novamade

making things for myself and others

I know, you are bowled over, are you not?  Three posts in one week.  Sometimes I even impress myself.  Or, I am simply trying to make-up for bad blogging behavior in the past and also for my absence next week while I am vacationing with the family on a beach somewhere in California (with a day trip to Legoland thrown in for giggles and grins).  Before I take off, I wanted to share with you some crafty goodness from my sewing machine.  The first thing, hankies:

I made some for Special K for Christmas, but he mentioned that they are "a little small."  I followed the directions from the Purlsoho folks to the tee (until they told me to roll and handstitch the edges...um, no.  This is whyfor I have a sewing machine, yo.), so maybe they really meant for the hankies to be pocket squares?  I am now given to understand that people, mostly men, who actually use handkerchiefs appreciate a little more fabric.  And, really, if there is any thing I have, it's fabric (and wool and yarn, etcetera).  So I made K some more handkerchiefs for Father's Day; but, I supersized them.  The theme was "nautical," obviously.  I cut these to 15 inches square.  Not that much bigger; but, it seemed like a lot more fabric to me.  He likes them, and I know he'll use them.  I am not sure why he likes hankies so much.  It's not because of their eco-friendliness...maybe he just likes the fabric.  I don't know.

I also made some DPN cases.  I started off using Ashley's snazzy pattern; and then with the one I made for myself (the one on the left), I did some tweaking.   I have a lot of DPNs, so I needed more pockets.  Lots of pockets.  I have been meaning to organize my knitting tools for a while now, and I never got around to it.  But digging around for the DPNs forced me to organize and clean, so this project was wholly productive.  The second case if for my friend Amy whose birthday was last week.  Better late than never, right?

I used fabric that I had in the stash.  I am on a "use what you have" jag at he moment, because I simply have too much.  I said it...I have too much.  But I will talk more about that when I get back from vacation.  In the meantime, look at the DPN cases, fun, no?

  

Have a good weekend and a good week everyone!

the fine art of crochet

Do you know how to crochet?  Well, now, I do.  I mean I know how to actually crochet; but, also, I know how to read a pattern and chart and all that.  I didn't know before; but, now, because I participated in Maritza and Adrian's Hotpad and Potholder Swap, I totally know how to crochet.  I am pretty excited about it.  I joined the swap specifically to learn the fine art of crochet, and I feel pretty good about being able to learn it all by myself during the course of a month.  The pattern I picked was actually pretty simple; but, it's the one I liked best because it reminded me of a hotpad my grandmother had in her kitchen.  The pattern is called Topflappen.  They were fun to knit.  More info in the gallery and on ravelry, if you want them.

The hotpads and potholder I got in return are awesome.  I love them all, and I have decided that they are too beautiful to actually be used as hotpads and potholders...because they could get damaged and that would be silly.

Thanks for such a great swap Maritza and Adrian!  And thanks for giving me the impetus to learn how to crochet!  Now I am thinking about big granny square blankets...

knitting for a special someone

 I have so many things to tell you; but, since I don't want to overwhelm you all, let's just talk about this scarf that I knit.  I will get to the rest later this week, which means I will be blogging more than once this week (actually, more than once this month, whoa.  I know.).

 

This scarf has been done for a while now; but, my mom just got it so now I can talk about it.  I could have talked about it before; but, you know, surpirse ruination=sadness.  In any case.  I started knitting this scarf in March while on spring break.  My mom saw it in my knitting bag and not so coyly volunteered herself to be the recipient.  For your edification, this was the conversation:

novamade mom: [unabashedly sifts through knitting bag, pulls out scarf project]  Oh, what is this?

nova: a scarf

novamade mom: It's so pretty.

nova: I think so, the yarn is a wool and cashmere blend, there is nylon in it too, it's supposedly sock yarn; but, I'd rather have cashmere on my neck rather than on my feet, I think.

novamade mom: Oh, me too.

nova:  Great minds, I guess.

novamade mom: You know, this is my color.

nova: It's mine too.

novamade mom: If you haven't gotten me anything for Mother's Day or my birthday, this will do.

nova:  [unbelievingly] Seriously?

novamade mom: I am being very serious.

nova: [petulantly] Okay.

It's sort of difficult to begrudge one's own mother anything, isn't it?  Also, it's unlikely that I will deny anyone in my family a knitted good if they actually ask for it.  But since I was knitting this scarf for myself and you guys know how I feel about knitting scarves in general, I was a wee perturbed about finishing it, so I missed the Mother's Day deadline.  But I finished in plenty of time for her birthday, so, Happy Birthday, Mom! 

