The Golden Iris

As you can imagine, I can get a lot more done at home when I don't have three papers to write. Christmas Decorating Yesterday I decided that once and for all I was going to have a Christmas tree in this crappy little apartment of mine. After an unsuccessful trip to two stores, a friend of mine remembered that they had just happened to have one sitting around in the trunk of their car. So, a little later I had a 3' tree. Well and good, right? Wrong. Darn thing had tripod feet... but only one of them! So as you can imagine, it didn't want to stand up very well. After fighting with it for almost an hour to rig it to stand up and not bust all my ornaments, I gave up and tied it to the wall. Photos of Christmas trees always turn out crappy, which is a shame, because this one is nice. I've got lots of handmade ornaments. It goes a long way towards making me happy for a couple of weeks, regardless of whether my boyfriend really likes it or not. Knitting That's why ...

Since writing papers is supposed to mean that I should put off knitting for a while, I baked instead. I got a delicious orange-chocolate muffin recipe from my sister and I am trying not to eat the whole dozen tonight. As you can see, one muffin succumbed before I had a chance to take a photo. I know they look a lot like bran muffins or something less exciting, but trust me, they aren't. See: observe the delicious interior of the muffin. Filled with yummy orange peel and chocolate bits (I had big blocks of chocolate instead of chips, hence the strange distribution of chocolate). Aren't you hungry yet? Too bad there isn't internet with smells. Actually... maybe that's a good thing. Anyhow, I'm supposed to be writing. This is writing, right? Sadly this is not the writing I get paid to do, which is kind of a bummer. If only this writing contributed to the length of my other writing... guess I should get back to that.

The most effective forms of procrastination seem to result in the creation of something irrelevant to the procrastinatory goal. Okay -- let's not overlook the fact that I spent six hours in the library yesterday, but seriously, I probably don't need two new projects. Toe-up knee high socks, from a general toe-up pattern. I'll work on the problem of leg increases when I come to them. And a glove. Really, it's going to be a glove, I promise. Left over from Lacevember, here is approximately one third of my Lace Dream Wrap: It's going to be really lovely, if I ever get through the other two balls of yarn. And I was going to put up some more photos, but I realized I would have to censor them anyhow. So I'll save you the temptation of discovering what I'm knitting for Christmas. Unfortunately, I've run into a knitting problem. Remember my Vintage Cabled Pullover ? Those photos artfully mask the fact that the sweater is easily 3 inches too short. I dou...

Last night I finished the Scribble Lace scarf. What a fast and simple gift, yet how satisfying and impressive looking it is! I will probably have to make one for myself.... Here is a closeup of the texture: And here you can see that the openness of it works about equally well as a small wrap... As a big scarf. Obligatory stats: Pattern: Loopy & Luscious from Knitty Yarn: 1 skein Trendsetter Yosemite and 1 skein K1C2 Douceur et Soie Needles: #13 circular (because I don't have, or couldn't find, the #15s) Size: about 16" x 55", but variable as the pattern says Modifications: Amazingly, aside from yarn substitution, none What's next? Not much on the knitting front. Mostly grading a big fat stack of papers and writing some of my own. Oh, and giving this lovely gift away! I hope the recipient enjoys it :)

What would Black Friday be without a trip to the yarn store? I just got a few things, including a cone of fingering weight wool for a shawl or three, some Trekking for gloves, Encore for a silly hat, and those plum colored things for a scribble lace scarf. Yesterday I made the amazing discovery that scribble lace is really crack for knitters in disguise. I cast on (using this pattern from knitty )and suddenly couldn't stop knitting. It was freaky. See what I mean? I think this is going to be a gift, but now I think I need one. Yikes! And unfortunately the yarn isn't cheap -- it's instant gratification, surely, but not what I'm used to doing with socks or ordinary lace. (Can we make this count for Lacevember? I'm not pushing the envelope....) Now that I took it out to take photos of it, it's calling to me.... must.... knit....

That's probably not a phrase anybody hears regularly, but today it's my favorite topic. I'm going to talk about my favorite holiday dessert and about how to avoid the dreaded caramely shrapnel. Since you missed out on this dessert for Thanksgiving, file this one away and make it for Christmas. While lacking in impressive table presentation (perhaps some would argue otherwise), it's fabulous. Welcome to Caramel Pudding 101. Go buy one can of sweetened condensed milk. Don't buy evaporated milk or you'll be sorry. We'll wait here. Trust me, unless you have 50+ people coming, you only need one can. Friendly can of sweetened condensed milk. This one is about 14 oz. It has no clue what's coming for it. Remove the label. That was easy! Remember that reading the label is bad for you. This warning is to avoid the caramely shrapnel. Trust me, if you follow my directions, all will be fine. They used to have this recipe on the label anyhow, so this is mere...

