Yes, I AM doing some knitting

Aloha!

I always, whether I blog about it or not, have some knitting going. Usually I have Nihon Vogue homework to keep me busy but I needed a break from it.

While on vacation(I know, everyday is vacation for me nowadays), I am even taking a break from Nihon Vogue.

As most knitters can relate, trying to decide what knitting to bring on a trip is harder than what clothes/shoes to pack. Again, as most knitters will agree, they usually take too much knitting along, ever optimistic as to how much knitting one can actually get done on vacation!

What I *have* managed to make progess on are the following.

The Stalwart Left Right Socks. This yarn was a definite splurge AND unexpected purchase at Madrona. The fiber is basically the Merlin product by Louet but hand-dyed by Tactile Fiber Arts. I bought two skeins(I know, a $62 pair of socks?) but I just wanted to make Greg some special socks for summer. They will be very hard wearing with the linen. Since Greg is not good about hand washing his hand-knit socks, I thought this would be a good fiber for him - he can wash them in the washer and stick them in the dryer. I heard good things from a fellow student in my Cat Bordhi sock class. She swears by the wearability of this fiber combo.

Here is my progress. Notice I am using Knitpicks harmony dpns. Well, I had Greg try them on as he has very thin ankles and I wanted him to try them on to make sure they were not too big. I start out on a 2.5mm and just about a couple inches down from the cuff I transition to 2.25mm. When he was trying them on he was having a hard time getting the sock over his heel. Instead of gently pulling them on, he just bullies the sock on. Snap! Good thing Knitpicks come with 6 dpns. I think this is a clear example of why I need to invest in the Signature Knitting Needle dpns. I have one coveted pair and at $55 for a set of 5, it is a real investment. But I must say, a worthy investment. I love them.

Sorry I got distracted. Here is my progress.



I also like to have a no-brainer knitting project along. At the last minute(you know, you are stuffing a skein of yarn here and there in the suitcases) I put in my Summer of Love colorway from Plucky Knitter. I bought this at the last Stitch 'N Pitch. As a side note, is there a Seattle Mariner fan out there that isn't completely thrilled to have Griffey back this season? I'm over the moon! Looking forward to our season tickets! Here I go again getting distracted.

Here are my Summer of Love Nutkin socks. I love the Nutkin pattern. Mindless, yet interesting. I love how the color splash is spiriling around the sock.





At Madrona, I bought some to die(or is it dye) for wild tussah silk/merino lace yarn in the colorway Plum Thunder(sound like it would be *my* color, doesn't it?) from Curious Creek Fibers. I am knitting the Mandala Shawl. I am enjoying this very much. I started knitting this at Madrona and was almost done with Chart 3(on a US4) when I realized that I didn't like the fabric. Back in some dark corner of my brain, I heard Catherine Lowe say "Why wouldn't you do a large swatch for a shawl?". Well, lesson learned. I had put many hours into the shawl and had to frog. Don't get me wrong. I happily frogged it knowing I would be much happier with the end result. I enjoyed knitting it so much that I will enjoy is just as well the second time around(this time on a US7).

Here is lies on the chaise lounge looking like a blob of seaweed. Laziness prevents me from putting it on a longer circular needle to show off its detail.



I feel bad for you folks back at home that braved the snow and are dealing with a good dose of rain. I hate to say how nice it is here where I am. It is nice. It is about 80 degrees with light winds. I'll send sun your way!

Our World Underwater

For those of you that read my blog, know that my husband, Greg, is an avid underwater photographer.

He has entered photography contests before and we even won a trip to Fiji once.

Like most artists, he is shy about selling himself and his photographs. You can see more of his work on his website.

Recently he entered a contest hosted by Wetpixel and DivePhotoGuide. In the wide angle unrestricted category he placed third! I was so excited to hear he had placed because I knew they had quite a few people entering their art. I think there were about 3500 entrants!

You can see images of the other winners here. Although the images can be somewhat disturbing, take a look at the Environment and Conservation section. This highlights the need for better care for the beings living below the water's surface.

I am so proud of what Greg does as a photographer.

What was really cool about this competition was that one of the judges was David Doubilet. Many of you may be familiar with him as he has done many, many National Geographic assignments. It is cool to know he looked at some of Greg's images and must have been impressed with his Manta Heaven.

He hasn't had a chance to do much diving here on Maui. He dove one day and the past two days the boat has cancelled their trips due to high winds!

Great job, honey!

It has been awhile

Hi!

I've been away for quite some time.

How is it that I hosted Ruth Sorensen and Jens Mikkelsen for a couple weeks, then went off to Madrona and I didn't take any pictures?!!!

