thorny desert girl

for my little sis with the tiny feet

2010-03-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

snuggly malabrigo loafers / slippers!

pattern: malabrigo loafers by cocoknits
yarn: malabrigo worsted, 2 hanks (held doubled)
needles: 2 size 10 circs

these were fairly easy to knit, although it hurt my hands a bit to knit with malabrigo doubled on the 10s. the pattern is great and very inventive. it boggles my mind how such a complicated shape can be reconstructed in a knitting pattern. great fun to see it materialize!

i ordered the leather sole patches from fiber trends and i think they really "make" the loafers. i put them in the mail yesterday - i hope my sis likes them!

totally and completely finished!

2010-03-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

somehow, when i wasn't paying attention, a whole crop of finished knitted things appeared in my house! as my pile of current projects grows and grows, i take real satisfaction in sewing up those seams, weaving in those ends, and admiring a totally, completely, finished product. it feels so tidy and gives me a strange sense of relief. does that mean that knitting projects stress me out? maybe... i am aware of this need, deep down, to prove that i deserve to have - even NEED - all the yarn and needles books i have lying around.

i mean seriously, how could i possibly have made these without keeping all those tiny yarn ball leftovers?

pattern: oh! baby baby booties, by Judy Nemish
yarns used: mirasol hacho, araucania aysen, madelinetosh worsted
needles: size 5
cuteness level: out the roof!
these are really so adorable, if i do say so myself... ;) i can't wait to meet the baby and to slip these little squishy things onto his chubby feet!
details here (rav link)

i also made these:

pattern: squirrelly swedish mittens, by elliphantom
yarn: louet gems fingering, in green and white
needles: 1.5
cuteness factor: pretty durn cute also. i love how the squirrels have eyes and floofy tails
more details here (rav link)

and the big project....

a finished sweater!

pattern: lightweight pullover, by hannah fetig
yarn: classic elite fresco, in oatmeal
needles: size 7
not really cute, but i'm pleased with this sweater nonetheless. the yarn is wonderful, and i really like both the fit and the color. i've even warn this to work. that's huge. i wonder, though, if turtlenecks are really the most flattering for me. i think i prefer, and look better in, a more open neckline.
more pics and details here (rav link)

next up... some malabrigo loafers and a tea leaves cardigan in ultra alpaca. if only i could knit all the time...

a good saturday

2010-01-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

i'm all by myself this saturday... and i couldn't be enjoying it more! after weeks of go go go go go go and leaving town every weekend, it is so nice to wake up late to a quiet house, make coffee, slowly come to life. i usually am not a big baker, but i felt like blueberry muffins so i made some.

then i felt like starting (another) knitting project, so i wound some yarn.

then i felt like finally getting around to blocking my FINISHED(!) lightweight pullover. so i did that too.

'course i did try it on before blocking... and it fits! it fits! it fits well! here's a little sneak peek:

then i wrote a long overdue email that ended up being pages and pages of catching up and musings and ramblings. hope i don't put my friend to sleep... anyway, it feels so nice to just be in the moment, doing what seems like the best thing to do at the time...

the last 2 saturdays have been spent out of town doing fun stuff like this:

climbing at the alabama hills (yet again). don't i kind of look like a spider?

backcountry skiing in the sierras. brought along my little buddy on his first backcountry trip.

while i think i have an adventurous spirit and a restless soul and i love to be out and about and going places, i guess i have to admit that i also love a quiet day at home in my jammies with greasy hair and fresh baked muffins. who doesn't?

how awesome is this!?

2009-12-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

i was recently the lucky winner of a raffle prize from mel over at pipe dreams and purling plans! wanna see what i got??

a custom-made, just-for-me, needle roll from katrin at sew mad! i couldn't be more thrilled with the fabrics katrin chose (she knew that i loved turquoise and surprised me with these fabric combinations that i would have been hard-pressed to have chosen for myself).

my roll has 3 tiers of pockets which i will use to hold all of my circular needles. currently my needles are tangled and disorganized and messily spilling out of an under-sized canvas box. storing them in this roll will be a *huge* improvement.

and look how cute it is all rolled and tied up!

i love the pink polka-dot tie... and although you can't see this in my pictures, the craftmanship and attention to detail is astonishing. thank you mel and katrin!!

alabama hills: take 2

2009-10-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

after a weekend of fun climbing at Tahquitz, we are headed back up to the alabama hills for a few days of camping and climbing in a beautiful setting. the a-hills are perfect for mellow outdoor time. good weather (usually sunny days and cool nights), nice flat, sandy campspots tucked into rock alcoves, and ample fun, non-committing climbing with no big approaches or chance of getting lost. while it doesn't appeal to my sense of adventure, it does appeal to my desire for fireside lounging and just spending days outside. i can't wait! i just need to decide what knitting to take with me...

tahquitz

leading a fun pitch last weekend

i'm making good progress on my lightweight pullover and i think i'm going to love wearing it, so perhaps i'll take that with me...
or i could finish the lavalette i just started last week. on jillian's recommendation, i went to abuelita's, a yarn shop in south pasadena and bought some malabrigo sock. when i got home with it, however, i just didn't feel like knitting socks. so i started a triangle shawl - my first one ever!

purple malabrigo lavalette

progress on lightweight pullover - almost thru the waistshaping

happy weekends everyone!

my life in a numbered list

2009-10-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

hi! long time, no blog...

life has been an upside-down crazy whirlwind for the last few months. in a nutshell, here's what's been happening:

1. i finished my phd. incredible.

2. i started - and finished - a postdoctoral research position that was a BIG project crammed into a SHORT amount of time, so i was working like a freaking MANIAC for a while there... but it's mostly wrapped up now. just have to finish reducing the data and write the manuscript ;)

3. i co-led a field trip to the eastern sierras (my favorite place on earth, maybe) and snuck in a day of climbing at the beautiful alabama hills.

lone pine peak in center and whitney portal on the right. awesome storm that day.

the shark's fin. fun climbing in the alabama hills

4. i moved to LA. it's exciting. i miss the desert. i am still desert at heart.

recent shot of my 'best friend' shortly after a monsoon storm

5. there were going away parties galore (all of which strangely involved only me wearing costumes). i felt so warm and fuzzy and loved. i have terrific friends.

6. i'm starting a new postdoctoral position... in january! i pushed my start date back three months so that i could move, relax, write said manuscript, travel, climb, and see family. i'm 2 days into my "vacation" and i'm loving it!

7. i still knit. lots! right now i'm obsessing over the lightweight pullover. can't put it down! i've also knit up a bunch of hats, some of which i gave away before even snapping a picture, which i think is the best compliment you can give to a knitted hat! i'm still plugging away on muir and float and loving both. BUT, i am a very slooooow lace knitter.

kate gagnon osborn's herringbone hat - i DID get a pic of this one!

lumpy muir in plucky knitter laceweight merino

neck of lightweight pullover in classic elite fresco. love the yarn!

8. i'm looking for yarn shop recommendations for the LA area - any good ones?

catching up

2009-06-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

i can't believe it, but i have a number of finished projects to show you! i feel like i haven't been knitting much lately, yet i have accumulated some finished knits... how did that happen?

first up: noro silk garden socks

pattern: basic top down with a ribbed cuff and a standard slipped stitch heel flap.
yarn: noro silk garden (duh) - 1 skein
needles: size 2 (or 1.5, not sure...)
size: cast on 64 sts
result: love! colorful and surprisingly soft.
rav

next up: drops lace hat

pattern: drops slouchy lace hat
yarn: brown sheep cotton fleece, 1 skein, bright blue
needles: sizes 3 & 5
result: love! great summer hat (is that an oxymoron?)
rav

lastly: lotus leaf mittens

pattern: lotus leaf mittens by elliphantom
yarn: louet gems fingering in red and sky blue
needles: size 2
result: love! (i realize this is a love-fest). they are a little snug in the thumb, but otherwise they fit perfectly. the pattern is wonderfully written and fun to knit. i didn't do the greatest job carrying the red yarn around to the start of each round, but i don't care. when i'm wearing them, i hardly notice the sloppy stitches.
rav

whew! that was quite the back- log...

progress continues on some other projects, which i hope to post up soon. hope everyone is enjoying a fun and active summer!

p.s. eek! i almost forgot... i just spent a delightful weekend with evergreen knits and her husband camping and climbing outside of tucson. we had beautiful weather and tons of fun. if you're reading, thanks for driving down and hanging out hanna!!

climbing...

2009-05-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

... is getting in the way of my knitting.

my fingertips are so sore and damaged i can't handle needles. so sad! especially since i just started 2 new projects: coraline and a drops lace hat. i've also started float (rav link), by Melinda Hunt - such a gorgeous pattern!

MOM

2009-04-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

for all of you who have been touched by (breast) cancer... you were in my thoughts this weekend.

Endings and beginnings

2009-04-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

i've been waxing philosophical and feeling a bit nostalgic these days.. As my time as a grad student draws to a close (May 4 and i am done for good!), i'm starting to find it hard to think about letting go of my life here in the desert. my friends are so wonderful and my life is so rich and full of adventure. the mountains are out my back door and the rocks are plenty and fun to climb on (and study).

what will i do without my buddies? (i have girlfriends too, for the record :))

what will i do when i have to relocate? what happens when i can no longer ride my bike everywhere and i have to take into consideration the cold and the rain? i like T-shirts and flip flops and slow paces and the outdoors. i hate traffic and paperwork and dressing up and... i guess i'm having a temper tantrum because i equate those things with growing up and i don't want to grow up. i'm scared to not be a student any longer. student = young. being a student is like having a pass to live cheaply and simply and to be a bit brazen and irresponsible in your choices. not that i am... i've become pretty square, but it's part of my student mindset. aaaahhh, my student life is ending...

also ending is my time spent on the central park hoodie. it is done! finished! no longer a WIP!

i don't have much to say about it other than 1) i'm proud of it. i did a good job with the finishing (the side seams are totally invisible!). toot toot on my own horn. 2) i wish it were a little longer. 3) i wish it didn't make me look so square and pudgy. 3) cascade 220 is really a great value - no wonder everyone uses it. and 4) seaming really isn't that bad. i think there's a sick part of that actually like knitting in pieces and sewing them together.

needles: 8 (ribbing too)
yarn: cascade 220 (5 skeins?)
buttons: coconut buttons from Jo-Ann fabrics
time spent: not sure, but it was fast knitting
details: here

Henry was waay to cool for the photo shoot. he's, like, totally over it.

oh, and did i mention beginnings? there are some of those around here, too. for example, life with short hair! i cut it all off and i couldn't be happier. or, how 'bout some noro socks?

these are flying on US 2s and the silk garden sock is fun to knit with. in fact, i'm almost done with the second one already! i marvel and how i am even able to knit and write a dissertation at the same time (toot toot)!

Trip Report: Red Rock, NV

2009-03-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

I know this is supposed to be a knitting blog, but sometimes the knitting just isn't as exciting as other life events... bear with me though, I'm nearing a couple of FOs and will be posting them soon!

I took a mini climbing trip to Red Rock last weekend and had a blast. RR has got be one of my most favorite places to climb. It's huge, the possibilities are endless, and it offer tons of long, moderate trad climbs.

looking up the first 2 pitches of Johnny Vegas (so fun!)

Day 1: The epic. After going around in circles about what to climb, we settled on a 4-pitch climb called Johnny Vegas which takes you to a large ledge from which you have the option of either descending or continuing up another 7-9 pitches to the top of the formation. We really wanted to get to the top, but thought we thought we'd play it by ear...

I led the 1st pitch, which was easy and tons of fun. When my bf got to the belay ledge he said he had gotten sick at the bottom and wasn't feeling great, but didn't want to give up on the climb. So the dubious honor of leading the remaining pitches fell to me. Nowhere to go but up, I led through the climb, enjoying every move and challenge. It couldn't have been more fun and satisfying. While I felt horrible for my dear bf, I loved the experience.

