Decisions, Decisions

My next sweater is going to be made from Malabrigo Worsted in Whales Road, and I am having trouble settling on a pattern. I like variegated yarns in fairly simple patterns, so no cables. I'm not overly fond of raglan (on me, anyway), but I think I'd rather do a mostly in-the-round sweater this time rather than stitching pieces together. I want casual and comfy...but stylish. Or at least not actively frumpy-looking. Things that have caught my eye on Ravelry: Brilliance

Labyrinth:

Snow White:

Tomato:

Varese

Thoughts?

The Scarf/Shawl Kick

Yes, I said I wasn't updating this blog anymore. My knitting is on Ravelry, my cooking is on Bits of Bliss, and my book reviews are on On My Bookshelf. But there isn't a place for rambly general knitting updates anywhere but here!

I've been on a Clapotis kick lately. Easy, lovely, and endlessly modifiable, it is a stellar pattern to show off a handpainted skein (or a few). If you've been living under a rock, the pattern is at Knitty.

Here is a large-ish version in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool:




And a medium version in Ella Rae Lace Merino:



And a small version in a single skein of Mountain Colors Mountain Goat:



I finally finished the Branching Out in Malabrigo Sock I started ages ago. It's for me, and so was put on the back burner:




My current project is a modified version of Tesla in Araucania Ruca:


I've enjoyed the simple scarves and shawls I've been busting out lately. They make nice one-size gifts, show off the lovely yarns I'm drawn to that aren't practical for a sweater, and I can knit them anywhere without paying much attention. I can make them narrower or wider, shorter or longer, based on my available yardage. There is a time for challenging knitting, but this is not it.

Hiatus, redux

This blog may have become redundant. I recently started a food-oriented blog, Bits of Bliss, which is now the repository for my cooking posts and recipes. Since my knitting is well-documented on Ravelry (I'm allisonmariecat), and my book reviews have been at On My Bookshelf for some time, and with the Twitter thing (I'm allisonmariecat there, too)...there doesn't seem to be much for The Whole Ball of Yarn(s) these days. I'm not taking down the site - there are still lots of recipes and things that aren't elsewhere at this point; I simply won't be updating.

Cheers,
Allison

Would have posted earlier, but...

...knitting a blanket takes a really long time. Therefore, there will be many pictures in this post. Unfortunately, none of them will include Lilah, who refuses to pose today.

Meet Lilah's "Big Girl" Blanket:

To show the scope and grandeur of this thing, I pinned it to the chain holding up our porch swing. You can see it's not a perfect square - more a rhombus. I'm cool with that.


The starting corner:


Spread out on the swing:


Folded:


Not that artfully draped:


Ending corner:


A side "corner":


Pattern: Winged it. I typed up more or less what I did on Ravelry. Basically, I started with three stitches and increased with a YO on each edge until I'd used almost five skeins, then decreased one stitch at each edge until I was done. I like Noro best in stockinette, just wanted an edging.

Needles: Size 8

Yarn: Noro Taiyo, colorway 6, 10 skeins (2200 yds)

Notes: Best television knitting ever. Will I ever knit a blanket again? No. My next non-baby blanket will be someday when I learn to crochet. Man, it takes a LONG time to knit a decent-sized blanket. Love the yarn. I've always loved Noro colors, but wasn't fond of the mohair content in Kureyon. This is wool/silk/cotton/nylon. Very soft, fairly light but warm. Noro has quirks. For a not-cheap yarn, there are an awful lot of knots. And sticks. And it's very thick-thin. But I think of it as part of the charm. Yes, knots are annoying, but what I love about Noro are the colors, and that's what I'm paying for. Think how expensive they'd have to make it if they actually bothered picking out the bits! Lilah loves it. She says it's "so cozy."

Reading: Rereading the Kay Scarpetta books. I remembered losing interest, and now I can pinpoint when and why: Blow Fly, when Cornwell switches to third person instead of Scarpetta's pov. Coincidentally (?) that's the same point at which she appears to start hating her characters. I need to get to book blogging!

