Knitting With a "Y": The Accounts of a Male Knitter

Spin Happy

2012-01-20T16:46:00.000-06:00

I continue to be thwarted in my knitting plans by my constant wrist/hand pain (yes, I am seeing a doctor. Yes, I am taking medication. Yes, I am wearing braces.), but I seem to be able to do a bit of spinning each night without suffering too much. It's slow going, but I have been making a bit of progress, whereas the knitting has practically stalled. In the two weeks since my return, I have accomplished roughly two hours of knitting, which continues to drive me crazy. I have been self-medicating nightly with tea and chocolate to try to calm myself down, but did you guys know that knitting can't be replaced? Not even by spinning or reading books about knitting or really reading any books at all. My list of things I wish to knit gets longer and longer with each passing day as I continue to only be able to plan my projects and not execute them. I feel like a masochist spending my free time on ravelry looking at projects or digging through my yarn stash looking at a world of possibility. It's torture, I tell you!

But this post is for spinning, not knitting. I wasn't able to bring my wonderful wheel with me to Minnesota for my Winter break, but during the last few days I spent in Pittsburgh in December I got back into spinning and was enjoying it immensely.

This summer, perhaps back in May or June, my friend sent me some fiber that she picked up at a Farmer's Market in Connecticut. The fiber came from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm and was a blend of natural-colored alpaca and lamb's wool. It was wonderfully rustic and a joy to spin up. The fiber was carded, not combed, so I turned my spinning time into a long-draw exercise. The point was to create a lofty, airy yarn and for the most part I think I succeeded.

I really don't think I could be happier with this yarn. It is the exact kind of yarn I love to work with and I am overjoyed that I was able to make it myself. Typically the bobbins on my wheel can hold about 4oz. of fiber. As you can see, however, I had to split this batch in half because the loft factor was so high that there was no way I could cram the whole shebang onto one bobbin. I ended up with about 260 yards of a heavy worsted yarn and my mind is full of possibilities for what I can do with it. (Thanks, Kate!)

Once I got that off the wheel (really, from start to finish, it only took about two days), I threw on a completely different spinning experience in the form of some superwash BFL from Anne at Wooly Wonka Fibers. I didn't get a picture of the fiber before I started spinning, but it was in the "Wood Duck" colorway and, really, it was right up my alley. I know I've made my love for birds quite apparent in the past, but you guys - BFL dyed in colors inspired by a bird, which I can then spin up and knit into something unique and wonderful? I was over-the-top in love and I personally believe that my finished results do not disappoint.

I was actually quite shocked by how it turned out. Not because I thought it would end up as a lumpy pile of crap, but because I was expecting something thicker with less yardage. I'm not sure why I thought that's how it would be because I kept checking my singles by letting them twist up on themselves to see what the finished yarn would look like, but still... I was surprised. What I have now is a 4oz. skein with 780 yards of light fingering-weight yarn. And it's purty, too.

Overall it's pretty consistent, but clearly each of the plies has, well, character. They play well together, though.

And lest you think that I have completely forgotten about the wonderful Cupcake batts that I was working on this summer, I have slowly been spinning my way through those as well. (If by slowly you understand that I mean at a glacial pace. Not even a fast glacier. More like a glacier that goes nowhere for months at a time.) I have spun up three of the six ounces now and have just begun working on the fourth. I have been very tempted to ply the first three together first, but I can't allow myself to do that. Instead I'm going to spin them all up, then ply 1, 3, 5 and 2, 4, 6 together (that makes sense in my head, does it make sense in yours, too?). I think this will help keep things as consistent and mixed up as possible considering the fact that I have been spinning this fiber up over the course of months and months.

It's gonna be really nice, though. I can tell.

Souvenir Yarn

2012-01-12T21:26:00.000-06:00

Whenever I travel (even if the destination of such travels is somewhere quite familiar, such as my parents' house) I find myself buying yarn with the excuse that it's "souvenir yarn." You know what I'm talking about. I'm willing to bet that the majority of us do this. You do some research to find out where the closest yarn shops are (knitmap.com helps if you're having trouble, have you used it before?) and off you go to explore. Some people buy a single skein of beautiful sock yarn while others go for luxury blends of cashmere, silk, qiviut, etc. I've even heard that some people buy yarn in a color that reminds them of their trip. My strategy (or rather guideline) for acquiring souvenir yarn is twofold. This is one of the few times I allow myself to buy yarn "just because" without an idea of what I'm going to use it for. Usually I'm pretty good about only buying yarn that is needed for a specific project, but when I'm traveling, anything is fair game. So that's my first rule: You can buy anything you want to just because. My second rule narrows it down a bit and it is this: I can only buy yarn that I have never used and/or seen before. It's a helpful little thing to remember when I find myself walking around with an armload of my go-to yarns and it forces (ha! As if I have to be forced to play with yarn) me to explore new territory. The blue mittens I'm making that I showed you a few posts back are made with "souvenir yarn" and I love love love it. (I'll show more about the mittens in my next post.)

While in Minnesota I acquired a decent amount of new yarn, for several reasons. The first is simply that I know where the yarn shops are. The second is that my mother knits AND my sister was visiting for the holidays, so a trip to the yarn shop was a must. The third thing (and this is the trickiest one because you end up with purchases you weren't expecting, even if what you were expecting was the unexpected) is that I had to make several trips to the shops to get non-souvenir yarn - yarn that I needed for specific projects and if I was going to be there already anyway, well... it can't be helped.

So, because I have a brace on my wrist and a band-aid on my finger and therefore can't knit or spin (and consequently don't have much spinning or knitting to show you), I thought some pictures of yarn might tide you over. (Although it would appear that I have lost my ability to take a decent picture of yarn.)

Hmmmm, now I really wish that I weren't in a practice room writing this post because I don't actually remember any of the details about these yarns. I'll do the best I can.

Above is some yarn that I picked up at The Yarnery in St. Paul. This is my Minnesota LYS. When I'm in Minnesota and you hear me say "I'm going to the yarn shop", this is where I mean. The yarn is Davidson's "Domy Heather" in the Slate colorway (what a shocker.) I couldn't resist the heathery, woolen quality of the yarn. I originally only bought one skein, but then went back for a second when I decided it should become Miralda's Triangular Shawl. (You see that? I made a plan.) It turns out that The Yarnery may very well be the only place to get this yarn. The company doesn't seem to have an online presence and the only online seller Ravelry has listen is The Yarnery, so I'm glad I picked some up while I was there!

While at The Yarnery, my sister, my mother and I all picked up a ball of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze Stripe.

It's pretty spendy because it has Kaffe Fassett's name on it, but it's also prettier in person and will one day make a nice, airy, stockinette scarf (or infinity cowl. TBD.)

We then all ventured to a shop in Minneapolis none of us had ever been to, Bella Lana. They carried a lot of nice yarn, but I ended up walking away with two skeins of Cascade Soft Spun. It's a familiar company, but I had never seen this yarn before. (I won't be using the two together, don't worry.)

And lastly, at 3 Kittens I picked up some yarn that is now discontinued - Reynolds Whiskey. (Yes, Deirdre, I went back and got it. At 50% off it was hard to resist!)

One of the balls is wound up not because I've started knitting with it already, but because my dog thought it would be fun to roll around in it for a while. He had draped it all over the main floor before he came to the basement, presumably for help untangling himself.

Well now, it's pouring rain outside and the wind is blowing, so I think it's time for me to head home and put some tea on the stove. I'll have some knitting and spinning to show you next time, I promise!

A Long Time Waiting

2011-12-26T22:14:00.000-06:00

This is a project that I finished several months ago. I went through a phase this past summer in which I decided to buckle down and finish a bunch of WIPs I had sitting around. I was becoming a bit overwhelmed by the amount of half-finished projects strewn about my apartment and decided it would be better to finish those up than to start anything new.

I'm not sure why I was even stalled on this project. I loved knitting the cables and the yarn was wonderful to work with. Life must have just gotten in the way at some point and forced me to put it aside.

The pattern is Jared Flood's Dryad scarf and I knit it using six skeins of his SHELTER yarn in the Button Jar colorway. The yarn and pattern were a gift from my mother for my birthday last November (not this past one, but the one before.)

Despite my numerous attempts, the winter we've been having this year has proven too mild for such an ~~excessive~~ extraordinary scarf and I fear that I may have to retire it from my wardrobe until the snow really starts to fly. I feel torn, as I both love the idea of snuggling up in this swath of rustic wool and also look upon the days of Arctic conditions with a healthy amount of apprehension.

I can tell you two things: The first is that this scarf means business. I'm convinced that this wool is magical and very likely produces its own warmth, which would explain why I overheat every time I try to convince myself that it's cold enough to wear.

The second is that based on my experience knitting this scarf, I knew as soon as I saw Jared Flood's new fingering-weight yarn, LOFT, I would be a fool to look away.

I do believe there will be a pair of magical hand ovens in my future, just as soon as I finish, well, everything else. I fear it may be a long time waiting.

Selfish Gifting

2011-12-22T14:55:00.000-06:00

It seems that I have done the same thing that I did last year, which is to blog through perhaps the first week of classes and then take a hiatus for the rest of the first semester. Grad school, it turns out, is a bit of a time suck. Let's hope that the rest of the school year continues as it did last time, which is to say that I returned to the blog and happily knit along through the second semester. Of course, this next (and final) semester of grad school may be a bit more time-consuming as I prepare for my comprehensive review, my graduate recital, and start taking auditions for jobs in the real world.

I must thank each and every one of you for your comments, emails, facebook messages, and texts in reply to my last blog post (which was three months ago. It's ok if you don't remember.) The response was overwhelming and sadly I never managed to get back to all of you, but I hope you know that I truly appreciated the time you took to read it and respond.

I should also thank the number of you who have emailed, facebooked, or texted me to check if I am still alive and happy and to gently remind me that I do in fact have a blog and wouldn't I like to get back to it some day? The answer to that is that yes, I would like to get back to it. So here I am.

Unlike last year, I didn't completely stop knitting during my first semester of school. However, most of the knitting I have done over the past few months have been samples and I couldn't really blog about them. Plus, I'm not sure how entertaining it would have been to read about sweater after sweater without seeing pictures or hearing about details.

At any rate, I'm back and I do have some knitting to show you. I've been sneaking smaller projects in among the sweaters I've been knitting and am currently working on a pair of mittens for myself. I know, I know, I'm a poor example of what a knitter should be at this time of year. Knitters should be selflessly knitting away the hours until Christmas creating gifts for each and every single member of their extended family while avoiding household chores and fighting the urge to eat so as to maximize the amount of time they have to create their incredible gifts.

Well, then let's think of these mittens as a gift -- for myself.

I have big plans for these mittens. What you see above is the outer mitten, but there is also going to be an inner (removable) mitten done in the lighter blue color. It's going to be simple and so far it's looking exactly how I imagined in my head. Plain, functional mittens with enough personality that they can't be something found in a store. Can I show you my favorite part about these mittens?

When I charted out my cuff pattern, I did it so that it is seamless where one round meets another. That jog always bothers me when knitting patterns in the round and I figured that as long as I was taking the time to design my own cuff, I might as well make it exactly how I wanted. You see that right there in the middle? The pattern just keeps on going happy as a clam. And that makes me happy, too.

I'm going to try to be around these parts much more often from now on. I've been keeping up with blogs, but I hardly comment these days. Perhaps that's the next thing I'll have to change.

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!

Finding My Voice

2011-09-23T12:15:00.000-05:00

Warning: I drop the F-bomb in this post.

I have a morning routine. You see, I'm not what you might call a "morning person." I set my alarm to go off earlier than necessary in order to account for the several times I will inevitably hit the snooze button. I take an inordinate amount of time to prepare myself to face the world in the morning and unless I am showered, fed, and caffeinated, you had better not speak to me unless it is a matter of extreme import. Because of this, I have to give myself extra time in the morning to initiate my waking up routine. I brush my teeth, I wash my face, and I shower. As I am in the shower, I run through everything I have to do that day. "Practice, class, rehearsal, lunch, rehearsal, practice, rehearsal..." Then I sit down with a bowl of cereal to read blogs while my coffee brews. This is my morning routine. I cherish my bit of free time in the morning knowing that the rest of my day will be busy, hectic, and filled with other people (I'm an introvert. People sap my energy faster than you can believe.)

As I was going about my routine yesterday morning, I clicked my way over to Joan's blog and encountered a bit of reality that made the rest of my day seem entirely unimportant. If you haven't already heard, I encourage you to go read this article about 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer who recently took his own life as a result of homophobia and bullying in school and online. I was heartbroken to have to read about yet another teen suicide in the GLBT community and I could do little more than sob into my cereal as I wept for that innocent little boy. I was so overcome with emotion that I felt numb. I was furious, depressed, confused, terrified, sad and I just sat, helpless, with no desire to leave my apartment and go about my day.

I wasn't planning to write about this. I was at a loss for words all day as I struggled to comprehend this sad, sad tragedy and how it could have happened. I didn't think I would have anything worth saying and besides, this is a knitting blog. To be honest, I rarely even mention the fact that I'm gay because I'm sure I have some readers who wouldn't completely accept that and I don't want to make anybody uncomfortable. But you know what I have to say now? FUCK THEM. That's right, I said it. This is my goddamn blog and it's about time that these people be put in their place. Why should I worry about making people uncomfortable? Why should I apologize if who I am disagrees with someone else's beliefs? I don't hesitate to mention that I'm colorblind, or left handed, or male, do I? I don't walk down the street and hide the fact that I have blue eyes, or brown hair, or large feet. It's this belief - the belief that being gay is something that should be hidden or apologized for - that makes others think it's ok to ridicule, torment, and harass.

I may be gay, but you know what else? I'm also an individual and I have a voice. We all have a story to tell, and it's up to you to listen.

Jamey's death has made me think back to my high school experience. It makes me wonder - do the people who bullied me in high school read about these deaths and feel guilty? Do they remember a time when they were just as cruel and wonder what they were thinking? Does the guy who told me to go to hell as he shoved snow in my face feel any pang of regret? Or how about those who made a daily game of seeing who could yell "faggot" louder in math class before the teacher mumbled for them to be quiet? What about the guys who spit on me, or threw sand in my eyes, or blocked the doors to the locker room so I couldn't change after gym class? Have they grown up and matured? Or are they going to be the ones teaching their children that hate is acceptable and that differences are to be feared?

Reading about Jamey has made me wonder where my voice has gone. In middle school I was one of the founding members of a group that still exists a decade later. We called it "STAR": Students Teaching Acceptance and Respect. The six of us would visit other classrooms and, through the use of skits, introduce relevant scenarios that taught lessons about respect and acceptance.

In high school I was presented with a Multicultural Leadership Award for my work on what my friend and I called our "Safe Speech Campaign." We made pamphlets, handed out buttons, and organized an all-school assembly to speak about the power of language and how it affects those around us. And we didn't only talk about derogative words directed toward the GLBT community, either. We addressed words that targeted gender, race, religion, social class, etc.

It's interesting, then, that what I took out of high school was not confidence in my ability to speak out and stand up for those in need. What I took away from high school was tolerance. Not tolerance for those different than me, but a tolerance for hatred - a tolerance for the bullying and the harassment that I had to endure every day. I didn't realize it then, but I had been defeated. They had taken away my voice - and isn't that what they were after? I was no longer able to speak up for myself.

This led me to form the opinion that the power to make a change lay in the hands of straight people. It was up to them to speak up for a minority. No one was going to listen to me. After all, if I were to say something I would just be complaining and the only thing worse than a faggot is a faggot who whines. But you know what I've discovered? I've discovered that if I don't say something, then chances are that no one else will, either.

So here's my challenge to myself and to you. No longer can we live passively. It is our responsibility, yours and mine, to speak up - to stop harassment, to put an end to hatred, and to prevent bullying. You may feel uncomfortable calling someone else out on their behavior, but the importance of our doing so is clear. By speaking up we are showing others that such behavior is unacceptable and that we, you and I and everyone else, will not stand for it. It is so important that we do this, you and I, because you never know - the other person in the room may have lost their voice in high school.

Please, there is no time to hesitate, no more time to feel uncomfortable. We must learn from Jamey's struggle and act to ensure that no one else has to meet the same fate. Please use your voice and share this message with others so that, together, we - you and I - can make a difference.

I, for one, am glad I've found my voice again.

What Not To Do With Wool*

2011-09-05T15:41:00.000-05:00

*or, "Who needs hand cards when you have facial hair?"

Thanks Knitnzu for the fiber! It's awesome.

Happy Labor day to all you readers in the US! I suggest you take the time to cover yourself head-to-toe in wool. You won't regret it, but you might sweat a bit.

Transition Time

2011-08-28T20:02:00.000-05:00

Classes begin tomorrow and I can't decide if I'm ready or not. It's not that I feel unprepared, or that my workload is going to be overwhelming, it's simply that I don't think I've made that necessary mental transition yet. You know, the one that allows you to switch from sleeping until noon to waking up at 6am. The one in which you must develop a drive so strong that you can continue day after day with only four hours of sleep a night. The one that helps you understand that even though you've already played your clarinet for seven hours that day, the next two hours of rehearsal are still just as important and you can't give up quite yet. The one (and this is the kicker) that prepares you for the idea that for the next nine months of your life... you may not have enough time to knit.

It's a tough transition. And one that I hope I have made by 6am tomorrow. (I'm bringing my knitting to school just in case. Sort of like a comfort blankie. I just need to know it's there.) Of course, I think I may have a bit more time to get from point A to point B. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is currently touring Europe until September 12, so although classes technically begin tomorrow, almost the entire school of music faculty is out of the country, so two of my classes won't start for three weeks and I won't be having lessons until then, either. Sometimes it's best to take it slow.

Apparently that's my motto when it comes to spinning these days, too. I've been spending a lot of time preparing for my ensemble placement audition (a necessary evil) and that combined with all the secret knitting I've been doing lately means I don't have much time to sit at the wheel. It's quite sad. I did spin up the first ounce of my Cupcake batts, though. (Oh my, I should not have clicked over there to get the link. I barely resisted buying the gradient ocean ones.)

When I first posted these batts, I got a few emails asking how I was going to spin them up, so here's how I'm preparing the batts to be spun.

First, I unroll/unfold the batt and lay it out flat.

That is the point in which I normally do the petting. Then I split the batt lengthwise into four strips.

I then take each strip and draft it out a little bit to make sure that the fibers aren't too compacted and I think pulling it into a thinner, longer strip helps me with fiber control as I'm sort of new to the wheel spinning thing. The cupcake batts come in a nice crush-proof box, so pre-drafted isn't really essential, but with other fiber preparations it might be.

Once each strip is drafted out a bit, I wrap them up into cute little fiber nests. (Except in my head they're not cute nests, but unpredictable, manly fiber volcanos. It sounds more bad-ass.)

I just wrap the strip around my hand and then pull the loose end through when I get to it.

If you'd rather not pull your batt into four strips, you could also split it into one piece by doing some zig-zag magic.

