On the knitting front

Well, I'm feeling better. This cold was much milder than my last one (which kept me sick for a whole month!), and I'm back to my busy, busy self. The glimpse I gave you in my last post inspired some curiosity about my current project, and I want to fill in a few of the details.


It's the Swallowtail Shawl, designed by Evelyn Clark, from Interweave Knits (Fall 2006). Honestly, I'm almost done. It took a bit over two weeks to knit (I started it as soon as I finished Peter's scarf and will finish binding off at knitting group this afternoon), but don't hold your breath for FO pictures because I don't know when I'll have a chance to block the finished shawl.

I followed the pattern as it's written, except for the yarn. This is what I used:


That's a picture of the yarn I got for holiday gifts this winter, and the one in the middle is the Paris color way of Handmaiden Yarn's Seasilk (bought online, here). I've really enjoyed using it. When I began I was worried that all the color changes would be too busy for the lace pattern, but I overcame that concern as the project developed. The yarn is smooth and luminous. It smells faintly like the ocean or a bit of nori. I'm seriously looking forward to making something with the second skein (on the left in the picture) but haven't yet decided what it will become.

As for other fronts, Dan and I realized yesterday that we will be moving in exactly two months... crazy...

A glimpse

I am sick again! And this is really quite unfortunate timing because I'm way too busy right now. I need to write. I need to read. I need to teach. I need to comprehend what people say and offer articulate responses. Instead, I'm a very sad example of a graduate student.

Oh well, at least my knitting is pretty.

Peter's scarf

I made a scarf for Peter, one of the professors I work with, and it turned out even better than I thought it would.

Of all the people I know, Peter talks the most about death and mortality. Perhaps it's because he's Hungarian. Perhaps it's because he was a Jewish boy in Budapest during Nazi occupation. Perhaps it's just how he is. Here is an example of our conversations last spring (we had many little talks like this one):

Peter: Do you think I will make it through lecture today?

Me: Of course! Why not?

Peter: Well, you never know. I may open my mouth and the words may be gone.

Me: I'm sure you'll be fine.

Peter: Do you think that this problem with my voice is cancer?

Me: Your doctor said it's nodes on your vocal cords. How are you feeling otherwise?

Peter: Fine. But, we all must die. I think it's cancer.

He was right. Shortly after his diagnosis I asked Peter if he would like a scarf, but he didn't want me to knit him something until his health was better. I listened to Peter's request that I wait until he "survived" and put his scarf on a list of projects for later.


After treatment during the summer and a leave of absence in fall, Peter taught again in winter, and I was his TA again. He's recovered quite well, and I decided that his 70th birthday this month would be a good occasion to give him a scarf. He seemed very happy when I presented his gift, and was happy to model for my blog. He said, "Amanda, if I can lecture in front of 300 students, why would I worry about my picture on the internet?"


Scarf Details:

The scarf itself is made from Cascade 220. I cast on about 320 stitches and just knit, knit, knit away in the symmetrical stripe pattern.

As a design element I incorporated the "wrong side" of the garter at color changes on both sides of the scarf. Thus, it doesn't have a "wrong side."

Also, it was important to me to have both edges as similar as possible. So, I used "EZ's Sewn Bind-Off" (Elizabeth Zimmerman was a knitting genius!) to make the cast-off edge less obvious, and it worked like a charm. Several experienced knitters haven't been able to tell which edge was my cast-on and which was my cast-off!

The fringe was made by cutting the yarn and reattaching it at the end of each row, creating an instant fringe and eliminating the need to hide ends. I originally planned on trimming the ends to make a more even fringe, but several friends told me that they really liked the uneven look. So, I left it as it was.

I'm really happy with the finished scarf and will definitely use this technique again!

Small things can make a big difference

I finished another scarf (the one I was working on during my grading). Holly and I decided that the left over yarn makes the PERFECT fashion accessory. What to you think?


A FO picture will come soon.

In other knitting news, the yarn I got for my grandma's scarf is in time-out. (I'm sorry, Grandma. I love you, and I want to make you a scarf, but the yarn isn't behaving.) I have begun a new project for her that should please, but its identity shall remain a mystery for now...

