FO: Seaweed Necklace

Pattern: Seaweed Necklace, Hand-Knit Works, Setsuko Torii
Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Co., Studio Sock, knit together with stainless steel artistic wire for beading.
Hook: size 2
Mods: I crocheted this with a much finer yarn than the pattern required, together with stainless steel artistic wire, which gives it some weight, heft, and sparkle. I added a sterling yarn ball, purchased from Bead Obsessions on each end. I finished the necklace long ago, but couldn’t figure out how to add the yarn balls.

The Coat

I finally finished The Coat. I was determined to take it to Moscow because I didn't have much else to wear. So I did the minimum finishing possible, i.e. just enough to hold it together and not have strands of yarn showing (shame, shame!). I have not woven in the yarn on the interior pockets. It still has no buttons and I didn't do the slip-stitch edging as instructed.

I love it, even though I suspect that all the alterations I had to do to it caused my summer-long knitting hiatus. I love it, though I wish the collar would stand up more like this all the time. A little starch maybe?

I love wearing it with slacks, and full skirts, and pencil skirts. It dresses up with a crystal brooch as a closure for the ballet or dresses down swinging open with a pair of jeans. I love it with turtlenecks and v-necks. I love it with pearls and I love it with tiny Russian icon pendants. It travels well and dries nearly overnight.

ETA: It's been so long since I've posted a finished object that I forgot to add some important details:

Pattern: Washi and Tsumugi Coat, Hand-Knit Works, by Setsuko Torii
Yarn: Habu Shosenshi Paper and Habu Tsumugi Silk, knit together.
Needles: US 6 Addi Lace Weights (perfect for the paper and silk)
Mods: I will make it again, but I've learned a few things. I knit the top as one piece, which meant no shoulder seams and makes it more comfortable to wear I think. I knit straight across the back, which would have eliminated grafting had I been more mindful of the size. I will make the sleeves longer next time. It has always been necessary to extend the length of the sleeves on most of my garments and I simply forgot this. As is the sleeves are 3/4 length, which actually works out just fine, but I wish I had been more aware. The pattern was an X-Large, I think, rather than a Large as the pattern was labeled. I will be more mindful of size and fit as I knit next time.

Nicole: I would be happy to help if you have resumed working on your Coat. You can post here or e-mail me at Ava.R.Smith AT Gmail.com. I would be happy to help anyone else too.

Happy Earth Day!

I just happened to finish these brown/green Dashing fingerless mitts in time for Earth Day.

Yarn: Lana Grossa Furetto (wool, alpaca, and acrylic), bought at Wolle Rodel, Frankfurt
Pattern: Dashing, Knitty.com
Needles: US 6 DPNS
Mods: They are a "thank you" gift for our friend in Berlin who showed us around Frankfurt. Though she has large hands, I shortened the mitts by a few rows, but don't remember how many.

I'm holding a reusable fabric shopping bag, still in its case, that I bought in Frankfurt at a Rossmann Drugstore. When open, it is the size of a large plastic grocery bag. It looks like these Envirosax, but was much cheaper, even after factoring in the exchange rate. I keep it in my handbag for small purchases. It's a small step, but I swear plastic "grows" under my kitchen sink, and some bags taken back for recycling find their way to landfills if recycling becomes too expensive for local governments, so a small step that reduces consumption is better than none. Whole Foods will stop purchasing plastic shopping bags today; they will give out those remaining until they run out. They will supply paper bags instead, and will have reusable grocery bags available for purchase. I've purchased several reusable bags, but always get one or two plastic bags to carry my lunch to work, and wondered what I would do. (I realize other stores have plastic bags but they are frequently full of holes at the bottom.) I read last night on the Ravelry Greencraft forum that some have knit their own lunch bags. I should have thought of that long ago. I've never felted anything, but have some Lambspride somewhere around here. It's washable and cheap. Another WIP is born! (Does anyone have recommendations for yarn that will felt into a thinner fabric than Lambspride?) WF will still have smaller, thin plastic bags in the meat and veggie sections, but did you know that some people use tulle vegetable bags? I just read about these last night. These are expensive but you could make your own.