I think I *may* have some photos on my laptop at home but not on the laptop I am working on in the next couple weeks.

Madrona was a blast. I had a great time. I shared a room with Jen(who just became an owner of a Jensen Tina II spinning wheel - another one bites the dust!), Amy, and Ellen. We happily were able to get an adjoining room with Melinda, Michale and JoniO.

I took a few classes. I took Catherine Lowe's Foundations of Couture Knitting. This was a perfectionist's dream. Talk about attentiveness to detail. Catherine is amazing in her attention to the little things. I got a lot out of the class and I was glad I took it. I would like to learn more from her.

I took Cat Bordhi's Hybrid Sock Architecture class. This was an all-day class that I thought could have been a good half day class. Much of what I learned in the class can be found in her sock book. Cat is very entertaining and a very good teacher.

I also took Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Knitting for Speed and Efficiency. This class was worth its weight in gold. I am a fairly proficient knitter(can knit 50 sts per minute) but if I can get this Lever Knitting down, I can really speed up my production. I have been trying to practice a bit everyday. Its like learning to knit all over again. I know I can *get* this technique with practice. I remember all those years ago when I taught myself to knit that I never thought I would be able to relax and knit. I know at some point, this lever knitting will feel like second nature as well.

Where have I been? A couple days ago Greg and I hiked down a road to see these petroglyphs.





I crack up about the island culture.

On the mainland, you would see signs directing you to a sightseeing place like this. No. Not in the islands. It is like "island time" but directed at where to go.

We get to the road and find where it says basically that you will find the petroglyph's by hiking down this rocky road. We walk down the road and see the only thing that looks like it could have petroglyph's there. We see this very, very "OSHA nightmare" platform(how they describe it in the guidebook Maui Revealed) and we don't see anything. We hike around this area and don't see any petroglyph's. Then we run into this couple from Colorado and ask them if they saw the petroglyph's? No.

We go back to the area we initially hiked up to. We aren't talking hiking trail. We are talking overgrown, dirt, steep incline up to this "platform" which is very sketchy. It is pretty dangerous. There were no signs posted. Nothing. Funny!

We are on Maui right now. Enjoying some relaxation and warmer weather.

As I gain a bit more color(looking more native - my dad was born and raised in Hawaii) I think about something Jens said during his visit. He was incredulous that there can be such discrimination towards people of color and yet people lie out, go to tanning salons to get more color!

I did bring some knitting along. No Nihon Vogue homework!

I brought a lace shawl and a number of sock projects.

As I leave you today, a birthday shout out to my friend JoniB. She is celebrating a milestone birthday today! Happy 50th Joni!!

I'm not kidding you

I just finished the Baltic Blossom Shawl designed by Evelyn Clark.

I purchased 3 skeins of Handmaiden Swiss Cashmere Silk yarn in the Amethyst colorway at Village Yarn and Tea's New Year's Day sale. I had been eyeing this yarn for quite some time.

I hunted for the perfect shawl for this amazing yarn with the right yardage. As it ended up, I only used 2 skeins. I'm not kidding you, I had *just* enough yarn. I had about 1.5 yards left!!! See photo below:



This is a beauty and it is finished just in time for the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat 2009!

Here are more photos of Baltic.






I hope to connect with all of you at the retreat!

I have spent the past two weeks with Ruth Sorensen and her husband, Jens. We have been busy running around sightseeing. This is the reason for lack of posts.

For those of you signed up for her Mitten and Wristwarmer classes at Madrona, you are in for a real treat!

Polly, Pocket Wheel

Because I have a number of nieces, I have seen all things related to Polly Pocket toys.

I have a new toy. For some reason I can.not get "Polly Pocket Wheel" out of my head!

My spinning wheels have names. Do yours?

My very first wheel was a Louet Victoria and I call her Lil' Vicki. She was a very good first wheel and my travel wheel.

Next came the Schact Matchess. She is named Stipulation. Huh, you say? When I purchased it Greg said to go ahead and buy it but there was one stipulation. She couldn't "live" in the living room. That is how she got her name.

Since July 2008 I have been on the waiting list for a Pocket Wheel by Doug Dodd.

Last week Ellen and I drove up to Bellingham to pick up our wheels. I was beyond thrilled and excited! Now that I have had some time to spin on her, I love her even more than I thought I would.

Here is a photo comparison of Stipulation against Polly Pocket.



