Speaking Rowan

Last Wednesday at knitting circle, Stacy asked, "Does any one speak Rowan?"

I laughed. I may not be laughing for long. Basil is finished in record time and off the needles (pictures are coming after I have blocked my little beauty.) And Martha from Rowan Studio has been cast-on.

Admittedly, before I was willing to cast-on, I heckled and pestered Wendy a bit to finish her Martha. OK, Wendy, a lot. What can I say, I am a follower...I like to have my friends work out the tricky parts first. From what I understand there can be quite a few tricky parts in Rowan patterns.

So with advise from Wendy and seeing what was out there on Ravelry, there are already modifications being made. Right off the bat both fronts and the back were cast-on together to cut down on the seaming. That makes for a long row of stitches, but I am through the bottom band of patterning and ready to slog into a lot of stockinette. Turn on the autopilot for a bit!

Instinct

Ok, so I know that these really look like two totally different pieces of knitting. They aren't.

Indoor light vs natural light.

Blue binding vs light green.

Over thinking your color choices vs going with your first instinct.

Questionning my color instinct, which I actually think is usually pretty damn good, I returned the light green Koigu I originally bought and bought the Caribbean Blue Louet's. It looked like a good match for the blue splashes in the yarn. In reality it was horrible. In lights other than Rosie's it wasn't green enough. The contrast was too great. And with all the varigated Koigu it was too solid.

Ripping back my knitting ranks right up there with unmedicated root canal. It hurt like hell, but I am incredibly happy now...reunited with my light green Koigu.

Growing Basil

Geez, Lisa, are you knitting that again?

Is anyone really surprised? I seem to have acquired a bad rep for knitting the same pattern over and over...two Lady Eleanors, two Koolhaus, two Beatrix, two Clapotis and a handful of Fetchings, Purl Berets, Emily Infant Mitts and baby James Deans. Okay...okay...now that it is catalogued; I am guilty! But sometimes a sure thing is best.

My first Basil was brilliant. Why not repeat brilliance? Easy to remember lace repeats coupled with oh-so-lovely Koigu and you have yourself a winner. And in this case, throw in a little of my other newer fav, Louet's Gem fingering.

I think this may be the last of the major babies in my life for a while...that is until Muffy or Marissa start popping them out (sorry, Mariss, couldn't help myself.) Amy, my dear friend and soror is the mother to be. Once again, continuing a trend, not a girly girly pink person having yet another girl baby. When is someone going to let me knit with pink koigu for a little girl?

My pictures are not doing the yarn adequate justice. Amy and her husband live in Breckenridge, CO and this yarn has all the colors I remember from my visit there. Not traditional baby colors, but I am sure that she is going to love it.

We all cook with Basil. Why not add this recipe to your repertoire?

Anemoi Mittens

Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens knit in Louet's Gems. I stayed true to the pattern...practised my mad tubular cast on skills...knit the cuffs on 0s, probably should have used 1s...did the pain in the ass three needle cast off.

Loved knitting with this yarn. Every wonderful thing I have heard about it was absolutely true.

Best of all, this time Muffy's lovingly handknit mittens fit, fit perfectly. Now maybe she can give up the tatty old gloves with the chenille worn off in patches.

Thanks Mindy for acting as the mitten model!

Orange is the New Blue

Juliet is done! She is the new favorite-don't-want-to-take-it-off sweater. Okay, so I have lovely biggish abalone buttons for her, that have not been sewn on, but the whole button-loop thing is just not a priority right now.

I think if I had the sweater to knit again, a medium would actually fit better. The bottom is a bit more voluminous than ideal. But she is so soft and warm and cozy and lots of other wonderful adjectives.

There was a blue Juliet, a blue Gretel and blue Crocodile gloves...winter blues? Well, spring is here and I have moved out of the blues and into my orange period.