And then once you draft it into a single long strip, you can wind it into a big fiber ball and spin it from there.

I personally prefer the smaller strips because it gives me a natural stopping point. If I were spinning an entire ounce from one strip, I'm not sure I'd have the willpower to stop spinning in the middle of it.

Of course, you could also not do any prep and simply start spinning from one corner and go and go and go until it's gone. There's no problem with that, either.

And because I've been stringing you all along this summer with my knitting, here's what I've been working on.

See? That's a sweater, a sweater, a sweater, a sweater, and now a sweater. (Things are truly unpredictable over here.) The second sleeve is almost done. I can blog about this one because it's a sample of Hannah Fettig's Carrot Cardigan, which is already published, so I don't think there's any harm in showing you, right? Right.

And now, as is usually the case, back to practicing.

This And That

2011-08-20T17:27:00.000-05:00

Thing A. This is going to be one of those random-type posts.

Thing B. Brittany has been complaining lately that she doesn't get enough face time on the blog. So here she is exploring the new wheel. (She has to inspect everything that comes into this apartment. She's kind of a diva that way.) (Don't mind the color of these photos. They were taken at night and super ugly so I tried to adjust the color, but I'm colorblind and, well... here you go.)

Don't worry, I held onto moving parts so it didn't turn into some carnival ride like "The Wheel of Death" or anything like that.

Thing C. She also sometimes likes to help me knit.


Oh, garter stitch! You know, that was named after one of my cousins. Doesn't look at all like her if you ask me...

Hey! Peter! Remember this vest that you never finished? Do you? Do you? It's right here. Look! Remember it?

Thing D. We had a storm yesterday that knocked the power out for a while and flooded several areas in Pittsburgh. I live on a hill so I didn't get the flooding, but I did knit in the dark for three hours. This is what my evening looked like.

Some knitting, a good book, and a root beer (yes, root beer. I don't drink alcohol.) (I was also cuddling with Brittany because without power, she gets pretty cold.)

Thing E. Before the power went out, I managed to bake a loaf of bread.

I want to start making my own bread (you know, because being a graduate student leaves me SO MUCH free time...) and this was my first attempt. Simple, plain, white bread.

Thing F. It makes unbelievable toast.

Thing G. Any suggestions for good bread recipes?

Is This Real Life?

2011-08-18T19:00:00.000-05:00

I have a friend who often says things like, "What is my life?" or "Am I a real person?" and I think both of those sentiments can be applied to my life at this moment.

As many of you know by now, this last trip found me traveling to visit our Joan and her family for a while. Joan and I have known each other through our blogs for several years and I was very happy to be able to meet her in person and spend some quality time with her (and, by the way, I was present for the birthday package extravaganza and it was amazing.)

Several times during my trip I found myself thinking the above. Is this my life? How did I get to a point in which I drive around the country meeting cyber-friends for days jam packed with excitement? I mean, come on! Niagara Falls?

Heck yes. We also went to the zoo, which, I must say, is always a favorite for me. I almost always have to go to a zoo when I travel to a new city. Not that this information shocks you with me being the animal nerd you all know me to be. Ooh, and the pier. That was really peaceful and wonderful. I think it was Lake Ontario. (Joan? Yes? Ontario?)

What really had me questioning the reality of my life was the fact that when I arrived, there was a spinning wheel waiting for me! Because I've been all over the country these past few weeks, Joan and I decided to have my wheel delivered to her house because it seemed to be the most practical place to send it at the time.

We put it together the day I arrived and spun and spun and spun all weekend long. It was glorious. And now that I'm back in Pittsburgh, I can prove to you that there is indeed a new spinning wheel in that bare corner I showed you in the last post.

See? A beautiful, beautiful walnut Kromski Minstrel. I couldn't be happier! The wheel and I seem to get along incredibly well and I haven't run into any major issues with breaking it in so far. I did break the brake band it came with, but with Joan close by it was a quick fix and I was able to get back to spinning immediately.

I think I spun over 10 ounces of fiber while I was there, and she sent me home with much, much more. Rambouillet, corriedale, merino, silk, pygora, yak, targhee, alpaca, BFL... I really don't think there's anything I don't have in my stash now. Wanna see my first wheel-spun yarn?

Not too shabby, eh? It's about 4.5oz of Corriedale, 208 yards. I'm not going to show you my fourth skein. It's worse than the first. (How did that happen?! You can see it on the bobbin in the second picture.)

Of course, Joan couldn't send me home without some of her own Cupcake batts. I got to spin some of her batts while I was there and I have to tell you, they're incredible. I want to spin her batts for the rest of my life. I'm going to start spinning up these beautiful brown ones next.

But trust me, the pictures don't do them justice.

And again, I'm left thinking, "Is this real?"

Many, many, many thanks to Joan for making my new wheel possible and for being so hospitable during my visit! And don't worry about the wheel taking over my life. I've already established a rule that I can't spin until I've met my practicing goals for the day (and right now, as I'm still knitting on deadlines, my knitting goals have to be met too. Oh! Check out Hannah Fettig's big announcement! You'll see a few of those secret projects I've been talking about lately.)

And now it's about time I use this practice room for its intended purpose. Until next time, happy knitting!

Brief Hello

2011-08-11T21:41:00.001-05:00

I don't mean to repeatedly go AWOL on you guys. I just got back into Pittsburgh from a nearly month-long stay in Minnesota where I tend to ignore my email, my phone, my computer, and my clarinet.

I continue to be knitting things I can't show you, but maybe after two more sweaters and a scarf I will return to things I can take pictures of. That would make this blog a bit more exciting, right? (I promise what I'm knitting isn't incredibly mysterious. They're just samples for things that haven't been published by the designers yet, so I can't show you. That's all.) Of course, by the time I finish those three projects the school year will be starting up again and I will be back to clarinet-ing all day long. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of last year's Fall semester in which I didn't knit a single stitch and didn't blog for months. (How did I manage that?)

I leave tomorrow on another trip, which I expect will be entirely too much fun and incredibly exciting. I'll tell you all more about it when I get back, but know this: When I return, that corner of my apartment will be occupied by a brand new spinning wheel! Yippee!!! (I felt that this post lacked exclamation points.)

See you in a few! (Exclamation point.)

Whirlwind

2011-07-27T19:12:00.001-05:00

If I can give one piece of advice, it would be this: Do not underestimate The Blog.

I was completely blown away by the response to my last post about the Kromski Mazurka. You were all so eager to offer advice, hunt down wheels, suggest other options, and sympathize with me that it left my head spinning.

Thanks greatly to all of you wonderful readers, I spent much of yesterday online looking at wheels and considering my options. It has been a whirlwind of emails and phone calls and discussions with countless people. I have read about wheels until my eyes glazed over and considered everything I am looking for in a spinning wheel and now my brain kind of hurts, but I will tell you this:

I am going to have a spinning wheel in the very near future, and it isn't a Mazurka. Shocking, right? After taking everyone's advice and doing more research about wheels, I decided to go with another wheel in the Kromski family. I'll let you all know more about it in a couple of weeks when I'll be able to see it in person and I thank you all so much for your eagerness to help me with this exciting purchase!

And speaking of exciting purchases, I mentioned the other day that I found some wonderful yarn at my LYS (in Minnesota, where I am currently located) recently and here it is:

I've been trying to limit my yarn purchases lately to yarn I have never seen or used before and I have to tell you, this one practically jumped off the shelves at me. It's Imperial Stock Ranch Tracie in the Canyon Shadow and Indigo Heather colorways. Have any of you ever used this yarn? It's a woolen-spun, 100% wool sportweight yarn and it feels incredible. It's much softer than Bartlett or Briggs and Little and still has that wonderful lofty, wooly feel. I haven't knit with it yet, but the swatch at my LYS was amazing. This yarn blooms so nicely when washed and I personally think that it is definitely next-to-skin soft.

In addition to being wonderfully soft and lofty, the wool is grown and spun in the US on a farm that seems to place great importance on sustainability and environmental awareness. I don't mean to be an infomercial and I'm not being paid to praise this yarn, but I do encourage you to check out their website and look around. I've only rubbed this yarn on my face and buried my hands in it, but I think they have a great product and I'm pretty confident that I'll be returning to it several times in the future. And at roughly $18 for a 4oz, 450 yard skein, I think it's also a great deal. (And the tags double as coasters! (Not my idea. It's suggested on the tag itself.))

Woe Is Me

2011-07-25T23:21:00.000-05:00

Oh my dear readers, I am so distraught.

For years (like maybe two) I have wanted a spinning wheel and I have spent countless hours online looking at all the beautiful options, reading about what I should look for in a wheel, learning to understand the different terms and how different things affect how yarn is spun. And years ago (maybe just one. Go with me here, I'm building drama.) I decided on the wheel I wanted. The Kromski Mazurka. It's just stunning. Really, it's beautiful to look at and it would be perfect for sitting in the corner of my little apartment or out on my "patio." I imagine it would make me appear well-learned and sophisticated, with a hint of maturity and an appreciation for well-crafted art. I love everything about it. I knew I wanted a Kromski wheel when I noticed that (most of) their wheels are named after different types of pieces that Chopin composed and with Chopin being my favorite composer of piano music, it was a perfect match.

I have put aside the thought of getting a spinning wheel because I know I won't have much time to use it while still in grad school and it's not really something that will easily fit into my budget, but in the back of my head I continue to yearn for one of my own. And today I began to think that it's not as far out of my reach as I had once thought. If I begin saving - putting aside money here and there for just a few months - I would soon be able to own my beautiful Mazurka and we would live happily ever after in a harmonious marriage of music and wool.

Imagine my shock, then, when I went online just now to check on my beautiful future wheel only to discover a note. A red note. In bold. A bold, red NOTE: and it wasn't good. In fact, it was the opposite of good. This soulless, dream-crushing note informed me that the Kromski Mazurka had been discontinued only four months ago. Just when I thought my wheel was within reach, it has been snatched away and I am beside myself with grief.

But perhaps one of you can help. Do any of you know of a source for Kromski wheels that may still have a Mazurka in stock? Or, though I doubt this, do any of you have an alternate wheel recommendation that I might fall in love with just as deeply and profoundly as I have with my beautiful Mazurka? I'd be happy to hear about it.

I know there are several things about the Mazurka that are a bit, well, lacking - it's single-drive and it only has four ratios (the fastest being 12:1) - but I love it all the same.

If you need me I shall be wallowing in a pool of self-pity and sadness.

(I promise an actual update in the next few days. My knitting continues to be unbloggable, but I have some amazing yarn I found at my LYS in Minnesota that I want to show you guys. I love it even at a time when my heart seems to have been drained of love. That's a lot.)

The World's Most Boring Post

2011-07-07T18:14:00.000-05:00

Right on schedule, I finished my sisters arm warmers yesterday.

The only trouble with things going smoothly is that it doesn't make for very exciting blog fodder. The most "exciting" thing about this project was when I thought I started the second thumb gusset half a repeat higher than I started it on the first one, but I was wrong about that and didn't even have to rip out to realize it.

Pattern: Green Cabled Arm Warmers by Elizabeth Martin, Yarn: Tosh Sock in the Tart colorway, Needles: 2.75mm

I'm not sure if I followed the pattern or not. Once I charted the written out cable pattern, I changed the cast-on number and never looked at the pattern again. I did eight repeats of the cable and then did a generic thumb gusset until I thought it looked big enough and finished off the hand however I pleased. All in all I think they turned out just fine. I think they look kinda cool all scrunched up, too.

My sister wanted slouchy arm warmers, so hopefully these fit the bill.

Wow, I must be hungry or tired, because my brain is really not functioning right now. How about some nature photos to finish things off? I snuck up on a groundhog this afternoon and snapped some pictures of him.

and in the half hour that I sat still in the sun as a spider built a web on my hand, I was surrounded by a whole flock of beautiful dragonflies. (Don't look at the water. It's super gross and I feel bad for all the bluegills that have to live in it.)

and here are some flowers, which were not the source of the sweet smell I was looking for. In fact, they smelled kinda bad.

And with that, I'm going to go find some food.

Monday Musings

2011-07-04T13:38:00.000-05:00

1. I saw a man taking a picture of "The Pussycat" on my way to school today. It's a kinky lingerie store on Forbes Ave. I don't want to know why he was taking a picture.

2. I am finally making progress on my sister's arm warmers. Yesterday I knit an entire one and didn't have to rip out ever.

3. Yes, I'm blogging from the practice room again.

4. I don't think I'm going to be able to knit an entire one today.

5. This means I won't be done until at least Wednesday because Tuesdays are for Tom's afghan.

6. Happy Independence Day to all you readers in the US. Now don't do anything stupid - we don't have universal healthcare.

7. I've never done anything stupid.

8. Ever.

9. When did I become monogamous with my knitting? I remember a time when I used to work on more than one project.

10. I kind of like finishing things, though.

11. Speaking of monogamy, I have been getting a lot of emails asking about The Composer and why he hasn't been on the blog lately. The reason for that is because we broke up several months ago.

12. Yeah, that means no more pictures of a Jake Gyllenhaal lookalike for you guys. Sorry.

13. After my lengthy post about my love of colorwork mittens it's looking like my next pair of mittens may not be colorwork at all. In fact, they may be pure white.

14. I borrowed that picture from my digital copy of Knitting Traditions, Winter 2010. It actually belongs to them and is attributed to Joe Coca.

15. I blame this new mitten desire on Ivar. His twined knitting is just too damn impressive.

16. Those mittens are going to have to wait like the rest of them, though, because I have a few unbloggable projects in the lineup that I have to do first.

17. I know. Boring.

18. Maybe I'll show you the UFOs I've been finishing along the sidelines. That'll keep you entertained.

19. Maybe.

20. Back to practicing.

Jag(ged)

2011-07-02T00:56:00.000-05:00

I often have trouble knitting two of the same thing. I think this is part of the reason why I don't enjoy knitting socks. (The other reason is the fact that I have canoes for feet.) I know this about myself and I also know that it has caused problems in the past when six, twelve, eighteen months pass before I knit the second sock, or mitten, or whatever and my gauge in that intervening time has changed so much that I have two of something that aren't the same size. It usually happens with things that take the largest investment of time, like colorwork mittens. It would never happen to plain stockinette socks. That would be too easy.

This is why when I finished the first Estonian mitten and felt myself slipping away from the project, looking for other things to cast on instead of the second one, I immediately gave myself a talking to about how wouldn't it be nice if I knit two mittens that were the same size? Even if I know they're not going to fit me because the first one was too small, wouldn't it be nice to be able to give someone else two mittens that are the same size? Shouldn't I just sit down and knit that second mitten? Because really, the first one only took a day and a half so it shouldn't be too much trouble.

And you know what? It wasn't. (I figured out why the cast on was so much freaking bigger the second time around. It's because the first time I cast on using Knit Picks harmony needles and the second time with Clover bamboo needles and the difference in slipperiness changed my tension. Crazy, right? But it's all fixed.) I even discovered that knitting this mitten a second time was just as enchanting.

Pattern: Marko's Mittens (rav. link) from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift Needles: US 0

There was so much to love about these mittens. I love how the thumbs practically disappear against the palm. (Look at the one on the left. You can barely see it! So cool.) I love the simple black/white of the mittens. I think it's charming. I love - and this is an important one - I love the fact that by knitting these mittens, I was connecting to a history. A knitting tradition. These are essentially reproductions of actual Estonian mittens, only I made them. How cool is that?! I love the little bits of red thrown in for a pop of color. I love the braided cast on, and the bit of lace on the cuff. I love the jagged looking pattern and the way that if you put the two mittens together, it makes another diamond pattern between them. And I love how the inside of the thumb is like a little surprise for the wearer.

And I love that each mitten only weights 30 grams. And they're warm like an oven, too. Those Estonians know what they're doing. I also love that I didn't have to break into my second ball of black because I had so much left of the first one when I finished.

I find these mittens so incredibly wonderful that I have a feeling I may be running into a knitting jag. You know, where when you once thought you'd never be able to knit the same thing more than once because it just gets so boring and then all of a sudden you can't stop knitting hats and then all of a sudden people know you as the hat guy and you have so many that no one wants any more of them? (It happened to me with the Kiwi Hat. My brother's boyfriend now owns like five of them.) That's what I think is happening here. I want to knit colorwork mittens always. I want to knit mittens from Latvia, and from Estonia. Mittens from Scotland, mittens from Russia, Turkey, the UK. I can't wait to explore all of these different knitting traditions through mittens and I've already picked out some wonderful color combinations in my favorite yarns.

Some nice warm heathers in Cascade 220:

Bold, eye-searing Malabrigo:

Natural colors in Harrisville:

Jewel tones in Manos:

You get the idea. Mittens mittens mittens. I don't know about you, but I want to knit mittens forever. I just don't know which ones to start with.

(Ooh, and I just got a copy of Rae Compton's The Complete Book of Traditional Knitting (which, by the way, do you see that original hardcover edition for $360? Definitely glad they reprinted this gem) and there are some pictures of mittens from the 1800s that I definitely want to recreate as well.)

And then when I was feeling a little, well, upset because I've been looking for authentic traditional mitten patterns and it seems as though so many patterns these days are "based on traditional mittens" but then maybe they're knit at a bigger gauge, or the pattern is made easier, or the shaping is changed, all to make it "easier for the modern knitter" and I was throwing a bit of a fit in my apartment because "I don't need the pattern to be made easier dammit I want to do things right!" (I don't really like change) when Yayo of the comments messaged me on Ravelry and pointed me to a pair of mittens that she had knit. Go look at them and marvel at their amazingness. Fully-lined mittens knit on size 0000 mittens. Like I told her, I've been looking for the real deal and I'm pretty sure I just found it.

I need your input though. The yarn called for, though excellent, is also only available from either (I find this endlessly amusing) Elizabeth Zimmermann's company or Nancy Bush's and although I think that verifies that it's great yarn, if I were to buy all that I needed these would be $100 mittens and I'm not going there. So I'm going to the other end of the yarn spectrum and I'm looking at either Knit Picks Palette or Brown Sheep Nature Spun (which is what Ms. Yayo used) and I'd like to know which one you guys would choose. I've never knit with Nature Spun, so if you've knit with both and have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

So that's that. Mittens. I'm knittin' 'em. Oh! Except I have to knit some arm warmers for one of my sisters first because I promised her years ago that I would and I haven't yet. So I started those.

It's not going well. This post is quite long already so I won't go into much detail, but it went from that point to here:

Three different times using three different designs and they're all just too small. I knit the first five inches of the first one and ripped it out, and then I knit it again a needle size up and ripped, and then I went up a needle size again and decided the pattern wasn't right. So I switched to the pattern you see above and knit all that you see despite knowing that it used the same stitch count as the pattern before, which ended up being too small, and this one has a cable so it's definitely going to be too small especially because my sister wants slouchy arm warmers, but I kept knitting anyway. I finally ripped that out and started a third pattern of my own devising only to realize four inches later that it's just stupid and crap and ripped it out and now I have nothing, but I'm going to return to that second pattern you see above and just use more stitches. I don't know why I was being an idiot but I think my mind was elsewhere.

