the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) group on ravelry. in the group forum you post a wish list and other people post a wish list and if you can fulfill a wish, you do. they can be knitting related and non.

my non knitting related wish was for people to send me beet recipes, which they have!

i told rW about this and he sent me a RAK as well. sort of.

arrrrrrtissssst

ps- marat/sade

oh, yes.
opening went well!

the post threw me a bone, and some other critics liked it quiet a bit. i'm not in the mood to find reviews and link.

you can check out some pictures here, here, and here. that lasts set has one of me showing my typically well concealed goofiness and anime eyes.

show cntinues to run through next weekend, so get your tickets here.

i'm nice to my boyfriend

first the catch up.

long time no blog. i have been busy busy with starting the first 5 shows of the new theatre season, opening Marat/Sade (my final show of last season), helping on season selection for one theatre company, working at the store, teaching crochet class, seeing a friend whom i have not visited with since 2001, and completing the wedding gown i designed for another friend.

she is getting married today.

congrats to R. and her man D. i hope she feels (and looks) like a million bucks today, and even more than that, i hope they have a long and happy life together.

i may post a picture of the drawing of her dress after the big day is over. i will put a photo up once they get the professional shots back. that will probably be in a few weeks.

now the yarn projects.
while i have worked on many things, all my finished projects have been for rW, as this post title suggests.

rW's Rockabilly Bathmat (and Atomic Radios Shower Curtain)
designed by kittything

knit in many skein bits of random cotton from my stash (doubled) on size U.S. 10.5 needles.

started: july 3, 2008.
finished: july 9, 2008.

rW. moved into a new apartment on july 1, and he was blessed with a bathroom that had a manly 1960s pink tile renovation. me being that polly-anna, lemons into lemonade sort, i made him some accessories that made the place a little more his style.

it started with the atomic era radios shower curtain. i bought some yardage at the fabric store and sewed it to the correct dimensions and added grommets. voila! $20 bucks and an hour at the machine is much better than $40 and an hour at Linens and Things.

to go with the pink tile and crazy colored curtain, i took all the scraps of pink cotton in my stash and paired them with the black cotton bits and made a random stripe bathmat. very straight forward and a fast knit.

now that i have given it a chance, i think i would like to try crocheting a bathmat or other rug for myself in the future.

the other nicey nice thing...

The Great Green Sock Tie
aka Koigu Tie
designed by Maie Landra

knit in Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette Fingering (1 skein NP122 "spring grass" 100% wool.) on size US # needles.

started: june 17, 2008.
finished: july 24, 2008.

this was a fun and easy knit. if i had been more focused, it would have taken me much less time, but this was tv watching, commuting, long meeting type knitting. whenever i had the right combination of silence and good lighting, this project got ignored in favor of the cables or lace haunting me currently.

one last picture to show some stitch detail....

finally.... remarkable things!

1. rW asked me to knit him this "sock tie". (!!!!)
2. he picked out the yarn himself with minimal guidance from me.
3. he wore it within 48 hours of completion, and he is already talking about "the next tie you make me...."

someone knows ow to get a knitter to make them gifts.

the next big thing....

and this time it is a revolution.

cast: Steve Beall, Joe Brack, Jonathan Church, Katy Carkuff, Parker Dixon, Alice Anne English, Danny Gavigan, Michael Grew, Ashley Ivey, Emre Izat, Lisa Lias, Meg Maxwell, Eric Messner, Christine Millette, Richard Ernest Owens, Helen Pafumi, Barbara Papendorp, Colin Smith, Jesse Terrill, and Andrew Vergara.

the rest of us: Andrew Griffin (lights), Yvette Ryan (costumes), and Matt Soule (set), Matt Ripa (assistant director), Jenn Carlson (stage manager), Christine Millette (ASM), Hannah Hessel (dramaturg), Cliff Williams (fights), and Joel Reuben Ganz (movement).

tickets here.

many days of busy

stuff i have done since my last post.

1. start and brought to 90% completion a new knitting project.

2. helped rW move across state lines.

3. attend 2 fun 4th of july parties.

4. cut my finger badly (hampering my knitting badly) at work. try to slice a bit off my thumb cooking dinner. scratch the heck out of my arm carrying (wait for it....) empty moving boxes to storage. bruise my shins at both work and the move. and acquired a mystery bruise on my elbow that is roughly a 2" oval and presents a different variety of colors daily.

5. 10 successful costume fittings in under 2 hours.

6. experimented with claritin and benadryl to relieve my intense allergies.

7. slept more than usual for a pre-tech week because said allergies make me tired. i love oxygen.

8. attended a season selection meeting for one theatre company.

9. began designing a season opener for a university theatre.

10. finished the paper designing of a season opener for one of my favourite companies.

11. sewn two mock-ups of a wedding gown.

12. made a straight jacket. custom sized. hell, yeah.

