Knit it, Violet!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
And Just Like That...
I've moved! Not literally, we're still in the same little apartment we moved into just a few months after I started this blog nearly four years ago, but I've decided to move my knitting blog elsewhere. You can find me here: VioletsKnits.wordpress.com
I have mixed feelings about leaving this blog space, but since I haven't posted since last year...well, you can tell it hasn't been inspiring me a lot lately. I needed a change. All my old posts will still be here for you perusal and my nostalgia. It's been fun and I'm looking forward to a fresh start, and renewed energy!
Please come visit me & update your bookmarks and feeds. VioletsKnits.wordpress.com See you soon!
PS- Kellen and I have started a garden/sustainability blog, too: Sweet Avenue Farm.
See you soon!
I have mixed feelings about leaving this blog space, but since I haven't posted since last year...well, you can tell it hasn't been inspiring me a lot lately. I needed a change. All my old posts will still be here for you perusal and my nostalgia. It's been fun and I'm looking forward to a fresh start, and renewed energy!
Please come visit me & update your bookmarks and feeds. VioletsKnits.wordpress.com See you soon!
PS- Kellen and I have started a garden/sustainability blog, too: Sweet Avenue Farm.
See you soon!
Labels: woolly rambles
¶ 8:17 PM 0 Comments
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Saddest Little Appendix
My baby brother is not such a baby anymore. In 4 months, he's going to be 14. I can't even fathom that. Nine years older might not seem like that much, but this kid is my little Glorfka.
Me and the Bub, probably around 2002 or 2003...
Last week I got a scary text message from my mom saying he was in the emergency room with severe abdominal pain. He was sent home with a false alarm, and then two days later was back in the emergency room. This time it was for real, his little appendix was coming out. He's a healthy little athlete (even though he has been known to eat an entire box of Honey Buns, and *ahem* several pounds of corn chips in one sitting. In fact, it was the copious corn chips that caused the "false alarm" diagnosis in the first place) so he's never really had any medical problems. It was scary for all of us.
I did a little bit of knitting in the emergency room, but once surgery was over and he started to recuperate, I realized what he really needed was a stuffed appendix. I had originally planned on getting him a Giant Microbe appendix, but they don't make one, so I had to get creative.
My own pattern (cast on 6 stitches and increased until the desired fatness, then decreased when it seemed appendix-y). The yarn is lamb's pride worsted, and I used US 8 dpns. I think he came out pretty cute.
Here's the saddest little appendix with the grumpiest little appendectomy patient. This was actually the night he was allowed to come home. I think the little appendix came out pretty cute, and now Jaime has a souvenir from his adventure. He's on the mend and gets to play baseball again in a week; we're all thankful. Plus, I got to knit an appendix, adding to my knit body-part repertoire. ¶ 10:44 PM 1 Comments
Me and the Bub, probably around 2002 or 2003...
Last week I got a scary text message from my mom saying he was in the emergency room with severe abdominal pain. He was sent home with a false alarm, and then two days later was back in the emergency room. This time it was for real, his little appendix was coming out. He's a healthy little athlete (even though he has been known to eat an entire box of Honey Buns, and *ahem* several pounds of corn chips in one sitting. In fact, it was the copious corn chips that caused the "false alarm" diagnosis in the first place) so he's never really had any medical problems. It was scary for all of us.
I did a little bit of knitting in the emergency room, but once surgery was over and he started to recuperate, I realized what he really needed was a stuffed appendix. I had originally planned on getting him a Giant Microbe appendix, but they don't make one, so I had to get creative.
My own pattern (cast on 6 stitches and increased until the desired fatness, then decreased when it seemed appendix-y). The yarn is lamb's pride worsted, and I used US 8 dpns. I think he came out pretty cute.
Here's the saddest little appendix with the grumpiest little appendectomy patient. This was actually the night he was allowed to come home. I think the little appendix came out pretty cute, and now Jaime has a souvenir from his adventure. He's on the mend and gets to play baseball again in a week; we're all thankful. Plus, I got to knit an appendix, adding to my knit body-part repertoire. ¶ 10:44 PM 1 Comments
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Phat Fiber Box
I love surprises. As a kid, I was a sucker for a grab bag (actually, I still am), even though I usually ended up disappointed. I'm also hopeless when it comes to resisting "limited time only" things. So, obviously, the Phat Fiber box left me totally defenseless. Similar concept to The Sampler, which I pined over for years, and finally snagged, only to be totally disappointed with the knick-knacks I got (to be fair, some of it was cool, but the majority was unusable and disappointing. Just luck of the draw, I guess, because some people have gotten great stuff!)
