Through your generosity, I raised $91.50 for Doctors Without Borders through pattern sales! I’m rounding it out to $100, since DWB can use all the money they can get! Thanks to everyone for buying the pattern and supporting Haiti relief!
February 1, 2010
January 16, 2010
Just a quick post!
Hi all! I just wanted to let you know that until the end of January, 50% of all my pattern sales will go to Doctors Without Borders. We’ve got to help Haiti! So please take a look through my knit and crochet patterns and consider buying them (or make a donation on your own to DWB, The Red Cross or another reputable organization).
Thanks for your support!
January 5, 2010
Ray of Light Shawl
I have so much to blog about, but hardly any time to blog! I’ve come out of hibernation to announce a new pattern I’ve designed!
This is the Ray of Light Shawl I designed for my friend Leslie. It’s a pretty simple pattern with a couple twists. I love the sleek lines throughout it!
The design is charted, so I don’t recommend it if you’re completely new to charted lace (though it is not too complicated, and I’m sure if you have a bit of lace in your background, you could easily figure it out). In the instructions, I have also included recommendations for how to make the shawl larger (the sample is more of a shawlette or scarf sized). It only took about 350 yards of laceweight, so you could also make a heavier one out of sock yarn (I plan to do this in the future)!
Check it out on Ravelry or 
September 7, 2009
Supersecretness
I am going to attempt to blog at least once a week, since people from real life told me they want me to so they can keep tabs on what I’m working on…and who wants to disappoint them? Certainly not me!
The problem is, for the next two weeks(ish), I’m working on a SUPERSECRET project. Yes, you heard me. So secret it’s in all caps. Except not secret enough that I haven’t previously mentioned it and it’s not on Ravelry.
Anyway, I have finished up two pairs of socks. The first was the July Mystery Sock from SKA on Ravelry. I heavily modded it so that it doesn’t really look like the actual socks. I wanted to continue the striping up the leg, but I did the sock two at a time from both ends of two balls of yarn, so tangling was an issue. I finally just got fed up and gave up on the striping.
Details here.
My second pair is for my beloved ex-roommate, who is off gallivanting through Spain as we speak. I’m going to visit her in October, so I’ll give her these when I get there. Meanwhile, yesterday they served as eye candy when I brought them to the Vassar activities fair to attract new members to our charity knitting club (of which I am currently the president!). I got a lot of questions about the yarn, which you can find on Etsy (she also sells Finding Nemo yarn, which I obviously own).
Details here.
I did cast on two socks for SKA September, one being the yellow mystery sock by Nancy Bush (I now have a newfound love for all things yellow) and the other being the socks from the last shipment of the Loopy Ewe sock club. The new shipment is at my house right now, but my mom showed it to me on Skype and it’s (SPOILER ALERT) Wollmeise! I’m so excited to see it in person!
Until next time, when I can maybe tell you more about my supersecret project!
June 20, 2009
Lace Love
I finally finished my Kiri shawl! It was supposed to be a Mother’s Day present for my mom, but instead I finished it right before Father’s Day. My Father’s Day socks for my dad are not nearly done yet, but they will be eventually.
Here’s the shawl unblocked:
And here it is blocked:
And here is my mom wearing it:
I love the lace! So addicting! And now I’m working on a lacy Girasole blanket for super-secret recipients! I’m finishing up Chart B (the pic shows me transferring my stitches to a circular needle) and so far it’s going great. As everyone has already said, the pattern is so well-written and fun!
More progress pics to come!
June 4, 2009
Comfort Knitting
This week I had my wisdom teeth out, which meant that there was a lot of sitting around watching TV and knitting. Since my last post (which was millions of years ago), I have finished a few projects, started one or two, and made some headway on others. Also, I’ve put myself on a stash diet for the summer. By immersing myself in my current stash and working on finishing stuff, I’m hoping to curb my buying habits and save some moolah. Let’s hope it all works out!
So here’s my FO report: two pairs of socks!
First, my Fern Stitch Socks in Koigu KPPPM.
I heavily modded these to adapt to 60 stitches. I also used a mini-flap and a garter stitch short row heel a la FluffyKnitterDeb. I love the way they turned out!
My second pair is Kiila, the mystery sock from SKA designed by Yarnissima. They are made with Dream in Color Smooshy, which is one of my favorites, but the yarn got a little unsmooshy after being wound into a ball. My other Smooshy didn’t feel at all like this. Anyway, I love the way these fit, though I did have to modify them a bit.
