physicsknits

Come on over!

2009-09-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

To my new blog!

The Mountain View Cardigan

2009-08-30T23:51:00.001-07:00

The Mountain View Cardigan is a long cardigan that skims past the hips and can be worked in a light weight fiber (green sample is knit in Euroflax sportweight linen) for a crisp, drapey cover-all for those warm summer nights. Alternatively, a wooly sock weight yarn (smoke grey sample worked in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock) worked in a looser gauge than called for on the ball band can make the perfect fall or winter layering garment. Generous lace cuffs grace the long sleeves. The lace in the sleeves is echoed in the wide lace panel in the back which flows into ribbing that cinches in the waist. If you’re new to lace, this is the perfect beginning project. No shaping in lace is required. All the shaping is done in the stockinette portions of the design. Gentle princess line shaping, doubled hems, and delicate shell buttons complete the tailored look. Mountain View, CA is the birthplace of my younger brother, Brian, who also does the graphic layouts of my independent designs. I thought the name particularly apt since this is just the type of cardigan one might wear in the relatively mild climate of the Bay Area. The days are warm, but the lack of humidity tends to generate cool nights; making this cardigan a perfect transition piece that takes you from day to night. The model is my friend, Jess, and photographs are by her husband, Vitaly Fomin.

Stats:
Finished Size: 31¾ (34¼, 37½, 41¼, 45¼, 48½, 52¼)”/ 80½ (87, 95, 105, 115, 123, 132½)cm bust circumference. Sample measures 34¼”/87cm. Suggested ease: 0”/0 cm to 3”/7½cm positive ease.
Yarn: Euroflax Sportweight Linen (100% linen) 100 grams/270 yards in Willow – 5 (5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8) skeins; or Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock 50 grams/215 yards in Echo – 6 (6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10) skeins
Needles: Body – Size 4 circular needles. Neck Band and Hems – Size 3 circular needles. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions: Tapestry needle; stitch holders; stitch markers.
Gauge: 25 sts and 32 rows = 4”/10cm in St st using larger needles.

You can purchase the pattern here via the Ravelry:

$6.75

Or to purchase the pattern through e-junkie, click on the button below. After payment, an email will be sent to you with a link to the pdf.

Note: You don't need to be a Ravelry member to purchase downloads via the Ravelry shopping cart. Please email me at changcon_14850@yahoo-dot-com with any questions.

To see more pictures, check out the cardigan's Flickr album.

Edited: Corrected the yarn amounts. Also, check out Ysolda's post about my knitting the linen version when she was visiting NYC :)

Contest Winners

2009-08-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

I drew two contest winners using my trusty random number generator in octave.

rachael redrabbit8584-at-aol-dotcom

and amanda kisforknitter-at-gmail-dot-com

I'll be emailing you both now for your pattern choices. Congratulations and thank you everyone for commenting.

Almost there....

2009-08-30T12:47:00.001-07:00

I think I'm on track to release the new design by tomorrow; so if you're interested in the contest, please leave your email on this post. And thanks so much for your supportive and lovely comments.

Sneak peek of new design

2009-08-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

I just got the photos back for my newest independent design from my lovely model, Jess, and her photographer and husband, Vitaly Fomin. More details to follow, but for now, here's a sneak peek.

To celebrate my newest design, I'm going to hold a contest. Comment and I'll draw a name out of a hat. Prize will be two of my independent designs, winner's choice. The possibilities are Versailles Shell, Varese Hoodie, Kowloon Cardigan, Victoria, Garbo, Broderie, and the new design. The contest will be open from now to when I release the design which I anticipate will be in 3 weeks.

Edited to add: If you'd like to be included in the drawing, please leave your email in your comment putting -AT- and -DOT- in the appropriate places to avoid spam trollers.

Twist Collective - Anniversary Issue

2009-08-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

The new Twist Collective went up last night and I have a little cardigan in it - Peyton.

It uses Kollage Creamy yarn which, when I opened up the box last spring, I looked at with a healthy dose of skepticism -- yarn made out of milk protein? But I'm officially converted. Creamy has a really soft and lovely hand. And it's extremely comfortable to wear. Although the ball band calls for a fingering gauge, I knit this sweater up in a larger, sport gauge; and the result is a drapey fabric that looks equally great in smooth stockinette and lace.

Peyton is one of those examples of a happy accident. What I originally envisioned for this sweater was a series of half circles on the fronts of a cardigan that, when closed, would form full circles. But I hadn't anticipated that the increases and decreases involved in making the lace half spirals would distort the shape of the outer edge of the lace. The result is a gently scalloped edge and when I showed the swatches to Kate, I apologetically explained that I had meant the edges to be even and vertical. But she liked the scalloped edges and we decided that putting a few hook and eye closures at the widest point of the half circles would be a cute closure to the cardigan and emphasize the shape of the scallops.

As usual, I love how they styled and photographed Peyton.

Peyton is worked in one piece up to the armholes, where the fronts and back divide and are worked separately. Sleeves are worked flat and then seamed into the armholes. The front bands and collar are picked up and knit and then cast off using the tubular bind off method, leaving a nice rounded, elastic edge.

This issue also marks the one year anniversary of the Twist Collective. Happy anniversary, Twist! Thanks for providing both designers and knitters a great new venue for knitwear design.

Uhura

2009-08-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

I'm super behind posting about my Summer Twist project, Uhura.

For this camisole, I got to use SWTC's Terra yarn. I had used it for Broderie and I loved it. I find Bamboo too drapey and heavy to use on its own, but paired with cotton (and at a finer gauge), it makes a beautiful fabric; and somehow the blend influences the way the yarn takes up dye, resulting in a delightful tweedy color.

The wonderfully funny Julia named it Uhura (I had rather unimaginatively called it Lace Camisole) and I think it's so appropriate. There's something about the bodice band, the keyhole, the notched hem, and of course the color, that is reminiscent of Starfleet uniforms to me.

Here's a shot of the back:

I made it a modified racerback because I love tanks that cut in a bit more at the armholes at the back. I just find them more flattering and comfortable.

As usual, the folks at Twist photographed and styled the garment perfectly -- with a sense of fun and yet showing the details of the garment. It's obvious that they love knits and have put a lot of thought into how to showcase them. I'm enjoying seeing the first FOs of Uhura crop up on Ravelry.

A new issue of Twist will be out on Sunday. The creative forces behind Twist have put up some great teaser videos here and here. Sunday can't get here quickly enough!

Breaking out a new Bag

2009-08-09T13:46:00.001-07:00

I just picked up this adorable Namaste Zuma bag on Friday from Marie and I've already busted it out on Sunday. Usually it takes me a long time between when I purchase something and when I actually use it. Don't ask me why; it's a really strange quirk of mine. But my old bag had definitely seen better days and I was excited to use both the Zooma and its coordinating Buddy Case (which has a magnetized interior to help keep darning needles in place - genius!). In my bag, I have some design projects marinating. I'll be able to share in 6 months or so :)

My husband and I went to brunch with Melissa. It's always fun to chat with her and to Maurizio's credit, his eyes didn't glaze over too much while Melissa and I talked about knitwear design. He even managed to ask a few questions here and there. I have him trained pretty well. After brunch, Melissa and I retired to the T lounge in Chelsea Market for some more knitting (we both have deadlines bearing down on us) while Maurizio went to the Met with a friend of ours from Ithaca. All in all a great Sunday!

Fall IK preview out

2009-07-24T06:04:00.001-07:00

The Fall Interweave Knits preview is up and I can finally share my Farmer's Market Cardigan.

This is knit in Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted in the Cedar colorway. I loved the Green Line Worsted. It softened up and relaxed after blocking and the nearly solid colors are gorgeous. In fact, I have another Farmer's Market Cardigan for me on the needles right now in the Solitude colorway. My Joss Whedon loving heart almost went with the Firefly color, which is a brighter yellow with a tinge of green -- lovely, but perhaps not the best hue for my skin tone.

I snapped a couple of quick pictures of it on me before sending it off to Interweave.

The shawl collar is knit in a reversible diagonal cable that tilts in opposite directions on either side of the center and trims the tops of the generous, folded up pockets. I didn't want to detract from the drama of the collar, so the rest of the cardigan is knit in plain stockinette (great TV knitting!) with turned hems for the edging.

My friend, Melissa, has a great coat in this issue too.

A Knitter's Helper

2009-07-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

My next door neighbors and their adorable pugs moved out last week. I'm heartbroken. I puppysat them their last day in the apartment complex so their owners could pack up in peace. Here's Savannah helping me with my knitting. Isn't she adorable?

Sexy Knitters Club KAL

2009-07-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

The Sexy Knitters Club voted to work on my and Wendy Bernard's designs for this quarter's KAL. If you're interested in knitting along, check out their Ravelry group or their blog. Thanks guys for voting for me and I can't wait to see what you all decide to work on!

Stepping it up a notch

2009-06-30T07:42:00.001-07:00

I'm really lucky to have some great friends. I started getting to know one of them, Melissa of Neoknits, as many people are introduced to her, through one of her great patterns. In my case, it was the Grannie Smith Cardigan, a delicate, fine gauge cardigan in Kidsilk Haze. That first purchase somehow evolved into a friendship; and we try to get together on a semi-regular basis to chat about our mutual obsessions and life in general. Melissa and I came to handknit knitwear design through very different routes. I started designing as a way to escape the daily routine of postdoctoral research. Melissa was trained as a fashion designer (she has a great series about her experiences here) and she started freelancing as a handknit designer as a way to express herself creatively on her own terms. In one of our chats, she mentioned that her sewing experience has really helped her handknit designing. I tucked away that tidbit for a while. I've never touched a sewing machine in my life and my one attempt at hemming pants resulted in a horrendous Frankenstein hem that unraveled after two trips through the washing machine. But yesterday, I finally bit the bullet and with no plans (as of yet) to take up sewing, bought a sewing instructional book to learn more about how garments fit together.

I also bought a set of Prism colored pencils to practice my sketching skills. And inspired by Kat's new blog, I got in touch with her website designer (who happens to be the husband of a good blog buddy) to make my own home on the web.

In the meantime, here's a peek at my next independent design soaking in my sink, waiting to be blocked.

So, stayed tuned!

Edited to add: I just realized I've posted for 3 days in a row. That must be a first for me!

Sexy Knitting

2009-06-29T05:19:00.000-07:00

Mosaic made by rchrispy.

The Sexy Knitters Club is voting on their designer KAL. And I'm a final contestant! The KAL will run from July 1 through September 30 and during that period, knitters can choose any of the chosen designer's designs to knit. I've never thought of my designs as sexy, but nonetheless I'm really flattered - especially given that I'm up against Wendy Bernard, Kat Coyle, the Stitch Diva group, and Kristen Griffin-Grimes. Vote here.

Day in NYC

2009-06-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I spent a day in NYC with Ysolda and we did typically geeky things that knitters and in particular, knit designers, tend to do when we get together.

Our first stop was Kinokuniya because Ysolda wanted to check out some Japanese pattern books. We ran into a bit of a hiccup in our first attempt to find the place because my iPhone claimed there was a location near Rockefeller center and apparently they've since moved a couple of blocks down near the vicinity of Bryant Park. On the way there, we passed by the Immigrant's Day Parade along Sixth Ave -- which at first, we thought was a Thai National Holiday parade because several Thai floats in succession passed us by.

We stayed in Kinikuniya for a long time - there were so many beautiful knitting, crochet, and sewing books that lingering was all too easy until my grumbling stomach reminded us that it was three in the afternoon and we hadn't had lunch yet.

I took Ysolda to Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper East side. It's a little cutesy, but I thought she'd like the place and their high tea is really good. Unfortunately, to share a serving of high tea, we had to add another teapot of tea and scone to the already large order. In the end, that meant we shared between the two of us - two sandwiches, 3 scones, a huge slice of cake, 5 assorted cookies, and two 3-cup (but really, 4-5 cup) teapots of tea. It was all very good, but by the end of our meal we only picked at the last platter and were very ready to walk to our next destination - Tender Buttons (which Melissa introduced us to the last time Ysolda was visiting)!

Going to Tender Buttons was my idea. I'm finished with the linen cardigan I was working on during my RV trip through Maine and Canada with my in-laws and wanted the perfect buttons to go with it. Of course, convincing Ysolda to come didn't take much arm twisting. This time, we got permission to take some pictures of the shop:

I love the rows of boxes upon boxes of buttons, each labeled meticulously by hand with the country of origin, material, and date (if relevant). Ysolda may have purchased some buttons:

And I found perfect abalone shell buttons tinted a delicate green for my cardi:

After Tender Buttons, we wandered to Central Park for some knitting which was interrupted by a sudden (but brief) downpour. We took refuge in the Central Park Dairy which a Tango class also used as shelter from the rain. It was a bit surreal with me finishing the collar of my cardi and Ysolda working on her secret shawl and pairs of tango-ing couples spinning in front of us.

edited to add: Ysolda was an extremely good sport about my constant complaining about the heat. Humidity and I don't play well together. Is summer over yet?

New PhysicsKnits pattern - the Kowloon Cardigan

2009-06-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to release my third PhysicsKnits: Designs by Connie Chang Chinchio design, the Kowloon Cardigan. For this garment, One Planet Yarn and Fiber provided me with Handmaiden's Flaxen, a luxurious blend of silk and linen; which makes for a light and summery cardigan. Linen and silk take up the dye differently, leading to a delightful tweedy look while feeling cool next to the skin. Mirrored panels of lace impart a pleasing symmetry which is set off by a wide, shallow shawl neck collar and bands closed by buttons and button loops. I chose natural, wooden buttons (from my trip to M&J Trimmings with Melissa and Ysolda) to complement the richness of the ivory colorway; but a more polished and dressy look can be had with mother of pearl buttons. Kowloon, an area of Hong Kong, is the birthplace of my mother and literally translated, means nine dragons. Eight of the dragons correspond to the eight mountains in the area; with the ninth representing the emperor.

When the weather turns hot, I find myself wanting to knit with cooler, smoother fabrics like cotton, linen, or silk. A feminine lace cardigan seems particularly well suited for these drapey fibers and so with this design, I was aiming to create a cover up for those spring or summer nights when the weather turns unexpectedly cool. To balance the airiness of the lace, I used moss stitch textured wide bands and a slight shawl collar. My friend, Jess, graciously agreed to model for me again and her husband, Vitaly Fomin, did the photography. For more photos, please see its Ravelry page.

Stats:
Finished Size: 31¾ (34½, 37¼, 40, 42¾, 45½, 48¼, 51¼)”/80½ (87½, 94½, 101½, 108½, 115½, 122½, 130) cm bust circumference. Sample measures 34½”/87½ cm. Suggested ease: 0”/0 cm to 3”/7½cm positive ease.
Yarn: Handmaiden Flaxen (65% silk, 35% linen) 100 grams/274 yards (251 meters) in Ivory – 4 (4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins
Needles: Body – Size 4 circular needles. Moss Stitch Bands – Size 3 circular needles. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions: Tapestry needle; stitch holders; stitch markers; C crochet hook.
Gauge: 23 sts and 32 rows = 4”/10 cm in lace st using larger needles.

Purchase the kit (with the pattern included) for all sizes at One Planet Yarn and Fiber. Choose among the great colors in stock at One Planet; kit price reflects a great discount on the pattern and yarn!

You can also purchase the pattern here on my blog by clicking on the buttons below:

$7.00

Purchase by clicking the button below. After payment via Paypal, a link to the pattern pdf will be emailed to you.

Or purchase through my Ravelry cart with the button below. You don't need a Ravelry account to purchase the pattern. Ravelry will re-direct you to paypal and will email you a link to download the pattern.

Thanks!

I guess I've joined the 21st century

2009-06-20T23:02:00.001-07:00

Yup, after talking about it with Colleen and Cathy; as well as Jess, Erin, and Pam; I've decided to start twittering (or is it tweeting) -- God, how old do I sound? ;)

For now, it's more of a way for me to stay in touch with friends. I don't anticipate logging in many tweets (mine would be pretty uninteresting, believe me); but some friends I'd like to follow protect their updates.

