the only things that i would do differently if i were to make it again (and i just might!): make the arm holes smaller with less arm increases, and not make the cowl so scandalously low. i have to wear a tank top underneath it! it’s way too revealing otherwise.

anyway, here are the pictures and stats.

no-head shot.. no makeup and glasses don’t make for a pretty model

yarn: munsell merino 150 rainbow color no. 136 (this yarn is found in japan only)

needles: US5 and US4 boye needle master and susan bates (thanks amanda!)

pattern: the somewhat cowl by wendy bernard of knit and tonic

sorry for the short post but big love is on and since my DVR mysteriously decided not to record the sopranos (damn time warner! can’t they do anything right?) it’s the only TV i’m really going to watch tonight. will update backpack tomorrow.

i finally picked up all the stitches for the cowl part of my somewhat cowl hence all the two by two ribbing.

the cowl is upon us!

i’ve got two inches here and i’m shooting for seven because i want a floppy cowl like katie does. this is a great late night project. the 2×2 ribbing is completely mindless and the US4 susan bates needles are so much easier to handle than the US5s (the join seems to be smoother.) i also started a quickie scarf using a bunch of aurora 8 that i’ve had since i started knitting. the majority of it was bought on my first ever trip to school products (MEMORIES!!) this is the zigzag scarf from scarf style.

i should have flipped this image. oh well. i have no time to go back and correct it.

so i hope that everyone who’s downloaded the vino arm warmers pattern is loving it. i checked my stats to see how many downloads there were and i’m quite impressed! there seem to be more lurkers out there than i originally thought (hi lurkers!)

anyway, the only other pieces of news i have are: 1) i’ve decided to install mint on my blog to check stats. i’ll let you know how the installation goes and how i like the tool once it’s up and running; 2) i’m actually thinking about reading dune again. i can’t believe it but my mind is telling me to pick up the book and read the whole series again. i think that i’m desperate to write a series of essays on dune as well, covering all the different aspects and plots that are contained within it. it’s a shame that no other book besides the wind-up bird chronicles has ever so captured my love as this book has. (what i’m neglecting to mention here is that i’ve read dune almost fifty times already. yep, i’m a freak.)

bloody good drink

this is the only good part about winter.. it’s when blood oranges are in season and they are a particular favorite of mine. blood orange gin and tonics remind me of italy which is the first place i had ever had one. drunk and insane partying with our italian friends all over veneto. good times.

i’ve also been working like a dog at work. this is a three-day week for me yet it felt like three months. so much to do and so little time.. and i won’t be there tomorrow for any of the craziness! huzzah! i’m going to sleep in late, knit, and get my hair done. i couldn’t ask for a better friday.

for those of you who have been stopping by from craftster, i’ve finally taken a picture of my underarm decreases on the somewhat cowl. this was the second iteration of this pattern and i believe that it’s the best fitting one for my body.

underarm decreases

the dilemma: my chest size is large in proportion to my arm size so the sleeves were coming out absolutely huge!

the first solution was to decrease a bit after knitting a few rounds. this didn’t work at all. when i put it on there was all of this bunchy fabric right under the armpit. i realized that i had to decrease away those picked up stitches (and then some) if it was going to fit. so i whipped up this little pattern…

pick up and knit the amount of stitches specifiied in the pattern under the arm. placing marker in center.

knit 2 rounds.

*knit to 6 stitches before marker, ssk, k1, ssk, k1, pm, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, knit to end of round. knit 1 round* repeat from * 3 times more (4 total).

