One Skein Project

One Skein is full of cute little projects. I used some varigated cotton from my stash for this little bag and it used way less then one skein. It was fun to make and very fast.

Psychedelic Totoro

Left over self-striping sock yarn Totoro.

Cascade Fixation Tabi Socks

Project: Tabi Socks, Size 10
Cascade Fixation: 2.2 balls of apple green
Needles: Size 4 DP
Pattern:
Dimensions from "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch
Elizatbeth Bennett's Perle Sock Program for the general directions
Tabi toes from Kate Atherley's Summer Sock Collection published in Spun Magazine

Not having the feet here to try these on is risky. My dinky 5.5 size feet didn't fill the bill and my sons huge ankles just stretched them out too much. I am counting these for knitpastis's Cascade Fixation Ankle Sock KAL even though size 10 ankles are not that tall...oops;P
I'm counting these toward Summer of Socks KAL, too!

Aloha Knitters

Another picture from the walk around my neighborhood reminds me about the Aloha Knitters.

June 10 is World Wide Knit in Public Day. I read about it on Kai's blog. The Aloha Knitters are planning to meet somewhere in Kapiolani Park. It should be fun!

I hope Chris comes out for it too! The picture reminds me of her, as it is practically in her new back yard:)

An Abundance of Green

My Wisconsin sister is visiting and we took a spin around the neighborhood on a blustery day. This is Nuuanu Stream which I drive over everyday.

I love the staghorn ferns that grow on trees here.


I didn't see a lot of green flowers for Project Spectrum green, just yellow ones with hints of green. BTW, there is green knitting going on. Tabi socks in apple green Cascade Fixation for my size 10 friend. I am debating on whether the leg is too long :(

Real or Memorex?

I walked in to Shirokiya one day and some ladies were doing a make and take for Deco Clay, a paper clay, as I understand. I couldn't resist and in just one session, with a lot of help produced a gardenia. It is gardenia season around here.



My friend with the emboidery machine made towels for my Dallas Cowboys fan-friend and also made a star for BunBoy's sweater. He has hair now, and if I can find that elusive ball of twine, some whiskers will complete him. Maybe he needs a banner to carry, too.



I can't seem to get blogger to load this picture correctly. One of my silk ribbon flowers finally found a home on my sisters outfit for the recent family wedding.

knitpastis is inspiring me with her Cascade Fixation socks, so I think that is my next project.

All About Meh

The end of winter on this side of the globe brought out a lot of ambilvalence around blogland. I finished Bpt and really love the Superwash Cascade, but on a cool morning here (72deg) in the uplands of Nuuanu I can put it on for all of about one minute before breaking out in a hot flash.

I had already given up on the Pacific Northwest lace, and rolled the Zephyr up into one giant ball.

Then,I missed a teleconference at work because I mistook PST for Hawaii Time. I make this mistake a lot, I mean, Hawaii is in the Pacific so why does Hawaii have it's own time? I was very lonely in that conference room and the help desk did not enlighten me on the fact that the meeting was already over.

Then I missed a personal appointment. Just totally blew that one.


And then the Cascade Leaves socks acted up. The first one flew by and I loved the pattern, the springy green Koigu, the 5 inch DPs in size 2 (even though I knew size 1 would be better). I got almost to the toe on sock number 2 when I discover I missed one pattern repeat before starting the gusset. So like a good knitter, I frogged back to the spot and knit back, measuring and counting as I went and finished up the pair. I stood back to admire my work, tried them on and carressed them lovingly. It wasn't until I tried them on the second time I noticed that the patterns still do not match up. Sigh. They will be house socks. I love the green anyway.

I was forced to shop. I finally checked out a bright and cheery Aloha Yarns, a lys near where I work. I squeezed the Merino Stripes Moon is making shrugs out of. In honor of Project Spectrum, I added some green Cascade Fixation for summer socks.

I also got Ann Norling's Spiral Rib Hat pattern.

And, I got up and danced anyway at my cousins wedding.

And I had breakfast with my two sisters visiting from Colorado and Wisconsin with our mother and families.

But of course, tomorrow is Monday....again...meh!