Writing: I have been writing some. I know, wild, right? I am at a word count - 3800. See, even posting a word count. Cross your fingers it keeps going up.

Cooking: I'm more or less off cooking lately. Just not motivated and/or inspired. I did make a batch of granola, then another batch of granola. Oh, man, I just remembered I have to make ^&%&%* muffins for a preschool meeting tomorrow. Ugh.

I may post again! You just never know!

Check it out - it's a blog post!

This has been a rebuilding year. I'm very open about my recovery from depression (which is ongoing), but that's not really what I wanted this blog to be about. It's meant to be a journal of my hobbies. This year, my primary hobby has been recovering from depression. I kept up the knitting-related posts because they gave a sense of normalcy, and there was something satisfying about documenting something positive, even if it was just a cute top I'd knitted. Cooking and writing are very difficult for me during periods of depression, and I've mainly documented my reading on LibraryThing and On My Bookshelf, so content-wise, once I went off knitting a few months ago, there simply wasn't any 'there' there. I am still not back to writing, though with an adjusted dosage of meds, I am now hopeful that I will be, at some point. My reading has been sporadic this year. For about half the year, I mainly re-read old, comforting favorites or genre novels that wouldn't have any emotionally wrenching surprises. This year, I looked at my LibraryThing entries for 2010, and I'm nowhere near even 100 books, which is odd for me, as I am generally somewhere close to 100-200. Books took longer for me to get through, and I would occasionally have difficulty with emotional content that was upsetting and put my book aside in favor of other activities. I was also sleeping a lot more, napping whenever I could. I am still in treatment, and I expect to be for some time, but a glimmer of interest in blogging popped back up around Thanksgiving. I found myself, for the first time in months, thinking, "I can't wait to finish this and get it on the blog." Anyway, rambling over. Onto the knitting.

What derailed my knitting was a colossal failure in a custom-sized top for my sister-in-law. It was based on Ballet Camisole with some measurements tweaked for a good fit. I used Knitpicks Simply Cotton, which I find quite nice to work with. I was pleased with how the size-tweaking was going, and happy knitting it...until the end, when I noticed a couple of flaws. I am just now taking it out to see if it's as bad as I remember, and how I can fix it.



I finished it, folded it, and set it aside...and didn't pick up a new project for ages. Finally, I pulled out some of my special-occasion yarn stash, a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk I'd gotten for my birthday. I wanted to make a scarf, but without the least bit of inspiration, I decided to simply cast on for a narrower Lace Ribbon Scarf. I can do it without looking at the pattern, so it's great purse knitting, and while it may not be the best pattern to show off the Seasilk, well, at least I was knitting something. And when it occurred to me that the color is, shall we say, not suited to my complexion, I realized it's spot-on for my mother-in-law's coloring. Voila! Christmas present.


Meanwhile, I picked up some handspun, handdyed yarn in a rainbow of colors from a neighbor. (This is her etsy shop! Gorgeous, plant-dyed, yummy yarns!) Well, Lilah picked it out, for a new hat and scarf for this winter. Super quick project. Basic ribbed scarf, basic ribbed hat knit in the round.




Since I couldn't knit the Lace Ribbon in front of my MIL, I pulled out a skein of Malabrigo Sock in gorgeous blues and greens and cast on a Branching Out. I've knitted several of these for gifts. It's a fun, simple pattern, and it's lovely. And I hadn't yet made one for myself!



We went shopping at the yarn store near my MIL's house over Thanksgiving (a lovely spot called Fiddlehead Yarns in case you're ever in Kenosha, Wisconsin), and Lilah picked out some Noro Taiyo and asked me to make her a blanket. Again, not wanting to do anything over-complicated that would be set aside and never finished, I started a diagonal blanket in stockinette with a garter edging. Very, very simple, but then, Noro doesn't need much in the way of texture or pattern. The colors speak for themselves. Lilah's very pleased with it so far.



