Bufanditas

I Have a New Home....

2007-07-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

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Week ? thru ? of 2007 in Review

2007-05-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! It’s been a while hasn’t it? I don't have a clue what week it is but I do have a good reason for neglecting to post for so long. Not only was my school demanding my complete and undivided attention every spare moment I had, I also had to fulfill other priorities, which left little to no time for knitting. I will say, this did not prevent me from increasing my stash since, buying yarn and knitting related items via Internet takes a lot less time and effort than the actual knitting itself. Sacrificing knitting these past couple weeks has paid off though. I can brag I have successfully completed a MPA program with flying colors and my diploma will soon hang from a wall. Yay for me!

Now let me clarify that some knitting has taken place since I last posted. How else was I going to stay sane during the last few weeks of the hectic semester? Thank goodness Sarah’s Yarns had an awesome sell on Art Yarns Regal Silk because there is no better therapy than silky goodness flowing through your fingers while stressing to get an exit paper done. My four hanks of silk wanted to be nothing else but a Clapotis.

Although it's hard to tell, I’m almost done with the wrap and I know it would have been completed last Wends. while I sat through three full days of the most boring class I ever had the misfortune of experiencing. My god, I wanted to run out of there screaming like a mad woman but that’s the sacrifice I made in order to become a Registered Accessibility Specialist in Texas. The only positive note was that I took advantage of my stay in Austin to pay my first ever visit to the Hill Country Weavers. OMG!!! What a place!!! Room upon room of colorful fiber goodness. Their selection is impressive to say the least. I even had the pleasure of holding a teeny, tiny ball of qiviut in my hand. Soft doesn’t even begin to describe it. I quickly backed away from it for fear irrationality took hold of me and I had one of the salesladies ring it up. One day I’ll return and become the proud owner of this luxurious fiber.

Until then, happy knitting and stash building to all.

Salsa Recipe

2007-04-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

Salsa Guisada (or Salsa Borracha)

Since I don’t have time to knit but have to cook no matter what, I am sharing my favorite salsa recipe. This recipe calls for fresh ingredients and tastes great over breakfast eggs, grilled steak or freshly cooked pinto beans and corn tortillas. You can use white, yellow or green onions, and the amount of jalapeño used will depend on your taste, especially since the heat of the pepper will differ from jalapeño to jalapeño. The Salsa Borracha version substitutes beer for water, hence to borracha or drunk label; and is equally as good.

Ingredients:

1 to 2 tsp cooking oil
½ onion coarsely chopped
½ to 2 jalapeños thinly sliced crosswise
2 garlic cloves diced
1 large tomato coarsely chopped
salt to taste
water (or Tecate beer/similar beer for the Salsa Borracha)

Heat enough oil to cover to bottom of a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until soft. Stir in jalapeño slices and sauté 3 to 5 minutes to soften. Add diced garlic, sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato and salt, stir and pour enough water (or beer) to just cover ingredients. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat to medium and continue to boil until tomato is cooked through and begins to thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Serve warm on the side or pour over your favorite entrée.

Serves 4

A Quick Report

2007-04-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

School has been keeping me BUSY these couple of weeks. I've had little time to knit and even less time to post my knitting/stash building progress. I did manage to knit a pair of socks for socktopia's March theme, but will have nothing to submit for the month of April even though I have the perfect yarn for …Orange you glad I didn’t say bananna? Oh well, the summer should be a good time to put the yarn into good use.

Dance Dance Revolution

Socktopia's March theme brought to mind flashes of vibrant and electrifying colors. Regia's 6ply in Crazy Color seemed the perfect choice for these socks.

I'll confess I didn't pay attention to the first sock I had completed, so half way through the leg I realized I knitted the cuff in 1 rib instead of 2. Oh well, I was on a deadline and not about to frog the entire sock. With this yarn, the 1 rib worked a lot better anyway and will make a note of it for future reference. Please excuse the lousy image, but I had been wearing the socks before photographing them, hence their stretched out look.

Regia 6 ply was nice to work with. What really stood out in this yarn was its scent. No other yarn I have worked with has given off such a woolly and comforting aroma. I would buy this yarn in the future just for olfactory pleasure even though it did satisfy my sense of touch and sight as well. Did I read somewhere that yarn was being scented for aroma therapy purposes? Can you imagine knitting while the calming scent of lavender or mint surrounds you? Not only would the rhythmic motion of knitting soothe you, so would your favorite fragrance.

Wishing you happy knitting and stash building!!

Week 10 of 2007 in Review

2007-03-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

On Knitting…

“Slow” is the word for the week, since it pretty much sums up the knitting action that took place. Apart from having BO these, which were put into good use as soon as they were done, nothing new has been started and only managed a few rounds of Dayflower. I predict this week will be no better since not only does my exit paper need some TLC, I must also work on a 10 page take-home exam due next week which the prof. assigned over Spring Break. So much for a Spring Break filled with excessive knitting. Nope, that will have to wait for some other time if I am to graduate in May as planned.

My Take….

Since there isn’t much else to report let me provide my impression of KnitPicks Bare fingering weigth:

1. The price can’t be beat and the chance to play/experiment with dying is such a perk. Really, you’ll feel bad if you mess up the colors but for less than $5 the feeling won’t last that long.