Beginnings, Middles and Endings

I leaned to knit at age 6 from Tubly. She was from Switzerland and I never knew her real name was Tauba until I read it in the paper when she passed on to the Biggest and Best Lys. She married a local boy from Hawaii who went overseas for WW2 and lucky for us Hawaiians, she moved to Hawaii and taught knitting, "the German way" at the Richard Street YWCA. I don't remember the year this picture of me was in the paper, but it describes me as "advance knitter", knitting the sweater for my grandmother. It turned out to be my first but not last UFO. It also says I am knitting one for my brother but, I don't have one. Reporting hasn't change, eh?

Anyway, back to Tubly...she had the patience of a Buddha. Our first project was a doll cardigan, complete with button band and set in sleeves. I remember getting a row of stitches twisted and knitting and reknitting them so frustrated that they still were twisted. She fixed it for me and I know what a twisted stitch is now:) The sweater forever had a row of darkened stitches from my sweaty little hands.

Thank you, thank you, Tubly for teaching me something that will last my lifetime!

Fashion alert: I'd like everyone to believe those glasses with the wings were all the rage back then, heh, and maybe they were like the wings on the cars, but a tomboy like me never paid much attention to fashion.

Mr. Bunny was not done in time for Easter as planned. At least he has his topdown raglan, his tail, a mouth and a nose. He needs some hair and the Dallas Cowboy star yet. I wish his ears were a little more rabbit-like He is holding my Project Spectrum socks, Cascading Leaves , in Koigu Emerald Green. I love the slight varegations in the yarn. I'm thinking I will regret going with the 2s instead of the 1s, though.

My zipper finally came and it matches perfectly. It went in without a hitch:) BPT is finished just in time for summer in Hawaii, hahaha.

Shroom! Shroom! Shroom!

The Postman brought me the cutest Shroom, from the multi-talented Stacey at Simple Joys stuffed with colorul and tasty candies. Totoro was most amazed and joyful! Small Totoro jumped right in to try Shroom on for size and it fit perfectly. The lid buttons shut and is the perfect place for shy ones to hide.

She crocheted shroom from this pattern from Crochet Me Magazine. I love the red and white.

Thank you, thank you, Stacey!

Check out Stacey's Etsy Shop for her other cool items.

The Cat Hat, FO from First S&B Book

Here it is, the cat hat in hot pink Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton from the generous and driven keohinani of Aloha and Oreos modeled by the ancient and weathered Daruma doll of my childhood. The hat disquises the fact that he has a concussion and the wish associated with this doll is long forgotten.



In the last hurrah of Project Sprectrum Yellow/Orange month I found this yellow "rose" on my neigborhood walk. I don't think it is rose as it has a milky sap.

Can't think of a catchy title, must be Monday.

The orange variety of this orchid thrives in my patio. The red does fairly well, and the purple not at all. It plants it self all over the place and really doesn't need any soil, just something to anchor it. I can count on this to have a few flowers almost everyday of the year.

For lack of FOs to show, here is my handkerchief doll home from the office posing with the pineapple blossum. I found her in an shop marked down as her spool hands were no longer holding her original package. I became obsessed about making some myself and started collecting handkerchiefs. The label on her arm says Heartstrings. There is a phone number, but I never called it. I also never made any dolls as I had some guilt about copying it and also there is a hole cut in the handkerchief, which I just could not bring myself to do. And that's my story ,and I'm sticking to it.
Last year was a very good pineapple year, and I had six which all tasted yummy. This one has the prettiest flower. It's a hybrid.

After seeing all the wonderful lace everyone is knitting, I dug my UFO, The Pacific Northwest Shawl out of the closet. I have knit and un-knit the last panel "trees" three times already. At least the musty closet smell has waned a bit. Currently the project is in negative status. Sigh. It will be a miracle if it looks like the picture.
For comic relief I'm knitting the cat hat from the first S&B book in the hot pink cotton I swapped keohinani for. It needs ears yet.

BPT, the underarm

Here is the underarm of BPT at the request of Knitting Spaz
The labels in my picture are a bit garbled. The "sleeve" labels refer to the front and back raglan which have cables running along them. The cables also run down the side seam of the body and along the underarem. The very center is where stitches get picked up when starting to knit the sleeve. I wasn't exactly sure how my rows to count up before the twist but all in all I liked the result.

A bit of yellow a bit of blue and green

The second spray of my orchid plant opened up and is much more glorious then the first. And here is Daisy drying. I am packing up my craft room to have it remodeled and can't find a single button. Wow, a reason to shop:)


I still need a zipper for my BPT, too.