Like mittens.

P.S. Thanks to DavidA for correcting me on that coral bridge. The tour guide was wrong and it's actually made out of volcanic rock, which both sits better on my conscience and explains why every time I walk across it I think, "Huh. Coral? Really? It kinda looks more like volcanic rock to me." So there ya go. Thanks DavidA. (Only I couldn't reply to your comment because I don't have your contact info.)

P.P.S. There are a lot of other comments that I also have not replied to yet, but I will. I'm just behind and the only place I have internet is the practice room at school and it's already 1:45am and I don't want to be in a practice room any longer, so I'll reply to them later.

P.P.P.S. Size 0000. I'm just so frikkin' excited! (That links to an SNL skit. Very funny. I bet she knit her sweater.)

Handspun!

2011-06-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

I apologize for yelling, but when the subject of this post is what it is, there's hardly a more appropriate reaction.

I posted pictures of my finished Boneyard shawl over on Ravelry, but never got around to doing it over here, so here are some photos for you. Unfortunately after blocking it (weeks and weeks ago) it has just sat around folded up in my humid apartment, so it's pretty wrinkly, but it'll have to do.

I used about 4oz. of a 2-ply merino that I spun on a drop spindle, getting something resembling a sport-weight yarn. The fiber was a gift from my sister (who I'm sure will post again soon, but she was out of town and is now moving to a new home, so she's kinda busy) which she got from J.Knits, a company which may or may not be defunct at this point. (Good riddance.)

That wall is part of a bridge in the middle of the park where I go to pretend I'm not in a city and I once overheard a tour guide (by the way, who gives tours of parks?) explaining to a crowd of tourists that it was constructed entirely out of coral from the ocean. They "oohed" and "aahed" as I walked away in disgust. Is that supposed to be impressive? They removed tons and tons of coral from the ocean to build a freaking bridge in the middle of Pittsburgh and we're supposed to love it? I was kind of irate. I just get a little, well, emotional when it comes to nature. Anyway, it made a nice backdrop nonetheless (but when I moved in to get a closer shot my camera battery died, so again, this is what you get.)

The only modification I made to the pattern was to increase at both edges on every row instead of every other row. Seeing as how this tip came from WillyG himself (a Stephen West expert), I would have been a fool to ignore his suggestion. It creates a wider, narrower scarf that's easier to wrap around your neck (or a tree.)

I loved knitting this shawl and watching how the colors in the handspun played out. I finished the bind off and threw it around my neck and loved it. However, it grew quite a bit in the blocking and all of a sudden I wasn't sure it was right for me, so I think it's going to go in a gift pile (along with those mittens) to make some as of yet unknown person happy at an as of yet unknown future date. I'm sure I'll find a wonderful home for it.

And now that I've babbled on, let's get to the real reason of this post. Yayo of the comments, who goes by TheyToldMeSew on Ravelry and etsy sent me some of her handspun! (She has some gorgeous stuff on her site. You should check it out. I bought some really beautiful handspun from her many moons ago.)

Aren't those colors perfect for me?! Ooh, and it's so shiny you'd almost think there was silk in it, but that's just one of the many charms of BFL. It's so beautiful! I even love the name - Swamp Grass. I love nature! (but only secretly.) I can't wait to knit with it, but I'm going to have to wait until I have the perfect project for it. Any suggestions? (I'm maybe even thinking colorwork, but that may just be a jag I feel coming on...)

Thanks so much Yayo of the comments!

Saved By The Bell

2011-06-21T18:29:00.000-05:00

Phew, that was a close one. You guys were almost graced with yet another boring post about unfinished mittens (things are better now. Remind me to tell you about how fickle those stupid mittens are later) when a package arrived at my door. It was from my sister, so it was bound to be good.

A crap ton of yarn. Most of it is O-Wool Legacy DK, except the four blue skeins on top which are O-Wool Classic.

Uh, guys, that's a ton of wool. I'm so excited. (And no. I don't have any plans for it just yet. Why would you think that?)

That's all I was expecting to be in the box, but apparently my sister couldn't resist to throw in some extras. Like this:

She had been raving about this yarn and talking about how great it is to work with (Dream in Color Smooshy - With cashmere!) (I'd link to it, but their website is under construction right now.) and now that I can hold it in my hands, I know exactly what she was talking about. I may have rubbed it all over my face when I picked it up.

Then there was this lotion bar and I have to tell you, it actually almost gave me a heart attack at first.

You probably didn't even notice, but a while back a made reference to the fact that I may have lint-rolled an entire colony of ants off of my carpet. What I didn't mention was that they did the freakiest thing. Did you know that ants make noise? Yeah, neither did I, but I do now! I discovered it when I was holding this lint roller (oh my god, I still feel so guilty about this I can barely talk about it) full of ants up near my head and all of a sudden this freaky, terrifying sound started getting louder and louder... It was like, well, it was like a nightmare. It was sort of like a scratching sound, but much more nightmarish and knowing that it was coming from an entire colony of ants put me over the edge. It must have been their war cry. By the time I was done (oh my god, I'm such a horrible person!) I could hear the sound from across the room. I even recorded it on my iPhone because I knew people wouldn't believe me (you should see their faces when they hear it. Fear. That's what's on their face.)

Anyway, so I also didn't tell you that after that day, I think the ants have been coming back to haunt me. Really. Whenever I'm around the massacre site a single ant will appear. And it doesn't just appear on the carpet next to me - it magically comes into being on my arm, or on my neck, or on my leg and I know that maybe it could have just crawled there without my noticing, but I don't think so. I think these are ant ghosts coming back to haunt me. Sometimes when I brush them off they disappear. Completely. I even gently do it so I can watch where they land, but they never do (land, that is). They just disappear. Gone. Poof. Ant ghosts.

So because of my irrational belief that I'm being haunted by a colony of ants seeking revenge, I'm a bit paranoid and when I first saw that tin of lotion, I thought it had a picture of an orange covered in ants and I almost cried. But don't worry, they're just cloves. (I have another theory about the ants, but when I ran it past my brother earlier today he seemed to think I was a lunatic. So I'm just going to stick with the ghost and theory.)

Moving on. Also in the box was this:

Silk caps! Ooh, I'm so excited to play around with these. I can't decide what to do, though. I could give it a try spinning them and I'm sure that would be super fun, or I could do what the Yarn Harlot did and turn them into yarn without actually spinning them and that would be super cool, too (I've actually been looking at silk hankies online lately for just that reason) and this is just the right amount to experiment with, so maybe I'll do both.

And with that I'm off to go search for the first episode of Season 3 of Drop Dead Diva. (Does anyone else watch that show? My brother got me hooked.) Yep, my life is a bundle of excitement (and yarn.)

And Then The Clock Struck Midnight

2011-06-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

Dudes, I totally and completely did not knit fast enough. In fact, I knit so un-fast that the powers that produced such a wonderful, perfect first mitten actually reversed their effects. It's like they not only wore off on my future production of speedy, even stitches at a perfect gauge, they actually wore off of the first mitten as well.

I should have seen it coming when I knit the thumb. I picked up the wrong number of stitches. I dropped stitches. I messed up the pattern. My floats were tight. My decreases sucked... and then I tried on the mitten. The thumb was fine (somehow. I mean, I knit it three times so I shouldn't be surprised, but I am), but the mitten, the WHOLE FREAKING MITTEN was too small! You see that? You see what happened? The magic that had given me a perfectly fitting, one-day mitten wore off and it became what it was all along. A stupid too-small mitten with ugly decreases that may very well be partnerless for eternity because when I started the second one?

It was too big. Like two inches too big. (I think I've moved from Cinderella to Goldilocks. The only problem is that mittens come in twos, not threes and therefore I will never have one that is "just right.") Yayo of the comments was right when she told me to rip out the first cuff and start over (but I couldn't reply to her comments directly because I don't have her email address so I'm tell you here, Yayo. Totally spot on. I must have just been wearing my rose-tinted glasses. Or maybe they were more like beer goggles.)

Knitting totally blows sometimes, ya know?

Knitting Voodoo

2011-06-17T14:57:00.002-05:00

That's the only explanation. There is some weird sort of magic going on around these parts and, to tell you the truth, I hope it sticks around.

See? One mitten down, one to go. I knit that entire thing (minus the bit of cuff I showed you the other day) yesterday. Yep, magic. And what's more, when the fates decided to give me super speed when it comes to knitting, they also gave me mystical gauge powers. And by that you must understand that I mean that although I didn't check gauge for these mittens (and why would I? I mean, a decent gauge swatch would be the size of half a mitten, so why not just... knit half a mitten? Ya know?), something magical happened. The cuff I showed you before? It fits. And no, I didn't rip it out. I didn't move up a needle size. I didn't do anything. It just... fits. I'm not going to question it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get started on the second mitten before these powers run out. (I have a feeling they're not permanent and that I have a limited number of hours in which to use them. Sort of like Cinderella. Except when my time runs out I'll break a needle, drop twenty-three stitches and get my mitten caught on the strongest velcro while on my way to the sink to wash out the coffee that leapt out of my mug and onto the beautiful, creamy white of the mitten just moments after I realized that ten rows back I messed up the pattern in an irrecoverable way. Yup, I better knit fast.)

Mittens By Number

2011-06-14T18:38:00.000-05:00

1. My sister has started blogging again! You should stop by to say hello. It could be worth it (just sayin').

2. Yesterday I was overcome with a deep, passionate desire to knit stranded mittens.

3. I had the yarn, but didn't have DPNs the right size (?!?!?!)

4. I went to the yarn store and came back with yarn for the mittens, but no needles. (Thus costing me money and defeating the purpose of the trip.)

5. I made it work by using the two 6" Knit Picks harmony needles I found, two 5" Brittany birch, and one 8" Clover bamboo. (I won't get into why none of these were acceptable. Apparently I'm more picky than I thought.)

6. I didn't much like that set-up, but I love the pattern (Marko's Mittens from Folk Knitting in Estonia) and I'm using Jamieson's, so there's a lot of love going around. (I've had a things for natural, woolen-spun yarns for a while, too.) (I saw some other yarn that was "moth-proofed." I don't know what that means, but I was instantly upset by it. I don't like my yarn tampered with.)

7. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to start a pair of mittens at 1am, but I seem to have managed the cast on just fine.

8. That second braid, though, the pretty white/red one? It's wrong. It's supposed to be black and red.

9. It's fixed now.

10. Now I just need to figure out how it's going to fit on my hand.

11. I'm sure it'll be fine when it's done.

12. Be quiet, I can hear what you're thinking.

The Perfect Sweater

2011-06-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

I realized a few weeks ago that I haven't knit a sweater for myself since I finished Delain at the beginning of March, 2010. What's worse is that I have been holding onto the yarn for several sweaters for quite a bit longer than that. Each one I've chosen has presented just one or two "complications" to a carefree, mindless sweater-knitting experience and for one reason or another, I've put it aside so that it can sort those complications out for itself. They haven't yet, and so my needles have gone sweaterless.

For my birthday this past November my sister sent me enough Malabrigo to knit a sweater and I've been on the search for the perfect pattern ever since. The trouble is, I'm no longer convinced that the perfect sweater pattern exists. There are tons of great ones, many sweaters that I love and want to knit for myself, but not with this malabrigo. I think the problem is that I went into this search with a pattern in mind and have ruled everything out because, well... because it's not the sweater in my head and that means it's not perfect.

So I decided last week that I was just going to have to design this sweater myself.

That's how far I've gotten. I'm not even going to tell you how long it took to draw something that even resembled the shape of a sweater (I've never pretended to be an artist. Well, except with music. You know what I mean.), but this is where I'm stuck. Here's what I know about my sweater:

It's knit at a really dense gauge because it's going to be a coat
It's going to have cables
It's going to have twisted stitches (this then rules out it having cables, I think)
It's going to be knit in pieces
It's going to have set-in sleeves
It's going to have a zipper up the front
It's also going to have a front flap that buttons closed with toggles
The band around the bottom is going to be a sideways cable knit separately as a strip
It's going to have a collar, I just don't know what kind yet

So, alright, you'd think I'd be well on my way at this point, only I've been sitting with my stitch dictionaries for days and they're so full of post-its marking cables and twisted stitches that I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I've made lists, I've narrowed them down several times and the trouble is that I can never make up my mind. One day I decide that I want all my cables to be "curvy", and then the next day I decide I don't want cables at all and go off and remove all the post-its and only choose twisted stitch patterns, only to drop those like a hot potato when I see a "pointy" cable that I like and then the other day I decided that I would just whack them all together and when I started charting out a swatch so I could check gauge, I changed my mind. I can't put rounded cables together with sharp ones next to twisted stitches and seed stitch (the seed stitch came from left field. I've already ruled it out.) What was I thinking? That's too much. In my head that looks like a cluttered, unfocused mess and my sweater (in my head) doesn't, so clearly I'm not there yet. (Don't even get me started on the day when I decided that each segment of my sweater would be something different. The back could have twisted stitches, the front right the rounded cables and the front left the pointed ones, with the sleeves getting the leftovers. I clearly wasn't thinking straight that day.)

So I'm back to where I was when I drew that picture. A blank sweater-shaped canvas that needs to be filled with some sort of pattern and this is where I realize, for the tenth time, that I'm not a designer and may be a bit over my head. How do they do it?

I Sort Of Went To Philly

2011-06-08T15:03:00.000-05:00

I have just returned from my trip and I am happy to say, it all went as planned.

I went to visit a friend near Philadelphia and every day was so much fun! I didn't actually go into the city itself, but we managed to keep ourselves entertained very well.

On Thursday we went to the Philadelphia Zoo, which is really an awesome place. It is one of the better zoos I've been to and it was so much fun to go to one again! It has been too long. I love everything about it, except maybe the fact that the air was so thick with pollen that there was a light fog everywhere you went. Other than that it was super cool and as my friend continually sneezed the entire day, I was secretly so thankful that I don't have allergies. (Except for bubble bath. I don't know why and I haven't had a bubble bath since I was really little, but I don't want to risk it.)

Then on Friday we drove to Hawk Mountain, which is a sanctuary for birds of prey and, well... you all know how I feel about birds. There are numerous trails in the area and we decided to take the "River of Rocks" trail that morning which took us down into the valley and around - you guessed it - a river of rocks.

Above is a view from one of the lookouts near the top of the mountain. The arrow is pointing to where we stopped and ate lunch. And here's a view from the above arrow, pointing to where I was standing when I took the first picture.

We thought "River of Rocks" was just a cool name until we actually got there and saw that it really is a river of rocks. It was super cool and I had a little bit too much fun clambering around on all of them. My friend wasn't as keen on pretending to be a Mountain Goat and hopping around all over the rocks, so here she is in the background functioning as a bit of scale so you can see the size of this place.

Unbelievably cool. Really, super duper cool. I couldn't get enough of it. And when we weren't clambering over rocks (which, admittedly, was most of the time) we were hiking through the woods and every so often one of use would exclaim something about Ferngully or pretend to be a forest sprite (I'll leave that up to you to guess which one of us that would have been.)

We said goodbye to the stoney river and continued on our journey back up the mountain to see what sort of view we could find.

And the view we found was incredibly spectacular! You could have knocked me over with a Turkey Vulture feather (of which there were many to choose from), but I'm glad I wasn't knocked over because, well, because I was on the top of a mountain.

It was soooooo cool!! I didn't realize how much I love hiking, but how could I not have guessed it?! I mean, I used to rock climb all the time. And I love being outside in the woods. And I love birds. And, well, this place is called Hawk Freaking Mountain and it involved climbing rocks and being outside in the woods looking at birds and really... how could it get any better than that?!

And I have to tell you the birds I saw because I was super excited and dorky like that. I didn't take pictures though, this is just going to be quick and dirty. In addition to the DOZENS of Turkey Vultures everywhere, and the Robins and all those usual birds, I also saw several birds I hadn't seen before. I saw Scarlet Tanagers (both a male and a female. I almost had a heard attack when I saw them. I may or may not have done a little dance, I don't remember. I was just so excited! I had dreamed about seeing these birds for years and I finally did! I even pulled out my bird book and made my friend verify that I was indeed seeing what I thought I was seeing. So cool!), an Indigo Bunting (So beautiful! And such a saturated color! Is that weird to say that about a bird?), a black and white warbler (which I have seen before, but it was cool anyway) and a male Baltimore Oriole. Oh, and I heard a Pileated Woodpecker and although this place is called Hawk Mountain, there seemed to be a noticeable lack of hawks. I saw one Red-tail, but I think that was it. The rest were Turkey Vultures. Except the Kestrel I saw. Hooray for birds!

Ok, so then we left because we had to go to a birthday party, but then two days later we had a decision to make. Do we go into downtown Philly and do all the things that one should do when visiting that city, or do we go back to Hawk Mountain?

Alright, so it wasn't really a very difficult decision. The first time we were there (Hawk Mountain, not Philly. Duh.) we reached that super cool lookout and then I sort of scrambled over a cliff and saw a sign right above this huge drop that labeled it as the "Skyline Trail." It was labeled as the most difficult trail and was recommended only for experience Appalachian hikers, but I couldn't resist. We returned to Hawk Mountain and hiked our way along this "most difficult" trail, the whole time patting ourselves on the back for being such experienced Appalachian Hikers, and then when we were resting and munching on our packed lunches and enjoying our abundance of water, some real hikers walked past. There were three of them and although they resembled the Jonas Brothers, I'm pretty sure they weren't. They said they had been hiking for days and had been out of water for the past three or four hours and then, well, and then it hit me. Maybe I'm not a real hiker... yet. But this is what our trail looked like, and I think it was so much more fun than wandering around downtown Philly.

...and I had my very first Cheesesteak.

Cop Out

2011-05-31T15:43:00.000-05:00

I haven't gotten around to taking any pictures of finished projects lately and I'm going on another trip tomorrow so I won't be around for a bit, but I wanted to share some additional pictures I took of my Autumn Arbor Stole a while back and never posted here (I'm put them up on Ravelry, though.)

This shawl has now found a new home with the mother of one of my good friends, and I hope she likes it!

And because I can't help myself, here are some bird photos. Baby Blue Jays! They're a little hard to see, but there were three of them and they were oh so adorable. I couldn't stay long, though, because the parents were doing that thing where they divebomb your head. Very unwelcoming, but an effective trick.

See you when I get back! (I finished and blocked my Boneyard a while back. Photographic evidence when it's not too hot to go outside to take pictures. That may be in October.)

Positive - Repost

2011-05-29T16:15:00.001-05:00

I've gotten a few messages from readers saying that they can't access my most recent entry, so I'm re-posting it with the hope that it will now be viewable by everyone. Maybe this will also fix the formatting issue.

Now that I'm back in Pittburgh and all is well, I realize that I should have been focusing on the positive aspects of my trip rather than everything that didn't go so well.