Lastly, my dad uploaded some pictures of my family to Flickr so that I can see how tall and old my brothers look. They are significantly younger than me (I'm 27, and they're 12 and 14), and I haven't seen them for one-and-a-half years! I can't get over these pictures (here's my favorite, and this one from last summer is also really great). So, in order that they don't forget what I look like, here's a picture of me wearing my Clapotis as a shawl:


Back to work!

Applause with a French Accent and My Vacation

Well, school is back in session, and I have a variety of interesting but challenging tasks facing me this quarter. I am making some progress with my writing—which makes me feel good but also reminds me how much time I must dedicate in order to accomplish small steps—and I'm looking forward to the class I'm TAing and the readings course I'm taking. But, before I dive headlong into another pile of books, I need to show you something. My Clapotis:


This pattern, available for free on Knitty, is super popular in the knitting world, and the reasons are simple: it's fun and the results look good. I found this yarn on clearance last fall and, despite the fact that I wasn't planning on knitting a Clapotis, as soon as I saw it I knew what I would use it for. Now, if you read this blog regularly, you may be wondering when I knit this, because it barely made an appearance until today. To be honest, I think I did most of the knitting in December, and maybe January, right after I bought the yarn. I even gave you a glimpse when my fall grades were due.


I found that the knitting went quickly because the pattern has built in goals/rewards: "Oh, I can't stop now. I'm almost to the next row where I drop stitches!" But, silly knitter that I am, I was really slow with the finishing because I was worried the scarf/shawl was too long. So, I stuffed it in my knitting box and forgot about it until a couple weeks ago when I fished it out again, hid the ends, and suddenly had an *instantaneously* finished Clapotis.


My lovely model for these pictures is Karen. She and her son, Derek, came to visit me for two days over spring break. We had such a wonderful time playing at the beach, wandering through lovely natural settings, seeing sea lions and butterflies, eating tacos and tamales, and talking. Plus, I took tons of pictures, many of which I uploaded to my Flickr site, even creating a special set of pictures from their visit. (Karen has a wonderful blog about raising her son at Go, Bebe, Go! But, I don't think she's updated it for a few weeks.)


Their visit was very refreshing! Now I'm ready to get down to work. QE prep, here I come!

A girl with a hat

The hat fits!


And she looks so cute in it!

I want to send another thanks to Tim for the great pictures of Katie in the Kitty Hat. He sent them so quickly that they sat in my email in-box without attention for several days until I completed my grading and allowed myself a brief return to my online pleasures. I think they were worth waiting for.

After the grading was done, done, done I spent two days (well, maybe three) behaving as one on vacation before returning to my qualifying exam preparations. I will QE this spring. It must happen, and it will happen. (Must. Write. Faster.) Please send me good writing vibrations.

Also, please contemplate this second picture of Katie as she contemplates a sheep. The circle between animal, yarn, and Kitty Hat makes me happy.

Quick!

I'm just offering a quickie today, so that you know I haven't fallen off the edge of a cliff or something.

What I've been doing for the past three days:


I'm on the downhill slope of grading finals; plus, I have a new project. It's a horizontal garter rib scarf, and it's been great for the end of quarter stress.

Coming soon: Two FOs and a very cute picture of my niece wearing the kitty hat I knit for her.

Kitty hat

Oh my goodness, I actually finished something! (Please do note the festive cabbage modeling the hat. I found a double use for part of our St. Patrick's Day dinner.)


This little pink kitty hat is based on the Kittyville hat from Stitch N' Bitch. I sized down the original pattern, from adult to toddler, and left off the ear flaps. I don't remember the name of the yarn, off hand, but it's super soft and has tiny yellow and blue flecks spattered in the pink—very spring.

This hat is, of course, for my adorable little niece, who's been busy growing since we saw her last summer. I do hope that it fits her. She long ago outgrew the sweater and tam that I made for her. Although I had fun taking pictures of my cabbage wearing the hat, I do believe it will look much cuter on little Katie.


(Thanks to Tim for the great picture of Katie!)

A week, some notes

Spring burst all over the place this week, with blue skies and warm sunshine. Not much to say, otherwise, but I thought I should check-in since it's been a while since my last post. Here are some of the things happening this week:

• It's the last week of classes for the winter quarter at my university. For me, this point in the quarter is accompanied by a faint sense of relief overshadowed by panic as I scramble to find closure for my work.

• On Monday I went bowling, and I got four strikes! This is a lot for me. Overall, I didn't end up with my highest score ever, but that is definitely the most strikes I've gotten in an evening.

