a dillydallyknitter: March 2008

Monday, March 31, 2008

Hat Trick Monday

Yesterday I made the One Day Beret out of the yarn that Disco gave me. Since my Le Slouch was a bit of Le Droop, I went a little overboard and created Le Ginormous--but it's very comfy and I can hide a bunch of snacks in there.


Now my head will be nice and warm in Alaska.

Pattern: One Day Beret
Yarn: Zitron Unkiat, 100% Merino Schruwolle
Needles: US 10
Started: March 30 2008
Finished:March 30 2008
Mods: This "recipe" is tops down so it works for any size yarn.

I also finished a 2nd baby cap for the twin set and with a week to spare before the shower.


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posted by cpurl17 @ 7:55 PM   18 comments

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Weekend Update

Last night I went to Magical Mystery Knitting Party at the Knit-One-One studio in Berkeley. The studio is run by a lovely woman named Síle (pronounced "Sheila") and offers knitting classes, trunk shows, special events and outings. Last night was my first time there and Síle made me feel so welcome that I could have stayed all night.

Knit-One-One Studio


The Magical Mystery Knitting Party is led by an adorable woman named Kate Freeman who also works at Article Pract. You show up to the class with the required yarn & supplies and Kate leads you through the mystery project while the students guess what the finished object will be.
Síle also serves a delicious light dinner and wine and fabulous home made shortbread (if I had been left alone I would have snarfed the entire plate). In the past they've made wine bottle carriers, Easter baskets, needle pin cushions and last night we made:

A cabled coffee cup cozy! During the class the students are invited to guess what the finished project will be and the first thing I blurted out was "cat scarf" or, in this case, a cat neck cozy:


"Just make sure you get my good side"

No cats were harmed in the photographing of the cat neck cozy.

In other news chez Cpurl, I owe a big thank you to Disco for the lovely yarn I won in a prize draw (drawn by some very cute boys)


It's a very soft ball of Zitron Unikat 100% Merino wool in a charcoal to light grey colorway. Any suggestions? A beret? another Capitan?
I think I'll make another hat for the Sea Socks cruise. Disco, how did you know my warm coat has a grey lining? Psychic, you!

Finally, we had a bit of trauma around here last week. Seems Cary got locked in my bedroom closet all day last Tuesday and made a valiant effort to claw his way out. Fortunately, he's just fine.

And he was kind enough to give me a head start on replacing the carpet (although I hadn't planned on doing it just yet).

If it's still March 29 in your part of the world, you might want to knit by candlelight tonight in support of http://www.earthhour.org/. (I probably won't attempt lace however.)

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:26 AM   16 comments

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

WIP Wednesday, WIP Wednesday

The twin baby Sweaters are done!

And with a week and a half to spare before the baby shower!

So help me figure this out. I knit 2 sweaters out the the same yarn but in two different colorways. Same yardage, same needles, same gauge, same pattern and when I'm done, I have this:


One ball with plenty of yarn to make a matching hat and one too small! Perusing Ravelry, I found another knitter who had the same experience with the blue. Is it something about blue dye?

To complete the set, I made one baby hat with a blue stripe:

and am waiting for another skein of blue. If I have time, I'll try to make some booties.

I also cast on the Optic Waves shawl from Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Yarn using Brooks Farm Primero (the yarn used in pattern).


I hope to have this done in time for Sea Socks!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 7:23 PM   19 comments

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Happy Easter!


On Saturday morning I finished the first Twin sweater:

Dream in Color Classy in 'Beach Fog' (not yet blocked). And started the second:


Since the babies are fraternal twins, I chose a different but complimentary color, 'Some Summer Sky". I love knitting with this yarn. The colors are so happy and the yarn is soft.

I happen to have all the colors of Dream in Color in my stash to make the Tulip Baby cardigan but lately the pregnant mothers I've been knitting baby gifts for either don't want to know the baby's sex or, in the one case where she did find out, is having twin boys.

Later that afternoon, I watched a recording of "Madame Butterfly" off my DVR and I got pretty far with sweater 2:


Can I point out how much I love Jelby's stitch markers--they're just too cute:

I'll have enough yarn to make a baby cap for each one too. Since the sweaters so simple, I'm thinking of the Simple Baby Cap 2 from Itty Bitty Hats since it also has a rolled edge.

