2009?

Bring it.

Now that the carols are sung, the presents unwrapped, and the fruitcake crumbs swept up, we all turn our pretty little heads towards a new year. I'm not big on year-end ruminations or new year resolutions; what's done is done, and we all know resolutions are about as helpful as an umbrella in the face of a tsunami. I am, however, all for fun, and that's what I wish each and every one of you for the coming year.

However, before moving on I suppose I should put the final nail in the Mission: Possible 2008 coffin. Okay, I gotta admit it: MP08 was tough. I don't do well with enforced rules - I'm a rebel, dammit - and at times it smacked of "gotta do" instead of "wanna do." But I persevered, and succeeded. Of my 12 goals, I finished 'em all. And knit a bunch of other stuff, too.

1. Gift spinning wheel, books, and fiber to Patty.
2. Felt one pair, and Plasti Dip soles of three pairs of felted slippers.
3. Finish Gothic Leaf Stole. (4 skeins of Euroflax Sportweight in Eggplant)
4. Finish Cobblestone. (16 balls of Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed)
5. Finish Shedir. (1-2 balls of Rowan Calmer in Coffee Bean)
6. Crochet baby blanket out of Rowan All Seasons Cotton. (11 balls in Citron, Giddy, Lime Leaf and Remote)
7. Crochet another baby blanket. (1 skein of Koigu KPM and 5 skeins Shibui Sock)
8. Use up some Malabrigo Worsted. (3 skeins - 2 Tamarind Cowls and a Celtic Cable Neckwarmer in Bijou Blue and Black)
9. Knit Unoriginal Hat. (1 skein STR Leticia in Hard Rock)
10. Use up some Lamb’s Pride Worsted. (4 skeins - 3 Berry Bags in Orange You Glad, Limeade Lemon Drop, and a tad of Old Sage; Marsan Watchcap in Brite Blue)
11. Knit a Stacked Eyelet Cowl. (1 skein of Lotus Yarns Nirvana in Blood Flowers)
12. Knit two Yarn Harlot One Row Scarves. (4 balls Artfibers Kyoto in lime and teal)

So that's done then. And now my thoughts turn to becoming a loose woman. Beginning tomorrow, my knitting group and I are gonna do a Feel Like a Floozy KAL for the first week of January. Each day we're gonna cast on a project (or two or three). No guilt, no worrying about last names, just reckless casting on. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Please join us!

Sunny Delight

Pattern: Berry Bag by Nguyen Le (my Ravelry link here)
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Lemon Drop, Limeade and Orange You Glad - 1 skein each; a tad of Old Sage
Needles: US 11 24" circs and dpns
Mods: None
Rating: Easy peasy lemon squeezy

Remember Mission Possible: 2008? 12 finished projects in 12 months? Or else? As the year end approaches, I've dusted off my MP:08 project list, amended it to better reflect what I'm knitting now instead of what I thought I'd be knitting now a year ago (this is allowed, so I'm not cheating), and re-attacked it with relish. Trying to stay true to the idea behind it, I've chosen a couple of projects using deep stash, which for me means yarn that's been hanging around unused for two years.

These sweet bags are the first of the two projects. Way back in the winter of 2006 Tom bought me a bunch of Lamb's Pride Worsted in single skein colors. Ostensibly it was to be using making a slew of Jess Hutch toys. Only one problem: I hadn't realized I find knitting toys fiddly. (And by fiddly I mean I'd rather stick US 1 needles into my eyes than make them.) So. It has sat unused. Until I tripped over this pattern on etsy. (Kinda expensive at $8, but I didn't feel like chasing down the Interweave Felts issue it's in; I was not to be deterred in my destashing.) It's, like, the best felt pattern ever.

+ Single skein stashbuster.
+ Quick. I knit and felted a bag a night over three nights, and the leaves took a half hour tops.
+Perfect holiday gift.
+ Cute. They measure 8" round after felting, which falls into the "small is cute" category. Perfect size for holding your sock WIPs.

I chose scurvy deterrent colors, in celebration of the citrus trees in our backyard, but any color combo would work. Mix it up with crocheted or felted flowers instead of the leaves. Omit decoration and go for minimal. Just make this bag. You'll be berry glad you did.