My trip home, though longer than planned, allowed me to spend some quality time with my family. Here we are celebrating Mother's Day/a sister's birthday/a brother's birthday/a niece's birthday (with a family this big, you sorta have to share the party.)

See? Quality. (Blurry quality, but clearly we're all entertained by something. From the looks of it, my brother's boyfriend is telling a great story.)

And my trip to Wisconsin to visit a friend at my undergrad, although also longer than planned, allowed me to catch up with old friends, chat with my clarinet professor, talk to friends traveling to Bali this summer, attend a choir concert, an orchestra concert, a phenomenal recital by Ali Amr on the Qanun (there's a sound clip of him playing and singing on the first link), a lecture by a visiting ethnomusicologist on the relationship between music, nature, and liminality (and about how musicians are the most powerful and dangerous people on the planet), AND I was able to attend two gamelan rehearsals and see the beautiful new set that they just got.

I really don't think it could have been a better trip. So, although I did let frustration get the better of me by the end (and really, given the circumstances, I think it was understandable. I mean, it did add an additional 11 hours of driving to my plan...), lots of good happened.

But really (and this is an aside because we're focusing on the positive and not the negative right now), it was so totally frustrating to get back to Pittsburgh and then lose my power that night due to a thunderstorm AND... (and I'm woozy just writing this...) AND finding a wool m*%h in my living room. And let me tell you, I massacred the hell out of that thing and didn't feel even the smallest ounce of remorse. Nope, I am a moth-killing Samurai.

I haven't seen any more of them in this apartment, but the scare did lead me to better stash management. Before, I just had yarn everywhere. Really, everywhere. I sort of liked it that way, too. You know, going into the cupboard to get the cereal in the morning and, oh, what's this? Hidden malabrigo? Jackpot! And then, you know, you open the desk drawer to get a stamp and the sock yarn just leaps out at you. It's like an Easter egg hunt every day, except you didn't know you were looking for anything. It's like the stash is so excited that you're home that it rushes out to greet you. It's like...

It's like I don't bother putting my yarn away and simply throw it wherever is most convenient at the time (which only half explains how I found yarn under the bathroom sink the other day. When is it "most convenient" to put yarn away in the bathroom? I must have been comparing it to my eyes in the mirror and then just plopped it on the ground or something. And yes, I know it's weird for a guy (a colorblind guy, no less) to compare yarn to his eyes. Don't tell me you don't do weird things with your yarn, too.)

Wow, this digression just keeps going. Anyway, as I was saying, I found a wool moth not really near any of my yarn, which is sort of impressive considering that yarn is everywhere, and I squashed the thing and fled to Target ASAP to buy a trunk-full of plastic bins and then I began sorting.

I didn't know I had that much yarn. I know it's not a lot compared to some stashes (and you know who you are), but still, I was surprised. (Maybe that's why I hide it throughout my apartment - so I don't feel like I have an excessive amount of it. Putting it all together like this makes me looks a bit unreasonable.)

I inspected every single skein AND sorted through all my partial balls, scraps, and swatches and found nothing. No signs of the little evil pests. Now all of my yarn is neatly contained by weight in plastic bins (except Malabrigo, Cascade 220, and Knit Picks Palette. Those all got their own large bins. I love them too much to make them share.) where hopefully the nothingness will continue.

Ok, so now that I feel like that boy in fifth grade who had lice and no one talked to him for three years (really, it was just one moth, I swear. Please don't shun me. I'm so embarrassed...), let's continue the good by talking about how it's good to be back.

It's good to be back because I love the woods here. Really. I'm thinking about digging out a little den for myself and covering the entrance with branches and vines so that you can't find it and then just living there for the rest of my life eating berries and seeds from the nearby trees while the chipmunks frolic on by. Yep, that's what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to tell you where because then you might try to stop me.

The woods and birds go hand in hand and I have to say, I am always so excited to see new birds! I haven't been in Pittsburgh long enough to get used to seeing birds we don't have in Minnesota, and every day is so wonderful to me! I'm afraid a lot of the migrating birds have already passed through while I was gone, but I ran across a very dear little baby Robin and we had a bit of a chat.

He only knew one word, though, "Mommy", and I got sick of hearing it, so I left. I also never tire of seeing the little Tufted Titmouses (Titmice?), and today I even saw both a male and a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak! That was a first time for me and I almost fell into a stream out of excitement. I then spent some quality time with my good friend, Mr. Mallard.

We hung out for a good 45 minutes today. I was practicing my "be so still that you disappear" moves and he was just talking away about his day. I think he was a little lonely and just wanted someone to talk to because, MAN, did he have a lot to say. He's quite a handsome fella, too, isn't he? I mean, check out that tail!

He even showed me his wing patch.

Yeah, we're besties. But uh, between you and me, the dude's gotta work on his drooling issue... That may explain why there was no Mrs. Mallard in his life.

Then there are the plants. In all honesty, I'm not really a plant person. I'm always too busy chasing the animals, but I came across these flowers today and couldn't take my eyes off 'em!

I had no idea what they were, but they were so iridescent! I thought at first that the petals were just wet or covered with a fine powder like butterfly wings, but really they're just super glossy. I loved them.

My camera pretty much sucked at taking pictures of them, so these ones are from my iPhone (and also suck, but I digress). When I got home I looked up what they might be and found this website all about wildflowers in Western PA and after searching around for a while I've decided that they are Swamp Buttercups. Who knew?! (Well, I bet some of you did.) I don't think I've ever seen a Buttercup before and I was thrilled! Yep. Easily amused. That's me.

And one of the best things about the woods is that they make a great backdrop for knitting photos!

When I was in Wisconsin I had to stop in at my favorite LYS and say hello to the owner. After catching up I did a bit of shopping, but I decided that I could only buy yarns that I had never seen and/or worked with before (although that rule was sort of made after-the-fact to justify my purchases).

I bought a skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, though clearly this skein isn't dyed.

I've never knit with cotton before (oh, except one dish cloth four years ago) and this stuff isn't super stiff or dense like other cottons. I'll probably make a hand towel or a face cloth or something. I know white was probably the worst choice, but I couldn't convince myself to pick any other color.

Then I got a skein of a Noro yarn that I had never heard of or seen before. It's Kogarashi which, according to one Raveler, means "cold wintry wind which blows the last leaves from the trees." Very poetic. And very beautiful.

It's 51% silk and 49% wool and I love it because it's not well blended and there are clumps of silk and chunks of wool and there's even bits of silk thread and stuff spun into it. I'm really excited to use it.

The last yarn I saw I knew had to be mine. It's really bulky and squooshy (it is too a word) and it will make an awesome cowl that will match my coat perfectly.

The yarn is called "Ushya", which means "soft" in Quechua and it's put out by Mirasol. 98% merino and it's not actually plied, but it's essentially knit up into i-cord.

So there you have it - the positive. Is there any positive in your life today?

Letters From Home

2011-05-22T23:15:00.000-05:00

These past few weeks have been quite... well... unexpected.

My short jaunt to Minnesota began as planned. I arrived and spent several days with my little nephews.

Finn, the cute one that will put anything in his mouth at least once

Darby, the cute one who is too busy digging for treasure to look at the camera


and Xander, the cute one who has so much energy you don't want to see what the blurry pictures look like (that's another nephew in the background, Josh. Really, they're everywhere. He's the one too busy being a teenager to show emotion and would kill me if I called him cute.)

When I wasn't pretending to be a babysitter (and I really was pretending. I fully admit to sitting on the couch and letting them run amok unsupervised for most of the day), I attended my brother's final high school theater production and my little sister's circus show.

Here's a video of her if you want to see. She's the one on the right:

(Um... that's my first time trying to embed a video. I'm assuming it doesn't work right. Let me know. Here's a link to the YouTube thingamajig.)

Where was I? Oh dear, this is becoming random. Let's move on to works in progress.

Tina asked to see a close up of my handspun from my last post and, um, Tina? You're going to be disappointed. Here's the best I could get. It's a 2-ply merino.

The color is about as accurate as a drunk man playing darts blindfolded, as is the focus. I haven't knit on this one in weeks which is a shame because clearly I'm almost done (not much yarn left) and it's going to be so freaking awesome when it's finished.

I've also been ignoring a vest that I started at the beginning of March. It's the Latvian Vest by Kieran Foley published in Knitty and I'm using Knit Picks Palette. (No reason to use expensive yarn on my first full-sized colorwork project, right? I mean, it could end up being a total disaster.)

Oh, and I'm also knitting another vest out of that Manos that I showed you in my last post and the back is almost done, but now I'm ignoring that, too. And the pictures I took sucked. You'll have to wait to see that.

Anyway, my plans that were going so wonderfully at the beginning of this trip have been totally derailed and I'm BACK in Minnesota again instead of in Pittsburgh, where, had my plans been executed without a hitch, I would have been a week ago. Instead of re-telling my tale, I shall just copy and paste an email (excessively edited) I just wrote to a friend whining about my recent adventures:

Dear friend,

The story begins when I went home to Minnesota on May 6. I was only going to stay until the 13th, at which time I was going to drive to Appleton, WI for a few days and then head back to Pittsburgh. Well, the 13th being a Friday and the superstitious bringer of bad luck, my car needed some repairs and the shop had no openings on Friday, so I had to stay in Minnesota until Monday and change around my plans for going to Wisconsin. My car went into the shop on Monday and then after figuring things out with my Wisconsing friend, I left for WI on Wednesday with the plan that I would stay there for only a day and then leave for Pittsburgh on Friday the 20th.

Well, that didn't go so well. Several circumstanced kept me in Appleton longer than expected and soon it was clear that I wouldn't be leaving until Sunday morning. I got up in the morning, went out for breakfast with my old clarinet professor, and then hit the road around noon.

When I stopped to get gas, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had forgotten something. Something important like my clarinets or my computer or something. I double-checked that I had everything, but didn't feel reassured. I casually glanced over at my apartment keys and... GASP!... they were gone! My apartment keys were nowhere to be found! I searched all my bags, the pockets of all my pants, everywhere in the car, and I couldn't find them. I made some calls and finally, after giving up hope, I was overcome by that awful feeling. That terrible feeling like you're going to throw up and pass out and cry and your vision starts to blur around the edges. You know the one? It was at that moment that I knew where my keys were. I could visualize them perfectly in my mind. But it couldn't be... no. It just couldn't be.

I made a quick phone call, described what all four keys looked like, what kind of keychain they were on, I even described the little ripped brown tag that's hanging on for dear life and I was met with a confident, "Yep. They're here."

...my apartment keys were at my parents' house in Minnesota!

I had no choice but to turn around and drive back. I was finally, a week later than planned, on my way back to Pittsburgh and the fates threw one last, cruel twist. After driving through the first severe thunderstorm, I got a call from my mother. "It looks like there are some pretty nasty storms heading your way. Tornadoes and everything. Be careful!" Well, three storms later, watching cows crowd under the trees and deer run for their lives I was finally reunited with my keys and here I sit, ready to scream at the top of my lungs while cursing the universe for this cruel joke. I am more stressed and anxiety-ridden than ever before. I fear that Brittany has died and shriveled up under her heat lamp because her water dried up two weeks ago, or maybe her lamp burnt out and she froze to death. Maybe my mailbox is overflowing, or there are boxes waiting outside my apartment door (if they haven't already been stolen). Maybe the ant infestation I so primitively dealt with using a lint roller before I left has returned while the moldy tofu I forgot to get rid of in my fridge continues its slow evolution into a sentient being. I haven't played my clarinet in a week and it's very possible that someone has broken into my apartment and stolen all of my valuables and... I'M STILL IN MINNESOTA!!!!!!!!!!!

There, I feel better now. Let's look at some flowers and pretend all is right with the world.

Subconscious

2011-05-05T16:54:00.002-05:00

My semester is over. Done. Finito. I have a vast, expansive summer ahead of me and dude - I couldn't be more excited. Grad school's hard. Don't get me wrong, I loved everything about it, but man! That was a lot of work. I think the most exciting thing about this summer, though, is that I'm still very excited about the clarinet.

You may remember that last year after I graduated I flew halfway around the world just to get away from my clarinet. I learned a new language and explored a new musical tradition unlike anything I had known before to get away from the clarinet. This summer, however, I have big plans for me and the practice room. A whole list of plans: music to learn, techniques to perfect, orchestral excerpts to tackle... I'm not burnt out, which is a fantastic feeling (and probably even more fantastic for my future.)

I also have big plans for my knitting. Sweaters, scarves, mittens, hats, vests, socks... the list goes on. (Don't you love that time of year when you can make all these plans and actually believe you will have the time in which to do them?) I'm not making definite plans for myself, though, because stressing about knitting is stupid. I'm going to just do what I want. Except for, you know, those projects that I actually need to do. (Tom's afghan, anyone?)

I was waiting for the rain to stop so I could go out and photograph some of my projects for you, but I finally gave up and dragged myself out to the park in the rainy, 43F weather and had a fantastic time.

Everything was so... ALIVE! It was gorgeous, and I tried not to mind the rain. There were new things popping up everywhere.

I think this rain is going to make for a very beautiful Spring and Summer.

I'm almost done with a Boneyard Shawl I'm knitting out of my own handspun. I finished the spinning a few weeks ago and cast on before I had a chance to photograph the finished yarn. You all know what yarn looks like, though.

I've always given my handspun away, so this is my first time actually knitting with it. I love the way this scarf is turning out and I can't wait to wear it. Only a few more rows left!

The day I was finished with my semester I hopped in my car and drove straight home. Imagine how surprised I was to find myself instead at the yarn shop! Really, my subconscious is powerful. As I was getting out of the car, I even said to myself that I wasn't going to buy anything. I just wanted to "look around." Who does that? Who goes to a yarn shop to "just look"? It's not like I don't already know what they sell there.

But then I stumbled upon the sale yarn and couldn't resist.

Manos Del Uruguay Wool Clasica in "Putty", with "Chestnut" and "Umber" contrast colors to make this vest. I already started it and I'm loving this yarn.

As I climbed into bed last night I thought, or rather my subconscious suggested, "I'm gonna love that sweater." It turns out my subconscious envisions the vest with sleeves. I wish it would have spoken up when I was buying this yarn in the first place. What do you all think? Sleeves? No sleeves? I don't know what I would wear it with as a vest, but at the same time, I want a vest (at least consciously.)

I'm heading to my first knit night at the yarn shop tonight and it's possible they may still have some left of that main color on the shelves. I'll let you know what my subconscious decides.

P.S.: I'm driving 16 hours to Minnesota tomorrow, and then 5 hours to Wisconsin on Sunday, and then 5 hours back to Minnesota again on Sunday and then I promise to reply to all of those comments and emails in my inbox. Promise. Also, my computer screen is doing something and it looks expensive. I'm hoping it will fix itself and not continue to get worse until it no longer works.

Resurfacing

2011-04-16T17:10:00.000-05:00

I've been getting messages lately from people asking me if everything is ok or if I'm still alive. (Fluffbuff, I don't seem to have any way to contact you, which inhibits my ability to reply to your emails. I'd love to be able to do so. If you'd be so kind as to email me at yarndudeknits AT gmail DOT com or send me a message on Ravelry with your email address, I'd finally be able to reply to you!)

I didn't realize that so much time had passed since I last blogged. Quite a bit has been happening around here as the year is quickly coming to an end and everything, as always happens, seems to be happening at the same time.

I feel like I've been performing every other day around here (which may be a little bit true). I even found myself playing a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, but I was only there for about 18 hours and didn't actually see any of the city (it was rainy and foggy. Where are those famous monuments, anyway?)

The bus ride did allow me to do some knitting, though. Just in time, too, as my friend's birthday was on April 7th and I wanted to get these things to her as quickly as possible. (Hmmm, the DC trip must have been the weekend of the 8th, then.)

Also while I was off not blogging, Spring seems to have happened. It's a bit of a shame because those are mittens and mittens are not needed in the springtime.

However, I think they sort of look like Spring, and that's gotta count for something, right? The pattern is Clepsydra by Kirsten Kapur and I knit these ones using Malabrigo Worsted in Tuareg (with a bit of Lettuce for the cuffs). It's not the most practical yarn choice for mittens, but I couldn't help myself. I started them back in February when I desperately needed some Malabrigo in my life and the colors gave me hope that Winter would eventually be over.

I should have known that Spring was just waiting for me to finish these mittens. I apologize to everyone who was waiting for Spring to come, it's my fault. (Also my fault was the last snowfall. I may have said something like, "I think we're in the clear. Spring has to be just around the corner..." I know, I totally shouldn't've, but I can't take it back now. I already apologized (out loud) to the whole city of Pittsburgh. Oh well, that's in the past now.)

Because mittens no longer seemed to be the perfect gift I thought they would be back in February, I also had to include something that might still serve some sort of purpose before next October.

I had a skein of MadTosh Sock in my stash in the colorway "Oak" and, well, the Cedar Leaf Shawlette was a natural candidate for a pattern. The pattern actually calls for a DK weight yarn, but I clearly didn't care.

I think it worked out just fine and the recipient loves it.

But how could anyone not love those leaves?

With two weeks left of class, I am going to disappear from the blog (and knitting, sadly) again for a bit, but expect me back in the beginning of May with some new projects!

Happy knitting.

Random Tuesday

2011-03-08T16:10:00.000-06:00

I have a lot to talk about and can only loosely string it all together, so we're going to do a random post today.

Andean Chullo

I finished knitting up the body of my Andean Chullo Hat, which was a kit that used to be offered from KnitPicks.

I still have to do an attached i-cord around the entire bottom and make some tassels and weave in all the ends, but I sped through the knitting of the body because...

Latvian Vest

...I needed the needles to start a vest. I've been wanting to knit a vest for quite a while and just decided on a whim to do so (and I needed another colorwork project now that the hat is almost done. See how that worked? I only finished the hat because I needed the needles and now I'm using the hat being done as my excuse to start the vest. Sneaky, eh?).

No, my vest is not going to be those colors, don't worry. I swatched with the two colors I thought I would be least likely to use. This swatch did teach me several things, though.

1. I am, apparently, in the minority. I have read in several sources about colorwork knitting that, in general, the color carried below the other color will be the one to stand out. Let's look at my swatch. I switched halfway through, can you tell? Do you see how the blue stands out on the bottom more than on the top? I carried it above the gray for the first half. You shouldn't trust everything you read.

2. I should never be allowed to pick colors.

3. I am so far off gauge I can't even believe it. Maybe you can check my math for me, alright? I want a 40" vest. The gauge of the pattern is 27sts/4 inches and the medium (40") size has a CO of 270. That makes sense. Now, my gauge is 36 sts/4 inches. This means that if I knit the 2XL size (kill me now), with a CO of 352 (seriously, do it, please), then I should end up with about a 40" circumference. The fact that I will be knitting a 2XL size and just hoping that it fits me and not me-plus-a-friend is overwhelmingly scary. What if my gauge changes and all of a sudden I should have just knit the Medium like the pattern says? So much could go wrong. I may not be ready for this.

