Crazy Crocheter

MOVE

2011-04-03T11:46:00.003-04:00

Crazy Crocheter is now blogging over at:

SAS-DOES.BLOGSPOT.COM

Knitted hares

2009-04-17T00:36:00.002-04:00

My friend just sent me this: http://englishrussia.com/?p=2544

It's too cute!

Welcome back: PASSIFLORA magazine

2008-11-27T09:04:00.004-05:00

After 2 months of silence Anya (aka Crazy Crocheter) is back. She is back to introduce a new project: PassiFlora magazine.
PassiFlora is an online magazine about eco-friendly living, vegetarian and vegan cooking, and green arts and crafts.
The first issue is available HERE. And if you want a sneak peak, check out these amazing pictures from the recipe section:

PassiFlora is envisioned as a magazine made for you and by you, so I am very excited to hear your comments and to publish your articles and recipes. All the details are available on the website.

Sock yarn and August 2009

2008-09-24T14:44:00.000-04:00

I am fairly busy these days because of the project that has nothing to do with knitting. It takes a good deal of my free time preventing me not only from blogging but from knitting as well. As soon as more of it is ready I will share all the details with you.
Today I do not have any exciting FO's or even WIP's to show you, here are some pictures of my yarn. These are 2 skeins of Regia sock yarn I got a while ago.

First is Regia Nordic sock yarn #5517. It is light and monochrome - I am thinking of making a fairly complex lacy socks with it.

And this one is Regia Nordic #5517. It has very nice green-purple modulations but it is not too bright. Given the unusual colour I would prefer to knit it with a more simple stitch. Maybe a bit of texture would create an interesting but not overwhelming sock.

Speaking of socks, what are your plans for August 2009? Do not know yet? Let me help you: Sock Summit 2009 - a great project organized by a team of well-known knitters ( Tina Newton, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Cat Bordhi, Leslie Cumming, JCBriar, Debbi Stone, and Claire Scott) will take place on August 6-9, 2009 at the Oregon Convention Center (Portland, Oregon). You can read more about it in the latest Yarn Harlot's blog post.

Why do I like the new Debbie Bliss magazine?

2008-09-23T14:08:00.005-04:00

First of all, because it features a gorgeous collection of knits in grey:

Secondly, because of this jacket:

And finally, because of an adorable section of child knits, specifically blankets:

In reality, the first issue of Debbie Bliss has more than these three highlights; it has a beautiful collection of “romantic” cardigans, a selection of knitted men wear, as well as knitted objects for home and for children. It also features 2 illustrated lessons of lace-knitting, clean and clear design, and great photography. More previews are available on their website. Overall, it is a very nice first issue – I am looking forward to the next one.

Award

2008-09-10T09:31:00.008-04:00

I got my first award - the Brilliant Blog one. I was so excited last night that I even had a hard time falling asleep! Thank you so much, Susan, for nominating me. By the way, you should check out her blog (Knitting Alone).

Now it is my turn to nominate 7 bloggers to pass the award on. It is not an easy task considering the number of knitting (and not knitting) blogs I like. I will let you guess the number, it is a 3-digit one.

So my nominees are:

Knitting on Impulse
a Whistler-based knitter who dyes the most beautiful fiber, makes jewellery, and takes picture of the magnificent West Coast.

SweetP Knits
I have mentioned Gabes in my previous post. Her posts always put a smile on my face, maybe it is because of her beautiful knitting, or maybe it is her cute children, or maybe it is the pink background of the page? Whatever it is, reading her posts makes me smile.

Sel and Poivre
Can not quite remember how I found this blog but it is yet another blog with beautiful photography, knitting, and interesting posts.

Ysolda
This young lady is quite famous in the knitting community. If you do not know her - rush over to her blog. She got nice patterns, tutorials, and you might be able to attend one of her lessons.

We heart yarn
What can I say? I am a sucker for beautiful, clean designs and a nice mix of knitting and nature. Yet another visual candy (with reading substance!)

Anna's flying needles
Although I have never commented on Anna's posts I have been lurking around for a while. I really like things she knits.

And the last but not least ..... well it was hard to decide, so it's a tie between these 3:

Two little bunshees
Heart felt
The akamai knitter

I know I was suppose to nominate only 7 but there are just too many talented bloggers and it never hurts to spread the joy and brilliance, right?

Discovering

2008-09-09T20:42:00.002-04:00

I really like finding out new things and the past several days were filled with happy discoveries.

Here is the first one:

Hemingway's "Super Stitches Knitting"- a gift from my non-knitting coworker. I have been looking at stitchionaries available at the bookstores and on Amazon for a while. I am not ready to design my own sweaters yet, but I would like to try my creativity and knit a scarf or a headband using different stitches. "Super stitches knitting" seems to be perfect for that. The book is divided into sections including: "knit and purl", "lace", "fair isle", and so on. It also has a section with tips and instructions on casting on, binding off, colour-work, and fixing errors (that one will be useful). I can not wait to create my own project using some of the stitches from the book and I think I know what it might be.

The second discovery was a long awaited first issue of Debbie Bliss magazine.

There are several interesting items in this magazine and overall presentation and design are very beautiful. I think Debbie Bliss magazine will be one of my favorites.

The last 2 discoveries were online magazines. The Inside Loop - UK based knitting magazine and Knotions. Both look very interesting and I will be spending some time reading the articles and choosing patterns I like.

There was actually another discovery or should I say an acquisition (yet another gift) but I will dedicate a separate post to it once I take proper pictures.

Slooooooow

2008-09-05T22:43:00.004-04:00

I have told you before that I am not the fastest one at times. Couple of hours ago I got yet another prove: after blogging for less than 6 months I FINALLY figured out how to reply to the comments via email. All Blogger users can laugh at me while I will be doing my 3 needle bind-off (Knitting Help has a great collection of all the different bind off techniques over here).

P.S. I tend to blame the heat for me being slow once in a while.
P.P.S. Have a great knitting weekend!

Yes, I am scared.

2008-09-04T10:34:00.007-04:00

Another long pause between posts. Seems like "back-to-school" rush affects even those who are not going back to school and do not have small children.
Truth is I am working on a secret gift project that is due in less than 2 weeks. I can not display any pictures of my progress but I can say that the technique used in the second part of the project is called

INTARSIA

Although it sounds like a name of an exotic flower I somehow feel that there is a poisonous center hiding behind the beautiful petals. Let me say it out load again: "intaaaaarsia".
And while I was reviewing the pattern I saw another scary animal: 3 needle bind off. I will have to attack this one tonight before getting to intarsia.

Image from A Good Yarn website

What I will be knitting tonight.

2008-08-27T15:57:00.007-04:00

Do you have those days when a certain word, item, or a song keeps popping up everywhere? Today was one of those days for me. It started with Esya (aka Urwen) sending me these images she found on one of LiveJournal communities:

They are all part of Luisa Cerano's collection
"Look how cool these bracelets are" said she.
And indeed knitted bangles are pretty impressive. I have seen pictures of bangles made simply by wrapping the yarn around the wooden/plastic base but it was the first time I saw knitted ones. And considering the popularity of the fabric bangles these will get popular soon.

