kimidawn24

Sep 10 2010

Travels

Progress on the cardigan was put on hold shortly after joining the sleeves to the body. Not because I’ve lost interest, but because I was doing some travelling and a ginormous cardigan and sleeves on one needle is just a little too unruly for plane knitting. I had a request for a wee coffee cup insulator by my sister in law, so I knitted that on the way down to Texas.

Chicago airport, 7:30am

Finished coffee insulator modeled by the always classy Coors Light can

I spent a few days in Texas visiting my family, spending time down on my parents’ cattle ranch. I had such a blast.

the Fishin Lake

Caught some fish from the lake and stocked them in the nearby pond

Dad and Gus

Dad demonstrating his lasso skills

Joey tries the lasso

Driving into Sandybrook Ranch

Pretty Texas sunset

I also started a hat based on the Ripley pattern by Ysolda while waiting at the airport, and finished it off while I was there.

It was a cute and quick pattern and I am happy with the result. I used some (discontinued) KnitPicks cadena yarn. I think I’ll make another one in black.

I really had a nice time and it was the perfect long-weekend getaway. I also got to see Joey, who had left earlier the same week to spend some time in Texas rehearsing before heading out on a long tour. He’ll be playing guitar for Midlake, visiting 15 cities in North America and 18 cities across Europe. Its an exciting opportunity for him and I’m thrilled, but I already miss him very much.

Good thing I have lots of sweater knitting to keep me busy!

Aug 22 2010

6 Comments

cardigans, designing, knitting

Tweedy Sleeves

I always think sleeves should knit up super-quickly, but they never actually do. Maybe its because there are two of them? Or maybe its because this is about the time when the newness of the project has started to wear off and I start dreaming about what I’m going to knit next.

Ugh, look at the plastic needles I’ve been forced to work with. I know some people probably prefer plastic needles, but I really do not enjoy their squeaky-bendy-ness and the random piece of metal inside that slides around and rattles while I knit. Their tips aren’t pointy enough, and one of them has a ragged bit of excess plastic at the tip that snags my yarn. I had thought I owned a pair of bamboo dpns in size 8, but upon searching, I was left empty-handed. I stopped by Lion Brand Studio on my way home from work the next day to pick up a pair, but they only carry size 8s in plastic. I bought them anyways, knowing I didn’t want to put my knitting on hold long enough to receive an order my favorite Harmony woodens from KnitPicks. By the way- the Lion Brand Studio is a beautiful and welcoming space, and their new LB Collection of yarns? Very nice-especially that cashmere.

Where was I? Oh yes, sleeves. I hope to finish the second sleeve soon, so that I can wrangle everything together on one needle and knit the yoke of this cardigan. I’m ready for the fall weather!

Aug 08 2010

3 Comments

cardigans, designing, knitting

Tweed Cardigan Progress

I’ve reached the underam area of my cardigan. The waist shaping is complete, and I’ve just started the shaping of the v-neck.

From here, I’ll start on the sleeves, and then join everything together on one needle to knit the yoke.

I had to do some crazy math yesterday and felt pretty brain fried afterwards, but luckily, it’s working out pretty well so far.

Aug 01 2010

2 Comments

cardigans, knitting, NYC

How Things Are Shaping Up

I’m almost finished with the waist decreases and will soon start the bust increases.

I’ve been knitting this cardigan as part of a sweater knitalong with my sister in law Heather and her friend Sharon. They’re making such speedy progress that its keeping me inspired to work on this round the clock. I worked on it while grilling burgers on our rooftop today:

And now I’m going to spend the rest of my Sunday evening figuring out how to turn this thing into a v-neck.

Jul 27 2010

2 Comments

cardigans, designing, knitting

Grand Plans

A while back I mentioned that I was waiting for inspiration to strike. I decided the best way to find my inspiration was to start thinking about what exactly I want in a sweater.

First off, it has to be a cardigan. I want something that is warm and cozy and can be a great layering piece. Something long-sleeved with a v-neck and that hits mid to lower hip.

Secondly, I want something that I can wear fully buttoned. I can’t stand wearing flyaway cardigans, though I love the way they look on other people. They drive me crazy when they flap back in the wind while I’m walking. In order to get a cardigan that I can wear fully buttoned, I need to incorporate some waist shaping, seeing as there’s a moderate size difference between my upper and lower halves, and I don’t want to make it so large that it’s baggy on my top, or so small that it streeeeeetches across my lower half. If I’m gonna custom design this thing, it had better fit, right?

