Joey and I have opposite work schedules and lately he’s been traveling a lot so when the rare half-day together opens up, we try to take full advantage of it. Today we went to brunch and just walked around the city hand in hand, enjoying the sights.
Category Archives: Antics
Summer Projects
Ah summer… the time of year when we relax a little bit and have some fun. I’ve definitely felt the need for some fun lately so I decided to try a few new things this summer to break myself out of a rut.
One recent Saturday morning, I woke up with visions of knitting under a big umbrella on a beach while salty waves washed ashore. An appropriately beachy yarn in a light seafoam color was just beckoning to be made into a hard-wearing beach bag. A few hours of Ravelry-perusing later, I decided on the Medano Beach pattern. I coupled in some Debbie Bliss cotton DK in cool grey to give it those fun stripes that are just so popular right now.
Following this inspirational wave to try new things, I wanted something that would be a bit of a challenge and keep me entertained. I also discovered that I’m really enjoying working with the thin Hempathy yarn, so I started thinking of light, airy shawls in laceweight yarn, which is something I’ve never worked with before. I fell in love with Brooklyn Tweed’s Rock Island Shawl, which is spectacularly lovely and word on the Ravelry forums is that it’s not exactly beginner’s lace. I picked up some lovely Anzula laceweight in the Seascape colorway and cast on for this just the other night. I haven’t gotten very far, but I think its going to be great.
An Apple a Day
I can’t think of a better way to spend a cold windy Sunday afternoon than baking and knitting.
I made apple crisp last weekend and it was very very good. The granny smiths made it just a little tart, so I’m making another batch this weekend using gala apples.
For a full hour while it bakes, the air is warm and scented with a delicious cinnamon smell. Its a perfect time to sit and knit.
And after that, you get to enjoy a wonderful warm treat.
Man-finity Cowl
A few weeks ago when it was a blustery 20-something degrees out, Joey started layering up to take Henry out for a walk and he happened to borrow my Infinity Cowl. I asked him if he would wear one if I knit him his own, and he said he would. When someone practically begs you to knit them something, how can you resist?
I made this one slightly wider than the original by provisionally casting on 44 stitches. I knit in the round until the entire thing measured 56 inches in length and then grafted the ends together. I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes bulky on size US 15 DPNs.
The result is warm and cozy. Just what he asked for.
Yarny Dreams
I love a new yarn cake and all of the potential that it holds.
This one will be a great infinity scarf for Joey. By request.
Curse Breaker
Knitting a hat with so many things that could have easily gone wrong has seemed to break the bad luck curse of late.
What could have gone wrong, you ask?
First off, its a lace-like pattern, which (for me) makes it very likely that something will go wrong. And tinking back to fix a mistake in lace makes it even more likely that I’ll mess something else up. AND I didn’t even bother with a lifeline.
And then there’s the cursed yarn I was using (see previous post for that whole story). It’s superwash, so that meant that even though it took five tiny balls to knit up this hat, I couldn’t spit-splice the ends. And of course, starting a new strand of yarn in a lace pattern can be tricky as well. But I lucked out and was able to start all the new strands on the “rest” rows of the pattern.
Then there was the fact that I chose to go down a needle size from what the pattern suggested without swatching. (Tempting the fates!) And of course, the hat was coming out very small. So small, that I was pretty sure I would need to give it to my eight year old niece if I ever wanted the hat to be worn. But then I followed the pattern’s suggestion to block it over a dinner plate to really open up the lace pattern. And lo and behold, an adult sized hat resulted.
Curse officially broken. Now if I could just find my darning needle to weave in the ends! (Uh oh. Hope that’s not the curse coming back to bite me in the ass!)
Pattern: Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre of knittingschooldropout.com
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in Baltic
When it rains….
Sometimes things go wrong in your knitting. Sometimes they go so wrong that you have to put down what you’re working on and just knit something quick and pretty to restore your faith in knitting. After the ill-fitting cardigan debacle I needed just that so I decided I would knit a cute beret using a stunning skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage merino in baltic that has been calling my name lately. Considering my recent knitting catastrophe, I should have known that the knitting gods had it in for me.
I carefully loaded the unwound hank onto my umbrella swift and snipped the knot to free the two loose ends. Now, if there is a science to choosing the right end to wind from, obviously my hypothesis was WRONG. Almost instantly, I could tell that the end I chose was coming from the underside of the hank, so I removed it from the ball winder and tucked it in on the underside of the hank. I then grabbed the other end, which was obviously on the outermost portion of the hank and began to wind.
