Knitting resumed!

My wrists have sufficiently healed to let me sew and knit again! Yay! The craft room is still a mess, so I've only sewn some napkins for a friend, but I managed to finished some socks I started a couple of months ago.

Yarn - Sock Hop yarn in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Pattern - my own, generic 56 stitch cast on sock

I've been coveting this yarn ever since I saw it on January One. I might be a little late to the game, but these are the squishiest, funnest socks I've made. I love the fact that the striping changes almost every row.


I've also finished a sweater that had been languishing a while, just need Rob to take some photos... I'm trying to finish up some UFO's before I get started on anything new... and do I have a ton of UFO's! So embarrassing. So to completely change the subject, let's talk about the cats!

They've really enjoyed the new place, even if Unki keeps crashing into the walls because of the hardwood floors. They love to sit in the windows and enjoy the fresh spring breezes.


Speaking of spring, there are mystery flowers everywhere I look! Is this an iris?


To round out the randomness of this post, I wanted to share how big Unki has gotten over the past three years.

This is when we first got him. So cute! So small!

And this was last week.

No wonder my wrists hurt!

Brightening my week

Many little things have happened this week that have just made me feel quite happy. First, Rob sent me an email asking me to make him a pen case. Now, when we were in Japan, land of thousands of pen cases, I kept asked Rob if he needed one. He kept saying no. Now that we're in the land of very few pen cases, he needs one! I was annoyed at first, but then I was excited to try to come up with something with my box or scraps. And this is what I made.


It's brown linen from my dress on the last post, along with various scraps from different projects. I really like it! I did the same pattern on both sides and used bias tape to bind up the inside seams, Japanese style. Rob liked it too, which made me happy.

I've been needed a case for my glasses for quite a while. Flush with my pen case success, I decided to make a felt zipper case, cobbled together from two patterns from this book.


I'm happy that my embroidery has improved.


Rob suggested I put on a little loop on the end. I stamped it with a stamp I got in Japan quite a few years ago - Mari is a common name in Japan and it makes me happy whenever I see products with my name. :)


And.... I finished a knitting project!

Yarn - Piece of Beauty Sock yarn, Red Bark
Pattern - My own

This was one of my Japan trip projects. I have to say, this is one of my favorite sock yarns ever to knit with. So soft, easy to knit with, great colors. Kirsty dyes her yarn with short color changes so pooling is minimized.

I think this yarn would be great for a pattern like Pomatomus or Monkey socks from Knitty.

Now, I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but recently two people said nice things about my crafting that just was the icing on my week. Yesterday, my mom forwarded me an email from her boss, who took a look at our trip entries. Not only did she enjoy seeing our trip, but she said very nice things about my crafting. So sweet!

This morning I was wandering around the Linnet website and found Mayumi Maeda's blog. She wrote a little something about my visit to her store here - she said my bird monk's bag was so nicely designed she thought I was a product designer! Wow!

And last, but definitely not least, thank you all so much for your wonderful comments. Every time I see the comments it makes me incredibly happy. I've said it before, I'm a glass-half-empty kind of gal. I look at my work and I see the flaws. But blogging takes me out of my negative brain space and makes me proud of my work. So, thank you my blogging friends!!!! You make everyday so much sunnier!

Returning to the world of the living

I finally finished student teaching on Friday. Yippee! It was so much fun but I was super busy through the entire 12 weeks. Now I just have to write four more papers and I'm done with school. Now, just to find a job...

I had some time to finish knitting too.


Yarn - Sundara Worsted Merino in Smattered, 1 and 3/4 skeins
Pattern - Magknits Short Row Rib Scarf, size 8 needles (5.0 mm)

Love, love, love this scarf! The yarn went perfectly with the pattern. As I've said before, the yarn is great to work with. Sproingy (is that a word?), soft, and the colors are fantastic.

It's hard to get the details but the colors just blend right into one another. I think this is a great pattern if you want to avoid pooling. I modified the pattern by making it garter stitch versus rib stitch. Other than that, I didn't make any changes.

My feet were happy too because I finished my

Yarn - Sundara Sock Yarn in Acid Daffodil, 2 skeins
Pattern - My own, 60-stitch 2x2 ribbed sock, size 1 needles

The skeins were almost identical, one had more green and the other more orange. The pooling almost matched on the second sock so I ended up with faux stripes on both socks. The socks are so soft. The only issue I have (and it's my fault, not the yarn) is that they are a little loose. I've realized that my small feet will be my downfall if I make any socks that aren't stockinette or ribbed.

