Hanami, FO

Pattern: Hanami Stole by Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: Baruffa Cashwool. I didn't weigh what I have left, but there is plenty, maybe half a ball.
Needles: Addi Lace, size 3
Mods: none
Comments. This is such a unique and beautiful pattern. The basketweave portion required concentration and I frogged many a row. There are some baggy stitches where I tried dropping stitches down to fix. The cherry blossom portion went much faster, but still I threw in a few k3tog when I ended up with an extra stitch and there are some baggy holes in that section. I'm sure scrunched up they won't be noticeable.

Totoro BD Card for blogless Karen

Totoro BD Card, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

3D Base idea: cath2evans

Totoro stamp and 2011 calendar cutout. Various Stampin' up punches.

Summer Doings

After a rather cool summer, the entry into fall has been on sweltering muggy side. The mornings hint at fall, so I know it can't be far. Working more has it's benefits but it also sucks my energy to exercise or create. I dropped out of trampoline after a recurrent bout of vertigo and never went back. It's tough not to bring "stuff" home and I feel that monkey mind running and scrunching up my forehead. It's all mental, running the choices and decisions made. Two days a week seems to be the balance point.

After enjoying Netflix for quite a while, I went digital with the dvr and the whole nine yards instead. It is more expensive, even with the new direction Neflix is taking, but I really enjoy being able to see my series on demand.

Today I had some time to work on the neverending organizing project. The old clothes got weeded out, and some ill-fitting projects went to the frog pond.

I'm looking forward to visitng Kim in Georgia next month. The plan is to hook up at SAFF with her sister for a weekend of one of my favorite things! Fiber festival-ing:). I dont' know if my Hanami will be done by then. It is going every so slowly. The baskeweave drove me nuts. It's going a little faster now. The beads on the bottom are really pretty. I wish I had held the Baruffa Cashwool double. I'm a little worried about the funky edges. I'll just have to pray they block flat.

My fancy Bernina serger died so I got a basic Janome. I'm not quite used to it's feel yet. I used it inside this pillow to finish the edges only. I wanted a zipper with a flap and used this tutorial to put it in.

No rain no rainbows.

No rain no rainbows, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Project Spectrum Bags

Project Spectrum Bags, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

I had to frog my August Project Spectrum Dancing Liesl as it was too small :(
I caught up with the project bags for July and August.

It's been quite hot and the knitting mojo is gone. August is almost gone! I have the pattern and yarn for Hanami and just need the beads.


Here's Jimmy. This is the hyperbaric chamber at Kuakini Hospital. This chamber is mostly used for wound healing and other applications of hyperbaric treatment. A smaller chamber is used more for treating the bends. I had a nice tour by blogless Dr. TD.

I have one of the most beautiful drives to and from work. My tiny camera can never do it justice. I just feel so lucky to live Hawaii:)

Baby Hat Apocalypse

Things have been rather hum drum around here so I thought I would spice up the blog with the word "apocalypse". The Landcaster was watching a TV show called Bedbug Apocalypse and I was thinking how much I liked the sound of that word. I was very itchy after watching that show, btw. Whenever I hear that word I think of the movie Apocalypse Now or the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

If one can believe Wikipedia... "An Apocalypse (Greek: ἀποκάλυψις apokálypsis; "lifting of the veil" or "revelation") is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John (Greek Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου) is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. By extension, apocalypse can refer to any End Time scenario, or to the end of the world in general. It is a major misconception that Apocalypse means the end of the world; it is much closer to "the end of the world as we know it."

So really apocalypse has nothing to do with my hats unless of course it's that I CAN crochet if I want to and I love that Plymouth Jeanee Yarn! It's fat and machine washable!

On a bright note, the Sky Goddess dropped in and spiced up the week. Her step daughter is having twins girls and that is what started me on the hat roll. Nanea at Aloha Yarns was crocheting hats when I dropped by and the rest is history. The patterns were all free off Ravelry! The owl hat is a little scary, but I really enjoyed crocheting the flowers.

Project Spectrum pink/purple August is rolling by me. I've wound the Malabrigo Rios and plan a Liesl.

Andrea the Worsted

Pattern: Andrea's Shawl, by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Madelinetosh Worsted, color Baltic. Powarth Blues, handspun by me, from handyed Polwarth roving by Woolgatherings.
Needles: size 8
Size: small
Mods: one stitch picot bindoff instead of two.

