HaciMade Knits

The old becomes new again

2012-03-05T14:30:00.002-05:00

I've recently been introduced to the ~~time sink~~ exciting possibilities of Pinterest. If you're not on Pinterest, I'm sorry I did that to you. If you are, how did you manage to pull yourself away long enough to come here?

I've found a lot of recipes for making lotions and lip balms through Pinterest, but my time on the website has had an unexpected side effect.

I've fallen in love with shawls all over again. Anyone who's met me in a knitting store (on the street, in class, at national entomology meetings) knows that I've had an obsession with shawls for several years now. However, I realized this past week that while I love wearing them and designing them, I'd kind of stopped looking at them as the objects of beauty that they really are. Instead, I see them as individual stitches on a large canvas.

But then I saw this picture.

And this one.

All I can say is Wow! Oh, and you should totally google 'vintage lace shawls'. I'll wait.

You probably noticed that they are not knitted shawls, but rather actual lace which is much more time consuming than knitting. (Or so I've heard. I don't know anyone that makes non-knitted lace. I consider this to be a serious gap in my crafting social calendar.) But when I went back to Ravelry, I discovered that I had started seeing the lace again instead of just the stitches. And fell in love all over again.

I lost my heart to lace shawls (sorry, Hubbie),
Joyce

P.S. If you decide to join Pinterest, there's a two to three day waiting period similar to what Ravelry had when they first started. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Jenolan Shawl

2012-02-27T14:41:00.001-05:00

GiGi recently pointed out to me that I had not yet blogged about the pattern that I released in December, the Jenolan Shawl.

I have to admit that it surprised me that I hadn't even mentioned it, but, as I explained to Gigi, there's been a lot of stuff going on around here. What with visiting my sister-in-law, rollerblading, making lotion, and working on my dissertation, poor Jenolan fell to the way side.

She's a lovely winged shawl and (brace yourself!) it's not a triangle. Except for the points made by the edging, Jenolan has a flat bottom in back.

The winged shape keeps it draped nicely around the neck so that it doesn't slip off of the shoulders.

The main body of the shawl is in stockinette leading down to a lacy bottom. The pattern has two versions of the bottom lace edging. Version A is simple enough for beginning knitters to challenge themselves.

And version B, with double yarnovers throughout, is complex enough to keep an experienced knitter interested.

Jenolan is named after the Jenolan Caves in the Blue mountains of Australia. The lace is meant to resemble the limestone formations that help make these caves so beautiful. Hopefully, it does them justice.

Not that I'm much of a spelunker,
Joyce

P.S. Version A is knit in Knit Picks Swish DK in Indigo Heather. Version B is knit in Knit Picks Capra in Regal.

Sitting on dogs

2012-02-20T15:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so there is no actual sitting on dogs involved with dog sitting; however, the dog Hubbie and I are watching this weekend is the size of a pony, so I think a jockey could comfortably sit on her.

You may remember Bella from the last visit to my sister in law's house.Going to my SIL's house is great for many reasons. When they're here, we get to relax and spend time with family. When they're not here, we get to go wild… and sleep all day and watch tv. Oh, and we occasionally rollerblade in her huge-mongous basement.

In addition to all of the sitting around (and rolling around) this weekend, I learned a new craft. I may not have mentioned this in the past, but before I discovered knitting I was a flighty hobbyist. I would stick with a hobby for a few months, and then move on to something else. They were all perfectly good hobbies, but none of them were "the one". Then I met knitting. And we've been in a happy committed and mostly monogamous relationship for several years now. I'll admit it, I am sometimes led astray by the allure of beading. After all, a girl needs sparkly stitch markers.

The new craft I learned this weekend was how to make lotion and lip balm. (Don't worry, Knitting, you know I'll always come back.) It's surprisingly easy, quick and fun.

As is evidenced by the 28 tubs of lip balm, and three tubs of body lotion that I made (some are already in use, so they didn't make it into the picture.). The hardest part was waiting for them to solidify so I could use them.

Oh, and the sore lips from trying on six varieties of lip balm in an hour,
Joyce

Liana Shawlette

2012-02-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

This past Friday Knit Picks highlighted one of my designs as their Friday Freebie. The Liana Shawlette is named after woody vines found in the tropics. The lace in the edging mimics these vines as the grow throughout the forest.

It combines a self striping yarn for the body (Knit Picks Chroma in Prism) with a solid (and in this case sparkly) yarn for the edging (Knit Picks Glimmer in Potion).

It would look great with any variegated main color for the stockinette body and a solid contrast color for the lacy edge.

It is a winged shawlette which means that it will stay on the shoulders and wraps nicely around the neck for warmth. The pattern can be downloaded for free online here.

And those of us that don't live in the tropics need all of the warmth we can get,
Joyce

Wear a Shawl day

2012-02-10T14:34:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is the first ever official Wear A Shawl day. There's a Ravelry group that's trying to make the 11th of every month a day when shawl wearers can throw off the concern of the " only old ladies wear shawls" stereotype and wear their shawls proudly, be they 8 years old or 80.

I was born for this day! In honor of such an auspicious occasion, I present to you examples of different ways you can wear a shawl.

The Across The Shoulder (Traditional) Way: This way lets all of the people behind you see how pretty your shawl is, plus it keep your back and shoulders nice and toasty.

The Keep One Shoulder Warm While You Stare At The River Way: Similar to wearing a silk scarf, this way let's you enjoy your shawl, but keeps you from getting too warm. (I recommend a lovely shawl pin to hold the two sides together and keep it from becoming the If This Thing Falls Off One More Time... Way of wearing a shawl.)

The As A Scarf With The Point In Front Way: This is my favorite way to wear my shawls. It keeps my chest nice and toasty and can be worn under a coat. (Plus it doubles nicely as a bib in a pinch. Not that I would ever do that. ::whistles innocently::)

The As A Scarf Way: This way works best with rectangular wraps, but will also work with long thin triangles.

And if you love your shawls, but don't want to wear them on your body (sometimes it's just to hot. Crazy, I know!) you can have your furniture wear them. I haven't met a chair yet that would object to being draped in lovely yarny goodness.

You can also drape your pets in shawls, but keep in mind not all pets will wear shawls. They may not be as open minded as Winnie.

So wear your shawls tomorrow (and every day) and know that there are lots of other people out there wearing shawls too. And none of us are "old ladies" no matter how old we may be.

Happy Wear A Shawl Day,
Joyce

A few of my favorite things

2012-02-06T14:37:00.001-05:00

As I'm sure you know by now, I love knitting. However, you may not be familiar with my love of skating. As with knitting, I had to try it multiple times before I was able to get the hang of it.

However, I got the hang of skating (I was in my 20s) much earlier than knitting (my 30s, I'm nothing if not a late bloomer).

It doesn't hurt that I met Hubbie while skating around the campus of the university we were both attending. He was skating too (he was a roller hockey player).

This weekend I got the oppurtunity to go skating with Hubbie in Flushing Meadows Park (we are having seriously unseasonably warm weather). There he is, the tall guy in the hoodie in front of the globe.

It was sunny and the park has lots of fresh new sidewalk, a boon for skaters.

I came home happy with the world (gotta love those endorphins). Oh, and Pogona kept me nice and toasty all throughout.

The shape is really interesting and it stays on your shoulders.

Plus the color is fantastic. Mad Tosh sure does amazing colors.

Now if only I could knit while I skate,
Joyce

A Frog's Birthday

2012-01-30T14:22:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time there was a Happy Frog, but he was sad. It was his birthday, but he had to work all day and wasn't going to get to see his friends or family.

But when he got home all of his friends and family were there!

Surprise Happy Frog! Happy Birthday!!

There was cake!

And lots of presents!

That night, as he went to sleep, Happy Frog couldn't stop smiling.

Because he knew that, while cake and presents are nice, it's really the people in your life that make every day great.

And I totally agree,
Joyce

P.S. I would like to thank my niece, Natasha, for the inspiration (and some of the pictures) for this blog post. She'd begged me for over a year for a happy frog (I know, I'm a bad crafty aunt). When I finally made it for her, she thanked me by sending me awesome pictures of him. He's knit in Knit Picks Chroma fingering weight in Prism.

To all the ships at sea... Look for the fog

2012-01-23T14:17:00.000-05:00

I recently went through a spurt of simple knitting. Nearly everything I knit was entirely garter stitch or stockinette. One of the projects I made during the spurt was a sweater to wear when I'm at work in the lab. It gets really cold in the office, particularly during the transitional months when the air conditioner is still on despite the weather being cold outside. (April and October, I'm talking about you.)

The sweater is the Lighthouse Keeper's Wife. Worked almost entirely in stockinette, it's knit in worsted weight using size 13 needles.

(Note to self: no more upward angled photos because they are seriously not flattering)

I made it in Lion Brand Wool Ease in Pines. The variegation of the yarn is causing a nice striped effect on the sleeves.

It should have been a very fast knit, but... as with Tempest, I stalled on the sleeves. Happily the stall didn't last long and now I have a toasty sweater to keep me warm (if only I could remember to bring it to the office).

These pictures were taken outside in 29 degree (F, not C) weather. When the wind wasn't blowing, (and with long sleeved shirts underneath) I was almost not cold.

Almost,
Joyce

P.S. The title is a quote from the movie The Fog. It was one of my favorite movies in childhood and remains so till this day (just don't ask me about the remake).

Gifts and Relaxation

2012-01-16T14:22:00.000-05:00

This past week, the knitting group had it's biannual white elephant gift exchange. The gifts are knitting based (what else would you expect from a knitting group). It can be yarn, notions, project bags, books, you name it. Stitch markers and pretty project bags are particularly coveted and fought over in the fray. During the gift exchange, stealing gifts from others is not only condoned, it's encouraged. But everyone goes home with a gift and usually everyone goes home happy.

