And for the last few months...

Let's do a little catch up, shall we?

First up is a lovely Cami that is knit form a souvenier skein(s) from my trip to Tuscan, AZ. My Mother's family is from there and I went there for my first time as an adult.

I went to a delightful knit shop near the University (of Arizona?) called Kiwi Knits. They have divided thier shop into rooms; animal room, vegetable room, sock room, etc. to organize the amazingly diverse election of yarn. Considering the desert (read: warm) location, the vegetable room was amazing. Cotton, silk, hemp, bamboo, linen and- get this- sugar cane. (Sing with me... C&H....pure can sugar... from Hawaii...) Seriously! Yes. I *might* have licked a strand. I won't tell. But If I did lick a strand I could tell you it is not sweet at all.

It is, however, sweet to work with. Smooth and slickery, though a tiny bit splity. I decided to make the Honeymoon Cami. This is a well written pattern and the only mod was to raise the neckline a bit. The yarn pooled a whole bunch but I decided to think of it as interesting raher than distracting.




I really like this whole "souvenier skein" concept. Now, whenever I wear this cami I will think of my time in Tuscan and the connections I made there. Better than a dust collector, "fer sher".

Next up is Hey Teach. This is a super popular pattern on Ravelry with over 1200 versions knit so far. Here's mine:



I had some trouble with the button bands- like always. Seriously, what is the secret to bands that lie flat and don't gap unattractively over the girls? I knit positive ease into the garmet, tried to get a button at the point of maximum (erm) stress, knit and then reknit again to get the ratio of picked up stitches correct... sigh. All in all it's isn't too bad.



I love the way it fits and it is knit with Blue Skys Skinny Dyed Cotton ( I **LOVE** this yarn). This is the perfect summer sweater.



I managed to get my Tigger Sweater done just before this last cold snap, so I've worn this quite a lot already! It is the perfect comfy super soft sweater. Nearly as good as an old sweat shirt. And the color!!! OIY! Just the perfect thing to draw me out of mt shy, bashful, timid, meek and mild shell.



This is a terrible shot- I am really not that fat! This is the hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I used Malabrigo- natch.

Lastly (for now), I completed the first of the stash busting felted bags. I've been knitting long enough to have an annoying amount of left overs- too much to toss, not enough to make a whole project. I have everything sorted into color ways and I hope to bust out enough of these to give to nieces for Christmas. I'm sure they would rather have money... but I just have to be the oddball aunt who gives the unusual. Aileen, if you're reading, mums the word! I might not get past this one bag!!! And yes, I'll think of something cool for Nephew. He's special. He's the only one.



Whew! I really ought to do this more often. Then I can have nice, short, reasonable posts like everyone else.

Toodles!

Sipalu is Finished!

Finally finished. Finally. This is the most detailed bit of knitting to date and I am quite proud of myself. There are flaws, certainly. My next Fair Isle will be much better, certainly. But this will always be the first!!



The first thing I have to tell you is that this bag is BIG. I thought it would be this cute little side bag, but it is a full on purse. Here is a perspective shot:



The other thing is the structure. This is my first knitted purse and I'm not sure how I feel about the slouchiness of it all. In these shots I stuffed it with newspaper, but in real life the weight of my necessities makes the bag do all sorts of unpleasant things. I might rip out the lining and put in an interface or plastic side inserts. Maybe this will just be a museum piece.. I dunno.



I also knit the i-cord strap extra long so can wear it cross body, messenger bag style. Afterall, this is a rather bo-ho sort of design.

In the end I might have more of a show stopper than something practical, but that ain't bad, eh? It was a very interesting knit and a great first fair isle project. My ultimate goal is Venezia or Autumn Rose.

This is the story of Elsa, the Elefante. Elsa was born into the world on a cold spring day and she shivered and shivered.



But soon she eyed a delelctably warm thing off in the distance. It looked so beautiful, and, somehow, so familiar. Elsa thought it looked like her Mom...

Elsa decided to get a closer look and maybe even a sniff. Yes! This warm comfy thing was as familiar as her own skin! She had to try it on...

Well, it is a little big. But Elsa is happy. And warm. Do I have to tell her the sweater is for a human baby, or will you?

