b r o o k l y n t w e e d
11.30.2007
Notes on November
Well I've been somewhat of a knitting schizophrenic lately, working on all sorts of little projects intermittently between my larger chunks of movie knitting, which have been religiously devoted to The Pi Shawl. It's good though because now I'll have at least a few small things to dole out from underneath my gigantic icelandic lace blanket come Christmas.
Concerning the Pi Shawl, there's not a whole lot to say other than that I'm still enamoured and that it has already reached gigantic proportions - certainly much too large for photographs (there's a lot of fabric not shown in the photo above). The most amazing news is that I'm only halfway through the yarn. Although the project couldn't be more perfect for my lifestyle right now, it isn't a superstar for blog material. Good thing for you I have a few other instant-gratification-types to share.
Above we have the beginnings of an aviator hat with this handspun merino; Below a garter stitch scarf in one of my favorite handspuns yet. I swatched about 80 different stitch patterns in search for something perfect for this scarf and ended up *surprise surprise* with garter stitch. Such is my curse. I should just resign myself to the power of garter already and be done with this incessant wandering.
And finally, Koolhaas III has made its way onto my needles. I've seen so many of you knitting the pattern in Malabrigo and I just had to try it myself. It's a thick squishy poof of cables and I'm loving it.
I'm not usually one for knitting a pattern twice (and especially not thrice) but the request for this came with such sincere sweetness that I couldn't resist. I'm also happy for opportunities to nip away at the cavernous yarn storage under the bed. Take it where you can get it.
I'm rather excited that it's December in spite of the fact that the last month seems a blur. Good thing we have knitting to remind ourselves that good things do happen each month. I hope you are all doing well. Next time: knitted Christmas ornaments and more handspun creations. Stay warm!
¶ 4:01 PM 44 comments
Concerning the Pi Shawl, there's not a whole lot to say other than that I'm still enamoured and that it has already reached gigantic proportions - certainly much too large for photographs (there's a lot of fabric not shown in the photo above). The most amazing news is that I'm only halfway through the yarn. Although the project couldn't be more perfect for my lifestyle right now, it isn't a superstar for blog material. Good thing for you I have a few other instant-gratification-types to share.
Above we have the beginnings of an aviator hat with this handspun merino; Below a garter stitch scarf in one of my favorite handspuns yet. I swatched about 80 different stitch patterns in search for something perfect for this scarf and ended up *surprise surprise* with garter stitch. Such is my curse. I should just resign myself to the power of garter already and be done with this incessant wandering.
And finally, Koolhaas III has made its way onto my needles. I've seen so many of you knitting the pattern in Malabrigo and I just had to try it myself. It's a thick squishy poof of cables and I'm loving it.
I'm not usually one for knitting a pattern twice (and especially not thrice) but the request for this came with such sincere sweetness that I couldn't resist. I'm also happy for opportunities to nip away at the cavernous yarn storage under the bed. Take it where you can get it.
I'm rather excited that it's December in spite of the fact that the last month seems a blur. Good thing we have knitting to remind ourselves that good things do happen each month. I hope you are all doing well. Next time: knitted Christmas ornaments and more handspun creations. Stay warm!
¶ 4:01 PM 44 comments
11.14.2007
Fall Spinning
When the temperature finally dropped, the spinning bug came back with a vengeance. I've only had time here and there to spin a little in the evenings, but after a month or so, I've accrued a few beautiful additions to my stash. Maybe you could use a little visual fiber pick-me-up this morning? I know I could.
"Cool Hand"; 2-Ply Falkland wool from FatCatKnits; 4 oz. spun from this
"Lazy Daisy"; 2-Ply Superwash Merino from Pigeonroof Studios; 4 oz. spun from this
"Espresso"; 2-Ply Superwash Merino from HelloYarn; 10 oz. spun from this
The palette turns out to be rather fitting for this time of year, eh? I'm scheming a handspun scarf with the "Espresso" batch, since I have about 10 oz. The others will probably be gift hats, although I haven't made any decisions on holiday gifts this year. I'll probably employ my regular policy: knit as usual until December 20th. Assess finished objects and assign gifts if they are available. No guilt allowed. (This has proven much more effective than trying to stick to an unreasonable regimen of deadlines - effectively ruining the joy of knitting during the best time of year)
Enjoy the rest of your week. I've got some heathered merino on the wheel to keep me busy if I can find a free minute aside from schoolwork and knitting time. Keep your sweaters on!
¶ 9:57 AM 56 comments
"Cool Hand"; 2-Ply Falkland wool from FatCatKnits; 4 oz. spun from this
"Lazy Daisy"; 2-Ply Superwash Merino from Pigeonroof Studios; 4 oz. spun from this
"Espresso"; 2-Ply Superwash Merino from HelloYarn; 10 oz. spun from this
The palette turns out to be rather fitting for this time of year, eh? I'm scheming a handspun scarf with the "Espresso" batch, since I have about 10 oz. The others will probably be gift hats, although I haven't made any decisions on holiday gifts this year. I'll probably employ my regular policy: knit as usual until December 20th. Assess finished objects and assign gifts if they are available. No guilt allowed. (This has proven much more effective than trying to stick to an unreasonable regimen of deadlines - effectively ruining the joy of knitting during the best time of year)
Enjoy the rest of your week. I've got some heathered merino on the wheel to keep me busy if I can find a free minute aside from schoolwork and knitting time. Keep your sweaters on!
