string*THEORY

Berkshire Pullover - RIP

Do you remember this ridiculous story? The story of the Berkshire sweater? You know, the one I knit my husband...t.h.r.e.e. times...and it still came out like crap?

I suck at sizing, and who ever thought this neck line would be flattering on a man?

Now it's time to lay this baby to rest, but, not before giving it it's day on the blog. The plan was to knit this guy using one skein (two strands held together) of Eco Wool (you know that honken 478 yards of wool). And it worked. For a 12 year old. It wasn't until the hubby tried on the crop top when we realized it was a bit on the snug side. So I bought more wool. And knit it again. Again, it came out too small, remember? What's up with the back?? Time to get yet another two skeins. Ooh, but guess what? No more dye lot. Yay. Sound familiar? Right.

Then came the ensuing mad hunt for more of the same dye lot, where I called, emailed, begged every LYS owner from here to Manitoba to get the remaining yarn. Found it. Good. At that point I was the proud owner of TWO POUNDS of wool. Can you imagine carrying around that much weight on your back? He would have had to take the sweater off to get an accurate weight reading at the doctors office! Ridiculous.

Long story short longer, the sweater is still preposterous. The fit still sucks on my husband, not to mention the weird neck line, and tent-like shaping. He found something he loves even more, and the new yarn has been ordered. He gave me permission to frog. And so, out with the old and in with the new.

Funny how the whole point of this project was to prove to the world (well, our marriage mostly) that I am capable of knitting for someone other then myself. And now, here we are, 5 months later, after Christmas...his birthday...valentines day...and still. No. Sweater. But guess what? I'm frogging this bi'atch...and using the yarn to knit a sweater for none other then...ooh yeah baby...you guessed it! Moi.

 

Von 4 from Lopi Book 24, Pattern 4

Can you stand it? Can you hardly stand the cuteness that is this sweater dress? And can you picture it in grey? With black tights and cow-boy boots? And maybe some shopping bags and a latte? Or better yet...a baguette tucked neatly under my arm while my other hand totes an adorable leather bag full of flowers? Oh the disfuntional psycho-drama glamour of it all.

Stitches West

Stitches West this past weekend was pretty amazing. Not just because there were over 200 booths selling everything between hard-to-find knitting books to silk to rare cashmere (and even a booth with dog yarn - yikes!). It was wonderful because of the friendly knitters I came in contact with the super-fantastic girlies I spent the day with.

I bought all sorts of goodies....

Some Tussah Silk from the Kansas Yarn Barn for some future projects from Lace Style (yeah baby!! I've never knit with silk before...)

Mission Falls 1824 100% Merino Wool from Yarn Dogs in "curry" (though it looks more like "dijon") for Trudie by ever-so-talented, Amelia.

Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran from Webs in the most loveliest of "yellow" (because, you know, who doesn't need yellow yarn?)...hhmm...I just might need to make this little yellow lovely, or perhaps this magical circular shrug-like thingy..

Also from Webs...Kona Bay - cotton for Orangina in Red.

Jeesh! Lot's of new projects coming up. Not to mention that beautiful hand-dyed cotton/mohair blend from Ms. Anne (Odessa, perhaps?). Funny how much time and money I spent digging through all the yarn at Stitches this weekend, and when it really comes down to it, my favorite acquisition was this beautiful fiber made with love from Anne. The best part of Stitches was definitely the new friend I made, Aubrey, and the old friend I re-made, Anne.

TGIF

TGIF. I hate to use those silly cliche's, I feel a little goofy, like  Micheal Scott, but seriously, thank god it's friday. It wasn't an easy week. Not because I have an exceptionally hard life or anything. Sometimes, the fact that I have a pretty simple life make me feel guilty to the point of being stressed. Funny how life works that way.

I've been blue, not for any other reason but that I woke up that way. For three days in a row. Arrgh. I hate that mopey, unmotivated feeling - I didn't even knit, you know! It was bad...

