Becky's Knitting

Well, it was down to the wire, but I earned my gold medal on Sunday and finished up Hopeful.  No pics yet - probably none until Tuesday night since I have handbells this evening.  I am so excited to have my first sweater completed, and more importantly, it fits!! 

I was surprised that instead of following the pattern exactly, I actually made several alterations turning this into a one of a kind piece.  From the picot hem bottom to the different tie knot that I came up with, I surprised myself.  I ended up doing the short sleeves instead of the cap sleeves.  Once I had the collar done, the cap sleeves DID NOT look right, but the short sleeves look great.  The final vote was 16-6 for short sleeves, so looks like I ended up agreeing with the majority even though I originally thought I would go with the cap sleeves.

Pictures coming soon - I promise!!

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Thursday night was the first monthly LSSK meetup.  I was the last to arrive due to coming from work, and boy was I surprised when I sat down and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me!!!  Laura baked a cake which was YUMMY and she bought me some tea - how sweet!  The first 2 pics are me and Laura and the third is my tasty meal.

Here's Vicki enjoying the cake.

Unfortunately Laura had to leave early, but once we had thoroughly enjoyed the cake, we took the time to take pictures of the attendees to share with the ladies in other parts of the state.  Here's Nancy and Vicki:

Joan Sr. helping Lynn with some crochet:

Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of Joan Jr. (she was shopping during photo time), but she brough a beautiful quilt that she was almost done with made of yo-yo's (I think that's what they're called).  It was so neat because although they were made of every color and all different fabrics, she arrange them to make it predominantly red and white and blue sections.  It was very cool.

I worked on Hopeful - trying to finish up by Sunday.  It's gonna be close.  We discussed the length of the sleeves and there still seems to be a lot of split opinions.  I'm hoping that once I'm done with the collar it will be obvious which looks better.

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My sister was supposed to fly in for her 21st birthday so I was planning for a very busy weekend.  But her flight out of San Diego got delayed due to weather in Newark (isn't it crazy how one side of
the country affects the other!?!?) and she wasn't going to be able to get in until 22 hours later so she decided to postpone until March.  I'm disappointed for her b/c she really wanted to celebrate her 21st on 6th St. in true Austin style, but I'm enjoying the cold weather excuse of holing up, watching the Olympics, and doing a lot of knitting. 

I finished the first sleeve on Hopeful yesterday and started the second.  But as I started, I realized I had misread the pattern on the first and it ended up being short sleeve length, not cap sleeve because I did too many short rows.  I decided to do the second sleeve as designed with the cap sleeve and then pick which one I liked better.  I finished the second one today and here's the results:

So, which length do you like better?  Click here for the poll.

I'm bummed because the Lone Star State Knitters are having a meetup in Buda in April and they chose April 21-22.  Unfortunately, the 22nd is Earth Day and almost definitely the date of a big
groundbreaking celebration I am coordinating for our newest wind farm outside of Amarillo.  Darn, I would've loved to have come.

The LLSK's have been discussing Knit Picks' Starburst Sweater that was shown on their latest newsletter.  We pretty much all love the back, but we hate the front - especially since many of us have large busts.  People have discussed altering it, but the description says the sweater is knit in the round starting in the center of the medallion and the thought of trying to modify that is very scary.  Is it even doable?

I need to get started on a shower present for my old boss who is pregnant with her first - a boy.   The problem is, she is very progressive and wants nothing pastel or babyish or anything.  I want to do something that will still get oohs and ahs at the shower, but am looking for suggestions for
something fairly ... modern (I don't know if that is the best word, but basically whatever the oppososite of traditional, classic baby is).  Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Finally, here's Major burrowing in the clean laundry again.  Not conducive to folding, but he was so cute literally tunneling through it all.

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...a very low cut shell, that is, but most importantly - IT FITS!!!  How exciting!  My very first sweater (Jenna Adorno's Hopeful) that I am finishing for the Knitting Olympics has been progressing well.  I did my first 3 needle bindoff at the shoulders, and I now have a sleeveless and very low cut until I add in the collar sweater. 

Bizarre diagonal photo courtesy of DH who was more interested in cleavage shots than taking a good pic for my blog - it's hard to find good help around here.  Next up are the cap sleeves which are done with short rows - first time doing that too but the explanation in the pattern seems helpful.  I've also spent some time reviewing the Hopeful Knitalong for tips and suggestions from those who made the pattern last fall.  There are some good hints on the collar, especially, which I want to take into account.

In other news, I now appear on this entry in Girl from Auntie's blog (designer of Rogue and Eris).  She has done a lot of posting about the SNB - Stich 'n Bitch controversy which make an interesting read.

