Sunday, October 25, 2009

shameless self-promotion: famous the cat designs LIVES!

this is my totally self-serving way of saying i finally got off my butt and listed some items for sale on my brand new etsy site! so far, i've got four fabulous neck warmers and a bag that i am kind of in love with. take a look if you'd like: famousthecat.etsy.com. i will be adding more soon, i'm sure - i realized just how much extra yarn i actually have right now lying around, and i figure i might as well make a little cash off my knitting addiction. for instance, we have the "living in a coniferous world" neck warmer:
091025. living in a coniferous world neck warmer.

in other news, i went to a sock puppet party on friday night (at which the birthday girl was not at all surprised after her husband gave it away earlier that day), which also involved the making of sock puppets. hey, we have to make our own fun here. this is my dino tube sock, which i adore.
091023. my dino puppet.

my green tights are already pilling because i love them so much.
091023. oh, hi!

i also have gotten a LOT closer to finishing my sister-in-law's christmas sweater (needs to be done by thanksgiving, dammit). i've been fully enjoying fall, mostly because i can't stand the thought of gray... everything for the next 5 months. this was the crazy sky from my office on friday.
091023. sky from my office.

walking through the leaves.
091023. self-portrait day. walking through the leaves.

i love this one - it looks like some weird, smeary oil painting.
091023. leaves in motion. i love this one.

sunshine in leaf form.
091023. sunshine in leaf form.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

a forgotten skein of malabrigo + my grandma's pattern book = love...

i was going through the many half-finished projects hanging on the back of my front door (that's where current and not-so-current projects go to get finished or languish) the other day, and i realized i had a gorgeous skein of highly saturated, blue-purple malabrigo yarn. just sitting there! how could i?! i discovered the magic of malabrigo when i took a trip to several yarn stores in philadelphia this past may. what a dream that yarn is.

so yesterday, feeling rather tired of working on my mom's christmas sweater, i decided to do up a quickie cowl from my own head. i wanted something with a fun pattern for the main part, but with a split extended bottom edge for extra warmth without having to worry about increases to make it fan out. i decided, in the end, to do a split foldover top, as well. currently, it's blocking, but i might even add a button along the top neckline to cinch it in even more (this was after walking around town in the bright sunshine and cold, cold air... i forgot that it gets COLD here).

the central pattern was from a knitting book my grandmother gave me years ago. the book is from 1971, and it is literally hundreds of pages of nothing but knitting stitch patterns. there's a cabled section, a ribbing section, a reversible stitch pattern section, etc. etc. it is truly amazing. strangely, i also just received the book "reversible knitting" by lynne barr - it, too, is amazing in almost exactly the same way. i look at all of the stitch patterns, and my mind immediately begins thinking of all of the amazing garments i could work up in each stitch. so. cool.

so anyway... enough about me. here's the grandma's knitting book cowl!
091018. so i decided yesterday to putz around the house and start a cowl.

091018. totally from my own head and a pattern book my grandma gave me years ago.

better detail of the lacy pattern:
091018. (i know, that's really bad. i have too much yarn).

for my own future record (please only use these notes for personal use, not for sale)

- co 103 (or any multiple of 4, +3), do not join.
- work in 2x1 ribbing back and forth for 3”, maintaining a 3 st garter stitch edge at beginning and end of each row.
- join to knit in the round, place marker, k 1 row, decreasing 8 stitches evenly.
- start main pattern (i used “baby variegated ribbing” from an ancient knitting book my grandmother gave me years ago).

baby variegated ribbing:
r1 - p1, k3, p1 - rep from, end k2.
r2 - k2, p1, k3 - rep from, end p1.
r3 - same as r1.
r4 - k2tog, yo, p1, yo, k3tog - rep from, end yo, p1.
r5 - k2, p1, k3 - rep from, end p1.
r6 - p1, k3, p1 - repeat from, end k2.
r7 - same as r5.
r8 - p1, yo, k3tog, yo, p1, yo - rep from, end k2tog.

- continue with pattern to desired length, ending with either row 2 or row 6.
- k 1 row, decreasing 8 sts evenly.
- work 2 rows in 1x2 ribbing, then split. continue knitting back and forth in established rib for 3” or desired length of neck foldover section.
- bind off all stitches loosely.
- block with neck folded down. attach button to foldover extra fabric if desired.

in other news, since it was not only NOT raining but also sunny as heck the past two mornings for the first time in i-can't-even-tell-you-how-long, i went for walks both days. and, of course, took pictures. apparently, someone is looking out for me (my initials are cw, for any who don't know), and this is on the corner right by my house:
091018. thanks for looking out for me, bloomington.

my favorite trees are the ones that change from the outside in - little flashes of red on all of the edges. this one is right next door to me, so i get to watch it transform.
091017. my favorite trees - the ones with the red edges.

a different tree, more color.
091018. more color.

i also realized this morning, while walking past a church with these beautiful mums, that i have been dressing lately in the colors of mums. seriously. this was my outfit yesterday, and today the color scheme is basically exactly the same.
091017. self-portrait day. fall.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

self-portrait recap....

i realized it's been a really long time since i've posted my weekly self-portraits. yeah, i've kept up with it. i tried to do the 365 project a few years back... it went well until, oh, about march (starting the first of the year). i just don't have the wherewithal to think that i can take an interesting picture EVERY SINGLE DAY. one each week? now that i can do.

not to say these are at all interesting. but whatever. deal with it.