I am making great progress on the Sipalu Bag. This is easily the most spectacular project to date, but it is not as hard as you might think! I keep finding that in knitting, as in life, things are much harder and scarier in the contemplation, not so much in the doing.

This project had a 2 month time out while I completed scads of holiday gift knitting. Or - I was suffering from second side syndrome. Could be either one. Once I picked it back up, though two amazing things happened. One, my tension got way better and there is considerably less puckering on the second side and, two, my continental knitting improved a whole lot.

Just a final welt, i-cord strap and lining to go.

Today I went to the Unwind Superbowl Party with 2 knitting/Realtor friends, Paula Walker and Diana Walker (no relationship). See how happy we are to buy yarn?

Good or bad, there is nothing like a good stash enhancement. I exercised considerable restraint- and then immediately rewarded myself with 2 skeins of the most yummy grey/taupe/mushroom seasilk. I've been reading about this extraordinary yarn for years (all 2 of my knitting years) and now it is my turn.



Any ideas on what sort of special pattern is worthy of this yarn?

One other project worth noting - Nob Hill. Love the project, but I'm too cheap to drop that much on the recommended yarn. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Think and Quick and it turned out just fine. I don't like the acrylic feel - but I maybe paid $5 for the yarn. I'll deal. Here's the pics

I Just Completed 2 Years

Hi, my name is Kendyl. I am a fiber-holic. I've been proudly obsessed with knitting for two complete years.

I just remembered that I first picked up the needles sometime in late October of 2006 so today is around my 2nd knitaversary. Yea me. In those 2 years I've churned out some 70 projects, learned cables, lace, felting, fair isle and entrelac, dyed some yarn and designed a few tops. My motto has been, "Bring it On! It's just string, after all!"

Learned so much, yet everyday I am completely humbled by the true artists and technicians that I see on Ravelry and the blog-o-sphere. I love that there are always new mountains to climb.

Speaking of which, here is my current challenge, my personal mountain. This what I refer to (in my own mind) as "true" fair isle. This is the sort of color work that makes my heart sing. Someday, when I am a true Knitter (with a capital K) I will knit the Venezia Sweater by Eunny Jang. Dudes, this sweater is a work of art and unless I move somewhere drastic (like a place that actually gets cold) art is all this will ever be. When I knit it I'm thinking I'll have it framed in some Plexiglas box and hang it on the friggen' wall.

But I digress.

Here is Sipalu, my color work trial.


This is a kit, available from Knit Picks and it is a thing of utter beauty. It is also a major bargain. I got 17 full balls of Palette yarn along with this pattern. They say you make 2 or 3 purses from all this yarn!

I started out trying to knit with 2 hands, background color in my right hand, design color in my left. I thought this would force me to learn to knit Continental, and knit it well. Wrong-o! The tragedy is that I am reasonably ambidextrous and it annoys me to no end that I can't master Continental. I just now switched to dropping and picking up the colors with my right and I am going much faster, now. **sigh**

This project is completely consuming and I need mindless knitting to switch it up. That's where Cobblestone comes in.



I did the sleeves first and I am nearly done with the body. My honey is going to look stunning and oh, so manly, in this sweater. Yum!

Just a catch up note, I finally got around to finishing my Lombardy Socks.



Knit with Shi Bu knits yarn, the socks are lovely and I loved doing the picot edge. Apparently everyone, but me, knows that ShiBu pools horribly on socks. Fortunately you can't really tell on this dark blue color unless you look closely. Dudes, if anyone other than my honey is that close to my feet I got other problems, ya know?!

Knitting Happens, Blogging Doesn't

1. Lace Ribon Scarf, 2. Turn A Square, 3. Porcupine Cowl, 4. Porcupine Cowl, 5. Boy VEst, 6. Boy Vest, 7. IMG_1949, 8. IMG_1954, 9. IMG_1952, 10. IMG_1951, 11. IMG_1939, 12. IMG_1940

Well, I'm back. For those of you who still have me tagged somewhere - I'm here, I'm alive and, natch, I'm knitting.

Most of my knitting notes are on my Ravelry project pages, but not all are members!

So, from the top, then, shall we?