¶ 9:57 AM 56 comments
11.05.2007
The Purl-less Void
Well, midterms are over. And the BrooklynTweed tumbleweeds are blowing again. How is it November already? We gained an hour yesterday and the first early sunset really makes it feel like winter doesn't it? My sincerest apologies for neglecting blog updates. With my current schedule I can still cobble together time to knit (it's a must for my sanity) but time to write about knitting... that's where I'm suffering. But I'm trying. Today I promised myself I'd give you all a status report - it may not be the most exciting thing on earth, but a report nonetheless. And I'm thoroughly enjoying myself with new projects so I guess I should share!
Sweater knitting has come to a temporary halt in favor of more appropriate projects for overworked, tired student types. Not only has sweater knitting (or any other remotely complicated knitting for that matter) stopped, I've temporarily removed purling from my knitting altogether. It's just straight knitting knitting knitting on two new, big, mindless projects.
I received 6 beautiful skeins of unspun Icelandic wool from Sigga when she visited a few weeks ago. I've never knit with this stuff before and have always wanted to. It's beautiful and the wooliest stuff I've knit with in a long time... not the type of thing you're dying to rub passionately against your neck, but amazingly warm and even more amazingly light.
The new acquisition inspired me to start a project I've wanted to undertake for a while: EZ's (genius) Pi Shawl. Pure mindless bliss. Stockinette in the round with very little shaping (only 6 increase rows in the whole number). I like the look of the simple Pi Shawls that utilize concentric rings of yarn overs. Liz shows some really gorgeous ones in the lace episode of Knitting Workshop, which I've been known to watch (obsessively) from time to time.
Never satisfied with only one EZ project, I also have something in the works to satisfy my garter needs, and to downsize my stash (although as it turns out, I'll need to acquire more yarn to finish this project).
I'm knitting a big, beefy winter blanket on US 13's, following Elizabeth's pattern in The Opinionated Knitter. Her pattern calls for Sheepsdown, knitting at 2 sts per inch, and while I have dreams of an entire blanket made out of that stuff, I'm using what I have and knitting up a bevy of Cascade EcoWool. My gauge is 3 sts per inch, so I've modified the pattern a bit to compensate for that. The most important information, I guess, is that I'll never have more than 36 stitches on the needle at one time. You can't get much more mindless than that. This thing is gonna be warm, squishy ... and HUGE.
I've been spinning to, but I'll save that for another post (I gotta stretch out my material!)
I hope you are all well and enjoying the chill we deserve after that long, dreadful summer. My apologies if you've e-mailed lately and haven't gotten a response - I'm doing my best but don't think I've ever been this behind in my inbox.
Happy knitting!
¶ 7:43 PM 35 comments
Sweater knitting has come to a temporary halt in favor of more appropriate projects for overworked, tired student types. Not only has sweater knitting (or any other remotely complicated knitting for that matter) stopped, I've temporarily removed purling from my knitting altogether. It's just straight knitting knitting knitting on two new, big, mindless projects.
I received 6 beautiful skeins of unspun Icelandic wool from Sigga when she visited a few weeks ago. I've never knit with this stuff before and have always wanted to. It's beautiful and the wooliest stuff I've knit with in a long time... not the type of thing you're dying to rub passionately against your neck, but amazingly warm and even more amazingly light.
The new acquisition inspired me to start a project I've wanted to undertake for a while: EZ's (genius) Pi Shawl. Pure mindless bliss. Stockinette in the round with very little shaping (only 6 increase rows in the whole number). I like the look of the simple Pi Shawls that utilize concentric rings of yarn overs. Liz shows some really gorgeous ones in the lace episode of Knitting Workshop, which I've been known to watch (obsessively) from time to time.
Never satisfied with only one EZ project, I also have something in the works to satisfy my garter needs, and to downsize my stash (although as it turns out, I'll need to acquire more yarn to finish this project).
I'm knitting a big, beefy winter blanket on US 13's, following Elizabeth's pattern in The Opinionated Knitter. Her pattern calls for Sheepsdown, knitting at 2 sts per inch, and while I have dreams of an entire blanket made out of that stuff, I'm using what I have and knitting up a bevy of Cascade EcoWool. My gauge is 3 sts per inch, so I've modified the pattern a bit to compensate for that. The most important information, I guess, is that I'll never have more than 36 stitches on the needle at one time. You can't get much more mindless than that. This thing is gonna be warm, squishy ... and HUGE.
I've been spinning to, but I'll save that for another post (I gotta stretch out my material!)
I hope you are all well and enjoying the chill we deserve after that long, dreadful summer. My apologies if you've e-mailed lately and haven't gotten a response - I'm doing my best but don't think I've ever been this behind in my inbox.
Happy knitting!
¶ 7:43 PM 35 comments
