FO's and knitting time?

Every time I post here, I think "Wow, has it been a long time or what?"... I think parenting does this to you. I spent quite awhile trying to figure out life again, and suddenly, my photography business exploded. So maybe I'm cameraexploder, too, now... Anyway, things have been hectic!

Remember how I made that cute little blue baby sweater? Someone fit in it one day:

Then the next? Not so much!

Now that he's nearly 5 months old, I've finally found time to knit again. I'm working away on a sweater project (on the last sleeve, in fact, so I should be done in, oh, another four thousand years)... And I've just finished this cowl, which I've been meaning to knit for myself forever:

It's called Foolproof, and it really is a fantastic pattern. You knit the cowl flat, if you can imagine. There's a lot of turning your work, but no purling, no casting on (unless you count one stitch) and no binding off (unless you count a K3TOG and thread the end. With limited nights to work on it, I still managed to get it done in 16 days. Fast and great for TV knitting. 

I used Wollmeise twin (fingering weight) yarn on this project, with size 6 needles. Basically, it's the drapiest, squooshiest thing ever, and will be great for fall weather. I'm happy with how it turned out, and can't wait to wear it. I think it'll look good with some black skinny jeans and a denim jacket. A little biker-y. 

Anyway, I missed this! I wonder if anyone is still out there, reading. Are you? Perhaps I should give out more yarn? ;)

- YX

Weird things happening

This post contains spoilers about the Ysolda Teague Mystery Knit Along, "Follow Your Arrow". Proceed with caution!

Today is my birthday. Isn't that fun? Ask me where I'm spending my birthday...

...The answer is "in the hospital"!

Due to some complications with my pregnancy, I had to enter the hospital on 12/31. I'm now on indefinite bedrest until March, when I'll be delivering my baby a whole 5 weeks early. Kinda nuts! But in the meantime...

I've finished Harbinger, which needs a good blocking and deserves a better picture than this one on my hospital bed (Vice Yarns Sinful Singles):

I also finished a Fisherman Hat, which again is much prettier than these pictures give credit. See the Harbinger in the background? (Classic Elite Chalet):

I've started a Wee Austin Hoodie, which is coming along quickly. Photo doesn't represent the color, which is actually the same as the little baby hat I did. (Wollmeise 100% in Wasabi):

And to make things interesting, I've started Ysolda's Follow Your Arrow mystery knit along, which has a wonderful "choose your own adventure" feel to it. Out of the first two clues, I chose option A, which is an angular/ geometric option. Option B is a semicircular option. Although B is pretty (and I'd venture to say the prettier of the two), I tend to dislike wearing semicircular shawls, so I went for the other option. I'm using Tosh Sock in Antique Lace:

I need to do a wrap-up of 2013 (I'm SO late), and take some better photos! It's so hard to get nice images in the hospital!
- YX

What happened to June?!

Some things have happened.

First off, I disappeared from the blog for 14 days- TWO WEEKS. How did that happen?! This is the first time I've been gone for so long. After our bundle of houseguests left, I decided I should head home to Ohio to see my family. Particularly my uncle, who wasn't doing so well. At first, I was leaving with computer and puppy (Roxy) in tow, all the way up to Columbus for a fun visit.

I saw my uncle on Tuesday. By Saturday, he had passed away. Roxy and I have been pretty downhearted.

Luckily for me, my husband hopped in the car on Sunday and drove 17 straight hours to get here and give us lots of hugs. We'll be here for a little while longer and then drive back down to Texas town.

While I was with my uncle on Tuesday, he slept on and off during our visit. I knitted more on Meridien, which is still in progress. Having started the sweater the day after Valentine's day, I feel like it has taken foreverlong to finish.

At the same time, I feel like this sweater has lots of special meaning to me. The yarn was purchased at Purl Soho in New York, while my husband, dad, and I were in town for a Rolling Stones concert.

The sweater followed me through the tough choice of walking away from my very nice job, on another adventure into a new part of life. A decision like that, for a person like me, was not easy. I really struggled with being "jobless," trying to connect the dots between who I am, what I do, and how much one of those things should control the other.

My sweater greeted 6 houseguests (and 4 guest dogs!) since it began.