When I put my deposit down in July I was hoping for Christmas delivery. I would email Doug from time to time to find out where I was on the list and I realized I wasn't going to get it even before the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat mid February. Well I do have it! Yes! But...there is a story to be told because I would still be on the the waiting list. You'll have to read on to discover how I got her.

Since he first came out with this wheel, he has made a few design changes. His most current design of the wheel does not have a leather strap. I have always wanted the leather strap version for ease of transport. You can still get the design with the leather strap but it is special order now.

He had three wheels available to take delivery of now. He wasn't willing to ship these. I believe he had taken them to a St. Distaff Day gathering and one woman had wanted one of the wheels but never contacted Doug. Ellen just happened to e-mail Doug about a week and a half ago inquiring on the progress of the waiting list and he happened to mention he had three wheels available now that had leather straps. There were two maple and one prunewood. She took the prunewood.

I had a choice between the two maple ones. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to take delivery of a maple one because I had set my mind on Cherry. I decided the type of wood wasn't so important to me but having the leather handle was. Plus I figured maple might be just a tad lighter than Cherry. Do I have to mention that getting one now was a real motivator?

I had to decide between a change in the design of how the ratio change thingy(my technical term) attaches to the wheel. The change in the design was made so it is easier for him to create. One had the new design, the other had the old design. With a waiting list of over 70 now, he has had to make some design changes so he can make all us spinners happy!

He says there is no difference in functionality with this change but I liked having the older model. He said it makes it slightly easier to treadle. That doesn't make much difference because this baby is easy to treadle anyway. I have only compared my wheel(with the old design) and Ellen's(with the new design). I do think the treadling is a bit smoother and my wheel seems to be a tiny bit quieter but I can't say if this is due to this design change or something else.

This baby is small! So adorable and she spins SO smoothly. It really is an amazing design.

Being vertically challenged(petite) this wheel really is comfortable for me. The pedals are higher up so there is less strain on my low back. I can sit on a sofa, a dining room chair, my office desk chair and they are all comfortable. This has not been the case with my other wheels.

It is a scotch tension and it comes with 3 bobbins.



This wheel, by design, has an infinite # of ratios. You can purchase the wheel with a high speed option but I am not sure this is really necessary. For most folks the regular option is definitely going to work just fine. How are ratios changed on this wheel?



As you see in the photo above, there is a metal roller thing that moves up and down the silver shaft. You just take a little allen wrench tool and loosen the mechanism. You just move the roller thing up and down and this is what changes the ratio. As you move it toward the outer edge of the wheel, it has a faster/higher ratio. As you move it toward the center of the wheel, it has a slower/lower ratio. See? Infinite number of ratios and you don't need to carry and change whorls when necessary.

At this point I only have nice things to say about this wheel. I am seriously considering selling my Louet Victoria(for sure) and even possibly, the Schacht. I get a lot more spinning done because I just tote Polly around from room to room. I get in a few minutes here and there and before I know it a bobbin is full!

I even tried putting her under my desk. She fits. So I can be at my desk doing "work" and spin here and there as I need a break. Yes, I don't work anymore at a real job. If you do work at a job, you can hide your pocket wheel under your desk and spin from time to time! Your co-workers won't even know! :)

Grafting the Dolman Shoulder Seam

As I was happily graphting (I say facetiously) 129 stitches on the shoulder seam of my dolman, I thought I would break up the monotony by taking some photos of what I was doing.

Setup: Put the piece of the garment with the live stitches closest to you, right side facing. The piece with the bound off stitches goes above the piece with the live stitches, right side facing.

Step 1: Go into the first stitch on the piece closest to you with the live stitches, purlwise. Leave on needle.



Step 2: Find the first stitch of the bound off piece. You will see a 'V' shape and you want to go behind the two legs of the 'V'from right to left.



Step 3: Go into the first stitch on the front(live stitches) needle knitwise(left to right) and take off the needle.



Continue with steps 1-3 until all stitches have been grafted.

It's like driving across Montana

My friend, and fellow Nihon Vogue student, Joni compared knitting a dolman garment to driving across Montana. It just seems to go on, and on,and on!

I wholeheartedly agree. I might even say it is like driving to Florida and back!

As tried to remind myself while knitting that as I was knitting the front or the back, that I was also knitting the sleeve at the same time!

Let me tell you something you don't want to do. Make a mistake and have to frog. I made an error in my cable and had to rip back 20 rows(it was an unrecoverable type of mistake or else I would have just frogged the cable portion). I wasn't just ripping out 20 rows of my left front, it was also 20 rows of the sleeve!

During the project drafting phase I wanted to minimize the bat-wingy-ness of the garment. As you will see in the photo below, my bat wing is pretty small.

