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Better Than Blogging

2010-05-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

I come from a crafty family.

My mother, a true artisan, ran a wood refinishing business throughout much of my childhood. Her sister, my aunt Teesy, has a jewelry business and currently sells her amazing work in craft shows. (I hope she has a website up soon that I can share with you.) Their other two sisters, Jana and Libby, are also always making incredible things, including costumes, clothes, home decor, etc...

My paternal grandmother, an avid knitter, crocheter, and maker of things, taught me to crochet when I was about six years old. Her sons (including my father) all make and do creative things with their hands for a living. Her only daughter, my aunt Doe, has recently rediscovered knitting, and whenever I visit her in North Carolina we always have at least one knitting session involving a trip to a local yarn shop, a few hours of knitting, coffee, and wine. (We'd do this together every day if we could.)

She doesn't have a knitting blog, but she recently completed her first pair of socks and wanted to share them with me. So she mailed something even better to me in Israel: a parcel of photos and a swatch of the yarn she used!

These are the socks in progress, complete with swatch:

And here are the finished socks:

Absolutely fabulous, just like her.

I can't wait to see them (and her) in person this summer, but this was definitely the next best thing!

Old School Badger Hat

2010-05-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

New pattern!

I made this hat for a friend and thought I'd share it with all the Bucky fans out there!

The PDF can be found on Ravelry or downloaded directly here.

On Wisconsin!

Sunny Swap

2010-05-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in the spring Swap on a Budget on Ravelry. My package from Sunny63 was so fantastic that it made me want to return to blogging so I could share all the awesomeness!

I got my package-slip late last night as I was coming back from a bonfire and grill-party in the Jerusalem Forest. I hoped it was my SOAB package, and was so excited that as soon as I woke up this morning, I ran to the post office to pick up my box!

I knew I was in for something good when I noticed the little bunnies drawn on the box:

But then - a warning!

What was hiding for me underneath the grass?

Oooooh!

First, a sweet note from my spoiler (on a lovely postcard featuring a scarf-clad Brandenburg Gate) and lots of wonderful cappuccino, mocha and latte drinks. (I paused here and fixed myself a coffee.)

I dug deeper into the rabbit-hole, and found:

Lots and lots of chocolate bunnies! I was so happy to get these - living in Israel is wonderful, but there is a real lack of chocolate bunnies come spring. And these are not just ANY chocolate bunnies - there is an After Eight mint bunny (After Eights are my FAVORITE), a bunny filled with Smarties, two Milka bunnies, lots and lots of little Milka chocolate bunnies - and of course a Lindt Goldhase - but this one is in WHITE chocolate!

But that's not all...

Sunny63 owns a yarn store, and gave me some beautiful and useful notions, including lovely no-snag stitch markers, sweet scarf- and hat-shaped needle tip protectors, a "made with love" fabric tag, a knitting pattern for "Briochette," and a gorgeous and incredibly well-made project bag.

Bonus: two bunny buttons, one brown, one white!

Then came the yarn:

!!!

Wollmeise yarn!

In a gorgeous color: "Neptun." I am amazed and so very excited to knit with this yarn.

But that's not all, folks:

She sent me a new friend! He is made from super-soft fuzzy yarn, and has completely removable overalls made with the cutest little buttons... and his carrot comes out of his pocket, when he needs to have a little snack!

I am so very happy that I participated in this swap, and that I got the best Swap Partnerin ever -

Vielen herzlichen Dank, Heike!

Playing catch-up

2009-12-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

I finished my dissertation and defended back in August. Since then, I've been updating my cv, working on articles, and knitting. I've not, however, been blogging. So here is a quick rundown of a few of my recent projects...

First up: the Flower Basket Shawl, in 100% bamboo, with a beaded edge.

2. Miffy - a birthday present for my niece.

3. Mitered Mittens, from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac.

That's all for now!

Never fleeced is he who buys the wool...

2009-07-13T03:17:00.001-07:00

To give or receive?

2009-05-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Usually I enjoy the former more than the latter. However, my participation in the Grad Swap on Ravelry is making me rethink my stance on this question, because Rebeccag sent me the most awesome package ever! I now have:

coil-less safety pin/stitch markers,

a tape measure that reminds me of Pinocchio (you pull his nose and it grows! I just hope he doesn’t lie when it comes to measuring… J),

a copy of the totally cute It Itches (Franklin Habit is hilarious),

a skein of amazing merlot-colored Australian merino,

and a skein of Malabrigo sock.

I have NEVER tried a Malabrigo yarn before, but now I’ve got my chance! I’ve been scouring Ravelry for the right pattern all morning. I love love LOVE this colorway, called Archangel. It amuses me to no end that I receive a colorway named this during the Pope’s visit to Israel, which has effectively made getting in and out of Jerusalem – and specifically the Hebrew University – a total pain in the Arsch (vielen Dank, Ratzinger).

I’ve coped admirably with the traffic, however, by making Jonathan drive and taking the time to work on several knitting projects in the car, like these socks which I finally finished up – the pattern is Cookie A’s Monkey from Knitty.

Oh yeah, Rebecca also sent me some amazing Belgian chocolates, but Jonathan and I ate them about 30 seconds after opening the package. J Rebecca, תודה רבה!

I also did some giving last week. For a friend’s new baby boy, I knit my first Baby Surprise Jacket in Wisconsin stripes. I wanted the jacket to have a sporty, rugby-like feel. I totally got lucky with the stripe placement, though – when knitting the jacket for the first time, I was unsure how the shaping worked exactly so I just winged it. I am most pleased with the turnout and plan to use this pattern again soon.

I also made the new one a Bobbi Bear. I was very happy with how he turned out. Bobbi was difficult to give up, and before I gave him away I would sneak him out of the gift bag and hug him. Wouldn’t you?

Sláinte!

2009-05-02T06:35:00.001-07:00

When we approached passport control in Dublin, the officer looked at my passport, then at me, and smiled.

“Well, you’re a Hughes, so we HAVE to let you in!”

The first few days were typically rainy. This is the pedestrian zone on Grafton Street. I trudged about the city in waterproof boots, a rain coat and with an umbrella. And I still got wet.

All that water is what keeps the island so green. Here is the garden at the Dublin Castle… note the labyrinth-like design in the grass.

Dublin is full of churches – here is the protestant St. Patrick’s:

And the catholic Christ Church. The weather was gorgeous for our last few days, so we were outside as much as possible.

That is, when we weren’t drinking. The Jameson's Tour is fantastic - and if you go, be sure to volunteer for the tasting. The Guinness “Experience” isn’t really a brewery tour, which is very disappointing, but the beer at the end in the bar with the view of the city is very nice. We left happy.

Almost as happy as when I left This is Knit! J If you’re in Dublin, go check them out. They’re really nice. Here is my huge haul, plus some knitting magazines I picked up at a bookstore across the street from Trinity College:

I really loved it in Ireland. The accents were so cute - it was all I could do not to ask people superflous questions just to hear them talk. Some people were difficult to understand, however - a few bus drivers, nice as they were, were also pretty confusing. And one woman and I were totally at a loss with each other - finally I looked at her and said, "you know, we speak the same language only in theory!" She smiled politely, but I have no idea if she understood my joke.

The people were ridiculously nice. People would approach me when I was staring at the very confusing bus schedule and help me, unprompted. I'm not sure if I could get used to the lack of sun - but if I could, I'd love to live there one day.

I wonder why my great-grandfather left... a question for the next family reunion, perhaps.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T02:45:00.001-07:00

Pssst...

Happy Easter! (And Passover, and Spring, and whatever else you choose to celebrate!)

Crochet-Along

2009-04-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Amigurumi Doll Lovers group on Ravelry is doing a crochet-along with my love bunnies pattern and I am so flattered and excited!

Here are some of the bunnies people have made. First up, VJW's pair (I love the inverted colors with the eyes):

Next, here is a pair of loving bunnies by mo3insd. They look so smoochy:

This bunny is by no1pugmom, and has a lovely crocheted collar:

This bunny by chictiquita is lovely - can you believe it is her first amigurumi?

This pair is by SenorMysterioso. I love, love, love this photo! The red bunny, which is trying to steal the scene, is a real daredevil, and apparently has been shot out of a t-shirt cannon! (He survived and the picture was taken after his death-defying stunt.)

There are sooooo many excellent bunnies online, and this is just a sample. Please visit the thread to see them!

I am also making a bunny for the crochet-along - you'll see him on Sunday! Want to participate? The crochet-along goes through April...

Other uses for yarn...

2009-03-31T12:31:00.001-07:00

Beret Me*

2009-03-30T02:58:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to go to Ireland in about 2 weeks, and I could not be more excited, for a number of reasons:

1. A few years ago, I was on a day cruise on the Rhine in Germany. I was pretty drunk and talking pretty loudly, so there was no doubt that I was an American. An Irish girl about my age (who looked like she could be my sister) came up to me and said, "well, so, I guess your grandparents came from Ireland, didn't they? You sure look it!"

I think she was also drunk.

Maybe our shared alcohol consumption was another reason she thought I was Irish...

Anyway, I like the idea that everyone there looks like me. We'll see if it is true.

2. A few more years ago, a friend of mine spent a year in Ireland researching his dissertation. He brought back some amazing tweed wool that I still pet from time to time. I have swatched it and agonized over what to make from this incredible stuff.

I want a sweater. I have enough for a hat. I'm gonna get some more.

3. I love Guinness. (I love Beamish even more, but their brewery is unfortunately in Cork.) I also love a good black and tan (or Half-and Half, I can never remember which name is considered offensive for which part of the island).

It will probably be a bit colder and rainier than here in Israel, so I decided to make myself a beret for the trip.

Pardon my sleepy eyes. Mornings are when I have the best light in my office.

My beret owes a great deal to Elizabeth Zimmermann's Tam from Knitting Workshop.

Here it is, from the top:

And here's how I made it:

I used two strands of yarn held together - one fuzzy laceweight (something like Kidsilk Haze would work well) and one DK microfiber.

Gauge: 5 sts = 1 inch. (20 sts = 10 cm.) I used a size 6 16" circular, and DPNs at the end.

Cast on 96 stitches.

Work k2, p2 rib for 1 inch.

Increase row: K3, m1 all the way around. (128 stitches.)

Work in stockinette for 3 1/2 inches.

Decrease row: K2tog, k62, k2tog, knit to end. (126 stitches.)

Begin regular decreases, decreasing 6 stitches per row:

1. K19, k2tog all the way around.

2. K18, k2tog all the way around.

3. K17, k2tog all the way around.

Continue in this fashion, decreasing 6 stitches per row until you only k2tog all the way around - 6 stitches remain.

K2tog all the way around - one more time - so three stitches remain. Place all 3 on a DPN and work a small I-cord tab, if desired - mine is about 3/4 in.

Weave in ends.

Fly to Ireland. :-)

*This post's title inspired and excused by this Op-Ed piece from the New York Times.

Funeral and Wedding Kippah

2009-03-29T01:51:00.000-07:00

The other night I was browsing the excellent Purl Bee site, and found a very sweet kippah pattern to crochet. I’ve never made one before, but they seemed like a simple project. So I asked Jonathan if he knew anyone who could use one.

Jonathan hates wearing kippahs. When he was in the third grade he moved to the U.S. for a year. In Jewish Day School, he had to wear a kippah, but didn't own one. His mom had to purchase one for him, but the only one she could find in Maryland was hand-made by some group to raise money for Israel. The fact that she was Israeli didn't lower the price - it was $20 back in 1987. (That's about $37.00 today, according to this inflation calculator!)

Jonathan is also 110% secular. (A quality in him that I really like, by the way.)

So imagine my surprise when he said, “Sure, make me one.”

“What?” I almost dropped my computer off my lap.

“Sure. They’re good to have around, for funerals and weddings and things.”

So here is Jonathan’s “funeral and wedding” kippah.

The action shot (he had to squat on the floor – he’s much taller than I am).

This one cost a lot less than $37, or even $20. I made it with Rose cotton yarn and a size 3 hook. The brown trim is some embroidery thread I had left over. It took a little over 2 hours, and was the perfect project to accompany some beer and basketball on television.