But, this morning, I woke up with a different attitude. I took advantage of the positive serotonin  swirling about in my head, and scurried around the house to gather up as much color as I could. I needed to keep the feeling alive with lots and lots of color. And fun jewelry. And a little perfume too. All of it helps.

Lucky for me, I have loving sisters who leave their cute clothing at my house (should I keep the sweater forever? I just might). And...access to wonderful designers like Absoluut to dress me in yellow necklaces....and interesting, creative friends like Anne who's coming up to San Francisco tomorrow to escort me to Stitches (yes, I need supervision in situations like these).

Tonight will be filled with hubby snuggles...fiber planning (yeah!!) and maybe a little chinese take-out. 

Twinkle's Big City Knits

A Book Report & Social Commentary

Have you had a chance to check this one out? I have. I pre-ordered it like 20 years ago because I'm impatient and just couldn't wait to see the pattern photos before footing the bill to pre-order. I regret that. Not because I don't love the patterns, but because I'm slightly offended by the book....but let's start from the beginning before I begin my ranting.

       

How about a quick summary?

This is a pattern book by acclaimed designer, Wenlan Chia. While Wenlan generally specializes in women's fashions, interior design accessories and jewlery, she is dabbling in handknit pattern design with this new book. The book focuses on 31 patterns using chunky yarn for everything between sweaters, vests, dresses and skirts and a few accessories thrown in between. All for women. Now, for the good, the bad and the ugly....

The Good....

I appreciate the attempt to introduce high-fashion to the art of knitting. The sweaters really are interesting, some light-weight yet chunky, some cute and flirty.

In the pattern market, we have our fair share of "practical" patterns from Debbie Bliss, "super feminine" patterns from Interweave, "fun" patterns from Knitty and of course, who can forget the "classic timelessness" of Rowan?  I also appreciate the the feminine edge with chunky yarns - who doesn't love a quick knit? Now we have high-fashion with Twinkle. With that said, the patterns are unique, artful and fashion-forward and the photography is beautiful.

The Bad...

As much as I appreciate an entrepreneur, I lose a lot of respect for the books and magazines that only use their yarns. It's tacky and comes off as greedy. Especially when we're talking about an uncommon yarn - I mean come on, how many times have you seen "Twinkle Handknit Cruise" at your local yarn store? Approximately....never. It's not to say that you can't substitute - I almost always do, but there are times, especially when the gauge is written in a non-standard format of "6 inches to the square" that you just want to play it safe and use what they recommend.

 

The Ugly....

And now for the offenses. Other titles appropriate for this book could include; "Knits for Skinny Chicks", or "Anorexic Knits" or "Handknit Dolls Clothes". Because seriously, is there a reason (besides mathematical laziness) that the largest size is often a "33 inch chest". Let me put this in other terms; my favorite pattern, "Best Friend Cardigan" comes in the following sizes:
28" chest = Small
30.5" chest = Medium
33' chest = Large

Since when was a size 3 considered large? What kind of message is she trying to convey here by making the largest size much smaller then the average person? Is it "I'm too fancy to bother with normal sized people"? It doesn't come off that way. This kind of sizing comes off as lazy, and it's offensive that someone would bother designing, publishing and selling a book that doesn't include sizing for the majority of those that would buy it. It's poor planning and makes it obvious that she is not a knitter, but just a designer trying to make money from knitters. It only perpetuates unhealthy body images and irritates the very customers she is trying to entice.

But I'll give it a chance (I did buy the book you know). I'll (grab my calculator and) try a couple of the patterns, and blog about them here. I appreciate the effort, it's the execution that needs improving. I hope to see more from Wenlan, I think she's talented, but I would love to see more realistic schematics. You know, patterns that we can actually knit. Is that too much to ask?

Thank you!

Aloe at the Botantical Garden, originally uploaded by string*THEORY.

Gosh...you guys are really really amazing. Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments...and cooing....and all around crafterly love!

You really make blogging fun for me.