1st pitch of Solar Slab

At the ledge, we ate a little something and he started feeling a little better. What should we do? Continue on up! From the ledge we climbed Solar Slab wandering many pitches up a huge sandstone wall, full of awesome cracks and interesting plate-y face climbing. Because walking off the top would have been an adventure of several hours, we decided to stop short of the top and rappel the route. After a couple of hours and 8+ rappels, we were safely back on terra firma, although we did the walk back out of the canyon by headlamp. 'Twas a spectacular day!

crack!

leading one of the crack pitches

Day 2: after getting up at the crack of dawn the previous day, we slept in 'til 8 am and slowly packed up and grabbed coffee and breakfast. On the agenda for the day: a 2 pitch climb called Physical Graffiti. The first pitch was a little funky, but the second pitch was a full rope length of awesome hand crack.

if you look closely, you can see 2 people at the 1st pitch belay and person half-way up the crack on the second pitch

After physical graffiti, we thought it might be nice to squeeze in a few more casual single pitch sport routes. So off we went to a place called the panty wall (ick). For some reason, the steeper nature of the sport climbing unnerved me a bit and I found what should have been easy straightforward climbing to be... um... challenging. We led a couple of routes (in shaky form) and called it a day.

panty wall

varnished plates on the panty wall

Although I ticked a few things off of my to-do list, it's still quite long and I can't wait to get back there!!

Back with knitting soon!

taking shape

2009-02-18T14:03:00.001-08:00

i've pretty much been working around the clock lately, but in those few stolen moments, here's what i've eeked out:

central park progress!

i'm finishing the last sleeve now and will seam up and knit the hood soon. i'm feeling very motivated to get this done.

lotus mittens (front)

(back)

this was my travel project. i've finished one mitten (minus the thumb) and am partway through the second. this mitten looks crumply because it's been folded and shoved in a bag for a long time, but i think it will block out nicely. the pattern is beautiful and very fun to knit - thanks to elliphantom for another great project!

i also snuck out of the lab for about 30 hours last week to participate in a 24-hour mountain bike race. i was the proud captain of a team of 4 rockin women. what a cool event - we had a blast!! other than a 4.5 hour lap due to a broken derailleur and 4 flats (aaaaarrggghhh!), it was smooth sailing. :)

in other news, i'm busy trying to get a job and finish a phd. turns out it's a shitload of work. i miss my knitting!!

Trip highlights (southern China and Vietnam) - a photo tour

2009-01-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

Yuyuan gardens, Shanghai

1st day climbing, Yangshou, China

View from the top of a climb, Yangshou, China

river and karst topography, China

flooded street in Hoi An, Vietnam

Beach outside Danang, Vietnam

Restaurant Art, Hanoi, Vietnam

Halong Bay, Vietnam (more karst!)

terraced rice fields, Yuanyang, China

somewhere near Dali, China
this is my "knits in action" shot. we wore the inga hat (he) and the selbu modern (me) almost every day. thank goodness for knitting!

While these photos only skim the surface of our climbing and traveling adventures, they are enough (imho) to convey the beauty of the landscapes we experienced along the way. (The people and cultures were equally as beautiful, but much more difficult to capture with the camera!). I highly recommend Yangshou and all of Yunnan province, China, as incredible travel destinations. Back soon with knitting!!

good projects, bad pictures

2008-12-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

i need to purge these 2 FOs, even though the pictures don't do them justice...

1st up, a selbu modern. loved this pattern! can't say enough good things about it. knitting this hat was a true delight. in fact, i wanted to knit it so badly that i went to a yarn shop while i was at home in virginia over thanksgiving and bought 2 skeins of koigu and an addi circular needle ($17!!), even though i had yarn and a needle that probably would have worked at home. but i just. couldn't. wait. this is destined to be a gift for my stepsister, who has crazy big curly hair. this will fit her like a normal (non-slouchy, beret-type) hat. rav link

next up, a tomten. this is the sweetest lil jacket. (look at me, tootin' my own horn!). i can't help it - this really did turn out to be darling. it's already being worn by its recipient and i'm hoping that i'll get a modeled picture one day... rav link

in the mill...
i'm currently working on (also rav links):
1) another syncopated cap
2) february lady sweater
3) lotus leaf mittens
4) central park hoodie

it's such a good feeling to finish something, i can't wait for my next FO.

i've got big travels in my future (LA-San Fransisco-Shanghai-Hanoi-other asian destinations). i may be absent for awhile!

winner!

2008-11-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

a couple of months ago, i posted about pipe dreams and purling plans' 3-day breast cancer walk. although it's taken me forever to do so, i'm happy to report that not only did mel complete the walk and raise a ton of money for a great cause, but also that i won a prize in her fundraising raffle! my first blog "win"!! and i could not be more excited about what i got.. check it out - a beautiful, soft, lucious skein of malabrigo lace. in my favorite color, no less... thanks mel!

malabrigo really is the sh*@ - it's worthy of all the hype

i'm thinking of maybe making a small muir (rav). what would you do with a skein of malabrigo lace?

totally unoriginal

2008-11-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

i have no willpower. i started 2 more sweaters. both for me. shame.

the ubiquitous central park hoody (rav).

knitting this with cascade 220 heathers on size 8 needles at a gauge of 18 sts / 4 in. so far this is a fast, easy knit!

and the also ubiquitous february lady sweater (rav)

knitting this with berroco ultra alpaca in yucca mix on size 7s at a gauge of 20 sts / 4 in. this is much more slow going, but that's what you get with all-in-one-piece top-down sweaters...

oh! and i must share my new favorite recipe for brussel sprouts. those of you kindred spirits who looove brussel sprouts (like me!) will love this recipe and those of you who think brussels are ick should give this one a try - so yummy.

our climbing adventure last weekend was amazing!! going back for more this weekend.

what's my line?

2008-11-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

that's the name of the famous (i use that word verrry loosely) climb i did last month down in the cochise stronghold, southern arizona. cochise is a well-known climbing destination, a truly beautiful place, and i feel so lucky to live so close by. we did this climb quite a while ago now, but i'm posting this today for 2 reasons: 1) all my knitting / yarn / WIP photos are on my other computer that is now living with the bf since his was stolen - boo; and 2) i'm heading back down to cochise tonight for another adventure, so i had better get this out before i have a serious backlog of cochise shots.

not able to drive down and camp at cochise the night before, my partner and i left early in the morning and were on the trail by 8am. after a somewhat long and steep hike up to the rockfellow / cochise dome area, we found ourselves bushwacking through a densely vegetated wash. after some minor frustration and a few scratches on the arms and legs, we arrived at the base of the dome.

cochise dome from a distance

the climb follows a rash of chickenheads (plate-like features) up the right side of the dome, which is otherwise fairly featureless. the climbing was fairly easy, but just getting to the start of it involved sketchy unroped climbing up an approach gully that dumps you out at a ledge 300 ft off the ground. from there, you have to pendulum over the the chickenheads to start climbing. that was... exciting... if you like the exhilaration of 100 m of air below your feet as you go swinging on a stretching 10mm rope, trying not get swung around and dragged across granitic protrusions.

having made the pendulum swing and following up the 1st pitch of chickenheads - see them?

i led the next easy pitch up some more chickenheads, using them to set up a belay anchor. no gear, no bolts, just a few big chickenheads and some nylon slings.

i was loving it up there, although i did get pooed on by a bird - maybe that same one that's dive-bombing me in the picture?

view east from the pitch 2 belay

one more pitch of climbing, 2 rappels, and we were back on terra firma and had a great time. i can't wait to go back and climb again tomorrow! there is so much to see and so many more undiscovered areas.

view of rockfellow dome from the start of our climb

knitting content coming soon - i've started 2 more big projects and finished a couple of small ones...

seamless yoke sweater at last!

2008-10-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

all i can say about this sweater is.... yayayayayayayayayay!!! i love it! it fits, it's totally comfy and it doesn't make me look like i'm wearing a dumpy, homemade sack of.. you know.

pattern: EZ's seamless yoke sweater from knitting without tears
yarn: just over 6 balls of queensland kathmandu dk and 1.5 balls of noro silk garden lite
needles: size 7 (p1,k1tbl ribbing); size 8 (st st)
mods: i followed EZ's template in all ways except i modified the decreases around the yoke, so that they would be spread out more. following instructions from barbara walker's knitting from the top down, i decreased 20 stitches for every 5 rounds.
result: looooooooooove!
downsides: only one - the stupid ladders on the sleeves caused by having knit them on dpns. next time... 2 circs!
ravel it

(EZ) finishing frenzy

2008-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

i've been in a finishing frenzy and it feels so good! it's such a relief to get some knits finished and off the needles. was i stressed out about it before?? not sure, but i was definitely feeling like i didn't deserve to cast on for something new. i'll be trotting out my new FOs soon, but it just occurred to me that i haven't even blogged about what those FOs will be! i put the projects up on ravelry and then forgot all about them.. shame..

the first is an EZ seamless yoke pullover. i loosely followed the "pattern" from knitting without tears, but i modified the yoke so that i had many decrease rounds and not just 2 severe k1,k2tog rounds. i was hoping that would keep the yoke from puckering, but i'm not sure it worked. here's what it looked like while i was knitting the body:

i'll keep the yoke a surprise. i can't wait to show you the finished product. i'm really happy with this one!

the second FO coming down the shoot (also from EZ's knitting without tears) is a 'lil baby tomten for the bf's new nephew. this little jacket is so cute and little and squooshy it just brings out my warm and fuzzy side. i've got one more toggle button to sew on and it's done! oh, and i would like to make all future baby knits out of str heavyweight. it is awesome stuff.

i'm so happy that we're back to fall sweater season - i can't wait to see what everyone is making!

red rock getaway

2008-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

after an unbelievable amount of tedious harassment, we finally cashed in on our FREE trip to vegas. (i'll spare you the details, but it was one of those time-share sales pitches where they advertise free trip to vegas for just showing up! i think we're part of the 1% that actually gets / takes the free trip). anyway, our trip was very short but so much fun. we were excited about vegas because we both really wanted to climb at the neighboring red rock. think gorgeous desert canyons and massive sandstone slabs.... it was beautiful. and we had the place to ourselves.

first creek slabs

we settled on a long and committing (but easy) climb called lady luck, which turned out to be very appropriate, as we both ended up winning money at the black jack table... we had perfect weather (a little on the hot side, but not bad), good moods, and quite an adventure. the climb was 1000' and 7 pitches of good, clean, fun. (the descent was not so easy, but we survived nonetheless). after a long day of hiking, climbing and scrambling around, we treated ourselves to a fancy italian dinner with our blackjack earnnings. it was a near-perfect couple of days... and now for pictures:

first creek canyon

following a pitch

leading a pitch

view from near the top

bye red rock!

i'm soo close to finishing some big (knitted) projects - they're coming soon!

landscape stripes

2008-09-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

it's so fun watching these stripes emerge... and i'm loving the jaywalker pattern.

however, i have GOT to remember to make my heel flaps longer. i must have a high instep or something, because it's difficult to get these onto my foot. once there, they fit / feel great, though. i'm hoping i just need a "deeper" heel... i really like the color options - might have to get some more! raveled here.

