KNIT LOUNGE ~ My Life in Stitches!

52 in 2012

So another new year in the Knit Lounge has begun and to make things a wee bit more entertaining I set a little goal with the help of a Ravelry group "52 in 52 in 2012".

What a mouthful but it should be fun. All you have to do is knit 52 items in 52 weeks or one full year.

Some might find that daunting but when I counted up what I knit this year I came up with 42 projects, including several tops, sweaters and shawls etc.

I was only ten short of the goal last year so this is reasonable for me. Toss in a few extra pairs of socks and I'll hit the mark.   

And here comes my first project, the first of two pairs of socks for a client.  I spent New Years Eve swatching and cast on Sunday afternoon.

Lucky me, I'm working with Anzula Luxury Yarns - Squishy, a merino cashmere blend.

Very Lux indeed.  

Life in a Nutshell

Only in Key West will you see a duck, an Ibis, an Iguana, a chicken and a Seagull all within 5 feet of each other. I wish I had my camera for that.  

To the 50 year old man on Duval Street wearing a black leather biker jacket, a black tutu and combat boots - you really should have shaved your legs before you went out for the night. I'm glad I did not have my camera.

Stonewall sent me this picture.

 

Do you think he is trying to tell me something?

To the couple who opted to start WW-III in the middle of the crosswalk and stopping all the traffic in the process. Thank you so much for inviting us in to your life but would you mind containing your contempt for each other to the sidwalk so the rest of us can carry on.  It's a good thing the Key West Police Mounted Patrol was only a hoof beat away.

After 20 years of humble service our mattress decided that it was over due for retirement.  Our replacement will arrive on Saturday!

I'm almost done with Horai. I never want to K3TG again.

Stonewall kindly ground the all the tips on my blocking wires to a smooth blunt finish! No more snags. I think I'll keep him.

He also rearranged our bedroom and did a pretty good job.

I have moved all of my Knitting supplies, wool and books into the Knit Lounge aka the spare room. The organizing begins.

Did you know that finding a basic electric skillet is not an item readily found in Key West?

Well now you do.

And if you are desperate for a inexpensive lampshade you can forget it. It's not going to happen either.  

I miss Wal-Mart.

I'm ready

One thing that I learned when I was serving in the U.S. Navy was to travel as light as possible but always carry the bare minimum with you until your sea bag is found again. Yes, the Navy is very good at sending you to one place and your sea bag to another. Trust me.

To this day I have maintained that behavior. However, I do not like to be weighed down with unnessecary stuff when I'm out and about even on Knit Group days yet I don't want to be in need of something either.

So I purchased this really nifty case in my signature color that  helps me stay that way. 

Tucked inside this little 3.5 x 2.5 case is everything that I might need when I'm away from home.

1. tape measure

2. cable key and a metal safety pin

3. large and small metal ring markers

4. locking markers

5. waste yarn for holding stitches

6. two end caps

7. darning needles in 3 different sizes

Did you know that you can use a heavier darning needle as a cable needle in a pinch? Well, now you do.

All of this weighs a whopping 2 1/4 onces.

Attached to this is the tinest pair of red scissors that measure 1  7/8" from Hiya Hiya. They are totally cute but between you and me, they are not the best tool in the shed. The blades are just little bent which makes for fiddly cutting.   

I'm ready and light as a feather. 

Traditions

About a year and half ago a friend of mine and I started a tradition. When we are out and about we purchase a little bauble as a memento of the occasion.  It can be anything from a mug with a sheep on it, to a small piece of jewelry, or something that we can use fairly often. Nothing to expensive just a little something.

My delightful friend Patricia and I are both Leo's and our birthday's are 9 days apart. To celebrate ours,  I buy her lunch and vise versa. After lunch we always go shopping in downtown for fun.

In keeping with my tradition I brought two bold bracelets as my memento.

Both are from Mango Tree, an eco friendly company and these bangles fit like a dream and the wood is as smooth as silk. For a petite person is is very difficult to find bangles that do not overwhelm our smaller frames and these are scaled to size perfectly. Did you notice the price? What a steal. 

You know, I had to purchase the Race Car Red beauty.

 

And I also fell in love with the marbled Raspberry. I need to knit a sweater to match!

Does anyone want to go out to lunch with me so I can get another one?

Quickie

A few months ago I gave a dear little old lady friend of mine a pair of hand knit socks. The woman almost lost her mind with delight. She wears them every night when she goes to sleep.

I have to pry them out of her hands to give them a wash on a regular basis and this is a difficult task indeed because she is a typical feisty Italian woman. 

