the chronicles of knit knerd

2005-12-23T19:15:00.000-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANNUKKAH TOOO!!!!

Another Blog Taken Over By:
Becca the Not Man Eater

2005-12-23T19:11:00.000-05:00

Since noone every goes on this blog anymore...Becca the not man eater has taken over again....yeah well i know how to knit and have had many frustrating expierences about it espeecially in knit club (* yes folks we do have a knit club in the middle school that would watch movies after school and manly just eat*) so i been working on the same scarf for like 4 years and it has many holes which one large quarter sized hole from the courtsey of Mrs. Rosen and wow knitting is hard and you should all appreciate it so bye.

Another Blog Taken Over By;
Becca the Not Man Eater

Growing Up

2005-11-22T17:44:00.000-05:00

The breathing stops, I don't know when
in transition once again
such a struggle getting through these changes
and it all seems so absurd to be flying like a bird
when I do not feel I've really landed here...

It's no secret that I love Peter Gabriel.

I also love knitting (look around, har har.) There had to be a way, I reasoned, for the two to go together.

Then, one day, while perusing the ever-lovely Solsbury Hill, I saw quite a brilliant comic by the equally brilliant Eastwood. It looked a little something like this.

And my knitting senses went crazy! So Growing Up: The Scarf was born, out of 2 skein of Red Heart Super in Light Fuschia and Black, my old reliable #8 needles, and Microsoft Outlook to chart that oh-so-funky intarsia arrow pattern. It took me quite a long time, with a few mishaps, but now it's finally done and I can tell you, oh is this thing warm.

Clockwise from left: Growing Up, emerging from the shadows, obligatory modeled shot (forgive our creepy model, Pillowman wasn't available) and the reverse side, plain black with the GUL babies on each end.

The front side (the arrows) was done in intarsia, the back side (the babies) was done in fair isle (my first time with both!) I might post the actual charts for these designs later.

Now, if the Man decides to visit our frigid corner of New England in wintertime, I will have appropriate concert-going apparel :-D Heh.

time for a picture fix

2005-11-06T13:24:00.000-05:00

Good news, guys! My FO pile is slowly dwindling down to...uh...a smaller FO pile! Yay! Here are some progress shots, because everyone knows I only look at the pictures.

Short Row Rib from Magknits in Paton's Grace Viola

Tempting (sans ribbon) from Knitty in Lion Brand Wool-ease Denim 114

This is the striped waistband of Candy from Knitty in TLC Lustre, Copper and Spruce. If you were wondering, its not chalked up on the progress bars because I can't decide if these two colors look wicked funky or wicked fugly. Tell me, please, and spare me from a cardigan that resembles fungus? Thanks muchly.

Today, I think, there will be an excursion to find a copy of Scarf Style for various Christmas present ideas, and maybe to glance through a copy of Knit. 1, which I've ordered a free copy of :-D. Incredibly exciting, I know (once again, I'm ignoring your snoring.)

tempted by the fruit of a--I hate this song

2005-10-29T17:56:00.000-04:00

Update: Tempting? Finally done. Just need to get some ribbon for the top.

*squeal* So exciting!

my brain the studio apartment

2005-10-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

Slowly putt-ing away at Tempting...of course, I'd probably go a lot faster if I did nearly as much knitting as I did reading about knitting online. And--distraction! There are so many items on the T0-Knit List that are taking up precious brain space. My brain space, by the way, is the real estate equivalent of a studio apartment.

Post-Tempting Knit Excursions:

Short Row Rib, for mum's birthday (October 18th--11 days, folks)
Candy in "Spruce" and "Copper" TLC Lustre (ordered the yarn last night, heh heh--let's hope the colors don't look too crappy)
Poster Boy Bag from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation
Panta & Craftster UO Shrug in the same Caron One Pound burgundy (too obnoxiously huge to resist)
Knit Bolero, ooh I love this. I'd like to make it in Waterlily, all those purples and greens.

