January One -- BDFS
April 28, 2006
Here's a fork
so you can eat your heart out because goddammit if I don't feel pretty!
Diamond Fantasy Shawl
Pattern by Sivia Harding
Yarn by Sundara - Superwash Merino Sportweight, custom over-dyed - BLACK
Beads by ? - made in Japan, glass, size 6/0. I used a 11/12 crochet hook from Susan Bates to add the beads - I did not string them before hand. (Be careful - that sucker is pointy!)
Needles by Addi Turbo, US size 6 (4.0mm)
Dress by Donna Ricco New York
Shoes by Chinese Laundry
Body by Ben, Jerry, and the fine people at Tastykake.
I cannot say enough about the pattern, the yarn, or the photographer! Sivia's pattern is a dream to knit. This is my second time through and it's well written, clearly charted - easy enough for a beginner, but challenging enough to keep you going and the results are phenomenol! Sundara was GREAT to work with - I emailed her and told her my vision for the shawl - how big I wanted it to be, how I wanted it to look, the way the beads would work with it and she helped me decide on a yarn and the color (I knew in the black family, but how dark, etc. I left up to her.) The yarn, while stiff and a little scratchy while I was knitting it up (which actually helped me in the knitting) softened up AMAZINGLY after a Lavendar Eucalan bath and it blocked gorgeously. I would not hesitate to buy yarn from her again - no matter what the project.
And Jen the photographer! What can I say about my friend Jen? Jen was a super sport - not only did she take amazing pictures that I actually feel good looking at, she told me I was HOT. She liked my hair, she liked my dress, she liked my shoes, she told me I didn't need to wear panty hose - that girl really knows how to boost your self esteem. She fed me pizza and root beer. She didn't get pissed or flustered when I yelled out photography directions (sorry about that.) And she's got just about the cutest kid ever.
Thanks Jen & Xavi!!! L, C
PS - Shot on location in Jersey City, New Jersey!
Posted by Cara at 07:44 PM | Comments (115)
April 26, 2006
To say I'm happy would be the understatement of the fucking year!
I have no clue as to how I'm going to properly photograph it. It's magnificent. If I thought it wouldn't detract too much from the shawl, I'd go to the wedding wearing nothing but this beauty. The beads are cool against my arm and gently remind me of their presence. The yarn is soft. It's (amazingly) light. It's perfect.
Anticipation
as a form of procrastination.
Posted by Cara at 05:31 PM | Comments (69)
Let's get ra-andom, ra-andom. I wanna get ra-andom. Let's get into ra-andom!*
I had two chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. Because, you know, I have a wedding in two days.
Yesterday was LOADS of fun. Lorette is everything and more than her blog promises. Although she was a bit quiet so I hope my big mouthed enthusiasm wasn't too overwhelming. Really. I'm a good listener! Wanna know how enthusiastic I was? Welp, at School Products I pulled out the shawl to show Lorette. At Purl Patchwork I pulled out the shawl to show Kay and Lorette and poor Joelle. Kay had to talk me down from all the glorious fiber. I chose SPINNING as the OTHER hobby. NONONONONONO to sewing and quilting! JUST SAY NO! And then later on I showed Jen and Lorette the shawl at Seaport, where we got to take a survey about vitamin water and got $10 bucks off! I told Lorette is was a business disguised as a yarn shop. It was fabulous to meet Lorette! Great to see Jen! THE BEST to play with Xavi! And, as usual, too cool for school to hang with my world traveler and renowned author friend Kay. (Although I know now that I will have to fight her if there's a baby in the room!)
Speaking of the Mason-Dixon girls, MAN have I drunk up the Kool-Aid!
I told Kay I bought the Gee's Bend book and she was all like what made you buy it? Where did you hear about it? Um. Kay honey. I read your book. DUH! And that there on top of the book is some rilly fine Euroflax linen for handtowels. The handtowels in my guest bathroom are looking kind of ratty so I thought I'd spiff up the place. I'm a goner as you can plainly see.
