From the toe up

One of my New Years resolutions was to learn how to knit a sock from the toe up (with a bonus of learning how to knit a sock using two circular needles). I'm proud to report that I have tackled this project and also learned Judy's magic cast-on.

This book has been a huge help, and I am following the ribbed ribbon lace pattern for this first pair. The yarn is "The Upside Down" by Leading Men Fiber Arts - I love that I am learning how to knit this pair of socks "upside down!"

I have been playing around with different circular needle lengths too - I found 9-inch to be too short, 16-inch to be comfortable, but a bit unwieldy, and 12-inch to be about perfect. I am enjoying these 12-inch driftwood needles by Lykke for the time being.

Wrist Pain

I have been having a bit of wrist pain over the past few months - it got quite severe during one week in the winter so I really pulled back on the knitting, have been wearing a brace for typing and sleeping, and I am happy to say that there is progress.  Not too much pain anymore.  But I needed something to occupy me during my non-knitting times and I found two fun distractions.

The first is that I became a charter member of the Center for Knit and Crochet - an organization that is taking off right here in my own community!

The other is the book No Idle Hands which was given to my at Christmas by my Sister-in-Law.  What a great read!  I am not a historian, and some of the older passages take a bit of deciphering to fully understand, but I am loving learning about the history of knitting in the United States.  A great way to take a break from the actual knitting, but still feel connected to it.

I have started knitting again this spring in earnest and can feel the tension in my wrist from time-to-time.  The night brace is brilliant and helps a lot.  As does taking my knitting in moderation.  

Yarn (and book) love

Looks like someone loves yarn almost as much as I do.  I had better move that basket up higher for the foreseeable future or else I'll be in trouble.

On a different note, our family was at the public library in Skokie, IL over the weekend and I spied this amazing playhouse, constructed from old books. Now, I have been known to create shelves using horizontally stacked books, but a fully free-standing playhouse?! Now that is cool.

 

As I had all the kids with me I didn't get a chance to get too close and look at the construction.  It is quite possible that there are supports bars running though the books, but maybe it is also constructed by gluing the books together?  And if you want your mind blown, just google "new uses for old books" and check out the images.  My goodness.

FO: 7th Anniversary Monogram

The traditional gift for the seventh wedding anniversary is linen or wool. I was thrilled to learn this, but quickly remembered our anniversary gifts are about the two of us: about togetherness and our union, not about each of us individuals. So I modified my dream of crates and crates of yarn to something more symbolic and attainable.

I temporarily entertained a couple of other fantasies: a fairly-traded, hand-woven, wool rug, or matching Aran sweaters (that I would knit myself), but quickly let both of these go too. The first one for cost, and the second one for time. Instead I settled on something for our home, something that incorporated our name, and something that wouldn't take me six months to complete.

Per the suggestion of a good friend, I modified the wedding monogram pattern from A Rainbow of Stitches to include just one initial, in this case an "O" for our shared last name. It is a counted cross-stitch design, stitched with white embroidery thread on natural, undyed linen. And I am so very happy with the end result.

I am not sure how I want to display this. The book showed the final piece unframed, but pulled over canvas stretchers. I may go with a traditional frame - with so many little people about I would worry too much about the spills and splatters that could happen, not to mention the, ahem, dust factor.

So far I have only located one other blogger that has completed this project. You can see her work here.

Spring Reading

The library has been very good to me lately. Just look at this pile of books, begging for hours of reading! And while my time has been divided between gardening, knitting and writing I have managed 20 minutes here and there to browse and dream. I am also one of those people that can't go to sleep without 30 minutes of reading beforehand so that is usually when I crack one of these open. Not in the photo is Wally Lamb's recent book - and that's because I've been reading it every spare moment I get.

With gardening I am trying to channel my energy into urban homesteading, edible landscaping and preserving. The vegetable garden is mostly in, the perennial beds are bursting with blooms and plans are in the works for a poulet chalet (ala The Backyard Homestead, which was a gift from my MIL). The herb garden is lovely, our fruits are flowering, and our CSA share will start arriving soon.