I just finished knitting all my dolman pieces. As you may recall, the cable is from A Cardigan for Arwen by Kate Gilbert. I love that the cable is reversible.

I still need to decide how I am going to finish the neckline. Will I do the same cable as the collar, will I do a rib(saw a cute stand up rib on Arwen in Ravelry - looked very sharp)? Hmmmnnn. So many options. That is what I love about creating my own design rather than following a pattern - I call the shots!



Can you see all the markers along the shoulder line in the photo above? That is where you do a ton of short rows to create the shoulder slope.

How to join the shoulders? You can do a 3 needle NV technique bind off, you can kitchener it or you can do as I am doing. The 3 needles bind off will result in a seam that you can see rather readily. The kitchener may not provide enough support for the whole garment. The technique I am going to do is to bind off the front and then kitchener the front and back pieces together. This will give the most seamless look while providing more support at the shoulder seam.

Elegant Arrows Moebius

I was reading the Blue Moon Fiber Arts blog tonight. Tina's latest post resonated with me.

I was moved by it. I believe as she does in the power of mindfulness, the power of intention and the power we have as individuals to help move the planet towards peace.

Sivia Harding posted in the comments about a moebius scarf she designed that may be used in a KAL of sorts, suggested by Cat Bordhi. Sivia wrote "Cat Bordhi has suggested that knitting a Moebius while watching the inauguration would be an especially fitting way to usher in the “new era” with peace, oneness and unity." There are more specifics in this post on Sivia's blog.

Even with as much Nihon homework as I have to do in the coming weeks I want to cast-on this scarf on Tuesday January 20, 2009.

For me this moebius will be a symbol of the peace and hope I feel as we usher in a new president. It will remind me of this historical day.

Will you join me?

Projects, Projects Everywhere! All NON Nihon Vogue!

If you have followed my blog you will know I do a whole lot of starting of projects and only a handful of finishing! I can blame a part of that on my Nihon Vogue certification. I do finish 8 sweaters in the course of a year. The following projects are just side projects or what I call Contraband Knitting.

I finished a shawl for my mother-in-law for Christmas. This yarn is from Toots LeBlanc. It is in the 60/40angora/wool blend. The wool portion of the blend is either Rambouillet or Merino. It really blooms after washing. The pattern is the Foliage Shawl by Miriam Felton. I only used 2 skeins or 500 yards. I had the smallest amount left over. It was close. I did do one extra repeat of the pattern to make the shawl a little bit bigger.

I had some issues with the pattern. In the pattern instructions Miriam says you can make the shawl bigger by adding repeats but she doesn't go into detail in how that affects the knitted on border. I e-mailed her about it but it took her a bit of time to get back with me. By that time I had already forged ahead. I had to make some small adjustments but it wasn't noticeable in the finished product.

I had never done a knitted on border before. I think it turned out beautifully and Evie loves it.





I could not leave my father-in-law out in the cold, so to speak. I made him a scarf in a 4 ply scottish cashmere. I purchased this recycled yarn off Ebay. In a prior life it was a sweater. I took the yarn which was in cakes, took four balls and strung it around my knitty noddy, washed it and dried it before knitting. This scarf is so thick and yummy. I had never used recycled yarn before and I think it is a very cool(no pun intended) way to go. I do have a fair amount of cashmere yarn in my stash but *my color's* wouldn't suit Ron!

I found this pattern out of one of my Japanese knitting books with patterns/designs for men. (Note: Amy, do you see the project bag in the background? I am never without my knitting!)






I also knitted some socks for my niece, Jenn, who turned 30 this month. She makes hand made books and she inquired one day about doing a trade - one of her books for a pair of hand knit socks. I told her "there is no freakin' way". I don't gift knit to non-knitters because I have had a bad experience with it. Non-knitters do not understand the number of hours it takes to knit a scarf or a pair of socks. I made an exception because this is a very special milestone in her life.

The pattern is Biological Clock from Janel Laidman's Eclectic Sole book. This was not a hint for her to get going in the motherly way(she isn't married) but she is a scientist. The DNA strands were perfect for her! These photos are not very good. I gave them to her Christmas night so there was no natural lighting. I had forgotten to take photos before I gave them to her.





I am a member of the Rockin' Sock Club. I love this club. The last installment of the year is a lovely colourway that happened by mistake by Tina and it has become her new favorite. We got the yarn in mediumweight paired with a wonderful, easy to memorize pattern by Anne Hanson. How could you NOT love a pattern by Anne of Knitspot. All her patterns are very well written and easy to follow.





