Where They Pour Coca Cola Just Like Vintage Wine

I'm about 25% into the 42 inches of lace stripes on my Wino Juno, and have been tracking my progress by day so that I can actually see that what I've knit is adding up. It's easy with a long stretch of a single pattern to feel like I'm knitting forever but not making any progress, and this was a suggestion I read on the Ravelry forums. I put a split stitch marker around the center stitch before starting for the day, and here's how it looks:

From Bottom to Top:

Tuesday: I got a lot done at Knit Night, and knit for maybe an hour or so afterwards as well. I'm not quite sure how I made so much progress in one night!

Wednesday: On Wednesday, I knit after work for awhile, but I also worked on a new lace washcloth, and didn't make a ton of progress. However, I got in some extra knitting thanks to a 3:30am visit from the police, who had been called by a neighbor when he saw someone trying to steal my car radio. They failed to take the radio, but did get an old crappy iPod that won't hold a charge. There wasn't any damage to the car (I hadn't locked it), but I did make a number of mistakes on the shawl between 3:30am and 4:30am. Note to self: stockinette or garter stitch ONLY when the police come in the middle of the night.

Thursday: Progress seriously hindered by having to fix the errors made on Wednesday. No ripping was required, but I had to drop down several rows in several places--ripping might have been faster!

Friday: Moderate progress made. I spent most of the evening alternating between loading songs onto another iPod for the car and knitting. Radio thieves, if you are reading this, note that I am not leaving this iPod (or the faceplate of the radio) in the car overnight anymore!!!!

Saturday: Saturday's not technically over, but this is what I knit while waiting in line for an iPhone for 3.5 hours. It's not all I knit--I also worked on a pair of socks and finished the lace washcloth I started last week.

As an aside, I'm excited about the iPhone, especially since my old phone is over three years old and has been increasingly unreliable. I'm not pleased with the buying experience, however. The people at the Apple store were very nice, but I think that the company should have been better prepared in any number of ways. For instance, the website and voicemail information for the store said that they would open at 10am (vs. the early opening yesterday), but they really opened at 8am. So instead of getting their early, I got there late. I'm not sure it would have made a difference in my waiting time, but I would have spent less time worrying that they would run out, and it wouldn't have felt like I wasted the whole day. From what I could see, Apple doesn't particular care about whether it's customers have a good buying experience, and I really hope that they are treating their store employees (who have to deal with the frustration for very, very long days) better than they are treating their customers. I should have just waited, I suppose!

Fair Isle Followup Friday

I've lost a little momentum since the Fair Isle workshop, in that I haven't finished posting about the workshop or worked on my swatch since the last post. Let's try and remedy that, shall we?

I have purchased and wound balls of the yarns I used in the workshop, in preparation for a lot of swatching:

Pretty, aren't they?

Here are some additional references / posts about the workshop:

Janine's post about the workshop (including many swatches)
Ann's post about the workshop (including her great motif swatch, and a link that leads to a vest I'd like to knit)
Janine's post about Speed Swatching

Now, on to what we learned on the third day of class: Sweater Design and Steeks

Day One and Two involved a lot of information, combined with getting up very early to drive out to the workshop, and staying up late to swatch or think about swatching. By Sunday morning, I felt so far away from designing an actual sweater (in the sense of measurement, shaping, etc.), that I probably only absorbed about 10% of the technical piece that Janine presented. Fortunately, her handouts are very detailed, and when (if) I get to the point where I'm ready to start a sweater, I'll be able to refer back to them. What was more meaningful for me was to hear her talk about the pattern design choices she made (not to be confused with the color or motif design choices) in order to end up with a well-fitting sweater. She talked about how she used different types of shaping to avoid problems like poor fitting shoulders, and under-sleeve bulk. Also important was to think about how the motif falls on the garment, to avoid the dreaded "headlights" effect!

The technique that we practiced in class was knitting and then cutting a steek. This is a technique that I'm particularly interested in, first of all because it is terrifying, and secondly because I am a huge fan of cardigans and knitting in the round. We knit a small sample using worsted weight wool, and learned how to increase and decrease in pattern on either side. It makes perfect sense, but still required a fair amount of effort to wrap my brain around. We crocheted on either side of the steek, and then cut. It was amazing!

Here's my swatch after crocheting, but before cutting:

And here it is after cutting, both from the front and from the back:

Cool, huh? The cut ends just wrap themselves under in the neatest way. We didn't "finish" the cast on and cast off edges before cutting, so there is some raveling there, otherwise the ends are almost entirely invisible. It will definitely be more challenging to crochet a steek on a full sweater knit with fingering yarn, but I do feel prepared--and I can always knit up a swatch to practice on!

Next steps for me and Fair Isle

It's pretty straightforward: Keep swatching, and keep learning more. There are so many incredible fair isle projects out there, and I've really only scratched the surface. It will be a challenge to settle on a design and knit something from it. I'd be surprised if I started a sweater anytime soon, but maybe a smaller project like a pillow or a hat would be a good jumping off place. There's also plenty to be learned from knitting someone else's design, or adapting new colors to someone else's design. Now to get swatching!

Two Toe Tuesday: Would You Believe a Finished Pair?

I started these Smooshy Socks back in March, and I can't believe that it's taken so long to finish them. I love the yarn (Dream in Color Smooshy on Ravelry in Dusky Aurora) and the pattern (Eyelet Rib Toe-Up Socks by Wendy Johnson), but I was working on a lot of other projects during that time. I wasn't necessarily finishing many projects, but I was working on a lot of them! I'm hoping that all of that incremental work is going to add up to a number of quickly finished projects sometime soon--but don't hold your breath.

These socks travelled with me to Spring Training, to a work conference in Leavenworth, WA, and all over the Seattle area, but they didn't go with me on my trip to Europe, so they took at least a full month off during that time. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. The fit is great, and I love the color of the yarn. There are probably some areas where I reversed the decreases (did K2tog instead of SSK, & vice-versa), but they don't stand out at all. The biggest problem I had was the bind-off, which was too tight and had to be picked out and re-worked. I ended up using the version that Grumperina describes here, and it worked like a charm. Let's just hope they are tight enough to stay up, because I hate a slouchy sock.

The finished socks weigh about 87 grams, and I have about 30 grams of yarn left. I don't imagine that I could have made the socks much longer than they are without adding some sort of calf shaping, which I wasn't going to do. I know that the photo above doesn't show how tall they are--here's another shot where you can see how high the socks come up (about an inch higher than dachshund height), as well as my stunningly tanned legs:

Frieda was completely uncooperative when I tried to include her in the photo--she refused to look at the camera in any of the 12 photos that I took. I suppose that it is her job to watch the backyard for cats, not pander to the camera or flaunt her natural good looks. Very annoying for me, though--especially since she'll try and fight these socks if she sees me putting them on!

