sophy's knits, notes, etc.

not only is it a new year -- a new decade, even -- but, already it's almost February? and, look at this -- i'm a featured Indie Designer on Canary Knits! thank you so much!

reunited with my dear old friends, endpaper mitts.

if scheduling works out, i may be attending 5 separate weddings this year -- 4 of them back east in Philadelphia and 1 in southern California. i'm delighted for each of my friends who are getting married, but that's a lot of weddings, yo.

added to that, adam and i are planning to start our kitchen renovations in a few months. hiring an architect to help us draw up the plans and work with the various vendors was the best thing we could have done, but there are still plenty of decisions to make. and work to do. and appliances to buy.

also, should i mention? this is the year i turn 30! pretty exciting.

they were hiding in an oft-used laptop bag. (if only i'd checked the pockets!)

i don't know where i'll find the time, but there are a number of things i hope to accomplish because i want to. still, i'm keeping my crafting intentions simple and somewhat open-ended this year:

knit more basics in blacks, greys, and neutrals.
what i really mean is knit more cardigans, vests, and pullovers and while i'm at it, make it something i can wear all the time. to be honest, i like wearing the boring neutral colors that go with everything and anything, but lately i've saturated my wardrobe with so many bright pinks and cyan blues and mint greens... sigh.

this will be a challenge, since much of my current stash is not very neutral (pinks, purples, blues, greens) -- so there will be plenty of stashbusting before i buy any new yarn. and what new yarn i buy will be for specific projects.

sew more.
i would like to sew a dress or 2. or 3. but realistically, i will be happy enough to finish a few stuffed animals (i found some lovely patterns for a sheep and a giraffe) or something for the remodeled kitchen... like, curtains and napkins.

i had a random moment of pattern-inspiration this morning during my commute into work! someone had a slouchy bag slung over her shoulder, and the wheels started turning: hrm... just make it a simple envelope shape like that, with a bit of a rounded bottom... oh. i could add the inner lining just like that... and if i gather it just so... yes. use D-rings? detachable straps. definitely. pockets? buttons? yes! YES!

hopefully, i can turn that stream of consciousness into something sew-wear-able! (can i call TM on that?)

finish revising my old patterns, then move on.
is it too perfectionist of me to constantly revise my free patterns? some have told me yes. part of me agrees, but, hey, i feel too much unease at the thought of my error-ridden patterns causing endless frustration. so, i'm revising the diamond lattice scarf and then the herringbone hat (the chart) before i (let go and) move on to the other patterns i want to post.

which should be first? the poinsettia cloche [ravelry] and the baby soaker [ravelry] are strong contenders... i had a lot of fun knitting them both and really love how they turned out. i didn't even think anyone would be interested in my simple little garden of silk socklets [ravelry] -- thanks, CanarySanctuary! -- those can definitely get a quick writeup. of course, you can always track my pattern backlog, here.

happy knitting!

i prefer to have two concurrent projects on the needles. one is a simple project that i can fit into my bag and knit during my commutes. the second is either much more complicated, requiring my undivided attention, or is simply too large to travel in my usual bag.

this morning, i took inventory of my works in progress and found that i have four projects competing for my time; two is quite manageable, four is not. do you want to know what they are? -- read on:

fingerless gloves in elsebeth lavold silk wool.

i started these fingerless gloves by mari muinonen [ravelry] in late December 2009, but had to put them aside after finishing the one medallion, because they required too much attention to commute with, and i already had other projects to knit at home.

diamond lattice scarf in araucania nature's wool.

yup. i'm knitting up a new version of my old diamond lattice scarf project, so of course, this is my current traveling project. i'm working to finish this soon so i can update the pattern.

cornflower cowl in debbie bliss cashmerino dk.

i started this directly after finishing two other cowls last year. it was my traveling project until i casted on for the diamond lattice scarf, but because i ended up standing most of my commutes, i didn't make much progress!

a top-down raglan in malabrigo worsted.

