Secret Knitting Project

Dear Bébé,

As I write this, you have not joined our happy family yet.

I do not know if you are a boy or a girl.
I do not know your name.
I do not know if you have red hair with blue eyes
or
brown hair with green eyes.

But I do know that you, like your Mom and Dad, will be a
loyal Giants fan.


Heartfelt congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law on the arrival of their son last Tuesday. They successfully kept the gender a secret, which made it slightly difficult to plan a knitting project in advance. One thing was certain, though: this kid would have baseball and ice hockey in its DNA.


I wanted to make a plush toy for them, and found this seal pattern on etsy. I had some orange yarn (which my sister had actually sent over xmas to encourage me to crochet a goldfish...) which seemed fitting for the Giants' mascot, Lou Seal.








I think it came out quite well, especially for a first attempt (I loathe frogging...)


Next, I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran to knit the Classic Cashmere Sweater from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, my go-to pattern for baby sweaters. Stockinette gets boring fast, though, so I designed a 'SF' logo for the front:





The finishing touch was a pair of Garter Stitch Booties from the same book.





The photos don't do the yarn - or dare I say, the creations? - justice, but the real star is my nephew. I've seen him on iChat but I can't wait to meet the little man in July.


Big kiss to everyone in California! xo

The Mamasita Sweater

I haven't done much knitting lately but my Amazing Talented Wonderful Mamasita (Mamasita, for short) spent the better part of the past year working on this sweater for me.




















I watched her knit it during countless iChats. I heard stories about knitting and frogging and re-knitting. My sister modeled it for size. They both told me how incredibly soft and luscious the yarn felt (they were right). In the end, she brought it to New York - mostly pieced together but waiting for the last adjustments.


'Are the sleeves the right length?' - Yes, they're perfect!

'What about the collar?' - Just a bit higher and tighter. There, that's the spot.

'Snaps! We need snaps.' We took the family on a mad dash through the garment district to find snaps.

'How about the buttons? I bought three - is one enough?' One looks fine to me.

'Gah! A dropped stitch! It's all going to unravel! How did I let that happen?' - It's fine. We can weave it back in.


She gallantly stayed up past midnight every night sewing in the ends and attaching the snaps while the rest of us fell asleep around her in the hotel, so that I could bring it back to London as a finished product.





It is so overwhelming beautifully - perfectly - unique that I will always wear it with pride. It's the next best thing to having Mamasita hugging me all day. And that's worth more than I can say.


Love you, Mamasita. Thank you so much for my sweater!


Details: The yarn is Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran in Dark Teal. The pattern is an amended version of Debbie Bliss' Silver Belle in Vogue Knitting's 25th Anniversary Issue (Fall 2007).

knitchicks looking out for each other

I was in Wimbledon yesterday, and was quite distressed to see that Books Etc is closing. Wandering around the sale racks, S spotted Knitchicks and started teasing (or should I say ribbing?) me about my lack of knitting activity.





No matter how much I knit lately, though (cough *not much!* cough), I had to buy it. I think there is an unwritten rule where:


a) if you know the author, and

b) the book is marked down, and

c) the store is closing, then


you have a responsibility to make sure that it doesn't get marked down even further and eventually (gasp!) get chucked out with all the remaining Dan Browns.


So acechick, this one's for you. I know I should have bought it earlier, but now it has a nice home and a rescue story. Maybe it will even inspire me to pick up my much-neglected needles again.

new year's knitting

i didn't knit much in 2008. i hit a wall in 2007 with the wasabi jumper, and aside from a few presents for friends (including some that didn't make it to the blog), i haven't really touched my needles in ages.


i have had at least one project in the back of my mind since xmas 2006 when we went to iceland, though. i found some lovely, warm icelandic wool in reykjavik and brought back about 10 balls to share with some knitting buddies.


my sister used her ball of blue wool to make some mittens.



a's mittens, snapped on her iphone


she emailed the pattern in october and i finally started making mine on thursday night using red and green wool.





the pattern recommended knitting the ribbed cuffs on size 6 needles, and moving up to size 8's for the hands. i pulled out the beautiful metal needles my mom sent for my birthday last year. i decided to start on some smaller bamboo needles (5's), then move up to the 8's from mamasita.





the knitters among you may know what's coming: the bamboo 5's were really 5.0mm / size 8 - same as the smaller needles from mom - but i didn't realize my mistake until it was time to switch to bigger needles for the hands. at this point, i couldn't be bothered to rip back the ribbing and start again. so i made the mittens on 8's and 10's (5.0mm and 6.0mm).