Old Dog, Meet New Tricks

Because the screaming colors of my Summer Sky Socks aren't quite over the top enough, I present to you my first ever crocheted swatch. Mom and I took a "Crochet 101" class at Renaissance Yarns today, and the swatch above represents three hours of work. It's about four inches square, and I think that it looks pretty good if you ignore the too-tight foundation chain and some possible errors at the edges. Fortunately, the pooling and bright colors are very distracting. It was a good, basic class, which fits my skill level perfectly and builds a foundation for a couple of crochet projects I've been looking at. Creepy Cute, here I come! O.K., maybe I'd better practice a little more first--but Ninjas and Corporate Zombies (Rav Links) are very close to being within my grasp. Mwahhahahaha!

I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

I once again have a slew of projects that require a pattern or chart, and nothing much that I can just carry around and knit when I'm stopped at the railroad tracks. The answer to this is a new sock project, just in time for the July Sockdown! on Ravelry. Given that I've been in total color overload since last weekend, it's either very surprising or not surprising at all that I pulled one of the brightest yarns ever out of my stash. Behold, the vivacity of the self striping Vesper Sock Yarn in Summer Sky! The photo on the left shows my first toe, which ended up being too wide and was ripped out. The photo on the right shows the new, narrower sock (complimented nicely by the Blue Moon) out on the town earlier in the week. In real life, the sock is brighter. And less blurry than in the bar photo. Srsly.

The pattern is the 5-stitch Beaded Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. The toe is the "easy toe", which I started with 12 stitches and have increased up to 70 stitches total. This pattern requires a divisible-by-10 number of stitches, and I really think that the best number of stitches for my gauge/feet is between 60 and 70, so we'll see how this goes. I do like the look of the beaded rib, and it's easy enough to remember now that I can read the pattern on the sock.

Toe number 2 is on the needles, and I hope to have the two of them united on a single needle before the end of the evening. Then I'll be able to work on them wherever I am, at least until it's time to think about the heels!

I'm So American That I Ate Apple Pie For Breakfast

Hope you had a good 4th! Mine consisted of Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and explosives. How can it get better than that?

When Your Head it Keeps on Spinnin'

Wow, that was a lot of information to try and absorb in a weekend! The photo above illustrates how scrambled my brain was by Sunday evening--I think that I stopped being able to register different colors at all for an hour or so. I actually dreamt about swatching last night, which I'm pretty sure was a first for me. In other words, this is probably the most inspiring knitting class that I've ever taken. I'm not really the kind of person who tries to knit meaning into projects (though I try not to knit hate into them), but I really loved the idea of starting with a photograph for design inspiration and translating the colors (in some cases very loosely) into a traditional(-ish) Fair Isle design. I'm still trying to sort all of this out in my brain (and am second-guessing my photo color-correcting abilities, too), and I'm hoping that writing it all out will help. This is a much longer post than usual as a result. If I'm missing anything, let me know. If I'm way too wordy, just skim.

I apologize in advance that I have very little to share about the work that other people did in class--it felt like we were moving too fast to take photos most of the time. There were some amazing color combinations and swatches--watching everyone move through the process was extremely valuable.

Part I: Inspiration and Initial Color Selection

Janine has some great photos (and a much more concise explanation) of this stage here.

My starting point was this photo that I took when I was in Venice in May--it's also in the upper right hand corner of the photo above. I love the colors of the water in Venice, and the blue of the sky, and the colors of the buildings. Plus, there are smaller bits of red, brown, green, and white--in other words, there's plenty to work from.

The first step was to pick out a ton of colors (from Janine's T-O-N-s of yarn) representing colors in the photo but in many different values. Then you arrange them in value order, without regard to hue, split them in half, and "speed swatch" them together. Value is really tricky for me, especially when trying to decide, for instance, where a deep green goes compared to a deep yellow. It's something to practice, but in the meantime a trick is to look at colors in black and white to see the differences. Here's my speed swatch, both in color and in black and white:

I started swatching darkest to lightest, and moving towards the middle. Very festive, isn't it? Almost like Kaffe Fassett's Circus Tents quilt, was my first reaction. I accidentally zigged when I should have zagged, and instead of having a "mistake" in my swatch, I just kept on zigging and zagging. This makes it a little tougher to see the individual lines, especially once the values get closer to the middle. I can see in the black and white version where there are abrupt value changes, though.

Part of what I know about color I stole from my former roommate E___ who is a graphic designer with a great eye for color, and most of the rest of what I know comes from quilting, where I'm generally looking for sharp value changes or minimal value changes with a small bit of contrast for "pop". Fair Isle is about very gradual value changes, or progressions of even value changes, which is a different skill altogether (at least for me).

I seriously hated this swatch when I first knit it (even if I do like some parts of it), but it is starting to grow on me. It was interesting to hear other people in the class say that they liked different parts of it than I do. If I did it again I would change the way I ordered the colors, so that I was matching darkest to middle and working towards middle to lightest, instead of starting with the highest contrast. And I'd lose some of the peachier shades, maybe. And it would be the perfectest color swatch in the world, on first try--I just know it would.

Part 2: Refine Colors, Select Motifs, and Swatch Some More

I'm not going to go into how I selected motifs, or where they came from, because honestly I didn't document my sources well enough. I basically started with an all-over pattern with motifs inside diamond shaped frames that fit together. I selected the motifs from several different books, and charted out a couple on my own. I wanted to try one that reflected the cross-shaped windows on the building in my inspiration photo, but otherwise wasn't trying to be literal at all about the motifs. I started with a swatch of just one of the five motifs I ended up with, one that had a pretty solid center. I was going for a heavier weight center, which as it turns out was a mistake:

See how my "startle color" in the middle of the motif looks like just a line? That's not the effect I was going for. Also, you can see in the black and white photo that there isn't much value difference between the greens and the blues in the lower part of the photo. Don't even get me started on how I skipped a pattern line, and didn't realize it until the next day. I decided to throw out some of the lighter greens, and add it some darker greens. Before starting another swatch (which I knew needed to be much bigger), I made a tiny speed swatch:

There's still some value muddiness at the bottom of the swatch, but I'm much happier overall. The grey fit in value-wise, but I didn't like the hue change from blue to grey, so I selected another light blue to use instead. In the evening, I charted out the motifs in Excel, and made some changes that I thought would help with that whole "yellow line" issue. I've started my large swatch, but am less than half-way through it so it's a little early for me to pass judgement upon it. This is how it looks so far:

Much better, yes? I'm a little concerned that now I have a red line issue to worry about, but until I have a whole swatch that I can look at from 10 feet away, I'm not going to make any changes. I did order full skeins of all 10 or 11 colors in the swatch last night as soon as I got home from class, but that's not a real committment. Right now, I'm not thinking that this type of allover motif is something that I would wear as a sweater, but I might like to try it as a pillow cover or some other small project. Again, it's really too early to tell--this is not a project that's going to move forward quickly.

I'll talk about the last part of the class (steeks & sweater design) more in another post. All of this talking about the class is both reminding me how tired I am, and has got my fingers itching to continue the swatch. Plus, I've got a too-tight cast-off to pick out on the Smooshy socks, and some ice cream to eat. It's been H-O-T here!

