Knitting Bee

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Pasha part one

I have not been spending nearly as much time knitting as I would like to. I've been working on my zine (the New Jersey Zinefest is April 10th!) and reading voraciously (hello, 3 books in as many days!) and then there's the fact that the only project I've got on the needles (because I'm a liar and have not cast on for my second Wildfoote sock) is worsted weight acrylic knit on size 5 needles. My hands hurt every time I work on Pasha, but I have made a lot of headway in the past day or so.

It actually looks like a penguin, almost! I couldn't find my yellow yarn (& the yellow is too bright anyway) so I triple stranded some orange yarn that has no label. I like the way it looks. I decided to step it up on the Pasha because my best friend had her baby girl very early Tuesday morning! And if I like the way this Pasha turns out, I will gift it to that lovely little angel baby (whom I have already seen photos of, but have not visited in person, so as to give the brand new mother the rest I did not get while in the hospital).

So yay & hooray! And it also looks like I'll be hitting up Stitch & Bitch tomorrow, it's been too long.

Posted at 11:58 pm by Sarah Bee
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Sunday, March 27, 2005

not enough time!

Happy Easter! This morning I worked (from 8-12) so I missed out on seeing JP with his basket & searching for eggs with his Aunt. Apparently squirrels attacked a handful of eggs (they broke right through the plastic shells of a few, stealing the candy within & also just outright stole a couple of eggs), but what do you expect when the damn things get invited to eat in the yard all the time (my grandmother feeds the furry-tailed rats out of her hand)?

My family has abandoned JP, Mike & me, and we aren't doing very much in their absence. JP is napping right now and Mike & I have spent some time reading in the warm outdoors. I bought some new things last night, but haven't started reading them yet because I am a one-thing-at-a-time kind of girl. I bought:

The Yarn Harlot's new book! It's so tiny & cute & I was so excited when I saw them sitting on the shelf with all of the other knitting books! I didn't see them at first, actually, & wasn't sure I was looking in the right place and just as I was about to go ask at the desk, I saw them on the bottom shelf. Yay! I'm so excited to read it, but I must resist. I'm almost finished reading Wasteland so I should be able to get started reading it later tonight.

The Spring/Summer issues of Vogue Knitting & Family Circle Easy Knitting. I cannot resist a knitting magazine. I will eat them up so quickly. I really need to subscribe to a bunch of magazines, but I want to wait until we move out (my mother has put the house up for sale & soon my tiny family will move into our own real apartment & out of this faux apartment).

I haven't worked on much knitting lately, it's terrible! But I've been working on the new issue of my zine in anticipation of the New Jersey Zinefest April 10, so that eats up most of the spare time that JP doesn't. I really need to start making it to Stitch & Bitch again, because then I'll at least get a few dedicated hours of knitting in per week.

Posted at 02:41 pm by Sarah Bee
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Wednesday, March 23, 2005

finished sock & secret pal!

I finished the wildfoote sock on Monday! It took quite a while because I'm not used to the tiny needles & also because I haven't had as much time to knit as I would like. I didn't make it to S&B last Thursday, either, so I had no dedicated knitting time. I am casting on for its mate tonight (I do not want to face the single sock curse!

It was so sunny and beautiful and warm yesterday, so I took the sock outside when JP & I were playing. It felt like spring & the sock was happy, but today was cold & rainy/sleety/snowy. Will this winter never end?

I also got a lovely surprise in the mail this week! Another package from my Secret Pal! She sent a pretty card & my favorite lip stuff ever (Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm) & a little jar of hand cream that smells good & makes my skin feel very soft (Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme). And then, wrapped in cute sheep tissue paper, there were two skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky in a really nice deep yellow/orange color called Sunburst Gold. I think I might use it to make a big felted bag for my knitting projects (the bag I sewed for myself by-hand a few years ago is falling apart at the seams).

Thank you so much, Secret Pal! I love everything & it just brightened my whole day up to see a package from you in my mailbox.

Posted at 09:02 pm by Sarah Bee
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Thursday, March 17, 2005

afghan yarn?

Not much to post on the knitting front. I've passed the gusset on the sock and am working slowly towards the toe. It's hard to get more than ten minutes at a time to work on it, so I'm hoping that I can get to Sitch & Bitch tomorrow night & spend hours just knitting & talking.

I do have a question, though. My grandmother offered to crochet an afghan for me (a throw for the couch or someplace) and I offered to buy the yarn for two reasons: 1) she buys almost everything at Michaels and I do not want a squeaky afghan that isn't warm at all, I want something nice & warm & soft & cozy that I will want to keep & use & love. 2) she just crocheted an afghan for my sister out of yarn NOT from Michaels (because the color selection sucked) and she put $50 into it which I know she cannot afford. So I'm buying the yarn which will be good because I don't have to feel bad about not wanting a 100% acrylic throw no matter how nice the color is. ANYWAY, I had a point!

What's a good yarn to use for this sort of thing? Not too expensive, but soft & with a decent color selection? I don't mind the nicer acrylic blends. I'm thinking superwash wool would be a better idea than non-superwash, but I don't have a ton of experience with this sort of thing... any tips would be great.