There are more, but I figure I should take things, oh, 5 steps at a time. And I also have to finish da PG scarf, which I swear I will buckle down and do as I soon as I find my other #8 knitting needle. Really.

the opposite of congress

2005-09-25T10:21:00.000-04:00

I <3 progress bars. (See sidebar.) Too bad I'll never see them move.

its my party and i'll celebrate after 1 row if i want to

2005-09-19T16:51:00.000-04:00

Finally started Tempting...hooray!
Note: Circular needles are really weird thus far (1 row done, heh heh.) My thumb/index finger hurts like whoa. I could be doing it wrong or I could be using really cheap needles. Or, you know, both.

P.S: 50% done with Undisclosed PG project. Luckily the last 50% is all really quick. Then, well gees, I'll have to make a matching hat!

early x-mas shopping

2005-09-09T21:10:00.000-04:00

Yo quiero! Yo quiero!* Denise Interchangeable Needles! Oh...swoon.

P.S: The new Fall '05 Knitty is up today! (!!) I pretty much love everything in this issue. Plus, there's a pattern for a cravat, and I think I'll have to make one just so I can feel like Oscar Wilde.

Yeah. If you didn't know, he's the coolest.

*I apologize for my crap Spanish in advance.

branching out from knitty (ahh, lace)

2005-09-04T20:13:00.000-04:00

Branching Out

Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty Spring '05
Yarn: Dale of Norway's Stork [100% cotton; 195 yards /180 meters per 50g skein]; color: #4 Light Green; 2 skeins at $4.95 each
Needles: #6 bamboo straights
Cast On: Mid-July 2005
Cast Off: Late-July 2005

I cracked my lace-knitting knuckles for the first time on this one--it was my first real project after finally learning how to purl and of course, I couldn't stick to something easy ;-) Nope, after at least four starts and countless rippings I finally finished this darling little thing after about two or three weeks...but hey, learning experience! I love the pattern and will more than likely knit it again on something more sturdy like the wool reccommended in the pattern, so I can block it properly. Also, the pattern was really easy to follow as long as you kept your place the whole way through (I used an alligator clip and only messed up once or twice, resulting in mucho swearing and one fugged up set of leaves but you can't really notice it. Heh. )

I started knitting it single-stranded on the #6s and decided that it just looked too hole-y for my taste; you couldn't really see a discernable pattern and that made me crazy-nervous. So, I frog frog frogged and started up again double stranding, which looks loads better, in my opinion. Sadly though, the scarf is much shorter than I usually make them (about 4 1/2 feet, I usually like them really long at about 5 1/2 or 6 so I can wrap) and that was by really, really cutting it close yarn-wise. Holy balls in heaven, did I cut close! I was all ready to wrap up the last 5 garter stitch rows when I realized I barely had enough yarn left for 2, so I had to frog it and shorten a pattern repeat. Even with that I think I k2tog on one stitch when binding off just in case. Jinkies.

About the yarn: This stuff is so soft and so smooth and silky that it's hard to stay mad at it; however, if you'd asked me right after I finished knitting this I would've told you to gather up all the Stork in the nation and burn it. First of all, I had a tremendous knotting problem in the middle of this which was probably my own fault, but just by untangling and then tangling by accident and then swearing and then untangling again made my eyes thoroughly sick of looking at this stuff. Also, towards the end of the skein I had issues with the yarn splitting...there didn't seem to be a lot of "twist" in it. Because of this you can see little stringy loops popping out here and there on my cast off edge, but no big deal, really. I'd probably use this yarn again, but single stranded on smaller needles (although probably not the 2 1/2s reccommended--gees!) but not before taking a few deep breaths first.

All in all, very cool pattern. I love lace, darn it.

More Pictures:

the only U2 thing they had...good thing I'm obsessive

2005-09-04T18:52:00.000-04:00

In my ongoing quest to find U2 patches, I see that the one I got at the Woodstock Fair last year might be... an actual rare one? With actual rareness? Whoa. It might also be a replica, but that's okay, because the real reason I'm posting this is because The U2 Vintage Memorabilia Store for this website also features U2 scarves. U2 SCARVES! Can you say, beyond cool?

