Thursday, March 31, 2011

and speaking of birthdays...

I saw this on the Panopticon blog and instantly recognized myself as the speaker wearing purple...even though in the video I have been disguised as an elder British Royal personage...

The author is the brilliant Franklin Habit, and I believe the video is called Happy Birthday, Dear. I'll just dedicate this little clip to my bf.

Rather than embed the video, I'll just put a link to the original:

http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/2011/03/jabber-jabber-jabber.html

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Not Spring

So many of my friends are blogging and writing about the blooming Spring and I hear that the DC Cherry Blossoms are indeed springing in season (peak bloom starts next week) - although the Cherry Blossom Kite celebration scheduled for today has been postponed due to “inclement weather” (my iPhone tells me it is only cloudy in DC).

But this is what my town looked like just 4 days ago:

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Yes, a snow storm. In fact, two last week. Today, the temperature is just 2 degrees above freezing and the wind is whistling and rattling the windows of this ancient house.

In honor of our obstreperously obstinate winter, here in the frozen north, I'll post one more winter pattern from my vintage collection: from The Art of Knitting, London and New York, 1909.

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These mittens were originally knit using thread-weight purse silk twist and tiny steel needles (size 00000 US or vintage UK size 19) - size 19 UK.

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I have a pair of these needles that I got at a yarn fair from Twisted Sistah Beads. Of course, this pattern requires DPNs, not straights.

I plan to knit these mittens using a yarn slightly weightier than thread - either the lace-weight Tencel (a natural plant fiber with a silk-like sheen and drape) in this beautiful blue that I got on a cone at Webs in the back warehouse,

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or this divine Hand Maiden Flaxen, a blend of silk and linen in the colour Smoke,
which I got at Knit/Purl in Portland, while in my other home:

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The original stitch count for casting on is 80, because of the tiny gauge. I recommend casting on 60 sts for a small hand, and using light fingering weight (such as the yarns above) use a size US 1 set of DPNs. Use a stretchy cast on such as the long-tail. Two of the needles should have equal numbers of sts on them, and the 3rd should have a few more stitches than the others (60 = 16/16/28). Join - mark the beginning of the row (in my experience the tail of cast on may not be a visually specific enough marker) and knit 5 rows.

R 6 - K2tog, YO all around
R 7 - 13 - knit
R 14 - K1, YO, K2, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, K2, YO, repeat around
R 15 - knit
Repeat the last 2 rounds 3 times each:
R 16 = R 14
R 17 = R15
R 18 = R14
R 19 = R15
R 20 = R14
R 21 = R15 and after each of Rows 17, 19, and 21 pass the first stitch of each needle onto the next needle, knitting the first one slipped only as the last stitch of the knit round.
R 22 - 26 - knit
R 27 - 50 - repeat rows 14 and 15, slipping the stitches in the knit rounds as directed above.
R 51 - knit

This completes the fancy cuff section of the mitten. Now comes the lace section of the wrist. To make this lace panel come in the right place, redistribute the stitches so that the third needle contains 31 stitches and the rest of the stitches are divided between the other two needles (14 on one and fifteen on the other. The lace panel is knit over 29 stitches in 8 rounds, repeated the number of times to get the length you require, minus the the length of the tip of the mitten (1.5 inches). For a small hand, the number of repeats of these 8 lace rows might be 10.

Needle 3 now becomes your first needle, and is the needle on which the lace panel is completed. The stitches on the remaining 2 needles are always knit. On row 76, or after three repeats of the 8-round lace pattern, the thumb increases begin on one side.

Lace pattern:
NOTE: the original directions say: Slip and Bind which means: "slip one stitch, knit the next; pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch" so on future rows where this term is used, I'll use SKP.

R 52 - K1, SKP, K6, YO, K2, YO, K3, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, K3, YO, K2, YO, K6, K2tog, Knit the remaining st in the round
R 53 - K1, SKP, K5, YO, K15, YO, K5, K2tog, Knit remaining
R 54 - K1, SKP, K4, YO, K4, YO, K3, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, K3, YO, K4, YO, K4, K2tog, Knit remaining
R 55 - K1, SKP, K3, YO, K19, YO, K3, K2tog, Knit remaining
R 56 - K1, SKP, K2, YO, K6, YO, K3, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, K3, YO, K6, YO, K2, K2tog, knit remaining
R 57 - K1, SKP, YO, K8, YO, K3, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, K5,3YO, K8, Yo, K2tog, knit remaining
R 58 - Knit ll stitches

Knit these 8 rows twice more and then begin the thumb increases as follows:
The Thumb:
On a right hand mitten the thumb must be at the left of the lace panel, while on the left hand mitten it must be placed at the right of the lace panel.