13. stitched a shower curtain out of late 1950s atomic style radio print cotton.

14. organized my yarn stash: 1 medium sized tub of planned projects. 1 under-the-bed tub of scraps, odd balls, and leftovers. 1 freezer (small!) door of sock yarn.

15. made plans.....

i now long to clean out my books, sort my grad school leftovers, and sew myself a dress out of 1950s toaster print material i have been schlepping since 2002.

sometimes i make my own stuff

but this is not one of those times. when i am at the store i tend to work on store models. some i have been asked to knit, and others--like this one--have been abandoned by those who were originally asked to knit them. like an aluminum can on the side of the road or a funny looking dog at the pound, i scoop them up and take care of them.

i actually finished this silly thing about a week ago, but i needed a picture for the blog before i aired it for all to see. i have started anther model in the shop. this one is a new little gal... i am knitting the strawberry pullover from Roo Designs. i'll report back on my first foray into intarsia.

Marshmallow
a.k.a. Baby Cardigan (and Hat) P630
by Plymouth Yarn Design Studio

knit in Plymouth Oh My! (5 balls turquoise, 100% nylon) on size US 10 addi turbo needles.

started: june 4, 2008.
finished: june 18, 2008.

this was another orphan project. it was abandoned about a year ago by a collegue who just got tired of knitting it. on one hand, i don't blame her, it is a simple (boring) pattern knit in a goofy yarn. but then again, i inherited it with the back and most of one side finished, and i knit the sides, sleeves, collar, and did all of the finishing in about 6 hours.... so why not tough it out?

either way, i feel more informed about this yarn. it is all nylon and pretty slick. people seem to like it a lot, but now i can see why the other ladies are always trying to steer new knitters away from it. you really can't see the stitches and it is a pain to seam or otherwise finish.

it feels like what i imagine knitting marshmallows would feel like.

but it sure is cute, no?

model knitter

at the shop, we get paid to knit store models. i took on one that should have been very easy. big needles, very little shaping, no sleeves, simple stitch. the only catch seemed to be that i was knitting the third size instead of the smallest size (which is what we usually do a model in) because my boss wanted to wear it after we stop carrying the yarn.

that was back in march. i finally finished the beast today. to be fair to my laziness, i finished the sweater over a week ago, but i tried to get the seaming done at work. we were too busy for me to get it done (which is good! very good!) so i put it off until today at home. but now Lyn is back from vacation and there is no more letting this sweater sit on the back burner.

Lyn's Tank
a.k.a. "#6 Ribbed Tank"
designed by Rosemary Drysdale
published in S. Charles Collezione, Spring/Summer 2008

knit in Lana Grossa Cambio (5 balls #8 teal, 70% cotton, 30% polyester microfiber) on size US 10.5 and US 5 bamboo straight needles.

started: march 15, 2008.
finished: june 24, 2008.

i know, i know, it did take a long time. it was really hard for me to knit. the yarn on big needles hurt my wrists a lot. i had to wrap it so much and hold it with so much tension that my hands would ache after only an hour of knitting.

boo.

i learned that when knitting a yarn on a needle that is much larger than the yarn calls for, it is better to use straight needles. when i tried to work this on a circular, the yarn would snag on the cord joins and often it got too tense to slip easily back on to the working needle end.

i also learned which needle i needed to use by trial and error. i started out on metal needles, and they were waaaaay to slippery. i switched to birch, but they had too much drag. i finally settled on bamboo, and it worked pretty well.

i hope i can get a picture of this on Lyn because on me it looks very silly and dress-like. the yarn has a lot of vertical stretch knit on the big needles, so the arm holes are almost to my waist and my lack of curves "up top" mean the top stretches to mid-thigh when i wear it.

the effect is that of a chainmail dress.
yeah.
awesome.

in sock tie news, i have completed the length that hangs down from the tie knot and the decreases for the neck portion. i am now knitting the neck and tail. yay!

baby things are also moving along, but i have been on the tie more than the baby things. i'll need to do switch up on those soon!

socka socka socka

conditions under which you can knit a sweater for a man...

1. he is your father, brother, grandfather, or a really awesome and appreciative cousin or in-law.

2. you are married to the recipient or have been together long enough to be considered common law.

3. you have signed a pre-knit-ual agreement.