This is the second full summer in our house and we are slowly getting things to a place that we like. This spring we established a raised bed for the vegetable/kitchen garden, created a compost pile for yard waste (the one for food waste is too small for both) and installed a rain barrel. But, we have a huge overgrown bush-like thing growing in our front yard. It completely covers one half the house, so I'm not sure what we'll put in its place. It also hides a severely cracked window well, so we need something that will provide a screen for that, but I want something with more character than the nameless-overgrown-green mess that is currently there. Maybe arbor vitae? Boxwood? Containers with vegetables? This is the puzzle for this summer.

As for knitting, I can only take so much row after row after row of grey yarn (even though it is for my husband). So I've branched out and started two more projects. The fist is a pair of socks from Knitted Socks East and West, recommended to me by Melissa. The second is a colorful stash-busting baby surprise jacket. This one is will be made from worsted weight yarns, a combination or different colors to use odd balls I have hanging around. The pattern for the bsj is so easy to knit and lends itself really well to mixing and matching all sorts of different yarns. I wasn't expecting to knit another one of these again so soon, but it sure is fun.





I also recently accepted a part-time research position on campus that will help ease the final stages of my dissertation research and writing. My days will be more structured this summer, but hopefully that will also mean lots and lots of progress towards my degree.

Holiday Gift Monday: These are for me!

This lovely stack of books were given to me by various family members for the holidays. I'm enjoying lots of time with each of them over my morning coffee.

I had gotten the Sara Foster cookbook and the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving from the library this past fall and loved them. I'm so happy to have them as part of my own library. The other three books are new to me, but they are astounding. I can't wait to give some of the Eco Crafts a try and the knitting book is a lovely reference with some great patterns and designs. The gardening book, The Earth Knows My Name, is an incredible essay on gardening and immigration.

We are coming to the end of the holiday gift series, only one more handmade gift to share next week. I definately cut back on my handmade/homemade gifts this year, and, I admit I was less stressed in the end. This year, in many ways, our home was literally a gift; hosting our whole family under one roof for two special nights.

In addition to what I crafted, I also purchased one gift on etsy (a holiday Sesame Street themed polar fleece blanket), gave one gift of fabric from the local fabric shop (two yards of Amy Butler) and gave away lots and lots of homemade yum (cherry jam, biscotti and homemade apple pie filling). And, as an alternative to homemade, I tried my best to purchase store-bought gifts locally. With only four gifts (2 books and 2 gift cards) coming from big box stores I definately fulfilled my 3/50 goal for December.

ps. Happy 33rd Birthday to me!

Holiday preparations

Wow - it's been busy around here. And it will get busier before it slows down. It's not that I've a long queue of holiday knitting or sewing. In fact, I've pared down my holiday knitting to one item and sewing to three items. But we are preparing for 20 overnight guests (incl. 7 kids under age 6) and a kitchen that will be working overtime. So...I'm making lots of lists and checking them twice.

Knitting-wise, here's what I've been working on: a zip-front vest for my brother-in-law. (Pattern is Rugged Up Vest by Judith Avery - Copyright holder for the two pics below is Yarn Magazine 2006). I was inspired to make this piece after a good friend knit one for her husband. And I'm a sucker for o-ring zippers. I just love 'em. The zipper had to be ordered before I finished the knitting so I'm hoping that it will all go together in the end. [If anyone is looking for a custom zipper, zippersource.com is where I found the one for this vest. I am reserving endorsement for now as I have yet to receive the zipper, but I'm hopeful it will be here this week.] The vest is turning out great - and that cast-on is brilliant. The pattern calls it an Italian cast-on, but I think it is also known as the tubular cast-on. At least that is the one I used. I learned the technique from this book. I got it from the library, but it's now on my amazon wish list.












