Res Completa: Snow White

Pattern: Snow White by Ysolda Teague
Size: Small
Yarn: Valley Yarns Stockbridge, 7.5 skeins of deep teal
Needles: US 7 24" circular and dpns
Start to Finish: Ugh, forever ago

Mods: Well, I realized soon after casting on that the circumference of the bottom of the sweater (~28") was going to be much too small -- like 6" too small. Of course I kept knitting in denial for several rows until I decided to do something about it, but I did indeed abandon that first attempt*. For the second attempt, I was too lazy to do the beautiful but time-intensive tubular cast on again, so I simply did a cable cast on, but this time with 32" of stitches instead of 28. To account for those extra stitches and to get to the same stitch count as in the pattern a couple of inches below the waist, I just did the beginning set of decreases twice. Perfecto.

(*I spent forever on that tubular cast on and no way was I going to rip it out -- those first abandoned inches are working perfectly as the beginning of a hat!).



Notes: How cool is the back of this sweater?! I rarely read a pattern in its entirety before starting it, so I spent most of the time working on this thing wondering how on earth the shoulders were shaped like that and how that little starburst of stockinette was formed. The secret ended up being grafting, and I just think it's the coolest thing ever.

If I were to knit the sweater again, I would put a stitch or two between the slanted decreases at the very bottom of the sweater. I've done this before -- when the decreases are right next to each other, I get a little hole between them. You can see this somewhat in the photo below. It's not a huge deal, but it doesn't look as neat as I'd like it to.



A note on the yarn: I quite liked the Valley Yarns Stockbridge! It was nice to work with and though it's started pilling a little bit and doesn't look quite as sturdy as I'd like in a garment that is stretched to an insane degree, it is surprisingly soft against the skin and I think the color is very pretty. The advertised gauge for this yarn is slightly under what Ysolda called for in the pattern, but like a good little knitter I swatched and blocked before starting and was able to verify that it blooms up to 18sts/4" after being washed.

Final verdict: This sweater is so flattering, especially for someone like me who is a little less endowed in certain areas (if you know what I mean). Those darts work magic! Actually, according to the Ravelry-browsing I've done, this sweater works magic in many different ways and on many different body types.

On its own, it's a little on the sexy side for the office, but I think it works well paired with a button-up top.



Gotta love a versatile knit!

More than You Wanted to Know

I just returned from a work trip to Flagstaff, Arizona to see in my inbox an invitation from Mr. Puffy to partake in a little meme action. I'm always up for a good meme, especially when I'm too tired to write up a full Res Completa report, and especially when I have an accounting quiz to take and I'm trying to procrastinate. Rules of the meme follow....

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

On May 23, 1998, I was a senior in high school. I would be graduating in about two weeks and the weather was getting pretty warm. I can't be entirely sure, but I believe this exact week ten years ago was when I mailed off my college letters -- accepting UCLA's offer of admission, and telling the other schools I would not be going there. I remember what I was wearing the day I mailed those letters: khakis and a black knit shell from the Gap and some chunky J. Crew shoes (how preppy). It was a pretty momentous occasion for me.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1. Take aforementioned accounting quiz.
2. Read all blog posts missed this week because of aforementioned work trip to Flagstaff, Arizona.
3. Write back to Sophy with (shoddy) advice on throwing baby showers.
4. Buy Dad a birthday present -- this will be ingredients for fancy mixed/blended drinks he can make with the new blender he just got (the man loves playing bartender).
5. Start to pack for tomorrow's trip to the mountains.

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Almonds, wasabi peas (I'm right there with you, Mr. Puffy!), cherries, melon, carrot sticks, chocolate, cake, donuts, whatever's in the break room.....

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Honestly? I would quit my job, have and/or adopt a truckload of kids (this is, of course, if Neill agrees), buy a house to fit them all comfortably (in this area, this might actually take most of the billion), stock away enough for their educations, then take huge family trips all around the world and teach them crafts and languages. When they got older, I would go get a PhD in Indo-European linguistics. I'd also give lots to the arts and to my home church and fund as many scholarship programs as possible.

5) Places I have lived:

I lived the first 18 years of my life in Turlock, CA, a town I am still in love with. I lived in Los Angeles for 5 years -- 4 while attending UCLA and 1 while working there the year after I graduated. I then moved to San Francisco for grad school and work, and have lived there ever since.