He can even wear it to the funeral of my NCAA tournament bracket, which died a torturous death over the weekend...

Mr Dangly's Operation

2009-03-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

Inspired by this thread on Ravelry, titled "Mr Dangly: How hard is he?", I made a Mr Dangly. The only DK yarn I had was pink and white. Nonetheless, this pattern definitely made a little male monkey:

But as Mr Dangly was growing, he was also feeling uncomfortable with himself - unsure of who he was. Feeling a little awkward - like a foreigner in a strange body. He looked to his idol, Israeli pop singer and Eurovision song contest winner Dana International, for inspiration.

Then he realized what he was supposed to be - a baby gift for two friends of mine who are having their second girl. And he also decided that he wanted to become a she.

So he went under the knife, so to speak.

Actually, I didn't have to cut anything - I just tucked his dangle inside his body and sewed the doll shut. My friends can thank me now for keeping awkward questions at bay... ;-)

And here she is, all healed up:

During the recovery period, she got a lot of rest:

And ate lots of bananas to regain her strength:

She is now healthy, and getting ready for her trip around the world. Fabulous!

And for those of you who don't know Dana International, Mr Dangly's favorite singer, here she is:

A brief summary...

2009-03-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

You can get one too, at Wordle. You can see this one again here.

Study Bunnies

2009-03-11T01:38:00.000-07:00

My desk needed a little mascot, so I crocheted this very studious love bunny:

She has a little navy blue bow tie and a pale teal-blue nose.

She also has a little friend - I made my boyfriend a study bunny for his desk as well! They are proportionate to us - he is a lot taller than I am! :-)

They are also quite fond of each other... I don't know how much studying will get done - they are love bunnies, after all!

Ok, ok, back to the books! :-)

Small things

2009-03-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

A few little projects I've been working on, in between bouts* of dissertation-writing.

First: a little adidas-inspired hat for my boyfriend's nephew, Orr:

Second: a pumpkin hat for the baby of a friend who is about to become a daddy for the first time!

Third: a wacky Mr. Dangly. At this stage, he kinda looks like a pink hammer, perfect for Israeli Independence Day:

We'll see how this guy turns out. It might also become a baby gift...

*from the Oxford English Dictionary, bout: 1 b. this, that bout: i.e. occasion, turn, time. 3. a. A round at fighting; a contest, match, trial of strength, physical or intellectual.

Recently, both definitions have been applicable to my dissertation writing...

Shaun the Sheep

2009-03-05T00:07:00.001-08:00

Guess who?

I love Shaun the Sheep. I love the little Maaaa sound he makes. I love the googly eyes.

So I knit myself one.

The pattern is here, on Ravelry.

Wanna see Shaun in action? Here is a complete episode on Youtube!

Amineko

2009-02-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

I have been on an Amigurumi kick lately, and this is the cat that started it all for me. Meet Amineko. (Here he is on Ravelry.)

I love how stoic he looks, like a real old soul.

He's not alone, though:

But all that socializing makes this introverted kitty tired.

Made with worsted-weight acrylic and a size F hook. I love him. :-)

Haifa, Part 2

2009-02-10T05:07:00.000-08:00

It's a rainy election day here in Israel - I went with my boyfriend to vote, and saw the Israeli electoral system, which differs greatly from what I know from America. There are no ballots here; rather, the voting booth has small slips of paper, each marked with the name of an individual party. The voter takes one slip of paper, for the party he or she chooses, and places it in an envelope, which is then sealed. The voter places the envelope in the ballot box, and we wait until 10pm, at which time the voting ends and the results start coming in. That's when the real coalition building/fighting beings...

Here are pictures of something in Israel, but which is not Israeli at all - the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa.

No Baha'i live in Israel - all Baha'i at the Baha'i center are volunteers and live there for no more than three years.

The tree in front of the shrine is where the Bab stood when he told his son where to build the temple.

The Baha'i walk up the hill as a pilgrimage; visitors who are not Baha'i walk down the hill.

Below is a Baha'i archive and an example of the neoclassical architecture in the complex.

We really enjoyed ourselves on the tour, which was both gorgeous and informative.

I wore my February Lady Sweater today, and we grabbed a moment (before the hailstorm that is going on right now!) to take some pictures of the sweater:

I like it so much - wearing it just makes me happy! The red buttons were something of a fluke - I found them in the small notions bin at the local dry cleaners.

The inside is a whole bunch of woven ends - I had to use literally every inch of yarn I had. I began the body, then knitted the sleeves so I could knit the body until I ran out of yarn.

I like it so much that I am planning to knit a second one, but this time with longer sleeves. I have the yarn (purple bamboo) and buttons (wooden). But I wonder if the bamboo would stretch too much for the lace pattern...

Love Bunnies!

2009-02-09T00:48:00.001-08:00

Another Amigurumi pattern! Meet my love bunnies:

She is made with DK/sport weight acrylic:

And he is made with worsted weight acrylic.

Same pattern, same hook size, just slightly different ingredients.

I made them for Valentine's Day, but I hope to make a whole bunch more this spring in a wide range of colors.

You can make some, too! These guys are available as a free PDF here. Or on Ravelry here.

Enjoy! :-)

Spring Interlude

2009-02-08T02:17:00.001-08:00

Ribbit! Ribbit!

It is supposed to be 21 degrees Celsius here in Jerusalem (that's about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, for all my countrymen). How better to celebrate than with this guy?

He is called Amigaerumi - for amigurumi + "gaeru" which is Japanese for frog.

I wrote up the pattern - it is available for download as a pdf here. Ravelry link here. (And it's free!)

Enjoy! :-)

Haifa, part 1

2009-01-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks to wonderful friends who loaned us their place, we spent Christmas and New Year's in Haifa, an amazing city with a diverse population and excellent falafel. Two highlights: our trip toRosh HaNikra and the tour of the Baha'i Gardens.

Rosh HaNikra is on the coast, and on the border between Israel and Lebanon. You can tell because of the military base on the top of the rock:

And the little Israeli warship patrolling the border.

There were caves:

And rock cliffs:

And lots of these little guys, called hyraxes:

And we rode down and back in a cable car:

And enjoyed ourselves immensely.

(By the way, I am wearing my Central Park (non)Hooded Sweater, which reminds me that I still need to post pictures of it!)

While in Haifa I knit two top-down cardigans: the Glampyre Bulky Cabled Cardigan and the February Lady Sweater. I have pictures of the former ready to share - the latter turned out so well that I am waiting until I get new batteries for my camera to take some better photographs. (I will post the pics from the Baha'i Gardens with the shots of the FLS.)

I knit this with Rowan Polar, a supersoft alpaca blend which feels lovely but pills like crazy. A few notes on this pattern - I made the second-smallest size, but modified the sleeves for length - as written, they were very long. I also finished the neck and button bands as written, but hated them. The stockinette stitch rolled up like little sausages and would not lay flat. I tried to place the buttons in a few different ways, but nothing looked good. I also did not like how low the neck was - it practically fell off my shoulders. So I picked up stitches around the cast-on edge, and worked raglan decreases in keeping with the increases I'd made. I then undid the button bands and re-knit them in garter stitch. I am much happier with this sweater and have worn it alot - it is very warm (which is a must for the ice-cold library at Hebrew University!).

Here is a bathroom-mirror shot. Think of it as in homage to Wendy. :-)

And no, I usually don't look so wistful whilst taking photographs... :-P

Peace.

2009-01-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

These were made from my free Two-Needle Christmas Stocking pattern! I even found my pattern listed on a free pattern-of-the-day website. (I was pretty flattered.) These were both finished before Christmas.

This first one was for my sister-in-law, Valerie:

I even stitched a little jingle bell inside the stocking so it rings!

This second one is for my Israeli boyfriend Jonathan. That's his name in Hebrew, knitted into the cuff. I crocheted the Star of David onto the side.

Happy New Year - I am hopeful that 2009 will be a great year for everyone.

Hats off

2008-11-25T00:30:00.000-08:00

These hats - all gifts - were made using my free Fair Isle Hat pattern.

This one, a gift for my friend Natascha, is made from a merino-cashmere blend.

And these hats, which were made as a pair for a couple, were my first foray into knitting with the huge pile of research-trip yarn seen here.

The second hat used a slightly different pattern that I made up, which seemed to go with the first one without being too "matchy-matchy." I love this yarn, and am thinking I will make the Estes Vest from Interweave Knits Fall 2008 with it. I just finished the CPH (but I changed it up a bit) and will post pictures soon. Right now I am working on the Bulky Cabled Sweater by Glampyre, aka Stephanie Japel, but it is knitting up so quickly that I will be done really soon.

And now:

Ears

2008-11-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

I made another bunny! He's made of angora. I thought that I should make a bunny out of bunny yarn.

He's sooooo soft that it is difficult to keep from snuggling and smooching him.

Snuggle, snuggle!

And for dear Chloe, here is the pattern for the bunny ears:

Cast on 11 stitches.

Work 8 rows in seed stitch.

Rows 9 and 10: p2tog, k1 p1 to end.

Work 3 rows in seed stitch.

Rows 14 and 15: same as 9 and 10.

Work 3 rows in seed stitch.

Rows 19 and 20: same as 9 and 10.

Work 2 rows in seed stitch.

Rows 23 and 24: same as 9 and 10.

Knit 2 together. Pull yarn through and secure.

Fold ear in half (two sides making the new front) before securing the ears to the head.

Snuggle!

Vote.

2008-11-03T06:25:00.001-08:00

In the garden

2008-09-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

I've been knitting bunnies! I started making them back in July. I am using Barbara Prime's (free!) Fuzzy Lamb pattern, but I changed the ears and only knit them in one color. Her website is full of really cute toys, and I am thinking of buying one of her books online. http://fuzzymitten.com/
This guy was my first bunny. He is made from the leftover wool/acrylic yarn that I used for the Sierra Cardigan. I really love his face.

This is bunny #2, made from Lana Grossa Baby Alpaca - so he's super soft. I brought him to coffee with my friend Susan, and her adorable daughter liked him so much that I thought they belonged together - so he's with Berenike now.

He has a little white tail made from the leftover yarn from the Christmas Stocking.

This is my most recent bunny - made from GGH Cumba yarn. The yarn is very light and lofty, but I think the gauge is a bit too thin, as the stuffing shows through in places. I think he's adorable, though, and would make another black-and-white bunny with different yarn - or with two strands held together.

He also has a little tail :-)

If this isn't enough cuteness for you, I recommend you check out this website: http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/bunnies/index.html

It is aptly called "Cute Overload: Bunnies."

I can't stop knitting these bunnies. I already have another bunny on the needles - out of 100% angora!

A whole lotta yarn

2008-09-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered what 1.2 kilos - 2.65 pounds - of yarn looks like?

I picked this big baby up at a Middle Ages Market for 19 Euros! I am going to use this for an aran sweater with cable patterns, and make it up with Elizabeth Zimmermann guiding me along. I don't know yet if I want to make a cardigan or a pullover. The lady who sold the yarn to me didn't have any baggies left, so I stuck it in my huge (and empty) bag - but there was so much yarn that I couldn't zip it up:

And here is a picture of my second security blanket bunny, who went to the truly adorable Berenike. She seemed to like her bunny alot, and carried her around for a while. :-) Surrounding the bunny are some gifts for her parents, Susan and Oliver: Turkish Coffee with Cardamon and a book of Israeli short stories.

And speaking of adorable - Kinder Eggs are currently featuring sheep! Below is my Oma Wolle:

She's knitting a fair-isle design with sheep - and with classic German-knitter precision. The dark pink-purple yarn she's using matches the cords on my Knitpicks Harmony needles perfectly. So Oma Wolle now lives in my knitting notions bag!

Two-Needle Christmas Stocking

2008-08-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

This Christmas stocking is inspired by the one my grandmother made for me when I was a baby, in 1979. I have no idea where she got the pattern from, but I wanted to make a similar one for my new niece, Autumn. The stocking is worked in two pieces, then sewn together. The shaping is very simple - increases and decreases, but no short rows.

