Knitorious

Bootie Call

2006-08-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, everyone I know is popping out babies, and I am beginning the foray into baby knits. Now, since there are so many babies, I needed something to knit fairly quickly, and I wanted something that would be practical. After all, little human beings are completely ruled by their Ids, and I figure that any knits for newborns will need to be fairly study and somewhat easily cleaned.Â

And ta-da! Stitch N Bitch Nation has the answer, with the One Hour Baby Booties. These are a delight to knit, and really do shape up really quickly!

I knit a whole mess of these! And I managed, on every single pair, to NOT make the buttons symmetrical. I wasn't even thinking about that. But hey--it makes it easier for new moms, right? Having both the buttons on one side? I say it does. I'm not sure how, but that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

The other really cool part about these booties is the little strappy thing. It's the SAME white yarn at the footie of the bootie, but dyed with Kool-Aid! So I only used one skein of yarn for all these booties, and I still have enough yarn for at least another pair!

And can I just say that dying yarn with Kool-Aid is one of the coolest things in the world. If you haven't done it yet, you really really need to. Although I'm fairly certain now that I am never drinking Kool-Aid again.Â

What? A Blog Post?!

2006-06-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yes. I finished a May-mester on Nietzsche with an A, began teaching my summer class (which went terribly today btw--my worst teaching EVER), and am KNITTING up a storm. Witness the glory.

I finally finished the tie for my dad! Okay, it's a late birthday present, but still. I probably should have rotated that photo, eh?

And check out the rug I knit for my kitchen!!

I got the pattern/idea from AlterKnits--it's old clothes that, for whatever reason, I couldn't give away. So I cut them up into strips, and knit them!! Whoa!! So, my rug was knit from, in order from top to bottom, a t-shirt that said "knit" on it that the washing machine tore up, a skirt that was stained, a donate blood t-shirt, a pair of jeans with an oil-based paint stain on the seat, a pair of khakis with tar on them, and a blue t-shirt that I wore as a scrub top.Â

And as a bonus picture, this is my friend Stu eating leftover ribs from my birthday party, while standing in my kitchen and drinking chocolate coffee at 1 am, before continuing on his way to New Orleans.

Tie

2006-05-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Clearly, there is no photo, because I am too lazy to get my camera, and also, what I have thus far is really not worth a photo. I have just cast on a TIE for my dad's birthday on Saturday. Now, I am not going to be able to finish said tie, so I will either a) be lame and say "Look! You will get this soon!" or b) buy him something for Father's Day, give him that on Saturday, and give him the tie on Father's Day. That sounds really complicated, but really, it makes sense to me.

And can I just say what a relief it is to be knitting again!! I still have final portfolios to grade for my students, but I can finish that up tomorrow. The important thing is that I have yarn, sticks, and time. Yee-ha!!

Knitting with Judith Butler

2006-03-31T16:22:00.000-08:00

Ha ha--I didn't really knit with Judith Butler. But she has been a large part of my knit-blog hiatus. My friend Melanie and I decided to team up for our presentions in my Subjectivity class, which resulted in presenting on Butler last Wednesday, with another presentation to follow next Wednesday. And if you've ever read Butler, then you know that she is not necessarily the easiest theorist to parse out. Indeed.Â

But after much discussion, we came to the conclusion that our presentation, part 1, was successful, so even though I still need to read more for next week (not to mention the 15 books I checked out today for my women and jazz paper--for my Feminisms theory class, plus reading Helene Cixous for my Subjectivity paper and getting that started too), I have decided that I can finally reward myself with some much deserved blogging.Â

And knitting! Because yes, the sweater is back on! In the meantime, I completed a fabulous new bag:Â

That is the pre-felted pic. And after throwing it in the wash, I have my new satchel!Â

And let me just say that I take this bag everywhere! It's the perfect size--I can throw a couple books in it, my wallet and keys and whatnot, and some pens and a journal. And in my world, these are all necessary items.Â

Also, I knitted a fun little shrug for the cool spring weather. I haven't taken a finished pic yet, but this is what it looked like on the sticks:

Although the fabulous Noro colors came out well, I promise that the size is NOT decreasing, although it rather looks that way in the pic. It was straight knitting for 39", make another ruffle, and then sew the sides, leaving a hole in the middle. If I get ambitious, I'll get someone to take a pic so you can see what it looks like on.Â

I'm absolutely dying for the spring Knitty--where is it? Must have patterns! Must have more yarn!Â

Although my next project, after the sweater, will be to cut up some old clothes into strips, and then knit the strips with really big needles and make a lovely rag rug for my kitchen. Hooray!Â Â

But it never hurts to have a back-up project. Or two. Or five.Â

Calling all Vegetarians!

