Knitting, finally.

So while on hiatus, I have started school and all of that jazz.

Who cares, on to the knitting.

I did a craft swap with a fellow anthropology major named Lanna. I knitted her this scarf:

Special thanks to Sylvia for her modeling skills.

And got, in return, awesome hand crafted earrings. Sorry there is no pic, but I will post some soon, I hope.

I think it was a good swap, because this scarf was so nice to knit that I enjoyed it more than any other scarf I have ever knit. And it took less than a week.

I really like this yarn, and was actually thinking about knitting in up into a "Moderne Log Cabin-esque" type blanket. It is super soft, and quick to knit up and nice. However, when I washed Lanna's scarf, I discovered that it is a bit linty. In a few more washings, I think it may start to get a bit "hazy". Oh well, it is still nice and soft, and she absolutely loves it. The pattern was taken from Eunny Jang's Spectrum Scarf, which I got as part of a free download from Knitting Daily. Super simple, and I loved it. This was one project that I knit on even as I walked from class to class on campus.

On to even more knitterly news, look what I got in the mail:

I cannot even begin to express the love I have for KnitPicks. I have cast on a sweater, a real sweater, at last. I received my package in the mail on Friday around 11:30 a.m. I had to be at work at 1 p.m., but by the time I left for work I had already wound up one ball of the wool and started a swatch. I finished the swatch later that night. I got PERFECT gauge, and even knit a swatch of the lace pattern for practice. Although I did not have the size 8 circulars I needed to cast on for this project, I cast on to some aluminum straights that night. The next day I bought some new circulars for the project and I am currently happily plugging away whenever I have a spare moment. This is what I have so far:

I wish I was further, but I have had difficulty finding time to knit these days. I worked all weekend, and will work 5 days this week (!!). I also have all manners of projects and other work for school, so I am probably lucky to be as far as I am on this thing.

The pattern I am using, as it is probably not terribly obvious at this point, is February Lady. I am using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted Weight in Claret Heather. I love knitting with it, and it is beautiful. I originally wanted Sapphire, but I wanted a very heathered look and the projects with Sapphire that I saw on Ravelry didn't look very heathered. Claret looks like a reddish brown, with true red (and a few black) strands every so often. Its beautiful and I love it.

Hopefully I will find enough time to work on the sweater, it makes me pretty happy. I am planning to update more regularly (I know I always say that) because I want to keep track of the knitting of this, my first sweater. I feel like a real knitter somehow! I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Vegan and shit.

You see all of that deliciousness? All of it was made without eggs, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, or animal meat. About two months ago, I decided to eat vegan.

I was always a little disturbed by things I heard about the food industry. Cruelty to animals (during life and at death), cruelty to humans (those working in the industry as laborers), and a general lack of regard for consumers (we have to cook meat until we kill the bacteria from shit that shouldn't be on food in the first place).

I know several ex and current vegetarians, as well as some pescaterians. I, being who I am and therefore an all-or-nothing type of person, couldn't decide where to draw the line. A few years back I went several months with no chicken or eggs after I learned about the cold water baths chicken sits in as well as that almost every single egg is contaminated with salmonella. Like most people, I eventually forgot/stopped thinking about it and went back to my old ways. I have read several books about food, eating, and food production. I have read The Omnivores Delimma, Fast-Food Nation, and Spoiled. Even after this, I continued to eat meat and animal products. I know that tons of grains are used to feed animals every year while people starve and die. I continued to eat meat and animal products. I know that the fats found in animal products are linked to heart disease and other ailments. I continued to to eat meat and animal products.

Then, I had a friend recommend Skinny Bitch. It is a light read, and I was like "Okay whatever." As I read it, I saw a lot of what I thought of as silly newage-y self help-y stuff. I have never really taken diet books very seriously, and some of the things they say are not very well researched and seem a bit odd. Then, I got to the chapter whimsically labeled "The Rotting Flesh Diet".

They cited a book over and over that I had never read, Slaughterhouse. I found it and read it. This book was as good as the others I had read, but it was like the last straw for me. I didn't learn anything new, but I suppose I am in a different place than I was when I read the others, years ago. I finally said to myself, "This is gross. What am I doing to myself, and to others?"

I am not a fan of PETA. I think that their agendas don't always make sense, and thier idea of "protest" is ridiculous. However, the suffering of animals makes me sick. Even if I didn't care about that, do I want to eat suffering?? Do I want to consume the flesh of something that spent its whole life stressed and unhappy? How can that be healthy?

The answer is, it's not.

A side effect of this new way of eating is that I have to check the labels on EVERYTHING, because you would be surprised how many things butter and cheese are in, and therefore am noticing the other nasty things I don't want to eat. For example, corn syrup is in almost EVERYTHING. Even "healthy" things like Wheat Thins, even the low fat variety! I am starting to love tofu, now that I know how to cook it. I am careful to eat a variety of things so that I am getting all of my vitamins and such, and try to add nutritional yeast to things so that I get enough B vitamins. Although it is more expensive for me, I am spending money on what should be the most important expense: MY HEALTH. I try not to eat processed foods, such as the fake meats and cheeses. That is just fine, I thought they tasted awful and TOO much like meat. Also, now that I am more challenged when eating, I don't eat crap like fast food (I ate some fries the other day after more than a month of no fast food and almost vomited). I have to carefully plan what I eat. I also am challenged to cook more creatively. As someone who loves to cook, this new way of eating has opened up new challenges, and I think it is affecting me for the better.

