duni knits

Laminaria!

2009-01-04T12:06:00.008-05:00

This shawl deserves a big ! after it's name. I had to rip it only once, but since I stubbornly refused to use stitch markers (for whatever reason) i had to rip a few 1/2 rows from time to time to make sure everything matched up. I am getting much better at reading my lace work- that's for sure.

Laminaria from Knitty
Started in October 2008
Finished on New Year's Eve 08 in time to wear it out that night (unblocked- I'm not a miracle worker).

Yarn: Malabrigo Lace- Verdes
Proccured from Sakonnet Purls in Tiverton, RI
Needle: Size 4 Knitpicks Options

Size: Shawlette (small)
Took less than one skein of the yarn, which was great because I only had one!

Love that haphazzard blocking job. :)
I knew I had to knit this the moment I saw it, especially after I remembered the lovely green yarn in my stash. I would like to knit this pattern again in a solid color to really show off the stitches. It is a wonderful and gorgeous pattern and I must give lots of thanks to the Laminaria KAL on Ravelry for addressing all the issues I had with it even before I had them.
The Malabrigo lace yarn was lovely. Ever so slightly felted on the skein, I took extra care when winding it. However it knit like a champ, never once breaking- even through the 2-into-9 and 3-into-9 stitches of doom. It even held up to all the ripping and reknitting. I would love to work with it again. I also appreciated the softness (of course) because even prior to blocking when it was a ruffly bit of nothingness it never itched or made me sneeze.
Another set of needles freed!

P.S. In this shot you can also see the Brown Flop Hat, inspired by Knitting School Dropout's Brown Flop Hat (so original, I know). I lost all the photos from this so I will just give a brief description of the nuttiness of this knit.
I knit the first one (Classic Elite Wool Bamboo- good stuff) and it was perfect. Then I washed it and it grew to rasta proportions. I looked like an ugly mushroom and it was horrid. You think i would have paid attention to what I read about bamboo "relaxing" in A Knitter's Book of Yarn, but no. So I ripped, rewashed, hung the yarn to dry and reknit the darned thing on smaller needles with less stitches and then all was right in the world and it survived it's blocking with no growth. Sorry for no pics, but they didn't survive the great photo-delete of 2008. Reknit was started 3/28/08 and finished 4/2/08.

A Dark Sense of Foreboding

2008-11-17T14:21:00.016-05:00

So for some reason, when I saw the cover of Vogue Fall 2008 I fell in love with the most unlikely of patterns (for me, anyway): the Druid Mittens by Jared Flood. I hate bobbles and cables make my ill, but somehow, some way these were compelling. The texture, the curves, the luscious cuffs. And I already had the perfect yarn in my stash! It was meant to be!

Shibui Sock- wasabi green (I think)
The color is the most true in these photos.
Size 2 needles

Since my hands are small and the yarn is smooth I dropped the needle size down from the original. Man- the first one flew off the needles and fits perfectly. Behold: The Mitten of Perfection!

(insert chorus of angels here)

So then I started the second one. I flew through the cuff, soared up the main pattern and then...promptly put it down for about 4 weeks. When I picked it back up I noticed some serious pooling that hadn't happened on the first mitten.

But I thought, "Everyone says Shibui pools, so I guess that's the fun of handpainted yarns."

I also noticed that one of the cables looked hideous, so i frogged a few rows to do it again. (Sorry, no pics) Cables properly crossed I thought, "Hey- maybe I should try this sucker on and see how it compares to The Mitten of Perfection."

"Hmm...a little tight. I must have been knitting tightly. I'll loosen up and I'm sure it will block out in the end." Because it always does, right? Right?

And then I found a problem in the palm stitches and went to redo them, dutifully dropping down and working back up and, and... something is not right. Something was off. I counted the palm stitches and compared that number to the pattern.
And then I did it again.
And again.
But the number kept coming up the same. Ten stitches off on the palm.

10 STITCHES!

Argh! I knit 3/4 of a damn mitten and the count was off the whole time!!!! I'm a fool. This is not something that can be recovered from without a drink and some serious frogging.

And now for that drink...