Meanwhile, my order from Four Seasons Knitting Products came. Lovely, lovely, squishy Koigu. I'm in love! (and so is Totoro!) I wanted a solid for Cascading Leaves. And the blue? I just had to have it. I got a bit of a scare on my first time ordering from Four Seasons when I didn't hear from them, but the owner was away! She even expedited the shipping for me when she returned.


I experimented with cel phone picture sent to Flickr. Ain't technology grand? It's a good example of why more pixels are better! I had to adjust the color since the flower was a very yellow hibiscus.


I miss decorating Easter Eggs with the kids, since they are kids no more. Have a nice Sunday everyone, on this the last of the "chocolate" holidays until Halloween!

Ooh I almost forgot. My mini sushi stitch markers from Amyville arrived. I ordered them after mkcarroll illustrious designer of The Womb showed me hers. They are just so cute!

April Project Spectrum, Bpt Update

Thanks to all who left comments on my Blogiversary.




Here is the sorry state of my April Project Spectrum yarn stash, unless I want to count a couple of leftovers. The Softball cotton was purchased on sale at Liberty House, Ala Moana, which dates this yarn circa 1979. I made several tops from this yarn in different colors and they wore well. I'm not sure what I will make with this yellow, but I have some black, too, so it sure sounds like Bumble Bee something. Boy I miss Liberty House. I spent many a hour browsing the yarn department years ago petting all that sock yarn.



Huckleberry Farms, a local grocer, had some really nice butternut squash. It looked so nice and yellow with carrots in this very hot squash curry. I think I'll try Ms. Lolly's butternut squash soup next time.

And look, The hood of a nearly finished Bpt!! Here it is drying. Let's see, since the ambient humidity today is 50-100%, it could take up to 3 days to dry, if I'm lucky. Then I have to measure and find a zipper to install. I enjoyed knitting this sweater and only had an urge to bolt 1/2 through sleeve one. Cascade 220 Superwash was a joy to knit with in color 828 on size 8 aluminum needles. I could not get a decent picture of the color. Once again I knit a sweater with a very "comfortable" fit. I have short arms and was not able to make all the decreases before I had to stop. If I knit it again, I'll decrease every 5 rows. It is really cool the way the cables come together and split in the armhole. I tried the 3 needle cast off on the hood, but undid it and grafted instead as some others recommended and liked it much better.

I got my first squeeze of Knit Picks in person, thanks to Chris. Feels very nice:) Now, what to knit next?

I made One Year!

I began blogging exactly one year ago on April Fool's Day. Is there a hidden message in there somewhere?
I started blogging during a down time for me...lot's of issues in my life and in desparation decided to blog my way out of it! A lot of my angst got posted in my first blog and the craft blog split off. The first blog is pretty much just an occasional movie review and whine but remains open for any future hills and valleys.
Along the way, I have met some wonderful "imaginary" friends, as twosheep calls them, and some real ones at the Aloha knitters. I've gotten much inspiration from the talented and creative people out there, not just in knitting and crafts, but in life and love, too!
A big ALOHA! to all the wonderful blog sisters out there for sharing their talents and kind words. And, thanks also bloglines and blogger.com for enabling me to connect with them and of course the Internet, still the most amazing invention in my time.


This orchid bloomed in time for Project Spectrum yellow and orange. It is delicate and not a long lasting flower, but when well cared for it can make several sprays at once and the glory makes up for the brief show.

This and That

My rabbit beads came so I made some stitch markers for some bunny. It's dark and gloomy here and not very good for photos. Scanning creates a lot of artifacts with the crystals and miracle beads as you can see, but it was the best of the attempts. I was looking for the white plastic rings I have been using, but could only find these pink and blue ones.

I drove down Ward Avenue today, and one of the parking lots was a lake. The mission to find shoes for my cousin's wedding and school/work shoes for my son was successful! I feel like I'm ready for "Dress for Less" .

Okay, I'll fess up, we also stopped at Border's where I resisted the Spring Vogue, but got the new Pieceworks as it had some knitted wristlets in it.

Brittany came through with my replacement needle. They sent me 4, not just the one that was broken. They certainly stand by their word. I'm a little more concerned about my order from Four Seasons in Canada. I got an email saying my order was received, but no word that my order was shipped, and no response to my email. Since I never ordered from there before, I'm concerned. I'll try to be patient a bit more.

