Dia de los Mayo?

Last fall I participated in a Day of the Dead swap on Ravelry. Due to rather unforeseen circumstances and life getting in the way of things, the girl who was sending to me never got a chance to get the package sent...

Until a few days ago. It arrived earlier today, and though the box was rather mangled, everything inside appears to have been completely intact. (Though I don't know if anything may have gone missing, since I don't know what all she included in the package.)

At any rate, what arrived is lovely.



Lots of yarny goodness (I am awaiting a response from her in regards to the yarn since there are no tags on any of them, though they all appear to be around sock-weight), a yellow 7-day candle with a gorgeous lady on it, some really cool Day of the Dead magnets, an equally cool Day of the Dead pin, and lots of skull lollipops (which have been confiscated by the girls).

My next blog post will most likely also be swap related, as I am currently in yet another Malabrigo Swap, because I just cannot get enough of that wonderful yarny goodness.

Favorite Color Swap - received!

Today brought the arrival of my package from the Favorite Color Swap 3. My sender, Sandy, AKA Hockeymom Knits was wonderful - very communicative throughout the contest, and she picked some wonderful goodies for me.



Let's see...

• Malabrigo chunky in Olive (I am almost positive I know what I want to make with this already)
• two balls of Rowan Pure Wool DK in Port (beautiful color, think I may have a project in mind for this too)
• Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's newest book, and it's signed to me too! I don't know if the wonderful Yarn Harlot is planning a stop in Pittsburgh this year or not, if she is, now I won't have to wait in line to have her sign a copy of this for me like I did last year.
• Aura Cacia Lavender body cream (I am hoping I can use it, I recently discovered a sensitivity to lavender essential oil, but with it in a cream instead of neat, I may be ok with it.)
• two endangered species milk chocolate bars (oddly, with one of my totem animals, an otter, on the wrapper)

I seriously love everything. You did a wonderful job, Sandy! Thank you!

ZomBunnie

I am participating in a non-fiber-related swap currently and the person I have for it (who happens to be a friend) loves zombies. It's only natural then that I should knit a zombie friend for her.

I heavily modified Katie Aaberg's Small Bunny (caution, pdf) pattern, which is a cute little pattern and is quite easy to follow (even when you aren't really following it at all).

I think the hardest part, other than knowing that eventually I will be giving him away, was trying to figure out how to give the little guy a ripped open and bloody bone exposed leg. Well, that and the dangly eye. Worsted weight yarn does not a good eye make... thankfully I had appropriate colors of sock yarns in the stash for his eye.



Die, ZomBunnie, Die.

Sixth Socks

My 6th pair of knitted socks are complete. The interesting thing about these socks is that it is the first pair I've knitted for myself. I've done three pair of socks for the Hogwarts Sock Swaps (all three in Ravenclaw book colors), one pair for Sage (that sadly didn't survive their first washing, which I completely blame on the yarn), and one pair for Harley. And finally, I have my first pair of made by me for me socks.

It's not visible in the first photo, but there's some lower calf shaping going on in these, thanks to my well-developed legs.



The above photo is from just after I finished the first sock, in which the shaping is visible.

I started off with Cookie A's Baudelaire pattern, but quickly decided that I am not a fan of lace, especially for socks. So I changed it to a basic 3x2 ribbing. Still kept the stitch count and the toe-up gusset and heel, and they worked out quite nicely, though I am still going to experiment with other toe-up heels.

The yarn is what was left of the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Cedar... after I finished my gloves I still had more than one full skein of the yarn left. Since the skeins weren't an identical match, I split the remaining yarn equally in half and worked toe-up, starting first with the partial skein's yarn, then switching to the full skein's yarn. The switch is about an inch after the ribbing starts on both socks, and it's only really noticeable if you know it is there. Which now everyone does.

Next socks on the agenda for me... Firestarter (it's a pdf, just to warn you). Alas, they may have to wait a bit until I make another pair for Sage since she keeps trying to steal these.