I Almost Made It

2008-03-12T18:52:00.009-04:00

When I ordered my lovely Imogen kit, I figured "hey-I'm already paying to ship this sucker and have spent way too much $$ already so why not keep going?" and I threw a skein of the lucsious Handmaiden SeaSilk into the cart. Before xmas came I wound it up and put it in the gift queue to be done for the January migration to my homeland. I hemmed and hawed over the right pattern that would use only one skein. I wasn't sure if my momsies would like a triangular shawl, but it wasn't enough for a stole and a scarf seemed too skimpy, so I waited and waited and eventually...

I just took the damn ball with me to Colorado for her to see it and choose her pattern. Thanks to Ravelry and the wonders of the internets my mom chose the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. Excellent, since I had wanted to make it. And double thanks to inter-library loan for getting me the book in a prompt fashion. C'mon- say it with me: Yay Libraries!

This is what came out of it.
Fresh off the needles:

And this is what was left...

Blocking:

Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark
Featured in Wrap Style
Size 4 bamboo circular
Handmaiden SeaSilk in color Cornflower
12 repeates of main pattern
51" x 22.5"

Been Awhile

2008-02-04T08:44:00.001-05:00

Yeah- I'm inherently a slacker, as far as computers are concerned. What can I say- I've been knitting instead and that's been taking all of my time. :)

A couple of months ago I ordered this:

An Imogen kit! It's lovely and gorgeous, just look:

The colors are more varied than I could have imagined! Misty greys, bark browns, poppy and tulip reds- gorgeous. I am now a Fleece Artist convert!

I have been wanting to make this exact sweater in these exact colors for over a year and finally succumbed to purchasing a kit from Knitty Noddy. I can't tell you how wonderful they were! I placed the order at the end of the day (east coast time- they are on the west coast) and I believe it was shipped the same day. I got the order in record time with a lovely email from the store checking in to make sure I liked it. I also got some Handmaiden SeaSilk from them and photos of that will come soon.

Right now I'm cranking away on Imogen and liking it. I've had to do some fiddling to get the colors evenly distributed (even though I'm alternating balls every 2 rows there's still some pooling, especially in the arms) but the pattern is pretty easy.

Here are some other notes for future referece:
Thanks to the lovely folks at Ravelry, I was able to look at quite a few of these sweaters before starting. I noticed they tend to hit people low down on the hips and that's not how I wanted this sweater to fit me. BTW- there are no scematics or measurements in this pattern, beyond the bust measurement, so you're kind of on your own. Like a good girl I swatched, took notes and figured that I would lop 10 stitches off the back to shorten it up (the jacket is constructed sideways, so eliminating stitches was akin to eliminating rows on a normal sweater). So far it seems like this may work, although now I'm worried I should have done the medium instead of the small. I'll take a good look at it today and see if I need to rip.

Oh yeah- I also bound off the first sleeve a little short, it seems, so I'll be redoing that when the time comes. Sigh- just when you think you've gotten the hang of things this happens.

Anyway- I love it and am enjoying it thuroughly. I can't wait until it's done and I can show off some good pics!
Have a wonderful day and enjoy yourself! Thanks for reading.

A New Plan of Action

2007-12-14T15:49:00.002-05:00

From now on I'm just going to knit dark colored things and photograph them on snow. Thank you Great NE Blizzard for providing a gorgeous, perfect backdrop.
Behold, my (so-far) MAGNUM OPUS OF STITCHES:

Specs:
Mystery Stole 3- Swan Lake Theme designed by Melanie Gibbons at PinkLemonKnits
Yarn: KintPicks Alpaca Cloud, black heather, 2 skeins
Needles: KnitPicks Options US 6
Beads: Smoke with silver lining from big-box craft store
Size: big enough
Started: July 2007
Finished: December 10, 2007
Thoughts: Wow- I loved knitting this thing! I've tried lace before, but with a sport-weight yarn and it is (still after 3 years) not coming along well (I'm talking about you Ene), but this went exceptionally well for my first time with laceweight. I only made a few mistakes and I know I'll be the only on who can see them. Better finished than perfect. It took a long time to complete, but it wasn't the only thing I was working on. The charts and directions were great and this was really a fun knit. I can't wait to try my hand at the double-winged version. All in all- wonderful!

what can i say?