It kept me company through the end of my semester of teaching-- it was with me when I found out the exciting news that I'd be teaching again next year, this time for both semesters. My dean called said it was (I think, surprisingly) "domestic" of me, which I choose to kind of take as a compliment. Knitting isn't something people would pin on me right away.

My sweater was with me in Italy, across the Tuscan countryside in a train, moving quickly enough to blur trees and small towns. It walked the streets of Rome and ate gelato in Florence. It was the main entertainment on 2 transatlantic flights.

My sweater celebrated my second wedding anniversary.

It celebrated the birth of a new baby- our friends' new son.

And it's here to say goodbye to my uncle, Steve.

Can you get this from other hobbies? I don't know of anything else that helps me get through hard times, but somehow it's soothing to just keep knitting. Stitch by stitch, moment by moment, until the storm passes and the sun's out again.

- YX

My mojo!

Can I start out by saying that I have a general distaste for the word "mojo", but I have no better way to describe what I'm talking about-- the feeling of excitement and desire that comes with working on knitting projects. The need to create more, faster, an ever-changing lineup of works in progress on the needles.

For some reason lately, as I've slogged through my Meridien cardigan, I've felt my mojo waning. I'm repeating the same 33 rows over. I'm on repeat 14 now, and nearing the end of the first section of the cardigan. Normally, I'd be racing to the finish line, ready to work on the little Gramps sweater that is now overdue (the intended baby had an early yet fashionable arrival). I don't like having a ton of projects on the needles at once, but even if I did, I think I'd be slowing down, anyway.

What happened? I still love knitted things. I enjoy knitting, when I do. My queue is still growing. Indeed, quite a large group of knit friends are starting on Viajante, a Martina Behm creation that appeared in February.

I have the yarn for it, and I'd love to knit with my friends, but actually casting on seems to encompass some kind of weight that I can't explain. I'm not producing at the same rate as I was before. Do I need to take a break from Meridien and my endless repeats? Should I allow myself to slow down and focus on getting things done methodically, not pushing myself if the "mojo" just isn't there?

I feel like I've been thrown into water and forgotten how to swim. On a logical level, I'm still inspired by projects I see on Ravelry, by my local knit group, and by your comments, lovely readers. What keeps me from picking up my needles at night?

Have any of you been through something similar? I took an extensive break from knitting for a few years during college and came back stronger than ever... Maybe I just need time? A new yarn store to peruse?

- YX

Weddings

Last week, I was out of town doing videography for a wedding. It was a beautiful celebration, and the bride and groom (my cousin and her fiance) looked so happy on their big day.

The cold January day made me think about wedding knitting. Did you make a shawl for your wedding? Perhaps for bridesmaids? I know there have been quite a few wedding dress projects on Ravelry, even! I can't imagine being dedicated enough for a whole dress, and these are just gorgeous. I found some great patterns that would work for a wedding, too. Check them out...

1930's Inspired Gown by Catherine Jeandel-- wow. This would be gorgeous in ivory, with several more repeats at the bottom to brush against the ground. The open back is beautiful.

#21 Lace Dress by Shirley Paden for Vogue Knitting. I love this for a City Hall wedding.

Principesa Dress by Sarah Wilson. I love this voluptuous dress with the drapey lace cowl. So romantic and would respond well to lengthening. 

I love these dresses! Unfortunately for me, I lack the discipline to finish anything remotely as involved. In fact, I have a #32 lace shawl that I began to knit for my wedding, but gave up on it quickly:

I guess it ended up being alright, since we got married in Key West in April-- the temperature wouldn't have been kind to a wooly me:

- YX

(Reminder to get some free yarn!)

Trips: Boston and New Orleans

It seems like my husband and I have been taking a ton of trips lately! For Thanksgiving, we headed up to Rhode Island to see my in-laws. While there, we took a day trip into Boston. Whenever we're in a new city with time to kill, I hop on Google to see if we're near any good yarn stores. (See: Hartford)

In Boston, we were able to make it to two stores. The first, Windsor Button, is downtown near Boston Common. Opened in 1936, the store is packed full of fun little notions, and a large yarn section:

There was a lot of Cascade, Malabrigo, and Berroco yarn (as well as some Lion Brand and other larger brand names)- the yarn is super well organized, and shopping there was quite a bit of fun, although I didn't buy anything. I DID spend about ten minutes molesting the madelinetosh yarn at the front of the store, though. If you're in Boston, doing a Freedom Trail tour, definitely get there early and hit Windsor Button.

