ta da!! it's FINALLY done. i can hardly believe it, too. it seems like i've been working on this forever, no? well, today's the day when i'm happy to say, hello kyoto!

yarn: tahki cotton classic; maroon, beige and white
needles: US7 denise needles (two sizes bigger than called for in pattern)
pattern: kyoto at knitty.

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i was chugging along on kyoto last night when i ran out of beige yarn and of course the extra skein was stashed away at the very bottom of my plastic yarn tub and still needed to be wound up. this always happens to me! it must be my knitting karma to bear. i tried on kyoto when i had reached this point and i'm happy to say that i really love the look of the longer sash with option B striping. it's gonna be fabulous! and i'm going to finish it and wear it rhinebeck. you'll all know exactly who i am, for sure.

since kyoto was dead for the night, i shifted over to the angel socks. i got to the toe the night before after trying one toe style (star of four point from knitting vintage socks), not liking it, and then ripping it.

almost at the toe

what's a girl to do? well, i really loved the toe on my embossed leaves socks so i adapted that pattern for the number of stitches that i had and the number of rows i wanted to do to give the toe the right length and finished the first sock!

one angel sock done!

it fits like a dream. i think that this is my best sock yet! (but i say this whenever i finish a sock) and here's a close-up of the toe.

if you want to do something similar it's really easy. here's what i did.

1. i had 64 stitches and knew that i wanted my toe to be around 24 rows long (i measured my row gauge and then measured the amount of toe sticking out of the sock to come up with this number.)
2. i knew i wanted to end up with 8 stitches at the end to pull the yarn through and tighten up the top of the toe (NO KITCHENER!)
3. 64 - 8 = 56 stitches that need to be decreased away. set that number aside.
4. i'll divide the stitches that i have (64) into 4 equal parts (16), put stitch markers in at the 16 stitch point and decrease 1 stitch per section (p2tog) at the end of each section. this is a decrease of 4 stitches per round.
5. i'm decreasing 4 stitches per round so that means i have to do a total of 14 rounds to get down to 8 stitches (56 / 4 = 14).
6. but i want the toe to be 24 rounds long so i'll do: 1 decrease round and 1 knit only round, 10 times (20 rows), and then 4 decrease rounds (4 rows), for a total of 24 rows!
7. perfecto.

my decrease of choice is to knit to the last two stitches in the section and then purl those 2 stitches together. they give that nice little detail on the toe. i love this so much more than a boxy toe with kitchener. it makes my feet look smaller and that's great by me.

so, now that one sock is done, i'll cast on for the other tonight after i make some more progress on kyoto. in my experience, my second sock always goes much quicker than the first because the first sock usually requires me to think through and plan for any modifications that i might want.. or if it's a complicated pattern, it may take me longer to wrap my brain around the instructions. but by the time i've reached the second sock, i know all that and can cruise right along. i think that this was the main problem with doing two socks at once. i often have to rip back once or twice in a sock in order to achieve my goal and ripping back two socks was a royal pain. i learned a good lesson there.

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wow, i'm exceptionally sporadic with updates lately, huh? i won't post for a whole week and then i get a craving to post three times over two days! i love this blog. it's such a great outlet for me (it's been going on for over 3 years now! had my 3 year blogiversary on sept 30th) but i never feel like i HAVE to do stuff to keep it going. somedays it seems as if it has a life of its own. i'm thankful for that, and i'm thankful for you sticking around and reading my ramblings. YOU'RE THE BESTEST!

ok, i got *almost* to the half-way point of the kyoto sash last night and tried it on before bed. i think that when i originally started this project (meaning, when i bought the yarn for it over a year ago) i didn't properly read the description of the garment, "cropped" being the key word the escaped me.

kyoto and the bump

i've actually always hated cropped shirts. i've NEVER had a nice flat stomach. before i became pregnant, i would do over 700 abdominal exercises in a workout (and i would workout 3 or 4 times a week, so add that up and you have a WHOLE LOTTA abs) and not see much of a result. it was sort of maintaining a little pot that would never go away but thankfully never got bigger. now, i don't do situps anymore because there's a baby in there so that whole area has gone to the birds. someday i may be able to get it looking ok again but i'm not going to count my chickens. it's not like it really matters in the grand scheme of things. it's just one of my "problem" areas. (and really, to admit it, i love the belly. i love giving it a good rub knowing that there's something in there that's causing it's ballooning and not just too many oreo cookies.)