I managed to get (I stole it from Lana after the gift I opened was stolen from me) a great gift of beautiful blue Mad Tosh sport weight in Lapis. (which is the reason I stole it because GiGi loves that color), a project bag with sheep on it (so cute! It's from Blue Tulips' Etsy Shop), and some adorable Lantern Moon crocheted sheep stitch markers.

On top of a great gift exchange, Hubbie and I got to spend the weekend at his sister Kerri's house in Pennsylvania. "The Hotel" (Did I mention that her place is huge?) is a great place to relax and knit (and read papers and write dissertation chapters). We spent a lot of time in front of the fire reading and knitting. (Well, I knit, Hubbie's not so fond of it. I've decided to let this one slide.)

I've been working on Stephen West's Pogona for the past few days. I wanted to knit with some lovely Tosh Merino Light (Rhubarb colorway) I got in November. Pogona is a simple design that works well with highly variagated yarn.

When I get tired the stockinette shawlette, I switch to the monster lace project that I've been alternately knitting on and avoiding for the past few months (in Jaggerspun Zephyr in Garnet). This relationship is likely to continue for quite some time because this is just the test knit. The full size shawl will be circular. I'll keep you posted.

Winnie got to spend some time with his Weimaraner cousin Bella. They played, ate, went on lots of walks, and then finally crashed. They sure do love the fireplace!

Such a tough life they lead,
Joyce

Knitty City turned 6 this weekend!

2012-01-09T14:20:00.001-05:00

The best yarn store in the world (sorry other yarn stores) turned 6 this weekend. They had a sale and cake.

Both real cake:

And knit cake:

I've heard that yarn cake has more fiber, but I think that real cake has more flavor. (Which is probably why the yarn cake went unsliced. Poor thing, unable to fulfill its cakely duties.)

Lots of knitters came in to browse and partake the fibery goodness that Knitty City offers.

TK and I went by to join in the fibery fun, have cake, and bond with our fellow Knitty City lovers. Oh, and I went to pick up my birthday yarn. I've been saving my pennies for a particular basket of Tomatoes (in Madeline Tosh Merino Light) since September. And it finally came in last week!!! (Apparently TML is a very popular weight and it takes a while to get special orders made.)

Totally worth the wait. I plan to make Ann Weaver's The Whiteness of the Whale with it. But I've been informed (Thanks GiGi and TK, sigh) that it would be best if I don't start a new sweater until I finish the last one. So back to Idylewylde I go. On a positive note, all I have left to do on Idylewylde are the button bands.

That's what? Two, three months tops.

Right?
Joyce

Wishing you all :

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-02T14:32:00.004-05:00

Christmas has come and gone and a new year is upon us. The only new year's resolution I made is to graduate. Let's hope I stick to this one.

Christmas was a quiet affair in my house. It was celebrated a few days early because Hubbie was going to Louisiana to spend Christmas with his dad and siblings. I had to stay in NYC to write (that whole graduating thing), but KT and I celebrated the day with a movie and dinner (and knitting, of course).

Hubbie, the pets, and I all got great gifts this year.

Winnie got a tub of Jerky Treats. He loves those things. And then he got to ride in the car (he loves that too) all the way to Louisiana to visit the family.

The Kitties got a tall tower to play on. And by tall, I mean taller than me. Some would say that's not such a big feat, but you know what I have to say to those people.

Tea was not happy about being woken from his nap. I apologized profusely and gave him kitty treats. I'll let you know if he's forgiven me.

Hubbie got a super awesome (if I do say so myself, which I should because I made them) pair of flip-top mittens. These are the "Soldier's Glomitt" by Beverly Quivey. The pattern is free, well written, and easy to follow. I measured Hubbie's (quite large, considering he is 6'5) hands, but was pleased that I only had to increase the length a little bit. Otherwise the large size fits perfectly.

I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Merlot Heather. They took about 2 1/2 balls.

And I got Tomatoes!!! Lace weight Tomatoes to be exact. Yummy!!!

I also got an exercise bike, but it's not nearly as photogenic. I love it. I can exercise and I don't have to go out into the unseasonably warm, but still pretty darned cold, weather. (I don't love it nearly as much as the tomatoes, of course. I'm not that crazy!)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and have a rip-roaringly spectacular new year.

Me? Obsessed? I have no idea what you're talking about! (Deny, deny, deny),
Joyce

Holiday Cookie Baking

2011-12-26T14:37:00.001-05:00

Every year, in honor of the holiday season, the twins, TK and KT, host cookie baking weekend. It's a weekend where a bunch of us get together to, you guessed it, bake cookies.

It is a 2 1/2 day cookie creation extravaganza where hundreds of cookies in over a dozen different varieties are made.

We're talking everything from raspberry thumbprints,

to cherry cookies,

to rainbow cookies,

to rugelach,

to the classic chocolate chip,

and several varieties of truffles.

Everyone takes turns mixing, scooping, baking, cooling, and wrapping cookies. There might also have been some smooshing and icing involved along the way. (I'll never tell, but here are some pictures of what that might look like. :-D )

By the end of the weekend, I didn't want to ever see another......

Who am I trying to kid? I love cookies!

I can't wait for next year,
Joyce

Singing Hedgehogs

2011-12-23T14:39:00.010-05:00

This was too cute and I had to share it.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

May the year ahead be filled with fibery goodness for us all,
Joyce

Giant bugs are coming for us!

2011-12-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

During my summer visit to GiGi, we spotted a huge (dare I say ginormous) beetle. Being the bug fan that I am, I held it while pictures were taken. (Crazy, right?)

Apparently it wasn't ready for it's close-up (or thought we were going to try to eat it, EW!) and kept trying to run out of my hands. We took the hint and let it go quickly.

However, for the bug phobic of you (I'm sorry), you should know:

"He went that way."

No, no, the other way,
Joyce

P.S. I heard a rumor that I was getting some yummy Tomatoes for Christmas. Yay! I can't wait!

Mmmm... marshmallows

2011-12-16T14:15:00.004-05:00

As a strict vegetarian of 8 years or so, I haven't had a 'real' marshmallow in a long time. But I missed them. Oh, how I missed them.

Then at the NYC Vegetarian food festival last year, I discovered Sweet & Sara. They make amazing marshmallows that vegetarians and vegans can both enjoy.

I rediscovered them at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and might be enjoying them a little too much. This is my third pack in two weeks.

Mmmm, toasted coconut,
Joyce

Delay of Game

2011-12-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

So it's finals week for me which means test giving and tons of grading (both tests and papers alike), but sadly, little time to look at pretty yarn.

So until I return with talk of knitting and such, I will leave you with brass sheep.

They, like the elephants a few weeks back, are part an exhibit by Peter Woytuk that ranges up and down Broadway. The sheep are currently surrounded by a mini-forest of Christmas trees for sale.

I don't think I'd want to have to shear these sheep,
Joyce

Shared solitude

2011-12-09T14:28:00.004-05:00

One of the things I enjoyed most about camping this summer was spending time with GiGi.
We knit, talked, rode bikes, and, on occasion, stared thoughtfully at water together.

I also really enjoyed getting to know her kids as teenagers. They're growing into some pretty awesome people. (I would put in a picture, but they'd never forgive me. ;-D)

Would you like to join me for some water staring?

Nice, isn't it?
Joyce

Camping Shawl

2011-12-05T14:32:00.009-05:00

While I was camping with GiGi this summer, the main project I brought with me was a simple garter stitch shawl. The yarn I used was a lovely, warm angora, wool, and silk handspun that Athie gave me for Christmas last year.

While this may seem like a wonderful idea, the family was looking at me like I was crazy because it was a hot, steamy week in Arkansas in June when we went camping.

I had actually started it near the end of May in NYC which, as some of you may know, can be nice and cool. But it was one of only two projects that I'd brought with me to work on at GiGi's house and I'd finished the other one on the flight in.

Yet, as it turns out, I barely worked on it while I was there. GiGi had a friend that she wanted to give a lace shawl, but she's not that fond of lace knitting (crazy, I know!). So we bartered a trade. She offered to knit a long overdue item that I'd been meaning to make (as a thank you gift for someone) on the condition that I would knit the shawl for her.

How could I say no to that? I'd been putting off knitting that hat (yes, I said hat) for over a year. So she gave me some yarn (100% Silk, Pingouin Pure Soie) and one of my own designs to knit.

The Ceuta Shawl is the second shawl design that I published when I was starting out, so it had been several years since I had knit it. I really enjoyed knitting it and it only took me about four vacation days to complete.

It wasn't until after I got home (and into the air conditioning) that I finished the angora Camping Shawl. And I almost immediately cast on another one. That one is knit in a Merino and Silk hand dyed yarn.

Unfortunately, the dyer has since stopped dyeing. (I hear it's the only way to live.) The colorway is called Canned Peaches. I call it 'Wow-that's-a-fabulous-orange-yarn.'

The yarn was also given to me by Athie (for a birthday during her pre-spinning days). She has fantastic taste in yarn, doesn't she? It also seems that she knows my color preferences a little too well.

Not that I'm complaining,
Joyce

P.S. I forgot to mention that the Camping Shawl is free on Ravelry. It's knit side to side in garter stitch and is great for restful knitting in between big, complicated projects. download now

Music under the stars

2011-12-02T14:30:00.015-05:00

The Time Warner Center has their holiday stars up again.

They're one of my favorite decorations of the season.

