The only prescription is MOAR CAST ONS.

I really did love being in school and the whole academic environment. These days, when I find myself falling into the unavoidable winter slump and feeling like I'm not doing enough and that I need to be living (?) more, I find myself missing learning. I realize this sounds pretty lame, because life as a whole should be a learning process, but it's just not the same (for me) anymore.

This is part of the reason I love working at a knitting store. I'm pretty much expected to be a knitting "guru" and should be able to answer most questions about most different kinds of knitting, whether I have done it before or not. I still haven't gotten past the cuff of a sock, but I've turned a heel. I have never done set-in sleeves...but I have. I was borderline scared of mattress stitch, but when a customer asked me to seam for her, I just did it. And it was great practice.

I am blessed in the fact that I am so passionate about a hobby that always teaches me. In the past two weeks I have "taught myself" how to seam, duplicate stitch, work set-in sleeves, etc. All for work. All for this part-time job that some of my careered friends look down upon. Forget about the haters; do what you love and what fulfills you.

Anyway, there's my rant. Now I just need to overcome the crippling fear of steaks (oh god, why?) and all will be good. I've been in a weird place lately and since casting on for new projects makes me happy, I have cast on for too many new things and stripes seem to be the theme of the week my life

My dormant Cladonia. Which I have touched maybe three times since I moved here.

I started a Delancey cardigan after lusting after one for a long, long time. Doing this as a KAL with The Sweatshop of Love group on Ravelry. I LOVE THIS COLOR COMBINATION. Even better? I scored the last of the Cascade 220 at Rosies...making my sweater super cheap. I will probably spend more money on the buttons because ohmygod I love buttons.

Fletcher Mittens by Amy Swenson, who just happens to be from my hometown. Which I need to just suck up and finish. The thumb that is finished looks like it has a toe attached to it, so I have one thumb to knit, one thumb to fix and two cuffs to pick up and knit. Why don't I just do it? Same reason I don't knit the lace section of my Cladonia: it's not neeeeew.

Another recent cast on...as in yesterday. This is my first time using O-Wool Balance and I love the colors. Aiming for some gradually changing stripes. I guess I had Valentines day on the brain when I selected these. Did I mention how that corally color is driving me CRAZY these days? This is going to be another cowl because I'm trying to figure out just how many neck things one person needs. 

Another shawl. This one is in Fibre Company's Terra in "Belladonna," which I love love love. It reminds me of the "Stephen Loves Tosh" coloway from the Stephen West shawl club...except I like this one better. And it's less ~exclusive~.

And that's that. I still have a few more that didn't get to be photographed (like my mohair/silk concoction from last week), but that's probably enough for now. Started planning crazy KALs with Andrea from work, but we are going to be strong and finish things before we even dare. Did I mention we are going to turn Rosie's into a hobbit hole/fairy wonderland? Shh...you didn't hear it from me. 

Happy knitting!

-Ashley

P.S. I miss my kitty babies. Buy me a kitten...

P.P.S. I still haven't started Matt's Valentine. Oh god why?

This week's palette & knitting tattoos

I call this "the heap of knitting hope" or something along those lines. This week has been slo-ow in terms of knitting related nonsense and tomfoolery and pretty ridiculous in terms of all other things. There have been a lot of work hours and quarreling and running (oh my!) and lazy sloth-like behaviors. I find that when I run more and more, I get so tired and don't even want to knit. Say what? Yeah, I said it. But, yes. That is my heap of hope. This week I find myself drawn more and more to grays and blues above all others. I'll sum it up to the weather and the hopes that I will (someday) soon see some body of water. I'm looking at you, Pacific Ocean.

Spring Beret in Debbie Bliss Amalfi

Things have been pretty slow at the shop since I got back from Christmas break, and earlier in the week I went through and made a list of our underperforming yarns. Once that was done, I set about the task of selecting a pattern per yarn and making little "sample to-knit" lists. For Debbie Bliss' Amalfi, a blend of cotton, viscose, linen and silk, I decided on revisiting an old favorite of mine: The Spring Beret by Natalie Larson. I haven't knit with many cottons before and though I have made this beret twice before, I have never used a higher-end cotton. These knits were back in the day, when I bought all of my yarns at Jo-Ann and didn't even know what linen was. 

