~ mark my words ~
This weekend, I gathered up some of my best mates and we all hiked Corralls. I knew that it was supposed to be on the chilly side of things, but was a little surprised when it started snowing on us. It was very pretty. None of us had dressed for snow, however, and we all became wet and freezing. We hiked for two hours, long enough for some of us to feel the need for a comforting beer to warm the soul. Which we then procured at a local brewery, along with some yummy food items.
Over the weekend, I also managed to bind off my scarf/shawl thing. Many of you will be shocked to find out that I actually blocked it. I must not be feeling well, because as you all know, I am normally way too lazy to block my knitted pieces. But let me tell you, blocking sure did wonders for finishing up this particular piece. shocking.
In other thrilling knews, I have cast on for 'Vivian' which I wrote you all about. I really must not be feeling well, and my aberrant behavior does not end with blocking...on my Vivian, I actually checked my guage. I ask you, what is up with me??? Whatever it is, progress on Vivian is coming along nicely. I've thought about taking a progress photo to show it off, but haven't. It's knitting up pretty quickly in the Pastaza. I sense that my version will be quite a bit different than the pattern intent - - the yarn is much heavier, which lends itself to my vision of a jacket than mere jumper, and the yarn is much fuzzier which will yield an entirely different look. But, I am confident that the finished piece will turn out fantastic.
~ yummy delicious ~
Greetings, interwebbers. As promised, an update on my wild and thrilling knitting adventures.
Tweedy Waistjacket
Pattern: Top-down seamless raglan (Barbara Walker)
Pattern Inspiration: Tweedy Waist Coat (Deborah Newton, Interweave Knits Fall 2008)
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tween (approx. six balls)
Needles: US 6, US 3
This project went through several incarnations, mainly the result of my failure to embrace my knitting preferences. While I realize that there is no "right" way to knit, as I have written MANY times, I prefer seamless over piece knitting. Previously, I cast on for the Tweedy Waistcoat because it seemed the perfect project for the Jo Sharp yarn. Unfortunately, my mental faculties failed me at the moment of cast on, and I knitted the project as the pattern dictated, in pieces. I had done some, what I thought was, meticulous measuring to ensure the pieces, when seamed together, would form a garment that would fit me well. In reality, after I knit the entire thing and seamed it all together, the finished project looked horrendous. And so, I unravelled the entire project.
Over the course of a weekend, I sat down with a pen and paper and sketched out variations of the Tweedy Waistcoat design. I ultimately decided to go with the basic raglan cardigan and the colorwork motif at the bottom. Given that my last three major projects, Inishfern, the Ruffled Jacket, and Iceland, were...umm, incredibly fabulous but also a bit wonky, I decided to knit up a more basic piece. My Tweedy Waistjacket is basic with some colorwork for added interest and fits well and comfortably. Honestly, I haven't been this pleased with a project for some time. It may be less fabulous than my other recent cardigans, but I am confident that I will wear it with greater regularity. I've had the opportunity to wear it several times since finishing it, and it is wonderful - - so cozy and warm, and it has a very comfortable fit. I am delighted.
The colorwork at the bottom alters the tension which provides a slight 'sinching effect. This style of cardigan, fastened at the breastal area and open going down, I find to be flattering for a variety of body shapes and sizes. The substantive yarn yields a cardigan that is more 'jacketty'. Most recently, I decided to add an i-cord button ring as the fastening mechanism (photo above). It may fail to surprise you that my opinionatedness extends all the way down to buttonholes. Indeed, buttonholes have caused me great disappointment in the past and I am having good luck with their alternatives. The i-cord button loop may become my fastening mechanism of choice, for reasons which I might describe ad nauseum in a later post.
Latvian Mitten, Kurzeme 108 & 111
Pattern: Kurzeme Charts 108 & 111, from Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis.
Yarn: Kauni Effektgarn 8/2 & Recycled Angora
Needles: US 1
This has been a very enjoyable project - - the colorwork is great fun. I fashioned a highly improvised thumb gusset that proved quite tricky to incorporate into the colorwork. I changed my mind several times about what I wanted to do with the thumb and so there's a significant amount of wonkiness. Learning by doing is the most effective way for me to "plan and improve" and I've now got a plan for how to knit the thumb for the second mitten and am excited to see how it works. But even if it doesn't work, I am not a perfectionist and as long as the result is a mostly-attractive mitten that fits well and is comfy and cozy, then I will be more than satisfied. Also, I'm still a novice stranded knitter, so expecting that I will achieve perfection in a new and complicated skill is unreasonable anyway.