2. The softness factor is there. Bare felt good to touch and was a breeze to knit with. I experienced zero splitting, breaking or unexpected knots. I was a little disappointed upon closer inspection that the yarn does have a little halo effect. For some reason I was expecting a smoother yarn.

3. While the yarn felt nice and toasty on my feet, it did not feel as soft as I expected. Call me crazy, but the socks felt a little crunchy when I stepped on them. Could it be the bit on nylon in the material, the tight gauge or am I being oversensitive? I also noticed at the end of the day that the socks had stretched a tad and had a slight fuzzy factor. Being only the second pair of socks that I knit and wear, I really don’t know if this is normal. Enlighten me if you can.

4. The yarn is superwash and it did OK during my washing machine test. For testing purposes, the socks went into the regular cycle with warm water. The socks came out fuzzier but it’s nothing a sweater stone won’t fix. They retained their shape and gauge. In the future I’ll test a swatch in the gentle cycle to see how they do. Yes, I know hand knits should be either washed in the gentle cycle or by hand, but I wanted to push the limits; and yes I should’ve sacrificed a swatch instead of my socks, but curiosity got the better of me.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 dpn’s. I would not hesitate to buy this yarn again. Not only is the price reasonable, the fun dye able factor makes it a big plus.

On Stash Building…

Did I mention that I lost one of the Pony Pearl dpn’s I was using while knitting my second sock? I lost it in a blink of an eye somewhere in my sofa. I looked high and low for it, but nada. Luckily, I was still left with 4 so I was able to keep knitting but for some reason I prefer knitting with 5.

A few weeks ago I was able to score my first sets of Pony Pearl’s for 50% off at my LYS. Not only did I like the price, I liked the fact that they were 6” long, which made them perfect for knitting socks. After sacrificing the lost one to my hungry sofa, I thought it would be a good idea to head back to the LYS with the hope that I would still find these clearance needles in stock. As you can see from the image, they did.

I manage to find the last set of size 0’s in 5” after meticulously searching the box they were in for over 10 minutes. Who knows what the staff and customers thought of me as I dug and re-dug through that box, but I was determined to find what I was looking for. In the process, I figured I should get a back up set for the 2’s I already have since loosing one is always a possibility plus got the last set of 0’s in 8” because you never know when you’ll need those. One day I’ll knit a sweater in the round using chunky yarn. That justifies the purchase of the 13” size 19 dpn’s, in the mean time, they just add interest to the needle collection. Oh yes, that is a skein of Sirdar Snuggly plus some Interweave Press word play magnets which were clearance items as well. All this as the result of one little needle. Tell me, is this justifiable?

Until next time, happy knitting and stash building to all.

Shake, shake, skake....

2007-03-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

Shake your booties, or anklets, or whatever you call them. Here lay my “Short and Sweet” “Bed of Roses” submission for February’s Socktopia theme. In this case I’ve managed to kill two birds with one stone. Whether two themes in one pair of socks is allowed or not doesn’t matter because I feel I’ve accomplished my own objectives.

About the booties:

Pattern: The inspiration came from Pom Squad and the “leg,” heel, and toe came from Embossed Leaves. Since I didn’t want to distract from the yarn’s coloring, I decided to knit in plain old stockinette for the foot.
Yarn: Approx. 200 yds of KnitPicks Bare hand dyed by yours truly with Kool-Aid in lime, lemon, berry blue and by accident: tropical punch. Feel free to read about this little mistake in my previous post.
Needles: US size 0

Verdict:

I found these socks a lot more enjoyable to knit than my first pair. Maybe it was the different yarn, or maybe the anticipation of seeing how my colors fell into place.

I really digged the little details of these socks. The heel and gusset are easy to do plus look nice and clean. Notice the way the gusset came out on these socks. The stitching has some definition to it.

Unfortunately I only managed that look on one side. The other side looks like this:

My goal is to find out a way to make both sides of this area to look the same and get a symmetrical looking sock.

I did cheat a little in the rejoining of the leg and heel since I hate weaving in loose ends. Instead of cutting the yarn at the point where the turn heel is completed in order to start the pickup of stitches at the flap, I continued using the method used in Knit Dorm Socks. This modification worked out well for me.

The forming and finishing of the toe is awesome. I’ll likely use this technique again since it gives a very clean result and there is zero grafting involved. Yay!!!

I’m off to plan the next pair of socks for this month.

Week 9 of 2007 in Review

2007-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

On Knitting....

Knit, knit…frog. Knit, knit…frog. That’s been the theme for the past couple of weeks. Luckily it’s been more knitting than frogging and a little bit of dyeing as a bonus.

Let me start with my WIP. The Dayflower Shawl has progressed in baby steps since I first started. There have been a few little bumps along the road but nothing to justify frogging more than a few stitches back. I’ve been lucky to catch my errors sooner than later and the ease of the pattern really helps with that. At this point I am 2/3’s done with the second repeat and am truly enjoying the pattern.

Here are some things I’ve learned along the way:

My stitching became very loose at one point after moving on to circulars. I just couldn't control the silk’s tension since it is so slippery. As it is, I am a very loose knitter and have to go down at least two needle sizes to get the correct gauge. I hadn’t tried wrapping the yarn twice around my finger because past experience proved useless, not only did the yarn not move, I’d end up with a blue finger. In an act of desperation I tried the double wrap with the silk. OMG, it actually worked!! The silk’s slipperiness helped it flow even with the tighter tension caused by the two wraps around my finger. After knitting a couple of rounds this way, the pattern is looking so much better and I am more excited and motivated than ever to keep on knitting this baby.