i started this stashbusting project after Christmas Day and focused my knit-time (when i wasn't too sick to knit) solely on finishing it. it even traveled with me until i couldn't stuff it into my bag any longer. at last, i only have the sleeves to knit!

i am quite happy with the fit and overall simplicity of the sweater, but i have to admit something... i really don't like the color. at all. it's hard to tell in this photo, but it is a mahogany red (with slight variations ranging from white, to pink, to dark mahogany) that i really thought i would adore. i don't. perhaps i'll think differently when it's done?

well, i'm itching to finish the sweater asap (tonight, perhaps?) so i should get to it -- happy knitting!

the sound of the pouring rain beating against the roof and windows this morning was beautiful and soothing. really, i just wanted to close my eyes and let the rhythm lull be back to sleep -- especially since i had had a pretty restless night. but darn it, there was a lot to do today: all those chores we put off doing over the weekend, a run on the treadmill, maybe some advancement in Kingdom Hearts, and especially a pattern to correct.

the most unpopular of my patterns (if ravelry downloads are any indication) is my diamond lattice scarf [ravelry]. it is a simple textured pattern that uses twisted stitches to form a lattice of diamonds, is knitted from end-to-end, and is shaped with increases and decreases. who wouldn't want to knit this?!

after this weekend, i think i am quite thankful for it's lack of popularity -- the pattern has some rather egregious errors in the instructions. i'm not sugarcoating this, at all; the instructions are flat out WRONG. my thanks to Kathy, of crochet maniacs, for emailing me about this and for her patience as i knitted up a sample to double check my revised pattern! to everyone who has downloaded the pattern off my website (before i linked it to ravelry), my apologies and please see the errata below!

the pattern will not be available for download again until i have updated it -- i'm not simply revising the instructions; i want to do a complete overhaul: knit a couple of different versions and take some better photos. i thank you for your patience in advance. please stay tuned!

diamond lattice scarf: body, 16-row repeating pattern.

diamond lattice scarf errata

in the Beginning section, there needs to be one more increase row between Row 5 and 7.

Row 5 :: k1, m1l, k4, m1r, k1. (8 sts)
Next :: k1, m1l, k6, m1r, k1. (10 sts)
Row 7 :: k1, m1l, LT, k4, RT, m1r, k1. (12 sts)

the instructions for the Body of the scarf are completely wrong. the correct pattern is a 16 row repeat. when you finish the Beginning increase section, you have 42 stitches. you can refer to the photo of the body repeat above. the instructions should read as follows:

Row 1 :: (RS) k1, (LT, k4, RT) 5 times, k1.

Row 2, 4, 6, 8,10, 12,14,16 (WS) ::
if you want the edges to have a garter ridge: k1, p to last st, k1.
if you don't want the garter ridge: p all sts.

Row 3 :: k2, (LT, k2, RT, k2) 5 times.
Row 5 :: k3, (LT, RT, k4) 4 times, LT, RT, k3.
Row 7 :: k4, (LT, k6) 4 times, LT, k4.
Row 9 :: k3, (RT, LT, k4) 4 times, RT, LT, k3.
Row 11 :: k2, (RT, k2, LT, k2) 5 times.
Row 13 :: k1, (RT, k4, LT) 5 times, k1.
Row 15 :: (LT, k6) 5 times, LT.

please let me know if you find any other errors or simply have questions and comments. thank you and happy knitting!

last year i bought 4 skeins of cash iroha at a yard sale. such an awesome find. cash iroha is such a lovely yarn -- for once a noro that is not variegated. it's soft and crunchy and shiney. really, i'm very in love with it.

la. i made this for dad but i think i'll keep it for myself.

project :: thermal ribbed cowl by me. [ravelry]
yarn :: Noro Cash Iroha, Color #16 (a grey-brown), 2 skeins.
needles :: US 4 (3.5 mm).
start-to-finish :: Nov 3-Dec ?, 2009.

that's right. selfishness reared its ugly head with this project, and you know what? i feel absolutely no remorse! i originally made this for my dad, but when it was done, i realized he would not wear it very often if at all because it just would not keep him warm during Philadelphia's winter season. whereas, i could wear it every single day in San Francisco. (how's that for rationalization?)