Unfortunately, they also mark the start of Christmas knitting season.
Pardon me while I panic,
Joyce

Another way to celebrate Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T14:34:00.001-05:00

Hubbie was out of town for Thanksgiving, so the twins (TK and KT) were nice and invited me to join them for their holiday celebrations. The majority of the day was spent making food for the people staying at Hosteling International. For some of the people that came to eat, it was their first Thanksgiving. For others, it gave them a small taste of home. Some of the hostelers volunteered to help us cook and a good time was had by all.

There was turkey.

Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.

And pie. So much yummy pie.

Pumpkin and apple to be precise.

The apple was delicious.

Sadly, I didn’t get any of the pumpkin, but I heard great things,
Joyce

Yarn store doggie

2011-11-25T14:33:00.003-05:00

Meet Meringue. She belongs to one of the ladies that works at Knitty City and comes in to visit occasionally. She has a sweet personality and loves everyone. She hopes that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I do too!

Some exercise might be in order after all of that Tofurky though,
Joyce

TeenyTiny Mochimochi

2011-11-21T14:03:00.001-05:00

Anna Hrachovec recently had an installation at the Lion Brand Studio.

Close up shots of her adorable MochiMochiland inhabitants:

KT and I went see her talk about all things MochiMochi and I picked up a copy of her Teeny Tiny Mochimochi book.

It has lions and mermaids and chickens, oh my.

Now if only I knit toys,
Joyce

Blackrock Forest

2011-11-14T14:57:00.001-05:00

This summer I helped give a workshop in Blackrock Forest. It's beautiful there.

During my stay I got to climb to the top of Mount Misery. It was anything but miserable.

At the top of the 1300 foot hill, I found a small forest of scrub oaks and blueberry bushes. There is a small path leading through these, and while my horror loving self found it to be potentially deceptively beautiful, I am pleased to say that it was not.

The path I was on didn't try to kill me until much later when I was at the bottom of the hill. I was standing on a bolder by a creek when it jiggled and I fell off nearly banging my head on another bolder in the process.

I am happy to say that I made it back to camp safely. (I was hiking alone, not my smartest decision).

Next time I'll bring a buddy,
Joyce

Elephants in Columbus Circle

2011-11-11T14:36:00.000-05:00

I was walking through Columbus Circle the other day and came across elephants.

Well, bronze elephants. They are life-sized and really quite wonderful! The fountains surrounding them made me think about elephants at watering holes and how beautiful and playful they can be.

This one is about to take a bite out of the Big Apple!

That guy sitting on its trunk should probably get out of the way,
Joyce

Nova Neckwarmer

2011-11-07T14:35:00.010-05:00

I put up a free cowl pattern of Ravelry some time back. The Nova Neckwarmer.

It is worked in Punta yarns Merisoft thousand colors colorway TH05. The stitch pattern modeled after these starburst pattern in Omelet.

The pattern can be downloaded from Ravelry.

download now

Sadly for me, it's keeping my sister-in-law's neck warm instead of mine.

Does this mean that my knitting's a traitor?
Joyce

Animals at Rhinebeck

2011-11-04T14:19:00.000-04:00

One of the other highlights of going to Rhinebeck is seeing all of the cute animals.

Alpaca:

Llama:

Sheep:

Sheople?

Ok, so the last picture of a person, but while we were standing there looking at the sheep, a little boy ran up to her and petted her coat thinking that she was also a sheep.

Do you think an alpaca would fit in my apartment?,

Joyce

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T14:26:00.004-04:00

Please enjoy the pumpkins carved in fiber animal themes from the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival.

I enjoy Halloween because it’s the only time of the year that other’s find it ok that I have spider decorations up everywhere.

The other 364 days of the year people just think I’m crazy,

Joyce

New York State Sheep and Wool 2011

2011-10-28T14:28:00.000-04:00

The NYS Sheep and Wool festival was everything I’d hoped it would be and more! Two days of fiber and festival food free for all. The first day of Rhinebeck involved targeted strikes in areas of particular interest. These included fudge and cheese booths for the ladies. While waiting for them to finish up at the cheese place I wandered over to the woolen items competition area and saw this.

Pic 1- Pretty Maids wool competition entry

A knitter had knit Pretty Maids in handspun yarn and entered in into the contest. (She won sixth place.Yay!) It was really pretty yarn. I wanted to leave a note for her, but the volunteer wouldn’t let me. Happily, I found her on Ravelry when I got home and was able to tell her congratulations.

After leaving the food barn (really more of a very large shed) we moved on to Sanguine Gryphon. I’d gone in hopes of finding some more of the delicious Gaia lace that I got last year (silk and cashmere, sssoooooooooooo fantastic!!!!!), but sadly, there was none to be found. So I had to get a skein of Codex in Questing Beast to sooth my disappointment (see picture 5 below). Or maybe it was because it was so beautiful that I couldn’t resist it. Hmmm, it is really beautiful. I also got a skein of Eidos for GiGi in Charybdis (see picture 3 below). Then the ladies and I stood in the line for over an hour.

Pic 2- Sanguine Gryphon line

It wasn’t all bad though; a very nice lady came by and brought everyone key lime cupcakes.

Pic 3- GiGi Yarns-Red: Eidos from Sanguine Gryphon;

Brown: Periwinkle Sheep Sport weight

After we paid for our purchases, we headed over to my favorite booth at Rhinebeck and the one I look forward to all year long. Oasis Farm Fiber. They sell angora yarn. I’m in extreme love with their Glamour Bunny! It’s a sport weight angora, merino, and silk yarn. It is soft and shimmery and makes beautiful scarves. Like the one I immediately cast on for Hubbie and finished in a few days because the fiber is just so yummy on the fingers.

Pic 4- Hubbie scarf

The rest of the first day is a blur of beautiful yarn, wonderfully smelly lotion, maple sugar cotton candy, and deep fried garlic and pickles.

Pic 5- Miscellaneous yarns (for me, weeee!)- Orange: Codex from Sanguine Gryphon;

Silk/merino worsted weight wool from Hudson Valley Sheep and Wool Company;

Green: Cashmere/merino/nylon from Oasis Farm Fiber.

The second day was spent much like the first, wandering around the fairgrounds looking at yarn with T.K., K.T., and Brandy. I don’t believe you’ve met Brandy. She is one of the members of our knitting group and occasional shawl model for me. Here she is wearing the gold version of Semi-Precious and showing me just how huge that particular hank of yarn was.

Pic 5- Brandy: “This yarn hank is bigger than I am!”

During the course of the day I acquired some lovely yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. The orange skein (see picture 6) has sparklies! The other two skeins are from Jill Draper Makes Stuff. One is merino/silk, the other is angora/silk. Yum! You may have noticed I bought a lot of orange yarn this year (and really every other year too). What can I say, I have a well-documented love of the color.

Pic 6-Orange yarns- All lace: Periwinkle Sheep in Tangerine;

Jill Draper in Paprika (wool/silk) and Orange Crush (angora/silk).

I also bought Athie’s Christmas and Birthday presents while I was there.

Pic 7- Athie’s presents

The hank of roving is from Joan Berner. The buttons, however, are from Moving Mud (the two in front) and Jenny the Potter (the multiple pack in back).

One of the last places we stopped was at a jewelry booth called On The Bend. K.T. wanted to go there because she really likes their work. While there I fell in love with a sheep pendant so it had to come home with me too.

Pic 8- Sheep pendant

Finally, it was time to go home, but this year ranks as one of the best Rhinebeck’s ever! And not just because T.K. and Brandy got free yarn from the people at Socks that Rock and I saw the Yarn Harlot (but it didn’t hurt!).

I can’t wait for next year,

Joyce

Birthday handspun yarn

2011-10-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

I received some beautiful handspun yarn from Athie for my birthday this weekend. It's absolutely beautiful (as is all of the handspun I've received from her, I gotta say.)

The colorway is called Mina. It's a wool, silk, sari silk blend from Enchanted Knoll Farm. And, yes, those are sparkles! Somehow Athie has tuned in to my secret (or perhaps not so secret) love of sparkly things. Yay for sparkly yarn!

The big skein is over 700 yards of a two ply. The little skein is just over 100 yards of a 3 ply.

I think the little skein would make a perfect hat for the baby. The big skein, however, is going to make a beautiful shawl for me. (Sorry GiGi!)

Is anyone else thinking about Dracula now,
Joyce

Van Cortlandt Park

2011-10-21T14:19:00.001-04:00

I got the opportunity this week to got to Van Cortlandt park recently. I had to be there at 8am (which meant getting up and leaving the house at ridiculous o'clock) but it was completely worth it. The early morning sun was beautiful.

The Van Cortlandt mansion was even lovely in the early morning sun.

I'm looking forward to going again,

Joyce

Finish-it-upis 2011

2011-10-17T14:44:00.001-04:00

I've threatened many times to go on a finishing kick, but never quite succeeded. Until recently.

I'm happy to say that over the past month I have finished and blocked six shawls that have been laguishing in the knitting basket for upwards of a year or more. They are all beautiful shawls, but during their construction, I got bit by the designing bug and, sadly, they waited to be finished.

One just needed the ends tied in and to be blocked. It started out as different shawl and ended up with an edge modified from Elina. It's made with Knit Picks Andean Treasure.

A couple of them I just worked to a seemingly natural edge and bound off ('cause otherwise they wouldn't get finished.)

Dracula's Bride: A Goddess Knits shawl that I started it two years ago as a present for GiGi. It's in Knit Picks Palette in Garnet Heather and Black.

Butterfly Garden: An Evelyn Clark Shawl that I knit in Knit Picks Gloss lace in Blue Bird (a discontinuted color). I changed the edging to leaves because I liked the effect from Butterfly Bush.

Spider Web Shawl: From Victorian Lace Today, I decided to just bind it off because it was too big to rip out. It's knit in Palette in Calypso Heather

Lace Leaf Shawl: Another Evelyn Clark shawl knit in Filatura Cervinia Calzetteria which is, unfortunately, quite itchy even after washing.