So, 10 days to go until it needs to be done. I figure I need four days for blocking the pieces, assembly and sewing on the zipper, so that really only leaves 6 days. The back will be done tonight, so if I get each front panel done in three days there's a chance it will be finished on time...

Blackberries and Pomegranates

With a trip to Stitches Midwest planned for next weekend I am deep in knitting thoughts.

As for the event itself, I'm planning to take one class on knitting with beads. I hope that I will come away with enough confidence to give something like these a try.

At home I've been digging around in my stash trying to decide what I might need to purge to make room for new purchases at the convention marketplace. I'm so excited to learn more about the different yarns I've used and maybe pick-up a few new skeins that I don't even know exist right now.

I've also been digging around in my pile of finished objects (FO's) and re-discovered the first pair of kids socks I ever knit. I promptly placed them on little feet and delighted in watching them run around the house. Too bad I can't remember a thing about them - the yarn, needles or pattern are lost to me.

With yarn purchases on my mind I serendipitously discovered this beautiful new skein of sock yarn (on sale at 25% off) from a local LYS/quilting store. A great yarn at a great price - you can't beat that.

As for actual knitting, I've been making a load of progress in the wallaby sweaters - hooded sweaters with a front kangaroo pocket - for my twins. I've completed the first one, in colorway pomegranate, thru the sleeves and am ready to join for the placket and add the hood. As I was knitting the sleeves I decided to break open the yarn for the second sweater and just continue on the sleeve train for awhile. The opening photo is of the four sleeves folded up together. Unfortunately the purple, or blackberry, sleeves will have to wait awhile until they are put to use. The girls are delighted in my progress and have been running around the house in just the sleeves. Quite a comical scene. So far I am really enjoying the pattern. I've made some modifications that have been working out - including substituting rolled hem and cuffs for the ribbing called for in the pattern.













Lastly, When I'm not knitting, or reading for my research, I'm slowly working my way through Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales. It was a very thoughtful gift from my Mother-on-Law for the holidays last year and I'm just getting around to reading the stories now. Each story is a delight and I love discovering all the ways that I am similar to other knitters. There seem to be universals that bind us: our desire for meditation and/or relaxation through knitting; creating and expressing ourselves with our hands; and a deep interest in color and texture. There are others that are more emotional, more psychological and more complex, such as healing from or coping with trauma through the act of knitting. I have to admit that after reading The Friday Night Knitting Club I was a bit turned off from knit-lit (anyone else feel this way?), but this book has brought me closer in to the fold. I can't say I'm sold, but I'm interested in giving another volume of short stories a try. Maybe For the Love of Knitting? From the review it seems that Jamaica Kincaid is featured and after reading A Small Place in graduate school I will never be the same. For this reason alone I've added it to my library queue.

Zero crafting going on over here

My husband has been working crazy long hours during the past six weeks. In addition to his work/job, he's been learning a lot about the foreclosure problem (link to his blog) in the U.S. and is currently organizing this workshop. Not only does that mean that I've been working crazy long hours at home with the kids, but my left over energy - at the end of the day, or during the day - to be crafty has been very, very low. In fact, it's non-existent. I haven't even picked out a next project. I don't mind. The girls and I are outside all day, every day; we're constantly on the go and I've been enjoying every moment of it. This has also given me some extra time to read and browse magazines.

Here's the list of what I've read lately, in no particular order:

Coop (a father's day gift, but I get to read it first!)
Animal Dreams
Population 485

Cooks Illustrated (various back issues)

Weekend Sewing

A Homemade Life
Fall on Your Knees
In Defense of Food
Mother Earth News (various back issues)
Baking: From my Home to Yours (the world peace cookies are incredible)
The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving
An Introduction to Latent Variable Growth Curve Modeling (for my dissertation)

This photo is of me and my husband on a rare day off for him - the Friday before the 4th of July. We finally rigged up a pair of hammocks we bought when we were in Bocas del Toro, Panama just before we were engaged. The girls had an extra long nap and we were free to read and doze while swinging in the breeze.

