Knitting Status

Completed:

-Elongated Chevron hat (for The Wibbles). He looks like a little Hershey Kiss in it. Will post pics on the hatalong blog as soon as I get a chance to take some pics.

On the needles:

-Elf Cap from Minnies (also for The Wibbles - he needs a warmer hat that will cover his ears).
-Baby blanket for my neighbor. Sorely behind on this one - she gave birth weeks ago already! I showed my "progress" to V and his comment was, "It will look great in her college dorm."

Planned but not started:

-Blackberry, for my cousin. She should like this one because it's fitted everywhere but the tummy and she's all pregnant and stuff. I'm gonna make it in Ribbon Twist instead of Chunky Print, because I like the colors better. Hopefully I'll get gauge with my #11's.

In the design stage:

-Icosahedral hat. I bet it will be too strange to wear, but I still want to make it.

Just a glimmer in my eye:

-plan to figure out how to knit pentagons and maybe some other shapes, for the purposes of making a)some tessellated afghans, and maybe b)some knitted polyhedra. 'Cause I'm a huge geek.

Knitwear I'm Obsessed With

These are knitted items that I've seen, usually in movies or on TV, that I can't seem to get out of my head:

1. The hat that Carrie Bradshaw is wearing in the last (or maybe next-to-last? She's wearing it in Paris) episode of Sex and the City. It looks like a plain 2x2 rib in a Noro of some kind. Of course I got myself some Noro Iro and tried to make one just like it. However, a) the color is slightly off, b) my hat came out ginormous, and c) even if it were the right size, somehow the shape is not quite right - need to do the decreases differently, maybe. I've been watching SATC every week on TBS watiting for that episode to air again. Every time it airs I will have a few more months of knitting experience, and maybe one day I'll be able to figure out how to make it.

2. This very intricately cabled olive green sweater that Liv Tyler was wearing in an unidentified movie. Hubby had it on while I was rushing out the door, so I only saw it for half a minute. And of course he doesn't remember which movie it was, although he's leaning toward Stealing Beauty. I guess I'll just have to rent every Liv Tyler movie until I find it, and then buy the DVD.

3. The scarf that Brittany Murphy was wearing in Just Married. Actually she wore a number of scarves in that movie - I mean the one she was wearing in Venice. I'm pretty sure it's Rowan Biggy Print in Sherbert. The funny thing is, the scarf doesn't even look knitted! It looks like a bunch of strands of yarn that just magically lie next to each other. It must be sewn, I suppose. I still really like it.

4. There's this book out there called The Art of Knitting. The author gives details for only about half of the stitch patterns she shows in the book, which completely infuriates me. There's this one photo in particular, taking up an entire page (I will edit this post if I get another look at the book and make a note of which page), that is a close-up of a knitted fabric. It's knitted in black and white yarn and obviously uses lots of increases and decreases to make a symmetrical, wavy pattern. Of course, no details are provided except that it's knitted with two yarns. I am at a point where I can look at any plain knit-and-purl pattern, and most cable patterns, and figure out how to knit them just by looking. But for the life of me I cannot decipher stitch patterns that use increases and decreases. Poo.

5. This Jean-Paul Gaultier dress:

The Monday Top 5!

Top 5 reasons that hats are my favorite thing to knit:

5. They are very portable, and I do most of my knitting on the bus.
4. Knitting a hat is a great way to try out new yarn - you only need one skein if you're not using cables. They're also a great way to try out new stitch patterns. You can even use them as gauge swatches for larger garments.
3. Funky clothes don't really work on me. I don't look funky or cool; I look like a weirdo. But anyone can pull off a funky hat.
2. Instant gratification - I can usually finish a hat the same day I start it. I've even completed some of my chunkier hats in 2 hours. That's really saying something, because I am the Slowest Knitter Ever.
1. I like doing the "math" of taking my chosen stitch pattern and a) adapting it for knitting in the round, and b) figuring out how to make the decreases work nicely with the pattern.

Who Loves Cheesecake?

The Wibbles does!

The Monday Top 5!