2007-11-28T18:16:00.001-05:00

yeah- no postings are happening because my wifey is in the final push for her second-to-last semester at grad school and always on the computer. it's not for lack of desire or even lack of knitting, just the actual means to blog. and the last time i tried to upload the gorgeous photos of the Imogen kit i got from Knitty Noddy (who are awesome, btw) the computer wouldn't recognize the camera. i love technology! so when i rescue the computer from it's indentured servitude in a couple of weeks i will have some nice long, picturesque posts about what i've been up to.
right now that includes:

*debating the design for the Oregon Red Clover STR
*mulling purchases i don't need to make for sweaters i am enamored with but haven't the time to knit (i'm looking at you Bubble Pullover)
*plugging away on the last 50 odd rows of the MS3. i will probably be the last person in the entire KAL to finish, but i'm loving it and can't wait for it to be done. i am trying to not work on anything else until it's completed so i can finally wear the blasted thing
*swatching for the aforementioned Imogen, which i am so very excited about. yes- swatching is happening because i want it to be just right. and there will be calculating, because i want to cut about 4-5 inches off the back so it hits at my hip, not mid-ass, as it seems to in some cases
*knitting a pair of socks for my dad for xmas. i think i can squeaze a pair for him and a pair for my mom out of the Queen Rock and i know they will both appreciate the color choice.
and i'm sure there's more but that's all i can think of right now.

and now for something completely different: i passed my roller derby assessment a little while ago and got my name and can start bouting. this is big news for me, since i've never been in to sports, teamed or otherwise. i do love it, though. yay!

well have a wonderful day, everyone and i'll be back soon to fill you in on everything happening on the knitfront.

My First Rhinebeck

2007-10-28T18:34:00.000-04:00

Well I had a wonderful time at Rhinebeck last week with my friend K. We got up at the crack of dawn, got coffee and headed out. I wanted to get there right when it opened after hearing all the talk baout how crowded it is. We ended up there at about 10 AM (after a few missed turns) and headed immediately to Building A. I pushed through until I found the STR- actually I found the line to The Fold, where the STR was flying off the shelves. We shoved our way in, I grabbed 3 skeins, and waited a modest 10 minutes or so on line to pay. No too shabby. I originally wanted lightweight, but they had already sold out. Apparemntly mediumweight is their bread and butter so that's what I got.

Top to bottom: Mesa (socks for me), Queen Rock (socks for my momsies) and Oregon Red Clover Honey (a design I'm mulling over and will hopefully start creating soon)

Then we went to Brooks Farm. I had read over here about how you can only find them at shows and how great they are. We fondled a lot, but decided to come back after we had scoped out the rest of the place. There was lots of wandering, sampling of cheeses, touching of yummy yarns, thanking the goddess that we don't spin and so could avoid about 1/2 of the booths, eating the famed artichokes (and, thanks to the wonderful girl in line ahead of us, eating a fried pickle) and much more. I picked up some red Morehouse Merino for my coworker for an early Christmas gift. (She's going to make herself some mittens, in case you were wondering)

Then, while over at Briar Rose, I spotted Juno and then The Harlot. They came over to the booth and while my friend joked with them I walked to the side, dug out my camera, and Kinneared The Harlot- or rather, her sweater (which I freakin' love!).

I felt very silly, but sure she would appreciate. I wanted to Kinnear Juno, but she was being mobbed herself in the booth. We had a forgettable exchange filled with my akwardness and then K and I moved on.

After that we headed back to Building A to see Brooks Farm again. I blindly grabbed 4 skeins of Solana, the most soft and squishy superwash I've ever felt, with no pattern in mind but in love with the shades of soft black, grey and browns.

When I got to the register the woman asked me if I liked browns (I was also sporting a brown shirt) and I said "Yes, but the black is my favorite part. If you have any sway with the dyer you should ask her to do some black and grey without the brown. It's gorgeous." All the women behind the counter looked at me and laughed because of course I was talking to the talented dyer herself. I felt like a doof, but it was all good in the end and I left with my stash thuroughly enhanced.

All in all it was a fabulous, sunny day and I had a great time. I can't wait 'til next year!

Finally- a Finished Object! Woohoo!

2007-10-08T08:18:00.000-04:00

I recently cranked out a scarf for my dad's birthday. Fittingly, it's bright gold/yellow and typically, it will be a week late. Behold!