Stitch markers are really needed for this pattern and believe me, I gave in and place one after every repeat. Now I can tell where I’m at and what I should be knitting; plus, if I make a mistake, I can easily locate the error and fix it. Stitch markers quickly become a necessity when you knit in the round and have a lot of repeats present.

Socktopia’s February theme is almost due and I got into gear only two weeks ago. I dyed 2 hanks KnitPicks Bare. Once hank I wanted pink and purplish in honor of Valentine’s Day and the other one I planned for shades of green and some blue for March’s “It Ain’t Easy Being Green” theme. Well I got the results I planned for pink/purple hank. The green/blue was turning out nice until I got a pack of Kool-Aid I thought was blue. I froze when I dumped some of the contents into the pot where my green/blue masterpiece was soaking. OMG!!! The water was turning red. OMG, the yarn was soaking that red like it was starving for color. OMG, my green socks weren’t meant to be. Oh well, “Life is like a box of chocolates…”

Waiting patiently for the yarn to dry and be run through the winder.

Closeup of my little cakes ready to be knit into some toasty socks. Notice how sparse the green became after that little hank decided it loved red Kool-Aid.

While my yarn dried and waited to be wound, I selected IK’s Winter ‘05 Embossed Leaves Socks for my “Short and Sweet” Socktopia submission. I modified the pattern to make ankle socks. Unfortunately, once again, my loooooose knitting was an obstacle. I was able to finally get the correct tension halfway through the sock but at that point I did not feel like frogging and starting the same pattern over again. Instead I opted for something different even though I loved knitting the pattern.

I got my to be green/blue yarn and decided to knit some booties instead using the basics in the Embossed Leaves. I was sticking to the “short and sweet” theme. As I knitted up the bootie, I liked the mistake yarn more and more. I couldn’t wait to see what the next color effect would be produced and the little hint of green was a lovely touch IMO. A “Bed of Roses” comes to mind when I see the yarn knitted up. I’m ready to start the gusset and hope to be finish with the second bootie by the end of this week.

On Stash Building….

I couldn’t resist discontinuedbrandnameyarn.com offer of 100% Bamboo at the price they had so I broke down and ordered the lilac. All I have to say is that the color is exquisite. I hope everyone took advantage of this offer and has some of this pretty yarn in their stash.

Until next time. Happy Knitting and Stash Building to all!!

Week 6 of 2007 in Review

2007-02-12T08:17:00.001-08:00

On Knitting…..

Due to pain in my wrist and arm I had to take a knitting break on week 5, hence the lack of posting. I would rather postpone knitting for a few days than aggravate the problem and have to give up the needles and yarn all together. But by Tuesday of this week I felt well enough to start what I call my fuggly week. I decided to kill two birds with one stone, (maybe three) by using yarn that has been sitting in my stash and knit gift or charity items as per my Challenges for 2007.

I got two scarves done with patterns of my semi-own design.

The multi-colored scarf was knit from a novelty yarn called Crinkle which I bought at Big Lots for a dollar. The scarf took a skein and a half of yarn knit on size 6(US) needles using a garter and slip-stitch pattern. The yarn wasn’t too bad to work with and I find the colors rather cutesy. The scarf is destined to a little girl who can use it to play dress up.

The reddish scarf is knit with one skein of CTH Filaro using size 6(US) needles. I achieved the lacy design I wanted by testing several patterns and finally settling with one I liked. I was happy since the pattern not only gave me a look I wanted, it also produced an unexpected waffle texture making the scarf a little more interesting. The yarn made its way to my stash over a year ago in grab bags I ordered during CTH’s year end sale.

While I love the colors, I found Filaro a tad tedious to work with. Maybe I should use the recommended larger needles sizes to make knitting with it easier because as the picture below shows, I still have three skeins of the stuff left.

I think I will stick to the waffle pattern for the remaining Filaro and would like to test it on thinner mohair such as Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze.

Pattern (if anyone is familiar with this pattern, please let me know its name and who to credit.):
CO an odd number of stitches
Row 1: Knit all.
Row 2: k1, *yo, k2tog,* repeat * to end.
Row 3: Purl all
Repeat rows 1-3 until desired length is reach and BO loosely. Blocking not required.

On Stash Building:

Boy did I get lucky and order yarn from Colour Mart before their prices went up. True to their word, the low prices were temporary which means I saved anywhere from $4-$10 per cone. My stash has 4 more cones of lace weight silk. Too bad the mauve color never got listed.

I think that’s it with the stash building, at least for a while anyway. I’ve got plenty of yarn to keep me occupied for a good length of time.

Happy knitting and stash building to all!!

