Practice Makes

Eventide, In Progress

2010-07-06T14:39:00.000-04:00

Note that even though I was following the pattern meticulously, I managed to skip two sets of beads on the right edge :(

Must have

2010-02-13T11:05:00.000-05:00

This is on sale for $75. At least it is wool. Something tells me that I can make one from stash for like ... say ... zero.

If This Isn't A Silly Thing To Get Myself Into

2010-02-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

Willoughby by Jared Flood, Pale grey/silver 50% wool, 50% silk LSS

Must. Have. This. Sweater.

2009-12-01T19:59:00.004-05:00

From The Sartorialist.

(Click once or twice to embiggen)

Yes, I Know

2008-12-30T20:42:00.002-05:00

I never update. But I can never find my camera. And I do use the blogroll which I sometimes update for links.

I still love you all.

The Forced Conversion

2007-02-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

to the "New! Improved! Blogger" lost my blogroll and mucked with other things. Sigh. I like newness, but not too much of it.

Socktober! And First Picture

2006-10-23T21:08:00.000-04:00

I think my new camera is working well. I am working minimally. So I have my first picture, socks I finished yesterday. Note the excellent identical nature thereof please.

Pattern: Nancy Bush, Oak Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: DGB Confetti Superwash, 49% Superwash wool, 35% Cotton, 16% Nylon, Made in Italy
Coulour: 08.003; the picture is decently accurate in spite of the flash and white wall
Needles: Brittany Birch 2.5 mm (1.5 American)
Source: I've forgotten. Someplace in Canada where I buy Phildar patterns sometimes

I've heard that Nancy Bush's patterns make narrow socks which wouldn't match my feet. These are not remotely narrow but they're a bit loose too. If I used this yarn again, which I won't because it feels a bit too much like string, I'd knit it on a 2.25 m I think.

Envy

2006-10-22T15:22:00.000-04:00

is not an attractive quality. And I'm rarely envious. But today I envy all youse folks at Rhinebeck. I'm knitting and trying to figure out why I'm not there.

Oh well. At least I finished one sock, a self-designed entrelac and hope to finish the second of a different pair today. Maybe I'll even get the manual for my new camera read.

Maybe next year at Rhinebeck. This from somebody who lives less than half an hour for MS&W.

A Long Time

2006-10-10T19:05:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a while. I've finished another pair of ankle socks out of fixation and an "Ene's Scarf" from Scarf Style. I used an alpaca and tencel blend from Elann. I like the tencel part but the alpaca is pickier than I would like. And it is splitty. I won't use it again. Oh and Branching Out from Knitty in Bamboo. After struggling with how to block it I finally just ironed it with lots of steam. Tolerable but not ideal.

I'll bring you pictures soon. You see I bought myself a lovely new digital SLR but don't know how to use it yet. These complicated gadgets seem to take some learning time, especially when you approach them with a casual approach as do I. I'll be back.

My First Lace

2006-08-07T20:09:00.000-04:00

About 200 yards of silk, dyed by Janet Stolnitz (Dyed Dreams), procured at the MS&W 2006. Pattern is a variation of an IK Summer 2006 pattern. I wish I knew how much of the inability to see it up close (I tried) is the camera and how much is the operator.

Oh, and I got this. The kitchen scale has scampered back into the kitchen, this one has been semi-permanently adjusted to measure grams, and it looks so good I hate to find a place to stash it. As if.

Stop me before I sock again!!!

2006-07-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

I have more on the needles already. The color on these is lousy. They are color 9518, a pink, olive, and blue striping blend. I love these things.

My Last Sweater For A While

2006-07-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

Yarn: Wool of the Woods Capri, 50% cotton 50% rayon, 1000 yards
Needles: Clover bamboo 4mm, US 6
Pattern, sort of: Drops Drops number 81 , pattern 6 http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=81&d_id=6〈=us

This yarn is lovely with a soft sheen. Unfortunately it splits like crazy. It is the last sweater for a while because I lost 10 pounds while working on it and it is a bit too wide. My size needs to settle down before knitting more things that are supposed to fit. (This sounds like a complaint. It isn't. Just an observation.)