I've also joined a knitalong.

The knitalong is here, and there are plenty of people who are making this nice little sweater. I've decided to use some yarn I had in the stash, and although I don't really like the color (so why did I buy it?) I've started on the pattern.


Hopefully, I'll have a chance to clean the apartment, start on my Sew? I knit! bag, finish my papers, and find a teaching position in the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed!

Sock obsession and new sew-along project!

I've only really had time to knit socks lately, but I'm trying not to get second sock syndrome.


Yarn - Regia Jubilee in India, size 1 needles, 60 stitches cast on

Unki always shows up for the sock photo shoots! These might be my favorite socks yet. I really like the yarn, it feels sturdy and I think they'll last a long time. I've also gotten better at fit as well.

Of course I immediately cast on for a new pair.

This is Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch yarn. Another nice yarn, the sock is nice and squishy. But I'm having trouble completing the second sock. Tomorrow I'll show why!

Oh, and if you are interested in the next Sew? I Knit! project, it will be sewing a bag, which I have some experience in. Sign ups started today and will continue until Friday. Join us!

I'm back!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. School has been getting in the way of my knitting (the nerve!) as I've said many times before. But wait! Are those finished socks I see?


Socks for Rob in Trekking XXL, Color 90

I finished these socks for Rob. Yippee! Strike up the band! He says they are comfy and the right size. The striping is just lovely on the socks.

Purty!

I also started a pair of socks for myself.

This is a pair in the infamous Regia Jubilee in India. I remember seeing this yarn on Felicia's blog and I loved them. The yarn has been sitting in my stash just crying to be knit.

Tomorrow I will post my completed skirt for the sewalong. Huzzah!

What a week!

This has been quite a week. First of all, yaiAnn, Stephanie, and I are THRILLED with the response we've gotten for the sew-along. Who'd of thunk there were so many knitters who wanted to sew? It should be a great experience for all of us.

Secondly, I started student teaching fifth grade on Monday. By Tuesday I was exhausted. My master teacher (the teacher who's room I'm in) is a very nice guy, which is great. Getting along with your master teacher is the most stressful part of the whole thing. Of course, there's such a difference between kindergarten and fifth grade that I feel I can't apply anything I learned last semester to this semester. They can actually ask questions! And have discussions! I'm going to be teaching all of the social studies and science classes starting this week - yipes!

I also had a bunch of extra classes and I'm studying for the RICA exam. Somewhere in the madness I managed to finish Jemima.


Pattern - Jemima by Amelia Raitte
Yarn - 9 balls of Elann's Peruvian Sierra Aran in walnut(?), less than 1 ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in burgundy, size 4.0 mm and 5.0 mm needles

I like the sweater and I loved knitting with the yarn but I could see how much better it would be in the yarn specified in the pattern, Cashsoft DK. The one thing I loved about the original sweater was the way it draped, and Sierra Aran is a little too thick for that. But, since this was a stash buster, I'm happy with the end product. The only modification I would make is to make the neck smaller, because I feel it's a little too loose. Of course, the true test of a pattern: would I make it again? Yes!

The pattern is straightforward and well written. I would rate it as a advanced beginner pattern, only because it doesn't talk about which decreases to use, seaming instructions, etc. But other than that it's a very easy pattern.

Knitting with the yarn is great, but there are strands of red and white that give it more of a heathered look. If it's sunny tomorrow I'll try to take a good close up photo of the sweater. After I blocked it, it became this great cohesive fabric and all of the stitches evened out. For the trim, I used some leftover yarn I had from this project. I really would have loved to do it in light blue but I thought I should work with what I had.

Rob and I have barely seen each other this week. He was snowboarding until Tuesday, was in Vegas on Wednesday (for work!), had some computer program training every night until 8:30 pm and all day Saturday, and today he went to ride roller coasters at Magic Mountain! He's had quite the week as well. So I knit him a sock.

This is Trekking XXL in color 90. Theresa just finished a pair for her husband in the same colorway. Her's seem to have a bit more pink than mine do, but I have to second her statement that it's a great yarn for a man. So I didn't party last weekend, I knit Rob a sock instead (when will I have time to finish the second one?)