4. you want to end your relationship.

even though rW is a sweater wearing, knit-desiring, pretty-awesome guy, he does not fit into any of these descriptors. however, i am a total sucker.

very few knitters have men in their lives that want to have things knit for them... let alone a tie. yes, a tie. people are pretty evenly divided on knit ties. either they hate them or they love them, and most people who i know who love them have no one to knit one for.

this is my first knit tie, and it has been fun to make so far. it goes faster than you would expect for fingering weight yarn on size US 3 needles. i find that i can get in a rhythm with the linen stitch after a few rows and it moves.

rW calls it a sock tie, which i think is a funny name, but i guess it is accurate because it is knit from sock yarn. the truly silly thing is that despite calling it a sock tie, last night we were looking at knit ties on ravelry and he didn't like one we saw because it looked "too much" like a sock.

silly!

too much. (part II)

see that fine pair of preppy bags*? yeah, i only own one of those. the other sitting next to it belong to my #1 girl... my cousin. she drove out thursday for a very last minute visit.

it was great!
while this visit was the exact opposite of my mum's in terms of amount of stuff smooshed into 2.5 days, it was just as enjoyable. highlights...

i took jess to Plato's Diner in College Park. she declared their ravioli The Best Ever.

we shopped. well, window shopped. very little buying was done. we just looked at baby stuff at buybuy Baby and Ikea and hit The Container Store as well. there was some buying at Ikea. jess thought it was pretty amusing that she (the pregnant lady who doesn't even really like wine) was buying wine racks.

i bought an underwear drying hanger thingy that looks like a green octopus. it is absurd, but i love it.

speaking of absurd things you love, we had a nice visit with our aunt, uncle, and cousin. we even bought along rW to be judged by them. (ha.) there was dinner and conversation. and wine. we took a trip to the "art gallery" to see our little cousin's photos from her art show, and rW got to look at a box of old 45s my uncle had in the basement.

speaking of rW, he took jess and i out for italian on saturday night. he and i don't usually have pasta so we sort of had to hunt to find a place. we ended up at Ottelo's in dupont. i think the whole Ottelo's experience need its own highlights section.

• through a series a judgement errors, we ended up in dupont on the day of the Pride Parade. this would have been fine, and maybe a little fun, if i had not been confused about the location of the restaurant. we had to cross the parade twice because of my 'oops'.
• our aunt called in the middle of our wandering and confusion and left a message saying she hoped we did ot get caught in the parade. thanks, AUnt C. but at least jess can go home saying she saw drag queens, lesbian hot-rodders, and the gay square dancers.
  
• by the time we got to Ottelo's, it had started to rain and we were sort of soaked. it took us some time to recover, and the wait staff seemed too anxious to make us order 3 minutes after we waked in the door dripping.
• my arugula and radicchio salad was the best ever.
• did i mention the attentive wait staff? they were super friendly and great, but i found them edging on annoying. we had 2 waiters, the host, the water server, and a runner from the kitchen all after us. and they were making me feel self-conscious and high maintenance because they would bring me things i didn't ask for like i was acting like a princess to get them. at the same time, they were teasing me! i am not a fan of being teased by people i don't know.
• all that being said, the food was good and they were super nice, so i would probably go back. i think i would just not wear a dress and hope more frumpiness would help.

finally, i am excited jess got to come out now because i wanted to see the little baby bump. she didn't look pregnant the last time i saw her, so this was sort of cool. i should get to see her one more time before the big arrival day. it seems silly, and i know she is having a baby, but seeing the change makes it sink in more.

oh, yes. and reminds me that there is a lot of knitting to be done! the knitting updates won't be as frequent because some of this baby goodness is going to be a surprise.

which reminds me, i have finished the knitting on 2 store models. now i just need to sew them up. yay!


*for the record, there is nothing wrong with owning a preppy bag. i will say the preppier navy and green belongs to jess and the cream one is mine--a gift from jess at her wedding rehearsal dinner.

grumblelacegrumblegrumble

small lace update.

i made it 2.5" into the center chart on the christening shawl this weekend. yay!

today, however, i decided to knit this morning because i got up a little early. i gave myself a certain amount of time to allot to my lace, and i used it all. but made only one row of progress.

when i looked at the project this morning, i thought about sticking in a new lifeline (prompted by rW wondering last night when i would put in another) but then i got cocky and decided not to for a few more rows. bad move.

i messed up the side frame charts. i knit the same row twice and didn't notice until i had already purled back the next row and started a new knit row. without a life line, i could not simply rip. i had to tink* back two whole lace rows of 150+ stitches. i had just enough time left in my allotment to reknit one row.

gah.


*tink = knit spelled backwards. or "unknitting". there. a knitting term f the day for the civilians.

growing pains

my other half is supportive of my knitting habit. i may even say he gets excited about my projects. the other day he even gave me a hand massage. my right wrist is starting to cramp, and while he says it may be from too much knitting, i am still in denial.

let's blame stress.

i was on the phone with my cousin last night, and i got a little knot in my stomach (nothing, i am sure, compared to hers) when she told me she is right around the halfway mark with her pregnancy. i have a lot of knitting to do!

i have the bottom frame section done on the christening shawl. i now need to start the center chart, and because i am a big wuss, i have not begun. granted, i was finishing up a sweater, a 2nd mitten, and a few other mindless projects. now i need to buckle down and alternate between finishing the sweater for my boss and this shawl.

i must finish the lace if i want to be able to move on to the other gifts! wrist, do not fail me now!

here is a detail shot of the bottom frame section. it is stretched and pinned down on a pillow for the photo, but i have not blocked this project yet at all.

ps!!!

i finished the Gathered Pullover.

and...

this is the ugliest piece of jewelry i have ever seen.

not so last minute

may was the month of finishing, but i did a little starting as well. i can't do without an autopilot project, after all. these are the sorts of things i can knit or crochet while i talk on the phone with my cousin or watch bad tv with my boyfriend. (my idea, not his--terrible tv and knitting are BFFs.) and i have two to share--from the same book even!