Muffy's Anemoi mittens in grape and orange were my transition. More orange came home with me on Friday. Since then, Artemis has been busting into the bag and lovin' on the yarn. Saturday morning she buried a skein of Neighborhood Fibers Studio Sock in my bed. Then she dropped a skein of Haiku on my face at 4 in the morning. And tonight I came home to find her curled up with one of the wound skeins. Clearly she wants me to ditch all other WIPs and swatch for the Optic Wave Stole. Smart kitty...enabling kitty...I love this kitty...minus the drool on the mohair.

Stopping Traffic

Friday evening, Miss Mindy and I attended the cocktail party and book signing for The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes at Loop. Being Good Friday, I think the crowd was much smaller that I would have expected. That gave those of us who came an excellent chance to meet Clara and interact with her.

I have had my copy of the book for several weeks. As soon as the Friday Night Knitting Club (ehhhh) hit the stores, people who know I am a knitter started buying it for me. I accepted their gift and joyfully traded them in for a copy of Clara's book. The book is a great reference to help you choose the proper fiber for your projects. It satisfies both those who like to read about knitting and those of us who are all about the patterns. Norah Gaughan's Cabled Swing Cardi (rav link) was what first caught my eye, and then I discovered there were many more fab patterns in the book.

While chatting with some new knitting buds I spied these two skeins of Studio Sock from Neighborhood Fiber Co. in the Tenley Circle colorway.

I snatched one up. After all, all things orange are Sherry 's thing and I thought she might swoop out of the ether and snatch it away. It was sooo juicy... it could happen! Any who, back to Clara. She was lovely, warm, fun and down to earth. She was also a world-class enabler and I should know, having something of a reputation as one myself.

I thought the juicy orange/red would be lovely knit into the Optic Wave Shawl by Sheila January. Clara thought it would be even more lovely stranded with Alchemy Haiku in Kai's Goldfish. Next thing I knew I was clutching both skeins of Studio Sock and two skeins of Haiku like my life depended on it. So much for self-control.

Hi, my name is Lisa and I am powerless in the presence of yummy yarn. But I will be stopping traffic come fall!

Deck Debut

It took ages. Seriously, years to get everything in place to have my roof-deck back. And then it happened and the deck was built in nothing flat. The downside being that it was finished at the beginning of the winter. And the winter, while mild, has been dragging on forever.

Monday morning I left for work and the deck was empty. I came home and my bedroom was kinda empty and the deck was getting spiffed up. My dear handydude, Bill had moved the furniture back out onto the deck and reinstalled my repaired windchimes. Love to hear them in the wind.

And on the table? Muffy's mitts are making some progress. I think there will be a thumb fitting on Sunday. Spring has officially arrived, but it looks like if I hurry up she will have a few days left to wear them.

That is great for the mittens, but bad for the deck. I really want to sit out on my deck again and enjoy the sunset.

She likes it...

...she really likes it!! And it doesn't even have a thumb or mate yet.

I am knitting Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens for Muffy. The yarn is Louet Gems fingering weight superwash merino in Grape and Citrus Orange. I told her that I was going to knit mittens for her as an early birthday present, but I wanted the design to be a suprise.

There is some history involving Muffy, mittens and moi.

Many years ago during a period of unemployment I decided to make all of my Christmas presents. That included a pair of lovely navy and red Norwegian mittens from Flying Geese & Partridge Feet by Robin Hansen for Muffy, then 9 years old. The mittens were lovely and a triumph considering they were my first time knitting on double points, first time knitting fairisle, and at the time I did not know how to knit continental, so both strands were carried in one hand.

My good friends will know that even with all of that, the ending was not as happy as it should have been. She unwrapped them Christmas morning, loved them, tried them on. They were HUGE. Nothing like giving a nine year old a pair of mittens that would not fit for ten years. Saddly, now that they would fit perfectly, no one knows where they are.

So, with history...and my gauge issues only being marginally better, I decided to forgo suprise and make sure that they would fit. The fit is great and she loves the design and colors. Who said history is doomed to repeat itself?

