Author Archives: pdxknitterati

Geek Thrill

Posted on June 8, 2008 | 3 comments

Well, that was a thrill. My last post about stitch markers must have caught someone’s fancy, because all of a sudden I was number 2 on WordPress’s “What’s Hot: Fastest Growing WordPress.com Blogs” list on Saturday night. Not bad for someone who’s been blogging for less than three months.

Sunday morning I woke up and found that I was number 1! I was doing the happy dance, and took a screen shot, too.

By Sunday afternoon, I had fallen off the list, but it was fun while it lasted.

Back to your regularly scheduled knitting. I’ll try to post pictures of the Josephine Top with the very helpful stitch markers tomorrow. I missed my photo window of opportunity this afternoon.

3 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Uncategorized

Tagged Blogging

Stitch Markers for all

Posted on June 7, 2008 | 9 comments

I made this necklace for my sister, with rice pearls and Swarovski crystals.

I’ve been itching to make some decorative stitch markers. I had some leftover crystals and pearls, so I went to the bead store to buy some toggle clasps. I found some great ones in pewter, for $1.50 each. But that meant $15 for 10 stitch markers, which seemed kind of steep to me, especially since I’d only be using the circle half of the toggle clasp.

I found some sterling silver thin wire eye pins instead, $4 for a package of 20. That means $2 for my 10 stitch markers. Winner!

Do you want to make some? You’ll need some thin eye pins and beads, small pliers, and a fat knitting needle (I think mine is a US 11 or so) to help you make nice round circles. I chose the eye pins instead of the head pins, because I wanted to make sure the beads wouldn’t slip off the end. If you have beads with small holes, head pins would work fine.

Thread your beads onto the eye pin. Bend the pin to a right angle from the beads. Place your thumb under the bent part of the pin, put the fat knitting needle against the wire and wrap the wire around the knitting needle, making a circle. Twist the end of the wire around the base of the circle where the wire comes out of the pins. Wrap several times, trim if necessary, pinch down with pliers so there aren’t any ends to catch on your yarn. Easy! I watched this tutorial on making wire loops; you might find it helpful.

9/6/09: Edited to add: I made some more stitch markers, this time using flex cord. You can see the process here.

And in other news, guess who’s back?

He’s not interested in the thistle seed sock, just the black oil sunflower seeds in the feeder on the left, so everyone is getting along for now. The cat is highly amused, watching out the window. It’s Cat TV.

9 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit, the squirrel

Tagged Knit, squirrel, stitch markers

It’s all about the sox

Posted on June 3, 2008 | 7 comments

I bought these shoes about a month ago, and couldn’t decide if I liked them. Today I gave them another chance. I’m glad I did.

Yes, it’s true. I bought clear shoes for my socks. I made these socks eons ago, and don’t wear them much any more, but they went with my shirt today. If you’re going to pick socks that match your shirt, why not go all the way and let people see them?

I think they’d look even better with dark socks, but this will have to do for now. Side view, in case you just gotta know.

Josephine update: After 15 rows of Josephine in the round (that would be about 3800 stitches), I realized that I was nowhere close to making gauge. I think I knit looser in the round than flat, because my flat gauge swatch was close to correct. Ripped the whole thing out, and now I’m knitting Josephine in pieces, flat, on US size 3 needles. The pattern enticed me by recommending size 5 needles, so I bought the yarn, full of confidence. I’ve never knit an entire sweater on 3’s, except for a baby. This is going to be a long knit! But it’s really pretty.

In other fun news, I went to the Lantern Moon trunk show at Twisted on Friday. I bought this bag. I use their silk taffeta bags as project bags inside my big knitting bag, but what i really liked about this one was that it cinches closed. No lost pieces of project!