photo by s


they're lovely ... but huge! more like oven mitts, really. at this point i'm considering felting them. i think they're actually quite good candidates for felting, but i'm nervous about screwing them up. i need to do some more research before i bite the bullet and try felting for the first time.



photo by s


if you would like to share your felting experiences or wisdom, i'd be most grateful.


next part: using the last ball of wool (grey) to make a matching scarf.


i'm glad to have one more tangible souvenir from our iceland trip. i feel bad for their current economic woes (not to mention ours!). i really loved it there and would like to go back someday.

lavender in lavender

lavender sachet in jaeger baby merino dk "hula hoop"


about two months ago, i gave c some lavender with the promise that i would make her a sachet to keep it in. i have been wanting to make lavender sachets for a while now. the only pattern i have for one is in erika knight's simple knits for cherished babies and involves 100+ stitches on tiny needles (1 mm, i think). it's pretty, but nooo way.


the easiest thing would have been to modify the pattern on bigger needles with bigger yarn, but as long as i was changing things, i decided i didn't want to settle for stockinette, either.


so instead, i made a variation of the deservedly popular fetching pattern by cheryl niamath, which i made last year for myself. i started in the round with 12 sts; increased to 24 sts; then increased again to 48 sts. the main pattern is a 4x2 rib, with cables throughout. i added a row of small buttonholes/eyelets, through which i threaded a crocheted drawstring. i cast off with a picot edge.


all in all, i'm happy with the general idea, but i should have made it a bit wider (maybe 56 or 64 sts). it's an easy knit, however, and i foresee more in the future.


on the subject of gifts, i spent four solid hours shopping on oxford street today. most of this is not for me!

presenting the penguin

"i liked penguins before they were popular"
- my friend, m





last year for her birthday, i made jewelry, and i'm proud to say that she still wears and loves it. how could i possibly follow last year's triumph?


enter the penguin!





it took about one month of lunch breaks and stolen moments on weekends and tube rides to make the free pattern on knitty, plus accessories. naturally.


the penguin, who has been named ofelia (for pan's labyrinth, not hamlet) has two mix-and-match accessory combinations.


in the top photo, ofelia is wearing her yellow garter stitch scarf and stockinette mittens (i especially like the mittens - can you imagine a real penguin wearing wool on its wings?)


in the lower photo, she is sporting a striped black-and-white scarf, sewn together with a penguin button (it slides over her head for easier access.) her totebag is in moss stitch with a crocheted strap. it also has a penguin button on it. practical and fashionable, just like m.


she also has lovely, sparkly eyes and a soft tummy. must say, i was impressed with the pattern - she actually stands on her own. i hadn't expected that.


rumor has it that ofelia will soon be the penguin to add as your friend on myspace. stay tuned for details!


happy birthday, m! remember me in february, ha ha :)

ready for the weekend

i try not to bring work home with me, but apparently i was in such a rush to leave the office on friday afternoon that i forgot to take off my neon yellow safety vest before clocking out.

d'oh.

it happens to everyone at some point or another. at least i came straight home with my vest underneath my raincoat, revealing my forgetful indiscretion to exactly no one (until now). the boss' wife once famously wore her vest over to a friend's house, and spent several hours sipping tea and chatting before she noticed that she still had hers on. when she asked her friend why she hadn't said anything, the friend replied that she thought it was part of her outfit. ouch!

anyhow, i suppose i really needed the break this weekend. i have been quite busy at work the past few weeks. i attempted to fix the wasabi jumper last weekend but ultimately knitted a few rows, realized i had made another mistake, ripped back, tried again, made the same mistake again, and ripped it back again. i will try again later when my head is a bit clearer.

for now, i'm enjoying the sun streaming through the windows and music playing on s's ipod. ah, domestic life...!

have a good weekend. i'll post again soon.

xo, b

wasabi jumper conundrum

oh dear. i was afraid of this. do you see that ridge where i moved from knitting the body in the round, to separating the front and back and knitting each part straight?

here's my dilemma: i doubt if it can be fixed or avoided in the first place. so do i continue and resign myself to the fact that there will be a distinct line across my bodice and back, or do i rip it back and start over (how?)

and i believe that the sleeves are done the same way: start in the round and then finish straight. how weird will that look???