Knitting: My Ideal Pursuit

2007-02-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Knitting is not my only interest but I’ve come to realize that it is the one that suits me best. My craft closet holds more than yarn and knitting needles. A quick glimpse will reveal that there is also a good assortment of material and tools for scrapbook and jewelry making as well as sewing. Step into the kitchen and behind some cabinet doors sit an assortment of baking supplies such as cake pans and cookie cutters plus cake decorating tools. Knitting, cake decorating, jewelry making, sewing and scrapbook creating are my five creative outlets but the time I spend knitting beats them all by a long shot. Here are some reasons why:

1. Knitting is not messy. I don’t have to worry about washing pans, icing tips or mixing bowls after baking and decorating cakes or cookies. Sewing and scrapbooks produce scraps that need to be disposed of as well. Sorry, but I don’t like to spend my time cleaning.
2. Knitting is portable and doable just about anywhere. Grab your needles, a ball of yarn and you are set to conquer the world without extra baggage in tow. Cake decorating, sewing, scrapbook and jewelry making lock you into one place plus these crafts require too many tools to produce a finished product. Sorry, but I don’t want to lug 100 lbs. of materials and tools behind me.
3. Knitting is fixable and salvageable. I’d rather frog and re-knit and entire piece than rip and re-sew a small section of garment that has an error in it. Sewing is less forgiving if you cut the pattern the wrong way and you risk ending up with wasted material. With knitting at least you can frog and start over without yarn being wasted (unless it’s mohair). Sorry, but I hate wasted or ruined materials.
4. Knitting gives me more options. I can choose to knit accessories or garments; or I can try new techniques and stitch patterns. Knitting offers more choices and challenges plus keeps my mind occupied. Someday I’ll knit a sweater. Someday I’ll try color work. For now I’m having fun testing different stitch patterns and different yarns. Sorry, but I don’t like to be bored.
5. Knitting is relaxing. Unlike my other interests, my brain finds the rhythmic pace of mindless knitting relaxing and I find that certain patterns require little concentration. There is also less risk of cutting, poking or stabbing myself if I want to do something and watch TV at the same time. Sorry, but the less stress I have, the saner I will be.

There are a number of other reasons why I prefer knitting to other crafts but these five explain it the best.

Week 4 of 2007

2007-01-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

On Knitting...

Shawls and Scraves The Best of Knitter's Magazine has a circular shawl designed by Eugene Buelger which I have been eyeing for a while. My sister really liked the pattern as well so I decided to knit it up for her using Colour Mart's lace silk in Sky. The pattern is quite easy once you get past the rather uncomfortable teensy weensy circular CO. I got stomped along the way trying to figure out the "wrap stitch" but Jesh was able to help out with that and even provided an alternative of her own.

After a few hours and 1/2 dozen restarts this is what I have to show:

I began enjoying the pattern but will have to set all knitting aside for a few days since CTS pain is making it very uncomfortable to knit. Oh well, I guess I can use the time to get other work done.

On another disappointing note I was 2 inches shy of finishing DD 2nd sock when I ran out of yarn. That baby won't get done until I have to order more stuff from KnitPicks. In the meantime I'll fine something in my stash to knit her a complete pair in a week or two once my wrist is pain free.

On Stash Building....

This Saturday I paid a visit to the Yarn Barn. One never knows what stuff they have on clearance but mostly I was real curious to see what Lamb's Pride Single Worsted was all about. The Yarn Barn had bags and bags of yarn on clearance but 99.9% of it was novelty yarn. So I passed it up, since I have no need for the stuff just now. They did have a box full of Pony needles at 50% off. A lot of them were straight needles, which I don't like using anymore since I find circulars more convenient, but they did have short dpns in size 0 and 2 (US). The socks I've knit so far were with 7" dpns and I found the length quite annoying so I decided to give these shorter ones a try. DD also got herself a pair of straights so that she can learn to knit. Not bad for one trip.

Lamb's pride was fine IMO. I'd surely buy it at a good discount.

Until next time: Happy knitting and stash building to all.

Week 3 of 2007

2007-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

On Knitting….

This third week of 2007 was quite eventful in South Texas. The local news stations had a field day providing overkill coverage on the “Artic Blast” of 2007. The city was virtually paralyzed for two days as freezing rain made traveling on the roads dangerous for us “not used to ice or snow on the roads” San Antonians. Oh well, at least it meant more knitting time for this cold and wet weather hater plus a rather cool looking short-lived iced winter wonderland.

In the course of three days I managed to knit three hats. Two were modified versions of Wendy Bernard’s Last Minute “Purled” Beret and another was of my own design. The purple beret has since been packaged and mailed off to my sister in New Haven. Hopefully it not only fits her, but is to her liking as well. Since Saturday was another gray and yucky day, and being cooped up in the house was not an option, I was able to wear my green hat during our daylong outing. Yay for warm wool hats!!

Two birds were killed with one stone this week as well. Not only did I manage to fulfill resolution #5 for this year, I also cast on for an additional theme in socktopia’s KAL.

Considering that I had never knitted a sock before and had no idea what the process consisted of, I decided that Blue Monday and Knit Dorm Socks would be a wonderful combination. The way I figured it, most people don’t look forward to Mondays, get kind of blue and would rather lounge around than go to work or school. These socks would fit perfectly is such situations.

A surprise of surprises did occur while I was knitting up my dorm socks. DD said she wanted a pair just like the ones I was knitting. “Well,” I asked myself, “what better way to shoo the blues away than to have another person with you and Celebrate Good Times instead? Bring out the bonbons and crank up the music, four happy feet are going to dance Blue Monday away.

I used size 6(US) dpns and knit together three strands of Knit Picks Palette in Sky, Pool, and Blue to represent the different degrees of blueness one might feel on Monday. I found the pattern easy enough and a quick knit. As a matter of fact, it is going into my collection of saved patterns for future use. I do have to admit though that I really didn’t find knitting socks very pleasurable. I found it to be more of a chore. Maybe it was the pattern, maybe the yarn, I don’t know. At least I know I can knit them if I need to. ;)

On Stash Building….

