May 2008


It’s too bad that right now isn’t the Water division of Project Spectrum, because I would totally dominate with all of my blue-ness.
First is some yarn.

Cascade Sierra in a really pretty bright hue of blue. None of these photos really capture the true, beautiful color of this yarn. I mean, it’s just so blue. To me, it perfectly expresses the wonderful, carefree feeling of summer.

3 skeins, which (hopefully) should be enough for a Corset Tank. I’ve been wanting to make this pattern for a really long time, and more and more, it seems like the pattern and yarn are a great match. I was also much inspired by Marnie’s completely gorgeous version (you have to scroll down a bit, I couldn’t get a direct link to the post page). I’ve already started and am a few rows past the armholes, but I don’t really think it’s worth blogging a WIP shot just yet because all you would see was some tangled lacy garter stitch triangles with two long bound-off and cast-on slits across the top.
I always love the little yarn cakes that you get when you wind yarn on a ball winder. I only had time to have the lady who was behind the counter at Boersma’s wind one of the skeins for me, but at least I have one. I wish ball winders and swifts weren’t so expensive, but maybe I could find out how to make a swift at home and then find a cheap ball winder.

The little bit of wool in this mostly Pima cotton yarn give the resulting fabric the slightest bit of springiness and make it lighter, which I like a lot. Here’s the swatch I did for the rib pattern:

(this was taken after I washed and blocked it, of course, because the ribbing was all messed up before. For some reason, I’m unable to work ribbing without getting the stitches all whacked-out, but washing made it look just fine)

Here’s another blue item, although of a different variety.

The Tealight Candle Holder. We made two pinch pots and then had to carve decorative airflow holes in the top one. I used a glaze called Blueberry Spice for most of it, which has little brown and black speckles all through it, which I like a lot. The other was Peacock Green, which I used to glaze the inside of the top, and the rim of the bottom so that it dripped down a little bit.

Also, meet Edward.

Edward is (supposed to be, at least) an owl.

I made him by making two small pinch pots, fusing them together and smoothing out the seam, and adding other pieces for the eyes, beak, wings, and feet. He is decidedly colorful and flamboyant. Anna chose his name, and I like him a lot.

One more thing: my dad’s got a blog! Go check it out if you like music, food or anything else!

Last but not least, on a slightly melancholy note, I lost a good friend of mine the other day: my iPod (which also incidentally was blue), which I had and listened to and loved for just a little over three years, finally died. It had been going downhill for awhile, but one day, I tried to turn it on and it made this really threatening buzzing noise and when I shook it next to my ear I could hear something shaking around loose inside it. When I put it in my speaker dock, it wouldn’t even function. Rest in peace, my love, you were a good friend, and I know you’re in a better place now.

Does anyone know any good ideas of something artistic or crafty you can do with an old, broken-down iPod mini?

Yes, everyone, this is another inevitable huge update post, but trust me, now that I have my life back, I’m going to be posting way more often.
I won’t bore you with all of the details of why I’ve been so busy because it would take forever to say everything. To sum it up, I’ve been involved in my school’s production of Richard III (link is to a summary on SparkNotes for those who aren’t familiar with it), a really intense play that is rarely done by high schools, since early February. From the middle of March (when the rehearsals started to go later) to the last two weekends in April (performances) I’ve had almost no time at home, and therefore no time to blog. The play was set in a postmodern industrial empire instead of renaissance England, and I played the role of a messenger and one of two ‘nurses’ who are with Anne at all times after she marries Richard, who are really drugging her, not taking care of her. Later on in the play we poison Anne at Richard’s command, with pills (that were really Tic Tacs - we gave her the lethal dose of minty freshness!). The practices and performances were very time-consuming and intense, but overall, it was worth it. I really miss wearing my nurse costume - Lauren and I each had vintage white nurse’s dresses worn with a red belt around the waist (to show that we were part of Richard’s posse- red was the official evil color as far as costumes go) and fishnet tights and red heels. It was really fun to be evil, even if it wasn’t for very long. My messenger role was minimal, as I only ended up with one line (in the beginning I had 7 lines, but they had to cut a scene that contained 6 of those because of time constraints). The performances went really well, and we got a lot of people in to see it.
It’s over now, though, and now I actually have some time to do what I want!
Let the knitting content commence…
First up, I got around to finally finishing Paul’s sweater, and I got a little camera happy when we went outside to take some pictures.


(can you say ‘Zoolander’?)

Pattern: Seamless Raglan by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Rich Chocolate, less than 2 skeins
Needles: Knit Picks Options US #9s
Modifications: Well, I obviously made it smaller to fit my 1 1/2 year old brother, and otherwise, I put seed stitch bands on the bottom hem, sleeves, and collar, a purled ’seam’ stitch where the seams would go if it had been knit flat, and a little split collar at the neck. I also used centered double-decreases at the shoulders to make a nice clean line.

We went outside to blow some bubbles.

The sleeves turned out a little too long, so he’s wearing them cuffed once, but otherwise it’s a perfect fit.


(making a fish face…)

These aren’t even the half of it. You can see the whole set here.

Anna asked me for a pair of fingerless mittens.

Pattern: Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Less than 1 ball of Rowan Felted Tweed in Melody
Needles: Knit Picks Options US #4
Modifications: I made them shorter by taking 2 stitches off the portion above the thumb and 6 stitches off of the wrist portion, but otherwise, none.
This was a really fun and fast pattern, and I highly recommend it. I want to make a pair for myself now!

I also finished the first Anemoi Mitten after it had a few month’s hibernation sitting in my yarn basket.

I also made my dad a ribbed hat in some pretty heathered green Cascade 220, and a pair of Fetching in some of the Pagoda Malabrigo for my friend Maggie for a secret buddy exchange for the play, but I couldn’t get a good enough picture of the former, and didn’t get to take any pictures at all of the latter.

I’ve gotten a couple of things back from my Ceramics class:

This was the very first thing I made, a project called the Useful Pinch Pot.

And this was the second, called the Creative Pinch Pot.

I bought some yarn that I have no idea what I’ll do with.

1 giant hank of Ornaghi Filati Merino Oro, in a really pretty sage green color. 1375 glorious yards of laceweight merino. I’m thinking a pretty, leafy lace shawl (even though I’m really not a shawl person). Does anyone have any other ideas?

In other news, go check out this contest! There’s lots of great goodies and you can make some book recommendations.