Should I Keep Going?

I'm not sure I like where this is going. In fact, I know I don't like where this is going. Then again, it doesn't look too bad in the pictures. It needs 1.5 sleeves, some woven in ends, and its done - c'est fini. Almost. I just don't know if I like it enough to keep going. You can't tell in the picture, but it's HUGE in the back. There's enough fabric back there to make me a matching scarf. And yet, I made this with 3" negative ease AND got stitch and row gauge. WTF?

So, it's just sitting in a bag awaiting a verdict. Should it stay or should it go?

Venus Published in Knitty

Many thanks to Knitty, its staff, and Amy Singer for including me in this season's edition of Knitty. Thank you Thor (from Amazing Threads) for all your help editing this pattern and whipping it into shape for submission.


Looking through Ravelry, I know there are some questions out there about the pattern. I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

1. The skirt is from Anthropologie a few seasons ago.
2. I'm 5'4" and have a 47" bustline. The 7" negative ease is what makes the garment shorter on me (losing length to width, some of you might remember Poisson's ratio from your materials science classes). My guess is that a garment closer to your actual bust measurement would be proportionately longer.
3. Malabrigo Silky Merino is classified as dk, but it fluffs up a bit. At the 16sts x 20 rows gauge, it's a pretty stretchy fabric. Here's a close up of my gauge swatch.
4. Yes, the collar is just supposed to roll like that. If you don't want it to, adding a bit of ribbing should help, but I haven't tried it.

I hope this helps. Happy knitting.

Pale Pink Pimple Sweater Almost Done

The Pale Pink Pimple Sweater needs only sleeves to be complete. This ribbed and seed stitch top down raglan pattern should have been a cinch, then again it is a Vague pattern rife with errata (like missing sets of sleeve increases.) I've decided to stop following the pattern and wing it with the sleeves. I made the size 44" bust thinking it gave me about 3" of negative ease, but instead (despite getting gauge) it looks like I have about 6" of positive ease. Master Blackhead said that it would be good as a maternity sweater this winter. Yes, I love my ever practical husband. Unfortunately, every time I look at it, I think "zit factory." Maybe bulky pink yarn wasn't such a good choice for a seed stitch sweater. Can we say benzoyl peroxide and salicyclic acid five times fast?

Anyway, I'm sure I'll like it when it's done.
Anyway, I hope I like it when it's done.
Anyway, I better like it when it's done.

Ok, weird. Some guy just drove by my house and took a picture of it. This would be the second "some guy" to drive by my house and take a picture of it. The first one said it's because he thinks the brick work is really cool, which it is. Nonetheless, it's still creepy for people to come by with camera in tow. So here's a picture of the brick in case you are wondering.


I just found our recently from our HVAC guy that the mason was pretty talented and wanted to try something completely different. He finally found a builder who let him go hog wild. I wasn't that keen on it when I first saw the house, but I love it now. Mom loved it at first sight.

Little Girl January Purse Pattern

Little Girl January’s Purse
by Helen Hue

One of my closest friends, Little Girl January, will be graduating with her PhD very soon. In honor of that momentous occasion, I have created this purse for her. This bag is knit in two pieces and then seamed on three sides using a three-needle bind off. The strap is simply a large number of sts cast on and immediately bound off. While the zipper and liner are optional, I highly recommend them for a more functional and sturdy purse.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
8 x 9.5 inches

MATERIALS
South West Trading Company Bamboo [100% bamboo; 250 yd per 100 g skein]; color: Plum; 1 skein

1 set US 2/2.75mm straight needles (for three-needle bind off)
2 32-inch US 2/2.75mm circular needle
stitch holder
darning needle
7” zipper (optional)
sewing needle (optional)
thread (optional)
8” x 10” cotton fabric for purse liner (optional)

GAUGE
32 sts/48 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

DIAMOND RIDGE STITCH:
Row 1 (RS): K
Row 2 and every WS row: P
Row 3 and 5: P8, k4, p3, k4, p15, k4, p3, k4, p8
Row 7: K
Row 9 and 11: P6, k4, p7, k4, p11, k4, p7, k4, p6
Row 13: K
Row 15 and 17: P4, k4, p11, k4, p7, k4, p11, k4, p4
Row 19: K
Row 21 and 23: P2, k4, p15, k4, p3, k4, p15, k4, p2
Row 25: K
Row 27 and 29: As Row 15
Row 31: K
Row 33 and 35: As Row 9
Row 36: P


PATTERN
Strap
The strap is made by CO a number of sts and immediately BO those sts. To do this, first, determine the desired length for the strap. In the sample shown, the strap is 48” in length. Multiply the desired length by 3.5 and add another 12” to yield the approximate length of yarn needed for the tail of your long tail CO. CO until 12” of the tail remains or you have enough sts for your desired strap length. BO all sts. Cut yarn and put aside.