Just a little purchase from Colour Mart to take advantage of their special prices. I love their silk and cashmere and am glad I ordered when I did because the price for lace weight silk went up $4. I managed to get some lace weight in Dark Navy, Sky, Blush and Dark Red (which is the most beautiful color I’ve laid eyes on.) I decided to try their DK SWT silk in Grey and was very happy with the feel and color of the yarn when I knit up a swatch. Almost all yarns have a project reserved for them. Mostly lacey wraps for my sisters and myself since all three of us should be graduating this May with either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. I think I’ll start with the SWT and see how the Lady’s Circular Cape from Victorian Lace Today turns out.

Happy knitting and stash building to all!!

Week 2 of 2007

2007-01-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

On Knitting...

Let's label this the week of frogging hats. Yep, the Ella hat is no longer among us so a search for the perfect pattern began. Rip, rip, rip was the theme of the week since I CO and tried several different hat patterns without much success. The hats were either too small or the look was not what I wanted. I decided to "designed" my own using the same stitch pattern used for the Red Scarf. Finally some progress, after a little trial and error of course. Here is the finished product:

Yarn used was Single Ply Worsted Farmhouse Yarns on size 9(US) needles. Check back in a week +/- for the free pattern.

My plans for starting a lace shawl this week failed completely. Priorities are really in getting my sister's hats done and mailed off asap so I guess that fact stopped me from enjoying any other projects I had in mind. Oh well, hats it is for now and it doesn't help that the yarn she sent me is a joy to work with. ;)

On Stash Building...

Couldn't resist Victorian Lace Today any longer, especially after joining its KAL, so after much search and comparison shopping, I found Knit Picks to have the best price around. Add to that the need for sock yarn and viola, after a few link clicks and a couple of days later, I'm the happy owner of these:

Two hanks of Bare Superwash/Nylon Fingering Weight and three of Palette. Once the weather clears, the sun comes out and a purchase of Kool-Aid has been made, Bare will be painted brightly to suit Socktopia's monthly themes. This yarn is deliciously soft, I can't wait to knit with it. Palette was purchased in Sky, Pool and Blue for this month's Socktopia theme. The Sky color is just too pretty for words. Too bad I couldn't capture there true colors on my camera. I think I will try knitting Dorm Socks out of them.

Week 1 of 2007

2007-01-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

Lets start with

Stash Building...

No purchases on my side but my dear sister did mail me the yarn she'd bought a while back so that I would knit her a hat. I guess it finally got cold up there in Connecticut that she pulled herself away from her studio to make a trip to USPS. Here are the lovelies she sent:

Two pretty skeins of Farmhouse Yarns Single Ply Worsted. The purple one is hers and the green is a gift for me. I love the colors and I love the yarn. Knitting with it has been a breeze and this leads us to...

On Knitting...

.
On her last visit down, my sister went through the Hip Hats book and picked several possible candidates for a hat. Ella was one of them. I CO on Sat and was able to BO that same day. There are serious issues with the pattern instructions as was the case with Bobbi but I was able to work around the errors. The hat in the book looks a lot better in my opinion than my version. I do need to go back and frog the last couple of rows because the rim is too tight. I'm tempted to frog the whole thing but I'll let my sister see it first and let her decide the fate of this hat. In any case there is enough yarn left over to knit another simpler one, which is already CO, and I intend to send that her way as well.

The Red Scarf is finally BO. I attempted to block it but I think I was too gentle because it shrunk back a bit too much. The pattern looks lovely stretched out, even DH commented that he liked it, so I guess I'll attempt to block it again.

Challenges for 2007

2007-01-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

A new year sets the stage for new beginnings and a time when many people set new goals and resolutions for themselves. In my case, after much thought and reflection I have set a few goals for myself. The following are five knitting goals I hope to fulfill by the end of this year.

The biggest goal on my list is to actually knit projects using the yarn I already have stashed. I am not claiming a yarn diet because if a good sale presents itself I will purchase the yarn if I like it. I do want to put the yarn that has been stored for over a year now into use and this leads me to the following two goals.
Start knitting birthday and Christmas gifts as of yesterday and continue doing so throughout the year from...
My knitting library. I have a decent collection of books I have purchased and would like to see them put to good use. Luckily my neither my library nor gift list is too long so I should be able to knit one project from every book I have.
One can only knit so much for family, friends and one's self so my goal is to knit at least 4 projects this year for a charitable cause.
In keeping with my one piece knitting and my desire to learn new things, this year I challenge myself to learn how to knit socks. It is for this reason that I signed up at socktopia a few weeks ago.

Let's see what the year has in store and what new challenges catch this knitter's fancy.

Week 52 in Review....

2007-01-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Yippie!!! I fulfilled my goal!!! Icarus is completed and ready to enjoy. View previous post for further details. Chart 4 and the last 4 rows of this pattern was really all I had time to knit this week. Blame the holidays. ;)

May everyone of you have had a safe and Happy New Year. May 2007 be full of exciting knitting projects, stash building and fun KAL's.

Presenting Icarus

2007-01-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

Detail of Tail

Dec. 29th marks the day of Icarus' debut. On this day, Icarus was bound off and blocked after I finally sat down and decided to tackle the last 3 rows in the pattern. I began knitting Icarus in early Nov. using ColourMart's Emperor Jay double stranded lace cashmere with size 3(US) needles. I should have used a size 2 needle or knit one less repeat of Chart 1 because not only did the shawl end up longer than called for, I ran out of yarn, hence the green edging. Finished dimensions are 78"X44."