We also happened to head to Cambridge, stopping at the adorable Gather Here. Here's a cute little video from their birthday, which shows the store a bit:
If you're near Harvard, you'll want to stop there. Particularly if, like me, you knit AND sew. Too many adorable fabrics to walk away. Last weekend, we were in New Orleans for a holiday party, and I ventured into the French Quarter to Quarter Stitch, a needlepoint/ yarn store. The Yarn Harlot wrote about going there in 2007, and I find her brief description of the store to be accurate. A ton of Malabrigo, a big basket of Blue Heron rayon, and bunches of other, smaller brands interspersed throughout the store. They don't like photographs in the store(due to the needlepoint kits), but if you peruse this search for images of the store, you'll see quite a few. I didn't find anything that particularly struck my fancy on that day.  I would have loved to explore some other stores in New Orleans, but time wasn't on my side! Luckily, we have some more trips planned in the upcoming year: Columbus, Ohio (my hometown), and New York City are on the list, for sure. If we were just going somewhere for yarn? Portland, for me! How about you guys? Any yarny destinations on your list? - YX (PS- Don't forget to enter to win some stitch markers! Someone asked for hummingbirds in the comments, and suddenly, hummingbirds appeared in the Snarky Llama etsy store! Now that's service!)

Rhinebeck: Other things to do

I gave you all a quick recap of my time at Rhinebeck, but the entire trip was really awesome. For those of you considering the trip, here are a few other things worth noting:

We flew into Hartford, CT. It was the same distance from our hotel in Fishkill as Albany's airport was (and Newark, NJ for that matter). Hartford was surprisingly the cheapest option. It also boasts and incredibly scenic drive into New York State. The weather was beautiful and in the upper 60's- fall foliage was in full swing.

On the way up to the fairgrounds, we passed the childhood home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Part of the National Park Service, the home looks lovely and is settled on some beautiful land. Here's an awesome vintage postcard:

Right after the entrance to the FDR home is the entrance to the Vanderbilt mansion. There are a ton of Vanderbilt mansions, for what it's worth. The gargantuan Biltmore Estate in Asheville and the famous Breakers mansion in Newport, RI. They're totally worth seeing, too. This home in New York is actually the very smallest of the Vanderbilt homes. At 54 rooms, it's practically microscopic.

Right. Teeny. The tour was excellent, showing us the ground and second floors, as well as the basement. Any fans of Downton Abbey/ Upstairs Downstairs will love to see the difference between the service and living spaces. Luckily, these particular Vanderbilts were super nice to their staff. And for those single ladies traveling to the Rhinebeck area, the tours ARE given by park rangers. In uniforms. Yes.

The grounds, which are also part of the park service, are beautiful. After the tour, which is an hour, we were allowed to wander around until sunset. The lawns and trees are spectacular, and the views of the Hudson are breathtaking.

Okay, not my best photo, but it was gorgeous. We were able to stop here on our way back to Fishkill after the fair on Saturday.

Something else noteworthy- there's a giant pedestrian bridge over the Hudson River- The Walkway Over the Hudson. It's beautiful, but if you're scared of heights, it's not the place for you. I think I peed myself a little when I realized there were PEOPLE UP THERE.

Sunday, we had to leave the area to head back to the airport. I wanted to stop by FDR's home, but we had my dog with us, so it was out of the question. Instead, we headed back toward Hartford a little early. We stopped at Creative Fibers, a super cute yarn store not far from the airport. If you're ever in the area, it's worth a stop. I didn't take any photos inside- to be respectful of the owner and staff- but the store is arranged by weights, with a ton of great choices beyond the standard Debbie Bliss/Rowan/Berroco trifecta you see pretty much everywhere.

With another 2 hours before we needed to report to the airport, we decided to take Roxy over to a nearby dog park for some pre-flight exercise. The park (Northwest Park in Hartford) was beautiful. The dog park was pretty standard, but we ended up just going for a walk around the rest of the park, instead. There were barns with animals, including a horse that Roxy decided was her friend:

And a ton of pretty barns and walking trails.