I had just enough time to finish the conversation with Esya when Gabes (aka SweetP) posted this picture on her blog:

Not only prooving my theory about knitted bangles being "cool", not only explaining that this could be a very neat way of trying new stitches or making swatches, but providing us all with a link to instructions of how to make them!

If you want to have the latest "it" object for Fall, hurry up over to See Mi Knit, pick up some leftover yarn, and get to work. You have four days left until the First of September.

P.S. Do not forget to say "Thank you" to Gabes.

Good weekend

2008-08-26T10:03:00.011-04:00

How do you know that you had a good weekend? You definitely had a great one if you spend it looking at these:

And playing with these:

I will write a separate post about books and magazines (I got most of them in Toronto) but here is a closer look at my new stash addition.

Here is my first tenсel yarn:

After a bit of research I found out on this website that:

"Tencel ® is the brand name for a fiber called lyocell. Lyocell is a cellulosic fiber made from wood through a proprietary TENCEL® production process. TENCEL® is a man-made fiber but natural in origin. This means it is very comfortable to wear because it is breathable and absorbent, like other natural fibers. TENCEL® is durable and this means that the clothes last."

I can not wait to try knitting with it. I think those colours would look great in a lacy shawl or stole.

And here is a beautiful German wool-based sock yarn called "Strumpfwolle".

Although I have a lot of sock yarn and not enough time to knit it all up I obsessively check out the sock yarn section in every stores. This yarn comes from a cute boutique "Les Laines Saute-Mouton", located in Saint-Lambert (one of the small cities, or should I say boroughs, constituting the South Shore). I really like the way colours change from one to another creating subtle, yet impressive, palette. One of the projects I have in mind for this yarn is a pair of gloves or maybe fingerless mittens.

And finally a skein of Noro, bought at "Les Laines Saute-Mouton" simply because it is Noro and it is pretty.

The first time ....

2008-08-22T10:49:00.002-04:00

Although I am far from an experience knitter I managed to learn a thing or two during my 4-months knitting career. I am afraid that with time I would either forget some of them or I would start taking them for granted, this is why I decided to make a little list of advice for a novice knitter/crocheter. These are the things that would have helped me if I knew them before starting to knit, however it does not mean that these are the rules set in stones. They might work for some and they might be completely useless for others, so at the end, they are just my thoughts on

Knitting for the first time.
Part I

Image from A Good Yarn website

1. Knitting does not require as much patience as you think ....
It is always surprising to me when people say: "I can't knit 'cuz I am not patient enough". I have been trying to figure out where this misconception comes from and I think (it’s just a hypothesis) that people are envisioning a huge blanket in a simple garter or stockinette stitch when thinking of knitting. Yes, it is true, a row of ‘purl’s and a row of ‘knit’s is quite unexciting, but knitting is much more than that. Once you start knitting socks, sweaters, or lace, you learn that knitting keeps you on your toes with the stitch count, knitting entertains you with cable knitting, knitting excites you with ‘yarn over’s and ‘ssk’s. And I am not even talking about knitting with colours. Knitting is anything but boring!

2. Scarf might not be the best “first project”
It is almost a given that a new knitter would start his/her knitting with a scarf. I have done it, my friend has done it, and I am sure you have done it too. It might work for 99% of the people but I still think that the scarf is not the ideal first project. The beginners’ scarf is usually something very simple and thus extremely repetitive. Unless you are making a skinny scarf or a short version of a scarf you have to make the same repetition of knits and purls over, and over, and over again. I will agree that it is a great learning experience, however here comes the second problem: since the novice knitter is learning, his/her knitting is far from being perfect and it will result in a scarf with uneven stitches and crooked edging. I am certain that most of the knitters would still proudly wear that scarf but sometimes (and I am talking solely from my personal experience) the final scarf is SO uneven that you do not want to be seen wearing it and yes, it would be quite obvious that you are the one who knitted it.
What would make a good first project? Anything small and not too complicated would give a novice knitter a happy experience of starting and finishing the project and yet allow him/her to learn some tricks and techniques. My personal favorites are dishcloths, kitchen towels, and coasters. Not only they are fast to knit, but one can use them even if they are not perfectly made.

3. Use bigger needles
Novice knitters tend to knit too tight. I remember scratching my fingers to blood, trying to pick up the thread. Using bigger needles forces one to knit looser. It also allows the knitter to change for smaller needles if the stitches become too tight.
A friend of mine says that relaxing her hands helped her to “learn” how to knit looser.

Have a great knitting weekend everyone!

Blobs

2008-08-19T10:15:00.007-04:00

I am back to civilization and knitting. Sorry for leaving abruptly but I was hiding in Toronto for over a week and since people from whom I was hiding tend to read my blog I had to stop posting for a while.... These people are the reason why I could not show my crocheted project until now.
Here is the last picture of "almost finished" secret project:

And here are all the balls and arms assembled into 2 "blobs":

Same blobs but with the hand-made card:

These are modified Doug and Gordo from Crochet Me book. They do not look much like the original ones (I hope Kim Werker would forgive me for that) - I used a completely different size of yarn and had to improvise with the eyes and "costumes". I wanted them to look more like a girl and a boy, since they were part of the wedding gift for my two wonderful friends.

Forgiving

2008-08-05T10:42:00.008-04:00

I usually do not stay mad for a long time. I "cool down" relatively fast, do not keep grudges, and tend to forgive (or at least to forget). So even if my arm is still hurting I can not be upset with these cuties for long. And I do not think it is fair, since it was mostly my fault. At the beginning of the evening the table was perfectly clean:

Then one of them "appeared":

Couple (should I say 4?) of hours later I made the second one:

I felt very obsessive and continued crocheting. Before I knew I had a third one ready:

And then the fourth one:

Any level-headed crocheter/knitter who has as little practice as me, would stop at that point. But being who I am, I felt obliged to continue and came up with these:

Today I have no one to blame but myself. And as a punishment I would ignore the fact that Mouline Yarns have a great summer sale!

Enough is enough

2008-08-04T09:41:00.003-04:00

How do you know that you have been crocheting A LOT (or that you are an itsy-bit obsessive)?

Yeah, these are my hands. I have been crocheting so much that my right hand is sore and I have to wrap it tightly to prevent some irritating movements.
What should be blamed for my injury? These guys, right here:

I know they look cute and innocent but they are the soly reason for my pain!

Twist Collective

2008-08-01T16:55:00.006-04:00

It is the first day of August. I decided that this month calls for some changes and as a result my blog has a new colour palette. I like blue-brown colour combo and even though I do not have anything blue-brown in the "real" life it is a nice combination for my virtual "home".

Knitting news: Twist Collective is out! I know, I know you all are aware of it, you actually knew about this Canadian project for a while (I found out about it this morning, thanks to Lin), some of you submitted patterns, others were posting sneak peaks on Ravelry, and those who were completely oblivious to it read Yarn Harlot's blog post. But hey, I am a bit slow these days.
I had no clue that Twist Collective existed until early this morning and I had no time to post about it because I was running late to my driving lesson (told you, I am slow, I do not know how to drive, at my age!). So even if you have heard about it already, hear once again, and go check it out!