I learned a trick on this one. I used a yoga mat for blocking and it worked very very nicely. I can spare a mat to pin things to. I didn't learn how to take a decent picture of a knitted object. I ought to work on that.

Ankle Socks !!

2006-06-26T11:34:00.000-04:00

I received my first ball of Fixation after I had signed up for this KAL. It was so small. Oh well, my feet are size 6, not so large. Forging ahead I knitted my first sock. I admit that I designed it to minimize yarn use. I used a short ribbing at the top, nothing fancy on the heel flap.

Then it was time to knit the second sock. Totally ignoring the yarn scale in my kitchen -- Well I do use it for other things. -- I decided the ball was much too small for the second sock. The entire time I knitted it I planned for what I would do when I ran out of yarn. Maybe one purple toe and I'd have a story for folks?

See how faithless I was? Here is a lovely pair of shorties with their leftover yarn. They are Color 9442, Hawaiian Splendor. And they go wonderfly (I think that is spelled correctly but it sure looks strange.) with my lilac crocs.

Cross-posted at the KAL

Dulaan, 2006

2006-06-07T20:47:00.000-04:00

Since I was home recuperating from some ugly problem I got a chance to clean up my projects and add a pair of mittens and a pair of socks.

Me

2006-06-04T00:11:00.000-04:00

Practice, Practice

2006-05-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

So I have this here fiber blog. It's time I tried to train myself to post snaps like all of you normal folks do. So this weekend I knitted this Nauty lovingly designed by Beth Skwarecki. A friend, a scuba diver, is having her first baby. I thought her daughter needed something that isn't pink with lace. So here it is.

I tried to baby-proof it with acrylic and cotton and embroidered eyes. But I'm a bit out of practice with this baby stuff. And I haven't quite gotten on board with all of the New Regulations designed to keep the little ones germ-less and safer than safe.

Patience Training

2006-05-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

sounds like it would be a good name for the heroine of a Victorian novel but it is actually what I am imposing on myself. On Tuesday (May 9) I placed an order for a Wee Robin Traveler in curly maple. And now I wait. Not my best skill.

But it is lovely. I have long wanted a traveling wheel, have dabbled in looking at them. And then early at the MS&W ... well I was ill. I wasn't going to go. But I couldn't bear actually missing a year when I live less than 1/2 hour away. So I zipped up the road and arrived long before they opened. My first stop is always the same -- I buy a lovely woven basket, one a year. And there was Gilbert delivering a wheel to Lisa before their booths opened. And I fell in love. It is charming, beautifully designed, and has lovely curves and brass, betraying the boatbuilding experience of its designer. I would have ordered it then and there, but I had to decide between cherry and curly maple.

And I got my basket.

Advice du jour

2005-11-28T19:16:00.000-05:00

Even if it seems like a wonderful idea at the time, don't try to knit your first pair of gloves on toothpicks.

Just sayin'

Once Upon A Time

2005-11-26T13:53:00.000-05:00

which looks like it was last June, I created this blog to showcase my writing. But a change of direction pointed me to a more professional writing site also called Practice Makes. That Catherine Talley thing? It's a pseudonym. A nom de plume as it were. I am gainfully employed and wish to stay that way so it is easier to use a nom de plume than to explain why I might write things that my employer doesn't care for.

So here I was, trying to sort out all of my knitting links -- bookmarks actually -- and failing miserably when I thought "Self, blogs make good bookmarking places." So as I merrily went off to create a new blog, I figuratively slapped my forehead with my hand realizing that I had this baby sitting around. It is hereby repurposed into a fiber blog. I'll start with knitting and see where I go from there.

Someone Once Told Me

2005-06-03T22:37:00.000-04:00

that the first post must be "Is this thing on?"