Sideways Scarf
a.k.a. Men's Rustic Scarf
designed by Joelle Hoverson
published in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

knit in Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande (1 skein black, 1 skein + a bit charcoal grey, 100% baby alpaca) from my stash on size US 10 1/2 32" circular needles.

started: may 26, 2008.
finished: May 28, 2008.

i had some leftover yarn from a holiday gift plus the yarn (same dyelot!) i bought to make a gift i never knitted for personal reasons. add a pattern i have always wanted to knit and divide by a holiday monday... ta-da.

i now want to knit... like... 18 of these scarves. and maybe i will once i get deeper into my baby gifts for my future niece/nephew (ps- i find out who i am knitting for this month!). i will need mindless projects too then.

so.
love this yarn.
i love the look of the stripes on both the wrong and right sides. and this project saved me from extreme boredom the day my car was in the shop and i had to metro everywhere. i will say binding off on the train when you are doing a project in which the tension of your bind off has a major impact on the finished look... less than ideal. but i managed.

next!

Rainbow Hat
a.k.a. Children's Cotton Hats
designed by Kim Hamlin
published in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

knit in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (1 skein #774 "lush", 100% cotton) from my stash on a size US 6 16" circular needle and US 6 DPNs. size med/toddler shown.

started: june 3, 2008.
finished: june 4, 2008.

this is why i was knitting 26" of i-cord. in the end i got distracted by bad tv and knit 28". it turns out to be a happy accident because i like the look of the longer tails on the bow.

i think this pattern's sizing is a little off. i think their infant size is a preemie or true "newborn", while their toddler size is older infants and their child size is more like a toddler's hat. but it is still cute. i couldn't see a 3 year old letting you put it on them anyway. they have too many opinions by that point.

this one was knit for no one in particular. i am saving all my random baby knits for the great baby deluge of 2010. i am predicting it now.

fancy that

last night rW and i went to a fancy dinner the non-profit he works for threw to honor people with lots of money who give it away to save old stuff. i sound flip--it was pretty cool. and the work these folks do it swell too.

highlights of the evening...

1. i got to wear the vintage late 50s cocktail dress i wore to helen hayes 2 years ago. i love that dress and it is memorable, so i can't wear it to HH again soon. this was a good excuse.

2. rW in a tux = fancy!

3. dessert buffet. hells yeah berries diplomat. let's hear it for lemon mousse!

4. big bibles. we were at the Library of Congress, and the Gutenberg Bible and the Giant Bible of Mainz were in cases on either side of one of the bars set up for the party. i read about them and then got to use a cool interactive screen thing to look at the details of the Mainz. it was pretty awesome. the screen is sort of like a huge iphone screen. you can zoom in and drag the pictures around in a similar fashion.

5. sad sob story. i can really work one, and it got us vegetarian dishes for the main course. (boo hoo. i can't eat your soup course. or anything else on the menu. woe is me.) and it is a good thing too because i was pretty sad to see everyone else's amazing vegetables and delicious potato and eggplant galette floating is extraordinarily rare beef juices.

bleah.
we had mushrooms stuffed with mushrooms. sounds redundant, but it was great.

and now for something funny....



speaking of knitting, i am working on a 26 inch long 2 stitch i-cord. gah. thrilling.

too much. too much. much too much.

this past weekend my mother came for a visit. it was a long and crazy weekend. we went to two knits shops (where she got yarn for 2 sweaters and 2 pairs of socks), drank martinis, visited with my aunt's family, drank mojitos, visited with one of my college roommates, drank coffee, saw two plays in one day, delighted in avocados, spent 1h, 45m at the MVA, had the worst waiter ever, and she met my boyfriend.

it was pretty awesome.

in addition she finished a baby blanket and i finished my sweater, although the sweater and i have not fully made peace. it is currently too big, and after it finishes drying from the good blocking i gave it today, it will probably undergo surgery.

if it cannot be saved, i may give it away to a knitting girlfriend it looks better on or give it to my little cousin. she has more athletic build than me, and it would probably look fantastic on her.

i suppose my third option is eating cream puffs until i fill it out or saving it in case i ever have a baby. ha.

cheers

happy memorial day, all you US folks. i spent the holiday in a fashion highly atypical for me--mostly relaxed. and doing some personal shopping.