2006-03-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

That's a fish, by the way. Yes, it has teeth.

So this past weekend I made some major life changes. Again. I revived my ferocious tennis game (I swear, you'd think I went to Vassar) and stopped eating meat. Again. Really, though, I'm just making an effort to eat healthier. I've started getting killer migraines on a regular basis in the past 6 months and my pain last Friday made me decided to take swift and immediate action. Since drugs seem to only make me really sick, I'm making some dietary changes. Now, this is going to painful for a while. No wine, no beer, low sodium, no msg, no meat- which means no happy hour at Cha Cha Cha, where I feast on $2 sangria and jerk pork- probably not the best foods to combat migraines. So for this week, I've been living on Naked juices and vegetarian burritos from Whole Foods. We'll see how this goes. Hopefully I'll shed those pesky 35 pounds that have been stickin to my hips. Just kidding. Seriously, though, since it's been about 4 years since I checked in on the frozen vegetarian food market, any recommendations would be appreciated. Does Amy's still make that cheeseless pizza? Man, I loved that stuff...

Wool Hats, Love, and Team Ralphs

2006-03-16T00:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a big week here at Chez Yarn. I made a hat for Josh (see picture), Josh left to go on tour (see other picture), and I became an official member of Team Ralphs. A member of Team Food Lion from 1997-2000, I felt eerily at home. To be a member of Team (Your Local Grocery Store Here) all you have to do is be one of the pathetic single people wandering around it between the hours of 10 pm and 1 am. Of course, you're going to run into your cute indie/hipster i-don't-have-to-wake-up-until-noon couples while you're there, but you can leave them arguing over paper towels and bottled water, because all you are really
there for is wine, ice cream, and the occassional frozen meal (or Crock Pot Classics, which I bought tonight since I inherited a new Rival Crock Pot from The Sane. If you don't have a crock pot, ask your favorite local rock band- they can be surprisingly accomodating!) Wandering around the 3rd Street Ralphs at 11:00 brought back memories of wandering around the Harrisonburg, VA Food Lion at 11:00 when I was in college. See, although Josh and I have been living in LA for the past few years, through college we were keepin' it on the LD (that's long distance for all you weirdos who actually like to live in the same town as the person you're in the relationship with.) So, after my depressing Monday night stint in the periodical section of the JMU library, I'd go wander around Food Lion. Occassionally, I'd even leave with food! Go Team!! My personal rule is to not be there once the clock strikes 12. Why? So I can... blog? Josh has been gone a total of 7 hours, and I've already turned my life into a big sorry sack of sorryness.

To add to my sorry sackness of a day, I was hit on by the dorky IT guy installing my new monitor (Hi, um Jenny is it? Can you sign this? Flip flops? Must be nice... Can I borrow a pen? Can I keep this pen for a little while? Bye, Jenny. wink. Oh, here's your pen. wink wink) And tonight as I was pumping my gas at the Shell station in Westchester, I got hit on by a Super Shuttle driver. Apparently I am "beeee-U-T-Fool!" And he asked for my number. I don't know about you, but I get the feeling that the universe is playing one sick, twisted joke on me. Oh, and my birth control pills came today after one month of being lost in the mail- the same day Josh leaves. Hilarious! Now where's that wine and ice cream?

I wear my wristbands at night...

2006-03-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Wristbands! Get yer wristbands! Who wants wristbands? Wristbands have consumed my life. I can't look at a piece of jewelry without thinking, "How can I apply that to a wristband?" These particular wristbands are being knit for my boyfriend Josh's band, The Sane, not some sort of ironic declaration of my sanity. I'm using Lana Grossa Elastico in several different colors- black, red, pink, white... They're turning out surprisingly well. I even found cool snaps at Michael's that have stars on them (you can't really see them in the pics- too bad!) I also recently finished my first hat! For a normal, adult, human-size head! I don't have any pictures of that posted, because, well, I'm just not that on it. Cut me some slack, I'm working for The Mouse...

Speaking of The Mouse, this Thursday and Friday I have the daunting task of working our company's annual shareholders meeting. Can I just tell you how absolutely scary Disney people are? Not just the employees, either. The die-hard fans and shareholders (usually one in the same) are so very warped. And, according and to ABC7's Dallas Raines and his Doppler 7000+, Southern California is supposed to get rain and something called an "Arctic Blast." Now, while this may sound like a delicious DQ treat, I think it means that it may actually drop below 60 degrees in Los Angeles. And rain. Did I mention the rain? And guess who the Disney shareholders are going to blame for that? Not God or Allah or Mother Earth or freakin' Dallas Raines. Me. The girl at the registration table. Yes, yours truly has been put on the front lines. I'm the first person they see when they check in, the last person they see when they check out. And I'm sure they're going to blame us for having the meeting on a cold and rainy day. Yesterday, after a long day at work, I spent hours shopping for business clothes at mall that would be considered huge even by New Jersey standards. I came to the conclusion that it's impossible for me to look professional, and bought an extremely fitted white jacket and shiny silvery/black pants. Hopefully I won't look like a maitre'd. Here's a ticket and an annual report, would you like to see our wine list? Or perhaps I can interest you in a wristband?