Starting with Row 76, knit the first row of the lace panel, k1. This should bring you to the end of the first needle. On the next needle, K 1, then Knit front and back (Kfb)of the next stitch. Knit 2, Kfb, knit remaining. Repeat Row 76 directions every other row (the number of stitches between increases with be greater by two each time) until you have 12 increases or 24 rows. Place the thumb stitches on a stitch holder on the next round and cast on 4 stitches over the back side of the thumb opening on the following round. In the four rounds that follow, decrease one stitch in each round at the point where the extra stitches were cast on, thus disposing of the four extra stitches and forming one-half of a small diamond-shaped gusset, the other half being formed in the same manner when work on the thumb is resumed.

At the same time, you will be continuing with the rows o the lace panel on the first needle. After you've finished the lace panel of the hand portion to about 1.5 inches from the fingertips, the fancy tip of the panel is knit in 6 rounds as follows:

Round 1 - K9, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, K2, sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K2, YO, K1, YO, SKP, knit remaining stitches
Round 2 - Knit all sts around
Round 3 - K13, YO, K1, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, K1, YO, knit remaining
Round 4 - Knit all
Round 5 - K14, YO, sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, YO, knit remaining
Round 6 - Knit all

On the next round, begin the decreases for the top of the mitten. K8, K2tog around.
On next round, knit plain.
Continuing these two rows, decreasing above the previous decreases until you have 4 stitches remaining. Fasten off, thread tail through remaining stitches and close.

Resuming the Thumb:
Place the stitches that are on the thumb stitch holder evenly on three DPNs and pick up 4 stitches from the base of the gore that was formed by casting on 4 stitches between the the thumb and the hand. Knit once around, and then decrease one stitch in each of the next four rounds at the point where the gusset is. Then knit as many rounds as needed to give the proper length to the thumb, and finish by K2tog in each needle each round until 3 sts are left. Fasten off, thread tail through the 3 sts and close.

On the cuff, fold the edge over to the inside on the YO eyelet row, and loosely sew using over-stitch to inside of cuff, forming neat picot edging. Male sure that this edge in still stretchy enough to go over the hand.

Form bow with wide silk ribbon and tack to the back of mitten where the lace panel begins.

Weave in ends and block mittens.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Baby Sherlock

I posted here a little while ago, when I finished my Sign of the Four cashmere socks. I loved them so much and had so much yarn left over, I decided to make a pair for the little guy. I'm almost finished with those, and can't wait to show them off:

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They might look kind of big for a baby, but his feet are only 5 inches long and mine are only about 8.5 inches long so they just look big by comparison. He really is just a little squish!

These socks (his, not mine) are going to have suede moccasin bottoms on them, so that he can wear them around the house to keep his feet warm now that he's toddling - or even at friends' houses. He really motors when he has a goal in view!

I just can't describe how incredibly soft this yarn is once it's blocked! The cashmere really makes a big difference - they're divine on the feet! The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock. I want to find more of this in my favorite colours - greens and blues. I only have it from kits: one had a bright gold/yellow and this one with the nice reddish brown (called Hound of the Baskervilles). I do love the brown, but would be crazy about about a blue-green.

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My goal this weekend is to finish up some projects that are almost done, so I can start some new projects. I have two Pickles sweaters on the needles for the little guy, and of course the Miss Marple Shawl. But I'd love to make many more pairs of baby socks!

Monday, March 21, 2011

a 'there and back again' birthday

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This weekend, the bf and I went away to a northern state to stay on the ocean, visit yarn stores, and continue the search for the elusive vintage earrings that we didn't find on Valentine's day. This was a birthday trip, and I had a funny birthday surprise. I found out that I was one year younger than I thought I was! I'm hopeless with years and don't pay much attention to age, so when I was telling people "hey, I'm going to be such-and-such this year!" I didn't even bother to count the years since my birth. But the last time I said it, my bf said, "uh, no you're not." Ha! Usually people are older than they think they are. I'm younger. Just like me. I always wanted to grow up too fast!

Portland is a wonderful old city, full of beautiful, historic buildings and artistic touches, like this beautiful verdigris clock tower:

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We stayed at a wonderful old hotel, right in the center of town... but it was set off in it's own little cobblestone street in a circle cul-de-sac, so it was quiet and private, and very vintage-y feeling and super cute.

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After we settled into our room...

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...we ventured out for the first stop on our Yarn Shop crawl... The Portland Fiber Gallery and Weaving Studio.

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What a friendly store! We loved the shop dog, and she got lots of ear scritches from us and we perused the looms and weaving.

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Then, I spent a lot of time looking at every single skein and fiber braid and cone of yarn in the room! They even carry a local dyer's beautiful creations. Some of this came home with me, but I can't show all of it because (ahem) some of my blog readers have spring birthdays themselves!

