harvest moon and other tidbits

when driving back from work with JJ last evening, we saw a lovely harvest moon (and now Neil Young tunes are cycling through my brain like hamsters on crack). The above is my lame attempt to photograph it later...

Maybe because of the moon, JJ finally agreed to let me post He Gansey (No Sheep for You) pics on the blog:

"Just call me Charles Atlas". Actually, I think he was trying to do a "OPA!" thing.


This is how the recalcitrant moon first morphed when I tried to photograph it:



What a bugger, eh?


And now for today's craft photo... a repurposed cigar box I decorated last year, mostly with broken vintage teacups (and some fiestaware):


I am addicted to those "this china is from Britain" bits on the bottom of the old teacups for some reason.

More creative endeavours - see today's other blog post about haiku.

Finally, just in time for Hallowe'en, I saw this blog post on how to make your own candy bars (I love Twix!!!)

Chow!

Happy Friday!

why I no longer hate blocking...

I guess it took taking up lace knitting to see the virtues of blocking! (must be getting older though - my knees are now killing me from kneeling on the floor).

Have finished knitting the Tuscany - and was sorely tempted to wear it out this evening since it looked so pretty:


However, it was a tad lumpy looking. So, I gritted my teeth, got out some towels and the measuring tape, put on Dr. House reruns (why am I so addicted to this show? I guess I like thinking that someday I can take the liberty of being as outright rude as he is!) and pinned it out:


The bonus is that finally I managed to reproduce the real colours in these photos!

Will have to get some action photos taken when finally it dries and I get to wear it. (And I can't believe I'm saying this, but here's a good reason for liking the winter weather - now that the heat is on and the apartment is less humid, it shouldn't take too long to block!)

The FO is approx. 66'" wide at the widest point x 22" deep at the deepest. I had to finish it 24 rows short when I ran out of the Handmaiden (the bindoff was done with some leftover sea silk in the stash).

And now on to the next project - I will be swatching the Oriel blouse from IK Summer 07 before I go out tonight (to a restaurant called The Big Ragu. Have not yet been there but I'm advised it has Nutella cake on the menu so it can't be all bad!).

I'm also going to cast on for another (mystery) project to use as my travel project when hitting the road for work this week Tuesday. It will be the first time I use Hempathy:



In other news... er, nothing. Unless you want to know what is going on in Law and Order Criminal Intent from two seasons ago! Such a rich and exciting life I lead...

Finishing frenzy...

Well, I've decided to turn over a new leaf and get over my fear of seaming/finishing.

So, in this regard, I have put off procrastinating on the Intoxicating... the sleeves are blocking and in the process of being dried with a space heater and I have finished the body:


(the fact that it looks pretty good as a vest may not aid my anti-seaming stance any, but hey...). Goal is to finish it tonight if the sleeves are dry enough.

And - in my true waffling spirit I am again changing my Do Something New project for October for the Do Something New KAL - lining not one, but two, knitted bags!! Without an operational sewing machine this is a real chore and between that and my hatred of sewing I have been putting this off... er, for well over a year. So - high time to get to it.

Here are the "before" pictures:

Bag from Big Girl Knits
(can't remember the name of the bag... sorry - it's been too long. Yarn= Super 10, doubled)


(b) Denim KB Bag


This was my adaptation of a denim bag from Weekend Knits. Yarn: some horrendous stiff German denim cotton which I will never use again (my hands were stained for almost six months... er, a few days after knitting this):


These will be complete and ready to use by the end of October. Since I have never lined a bag before, I don't know how great they will be. However, both of these bags really need lining to have any structure, as they are heavy.

And, finally, here are some outdoor pics of the Tuscany in progress - close to the real colours:



Happy Monday!

the remains of the feast...

Here's day 1 of the Thanksgiving (or rather, the "we have an excuse to pig out!") feast... the damage done by only 3 people, minus the salad and the bread. Dessert pending. Ham and scalloped potato dinner also pending for tomorrow (requested by JJ).



Of course, I'm still enjoying some long weekend cheer...

And, in my usual fickle fashion, I've backtracked on yet another knitting plan (see post below, earlier today) and have decided to start do the Tuscany from NSFY instead. Unfortunately, I haven't quite yet figured out this new camera, so here are some rather odd photos of the first pattern repeat:
Overexposed Version



And my special little addition: beads! (in two colours, gold and teal... not sure that they show up here too well):


Yarn: Handmaiden Silken, of course. 1 skein rainbow (my name), I skein blue/purple. Working name is the Pride Tuscany.

Finished knitting the Intoxicating, but can't block until my mother vacates from the spare room which is where I block stuff. Hopefully I'll have finished it off this time next week. ;-)

sheer and utter lusciousness...

...because I detest the term "yarn pron" (although really and truly that's what this is if I take a good hard look in the mirror!)

1. Lace Silk

I, Kristina "I will never, never, ever, and I mean NEVER knit lace" B, have just acquired ... get this ... a skein of Handmaiden Lace Silk and TWO sets of Addi Lace needles.


