for Jacob

My friends Ken and Kathleen had a baby! The little one’s name is Jacob and he’s perfect.

I’d be kicked out of the knitting union if I didn’t try to knit something for him.

Pattern: Bunny Hop baby blanket (Rav link)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Lime, 2.5 skeins. Size 8 Denise Interchangeables.

This was actually the first time I’ve used Cotton-Ease. I guess I can understand the uproar that happened when Lion (misguidedly) discontinued it a couple of years ago. The yarn is soft and washes like a champ. I have to say I’m not a fan of the current color selection - I think many of the colors look pretty washed out. I do like the lime color though. The baby blanket pattern was fun to knit - I pretty much knit it without any modifications. For the life of me, I couldn’t seem to memorize the pattern repeats though, so this didn’t turn out to be mindless knitting as I had initially hoped. I’m pretty pleased with the results though, and I hope Jacob enjoys his blankie.

 

24 hour birthday

Today is Last Day to File Your Income Tax Day, also known around these parts as my birthday! So in honor of said birthday, I decided to stay up an entire 24 hours. Just to see if I could, and also to better savor the birthday feeling.

12:01 a.m. Birfday! Birfday! Another year older (ugh), though not necessarily wiser. Eat ice cream to celebrate.

12:45 a.m. Wow, you can watch Law and Order marathons at all hours of the night.

1:15 a.m. Get call from my dad (Chinese in italics)

Dad: Hellooo? Helloooo?
Me: Pa? Is that you?
Dad: YES! This is your FATHER! Happy birthday!
Me: Thank you. You remembered. (My dad is notorious for forgetting my birthday.)
Dad: Yes, I had our secretary remind me this year. Are you having a good lunch? Did you get yourself something good for your birthday meal?
Me: Pa, it’s 1 in the morning here.
Dad: Oh, I thought it was 1 in the afternoon. Because it’s lunchtime here at the office.
Me: Pa, there’s a 12 hour difference. 1 in the afternoon there is 1 in the morning here. (My dad lives halfway around the world; I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve told him that)
Dad: Well then, have a good time at lunch…

4:00 a.m. Oh look, an Eff Oh (picture taken later during the day)

Pattern: Koolhaas, by Jared Flood, from IK Holiday Gifts ‘07
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere #10 (Orange), 3 skeins. Size 6 and 8 Denise interchangeables, and size 8 Inox DPN’s

I love the hat! I love the pattern. I wish I could say the same about the yarn. I mean, it’s cashmere, and I like it OK, but I wasn’t impressed by the yarn. First, there’s only about 49 yards per skein, and to me it didn’t feel any softer than baby cashmerino. Maybe I was expecting too much, but cashmere! I have to say though that the cables really pop with this yarn.

I CO 96 stitches instead of the called for 104, and made 5 repeats of the pattern because I wanted the hat to cover my ears. There are a few boneheaded mistakes, but they’re near the top of the hat, and I was too lazy to rip back. I did run out of yarn at the very top, but couldn’t justify buying another skein of the DB, so I used leftover orange Lamb’s Pride worsted - you can kind of see it in the picture. I like it - it looks like the hat has a bright(er) orange dot on top.

 

unexpected

A list of things I never expected to encounter while I was in Nashville recently for some work stuff -

1. getting evacuated because of a tornado

While the rest of the country was busying itself with Super Tuesday, a number of tornadoes were tormenting the Nashville area. Unfortunately, because the conference I was attending was held inside a hermetically sealed, climate controlled biosphere - the convention center, hotel, and connecting mall were all enclosed by a plexiglass dome! - I had no idea that outside, the winds were howling and the rain was pouring. Until 1:00 a.m., when the fire alarm went off, and the hotel staff started pounding on doors to evacuate the hotel. We were led to the bowels of the hotel basement, along with other sleepy/ grumpy/ bored hotel guests. I think the evacuation was more of a safety precaution and the hotel wasn’t in any real danger of being swept away by a tornado. However, I would’ve been much less grumpy if the fire alarm didn’t proceed to go off 2 more times in the dead of the night!

See? Hermetically sealed!

2. seeing a 10 foot plant walking towards you

The day after the tornado evacuation brouhaha, while my friend Jill and I are catching up, I spot a tall, leafy plant walking towards us. I have to do a double take. Turns out, it’s one of the attractions in the convention center. The plant’s actually a performer covered in leaves and green make-up, walking on stilts and manipulating another pair of stilts as “branches.” Really cool, and at the same time, slightly creepy looking. Particularly when she wraps her leafy limbs around posts and makes like ivy.

Needs a lot of coordination, also, lots of green make-up

3. actual knitting happened. Complete with finished product!

I’ve been in knitting ennui lately. Dreary weather (I am ready for winter to be over!), crazy work schedule and the occasional life blues have all conspired to sap my knitting mojo. So imagine my surprise when I actually finished something!

Pattern: Bloody Mary by Sandra Park
Yarn: Koigu KPPM color #12060, 2 skeins. Size 2 Crystal Palace bamboo DPN’s

This was my first time working with Koigu. There’s already a lot of love out there for Koigu. Let me join the bandwagon. Koiguuuu, so soft and squishy and nice to knit with. The yarn was a generous gift from Amy’s mom 2 Christmases ago. This particular colorway was so color-rich that I was afraid it was going to pool like crazy. The slipped stitches of the Blood Mary pattern though, seems to have done the trick. Also, I really like how the slipped stitch rib leaves these raised ribs. Yeah, it’s a pair of ribbed socks, but it’s got some pizazz!

These socks had been languishing in the unfinished pile for a while. I started them in September 2007, when we went to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival. And then they just sat there, unfinished and neglected. These were supposed to be my travel knitting when I went to Manila (and the butt numbing 27 hour plane ride that accompanied that trip), but I couldn’t bring myself to knit much during that trip. So they sat neglected some more.

Unfinished no more.  Bring on the knits!

 

tangled

Five easy steps to a tangle - a tangled yoke cardigan!

Pattern: Tangled Yoke cardigan by Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits, Fall 2007
Yarn: Artfibers Nirvana, color #9 (undyed), every last bit of 2 cones (about 1200 yards). Size 5 Denise interchangeables for the body, size 3 and 1 straights for the neckband and buttonbands.

Not a lot of modifications for this project. I lengthened the body by a couple of inches and the sleeves by an inch. I also added an extra button. The buttons I used were these coconut buttons I found at Jo-Ann’s on sale. I loves them! The yarn was undyed Nirvana, a yummy silk/cashmere blend I purchased at Artfibers in San Francisco. It’s a bit hairy, but super soft. I think the undyed yarn sort of tarts it up a bit too. Although the cardi is totally wearable as is, the buttonbands pull just a bit. I may add some grosgrain ribbon to it later to stabilize them.

Can I just join the knitting masses in saying how much I enjoyed knitting this? Miles and miles of stockinette stitch notwithstanding, the finished sweater is totally worth it. It fits like a dream! This makes the second consecutive garment I’ve made that fits well, which totally boggles my mind. I may be anal in some things, but swatching and pattern reading are not those things. I’m almost afraid of what the knitting gods have in store for their future amusement.