I’ve also been working on my Kiri, Stripey Knee Highs, both of my sock yarn blankies, another charity blanket and some other projects. I started Herringbone Rib Socks for my dad for Father’s Day. I can barely stand knitting them, but I need a present for him, so I’m being diligent.
Here’s how my Sock Yarn Blankie is coming. I have a Full sized bed, and I’m hoping this will fit on a King sized bed. I’ve even started the I-cord edging in black.
Hopefully in the next few weeks there will be little to no buying and lots of knitting to make up for it!
April 23, 2009
Resisting
So, as I posted a month or so ago, I broke my stash diet because I felt like I had knitted a significant amount out of my stash. But after that, I went completley hog wild! So I’m going to reinstitute a stash diet…not a complete one, but one for yarns I don’t absolutely have to have. Also, I want my bank account to stay above a certain level, and stash buying is not conducive to that!
My knitting mojo has waned a bit recently, but I have made good progress. I’m half done with my Kiri (pictures to come soon!) and steadily working on some socks. I really want an instant gratification project, and I’m so tempted to cast on DK weight ankle socks, but I don’t want another project floating around. I’m going to Montreal this weekend, and I’ll focus on getting my Under the Sea socks finished, and maybe then I’ll cast on new socks. But I’d like to get some stuff done too! It’s hard because I have such a lovely stash, and I’m constantly wanting to use it all and make beautiful things with my yarn. But alas, I need to finish stuff so I can have free needles to cast on more stuff!
February 24, 2009
Kreativ Blogger Award
Tinna gave me this, which was totally sweet of her. So now I have to nominate 8 other blogs accordingly.
1.Tiennie Knits - Wow! This woman knits like 85 of each item and every single one is beautiful!
2.Ysolda - She is amazing. Go check it out now if you’ve never seen her knitting.
3.Brooklyn Tweed - Is there anyone who doesn’t love this blog?
4.Grumperina - The inventor of the Jaywalker and an amazing knitter.
5.WendyKnits - This is probably one of my favorite blogs. And there are cute cat pics.
6.JanuaryOne - BABY!!! And I met her for a minute at Rhinebeck.
7.Shelly Kang - The designer of the Sock Yarn Blankie that has taken over my life. Plus her kids are adorable.
8.Yarn Harlot - My favorite knitting blog of all time. Stephanie is my hero.
In other news, I finished sock number one of my Spring Forwards (no pictures yet!) and started on number two. Hopefully I will finish the pair this week. I should go work on them right now!
February 21, 2009
Almosts
I almost just broke my yarn diet.
Let me explain:
Every year, there’s a nerd convention at my school called Non-Con. They get all sorts of weirdos to come and they sell things in the college center like corsets and jewlery and anime shirts. Last year, my friend from Marist who is president of their Anime Society told me about how some lady there sells yarn (that’s where she learned to knit!) and that I should go. So last year I went and bought some yarn.
I decided to stop by again this year. The yarn was pretty much the same-mostly Tofutsies and OnLine sock yarn, with some other stuff thrown in. A lot of it was discontinued, like Louet KidLin and Elsabeth Lavold Silky Tweed (don’t ask me how I know this, I retain more information about yarn than for any class I’m currently taking). But the colors were blech. There was some really soft cashmere that I thought about, but it was in weird colors. So I checked my wallet and noticed I was a little low on cash, and I’m going out with my friends to IHOP tomorrow, so I didn’t want to waste it. The ATM was broken, so I took that as a sign and walked away.
I’m getting to the point where I only want to buy yarn if it’s the type I know I can’t live without. Sure, sometimes yarn fumes will make me buy things I don’t want (in sweater quantities). But I’m learning that my stash should only be reserved for the best and brightest. I’ve sold and traded a couple skeins that just don’t do it for me anymore, so I’m not going to waste more money on yarn I don’t love. Plus, there are so many great LYS’s out there that I feel like I should save my money for them. Especially once I have access to my car again.
But for now, the yarn diet lives on. It’s not so much a diet as a stash reduction process. So I can buy yarn as long as I’m diligent in using up some of the stuff I have (mostly for space issues, but there’s a money factor too). I have so many WIPs that I feel like buying more yarn right now might just be excessive.
I’m just too damn pragmatic to be a stash whore.