FO: Inga Hat

2008-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

i made this hat for my boyfriend a couple of months ago, but never got around to blocking / photographing it.

pattern: Inga hat (ravelry link)
needles: sizes 4 and 6 - i think!?
yarn: knitpicks swish dk, in green, nutmeg, and eggplant
edited to add: oops! i made this in swish worsted, not dk!
mods: i started a few rows into the pattern, so that it wouldn't be too tall.
result: awesome!

i'm really happy with how this hat turned out. it's the perfect size, it's thick and warm and very soft. i enjoyed knitting with the swish, even though i realize that superwash is yucky to some. i was careful to carry the yarn loosely, so this is my first fair isle project that doesn't pucker. and, after a good soak, the brim lays down nice and flat. success! i think i'll probably knit this again with colors that are more my style.

on another note, i'd like to ask - plead - with my few, but very dear readers, to please check out a contest going on over at pipe dreams and purpling plans, if you haven't already seen it. superstar mel is gearing up for a 3day breast cancer walk this fall and needs our help. her passion and commitment to the event are truly remarkable. maybe it's because my mother is a breast cancer survivor, and my life has been many times touched by cancer, but mel's story has really gotten to me and she has inspired me to do more and to care more and to just be... more. the world needs a lot more like her and a i do believe that there is SO MUCH our warm - and powerful - crafting community can do. we all carry a banner for something and perhaps this is not your particular cause, but if it is, and if you, too, have been affected by breast cancer, i highly encourage to check it out and to take part! doesn't hurt that there are some beautiful prizes up for grabs :) thanks everyone!

in lieu of knitting...

2008-08-15T08:43:00.001-07:00

another beautiful canyon

demolition!!

2008-08-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

i'm turning what used to be an old, nasty, un-permitted addition to my house into a large, covered outdoor room. I've been working on this on and off for *years* now - can't wait to be finished with this and enjoy the great outdoors!

it all started with one swing of the sledgehammer:

followed by lots of hard work:

almost there:

henry the dog has been a great job foreman all along:

it's almost finished! just gotta get painting and get some furniture!!

the ups and downs...

2008-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

ups:

cute elisa's nest tote
yarn: brown sheep cotton fleece and tahki cotton classic leftovers
needles: size 8 straights and size 6 dpns for i-cord handles
source: the purl bee
raveled

loved it enough to quickly start another with some leftover peaches 'n cream

a very promising koolhaas

downs:

alas, i finished the koolhaas last night and it's too short. i can't pull the ribbing all the way down over my ears and that drives me mad! i'm devastated. especially because i found the knitting to be rather long and tedious, but i endured because i was loving the look of the traveling twists. i'm worried that ripping back and re-establishing myself in the pattern is going to be really hard. maybe i could undo the CO edge and add more ribbing? not sure what to do...

still, it feels good to at least finish a few things :)

and, i did get to do some great climbing the other day. five pitches up rappel rock. 'twas marvelous!

the easy, low-angle finish to the top

view looking up the second pitch (also pretty easy, but FUN!)

J Tree

2008-07-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Man is this summer flying by! I'm freaked that it's already the end of July. I hate to see the summer slip by so quickly, especially when I'm having this much fun! I took a short trip last weekend to Joshua Tree N.P. with the b-friend, who was driving out that way to do some field work. We made a detour though the park and got in 2 days of amazing (and sweltering) climbing, before heading to L.A. to see his bro and some friends.

He stayed out to complete his work and I flew back to AZ to continue with my own (big scary paper deadlines looming!). Coming back I got stuck in Phoenix because they had oversold my flight. I was superly-mega annoyed, but in the end, I only had to wait around for an hour - and I got a free roundtrip ticket for my inconvenience. Not a bad deal!

While on the trip / in the car, I was able to finish up my pomatomi. Yes, I really did knit both socks, but I can't find the second one right now. durn. You might notice my sock sitting on sawhorse. That's because there is a lot of demolition and remodeling going on at my house - exciting stuff! But I shall save that for another post...

Hoping you all had terrific weekends!

new yarns, new project

2008-07-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

this is to make a koolhaas for a friend of mine who is moving to NYC. *sniffle*

this is for a pair of socks (duh), but i don't know what pattern to use. something simple, since it's going to have crazy rasta-like stripes. any suggestions? i don't have a single idea...

and this lump is the beginning stages of a montana tunic (rav link). i LOVE this yarn (Queensland Kathmandu DK). i should really buy more if it's still on sale at WEBS. i'm pretty psyched on the pattern, too. but i need to find a way to make it long-sleeved. this might be hard given the somewhat unique construction of the sweater, but i'm going to try anyway.

i've got a long trip to joshua tree tomorrow, so i'm hoping to get in some valuable knitting time in the care. yippee!

green river trip

2008-07-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

this trip already feels like ages ago - it makes me a little sad to think about it... i hate it when the fun stuff that you look forward to comes and goes! and always waaaay too quickly!

getting ready:

on the river:

hike up side canyon to see some amazing pictographs:

and of course the trip would not have been complete without a little knitting on the side...

apparently i knit with my eyes closed and smiling like a big dork! that sock (pomatomus knit in str rolling stone meduimweight) weathered the miles of sand and rapids tucked safely in a little dry bag clipped to the front of my boat. the things we do for our knitting / required eccentricities. my fellow travelers on this trip could not believe i was knitting such a fancy sock! i admit i felt proud showing it around. it is pretty amazing to be able to whip up a complicated lace and ribbing sock, ain't it!??

drive-by

2008-07-04T12:18:00.001-07:00

i've been out of town and completely out of contact for the last 6 weeks and it's been, well, kinda nice. i was a teaching assistant at our university's geology field camp in the owens valley, california for a month or so and then i went up to northern utah to do some climbing and a river trip on the green river through lodore canyon. it was STUNNING!! i can't wait to get the pictures up and show you a few. the trip was 4 days and i paddled the river in a super-nice, top-of-the-line ducky (inflatable kayak) and had the time of my life! in fact, it was so much fun that after we took of the river, we went and got a permit to run the daily stretch again the following day. as much as i love rivers and whitewater, it's a cryin' shame that i live in the desert. ah well... there are gorgeous rocks and canyons here, too. and now that the monsoon has begun, pretty soon those canyons will be filled with cold, cold water. yayayayay!

in the meantime, i did manage to finish some knitting... i finally completed my firestarter socks and my noro scarf! i also finished an Inga hat (rav link) for my boyfriend, but i don't have a picture of that yet. coming soon...

oh yeah, and i've almost finished a pair of pomatomi. AND, i started a new project, which i will blog about soon. damn webs and their awesome sales!!

hope you're all having a glorious 4th of July. i'm off to beg my way into someone's pool...

FO: Fad classic

2008-05-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

okay, so this has been finished for, oh..., a year. but who's counting?? this is a pretty cool little knit. i love the way the pattern looks - almost like crochet - but i found it kinda tedious to knit. i would say that i loooooove the finished product, but it's just the teeniest tiniest bit too small. maybe i can try blocking it out a little wider? does that work with cotton?

i've got lots of things going onto and coming off of the needles. it's fun to be back in knitting-obsessed mode!

a good day

2008-05-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

i came home on friday to nectar and my str... it was a good day... made even better by a beautiful evening and a g&t. awesome.

ok, off to bed. had a loooong day of hard climbing and i am burnt. hope everyone's having bright shining weekends!

striped gable

2008-05-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

just to show that i still knit from time to time, check it out!:

(i can't help it - photobooth is just so easy)

it's a striped green gable, made with 2 shades (purplish - brown and purplish-pink) of brown sheep cotton fleece. this is going to an old friend who willed me the yarn. i told her i'd knit her something with it and... 1 year later... i'm actually doing it!

i caved

2008-05-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

and bought nectar. god i have no will power whatsoever. and i reeeeaaally don't have the money to be buying this right now, but... it's pretty. and i like a lot of the designs.. i especially like these:

(all photos from kimhargreaves.co.uk - her designs are so clean and beautiful and functional and feminine, all at once...)

i can't wait 'til it arrives! now... what should i knit first??

hey! a (really old) FO!

2008-04-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

a clapotis! (excuse crappy photobooth picture)

i knit this ages ago from some variegated merino i bought on ebay (100purewool i think). it's soft and cozy and i love it. it lives on the back of my chair at work and i wrap up in it all the time...

some bulleted sidenotes:

- knit on size 8s
- yarn stained my fingers a little
- i used ~ 600 yds i think
- it was a little tedious to knit, but dropping the stitches was fun!
- i got a BIG mouth!

... and i love canyons

2008-04-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

ok, this is the last "i love" post for while, i swear... it's just that i've been doing so many cool adventures lately and a mountain-biking trip through canyonlands n.p. is frankly waaaaay more interesting than what i've been knitting on lately (stockinette sleeves = snore).

knitting to come later... promise!

~r

i love rocks too!

2008-04-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

i swear i've been knitting. i've just been doing a lot of other things, too. like traveling (just got back from san fransisco and am headed out to utah on thursday), climbing (yay fun!), running (race for the cure), and of course, working like the grad student slave that i am... in fact, i had 3 15-hours days back to back last week and IT SUCKED.

but anyway, back to the knitting. i'm almost done with my firestarter socks. oh wait, have i showed them to you yet??

here's the first sock mid-way through the leg:

i love the yarn and i'm obsessed with the gusset - i just think it's the coolest. however, no one told me that when knitting socks from the toe up, you can't use an ordinary bind-off 'cause it's too tight! dang! so i have to rip and re-bind off the first sock. i will not make the same mistake with the next sock. so which is better: sewn bind off or decrease bind off?? i have big ole legs and these socks need to stretch!

i'm also knitting the sleeves to my gathered pullover - finally! wait, have i showed you that??

i'm raveling it here

anyway, the sleeves seem a little (read: a lot) tight. fingers crossed that i can get them to stretch out with a good block.

and because i mentioned how much i love rocks, here's a picture of a particularly beautiful face. the hike up to the climbing spot was pretty beauty too...

xoxo,
r

i love mountains

2008-03-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

i had such a blast this past weekend. i really can't get over how stunning the San Juan mountains are and the skiing... it was amazing. beautiful spring conditions were totally worth a little bit of altitude sickness and a sunburn.

back with knitting soon!

cross that off my list

2008-03-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

that's how i felt when i finished my woodland shawl. it's really beautiful (so humble!) and the pattern is great, but i'm relieved to have a project off the needles. i was starting to feel overwhelmed there for a bit. it's time to start finishing things!

up next in the finishing queue:

herringbone mittens (only the thumb of mitten 2 to go!)
gathered pullover (must.knit.sleeves.)
firestarter sock #2
noro scarf

i'm hoping to have one or two of those projects completed by the time i get back from a looong weekend of (driving and) backcountry skiing in Silverton, CO. we've got an awesome hut and a great group of people and... how did i get so lucky?! i'll also be skiing on... drumroll... my brand-new, bad-ass K2 Dawn Patrols!!!! [courtesy awesome boyfriend].

wishing everyone a great weekend!

r

isle of you

2008-03-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

that's the name of the climbing spot where we were last weekend. it was beeeeeee -u-ti-ful! and there were no accidents to report.

the cutest thing is that henry, my dog, gets nervous when i'm climbing and so he waits eagerly at the bottom, looking up and straining to make sure i haven't disappeared into the clouds. that's my boy - always looking out for his number 1! aren't dogs just the coolest??

i have been doing lots of knitting lately and will be reporting on that soon!
hoping everyone out there is healthy and smiling,
r

not for the squeamish!! look away!