I've decided if you come to New York there are three yarns stores that are MUST visits. There are a gazillion yarn stores all over the city (well, not a gazillion, but if you look at it statistically by how many actual knitters there are in this city of 8 million or so people, then there are quite a few.) I've actually been kind of down on the yarn store lately - feeling like if you've been in one you've been in them all and since I don't really have a knitting community (besides, you know, you all) I don't have any particular allegience to any particular shop. There are, though, quite a few I actually can't stand, but that's another random Wednesday. Anyway, I'm basing this observation on many, many yarn store visits around and about Manhattan. First off, you've got to hit Habu. It's just so out there - the yarns and the shop - that you won't find anything like it anywhere. It's quite the experience. (And while you're at Habu, you might as well stop at School Products, because, well, it's around the corner.)
The next shop I think you should not miss is Purl. Just for the sheer beauty of it. It's incredibly tiny and more than five people you're like looking for an exit but the walls are covered in color. Gorgeous, rich color. The prices are eh and the yarns are all yarns you've seen before, but it's the environment you need to soak up. (The Point is a few blocks away and I know lots of people hang out and knit there. It's okay - I'm not enamored with the layout - yarn in baskets on the walls - but I do like the big table in the middle perfect for a nice big knitting party.)
The final shop I think anyone MUST see in New York is Seaport. By now you probably now the story behind the store - it's an actual office with actual office workers working amidst piles and piles and rooms and rooms of yarn. Andrea, the owner, has hands down the best variety of yarn and excellent prices and the fact that they only take cash is a nuisance overcome by the ATM machine in the Duane Reade across the street. She also has the best book and pattern selection anywhere. Seaport is messy and overwhelming and site to behold. A must stop.
I know there are many other stores around the city - including a new one - Knitty City. This might get an add on to the list because it had the best atmosphere - warm and inviting. Sadly you don't get that very often in stores around the city unless you're part of the "in" crowd. I'm not "in" anywhere. (That's why I have a blog so I can pretend I'm in somewhere!) At Knitty City it felt like you were in if you were a knitter - or aspired to be one. Those were the only requirements. And it's a beautiful store - I just wish it wasn't quite so uptown!
Wanna come for a visit?
Yesterday was a much needed day of adult (and baby) interaction. I've been home alone A LOT lately - G's been working working working - and while The Donner Party is fun and all to hang with - real people who don't dine on each other can be a special treat as well. When I got home last night I was so excited and exhausted and exhilirated I set out to BLOCK MY SHAWL RIGHT NOW! So I prepared the guest room/den (pulled up the futon and dumped the clean clothes on my bed) so I could lay out the damn thing on the floor. I got a nice tepid temperature running in the sink and submerged the shawl into a relaxing lavendar bath. And IMMEDIATELY realized I had forgotten to weave in the ends. Duh! (Although the Zen master tells me she does this all the time - weave in the ends after the blocking. Made me feel so much better. As opposed to the HEN master who laughed at me.) I persevered though, on my hands and knees, and blocked the fucker home!
This mofo is BIG!
Unpinned, ends woven in pictures later. Gotta have something for tomorrow and hopefully the red dress will come today and it will be fantabulous on my chocolate chip cookie enhanced body and all will be good. I'm not real worried though because I tried on the dress I wore to my San Simeon adventure and it fits. Worse comes to worst, I can wear that, with my shawl draped over my head so I can look like an old Italian widow. So hot!
Dear Comment Spammer: I'm a little bit worried about you. I know you're trying to convince me that certain parts of the body, which I may or may not have, would do well with a little enhancement, but maybe this isn't the best way to go about it:
Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.OR
I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
DUDE! Way to bring the party down! MamaCate, Colleen and I have a suggestion though - it may just help this nihilistic streak you've got going.
When the world seems dark and cold, there's no meaning left in the sun and stars and the flowers, you're alone with your empty carton of milk and your double thick oreos, I have a suggestion. KNIT SOCKS!
Just keep on casting on my friend. Too many are never enough!
* My homage to my High Energy Friend! GO SEND HER THE BEST VIBES! Love you COMPADRE!
