möbsession

my obsession with the moebius has taken a charitable turn. this bundle of potential energy, a pink skein of the debbie bliss donegal tweed luxury bulky (what a long name), is quickly converting to a 2x2 rib moebius. i will donate it to abuelita's knit for the cure pile of pink knits. they will go to the official knit for the cure organization associated with the susan g. komen foundation. and by the way, abuelita's is offering 20% off all pink yarn (not sure how long that will last, but it's true today) to help you with your pink knitting needs. ;-)

for this moebius, i used the size 11 40" circular, and cast on 86 stitches. for the moebius to evolve properly, your cast-on needs to be a multiple of your repeat, plus 1/2 your repeat (84+2=86). the 2x2 rib represents a 4 stitch repeat.

the first row is tricky -- make certain you k2,p2 all the way around, because it will look funny. (and as always, k or p tbl when confronted with the cast-on stitch whose right leg is behind.) after that, just keep knitting/purling! there is a one half stitch jog in the ribbing from where you start knitting on the second half of the first round. i tried to take a picture of it here -- you may have to look closely because it just looks really pink ;-).

potential energy

from wiki: "Potential energy is energy stored within a physical system as a result of the position or configuration of the different parts of that system. It has the potential to be converted into other forms of energy, such as kinetic energy, and to do work in the process."

that pink ball of potential will be converted to another moebius. and it won't seem like work. ;-)

anyone know a good plastic surgeon?

ackkk! i hate how my neck looks!

back to the knitting. here is one of my softest, most scrumptious fabric creations ever. this is like a cloud, it is so fluffy. this is a perfect portrait neckline.

using 2 skeins of the deceptively chunky debbie bliss donegal luxury tweed, a 40" size 11 circular needle and the moebius cast-on that is very similar to a provisional cast-on (the cat bordhi one), cast on 95 stitches. knit 3 rows, purl 3 rows until you have .6 oz. of yarn left, then do a really stretchy bind off. it takes a lot of yarn, but it's worth it. here's what the edge looks like: it's perfect with the fabric, and rolls to the stockinette side nice and tightly.

springy scarf

first, an homage to brooklyntweed:
all right, here's my tunisian crochet spring scarf:
1 skein, divided in half, of noro taiyo (colorway 11), and about .8 skein of debbie bliss donegal luxury tweed, colour 360002, if you please, representing my neutral. it's a very soft celery green. size I tunisian crochet hook. cast on 15, use the 3 color technique, starting the noro at different colors and voila! (knitters who find the classic tunisian crochet cast-on fiddly and annoying, see *** below.)
i added the beads to make it more springy and to establish the green as a bit of a foundation.
it's hanging at abuelita's right now, and i'll teach the class this tuesday. it's full! but we're scheduling another one soon.

my adorable model.

*** casting on for tunisian crochet can be fiddly if you're trying to get that perfect bottom edge. for this scarf, i accidently did a long-tail cast-on (force of habit with a needle in one hand and yarn in the other) and it worked great! in the third picture, it's the pink end. it does not match the bind-off exactly, but i don't think it's muggle-obvious.

WNTW...

i watch cable TV once a year at my mother-in-law's rental house in colorado, and when i am there, i catch up on an amazing show called What Not To Wear. everyone on that show is me in a nutshell. so what you see above is me, wearing my lovely new moebius, with a tacky turtleneck and my COLLEGE HOODY SWEATSHIRT!!! it's a fashion crime of infinite proportion. here are some other pictures of the moebius.here it is without any fashion faux-pas associated...
and here is some close-up detail of this beautiful yarn coaxed into this yummy set of stitches...
i have not blocked it yet. i do hear that the noro sock yarn will bloom and it will become softer if i do, and i suspect my cute eyelet lace and picot bind-off would become more obvious if i did that as well.

maybe i'll get to it.

la lista does not include improving things that already work great.

now it's raining cats and dogs

the calm between the storms

small, calm raindrops this morning...


i love how happy the camelias are -- all washed off, green, drinking all that fresh, cool water.


knitting updates coming soon.

not a thread-jacking...

...we've had a needle-jacking ;-). size 6 40" circular, to be exact.


i was working merrily along on my trapezoidal gaia (my top edge doesn't look too good in this picture -- it will be fine when blocked), when samantha (ravlink) asked me to teach her how to knit a moebius. i had been experimenting -- that is, cast-on, knit for a while, frogged, cast-on again -- with using my new silk yarn for a lacy moebius. (wow, is that gorgeous. i still want to do it.) but, i've found the silk is not suitable -- not stretchy/flexible enough. i know enough about casting on for a moebius to be able to show someone else, so i agreed. did a little technique research, and wow! who knew there are at least three different methods on video on youtube?

for teaching samantha, i picked the garnstudio one: it is familiar, easy and starts from the middle. even though it's not invisible, it works really well for a first moebius experience! so the trapezoid got put on waste yarn, and the size 6 40" circular was pressed into use.

samantha and i got together, and we've come up with a fun, quick project for a project class at abuelita's. it is a seed stitch moebius cowl or scarf, depending on the diameter. here is my version, using noro silk garden sock, and for grins i've selected a semi-reversible lace stitch to take me out to the edge. i'm having a great time with my size 6 circular! the project for the class will be on much larger needles, using bulky yarn. the quick knitters will be nearly done by the time class is over!


next project -- tunisian technique class at abuelita's, featuring the 3 color scarf (or pillow, if you're creative ulli (ravlink)). i'm madly stitching away to get a sample done for the shop before the class. it will be gorgeous, skinny and springy!

best graffiti ever

spotted northbound on the pasadena freeway.

peekaboo!

taken with my cellphone at 55 mph.

the new year's first mod

so i'm working on the gaia, loving those color change rows, and it's starting to grow. i decide that i won't be making the whole thing, as i do not want a gigantic triangular shawl. i really just want something to wrap gracefully around my neck when it's chilly. since that's true, sez i to myself, why does it need to be triangular? why can i not just stop where i am, on the yellowy-pink-coral section, and start knitting back and forth on one side, creating a lovely trapezoid?

why not, indeed! simply decrease on the top edge every other row when you increase on the bottom edge! see?
i'll do the same thing on the other side when the scarf length will come out the way i want it to, and so the colors continue to reflect symmetrically across the wonderful center eyelet columns.

this will be fun to finish! and for the center stitch, i have a little decorative idea -- we'll see whether it works...

christmas eve, 2009

in the better late than never category: here's the best of our annual christmas eve team photos. i did not crop to a square, because the wonderful, crazy painting to the right is by stuart's uncle don, who died the week before christmas at an amazingly ripe old age. he loved to create, and took up painting in his 80's. we are lucky enough to have an original! click on the picture for a closer look.

and yes, i look concerned, because i am the camera operator, and still have not excelled at the timer function ;-)

one resolution...

DONE! no, not the wrap, just the resolution to frog the old one and start knitting the new one. ;-)

this represents about the same amount of yarn as i had put into the other scarf -- the aqua is newly pulled.

off to do another color change row!

happy new year!

an exquisite southern california sunset, new year's day, viewed from the rose bowl, tunnel 22. even though i took this picture with my little cellphone camera, you can see what a spectacular evening it was.

the football game was good, but not the best rose bowl i've been to. if you google "best rose bowl game ever", you get results for the SC/TX game 3 years ago. that game was SO fun. (i am a huge college football fan.)

look at the purpley dove grey of the sky, and the orange mountains, complete with purple shadows. oh, my! what a way to start the year. full of colorful promise, i'd say.