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September 30, 2005
A new Art & Souls scarf
Doesn't this yarn look comfy nestled in among the gourds? Soon it will lose it's gourd-like shape and be transformed into another scarf! I think I need to come up with more inspirational names for my creations (cause knitting a scarf called Fat Cables makes me feel a little dumpy!) I'm still trying to decide on the design for this yarn. Maybe another cabled scarf. Who knows... hopefully the yarn will speak to me. Or maybe my readers will comment? (yes, that was a pathetic plea.)
Addition 10/2/05: This is handspun bulky from handpaintedyarn.com in Burgandy. I bought all my yarn for my Art & Souls scarves from that site. I have been very happy with it -- the yarn is beautiful and it is a very good value.
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)
September 29, 2005
It's fall!
There is a chill in the air and I need to finish that Midwest Moonlight scarf, like, yesterday. But I am not a super-speedy knitter. Instead of knitting tonight, I am going out to Martinis & Manicures at Fish with some friends. (There may be pictures....!)
Posted by zarah at 6:04 PM
Moonlight Madness
MmMmMmMm.... I cast on for Moonlight Madness with my lovely Jo Sharp yarn. I love the yarn and I love the pattern so far. I have had to rip back a couple times, where I mysteriously lost a stitch without having dropped any. I blame the yarn overs.
So far I am not seeing the zig-zag effect that the picture in the book shows. But hopefully it will start happening as the end of the scarf gets farther from the needle.
Oh, can I just say WOW at the great deals in Elann's last newsletter? What a great resource for affordable yarn. Unfortunately I am on a yarn diet until I sell some scarves. I had to make a fairly major investment on the yarn upfront (more than I noramlly spend, at least!) some I need to knit it up before buying more.
Yes... I have willpower not to buy yarn... Just stay out of the yarn shops!
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM
September 28, 2005
Fat Cables
Look! I finished my second Art & Souls scarf. This is also my first cabled project. I think it looks pretty good for a beginner. It is a simple 6 stitch cross-over cable. I call it "Fat Cables" because that is what Size 11 needles do to a cable. It's just a fact of life. I attempted to cable without a cable needle, but of course I am too stubborn to actually look up instructions, so that ended in disaster. Pretty much every time I would try to do it, I would drop stitches left and right.
Is there a way to fix a cable crossed in the wrong direction without ripping back to the mistake?
Posted by zarah at 8:35 PM | Comments (1)
September 27, 2005
Scarf yarn
Yes. I grant you permission to bask in the beauty of my fancy yarn. I got this for a steal from elann. I love that place. Thank you, Canada!
Anyway, back to my beauteous yarn. It is Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed. 85% Wool, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere. I don't usually buy the fanciest yarn out there, but the price was reasonable and I had just bought Scarf Style.... what's a girl to do but knit herself a Midwest Moonlight? Especially living in the Midwest and all!
I am supposed to be focusing on Art & Souls scarves right now, but those big needles and thick yarn (essential for quick scarf-knitting) are starting to get on my nerves! I just want to work with something thin and pretty and... cashmere. Yum.
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM
September 26, 2005
Shawls?
There are many blogger who knit beautiful shawls. I am so impressed by the tiny stitches and beautiful designs. But I keep wondering... does anyone really wear those things? Aren't shawls for grandmas and Italian war widows? Apparently I was wrong.
Posted by zarah at 6:11 PM
Fall decorations
Okay, okay. I know I said I would get right back to knitting content, but I couldn't resist posting this picture. This is Matt and I's first year in our own house (!) so we decorated it up for fall. Matt also wants to do some scary Halloween decorations. We're still negotating that. =)
Anyway, that hay bale up on the porch is my new favorite place to pose yarn for pictures. I may even have a scarf wrapped around a pumpkin before the season is over!
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM
September 25, 2005
I have a confession....
I don't know how to block. I've tried to do it a couple of times, but it really didn't seem to make a difference. How do you keep the dang thing stretched out evenly? How wet does it need to be? Is ironing okay? Oh the shame. Can I even call myself a real knitter?
Posted by zarah at 10:26 PM
September 23, 2005
Law stuff
Jeremy is doing a series of posts on law student job aspirations, the law firm interview process, and deciding what to do with a law degree. It's good advice for people thinking about going into law school. I think I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted when a went into law school, which was to work in a small firm like my dad does. He is works in a small town (8,000 people) and I am in a small city (150,000) but the "small firm" atmosphere is the same. But most people (a) don't have a lawyer in the family, (b) get lured by the high salaries of big firms to pay off student loans (which I thankfully didn't have to deal with), and caught in the "prestige trap" that says that the best people get judicial clerkships and work for huge firms. Anyway, go look at Jeremy's site if this in interesting to you -- if not, I'll be back to knitting content soon!