Two-Needle Christmas Stocking

Materials:

Yarn: Lana Grossa “Superlana” 100% Merino Wool, 50g = ca. 110 meters.

Color A: Blue (15), two balls.
Color B: White (19), one ball.

Needles: One pair size US 5/3.75mm

Gauge: 5 stitches per in./20 stitches per 4 in. or 10 cm.

Stocking is worked in 2 sides. In this pattern, instructions are given for the sides in reference to the direction towards which the foot points; i.e. left and right. You can decide which side you want to be the “front” based on the direction towards which you want the foot to point, or you can decorate both sides for a reversible stocking.

Directions:

Left-leaning side:

Using color B, cast on 33 stitches.

Work four rows in rib pattern as follows:
Row 1 (RS) : *knit 1, purl 1, rep. * until last stitch, end row k1.
Row 2 (WS) : * purl 1, knit 1, rep. * until last stitch, end row p1.
Row 3: rep. row 1.
Row 4: rep. row 2.

Row 5-13: Work these 11 rows in stockinette, beginning and ending with a RS row.

Row 14: Change to yarn color A.

Continue working in stockinette stitch until stocking measures 10 ½ in./27 cm. from beginning, ending with a WS row.

Begin foot shaping:

Increase row 1: co1, k1, kfb, knit to end. (Inc 2 sts)
Increase row 2: purl until 2 stitches remain, pfb, purl 1. (Inc. 1 st.)

Increase rows 3-8: Repeat rows 1 and 2, three more times.

Increase row 9: co 4 sts, k1, kfb, knit to end. (Inc. 5 sts.)
Increase row 10: work like row 2. (Inc. 1 st.)
Increase rows 11, 13, & 15: kfb, k to end. (Inc. 1 st.)
Increase rows 12 and 14: purl. (No inc.)

You should now have 54 stitches total.

Work in stockinette until stocking measures 14 ½ in./37cm. from beginning, ending with a WS row.

Begin heel shaping:

Decrease row 1: Knit until three sts. remain, k2tog, k1.
Decrease row 2: Purl.
Decrease rows 3 and 4: Rep. rows 1 and 2.

Begin toe shaping/continue heel shaping:

Decrease row 5: k1, ssk, knit until 3 sts remain, k2tog, k1.
Decrease row 6: Purl.
Decrease rows 7-13: repeat rows 5 and 6, ending with row 5 (RS).

You should now have 42 stitches total.

Cast off purlwise.

Right-leaning side:

Work as for left-leaning side until beginning of foot shaping – ending with a WS row.

Begin foot shaping with RS row:

Increase row 1: Knit until 2 sts. remain. Kfb, k 1, co 1 stitch. (Inc 2 sts.)
Increase row 2: purl, pfb, purl to end of row. (Inc. 1 st.)

Increase rows 3-8: Repeat rows 1 and 2, three more times.

Increase row 9: Knit until 2 sts. remain. Kfb, k1, co 4sts. (Inc. 5 sts.)
Increase row 10: work like row 2. (Inc. 1 st.)
Increase rows 11, 13, & 15: knit until 2 sts. remain, kfb, k1. (Inc. 1 st.)
Increase rows 12 and 14: purl. (No inc.)

You should now have 54 stitches total.

Work in stockinette until stocking measures 14 ½ in./37cm. from beginning, ending with a WS row.

Begin heel shaping:

Decrease row 1: K1, ssk, knit to end of row.
Decrease row 2: Purl.

Decrease rows 3 and 4: Rep. rows 1 and 2.

Begin toe shaping/continue heel shaping:

Decrease row 5: k1, ssk, knit until 3 sts remain, k2tog, k1.
Decrease row 6: Purl.
Decrease rows 7-13: repeat rows 5 and 6, ending with row 5 (RS).

You should now have 42 stitches total.

Cast off purlwise.

Seam stocking together using mattress stitch. Or, you could also sew it together flat, using blanket stitch in a contrasting yarn color. (That's how the stocking made for me by my grandmother is seamed.)

Braid 3 strands of yarn together for about 8 inches/20 cm. Knot either side, and stitch into stocking.

Decoration:

I made the cuff of the stocking 11 rows high so I could have 7-row-high letters, which I came up with myself, bordered by 2 rows above and below. You can knit the letters into the cuff, or use Swiss darning/duplicate stitch.

For the snowman, I knitted circles with some simple shaping (knit 2 rows even, then every 4 rows inc. 1 stitch on each side, and 2 stitches in the middle until desired size, then decrease to match increases). I then stitched them to the stocking, and stuffed them with fiberfil so they would be puffy. The decorations are done by computer, since I can’t put him together just yet, but I am going to use black felt and glue or stitch it down.

This is how I made my stocking. If you find any mistakes, please let me know. Also, if you make a stocking, please send me a picture or the link to your blog/Ravelry!

Sierra Cardigan

2008-07-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

It's finished!

I made several modifications to the pattern: I left the sleeves to roll (not sure if I'm gonna stick with that one - I might make them shorter by ripping back or hemming them up). I also added the button band as I knit the front pieces, as the vertical garter-stitch lines seemed to pull on most sweaters I saw on Ravelry (and, for that matter, the original pattern), making the sweater look too small. I also made the collar bigger, after reading the complaints on Ravelry about the way it would not lay flat.

I love this cardigan, and would definitely make it again. Trust me, it's soft and cuddly and warm, and even fits well. But you're not getting an action shot because it is 34 C/93 F here in sunny Jerusalem. Maybe this fall, after I get my very own camera.

The button band pulls slightly up when laid flay, but when the sweater is on you can't tell at all. I might add an extra row or two at the bottom with a crochet hook, but I might just leave it as is.

In other news, I have decided to finish the Central Park Hoodie without a hood. I haven't really worn hoodies in a while, and don't think I have enough yarn anyway to make the hood. I saw a really nice version with a shawl collar that I love on Ravelry: (Ravelry link), so I think I'm going to do the same...

Bunny Love

2008-06-11T01:58:00.000-07:00

The Sienna Cardigan is coming along nicely, almost finished in fact, but I am currently sans camera, so I cannot really post good pics right now... Sorry, Ilix! And thanks SO MUCH for the shout-out on Ravelry! That meant so much to me! :-)

So I used my webcam to take pictures of something else I've been working on - the Bunny Blanket Buddy, which can be found here. I was inspired by my favorite childhood toy, the Fisher Price Security Bunny:

My bunny looks nothing like this now, she's all tattered and her satin is dull, the blanket is threadbare and her face is coming off. But I love her dearly.

One can find these wonderful bunnies on eBay, but they are very expensive (upwards of 45 dollars - one was for more than $200!). So I found a knitting pattern on ravelry and modified it VERY heavily. Here is how it turned out:

Here are my modifications, for anyone who would like to make your own Securty Blanket Bunny:

First, you will need this pattern: Lion Brand's Bunny Blanket Buddy.

I used the same needles as directed in the pattern, but I used Schoeller Stahl Grazie, the same yarn I used for two baby blankets and a baby sweater. The bunny took just over one ball of yarn; I think if one made the ears first, she could just reajust the body to be one ball (i.e. stop knitting the head when you run out of yarn!).

I cast on two stitches, and then worked the body as follows: k1, yo, knit to end. I did this every row until I had 40 stitches.

I worked the arms as written in the pattern.

After I bound off for the arms, I worked the upper body thusly: k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit to end. I did this until I had 24 stitches.

Then I knit 2, then knit 2 together until the last two stitches, then knit two (so I had 14 stitches on the needles).

I then knit the head as directed, beginning with Row 63 of the pattern. When I was finished with knitting the head, I gathered it at the top and bottom to make it round.

I changed the ears completely, inspired by these bunnies' ears: Using smaller needles, cast on 11 stitches, leaving a long cast-on tail to secure ears to head. Work 5 rows in seed stitch. Working in seed stitch, decrease one stitch at each end every fourth row until you have three stitches left; decrease one stitch each row until you have one stitch left, pull yarn through and secure. Fold ears in half. Beginning with the front, sew ears to head. I flattened the back of the ear, forming a slight t-shape, to open the ear up as I stitched it down.

Knot the arms to form hands. Finished!

And in the spirit of all the bunny love, look what made the trip all the way from New York to Jerusalem:

This is my knitting bag, a huge Timbuk2 messenger that I purchased to use as a laptop bag but it killed my shoulder... luckily yarn is much lighter than my cheapo Dell Inspiron. But look closely...

2008-05-07T03:21:00.000-07:00

So I don't have enough yarn to make a vest with the Mountain Colors yarn. And I was bored with the grey yarn. But I found a REAL yarn store in Raanana, called The Gourmet Yarn Shop, where I was able to purchase BOTH the 2006 and 2007 Interweave Knits Holiday Gift special issues. So I also purchased some brown yarn to make the Sienna Cardigan from Interweave: http://www.interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/Galleries/bonus/fall_2006/sienna1.asp.

And I learned something about myself:

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every
way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes
this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and
probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Summer of Vests

2008-04-26T00:37:00.001-07:00

Inspired by a few false starts, a hibernating sweater that I can't seem to finish and a stash that doesn't seem to get any smaller (in part because I discovered a decent yarn store in Jerusalem), I have decided to knit a series of vests this summer. Quick and relatively easy is what I'm hoping for.

First up (if I can finally knit a decent-looking swatch from the red yarn in this post, which has its own independent ideas about how it should knit up) is the Gilmour Vest. It has a nice deep v-neck which extends lower than the armholes. I might add some waist shaping a la ravelry suggestions. Other choices for this yarn include this shrug, from the same website, and this vest from a new knitting website, Metapostmodernknitting.com. I like the simple clean lines of the shrug but I don't think I would wear a shrug so often - I made one to go with my dress for my brother's wedding a few years ago, and I think that was the only time I wore it. The also-ran vest has great lines but I think a bolder solid color would look better than the tweed used in the sample on the website. I am just not sure I have enough red yarn for a design that big.

Next, I have two skeins of Mountain Colors Mountain Goat in the Red Tail Hawk colorway. I am thinking of doing something like this vest from an old knitty, but making it more fitted than how the model wears it in the picture (in part for aesthetic reasons, and in part for pragmatic yarn amount limitations). I am not 100% sure that this yarn would make a good vest for me, and it still might end up as a shawl or some kind of hat/mittens/scarf. I also thought of saving it and using it as a nice yoke for an Elizabeth Zimmerman-esque fair isle sweater in the round. But I will see how it knits up as a swatch.

Finally, I have three skeins of grey Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran just begging to be made into a preppy vest with a round neck. I just can't decide on a pattern. At all. Contenders include the Tweedy Vest from Knitscene, the Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits, and the Green Day Vest from a free online pattern (English version here). I am leaning toward the Green Day pattern right now, but there is still time...

A finished object: the Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat. This is such a nice pattern. It was so easy to modify it to the yarn I had on hand. I am thinking about making another one in bright orange.

And I just discovered that my flower vase doubles as an excellent model for my knitted hats!

I'm Angora

2008-04-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

Home in bed ill - all my computer energy has been focused on looking at patterns on Ravelry. However, I did find out something about myself:

Angora – Soft and warm

“Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears.” –The Knitter’s Book of Yarn

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

Find the test at: http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/pottercraftnews/fiberquiz/

The Birds and the Bees

2008-03-29T00:34:00.001-07:00

Bzzz... bzzz...

Since my friend had a baby named Maya, I decided to knit her a Biene Maja (Maya the Bee):

Here she is, in her natural habitat, happy that spring has sprung in Jerusalem. She is made from 100% wool yarn - the orange is a loosely-spun Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride-esque yarn that I bought in Berlin. The black is some leftover Brown Sheep Lamp's Pride, and the wings are what remains of a merino scarf I knit, also in Berlin. She is stuffed with 100% cotton. I embroidered her face with cotton thread - very tightly, as she is for a little baby. The pattern is an adaptation of the June Bug in Jess Hutchinson's Unusual Toys for You to Knit and Enjoy.