Finally, I received an email from a member of the Houston Knit at Night Guild asking me to send a notice out to Austin knitters about a conference they are having this summer.  I'm going to send it to the lists I am on, but thought I'd also post about it here.  Here's a link: http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/knit/  It sounds like a really nice conference and they have 3 teachers coming in.  It's in late August which will be difficult if I get into law school, but I'm hoping that maybe I will be able to go.

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The first 24 hours of the Knitting Olympics have been quite successful for me.  Unfortunately, a lot of that has to do with me being glued to the couch all day today with an infection.  But I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and should be feeling better tomorrow.  I almost finished the front of Hopeful last night, did the last few rows this morning and am well on my way with the back.

The front was a little challenging as I had to figure out what I did on the other side to make it match.  Lesson learned - always write down how many rows you do to get a certain # of inches and mark sections of the instructions with safety pins.  Hopefully I was successful in matching them up.  This is the easy part of the project, though, because next up are the sleeves which use short rows (which I've never done before) and the collar which will be challenging and then seaming which I've never done before.  I plan to have my new Vogue Knitting book close by my side when taking on these new challenges.

Speaking of new books, we had dinner with Daniel's parents this week to celebrate their birthdays and my birthday (we're all February babies).  We went to Trulucks which was yummy!  And, they gave me a knitting book I've been wanting - Lavish Lace.  So I'm very excited about that and looking forward to making some lace scarves.

I also finally found copies of The Economist with the Austin SNB article in it.  It took awhile for them to hit the US newsstands. 

I apologize that I'm about to turn this into a long post, but there's a lot of pictures I've been meaning to show you for the last two weeks and haven't had a chance to yet, so hope you enjoy them all.

First up, pictures of the very beautiful Colinette Ab Fab kit I received from my mom for my birthday.

Here are the balls all wound up, and, of course, I couldn't resist casting on and doing a few rows. 

Also, as part of my Christmas knitting, I made this hat for a family friend's son (in UT colors, of course!).  What is crazy is he is 1 and his head is so big that I had to make a hat that fit my head to fit his!!  I put some i-cord ties on so that she could tie it and he wouldn't pull it off when they visit Chicago and New York where they have relatives.  How cute!!

I have a few others too, but I'll save those for a day when I don't have anything to talk about.  For now, I leave you with Major who was hanging out when I was winding my Ab Fab yarn and found it all quite interesting.

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After much debate, both in my head and with my husband and other SNB'ers, I decided to joing the Unfinished Olympics.  I considered the Yarn Harlot's official knitting olympics, and I considered not going at all.  I didn't like not doing anything because the concept of truly focusing on one project for 2 weeks should be good for me.  But I couldn't justify starting a new project right now when I have so many things I am trying to work on.  So the UF group seemed like the perfect option.

My #1 goal for this project is to finish Hopeful - my first sweater.  I made good progress on it this fall, but then it got dropped for Christmas knitting and I haven't picked it back up yet.  Like most working on their first garment, I am scared of seaming and of it fitting, but I figure I need to bite the bullet and just get it done.  Here's where it's at right now:

DH also made me promise to finally finish my Jo Sharp skirt - this has been laguishing since this past summer when I finished the knitting part.  All I have to do is block it, seam it, and put in an elastic waistband.

It's late and I have to get to bed, so all of the other stuff I've been meaning to talk about for the last week will have to wait until the weekend.  Good luck to all of the Olympians!!

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I finally have a finished object to show.  I have been working on Meredith's Irish Hiking Scarf for several months - it went on hiatus over Christmas when I ran out of yarn.  But now, it is finally finished with a zillion ends woven in and blocking and everything. 

Look at all these ends!!

Project notes:

• Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf
• Modifications: I used a thicker yarn than the worsted weight called for so I only did 2 cables.  I also did 3 rows of garter stitch at the top and bottom to match the edges.
• Yarn: KnitPicks Panache - 3 balls each of dusk and cloud for a longer scarf than planned, but 4 balls was not enough
• Needles: Addi Turbo 10's
• Knitalong
• November 20, 2005 - February 5, 2006 (with lots of other projects and Christmas knitting in between)

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Wow, when I mentioned The Economist article before, I thought maybe my name might get mentioned in passing somewhere along the way.  But check this out - I am the first word in the article!!!!  My mom's out buying copies right now - I can't wait to see the print version.

THE STITCH 'N' BITCH NICHE
Feb 2nd 2006

What Texans do when they're not herding steers

BECKY DIFFEN got hooked on knitting four years ago after being
coached
by one of her college-softball team-mates in Minnesota. "It was
something to do during long van rides," she explains. Then she taught
her mother. So when a group of women gathers at an Austin bookshop,
the
daughter trots out a fetching green baby blanket while her mother
purls
away at a beginner's scarf.

