Camera phone to the rescue

So I am still missing my camera charger. But have no fear!I do still have the cat.
And some knitting. This is an afghan I'm making from a bag of acrylic odd-balls my grandma gave me a week ago when I was back home yet again. (It's so nearby!) Pretty virulent so far, eh? I kind of like it.
Fingerless mittens for one of my Philippina sisters. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to turn this picture around. Just turn your head 90 degrees to the right.
Yet another seaman's cap. This one is part of an insidious scheme of mine. Yes! This FO is an object of seduction. Or at least I hope it will be. (Does knitting get the guys? Maybe. It is merino, after all.)
And then here's me. I cut my hair.

A week or so ago...

I was in Chinaown. It's much lovelier in person.

Naturally

...the cord for charging my camera battery is in a box near Sacramento, in my brother's garage, along with my boxes of books and memorabilia and, yes, a whole lot of yarn. This of course means that although I have a lot to show... I have no pictures.

This is a disturbingly consistent, recurring theme here at Crisis of Praxis, which just goes to show you should be careful what you name your blog.

Knitting, crocheting, what-have-you
I've pirated the Jolly Roger from Hello Yarn and designed myself a pullover, knit up a headband from Vanna's Choice, made numerous scarves and fingerless mittens, and even crocheted a pair of slippers for an invalid friend that reproduce the slippers her grandmother made her. I also made a cosy for a personal massager, if you know what I mean. (And I think you do.)

Knitters
Geography and chance has thrown me into the midst of the knitters from Knit One One. I have bumped into them in a coffeehouse, encountered them at the book signing for Knit Knit, and then finally sat down with them at yet another coffeehouse to do some actual knitting. They're a lively and mixed bunch, but they have yet to prove to me their prowess in knitting while intoxicated like the North End Knitters. Time will tell if they measure up, or at least can fix their mistakes the next morning after a cup of strong coffee and some aspirin. In the meantime, they sure can knit while sober.

Patterns
Which reminds me. I have gotten my greedy little hands on a pattern from Emily Jan - the Blooming Bobble Bag. I saw this in a display case they have at a bakery and found it irresistible, despite the fact that I don't actually do clutch bags. I have yet to decide whether I will do a yarn substitution, what color I will use, etc.

Anyway
I am going to try to abscond with a friend's camera, so hopefully there will be photo evidence of my activities before the year is out. (The non-incriminating ones, that is.)

I got your post right here, baby

Jeanette from the Purly Gate (A Knitter's Cult) has pointed out that the post I was promising her on Sunday did not in fact happen.

Well, woman, I am busy. I am in California. There are places to go, people to see, health food stores to get lost in, and long, sunny bike rides to take. I'm sure you'll understand. By the way, how's that snow in Boston?

Here's my home town about three weeks ago. This is one of the busy streets. Bungalows, oh how I have missed you! Inside of my grandma's house. Hi, Grandma!
The crocheted blanket on the bed in my grandma's guest room. She made it.

This is Cat, the Living Cat Mummy. Petting this cat is like petting a sticky muppet stuffed with bones. (What was that, Grandma? The cat's in the house? Yeah, well, this was before you woke up. I didn't know better. She acted like she came in the house every day.)

A view. Not as cold as it looks.
Another view. They've got a lot of it there.

And another view.

Sibling #6, slightly wet, at our mom's house.

Sibling #7, in a coffeehouse. It's the same one I went to.
Sibling #5? (Oh, no, I've lost count!) Well, anway, this is a sibling. And her baby, the one I have been knitting like a fiend for. He's actually a lot happier than he looks - he's not quite used to maniacal aunts pointing cameras at him.
Another sibling. She's feigning surprise. That camera doesn't have quick flash action, dammit.

And that's it for now.

First California Post

I have a lot of photos to show you, but I don't have them with me. This photo, however, I do have, because I took it with my cellphone last night. You are looking across the Bay to San Francisco. All in all, it could be worse.

Pictures!

Jeanette from over at the Purly Gates (A Knitting Cult) clued me in tonight on how to get my computer to upload pictures without going kaboom on me. So, now I have pictures for you!