Hogwarts Sock Swap 3 - package arrived!

Look at all the goodies that arrived today! Ahem... I forgot to put one very important skein of yarn in the photo... whoops! Not pictured in the above photo is a beautiful skein of Malabrigo Lace in Forest... so soft, so pettable, so pretty. How on earth could I have forgotten it?

Included in this package were so many goodies, I don't know how my pal Ana got everything to fit into the box. She did an amazing job on the socks, Monica Jines's Triple Twist Socks...



They fit perfectly and the yarn she used, vanCalcar Acres Jennifer's FlockSock Sock Yarn, is very sot and squishy and my feet are quite happy right now.

Other than the socks and Malabrigo Lace, she also sent lots of other yummy yarns - two skeins of Brown Sheep's Wildfoote in Rock 'n Roll (Harley fell in love with the bright rainbow colors, I have a feeling this will end up as socks for her), Elann's Sock it to Me Colori in a wonderfully bright colorway (of which I cannot locate a name, only a color number, which happens to be 33), Some Sugar 'n Cream in Beach Ball Blue, which is possibly one of the few colors of theirs that I have really liked but never bought (and now I have some so I can make something other than boring off-white dishcloths the next time I feel like making one which will probably be soon since a lot of ours are holey). There was plenty of non-yarny goodness in there too... the Fawkes sock pattern from the late Gigi Silva, a very nice old-world style journal, The Magic Loop book and a 40" US1 Addi Turbo circular needle (since I mentioned wanting to learn magic loop for socks, and now I can!), two little packets of Soak in citrus and sola - very excited about trying these scents, the one Soak I tried in the past was lovely and I bet these are as well, a wee little soap bar from Biggs & Featherbelle and a very cute card with knitted socks on the front.

Thank you Ana! I love my goodies!

MmmSushi and other Malabrigo goodness

I love sushi. Alas, it's been a while since we've been able to go out to a Japanese restaurant to enjoy it (buying take-out sushi from Whole Foods, while yummy, doesn't count).

When I was working on my Mr. Greenjeans (it's done, a photo is included at the bottom of this post) I was contemplating things to do with the leftover yarn, should there be any. It happened that there was around 1/2 of a skein left, so first, I made a hat for Chris (The Boy Hat, which is a simple ribbed hat with awesome decreases).



And then I had probably around 20 yards of yarn left, which isn't really enough to do much with, except possibly seaweed, which it was the perfect color for. So with that and other yarns from my stash (white Cascade 20, as white, two different pinks and green; Lion Wool, as red; and Elsebeth Lavold Cable Cotton in Straw for the chopsticks), the knitted sushi was born. I still have a bit of the Vaa left, so I may make a few more pieces, but I am out of pink Kool-Aid since I only dyed a little bit of the white yarn as needed, so if I do make more it will have to be once I restock my Kool-Aid for more fishy goodness.

And since I said I'd post the Mr. VaaJeans photo, here it is, with a photo that I am not entirely happy with but it suffices for now...



And it's button, a beautiful sea glass piece I got on Etsy...

Happy Easter!

We are not a family of traditionalists. We don't really celebrate Easter or Christmas, though both myself and my husband grew up in families that did. We've tried to raise our children to be accepting of all faiths, and we do our best to celebrate the more traditional Pagan holidays, though they do still get Christmas gifts from the grandparents and aunts and uncles, etc.

Anyway, they got baskets (knitted and felted by me in the last two days, using up 4 skeins of yarn from my stash that had otherwise been in there for eternity since I could not otherwise find a use for them - two were from the Spin to Knit swap last year, one was leftover from my first felted bag, the last, some Cascade 220 Heathers that I got in a swap ages ago). One basket didn't make the cut, there just wasn't enough yarn and I should have modified my "pattern" (in quotes because I was making it up as I went) but didn't, and it came out horridly floppy, though a second felting did help it some, but it is still way too small.