When she told me that she was going to take them to the hospital for minor surgery on Monday, I just about croaked in horror.

They are not as pretty as they used to be and I don't want her telling anyone that I made them given their current condition. After all I have a reputation as a professional knitter to protect. 

I anxiously tried to dissuade her to no avail.

In that moment I decided that I needed whip up a pair in a flash and swap the old for the new when I take her to the hospital on Monday morning.   

Desperate times called for desperate measures. My pride reputation was in jepardy so I crossed the line and broke my self imposed yarn code -  Life is too short to knit with crap, and purchased twitch, twitch, a single ball of cheap icky L.B. Wool-Ease, to solve the problem. No special care required. It was the best I could do considering the exceedingly limited resourses in Key West and they will look decent when done. Oh yes, I was a knitter on the edge.

I cast on Friday evening and finished the pair on Saturday night while watching Star Trek Voyager re-runs. (Stonewall is on a serious bender.)  I intentionally skipped the Library Knit Group on Saturday afternoon least someone discover my scandalous behavior. 

 

OMG, my 111th pair of socks is made of fake wool! I'll never live this down. 

I'm still twitching and Stonewall is becoming concerned.

Would someone please pass the cashmere?

Unexpected

So the big gray blob was finished on July 30th and it went straight to the blocking board after a long warm bath.

I was not convinced before the blocking process and now I'm sure. This is a major bust. It does not fit properly despite my best efforts and the only thing I like is the yarn. 

Thankfully, my Inner Knitter suggested that Patrica B. might be interested in purchasing the piece before I began to rip it.

She is dear friend who is four inches taller than I am and is lean and agile like a gazelle. Everything looks great on her.

 

So I called Patricia and arranged for a meeting. And as expected it looks beautiful on her. Today she is is the happy owner of South Pole and the proceeds paid for Georgie!  

How unexpected, but everyone wins! 

Magic Collar

Wanna see my new magic collar?

Mommy made it for me.  It repels ticks and mosquitoes. I only wear it when I go outside.

 
It smells like Citronella and Lemongrass extract.

Mommy used Comfy Cotton and knit an I-Cord 16 inches long with size 5 needles,  then tied a square knot. On Sundays, she refreshes the collar with 3 drops of each extract.  She keeps it in a plastic baggie when I don't need it.

It works and Daddy says it's much better than picking ticks!

P.S. Mommy says, if you can find Citronella Mist, soak the collar in the liquid for 20 minutes, then wring out the excess and pour the rest of it back in the bottle. Let the collar dry completely on wax paper, away from pets and kids. Store it in a plastic bag when not in use, away from pets and kids. Repeat the process as needed. Or you can just spray your hands lightly and rub it on your puppy before you go outside.  

P.P.S. Ellie says, don't let your puppy eat the collar. It could give them a bad tummy ache or worse.

Fabulous

As a pretty firm rule I have given up wearing high heel shoes. I think it has something to do with the aging process. I no longer wish to make painful physical sacrifices on the alter of beauty when it comes to shoes but this does not mean that I am going to give up style. That would be criminal. 

There is a fabby little store in Key West named Wander Lust that carries a lovely assortment of stylish flats. And I just had to have this pair in dusty silver. I think of them as an early birthday present to myself.

 

The shop owner even gave me a discount since my special day is just around the corner on the 14th.  She is a sweet heart. On Saturday, I wore them with my taupe linen trousers and Blush. I got compliments on both. How cool is that???!!!

Roots

After a string of eight sweaters I think I'm done with that process for a while. I simply can't face another one and I really want to loose those annoying twenty pounds which will change the way things fit in the fall. 

With that it's time to return to my lace knitting roots. I feel the need to knit gauzey pretty things that do not require any fitting what so ever. 

I'm in lust with Horai but K3TGs can be rather beastly to work so I selected 100 % Baby Alpaca Lace which has a good bit of elasticity for digging into stitches and size 10 needles for good measure. 

 

And I know this will shock you but I just happen to have two hanks in a deep rich red in my stash! Life is good.

Preparation

My brother in law is moving to Austen Texas in 18 days.

In 18 days I'm confiscating the room before Stonewall gets any ideas and will begin to transform it into my very own Knit Lounge! 

Zoe and George are very excited about this up coming event. They have grown weary of sharing the bedroom with Stonewall and I. 

Today, I'm tiding up my stash and rewinding yarn though something tells me I'll feel all tangled up  by the end of the day!

 

Obscene part II

Remember that I spent an obscene amount of money for a single knitting pattern?

