templates and the dumpling nazi

I'm experimenting with different blog templates. I started out with the dark blue background with dots. This one has a light background with a different font. I'm trying to decide which one makes my pictures look better. Possibly the darker background? Or maybe it doesn't make a difference. Which overall look do you like better? Let me know.

Update on the Bluebell. I finished the body and am almost done with one sleeve. Still tweaking the pattern, so I'm not sure if I like how the sleeve is turning out. For sure, I've gotten rid of the bell sleeve shape. One thing I've learned from past bell-sleeved sweaters is that it's tough to eat anything without the sleeves dragging into all of your food. What a pain.

Sure would've made it awkward reaching over all the steam baskets for dumplings last night. We went out with friends at a dumpling restaurant. Good stuff. After we cleaned off everything on our plates, we ordered more shao lun bao (I can't spell it) but the Dumpling Nazi told us that they'd run out (No dumplings for you!). How do you run out of dumplings at the Dumpling House?! She told us to order something else and went away. While we thought about it, she came back, we ordered, my friend asked again if they'd really run out, then DN ripped the menu out of Simon's hands. We got her mad. Our potstickers eventually arrived, but she made us wait. Hee hee! Can't wait to go back!

Bluebell WIP

After the power went out at work today (about 15 minutes after I arrived), I went home. We're having a terrible rain storm today, so I'm glad to be indoors, safe and sound. I did bring home some work, but I do plan to get in more knitting time.

Ok, time to talk about my Boatneck Bluebell Sweater from Fitted Knits. It's been frogged three times. Each time I think I'm set, I find out it doesn't fit right. Since the whole point of this book is about custom fitting patterns to yourself, it's only right to keep readjusting. Except I don't usually have this much trouble!

First frog (rip-it back):
the boatneck line was way too wide

Second frog:
I adjusted the neckline but forgot to recalculate the raglan sleeve/body proportions. I was in holiday mode and just wanted to knit, so I kept going and going...

Third frog:
After recalculating everything, I thought I'd be clever and start the ring triad and waist ribbing pattern a little lower. Nope! My torso is not that long, and so the rings started around the middle of my stomach and looked weird. The waist ribbing ended up around my hips.


Now, I've taken off an inch on the stockinette torso and will start the rings higher up, closer to the bust line. I hope I love this sweater in the end. I really wanted to make/wear it before I started, but who knew it would involve so many starts and stops!

Gift Knits

Happy Holidays to you all!



My Christmas knitting for 2007. I made dishrags/washcloths from the Sugar N' Cream cotton yarn on size 7 (4.5mm) needles. Lots of fun to make, especially with all of the color combinations. Some of the colors are so loud that they might induce headaches, but from afar, they're very cheery.


With the same cotton yarn, I made mitered square coasters. The idea came from a Ravelry search which lead me to Drip. Differing from the original pattern, I used much thicker yarn (not sock yarn) and didn't add any fringe. Ok, this is why my attention span became so short over the past few weeks. It only took me about an hour or two to cast-on and then bind-off for one 4 inch by 4 inch coaster. Practically instant gratification. For a while, just the thought of tackling my frogged sweater was daunting.

The total count: 10 dishrags/washcloths (my aunt has turned them into trivets, so that's another use for them) and two sets of coasters

I've gotten positive responses so far from the recipients. I hope they do enjoy them! Time for me to sit back, relax, and enjoy a cuppa!

Unfocused

Although I haven't posted any knitting pictures lately, I've been churning out some neat things. Well, my little project started off fun, but it's getting old. Knitting is supposed to nurture patience and put you into a zen-like mode. Throw Christmas knitting into the mix and all that just goes out the door! Right now, I have the attention span of a gnat. The deadline (Christmas day) is looming and the pressure is on to finish! I'm not making anything difficult, it's just becoming repetitive and tough to stay focused on one thing.

I'd like to work on my Boatneck sweater from Fitted Knits. A few weeks ago, I cast on for the smallest size and worked a few inches from the top. Tried it on and it's too boatnecky for me. It's practically off the shoulder. So, I've frogged it and need to rejigger the math the take a few inches off at the neckline. I'm wondering if I should use smaller sized needles to work the neckline, like size 5s or 6s. I'm using 8s to get gauge, but I'm thinking it might help to use 5s for the garter stitch border to "shrink" it inwards and make it lay flat, then switch to 8s for the rest of the sweater. Any opinions? Deduct a few inches from the neckline and use smaller needles? Or just use smaller needles with the original printed number of stitches for the border?

Anyway, I don't have much time to work on the sweater now. Actually, I should say I don't have time to re-think the pattern now. If I could just follow the pattern without custom fitting it, I could probably work on it and my gift knitting simultaneously.

It's a busy time of year, but I am having a good time with friends and family. I don't mean to sound like I'm totally stressed out about prezzie knitting. Although I've integrated knitting into my lifestyle, my time isn't solely for knitting (and work). Especially now, Simon and I are making time for holiday parties, seeing A Christmas Carol and The Hard Nut, having dinner with friends, etc. Koobideh kabobs! Yum!

Candy Colors

I stopped by the big craft store to buy one ball of Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. Just wanted to try out a simple pattern for the kitchen. Well, my eyes were dazzled by all of the candy colors and the $2 price tag. See, I haven't come across cheap yarn like this in a while, so...



I bought one of each solid color in the bins. $12 for days of fun. My sock yarn costs more than that. When the time is right, I will post pictures of what I'm madly churning out with this cotton. Slipped stitch patterns, mitered square things...

Back to Work U-neck Vest

It's the Back to School vest pattern but really it's back to work tomorrow. My four day weekend has flown by so quickly, and yet, I've probably eaten enough to last me a week.

Finished it over a week ago but didn't have time to take a picture in daylight. I wore it to Thanksgiving dinner and look forward to wearing it many more times to come. It's a very wearable vest and easy (fast) to knit too. I don't have any complaints about it, other than I should've made the body a little bit longer. It tends to ride up a little bit at the bottom, but I haven't blocked it yet either. That might take care of it, but it's not a big deal.

Pattern: BTS U-neck vest from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel

Size: 34

Yarn: Cascade 220 heathers (purple)

2 skeins with just a little bit leftover

Needles: US 8 (5mm) and US5 (3.75mm)

Back to School U-neck Vest WIP

With my shawl FO behind me, I quickly cast-on for a new project, the Back to School U-neck vest from Fitted Knits. Besides my red scarf, for the past two months I've mainly been working with sock yarn and lace weight yarn. Thin stuff that seemed to take forever to progress. Now I'm back to worsted weight yarn (not thick, but way thicker than the other two), and I'm motoring through the vest pattern. It's only been a week, but I'm more than half way done and this is what it looks like.


And I got my Ravelry t-shirt in the mail this week too :)

New things. I came across a new video podcast, Knitterati, by Nina Casey. It's more like a film short or documentary, rather than a talk show. Although this is her first episode, I thought she did a great job in terms of interviewing her knitters and editing the whole video into one flowing piece. I'm not sure how far she plans to go with this format, but it would be intriguing to see if she probes deeper into why her knitters knit, how knitting has changed or incorporated into their lives, etc. Maybe that's not going to be the focus of her video podcasting, but I already can see glimmers of this kind of documentary in her work. Pretty cool! I look forward to Episode 2. Check it out.