Another Knit Down...Litterally

Pun intended, this was knit top down. Took me FOREVER to get my butt in gear to weave in the ends on this bad boy. Not sure why, but I wore the day after I did and loved it. It's definitely too big but still cute with a belt, incredibly comfortable, and not too hot. Perfect fall sweater tunic.

Happy sunny autumn afternoons

Cerise

Blocking Out

This sweater was in the works not too long ago. I started it in March this year and trucked along pretty quickly with it, especially for fingering weight on a size 3 needle. I decided to knit both sleeves at once since the yarn was getting low and maybe if I ran out I could shorten the sleeves. When the yarn did finally run out, I realized this would not work well with the style. Alas, I had a sweater without it's full sleeves. I searched around for a skein in my dye lot to no avail so I took a risk and ordered one skein last week. After the exciting Wednesday of getting my Quince and Co. package in the mail I was even more excited to see that the new dye lot matched quite perfectly to my old stuff. So I've been knitting away every night this week on the last bits of the sleeves and finally finished around 1:30 am yesterday. Quite tame to my 5 am sweater completion a few years ago on my French Braid Pullover. I force myself to bed, not before considering some intrelac and the weird way I cheat my ssk's and if it really makes a difference or not, and woke up eager to weave in my ends and decide whether blocking was worthwhile. I'll admit I was more excited to get pumpkins first, even in the chilly drizzle of Oregon. With ends woven I laid my Lightweight Pullover sweater out on my bed, yes I need to invest in some blocking pads but the bed seems to work just fine for now, I sprayed and tugged away. Voila! I can't wait to wear it out the cider press party tonight. I think it will be perfect for a cold, grey fall evening!

Happy blocking yarn friends

Cerise

Pattern Published!

Howdy all! It's been FOREVER since we've blog. Please forgive us, we will get blogging more!

I've been a knitting mad woman lately and have even started hosting knit nights at my house every other week. I purchased a bunch of Knit Picks yarn a while back with the intention of creating my own patterns and getting them published through the Independent Designer Program (IDP). One of the yarns I purchased was Capra, a wonderful cashmere blend, that was as wonderful as I could have hoped. I also bought some beautiful lace weight yarn with really great Northwest related names like basalt. The Capra project became a herringbone hat and mitten set. This is my second stranded knitting pattern (hopefully the first one will be published soon!) and it took quite a bit of tweaking, frogging, and re-knitting before I got it just right. I'm happy to say that it was accepted by the IDP at Knit Picks and is now for sale! You can also find it on Ravelry. I haven't sold any copies yet but there are Ravelers who heart it. A big thanks to Knit Picks for their help to get designers started with a publishing program and inexpensive yarn!

Happy Knitting!
Cerise : )

New Knitting Books!

The mail held an awaited treasure today. Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs From Interweave was stuck in the mail box. The first time I used this book I checked it out from the library and held on to it forever (yes, the was quite a late fee) and made socks for presents from a few of the patterns. I actually still have my favorite pair from there, though it is currently hibernating. There wasn't enough yarn to finish the toe and I realized that the legs weren't even the same length! There are quite a few patterns in this that I absolutely love.

I have indulged in knitting books that past few weeks and picked up Itty-Bitty Toys from my LYS and Last Minute Knitted Gifts I spotted on the back stock shelves in the basement at work one day. My tangible knitting library is starting to grow quite fast (the digital library has been beyond control for a long time). A new bookshelf is in order but it will have to wait. A few piles are collecting on my knitting cabinet and in a basket on the living room floor. Next on my wish list:

What's new in your library?

Happy Cataloging,

Cerise : )

Fall Knits Wish List

These are my fall knit wishes:

Excitable Cerise : )

Grand Opening!

This weekend marks the grand opening of our local Jo-Ann's here in Corvallis. I took a sneak peak recently. What a change! From a dreary little crowded shop with horrible rust carpeting to a huge, well-lit grocery store size store. Oddly, though they had it well-stocked and full of new things, the place is very "harsh" and "severe". What a contrast to yarn stores, that tend to be well-lit and yet soft and cozy. Perhaps it is the difference between corporate, big box, to independent or perhaps it is the medium: bolts of fabric interspersed with notions and imported craft supplies versus fluffy angora, alpaca and wool. I always want to linger in a yarn store. I will go to the grand opening of Jo-Ann anyway. After all, I have a chance to win a gift card!

Theresa, Ommama

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got the awesome Big Book of Knitted Monsters from my sweetie for V-day and whipped up a little love monster last night! This book is GREAT! And it's a good way to use up leftover yarn scraps. More monsters to come and some MochiMochi too!!

Happy Hearts!

Cerise : )

Yarn Yarn Yarn

When my grandpa died last summer I went into yarn thereapy mode and obsessed about Shibui's Staccato yarn in 50s Kitchen. Three skeins seemed enough to make a pair of socks. But after I started the knee-high button-up sock pattern (also from Shibui), there suddenly appeared to be a shortage of yarn in the yarn bag. So the wonderful ladies at Knit Purl in Portland let me buy it online and I'm off to pick it up this weekend. The socks are going to be amazing! Not only is this yarn divine and in a wonderful color scheme (wool and silk, so soft!), the stockings are going to be quite eye catching. They may be a bit too warm by the time they are done but I can knit like a maniac and the weather hasn't gotton much warmer here. The buttons will only go down a little ways on the thigh, which will hopefully help hold the stockings up. Unfortunately there looks to be some frogging in my future because the fit is very loose aroung the knee so far. Now that I know I won't be stuck with just three skiens I might fudge with the pattern a bit to get a nice legging fit. These are going to be so fun when they are done!!

