Monday, September 25, 2006

finally getting somewhere

I woke up with a start at 8am on Saturday, after four measly hours' sleep, and said to myself, "Self, I'm gonna write the animal cracker pattern this weekend." I rolled back over, snoozed for a half-hour, then went on a six-shop yarn crawl (similar to a pub crawl in just about every way -- and certainly just as expensive -- but the sense of temporary euphoria doesn't destroy brain cells). To wit:

• School Products, for a Lamb's Pride refill (um, and Koigu);
• The Point, who no longer stock Tahki Shannon;
• Purl Soho, where I managed not to buy anything silky, fuzzy, or tweedy, despite being sorely tempted;
• Knit NY, for stitch markers (can never have enough!) and buttery-yellow sale-bin DB Alpaca Silk (already 25% of the way to being a pair of Fetching wristwarmers;
• Downtown Yarns, for a skein of bright blue sportweight Frog Tree alpaca (the nascient project deserves a post all its own);
• and an intarwebby visit to Simply Knitting, for 50%-off Tahki Shannon (yessss!)

And then, I wrote a pattern. Just like that.

Of course, my real goal was not just to write the pattern, but also to test-knit the sizes (there's four, 'member?), do my photo shoot, and be writing my unveiling post right now. I was actually on track, too, and then a deadliney project popped back up (no, I can't say what it is; yes, you'll certainly find out eventually; and of course I'm evil, that's not news), so I switched over to that.

Oh, and I also shot more yarn porn! At this juncture, I'm fairly certain that yarn falls into the same category as baby animals, sunsets, and British rockstars: It just doesn't photograph badly.

animal cracker makings...

...and the resulting hat! this is actually the one I knit last summer, but the final pattern is the same. see how the Shannon yarn makes the top all variegated and jawesome?

yesterday's Koigu. the gold's not nearly so bright in person, and looked even less bright in the store. not complainin' -- I like bright!

Frog Tree alpaca in the foreground, DB Alpaca Silk in the background. I hadn't planned it, but what an alpaca-y picture.

this isn't new, but it is sexy. Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply, which had been earmarked for cabled socks for Jon. I don't think his new girlfriend would take too kindly to an ex knitting for him, so I have no idea what it'll be now.

Kaalund Classic Two, laceweight wool. would you be shocked to hear that I bought it in late winter? :) I think it might become the IK Icarus shawl, if it's not too busy to hide the border.

Vee! I'm a bit further now, and I'm getting a bit terrified of running out of yarn, even though the math says I should be fine.

see how smushy and wrinkly it is right off the needles...

...and how smooth and drapey it is after it's blocked? that's silk for you, I guess. we loves it!

haven't posted about this before, I don't think. this is most of my hipster hat, 2 skeins of Classic Elite Intrigue -- metallic cashmere! the yarn was a congrats-on-permanent-employment present to myself in March.

you can't actually tell, but it's a couple inches short of being done. I was mid-decrease, too, so it'll be a bitch to get back into. I love the way the waffliness shows off the metallic thread. actually I love it in general, I'll be picking my winter coat around it.

a heavily tweaked one skein wonder -- half-length sleeves, allover butterfly lace, and an attempt at a short-rowed shawl collar. I got bored before the collar was actually big enough to fold over, but I still like the fit. (a couple skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, which had been bouncing around my stash for ages.)

and finally...

new shoes! I was actually looking for shoes suited to knitted socks, and wound up with so-ugly-they're-cute hipster shoes. (they'll still make a nice foil for anklewarmers, so I didn't absolutely fail my mission, riiiight?) my love knows no bounds.

okay, that's it. :)

(Aaaand commenting should be working here, now, so no need to link LJ! You'll need to be register for a Typekey account, if you don't already have one -- sorry for the fuss, but this is the only way I can find to stop myself from getting comment-spammed to death again.)

Lauren posted at 0.11 on 09.25.06 comments (5)

Saturday, November 26, 2005

oh, and happy thanksgiving too!

