Turning New Leaves

Last night after work, I picked up my 2010 calendar for the home-front (think I have a thing for sheep?), along with a new comic book and sewing book. It was a good night.

So this morning I did the annual shift of birthdays, etc. to the new calendar. I always love going back over the prior year's pages and seeing what I did - things like a Pink Martini concert, a trip to New York, and a lot of rehearsal days.  I used to just tear out my favorite pictures and recycle the rest, but now I like to hold on to the calendar as a simple momento of what happened that year.

In other news, I think I've officially shifted from a blue-green phase to a purple phase. (I'll be casting on that dark purple Eco-Wool later today for a Vivian knit-a-long I'm doing with my friend Maggie.)  Does anyone else do this? Get obsessed with a color, then move on to another, and so on? My phases usually last for about 5-6 months, then I ban myself from buying the shade for a while and then I'll usually come back to it again. (My last purple phase was Oct 2007-May 2008) Maybe I can talk myself into a yellow phase next.

In other other news, I got my 400th comment on my last post, from the lovely Jen at Pretty Little Pictures. I always love hearing from my readers, so thanks to you all for brightening my day 400 times!

Christmas in California...

...or you really can't go home again.

Mr. Cleaver and I just returned from an almost week spent at my Mother's in Napa, California. Our flight out was delayed (canceled and re-booked, really) by two days due to a huge snowstorm on the east coast, but our actual travel was fairly uneventful.

It'd been two and half years since I'd last been back and it was the first time I was truly hit by the fact that I didn't live there anymore. Though in general Napa has gotten more touristy, with large hotels and tourist-aimed shopping centers being the most noticeable changes, not all that much was different (the Uptown Theatre is still closed, the flood abatement project still isn't completed, the Cinedome still stands tall, my mother's favorite restaurant is still the Red Hen, and Butter Cream still makes the best doughnuts in town).

But it wasn't home - I didn't remember my way around the roads, my childhood bedroom was filled with boxes of things that weren't mine, all the art seemed lower on the walls, I couldn't recall where the pots went in the kitchen, the bakery I once worked in was now a hair salon. I not longer had any ownership of the place as it is, only as it was and it was a sobering feeling.

That said, the weather was beautiful and it was nice to see family (Mr. Cleaver got to meet a lot of my mother's side of the family for the first time) and friends (shout out to Angie & Steve, Sean, Heatherly & Angelina!). I love that there will always be people in my life that no matter how long it's been since we've talked or seen each other (which is regrettably often too long), we can always pick back up right where we left off - and that's a comforting feeling.

I didn't take many photos while on the trip, but I did take a series of shots on Christmas morning when Mr. Cleaver and I visited my neighborhood park (which is, yes, also a city drainage basin). I'd like to point out that Mr. Cleaver is wearing my Christmas gift to him, a Woven Bands Pullover re-imagined as an Elizabeth Zimmerman shirt-yoke seamless sweater knit in Cascade Eco-Wool.  Mr. Cleaver loves it, which makes me so happy  - you have no idea.

Small Things

Here are some small things that are bringing me joy these days:

The labels in my new vintage sweater

Lacey Mitts* to keep my hands warm when I drive

Evening games of Trivial Pursuit with Mr. Cleaver

and a new warm scarf in a special yarn**:

* Wine and Roses Mitts in Malabrigo Lace ** Just Enough Ruffles Scarf in Tess' Designer Yarns' Cultivated Silk and Wool

Hubby Socks

I don't often knit for Mr. Cleaver because he's not really a hat or scarf kinda guy and after hearing about the "boyfriend curse," he's nervous about the idea of a sweater, even though we've been married for two years.

I do knit things for him from time to time, and Mr. Cleaver is appropriately grateful for the items, case in point - Hubby Socks I.

Long before this blog began,  I knit Mr. Cleaver a pair of socks. These were the first pair of socks I ever knitted. I think I did them on size 3 needles or something ridiculously large like that. Mr. Cleaver wears them as house socks/slippers and has been wearing them almost every night for nearly three years.

Unsurprisingly, they've gotten a little worn.  Once I saw you could see the tips of his toes through some stretched stitches in the socks I decided it was time for a new pair.