Happy Knitting!

Cerise : )

Birthday Book Review

My birthday is something I rarely and shyly share with people but this year I got a really great book from my long-time best friend and I had to share it with all of you! I was so excited that my friend once again got me a really great fiber-related book for my birthday. (Last year I got a copy of the fabulous math-nerd crochet book Crocheting Adventures With Hyperbolic Planes!) This year Mochimochi Knitting surprised me in the mail. This book has been on my top 10 wanted knit books list so you can imagine I was thrilled to see a Mochimochi slipper monster staring at me when the gift wrap was torn away. I can't wait to start knitting one of the adorable critters from this book. The first one to come alive off the needles already has a well deserved home with my best friend! Thanks!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. MLK, Jr. and everyone else celebrating today!

Cerise : )

Dear Santa...

I've come to the realization that I am totally obsessed with fiber. I love flipping through knitting magazines and looking at all the yarns. I go to my LYS just to touch every skein they have. I spend hours online browsing spun creations. During one of my internet endeavors I discovered a fiber I hadn't heard of before. At least not by this name: qiviut. I've heard a knitter chat about the wonder of musk ox fiber but I still didn't know much about it. So I did a little research on qiviut and this is what I found. Qiviut is said to be even better than cashmere if you can believe that. It is softer and stronger and even warmer. It is not the jumbled, raggedy hair you usually see on a musk ox but the "downy" fur undercoat that is shed every year. The hair is either taken off in one large piece when it has pulled away from the body or collected when patches of the fluffy fiber fall off. It isn't usually bleached and dyed because the process compromises the strength and softness of the ox wool. It's then cleaned, carded, and spun into yarn. So this year, instead of a pony I think I'll ask Santa for a musk ox.
Happy Crafting!
Cerise : )

Knit Mania

Oh my goodness! I thought I was getting better about posting but I guess not. I have been overly busy with work and attempting to stay busy with the very little school I have going on this semester. But here it finally is!


I have been in a knitting craze lately, only throwing in a little sewing here and there. Knitting has become a outlet for me. Making all the tedious stitches relieves my stress from a long, high-energy day and soothes my nerves when I'm upset about all the clothes or dishes strewn about my tiny, boxy apartment. I can take it anywhere, like the baseball game on on a car trip, or enjoy an online radio show, a book "on tape," or my favorite cartoons on the boob tube and still knit away.
Not only does knitting relax me, I get a completed, wearable end product. Basic socks are now a breeze for me and I almost don't even have to look at the pattern. I feel overly comfortable knitting sweaters and am even comfortable with adjusting patterns to suit my tastes. I am amazed how how far I have come from my metal shish kabob sticks, the closest thing to knitting needles I could find in my house, and a scarf that was knitted on either side (as knitters know, this doesn't give you a smooth interlocked V side and an opposing bumpy side but rather a series of ridges known as the garter stitch) and no knowledge of purling. I have even taught three of my girlfriends to knit and started a little knitting group. I am up on Ravelry and listed all my projects and yarn. I now have an understanding of gauge, yarn thickness, ply, fiber content, needles of all sorts (single-pointed, double-pointed, circular), how to read the weird shorthand patterns, how to adjust patterns, bought a subscription to a knitting magazine to replace the no longer printed CRAFT magazine, and even have an understanding on how to spin yarn. Nothing in the knitting world is now scary to me. I am intimidated by sewing because I don't know how to size things, intimidated by cooking because I burn and miss measure things, and intimidated by photography because I don't focus well or take two rolls worth of pictures without any film in the camera. But with knitting, I dive right in without thinking about it and am able to come out successful and proud of my work.

I recently went through all my yarn and stashed it on Ravelry, setting aside unwanted skeins and weird projects from who knows when. I took a little box full of my unwanted over to my last knitting party and offered it up to the girls. I found the first knitting project I ever made, on those old metal shish kabob sticks. Two kids I babysat taught me how to knit one summer when I was in high school. They made it look easy while I struggled. But they did have real knitting needles. My friend thought it was cool and liked the yarn. I wonder if she'll frog it or add on to it. It reminded me how difficult and ugly the beginnings of my knitting were. Like many people, I started as a beginner, scared of gauge swatches, unable to understand the knitting shorthand, and not sure how to choose yarn. Now, I don't even care if I have a few funny stitches. Who will notice? What family member will care and give me a white ribbon instead of blue? (Of course, for the county fair next year it will matter.)

Even after I purchased my first knitting book with a Border's gift card I got for Christmas, I only did little samplers of different stitches and only got a few rows into my first sock attempt before tossing it aside (yes, that too was in my give-away box). The day I decided to knit a sock, to just go for it and not look back, was the day my knitting knack was freed. I'm now four and a half pairs of socks, one and a half and an arm into sweaters, and many scarves into a few years of knitting. It may not sound like much, but for someone who is easily scared away by imperfection of the outcome of her projects, this knitter is so far self satisfied and always impressed by the outcome.
Happy Crafting,
Cerise : )