If You're Trying to Paint a Picture But You're Not Sure What Colors Belong

I'm taking a "Design Your Own Fair Isle" class this weekend taught by Janine Bajus, and after Day 1 my brain is about ready to explode. Not in a bad way, in a "WOW" way. Today's class focused on color, and our first exercise was the value swatches above. What I learned from this exercise is that I can distinguish between dark and light values pretty well, but I have no concept about what's in the middle. My swatch is the blue one at the bottom of the frame. See the sharp line between the third and fourth colors? That's my "area of opportunity". It's not my only area of opportunity, unfortunately!

We also swatched a ton of colors inspired by photos that we picked out--28 or 29 colors in my case, two at a time. Some of the combinations in my swatch look good, and some look scratch-your-eyes-out terrible. Overall, the colors are not cohesive in the swatch, and even though the colors all relate to and work in the photo, some / many of them will have to go. Getting the color right is definitely going to be a challenge, in a good way, and working through Janine's design process is really, really interesting.

Tomorrow we focus on motifs, so tonight I'm looking through books of patterns--I'm looking forward to the next steps (even though it means getting up really early for a Saturday).

When the Sun Comes Out The World's Gonna Go Crazy

Have I mentioned that Spring may have finally arrived, just in time for Summer? On Saturday Mom and I went to six or seven quilt stores, and it was really nice to see the sun around here for a change. Most of the fabrics I bought are very spring / summery, too, even after it clouded up on Sunday. I bought patterns all over, some Amy Butler fat quarters in Chehalis, some Amy Butler yardage in a couple of other places, a Swell Jellyroll in Bothell, and some really cute Japanese piggy and frog fabrics in Bellevue. There were a few things that I was specifically looking for that I didn't find, but I did see a lot of great new fabrics and had a delicious meal at Burgerville. I can't stress enough how much Burgerville plays into my desire to Quilt Shop Hop--the closest one is also close to Sisters, one of my favorite stores on the Hop.

So what to sew first? I'm thinking about a small needle roll or soft folder to hold the tips of my Knitpicks options. I love the needles, but I don't like the binder at all. Hmmm. . . piggys or frogs? Or dachshunds, for that matter?

He Gave Us the Wine to Taste It

It feels like a long time since I jumped on a KAL--at least a KAL with a beginning, a little structure, and an end. Maybe that's why I've got more than a few unfinished projects? Some open-ended KALs that I've yet to finish include the Bee Fields Shawl, and the Bird in Hand Mittens, just to name two. These two KALs were/are open-ended, and yet both projects have been hibernating for months now. Maybe a little deadline knitting is in order, just so that I'll finish something! I missed the sign ups for Summer of Socks, completely blew off Project Spectrum, and haven't started a new sock for a Ravelry Sockdown since January. I've been a regular knit-blogging slacker, but the Loopy Ewe Dream in Color Baby KAL has changed all that, at least for now. There's a specified yarn (DIC Baby, obviously), and a deadline (October 1), but other than that it's pretty free-form.

I cast on Juno Regina in Baby on Saturday, and even after eight hours of driving from quilt store to quilt store the pattern made perfect sense. The charts are many, and they look as if they get tougher in about 8 more rows, but so far so good. The color, In Vino Veritas, is very rich, and ranges from a dark burgundy to a wine-y purple depending on the light. It looks awfully purple in the photo above (taken in natural PNW sunlight), doesn't it? I don't think it really looks that purple, in real life, but we'll see. This yarn / pattern also works for the Red KAL (Rav Link) in the Loopy Ewe group.

About the yarn. . .I've been knitting away on my Smooshy Socks that use Dream in Color's Smooshy yarn for months now (they should be done fairly soon), and I couldn't be happier with the yarn. It is, as the name implies, very Smooshy, but knitting up to a nice firm sock fabric. The color changes are very subtle, with no pooling or striping, which works well with the pattern I'm using. I think that Baby is just a lighter version of Smooshy, but I'm not sure yet whether I like it as well. I'm a little concerned that the Baby is going to be on the itchy side, but right now my hands are very dried out from knitting the cotton washcloth, and everything feels a little rough on them.

At the end of the week, I'll be moving from lace to fair isle, so I'm hoping to make a lot of progress this week. On Friday, I start a three-day class on Fair Isle knitting taught by Janine Bajus, and I'm starting to get excited about it--although really I should be preparing my supplies, and unpacking my bag from Stanford and putting away my new fabric, and what-not. Hmm. Better get on that.

Insert Stevie Nicks Lace Quote Here

I missed the Seattle LYS Tour this year, but I did pick up the Renaissance Yarns project last week. Its a very cute lace washcloth (Rav Link) made from Sublime Organic Cotton dk. This yarn feels as good as it looks, with a suitably "organic" palette. It's a very quick knit (I'm just finishing the border), and assuming that I finish this one, there will be more on the way. I'm thinking that a few of these in coordinating colors might be a nice gift for a recent college grad, who is moving to her first apartment soon. If she doesn't want to use it as a people washcloth, she can always try it out on dishes. Yes, it does pain me to say that.

This weekend is the Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop, and I made it to eight stores today. That sounds like a lot more than it is, really--I basically covered the shops between my office and home, and then went to Puyallup and Tacoma. Up until earlier this week, I was planning to be out of town, but those plans fell through so I'll spent at least a portion of the weekend shop hopping. I'm trying to develop a quick plan of attack, because otherwise I'll end up with nothing but a sore butt from driving all weekend. Or I'll end up with a bunch of fabric that I may never use, and frankly I already have plenty of that. Here's where I went at lunch (I didn't take photos of any of the others--too much rushing around!):

This is Carriage Country Quilts, and it's close to my office so I pop in there occasionally on non-Shop Hop Days.

Like a Blister in the Sun

How is it that a hot day in the bleachers watching my former charge A__ graduate and listening to this lady resulted in no visible effect on my legs' Seattle tan, with the exception of two burned knees?

It's been a loooong couple of weeks. Fun, but loooong. Must recuperate through knitting (and/or napping)!

p.s. Note that the skirt above is one of the two cotton skirts that I made earlier this spring, and I wore the second one to the graduation. I love the pattern--it's Amy Butler's Barcelona Skirt, the plain A-line version. It does cover the knees while sitting, which is the other baffling part of having two burned knees.

I Followed You Big River, When You Called

I've been making good progress on the Autumn Lace Scarf and the Smooshy Socks in the last week (when I've had a little time to knit), but all those tiny, intricate stitches have been kind of getting to me. The scarf requires a lot of focus, and the socks are on tiny needles, and I've been thinking about how nice it would be to actually finish a project. So when Liz posted about starting Fantine (Rav Link), I started thinking about making one too. I picked up the pattern and the yarn (Rowan Big Wool) yesterday, and I'm already about 25% done. Very gratifying!

