Feather and Fan and all the rest

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well, this past week I was sick (first a sinus infection, then a bad reaction to antibiotics), and I have been working on five projects... well I have five projects on needles (six if you want to count each sock that are on circular needles). Before I proceed to talking about knitting I will blog about something that more than just knitters will enjoy.

This weekend was a knitting group weekend. The thing about my knitting group is that we love doing activities that are fun and adventurous. We actually go out and do stuff. This weekend we went to St. George's Spirits in Alameda for a tasting.

We all crossed the bay and braved an unpaved road to get to the distillery. The weather was actually pretty nice. So I was able to take a number of pictures while on the ferry. It was nice to see San Francisco from the view of the Bay. It's not very often that i get to see the sights that so many tourist come to see.

St. George's is the maker of Hanger 1 vodka. They also make liqueurs, whiskey and absinthe.  The tasting menu was a bit lengthy but the host guided us through with humor and insight. This was my second time there. I just have to remember to start taking visitors. Sure, many people come to Northern California for wine tasting, but I think that St. George's Spirits offers a fun experience that most people don't get to have. I mean how many people knew that swirling vodka is a no no and that there is a specific way that you should breath while tasting.

Now, to the knitting. It is strange how I have become one of those people who sees a pattern and the says to themselves "You know what? I can knit that! I even that some yarn and the right needles (not always, let's just say the me and Addi are quickly becoming friends )!! That is what has happened this year. And the other strange thing about my knitting habits this year is that I have done way more lace projects this year than I have ever done in the total however-many-years I have been a knitter.

I find that I really like how lace looks, but I have a problem with sticking with one thing... the moment that charts get a little complicated and I start to loose count I get a bit frustrated. For example: My Alice top is currently on hold because I have to decrease while maintaining the pattern to shape the waist.... yeah, for me it is as complicated as it sounds. So I have distracted myself with projects that seem a little more doable.

Does this count as being half way through?

What does that mean? SOCKS! Socks that don't have a lace pattern or cables. I am working on the Charade sock pattern. I am doing two at a time using magic loop from the top down. I was worried about doing a slip stitch heel flap rather than a short row. But it seems to have worked out fine and I think that i might even prefer it. But these bad boys are knitting up at a good rate.

The knitting goal for the next few months is to actually organize my stash (i.e. get containers form Walgreens and store my skeins in my closet rather than stuff them randomly on my bookshelf), and to not start any new projects until I finish the ones that are currently on needles. Wish me luck people... wish me luck.

Ok. I guess that I don't have too much to say so far this month. Last month went by almost in a blur. August is always a strange month because it is the end of the summer and the beginning of the school year. This year was even more topsy turvy because one of my coworkers left and the next day the tore down the wall where her cubicle was and I have started taking a class after work. I am taking a class in creative writing. Last year I applied for a MFA in Creative Writing program but was not admitted. Rather than wallowing in my own grief I decided to just work on my writing on my writing by just taking classes on my own. So far the class is going well. I can't really tell how old most of my classmates are but I do know that most of them seem to be pretty creative. I was worried that everyone would write about crack whores and how they lost their virginity but so far I have heard a lot of really good writing (no offense to people who write in the virginity and crack whore genre). So far I written one story and started another. I don't know if they are any good. But I did compete a story!

Earlier this year I told myself that I was going to make one new dish every week. That never seemed to take hold. Somewhere early on in the year I decided to eat at a new restaurant every week... That is not really true but I feel like it is not that far off. Although I have not taken up becoming a black Julia Childs but I have made a pie.

My knitting is going well. I am starting projects as well as finishing them. I started working on a pair of mittens (a-la similar ones that I gifted last year). I hope to do some colorwork mittens this year so look out for that I guess. I finally blocked my blue Victoria Yoke pullover (The sweater has three quarter length sleeves which is why it looks like it is made for a two year old)!!! Now all that I have to do is make the button holes and I am set.

I bought my buttons at Britex Fabrics in downtown San Francisco. The woman who helped me was very nice even though I could not make my mind up about what to get. I chose a set with a leaf motif.

The sad part is that I am not very sure if I like the length of the sweater. I would not be able to wear it on its own without it looking horrifyingly short. So we will see what I do. I feel like it is too late to add on (I already blocked it) but we will see what happens.

I started on a pair of mittens for myself. I made a pair for my college roomie last year and thought that it would be nice to have a pair of my own. I am using a blue worsted weight Malabrigo yarn. I never really knew why people made such a big deal about Malabrigo, but I think that it is nice to work with for my mittens. It is a very soft brand and I really can't wait for the weather to get cool enough that I wont look like a crazy person for wearing mittens while outside.

Well that is all for now. I hope that I pay a little more attention to this thing than I was last month.

Craft Fair and Craft Fatiuge

So, I have been lazy and I am not going to write about the Renegade Craft Fair. But I can say that I did have a lot of fun! There were a lot of cool vendors. Here is a list with links to their sites.

• Old Tom Foolery
• Urban Fauna
• Spincycle Yarns
• Feusty Elle
• Magnolia Photo Booth Co.

This weekend is the American Craft Council craft fair at Fort Mason. Tonight (August 14, 2009) they offer $5.00 after 5pm admission. So I think that I will attempt to get my lazy but over to Fort Mason. This should be a little more hardcore than the RCT. This seems to focus a lot on the rise of home crafts and innovative use of materials.