Speaking of custom designing your own sweater, have any of you ran across Nina’s Sweater Class on the Knit Picks Blog? I am so glad I came across this online video knitalong/tutorial because it has been extremely helpful. It is broken into sessions with video instructions as well as accompanying printable notes where you can fill in your own body measurements and it walks you step by step through calculating your gauge, measurements, increase/decrease sections, hemlines, necklines, and sleeves. Its perfect for someone who wants to learn how to make the sweater in their mind come out successfully on their needles.

Jul 25 2010

3 Comments

Books, crochet, Dogs

FO: Market Bag

I finished off the crochet market bag last night and decided to take it for a test run to the coffee shop this morning filled with just the essentials- plastic baggies for doggie doo-ty, keys, wallet, sunglasses, and a knitting book. I haven’t tested it yet with heavy grocery items like fruits and vegetables, though I know it will stretch a little more when filled with those items.

Pattern: Rust Goes Green by Jill Chatelain (slightly modified)

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton DK, four balls

4.00mm crochet hook

Overall, I think this turned out pretty well. It was a quick and fun project, perfect for the summertime and I think it resulted in a pretty cute bag.

Jul 20 2010

2 Comments

Antics, Yarn

Just Drifting Along

Turning these tumblin’ tumbleweeds

Into fabulous felted beads

Jul 14 2010

5 Comments

Books, knitting

The Kindness of Knitters

One thing that’s great about being a knitter is the online community and the wealth of friendly support out there. When I started knitting five years ago I constantly perused Craftster for tutorials, inspiration, and encouragement. That lead me to plenty of knit blogs (I subscribe to over 100 of them and read them daily!) and later, to Ravelry, where the online knitting community finally found its central rallying point. From these online sources, I have been inspired to participate in knitterly events such as Secret Pal or knitalongs, and I have “met” many wonderful knitters along the way.

Recently, Leslie of A Friend to Knit With hosted a blog contest. The prize was a copy of Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume 5 Lace Knitting. I have the first two volumes of this beautiful and detailed series, so I left a comment, knowing I wouldn’t win. I couldn’t believe my luck when I checked my daily blogroll and saw on Leslie’s blog that I had won! If you haven’t checked out Leslie’s blog, please do so. It is full of beautiful photography showcasing crafty knits, delicious-looking foods, and its a great read.

One of the knitters I’ve met online and has become a great blog friend is Kim of Hand Eye Crafts. She and I were partnered in a Secret Pal round a few years back and we’ve kept in touch ever since. Kim’s blog is a great read full of fun knits and great stories about her beautiful family. If you haven’t checked it out now is the perfect time to do so; she’s gearing up for the annual Knitter’s Hunk contest! Kim is such a genuine person with a great spirit. I happened to mention once in a comment to her that I was going through some stress (finding and moving to a new apartment) as she was going through some stress of her own. And next thing I know, there’s a sweet encouraging card in the mail!

I am very lucky, indeed.

Jul 11 2010

2 Comments

Antics, crochet

Market Flop

I finished the body of the crochet market bag I’ve been working on, but I don’t really like it as much as I thought I would. I added in a few single crochet stripes before the large single crochet border and somewhere in those stripes, I must have added stitches because the top of the bag flares out in a way that really bugs me.

I’m thinking about ripping back a few rows and just doing the solid top single crochet border without the stripe rows. I think I’ll use the bag more if I’m not concerned about all the extra flared floppiness.

In sweater design news, I’m currently contemplating exchanging some yarn I bought a while ago with a different pattern in mind. I have 14 balls of Knit Picks Swish Superwash, but they’re in two different colors. I think I want to send them back and get a non-superwash yarn for this sweater. Might be time to try out their City Tweed.

Jul 03 2010

2 Comments

crochet, Yarn

Waiting For Inspiration

Do you ever have that feeling where you want to create something great, but you just can’t seem to wrap your head around what exactly? I’ve been having that feeling the past month or so. Lately I’ve been too busy apartment-hunting, then packing/moving/unpacking to spend much time knitting. But I’ve definitely been thinking about it.

I’m sort of tossing around the idea of designing my own cardigan. And by “designing” I mean just making up a pattern for a basic wear-with-everything cardigan. Maybe something with a deep v-neck and some waist shaping. Nothing too complex for my first foray into knitting without a pattern. I’m still waiting for that “this is it moment.” Until then, I’m keeping my hands busy with a little warm weather appropriate cotton and a crochet hook.