Body (make 2)
CO 55 sts.
Setup Row (WS): P
All RS Rows: K1 (edge st), work Diamond Ridge Stitch, K1 (edge st).
All WS Rows: P to end.
Work Rows 1-36 of Diamond Ridge Stitch a total of 3 times; then, work Row 1-6 once more.

With live sts on top and RS facing you, PU&K 86 sts along the right edge starting at the lower right corner. K sts from needle. PU&K 86 sts along the left edge starting at the upper left hand corner. – 227 sts

FINISHING
With the 2 body pieces held together with RS facing, join yarn and seam the pieces together with a three needle BO. Break yarn. Weave in ends. Turn bag RS out.

Using a darning needle attach an end of the strap to each side of the opening. Sew in zipper (optional). Sew in liner (optional).

Mama Blackhead is on her way with Mr. Whitehead

OK fun and excitement are planned for the next week. Will I be able to keep up with them?

Pan Handling in the Knitting World

For those of you who haven't met MamaSara, you need to know one thing: she is prolific and talented. Common sense would indicate that such a combination yields a person who is both fiercely determined and fiercely loving.

MamaSara has struck again. While this post is long overdue, I know that you will admire MamaSara's work as much as I do. In fact, several people have commented that this blog is more of a MamaSara bragbook than a Lady Blackhead knitting journal. In my defense, my skill and output are not nearly has prodigious as MamaSara's. I am simply very grateful for her contributions to my life both real and virtual.

Heading up this bragpost is my favorite totebag in the whole wide world. It is so me. It is reversible. It has 4 HUGE pockets. Can you imagine how much yarn I can get in here? I love everything about it. If you even hint you want it, I will bite you.


MamaSara never forgets about Master Blackhead and always thinks of wonderful things for him. Usually it involves some sort of foodstuff with lots of butter and sugar (mmm... apple pie), but this time she wanted him to laugh. She made a set of panhandlers just for him. They even have a golf theme. And since she loves me most, she snuck in a few ladybugs (a favorite motif) for luck.


Knowing full well that I would never bring Master Blackhead his present unless I had one of my own (yes I am a brat... I did threaten to bite you after all), MamaSara made me some panhandlers too. The color is so bright and warm that I like to just hang them from my cabinets so I can see them. Aren't they sweet? The tag says that these are made just for me by Auntie Sara.


Last but definitely not least, as a house warming present, MamaSara quilted a set consisting of 4 placemats, 2 panhandlers, and a hot pad. They look amazing in my kitchen and really pull together the color of my countertops and flooring. The placemat stripe sequence is even in a Fibonacci pattern! Check it out.


We've really been enjoying these wonderful gifts. They are so functional and yet so beautiful. My favorite combination of traits. I can't wait to get the house all done and unpacked so MamaSara can come visit.

Before I sign off to get ready for a celebratory dinner (the kitchen is finally done). I just had to share a Cute Hex moment.

A Calmer Project?

After hearing about the wonderful and unique properties of Rowan's Calmer, I finally got some for myself in a lovely Robin's Egg Blue... at half price. Woohoo! And like many knitter's with Stash, I sat there thinking well now what? I have to find a project worthy of this uber-yarn. Months of searching ended yesterday. The project I have selected is fabulous in its simplicity... or will just be hours of dk-weight Stockinette Hell ? I'm not really sure, but after finishing several dk projects, I've sworn that there will be no more dk yarn added to Stash. After all, in two swatches of the same size: one with aran, the other with dk; the dk swatch has twice as many stitches!

Here's the project of endless Stockinette. Twelve and a half inches by 311 sts of Stockinette. Yeesh! But it's cute, you know?


The pattern is from the premier issue of Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine, and is boorishly termed Collared Sleeveless Top. Yet I shall not be deterred. I will persevere and finish it... eventually. See I even have a decent start.


Hex, naturally, is violently upset that I have selected another large project. For him, anything larger than a sock warrants several yowling fits of jealousy because there is not enough room for him on lap + project.

On a separate note, while I was in Albuquerque earlier this month, SisterB and I stopped by the Fiesta Yarns Outlet. Admittedly, it wasn't the HUGE warehouse that haunted my dreams, but there was a decent selection. No Baby Boom or Boomerang, though. :( Anyway, I did find something sumptious to bring home. A skein of La Luz in a fabulous light chartruese. All for $8. Yup 8 bucks. Tee hee!


It's so pretty. I don't think I want to knit it. It is perfect just the way it is. Soft silkiness that is just so happy. Or is it just me that is happy? Either way happy is as happy does.