Plus a couple of shawls that I improvised when I was in need of movie knitting.

Schaefer Heather in the Wendy colorway.

Knit Picks Gossamer in the Caribbean color. (So old that even the yarn line is discontinued.)

And last, but not least, Citron.

Citron was the first not-from-my-head project that I knit after I started designing. The crazy part is that for the first week or so that I knit it, I felt guilty, like I was stealing someone else's pattern. I managed to get over that, but poor Citron stalled at the edge. I'm happy to say that it's finished and I love it. Worked in Malabrigo Lace in the Snow Bird color way, it is soft and delightful.

I should be nice and toasty this winter,

Joyce

NYS Sheep and Wool Festival!!!

2011-10-14T14:28:00.007-04:00

Rhinebeck starts today!!! It's time for a weekend of fun, fiber, fried pickles, and maple sugar cotton candy.

Plus the Craft Yarn Council has declared today National I Love Yarn Day! Since I love yarn every day, it's nice to have an official day to celebrate it. Plus it's a great beginning to Rhinebeck weekend.

Hope to see you there,
Joyce

Baby sweaters and bibs: or what I did on my summer vacation

2011-10-10T14:49:00.004-04:00

I am pleased to say that I that I managed to finish the sweater and bib for Athie before the baby was born.

And by pleased I mean shocked that I finished it before the baby was born. Partly because I'm not good with deadlines but mostly because it, like most of my sweaters, stalled on the sleeves. I am aware of how ridiculous this is because it's a baby sweater. Baby sweaters are easy to make, so it's not like I'm going to have to spend months knitting intricate cabled long sleeves for a man's sweater. It's a baby sweater. But it's finished now (with short sleeves).

It's also the first time I've sewn buttons on a sweater. Yes, there are at least five buttonless sweaters out there just hanging open and unable to meet their full warmness potential because I'm a lazy finisher. But not this one, by golly!

In addition to the sweater, I also knit Athie a bib.

The bib is more of a gag gift than a baby gift. You see when Athie told me that she was having a girl, she forbid me from making her something in what she called 'baby pink'. Athie is not fond of pastel colors. She is very into the earth tones and deep saturated color. So the sweater I knit for the baby is in a warm yellow with slight shades of green and red. The bib however is in baby pink (the picture does not do the color justice). Those of you that know me, and after several years of friendship Athie should, are aware that expressly forbidding me from doing something in like waving a red flag in front of a bull. So of course when she said "Don't give me anything in baby pink." I had to make something for her in baby pink. So I got some Sugar-N-Cream cotton and improvised a bib for her. I'm going to give that one to her first and then the sweater second. I cannot wait to see the look on her face.

Hopefully she doesn't kill me,
Joyce

Oh, the glories of yarn

2011-10-07T14:20:00.000-04:00

There has been some lovely yarn coming into the house lately.

An order of Knit Picks yarn from Hubbie for my birthday.

Their new Stroll Glimmer yarn in the Frost colorway. It's quite soft (like their regular Stroll yarns) but the sparkly is irresistable! Except it's in a GiGi color. It's all wrapped around itself because it is currently being used to make GiGi's Christmas present.

Their new special reserve Sugarbunny in the Wine colorway. It's as soft as you would imagine for an angora/merino yarn. I'm trying to find the perfect project (read: shawlette) for it. I may have to design something special. I was super excited when I found out that they'd used Deja Vu in the email advertisement for it because, well, you know how much I love love love angora, right. (However, I think they're trying to break my heart by finally selling an angora yarn but having it be limited time only.)

A skein of Gloss heavy worsted in Fedora for another shawlette for GiGi.

And last, but most certainly not least, four skeins of Bare Gloss lace for a large circular shawl I have planned. I can't wait!

And if that weren't enough, when T.K. and I stopped in at Knitty City this week, Pearl, the owner and queen of enablers, dragged us into the back of the store to show us a new yarn called Baah! that she'd just received from the dyer, Mira Cole. It's a fingering weight 100% superwash Merino wool. Super soft and fantastic colors. T.K. was draw to the blues and cooler hues. (She and GiGi have a very similar color preferences. I occasionally use one to help pick out yarn when buying some for the other.) I, however, was drawn to the more vibrant warmer colors and went home with these:

Gold Rush - It was love at first sight. I don't really wear yellow, but I think I can get over that for this yarn.

Pink Tourmaline- I couldn't stop petting it while I was in the store, so I brought it home for a little knitting love.

So much lace to knit, so little time.

I should probably get started,
Joyce

Semi-Precious Shawl

2011-10-03T14:24:00.001-04:00

My friend, Athie, is a very talented woman. She has spun great yarn out of the amazing fiber she's acquired for the nearly two years since she started spinning. And, much to my joy, has given some of that yarn to me.

You may remember the skein she gave me for my birthday last year. Beautiful magenta colored yarn spun from 100% Targhee from Enchanted Knoll Farms.

Also during the last year she has given me several other skeins, but each skein came with a condition. "If you want to keep getting my handspun, you must design a shawl with some of the yarn I've given you and submit it to KnittySpin." I have to admit that could just be the way I heard it. She may have said something along the lines of, "You know, you could use some of my handspun to design something for KnittySpin." I guess it's just a case of she says potato, I say "mmm, french fries!"

Regardless of wording, and considering how much I love her hand spun yarn, I got right on it. I'm happy to say that not only was I able to design a shawl for the lovely handspun yarns that she'd given me, but it was released in this season's (Deep Fall 2011) KnittySpin!

The Semi-precious Shawl.

The Magenta Targhee version. (I'm thinking Amethyst.)

The Wood Elves wool and silk version. (I call it Jade.)

The Mango Lassi wool and silk version. (A little gold to accent the jewels.)

I'm not much into jewelry (don't get me wrong, I'm a girl so I still like to look at it and watch it sparkle, but I don't really wear it). These pieces, however, I would happily wear (except the green one because I'm going to give it to Athie for Christmas, but that's our little secret. Right?).

Hooray for fibery friends,
Joyce

P.S. All three colors of fiber were produced by Enchanted Knoll.

Late Summer Lilies

2011-09-30T14:46:00.000-04:00

Since fall here and temperatures are dropping, I thought I would include one last view of the beautiful flowers of summer.

These are some Stargazer lilies that were growing in Hubbie's sister's garden.

While I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures, I will miss the flowers of spring and summer.

Yay it's nearly time for winter woollies,
Joyce

Stitch-N-Pitch

2011-09-26T14:24:00.000-04:00

Stitch N Pitch NYC took place recently and I got to go with the ladies from my knitting group.

We got to watch the Mets play the Nationals and, sadly, lose.

But the knitting was great. We geared up before hand by knitting yarn bombing squares.

The knitters were allowed to yarn bomb our section of the stadium this year.

Knitty City coordinated the efforts and my knitting group was assigned two garbage cans. I think we did a great job. (Sadly, mine squares were attached at the back of the can by the wall.)

The people from Warm Up America were there giving out yarn and needles for knitting blanket squares (which are really rectangles, but let’s not get into that again).

By the end of the night we had enough squares for a small blanket. (Which then became enough squares for a large blanket because people kept giving us squares. Did I mention that awesomely weird things happen when I’m with the knitting group?)

But my favorite part of the night by far was the cowbell man. He rang a cowbell during the game to get the fans to cheering. I, of course, thought of Christopher Walken the whole time.

More Cowbell!
Joyce

Aging and Dyeing

2011-09-23T14:25:00.003-04:00

I had yet another birthday last week. I thought that once you reached a certain age (thirty-mumble mumble) you didn't have those any more. I'm happy to report that I was mistaken.

Hubbie woke me with a birthday song and cake. I would like to say that I had a healthy breakfast instead, but what am I supposed to do. The cake was practically daring me to eat it. So I did.

Hubbie later treated me to a lovely lunch at P.F. Chang's and iPhone accessories. But one of the best parts of the day was the sunset.

I know we've talked about sunsets before and I have to say that this one was particularly spectacular.

The colors were remarkable even as the sunset started to fade.

Thanks Mother Nature for my fantastic birthday present.

Also, I found out earlier this week that GiGi had some pictures of the results of our winter dyeing.

My dyeing efforts.

GiGi's dyeing efforts.

Notice a color pattern emerging. It's really a great thing because then we don't have to steal each other's yarn. (Hey! I doesn't count if she doesn't notice it's missing! ;-D ) Thanks GiGi for the pics!

Waiting patiently for my birthday yarn to come in,

Joyce

Dyeing with GiGi

2011-09-19T14:49:00.005-04:00

When I was visiting Gigi last winter, we dyed yarn. A lot of yarn. It was Knit Picks Bare yarn in multiple different weights and fiber contents. We used Kool-Aid and vinegar to dye the yarn and came up with a wide variety of colors. Knit Picks has a great Kool-Aid dyeing tutorial on their website.

We also had our own preferences for color. These preferences became apparent as the yarn was drying in Gigi's bathtub. Gigi dyed in mostly blues and greens whereas I produced mostly orange and red skeins.

Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of my computer's hard drive this summer, I have lost the tons of pictures that I took during the dyeing process. But I can show you what one of the skeins dyed in Strawberry looks like worked up.

I knit this scarf for a friend and am happy to say that he loved the color.

Gigi and I had great deal of fun dyeing yarn and there is even talk about doing it again this winter.

It's especially fun to do in your jammies,
Joyce

For the love of watermelon

2011-09-16T14:08:00.005-04:00

Hubbie often tells me that Winnie loves me the most. I say that Winnie's favorite is whoever has the watermelon.