Okay, the yarn for these... The green is an angora yarn that I recycled from a thrift store sweater and the purple is Kauni. I'd like to mention that I bought the Kauni (two HUGE balls of Kauni) significantly discounted from a Ravelry user - - the interwebs are so handy! The fiber combination of the two yarns has resulted in being very very warm and also very soft - - the angora balances the Kauni nicely.
Frost FanScarf
Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Simply Shetland Silk & Lambswool
Needles: US 3
A few weekends ago was the public Library's annual booksale. To say that I was "excited" about procuring a copy of Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace for $4 would be an extreme understatement. This is a book which I probably would have never bought 'for real' because lace is really scary. I've experienced enough 'ugh's with lace in my knitting career that it would be ludacris for a crappy lace knitter like myself to buy an entire book devoted to the terrifying act of lace knitting. But used at the library booksale, it was an awesome purchase. Even though at the time of purchase, I had the above two projects on my needles and did not need to have a third project to work on, sure to my form I cast on for a lace scarf. The pattern is a variation of the frost flowers stitch pattern (changed the repeat) and I will be adding a garter stitch feather and fan metered edging in a contrasting yarn.
Upcoming projects....
Pattern: Selbu Modern
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino
When I saw the pattern for Selbu Modern (a free download), I loved it. As I have watched the project photos come through Ravelry, I continue to be impressed with how pretty and cute this hat is, and the overwhelmingly postive comments about the pattern have reinforced my desire to knit this up. Last weekend, a sale at a local yarn shop allowed me to procure, at almost half price, several skeins of Koigu Premium Merino in some fantastic colorways. The only thing that is keeping me from casting on for the Selbu Modern is deciding which color combination to use. At the moment, I'm thinking of the green/green combo with some of the magenta added in small amounts.
Pattern: Vivian
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza
Last week, as you all know, the winter edition of the Twist Collective came out. I must say, I have been very excited and impressed by the designs in this publication. I realize that they are likely wanting to kick off the first two issues with a bang, but wow, in my mind they put Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting to shame. In fact, the preview for the winter issue of the former magazine became available last week, and as I scanned it, all I could think was "Boring!"
In all honesty, I find myself increasingly disappointed by sweater patterns because of how much modification I end up doing (see above, unravelling the Tweedy Waistcoat). As a result, I've made a promise to myself to seek out patterns that are more in tune with my knitting preferences. The love I felt when I first viewed Vivian was great - - it might very well be my dream fitted cabled hoodie, but when I read the construction notes and discovered that the pattern is seamless, I was overjoyed. This is a pattern I could really get behind!
I spent some time over the weekend doing yarn research and contemplating my version of Vivian. I'm thinking of making it slightly more 'jacketty' and employing a loftier and more substantive yarn, namely Cascade Pastaza. This will be my first adventure into the world of llama blends. And instead of the zipper, I'm planning on fashioning some i-cord button rings (see above, fastening mechanism of choice).
~ autumn outdoors ~
Per the obvious, I've fallen out of blogging, something I hope to rectify post haste. I've got lots of exciting knitting adventures to share with you, but that will have to wait for the next post (and I'm certain you will all be waiting on pins and needles to read all about my knitting!). Right now, I'd like to recount a few outdoor adventures and direct your attention to my view that nature can offer some lovely scenery.
Swan Falls, Snake River Canyon
Several weekends ago, Josh and I treked over to Swan Falls to explore the area on our mountain bikes. While it wasn't the greatest bike ride of all time, it was a beautiful day. The trail we rode was not in the best condition for bikes, mainly because the area has cattle grazing (a lot of cattle grazing, as I inferred from the quantity of manure and cow-prints), but I had some fun moments pretending I was a moo-cow and riding along the cattle-made paths. Also, I am deathly allergic to sage brush, but I think it is a very pretty high desert plant variety and the area was covered in sage brush. At some point, we pretty much gave up on the trail and turned back. We rode our bikes along the dam and crossed to the other side of the river, where we noted a trail in better condition (which we wished we had noticed at the beginning of the adventure). We also read some of the placards about the history of Swan Falls and then loaded into the car to return to town. On the drive back, we took a bit of a detour over to Kuna Cave. I'm not a fan of enclosed dark places, so spelunking has never been appealing to me. Also, we were wearing inappropriate footwear and had no flashlight, so we did not go down, but we saw the mouth of the cave and then turned around. All in all, there was some beautiful outdoor scenery that we experienced that day.