Posted by Cara at 01:50 PM | Comments (31)
April 25, 2006
Uncle
I didn't do the next repeat. Here's a really, really awful picture of the unblocked Beaded Diamond Fantasy Shawl:
Click on the picture - it definitely looks better bigger. Anyway, I'm SO glad I decided not to go on - first off - this thing is 56" unblocked - hell - it's not even stretched out at all. And it's heavy - between the beads and the yarn another repeat might have sent it over the edge. I added beads below the bind off edge - where the middle of the diamond would've been had I done the next repeat, but right now the edge is folding over on it and you can't see it. And that edge! MY GOD! I can not sing the praises of the I-cord bindoff enough. It's GORGEOUS! But it also took me like five hours to do. Granted I took breaks every now and again, but still. See that red thread running through? That's some left over STR that I'm using to do Stephanie's blocking trick for straight edges. She threads in a piece of waste yarn much bigger than the biggest size you might want to block the piece and then pulls tight. I forgot with the last shawl but I was smart this time. Here's hoping it works better than pins across the straight edge.
So today I'm off for some knitblogger play. Lorette is in town! YAY! and we're going to go yarn shopping and a couple of friends might join us. The more the merrier!
Obervation: Last night I was laying in bed - Georgie came home late - and I had just finished watching this super scary PBS show on The Donner Party. The pictures of these people? The true definition of haunted. They labeled the freaking body parts so people didn't have to eat their own kin. WOW. Oh and by the way - is there anything that Ric Burns HASN'T made a documentary about? I digress. G and I were laying in bed flipping around the tv and he landed on Jay Leno. Robin Williams was the guest. As we were laying there laughing, I had that feeling I sometimes get - I am a grown-up. Nothing says grown-up to me like late night talk shows. It brings me back to my childhood - when my parents would watch Johnny Carson and I would wake up and wander into their room - they were laughing at things I didn't understand. It was a grown-up thing. Weird huh. I'm the grown-up (sort of) now. Sometimes it feels really good. It's nice to get the jokes.
Posted by Cara at 09:43 AM | Comments (23)
April 24, 2006
You can never be too rich or too thin
or have too many diamonds. Or can you? I'd take a picture of the BDFS but it's black and outside is gray. Very very gray. Which means even when I turn on all the lights in my house it's still very dark. How is it that when it's dark at 9AM it seems so much darker in the house than when it's 9PM? I don't understand, but it's true.
Anyway, back to the shawl. All I did the entire weekend was knit this shawl. Really. I kid you not. Starting from Friday night (G had a work thing) all the way until about midnight this morning I knit this shawl. That's a lot of black knitting on a pattern I practically memorized nine repeats ago. (I do still need to consult the chart at the beginning of each row.) And while it's still a great pattern, it's lace and that means I have to pay at least a little attention. Did I mention it's black and that every eight or so rows I have to add beads which is becoming more and more tedious as the shawl goes on? At least I had good tv to keep me entertained. The King and I Friday night. West Side Story immediately followed up by Fiddler on the Roof on Saturday. Sunday I woke up and knit during the news shows and then took a small break for a visit with my in-laws for Easter. Excellent lamb by the way. Then it was home to watch Mean Girls (Heathers is just SO much better) and the Sunday night shows. May I digress for a minute? I may be a true romantic cornball at heart but OH MY GOD I'm loving the way The West Wing is ending the series. I know this makes me a nerd of gargantuan proportions but I *heart* Josh. I'm like a broken record but Donna and Josh are SO perfect together and last week when CJ got that big smile on her face because she's doing it with Elliot from thirtysomething? How cute was our very own Claudia Jean? This is the way a series should end! Hook everyone up! Make everyone happy!
