Knit Powers to Peace

Bucket of Lettuce

I used to work as a waitress at Lo Cascio Italian Restaurant. The prep work included a task that was called "Doing the Lettuce." For the first 3 months I worked at Lo Cascio's I avoided "doing the lettuce" like it was "doing the plague." The reason was that I didn't know how and I was embarrassed to ask. What was I supposed to DO to the lettuce? I would get to work at EXACTLY 3 o'clock so that I was the first one there and I could "Do the Tomatoes and Onions" instead. Finally one day somebody thwarted my scheme by showing up at 2:45 and making ME do the lettuce. I found out that "Doing the Lettuce" meant breaking up the stalks of Romaine Lettuce and washing them, and putting them into buckets. It was easy and it became my favorite sidework. On weeknights I had to make 4 buckets of lettuce and on weekends I had to make 6 buckets of lettuce.

This hat is my ode to Buckets of Lettuce.

Pattern: Better Bucket Hat by Amy Swenson
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted
Colorway: Lettuce
Button and Yarn purchased at Modern Yarn

Get it? Bucket Hat and Lettuce?

The button is very very very awesome. I don't know what it's made of, but it's exotic. It has little hairy fuzzy things on it, and it's made out of wood. It's really oily for some reason. In fact, it was sitting on the receipt when it was in the shopping bag when I bought it, and it made the receipt get that translucent oily quality. On the receipt, the button was called "Frog Tree Notions" or something like that, but it's not on the Frog Tree website. I like the button a lot.

I really love the hat pattern. It's so straight forward and it's so cute. HOWEVER, I am very reluctant to call it a "Better Bucket Hat" and I'll tell you why. If you look at the hat that I designed on the cover of "Pure Knits" you will see that I ALSO designed a cloche. I happen to think mine is better because I designed it. That's all.

Thank you for all the congratulatory comments on my last post! I MUST thank E2K for convincing me to submit the pattern to Yahaira. Yay!

Really Happy

My designs are on the cover of Pure Knits! This is Yahaira's second book and I know it's going to be great. I didn't know that my design was going to be on the cover until Olgajazzy told me about it this afternoon. I designed and knit the hat and the sweater on the model. I am so flattered that my designs were chosen for the cover. I can't believe it. Yahaira, thank you so much.

Here is a celebratory finished object photo:

Ravelled here

...but here is some info if you don't have Ravelry, Kiki.

Pattern: Megan's Ruffled Neck Scarf from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug, 1 skein
Color: Magenta

It's time for me to go celebrate!

Project Spectrum Yarn!

I bought a little yarn recently, in honor of Project Spectrum. I really am sticking with Project Spectrum this time around. I sort of like having constraints in a lot of ways. I am finishing old red projects and knitting with old red yarns. But, I also bought some yarn so I can't really stay I'm burning through my stash.

The yarn above is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in the color Rosa Flamingo. I bought it at Modern Yarn in New Jersey last week. I also bought this Malabrigo in Pink Frost:

I really like knitting with Malabrigo. A LOT.

I also purchased yarn from Mama Blue Knitting Goods. I really like her semi solid yarns. The quality is fantastic and Nikki is really nice! This yarn is a Seacell Merino blend. It's shiny:

Her tags are the best:

I already started thinking about the yarns I'll use for the next 2 months of Project Spectrum (Green, Brown, and Metallics). Green is my favorite color, so I'm very excited about adding some green sweaters to my wardrobe. I made a mosaic of most of my green and brown yarns:

Project Spectrum Stashed Yarns for April/May

I am still working on my pink Rusted Root sweater that I blogged about last week. I am just about finished. It's very different from the original because I added short rows and garter stitch and there's no lace motif. I have been trying it on along the way and I can already tell that I will be wearing this sweater all the time.

Finished Dragon Dance Socks!

I finished my Dragon Dance Socks and I am so happy with them! It was my first time knitting with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight Socks that Rock and it was such a joy.

I knit these from the toe up, on size 2.25mm double pointed needles. I did a garter stitch cuff on top to show off the colors in a different way.