Have a great knitting weekend, everyone!

Good yarn

2008-07-31T17:04:00.005-04:00

Take a look at these gorgeous knitting images. They are part of "A good yarn" project - a yarn store that has more than just yarn.
I was not sure which image to choose for the last-day-of-July post but this one is too funny.

Useful

2008-07-30T16:50:00.005-04:00

My collection of favorite knitting blogs is growing - take a look at the right-side bar!!!
One of them, is Lime & Violet a great resource ran by 2 great women (Miss Lime and Miss Violet). In their blog (which is only a tiny part of the whole project) they post useful and interesting knitting-related information. Today it was this:

As it turns out they found the chart on Label-free blog - another useful resource, this time for those who like to sew. Go and check both blogs and do not forget to get Lime & Violet button.

Knitters'

2008-07-29T12:40:00.008-04:00

No knitting pictures today. I am a very very slow knitter these days. However I picked up a copy of Knitters' magazine couple of days ago.

They have shawl patterns as well as an article by my favorite Cat Bordhi about sock knitting (what else). The issue also features several nice summer tops and since I am too chicken to knit a big sweater, a nice top or cardigan could be a fun project.
Here are some of my favorite designs. I will appreciate any suggestion and colour changes:

To see all the designs from this issue of Knitters' click here. You can also browse through past issues to find a model you like.

And I can not not show you a beautiful sock pattern by Cat Bordhi:

They are called "Spring Thaw Socks" and it seems like they are made of snow, first spring leaves, and snowdrops.

It is quite obvious that all the images in this post are taken from Knitters' website.

Contest

2008-07-28T10:15:00.004-04:00

I LOVE knitting community (all those people behind blogs and Ravelry profiles). It seems to be a very friendly, helpful, and entertaining bunch full of stories, photographs, FOs, stash, yarn give-aways, and contests. Just today I left a comment with a question on Monika's blog and got a detailed answer via email in a matter of minutes!

Yarn contests seem to be big in the knitting world. No wonder - who can resist an addition to the stash collection? For the yarn-addicts here is a contest from Knit Witch and Amia yarn store:

Just click on the image or HERE to read the instructions.

Good luck to all of you!

Addition to my stash

2008-07-25T08:33:00.009-04:00

July has been busy .... busy with work, trip to Toronto, meeting friends, and knitting. It was also busy with discovering new yarn stores and getting additions to my stash. If you are looking for a place to get a lot of different yarn you have to go to Toronto's Romni Wools.

I have read several reviews about the store. I also seen this picture on their website. I was expecting a big place but felt like it would be more of a warehouse and that I would not like it there. One thing for sure, the place is HUGE. It is the biggest yarn store I have seen so far. And yes, it has a bit of a warehouse-ish ambiance, but hey, they have SO much yarn that it is hard not to look like a warehouse. By the way, apart form different yarn they also carry a great selection of needles and hooks by different producers.

Seeing this colour/texture explosion I almost broke down in tears (now I know how my sister feels when she walks into an art-supply store, and why Urgwen becomes "not quite her usual self" in the bead stores). I felt overwhelmed by the beauty and shear amount of yarn. I could have not walked out without purchasing at least something, so here is my small addition to the stash:

This is a beautiful sock yarn from Araucania. I will admit that the colour combination is not my first choice but since I have been stuck on blues recently I let my sister pick the colour and she fell for this one. I doubt I would be making socks with this, I can envision a beautiful scarf or maybe a pair of warm mittens. The colour of this yarn is 501 and here you can see all the subtle details of it.

Romni Wools has the greatest selection of sock yarn. I wanted some darker and earthy colours and found this:

I am struggling to figure out the name of this one. I know it is German but would like to know how it is called.

And finally, I could have not walked away from the gorgeous Fleece Artist Suri Blue (the colourway is called Dandelion). It will be definitely turned into a shawl some time soon.

If you want to see other colours Fleece Artist makes this site has a beautiful collection with all the names.

Don't you wish you slipperS WERE hot like mine?

2008-07-20T13:00:00.005-04:00

I finally have a finished project to share with you. Now I have 2 sexy slippers – “woot woot woot” - like my sister would say.

It took me a while to finish the second slipper, probably because I was dreading the knitting of ties. Remember, I made a mistake when knitting the ties of the first slipper and it made my knitting life so much more difficult. I did not want the second slipper look any different so I purposefully knitted the ties in a wrong fashion. But now, all of this is behind and I am enjoying my super-warm Twinkletoes.

There are a couple of mistakes (they are all on the sole so it would not be noticeable), also the second slipper is slightly looser at the back – this is what happens when you wait too long before completing the project.

And what would look nice with these slippers? A pair of matching socks. Here is a beginning of “Cablenet” in Regia #5769. I am very excited to attempt this rather difficult pattern. I would not stress myself with knitting it fast – it would be one of those “knit a bit when feel like it” projects.

Since I am sharing my progress here is how the felted purse looks like:

It is growing pretty fast and I am excited about felting it. By the way, is it me or felting is super popular today? While in Toronto I saw Toronto Outdoors Art Expo and was amazed to see several stands with felted purses. I also noticed felted items in different clothes/accessories stores. I better hurry up to learn this technique if I want to stay “cool”.

Do you <3 socks as I <3 them?

2008-07-15T11:25:00.007-04:00

I was browsing through endless knit blogs and stumbled upon these beauties:

Meet Cookie A.
I think these socks are divine and should be worn instead of shoes for some special occasions. Go to the website and check out other sock beauties.

How far is Toronto?

2008-07-15T10:11:00.007-04:00

Here is Palette on my way there:

And this is what I brought home last night:

I did not knit all the time while on the bus but I am happy with the progress made.
The pattern for Palette comes from one of back-issues of Knitty. I decided to experiment with yarn and used a skein of Noro(S185) sock-yarn I've picked up at Mouline Yarns.

The picture comes from THIS German website.
And HERE you can find another gorgeous picture of the yarn

Originally I was thinking of making socks, something like this beauty by The Loopy Ewe. At the same time I wanted a fun project that would be easy enough to knit on the bus, yet challenging to prevent me from dozing off. This lacy scarf proved to be ideal.

Toronto - the city of yarn and honey.

2008-07-11T01:44:00.005-04:00

I am in Toronto and I have big plans for the weekend, specially for tomorrow: I will be having a yarn-storethon. We (my sister and I) will start with Kensington market and the one and only Lettuce Knit. After, we will be heading to the Queen street for The Knit Cafe and Romni Wools (they are having 20% off on some of their yarns!). Thank you, Angela, for your suggestion.

While in Montreal I was busy with the The Print O' The Wave Stole. Here is what it looks like for now:

I can already see the design of the stole. Can not wait to block it and see the yarn "bloom".

And this is my crochet project. I am really happy with the yarn - it is easy to work with and it makes a rather random pattern.

Time to get some rest before tomorrow's yarn-storethon.