So, I totally wanted a phat fiber box, but I was wary of dropping $32 only to be disappointed. But then I watched the YouTube teaser video and I was a goner. I had to have one. I counted down the mintues to the "secret" time the boxes would be released and then hit "checkout" as fast as my little laptop touch pad could click. Here's what I got (click photos for more details):
The whole shebang! I was so excited to see a copy of Knit Circus, which I've been wanting. It's got a ton of adorable patterns. I didn't get a close-up, but there's some gorgeous purple fiber from Sneaky Pig Yarns that is one of my favorite items.
Platform Nine
Teresa Levite Studio, Wonders Mohair, and Plum Crazy Ranch.
Spincerely Yours and Goat Goat Sheep (I love that name!)
Vickie's Stitch Markers
There was some other delicious goodies, but those are some highlights. There were also TONS of coupons; I can't wait to do some shopping at my new favorite fibery people. I'm also looking forward to spinning everything up. I'm thinking of spinning them all together (the theme is ocean, so it'll be organized chaos) and knitting them into the Briny Sea Cowl pattern that was included.
Needless to say, it was totally worth more than the $32! Plus the box arrived on my doorstep after a very bad day, and a box of fiber makes everything better.
I'm off to take a knitbreak. Links are exhausting!
So, I totally wanted a phat fiber box, but I was wary of dropping $32 only to be disappointed. But then I watched the YouTube teaser video and I was a goner. I had to have one. I counted down the mintues to the "secret" time the boxes would be released and then hit "checkout" as fast as my little laptop touch pad could click. Here's what I got (click photos for more details):
The whole shebang! I was so excited to see a copy of Knit Circus, which I've been wanting. It's got a ton of adorable patterns. I didn't get a close-up, but there's some gorgeous purple fiber from Sneaky Pig Yarns that is one of my favorite items.
Platform Nine
Teresa Levite Studio, Wonders Mohair, and Plum Crazy Ranch.
Spincerely Yours and Goat Goat Sheep (I love that name!)
Vickie's Stitch Markers
There was some other delicious goodies, but those are some highlights. There were also TONS of coupons; I can't wait to do some shopping at my new favorite fibery people. I'm also looking forward to spinning everything up. I'm thinking of spinning them all together (the theme is ocean, so it'll be organized chaos) and knitting them into the Briny Sea Cowl pattern that was included.
Needless to say, it was totally worth more than the $32! Plus the box arrived on my doorstep after a very bad day, and a box of fiber makes everything better.
I'm off to take a knitbreak. Links are exhausting!
Labels: fiber, links, phatfiber, woolly rambles
¶ 1:18 PM 2 Comments
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Plain Vanillas, Mixed Berries
Like a lot of knitters, I like to keep a pair of plain vanilla socks on the needles in my purse or backpack. I don't drive, so I have plenty of opportunities to knit on bus rides, waiting for the bus, waiting for appointments, and for classes to start (before I graduated, that is). These were my most recent On-the-go socks.
pattern: none, just plain ol' stockinette. Yarn: Knitpicks Felici in Mixed Berries. Needles: US 1 dpns.
This yarn is so soft. If you haven't knit with Knitpicks sock yarn in a long time, I strongly recommend you try it. The base yarn is 10,000 times softer than it used to be. Remember Simple Stripes? It's a sturdy yarn and the socks I knit from it wear like IRON, but it's a little rough. The Felici, and the newer Essential (they're changing the name to Stroll, which I'm not fond of, but I digress) anyway, these are silky soft. Buttery. And they wear well, too. They've pilled a bit more than the Simple Stripes (which haven't pilled at all), but I was them in the washer and toss them in the dryer, and they still look good. No felting. Just cozy, pink striped sock. What more could a girl ask for? ¶ 1:59 PM 1 Comments
Like a lot of knitters, I like to keep a pair of plain vanilla socks on the needles in my purse or backpack. I don't drive, so I have plenty of opportunities to knit on bus rides, waiting for the bus, waiting for appointments, and for classes to start (before I graduated, that is). These were my most recent On-the-go socks.
pattern: none, just plain ol' stockinette. Yarn: Knitpicks Felici in Mixed Berries. Needles: US 1 dpns.