The colorway is an exclusive color right now for the Rockin' Sock Club. I was a member last year too and this color is my favorite yet. It's sort of retro 70's in a way. The striping was so lucky. I made sure to do a short row heel rather than a gusset heel to make sure not to break up the stripes.

People always used to ask me about my shoes so I'll say that they are Calvin Klein and you can get them online here. They are comfortable and they show off my handknit socks! I bought them right before my knee surgery because I wanted cute flats that I can wear for a few months while I recover. They are sure doing their job!

...and so are these socks!

ETA: I wanted to add a photo of the awesome STR yarn I used for these socks:

Runway Update

In Paris Fashion Week over the weekend, Galliano showed some great knit hats!

I love the mixed media in this one, it looks like wool, fiber, and sheer fabric. It looks like those slouchy berets people have been knitting, except that it stands straight up!

Mad Hatter! Even though the yarn looks sort of squeaky like acrylic, I love this hat. It's huge. It has feathers. It's garter stitch! I really like the brim. There must be something in there like a wire or rubber tubing. Great idea!

This one's not knit, but I bookmarked it because it looks like Stephanie's Spritely Goods Batts. Did Galliano buy these from you? He must have.

Speaking of runways, don't forget to watch the Project Runway finale this week! I like Christian's attitude, Jillian's style, and Rami's Israeli-ness. For the first time I don't have a favorite, so we'll see what happens!

Magenta + Jitterbug = Majitterbug

For more Fiery Project Spectrum stashbusting deliciousness, I am making Megan's Ruffled Neck Warmer from the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I really like this book. It has lots of cute small projects, especially some great ways to use up sock yarn.

The yarn is Colinette Jitterbug, in the Magenta colorway, held doubled. I really love this yarn, but I have had a problem with it in the past. I've made 3 pairs of socks with this yarn already, and in every skein there was a knot. Usually I understand knots and I am OK with them, but in the case of Jitterbug, the knot held together 2 different dyelots! The result in all 3 pairs of socks was that 1 sock looked great, and the other sock was half light and half dark.

I figured I would combat this problem by holding the yarn doubled in a project where something like dyelot shifts wouldn't really matter. OF COURSE, this is the first time that there is no knot in the yarn, and I could have made this yarn into some great socks. Oh well. I have 2 more skeins of Jitterbug (Copperbeach and Velvet Damson) so I'll make those into socks. Or gloves. Or another ruffled scarf.

The pattern itself is great. The only annoying part is all the increasing for the ruffle. It's not the pattern's fault, of course. You have to turn 25 stitches into 200 stitches very quickly over 6 rows, and the first 10 rows after all the increases are very hard on the hands. It was difficult to finagle the needles, even though I was using long 24" addi circular needles. Otherwise the project is super fun and relaxing. I'll make another one for sure.

I'm so mad that I didn't go to the yarn stores I had planned in the last post, including Modern Yarn in Montclaire. My knee was just hurting too much after physical therapy and I didn't have the strength that day. I might still go tomorrow.

My modified Rusted Root is going great. I'm up to the bust and I'm going to add short row shaping, which means I have to stop being so lazy and try it on again. I'll post once I do, and maybe I'll even add instructions for adding shaping.

Happy Leap Year Day!

For Project Spectrum Fire, I am making the Rusted Root Sweater by Zephyr, using a yarn called Cestari.

This yarn is really pretty. It's a blend of 75% cotton and 25% wool. On the label it says that it has natural lanolin oils in the wool, and i can feel my hands getting soft while I knit it. It's such a great tweed-y yarn, with a great drape. I bought it in a yarn store in Sun City, Arizona called "Knitters Nook" and I've never seen it before or since.

I am making some modifications to the pattern. I cast on with a provisional cast on using some orange cotton yarn. After I finish the rest of the sweater I'll remove the provisional cast on and knit the neck. I did this because I didn't know what kind of neck I would like yet. I needed some time to think about it, while I knit the sweater. I'm thinking lots of garter stitch or something textured like that. My decision will depend on how much yarn I have left at the end!