This entry is short...but coming up this week....
--> A Book Report and social commentary on "Twinkles Big City Knits".

--> "Fad Classic" and "why do I suck at sizing (again)?"

--> Help! I'm headed off to Stitches West next weekend - I need to plan my purchases...

In the mean time, if your bored (and even if your not), check out:
--> Susan's super cool sock KAL. Seriously, knit...along...together...day...by...day....(starts here on 2/4 and ends here on 2/16). The pattern is really cute!

--> "Future Handknit Projects" group at Flickr - join today! It's really neat (but then again, I'm a little biased...)

*the photo up top is a real life aloe plant my dad spotted at Golden Gate Park Botanical Garden this weekend. Can you believe that was made in nature? It's so...uuhm...perfect.

Clapotis: Finito

The beginning of this story starts about a year and a half ago, on a bumpy but beautiful train ride through the Javanese country side.  A wee (newlywed) string*THEORist started on her Clapotis. And then abruptly stopped, when she realized that she didn't know what half the stitches meant and would be left to an excruciatingly painful dial-up connection in a smokey cafe to figure it out.

Fast forward to January 24th....(and out with the 3rd person stuff, it's a little creepy).

As you know, I picked it up again after giving up on a monster of a lace project, and needing something simple and interesting. Something to show off this beautiful Noro Cash Iroha.

I "caught" Clapotis (apparently it's also a sexually transmitted disease, according to Beth). It's the most attractive diseases, in my opinion. And it's warm too. I remember Stacey telling me about this when I met her Clapotis in person a couple of months ago. I smiled and nodded, thinking "she's nuts, how could a shawl with a million gaping holes be warm?" Kinda like those itchy knit eyelet undies that your mum used to make you wear? Not sure how that correlates, but the point is that Stacey was right.

What do you think about the fabric? Why is it so drapey & light rather then bouncy & bubbly? Well, I would answer you the same way if you asked me "why doesn't your Elf Cap look...uhm...elf-ish?". It's because I have a big head. Wait...uuhhm...and I blocked it too aggressively(?). The truth is, "I don't know"....and "can you tell me?" There's something charming & sophisticated about the flowing drapeiness about it, but I'm curious why it looks nothing like it's millions and millions of blood relatives out there in Clapotiville....

I'm not going to pretend that I loved this pattern from the start. Let's be real here, people. There's a whole lotta stockinette going on...but you learn to love it. The increases and decreases keep you awake and the constant goal of getting to "row 8" where you get to purposely drop stitches is enough to keep you coming back for more.

And now for the specs....

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

Needles: Size 8 circular Addi Turbos

Yarn: Noro, Cash Iroha. In color 84 "burgundy" which is more like a "magenta". You would laugh if you saw how much I had left of the original 5 balls (490 yards total) from Destash. About 1 yard....and then another 2 full skeins from my "I ran out of yarn scare".  (I'm still kicking myself for that one!)

Modifications: I did one less increase set (section 2) so it wouldn't be so wide. I also did one additional "straight row" set (section 3) which is why it's so long. I like my scarves loooooong, (you know, so I can share).

Time to Knit: Jan. 24th to Feb. 13th, 2007. About 3 weeks.

Other posts on the subject: Starting the Project & Running Out of Yarn, Just Buy More Yarn, Found my Yarn! Sneak Peak

Meet Cori

Meet little Ms. Cori. Her name is short for "Corazon", which means "heart" in Spanish. Her mother lovingly named her this because she was born on Valentines day, and she's here to wish you a nice one. A nice Valentines Day, that is.

She's puzzled as to why her nose looks this way and why her eyeballs are blue...and thinks it looks a bit freaky. It's nothing a little surgery can't fix.....

Happy Valentines Day, y'all!

*For those of you who think I've gone mad, I have. And you can too, visit Hilary & she'll show you how....

Sneak Peak

One of the things I love about living in San Francisco is all the interesting noises sounds I hear. Especially when I'm sleeping. Like the beautiful chirping of jack-hammers and the beep beep beep of a tractor backing up. For six hours straight.

