striped toasty

these handwarmers were born out of searching for a project for this yarn. what i hate to admit is that i bought the yarn as a gift and then kept it for myself. awful. but i rationalized it in part by the fact that it wasn't a practical gift for someone who really doesn't knit/is a beginning knitter. excuses.

but i really loved this yarn, and mostly love these handwarmers, even though i'm not usually a stripe kind of person. i like even width, narrow stripes, sort of. what i didn't expect was for the lighter gray to look pink. but still ok.

the pattern i used is toasty, with the following modifications (also can be found here):

CO 40 stitches, 2X2 ribbing for 4 rows in dark gray, then striping two rows at a time.
After 32 stripes (not counting ribbing), started thumb hole. For left hand: K2, placed 6 stitches on waste yarn, CO 6 stitches.
Knit 11 more stripes (ending with light gray), then 5 rows in dark gray (so the rolled over edge would be solid).
Thumb: Placed 6 stitches from waste yarn on needle, picked up 8 more stitches, knit 5 stripes, then 4 rows in dark gray (for the solid rolled over edge).

i plan on making a hat with the leftover yarn; something coordinating but not too matchy. thinking of striping this pattern, with the lighter yarn on the knit rows.

a honeymoon gift or two

i spent the past weekend with a group of girls in the beautiful countryside of my home state, virginia (not too familiar with this part of va, though) for my good friend kim, who is getting married at the end of august. it was gorgeous out there... this was our view from the backyard pool:

since i didn't get to attend the bridal shower, i thought i would make a honeymoon gift for her, using this "dopp kit" pattern as a basis... and uh, adjusting the pattern after numerous calculations and mistakes because i bought the wrong size zipper. sounds about right.

i packed the bag with some bubble bath, cute unmentionables, and a little vial to save sand from the beach. i liked how the bag turned out and will probably make one for myself. this was the first time i covered seams with bias tape, and i like the results, but the corners were difficult, and don't look very lovely. fortunately, they are on the inside.

little did i know, i would be creating another honeymoon gift, one for which i actually won a prize! the bridal party held a "project runway" challenge in which we chose a simple item of clothing (my name was accidentally not put into the hat, so, picking last, i got a pair of light tan boy short underwear). we were given various craft supplies and tasked with making a winning item to be "featured" at the honeymoon. pictured below is my winning design... look out heidi.

oh, and um, this is the back, not the front. the front i left untouched. don't want to overdesign, per tim.

i'm thinking i should try out for the real deal, whatdya think?

p.s. thanks jenn, for being my third reader! maybe now i can stop counting myself! i'm a reader of yours too and love the colors in your latest painting! and what a beautiful post today too.

inspiration - tie dye

i really do not make good use of this blog. for my own purposes i mean, since i'm the one of the only two who reads it (thanks mom!). i bookmark and track ideas i like and inspiration, and while i'm not on the internet as intensely as some of the good bloggers, i could be using this space to lay out ideas and inspiration.

i'm going to blame a little bit on blogspot and my ineptness (?) at finding a likeable layout.

i've been intrigued by the rebirth of tie-dye in a modern way. some of the bloggers i follow have taken a class in nyc that i would love to take. while i don't love it all, some of it i think is great, and the seashells above that i found in newport last weekend have a design i'd love to recreate with tie dye, with navy and cream or black and cream.

tank top dyed by Jen from the haystack needle

scarf dyed by Jenny from wikstenmade. so excited that i just purchased this pattern from wiksten that i can't wait to use! (it's the only wiksten item i can afford and another class i wish i could take).

a post of finished handwarmers should have been up here a week ago, but another task i'm working on is taking better pictures (something else i should use the blog for in terms of inspiration). made harder by trying to take pictures of my hands myself.

soon enough.

my first garden

this is kind of another "finally" post - because i'm finally posting about the garden. this is the first time i have ever gardened before and i'm kind of nutty about it. every time we don't have to buy something at the grocery store because we're growing it in the garden is so exciting. and now it seems like each time i make a trip to the garden i'm coming back with more. this week the green beans surprised me and i came home with a handful of long, stringy beans with the usual lettuce and peas - and a jalapeno and a few stumpy carrots. the picture above is from a couple weeks ago, including the cherry tomato "tree" in the driveway (it's huge) and some wildflowers from the garden.