Okay, enough of my preaching. Knitting content next time, I promise. I am almost done with the diamante sock #1.

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?

Making a dent.

I finally finished the cotton cabled scarf! I am so proud. I actually finished it about a week ago, but I wanted to finish the project at the bottom of this page before posting. I really like it, it is the perfect length, about 5 feet, and cool (as in not hot) and soft. I was making it for my friend Nan, she even picked out the yarn. However, I haven't seen her in over a year, so I guess I will keep it. I could try to get in touch, but I don't know.

I really like it. I need a scarf anyway, and hate making them. Yeah, I think I will keep it. On a less positive note, after I finished this, and before I started my next project, I went through all of my stash and sorted it. I found TWO MORE BALLS of this yarn. Dammit. I don't know if I want to swap it or maybe make some matching fingerless gloves...yeah, that would be a good use. Then I will have matching gloves. :)

I found these pictures while uploading my FOs, I took them when I made sopapillas about a month ago. They were SO GOOD, our friend Cozzie was calling them "crack", and everyone burned through both gallon sized ziplock bags full of them in about a day. Yummy!

To go through some Vanna's Choice I had left over from making my sis a tudora, I decided to make Fetching. It turned out I didn't have quite enough, so the edge of the right hand was finished with some leftover Vanna's Choice Sylvie had from making her grandma an afghan last summer. I like it, Sylvie said it looks indie. I don't care, I am just trying to get rid of yarn. My mom saw me working on the second one and said she likes it. So, the next time I see her they will belong to her. I really liked the pattern, and recommend it.

We kept laughing while taking this picture.

The yarn is pretty bulky, and was knit size 6 dpns with yarn made for 8's or 9's...and I am a tight knitter. Therefore, my hands are kind of swallowed by them. However, they are cute and will be really warm this winter.

Well, next is my Manos de Uruguay. I frogged the rest of the Reverie today, and will maybe start on the Hermione hat tomorrow. Hooray for knitting, especially hooray for stash busting!

So Exciting!

Still not quite done with the scarf; I have about half a ball left. I am going to try and finish that up today. I have just been perusing Ravelry and have found two new projects I want to do!

The first is actually the way to get out of a dilemma. I was making Reverie, a beautiful hat out of the Spring issue of Knitty. Unfortunately, I was using the beautiful Manos de Uruguay Silk Merino blend I bought over a year ago, picture here. The colors were working out beautifully, the Reverie was off to a great start, so pretty, so easy!

So what do I mean by "unfortunately"? Dilemma? What the hell am I talking about?

Well, do you see that tiny tiny ball of yarn that is being used? THATS IT. That's all I bought. I haven't even made it to the decrease on this hat. And I bought it a year ago, so when I went back to Yarn Mart, my lys, they didn't even have that colorway anymore, let alone the same dyelot.

So instead, I will make this. I found it on Ravelry when looking at what some local girls have been making lately. It is a facsimile of a hat that Emma Watson as Hermione Granger was wearing in a movie teaser photo last summer. The designer, Jackie, calls it Hermione's Cable and Eyelet hat. I think its great and hopefully there is enought of the Manos to make it. If not, it looks like I will be cast back into the pit of depression. It just goes to show you, this is what I get for not paying enough attention to the amount of yarn I have and the amount of yarn it takes to make something. Oh well.

The other wonderful thing I found was a sweater...I am finally going to try and make a sweater. I feel that as a knitter I need to make a sweater, sort of as a "thesis" or something. Of course I am pretty weird. I decided on the Cabled Cardigan by Margaret O'Leary, it was in the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting. I am not going to cast on for this until after this summer, as it will require more yarn and I won't buy anymore until my stash is whittled down. But it is very nice to have something to look forward to. And there are so many great variations on the Ravelry page, I can't wait to make it!

In other news, I watched the new Star Trek movie last night. I have been a fan of TNG since I was 9 or 10, and a fan of TOS for 5 or 6 years. I think that I am mostly a "trekkie". And I can tell you, they did a GREAT job with this movie. The actors they cast were great. The only possible improvements were that Anton Yelchin as Chekov didn't look the same, but his acting was pretty much great. Also, the story line of Spock and Uhura wasn't my favorite, but it's not a big deal. It was awesome, I cannot recommend it enough, for Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. It was a great action movie either way. After I watched it, I just wanted to sit and watch it again. I told my friend that after watching it I felt like we needed to yell "Alright!" and do a chest-bump. She said she wanted to clap and cheer at the end. And as for the guy playing Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Karl Urban, he must have studied footage of DeForest Kelley for literally hours. He just walks into a room like Kelley, talks like Kelley, moves like Kelley. Awesome.

What are you doing? Go watch Star Trek.