Well that is only the begining my dear friends. 

The pattern calls for 2,133 yards of sport weight yarn. Lovely. Off I went to Knit Picks for the best prices on merino wool.

Are you sitting down for this? And may I ask you to please move away from the desk least you hit your head when you faint from sticker shock.

Cobblestone Heather in Stroll Sport 17 balls = $62.73  Ouch! Factor in the price of the pattern and the total is $97.73! I should not have done that.

 

I love, love the color but I'm afraid I'll look like Navy issue blanket considering the construction.

So I lighten up drasticly with Dove Heather Swish DK. 19 balls = $75.81! And for added excitement  let's add in the price of the pattern again. Drumroll please- $110.81!

 

Naturally, the Dove color will meld with more things in my wardrobe.  I should have seen that coming. 

It's a good thing that I have a birthday coming up 'cause Stonewall just bought my present.

Do you think I should tell him or wait till later? 

Obscene

It's official! I have lost my mind. Would you like to know what I did?

I spent an obscene amount of money for one single knitting pattern! Want to see what pushed me over the edge?

Georgie, from Kim Hargreaves.

 

Are you in a state of shock? So am I. 

The collar makes this positively fabulous in my humble opinion.

Can you imagine it fastened with this silver shawl pin?

Yes, I know I can copy this pattern fairly easily, but not enough people in Ravelry left me helpful photographic clues on how to do reproduce the simplistic design.

It's the hood/collar that is causing me such frustration. I just don't know how to manage it so I had to make a choice. 

Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Half

Being absolutely disgusted with one knitting project means that one can redirect ones attention to another project.

Thus, I knit the first sleeve for Pole this weekend. The upper arm was a breeze with round after round of lovely stockinette stitch.

 

When I arrived at the cuff I found that the Tuck stitch did not go as fast as I like because it is terribly fiddly and slows me down.  

Basically what you do is pick up a pearl bump eight rows below the stitch, on the inside of the sleeve, then pick it up and knit it with the current stitch.  

Will I do ever knit this stitch pattern again? Probably not. Though I do like the effect.

With the sleeve installed I am exactly half way through Pole and things are looking pretty good.

 

I can only hope it looks as good on me as it does on Zoe!

 

The Kindle Report

Well it's been four months since Stonewall Jackson presented me with the Kindle with a fancy Red Cover and I have to say that I enjoy it even more than before. It wonderfuly portable and contains 582 books that are ready and waiting for me at the flip of a switch.  And 99.5 % percent of them were free at one point in time.

At this time I think I've only spent about twenty dollars for a handful of books, including my Bible which I paid $6.39 and Through the Bible with J. Vernon McGee for $6.99!!!!!! It was on sale. Now it is listed at a whopping $71.99! That in itself has made this piece of tech a worthwhile investment.

The only thing that bothers me about e-books is that I don't have  a sense of how "thick" it may be.  I always stayed away from proper books that were less than an inch and a half. I can devour thin books in less than a day. If the description of an e-book mentions the word short I don't bother with them either. Other than that I'm one happy little duck.

This week I'm reading  The Dead Saint that was once listed as free. It is a very well written political mystery.  

 

It is such a interesting tale that I've been reading late into the night with the help of my Kandle, least I disturb Stonewall and Ellie. 

Though I don't think Ellie cares one little wit. That girl doggie sleeps like a log as long as she is snuggled next to me!

Tricky Bits

Taking things from concept to reality can be a real trick. I had to knit the first neckline three times before I got the stitch placement and details right. Reproducing the second one was a breeze.

Then it took a long time to sew the shoulder seams properly. That was a total hassle to say the least. But I only had two little seams to sew and they are done!

 

After that I carefully picked up stitches on either side directly above the slipped stitches that will create a tidy demarcation line for the side panels.

 From here on out the rest of the cape will be knit in the round and I can live with that. 

 

And of course, these newly made side panels will increase as I knit towards the bottom edge. 

Whew! The tricky bits are done and things should be easy peasy to the end. 

Oh dear Lord, did I just jinx myself?! 

Anthropologie Knits

Year after year Anthropologie consistently designs fabulous knit wear at breathtaking prices. For example this $98.00 cotton ivory cape, with a pretty fluted edge. I need to add this to my wardrobe right away. Its a good thing that I'm a knitter.   

 

The shape is simple enough and I think I can reproduce it reasonably well. Though I would prefer to have a stockinette body instead of the texture.  For the past few days I've been sketching ideas and developing a contruction plan.