this picture below is about two months old - a lot of these plants are about three times as large. i'll have to "finally" post a more recent picture of the jungle.

i wished i had been taking notes all along so that i could reference it next year, and then i realized i can use my blog to take those notes just like i do for my other projects.

what's worked:

• peas - all of a sudden these exploded a few weeks ago and we've cooked whole pods in pasta, blanched shelled peas, eaten raw pods (with peas in them and without). next year i'd like to plant them a little earlier; i think they're dying now because they're drying out and i wonder if we could have gotten more out of them if they peaked with more time before it got so hot.



• lettuce - wow. we overplanted but we've had lettuce for weeks and weeks. i spent the first couple months thinning them every time i went, but once the leaves were a couple inches long, thinning them resulted in salad every time. i would maybe not plant quite so many seeds, but i would overplant again.


• green beans - so far so good. we planted bush beans and i had no idea that when i pulled back the leaves they would be crawling with beans. they're a little pale, but they taste good.

better luck next time:

• spinach - we got a tiny yield and then it bolted, i think because they were planted too closely. it is a tiny garden.


• carrots - they taste great but aren't getting much longer than three inches, i think because they were too crowded and the soil is too rocky. we'll see if the ones still in the ground make more progress.

the verdict is still out for the corn, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. up next for fall: brussels sprouts, potatoes, kale, and zucchini. for starters.

another finally

a lot of "finally done" projects around here lately... i'm full of excuses. but i finally finished these slippers from ithinksew.com on etsy. {wow, i never went on the website until now - i am going to be purchasing more patterns here!}

anyways, here is my final product:

these feel sooo nice.... the fabric was a little tough to work with, but worth it. i realize the sole is not very attractive, but more functional than satin.

i bought this pattern over a year ago and had trouble understanding, so put the project in an 11-month time out. with a little more experience under my belt, i picked it up again and worked through it. then, i melted the second slipper. finishing the second of a pair is always hard for me (handwarmers to be posted one day), harder when i am almost done and ruined the slipper and the iron.

regardless, i wore the left one for a couple days because they feel so nice. kind of like when i was 5 and had one pierced ear for 6 months because it hurt so bad i wouldn't let them pierce the other one.

so they're finally done and they may have been a record for the longest project so far...

kaari... finally.

this one has been a long time coming. i put it down for months because of wrist pain. that i think was caused by my overly-tense knitting of the sleeves. i rested them, chilled out a little with the tension and went down a needle size for the neck and pockets, and my wrists are doing ok...

this is my favorite of the sweaters i've knit so far!

modifications:

• knitted in the round because i like to do as little seaming as possible
• because the swatch did not come out to the gauge it suggested on the tag, i knitted this a size up from what i would otherwise knit, with the plan for it to come out in between a 32 and 36
• i added two inches to the body after the decreases (starting the armhole decreases after 18” of length) since i am tall and everything’s always too short
• i forget the number of stitches i cast on for the pockets, but it was more because my gauge was smaller

notes:

• knit the sleeves on dpn’s. no modifications
• one of the side pockets sags slightly more than the others, driving me crazy.
• the yarn is just ok - soft, but quickly seems to have a peach fuzz quality

alright. the next project should hopefully not be a replica of EXACTLY the same color/yarn that everyone else is knitting (as a lot of my projects seem to be). i would like to be a little more creative with what yarns i combine with what patterns. and i love this next yarn.

another stash of goods

the latest installment of yard sale goods from memorial day sales:



painted white wooden corner shelf, one of those serving dishes for chutnies at indian restaurants, a mesh wire hanging basket, a few yards of vintage fabric.

the shelf is up in the living room, and the basket in the bathroom with soaps and towels. the birds resting on it were attached to a desk lamp i also bought (other less exciting yard sale buys included a pillow insert, a nationals hat, and some stuff for work). i would love to make a dress with the black-and-white print.