Had to include this picture of pretty little Toscabelle. She was sitting in the window watching the little boy across the street try to skateboard. I swear I heard her giggle when he wiped out.

Rich

I am a very lucky person. I own a lovely home...dominated by two loveable cats. There is a job that does not often spill outside the company doors and pays the bills. I have three wonderful parents and a little sister I adore. Beloved gadgets fill my purse and my apartment is overflowing with beautiful things.

But my life is richest in the wonderful women who are my friends. While some of my other friendships have been tested and wounded me lately, you have all rallied around me and lifted me up. I love you all.

Today we gathered together at the Ten Stone...Sherry, Magda, Regina, Marissa, Emily and Mindy...

there were matching cabled berets...thank you Sherry, for letting me knit mine in the same color as yours, then rescuing me when I was short on yarn. Now there is a true friend!

Lots of yummy food was consumed, washed down by ciders and beers.

And even a little knitting was accomplished...loving these socks!

Comfort

What is comfort on a cold grey dismal Philadelphia Saturday?

Muffy and I headed down to the Reading Terminal Market today for brunch/lunch. They were having a special event called the "Souper Bowl."


We drifted around and tried some of the yummy free samples, had some soup... ok, but something was missing...

apple dumplings from the Dutch Eating Place. Amazingly there were two seats available at the counter. We hopped up on stools and split a warm apple dumpling with heavy cream (yes, that sound you hear is my arteries clicking shut!) Now, this is comfort food.

Comfort also comes in the form of yummy knit wear.

These are Pear Tree's Crocodile long fingerless gloves, knit in their divine 4-ply merino. The only mods I made to the pattern was to knit them in the round, and the length of the hand and thumbs. My hands and fingers are rather short so they would have been way over the tips of my fingers if I followed the pattern.

So many of my sweaters and tops have 3/4 length sleeves, so I always have a drafty gap between my gloves and sleeves. No more...these fill the gap perfectly. And they are uber toasty and comfortable. Thank you marveous Magda for getting me hooked on these gloves and lending me the pattern.

Hope you all had a Saturday of tasty treats!

in the 'burgh

I spent this weekend in Pittsburgh with my father, celebrating his retirement. Free at last, free at last....

Our first stop was the exhibition of Dale Chihuly's art glass at the Phipps Conservatory. I expected to be impressed by this exhibition, but I my jaw dropped to my knees before even entering the building. This amazing chandelier was glowing into the night through the glass dome over the visitors' center.

What I didn't expect was that the glass would be so beautifully integrated throughout the conservatory. Every room but one very formal garden room had installations of glass. Each item carefully placed by Chihuly and his team. An employee of the Conservatory told me that it took eleven days and a ten man team to do the installation of the exhibit. I think this huge Fiori was one of my favorites. The scale of some of these pieces is really impressive.

If the exhibit weren't closing this weekend, I'd encourage everyone to hop a plane to Pittsburgh. A special thanks to Gryphon's Feather's posting that brought the Chihuly exhibit to my attention.

The Phipps was a big part of my Pittsburgh childhood. My mom would take me once a year to roam the gardens. It was particularly magical to me in the winter...surrounded by lush greenery, flowers and warmth.

Another important part of my childhood was the Carnegie Museum and its collection of dinosaurs. As I remember it from my memory, it was a cold stark white marble hall packed with dinosaurs. The new dino exhibit is in a much expanded space and they have plenty of room to separate the bones by period. The exhibit has all the interactive bells and whistles to round it all out. Saddly the T-Rex is still being put back together, so I couldn't visit my old friend. The most impressive thing about the new exhibit is the new armatures for the fossils. They have managed to construct them so they are as unobtrusive as possible.