7.18.09. my messy, messy house, post-market.
090718. self-portrait day. me and my messy hizzy, post-market.

7.24.09. i maintain every girl needs a pair of hot pink tights.
090724. self-portrait day.

7.30.09. prettifying?
090730. self-portrait day. prettifying?

8.6.09. boombox gives you the sultry eyes, i give you the scary eyes.
090806. self-portrait day. boombox gives you the bedroom eyes, i give you the scary eyes.

8.12.09. i got my cello out of hock.
090812. self-portrait day.

8.15.09. look! i stole a benjamin! we took a walk through the park during my august trip to seattle.
090815. i stole a baby! also, self-portrait day.

8.22.09. perched at my desk.
090822. perched at my desk. self-portrait day.

8.28.09. still my favorite belt buckle of all time. i can't remember where i was going... out somewhere.
090828. self-portrait day.

9.5.09. feeling decidedly lackluster.
090905. me. self-portrait day. whatever.

9.10.09. testing out the width of my bed in nashville (it was a good foot wider than i am tall).
090910. self-portrait day. bed.

9.15.09. a caricature made of me during our work trip to nashville. what's up with my picasso-esque boob area?!
090915. self-portrait day. i am super sassy as a caricature.

9.27.09. i spent way too much money (on a pair of boots i adore).
090927. self-portrait day. new boot love.

10.4.09. what being sick looks like. there was theraflu in that mug. i'm only now starting to feel better, and my mom likes to boast that i survived swine flu.
091004. self-portrait day. drinking theraflu out of my puerto rico mug.

10.8.09. me. looking awkward. in my living room.
091008. self and knitting bags. self-portrait day.

10.15.09. i thought the self-timer was on. it wasn't. i kind of like this picture, though. why do i always put my hand in my mouth?
091015. thinking the camera was on its self-timer when it wasn't. i like this photo.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

warm wallaby...

hooey! it's been a while! i have been knitting my little hands off, working on a variety of top secret christmas knits, and as a result, i haven't been posting much. no more! done! fin! nein! niet! no mas!

first, let me tell you why i had to bust through the current sweater on the needles. it was a project just for me - rosamund's cardigan in knitpicks bulky wallaby. wallaby! who doesn't love a color named wallaby? really, it's kind of a dusty brownish gray. but whatevs. wallaby! so that was on the needles, but then my mom and i went shopping. she fell in love with the following sweater at j. jill. and i was like, "dude! i could knit that!" so i went ahead and ordered yarn - and, for once, the yarn came way too fast. i had to get my own cardigan off the needles before i could start the one for my mama. so yeah... i tore through this sucker like no other.

here's the inspiration for my mom's sweater. basically, i'm doing a second rosamund's cardigan, only long-sleeved and with the front centered rather than off to the side. the color of the yarn is a bit lighter than i was hoping for - but it was the closest i could come. really, as long as it fits and she likes it, i'll be happy.
sweater i plan to copy for mom's christmas present.

and drumroll please... here is my new favorite finished object.
091015. rosamund cardigan all done.

i love this shot - i thought the self-timer was on, but no.
091015. thinking the camera was on its self-timer when it wasn't. i like this photo.

oh! and i made a ridiculous oscar the grouch sweater. the yarn reminds me of toxic waste. this came from my head - just an easy, seamless top down raglan. i wanted it to be cropped. the yarn made me think of those little fuzzy mohair sweaters chicks wore in the 50's. only, you know, toxic waste-y.
090927. oscar the grouch sweater.

i'm working on the farmer's market sweater for my sister-in-law, but i've kind of hit a wall. i'll get back to it once i'm done with mom's sweater... or once i hit the sleeves. sleeves are such a pain in the butt. i asked my bro and sis-in-law what the nephew might need - a hat and mittens. okee-dokey, says i! again, these are more or less from my own head. i love the way the malabrigo pooled in the hat into that weird psychedelic swirlie.

look! ear flaps!
091008. baby hat.

and mitts - gotta connect 'em somehow.
091008. baby mittens.

finally? proof positive that my nephew is the cutest, most ridiculous, most talkative 3-1/2 month old in the universe.