I'm still alive!

...but just barely.

This whole "being a scientist" thing kills me sometimes.
Current things I'm freaking out about/ to-do list:

1. Resubmit 2 papers
2. Plan a wedding

Wait, that's not enough? Wrong. It is. But for kicks I'm also finishing the super secret wedding present (bonus if I send it to them before they get back from the honeymoon.) At least J and J's wedding was a sweet respite from the lunacy- see above.

Knitting snub

So I made this. I packed it up all nice and pretty.

It was for the Fella's friends' little creature. I even wrote a card. And yet, I received nary a thank you or even a "this will make a great rag for toilet cleaning." I'll just pretend having a newborn is difficult.

Super secret knitting project: commence.

Photo by my sister.*

After a horrible yarn disaster that left me with about 3 pounds of mottled blue yarn (more to come on that debacle), I've decided that I just have to try and get something knitted up in time for J and J's impending wedding.

Book available here.

I've decided on a pattern from my go-to book, "Leisure Arts Big Book of Quick Knit Afghans." Despite every effort to make the projects look terrible by photographing them on a rainy day in a cottage in 1975 (bonus points: several feature a cat and/or reading glasses and/or cups of tea), this book has so far served me well. It provided patterns for my sister's Christmas gift a few years ago (seen at the top) and C and S's wedding blanket two summers ago. And most importantly, as promised, they really are quick knits. All are knit on size 15 or 17 needles, so each stitch literally goes a long way.

I think I've chosen the pattern called, "Exquisite." I won't show it to you in the off-chance that J or J even knows I once updated a blog periodically... Anyway, it looks like I can easily dismantle the pattern into four packable strips. I know, I know, you're thinking, "why would you introduce seams and therefore SEAMING when you don't absolutely have to? You are crazy." But I can justify 3 seams if it makes me more able to knit on the plane to Europe. (did I mention I'm going to Europe?) The only other modification I'm anticipating is lenghthening it since J and J are stupid tall.

*underneath that delicately draped blanket is my sister's friend hiding in a bush to make the blanket drape delicately. Isn't my sister the best?

Giving thanks.

Thanksgiving is all about memories. Memories of my knit corn and turkey leg. Memories of this.

Oh the bounty!

Camera found = Yulie pics

I've been bouncing off the walls since I finished my amazing Yulie beret. And while I'm not complaining, the 60 degree weather that kept me from wearing it is over. So without further delay...

Seriously, how great is this?

This is the right side.

And the "wrong" side.

Yayay Yulie!

Wedding knits: no brainer...

(From Martha Stewart Weddings)

I mentioned I was looking for unique but not overpowering ways to incorporate knitting and handmade things into the wedding. And each day I'm lucky enough to get Martha Stewart's wedding craft of the day. So add this to the list! I could knit this up faster than it's taking to write this... Also, I don't plan to have a ring pillow. Nonetheless, thanks Martha.

Holy Yulie, Batman!

(from Grumperina!)

I can't find my camera so I can't adequately share with you the amazingness that is Yulie. But I am SO excited that I just can't wait another second. Really.

Yulie is a near-perfect beret pattern that I came across whilst browsing Grumperina's freebies. Reasons I love this pattern:
1. It requires very little yarn. At less than 1 skein of each color, I could use one of my "special" yarns for the contrasting color (Noro Kureyon, to be exact. As an aside, I dare you to tell me these colors don't make you swoon).
2. It is a lace pattern, so a little more fun to knit than other patterns, but easy enough to memorize.
3. The stripes are knit in a spiral, so to speak. This way there are no jogs in the color and it looks super seamless (well, because it IS seamless).
4. The pattern is amenable to adding more or less slouch.

(from Noro)

I knit this over the weekend. That includes finishing, realizing it was too small (because I can't be bothered to swatch), un-knit the crown, re-knit the plain rounds (see #4 above), and refinishing it. I didn't block, because I was digging the squishy look. And did I mention, I'm in love with it?!?!

I promise, as the camera resurfaces, you can see my sweet hat.

Still too early for Christmas?

What is the epitome of nerdy granola craftiness? I'll tell you. It's buying futures in a sheep.

