| surprises |
monday 08.02.2004 |
 |
i'm at an coffee shop, wirelessly hooked up to the internet for $4. my car is parked at a 90 minutes curb.
i had a whirlwind of a weekend, mostly hosting g who visited me from sb. saturday i dragged her to a mini knit bloggers convention at the ferry building. it was the first time i had lunch food that's sold by the pound. i took zero pictures.
thanks to everyone who has commented on my previous post. deciding to publicize the ill experience was not easy for me. so, i very much appreciate your sympathy. hopefully i won't ever have another yarn store episode to write about.
i have a million errands today. i'm actually happy to be running around because it's a beautiful sunny day out. i'm hoping to knit lots later today.
have a great monday!
...
cindy, the email address you left along with your comment on the beanie is invalid. my email response was bounced.
|
|
|
| back in the 805 |
saturday 08.07.2004 |
|
i finally got this url right.
chauntel, the fiery half of the chauntel tracy duo, has a blog, yo!
this past monday i pulled a surprise visit on the java station group. i got to see laura, joanna, mary, ecm, chauntel, and tracy. i was bummed that rachel and melissa didn't make it. but it was my lucky night; i got to meet carolyn.
you can't imagine how happy i was to learn that carolyn owns the entire collection of elizabeth zimmermann's wool gathering series! when she generously agreed to lend them to me, i just about died and gone to heaven!
tuesday i met chauntel, tracy, laura, and ecm at in stitches before we went to lunch. i wish i could have stayed longer. tuesday night ecm let me join her knit group in ucsb. maura the mad knitter looked pretty good and surprised when i came wandering up to her along side ecm. the group consisted of us three, roxanne, and monica. we were briefly joined by the good looking people shown in maura's photo album.
i had a terrific time at both knit groups, gabbing way more than knitting. it was great to see everyone again. genuine folk.
i tried to get ecm to go to village spinning+weaving with me on thursday but she couldn't. good thing she was busy. i could have gotten her into a lot of trouble.
 vsw in sovang
i showed up right when the shop opened so i got all the attention. i learned about various sheep breeds and their wool fibers. i got a one on one lesson on drop spindles and how to use one. i even got mini demonstrations on carding and combing wool. great people!
|
|
|
| beanie template |
sunday 08.08.2004 |
|
this post addresses cindy's comment in which she asked about a beanie i made:
"Do you use a pattern? I also like to make beanies [...] can you pass
on some tips?"
unfortunately, no, i don't use a pattern. i have knitted many a beanie and they didn't always turn out to my liking. in the beginning it was all trial and error. i used to knit them flat and, if you can believe this, sewed them up! they were always too big or too small. i must have knitted and ripped seventeen beanies before i got one right.
as for tips, i have these:
1. fit preference: i like them snug. my head is 22.5 inches in circumference. a noggin, i know. an oddly shaped one at that. anyway, i find that the beanies that fit me best measure about 19 inches around unstretched. length wise i prefer my beanies to be just long enough to cover my ears. no specific numbers. i just pull the beanie in progress over my head and check the length as i knit along. easy.
2. knitting gauge: i've knitted enough beanies to know this about my own gauge for very snuggly fit beanies:
a. for us7 needles, cast on 90 stitches.
b. for us8 needles, cast on 85 stitches.
c. for us9 needles, cast on 80 stitches.
seems like all i ever use is worsted weight yarn so those numbers always work for me, particularly for plain stitches like stockinette. for fancy stitches, i add/subtract a few stitches from the cast on template to accommodate pattern repeats. when i knit a beanie with a cable pattern, i cast on another extra five to ten stitches to account for the unstretchy nature of the cables.
3. decreasing for crown: i love the tailored look of the four double decreases every second round, similar to that of a raglan sweater.
unfortunately, this method doesn't look good with ribbing and cable patterns. for those i still employ the eight stitch decrease every second row except i spread them evenly around instead of at four points. i fudge it a little depending on the number of pattern repeats. for instance, if i had nine cable repeats, i'd decrease one stitch from each cable on the decrease round. in other words, i'd decrease nine stitches instead of eight.
4. stitch patterns+designs: i shamelessly copy the ones i like seeing in stores and on people's heads. the nicest ones are always the simplest ones. always.
5. notes:
a. despite believing that beanies are better knitted top down, i almost
always knit them bottom up.
b. when using ribs or cables, aim for a pattern repeat of seven, eight,
or nine, making it easy to adhere to the (around) eight-stitch-every-
other-round decrease principle.
c. unless it's a real clever design, avoid knitting a beanie flat at all costs!
i always have a beanie or two on the needles and about nine on the brain. i find them very satisfying to knit, not to mention portability and "giftability." i hope my notes are helpful. if you have more questions yet, please feel free to ask me.
how about you? what are your tips on knitting beanies? got pictures? don't forget to share!
|
|
|
| fantastic plastic |
wednesday 08.18.2004 |
|
i think by now you can guess that i have not been knitting. all i do on this blog is hit next to see if i'm still in the knit bloggers' ring. small miracle that schmeebot isn't cut off already.
truth is: i am knitting. i just started another beanie yesterday using the alpaca yarn that my father in law gave me for my birthday. yeah, he gave me a two pound cone of yarn. it would have been the best present ever if it wasn't...
 bright peacock blue!
will i ever show you all the beanies i keep blogging about? yes.
but not today. i have some other neat things to show you.
 boutique shop in mill valley
 barbies were harmed in the making of this garment
this next one was taken some saturdays ago during farmer's market a few hours before i attended the mini knit bloggers convention at the ferry building.
 seafood is so much more attractive when barbie is sitting on it (note farmer lady's cute knitted beanie)
this last one was taken in bolinas. his clothes are probably decorating some guy's fashion jeans as we speak.
 muscle beach
|
|
|
| hot pink |
saturday 08.28.2004 |
|
i rushed to blog this quick entry on saturday and then promptly forgot to mark it public. bah!
. . .
know what else i don't like about the blue alpaca yarn? it's not color fast! the blue gave my bamboo clover* circular needles a nice tint and made my hands look like they're bruised from knitting!
* bought in desperation. i prefer crystal palace to clover.
leaving for big sur in 15. must. blog. fast.
jg's brother works at a board sport shop where i discovered all the knitted beanies i showed you weeks ago. the beezer just got promoted to manager of the san rafael branch and this is the perk i got:
 100% acrylic earflap beanie
 side
 back
 bastardization
how many problems do you see?
off i go.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