I am sure you will like the scarf, as it is your color...and you, basically, told me to give it to you.  I hope it keeps your neck warm and cozy when the Georgia air brings a chill. 

 

This is the Montego Bay scarf from the Summer 2007 issue of Interweave Knits.  It is a really easy lace project for those interested in trying lace on something easy and doable.  I modified a bit because I had this great yarn from the Knittery that I got myself for my birthday either last year or the year before, I can't remember.   More notes will be put in the gallery and on ravelry, FYI.

belated birthday quilt

 

Is it just me or do other people think they posted a post when they really didn't?  Maybe it's just me.  For the last week or two, I thought I told you about this quilt.  Clearly, I have not.  Let's ameliorate, shall we?

 

So two years ago I went to Hawaii, it was fabulous, see for yourself.  While there I purchased some Hawaiian print fabrics, because I figured that's what one who is crafty should do.  Shortly after returning home, Little Sir switched to a toddler bed because he could climb out of his crib at 15 months old (awesome.), so naturally I thought a quilt for my kid was in order. 

So I washed the fabric. A few months later, I drew up a quick design (but I could have put them together in any way, there is a lot of crazy going on with those prints).  A few months after that I cut out the fabric.  And then, a week before Sir's second birthday, I thought, "oh, I will finish that quilt!"  And I worked so hard to get it done, but after basting it, I lost steam.  And then the quilt sat in the basement for almost a year taunting me with its uncompletion.  Even Little Sir would say things like, "that's my quilt that mommy didn't finish, right?"

 

So for his third birthday, I was determined to finish the quilt.  I quilted it with 30 degree parallel lines (with 2 inches between) running one way.  I originally thought about quilting in the opposite direction to form quilted diamonds; but, that would have tacked on months to the process, because really, that is sort of how a roll (if you haven't caught on to that yet).  After getting some great advice from Diana, Caro and Ashley (great advice=telling me what I want to hear),  I called the quilting sufficient.  The quilting is most discernible on the back (which I think I like better, actually) in the solid sections.

  

After taking all the pins out and the painter's tape off however, I didn't feel like doing the binding, and I had to sleep.  I finished quilting the quilt at 3 in the morning on the kid's third birthday.  After a week or two of hemming and hawing I figured it was time to get it done.  You see, I couldn't justify working on another quilt till this one was done.  And really, all I had to do was the binding. 

I once hated doing the binding on quilts, but now, I think it's the easiest part.  Unlike most quilters who lovingly hand sew the binding to the quilt back, I take the extra time to iron, tuck and pin my binding to the back of my quilt and machine sew like it's my job.  I don't have the patience for the hand sewing bit, and this quilt is for a boy and will get washed a ton, so that's my rationalizing.

I am so glad I finished this quilt.  Not just because, well, yay, I'm done; but, Little Sir LOVES his new quilt. 

He promptly followed his thanks with a request to "make [him] another quilt; but, one that matches [his] little brother's."  People, I have not made a quilt for Little Mister to be matched, so Sir has, in effect, asked for me to make two quilts.  Stellar.  Hilarious is Little Sir's middle name.

I think it is worth noting that Little Sir acted as creative director for this entire quilt photo shoot of ours.  With the exception of the shots that I caught with the two of us, he pretty much told me how he wanted the pictures taken and came and looked at the camera to give approval. 

Is it wrong that my kid's knack for framing and composition impresses me more than his ability to say please and thank you?

dye it. spin it. celebrate.

I celebrated my birthday this week.  I was tempted to get myself a new wheel for my birthday; but, there isn't really much wrong with the old one except a few things that I find bothersome (oh, Lendrums, why must you rely on rubberbands to function?)...I might still get a new wheel at some point, but for now I will stick with the one I have--reliance on rubberbands and all.  I was considering the wheel because I have been doing a crazy amount of spinning lately. 

So yes, my birthday (was good, I got lots of crafty books and a pocket video camera, because who doesn't love a camera that fits into one's pocket?).  There were others celebrating anniversaries of living this week as well.  I remain convinced that May is *the* month to be born as some pretty incredible women I know celebrate their birthdays this month (Risa and Rangsiwan celebrate the same day as I do!).  A very good friend of mine from college celebrates the day before I do.  Let's call her Kathy, mostly because that is her name.  Anyways, for Christmas last year, Kathy gave me a kilo of New Zealand Perrendale wool (that is like two pounds).  It was gorgeous undyed fiber screaming for dye.  And a local friend has a dyeing studio in her basement.