Reading: I'm slowly adding to On My Bookshelf. There's one emotionally difficult literary novel (a quite excellent one, FALL ASLEEP FORGETTING by Georgeann Packard) that has taken me half the year to review. I've been lucky at how understanding the authors and publishers with whom I've established reviewing (and personal) relationships have been as I say yet again, "I'm behind on the book blog...I don't have time to review that..."

Writing: Absolutely nothing in a while, following a period of not-very-productive attempts.

Cooking: Again, not much of note here. I didn't even make my vegetable stock for the freezer this winter, instead relying on Rapunzel's vegetable stock cubes. I did make a nice tweak of classic (read: Quaker box recipe) oatmeal cookies by replacing cinnamon with cardamom and raisins with dried cherries. I added chopped pecans for a bit of crunch and to round out the flavors, and I loved them. I started musing about a cranberry-orange zest version, maybe apricot and almond, and Matt said, "Stop messing with my oatmeal cookies!" But playing with perfectly good recipes is a symptom of mental health for me :)

So, that was a blog post! Will there be more? Who knows? As my recovery progresses, I'm hopeful I'll have more to share.

Master of the Obvious

I appear to be on hiatus. I just thought I'd post to acknowledge that :)

Hello, summer

After this point, I will not be properly dry until late September. Yes, the humidity has hit, the mosquitoes are biting, and summer is upon us. The garden is going nicely, despite some piggish squirrels and/or birds, and we've opened the grill for business. Lilah and I had our first beach afternoon. Time for me to finish up Sizzle! The back is done and the front is clicking along. Edited to add: And it's done! Squee!





Details:

Pattern: Sizzle by Wendy Bernard
Size: 38"
Yarn: Rowan Calmer in Coffee, between 4 and 5 skeins
Needles: Size 7

Notes: I love this pattern! It’s simple and cute. I made the 38” size (for an actual measurement of 36”), but I should have gone with the 34”. Two inches of negative ease made me nervous, but I probably should have done the math to make it 36”. I added an inch to the length before waist decreases, and made the neckline an inch higher so I wouldn't fall out of there. I realized that I screwed up the trim - you’re supposed to pick up and knit 2 stitches for every 3 rows and I picked up every stitch. The armhole edging is looser than it should be, but not terribly so. I would make this again in a heartbeat. Wendy’s patterns have never let me down. Cute, simple, ingenious stuff.


Reading: I'm working to get caught up on the book blog. I'm currently reading Fall Asleep Forgetting by Georgeann Packard, and it's fantastic.

Writing: Eh.

Cooking: We grilled! Matt made ribs, and I made stuffed poblano peppers for us vegetarians. I made an absolutely divine dessert from Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, a frozen custard-truffle-thing called Darkness in the Delta. Man, that's some good chocolatey stuff. Whenever we grill, I throw on extra veggies, corn, and tofu to eat in lunches during the week. This time, it was tofu slabs (marinated in lemon juice and garlic), baby artichokes, and zucchini. And extra cobs of sweet corn. I used the corn, some brown rice, and a can of black beans as the basis for a yummy salad, finished with a simple lime vinaigrette. Oh, yeah.

I was not impressed with Godiva's pistachio ice cream truffle. Not nearly nutty enough. So I shall embark on the quest for the perfect pistachio truffle once we get back. From Paris. Oh, yeah, I'm going to Paris. Did I not tell you? Matt has a conference there, and we had frequent flier miles and grandparents to babysit, so we're going on our first trip alone together since Lilah was born!

Front Porch Blogging

So, instead of the one front and one back photo Matt usually takes, I talked him into taking a few of Camisa I could choose between. And I suggested the front yard instead of the back of the house, with siding as a backdrop. I started out standing in front of a tree, but you'll see he ended up getting cars in the background. I'm a terrible model, and he's no great shakes as a photographer, but I think we did better this time. After I said, "That's probably good," he even took a couple of angled shots.

The front:

More of the front:

The back:

Lilah frequently interrupted the photo shoot with demands that her own picture be taken. No shrinking violet is that one.