Tuesdays are for Tom (or something like that)

I really need to get back to my brother's blanket. I sort of don't knit it because it's all garter stitch and there are so many more interesting things in my apartment to distract me. I'm going to try something that is so against my personality that I think I may be going crazy.

On Tuesdays I will knit on this blanket. I know, it sounds simple, right? Why do I even have to announce that? How could I mess it up? Well, I'm telling you all with the hope that I will be held more accountable now. If next Wednesday I show you the beautiful lace shawl I started of the pair of mittens I just finished the day before, it is up to you to shower me with guilt until I return to the blanket. You see, I'm not saying that sometime on Tuesday I will knit on the blanket, I'm saying that on Tuesdays, I will only knit this blanket. (There will, of course, be exceptions for my sanity. This is knitting, after all.)

It has to get done and, well, right now it is nowhere near "done".

Should we do some more math? (I hate math right now). The finished blanket needs 40 of those squares. I have 11. I need 29 more. Each square takes 8 hours to knit. That means I only have to knit for 232 more hours before I fini...

...sorry, I just fainted.

I do this math more often than I care to admit. (More often than I actually knit this blanket, that's for sure). It just has to be wrong, right? Please, PLEASE tell me that it's wrong. No matter what I do, no matter how I time myself knitting one of the squares, it always takes 8 hours. I can't ignore that. But 232 more hours of...

...sorry, I just passed out again. Is it Wednesday yet?

The FairyGodknitter

Do you all know Joan? That's a stupid question, everyone knows Joan. (If you don't know Joan, you should. She's pretty amazing.)

I have tangible proof that she is, in fact, THE FairyGodknitter and not simply a wonderful woman posing as the real deal.

She may not have a magic wand or musical gibberish (though I suppose I can't prove that she doesn't waltz around her house mumbling to herself. Cookie, does she?), but her magic is just as amazing. You see, she solved my needle crisis FOR GOOD.

She also, magically, knew about my love for Swedish Fish and all things Post-It. See that? Magic. She has it.

She may have been joking about my "old lady fingers", but somehow, magically probably, she's not that far off. (My brother, for a photography project, took photographs of each of my siblings' hands on a black background. Once he posted them all to facebook we could all go through and guess who's hands were in each picture. Let's just say that people thought mine belonged to my grandpa. I have old man hands and I may have gotten a little upset about that. His class voted my hands the best, but I think it's just because they had the most, shall we say, character.) She has to be magic to have known about that.

But that's not the point. The point is that she's my Fairy GodKnitter and delivered this to my apartment.

I know! I couldn't believe it!

I didn't know what to say. I was speechless! I kept muttering things like, "No. No, no... no no no..." because I didn't believe it. That's usually what happens when something magical happens. There's all sorts of disbelief and crazy mutterings. But so far the needles haven't disappeared and I think they're here to stay. Along with this...

Blue. I mean yarn. Blue yarn. Suri Blue yarn from Fleece Artist and Joan is magical. I can't even think straight at this point.

So how does one thank the Fairy GodKnitter? (Oh, by the way, if you haven't seen what she's been up to over on Etsy, you should definitely go check it out. Now. The rest of this post isn't very important.) Thank you, Joan! I will never again say I don't believe in Fairies. (Oh wait, that's Peter Pan. Does this make The Composer Wendy?)

Socks

I finished some socks. (Man, after that last section this feels so lame).

I know that for all of you who knit socks all the time this isn't a big deal. I, however, am not a capital S Sock Knitter. I tried like four different sock pattern tutorials (you know, the ones where you just plug in your own gauge and measurements and it tells you know to knit a sock?) and they all left me stranded. Not because I don't know how to knit socks, but because the socks I was knitting didn't fit me. I finally just threw caution to the wind and cast on a number I thought would work and went from there, even if the tutorials told me that they wouldn't work out. And guess what?

They fit. They fit really well. They fit so well, in fact, that I made sure to take every possible measurement I could so that I could use these socks as my template for all future socks I make for myself.

This was some KnitPicks Felici that I bought several years ago in the colorway "Pebble" (now discontinued) and I used about two and a half balls. I have very large feet. Hence why I don't knit socks. (As an aside, I intentionally reversed the striping sequence on each sock. It would have bugged me like crazy if the stripes were 4 rows off from each other, but if they're totally backwards it's no big deal. Let's not discuss how the dark brown stripes still almost line up.)

However, now that I might be able to make socks that fit me without having to rip them out five times in the process, I may try again with this.

STR Mediumweight from my Fairy GodKnitter. I can't even tell you how many times I've swatched with this yarn. I've even knit two whole feet, but it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe now it is. There might still be some of Joan's magic lingering around these parts.

Pass the needles.

Acrobatics

2011-03-06T17:06:00.000-06:00

I'm on Spring break.

Yeah, I found that humorous, too. I do wish that the weather would make up its mind. I don't like getting my hopes up only to be let down time and time again.

A few days ago there were daffodils poking out of the snowless ground. (That's The Composer's shoe. He seemed amused by how excited I was about "the first signs of Spring!" while dancing around and taking pictures.)

And today, well, look at that first picture. Spring break, indeed. All of my friends (including The Composer) have left me to fend for myself all week, which means I can spend each and every day ~~knitting~~ ~~spinning~~ ~~watching movies and eating chocolate while not cleaning my apartment or putting on real clothes~~ practicing for as long as I want.

I picked up my spindle again yesterday and spun for a while. I was lulled into that peaceful zen state that spinning tends to create. The soft merino sliding through my fingers, the mesmerizing spin of the spindle, the way that the repeated motions allow you to lose yourself in your thoughts, the spindle whorl doing graceful acrobatics as it flies across the room...

I guess I got a little too excited with my thigh roll. It was cool to see what the copp (spun fiber wrapped around spindle shaft) looked like without the whorl on the spindle, though.

I was able to stick the whorl back on and keep spinning for a bit, but eventually it fell off almost every time I went to spin the spindle and my stream of expletives kept getting longer and longer... I eventually just laid some unspun fiber over the hole before sticking the shaft in to tighten things up and it worked like a charm.

I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy spinning.

Did you know I've never actually knit with my handspun? I mean, it's not like I've produced very much of it, but I've always given it away when I finish it. I should probably keep some for myself at some point... if I ever finish what I'm spinning, that is. Honestly, as much as I enjoy the process of making this yarn, I gotta tell you, I don't think I'm a spindle kinda guy. I'm still waiting for the day that I have a spinning wheel. I have all these ideas of myself spinning yarn for sweaters and hats and mittens and wonderful woolly, warm things and, well, that's just not going to happen with me and a spindle. I get the portability thing, but I don't take my spindle anywhere and I know a wheel would suit my needs much better.

And when I get one (note I said "when" and not "if". It may be ten years from now, but I'm determined to have a spinning wheel before I die) I will spin up this fluff that I got for Christmas this past December from my mother.

I know a picture doesn't show you much, but it's a blend (well, handfuls really) of a bunch of different fibers - mohair, leicester, corriedale, ...something else... I can't remember. Anyway, this is my wheel fiber. It may have to wait a while.

And just so you don't think I've stopped knitting, I give you the beginnings of a lace shawl (by the way, that blue one from before? Ripped. Thanks to all of you for being so incredibly eager to tell me that my knitting looks like crap and that I was out of my mind. You didn't say it quite like that, but I got what you were thinking. I appreciate the support.)

And a hat that I started this past August.

Please don't say anything about the crappiness of my stranded knitting. I function under the delusion that once I block this hat my stitches will be the image of perfect. Blocking, in this delusion, will also get rid of all those ends. That's the only way this hat will ever be finished. Those ends intimidate me.

And hey, if you know anyone desperately trying to give away a spinning wheel, I'm your man.

The Swatch

2011-03-01T11:26:00.000-06:00

After realizing that attempting to get the needles back from the lace shawl was a pointless effort, I changed tactics. The new plan was to knit as fast as I can until the shawl had no choice but to release its grip on the needles out of sheer exhaustion (and completeness, but mostly exhaustion).

It turns out the shawl has more stamina than I do.

Here's where I seek your advice. I admit to buying this yarn with a bit of hesitation knowing that it is variegated. Variegated yarn does not work well with complicated lace patterns. (this is always true. No amount of denial is going to change this. Not even if you really, really, really want the yarn and pattern to be united.)

I'm considering this shawl a swatch. (By the way, the pattern is Damask by Kitman Figueroa and I'm using Malabrigo Sock in Azules. You may not be able to tell that it's the same pattern because of the variegation.) No, I could not have knit a small square swatch. How could I tell how the colors would change with the decreasing stitch count in each row? How would the nupps look? What would be the overall effect? Clearly I had to knit the largest swatch possible, and it might as well resemble what the finished shawl would look like, right? So this ~~shawl~~ swatch and I spent some quality time together and I just can't decide. I quickly pinned it out to see what I have to work with.

I was a bit deflated by what I saw. We needed some time apart (though, obviously, the ~~shawl~~ swatch held onto the needles). After a few days I picked it back up and knit steadily for an hour, or six rows, whichever measurement you choose to use.

I thought it looked funny. I thought, "This pattern isn't lining up." This was on the first row. I decided that the designer knew what she was doing and I should just continue. "Oh, good", I thought, "the next row lines up with the one below" and this is how I continued for an hour. I thought it was time to count my stitches. 153. That seems right, it says in the pattern that after row 56 I should have 153 stitches. Perfect. But what is this number in parentheses? Oh, never mind, that's just the stitch count for the medium size, but I have 153, so I must be knitting the small size.

But that doesn't make sense, because I cast on for the medium. When did this change? Have I been knitting the small size all along?

I studied my knitting. I looked again. I saw where the pattern didn't really line up, that the stitches were falling in the wrong place above the nupps. "The nupps," I thought. The nupps at the top of this chart. The top of this chart that I just started knitting. Why are there already nupps? Somehow I must have...

And then I realized. I've already knit this chart. Not the entire thing, that would be too easy. I knit through the nupp rows and then stopped 4 rows shy of moving onto the next chart. Three days later when I sat down to knit this ~~shawl~~ swatch again, I assumed the logical thing to do would be to begin at the bottom of the chart.

For an hour I did this and didn't think twice.

Stupid ~~shawl~~ swatch.

So what do you think. Is the variegation too much? Maybe we should wait to see until I block the ~~shawl~~ swatch. You can never believe a swatch until it's washed and blocked, right?

Malabrigo Wars

2011-02-24T16:50:00.000-06:00

There appears to be an ongoing battle in my apartment between my projects. It was pointed out quite accurately in the comments of an earlier post that I might need to get myself some more needles so that I don't have to continue stealing them from other projects. I tend to have this problem with size 6 and 7 needles specifically (they're the ones I use most often.)

Things were going well. I stole my 7's from my brother's blanket to knit the wrist warmers, then stole them from that ill-fated project before it was finished to knit a neckwarmer. As soon as that was finished I knit the Turtle Shell Hat and then they were slid nicely back into the blanket as if nothing had happened.

Then I picked up my 6's. I cast on a pair of Clepsydra mittens after seeing Margene's beautifully knit pair.

I finished one mitten (minus a thumb) in just a few days and then horror struck.

During my usual spell of "Second Mitten Syndrome", an innocent little thing crept in a snatched up the needles.

I know it looks like a regular ball of beautiful Malabrigo Sock, but it's much more vicious than you might imagine. This yarn is sneaky. It quickly cast itself onto the needles and began to grow...

I don't know how it happened. Really, this is a very controlling ball of wool. The last time the mitten tried to get the needles back it got, well, attacked.

I don't think this shawl is going to let the needles out of its grasp until it's finished. The mitten is ok, but it does have a few puncture wounds from battle.

Poor mitten.

King Of The Universe

2011-02-16T17:11:00.000-06:00

Screw Balance, I'm going to win every time.

I sat down this morning and had the most wonderful time ripping out that hat. Really, I did. I drank my tea and ate a brownie and thoroughly enjoyed starting fresh with a new idea. No more cables - those didn't work out. (See? I didn't try the same thing twice. I'm learning from my mistakes). I decreased some stitches after the ribbing (yes, I removed some stitches from a hat that everyone already thinks is too small. I live on the wild side). And then I knit on my merry way.

Before I knew it I had a finished hat in my hands, and despite what others may have thought, the hat fits wonderfully. As I slipped this hat on in front of my bathroom mirror I silently thought to myself that I was in fact crowning myself King of the Universe. That's right, the Universe holds no power over me and this ~~hat~~ crown proves it.

While I was knitting this pattern all I could think was that it reminded me of windowpanes. As soon as I slipped it on and looked in the mirror, however, my immediate reaction was "turtle shell!" So this is now my Turtle Shell Hat, although it's not really mine because I'm sending it off to my friend along with Ptarmigan (another project named after an animal) because I owe her one.

This cowl was obnoxiously difficult to photograph. Well, I thought I had done a pretty good job until I actually loaded the photos onto my computer. At least you can tell that it's done - ends woven in and everything. I loved working with the Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk. It was so soft and drapey, I couldn't get enough of it. Blocking this cowl really helped the pattern show more clearly, but I felt that wet blocking it may have flattened the halo of the alpaca a bit. It looked a bit more lifeless after I blocked it than before.

I think it looks like butterflies. And really, who wouldn't want to slip this over their head to give their neck a bit more warmth and comfort?

I'd like to see what the Universe tries to throw at me next!

This Is Not Defeat

2011-02-15T09:22:00.000-06:00

We've all heard that the Universe seeks balance. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yin and yang. All of that sort.

There are days when the sun is shining and days when the clouds never leave. There are days when we are full or energy and days when we need that third cup of coffee before noon. There are days when we're confident in our knitting because we know without a doubt that everything is going to work out perfectly.

And then there are those other days...

I would like to emphasize that the ribbing did in fact fit on my head. There was room to spare, even. I was so confident about the fit of this hat (did you see that? I said confident. Beyond a doubt. That's reason enough for the Universe to give me the smack down, right?) that I chose a nice cabled pattern because I knew it would pull the hat in even more and I knew it would still fit. I knit a good 6 inches in the cable pattern without even giving it a second thought because I'm a Knitter and I knew it was going to work out because I wanted it to.

And then I tried it on. This %^$#@ hat doesn't fit. May I emphasize, yet again, that it is not due to the ribbing. The ribbing is fine. The ribbing is wonderful in fact. It's the stupid cables that decided to embrace the stitches so tightly that no person could pull it over their head. (Well, I did pull it into my head, but it wasn't pretty). I'm going to have to rip it out, but only to the ribbing. The ribbing fit. I was right and I still firmly stand behind my choice. This is not defeat, it's simply an obstacle. You see that? I'm still optimistic in the face of a challenge. Take that Universe, you can't crush my Knitting confidence! (I'm going to pay for that one...)

I Am Not In Denial

2011-02-12T14:53:00.000-06:00

I cast on a hat today. I sped through the knitting of Ptarmigan because my sister insisted that I continue knitting my "wrist warmers" (quotation marks used to emphasize the disaster that they are), which use the same needles. The same needles which I stole from the blanket I'm still knitting for my brother (but let's not talk about that).

Those needles are now occupied with a hat, most likely fueled by the guilt I feel about my Ptarmigan friend. A neckwarmer is not enough. I hat is definitely needed, and the sooner the better.

I'm in such a hurry, in fact, that I convinced myself that finding, purchasing, downloading, and deciphering a pattern would simply take far too much time and the only rational thing to do in this situation is to design the hat on the fly.

"On the fly" started last light as I pored over knitting pattern books and old magazines trying to find what I was looking for. My criteria were minimal and, well, vague. I thought things like "warm" and "nice".

I then decided I didn't need to find a pattern yet because before I could begin knitting in pattern I have to knit at least four if not six inches of 2x2 ribbing. I like 2x2 ribbing and I think that a person living in a cold climate can greatly benefit from a hat with a brim that folds up to form a double-layer of warmth. It's a practical thing and I stand by my choice.

I have a friend in town audition at my school and while I was sitting in the waiting room, I cast on for this hat. An argument ensued about whether or not this hat is going to fit the recipient. I believe it will. Here are my reasons.

1. Knitting is stretchy
2. Ribbing is stretchier
3. This friend might have a small head

Her reasons are unsupportable things such as "that looks small" and "knitting doesn't stretch that much".

While knitting this bit of ribbing another friend walked past and asked what I was making. When I told her that I was making a warm, nice hat with a folded-up brim for a friend, her first reaction was "I hope your friend has a small head!"

Clearly these people don't understand. This hat is most definitely going to fit my friend's head. Knitted ribbing is extremely stretch and my friend very well may have a small head. I know the knitting looks a bit small, but it'll grow. There's no point in ripping it out now before I can prove to them their error. I should continue to knit until I have at least six inches just so I have ample fabric with which to prove them all wrong.

This hat is clearly going to fit. I cast on more than enough stitches and even though it looks small, it will grow once stretched around my friend's head. I am not in denial. The knitting will continue and this hat will be fantastic. There's no way it's too small.

Yes, I Really Want It

2011-02-09T18:59:00.000-06:00

I managed to snap some photos of the Westward hat I made out of Malabrigo Twist today. It was decided upon completion that the color combination was too feminine for myself or for The Composer, so I handed it off to someone I knew would appreciate it.

What she won't appreciate is that I've posted this picture of her on the internet. What she will appreciate is that I chose this one and not one of the others...

...because there were others.

I finished up my Blue Whale last week as well and wore it for the first time today.

I pinned it out quite quickly, but it's going to be scrunched around a neck when in use anyway, so I wasn't too picky.

I love the colors in this yarn, and the 25% silk gives it a nice sheen and drape. The nature of the stitches in the scarf also makes it completely reversible, so I don't have to bother checking which side is the right side before putting it on (but I do anyway because I'm like that).

I took several pictures of myself wearing it, but unlike my friend in the Westward, I am able to veto the inclusion of those on my own blog, so the above are all you get.

Moving right along, I decided to do something about my cold hands instead of simply sit on my couch every day wishing that I had a warm pair of fingerless gloves. Am I the only one who does this? I think of all the wonderful things that would make my life more comfortable, but I never quite kick my arse into doing them. Mainly because I don't think of knitting wrist warmers when I have time, I think of doing it when I'm cold and normally I'm cold when I'm studying or climbing into bed or something. Well, one day I was cold AND had time, so I scrounged around for a bit.

I found several small leftover balls of Noro Kureyon in a drawer and decided the best approach would be to spit join them together and go to town with some striping. It's times like these that I am glad I'm colorblind.

I don't know why I'm still entertaining the idea that this will become a pair of wrist warmers some day. The worst of the colors have yet to come and that photo is not playing tricks on your eyes. That sickly tube of stripes really does get smaller towards the top and no, there's no reason for it. I think it's Knitting's way of telling me that this project should not continue. This is a fact that I should have accepted ten inches ago when I tried it on and found it was two inches too big. I knit on with complete faith that when I'm done it will be the right size. Oh, and did I tell you my plan? Here it is: knit one long tube of stripes with ribbing at both ends, then cut it in half, put some more ribbing on the cut ends, then cut holes somewhere for thumbs to be put on. Knitting two separate wrist warmers would have just been too difficult. No, this project is doomed to fail.

