Kozmos: Want.
Purl just came out with Kozmos from Alchemy Yarns. It's a worsted weight mix of silk, mohair, wool and cotton, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to work with it, but it's expensive and I don't have room for it. So I promised myself this: If I finish 5 UFOs before Easter, I'll buy a hank or two of Kozmos and make a small project (read: scarf :P). Time to get to work!
- posted by tach @ 23:39 0 comments

 
Trendsetter Cha Cha: I am intrigued.


Interesting. Only thing I'm not sure about is how you weave in the ends (maybe you just attach it by sewing it on?), but this looks like the kind of thing that would be good as trim. I wouldn't mind knitting an all-ruffle scarf, but the finished product might be a little over the top. Now, I won't actually be buying it anytime soon. I haven't bought yarn in ages. I am trying to get back into knitting, though. I've been doing it so rarely these days since work leaves me drained to the point where I've left a lot of things undone...like house chores. I'm working on that this weekend. But I digress. I'm starting to get into audiobooks, which seem like the perfect accompaniment to knitting. Sometimes I can do it while watching TV, too, but it depends on what's on. If it's a fast-paced sport (i.e. hockey) or some other program that needs my attention, I can't do it. Baseball is perfect, though...and when does that start up again, in a month or two? Anyway, I'll start by finishing off a bunch of half-done scarves and we'll go from there. One of these days I'll get around to designing toys since that is something I eventually want to do on a regular basis.
- posted by tach @ 15:10 0 comments

 
the lazy crafter
The title of this post was the name of purl's last newsletter, and I thought it would be fitting to use here. :P I did indeed make that clapotis last June like I said I would, only needing three of those hanks like I figured. I have yet to do anything with the other hank. I made another clapotis last July using two hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Liberty, which I actually wore last night--Independence Day is usually on the cool side around these parts, and this year was no exception. After that, I haven't done much. I'm almost halfway through a garter-stitch striped blanket using assorted green colors of Knit Picks' Suri Dream, which I started...late last year, I think? I have a few scarves in progress that I pick up every now and again when I'm in the mood. I haven't bought yarn in a long time. No reason to, really. I have a ton of it and I use it up really slowly. Plus it's hard for my wrists to really be healthy, what with all the computer-related work I do. My hobby money has been going to cosmetics and video games, haha. I was asked last year if I could make a stuffed toy version of the logo for this site. It's possible, I know it is. It's just been taking me the longest time to figure it out. Part of me thinks I should just knit the fins to have at least part of it done, albeit the easiest part...anyway, that's what's been going on over on this front.
- posted by tach @ 13:57 0 comments

 
it's here!


The yarn order arrived today! I'm really excited. Now, on with making the Clapotis! ...That is, as soon as I wind these suckers up.
- posted by tach @ 23:13 0 comments

 
oops, I ordered yarn / clapotis!
My main knitting goal this summer will be to tackle The Clapotis for the first time. I wanted to make it as soon as it came out, but I wanted to make my first one out of Lion and Lamb, a yarn I have never owned...until now. I know, I know--I said I was on a yarn diet in my last post, but when Jimmy Beans Wool came out with their limited edition Lorna's Laces colorway for June, I couldn't resist it. I should have it later this week. :D I just finished off another UFO today, so I'm not feeling so bad about starting another project.
- posted by tach @ 20:04 0 comments

 
So here's what's been going on...
Holy crap, I just realized that I last posted here a year ago. To the day, even, since it's after midnight. Wow. Let me try to bring you up to speed.

-My wrists could be better, though they could also be much worse. I can do my normal computer work, but I wear a brace on my right wrist most of the time and occasionally things will flare up a bit. Knitting activity was non-existent for a few months. I picked it back up again late last year. I'll probably stick to scarves and small projects for now and try not to buy any new stuff. I don't know if I'll be making hats. Knitting in the round seems to wear my wrists out more quickly than knitting flat. Since I started up again, I've finished off four of my many scarves in progress, including one of the Malabrigo projects (about damn time, really).
-My camera had some issues (mostly related to the flash) starting in November. I thought about getting it fixed, but I figured it might be cheaper to just buy another camera. I finally bought that camera in April, but in the interim I used my phone to take some pictures that I'll try to include in the near future.
-I'm obsessed with watching ice hockey. Have I mentioned that here before? Anyway, I recently came across Shokay in a Patternworks catalog and immediately thought that the Azure and Sunset shades would be really good for a Sharks-colored scarf...not by themselves, mind you, I'd throw the black and white equivalents in there too and probably do stripes of varying widths. However, I'd like to finish off a few more projects before I even think about spending serious money on new yarn.