Wait, WHAT?!?! Is this thing always going to be covered in nipples?! Crap! Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style, inside out and unblocked. The miracle of blocking removes the terrifying nipples! Hooray! If I had something black to pin this to, I would have, but sadly no. This shawl is about the perfect size for me, I think. Not too small, not too big. And here it is, wrapped sideways. Too bad I can't always look this graceful. Obligatory stats: Pattern: Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style Needles: #6 circular, the grey bendy plastic kind I like Yarn: 4 oz. fingering weight custom dyed from Blue Swallow Handmade Size: about 68" x 34" Modifications: I added 5 extra pattern repeats because I wanted to use up as much yarn as I had. I'm very happy with the size this way. I was frightened of running out of yarn at the very very end so I didn't do one of the rows in the edging, but it's all the same to me. This is a great project, it comes together fairly q...

I am a newly minted Lacevember member! I'm not usually one to join lots of group blogs, but it seems like everything in my knitting basket right now is lace, so I figured it would be appropriate. Since this contest could net me a delightful skein of luxury sock yarn, I'm in. Here goes. The knitting questions, or the usual suspects How long have you been knitting? I learned when I was about 6 or so. That makes it something like 17 years, which seems scary until I remember that I didn't knit for a whole bunch in the middle. How did you learn to knit? Mom, of course. Favorite thing about knitting? I've always got something to do, and (hopefully!) something pretty at the end. How long have you been knitting lace? I just began to knit lace in the past year or two. Favorite thing about knitting lace. How something so impressive looking emerges out of something so scrunchy -- and easy to do! The yarn questions, or flash your stash Favorite lace yarn? Don't...

I finished this a few days ago, but haven't had a chance to get on and get Blogger to upload all my photos. Essential Stages of Hedgehogness: Flat: Attacking: Friendly: The stats: Pattern: Fiber Trends Huggable Hedgehogs Yarn: Ella Rae Classic, Lion Brand Fun Fur, and scraps Needles: 10 1/2 & 11 circular For all the time it took me to finish this, it was mostly delayed by my running out of fun fur. I know, what a horror. This, in my opinion, is one of the only appropriate uses of fun fur, and it came out well. It's a quick project, and comes out cute. The instructions are lengthy but comprehensive and easy to understand, like most Fiber Trends patterns. Now... what to name him? Do I keep him? Give him away? Make another in a similarly obnoxious color? ... or just go back to my lace? Shetland Triangle, at 10 pattern repeats. I've only used about one third of my yarn (thanks to my nifty new kitchen scale, I can figure these things out). Question is, how many ...

Serrano is now just like two tiny pair of pants. Hope you like it, Sarah! I'm making these on some new Crystal Palace bamboo circulars. I'm not very happy with the needles, mostly because of the join. While Crystal Palace has done a great thing with their rotating, non-kinking cord, the metal ferrules they use to join the cord to the needles have a very square corner right where the cord hits the metal. I'm afraid they're going to tear up my yarn, and it doesn't allow the yarn to flow easily onto the needle. Bummer. Sadly, I've had a lot of difficulty finding my favorite nylon needles in smaller sizes, so I'm resorting to buying these. I'm also working on my Shetland Triangle -- I've been through 5 sets of pattern repeats, which is technically half, but I have enough yarn to make it bigger than the pattern says, and 'half' is relative when each row increases the stitch count by four.... Anyway, it's making a slightly larger scrunch...

And to think I almost had myself convinced that blocking would cure yesterday's problem. I'm much happier with the way the new hem looks. Despite this being on #2 needles, I'm still convinced it's going to go fairly quickly. I have 6 skeins of sock yarn to make it -- that's only 3 pair of socks, and that's not such a bad way to think about it. Of course, taking into account school and other distractions, I probably won't get it done until spring. That's okay, although faced with grading 65 8-page papers or knitting, I'll bet you know which one I would choose.

See this? In theory, this is the beginning of a Serrano sleeve. I'm sure you can see the problems it's having as well as I can. Here's my dilemma: On the left, the hem is knit on smaller needles than the body, while on the right, the hem is knit on the same size needles. The one on same-size needles flips up annoyingly, but I'm worried the smaller-size hem won't block out as well in width as the larger-size hem. I have to rip half of this thing out one way or another. I'm currently leaning towards the smaller-size hems, because they look neater, but what do you think? (Bad knitter, going to knitting group with only one project and not the right needles....)