It also works with pineapple,
Joyce

My knitting history: a story of crochet gone awry and bullet points

2011-09-12T14:30:00.002-04:00

1. I started knitting in February of 2007. I was originally a crocheter, but made the mistake of crocheting a king-size afghan in 4-inch granny squares. Crochet and I weren't friends after that. We've only recently started being civil to each other again.

2. I learned how to knit from a tutorial offered by Lion Brand, but probably wouldn't have thought to try it if had it not been for Elle.

3. I knit my first shawl in September of 2007. It was the Easy Triangle Shawl from Lion Brand and was in Lion Brand Homespun. And thus the obsession starts. I'd knit four variations of that shawl by the time the dust settled.

4. I continue to be encouraged in my knitting by the wonderful women in my knitting group. They are intelligent, strong women and I'm glad that I know them (and not just because we are sharing a house at Rhinebeck this year).

5. I started designing in June 2009 because I lost interest in the shawl I was knitting and decided to put a different edging on it. That was all it took. The bug bit me and things haven't been the same since.

And don't get me started talking about the wonders of yarn,
Joyce

Love and graph paper

2011-09-09T14:09:00.002-04:00

Hubbie completely supports my designing efforts. If ever I needed proof of that, it came to me today in the form of these.

These are two notebooks and two note pads of graph paper that Hubbie gave me. That way I will have paper with me when I am struck by an idea for lace.

He also cooks a mean empanada (even vampires like them),
Joyce

Rousette Shawl

2011-09-05T14:35:00.005-04:00

This summer I released a shawl pattern called Rousette. It's named after one of Gigi's favorite animals, the fruit bat. When she saw it, she said that she could see hanging fruit bats in the edging. I thought the name was perfect.

Hopefully those of you who are not as enamored of bats will not find this too creepy. On a positive note, if you do, you've just found the perfect Halloween project to knit.

The shawl is knit in Knit Picks Stroll Sock Tonal in Kindling. It requires 450 yards of fingering weight yarn and is worked on size 5 needles.

Just call me a lover of all things creepy crawly,
Joyce

Kitty Kisses

2011-09-02T14:36:00.001-04:00

Somtimes kitties just need kisses. Who am I to deny them?

It's a dirty job, but somebody had to do it,
Joyce

Postponed due to hurricane

2011-08-29T14:10:00.002-04:00

Today I (like many here on the east coast) am having a "we had too much rain and wind" delay. Until our regularly scheduled life events resume, let's all think about the plight of the alpaca and how difficult must it be for them to go through life so incredibly cute.

I'm just glad it's not me,
Joyce

GiGi's first design

2011-08-26T14:54:00.011-04:00

Gigi has published her first design. It's a lovely shawlette called Sheri.

download now

It's a free pattern and can be found on Ravelry.

Congrats GiGi! Great job!

Yay for designing sisters,
Joyce

Sunnyside

2011-08-22T14:14:00.000-04:00

My lovely friend Athie is having a baby next month. It's her first and I'm super excited for her. So much so, in fact, that I'm knitting my first ever baby sweater for her baby. (I would have made baby items for GiGi's kids, but I wasn't a knitter when they were born. Those were tough times, I tell you, tough times.)

It's Sunnyside by Tavis Lavallee. The pattern is well written and easy to follow. Plus it comes in boy and girl versions. I decided to make it short sleeved because I was running a little short on yarn.

I figured that three inch sleeves should be long enough. Fingers crossed.

It's knit in Opulence in the Tupelo Honey colorway from the Woolen Rabbit. The yarn is really luscious and makes me wish I had enough for a sweater for me.

Prior to this the only baby item I'd ever knit was a Brain Slug hat for my niece's baby boy.

Luckily she understands my twisted sense of humor,
Joyce

Idyle thoughts on Wylde tomatoes

2011-08-15T14:20:00.002-04:00

When I finished Tempest, I thought I was done with fingering weight sweaters forever. But within a few days I started to get the sweater jones again. The fingering weight sweater jones.

There are several reasons why I'm not sure why I continue to get such sweater cravings. First, I'm a shawl knitter. You may have noticed that I like to knit them, and design them, and when weather permits wear them. Second, the sweaters I make never fit me. That's my fault really. I tend to make them a size too small. (Eventually I will be honest with myself about my bust size... Today may not be the day.)

At first I thought I was going to be thwarted by a lack of yarn. I know that sounds ridiculous given the amount of yarn in the stash, but, as I may have mentioned, I'm a shawl knitter so while I have plenty of fingering weight yarn, it's all in shawl amounts (600 yds or less). But then I remembered. I have nearly 1600 yds of Madeline Tosh fingering weight in, you guessed it, Tomato! So I immediately cast on another fingering weight sweater. This time it's Idlyewylde by Melissa Werle. The pattern is very well written and easy to follow. Plus, this time I made it in my bust size (or nearly so, I think).

I've finished the body and am nearly done with the sleeves. I decided to change the sleeves up a little. I'm knitting them flat. Plus, I am making them full length (or not depending on whether I run out of yarn) and I added a lace motif around the cuff.

Hopefully I will get this one done faster than Tempest,
Joyce

Central Park Lake in summer

2011-08-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

The Central Park lake can be quite beautiful in summer.

Plus the turtles are really cute,
Joyce

I love Tomatoes!

2011-08-08T14:46:00.002-04:00

Did I mention how much I adore the MadTosh colorway Tomato? It's orange with yellow undertones and red overtones. I adore this colorway so much that even my 16 year old nephew knows about it.

Imagine my surprise and joy when, walking in the park, I came across a plant that had flowers the same color as my obsession... um, I mean... no really, it's an obsession.

I wasn't 100% convinced at first so I pulled out the skein that I had on me. (I know, it's shocking that's I just happened to be carrying a skein on me that day. Ok, so no it's not.) And Voila! There it was, solid proof of both the color match and my obsession.

Nothing like Tomatoes to lift the spirits,
Joyce

Vampire Empanada

2011-08-05T14:30:00.002-04:00

Hubbie is the chief cook in our family. He has recently taken to making empandas. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of eating an empanada, they are little doughy pockets of yummy goodness. Hubbie stuffs them with veggies and Daiya cheese for me. Did I mention yummy goodness?

But I've begun to suspect that there's a vegetarian vampire that lives in my kitchen because when he handed me my plate I saw this.

That vampire better keep his mitts off of my food, I know where the stakes are,

Joyce

Hubbie Hats

2011-08-01T14:22:00.002-04:00

Early in the summer, Hubbie requested that I make him some summer beanie type hats. He's been going bald for a while and keeps his hair really short so his scalp gets a lot of sun exposure. Being the sweet and loving wife that I am, I said, "Alright, if I gotta." (Insert pouty face.)

I made him five hats. (He is still waiting for me to weave in the ends on two of them. It's been a busy summer for me, plus all of those shawls were just begging to be knit.) I wrote up the pattern for three of them.

A striped one worked in Knit Picks Comfy Sport weight in Fedora and Cashew.

Another striped one. The body is Comfy in Planetarium and the stripes are in Misti Alpaca Cotton/silk in Excalibur.

And a cabled one which is also Comfy in Planetarium.

They are all available in ebook form for free on Ravlery. download now

Perhaps I should consider a new hat face,
Joyce

Hot summer days

2011-07-29T14:00:00.004-04:00

You know it's hot when even the rings from your drink are happy that you're in the air conditioning.

Or maybe it was just happy to be having tea with Elle too,

Joyce

Walk to the park

2011-07-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

New York, like much of the country, spent last week in the grip of a heat wave. One day during the week, Hubbie and I decided to brave the heat and walked the dog to the park. It was ridiculously hot. (Ok, who am I trying to kid? I start saying that when it gets above 80.)

We stopped in the shade for a while to cool down. It was a crazy hot, hazy day.

We didn't make it to the bigger park which is only a couple more blocks away because by that point we were all hot and sweaty and more than ready to go back home to the air conditioning.

Winnie especially.

I can't wait for fall,
Joyce

Day job

2011-07-22T14:25:00.001-04:00

My day job requires nearly as many tools as knitting. The main difference is that when I see a bug at work my first thought is, "Cool, a bug. Catch it so I can study it." However, when I see a bug while knitting, my thought is, "Eek, a bug! Squish it so it doesn't eat my yarn!"

I'm a woman of many contradictions (Wait, no I'm not!),
Joyce

Troy's Folly

2011-07-18T14:22:00.003-04:00

By now most of us have heard the mythological tale of Helen and Paris and the events that started the Trojan war. If not, Wikipedia has a rather thorough article about it. Go, check it out, I'll wait...

(Ah, you're back. I missed you.)

Such a tragic story. One of love, intrigue, and men with swords. However, despite it's seemingly romantic nature (which I've been told is the perfect way to name a shawl) the story of Helen and Paris is not the origin of the name of this shawl.

It turns out that also filled with love, intrigue, but sadly no men with swords, is the naming of a shawl. Often I find one that I love and fits the pattern perfectly only to go on Ravelry and discover that, alas, it is taken. So I'm cast about on a sea of shawl namelessness (I'm pretty sure that's a real word) and forced to turn to those closest to me to help me find a suitable name. And sometimes, I ask Hubbie....

Hubbie is a sweet man, but he cannot be trusted with the naming of a shawl. He will most often come up with names that seems perfectly fine until after a moment I realize that they are, in fact, quite crude. (Morning Wood is just one of the many that comes to mind.)

If you haven't figured it out by now, Hubbie's real name is Troy. His mother chose to name him that instead of the serial killer inducing 'John Wayne.' (Thank you, Mom!) So if you're wondering what Troy's Folly really is... It's trying to help me name shawls.

If only Troy would take me to Paris,
Joyce

PS The purple shawl is in Madeline Tosh Merino Light in Lolita. The green one is in Knit Picks Stroll Tonal Sock in Canopy.