Recently on a black-hole tour(You know the one. You go into Ravelry to just check your messages, maybe check out what is going on in a few of your groups, maybe stop by to see what your friends are doing and next thing you know a couple hours have gone by. Familiar?) in Ravelry I came upon these adorable mittens. Like the sea turtles, I love seahorses. I have never seen one in the wild(I would have to scuba dive). I just think they are such fascinating creatures.

Greg took some awesome photos like this one while in Indonesia. I would love to see this guy in person. Can you believe that this little guy is about as big as your pinkie fingernail?

I know a lot of you out there with left over Kauni yarn. Will this project be added to your Ravelry queue?

Saying Goodbye to 2008

2008 was a very good year for me. I had a number of life changes and as difficult as change can be, it is always good.

The biggest change in my life this year was being able to say goodbye to my IT career. It took me some months to adjust from my high stress, deadline driven career to a life of leisure. Now that I have adjusted to it, I wake up every single morning grateful for the freedom to do as I choose.

My oldest sister, Val, has been in town for the past few weeks. All of my other siblings live in the area so it is a real treat to have her visit so the family is all together. My parents would be proud to see how close their children are to one another. This time of year is always a bit bittersweet for me as my parents and my sister Deb are no longer earthbound and I miss being with them.

As the new year approaches, I want to leave you all with a photo of me and "my sibs", as I call them. They are near and dear to me. They are my best friends, a part of my wonderful support network. I have no doubt that they would drop everything for me if life dictated such a response. We all would, and have done so, for one another.

We laugh, we cry, we chat, chat, chat and we laugh some more. On Christmas Val said she had a headache from laughing so much.

Not a day goes by that I don't talk to at least one of my sisters.

Dear Ooka girls(this is what we call ourselves), I love you all so very much. You are the center of my heart around which everything else revolves. Life is so much more fun, so much more fulfilling because we are a family!

Greg, you are at the center of my heart, too. They have just been with me since the day I was born!

The day I was born my dad called home to tell my sisters whether I was a boy or a girl. When they found out I was a girl, they danced around the house singing "it's a girl, it's a girl." They were relieved. What would they do with a brother?

I have always felt loved, cared for and protected. Honestly I say I had 7 mothers. Six older sisters and one mother that birthed me!

On December 27, 2008 my Auntie Sumi celebrated her 80th birthday. She isn't a *true* aunt in the bloodline way. She was my mom's best friend. This photo was taken at her birthday party.



From Left to Right: Naomi, Cheryl, Val, Karen, Auntie Sumi, Kathy and Trish.

As I leave this post to go party with my sibs, I wish you all the best for 2009! Be safe tonight and I'll see you in the New Year!

When you didn't think you would use geometry again...

I originally wrote this post over a month ago(Nov 11). Someone help me slow time down!

I just attended another weekend of Nihon Vogue classes for year two.

I had a wonderful weekend. I spent it with 11 other students learning from Jean Wong. I love my Nihon Vogue weekends.

The newest project we have to tackle is a raglan. This isn't a top down raglan, this raglan is knit in pieces.

If you go out and research raglan designs, very few are designed so a pattern meets up and matches on the body over to the sleeves(yes it is easy to do if knitting it from the top down). This is a very challenging design to do. I recall Jean saying this is our most challenging design for year two.

The reason? It takes a lot of math. It takes very accurate measurements and calculations(isn't this what Nihon Vogue is all about? Exacting attention to detail!) I created an isosceles triangle on my design which will ensure my patterns line up. Of course there is more to it than just that but the basis for this technique is the isosceles triangle. Do you see it in the upper left corner portion of the photo?



Isoceles triangle? I thought I left that behind a long time ago!

Creating the template for the design is the easy part(yeah right-draw this, then at a right angle to this point, draw a line that is perpendicular to that, etc, etc!) but taking some stitch patterns and making them work on your body measurements....another story. This design is going to take some time. Some thinking. Some trial and error, I suspect. Dec 30, 2008: Now that I have completed that portion of the design, I can tell you that it did take me a bit of time to find a pattern that was interesting, yet simple.

Jean's guidance dictated that we find a repeating design that has few stitches, the lower the number of stitches in the repeat, the better. They are easier to match up from body to sleeve.

I chose a cable/bobble combination for the center front of my sweater and a herringbone pattern for the rest of the body and sleeve.

I found the herringbone stitch from a sock pattern. Some of my friends have knit Charade socks. I used the herringbone rib pattern that was used in this pattern.