I also won a green tote in the raffle. I feel lucky!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged gauge, josephine, shoes, socks, tote bags

Knitting 9-1-1

Posted on May 30, 2008 | 5 comments

Okay, it’s not really an emergency; I’m just helping. I made a felted entrelac tote last year, and my knitting group took it up as a learning project. There’s one that’s not quite done. I feel slightly responsible because I introduced it, so I offered to help Sharon get past the last triangles so she can get on to the round bottom of the bag. She just doesn’t get enough time to knit. I love her colors; they are outside my usual palette. I finished the triangles last night, and now it’s on its way back to her.

Here’s another bit of 9-1-1: The emergency knitting bag. Turtlegirl posted about this on her blog, and it was impulse buy all the way for me. You can get yours here. It’s the perfect size to leave in the car with a sock or washcloth project tucked inside.

I cast on for the Josephine Top, after a bit of swatching. I swatched flat, but decided to knit this in the round, so who knows if I’m getting gauge? Too early to tell, but it’s pretty and this will be a very big gauge swatch.

Isn’t it pretty on the weeds in my back yard? The true color is somewhere in-between these two pinks.

5 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged entrelac, josephine

Master of my domain

Posted on May 28, 2008 | 7 comments

Right now, I’m pretty chuffed because I purchased my own domain name, so now you can go directly to http://pdxknitterati.com and that’s me, right here. You no longer have to include wordpress in the addy. If you’re subscribed to this blog, please change the address subscription to https://pdxknitterati.com/feed It’s a good idea to update it so you don’t get lost in the redirect world. (That last bit was something I read while figuring out this process, and I assume there’s a good reason for it.)

The last time I ran into the term “Master of Your Domain” was on the pianoworld.com forum. There’s the MOYD Club in the Adult Beginners Forum; members pledge to practice daily, or come groveling with excuses. I made it through the year in 2006, but my practicing collapsed in December of 2007 due to, um, Ravelry. I’m not in it this year, but I am playing/practicing again. Balance…

Thanks for visiting my blog. I love getting comments, so please comment!

7 Comments

Posted in piano, ravelry, Uncategorized

Tagged piano

Shetland Shawls, show and tell

Posted on May 27, 2008 | 5 comments

Show and tell!

Here are the two Shetland Shawls, side by side. Smaller needle version is on the left; larger needle version on the right:

Closeup of small version (Shetland I)

And Shetland II:

Which do you like better? I like the look of the smaller one, and the airy gossamer feel of the bigger one. I keep changing my mind, though. They both make me really happy, and I hope the gift recipient likes hers!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, shawl, shetland shawl

Brown is beautiful

Posted on May 25, 2008 | 2 comments

All of my yarn pictures are brown today! I’m sending this spiral rib cap to a friend, and I needed a picture of it to go with its pattern before I send it. The hat is the loveliest, softest cotton blend: Classic Elite Premier, 50% pima cotton, 50% tencel. I think it will make a great chemo cap because of its softness, or just a great knocking around cap.

It looks like it’s flared at the brim, but really it’s not. It’s a head-hugging cap. I hope she likes it.

My mailbox had a surprise in it yesterday: handspun yarn from Melissa at Days of Tea and Knitting. It’s beautiful! Thanks, Melissa. I’m waiting for the yarn to tell me what it wants to be, besides gorgeous out by the bamboo. The first picture is a little more true to the color.

I bound off Shetland Triangle 2 last night. I remembered to take measurements this time. Unblocked, it’s 39″ wide by 19″ tall. It’s on the blocking wires now, and it’s 70″ wide by 35″ tall. That’s a lot of stretch! Here are the details for this shawl:

Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Knits’ Wrap Style.

Size 7 26″ circular Lantern Moon Ebony needle
One and a third? skeins of Silver, Silk, and Superwash Merino Sock Yarn from Painted Skeins (skein is 100 grams, 420 yards). Twelve repeats of the body section, versus 8 in the pattern. I left off the last two rows of the edging to make the edge less pointy (thanks again, BrooklynTweed) and I cast off knit-wise on the wrong side to counteract stockinette’s tendency to roll. I used a size 9 needle as the working needle to cast off.