My maternal grandfather has been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. There's not much I can do about that. However, I can knit him a sweater, since I think he's still got a winter left in which to wear it. Pattern: My own, largely helped along by the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted in Chestnut Heather

Gauge: 20s = 4"/10 cm on size US 8/5 mm straight needles

Size: 46"-48" chest

I wanted to make my grandpa a basic pullover that would be easy to care for since he's sick. I added Horseshoe Cables because 1) it's more interesting for me to knit, 2) it impresses more than stockingette, and 3) I think Horseshoe Cables are the cat's meow. But let me tell you, after a month and half of making them, I am about Horseshoed out. Did you see the size on that thing? My grandpa wears and extra large - that was all the information I was given, so who knows if the thing will fit - but I found a chart for American Standard Clothing Sizes for men's sweaters and worked from that. This sweater has a 46"-48" chest, depending on how you pull on it. I have a 33" chest. It was like making two sweaters. (I am sooo not dating a big man when I move to California.)

I like how my ribbing lined up at the center front of the collar:

But this isn't all I've been making. Here's the jacket that goes with the garter stitch hat I made for my nephew:

Pattern: Garter Stitch Jacket from Debbie Bliss' The Baby Knits Book

Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Superwash in "Sand Dune"

I really like how this turned out. However, I can't help wondering how much use a 6 month old baby can get out of pockets...

There's a lot more, but I can't remember how to link to the sites where I got the patterns, so it'll have to wait a bit.

STILL not dead, folks!

I admit, however, that I have been somewhat lax as of late in regards to posting in a timely manner. Hmmm.

Well, here I am. But not for long. I am intending to keep this blog up - that is, I actually intend to post more than once every four months from now on - but I am moving. Far, far, away from Boston, to that distant land called California, where, as far as I'm concerned (due to my upbringing, I'm afraid) the only relatively normal people on the planet live.

That's right - I am returning to the bossom of my family! Where I can get a latte nearly anywhere, experience some serious fog, and get my bus delayed by gay rights parades! I can't wait! Home, home, home! Cheap artichokes and French bread, here I come!

My new computer won't let me upload photos onto Blogger, so although I have plenty for you, I can't post them. But stay tuned! Before November is through, I will be in California, where I am use somebody else's computer for my nefarious knitblogging activities.

...and more photos.

I feel like I have a neverending stream of photos to upload. I did say I've been busy, didn't I?

Pictured below is the Garter Stitch Hat from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss in "Sand Dune" Knit Picks Swish Superwash. I'm told this yarn pills, but it washed up beautifully. Anyway, the baby will probably outgrow it before pilling becomes an issue.
This is a knit bunny made from leftover Baby Soft, the yarn I used for the aquaduct edging afghan. It's yet another knit from Lousia Harding's Naturals Knits for Babies and Moms. I have to say that this book was a damn good purchase. It has alot a basic baby patterns, clevery executed, and evenly divided by the sexes. I knew this baby was going to be a boy, so I wanted a book with plenty of boy patterns, but (go figure) a majority of baby and kid knitting books are angled towards girls. Also, Natural Knits has a pregnancy sweater, two nursing sweaters, a shawl, a baby blankie and stuffed animal patterns as well. Are you sold yet on it? :P

I have a high school friend who has five year old girly-girl. As in, she likes pink. When I was a little girl, pink was the enemy of being taken seriously, a task that was already made difficult enough by being knee-high to a gnome with curly blond hair... But I digress. This kid will love this sweater, which happens to be in violet Cotton Ease. The pattern is from Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, size aged 6. The collar is my doing - it's not in the book - as well as the pockets. Check out the flower buttons!

Okay, I admit the photos are a bit blurry, but you can probably see them better in this close-up.