If all goes well & I get to S&B tomorrow, expect a finished sock by the weekend!

Posted at 12:05 am by Sarah Bee
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Sunday, March 13, 2005

Over a week!

I can't believe I went over a week without posting. I haven't had much in the way of progress to post. Thursday night I went to my first-ever Stitch & Bitch meeting. I really enjoyed myself & loved meeting new people. It's hard for me to get out during the week, but I'm really going to make an effort to do so from now on. While at S&B, I knit the heel flap for the sock. I'm making slow but steady progress on the sock. I'm working on the gusset right now:

I love the pattern that the yarn is making!

My grandmother is predominantly a crocheter. She used to knit when she was younger (& so did her mother & sister) but she says crochet is easier & quicker (she can really churn out the afghans!). Tonight I mentioned to her that I had dropped a stitch on my sock & used a 5mm crochet hook to pick it up because that's all I had. She brought out one of her many craft bins (full of hooks & needles & other notions) and dug out some old steel hooks she had. She told me to take as many as I needed, but I only took one: it's labled "1" and is made by Susan Bates.

She kept digging through her box, showing me all sorts of needles & hooks, and then she foisted a whole bunch on me (some of which I'd been admiring):

-a mismatched set of six US 4 DPNs
-an old knit-check
-an awesome metal ruler that works on the same principle that the snap-bracelets of the early 90s used.
-a single plastic 10" US 10 DPN
-10" plastic US 2 straights
-10" aluminum US 2, 3, & 4 straights
-a set of four US 2 DPNs that are marked 25 cents!

I love 10" needles so I'm pretty excited about those (I also didn't have any needles in those sizes, so yay!). I also didn't have DPNs in size 2 or 4, so those should be useful. I love the vintage feel I get off them and I love that they have been passed to my grandmother from her mother & sister & other women. I love that I'm following tradition in my family the way my mother & aunts haven't. I hope it makes my grandmother happy to know that the hobbies will continue in our family.

Posted at 09:45 pm by Sarah Bee
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Saturday, March 05, 2005

all fried up & ready to go!

This evening I went to the fabric store & bought a lovely pink zipper (dark old rose) and then tonight I sewed it into my fry-up bag. They didn't have any 15 cm zips, so I bought an 18cm zip (7") and cut it a bit. I wish I hadn't cut it because it would have fit in the opening (I did a half-assed measure) and that extra little bit would have made the opening a bit nicer. I like it anyway, though.

I'm not very adept at sewing & I've never done a zipper before, but it turned out OK & I'm happy with it. I've already stuffed it full of my "necessary objects" (wallet, cell phone, chapstick, hair ties, and tiny box-o-pills) and it's all ready to go to work with me tomorrow (and face ridicule just like my kitty-ear & newsboy hats did).

I think it's funny & if it gets a few not-mean laughs, I will be pleased.

Pattern: Fry-up
Yarn used: Wool-Ease (double-stranded) & various acrylic/wool remnants
Date started: February 21, 2005 (well, that's the date I did more than cast on, so it's the un-official official date)
Date finished: March 5, 2005

And from the comments:

My wonderful Secret Pal asked: Can you wash it after you knit it and does any of the dye run? Or fade? Well it's 100% wool (not superwash), so you have to wash it with care, but yes it's washable. It works great for felting projects (I made a horrible, useless felted bag with some Kool-Aid dyed yarn a while back) and the colors stay bright & vivid & don't run at all. You just have to make sure that you rinse the yarn well when you're finished dying it, but the color stays in (just like it stays on human hair... I had a very bad experience with near-boiling Kool-Aid & my scalp in high school).

Posted at 11:44 pm by Sarah Bee
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kool-aid dyeing!

I've been chugging away at my sock. It's been slow because I haven't had much free time to knit this week. I added a handle to my fry-up bag, but it's still missing a zipper so no photos till it's complete (I'm going to look for a zipper tomorrow after work).

Grumperina and Kelly both asked about my Kool-Aid dyeing, so I figured I would document it a bit.

I'm by no means an expert at this (I've done it maybe a half-dozen times), but the lovely thing about dyeing this way is that you can experiment & have fun with it. I bought a bunch of Lion Brand Fisherman Wool at least a year ago at Michael's. It was on clearance for $5 and I couldn't resist (and I still remember how when the cashier rung up my four skeins for less than $25 she commented "expensive sweater" which I found completely absurd).

To start with, I unwind the yarn from the skein to a hank. I use the back of Mike's desk chair because I don't have a swift. It's tedious & hurts my arm, but it makes a decent skein.

I tied it up in a few spots with some acrylic yarn (so it won't dye & disappear on me) to keep it from tangling & keep it all together. After it's hanked up, I place it in a glass pyrex dish & soak it in a water/vinegar mix (a few glugs of vinegar & the rest water) for approximately ten minutes, then drain the excess off.

I mixed up my dye. I use plasic cups and one packet at a time. I just use straight vinegar to mix it with because it seems to help the yarn take they dye more quickly/hold it better. I apply the dye with a turkey baster for more "precision".