i have to say, though, maternity shirts are awesome! they are SO LONG! i never have to pull them down. once i'm no longer pregnant, i might consider buying smaller sized maternity shirts from the gap and old navy because i have never felt more comfortable! so nice.

so here we have my dillemma. as you can see in the picture above, kyoto was meant to be cropped, but i'm not going to have any of that (pregnant or not.) i've come up with a few ideas for the sash. i'd like it to be 7.5/8.0 inches long (it's just shy of 4" now) but i think that large expanse of beige might be a little dull because i'm making the sash a good two inches longer than it was meant to be.

here are the four ideas of sash construction:

choice A

choice B

choice C

choice D

choice A is the original design which is still in contention and these are the other three that i've come up with. one caveat: i'm not willing to rip back. this is one project where i didn't rip back ONCE. not ONCE!! i'm amazed, personally. i can hardly believe it, actually, so let's not break the record by saying, "you should rip back and put another stripe near the top." not gonna happen. all of the designs i'm proposing here require no ripping. so give me your opinion!

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the eviction notice was posted and being the good tenant that he is, baby N packed his bags and made his way to the real world this saturday morning. congrats to kate and chet! we're all so happy for you! i would post pictures but i don't have the parents' permission. the good news is that the baby N blanket is done (finished last night) and i will be travelling to NJ on saturday to present it and hopefully snap some pictures of it and the baby.

baby N blanket almost complete

due to the sun setting at around 7PM nowadays, i asked KP to take this picture just short of the blanket being done so that you could see just how big and stripey it is. personally, i LOVE this blanket. the mission falls cotton is so springy and soft and just perfect in this pattern. i just have to weave in the rest of the ends and give it a good wash before saturday. i'll move the project to the 2006 finished projects page once i have pictures.

so i was knitting like a madwoman all weekend! i wanted to finish the baby blanket so that i can get on to other things but it was too big to carry around with me. so on saturday, while i administrated the auditions for the second annual project playwright, i knit on the first angel sock and listened to my ipod. let me just say that i have found zen and it is the garter stitch short row heel using the misocrafty psso technique.

the zen of heels

it's brilliant, easy to do, and requires almost no thought whatsoever. i didn't even have any help from printouts at the auditions. i knit it entirely by memory. very zen. the psso method was super easy as well and there are no discernable holes in the heel.

no holes

i'm truly happy.

this is only the beginning of socks for me this month as i'm participating in socktoberfest! i'd like to get jamming on some knee highs soon (i have the perfect brooklyn handspun set aside for them) so i'm really going to work hard to get these finished as soon as possible.

i also knit on kyoto last night as well, but no progress shot. i'm not taking any more pictures of it till it's done and i'm wearing it, by jove!

and to top things off this morning here are a few things to note:

• lion brand is bringing back cotton ease! with new colors! huzzah! i see some some more baby blankets in my future.
• the october magknits is out. i love the minimalist sweater. sigh. if only i weren't pregnant.
• i'm just over 16 weeks preggers now. around week 20 we'll hopefully know the baby's sex!

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so it seems that lots of people this year overbought their stash and have no need to accumulate more, huh? that's ok :) i have alternate plans for most of the yarn in the last post. my mom has asked for the assorted cotton and someone else is going to take the sock yarn off my hands. i'll leave the post up for a few more days in case anyone has second thoughts (that tahki cotton classic is a STEAL! especially if you need some for a mason dixon log cabin blanket!) but i do need your advice on two other matters.

1. NYC residents! i'm seeking a charity that will take yarn donations. i have a large bag of mixed yarn from the spiders that needs to go to a place that will use it. i was thinking that a senior's center, domestic abuse center, or other women's center might be good choices. i've done plenty of google searches and asking around but have come up empty. if you know of someplace that will allow me to drop off this yarn in manhattan or brooklyn (no shipping! that would be crazy), please leave it in the comments.
2. on a more non-localized charity note, i'm looking for charities that will take things like simple knitted hats, scarves, etc. also for a good cause. i know plenty of you knit for charity but a lot of the names are escaping me. i figure i can whip up some really quick and easy hats with a lot of this leftover yarn and that they would be greatly appreciated by a charity that collects such things. also, please leave names/URLs in the comments. thanks!

a quick update on all of my projects:

the baby N blanket is past the half-way point and is getting easier to handle, row by row, as i'm decreasing one stitch per row. i already wove in the ends on the first half of the blanket so that it wouldn't be a crushing task at the end.