Now, the pattern calls for a worsted weight, so I've had to make a few modifications to this pattern. I decided to knit the slouchier pattern, as I have done in the past, but I'm knitting the whole thing on size 6 needles. It's ending up kind of awkward slouch, but I'm confident that after a good blocking all will be well and the pattern will really stand out nicely. As for the yarn, well, I'm not so sure how I feel just yet...

Wee Heap of Koigu

This wee heap was meant to be a Father and Son tie for Matt, but now I'm rethinking it. While my boyfriend has some Joseph Gordon-Levitt characteristics, I'm just not too sure how well he can rock the skinny, tragically-hip tie. Matt is a skinny lad and skinny ties...well, they look a little awkward on him. Plus when I think about skinny ties, it leads to thoughts of sweater vests and how good they look together. Since I already owe Matt a sweater to go with his Ranger sleeves, I am not in the market to be knitting him sweater vests. After talking with Andrea at work today, I decided I might try and finagle a chevron tie out of these three colors. I wanted to use the gray as the main color and alternate stripes, but we only have one ball of gray in stock at the shop, meaning it's "make it work" time. I do love this color combination. 

Heritage Silk and Angel 

The gray in this photo is Cascade Heritage Silk (charcoal) and I had originally bought it to use for Matt's hipster tie, but then I kind of fell in love with it after seeing this scarf, which is just garter stitch on larger needles, but is so simple and beautiful. I've been in love with this plum Debbie Bliss Angel (color 17) since I started working at Rosie's and decided that it was time to take the plunge. I plan on knitting both yarns together (maybe on size 6-7 needles) and just doing an oversize garter stitch cowl. This is my first time using mohair, and, though I am a bit apprehensive, I'm hoping the color combination will cancel out any qualms I may have.

Since I keep jumping ship with many of the WIPs I have going, I have so many FOs looming on the horizon, but I just need to get things reigned in a bit before I finally have anything to share. I'm working on a wonderfully luscious everyday shawl in Terra by Fibre Company (yum), so I'm hoping to have that finished by weekend's end. It's perfect for lazy evenings and weekends when all I want to do is stare at Ryan Gosling's face and overdose on girly movies.

This whole "hey girl" meme makes me way too happy

Oh, and I decided on my first tattoo. At long last. Now I just need to find the right venue and get it done. My goal is to have it by my birthday, so hopefully I can stick to my guns and not wuss out this time. Of course it is knitting-related. And literary...kind of.

"Knitting is the Saving of Life"

I've never been a fan of color tattoos (why? I'm not sure), so I'm undecided as to whether mine will be colored in or just shaded. The quote is from Virginia Woolf, a lovely writer and self-declared "Mad Woman," a lady I happened to fall in love with during my final year of college. Colors could be lovely and if I do decide to use them, I would opt for various shades of colors of life. You know, greens, blues and yellows. However, I do love the black to soft gray that I was able to create with my pen shading. Because I have no markers here. Either way, I am really excited about this idea and it is the first tattoo idea of mine that I have felt truly passionate about getting. I'm planning on right forearm, just below my elbow, because when I first learned to knit I was a thrower. Now I pick, which is supposed to be better, but still manages to sound a little grosser.

Happy knitting!

-Ashley

First World Problems aka Need MOAR Fibre Co.

Is it really that difficult to find a good mitten/fingerless mitten pattern for a skein of Koigu or two? I have spent hours scouring the deepest trenches of Ravelry and have come up with *nothing* that can please me. When did I become so picky??

Even though I am in dire need of mittens, I decided that two+ hours on Ravelry searching for the perfect pair was just a wee bit too much. So I cast on for another hat. Because I really need one more. Really. No, I'm just kidding. Just check out my Ravelry page (though I have donated a lot of them to my local Caps for Cancer chapter) and become both shocked and appalled at just how many hats I have knit these past few years.

