and knitting

luftig, leicht - project #35: embroidered jacket

As I mentioned, it was suffocatingly hot last weekend. I live in one of those apartments that features "old world charm" (meaning it lacks modern creature comforts like central air). There wasn't much one could do but sit still in the direct path of a fan.

I really felt like knitting, but was disgusted by the idea of handling my wool sweater. This cotton/acrylic yarn seemed the perfect thing. It's one of my favorite colors and a heavier gauge than anything else I am working on. The pattern had been calling to me since I picked up the magazine, so I hurriedly swatched and got started. My initial plans were to convert the pattern to knit it in the round, but I decided to leave it be to keep it more portable. Wrangling a whole sweater, sleeves and all, on the bus is just not that fun. I've also decided to knit it all in grey and leave off the embroidery.

The Gidget entertained me while I knitted away at the stockinette stitch back. It's a corny show, but I love it. Gidget, LaRue and the Great Kahuna were amusing companions.

Toodles!

The Project: Embroidered Jacket from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2006
The Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomotta Grande purchased from NU Yarn Outlet
The Needles: 3.75mm bamboo cheapies
Started: May 27 2006

Various and Sundry Links - May 31 2006

- Memorial Day - A belated link to some lovely photos.

- StitchCraft has posted a few video tutorials, including a useful one for bobbles.

- Hello Kitty told me I get stressed out too easily. How about you? [via]

- Vintage Craft Publications

- The Sheep Market [via]

- USuck - Apple and HP lobbyists kill e-waste recycling bill

- the sartorial anus

- Pussycat dolls dolls? Are you kidding me? I suppose in our post-Oozinator world, I shouldn't be surprised that the geniuses at Hasbro thought these would be appropriate for kids.

- We Feel Fine [via Newlin]

- Stitch-Cast: Episode 5 -- Japanese Craft Books

- Rooms of algebraic theology - Photographs of supercomputers that are "powerful almost beyond human understanding".

too hot to blog about knitting

It was too hot this past weekend to blog about my knitting.

I'll be back soon!

please update your links

As some of you have noticed, I have set up andknitting.com as the domain name for this blog. I'm not planning on leaving TypePad anytime soon, but could you lovely folks who link to me from your sidebar or blogroll be so kind as to update your links?

The RSS feed links will remain the same, so no worries about updating your subscription in Bloglines or any other news reader.

Thank you!

a gay twinset

If I were to actually knit all of the cardigans I currently have on my to knit wish list, I'd have to follow the Kaiser's advice and wear them layered, as with his so-called gay twinset.

This cute cropped cardie, in a Project Spectrum-friendly shade of green, is from the summer 2006 issue of knit.1. I love the shape, and the chunky ribbing adds a lot of interest. It also has ribbed side panels that aren't visible in the photo, but the knit.1 blog has photos showing how they work in with the shaping.

I haven't started searching out yarn substitutions. That's ok, because I think it will be quite some time until I get to this one. My new schedule is proving difficult for me to find time to knit. I'm sure that will get better as I get adjusted to it.

Various and Sundry Links - May 21 2006

- Can't sleep, clowns will eat me.

- It looks like Carrie from Knit Whit had a good time at the Saint Paul Saints' Sip, Stitch & Pitch night.

- If the Mary Kay Museum and the National Museum of Funeral History aren't compelling enough, perhaps the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame's Blood Splatter Simulation display will get you to plan a trip to Texas.

- The Secret World of an Edwardian Shopaholic

- The green adicolor podcast might get you in the mood to finish up your Project Spectrum projects for this month [via].

- The new Minneapolis Central Library is open. I admit that it is a cool looking building, but I still miss the old one.

- just because

- The Knitting World Cup starts soon. How much of the official world cup beer would it take you to get drunk enough to dress up like these World Cup frauleins?

- It's rather odd to see the contents of my handbag posted on the Kate Spade site [via].

- I love these slides from the 1962 World's Fair.

- Ow ow ow. You would think Gwen Stefani would get her harajuku girls to sew her samples for her.

Swatching for a Rainy Day

I recently purchased a couple bags of Rowan Cotton Glace and have been playing around with what to make with them. I can't believe I broke my no cotton rule so easily!

This swatch isn't necessarily going to be the next project that I knit, but I think I'll be using the blood orange yarn to make a variation of the fitted cardie from the 1000 Sweaters book. I may have to get a bit "fancy" and throw in a simple stitch pattern to change things up. We'll see what happens.

I have noticed something funny with my swatching. I had to go down 3 sizes to get the recommended tension, and a fabric that I liked. Does anyone else have this trouble with glace?

Various and Sundry Links - May 15 2006

- I was excited to see Kate's Fake-a-Gamo hit the bag blog bigtime the other day, with a post about it on The Bag Lady.

- This would warm the cockles of my cold little heart.

- Let's start a rumble between knitters and crapbookers! Maybe we could have a rumble a la Halcali (a la Jerome Robbins).

- If I ever get married I am forcing my BMs to wear this dress. KAWAII!!!

- An informative post on using a McMorran Balance to determine yardage.

- The knitter who has been on bedrest for the good of the space program will be getting out of bed today!

- Jay McCarroll's Sketches on eBay "Season One winner Jay McCarroll will auction off original design illustrations featured on the PR spin off ‘Project Jay’ which premiered on Bravo in February. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to The Humane Society of the United States in support of their fashion campaign that urges consumers to wear clothing that is fur-free."

- The latest technology in word processing [via].

- Not Fooling Anybody - "A chronicle of bad conversions and storefronts past" [via].

break time's over

There's been a flurry of job search-related activity here which necessitated a longer than intended hiatus from knitting. Things turned out really well and I am now able to finally relax enough to pick up my sweater again.

I'm on the ribbing part of sleeve #2. Then I'll probably go back and rip out the body and try to make it a bit more close-fitting. I should finish it soon-ish (at least that's the plan). I have a few new project ideas floating around, but I really want to clear the decks before I start anything new.

Various and Sundry Links - May 7 2006

- The Guthrie Theater closes today and will soon move to its new location. In typical Minneapolis fashion, this important part of history will then be ripped down.

- A few weeks back, Yahaira pointed out that Twinkle has a pattern in the summer Interweave Knits. Even more interestingly, the yarn used is also by Twinkle. Anyone know where you'll be able to buy this new line?

- Don't you love this yukata by Marc Jacobs? The logoriffic one? Not so much. [via]

- In My Bag recently pulled together some great handbag shopping links (vintage and otherwise).

- The Apple Newton as Art

- Play That Funky Music White Boy. Another reason to love Japan -- karaoke television.

- Air France La Vie a Bord - Lovely video clips of air travel before it became the cramped nightmare it is today.

- The World Cup starts soon. C'mon fellow Americans, it's time to make our own World Cup song [via].

- Woo hoo! Top Shop will soon be fully functional, internationally speaking.

- Nothing To See Here

- Stalin's World

- "What Would Doris Wear?" I love Doris Day films. Her on-screen wardrobe plays more than a small part in that.