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I found these cute little buttons, made from old typewrite keys - oddly only several "I"s and several "U"s were left, but I got one o each. I plan to use them on a sweater for the little guy and in between the I and the U, I'll place a heart shaped button! I Heart U.

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As we left (with a nicely squishy bag of yarns and things), we noticed some really cool felted fish suspended in the windows. This Goldfish was my Piscean favorite:

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and if you look closely, you can see two more, swimming in the watery reflection of the glass:

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The lovely owner, Melodi, had recommended a new place to lunch: Otto's Pizzeria and Bar, right next door. and she was right - it was unbelievable!

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We had a simple pie, but there were many more exotic choices: Mashed Potato, Bacon, and Scallion; or Mushroom and Cauliflower; or Butternut Squash, Ricotta, and Cranberry; or Pulled Pork and Mango... The tables and benches were made from old pianos, and the ornate piano-maker labels were left on, with their beautiful gold flake... original old paintings graced the walls, all in quirky vintage frames. The light from the huge front picture windows suffused the room and made the oak and mahogany glow. It was a lovely experience - a feast of both food and style.

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After lunch, we wandered down the street (past some incredibly intriguing but sadly closed antique and book stores:

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and found ourselves at one of our yarny destinations, KnitWit (Yarn on the Brain):

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You may remember that KnitWit is the LYS of Quince & Co yarns, and that was the reason for my visit. I wanted to know if they carried the patterns, and get another look at all the colourways of the yarns in person.

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I have to admit, that once I got inside, I found it all a bit overwhelming, and didn't get half of what I had come for. The shop owner seemed very harried - I think there had been a class that was finishing when I first went in, or perhaps a visiting Knitting Celebrity, and she may just have been exhausted from a busy Saturday! I quickly grabbed some colours I thought I might use, and asked about the patterns. But, although the sample book had shown the patterns in colour - just as they are on the Quince website, she was selling the paper copies in black and white. When I asked her about this, she said that printing them out on her printer in colour would just be too expensive - it would use up her ink cartridges too quickly. I told her I'd buy them directly from Quince.

I found some of my favorite needles: Bryspun - with their tapered pointy ends and flexible ivory material. I really wanted the longer DPNs for hat making, and was able to find 4 pairs! And they are very inexpensive! There were also some pretty handmade stitchmarkers on the counter, and I'm very susceptible to impulse buys, so....

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Here is some of what came home with me from both stores:

From top to bottom, Quince Tern (silk and wool) in Back Bay, Barnacle, and Stonington; Hand Dyed yarn in merino and sea cell from the Weaving Studio, called Diving Deep.

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The Bryspun needles in US 6, 7, 9, and 10; and KA stitch-holders in a cute teal green:

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This seems like a exhausting trip to me as I write it, but it was only the beginning! Our afternoon included a leisurely stroll around town, in search of the mythic earrings - which we found at a local shop. I loved the hilly walks and the architecture - aren't these cute blue buildings?.

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The sun was going down, the huge full moon was rising, the sea breeze was getting cool, and the hotel had a Spa... so we went back to the hotel for a while, before dinner. For dinner, we chose a place called The Grill, and sat under a vintage (1930's I think) print that read:

EAT MEAT: Meatless Diets Are Often Dangerous!

It went on to say that 97% of pharmacists recommended meat-eating. Ha ha!

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We had the Scallops, grilled, over risotto, with grilled asparagus. And that was enough for that day!

The next morning - not too early - we made our way down the hotel restaurant for tea and poached eggs and marmalade on wheat toast:

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So that was the whirlwind birthday trip! It felt like a week instead of a weekend and we really were so refreshed and relaxed afterward. Every moment was so cool! And of course, there was yarn. Lots of yarn.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A Moon and Stars Birthday

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New Zodiac

I have a birthday this week and my two dearest friends have sent me packages in the mail, full of kindness and marvelous gifts, and some of them themed in full moon and birth-date stars...

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Full Moon bookplates from Thorazos etsy

(I've heard that the Pisces Full Moon on the 19th of March will bring the moon actually closer to earth than it has ever been in recorded history)

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Regia Astro Color: Fische and Austerman Step (the one with Aloe & Jojoba!) in color 145: Fische (Pisces)

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Hand-woven bookmarks... Doesn't the blue one look like the scales of beautiful blue fish?

...and, incredibly, this handmade silk scarf - made by Charlotte - with my favorite flowers: purple and white violets:

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Even though it's still wintery here, these packages have brought a little Piscean spring into my house. I do have birthday plans that involve yarn-stash enhancement, and art museums and moon-gazing, and the ocean...

Clouded with snow
The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
Alone sings now.

The rayless sun,
Day's journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon.

- Walter de la Mare

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Sherlock at Home

I finished my Sherlock Holmes "Sign of the Four" socks tonight and couldn't wait to show them!