*knit to 2 stitches before marker, ssk, k1, pm, k1, k2tog, knit to end of round. knit 1 round * repeat from * 5 more rounds (6 total).

knit to ribbing… decrease to a multiple of 4 for 2×2 ribbing.. etc.

looks like it’s working for now. anyway, i’m at 8.8 repeats of my flower basket shawl which i should really get to right now.. and there’s ice skating on! huzzah! (i’m so glad to be home.)

snow on my temp gauge

i’m just excited that i didn’t have to go out in it. i’m not a snow person despite growing up in michigan (or maybe because.. hmmm..)

snow on the cars

anyway, before the big blizzard hit, friday evening was my usual spiders night at the point where i got a chance to cast on for my new knitting olympics project.

i think that the biggest challenges on this project are going to be following the chart and keeping my place when i set it down and pick it back up again. i’ve already made one teeny tiny mistake and, though i can barely tell it’s there myself, i think that it brings down my artistic score by at least half a point.

mess of stitches

anyway, it was great to start this project at the point with the spiders cheering me on. the cast-on was a little rough but lovely veronique and virginia both helped me get it right. from there on in, it’s all chart chart chart. as of this shot…

after two chart repeats

i’ve finished the upper basket chart and two repeats of the lower basket chart (i’m going to shoot for 8 total repeats since i have so much of this yarn) while watching veronica mars on DVD (love this show! thank god for netflix..) i do love the yarn, by the way. it’s a bit thicker than the alpaca that’s called for but it’s so soft and the color just glows. oh, and i’ve also followed veronique’s recommendation and am using a different double decrease than what’s called for in the pattern. we both like the centered decreases better so i’m using the dd that’s in the jaywalkers socks: slip two together knitwise, k1, and psso. it’s making a nice vein down the center of all the leaves.

leaf

when i’m tired of reading a chart at the end of the night, but not too tired to go to bed, i switch over to knitting the somewhat cowl. i have, since the last update, bound off the body, picked up sitiches on one sleeve and knit that down to the ribbing. here you can see my waist shaping…

waist shaping

and here you can see the decreases i did under the arm to make the sleeve a little more slender.

arm decreases

i’m so happy with how this has been knitting along. i’m taking my time on it but still really loving every minute of the project. a few more pictures in the gallery. ok, i’m off to knit some more before calling it a night.

in closing, i’d just like to point out two things non-knitting related: 1) dick cheney shot someone today. yes, the leaders of our country like to take guns and hunt poor defenseless little birds. they don’t seem to be good shots either. 2) this is a spectacular shot of the sombrero galaxy. why is is that we have to put the hubble out of commission again? (p.s. how many other galaxies can you see in this picture? amazing, no?)

so, now that that problem is over and done with, let’s move on to the more important stuff in my life. last friday was joy’s going away party at dragonfly. let me just say that it was sad and happy all at once. we’re really going to miss you joy! but heck, you’ve moved to hawaii! i’m so jealous.

me and joy

the spiders, once again, showed that they can put back just as many drinks as any average new yorker. we managed to hit dragonfly at happy hour so the alcohol was flowing rather early.

veronique, kaitlyn, amanda, sarah, and lisa.

kaitlyn dutifully stuck to her water with lemon. she’s such a trooper. lisa told me she loved me about five times and i sat on sarah’s lap. all in all a damn good time. there were other spiders there too (sandra and marie.. sorry there may have been others but my memory is a little foggy.)

ben shows off his noro scarf

then some significant others showed up and all sorts of boasting occured. it was a good time but it just reminds us that one of us has left our web and another is leaving us soon as well. sad.

i wish that i had some knits to show you. i’ve been utterly swamped at work (i’m taking 15 minutes today to blog and then it’s back to the coding coding coding) and each night i’ve been getting the smallest amount of progress done on my somewhat cowl. i’ve finished with the body and have moved on to the right sleeve. first i tried two circular needles but it was one boye needle and one denise and was way too awkward. so then i tried extending my boye needles and doing magic loop and that worked for almost two rows when i gave up on that too. i love having that boye needle master but the cords are WAY too stiff! i’m beginning to think that an addi purchase is in order.. just buy the longest one they have and use it for everything. they’re cords are so nice! anyway, i resorted to using my susan bates dpns and i think that i’ve found a winner.

hopefully i’ll have a sleeve to show you over the weekend and the beginning of my flower basket shawl that i’m casting on for tomorrow night at the point (i have a birthday party to go to after the point otherwise i would go home and cast-on during the opening ceremonies so i have to cheat the slightest bit.. after all, we’re six hours behind turino so the opening ceremonies would have already happened!! ok, it’s no excuse but give me a break. i’ve had the week from hell.)