6) Jobs I have had:

I've held several odd jobs in my time -- from putting stickers on melons as they went by on the conveyor belt (official title: Decal Applicator), to tutoring UCLA athletes in Classics and little kids in Latin, to serving food at Hollywood events, to being the irritating peppy person who greets you at the Gap (which was actually much worse than the melon sticker job). I've also done quite a lot of office assistant type work in a variety of settings. The past five years I've been working as the token humanities major on the SOFIA Program, doing several different jobs (sometimes at the same time) with progressively more responsibility.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:

Erica of EricaLand
The Nantucket Knitter
Knitters Delight
Philigry
The Lady

These are all (except Erica, whom I actually hang out with on a semi-regular basis) fantastic bloggers I've recently begun reading and I'd love to know more about them!

Ok, guess I'd better go take that quiz...

Res Originalis: Safire

Nope, not sapphire (though I did choose the yarn for its resemblance to my birth stone), but Safire. After SAFIRE, the Submillimeter And Far InfraRed Experiment. Though having nothing to do with the submillimeter and infrared, this sweater was my own experiment...in designing from the top down (dorky enough sentence? :) ).



Pattern: Safire, my own.
Yarn: Tess Yarns Superwash Merino, one honkin' skein of deep sapphire blue (560 yards)
Needles: US 6 and 7 32" circulars

Notes: Oh how I love how little planning it takes to knit something from the top down. The only measuring and calculating I did was at the very beginning to decide how many stitches to cast on (54 -- 2 for each front, 10 for each sleeve, and 30 for the back), then from there it was all making decisions solely based on how well it fit. The only increases made were at the raglan lines until I put the sleeve stitches on holders, at which point I began increasing one stitch at each end (the edges of the collar) every other row until the two fronts met. I began the ribbing a couple of rows later, just under my bust. The collar is of the short row variety -- after picking up stitches around the collar, I worked the 2x2 rib to 10 stitches before the end of the other side, wrapped and turned, ribbed to 10 stitches before the end of the other side, w&t'ed, ribbed to 10 stitches before the previous w&t, etc. etc. until I was about to run out of yarn, at which point I worked two rows normally to pick up the wraps, and bound off. I may attempt to write a multi-sized pattern for practice, but I always say that and then I get lazy.

The yarn was absolutely delightful to work with. It was squishy and soft and gave off the most pleasant and delightful scent. Strangely enough, it turned my bamboo needles blue, but none ever came off on my hands, and there was very little color-bleeding when I gave the sweater its blocking bath.

I'm happy with the sweater itself, but I'm finding that raglans fit me strangely, with funny bunching in the armpits. I may try some strategic blocking, but I'm really enamored of the variegated sapphire (SAFIRE) blue, and in this case, color trumps fit and it has already seen much wear.

Some Summer Sewing

Firstly, thank you for all the wonderful comments and well-wishing on my blogiversary last Friday. Don't worry - there will be a full post on the knitted undies later (I know all are waiting with bated breath), but for now, a little sewing:



Pattern: Simplicity 4233, View C
Fabric: Amy Butler Passion Vine, from the Nigella collection (color River)

Notes: In an effort to improve both my summer wardrobe and my sewing skills, I tackled this pleated skirt. The pleatedness was by far the hardest part. I tend towards knitting much more than sewing because you create the fabric as you go, the shaping built directly into its structure. Sewing depends a lot on precise cutting and folding, things I am very very bad at. Trying to evenly fold and sew down all those pleats was almost as hard as trying to make the hem even after the fact...it almost killed me. But I am happy with the results, even if it's kind of obvious that the skirt is made out of quilting material.



Speaking of fabric meant for home decor, I also had to have this dress from the "Very Easy Vogue" collection...



Pattern: Vogue 2429, View I
Fabric: Got it from the remnants shelves of Britex during a sale, originally intending to make curtains with it. It's a thick linen with embroidered flowers.

Notes: Very Easy was right! There weren't many pieces to this garment and the sewing all involved straight lines. The darts were a little difficult with the bulky embroidered flowers, but they turned out ok, as did the zipper for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE! The color is not great on me and makes me look even paler than I am, but I have a deep love for upholstery fabrics made into clothes, so I wear it anyway (when the SF fog subsides). Plus, come fall, I think it will look nice worn with Trina...