So...let's see how this goes!

P.S., for the record, my account is at http://twitter.com/changcon.

RV Fun

2009-06-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

From Travels with Martin, Frasier Season 1, episode 21.
Niles: I'm sorry Frasier, I am not a Winnebago person. Whenever I see one on the highway I look into the driver's eyes, hoping to see something that would explain why in God's name he would ever want to do something like this! All I see is a death stare under the brim of a hat made out of Miller Lite cans.

The photo above was my view for the past 2 weeks - landscape speeding by (often times quite pretty landscape) - while knitting on a personal project.

Landscape: Maine (Portland and Acadia National Park), Canada (Quebec, Saguenay Fjord, Montreal), Niagara Falls, and Ithaca.

Personal Project: Linen cardigan in euroflax sportweight linen.

I haven't decided what to do about the personal project yet...whether I want to self publish it or submit it to a publication. This was one of the rare times that I really felt compelled to knit something for myself as quickly as possible. Summer heat makes for good linen knitting!

Guess who's visiting at Chez Chinchio?

2009-04-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

I'll give you a hint:

Yup, it's Ysolda! We've been having fun talking about knitting and designing. The girl is so hard working!

New summer/spring design

2009-04-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

Previews for the spring/summer 09 Knit.1 issue are out and my tie back top appears on the Knit.1 website:

The yarn is Zitron Samoa, a DK/light worsted mercerized cotton in a yummy tangerine shade (and new to me yarn). The top is a dolman-type, cap sleeve shell in spider stitch (a nice, but easy combination lace). The bottom is stockinette and is topped by a ribbed waist that extends to ties that can be secured at the back.

I know I still owe you guys a post on decreasing in cocoon stitch in my Silk Cocoon cardigan in the latest issue of Interweave. I've been away for a cousin's wedding in CA and haven't had time to knit up swatches and write a tutorial. Thanks for your patience!

There have been some lovely finished versions of the Silk Cocoon on Ravelry already. It's so much fun to see what other people do with my designs. Thanks to those of you who post pics and projects on Ravelry. Ravelry is such a community driven site. I confess I haven't done my part in that. I have so much stash yarn and projects to upload. I've managed to keep up my design portfolio, but I feel it's a civic responsibility to engage in the other parts of Ravelry as well - adding to the yarn pages, the project pages, and participating in forums. I can't count the number of times I've looked up a yarn on Ravelry to see how other people have used it to decide if a yarn is appropriate for certain garments. This is so helpful when I can't have the yarn physically in front of me.

Fun Knitting!

2009-03-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, the Spiders made the trek out to Marie's Bay Ridge apartment for an afternoon of eating, knitting, and hoola hooping (in Marie's spacious craft/yarn room). Last year, at the same gathering, the Spiders exchanged single socks, which I wanted to be a part of, but I didn't have the time to commit to knitting a sock in fingering weight yarn. This year, during a Spider knit night at Jacques Torres in Soho, someone (I forget who now), suggested a cowl swap. Now, a cowl, I can do. And I've been wanting a cowl for some time now too since seeing so many lovely iterations of the accessory on Ravelry and blogs.

So I knitted a cowl for the lovely Lisa, a fellow fan of green. She expressed a preference for a couple of yarns and I jumped at the chance to try the Malabrigo Merino silk. I used the Herringbone Cowl pattern and voila, my first cowl (Lisa's photo, I didn't have my camera with me):

And here's a group shot of us with our cowls (photo taken by Marie):

My cowl was knit by our newest member, Erin aka Mintyfresh. Funnily enough, I've been lusting after her gorgeous Tapestery Cowl for a while now (queued it as soon as it debuted). And I put down the Tapestry Cowl on my wish list, knowing that whoever my cowl knitter would turn out to be, she'd probably not want to knit a double knit cowl in fingering weight yarn. My instinct was right, Erin, understandably so, was not up for knitting another Tapestry Cowl. But by being randomly assigned to her, I couldn't have been closer to getting that desire granted. ;)

Instead, Erin knit me a gorgeous deep red, textured cowl of her own design (I understand she'll be releasing the pattern at some point) closed by a silver button! I love it!

Next time: I hope to have a tutorial on how to decrease in pattern for the Silk Cocoon Cardigan.

Varese Hoodie - New PhysicsKnits pattern

2009-02-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to release my second independently published design, the Varese Hoodie. Varese (pronounced [vaˈreze] - with three syllables) is the birth town of my husband. It's a cute city about a half an hour north of Milan and the closest "urban" center near Tradate, where my husband's family lives. I've also been told it's a fairly chic and expensive place. I've only been there once, and that was not under the best of circumstances - rainy and cold - but if the stores in the town piazza are any indication, I can believe it.

The yarn for this pattern is the gorgeous, handdyed Woolie Silk from Fleece Artist, a worsted weight 65% wool/ 35% silk blend; and was generously donated by One Planet Yarn and Fiber, an online shop with a focus on indie yarn and designers. For my hoodie, I chose the color chocolate, a color family I find myself going back to again and again. The subtle changes in color are lovely and at times surprising; I think I detect notes of pink amidst the brown, a nice color combo in and of itself.

This is a simple, feminine hoodie with kangaroo pockets. A simple zigzag lace edges the pockets, hood, and low empire waist. The body is hemmed to give it a clean finish; and gentle princess line shaping flatters all body types. The model is my friend, Jess, and photographs are by her husband, Vitaly Fomin.

Stats:
Finished Size: 31½ (34¾ 38, 41¼, 44½, 47½, 50¾)”/80 (88½, 96½, 105, 113, 120½, 129)cm bust circumference. Sample measures 34¾”/88½cm. Suggested ease: 0”/0 cm to 3”/7½cm positive ease.
Yarn: Fleece Artist Woolie Silk (65% wool, 35% silk) 100 grams/251 yards (230 meters) – 4 (4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins
Needles: Body – Size 6 circular needles. Lace Bands – Size 5 circular needles. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions: Tapestry needle; stitch holders; stitch markers.
Gauge: 20 sts and 28 rows = 4”/10cm in St st using larger needles, 20 sts and 29 rows = 4”/10cm in lace st using smaller needles.

You can purchase the pattern here via the Ravelry:

$6.50

Or to purchase the pattern through e-junkie, click on the button below. After payment, an email will be sent to you with a link to the pdf.

And a kit (with the pattern included) for all sizes is available at One Planet Yarn and Fiber in many gorgeous Woolie Silk colorways (for those of you who don't share my chocolate obsession).

Note: You don't need to be a Ravelry member to purchase downloads via the Ravelry shopping cart. Please email me at changcon_14850@yahoo-dot-com with any questions.

Spring Interweave - Soap Bubble Wrap

2009-02-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

The Spring Interweave preview is up and I have two designs in it.

My Soap Bubble Wrap is currently available at Knitting Daily as a free download until May 14.

For this design, I wanted to play around with the dolman sleeve shape. I also thought it would be fun to have a splash of lace asymmetrically placed at the hip and shoulder. The dolman sleeve made it possible to continue the lace uninterrupted from the front shoulder to the back. I didn't know much about the mechanics of dolman sweaters so I turned to Melissa and Angela, both of whom have designed brilliant dolman sweaters, for advice. Because the dolman sleeve doesn't start precisely at the top of the shoulder, it's sometimes difficult to determine where the sleeve hem will end. To prevent it from dragging too far down along the length of the arm as well as to minimize the heaviness of the sweater, I decided to make it a 3/4 sleeve rather than a full length sleeve. Here's my proposal sketch:

I love the choice of linen for this sweater. I've only recently discovered linen. My first project in it was the Versailles Shell, my first dip into the uncertain waters of independent design. And I completely fell in love with it. I like that it's machine washable and dryable. I like its rustic simplicity and how surprisingly comfortable and light it feels next to the skin.

Eunny was nice enough to let me choose between the sportweight linen and the worsted weight linen. I was so torn over what to use that I subjected poor Melissa (who incidentally, has a gorgeous tunic in the same issue) and many of her coworkers to my multiple multiple swatches:

In the end, since the consensus was split (for the record, Melissa voted for the worsted weight), I went with the sportweight linen. I had worked with it and loved the resulting fabric for the Versailles Shell and given a choice, I almost always choose the lighter gauge. After knitting almost the entire back in the sportweight linen, I realized that a oversized wrap sweater knit in sportweight yarn might not be the most feasible idea and I started over in the worsted.

I used a knitted at the same time garter stitch band to reference the rustic simplicity of the yarn and thought it was a nice contrast to the fussier daintiness of an open lace stitch at the shoulder and hip.

For me, this project was a departure (dolman vs. set in sleeve, oversized vs. fitted) and I really enjoyed it. Eunny asked me to make this garment in a slightly larger sample size, so it's a bit big for me, but I managed to take a quick snap of it before I sent it off to Interweave:

I kind of feel like I want to take up kung fu again when I wear this. Perhaps some day, I'll reknit this in the sportweight gauge. I think it would make a really lightweight and comfortable garment.

I hope people will enjoy making it and wearing it.

I'll talk about the Silk Cocoon Cardigan in a future post.

Nifty Nymph Tee

2009-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

The new Knitscene is out and I have a design in it. The folks at Knitscene named it the Nymph Tee...maybe to evoke a free-spirited, bohemian vibe? In my files for it, I rather unimaginatively named it dolman. Thank goodness the good people at Knitscene/Interweave have a better imagination than me!

I don't think it's a secret that I love set in sleeves, but I thought I should try to branch out a little bit. This is my first dolman sleeved sweater and I liked the shape more than I thought I would. There's a bit of bunchiness under the arm because of the extra fabric, but it also offers a lot of design possibilities. Stitch patterns can be continued uninterrupted from the neckline to the shoulder to the sleeve. They can be very dramatic (see Melissa's Tatami or Angela's Wyvern Wrap). It's a shape I'll definitely revisit again.

The other challenge with this design is that it's intended for beginning knitters. Designing attractive sweaters that are accessible to beginners is definitely difficult. Katie Himmelberg has designed some lovely garments suitable for beginners, but which are nonetheless flattering and stylish. I have obviously have a lot to learn, but I can't wait to take another crack at it in the future.

This is also the first square neck sweater I've made and I completely miscalculated where to begin the neck shaping. Here is a first attempt:

I'm used to V-necks where the neck shaping typically starts at the same point where armhole shaping begins. But for a square neck and for a dolman sleeve, the situation is a little different. You can see that I began the neck shaping too early and the weight of the sleeves is dragging the neck opening too wide. Not good. So, I ripped back and started the shaping a little further up:

Ahhh...much better. Last note... I love the color of the yarn. It's not a color I would normally be drawn to, but I think I'll have to make a sweater in this color for myself at some point.

What to do when you're stuck...

2009-01-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

...on working out a design?

Take a break with some pleasure knitting!

In my case, it's Melissa Wehrle's classic modern knit, the Urban Wrap (with a great kit available here). Although I do love the Lanas Puras Worsted (I used it for my Hexagon Bag pattern), I decided that I wanted to try a yarn I've been hearing a lot about, Dream in Color's Classy yarn. After seeing this beautiful Wisteria in the Black Parade colorway, I was struck with instant yarn lust. Luckily, the Spiders had given me a gift certificate to Knitty City for my birthday and they had tons of Classy in Black Parade in stock - enough skeins to let me choose the perfect ones with just the right amount of variation.

I've done two sleeves (one blocked) and the piece on the needles is the left front. I almost always do a swatch, but I find my tension often changes for a bigger fabric; so I usually block a sleeve or part of a front in order to recheck my gauge and make sure all is progressing as expected.

Last FO of the year

2009-01-05T15:48:00.001-08:00

I eeked out a final FO in the form of a pair of baby socks for my husband's childhood friend's 4 day old baby. The pattern is Ann Budd's Better than Booties Socks. I forgot to continue the chevron lace pattern down the foot, but I think they still look okay. It was kind of hard to knit with the dark blue yarn and I only had my mother in law's mother's old 8 foot inch double pointed needles to work with (since I left my double points at home), but otherwise this was an enjoyable knit.

It's my first short row heel and toe and I'm hooked. I love the way it looks!

I hope everyone had a good holiday.

New Twist

2008-12-21T10:01:00.001-08:00

I know I'm super late posting about this, but the winter issue of Twist is up. I have two patterns in it this time, Broderie and Garbo. I'm so excited to be a part of this new online magazine; it's such an honor to have my designs alongside the knits of the wonderful designers featured in this issue.

Broderie is a delicate lace cardigan with wide bands of leaf lace bordering the front edges and high waist. The lace band at the waist is knit first and then stitches are picked up above and below the band for the body. The rest of the cardigan is worked in an allover stitch called the wildflower knot, which I thought particularly appropriate given the leaf shapes traced out in the lace bands. I had a lot of fun knitting this. And because the body is knit in one piece and the sleeves are knit in the round up to the sleeve cap shaping, there's very little seaming and finishing to do at the end. The cardigan is closed with two buttons at the waistband. For fun and because I personally like getting a peek into the origins of a design, I'll post my original sketch for this cardigan with a few notes about the details scribbled out in the margin:

The other design, Garbo, turned out a little differently than I imagined. At first, I really wanted to make this cardigan with a lace or light fingering weight yarn. I wanted it to be in tweed, so I was thinking of Habu's Tsumugi Silk. The scarf part I intended to do in a single strand of the yarn and the body I wanted to do double (or maybe even triple) stranded. But Kate talked me down from my insanity, suggesting (very rightly) that a cardigan worked in a lace weight yarn would put off a lot of knitters. She suggested Fiddlestick's Luscious Tweed instead which is a heavy worsted/aran weight yarn. And I love the result. Luscious Tweed has a bit of silk in it and comes in gorgeous colors. It reminds me a bit of Jo Sharp's Silkroad Tweed, a yarn I love in the DK weight. The cardigan is cozy and I can't wait to get this one back after the Twist team is finished with it. The scarf is knitted directly onto the cardigan neck and is worked in the Roman stripe lace stitch, a reversible lace pattern that makes the scarf easy to wear - no worrying about keeping the "right side" facing the outside. A short repeat of the same stitch pattern borders the front edges and sleeve cuffs; and there is a bit of shaping to give the cardigan a nice fit. I'll also post my original sketch for Garbo below:

I don't know if it's obvious in the sketch or not, but another idea I had originally was to make the cardigan front border the same length as the scarf. I did knit this, but decided it looked weird. My husband, who has a more critical eye for these things, also agreed and so I ripped it out and redid the border and scarf.

By the way, thanks to those who responded to my last post. I don't usually like to bring politics into my blog, but I still can't believe California passed Prop 8. Love and functional families are already so difficult to come by, that I don't think the State should really have a say in what shape they come in. I can't believe, for example, that as recently as the 70s there were laws that prohibited interracial marriages. In another decade (and hopefully sooner), the idea that same sex marriages were banned will be as unfathomable to our children as the ban on interracial marriage seem to us today.

If you're so inclined...

2008-11-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

...please pop over here to sign Moveon.org's petition to overturn Prop 8, recently passed in my home state of California.

After I signed, they gave me the option to email friends the link to sign the petition. I hesitate to give out friends' email addresses as a matter of principal, so I thought I'd post the link here.

I don't usually like to talk politics on the blog, but I was just so shocked and disappointed by this.

Twist (and Shout)!

2008-10-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

Seeing how the next issue of Twist is about to come out, I thought it was time to blog about one of my designs that I've been promising to write about - Victoria - from the premiere issue of the Twist Collective. The online magazine is the brainchild of four wonderful fiber folks - Kate Gilbert, Irene Vandervoot, Julia Farwell-Clay, and Mary Jackson. That's a lot of talent there and I am so impatient to see what future issues will have in store for us. Patterns are sold individually in downloadable pdf form and the business model makes it a truly collaborative and creative endeavor between the designers and the Twist team. I'm really honored and excited to be a part of the first issue and hope that I'll be lucky enough to make more appearances in the future.