or am i the only person who will ever notice it - besides all those other eagle-eyed handknitters out there?

i really love this jumper so far and want to see it through to the end, so i can wear it with pride and tell people, "yes, i made it myself. isn't it lovely?" but will i always have that twinge of disappointment that it was going so well until i hit that critical point?

any and all advice welcome! please!

the wasabi jumper

this is my new project which i have renamed the wasabi jumper. * **



i realize these are crummy photos, but i assure you that the finished garment will be gorgeous. how could it not be when it's made of kidsilk haze and scottish tweed?!



i am knitting in the round, which means that i committed myself to an entire sweater in stockinette - but worse yet, i don't even get to purl every other row! on the plus side, however, it is super easy to pick up and put down again since i am still at the stage where i don't have to think beyond, "K [K] K until body measures 14 inches from turning ridge." i still have a good 10 inches or so before my brain needs to start working in conjunction with my fingers.


* wasabi: japanese horseradish, often colored bright green. it forms a significant part of my work, believe it or not. since i am knitting the bulk of this jumper during my lunch breaks, wasabi seemed appropriate in more ways than one.

** jumper: britishism for sweater. i'm planning an entire blog soon about the differences in names for clothing items in the US/UK. stay tuned!

non-knitting knitting projects

i started knitting a few years ago when my friends started having babies. my mom taught me how to knit, and i taught my sister in turn. this little hat was one of my first projects. of course, by the time i gave it to the kid for his 1st birthday, it fit his newborn brother better than it fit him...

when i moved to london, i lived in student halls, in a tiny room that resembled a swedish prison cell. it was far too dismal to think about sitting on my single bed and knitting in solitude. i hadn't bothered to join any knitting groups in the san francisco bay area because i had my own built-in knit buddies, but it seemed possible that there were other knitters in london if only i could find them. thank goodness for google! a simple search for "london knitting" revealed knitchicks and i became part of the foyles group.

the foyles group meets on tuesday mornings from 10 AM to 12 PM, in ray's jazz cafe on the 1st floor of london's famous foyles bookshop, on charing cross road. the group is diverse, international, and frequented by moms, students and people with flexible work hours. there is usually some show-and-tell (knitting magazines, japanese craft books), and a huge variety in the projects that people work on. it's not limited to knitting; some people crochet, a few women embroider. most of us bring projects that are easy enough to work on while chatting and sipping organic chai tea - the more complicated lace projects stay home, but the socks and baby jumpers come to foyles.

it's great to see who comes each week. sometimes it takes several weeks before you see the same person twice. new people come and go. about the only constant is the gender: for some reason, the foyles group is decidedly female.

this week i sat next to c, a knitter i have seen at foyles for ages but rarely talked to. she told me that she is working on a project looking at women's social groups, and asked if i had some free time to be interviewed. answering her questions about knitting with the group and blogging about knitting made me think about it more academically than usual. my sister is also doing a project about knitting for her MBA. it seems that knitting is a hot topic these days!

i am not as hard-core as some knitters. i don't knit everyday. i have a tiny stash of yarn and unfinished projects. i give away much of what i knit as presents. i don't attend every knit event; i don't read every knit magazine. i do other crafty things. but i enjoy knitting, especially in public. knitting with the foyles group has connected me to a lovely group of women across london, and blogging/reading other blogs has connected me to a creative group of people around the world.

not bad for two sticks and a ball of string, huh?!

here are links to some of the other foyles members' blogs... enjoy!

acechick

yarnstorm

purl pirate

purlyqueen

twelve22

she's crafty

remember a few weeks ago when i decided to teach myself how to knit on double-pointed needles and knit cables?

well, i have been more or less successful.



the pattern, called fetching, is a fingerless mitten designed for those cold days when you need access to your fingers, but want to keep your hands from freezing off.

a few lessons learned:

a) yes, yes, i know... tension swatches are always a good idea, but i didn't make one. i could give you all kinds of excuses:
what's the point when i'm knitting a tube instead of a four-inch square?...
mittens don't really have to fit *that* well...
it's hard to knit a tension swatch on DPNs and i didn't have the same size straight needles...
but the long and short of it is, i simply didn't bother with a tension swatch.

b) tension swatches are particularly important when substituting a different weight yarn. i can't say i didn't know ahead of time.

c) cables are not that hard, but it is harder to make them on DPNs.