i decided it was time to replace some glassware after i broke a piece last week (my first of the 15+ i am now missing). i have very bad luck with my glasses and other people. in the last 7 years i have lost many, many pieces by the hands of my various roommates. see that one lone black stemmed wine glass? that is the last of a set of 6. i also used to have four martini glasses and four margarita glasses, but my landlord (or maybe the property manager) stole them from my last apartment when i was moving*.

i made do with what i had for a couple years, but when i could no longer serve wine to myself and a guest, something had to change. i did splurge a bit getting the martini glasses, but the four of them and the six wine glasses all together cost less than $20. go World Market! yay Ikea!

i also started a new project despite May being the month of finishing. i started a scarf from my stash because i wanted something purely mindless to knit while relaxing on memorial day. it is hard to pay attention to sweater armhole decreases and a guest at the same time.

it is the "Men's" Rustic Scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. either joelle hoverson is obsessed with naming things especially for men, or the publisher was afraid people without brains would not notice the man-oriented items in the book. odd.

i am knitting it from stash yarn, and i have no definite plans for the finished project yet. maybe i am starting my holiday knitting without knowing it!


* i left my glasses over night and planned to pick them up the next day because the car was full and i didn't want to break them. i came back the next day to people stripping my hardwood floors and my glasses missing. i had 2 weeks left on the lease, and i was fully paid up. (!!!!!)

going green

i love the color green, and it is showing up in my knitting a lot. for a long time i knit almost exclusively in back and grey for myself, but green is my favourite "real" color for knitting now. today i have a finished greenie and a work in progress that is coming along nicely.

"Men's" Cashmere Scarf
designed by Joelle Hoverson
published in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

knit in Karabella Cashmere Elite (4+ balls #13340 Olive, 100% cashmere) received as a gift, on size US 6 birch needles.

started: january 2008.
finished: may 20, 2008.

my boss at the knit shop gave me 5 balls of this cashmere for christmas. i love the color. she did a great job picking out what would be "me" as well as surprising me with something i would not buy for myself (cashmere is a little rich for an artist's budget, even with my discount). i used every little bit between a pair of super-cute baby bootees and the rest going into this scarf.

i used a slightly modified version of Hoverson's pattern to knit my scarf. i cast on 45 stitches to accommodate the DK weight yarn (the pattern calls for a chunky yarn and only 21 stitches), and i guess i made one last modification.... um... i am not a man, and this scarf is for me. so, let's just ignore that title.

i have declared May the month of finishing, and i have made remarkable progress on my Gathered Pullover. after pulling out the first 6+ inches of the body back in February, i was slow to regain ground, but a few trips on the metro and i made it up to the cables this weekend. i manged to work through the entire cable chart and the first side front section. i am getting very close to a finished sweater! i am exceedingly pleased with myself for knitting the sleeves first.

unfortunately, i think this is going to fit my shape poorly. hm. but i am going to finish it and figure out how to fix it if it comes to such drastic measures. keep your fingers crossed for me.

for mark

my FBiL* is obviously concerned about my long term career prospects. he commented yesterday that i am jeopardizing my vegetarian food blogger career by not taking photos of my delicious breakfasts.

i am pretty sure i am not going to switch from one low paying, high commitment job to another.... especially when my pictorial skills (and cooking skills!) are not near my two current favs.... 101 cookbooks and bittersweet.

but i will share a few pictures because i actually cooked (for real!) last night. above we have a mixed greens salad with avocado, blackberries, and blue cheese dressing.

to the right we have my "mac and cheese". it is composed of organic whole wheat penne pasta, tomatoes, and a cheese sauce composed of four cheeses and vegetable broth. the whole mixture is topped off with italian style breadcrumbs and a sprinkling of oregano.

delicious!

*FBiL = Fake Brother-in-Law

not for a lack of material

i have several finished objects that i completed while i was not knit blogging. i squeezed in time to knit, but getting the pictures taken and projects detailed was a little above and beyond.

starting with the oldest...

Classic Cashmere Bootees
designed by Erika Knight
published in Simple Knits for Cherished Babies

knit in Karabella "Cashmere Elite" (#13340 Olive, 100% cashmere) purchased at K+S=B on size US 4 bamboo DPNs.

started/finished: 02.27.08

i was given 5 balls of this cashmere, and i am not a fan of very long scarves, so i used 2/3rds of a ball to knit these. super cute! i knit them before i knew of any babies on the way. now they may have little feet to adorn very soon!

Orangini
designed by Jil Eaton
from Minnowknits

knit in Schulana "Merino Cotton 90" (2 skeins lime, 1 skein electric blue, 53% cotton, 47% wool) on size US 8 needles.

started: March 18, 2008
finished: April 16, 2008

i finished this as a store model. someone else started it in March of 2007 and let it sit after knitting 80% of the back piece. i picked it up out of the back room and finished it up in a few afternoons at work.

love knitting with this yarn!