For Victoria, I was aiming to create an ultra feminine cardigan with a casual feel. Picot edgings give it a girlish whimsy and the high necked collar makes it a little formal. Small, bead buttons (chosen by Kate) also give it a dressed up vibe. Yet, when unbuttoned, the cardigan can be very casual. Unfortunately, the Twist team was interrupted during their photo shoot and had to scrap plans to photograph it opened (they blogged about it here).

From that post, here's a picture of it unbuttoned:

This is one of the few designs I've done where I didn't knit the sample myself. Terri, of KnittingTheBlues, did a fantastic job knitting it for me. When I design, I tinker quite a bit on the fly and she was patient enough to ride through the bumpiness that results from that tinkering. I think she reknit the front bands three times to make sure it looked just right. She sent me a picture of it when she was almost finished:

The deep rich, tonal color of that Shibui Merino Kid yarn is so lovely. I had a skein of it to swatch with and I just adored how the modified seed stitch picked up the subtle color variations.

I can't wait to get this sweater. I think it's making the rounds with the other projects from the premiere issue.

Rhinebeck

2008-10-19T16:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I dragged my ever patient husband to knitter's mecca - otherwise known as Rhinebeck. It was my first time going to Rhinebeck, or to any yarn festival for that matter, and I admit I was a little overwhelmed. We gave a ride to Julia and Sandra ; and once there, we met up with Stephanie, Yarnmonster Jess, FigandPlum Jess, Lisa, Virginia, Cathy, Katy, Carrie, and Nancy. Unfortunately, I'm suffering from some sort of food allergy that's made me break out in hives so I wasn't really up for touching yarn and fiber. Fortunately, that meant that I managed to leave Rhinebeck without a single purchase. I think if I had felt better, I could have done some damage because there was a lot of gorgeous fiber there - oh well, there's always next year, right? Many Ravelers have already put up their purchases on their Stash page today (you guys are so fast!); so at least I'm able to shop vicariously through them. Instead, my husband and I went to the animal tents and saw a 4 day old baby lamb:

and all types of alpacas including Be-Bop here:

It was also a lot of fun to play name the knit since many festival-goers broke out their best handknits for the chilly autumn weather. I saw a lot of Tangled Yokes (including Jess' and Lisa's gorgeous versions), Wisterias, Clapotis, Central Park Hoodies, etc, etc.

I also saw my first design in the wild - the Apres Surf Hoodie that Julia of Knitterly Things made. She told me that there was someone wearing the Riding to Avalon Hoodie, but I didn't see her :(.

We also stopped briefly at the Ravelry party which was packed with knitters and looked to be very lively. All in all a very overwhelming, but fun day!

Interweave Holiday preview is up

2008-10-09T15:23:00.001-07:00

...And it contains my first baby pattern.

Here is a picture from the magazine:

Isn't that baby adorable? I love how his wispy red hair coordinates with the cheerful colors of the cardigan.

And here it is on an equally adorable baby:

The model is my friends Hickory and Steven's new baby boy. I made this cardigan for him back in July in some more manly colors of Rowan Wool Cotton.

Wool cotton is one of my favorite yarns to knit with. It's soft and comfortable on the hands and it comes in a great array of colors.

The cardigan was a lot of fun to knit and design. I always love how satisfying baby knits are. The scarf is tubular and is a simple mosaic pattern. For ease of use, it's attached to the neck of the cardigan. The body of the cardigan is done in one piece to minimize uncomfortable seams for baby and the sleeves are done in the round up to the modified drop shoulder sleeve cap. You can have fun with the embroidery and buttons. For the embroidery, I chose simple circles in the scarf accent colors, but get creative if you want.

I love the attached scarf shape. When I get fixated on something, I can get a little obsessed. You'll see what I mean in a few weeks! :)

I definitely am backlogged on a few posts. I keep meaning to (and I will) write about the Riding to Avalon Hoodie, the Far Afield Vest, and Victoria.

And for those of you in the NYC area, I'll be giving a workshop at Knitty City focusing on my designs. More information can be found on their class page. It starts Oct 23 and runs every other Thursday 3 times from 6 to 8 pm. This is my first time teaching a knitting class (though I've taught physics recitation sections to undergrads when I was a grad student) and the format will be mini lessons on techniques used in my patterns, driven of course by request.

Casual Elegant Knits

2008-09-07T20:29:00.001-07:00

Casual Elegant Knits by Faina Goberstein and Dawn Leeseman is a new book of patterns featuring wearable designs for men and women. The book is divided into three stories. The first story makes use of a limited, but classic color palette and is geared towards work and city life. The second story features more casual knits for weekend play and introduces a more colorful palette. The third story features accessories.

FG: First of all, Connie, I want to thank you for giving me a chance to visit with you this morning. I have to tell you that I am a huge admirer of your designs. I cannot wait to see your next one. I am delighted to tell your readers about some projects from our new book Casual, Elegant Knits. Do you have a project in mind that you want me to talk about?

CC: I found the Vintage Hat very interesting. What were your inspirations for it? I especially like the versatility of the long tie and the many different looks it gives the hat.

FG: This is one of my designs. It was inspired by the Art Deco period. It was the period of Coco Chanel in 1920s that gave a woman freedom from corsets. The hats became small, feminine, and relaxed. I always loved this look. I also love to wear my scarves by wrapping them around my head in different ways. Putting these two ideas together in a hat was interesting to me. The decorative cast-on was also chosen for the edge that adds to this look. This cast-on is not used very much in American design, but in Europe it is well known. I just put the video on my blog to help knitters to learn this cast-on. The ties are where the fun begins with this hat. You can follow the instructions in the book for three different looks, or come up with your own.

CC: How do you match yarn to design? For example, for the vintage hat you use La Boheme and Crystal Palace kid merino. Why that particular pairing? The La Boheme is an interesting choice too - I've mainly seen it used in shawls so its use here is different and fun.

FG: La Boheme is a very romantic-looking yarn. That was our first choice for the hat. The combination of a rayon bouclé and a brushed kid mohair is great for this hat. Kid Merino made it a little thicker for holding the shape of the hat. I made this hat before from a different yarn and it was nice also. You can mix some kid mohair with worsted- weight wool and you will get close to what your gauge should be. You will be missing that sheen of rayon bouclé, though.

CC: I really like the funnel neck sleeveless top. It's such a classic, clean look. Can you tell me a little about its design elements and why you chose them?

FG: This top is also my design. I used a finer yarn and smaller needles than for the Elongated –Neck Tunic. I like to knit in the round as much as I can. Another thing I wanted to do is to work the edges of an armhole as I go along for a smooth clean look. To achieve this, I worked in the round up to the armholes and continued separately for front and back. I ended up having two little seams- shoulders. I did not need to go back and put finishing touches on the armholes. I am so glad I did that. It became a very quick project.
To make the top more attractive and elongated, I added some decorative lines that you see on the photo. By the way, this is only photo in the book that does not do justice to the garment. As you know, it is very hard to photograph a black-colored garment.

CC: As a designer, I find myself designing things that I would like to wear. How do you work as a designer? Do you design for yourself mainly or for other people?

FG: Most of the time I design for my family and me. I am lucky that my daughter, my son, and my husband love to have nice and stylish clothes. When I design for a magazine or a book, I think more about the audience I am trying to target, but my fashion vision does not change that much from what I want to wear myself.

CC: Have you knit many of your design pieces for your own wardrobe? What is your favorite knitted garment?

FG: If you mean designs from the book, I made both skirts, all the hats and scarves for myself. My favorites are the Little Flirt Skirt and the Red Waves Beret. I made many projects from our book for my family. Dawn’s Polo Shirt is a favorite of my husband.

CC: How did you and your co-author split up the work for the book? Did you each take on a particular "story" or did both of you design some pieces for each story?

FG: This is a great question. We worked very closely together at the beginning of the project. That part was involving coming up with the vision, breaking it into parts, thinking through what these two people would want to wear on different occasions, what color scheme to choose, what particular pieces of clothing they will have on, etc. After all that was set-up, we decided who would design this or that piece. Some things were naturally going into my or Dawn’s basket. All felted item had to be Dawn’s. I do not do felting. All hats and scarves were more up my alley as well as skirts. The rest was split between us. I took women’s sweaters; Dawn took men’s sweaters. We worked separately for a while, but were consulting with each other. When all the garments and patterns were done, we got together every day and worked on formatting and editing of the patterns and all other writings and paperwork that needs to be done. We did not think about letting our readers know whose design it is because it was such a close collaboration, but now we wish we did. We are both on Ravelry, so that is the only place where we divided our designs. We still feel attached to all of them in some way.

FG: I wanted to ask about your recent publications. It seems to me that every magazine I pick up, your design is there and it is wonderful. What should we expect to see in the near future?

CC: Thanks for the compliment! Well, I have a few things coming up in various Interweave publications, a few things in the new online magazine, The Twist Collective and hopefully a few more self published patterns.

FG: Connie, thank you so much for this interesting conversation. I hope people will be making many projects from our book and use my video on my blog. I did not add any sound there. I think people will let me know if I need to do it.

Tomorrow we will be talking with Marie Grace Smith of Marie Grace Designs about the four brioche stitches that we used in this book. I hope your readers will be there.

CC: Thank you for stopping by, Faina! And congratulations to you and Dawn on the publication of your book.

Long Time No Post

2008-08-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA for a while there. I've been meaning to revamp the layout of the blog, but aside from adding a sidebar for patterns you can get online, I haven't yet worked out how I'd like to rearrange the look.

In the meantime, I have been knitting furiously. Some of it will be coming out in the next several months and I hope you like them.

I will write posts on some of the designs I've had released since I last posted, including my inclusion in the debut of a really exciting new online magazine.

But for now, to avoid a completely photoless post, I'll leave you with the hat and booties set I made for Cathy, the latest expecting Spider. The hat is a wonderfully whimsical Kate Gilbert design and the booties are from an old issue of Knit.1. The yarn is Louet Gems.

For Sale: Versailles Shell

2008-06-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's finally here - 2 weeks to the day of my initial preview! I had hoped to release it sooner, but making sure I got a good, error-free product out took a little more time than I realized. I had the shell tech edited by SavannahChik. She came highly recommended, but as if that weren't enough, this post convinced me that she was a girl after my own heart - and she certainly did not disappoint.

The next phase involved my brother, a graphic design artist who is not a knitter. This point made for some comical errors being introduced in the pattern. I had to check and recheck his work, but I love the pattern layout and logo he came up with and I hope you do too.

Here are the specs:
----------------------
Finished Size : 30 (32, 35.25, 38, 41.25, 45.25, 48.75, 52)" bust measurement. Recommended Ease: 0" to 2" positive ease.

Yarn : Louet Euroflax Sport Weight Linen (100% wet spun linen; 270 yards/100 g): Grey (MC), 3 (3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6) skeins. Beige (CC), 1 skein. This yarn also comes in 50 gram skeins, be sure to purchase the correct put-up.

Needles : Body - Size 3 circular needles. Neck Band - Size 2 circular needles. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Notions : Tapestry needle; stitch holders; stitch markers; buttons (5); Size B Crochet hook; Size C Crochet hook.

Gauge : 24 sts/33 rows over 4" in St st using larger needles.

More pictures on Ravelry.

Click "Buy Now" to pay for the Versailles Shell with Paypal and you will be emailed a link to download the pattern.

Or, if you prefer, purchase the pattern through e-junkie by clicking the button below and you will be emailed a link to download the pattern.

$5.50

Preview Monday

2008-06-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the hot summer weather, I'm almost ready to release my first self published pattern. Here's an advance peek so you know it's not just a figment of my imagination. Modeled by the lovely Jess, Ms. Yarnmonster herself, the design is being tech edited and I hope to have it available for sale in a week or two.

Blog Tour Stop - Knit So Fine

2008-06-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Laura Grutzeck who, along with her co-authors Lisa Myers and Carol Sulcoski, have just released Knit So Fine, a book that highlights the unique joys and pleasures of knitting with small gauge yarn. As a knitter that doesn't like going bigger than 5 1/2 stitches per inch, I think this book is a welcome addition to the knitting literature.

Since Laura and I both recently used Rowan Cashcotton 4 ply in our work, we decided to start with discussing that yarn and see where the conversation took us:

Laura: Hi Connie, thank you for letting me visit your blog!

So what did you think of the RYC Cashcotton 4-ply? I know you have worked with it before, you used it for your beautiful Apres Surf Hoodie that was in the Summer 08 issue of Interweave Knits. I love that pattern, by the way. I just looked it up on Ravelry, and 72 people are already knitting it, wow!

I decided to use the Cashcotton 4-ply for the eyelet halter in Knit so Fine because I was looking for a thin yarn that had some memory, but wouldn’t be too hot in the summer. Also, I love angora yarn. If a yarn has angora in it, I want to try it! The Cashcotton is 35% cotton, 25% nylon, 18% angora, 13% rayon and 9% cashmere, so there is just enough angora to give a little fluff to the yarn, but not enough that you could actually describe it as “fluffy”.

I enjoyed working with it, and I would definitely use it again. How about you? I know not everyone is crazy about angora blend yarns.

Connie: I really liked the Cashcotton 4-ply too. But it's funny that you cited angora as the one of the reasons you liked it so much. It's actually one of the things I liked least about it. As you knit with it, it sheds a little because of the angora. But it does feel very soft. I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. I love the feel of it, the drape, and the slightly heathered colors it comes in. Also, my hands usually suffer when I knit with cotton, but I didn't have that problem with the Cashcotton.

Laura: Can you think of anything that this yarn wouldn’t be good for? I wouldn’t use it for something that needed a lot of body, I think it has too much drape for that.

Connie: I agree. There are certain things that wool and other more elastic fibers are good for and certain things that drapier fibers like cotton, silk, etc are good for.

Laura: I am really interested in the fact that you are a knitter studying physics. Do you find that your knowledge of physics has an effect on what you design, or how you design? I would think that there would be an overlap between the two.

Connie: A facility with math definitely helps when it comes to grading sizes, but other than that, I don't think my physics background has really influenced my design work. The only instance where I was directly influenced by physics was in my design for the Hexagon Bag for One Planet Yarn and Fibers. An STM image of a carbon nanotube array inspired the pattern on the bag.

Laura: I noticed that you use a lot of fine yarns in your designs. Do you prefer to use fine yarns? Why? Did you ever go through a chunky yarn phase?

Connie: I definitely prefer fine yarns. I just think they're more versatile and hang on the body better. I've never personally gone through a chunky yarn phase, although I did entertain a brief flirtation with some chunky Colinette yarns. As a petite person, I'm afraid that chunky yarns would overwhelm me.

Connie: Laura, your book describes and justifies very well some of the great advantages of fine gauge knitting, but I was
wondering what do you think some of the challenges of designing with fine yarns are as opposed to designing with chunkier alternatives?

Laura: Hmm, well I guess there is the obvious challenge, that knitting with fine yarn means knitting with more stitches, so it is going to take longer than knitting the same thing in a bulky yarn. Personally, this only bothers me when I am working on a deadline; when you are knitting for a book or a magazine, sometimes they only give you a few weeks to knit a sweater! When I am knitting on my own time, I enjoy the process, so I don;t usually notice how long it takes.

The only other thing I can think of is that stitches worked in fine yarn are harder to see, so that might be a problem for someone with poor vision.

Connie: What's the chunkiest yarn you've ever knit with and what was the item? Was it a success for you?

Laura: The thickest yarn I have ever used is a Noro yarn called Oimochan. The label suggested using size 36 needles. I thought I would make a sweater out of it, but no matter what I tried, it kept looking like a bathmat. I eventually gave up and donated the yarn to the fiber department at the university where I work.

Connie: My design process is often very haphazard. Sometimes I get inspired by the yarn and the fabric it creates, sometimes I'm inspired by a stitch pattern and feel a compulsion to use it somehow and the garment grows around that, and sometimes I'm inspired by a general silhouette. What inspires you? What is your starting point?

