novamade

to maine and back

Lolly has mentioned to me that I need to do a better job giving a head's up when I am going somewhere.  I will try to work on that.  In the meantime, I went to Maine over the weekend; and, I had a great time.   Saturday was rainy, Sunday was perfect (if you are into that whole sun thing). I actually like the rain.  And a rainy day is perfect for shop-hopping, particularly of the yarn variety.  There are many yarny places of fun in Maine, I only had time for two places though.

 

First thing, fuel for the journey. Bintliff's American Cafe (best breakfast place EVAH), worth the 4 hour drive, all by itself. After breakfast and a brief stop in Freeport (L.L. Bean, anyone?), we headed up to Brunswick to visit Ms. Purl Diva. 

I LOVED this shop.

 

Ellen has a great selection of yarn, she is really friendly and the customers all talk to each other like they are old friends. 

Even Loki gets in on the fun.

My search for more Dream in Color yarn was what originally led me to Purl Diva, but I am so glad it was my first yarn shop stop. It was a great visit.  And I will just say I was very successful in my purchases and leave it at that.

My other yarn stop was Halcyon Yarn. 

Oddly enough, the store was smaller than I thought it would be.  But, I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed (which leads me to believe that a trip to Webs might not be the best idea for me, but I am willing to build my resolve). 

I really liked the way the store was arranged. 

Floor to ceiling color, gorgeousness everywhere. 

I didn't go in with a plan and mostly just looked around.  I wasn't planning to buy much, or anything in particular at all, actually.  I had a vague idea about buying yarn for mitts for Special K and "maybe something suitable for lace."  I ended up getting some gorgeous lace-weight silk orange-red stuff, some light orange wool for something fun (I have no idea, the color was fantastic), and then an inky skein of Malabrigo for mitts for the man.  And then the man says, he doesn't think he'd have any interest in mitts that provide no finger coverage.  Your loss buddy.  I mean, Malabrigo, people. 

After yarn shopping, eating, visiting with friends and sleeping, we ended the trip by looking at some lighthouses and playing in a few parks.

It was a good trip.  Now, back to the knitting of socks.

obsessions, healthy and otherwise

Is it just me, or is it easy to catch a little bit of crazy without realizing it?  Just me?

So you know how I "like" (or obsess over, you pick) Pushing Daisies?  Apparently, the show has been picked up for the rest of the season.  To celebrate, I have instituted "Pie hole Wednesdays" (I know this is a Thursday post; but, the pie was made while watching Pushing Daisies...on Wednesday, as it were).  Leslie has her "cookie of the week", and so, I will have my pie...sure I am more of a cake person, but Ned is a pie maker and not a cake baker, so there you are.  First pie (which, truth be told, isn't really a pie at all)...

Chocolate Chip Pie.  Humongous chocolate chip cookie baked in a pie pan?  You betcha.  I encourage you to catch a little of the crazy and make the (pseudo) pie too, seriously (4 fork rating, people!!).

And then there is the single sock thing.  When Megan started the whole movement during the summer, my initial reaction was, "now that is a bandwagon I can hitch a ride on..."  But here is the thing...socks, they really are meant to be worn in pairs. 

My sushi sock roll post told you about the socks that I had waiting for mates and how I was going to try and finish them by the end of November (right...) .... However, I failed to mention the likely obstacles to achieving this goal (I mean real obstacles, my inherent laziness doesn't count).  So yes, one obstacle that was not addressed... a sock I had not (at the time) started.  A sock for someone else who would probably like to see the sock sooner rather than later.  Well, I started it.

I really like the pattern, horseshoe cables and eyelets...in Shibui sock yarn (which isn't pooling at all, Ashley...it's striping, in a serendipitously engaging way--given the spiraling eyelets--or am I just telling myself that?  Is it pooling in some obvious way that I am blind too?  If it is, someone please say something.).

And then, yes, there are these...

the road to rhinebeck

I tried to think about what my intentions were for Rhinebeck this year as we drove the three hours to get there on Satruday morning.  My goals for this year's trip to Rhinebeck were not extensive; but, it's still good to have a list, just to keep yourself in check.

1) Probably the best part of these festivals is meeting your knit blogging friends...especially when you have never actually "met" them before.  I wanted to make sure tomeet up with one particular knitblogging friend and her family:

Check (she and her family were even sweeter than I thought possible! And man, does Abi LOVE Rhinebeck!)