I used this yarn for a last minute Christmas gift this past year, and although I'm not a huge fan of chunky yarn I liked working with it. It's chunky but very light, and I think that this shade of gray will be very versitile. The pattern is cute, but I'm not sure if it's going to look very good on me (at least in the short term). It could be a train-wreck, but with such a small investment of time I'm willing to give it a try. For the time being, I'm planning to do the 3/4 length sleeves, and I started with the scoop neck rather than the Mandarin Collar. I might give the cap sleeves a try, though!

3 is a Magic Number

So if you're having a party today for your 3rd birthday, and I'm invited to your party, I have a couple of things to say:

• The photo above is your gift. It's a pattern from Melly & Me that I picked up at the sewing expo, and I used fabric on-hand to make. The name of the pattern is Sangsang, but you can name this doll whatever you like!
• Who taught you to get on the internet, anyway? Seriously, my blog may be a little too adult for you, as it involves many controversial topics and deep debates about the issues of the day. Oh, wait, no it doesn't--you're probably fine, since you don't read yet. Right?

This is a cute pattern, I made the smaller sized doll. After getting it a little damp this morning photographing it amongst the strawberry plants, I decided that it was a little on the plain side, so I added a rick-rack belt.

Much better, I think! Happy Birthday, J____!

Leaves Were Falling Just Like Embers

There seems to be no shortage of song lyrics that include the words "Leaf" or "Leaves", which is a good thing--I've picked up the Autumn Lace Scarf after a long hiatus. I picked up a few other older projects to test out again, but this is the one that felt best. It's not super complicated (I was able to pick it right back up) but it does require a bit of attention. The pattern is from Evelyn Clark's website, and as with many of her patterns, it's written for a variety of yarn weights. Since I'm using fine yarn, I added a repeat of the main pattern--I like the look of three big leaves better than two, too. I was surprised to see that there are only a handful of these scarves in progress on Ravelry, but it's sort of nice to not be the 1 millionth person to knit something for a change. Monkey Socks, I'm looking at you!

I have a new set of Pattern Tamers that are really great for keeping track of where I am on the chart. They're basically two strips of magnet that are covered with ribbon that you snap onto the chart to keep your place. Does that description make any sense at all? I can't be sure, so here's a photo:

I love the bee ribbon, and I love that the magnet holds very well, and that I don't need a board to hold it--it makes it much easier to carry.

Ahhh, Vienna

Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's also the city that was my temporary home for most of 2001, and ever since reluctantly leaving I've wanted to go back. After seeing it again, I really regret not managing to get back sooner. My German is much worse (though resurfaced admirably during a critical moment), the dollar is unbearably weak, and my favorite local hangout has closed, but Vienna was wonderful. The highlight was, of course, the wedding that I'd travelled all that way for, but a close second was sipping beer with S___ and the bride on the night before we left in one of our old haunts. It just felt really good to be back!

The changes that I saw in Vienna were really all for the good (except the closing of the Cult Brau, of course)--new train stations, a facelift at the Prater, a fancy new airport train, and no smoking in most restaurants. I also noticed that the Hooters that made me a little embarassed to be an American every time I saw it has either moved or closed. Yeah! The Viennese seemed a lot friendlier (and more English-speaking) than I remember, especially when S___'s "shortcut" to our old neighborhood failed to pan out as expected. As soon as we asked one person for directions, there were at least three people who discussed the problem, and watched out for us on the tram so that we got to where we were going. I should note that from my perspective as a then-Bostonian, the Viennese seemed very similar to the Bostonians when I lived there. Not unfriendly, but pretty straightforward and unlikely to make a lot of small talk during superficial interactions. So when I say that people were in general friendlier, I don't want to imply that I didn't think they were friendly enough before. I was just a little surprised when I was going to my crack of dawn train to the airport, and a couple of the construction guys having breakfast asked me where I was going, as if they were really interested.

Thanks to S___'s superstar status as a travelling businessman, we had a very nice room at the Wien Mitte Hilton, which made getting around (and getting coffee) very easy. We were close to all of the major attractions, and managed to hit a fair number of them--see photographic evidence above. We also revisited some favorite restaurants. The Chinese restaurant that was around the corner from our building coincidentally moved downtown, a few blocks from the hotel. They've taken my beloved "Nummer 41" off of the menu, but the dish that I had was similar and delicious. We had lunch at Centimeter, which used to serve food in Axes and Shovels, but now they seem to only have plates. Or maybe they only bring out the heavy dishes at dinnertime? I would say that the non-wedding culinary highlight, though, was coffee at Demel's. Oh, how I miss the coffeeshops of Vienna--most weekends I'd hit a new coffeeshop to study.

Enough stream-of-consciousness rambling about Vienna. I have a feeeling that it won't be seven more years before I go back!

If This is Thursday, it Must Be Venice

My trip to Venice was short (essentially one day) but very sweet. My friends M___ and J___ had been living in Venice since February on an academic mission, and graciously entertained me for the duration of my stay. M___ is a travel writer, so she knows the lay of the land wherever she goes--vaporetti, bacari, and of course dogs selling newspapers. While J___ toiled away during the day, she took me all over Venice via alleys, squares, bridges, and boats. We walked through the big tourist sites, but chose shopping in favor of museums. It was hotter in Europe than I expected, and after wearing the shoes I brought for the wedding for an evening in Paris, it was clear that they would not be comfortable, and the only alternative (10 year old clogs) was in no way stylish enough. But shoes crafted in Venice? A perfect souvenir, and a lifesaver at a wedding that went very, very late. The rest of the shopping included the previously mentioned yarn, and a lot of window shopping for sharp Italian hats. I wish that I lived a lifestyle that would make a Borsalino a practical accessory, but I'm not sure if I can pull off that look here in the Pacific Northwest.

Ah, you want to know about the wine and the food? While we enjoyed a pre-dinner Sicilian Orange (seriously--from Sicily!), there was a short downpour that more or less cleared the streets of tourists and locals alike. We enjoyed a spritz at a bacari alongside the canal, and then went to M___ & J____'s favorite late-night Osteria for an incredibly delicious meal. Beef carpaccio--unbelievable. Lasagna--unbelievable. Stove-top espresso and fresh baked goods for breakfast the next day--unbelievable. Thanks, M___ and J___!

p.s. In case anyone is tired of hearing about my vacation, I think that I only have about two more posts left. Fingers crossed, anyway--I'm feeling less and less like I ever even went on vacation.

I can't knit and watch a live baseball game

but when the score looks like this:

I think that I'm well within my rights to pull out this:

After all, we were sitting in the pricey Terrace Club seats--I might as well get some knitting value out of them! I've temporarily misplaced the toe yarn for the M's Socks that I started on opening day, so I've been working on the Smooshy Socks.