We made a stop that was not part of my nostalgia tour, but will be a sure visit for all future trips, Pamela's P&G Diner. The pancakes were thin, crispy and divine. Thinking about them is making me drool. They have a bunch of locations in Pittsburgh, skip the long lines in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, head straight for the Strip District where there are two larger rooms with tables. Thank you Christine for insisting that I have breakfast there!!!

B is for Basil

I love Edward Gorey's Gashleycrumb Tinies, but that isn't the Basil I'm thinking of.


This Basil is a baby blanket designed by Courtney Kelley of the Smith Island Pattern Factory. I knit this beauty out of Koigu KPPPM. This colorway is so scrumptous I almost unraveled the blanket to make a shawl for myself.

Basil was knit for the brand-new son of one of Muffy's bestfriends. It was a good deal, she handed over the cash, helped pick out Koigu in a color combo I loved, and I got to knit a pattern that interested me. This was my first experience knitting lace with Koigu. The knitting is fabulous, but the blocking really elevated the WOW factor of the blanket. It in no way resembles what the mother thought was a baggy lace beret when I was knitting at the shower.

Want an easy lace knit? Go with this baby! I wish I had taken pictures of the binding...a K1, K2tog row at the fold makes a lovely picot edging. The bind-off is fiddley but takes care of the hemming at the same time as the bind-off. The binding makes an edge with just the right weight...don't skip it!

A Blue Period

When I was much younger and I would tell my mother I was depressed. She would tell me I wasn't depressed, just in a funk or feeling blue. Now I know that I really was suffering from depression. At the moment, I really am feeling blue. Not to worry my friends...spirits are high, but the knitting is blue! Juliet has staged a comeback and is at the same place we left her before frogging (I'm still a little dizzy!)

I was on a real finishing kick, but last night I succumbed to the need for more variety in my life. I swatched...I know, hard to believe, but I did. First I swatched for Gretel on 7 DPNs. The yarn is uber lovely Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. My gauge looked a little off and no 8 DPNs, so I put that aside until knitting circle, when I could take some 8s for a test drive.

Not to be discouraged, I pulled out my Pear Tree 4-Ply Merino and knit another gauge swatch for the Crocodile long fingerless gloves. That was a bust, went up a needle size and voila! Cast those puppies on and started knitting while watching the CA Super Tuesday returns. I am loving these!! One of the best things about this yarn aside from the beautiful sheen and amazing softness is the slubbies that occasionally pop up and add some character.

What else put a big grin on my face? Being awarded this by Andrea, my favorite frogger...

The rules are to give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about Blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!

Here are the 10 people that make my day or inspire me:

Marissa, Sherry, Jan, Dacia, Wendy, Emily, Kate, Jennifer, Carol

And of course right back at you, Andrea!

Brunch is calling

There are few gatherings that I enjoy more than weekend brunches with friends. This afternoon Marissa, Madga and Moi hit up A Full Plate Cafe on Liberty Walk in NoLib....YUM.

So, my phone has a crush on Magda's phone; it calls her all the time. It called her phone today while we were having brunch. Last weekend when Magda couldn't have lunch with Mindy, Marissa and myself, my phone called her's 23 times and left voice mail messages that were little snippets of our luncheon conversation. Almost like being there if you listened to all the messages. Yup, there is a little stalker activity going on here.


Full Plate is so cute and the food is really delish. The real winner was the Cinnamon Bobka French Toast, OMG...so tasty.

I showed off my finished Endpaper Mitts. Don't they look fab? My only disappointment is that I took so long for me to finish them. Once I got past my past my completely irrational phobia of all things Kitchner, I was good to go. Mitt #2 was knit in a flash!

And do you see there to the right, part of Marissa's waffles with banana cream, strawberries and coconut?

Not much left when the feeding frenzy was over...just a lot of laughter. Good times, my friends, good times!

A Tragic Tale

...okay, not so tragic.

Basil is finally finished and ready for blocking. I'll post pictures when it no longer looks like there is a boob in the center. It was time for me to get back to knitting something for me, about damn time! Even though beautiful Debbie Bliss silk alpaca arrived to knit Gretel, I resisted casting on something new.