Here's the one detail I'm not crazy about in the pattern, the side vents instead of proper hip shaping:

And a close up of the reverse stockinette top, basketweave center, and stockinette bottom.

And a couple of angled bonus pictures:



Pattern: Camisa, by Kat Coyle (Knitscene, Fall 2006, available for purchase here. Size 36.5"

Yarn: Rowan Calmer in Garnet, 6 skeins (I had at least half a skein left)

Needles: Size 7

Modifications: I have finally accepted that I have a long torso. So, as a matter of course, I simply add two inches in length to every sweater I make for myself. In this case, I added an inch below and above the basketweave pattern (concerned about having the basketweave cutting across the bust - I suggest the extra inch for anyone above a C cup).

Notes: I really enjoyed knitting this. It's a clever design, easy but not boring. The edges do curl, and blocking din't really fix it entirely. Neither did ironing, though at least the bottom edge is sitting relatively flat. I'm not sure that side vents are my favorite hip shaping technique, but I don't think they're awful. The crochet edge isn't the neatest. Probably my fault, as I'm crap at crochet. I'm never sure I'm doing it right. I think applied i-cord would look neater as an edging. Overall, I like this. I think I'll wear it.

Other knitting: Waiting for yarn for a Ballet Camisole, so I cast on for Sizzle in Rowan Calmer in Coffee Bean. I didn't bother to take a picture, as it's just an inch of seed stitch so far.

Reading: Not anything terribly exciting.

Writing: Some progress, not a lot.

Cooking: I have tackled sourdough! If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that I had some success with sourdough while living in Wisconsin, but have had one disaster after another since moving here. Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice had the answers I needed. I have another batch rising now.

I made pesto to go with pasta and roasted red peppers and asparagus. No recipe, though. And my Triple Almond Brownies. I made them for friends and fancied them up by baking them off in tartlet pans and serving with a side of cream whipped with amaretto and a bit of powdered sugar. Very nice.

The garden is coming along. The zucchini and squash are in bloom, small green tomatoes and baby tomatillos have appeared. Strawberries are producing. My cilantro is growing so fast, I need to chop it down!

Day 7: What a Yarn

Today's topic is: What a Yarn
There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative.

My go-to yarns are Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool for sweaters, Malabrigo sock for scarves, and Rowan Calmer for summer tops. I love the drape of the Silky Wool, and it's soft, yet durable. The first project I made with Silky Wool was Somewhat Cowl. I made an unfortunate choice to do a short-sleeved version, so I never wear it. I suppose I could try layering a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath. I also weighed at least 25 pounds more than I do now. When I tried it on recently, it was ridiculously big. When I run out of yarn with which to knit, I will frog it! I also made Gathered Pullover out of Silky Wool. That one is more forgiving on the fit. It's just more slouchy now, and less fitted, but doesn't look ridiculous. Matt's Hjalte is my latest Silky Wool project. Someday, it will have sleeves. SIlky Wool is lovely to knit with, and it's reasonably affordable because the skeins have decent yardage.

I made the Tesla Scarf and Love Bites Scarf out of Malabrigo Sock. I was SO happy when Malabrigo started a sock weight line. I like the worsted for sweaters okay, but a scarf out of Sock is absolutely divine. I have three more skeins in various colors for future scarves.

Calmer is not a go-to yarn for me, usually. It's more one I covet from afar because it's on the expensive side. If you've been following my blog, you know how ridiculously excited I was to find discontinued colors for about half off. I snapped up as many as I could. I first worked with Calmer for my Tempting II from many moons ago. I wore that top once or twice this summer, but it's sort of big now, and I was never crazy about it. When I run out of my Calmer stash, I'll rip it out because the yarn is too nice to just sit in a drawer with the other unworn sweaters. This year, I've already made Tomato and Audrey out of Calmer, and I'm nearing the finish line on my Camisa. Love, love, love this yarn.