** means “i’m so busy!” in japanese, which reminds me, i have to translate that article for helane at the point. crikey! what a week!

so it came as no surprise that a news crew showed up at the point on friday night.

¿usted hace punto?

what did surprise us was 1) the news crew was from/for a spanish news channel and that they were hoping to elevate the craft of knitting in spain by doing this piece, 2) they avoided the spiders table till the very end. do we look intimidating or what?

i guess we do what with all of the craftiness going on at the spiders table on friday. veronique was almost done with her absolutely gorgeous lady elanor stole.

lady e: lookin’ good!

we also had one of our largest turnouts including some new spiders who had not been able to make it out to meet us before: iraida of bronxie knits and carrie of every word’s a purl. colleen of subway knitter fame also made it to the point for a little knitting with the spiders. colleen, it was great to have you there!

unfortunately the point was very hot that night due to above normal temperatures for new york and i was sweating too much to take more pictures.. that and the camera crew was making me very nervous. but they did eventually make it around to our table and interviewed amanda, lisa, katie, colleen and i. it was very funny and novel and i hope that it doesn’t happen everytime we’re there. it’s quite distracting.

in other news, i’ve made great progress on my somewhat cowl. i’ve joined for the body and already tried it on!

it fits!

lookin’ good. the body fits just fine but i think that the sleeves might be a little big. my arms are small in comparison to my trunk so i may do a few underarm decreases a round or two after picking up stitches. i’m also wondering if i should put in any waist shaping? has anyone done this yet?

i also finished the first embossed leaves sock so i won’t post any more progress pictures of this until they are both done. this is your last chance to see them!

this is the first time i have completed something where i didn’t screw up. this is also the first time i followed a pattern to the T and didn’t find one mistake. not one! i love the toe on these socks. the roundness really suits the shape of my feet and i find it much more flattering than the short row or the boxy toe one. it’s also nice because it doesn’t require any grafting yet it’s super comfortable. i’m in love! i just may use this toe on other socks that don’t call for it.

another thing is.. this yarn. it’s lovely. super lovely! sweetgeorgia, i am smitten with your yarn. you can guarantee i’ll be back for more… and all of the spiders love it too! they all want to squeeze it whenever they see it. there’s plenty of yarn in one skein to make a large pair of socks so i have no anxiety about possibly running out like i did with the socks that rock (and i almost did.. i had five feet of yarn left when i was through.) sweetgeorgia’s colors are fantastic too! cripes, i see me breaking my yarn diet for more.

so, the last thing to mention here today is that i’m thinking about participating in yarn harlot’s knitting olympics though i’m not sure what to do. do i attempt to make a big shawl? try a new technique like color knitting? thoughts anyone? i’m going to put the button in my sidebar and link back to here because i want your opinion of what to try before i make my decision.

have you seen shall we dance? not that crap jennifer lopez remake but the original japanese one? so very cute. i actually lifted my boycott of subtitled movies (this boycott is in effect only because i can’t knit and read subtitles at the same time.. well, i didn’t think i could but now it seems possible) and popped this in on tuesday. there’s just something about japanese men and women ballroom dancing that is so strange yet endearing that i couldn’t help but laugh and cry at many points in the film. yes, i’m sick but that doesn’t mean i’m overly emotional. i highly recommend it.

then i rewatched anne of green gables for the umpteeth time. this is one of those movies i only watch when sick. i progressed to anne of avonlea on wednesday because i was bored out of my skull and couldn’t think of anything else to watch. i’m eagerly awaiting my next netflix shipment which will contain more prime suspect dvds as i’ve already watched the first in the series and am now hooked. it’s like law and order but in england with a woman protagonist. fantastic.