Luscious Collar
designed by Annette Petavy
published in Interweave Crochet, fall 2006

knit and crocheted in Debbie Bliss "Alpaca Silk" (3 skeins gold, 80% Baby Alpaca 20% Silk) on size US 7 needles and size US I crochet hook.

started: april 22, 2008
finished: april 30, 2008

i whipped up this little number for my mum's birthday. i was in tech at the time for a show with a near 3 hour run time, and i needed something i could knit in the dark. it turned out very well, and she loved it because it is knit in one of her favourite types of yarn--alpaca! good color for my mum too.

finally...

Elegant and Easy Cable Mittens
designed by Marci Richardson
published in 101 Designer One Skein Wonders

knit in Dream in Color "Classy" (1/2 skein "Spring Tickle" 100% superwash merino) on size US 4 & 5 DPNs.

started: february 29, 2008
finished: may 18, 2008

this is my second pair of mittens from this pattern. this time i used seed stitch instead of stockinette for the non-cabled portions of the mitten. i love love love knitting with this yarn. colors are fab!

eat this.

i made a delicious breakfast this morning. everyone should try it.... well, everyone who likes hot cereals and berries.

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa.

no pictures.
because i am an overeager little breakfast eater!

my shame.

this is all knitting blah blah blah. (fyi for my non-kitting readers.)


i currently have an obscene number of UFOs. un. finished. objects. most of them are playing for the 50% team. boo on that.

i have decided that i need to take a few down before i 1. do any more lizard ridge squares. 2. start the other parts of my cousins' baby gifts or 3. start carving out serious shawl time. i like knitting the shawl, and it has a (distant) deadline, but some of these old friends need to come off the books.

i worked on the Gathered Pullover in front of a movie the other night. each round is 152 boring stitches right now and i have not quiet caught up to where i had to tear it all out and start over. reknitting stocking stitch in the round is not as fun as i wish it was. this will get better once i pass the "tear out" mark and even better once i can work the cable motif.

when i got too bored with the sweater, i finished the movie up by knitting on my cashmere scarf. it is also boring, but i wanted something simple to show off the cashmere. so, yeah. dull. dull. dull. BUT! inspired by how quickly it was coming together, i managed to knit through the 3rd of 4 balls of yarn tonight. it was helped by the fact that i switched from metal to birch needles... the metal was almost too slick for my cashmere, and the birch sped me up a bit.

i joined in some cashmere left over from a 5th ball i knit into a tiny project instead of breaking into the 4th intact ball. in is probably only about 30 yards. if i had waited to use my partial at the end, i could see myself deciding to bind off after ball 4 and never use the partial. discipline! let no cashmere go unknit.

this scarf is on my hit list. as well as the 2nd cabled mitten. (i LOVE the mittens. they are fun to knit and the yarn rocks--Dream in Color "Classy") i will feel much less shame about the pullover or sock once these other two re done. i will also stop feeling like the only color i knit with is green.

(it sort of is.)

lizard ridge #6

just a quick little update. i finished the the 6th panel on the lizard ridge. i laid the 5 that were not drying from being blocked across my floor last night and decided that i may need the blanket to be 6 panels wide instead of 5.

that means i need to decide if i want to make it 5 tall by 6 wide... or go ahead and knit 36 instead of 30 panels. (i have already mentally upsized from the 24 panels called for in the pattern). i could also d a larger crochet border since, well... i like crocheting. =)

speaking of... i am now off to being the process of crocheting together a 180 panel afghan for a customer at the store. yes, i am being paid.

lizard ridge #5

yesterday i decided to minimize my productivity. i have been working so hard for so long that i really needed a day off. yes, i know it was a monday. what's it to you, huh?

i did dig out my bedroom so i would no longer be swallowed by my "tech piles". and i knit. a lot. i finished the 5th block of my Lizard Ridge, and i am very close to completing the 6th block.

when i finish the 6th, i will go back to my unfinished projects, which as you may note from the side bar, are piling up on me. (piles! imagine that.) the christening shawl is the only one that has a deadline, but i have had a good reason to not work on it in the last 2 weeks... i'm not crazy enough to knit lace dog tired.

this block was knit in Noro Kureyon colorway number 182.

lizard ridge #4

i have had very little time to knit or crochet with my hectic work schedule, but i recently spent several hours sitting at the MVA getting my title and plates changed on my car. i needed a project that i could easily keep track of in a noisy (potentially uncomfortable) room so i wouldn't go stir crazy.

ta-da.
my afghan squares!
this one was completed almost exclusively under unusual circumstances. sitting and standing in line at the MVA was one half. i did about 1/4 of it in complete darkness, and most of the last bit was done in the car, stuck in traffic (i moved 5 miles in nearly 3 hours, perfectly safe knitting "speeds"). i bound it off at home.

this is Noro Kureyon in colorway number 95. i loved it in the skein. i wish it had knit up with a little more variety. because i am doing 6 pattern repeats instead of five on my blocks, when i came to the end of my yarn all i had left was one color... so i cut it and finished off the last stripe with the remains of a prior ball.

i made a little mistake in the pattern on this block, and i did not notice until after i blocked the piece. boo. maybe i will be the only one who notices...?

i doubt it!

happy mother's day, clytemnestra.

last night we opened The Oresteia. finally! it was a huge show, and getting it up on its feet made me feel less than human for the last 2-3 weeks. i am happy with my work, but if i had another week there would be a little less "quick and dirty" hiding behind the lovely exterior of these garments.

check it out...