Back to the shawl. Here's the sitch: ostensibly, I'm done. I've got like three rows left (yes that will probably take me three hours) but once I get to the end of the current repeat I've done my ten repeats. Which gives me 21 diamonds across the top. When I count the diamonds across the top of my previously finished DFS, I get 23 diamonds. I guess I did an extra repeat. Call me overzealous. Now I don't know what to do - should I do the extra repeat on THIS shawl? Or just leave it? I hate that I can't tell how big it's really going to be, but it's going to be pretty big given that I knit it with sportweight wool and I think it's going to look really nice REALLY blocked because then they'll be all the pretty empty space between the diamonds and the beads but I feel like if I don't do the extra repeat I'll know I didn't do the extra repeat and that will niggle at me. Or will it? Because honestly I'm SICK of this thing and I don't even want to go to the wedding because I'm REALLY fat and I ordered a perfect dress yesterday from Nordstrom's but even though I ordered a fat size (for me) I bet you it will be too small and then I'll be really upset even though I know this particular designer probably cuts her stuff really really tiny. I've got the yarn - that's not an issue - but I know I'm going to have to break into the last skein, which in and of itself isn't a big deal except that I've been having a lot of trouble winding up this yarn and currently that last skein is in a knotty heap on the floor in the living room. It'll probably take me a whole day to untangle the mess. Which isn't the best reason NOT to continue on, but I don't know for a fact that I'll have enough yarn in the skank I currently have working to finish the next repeat. Sigh. What would you do?
Thank you all so much for your comments on my handwriting post! It touches me that I was able to touch all of you. This ABC thing continues to inspire me - I'm so grateful to Anne for the brilliant idea! Thank you Anne!
PS : A friend just sent me a link to this very excellent (obviously European) commercial. Gotta love those Europeans!
Posted by Cara at 09:28 AM | Comments (37)
April 17, 2006
It's just a fantasy whoa-o-o-o
Sometimes a fantasy
Is all you need
Georgie and I had LOTS of juicy, passionate discussions this weekend and one of them was about the merits of Billy Joel's songbook. We both agreed that Glass Houses ranks up there as one of the all time best. All For Leyna puts it over 52nd Street by a knockout.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not throwing over one B Rock Boy for another. Billy isn't fit to tie Bruce's shoes, in my estimation, but he does have some really, really good songs. Really good. ( I mean, really, Captain Jack was one of the reasons I wanted to live in New York. Who didn't want to get high in the Village?) We heard Sometimes A Fantasy on our way home the other night and cranked it loud. I love singing along with my G-Love! LOVE IT!
Anyway, we had a great weekend! Guess what I did? NOTHING! Well, nothing if nothing includes a ton of knitting and laying around in my bed and watching like ten hours of Another World. Frankie and Cass are engaged (my fave pairing) and the Sharlene/Sharlee multiple personality thing is about to hit the fan, although I much prefer the later, eviler Grant Harrison than the doofus playing him now. Josie's fake stalker might be real. Rachel and Ken Jordan are about to do the nasty, only he's working with Paulina and we all now what's coming there. (I prefer the later Paulina as well. Who's on Days (again) right now.) The whole Suspicion thing going on with the Amanda/Sam/Evan triangle is a yawn and I never, ever liked shrill Amanda to begin with and Sam's almost as annoying as Evan, but send me over some Hudson love and I'm happy. I've always loved Donna. And Jake. And Michael and Vicki and Marley. I'm looking forward to Ann Heche being replaced by Jensen Buchanan but I have to give her props. She sure can bring it.
After finishing up the taxes on Saturday morning (just some last minute checks - they were really done before I left) and a trip to the post office (did you know it was like $50 to E-FILE?! How ridiculous is that?) we did a drive through of Branch Brook Park to see the amazing Cherry Blossoms. We thought we might sit outside for awhile since it was like 80 degrees on Saturday, but the park was CRAZY. The trees were beautiful though. No pictures. I don't like to take pictures unless I can get really, really close. Or someone's paying me. ;-)
There were lots and lots of religion discussions too. Fitting given the Passover/Easter weekend. We watched a few minutes of The Ten Commandments and had a lively discussion of Cecil B. DeMille's Passover meal. The kid asks why they're eating bitter herbs and Chuck Heston says so we can remember the bad times. Um. WE eat bitter herbs so we can remember THEIR bad times. This is ostensibly the FIRST Passover. The seder didn't come until the NEXT year. We talked about the history of the whole thing - what year did this happen, that happen, when did this one die, that one, who fought against who. G gets really into it and peppers me with questions. He thinks just because I studied all this stuff in college I should know it all. As the weekend moved closer to Easter we got into it about Christianity - and when I say Christianity I'm talking 70 A.D. and such. I watched a fascinating show on the Gospel of Judas. Fascinating! I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but oh my god. It's amazing how much MAN'S decisions influenced what was supposedly DIVINE. Did you know that originally there were over 30 gospels out there? Guess who chose the four that got in the good book? Yeah. A guy. (Before you go telling me it was divinely inspired and all that let me tell you that when it comes to ancient texts, I am an academic all the way. If you'd like to read that as skeptic, be my guest. I don't doubt the existence of many of these people and events, but there are academic criteria that must be met before we can say it DEFINITELY happened. My Jesuit Professor taught me that in one of my favorite classes in college - Jesus and His Times.) Anyway, lively debate all around! We love that.