This month I am kind of out of it blogwise. There have been an number of changes around me that have distracted me. YARG!! Knitting has also suffered a little. I am almost done with the Victoria Yoke Pullover. I re-knitted the body of the sweater about five times and recently realized that I fudged up on one of the sleeves. i am at the point where I am pretty sure that I am just bored by the whole thing. I really want to finish it. I am afraid that it is going to be a little more snugg than I am comfortable with. Yep people I am committing a knitting sin: depending on blocking to solve all of my problems!!!!

There are now a number of other projects that I want to work on. Small yet challenging projects. Mittens, lace, slippers, hats. And well, I also have plans to make another sweater. I know that it is a bad idea to start one project before I start another, but sometimes you have to indulge in an urge. I would like to work on the Rosamund's Cardigan from Interweave Knits Fall 2009 issue. I think that it would be nice to work with some chunky/bulky weight yarn. I haven't done anything with chunky in a long time. Maybe I will make it in tweed? or a very light green? or blue? We will see.

One project that is going well are my socks. Well, one pair of my socks. I am at the cuff of my diagonal rib socks. I already have one completed and blocked. It took me a while to finish the short row heel. Although I am proud that I am making some pretty good progress, I am not sure if I am completely sold on the sock thing. I think that I might possibly like mittens more. Sure, mittens are just socks for the hands, but you get to use bigger needles (a lot of the time).

She's a maniac, maaaa-niac on the fu-ton, and she knitting like she's never knit before.

Alright. In the past couple of months I have been doing a lot of knitting. i havn't really mentioned it simply because there would be a lot of posts about the progress of work that never seems to get done. Well I did finish one project so I guess that it is fine to post now. Espcially since I have pictures.

First I have to say that I have finally finished my whimple, aka neck warmer . So the pattern for the Never Wimpy Whimple did not say that it might take you four months to complete. I can honestly say that I did not work on this project as studiously has I should have. There were other things that came up. Like a pair of mittens, a couple of hats, and a sock (no, not a pair but a sock) and a graduate school application. So when I finally finished it I could not be happier. I think that it fits just like it is supposed to. I don't know if I will ever want to do another lace project but I guess that I can try. Next time I am going to do open work rather than closed. I am currently shopping around for a nice rectangular shawl. We will see when that actually pans out into anything of substance. So far Ravelry's free pattern look up is my friend.

This is the start of my new sweater. Pretty right? unfortunatly I lost this one (and the whole project bag) when I was in the airport. So I had to get all new gear this weekend. It is sad but I will hopefully finish it by this summer and I wont even care at that point.... right?

Whooo hooo! I finished my Whimple, aka cowl. It took me a couple of months to finish the damned thing. But I have to say that it is pretty impressive. You can't tell by the picture but it is all made using thin lace yarn.

This is the spot where I will later put a picture of my sock. I thought that I had a pic on my camera but apparently not. So if you actually do read my blog then just wait a day or so.

Flipping Droped Stitch!!!!!

Sorry to say this, but I am not making an effort to clean up my language. In fact after discovering a huge knitting boo boo it may get worse for a couple of days. So all this weekend I was on a knitting marathon. I really wanted to get the yoke of my sweater done before I left for my trip. HA! not happening. Before I began to divide the yoke (i.e. separate the armholes from the body) I counted the number of stitches in each section. To my surprise I realized that I was about four stitches off in all but one section. That means that I somehow dropped about 16 stitches!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!! That is not good. I don't even think that I can fudge it by just making 16 in the last row. Damnit, so I guess that means that I will not start working on the body of my sweater this week... and I will do some major forgging tonight.

2008 Attempt at Orange sweater

Alright. There are a lot of people who remember the joy that I had at my first attempt to knit a sweater last year. And I am sure that there are plenty of people who remember how sad I was when I realized that it was not going to work out. I am pretty sure that I was angry, depressed and hated the yarn that I used for a solid six months. But it took me over a year to get up the c0urage to look at the darn thing. I knew that there was no way that I was going to re-due the sweater and fix it. The fact that the original orange sweater used four different stitches was enough to turn me off from that idea. I mean come on now, even re-duing a sleeve would be enough to make me waant to slit my wrists with a couple of US 1 dpns. So instead I am taring the whole thing apart to make a new (and way more simple) sweater.

So I started on the Gathered Cardi (pattern from Knit.1 magazine) on Tuesday and so far I think that I have made a great amount of progress. I finished the collar and I am working on the increase rows (I am already changing the pattern by adding two buttons rather than one. That way I will have one of them a litter higher than the original pattern suggest). Although I am getting a little bored with the project already I am curious to see how it will come out. The pattern suggests using cotton yarn. I am using merino wool (but I have felt to guilty about have $100+ of yearn sitting in a bag for a year) so I really have no idea it my completed project is even going to really shape the same way. Well. I am starting it now and I plan on taking my porject of my vacation. Yes! I will show pictures of yarn in many inappropriate places such as tents, moving vehicles, possibly brewpubs and definitely in a hotel room. Hopefully I will be able to make it out to a yarn shop while in Portland. I really want to take advantage of the fact that they don't have sales tax.