The hat in question: Hineri by Olga Buraya-Kefelian

Since I never dedicated a full blog post to my knitting resolutions for 2012, you dear blog readers have no idea what my plans are for the new year. The full-blown hat obsession is what inspired my 2011 resolution and since that was a big fat failure (knit something new every month), I decided to loosen the chains a little. This year I am going to focus on trying out as many new yarns as I can and writing reviews as I use them. I'd also like to focus more on designing, but that's a whole 'nother story. I figure this way I can knit whatever I'd like and also widen my scope a bit...and stop stockpiling Madelinetosh.

While I had heard of the Fibre Company yarns before I started working at Rosie's (we stocked Terra at Wool & Co.), I had never really seen them around the Chicagoland area. Fibre Co. specializes in yummy, yummy blends and because of this I had written them off as, "oh boy. I cannot afford this stuff! Moving on..." and had left it at that. While most of their yarns are pricey (and understandably so), I realized that the world won't end if I treat myself to a skein of something or other. While I might never be able to afford to make a sweater out of Road to China, that doesn't mean I can't make myself an ultra luxe cowl out of it.

We got Fibre Company's newest yarn, Acadia, in the shop a week or so before I headed home for the holidays. As per usual, the fiber content was so luscious that I fondled the skeins a bit too aggressively as I put them on the shelf. So many beautiful colors and I couldn't help but separate them into the "perfect" color pairings.

Blackberry and Amber...driving me wild!

Rosie's currently stocks 10 of the 17 available colorways and each one is as yummy as the next. Acadia is a 2-ply blend of 60% Merino Wool, 20% Baby Alpaca and 20% silk. Those little nubby tweeds are similar to the ones found in Terra and are created by the silk noil. While this is the first Fibre Co. yarn I have used, I think it might just be my favorite to look at (and feel).

Moar yarns

This past Wednesday, I knew that I could resist the call no longer. While the Amber and Blackberry combination makes me swoon, I decided that I would rework the Dalloway Cloche in one of these luscious colors. Douglas Fir (far left) was jumping out to me, but then I remembered just how much I loved Pete's Habitat hat after I finished it, so I knew it would have to be Asparagus, the "springy" green in the center. I wound up my first skein, hunkered down and finished the puckered edge that same afternoon. 

Dalloway in Asparagus

Distractions never felt so good. This yarn is sinfully soft on the hands as you work with it. As I think back to the days before I fell victim to yarn snobbery, which is both a blessing and a curse (for my wallet), I wonder how I ever knit with anything else. I find myself having more and more #firstworldproblems day after day and the case of "when can I get more Acadia?" is just the most recent. 

No joke. 

In all seriousness, this yarn is wonderful. And I can't wait to use it again, perhaps next time for something more substantial. You shouldn't be afraid to indulge every once in awhile...except don't do it too much or you will end up #firstworldproblem-ing far too much. Oh god, it's a verb now.

Happy Heap

And with the third clue for my TTL mystery sock KAL being published tomorrow, I have to get on it. As it grows more and more beautiful, my production slows to an ever increasing halt. Bah! 

Happy Knitting!

-Ashley

Angstmas gift knits (and it's time to spin)

Since I never got to post my holiday knits, I thought now might as well be the time. I mostly knit for Matt's family, but sometimes a friend or two will be thrown in. Matt's mom is a fairly seasonal knitter, so I really enjoy making things for her. As I mentioned, I finished all six of my holiday FOs in just under two weeks. When I'm faced with the frantic, "oh my god! 20something days until Christmas!" thoughts, I always decide that I will knit something small for my recipients and accompany them with a bottle of their favorite wine or six pack.