Tension Headaches

Here in Lalaland, we get some pretty nice weather. However, it sometimes gets dry and windy. Like right now. Most of my life it hasn't bothered me but I ran out of my preferred allergy medication and I am a non-stop tissue-using-snot-making machine. I also get migraines when the dry weather coincides with Aunt Flo's visit (does anyone even use that term anymore?). So for the past few days I've been hopped up on caffeine, acetometophin, aspirin, and Allegra. Which leads to... tension problems.

I finished a pair of socks that I started... back in the beginning of December. Sidenote: this is why I need a blog. I never take notes on any of my projects. I have come to depend on my blog for any mods or dates or anything related to projects I have made. Handy!


My first sock, in Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Meadow.
I couldn't remember what colorway this was, so I looked it up on my blog. Thank you blog!
Isn't the sock purty? The colors are pooling a bit but in a very even way. I was so happy with the sock, but it took me a month and a half to finish the second one. I'm not sure why; I think I just got caught up in other projects.


I knitted this in the past couple of days while I was drugged and incoherent. Now look at the pooling around the ankle of this sock. I ended up with a big reddish section and a big green section. I was so lazy in knitting this sock my tension got looser and looser. By the time I realized what had happened I was kitchenering up the toe. Not the best time to rip back and knit it again. It doesn't fit well and it falls down my leg when I wear it.


Ah, my sad pair of socks. What shall I do with you? But wait!!! *running to kitchen*


I use Rob's kitchen scale WAY more than he does.


The good sock weighs 33 grams.


I have 41 grams of yarn left. Woo hoo! I'll just knit another one!

Maybe not the smartest option, but one that suits me just fine.

On other topics, I really, really wanted to join sockapalooza this time. But I'm starting student teaching on Monday and I didn't want to get too caught up in too many extra projects. I'll be teaching 5th grade... yipes! I did kindgergaten last semester so it'll be a big adjustment.

Jemima has a back, front, and one sleeve seamed together. I just need to do one sleeve and the collar. I think I'll finish it by next week. I want to take photos of it unblocked and blocked, just for reference.

Rob is going snowboarding this weekend in Colorado with his sister's family. I will be at home alone. Which means I'll miss Rob and end up making something for him. Or I'll invite people over and we'll trash the apartment and leave a mess for him to clean up. Which do you think I'll do??

Jaywalking is illegal in Los Angeles! Don't do it!

Thanks for all the comments on my White Castle post! As you could tell, we ate lots of good fattening food on the trip so we're spending the week "detoxing" - lots of healthy green food on the menu this week.

Angela asked:
Did you get any yarn?
Umm... nope. Mainly because I'm on a yarn diet and we didn't have time to go to any yarn stores. But I did finish one project.


Pattern - You all know it! Grumperina's Jaywalker Pattern
Yarn - Trekking XXL, Color 100

I jumped right onto the bandwagon and knit these socks. I think this is such a great pattern - easy to memorize, creates a fun pattern. I had this Trekking yarn in my stash and thought it would work. This is my first own pair of Trekking socks (I actually knit the other pair for my sister for Christmas) and I can't take them off. The yarn is a little splitty and it feels weird while knitting, but I love the end product.

I also worked on my Jemima sweater before I left on the trip. I've finished the back.

I'm using Elann's Peruvian Sierra Aran in... I can't remember the color but it's a dark brown heather. So far I love knitting with this yarn. It's soft and is easy on the hands. Once in a while I'll come across a long white or red strand (maybe it's the alpaca??), but for the most part I've had no problems with this yarn.

Crafty weekend take two

A couple of weekends ago I said I had a crafty weekend. This past weekend, we both did!

Saturday morning began with a visit to one of the projects that Rob's work is building. The house isn't done, and I don't think I'm allowed to show photos of the house, but here's the view from the pool:

The island out there is Catalina Island. It was one of the most clear and beautiful days I had even seen. I'm sorry there aren't more photos, Rob took them mainly of the house.