2008-03-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

i mentioned in my last post that i had an accident 2 weekends ago. well, i fell lead climbing and while the fall wasn't bad (just scary like always), i managed to get a pretty nasty rope burn.

it looks better now and is healing up nicely. and i had a great day climbing down in cochise this past weekend. no falls, no near-heart attacks, just good, clean fun!

and to soothe away the nightmares you might have over that little wound, let me show you one finished herringbone mitten. is this a no-no? is it like blogging one finished sock? well, i love this mitten and who know when i'll get around to finishing the second one... hopefully soon!

it fits like a... like a.. dang well-fittin' mitten! i will say, though, that i have relatively small hands (with short stumpy fingers) and if they were any larger, these mitts would be a wee bit too snug...

slowly but surely

2008-03-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

man am i a slow-ass knitter! this tree jacket seems to be taking forever (and sucking up yarn in a major way). or maybe it's that i have a terrible case of ADD and i've got 14 projects going on at once, so i only work on one given thing very intermittently.. BUT, i will finish this sweater. i tried it on last night and it's looking good, but the body needs a few more inches and then it's on the sleeves. GREAT. LOVE knitting sleeves. also, i think i've used almost 10 balls of knitpicks andean silk so far on the body. good thing the stuff is pretty cheap. i've got 14 balls and the four remaining balls are a different dye-lot. fingers crossed it works out alright...

have a great weekend everyone! i'm on my way to the cochise stronghold to do some climbing. hope i don't injure myself like last weekend... (i will post a picture of last weekend's damage soon - not for the feint of heart)

~r

p.s. as you can see, i'm not using the lace pattern on the body of my tree jacket because i want to be able to wear this without a shirt on underneath. maybe that's why i need so much dang yarn!!

turns out i am a sock knitter after all

2008-02-16T10:41:00.001-08:00

i never ever thought i would get into socks, but as it turns out... i kinda like knitting them. in fact, i'm wearing my pair of plain stockinette koigu socks today and i love them. i wish i had 20 more pairs just like them! so far i have knitted 2.5 pairs of socks and have 2 more pairs on the needles right now. unfortunately, one pair i'm not really loving. the yarn, well, i'm just not feeling it. it's lornas laces and it's lovely, but the light purple / dark purple colors just aren't... quite... enough for me.. know what i mean? so what do i do? do i continue to knit them just because i know i'll enjoy having and wearing the socks (even though the knitting is not that fun)? do i frog and give away the yarn? should i try again with a pattern to see if that makes the project more interesting? i just don't know!

so, i've shelved that little project and now i'm knitting a pair of firestarter socks (ravelry link) with this green koigu. now i love me this yarn!! the colors are so vibrant and fun and the koigu is springy and soft. i'm struggling a tiny bit with the pattern, but i think it's going to work out in the end.. and i am so enamored of the gusset that i WILL make these socks!

hope everyone's having a great weekend!
~r

looks like nothing...

2008-01-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

... but it is about half of a completed woodland shawl. another awesome free pattern by another awesome knitter/blogger - thank you thank you!

i am knitting this with 2 skeins of fiesta yarns ballet (an alpaca/tencel blend). the yarn was a little thicker than i thought it would be and the color rubs off on my fingers, but i really like the browns and blues - very earthy and i think it works well with the pattern. i'm knitting this on size 5s (i think) and i'm a little concerned that it will come out too small / narrow. i hope it blocks out wider. we'll see...

wow, it's been a long time!

2008-01-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

holy mama i haven't blogged since december 17th. oops. i've been a busy gal, i guess. i went home to the SE for christmas, where i had a great time with family and old friends. then, i went to santa fe for some backcountry skiing over new years. i got this kickass video camera for christmas and i have some neat ski videos, but i'm not sure how to post them here. hmm... i'll see if i can figure it out...

after returning from santa fe, i went to steamboat with a group of fun peeps for a week of skiing in some of the most amazing powder i've ever seen. we got almost 2 feet of fresh snow every day for the last few days i was there. incredible. i even managed to completely bury myself once.

the skiing was awesome and the snow was beautiful.

since returning from steamboat, i've been working like a maniac and doing some climbing on the side. last weekend, we did a 5 pitch climb up a spire called chimney rock. it was lovely.

and lest you think i've forgotten about knitting, not so.. i have lots of WIP pics, but i'm going to spread them out a bit. for now, i'll just show you my latest obsession.

herringbone mittens. i love this pattern - thanks so much elliphantom!!

i'll be back with more knitting soon soon soon! i'm getting close to an FO or 2...

happy weekends everyone,
r

this is a 1st for me!

2007-12-17T09:37:00.001-08:00

holy shit i made a swatch.... and i blocked it!!

i reeeaaaallly want my gathered pullover to fit and to be fabulous, so i'm going all out in an attempt to make a sweater that actually fits that i will actually wear. i'm knitting it with knit picks telemark and so even though i went crazy and bought 14 balls of it (wtf was i thinking??!!), it only cost me ~$27 - not bad! the color i'm using is called royal heather, which is plum-purple (i thought it would be more blue). i got gauge (after blocking) on size 7s and i'm knitting the 36" size. it's knit in the round from the bottom up, so i don't have more than 6 inches of curled up stockinette to show you at the moment. i will post a picture once i get to the cool cable part. if you're on ravelry, there are some really awesome FOs of this sweater there. this one is my favorite (ravelry link).

i'm desperately trying to finish my woodland shawl before the 23rd for a christmas gift and i've got a couple of hats to make for my good guy buddies who kept my dog for my while i was in SF. (my interview went really well, btw!). apparently, while henry the dog was at their house, he learned some bad habits, like lying on the couch.

look at him trying to look all cute. he seems to be saying to me: "oh mama please don't yell at me, don't make me move, look how cute and snuggled up i am on the couch. it's cold in here and i'm lonely when you're in the other room working on the computer. in fact, maybe you could come over and pet me a little??" so now henry gets to hang on the futon all he wants. i am such a sucker.

i just spent the last 2 days skiing up in northern arizona - there was good snow!! i hope to post a picture of that soon - there were some nice views...

~r

plain ole koigu socks

2007-12-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

i finally got around to grafting the toe of my second koigu sock and boy am i glad because it has started to cool waaay down in the desert. i'm sitting at my desk now wearing them and long pants and a long sleeve and a fleece and my nose is still cold. good thing my friend helped me replace my thermostat last night so i can have heat. my old thermostat actually had a little glass bead of mercury in it and i'm wondering how best to dispose of that. hmmm... maybe i should take it to the hazardous waste people at the university.

my knitting projects are moving along verrrry slowly. right now i'm putting most of my knitting time into the tree jacket (i'm using knitpicks andean silk in barn red). i really want to finish this and wear it this season. i'm also working an another sock using some of the new regia kaffe fassett landscape sock yarn. it's going more quickly because i love seeing the stripes emerge. i decided to knit this toe up, however, and i really hate the short row heel i made - i can't make it deep enough for my high instep. i'll have to choose a toe-up heel gusset tutorial to walk me through redoing the heel. any suggestions?

my knitting time has been dwindling lately, though, because of 3 reasons: 1) i'm working hard getting ready to present some research at a conference in SF; 2) there's a new boy on the scene; and 3) i'm spending a lot of time climbing and adventuring outdoors. (this picture was taken before a pretty nasty fall i took).

also, some friends and i did a 3-day backpacking trip to the galiuro mountains - gorgeous! one of the peeps on the trip is a photographer, so i can't wait to see the pics!!

i do have some more knitting to show you, but it will have to wait until i get back from this meeting. i'm interviewing there with some potential employers in anchorage. please keep your fingers crossed for me!

back soon,
r

kinda lame, but with a few pictures

2007-11-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

ugh, i've been in a bit of a knitting/blogging funk lately. it's partly just a function of being insanely busy and partly because i don't feel like i have much worth showing... i'm moving along slowly on my current projects (tree jacket, print o' the wave, woodland shawl, elfine sock, and the list goes on too long...), but they're all sitting around like rumply lumps and are so uninspiring to me right now. knits! why are you letting me down like this?! so let me show you what i have been up to:

that's right... working. LAME.

when not working, i have either been sloshing down waaaay too much beer or i've been out hiking / canyoneering. here, let me distract you with some shots from one of my latest trips:

and just so you don't think i've completely forgotten that this is a knitting blog... look! some yarn. in the upper left, you can even see one of the tweedy sleeves of my rams horn jacket. one day i will finish it! the teal heathered yarn on the left is some cascade i just ordered from webs. i was thinking central park hoodie, but now i'm not so sure... the purple is tahki cotton left over from my (finished! need pictures!) fad classic, and the green and blue on the right are socks that rock that i'll use to make another syncopated cap.

oh, yarn, i yearn to knit you, but there's just no time!!

hope everyone out there is enjoying a beautiful fall weekend,

r

p.s. i'm finally on ravelry now, and my name is thornydesertgirl - hope to get that updated eventually and to see you there!

back from the white mountains (arizona)

2007-09-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

i just returned from a phenomenal backpacking trip to the white mountains. if you live anywhere near the four corners / northern arizona, you should check it out. i couldn't get over how green and lush it was and the clouds, my heavens...

i didn't take any knitting with me, but i did launch right back into it upon returning. while i'm drooling over the new zephyrstyle patterns, i'm forcing myself to finish the rams horn jacket first. one more sleeve and the back to go.. oh, and the collar. damn. i think i'm gonna really love it, though...

FO: cool hemp ponchette

2007-09-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

i hate that i knitted something called a "ponchette", but i do like it. alas, it is destined to be gifted to a friend of mine - hope she likes it to!

the hemp was a new and interesting experience - kind of stiff, kind of waxy, but i really liked it and i loove the color i choose. this was a super fast and super easy knit and ordering the kit from kpixie was fast and fun - i recommend it to all the poncho-knitting knitters out there!

the new kim hargreaves

2007-08-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

seen the new collection?
what's up with the ruffles?

i'm kinda on the fence about them... i like them but would i want to knit / wear them? not sure... nothing really jumped out at me in this collection, although the knits and styling are beautiful, as always...

maybe this one...?

or too dumpy / frumpy? also, i'm not sure i'm crazy about the gathered sleeves... the last collections have been full of them!

what do you think?

i must have a blue problem

2007-08-24T20:16:00.001-07:00

more blue - can you believe it?

child's placket neck pullover for a friend who's preggers.. i'm knitting this in berroco comfort, which is a nylon / acrylic blend and i love it! so nice and soft and washable. i never thought i'd say that about nylon and acrylic, but there you have it. i've only got 2 balls of it, so i hope that's enough!

and just so you don't think i'm only working on blue projects, here's a shot of some of my WIPs, nicely lined up on the bookshelf where the dogman and kittygirl can't get them.

i had such a nice time back home with my family and friends it was heartwrenching to come back to the desert, but such is life... some parting shots from virginia:

last 2 photos courtesy of my bff - she really is an amazing photgrapher - check her out!!

blue mood (2nd edition)

2007-08-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

this seriously put me in a blue mood...

what's up allhemp6? why are you the hardest yarn in the world to wind up?? okay, okay, maybe it's not just you... i had 1) gotten no sleep, 2) spent the day either working in the lab or working my ass of in the hot sun 3) just sweated out 2 gallons of water at the climbing gym 4) replaced that water with a strong-ass margarita (and a beer) 5) flung you over the yarn swift and started cranking hastily-away on my ball winder. the result? a tangled f-ing mess and, i'm ashamed to say, tears of frustration. i'm still not done unraveling this hank, but i did manage to wind up one of the other skeins and start on my hemp ponchette. kpixie got this to me lickity split - no shit! this is (will be) a fun (and hopefully fast) little project. i'm liking the hemp yarn, by the way, although it is stiff and has a sort of waxy feel to it, almost like dental floss or something...

maybe i can force myself to keep chugging along on this one...

blue mood

2007-08-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

part of the reason i can't stop casting on is due to the amazing yarns and patterns and ideas i have all around me - not a bad thing, in my opinion. but it does mean that i get kind of knit greedy and hyper and stutter-y, like i can't wait to make everything all at once. it almost causes me a little anxiety which is stupid because i started knitting to take away anxiety. but but but i really want to make all these things and experiment with different yarns. and i'm sorry (fad classic) if i can't remain faithful to one project. it's killing me that all i have left to do is the ribbing around your neckline - but i just can't seem to do it!!

this is part of the reason why:

i ordered this yarn from the plucky knitter and fell in love with it instantly! thank you plucky knitter - for making such beautiful yarn and for getting it to me so quickly! check out her shop if you get a chance... there's 900 yds of soft, moody blues in that there skein. i am absolutely thrilled with the subtle color variations and it looks great knit up... see:

one day this will become a soft, light, totally luxurious Print O' the Wave stole. i'm not much of a lace knitter (and i tried this pattern once with no luck), but i'm really enjoying it this time around. also, i'm getting much better at recognizing and fixing mistakes, so i don't have to frog the whole thing if i look down to find my stitch count is off.. i hope those aren't "famous last words", as my mother would say.

well, i'm off to the SE to be with the family, get back to my roots, re-develop an accent, eat lots of good food, and be totally separated from my normal hectic life. i can't wait and i hope to get lots of knitting done. now i just have to decide what to take with me... what i haven't shown you are the 15 million other WIPs i have going right now (oh but i will, soon enough...)

back in a week!

p.s. random sidenote: i just ordered this skirt from sierra trading post. i paid $19, it came 2 days later and i can't take it off. in case you were interested :)

can't. stop. casting. on. help!