Chart 4 was completed a few days earlier without much ado but that first row of the last 4 was a challenge for me for the simple fact that I was not reading the instructions carefully. In all, I guess I had to frog that row a total of four times before I got it right. Once that was settled, the rest was a breeze.

Chart 2 did give me a bit of trouble initially since I had gotten very used to the rhythm of Chart 1. I was finally able to knit the first few rows of Chart 2 without major mistakes after a few tries and with a lot of concentration.

mistakes were made along the way but some I did not correct because I felt they could easily be overlooked or worked around with. If something was really off, then I'd frog and correct it.

Icarus before blocking

Close up before blocking. The colors in this shot are the most accurate to the real thing.

Icarus in the blocking stage

Icarus is the first "real" project that I block and not having enough pinable surface area was a real challenge. I made do with what I had and while the blocking could have been a lot better, I am rather happy with the end result.

Overall I liked knitting the pattern and the final result. If someone were to request Icarus, I would more than likely knit it again.

Week 51 in Review....

2006-12-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

What a week!!! Everything Christmas and DD birthday related just took up too much time. While I did manage to get some knitting done, it is not enough to brag about. Hopefully Icarus will be the highlight of Week 52. That sure would be a good way to end 2006. In the mean time, hope you enjoy what is left of the holidays.

Tada!!!! Bobbi is Finished

2006-12-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

Yarn: Less than one skein of Joann's Sensation Dolcetto
Needles: Size 9(US) DPN's

Bobbi only took a couple of days of sporadic knitting to complete. If bobbles hadn't been involved, knitting time would have been cut by 2/3's.

The pattern is from Hip Knit Hats. Of the 40 designs in the book, I chose this one for three reasons.

I was bored with some of the other WIP's that I had when I decided to knit a hat.
I never knitted bobbles before so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to practice.
One of my sisters had requested the hat a while back.

My take on Bobbi....

I found the author's method of making bobbles quite easy although I do need to practice her technique in order to get consistent results. After a while, I did get a little annoyed with all those little bobbles and was very happy when the last one was done. In the meantime I do plan on practicing the more "traditional" bobble making method and decide which one I like better.

My copy of Hip Knit Hats is a first edition and for those of you contemplating knitting this hat please be aware that the pattern does have a lot of errors. First of all, the required number of CO stitches is incorrect as are the directions for rounds 8, 12, and 20. A newbie knitter would probably get very frustrated with the instructions trying to figure out why they are ending up with too many stitches or why their hat is not coming out like the one in the pictures. I hate to write in my books, but in this case I might just have to in order to correct the mistakes I found. That or use post-it notes as an alternative.

Week 50 of 2006 in Review

2006-12-18T07:49:00.002-08:00

Just a quick summary of this week's knitting occurances since other duties took up most of my time.

On Knitting....

Chart 3 of Icarus is completed and ready for Chart 4.

Bobbi is completed. Pictures and related info will be posted this week.

Only of couples of rows were completed on the Red Scarf. Hopefully more length will be added to it this week.

On Stash Building...

Nada, nothing, nil! :)

Week 49 of 2006 in Review

2006-12-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

Progress report

On Knitting...

Hard to believe but true, I have 4 WIP going on.

Icarus has been completed up to Chart 2. Only three more to go!! YAY!!! Of course, if I hadn't started anything else, I'd probably be a lot closer to finishing this shawl. But I decided I needed a hat, so I cast on Bobbi from Hip Knit Hats using Joann Sensations Dolcetto in white.

This week I also cast on the Red Scarf using Wool Ease in Cranberry. My plans for using a pattern from ScarfStyle didn't happen as I had planned. Instead I am using the Mock Cable Rib stitch pattern from The Knitting Directory as a guide and I am liking the effect. (Hopefully the yarn blocks out nicely to show off the pattern better.) As a matter of fact, I ended up using this same stitch pattern for a headband which a 3 year old requested.

On Stash Building...

This weekend I took advantage of Joann's 50% coupon and bought Barbie and Me for DD. I also took advantage of their additional 50% off clearance items and bought these happy little balls of yarn...

Camelia in pink on the left and Margherita in green and pink to the right. These should make nice hats for a little girl.

Week 48 of 2006 in Review

2006-12-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

On Knitting...

Lacevember came and went and my project was not completed. On a positive note, I'm so excited because I am finally going to start Chart 2 in Iracus!!! I am also very happy to report that I was one of the lucky winners of the Lacevember's last give away. This was my first KAL and it was made extra sweet since I won the very pretty Elizabeth I Scarf pattern which will come in handy since I have had single skeins of Alpaca Cloud in Horizon and Tide Pool plus Shimmer in Turquoise Splender and Happy Dance sitting in my stash for close to a year now without a project in mind.

Since Icarus was the only WIP on the needles and I was beginning to get a tad bored, I CO the following scarf using a sample cashmere skein ColourMart sent me a couple of months ago. The lace pattern is Little Shells from Alison Jenkins The Knitting Directory.