I know, I know, I disappeared again. For what it's worth, I pretty much disappeared from the entire internet in the past month, mostly because of work (even with the holiday weekend I still managed overtime this week, and the previous three weeks were all 50+ hours), but also because of...

...new apartment!!!

I didn't really want to move when I did (which was three weeks ago) but in retrospect I'm so glad I did, and I LOVE my new apartment. I'm in a 2-bedroom share in this funky doorman building on the Lower East Side. It's pretty much my dream apartment, and it's in my price range and everything! My fingers are crossed that I'll become permanent at work (which is going really well still -- we hired three new temps, so once they're trained, my workload should come down) by the time my roommate's lease is up, so that I can take it over. I have a ~10'x6' window that runs the length of my room, so I have plennnty of light if I want it (and pretty purple and gold curtains when I don't). AND I'm right around the corner from Downtown Yarns -- not necessarily a good thing, because it means I wind up dropping $50 on two skeins of Kaalund Expressions in Pacific when I run out "for pizza." But for all the OT I've been doing, I think I deserve a treat!

Knittingwise... the Kaalund is becoming my new Kiri, which is a much happier excursion than the (frogged) previous effort. The Alpaca Cloud from that is earmarked for the Peacock Feathers Shawl (though I may exchange for a new color -- I'm understandably sick of that shade of blue now :p). And in between, Ivete talked me into knitting a green-to-pink Charlotte's Web (it was inevitable!), which will be done as soon as I pick up a second skein of each of my last two colors. Stash reduction? What?

I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't seen GoF since it was actually released, but I did manage to see it twice before that :D -- one media screening and the NY premiere (after covering the red carpet for FictionAlley). I loooooved it, cried over the same part everyone else did, and I definitely must see it again. I have tons of knitting notes filed away in my head (house unity scarf! new Weasley sweater! twinhat! Ginny's woobie orange hat!) but 6am is not the time to get into that.

Since I've had a few emails, the animal cracker hat pattern is on hold until I'm actually out of work early enough to go to School Products to restock the Lamb's Pride that I used up at TWH. I can't even remember the last time I left early enough to be done yarnshopping at 6! sigh.

okay... back to bed for me.

Lauren posted at 6.38 on 11.26.05 comments (0)

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

pwnage!

At some point last year, I plotzed all over LJ about the way that Jany Temime has the Trio rewear clothing during the course of PoA, as though it's their favorite outfit -- Harry's navy tracksuit jacket, Hermione's pink zip-up, and Ron's Fair Isle Sweater of Hotness come to mind first. I was really tickled to see that level of attention being paid to the development of the kids' different styles, especially since the casualwear in SS and CoS was pretty disinteresting.

But now Jany's one-upped herself, because Fred and George's offwhite-and-blue hat from PoA is set to make an appearance at the Quidditch World Cup. Not only does that make me all sorts of happy as a geek in general, it ought to light a fire under my knitterly butt about finishing off (or, really, getting started on) the pattern for it. If the animal cracker hat turns up too, I give you all permission to prod me daily, because I'm sorta stalled out as it stands now.

(Also, plz to nag me about sending my camera for repair. I've got the funds -- about $200 -- set aside, I've just been too lazy to go get it packed and sent. I feel like a very bad person.)

Speaking of stalling out... apparently all I needed to do with the vest for String was bitch about it a bit, because I cast on the front on Saturday and finished it this afternoon. The ladies really like it, so I'm happy. I get my next project tomorrow or the day after, although I ought to start knocking out the super-cabley turtleneck my landlady wants. (She's got all this sportweight alpaca she bought in Bolivia and insists on paying me -- don't gotta tell me twice!)

The rest of this post will be spent replying to comments on the last few entries, so if you think it's awfully conceited when bloggers do this, you might as well scroll...