Ravelry and errata

2008-07-07T22:52:00.004-04:00

I discovered Ravelry. After giving it just a quick glance I understand why most of the knitting (and as it turns out not only knitting) people are using it. I will try to dedicate a separate blog post to Ravelry, for now I just want to share a piece of important information I found. Remember my Reverse Psockology socks?
It turns out there is an errata for the pattern. As Anne Pattigrew, the creator of this pattern, mentions on her blog:

it is difficult to get the holes formed by the yarn-overs the same size
because of the transition between knit and purl stitches

I remember noticing it when working on my pair but I did not know if it was "normal" or if it happened because of my uneven knitting style, after all it was my first pair of socks.
For those of you who are working on these, here you can find a different version of the lacy pattern.

In my defense ....

2008-07-07T09:33:00.012-04:00

Members of the court,

it is not a defense that I present to you. I am not in any way seeking to escape the reprisals of the knitting society in general and lace knitting society in particular for the mistake that I had made. I wish merely to give you an explanation of my acts and to tell you how I was led to perform it.

I have been a lace knitter for a very short period of time. I started knitting lace on the 28th day of June, 2008. Since that day, my life had changed dramatically. Everywhere I went, I saw lace patterns emerging in front of my eyes, I dreamed about lace, researched on lace-knitting, and spend every free minute of my time knitting lace. I would like to point your attention to the fact that lace knitting is addictive and that I was never warned about it. In fact, to prevent further incidents, I think that all products related to lace-knitting should bear a warning about it's addictive properties (similar to the warnings on the cigarette packages). As a previous smoker, I can also assure you that knitting is highly more addictive than smoking, which in turn is more addictive than such drugs as cocaine and heroine.

My previous statement informed you about an unhappy experience with lacy shawl, that took place on the 2nd day of July, 2008. This incident did not diminish my enthusiasm for the lace-knitting and I began a new lace project: the Print O' The Wave Stole on the same day.
Previously, I had purchased 2 skeins of Alpaca yarn and this small fact can not be neglected. The presence of the second skein is the sole reason to why I did not rip out the swatch for the shawl, and kept looking at it, while working on the stole. I would like you to take in consideration the fact that the purchase of 2 skeins was not premeditative, thus I could not be held responsible for keeping the first swatch.

At this point I was completely impaired by the addictive properties of the lace-knitting. The image of the pattern haunted me, I had visions of the lacy pattern not only in my sleep but in the middle of day. My inability to see the resemblance between the swatch and the original picture caused even more distress. Here is Exhibit A, the blocked shawl swatch that caused me so much distress:

Although I was intoxicated by the lace-knitting, I was able to recognize my mistakes. The recognition happened at the moment of scrolling through the lace-knitting tutorial by Eunny. I fully understood the wrongness of committed lace blocking when I saw the following diagram (Exhibit B, diagram of trinagular-shaped shawl knitting, as depicted in the tutorial):

When I looked at the star and followed directions of the arrows I felt very very stupid. I would like you to take in consideration the fact that I realized my mistake of not blocking the swatch correctly. The shawl pattern started with 5-stitch row which I assumed to be the bottom of the triangular. I also earlier confessed to attributing "shawl is knitted from top down" instructions as a typo, and hope that it would diminish my punishment.

Here is a side-by-side look at the same swatch, blocked differently (Exhibit C):

I hope that this comparison will make you understand the frustration I experienced throughout this whole process. As it could be seen, the incorrectly-blocked swatch (depicted on the right) has a slight hint of the pattern, which causes a great trouble to the novice lace-knitter. Moreover, the horizontal position of the needles makes it counterintuitive to block the swatch in any other way.

In conclusion, I would like to say that several outlined reasons (my inexperience, addictive nature of the lace-knitting, possession of the second skein, and the needles themselves) should definitely be considered when determining my future fate as a lace-knitter. Meanwhile, I would keep this shawl swatch as a constant reminder of the foolish mistakes I made:

Lacy links

2008-07-03T11:37:00.003-04:00

For those of you who are learning to knit lace, here are 4 tutorials from Eunny:

Introduction to majoring in lace
Yarn and needle choices
The structure of lace
Cast ons for lace knitting

Happy lace knitting!

Defeated

2008-07-03T09:39:00.009-04:00

There are no knitting news today. I slightly advanced on my second slipper and a bit on my new project but I did not even take pictures of the progress. Reason?

LACE

I started knitting lace and the last 2 days have been spend decoding ssk, k2sp, and k2tog(s). Inspired by my own post about the alpaca yarn, I decided to get back to my shawl, ripped down whatever I had knitted earlier, and started fresh with a 5-stitch chain.

- After the first 13 rows I had a light suspicion that the shawl did not look like what it should be

- After the 30th row, the annoying voice in my head told me to stop but I convinced it that I should keep going and that the pattern will miraculously emerge (I believe in miracles, I really do, even after last night!)

- After the 64th row I started panicking, wet the swatch, tried to pin it down, failed miserably, stretched it and looked at it from every possible angle to see the glimpses of the design.

- After yet another hour spend meditating on my swatch I said:
(I don’t think I should write down what I said, because there might be children reading this) and began looking for another …. lace pattern (did I mention before that I am very stubborn? Wait a minute; let me put it in my profile description).

- By 2 AM I learned how to do invisible cast on (KnittingHelp video), did it 2 times (again, I’ll omit everything I was saying and mumbling at that time) and knitted first 3 rows of this gorgeous stole, by Eunny.

Oh wait, there was also an incident with scissors but do not worry, everyone is alive and in good health.

Today’s plan for the evening: knit the first rows of the stole. G-d, give me strength and patience.

Meanwhile, I would have to admire the work of others, like this gorgeous Turquoise Lace made by The Daily Purl (click on the image to see the original post):

If you like knitting, weaving, and beautiful photography - visiting her blog is a must!

Mouline Yarns, bonsai, and a new project.

2008-06-29T12:03:00.008-04:00

After getting sock yarn at “La Tricoteuse” I was excited about discovering more Montreal’s yarn stores. A fast Google search revealed a list of at least 10 stores spread all over the city, from East End and Plateau to the West Island. The closest ones to my house were “Ariadne” and “Mouline Yarns” located at a walking distance from the Lionel Groulx metro station. I decided to start my explorations with “Mouline Yarns”. The reason was purely materialistic – they were having a big Spring sale and who can pass discounted yarn?

The first thing that surprised me was the amount and the selection of yarn. It seemed like each corner of the store was holding more and more surprises. Loyal to the advertisement, most of yarns were reduced, some to as much as 50% and 60%.

The shelves were stacked with yarns and topped with different garments knitted with the presented yarn selections. Scarves and shawls, socks and mittens, baby sweaters and full-sized adult tops decorated every surface of the store. It is nice to be able not only to see the yarn, but to touch the final item, to know how the colors would look like once the sample is knitted.

Apart from yarns, the store also carries the greatest selection of knitting and crocheting books and magazines – this was the place where I spotted the first North American issue of "Verena" magazine.

I asked the owner (Svetlana, yes she speaks Russian, as well as fluent English and French) about lace-weight yarn and showed her the pattern from “Knit1” magazine. As it turned out “Mouline Yarns” had exactly what I needed: sea silk in different vibrant colors. Unfortunately it was a bit pricey for me and I asked for any acceptable alternatives. Svetlana offered several yarn varieties and explained how many skeins I would need and why one type would be better than another. I chose beautiful Baby Alpaca yarn (from Misti Alpaca) that was very affordable and picked two skeins of a nice "Blue Mist Melange" color (CD 42).