• I am still knitting my sock. In the comments on my last post, scarybez asked what pattern I am using. I kind of made the pattern up by myself. I originally thought I would make Thuja, from Knitty, but the gauge I liked with the yarn was too small for that pattern. So I turned to Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules! so that I could create my own pattern based on the basic sock recipe she describes. There is a pattern going down the sides that my stitch dictionary calls "mock ribbing."

• On Thursday I will show the first draft of my dissertation prospectus to one of my advisors. I'm rather nervous and afraid that I didn't do it quite correctly, but I'll never know until I get feedback. Wish me luck!

Back to work...

Riding the sock train through sick land

I'm terribly sick of being sick! Enough, I say! We are gaining on the two week mark, and, I ask you, isn't that long enough? Why do my ears still throb? Why does my throat still ache? Has my head permanently converted into a mucus producing machine? Why do I still feel like the most productive thing I will do today is take a nap? Arrrrgg!!! I have no time for this!

Thank you for your patience with my whining. I will now show you a sock.


Despite fabulous plans for my sweet grandma's scarf and a cat hat for my little niece, all I've managed in the past two weeks is to keep going on my socks. The marvelous Erin, who kindly entertains me while I'm a disgusting sick person and feeds me homemade chicken soup, modeled the first sock so I could take some pictures. At knitting group on Saturday I officially passed the half way mark on the second sock by picking up the gusset stitches off my heel flap. The heel is turned, and, I must admit, it was almost beyond me in my current state. Luckily, clearer heads were with me.

I know you can't see the sock very well, but I love this action shot of Erin and my sock. Doesn't she look like she's having fun? Did I mention that she feeds me chicken soup, and hot tea too?

Where I am

I took this picture while I was walking on campus yesterday:



I think I need to place myself more firmly in my surrounds so that I can be more aware of where I am and what I am doing. For example, last week I was in a bookstore and read the first page of Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close because Tweak, with passion in her eyes, said it's amazing. And, she's right. I started laughing loudly in the bookstore. But I can't do that right now. I have to work. So, at that moment, I decided that when I move back to Olympia this summer I will start a book club and that will be the first book we read. The thought made me happy, but now the idea keeps coming to me while I am supposed to be writing my dissertation proposal. I need to get THAT done here, now, before...

I am here, now, to prepare for my QE. I need to focus on that.

As far as my productivity is concerned, I have been making a valiant effort to stick by my resolution, despite a rather tenacious cold. My dear readers, your advice was fabulous. I think I should ask you smart people for input more often, and anybody who didn't read the comments on my last post should do it immediately, particularly if you are a graduate student with a wandering eye.

Do your dreams for the future distract you from your purpose for the day?

Oh, since this is a knitting blog, I should also note that I went to Stitches West last Saturday with some very good company. There were knitters and yarn as far as my sickly eyes could see. I made a very exciting purchase, which I will have to discuss with you another time, and forgot to take pictures. Ops! Back to that paying attention to where I am thing...

Rainbows and resolutions

Dan and I are both sick--sore throats, stuffy sinuses, pressure in our ears, and postnasal drip. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I stayed home from class this morning, and later we followed the rainbow to Longs Drugs to stock up on throat lozenges and tissues with lotion.


Can you see the rainbow?

We also had a long discussion about productivity, procrastination, and focus (or lack there of). So, in the spirit of my newer, better, more productive mentality, I might not be blogging much for a while. Or, when I do blog, I might just include a picture with a few words, like this entry.

Do you have any advice on effective time use? I think I need it.

A day for pinks

What should be in a post-Valentines edition of a knitting blog? Songs of love? Yarn to make one swoon? A discussion of romance? A critique of the commercialization of love? Chocolate? (I really do recommend reading Yarn Harlot's entry from yesterday.)


I'm afraid my level of sophistication is not quite that high right now. Instead, I will simply share some observations about color that this knotty historian made during yesterday's day of love. I'm not a big pink fan. I don't think I own a single pink item of clothing. Yet, as I was contemplating the Valentines Day color scheme I realized that the yarn I obtained for my niece's hat and my grandma's scarf is all pink. So, fate demands a little photo with both pink yarns and some other pink and red things that I bought yesterday to celebrate yummy colors.