Laurence directed me to her free Kiri shawl pattern, which is currently duking it out with Peacock for the right to come into existence. I think Kiri may win, and not only because I shouldn't be spending $9.50 on a pattern right now. I think Peacock deserves to be done in some opulent variegated hair-of-some-sort/silk blend. I'm trying to be responsible for now, but I'm sure I'll be casting on in no time, because me? willpower? nuh uh.

Suzanne says that Alpaca Cloud is thicker(?!) than most laceweights, which makes me quake visibly in my flipflops. I'm sensing this is a very slippery slope, and one I'm likely to wind up at the bottom of in no time.

Knittingnurse asks which shade of Alpaca Cloud I got, and the answer is Stream. It took a lot of effort not to go with a shade of green, but I'm pleased with my choice. And as far as the Flirty Ruffles shawl goes, the ruffle is exactly the part that I like. I have 1760 yards of yarn, so I may just tack a ruffle onto whatever I make. For a girl who wears predominantly t-shirts and jeans, I sure do like my girly things.

And last but certainly not least, Karen encouraged me on the job front, which is muchly appreciated, because I've felt a bit woe-is-me the last few days. I have two interviews with temp agencies tomorrow (which doesn't quite explain why I'm up now blogging instead of sleeping) and an appointment about a permanent position on Wednesday, so fingers crossed. I know these things take time, but dammit, I need a job yesterday!

Lauren posted at 2.41 on 09.20.05 comments (0)

Friday, August 12, 2005

this hat will eat your soul

A note to anyone who ever plans to knit an animal cracker hat:
Never work on it before bed. Ever. I know it seems, between the big gauge and the kiddie crayon-sized needles and the simple color chart, like you can just knit a couple rows and then stop.

You can't. You may never be able to stop.

No, instead you'll knit into the wee hours. You'll get a handful of hours of sleep -- and fitful sleep at that, because your mind will be craving another quick fix of super-bulky Fair Isle. You'll wake up feeling hungover and withdrawn*, and as you hurriedly get dressed and run to make your train, you'll contemplate shoving the hat in your bag even though, with 18 balls of yarn joined at once, it's possibly the least portable knitting project ever to grace the earth.

Aside from that, the hat's looking great. :D

I stopped by School Products after work yesterday, where I wanted to kiss the clerk for actually having dark green Lamb's Pride in stock. I left with a skein each of aran, sunburst gold, ruby red, Turkish olive, and onyx, all in worsted. I'd've preferred a slightly darker red, maybe raspberry or spice, but they were out of stock (Lamb's Pride, out of stock? never!) and the bright red looks just fine. I'm knitting a triple strand at the same ~2.5 sts/in that the Shannon knits at, and everything is pretty much ducky so far. A bonus of Lamb's Pride versus Cascade 220 is that the 15% mohair content helps fill in any, shall we say, handknitted charm in your Fair Isle. ;) Once again, if I had a working camera, I'd show you all the frightening 18-ball (6 colors x 3 small balls of each) mess on my sofa.

It also occurred to me last night that the reason no one can ever see the earflaps on the hat... could it be because they're black? There's no stitch detail to be seen in the black zigzag, even when you lighten it, while there's plenty in the green stripe. The shot is dynamic enough, I think, that if any light at all were reflected by the yarn as Ron moves around, we'd be able to see the earflaps themselves, not just a patch of obscured neck with a braid hanging from it. I'm gonna try it and see how it looks, but the more I think about it, the likelier it seems.

While I'm raving about the hat, I figure I might as well explain why I'm still working on the pattern now that djinnj has posted hers. The bottom line is that I want to fill in some of the gaps on the wearability of this beast. The movie-canon hat is a little beanie-like thing that must they must've pinned to Rupert's head to keep it on -- I know a hat won't stay on me unless it comes down over my ears. So I've got two color charts -- the canon one, for anyone who wants to go that route, and a slightly taller one that ought to at least partially cover the ears so that it stays on in regular winter wear.