Laura: I am usually inspired by things I see around me, architecture, billboards, art students. I often see something and get an idea, then build upon it. I like to try new things, so sometimes I wonder “hmm, could you knit a sweater this way?” Sometimes my ideas work, sometimes they don't.

Connie: Other than angora, what are some of your other favorite fibers and why?

Laura: I love wool, it is probably my favorite fiber because it is so nice to work with, and so versatile. I am also fond of alpaca; it is so warm and soft!

Connie: What would you suggest to a knitter who primarily knits with larger gauge yarn to start with if she wants to delve into finer gauge knitting? How do we get converts to our side? Or, do you think there's any single factor, designer, or company that's been really instrumental in popularizing finer gauge knitting?

Laura: I think Koigu was big in getting people to both stock and work with fine yarn. It is such a fabulous yarn, I think it convinced a lot of people to try knitting with a fingering weight. For knitters who mainly use heavy yarns, I would suggest trying a lace project. With lace, you use a fine yarn, but you can still use larger needles. I think this would be a good way to ease into working with thin yarn, before jumping in to knitting a fairisle sweater knit with fingering weight yarn on size 3mm needles.

Thanks for letting me visit your blog Connie!

Thank you, Laura, for stopping by!

I'll conclude with some parting photos of our projects in Cashcotton 4 ply. Laura used it with her Eyelet Halter:

And I used it with my Apres Surf Hoodie:

Babies and Drawstring Raglan Progress

2008-06-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the Spiders welcomed another new arrival to the ranks - Cassie, Kaitlyn's adorable little girl. As befitting a knitting obsessed group, we showered the little one with knitted gifts and other warm cuddlies to welcome her into the world. Kaitlyn has good pictures of our efforts on her blog and Jess, the hostess, has some great pictures of the food and fun on hers.
It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Here's a picture of Virginia with Cassie.

I'm also plugging along on my Drawstring Raglan. As others on Ravelry have noted, casting on for the sleeves is a PITA. I, too, got the dreaded stretched armhole stitches, but after two attempts, I decided to let it go and will try to reinforce (fix) it in the finishing process. The picture below doesn't reflect the real beauty of the yarn. It's a little deeper, more jewel-toned than my puny point-and-shoot camera can capture. It's funny, this is a project that would normally not appeal to me - I'm more a monochromatic, classic look type of knitter. But there's something about this yarn, Seduce, that just called to me. She's a siren for sure! I just hope I like the finished product as much as I like the in-progress piece.

Sigh...more errata for Sensual Knits

2008-05-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

Another eagle eyed knitter caught more errata in my Lace Panel Cardigan for Sensual Knits.

For the sleeve cap shaping the third paragraph should read:

Dec 1 st at each end of sleeve every other row 4 [4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7] times – 38 [40, 40, 44, 42, 44, 42] sts rem.
Dec 1 st at each end of sleeve EVERY row 4 [4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5] times – 30 [32, 30, 34, 32, 34, 32] sts rem.

In the book, both sets of decreases were misprinted to read every other row.

Thanks to Mariko Hara for calling this to my attention.

Seduction Indeed

2008-05-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

I was in Ithaca for the Memorial Day weekend and visited my favorite yarn shop, Knitting Etc. There, I found myself irresistibly drawn to the aptly named new Berroco yarn, Seduce. There was a gorgeous shop sample of Norah Gaughan's Mobius (from Vol 2) worked in the Seduce rather than the called for Linen Jeans. As soon as Hickory suggested that I try it on I was hooked. The yarn feels light and comfortable - and the colors - wow! They're reminiscent of minerals or jewels. I was completely lost. I would have loved to make the Mobius, but the thought of seaming in the collar separately was daunting and so I decided to make the Drawstring Raglan from the current issue of Interweave Knits.

Here are the colors I chose:

The greyish blue on the left will be my main color (to replace the beige) and I'll be using one less color in the striped region. I'm going for a more subdued palette.

An FO, a new UFO, and an almost FO design

2008-05-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've finished the Lily of the Valley Stole from Lace Style for a while, but forgot to post about it. I used Jaggerspun Zephyr in Suede for this and worked it on a smaller needle than called for in the pattern. I'm not a huge fan of shawls, but I like scarves, so I was aiming for a less lacey, more solid look. Because of the decrease in needle size, I ended up working an extra 4 repeats of the lace pattern to get the scarf long enough - and even so I think it could have used an extra repeat or two more. I love it. It's soft and drapey and lovely. I'm just really careful not to get it snagged on stuff. I even ended up knitting the edging on this. When I do make stoles, I usually don't do the edging because I find them too fussy and precious. But I like the edging on this stole (I make it shorter than called for in the pattern) and the bind-off with two strands held together is brilliant.

I also started the ever popular Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt in a wonderful shade of deep brown that has violet undertones. I wish I had sweater quantities of this color. See how well it coordinates with my Schrodinger Original Cube?

And finally, I'm almost done with a design:

This will be a self published design and I hope by posting an oblique picture of it, it'll push me to actually finish and self publish the thing. I've been meaning to try my hand at self publishing for a while now, but never seem to get my act together. Somehow, without the stress of deadlines propelling me forward, all of my self published efforts seem to run out of momentum mid-stream. I have a baby cardigan and a vest that are trapped in various stages of done-ness.

I intend to donate all the proceeds of this pattern to breast cancer research. I'm hoping that this will spur me to finish it too.

Blast from the Past

2008-05-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Many moons ago I worked on a design for JCA and I finally got word from Mona that it's time to share! :)

I had a lot of fun with this design, but if I were to do it for myself, I'd definitely go for a smaller gauge yarn for better drape and fit. While I do like lace done on large gauge yarn (ala BrooklynTweed's Hemlock Ring blanket), I think for garments, the delicacy of a small gauge yarn is more my style. Still, for a faster project, the light worsted/DK weight gauge of the called for yarn makes for a satisfying knit I think.

For this design, I was going for something feminine and at the same time casual and almost sporty - thus the lace cap sleeves paired with the henley placket and raglan shape. I also used eyelets to mark the waist/bust shaping to echo the lace on the sleeves.

Blast from the Past also refers a bit to the styling of the photos. Doesn't it kind of look vintage (in a fun way, I'm not being critical!)? Or is it just me?

Summer IK and contest winner

2008-05-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

The summer Interweave Knits is out and I'm so excited to have a design in it - the Apres Surf Hoodie.

At the time I was putting together my submission, I was working on a project for Yahaira's upcoming book, Pureknits, and I had a bunch of leftover Habu fingering weight silk wool left to swatch with:

For this hoodie, I was going for a very delicate, airy piece so I knew I wanted a fingering weight yarn combined with a small repeat lace. The Habu silk wool makes for a extremely light, gorgeous fabric - perfect for a beach coverup. The cashcotton 4 ply loses some of the sheen of the Habu, but has a delightful softness to it and the resulting sweater is more cozy while still retaining the lightness of my original idea. I thought the small repeat lace (dainty chevron) with its vertical structure would be flattering for a variety of body types.

The other main element of this design is the wide stockinette bands at the hem and sleeve cuffs. I love wide lace edgings on an otherwise plain stockinette sweater. For the hoodie, I thought it would be fun to turn that look on its head and have stockinette edgings on a lace sweater. To help the edges lie flat, attached i-cord gives it a clean finish. Finally, because I'm a sweatshirt kind of girl, I added a hood - a casual touch to counteract the potential fussiness of an allover lace garment.

In other news, with the help of a random number generator, I picked the winner of my brother's Threadless T-shirt. Number 6, AKA Mel, please contact me with a size preference and your address. And congratulations!

Italy and a contest

2008-04-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

The husband and I just came back from a week long trip to visit his family in Italy. Whenever we make the trek out there, we usually spend the bulk of our time with his family and in his hometown. When vacation time is so limited, it's hard to justify taking time for ourselves. Still, we managed to steal away for two days and visit Cinque Terre - a series of 5 cliff hugging villages on the Ligurian coast connected by a 5 mile hiking trail. We've meant to go for a while, but the weather, or family obligations, have always conspired to keep us away in the past. But this time the weather was perfect and the family obliging. We stuffed ourselves with seafood and with lemon gelato. Apparently, the carefully terraced cliffs are teeming with olive and lemon trees. Human ingenuity has managed to transform a tricky landscape into a place of bounty. The town I liked best was Vernazza, the second village on the trail:

In other news, my brother's first Threadless design has debuted in their store:

And to celebrate his first (and hopefully not last) Threadless design, I'm holding a contest. Just leave a comment and I'll pick one at random to receive a shirt in the size of his/her choice. I know, I'm boring. I can't think of something more clever than that and at the same time, I don't want anyone to feel they have to jump through hoops, so I'm making this easy peasy. Of course, you can leave a comment even if you don't want to enter the contest. Just indicate your disinterest in the comment and I'll try to mitigate my brother's heartbreak ;)

ETA: I just realized I didn't impose a deadline for the contest. I'll keep the contest open until I next post. Since my posts seem to be pretty infrequent these days, the contest should be open for a couple of weeks.

Garland Shell

2008-03-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

My newest pattern with One Planet, the Garland Shell, is now available here.

For this design, I was lucky enough to use their Black Pearl Cashmere line, a DK weight pure cashmere yarn that's indescribably soft.

The small bands of lace at the hem and around the neck dress up this casual shell. It can be worn next to the skin as shown or over a blouse. I had a lot of fun knitting and designing it.

Drawstring Chemise #2

2008-03-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful friend who I've known since we were 5. She's the friend I've known the longest and while our friendship has waxed and waned over the years, it's been very constant in many respects. She's an inspiring, tireless individual - devoting her all to whatever endeavor she undertakes - from her day job in finance to her true passion and art, landscape photography, to her many charitable ventures. Several years ago, when my husband and I got married in his native Italy, she was one of my two middle school/high school chums who made the trek out. Not only was she a guest, but she also photographed our wedding, giving Maurizio and me the priceless gift of her artistic perspective on our special day. A black and white candid shot of my husband having his tie adjusted by his uncle is among my most prized possessions.

As if that weren't enough, several years ago, she gave us two framed photographs of my favorite images from her portfolio - a keyhole look through a natural bridge in Bryce Canyon and thematically similar if very different look through a portico in Cinque Terre.

I can never hope to match the many gifts she's given me. But in a first attempt, I made her a Drawstring Chemise, my design from the most recent Interweave Knits, out of Artfiber's Hana - a 100% plied silk. The gauge of the Hana is a bit smaller, but I prefer that look anyway. For camisoles and tanks, I think the finer the yarn is (within reason of course), the better, in order to preserve maximum drape.

Unfortunately, I was halfway through the Chemise when I noticed some dye irregularities in the Hana. There were distinct white spots. Artfibers immediately sent me out a replacement cone. So I suppose this will be my chemise and I hope to start on my friend's chemise as soon as possible.

Hana is a dream to knit with - very soft, very supple with the great sheen of silk. I love the feeling of it next to my skin. I'm so tempted to make a slim cardigan out of it. I'm not sure how well it'll hold up to use. Already in the chemise I have, I do see some fuzzing, but it's minimal, especially compared to many of the other silks out there on the market. Above all, I'm very impressed with Artfiber's customer service and how prompt they were to respond to my concerns.

Lace Obsessions and the dangers of Knitting friends

2008-02-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

Last week I cast on for the Lily of the Valley Shawl by Nancy Bush from Interweave Press' Lace Style.

I had seen a friend's lovely version the day before and it just wormed its way into my brain. I already had the appropriate yarn in my stash (Jaggerspun's Zephyr) and the book on my shelf. There was nothing standing in the way of my starting it (other than 2 deadline projects that is!).

I am using size 3 needles because I intend for this to serve more as a scarf than a stole and I thought a less lacey version would be more practical for everyday use. I didn't quite think through the implications of going down so many needle sizes though (the pattern calls for a size 6 needle). I've already gone through the ten repeats called for in the instructions, but will have to keep trucking for another couple of repeats to make sure the scarf is long enough.

Here is a more detailed shot of the stitch. It's the lily of the valley stitch with nupps! Unfortunately, I can't see the nupps very well (some finagling is required to purl together 5 stitches at a time!), but I hope they'll be more visible once the scarf is blocked. Although I usually shy away from bobbles and nupps, I find them strangely fascinating in this limited context. I do hope they'll be visible.

Okay, now I need to get back to work.

Physics Phun with Conan O'Brien

2008-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

These are a bit long, but they're fun! I thought the professor handled the shenanigans pretty well (we're not known for our social agility generally).

Spring Interweave

2008-02-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

The spring issue of Interweave Knits is out now and I have two patterns in it: the Drawstring Chemise and the Printed Silk Cardigan.

I love delicate little camisoles made out of fine cottons or silks. To increase their wearability, I prefer knit camisoles done in an ultra fine gauge - otherwise, you get a hot, sticky, tank that doesn't fit into any season (too hot for summer, not warm enough for winter). With the Drawstring Chemise, I went back to the Diamond Mesh Lace which I had used before in my side paneled camisole for Sensual Knits. I love Mesh patterns in general, but I simply adore the Diamond Mesh - it's a beautiful, open, geometric stitch. I'm sure I'll use it again.

The Drawstring Chemise is knitted with Rowan Cotton Glace - a DK weight cotton. It's a very nice cotton with a firm, crisp hand, but as with all cottons, it can be a little hard on the wrists - especially when knitting lace (I tend to really tug on my k2tog's and ssk's). The sample Chemise is a little loose on me - I think it was 2" bigger than my bust measurement and I had to clip the back a little so it would fit properly. (I'll post soon a Chemise that I made for myself out of Artfibers Hana, a smooth, supple silk yarn in a slightly finer gauge (7 sts/in). The pieces are all blocked. It just requires a good session of seaming and finishing, but I find it really hard these days to do any personal knitting. It's like if I don't have a deadline flogging me to finish, it just doesn't get done. Sigh.)

For the Printed Silk Cardigan, I actually did my submission swatch in Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk. Eunny asked if it would be okay to change it to Fiesta La Luz, a 100% single ply silk with incredible sheen and drape. At first, I was a little hesitant because I thought it would be too drapey, but I really like how the twisted stitches in the nestled diamond motif look in the La Luz - much more subdued than they would have appeared with a bouncier, elastic yarn - "printed" was the perfect way to describe it (I didn't come up with the name). I think lots of substitutes would work for this design. Any cotton, silk, linen, or alpaca blend would have the requisite drape. For shine, I would make sure that the substitute contained a bit of silk or mercerized cotton.

Just for fun, I'll post a scan of the sketch I submitted. Please forgive the horrible drawing skills, my brother I ain't.

I wasn't sure if I preferred the sleeves to be done in the twisted stitch motif (main sketch) or if I wanted them in 1x1 rib (upper right), so I sketched out both possibilities. Eunny chose the latter and I'm glad she did. I think the 1x1 rib ties together the ribbing in the empire band and on the neckbands. The only other thing I changed was to ditch the narrow 1x1 ribbing at the hems. I preferred the smooth edge finish and the La Luz was drapey enough to make even a crocheted edge unnecessary. However, if you find that the body hems curl too much, it's a simple matter to add a single chain crochet finish.

I'm also very grateful for the great reception I've been receiving for the Henley Perfected. The last time I checked, 72 projects have been entered in Ravelry. I really appreciate the support and it's fun for me to see the different henleys people have made!

You Make My Day

2008-02-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Krissy of FreeRangeKnitter and Mel of PurlingPlans both gave me some "You Make My Day" recognition and it's time for me to spread some blog love around.

Krissy and I communicated while she furiously worked to have the first completed Henley Perfected (my pattern from the winter Interweave Knits issue) on Ravelry. Check out her lovely version here. Mel is a budding designer who's already turned out some very lovely work. Her shrug was my favorite pattern in August's Magknits and since then, she's paired her creative ideas with Sanguine Gryphon's exquisite yarns. It's an exciting collaboration that's sure to yield more fruit.

The blogs who make my day are:

Following Veronique's example, I'll cheat a little and reference the entire Spiders list. They're really a bunch of inspiring women - knitting, sewing, cooking, photography, jewelry design - these categories barely scratch the surface of what they accomplish.