Yay for 100% home-made outfits!

The Yarniad: Book II

One year ago today, I made my very first post to The Yarniad. That means that today, May 9, 2008, is my Blogiversary. This freaks me out more than a little bit. I mean, where on earth did the time go?? Into knitting and knitting-related activities, apparently. Since my first post, I have completed 49 projects (about 99% of them fingerless mitts of some sort), joined a knitalong, attended a knitting convention, joined a knitting social network, and cyber-met several wonderful and talented people. It's been a fabulous year, though the number of projects completed makes me wonder if I maybe need to get out more...

In the past year I've really grown as a knitter as well. It was just last January that I started tackling projects more complex than scarves, and knitblogland has helped me tremendously. I've learned techniques (often from tutorials on others' blogs) involving short rows and fair isle, socks, lace, steeks, designing, and more. Which is why I find it hilarious and absurd that my 50th finished object, posted here on my blogiversary, is what it is:


Note: There will be no modeled shots.

Yes indeed, all that I have learned in the past year has brought me to this -- knitting panties.

Anyway, thank you to the few of you who read this (including the non-knitting friends and family members I force to), to those who have left all the sweet and encouraging comments that warm my heart, to everyone in knitblogland in general for having such inspiring and entertaining blogs, and especially to Sophy, without whom I would have never started this blog in the first place.

(End of mushiness.)

Res Completa: Clapotis

Since I finished my pink Clapotis, Sophy has started and finished an entire blue one (which is gorgeous by the way) and already blogged about it. So before I put it off any longer...



Pattern: Clapotis, by Kate Gilbert for Knitty, Fall 2004
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb Solid, 2 skeins of Berry
Needles: US 8 straights
Start to Finish: March 8-27? Maybe?

Mods: With only half the yarn called for in the original pattern and a desire for a scarf rather than a shawl, I only did 3 of the increase sections and worked it straight until I was about to run out of yarn -- then did the decreases and bound off. The resulting scarf has the somewhat odd dimensions of 11" x 77".

Notes: The first few dropped stitches felt dangerous and fun, but then I got annoyed at the 50% wool content of the yarn making everything all sticky. The dropped stitches didn't want to seem to go more than a few rows down, then I had to use my needle to pick out each additional row. Anyway, I do like the scarf and the yarn is SO pretty. Even being half as wide as the original, I still think it works as a shawl, if I happen to be in that mood:



When I blocked it, I did stretch it and position it so that it would be more of a rectangle than a parallelogram, but I kind of wish I had left it as is. I think I would have liked the pointy ends more than the flat ones I have. I guess I can always re-block. (Yeah right)

I'm glad I made this if only to experience what tens of thousands of knitters have experienced before me. Plus that dropped stitch pattern, despite the sticky stitches, is pretty cool.

Res Completae: Germany Socks

Though not usually one for orange on myself (even having questioned my purchase of this yarn), and rarely one for sock knitting, I am absolutely delighted by these orangey lacey socks. They were knit entirely during my trip to Germany, and though the yarn and pattern have nothing to do with Deutschland, they'll always remind me of that trip.



Pattern: Rainy Day Socks, by Yuliya Sullivan
Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sport, 2 hanks of Lincoln Park -- souvenir yarn from a trip to Washington DC last summer
Needles: US 3 bamboo dpns
Start to Finish: April 18-26, 2008

Mods: I did 5 rows of 1x1 rib instead of the cute picot cuff (I wasn't feeling in a picot mood at the time), then lengthened the leg of the sock by 2" to use up more yarn. I am far from a seasoned sock knitter, so those are about the only mods I'm capable of making to a sock.

Notes: Lovelovelovelovelove. First of all, this was a super-quick knit! I'm guessing it was the slightly fatter yarn and the US 3's -- these babies just flew by. The second one was started and completed during my plane ride back home. Secondly, I am in LOOOVE with the color. Thirdly, they're so soft and squishy on my feet! Fourthly, my heel turned out much better than the first time I tried:



Fifthly....ok, I can't think of a fifth reason, but the four previously mentioned make me want to cast on for another pair of socks immediately. I have heard the sock siren's song...