the angel sock is ready for its heel! i made good progress on this first sock at a play reading this weekend. i'm going to do a garter stitch short row heel using the wrap method outlined by misocrafty.

wow, the contrasting yarn looks really gold in this picture. it's more of a wheat color, i swear. i took all these photos this morning as i was running out the door. should have color corrected them! kyoto has the beginning of its sash! horray! i looked at the photo on knitty and made sure to do the opposite (incidentally, her instructions in the pattern are correct.. it's left over right but the photo is backwards. my guess is that knitty flipped the photo.) i noticed also in the photo that the cross over on the front is pretty wide, but when i tried it at home, it looked horrible. it looked best crossed right at the front. so i'm working on this every now and again when i'm tired of the baby blanket. but the baby blanket HAS to be finished soon. my cousin, kate, is ready to pop! she's posting her eviction notice soon. i must knit furiously!

speaking of furious knitting, check out this really cute youtube video i found this morning (runs about 7 minutes, but it's worth it.)

the last knit

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thank you to everyone who left such kind comments considering the peanut and our expectation of a new baby. it is very exciting! and a new chapter to our life is approaching that i'm both happy and anxious about. there are times that i sit back and can believe that college or high school were just yesterday and then i remember that my 10 year high school reunion was already two years ago! where does the time go? it just seems to slip by more and more each day. i'm sure that time will speed up even more once the baby enters our lives. it'll be interesting to see what happens.

back to san francisco (though that trip is already a week past!), KP and i drove back into the city late on thursday just in time to catch rush hour traffic across the bay bridge. first off, damn that bridge is long! and what are all those cranes for that are just sitting off to the side? i'm not sure. we decided to spend the last few days of our trip at the W hotel and, boy, is that a lovely hotel. really swanky and nice and the staff were outrageously competent. i highly recommend it.

on thursday night, we decided to take it easy because of my knees and had dinner at lucky creation which is a must for all vegetarians! oh my, the sweet and sour pork was AMAZING! they have the best fake meat ever and our HUGE dinner was less than $20. it's a bit of a hole-in-the-wall and definitely dress down if you do decide to go. but don't be turned off by their decor. the food is excellent.

mmmm, hot tea

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well, new york city is miserable, my friends. rainy, humid, and overcast. from what i gather of other bloggers out there, the rest of the east coast is in the same state so i know i'm not alone. summer really knows how to come to a grinding halt, huh? with all of the grey skies in the vicinity, it's been harder than usual to take pictures of my kyoto progress. but this morning, i had had enough and i used the dreaded flash in order to bring you blog content. you can thank me later.

all seamed up!

here's the top half! all sewn up and the majority of the ends are woven in. you'll be happy to know that i tried her on and it looks like she'll fit just fine. the remaining ends you see here will be woven into the seams that are created by the collar and the sash.

speaking of the collar, that's done too. huzzah!

miles of double seed stitch

it was still a little damp this morning when i gave it the touch test. cotton + blocking + humidity = long-ass dry time. i even ran the air conditioner last night (which i didn't need to do.. it was quite comfy inside) in order to suck some humidity out of the air! i'm hoping it'll be dry when i get home because i'd like to pin it on and get ready to backstitch the M.F. on there.

boy, i still can't believe how monogamous i've been to this project! at this point, i just want the sucker done and ready for some fall wearin'. i think that i've learned a lot of good lessons with this project:

1. i can seam just fine but i don't particularly enjoy it. all further projects will be three seams or less.
2. my stitch gauge in flat stockinette seems to be fine but i like knitting in the round better (this ought to make #1 possible.)
3. i really miss the option of having more than one project going at once... especially when i'm feeling the late summer knitting blahs.

so, referring to #3, KP and i leave on saturday for san francisco. i just checked the TSA's website and knitting needles and small blunt scissors can still be brought on the plane but, alas, a big bottle of water cannot. i'm totally dreading this flight! I NEED WATER! i will DIE on this flight without it. i walk into a plane and immediately i have a dry throat and my contacts become adhered to my eyeballs. by the time i get off, i'll be a raisin. the only way to combat this is for me to be a real pain in the ass, ask for water every ten minutes from the flight attendants, and knit knit knit.

so i'm thinking that i'll bring the baby log cabin blanket along with me (remember that project? i barely do) and start some socks! horray! I MISS SOCKS! the last pair i made were the grey blobs and we all know how much fun they were to knit, right? so i think that i'm going to take a page from grumperina's handbook and make some fun, plain stockinette socks out of my sweet georgia angel superwash sock yarn. it'll be my very own travelling socks! i'm very excited about it. i need a break from kyoto. she will be staying home, for sure.