How else did I celebrate? Dan and I ate some very sexy fruit salad for diner. That was the follow up to the very romantic midterm review session that I led in the morning. I know, I know--the extravagance of it all is quite overwhelming.

A little of this, a little of that

My knit-blogging of late has been a bit lax: an entire week has sped past since my last post, and that entry didn't feature any knitting. Tut, tut. I hope to redeem myself by presenting a brief overview of my recent projects.

Project 1: Square-Along

This is an older picture. (You can tell it's old because it includes two of the scarves, all bundled up with postcards, that I mailed to Eastern Europe. They've been gone a while, and I am giddy with anticipation that I might soon hear from my far away friends.)


Here you can see my first square for Larissa's "Square-Along." Although I initially hesitated, I'm really glad that I participated in this knit-along. It's another project, like my Socks 101, for Larissa's upcoming book (written with her husband) featuring knit-alongs. The "Square-Along" gimmick was that all the participants knit 7 X 7 in. squares following Larissa's recipe and using sock-weight yarn. Then the squares were all sent to Portland so that Larissa can sew together the sample for her book. Any extra squares will be included in a blanket/blankets for charity. I sent two squares (the second is pictured below). I was simply thrilled when I saw Larissa's picture on Flickr where I can identify my squares amidst a bunch of other people's. Yay!


Project 2: Sock it to me!

I am making another sock.


This has been a nice portable project, and, hopefully, the resulting sock will fit and I will be happy enough to finish a mate for it. The pattern is kind of out of my head and based on Yarn Harlot's sock recipe in Knitting Rules! (which was a rollicking good read). You can see that I've made a decent amount of progress since the picture revealing my sock's humble beginnings. I am currently only a couple of inches away from the toe decreases. Can you stand the excitement?

I am beginning to understand why some people collect gratuitous amounts of sock yarn. This is fun, and look at all the purdy colors...


Other Projects: Hopes and dreams for my knitting future

Knitting and fanaticizing about future knitting go together. The next two projects on the docket are both for sweetie pies in my family: a scarf for my Grandma Tennie and a cat hat for my little niece. I now have yarn for both and have started devising patterns based on altering other people's patterns. I don't yet have pictures because I don't like the results of my experimentation thus far. But knitting group is this afternoon, and I may take another run at my grandma's scarf (in my fantasy it's covered with lovely rambling reversible cables). We will see.

Oh, and please don't ask about the fishes. They are in timeout.

Thoughts on my most significant WIP

On Thursday Dan and I visited the Carmel Mission. We spent about two hours wandering the grounds, taking pictures, examining displays, and contemplating paintings, statues, and the basilica. The trip made me think about history, aesthetics, and the renovation and commemoration of historical objects. I became preoccupied with thoughts about those who recreated the mission, who rebuilt the structures and setup the little museum displays. What is the social significance of their act of commemoration?

My dissertation topic came more into focus this week, and I made contact with the organization I will, most likely, be researching. Will my work also be an act of renovation and reconstruction?

I suppose, inevitably, it must be.

Three scarves for far away friends

I spent last July studying Yiddish at Tel Aviv University (you can find lots of pictures and details here through here). It was a rigorous academic program full of opportunities for rich cultural and intellectual experiences. Happily, the students were heavily international, and I was able to acquaint myself with smart people from different countries who shared their perspectives and stories with me. We studied, explored, sang, ate, complained about the heat, swam in the sea, talked about loved ones, worried about the war, shopped, walked to class, helped each other translate, danced, laughed, and formed a little community together. I became particularly close to Agi (from Budapest), Bartek and Adam (both from Poland). I hope that some day I can visit my friends in Eastern Europe and/or perhaps they can visit me, but I'm not sure when the time will come. In the interim, I don't want them to think I have forgotten our time together, so I made three scarves destined for Eastern Europe.

The specs:

Yarn: Malabrigo, one skein for each scarf (I can't rave enough about how soft and nice this 100% merino wool is to work with.)

Needles: 10.5, Knit Picks Options

Pattern: I think the stitch pattern is called "herringbone," but I'm not sure. You can find the instructions at "My So Called Scarf." In my version I cast on 28 stitches and knit till I was out of yarn. You can see close-up of my stitches on Agi's scarf here.

I have no idea how long it will take for my little packages to make their way across two continents and an ocean. Hopefully, they will arrive soon to warm the hearts and necks of my friends in Eastern Europe.