I'm also gonna play around with using two strands of each yarn and a slightly larger number of stitches to make a child size, since this hat in particular (warm, colorful, and HP-related) is ideal for kids. The color pattern is 8 stitches wide, and the adult size is 48 stitches around, so I'm expecting the child size to be either 56 or 64 stitches at more like 3-3.5 sts/in. The beanie/full hat thing will happen here as well, since kids are crazy and will knock hats off themselves in two seconds.

So when I start talking about frogging and reknitting the hat over and over... that's why. :)

Djinnj also ordered some color cards from Knitpicks to pick HP colors. She got Wool of the Andes, Merino Style, Andean Silk, Andean Treasure, Sierra, Ambrosia, Panache, and Shine. The results are posted here.

For anyone planning a Beauxbatons uniform, there was a quick but helpful conversation on the topic here on hp_costuming. There's also a new picture in this week's Entertainment Weekly, which IMHO is most helpful because of Fleur in the background. Looks like there's a matching cornflower blue blazer with navy edging on the collar that's worn over that dress. I'm a sucker for blazers, so I love it. :)

In Soleil news, I think -- knock on wood -- that I've got a successful start after a week of trying.

First attempt: finished lace and realized it was too small. (The maternal unit and I are basically the same size, so fitting it is easy.) Frogged and increased a size.

Second attempt: that freakin' dyelot problem. Seems, naturally, to have only been the ball that I started with that doesn't match, and four skeins of Cotton-Ease is still way more than a sleeveless shell requires. Frogged and set aside mismatching yarn.

Third attempt: meant to cast on 160 sts but only cast on 150. I counted twice. I have no idea how this happened. Had finished lace and started increasing when I realized it. Frogged.

Fourth attempt: what on earth is left to go wrong?? I finished the second lace repeat on my way to work this morning. And I never thought I'd say it, but I really like knitting with cotton when it's so hot out. I'm already contemplating what I'll do with the leftovers.

Aaaand... I think that's it out of me for the time being.

*It's possible that this feeling may also be related to the 85°-plus-humidity weather that you tried to sleep in. This is the same weather in which you knitted with super-bulky yarn. This is further proof of the hat's evil addictive powers.

Lauren posted at 11.57 on 08.12.05 comments (0)

Sunday, July 31, 2005

quidsock pattern - now available!

It's taken a while, but the pattern for the Quidsocks striped sports socks ;) is now available! I don't think I really need to talk these up - I've been teasing for too long already. If you'd like a closer look at the end product, check out our gallery page.

whoohoo! :)

Lauren posted at 17.32 on 07.31.05 comments (0)

Friday, July 29, 2005

mini-picspam!

The Quidsock pattern is ridiculously close to being finished. My last gauge swatch is blocking, and pretty much as soon as I have internet at home (supposedly tomorrow afternoon, but we'll see), I can put the freaking thing up.

In the meantime, I have proper sock pictures!

The Gryffindor ones are Adrienne's; Ravenclaw are, of course, mine.

whoooooo boy!

Lauren posted at 10.45 on 07.29.05 comments (0)

Thursday, July 28, 2005

but hey, at least dumbledore likes knitting!

Hey, so I hear some book came out a few weeks ago? With, like, magic and snogging in it?

I can't say I was blown away by Half-Blood Prince. (I'll keep this spoiler-free, since there's no way to hide spoilers in an RSS feed.) I can say, though, that I read it so quickly (roughly 14 hours start to finish) and when I was so tired (I'd been up 21 hours when I started reading, do that math for yourself), that I don't really trust my first reaction to it. I got bored toward the middle; I was strangely underwhelmed by the ending. But we're well set up for book 7, and I can't wait.