A Send Off to Anne

Tom's Mom, Anne, passed away two weeks ago, and we spent last week up in Washington saying goodbye to her, attending her funeral, and visiting with the rest of his family. Anne was an incredible woman, a consummate fiber artist, and a loving and supportive mother in law, and while these circumstances always make one sound trite, she will be missed greatly.

Knitting, spinning, weaving...she did it all. Stitch n Bitch? Her group met in the 1960s. State fair? Her spinning and weaving won her three Grand Championships and dozens of other ribbons (mostly blues) in the Western Washington State Fair. Sheep to shawl? You betcha.

Anne and I always shared a close bond due to our love of knitting, and so at Tom's sister's insistence I returned home with a few of her handmade items. Four pairs of Kool-Aid dyed wool socks she knit. Three woven wool scarves that were part of her weaving group's sale stash . Some yarn and a few booklets that missed a former garage sale. Practical, humble mementos of a woman who survived the Depression, served in the Coast Guard in World War II, birthed and raised six kids (five of them boys), and met each challenge with enthusiasm and humor.

She'll always be missed, but I have no doubt where she's ended up: She's whipping the angels into shape...and whipping them up some new robes in a lovely Cormo, too. So here's to Anne! The world is less one kick ass knitter, and that's a darn shame.

These Mean Streets

This past Sunday Tom and I, along with Ellen and her husband Larry, took a noir-themed architectural tour of Los Angeles. Entitled "L.A. NOIR-chitecture: A Hard-boiled Tour Through the Historic City," it was co-presented by the Los Angeles Conservancy and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and included seven stops. (A pdf of the tour may be found here. This is the flyer for the tour. It folds up into four pages, so the first page is upside down, but it will print correctly.)

photo courtesy of Ellen Bloom

Formosa Cafe. 1925. Hang out of boxers, actors, and gangsters, it was featured in the 1997 film adaptation of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential.

Villa Primavera. 1923. It may be a little run down now, but back in the day this Spanish-style courtyard apartment house was home to such stars as James Dean and Harold Lloyd. It was featured in the 1950 film adaptation of Dorothy Hughes' In a Lonely Place.

Parva-Sed-Apta Apartments. 1923. Formerly a boarding house, Nathanael West stayed here during the summer of 1935 when he was researching and writing The Day of the Locust. Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia, lived in the apartment building next door on the right in the 1940s.

Security Trust and Savings Building. 1921. Thought to be the inspiration for the office of Raymond Chandler's iconic detective Philip Marlowe.

Mulholland Dam. 1924. Located in the Hollywood Hills, it is featured in Michael Connelly's The Overlook. Madonna used to own a home to the right of the houses seen in the upper right corner.

Warner Bros. Studios. 1926-present. A highlight of the tour, the "New York Street" lot is now used in the television shows ER and Cold Case. Back in 1941, it was used to portray the foggy San Francisco streets seen in the film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.

Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Terminal. 1924. My favorite stop on the tour, this gorgeous Spanish Colonial Revival building is still in use as an Amtrak/Greyhound station. Billy Wilder used it to great effect as the scene of the crime in his 1944 film adaptation of Double Indemnity.

Thanks to the Los Angeles Conservancy docents for a stellar job in presentations at the sites, excellent signage leading to and from sites (esp. for Mulholland Dam), and crowd control. From start to finish we had a fantastic time, and hope that there may be other literary-theme inspired tours in the future.

Happy Day of the Dead!

Oaxaca, Mexico 1997

Reason Number 5,438 I Love My Husband

This morning, as I'm putting our new wool blanket on our bed, Tom walks up, lifts his shirt, rubs the wool on his belly, and says with a big grin, "Hairshirt."

* * * (I tried to think up a segue from hairshirt to bat shawl, but I got nothin'.)

The Bat Shawl is disappointing me. I've ripped back to row 7, reknit to row 15 (which is still effed up even though the designer and another Raveler redid the border instructions and they're supposedly fixed), and last night realized I'm gonna run out of yarn. By not just the extra 100 yards I gave myself as wiggle room, but by a lot. Merde. Unless any of you have some extra Elann Baby Silk in color 500 Deepest Black Lot # 61 just lying around that you'd like to overnight me, it looks like I won't be wearing it for Halloween. If ya do, let's talk!