Yoked Cardigan by Hannah Fettig

A Cardi for Katie in 0-3 month size

Plymouth Select Superwash Merino in color 50 (.5 skein)

Size 7 needles

This first gift was for Kaitlyn, who entered the world on December 15. I had anticipated a post-Christmas arrival, but of course her mother just couldn't cooperate and decided to tack on one more Christmas knit. This was my first time using Plymouth Select Superwash Merino worsted wool and it won't be the last. My stitches look a little uneven in some places, but I ran into some blocking issues when my cat got involved and I had to pick it up before it was done. I think she has already outgrown it.

Calisto by Kate Kaplan

Mel's Calisto

Subime Yarns Cashmere Merino Silk Aran

Size 8 needles

Calisto was designed by my friend Kate and this is the second one I have knit. My first Calisto was knit in Noro Yuzen, a discontinued dk weight yarn. Everything worked out with the substituting, but since I had such a pressed deadline and, considering this was one of my gifts that needed to be blocked, I decided to stick with the aran weight that it calls for. I bought the yarn on sale at Rosies and wow do I wish we weren't discontinuing it. This yarn is SO nice, as it's a blend of silk, merino and cashmere. I made this Calisto for Matt's sister and she wore it all week. It also started the fringe fever I have. Everything needs to have fringe! I'm even considering some fringed leg warmers, but I guess that has more potential for failure than anything else.

Smooth Edge by Veera Valimaki

Silky Edge

Malabrigo Silky Merino (I think) in blackberry

Size 10 needles

I'm a bit unsure about this yarn. I dug it out from the depths of an uncontrollable stash and don't really know what it is. I narrowed it down to Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend and Malabrigo Silky Merino, but I think the color matches Malabrigo more than Manos. Either way, this yarn is a blend of silk and wool and has such a nice drape to it. I made this one for Matt's mom and opted to use the smaller weight yarn because I'm not sure how she feels about bulky infinity scarves. This one allows her to wrap it twice, but at the same time it doesn't overwhelm like some of the others out there. The design is very clever, combining a herringbone print, garter stitch and short rows (my fave!). I plan on making another for myself at some point, but I'm still undecided on the yarn I will use. 

Hogwarts Scarf by Lauren Kent

Leo's Going to Hogwarts

Knit Picks WOTA in Red and Pumpkin

Size 7 needles

I finished this project on Christmas morning and was late to visit Leo in the hospital because of it. Not one of my finer moments. What can I say about this pattern that hasn't already been said? Matt's dad is a crazy Harry Potter fanatic and watching either Harry Potter or Love Actually on Christmas Eve has become a tradition of ours. Matt bought his dad the entire Bluray collection for Christmas and we both gave him a "Expecto Patronum" shirt we picked up at the Punk Rock Flea Market a few weeks back. I can't wait to see him wearing his shirt and scarf and rocking out to Harry Potter. 

Habitat hat by Jared Flood (<3 swoon <3)

A Stolen Habitat

WOTA Tweed in "Dill"

Size 7 needles

This FO I seriously considered keeping for myself. The tweed, cables and color just kill me and I wore it around a few days before finally offering it up to Matt's brother Pete. I haven't really knit any cables lately, but they are one of my favorite things to knit and this pattern has their fair share. I cabled this without using a cable needle (for the most part) and it went by really quickly once I got going. I hit up a yarn sale at one of my favorite LYSs on New Year Day (with some of my favorite yarny wenches) and picked up some Classic Elite Moorland to knit one for myself. This was my first time using Knit Picks WOTA tweed and I'm not sure if I will use it again. For more of my notes on the yarn, check out my project page on Ravelry. I also run the risk of having Tweed's baby right now (I LOVE TWEED. And fringe).

Welted Alpaca Cowl by Churchmouse Yarn and Tea

R Kelley's Welted Cowl

Knit Picks Andean Treasure in "Aurora Heather"

Size 6 needles

This last Angstmas present is one that I knit for Katie's momma, my dear friend R. Kelley. When R. Kelley first moved back to Illinois after a brief foray in Buffalo, I taught her how to knit, but she never made it very far on her own infinity scarf (bad R. Kelley!), so I decided to make her one for Christmas. I've never used 100% alpaca before (what!) and I don't know what is wrong with me. How could I not have? This yarn is Andean Treasure by Knit Picks and it is such a great yarn. Unlike the Knit Picks wools I have used, I didn't run into any knots or splits in either of the skeins I used. I would highly recommend this yarn and plan on using the other colors (gray and yellow) for an Andrea's shawl at some point this year.