And lest you think I only have FO's - (I wish!) - here's an afghan-in-progress. This is me trying to use up a lot of Cotton Ease. If you're thinking it's a baby afghan, well, then, all I have to say to that is you're dead on. Sorry. I swear I am knitting some for myself, and soon I will have proof! (Which reminds me - today my grandmother emailed me out of the blue to say she's enjoying the socks I knit her. I knit those socks quite some time back. Months and months ago, actually. Do you think she's giving me a subtle clue of some kind?)

Gratutitous cat shot!

More Photos!

Baby Afghan

I crocheted this baby afghan in March out of cream sportweight acrylic/nylon yarn. (I think it was "Baby Soft.") All it is is a square of double crochet with "aquaduct" edging.
I think it has a pleasing simplicity about it. unfortunately, I washed it with my Artyarns Supermerino cream/black/lime socks... which turned everything in my laundry light gray. Lesson learned. I mailed the baby afghan out to Sibling #5 anyway. I don't know if she's using it.

Cropped Cardi

This cardigan is obviously "#21: Short Cardigan" from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2006. Isn't it?

Okay, I admit I made a few changes. I substituted black KnitPicks Merino Style for cotton yarn, and I used only one color throughout instead of striping. And then I totaly redesigned the sleeves.

My buttons are square!

Nursing Sweater

At the end of February I knit Sibling #5 a nursing sweater, the "Queen of Hearts Nursing Sweater" from Lousia Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Moms in, well, burgundy Encore (75% acrylic, 25% wool), which is not exactly the natural option. I knit it in under two weeks, which frankly impressed me. Sibling #5 wears a 12 and I wear a 4, so it's much larger than anything I would make for myself. Fortunately it was on US #8 needles. The pattern called for a pattern of hearts in the lower panels in purl stitches, but I left them out because I thought they'd be cheesy.
Here is a detail of one of the button flaps. I think I used 16 buttons. I lucked out and got them not only to perfectly match the yarn but cheaply.

Sibling #5 loved the sweater, apparently. It was still coldish in California when she got it so she was sleeping in it. Strangely enough, her favorite thing about it is the yarn. Encore does wash up well - it becomes even, soft, and drapey - but it's also incredibly cheap. I think this sweater cost me a total of US$30. ($10 of it being the buttons!) I still have more than a skein left over that I need to use up somehow.

And now for something completely different...

I'm still trying to learn to paint. Being the way I am, I naturally think the way to go about this is a self-portrait. Why? Because I photograph badly, of course.

Lissy from the North End knitting circle asked me to post the progress shots I've been taking, so here they are. They photographed more yellow than they really are. Remember, I'm still learning! Be sure to cut me some artistic slack.

Day 1: I did an underpainting, and forgot to photograph it.
Day 2: Adding color to my underpainting. It doesn't look much like me, I admit, but I wasn't ready to slit my wrists just yet.
Day 3: More color, fleshing in the background and my clothes. Doesn't look like me, but whoever it is, they're angry. It's probably because the mirror I'm holding is heavy. (Hey, maybe that's why my wrist hurts, not the knitting?!?)
Day 4: Looks a bit more like me, as in, how I wish I looked. The neck and body is a major problem, esp. since I've decided to put my brown sweater in the painting. My hair is not really present - I'm saving it for later - so the head is not balanced. There's still a way to go.

And that's it for now. Let me know if you want me to post the next stage when it happens.

My how time flies

...when you hate the New Blogger and you have no internet at home. Has it really been over two months since I last entered into a battle of wills with Blogger to post? Amazing.

Here's some of the baby stuff I've made in the meantime. And I really mean "some." The baby mania has not flagged, although it did hurt my wrist on Sunday so now I am having to take it easy.

This stuff is from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding. The baby mittens with the string are made from Sirdar Breeze in "stone", and the other mittens and hat are in KnitPicks Shine Sport in some kind of brownish-tannish color, the name of which is evading me at the moment.


Baby pants! In the Snuggly yarn I had left over from the blue wrap cardi. The pattern is not my own - I got it free online - and when I have the patience to type in html again, I'll link to it for ya.

I feel like it is through some kind of miracle that this baby kimono (from an old IK pattern - I think everybody andtheir brother has knit it) is finally uploaded. This is my gazillionth try, and I don't just mean tonight. Although tonight I have had time to make tater tots and feed the cat (who likes his dry food mixed with 1/3 can of wet food, thank you). I'm not sure I have it in me to post more baby knitting pictures tonight.

This is the post where New Blogger said "I hate you"

...and I said the feeling's mutual, especially since i just spent a half hour writing text that got deleted.

Baby Stuff

I have gone insane with the baby knitting. Not only did I do that layette set, I made a pair of matching pants, a beige hat and booties, and a pair of socks - I then I knit the baby kimono from IK and a pair of green booties.

Unfortunately, I only have a picture of the green booties. The other pictures are on my computer at work.

When will the madness end, you ask? I really can't say. Although I am a bit concerned... I knit all these things at 0-3 months old size and the baby is 9 lbs. 3 oz. There is no word yet on whether any of even fits! But my sister, Sibling #5, did like the nursing sweater I knit her (in 2 weeks! and she's much bigger than me!) which I also don't have a picture of here.

Presently, the onyl baby stuff I have on the needles isn't really. That's because it's hooked. I crocheting a baby afghan. But don't worry; this afternoon has been turned over to knitting a Malabrigo hat for Sibling #7. I have not completely lost it.

Except where socks are concerned. Did you know I have about four completed socks laying about, none of which match each other?

Stuff

Blogger
I ask you to imagine, if you will, this space being occupied by about five or six pages of invective against Blogger in the most vitriolic language that can be expressed in a 12 point Georgia font.

Knitting
I have been busy, busy, busy.



Pattern: "Striped Vest" (#22) from VK Fall 2006
Yarn: Black Cascade 220 (Left over from the Boyfriend Sweater)
Size: 32 Bust
Gauge: 20s = 4"/10cm on 5mm dpns

Modifications: Where to begin? I eliminated the stripes, of course. And there's a yarn substitution going on... And I added an openwork pattern ("Eyelet Twist Panel" from The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Sticthes, pg. 150) and made the body a tad longer to line up the panel pattern with the neck. I also changed the ribbing on the collar and armholes.

Thoughts: I love this yarn still, and I wear this vest all the time. Next time I make a vest, however, I don't think I'll make the body so long.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Um... I can't remember, but it was just one ball
Needles: US #10
Size: N/A

I bought this yarn because it goes with my jacket, as you can see. It's just a 10s wide garter stitch scarf with tapering ends. I wear it when the weather permits.

Infant Layette Set

Sibling #5 is 8 months pregnant. She turned 17 this month. I heard about this from my octogenarian, email-using Grandma, and if you have picked up anything about my family, you are probably bracing yourself for some horrible, dysfunctional tale. Well, there is one, but for now I'm focussing on the fact that I didn't know about this pregancy until a week and a half ago.

I called my dad get the scoop, because it's under his roof that it's happening. What I learned was that his sheepdog just had eight pups, all black and white like her, and that the winter is unseasonably warm this year. He's really concerned that the peach tree will bloom this month, thereby missing bee season, and he'll only have four or five peaches this year again. The same could happen for the plums and apples, although the Golden Delicious tree in the back yard - the one with the graft from Grandma's tree - is bound to produce pretty well because it always does. Old reliable. And there hasn't been much rain, which is weird, because usually it's rainy this time of year (my hometown gets an average of 200 days of rain a year)...

At which point he passed me to Sibling #7, who happened to be passing through the room, and I pumped her for information.

It seems it didn't occur to anyone that I might not know. Which is even stranger than the global warming. Do they think I am psychic? That town gossip reaches me from 2,000 miles away?

Ok, well, it does, but only because my Grandma uses the internet, and not exactly in a timely manner, because she also thought I knew.

So in a week I have managed to whip this up from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits. I used Sirdar Snuggly yarn.

It's going to be a boy. I'm also making as nursing sweater from the same book. I would have liked to have time to make a pregancy sweater, but I didn't exactly get that chance. (grumble grumble)

Boyfriend Sweater

Boyfriend Sweater!Pattern: my own
Yarn: Cascade 220 (black)
Needles: size US #8/ 5mm straights

I actually had this finished over a month or more ago but I was too lazy to post it. I am very bad - almost as bad as my ability to photograph black.

Still Not Dead

I figure I should post again so that you all know I am not still hung over on chocolate mint liqueur.

I am not still hung over on chocolate mint liqueur.

I am, however, about as depressed as I was after I read V for Vendetta* - I had to go home early today from work because I was weepy.

There is always a catch in life. Sometimes love isn't enough. And I don't even have clue what to do about it except fantasizing about visiting Finland, or perhaps Scotland.

I like reinventing my life. That's what got me from California to Seattle, and from Seattle to Philly and then to Boston. I am the most settled I have ever been right now, and it's pretty uncomfortable, even though I am a homebody. I'm just not an office person. Gah. But this isn't really about traveling and moving, it's about relationships, which are another kind of traveling and moving. And it's really terrible to know that someday you may have to leave a place you love because it can't offer you everything you could ever want.

Ah, but enough that. I am knitting the Retro Rib Cardi from the Winter 2005 IK in "avocado" Wool of the Andes, and it is awesome. Extremely green.
*V for Vendetta had me very, very upset for days because I am an individualist. Go figure.

Not dead yet

Just terribly, terribly slack.

So slack that I have not finished the crocheted dress. I am halfway through the top, but once I got to that point, I lost the hook for a couple weeks at the bottom of my purse. Which means I have to work on something else. A whole lot of something elses, actually.

Pictures later. I need to get some coffee first. Who knew Vandermint packed this kind of hangover?

Certainly not me.

Sick... Again!

It seems that a month can't go by lately without me getting some virus. I wash my hands so much at work that you'd think I was OCD, but I still catch something. I need to stop working with people who have children under 5 yrs. old, the little germ factories, grumble grumble. These are the purple/green Artyarns Supermerino socks I started for myself and gave to my sort-of-mother-in-law. I've finally started a pair for myself that I'm determined to actually keep for myself - they're cream, black, and light green - but I don't have a picture of the one sock I've completed just yet.

The worst part about being sick the past two days is that I'm falling behind on my knitting / crocheting schedule. Sure, I'm nearly done with one of the flip-tops of the fingerless gloves / mittens I'm making (Sorry! No photo yet!), and I'm about an inch and half into the top of the crocheted dress... and I swatched for a crochet project I'm planning, and did a couple rows on a red Sockotta sock I'm working on, but that just means I can focus a couple minutes here and there. If I felt fine, and didn't have a pounding headache constantly, I'd have those mittens done, as well as half the top. *tortured sigh*

However, not being at work doesn't bother me in the slightest: I get sick pay.

Back of skirt

With the help of Flickr, here is a photo of the crocheted dress thus far:


Chibi for scale.

Crocheting Away

This, in case you didn't know, is the 1920's dress I am crocheting:
It's three pieces: top, back of skirt, and front of skirt...plus some sewing and garnishing. I was feeling panicky all week about whether I'd be able to meet the Dec. 14th deadline of the office holiday party, but I'm happy to say I am 1/3 done! ...give or take some sewing, etc.

Unfortunately, Blogger won't unload the photo I took.

I'll try to get it up in Flickr some time this week.

Really.

This about sums it up.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Except, of course, that the test doesn't ask why you're paranoid.

I'd say my largest personality flaw is my desire to avoid confrontation and just get along. This involves not getting hit by cars, too. I'd say it's pretty natural for someone who doesn't believe in an afterlife to want to stay alive as long as possible, don't you?

I've only taken one other personality quiz on-line, the Harry Potter one, and I came out Severus Snape. Really, I'm not that bad, folks. Honest. Dumbledore ordered me to do it.

Easy One Skein Noro Hat

A very serious hat.

Materials: 1 skein Noro Silk Garden, 1 set 4.25 mm double-pointed knitting needles (or circulars), large darning needle.

Size: One Size

Gauge: 6s = 1” / 10 cm worked in 2x1 (k2, p1) rib, unstretched.