Besides, I stole the needles to knit something much more wonderful.

I was in desperate need of a visit to the yarn shop. I took The Composer with me and before we got there I told him that he was not allowed to let me buy anything I didn't really want. In order for him to know if I really wanted it, he was required to ask me. It went something like this.

Me: Ooh! Look at this yarn!
Him: That's nice.
Me: It's beautiful!
Him: Peter, you're caressing that yarn a little too excitedly.
Me: I'm going to get it.
Him: Do you really want it?
Me: Of course!

...ten minutes later...

Me: Ooh! Look at this yarn!
Him: That's nice.
Me: Ooh, and this one, too! And this one! I want them all.
Him: Do you really want it?
Me: Yes! Would you quit asking me that?

...five minutes later...

Me: Hey! Look at this!
Him: Do you really want it?
Me: YES! For the last time, yes, I want it. Why do you keep asking me if I want the yarn? Can't you tell that I want it?!

I think I should have told him to ask me if I needed the yarn. Then his questions might have had more influence. Apologies to The Composer for a brief outburst about his questioning me (I felt like I was under oath or something!). I blame it on the wool fumes. You'll understand one day.

I cast on that Alpaca Silk immediately to make Ptarmigan for a friend.

There's more of a story behind it, but I can't share it all right now. Just know that I am responsible and should do better next time. That's how life works, right?

That's what these are for, too.

and I'm knitting socks. What is this world coming to?

Accessories

2011-02-02T18:59:00.001-06:00

I do this weird thing over on Ravelry in which I don't actually call a project "finished" until I've taken pictures of the completed object. Right now I have 8 projects that are "100% completed", but not "finished" because they haven't been photographed.

I'm trying to fix that.

(and I'm trying to distract you so you won't notice that I haven't woven in the ends on my Autumn Arbor Stole yet...)

I'm not a hat wearer. I just don't think I look good in hats and I'm not a big fan of hat hair. But my ears have been cold this winter. I'm starting to simply accept the functionality of a hat in my battle with winter weather and I've discovered something.

Hats keep you warm.

This hat is Quincy from Jared Flood's Made in Brooklyn booklet. I knit mine last May using Cascade 220 doubled and it turned out wonderfully.

I think the fiddly-est part about this hat was trying to figure out how to wear it! The only problem with the way I'm wearing it above is that it limits visibility and, well, one of my ears is still cold. I still wear this hat most frequently, though.

Back in August when I moved to Pittsburgh, I was in a strange place with my knitting. I wasn't blogging, I didn't want to document projects on Ravelry, and I didn't want to use patterns. I wanted to knit from my stash and create practical items that still maintained a bit of personality. You know, like back when knitting wasn't just a hobby.

I made another hat, again using Cascade 220 (the main color is the same yarn I used for Quincy).

(As an aside, that apartment building behind me is where Mr. Rogers lived. Yes, THE Mr. Rogers. I'm totally in his neighborhood...)

I threw in some 2-color horizontal braids I borrowed from Folk Knitting in Estonia and the stranded pattern came from the cuff of a mitten in Sata Kansanomaista Kuviokudinmallia. (Nope, no idea what that means). I chose that design because it reminded me of a lot of motifs I saw in Bali.

The hat is lined up to the second braid with the main color, which makes it extra thick and warm. I added a tassel because I thought it needed one. I even slipped a little piece of fabric between the lining and the outside before closing it up so that in 100 years when the lining wears out and someone is studying this hat, they'll know that I made it in Pittsburgh in August of 2010 at the age of 22.

Because my knitting will be studied in 100 years.

::rolls eyes::

Then I decided that I needed a pair of mittens to match my coat. This was the plan: Knit an outer shell out of Cascade 220 (notice a trend?) on tiny needles (I don't know what size because I was still on my "no documentation" kick) to make them tough as iron. Then I would line the mittens with alpaca to make them super soft and warm.

Well, I knit the shells over the summer and lined half of one of the mittens. The lining was too big, it made the thumb too constricted, and the alpaca wasn't as soft as I had hoped.

I finally ripped out that lining, picked up the stitches from the provisional cast-ons, bound them off, and called the mittens done.

They match my coat, however they don't actually keep my hands very warm. A worsted spun yarn knit at a dense gauge does create a pretty solid fabric, but the fabric itself doesn't really hold much warmth because the worsted spinning and tight knitting sort of squeezes any air out of the yarn that would otherwise be warm and insulating. That's my theory, anyway. My other theory is that because my hands are always freezing, there's no warmth to trap inside the mitten to begin with.

I was clearly still into making sure that future generations will know exactly who wore these mittens, and when. They need to be lined though. Against my hopes, they're just not warm enough without it. I have some light blue malabrigo lace that I just remembered about last night that I could use held doubled for the hand and single for the thumb (so it doesn't become too tight). That might work.

...if I ever get around to it.

Blue And Green - No Surprise

2011-01-28T18:47:00.000-06:00

A very strange thing happened to me the other day.

I sat down in my floral couch (it's no secret anymore. I can't even pretend it's anything but floral) and when I looked in my knitting basket, my Autumn Arbor Stole wasn't there.

For the past 19 months, that shawl has kept my knitting basket company. But you guys, it's done. I don't think my size 6 needles have ever been so relieved, but I was sort of at a loss about what to do.

I'll do a proper post once I take more pictures, but it does feel good to have that piece finished.

Now, I felt the need to start another lace project immediately, because it's not right to not have one of those on the needles at all times, right?

I have the yarn to start one of the patterns from Knitted Lace of Estonia, but I didn't feel like committing myself to such a long-term project. I have that MadTosh lace that I posted about a couple posts back, but I'm still debating which pattern to use it for.

I was reading on one of Tina's blogs* about a designer I hadn't heard of before, and I loved some of her designs. I even have some nice fingering-weight yarn that would work.

But then late one night I needed to start something immediately. Do you ever get that way? I just wanted to wind some yarn and cast on so badly. I searched my apartment for the perfect indulgence and found myself happily knitting none of the above.

It's not even lace! But it's just what I needed. This is Stephen West's Blue Whale pattern, available only through A Verb For Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial Club (or through a knitting sister in the club willing to part with the yarn and pattern) using their Luster yarn - 75% BFL, 25% silk.

Ooh, Ravelry tells me that the yarn what created especially for the club as well.

It does have a nice shine to it, and I'm excited to get further along in this pattern.

I finished my Westward hat about two weeks ago now, but I forgot to take a picture before giving it away. The teal and black together looked too feminine - you'll see if I ever remember to snap a picture.

*On an unrelated note, I just wanted to put the word out that Tina is currently trying to raise some funds for a friend in need. You can stop by her other blog to read about what's going on and if you feel compelled to donate, I know she would be incredibly grateful.

The Birth of a Knitter

2011-01-21T15:04:00.001-06:00

This past week I had the honor of introducing a muggle to the magical world of Knitting. And not just any muggle, but my boyfriend the muggle (henceforth referred to as "The Composer").

He had previously accompanied me to a yarn shop and experienced first-hand the wonders of an LYS. Hearing exclamations such as, "I just want to knit SO BADLY!" and listening to an entire store full of customers putting in their two cents about the February Lady Sweater in the commemorative edition of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac (I was explaining to him the importance of Elizabeth Zimmermann in our world), he seemed entirely enthralled. There was also the wonder and awe that only a ball winder can bring to a muggle. (What is it about guys and their fascination with those? It must just be a gadget thing.)

He then asked me to teach him how to knit. (!!!!!!!!!!)

I even let him use my ball winder.

The picture is blurry because he was having too much fun.

I taught him how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch.

I knew that he was hooked, but I don't think he realized it yet.

And yes, I do have a floral couch decorated with knitted and crocheted blankets. You all knew I was an old lady at 23, right?

And look, progress! I should tell you - that night he stayed up until 2am knitting on that swatch and I very distinctly heard him say "Just one more row..." several times. We all know what that means, right?

The next day, I found this sitting on the table at school:

Yep, he already brings his knitting with him everywhere and takes great pride in showing it to everyone who happens to walk by. He's doing a good job, isn't he?! He (well, I) bound off that swatch and called it a potholder only to cast on for his first scarf during class this past Tuesday.

Yep, knitting in class. He's hooked.

And that's how yet another cute male knitter was born.

Minor Stash Enhancement

2011-01-07T17:44:00.000-06:00

Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome back to the blogging world! I've really missed being here and I'm going to try to keep it up as much as I can now that a new semester is about to start.

Before driving back to Pittsburgh I had to stop one last time at The Yarnery, one of Minnesota's finest yarn shops. (That's not an opinion, it's a fact).

I was a bit frantic when I arrived and started simply pulling skeins off the shelves left and right. I walked in the door, grabbed the latest Vogue Knitting (I really like the Men's Fair Isle Cardigan as part of the "Chalet Chic" collection) and then continued to snatch things up that I had no use for.

Normally I buy yarn strictly on an "as needed" basis and was therefore quite appalled by my behavior. I believe the fact that I was drawn to buy yarn simply because I wanted it means that the knitting bug has come back at full force. I managed to resist most of the yarn piling up in my arms in the end, but I did go home with two skeins.

The first was a skein of Malabrigo Twist in the 'Teal Feather' colorway. I have absolutely no idea why I bought it. Heck, I'm still not convinced that "teal" is even a color! But when I saw this yarn, there was no hesitation.

When I got home I remembered that I have a skein of Twist in black that I bought many moons ago and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they would be very happy together.

My plan is to knit them up into Stephen West's Westward Hat from Westknits Book 1. Ooh, you know what'd be sweet? It would be awesome if I could get two hats out of these skeins and reverse the colors. I'll have to see once the first hat is finished.

The second skein I bought was Madelinetosh Tosh Lace.

The 'Tart' colorway jumped out at me as soon as I walked in the door. I've never knit with Madtosh before and although the color is gorgeous, the yarn definitely has that superwash-y feel to it. With only 950 yards, I haven't picked a pattern yet. Any suggestions? I'm thinking I may even try to design my own, but that could end in disaster and I don't have much time these days to sit around and sketch things out.

It's very pretty though, no?

Past, Present, and Future

2010-12-31T17:39:00.000-06:00

For three months this blog has gone untouched. I had all but removed myself from the knitting community altogether for a while, but the other day I decided that it might be time to return. I may not knit much anymore, but I miss the blog and the enjoyment I used to get from it.

I haven't been documenting my projects on Ravelry, either. Hats, scarves, legwarmers, socks... they've come and gone without notice. I actually felt a bit liberated that way - no pressure to record, to document, to display anything I was doing. It became my own personal pastime, but now I think I'm ready to return. I'm just going to cut my losses and start from where I am right now.

From the past we have some lace:

Yes, that's right, I'm still working on my Autumn Arbor Stole. It's almost done, though. Just a couple more repeats of the pattern and I can call it quits.

It'll block out beautifully, I can tell. It's interesting to see where my tension has changed as I've knit on this piece. I know my tension has changed because after months of not working on it, the colors started to pool differently. I wonder how it'll look once it's finished.

I also finally got around to blocking my Aeolian Shawl.

I do believe it blocked out amazingly and knit in cashmere it is the most decadent thing I have ever made. The yarn, Handmaiden Cashmere 2-ply (or something like that), was a gift from Joan and I can't thank her enough.

The tonal variations in the yarn are subtle, but beautiful. Now I just need to figure out what to do with this shawl. It seems a shame to keep it folded up in my closet.

Presently I am working on a scarf all for me. For my birthday my mother sent me some of Brooklyn Tweed's greatly coveted Shelter yarn in the Button Jar colorway along with the pattern for Dryad. A more perfect pair couldn't have been made.

The stitch definition this yarn offers is spectacular and I can't wait to see how it blooms once I wash the scarf. I'm giddy with excitement knowing that this scarf is all for me.

Sometimes we just have to be selfish.

It appears I'll have a selfish future as well, with projects planned to use up more yarn given as gifts.

For my birthday, Sister No. 4 presented me with a pattern kit from A Verb for Keeping Warm's club. Beautiful yarn in my favorite colors along with an exclusive Stephen West pattern. Really, my life couldn't get any better.

Just look at that beautiful yarn! I can't wait to get this project on my needles.

And last, but definitely not least, I have an armful of Malabrigo from Sister No. 2 with which I intend to make the most perfect sweater ever.

The trouble is, it appears that the pattern for "the most perfect sweater ever" doesn't exist and I fear I will have to attempt to make it on my own. I'd be planning that all right now, but my stitch dictionaries and such are back in Pittsburgh and I'm here in Minnesota for winter break.

But just thinking of the possibilities amuses me to no end.

and with that I bid you all adieu until next time, which I hope will be sooner than three months from now.

Warm wishes and a Happy New Year to you all!

Nightmares

2010-09-29T10:32:00.000-05:00

When I was auditioning for grad schools last Spring, sometimes I would have strange nightmares about how they would go or what the results would be.

One dream that occurred more than once showed me being called into the admissions office of a school and being told that I had been accepted, under one condition...

...I had to give up knitting. NooooooOOOO!!! Of course, I didn't want to throw a tantrum and run out of the office, so I sucked it up and accepted their offer, enduring two years of knitting-less life to concentrate on the clarinet.

Now, thankfully this dream didn't happen. However, the result seems to be the same. I was admitted to grad school and upon arrival it appears that all of a sudden I have given up knitting - not intentionally, not officially, not happily, but somewhere along the line my knitting has stopped dead in its tracks. What am I to do when I come home to see this sitting by my couch,

knowing that day after day, week after week, it continues to be ignored? Do you see all those wonderful things in there?

That's a hat that I have nearly finished! It has a lining and everything and all that is left to do is attach the tassel and close up the top. I reached that point over 5 weeks ago and still it remains unfinished.

I threw that fingerless glove in the basket because its mate is done and this one needs only 6 rows of ribbing on the thumb and the ends woven in. And I'll let you in on a secret - on the first one, I just knotted the ends and called it a day. Really. I did. And I don't even feel guilty, except that they're coming undone. No matter, I knit these two a year apart and they're entirely different sizes anyway, so it's not like someone's going to wear them.

That's a Windschief Cowl finished almost 6 weeks ago, yet I still haven't woven in the two ends...

A wonderful pair of mittens to match my winter coat. Look, I even started embroidering my name on one of them! They still need thumbs and linings, but I was so close!

And this next one is the biggest shame.

My Aeolian Shawl. I finished knitting it in July and still it sits unblocked. The softest cashmere I've ever felt, sitting crumpled at the bottom of a basket. It's not right, I tell you. Can you imagine how beautiful it'll be when it's blocked? I pick it up from time to time and am ALWAYS surprised by how soft it is. Unbelievably soft!!! I neeeeeed to block it, if only for that amazing transformation experience that only lace blocking can bring. Maybe I'll save it for one of those metaphorical rainy days.

You know what else there is?

The yarn for a long-desired Staccato sweater of my very own. I had to go to at least 5 different yarn shops in 3 different states just to collect all the colors. I think I started buying the yarn for this over a year ago and I haven't even swatched for it yet!

Why oh why did I have to give up knitting to go to grad school?

So here's the confession: I have time to knit. I do! I spend my entire day on campus and often I find myself with a 3+ hour break with nothing to do (except practice). I could be knitting during that time, but I don't bring my knitting to school with me. For some reason I'm still uncomfortable knitting in public and so it remains home, abandoned, waiting for me to have a day off or a weekend free to settle down and complete some of those projects. And there are more in that basket that I didn't even mention.

It's a sad state that my knitting is in, but I have hope that when the cooler weather begins to settle in I will feel compelled to finish that hat and those mittens, weave in the ends of the cowl, and settle in for a warm, relaxing evening of knitting with a cup of tea and a nice audiobook.

On a somewhat unrelated note: I got an iPhone recently because I dropped my old phone in the toilet and don't have internet at home, so this seemed to fix both problems. I was hoping I would be able to blog with it and took the above pictures on my phone thinking I would be able to blog much more easily, but it appears I can't post them onto the blog from my phone. Anyway, posts might continue to be sporadic for a while. That's just the way life is sometimes.

I Found My LYS

2010-08-24T18:50:00.001-05:00

One day, I will not need to physically type my blog posts. When this day comes, you will all be graced with the eloquence and depth of the dozens of posts I have written in my head mere seconds after the thoughts occur to me.

This day will come shortly after the day we will all be able to take picture with a mere blink of the eyes and then it would be only a matter of mental concentration to implant them into my wonderful, thoughtful, inspiring blog posts (blog posts which, if you remember, don't have to be typed).

That day, unfortunately, is not today. I say unfortunately because for many of the posts I have written in my head, the time has passed for them to be relevant. It is unfortunate also because this post will now be devoid of pictures.

I am popping in only shortly to let you all know that I am still alive and my move to Pittsburgh was relatively uneventful. Uneventful in the sense that the event of my hot water turning on didn't happen for a week. Uneventful in the sense that the event of my knitting didn't happen. Uneventful in the sense that the event of my having internet in my apartment has yet to happen.

Luckily events are now happening. I have hot water, I am knitting (though have nothing to show you because I haven't taken any pictures), and although I still don't have internet at home, I can use it on campus when I'm here (I'm posting between practice sessions).

...and today, the biggest event of all happened. After class, instead of dutifully marching to a practice room to practice my heart out, I climbed into my car and went for a bit of a ride. A bit of a ride turned into quite the expedition after several wrong turns (thanks, Googlemaps...) and several episodes of construction causing me to end up nowhere near where I wanted to be. (Here's a secret about Pittsburgh: there are three rivers. If you accidentally cross a bridge, crossing another one does not, as you might think, ensure that you will be on the correct side of the river again. Just thought I'd warn you.)

Once I found my way, I was able to hunt down my as-yet-unknown destination and finally, after driving a good three miles down the road of my googlemaps location, I had arrived.

I had arrived at my new LYS. (that was spoken rather dramatically).

I wish I had pictures. I really do. I walked in and gasped (and I don't gasp easily). An entire wall of cascade 220! The most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. And what's that behind me? Shelf after shelf of Malabrigo? I swooned. And next to the Malabrigo? Manos. On the other side of the shelves? Dream in Color and Madelinetosh! They had Noro like you wouldn't believe, incredible lace yarns. Need Jamieson's for colorwork? They have it. Sock yarns, bulky yarns, washable yarns, books... I nearly fainted. Every turn I made brought my toward more and more wide-eyed happenings. And when I thought it couldn't get better, I made it to the back. In the back, next to the books, past the shelves and shelves of every yarn I ever dreamed I might find, was spinning fiber. Spinning fiber!!! I barely even spin anymore, but I nearly collapsed at that point. This place has it all.