I think she's lovely!

And, looking out from the Old City Walls in Jerusalem toward the Mt. of Olives, further proof that spring has indeed sprung:

:-)

I did it my way...

2008-03-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

The back of the sweater is coming along nicely. I really love the color, which has nice little yellow flecks in it which are almost exactly the color of this vase:

Here is the progress as of when the sun was still out.

I've since made it to row 35. :-)

My dear composition queen, I loved the cable up the center of your hood on your Central Park Hoodie. I am not so sure I can tell you too much about the sleeves: I don't know if they are particularly tight or not because, as usual, I did something a little different (inadvertently) with sleeve #1 and followed my messed-up directions on sleeve number two. I increased every 10 rows instead of 8. They seem to fit around my arms at this point, but I think I will block them well before seaming - just in case.

I also finally finished the shawl made with hand-dyed mohair and silk. This yarn was NOT a pleasure to work with, because the mohair was longer than the silk, and they knitted with different tensions; however, the result is extremely soft. The wonderfully simple pattern is from Carol - thanks again! I didn't do the yarn-over edging - I wanted to leave it in plain stockinette because I plan to wear this as a scarf.

I have some leftovers, with which I think I will make a hat to match. I recently washed my favorite knit hat, and the fair-isle band came out tighter than I like. I forgot that the fair-isle yarn was NOT superwash, unlike the rest of the hat, and therefore I did not put the washer on a wool program. Ach, so ist das Leben... Now none of my hats really look good with my wool coat - so I guess I'll have to make a new one.

The almond trees are blossoming here in Jerusalem. They make the air here smell so sweet and lovely - I'll post pictures of them next time!

Pilgrim's Progress

2008-02-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Central Park Hoodie is coming along nicely. But I think I'm going to have to block the heck out of these pieces - maybe I'll use the iron and steam them into submission. See how they roll?

I swear they are much wider than they look here.

I've finished the sleeves and most of the left front - but I didn't read the pattern all the way through before beginning the left front, which ends as follows: "Work even in pattern until front measures same as back to beg of shoulder shaping; stop working after finishing a WS row."

Whoops!

So I placed the stitches on a holder and started knitting the back (nothing too exciting there; I'll post when there is more than ribbing and one cable to look at) so I will know where to stop on the front. The back employs the same double cable (one leaning left, one leaning right) that I was supposed to use on the sleeves; I am using it correctly here. I still like how I decided to do it on the sleeves, but this way makes sense on the back.

Tomorrow I am going here for research on my dissertation. They have one of the most breathtaking views from the end of the toblerone, so I will try to remember my camera.

P.S. -

You paid attention during 91% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

I couldn't remember how to determine the area of a triangle... I think I knew how to do that, once, but I haven't thought about math since I took the GRE!

Knitting Weather!

2008-02-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

It snowed in Jerusalem last week! Everything shut down - there were no busses running, the university was closed, and everyone ventured outside to see the city.

Here is the Tower of David:

And the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City:

And here I am! Notice the hat - I ripped an old hat and re-knit it, as the original was both too small and the red fair-isle band overwhelmed the whole thing.

The snow was coming down so hard I thought I was going to blow down the valley!

So I went back inside... and knitted. First, I finished up something for a friend's baby shower back in the US - I turned the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern into a baby hat. I don't know the gender of the baby, so I went for something gender-neutral and not so "babyish." I think it looks quite grown up, actually. It was a three-cable repeat, so I tucked one of the cables inside to make a super-warm headband (they are in Wisconsin, where it will be cold until March...)

Then I got to work on the greensleeves of my Central Park Hoodie. I looked at the pattern wrong and made some mistake-modifications (like usual) which I have to repeat in the second sleeve, but I like that the cables are not aiming at each other in the sleeves. I am having one sleeve cable set angle forward and one angle back:

I also got a new knitting basket at the shuk, which fits this project perfectly. I love how deep it is, and how cheap it was (45 shekles, which SHOULD be about 10 bucks but at today's exchange rate it's more like $13...)

The snow has melted, and life is getting back to normal... but I am really on a roll now with this sweater - I hope to have it finished by the end of the month!

Greensleeves

2008-01-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a long, long while... but I have been knitting, I swear! I finished the white-squared baby blanket and gave it to my friend Jen, but keep forgetting to take pictures, despite the fact that every time I see baby Maya, I also see the blanket - I think she likes it! :-) I will try my best to remember now that I am updating the blog again.

I also started the popular Central Park Hoodie from the Fall 2006 Knitscene:

I am using my Denise Interchangeable Needles and Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in a nice seafoam color. I started with the sleeves:

And here is a (slightly blurry) cable close-up:

I've finished the first sleeve and cast on for the second... hopefully I'll finish this before it gets desert-hot here in Jerusalem!

By the way - I'm on Ravelry as erikabadger - make me your friend (thanks Ilix!!!)

How to Haggle for Yarn

2007-09-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to one of the local yarn stores to get some cotton yarn to knit Percy - I was having kind of a crummy day, and a trip to a yarn store always cheers me up. Yarn stores don't have much by way of selection here - except for mercerized cotton, which they carry in every color imaginable.

The woman who helped me in the store spoke no English, so I asked her the cost of my chosen yarn. "15 Shekels," she replied in Hebrew. That's almost $4 a ball, certainly not German yarn prices (unless you count the crappy exchange rate between Euros and Dollars) but ok. Then she looked unsure and went to check on a list - the price wasn't there. She told me to wait and fetched the man who also worked in the store to double-check. "Shalosh v'esser," he said, as he walked in and smiled at me. They argued briefly over the price - whereas I was thinking, ok, "Shalosh v'esser," is that 13 - or 30??? I walked back over to the cotton yarns and asked how much a different kind was. "10 shekles," they both agreed in Hebrew.

"Hmm..." I said, going over the price in my head - 13 - or 30? I must have looked really skeptical...

"OK, ok," said the man in English, "12 Shekles. I give you a good price, so you come back, ok?"

"Sure," I replied to his counteroffer - "I'll take it!"

Knitty Review

2007-09-15T01:01:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month since my last blog post, and I blame it entirely on my ulpan! It hasn't been all work, no play - but I've forgotten my camera each time we've been somewhere, like Tel Aviv, the old city of Jaffa/Yafo, and the old city here in Jerusalem - where I purchased the awesome and super-cheesy souvenir pictured to the right. Can you guess the corporate logo printed on the t-shirt?

But on a school day, I come home exhausted every day, usually take a nap, exercise, knit/do homework/surf the internet/, and crash for the night. Only a week and two days to go...

This was the week of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, so everything was closed and we had a little break from classes, during which I knitted simple stuff, mostly - no real progress on the hoodie, but I have made a number of hats, both for gifts and for myself. The one currently on the needles uses the gorgeous cashmere blend sent to me by Carol in the Knitter's Treat Exchange swap - this stuff is a dream to knit with. For the stripes I used leftover merino from the baby sweater I made for Susan's Berenike.

So since I have but little knitting content to show, I thought I'd do a quick review of the new Knitty which just came online two days ago. Maybe it's because this is an autumn issue, or perhaps it's because this is an anniversary edition of Knitty - either way, I am so happy that Knitty seems to have its pattern mojo back! There is much to love, but briefly, here are my favorites:

Woodins. I love that there are five of them, that they live in a log, and that the log also has eyes. These are brilliant. I am going to make a set for my nephew and future niece.

Neiman. This is a gorgeous sweater. I love turquoise and brown together, and I think the design of the yoke pattern makes this sweater look really cool, as opposed to looking like something purchased at Talbots.

Roam. I think this is quite simply a very nice sweater, something I would actually wear if I made it. I think it would look great in chocolate brown or navy.

Percy. I don't know why I like this bag so much - perhaps it's that I could make it from yarn purchased here in Israel (cotton is the only decent yarn here, unless you are a connoisseur of particularly scratchy acrylic). It could also be the photo at the end of the pattern which reminds me of something from the J. Peterman catalog. Either way, there is a good chance I will knit this, probably in khaki with a chocolate brown lining.

Cherie Amour. On first glance this didn't do it for me, but I actually think this would be a great top - especially as it only takes 4 skeins of the recommended yarn. I'd knit it in a colorway like this.

I'm not a big sock knitter, so I don't really feel comfortable commenting on the sock patterns. I like all the hats and berets, but would probably make them in different colors than pictured. In any event, I am so glad to have Knitty back as a source for stuff I'd actually knit.

Finally: Happy 30th Birthday Will!

Dead Sea and Life in Israel

2007-08-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Hebrew class, or "ulpan," has totally been kicking my ass the last two weeks. It is so hard - and more than a little humbling. We have moved so quickly, and there are quizzes and tests every week. The hardest thing has to be the lack of vowels. There are pronunciation guides for the first time you see the word - and then they disappear and you're just supposed to remember how it is pronounced. This on top of it being written with a different alphabet. Man.

But it hasn't been all work and no play around here - Greg and I went to the Dead Sea! In the background, on the other side of the water, is the Jordanian Border.

Here I am floating. You can't really go underwater - it pushes you back up. It feels really weird - almost like swimming in gelatin. You don't want it to get in your eyes and mouth, but otherwise it feels wonderful - completely effortless.

When you lay like this, your feet just won't stay out of the water. You can only stay in for about 15 minutes at a time - then you have to shower off (there are showers built right on the shore) before you dry out!

To relax after class, I've been knitting... I made myself a hat to go with my Helly Hansen jacket for the fall and winter - it fits, but it feels a little big (this yarn likes to spread out), so I might re-knit it.

And I started another hat, this time with some of the colors of the desert:

I also finally started a sweater - the Central Park Hoodie from an old issue of Knitscene. I am using some Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in this seafoamy green that I got back at Idee at KaDeWe in Berlin. You'll see a pick as soon as I get past the 5" of ribbing and start some cables.

I also had a birthday recently - and my friend Yael had flowers and wine delivered to my apartment! Being in a new place on my birthday was a little rough, but when I got home there were lots of e-cards and calls waiting for me.

Finally, mega congrats to Susan, Oliver - and baby Berenike! I am so happy for you three!!!

cast on אריקה

2007-08-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Jerusalem early Tuesday morning and hit the ground running! Our kind friends Jen and Ofer helped us out with EVERYTHING, from moving in to our new place:

(A glance out our window.)

...to supplying us with necessities (like a wine bottle opener) to helping us order food in restaurants. OK, ok, almost everyone speaks perfect English here, but still... I want to learn. Speaking of learning - as if German wasn't difficult enough for my small brain, I started Hebrew classes on Thursday:

(I think it says "Hebrew from scratch." I think.)

Luckily I have a brilliant aunt who knows Hebrew so she filled me in on a few things before the class began - otherwise I would have been completely lost because the class progresses QUICKLY.

It is pretty warm here, but not so humid as the American South, so I think it is actually more comfortable in Israel. I got a little sunburned on my second day, but that is to be expected. There is air conditioning everywhere, just like back home, which means our apartment can be kept at the optimal temperature for knitting:

This is another super soft baby blanket, this time for Jen and Ofer's baby, similar to the one I made for my forthcoming niece. The yarn is the same - soft-as-a-cloud Grazie from Schoeller-Stahl. In white it really looks even more cloud-like. I'm doing stockinette squares this time, but still the same patchwork idea. These squares are a little smaller than the ones I made for my brother, so I might make 12 instead of 9 - we'll see. I am already on number 7, and I'll reassess when I finish with the ninth.

The food here is amazing - the cheap grocery store hummus is divine. It comes with these chunks of different things on top, like pine nuts, more chick peas and - my favorite - garlic. The pitas are soft like pillows, and you can get this red hot sauce to spread on top which is really flavorful. The street vendors sell these amazing falafel sandwiches for next to nothing which taste incredible.

Tomorrow I'm going to join the gym - so I can eat as much as I want!!!

T-2 weeks and counting...*

2007-07-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we sent all our stuff to Israel. Including my yarn stash. Being a desert country, I think it's safe to assume there are very few yarn stores. So I stocked up a little, seeing as I was in the land of amazing knitters and knitting.