So I dyed it.  All of it.

I was pretty pleased.  There was one 4 ounce bit that came out with some unfortunate tinting, but I will make it work.

When Kathy came to town for a visit recently, I told her that I was giving her some of the fiber she gave me for Chistmas for her birthday--but dyed and spun (some would call that gauche, I call it industrious), she loved the dyed wool.  So truly, it's the gift that keeps on giving (family, take note).

I hope she likes the handspun yarn.  I told her I would try to spin it at worsted weight--that's what she asked for (which is a little bit of a challenge for me at the moment...everything I spin wants to be sport or dk).  I think it was pretty; but, obviously, I am a wee bit biased.  Oh look, novamade yarn (literally!) in Spring Dream.

Some of the other wool I dyed has a high degree of fabulosity as well.  Novamade dyed perrendale in Autumn Day (ohai, I like to name things with seasons!).

 

I love dyeing wool and spinning it up.  I did promise K that we would not have a dyeing studio in or near our house though.  Apparently, the dyeing studio was the craft line he was just not willing to cross.  Considering all of the crafty equipment that is taking up space in our house right now, I sort of don't blame him.

At Maryland Sheep and Wool, I bought almost 3 pounds of undyed superwash merino (I also met up with friends and readers, hi!).  I am not even going to bother putting up a picture of the fiber...undyed white wool, ooh.  It's a good thing my friend, NueroKnitter lives around the corner and told me that I could use her studio anytime!

may is mitten month

Or, May Day is mitten day, at the very least.   Last year, Little Sir was going through some of my yarn (he likes to do this as we have identified yarn as my "toys;" and, if they are toys they are fun, right?) and he came across a small little skein of yellow handspun.  I think it might have been the first handspun spun from my "fancy fiber stash" (I think most spinners will know what I am referring to when I say that...the good stuff...from the indie dyers).  I started out with 4 ounces of beautifully dyed bfl from Spunky Eclectic dyed in the Sunflower colorway.  It was like a puff of sunshine.

The first 2 ounces was my "learning process" (that sounds much better than 'disaster') before I "got it," the singles wer ultra-overspun, unsalvageable.  So I spun the remining 2 ounces and had a little bit of yarn, maybe 55 yards.  When Little Sir found it, he asked me to make him a pair of mittens.  I said I would; but, I hoping he would forget, there was a little bit of sentimentalism with that yellow yarn.  He didn't forget.  Every time he put on his silly commercially made mittens with dinosaurs on them, he asked about his non-existent yellow mittens.  So I finally got around to making them (they took me all of 4 hours in total to knit), and since it's now spring, he is going to get so much wear out of them, I am sure.

  

I am glad I made the mittens.  The yarn became something.  I fulfilled a promise to my kid.  And Little Sir loves his new mittens (LOVES them!).  He likes to wear them around the house (it's not like he needs to wear them outdoors at all).  Notes in the gallery and on ravelry.

If anyone is going to Maryland Sheep and Wool this weekend, say hi!  I will be the one with the Littles in tow (or, alternatively, chasing Little Sir all over the fairgrounds, possibly with Little Mister strapped to my chest).

i'm one of those people

I am one of those people who is unsure of the whole hat thing (though I do love a baseball cap on sunny days--I am nothing if not practical).  I never know what to do with them, to be honest.  My head is really large and my hair, if I bother to make it look presentable, prefers to be left uncovered.  If I try and cover it with, for instance, a hat, the resulting reaction is either hat-head or some unfortunate frizziness that most would label "a bad hair day."  That being said, I thought it would be fun to knit a beret.

Also, I just like saying the word "beret," and said it repeatedly while knitting my little project--to anyone who would listen, really. "Oh what am I knitting?  It's a beret.  From the "Beret Gaufre" pattern. It's a pretty easy beret to knit..." and so on and so forth. The reasons I picked  Véronik Avery's Beret Gaufre pattern were threefold: it was free, the circumference looked like it would accomodate my large noggin; and, the fabric looked good.

I think the beret is great.  I just don't like it on me.  I have no idea how to wear it.

If worn the wrong way, one could look like a Guevaran revolutionary reject (viva!).  I do not thing Che would approve of the suburban revolutionary vibe I have going on here.

I will keep the beret around since it might come in handy on a weekend during the winter when I am shoveling snow; but, in general,  it won't get a lot of wear, if we are being honest here.  Oh, well.  Notes in the gallery and on ravelry. 

why i love my blog

I know this is a weird title for a post that appears an eternity after the one preceeding it; but, it's the best title I could think of. 