do you want to make your own? it's very easy: CO 128 sts. join for knitting in the round. k1, p1 rib for 7 rnds. thermal (garter) rib pattern: rnd 1: k all sts. rnd 2: k1, p1 rib to end. repeat thermal rib for 7 inches, end after rnd 1. next: k1, p1 rib for 7 rows (add a button hole (yo, k2tog) on the 4th row). BO all sts in thermal rib.

finished, my cowl is about 9 inches long. if i had more yarn, i would have made it at least 2 inches longer just so that it could be slouchier.

such a nice color!

project :: Cash Iroha spiral cowl [ravelry]
pattern :: Spiral Cowl by Keri McKiernan.
yarn :: Noro Cash Iroha, Color #22 (pomegranate red), 2 skeins.
needles :: US 4 (3.5 mm).
start-to-finish :: Oct 30-Nov 1, 2009.

modifications :: before i started, i weighed the yarn because i suspected that one of the skeins was not full; so, i knew that i didn't have enough to follow the instructions completely. i think i shortened the picot beginning by 1 rnd and at the ending by 2 rnds. it still looks great, but i wish i didn't have to do that. also, i crocheted a button loop (you can see other pictures on my ravelry page).

this was a quick project and i think hilary and i ended up knitting it around the same time (during a knitting night at samovar); you can see her lovely version here. honestly, i almost kept this cowl as well, but decided to give it to a friend who i knew would totally rock the shiney silky pomegranate red. good to know i'm not completely selfish -- whew!

happy knitting!!

these were a stashbusting effort that worked out rather well. i originally wanted to knit the hanami lace socks from Knitted Socks East and West. but obviously, those were not written for worsted weight yarn, so i decided to keep it simple as pie:

a pile of socklettes.

project :: garden of silk socklets by me. [ravelry]
yarn :: Noro Silk Garden, Color #84 and #47, 1 skein each.
needles :: US 7 (4.5 mm).
start-to-finish :: Oct 23-30, 2009.

gosh. did i really knit these all the way back in October? talk about belated project posts... these are nothing fancy. a few rows of k1p1 rib. i used short rows for the heels and toes. the broad lace leaf insert was extracted and improvised from the hanami socks pattern. (i cannot resist a leaf pattern, you know.)

really, while knitting them i thought they would be such fun mismatched socks to wear around the house to keep my frosty feet warm! i discovered that, when it comes to pairs of socks, i'm perhaps more fastidious than i thought; i wanted them to match. and because of that, i never wore them. ultimately, i gave them to a friend for the holidays. she loves them -- stashbusting success!

happy knitting!

when i first saw a picture of these mitts, i thought the bobbles represented the kodama, you know, those somewhat creepy little rattle-head spirits that wander in and out of the trees in Princess Mononoke? because of that, i just had to make a pair.

yeah. i took this picture while sitting in a meeting at work.

pattern :: Friends of the Forest Mittens by Katrin Silvius. [ravelry]
yarn :: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, Color #45, 1 Skein.
needles :: US 1 (2.25 mm).
start-to-finish :: Dec 3-11, 2009.

modifications :: i did not do the turned picot hem, since i worked most of this on my flights to and from Philadelphia (too finicky to work in semi-darkness). after seeing these mitts, i have to say, the picot hem really makes it prettier. but i adore my k1p1 ribbed mitts!

also, for some reason or other, the pattern didn’t line up after row 15 (i tend to make mistakes when i'm following written instructions and not charts), so using the project’s photo as a guide, i winged it. mostly, i just wanted it to look a bit more like leaves all around. but you can see from the photo below that i made some other nitpicky changes that i won't go into. of course, it wasn't until i had finished one side completely and looked at some other finished versions on ravelry that i realized i had made a pretty big mistake with the pattern.

while adam snores, i jot down some notes as i make my mods.