2007-08-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

i've just cast on for:

print o' the wave (again)

saturday market bag (i'm hoping it will be as totally awesome as this one)

elfine's socks (using some very purty lorna's laces from the stash)

and... i just ordered the allhemp ponchette from kpixie. help!

oh, and i'm trying my hardest not to cast on for this or for another one of these... knitting gods, give me strength! and one more thing... i'm *this* close to finishing my purple fad classic and i think i'm going to love it. must force myself to finish the ribbing on that!!!

back with pictures soon! exclamation point!

finally, a finished basalt tank!!

2007-07-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

i forgot to post it here, but i did post a pic of my finished basalt tank blocking over at the knitting nature KAL.. as always, i promised to post some modeled photos of it soon, and this time, i actually did! big pat on the back to me, as photographing knits on me seems to take an epic amount of energy and motivation. unfortunately, the dark brown color of the yarn i used made it very difficult to photograph well. so, while you can kind of see the fit of the tank, it's not as easy to see the hexagons. you'll just have to trust me that they look pretty tidy and nice (no modesty here...!) i also must have messed with some of my camera settings, because i just couldn't manage to get a crisper shot. i'll have to consult with my bff who happens to be a photographer - and who unfortunately happens to live 1000s of miles away...

pattern: basalt tank from knitting nature
yarn: rowan wool cotton in coffee rich, 6 balls and a tiny bit of the 7th.
needles: addis 24" size 5
size: medium, 39"
start: april 2007
finish: july 2007

what to say about this.. first, using the yarn that was called for in the pattern, i figured i could get gauge with the recommended needles (size 4), but my swatch turned out TINY. thank god i swatched - i sometimes (usually) don't. so i swatched with size 5s and my swatch was still way too small, so i moved up to the 39" size. in the end, my tank measured 36" and fits well in the chest. as you can see, i made half-hexagons instead of whole hexagons on the sides and added a garter stitch and eyelet border around the bottom. i really like the neckline on this tank - it's actually not so revealing as it might appear in the picture (i'm wearing a bad bra that seems to squish my boobs together) - and i think it fits with the summery-ness and openess of the tank design. i wish i had added some waist shaping like Kelp did - i love the way hers turned out... without the shaping, it looks sort of boxy and makes me look a little wide through the middle (which i am, but is it so much to ask that my knitting perform body miracles?!) also, the armholes on my tank turned just the tiniest bit too small, but it's still comfortable to wear and doesn't bunch up under the arms. i know some people had problems with the written pattern, but i didn't stumble across any bugs and the knitting went fairly well. i loved the yarn, and the pattern was fun, although i was nervous up until the very end about whether or not it would fit. it's really to hard to determine that while looking at some seemingly randomly-patched together shapes. norah gaughan is genius. pure natural genius.

some more views:

man i need a haircut...

more knits coming soon!

~r

the inappropriate and stupid knitting continues...

2007-07-23T20:29:00.001-07:00

i think i mentioned it was one hunnerd n a zillion degrees outside and i was knitting wool socks. yes, i believe i did.. once i realized how silly that was..., i moved onto knitting thick wool hats. makes sense. so, without further ado, i present to you the thick-wool-hat-with-a-pom-pom:

you know you've reached an all-time low when your new cutie knitted hat has to pose on a lampshade. i took a picture of it on my head, but you could see beads of sweat dripping down my forehead, sort of dribbling out of the brim. ugh.

yarn: 1 skein manos (every last scrap), in a celery green color
pattern: LMKG basic ribbed brim hat
size: women's
needles: size 9, 16" addis, size 9 bamboo dpns

i love the color, i love the thick-n-thin, i love the pom-pom. this will be cute and cozy and snuggly on a cold winter's day. therefore, it will be gifted to someone who lives in place where winter actually happens.

in other news, i've made big progress on the syncopated cap. i really adore doing stranded color work and i love seeing the pattern emerge. this is my first colorwork project, however, and i was carrying the contrast color too tightly and so the green areas look kind of bunched up. i hope it will block out / stretch out when worn!

i have lots more to post about, so i'll be back soon!

~r

it's 107 degrees outside...

2007-07-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

... so why am i knitting wool socks?

1) because i am retarded
2) because i am turning into a knitting-weirdo (i've stopped telling my friends about my projects cuz now they just kind of roll eyes at each other and mumble 'oooo-kaaaay')
3) because koigu is so soft and pretty
4) because i am still shocked to discover that i want to - and enjoy - knitting socks. even though i don't wear socks 350 days out of the year
5) because sock yarn is so awesome
6) because weaving in ends and blocking my basalt tank seems like a total pain in the butt and i don't want to do it
7) because socks are little and cute and i have a slight obsession with things that are little and cute (or miniature versions of big things). god help me if i have chitt-lins. i will probably buy them like 50000 pairs of cute little baby shoes

i'm off to go stick my head in the freezer for a second and enjoy the feeling of evaporating sweat and salt crust forming on my face. mmmm

happy weekends everyone!
~r

i am so weak!

2007-07-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

after seeing this post from sknitty (the worst kind of enabler), i went straight to knitpicks and look what i ordered!

all the books are 40% off - what a steal!! thanks sknitty!!

i'm a STR newbie

2007-06-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

or at least i was until yesterday, when this arrived!!

it's so squishy and beautiful and meaty - i mean there's a lot of yarn in those hanks! it reminds me some of KPM and i loooove Koigu. these colors are jade and blue moonstone and I really like them both. in fact, i'm becoming a really huge fan of semi-solid colorways. it might be my latest obsession. so these 2 hanks are part of a birthday present to myself. see below for the other part:

I also bought a swift. i ordered the 2 together from 'aspen ridge' on ebay and i thinked i payed $85 for all of it. the swift is a large, 100% wood swedish affair and it's gorgeous. anyway, it arrived like 3 days after ordering it, so thank you aspen ridge! they were great to order from. now that i have a swift and winder, i don't know how i ever lived without them. imagine how long it would have taken me to wind up those 2 str skeins!!! my butt would have gone numb. as you can see, they're much more nicely wound using the winder and it's amazing - the yarn cake (cringe - i hate that term - is there something else i can call it??) just sits there undisturbed as i pull more and more yarn out of the center. love it love it.

i had the package from blue moon fiber arts opened within 2 minutes of getting home and the yarn wound within 5 minutes of that and cast on for a new project within 5 minutes of that. if i hadn't promised my dog (and myself) that we would go for a run, i would have sat there all evening and night and knit away. can you guess what i'm making?

also, i recently bought the latest Vogue Knitting. i'm thinking about making this - has anyone else considered it? might be more trouble than it's worth.

i've got about a million WIP at the moment. i've finished the basalt tank, except to add some garter stitch edging around the bottom (i did 1/2 hexagons at the bottom) and will probably post to the knitting nature kal about that soon. i'm also nearing the homestretch with my purple fad classic. i've been too lazy to take it off the needles and try it on, though. hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. so far it looks good! i will have updated photos of those (and other projects) soon...

~r

p.s. my str smelled a tiny bit like vinegar. is that normal?

dishrags and tanktops

2007-06-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

i'm back from the field - 2 looong weeks of hiking around northern california finding and collecting rocks and seeing old friends and it was awesome. i didn't want to come home. here are some pics from the journey (not all from cali):

i was in such denial about returning to the hot hot desert that i stopped in northern arizona to hang with a friend and we went splashing around with the dogs in a beautiful canyon:

on the knitting front, this is all i accomplished while i was in the field:

progress on my fad classic - almost to the point where i'm ready to join the front and back and work in the round. loving the tahki cotton classic - color is beautiful!!

i also knit up a little mason-dixon dishrag for my friend who was keeping my cat for me while i was gone (she actually uses dishrags!)

i'm closing in on finishing the basalt tank - hope to have a FO soon!

~r

crappiest picture ever

2007-05-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

you've been warned - i apparently cannot photograph myself with the timer. all my pictures look like fuzzy crap. i'm hoping to get a better one, but here's the drops lace cardigan in all it's glory. i'm going to redo the button loops later to make them smaller and make the cardigan close tighter and neater. other than that, i'm really happy with it - turned out almost as well as i had hoped! and i wore it out of the house, so that's pretty huge...

i followed tha pattern exactly and it workout well.

Pattern: free from DROPS
yarn: Elsebeth Lavold silky wool, 6 skeins
needles: size 6 addis
mods: none!

i'm in the field collecting rocks until early June, so i'll write more then!!

~r

scattered

2007-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

well, it's been another busy week here in the desert. between the working and the softball and the trail running and the friends in town, i've barely had a moment to knit... oh, and i went to austin over the weekend for a mini family reunion. tons of fun, but now i need a vacation from my vacation. too much drinking / not enough sleep... i'm feeling totally scattered at the moment, so i need to organize my knitting world. i currently have on the needles:

1) fad classic
2) basalt tank (nearing completion - hoping it will look like this)
3) silk garden scarf (sort of like this one, only more rainbow colors - it's for a child)

wait... that can't be it, is that it??

i've recently finished my drops lace cardigan (here it is blocking):

i'm very proud of this one. i can't wait to get some decent pictures of it dry so you can see how pretty it is up close and see the lace pattern. i was nervous about knitting a DROPS pattern because no one seems to do it, but this went pretty smoothly. i'll post details once i get pictures of the finished finished object.

i also finished the other debbie bliss sock with cables down the sides. those are already in a drawer since it's a tad hot in the SW right now and looking at a wool sock makes me hyperventilate.

next up i'm thinking of knitting this (free at IK):

i wish the pictures weren't so washed out. i like the shape of the top and it looks so easy to wear, but i'm thinking of doing it in a blue color and perhaps leaving off the little cap sleeves. plus, my lys carries berroco cotton twist and touche and they're reasonably cheap. (i'm on a kick where i use the called-for yarns - not very original i know..)

finally, i will leave you with a picture of what can happen when things go wrong playing softball. ouch! this was a real zinger. almost 2 weeks have past since i was beaned with the ball and i still have a monster of a bruise. you could even see the laces of the ball in my arm. i'm not gonna lie, i wore this bruise with pride. we were league champs again after all!

back soon with pics of the cardigan and the basalt tank, i hope!