After applying my first (lightest) color where I want it, I nuke it for four minutes.

Then I let it rest for a few minutes. Now's when I usually read or knit for a while. Because I use such a small dye/liquid ratio, the color soaks up quickly. I dump out the used vinegar (it's clear again!) and rinse the yarn in water the same temperature as it. I drain off the excess water & apply my second (medium) color.

Then I nuke it for four more minutes, let it rest, & rinse again. Then I apply the final (darkest) color.

Again with the nuke/rest/rinse and then I mix up a doubly-concentrated version of my lightest color & go over spots I missed. Then I nuke/rest/rinse it again and hang it up to dry.

I just did this hank tonight. I'm not sure what I'm going to knit with it, but I love how the colors blended together. I used: Wild Watermelon Kiwi for my green, Slammin Strawberry Kiwi for my pink, and Raspberry Reaction for my blue.

Posted at 01:51 am by Sarah Bee
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Tuesday, March 01, 2005

I love socks!

This weekend was very busy. I got my income tax refund direct deposit & spent some money buying things that I've been really wanting. I got a wonderful 19" LCD monitor that I am loving so much. I also bought a few DVDs (Napoleon Dynamite, Here Come the ABCs, and Degrassi: The Next Generation first season box set), a CD (They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs), and a book (Hip Knits). I haven't bought any yarn yet because I don't need any just yet... I haven't got any projects planned that I don't already have yarn for and for once I don't want to just buy yarn for the sake of having it.

I did get started on a sock this weekend. I'm using the Wildfoote yarn my Secret Pal sent me and size US 1 DPNs. Everything is teeny & it's a bit hard on my wrists, but I love how they are turning out!

I also bought a ridiculous amount of Kool-Aid and a gallon of vinegar so that I can finally dye some of my stash Fisherman's Wool I picked up for $5 a skein last year.

I've been watching back-to-back episodes of Degrassi & knitting away on my sock. Both things are completely addictive!

Posted at 10:39 pm by Sarah Bee
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Thursday, February 24, 2005

Secret Pal package!

Oooh! I'm so excited & happy! I grabbed the mail today and amongst a pile of bills & junk mail, there was a package addressed to me! I love getting packages and this one had me smiling from the moment I read the return address:

I showed my little sister & her friend (they didn't quite get it) and then I opened it up. Inside I saw this:

Gorgeous sock yarn! Brown Sheep Company's Wildfoote in Ragtime. And a really cool postcard with wasps on it. Want a closer look at that yarn?

The photo is a bit bright (the cloudy sky didn't provide enough light so I had to use the flash), but the colors are gorgeous & definitely have an autumnal feel. On the back of the postcard I got a lovely note from my Secret Pal and two cards of this:

Bee buttons! I have to figure out the perfect use for them. I love everything and now this snowy evening is going to be a lot more fun! Thank you so much!

On another note, memes:

I've seen this one going around and nobody passed it to me, but I like it and I want to do it anyway (dork much?):

1. How much space is left on your TiVo or Comcast box? I don't have TiVo. I download the majority of my tv anyway.

2. Have you ever bought a DVD of a TV series and, if so, which one? I adore TV DVD box sets! Adore! I've got: Alias seasons 1 & 2, Buffy seasons 1-7, Dawson's Creek season 4, Dead Like Me season 1, Freaks & Geeks complete series set, Gilmore Girls seasons 1 & 2, Kindred: The Embraced complete series set, My So-Called Life complete series set, Popular season 1, Punky Brewster season 1, and Quantum Leap seasons 1 & 2. There are many more that I want to get, but I can't afford them right now.

Even though I download my shows, I buy them on DVD, too. Buffy I had seasons 5-7 on my computer, but I bought the DVDs in a snap. I have all of the Gilmore Girls on my computer and most of Quantum Leap, too. I haven't bought any in a while (we're trying to save up for a new apartment) but I know that once I get my Refund check, some of that money will go for TV DVDs & yarnyarnyarn!

3. What was the last TV show you watched before reading this message? I watched Alias last night & felt all of the Sark love.

4. List five TV shows you won't miss: I miss most of my shows (until recently I didn't know when half of them were on) but I still watch every single episode. I download like mad, but only the stuff I love (and no movies!). The top five are: Alias, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, The O.C., and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

5. Name three people -- pass the stick. It didn't get passed to me, so I don't feel right passing it on. Do it if you want to, it's fun!

Bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C / Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Posted at 05:28 pm by Sarah Bee
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almost finished!

I feel so productive! Last night I finished the second side to the fry-up bag and then today I knit up some egg and bacon. I attached them to the bag & sewed it together. I was undecided about lining the bag, but when I couldn't find my sewing needle, I decided against it for now.

I need to go to the store & get a zipper soon (oh how I wish I hadn't forgotten about it on Saturday) and I also need to figure out what sort of handle/strap I want. Does it feel like a handbag or a purse? Do I want two handles, one handle, or a long strap? Decisions, decisions!

Posted at 01:57 am by Sarah Bee
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