my life in stitches

mary's roosters

vermont was more beautiful than i could have ever imagined. this is my favorite photo from my trip. i came back packing jam and maple syrup, but no yarn!

cashmere cable sweater

my friend Karli was kind enough to stop by and model the cashmere cable sweater. i'm really happy with the way it turned out. i just need to block it. cashmere blooms nicely when it gets in the water. this sweater has set the bar really high. pretty much all of my previous knits pale in comparison.

i'm getting the hang of Patti. the really nice thing is that someone has already written the pattern and (hopefully) worked out the kinks. all i have to do is follow along! it has been ages since i've knit a sweater from a pattern. wow! i can't even remember what the the last one was! it might have been that wretched intarsia cardigan that never really fit me. okay. i just checked my archives... turns out it was Debbie Bliss' Fiery Bolery back in June 2005! wow. that's crazy!

okay, kids. i'm leaving early, early, early tomorrow morning for vermont and i need to get packing. please note that if you buy a pattern this week, chances are that it will not be sent out until the weekend. carry on.

first non-book FO of 2007!

woo-hoo! i have successfully completed the not-so-secret sweater for a certain blogger on the other side of the globe. hmm.. i'm not sure why i'm keeping her identity secret. maybe i should ask her if she wants to be revealed? anyway, it is finished! i am really, really pleased with the way that it has turned out. i hope that she will feel the same. hopefully, i can get her to send me a photo of her wearing it. it's a little too small for me, thus i won't subject you to a pic of me wearing what looks like a tween's sweater! i'm thinking that once i have a photo i will write up a pattern and make it available for sale. maybe, i can make that happen by September.

in a finishing flurry, i've also completed the cashmere cable sweater. it is a dream! i'm so looking forward to wearing it this fall and winter. as soon i've sewn on the second sleeve, i'll post a photo. i plan on making this pattern available for sale too.

i cast on for Patti last night, and while i haven't read through the entire pattern, let me tell that the start of this thing is a bitch. if it continues like this i'm afraid that i won't get much pleasure out of knitting it! having to manage all these stitch markers that go through the stitch is a big pain in the ass. i really should read through a pattern before i get myself all excited about it...

obviously, i've been putting in a lot of hours knitting and, in my case, that also means i've been watching a lot of television. everything on HBO is so good right now. I really hope that more people start catching on to John From Cincinatti. the problem is that it's very easy to not get this show. i think you have to have some knowledge of buddhism, hinduism, the new testament, and /or metaphysics to really get it. that or you just enjoy really deep and baffling television. i will be seriously bummed if doesn't get picked up after this season. if you have HBO, you should definitely check it out! what else... Flight Of The Conchords - check, Big Love - check (ooh! it's so good), Entourage - check (when this show first aired i hated it. i seem to be warming up to a bit now.), So You Think You Can Dance - check (Yay! Sabra!), Top Chef & Hell's Kitchen - check check, Making the Band 4 - check. Vh1 is making it really hard for me with trainwreck shows like Rock Of Love and Scott Baio Is 45 And Single. it's really hard not to watch these shows! and i'm watching one other reality show which i'm too ashamed to mention, so i won't. i see lots knitting in my future!

bright and early on tuesday the 24th i'm off for a well-needed mini-vacation in Vermont. and i'm not even going to ask you where the yarn shops are because while i'm there i don't want to engage in any activity that is even remotely connected to work. i'll try to take shoot some pretty pictures...

Yarnplay action

it's been a long time since i've posted any Yarnplay action here. just thought i'd share Mariannika's beautiful Manta Ray shawl.

i wouldn't mind knitting one for myself, though i don't know when i'd ever get around to that...

happy! happy!

my three favorite knitting moments are 1) casting on, 2) finishing (and i mean finishing the finishing, not just finishing the knitting), and 3) having that a-ha! moment when you can see that it's all coming together the way that you envisioned it. yesterday, i spent the afternoon watching season six of The Sopranos (i had lost interest after they killed off Adriana who, imo, was the only character on the show who had a soul. having run short on TV on DVD, i decided to give it another go.) and completing the first sleeve on the Not-So-Secret-Sweater. i must have ripped this sleeve out 5 times. no kidding! anyway, i finished it, sewed it on and i am happy to report that it looks great. (i know it doesn't look so hot in the photo, so you'll have to trust me when i say that it looks great on!) i'm not sure how visible the extra special sleeve shaping will be. it depends on the skinnyness of the person wearing it. i've cast on for the second sleeve. i feel confident that i may finish this sweater by the end of the week! i'm excited. next up i need to knit the final sleeve for the cashmere cable sweater and then it's on to something new.

i have decided on a sewing machine. it's a Brother. sorry, but since i haven't purchased it yet, i won't post the link. it's a new machine at a super reduced price and i'd be really pissed if i posted it here and it sold out before i pull out my plastic. i've also made a decision regarding my first project. i'm sure your average, sensible person would start small, but i've never been averagely sensible nor sensibly average, so... it's Denyse Schmidt's Any Way You Can Slice It Quilt. for this quilt she uses 5 groups of colors that include solids and prints. she chose yellow/green, turquoise, brown, red/orange, and white/yellow. ugh. her palette is definitely not for me. and i'm really shocked to find myself having an incredibly difficult time deciding which colors to work with. my standard palette (these days) would be something like this - red, charcoal, black, grey, cream, pink. i think it's too predictable and blah for a piece like this. i need to step outside my box here. here are the revised palettes that i'm thinking about:

a) reds, turquoise, grey/white, olive/mint, light pinks

or b) reds, turquoise, yellow/cream, lime, _______ (fill in the blank)

or if i could get over my lack of passion for purple -

c) purples/lavenders, light greens, cream, grey/black, yellows.

it's funny because i dislike purple intensely, but i love purple and green together. which also leads to -

d) purples, greens, turquoise, cream/yellow, grey.

i want start to shopping for fabric like yesterday and i need serious help making a decision. can a girl get a vote here? leave it in the comments.

the lack of good shows to watch while knitting forced me to break down and subscribe to HBO. aside from the extra money i'll spend each month for upgrading to digital cable, i have nothing against it. my new favorite show - John From Cincinatti. i think it's really clever and is sure to generate speculation and theory on the scale of Lost. Flight Of The Conchords is also really good. And it's great not to have to wait months to catch Big Love on dvd.