did you know there is supposed to be a person in the "forest"? i assumed it was a tree and while winging the pattern, intended to make it look more like a pine tree with extra bobbles for tree ornaments (for the holidays, you know). but ultimately, i didn't bother. because i thought the bobble was purely ornamental, i didn't think anything of it when i positioned it under the "tree"-top.

so now, my "friend of the forest" looks rather like a person bowing down -- to show his respects to the tree spirits, perhaps? rather, i like to think it looks like an Evangelion angel unit frolicking in Mononoke's forest. but, that's just me.

you might remember this yarn from a sweater vest i made for my husband last year. i absolutely love Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool and will probably knit many more projects with this in the future.

happy knitting!

the holidays really seemed to sneak up and speed past this year -- i hope everyone enjoyed themselves. Adam and i had dinner with friends (old and new), and i was finally able to give these two little girls their requested ponchos:

leila and josie, "how much longer do i have to smile?".

project :: leila's poncho by me!
yarn :: Rowan Big Wool, Color #033 Bubbled, 2 Skeins.
needles :: US 19 (15 mm).

project :: josie's capelet.
pattern :: Hooded Capelet with optional fair isle motif by Teva Durham.
yarn :: Rowan Big Wool, Color #031 Smooch, 2.1 Skeins.
needles :: US 19 (15 mm).

these two projects began as Teva Durham designs in some way or another. for josie, i followed the Hooded Capelet pattern from loop-d-loop, except i replaced all yarn-overs with m1-L/R increases to remove the eyelets. i wanted this to be a cozier knit for josie to wear during weekends in Tahoe with her family. also, i was in a bobble-making mood, so i used a picot bind off to finish.

for leila, i originally included a lace-leaf motif in her poncho so that it was similar to how i began my lace-leaf sweater dress (which you'll notice is another Teva Durham influenced project). but 3/4 of the way through, i realized i'd completely messed up the shoulder increases.

when i restarted the project, i didn't include the motif. it's a simple poncho that begins and ends with twisted rib and includes raglan shaping for the shoulders. i think the giant button was a nice touch. (not that you can see it!)

don't they look like little sprouts? ♥

project :: sprouts hat by me!
yarn :: Rowan Big Wool, Color #033 Bubbled, 0.95 Skein.
needles :: US 11 (8 mm).

i quickly whipped up this fun little project on Christmas Eve, just to finish up the rest of the pink yarn. i think it turned out pretty nicely, don't you?

happy knitting!

i know you're probably bored with this by now (i do have knitting to show!) but i just wanted to finish off writing about the rest of my trip. and because the timestamps are all wrong, i'm not sure which day i took these photos... but it's either day 4, 5, or 6. i really managed to pack a lot into just 6 days.

outside of rosie's, once-upon-a-time my lys.

of course, a trip to Philadelphia wouldn't be complete without a trip to Rosie's Yarn Cellar. the funny thing is, more often than not, i get lost trying to find this place. i don't know why. i mean, i lived only a few blocks away from there. luckily, my sister was with me. (one twin has the better sense of direction, and it isn't me.)

i know i know. my yarn stash is huge! in fact, my sister gave me almost half her stash, so, i didn't need to buy any more yarn. instead, i bought a pair of circular needles to knit a plain and simple pullover sometime in the near future.

approaching rittenhouse square.

in case you couldn't tell, i spent a lot of time walking through and around Rittenhouse Square. in fact, when i lived in the neighborhood, i used to walk out of my way just to pass through this park. on this day, i walked along the perimeter on my way to meet a friend, whom i work with, at La Colombe. she returned to San Francisco before me, but is now back in Philadelphia until the new year. i'm kind of jealous, actually.

preparing dinner with my cousins.

there are so many places we went that i didn't take pictures of... guess i'm somewhat a bad asian tourist. but, i just wanted to mention some of them, and i encourage you to check them out as well if you ever find yourself in Philadelphia!

one night, we had drinks at National Mechanics in olde city (ask them to make a cider and rum drink for you!) before meeting friends for dinner at the Pub and Kitchen before heading to quizzo night at Doobie's. the next day, we grabbed falafal sandwiches at Maoz after a couple of hours of walking around downtown. another night, we met with more friends for delicious dinner and drinks at the South Philadelphia Tap Room, which i was surprised to find was just a few blocks from my parent's house. and apparently, their neighborhood has been renamed, Newbold.