Comments: A rather quick knit. I love the way the striping turns out. My hand spun was a bit unbalanced and had some fluffs in it. The Polwarth is next to skin soft. The Madelinetosh is wonderful and I love the supersaturated colors. The first shawl I knit from this pattern was a little small for me. This one, knit in worsted, is a better fit.

The Polwarth was a gift from Kim who is currently whoopin' my a$$ in Words with Friends. Thanks Kim!

I'm one of those reactionary people who got mad at Netflix when they raised their rates and will cancel. It was a good excuse for me to upgrade my cable to digital and get HBO so I can watch Game of Thrones. I'm reading book 4 of the series and really loving it. Hey, the Knitted Brow turned me on to this series. Thanks again!

I am working two days a week, with a few extra days thrown in this month. It can't hurt to have some income with the scary economy right now and pay for my digital cable with HBO and Showtime pak.

Tour De Fleece, Day 22

I managed to finish my singles and ply them. The finished product is now drying. The gauge is much smaller then I planned. I don't know if I will knit this as is or try and cable ply it with some commercial lace weight I have lying around. The BFL/silk is a little lifeless and stiff imo. It was a bit itchy on the hands while spinning, so I don't know if will comfortable next to the skin. I'll wear the hank around the neck to check it out when it's dry. It is a lot more even then some of my previous attempts and more balanced.

For the challenge day, I used some of the same roving to spin thick and thin on Serenity (my Majacraft Rose) and it was indeed a challenge. I think I'll have to re-adjust my whorl as I cannot keep the drive band on at slower speeds. I ended doing the coiling part on my Bosworth. For the plying I used some silk spun on the Bosworth from a silk hankie. I gave up pretty quickly.

I am so in awe of Naomi's wonderful art yarn after my failed attempts!

Screaming Blue Capelet

Pattern: Cranberry Capelet by Thea Colman
Yarn: Madelinetosh Worsted, Baltic colorway
Needles: size 8 for the CO and half the turtle neck, size 7 for the rest.

Mods: I CO for size large and made the turtle neck one inch shorter. I knit the length in size medium.

Comments. The pattern is very easy to follow and well written. It has a very cute shape. The yarn is very cushy and warm. I love the color. It screamed a lot more on the skein, thus the name, but after knitting it is seemed darker and a bit more toned down. I tried hard to take a self photo with the capelet on but none of them came out in focus.

Out in the patio, the lovely red cereus bloomed for the first time since I got the plant. It was neglected for a long time and though it didn't die it didn't grow either. I finally transplanted it into a very tiny pot and gave it a little nourishment and was very surprised when it sent out a giant shoot. It is a wonderful red and quite large! My mom is already plotting on how to rescue the plant from me and make it bigger and better!

Regarding Tour de Fleece...I am on bobbin two, but I'm not sure it will be done in time to ply. I'm still planning some thick and thin and coils for Friday.

Day 11, Tour de Fleece , Granola Muffins

Day 11 of the Tour...I realize now in a fit of fear of failure, that I set my goals pretty low and I quickly saw that I would fall far short of spinning half of my braid of roving. The finished skeins posted on Ravelry where piling up quickly the prizes were being won, and I caught a bit of that spirit of competition. My daily photos paled by comparison, in fact I'm pretty sure I got one of those magical never-ending braids. So I stepped it up and it finally barely touches the floor! I'm so tempted to stop at the half way mark, rewind the one bobbin on two and ply already.

I found a nice video on you tube on how to spin coils, so I may try this.



On an entirely different note...Granola muffins.

Awhile back, I found a Great Granola Recipe on the USA Weekend site. For some reason I occasionally set the oven temp to 250 deg instead of 275 deg and it doesn't dry out enough. If I put the fruit in too soon it burns, so cooking it longer does not usually work. Sooo...I found this equally wonderful Granola Muffin Recipe! I like it because it use two cups of granola. This last batch I forgot to dress it up with a bit of granola before baking, and just to be decadent, added a few chocolate chips. It's to tempt the oatmeal-phobic Landcaster I tell you, and I have to use those chocolate chips in the freezer up.

Pookiwookie

Pookiwookie, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

The last of the Pookie Star Wars adaptations. He looks a bit like a a cross between Cousin Itt and a brown version of the muppet Animal. I was wondering if my hair stylist could make him look more Chewbacca looking.