Posted by zarah at 12:33 PM
Yarn question
Has anyone tried the Peruvian Baby Silk from elann?
Posted by zarah at 10:46 AM
September 22, 2005
Copper Scarf
As promised, here is a photo of my first finished scarf that will be sold at Art & Souls. As you can tell, this is a super close-up shot, but I wanted to show the shiny! The colors are fairly accurate. The sunset is good to the brown yarn!
It is a simple K1, P1 scarf on some big ole size 11's, with some metallic copper embroidery thread held together with the first and last five inches of the scarf. You can probably also tell from the picture that this yarn is seriously thick/thin. I'm pretty sure I ordered bulky, but.... esta bien. It's gives it character.
This is my attempt to be vaguely trendy and jump on that metallic bandwagon I've been hearing so much about. I still have nightmares of my high school Spanish teacher's gold Easy Spirit pumps, but I guess some people haven't experienced that particular horror. So, moral of the story: gold shoes, I will not go there. Shiny copper scarf, I can handle.
I also liked that the copper thread brought out the copper tone of the yarn. I don't want people to look at this gorgeous, subtlely variegated yarn and say: "But, I don't like brown!" (Bad Grumperina!)
I have a purple scarf currently in progress. I am still working on design ideas for red, green and yallow. (No, I did not spell that wrong -- it is a crazy hillbilly yellow (thus, "yallow") that I swear looked different on the website. Oh well, I guess that's the price you pay for bargain merino! I have almost decided that some cheesy 70's design is the only way to go.
Posted by zarah at 10:02 PM
September 21, 2005
Current Projects
What's on my needles now? I usually have several projects going at once. I used to be a strictly one-project-at-a-time girl, but a certain Honeymoon Cami involved a heck of a lot of stickinette, and I got bored. (Sorry Julia!) It was my first time knitting an item of clothing (not accessory) and it was . . . really big. That's okay. I learned lots of lessons with that project. But that's another post.
Current knitting:
1. The Never-Ending Sweater. This is the Men's Zipped Raglan from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It is temporarily on hold while I wait for more yarn to come from oh-so-helpful Kennita at Wildflower Yarns.
2. The Copper Scarf. This is one of several scarves I am knitting for sale at a Springfield store that carries work by several local artists, Art and Souls.
3. The Fake-Cabled Socks. Actually these are from a free pattern I got from the internet with the intention of teaching myself to do short row heels. It's not going so well. I really need to find a knitting buddy here in Springfield that can show me all these tricky techniques.
4. The Fat Cables Scarf. Another scarf for sale. All of the scarves I'm making for Art & Souls are made out of delicious 100% merino from handpaintedyarn.com. I admit it was a little sketchy ordering from their site, and it took longer to ship than most yarn orders I've placed, but it was worth it. Great prices and beautiful colors. I'll devote a whole post to it (and its home, the yarn closet) sometime soon.
Okay, I promise: photos of all these projects soon!
Posted by zarah at 9:39 PM
September 20, 2005
New yarn from Santa Fe
It may not look like the kind of mohair you normally buy at your favorite yarn shop, but this is authentic handspun hand-dyed mohair. It doesn't have the fuzzy halo I normally think of when I think of mohair -- instead, it has big curls coming off of it like a curly-headed baby. I could only afford one ball of this stuff (plus the yarnseller at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market only had one ball in this color) so... I need some suggestions of what I can make that is worthy of my new acquistion.
Posted by zarah at 6:20 PM
September 19, 2005
All-blogger Shrug 2
Okay, I'm going to stop being so vain. Here is a picture of the shrug. Never mind that it doesn't match what I'm wearing, my hair apparently hasn't been combed in decades, and my eyes are glowing like a fiend. I like the shrug. I think I will actually wear it in public (unlike my attempt at the honeymoon cami, which was waaaaaay too low cut for my modest self).
Posted by zarah at 9:34 PM
All-Blogger Shrug
My inaugural blog photo! It is very blurry but I was taking pics at night. At least this shows the yarn I used a little bit. The un-pattern I used was from Purly Whites, and can be found here. The only change I made was knitting the two arm sections in the round -- no seaming for Zarita! I also didn't put any edging on the wrists -- I ran out of yarn.