These are were knit toe up on size 1 needles in a k2, p1 rib with a short row heel, which is to say I improvised. The yarn is the particularly lovely-feeling Shibui Sock in stone from Purl Diva.  It pooled a bit oddly, but it feels so nice!

Of course Mr. Cleaver let me know that I'd pry his old socks from his cold dead toes, so we've agreed the new pair is for regular day wear.

As for the old socks? I managed to squirrel them away for a half an hour  to darned them, so  now they're good as new.  :)

I did not cobble the shoes

Two posts in a week? This hasn't happened in quite some time! But I had some new FOs that I couldn't wait to share. The outfit shown above is Leah-made from head to toe, (well - I didn't cobble the shoes).

The sweater is a Forecast that I finished last fall when I first moved back to Maine. I never took finished photos of it because it was too small and I wanted to reblock, which I did about 2 weeks ago. The sweater didn't get any better fitting (it's a bit short and a bit tight - becuase honestly, I made it a size too small on accident), but I wear it all the time anyway and it worked with the outfit.

The skirt is a 1/2 circle skirt made in vintage (and admittedly ever so slightly moth-eaten) wool I purchased at the same time I got the fabric for this skirt (which I guess I never blogged about).  The pattern is Simplicity 2758 and was a simple and quick pattern. You can't see it on the photo, but there's also some nice button/tab detailing at the waist. Though I have to say that I keep making these skirts with waistband detailing, but I almost never wear skirts in a way where the waistband is visible. Ah well.

The final part of the outfit and the one I'm most excited about is my first pair of hand-knit knees highs. It's another Knitty pattern, Clessidra, and it has a lot of great details and a good fit (though you have to size down your needles on the heels).

One of my knitting buddies comments on how she likes my use of props/styling in my knit photos and wanted to know what was the plan for these socks. I was trying to go for autumnal Library/Den feel. And in case anyone is wondering the books are Alice In Wonderland, Jane Eyre (which I'm currently reading)/Wuthering Heights, something called Wild Wild World I picked up at a vintage book sale because I thought it was pretty and the Letters of Lewis Carroll vols. I and II.

And if I don't catch you tomorrow  - Happy Halloween!

Finished Object Roundup #2

This finished object round up to you by nearly fall weather, a willing photographer, and the letter 'B.'

This number was completed and worn for the first time yesterday.

The pattern is the Zick Zack Tunic from the Spring 09 issue of Interweave. I was in love with the pattern, but wasn't sure how it'd look on my body type. I can happily say that I love the way it looks.

Obviously I didn't stray too far from the magazine's  version here  in terms of look, but the yarn used was 1 cone of Valley Yarns 2/10 Merino Tencel in Grey Blue and 1 card of shell buttons. The yarn has a lovely sheen and drape, it was perfect for this project and I'd definitely use it for a laceweight project again. All in - project cost about $25. Not too shabby, considering the results.

And just so ya'll don't think I only work in shades of blue, I've included my "Bumblebee" socks.  Just a pair of ribbed socks in knit picks palette (which I don't like and still have another project worth of yarn to knit in).

Because the whole sock is ribbed, it has something around 50% negative ease. When I was working on them, no one believed they would fit, but they do, nice and comfortably snug.

Finished Object Round Up

If you're one of my friends on Ravelry, you might have noticed that for the past several months the top half of my project page seemed pretty empty. I had no photos of anything I made in the past 4-5 months - oops!

I blame this on two things - one: I didn't feel like putting on woolly things in the middle of the summer to take pictures of them and two: something I affectionately call That D@#n Sweater.

That D@#n Sweater is the achingly lovely Joy pattern from Rowan's vintage knits - my second and not last project from that book. It's a perfect lightweight cardigan that goes with anything and I wear it probably three times a week these days.

So why the name? Three reasons, it's black, textured and involves the following US needle sizes: 1, 2, 3. All of this is to say, I started it January 28 and finished around July 5th. A nearly six month labor of love.  That said, I'm a huge fan of the finished product, my only caveat is that I wish I had used better quality yarn, it's made from Knit Pick's Palette, which doesn't feel as nice as I'd like and it's already doing some serious pilling, but in any case I'm sure I will wear this cardigan to the bone.

To make myself feel better, this is a project I completed from start to finish in about three days, one which involved a marathon session of watching The West Wing.