Angela is an in-demand designer with work appearing in Knitty, Magknits, Interweave Knits, and Vogue Knitting, as well as under her own imprint. Her blog offers insight into her design process (giving tantalizing glimpses of swatches, sketches, and in progress projects) *and* gives me an opportunity to practice my flagging Italian, what can be better than that?

Julia of Mind of Winter always writes thoughtful posts whether they're about her projects, her dogs, her designs, or her meditations on life.

Kat has a quirky, fiercely independent style that shines through in her blog, her designs, and her art. I can almost always pinpoint a Kat Coyle design by sight - and that's a good thing.

Chrissy's blog really inspired me when I first started thinking about designing. In it, she generously shares her experiences navigating the sometimes tricky world of independent knitwear design.

Jody is wonderfully geeky in the best possible way. Her site has tutorials galore with just the right balance of exposition and photos.

Parikha always has the most gorgeous photos. Whether they're of food, knitwear, or places, they instantly make me want to cook/eat, make, or go to where ever she points her lens.

Vanessa is also a very gifted shutterbug. Armed with her camera, she helped whip up a Habu feeding frenzy and convinced hordes of knitters to knit Juno.

Stef is wickedly funny and irreverent. No topic is safe. Witness her list of general gripes from September '07: funny, funny stuff. Plus she knits and designs. I heart her Judith pullover.

And last, but not least, Lauren (who's probably receiving these tags by the truckloads), who has the uncanny ability to instantly transport you to different places via a perfect marriage of sharp writing and luscious photos. Her posts run the gamut from travelogue to instructional to inspirational. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Tag, I'm it!

2008-01-24T07:19:00.000-08:00

The other day, Rosemary - she of Ice Queen and Muir fame; and knitwear inspired jewelry artist extraordinare - tagged me for a '10 unusual things I've done' meme. First of all, go look at her list. It's awesome! And it's made me very insecure about my list. I'm a pretty safe person - lived all of my childhood (other than my first two years which were spent in Texas) in California, went dutifully to school, etc. etc.; so dredging up some interesting and unusual stuff that others might not have done is a little hard. I hope you'll bear with me. Here is the list:

1) Got a Ph.D. in physics.

2) Went to 5 schools in 6 years because of indecision issues. I know I've already mentioned this before in another meme, but I thought it bore repeating; plus I'm running out of stuff already!

3) Got married in Italy (where my husband is from).

4) My husband, in addition to his native Italy, has lived in Greece, Belgium, Singapore (where he completed high school), and London (where he went for undergrad). I know, I know, it's something unusual about my husband, but I'm getting desperate here!

5) Had a short story (very short - 500 words) published in the San Francisco Chronicle when I was 12 based on Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Pest series.

6) Have had designs published in Knitter's, Interweave Knits, One Planet Yarn and Fiber, JCA, Magknits, and two books (contributions).

7) Wrote for the Harvard Crimson when I was an undergrad.

Okay, I'm stumped. If I can think of any more, I'll edit this post in the future. But for now, 7 unusual things is all you're getting from me.

I'm supposed to tag a few other people now to do the same, but I feel a little lame requiring other people to do what I couldn't. So, consider yourself tagged if you'd like to post about 10 things you've done that are unique and let me know if you do so I can read about it!

Henley #2 Completed

2008-01-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

I am officially sick of this pattern now. ;)

I finally finished my mom's Henley Perfected. I made the smallest size with a few additional small modifications to accommodate her short torso and arms.

The other modification I made to the original pattern was to double the button and buttonhole bands to match the doubled collar and hems. I know some people have been complaining about the roll in the i-cord edged bands I used for the Interweave pattern. Personally, I like the casualness of a rolled band. It's a design element I introduced deliberately, but I understand how it would bother some people. Fortunately, changing it is really simple.

To make a doubled band, follow instructions for the band until you come to the bind off step. Instead of binding off, work a turning ridge row (as you've done for the hems). Then work to match the right side band. For the button band, it's straightforward enough. For the buttonhole band, you'll need to make a second set of buttonholes to match the first set. I recommend blocking the bands before whipstitching them into place. You'll also need to use the buttonhole stitch (do this with cotton thread, not the yarn you used for the sweater) to sew together the two buttonholes together. Incidentally, the buttonhole stitch is also great for reinforcing regular buttonholes - a must for any knit where you actually plan to use the buttons. Because the button needs to go through two layers of fabric, a shanked button with enough height to clear the doubled band is necessary. You can buy them already shanked or make them yourself from regular buttons (there's a great Knitty article on how to do this).

To further increase the utility of this sweater (and hopefully give it a chance of actually getting worn by my mother), I sewed on buttons on the opposite face of the button bands to decrease the wear and tear on them. I forget exactly where I learned this, but it's a neat trick.

I used just 7 skeins of Alpaca Silk for this, one less than the pattern called for. The discrepancy is due to a combination of shortening the sweater and my lack of swatching for this project (which is what inspired me to use Alpaca Silk again). In fact, I had actually wanted to use a lighter yarn for this. Alpaca is a little heavy for the temperate California climate my mom's lucky enough to live in, but I got lazy. I was pretty sure my gauge in Alpaca Silk wouldn't change all that much between June (when I made the sample sweater for Interweave) and now. And since swatching is one of my least favorite parts of knitting (I know, bad Connie!), I decided to go with what I know.

Year in Review

2008-01-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

1. Knitter's Summer '07 Fitted Tank, 2. Knitter's Summer '07 Auburn Mist, 3. Magknits Tori Vest, 4. Sensual Knits Lace Panel Twin Set, 5. Sensual Knits Lace Panel Camisole, 6. One Planet Yarn and Fiber Hexagon Bag, 7. Interweave Knits Winter '07 Henley Perfected, 8.One Planet Yarn and Fiber Lacy Rib Turtleneck

2007 has been a year of knitwear design for me. Technically, I started knitting my first design for publication (the Fitted Tank in the Summer Knitter's) in December 2006, but since it wasn't released in print until June '07, I'm counting it as a tick in the 2007 column.

There are items not included in the collage above (thanks, Lolly for providing the links to the mosaic maker) because they haven't been published yet. Among them are 3 items for Pure Knits, Yahaira's follow up to Sensual Knits, 3 designs that will appear in upcoming issues of Interweave Knits, a sweater for JCA's Spring '07 line, and a cashmere number for One Planet Yarn and Fiber.

2007 also marks the year where I met some knit bloggers in. real. life. First, I met up with Angela when my husband and I visited his family in Italy. Then, through my association with Sensual Knits, I met Veronique and through her the Spiders. And finally, I met Olga and Vanessa when they vacationed in NYC in the spring.

Last, but definitely not least, at the end of 2007, I was welcomed into the Spiders. Having a regular appointment to knit and chat with buddies has been wonderful!

Best wishes to everyone for a happy new year!

Sensual Knits Errata

2007-12-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

It's just come to my attention from a vigilant knitter bthat there are quite a few errors in the charts for both my lace panel camisole and lace panel cardigan in Sensual Knits. I've emailed Yahaira about it so that she can include it in her list of errata from the book, but I'll post my original charts too - which seem to be correct. I guess when it came to printing them, a few typos were introduced - mostly left out ssk's and k2tog's. I'll also link this errata page to my left sidebar for easy access. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thanks!

The Lace Camisole chart (in the book, the errors are on rows 1,3, and 19):

The Lace Cardigan chart for sizes 32" and 34":

And the Lace Cardigan chart for the remaining sizes:

A Spiders Holiday Party

2007-12-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

See that shiny new button on the right sidebar there? I'm officially a Spider (don't know if it's capitalized or not) now. The Spiders are a group of great NYC (and surrounding areas) knitters who meet regularly to share their obsessive love of the craft. And they're really a talented bunch - each artistic in her own way - and horrible enablers. Between Ravelry and them, I'm finding it hard keeping my projects and stash in check! Among the possibilities are theAnemoi Mittens that Jess made out of 2 strands of laceweight cashmere yarn, the Joie de Vivre cardigan Veronique made for Sensual Knits, the Le Slouches popping up here and there, Cathy's lovely Hourglass sweater and many many more must-have knits. These ladies are really really prolific; they seem to have different projects on the needles every time I see them!

The Holiday party was hosted by Jess and Veronique in the prettiest apartment ever which they decorated with an environmentally friendly faux tree and plenty of holiday cheer.

There was a secret santa gift exchange and Cathy not only got me beautiful Shibui sock yarn in a deep, vibrant teal, but also made me one of her super adorable and functional knitting cubes. I've been eying her shop for ages, waiting for the perfect fabric to pounce on, but she managed to very coyly draw out my pattern preferences at the Spiders meet up the night before and this is the result:

Of course, the next day, I found another cube in her shop that I had to have. I guess you can never have too many. They're perfect for socks or for that manageable sweater piece.

Thanks so much, Cathy!

Multiple posts in a week & Sensual Knits

2007-11-30T13:17:00.001-08:00

In what must be a first for me, this is my third post this week. I guess that's what happens when knits that I've had to hold my tongue about for so long are finally released out into the world.

Yahaira's book, Sensual Knits, was released unexpectedly early last week. I have two contributions in this book, a lace camisole and its matching cardigan. For some reason, the book only shows the two pieces worn together:

This makes me sad because I was quite pleased with the side lace panels on the camisole. Here's a bad photograph of it here. I shot this on self timer, in February, indoors. Okay, enough excuses!

And here I'm wearing it with the cardigan:

The yarn we ended up using for this was Blue Sky's Royal Alpaca. Those who know me know that I'm pretty sensitive to fibers (cruel irony for an avid knitter) and alpaca especially is usually too scratchy for me. But I had no problems with the Royal Alpaca. It's really something else. As Clara Parkes writes in her great reference, The Knitter's Book of Yarn, royal alpaca is "the cream of the alpaca fiber crop".

This twinset was my third design, a couple of months into my long break from academia and pursuit of my knitwear ambitions. Through this book, I met a lot of great people, some of whom I've gotten to know in real life too. :)

Knitting Daily post

2007-11-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

Check out Monday's Knitting Daily post featuring my Henley Perfected on a variety of women. Katie Himmelberg's Citrus Yoke Pullover is also featured and today's gallery showcases Mari Lynn Patrick's Bon Bon Pullover.

To add another real person picture to the mix, here's a picture my husband snapped of me wearing the henley. You can tell I was a bit rushed because the picture is taken literally outside of the Ithaca, NY FedEx building just before I sent off the sweater to Interweave.

For the record, my bust size is 32" and I was wearing a camisole under the henley.

I read some people's comments on Knitting Daily expressing concern about the button placket gaping. It shouldn't gape as long as you work some positive ease into the garment. For me, I like sweaters that have 2-3" of positive ease, but that's mostly because I don't like any tight clothing. For example, I shy away from anything that has any lycra content in it.

When I was designing the henley, I did consider doubling the button band placket so that it matched the turned hems of the sleeves and body. Doubling the button band placket would also make it sturdier and less likely to gape; and it's certainly an easy enough modification. In fact, Jen has a great tutorial on how to work a doubled button band easily which I tried with this design. The doubled button band instructions worked like a charm (thanks, Jen!), but ultimately I felt that it took away a little from the delicacy of the design and decided instead to work a rolling single layer placket edged with i-cord to stabilize it. But the great thing about Interweave is that they really encourage knitters to customize their garments to fit the individual (witness the new 'Designer's secrets' articles inaugurated by Pam Allen's great sleeve cap tutorial in the winter issue and Katie's useful suggestions for mods in the Knitting Daily sweater galleries) and so I would encourage anyone who has doubts about the placket to try a few different things to see what effect they like best.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

My husband and I went into the city to catch the last 20 minutes of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Why only the last 20 minutes? Well, we both hate crowds and standing in line, but I've always wanted to see the parade live (rather than on TV). Maurizio only knows about the parade through an early episode of Friends (where the Wonderdog balloon escapes and Monica and Rachel lock themselves out of their apartment), but that reference was enough to get him at least interested.

We managed to see Kermit, Wynona Judd on a big-a** guitar, and Santa Claus and his elves.

Wynona:

And Kermit!

Finally finished something!

2007-11-16T05:33:00.000-08:00

The Dragon Skin Wrap is all done and ready to be mailed off to its recipient, my college friend's 2-month-new baby daughter.

The stats are:

Size: 22" chest circumference, sized for 3-12 months.
Yarn: 3 + a quarter of a 4th ball of Filatura di Crosa Zara in pale pink (color 2502)
Needle: Size 7 (ball band calls for size 4-6 for a gauge of 23 sts/31 rows per 4"x4")

The yarn is a little lighter than the Kollage Yummy that Angela used for the sample so I went up a needle size -- especially since the stitch pattern was a little dense from all the shaping that constructs the lovely scales. In fact, when I was knitting it, I was worried that it would be a little stiff; but I figured that since it's for a very young baby, any size would do, even if it turned out slightly smaller than the published dimensions. To my happy surprise, blocking softened it quite a bit, making it drapier (and larger!) and now it's actually between the small and medium sizes -- great from a utility standpoint. With utility in mind, I didn't sew in the snap closure that I bought for the wrap, but will include it in my package to my friends so that they can decide where best to put it or whether to put it in at all.

I think my friends will be thrilled with this wrap. It's a very cute baby design (and more importantly, fun to knit!) -- a little different than the usual baby staples I've seen in pattern books and works equally well for boys as well as girls. I'm already trying to think if I have any friends with boy babies for a blue wrap!

Henley Perfected #2

2007-11-15T14:23:00.000-08:00

The other day I casted on for another Henley Perfected. By the time I'm done, I'll have finished 2 henleys with nothing physically to show for it. Henley #1 is with Interweave and Henley #2 is going to my mother, who asked for one when I emailed her the preview page a couple of weeks ago.

It's really hard knitting for my mother. She's very small so I'm knitting the 32.5" size with modifications -- mainly shortening the length and the sleeves by about 1" each. She's very picky about how sweaters fit her -- they must be neither too tight nor too loose, they must be long sleeved, and they must cover up most of the area around the neck. She's very intolerant of itchiness in a sweater; I'm crossing my fingers that the alpaca silk will be okay. And she's very indecisive, which means that we spent 40 minutes on the phone the other day, both of us looking at kpixie's beautifully photographed Alpaca Silk skeins, trying to determine the best color for her. But she wanted one so how could I refuse?

I'm zipping along on this. I didn't (gasp!) knit a gauge swatch, instead hoping that my tension hasn't changed all that much since I knit the sample 6 months ago. I'm already about done with the back:

We finally settled on tangerine which I love. It's such a great fall color. I hope she likes the finished product!

The Dragon Skin Wrap is ready to be sewn up. I hope to have finished pictures soon because the wrap itself really needs to go out to its intended recipient.

Too many projects syndrome

2007-11-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

I went into the city yesterday and finally got a copy of the winter issue of Interweave Knits. Seeing it physically in my hands was quite different than seeing it online - it feels more real somehow. And it's thrilling to see my name in the table of contents alongside some of my favorite designers.

Speaking of favorite designers that are in the winter IK, I'm almost done with Angela Hahn's Dragon Skin Wrap. Here it is, waiting to be blocked.

Because Angela has you knit a double knit slip stitch edging concurrently with the wrap, there's very little finishing involved (yay!). After it's blocked, all I need to do is make the ties and weave in the ends. The edging is Anne Modesitt's invention and I've used it also in a design for Yahaira's second book, Pure Knits. I like how self finishing it is, but I sometimes have a problem with the edge knit stitch looking too loose. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

While I was in the city, I also picked up a skein of Jade Sapphire cashmere 2 ply laceweight for a light scarf. Originally, I wanted to make a Wisp. It's lightweight, it's floaty, it's ethereal - perfect for a measley 400 yards of laceweight cashmere right? But that's before I saw Miriam's new Knitty pattern, Juno Regina, which just went live yesterday - notification (for me, anyway) courtesy of those super quick knitters in the know on Ravelry. I love diamonds and geometric motifs in lace; and I love how she cleverly echoes the diamond lace with an overall diamond shape on either end of the stole. Unfortunately, since my 400 yards are much less than the 900 or so she uses, I'll have to narrow my stole until it's more scarf-like which is what I'm aiming for anyway - a nice, light scarf to wear in the upcoming winter months.