On Sunday I tossed my stash about and I think I found the right wool for the project. 

Years ago I scored 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Prima, a bamboo merino blend at half price and it's been marinating ever since. The color is magnolia and has a beautiful sheen.

I did take the time to read the reviews in Ravelry and was rather leery of using this lovely yarn. 

Quite a few people reported excessive amounts of knots which translates to more joins than normal. A hassle but not impossible to manage. Now that I'm aware of the issues I won't become frustrated should it occur.

I worked a few swatches and settled on a size 8 needle and the resulting fabric has a nice fluid drape.

All I need to do is crunch a few numbers and then the knitting begins in a few days. I'm so excited.

Thrift

The Salvation Army thrift store in Key West is perhaps the dreariest and dumpiest one that I have ever seen.   

The walls are a dingy yellow that is almost sickly in appearance. The air conditioning is practically non-existent on a good day. I can only be in there for a short time in the summer before my hair is soaked with perspiration, my nose is dripping from the dust and my eyes start to itch from the mold. How utterly charming.

One would think that this would be a deterrent but I have learned that this is only a minor inconvenience when I might score some high end clothes for pennies on the dollar. 

Quite often I have found Ann Taylor, Liz Claiborne, Michael Kors, Talbot, Orvis etc. hiding amongst the rubbish.

A few weeks ago I popped in and picked up a sporty linen top. I can wear it with both my white and black linen trousers. Though I think it looks best with the white. 

 

As the rummage continued on I found a crinkled linen tank in Eggplant from the Dress Barn. I think it looks smashing with this cotton wrap. Its too bad that I can't convince my camera how pretty it is.

 

By the time my eyes were tearing up and my nose had transformed into a faucet I was ready to take my leave but something compelled me to poke about in the dress rack.

I rarely find anything there because I wear a size 6 and that is the hardest size to come by around here. 

Then squashed in between a wack of boring black poylester dresses was this chic fully lined white cotton and machine embroidered dress from Talbot's in mint condition for $3.50!!!!

 

I almost missed adding this beauty to my wardrobe but I have learned that it pays to push the dresses about to find the gems.  

Yeah, this place is amazing even though it does make me terribly damp and slightly ill when I'm there!

Busy Knitter

I could hardly wait to cast on and get going on my own South Pole last Wednesday evening. The pattern is dead simple if you know how to short row.

Then its been miles and miles of stockinette for my knitting enjoyment. At this time I've used three  and half balls of the yummy City Tweed DK, which I am throughly enjoying. To be on the safe side I purchased twelve. The milage is turning out to be pretty good. I can get three pattern repeats out of each 123 yd ball.

Should my math be correct six balls should take me around the entire body thus leaving five and half for the sleeves. I think I'm in pretty good shape and I'll have a few balls left over for cowl or a scarf. 

Naturally I made a few modifications primarily because I tossed the recommended gauge out the window since I choose to use a lighter weight wool. The needle I selected is an eight and I am getting four SPI.

For the back rectangle I choose to knit it fourteen inches wide, for me narrow is better. Though I did knit the proper armhole depth at nine inches.

 

As for the width of the circular strip I made it a touch wider so that it fits more like a jacket and the bottom edge lands in the most flattering place on my lower body. 

 

George gave it a once over with a healthy steaming to reassure me that I am on the right track. Fingers crossed.

Ta Da

Well I did it and I knit the sweater in six days. I would have been done a day sooner but I enjoyed a day off to visit with friends.  

I think my mentors Elizabeth Zimmerman and Barbara Walker would be delighted that I took matters into my own hands and applied thier invaluable lessons to own my handy-work when I copied a sweater from sight.

 

I suppose it is not terribly humble to say that I am proud of my accomplishment but I am and the fit is perfection.

I can not wait until the fall to wear it.

Pole

I have had great lust in my heart for this sweater from Joji Locatelli from the first time my little eyes spied it in Ravelry.

The style is trendy and yet classic, which can be dressed up with slacks or casual when paired with demin.

I especially like the curvy shape that is well suited for gals like me. 

Did you notice the details on the sleeves? I'm looking foward to knitting those.

Pole has a unique construction method which will keep my little mind stimulated while working miles of Stockinette stitch but not so complex that I can't read and knit simultaneously.

 

I selected City Tweed in Orca which is a gorgeous graphite gray tweed that should give the jacket a more interesting appearance.

 

I'm so in love with the richness of the color and the toffee colored flecks. It makes me swoon.

And the best part is that it will be warm and cozy for Richmond VA  in December.