It should be noted that on Wednesday's pitching duel against the Red Sox, I knit only during the pre-game, because that was a game worth watching. Here's the photo (note that we were in our regular seats, which are awesome but much more reasonably priced):

Honey, Because the World's Gone Wrong

This weekend I had a strong urge to start a new knitting project, one that I’ve had my eye on for awhile. A couple of friends have had baby girls in the last couple of months, and the Little Sister’s Dress is a simple but very cute garment. This is one of the projects I thought about taking on my trip, but I opted for the (now ripped out) lace project instead. I fished around in my stash on Friday (or maybe Thursday or Saturday—I’m still a little messed up from the vacation and holiday days) and came up with a skein of Jitterbug in the Copper Beach colorway that I’ve had for awhile. Most importantly, it was already wound into a ball, so I could start immediately. I thought it was perfect—shades of brown with a little blue and red. Brown is a great fall color for a Pacific Northwest baby, and think how cute it would look with red leggings & turtleneck?

In the dim light of the living room (supplemented by the glow of a ton of Tivo’d shows that I had to catch up on), I made really good progress after a couple of minor counting/pattern following issues. I took it outside into the real, natural-light world last night, and it is ugly. Really, really ugly, with its ugliness confirmed by three other knitters. I don’t think that the photo above captures the ugliness adequately—some might even think that it looks fine. The problem is that there’s a lot of yellow in the yarn, which looks at first like it’s just a lighter brown. Blech.

This was definitely a can’t-see-the-forest-for-the-trees situation—I was so focused on the pattern and shaping (which I screwed up early on) that I didn’t pull back and see the whole garment. Usually, choosing color is one of my stronger qualities, because my former roommate E____ is a graphic designer and it was easy to just lift her favorite palette and apply it to my own projects. I bet that E____ would have noticed the yellow, though.

I really don’t even want to finish this now, because I certainly can’t give a poor, innocent baby such an ugly thing, and I can’t think of any 6 month olds against whom I am holding a grudge. I’m not interested in over dying it, if that’s even possible, because that’s a slippery slope towards dying more yarn/garments, and I would really rather focus on the hobbies I already have. If anyone would like to take this yarn (ripped out or in its current form), please leave a comment and I will send it to you, no questions asked. Maybe it would look better as socks, or maybe YOU want to over-dye it. Seriously, take it--you’d be doing me a favor. If more than one person want it (which would surprise me), I’ll randomly generate a number.

I’m starting another one any day now, because it’s the cutest pattern, but in a better color. Maybe the Sundara sock yarn that didn’t make it as the Bayerische Socks? That yarn is beautiful-no yellow in sight.

ETA: Note that Jennifer used the same Jitterbug colorway to knit these Monkeys, and they look awesome--no weird yellow splotches at all. But I still want this yarn out of my stash--I don't have the heart to try and reknit it.

Knitting Break!

So instead of moving on to the Venice recap, this is a cross-city (but still trip related) post about knitting, and shopping related to knitting. I was a little concerned before I left about the differing rules from country to country about bringing knitting needles through security, so I tried to bring tools and projects that wouldn't raise any red flags. Wood backup dpns, plastic stitch holders and darning needles, and no scissors. I did bring some metal Knitpicks Options to use on a lace project, so that if there was an objection I could just discard the tips without removing the yarn from the cable. I went through security in Seattle, Amsterdam, Prague, Paris-CDG, Venice-Treviso, Vienna, and again in Amsterdam, and had no problems, other than that my clogs kept setting off the metal detector, and I was yelled at for using too many bins in Paris instead of just piling my computer, toiletries, and coat into one tiny bin. Seriously--there was no shortage of bins, nobody else in line, and isn't the point of pulling the computer out of the case that it needs to be looked at by itself?

I brought along a barely-started Froot Loop sock, from the latest Knitty surprise, which I am knitting on wooden needles. Size 0, very sharp Knitpicks Harmony needles, but wood. The photo in the bottom right was on the train to Terezin (note: visiting a concentration camp isn't a great way to get in a happy mood for a wedding), and the top right is the view of the Stephansdom in Vienna outside our hotel window. By the time I arrived back in Seattle, the heel was turned and I was well into the foot--I'm still a little surprised that I didn't manage to snap those needles, but they've held up well. Normally, I find that bamboo needles get a little rough after use, but these are still totally smooth. The yarn that I'm using is Yarntini semi-solid (from the Loopy Ewe) that was in my stash, the colorway is (I think!) Designated Driver. I like the way that this pattern looks in the semi-solid yarn MUCH better than my discarded first attempt. Here's a closeup of the gusset:

I shortened the cuff by a couple of repeats, and I may end up making these for my mom because they seem a little on the small side. They stretch enough to get on my foot without a struggle, though, so maybe they WILL be for me!!!

I started a Myrtle Leaf Lace Shawl (Rav link) while in Prague, because I wanted to have a more challenging project going that I couldn't possibly finish on this trip. No danger there--there was not a lot of non-airplane knitting time. The yarn for this one is very fine 100% cashmere that I bought at Madrona earlier this year. It was a struggle to get this started, I ripped back a few times and I'm not thrilled with the pattern. Also, the colors of this yarn are so rich that I think a more solid pattern would show it off better, or maybe smaller needles would be best. I ripped it out yesterday. I'll probably return to an already started lace project before starting something new with this yarn.

What's that? You want to know about the yarns of Europe? Well, I hate to disappoint, but the yarn haul from the trip is very small. I didn't visit any yarn shops in Prague or Paris, except for a department store in Prague that had a lot of yarn that I can get in the US. In Venice, M___ and I went first to a store that appeared to be a yarn store, but was not--they had twisted beautiful silk and chenielle scarves into what looked like hanks. INCREDIBLE store, gorgeous scarves & textiles, but no yarn. Maybe 10 minutes later we stumbled across a yarn store, and I purchased two skeins of bright orange sock yarn, made in Italy--Principessa (Rav link). The color looks much more intense here in the grey Pacific Northwest than it did in the palette of Venice, and I can't wait to start knitting with it.

In Vienna, I carved out time to visit the only knitting store that I went to when I lived there--it's where I bought the supplies for this long-dormant project. The store is still a tiny little place, with pattern books and magazines piled high on the counter and yarn in every little crevice. I wanted some Austrian yarn, and although there was no sock yarn they did have local linen and shetland wool. I purchased two hanks of shetland wool, you can see the blue pretty clearly above, the dark heathery green is s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y overshadowed by the orange sock yarn. In June, I'm taking a design your own fair isle sweater class, and I'm hoping that I can incorporate at least one of these yarns into my sweater.

The yarn in both Venice and Vienna was very comparable in price to the US. Certainly not a bargain, but I think that the Pricipessa was about $15 for the two balls and the Shetland wool was about $18 per skein, for 100 g / 450m. The Vienna store had smaller skeins of the shetland, I should probably have gotten smaller amounts of more colors!

And now that I'm home, and no longer worried about hauling a heavy bag all over, I wish that I'd bought some of the linen as well as a few more colors of the wool. Next time!

Have you been to Paris, France?