speaking of TV, my two favorite shows are now back on air. battlestar galactica started back up on friday with new shows in season 2.5. i’m sticking by my assessment that this is the best show on TV because it is. it makes my heart race. it makes me cry. IT SPEAKS TO ME. there is something so poignant and real about it. it’s not scifi. it’s drama of the highest caliber and god do i love apollo. break me off a piece of that! ron moore is continuing his illustrious podcasts so if you want all the cool behind the scenes info you should subscribe to it with itunes.

lost is also back! i watched the entire first season on DVD in december, caught up with the second season online and am now watching it with the rest of civilization. intrigue, mystery, hot hot men (jack, you are so dreamy), a tropical island. this show has something for everyone. i’m happy to say that there’s finally good things to watch on TV that aren’t on HBO anymore.

speaking of HBO, still love it too (i’m biased, i know, but i still love it.) the sopranos is back in march. watch out for it.

ok, enough with the TV talk. during my days of sickness, i was feeling very weak and didn’t knit as much as i thought that i would, but progress has been made on both the somewhat cowl and the embossed leaves socks. i took these pictures during the small amount of daylight we had yesterday before it rained sideways and thunderstormed in the evening. people, it’s JANUARY! it’s also 55 degrees and THUNDERSTORMING. the weather around here has been unreal. i still believe in global warming.

almost done with the top half

tiny stitches

hours after taking these pictures, i managed to get the sleeves onto waste yarn (and i just realized that i have been using waist instead of waste on all the comments and entries thus far. homonyms are a bitch) and knit away at the main body. i have to knit to 13″ before i can join it in the round and try it on. i still have 2″ to go before i make it to that goal.

socks a comin’

here is the first embossed leaves sock right before i picked up the stitches the wrong way, redid it and got through most of the gusset last night. i’m hoping to have it done over the weekend and get started on the second one next week. we’ll see. this has been a tough project to get going on because of the chart. it’s not memorizable and i always have to pay attention so it’s not good mindless knitting like the somewhat cowl is.

anyway, i’m back to normal now and will be hooking up with the spiders tomorrow evening again. i just updated the gallery by reorganizing the crafty section again. i wanted to keep all finished projects in the knits area so i took out all the progress shots and made a different gallery for them. i also moved out any pictures i’ve taken of yarn to the queue gallery (if you see any broken images in my old posts, let me know though i think that i got them all.) i have to update my book blog as i finished xenocide ages ago and read the last otori book and have now started a new book so i now have to write two reviews instead of just one.

oh, and my 30th birthday is only 6 days away. holy crap.

the good news is that i’m making great progress on both of my current projects. on the somewhat cowl, i have about two more inches to go in the top before i can move on to putting the sleeves on waste yarn. this project feels extremely slow but when i unfurl the fabric i’ve already made i realize just how much progress i’m really making. it’s quite deceiving this whole top-down raglan thing. no seaming.. and that’s quite ok with me. i’m a little bit slower on my embossed leaves socks. i’ve made it to the heel on the first one but not much farther. i’ve been feeling lazy about following any sort of directions so the somwhat cowl suits me better in this respect since it’s just miles of stockinette. sorry i have no progress shots. i keep forgetting to take pictures in the daylight.

but i have other photos to show. friday was our biggest spider turnout ever at the point! we took over the entire large table and the little side table too.

there’s much knitting discussion going on here

we spent so much time just knitting! go figure

a trip to the point wouldn’t be the same without drinks and snacks

all in all, marie (and E), amanda, sarah, abby, maria, veronique, virginia, beth, kaitlyn, lisa, katie, and joy showed up! (sandra, we missed you!) it was quite the crew. i was really quite proud and felt a little weepy eyed over the showing. the spiders have really grown into a tight group over the past couple of months. i love these gals and consider them amongst my closest friends. so lucky we all are! we’ve also added a few more local spiders to our group who have yet to show up at the point and i really hope that they do come sometime soon. it’s fun to knit in a pack!