2) Buy a sweater's worth of yarn, preferably dark brown, preferably wool:

Check. (I have no idea what I will do with it, but it will be brown, it will be warm and it will be wonderful...a winner, if you will.)

3) No more than two skeins of sock yarn, preferably something that I can not easily acquire:

Check. (On the left, naturally dyed goodness from Ancient Threads Farm, on the right Acero from Brooks Farm.)

4) Yarn for some fingerless mitts...(maybe for dashing, maybe not):

Check.

5) Test drive some spinning wheels, at the very least a Lendrum:

Check. (Hello, pretty girl.  Would you like a home?  I have a home for you.)

6) Look at spindles for their beauty and craftsmanship; but, do not buy one unless my life depended on it...and not even then:

Double check. (It was really, really hard.  But I said "no."  That's right kids, just say no to drugs and spindles that you do not need).

7) Buy a goodly amount of fiber to spin on spindles currently in my possession and possibly in anticipation of a spinning wheel (see #5, above) to arrive, oh I don't know...sometime in December...

Many, many, many checks.

I figured it was time to stop with the fiber when I had to ask if it was starting to look like too much (Special K remarked that "it started to look like too much a few hours before [I] asked..."  I am pretty sure he was joking.).  I didn't want to be too greedy with the fiber, I did tell Kirsten I would leave some for her, after all.

I didn't go to any after parties so I missed out on meeting up with the vast majority of knitbloggers who attended on Saturday.  We ended up leaving late-afternoonish to head up to Saratoga Springs.

It was pretty fun.

single socks and sassy clutches

Thank you all for your your compliments on my--perhaps not so loser-y, but decidedly boxy-- sweater.  You guys know how to make a girl feel talented and cared for!  I was trying to think of something fiberliciously good today...does this count?

Single sock sushi rolls...

I figured it was time to at least mention socks during this month of sock knitting madness.

My goal is to finish the mates to all of these socks by November's end.  The self-imposed deadline is more a matter of not wanting to look at these socks for much longer than anything else.  The yellow Pomatomous haunts me in my sleep, so surely it needs a mate so it can rest easy.

I really like the color array though; and, it just happened this way, I didn't plan it.  And even though I thought the yellow would be anomalous, I think it kind of goes with the whole "hey, it's fall" theme my single socks are screaming.  So yes, socks.

I finished up the black/brown sock last night and felt like doing something besides knitting, so I brought out the sewing machine. 

I pulled out my Bend the Rules Sewing book (awesome) and whipped up 2 clutches in absolutely no time at all. 

I love Amy's book, the projects are great, and I feel like they would be excellent projects for a beginner to tackle.  I have sewn very few things that are not quilts (Little Sir's Christmas stocking doesn't count...it was quilted!  And there were the pajama pants I made, but my mom laughed at them so, mostly I stuck to quilts in the past).  But seeing projects from the book and then reading the book made me feel like I could branch out.  It was fun, and the best part?  Two gifts to pass along to friends!

One of them is wrapped, packed and waiting to be shipped to Japan...the other is going to wait a while longer to go to its new home.  I definitely see more of these in my future.

Details on the clutches in the gallery for 2007...which actually has sewn stuff now!

If you are going to Rhinebeck, maybe I will run into you.  I will be there tomorrow before heading up for some fun in Saratoga Springs.  If you see me, say hi!  I will be with my boys.

Happy weekend all!

soy un perdedor* or, how to make a loser knit

There was some foreshadowing, I kind of knew this sweater wouldn't be a total success, from the very beginning actually.  Just so I don't make a career out of loser knits, I thought I would document my steps to making this really unflattering, and ultimately, loser knit of a sweater.  If I know (and you know) what the steps are, we can avoid them and all parties can be happy in the future.

1. Find a pattern.  Pick the pattern based on the color the sample is knit in.  Don't bother giving any thought to whether the sweater design is "you" or not (rustic?  sure, why not).  And while some styles of sweater construction look better on some people than others, totally disregard that.  If you like the color the sample is knit in, then hey, how bad could it be?

2. When you finally decide to knit the pattern, do a Google search to see what other people have said about the sweater and its design.  If they have anything negative to say, just disregard these statements of animosity towards the knit.  Keep thinking that "in your world, things are different."