Ah, well, as a balm to soothe that pain, here's some spooky yarn upon which to feast our eyes. I've been selling off some of my stash on Ravelry, had a PayPal balance for a minute, and decided to use some of it to buy some BMFA Laci in Thraven. First it was destined for Irtfa'a, but now I'm thinking Cleite.

Next is the Malabrigo in autumnal shades I bought with a Webs gift certificate Tom gave me last Christmas. (Can you believe I held onto it for 10 months? Me neither.)

From bottom clockwise: Olive, Burgundy, Lettuce, Glazed Carrot, Black, Vaa, and Sunset (in the middle)

Next is the first installment of Lotus Yarns' Big Ass Yarn Club. 540 yards of worsted superwash merino in colorway Bliss. Awesome yardage! And the color reminds me a lot of...

...the next and final yarn, Yarn Pirate's BFL DK in Monster Mash. Spooktacular!

Now I'm off to practice my cackle. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

* * *

On the turntable: Various ~ Halloween Hootenanny

Happy Whatever the Hell Day It Is

Has it really been two months since I last posted? Two months? Hell's bells. I, like everyone else, realize a lot of my online time has shifted to Ravelry, but whoa. I feel like David Bowie when he said he didn't remember 1970.

What have I been up to? Uh, I know I've done some stuff. My knitting has consisted of, well, good knits gone bad. First I was knitting on my Knitting Pure and Simple cardigan. It's currently in time out. I finished the body, only to realize the bottom edge looks like crap.



I need to rip out that 1 inch of seed stitch, go down a needle size, and hopefully the ugly ripples will disappear and the cast off will be cleaner. (I like how the Cotton Fleece is knitting up, but I kinda miss wool's forgiving nature on this one.)

After I wadded up the sweater, shoved it into a bag and hid it in a corner, I worked feverishly on my Bat Shawl. Finished the body, started the border. Realized the border pattern numbers were off, and tried a half-assed fix. Which didn't work. I'm currently debating about ripping 10 rows and reknitting, or ripping 19 rows and crocheting a picot edge.

After I wadded up the shawl and shoved it into a bag, I decided to knit a small something to allay all that big project frustration.

So I began a Celtic Cable Neckwarmer, using some black worsted Malabrigo. Sproingy cables are the best!

And that's it for knitting. No wonder I haven't blogged much. But I did see Nick Cave at the Hollywood Bowl.

The venue was the worst imaginable for his kind of show (they cut the band off halfway through their set due to the sound curfew, which was a total bleepin' rip off), but I hadn't seen him and the Bad Seeds since 1992 in San Francisco, so it was limited fun, but still fun. And he and the band were tight. I bought the best swag:

Not sure what project I'll wad up and cram into it, but I'll make sure it's a worthy one.

And that's it for now, kids. Tune in tomorrow when I showcase some recent spooky yarn additions. 'Tis the season, after all.

On the turntable: Jimmy Smith ~ Crazy! Baby

Holiday Knitting, aka One for You, One for Me

For many, "holiday knitting" focuses on those wintry celebrations of light - Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule - where gifts are exchanged, nog is imbibed, and good cheer is felt by all. I, however, come from a background where "handmade" equates with "cheap," "regifted," and "ugly." My sister and I were scarred by inappropriate gifts throughout our childhood; we joke about it annually as we exchange our Xmas Amazon gift certificates and breathe our sighs of relief. With this background, I'm very sensitive to my own gift giving, and, except for a few select -and hopefully worthy - December presents, prefer to gift handmades throughout the year.

This year, my select gifts will be accessories. Right now I'm concentrating on cowls. Yep, I somehow am part of an online knitting trend. (Dunno how; usually I'm two years behind the eight ball, if not out of it entirely. I still haven't knit a Clapotis or a pair of Fetchings.)