Yep. I saw this article on community supported fiber today on Design*Sponge and totally wanted in. For an up front fee, you can get a share of local sheep farm's shearing. Who doesn't love this kind of smug philanthropy? WITH YARN!

Hats!

As I traveled to lovely NYC last weekend, I anticipated some cool fall weather (btw, I was right). At the last minute, I packed two favorite hats, my Odessa and a slouchy hat.

(this is the first version I knit as a gift, but I like the way L shows of the sweet swirl action)

The Odessa was a pattern published in the now-defunct MagKnits, by the delightful Grumperina. The pattern was well-written and really fun to knit with the traveling stitches. It called for a slightly above-budget Rowan cashmere-wool blend. But it only needs one ball so I gave in and I'm glad. It's soft and lovely. It's thin but warm.

(this is not me either, as far as I know this is the designer, SloMoeKnits)

The slouchy hat was knit on a whim, before I realized slouchy hats would be in style for the following 4 years... This was knit in a more budget-friendly yarn, to the tune of $3.00 and change. I actually think I like it more now than when I first knit it. It's a good go-to.

What I love most: each was knit sometime around 2007. And they still rock. Each is soft/stretchy enough to not pinch my ears with glasses on (am I the only one who has this happen?) And both were knit in neutral enough colors (dark teal, "mushroom") that they go with most anything. Hat win.

First fall knit

Apparently, I inspired myself. After I showed the Destroyed Cowl a few days ago, I started to really want one. So whilst at the airport Friday, (and on and off since then) I've been working on my own cowl. It doesn't look like much yet, but I have high hopes for this. I think I want to dye it too, after I was so happy with how this wool took color.

Wedding knits: Part II

I don't want to go over the top with knitted nick knacks at the wedding. I also don't want to drive myself insane to finish a bunch of labor-intensive projects that I can never finish. But I DO want to have something knitted to add a little touch of me and my interests. Enter bouquet wrap, stage left:

(Source unknown, some wedding magazine. Sorry!)

Seriously, how cute is this? It's barely noticeable, but really personal. It could be understated, like hear in the cream, but it could be more of a statement by contrasting with the flowers.

From a practical standpoint, it's a rectangle. This one looks like it was cut from a larger knitted piece and appears unfinished at the edges. But I couldn't stand for that.

Knitting this in the round would require fitting it to the bouquet, and thus knowing how big it would be. Too much work.

I imagine this look would be easiest to achieve by having fake buttons and using velcro. The buttons could be a way to further personalize if I got my hands on some garment from a family member (Mom's wedding dress buttons? Buttons from any shirt of any grandparent?)

About the velcro: normally velcro would ruin the yarn, but I don't exactly think I'd ever use it again.

It's fall!

It rained today, and when I left from work, hello, it was fall. The breeze was chilly and I wanted scarves, sweaters and mittens (ok, maybe not mittens). Oh, let the fall knitting commence!

Maybe a chunky shawl collared cardigan like this (from Fall '09 Knitscene)?

Or this destroyed cowl (by Martha Merzig)?

Crabby update

Blocked crab panel.

Pretty close to my original idea.

Will make fast friends with lobster pillow?

Squee!

I was away for the weekend while my mystery knitting blocked/dried. Imagine my surprise when what started like this:

ended up looking like this:

Here it is serving its intended purpose of holding my straight needles:Knitted ombre-style plastic tub cover thingy? Success.

Inspired!

From Design*Sponge.

Between favorite blogs, Martha Stewart craft-a-day, magazines and my own wacky mind, I have started to fill my brain with wedding/life ideas. This resulted in some crafty alchemy yesterday. I'd found and flagged this idea in the early throes of wedding planning. The color, the flowers and the basketweave stitch didn't really sing to me, but the idea of a vase cozie seemed workable. The idea had sort of slipped away until I saw the below:

From the lovely, indelible Martha Stewart.

Hello, Martha, I want this. Now, I'm the first to admit that Martha's craft of the day is normally insane or complicated, but I love this. I'm kind of picturing do invites, or thank yous in a butcher paper color dipped in burgundy (actually I have the sudden urge to dip-dye everything I own).