Here are some texts I sent to my sister while I was there:

"Holy crap, I just found the BEST yarn shop!"

"Oh my god, this store has EVERYTHING!"

"It's unbelievable! A whole wall of Cascade 220. It's a rainbow!"

"I feel like I just played hookie from school..."

I take it back, I did not find my new LYS. I have found my new home.

If you need me, you know where to find me. (And they're open until 9pm!!!)

Sunrises, Shawls, and Squirrels (and Such...)

2010-08-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on my Bali posts. I hope I didn't bore you all to sleep with my endless ramblings about my trip with picture after picture after picture of scenes that I'm sure meant more to me than they did to you. It was important to me to be able to document that trip, so thank you for humoring me for the past couple of weeks.

I returned home from my cabin a little less than a week ago and I, of course, can't help but show you all some pictures of the sunrises which I had the pleasure of watching every morning.

Honestly, nothing is more peaceful to me than sitting alone in the morning watching a sunrise. I could do it all day long (if only... but then maybe it wouldn't be as special).

Every morning I would sneak out of my cabin before anyone else was awake to watch the sun come up behind the trees and listen to the birds begin their morning.

In fact, I would set up my own little stakeout on the deck with everything I needed for my morning.

Just me and the outside world. A stack of bird books within arm's reach, a pair of binoculars, my camera, and a towel to dry off in case I chose to go for an early morning dip.

I really do miss that place when I'm not there.

Though you may have noticed that I didn't have any knitting with me in the mornings, I did find time during the evenings to work on my Aeolian shawl a little more and wouldn'tchaknowit, I finished!

It still (obviously) needs to be blocked, but I'm going to wait until I get to Pittsburgh to do that.

It seems like it would be a good project to christen my new apartment with.

Speaking of my new apartment... I'm moving on Wednesday. And yes, I am overcome by a wave of stress every time I think of this. Moving to an apartment in itself shouldn't be a stressful event, but the composite effect of several events occurring at the same time is quite overwhelming.

First of all, did you know I've never lived in an apartment before? For undergrad I was required to live in the dorms for all four years, so I have never experienced the wonders of paying rent.
I am moving to a new city on the other side of the country - a city in which I know absolutely nobody
Top it off with a large amount of stress about preparing for grad school
Then add the cherry of the fact that I have an audition a week after I arrive and my clarinet has gone untouched for the past few months. And let me tell you, I may mentally know how to play, but the physicality is gone. Sadly, this is not one of those times when the "riding a bike" analogy can be used. The muscle memory in my fingers is fine, but the muscle development in my embouchure is gone, and that can only be fixed with careful practice.

I don't think a day goes by in which I don't think to myself, "What the f#$! am I thinking?!" Ah stress, how I missed thee. (Now please go away).

Also, my landlord seems to think that I owe him rent beginning from July 15, which is something he never stated until today, I have not yet signed a lease, I wasn't even in the country (let alone this half of the globe) on July 15, and my early correspondences with him state that I was looking for an apartment beginning on August 1st. I kind of wish everything weren't happening all at once, you know?

Anyway, I'm done complaining for the day. Look what was in our yard a couple of days ago?

It's a baby squirrel!!!! And also adorable. It fell out of its nest in the maple tree in our front yard and cried and cried and cried until we picked it up.

It was such a precious little thing, its eyes not yet open and its body nearly naked sans its cute little whiskers and a bit of peach fuzz on its head. Those cute little ears and tiny claws were so endearing, I didn't want to return it to its family, but we all know that mother knows best and it was back to the tree for this little fellow. What a cute little guy.

Bali: The Final Days

2010-08-01T00:05:00.000-05:00

Friday, July 16, 2010:

This was our last day in the program and in the morning we were all madly rehearsing trying to remember all the parts of the pieces we were going to be performing that evening. After lunch we all made offerings to decorate the Pondok for our performance and then took a break for the afternoon to rest up.

Making offerings

to decorate the ceiling

It was fun to hang out with everybody before the show and the show itself was fun, too! There was actually a pretty decent turnout of an audience considering that we were all foreign visitors who had only been studying these tradition arts for three weeks, but I was touched that so many people came to hear and watch us perform. It started raining halfway through our performance, so the audience had to crowd onto the platform with us, but hey, that's Bali, right?

After the performance we all hung out for a while before calling it a night. What a fun time!

Saturday, July 17, 2010:

This was my last day in Bali. The afternoon was spent as a group reflecting on our experiences in the program and we did a final prayer service to close up the institute. It was definitely a bittersweet time for us all and I'm so glad I had the experience. When our time together ended at 5pm, my driver came up to me and said, "So I'm driving you to the airport at 10pm tonight, right?" I thought I wasn't leaving until tomorrow!!! I had to run home and pack in a mad rush and then had time to briefly stop in at the karaoke bar where everyone was hanging out to say a quick goodbye and run off to the airport to begin my 30 hour trip. It was such a bizarre feeling as I was planning on an addition 24 hours to prepare myself to leave, but maybe it was better this way. It was much more surreal, that's for sure.

And with that my tale has come to a closing, I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and thanks so much for reading! Hopefully I'll have an update in the next day or two with some actual knitting content. Have a great day!

Bali: Days 17-18

2010-07-31T00:05:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, July 14, 2010:

On Wednesday morning instead of attending gamelan rehearsal as we would usually do, we all went to a Balinese wedding at the sanggar instead.

It was very interesting to be present at such a ceremony.

At one point I felt as if I was at some sort of entertainment event as snacks and soda were passed out for all to enjoy. It was raining in the morning, so we were all crowded under the bale roofs.

Check out that hair!

I was on the west bale and had a good view of the East bale where the tooth filing ceremony took place. The front six teeth on the top are filed down to represent the six vices, though most people can only remember anger and greed. Tooth filing ceremonies do not have to be performed as part of a wedding, but in this case the bride (a Chinese-Canadian) chose to do so.

Most of the time I didn't know what was going on during the wedding, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Thursday, July 15, 2010:

Believe it or not, Thursday was actually a pretty typical day. It was our last day of rehearsals before our final performance and it was also my last day of mask carving. What do you think?

There was an accident involving the chisel and the forehead of my mask

Here are a couple masks that my teacher had made:

Bali: Days 15-16

2010-07-30T00:05:00.000-05:00

Monday, July 11, 2010:

On Monday afternoon I began what was going to be a series of afternoons studying mask-making with a master mask maker in Mas. (Wow, what an alliteration!) It was incredible to see him make the mask blanks with a chunk of wood and a hatchet.

He was able to see what the final mask would look like even before he began working on it and he offered us all ample assistance as we awkwardly chiseled and hacked away at our shapeless forms.

The humble beginnings of my mask

He would advise us as to where to do more work, he would draw lines to show us the countours of the face, and more than once would take the masks and work on them himself.

Stabilizing the mask with his feet

He was a very patient and tolerant man, very quiet, and very good at what he does. I was surprised that he allowed us to come into his home, make a mess, misuse his tools, and then repeat it all again the next day.

My mask at the end of the day

I am very thankful for his kindness and I'm anxious to see what my finished mask will look like!

Tuesday, July 12, 2010:

Tuesday was another fieldtrip for the summer program. We traveled to the village of Tunjuk a little over an hour northwest of Pengosekan where I was staying. One of our teachers lives in the village and we went to listen to his gamelan perform (again, a variety of gamelan that none of us had heard before. It was, in fact, a mix of several different kinds to create something completely new).

One of the pieces they performed for us included three singers. One of our program directors was one of the singers and she has such a quiet voice, but when she started singing, everything else went away and I was entirely consumed by her voice and entranced the entire time. I have never heard a voice so beautiful and almost otherworldy. Watching her it was as if she too was not aware of her surroundings and she stared off in the distance, as if her song was coming from a far off place. She had a very nice quote in her singing, as well, "Kindness, one act of kindness, is the seen of a Banyon tree." and we've all seen how big and mighty a Banyon tree can get, right?

We went on a walk through the rice paddies of Tunjuk that afternoon to see our teacher's land.

It was so beautiful to be walking through a landscape of terraced rice fields in all shades of green while forests of palm trees lined the horizon.

We eventually ventured down a path leading into one such forest and it led us to a temple in the middle of the vegetation - a hidden gem tucked in among the trees.

The temple

We stopped at the temple and prayed before continuing on to the final portion of our Tunjuk trip.

We walked back to our teacher's land in the middle of nowhere where a bale (bah-lay - essentially a roofed platform) sat while a pair of rindik/tingklik players entertained us with their music.

While some sat to listen to the mis and improvize dance along with the little girls, others went to gamble and play cards on the other side of the bale. Fresh coconuts with straws were passed around and we all drank its sweet water while enjoying the spectacle of a cock fight (no animals were actually injured).

Coconuts!

I couldn't keep myself from thinking that this must be exactly what a gypsy camp must have been like. A group of people getting together and having fun with food, music, dance, games, and a fight or two. Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and head back to Pengosekan for the evening. What a fun day!

Obama! Carved by Ida Bagus Oka, the master mask maker

Bali: Weekend No. 2

2010-07-29T00:05:00.002-05:00

Saturday, July 10, 2010:

I spent the day wandering the streets of Pengosekan and Ubud looking for souvenirs. It really was a bit intimidating knowing that I had 11 siblings and two parents to find souvenirs for. After five hours of looking in every shop that looked interesting, I came back with almost nothing. But don't worry, I eventually found something for everybody.

Sunday, July 11, 2010:

"Sunday was an unbelievably phenomenal day. I might even say that it was the best day I have spent in Bali so far. Seriously, it blew my mind!"

The day began at 8:30am as we headed out east to go snorkeling along the coast. I didn't really know what to expect and I was a little uncomfortable when we showed up. We were taken through a back alley to a little shack where they began pulling out random pairs of flippers, snorkels, and masks to have us try on. It all just seemed very sketchy to me and I had no idea if I should trust these guys. After we got our scuba gear, they loaded us onto two small, skinny boats with runners (like a catamaran) and took us over huge swells (okay, they were probably tiny, but I'm new to this whole ocean thing) and out into the ocean to a small, rocky island where they simply told us to "jump!".

The middle island in the distance is where we went to snorkel

There was no shore and whatever possessions we brought on the boat (camera, wallet, sunscreen, etc.) were left on the boat with the drivers in the plastic bags we had used to try to keep them dry from all the splashes on the trip out to the island.

Snorkeling itself was incredible! The fih were so brightly colored and many of them were larger than I would have expected. The coral wasn't too spectacular, but it was still really amazing to see all of this marine life. I saw many of the fish that are so popular in photographs because of their bright colors and interesting shapes. I saw Nemo and Dory and Gill and eve Crush (the sea turtle)! It was such a breathtaking experience to be out by that island swimming along its rocky cliffs and seeing all the beauty that nature had to offer.

We climbed back onto the boat after a short duration in the water and began a 20 minute boat ride to a beautiful white sand beach. The boat ride there may have been the best part, though. We passed by beautiful islands rising right out of the ocean and covered with rich, luscious green foliage, separated from everything else by the waves crashing upon their rocky faces.

As we passed by the shore, misty silhouettes of rounded mountains appeared and passed, their surface thick with trees.

Many ended with a steep cliff, topped by carefully carved rice terraces complete with cows. It really was a sight to be seen.

The volcanic mountains were obviously very old as they were worn smooth into a beautiful curved landscape and the lush vegetation and thin layer of mist really made them something very special.

The white sand beach to which we traveled was tucked between two such mountains and set out in seclusion from all other beaches.

White sand beach - not so white

I played in the waves for a bit while others lounged under umbrellas and enjoyed fresh coconuts.

I know it looks like I photoshopped my feet into this picture, but I was really there

A boat kite! I love it

I also spent about an hour doing some more snorkeling, exploring all the areas of the beach, including a cave along the side of one of the cliffs that flanked the beach.

My boat, Suci, in front of the cave I explored

I also spent a good amount of time diving down to get right near the fish and coral. It was absolutely unbelievable and I think now that snorkeling is right there at the top of my list of favorite things to do. It can be a social activity, but once you're in the water you enter a world that is completely removed from everything else, including those around you. In an instant you find yourself in total seclusion, but also surrounded by the most amazing creatures as you're cradled by the sea. It is definitely my kind of activity.

Once we had all soaked in as much sun as possible, we headed back to where we started, past all the unbelievable scenery again, to meet Danu for the next leg of our adventure.

After eating a meal in an empty restaurant with a nice view of the jungle while being serenaded by the vocal talents of Celine Dion circa early 1990s, we got in the car and drove to Tanganan, the oldest village in Bali.

A dark picture, but look at that view!

This village is only open to visitors until 6pm and each home that lines the street doubles as a storefront in which each family is competes to sell the same sarongs and scarves.

A few houses were selling ekat, which are pieces of weaving done in a traditional style for which this village is famous. I didn't find any such pieces that I liked, but I picked up a silk scarf for each of my sisters after seeing them over and over again in the houses.

Out in the street were several oxen (are they oxen? ETA: Mel tells me that they're water buffalo. I actually remembered this while in the car after writing the post, and knew full well that he would correct me as soon as he saw it.) resting or headbutting, while roosters of every color looked on from their crates - obviously waiting until the next cockfight.

Many villagers were standing around the firepit in the middle of the village where a pig was being roasted. It was almost time to leave, but there was one more thing I had seen that I wanted to buy. Before paper and pen, the Balinese wrote their stories down on palm leaves by etching the words and pictures into the surface with a small knife and then rubbing it with charred hazelnut to fill in the small scratches. In the morning as I was thinking about the day to come I had thought to myself, "I would love to find a map of Bali to hang on my apartment wall back in Pittsburgh." Never did I think that I would find such a map created in this traditional style and elaborately decorated with designs and flowers, framed by carved palm wood (bamboo?).

It was, perhaps, the most serendipitous thing to have happened to me in Bali and now I have the map I didn't even know I wanted when I woke up to hang on my wall. The artist even carved my name in English and in Balinese. Could it have gotten any better?!

Bali: Days 10-12

2010-07-28T00:05:00.006-05:00

Day 10: Wednesday, July 7, 2010

After rehearsals on Wednesday I went on a walk through the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It sounds promising, right? It was within walking distance from my hotel and I had wanted to go ever since I got to Bali. It was a very exciting and peaceful walk through the forest and I took over 250 pictures. (I apologize for the photo overload that this post will become). I just can't get enough of moss-covered sculptures,

Balinese foliage,

or monkeys.

The monkeys were literally everywhere and actually quite tame.

There were several babies, which were adorable, and many of the monkeys didn't even flinch when you stood right next to them.

There was a staircase leading down to an old temple and then there was a winding path along the river that was just unbelievably gorgeous.

My friend, Minh

Vines and ferns and palms were everywhere and the river (which was more like a stream) tumbled over boulders and down worn paths.

There were Balinese sculptures everywhere!

There was an absolutely gigantic tree by the long staircase whose roots descended from the trunk and branches down to the ground and they twisted and wrapped all around each other.

Minh again

These trees (banyon trees) are considered sacred in Bali and they all have some sort of temple or offering site near them. This one was incredible! You really do have to stop and soak it all in because it's so amazing. It's difficult to process it all unless you consciously take the time to think about everything.

Day 11: Thursday, July 8, 2010

There is honestly nothing to report about this day. Rehearsal, dinner, hanging out. I did eat the most expensive dinner of my entire stay in Bali, but that's not worth talking about.

Day 12: Friday, July 9, 2010

Today we spent some time learning how to play the suling, which is the bamboo flute played in a gamelan. As we rehearsed the piece we were going to perform at the end of the program (to accompany several little girls singing) it was decided that I should have a solo at the beginning of the piece. What?! After lunch we switched with the dancers again and learned some more of the male form. I didn't get nearly as tired or sore this time and I felt a lot better about it, too. It was fun to learn something and not feel like it was slowly killing me.

Once rehearsal was over for the day (and the week) we had a pool party at the hotel with everyone from the program and all of the Cudamani musicians. It was a lot of fun!

We ordered pizza (which is a bigger deal in Bali than it is in the States) and had an assortments of soda and really just had an all around good time. It was nice to be able to relax with the Cudamani guys. They tended to be a little shy and kept to themselves in rehearsals (due to our mutual lack of language ability), but we all had fun at the party and everyone loosened up a bit. These were really some cool guys!

Bali: Days 8-9

2010-07-27T00:05:00.002-05:00

Day 8: Monday, July 5, 2010

On Monday morning our program director told us that we would be performing the next day as part of a temple odalan. An odalan is a 3-day celebration of a temple's anniversary, occurring every 210 days (following the lunar calendar). It is a very important celebration and I was very honored to be invited to participate in this festival. Monday was then, of course, spent rehearsing as up until this point we had only learned two of the three pieces we were going to be playing at the temple the next day. I was playing kendang on this third piece and it was so difficult to learn! I had never played a drum before in my life and I didn't think I was ever going to be able to learn my part. My teacher would play the pattern for me to repeat and I'm sure I had a look of "You have got to be kidding me!" on my face the entire time. At one point I honestly panicked and thought I should just give up - it's so hard being a beginner sometimes! Of course, once I understood the pattern I was able to do it without really paying attention, but wow. That was stressful for a bit.

Once rehearsal ended - well past 4pm - I headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and get ready for my evening. The Ubud Festival had been going on for several days at this point and I hadn't yet managed to make it to one of the evening performances. Ubud is the city near the village where I stayed and I was very anxious to see one of the performances. Several of the previous nights had been rained out. In fact, Cudamani, the gamelan with whom I'm studying, performed the evening before and actually had to run off stage carrying their (heavy!) instruments with them to get out of the rain. It had been raining all day during rehearsal on Monday too, but I was hoping it would stop before the night's performance because I was REALLY excited to go.

As it turns out, the rain did stop and the sky cleared to reveal a beautiful curtain of sparkling stars over the Ubud Festival. I got there a little after 8pm, which gave me plenty of time to grab a seat in one of the front rows so that I would have a good view of everything on stage. The soccer field where the festival took place, as I predicted, was a giant mud puddle and all of the chairs were soaked, but I got over the muddy sandals quite quickly and I sat on my sweatshirt to prevent wet pants so there was really no trouble.

The night's festivities began with a gamelan jegog from West Bali!

This is a rather unique gamelan as the instruments are all made up of bamboo tubes, the largest of which are sometimes more than 3 meters long and the players actually have to sit on top of the instrument's frame to play them!

I had wanted to see a jegog live ever since I saw a video in class and I had no idea they were even performing until I showed up that night. What a treat! There was a very interesting (for lack of a better word) dance that accompanied a few of the songs, but it was entertaining and I really enjoyed my time.

I was a bit confused by this dance

I think the dance was supposed to depict some type of jungle scene with birds and other animals and maybe hunters? I wasn't quite sure.

See the tails? They were detachable and used a whips

At 11:45pm the reason I went to the festival finally started. My new friend Ayu Eka was dancing and I was very eager to see her perform.