~r

rusted root

2007-05-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

so this isn't a new FO, but i can't seem to get pictures of it that i like. so i've given up and here are the pictures, for better or worse...

pattern: rusted root from the girls at zephyrstyle
yarn: brown sheep cotton fleece, 3 skeins of blue-grey color (lost the bands)
needles: size 6 bamboo circs
mods: lengthened the torso a bit

let me say i loved knitting this! it was fast and easy, the yarn is great (and cheap!) and the lace keeps it interesting without being frustratingly hard. it fits and i've worn it a few times already. it's comfortable and cute and not too warm, even in the desert with a camisole underneath. so what don't i like about it?? i feel like the style of it makes me look top-heavy. and these photos make it look even worse. [i swear it's cuter in real life!! either that or i'm completely deluded]. i think the reason is that the neckline is too high. i'd like this sweater a lot more if the neckline were a little wider and lower, or just more open in general. that would probably be easy to modify and the next time i knit a top down raglan i will be making sure to check that as i go.

see what i mean about top-heavy?

i do love the color, though... it's oddly kind of true to life in this mirror-shot-at-night.

this is totally off the subject but for some reason i feel an urge to put it out there. i'm not accustomed to being single, having been in one serious relationship or another practically since i came out of the womb. i felt real relief when i finally wriggled out of my last long-long-termer, but i think i fully expected to fall into something, well, unexpected before no time. that's what's always happened in the past. so i was shocked the other day to realize how much time has gone by since my last relationship ended. why is that? and more importantly, why is that these days, i am totally uninterested in the people who profess interest in me and ultimately disappointed by the ones i date / get to know??? you know what, now that i write that, i see how ordinary these thoughts are. they're all just part of being single and meeting people and probably lots of people feel this way - right?? i guess writing it down is somehow my therapy. so thanks for reading! both of you - hahahaha...

~r

spring in the desert

2007-04-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

i thought i had killed everything but amazingly i didn't!!! i have a black thumb. i can kill a cactus - in the desert - where it's supposed to live - without help from humans... sometimes i'm dumbfounded by how happy and healthy my pets are - see:

well, i don't know how happy the cat is, but henry the doggie is having a grand time...

anyway, last fall i re-landscaped my front yard with an automated drip irrigation system and native, drought-resistant plants and all sorts of green goodness. and then the winter came round and things froze. i thought all my new plants weren't strong enough or big enough to make it, but they survived - all of them!!

mexican honeysuckle...

and a potted succulent... [and chihuahuan sages and baja fairy dusters and birds of paradise and red yuccas and thornless desert spoons and purple hopbushes and, well, now i'm just showing off that i know the names of all those plants!]

next post i'll hopefully have finished pics of my drops lace cardigan - it fits!

~r

it's all gonna be okay

2007-04-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

i got something in the mail that makes everything all right. all the working and the exhausting schedule and the grumpiness? gone. my box from WEBS arrived!!! happy happy happy day! henry has to inspect the minute it's opened:

everything passed the sniff test - that's great. then i shooed him away cuz i wanted to enjoy the yarn for 2 seconds before it became covered in cat and dog hair. damn animals.

the purple yarn on top is tahki cotton classic destined to become a fad classic. i'm hoping it will turn out like this one. the color is similar, i think... and i am loving the color - so saturated and rich and warm. the minute i opened the box, i pulled out a skein, wound it up and started swatching, but my swatch is coming out way too small - think i'm gonna have to switch needles and play around with this a bit.

(by the way, the tahki cotton is sitting on top of an opera scarf made with debbie bliss pure silk - i just dont have to gumption to work on it).

if you peek beneath the purple yarn, you'll find this:

several balls of rowan wool cotton in a mocha color and some dive autumno - my new favorite hat yarn - it will later become a hat with ear flaps and maybe a pom-pom or 2... the wool cotton - what is it for, you ask?? what else but the basalt tank from knitting nature! i was never attracted to this pattern until i saw it here. i am such a copy-cat. i saw MLE's fad classic and had to make it, then i saw kelp!'s basalt tank and had to make that. seeing kelp!'s tank really made me wonder why i hadn't thought to make half hexagons on the sides too! i never liked the way the hexagons draped down on the sides but i liked everything else about the pattern. as you can see from the ball bands in the box, i've already started this project, too. so far i've made the front hex and am working on side hex numero2. pictures to come on that. i've sent an email about joing the knitting nature KAL so i'm hoping to stay motivated to finish it up soon!

well, i do unfortunately have to work this weekend but i hope the rest of you out there are having a grand time!

~ r

help! in need of a vacation...

2007-04-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

... or maybe just a lobotomy so i wouldn't know how much it sucks to be sitting in a basement lab at 9.30 running a machine and silently mourning the fact that i'll be here for hours more. my work life has been insane lately - i won't bore you with the details. suffice to say getting a phd in the sciences (or any field no doubt) is a LOT of work and what i'm doing requires field work (the fun part) followed by endless amounts of lab work (in part what i'm doing now -ick) and writing (ick ick ick ick ick i hate writing science papers). at least i have my knitting. not that i've been able to do any knitting lately. i hate you grad school. but before i got all hatey and grumpy i did manage to finish something that had been lingering on the needles for an eternity... the melody's shawl from morehouse merino!

it took a long time because it's made of like 40000000 yds of laceweight merino knit around and around in stockinette (it's cut open in the end to make the fringe - so cool) - but it was the best thing for those nights when i wanted to knit but i didn't want to think about what i was knitting. i could just sit there and go around and around and around. the only frustrating thing was that i had to knit a ton to actually see any progress being made (i.e. shawl getting larger / gigantic ball of laceweight getting smaller). i absolutely love the finished product, though, so it's all been worth it! it's a little on the long side, but so light and springy and spongy and warm i don't mind wrapping it a couple of times around the neck. the kit isn't that expensive - $30? $35? and worth every penny in my opinion. ETA: the kit is $38.

well, better get back to my work... yay.

~r

p.s. lobotomy's are creepy and really scare the sh out of me. or maybe it's just the whole old-fashioned medical science - so much superstition and hocus-pocus...

stripes go round

2007-04-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

so last weekend i was really really - like manically - busy and somehow the busy-ness only pushed me to productively fill up every last second of my day with... something good. when i was not outside sweating to death and hauling construction debris from the side of my house up and into a dumpster, i was inside slurping ice water and finishing old knitted projects. admittedly, i worked a lot of wood splinters and dry wall dust into those projects - but i needed to knit them! there was no time for washing my hands and turning on some calming music, etc... it was work work work now sit down and knit knit knit now back to work work work. and it was great. i finished 3 big projects - 3!! i haven't had a chance to get a good photo of this one on me yet, but allow me to present the stripes go round sweater from interweave knits summer '04:

i know you can't see it all, but at least you can see the stripes and the yoke and the neckline and the cute little sleeves... actually, the rest of the sweater is pretty boring in comparison. just imagine the stripes going down (no waist shaping) and just kind of draping right below my waist. i increased the length a bit before adding the sleeves so the bottom of the sweater hits an inch or so below the top of my jeans - it's a good length.

all these stripes though meant a sweater with some pretty ugly guts:

lots of ends to weave in. i started by joining the new color each time i got to a color change round but in the end opted to just carry the yarn up the side, as you see here. MUCH better...

i tried my hardest but the armpit seams also came out a little ugly:

should i have grafted those stitches with green instead of the gold-colored yarn? maybe... at least i can say there aren't any holes where the grafted parts meet the rest of the sweater. i've had that problem in the past (child's placket neck sweater) and i thought it was super ugg.

anyway, i recommend this sweater. simple construction, easy to wear, nice and cool, pretty cute, too. i love the open, scooped neckline a lot. here are the details:

yarn: elsebeth lavold hempathy (hemp / cotton / modal); 6 balls (3 green; 2 gold; 1 pink)
needles: size 3 inox circs and long bamboo circ for sleeves done w/ magic loop
pattern: IK knits summer '04
mods: none - except lengthening the body by about an inch...

well, back to work... oh, and check out the results of the home-work i was talking about!

before:

and after:

~r

p.s. that pile re-grew itself since i took that last shot because the demolition continues!

my first sock

2007-04-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

i always swore that i would never knit a sock, mainly because i don't wear socks very often (my feet get claustrophic), but also because 1) tiny needles, tiny yarn; 2) you have to make 2; 3) they just didn't seem like fun... but they are fun!! i had a great time making this sock - i don't even remember how / when the urge hit me to start it, but it was a fast knit on size 3s and i found the construction intriguing. for you sockies out there, it was knit on dpns from the top down with a short row heel.

pattern: debbie bliss simple living
yarn: RY cashsoft dk in a pale blue
needles: size 3 plymouth bamboo dpns

the good: they fit! no big problems, yarn is super soft - in fact, i can't wait to make a hat out of some greens and greys that i have. i love that they're more or less plain but have the cable up the side. and they're machine washable - yay!!

the bad: the holes in the heel. the pattern instructions just tell you to turn (and not wrap and turn) when working the short row heel. i guess i could have foreseen that / figured it out soon if i had really thought it through... oh well, it really doesn't bother me all that much since the socks are kinda thick and are good for scuffling around the house and not as much to be worn with shoes.

the last words: i will make more socks! and i have to admit that i've always been a little obsessed with sock yarn (i even bought some koigu the other day because i couldn't resist it) so i'm glad to have something to do with it! next time, though, i'm knitting them from the toe up on 2 circs.

i'm off to start the second sock!

~ r

quick post

2007-03-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

I've been gone a long time - busy and traveling mostly, but I have been knitting! Here's a few pics of what I've been up to lately, although there are some bigger projects that need unveiling soon...

Hats are from Last Minute Knitted gifts and knit in Noro kochoran (the one with the ear flaps) and in DiVe autumno (I think!).

The baby kimono was knit with sugar n' cream cotton and the mason dixon gals are right - it is heartbreakingly cute!!

Hope everyone's enjoying some spring weather - be back soon!

~r

more knitting nature

2007-01-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

i am officially obsessed with this book. it's so bad i can't finish one project without wanting to run out and get yarn for something else. in need of a fast project, i decided to knit the droplet hat at the end of the book. i used the called-for yarn (again - this is amazing - i usually sub the yarn and choose poorly):

a day later i finished the hat...

and decided i didn't like it. it's a little too small. i like a hat that covers my head and that i can snug down over my ears. since i ride my bike everywhere, it's got to be warm and snug. plus it kind of reminds me of a bathing cap that a woman in the 50s would wear. not sure why. so i'm going to frog it and try knitting a modified version of Wendy at Knit and Tonic's natty. i'll have to change it a bit because the gauge is much different. i don't care for mine to be reversible so i'm leaving that out too. i've basically rewritten the pattern for what i want to make and i'm nervous. it'll kill me to knit two hats out of this yarn (which i loooove) and not like either of them.

also, i'm putting my celery-colored pure silk to use, making an open-work scarf. the pattern is from blue sky alpacas, called the opera scarf (it was a free pattern, but i couldn't find it on their website just now).

hope everyone's having a great weekend!

~r

p.s. oh, and i'm desperate to buy some supermerino and make this.

p.p.s. i'm off to buy a pair of cleats (i joined a softball league), as well as a new pair of sneakers since my @#(! dog ate mine...

knitting nature i love you

2007-01-20T22:49:00.000-08:00

aaaah i have so many projects going on and so much swimming around in my head, i'm just going to blurt it out. or maybe list it out.

1) i love knitting nature so much

2) i had a wonderful holiday break - i hope everyone else out there did, as well. the only knitted gift i made was a shifting sands scarf for my dad. i unfortunately don't have a picture of it, but i knit it with knitpicks merino style in nutmeg (a kind of sandy tan color - how appropriate!). i cast on 53 sts (or whatever the pattern calls for) and even knit on size 5s, this made for a very wide and substantial scarf. the pattern is beautiful - thank you grumperina! if i were to knit another, though, i would knit it with fatter yarn, casting on fewer stitches. it seemed to take forever to finish the thing! i would also knit it with a solid-colored, but subtley-variegated yarn. i have some hand-dyed merino from uruguay that would have been perfect, but it was purple and i didn't have enough. alas... fyi: including fringe, the scarf took 5 (!) skeins of yarn. no wonder it took so long to make, the mini cables just sucked up the yarn - and my time.