Pattern: Tamarind Cowl by Kristen Hanley Cardozo
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Bijou Blue - 1 skein
Needles: US 8 16" circs
Mods: None
Rating: Five stars

What a great one skein project. It knits up lickety split, and gives bang for the buck with its ruched construction. Y'know I'm not a big Malabrigo fan (I know, I know), but I admit the yarn works perfectly for the pattern. It is soft, supple, and the subtle variegation provides a little interest. I'm currently working on a second.

I'm also having a blast knitting for mememe. Some of you have seen it on Ravelry, but for those who haven't, I'm knitting myself a Batgrrl Shawl for Halloween.

I'm currently on the third repeat, which means three bats are flying off my needles. Har. Any batty puns you'd like to share? This is the simplest lace shawl ever. Ever. The yarn is Elann's Baby Silk. Fuzzier than expected, but cheap enough for this silliness.

In other Halloween randomness: The AntiCraft's Samhain issue shall be devoted to Los Dias de los Muertos. Hold me back. And Herschnerr's has a Halloween yarn special. Ack!rylic. With metallic thread. $12.99 for 10 balls (in orange, black, yellow, white, green and orange/black/white variegated). Oh, the kitsch that could ensue.

* * *

On the turntable: The Cramps ~ Songs the Lord Taught Us

Hanami

The cherry blossoms

scatter and we watch and the

more cherry blossoms blow

~ Onitsura (1660-1738)

Mary was over yesterday morning. We were felting some stuff for her, and in between doing that we snapped a few shots of Hanami. She kindly agreed to model. Thanks, Mary, for strikin' a great pose!

Pattern: Hanami Stole by Melanie Gibbons (my Ravelry page here)
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud - 2 skeins in Peppermint Heather
Needles: US 2 1/2 (3 mm) 24" circular
Size: 15" x 54" (basketweave portion is 29" long and cherry blossom portion is 25" long)
Mods: Omitted beads on cast on; long tail cast on; slipped first stitch of each row purlwise with yarn in front; only knit 16 rows on chart G
Rating: It's pink and fluffy and has a great theme...what's not to love?

As I mentioned waaaay back when, my knitting group is doing a Summer of Lace KAL. For it I decided to finally do Hanami; this pattern has been a back burner on my queue since Melanie published it. What to say that hasn't been said already about it? Uh, not much. The pattern is straightforward and, while it became monotonous somewhere in the middle, provides a great impact when finished. What else? I love a good theme, and this shawl delivers. Though at 54" in length it really should be called a scarf, shouldn't it? Yes, indeed, which just adds to its versatility. Oh, and I love the ruffle. I wasn't going to do it, but at the last minute decided what the heck. Heck was right, because it's a perfect foil for all those falling blossoms.

* * *

In other news, I'm knitting lots. I've even begun *gasp* holiday knitting. More on that later, taters.

On the turntable: Cal Tjader's Several Shades of Jade

Fiendish Find of the Week

*Tap, tap, tap* ...is this thing on? *feedback* Why, hello, ladies and gents. I bring to you the following public service announcement:

La's been busy with the dye pots. She's come up with some great colorways, and will be launching them in her new etsy store, Dizzy Blonde Yarns, tomorrow. You can find her colorways - including a wonderfully moody Lac Noir that's oh so mine - here.

Best of luck in your new endeavor, La! See ya tomorrow!

Blockhead

Hanami is off the needles and on the blocking board. Specs to follow once she's dry, but here's a peek:

* * *

On the turntable: The Undertones ~ True Confessions (Singles = A's + B's) - The A side is possibly the best music to block to. Ever.

What I'm Doin'

1. Lusting after Kylie's new boots. Are they not wicked cool? Since I live in a place that gets maybe five raindrops a year, I'm also nefariously plotting to vacation from now on only in places where moisture is rampant so I can get a pair, too.

2. Shaving my legs. I realized it's been two weeks since I last did. Man, what am I, some kinda hippie or something? Next thing you know I'll be getting a Grateful Dead dancing bear tat on my ankle and following Phish around the country in a VW Microbus. (wait, are Phish even still around?)