The yarn? A wonderful discontinued yarn I have had in my stash for quite some time. Rowan Magpie in Coffee Bean. This yarn has a lot of loft and shows patterning beautifully. Magpie has 153 yards(140m) in 100g. (Note: I bought two stashes from a wonderful woman in the UK. Both lots had 10 skeins each. One in the color Float and one in Charcoal. Love this yarn!) Why don't they still make this?



My brain is full of information. It is so energizing to learn something that mathematically works, in creative pursuit. Nihon Vogue is a perfect pairing of analytical calculation and the creative aspects of knitting design.

What I learned in our December class is the calculations for doing the body and sleeve decreases. I am glad I have my exact calculations written down with copious notes. I have not done any homework since the last class due to Christmas project knitting! I missed the second day of class due to snow so I have a lot of catching up to do. Project 4 is an Aran. Now that is going to be fun!

Back to the raglan. The tricky part to knitting the decreases is that all pieces(front, back and both sleeves) the decreases MUST be done for all pieces on the same row. If you miss your decrease on one or more pieces, your pattern will NOT line up. There is no fudging here. Did you hear me on that? NO fudging?

So to help us, Jean suggested we use a very long circular needle and knit all the pieces at the same time. No, the pieces are not connected to one another but you can better keep the continuity of the decreases on all pieces if done in this manner.

Yikes. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Coyotes!

Yesterday afternoon there were a couple coyotes in our backyard. One was an adult and the other, a pup.

They are such beautiful creatures. I'm saddened that they have had to come into populated areas to survive.

There have been a few incidents in the past couple weeks that raised questions in my and Greg's minds. The first happened one afternoon while we were sitting in our living room and we heard animal fighting. It was very loud. We both looked at each other and quickly went out the back door to listen to what was going on. Some animal was obviously in distress. Then as quickly as it started, there was silence. The second incidence happened at 2am when we were awaken by loud crying or howling.

This latest sighting brings the puzzle pieces together.

Greg was able to capture a very artsy photo of the adult. I was in my office when Greg called to me. I looked out my office window and there they were. The adult and the pup just lazily trotting across the hillside. I love all animals and they were so pretty. I felt sadness at the same time. They are not in their element.

Everytime Chase and Beanie go outside to take care of their potty business, I am out there as well protecting my pack!

No Posts!

I realize it has been quite some time since I published a post. I am a bit sheepish to admit why there has been such a large gap.

I got my very cool Nikon Coolpix S60 in September. Well...I can.not.find(!) the cord that I hook into the USB to load the photos. We have every other kind of card reader to put a memory card in to load media and I thought I would just use one of those instead. They do not have a slot for the particular SD card the coolpix uses(it does have an SD card slot but this is a different kind of SD). The camera came with a cord I can put into the camera and then connect to my computer to load the photos. We have a million of those kinds of cords from our various toys. The Nikon one has to have an input that is just a little bit different than the ones we have so all the ones I have tried DO NOT FIT. Honestly. Greg has 3 types of Nikon digital SLR's. Don't you think we would have something that works?

That is the reason I have not been posting.

I hate to publish a post lacking photos so until I find the cord I won't be posting.

I hear some of you saying "Just go out and buy a cord!" I am too cheap(I realize I am a study in contradictions as I do love my Louis Vuitton bags and we all know those babies are NOT cheap) - I'd rather use that $$ on fiber or cool knitting tools. Yes, for you non-knitters out there, there ARE cool knitting and spinning tools!

I know the cord disappeared when Greg came home from a 3 week vacation to Palau. This is what happened: I had sort of camped out in Greg's office during the day while he was gone. He has a ginormous computer monitor which is great for watching on-demand Netflix. There was another benefit. Our house has a very open design so it can be hard to heat or have the house feel cozy warm. I'm too cheap to heat the whole house when I can camp out in one room and close the door and trap the heat in the one room. I'd close his office door, settle in with Chase and Beanie and it was perfect!

After I moved all my various spinning and knitting projects, laptop, camera stuff, etc.(yes there was stuff everywhere) from his office back upstairs to my office, that is when the cord suddenly disappeared. Yes, it is probably in some project bag. I could swear I have looked everywhere but that is just not possible is it? It has to be here, somewhere.

Now I am on the last week before our next Nihon class and I just don't have the time to look for the cord and do a blog post.

Next blog post: Next week. With photos. If I absolutely can't find the cord, I will go buy a new one as this is getting a bit ridiculous!

Valkyrie and my gnomiejo knits orifice hook!

When Ellen and I went down to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September I purchased some roving from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - 50% merino, 50% silk in the Valkyrie colorway.