This yarn is so soft. If you haven't knit with Knitpicks sock yarn in a long time, I strongly recommend you try it. The base yarn is 10,000 times softer than it used to be. Remember Simple Stripes? It's a sturdy yarn and the socks I knit from it wear like IRON, but it's a little rough. The Felici, and the newer Essential (they're changing the name to Stroll, which I'm not fond of, but I digress) anyway, these are silky soft. Buttery. And they wear well, too. They've pilled a bit more than the Simple Stripes (which haven't pilled at all), but I was them in the washer and toss them in the dryer, and they still look good. No felting. Just cozy, pink striped sock. What more could a girl ask for? ¶ 1:59 PM 1 Comments
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Oops, I forgot.
In my last post, I forgot to mention the most functional thing I dyed in my dye techniques class. This tank top! It was dyed with procion dyes which are really genius. They're so easy to use and the colors come out really juicy. I used a shibori technique, but I mean, really, it's just tie-dye. I love the tank top, though, and I wear it all the time when I garden.
Speaking, of plant life, I cast on the Climbing Vines Pullover from last winter's Interweave Knits. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm passed the ribbing. ¶ 5:03 PM 0 Comments
In my last post, I forgot to mention the most functional thing I dyed in my dye techniques class. This tank top! It was dyed with procion dyes which are really genius. They're so easy to use and the colors come out really juicy. I used a shibori technique, but I mean, really, it's just tie-dye. I love the tank top, though, and I wear it all the time when I garden.
Speaking, of plant life, I cast on the Climbing Vines Pullover from last winter's Interweave Knits. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm passed the ribbing. ¶ 5:03 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Catching up
I got my wisdom teeth taken out on Friday.
I took today off from work because I'm still in a good amount of pain, so I thought it would be a good time to catch up on some things I've wanted to blog. I have lots of FO's to talk about, but for now I want to talk about my Dye Techniques class I took this past semester. I'm so glad I got the chance to take such an awesome, fun, inspiring class my last semester at HSU.
We learned a lot of different techniques, including a lot of things I definitely plan on doing again. Here's a silk painting I did, one of our first projects:
I can't express how in love I am with Alter Ego Dyes. Can you believe I put this fabric swatch in one vat of purple dye? The silk absorbs one color dye, and the synthetic fiber absorbs the other. The result is beautiful.
Because the fabric's expensive, we only got to dye a swatch, but I'm planning on sewing it into a little pouch. Wouldn't a whole dress dyed like this be gorgeous?
For our final, we dyed swatches of different fabrics in a variety of Rit dyes, so we could have a reference log of sorts.
I met a lot of knitters in the class, and of course we had an acid dyeing demo. I had some white lamb's pride at home, and I whipped up this with Wilton dyes and Kool-Aid.
That's it for now. I'm resting, drinking cocoa and listening to birds chirp after a nice thunderstorm this morning. Finishing up some old UFO's and excited about sharing again on this blog!
We learned a lot of different techniques, including a lot of things I definitely plan on doing again. Here's a silk painting I did, one of our first projects:
I can't express how in love I am with Alter Ego Dyes. Can you believe I put this fabric swatch in one vat of purple dye? The silk absorbs one color dye, and the synthetic fiber absorbs the other. The result is beautiful.
Because the fabric's expensive, we only got to dye a swatch, but I'm planning on sewing it into a little pouch. Wouldn't a whole dress dyed like this be gorgeous?
For our final, we dyed swatches of different fabrics in a variety of Rit dyes, so we could have a reference log of sorts.
I met a lot of knitters in the class, and of course we had an acid dyeing demo. I had some white lamb's pride at home, and I whipped up this with Wilton dyes and Kool-Aid.
That's it for now. I'm resting, drinking cocoa and listening to birds chirp after a nice thunderstorm this morning. Finishing up some old UFO's and excited about sharing again on this blog!
Labels: dye, fabric, school, woolly rambles, yarn
¶ 1:39 PM 0 Comments
Monday, May 18, 2009
Where I Have Been.
I haven't been blogging because I've been dedicating every minute to finishing up my degree in Women's Studies with a concentration in women's expression in art and languages at Humboldt State University. Wooo!
I'm lounging in bed on a Monday at 10 am and it feels wonderful. I can't wait to get back into the swing of documenting my craftiness again. So stay tuned.
I haven't been blogging because I've been dedicating every minute to finishing up my degree in Women's Studies with a concentration in women's expression in art and languages at Humboldt State University. Wooo!
I'm lounging in bed on a Monday at 10 am and it feels wonderful. I can't wait to get back into the swing of documenting my craftiness again. So stay tuned.
Labels: graduation, woolly rambles
¶ 10:06 AM 1 Comments