A Scarf Askew by Emily Elizabeth Gifford

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in goldy-yellowy goodness

Needles: size 8

Mods: I knit about 1/3 of the scarf before I finally accepted the fact that the stockinette edge looked like crap, so I ripped the whole thing and put a 2 sts garter row on each side. I'm sure this won't help with the curling that much, but it sure looks better.

Feelings: This is a good, easy knit. The pattern was easy to memorize and read. I knit most of it during various Patriot games over the course of a few weekends. It was enough to keep me occupied without worrying about missing a stitch when the Pats scored (which was often).

Reason for the color: My dad went to CU and has recently been reliving his glory days with a CU license plate and other goodies. He also just got a nice black coatfor travelling on his jobs, so this will work for the whole black-and-gold theme.

I will be boxing it up and sending to Dad tomorrow after the holiday weekend. I hope he likes it!

Been Up To

2007-09-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

Things I've been up to lately:
* My friend N and I went to see Norah Gaughan at Knit One, Purl Too. I thought it was just going to be a signing, but they also had a trunk show of the new designs. I haven't been a huge fan of the designs in the past (although I love some of the Berroco yarns- yay for Touche!) but these were really lovely. Being a smaller person, especially in the bustal area, I got to model some of the samples for the group. I especially liked Anais, which I've seen on a few blogs and liked. Also Manon, Aune, and Aamu. Of course Aamu made me look extremely non-endowed, but it is still a cute knit. I did get some Pure Merino to make sure it wouldn't make me itchy (man it is soft- when I tried it on I couldn't believe it was pure wool) and eventually got some nice tan Ultra Alpaca Light for Anais. Hopefully it won't be too itchy either. I'm willing to take the risk, though. Norah was also a lovely woman, as were her publicity posse. Good folks, those knitters. And since I'm still relatively new to the blog concept I forgot to bring my camera. Maybe next time.
* Had a bit of a falling down over on amazon.com with Charmed Knits now on the way. I don't know what to make first.
* I'm around row 310 on the MS3. When I finish this chart I will try to block it out and take some pictures. I'm sure most everyone has seen a finished one on someone else's blog, but this has been a true love story for me and I'm enjoying watching it evolve.
* Oh I almost forgot: I got my Ravelry invitation last Friday and it's loads of fun! I can't wait to have more time to play around on it. You can get lost in there.

I think that's about it for now. Have a wonderful rest of your day!

Late to the Party

2007-08-25T07:08:00.000-04:00

My MIL brought me a copy of Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel from the library where she works. Wow- what a fun book! I am a Harry potter geek (just tacked on the the long list of things I am a geek about, I guess) and I love that she used all the books and movies that were out at the time (which were, I believe, book 6 and movie 4) to generate her inspiration. Hopefully there will be a Charmed Knits Part Deux to round out the final book and set of movies.
I totally want a Weasley sweater. I don't even where monogrammed stuff, but that thing is too cool. Now I just have to find a suitable yarn...

MS3

2007-08-20T08:45:00.001-04:00

Sooo...I've been working steadily on the Mystery Stole 3 in Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud: color midnight. I'm using graphite colored beads. Originally I wanted matte beads, but decided in the store that sparkly was the way to go. I can't find a small enough crochet hook to go through the size 6 beads so I am using the "twisting-pushing-pulling-shredding" method to thread the beads onto the yarn loops. It makes for some slow going at times. I started quite late (the last clue was released on Friday-I started this about a week ago) but I am already on clue 2, which is quick for me. I am not the fastest knitter in the world, but this thing is small and cruising right along. Of course, it is contributing to arguments between the wifey and myself, as I am immersed and not interested in watching shows or movies or, you know, interacting. I am only interested in knitting this thing! All talking should cease and my concentration should never be broken (except for food and, unfortunately, my paying job that will resume tomorrow). I don't know why this is an issue. :)

couldn't help it, really

2007-08-14T08:59:00.001-04:00

You Are Trinity

"Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again."

What Superheroine Are You?

Welcome!

2007-08-13T14:45:00.000-04:00

Hello there. My name is Duni. I'm crafty like ice is cold. I'm a Coloradan by birth and New Englander by choice, but I do miss the mountains. What you'll find here is a record of my crafting jounrey, such as it is, with needles. Knitting, sewing, needlepoint and probably some more stuff when I get around to it. Enjoy!