Ahh....music to my ears.

It didn't stop me from some blogging though! No worries there...did you see some of the new "future projects" I added to my Flickr? Who'd a thought that Lion Brand would have some cute patterns (okay...end of snobby rant <here>!).

What's the sneak peak all about up there? Could it be a blocking of a somethin' somethin'? And maybe a long awaited prize for a certain someone? Hmmmm, only time will tell!

Elf Cap

How about those GIGANTOID sun glasses, though? I use them as a replacement for sunscreen since they manage to cover my entire face.

Next weekend is our annual trip to Lake Tahoe to celebrate my mom's birthday. I realized that I'm not equipped to handle the cold weather given that I usually spend the weekend mooching off my mom and sisters for hats and gloves and such. Not this year, though. No Sir-y, Bob.

This year, I'm going equipped, with my own, handmade Elf Cap!

Everything about this project was super cool, in my opinion. The yarn was soft & chunky at a cool 2 stitches/inch. The mauve and gold colors were interesting to see knit up in their unassumingly jovial combination. The hat was done is just one short evening of PBS documentaries.

Pattern: Elf Caps from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick

Needles:Size 15 bamboo (short length) circulars.  This project would have been much easier using Addi Turbos because the yarn is loosely spun & got caught on the connectors a lot. The bamboo, however, worked fine & I wasn't about to spring $15 for some needles that I would seldom use.

Yarn: The GOLD is from Blue Sky Alpacas - Bulky Hand Dyes line, (50% Alpaca, %50 wool). The color is uneven giving it a home-made, organic, rustic look with a lot of depth and variance. This yarn would definitely be considered "luxury" due to it's high price tag (approx. $16) and very low yardage (45 yards). As much as it killed me to spend that kind of money on such a small amount of yarn, I would say that it's worth it (for a small project). It adds a lot to the hat and will prove to be quite warm and soft on my forehead. I used about 15-20 yards of the total 45 that came in the skien.

 

Yarn, continued: The mauve (color 9424) is Cascade Magnum. It's the recommended yarn for this project, and is also very chunky at 2 sts/inch. It's also quite soft and made up of 100% Pure Wool. This yarn was nice, but I'm not going to rant on and on about the depth of the color. It's flat in comparison to the gold. It's serves it's purpose, though, it's more utilitarian in it's make-up and didn't have the same luxurious look n' feel that the Blue Sky's stuff did. Rightfully so, it was much cheaper (not cheap! but cheaper - $20 for 123 yards).

Time to Knit: Approx. 2 hours. (not including the first time I knit it (huge) - the night before!)

All in all this hat was super fun to make, the swirly pattern of the decreases makes it interesting to look at from above and I love the endless embellishing possibilities of the finished hat. It's sure to serve me well in Lake Tahoe.

::Friday Flickr Faves :: Shadow::

m tothe p, originally uploaded by blimpa.

I can't say enough about this interesting photo. Do you know Mary Poppins? Of course you do, I bet you live in a fantasy land like I do....where gardens look like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and all children are as well behaved as those looked after by Ms. Poppins.

I have a few favorite movies and stories from my childhood. Most of which I still watch today (when I'm sick, you know, because that's how you cure the common cold, through popsicles, soup and the movie "Annie").

Did you ever watch Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre? It was a wonderful series where famous actors would act out old faerie tales. The "play's" were so well done in their full period costume regalia and all. I imagine that it was here, with Rapunzel, that I got my first glimpse into the world of fiber magic.

Or how about Anne of Green Gables? To this day, I find instances of her influence in my wardrobe. Her ankle-high tie-up black boots & clean cotton prairie-wear never failed to entertain me. I lived vicariously through her pre-pubescent adventures and realizations.

It's rainy days like this when I just feel like curling up on the couch with a great old childhood favorite like Mary Poppins, while my dad builds a fire and my mom cooks chicken soup and tortilla's.