Constellation Theatre Company Presents..

The Oresteia
by Aeschylus
translated by Robert Fagles
adapted and directed by Allison Arkell Stockman

May 9- June 1
Clark Street Playhouse

design by: A.J. Guban and Yvette M. Ryan

original music performed live by:
Tom Teasley

ensemble:
Joe Brack, Katy Carkuff, Jennifer Crooks, Misty Demory, Nick DePinto, Kevin Finkelstein, Gwen Grastorf, Theo Hadjimichael, Brian Hemmingsen, Keith Irby, Nanna Ingvarsson, Ashley Ivey, Elizabeth Jernigan, Hilary Kacser, Lisa Lias, Kenny Littlejohn, Beckett Martin, Meghan Nesmith, Anne Nottage, Kevin O'Reilly, Rachel Lee Poole, Julia Proctor, James Radack, Julie Roundtree, Joe Thornhill, Amy Quiggins, Jjana Valentiner, Ron Ward, Lindsay Kitt Wiebe.

buy tickets here.

i will share pictures as soon as we get them back.

my big fat greek tragedy

i have been busting my backside to get The Oresteia on its feet. i have been cutting so much fabric that i have a knot in one of my hand muscles from scissors use.

in other news, the Maryland MVA is not so bad. take your patience pills (as my mother would say) and you can get through the whole experience just fine. we will see how i feel about it once i go back in a week or two.

i is special.

i got flowers at work today. pink tulips.

the delivery guy walked into the shop carrying them and the ladies i was working with pointed me out to him when he asked... and still when he looked at me and said my name i said "who? me?".

and then i had to sign a piece of paper, which i guess i did poorly because i was still so surprised.

highlight of my day!

hhhhhelen hhhhhayes.

monday was the 24th annual Helen Hayes Awards. for non-DC folks, you can think of this 2 ways... the DC equivalent of the Tonys. or theatre prom.

it is a little of both.

the highlight of the awards portion of the evening was that Reefer Madness (which i designed last july) was nominated for 6 awards. it won 2 of them! Outstanding Director, Resident Musical and it took the biggie it was nominated for... Outstanding Resident Musical.

the party was loads of fun... as captured in the picture (taken by my gal pal Meghan). yes, i know... shock of all shocks, i wore yellow!

i was going to go with a long black evening gown, but it was pouring rain all day and i was not interested in mopping the streets of downtown DC. dress was a happy accident... as was my 1960s hairstyle.

oh, and ps... i have the most attractive friends ever.

it was all good. i stayed the right amount of time. i had the perfect number of drinks. i saw and hugged at least 80% of the people i wanted to see and hug. my date was awesome. i liked my dress. and i got to sleep in on tuesday! i didn't even have to be at work until 3pm. all of these = great time.

again and again

i am back in tech.
i am working on #4 out of 5 in the big spring tour de force that is my working life. come mid may i am going to pass out for an entire week. during that week or break, i will only work at the shop. and clean my apartment top to bottom. and sleep. and knit. i have some crafty news.

1. i bought the yarn and needles to begin the baptism shawl for my future niece/nephew. this is a project jess knows i am making, so i am cool with sharing the details. we shall see if pictures go up. can't decide if i want to try to surprise her a little.

2. i knit a few rows on the cashmere scarf because it is simple an di could do it in a very dim theatre.

3. i knit a few rounds on the gathered pullover because i can knit that in complete darkness.

4. the cross stitch project i am currently working on is a warm-up to something bigger. the current is a set of very small (and too cute) winnie the pooh characters that will be for the new person's room. i have pooh, piglet, and eeyore finished. i started tigger and i will probably get him done by the end of the week. i need to learn how to make better french knots so i can really finish each of them (they need knots for eyes) and frame them for hanging. they are moving right along, however!

i think i will keep the bigger project a secret for now.

last thing....
i hurt myself pretty badly at rehearsal last night. i even had to fill out accident report forms. i slipped in a puddle of water and fell into a chair sideways. my backside and lower back are nice and stiff and my shoulder/neck/arm are all manner of screwed up. boo.

advil is my friend. but beer actually makes it feel best.

my latest

last weekend i opened a brand spanking new musical: Looking for Roberto Clemente. i loved working on this show. i love watching it. i adore the cast. the design is adorable, and the message of the piece is fantastic.

but, hey... don't listen to me, go read the washington post review. theye even have two pictures. yay! click on the "next" button in the frame and you cn see the second one.

if you want a better view of all of my design, take a look at the short video Imagination Stage put out to promote the show.

go see some children's theatre. it may surprise you!