I bought the green polish at the same drugstore. The brand is Manhattan, #85. I'm a drugstore junky. I loved browsing the aisles of Rossmann looking at stuff we don't have here. I bought several bottles of polish and some lip liner.

Nicole, are you on Ravelry? Did you know that there is a Frankfurt group there?

Kusha Kusha Scarf

Pattern: Habu Kusha Kusha, Kit-78

Yarn: a-177 Super Fine Merino and A-20 Silk Stainless in White

Needles: Addi Turbu Lace US8, 6, 4, and 3

Mods: None. Simplest of knits.

Knitted Pearls

My first finished object of 2008.

They are based on the Black Pearls scarf in Knitting New Scarves by Lynne Barr, a gift from Olga.

While looking at the pix the first time, I thought this was a necklace for some reason. It wasn't until I started knitting that I realized the smallest "pearl" was going to be 2-3 inches in diameter. And while I think this is an intriguing scarf, it wasn't what I had in mind, so I recast on with leftover Brooklyn Handspun sockyarn Hawaii Joy on US1s. I ran out of Hawaii Joy just two pearls short of the end and finished up with some turquoise Habu tsumugi silk. So my pearls are 24" long rather than 62," and the smallest pearl is less than an inch in diameter.

I'll make a matching bracelet later for summer.

FO: Opera-length Mermaid Fingerless Gloves

I didn't get fingerless gloves at first. What was the point of keeping your wrists warm while your fingers froze, I wondered. Then a couple of bloggers adapted the Pomatomus pattern for a few pair and they seemed so pretty, then another blogger pulled her mitts over her leather gloves for extra warmth and I was sold.

ETA:  Nail polish is Chanel Duo Platinum "Silver."

They really are warm even without the leather gloves.

The Specs:
Pattern: Pomatomus adaption, EZ sewn bind off make the thumb more comfortable.
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn, "Black over Plum;" I used less than one skein. Knitting these seemed endless, so I'm done with the Pomatomus pattern for a while.

They've been finished forever, but it's hard to take a photo of your own arm in opera-length gloves. I haven't mastered posing in front of the camera before the timer goes off - frankly, I haven't tried. Styling it just right seems daunting and time consuming though I know many of y'all do it all the time, and well.

My laptop also went on the blink for a while. I borrowed one from work, but wasn't the same (my pix, my music, my aps, my bookmarks - you know). Dell replaced my monitor, motherboard, and hard drive. I had to buy an external hard drive to back up my data (no, I hadn't been doing that, but I will from now on cuz I had more shit on my computer than I thought!), install the operating system, drivers, and all my aps. Should have been plug and play, but it wasn't of course! Turned out OK: I saved all my data and the laptop works fine. Everything was under warranty except the monitor, but replacing that was far, far less than the cost of a new laptop.

Nancy's posts, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and Ravelry's foodie group got me into food mode, so I've been reading food blogs. I think there are just as many of them as knitting blogs! And some good ones too. I have too many faves to list them all here. Let's start with Homesick Texan and The Traveler's Lunch Box. Y'all may be seeing some food pix soon.

Merlot Vine Socks, Finished

Finally done, though a little late for Socktoberfest.

Yarn: Twisted Fiber Arts, colorway: Arial
Needles: US 1 DPNs
Pattern: Merlot Vine Socks, Anne Hanson; Yarn4Socks Sock Club, October 2007
Modifications: Added a couple of lace repeats. Had a LOT of yarn left over. Love the lacy rib cuff.

Ask and You Shall Receive an Indigo Ripples Skirt!

Mom asked for this skirt so I gave it to her. Actually, she said "You could give me that skirt if you decide you don't want to wear it." LOL! Anyway, it fits her and looks good on her too.