I also am not doing the lace pattern. I really like that lace pattern, but I didn't want to have to wear anything underneath this sweater but a bra. You ever see those knitting magazine photos where they have lace right over the boobs, but then they photoshop out the nipples? It's creepy! I'll probably do some kind of lace or textured stitch at the bottom. I'm making it up as I go.

In the last picture you can see the stitch markers I'm using. I won these stitch markers from Spin Out, along with all the nice yarn I showed in the last post. The markers are from Mad Caterpillar. I adore them! The set came with 2 large markers for big needles and a bunch of smaller ones that are perfect for this project. I always avoided stitch markers like these because I thought the little beads and wire would get tangled with the yarn, but it's not happening like that! The markers are called "Snag Free" and it really is true! Thanks for donating them!

This weekend I am going to explore 2 New Jersey yarn stores, Modern Yarn in Montclaire, and Closeknit in Ho-Ho-Kus (aka Ridgewood?). Closeknit is having a huge sale starting tomorrow and a birdy told me that Modern Yarn has an "obscene amount of Koigu." Both are excellent reasons to visit a yarn store, don't you think?

This post has been brought to you by the color pink. I bet you can't believe I posted again so soon, huh?

Pronto! Ciao!

I thought it was time to blog again. I have so much to say. The picture above is a picture of me knitting socks in Sorrento, Italy! Since last time I blogged, I went to Maine AND Italy, I went skiing for the first time, and I got a sports injury for the first time! I am now recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, and I'm moving around now. In fact, yesterday I drove for the first time. Where did I go? Two yarn stores, of course.

The biggest piece of knitting news I have is that a pattern of mine has been published in a book:

The pattern is called "Vixen" and you can find it in Yahaira's book, "Sensual Knits." This is my first published pattern. I made the original prototype almost 2 years ago out of Claudia Handpainted Yarns in the John B. colorway. See?

The pattern is made from fingering weight yarn on the body and chunky weight yarn on the upper edge. John B. himself gave me the chunky weight yarn that I used in those pictures above. Thanks!

I can't believe people are making my pattern already! I mean, it's a great pattern, but I am just new at this whole pattern thing I guess. Here's a beautiful finished Vixen made out of Dream in Color Yarns. Here is a stunning Vixen Camisole made out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts! Very cool.

Speaking of very cool, my boyfriend Danny sent me a link to an awesome director who knits and crochets called Special Guest. If you go to the site, scroll over to the short film called "The Special Guest" and watch it! I love the little yarn hair guy, and also the tufts of fiber in the sky. So beautiful! Also, if you hover over the crocheted titles of the page, you can see little yarn warms crawling about. Try it! It's cute!!!

Danny is great. The link on his name is his website. You should check it out. He is knitting this hat for me:

I knit these socks for him:

That last one was taken in Tuscany.

The yarn is Regia Nation Colors and the pattern is... you know. When Danny and I went to Maine, we went to a small yarn shop (I wish I could remember the name) and they had a whole wall of Regia. Danny said "WHAT IS THIS?" and he really liked this colorway, so he bought it and I made him the socks. If you have Ravelry, you can see the ravelry page here. In fact, if you have ravelry you can see everything I make! I'm obsessed with that site. My ravelry name is Illanna (2 L's and 2 N's). Just like my real name!

Lady Luck smiled on me last month and allowed me to win Cara's Spin-Out raffle. I won some great goodies! The yarns are Yarntini Variegated Sport, Mama Blue Knitting Goods Merino Semi Solid Sock, and Crash into Ewe Merino Sock. Just my colors, right? I didn't even tell Cara that I love pink and green but somehow she knew I guess.

As soon as I opened the box, my Grandma Bea saw the Mama Blue (that sounds like a song) and she loved it. She asked me to make her a scarf for her birthday, so I did. The yarns are all fingering weight though, so I wanted to add something to bulk up the scarf. I held the Mama Blue with 2 strands of Misti Laceweight Alpaca that Jdub (ravelry link) gave me last year. It turned into a semi-solid heathered soft beautiful luscious scarf!

I made Swirl Socks out of the Yarntini:

The color is called "Cosmopolitan" so it seemed appropriate to surround the socks with booze. These socks are a gift, and they are zooming toward the recipient right now as I am typing this.