I also picked up a pair of Addi Turbo lace needles that Svetalana recommended. Sensing my “newness” to the whole knitting business not only she explained to me that the yarn had to be rolled into balls before knitting but let me use the yarn winder, patiently showing me how to mount the skein, find and cut the nod, and attach the end to the rolling part.

While rolling the yarn I witnessed numerous customers coming to Svetlana with different questions and she would recommend yarns, explain patterns, or simply give some advice.

I couldn’t not come back to the store again and soon after finishing my socks I came to “benefit” from some yarn specials – but this is a different story.

Mouline Yarn

2657 Notre Dame West (Not far from Lionel Groulx metro station)

The store offers different workshops and lessons. Call (514) 935-4401 to enquire about the summer schedule.

It has absolutely nothing to do with knitting but I wanted to share this picture of one of the goregous Bonsai trees from Montreal's Botanical Garden. If you are in Montreal check out the Japanese Garden and Pavillion of Jardin Botanique.

And finally, here is a colour scheme for my new crocheting project:

I am using 3 different "Bernat" colors: Off white (00002), Boston blue (27201) - part of their "Colonial colors" collection, and Earth Ombre (33048) - part of "Naturals" collection.

Don't you wish your slipper was hot like mine?

2008-06-27T14:21:00.007-04:00

Do you remember a little secret project I started a while ago? I think it is time to share some of my progress with you. The little blue swatch turned into a wonderful sexy slipper (I have been a slow knitter recently and the second slipper is still in progress).

For those of you who do not know me or my taste in shoes, here is a picture of the sexiest shoes ever, according to Anna. And yes, I owe a pair exactly like this:

Now you can see why I use the word “sexy” when describing my new slipper. The pattern comes from one of back issues of “Knitty” and it is called: “Twinkletoes”. I slightly modified the original pattern: by mistake, I did not knit the strings same way as described on the pattern. I also did not knit the 1k1p border, since it was making slippers a bit bulky-looking. Because of this modification I am afraid that the back of the Sexy Slipper would slip off my foot (no pun intended). A loop in the back of the shoe that would hold the slipper and the straps would prevent slipping. I will definitely post pictures if this modification will be made.

When my dad saw the Sexy Slipper he asked with terror in his voice whether I was planning on wearing it outside! Sometimes I wonder what others think about me.

The new technique I learned from this patter was a "Lifted Increase/Decrease". Although the pattern provided explanations and instructions I searched some detailed instructions and videos and here are links to the most useful ones:

Wonder How To has links to every possible "How to" video. Here is the one for Lifted Increase/Decrease

Stich Diva Studio has some useful instructions with step-by-step photographs. Here is her version of LI/D. I really like the way she uses yarn of 2 different colors to make explanations easier.

Stash

2008-06-23T16:58:00.003-04:00

Stash organizing is one of the biggest problems for knitters. No matter how hard you try the amount of yarn eventually exceeds the amount of empty space available for its storage. Also, as time goes by, one accumulates more and more half-finished projects that have to be stored until the better days.
Experienced knitters have different ways of managing their stash; some keep it in their closets while others have elaborate organizing cabinets and boxes.

Last week I realized that my stash is getting too big for its basket. I tried solving the problem by putting some of it in the box, but miraculously couple of plastic bags full of yarn appeared in my living room (I had nothing to do with it – they just appeared one morning on top of the table). I tried separating yarn by the usage, putting it in Ziploc bags, spreading started projects evenly over the rooms in my apartment. None of it helped taming the yarn monster. Finally, I found a big box and managed to staff all my stash in it.

I realize that the box is already full and any new yarn acquisition will lead me back to square one, but next several days I’ll be enjoying my neatly organized stash.

P.S. As I was proofreading the post, my dad brought me a plastic bag with 10 skeins of mohair/acrylic yarn from the owner of this wonderful dog.

I managed to fit it in the box but looks like the week will be spend thinking of new stash organizing techniques.

YEY for Verena.

2008-06-21T12:27:00.010-04:00

North American knitters can finally enjoy European designs from Verena magazine!

My mother used to sew. It was common for women in the USSR because the choice of ready-made clothes was limited and not the best. By the time my sister was born my mom was so good that people had a hard time believing that the clothes we wore were handmade. Mom would modestly say that she is not a good seamstress (she was good, believe me), but rather she had good patterns and instructions. All her designes came from Anne Burd a's magazine which was very famous in the Soviet Union. These magazines were staples in Russian households at that time. Women would lend their magazines to friends, trade them, copy patterns for others, and the lucky ones would actually get a xeroxed copy of an article (they were expensive and not all the issues were available). The beauty of Burda's designs were their timeless elegance and classiness so it did not matter if the patterns were a couple of seasons or even a couple of years old.
My mom's magazines were carefully stored, and could be looked at at her presence, on a hard surface (to avoid any damage - after all they were simply stapled together), and only after I would have wash my hands. She did not like to lend them to people and did not allow anyone, but herself, to trace the patterns.
Some of mom's friends would knit and they were the lucky owners of Burda's younger sister - Verena. Verena's models were always classy and were far from simple knitted socks and sweaters that grandmothers would make. At the same time, just like Burda's items, they seemed to be easy to make and had planty of instructions. Another thing about all Burda's magazines is that their designs would fit a regular-framed woman, the one that has curves. However, for those who found them too big or too small there were easy instructions for adjustments of the patterns.

Five years ago I was contemplating the idea of sewing and the first thing I did, naturally, was to buy a Burda magazine. Just like in childhood, I would carefully flip the pages looking at designes and patterns, imagining which ones I'll do first. I was SO excited to have my own little collection of those precious gems. Unfortunately my sewing enthusiasm died after my first skirt; the process was too tedious and uncreative, but I believe I'll get back to it one day.

When I started knitting the first reflex was to buy a Verena magazine. I was very deceived that none of my favorite magazine stores or bookstores carried them. Moreover, none of the store-owners knew what I was talking about. I "googled" the name of the magazine, tried searching representatives, but could not find anything in Canada or the US. As it turned out, Verena was simply not available in North America until recently.
The beginning of Summer marked the first North-American issue of "Verena". If you do not know about this magazine I highly recommend you checking it out - you would be pleasantly surprised with all the interesting and creative projects. Check the book, yarn, and magazine stores - I already spotted a copy in one of Montreal's yarn stores!

Out with the old ....

2008-06-19T16:30:00.007-04:00

As I write this on a grayish summer day my feet are happy. Happy and warm …..They are also pretty, stripped, and soft. Well technically it is not my feet; it is Mr. Socks that are pretty, stripped, and soft. Nine days after the birth of Mr. Sock, Mr. Sock II came to this world on June 19^th at exactly the same time as his older brother 3:18PM. Weird coincidence!!!

I definitely enjoyed knitting socks. Enjoyed so much that my next project would be “Fluke” (click on the link to get the pdf pattern and see where the picture comes from), for my sister, made from the wonderful German “Fortissima Socka” (color #2048).

