ooh pretty!

swallowtail shawl, originally uploaded by katie:m.

buttery lemon pineapples

swallowtail, originally uploaded by katie:m.

So, yeah, I’m really loving the Swallowtail shawl in zitronengelb Tausenschön yarn. The color isn’t quite solid but ever so slightly variegated — lovely hand-dyed goodness — which makes the lemony color slightly less vibrant and a bit more subtle. Or something. The pattern is zipping along, the needles [US8] and yarn [sock weight] are producing a nice squishy fabric, and I’m in lurv. Which is how you’re supposed to feel when knitting up a wedding gift shawl, right?

AWESOME

Today I must speak of the AWESOMEness that is Kim. We discovered a mutual love of Triscuits and then, before I knew it, Triscuits were on their way to this sadly Triscuit-deprived, rabidly soccer-loving land.*

Alice approved.

Look at all of the goodies! Not only some delicious Triscuits, which were soon put to their intended use, but some Panda Cotton (fruit salad!) — currently marinating in the stash awaiting the perfect fruity summertime pattern, some tropical coral in a super-cute little bag, and some great stitch markers. Thanks so much, Kim!

I still don’t have a sock on the needles, mostly because I am fighting the CPH sleeves. In my attempt to avoid too narrow sleeves (which I absolutely hate; a sweater with them is dead to me) I have been doing all kinds of fancy pattern revisions, none of which have worked out. (Surprise, surprise.) Sigh.

I’m also thinking of turning some lovely lemony-yellow yarn into a Swallowtail shawl.

That should keep me busy.

* Okay. Soccer doesn’t have much to do with Triscuits (or vice-versa) but I thought I should mention the European Cup as Germany is playing in the semi-finals tonight against Turkey. Eeep. For a little background on German-Turkish relations: here.

p.s. Thanks for all of the birthday wishes!

random bits

So ravelry totally made my day this morning

I received not one — but two!! — happy birthday messages: one from a total stranger who the day before had herself received herzliche Glückwünsche zum Geburtstag from a likewise unknown raveler and another from Emmms, grad student and KAL organizer extraordinaire. I <3 ravelry.

On to the knitting. I’ve finished up some little projects along the way, while continually f*cking up the CPH sleeves. Cast on number three anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

First on the list, a tea cosy mash-up.

This cosy started life as the Autumn Tea Cozy with a desire for steeks, but then developed definite Nancy Bush pointed-toe tendencies, only to be finally finished off as an improvised Cashmere Tea Cozy. With a little i-cord loop.

All in all, a successful set of modifications. The Noro did its job with the stipey goodnes, the picot edge is whimsical without being saccharine, and it fits the recipient’s tea pot like a glove. Did I mention I cut my first steeks?

I definitely recommend the tea cosy as the ultimate in low-pressure first-time steeks. If it all went horribly awry, I was only out a couple evenings of knitting and one skein of Noro. I followed Eunny’s directions for crocheted steeks: here. Then when they were in place, I just snipped away.

I added some single crochet around the openings to finish them off. Voilà! Tea cosy. I used one skein of Noro Kureyon [138] and unknown needles (US8? US9?).

I also finished up another ballband dishcloth, in two more colors of department store bio-Baumwolle.

Nice and easy and so handy. This one is for me.

I’m still hankering after a new sock pattern, as I miss having a pair of socks on the needles. I started the yarrow ribbed sock in some Tausendschön hand-painted; although the yarn is lovely and the pattern relaxing, it just wasn’t coming together. So I frogged away and am now bereft of socks. Good thing the voting for the first pattern of the Interweave Sockalong is almost over.

element : air

I’ve got some projects to share, a yummy package full of goodies to blog, and a bad case of startitis gone wrong.  But that will have to wait for another day.

 

some days I just think …

… dishcloths are enough.

A great simple project, perfect for a gift. Yay! I used some random “Bio-Baumwolle” (= eco-cotton or tree wool) from the department store in two pretty colors. The pattern — Ballband Dishcloth — is originally from Mason-Dixon Knitting but I found it for free on CandianLiving.com. Pretty sweet, as my copy of the book is in storage in NJ. For two dishcloths I used about 30g (= 77 yards) of each color; the knitting took about two days.

But wait! I have another FO:

Fireworks socks aka lichen ribbed sock from Knitting Vintage Socks.

Specs:

pattern: lichen ribbed sock

yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Stile (color 8004)

needles: US2/2.75mm circs

started: April 28, 2008

finished: June 11, 2008

The Welsh Heel was still a bit tricky, even on the second sock. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong, but I ended up with one small hole, left by the first YO in the pattern, which kind of bugs me. Perhaps another try will clear things up?

I’ve diligently worked through all of my WIPs, leaving only the long-neglected Central Park Hoodie. Sleeve nr. 1 was started last night; so far, so good.

I’m a little worried that they might come out too tight — I do not like tight — so I’m knitting them in the round and trying sleeve #1 on a lot as I go.

With so few WIPs on the needles, I’ve been contemplating lots of new projects and some lovely new yarn.

1. tweed, 2. tausendschön, 3. mega boots stretch, 4. Tausendschön Zitronengelb, 5. pro natura, 6. Tausendschön Ara

my last crush, I promise.

I love Orson Welles.

a little revision.

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

I think that about sums it up.

the game

I had some time to waste this evening, after my brain had turned off for the day, so I thought: why not play that flickr game?

I used Sarah bluegarter as my reference, but the game was originally devised by cast on cast off.

the game, originally uploaded by katie:m.

The rules:

Using fd’s Flickr Toys,

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Click to see the answers.

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged!

finally.

After two years of blood, sweat, and tears I give you:

beastie, originally uploaded by katie:m.

Yup. A finished Wrap Sweater with Eyelets from Rebecca #29. I’m really proud of this FO, if only because it took so much time, frustration, and learning to get to the end. After all that, though, it is pretty lovely, if I do say so myself. I hope my sister will love it — because I’m loving having it done.

Here are the details:

pattern: Wrap Sweater with Eyelets (Rebecca #29)

yarn: ggh soft kid (13: lilac), 5 balls (probably less: this yarn doesn’t really lend itself to frogging; I started over a lot)

needles: US10.5/6.5mm

started: June (??) 2006

finished: June 6, 2008

I’m now working on other projects; namely: the Lichen Ribbed socks, abandoned — but not forgotten — in the push to finish the Beast. I turned the (welsh) heel last night and all seems to be well. Such an easy knit after the horror of mohair.