The project was inspired by a similar pillow pictured in SouleMama's book Handmade Home, which I picked up at a local book signing a few weeks back. The "bluework" pattern is free on a site called Pattern Bee (which as of 9/10/09 appears to be down for maintenance - the link should be re-activated around 9/16). The fabric is from a fat quarter pack I picked up at Z Fabrics a while back. The whole thing looks very nice on my sofa.

This one you've seen a lot of, but here's me actually wearing that scarf I wove earlier this summer (June). The ladies in my knitting group like to mock me for my consistency in color selection. Looking at the items in this post and my current (unpictured) knitting project, I'd be the last one to deny it. What can I say?  I like the colors of the ocean!

Another scarf photo, in a long tradition of what I like to call the"Book Jacket Photo."

This is Ysolda's Ishbel shawl from Whimsical Little Knits, which I picked up back here and knit in  some hand-dyed lace weight from Pine Star Studio that I got at the Maine Fiber Frolic. I knit it in about 10 days and took about 2 months before I got around to blocking it, which really does make all the difference in the world.

This is my new favorite picture of myself. All of the knitting/weaving photos were graciously taken by Mr. Cleaver while we took a walk around Mackworth Island this Labor Day. Mr. Cleaver joined me in creating the final FO ofthe post, of contribution to Mackworth's village of Fairy Houses.

Stitch & Pitch

For national weather watchers, and New England blog-readers, you may have heard that it was a damp June here in Maine. We pretty much had mist, fog, or rain every day for the last three weeks of the month. A little fog didn't keep six brave knitting souls from attempting a stitch n' pitch at Hadlock Field this past Tuesday.

By the middle of the first inning we had seven runs against us, one out and a reliever pitcher, we never rallyed as hoped (I've yet to ever see the Seadogs win a game), but despite the weather I had a great time.  It's July now and it looks like we'll be getting more sun, and there are more plans to knit outside, so fingers crossed!

Roadtrip: Maine Fiber Frolic

This past Saturday, six of us from Portland Knitters on the Town took a field trip up to Windsor Maine for the Maine Fiber Frolic. There were over 200 locally-based fiber vendors and dozens of adorable animals.

 

The highlight of my day was holding a pair of 6-day-old cashmere goats - one who feel asleep in my arms!

The Fair is largely geared toward spinners, and my spinning friends made quite the haul (not pictured, the four raw fleeces they also took home), but there was plenty of lovely hand-dyed and hand-spun yarn to be purchased as well. Being on the poor end of my pay cycle, I only came home with one skein of yarn. A lovely hand-dyed lace weight from Pine Star Studios that will be soon made into an Ishbel shawl. The entire Pine Star booth had beautiful items, including the orange and green roving seen above.

Hopefully both Pine Star and my other local favorite, Enchanted Knoll will be at the Common Ground Fair and the fall and  regardless of whether I spin yet or not (because we all know I eventually will) I'm planning on picking up some roving. I'm hoping to pick up drop spindling in the fall. I was really entranced by it at the Frolic and really, who wouldn't want to be as cool as this guy?

Tonight: my second night of weaving!

Because Sometimes A Sock Sack Isn't Enough

Having recently found myself with no fewer than three (3!) knitting projects on the needles these days, I was running out  places to put them all. As regular readers and members of my knitting circle know, I am not a usually a multi-project knitter, although I think I am starting to turning into one. The case these days is that I'm requiring different projects for different places - largely driven my the fact that my main project is black yarn on rather small needles. It started when needed something simple for an airplane trip, then something light-colored for theatre knitting and dark restaurants for knitting group, and then I had a design idea I really wanted to work on... you get the idea.

My solution to this plethora of projects? A new sweater-sized project bag!

As I'm also enjoying one-day sewing projects, this worked out great.  As a bonus it matches my needle roll!

A drawstring bag is no work of sewing genius, there are a few details I added that I'd like to share.  First is my fancy round bottom, which was much easier to attach than I thought it would be.

Second is my interior pocket for holding spare needles, pattern instructions, needle holders, etc. This spare storage takes it just a step above the usual project bag. 

As for the project inside? I've been working on it since January, but I have every hope that I'll be able to show it off here, finished, by the end of the month. Because you know when you need a hand-knitted sweater in the Northern Hemisphere? The end of June. Yeah....