Yarn: Sirdar Foxy
Hand painted blue safety eyes from OliverBoliver.

Pookiewok

Pookiewok, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Pookies by Barbara Prime
Yarn: Berroco Chinchilla

Comments: His ears are a bit big and his hood needs some work. The ultrasuede is a bit stiff to work with.

I practiced intarsia in the round. It is getting a little bit easier.

Tour de Fleece Ravelry Team Rookie

I'm joining Team Rookie on Ravelry Tour de Fleece.

My goals are simple. Spin 15 minutes per day during the tour. I have my Huckleberry Knits fiber I purchased at Madrona. I plan a two ply sport weight or thinner. On Friday, the 22nd, if I'm up to it I'll try and spin a thick thin yarn or if I'm not up to that I'll work on some cocoons from blogless Sandy and spin them on my drop spindle.

I'm late in joining. Tomorrow the fun begins!

Small Projects Bags for Project Spectrum

Small Projects Bags for Project Spectrum, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

I got this inspiration to make at least one bag for each Project Spectrum month. Last month was red, and this month is green. I got side tracked by the lovely Amy Butler print. It his some green and a blue green so I'm counting the two bags in.

Meanwhile Pookiebacca and Pookiewok are waiting for their hand-painted eyes and nose to come from UK. Seems Chewy has blue eyes. I used Sirdar Foxy for Chewy and he is way hairy, almost like Cousin Itt. Hey may need a hair stylist.

DarthPookie

DarthPookie looks a little like a black dog. I wish I had made ribbing for the front of his helmet, but after fiddling so much I decided he is done. I had visions of Pookiebaca and PookieEwok, but since my new yarn came in my mind is on other projects.
I love having some Noro in stash and Sumptuous Yarn had Aya on special. It has a lot of cotton in it so I'm looking forward to trying it out. I still don't have a project,but I loved how Stitch Sampler Stole turned out so may do something along that lines.

Port Shawlette, FO

Pattern: Andrea's Shawl by Kirsten Kapur Published in Through The Loops Ravelry Store
Yarn: Madelinetosh Sock, colorway Port. Hand-spun Rapunzel. Hand dyed SW merino roving from Woolen Mill Street Yarns The fiber was a dream to spin.
Needles: size 6

Comments: I knit the medium mostly because I was too lazy to continue the 7 stitch edging. This was in spite of reading that the shawl came out small and knowing I was using a fingering weight rather then sport yarn. So it came out small and would not stretch much. My hand spun ran between a sport to fingering weight and knit up pretty well if I may say so myself. The shades of pink and purple matched well with port madelinetosh. The Madelinetosh was a nice and cushy in a dark purply plum. The pattern is well written and easy to follow. It is my first bottom up shawl. Unlike the top down and sideways shawls, one cannot try it on along the way. I'm think I like the sideways shawls the best, or a rectangular stole.

PookieLeia

Pookie Jedi 2

Pookie Jedi 2, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Pookies by Barbara Prime
Needles: size 4
Yarn: Cascade 220 hoodie and face, Ultra Alpaca for body.

Mods: going for the Yoda ears, safety eyes. The hoodie was a little small. No holes for the ears.

Very cute easy, well-written pattern.

Totoro with Umbrella

Intarsia in the Round, yo method. I'm not sure I got this right as I had large holes on the turns. I was able to needle felt them shut a bit.
I down loaded the Anne Berk video, Inside Intarsia, and will try her method next.
In the final photo, I had a bit of fun with the PS "artistic" filter, sponge.

Totoro with Umbrella, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Intarsia in the Round

Knitting Totoro's tummy has always been a challenge. The easy way, knitting-wise, is to knit it separately and sew it on, but I was never quite satisfied with the results. The other way is to knit it in, which is called intarsia. I tried knitting it in the round and discovered as many knitters before me that it is impossible to knit intarsia in the round without having extremely long floats and a big mess.

So either one has to deal with a seam if knitting flat, or figure out a way to knit back and forth without a seam or gap at the color change.

I started with this video, but I could not see exactly which loop she was picking up to knit together on the turn. My turns did not look nice like the ones in the video.



Next I tried the yo over method Knitty has another description here. Perhaps I am supposed to join a second ball of the main color in this method too?