3. Aaaand, quickly dissuading that image, my pastel infatuation is ending. A little pink and fuzzy goes a long way, boys and girls. Dare I say too long? Hanami is three charts and a ruffle away from being done; I can knit half a chart a day before narcolepsy occurs. Hopefully by the next time I drag my lazy ass into blog posting again it'll be off the needles and blocked. Or you can call me Rip Van Winklette.

4. I've picked my next lace project. I even have the cone of black Zephyr from my aborted Mystery Shawl 3 for it. It feels good to scuttle back to the dark side.

Photo courtesy of Emilee Mooney/the AntiCraft

5. Playing with my crock pot/slow cooker. Summer is kicking my ass in the hot department, and if I even look at the stove our little house heats up unbearably. Sometimes I'll shuck my shirt and cook en brassiere, but that freaks out Tom (the neighbors might see!), and the crock pot is a nice compromise. (And yeah, the dude needs to shed some of those pesky Protestant inhibitions, but then again, I'm a gal who isn't shaving her legs, so who you gonna listen to?) Thanks to Marie I'm reading this blog, and having varied success in the kitchen. Verdict so far is that big hunks of meat work well, as do soups. I'm on the lookout for good recipes, so if you have any faves, please email me!

* * *

On the turntable: Devil Takes His Turn by the Dusty 45s

Lazy Hazy Daze

The days run away like wild horses over the hills.
~Charles Bukowski

And I'm knitting lace. Pink, frothy lace. I'm on the seventh and last repeat of the basket weave portion of Hanami, and thankful to soon be transitioning to the cherry blossom part. So far it's an easy knit; so easy that I've eschewed lifelines, and have only messed up twice with runaway stitches. All have been corralled, and here's hoping my fixes aren't too obvious. My gauge is a little big, so the stitches are more open than I prefer, but a gentle blocking and the spun sugar aspect of the Alpaca Cloud will hopefully mitigate my knitting on size US2s instead of US0s. (When did my knitting get so loose? Perplexing.)

Half done with Hanami, and already I'm daydreaming about the next lace project for my knitting group's Summer of Lace KAL. In the won'thavetothinksomuch corner are Adamas, Foliage, Juno Regina, and Moon Dance. In the breathtakinglybeautifulbutwillitmakemepullallmyhairout corner is Irtfa'a. (Thanks to Meredith for once again putting this on my radar.) I wonder which one will win out? Any preferences?

Summer of Lace

Happy summer solstice! Today kicks off my knitting group's Summer of Lace KAL. A bunch of us will be lacing away until the fall equinox (9/23) on all sorts of things that begin with the letter S - scarves, shawls, sweaters. I, along with Mary and Silvia, will be knitting Hanami. This pattern piqued my interest from the get go, and now, finally, is its time to be made.

I'm using the recommended yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint Heather on size US 2s. The number of line repeats + these small needles = a project which shall probably take me ad infinitum to finish, but whatever. I'm groovin' on the fuzzy pink yarn, hiding inside with the a/c cranked while our week-long heat wave continues outside. It's a good thing the basketweave pattern is simple.

Stay cool, y'all!

Out and About

Life has been busy since we returned from vacation. In this time I've:

+ Seen a dear out-of-state friend whom I hadn't seen in several years
+ Drunk three lemon drops with said friend and gotten over the resultant hangover
+ Overseen a window repair after a bird flew into and broke it (the bird flew away, and is hopefully happily living out its life)
+ Had my MIL and my grandfather go into the hospital (both are in their late 80s and in their twilight time)
+ Thought about blogging 100 times and ended up working in the garden instead, as the weather has been in the mid-70s F and gorgeous
+ Been gifted a dead mouse by Fiend, who has come back from a three-week walkabout bouncy and friendly
+ Hit the 30% off anniversary sale at Needle in a Haystack, where I only bought the Addi Turbo US 5 32" circ I need for my KP&S cardi (such restraint, eh?)
+ Gotten food poisoning at a new local restaurant (Pepe's - don't eat here)

What I haven't done is give you my down and dirty recap of Denver area LYS, which I shall do right now. Before our trip I spent some time on KnitMap, figuring out which stores I wanted to hit. I knew my time would be very limited, so my final list included only three: A Knitted Peace, Lamb Shoppe, and Showers of Flowers Yarn Shop.