But then it ended up that this new end was also somehow pulling from the underside of the hank, and my hank kind of flipped over on the swift. Not wanting to create a tangled mess (oh, the foreshadowing!), I took the hank off the swift and laid it on the table next to the ball winder and decided to wind it without using the swift. This was apparently an even worse decision.
Like a car crash- instantaneously and without fully understanding how it all went down- I ended up with the most tangled skein of yarn I have seen in a good long while. I don’t have a lot of patience for tangled messes of yarn, especially when I’m really just trying to restore my faith in knitting– I mean, a tangled mess of yarn is the last thing you need when you’re in my state— but this skein was too beautiful (and costly) to just toss in the bin.
So the past two nights, I have spent my free time untangling yarn. Yep. Two whole nights of knots and tangles, and having to cut this 200 yard skein into smaller balls just so I could make some sense of the jumbled mess.
I present to you my handiwork:
Eight 25-yard (give or take) balls of yarn. Clearly, my luck hasn’t turned just yet. Perhaps I should just climb back into bed and pull the covers over my head. And then maybe I’ll cast on tomorrow.
New Finds
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on this blog, but the building I live in used to be a factory building that housed at least two knitwear manufacturers. Right now there is construction on one of the lower floors to convert old factory space into loft apartments. The other day I walked past a bin filled with construction debris from one of these floors- and something caught my eye:
An old Brother Knitting Machine! And I also discovered:
A Singer Model 604 sewing machine, which I think was manufactured in the 1960s.
Both machines are missing parts- the sewing machine is missing its power cord, which would be fairly easy to replace, but it may have other issues. The knitting machine is missing the piece that sits on top and passes back and forth, running the yarn over the hooks.
I’m not sure what I’ll do with these- they might even end up back in the construction bin if it seems like too big of a task to get them working again…. but for now its fun having them around to look at and think about all the knitting that used to go on in this building!
And speaking of knitting within these walls… Back when I was knitting the decreases for the v-neck on my cardigan while also doing the raglan shoulder decreases, I was worried that I was decreasing all of my stitches on the front sides of the sweater away, so I decided to eliminate the last four v-neck decreases. This left about six stitches on each of the fronts. Now that I’ve gotten the button/neck band knitted on, I see my error– those extra stitches ruin the smooth v-neck to back collar transition. See what I mean?
I realize it’s not terrible, and that’s why I kept knitting when I first realized the mistake- because I thought it was something I could live with. But now that I’m only inches away from being done I know I need to go back because it will bother me too much. So I’m about to start ripping back- ripping back the button band and the top few inches of the sweater. I’m not upset about it though– I wasn’t ready to be finished knitting this cardigan anyways!
Life As of Late
Fall is in the air in NYC today- crisp weather that just begs for a hand-knit cardigan. Unfortunately, my cardigan has been languishing around looking like this for over two weeks now:
I knew that my needles weren’t long enough to pick up stitches all the way up one side, across the back neckline, and back down the other side. So I put it aside and considered my options. I considered buying the little metal connector piece that KnitPicks sells to combine two cables and create a long cable, but then I didn’t want to pay shipping for something that only costs $1.99. Of course, I could always buy some more yarn…. but I am really trying to not buy yarn unless I have a specific project in mind. I considered dropping by a couple of yarn shops to pick up a long circular needle, but again, talked myself out of buying another pair of needles that I don’t really need. So I started picking up stitches one night just to see how crowded it would get. Well, you can see where I stopped. The cardigan has since lay dormant while I await my KnitPicks order (yes, I finally decided that the connector was still the least expensive way to go.)
In the mean time, this fall weather still has me itching to knit things. I made another Ripley hat, this time in black for Joey:
And speaking of Joey, he’s been out on tour since the end of August, playing guitar for Midlake. He’s having a wonderful time and playing some beautiful music. They played in NYC last week and I was so proud of my talented husband.
- Joey, in center, standing
In other fun husband-music-related news, his primary project, The Fieros just recently signed a deal with a Japanese record label and their album is now being sold in stores in Japan and on Amazon Japan.
He still has a lot more touring to do- they’re in North Carolina now, heading down through Tennessee and will play the Austin City Limits festival next weekend. He’ll be back in NYC for a week (which happens to be our anniversary week!) and then he’ll head out again for another three weeks in the UK. He’s going to get to go to some amazing places that I can’t even imagine getting to see- London, Paris, Dublin, Holland, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Turkey… its just completely unimaginable.
Back to the knitting…. I’ve also started a Wurstwarmer for Henry. I’m having to size this one up since Henry isn’t a tiny dachshund, but I think this one will come out pretty cute. I’m using a heathered charcoal color of Peace Fleece. I think it will be classy and sophisticated. Cause we all know Henry is one sophisticated hound.
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 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!
Love Is All You Knit 