3) i got lots of knitting loot for christmas, but i was most excited about knitting nature. i had been drooling over this book since it first came out, but just couldn't bring myself to buy it for myself. silly, i know, since i CAN bring myself to buy lots of other things for myself. like $150 worth of yarn from WEBS. oops. and a $75 E-Z sew blocking board. and $300 blinds for my living room windows. but a $30 beautiful book?? no way!! anyway, i LOVE the book so much, i immediately dove into 2 projects. first, the sunflower tam, just to get something going quick. here is in progress:

i'm knitting this on size 9 needles, in the called for lite lopi (in marine heather, just like the child model - only i'm making the adult size). it was a nice quick knit and i loved seeing the phyllotaxis pattern emerge, but i must say i found the "LT" a difficult to do. since this photo, i've completed the beret (tam? what's the difference?) and will post a picture on a head soon. for real. btw - see the other knitting books i got in the background??

i'm also super excited about the rams horn jacket. this is a shot of the right front. not a great photo, but i wanted you to see the contrasting light blue hem. i didn't mean for it to show at all, but now i'm really glad you just see the edging of blue.

the hem is knit in ella rae wool on size 6 needles and the main sweater is knit on size 7s in classic elite skye tweed in upland green heather. this is a nice yarn - perfect for a jacket / sweater - and is cheap at WEBS right now. got get some!

4) the melody's shawl is coming along, although seemingly at a snail's pace. it's like those bowls of pasta you sometimes order in a restaurant and you eat and eat and yet the amount of pasta in the bowl appears not to change? know what i mean? knitting a gigantic scarf / shawl with hundreds of yards of laceweight yarn means that you knit (in this case, around and around in circles) and the ball of yarn doesn't get any smaller. the yarn, however, is gorgeous and i just know i'm going to love it when it's completed. knit loosely on 10s, it knits into a fabric that's kind of spongy and light, but yet warm and soft and cozy. mmm

5) i do have more, but i'll save it for another post, which i will do soon. for real again!

~r

Back next year

2006-12-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

Goodbye blogland - I'm off to the East Coast to see my family and eat sick amounts of food and drink too much and laugh a lot and probably get testy with a sister or stepmother. Before I go, though, I wanted to share some pictures of my new dog, Henry. I've had him for a couple of months now and I already can't imagine my life without him. He was a rescue from the local animal control and I just can't believe no one wanted this guy - he is such a sweet little soul (although he's not that little - 55lbs - that's not so little, is it?). See for yourselves...

If only I could get my cat to love him as much as I do... This is the closest they've ever been to one another without Wilma (the cat) trying to tear a hole in his nose. In her defense, he is pretty annoying, chasing her around and everything. Henry, she DOES NOT want to play with your slobbery self!

Hope you all have wonderful holidays!!

~r

screw christmas... just kidding

2006-12-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

even though i live in the desert and the only way you would know it's holiday time is by the occasional santa hat stuck on the top of a saguaro cactus, i felt filled with the christmas spirit the other day. so on my way home, i steered my bike by the lys and bought some really nice ella rae wool. this yarn is a great deal (nice soft 100% wool at $6.75 / 220yds). anyway, i was going to make some cutie christmas ornaments a la the ones made by this lovely knitter. but when i tried to make them, they (it - i only stuffed one) looked ugly and lumpy and bumpy and not round, with ends hanging out everywhere. see fo yoself:

i must be the messiest knitter out there! maybe it's because i stuffed the ornament with batting that my dog pulled out of his latest chew toy, which he eviscerated in a very scary way. anyway, i'm not feelin the ornaments (they're from handknit holidays, by the way), so instead i'm going to use the yarn to make knit and tonic's quicko - cheapo. it should be perfect for that!

pictures of my long-ago finished rusted root coming soon. i loved that pattern and i actually wear it... outside of my house.

happy weekends everyone!
r

what was i thinking...!?

2006-12-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

when i sat down and ordered a pair of $180 boots that i can't afford?? but aren't they so cute? i'm hoping i won't regret the splurge once they arrive and i try them on and love love love them! they're danskos, and i've got my fingers crossed that they'll be as comfortable as the clogs that i've worn to stringy leather threads...

i've had very little time for knitting lately but what i do have, i've spent toiling away on my DROPS lace cardigan. does anyone ever knit patterns from the DROPS site? i feel like this stupid little girl who doesn't know any better and there's a big world of knit bloggers just shaking their heads sadly saying to themselves 'it's a mistake she'll just have to make and learn from...' i'm sort of kidding, but really, why hasn't anyone knitted any drops stuff?? here's what i'm making and a peek at what i've been up to. real pictures to come.

i'm knitting the sweater with silky wool on size 6s (size 5 for the ribbing) in an earthy green color. i think the yarn is perfect for this project. i just love silky wool and silky tweed, but i've said that before... i've finished the body and am about half way through one sleeve so if i can keep focused on this project and not get all twitchy and ADD, i might even finish before christmas!!

~r

some old FOs

2006-11-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

i was cruising around on my computer looking for a file when i turned up some pics of old finished objects i thought i'd share. the first is a child's sweater made for a friend's newest boy bouncer. this friend of mine is a baby machine. my age and 4 kids - it stresses me out just to think about it.

pattern: child's placket neck pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
yarn: cascade quattro (100% peruvian wool) - kind of tweedy orange yellow
needles: size 7 bamboo circs
buttons: cheap little yellow circles picked up at Joann fabrics
overall: great pattern - easy to follow, easy to knit. i would definitely make this again, although i would do it with a different yarn. i had the cascade in my stash so i figured what the hell, but i think for a child's sweater the yarn should be softer and less grown up. i do, however, love the fabric the quattro makes and would knit with it again. in fact, i've still got another hank or 2 in the stash...
p.s. photos of this sweater taken by a truly amazing artist - check her out here.

the other FO is one of the first things i knit and gave away - a simple garter stitch scarf made with 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon on size 8 needles. To make: cast on ~30 stitches. RS: K; WS: K, repeat until desired length. BO all stitches. add fringe. email me with your questions - sure there will be lots!!

more to come when my schedule frees up a little. hope everyone out there is having a beautiful day!
~ r

im back

2006-11-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

i wasn't sure about the whole blogging thing. i love reading other people's blogs (does that make me a stalker?) and i especially love looking at all the beautiful photos that people post. it's all very voyueristic which is why i love blogs so much and also why i feel nervous about continuing mine. what if people i know see it? will that embarrass me? do i want strangers knowing what i look like? what i am like? it makes me so proud and so envious of all of you out there sharing your lives and your accomplishments - i wish i could be so brave!

so i was browsing through my blog contemplating getting rid of the whole thing when i saw i had a comment at the bottom of one of my posts and i got so excited and kind of nervous, too. turns out it was a sweet comment from one of my fave bloggers, Jenna of cinemaknits, encouraging me to keep posting. so i will - thanks Jenna! its funny, but that one little comment really turned things around for me and i feel a renewed ability to put myself out there... a little bit...

so in that spirit i am posting some pictures of myself -
from behind

this was taken in my new home office just moments after assembling my desk

and from the side

this was taken driving up to northern Arizona with my best friend

and from far away

this was taken with best friend in No. AZ

one day i'll be brave enough to post a picture head on and upclose... maybe...

lots has happened knitting-wise since my last post so i'll be trying to catch the blog up with FOs and pictures and updated links in the side bar. thanks to all who may be reading - i look forward to continuing with my own little personal digital therapy.

~ r

everything's in pieces

2006-07-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

finishing sucks butt. there is no other way to put it. as i go, i am getting better and better at sewing pieces together and am starting to feel (prematurely) confident in my matress-stitching skills. i can even graft. but sewing up big ole hole-y lace-y pieces with cotton tape yarn? ugh. it is going to suck. and it's probably going to be bulky and not flattering. from now on, it's only top down in the round sweaters with skinny yarn for me... here's carla as she lay on the floor while i paced around and drank beer and screwed up the courage to go after her with purple yarn and tapestry needle.

i also f-ed up the feather and fan shawl. it's such an easy knit - how could you do that?? i can do anything, that's what makes me special... i was knitting along and got to the end and realized i had more stitches on one side of the shawl than on the other. at first i tried to convince myself that that was no big deal, but all along i knew that the damn thing was supposed to be symmetrical. so i had to do some emergency surgery on her.

i will say the one good thing about using noro kureyon is that the stitches are stiff and hold together. so they don't just fall apart and unravel when you rip back (think slippery silk and cotton). this also makes it easier to pick back up the 3000 or so stitches you just ripped. i hate ripping out mistakes. hate it hate it hate it. from now on, i will make no more mistakes. durn, though, i already made one on trellis, which i have been knitting feverishly away on. i have to redo the top of the cable at one of the shoulders - i screwed it up after this was taken. although you wouldn't be able to see the mistake anyway because the picture is crappy. and that's because my camera is crappy (and because i'm on a booze break and might have the DTs). i don't like to take pics with the flash on indoors because it looks bad, but when i don't use flash, my pictures are always blurry. you just. can't. win.

anyway, here's my one piece of advice to anyone knitting trellis: actually make a gauge swatch in the cable pattern. i of course did not and i ended up with a 6 month size when what i wanted was the 12 month size. you see, all those cable and twists really do scruntch up and shrink down the sweater. oh - and in case you get confused my the left twist directions like i me, here's what i did:

sl 1 stitch
knit next stitch tbl
slip last 2 stitches back onto LH needle
knit 1st stitch (the slipped one) tbl
slip next stitch
and continue on...

hope that helps!
bye for now,
~r

p.s. i'm knitting trellis knitpicks shine worsted (color = coral). this yarn is great - so so soft and washable. perfect for a baby sweater. might get a little heavy for a big person sweater.

rainy days

2006-07-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

are good for knitting. and sitting. and daydreaming about people far away that you'd really like to see. and make out with... so, i'm settling for knitting today. i finished the cabled hat i was working on. i love making hats, they're so quick and easy and cheap. this one was for a coworker and since i've already given it away, there will be no pics with it on a head. not that you'd want to see my greasy mug today - trust me.

hat details: cabled headhugger, pattern here. knit on 16" size 8 takumi bamboo circs and size 8 bamboo crystal palace dpns. yarn is a worsted merino from 100purewool - very, very soft. their yarn and service are fabulous, by the way. although i should warn you that the color ran out when blocking and even stained my fingers a little. if i had it to do all over again, though, i would have chosen a solid-colored yarn for cables - they just don't pop out the way i had hoped with this stripey stuff. also, should i knit this again (which i think i will), i would make the ribbing at the bottom shorter and the hat overall a little longer.

i've also made substantial progress on carla. the back and the front and now finished and i'm moving on to the sleeves. i've only got 2.5 balls of yarn left, though, so i'll be trying to squeak out 2 little short sleeves for this one...

(the purple color in the closeup is more true to real life)
back to my daydreaming...

~r

happy birthday america!