Happy Easter everyone!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:01 AM   14 comments

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

WIP Wednesday---Update on My Near FO's

After the mini-disaster I had last weekend, I repaired and re-blocked my Magic Shawl. I've renamed it as my Maui shawl since I knit the bulk of it there so it will always remind me of vacation:

It's a simple and a fast knit shawl(even in Cpurl time)

Brook's Farm Acero:

Here's my Capitan hat with the wonky brim that I need to rip and re-do. Those of you who have knit one, do you think it would benefit from a light interfacing? I'm using Cascade baby alpaca so the knitted fabric doesn't have any body.

I want to finish another shawl and some Fiber Trend clogs for the Seasocks cruise but before I can do those, I have THIS deadline:

A baby shower! Did I mention she's having twins?

I didn't want to knit another Mason Dixon baby kimono's so the KTPT Knit group helped me pick out a new baby project. (Mostly me asking J, "Would you put S (her son) in this?") I picked the baby pullover from Knitting Pure & Simple in Dream in Color Classy "Beach Fog". OK, no more blogging, must knit on!!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:01 AM   16 comments

Monday, March 17, 2008

Fortunately/Unfortunately X Two

One:
Fortunately, I finished my Magic Shawl last night
Unfortunately, it was too late to block it.
Fortunately, it was Sunday so I could block it first thing in the morning
Unfortunately, (cue Psycho shower music) I discovered dropped and unraveling stitches.
Fortunately, there were only a few at the end of the shawl
Unfortunately, I had to wait for the shawl to dry to attempt repair
Fortunately, I was was able to unravel back and get the shawl back on the needles.
Unfortunately, Mika jumped on my lap and I dropped a stitch and had to rip back again
Fortunately, I was finally able to finish and it's blocking again
Unfortunately, it's blocking on my bed so I can't sleep on it tonight
Fortunately, I have a spare bedroom so I can sleep in there.

Two:
Fortunately, I finished my Rosie G Capitan cap on Saturday night
Unfortunately, I didn't have two buttons for the trim
Fortunately, it was Sunday so I had time to go to the store
Unfortunately, I forgot to buy the Quilt pins in addition to my buttons to block my shawl
Fortunately, I found a box of them when I got home and really searched
Unfortunately, I'm not happy with how I knit the brim on the hat
Fortunately, I don't need it until the Seasocks Cruise
Unfortunately, I need to rip the brim back and try to re-do.
Fortunately, I'll have a super cute hat when I'm finally done!

So what does this have to do with the photograph of cows above? Nothing, but there's a lot of green grass so it'll have to do for St. Patrick's Day. (If you drink a lot of Guiness and stare at the photo for a long time you can see those cows dance an Irish jig)

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:01 AM   11 comments

Friday, March 14, 2008

Post Vacation Blues

Sigh. A week ago I was in Hawaii enjoying the whales swimming in blue waters like this:

and this:

So when I saw these at our Knit This, Purl That Knit Night, I had to snatch one up:

It's Flat Feet sock yarn in the cool bright colorway:


I think I'll call it Maui Blue:

No skein to wind--you just pull off the waste yarn and start knitting off the flat!

I also channeled my inner 70's child and got one of these new DellaQ sock bags:

So I may have the blues....but at least they're dreamy blues!

C: Hey! What about me? Turtlegirl always posts photos of her kittehs!
CP: Turtlegirl's cats don't leave skid marks on the carpet.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:34 PM   16 comments

Friday, March 07, 2008

YP Friday, Vacation Pr0n

Earlier this week, KG and I went on a whale watching tour in Lahaina. Afterwards, we stopped by this small needle arts shop that KG had earlier researched and found.



This shop is small and mostly focused on needlework crafts but has a small selecton of yarns including some lucious fibers hand dyed locally and inspired by the beauty of Maui from MauiYarns



Normally, I don't go for yellow (hello Zknitter) but I couldn't pass this skein up.


Pineapple Upsidedown cake:







I also couldn't resist these hand made needles, from Serendipity needles, handmade in Rhode Island.


Here's another of my favorite inspirational foods, mmmmmmmm Maui chips. I've been craving these for years and, while I've been able to find Maui chips, I have never found the same exact brand on the main land:

Sigh...the week has gone by quickly but I've had a wonderful time here in Maui. My next post will be from the Mainland, until then ALOHA!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:00 AM   19 comments

Monday, March 03, 2008

WIP Wednesday, Island Time

Why is this woman smiling?
She just arrived in Maui!

My WIPs for this week include good progress on the Magic Shawl:


And the start of a sock for KG started on the plane to Maui:


Now, back to the beach!

posted by cpurl17 @ 6:09 PM   14 comments