Most of Paris was a whirlwind--500 paintings at the Musee d'Orsay in under 2 hours, whip through Notre Dame (and then climb to the top), race to the top of the Arc de Triomphe before it closes. Versailles? Just make sure that the hoards of schoolchildren on tours don't slow you down (and try to keep them our of your photos, while you're at it). Much of the time I felt like I was being swept along in a current of tourists, which does not bring out the best in me nor in the people around me. Along those lines, I'd like to say in public:

* To the French woman standing in the bathroom line at Versailles: Just because you're speaking in French doesn't mean that I can't pick out the words "American" and "Tennis Shoes", especially when I'm two inches away from you, wearing tennis shoes. You're in a tourist attraction--expect people to dress for comfort when they're walking 5 miles.

* To the American tourist who exclaimed "these people are SO PUSHY" when I tried to politely get around her in order to not lose my friend, just before she extended her elbows to keep me from getting around: Which people? The American tourists? Because while many of the European tourists crowded me in a way that is unacceptable in the American West, nobody but you actually tried to prevent me from getting somewhere, or pushed me. Way to take a stand! p.s. there are people in Europe who understand English.

Let the record show that I didn't say either of these things to these people at the moment--I don't think that it would have made the situation better.

Although the too-quick pace and lack of non-touristy exploration in Paris was very frustrating for me, one of the highlights of the whole trip was a meal at the home of one of S___'s friends. He met V______ in China when they were studying there maybe 10 years ago, and have kept in touch since then. She invited us to her home for a typical French dinner, and it was one of the most relaxing (and delicious) evenings of the trip. The main course was duck, prepared in a steak-like form and served rare. I've eaten duck before, but this is the first time I really enjoyed it. The conversation was great, and her husband and kids were a lot of fun to meet. The youngest child is the boy I knit the striped baby hat for, which unfortunately will probably be too small by the time winter comes around. The age buffer that I used for the sizing wasn't big enough, or maybe my gauge was too tight, or maybe the baby has a larger than average head. It's the risk you run with baby hats, and maybe it will fit in the end--in any case, I'm glad that I brought it along.

After two very short days in Paris, it was on to Venice for one day to visit M__ and J____. Although every bit at overrun by tourists as Paris, Venice was an oasis, I'll post about it later this weekend (I hope). I've had some questions about how the tiny computer worked out (pretty well), and I'm putting together a "travel gear roundup" / "knitting" post, also hopefully for later this weekend. Can I just say how happy I am that it's a three day weekend???

The Endless Stream of Post-Trip-Posts Begins

I'm back! Try though I might, I couldn't post at all while in Europe--I had basically zero time to myself and dubious internet access. Lesson learned--four countries in 12 days is at least one country (France) too many. Plus, travelling with a person with very different ideas about how to spend time and what/how many sights to see is not a great idea. I saw a lot of things that I probably wouldn't have otherwise, but I didn't have a chance to really relax and enjoy what I was seeing--I spent more time fighting through crowds of tourists than drinking coffee in Grand Cafes, for example.

At the same time, the two main events of the trip, (the Prague (mini) Marathon and the Viennese Wedding) were both really great. I ran the 4.2K mini-marathon in less than 30 minutes, and I ran the whole way, so I definitely met my goal. My friend S__ ran the whole marathon in well under 4 hours, and since he was shooting for 4:15, it was a great time. Disappointing for me, since I arrived at the finish line at the 4 hour mark and completely missed him, but a significant improvement for him over his first marathon. More on the wedding in a later post!

The photos above are all from Prague, which was beautiful but seems to have become much more touristy and expensive than the last time I was there. Maybe it's because so many people were there for the Marathon, or because there were a lot of Starbucks (thank god), or because the exchange rate is so terrible? Maybe a combination of the three. We stayed at the super convenient Old Town Prague Hilton, which didn't seem to have air-conditioning (it was pretty hot in Prague) but was otherwise very comfortable. One of my favorite meals from the trip was at Maze in the hotel lobby, it's a celebrity-chef Gordon Ramsay venture. It was a little fancy-schmancy for my travel clothes, but the food was delicious. Otherwise, the food in Prague was unremarkable--traditional Czech food is not to my taste, and I foolishly went with pork and dumplings instead of sausage. The weather was unbeleivably good, sunny and much warmer than our spring has been in Seattle.

So that's the Prague wrap-up. I'm still a little travel-weary, and I know that this is all a little generic, so if anyone has any questions leave them in the comments!

Cutest. Bag. Evah.

Did I say that I was going to pack? I meant that I was going to finish sewing the Day in the Park Backpack Tote, which I will probably take with me even though it won't hold enough to be an effective carry-on bag. In the photos above, it's holding my tiny computer, a small knitting project, and a zippered pouch of knitting equipment. I don't want to cram a lot more into it, but I think that I'll need more room for the plane. It's probably a good walking-around-Prague bag, though--there's a zippered pouch inside that I can use for my passport & wallet, and the bag cinches up enough and is deep enough that it shouldn't be a pick-pocket target.

I'm very happy with the pattern, and I didn't have a lot of trouble, but I think that the rivets are probably not going to hold through all of the layers of cord. I sewed the ends of the long straps just in case the rivets fail. I won't be brokenhearted if they fail, because I think that I twisted one of the straps, and it can't be fixed without ripping out the rivets. Or it might not be twisted, I might just be twisting it when I put it on. Either way--I'm fine with it.

If I make another one (and I might, though not right away), I might make it an inch or so deeper, and I might make the straps an inch wider. The skinniness of the straps is fine if I don't overstuff the bag, but let's face it--I'm going to overstuff it. Another possible mod would be to add a zipper closure to the top--it would be relatively easy to put one in where the lining meets the patterned fabric, and then I'd omit the magnetic snap.

Poor Frieda wasn't happy with me trying to get her into the photos--she refused to look towards the camera at all. Gretel couldn't quite figure out what was going on at all, she wouldn't come all the way outside:

Note that the sliding glass door is open next to the dog door, but she chooses to stand halfway out the dog door instead of just walking outside.

Say I'm the Only Bee in Your Bonnet

I've got a few little things to share, so rather than a bunch of tiny posts I'm just dividing this post up into chapters. I'm a model of efficiency this morning!

Djevellue: Done

I-cord ties applied! I'm not really great with the i-cord, but these will do. Now the only question is whether or not it will fit the intended baby, although there are plenty of other baby candidates if it doesn't. The pattern is Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap / Djevellue and the yarn is Dale Baby Ull. This was a very quick knit, I really like the stripes and the colors.

Has this vaction started yet?

I'm still working on my other pre-trip prep. The backpack / tote is close to being finished, but it might not be big enough to work as a carry-on for this trip. That pattern is really great, though--the directions are super clear without being overly wordy. I've had zero issues so far that were not directly related to my half-assed sewing skills. I haven't decided about the Paris yarn, but I'm thinking Monkey or Jaywalker. I like my first Monkeys, but I hated the Jaywalkers I started last year. Hmmm . . . maybe Monkeys.

More Lunch Photos

In other housekeeping, here are last week's lunches--there are only three, due to a couple of work-related lunches:



My favorite thing this week was probably the tomato-cucumber-goat cheese salad in the second row. I threw some balsamic & a little oil, and marinated overnight. Delicious! Otherwise, you can see a pattern forming: tiny bagel for breakfast, salad of some sort, entree of some sort, fruit. Even though there's a lot of same-ness, there's enough variety to keep me from getting bored with lunch. It would be pretty easy to liven things up with bad foods (tub full of BBQ pork, anyone?), but it's not that hard to keep it reasonably healthy.

I'm even thinking about packing a little bento for the trip, although I'm not hauling Mr. Bento on the plane. And I'm not sure how much liquid makes a food a liquid for TSA purposes--if I put the salad dressing on before I go through security, am I o.k.? Maybe I'm better off just buying food once I'm through security, but it would be nice to have a snack that I know is fresh, healthy, and of reasonable size.



6 Weird Things About Me

Liberty tagged me for the 6 Weird Things About Me meme, here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2.Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six weird things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six others. And let them know they’ve been tagged!

Here are my six weird things--but are they really that weird?
1. I have only ever owned German cars, I love German dogs (dachshunds, of course), and I took German language courses for fun when I lived in Boston, but with the exception of the Frankfurt airport I've never been to Germany. I have been to seven other European countries, however.
2. I can't stop listening to the Vampire Weekend record. It's in my car, on my iPod at work, and on the iPod I take to the gym. I've probably listened to the whole thing maybe 50 times in the last six weeks. I suspect that within the next couple of months I'll put it away and never listen to it again, but I'm not there yet.
3. I have four iPods. And I want more.
4. I may have been the only person at Wellesley whose tuition was partially paid for with a bowling scholarship. I won $1000 in a tournament when I was in 9th grade.
5. My first job was at a Dairy Queen, where I selected a brown polyester uniform rather than a more comfortable / flattering cotton uniform. I think that this is why I only recently started wearing brown again (it's been 23 years since I worked there).
6. The day that I arrived in Vienna, I ate a chicken dish at a Chinese Restaurant. For the next seven months, I probably ate at that restaurant every one-two weeks, and I ate the same thing almost every time. Seriously, I can only remember ordering one other dish, and that's because the restaurant owner was telling my friend S__ that I should try other things and I was embarassed. When I get to Vienna in two weeks, I am going to eat that same dish--after seven years, I still remember that it was "Nummer 41". I can't wait!

I'm short on time (must really start packing today), so I'm opening up the tagging for volunteers--have at it!

I Think My Broken Heart Might Mend

Ah, the heartbreak of the wrong pattern / yarn combination. Why can't they just get along? The Spring Knitty Surprise pattern Froot Loop is great--as soon as I saw it (like two days ago), I knew that I wanted to knit it. I also knew that I wanted to start socks with the aptly named Paris Too to take on my trip. Perfect! I'll start right away, so that I can maybe get two on one needle, and knit knit knit on the plane.

No, not perfect. I mis-read the ribbing pattern (I did 7 repeats of 9 stitches, instead of 9 repeats of 7 stitches), so that's no good. Before I ripped back, though, I decided to try a few rows of the Froot Loops. I knit the first 14 stitches in pattern (above, right side), and then just knit around. Even after only three rows, it's clear that the pattern is totally obscured by the row to row contrast.

I'll definitely give this pattern another try, though--I like the Froot Loops a lot. They're like a combination of the circle pattern from the Poppy Socks (though the stitch is a little different) and a little twisted stitch, with a different result. The only question is what pattern should I use for the Paris yarn? And I guess whether I should take the Paris yarn to Paris, or take the Froot Loops? Maybe another good question is why haven't I already started packing? I guess that there isn't only one question.

p.s. Let the record show that I missed my April walking / running goal of 40 miles by 0.37 miles, for the sole reason that I am too vain to wear running shoes to a rock concert. I certainly covered that much ground (and briskly) without even counting any dancing, as I parked a few long blocks away from the venue. May's goal is only 25 miles, because I probably won't run regularly while I'm on vacation, and because I am also unlikely to wear running shoes while on the tourist trails.

I've Seen You on the Beach and I've Seen You on TV

Dancing at a Duran Duran concert takes a lot more effort than I imagined when I was 13, or than I remember from the last time I saw them. In 1988, I think it was. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun, and they played the hits, and I bought a shirt with a shiny Duran Duran logo. So who am I to complain, about sore muscles and a cramped up neck?

Seven Nights to Rock

About seven nights until I leave on my trip, and the prep continues. Clockwise, from top left:

* Another new sewing project: there may still be time to make a new carry-on bag--it's a tote that converts to a backpack! It's the Day in the Park Backpack Tote. I think that I have enough of the dachshund print that I used for my passport holder to make this--I'm very excited about that. I'm not sure if this will be quite large enough to be a good carryon, but I like the idea of having a backpack option. Much more ergo, right? There are a couple of other sewing projects piled up, including some hemming and maybe another skirt. Must get cracking.

* In France, S__ and I are visiting some friends of his who have a 3 month old baby. This hat is for the baby (once I finish the i-cord ties), it's the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap / Djevellue pattern (Ravelry link). Quick knit, and I love the contrast of the stripes. Knit from stash--Dale of Norway Baby Ull!

* Hair reblonded. Eyebrows yet to be ripped out (not sure if I am up for this).

* Yarn for knitting on the trip. It's Handmaiden Casbah from the Loopy Ewe. I happened to be browsing the store when new yarn was put up, and I couldn't resist a colorway called Paris Two! Get it--I'll be knitting Paris two in Paris! Get it? Huh? I haven't settled on a pattern yet--I'd like to cast on and get two socks going on a long needle before I leave. Maybe I can get tackle the heels before returning home . . . but I wouldn't bet money on it.

Happy 70th Birthday, Mom!

The big sign reads: Happy Birthday Janice WOW, 70!!! Love Frieda & Gretel

Question #1: How did Frieda and Gretel get my credit card information to the Mariners?

Question #2: Seriously--this is the worst photo ever, and it wasn't taken by the dogs. What's my problem???

Lunch, Week of April 21

Although I still don't really like to make my own lunch, I really enjoy having a variety of things to eat at lunch. Bringing lunch saves a lot of time and energy during the day, and is definitely healthier than going out every day. My favorite lunch this week was Friday (top), I had pork loin with mashed potato and asparagus in a mustard sauce, leftover from Mom's delicious birthday dinner. Yum. (edited for spelling!)

That Hungry Little Dachshund *

Total passport holders made to date: 7
Additional passport holders to make: ??


I settled on fabric for my passport holder--it's a Japanese linen blend, featuring a dachshund motif. I love this fabric, and I decided to use this only after confirming that I could get more of it (in another color) from Superbuzzy. It's a shame to cut into a yard of fabric for just a little rectangle, but a passport lasts a long time so I thought that it was worth it. I think that the Letter Hound agrees.



* I refer you to this song (watch out for the pop-ups). My favorite lyrics in the song are "and hungry eyes that could not speak, say even little doggies have gotta eat". I've seen that look before, and I fear it.