Fiber Gathering

Kathy Mack from Pink Chalk Studio (blog) hosted a great giveaway last week. And I won. I didn't quite believe it, even after we exchanged e-mails. But then I received the book, Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 20 Projects Inspired by America's Festivals by Joanne Seiff, in the mail over the weekend and I knew it had to be true. Fiber Gathering reminds me a lot of a cookbook on my shelf, Local Flavors by Deborah Madison.

Both books take you from coast-to-coast showcasing the best fiber festivals and farmer's markets (respectively) in the United States. I love that I can open each book and travel immediately to another part of the country - and learn a tremendous amount along the way. Included in Fiber Gathering are a host of patterns and how-to tutorials for dyeing, spinning and other assorted fibers skills. I'm excited to give both dyeing and spinning a try some day, and this will be my go-to book when I am ready.

Cheers to the wonderful blogosphere and the way that unique, talented and supportive individuals reach out to others; to encourage creativity in every aspect of our lives. You can be sure I will pay it forward soon.

Baking Bread

The number of people in my life either making this bread, or talking about making this bread, has grown exponentially over the past 10 days. It was like every time I turned around someone else was singing the praises of this method, or thrusting some freshly baked goodness under my nose to try.

I actually got the book from the library a couple of months back but didn't try it at the time. This past weekend I got the recipe from my sister-in-law and there's no stopping me now. I love it, my kids love it, my husband loves it, my parents love it, my grandpa loves it. And it is so easy to make!! I have a friend that talked about making this freshly baked bread for her family and midwives while she was in early labor. That's how easy it is.

You can get started with the master recipe, generously printed here. [Admittedly, I don't use a baking stone as we don't have one, but a baking sheet seems to work out well too.]

My own copy of the bread book it on its way to me, along with a copy of Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food. Looks like I'm gearing up for another summer of foodie reading. Any recommendations from you on what to add to my list?

Knitting Books

With less time to knit, but more time with books, I've borrowed another stack of knitting books to look at each evening. Here are a few of the one's I've glanced at recently:

Closely Knit (Fettig) - beautiful, thoughtful knitted gifts for loved ones
Fitted Knits (Japel) - very good notes on how to get garments to fit properly
Inspired to Knit (Orne)
The Best of Interweave Knits (Allen & Budd) - beautiful, stunning projects
Knitted Socks (Tillman) - great knits for kids and fun loving adults
The Knitting Workshop (Zimmerman) - a true piece of knitting history
Knitting Without Tears (Zimmerman) - ditto
Sensational Knitted Socks (Schurch) - beautiful socks with awesome stitch pattern guides

Some others that I'm waiting for are:
New Pathways for Sock Knitters (Bordhi)
Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn (Sulkoski)
Knit so Fine (Myers)
Mother-Daughter Knits (Melville)
2-at-a-time Socks (Morgan-Oakes)

One that is not available yet, but will be this year:
Sock Innovation (Cookie A)

And one other that I should add to my personal library:
The Opinionated Knitter (Zimmerman)

Favorite Things

I recently participated in a swap on ravelry. This was my third virtual swap (see others here) and I am really happy that I did it. This one was called the Favorite Things Swap and the point was to send someone else a bunch of your favorite things.

Here's a photo of the items that my partner, from Montreal, Canada, sent to me. She included two skeins of 100% alpaca yarn, some lavender shower gel (made with local Canadian lavender), dark chocolate infused with pear, a wonderful book on healthy living, some indulgent teas and a handmade hair clip. She is also an incredible knitter and has made a pair of lined fiddlehead mittens - for a charity auction - that would make anyone envious (and hopefully made someone bid a lot)!

For those of you that know me IRL, you might know that DH and I went on our honeymoon to Montreal. Aside from Annie's package being lovely it also brought on a trip down memory lane. Dan and I took out the photo album and had a good time remembering our trip.

Fall reading

A few books that I have been studying lately.