OK, not full of yarn... but close ;-)

All I have left here are a few old projects which don't inspire me too much. Like the ball of Lorna's Laces which is now just a garter stitch rectangle. Ugh.

The shawl was really on a roll one evening, when I finally saw Brokeback Mountain, but since then I haven't done too much. Here's the progress shot:

I'd hoped to do some knitting with my dear (and sadly blogless) Helen who visited us last week, along with her superman husband Dave. We had such an awesome time traveling around the city that we didn't get too much actual knitting done - but we did visit LaLaine and Idee at KaDeWe. I think there is nothing in the world better than old friends. We have another guest coming into town today. I think that more than anyone else I know, he will appreciate the German beer and sausages.

Speaking of friends, since I gave it to her almost three weeks ago, I think I can post Susan's 5-hour baby sweater! I really liked the color of this yarn - some superwash merino from Lana Grossa that I got at their store in Bonn.

I had to take a last-minute trip to Bonn this past weekend for a final wrap-up there, where I resisted the urge to blow the rest of my euros on yarn. Now Greg and I have lots of Berlin loose ends to tie up... both administrative things but also saying goodbye to people, which I just hate. The last few months have flown by here so quickly - and we were gone for so much of the time... I wish we could stay here all summer - especially since the weather has finally decided to cooperate with our seasonal expectations! Greg and I have really enjoyed the few days of summer that just came into town. This is us on Strandbad Wannsee:

*This post's title is inspired by both our move and Galaxy Zoo, a website where you can become an armchair astronomer and help classify galaxies. I think it's tons of fun - but, in the immortal words of Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton, "you don't have to take my word for it!"

Crime Scene Photos

2007-06-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Case file number 237-4921.A

Official Report:

Last Christmas, my grandmother-in-law, a wonderful woman and recipient of many a knitted gift, gave me a lovely skein of hand-dyed silk & mohair. The pictures I took tonight don't do it justice, but I'll show you one anyway:

The Mugshot:

The yarn was intimidatingly gorgeous, but like the prettiest girl in the school who doesn't get a date for the dance because no one has the guts to ask her, she languished in my yarn basket.

That is, until I read through the instructions for a one-skein shawl Carol included in my Knitter's Treat Exchange package. It used a skein very similar, both yardage- and composition-wise, to my Christmas skein. This yarn found a purpose - it sat atop the pattern for a few days until I had the chance tonight to wrap it around my knees and wind it into a ball. (My swift and ball-winder are currently on another continent.) Everything was going so smoothly - until I realized that the strand of mohair is significantly longer than the silk. Or at least that's how it is winding up.

Evidence #1:

--the knitting equivalent of a chalk outline?

Evidence #2:

--close up of the heap of mohair.

Clearly I must be doing something wrong - the two were the same length (or so it appeared) when wrapped gently into a skein. Am I pulling one of the sides of yarn too hard?

Evidence #3:

This was found near the scene, in the fridge. It was confiscated and taken to the kitchen, for analysis...

Just knitting!

2007-06-20T01:22:00.000-07:00

No really, I promise!

Some unfinished objects were waiting for me when I got home, and they gave me the same look that a cat might give its owner after a week of stale food, potty water, and an unclean litterbox. I didn't want my knitting leaving me unwanted surprises on my bed that I'd have to clean up, so I thought I'd finish the job.

First up: two scarves. The pink alpaca was basically finished, but I needed to weave the ends in. After that, I thought it looked a little boring, so I gathered the ends and tied on some tassles. The wrapped box contains the grey seed-stitch scarf I posted about a few weeks ago - I swear! I wrapped it before I remembered to take a picture, and I don't have any more wrapping paper. I don't even have any scotch tape - this is held together with packaging tape (hey, we're moving soon) and ribbon.

Next - a hat to match one of the Rostock yarn scarves. I didn't gauge, but used the scarf as a guide. But then I changed the ribbing. So I fudged things around a bit. This is a gift for a non-knitter who is relatively small but has a lot of hair, so I hope my guesstimations are ok... either way, I like the stripes - but I wish I could make them the same width on the hat as they are on the scarf.

Now for something not yet knitted: should this be my next sweater?

I need a little cardi to go with a cute-as-a-button sundress that I bought in the Netherlands. This pattern is the little smocked cropped cardi from the current Interweave Knits. I don't know what's up with this picture - she looks like she just spilled spaghetti sauce on the sweater and is examining the stain.

I am thinking of making it in this color. Bonus - it's stash yarn.

I haven't done a gauge swatch yet, but the yarn is really similar to the yarn used in the pattern. This is a merino/cotton blend I bought to make a Rebecca shrug that I've since lost interest in. I love how it looks kind of like a tomato when it's rolled up into a ball - I just hope it doesn't make me look like a giant spaghetti stain...

10 days in the Netherlands...

2007-06-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

Back again - I swear, this is turning into more of a traveling blog than a knitting blog. Never fear, dear reader - there is, as always, knitting content. But there are also great pictures of Holland.

First: my knitter's treat exchange package FINALLY made it through customs - it had been opened and re-closed with Canadian Customs tape. The customs official must not have been a knitter, because he/she let me have a big ol' box of knitting goodness from Carol:

I got this the day that we were leaving, so I ripped it open and took the magazine along for the ride. The Starbursts came along, too - Greg grabbed them right out of the box and tried, unsuccessfully, to eat all the pink ones before I noticed. Nice try, buddy. The purple yarn is part cashmere and is a gorgeous color - I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it... maybe mittens? I'm thinking something fair isle...

On the train ride over I knit a little on the garter-stitch scarf, but mostly worked on conference stuff. Once we crossed the border, however, I stopped doing anything but staring out the window and bouncing in my seat like a five-year-old any time I saw an old windmill. The modern architecture was fantastic in Rotterdam, and I really loved how anything goes in Amsterdam - but I think I was most taken with the medieval beauty of Utrecht. I am such an American, and a real sucker for anything older than my native country. But I also thought the people really seemed to really have a sense of humor there. These horse-carriage drivers were enjoying some ice cream in the city center:

I also liked all the rabbits in Utrecht, the home of Dick Bruna and Miffy:

...and the most thoughtful rabbit I've ever seen.

Perhaps my favorite thing about the Dutch - they eat chocolate sprinkles on white bread for breakfast.

Traveling Knitting

2007-06-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can take wooden knitting needles on the plane to Israel?

I was in Jerusalem last week for a conference and was able to take this project with me:

A scarf for an old family friend who has a birthday coming up. He's an engineer, and a real "guy" - I hope the grey wool seed stitch is masculine enough for him.

I barely touched the project when I was there - most of the knitting was done when I got back to Germany and relaxed with Greg. While in Jerusalem I was too busy sightseeing:

Golden Dome of the Rock Mosque and the view of the Old City from the Austran Hospice.

Inside the main Greek Orthodox chapel of the Holy Sepulcre, in front of where is believed to have been the place that Jesus's cross stood.

There were Christian pilgrims lined up for hours to get inside what is believed to be Jesus's tomb.

I was really amazed by the beauty of Jerusalem - all the architecture is covered in "Jerusalem Stone" which makes everything look like it is coming out of the ground and a part of the landscape. Of course this was a law passed back when the Brits were in control - but nonetheless it makes for an amazing city.

Before I was in Jerusalem, Greg and I were in Dresden for the first time with the aforementioned family friend and his son, who's also a friend of ours. This city was so lovely!

The dark and light stone contrasts are amazing and show, in many cases, what was original and what had been rebuilt.

At the end of a long day of sightseeing... in need of a Biergarten!

And I knitted in the car:

Remember her? This yarn didn't want to be patterned. She kept saying,

"Look, quit pushing me around. Don't make me be what I don't wanna be. I am what I am. "

So I was like, "Fine! You'll be some garter stitch, bitch!"

Finished objects - by me and for me!

2007-05-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting - after the friends left, the aunts came! My fabulous aunts visited us for ten days and we did a fair bit of traveling - including a trip to Rügen which was amazing - we saw the white cliffs in the national park just north of Sassnitz:

The harbor was gorgeous, and you could get amazing smoked fish for almost nothing - there were skewers of smoked shrimp, hunks of smoked salmon, herring, butterfish, halibut - you name it - sold in rolls of bread for between 1.50 and 2 euros. I ate like a king. We spent a lot of time out here with the boats, where the smell of sea salt mixed with the aroma of smoking fish. It was intoxicating. And it made me hungry.

I also went inside a submarine for the first time - it was an old British boat that seemed huge to me but made my tall husband bang his head. The periscope really worked - you could see people walking around on the harbor.

There was some knitting on the train, as usual - but I can't show it to you since it's for a craftster swap! What I can offer is this - the blue sweater.

These aren't the best pictures, but you get the idea. I really like it. It is suuuuper soft and comfy. The yarn pills a little bit, but I think that's the trade-off with the softness.

And now, I've saved the best for last. My dear friend Susan knit me socks! I loooove them. These are my very first pair of hand-knitted socks and now I see why people love them so. They are just the right size (small!) and look great with my new Birkenstocks. I couldn't be more delighted. At first I was afraid to wear them, since I wanted to preserve their brilliance and beauty. Then I realized that I hate it when people don't wear things I knit them, for fear of messing them up. So I promptly put the socks back on.

And I haven't taken them off since. ;-)

Spring on the Rhine...

2007-04-27T02:22:00.000-07:00

...is really lovely.

Greg and I had friends in town (the aforementioned doctors) who wanted to see Cologne. We took them to the Cologne Cathedral, and climbed to the top. It was a real trek! After our descent, we quenched our thirst with copious amounts of Kölsch beer and satisfied our hunger with German food (like Himmel und Äd) from Schreckenskammer. Here is what Cologne looks like from the top of the Dom:

But that wasn't enough climbing for us - so we went down the Rhine and climbed up to the really cool Drachenfels castle ruins!

Here is the view from the top:

While we were doing all this traveling, I knitted the second 5-hour baby sweater. (You can find the pattern I used here.) I used leftovers from the patchwork baby blanket which made the sooooftest little sweater ever. I used the same needles (size US 10, a bit smaller than called for in the pattern) but this sweater came out much bigger. Still baby - but not newborn. I guess the lady in the doctor's office would not have been confused with this one... ;-)

I started on a new project: the Petunia Tote from the Spring 2007 interweave knits. I am using a 100% cotton yarn - Anke from Strickspass - which I got for a song and which is surprisingly soft and not at all hard on the hands (yet) - very un-cotton-like. I also changed the color from the Pepto-Bismol pink in the magazine to what I think of as Milka purple:

Mmmm... Milka...

Next time I will finally post pictures of the blue sweater, which I finished 2 weeks ago. I will also hopefully have an in-progress pic of my next sweater-a-month sweater - which is NOT a baby sweater. I am super glad to have these to knit, though - otherwise, I think I'd be about 2 months behind sweater schedule!

Shun the non-believer... Shuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnn...*

2007-04-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for all the comments about the wallet. I am feeling much better. It is good to know that I am certainly not the only one who has been through this before. Almost everything has been replaced now, and I am only out about 50 EUR in replacement fees. It's funny how quickly the credit card companies act to get you your cards (i.e. fake money) back - they arrived literally days before my normal bank cards (i.e. real money) made it over.

I am also really grateful for the honest comments about the scarf. I unraveled it and will restart - hopefully for the last time - next week, using the little leaf pattern. We'll see. At least it is holding up really well with such multiple knittings and unravelings.

Since I couldn't buy any yarn this week (probably not a bad thing), I finished a LOT of projects. The blue sweater is done and pics are coming soon. But right now, I am in love with the 5-hour baby sweater pattern. I finished my first one in 2 days, while watching The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen and waiting in the doctor's office. Again, gender-neutral; this time green:

I did get a little nervous while knitting this - when I was waiting in the office, an older woman remarked that the sweater was very cute. "Thank you," I replied; "I'm going to be an aunt!"

"Is that for a baby or a doll?" the woman asked, in complete earnest.

"Um - a baby," I answered.

"Well, you never know how big these things will be," she said, still smiling.