But I didn't start this post intending for it to be about the baskets, but rather, one lucky winner of a blanket. And the winner is... Knit-R-Done! Thanks to everyone who commented, I wish I had more blankets to give away!

And on a closing note, the pre-felting photo from the first two baskets...

Random photo and a give-away!

I picked up a huge lot of straight needles yesterday while out, and I loved this photo of them all scattered about.

Anyway, this post just happens to be number 100 in my blog! Woo! I mentioned a few posts back that I'd be doing a contest of sorts, but it's more of just a random give-away, since I suck at thinking of unique ideas for contests. To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post before March 22nd at 11:59PM eastern daylight time (so just before midnight on the day before Easter). If you want to get creative with your reply, feel free, but it won't earn you a better chance at winning something. ;)

So... what am I giving away, you ask? Well, that's a mighty fine question. After months of hesitation, I finished the log cabin baby blanket that I had previously posted about here, but I changed my mind about who the recipient was to be, since it (to me) came out looking rather girly. It's very springy, though, and really could work for either a boy or a girl, but you can be the judge of that...



Isn't it lovely? And it can be all yours! It's somewhere around 25" by 26", so not quite square, made with Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (a cotton/acrylic blend), so it's soft and snuggly, and machine washable too! So if you are an expectant mom or a new mom, or know someone who is, and you'd like this for yourself or your friend, just comment on this post and I'll pick a winner on Easter Sunday. Make sure you comment in such a way that I can get in touch with you, whether you leave an email address or link to your blog or your ravelry username.

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

I was going to have my next post be progress from my Mr. VaaJeans, but then I forgot about the Favorite Color Swap, so instead it's questionnaire time...

1. What are your top three favorite colors?
Right now (and for the past 5-6 years or so, so it's unlikely to change anytime soon) my favorite colors are olive green, deep burgundy (almost blood red) and deep rich plum. If I had to list five instead of three the other two added to the list would be black and silver.

2. What crafts do you really enjoy?
I knit, I sew, I take photographs, I dabble a little in other things too... I've painted, though not recently (and most likely all of my paints are dried up, but they are inaccessible at the present time), and recently attempted wire-wrapping (though not very successfully - I need more practice on that I think).

3. What products do you really covet?
Other than Malabrigo, and a remote for my camera, I've been coveting assorted watch parts (gears and the like) to try my hand at some SteamPunk inspired items. For the most part though I don't covet much... usually if I want something, I get it.

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things?
Watching dvds - we don't have cable and seldom watch tv, so we have a fairly large dvd collection. I also enjoy thrift store shopping, because you never know what you find when you browse a thrift store.

5. Is there anything you collect?
I have a wonderful vintage camera collection, though I've not seen most of it in a good 6 years due to it being packed away in boxes. I also collect vintage darkroom supplies - amber bottles, glass funnels, etc., though not nearly to the extent of the cameras. I love old skeleton keys and unusual silver spoons too.

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol?
I am a Leo, as well as a water rat. I don't feel like a typical Leo in most senses, I tend to be fairly introverted and timid.

7.What are your favorite…

…scents/smells?
Coconut, vanilla, and lavender would have to be high on this list, though artificial scents almost always bother my sinuses, so anything scented has to be done so with natural essential oils.

…types of music and/or bands?
I love Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Johnny Cash, Melissa Etheridge, Sinead O'Connor, Reverend Horton Heat, Social Distortion, and Minsitry. I've most likely forgotten another 50 bands/musicians that I really like as well, and my tastes are wildly varied, as long as it's not hip-hop, rap, country or pop I usually at least like it.

…authors?
Neil Gaiman and Poppy Z. Brite are my two favorite authors, and I've read almost everything they have both written. I do like a lot of the teen fantasy type books that have become popular in recent years, though I don't read nearly as much as I used to.

…animals?
Cats. I do not really have a list of favorite animals, but I do like animals of all sorts.

…places to shop?
Other than thrift stores? I love Joseph Beth bookstores, REI, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, our local food co-op, and to some extent Target. For yarny goodness, Natural Stitches in Pittsburgh is awesome.