It is almost mid-November and Josh and I are still riding our bikes. The chilly temperatures are not keeping us away from the trails, nor is the darkness. I recently bought a new front light for my bike because we keep getting caught after dark riding on the trails. It's so hard to change one's ways when the sun goes down by 6:00. Last week we rode Hulls and Trail 5, getting caught in the dark right at the end both rides, and then on Saturday we rode Three Bears. Granted, we've been putting in more time at the gym, but I think it's so awesome that we're still going mountain biking in November and am hoping to keep it up as long as possible.
Orchard Trail
Saturday was a good physical activity day. In addition to riding Three Bears, we also went on a nice hike up Orchard Trail. We were biologists and discovered some gross varieties of insects, including a huge disgusting spider that we think was a brown recluse. Yuck! But it was lovely up in the hills and I took a few pretty photos.
~ thrilled and dismayed ~
In all honesty, this past election has proven bittersweet for me. On the one hand, I am thrilled! So excited and happy! Much has already been written from those who are delighted at the results of the Presidential election, and I would like to echo that and say "ditto." DI-TTO!. It is clear that we have gotten ourselves into a world of poo-poo, my political heart has been broken over and over, but I am joyful to report that I am confident in President-Elect Obama. Not necessarily confident that he will be able to fix everything and make it better, but confident that he is a fit, capable, qualified, and inspiring leader for my country. I would also like to report that I am thrilled that Idaho has elected its first Democratic Congressperson in 16 years. This is significant for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it came out of Idaho's most conservative congressional district. I admit that I was a bundle of nerves watching the Minnick (D) - Sali (R) race. It would be something of an understatement to describe Sali (who, I should mention for those unaware, was the incumbant) as a pigheaded, arrogant, idiot-crazy, horrible jerk. In fact, I believe while Sali was serving in our State Legislature, the Speaker of the House was quoted by the media describing him as such. As I exist on the FAR FAR FAR liberal side of the political spectrum, it is not unusual for me to be disappointed in the politics of Idaho. And 'disappointed' doesn't quite capture my feelings of disgust and horror on the matter. The Minnick-Sali race made me feel so nervous and I had been following it very closely. I began to feel a solid glimmer of hope last week when Daily Kos called the race a 'toss up'. But in all my anxiety, there were the local and regional leftist political blogs that kept me from losing my mind. Of note, a big thanks to the Mountain Goat Report for their regular musings on CD1 and offerings of Sali-gems. I was going to pull some of my favorites to share with you, but oh, there are so many! There's the one where he opposed Hindu prayer in the Senate because Athiest hospitals aren't on par with Christian hospitals (hahahahaha! - - oh Bill, you make my day!). Then the one where he tried to argue that children without health insurance isn't a big deal (eesh!, but hah!...you're killing me, Bill!). It's really scary that this arrogant idiot-fuck was elected to the State Legislature multiple times and then went on to serve in Congress (and during his productive time there, introducted a piece of legislation to ban gravity...FTW, Bill give me a break), but it should be a testament to my total lack of faith in the electorate's critical thinking skills that I was seriously worried that the arrogant idiot-fuck would be re-elected. And the scary thing is that he lost by a very narrow margin. But instead of allowing myself to be scared of all the crazy in my state, I'm going to reflect and feel hopeful at the growing number of people here who have critical thinking skills, and who employ them when making decisions. Yay, critical thinking skills!!!
On the other hand, I am pretty dismayed, disappointed, and disgusted by the number of discriminatory propositions that passed throughout the country. I find it interesting that while the country celebrates the election of the first African American to the Presidency, that so many people feel they have the right to deny equality to so many and to tell people who they can and cannot love. These hateful and bigoted attitudes have cast a big shadow over what might have been a reason to celebrate, and I am absolutely DISGUSTED. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes and I would like to extend a big FUCK YOU to those who supported the discriminatory and hateful policies. Since these passed, I've been giving more thought to how much I despise religion and I am so SICK AND TIRED of policies that are based on some people's religious values dictating how other people conduct the most personal aspects of their personal lives. I am absolutely flabbergasted that so many people cannot accept the fact that all people are not the same. Some people are gay, get over it.