Summary: Like my first shetland triangle, but one more repeat of the body section, and needles one size bigger. The first shawl is 54″ wide and 26″ tall. The extra repeat and the bigger needles made a big difference. I may reblock the first one to see if I can make it a little bigger and lacier, but I’ll have to wait until the blocking board is free.

Just to keep with the brown theme, I should let you know that this colorway is Brick on Brown. And it’s gorgeous. Picture will have to wait until it’s off the multi-colored beach towel. Don’t want to mess with the brown theme!

2 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged blocking, chemo cap, Knit, knitalong, lace, shawl, shetland triangle, yarn

Flirting, not cheating

Posted on May 22, 2008 | 7 comments

It’s not really cheating, is it? I bought yarn yesterday at Close Knit for my next project, the Josephine top from last summer’s Interweave Knits. I bought the same yarn called for in the pattern, which I hardly ever do. It’s Karabella Vintage Cotton, a DK weight mercerized (shiny) cotton and it’s the color of raspberry sorbet. Yum. Today I bought some new Lantern Moon ebony circulars in smaller sizes for this project. But I haven’t cast on, so it’s not cheating. Yet.

In fact, I was very diligent last night, and did a lot of knitting on the second Shetland Triangle Shawl. So much knitting, that all I have left to do is bind off.

I’m still working on washcloth samples, too. So there. I want to give a couple away with nice soap as thank you gifts, but I think I’d better wait until I can photograph them all together first. The lighting will be the same for all the pictures; always a good thing. So on I knit. But these don’t have to be done before I cast on the Josephine. I try to have a mindless and a mindful project on the needles, and these will be my two. After I bind off the shawl. Really.

Now *this* is cheating! Yesterday I bought a baffle for my bird feeder pole, to keep the squirrel off. This morning I looked out the window and saw this.

I think he’s thumbing his nose at me. Kids say he’s a ninja. We’re all impressed. But this means WAR. I’m plotting alternative disincentives.

And in other fun news, I won a contest! Sock yarn from a blog drawing at Days of Tea and Knitting. Thanks, Melissa!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit, the squirrel

Tagged bird feeder, cast on, contest, Knit, squirrel, yarn

A perfect day

Posted on May 20, 2008 | 2 comments

Good friends, a beautiful day, food, wine…perfect!

Obligatory knit content: I knit in the car on the way out (no, I wasn’t driving). I’m trying to finish editing a washcloth sampler set that I wrote for a class a couple years ago, and I need pictures of the finished items to include in the pattern. I gave away all the samples as gifts, way back when. So I’m making new ones, but there are six of them, and I’ve only finished two…keep knitting! Still working on the second shetland shawl, too, just have to finish the border, and block it. I need to finish by next knit nite so I can return Helen’s blocking wires to her. A self-imposed deadline. I can’t wait to get these done and start something new. Why is it always faster to knit in our heads, than with our hands?

2 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, Uncategorized

Tagged friends, Knit, pattern writing

Back on the bench

Posted on May 14, 2008 | 1 comment

Today was the last day to post an entry to the Adult Beginners Forum online piano recital on pianoworld.com. I’ve posted an entry in the 8 of the 9 previous quarterly recitals, but didn’t think I was going to post in this one. I haven’t played much this year; too busy knitting and designing and blogging! But I just couldn’t stand the thought of missing another one. This morning I dredged up two very short pieces that I learned last year. They’re by Enrique Granados, from his Stories of Youth, Op. 1. The first one is Cuento Viejo, or Old Tale, and the second is unnamed, but is marked “lento con tenerezza.” I love the yearning quality of it. It was fun to bring these back, and get it in, just under the wire, one hour and 20 minutes before deadline.

Granados Medley

ETA: And I wasn’t the absolute last entry. There are at least two other entries after mine. 63 in all, I think. Nice!

1 Comment

Posted in music, piano

Tagged granados, piano, pianoworld.com