I have lovely items already on needles. First I picked up my Endpaper Mitts. They had stalled right at the Kitchner/Tubular cast-off on the first mitt. I turned on the high power magnifying lamp, pulled up the tutorial on-line, gritted my teeth and plunged in. It was a bit painful but I got through it. Then I knit and cast off the thumb. And spured on by my success I cast on for the second mitt. Yes, the Italian Tubular Cast-on, which was not so difficult this time, only four or five false starts. Now I am happily cranking my way through mitt #2.

Saddly, when I picked Juliet back up, the results were not so happy. Andrea told me to make the large, but I think I had already cast on for the XL. At knitting circle, only about 20 garter ridges in, I decided to try it on and make a decision about whether to make the longer or cropped version. Everyone agreed that it was too big...sigh. I stood with it draped around my shoulders while Andrea cranked the ball winder. Back to the start...rats....rats...rats!

Thank you, Andrea for being so gentle. What a good bud.

Kitchy Kitchy Koo

Baby super-model, Clyde, prenatally known as Flippy the Bean, graciously modeled my latest baby knits for me. I have hit yet another baby boom -- something in the water 9 mos. ago --thank heavens I was only drinking cider then!

These little hat and mitt sets are seriously the cutest and fastest baby gift around. The little hats are Lisa Myers' James Dean hat knit on 2s using Koigu mill ends. The pattern calls for Noro Kureyon. Clyde's father, Max, was the first to monkey with the gauge and come up with this adorable hat.

The only downer on the hats is the provisional cast-on and 52 stitches worth of Kitchner stitch. Yes, I just said 52 stitches. Before these baby hats my only use of the dreaded Kitchner stitch was 10-12 stitches worth on the toe of a sock. Every single time I have had to call up the tutorial and scroll through picture by picture. Now, 3 baby James Deans completed, I have mastered the Kitchner stitch...even walked away from the laptop and grafted away while watching TV.

I can tell that you are incredibly impressed. Ppphhht...I was.

The adorable little mitts are designed by my very sweet friend Emily. The pattern is posted here. These whip up in no time at all. The only thing that was not super fun about these were the laces...14 inches of i-cord on 0's. I did manage to survive and it was not too tedious.

These sets are gifts for twins Reno Jr. and Sarah Jo, and Tucker. Welcome to the world precious little ones!

Basic Sock?

Who said that stripes aren't flattering on short fat feet? This was my first ever test knit for Madelinetosh's Simple Socks. I am a very bad test knitter and just reported my results oh so very late. Sorry, Amy!!

These uber comfy socks were knit in Trekking XXL on size 1 DPNs. The socks could use a bit more negative ease. I am not sure if the fault lies with my measurements, gauge, the yarn etc. They are however really comfortable.

And they are loud, definitely the loudest pair of socks made to date. And I only possess one other skein in my stash that comes close to competing.

Any one have a suggestion for this skein of STR? I think it may be too wild for a pattern to show well. What was I thinking? Regina, you may be replaced this year as my Maryland Sheep and Wool shopping chaperone.

I'm just sayin'...

So Kool

...Koolhaas that is. My Christmas knitting is finally done and gifted. And it is only mid-January. I may be a little a head of my norm here.

Years ago I knitted a fleet of scarves for my friends as Christmas presents. Harold got a quilted flag wall hanging instead. He loved the flag, but I know he has always been wondering when I was going to knit something for him.

This year I knit the boys (Harold and Pedro) the hat du jour, Jared Flood's Koolhaas from IK's holiday edition.

This was a super quick knit, even with the pesky cable needle. I tried doing without the cable needle and have arrived at the conclusion that I am either missing something important in the tutorials, or it is just as easy to do it with the cable needle.