No, no birthday knitting. But that's okay. I made 2 cakes over the last couple of days instead so I could have a bunch of people over for my birthday yesterday. Here is the pretty one, just a box bundt cake: And closer: The other cake (Chocolate Eclair Cake, a real treat) was delicious but not worth photographing. And I got a lovely bouquet with zinnias, milkweed, and hot peppers! Fun! Maybe when I dig myself out of the giant, gaping hole that is school, I will find more time to be productive in my knitting.

With some wonderful hand-dyed yarn I purchased a while back, I decided to try out the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. Here is an image of a sort of swatch in progress. Of course it's really not a swatch, it's the beginning. Who cares! I'm going to block the living daylights out of it anyway. Lace totally agrees with my knitting style -- intricate in thought and execution, yet without backtracking in preparation. I have an opinion question: I will soon be knitting 2 lace scarves, one in a variegated and one in a solid yarn. Variegated yarns tend to give me trouble when choosing a pattern. I'm not sure whether to choose a small-scale pattern or a larger one. Any opinions? Here's an opinion of mine. While I love the efficiency of a swift and ball winder, I far more enjoy the aesthetics of a hand-wound center-pull ball of yarn. Compare below: For me, hand-wound balls tend to fall apart less, particularly when thrown into a bag for storage, and just make me...

Did your mom ever tell you, "stop making that face or it'll stay that way!"? ...yeah. Maybe somebody should have told me earlier. Fiber Trends hedgehog, fresh for the felting. And, um, you know, eating my head. A few days ago, I couldn't resist casting on a Serrano sleeve: Looks awfully fun, although the sheer craziness of knitting a sweater on #2 needles hasn't struck me yet. Trust me, though, soon I'll be saying, "what was I thinking?!?!" In the meantime, it's purty. Can't wait to have more dedicated knitting time!

When yarn comes in the mail! Here's my portion of the latest Knit Picks haul, including some lovely Gloss to make knitty's Serrano with. (The needles I picked up at my LYS, because my #2s were metal and only 16"... no fun.) I've wound one ball, and I might cast on for the sleeves soon. I still feel obligated to finish other projects, but my desire for sweaters cannot be stopped. I finished (finally) my socks for charity, and took those in yesterday when I bought my needles. I'm also chugging along on my Pomatomus socks. Daylight or no, I still can't get these colors to photograph properly. There's grape, violet, cobalt, teal, turquoise, berry, and blue, all in there, regardless of whether the camera can see it or not. I'm still enjoying the pattern, although the heel as written is kind of a pain in the butt. The back side of twisted ribbing is even less fun, with p1tbl. I think I should put down the knitting for a while and do a little grading. ...

I had a busy day that I spent being crafty instead of doing schoolwork. Here is what I have been wanting to make for a long time: A bag to carry around all my sock projects in! It is just the right size, and built to last. It is fully lined (and heavily interfaced): It was relatively easy to make, although it took some planning (and me fixing a major screw-up wherein I thought I was being clever but actually made the bag totally unusable). It's about 7" tall, 6" wide, and 3 1/2" deep. The fabric practically jumped into my arms at the quilt store. I had been thinking of going with a reproduction '30s print, but I couldn't find one that struck me. So this wonderfully bright floral came with me (anemones and tulips and gerberas, yum!) And it fits a sock project perfectly: Ooh, what's that? More Pomatomus? Here's a closer shot: One of these days I'm going to remember to try to take photos while it's light out, so these photos of the lovely ...

I'll bet you know what these are going to be! Pomatomus socks! I know some of you out there were thinking of making them. Want to join me? It will be fun! The pattern so far has been pretty easy to memorize, but it's a little slow because it's in 1x1 twisted rib. I'm using some Brown Sheep Co. handpainted Wildfoote, and I just love the colors. This picture didn't turn out great, but I didn't want to go back again and fuss with the camera some more, so that's what you get. You'll see more as time goes on, anyhow.

It was a few years ago that this magazine, sitting in my mom's pile of knitting stuff, caught my attention: You read that right: up in the corner it says 1964. In it were these delightful images and pretty decent sweaters; this one seemed so cute and classic, I just had to have it. And this was what the magazine had to say about it: Of course, it was so old I couldn't find the mohair they called for, even in my LYS' yarn books. So I had to guess at the yardage (I bought 7 balls and only used 4 1/2... but better safe than sorry). And I wasn't about to do mohair, as it drives me crazy, and while I love pink, I didn't think it was going to be the best choice for this sweater. I didn't think of it when I picked it out, but this color is really the color of real lavender to me. Yum! (I know, you're saying, alright already, show me the sweater! All in good time, I swear.) A sneak peek: And here's me, trying desperately to look decent for my self timer: An...