New One Planet Yarn and Fiber pattern available

2007-11-05T05:40:00.001-08:00

My latest design with One Planet Yarn and Fiber is now available.

The yarn called for in the pattern is Lanas Puras Melosa Fingering weight, a beautiful, handpainted, single ply 100% merino yarn. It's very very soft and the available colorways are gently varying or very vibrant, depending on your individual tastes. The design is a mock turtleneck trimmed with large bands of a slip stitch cable and eyelet rib. For me, this was a fun knit because it has both a stitch pattern that requires a little more concentration and large swathes of stockinette. It's slightly shaped for a more fitted look and the target ease I had in mind was between 2 to 4 inches.

To see more pictures of the turtleneck and to purchase the pattern, go here.

Dragon Skin wrap for a wee one

2007-10-25T15:15:00.002-07:00

I was in NYC the other day and happened to be near The Point. And look who decided to come home with me:

It's several skeins of Filatura di Crosa Zara (a DK superwash merino) in a powder pink color, destined to become the Dragon Skin Wrap from the Holiday Interweave Knits. There are so many great knits in this issue - most requiring just a minimum amount of yarn and time commitment with very darling results. But the dragon skin wrap caught my eye because a friend from college just had a baby girl 2 months ago and I've been meaning to knit up something sweet for her.

I'm already almost done with one front.

It took a little while to get used to. I think I reknit the first 2 rows 3 times before getting everything right. But once you set up the pattern, it's very easy to tell where you are and it goes by very quickly - particularly since the dragon scale pattern is fascinating to watch develop. I find myself just wanting to knit one more row!

Angela is busily calculating for an adult sized wrap as we speak too, so those of us who want to wrap ourselves in scaly goodness will be able to as well!

Interweave Winter Preview is Up!

2007-10-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

And I'm in it! :) Or my design is to be more precise.

I'm grabbing the image from the site:

I'll try to be more coherent later, but for the moment, I'm really really excited! :)

Donna Druchunas' Blog Tour - All aboard!

2007-10-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have the honor of being today's stop on Donna Druchunas' Book Blog Tour to celebrate the publishing of her third book, Ethnic Knitting Discovery.

Donna's books are always written with humor and in a great, conversational style. As a reader, I feel that I'm having a nice chat with a good friend, albeit with a friend who just happens to be a expert knitter and knitwear designer.

I'll start out with what Ethnic Knitting Discovery isn't. It isn't a glossy, coffee-table book of knits modeled by pout-y, twenty year old models. It isn't even a book of patterns per se. Instead, it's a meticulously researched book focusing on historical knitwear from 4 main regions -- The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and the Andes. Some of these regions may be more familiar to readers (Norwegian sweaters with their fair-isle motifs are very recognizable in the U.S.) than others, yet I managed to learn new things about even the knitwear that was most familiar to me. For example, yoke patterned sweaters (from the Netherlands) are very appealing to me visually, but I didn't realize that their design comes from the more practical origin of thriftiness -- textured stitches consume more yarn, thus long ago dutch knitters relegated their use to just a small region. And Andean knitters purl in the round from the the inside to achieve stockinette stitches on the outside (right side)!

More importantly for the knitter ready to strike out on his or her own, this book doesn't contain detailed instructions of any particular sweater or item. Instead, Donna encourages the reader to experiment, all the while providing as much or as little guidance as needed by the individual.

The book is organized (save for the first two chapters) by region. The first chapter covers the basics of swatching, some sweater silhouettes, the concept of ease, the percentage system for determining the components of a sweater, and standard measurements for different sizes. The second chapter delves a little more deeply into the nuts and bolts of good sweater design -- the importance of considering yarn type and weight, knitting in the round, basic steeking (yikes!), and working with charts.

After a preface of the necessary tools (techniques, mini-stitch dictionaries, etc), the region chapters are divided into 3 main sections -- small projects designed to serve as practice or even a large gauge swatch (hats, scarves, etc), medium projects as the individual becomes comfortable with the knitting style of a particular region (simple sweaters), and large projects utilizing most of the techniques illustrated in the chapter (more complex sweaters). Each of these sections are further divided into 3 "patterns" depending on the comfort level and design style of the individual -- a visual plan containing a rough sketch and pertinent measurements, a planned worksheet where the measurements of the visual plan are translated into actual stitch and row numbers, and a step by step instruction sheet which gives detailed, written instructions incorporating the numbers from the planned worksheet.

Most invaluable in my opinion, are the many tips and hints scattered throughout the book such as Donna's advice when picking up stitches to "[fudge] on the 'slightly less than' side" (pg. 57). Although knitting is a very mathematical discipline, there still remain elements of art and judgment that make it very fun (and at times, frustrating).

At any rate, the enthusiasm Donna has for her subject and her readers is infectious. I'm usually a plan-most-things-out-before-I-start kind of designer, but by the end of the book, I'm inspired to try to design a little more freely like the knitters that came before me.

Thanks, Donna, for stopping by my blog. For more Donna, check out her guest post on my blog last year and her other stops on the current tour.

Super quick trip home...

2007-10-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

...and home is the San Francisco bay area which means I got to stop by Artfibers (aka knitters' mecca) quickly!

Unfortunately, I didn't have too much time. I was pretty sure I wanted some Hana - a smooth, fingering weight, luxurious plied silk - to make a camisole for a friend. But other than that, I wasn't sure what else I might want to look for. In the end, I left just with the Hana, but I was also sorely tempted by Rush - a beautiful, painted DK to worsted weight cotton, Tsuki - a slightly thinner version of Kidsilk Haze (one of my all time favorites), and Kurosawa - a soft and brilliant merino silk blend.

The last time I was at Artfibers, the yarn still came in 50 gram balls, but they've apparently changed to a 250 gram cone system. They still allow you to wind off a smaller amount (in my case, 150 grams) by yourself if you wish to purchase less, but the best part of all of this is fewer ends for me to weave in at the finishing step!

Here's my Hana. The color was hard to capture, but it's a deep magenta or plum. My friend has stunning coloring - jet black hair and creamy porcelain skin - so this color will look great on her.

Speaking of Hana, I recently dug out a UFO that I had shoved to the bottom of my knits drawer. It's the Prairie Tunic from IK Spring '06 made in Artfibers' Hana in a variegated pink color. I casted on for this puppy as soon as the issue hit the stands and rapidly worked through the back and the front. I guess I knew something was looking strange when I got to the triangle shaping at the top, but I plowed on through blindly. I then partly seamed it up and realized something was wrong and no amount of wishful thinking could make it be otherwise. A quick search through the blogs revealed that errors had been found and errata posted but by that point, I was fed up with the whole enterprise and hid it in a bag - out of sight, out of mind, right? I should say also that I love love love Veronik Avery's patterns and design aesthetic which is why I was so excited about this tank. Errata happens, it's an unfortunate and statistically guaranteed fact of life. I should have been more watchful or at least more patient, waiting a bit for any potential errata to surface. Anyway, here it is, my shame:

A brief chat with Kira convinced me that the yarn is too pretty not to reclaim. So as soon as I can muster up the motivation, I'm going to unravel it, skein it, wet it, and rewind it. Wish me luck!

While I was in the bay area, I also spent a day hiking in Point Lobos, a small peninsula jutting out just below Monterey Bay. Somehow I spent my entire life pre-college in California without discovering this little oasis of beauty tucked away just an hour and a half south of where I grew up. I've always liked the Northern California coastline with its craggy cliffs and colder waters. It's so different from the smooth and sandy beaches of the east coast. Point Lobos is an erosion area which means its home to some truly stunning and unusual wear patterns and structures. As an extra treat, my husband and I were able to spend the day with my friend Leah, a landscape photographer who takes the most exquisite photos. Seeing Point Lobos through her eyes was really interesting.

Here are some parting shots from that day. The first photo is of a small enclave dubbed the Devil's Cauldron for the particularly frothy surf that hit its shores. The second photo is of a view up a majestic cypress tree, one of many dotting the rocky cliffs of Point Lobos. Covering its twisted branches are copper growths of algae, giving it an otherworldly and kind of creepy (to me) look.

More Sushine-y progress

2007-09-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

I recently had 8 hours of uninterrupted car knitting time and I got quite a bit done on the Sunshine Tank. I finished one side completely and am halfway finished with the other side, about ready to start on the lacey bits. The tank takes two skeins and one skein is enough to complete one side. I've noticed that one skein I have is slightly darker than the other which I'm thrilled with because it means I can wear it as it fits my mood (the two pieces - front and back - are identical).

Cross posted on: Oneplanetknitters KAL.

A knit for me

2007-09-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bit tired after my 2 month marathon knitting/designing/pattern writing session. So the other day, I settled down to cast on for my first garment that I didn't design in close to a year. It's the Sunshine Tank by Neoknits, a great feminine camisole made out of Yarn Botanika's Radiance yarn. Although I'm not usually a pink or purple person, I really like the Bloom colorway I'm using which is both pink and purple. My friend Hickory would be so proud of me. :) Here's a rather boring progress shot:

I've actually gotten much further since I took this picture. I'm done with the back and have started the front.

Radiance is a tencel/merino blend and it has a subtle sheen reminiscent of silk and is incredibly soft and drapey once washed. I think this camisole will be very comfortable. And it's has just the right mixture of plain, meditative knitting (in the body) and something a little different and interesting (in the lace bodice). The lace itself is an easily memorized pattern and has flattering vertical lines as well as a zig zag wave that radiates playfully across the bustline. I can't wait to be finished with this and wear it!

Breakfast when the cat's away

2007-09-13T04:28:00.000-07:00

My husband is the cat of course. And he's off to NYC to interview for a job so that at least one of us can be gainfully employed. I dropped him off at the train station at 6:30 this morning and stopped by the 24 hour Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins (the latter is more useful for me) for some breakfast. Usually when he's home, we eat very healthily. Breakfast might be toast with peanut butter (gotta love those Omega3s) or yogurt, fruit, and granola bars. When he's away though, I break out the donuts (an apple crawler, because a glazed donut just wasn't going to do it today, is pictured below) and black coffee.

I pulled an all-nighter last night frantically trying to finish up a couple of late late projects. Ends are all woven in now on both projects and buttons remain to be purchased for the second. I've already polished off the donut and hope I don't accidentally spill coffee on my late night work.

As a designer, I'm doing things I've never done as a knitter. I'm particularly proud of something I've learned in the past few days - the tubular cast on and the tubular bind off (also known as the sewn bind off). It makes for a very neat, elastic edge in ribbing. And it's so pretty :) Here's a peek at the project I used it for:

Jodi gives a really great tutorial for the bind off on her blog. It's a pain at first, but you really get into the rhythm of it after a while. Still, it's much slower than a traditional bind off, but the final product is really really nice. I used it because my design has a very deep scoop neck that would have been too floppy if bound off in the customary way.

Sorry for the lack of coherence. I don't weather all-nighters like I used to. I'm getting old!

Edited to add: Oh, and the yarn I was working with for one of the projects is so delicate that it was felting like a motherf****r while I was working with it. Picture me on my sofa at 4 a.m., X-files playing in the background, trying desperately not to handle my knitting too much while I was picking up and knitting a border. I tried doing it with gloves, I tried doing it with Kleenex cushioning either side of the work area, but finally gave up and just attempted to keep my hands very very dry.

One Planet Knitters Knitalong

2007-09-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

The deadline knitting should be winding down soon for me. After that, I have one more project to do, but nothing lined up beyond that. It's a little strange. On the one hand, I really need to get my butt in gear and look for a day job. On the other hand, I'm feeling very ambivalent about not having knitting work in the queue. It seems like knitting for hire comes in spurts and starts - there are times when there's nothing to do and times when there's more than you can handle. And I must admit, having my hands busy with knitting helped distract me from the distressing reality of unemployment.

So the scorecard is...I'm finishing up 2 projects for a magazine. The instructions for the 3rd project I have in Yahaira's Pure Knits book are turned in and my wonderful sample knitter is finishing up the knitting for it.

Meanwhile, I'm staring at some lovely Radiance from One Planet Yarn and Fiber. It'll become the Sunshine Tank, Melissa's really pretty camisole pattern. I'm so excited. This will be the first thing I've made for myself (other than the stray glove or three) in a long time. One of the biggest ironies about my obsession with knitting is that I really hate wearing sweaters. But this camisole is exactly the type of knitted garment I would wear - made out of a fine weight yarn, not too fussy, with great little details. The Radiance is really gorgeous too - soft, with a slight sheen, and in great saturated colors. I'm usually not a purple person, but I fell in love with this colorway (Bloom):

One Planet has set up a great knitalong space where people can post and share projects carried by the shop. Many of their designers will also frequent the KAL as it gets underway, so it's a great place to get help and feedback too.

Doing a Penelope

2007-08-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

I swear, I feel like Penelope these days -- knitting, ripping out, re-knitting. I've been working on the same 7 inches for the past 2 days. Good news is that I think I'm finally past it - although decisions still need to be made for the rest of the piece. Sorry about the necessarily indistinct picture.

I just turned in a project for One Planet which I've been told will be released in the fall. So hopefully, I'll have a project to show here very soon. It's made out of the charcoal Lanas Puras fingering weight merino I've blogged about before.

In a first for me, Stephanie of Unwindknitting has graciously agreed to knit the sample for my third Pure Knits project. It's a little weird to not be knitting the sample myself, especially since I often work out design issues as I'm knitting, but Stephanie is a talented knitter (just take a gander at her beautiful work) and I feel really lucky that she's helping me.

Feeling totally lame...

2007-08-12T16:56:00.001-07:00

...about having a knitting blog without actually showing any knitting, I'm going to post some info on an old project I finished 2 years ago.

This is the Sampler Stole by Hazel Carter in A Gathering of Lace. I'm not usually a shawl person. Most days you'll find me in my beloved tank top and sweats - anything with collars, waists, etc is anathema to me. In fact, I usually wear my tank tops inside out to avoid direct contact with seams. So you can forget about dresses. But there was something about this stole and its photo in the book against a wrought iron fence that spoke to me. It looked impossibly ephemeral, like fog or mist or a half forgotten memory. And I had to make it.

I used Jaggerspun Zephyr - that delectable combination of whisper thin merino and silk in the sage colorway, but I think it would also be lovely in Kidsilk Haze or Habu silk-wool, or any of the other lovely lace-weight yarns available these days.

Here's a close up:

Yes, that's a mistake in the first row of elongated hexagons where I somehow skipped a stitch, shifting everything. I didn't notice it until the stole was blocked. And I didn't do the border. I like my shawls rectangular and free of frills, but if I had to do it over again, I would probably widen it by one column of motifs to compensate for the fact that it lacks an edging.

It's been stuffed in a drawer for the past 2 years. I think I've used it once. And it sorely needs a good reblocking.

Tagged

2007-08-03T16:03:00.001-07:00

Kat tagged me for the 8 random things meme. And given my lack of knitting posts these days, I'm happy to oblige...

Inspired by her post, I'm going to put up an old picture of myself and my brother, Brian. Unlike Kat, however, it doesn't really have anything to do with my random facts, but it's one of my favorite pictures of my brother and me. Isn't he an adorable little dumpling here?

OK, here we go...

1) My favorite ice cream flavor is Baskin Robbin's Mint Chocolate Chip - green, florescent dye and all. I prefer it over all of the other, more gourmet versions of the flavor. I think it's the chocolate "chips". They're thinner, almost gone before they hit your tongue.

2) In my first year of grad school, I was able to say that I had been to 5 schools in 6 years. Three for undergrad (although to be fair, one was only for 2 weeks) and 2 for grad school. Needless to say, I was a wee bit indecisive back then.