I have a problem visualizing words sometimes, and while it looked a little better then my first attempt, my turns were still unsatisfactory. (This link was very wordy so I had problems deciphering it)

Dawn Brocca lists some references for additional information, but I don't own any of them. Update! After looking through my books I found some additional information in Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson














This is PookieD2 showing his good side.



I still have the wrap and turn method to try next time. This method involves joining a second ball, sigh.

Anyone know of any other tutorials or methods to try?

Quilt WIP

Awhile back I took a Shibori class from Darius Homayounpour at Kuni Island Fabrics. It was so much fun, I took it twice! The pieces have been marinating in stash since then, but yesterday I got going and hacked them up with wild abandon. I was inspired by one of my favorite stash designs, Harlequin, from The Weekend Quilt, by Leslie Linsley. I used the Fast Patch Method, by Anita Hallock, being very fond of speed, and the whole rolling cutter thing.

It's rather busy so I'm glad I decided to go for the plain navy squares and just happened to have the fabric in stash! Yay!

No doubt it will now go back to stash and marinate a while longer while I contemplate finishing. Sending it out for quilting is sounding mighty good.

Pookie Jedi

Pookie Jedi, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Pookie by Barbara Prime
Yarn: Bits and pieces. The green is Cascade SW
Needle: size 4
Mods: I was going for Yoda. The ear's didn't come out right and he looks like a green sheep. I knit the bottom in green and then did a stockinette body and hood.
Comments: Well written, cute pattern. I think it can be adapted to Princess Leia easily. I need me some safety eyes.

A Moray Eel

Blue is my favorite color. I have lots of blue yarn. I just have to think of a project. Is it time for St. Brigid? What to do with all my new Beaverslide? Perhaps it will rest in stash to be petted and admired until the right project comes along.

I'm combing the old books and magazine for inspiration. The problem is it's getting a bit warm to knit. I have absolutely no sock mojo. I'm tired of hats and shawlettes. I was going to spin spin spin today, but then in a fit of domestic endeavor I sliced my dominant pointer. I think it will only be out of commission a few days.

I did manage to crochet a moray eel. Blogless Miche is setting up her Hook the Reef project and the wonderful projects and links to incredible Hawaiian marine life is inspiring. I put if off too long and have missed the deadline and he is kind of short for an eel. I got to used some left over Ultra Alpaca, and some white slubby stuff of questionable fiber content.



(Yup that is my pile of Beaverslide!)

Cashmere Island Stole

Pattern: Stitch Sampler Shawl by On This Day Designs. A free Ravelry download! This a well written and very forgiving pattern. I occasionally ended up with an extra stitch that I just knit together on the same or next row.
Yarn: Cashmere Island by Noro. Now discontinued. Colorway 11. 7 skeins. I have not blocked this yet, but it feels a little softer then Silk Garden, but is a little cushier. There were a few knots, but not an excessive amount and this yarn spit splices very well. This being Noro, there were some tufss and other little surprises that I just knit in. The color changes were fun and melded in a pleasing way imo. The stole feels very cushy.
Needles: size 10
Mods: I added a bobble row and shortened the center panel by 5 rows, and mirrored it on the other side of the bobble row. I also CO on two extra stitches for an end stitch.
Comments: The unblocked size was about 54 x 16 inches. I'm not sure when I'll get around to blocking this. Noro makes me happy:)

FO, Scarves

Annis, a new ending. My shawl curled something fierce, which is not so unexpected for stockinette. This shawl is knit from the lace up and a curve is created with short rows. Rather clever. Many on Ravelry seem to somehow avoided the curl, perhaps with the yarn choice and aggressive blocking. I was not so lucky and of course there were other misadventures with this shawl along the way such as the nupp debacle.



The pattern and the yarn were not to blame.

I may have posted about the green scarf before. I have two scarves down for the 2011 Red Scarf Project. I hope the project continues.



The red is Cascade 220 Superwash Paints, pattern Berlin Scarf by the purl bee. The green is yer garden variety SW Cascade220, pattern My Accountant's Scarf by Darlene Joyce. I used size 8 straights for the red scarf and size 6 for the green scarf. I soaked both scarves, spun them in the washer, and dried them on cool in the dryer. They survived without a hitch. Both are great patterns and FREE!

My house is covered with painters, scraping and power washing away. I like living in a house, but boy is there a lot of stuff that needs to be done.

PS: The red scarf counts as a Project Spectrum Project! Yay!