With My Ragtop Down So My Hair Can Blow

In between sewing skirts, complaining about sock heels, and being woken up nightly by dogs at 1am-ish (thanks, Frieda!), I managed to finish my convertible fingerless mitts. No, really, they're done. See that photo above? Believe me when I say that I don't have the skills to combine two photos of the same mitt into one photo.

They turned out very well, I think, and I love that I can roll them up if I want more finger coverage, or down if the fingers need access to the outside. I will wear them on Friday to Ichiro Bobblehead night at Safeco Field. Spring comes but slowly here this year, and our seats will be cold.

I'm planning to write up the pattern eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later), although I'll probably knit at least one more mitt before I post it. I'm not 100% happy with some of the fudging that I had to do on the thumb to get the numbers to work out right, and my notes are a little on the sketchy side. Also, I might take out some stitches to make it a little more snug.

Linda (who has a private Blogger profile, so I couldn't contact her directly) asked in the comments on my first post about how I finished up the blue when I picked up the purple. It's a good question, and it's something that I didn't think at all about while I was knitting the first mitt, so I have no idea what I did. On the second mitt, I did think about it, but now I'm not totally sure I can describe what I did (this is another good reason to knit a third mitt). I think that I should have taken some photos!

Basically, I started the purple in it's natural order, but once I got around the whole spiral, I just kept on ribbing with the purple. Right below the ribbing, there are still two rows of blue all the way around, so there's no obvious break in the pattern. I did knit some of the blue stitches out of order, by shifting the stitches around so that eventually one blue caught up with the other one. Honestly, I don't think that it looks any different than when I just spaced out and started the ribbing.

Another thing that I can't quite figure out is how much yarn I used of each color. Each skein of Louet light worsted is 100g. I started with two full skeins, that I did not weigh, so I would assume that that was 200g, more or less. The mitts weigh 47g each (suprisingly, exactly the same amount), or 94g total. I have 46g of purple left, and 82g of blue left. 94g + 46g + 82g = 222g, and that's not counting scraps from the considerable number of ends that had to be woven in. I have no idea whether the skeins were the same starting weight, or whether one was heavier than the other, but I think that it's safe to say that if I reversed the colors, I could get another whole pair out of the leftovers. I do really like this yarn, and I like that I'm getting a little extra (I don't think that 10% over can be humidity or something), but I'll have to remember to weigh before and after next time!

Isn't This How Everyone Prepares for a Trip?

I admit it, I'm a bit preoccupied with the trip I'm taking next month. The trip planning started with an invitation to a wedding in Vienna, from my friend G___ (sender of Krampus packages and recipient of an Unoriginal hat). My friend S__ and I will be travelling together for most of the trip, and once the date of the wedding was set we added:

• A plan to run a 4.2K "mini-marathon" in Prague, which as a non-runner has involved a lot of training. S__ is running the full marathon--I'm just running the mini in order to get free beer later that evening.
• A quick 2-day trip to Paris, a city I've never been to before.
• An even quicker trip to Venice to visit some Boston friends who are living there this spring.

Basically, it's now four countries in a little less than 2 weeks, and I'm leaving in about 3 weeks. I haven't been back to Europe since 2001, when I live and studied in Vienna, and I'm very excited to go back. I can't really believe that 7 years have passed since I was there, or that it's taken me this long to go back. I'm also having a hard time believing how terrible the exchange rate has gotten--I think that it was about 0.9 dollars to the Euro when I was there, and now it's about 1.5. Yikes!

Anyway, with the trip getting closer and closer, I'm started to get into heavy-preparation mode--hence the photos above. I think that it's perfectly natural to start a bunch of new craft projects that have to be finished before I leave, don't you? The stress of this approach will counterbalance the stress of finishing a hundred lingering projects at work. Right?

I was supposed to be out of town this weekend, but changed my plans at the last minute and stayed home, and have tried to be as productive as possible so that the weekend's not "wasted." I started with making six passport holders using this great tutorial, (via whip up) and I may make more. It's hard to decide which one I'm going to take (I'm leaning towards the gnome), and I'm although thinking about adding a hidden pocket in the lining. It might add some unwanted bulk, though, and I'm in more of an assembly-line mindset than a design-and-innovate mindset.

I also started three A-line skirts, using Amy Butler's Barcelona Skirts pattern, using the three fabrics in the lower left hand corner above. I think that the green striped silk will be appropriate for the wedding, and the two cotton skirts should be good for everyday wearing. The fabrics for the skirts and passport holders are from my stash (yippee, stash!), although I did need to buy the skirt linings and notions. I made a skirt back in January with this pattern, and I wear it a lot. It's a little bit big, so I went down a size with these three skirts. Unfortunately, I forgot that the silk does not have quite the same amount of "give" as the wool-blend I used before, so the silk skirt is currently a little bit tight. Not can't-be-zipped tight, mind you, but a little uncomfortable. I'm going to hold off on hemming it for now, and hopefully I can lose a few pounds in the next couple of weeks. Or figure out how to let it out without have to pick out all of those stupid seams. I've got my fingers crossed for the other two skirts, the cotton should be a little less "firm" and maybe I'll make the seam allowances a little skinnier. Maybe the next project should be one of those elastic-back cute skirts!

Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again

Last week at knit night, there was some talk about how many of us feel stuck in a rut. A knitting rut, a general rut, a "how can it be snowing in April" rut. I've felt kind of the same--I've got a lot of projects going on, and I am actually working on many of them, but I still feel kind of stuck. What's got me stuck, more than anything else, is HEELS. I look in my knitting bag before leaving the house so that I'll have a project with me, and what do I find? Socks that are either at the heel or just about at the heel. I come home from the gym and I want a mindless project to work on while the aches and pains settle in, and what do I find? Project that involve elaborate counting of stitches and rows, due to heels.

Example #1:

Here's the sock that I started on Opening Day. It's a great travel project--plain stockinette, no muss, no fuss. However, I'm within 2 or 3 rows of the heel flap now (this photo is a few days old), so until I get the heel flap done and the gusset decreases underway, this baby's grounded.

Example #2:

I'm knitting this pair of socks two at once, and I love the yarn and the pattern, and how they work together. The foot of these socks flew by, and then once again I was stalled by the heel. It's a new heel to me (some sort of reverse flap), which means that it's slower than average, and I have to really pay attention. In the photo above, I've actually finished one of the heels, but you can see the sad other sock near my foot, which is unfortunately heel-less. I've made some progress on heel #2, and should finish it soon, but it's taken a looooong time.

Example #3

These socks have been completely finished for weeks, except for one thing. Yes, they need heels. I thought that an afterthought heel would solve my heel problem, by not really interrupting the main sock knitting. While that is the case (these were a great carrying around project for that reason), I've gotten not much further than picking up the heel stitches.

The obvious answer to the portability problem is to cast on another pair of socks, right? First, though, I'd really like to get the M's sock past the heel--we've got tickets to Ichiro Bobblehead night next week, and I'll have these with me!