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a bit blurry, but i was seaming this weekend.

having a good time?

got the shoulders seamed up and put in the sleeves. i'm pretty happy with the way they turned out... i think. though one of my shoulder seams is a bit bulkier than the others by one stitch and i think that's due to my slightly uneven shoulder seam. no matter. no one is going to notice except for me and it's definitely something that i can live with.

now, it's on to the sides and up the sleeves! then i'm going to cast on for the collar.

man, this sweater is taking forever! but i can't tell if it's just me or the sweater itself. i think that it's me. my motivation is very low lately. i think that i've hit the late summer dulldrums. heck, it took me four days to pick out a new book to read after finishing the last tale of the otori (review to come) and i'm never without a book for more than a day or so. i just couldn't resolve myself to choose something new. in fact, this morning i chose to re-read a book i've already read before (but never reviewed so you'll see it on the reading blog). oh well, i'm hoping that with the fall approaching and a nice, long week vacation to san francisco over labor day week, i'll be back in the swing of things!

oooh, speaking of san fran, yarn yarn YARN! must hit all the fancy yarn shops. any suggestions?

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where did this week go? i look around and i can't believe it's friday. but i've been kicking my butt lately and been very tired at night so between watching a little TV here and there and going to bed early, it's been slow going on the knitting front. but i have more progress to show off!

yep, the two fronts of kyoto are done!

love those stitches. man, i have been blessed with even knitting. my knitting and purling are exactly the same and i don't know how i'm lucky enough to have that happen! i remember not long ago when i realized that (oh my) i was purling totally wrong. i was wrapping the yarn in the opposite direction and twisting my stitches. i retaught myself to purl and now i've got this! couldn't be happier.

oh, and if you were wondering just how much this yarn bleeds. here's a pic of it after two rinses.

yikes!

have a great weekend!

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first of all, i'd like to thank everyone for their well wishes this past week. i think that i'm almost all healed, though i still have a cough that sounds nasty on the best of days. at least i'm managing to get lots of sleep!

despite being sick, i did manage to do some work on kyoto. as of this moment i have now finished: 2 sleeves, the back, and the left front. i'm working on the right front now and plan on having it done by the weekend. in anticipation of being done with the upper portion of the body, i decided to block some of the pieces last night and this morning. during the blocking process, i came to a conclusion about the collar. it really has to be knit separately and sewn on later instead of picking up stitches like i wanted to.

why? because this yarn bleeds! the water came out dark pink several times! if i'm going to block the top, sew it all together and then pick up stitches for the sash, i certainly don't want the unblocked collar bleeding on the lighter colored sash. oh well.

sleeves blocking

ugh, taking pictures in the morning is such a bad idea. they always come out looking dull and blurry. sorry! i'll be sure to take some better pictures this weekend. as you can see, the sleeves are just big rectangles (almost squares but i blocked them a little longer) with no shaping. they should be easy to seam up.

back blocking

ugh, another crappy picture! i'm obviously a little off my game here. this photo was made worse by the fact that the fabric is still wet which makes it dark and ugly looking. i swear that the color is much better when it's dry and presented in daylight.

soon, the seaming will begin! it's my first big project that requires lots of seaming so hopefully i can make it work.

(i love tim gunn. i've become a real project runway junkie these past few weeks while sick. i rented all the previous seasons and camped myself on the couch with them all day. i'm so glad that i live/work in new york! i have a strong desire to take classes now on how to drape and make patterns. maybe?)

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aaahhhhhh.. having a full week off from work is such a major luxury nowadays. the bosses always tell you take the time off before the year is over but it's not easy when there's only ONE other person to cover for you. in this case, the week off was well deserved and over way too quickly.

sunset in cape cod

so last weekend, KP and i played it cool and went to LI to visit friends and generally hang out around the house enjoying our time off. on monday, we took to our rental car and drove up to cape cod to visit with our friends lee and jackie in lee's mom's house. lee and jackie also brought along their three vivacious girls just to show us what life is like with three children all under the age of 5. needless to say, it's fun and hectic at the same time.