First up was Showers of Flowers. From the outside the store looks like a concrete bunker, but inside it's large and inviting. Reminded me a lot of Yarn Lady, truth be told, especially since it has copious amounts of novelty yarns. C.O.P.I.O.U.S. Even Cindy, who's never knit a stitch in her life, said, "Wow, it's really frou frou in here, isn't it?" There was a great selection of basic, too - Berroco Ultra Alpaca, various Cascades, and a very nice selection of baby yarns - and if I was a local I know I'd shop there for those. As a tourist, however, I walked away empty handed.

Never saw the Lamb Shoppe (drat! muggles!), but did manage to hit A Knitted Peace. It's a smaller store, and had a nice selection of summer cotton yarns out. My purchase here was a single skein of local hand-dyed - Red Rocks Fiber Works Snowmass Sock in Grass Green - to commemorate my trip.

I only wish I'd had more time, as Marie gave me two other recommendations I would have loved to check out along with the Lamb Shoppe. Ah, well, next time!

Also next time: Knitting content. Promise.

Rocky Mountain High

Vacation was awesome. Remarkably knit-free, but awesome. The first three days were spent visiting with old friends of mine, Duane and Cindy.

I've known them since my senior year of high school (1981-82). They're the co-owners of Wax Trax Records (aka the best record store in the world)) and mighty fine hosts. Tom had never been to Colorado before this, so we geared our activities around showing him some of the sights.

Highlights include Red Rocks and nearby biker town Morrison...

...contemporary art at the recently remodeled Denver Art Museum and walking around downtown...

Denver Public Library as seen from the Denver Art Museum

...hitting Colfax Avenue for lunch at Davies' Chuck Wagon Diner...

...and a stop at the Tattered Cover before heading to...

...Wax Trax, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in November.

The second half of our trip was spent in Boulder and Estes Park. We lolled around the lovely Bradley Boulder Inn...

...ambled around Pearl Street and the CU campus...

... and spent our last day on a mountain drive that culminated in Estes Park.

Boulder Falls

For you pop culture junkies, Estes Park is the home of the Stanley Hotel, which was Stephen King's inspiration for The Shining. We've run around saying "redrum" ever since.

Wonderfully atmospheric shot of the Stanley Hotel

We had such a great time we debated about coming home, but sanity prevailed, and we got on our plane, jiggity jig. Next up, a succinct report on a couple of Denver area LYS, which is all I was able to see since I was 1) surrounded by non-knitters, and 2) busy doing other stuff. Which might have involved pie. Imagine that.

Foliage

Whew. Thanks for letting me vent yesterday. I feel much better. My mood probably has a lot to do with the fact that Tom and I are off on a week's vacation this coming Saturday. We'll be in Colorado, visiting with friends in Denver and hanging in Boulder, home of my alma mater. (Go Buffs!) I won't be online much after this post, so I'll catch up with everyone when I return.

Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney - version 2 for worsted weight yarn
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Moss - 1/2 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 16" US 5 and 7; Clover bamboo dpns US 7
Mods: To cast on I crocheted a four-loop chain, joined it, picked up the first four knit stitches, and began on Row 2 (kf&b four times) of the pattern.
Rating: * * *

My Reckless Cast On #5 took about a second to knit. That is, after the hour or so I tried to figure out how to do a pleasing-to-the-eye cast on. Okay, maybe I exaggerate, but I did fiddle with the cast on for a while. As per usual, my knitting group came to the rescue - thanks, Marie, for the suggestion - and once that was done, this lace hat quickly finished itself. I love that you start at the crown and work down, that the lace pattern is nice and rustic looking in the Malabrigo, that this is such a quick knit. I'm not a fan of single-ply yarn, and as I knitted, was afraid that if I looked at it the Malabrigo would felt. (Someday I'll buy you all a mai tai, and you can explain the Cult of Malabrigo to me.) However, once knit up, it looked good enough to gift to Beth, whose head you see in the photos. So I did.

Have to dash. There's travel knitting to pick out. Have a great week!