I knit the hats with Berrocco's Peruvia. This was my first time knitting with this yarn and I absolutely loved it. The yarn is nice and soft for a hat, not itchy and the boys said they were really toasty and comfortable. The colors were lovely too, with lots of dimension and interest. Stitch definition was also really good.

The only thing I was not completely thrilled with is that they were a bit long. I should have done 4 repeat rows instead of 5 that the men's size calls for. The boys loved their hats though and that is what matters most.

A Confession

Last Saturday, at Allison's Knit 'n Knosh, I confessed to one of my more egregious knitting offenses. In my own defense it was committed during college and that would have been in the early 80's. (I know, I know, I don't look like I could possibly be that old. You are so sweet to say so.)

This was one of the last sweaters I ever knit. And beside my gauge issues, there were techniques I now know that would have improved the sweater's technical merit. In retrospect nothing could have helped the design. It was a Vogue pattern and back then I considered any criticism of Vogue to be a heresy. I also know now not to spend a fortune and lots of time knitting an uber-trendy sweater.

The sweater was knit in an aran weight cotton. It was a very long (mid-thigh) vest with a very deep v-neck and long armholes. The main color was a hideous mustard/gold with... wait for it... wait for it... large scale intarsia tropical fruit on it. Yup, I knit a vest with a half a ruby-red grapefruit on my left boob and a banana cradling the right boob. A lemon, a lime and an orange segment rounded out the fruit salad. And I thought I was the shit in this thing!

Of course to finish the outfit, there was a white Petite Bateau t-shirt, white leggings and thrifted hot pink alligator low heeled pumps. Alison asked me if there was a belt involved...there wasn't...my grandmother always taught me a proper lady gets totally dressed and takes one thing off. It should have been the sweater vest. Atleast my hair was not huge, thank heavens for some shreds of good taste.

Oh, I wish I had a picture for you...I should have had Marissa sketch it for me...but I know that you all have vivid enough imaginations to make up for this short coming.

Catching up on Christmas

I wanted to share with my friends a little of the Christmas tree at my parents. Our tree is of the highly eclectic variety. My mother was quoted as saying this year, "There is always room on the tree for 10 or 12 more (ornaments)..."

The felt Lucy...one of the first indications of the crafty greatness yet to come in my future. The whole Peanuts gang is on there, in various stages of coming unglued. I think there will have to be a serious Elmers glue intervention in the near future. I love that Muffy and my childhood art projects still take center stage on the tree.

Below Lucy is Mother Jones in a Santa hat holding a tree. We have three of those on our tree- got to have Mother Jones!

These vintage paper mache ornaments are part of my earliest Christmas memories. They are signed De Sela. I have seen other ornaments by this artist on eBay, but none as cute as the ones we have. When it comes time to divy up the Christmas ornaments there could be war, thank heavens some of them are doubles. This little doodlebug is my favorite!

Maybe I'll let Muffy have this little grasshopper?

Angels and snowmen are multiples, so we each get one!

There is this sweet little worm munching on watermelon and another little worm chomping on a juicy pear.

A real struggle may occur over the little orange angel. My mom thinks she is ugly and has been trying to get rid of her; Muffy and I adore her. The only reason she still makes an appearance each year is because Muffy and I dig her out and plunk her down in the middle of mom's angel collection on the piano. I will try to be generous and share.

It is hard though...my mom and dad bought those ornaments when I was a baby. It is really one of the few times I differentiate between my family and hers. For 14 years these ornaments were my childhood and mine alone. But they have been on the tree for her whole life too, so...she can have a snowman and a little angel and we'll see where we go from there.

Here's mom, aka Jeannie, showing off her Pomatumus socks knit from the lovely sock yarn from Yarn Pirate. Fortunately the fit is perfect, cause I'd hate to knit them again!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas...that all your knitted gifts were met with delight...that Santa brought lots of knitting paraphenalia...and stockings were stuffed with cashmere not coal!

Cheers to us all having a happy, healthy new year!!!