With scarves of red tied around their throats

Wow time flies. I can’t believe that the Ravelypics has been going on for 10 days. It seems like everyone else in my team (Team Redheart) is banging out projects left and right but not me. I am making progress every day but I think I should have started with a smaller project first. On Saturday I finished the back of my vest and started the front which I hope to have done by Sunday. That should give me time to finish it before the closing ceremonies. To distract you from my lack of knitting progress let’s talk about something I finished! Here she is my favorite winter scarf to date Saroyan.


I love the show Bones. It is my favorite of the fake science slash crime solving shows. I think I like it because I worked in a natural history museum and the fake Jeffersonian reminds me of that. Of course we didn’t have a hunky FBI agent or high tech forensic tools. I even belong to the Bones Group on Ravelry. In December I found out that you can get great patterns that Liz Abinante designed based on the characters on Bones. I fell in love with the Saroyan Shawl and decided that I would use the gifted Manos Clasica in Poppy that I got a few months ago. The pattern is named after the director of the lab, a strong, independent, intelligent woman how could you go wrong?

I had two skeins in a great tonal cherry red color so I decided that I would make do with that alone. The pattern is very well written, free and lovely and is easily modified to fit the yardage you have. It forms a curved almost like a parenthesis shape with a garter stitch border on one edge and leaf edge on the other side. It is knit in one piece including the borders. I knit one skein and then started my decreases ending with a full 18 leaves.

The yarn is hand spun and dyed. It has thick and thin areas and light tonal changes in the dyeing. It is quite lovely and washed up soft. Some of the thin areas made me nervous the yarn goes from worsted to DK in a few inches. I was worried about the integrity of the knitting but only time will tell how it will last. I didn’t hate this yarn but since it is out of my price range I won’t pine for it. I do love the color and it looks wonderful peeking out of my black pea coat on a cold winter morning. It reminds me of the Fleet Foxes song White Winter Hymnal which mentions a red scarf. I ended up with a tiny ball of yarn left over which I saved for some purpose in the future.

What else is popping? I finished I, Claudius by Robert Graves which I loved. It is a Roman soap opera, juicy and exciting. I also finished The Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett. It is the story of two sisters in England in the late 1800’s one stays home and runs the family business the other runs away to Paris very entertaining. I started To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.

We are all finished the college applications and the financial aid forms now we wait! I don’t mind the wait since it makes it seem like things aren’t going to change fast and furious over the next few months. I did decide that I want to make him a buffalo plaid throw for his dorm room when we find out what school he will end up at. I found a Better Homes and Gardens Afghan Book from the 80’s at the thrift shop with a cool pattern in it. Plaid is so popular with suburban fops and dudes!

Up next I decide to make some Alpaca kids socks. Yeah it sounds like such a good idea.

Links

Manos

Saroyan (rav link) free pattern

Fleet foxes

Bones

Stitch Nation - A Hot New Yarn!

When I picked up knitting again in 2005 my friend and co-worker Jackie had copies of Stitch ‘N Bitch and Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation. When I first learned how to knit in the late 80’s I was in high school and the patterns I had exposure to were either the free ones you got when you bought yarn from the major yarn companies or my mom’s craft books from the 70’s. They really didn’t appeal to me and I never went beyond making scarves.

I am sure that so many people can say that Debbie Stoller got them interested and excited about knitting. I know that it got me eager to get back to knitting. We poured over those books at lunch time and I read them through including the patterns. Recently I was asked by the Coats & Clark Company if I wanted to receive a press kit about a new yarn line they were creating for early January. All they told me was that it was developed in part with a “famous designer”, was going to be all natural and they would send me some samples. I said yes of course.

Imagine my surprise when I got my package in the mail and opened it up and saw a white box with a giant cowgirl swinging around a ball of red yarn. OMG the new yarn is called Stitch Nation and was developed by Debbie Stoller! So in my press kit (my first press kit) was the following:

3 skeins of yarn from the new line (one wool, one bamboo, and one alpaca)
3 paint sticks with samples of all the colors available
1 cd with promo pics of the pattern and yarn
1 press hand out with all the details about the lines
2 patterns both crochet and knit
1 a brochure with all the colors, yarns and photos of the pattern projects
1 post card with a “letter” from Debbie Stoller who wants to give me free yarn.

I have been petting the yarn for a week, looking at the colors in all kinds of lights and thinking about what to do with my samples. I was so enthralled by the press kit I didn’t try the yarn out yet but I will. So here is a sneak peek of the kit and the yarn the next Stitch Nation post will be about the yarn.  I promise, until then enjoy some exciting photos of the press kit!

Spliting necks and calling it dichotomy

Oh boy things have been crazy at work. Let us just say that the economic downturn has been just as bad for non-profits. This is not a how crappy is work blog so enough of that. I have plenty of things to be grateful. I am totally in love with Los Campesinos hence the title of this post and have found Craftsanity podcast.

I finished my Lapland Mittens. I actually washed and blocked them and they look awesome. Can I just say that Cascade 220 is such a nice reliable yarn. It is easy to knit and blocks so nicely and it lasts forever!

I also got some wonderful handspun yarn in the mail this week. I won two awesome skeins of yarn from the NaKniMitMo group on Ravelry. I am so stoked. This is my first handspun. The color is an muted varigated plum and pink. I got two skeins of worsted weight about 220 yards, enough for something great. Right now I just fondle it.

Shetland Triangle are you the new Big Ivy? I did six repeats and got hopelessly messed up. I tried to frog back and got so twisted I had to scrap and redo. On sunday I restarted and have done 4 repeats so far. I need to realize that I need to pay attention to lace!

Back to school and stash suitcase

Well yesterday was the first day of the Winter Quarter at Drexel. I am taking two classes this time around. Hang on to your hats these classes will set your panties a blaze for sure. The first is INFO503 Introduction to Information Systems Analysis which as it says in the syllabus and I quote "Systems analysis is fun and exciting and... A systems analyst improves things. " Sounds fun! The second is INFO511 Information Resources and Services 2. Just as great as one only more fabulous kinda like the second sock!

I have to say I am more relaxed this time around maybe I am aclimated to the whole mess. Talk to me in three weeks and see if that changes! I am looking for something to post graphic wise to spice up the post. Here's something until I download the christmas pictures! Here is the great suitcase I bought at the thrift shop for my yarn stash. I got it for a buck. It is a vinylized fabric with a big metal lock. The inside is fabric lined and has two removable pockets that is great for needles, hooks and stuff. Sure beats a cardboard box and the Hot Topic drawstring bags I steal from Nate! Also now when I take it out to get yarn I can say I am running away and taking my yarn. Charlie of course yells take the dog and kid with you.