I was a little confused, and thought that perhaps I had said something wrong in German (which is often the case, to the amusement of my German friends and their families - like when I very drunkenly kept referring to my parents as Parenten, not Eltern - this was after a full-fledged whiskey tasting with my friend Franz's father, so I blame it entirely on the scotch). Or, perhaps, this sweater was going to be not gender-neutral after all, but rather big enough for only a doll, so I'd better start hoping for a niece.

We have friends in town this week from the US - they are real doctors, not like the kind Greg and I will be, and one is even a pediatrician-in-training. I neurotically asked both of them - multiple times - if this would be big enough for a baby.

"Oh yeah, absolutely," they reassured me. Then, as payment, Joe (the pediatrician) put in an order for his own forthcoming niece or nephew:

*This post's title comes from Charlie the Unicorn.

Friday the 13th

2007-04-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

So Greg and I were at a beer garden having a lovely time yesterday, when my wallet GOT STOLEN. This sucks. It really sucks because it was Friday the 13th, and on Thursday the 12th I was doing an interview for my dissertation research with a woman who told me, “Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. Be careful.”
I thought it was funny. I thought I was careful. I guess I wasn’t careful enough. As we were headed home, I noticed that my bag was a little – lighter. Yep, no wallet.

The bastard did have the decency to leave my passport (whew), my keys and my knitting project in my bag. Either he/she is not a knitter, or this is a sign that the scarf just isn’t working. I can’t decide if I like it or not – I wonder if the variegated yarn doesn’t compete with the pattern. I might try something simpler, like this scarf, which is really easy (I’ve made it twice before, with really nice results). I am so frazzled right now I don’t know what to make of it - what do you think? Please be honest.

I'm almost done with the blue sweater. Greg thought that watching a movie with a lot of violence would make me feel a little better (he's such a guy), so we popped Sin City in the DVD player. I've joined the body on circulars and have just a little more to knit on the yoke. This is the perfect kind of project for my Denise interchngeables, as I was able to connect the sections on their respective links. I am really excited about finishing, but it's so warm now outside that I am not going to get to wear it for a while - unless it's late in the evening.

In other news, I’ve decided to introduce a mini-series to the blog. Greg and I actually dreamed this up in the beer garden, before the wallet was stolen. Since I am in the mood I am in, I think it is particularly appropriate that I present to you:

The Shitty Knitter.

In which Erika records those mistakes, made by herself and others, for your amusement. In honor of being in Germany - a little bit of knitting Schadenfreude.

Part 1:
KUI: Knitting Under the Influence

Not long after I became totally addicted to knitting, after my first rolling-into-a-tube stockinette scarf (more to come on that later) and my first hat, I decided to knit a sleeveless turtleneck for a friend as a gift. This was, of course, before I realized the utter uselessness of a sleeveless turtleneck. But I digress...

I came home one night after a grad school happy hour and plopped down in Greg's recliner. I leaned over to pick up the remote control and - there it was! My knitting! I picked it up and knit and knit and knit. "This is great!" I told Greg. "I love knitting! Really! I looove it! I'm so happy I learned how to knit!" I was having a drunken love fest with my knitting. I got each of us a beer from the fridge and went back to my needles.

The next morning, I stumbled into the living room and saw the mass of "knitting" in my basket. I had to frog not only every single bit of knitting from the night before, but also non-drunk knitting, since I also dropped a bunch of stitches. Then I had to untangle my yarn, which had somehow morphed into a huge mess of purple crap that tested the "theory" that acrylic can't felt.

I learned a very important lesson that night:

Knitting before beer, never fear. Beer before knitting, better off quitting.

Frohe Ostern!

2007-04-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

Check out the glitter eggs I dyed! I'd never seen anything like this before - you put the dye in your palm, roll an egg around in your hand, and then, when the dye has started to dry and becomes a little sticky, you roll it in a sheet of silver foil. Some of it comes off, and presto - shiny eggs!

Here is the finished object of the week: a baby blanket for my forthcoming niece or nephew, in (as requested) "gender-neutral" yellow. (I wanted to knit something blue, regardless of the baby's gender, but my brother is a bit of a redneck - er - I mean, traditionalist.) It's also the color of baby puke, which is probably convenient for my sister-in-law.

This was so simple to knit - just 9 garter stitch squares sewn together, with the sides of each square measuring approximately 10.5 inches/27 cm. The yarn, Schoeller/Stahl "Grazie," is soooo soft that if I weren't totally sick of knitting garter stitch squares, I would make myself an afghan just like it.

This baby blanket was just the mindless knitting project I needed to make myself crave something more challenging. After sewing this thing together I cast on and knit a substantial part of the second sleeve of the almost-forgotten blue Rebecca sweater, and also started another project - Branching Out, from knitty. I am using some great Lorna's Laces sock yarn which I bought in Chicago over a year ago, and have tried using it for two different lace scarf projects, neither of which satisfied me. I have made Branching Out at least two times before, and always liked the results... if the third time is the charm, I'll post a pic soon. Thanks so much for all the nice comments on the blue scarf pattern! The 5 hour baby sweater is now on hold, as the yarn I wanted to use is too thin - I am playing around with doubling it, and reducing the needle size. There is no gauge listed on the pattern, and it looks a little looser than I'd like, so I think I will be fine to fudge it a bit.

Finally, a friend of ours sent us Bunny Peeps for Easter. Now we don't like Peeps, and neither does he, but we have been giving them to each other every year for quite some time. Usually the Peeps just die some horrible death in the microwave, but this year, since they came to Germany, and it was Spring Break, they decided to live it up a little.

The boy Bunny Peep got some Lederhosen,

and had some Warsteiner beers...

while the girl Bunny Peep wore a Dirndl and put her hair up in pigtails.

Before they knew it, they were in a beer hot tub together.

You know what that means, when beer and bunnies and boys and girls get together...

Happy Easter!

Rostock Scarf Pattern

2007-04-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Yaay de-lurking!!! Cecilia, fellow Sconnie, asked for this pattern so who am I to say no? Never fear, this is not the (torturously hard) version I abandoned, but since it’s worked on big needles, it creates an effect which is very similar to the original pattern and scarf my mother-in-law admired in Rostock.

This easy-as-pie pattern was also inspired by another super-easy scarf pattern, the “Airy Scarf” from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts (Heisse Nadel auf Deutsch) by Joelle Hoverson.

Needles: one set US size 10.5 (6.5 mm) and a needle a few sizes larger (I used US 17, which is bigger than 10mm – it was handy when I needed it), for casting on and binding off.

Yarn: I used Lang Mohair Luxe, which is 77% Superkid Mohair and 23% Silk, 25g and 175 meters per ball, 2 balls. You could also use something like Kidsilk Haze or Mondial Le Perle Prestigio. Scarf is worked with 2 strands of yarn held together.

Finished dimensions:
Width: 7 in / 18 cm
Length: 60 in. / 152.5 cm

Gauge: about 3 sts = 1 in. / 2.5 cm. in pattern

Pattern:
Repeat over 3 rows.
Row 1: knit.
Row 2: knit.
Row 3: knit 1, *yo, k2tog. Repeat from * to end of row.

Using larger needle, and holding 2 strands of yarn together, cast on 21 stitches.
Switch to smaller needles and work in pattern for desired length (my scarf is about 60 inches.) End scarf after having knit row 2. Use larger needle to bind off scarf. Weave ends and block.

Wrap scarf around neck. Go outside (preferably on the Terrace) and have a Spotted Cow and some curds.

Knitters Treat Exchange Questionnaire

2007-04-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in my first non-craftster swap, so here are a few things about me, as requested from Knitter's Treat Exchange...

1. What's your favourite type of yarn?
--I really like Lamb’s Pride from Brown Sheep. And (I think now discontinued) Patons UpCountry and Rowan Polar – those single-ply yarns are so soft. I am also a big fan of alpaca and merino yarns.

2. What's your least favourite type of yarn?
--“Novelty” yarns, like fun fur. I think they have their place, don’t get me wrong – and I will be the first to admit that I have made my fair share of furry scarves as gifts, when requested – but they’re not my thing.

3. What's the first thing you do when you visit a new yarn shop?
--Usually I begin by just looking around with a silly, stupid grin in my face. I then just go to whatever bright color/soft pile/sale basket that I see first, and start from there.

4. What other crafts do you do / would like to do?
--I also crochet a little, and dabble in hand sewing, Japanese-style embroidery and jewelry making.

5. What magazines do you currently subscribe to?
--None right now, since I am abroad for a temporary time, but I like Interweave and Vogue. I also like Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Outside, Backpacker and Runner’s World.

6. Put this type of magazine in order of preference:
Knitting / Crochet / Other Craft / Food / Home / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip / Garden
--From first to last:
Knitting / Food / Other Craft / Home / Garden / Crochet / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip

7. What items do you like to knit / crochet?
--Fair-isle hats are my favorite thing to knit – I also like sweaters, scarves, stuffed animals a la Jess Hutchison, and felted bags.

8. Are you allergic to anything?
--Not of the yarn variety!

9. What do you like to* smell of?
(*This is not a typo. The question is: What do you like to smell of)
--I don’t know – not BO? I like L’Occitane Honey Water perfume, and anything that smells of lilac and lavender.

10. What's your favourite way to relax?
--A cup of coffee/tea or a glass of wine and a comfy place to sit with either something to knit or read. I also love to read the NY Times online and blogs in my comfy office chair with a huge coffee in the morning.

11. You're stood in front of a Victorian style sweetshop, an Italian cafe, an old fashioned bakery and a dainty tea room. Where do you go first?
--(Isn’t there a Viennese coffee house nearby?) Ok, I’ll begin with the tea room.

12. What do you come out with?
--A full belly and a caffeine buzz.

13. Where do you go next?
--Either the bakery or the sweet shop. Unless it’s hot – then I’m all for the gelato at the Italian café.

14. Any other words of wisdom for your pal?
--Have fun! I’m easy to please. Thanks for being my exchange partner!

blue scarves, green fairies

2007-03-30T03:20:00.000-07:00

The last of the Rostocker scarves is finally finished:

and here is a close-up of the easy-peasy, lots of yarn-overs pattern:

This scarf is for my mother-in-law, one of the coolest ladies out there. And to prove it, here is the scarf posing with another gift for her:

-- it's a bottle of absinthe! When she came to visit back in February, we visited Druide, an absinthe bar in Prenzlauer Berg. My mother-in-law loves the taste of licorice, and thought the little fire-sugar ritual was super fun. I need to get her a special absinthe spoon to go with her personal green fairy...

Favorites

2007-03-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

I am not a person who is taken to having favorites. My favorite color changes on a weekly basis. To call something the "best" - I don't even know what that means. Perhaps my brain is not equipped to judge each experience against those which came before.

Maybe I just had a bad experience with those "best friend charm" necklaces when I was a kid.

So instead of reserving these accolades for those things which I really find to be special, I throw them around cheaply, and pepper my already effusive speech with these marks of the ultimate.

Because of my attitude toward such judgements, I then have a hard time comprehending those rare moments when something really does take me over completely. So to express myself, as I am limited by my vocabulary, I tend to gush even more.

For example:

I love Vienna. It is gorgeous, and the people were friendly and attractive and the food was yummy and the tortes and coffee were amazing and I felt like I had a caffeine/sugar buzz the whole time but somehow I LOST three pounds despite the inhuman amount of schnitzel and sweets I ate.

This, of course, made me love Vienna even more. There are so many sugary, chocolatey goodies there that I thought if I were diabetic and wanted to commit suicide, Vienna would be the place to do it. I imagine that the reason I lost weight is because I was walking for hours in the middle of all this beauty - when I was going through MuseumsQuartier I felt like I was in a daze induced by all the visual stimuli. To be fair I had just eaten a huge piece of cake and had my third espresso of the day at a cafe in a palace, but I don't think this was as important as the sheer gorgeousness of the buildings.

FYI, I think it is impossible to get really great pictures of Vienna - it is just too much to take in on a little screen. You have to go there and experience it yourself in surround-sound, 360-degree reality.