My goal for the month is to knit and contribute to Red Scarf Project 2007. I will probably select something from ScarfStyle since another goal of mine is to knit as many projects from that book as possible. I took advantage of Joann's sale on Wool-Ease and bought three skeins in Cranberry. I figured I'd buy an easy care yarn since college students have more important things to do with their time than wash something by hand and wait for it to dry naturally. The key here is convenience.

Week 47 of 2006 in Review

2006-11-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

Just a quick summary of this week's slow knitting scene...

On Knitting...

Icarus is progressing slowing but surely. I am on the 5th repeat of Chart 1 and am beginning to get a tad bored. Fortunately I am liking what I'm seeing and have not made serious mistakes thus far, so that is keeping me motivated. Knowing that I'm so close to starting a little more interesting stitch pattern also helps. Can't wait to see how those work out.

Here's a progress shot of my Icarus being knit in ColourMart double stranded lace cashmere, using size 3US needles:

On Stash Building....

The only knitting related purchase done this week was for a Royal yarn winder purchased from Yarn and Fiber. Joann.com ran out of winders during their Cyber Sale this weekend and after some quick Froogling, found Yarn and Fiber to have the best price. A swift will come in handy but instead of buying one I'll ask DH to assemble this one for me.

The Blue-Violet silk cone I ordered from ColourMart came in this week. The color is a little bluer and colder than I expected but nice nonetheless. One of the newer colors they have listed is this mauve which I find very irresitable. Maybe I'll just break down and buy it sometime soon.

My other order from ColourMart is yet to arrive and since I did not receive a notice that it had been shipped, I emailed the owner to check on its status. Within less that 24 hours I got an apologetic reply stating that it had not been shipped due to some technical error and that they would be sending a little extra something to make up for the oversight. Now I'm double anxious to see what that little bonus is. Hence....

Lesson of the Week...

It pays to do business with a reputable vendor. ColourMart rocks!!!!

Lady Eleanor - Completed

2006-11-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

Tada!!!

Finally get to show Lady Eleanor off in her completed stage. In her unblocked state Lady measures 24"x60" and I think I'll keep her like that since the length fits me well. Using size 8US needles, she took 10 1/2 skeins of Paton's SWS. I won't add fringe since the yarn tends to felt together and begins to look rather nappy.

Week 46 of 2006 in Review....

2006-11-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

On Knitting...

The needles have been sitting rather idle this week and the trend is likely to continue until the first week in December. I've started the second repeat on Chart 1 for Icarus. At this rate I will not be able to complete the shawl in time for the end of Lacevember since other tasks are taking priority. I guess I'll have to pass up the lovely star by my name this time around. Oh well, my goal at this point is to finish the shawl by the end of the year.

I've gone ahead and joined the ScarfStyle KAL hosted by Tipper since I see myself knitting a lot more projects from this book in the future. Seeing pictures of what others have knitted from the book and reading their entries provides both inspiration and valuable information of the patterns and yarn being used.

On Stash Building...

No need to worry about the bank account this week since purchases were nil. I am happy to say that my first silk order from ColourMart did arrive this week as posted previously. I am very, very happy with the purchase and would purchase every avaible color but the rational side in me says that I will never use all those pretties. So I won't be a glutton and will give everyone else the opportunity to have some silk in their stash.

The rest of the week was just an anxious waiting game for the rest of the order to arrive and reveal what colors I'll have to play with. Hopefully they are as pretty as their pictures.... we'll see what happens between now and then.

Since this was a rather uneventful Bufanditas week there is no...

Lesson of the Week...

to report.

ColourMart's Silk = OMG!!!!

2006-11-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

My first silk order from ColourMart arrived yesterday and here's the verdict so far:

This has got to be the best yarn purchase I have ever made. The silk is fabulous. Even on the cone it feels soft and squishy. The color is a tanish/gold that is a lot prettier "in person" and its luster and sheen is unbelievable.

Hanging Garden Lace Stole by Sivia Harding should look fabulous in this yarn. Once Icarus is completed, the first thing to be cast on will be this stole. There is enough yarn in one cone to knit two wraps, or enough left over to swap for another color with someone else. Let's see what happens.

Week 45 of 2006 in Review

2006-11-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

On Stash Building

ColourMart is going to be my doom. But who can resist these lovelies at an even lovelier price?

2500 yards of Blue Violet Silk

2500 yards of Ecru Silk which can always be dyed another color.

2500 yards of the lovely Fox-
glove

There is enough yardage in one cone to make two shawls. The question is, will I ever use them all up?

On Knitting

Knittinng this week has been rather slow. I've started the second repeat of Chart 1 for Icarus. The pattern is so easy I think I'm going to get bored soon but I like the fact that it's so quick I can do Chart 1 in an evening.

Since I had a good amount of Paton's SWS left over from Lady E I decided to quickly knit up a potholder and felt it. It didn't come out quite square and pretty late in the game I realized I would have produced a nicer piece if I had knit it round. Hence...

Lesson of the Week

"No comas ancias" In other words, don't rush through a project without thinking it all thru and considering all your options.

Lacevember Questionaire

2006-11-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting?
I restarted knitting a year and a half

How did you learn to knit?
An aunt taught me when I was a teenager

Favorite thing about knitting?
It’s so relaxing

How long have you been knitting lace?
It was on of my first projects I did a year and a half ago

Favorite thing about knitting lace.
It can be so complex

The yarn questions, or flash your stash

Favorite lace yarn?
Cashmere

variegated or solids for shawls?
Solids, please!!!