I have been preoccupied with events of a decidedly uncrafty nature lately, but I have been doing some crafty things, and I will share the crafty bits with you soon enough.  I made a decision a while back to try and keep this blog a craft space (cooking is included in that, I guess) ; but when non-crafty things occur, what to do?  So to fill you in, since I last posted Little Sir had a birthday (ohai, we are three) that was celebrated accordingly (of course); and, at the beginning of this month, my father passed away--this event has sort of winded me a bit.  Fortunately, we were able to see him a few weeks before his death and he got a chance to meet Little Mister.

In the midst of all the activity, I kept thinking, "I need to blog," but it wasn't under any sense of obligation; but I had a desire to "keep the conversation going" as it were, but, like I said, I was preoccupied with other things.  And as you are aware, I just didn't get around to it; but, the blog is still here and if you are getting the feed, you are perfectly aware when I put up a new post, so no big deal, right?  And I think that is one of the reasons I like my blog.  I can blog when I feel like it--it's there when I need it and it's not really an obligation, it's a bit of fun in my life filled with a husband, two kids, a full-time job, a house that should probably get cleaned more than it does, and all the crafting I am able to squeeze in (seriously, it's a good thing I have no pets, they would have gone hungry a long time ago).  Here are some other reasons why I like my blog:

• it helps me keep track of all my crafty obsessions (because I have crafter's ADD, obvs);
• it keeps me involved in the in the knitterverse (because I knit more than I do any other craft...I think);
• it's  a place to ruminate the crafty in general (because, hi all it takes for me to get interested in something is reading about someone else doing it and mentioning a possible interest in it just once--as in: spinning?  oh that sounds fun.  oh, weaving, okay, sure why not?  Don't even get me started on crochet.  Please, no one start doing macrame.  I have to draw the line somewhere;
• it makes me depart from me comfortable home of introvertedness (it's true, shocking, right?) every once in a while to chat it up with people (um, that would be you) who find my ramblings somewhat intersting (this still sort of shocks me; but, there you are).

But those are reasons why I like my blog.  The reason I love my blog is the great friends the blog has helped me find (and helped find me?).  I have made quite a few friends through blogging (real live actual friends).  And that is something I never expected when I started this blog.

I talk about the bloggy knitty friends I have a chance to meet up with occasionally, but I feel like I have been remiss in talking about my knitter friends who have done so much for me lately and who I am really happy to have in my life (the real one, not just the internets one).  After Little Mister was born, they got together and made a super-fabulous blanket.  As a knitter I can appreciate every single stitch of this blanket.

 

Pam has a better picture here (but of course, mine has the baby).  It filled me with all sorts of love and comfort (oh, and Little Mister aka Baby Disco likes it too, of course).  And really, it's like a big fibery hug (I totally stole this line from Ashley).

And then yesterday, they sent me flowers to bring some spring time cheer; because really, pondering a loved one's departure from the mortal coil is not very spring time at all. 

 

So I started thinking about how I have some really great  friends, and I would have never met a lot of them had I not started this blog.  So yeah, that's why I love my blog.

they say it's spring

 

Surely, you will agree with me that, after daffodils, there is nothing more spring-like than a knit wooly sweater.  No?

Well, I finally finished my Lopi sweater. There are some interesting (well, to me --you are likely to feel otherwise) yarns (ha!) I could spin (double ha!!) about this sweater--sorry, it's spring and I always get a little punchy on the first day of spring.

This sweater was two years in the making.  The yarn came from a neighbor who read an article about me that appeared in a local newspaper.  In the article, the writer mentioned that I was a knitter, a rather obsessive one.  So my neighbor, Lisa, figured that I was a good person to entrust some Lopi wool that she had sitting in her attic for the last three decades to (no, really).  She received it from a friend from Greece who went off knitting; and, Lisa never got around to doing anything with the yarn, so the wool showed up at my door...with a Reynolds Lopi pattern book (Volume 22 - ravelry link).

The pattern book was older, and the designs were not super modern, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  I figured I could use the yarn and pattern book to try some new things, right?

This sweater presented all sorts of great learning opportunities for me, which is, really, why I chose to knit this particular in the first place.

Firstly, I have to say, I knit this sweater twice.  I broke my own stance against ripping and ripped the sweater--in its entirety because the gauge issues the first time around could not be resolved; and, for some reason, it took knitting the whole sweater to figure this out--sometimes I don't want to own my knitting imperfections.