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They are so incredibly soft and got even softer when they were blocked because of the cashmere yarn. And the yarn, which looked like a shaded solid in the skein turned out to have just enough subtle variegation to make a tweedy fabric...

Yarn: Serenity Sock from Zen Yarn Garden, colourway: Hound of the Baskervilles
Size: Small (foot 6.5)
Needles: Signature Needle Arts DPNs size 1.5 (2.5 mm)
Pattern: The Sign of the Four by Anne Hanson

Love Love love! I think I'll have to make a matching pair for the little guy!

The diamond pattern:

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Sunday, March 6, 2011

Denver

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I escaped another series of snow storms this past week by fleeing to Denver, Colorado for a work conference. No one believed me that it was warmer in Denver, so they wore big, long down coats and layers of down vests, wool jackets, fleecy gloves, and knitted scarves and beanies. But when we arrived, it was 61 degrees and people were walking around in T-shirts.

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What relief! I lifted my face to sun and just... breathed.This was the view from my hotel window:

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I felt like I hadn't seen the sun all winter!

It was such a freeing feeling that, the first evening, we went out to walk around and look at the city lights.

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We ate at the Panzano Restaurant and lucked into an incredible Denver restaurant festival: Denver Restaurant Week! Several restaurants around the city were offering full course dinners for an unbelievably small fixed price and we were happy that we happened into this one. There was a little bit of a wait - about half an hour - but we had drinks in the bar while we waited and didn't even notice the time go by.

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I had a mushroom crepe with truffle oil for starters, then salad, handmade stuffed ravioli with basil sauce, and three types of homemade sorbet: mango, pomegranate, and raspberry/blueberry.

After such a long and luxurious dinner, we wanted to walk a bit before going back and saw this beautiful huge brass door on a bank:

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Artwork was everywhere.

Although my conference was excellent, I did use up my quota of extroversion after a couple of days of enforced group work from 7 am to 8 pm. I was able to slip out one afternoon for a short break, and like a homing pigeon, found a wonderful local yarn shop: The Lamb Shoppe.

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It was everything you hope a LYS to be, and more. Even the view from the sidewalk was intriguing and drew me in with stacks of soft-looking yarns and unusual accessories and patterns.

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Inside it was bright and comfortable, casual and yet upscale and infinitely friendly and warm. There were at least four places around the large room set up for knitters to sit, and knit, and peruse the books and throughout my time there, people were constantly coming in and sitting down in groups of 2 to 4 to knit with their purchases and talk.

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Knitted and crocheted examples were draped and hung everywhere and on more than one occasion I noticed knitters pulling these examples out of baskets or from shelves to demonstrate or explain something to their knitting companion or even to show off the item that they had knitted for the shop! It seemed to be a LYS where the patrons considered it "their own" and were a part of the whole thing - not just customers but involved in the culture-building of the place.

In my usual way, I wandered around clockwise, looking at every single skein and item. Whenever I found something I knew I wanted to bring home, I would return to my home base at one of the tables and add it to my "pile". Two ladies who were knitting together on the other side of the table took me under their wing and asked "what are you making?", "do you have the right amount?", "what is your colour combination?", and we had a great conversation about New England. They asked about my own local yarn stores and when I mentioned one, everyone in the shop raised their heads and started asking me questions! Everyone was so friendly! I loved my time there.

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As usual I got distracted in my search for yarns to bring home and wish I had picked up more. There was basket of beautiful Shibui Luxury yarns, including a sock weight yarn with natural silk in it. There was only one colour though, a persimmon orange and I kept looking at it and then putting it back in its basket, nestled next to vibrant orange and purple mohair/silks. I should have pushed past my green/blue obsessions and branched into these warmer colours, but I couldn't make it happen. There was also one skein of a so-soft cashmere in baby pink that I meant to buy but forgot. And I left the Marmalade and Jelly and Grace and Blood Kidsilk Haze behind because I couldn't think of what I might make with it and would have only been able to get one ball of each colour. But I wish I had - I would have found a project for it, right?

What I did buy was Elizabet Lavold Baby Alpaca in a bright collection of colours coupled with muted natural tones for a Lazy Daisy Jacket for the little guy.

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I picket out the cutest buttons but since there were only two, I'm not sure if I'll use those or more of the hand-carved wooden ones that my friend from Australia gave me.

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They are cute though, aren't they?

I started my project right away - after a few struggles with gauge since I'm sizing up - while catching up on past Masterpiece Theatre episodes. The colours are blending beautifully and I think I'll make another of these jackets for a friend's new baby when I'm done.

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You'd think I did nothing but play while I was in Colorado, but I can assure you that I worked very, very hard at my conference and came home exhausted and so happy to see the lights of Boston from the plane's window, even though I was coming back to huge snow banks and ice-covered roads.

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