Hosted by Eskimimi Knits

knitcroblo7

Day 6: Blast From The Past

Today's topic is: Revisit a past F/O
Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

Darn it, I was going to do a photo shoot, trying on all my sad, unloved past projects, but the weekend was busy and Sunday, when I had the time, was too humid for me to want to parade around in one wool sweater after another. I talked about all my sad, unloved past projects in this post but I would like to add photos. I think I still will, sometime this week when Matt's around during daylight hours.

Besides the sweaters I made for myself, there have been other disasters. Like the Einstein Coat I made out of Pakucho Organic Cotton as a newbie knitter (yes, a coat made out of worsted cotton weighs about 42 pounds and stretches like made), the fair isle cardigan I made out of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride for my mother who lives in California (where 50 is considered cold), or the red and white striped sweater I knit for my father-in-law, which promptly acquired pink stripes with the first wash. When I was pregnant, I also made weird yarn choices for baby knits, so I made three sweaters and a dress that she NEVER wore. Argh.


Hosted by Eskimimi Knits
knitcroblo6

Day 5: Where do you like to knit?

Today's topic is: Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

I knit pretty much wherever I'll be sitting around without anything to take my complete attention or requiring the use of my hands. I keep knitting in my purse and pull it out at the playground when Lilah is busy building sand castles. Or in waiting rooms, at my book club, in the car (not while I'm driving). Since I started knitting, I can't stand to sit and just watch television anymore - I knit while I watch. Same with the movie theater. Stockinette in the round is really the best for movie theater knitting. Nothing ruins a movie like dropping a stitch half an hour in! One of my favorite spots to knit is on our porch swing while Lilah plays, but that's not as common as knitting down at the playground/lake because when I'm outside our house, I tend to feel compelled to make a dent in the endless supply of weeds. With the right book (hardcovers are easiest), I've found that I can knit sitting cross-legged while reading, using a toe to keep the book open if it's uncooperative.

Possibly the weirdest place I've knit is at Wrigley Field. I got some odd looks, but the guy next to me started asking questions when he realized I was able to follow the game at the same time (I was knitting a Booga Bag, which I could do in my sleep). I knit the whole way from Bratislava to Budapest in a rental van on vacation with my husband's family. I've knit standing in line at the DMV to get my license renewed.

I don't have any qualms about knitting in public. Sure, sometimes I get weird looks, but I don't particularly care what random people think about it. But I do draw the line at events like weddings and graduations, because it just seems rude. Even if I know I can pay attention while knitting, other people don't get that, and may interpret it as not caring about the event. Same with therapy. Any time it's important enough that I feel my attention shouldn't be divided even a little bit, I leave the knitting at home.

Knitting by the lake:




Hosted by Eskimimi Knits

knitcroblo5

Day 4: Wild Card

Today's topic is: Today's topic is about what other related crafts we'd like to learn someday. Knitting blog aside, I am actually not a particularly crafty person. So I decided to use the wild card question for Day 4.

Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of? Write about what you love about it.

Yes, I do! When I started knitting, all my tools were of the pink and blue plastic stitch marker variety, because they were cheap and I didn't know if the knitting thing would stick. After I'd been at it a few years, I decided I really wanted nice tools that made me happy to use. Here are some of my favorites:


The bag was a gift from KnitPastis, a knitblogging friend. When she started selling her creations online, I bought some stitch markers - the lovely beaded one is hers.



The lovely wooden needle case was made by Stefaneener's father-in-law. The sock measuring tools, gauge square, wooden stitch markers, and Knitter's Rule are from KaratStix's Etsy Shop. I had coveted these after seeing them around the blogosphere, but it took me a long time to get mine. For the same reason I don't have a tattoo - I couldn't think of something that was so me I wanted it on my tools, and I didn't just want to get sheep and yarn. Finally, it hit me, and I asked her to design a Jane Austen-themed set, with tea things, pen-and-ink, books. Lovely, isn't it? And so much more substantial than my cheap plastic gauge. The notions bag is from Katie Fleck Designs on Etsy, replacing a freebie cosmetics bag that had served in that capacity.


Hosted by Eskimimi Knits








knitcroblowc