d) DPNs are every bit as slippery and unwieldy as people say they are. especially metal ones!

e) i need to add more rows to compensate for the fact that i'm using lighter weight yarn. you can't see it in the pictures, but the mitten only barely fits.



so for now, this is my training mitten. i will make the real pair next. but i am thinking of using two circular needles instead. circ's aren't my favorites for straightforward knitting, but i can definitely see their value for projects like this.

in other crafty news, i was inspired by whipup to make some button jewelry for m's birthday. i used ideas from here and here to make two rings, a bracelet, a necklace and some earrings.



the purple looks more blue in this picture, but the colors actually match m's purple and green glasses pretty well.

i am pleased to report that m likes them very much, and has posted some pictures on her blog. check them out!

(k)new knitting

two of my friends had babies this spring, and i recently completed a baby sweater for each of them. i call it the london jumper.


e's baby boy got one in brown and green camouflage colors to inspire him to be an eco-conscious forest ranger when he grows up. i also made him a mini london jumper for a tiny friend.

jumper for baby drake




k's baby got the same one in a yellow and aqua colorway which has rapidly become one of my favorite yarns ever. he got a matching hat - although i fear that the sweater will be too big while the hat is too small. oh well.

jumper for baby kohei




so after months of boring stockinette stitch, i decided it was time to take the next step with my knitting: double-pointed needles.





aw, heck. why stop there? add a fifth DPN and make cables!



unless arthritis or repetitive stress syndrome kick in, i will conquer this fetching pattern


and since i am so in love with the jaeger baby merino dk, (and since my currently pregnant friends refuse to find out if they are having baby girls who merit me making more london jumpers), i am going to use fun pink yarn for myself this time.




ooh, project!

today's bargain: three blog entries in one

e and i went to see the documentary film ballets russes last night. the filmmakers have cleverly woven together archival footage, photo stills (many bought on ebay, apparently), and recent interviews to tell the story of rivals, lovers, success, failure, greed, power, war, racism, fans, dreams, and dance. it is less a day-in-the-life-of-a-ballerina story than a chronicle of the management decisions that took the company all over the world. as such, none of the principal dancers outshines the rest, but we did have a soft spot for the energetic nonagenarian, freddie franklin. go see the film; it is well worth it.

***

coming home on a crowded northern line tube after the movie, i staged my own quiet revolution: knitting while listening to prokofiev's romeo and juliet on my ipod. i find it somehow subversive to be so high-tech and low-tech at the same time. plus, it amuses me that people still find it so ...wrong?... to knit in public - on a tube, no less! - but i assure you that it is both (a) a practical, productive use of time and (b) a tactic to ward off the motion sickness i get by doing predictable things like reading on moving trains. and no one glares at me if i don't give up my seat, either.

***

in other news, my personalized google home page has informed me that yesterday's word of the day was aubade, a song or poem greeting the dawn. i am not a morning person (which is one of the things that s and i have in common), but i love this word and the idea of a song to greet the dawn. the closest i ever get to performing an aubade of my own is quoting bart simpson: "good morning, world!" but most of the time, it comes out more like, "nnnggggghhhhhhhrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzz....."

welcome, spring!

monday blues

i am more of a green person than a blue one. my blog is green.* my eyes are hazel green. green features heavily in my wardrobe. my politics lean toward the green side. and in the "what muppet are you?" quiz, i predictably come out as kermit the frog. it's not easy being green.

however, in a moment of jane-inspired color/colour appreciation, i noticed that today's palette is blue.



i made myself a large cup of green & black's organic fairtrade cocoa to accompany david vogel's the market for virtue: the potential and limits of corporate social responsibility.

but as interesting as the book is, i'd really rather be knitting.



my mother reluctantly gave me this yarn after she decided that it would be too itchy for her to wear. it is fiesta la boheme in caribbean (the la boheme collection comes in two strands, rayon boucle and brushed kid mohair, that are knitted together.) i am making a scarf in a simple lace ladder pattern and i am very pleased with it so far. i am planning to sew on a beaded fringe to help give it some weight and extra sparkle.

not pictured, but carrying on the blue theme, is the blue sweater i am wearing today, one of those beloved articles of clothing that has traveled far and wide with me for over ten years. chances are, it will still be with me ten years from now.

in other news, thanks to acechick for her comments on the entry below. euro, not euros. mingus, not menzies. see? i'm learning...!

---

*my blog was green. i just changed the template. what do you think?