I love the Cascade 220 Superwash to knit with. I had to forsake Rogue again as I could not get gauge, but decided instead to do Bpt, cabled hoodie, from Knitty. It's top down, and I am almost to the bottom where I will have to do, attached i-cord, a new technique. The tutorials I have seen start with casting 3 stitches on a spare dp, but the pattern says to just start with the first 3 stitches. I'll have to just try it when I get there, but it sounds interesting.

Gotta get ready for Project Spectrum yellow and orange next!

Totoros and other things

I finished two more Totoros. My son felt the old style ears I was making as on the blue Totoro were "devil ears" so I made them a bit more like long cat ears. I only had big eyes for the dust bunny so it always falls down eyes first...Youch!

More pink and red flowers. The weird one in the lovely shade of pink is a flowering banana.








The halter is made from the nice cotton silk from JennieB of Aloha Knitters. My finished Jaywalkers in Lorna's Laces superwash sock yarn fit great. The table cloth was edged on the handy dandy serger with Decor 6 in red. I found the yardage while in the process of packing up my craft room to remodel it into a guest room. Boy those aerial shots make my legs look stumpy.



I thank Chris for showing me how to "throw". I am practicing my two color knitting and as the picture shows learning the tension is going to take a lot of practice. I also have to get to the chapter about how to bridge the long color changes.

Reds and pinks for Project Specturm

I was experimenting with a new template and thought I said, keep the old but voila-I'm brown and orange now. I still have to figure out how to arrange the pictures I post other then just lining them up. I also have an ant running around inside my computer screen and don't know what to do.

I was amazed at how many reds and pinks were blooming around my neighborhood. There were more but it started to rain and the wind caused motion problems...another day.

The camoflage Jaywalkers are done and Totoros have ears. Little guy has eyes, but I wish I had a flat back Swarovski in black for Big ones eyes. I am trying hard not to go out for some because I was not a conservative shopper at the Mythos and Best Bead shows yesterday. The spring Interweave knits finally came in too.

The grand bead in the blue bracelet (oh my how did that sneak in?) was made by Alethia Donathan of Dacs Beads. I made few more stitch markers including one for the big needles a couple of earrings, too.

The Lion's flapper hat is made form some pink stuff I had lying around. No matter what I make with this yarn, I don't like it. I'm bagging it up to take back to Savers! The boys grandmother made the carebear years ago. I sprinkled the silk flowers from the silk flower madness chapter of my life around to detract from the silly hat.

Now where is that pink cotton yarn I swapped for from Keohinani?

Travels

I went to the Big Island, Hawaii for a meeting, R&S (rest and shopping) and to visit a friend who moved there 6 months ago.

My son asked me what I learned at the meeting and I drew a blank for a seconds. I did learn that Petadolex (Butterbur) is good for migraines, whereas Feverfew may not work, although I know someone who swears by it.

I managed to miss the torrential downpours on Oahu and the closing of the Kailua bound lanes of the Pali Highway, which is how I get to work.

I have one finished object, DNA scarf , shown here drying, knit from Rowan's Cashoff, a very soft and buttery experience.

I have two UFOs, Jaywalkers in Lorna's Laces camoflague, and Totoros, still earless and and eyeless. The Jaywalkers are fraternal, but I okay with that.





While knitting the Jaywalkers, I noticed the size one Brittany's gradually bent and then one cracked. So of course I was forced to visit a very wonderful yarn shop in Hilo and purchase size one Addi Turbos from Big Island Bernina, Yarn Basket.



I also have two future projects, blue socks and Cascade 200 Superwash for Rogue. The Cascade had just come in and she had only 5 colors. It was a toss up between the rust and the blue so I went with the rust cuz I'm trying to break away from blue.


Hilo had some wonderful food. I missed the Two Ladies Kitchen mochi as they were closed, but had fun eating tamales at the Farm fair, and loved the smells from the Pahala sweatbread bakery. The taro, kalua pig hash was very tasty. The weather cooperated on the drive through Volcano National park. One of the most interesting snacks I bought and hope to get up the courage to eat was chocolate dipped ika (squid!!) at the Big Island Candy Company. It reminded me of the Eel Ice Cream from an Iron Chef episode. I believe the comments were...."interesting".