There was even a little yarnage - I walked by two yarn stores (completely accidentally) but they were both closed at the time - one I saw in the middle of a weekday, and with no posting of opening times. Apparently the Viennese are a little more laid-back when it comes to schedules. This didn't really bother me. And when I was at the train station waiting to go back to the airport at the end of the trip I found a store selling huge balls of Schafswolle for EUR 2.99. I didn't buy any - my suitcase was way too full - but sticking my face into a bunch of yarn and smelling sheep was a nice way to end the trip.

I love Vienna. It is my new favorite city.

By the way, I'd like to apologize for the delay in posting. It's not my fault - I have been going through serious Melange and Sachertorte withdrawal...

Vienna Calling...

2007-03-26T13:38:00.001-07:00

A taste of Wien...

Can't win 'em all...

2007-03-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

Not much knitting progress this week because I was hindered by two things:

1. Work - my advisor came into town this week and I had a bunch of reading I wanted to do, and

2. The Badgers WERE in the NCAA tournament.

I say WERE because they lost tonight. The first game was so stressful (we only scored 19 points in the first half) that I knitted on a sleeve, messed up, and had to do it all over. So I am STILL not finished with the sweater... and the second game (which we lost) I missed because of dinner with my advisor. Maybe that is not such a bad thing - maybe I would have chucked my entire sweater out the window in frustration.

After the first game I wrote a draft of a post about superstitious knitting and how I would hold my breath and stop knitting during free-throws (this was hell for my row counting, let me tell you) but then I just found out we lost tonight and figured - aargh, to heck with it. Hopefully we'll have better luck next year...

Since it got received by my swap partner, I can finally show an older finished item I was really pleased with - a felted messenger bag I made from wool I bought at a Christmas Market here in Germany (at Opernpalais in Berlin). The wool was unwashed and smelled really sheep-y, but felted beautifully - nice and thick. I bought only 2 skeins - one of each color (cream and brown - both natural colors) and knitted them into a HUGE bag with US 17 size needles. Since I wanted it to be heavy-duty for books and such, I used a bungee cord for the handle. I thought the pink looked nice with brown.

I want to do something similar to this with that orange wool I bought few weeks ago, but I think I'll add a flap to the bag. I already have the handle for the next one I knit - they came four to a package.

I am in Vienna next week - woo-hoo! - so I'll be back on Sunday. I plan to go here and here and here. And maybe here. By the time I get back I hope to FINALLY have finished my blue sweater!

Time Enough at Last...

2007-03-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Did you ever see this Twilight Zone episode? It's about a man, Henry Bemis, who wants nothing more than to have all the time in the world to read, but then just as he gets his wish his eyeglasses break. I think that being sick is like the knitters' version of this. On Thursday I woke up with a cold/sinus pressure which kept me at home, but when I tried to knit I felt dizzy - almost like I had motion sickness. My basket of yarn, she can be such a tease.

Luckily I spent an aweseome day with Susan, who inspired me to finish the sleeve of the blue sweater, while our husbands played out the cold war as a board game! Then this evening there was the Big 10 Tournament/Badger game - we lost, but I finished this scarf, made from the yarn I picked up in Rostock. OK, so I haven't woven in the ends yet, but the fun part is definitely over... I can take no credit for the stripes, the yarn did that all by itself.

Exciting news - I found out this week that I am going to be an aunt again, so I rushed out to get some yarn for my new niece or nephew in very "gender neutral" colors. I wanted to make something in a nice blue, since I really love blue, but my brother is a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to those things... sigh... so I got some John Deere-inspired yarn in lime green and pale yellow:

-- the "Grazie" yarn on the left is so incredibly soft, I wish I had sheets made of it. I bought 9 balls (a steal at EUR 1.50 per ball!) to make a little baby blanket. The Bravo Baby might become this sweater from knitty.com.

Finally, I brought along a date to knitting this week. She's 100% angora and sooooo soft:

(Oh, and if you think that the pictures are looking particularly good in this post, it's because they are - Greg and I finally replaced our old digital camera with something a little more up-to-date!)

Confession

2007-03-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Last week I quietly took down the very attractive "knitting from my stash" button from my sidebar. At first, I was determined to knit through the three sweaters' worth of yarn I have in my stash before making any other major yarn purchases (with the exception of a little yarn now and then for hats - I knit hats like some people knit socks. It's my favorite project). But yarn kept creeping its way into my tiny apartment. Some of it was a gift, like the yarn from Rostock. Some of it was a total whim because I could't help myself, like the Bel Air for the blue Rebecca sweater. And some of it was just special, like the handspun and hand-dyed yarn that I purchased from the artisan who made it. To tell you the truth, by the end of last month I realized that I only had the button on my blog because of the gorgeous colors of the yarn in said button. But I kept it up there, mostly because the fuschia and yellow looked great against the blue background of the blog. Perhaps it was just too lovely - reminding me, always, of the seductive power of yarn - oh, if only I had a skein (or 5) of that yarn in my stash, not just on my blog, then I could abstain from yarn purchases... maybe...

Then I went to idee on non-yarn related business. They had all their yarn on sale - 30% off. So I casually picked up this: two balls of Lana Grossa Baby Alpaca in pink. Every time I'd gone to idee I would pick up one of these balls, then make sure no one was looking, and snuggle the heck of it, rubbing my face in it like a total nutjob. Now I can do that at home without fearing public embarassment. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, besides the snuggling in the privacy of my own home.

Then I heard that the idee at KaDeWe has a totally different yarn selection. So I had to check it out, while the yarn was still on sale. They have a nice selection of Rowan yarn, but it is almost as expensive as it is back home. Almost. But with 30% off - how could I not buy this:

three balls of Rowan Scottish Aran in a gorgeous dark purple - this picture really does not do the yarn justice. The balls are 100g each, and about 175 yards/185m (?) so I think I have enough for a small, fitted, simple cabled vest for me. I might actually try designing this one myself!

After these purchases I sheepishly removed the lovely button from my blog.

With my new-found freedom in tow I went to Woolkontor yesterday, where there are always amazing deals. I was looking for some yarn to knit this scarf, which I first saw on ilix's great blog and immediately coveted! Instead I got a ball of Wonderwolle Multi in the colors of spring for EUR 1 and picked up some virgin wool in orange - 100 g for EUR 2 per skein - to make a felted messenger bag I am designing. I'll post the pattern here when it's done (provided it isn't a huge wooly mess); in the meantime, here is the yarn:

Yesterday I knitted at Opernpalais with some fun ladies (Tammina, my blog is open for anonymous comments now! Thanks for the tip!) and got a lot of work done on the blue sweater - the front and back are now completed, so I have to just knit the sleeves and then do the yoke - I think I can get it done this week. I also finished the body and ears of the knitty kitty... just the legs and arms remain, which will be done today.

Mee-ow!

Erika the Red

2007-03-02T00:29:00.000-08:00

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful.You like to kick back and enjoy life.

Who's Your Inner European?

Fair Isle Hat Pattern

2007-03-01T00:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the pattern for a sweet little fair isle hat I made for Susan, with whom I shared a lovely cup coffee yesterday afternoon! While there I also made some real progress on Diana's scarf - but I think the yarn liked it better over at Susan's, because it shedded like crazy - I think it wanted to remain beside her gorgeous spinning wheel!

You need some worsted-weight/aran weight yarn. For the purple I used some wool I picked up at the Weihnachtsmarkt and the green is some Rustikal Hauswolle I got at the Wolle Rödel – both in Bonn. You also need a 16 inch (40 cm) circular needle that gives you a gauge of four stitches/inch (2.5 cm). I used a US size 6 (4mm) but I knit pretty loosey-goosey.

Using MC, cast on 68 sts.
Join (don’t twist!), place marker, and work k2, p2 for 1.5 inches (4 cm).
Switch to stockinette stitch and increase 4 stitches evenly across row. (72 sts.)
Work stockinette stitch for 2 more rows.
Now the fun begins!
Work fair isle pattern in MC and CC, keeping the yarn pretty loose (the pattern will be sitting relatively low on the head).
After the fair isle pattern is finished, just work in MC until the hat is about 2 inches (5 cm) longer than your hand - this is approximate, of course. Stick it up to your head every so often to see if you've got the fit right. Just - play it by ear!

Begin decreases:
Row 1 - *k2tog, k2. Repeat from * until end of row. 54 stitches.
Rows 2-4 - stockinette stitch.
Row 5 - *k2tog, k1. Repeat from * until end of row. 36 stitches.
Then thread needle through 36 stitches and pull tight! Fasten and secure.
Make a pompom and sew to top of hat.
Fini – Fertig – Done!

The metric mojo was provided by this online converter.

The catalog card was made here.

Pickled beef with herring and yarn

2007-02-24T03:19:00.000-08:00

Last week Greg and I went to Rostock, a German town on the Baltic sea, with his mom and aunt, who were visiting from Asheville, NC. We went to this great restaurant, Zur Kogge, where I had this crazy dish - "Labskaus "Küstenfischer"nach altem Seemannsrezept - frisch für Sie zubereitet." I had NO IDEA what it was, so I checked my mother-in-law Debbie's English menu - which said this was a "Stew made of meatfish and mashed potato, from an old seaman's recipe - freshly made for you." Ok, a stew... so I ordered it (and got a funny look from the waiter).

It was a pile of beet-red stuff that looked like hamburger meat with a fried egg on top and a little roll of fish to the side - stuffed with a pickle. And it was delicious! It was so great, especially with the egg mixed in. Even Greg liked it. So I asked the waiter what it was - pickled (raw) beef, herring, beets, onions, and herbs. "Not everyone can handle it," he said. "But for those who can - das schmeckt!"

We also had three or four Rostocker beers (each!) so by the time we finished with lunch at 3:30 pm, we were feeling great! And as we walked (stumbled) from the bay back toward the city center - there was a huge yarn store! I was so excited I literally ran inside. Debbie and Diana (Greg's aunt) each picked out a scarf's worth of yarn for me to knit them. For Debbie, pale Carolina blue lace-weight mohair to knit something lacey and airy. For Diana, also some mohair - hers was thicker and in a mottled blue-brown-gray.

And for me - I picked out some easy, instant gratification: self-striping brown and turquoise chunky wool blend. I've already started knitting scarves for Diana and myself. And I technically started knitting for Debbie, too - but the pattern, the same one in the store, was sooo hard to accomplish:

Cast on multiple of 3 + 2sts.

Row 1: knit.

Row 2: knit.

Row 3: Knit 1, yo, knit 3 together front and back.

Ouch! Knitting front and back into knit3tog hurts! When I was at Wednesday night knitting, Tammina saw me working this row with the yarn in my right hand, and commented that she thought I knit continental. Right she was - but this row was just too difficult to knit with the yarn in my left hand! She and Susan rightly pointed out that I had another 5 1/2 feet to go... ok, they actually said 1.7 meters and I pretended, like I always do whenever I hear metric, to know what it means, but anyway, I got the jist - you've got a long way to go, baby! Susan suggested a little leaf pattern - which I think might be this one. I knitted this once before, several years ago, as one of my first lace projects, but I'd forgotten about it - I remember now that it was great bus knitting - easy to memorize but not mind-numbing. I'll get it started sometime later this week. I also want to type up a pattern for the blog later this week - stay tuned, folks!

blue train knitting

2007-02-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

This week, I spent a lot of time on the ICE (InterCity Express - the fast and phat trains of the Deutsche Bahn/German Railway) which allowed to make some very considerable John Coltrane-inspired progress on the blue Rebecca sweater:

Now I am done with the front and I have finished the back up to the armholes. As you can see, I decided to keep on keepin' on with my funky pattern, but let me tell you, my blog-SOS was answered by Tammina, who sent me a summary of how to do the pattern (her directions were SO much clearer than those in Rebecca) accompanied by PHOTOS of how the pattern stitch looks! I was blown over by her niceness. I really love this yarn and, depending on how the sweater turns out, I might knit another - with the correct pattern this time!