What would I have done differently? I definitely made first sock too loose. Socks in general should be knit tighter than other garments. Also I had to adjust the first sock (decrease and increase) and be careful when knitting the second one – I wanted the color-pattern to be identical. I would also follow the PDF pattern, because it has calculations, rather then casting on 60 sts without considering the tightness of my knitting and the circumference of my calves – I find that design on the back could benefit from a tighter fit.

While I was working on the second sock I crocheted yet another dishcloth. Now I have a set of 3 and still lots of yarn left – expect more dishcloth pictures in near future.

And finally, here is a sneak preview of my next project. I already have socks and some slippers, to go with, would be nice. I picked up bright blue yarn yesterday and started my knitting.

The color of yarn is much brighter and livelier in real life. It's "Galway" Irish worsted knitting wool in color # 5050 Oh, the pattern … I'll keep it a surprise for now!

Recieved

2008-06-18T01:06:00.003-04:00

Do not have much time to write - it's 1AM over here, but I got the books and they are AMAZING! Can't wait to knit ........ everything.

I will write something more coherent tomorrow.
Good night!

Books, books, books

2008-06-17T10:34:00.003-04:00

I am still working on Mr. Sock II. As some of knitters mention, there comes a point in any project when you just can not wait to finish it, and that point came yesterday. Unfortunately my Ikebana class (what, you thought knitting is the only unusual thing I am into???) took longer then expected and I did not have time to finish the sock. I got to the heel part, but hey, it is all downhill after heel, right?
I also did not get a chance to take pictures - BAD blogger, Anna, BAD!

I do have something to share with you today: I place my first knitting Amazon order! I exercised great self-restrain and discipline while ordering. Those of you who know me in real life can imagine how hard it was. I first narrowed my choice to 30, then to 17, finally I picked 8 ... only 3 books made it to the "shopping cart" but I believe I made the right choice.
Here are the top 3, as chosen by yours truly

3rd place:
I am yet to share my full story of shawl knitting with you. For now I'll just say that I did not give up the Knit1 shawl. I actually got some awesome yarn and special needles (it's a blogworthy story on its' own), and I even started it. I also looked at tones of lace knitting sites and I feel that after socks-addiction it would be shawls. Oberle's book is PERFECT for that.

2nd place goes to:

I had to get a crochet book, I am a Crazy Crocheter after all. To tell you the truth my last trip to the bookstore left me disappointed; for some reason there were no good crochet books there. It seems like people knit but do not crochet, anymore. However, Crochemealong blog proves the opposite. This is the blog, where people share their progress on the objects they make from "Crochet me". After looking at all the gorgeous projects I could not resist ordering the book.

And the winner iiiiiiiiis:

It had to be about socks. Even if I already have 20 patterns waiting to be knitted, another 70 are more then welcome. I also heard great reviews about Rowley's book - can not wait too flip through all the designs.

P.S. the order of books does not reflect my personal preferences. I like all of them equally, just like mothers love their children.

Knitting in public

2008-06-15T21:37:00.007-04:00

I had a great weekend and even though I did not make it to the wwkip celebration at ParcLafountaine I still contributed to the knitting in public more then once. I got some interesting comments and considering writing a book of “knitting prejudices” … but let start from the beginning:

It was my friend’s birthday on Friday and we were meeting for some drinks and the local bar. Since Anna (that’s the name of my friend, and “yes, Russians have no imagination so every second Russian girl you meet is called Anna”) so Anna does not like surprises and I couldn’t make a big surprise party for her, instead I had a very special guest who traveled all the way from Seattle. I LOVE seeing people’s reaction at these kinds of situations – it is priceless.

Once all the gang was there and the conversations, sangria, and beers were flowing, I decided to get my yarn out and knit. Little did I know, but some people find it rather embarrassing to be seen with their knitting friend in public, and especially in the bar. To jump ahead, I told the story to my dad and he was shocked that I actually knitted while drinking wine. According to him it is impolite to knit outside of one’s house.

Friday’s disappointing experience didn’t diminish my enthusiasm and I decided to continue my knitting in public escapade. I brought my bright yellow crocheted purse and my knitting project along with me on Saturday. First, I knitted on the metro. All-in-all it was very nice.; one lady actually smiled at me. After, I met with Eric and we sat down in the park, where I got my Mr. Sock II out. People would look or smile and then the older gentleman asked the most unexpected (to me) question:

- Is it a boy or a girl?

First, I was sure he was referring to me. From the picture above one can see that I am clearly a girl, with longish blond hair. I was also wearing a long skirt that day so his confusion was surprising.

Then I thought that he was referring to the knitting project. The sock is bright red and tubular …. I doubt it looks like either a boy or a girl.

I was very perplexed and didn’t quite know what to answer. Thank G-d Eric was there to save me. He jokingly said something to the gentleman (I was too perplexed to pay attention) and then explained to me that knitting is usually associated with being pregnant, so the gentleman was enquiring about the gender of my future child. I found that hilarious. So not only you are an old babushka if you knit, you are also a pregnant old babushka!

My third attempt in knitting at public happened later on that day. At a “house-cooling” (it'a the opposite of house-warming) gathering I was showing off to one of my friends, parading the yellow purse, when a GUY standing next to me said that he used to knit, and he would do it on the way to school in public transportation. Apparently girls find it sexy and he is contemplating the idea of joining one of the knitting groups since he is on the search for a girlfriend.

And what did YOU do for the knit in public day?

I could not leave you without some knitting pictures, so here is Mr. Sock II. He is getting bigger and bigger and I can not wait to do the heel.

Next is a felting project I casted on. I never felted before but I fell in love with this purse and with the yarn. I am a bit nervous about it.

And here is another half-finished project. This is a scarf I am knitting for Eric. I really like the autumnal colors and the rustic edging. I find it’s a great project for a beginner because you get to practice your purling and knitting.

Yesterday was an interesting day...

2008-06-12T18:07:00.023-04:00

First of all, it’s finally cooling down here in Montreal. We had a huge storm the day before (I missed it working in catacombs): crazy winds, downpour, thunder, and lightning. I think that it was a sign from the Gods marking the birthday of Mr. Sock.

Secondly, I was puzzled by the following question:
Do you identify yourself with

a. Your country of origin
b. Canada

c. Quebec

d. Montreal

I had to think a while about that one and I am still not sure if my answer was final.

I kept thinking and then decided to cast on the little brother of Mr. Sock – there is no better time to think than while casting on. 60 stitches later I was interrupted by a gentleman, who needed help with the printer and the computer (oh yeah, I was knitting at work). After explaining to the gentleman that he is distracting me and will be responsible in case I’ll freeze to death, because the long Canadian winter is coming sooner then he thinks, and that I would like to be warm and comfy throughout those 8 months, and having TWO socks (not just one) is essential for my warmness, I received a rather interesting reply:
“You might be European, because Canadian girls your age do not knit”.
I was SHOCKED, I tried to contradict, but my shock was too strong – CANADIAN GIRLS KNIT!!!. You don’t have to be a Russian babushka (grandmother) to knit. So, Canadian girls, lets get out there and show people that we knit! And this is THE TIME to do it – June 14th is the World Wide Knit In Public Day. Get out there, bring your hooks and needles and show people that we knit.