But who cares about the book when there are costumes to talk about! I'm afraid that I dropped the ball (as always) on getting nice dignified costume pictures, but fortunately my friends and I wound up in the freaking NY Times (zoomed version here), so you can see our costumes decently there. I took some bad pictures of my Quidsocks, and in this one you can see my Quidditch sweater pretty well. I wound up not wearing my sweater sleeves at all - it was stiflingly humid, as July in NYC is apt to be, and I was sweating enough in just the sweater-vest. In case anyone's interested in more pictures from Union Square, all my pictures from the day are hosted here. Most of them are vaguely embarassing, but such is life.

As soon I'd recovered from HBP, I was knee-deep in preparations for moving to my new apartment in Brooklyn, which I did last Wednesday and Thursday. I'm fairly settled in, though not completely unpacked, and I still don't have internet access at home. Nor have I been at work, because on Saturday, in a show of spectacular klutziness, I slipped on wet tile and pulled a muscle in my back. So, instead of being productive, I've spent the last four days holed up in my room, propped up in a loveseat with little mobility from my waist, reading (I finished Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume and am most of the way through The Hobbit; I can only deal with Tolkien when it's my only course of amusement). I only just picked up my knitting yesterday, to turn the heel of the second candy sock (I finished the first one while waiting for HBP and am wearing it here). I'm still waddling around with a grimace on my face, but between my PT (yes, I need physical therapy 'cause I fell three feet; how lame am I?) and the excellent care provided by my mom, I'm at least back in the office today, and much less grouchy to boot.

The one bit of good news I can report is that in the few days that I was internetless and uninjured, I finally got the Quidditch sock pictures off my camera (which, you might recall, broke in a most untimely fashion). They're now color-balanced and set into the pattern, which will officially be finished once I confirm my gauge. Once I have internet at home, I'll fiiiiinally be able to get the pattern online. About freaking time. :p

It's also cooling down a bit in the city, so I'm hoping that this weekend I can pop in my PoA DVD and take a couple last notes to get started in earnest on the animal cracker hat. I think I can deal with bulky-weight wool when the high is 76°, at least.

Lauren posted at 13.02 on 07.28.05 comments (0)

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

T minus 3.41 days

You'd think that after spending the weekend knitting and listening to the OotP audiobook, I'd have more to show for it. And yet!

I made a film Ravenclaw bookscarf, a clever little bookmark that looks like a PoA scarf. I untwisted the plies in my leftover Naturespun Worsted (colors: blue knight and silver sage) and knit with one ply on US1 dpns. It's the cutest thing ever - I duplicate-stitched my initials at one end and everything. Sooooo woobie. I'm a bit worried it'll be too thick to work well as a bookmark, but it's fine for this weekend - not like I'll be pausing my reading if I can help it!

I (mostly) swatched the twinhat colorwork using some spare Rowanspun DK on US4s, which actually achieved the fabric I want quite well. At first I was annoyed because I realized the colorwork works best as duplicate stitch, which makes for boring tube knitting with a couple color changes thrown in (sound familiar?). It turned out really nice, though. After HBP is out and I've recovered, I'll start looking for a sportweight yarn that's a good color match.

I did my stockinette swatch for Momma's Soleil, and I'm definitely gonna have to refigure the pattern a bit for worsted gauge instead of DK. It happens. :p

Last night I threaded black elastic in the ribbing of my Quidsleeves. Works like a charm, and I can barely see the elastic from the right side. There's Quidditch padding and a beater bat waiting for me on Long Island, and Payless has sneakers (eta: I'm back from Payless and I got a pair that's similar - not quite so close, they've got olive green on them too, but I can't complain about $18) that'll work for now. I daresay there will be many pictures taken on Friday, so I'll finally post some after that.

I may not get a chance to post again before Friday night, so if I don't, I hope everyone enjoys their release-night plans and manages not to get too traumatized in the aftermath of HBP. I've, um, heard some stuff ;) and it sounds as though it'll be worth the wait and the excitement and the anticipation. And if anybody's gonna be at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York, keep an eye out for a flock of Quidditch players! I'm the Ravenclaw, natch. :)

Lauren posted at 14.16 on 07.12.05 comments (0)

Monday, January 10, 2005

what a tease(r)!