3. Drape, what's that? Cables and lace?  Why bother with the details.  The fabric will still drape, the cables and lace will still be there, no matter what yarn you use, right?  Instead of buying yarn specifically for your project, decide that you are going to "stash bust."  Stash busting is great and all, but there are those who would suggest there is some strategy involved.  You should develop no plan of attack whatsoever, forget drape, don't worry about stitch definition of cables, and lace can totally be knit out of anything...totally.  Go back to step #1, just pick the color you like (I guess it does help if you have enough yardage, so do that, check the yardage...if you really want a loser, disregard yardage...but let's be practical).  Don't give any thought about yarn weight, as long as you "get gauge" (see next step), right ?  I mean so what if "a little heavier than worsted" translates to "chunky" for your purposes.  It's all good.

4. Don't do a gauge swatch/tension square.  Seriously, why bother, right?  That back is pretty much a square, knit some of it up and just measure that.  If you are not "getting gauge" decide what you want to do then...if you have already knit a good amount, you will probably keep going, and some people would say that is crazy, some not (I won't judge you).  (And yes, I actually did get gauge with the yarn...and the needles that I used.  Not that it mattered).

5. Work on the project while maintaining relationships with many other knits to really draw out the experience.  Every time you pick up the sweater, it will be like Christmas (or Hanukkah, or your birthday, etc...substitute accordingly).  Oh, and don't bother taking notes on where you left off.  It makes everything more fun that way...like an adventure.

6. When you have knit all the pieces, seam them all together, especially if the pattern tells you to do so.  Even if you made a mental note to soak (and effectively wash) the pieces to get rid of that mill-y oily smell, (which is great while you are knitting, but let's face it, smelling like machinery isn't everyone's bag).  That's right, seam that sweater with no blocking, like the directions might say, you can totally steam it later.

7. Don't bother finding an alternate seaming yarn.  Just use what you knit with, even if it is a) bulky, and especially if it b) breaks like nobody's business.  You will really enjoy weaving in all those ends, thus lengthening your experience with the sweater.  It'll be great.

8. Try on the sweater.  If it fits perfectly (which this sweater did, actually), pat yourself on the back, good job.  If it doesnt fit, start the process all over again (I am not an advocate of rippage, I leave that to your discretion...it's got to fit someone, right?)  with the same or different pattern, though I would do the opposite of these steps if it is success you are trying to achieve.  But if it fits... sniff it, smell that oily goodness?  Now would be the perfect time to give it a good soak and block it.

9.  When blocking the sweater, block aggressively (even if the sweater already fit perfectly).  Really get those stitches smooth and even.

10.  Put the sweater on again...realize that you over-blocked and just accept it.

11. If you are an archivist, librarian, or anyone who works in a temperature controlled environment where it is cold, take the sweater to work.  If it was knit with bulky yarn, it will come come in handy when its 40 degrees (F) inside (and 55 outside), and most people will be so impressed that you knit the sweater yourself, they won't even notice the tent-like effect of the finished knit on your person.

Sienna Cardigan

Pattern: by Ann E. Smith, Interweave Knits, fall 2006

Yarn: Beaverslide Dry Goods McTaggart Tweed, Autumn Licorice colorway, 4.75 hanks

Needles:  US 8/ 5.0 mm Circulars

Notions: 5 awesome Coconut buttons from Jo-Ann's (I know!) and 5 plastic-y buttons from the button box, origins unknown

Modifications: Yarn substiution, and to the sleeves by throwing in some ribbing on the end (or at the beginning) because the sweater seemed out of balance otherwise.  I count the sleeves as a success. 

I like the finished look of the sleeves, actually.  So does Little Sir.

So that was my road to making this loser knit.  Maybe it is not completely a loser, but it isn't a complete winner either.  And though I don't LOVE it.  I kind of like it.  It's warm, it's functional, and hey, the color is pretty.  It screams fall to me. 

I will tell you what I do love.  I love this yarn.  Love it.  When I bought the yarn, I bought it just because I liked the color.  It is so deliciously orange.  Beaverslide makes excellent yarn (and customer service is excellent), but the McTaggart Tweed line is very different from their other stuff.  It is tweed, it is gorgeous, it is kind of bulky... and it breaks.  Jen knows of what I speak.  Even though I was aware of the breaky-breaky nature of the yarn, I used it to seam anyway.  Sometimes, I am stupid.  I should have found something else, but I didn't feel like going through the process of color matching and I was just being lazy.  I think Jared has the right idea about this yarn.  Knit something EZ inspired and save yourself the heartache.