These days it is young people, not grannies, who are leading the
needle
brigade. Some even call it the new yoga, with stars queuing up to
stitch. Julia Roberts has made bootees for her twin babies.
Membership
in the Knitting Guild Association (KGA) stands at 12,000, up 21%
since
2001. With the knitting craze in full swing, the hard core is moving
on
to crocheting and needlepoint.

In Austin, Ms Diffen's SNB club (shortened from "stitch 'n' bitch"
because of a trademark row) attracts regulars in their 20s and 30s.
"The big thing right now is socks," avers Ann Hollis, Ms Diffen's
mother. These are quick to make (apparently) and, in Texas, there is
not much demand for hats or scarves. Last year, say SNBers, the
trendy
thing was lace knitting, holey patterns with very fine yarns.

Knitting has changed a lot since the old days. The new yarns come in
all shapes and textures--"glitzy, furry, nubby, chunky", says Debby
Johnston of the KGA. Needles are less cumbersome. There has been a
knitting spree for cell-phone cases and iPod covers. Ms Diffen has
made
a felted bed for her cat (a knitted fabric will "felt" if it is
washed
in hot water). There are reports of people knitting helmet liners for
soldiers (the Pentagon failing to provide supplies, again).
Inevitably,
the internet plays a role. At the SNB session, two people were
knitting
patterns they had found online. There are knitting blogs--Yarn
Harlot[1], Knit and Tonic[2] and You Knit What[3]--and even knitting
podcasts.

The real test is whether men will join in. They account for a mere 1%
of the KGA; but reports are coming in from Greenwich Village of
special
"boyz nites" where real men meet to "rib", and Austin's main yarn
shop,
Hill Country Weavers, reports that 6% of its customers are male. At
the
shop where SNB gathers, no fewer than eight magazines are devoted to
knitting--nearly as many as for fishing, but still some way behind
guns.

-----
[1] http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/
[2] http://www.knitandtonic.typepad.com/
[3] http://youknitwhat.blogspot.com/


See this article with graphics and related items at
http://economist.com/World/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5476137

Go to http://www.economist.com for more global news, views and
analysis from the Economist Group.

 

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... it's my birthday too!

 Yes, today I turned 25 - a quarter of a century.  25 sounds a lot older than 24!  It is a much more adult age, I think.  You're out of the early 20 college aged and recent graduate thing.  It is usually the cut off point when you have to select an age range - now I'm in the 25-34 or 39 range - scary!  One good thing - now it's not such a pain to rent cars which is very good considering I travel a decent amount for business. 

So far my presents have had a very consistent theme: Ann Taylor.  Daniel gave me purple plaid pants which I have basically been begging for and a top to match.  And my interns gave me a gift certificate which I am excited to use as all of the new spring stuff is coming out!  Tomorrow I'm having dinner with my mom at Kenichi (the best sushi place in town - and the place to see and be seen) and I will be getting a knitting bday present there so stay tuned for that. 

I have a finished object and an almost finished object to share with you today.  First is a Texas Square out of Bernat Cotton Tots.  The pattern is from http://www.knittingknonsense.com/texascloth.html and is being made for a knitalong of sorts for the Lone Star State Knitters group that I belong to.  Two girls are pregnant and another is soon to be a grandmother and we are each knitting 3 squares so each of them can have a LSSK blanket for their baby.  Of course, no surprise that I chose to do mine in purple.

I also finished the Irish Hiking Scarf for Meredith - well, finished the knitting at least.  Look at all of those ends!  I'll weave them in and block it this weekend and get it off to her first thing next week.

I've also made progress on the Pinwheel Blanket - I'm through the purple and only have two balls left (blue and a green border).

And I've spent just a tiny amount of time on Mermaid.  I LOVE knitting this.  Yes the yarn is thin and the needles are tiny, but it's a very cool knit.  And Amy from our HanneAlong has worked up a spreadsheet with row by row stitch counts and other helpful hints which are going to come in VERY handy as the pattern gets more complicated.  I think we are all very greatful to Amy for her hard work and helpfulness.  I also really like Amy's blog because like me, she loves purple.  She just got some beautiful Art Yarns striped yarn that I might have to check out.

I also got my first magazine for the Vogue Knitting subscription I received from the in-law's for Christmas.  Not my favorite issue so far, but a few patterns I liked and I'm definitely glad I'm subscribed.

Finally, here's Major sprawled out on top of his castle.  So cute (and boy has he gotten big!!)

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