This particular purchase was a definite impulse buy. Here comes the justification logic. I figure you can't purchase roving(except superwash merino) on-line. When you go to conventions and festivals they always have roving of different fibers. This is the time you *need* to stock up on BMFA roving! Plus!...you know Tina's take on color...you can't resist!

I had gone back to their booth because I had loaned Tina Newton(owner and dyer extraordinaire of Blue Moon) a sweater I had made out of BMFA mediumweight Socks that Rock to display in their booth. I picked up my sweater and also picked up this roving. I recall trying to call Ellen on the cell to have her talk me out of it but she didn't hear her phone ring. I guess her not picking up the phone worked out well for me!

I finished spinning this up into 2-ply laceweight. It is very pretty and I enjoyed spinning this. I wasn't sure if I would like working with this blend and I found out that I really enjoy it(good thing because I bought a lot of merino/silk blends at OFFF). It is approximately 7 ounces. I'll have to check again but I think it is around 22 wpi.



I made a recent purchase at Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs. I know one of the owners of the shop, Shiori, as she is a fellow student in Nihon Vogue. I saw an orifice hook with a gnome on it in their shop. I emailed Shiori right away and asked if she could do some custom work on it. Her business partner, Stephanie, makes these works of art and she graciously agreed to make me a custom hook!

I wanted her to add 'gnomiejo knits' somewhere on the hook for me and she did!

Isn't it just wonderful?





I love the glass bead they added to the base which has a toadstool look to it. I appreciate the attention to detail that went into creating this work of art.

Nihon Vogue Year Two, so far

When I began year two I had the best intentions to blog in more detail what I am learning.

It is now the day before our second session and I have not given you more information on what we are learning.

I am thoroughly enjoying my journey in year two. It is amazing what NOT working does for a student taking on this level of certification.

Project one is a puffy/gathered sleeve garment. My inspiration came from the Skater's Top by Veronik Avery. I am knitting this garment out of a fiber exactly like Kidsilk Haze but made by another company.

Here is the body sewn up but without the neckline ribbing.



The concepts involved in creating a puffy sleeve is very intriguing. During class when Jean showed us how to make the design, all I could think was "how cool is that?". I feel fortunate that as we are learning this concept just as the puffy sleeve has come back into fashion. I am seeing them in many fashion magazines.

For this short sleeve tee, when creating the puffy sleeve, after you have drawn the sleeve cap curve, you take tracing paper and draw the cap only onto the paper. Cut it out. Then anchoring at the underarm point, pivot the cap at that point upward. Then you can draw the new sleeve cap.



With each garment we design, I learn more on how to determine if a certain pattern will work with the design or not. I learned, after knitting the front, that the stitch pattern I chose isn't going to work out as well as I thought it would.



The lace pattern I am using is a 9 stitch repeat and there is no center stitch, per se. It is not a balanced pattern, as you can see above.

I should have mirrored the lace stitch pattern on the left and right sides of the center front and center back, or use a different stitch pattern altogether. Luckily the fuzziness of this yarn will disguise this *problem* a teeny, tiny bit but *I* will know there is a problem. I wasn't willing to start all over and re-knit the front once I realized the issue but I will chalk it up experience.

Not only did I make the sleeve so it will be gathered at the top of the sleeve, but I also did short rows right after the provisional cast-on to create a little puffy shelf-y thing at the bottom of the sleeve right before the ribbing. In essence you are creating a collar shaped fabric on the sleeve.



To create this on your actual pattern you create an area of short rows.



To explain how this creates additional fabric, the photo below of my notes may help you to understand. The orange line is the provisional cast-on and you knit up from this line. The purple line indicates where the ribbing is done downward. You still knit down from the provisional cast-on but the drawing is trying to indicate and show the extra fabric that you will create.



Project Two. Dolman sleeve garment. More detail to come later(I would rather do some spinning today!). Originally I was going to do a very short sleeved pullover out of Euroflax for a cute summer top. That design went out the window the day of class where we learned the dolman sleeve concepts. I didn't want to do a short-sleeved garment as I felt I would be short changing my learning on the technicalities to create the dolman sleeve.

I landed on doing a dolman sleeved version of Kate Gilbert's A Cardigan for Arwen. The dolman area of the sleeve will be very small(no wing bats for me). I won't do a hooded version but I have yet to determine how I will finish the neckline.

Here is my progress on the front. The back is done up to this point but it is just stockinette so there is no point really showing you.



We also had to knit 4 guage samples out of 100% wool with about 110 meters(120yds) in 50g. Each swatch is 25 sts, 25 rows. One swatch for 3.25, 3.5, 3.75 and 4mm needle.