2006-07-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

is it unpatriotic to not be that excited about the 4th of july? i appreciate the significance of this holiday, really i do, but if i'm being honest, i only like the 4th of july because it means a day off from work and an excuse to be outside having drinks with friends and watching fireworks. but the over-the-top gaudy americana of it kinda grosses me out. and if i have to hear the stupid toby keith song one goddamn time, i swear i'll... why i'll... throw my corn dog at someone!

it's been so long since i last blogged, i've been subconsciously saving up lots of words and thoughts and news. first, check out the updates i've made to the sidebar. i will have a FO page coming soon and i will (semi) regularly be updating my current and upcoming knit links. at the moment, i've got a lot of things in the works. i've temporarily put my feather and fan shawl and somewhat cowl on hold, cos lookie what i got...

i swear it took about all of 12 hours for this stuff to arrive from elann. they are so awesome there. anyway, i got 7 balls of the purple / blue cotton tape and the book. i've already started right in on making carla. i was inspired by the finished carlas I saw here and here and here (there are many more beautiful carlas out there - and so many talented knitters it's mind-blowing!).

i think it's going to be the perfect summer / fall sweater to pull on over a little camisole. the cotton tape feels so heavenly, too. it's the first rowan yarn i've ever worked with and i'm hooked. it is sooooo soft and cool and drapes so nicely. like others who have made the sweater, though, i'm afraid it will be too big - the pattern really stretches out. i decided to make the medium because my gauge measured a little tight in my swatch, but it's still looking big. oh well, others said they threw carla in the wash and it shrunk up a bit. since i only have 7 balls of yarn, i plan to make my sleeves shorter - probably 3/4 or a long short-sleeve. know what i mean? stayed tuned for updates on this - i'm moving along very quickly on it. i started it on sunday and i'm already finished with the back. by the way, should you decide to make this, beware of crappy, incomplete pattern. i looked here for help on making the raglan decreases.

hope everyone has a delightful 4th of july. happy birthday america!
~r

spare change

2006-07-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

i overheard an add on tv the other day that coinstar will no longer take its percentage cut so long as your turn your change into gift certificates. 2 of the places issuing those certificates were amazon and itunes. really? for those who don't know, coinstar is a machine that is located usually in local supermarkets. the idea is that you bring in your loads of spare change laying around the house, dump it all in the machine, it counts your change and spits back paper cash at you - minus about 9% of your total amount. well, i'm one of those people who's got buckets upon buckets of brassy-smelling change lying around. now, my change consists mostly of pennies because in moments of desperation - out of cash and dying for an espresso or ball of yarn - i'll comb through the dishes and bags and old coffee cans and skillfully extract every last quarter... and dime. sometimes i'll even grab at the nickels, but those are really depressing days i don't like to talk about... anyway, i've always thought "F you coinstar! i can count my own damn change and keep the value of all 100% of it!! i don't care if i have to go buy those stupid paper rolls and spend all day counting and stacking my pennies, at least at the end of the day i'll have $4.50 and not $4.05!" so when i learned that you can use coinstar's amazing coin counting capabilities free of charge by turning your change in gift cards, i was happy, happy, happy. i'm hoping to have enough change lying around to be able to order Knitting Nature from amazon. i've been drooling over this for a while now and i. must. have. it.

back with some actual knitting later!
~r

another year gone by

2006-06-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

well, today is my birthday and i think i've magically crossed that time when birthdays stop being fun and start seeming a little scary. can it be that a whole nother year's gone by? why is it that time seems to accelerate as you get older? i can remember being younger and feeling that the four years of high school lasted an eternity and now i toss around years like they're nothing - no time at all. I startled myself the other day by casually saying: 'not long... maybe a couple of years...'

a couple of years!!!! that used to be a lifetime!!

in knitting news, i've finally got a pic of the finished katia sweater.

there are a few problems with this sweater, of course (god! will i ever make a sweater that fits properly?!). first of all, the neck is seriously wide and flash-dancy. i have to wear it with a camisole underneath, which was never my intention. second, it poofs above the ribbed bottom band - exactly where you don't want any poof. if i was going for that look, i'd stick some lumpy socks into the waistband of my pants - that'd look great. and third, the sleeves are not too flattering, although the sleeves on my sweater and very much like those on the model, so i should have seen that coming. i'll try to post a full view of it later...

i just returned from a work trip where we cruised around parts of wyoming, utah and colorado. although we only passed through them, i am now officially in love with the uinta mountains - they are so beautiful. they're high, lush, rugged, glaciated, full of alpine lakes and meadows, sprinkled with wildflowers, fresh and cold. if i had had the gear with me, i would have insisted on being left there for a few days to explore. i'll just have to go back some day...

oh, and i saw moose - 3 of them!

most of my pictures can't come near to capturing the beauty of the place, but i do have a couple of some falls that we checked out:

while on this trip, i got some knitting done on the somewhat cowl.

i finally got to try it on and it's a little loose-fitting through the rib cage, but i'm not giving up hope. eventually i will make a sweater that fits well, right? while it's frustrating to not make wearable garments, i will continue to try, for the trying and making is the fun part... and i'm getting closer and closer to success with every attempt. i think.

~r

a day off

2006-06-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

from work, from thinking, from having things to do. okay, so i have a lot of things i need to do, but i feel no real hurry to do them... i'm loving every second of not doing shit. but i am knitting - so that's something i guess! i finished the green hat i was working on:

i love, love the yarn. it's so soft and fuzzy and touchable and pretty and subtley-stripey. i bought it at a yarn shop in flagstaff and haven't seen the same yarn anywhere else. so i'm stuck with the 1.5 balls of it i have left. maybe enough for another hat? some mittens? something little and cute? i dunno...

i'm making progress on my somewhat cowl. based on what i had read on others' blogs, i decided to stop my raglan increases at 9.25 inches, instead of the 10.5 the pattern calls for. it's too soon to tell if this was a wise move or not. i may have to add some increases now to get the right fit through the bust. but since i'm not thinking today, i'll just have to figure that out later.

i've also begun a new project. i was so inspired by the feather and fan shawls that hello yarn and cosmicpluto had made, that i had to have one for myself! [note: wonderful pattern available free online here]. i loved how colorful and rich and warm they looked. not fussy, yet delicate enough to not be bulky and dumpy. i thought and i thought and debated and debated over what yarn to use for the project. i wanted something really colorful, but with colors that morphed and changed organically. i didn't want a shawl that looked like a crayola box. immediately i thought i wanted to use silk garden. i love silk garden - the feel the colors the drape the natural-ness of the yarn. but it's so damn expensive! i suffered visibly at the yarn shop putting it back on the shelf and picking up some kureyon instead.

so, i've begun the shawl in kureyon. the colors and look of it are exactly what i wanted but the feel of it, well... is not quite right. i'm in denial about this at the moment, but if i'm honest with myself, i'd have to admit that kureyon is scratchier than hell!! it's awlful!! i wouldn't put it against my skin! thank god i'm making a shawl - or more like a winter wrap-up. i'm going to continue with the kureyon and finish the shawl because i'm stubborn and i'm going to keep my needles crossed that a good soak with lots of conditioner at the end will soften the kureyon some. anyone know of any good ways to make it softer??
anyway, here's what it looks like so far:

which shade(s) of kureyon should i use next? rainbows (left)? blues / purples (middle)? reds / browns (right)?

oh, and i almost forgot. while picking up the noro for my shawl, i also grabbed some cotton fleece:

know what it's for?
give up?
go here.

in non-knitting news, i had a delightful dinner party last night. i made my go-to meal: pork tenderloin and cheese grits. sooooo yummy and rich. i thought i'd share with you THE BEST marinade for pork tenderloin EVER. i swear. i've made this maybe 20 times now and it's always dee-lish.

in a sauce pan, stir and bring to a boil the following ingredients:

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

let boil for 1-2 minutes and remove from heat. pour over pork tenderloin and bake at 350 for... i dunno... 35 minutes or until pork is pink on the inside. spoon some of the marinade onto the pork and cheese grits / potatoes / rice / whatever and enjoy!!

happy friday everyone!

~r

tfgif

2006-06-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

guess what the other f stands for???

i'm tired and i'm sick of working and i really just want to move to a peaceful little A-frame house in the mountains by a creek and make stuff and be outside. instead i'm spending the summer commuting back and forth to an office lit with flourescent lights (half of which are not working). and i HATE flourescent lights. they suck all the good juju out of me. i work for big oil. they got money, right? apparently not enough for a goddamn incandescent light bulb.

i was complaining to my dearest most creative most beautiful friend (L - if you ever see this - hi!) the other night that i'm not sure i like the routine of waking up at the buttcrack and wearing high heels every day. she said "you wear high heels!? sell out!". she was only kidding, but i got to thinking about it and, while i hate having to wear them every day, i do actually like me some high heels and think they're purty. so i took some pics of them and here they are:

but moving right along... to the knitting...

before i head out for the night, here's the latest in cozy knitting-land (where i wish i could spend most of my days).

the fuzzing chunky green yarn i posted a pic of last time is being worked into a rib-brimmed hat (pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts - my fave book) for a friend, and the somewhat cowl is coming along. to prove it...

hope everyone is getting ready to have a fantastic weekend full of sunshine and laughs!
~ r

start at the beginning

2006-05-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

"A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead"
- Graham Greene The End of the Affair

welcome to the blog of thorny desert girl! since i don't know where to begin, i'll beginning at the beginning... i've been doing a lot of knitting and, like always, i've been knitting like an ADD fool on crack. i can't start one project without jumping to another without getting up and running to the yarn shop or the computer for new yarn and ideas. i want to make so many things and i want to make them now now now! before diving into the dreamworld of what CAN be made, i'll introduce you to some things i'm currently working on.

i'm finally in the finishing stages of a short-sleeved sweater from Katia no. 48 (primavera / verano). the sweater (#28) is a simple, unshaped, boatneck that i'm knitting in elsebeth lavold's silky tweed color number 10 (a peachy / yellowish shade).

here it is blocking on the floor:

here's an upclose shot of the bottom ribbing. the color in the images is pretty true...

now i just have to sew up the side and sleeve seams (which sucks i hate finishing) and try it on (which sucks even worse since i can't ever seem to make a sweater that fits). i'll post a finished picture of it when it's all seemed up!

details on the sweater: knit on size 6 bamboo circs (bottom ribbing done on size 5 addis. pattern called for size 4s and tubular cast-on, but i used 5s and knit cast-on). yarn: silky tweed #10, 7 skeins (size b). other mods: started sleeves at 23 cm below shoulder seam and knit sleeves to 4", instead of 2.75". pattern is good, but it's a lot of boring stock. knit flat.

there are actually quite a few patterns i would make out of this book, but i'm not crazy about the sometimes fugly colors of katia yarns. having said that, wendy at knitandtonic (love her!) made this sweater in the katia jamaica and it turned out great. and that's enough about that for now...

i'm also working on knitandtonic's (love her!) somewhat cowl sweater. so far so good with this. i'm knitting it in elsebeth lavold's silky wool (earthy green). i guess i'm on a silky tweed / wool kick right now. i just like the colors and the weight and drape of the yarns. they seem good for desert knitting - especially summer desert knitting...

as you can see, i'm not very far along at the moment:

i'll keep you posted as things develop with this sweater. i've read on other blogs that i shouldn't increase the raglan seam to the 10+ inches called for in the pattern. anyone out there with advice on that?

details on this sweater: knitting on size 5 29" inox circs. yarn is silky wool #08. following pattern with no mods so far, making size 38, although my gauge is the tiniest bit off so i'm expecting this to be a little bit smaller.

since this is my first post, i'll add some dirty pics:

some of my stash tucked away in a little basket. i have maybe another basket or two of yarn, so it's not too out of control, i don't think... here's some of what's in the basket:

silky wool for the somewhat cowl project. does it count as stash yarn if i'm actively using it??

soft green chunky yarn that i'll probably use for a hat / mittens...

more green yarn... top is alpaca cloud from knitpicks and on bottom, green debbie bliss pure silk. i also bought the book. this yarn is soooooo soft and soooo delicious - you must get your little fingers on it. i'll probably use the laceweight for this stole. and the silk for this.

to show you that not all of my stash is green, here's some other stuff from the basket.

some purple yarns. top = purple worsted merino from 100purewool (ebay). great stuff, super soft. used a blue and brown colorway for the 2nd clapotis i made... bottom = purple laceweight knitpicks shadow - don't know what i'll use it for yet.

and finally, more from knitpicks. this time 10 balls of barn red andean silk. this will be some kind of sweater. someday. maybe.
good god that is exhausting! how do all you bloggers do it!?
i'm off to make a lasagna and open a bottle of red. hope everyone's having a great mem day weekend!
~r