What else? What else? This is my current project:

Stockinette toe up socks with a short row heel, made out of Dragon Dance from the BMFA Rockin' Sock Club.

I bought some Dream in Color Classy in the Cloud Jungle colorway from the Loopy Ewe. She has great service. She individually wrapped each skein in tissue paper. It was very appealing. I put the yarn in the bar because it's Classy:

Last but not least, I got my Sundara Silky Merino Fingering from the Sundara Seasons Yarn Club. Here it is:

I know those look like flowers... look closer!

There's more, but if I say it all now I won't blog again until August, right? So Ciao for now!

out from hiding.

I'm coming out from my hiding spot to make a little blog post. Hi!

The yarn above is from my last design project, and it is a lovely yarn. If you can get a bunch of it to design with, well you definitely should. I can't say anything about my design, but I will talk about it when the book comes out! If you want the yarn you can get it from Pure Knits.

I moved across the country, back to Brooklyn, while knitting this project. I live in Mill Basin now! I'm very happy in my new home, but I wouldn't recommend such a big move when you have a knitting deadline.

So now that I've finished my design and everything is out of my hands, I picked up an old unfinished project that is full of color. It's still on the needles and I'm addicted to knitting it. The garter stitch is so soothing and enjoyable. It's a log cabin blanket! The idea is from the Moderne Baby Log Cabin from Mason Dixon Knitting, but I had to change around all the numbers to suit my gauge and I changed some of the placement too. The yarns are all chunky, one-ply, solids that are lovely to knit with. The Olive color is Rowan Polar, the Chocolate and Khaki colors are Lamb's Pride Bulky, and the Fuschia is GGH Savannah. I'm going to keep going until I finish up all my yarn (7 balls left) and then I'll make a border.

Somebody special brought me this lovely Orchid as a housewarming gift. I love you, pretty orchid, and I promise not to kill you. Any botanists out there with orchid tips? I've been letting the roots dry out, and then when it needs watering I just fill up a bowl of water and dunk the pot and let it drink. If anyone has other caretaking ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Today I received the most amazing care package from my friend Meg in Japan! In addition to all the freakin' awesome fabric there, she sent stationery, craft supplies, matcha kit kat and other candies, bags, a sheep needle felting kit, and lots more. Here's a closeup of some of the fabrics. She is simply amazing.

Well that's all for today. It's rainy here in NYC today but I have knitting and great friends to brighten the day.

Shetland Triangle Shawl (and more!)

Hooray I'm in NYC! I have lots of fun things to report.

In the picture above, you can see me and my Shetland Triangle Shawl at the Bryant Park Film Festival. The movie was Paper Moon with Tatum O'Neill. The film made up for its lack of knitting content with an amazing abundance of a pouty 9-year-old chain smoker. She sure does want her 200 dollars!

The shawl: The yarn is called Silk Maiden and it is made by Hand Maiden. If you ever see this yarn, I recommend that you buy at least 2 skeins. Then I'll tell you my address so you can send them to me. It's kind of a hard to find yarn according to the internet, but I bet if you live in Canada they sell it at the supermarket. Canadians are so lucky to have so much Fleece Artist.

So about the yarn: It's a 1-ply merino silk blend that is hand dyed in my favorite colors. The colorway's name is Lily Pond (best color ever). I used 2 skeins for the shawl and I ran out of yarn 3/4 of the way through the bind off. That sucked. So, I bought one ball of Louisa Harding Grace to finish the bind off and that worked great. No one can tell, not even me.

OK here's some fun news! Guess who is the world's leading sock model! Guess whose feet will probably be coveted by all the hottest designers this sock knitting season! Guess who's that spartan in my teepee! It's me! It's me!

Go here and here and then come back. Notice the gorgeous Yarntini swag? Notice the fabulous shoes and socks? Those are MY FEET! Yep! You heard it here first! Congrats to E for designing the Pure Cricosaura pattern, and congrats to ME ME ME ME ME for being a model! I'll see you at Fashion Week!

I am going to keep this short, but I have lots of pictures to blog about so maybe I'll keep up with it this week. I'll leave with pictures of awesome toys from a store window: