Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Blogversary!
Today is my First Blogversay! A big party is in order, I think. Too bad I am swamped with work--I'd love to sit at home and knit all day.In honor of a year of posts (and just a little while longer as a serious knitter), I looked back over my gallery and past posts.
I've learned so much this year:
To increase, decrease, and cast on with a variety of techniques
To knit in the round
To felt
To knit lace
To knit socks
To do intarsia
Pretty good list, no?
So what's on the to learn list for the coming year?:
To learn a lot more about color work (yeah for the new Sally Melville color book)
To learn to cable
To learn additional ways to complete sock heels and toes
To knit a cardigan
Monday, August 29, 2005
Back to School
Yes, we are back to school. Texas Universities start early--and we are no exception. In honor of the whole back to school hoo ha, I bought some supplies. ok. They are knitting supplies, which aren't technically for school, but they are helpful!
loot
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
The Rowan books--Vintage Knitting and the new magazine--came in the mail. There are a few things of interest, but not as much as I had hoped. The Wrap Style book looks great--I'm going through my stash to see if any of the yarn will work. Notice that I also bought Cable Needle Freedom. My goal for the fall is to learn to work with cables. I have a cute purse pattern, but I think I will use the Peace Fleece that I bought (center) to try the little hat in the Cable Needle Freedom book.
And, I picked up the Guernsey yarn that I ordered from my LYS. This is for a pair of socks from Knitting on the Road. More on the stashing later.
The graduate students in the English Department have been busy this past week welcoming new students. Look at the cute party they had for new students! Aren't they great!
Welcome Students
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Welcome Grads
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
What have I been up to?
Opal Sock Yarn from HellThis is the Opal sock yarn from hell. Truly. I spent two evenings untangeling the spew from the center of the ball into these.
Opal Sock Yarn
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Why two balls? There was a big knot in the middle of the yarn that needed to be cut. I didn't want it ending up in my sock. In case you are curious about what the spew looked like, take a look at my previous post. I am hoping that things will go smoothly now. This set of socks is proving to be a challenge...
Rowan Scarf
I was so pleased to receive my Rowan giftie for joining Rowan International Knits this year that I immediately cast on and started knitting away. This year they are giving away the Rowan Froth Scarf in the lovely Kid Silk Haze. While I was intrigued with the beautiful purple yarn that was one of the color selections, I thought I might get more use out of the black.
Rowan's Froth Scarf
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Here she is, finished and reclining on the entry way chair rack/coat rack.
Here's a close up:
Rowan Froth Scarf, Closeup
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
This was a fast and fun pattern to knit, except for the picking up and binding off business around the edges. But, the final ruffley edge was well worth it. I wasn't sure how this yarn would be to work with as I am in a "I hate novelty yarns" phase, but it was wonderful.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Tea Cozy
I'm ready for a cuppa! When I was at Brown, I spent too much time and money at their local tea shop, Tealuxe. The original shop is in Harvard Square, but this branch still has all the great teas and tea accessories. My little tea cozy wasn't quite ready for action when I was in Brown, but I did finish it upon my return home:
Tea Cozy
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
The yarn is print 127 from my stash, though the pattern called for Kureyon. The pattern is from Knitty, Winter 04, and worked well with some minor modifications for my strangely sized tea pot.
Now I need to brew up some of the yummy teas from Tealuxe, add some honey and milk, and settle into some nice knitting.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
A Stitch Above
I'm not able to post much this month--school is starting at the end of August, and I am completely slammed. That said, I'm behind in answering blog comments. I will soon---thank you all for your comments!When I was in Providence, RI, several of us took a quick lunch break to the local knitting store, A Stitch Above.
A Stitch Ahead
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Notice that there is a cute toystore beside the knitting shop. Wow. Great wooden toys from Germany and Scandinavia. Anna loved the items that came from the shop.
A Stitch Ahead
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
The store had a shoes and clothes and amazing yarn and knitting supplies.
A Stitch Ahead
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
There was Schaefer, Rowan, Colinette, Blue Sky Alpaca, Jamieson's,
Manos del Uruguay, locally produced yarns, and more. Very nice selection!
A Stitch Ahead
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
I did buy a few items for winter--I want to finish this summer knitting and get on with it. Do you like the new home in the stash box, yarn?
Additional purchases
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
There are two skeins of Schaefer Elaine in the Leontyne Price colorway. And there are four skeins of handdyed locally produced yarn from Rhode Island. Aren't they both really pretty?
Stash Increase
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
I also bought a needle case for all of the various circular and straights that have been accumulating in my cupboard and a few Addi Natura circular needles. If you are near Providence, RI, check out A Stitch Above. The folks that work there are helpful and friendly and also love to touch all the gorgeous yarns in the shop!
And, I found a book in the local Brown University bookstore that I had to have, as well. This is the new Jasper Fforde book, The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime. As of late, Fforde is one of my favorite authors. He has a great series featuring Tuesday Next; the first book in the series is The Eyre Affair, an amazingly fun and imaginative reworking of Jane Eyre. I love this book so much that I'm teaching it in a course that looks at various takes on Jane Eyre. The best part of the new Fforde book that I bought is that it is signed. Yeah!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Loop d Loop Tank
A finished object! Really, I've been knitting... This is another fast and quick T from the new Loop d Loop book (Teva Durham). I love this pattern. It is made of Lamb's Pride cotton and knitting in the round--no ends to sew. I made the small this time, and it fits nicely.
Loop d Loop Tank
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Trip to Providence
I was at Brown University during this past week attending a TEI/XML training workshop. Sorry to throw those acronyms at you! What the training is going to allow me to do is to "mark" the texts that I am using in my digital archive. By marking texts you can search and also manipulate the texts nicely. The marking is metadata--data that tells you about the text. My head was swimming by the end of the workshop, but it was a beneficial week that will be of big help as I wade into my project this fall.Enough of what I did. Here's the pictures! Knitting content in the next post!
We stayed in the Gregorian Vartan dorms:
Brown University
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
I haven't stayed in a college dorm for so long and this summer this is my second dorm stay! Yikes! This felt pretty spartan, but it was clean and cheap. Like the bed?
Brown University: Dorm
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
On Saturday night Providence hosted Waterfire. Waterfire is an amazing even that is hosted on the waterfront rivers in Providence. There is funky music, lots of burning woods, and people everywhere.
Here is a view down the river. Pretty, huh?
Waterfire
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
There are lots of boats moving along the river throughout the event. On the boats are a lighting and wood crew. See the wood in the boat? These boats (about 6-8 in all) make their way through the burning pyres during the night, adding wood to keep them burning.
Torch Lighters
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
It smelled like Christmas--even though it was hot and muggy. The pyres were gorgeous--sort of Viking meets new age meets druid. Go if you get the chance!
Waterfire
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Cozy, Anyone?
This is a short week for me because I leave Wednesday to head to a XML/TEI workshop for my digital archive project. The workshop is in Providence, RI at Brown University. I guess I'll be staying in a dorm again. Hope it is air conditioned.In the meantime, I decided to work on a quick project: a tea cozy. I love a good pot of tea and recently found some lovely Irish tea at a specialty shop in town. I took the Knitty tea cozy pattern and modified it a bit. Here's the one side of the cozy:
Tea Cozy
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
I'm looking forward to using the cozy shortly.
In other weekend news, the child succumbed to some deranged dancing around the living room. Maybe she will like the dance class that she starts in the fall?
The Dance Drama Queen
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Welcome, Ginger!
Say hello to Ginger!
Ginger Front
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
And the best part of Ginger? The back, of course.
Back of Ginger
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Notice that I'm standing in front of the new truck. Nothing says Texas more than a girl with a truck... I think I'm becoming acculturated!
Since I washed the Rowan Summer Tweed it has become much softer. This was lots of fun to knit and, of course, to wear! I'm down to the last three pieces of summer knitwear.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Summer Knitting, revisited
I would like to point out my little sidebar list that helps me keep track of my knitting progress. Notice that there are only two projects left on the Summer Knitting List! Wow. I might actually finish all the planned summer knitting. I don't believe it.Monday, August 01, 2005
Weekend Fun
While I can't say that my weekend was relaxing, there are quite a few items to report!We finally broke down and bought a new truck:
New Truck
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
This is the new Nissan Frontier 4 door. Notice that Anna has decided that the back of the truck is really fun to play in! My husband's old truck had reached its limits--no ac, no windshield wipers, no real brakes. Plus, it didn't have a back seat to put a car seat in, which made us rely exclusively on my Honda CRV. I'm very pleased with the truck--now it just has to last at least 10 years!
I also finished the back of Ginger. She's blocking and will be sewn up during the week.
Blocking Ginger
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
And I did make a little detour to our LYS. I picked up a sock booklet (Socks! The next step) and a really pretty self patterning yarn from opal. This is Chameleon from the Opal Rain Forest Collection--see the opal site for how it works up. I'm still on a quest for the perfect sock...
Sock Yarn
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