The rest of the weekend I knit. It was heaven!
I started the second sockapaloooza sock and I'm already on the gusset. I will have this baby finished in no time! Deadlines Schmedlines! Still loving the yarn and the pattern and I can only hope my pal will too.
Most of the time though I knit on my Beaded Diamond Fantasy Shawl.
I'm already up to repeat 7. I have a little system going. I like to finish a repeat then start the first row (where you add the extra sections) of the next repeat and leave it on a purl row. This way I know where I am and I can just knit - I've already done the next bead row - which is getting slower and more tedious the longer I make this thing - and I don't have to worry about beads again until the second section of the chart.
I still love it and everytime G looks at it he tells me how classy it is. I hope it fulfills its purpose of camouflaging how fat I have become (again!) and making me feel fabulous because I'm afraid the dress and the body won't be helping at all. Anyway, that's my problem. I have a plan. And the plan is to knit a FABULOUS shawl that takes all the attention away from how gross I look. ( It's how I feel. You've all been there I'm sure.)
The only teensy tiny regret I might have is the yarn. Sundara did a fabulous job dyeing it for me and it's perfect, but a little bit scratchy. She told me that would go away with washing (it's from the overdye) but I'm thinking I should've gone with some kind of silk blend for utter luxury. I know it will block out fabulous though, so I think this regret is only from knitting a TON on it this weekend (four repeats?) and that I'm a bit bored of it. Still and all a FANTASTIC pattern and I'm loving the beads.
I'm way behind on the ABC A-Long but not for lack of trying. I had a G all lined up and I took a bunch of pictures this weekend and I hate them all. I hated them while I was taking them and I hated them when I looked at them and that G won't be working. So I'm moving on to another G and I hope to have it up soon. You can't put a calendar on inspiration. I'm trying. I will hopefully get back on track soon, although H and I aren't really helping either. Damn alphabet. One thing that has been working is my knitty imagination!!!! I've got some HUGE plans. HUGE. I'm very, very excited.
Posted by Cara at 10:31 AM | Comments (29)
March 20, 2006
Where Diamonds are STILL a Girl's Best Friend
First, let's get Short Rows news out of the way.
I joined three of the four raglan shoulder areas, as the pattern instructed, and now I'm at an impasse. The pattern says when knitting the collar to continue the stripe sequence for the front and back and the main color for the area over the sleeves. You know, because knitting a million short rows isn't enough. When you're so close to the end you need to add intarsia to the mix. Striped intarsia. Where the colors change every freaking row. Margene has told me a few times that I'm crazy and I should just knit the collar in the main color as a nice contrast but I was all like I've come this far I'm going to do the insane intarsia collar and guess what? I'm completely confused. The pattern says continue in the stripe sequence. Well, the stripe sequence for the back and the front is different. The back comes up higher than the front, duh, and while the teeny tiny tips at the raglan shaping on the front may match up with the back, the mini scoop doesn't. So if I follow in the stripe sequence it's all going to be off anyway. I'm thinking a solid collar is the way to go and then I don't have to really think about it. (Ann had a brilliant suggestion - that I photoshop a solid collar onto the picture from the magazine. I was going to post it but the picture I have on my site is somehow corrupted and I can't find another picture on the web and I can't find the magazine either. Maybe tomorrow.) And the pattern also has you knitting in stockinette then switching to garter stitch then folding down the collar for a hem and the ends of the sleeves and bottom of the body are all in seed stitch. Should I knit the end of the collar in seed stitch to match? Since I'm doing it all in one color? It's all kind of mute at this point because I don't have a circular needle to work. I have to look because I should have one - I mean I have 5 different size 7 addi circulars in like 3 different lengths, it seems kind of ridiculous that I only have one 6. Oh and I pseudo tried it on. I think it will be fine - if anything it will be a bit short, but hopefully not. I'm not thinking about it anymore so as not to torture myself. That's that - MOVING ON!