If you are a Montréaler there will be some knitting at Parc Lafontaine. There more details on MontrealKni t website.

If you are a Torontonian you better be ready. Yarn Harlot is celebrating her birthday on the same day. And she invited this guy. You do not understand why it’s so exciting? Franklin, aka The Panopticon is making a 1000 Knitters project and if you are a knitter you have a chance to be a part of this! I would assume that most of the places are probably booked by now but you still might get in if someone cancels. Read this if you want to know where to call and what to do. If not for my friend’s birthday on Friday I would probably get a ticket to Toronto and enjoy the “happening”.

And if you are anywhere else in the world you should join one of the kip groups. And you still have time to start one, in case your city/country does not have any. Check out the website, get out there, and KNIT/CROCHET!!!

And here are pictures of Mr.Sock that I took last night. Let me tell you, it is VERY difficult to balance on one leg while taking pictures of the back of the other. It stroke earlier today that I could’ve done it sitting down – but hey, I like the challenge. I apologize for bad quality of these pictures and I’ll get someone to take better ones as soon as I can.

The birth.

2008-06-10T15:21:00.003-04:00

Today, at 3:18PM, on the hot and humid June day Mr. Sock was born!!! HOORAY!

The mother and the baby are doing fine. The birth was easy, thanks to the instructions for Kitchener stitch from KnittingHelp website.

Thank you everyone for support and help. Pictures of newborn and happy parent are coming up soon. Feel free to send gifts, flowers, and chocolate.

HOT

2008-06-10T10:58:00.005-04:00

It is hot in Montreal. Third day in a row my brains (that small amount of substance living in my skull) are melting. I envy those who find this kind of weather "beautiful" and "sunny". My friend called me on Sunday (the day we beat all the records for the heat and humidity) telling me that I have to get out because it's "gorgeous" outside. I might be weird but I don't find sauna-like temperature and humidity "gorgeous", I find it disgusting, suffocating, and too much to handle.

OK I am done complaining and can switch to more crochet/knitting related things. By the way, I never complain about cold and you will never hear me saying: "Darn winter, can't wait for it to finish" even if it's snowing in April. This is why I believe I have the right to complain in summer. And yes, at any given moment I would take -30 over +30.

OK OK this time I will talk about knitting. I've been browsing through a lot of blogs, online yarn-stores, knitting/crocheting communities over past couple of weeks. I save all of the links and will eventually (that's the key word, in case your brain is as melted as mine) post my favorite ones. Today however, I couldn't wait to share with you these:

First I was not sure what these were and why anyone would knit them, but later on I followed the link to this wonderful website (TitBits).

I love when people turn their experience into something creative, I also love when people find more accessible, easier, and cheaper options to solve problems. And in case you were too lazy to check out the website, I'll explain you that these are knitted breast prosthesis for breast cancer survivals who had to undergo mastectomy. I think that the idea is BRILLIANT. You can buy the already-made one or you can make one yourself. They are inexpensive (~60$ - compare to silicone ones that are $400) which allows women to have several prosthesis. They could be weighted or not, depending on the "feel" you prefer. They come in natural as well as wild and funky colors. They are SO beautiful. Once again let me tell you that I find this whole thing AWESOME!!!!!

P.S. The image comes from Knitty website.

Mr. Sock is almost done.

2008-06-08T13:45:00.005-04:00

The knitting part is done; all I have left is to “sew it up”. I can’t wait to buy the tapestry needle, finish the sock, wash it, and see how it looks on my foot. It won’t be the first time I’ll be trying it on, but I think that washing will do it good and will make it even more attractive (by hiding all the irregularities and little “mistakes” in my knitting). All in all it was a lot of fun. I think I’ll be knitting lots of socks. I actually have a next project in mind, as soon as I’ll knit Mr. Sock the second.
I am a bit disappointed that I made couple of mistakes, but I hope that none of them will show. I am also disappointed with the lack of measurements on the pattern (not the pdf one but the one I had in my calendar); I planned to make the sock for Monkey Face (my sister), I even bought yarn with her color preference in mind, but 60 sts gave a diameter way too big for her leg. It’s actually a bit loose on my leg but I hope that washing will tighten it up just a bit. From now on I would make sure to get my dimensions and to use patterns that provide size measurements. By the way, my “mistakes” should be blamed on the lack of measurements: I had to decrease and increase in certain parts of the sock and it makes it looks uneven.

After finishing the sock, I decided to do a bit of crocheting. I got some multicolor cotton yarn on special at Zellers; it matches the orange I used for my dishcloth, so last night I crocheted the second dishcloth, using the same pattern but in different colors. I love this kind of no-brainer projects; since I don’t have to count my stitches every 2 seconds I can enjoy a good movie (last night it was “12” by Nikita Mikhalkov – Russian movie that was nominated for Oscar’s last year) and have a final item done by the end of it. I even managed to weave in the ends – impressive!!!

Let me tell you though, I am getting spoiled with good yarn. After using Regia sock yarn, I am so used to the thread slipping of my needle easily and almost knitting itself. The lower-quality cotton was hard to knit with and left my hands covered with orange fuss. Now I can see why some yarn costs 99c for skein, while other is 5$ for the same amount!

Knitting in the time of cholera

2008-06-07T11:07:00.010-04:00

I managed to get sick. Came home Thursday with headache and sore throat, slept for 3 hours, woke up, ate, and went straight to bed again. Yesterday I was still sick … let me tell you: it’s no fun at all. The only good thing about being sick is that I can spend most of the day knitting, and since I haven’t been very productive for past couple of days I got back to my sock.

The long-promised worse started as soon as I hit the heel. W&T??? I thought I conquered all of the abbreviations. I managed to wrap and turn, and slip, and knit but the heel did not look good. So I finally gave up and undid it (what is the proper term for it?). Yes, for the first time in my 3 months knitting/crocheting career I undid part of my creation.

The explanation came from INTERNET!!! By the way, do you ever wonder how people would get all the information in pre-Internet times? I understand that books in the library are very informative, but when you are sick with a fever at 1AM going to the library is out of the question.

Back to the sock, I first found this amazing lady with enchanting British accent who was explaining how to do the heel of a sock. The only problem was that she knitted using British method (duh!) and I had really hard time "translating" it to the continental one. Do not forget I am sick with a fever!!!

After going through more youtube videos I found this wonderful, wonderful lady with clear and coherent instructions on sock knitting. I love the way she compares stitches to girls with different hair colors and pearl necklaces. I also love her step-by-step instructions and would looove to attend one of her workshops. Yes, Cat Bordhi is my new role model!

And just to show off my progress, remember the little guy? Well he grew quite a bit in last 2 days. I even predict that I will be starting his younger brother tomorrow.

I belong!