And that, dear readers, finally brings us to the end of my knitted angstmas gifts. My plans for the end of the weekend include finishing up that Hineri hat. I did start The Woman in Black last night and managed to get 20% read. Thanks to my Kindle for making it easy on me. Oh, and I got a very nice package from WEBS this morning...

My fiber is here! My fiber is here! If anyone knows of any good spinning books/videos/gurus, please send them my way. I can't wait to start!

Happy knitting!

P.S. all of my gifts came accompanied by either wine or beers. Except for the baby and her breastfeeding mama. Yay!

A Fall Without FOs

Holy hell has December been a month.

I haven't blogged much lately (ok, that's a bit of an understatement) because, well, life has been busy. I've been living in Philadelphia since September and have been back and forth between the East coast and midwest several times over the past three months...which is a lot, especially considering that before September I could count the number of flights I had taken on one hand.

I've since doubled that. Yeah, it's been crazy.

Life in Philly has been good so far and I really love all the new experiences I have had. I've started working in a fabulous yarn shop (Rosie's Yarn Cellar, for any of you fellow East coast knitters) and it's been a completely enjoyable experience. I actually don't hate working retail for the first time in a long time. I miss my friends a whole lot and I miss my little knitting circle I had formed back at home. But it's been a great experience so far and I can't wait to see what the next year holds.

One thing I haven't been doing a whole lot of is actually finishing things. Because working near full-time, exploring this new city and trying to have a social life where I only really hang out with nerdy dudes (sorry guys, you are still pretty fun) has seriously dug into my knitting time. And how does this even happen? I have an awesome job where I can actually KNIT while I work.

1. Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood//2. Rittenhouse Cowl by Me//3. Bandana Cowl by Purl Soho

The first few knits I worked on in Philadelphia were ones that travelled with me. Matt's Noro scarf has been a work in progress for the past year. I kid you not. While I absolutely adore knitting Noro stripes (more on that next time), this scarf has mostly been a movie viewing WIP. I used two different Noro colors and a beige Cascade 220. It's been so long since I started that darn scarf that I lost the tags and can't even tell you which colors of Kureyon I used. Ho hum. They were both green?

That little yellow number in the center is a cowl design I started before I left for Philadelphia. I named it "Rittenhouse" temporarily since I finished it during my first week in Philadelphia, when I kind of spent most of my time hanging out in Matt's teeny hotel/apartment overlooking the square. I have several issues with this cowl, but I have since started a revamped design that I like a whole lot more. Rittenhouse (version 1) was knitting using less than one skein of Malabrigo Worsted in "Frank Ochre," which is a FABULOUS yellow...and I don't generally like yellow.

The Bandana Cowl by Purl Soho was my first project that I actually started and completed in Philadelphia. I whipped it up in an afternoon or so and love it so much. It's my first time using Rowan Cocoon and it will not be my last. This cowl was a great little one skein wonder, though I ended up making quite a few modifications to accommodate this (slightly) chunkier yarn. I wound up having a little walnut sized ball leftover and I cut most of the top out of the pattern. It still ended up quite large and very warm. Have I mentioned how much I love Cocoon? And the color, Tundra, pretty much makes it the best basic to add to my winter rotation.

4. Bandana Cowl by Purl Soho//5. Oana Shawl by Kristen Kapur//6. ORD by Me 

These last three projects were knit entirely in Philly. If you've read my blog for awhile, you may remember the silly idea I had last year to try something new each and every month. That lasted, oh, I don't know, maybe three months? While I packed an ungodly amount of yarn with me for my visit, I ended up not really touching any of it, because once I started working at Rosie's I was introduced to a whole lot of new yarns that I have never seen before. The past few months I have tried to use as many new yarns as I can, but I still have SO many more to try.