The yarn is ONline Linie 76 Cup -- everything on the tag is in German, so I'm not really sure what the color name is. It is a mostly burgandy colored yarn with orange, pink and blue threads running alongside and occasionally changing to beige, green, red, or blue. It sounds really gaudy but the color changes are fairly subtle. I like the way it looks when it is knitted up. It's about 50% wool, 50% poly -- I don't think it's too scratchy, but it's been too warm to wear it yet.
Posted by zarah at 7:18 PM
September 18, 2005
Back home from Santa Fe
Matt & I just got back from a beautiful week in Santa Fe, NM. It was my first vacation from my job that I started last August. My favorite things about Santa Fe:
1. The food! Delicious New Mexican food that is all about the chile sauce! We bought several tubs of frozen green chiles to try to recreate the food at home. You can read all about our food adventures on my husband's blog.
2. The mountains! I live in Missouri, which at best musters some rolling hills. I love to visit the mountains and go hiking. We hiked in Bandelier National Monument and Ghost Ranch, which is the area where Georgia O'Keeffe lived. It is now owned by the Presbyterian church as a conference center and open to the public to visit. (And did I say it's free?!?!!?)
3. The knitting! Okay, I can't say I love sitting in the car for the 11 hours it took to drive to New Mexico, but that is some seriously good knitting time, my friends. I made an all-blogger shrug -- designed by Purly Whites, with yarn purchased from Grumperina (leftovers from a cute cardi she made). I had maybe 6 feet of yarn left at the end of the project (end woven in today!) so I guess it was just meant to be.
Posted by zarah at 8:03 PM
September 16, 2005
Rancho de Taos
Okay, I did not love Taos (too touristy), but I did love this old adobe church in a small village just south of there. This church was made famous when it was painted by Georgia O'Keeffe. (She painted it from the back).
Posted by zarah at 9:56 PM
September 13, 2005
I am buying yarn in Santa Fe!
At the awesome Santa Fe Farmer's Market. (I also got some delicious organic raspberry red chile jam -- I know it sounds wierd, but it's good!)
All this yarn is hand-dyed and hand-spun by an artist in rural northern New Mexico. Yes, I AM a sucker for that kind of thing!
Posted by zarah at 9:52 PM
September 10, 2005
Vacation!
I'm leaving on vacation this Monday, Sept. 12, until Saturday Sept. 17. M and I are driving to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a week of yummy food and hopefully some good shopping. I am starting to look for yarn shops I should visit -- any suggestions? Postings will be light next week (not that anyone is probably reading this anyway!) but after that I should be back with lots of vacation knitting to report (it's a 12 hours drive!)
Posted by zarah at 10:10 AM
September 8, 2005
Too busy to knit?
Alas, it is true. What is it about leaving on vacation that makes your work double? I am leaving for Santa Fe next Monday, and I am totally, complete,y swamped at work. The busiest I have ever been. Thus, I am blogging at lunchtime because I work at work then I work at home. Ick. But it will all be over Friday afternoon (or maybe Saturday... let's hope not!)
I did find a spare minute last night to cast on and begin knitting a new scarf. (I promise I will figure out how to post pictures pretty soon.) I am calling this one "Fat Cables." It is a slightly variegated deep purple bulky yarn from HandPaintedYarn.com. I only learned to cable last week, so I don't really know the lingo, but it has two 6-stitch cables running the length of the scarf. I need pictures, I know!
Posted by zarah at 12:43 PM
September 2, 2005
Weekend in KC
Just a quick bite to eat and then we're off to Kansas City to visit some family and celebrate my sister's b-day over the holiday weekend. On Saturday we're going to the MU-Arkansas State game at Arrowhead Stadium, then we're having a birthday dinner for my sis on the Capitol Grille on the Plaza. I'm hoping to bribe my husband into going to some yarn shops while we're there. PlazaJen recommends The Studio (near the Plaza) and the Yarn Shop & More (Overland Park).
Posted by zarah at 6:22 PM
September 1, 2005
Schoeller Stahl Merino Stretch
Help! I am knitting a sweater for my husband with Schoeller Stahl Merino Stretch, and I am almost sure I am going to run out before the sweater is done! I bought it from elann, but now they are sold out of the color I need. The color is "coffee" -- no. 1307. Please email me if you happen to have an extra ball lying around.
Posted by zarah at 10:25 AM
Congratulations Emily!
My knitting group got together tonight to celebrate one of our group members passing two sections of her CPA exam. She also taught me how to cable! Emily Reese is such a multi-talented girl. I fully intended to take pictures: borrowed Matt's digital camera, bought batteries at the store... but somehow when I got to Emily's house there were no batteries in my grocery bag. Oh well, you'll just have to wait until on of our normal Sunday meetings to see the Yarnaholics in action.
Posted by zarah at 7:21 AM