friends of the forest mitts!

oh yeah, the knitting -- i finished this first side while watching tv with my mom and adam. i actually modified them a good bit because somewhere after the 15th row, the pattern didn't seem to line up correctly. it wasn't until i was on the flight back home and half finished with the second side that i realized i made a pretty silly error. can you tell what it is?

happy knitting!

well, so much for blogging while i was on travel, huh--here i am back home in San Francisco. i'm glad to be home, but i have to say that this was probably one of the best trips back to Philly, since moving here 4 years ago.

day 2

here's the thing--when visiting Philly, we tend to fall into this routine of just eating at the places we used to eat and going to the places we used to go. so yeah, we had a cheesesteak our first night. and afterwards we went to doobies to meet our friends over drinks. but the next few days we decided to try new places, at our friends's recommendations. i think it really made the trip much more fun.

lunch with helen and bryan--aren't they ♥cute♥?

the next day, we had lunch with helen and bryan at Smokin' Betty's. my favorites were the small plates: cheesesteak springrolls and riblets. the chrispy chicken salad was also very tasty. but mostly, i was just happy to see the two of them--since helen was scheduled to fly out the next day to Australia, i knew we were unlikely to see more of bryan while we were in town. (at least i got to see the kitties, bon-bon and patrick!)

local favorites!

afterwards, adam needed to do some work, so i wandered around the city a bit. inevitably, i found myself standing in front of Loop and Spool. i was very tempted to buy hanks and hanks of lorna's laces, but i resisted them and everything in the sales bins. (so hard!) i did buy a pattern for baby things to sew for my brother's baby girl--we're expecting her any day now.

day 3

saturday dawned cold and rainy--like, icy rain--but, we warmed up over brunch with jim and abby at a lovely restaurant in old city, Farmacia. their grilled cheese sandwich was delicious!

jim, abby, and adam. can you tell who's not used to the cold?

that night, we went out to New Hope for a party with adam's extended family. it snowed the entire time we were there. in fact, i think it's snowed each time we've attended this party. here's the view from our cousin's back porch:

straight up, a winter fantasy.

well, i hope i'm not boring you with the details of my trip. i'm sure you're all wondering if i'm still knitting at all... i am!

fingerless mitts with bobbles!

i started these on the flight to Philly and almost finished them on the flight back home. almost.

happy knitting!

it's been a while and i hope everyone's enjoying the holiday season. (i love this time of year!) i have so many projects to blog about, but just haven't been able to find the time. now, here i am in Philadelphia and while i force myself to have some downtime, i'll try to catch up and write about my completed projects and this trip.

one of many statues outside of City Hall.

the flight was very quick and pretty uneventful. adam claims we hit some turbulence just before descending into PHL, but i didn't feel anything. we landed mid-afternoon yesterday to find the city gloomy and overcast. which really seems to describe the city well. still, the moment i stepped off the plane, i really felt like i was home again.

avenue of the arts, Broad and Walnut Streets.

we dropped our things at my parent's place (three blocks away from Broad and Snyder streets) and headed out towards our old neighborhood (Rittenhouse Square). it was Thursday, after all, and Thursday means Doobie's. (one item checked off the list!)

waiting for friends outside of Rittenhouse Square.

dinner was cheese steaks (another item checked off the list!) at Gusto. this is a pre-Doobie's custom, you know. (Gusto, not cheese steaks -- we didn't really eat cheese steaks that frequently while we lived in this city.) now, we can spend the rest of the week eating healthier! i'm looking forward to cooking dinner with my mom this weekend. there's really no where else that i can eat Cambodian food as delicious as my mom makes it.

today, i hope to revisit my favorite knitting haunts, namely Rosie's Yarn Cellar and Loop, before we drive out to have dinner with my in-laws. maybe i'll run into you there!?

happy knitting!