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this post is severely lacking in progress or pictures, sorry to say. i actually broke down over the weekend and started working on the second sock for KP. he's been so patient waiting for these socks that i feel i should just knit on them and FINISH THEM ALREADY! i've been working on them far too long and i feel guilty when i glance over at my WIP bag and see them languishing with the clapotis. so since the last massive update i've done one more repeat on clapotis, 4" of the second kyoto sleeve, and a few inches on the second sock for KP.

on saturday, KP and i rented a car and drove up to connecticut to visit our family for the day. while he played frisbee with his brother, i knit on one of the lounge chairs and chatted with my father and mother in law. i got a little flack from one of the guests but i think that he just wanted to know more about what i was doing so after a few jabs in the ribs, he was asking about how i learned to knit and everything was ok after that. the problem with driving to any destination, though, is that i'm always the navigator and have to give directions and watch for signs AND i get car sick easily so i can't knit in the car. saturday was pretty shot knitting-wise.

sunday, i got a chance to see lisa and veronique's new, cute apartment before lisa and i headed over to jess's place for some world cup action. i must say that i'm pretty happy with my world cup participation this time around. KP and i watched almost every single game (except for that one that KP accidentally deleted from the DVR! oh well) at home after work. we managed to avoid most spoilers during the day so it was as if we were watching them live with everyone else. the univision coverage was SO much better than ABC. yeah, i don't understand a lick of spanish but at least i don't have to listen to american color commentary which is repetitious at best. i watched the last game at jess's in english and was surprised at just how bad it is! ugh. jess and her lovely husband put out a great spread of cheese, crackers, chips, dip, fruit, wine, and beer. they were great hosts and all their friends were nice to hang out with.. though i found myself surrounded by france supporters and i was rooting for italy.

anyway, i'm very VERY happy that italy won! i love italy. our trip there was probably one of the best trips we have ever taken. the people we met there were warm and welcoming, the food and wine amazing, and my maternal grandfather is italian as well. i have much to love about italy. the more i think about it though, they got really lucky at the end. if zidane hadn't flipped out and headbutted materazzi (i love the announcer in this clip.. "POUR QUOI? POUR QUOI?" jeez, what does it look like?), the french team may have been able to pull through in the penalty kicks. from what i've seen online today, zidane flipped out because the italian player was talking smack at him? give me a break! this is a professional sport filled with testosterone. if you can't take the trash talking, you might as well not play. you have to be able to turn away or tell the other player his mother is a goat. anything but give in and resort to hitting or striking another player on the field. materazzi may have insulted him but zidane should learn to control his temper.

anyway, i have a full work week ahead of me but next week, KP and i are off! we're going to visit friends and family around the tri-state area and make a trip to cape cod! i can't wait. i really need a vacation and some extended knitting time.

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aaahhhh, four day weekends. why can't all weekends be four days long? i guess we wouldn't get as much done at work, right? but i certainly did a lot at home! i tested. i crafted. i triumphed over my to-do list. it was blissful and i still have a few hours left to enjoy with some prosecco, some kyoto, some world cup soccer, and hopefully some fireworks.

but i know that you all want to see what i was up to this weekend and i have digital proof to show you.

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sorry to all those lovely posters that suggested i should swatch for birch and see what it would look like. i just wasn't "feeling" it and hence it was ripped off the needles yesterday morning. i have to say that i'm happy with myself for doing it. i don't regret it for a second. when i got it off the needles and took a good look at it, i liked it even less so i guess that just wasn't meant to be. i'll come back to birch though at some point. i love that shawl. i just have to have the right yarn for it. maybe some from habu like veronique or kid silk haze like jess and jess.

so i moved on, and well, i hate to say it but i cast on for another clapotis.

clapotis #2

i know, boring right? blogland is SO OVER clapotis. i've even made one before!

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and five needle sizes.

after starting my first swatch last night at the point, i began to despair. i can't believe that the pattern author ever got 5 spi with size US5 needles and tahki cotton classic! it's just not possible. i swatched with 5s and got 7 spi. then 6s = 6.5 spi, 7s = 6 spi, 8s = 5.5 spi. and that's where i stopped because the US8 fabric looked like crap and there's no way that i would wear it. so, about an hour ago, i stopped knitting and had two swtaches to play around with, the 8s and the 7s.

swatchin'

here we have the US7 swatch on top and the US8 on the bottom. the weather here is crappy so sorry about the flash photo. after blocking, the US7 swatch comes out just about perfect and the fabric is more substantial and less loose than the US8. i think US7 is the final contender! which, i may remind you is two needle sizes bigger than called for. hmmmm.. i hope this is the least of my problems.

now, i'm also working on birch too (yes, i finally casted on. it only took 3 hours.. yes, 3 hours) and i have to say that i'm not at all pleased with this yarn's hairiness.