String Theory

2006-02-25T06:27:00.000-08:00

My mom's birthday is today, so yesterday I finally found a yarn store here in Decatur. Not that finding a store was difficult, but I knew that once I found one, I would wind up (ha ha) with more projects on the sticks.Â

But I wanted to encourage my mom's re-found knitting habit, and she has been curious about this whole felting business, so I decided I would put together a knitting kit just for her. Plus, what could be more encouraging then knitting a felted tote? So I searched through patterns, decided on the Marsupial tote from the first Stitch N Bitch (I think she'll dig that one), and made my list. And since my messenger bag/satchel/purse recently broke, I perhaps also decided that a new one was in order, and that the only course of action would perhaps be to knit Satchel from Knitty.com. So I Googled directions to the Needle Nook, sped through Atlanta, and after rejoicing in a wonderfully well-stocked yarn shop with an excellent staff, I returned home to rejoice in the profusion of newly purchased yarn.

I am likely not going to be able to cast on this weekend, which is probably good since I'm still working on the sweater and bulletin board (and still in search of a tri-glide buckle that I like--the ebay one is a little too mustardy for me, as it turns out), but hopefully I can work on one of those during my Sunday discussion group meeting.Â

And since I'm getting ready to leave for Charlotte in a moment to meet up with my mom and my brother, I will post a pic of the knitting kit I put together for her.

How fun is that?! I was a little hesitant to put it in another tote, but really, can a person have too many knitting totes?

On the Sticks

2006-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

So, I am currently listening to the Culture Club for no apparent reason. I have these amazing 80s CDs that I just uploaded to my iTunes, and it's such a treat--whatever happened to Boy George anyway?

He would probably approve of my sofa, which you will see featured in these pictures. Yes, it is orange. And yes, it is velvet.Â

This is one of my current projects, a sweater. I chose to photograph it on my sofa since both my desks and my carpet are brown. Although you probably can't tell (yet), this is Tempting II, from Knitty (www.knitty.com). I have put it on hold, temporarily, while I await the tri-glide buckle I ordered from Ebay to see if it works.Â

In the meantime, I am knitting this:

Yes, it's a big square. Why I am knitting a big square? Well, my plan is to use up some of this scrap wool, and knit several big squares, using whatever bizarre colors that I want (obviously, I'm in a solids mood at the moment). Then, I'm going to piece the big squares together, throw the whole damn thing in the wash, felt it good, and hang it on my wall. How odd, you may be thinking. No, no, this is genius! It's going to be a bulletin board, and I can tack all my incessant notes to myself on it! And it will be so fun!

This was not my idea. I read it in AlterKnits. Which, if you don't own that book, you probably should. It rules! In the book, the bulletin board is knit on HUGE circular needles, but since I'm looking for something I can tote about and knit on the MARTA, I opted for making squares.Â

Actually, I think Cupist matches my sofa. Or rather, my sofa matches Cupist. Hmmmm...

Gnome is the new Green

2006-02-10T09:07:00.000-08:00

After weeks of toiling, I finally finished my first knitting project! Don't get me wrong- I have oodles of unfinished projects sitting around. Anyway, I made this sweet little scarf for my dear mama back home in Virginia, but I think it suits Cupist rather well. I used one skein of Lana Grossa Fuma which all the ladies at work fawned over, preventing me from getting any of it worked on at work.

Here's me: Hi. I'm in the breakroom by myself peacefully knitting and not watching the new People's Court. Here's the work ladies: Hi! WHATAREYOUDOING? DoYouReallyKnowHowToKnit??? Put that TV on!!! I LOVE THAT YARN LET ME RUB IT ON MY FAAAACE! True story. Some of you may think I'm kidding, but then there are those of you who work in a cubed office and it's hitting really close to home. At little too close maybe.

flower that is not vertical

2006-02-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

I am not savvy enough yet to make this amaryllis stand upright in the blog entry box. But if you just turn your head sideways, you can pretty much get the full effect.Â

Check. Check. 1. 2. Check.

2006-02-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

This is a test. I repeat, this is only a test. If this were an actual blog entry, the contents of this box would be filled with witty anecdotes, knitting photos, and possibly a photo my now blooming amaryllis. However, this is only a test.