Along with my PG Undisclosed project, which is turning out to be as labor intensive as making cheese...including milking Old Betsy (and probably isn't Undisclosed anymore) I could knit me up a whole collection of band scarves. Oh, to have all the free time in the world.

Add it to The Knit List.

stash enrichment excursion...choose your own acronym

2005-08-30T19:59:00.000-04:00

Here are some candid shots of my stash, which is tucked away in my room but not under the mattress...crack is whack, kiddos. Ahh, let me apologize for the craptastic quality of these photographs, but I don't like using flash if I can help it and craptastic is what I do best. However, the colors are pretty accurate.

This is the product of me having a fit of joy in JoAnn's after seeing Wool-Ease on sale for $1.89. (I mean, c'mon, that's a good deal, yo!) I also picked up some other materials I like to call "cheap yarn." Not sure where that term comes from, but you may have some idea.

From top:

Lion Brand Wool-Ease (80% acrylic, 20% wool) in Dark Rose Heather to, I think, supplement the Cape Cod wool, if I must.
Lion Brand Wool-Ease (80% acrylic, 20% wool) in Denim 114 for Tempting.
Red Heart Super Saver (100% acrylic) in Black and Light Fucshia for Undisclosed PG-Related Project
Lion Brand Homespun (98% acrylic, 2% polyester) in Florida Keys Green for Becca's Birthday scarf, which I promise I will start as soon as the above is done and my #8s are free.

Right: Wool-Ease for Tempting. I'm thinking, white ribbon with polka dots to go with it? Not very original, I know, but I'm not too good with color cordination (Elise? Alexa? You out there?) Left: Infamous Galway and Galway Highland wool (100% wool) in 722 and 128 (what lame color names), 210 yards each. Purdee.

Don't know which one I'll tackle first after I finished Undisclosed but I think I'll go with Tempting, which will be my first time working on circs! Ahh, exciting. (Ignores everyone's snoring)

You are the dancing queen

2005-08-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

I do a lot of writing, and recently I've been doing a lot of knitting. I figure these things can go hand in hand, but if not, it'll be fun to see them fail miserably. So, first of all! In case you were saying, "Wot's all this, den?" in the horribly fake Cockney accent I just butchered, here's a little about me.

Actually, I'm not terribly interesting, as you can tell from here. That's my other blog, by the way. Everyone wave!

But since this is a knitting blog, I'll talk a wee bit about how I came about winding string around sticks. I learned how to knit two years ago and made the atypical beginner's garter stitch scarf or two. Then, with my attention span of a fruitfly, I lost interest and began purveying other timeworthy things, like, you know, naming my toenails. Thankfully I got really, really bored this summer and decided to pick up those sticks again and finally learn how to purl. I guess you could say I've been hooked (BAD PUN, BAD BAD PUN) ever since.

My skill level isn't quite golden yet, but I'd say if skill level were measured in Big Y coins I might be a red. (That's the way they go, right? Silver, red, blue, gold? Damn you, Big Y. I can't keep track of you and your little plastic coins) I like to learn a new technique with every project I take on, which is just as knerdy as it sounds, but unfortunately I'm also quite cheap (I call it being "frugal" or "Scottish") so I haven't used any really nice yarn yet, like the pretty wools and mohairs at Knitty that make me jealous. (Knitty is awesome, by the way.) Right now it's acrylic blends for me, baby, but I bought some actual wool at the Cape--although not enough to really do anything with. So who knows.

And oh! Pillowman! He's the green cutie with the toothpick needles, made for me by the uber cool Elise. Finally he's being appreciated with his own little home on the internet. He sneaks into a lot of my photographs, the ham, so I guess I'll just make the best of it and use him as a scale model for my knitting pictures (and yes, there will be many, as I am as crazy as all get-out with a camera) Pillowman is like, 2 1/2 by 3 3/4 inches with a 5 inch waist, but don't tell him I told you that because he's sensitive about his waist. And his lack of hair. I believe he used to have a bowtie as well, but it fell of sometime while be was living in the loft apartment that was the top shelf of my locker. He'll never forgive me for that.