You see, back in Wisconsin during my class, we actually studied Ayu Eka, reading articles and interviews, watching videos, etc. I couldn't believe upon arriving in Bali that I was actually going to meet her!

We're actually friends now and just last night spent a good deal of time chatting on Facebook, but I digress. So yes, I was finally going to see the Ayu Eka perform and she did not disappoint. What a phenomenal dancer!

It was so bizarre, too - after she finished dancing, she changed out of her costume and then came and sat next to me and my roommate in the audience, as if nothing happened! She's incredible.

The final piece (that I stayed to listen to) was a performance of the piece I had heard in rehearsal on one of my first days in Bali. Remember, the one that totally blew my mind and made my jaw drop? Yeah, I got to see it again and it was just as unbelievable as the first time! My roommate recorded the whole thing, so now I have it and am able to listen to it whenever I want. Sweet!

After that piece was over, we chose to head back to the hotel because it was already 1am and we had an early morning the next day with the temple odalan. I'm so glad I stayed as late as I did, though!

Day 9: Tuesday, July 6, 2010

On Tuesday was the temple odalan for which we would be performing. Did I mention that this was a private house temple for a high Brahmana priestess? They kept saying that she was pretty much as close to God as you can get while still being human, so this was a bit stressful for us as foreigners invited into her home to help celebrate the anniversary of her temple. It was what is called our "ngyah" (nie-YAH), or our offering. It is thought that everyone should offer whatever they can to the ceremony whether it be food, money, transportation, offerings, or in our case, dance and music. It didn't matter whether we were the best performers or had no idea what we were doing, it was only important that we were there giving what we could.

When we arrived at the house, it was hot and sunny and we all sat around drinking tea and eating snacks until we were needed.

Just hanging out

Of course, as fate would have it, it began pouring rain and continued to drench the area for the rest of the day as soon as we needed to move locations. With the constant rainfall, all of us program members, all of Cudamani (the Balinese gamelan musicians), and several little girls who had danced as their ngyah were crammed onto a tiny platform with the gamelan where we once again drank tea, hung out, and occasionally played a piece or two for the ceremony. Everybody there kept apologizing for the rain, but I think it was a great experience to be there and see what an odalan entails and to be a part of Balinese culture for a day. I felt like I was actually experiencing a part of Balinese life that tourists don't really get to see - it wasn't a perfect day with beautiful weather and warm sand on a beach with fresh coconuts, it was rainy and we spent a great deal of time sitting and waiting and not knowing what was going to happen next, and we all adjusted. We did what we had to do and nobody complained, we all just enjoyed each other's company and went with the flow. It all felt very Balinese.

Bali: The Weekend!

2010-07-26T00:05:00.001-05:00

From the journal:

Saturday, July 3, 2010

"Today was the first Cudamani filed trip and we went to two temples. The first was Pura Tirta Empul near the village of Tampaksiring, which is a water temple with several springs (11 in total), each with its own spiritual property and power.

There is a designated bathing area where people are able to bathe in the holy water. The whole temple was overlooked by the Sukarno palace at the top of a hill.

Sukarno palace on top of the hill

As an aside: The drive there passed through some jungle area and it definitely reminded me of Avatar.

Avatar!

The water in the temple looked so cool as it came up from the ground and disturbed the sediment at the bottom of the pool. It was very mesmerizing to watch."

"We then drove up to Gunung Batur (Mount Batur), which is an absolutely breathtaking part of Bali! It is a volcano in Central Bali with a huge 10x15km crater. Inside the crater is the peak of Gunung Batur, an active volcano even today, set beside Danau (lake) Batur. The view was absolutely unbelievable!

Gunung Batur

Danau Batur

We ate lunch at a nice buffet restaurant right on the edge of the crater, so the patio we ate on had an entirely unobstructed view of Gunung and Danau Batur.

View from our table at lunch - the dark portion of land on the left is the most recent lava flow

It was so picturesque that I was almost convinced that I was simply sitting in front of a backdrop. UNBELIEVABLE!! I have never seen anything so incredible."

"Before we ate lunch at this spectacular restaurant, we went to Pura (temple) Ulun Danu Batur to pray.

We were the only ones there and it felt both peaceful and deserted.

It was such a beautiful space, though, and an incredible experience.

I can't wait to see what Bali has to offer next!"

Sunday, July 4, 2010

"Today was my first real day off since my first day in Bali. I went with six other people on a trip with Danu, our beloved driver. He first took us to see a Barong performance. To describe it in its simplest terms, this was a representation of an eternal fight between good and evil. The Barong (a mythical animal, in this case a lion) represent the good spirit and is the protector of the village

while Rangda (a monster/witch) is the evil spirit.

There was a lot of fighting, possession, mythical animals, a royal family, shape-shifting... you know, the usual. I am very glad I got to see one of these performances."

The Queen and Prince

In the above picture, the Queen is being possessed by one of Rangda's minions. This causes her to tie the prince to a tree, allowing Rangda to appear and eat him.

Conflict between Barong and Rangda

Rangda uses her magic to turn the warriors' swords against them

But in the end the Barong steps in to protect their physical bodies

"After the Barong performance, Danu took us to the main course of our trip - the beach at Sanur!!! Oh my gosh, the beach is so so so incredible! The sky was the bluest blue and the water was unbelievably warm. I would equate it to a nice bath, but that would be gross. This particular beach didn't have any waves, which I found quite pleasing.

It is on the East side of the island and in the distance you could just barely make out the island of Lombok. there were a lot of bits of coral in the water and I think that's what made up most of the sand. The sand was rather coarse (at least right on the shoreline) and the individual grains were so large that you could tell they were coral and shells, worn down into a shape I can only describe as a circular pyramid.

Closeup of sand

It was so cool! I'm sunburnt now, but I think it was well worth it. The ocean! It was so amazing! Ahhhhh!"

See, I told you there would be more pictures today. Remember that you can always click on them to embiggen them (I think). Thanks for reading!

Bali: Days 4-5

2010-07-25T00:05:00.002-05:00

Day 4:

Today's summary is going to be very abbreviated as I didn't have my camera with me to take pictures.

So, in bullet-point form:

rehearsal in the morning
lunch
music and dance presentation in the afternoon by Cudamani musicians and dancers (phenomenal!)
Kecak with musicians!!! Kecak (ket-chock, though the last "ck" is more a glottal stop than a "ck", the same goes for the "t" at the end of the first syllable), you see, is a type of stylized chanting in which the cakers (that's chock-ers) are split into three or more sections, each with its own rhythm. When signaled to do so, all of the members begin to yell "cak!" in their own rhythm, creating a very complex pattern that, well, you have to see it to understand what I'm talking about. It is far more complex and interesting than I have made it sound.

Day 5:

Oh, crap, it looks like today is just as pictureless.

Today the musicians and dancers switched places and I found myself standing in front of the esteemed Pak Cerita making a fool of myself while trying to learn one of the male dance forms, Baris. To say that it's one of the more simple dance forms does not, in fact, mean that it isn't tiring. It was like doing slow-motion squats for a continuous 20 minutes! My legs were like jelly and they ached for days! Of course, one also has to keep one's shoulders up, chest out, arms up, and somehow through all of this I was supposed to have the face of a warrior. Mine was more like the face of someone who couldn't breathe and was about to collapse, but that's a minor detail. I have so much more respect for the dancers now after learning firsthand how difficult and tiring the dances are. They must have legs of steel!

Ok, so I know this post was a bit lacking, but trust me, the next one is going to be packed with pictures and fun adventures, so check back tomorrow, ok? It's going to be beautiful (I hope).

Bali: Days 2-3

2010-07-24T00:05:00.003-05:00

Day 2:

Today was our first day of rehearsals for the Summer Institute. We rehearse from 9am-noon and then from 1-4pm. Of course, there are breaks in there and an extended lunch time came to be the norm. There is a concept here which is referred to as "Bali time". This essentially means that things happen when they happen and one should neither expect something to happen when scheduled nor get upset when it doesn't. So, in theory we rehearsed for the times stated above, but in reality we rehearsed when we rehearsed.

Before rehearsal we had to have a prayer ceremony at the Pondok, which was essentially our home base (it was the home of the program directors), as a group asking the gods (Bali, if you weren't aware, is a Hindu island) for their blessing as we began our studies.

The Pondok

From my journal: "Oh my god sitting cross-legged for that long was the most painful thing I have ever done!" It's true, I'm not the most flexible person on the planet. In all honestly, I don't think I could ever sit cross-legged. Spending the next three weeks sitting on the ground for hours a day was definitely going to be a challenge for me.

When the prayer service ended, the musicians in the institute (there were others studying dance) walked to the sanggar (which literally translates as a studio - it's where the gamelan was housed) to begin rehearsals. The "sanggar" was in the housing compound of the Cudamani director, Pak Dewa Berata. In Bali, several related families all live together in one large compound, and share a lot of community space. We were, quite literally, rehearsing within the private home of several families. The space where we rehearsed had walls on three sides with a thatched roof, while the fourth wall looked out into the open air, towards the temple.

The Sanggar on a rainy day, facing the temple

Much of Balinese architecture consists of these bales - roofed platforms missing one or all of its walls. In fact, in several of the homes that I visited, only the bedrooms could actually have been considered "indoors", while the rest of the house was very much a part of the outside world.

We played on a very beautiful gamelan semarandana, which is a new type of gamelan instrument set that combines the tuning systems of two separate gamelans, allowing the performers to play a wider range of old repertoire as well as allowing modern composers to experiment with different modes and modulations which would not have been possible without the inclusion of both tuning systems (don't worry if that didn't make sense. It was just exciting that I got to play one).

Hand-carved

The gongs - the heart of the ensemble

Half of the gamelan - reyong along right side of picture

Once rehearsal was over for the day, I went to take a nap in my room before heading out to find dinner. I ended up going to bed at 8pm. From the journal: "Is every day going to be this exhausting?"

Day 3:

Much like the previous day, we spent the morning finishing the first piece we were learning. In Bali, music isn't written down as it is in the Western Classical tradition. It is all taught by rote and performed from memory. We were all so lucky to be studying with the Balinese musicians and there were enough of the present that we practically got to study one on one with some of the most accomplished musicians in Bali. I still can't get over how incredible the opportunity was.

After lunch (and I must say, our lunches were delicious! Home cooked Balinese food every single day for lunch. It couldn't have gotten any better than that. I really, really miss the food there.) we had a lesson on kendang, which is the drum played in a gamelan as well as a lesson on reyong.

Lunch!

Kendang

The reyong is a bit hard to describe - it's a series of tuned pots (sometimes called knob-gongs) that are suspended upside down (so the opening faces down) in a frame. Four people play this instrument at once, each with two pangguls (mallets). Here's a picture if it helps:

Reyong - also see picture from Day 2 for view from above

It is, from my experience, the hardest gamelan instrument to play, yet it looks so deceptively simple. I really struggled with that one, but the guys (our teachers) were so patient and helpful. I can't thank them enough for their patience (and they enjoyed laughing at us, too).

More to come!

Bali: The Beginning

2010-07-22T23:40:00.001-05:00

In two days I am driving to North Dakota to spend a week at my cabin and celebrate my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. As I will once again be removed from any internet connections, I have decided to regale you all with a series of posts about my time in Bali that will be able to provide blog fodder while I'm gone and allow me to document my trip in more detail. I hope you don't mind. Feel free to simply scroll through and look at pictures if you'd rather do that.

I have to say, I was very nervous about my flights to Bali. I had never been out of the United States and had no idea what to expect in terms of Customs, Immigration, obtaining a Visa, or anything else related to international travel that shouldn't have made me nervous. Of course, everything was just fine and I made it to Bali as expected, but the stress was there. Upon arrival I was greeted by nice men who helped me through Customs and then demanded 100,000 rupiah for their efforts (that's about US $10, but it's also a LOT of money in Bali). I'm glad I got ripped off right at the beginning of my trip so I could get it over with and move on.

Day 0:

I didn't arrive at my hotel until 1:30am, but it was still absolutely gorgeous!

It looked even better in the morning, too.

I really considered my hotel to be a little haven off from what I began to consider the "other" Bali, which one was able to find at the end of the driveway - crumbling sidewalks, stray dogs, congested roads, etc. This was a hidden gem, unseen from the road and unexpected when looking at its surroundings. From the journal: "The rain is falling harder now and I have chosen to sit and listen to the sound of the rain on the palm trees, with birds conversing in the background as a stream noisily tumbles its way past the balcony. I am certain I could sit here forever and be at peace."

I did eventually leave the hotel and promptly got lost for two hours wandering the streets of Pengosekan and Ubud. On that first day, I also saw a mindblowing gamelan performance and on the way stopped at the Ubud market across the street from the Water Palace. The market was a bit overwhelming, but it was exciting to simply throw my whole self into it to see how I fared. With my minimal Indonesian I was able to come out with some proper temple attire and a better ability to haggle. That was, as it turns out, my one and only time at the Ubud market.

Day 1:

This was the first day of the Cudamani Summer Institute and I finally met all of the people I would be spending the next three weeks with. I could not believe that I was meeting some of the most incredible, amazing and groundbreaking musicians, dancers, and choreographers in Bali and I was so humbled that they were willing to put in the time and dedication towards teaching foreigners their arts.

We didn't have rehearsal that day because we loaded onto a bus and drove down to Denpasar to see the Bali Arts Festival (or PKB - Pesta Kesenian Bali), as the Cudamani (pronounced soo-da-ma-ni) girls' gamelan was performing.

This was a really important event because until only recently, women weren't allowed to play gamelan. Several women's groups have been organized in Bali in the past couple of decades, but as far as I know this girl's ensemble is one of the few (if not the only) gamelan made up of girls and not grown women. This was also, if I remember correctly, the first time they had been invited to perform at this island-wide event, so it was an absolutely honor for them to perform and I was so excited that I had the opportunity to be there.

Performance venue - seriously

Their performance was absolutely incredible and they all looked unbelievable in their tailor-made, hand-painted costumes.

Pre-performance picture

I couldn't believe all the work that went into preparing for this performance and I felt so proud of all of them as I listened to them perform. Two of the three pieces they performed were new compositions, and two of them also featured dancers. Unbelievable! (This word is going to pop up a lot in my posts.)

I should mention that somehow we found ourselves sitting in the front two rows of a huge sea of people. What an opportunity!

Check back tomorrow for more!

The Perfect Project

2010-07-20T19:41:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone!

I'm back from Bali and have a lot to share with you all, but I still have thousands of pictures to sort through before I can put a blog post together, so you'll have to wait a couple more days. I also have to figure out how to cram three weeks full of amazing experiences into one post, so there may be a series of photo-filled posts. I hope you don't mind.

Just to give you a little taste of what Bali was like, here is a picture of my view from my hotel balcony:

I didn't mind waking up to see that every morning one bit. I loved sitting out there in the early morning as the sun rose and shone over the rice fields. I was in a corner room and looking out the front windows I saw what you see above, and through the other windows I saw rice fields:

I couldn't believe how verdant everything was. I didn't tweak the color on any of these pictures and I can't get over how green everything was - and I'm colorblind! Absolutely unbelievable.

So that's a little taste, with plenty more to come.

For now I have some knitting to show you. After all, I had to have something to do on my 30-hour trips there and back.

I started with perhaps the most unbelievable yarn ever made. This is Handmaiden Fine Yarn's 2-ply Cashmere, which actually looks like they don't carry it anymore, which is a shame. It is the softest yarn I've ever felt (100% cashmere will do that), with a very pleasant spring and a halo that makes me giddy every time I see it. It's a heavier laceweight and, if you haven't reached this conclusion yet, I love everything about it. The color is gorgeous, too and although it appears as a solid, when you look up close you can see there there are very subtle changes in shading, which makes it that much more fascinating. This is, hands down, the most pleasing yarn I have ever knit with. I have to thank the wonderful Joan for sending this to me as a gift back in September. Thanks, Joan!

(As an aside, she's having a stash sale right now and I can't even fathom the unbelievable things she's going to be selling, so check out her blog and be sure not to miss this event).

Such an unbelievable yarn had to be paired with an equally wonderful pattern and I knew just the one.

I've had my eye on the Aeolian Shawl ever since it was published in Knitty.com in the Spring of '09. It is such a gorgeous and intriguing design, I knew instantly that I had to make it. When I was planning what knitting to bring with me on my trip, I knew that I wanted it to be lace so that it wouldn't take up space in my luggage with the added benefit that a more complicated pattern would keep me interested and occupied during my long flights.

By the time I had reached Bali, I had finished knitting the smaller Yucca charts. The smaller size called for four repeats of this pattern, while the larger size called for 12. I did 6 because my yardage was in between these two sizes and I wanted to use as much of this yarn as possible. I also chose not to include the beads because beads on an airplane didn't seem like a good idea, nor did a super pointy steel crochet hook...

While I was in Bali I didn't knit very much (which isn't surprising - there was so much else to do in Bali and I can knit at home whenever I want). I also ran into a bit of an issue with the charts and had to wait a week until I was able to find an internet cafe in the nearby city to send a message to my sister and ask for her help. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong a couple of days later with the help of Ravelry. You see, there is both a k2tog and a k3tog, as well as ssk and sssk. In the charts, the symbols used for each pair is the same aside from the fact that the triple decreases were in bold. Silly me, I missed that very tiny difference in the symbols.

Once I got that figured out I was able to knit through the first transition chart, the Agave chart, and the final Agave chart. (The small size only uses the transition and final Agave charts, but I threw in one repeat of the Agave chart for good measure). I have to say, I'm not sure what the whole fuss about nupps is. I didn't find them at all difficult or frustrating and I don't think they slowed down my pace any significant amount. I'm sure that having to do thousands of them would be a bit tedious, but so far I've done less than 100. No problems so far.

It's not in this picture, but I've completed the third nupp row and that means that I can now begin the edging. This by no means signifies that I am almost done with the shawl - it is noted that the small size uses about 65% of the total yarn just for the edging.

I could have gotten a good portion of this done on my trip home, but I actually didn't do any knitting on the trip home! I know! I couldn't believe it either. 7 hours from Bali to Japan. A 9 hours layover in Osaka. 11 hours from Japan to Seattle. 4 hours from Seattle to Minneapolis. ...and no knitting. I don't even have an excuse either, other than the fact that I spent most of the time trying to sleep. That and the fact that the edging of this shawl requires one to juggle four different charts at any given time and that seemed a bit excessive for airplane knitting.

Once I get settled in at home again and take care of everything that has popped up while I've been gone, I hope to settle in with this shawl once again to get the rest of it finished up. I'm sure it is going to be absolutely stunning when it's all finished and blocked.

Stay tuned for tales from Bali! I have to get something written up in the next couple of days because on Saturday I head up to my cabin for a week and will once again be away from the internet. Yes, more travel (and knitting time?).

(Also, I have to say, when I got back from Bali I had over 550 blog posts to read and as of right now, less than 48 hours since I returned, I have read them ALL. No "mark as read" for me, no siree. I didn't comment on very many though, sorry.)