3) I cry without fail every time I watch the Fox and the Hound, especially the scene where Widow Tweed leaves Todd in the forest and Todd doesn't quite understand what's happening.

4) I never learned how to swim. In fact, in high school I joined the badminton team in order to get out of the swimming section of gym class. And I didn't apply to MIT because they have a swimming requirement.

5) I knit in the English style. My grandmother first taught me how when I was 6 or 7. Despite some people's best efforts to get me to change to continental, I just can't do it. It feels really weird to me and I can't maintain an even tension. Still, I need to get to it someday, it really seems to be the better way (speed-wise, etc) to knit.

6) As a kid, I loved the House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder - especially her detailed descriptions of family feasts. Whenever I had a McDonald's Caramel sundae, I would pretend the caramel sauce was maple syrup and the soft serve ice cream was snow. Laura Ingalls Wilder fans will know what I mean...

7) A Wrinkle in Time made me want to be a physicist. I read it when I was 8.

8) I hate celery cooked, but like it okay raw (especially if peanut butter is involved).

Hmmm, so who to tag? If they haven't done it yet and want to, I'll tag Iris, Angela, Stephanie, Veronique, Lisa, Melissa, Gryphon, and Stephanie.

Published (in my other life)...

2007-07-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

Physical Review B

Not much new here, working under a slog of deadlines...

Threadless

2007-07-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

A while back, my brother gave me a cute, knitting related T-shirt (Georgia) from Threadless - a website where people can submit their ideas for graphic T's with the possibility of having them printed if there's enough interest.

Now he has something up there which I love - a very moody piece filled with romance and history -- very noir-ish, very In the Mood for Love-ish (that too cool for school movie by Wong Kar Wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung).

Here it is:

Click to see it bigger. My brother's style is very subtle and it can be easy to miss the details if the picture is too small.

And if you're so inclined, you can vote for his design at the website.

Boring Post

2007-07-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

As Jen recently noted, knitting blogs without knitting are kind of boring. I've been working on a few things lately that aren't bloggable. But I think I can show snatches here and there.

Here is a swatch of something that I'm working on for JCA. It's almost done and I'm working on writing up the pattern.

Since I have several projects that are due in the next couple of weeks, I've been doing some parallel processing - swatching for one while finishing up the knitting for another while writing up the pattern for another.

Some yarn that I wound a couple of days ago for the next things in the queue:

The lovely charcoal is for a One Planet project. The purple one is some swatching yarn that Lisa kindly sent me to try. And the off white one is yak down for my second project for Yahaira's book - which is, incidentally, also almost done knitting-wise.

Have I said already that I love love love my new swift and ballwinder?

Go see Sicko

2007-07-15T13:16:00.001-07:00

My husband and I just came back from watching the new Michael Moore film - Sicko - which was mysteriously billed as a comedy at our local theatre (if only!). I'm not a political person - I'm ashamed to say that I've only voted in one election - but this movie really must be seen by everyone in the U.S.

As usual, Michael Moore overdoes it - he certainly tends to oversimplify the situation until all the shades of grey disappear and you're left with just black and white - but I think the issues he touches on should be discussed and debated and pondered, both by people in power and by the electorate that puts them there.

A really good Slate article analyzes some of Moore's missteps in the film while acknowledging that it highlights real and disturbing attributes of our failing system.

In my own mini version of Sicko, I just received a letter from my insurance company - Blue Horizon of New Jersey - denying further visits to my physical therapist for treating my knees. They had only approved 9 visits which amounts to a month of therapy, hardly enough, in my and my therapist's view, to even begin to address the problem. In their letter, they claim that since my therapist's progress report indicated that my pain is now on a scale of 4 out of 10, I have achieved the parameters necessary for daily life. Well, I beg to differ. My daily life used to consist of some exercise. Now, I can barely walk for a prolonged period of time. My heart rate has gone from 60 to 85 and my level of physical fitness and general sense of well being has deteriorated quite a bit in the 8 months since I've been sedentary. I do plan to appeal the decision by the way.

I used to be incredulous when I heard that insurance companies would reject a relatively inexpensive procedure to arrest a problem in its initial stages, thinking (naively) that when the problem worsened, they would have to shell out that much more money to make up for lost time. After seeing Sicko, I realized that insurance companies aren't worried about more expensive problems down the line because their strategy is to always deny care.

There's a very "Moore" bit in the film where his film crew follows a woman who was denied treatment by her insurance company and heads to Canada where she's "married" to a Canadian friend, giving her access to Canada's health care. It's played partly for laughs, but watching it made me glad that I'm married to an Italian. From him, I know that a nationalist health care system isn't the cure-all (no pun intended) Moore tries to make it out to be. Still, I think I will try to get that Italian citizenship through my marriage to him after all.

A thoughtful gift & a late night film

2007-07-13T21:01:00.001-07:00

Fellow bloggers are the nicest people. I made an offhand comment several weeks ago to Edna about the deplorable state of my circular needles. When I first started knitting again 7 years ago, I was overly enthusiastic but on a grad school budget, so I bought several huge lots of needles from ebay estate sales. Over the years, I've acquired some needles of my own (mostly addis) and just added them to the collection, which is housed in a brown paper bag punctured through in places by the straights I no longer use. Any time I start a new project, it's a frustrating treasure hunt through unmarked, tangled needles. Edna took pity on me and kindly offered to send me a circular solutions holder that she claims she never uses (I really hope that's the case!). Here is the package I received yesterday from her - note the cheerful wrapping and the cute card:

And the goodie inside with two of my addis in them:

There's a velcro fastening at the top where you can insert a coat hanger to discretely stow your now organized circular needle collection in an out of the way closet. Thanks so much, Edna!

Last night, my husband and I took in a late showing of the new Harry Potter film. The film felt really rushed in places (the book which the film is based on is 800+ pages!) and some details (relatively insignificant) were changed, but in general I liked it. I especially liked the exhilarating nighttime broomstick ride through a lit up London towards the beginning of the film. Seeing magic set against the backdrop of a modern city is very thrilling for some reason - I thought that scene was really well done. Unfortunately, I thought the film deteriorated a bit from then on. But I did enjoy seeing all the lovely sweaters that we've come to expect from a Harry Potter film. In particular, I liked the vest Ginny Weasley wore on Christmas morning. And some of Hermione's sweaters were great too. I found myself thinking of sweater construction for most of the film. Now, that's obsession isn't it?

Knit blogger meet ups and marathon knitting

2007-07-09T20:01:00.001-07:00

Several Fridays ago, I finally went to one of the weekly Spider meetups at the Point Cafe. Olga and Vanessa were in town from DC and the Bay Area, respectively. The meetup was a little overwhelming (lots of people to meet!), but fun. Olga was fresh off her Knitty debut and Vanessa had the most tempting of Habu yarn (something silky and mohair-y) that she was swatching. I also met Veronique and Melissa, both of whom I've been eager to meet for a while, as well as Cara, Virginia, Lisa, and Sandra . It was really nice to be among like-minded (read, obsessed) individuals. Here's the group of us who went to dinner after the meetup. Veronique has a similar picture on her blog where she swapped places with me:

In other news, the monster skein has been conquered and is now literally a shell of its former self:

This is the result of a solid weekend of knitting. My hands are quite sore, but one design is almost finished.

That's what I call a big skein

2007-07-04T21:04:00.001-07:00

Last week, I finally bought a ball winder to go along with my new simple swift from Italy. And today, I used it to wind one of the largest skeins of yarn I've ever seen (aside from those mega-huge laceweight skeins from Handmaiden). For comparison's sake, here's the skein next to a piddly skein of Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift yarn:

And here's the wound ball, still sitting on the ball winder:

The yarn is for my next project, something for Yahaira's PureKnits book. It's a lambswool, angora, and cashmere blend - very dry to the touch, but interesting. I think the final fabric it'll make will be lovely.

Hope everyone in the States had a happy fourth! We ate blueberries and strawberries to commemorate the occasion. I wanted to get Cool Whip for the white part of the red, white, and blue, but had to settle for some lemon yogurt that was already in the fridge because all of the grocery shops nearby were closed.

Coming up for air

2007-07-02T19:13:00.002-07:00

I've been completely swamped the last two weeks, buried under a mountain of yarn and a fast approaching (and then receding) deadline. I think I finally managed to send in something I'm happy with and that I hope they will be happy with. It's the most difficult project I've done and I was second guessing my choices the entire way. I think I've knit 3 sweaters worth just for this one project!

Inspired by Kate Gilbert's another look at her winged top from the summer's Interweave, I thought I would post a picture of me wearing Auburn Mist (from the summer Knitter's) and compare it to the Knitter's model wearing it:

See how short the sweater is on the model? The sleeves come down to the tops of my hands, but they reach only her upper wrists. Originally, this was supposed to be a moderately shaped, tunic-y sweater, but it ended up being a lot more sleek than I intended - which is okay, but not what I was thinking when I first sketched this out. The yarn is Trendsetter SuperKid Seta, a twin of one of my faves (Kidsilk Haze), but it's not a yarn that I would choose to make a fitted garment out of. I'm in the process of making this for myself out of Kidsilk Haze in the ice cream shade, but I had to put it aside a couple of months ago. The last time I worked on it was in April, on a car trip from Ithaca to NJ:

It's good car and TV knitting - most of it is in stockinette and the lace, once you get to it, is very easy to memorize. And Kidsilk Haze is always yummy to work with.

Anyway, my petite stature (which sounds better than just saying I'm short) makes it really difficult to design sometimes. I always have to keep in mind that my arms and torso are a little shorter than an average woman. I should just get a dress form, shouldn't I?

Inaugural spin

2007-06-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

I'm beginning to feel like a real knitter! When I was in Milano, in addition to my yarn purchase, I bought a simple, but lovely wooden swift. I've resisted this for years, preferring to wind yarn hanks either with my husband's help or by laying the hank out on a flat surface and carefully picking my way through it; but ever since I've started regarding knitting more seriously (first, with a sample knitting gig with Hickory at Knitting Etc, then with designing), I've slowly started accruing the tools (toys) of a proper knitter. Now, armed with a blocking board and swift, I think I'm only missing a ball winder (though I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting).

I've documented the inaugural spin of my swift here:

And here is the swift neatly folded up and ready to be put away:

The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton in Color 628, destined for the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell by Angela Hahn. Can't wait to start knitting it. Hopefully I'll have it done by the time the weather cools a little bit (Blue Sky cotton is quite heavy due to the gauge and isn't exactly a summer yarn in my opinion - it's more spring/fall-ish).

My Hexagon Bag now available at One Planet Yarn and Fiber

2007-06-06T20:41:00.001-07:00

My Hexagon Bag is now available at One Planet Yarn and Fiber. This is the first pattern I've done for them and everyone there is so nice to work with! I have another pattern in development with them and I can't wait to get started on it.

This was my first felted project and I was so entranced by the experience that I immediately casted on and finished another felted project (the Lucy Bag) within hours of finishing the One Planet project. It was a bit scary to put the bag into the washing machine. Fortunately, my cousin is a felting extraordinaire and she kindly lent me both her washing machine and her expertise. Here's an action shot of her helping me stuff the hexagon bag fresh out of the washing machine:

The bag's main two panels are done in fair isle to give it a bit more structure. It was fun to not worry too much about tension in my fair-isling since I knew the felting process would erase all (almost) sins. Here's a picture of it wrong side out:

And a side view of the bag to show off the slightly tapered side panels:

The yarn (Lanas Puras) is incredibly soft and nice to work with. I was initially worried about felting such a beautiful, handpainted yarn - that its beauty would be wasted, but the felted fabric still retained the handpainted striations. The felting softened the effect a bit, but that was gorgeous in its own way.

Home

2007-06-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

Everything worked out in the end and the flight itself - other than a short half hour delay - was uneventful. Unfortunately, for some reason Alitalia didn't show any movies, just the map of the route with a small plane icon inching its way slowly across the Atlantic. So I read a small volume by Gino Strada, an Italian doctor who volunteers overseas in Africa and the Middle East. The book was in Italian, which was challenging for my rusty skills and my poor husband was interrupted from his reading (a Diabolik comic) every ten minutes by my persistent questions. When he later fell asleep, I was left to my own devices, but I managed somehow. I need to rally and re-commence learning Italian so that our next trip out there will be smoother for me.

Last Wednesday I took advantage of the few nice weather days we had in Italy to spend the afternoon in Como and meet Angela, a fellow knit blogger. You should have seen the look on my mother-in-law and sister-in-law's faces though when I told them I was meeting someone I met over the internet :) This was my first in-person meeting with a blogger and the experience was great. Angela is just as lovely as her many beautiful designs.

We walked around the old town center - I especially liked the ancient walls dating from the Roman era that still surround parts of the city - and then took the funicular to Brunate. This is the view from the funicular. Unfortunately, my camera isn't the best and I couldn't get rid of the glare coming from the glass - still, you should be able to make out the main duomo and the many red roofs of Como.

We then had lunch at one of the many cafes dotting the lake side and afterwards walked a bit more. Before leaving, Angela kindly pointed me towards two yarn shops. Yarn shops in Italy are strange beasts. Instead of a retail space devoted just to yarn, knitting tools, and pattern booklets, Italian yarn shops seemed to be split evenly between yarn, embroidery/cross stitch crafts, baby items, socks, and house linens - making their identification by sight a tricky proposition. For example, I took a picture of the shop window to the first store Angela pointed me to below (I love the honeysuckle vine on the wall!):

Despite not intending to buy any more yarn, I was swayed by this lovely linen yarn (a material I haven't tried knitting in before). I bought just enough to make a sleeveless shell for myself. It's a yarn company (Silke by Arvier) I've never heard of before and is produced locally in Bergamo. At least, that was my justification for the purchase!

Ancora Qui (Still Here)

2007-06-04T06:41:00.001-07:00

Due to a mix-up with Orbitz and Alitalia, we are still here in Italy. Unfortunately, this isn't as grand as it sounds. While we're grateful for the additional time with my husband's family, the last two days we've been chained to the house while my husband calls (and is often put on hold for 30 minutes at a time) Orbitz, Alitalia, and Virgin airlines. Each passes us to the next company, eschewing responsibilty. Apparently, our original flight for Sunday was canceled altogether and Orbitz (or Alitalia, we're not exactly sure which) rescheduled us (without notifying us) for an *earlier* flight. Needless to say, we missed it and it's been a circus ever since.

At any rate, despite the bad weather of the last week, we managed two quick trips (afternoon only) to Como and Milano and stash acquisition was achieved.

First, we went to Milano where I visited the Centro della Lana again and got my skeins of Principessa. They are of a heavier weight than I remember (sport vs. fingering), but I think they'll still make a nice cardigan. Here they are languishing in the sun in my mother in law's garden:

We didn't do too much in Milano, but we did go up on the roof of the Duomo - an imposing, gothic-style church full of intricate details (life size statues encased in wrought spires, etc). My favorite feature is the repetitive motifs (it appeals to the physicist in me) evocative of the delicate branches of a fractal. I tried to capture it in the below photo, but I wasn't too successful I think:

The day after that we went to Como, but I'll save that for another post. Suffice to say, Como is a lovely city. Previously, I had only seen it at night, and I will definitely drag the poor husband out there again in the future (especially since it's only 20 miles away from his town and parking along the lake is cheap - 1 euro for 4 hours!)

Porca miseria!

2007-05-31T03:34:00.000-07:00

The post title refers to the weather here in Northern Italy, which is still rainy and altogether dreary. If I'm not mistaken, "porca miseria" means something like "what a pain" or something like that. Hopefully, I'm not posting a phrase that's really obscene or offensive. My husband says it quite a bit, but he's been known to be quite, ah shall we say, colorful in his language -- though he's toned it down quite a bit in the years (eight!) that I've known him.

At any rate, it's raining here yet again, confining us to the house. We were supposed to get away on a quick one-night trip to Liguria (the Italian Riviera) and hike along the towns of Cinque Terre. It's a hike I've wanted to do for quite a while and I'm disappointed that the rain has put the kibosh on our plans.