…season?
Autumn. When the leaves are first starting to change, yet it is still warm with only a slight chill in the air.

…yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies?
I already mentioned Malabrigo in my covets, I love the Merino Worsted yarn in the kettle-dyed colors. I also really like Louet Gems Pearl and the indie dyers who use it as a base yarn. I have enough fabric to mast me a decade or more, but I love funky skully printed cottons. I don't do much with paper crafting, and I don't expect anyone to buy me any accessories for my Nikon D40x, so that covers my craft favorites.

…candies or goodies?
The Swiss milk chocolate from Trader Joe's is wonderful, but I really love milk chocolate Wilbur Buds (google it if you've never had the pleasure of living in Lancaster County, PA where they are made). Good creamy smooth milk chocolate from almost anywhere always makes me happy, as do yummy fruity hard candies. I've become addicted to the Nori Maki rice crackers from Trader Joe's too. I am fairly open to all sorts of candies and foodie items as long as they are free of high fructose corn syrup.

8. Do you have any wish lists?
Yep, I've got a few on Amazon. This is the main one, though I do have several others, which are hopefully linked as well on the left sidebar.

9. Are you allergic to anything?
Other than the already mentioned artificial fragrances, which isn't an allergy so much as a severe sensitivity, and the high fructose corn syrup, I have no allergies.

10. Do you have any pets? What are they?
We currently have one older (or should I just say old since he's close to 17 years old?) black cat named Shadow, we recently had to have our guinea pig put to sleep due to a tumor, and our girls want a dog. Personally, I'd prefer cats only, though.

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy. Also, if you have a Ravelry ID, please include it here.

I am blackrayne on Ravelry, and I cannot currently think of anything else to add to this last bit, though I will update it if I do.

Editing because I just remembered that I also wanted to mention that I have a public favorites list on etsy, my username there is also blackrayne ... I have favorite items and sellers there, though I've yet to buy much of anything there for myself, most of my prior purchases have been stitch markers for other swaps and I'd love to finally get some of my favorite ones for myself.

Are you pondering what I am pondering...

It's been a while since I did any self-portraits - I have become horridly self-conscious about how I look in photos, and I find that 99% of the photos of me I dislike were not taken by me. Coincidence? I think not.

Of course, you can't see much of me in the above photo, but you can see the important part, and that is my gloves. I *finally* have fingerless gloves. When the weather is starting to turn more spring-like.

Pattern - Marnie MacLean's Hooray for Me Gloves
Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Cedar, less than one skein (as a rough estimate, approx. 175 yards of the skein were used)
Needles - KnitPicks nickle plated DPNs, US2.0 for the cast on, US1.5 for everything else
Modifications - my gauge is tighter than the pattern's listed, and my hands are most likely bigger than Marnie's, so I cast on a total of 66 stitches per glove and modified the number of stitches per finger to suit my needs. The pinky was done first and then I added extra rows to the other three fingers to fit my hand shape. I did a purl bind off to prevent rolling and to give them a nice finished look at the fingers.

I still have one full skein plus the remaining bit from this skein left of this yarn, I am going to be working on toe-up socks for me to use up the rest of it since this is part of my stash knit down (even though this yarn has only been in my stash a short time since I had swapped some other sock yarns for it and a bunch of Cascade 220).

Next post - progress on my Mr. VaaJeans continues nicely.

Malabrigo March...

There is a group on Ravelry called Malabrigo Junkies. They have declared it to be Malabrigo March (or at least, it will be in a few hours).

I am only planning one Malabrigo knit in honor of this month, and it will be Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty's Fall, 2007 issue. I've taken to calling mine Mr. VaaJeans, in honor of the lovely colorway I am using. It all started with the
Malabrigo Swap. I fell in love with this yarn and had to have more. Thankfully, the yarn shop that my pal got it from still had some of the same dye lot, and she picked it up for me and sent it, along with one amazing skein of the Vaa laceweight.