Black Diamond
I am so freaking EXCITED about this project!!! It's going to be really, really hard to photograph, but I hope you can get a sense of it. You may remember that last summer I made the Diamond Fantasy Shawl from Sivia Harding. Possibly the most beautiful item I've ever knit, it sits on my couch, all laid out, in a place of honor. I just like to look at the perfect diamonds and crisp border points and well, I love it. I really do. Anyway, as soon as I finished it I was thinking about the NEXT one I would knit because it's such an amazing pattern NOT to knit it again would be a sin and the idea I had was for a very elegant black shawl with beads at the center of each diamond! Completely and utterly impractical but oh my god it would be gorgeous! It was in the back of my mind all the time, and finally! An excuse to make it!
G and I were invited to a wedding at the end of April - it's an old friend and one of those situations where even if I looked like Halle Berry I'd still feel a little bit ugly and self-conscious and fat. You know what I mean? So I'm thinking if I'm wrapped in handknit luxury I will feel a little bit better. And c'mon - who else there will have a fabulous handknit shawl? I'm thinking I'll wear it with a simple little black dress - or even if I decide to go with a color - it will look fabulous.
The yarn is from Sundara and man is she a pleasure to work with! I sent her an email telling her about my project and what I wanted it to be and she gave me suggestions on color and yarn. This is her sport weight superwash merino dyed in an ULTRA black. Like blackblackblack. For that superfantastic black feel. I give Sundara three thumbs up for service and product and expecially her enthusiasm for MY project. She's a great cheerleader. Kay helped me pick out my beads last week. All together they seem like a nice gunmetal color that would compliment the black, without being too bright against it. Perfect! Ends up the beads are actually transluscent and when I stopped into another bead store looking to see if I could find anything else, the guy there told me that my beads are actually glass - not seed beads like I thought. In retrospect, it may be the shape that makes them not seed beads, not the glass.) I think they are the bomb!
I'm putting a bead at the second stitch in from the end on the row before you bind off for the points on the border, and I'm putting one on the stitch you slip in the s1-k2tog-psso sequence that lands you square in the middle of the diamond. The beads end up being a bit off the right of center, but they're all in the same place and when it's all blocked out and gorgeous all you'll see is beauty, not wonkiness. I'm already three repeats in - I absolutely ADORE this pattern. I would encourage everyone and anyone to make it - it's not that difficult at all - and use stitch markers! They make things a lot easier!
Oh yeah and I got a package from the girls at Blue Moon. Click on the extended entry if you want a peak. ;-)
My first sock club package! Yarn in the new Rainforest Jasper colorway, my binder (with all kinds of goodies inside), my pattern (Cedar Creek Socks), my emergency sock yarn key ring, my bumper sticker, my pin - it's a SOCKS THAT ROCK EXTRAVAGANZA! I'm so proud of Tina and Kaci and the whole crew over at Blue Moon. They've been working night and day to get out the first installment of the sock club and I think they did a stellar job! ROCK ON!
This may seem obvious, but my favorite part of the sock club is definitely going to be the yarn. But not necessarily in the way you think. What I'm looking forward to is ~GASP~ having no control over what I get. It keeps me from buying the same colors over and over again and I know no matter what they send I will at the least be intrigued. Tina is a color genius and she hasn't let me down yet - even with some yarns I was kind of iffy about. I can't wait for the next installment! Thanks girls!
Posted by Cara at 01:21 PM | Comments (51)