Wednesday, February 17, 2010

"Martha My Dear"

...don't forget [us] Martha my dear.
This was a gathering to wish our friend and member of the Boulder Knitting Collective a fond farewell back to her home state of Washington.

Can you believe the picture above and the group picture below were taken by the same person and the same camera?  It helps to know how to use it.  :-)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Let the games begin!

In honor of the 2010 Winter Ravelympics, one of the local SnBs I attend had a cast-on party.  It was a potluck...and one of the finest potlucks I've ever been a part of, for example, glazed carrots, butternut squash soup, asparagus wrapped in phyllo dough (yeah, that's what I said), mustard-crusted salmon, tamales...need I go on.  And that doesn't even include desserts and other sides!  It was all sooo good!  Everyone was busy casting-on and frogging!  By the night's end I was no closer to my Ravelympics goal because of the frogging.


 My plan was to work on a few WIPs during Ravelympics because I just didn't want any stress.  When I was gathering everything for the party tonight, I realized that I do not want to knit the scarf that my mom had picked out.  So, I made an executive decision to frog the whole thing and start anew!  This is definitely more exciting for me!  :-)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Shroom

Mmmmm...what's better than knitting with one skein of Malabrigo - Worsted at one time?   Knitting with three skeins of Malabrigo - Worsted at one time!

I have, for so long, been searching for a hat pattern.  I vowed to myself, at the new year, that I would make myself one hat this winter and be happy about it.  This was tough for me because I've never felt like I look good in hats.  I don't know why...sometimes I think it's because I'm Korean/Asian though I think other Asians look perfectly fine in hats.  Those in the Boulder Knitting Collective (Snb) know that I've tried on many and ask for many opinions.  Well - yesterday I finally committed and finished my first hat for me.  This is the Shroom by Lee Wood Juvan from the Winter 2009 issue of Knitty.  I decided to triple strand with Malabrigo - Worsted (color - Marron oscuro) because I just couldn't find the right yarn that I felt had a similar weight as the Spud & Chloe - Outer...without cotton.  Here's the hat (no pics of me in it...remember...I don't like how I look in them).

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I've figured it out!

I've finally figured out how to knit a neater i-cord!  I've always hated knitting i-cords because mine always turned out bumpy, lumpy, and twisty.  I know for most knitters knitting an i-cord is pretty elementary...hence the name.  I turned to one of my friends, Emmy Lou, and she passed on a quick but vital tip...tug on your first stitch.  After trial and error, I finally got a method down that resulted in a consistent and neat(er) i-cord.  This is how I did it:

Step 1 - work your first stitch but before you drop it off the left needle, give the working yarn a good tug
Step 2 - insert your right needle into the first stitch on the left needle and give the working yarn another good tug, finish stitch as prescribed
Step 3 - before you start your next row of i-cord, give your whole i-cord a quick little tug

Easy enough, huh?  Elementary, my dear!  Now I'm sure I won't cringe so much at the thought of knitting a yard of i-cord (or more).  :-)  And like a proud momma, I leave you with my i-cord.