The yarn looks to be in the Origin colourway although I can't always tell.

2. Silken and... Beads!


My beads arrived today from Earthfaire much quicker than I thought they would - thanks, Ellen for the great service. Aren't they lovely! I'm hoping to use knitting with beads as my September challenge for the Do Something New KAL... that is, if the blogmistress Tina will let me deviate from my original September challenge (learning to knit cables without a cable needle)! I'm so fickle. Either way, I plan to make the River Rock scarf by Sivia Harding in the No Sheep For You book.

Here is another container of beads I bought from Earthfaire and I like them ever better in person than I did on the website.


I'm thinking they will look very nice on the fringe for my Montego Bay scarf (says She Who Used to Detest Fringe). Fickle AND inconsistent. Hmm.


3. Sea Silk

This has been in the stash for some time now (if one can count a couple of months as "some time" in the parallel yarn universe). It is in the Ocean colourway (I think). I had originally intended to knit the Goddess top from Stitch Diva with it. However, I've gone off that idea and will probably make something lacy with it instead. I'm really far gone on the lace path, I think.

4. vintage Coats Crochet Cotton


I came across this when trying to impose some order on the stash. It was rescued from my yiayia's (grandmother's) house some time back - I originally intended to use it in needlework but am not doing any at present. It is extremely fine gauge and I don't know whether I can use it for lace or not, but will have to find something to do with it just because I love the colour.

And then there's all that Super 10... sigh. Far too many projects and too little time, methinks. Maybe my 6/49 numbers came up on Saturday... ?

you say "tomato", I say...

...Tomato Redux!

My second Tomato was as enjoyable a knit as the first...! EVERYONE should knit one!

Specs:

Pattern: Tomato (Wendy Bernard) in No Sheep For You

Yarn: Mission Falls cotton (black); Cottonlicious (pink); Kerzner Super 3 mercerised cotton (discontinued - orange) and Berocco Suede (big stripe) - approx 320 g total.

Needles: 4.5 mm and 4.0 mm

Start Date: 12 August

Finish Date: 13 August

Time spent: 11 hours approx.

Notes:

- not too much to say about this pattern except that I love it! (for my other one, see the Sidebar under Finished Knits 2007)
- this one knitted up a bit tighter than the other one (which was made with 100% Mission Falls - I was surprised at this (but not unhappy!)
- the Cottonlicious is almost identical to Mission Falls and also made in Canada...
- I'm really sorry the Super3 is discontinued.
- This was all made with stash materials...
- my colour inspiration for the Tomato was the "Nina Blanket" by Phyllis in Mason-Dixon Knitting (below)... I wish I could have made my mother's Nina (see sidebar - 2006) in that scheme but, alas, her decor wouldn't comply!
- my only modifications: I did 2k1p rib all around (which I prefer to the 2x2), and
the stripe across is in reverse stocking... in Suede! ;-)

Christmas in July...

...because I've just finished the He Gansey for DH! (pattern by Jeannine Sims in the No Sheep for You book)

Detail:


Front:


Back:


The grey grew on me. Too bad I couldn't wait for a sunny day to photograph it, though! ;-)

Specs:

Needles: 5mm Addi Turbo (body) and 5 mm Takumi bamboo (sleeves and neck)
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton - Misty colour (15 skeins)
Size: 45" approx chest
Time spent: 12 hours total for each sleeve and the neck. Didn't keep track of the rest

Notes:

As this pattern was knitted in the round, I loved it - no seaming! It was much quicker to work than I would have thought which was also nice.

I did make some changes to the pattern:

- sleeve pattern was originally all in double moss. I decided to put the tree and line pattern from the front yoke on the sleeves instead, with seed stitch beside... and finish the sleeve under the elbow in stockinette. Official reason: this is more in the style of a traditional gansey. Real reason: I'm lazy and just wanted to do as much stockinette stitch as possible! ;)

- I also changed the neckline from rib and rollneck to 2/2 rib, based on DH's preference

- the sleeves are about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the pattern calls for, again due to DH's preference.

The Rowan cotton was also great to work for. I'm not sure how well the photos show it, but it produced great stitch definition and is also nice and light.

The rest of the pattern ended up fitting DH very well (I had him try it on while working on the first sleeve).

Now - I'm just hoping that the weather will be warm enough so that he can't actually wear it until October! Having said that, it is a cool day today here... SIGH.

Next up... I'm not sure yet. I bought some Kerzner Ranee on sale ($1/skein) and may whip up a tunic.

work in progress - Tomato

so far so good... I just started it at 2 this afternoon and cooked dinner and did some cleaning in between! (it's now 7:30).

This is my stab at the Tomato from the No Sheep for You blog - thought I would jump on the bandwagon.

I am subbing in a chequerboard pattern for the fair isle bit and thought I'd put some on the sleeves as well. The main colour is deep purple, with coral and light teal as the contrast colours.

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 cotton
Needles: 4.5 mm addi turbos