Random NYC

2011-07-15T14:28:00.000-04:00

Now you too can dress like the Statue of Liberty!

I know it's what I've always dreamed of,
Joyce

Shepard Hall

2011-07-11T14:10:00.000-04:00

This is Shepard Hall. It's a building on the campus where I work. Its ornate gothic style just makes my heart go pitter pat. I don't go into the building much. Sadly I work in the hulking monstrosity that is the science building (think 70's steel and concrete), but I walk past Shepard Hall every day.

Given the exterior of the building, you would think I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that the inside was just as beautiful. It is, and I was.

I recently had occasion to go into the 'Great Hall' of the building, and great doesn't do it justice.

With soaring three story ceilings, stain glass windows, and even pipes for a pipe organ, it could put many of the more touristy buildings in NYC to shame.

Plus it would make a pretty shawl,

Joyce

Random NYC artistry

2011-07-08T16:13:00.000-04:00

Note to self: insert non-crude caption here,
Joyce

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T14:48:00.003-04:00

And Happy July 1st (a couple of days late) to my Canadian friends.

Next week I will return with a normal post. Until then, please enjoy the roses.

Have a great day of fireworks and BBQ,
Joyce

Micro-toad

2011-07-01T02:33:00.002-04:00

Tiny little barely out of the tadpole stage toads are just too cute!

Who knew camping could be so adorable,
Joyce

Visiting GiGi

2011-06-27T14:23:00.000-04:00

I'm at GiGi's this week. We are camping which I enjoy (except the heat). Given that I'm an entomologist, I actually like bugs so they don't bother me. (Except ticks and mosquitoes. I'm not that crazy!)

While we camp we do lots of athletic things like hike, swim, and bike. (This is my visiting GiGi bike. She stores it for me during the eleven months and two/three weeks I can't ride it. She's cool like that!)

But, during our rest times (which really don't come often enough for me), we knit. This week I'm playing with shapes. I have been experimenting with the side to side garter stitch shawl.

This one will be parallelogram shaped. It's knit in Knit Picks Stroll Sock Bare that's been dyed in Strawberry Kool-aid.

This one is an elongated half oval. The yarn was handspun by Athie. It's merino, silk and angora. The colorway is called Rose Garden and it can be found at Crystal Creek Fibers. I love love love this yarn. It's soft and shimmery and just plain gorgeous. (And I'm not just saying this because I'm trying to persuade Athie to give me more. But if it helps...)

Is it time to knit yet,
Joyce

Winnie's new haircut

2011-06-24T14:57:00.002-04:00

Hey! All I said was just a little off of the top!

Lap Pets

2011-06-20T14:30:00.002-04:00

Hubbie is a tall man (6'5) and has a decent sized lap which is a good thing because his lap is considered prime territory by the pets. He'll often have two or more pets in his lap at a time.

Today I walked into the living room and saw this:

But what really made it an amusing sight was Winnie:

Poor sweetie was sitting on the sofa patiently waiting his turn. He's such a polite doggie... sometimes.

Feeling a mix of grateful and sad that her lap's considered uncomfortably small,
Joyce

Doga Yoga

2011-06-17T14:57:00.002-04:00

Winnie sometimes likes to do yoga with me. This is his shaggy dog pose.

He's great at Up dog, but hasn't quite learned Down dog yet. However, if a treat's involved, he's great at finding his Sit bones.

Good doggie,
Joyce

P.S. It turns out that other people like to do yoga with their dogs too. Gotta love New York!

WWKIP day 2011

2011-06-13T14:30:00.002-04:00

Saturday was World Wide Knit in Public Day. This year Knitty City sponsored The Big Circle in Bryant Park. It is communal art piece that is a large knitted circle. Given our love for Knitty City and how interesting the concept was, TK and I volunteered to help in anyway we could.

This picture is of the small red circle that the artists, Jean Hilken and Nell Berger, displayed at the center of the larger circle. The larger circle was over 150 feet in circumference!

(Note: Knitters were encouraged to wear a blindfold to better connect with the sound and feel of the knitting process. I didn't say it wasn't without its weirdness. Why else would I have been there?)

All together there were over 30 knitters (and non-knitters even) that came by and tried their hands at knitting on the big circle even though it drizzled most of the time we were there. Knitter's rock!

Hooray for umbrellas!
Joyce

Random NYC

2011-06-10T14:27:00.001-04:00

Eeek! There a giant iguana crawling down the side of the building!

Run away! Run away!
Joyce

Fish Hat, fish hat, roly poly fish hat...

2011-06-06T14:13:00.002-04:00

GiGi made me a fish hat for my birthday last year. Fish hat was my near constant companion at the beginning of winter.

It turns out that he likes to eat my head.
On the subway.

As I walk down the street.

When he's hungry and my head isn't available, he likes to eat my scarves.

Plus he does a decent Angelina Jolie impression.

Thanks for giving me my new best winter friend, GiGi,
Joyce

12th Anniversary

2011-06-03T14:24:00.001-04:00

Hubbie and I celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary this past week.

We mostly just hung out at home and spent some quiet time together. And later in the evening he surprised me with roses.

He's such a wonderful Hubbie.
Joyce

Rhinebeck

2011-05-30T14:13:00.001-04:00

We're just past the halfway point until this year's New York State Sheep and Wool Festival! It's held in Rhinebeck, NY and is two days of yummy fibery goodness.

Last year the ladies in my knitting group rented a house and we stayed there for the two days of the festival. It was amazing and quite convenient. We have plans to do it again this year.

I can't wait!
Joyce

Until then, enjoy some of the sights from Rhinebeck, 2010.

Knitting Tempest

2011-05-23T14:11:00.000-04:00

I finally finished knitting Ann Weaver's Tempest.

TK and I started this as a KAL two years ago. We had separately gotten some Colinette Jitterbug (in different colors. I used some Velvet Olive that had been gifted to me by Athie.) and Misti Alpaca Sock (in the same color - Birds in Paradise). We were in Knitty City one day and realized that we were both thinking of knitting Tempest so we decided to do a knit along for Tempest.

TK managed to finish hers in a fairly timely fashion (about 11 months). I, on the other hand, got to the sleeve caps (Note: I'd finished the back and both front pieces) and put it down to knit something else (I don't even remember what now, but it was probably a shawl). Sadly for poor Tempest, I failed to pick it back up.

Until this year's spring break. Hubbie and I were supposed to go visit his sister, but I got the flu instead. I recovered quickly, but while I was sick I got a sudden strong urge to finish Tempest. The first day I thought I would just finish the sleeve caps and put it away again. But then on day two I just had to weave in the ends and sew it together. (This took two days! Note to self: Weave in ends as you go next time.) After that I thought I'd put it down again, but after a good night's sleep I felt compelled to knit the button band. The button band calls for a sewn bind off. The sewn bind off, while not difficult, is quite time consuming (and also reminded me of why I don't do needlepoint anymore. Too much sewing for me!) It is, however, perfect for the button band. And when the button band was finished I decided I might as well do the hem since it was all that was left.

And suddenly, after a week of illness and finishing, I had a sweater... that doesn't fit me. Sigh.

Time to go back to the gym,
Joyce

Random NYC artistry

2011-05-20T16:11:00.001-04:00

Of course a sheep would only speak of love,
Joyce

Spring flowers

2011-05-16T14:12:00.002-04:00

I love spring!

As I've mentioned in the past, I also love that NYC does my gardening for me.

When the plants bloom in the spring it makes me feel like all things are possible.

Please enjoy the flowers with me.

Thank you April showers,
Joyce

Llama Font

2011-05-13T14:25:00.001-04:00

Knit Picks recently posted about a Llama Font on their blog. I couldn't resist.

Those llama are such show offs,
Joyce

In progress

2011-05-09T14:13:00.003-04:00

I tend to take shots of my projects while they are in progress. But, given that I can't show most of them to you until they are finished, I forget to post pictures of the projects in progress. So here are a few.

Helen's Grace:

The Magenta version of Troy's Folly. Knit in Madeline Tosh Merino Light. (I love love love this yarn!!!)

Omelet:

I hope you've enjoyed these amorphous blobs (I know I did!),
Joyce

Fuzzy Bottom

2011-05-06T14:41:00.009-04:00

As I mentioned in my ode to bunny hair, due to my love of angora, I was inspired to design a small, very simple shawlette with some angora that captured my heart. Here it is:

This is Fuzzy Bottom. So named because, well, it has a fuzzy bottom. Which can be more easily seen in the next picture.

This shawlette is great if you have only a small amount of a luxurious yarn. You know which one I mean. You bought it because it was too luscious to resist, but ignored the fact that it was only 45 yards. The body of the shawlette is constructed with an angora/merino blend (Classic Elite Lush in Lipstick), but the edge is worked in Malabrigo 100% Angora in Ravelry Red. The skein contained only about 40 yards of the spectacular stuff, but it made a great edging to a scarf sized shawlette.

Oh, and did I mention that the pattern is free? download now

Trying not to feel silly about wearing sunglasses in the bathroom,

Joyce

Sunrise, Sunset

2011-05-02T14:10:00.000-04:00

Sunsets in NYC are absolutely beautiful.

The only problem is that actually seeing them can be rare. With all of the tall buildings, even if you're in a relatively flat area, seeing the sunset is difficult.

But sometimes I find myself in a position to see a beautiful sunset. The most recent time, Hubbie and I were going back to our car in the parking lot on the top of the movie theater and there it was. An amazing sunset.

Seeing the sun rise is just as elusive, but even more rare for me 'cause I like to sleep in. The last sunrise I saw was during my last visit to GiGi. The only reason I saw it was because I was on my way to airport for an early flight.