Jon and I shot pictures of the Hermittens today in Stuyvesant Square. Can I mention how much I hate modelling? I can? Okay... I haaaaaaaaaate modelling with the fire of a million burning suns! okay, maybe not, but holding still and not nitpicking about lighting and framing? pfft! ;)

Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of a teaser for the mittens...

It's seeming like the pattern should definitely be ready this week unless I totally slack off on it *halo*. The cables are charted - I have to put the pictures in, write some copy, and put together the pages on the site, but fingers crossed that it'll be done quite soon. Of course, we're upgrading my computer tomorrow night (Win98 to XP, 15 gig hard drive to 200 gigs, yay!), so that could potentially set things back a bit. I hope not though!

Lauren posted at 4.42 on 01.10.05 comments (0)

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

my first blog-era FO XD!

I stayed home from work today (I've been intermittently dizzy all day, not really fun) and finished the second Hermione mitten. Yay! I don't have pics of it yet, not that there's any need since it's a mirror image of the first one. Now to block them and then take some pictures, and then they're ready to send. *And* if I'm not a lazy bum for once, I could get the pattern finished and posted sometime next week. Nag me, otherwise I'll let it slide like a certain sock pattern. :p

I also started, mostly out of boredom, on a hat using the leftover Silk Garden from my armwarmers. The bottom is 2x1 corrugated ribbing working from opposite ends of the ball -- it started out olive green and navy and will probably wind up turquoise/teal and purple. Noro pwns me! I doubt I have enough Silk Garden for the entire hat, so I'll probably switch to this ivory alpaca/silk I've had lying around after a nice wide band of ribbing. A crazy hat to go with my crazy coat!

Oh, and I reworked the top of the Ron hat so it doesn't suck. Pics soon -- all things considered I'm pretty happy with it, my sucky Fair Isle knitting aside.

Lauren posted at 0.29 on 01.05.05 comments (0)

Monday, January 03, 2005

i know, i know, i swore i wouldn't post yet...

...but I've been up to some pretty snazzy stuff recently, if I do say so myself.

Firstly, I'm almost finished with the Hermione mittens I've been working on for Gidget. I knit the left one first and then transcribed and reversed that pattern for the right hand, and I'm about up to the finger webbing on that one. They've knit up surprisingly fast considering I haven't really dedicated any blocks of time to them, just spare moments. Anyway:

They fit a bit snugly on me, but my hands are pretty big. Plus, they're still unblocked, so that'll help with the sizing, too. Just like the hat, they're Cascade 220 in #9404 ruby, but knit on #6s this time so they're denser. I'm trying to finish the pattern sooner rather than later, so keep your eyes peeled!

I've been stopping myself from working up a pattern for Ron's animal cracker hat for a long time because other folks keep putting dibs on it, but AFAIK no one's come through yet. So, I give! I spent some of New Year's picking Adrienne's brain about her Ron hat observations, and I threw together a test swatch last night:

It's Cascade 220 again, but knit as a triple strand on #11 needles. I'm getting about 3 stitches to the inch so even with the Fair Isle, it knits up pretty quickly. I kinda really hate the green/yellow mix at the top though. I thought that might've been what's going on because -- well, it's too complicated to explain, but that'd been my best guess at the top of the hat -- but it's really distracting and fugly. So, it's back to plan B, which involves both Fair Isle and duplicate stitching for a few rows. Sigh.

Also, I spent last week working at String on the Upper East Side while NYU was closed, and I took advantage of my discount (yays!) to buy some Koigu for socks for Jon:

The variegated yarn will be the body of the foot, with the brown (it's brown and not black, the light in our apartment is crap today) at the toe, heel, and maybe cuff, and I'm planning to use the stranded stitch from Crusoe. Mine will be toe-up, of course!

Lauren posted at 13.55 on 01.03.05 comments (0)