Bulky Cowl with Handspun

Pattern: Patricia by Debbi Stone from The Stitches of My Life Designs, free Ravelry download. A nice easy, fast knit-up. The challenge was grafting the provisional cast-on, staying in pattern.
Yarn: Ashland Bay SW Merino. Hand spun, 3-ply. Dyed after plying in crock pot with 2 shades of Wilton's cake dye blue, and a dab of orange.
Needles: size 13

The Ashland Bay fiber was very nice to spin. Some of the singles were very over spun so I unwound it a bit before plying. Judith McKenzie's description of a 3 ply explains that the singles will lock together producing a fat, round yarn, that is good for cables. I was a bit distressed looking at my singles as there were so many corkscrew areas. I had this idea with the dying that I wanted shades of blue with some black areas, but did not have the black dye, so I thought if I went with a bit of orange the orange would separate into yellow and red so I I would have blues and a bit of purple and green. Umm, well, I got areas of orange.

The cowl came out better then I expected. I don't think I'll over dye it like I planned. The yarn has a nice plump solidness to it. The soaking and thwacking have evened out many of the blobby areas.

I have never worn a cowl and I wonder if it should be a bit more snug. I can imagine the winter winds of Chicago finding their way through. If it was a little more wide it could be pulled over my head. I'm not sure when I'll go some place cold enough to try it out.


Speaking of weather, I wonder if this icky, still, humid weather will move out next week. I've put off the house painting for 3 weeks already. At least it's not super hot yet.

I'm gearing up to work 2 days a week in June and July. A little income is never a bad thing:)

This and That

Number 2 sister and her extended family came for a visit and they were lucky to get some sun before the deluge. The last week or so has been a lot of gray skies, thunder and rain rain rain.


My niece joined my Saturday walking group at Hoomaluhia and the view of the mountains was most inspiring. I love the greens of the Koolaus.



May 1 is Lei Day in Hawaii. My group had a great breakfast on the beach following our walk around Kapiolani Park. The leis were cordoned off until the Queen picks her fave, so I wasn't able to get close enough for any photos while the ceremonies at the bandstand were underway.


The War Memorial in Waikiki was especially picture worthy.



FO: Annis
Yarn: Mountain Colors Winter Lace Jr (600 yd ball) Colorway Wild Horse.
Needles: size 8, 10 for the CO
Comments: I had a lot of trouble with this knit that had nothing to do with the instructions which were straight forward. It had nothing to do with yarn either, which was quite lovely to work with. First off were nupps. They have a fancy name but they are bobbles just the same. I generally avoid bobbles. I tried the crochet hook method which seemed to work pretty well. However I somehow got my needles twisted up in the lace and one of the nupps was stretched out of shape. I was too lazy to fix it properly so now its a little fluff ball. Then when I was nearly done, I realized I had a group of purl stitches in the knit side of my stockinette. I dropped them down and ended up with a bunch of enlarged stitches. Never fear, I said, they would block out, but they didn't. While pinning out the lace, I found I had missed on stitch on the bind off and it started to unravel. Yikes! I picked them all up after the thing dried and did Jen's Stretchy Bind off on the purl side and re-blocked the whole thing. The CO off edge curls. I quit for a while. Perhaps some kind of crochet edging will help? Now I'm reminded why I avoid lace weight!


I rolled up Opal's ball of yarn. It's a big one! Bigger then my ball winder! 8.4 ounces. She can do lace weight, yes she can.


I scored this lovely hank of fiber. Thank you Opal!


FO: SW merino. I was going for a bulky 3-ply. The dye job is awful, I know. The plan is to knit something and then dye it again. I will stick to two ply for now. I still tend to over spin my singles. I unwound some of them, but there still is as lot of energy in this yarn. It may have to become a Slug, but I'm toying with the idea of a bulky cowl. Just what I need for summer in Hawaii, lol.

Mother's Day Card

My mother loves violets...the common ones that smell so nice. We used have them growing in the yard, but it takes a lot of work to keep them going. The flowers were the easy part of the card, but the leaves really stumped me. I had envisioned using hearts, but they just didn't look right. So, in the the end I printed some up and cut them out.

The Purple

The Purple, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Noro hat, pattern by Saartje de Bruijn,
Yarn: Cascade Luna
Needles: size 4 and 5
Mods: decreases on purl sections to reduce the slouch. I knit this one bottom up and tried techknittings method of jogless joins.