The reasons I selected the particular pattern from all the possible choices were threefold: I could try stranding three colors (as I have only done two-color stranded knitting in the past); I could use all of the yarn given me; and, I could finally try steeking.  As it turns out, the steeking is what delayed the finishing of this sweater.  Because, as I have said before, the thought of cutting my knitting makes me want to vomit.

Well, there is no longer any quesiness around the whole steeking business.  After months of putting it off, I did it.  And you know, it wasn't so bad.  I thought the Lopi book could have provided clearer instruction; but, there you are.  If I really wanted to prep myself, I would have gone to the winter 2006 IK magazine and re-read that article that Eunny wrote on steeking, but I didn't feel like pulling out the magazines, I just had to steek it and be done with it (because, if we are being truthful here, and I am, I just wanted to finish this sweater so I could knit other things).

I will own my imperfections in the sweater, now that I have knit it twice and steeked it.  The front of the yoke does not line up properly.  I think this is due to a couple of things, all surrounding my steek.  My gauage for the purl stitches was totally off from the gauge of the rest of the sweater.  I think I was nervous sbout the steek even while I was knitting it.  Also, I didn't switch needle sizes for the ribbing and button band as the pattern prescribed, because I didn't like the cinched look of the ribbing and band in the patternbook so I knit with US 10's throughout. 

This misalignment is only noticeable when the cardigan is buttoned though.    So, I suppose it's a good thing I rarely button my cardigans.

The part of this sweater that I love best is the yoke.  I was able to do all of that stranded knitting in a pretty even tension and I think it looks pretty good, well, the back does.

While knitting it, I thought that this would be a sweater knit purely for the purpose of learning, but it fits well and it's warm, so it will be a good "kick around" sweater, I think.

So overall, I think I am pretty happy with it.

 

I will put up the details in the gallery and ravelry for anyone interested.  Oh, and happy spring!

spinning a yarn

Actually, spinning many yarns.  Spinning, that's what I did for most of February.  I spun some Ashland Bay merino...

 

A hank of English Garden (the blue), a hank of Sage (the green), two hanks of Mojave (the reds), and a hank of Sandalwood (the multi one on the bottom right).

I also finally got around to spinning some wool that my friend Amy gave me for Christmas...back in 2007, which seems like a long time ago.  It's from the Enchanted Knoll Farm, a farm in Maine, there was no colorway listed...I am going to call it Red with Bits of Thread.

 

I was nervous about spinning it because it had all sorts of crazy stuff in it.  Threads, vegetatation, what have you; but, I think it turned out pretty great.  The blue and yellow (there's some green in there too, I think) threads in the fiber make for interesting visual contrast from the pretty red of the fiber.  And then there's the fancy handpainted stuff I spun.

I think my favorite bit of spinning was this merino/tencel blend from the Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm--this is the Spring colorway.  I got this stuff from a sheep and wool festival a while ago, not sure which one (it's embarrassing to not know this stuff, really).  I could kick myself for not spinning it sooner.  I LOVE spinning tencel, it's a beautiful fiber to work with.  And since I loved it so much, I am going to give you another shot of the yarn all hanked up (at least on my monitor, the shot below is pretty true to color).

 

I have no idea what I am going to knit with all of this fiber.  I was thinking a Komb blanket like Kelp!'s (feel free to go and drool, I'll wait for you to come back); but, I think I like the effect she is getting with pretty painted fibers more than I would like the effect produced by knitting the more plain jane yarns I spun from the Ashland Bay merinos.  I have no idea what to do with the Spring merino/tencel yarn, any thoughts?

Seven skeins/hanks/whatever worth of spinning, not too shabby, if you ask me.

 

All of this spinning was, of course, an effort to fend of steeking that Lopi sweater I was working on; but since I imposed that stupid strategy of not working on anything until I finished that sweater, I had to finish it so I could work on something fun (or anything, for that matter).  So I bit the bullet and steeked the silly thing.

 

Now I don't see what all the fuss was about.  This sweater is blocking now.  It's probably going to take a few days to dry as the New England weather can best be described as frigid, at present.  I am hoping to get some FO shots in before I go on a spring break adventure to what I'd like to think are warmer climes; but, since Alabama got snow on Sunday, I have no idea what to expect in Georgia and Florida.  And also, it would be nice to feature some knitting on this here knitting blog.

I am pretty excited about some new projects to cast-on...and more fiber to spin, because really, how can I not spin when a rainbow presents itself?