Here's something new: Over at The Purl Bee they've added the Super Easy Baby Blanket project. If I knew someone having a baby I'd totally make one of these, though maybe I'd go fancy and use moss stitch or something like that. I especially enjoy the "Funky Monkey" color combination.
- posted by tach @ 01:25 0 comments

 
a taste of the dark side
[swatch image pending, forgot I didn't upload it yet :P]

I made an attempt at that crocheting thing for the first time on Monday. I felt like I needed to accomplish SOMETHING over the weekend, so there you go. It was...different. I didn't hate it, but don't know that I liked it necessarily--my wrists didn't enjoy it and there seems to be no comfortable way to hold the yarn in my left hand. Also, I don't know the best way to weave in ends...I'm sure I can find that out somewhere, though. I figure I'll try out a project every once in a while, but it's not going to be something I do all the time. My first project is the "Strut" hat from the Stitch 'n Bitch crochet book. Since it's a felted piece, I'm not going to worry about the minor errors that I know will be there.
- posted by tach @ 17:44 0 comments

 
dishcloths etc.


That's right, I've started making kitchen and bath accessories. I'm guessing two things attracted me to this: 1) they're small; 2) you can, you know, use them all the time. Completed projects from left to right: the nine-patch dishcloth from the Mason-Dixon Knitting website, the burp cloth pattern from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book, the reverse-bloom flower washcloth from Melanie Falick's Weekend Knitting. Sugar 'n Cream was used for the middle project, Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille for the others. I had the most fun making the nine-patch cloth as it gave me more experience in the picking-up-stitches department. I considered crocheting a border in the center patch color, but it's not happening with that yarn. (Did I just type the C word? ...I'll save that for the next post.) The flower was not as fun. I think the decreases were designed in such a way that the center of the cloth would be circular as opposed to pentagonal, but it wasn't dpn-friendly, so I kept having to switch stitches between needles. (If any of you know of an easier way to go about it, by all means, let me know.) Between that and my less than delicate touch, I accidentally broke the yarn when I was a couple of rounds away from finishing. Bah. I'm beginning to think that Cotton Chenille and I do not mix, which is a shame since I have quite a bit of it in my stash.

As for the other dishcloth, I rather enjoyed the garter + slip-stitch pattern, but I thought I could do more with it, like make the slipped stitch columns wavy. Here's how that's going so far. I have other ideas as well, but they're all in that initial / musing stage at the moment.
- posted by tach @ 17:11 1 comments

 
super ultra plush
Time to catch up while I'm on break at work! Alright, so here are the two toys I made out of Red Heart Baby Teri yarn. I used 2 strands in both cases, for the bunny I used a strand each of blue and medium blue. The effect is so subtle that probably no one besides me would notice, but I think it adds depth to its color. (Also, I should learn how to properly use this camera so that I can take better pictures, but I digress. :P) I used the bunny pattern that was featured on Jess Hutchison's site a while back; slight modifications were made in the case of the bear (the ears, obviously, but the arms and legs are also shorter).
- posted by tach @ 15:02 0 comments

 
the gradual return
Hi. It's been a while. It seems like this year's been full of ailments, illnesses and just plain all-around crap. But I'm getting over it. I finally started knitting again late last month. I started with one of those ruffle scarves--you know, the kind you do lengthwise and do nothing but kfb on some of the rows--except this time I did it using the yo increase just to see how it would look. I like it, I think. Right now I'm working on a bunny for the latest addition to my extended family. I didn't quite get it done for Easter, but it's almost there now, and I'll be happy if I can send it on its way by the end of the week. I also have a couple of hats in the works...I think I'll finish those off before I try to figure out what to make next.
- posted by tach @ 18:25 0 comments