This will help us determine, in our own knitting, about how much each change in needle size will give us in our knitting.

To help me keep track of what needle size I used for each swatch, I put little knots in the cast-on yarn. Here is an example of my knots for my 3.25 swatch.



Have a great weekend! I know I will! Going to Nihon Vogue class is always exciting and fun, and little exhausting.

'Cuz you asked

I've had a number of inquiries about our home siding project.

Well....it is still incomplete. I'm glad we had a fixed price bid, not time and materials bid because we would have gone way over budget.



The area in the photo above where the orange is the master bedroom deck. They came to lay some decking material and found additional rot(not sure why they didn't discover this before). We decided to put in a new sliding glass door there while we are at it before they put up the Hardie Board. Did you know it can take awhile to get the door delivered? No wonder these projects go on and on!

Here is the south side of the house comprised of the Hardie board. As you can see the boards were cut to our design of varying sizes. Of course this added time for installation.



This week the guys are doing finishing/detail work. This crew had never put up the sandstone/Nichiha product and now they are experts. Here is a closeup of that material.



Whew! The end is in sight and I'll be able to have my quiet once again!

I have had my fill of living in a fishbowl, so to speak. I've also had my fill of noise and feeling that my home really isn't my home from 8am to 5pm.

I'm retired now. I can sleep in if I want. I can take a nap if I want. NOT!

The upside is the men that are working are 1) nice and respectful 2) detail oriented, 3) competent. As much as I like them, I just wish I wouldn't see them everyday! I usually make some type of baked good/treat once a week for them because they are so nice!

The Hardie board still needs to be painted a dark charcoal grey(currently beige/tan in the photos). The doors and railings will be sundried tomato. Since our contract included painting of the Hardie board we have had a couple sub-contractors out to take a look so they can bid with the company we contracted with. Both said they wouldn't be available for at least a couple weeks and then...well we know Seattle weather in winter....will depend on weather conditions. I sure hope that it can get painted soon!

The frustrating thing is the Hardie board installation has been complete on the sides and back of the house for quite some time. The past month they have mainly been working on getting the sandstone up. We told the company many times over the past month(nag, nag, nag) to get someone out to paint now before the weather turns. The weather has turned.

The crew had never installed the Hardie board in this fashion with a rainscreen and a reveal before. They had never installed the sandstone Nichiha product so there was a learning curve on all fronts of this project. It is no wonder this project has taken over a month longer than the company estimated.

Now to the fiber portion of this post!

I found this wonderful pencil roving from FiberOptic. It is superwash combined with nylon! I was curious to try this combination in a roving because it would be perfect for socks!


What I love about this roving is it is split into two mini pencil rovings. I just separate the two lengthwise and spin away.



2-ply sock yarn made easy! No drafting really. Goes really quickly. I spun the singles in an afternoon and plied them the next day.



It is hard to capture the depth of the colors in the yarn but it is wonderful. This is a fun fiber to spin. I recommend it! In fact she is dying some up for me and should be ready this week. I think she will be updating her shop on Wednesday and she will be listing more of this fiber. I hate to tell you all because I want it all for myself but that would be too selfish!

One last thing. I looked out the window last week because it had rained and the sun was shining brightly across the lake. I was in awe of the autumn colors across the way and by the time I got my camera, the rainbow appeared.

Nutso for Nutkin, Knitzi and Knitterly Things!

We all know how Ravelry can be a big black hole of time consumption!

I have no idea what circuitous path brought me to Nutkin but I'm glad I found it.

This sock pattern is almost as easy as stockinette for me, in terms of mindless knitting. I didn't do the short-row toe that was in the pattern. I did what the pattern said but when it came to binding off, it was a 3 needle bind off on top of the toe. It felt too bunchy for me so I frogged and did the regular toe decrease.

I have been experimenting with toe shaping and I think I have come up with a decrease that works for my Fred Flinstone shaped feet. I do the decreases every other row until I have about 1/3 of the original number of stitches(I think most patterns do this decrease until about 1/2 the original number of stitches). Then I do the decreases every row about 5-6 times and then I kitchener with about 16 stitches remaining.

Finding Nutkin brought me to the Knitzi. Love this dp sock holder(see in the photo above)! If you are dp sock knitter...these holders are functional and beautiful.

The yarn is Knitterly Things vesper sock yarn. Julia began a sock club awhile ago and I was invited to join. This one is from the September 2008 shipment, an exclusive colorway called Pumpkin Spice.

These socks are great and they are done!