Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Well. I have been making Diamante out of Knitty. I like the weird waffle-y pattern achieved by simple ssk's and k2tog's, but I have a little problem:


THE TOE IS BAGGY!!! BAGGY! As soon as I noticed, I switched from size 2 to size 1 dpns, but that doesn't help the toe. And no I refuse to frog it. I know I am not far along, but I have frogged this yarn from a previous project (an ill fated attempt at Monkey) and I had a false start on this pattern as well. I followed the instructions for the figure 8 cast on (which I LOVE by the way, much better than the hassle of using stupid waste yarn). I then knitted the toe. Cast on 16, increase by 4 every other round for 5 rounds. Then, I looked back at the pattern and realized they wanted the method, not the exact instructions. They wanted cast on 24 increase by 4 every round for 5 rounds, then increase every other round until 72 stitches are on the needles. I tried to correct it (I hate frogging anything) but just ended up with a toe that was somewhat reminiscent of a step pyramid with two steps. It was comical looking and I probably should have taken a picture for laughs, but I was not amused at the time.


So in other words, I am not going to frog it and will try and make the best of it. Maybe I can knit the foot a little short, yes? To stretch the bagginess to fit my foot? If only my dad was still alive, or I had brothers, or a boyfriend, or a really cool uncle...but I have none of those. And giving this to one of my male roommates would be really depressing. I would have to see my awesome, stripey, waffle-y socks on thier stupid feet. The yarn wasn't cheap either, I think it was around $22. I thought about giving them to the friend who I knitted gloves for, but I don't know. He asked me for socks once, but he has probably forgotten by now. Socks are a lot of work, and kind of a big deal. You want to make sure they are really appreciated (!!!$22!!!).

BAGGYBAGGYBAGGYBAGGY.

Anyways, here are some pics of the sights on Alberta Street in Portland, Oregon. Next time, I will post the final pictures, which include some pictures from the University of Oregon, as well as shots from my frosty plane window. Laters!

I have been knitting stuff. And traveling.

I really need to try and update more frequently. That way my updates wouldn't be so ENORMOUS when I finally get around to it.

So remember Reverie? Well, I have turned this:

Into this:

You like, yes? I am pretty satisfied. I think it's for my sis, but she needs to remember that this is a wool/silk blend and she has to carefully handwash it; I will be pissed if she doesn't have it in 6 months! I am glad to use this yarn, I think it likes being this hat. I think that the colorway is very reminiscent of Autumn in the Ozarks, if the Manos de Uruguay people had ever visited, they probably would have named the colorway accordingly. I think the colorway was just a number. I really loved the pattern, like more than I have enjoyed any other pattern I have knit. As before, this is the Hermione hat by JL Yarnworks. I made it in the child's size, as I was going to run short of yarn for the adult size. However, it is plenty big enough, sometimes even too big as evidenced by smallheads like Sylvia.

Just kidding Sylvia. We all know I just have a giant head, at least figuratively.

If I do, and I probably will, knit this again, I will only have 8 or 10 rows of ribbing rather than the full 16 called for. Its a little much ribbing for my taste. Then again (and this relates to the fact that I knit the child size which is pretty big), I did not even try to check my gauge let alone get gauge, so I place all pattern un-normalcies upon my own head. The designer did a great job, and like I said it is my favorite knit project so far. Beyond enjoyable.

I especially love the top. Sorry some of my pics are blurry. Can you see the way it swirls up? As I came to the top and the finish, I loved the way it looked more and more, and began to knit faster and faster. The only time I have done this is when I get to an exciting or suspenseful part of a book, and I read faster and faster. So I think I must have achieved some kind of "knitter's high". Who gets that excited when they knit???

Here is a detail view of the pattern itself. I absolutely love it, its what convinced me to make this hat in the first place. I will definately, definately knit this again.

I know there are lots of pics, but since I am becoming a full fledged Rav Stalker, I have realized that it REALLY pisses me off when there aren't enough pictures.

As I have mentioned before, I am wanting to make a sweater after this summer. So I have decided to make one for my mom. While looking for sweaters, I would find one I like (i.e. February Lady {ravelry link}) and look through the completed projects on Ravelry. I was extremely frustrated with the pictures in which there is only ONE picture of the finished product, and no one is wearing it. I want to know about the fit, people! THE FIT!

Oh well. I am pretty dramatic.

I have been working on more things, as well. For instance, I have been finished with this baby bib for a long time. It's called the "Petal Bib", and it is in my book Oneskein by one of the editors of Interweave, Leigh Radford. I have made so many things out of that book. I love this pattern, and as you can see I have plenty of yarn left for another bib. However, there are about 7 billion ends to weave in. Obviously, that is all I have left to do...that is all I've had left to do for weeks now. Oh well, I will get around to it.

I have knit my mommy more socks, wool this time. She really likes them, and when I told her they may be too hot for the summer time, she was adamant that they would not be.

So when she got them home and put them on, she went on and on about how the wool was much softer and that this pair fit the best of all the socks I have made her. About two minutes later, she came out of her room (she was putting up laundry) and told me that maybe I was right, because her feet were getting hot.

Told you.

I rather like them. They are Lion Brand wool, I really really liked working with it. It felts easily, I hope she doesn't forget and accidentally wash one. The colorway reminds me of a flower garden. I don't know why I have been picking up pinks for the last two pair of socks. The ones before were mainly blue. I will try to be more creative next time.

So as the title of this post suggests, I have also been travelling. My mom and I went to Oregon the last 3 days of May, and we had lots of fun. My aunt and her sons live in Portland. Their neighborhood was like a garden.

These poppies were as tall as me:

I wish these steps led up to my house:

This color is beautiful; if I was adept at dying I would make a colorway in these same greens and oranges and yellows with a tiny bit of white, and call it "Poppies On Alberta Street". Lovely. A Portland designer, Star Athena, could do it. If she does, I promise to buy some of the yarn :)

I wish I had taken more rose pictures. Portland is the "city of roses" or something, and they were everywhere. Also, they were all dinner plate sized.

I love this iris color. I want some. Real bad.

Here is a picture of one of the cool buildings on Alberta Street, near my aunt's house. She is on the left, my mom is in the middle, and my cousin Andy is on the end. It was good to see them, and I wish my sister could have gone with us. My mom said that probably 10 times a day. "I wish Jamie were here. I wish Jamie could have gone with us." Me too.

My cousin Josh, who is my age, was sick, so we didn't see him. We did get to see Andy, though, and my has he grown. Considering that the last time I saw him he was 4. Now he is 18 and smokes, plays the drums, has a tattoo (at least one that I saw), and sprinkles his conversations with "fuck". I liked him. He's a cool guy.

This was the yarn shop on Alberta. I don't know what it is called, but it has a neon "yarn" sign. I want one. There were lots of great yarns, but my bank account escaped unscathed. I am probably very lucky I put an embargo on more yarn until the stash is busted.

Right next door was a fabric shop called Bolt. It was very nice. Every single print in there was awesome, a great contrast to the kitchy shit I have to sort through at every fabric shop I have ever been in. I loved it, and if I knew more about sewing, I would NOT have escaped unscathed. If I move up there (for grad school), my aunt Cathy is going to help me refine my sewing skills. Yessssss.

Well, that is by far not all the pictures I took. However, this post is long enough so I will try to post more of the trip in the coming days. In addition, I will also post pics of my current project. Can't wait, can you?