Knitting books, of late

I know that I am driving the local librarians mad. I have put a reserve on practically every knitting, sewing and home decorating book that has been published in the past ten years. I get an e-mail almost every-other-day saying that I have a new book in. Here is just a sample of what I have been browsing lately (mostly knitting-related).





One Skein (Radford)
One-Skein Wonders (Durant)
Knitter's Almanac (Zimmerman)
Knitting New Mittens & Gloves (Melanson)
Aranzi Cute Stuff (Aronzo)
Favorite Socks (Budd)
Mason Dixon Knitting (Gardiner & Shayne)
Last-Minute Fabric Gifts (Treen)
Vogue Knitting: Ultimate Sock Book
The Knitters Book of Yarn (Parkes)
A is for Apron (Mornu)
Knitting Vintage Socks (Bush)
Getting Started Knitting Socks (Budd)

Eventually I hope to report on the books that I find most useful and the ones that I would ultimately like to purchase. However, library lending it is for now. Here is a link to my previous post on books in case you're curious.

Baby Bonnet

If I haven't mentioned it before, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts (Hoverson) is one great book. In fact, just about anyting coming out of The Purl Bee is fantastic.
One look at this bonnet and I knew Madeline had to have one. I am using the Rowan Kid Classic, but in slightly different colors than called for in the pattern. My local store didn't stock the exact colors and the other options on the shelf weren't speaking to me, so pink and brown it is. I can't wait for this to be complete and on her cute little head!

New checkbook cover

From this:

To this:

What a great project and what a personal upgrade! It only took me an hour, start to finish, and was easily accomplished during a naptime. I used some Amy Butler home dec fabric for the exterior and interior, and some cotton cloth (a gift from a friend during her travels in Africa), that I believe is from Ghana, for the pockets. There is some topstiching (tan) on the interior pockets as well as the some zig zag (blue) for the top and bottom of the exterior.

I loosely followed the tutorial from Mudmuffins and Woogiemonsters, originally blogged about here. Since I am mostly an on-line accounting kinda gal I really only use my checkbook to hold my blank checks. I do all the other stuff with the computer so I didn't need to worry so much about a register pocket, elastic or the other straps. I also used fusible interfacing as that meant I didn't have to baste anything. Since I used a heavier home dec fabric this is working out fine, but if you go with a lighter cotton or other fabric I might suggesst sticking with the regular interfacing. I've had the fusible stuff wrinkle and bubble on me when folding lighter fabrics.

The only mess-up I had was that I originally planned to do some ribbon detail on the front cover. I sewed it on and really like the way it looked - it gave the piece some dimension. However, when I put the whole thing together I didn't think it through all the way and wound up placing the ribbons inside one of the interior pockets. Silly.

Maybe a matching no-cash wallet (Bend the Rules Sewing) next?

Books, books and more books

With school and writing in the air I went on a used book binge! Here is what I've come up with:

I now own:
Denyse Schmidt Quilts (Schmidt)
Make Your Own Conteporary Quilts (multiple contributors)
Bend-the-Rules Sewing (Karol, angrychicken.typepad.com)
The Modern Quilt Workshop (Ringle & Kerr)
The Creative Family (Soule, soulemama.typepad.com)
Scrap Quilt Sensation (Guerrier)

I borrowed from the library:
Sew What! Skirts (Denhartog & Camp)
Kaleidoscope of Quilts (Fassett)
Passionate Patchwork (Fassett & Lucy)
Glorious Patchwork (Fassett & Lucy)
Quilts in the Sun (Fassett)
The Family at Home (Kaushal)

I have reserved these at the library, but won't see them for awhile - I'm last on the list for each one:
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (Hertzberg & Francois)
Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together (Brown & Brown)
Last-minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts (Hoverson)
Last-minuted Knitted Gifts (Hoverson)

I take a peek at the books I've received each night before bed - I love them all so far! (Plus, Dan is happier that I'm looking at books while being with him, rather than plastered to my computer screen until 2am looking at blogs!)