The yarn doesn't really highlight the cute little cable and lace combo so much...but it is a tweedy bulky yarn, to have expected that it would, well again...stupid.  I like the buttons though, so does Little Sir. 

I used a tip from Pam and backed each button with another button to give it some stability.  She is smart, that Pam.

I am not sure why I blocked the sweater so aggressively, but I did.  Pre-blocking, it actually looked passably decent.  Now there is a weird, slightly off-putting, "front butt"  effect (phrase taken from Pam, again she is a smart one) that isn't so flattering on a woman who still weighs what she did the day she walked out of the hospital after her kid was born.  So the fit, it's not the most flattering.  And, this sweater has done what I thought was kind of impossible, it makes me appear borderline flat-chested, not that I am looking to highlight any sort of assets or anything.  There is something to be said for drape, I guess.

Having said all that I have (which is a lot, some would say too much), I am glad that I made the sweater and I am glad I went through this process, because I did learn that I am worth the trouble that I go through for other people when knitting for myself.  When I knit Special K's sweater, I did all sorts of measurements, research on yarn, test swatching.  The end result was desired and pretty great (if I do say so myself).  Why mess with Texas? 

And as much of a loser as I think this sweater is (which admittedly, it's not that bad....just a little loser-ish), I am going to get a lot of wear out of it (I am trying to combat my innate defeatism and be silver lining-ish, at least today).  I might wear it to Rhinebeck this Saturday.  Huh, I knit a Rhinebeck sweater without any intention of doing so... Well, go, me.  So yes, if you are there at Rhinebeck, that woman wearing the the sweater knit with that awesome orange-red yarn, that's me.

* I kept humming this when I worked on this sweater.  I encourage the humming of this song while working on any knit you think will be less than successful, but that you are determined to finish anyway.  Embrace it.

what's doing? who's winning?

I have been a little absent around these parts; but, I have been up to quite a bit.  I weaved in the ends of the Sienna sweater, it's blocking.  It's been blocking for 3 days.  It should be dry tonight and I can finally get around to giving it the button treatment (and having a finished knit, everyone together now, "it's about time.").

I went to a conference for academic archivists over the weekend.  Pretty local.  Even though UConn is only 50 minutes away from me, I got lost and it took 2 hours to get home on Saturday.  There was very little knittng time at the conference, so while I didn't get any knitting done, I got a cute little desk for Little Sir for $2.00 while I aimlessly drove circles around various hinterland locales of Connecticut.  Even trade.

I even had some fiberlicious fun...

And I did some quilt planning, inspired by the blank canvas that is Little Sir's new toddler bed (the transition of which is getting better, by the way).

Speaking of blank canvas, I have contest winners...  Using a random number generator (I love these things, no cutting of paper slips!), the comments of Kirsten and Fricklet's mom were selected.  I will get in touch with you shortly for some coordination.  Thank you all for your loser knit stories, it makes me feel just a little bit better about my sweater...which, I am sure, will be a loser-knit.

And lest you think there is no knitting happening around these parts...

It is Socktober, afterall.

So, what's doing with you?

impasse. stalemate. plateau. defeat.

When I was 6 years old, my dad told me that I had a defeatist's attitude.  Being 6, I had no idea what it meant.  Luckily, he reminded me of my personality quirk often enough throughout my childhood that I eventually looked it up.  Over the years, I have developed an "any job that's worth doing can be done" attitude.  But really, I think it's overcompensation for being, truthfully, a deafeatist. 

I do have to say that I am embarassed that my current state of defeat has been brought about by the simplest of sweaters.  It's not the knitting, it's not the seaming...no.  It's the weaving in of ends.  I know.  There is a cautionary story there, amongst all my unwoven yarn ends...but that is a story for another time. 

After the sweater (which I am now dubbing the "soy un perdedor" sweater) brought my spirits low (though your loser-knits comments did help lift my spirits...you guys are funny--and nice, thanks for the positive feedback on the new home!), I quickly thought of a fun activity to combat my feelings of failure.  I wound some yarn.  Ashley shot some holes in my Shibui-love armor, but you have to appreciate friends that keep it real.  We will see what happens with the above--which acutally has an intended purpose).