My boss, Lisa, is the U.S. distributor for Manos del Uruguay yarns. We carried a few of the Manos yarns at the yarn shop I worked at back home, but when you walk into Rosies it's Manos central, which is pretty awesome considering Manos del Uruguary belongs to the World Fair Trade Organization, meaning the company is 100% fair trade. You can read more about the company and some of the artisans at the "About the Co-Op" section on the Fairmount Fibers website.

My Oana Shawl is knit from Manos Rittenhouse Merino 5-ply (named for Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia) and took just under two skeins of Rittenhouse. The yardage is quite generous and you get around 250 yards of delicious Merino wool for less than $20. I blame this shawl, my first complete Kirsten Kapur FO (I LOVE HER!), for the crazy amounts of fringed knits I have finished during the last month or so. Seriously, need moar fringe. The shawl is featured Knitscene's winter 2011 issue and originally called for O-Wool Worsted, but when I saw this color of Rittenhouse I just knew that I had to use it. And I started it that same night I bought the magazine.

ORD is my newest "design" knit using two strands of Manos Maxima, an one-ply, kettle-dyed yarn. There has been a crazy love for seed stitch at the shop over the past month or so, but none of that holds a handle to double seed stitch, which I am CRAZY for. I cast on for this project on my way home for Thanksgiving and almost finished it on the plane. Yes, that is just how quickly it knits up. Mine ended up a little longer than I intended for it to, but the instructions include instructions for how to make it smaller.

Bandana Cowl v.2 was knit in Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky and was knit as a sample for the store. The yarn is rather pricey (hey, it's luxury?), so a small project like this cowl is the perfect way to stretch a yarn that would otherwise be out of my budget. Another thing I have been loving this year is tweed (again, more on that next time) and this is a really, really nice one. The yarn also comes in an aran weight, which I would love to try sometime and the colors are all pretty darn good.

While six FOs over the course of a few months may be good enough, it's not usually the way I roll, which is why I felt I needed to make up for it this past month. In the past, oh, two weeks(?) I somehow managed to finish SIX FOs. In two weeks. And, again, I will have to save that for next time...

It's good to be back :)

New Things: Lorna's Laces Solemate

Between TNNA happening a few weeks ago and Sock Summit looming on the horizon, things have been really busy at the shop. And we have been reaping the benefits.

New things are rolling in pretty much every single day, including Solemate, the newest yarn from Lorna's Laces. Solemate comes in a wide variety of colors (well, all colors LL dye in) and we are already almost sold out at the shop. And they just arrived two weeks ago! I got a sneak peak at most of the new fall colors (including Grant Park, which is an absolutely beautiful shade of green) Let me tell you, we are in for a treat. Kerfuffle and Tickled Pink are all that remain at the shop, so I snapped a few shots to try and show the texture. I usually consider Kerfuffle to be more of a blue, but here is is clearly much darker and more purple.

Kerfuffle

Ticked Pink & Kerfuffle

What makes Solemate stand apart from other sock yarns? It's composition is 55% superwash merino, 15% nylon and 30% Outlast, so it's machine washable, but that's not all. See that fuzzy halo in the first picture? That's the outlast. According to the Lorna's Laces folks, Outlast is a viscose fiber that interacts with your body’s microclimate to moderate temperature from being too hot or too cold.

Yes, that's right: temperature control.  Outlast has been used from everyone to the people at Ferrari (in their seats) to those working at NASA. And, as I touch it right now, at this VERY second, it does feel cooler.

Because of course I bought a skein. But not just any skein...A Harry Potter skein.

He Who Must Not Be Named

He Who Must Not Be Named, to be exact. This is Jimmy Beans Wool's signature color for the month of July. They are all nerds over there, which I love, and even put together a sorting hat kit, containing one skein of yarn for each of the four Harry Potter houses. The Bravery colorway is already Sold Out and it doesn't ship until July 15. Good thing I ordered mine last week :)

Seriously...how nerd cool is that? As for the Solemate, I am Sol(e)d.