But wait, these two pieces of inspiration have nothing in common- yet.

See, my brain wanted to combine both ideas. Immediately. So fast that I only have a couple of pictures, clearly taken after the fact.

I started with some Lion Fisherman Wool. Have I told you how much I love this? It is cheap ($4-5 with 40% off coupon at Jo-ann's) and there's enough yardage to play around with without feeling badly. This was the "Oatmeal" color, which worked because I've been on a taupe kick this week.

I knitted a swatch (hello!) but didn't block it, so no real help. But basically, I knit a plain stockinette rectangle. I knit the first and last row through the back loop (k tbl), because I used a loose cast on; the end effect gave a little twist at the bottom that I liked. From here, I knit a bigger stockinette rectangle to fit around a plastic jar that was lying around. Then I seamed it, because it seemed faster than knitting the whole thing on double pointed needles.

On to dyeing!! Also no pictures. But I was shooting for an ombre effect. I used part of one grape Kool-Aid pack in a drinking glass. I kind of roll-smushed the knitted tube into the cup for the microwaving - but guess what, a cup full of water heats up really quickly. It only took about 3 zaps of 30 seconds to get pretty darn hot! So I just left it on the counter to cool and soak up color. I added a little more color and water to get a little color higher up. I'm sort of worried this just made an ugly stripe, but we'll see.

Anyway (thanks for bearing with me) when the color seemed good, I wrung it out a bit and fitted it back over the vase. Remember how I didn't block the swatch? Well the vase cozie obviously stretched while it was wet, so was then a loose fit. My solution? As you see, I wrapped a towel around it and taped it shut. Literally. Eek!

I promise more pictures once it's dry. But for now you'll have to be satisfied with a tiny peak of burgundy.

So remember the birthday crab?

Probably not. I didn't either. But yesterday I was inspired to finish knitting it. Hooray!

To remind you: this was my makeshift pattern.

This was the finished knitted piece. But it needed blocking, like whoa. The tension in my stranded work is atrocious, and I'm hoping some blocking will go a long way. Or not. We'll see. Now plenty of people, books and websites will detail the right way to block. I'm here to say there isn't one. I frankenstein the whole process and am usually pleased with the results.

My blocking starts with a bowl of room temperature water; too cold or hot can mess with the fibers since I used 100% wool (hand-dyed biotch).

I slowly push the piece into the water, but it's gentle so no major yanks or twisting.

When I get bored, and/or it looks pretty saturated (this is harder than it sounds, wool holds a LOT of water), I oh-so-gently squeeze the excess water. But again, the fibers are vulnerable to stretching at this point.

I'm a fan of blotting in a towel.

Make a crab rollup to get more water out. Again, be gentle. I'm serious.

Then to block the shape, I pin the piece down on a towel. No fancy blocking board. No fancy pins. Just a towel and some straight pins.

Now I know from the lobster pillow, that my kind of crappy stranded knitting leads to an oddly textured fabric. So as with the lobster, I placed a second towel and some textbooks atop to even out my lazy, uneven knitting.

Next: wait a day or two (I told you, wool holds a lot of water), trim the ends up and voila! Birthday present, the sequel. (Coincidentally, her 1/2 birthday is in 2 weeks...)

Yet another go around

From here, though I think this is both unrelated and probably crochet.

This blog and I mirror many of my relationships and commitments in life. I predictably go through these stages (that I am making up right now).

Stage 1: Discovery. The OMG how did I live without this?!
Stage 2: Obsession. This is where I google like it's my job, forget to eat and stay up until 2 a.m.
Stage 3: Reality. Okay, so while this is cool, maybe it isn't the coolest thing I've ever done.
Stage 4: Inexplicable resentment.
Stage 5: Boredom/Indifference.
Possible stage 6: Rediscovery. I'll reevaluate my love/hate relationship with project X and either return to Stage 1, or begin a modified, less-scary, toned down, reasonable commitment.