Geek alert! Geek alert! That afternoon, we went to the Star Wars Costume Exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise. It was really fun, they had a couple costumes from the first trilogy:

and from the most recent movie:


My favorite costumes were Emperor Palpatine's, but they were in a really dark room and hard to photograph. Another set of costumes I loved were the different queens of Naboo:

This was the one Keisha Castle-Hughes wore at the end of Revenge of the Sith. It's only on screen for a split second, but it's still very detailed and amazing.

I didn't realize that the costumes looked so kimono-ish. The exhibit is great, it's only 5 dollars and it ends this weekend, so if you're in the L.A. area, I highly recommend it.

On Sunday Rob had to work all day (boo hoo!) so I decided to use my new machine.


This is a little zippered-pouch I made from the same canvas and lining I used for my Madison bag. The pattern is from Craftster, and it's pretty easy. It's the first zipper I've sewed in and I must say, putting in lining hides a multitude of sins. While we were at the Star Wars exhibit, there was a scholarship store for the fashion institute, and Rob bought me a bag of buttons for a dollar. I used some for the design on my pouch.

I also went to Jo-anns and found some tweed fabric for this purse from one of my Japanese craft books.


Here's my version.

The handle isn't as wonky as it looks. I love this bag! I had a hard time sewing the round bottom of the bag, but the fabric, again, hides all my messy sewing.

Here it is next to my head for scale.

Have I forsaken knitting for sewing? Of course not!

This is a sock in Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Meadow. I've heard different things about this yarn, mostly good, so I was looking forward to knitting with it. For the most part, I really like it. It's so soft knitted up. But I think it wants to be knitted on smaller needles (I'm using a size 2) and I'm afraid that the yarn will be too thick for my tastes.

Phew! That was quite a entry. I don't anticipate doing much more craftiness this week, but I did buy some fabric from a kimono store. Maybe the sewing bug will hit me again!

A crafty weekend

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I had a nice birthday and a busy weekend. We saw Harry Potter yesterday and loved it. I was so drained afterwards I went home and immediately took a nap. On Saturday, we met up with my mom and my sister Yumi at the Japan Expo downtown. It wasn't very big, but I did buy a t-shirt there.


This is from a company called Spicy Brown. Rob and I are a big fan of cats and salmon sushi so I had to buy it. But will I have nightmares about eating sushi that turns into cats?

Since we were already in Downtown LA, we made a stop at the Garment District, where I stopped by Michael Levine, a big fabric store.

I bought some fabric for my first project on my birthday present... which was a learning experience.


Don't you love how I positioned the pattern to cover up the worst spots?
I made the "Uptown Bag" from the Amy Butler Madison Bag pattern. I think it turned out kind of wonky because I added a ton of interfacing to it. By the time I was sewing up the top, the machine was not happy. I didn't really know what I was doing. I thought about it and I think it would turn out better if the top of the bag was just sewn straight across, instead of the weird jog they have for the handles.


I love the fabric Rob helped me choose for the lining. It's chrysanthemums, my birthday month flower. I think I'm going to try to make a second bag with some modifications to help my non-existant sewing skills.

Of course, it wouldn't be a birthday weekend without a new knitting project.

I decided to make this hoodie in the fall issue of Vogue magazine. You know how sometimes you just want a project that is pretty simple that will use up some stash? This project fulfills both requirements.


I'm knitting this out of some handpaintedyarn.com merino that I bought a while ago. The color doesn't photograph well, but it's not as bright as in the photo.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and is able to spend it with loved ones. Gobble gobble!

Pride, prejudice, and trekking socks

This is my birthday week, so Rob let me pick a movie to go see this weekend. Being the anglophile that I am, I chose Pride & Prejudice. I really enjoyed it. Of course, Colin Firth is the ultimate Mr. Darcy, but there were touches to the movie that I really enjoyed. And Keira Knightley was pretty good! I can't wait until this weekend to see Harry Potter.


Pattern - Top down socks with short row heel and toe, 64 stitches on size 1 needles
Yarn - Trekking sock yarn, color 68

I really like these socks! So comfy and pretty. Knitting with this yarn is a little tricky though. The yarn is slippery and I would drops stitches once in a while. But I think it's worth it in the end. I had some small holes with my yarn-over short row heels and toes for the first sock, so for the second I switched to Sherman short rows. Success! I really like this technique. I just have to pay a little more attention when I'm going along because it's not as obvious where your turned stitches are.

Tomorrow? My lace leaf sweater!