We took a short one that led us around a small loop and back to our car in perfect time to leave! My suitcase was filled with yarn, and I felt like the trip was an absolute success.

If any of you went to Rhinebeck, I'd love to hear about your time there, or what else you did in the area! And for the rest of you waiting on a winner for the October yarn giveaway, I'll be back later today to pick a winner!
- YX

Woeful thumbs and other events

I spent a good part of the beginning of my holiday weekend knitting. I spent the other part of it tearing baseboards out of a house. One of these things has injured my left thumb, rendering it un-usable for knitting.

I can do plenty of other things, like type, cross stitch, and hitchhike. But I pick up some needles and BAM, impossible to knit. Obviously, this is rather frustrating.

Due to said events, I have nothing to show you on Jaina... I have finished the body and moved on to a sleeve cap, which is simultaneously cool and a pain in the rear. The sleeves have short row caps before moving on to the spiraling tube of the sleeve itself. I'm thinking it's possible that the maneuvering of short rows, combined with a metal circular needle is what fatigued my thumb. And I'm frustratingly close to having a FO, too.

The sweater is short and snug, which is frustrating only until I remind myself that it's 100% alpaca and guaranteed to stretch down to my knees upon first wearing. I'd really like to finish it for my upcoming trip to Rhinebeck... Did I tell you all I'm going? The hotel is booked!

Of COURSE, you'll all be coming with me, no matter how virtual. Get excited!

In other news, look at this!!!!

Aaah! Gorgeous! It's Obsidian, by Lisa Mutch. As in, I would like to knit this sweater, thank you very Mutch. I mean, I can start with the fact that it's ridiculously sexy, without being risqué. Oh, too revealing you say? Well, just pull up the neckline and BOOM

It's a bitchin' cowl sweater. Yes, bitchin'. But I really like it worn down over the shoulder:

These photos are just so perfect, too. They show me what I need to know about the pattern: It's a snug fit, open gauge pattern that will have quite a bit of drape, so it's worth dropping down a size. It reminds me of my Versio, which was similarly lacy/open. This could be gorgeous in a cotton or linen, too, for warmer climates.

So... Someone wanna knit it for me? Send ace bandages and ibuprofin, stat!
- YX

Never a dull moment

After getting home from London, I was immediately faced with the arrival of my mom from Columbus. My parents had been watching my dog while we were overseas, and Mom was returning her to us. The plan was that she'd come in in Saturday and leave the following Saturday.

Well, Tuesday night, everything changed. My dad called, complaining of pain in his chest, sweats, and fatigue. He called 911, was transported to the hospital, and was told he had a minor heart attack. We changed her return flight and I bought a ticket to go with her the following day.

It's funny how knitting can be so many things at once. There are days when it's a frustrating challenge (like in my last post!). There are days of incredible accomplishment, where sometimes you surprise yourself with how well something turned out. There are days when it's tedious, interesting, or used to keep you from boredom. And there are days when it's a distraction.

I distracted myself on the 2 1/2-hour flight. Then again on the cab ride home. In the hospital, too, as we waited on doctors and nurses and time to pass. Time is so weird in hospitals... Five minutes takes an hour to pass, and suddenly you look up, and the day has gone by in seconds. Luckily, Dad's heart attack was minor, the damage is barely noticeable and may heal, and he feels fine. He was discharged from the hospital yesterday, and I flew back to Houston today.

And on the plane home? I distracted myself:

Hopefully next week will be more conducive to fun patterns, and not so much personal stuff. I have some new stuff in my queue that is dying to be shared... In the meantime, do me a favor and get a cholesterol test at your next physical, and of course, try to win some fun yarn before the month's end!

- YX

Shop: Loop London

Our trip in London is winding down... We leave on Friday, and it seems like time has absolutely flown by. On Sunday, our big plan was to go to Loop in Islington. Loop, for the uninitiated, is a beautiful little shop in London that has a pretty decent following in the yarn community. It's the only place that retails Wollmeise (except for Claudia's shop in Munich, natch), and they have an excellent offering of yarn.