Favorite lace color?
Today it’s deep purple

Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights?
Circs of course

Favorite lace knitting trick?
Frogging

Lifelines? If so with what?
No

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet?
Plain pins on the back of an old sofa

Pattern, or can you follow directionsshawls or lacey items?
Shawls

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls?
They are all good

Charts or printed instructions?
Combo of both

Favorite lace you've knit?
English Lace

Favorite lace you want to knit?
Japanese Feather

Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor?
Cherry

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red.....
Who/What?

Coke, classic or with lime?
Neither, not a soda drinker

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves?
Holiday carols

What is the definition of irony?
“Humerous destiny”

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
None, only one continous twirl

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door?
Sorry, this house is catless

What is your superhero power?
Dork detector

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be?
White

What's for dinner tonight?
Yesterday’s left over Bar-B-Que

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain?
My hair

Week 44 of 2006 in Review

2006-11-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

Some unplanned yarn stash building has occured. As if I need more yarn, but you know the drill: an innocent visit to the store or an accidental click to a website link somehow turns into a yarn purchase.

Oh the pleasure....oh the guilt....

A knitter's unintended yarn buying phenomenom is both unexplained and uncontrollable, or at least I keep telling myself. The way I see it, a good sell is hard to resist, a softer than soft skein of yarn too tempting to leave the LYS without and opening a package full of colorful knittable treats is a joy everyone should experience once in a while. Need I go on?

But enough of the yarn buying philosophy and on to the good stuff....

Yarn Purchases...

While on errand to do a planned non-knitting related purchase to Tuesday Morning, tucked away in the darkest corner of the bottom shelf were 3 skein bags of Lion's Cotton-Ease marked an additional 25% off. Score!! I am now the proud owner of 6 skeins of yellow and 3 skeins of orange Cotton-Ease which shall be used to knit up the cute duckl from Fiona McTaque's Knitted Toys.

ColourMart is very thoughtful (note hint of sarcasm) and regularly emails updates of their current stock and sales. This week I could not resist 2500 yards of lace weight silk for steal of the year price of $13 total. The goldish color should make an elegant shawl. Here's a peek:

Actual Knitting...

On the knitting front I an happy to say Lady E is done. Once all her loose ends are weaved in, she is blocked and prettied up, Lady Eleanor will be ready to make her grand debut with pic's and all.

Lacevember KAL came just in time to help me select my next project. Originally, my plans were to knit Hanging Garden Lace Stole but time contraints made me reconsider. My next option was Cozy, but that would have required I do more yarn shopping and that was not going to happen. I finally recalled why I had purchased the Summer 2006 IK: Icarus of course. So that baby was CO this past Saturday and due to my lack of attention, has already been frogged a bit. I got carried away clicking them needles w/o referring to Chart 1 and failed to do the pattern change on Row 19. Oh well, hence Lesson of the Week:

Lesson of the Week...

Don't get carried away and always refer to your pattern.

In My Library

2006-11-06T06:39:00.000-08:00

Your typical knitter needs a healthy supply of yarn, needles, patterns and other misc. gadgets which make knitting oh so much more pleasurable and efficient. I confess I am one of them. We will proudly (or quiltly) show off our yarn stash, (which in some cases is enough to open up your own LYS) needle collection, (ditto) and of course our WIP's or FO's. Since I started knitting over a year ago, I have accumulated a little bit of everything and continue to do so. Today I will show off, or rather list, my small library of knitting related books. To be quite honest I did not think the list would be this long.

Pattern Books:

ScrafStyle by Pam Allen
Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman
Hot Knits by Melissa Leapman
Kids Knits for Heads, Hands and Toes by Debbie Bliss
Cotton Knits for All Seasons by Debbie Bliss
Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein
Vogue Knitting Accessorize
Vogue Knitting Chunky Knits
A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen
The Best of Knitter's Magazine Shawls and Scarves

Reference Books:

A Second Treasury of Knitting by Barbara G Walker (will one day get the First)
Reader's Digest Knitter's Handbook
Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns from Sterling Publishing
The Complete Book of Knitting by Barbara Abbey
The Knitting Directory by Alison Jenkins

Let me just note that flea markets, used bookstores, and 50% off coupons have enabled me to stash my library with these great resources. Will I ever knit all the great patterns or use all the valuable information found in these books? Probably not. Will I continue to be on the look out for great deals on awesome books? Most certainly.

As time permits, I will come back and provide a review for each individual book. For now I can say that ScarfStyle, A Gathering of Lace, Knitter's Magazine Shawls and Scarfs, plus Treasury of Knitting are great books to have in any knitter's library.

Am I really?

2006-10-31T08:37:00.000-08:00

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are "turbo" charged.Fast moving and classy, you get things done with power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be deceiving, since what you really value is quality and efficiency. As you're careening around those corners in life, finishing a dozen knitted objects each month, stop and smell the roses. Don't miss the beauty of process!
Take this quiz!

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Lady Eleanor

2006-10-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Lady Eleanor from ScarfStyle

Yarn: Paton's SWS in Natural Geranium

Needle Size: US8

Color Detail

Lady Eleanor has been an easy and fun pattern to knit. Every square yields an unpredictable color sequence. So far, most of my darker colors have ended up in the left edge while the lighter colors end up in the right with everything else in between. I'd like to try this pattern again using SWTC Karaoke or SWS in Natural Earth.