Body
CO 105s and join for working in round, being careful not to twist.
k1, p1, *k2, p1, repeat from * until last s in row, k1.
Repeat in established pattern until piece measures about 7 ½” (19 cm).
If using dpns, divide the stitches evenly onto two needles.
Kitchener* closed (I advise against binding off, since it uses up yarn that could go onto making pompoms.)

Pompoms
This is a great opportunity for beginning pompoms makers. Part of what I like about this hat is that the pompoms are not fat, fluffy, overeager things. They are wimpy pompoms, so don’t worry if your pompoms suck. I made my pompoms by wrapping the yarn around the end of a 2” / 4 cm wide needle gauge ten times, cutting the end, sliding the yarn carefully free and tying it tightly around the middle with a 4” / 10 cm length of yarn. I cut the loops of the “pompom”, threaded the ends of the tie onto a large needle and sewed it onto the tips of the hat. Then I did it again. Just about any other method can be used, provided you don’t run out of yarn.

* There are plenty of free tutorials on the web for either technique if you haven't done this before.

Hats! Hats! Hats!

Just because I'm not posting often does not mean I am not knitting, folks. I am a busy bee.

Especially where hats are concerned.

Basic black seaman's cap. Yes, another one. This one is in superwash merino for my friend, Bob, who was expecting one last winter before I was derailed by all that X-mas knitting. Sorry, Bob!

The only X-mas knitting I am doing this year (Really! I mean it!) is this cabled version of the seaman's cap for my dad, a project that has been largely motivated by my suspicion that my dad has not hand washed the seaman's cap I made him last year, but is still wearing it, nevertheless. This is a humanitarian effort.

If you're at all interested how I worked the cables, leave a comment and I'll post the instructions.

Other stuff
These are not the only hats I've made. I also made a hat from one skein of Noro Silk Garden which I am going to post separately with the pattern.

I'm also still working on the boyfriend sweater, which is an incredible bore. Endless black stockingette! Ugh. I will finish this thing, if just to have it over with finally.

Socks are also happening. The purple Artyarn socks are done, but not mailed, and I've made myself several socks that don't match eachother using the One Sock at a Time Theory of Sock Making that I got from Jeanette this summer - that is, embrace your reluctance to knit that second sock and move on, because you can always get back to the the second sock later when it seems novel again. This worked wonders for her and I'm hoping it will do the same for me.

On the crochet front, I finally have the right yarn to make that 1920's dress. A bit of research revealed to me that it was originally done up in something a lot like embroidery floss. So I took a risk and ordered a 1 lb. cone of 8/2 black weaving tencel - US$25 after shipping for 3360 yds! (You may wonder what I would do with over 3,000 yds of fingering weight yarn if it didn't work out, but unfortunately I do have a few ideas up my sleeve. More than few, actually.) The dress is size 36", with 3 mesh stitches = 1", and the tencel worked up on the same hook to about 3 1/2" mesh stitches = 1", which is what I was hoping for since I am a 34" chest. The tencel is 2-ply, slightly prone to splitting, and slippery as hell. (I admit there was a bit of cursing yesterday when I started, but not enough to scare the cat.) I chose the tencel because it is supposed to have a good drape and sheen and is lighter than cotton. I'm still on the hem of the dress - I'll be there for a while - but I can already tell that this dress will be awesome. I hope to have it done by the office X-mas party since that is the only event I go to all year that is practically black tie.

Crochetting really has an undeserved bad reputation, in my opinion. Of course, I crochetted before I knit, so you could say I have a slight bias, but I'm sticking by that statement. Any craft or technique can create crap. With the possible exception of macrame, this isn't the craft or technique's fault. (I say this because it seems to be about 10x harder to make something tasteful from macrame than, say, knitting or beading. Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Which begs the question: Why is it that the only patterns in crochetting magazines these days that are halfway decent are mainly knitting? Why? Why? Perhaps I should embark on a personal crusade to improve the name of crochet, eh? Right after this dress. And all those knit socks. And the darned boyfriend sweater.