Blue sky, open door, new beginning

This hasn't been an easy week. Although the sky is blue, the days are cold and nights are colder. The apartment feels empty and lonely, but the sensation gets a little less strange everyday. My back's been hurting because I slipped and fell down the stairs on Wednesday while I was rushing to answer the phone (stupid telemarketer), and I haven't quite been feeling like myself. At the same time, I seem to be suspended in some strange academic limbo where time passes but I never feel closer to my goal. Something has to change.

I didn't knit for most of the week, but on Friday knitting made an appearance when Dan and I were trapped in our apartment all day with the door open. The property management has been trying to "clean up" our apartment complex (which is sometimes a good thing) and part of this process is repainting all the buildings. Why they choose November through January for this project, we'll never know, but Friday was the day they painted all the front doors on our building. We got a note about a week in advance explaining that we would have to leave the door open for about 6 hours (it turned out to be more like 7) while the painters applied two coats and left sufficient drying time after each. Friday happens to be the only day when neither Dan or I work, so we were both free to guard our apartment while the door was open all day. We cooked. We watched movies. We got cold. So we wore knits.


Dan took this picture to document the experience. You can see the open door in the background, me all bundled up, and Dan demonstrating the softness of the scarf I made for him. To be honest, I wear it more than he does because he says that it doesn't get cold enough here in CA for him to need a scarf. Friday was the exception.

At the end of the day we had a pretty, brick red door. The sad part is, after all of that trouble, the door got a big scratch out of the paint by the next morning. I'm afraid I accidentally brushed my bag against the paint that night when I was coming home from an evening visit to the coffee shop. The paint was dry to the touch but apparently not yet hardened. Oh well. I'll call the office Monday morning to see if they can do a touch up.

Yesterday at knitting group I finally finished the last scarf in my trio of scarves destined for Eastern Europe. I originally thought I would have sent those by now, but life doesn't always go the way you expect.

It's time for a new project, a new start.

Our little love

Niko Niko Fincannon

July 1997 – January 14, 2007

Niko, our lovely cat, went by many names. She was our Neek-Neek, our kitty-cow, our fuzzball. Although she was a cat, she also resembled many other animals, and we called her by those names too: little lion, little monkey, little lemur, little bird. We liked to say that she was made of pure Neekonium and if she was a race horse her name would have been Lenin's Beard. She is our little love.

SOCKS 101

School started, and I began Socks 101. I am pleased to report that I (finally) finished my first pair of socks. I relayed my sordid sock knitting past during Socktoberfest when I tried to revive a flagging sock project, but my efforts didn't result in a finished pair of socks. No, I needed a good old lesson in Socks 101—a basic and quick pattern to help me prove to myself that warm handmade socks are within my power.


As I explained before, I made these socks as part of a knit along/test along for a book. The pattern used one skein of Manos del Uruguay, and the size of the yarn and needles makes the project go fairly quickly. After you're done knitting, you "full" the socks by getting them damp and running them in a dryer for a few minutes. Above you can see the socks before their twirl in the drier, and below you can see them flying about at the Laundromat.


My friend Kelly kindly let me take pictures of her wearing my new socks. (I love this picture with her tattoo.) You can see more pictures of these socks and other test-knitters' SOCKS 101 at a Flickr site here.


I think I will name these my "Happy Blue Socks." Doesn't Kelly look happy wearing them? I must say, I'm happy in them.

Reading + Knitting = My Life

Wow, I can't believe it's already been a week since my last post!


I've been very busy working—tidying up loose ends from last quarter, beginning my new quarter as a Teaching Assistant, and reading, reading, reading—but I'm also almost done with my three scarves destined for Eastern Europe. I only have a few inches left on the last one (pictured), and then I have a few ends to hide. I'm not sure if I need to block these, so I will probably skip that step because I don't want to wait a year for them to dry (it's currently rather cold and humid in my apartment).

I'm also participating in a knit along, or rather a "test along," for SOCKS 101. It's kind of exciting because Larissa (you can see her blog at Stitch Marker) is writing a book, and this knit along is testing one of her patterns. All of the finished test socks are available for viewing at a special Flickr site. I will post mine either tonight or tomorrow. Isn't that exciting?

Time to get back to the books! I'll probably have a FO post by this weekend.