Greg and I had some terrible family news this week, so to cheer ourselves up we went to Marksburg Castle along the Rhine. It was fascinating - the castle was the oldest in Germany to not ever have been destroyed so everything was really old. Our tour was great - this guy (who gets to live there! what a job!) walked us through, reminding us at every turn that castle life was not romantic, but hard, dangerous, exhausting... then we walked into a bedroom with a beautiful, specially designed spinning nook and notions of princesses and fairies and a life of fiber-related luxury filled my head. The shape of the nook was designed to take advantage of every minute of natural light available, and jutted out of the room with windows on all three sides. There was a broken but gorgeous old spinning wheel sitting there, just yearning to be fixed and used. Alas. As we continued on, we passed quickly - without stopping - through a room with a HUGE loom and another spinning wheel. I wanted to linger, but the tour guide (a man) took us into the next room, which was filled with different kinds of knights' sets of armor. The doorway between the spinning/weaving room and the armory was curiously marked by a chastity belt hanging over the door... you REALLY get to see how they work that way...

I also made a hat this week (which I can't post now - it' s a gift) but I just might post the instructions here next week, as my first attempt at pattern writing...

So I'll leave you with a different kind of fiber-related story... as we were walking outside the castle, the guide pointed up to the old "bathroom" hanging overhead. As we were walking on, I commented to Greg, "Wow, that was amazing! You can still smell it!"

Greg grinned and replied, "That was me."

Trans-atlantic knitting help.

2007-02-03T02:04:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday, Susan took me to the most awesome knitting store ever, Fadeninsel, where I found the softest, loveliest, most Carolina Blue yarn - Bel Air, from GGH. I decided I wanted to make sweater number 16 from Rebecca 32 (it's the one furthest to the right) so I bought the yarn (perhaps in spite of that lovely "knit from my stash" button) and cast on Thursday night. I cruised through the ribbing, added the extra stitches, and began the chart. I was zooming through this baby until I hit this:

1 M re str, dabei 5 R tiefer in die M der 1. R bzw. der 7. R einstechen, die M dazwichen loesen sich auf.

Hmm. I wasn't really sure what to do there. I tried a few things, all involving placing the needle 5 rows down, knitting through that loop and the stitch I was on... hmm. Didn't look at all like the picture.

So I packed up my stuff and went to the knitting store which is just a few blocks away, thinking it was just a problem with my German.

The really, really kind lady at this knitting store (who recognized me immediately - which made my husband Greg a little nervous ;-) was happy to help - until she held my needles in hand and took her shot at this pattern. Hmm. She was also very confused. She tried dropping a stitch while I looked on, nervously. She tried picking up any number of other stitches about 5 rows deeper. She couldn't figure it out either!

Oh well, I thought. Maybe I need to take the whole shebang over to Fadeninsel, I thought. But that trip would have to wait - the store would be closed by the time I got there. I went home, disappointed that knitting stores everywhere were not open 24 hours a day. Suddenly, perhaps inspired by Kimberly's recent (and successful) transatlantic knitting SOS, it hit me - the knitting stores in Germany might be closed - but they're just opening for business in America!

I called The Knitting Tree, a store in Madison, WI which actually sold me my first really nice yarn and bamboo needles some years ago. I knew they carried Rebecca, so I thought I'd give it a try. The very nice lady there read me these English directions:

knit 1, insert needle in next stitch 5 rows below (the first row or 7th row).

So there was no dropping of stitches? No, according to this very nice lady. I thanked her profusely and promised to write her a little customer testimonial for her awesomeness.

I started knitting - but it still doesn't look like the picture. In the magazine, the patterned section in the middle makes little x-crosses all over. I don't have x-crosses. What I have is this, which sort of reminds me of a honeycomb pattern.

And here is what it looks like with the ribbing:

Now the thing is, ok, it doesn' t look at all like the model in the magazine (then again, neither do I ;-) but I like it. I think I might even like it better. I like the texture of the body - how it has kind of this smocked quality to it. I still want to find out exactly what the heck those other knitting directions mean, but I am going to keep knitting this sweater with my "mistake" pattern. After all, mistake rib and idiot cord are both great knitting innovations which came out of such unsuccessful travails, right?

Take me to your leader...

2007-01-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

And you thought UFO stood for unfinished object!

These secret photos were smuggled out of area 51 by a crack team of knitting spies who risked their very needles and yarn to get the truth out to the unknowing population...

As you can see, the alien is humaoid, but with huge felt eyes, a tiny mouth and no discernable nose. His body seems to be composed entirely of an advanced blend of microfiber and merino wool. When injured, he does not bleed - instead, his wounds are covered in a white, fiberfil-type material.

There have been reports of direct human contact with the alien - this photo shows one brave young knitter at the moment of first contact with the visitor from space.

It appears as though the touch of the alien's arm causes a glow to emit from the head of our fearless knitter.

While the aliens' intentions are still unclear, there have been reports of them directly monitoring our internet access. Hopefully this site will be able to remain active, so that it may spread the word about our out of this world vsitors to the population of planet Earth...

Victory is mine!

2007-01-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

It was a race to the finish, let me tell ya. I finished knitting this bad boy on Wednesday night (I used almost an entire skein for the cowl neck) and it looked like I was going to finally walk away with an easy victory, but then something hypnotized me and I couldn't do it - I couldn't weave in the ends and sew the cowl neck down. I don't know what got into me, but that sweater sat there in my knitting basket, mocking me, until tonight and...

Boo ya! This thing is DONE!

I am actually really happy with the way it turned out. The cowl is oh so pretty, and the sweater is really warm and soft (even though it sheds like CRAZY on everything - I was wearing black track pants while finishing this thing up and they were grey by the end of it) and, I think, looks nice... I was a little worried when I tried it on, seams hanging every which-a-way and the cowl drooping down from the front - that is probably why it took me so long to fix this thing - but all in all, I am pleased.

Would I knit another? Maybe - with one more skein than called for in the pattern and making the sleeves normal and not silly, impractical 3/4 length.

Right now I am working on two toys - a kitty, for my cat-loving friend, and an alien, for my alien-loving husband. I hope to have at least one of them done by the end of the week.

Here's a sneak peek...

( because the truth is out there...)

Five Day Sweater

2007-01-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

Done! And I am really loving how this turned out. I think I might make one in black, or white, or hot pink next time. I wore it all day while researching and it kept me warm on this cold cold day!!!

Here it is from the side. And lounging on the bed.

I used size US 6 needles for the bottom ribbing, and US 10 1/2s for everything else. The gauge for me was about 4/sts per inch, and the resulting fabric is really stretchy (I am a super loose knitter). I love the cropped length - but I wonder how this would look with long sleeves...

Three-Hour Sweater

2007-01-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

Current Score:

Kolsva: 3, Erika: 1.

I knitted one sleeve into a regular length and it looks soooo much better. I'll post a picture when I have them both done - I don't want to jinx anything!

In the meantime, I needed some (relatively) instant gratification, so I cast on for the three-hour sweater knit-a-long on craftster: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=139682.0.

The sweater is a pattern from the 30's that no one has been able to complete in the suggested time frame, but nonetheless has some vintage coolness.

I am using this super cheapo acrylic called Susi Strickspass, held together with some really lovely La Perle mohair. It makes for what I think is a nice fabric. The lighter mohair softens and gives some depth to the dark green acrylic.

I have finished the front and back, and am most of the way done through one sleeve. I have to get some work done in the next two days, but I hope to finish this by Wednesday so I can wear it to knitting!

Krappy Kolsva.

2007-01-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

OK, so I have been working on this sweater forever. I don't know why I have run into so many roadblocks - usually I am pretty good about finishing big projects, if for no other reason than I am sooo excited to see how they turn out. But this time - this sweater has it in for me.

Last year I saw Wendy's (of www.wendyknits.net) version of this sweater, clicked on the link to the original, and fell hard and fast in love. Wouldn't you? Kolsva, from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Noro Revisited. And it took only 4 skeins of Kochoran. Great! Sign me up!

Then - Roadblock number 1: The skeins are $20 apiece. Never mind!

But wait - Littleknits.com (which is super fabulous, by the way) had it on sale for 50% off. AND the book was on sale too - awesome! I've got the needles out of the case already! The yarn got here in no time, and I was off.

Crash! Roadblock #2 - I ran out of yarn. I finished everything except for the cowl neck, and had these two little teeny-tiny balls left over. Damn! So I checked littleknits - nope, all gone. Tried my 4 local yarn stores (Madison, WI is a great place) - only one carried Kochoran, and I would have to order 4 skeins for them to order the color, and she wouldn't make any dye lot guarantees.

So I thought, oh well, I'll frog it later and figure out something.

A few months later, I was in Yarns to Dye For in Hendersonville, NC - and they had 1 skein, right color. It was full price, but I didn't care. I ran back to my in-laws (where we were staying over the summer before leaving for Germany) and dug out the book, sweater and tags from the original 4 skeins. This new skein was even from the same dye lot! When I showed the guy at the yarn store the sweater and the 4-skein requirement in the pattern book, he started laughing. "I could have told you that would take more than 4 skeins," he quipped. Thanks, buddy. I slapped down my visa and was good to go.

I seamed the whole shebang together before casting on for the cowl neck and -

Roadblock # 3 - it looked like crap. No problems with the gauge or anything like that - no, the problem was the 3/4 sleeves on my very petite self. It looked like I'd killed an animal (this is the fuzziest yarn ever, by the way - I think my husband Greg is allergic) and threw it over my shoulders to keep warm. Damn.

So I threw it in a pile but for some reason schlepped the whole thing to Germany, where I have just decided to take out the sleeves right above the ribbing and knit them longer, then re-rib. Very Elizabeth Zimmerman, isn't it? The sleeves were not even knit in the round to begin with - but that isn't stopping me.

No.

What's stopping me is the fear of the next roadblock. I need some of E-Z's courage on this one!

As if there was any question...

2007-01-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The South That's a Southern accent you've got there. You may love it, you may hate it, you may swear you don't have it, but whatever the case, we can hear it.
The Midland
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Northeast
The West
North Central
Boston
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Verliebt in Knitting!

2007-01-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

So this is post number three... at the behest of fab knitter and blogger Kimberly, with whom I spent the evening - knitting! - I am re-starting my blog. I can't believe that this is still here - I thought for sure that Blogger would have deleted everything by now. Lucky for me, it took all of 2 seconds to re-start this thing!

The knitting meet made me feel a little bit like I was back in Madison. The knitters could not have been nicer. I spoke a little German, but mostly English. I was one of two Amis there, but Kimberly, the other American, has lived in Germany for a loooong time, so she can go back and forth- German to English - seamlessly. There were snacks and several ladies who brought handspun and hand-dyed yarn to sell. I had a super time, and even bought some great yarn from Wollerey - when I got home I realized it reminded me of yummy Clementines.

Tonight I started a hat with the blue merino Greg gave me for Christmas. I am going to do a ribbed fold-up brim and then a simple black fair-isle pattern. Here's what I've got so far. Super-awesome Susan, who I met this evening, noticed that I was knitting the "German" (continental) way! This opened up into a whole discussion of culture, and knitting, and accents, and idiosyncracies.

My most recent completed projects include two from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts, but the book is in the US, so I bought the German version - Heisse Nadel ("Hot Needles"). I love love love this book, and make stuff from it all the time. I made the airy scarf for my German tandem partner, Kasia, in a really lovely green. I also made the tea cozy for my very first craftster.org swap - which is tea themed - out of not cashmere, as called for in the pattern, but rather this lovely hand-dyedColinette silk-wool blend. Yesterday I finished my version of the striped scarf, using one ball of Noro Kuryeon and one ball of black merino-blend "Bingo," which made these 80's-looking stripes. I think they're pretty festive! I used size 11 needles which may seem ridiculous, but makes for a really nice drape and also makes the scarf longer!

breakfast on the farm - mmm! I love bunnies!

2006-05-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

hi

2006-05-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

hi - new here - I've looked at a lot of blogs but it took my husband getting one to make me bite the bullet - mostly so I could post on his. I'm a knitter who also dabbles in grad school.