Lace Ribbon scarf is a Christmas present for a much loved aunt. I must love her! This the second scarf (she felted the first one and then lost it) and it is a bit of a dozy for the small yarn and the small needles - size #3. She only wears tan and white. Won't this look great as a subtle accent? Oh, it is also superwash - no felting possible!

The beenie is for LB (little boy) That kid just loves orange! The brighter the better. The pattern is from the amazing brooklytweed. Only a knitter would get completely jazzed by the fact that the stripes start off round, but then turn into squares. Fortunately, LB is a knitter. Sort of. He knits when there isn't anything else to distract a curious, active, nearly 12 year old. Ok, he almost never knits. But he knows how!!!

The cowl is a clever Mobieus Cowl named Prickle. The lace stitch is named the Porcupine stitch - I'm really at a loss as to why. The Mobieus is very cool because it drapes just perfectly to cover your decollete, yet does not fall off. Then you can pull it up like a hood and look incredibly demure and ladylike. Those of you who know me in the physical world should kindly stop laughing now. Thank you.

The Boy Vest happened before the Mobieus Cowl. I scored several balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool from the sale bin at Compattos (this is now my fav yarn store). I knew that straight up stockinette was the way to show off this yarn - but what to do? A combo of Ann Budd's Sweater Pattern Book and Leftovers from Knitty was just the ticket. I really feel like this was me, knitting fearlessly. All I had was a swatch, a picture in my head and some technique guidance. The waist shaping, arm scythe, and neck/armbands was pretty much impromptu. I am VERY happy with the result.

Ok, the tank that matches the Collared shrug is very cute. It is also very short! Move just so and the belly button is out for all to see. This is fine for a 15 year old. Not so much for a 45 year old. But, damn it all to bloody hell! I knit the thing, it is way cute and I wear it, BB and all. Deal.

The collared tank is nearly a knitting no-no. I haven't had many of these in my knitting career, so I guess it is ok. It is wearable, after all. It is possible the pattern is great and I am just not "getting it", but in the picture the points of the collar are perky and pointing toward the tops of the shoulders. I fiddled and finagled the finishing every way I could and, brother, that is just not possible with the pieces as knit. I was so put out, I contacted the publishers of KnitScene, because the designer is nowhere on the net. No. Where. They helped by telling me the pattern is right. Yeah.

The first two pics are how the shrug is supposed to lay - still not like the model, but somewhat close. I'd have to stay completely immobile for this to stay. The third pic is how the thing actually wears - not hideous, but not sophisticated. Since I held the cotton double, I may frog this someday and make a better fitting garment -right after I knit through the rest of my stash.

Last, but certainly not least, is Ariann. This sweater was wicked hard for me. I still don't have the hang of increasing and decreasing while maintaining a lace pattern, in the round. I kept winding up with the wrong number of stitches.

I wanted to make this for myself, being the narcissist that I am, but Momma wanted a sweater. "But Momma", I say, don't you want a scarf or slippers or something fast?" No, she wants to brag to her mah jong cronies that her daughter knit her a WHOLE sweater. "But Momma", I say, "Why do you want me to start now? I'll finish in the middle of August, not exactly wool sweater wearing sweater in LA, you know". "Daughter", she says, "I'm not going to be around forever!!"

True, that. Here's your sweater, Mom. Stick around for a while, will ya?

Just For Fun

I saw this meme over at tentenknits blog and gave it a whirl. What fun! Flickr has some amazing people contributing amazing photos.


Here are the directions!
- Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
- Using only the first page, pick an image.
- Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Kendyl
2. What is your favorite food? dim sum
3. What high school did you go to? Marshall High, LA
4. What is your favorite color? green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Will Smith
6. Favorite drink? Scotch
7. Dream vacation? Tuscany
8. Favorite dessert? Apple Pie a La Mode
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Old
10. What do you love most in life? Life Itself!
11. One Word to describe you? Joyful
12. Your flickr name? happy2knit or kendylyoung

Credits:
1. Lincoln Continental III, 2. siu mai spoon, 3. hello ol' friend, 4. :P, 5. willsmith, 6. Scotch on the Rocks, 7. Tuscany Afternoon, Florence, 8. Please Pass The Pie, 9. an old lady with an umbrella in Ravangla market!, 10. I Love New York, 11. IMG_8118, 12. DSC_0106