The shop is two stories and carries a variety of yarn brands. Thus far, in my yarny travels, Loop is the closest thing to an ideal yarn store I've found. Everything they carried was something I could see myself buying and using. Like, I think I peed myself a little bit when I walked in. One of the most annoying experiences I have in yarn shopping is when you walk into a new store and they have two giant displays full of one company's yarn. I remember walking into a new store that sold a ton of Blue Sky products, every Rowan product ever sold, and a teeny little shelf with a handful of other things. Talk about disappointing! 

ANYWAY, at Loop, I ended up with a few purchases:

For my Pinctada vest, I picked up some Madelinetosh Tosh DK in "Molly Ringwald". I'll have some WIP photos (and a WIP regaling you with my personal frustrations and failures) later. Here's my awesome hotel stash photo:

Next, I was seduced by this skein of Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/Silk Sport/DK in "Toast". I have no plans for this skein as yet, but it's got some pinkiness to it and that beautiful brown ribbon. It's so pretty I think I would just be happy looking at it from time to time without actually making anything from it:

I was drawn to some cute little 50g Malabrigo lace skeins, in Green Apple and Pearl Ten. There'll be some kind of cowl project with the two of these. Perhaps an Encadre?:

The real gem of the trip was learning about Artisan Yarns. I got two skeins of this Baby Camel/Silk fingering weight yarn that just feels and looks incredible. It has an amazing sheen and just ugh, I want to rub it on my face and sleep with it under my pillow so no one can steal it. I need to learn more about these folks:

One skein is this pale pink, "Pale Madder", and the other is a golden color: 

I'm thinking of something with teeny stripes, like the White Rabbit Mitts we looked at last week. 

So, I'm thinking I'll have to sneak back there before I leave... I didn't get anything blue! Speaking of which, you can get something blue right here!

- YX

Downton FAB-bey

I don't normally talk about pop culture here, but I definitely have a few favorite knit-friendly shows. It seems, like everyone else, I've somehow accumulated an addition Downtown Abbey.

For those of you who don't know, Downton Abbey is a PBS show about an Earl and Countess in England, their family, and staff at their beautiful house in Yorkshire:

The house is real, but the story is best classified as historical fiction. It covers some important events (the suffrage movement stuff is some of my favorite), but in my opinion, the good stuff is in the daily relationships of the family and staff.

It's hard to knit to this show, because I feel like I'll miss all the gorgeous details. The wardrobe department for the show is outstanding, and like other knitters, I've picked up on some gorgeous knitwear in the show:

The first one is now available on Ravelry, in a pattern Ivete Tecedor. The second is un-patterned as of yet, but it's a simple ribbed cardigan with a charmeuse or satin edging. Simple things with beautiful details.

Two other patterns have been all over my Ravelry feed lately, which seem to have the same sensibility to them. The first is Caramel, by Ruth Garcia-Alcantud. It features a velvet ribbon edging and lots of little buttons:

This is just insanely gorgeous with jeans. I love the ruffled blouse that the model's wearing, too, which just accentuates the femininity of the soft fabric (who knew Rowan Felted Tweed could look SO SO mushy?). It'd also look great with a simple lace-edged camisole.

Aaaaaaaah LOVE IT.

The other is Marnie MacLean's Regent, which was done for Twist Collective:

WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. Marnie MacLean, we need to have a talk. If you continue to design freaking ridiculously beautiful sweaters, my queue is going to explode and no one will hear from me again. I'll have locked myself in my house, with hundreds of WIPs around me, crying for "just one more row!"

I love a sweater that looks as good going away as it does coming toward you. Too many gorgeous sweaters have what I call the "default" back. Great detailing on the front, and nothing but stockinette on the back. The belt MAKES this sweater, too. You have to do the belt. A ribbon belt would be sexy on this, too. I'd pick some raw silk or charmeuse for it, in a lavender or matched to the yarn, if possible.

I can't end this post without mentioning that Maggie Smith, who plays my absolute favorite character on the show, has asked to be written out of the series to work on other projects. This is obviously completely devastating to me, since her special brand of sassy creates some of the best comic relief on the show. Oh Mags, can't we work it out?

Sigh.
- YX

PS: I may not have mentioned this at all this month, but you should enter the giveaway!