Looking for Roberto Clemente
at Imagination Stage
by Karen Zacarías (book) and Deborah Wicks La Puma (music)
directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer

April 12-June 1, 2008
Sign interpreted performance May 11 at 3:30
Enjoyed by ages 4+

World Premiere of a rock musical about baseball and heroes
The year: 1972. The place: Pittsburgh, where legendary baseball player Roberto Clemente is at the top of his game. Sam Kowalski and the neighborhood baseball-playing kids are in an intense competition to win the chance to meet Clemente in person. But it is their hero’s fateful off-field actions while aiding natural disaster victims in Nicaragua that teach the kids about what is more important in life than winning. “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on earth.”--Roberto Clemente

buy tickets here.

cast: Zack Colonna, JP Illarramendi, Derek Manson, Don Mason, Erika Rose, Matthew Schleigh, and Chris Wilson.



Roberto was a pretty amazing human being. Read a bit about him, and i am sure you will see why some call him the last true sports hero.

hey big spender

the picture is a mitten i finished a few weeks ago. i just like it and wanted to share. it doesn't have a mate yet. boo on me.

ahem.
i'm going to talk about myself for a bit. there aren't really rules for the blogging i do here, so hang in there with me while i have some me time.

life has been super crazy, and i have felt much more like a worker bee than a person for the last 4-6 weeks. so i went out and got a little indulgent to help make me feel a little more like a person. my idea of "indulgent" is laughable, but i am on an artist's budget, you know.

ahh, cotton knit. how i love thee. i hit target this week and got myself some new shirts on sale. 1 black tee, 1 black tank, 2 (very acidic happy!) green tees, and a new skully shirt. i think the last time i bought myself new clothes was back in october or november, and it is starting to show.

i really need new jeans, but with the weather finally turning and my skirts looking longingly up at me from my drawer, i may be able to put that off until the fall clothing urge hits again. new black tees make it that much easier to resist the temptation.

that and the fact that trying to simultaneously be a woman who feels good about herself and try on jeans is a near impossible feat, i think i will save the heroics for the future.

my real splurge was a few new books.

that's right, i am reading again.
i started out by icking up Tropic of Cancer again, and i have made some progress this time around. i had to put it back on hold lately because my head has been too full for a stream of consciousness frolic through Paris that utterly lacks a plot.

instead have been reading the copy of High Fidelity that rW gave me. he was going to lend me his copy and instead surprised me with my very own. i love the film, so it is safe to say the gift will get well used in my "rereading" cycles. it is a fast read, and it is very fun to see the differences between the book (set in london) and the movie (americanized and set in chicago).

now.
the books i got myself.
i picked up a copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's because i was inspired by gwen.
i bought the compact hardback for a few bucks more because there are 3 other Capote short stories in that edition. i am warming up for when i finally let myself read In Cold Blood. i know i can't do it until i am low stress enough not to get all worked up by the violent and horrible parts.

moving on.
new knitting/crochet book! i bought a sock book.... Stitch Style Socks. i don't actually own any sock books. all of my socks have been knit from free patterns or books that contain all variety of patterns. i have just never found one that is overall special enough to make me want to buy it. this one grabbed me with the cover project--houndstooth check socks. there are also some neat slippers, a pair of chunky cabled leg warmers, and knee-high skull socks. lots of fair isle and intarsia in this book, which are two techniques i want to get into more.

finally, something frivolous.
Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colorful Despots. this one is pure fun for designer. it is gross, opulent, and over the top. it seems sick to want to see pictures and read about Nicolae Ceausescu's bathroom or Manuel Noriega's christmas tree, but it takes design and mindless fun to a whole new level for me. plus, sometimes you just need something to be outraged about.

(and to tell the truth, it was $3 in the bargain bin.)

in addition to reading more, have also taken up cross stitch again because i have a project i want to make for a future new person. i forgot how fun it can be! i'll post pictures on my needle craft once i extract a promise from someone that he won't ruin the surprise for his wifey. ahem. (you know who you are!)

s.m.r.t.

i never update my blog. or knit. but i do get some sleep and i am trying to read a book when i can. i am not the lamest person in the world yet.

(see! i can't even do that right!)

at least the washington post gave me some love. oh, and my mom. she loves me too. at least she still says it even though i have been a bad daughter and not been calling her daily in the past couple of weeks.

the picture is the realization of the
sketch i last posted. fun, huh?

see, my lameness has a good cause behind it.

ps- there were other (mostly) good reviews for the show, but i am not feeling in much of a gilding the lily mood. i am happy with the work, as are my colleagues. that is enough.