the start of birch or the end?

when i set it on the table at the point yesterday, jess remarked that it looked like my pet had curled up next to me. many people reached out and stroked it like it was a cat. yes, it's very hairy. it certainly is pretty and i especially like the color and the way that it looks, but i don't think that it's the right yarn for this project. the best part about birch is the leaves and i think that they would be totally obscured by the hairiness. thoughts anyone? i'm prepared to frog and save this yarn for a different project. i have 1000 yards of it so I WILL be using it (that, and i just love sweet georgia and will never diss the yarn for its hairiness.. it will eventually find its perfect pattern soulmate, i'm sure.)

give me your opinion on birch! frog or forge on? i'm thinking frog. it just doesn't look right to me.

the other project i started, i pretty much finished in one night.

the mighty crochet hook

this is the blackout sleep mask of my own design. do not check your monitor, it IS crocheted but i have a reason for that. last year, i made a sleep mask because during the summer it's like the face of the sun in our bedroom. so intensely bright it can wake up the dead everyday at 5AM. i just can't sleep with all that light! hence the mask which i whipped up in sugar and cream cotton. it worked great for a few months until it became soft and so stretched out that it doesn't really fit anymore (though i continue to use it every night.)

so i started a new one of my own design, crocheted for greater stability and the least amount of stretchiness. i'm using debbie bliss cathay and a 4.00MM hook. so far i like it. what you see here is the last stage before i crocheted a contrasting border on it and it grew by 30%. sigh. WAY too big i think. i'm gonna throw it in the wash and dryer and see what happens. if it's still too big, then downsizing will take place as i have plenty of yarn left over to try again. this project is also where all of the old bras that i just purged from my wardrobe will come in handy! i cut off all the straps before throwing them out and have plenty of expandable elastic to attach to the mask. huzzah for recycling!

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into a sock!

an overexposed sock

excuse the brightness of this photo, it was the morning and i have no patience to correct things before my first coffee of the day. but, it's an actual sock ladies and gents and it fits KP perfectly! i like the round toe in this pattern a lot. it was easy to memorize and required no grafting. i sit here and can't believe this is the only project i have on the needles right now! i've been meaning to cast on for birch now for close to three weeks and still haven't had the time or energy to cat on 299 stitches. every night i get home close to 8, shower (because i just came from the gym), sit on the couch and go over the blogs i missed during the day, eat dinner, and then it's 9:30/10:00 and i barely have the brain power to watch TV much less start a project.

so over the next few days, i'm working on the kyoto pattern (i wish they could correct the massive underlining on this page.. someone forgot to close their tags!) see the yarn all balled up in the picture above? i didn't wind up all the skeins yet. i always have a feeling that i might abandon any project due to frustration before i start it and if i have to sell of the yarn then it'll look better in its original form. defeatist, no? well, i come prepared. prepared to fail and then completely happy and surprised when i don't! this is how i get through most challenges. prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

anyway, i'm planning on doing some significant changes to kyoto.

1. i will not BO at the shoulders on either the front or back pieces and will instead leave the stitches live so that after blocking i can use a three-needle BO.
2. once the front, back, and sleeves are all blocked and put together, i'll pick up stitches around the bottom to make the sash. i had heard from a few people that kyoto came out really short for them. this way i can try it on as i go and make sure the length is good for me. i don't mind increasing the width of the sash a little to compensate. an obi on a kimono is usually very wide, stretching from the breast to upper hip area.
3. i also plan to pick up stitches around the neckline for the collar and knit those, flipping the instructions to accommodate knitting from the inside out, not outside in.

originally i was going to knit the sleeves in the round like a big tube since they have no shaping and decided against it. really, the sleeves should mimic the sleeves of a kimono and drape downward ever so slightly. the weight of the hem there should accomplish this nicely.

this'll be a big project for me! i've only ever done a small amount of seaming, and that recently on the raspberry ribbed baby jacket. but it went well and i like the mattress stitch a lot. i've never sewn in sleeves and never done a three needle bind off. but that's why i have the knitters book of finishing techniques! i love this book. it's just the right size for portability, it lays flat when you open it so you can have it near you and not need to hold it, and its illustrations are well-drawn. this and the monste stanley knitter's handbook are two keepers.

so hopefully i'll have a new project or two on the needles this weekend! if all else fails, i can always knit on grey blob #2 which wouldn't be that bad as i'd like to be done with these. i have some nice sock yarn waiting in the wings *evil smile*

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