Daily Posting Fail and Trip Recap

Well, the holidays drove a big stake in the heart of my daily blog posting. But life goes on!

We arrived in Columbus early on Wednesday morning, and after various activities, we exchanged Christmas presents! For anyone wondering, my niece loved the case we made for her!

The holiday went by smoothly, and on Saturday, we decided to go to the Scott Antique Market at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. When I lived in Columbus, the market was one of my favorite things to do. It opens once a month in the fall and winter months; a venue full of antique vendors selling various wares and accoutrements. The thing is huge. Here, I took a photo from one corner:

This booth was really open and had a ton of different things in it. One small box under a table caught my eye, though:

Vintage yarn? And not just any yarn...

Holy mother of SuperSaver, this stuff was super itchy! And the skein was teensy. One ounce! At least it's shrink and stretch resistant, and comes in a handy, tangle-free ball. NO WINDING! I do love the cute little heart tag that marks the end of the center-pull tail. If only current skeins employed something similar, I'd (a) be able to make some sweet charm necklaces with them (or tile my kitchen backsplash) and (b) not have to reach in and pull out the guts of the skein to find that errant little tail.

Ah, well. I've given up on the center-pull ball, anyway. I knit exclusively from the outside of cakes now. No deflated skein or cake ends, and a cutely shrinking ball that never seems to change size until one day, what happened? It's all gone.

Finding old yarn like this makes me super thankful for modern fiber!
- YX

Thanksgiving eve

We have arrived in the not-so-warm midwest:

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the minute potential for snow in the middle of the night. I brought my Caliper, and that's the only knitted thing I packed this time. Boy, that was a mistake.

And we're almost at the end of NaBloPoMo, too! Just one more week of daily updates before I'm back to a normal Monday, Tuesday, Thursday schedule. Exciting! I can't wait to be back on a normal schedule with enough time to really find the absolute best projects and items to show.

I'm looking forward to our big meal tomorrow (all of our family is convening at my parents' house for the festivities), and I wish all of my American buddies a super happy Thanksgiving! I even have a special post lined up for you tomorrow... You'll love it!

- YX

FO: Doll storage

I love throwing things away. 

Okay, that's not accurate. I love finding things in my house that are not useful to me, but can be given away, sold, or donated to charity. I'm not what you'd call a minimalist (what knitter is, really?), but open, clean spaces are so much easier to maintain when there's less clutter in my house. Imagine my excitement when, one day, Andrew pulled out a dusty looking vodka gift set from the top of a cabinet. It looked like this:

(c) Foodswami

We're not big drinkers, but the case reminded me of a trunk I had for my American Girl dolls:

Apparently, storage has been a big theme for me this week.

The trunk above was used to store tons of things, including a doll. Andrew's liquor case, at 14" was not tall enough to hold an American Girl doll (18"), so I figured it would at least be a decent closet/ storage container for her accessories. We took stock of our current situation:

Straps and shelves would work well for various little items, but drawers would be better. And there was the problem of the front... It had the Grey Goose logo embossed in the leather. We drew up some plans and got to work. While Andrew worked on the drawers, I came up with a solution for the front:

The logo is a sticker from the American Girl Scrapbooking area at our local Michael's Crafts store. I mounted it to a piece of brown mat board, and glued it to the logo.

Then, we worked on the inside. Andrew built some drawers out of poplar craft wood, and I tried to figure out a way to make the open space on the left work. My mom had suggested some kind of hooks for the larger hats my niece has. I didn't want to guess size and placement for hooks, so I came up with a modular solution: A corkboard! I cut out some cork squares, layered them to get the right thickness, and glued them to the inside face of the case. Andrew lined the drawers with felt, and I ran a white ribbon along the bottom (to help them slide easier), and at midnight last night, we were finished:

We printed out little pictures of the doll and our family members to pin up on the board (and added a cool sticker we found in the scrapbook aisle, too. I loved stickers as a kid! This Yorkie sticker wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before, though-- it's like 5 or 6 layers of felt. So cute!

I hope my niece likes the case!
- YX

PS: Did you know that you can click on my photos to get enlarged versions? When I post photos of patterns, those photos are linked to the purchase location or Rav pattern page.