I'll leave you with some strange (to me at least!) Italian cuisine which is another (sick I suppose) reason for the post title (literal translation - pig misery?). It's a link of completely raw sausage. Raw means raw -- no smoking, no curing of any kind. I tried a half link since I'm Chinese and pride myself on trying everything at least once, but I admit that the idea was a bit daunting. Silly I know, since I eat sushi without a second thought, but somehow raw pork seems scarier.

Knitter's debut

2007-05-27T04:47:00.001-07:00

My first two print designs are out (sort of...):

I've been checking Knitter's site like a woman obsessed for the past month, waiting for their summer preview to go up online and it looks like it's finally there. I'm not sure when the issue will hit newsstands, but I'm away at the moment anyway.

Here, in Italy, it's been raining on and off the entire day. I hope the weather clears up soon (but doesn't get too hot) in the next few days!

Off to Italy!

2007-05-23T14:43:00.001-07:00

I'm off to Italy tonight. Temperatures are in the 90s. Ugh. Hopefully I can convince my husband to take a short mini trip to Liguria, which is by the coast. His family lives very inland, hence the hot temps.

Before I left, I thought I would post about my next next project - a felted coin purse made out of Jamieson & Smith's Spindrift 2 ply. After my glove adventure, I feel eager to dip my toes into the fair isle pool again. And what better way to do it then indulging in my new favorite sub-hobby - felting? I love limes and blues together. I think my knitting bag reflects that. I'm going to attempt to design the coin purse myself and it'll be used for odds and ends (stitch markers, Chibi needle cases, etc) that go into my knitting bag.

This project won't be coming with me to Italy, I have a more pressing knit item that needs attention first.

Happy week!

Wrinkle in Time Reissue

2007-05-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

I just read that one of my favorite books of all time is being re-issued for its 45th anniversary. Of course, A Wrinkle in Time has been in print continuously as far as I know throughout its 45 year life - and justifiably so. As a kid, I hungrily devoured all of the adventures of the Murray and O'Keefe clan - even such peripheral Murray/O'Keefe books like Dragon in the Waters and The Arm of the Starfish. And I'm in awe of Ms. L'Engle's reach over the decades, inspiring and delighting young readers. It's a wonderful, powerful, and lasting legacy.

In other news, Knitter's Review is doing a review of Punta Del Este's yarn. I was lucky enough to knit with Mericash for a sample for Knitting Etc and I have to second Clara's review - it's a really soft yarn. Knitting with it was *so* enjoyable, that I was a little sad when I cast off that last stitch (a little sick, I know...). I don't really know how it holds up since it was 1) a sample and 2) a baby sweater - which tends to wear differently than larger pieces I think. The fabric almost seemed felted already since it was very soft and singly plied. But it made a very pleasant fabric and the subtle color variations are gorgeous. Lucky Ithacans also have access via Knitting Etc to Punta Del Este's linen, cotton, and wool yarns too.

This is getting boring I know...

2007-05-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

I finished the 3rd glove and it matches its mate (the 2nd glove) in size perfectly. I'm so impressed with myself for finishing 3 gloves. I'm usually so bad at finishing the 2nd sock, the 2nd glove, the 2nd sleeve, etc. Still, knitting the same glove over and over again doesn't make for very exciting blog posts, sorry... But I'm quite pleased with my fair isle knitting experience and may even tackle a larger project next - maybe one of Nancy Bush's Estonian socks (where the fair isle is confined to the cuff) or even a sweater!

Hopefully soon I'll have a little more to post. I think One Planet Yarn and Fiber is releasing one of my patterns soon. When they do, I'll be able to post some of my own pictures and impressions of the project.

I'm also working on a secret project that I'm really excited about. I don't mean to be coy, but I'm superstitious and don't want to jinx this. Feel free to email me if you're curious, I just don't want to post it in a public place. Suffice it to say that it's something that I've been pursuing for a few months and am thrilled that it's happening.

3rd glove syndrome

2007-05-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

I did finish the second glove. And look how good I was, I made the second glove a left glove too so I wouldn't be tempted to just stop at the second glove and use a mismatched (size-wise) pair.

The second glove is slightly too large, but I prefer a slightly large glove to a slightly small glove. Now, I just need to cast on and knit its mate (easier said than done).

Thoughts on the pattern:

I like the pattern. There's a definite left and right hand which is nice since our hands aren't identical. I also like the amount of fair isle in the gloves - just enough to provide visual interest, but not so much as to be overwhelming for a first time fair isler.

Making the glove a second time was instructive. I always have problems with holes in gloves. I find that I need to pick up more stitches than the miserly number patterns usually prescribe. I then reduce the amount of stitches to the right amount on succeeding rounds. Any remaining gaps, I fill in when weaving in ends.

2nd or 3rd Glove Syndrome?

2007-04-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

I finished a glove and here she is in all her fair isle glory:

But, alas, she is too small! The pattern calls for 8 sts/in, but it's a one-size fits all pattern and my hand span is a bit smaller than the average hand. Plus, trying on Calia's almost completed glove at the shop, I figured I could knit it a bit tighter and have it fit perfectly. Unfortunately, I guess I overdid the tight knitting (as usual) and my gauge turned out to be 9.5 sts/in. So, the glove fits, but kind of cuts off my circulation too.

Thus the 2nd (and 3rd) glove dilemma. I have a few orphaned socks lounging about waiting for their mates to be finished and I suspect I won't be any more conscientious with gloves - especially gloves that I've already knit poorly the first time out. I've cast on for a second glove in the next needle size. Let's see how far I'll get before I throw in the towel.

Still, this glove sans hand is quite pretty. I wish I could frame it and not waste my efforts completely...

FOs and the beginnings of fair isle obsession

2007-04-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I just finished my first felted project (a design for One Planet Yarn and Fiber that I can't reveal yet) and I find myself wanting to make more felted objects - slippers, bags, pouches, makeup bags, etc. To satisfy this new thirst, I casted on for the Lucy Bag last week and managed to finish it this week. With the help of my wonderfully talented cousin - who's a felting and knitting adept, I present to you, my latest finished object, the Lucy Bag:

The pattern called for 3 skeins of Cascade 220 for the large ball bag, but I managed to finish it with just 2 skeins. I used one of the gorgeous heather colorways of Cascade 220. I was torn between a beautiful, light turquoise heather and this richer, chestnut heather. In the end, I opted for the more practical color, one that would meld better with a variety of different outfits. It's a really simple pattern, but very cute, with a shorter strap serving as the closure.

Next up are these fair isle gloves from Sarah Dallas' Scottish Inspirations:

I really love Sarah Dallas' work. Her Vintage Knits book is one of my favorite pattern books. And I just admire her aesthetic - classic knits with great details. I saw Calia, part of Knitting Etc's team, working on these gloves last Tuesday at the shop and immediately felt the familiar pangs of project lust. Calia's gloves were very similar to the colorways (if I'm not misremembering) of the gloves in the book. Mine are a bit different. I had some leftover wool from one of my trips to Italy and there was some great Jamieson's at the shop. This is my first real attempt at fair isle and I really like the results. Next, I have to learn how to do two handed fair isle. And then I'll truly be a part of the church of fair isle.
Here is my glove so far:

Finished Rowan Bag

2007-04-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

I finally finished this sample for Knitting Etc, but forgot to post about it.

The yarn is Rowan Silk Wool, a DK weight blend. The pattern is from the Rowan Silk Wool book. There are really gorgeous things in the booklet. I love the cover turtleneck with its graceful center cable, for example.

I didn't line the bag since it was destined to be a shop sample and not actually used. But I think if I were to make the bag for myself, I would definitely line it. The wool isn't felted and so it's not really sturdy on its own.

Speaking of felted bags, I just finished my first felted project. Unfortunately, I can't show pictures yet because it's a design project for One Planet Yarn & Fiber, but they seem to have a quick turnaround time for releasing patterns (I just sent them the bag today) and so I hope to be able to post pictures of it really soon!

But now that I've had a taste of felting, I can feel myself getting obsessed. I started this Lucy Bag yesterday with a lovely shade of Cascade Heathers 220. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the yarn is a deep brown color with lovely, subtle reddish, orangish, greenish flecks:

The Best LYS

2007-04-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered, does LYS stand for Local Yarn Shop or Little Yarn Shop? I guess for me, since my LYS is located in Ithaca (NY) and I live in New Brunswick (NJ), LYS will have to stand for Little Yarn Shop since Ithaca and New Brunswick aren't local to each other by any stretch of the imagination (for the curious, Mapquest puts the distance at 215 miles).

Knitting Etc is the most welcoming yarn shop I've ever been to (and if you ask my husband, that's a lot of shops since I often plan trips around visiting the area's yarn meccas). There's a long, rectangular table set in the center of the store where everyone is welcome to sit for a spell (or 8 hours!) and knit, talk, or flip through books. Hickory, the owner, is very knowledgeable about knitting and yarn - often identifying yarn and patterns with the barest hint. To be in Knitting Etc is to be surrounded by a heady nirvana of textures, colors, and inspiration. It's often the first place I go to when I set foot in Ithaca.

Two Fridays ago, Knitting Etc had its first Happy Hour - a two hour stitch-eat-n-bitch fest. But I'll let the photos tell the story:

That's Ellie (Hickory's sister and a new knitter who's already knitting socks, hats, and her first sweater) on the left in the second photo, trying to duck out of my camera's range.

I'm just glad Knitting Etc in its current incarnation didn't exist when I was a grad student at Cornell - I would have gotten even less done if it had!

Class with Kate Gilbert Woo Hoo!

2007-04-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be taking a class with Kate Gilbert (of Clapotis, and Interweave Knits fame) tomorrow morning in Rochester! Yay! I love her designs and while the class is a basic raglan sweater class, I'm really excited about meeting her and (hopefully) soaking up a bit of her extensive knowledge.

One Weird Thing About Me

2007-03-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

There's this meme going around - six weird things about me - where the subject reveals six weird things about him/her. Well, once I start, I might not be able to stop so I'll just confine myself to one, knitting-related weird thing about me.

I get stressed when yarn cakes start to look like this:

This is a cake of Lanas Puras Melosa - a handdyed, single ply, very soft yarn from South America. When I'm getting close to the end of a wound skein of yarn, I start to worry about the integrity of the skein dissolving and tangled ends. Of course I can't think of a time when this has actually happened (other than that one time a wound skein of Handmaiden's sea silk disintegrated into an unruly mess - that's slippery stuff). I think this discomfort is related to my similarly weird phobia of melting ice cream (okay, so that's two weird things!).

Speaking of ice cream, here's some recent stash acquisition:
It's kidsilk haze in a new shade - ice cream (doesn't that sound yummy?). It's a pale pink/peach/cream color that's very delicate. I think it's going to become that pullover I designed and just sent off.

In other news, the cover of the book I contributed a design to was just revealed. The cover jacket was designed and knit by Olga - go and congratulate her on a job well done! :)
I really like the photography (photography can really make or break a knitting book) and can't wait to see what the other designs are like.

You know it's late when...

2007-03-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

...the Nickelodean channel programming changes from guilty pleasures sitcoms from the 80s/90s (i.e. Full House) to kid shows (i.e. Rugrats) -- for the record, that happens at 6 a.m.

I'm off to sleep!

Pretty yarn, American Idol, and Eunny Jang

2007-03-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Look! Pretty yarn!

After giving myself a two-day break, I'm ready to start my next design project. The yarn is Lanas Puras, a supersoft worsted weight merino handdyed by the talented Yarn Botanika - look at the subtle variation in the cream skein (gorgeous!). The skeins are wound up and ready for swatching. I find that that first stitch is always hardest for me. I like to look at the beautiful yarn and dream of the possibilities. Casting on and actually knitting seems to whittle away these possibilities, making mundane what once was boundless. But lest you think I'm overly negative, I should say that I have been pleased with final products. Still, that mental block can be hard to overcome.

Being out of a job is a weird and kind of stressful experience. I find myself watching American Idol for the first time. I never understood the appeal of this show, but this was before I watched a minute of it. Now, after faithfully watching season 6 from initial auditions to Hollywood week to the current 11-finalist lineup, I am hooked. There is something fascinating about watching these contestants go from unpolished a cappella riffing in a small room with just the 3 judges in attendance to singing in a concert hall wearing stylist-assisted wardrobes. You feel like you know the person, you have an investment in their success, you cringe at their missteps and rejoice in their triumphs. Having said that, I have yet to (and probably never will) vote.

In much the same way as I've come to root for certain Idol contestants, I also root for those bloggers I read regularly. Their successes are exciting; their disappointments sad. I guess that's why Eunny Jang's announcement generated such commotion in the blogworld -- something good was happening to someone we "know". I started reading her blog about a year ago, when her comments numbered in the 50s rather than the 100s. And even then, I joined the bandwagon late, long after her popularity had already taken firm hold. And so while I'm thrilled for her, it's the displaced thrill of a citizen for a celebrity; does that make sense or am I babbling?

Obsessions

2007-03-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

I just sent this:

off to a magazine. I debated how much to show here, but in the end, opted to be safe. I don't think they'd be too pleased if I showed too much of the stitch pattern. Suffice it to say, I couldn't stop petting it - it's very soft and light. When it comes out, I'll post more about this then. I hope it won't be too long a wait - it's very hard to complete something and not share!

I've been intermittently obsessed about making a simple, moderately fitted cardigan out of Jaggerspun Zephyr - a wonderfully soft merino/silk laceweight yarn that comes in beautiful colors. There's an almost tweedy character to the shades due to the shifts in dye intensity when it comes in contact with the merino and silk. I have a cone of the suede (toffee) shade burning a hole in my stash. At first, it was to become this:
I've knit this already for a friend (but forgot to take a photo before it was gifted - drat!) out of the recommended Suss Fishnet Alpaca yarn (a doubled yarn composed of 2 laceweight strands of an alpaca/viscose blend). And I wanted one for myself, but in a slightly less fuzzy yarn. I saw something very similar to this recently at the BCBG Outlet store and still love it; so I think I'll still knit this someday in Jaggerspun Zephyr.

But the moderately fitted cardigan continues to beckon. I'd love to kill 2 birds with one stone and possibly submit whatever I come up with as a design idea for some publication - the problem is that I've rarely seen Jaggerspun Zephyr used for anything other than shawls/scarves in commercial publications. Knitting a long-sleeved cardigan out of a laceweight yarn - even if it's knit in a slightly larger gauge to give a somewhat sheer effect - doesn't have much widespread appeal I guess. Oh well...

The problem with obsessions is that they never quite leave you alone. They interrupt your thoughts, burrow their way into your subconscious, and refuse to be exorcised until they're realized - one way or another.

Physics Love

2007-02-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

I was browsing Nature's (journal of general science - very prestigious to be published there) website and came across this article.

I'm not sure how long the link will stay up - the journal is weekly and the website changes accordingly. I guess it's less about physics love and more about academia love. It definitely sounds tough to have a two academic career family. It's funny, when I met my husband that first week or so of graduate school, that was the trajectory both of our lives were taking. Now, he's aiming to enter finance and I'm trying to get a job in energy policy - so we're both straying from physics academia and hopefully into jobs with many opportunities in many cities.

One of the least appealing aspects of academia for me has always been the lack of great universities in great cities. Now, I know there are the Harvards in Boston, the Stanfords in the bay area, etc, etc, but if you fail to get one of the coveted and desperately few spots at one of those institutions, you're often stuck in the middle of nowhere at a middling place doing good work. I guess I just don't love the field enough to sacrifice quality of life. It's sad when the passions of childhood give way to the realities of adulthood, isn't it?

Rowan bag

2007-02-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

Finally I have some actual knitting content I can post. I've been working on this bag from the Rowan Silk Wool book for a few months as a sample for Knitting Etc in Ithaca. I'm almost done and I can't wait to sew it up. Just the gusset strip left to go before I can block and assemble. I love how rich the bag handles look with the inlaid braided cables. I'm not usually a fan of knitted bags - felted or otherwise, but this particular specimen is very drool worthy.