Dedicated yarn is fun to wind, expectation and all that.  But winding yarn with no intent?  It's almost scandalous!  I wound yarn with no purpose--winding for winding's sake.  I rarely do this.  I have strong feelings about winding yarn only after the yarn has been assigned to a specific project that I plan on starting as soon as the cake comes off the winder.  But what can I say?  Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind.

The winding got me giddy and smile-y.  It was a great day.  And then...and then, Special K and I had to say farewell to an old friend.

Some call it a crib, we called it the "kiddie cage".  It was a great thing, this open air contraption of containment.  Until Little Sir decided that it was a jungle gym.  Sweet kid with a sweet face, yes.  Daredevil?  Definately.  What does one do with an 18 month old who thinks cribs are for climbing and WWE mini-demonstrations (we are not part of the RAW fan nation or any other wrestling nation for that matter, but we have no idea what else to call the rag tag bouncing about that went on in the cage)? 

Apparently, one prepares for sleepless nights filled with futility and exhaustion in trying to bargain with an 18 month old who does not possess bargaining skills of any sort.  Or maybe we are just stupid, perhaps he has no interest in bargaining away his freedom.  Actually, I totally get it.  Ah, defeat, I know you well.  Well, at least it's a nice blank canvas (though I like Julia's blank canvas better), that toddler bed.

And since I don't want the image that you leave my "house" with to be my kid's new bed...

And don't forget, Pushing Daisies is on tonight, people.  If you smell pie baking, move on.

greetings and salutations

Hello.  Still me, new home.  I hope you were able to find your way over to the new digs without a problem.  I was hoping to make things seamless, there might still be some hiccups; but, there you are.

While it might seem like my move was sort of abrupt, I have been thinking about it for a while.   Without going into too much detail, the new blog seemed to address many concerns of my own as well as those of a few non-knitting archivists who felt like my old blog was a “fraudulent misrepresentation” of some sort.  I think the new name better represents my blog fodder as well as me (even if it isn't terribly original).

I have never considered myself one who is defined by her vocation; and, since I rarely talked about being an archivist (though, make no mistake, I am indeed still an archivist and I do enjoy the job-thing very much), the switch seemed to make sense.  That said, let’s talk about something fun (like Pushing Daisies, anyone else?  I love-love-LOVED it!).  How about a house warming?  In knit-blog-speak, that of course means...a contest.

I am finishing up a sweater (like my button selections?) and I am not sure if I love it or not…but I feel like I should love it. I feel like it should be my favorite knit; but, I know it’s not going to be.  I don’t think it will be classified as a “loser,” but it may not be called a “winner” either, but we will talk about that later, when I show you the sweater in all its post-seamed, post-blocked and button-y glory.  So what does this have to do with anything?

Tell me, if you please, about your loser knits.  What project did you think was going to be so great, so perfect for you, in the planning stages, and then—once executed—was a little less than perfect (and why?).  All of these stories will inevitably make me feel much better about my possibly-borderline loser knit, I am sure.

Please leave your entry as a response to this post by 11:59 p.m.  (EST—or 2259 US east coast time, for those so inclined), Friday, October 12th.  I will pick two winners randomly.   And I will announce the names some time after that.  Tricky way to get you to switch your feed subscription, isn’t it?!

What do you get if you win?  How about some yarn?  If your name is selected, I will treat you to your choice of two skeins of Shibui Knits Sock yarn from Knit/Purl or one skein of lightweight Socks that Rock yarn in any colorway of your choosing.   If you are allergic to wool, we can work something else out, I am nothing if not accommodating.  How’s that for housewarming?

If you have made it this far, thanks!  I appreciate you guys reading, commenting and just being great.

under construction

 

I am transferring files and what-not from my old blog to this new one.  Almost done.

new friends

Little Sir and I joined some friends for a visit to a (sort of) local alapaca farm.  It was fun.  There were all sorts of demonstrations involving alpaca fiber.

Little Sir chased the alpacas, they ran away in fear for their lives.

We had a discussion about how we treat the livestock, we were quite friendly.  It's nice having new friends.

The light beige guy is Comet, the brownish one is Gabe.  They wanted me to have something to remember them by.

I am thinking the yarn might be endpaper mitts one day.  But it will be a while, you know, Soctober, sweaters, and everything...