Isn't that gorgeous? I have tentative plans for it already too. I may just turn into a lace knitter one of these days.

Anyway. Back to the Mr. VaaJeans. I wound my 6 skeins the other night with my ball winder and make-shift TinkerToy swift (I either need a more complete set of TinkerToys or a real swift, but that is another story), and did my half-assed swatch yesterday.



OMG. Look at those colors. I am almost wishing today wasn't a Leap Day just so it'd be March 1st instead so I can cast on this amazing beauty.

As a side note, this is my 97th blog post. Post number 100 will be a contest for a gift of hand-knitted baby goodness. More details will come soon.

198 Countries Peace Project...

I came across the 198 Countries Peace Project earlier on Ravelry, and am posting this partly as a reminder to myself, but also as a request for others to join as well.

The original blog post about this project is here, it has a link to the country list in it as well if anyone else wants to sign up. Be sure to check the comments before committing to a country, I noticed a few countries hadn't been updated on the list to their taken status.

I have claimed Iceland and the Netherlands - both are red, white and blue, and fairly simple designs. I have no specific affinity with either country (though I am pretty sure somewhere in my heritage there are traces of the Netherlands), but I think it's a great idea for a project and I am looking forward to helping in it's construction.

I am thinking we may have to finally plan a trip to Columbus, Ohio when it is on display too - we've been wanting to visit, and it's not that far of a drive, and it'd be great to see the project when it is completed.

Harley's socks

I finished Harley's socks, but forgot to post about them here.

I am still in awe of how the yarn knitted up, with it's swirling striping and twisting turns. The second one (on her left foot) knitted up very differently in the last 2 inches, and though they are identical in length, and the yarn was divided exactly in half, I had less than a yard left from the first one and close to 10 yards left from the second. I suppose that isn't a bad thing, as I can use it if they ever need repairs (knowing her tendency to wear through store-bought socks, I suspect that there will be repairs in the future).



She loves her socks, and is already asking for more. Maybe after I make some for myself, which I have yet to do.

SKB - complete with a photo

As posted the other day, my Simple Knitted Bodice is finished. The Berroco Comfort, being a machine washable and dryable yarn, got put to the test immediately after weaving in the last end, and though it fuzzed a bit in the dryer, it came out beautifully... super soft and squishable with little to no shrinkage. I wore it to the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival, and got several compliments on it, mostly from shop owners, though a few from random people as well.

When another knitter or crocheter stops you to compliment your work, it is a wonderful feeling indeed.

I definitely will be making this pattern again, probably in a more delicate yarn. I love this pattern, from how simple it was to follow (and modify), to how elegant the finished result is.

SKB v2.0 update and random thoughts

I have been busy knitting away on my Simple Knitted Bodice and haven't bothered doing any photographic documentation of the progress. The body is finished, as is the neckline (which came out wonderfully this time), and the first sleeve is within 3" of being done.

I am hoping to have it finished by Saturday, as I'd really like to wear it to the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival this weekend. I do not know if I will have it done though... my hands are a bit sore today from having done the majority of the first sleeve yesterday (I started yesterday halfway through the lace inset, and stopped yesterday about 10" later).

I am really looking forward to the festival - I didn't go last year, as we had just moved here and I not only didn't know about it, but we were also very strapped for cash after the move. I don't really need more yarn (though I do want to get more Malabrigo merino worsted in Vaa to go with what I got in the swap on Ravelry), nor do I really need any knitting accessories or anything. But... I am hoping to pick up a few random things for my Malabrigo swap pal (I have almost everything ready for her, but I am hoping to find that one last finishing touch to add to the package) and my Hogwarts Sock Swap 3 pal. And maybe I will find something positively irresistible for myself as well.

My next post should have a photo or two in it. And maybe it won't take me another two weeks to post again.

Edited to mention that the black background/light gray text was really getting old, so now it's reversed. Much easier on the eyes, I think.