Monday, April 30, 2007

Behold the great Absorba!

ETA: COMMENTS HAVE BEEN TURNED ON :/


Huzzah!! The bathroom will now be fully dressed with it's hand-knit bathmat.


Pattern: Absorba, from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Peaches and Creme double worsted in #51 Apple Green.
Needles: Denises #15
Adaptations: What I did, is essentially knit a single crochet edging - I don't have a crochet hook that big, so I picked up 2 stitches, then pass the right stitch over the left one, then picked up a st and passed the right stitch over the left, etc, etc.
Thoughts/additional info: Knitting this was no piece of cake, it was challenging to knit what is essentially [a soft lime colored] rope on fat, fat needles, it hurt my hands a bit :( On the bright side, it's a pretty fast knit. The bathmat didn't really come out as flat and perfect as I wanted - I know, I know. Anyway, I'm blocking it right now (yes, blocking a bathmat - like that makes sense), but I think that will fix those issues for me. Oh, and I could not capture the color of this mat at all, it is a more lurid brighter green than pictured - which suits me fine.

In other news, I got some beautiful stitch markers from Zero Markers this week.



Did I hear you ask what that is in the background? Okay, okay, it's 8 oz of Superwash Merino in "wild thing" from Crown Mountain Farms.


I think it's going to make me some lovely sock yarn.

Now... if you'll excuse me, I have some spinning to do.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

I'm not ignoring you

I've just been busy. Unpacking, buying things, enjoying the company of friends and making the apartment our home - bit by bit. There's plenty left to do, but I'm very happy with how things are coming together.

I promise, there will be some pictures of the apartment to follow, but it's still a work in progress - with about 8 more boxes (mostly DVDs, books, knick-knacks) to unpack. But for now you will have to just be satisfied with knitting pics and stats - I forgot to ad that to the list, but I have been knitting too :)

First is a basic pair of socks for me in Regia


Pattern: I did the foot in stocking stitch and the leg in k2, p2 ribbing, with short row toes and heels.
Yarn: Regia surf in sand (color #5420). I think this yarn is great, it has a lot of potential to stand up to the machine washing, it's not as warm as 100% wool socks, clearly a better choice if you feel the need to wear socks during this heat wave. Oh! and see those curtains in the background? I made them a couple of weeks ago.
Needles: Addi 32" turbos, size 2.


Next is the most boring pair of socks ever - for Mr B - modeled by me, the man is busy organizing the spare room (AKA, the art/craft/fiber/sewing, music room) and I don't want to interrupt the progress - but here it clearly shows that he has gigantic feet.


Pattern: again foot in st st, leg in k3, p1 ribbing, with short row toes and heels.
Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Tweed in "flint" I had planned on making a pair of gloves when I ordered this yarn. However, it was absolutely not what I expected, I was hugely disappointed in this so-called tweed. It looks like a child splashed their paints on it - very primary colour-ish. Having said that, the yarn itself is soft, and Mr. B states that the socks are super comfortable.
Needles: Knitpicks 32", size 1.


Next is a couple of wash/dish clothes. I wanted simple and fast. I love the simple ingenuity of this pattern, the yarn color was inspired by a towel I was given a while back. The towel depicts Die Sendung Mit Der Maus - for which I have fond childhood memories, cute little fella isn't he? That and the green tea + aloe soap we had helped me decide that a lime green theme is necessary in our brand new white-on-white bathroom.


Pattern: 4-corners pattern by Abigail
Yarn: Lily's Sugar n Cream - in summer splash.
Needles: Denises size 7



Today I started the Absorba Bath Mat from Mason Dixon - in lime green, of course. My goodness, knitting with this stuff on the HUGE (to me) #15 needles is teeee-ough!! It will be worth it though.

Monday, April 02, 2007

no knitting here

The move is complete!! I am now longer a Manhattanite, instead I have 'evolved' into a Queenster (or an Astorian, if you will). The move was difficult, moving from a 6th floor walk-up with some very (very, very) good friends is no joke - I am appauled at how much crap we have. But the weather was beautiful on the day of the move, and we managed to make the day fun. Every muscle in my body hurts - a LOT, I'm sure our friends are feeling the burn too. It was worth it though - I love the new 'hood, people actually say 'hello' on the street, they are friendly, that will take some getting used to, it's such a major change from our old neighborhood (don't get me wrong, I loved living there, and will miss it, but people being nice is great).

We now have double the living space, with a spare room for knitting/spinning/sewing (and Mr. B's art/music I suppose). The light in here is beautiful in here. There will be photo's, but not for a little while - no internet (phone or TV) until next week (Time Warner sucks, but I'm not telling you anything new am I?). As a result, I'm writing this post on my Blackberry, which is "interesting" to say the least, I have no idea if it will work yet. I have been trying to keep up with blog reading, but you won't see comments from me for a while yet, that is asking a little too much from the little bb. Thanks again for all your well-wishes with the move, it's appreciated - and I'm sure it helped.

Okay, I must go and unpack some boxes, if I can stand up :)