The specs:
Pattern: Indigo Ripples Skirt designed by Kat Coyle, Interweave Knits, Spring 2007
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold "Hempathy," 5-6 skeins in navy (I can only find five ball bands, but I can't believe I only used five.) I found Hempathy tough to work with at first, I had a little callous on my right index finger where the yarn continually slid across it (I'm a thrower). In the end, I got used to working with the yarn and the callous is gone.
Needles: US4 circular
Modifications: I knit the stockinette section longer so that I could wear it to work; knit the lace section according to Kat's instructions, which makes the hem strike below the knee. Mom says she plans to replace the drawstring at the waist with a length of narrow elastic. And wear a slip underneath of course!

I started Indigo Ripples before going on vacation Aug. 31st. It was great plane knitting, including the lace section. I used Knit Picks' nifty little chart keeper to keep the pattern propped up on the seat in front of me, and on top of my luggage during layovers. I usually travel with small projects, but my list of large projects is so long that I've started to take larger projects with me wherever I go. I also get lots of interested looks and smiles these days - people seem to be more interested in what I'm knitting rather than the fact that I am knitting. That's a nice change. During my Chicago layover on the way home, a woman sat down next to me with a big smile and said "Let's see the lace you're knitting!" Turns out she had just returned from Scotland where she bought wool to knit. We started chatting as if we'd known each other for years. Keep on KIPing people!

Indigo Ripples is truly a beautiful skirt. I've already purchased more Hempathy to make another one for myself next season. The lace pattern and ruffly bottom flatter everyone. Kudos to Kat!

Shapely Tank Finished!

Another finished object!

Started: June 2006
Finished: July 2007
Pattern: Shapely Tank, White Lies Designs
Yarn: School Products Natural Fantasy Cashmere
Needles: US 5 and 6 circulars
Modification: None


Love the fit! But next time I will make the shoulders narrower. I joined them with a three needle bind off. I like the garter stitch around the around the neckline, arm holes, and hem. It's hard to see, but there are short row darts where the side seam and hem meet, creating a shirt-tail effect. There are also short row bust darts, which I am not certain that I actually needed, but there they are. Olga kindly offered to show me how to mattress stitch the side seams, then just did them herself! Thanks, Olga! But I did learn, and later mattress stitched the white sleeveless turtleneck. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, i.e. I didn't have to lay the pieces side-by-side on the floor and carefully stitch it. Instead, I matched up the seams on my propped up knees, then began. Once I got the rhythm of it, it was fairly easy. I hope to finish it next week.

Lost my Knitting Mojo

don't know what it is. I've been working on these Pomatomus mitts and though I've looking forward to wearing them, I'm really sick of knitting them. I've totally memorized the chart. I can put them down for days and figure out exactly where I was when I pick them back up. That's too much. I debated making gloves because I'm going to have lots of yarn left over, but I really don't think I could make it to the fingertips. I'm using Sundara Superwash Merino "Black over Plum."
It's really hard to take pix of opera length mitts on your own arm.

In the meantime I've finished these. Like the gloves, I finished them weeks ago but didn't get around to taking photos. Too cold to take my socks off. Not much comment about the Marble Arches. You've seen a gazillion of them. They're made of STR Pink Granite. Not much comment about the Monkey socks either. I like them, but don't feel the love like everyone else. I used Sundara "Gray over Periwinkle."

OK, I know I'm starting to sound whiny. The new STR Sock club yarn arrived and it's beautiful! It's shades of purple (my fave) and green. So far I can't get shots that do it justice, but maybe by Friday.

In the meantime I'll leave you with these designs from Sophia Kokosalaki found on Style.com.

It's Finally Finished!

The Michael Kors Cardigan is finally finished.



Yarn: Filatura di Crosa, Zara Plus
Pattern: Vogue Knitting, Fall 2004
Needles: US 7 and 9 circs
Modifications: None.
Started: 2005
Finished: January 30, 2007

It is soft, squishy, and warm. I love this yarn. The sleeves are a little long, but not too long. I learned how to do button holes, the backstitch, and after experimenting with connecting the collar, I have kitchenering down. I didn't block it, I just washed it in Euclan and laid it carefully out to dry without pinning. Be warned, this yarn stretches when wet.