Did I mention that I'm a night owl,
Joyce

Tulips for trying

2011-04-29T14:45:00.000-04:00

Working on a PhD sometimes makes you feel like a mole person huddled in the dark hunched over your computer. So I was really looking forward to going on a field trip with my lab class this week. I was hoping for sunny weather so I could get some springtime outside time. Unfortunately, we had a rain storm that was bad enough to cause me to have to cancel the fieldtrip.

But New York was nice and rewarded me with tulips and hyacinths for at least trying to go outside for a little while.

Even though I did have to get rained on to see them,
Joyce

Helen's Grace

2011-04-25T14:09:00.005-04:00

My mother, Helen, passed away in December 2008. When I was a teenager we had something of a difficult relationship, but I hear that that’s not unusual.

Over the years, as I grew older and less hormonal and she grew older and more mellow, we managed to forge a strong and loving relationship. One of the things I admired most about my mother was her ability to face adversity with grace and dignity.

The life she lived was not an easy one, but she always made the people around her feel loved.

Helen’s Grace is my memorial to her. To the values, love of beauty, and joy of people that she taught me.

I love you Maman,
Haci

P.S. The shawl is worked in KnitPicks Aloft in Fairy Tale. It's a lovely, soft yarn that's equivalent to Kid Silk Haze in feel, but tremendously better in price.

Omelet errata

2011-04-22T16:36:00.000-04:00

Oh no! Not errata! Yes, I'm sad to say, there was a small mistake in Chart D for Omelet. If you downloaded the chart before April 21st, be aware that on chart D, row 13: the first ssk in the pattern repeat should be a k1.

However, a new version of the chart has been uploaded to Knitty and is now available to one and all.

Plus it gives me an excuse to put up the pictures of the shawl that were taken while it was blocking.

Oooo, Ahhhh,
Joyce

P.S. Thanks for your understanding and to the person who found the error!

Ginkgo Leaf Shawlette

2011-04-18T14:09:00.002-04:00

One day I was in Knitty City (the most awesome yarn store ever, aka TMAYSE) and discovered that Pearl, the lovely lady that owns Knitty City (TMAYSE), sews. She makes quilts and scarves. I’ve seen examples of her quilts around the shop for a couple of years now and didn’t realize that she was the one who made them. The scarves that she makes are constructed out of vintage kimono silk. They are really beautiful. I became particularly enamored of one that had falling red and green gingko leaves on cream background.

It was so beautiful I bought it and became inspired to design a shawl with a similar motif. The result is the Gingko Leaf Shawlette.

The first version is knit in Malabrigo Rios in Archangel.

The second version is knit in KnitPicks Andean Silk in Woodland Sage.

Ah, the joys of scarves and shawls,

Joyce

Attack of the killer tomato!

2011-04-14T10:04:00.000-04:00

I love my new MadTosh Tomato hat! It's Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre.

Too bad winter is nearly over,
Joyce

Gentle Rain

2011-04-11T14:10:00.002-04:00

The Gentle Rain shawl will forever be Snowman’s Blush to me. Ok, maybe I should start at the beginning.

Once upon a time there was a shawl with no name that was going to be knit in pink yarn...

One day TK and I were sitting on the train on our way home from somewhere, and I requested that she help me name my latest shawl design (‘cause she’s good like that).

For those of you who’ve never been to New York, subway train cars have a lot of advertisements, not just on the walls, but along the ceiling and sometimes even on the outside of the cars. They advertise everything from tv shows to beer to universities to bunion doctors. The subway car that we were sitting in that day just happened to be advertising peanuts. I know, crazy huh?

Anyway, as we sat there and discussed the shawl, TK suddenly said to me, “You should name it snowman’s blush!” I responded with, “Huh?” (FYI, my witty repartee makes me a hit at all the parties.) She then pointed to one the peanut ads on the wall. It was of a couple of guys running naked through the snow and the tag line read, “Gives you the energy to make a snowman blush.” And my brain said, “Eureka!” We’d been tossing around names like first blush, blush of spring, and such, but why not Snowman’s Blush? It’s weird and funny and I loved it. But… cue ominous music…

It became Gentle Rain instead. When I realized that I was going to submit it to KnitPicks, I decided I wanted to knit it in Alpaca Cloud. But… seriously, where is that music coming from?... they didn’t have any pink Alpaca Cloud. Plus Stacey, the IDP designer liaison at KnitPicks looked at me funny via email (hey! It’s possible.) when I told her the name. So we decided on light blue (Waltz colorway) and a name change. And that’s how a snowman’s blush became a gentle rain. But we’ll always know it’s true identity.

I hope it doesn’t lose its CIA job over this,

Joyce

P.S. The second version in in Zephyr laceweight.

Omelet Shawl

2011-04-06T10:24:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! I'm in Knitty again. It's been pretty hard to keep it to myself, but finally I can say, "Yay, I have a pattern in the Spring/Summer 2011 Knitty!"

I've named it Omelet. I know the name is a bit weird, but what else could I call a bright yellow half circle?

My model this time is Hubbie's lovely niece, Annie. She was kind enough to step in when my first model fell through. Thanks Annie!

I have to thank TK for helping me come up with ideas for the photoshoot. I took the pictures in my mother-in-law's kitchen/dining room which is located 1300 miles from New York, but TK was with me in spirit.

I found Omelet to be pretty a tasty knit although I really had to pay attention to the pattern while knitting it. It is definitely not movie knitting.

Man, all of those fruits and veggies are making me hungry,

Joyce

P.S. This is still my favorite picture from the photoshoot. Maybe I should have told her that she's Annie, not Alice, and therefore, can't go through the looking glass but can content herself in the fact that the sun'll come out tomorrow.

Park Ave version of spring

2011-04-04T14:29:00.003-04:00

Hubbie and I were wandering around the City last week and came across these.

There are huge metal roses all along Park Avenue in Midtown. They're amazing. (I've only seen them at night, thus the bad photo.) The bug person in my loves that they have bugs on them. If you look closely at the middle rose, you can see a lady bug! She's keep away those giant metal aphids! Wait, what do you mean not everyone is having problems with those? Only me? Again?

They're an art installation by Will Ryman. They went up in January (get the feeling that I'm not on the upper east side much?) and will be there until May 31st.

Which means that maybe I'll get to see them in the daylight,

Joyce

NYC Vegetarian Food Festival

2011-04-01T12:09:00.004-04:00

The first annual NYC vegetarian food festival is being held this Sunday, April 6th. It's being held at The Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street (Between 6th and 7th Avenues) and is free to everyone! TK, her sweetie (the Ninja), Lana, and I are going. I can't wait!

Yay food!
Joyce

Bunny hair love

2011-03-28T14:45:00.005-04:00

I love angora. I'd own a dozen angora bunnies, but I live in the city and am really allergic to rabbits. When I was in my early twenties, I actually lost a job because of it. (It's hard to groom rabbits when your nose is running around the room mocking you!)
Luckily for me, there are nice people out there that harvest bunny hair, wash it, dye it, and then sell it to me! I love those people. Hubbie understands and says he isn't jealous in the slightest. I've chosen to believe him because it means lovely yarn.
I recently got to indulge in my angora love. TK, Lana (one of the ladies from our knitting group), and I want to dinner in the village. (Can I just say jalapeno hushpuppies with maple butter? Soooooo yummy!) (Please excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard.) Before dinner we went to Downtown Yarns and I came across Malabrigo Handspun Angora. (said with a sign worthy of a teenaged girl with her first crush) I love love love love love it!

So soft, so lovely, such small yardage. It was only 40 yards and a bit pricey, but worth it. It claimed to be a worsted weight, but it worked up bulky. I paired it with some Classic Elite Lush and made it into a shawlette.

It's a small shawlette, but the perfect size for a scarf. As soon as I have it photographed, I'll put up some pictures.

Did I mention that I'm in love?

Joyce

Spring has sprung!

2011-03-21T14:18:00.003-04:00

Finally! I have to admit that I was getting pretty tired of the snow and cold. But then I came across these.

The crocuses are blooming. Aren't they beautiful? It's like mother nature is smiling at me.

I can't help smiling back,
Joyce

Romance novels

2011-03-14T16:13:00.003-04:00

I've decided to admit a potentially embarassing truth about my self. I read romance novels.

"But Joyce!" you say, "How can you read that stuff!?!?!"

I must stand in defense of the fluffy novel. You know, the ones that don't have an impact on your life and are just a fun diversion. Some people read fantasy (dragons and magic and swords, oh my). I read romance (dragons and magic and kissing, oh my).

The thing is I'm quite picky about the romance novels I read. I grew up reading Danielle Steel (with a heavy dose of Stephen King thrown in for balance. I'm nothing if not eclectic.) I was in my twenties before I realized that she doesn't really write what I consider to be romance. How can her books be considered romance when they generally include a tragedy that kills one (or more) of the romatic leads? And I really don't like it when that happens.

I'm also not fond of weak female leads that cannot take care of themselves. (Save me from milquetoast!) I love a strong female character that knows her own mind and has ways of her own to get out of difficult situations (but also knows that a little help never hurt.)

I also love a strong male lead character that loves the female for who she is.

I have been know to yell at the characters in the book I'm reading when they do something not so smart. Going into the dark room alone to investigate the noise, going outside to confront the crazy guy when the house is perfectly safe, you know, that sort of thing. (Ok, so you don't find those situations much in a romance, but...)

With a romance, what will make me yell at the characters (and sometimes toss the book across the room) is if the only conflict keeping the lead characters apart is a lack of communication or their own idiocy because they're "too afraid" to admit their feelings. Come on people, put it out there! Sure you might have your heart ripped out, but it's better than pining from afar and wishing you'd said something!