The top 5 things I am itching to knit:

1. Blackberry, from the current issue of Knitty (for moi)
2. The James Coviello jacket from the Holiday 2005 Vogue Knitting (again, me)
3. Interlocking Balloons from Scarf Style (for my dad, maybe?)
4. The Short-Row Fair Isle pullover from Loop-de-Loop (definitely for me)
5. The hooded, cabled pullover from Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits. (for The Wibbles)

The Monday Top 5!

Five movies I will watch any time they're on, even if I've already seen them a bazillion times:

1. The Matrix (the first one; I have a limited tolerance for the other two).
2. The Fifth Element. Chris Tucker annoys the crap outta me, but it's worth it just for the "meat popsicle" line.
3. Emma. Not sure if there's more than one, but I mean the Gwyneth Paltrow/Jeremy Northam one.
4. Amélie.
5. Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. Funniest. Movie. Ever.

Now that I'm thinking about this, this was a stupid idea for a Top Five. There are a bunch of movies I would be willing to watch a bazillion times. Those were just the first five I thought of. As penance, I will do another one.

Five Best Looking Actors and Actresses:
Actors:
1. Josh Lucas. No contest.
2. Aaron Eckhart. I forgive him for the travesty that is Core.
3. Ed Harris. He's getting old, but I still like him.
4. John Cusack. He used to be my favorite, but not so much any more. He still makes the top 5, though.
5. Oded Fehr. Except in Deuce Bigalow. I didn't like him in that one.

Actresses:
1. Jennifer Connelly. Again, no contest.
2. Angelina Jolie.
3. Kate Hudson.
4. Sarah Jessica Parker. Can't explain it. Everyone else I know thinks she's nasty looking, but I think she's cute.
5. Kate Beckinsale. (Are there any non-gorgeous people named Kate?)

Dammit.

V must have checked the "remember me" box last time he signed into Blogger. When I clicked on the invite link for the hat knitalong, he automatically accepted, and I can't post! I finally got a chance to take pics of my 2 finished hats today... oh, well. I'll post them here, and I'll post them on the hatalong blog when I get re-invited.

The red one with the matching scarf is Rowan Big Wool. Stitch pattern is k1, p1 rib with every third row knitted straight across (for the scarf; the hat was knit in the round so I adapted the pattern so it would look the same as the scarf). The scarf is 15 stitches across and the hat is 48 stitches around.

The green and beige one is two strands of Filatura Di Crosa Zara. Two strands of light olive for the ribbing, and one each of light olive and beige for the main part. 80 stitches around. Stitch pattern is one round of k1, p1 ribbing followed by one round of plain knitting. Both sides look nice, so the hat is reversible.

I have two more hats in progress... one barely cast on, the other about three-quarters finished. After that, I might have to take a hat break since I've promised my father a scarf, and I want to knit a baby blanket for my neighbor who just had a daughter. I'm very excited about the baby blanket because I've decided on Cashmerino Aran - I love the yarn, but seriously I only like three of the colors. Debbie Bliss is all about the pink and purple, and I'm just not a pink and purple girl. But my neighbor's daugher is!

What kind of American English do you speak?

(click on post title for link to quiz)

Apparently I speak:
- 55% General American English
- 30% Yankee (that makes sense)
- 15% Dixie (!)
- 0% Midwestern
- 0% Upper Midwestern

I'm Back!

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. Exams, exams. Well, they're over! And hopefully they're over for good. But I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.

I am in full knitting mode now. Since the exam finished, I have made one hat, plus one more almost done. This morning I cast on for a Tilted Ladders hat, and have worked out the design for a hat in Flame Rib. I also finished a red Big Wool scarf - I just need to weave in the ends and put the fringe on. I found out this morning that there's a hat knit-along that started recently, so of course I joined it. And Secret Pal 7 is starting in early December, so I'll probably join that too.

Not only that, but I used some of my birthday money (thanks, Mom & Dad!) to get Rowan Magazine #38 and Barbara Walker's Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns, plus some more Addi Turbos. I've got almost every size now in the 16" (everything from 4 through 11 except for 7's, but I have 24" 7's, and 10's (I have no 10's!)), and quite a few 24". I have nothing smaller than 4's and nothing bigger than 11's, and I have no 10's. But I do have 10.5's.

I'm going to have to take pics of my hats for the KAL, so I'll probably be posting them here too. Looks like this is going to turn into a knitting blog!