2008-06-04T16:08:00.003-04:00

We all like to feel unique, special, and not like anybody else (in a good way that is). I believe this is why hand made stuff is so expensive, and why people are willing to spend thousands of dollars on houte couture "one-of-a-kind" dress.
Yet, we love being a part of something, feeling that we are not alone, and that we belong....
OK Anna what this pseudo-philosophical stuff has to do with knitting, or did you knit/crochet all night long and are going crazy today?

No no no. I didn't knit anything last night - I had to take care of my sick sister. I crocheted couple of chain stitches while teaching my coworker. And this pseudo-philosophical stuff has to do with the fact that I found this link last night: www.montrealknits.com There are two big knitting groups in Montreal: Montreal Knits and The Montreal Knitting Guild! There are knitting rendez-vouses and stitch-'n-bitch circle almost every day!! There are tons and tons of people like me in this city and I do not feel alone anymore!!!

If only I can overcome my asocial nature and join them...

First yarn shopping experience

2008-06-04T09:55:00.003-04:00

I finally made it to one of Montreal’s yarn stores. La Tricoteuse is situated on the corner of St. Hubert and Rachel (779 Rachel East). The store is full of yarn: sock yarn, mohair, beautiful silk, yarn of different colors and textures. I must admit I was slightly overwhelmed when I walked in there (and so was Eric).

After spending good 20 minutes simply looking at all the yarns I decided to approach a nice lady (the owner?) for some help. To tell you the truth, the quantity of the yarn made me forget all the project possibilities I had on my mind and the only thing I remembered was sock yarn for the long-promised socks for my sister. After yet another 20 minutes of admiring all the sock yarn, I finally decided on “Canadian color" (#4746) from Regia. It’s a mix of wool and polyamide. The gentlemen at the cash (husband of the lady?) asked me if it was my first time knitting socks and after my affirmative answer he wished me “good luck” (I am not sure I liked the underlying message in that wish. Is sock-knitting really that difficult???). Oh, I also picked some sock needles for the project.

All in all I was really happy with my first yarn shopping experience. Once the socks are done I will return for some new yarn and I might even take some pictures of the store.

I picked “Reverse Psockology” pattern from “Stitch-and-Bitch” calendar (thank you Es'ka and Jen'ka) for the yarn. It is going pretty well so far, but I am expecting the worse.

Since I am posting the picture of half-finished sock, here is one more of “work-in-progress” projects: the baby scarf (to go with the baby carpet) that I crocheted about a month ago. It is still missing white fringes.

My dad is refusing to call it a scarf. He says that it could be anything! I guess I should hurry up with those fringes.

La Tricoteuse
779 Rachel East (corner of St. Hubert and Rachel, not far from Mont Royal metro station)

Patterns

2008-06-03T11:10:00.001-04:00

I finally found the dishcloth pattern on the Coats and Clark website. For some reason mine is not as "fluffy" as the one on the picture. I got some orange and multicolored yarn and will crochet more of those in different color-combinations.

I also managed to take pictures of all the new and old unfinished knitting projects. I'll try to write a coherent blog-post and upload it later tonight. For now, here is a link to wonderful Stephanie Pearl-McPhee who is known in the knitters' world as Yarn Harlot.
Not only she is a knitter (a very fast one), she also has an amazing writing style, and manages to update her blog almost daily as well as write some knitting books. Oh yeah, she is Canadian.

P.S. click on the "button" to get to her blog.

Links

2008-05-27T12:33:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are the links to the websites where I got my patterns.

1 - The baby carpet comes from "Instant Expert: Crochet" book.
2 - The pattern for dishcloth was found on the website, but I can't trace back the link. I am pretty sure I have it printed out somewhere and I promise to post the URL as soon as I can.
3 - The purse comes from January 2008 issue of "Crochet today!" magazine.

4 - The pattern for hook case is a modified version of this one. I changed it to a 2-color model and also adjusted the dimensions.

Knitting disappointment and some links

2008-05-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

Inspired by my multiple successful crocheting projects I decided to plunge into knitting. My great grandmother taught me how to knit when I was 5 and even though I haven't knitted anything since then I was sure that 2 needles are better then 1 hook, and my work should progress at least twice as fast with the needles.
I started with a simple scarf:
(5 purls, 5 knits) repeat 5 times
it was flying off my needles. YEY!!!

Yesterday I wanted to knit something a bit more complex: how about this gorgeous shawl (picture on the left) from the latest issue of Knit1?
The pattern is marked as "advanced", but hey intermediate crocheter is an almost advanced knitter, right? So I casted on 5 stitches, knitted them, and started to untangle the world of yarn over's and sk2p's when after a 20th row I found out that my shawl looks nothing like the one on the picture.
I checked the instructions again, and yes, they do ask you to practice several times, since the pattern is rather complex. After my third attempt, I realised that I am doing something very very wrong. I re-read the instructions, made sure I understand what every abbreviation means, and finally decided to get back to basics and check if I am knitting and purling correctly.

This is when it hit me: all along I was knitting and purling WRONG!!! I was doing everything right, but instead of inserting my needle behind the front "leg" of the loop I was inserting it in the back ... and in the wrong direction.

All this to tell you that here are some useful links with videos of most common knitting stitches. I'll be practicing those for a while, before reattempting my gorgeous shawl!

Knittingatknoon
Arcadiaknitting - check under knitting tutorials

And finally, my personal favorite:
KnittingHelp - not only they have great videos and all the stitches in English and Continental style, the also feature the very comprehensive stitch glossary (with the links to the videos). I will definitely be referring to this one over and over and over again.

I am off to practice my knits and purls, and to check out some yarn stores later on today!
Happy knitting to all of you!

What NOT to crochet

2008-05-23T10:56:00.002-04:00

I just had to share this link with you:

First Steps

2008-05-23T10:52:00.000-04:00

It all started after I heard the news that my very good friend (best childhood friend) in Tashkent gave birth to a baby girl. I decided that I have to send a little something for her, preferable hand-made. So I got some yarn and some hooks, and since I've been practicing crocheting for a little bit over a week, I started the baby carpet in extremely psychedelic color scheme (to tell you the truth, colors look rather tame on this photo):

After finishing the carpet, I wanted to continue crocheting, but make something smaller this time. I also wanted it to be useful and simple enough that if I would not get the design correctly I would still be able to use it. So the big winter sweater was out of the question, and I decided to crochet a dish cloth:
It was a fun and easy project and I decided to continue.
Next was this bright yellow purse that I now use to carry my current projects around:

After the blanket it was the biggest project so far. I really like the texture of the finished material and will probably use this stitch for something else in near future.

Finally, this morning I finished my hook case. I got 7 hooks as a Christmas gift and so far they've been stored in the empty chocolate box. Now they have a cozy home. This is how it looks from outside:

And inside it has room for 9 hooks:

The original case had buttons and would roll to "close". I am contemplating the idea of attaching some ribbons to mine, meanwhile I can just fol it in half to close and it actually stays closed!

I really hope that I would be able to find enough time to camp, cook, and crochet/knit. For now, while it is cold and rainy in Montreal, I'll keep knitting and crocheting!

P.S. The colors on the pictures are not as good as they are in real life. I definitely should start taking pictures during the day - daylight makes everything so much prettier!
P.P.S. I will post links and references to places where I got my patterns from very soon.