And last, but most certainly not least, no means no! There have been an unfortunate number of "romance" novels thrown away (As a side note, this almost never happens with any books in my house. Books that have been read and will not be read again are donated or given to a friend that might enjoy them. Most, however, are still on my bookshelves because some of my best friends are books.) or burned (I'm sorry, but that book had to die!) because the author thought that it was ok for the male lead (I will NOT say hero) to force himself on the female lead without her consent (and they later fall in love with hearts and rainbows?!?!? I don't think so!)

Plot holes (and sometimes plot absence) can be forgiven if the writing and romance are good.

Now where did I put that Julia Quinn novel?
Joyce

You are my sunshine.

2011-03-07T14:52:00.001-05:00

Back when Hubbie and I first met, I had a serious thing for gumball machines. But not necessarily the ones with gumballs in them (although I do love my gum). I was instead more intrigued by the trinkets and curios that one could purchase for just 25 cents. One day he surprised me with this little gumball machine gem.

A ring with an adorable sunshiny face. The face is maybe a quarter of an inch across, but has such amazing detail that I immediately loved it.

Cloudy days just can't compete,
Joyce

Nerds Rule!

2011-02-28T14:52:00.002-05:00

It has come to my attention recently that I might be a total nerd. Ok, that might be a little harsh, but I do rank pretty high on the nerd end of the scale. Oddly, I’m ok with that. Because I know that I try to do my best at whatever I do every day. It won’t be perfect, but it will be the very best that I could make it.

I have to admit that it helps a lot that there are people in my life who love me for my dorkiness. Hubbie, who finds it charming when I dance like I’m having a seizure. GiGi, who somehow manages to roll her eyes and smile at the same time when I make my fourth really bad pun of the hour. And my friends, who, to my occasional amazement, will actually nerd out with me (usually about yarn, but what else is there?)

So thank you, loved ones, for embracing the nerdiness that is me.

Nerdy Knitters and Crocheters of the world unite!
Joyce

Harvest Basket Shawlette

2010-11-18T15:20:00.004-05:00

The Harvest Basket Shawlette and I have a long and somewhat agonized history. You see, Harvest Basket is one of the first shawls I designed (somewhere in the first five for sure). And while I loved it and thought it would be beautiful, every time I tried to knit it, things went badly.

There was nothing wrong with the pattern, as a matter of fact, TK said that it was one of the simplest ones she'd knit for me.

But it didn't work for me. The first time I tried to knit it, I didn't like the yarn I'd chosen. The second time, I didn't like the yarn/pattern combination. So about that time I decided maybe it wasn't the yarn, maybe it was the pattern. Thus, the next time I tried to knit it, I tried to redesign the pattern, failing miserably. So I put the pattern on the shelf for a while. And then forgot about the poor thing.

Until about 6 months later. I was browsing through my old patterns (there are a surprising amount of those. Sadly, for most of them, it was love at the time they were designed, and now it's meh) and came across Harvest Basket and thought I'd give it another shot at redesign. But when I opened the file, I realized that it really was great as is. However, given our checkered past, I was reluctant to give it another try. Then I remembered...

I have a test knitter! TK! So I gave her a call and much to my joy and happiness, she agreed to take on the knitting of the Harvest Basket Shawlette. And she finished it in less than two weeks! (Did I mention that TK rocks?) In Malabrigo Sock in Terracota, the shawlette is soft and warm.

Best of all, Harvest Basket is free!

download now

And that's really the best price for anything,

Joyce

Note: I originally designed Harvest Basket to be knit with variegated yarn. I feel that the simple lace won't get lost in the variegation.

Deja Vu Shawlette

2010-11-11T14:40:00.002-05:00

I originally knit the Deja Vu Shawlette with Malabrigo worsted, in the colorway Deja Vu. (Hmmm, I wonder where the name came from.)

Then I realized that I still had yarn left from Butterfly Bush- Knit Picks Gloss DK. While the first Deja Vu was knit with a worsted, Gloss DK is nearly heavy enough for this knitter to consider it a near worsted.

I had a full skein of the Gloss DK and a bunch of scraps that, when taken all together, gave me about 185 yards. So I decided to knit up a solid version of Deja Vu and it turned out lovely. Most of the scraps were about 5 yards apiece (they came from the ends of the skeins I had used for Butterfly Bush.) By the time I got to the bind off row I was running on yarn fumes. I had to rip out and reknit the bind off three times to have enough yarn left over to weave in the end. It was... um... challenging. I had a blast!

It was even more exciting when Knit Picks contacted me and told me that they wanted to include Deja Vu in the November Catalog! I'm not ashamed to say that I squeed! (Hubbie's ear drums may never be the same.)

Imagine my excitement when I received the pictures from Knit Picks. There was one of their models wearing my shawl (although it had been reknit for that particular purpose, so really it was someone else's version of my shawl, but whatever, totally my pattern!)... backwards. Yes, you heard me right. The photographer (or knitwear stylist) had placed the shawl on the model purl side out. I may have laughed like a loon or cried. I'm not sure. I kinda blacked out a little there.

I later realized that there's precedent for this. The same thing happened with Miriam Felton's Icarus Shawl when the pattern was published in Interweave Knits. So, I don't feel so bad.

There are worse people I could be grouped with,
Joyce

Apple Review - Intermission

2010-11-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

This Honey Crisp is bigger than my hand! Awesome sauce!

It's nearly bigger than Hubbie's hand too, and that's saying something,
Joyce

Weekend knitting

2010-11-04T11:08:00.004-04:00

I spent most of Sunday knitting and watching Netflix. Netflix watch instantly has transformed my world. I rarely watch tv. That's not to say that I don't watch any tv, but with the joy that is dvr technology, I (like much of the country, I suspect) don't watch my tv shows when they're on regular tv. I'm much too distracted for that! (Plus one comes on while I'm at work and another comes on the night of knitting group. What was CBS thinking?!?!)

But, I only watch three shows regularly. Which means that when I want to knit a project that is somewhat complicated, I have to search for something to watch. Netflix has come to my rescue. They have tons of tv shows and movies that I can stream to my computer. I will admit that I mostly watch the PBS and History Channel shows that they have available, but Hubbie and I have recently begun watching Futurama together.

Given that it has been the spooky time of year, I've been watching a lot of shows on ghosts. I love this time of year because I get to gorge myself of ghost stories. Reading them, listening to them, watching tv shows on them. So much fun. I don't actually believe in ghosts (I think), but I grew up in a family with a tradition of telling ghost stories at get togethers. I used to love to sit next to my mom as she told stories of the house that she lived in that she thought was haunted. I'd get chills and goosebumps. It was awesome!

Sadly, my family is now spread over a good portion of the country, so the tradition hasn't continued. Instead I turn to the internet and Netflix and the ghost stories of others to give me my Halloween chills.

My glut of weekend tv watching go me through a garter stitch scarf and 70% of the shawlette version of Mercia.

Winnie the wonderdog was kind enough to model the scarf for me. He's such a cutie (but also a total spaz. The only reason he sat still long enough to take this picture was Hubbie standing behind me holding a treat.)

It's knit in an angora wool Handspun by Jamie Harmon. It's really quite soft and lovely.

I'm knitting the shawlette version of Mercia in the Knit Picks Stroll Tonal sock that was left over from the shawlette version of Butterfly Bush. It is the perfect amount and the yellow shows off the stitch pattern really well.

It's about time Mother Nature realized it was Autumn,
Joyce

Voting

2010-11-02T19:15:00.000-04:00

The sign was really quite insistent. So I did.

Should I be concerned that I let inanimate objects push me around?
Joyce

Apple review- Gala

2010-11-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

The Gala apple variety is sweet with a hint of tartness. The flesh is firm, but not very crisp. The skin is fairly thin and detatches easily from the flesh. I suspect that this and it's graininess (around a 3) were due to the age of the apple. It may have been sitting the apple bin for a while.

Darn, this means I have to do more research. ;-D. The flavor was quite lovely and I would definitely eat this variety again.

Butterfly Bush Shawl

2010-10-27T07:31:00.004-04:00

The Butterfly Bush shawl was the first shawl that I charted from my design notebook. (The others had thus far been designed using stitch dictionaries.) The design notebook goes everywhere with me (except to the lab today which meant that I had to design my Mother In Law's Christmas shawl on the back of another pattern. Oops!)

Originally knit in Malabrigo Silky Merino in Pollen, I sent pictures to Knit Picks and requested yarn support. Much to my joy, they said yes and sent me yarn. (I love yarn! Sorry, got distracted for a minute.)
The DK shawl is worked in Knit Picks Gloss DK in Jade on size 8 needles.

The fingering weight shawlette is worked in Stroll Sock Tonal in Golden Glow on size 5 needles.

The pattern for Butterfly Bush is available through Knit Picks or by clicking on the button below.

GiGi laid claim to the Jade version before it was even finished, but that's only because she wanted the Malabrigo version. But... I had to put my foot down and say no. I know, shocking, isn't it?

It's a pity I don't really look good in yellow,
Joyce

Apple review - Granny Smith #1

2010-10-25T12:34:00.003-04:00

I was all set to review the Granny Smith apple today. The variety has long been one of my favorites. Unlike the Red Delicious which is known for its sweetness, the Granny Smith is known for its tartness. Unfortunately, the apple that I had today was so old that the seeds inside were sprouting. Ick! So the actual Granny Smith review will have to wait.

It was a pretty apple, though. Boo hoo.

At least it didn't have a worm,
Joyce

Transcending the material

2010-10-24T15:55:00.000-04:00

As a biologist and a knitter I find the latest installation by Ben Cuevas amazing.

Although I don't think a knit skeleton would offer much support,
Joyce