This is true for:
i) most knitting projects (especially those that require more than one skein)
ii) most reality TV shows (hello, Jersey Shore, I hate you)
iii) any single aspect of my new wedding planning
iv) exercise, generally
v) the lofty goal of packing lunch and cooking dinner every day

With that all said, I'm here to give the ol' blog yet another fresh start. You should know that in addition to science and knitting, wedding planning has now crept into the forefront of my mind. So don't be mad if I want/need to talk about things that are neither science, nor knitting-related (though I already have some killer ideas of how to incorporate both of my loves into the wedding).

That's so Raglan.

From http://theyarniad.blogspot.com/

Ok, so I mentioned the Queensland Collection gray tweedy awesomeness that I got (ahem, 40%). I was really inspired to make a Mr. Rogers-geek-chic deep V-necked cardigan and had every intention of making the Mrs. Darcy cardigan. However, upon winding the yarn, I realized that as a DK, it was definitely more on the 'fingering' than 'worsted' side of the spectrum. It's a surprisingly delicate yarn for having that manly tweedy look. Anyway, there was no way I could knit Darcy on size-9 needles, and even less of a chance that I'd properly rewrite the pattern for my yarn.

Thank goodness for Google, which allowed me to successfully search for "top-down raglan formula" I was hoping to find somewhere to plug in my gauge and measurements and head off to the races- and I did! Enter: Pam Costello, from St. Paul, Minnesota who adapted and published her "Incredible Custom Fit Raglan Formula."

So the new plan: use Hilary Smith Calis' Safire (top-down raglan, deep-V cardigan) and the original Darcy as inspiration and modify stitch counts with the Formula, and then hope it turns into something wearable. (Isn't that always the hope?)

Hittin' the knittin'

Contrary to my posting frequency, I have been knitting, thinking about knitting, and sciencing. As a preview of things to come, I have recently finished a pistachio-colored shrug, a secret gift for B (featuring a return to my yarn dyeing adventures), and a wacky vest/tunic/dress that i love/hate. So expect photos soon.

This weekend I scored big time at Knitter's Mercantile, who was holding a winter sale on wools. I snatched up some Queensland Collection- enough for two sweaters- at 40% off!! Cannot wait to start on two cardigans that I have planned for this great yarn. I know a wool cardigan is inherently wintery, but whatever, I love cardigans all year round.
First on the agenda is the Mrs. Darcy cardigan in Rustic tweed in an awesome gray kettle dyed tweed. The yarn is a wool/alpaca blend so it still feels soft. I'm stoked about the completely nerdy combination of a tweed cardigan.
Next is a cardigan I've been dying to make for a long time, the Emerald Isle Cardigan by Melissa Wehrle from neoknits (I love love love her designs). I bought the issue of Knitscene at JoAnn's with a 1/2 off coupon when it was out in print for about $4.00 (pretty good for that many patterns, in hindsight). I had been planning to do navy or silvery gray to be practical, but I just couldn't commit to a yarn. I should say I couldn't commit to a yarn, until the sale at the Merc. The Queensland Collection Rustic Wool was just staring at me, in the 40% off bin, in my color- olive. Olive is a new neutral anyway, and besides, I just like it. Case closed.

Cautiously optimistic that I'm back for a springtime full of knitting!

Weekend Cardigan and FALL!

Today was the first day with bona fide fall weather in my neck of the woods. This worked out quite nicely, because I happened to start AND FINISH a cropped cardigan this weekend. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

On Friday, in a rare fit of organization, I began stacking and stuffing skeins in a hope to make the basement shelves look like a pretty yarn store display. It sort of worked, but now I'm supremely worried about dust. Anyway, I also happened to flip through Fitted Knits (by Stefanie Japel)while eating a fairly awesome dinner I made (but that's for another time). As I mentally flagged patterns, I happened to notice that the "Bold and Bulky Mini Cardigan" called for three skeins of yarn that I had just stuffed into a shelving unit. Well, clearly the only remedy was to cast on immediately.

So I did- and I was lucky enough to find myself two days later, on the first truly fallish day mind you, with a masterfully handknit cardigan! I felt it only appropriate then to model it unbuttoned and bolero-style and walk to the delightful North Market where I bought my first locally-grown apples.

It's fall, baby.

(Note: proper photos to follow. I just wanted to share! Can you blame me?)