pepperknit

Took a walk along the East River, Bobby Wagner Walk (along FDR Drive), with a friend and played with my zoom lens.

I’m not opening this post up to comments, because you must go over to Pam’s to lavish praise, awe, and enthusiasm on the amazing, amazing birthday present she made me, if you haven’t already. (I’m sure many of you already saw it there.) A whole blouse, perfect in every way. I want to wear it all the time.

Blogfriends are the BEST! Thank you so much, Pam.

I actually finished this hat while watching the Superbowl, and have been wearing it daily, but I never got around to taking real FO shots. But look how happy I am with it!

Roman Earflap Hat (pdf)
My pattern, but the original was knit for a friend. Now I have one for me!
Yarn: Tess Designer Yarns, Superwash Merino, a whole lot less than 1 skein.
Needles: US 8 . . . I think
Started: I know I re-started it after Rachel was here, because it was initially too small (that’s what happens when you guess at your head’s circumference instead of measuring, even when you have a tape measure in your hand), and she came over on Jan 31, so I’m going to guess Feb 1.
Finished: Feb 3. (Woah, that was fast. Oh, right, I got horribly ill after seeing Rachel.)
Modifications: This yarn was worsted weight, but the yarn I used in the pattern was a little thinner, so I just adjusted the brim by a multiple of 4 and then after the brim I decreased to a multiple of 7. I believe that 7 is crucial for a nice rounded decrease, so that’s the most important factor when modifying the pattern, as far as I’m concerned.

You may notice that something is conspicuously missing from the top of the hat. Yes, I opted to not pom-pom my hat. I made a pom-pom for the end of one tie, but it came out sloppy, and then I lost all interest. This is a constant problem for me—semi-complete a project for myself, start wearing it, and then never put the final touch on. This is why Pam (the cardigan, not the blogger) still doesn’t have—and will never have—buttons. The hat at least doesn’t scream to all who see it that something’s missing the way the buttonholes do!

I also modified the earflaps slightly so that they weren’t too big. I probably could have made them wider, to have a warmer hat, but this one is plenty warm. I love it more than any other hat I’ve ever made for myself!

And for those who heard me complain about the yarn bleeding all the heck over me, I washed it a few times in wool wash and all the color rinsed out—it does not turn my head black/brown when I wear it!

I went for the same walk just 9 days later, and what a difference a sunny day makes! I couldn’t resist taking photos of all the same things as the eye candy friday from 2 weeks ago. Compare for yourself!

Let this be a reminder that it’s as worth it to get out there on a gray cloudy day as it is on a beautiful, sunny day. (I swear to you, those top photos are of the exact same thing on the exact same bridge. That one surprised me the most.)

Erm, wait, it IS February. But it seems that the February Sweater bug is making the rounds–do people feel more inspired to knit it during the second month of the year, or is this a fluke? Because Annie just finished hers (we can’t believe she finished before me. Not that I think all knitting is a race, but well, I wanted to win), and Stacey is teasing us with her completed one. These are just two of the blogs that I read; I didn’t dare check Ravelry.

Baby Sweater on Two Needles, or as it’s more commonly called, the February Sweater
Knitter’s Almanac, by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Liza Souza Super Sport, colorway Can’t Elope
Needles: US 5
Size: Longer than the pattern specifies, by about an inch or an inch and a half–eh, I had more yarn and I figured, why stop now? However, I will venture to say that this additional length reduces the cute factor ever so slightly.
Started: February 4, 2008
Completed: Last end sewn in February 20, 2008
Modifications: Knit the sleeves in the round. Down with seaming!
Notes: The reason this took so “long” compared with other tiny things that I knit is that I debated the closure. EZ calls for buttons, and there are some great examples out there with different button placement. But I wanted something that would up the cute quotient.

Pom-poms were clearly the answer. And some 3-stitch I-cord pulled it all together perfectly. When I did the yoke increases, the typical twisted M1s were making the rows look a little wonky, so I went with lifting the strand between and making a hole—the slight laciness in the yoke is cute, and that last row of increases was perfect for weaving an I-cord into. I think my I-cord is something like 20″ long.

This is another baby knit that is awaiting its recipient—and let’s all keep our fingers crossed for another girl, ok?

I’ve posted several times about my defunct annual Valentine’s cookie decorating party, and in general about my absolute and undying love of Valentine’s Day and all its disgustingly sugary motifs. (I don’t even like the color pink!) Living in my postage-stamp-sized Manhattan apartment, hosting that party myself is impossible. So when Pam came to visit for a long weekend, arriving on the 14th, and asked if we could make cookies, well, you know we were immediately at the grocery store for butter and more confectioners’ sugar.

As per tradition, we made only hearts, cupids, and some hearts-with-arrows. The first year of the party, I was a bit of a Valentine’s fascist, allowing only white and shades of pink for the icing–and only hearts (300 of them). It was a big deal a few years ago when I conceded to a different color icing (I think lavender was the first variation) and bought the cupid cookie cutter. I also used to allow only red food at the party, which requires a lot of creativity, a lot of red tortilla chips and salsa, and a lot of shrimp cocktail. This year we cut tofu into heart shapes for the Valentine dinner–because on Valentine’s day, everything you eat must be heart shaped, of course.

Though we’d bought more confectioners’ sugar, we didn’t have quite enough for a lot of variation, and I got a little liquid-happy when I mixed up the second batch, so we had a limited palette for decorating: two piping bags of pink and three “glazes” in white, green-blue, and raspberry. We made do.

We were up til 1:15 am decorating cookies, and we didn’t even finish them all. Which means I have a fridge full of sugary delights. And, thanks to Nova’s ingenious pie Wednesdays, we also baked a pear pie with gruyere crust—more leftovers! No recipe; we just grated approximately 1/2 cup of gruyere into homemade pate brisee and used that for a classic pear pie. Except, of course, it was still our Valentine’s weekend, so we cut the top crust into a whole mess of fluted-edged hearts and a solitary cupid.

It was quite tasty, with the gruyere’s tangy hints playing in the background. But I have to admit, I prefer the overt sweetness of the sugar cookies–fits better with my whole vision of Valentine’s Day as a time when you want to puke, everything’s so sweet.

My weekend with Pam could not have been more fun. I even think I’ve convinced her to embrace Valentine’s Day!

Well, I thought I had.

bits of NYC @ night

My favorite holiday after Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day is another time to tell the people in your life that you love them and are happy to know them. It’s also a time to realize just how very loved you are, as well!

Love you guys. Enjoy the day! I’ll happily bask in the love of all my family and friends. (Who will forgive me for the lack of Valentines of the paper variety this year, I know.)

Remember the twins? My friends’ babies are growing at what seems to me an alarming rate. (Which is why I can’t knit them baby clothes right now. I’ve tried.) Interestingly, they’ve gone from not looking too much like either of their parents into a pair where one resembles dad, and the other clearly has her mom’s eyes. It’s fascinating.

This is Violet with the dodecahedron. Here’s here sister, Charlotte, with the icosahedron. This shot shows the red “base,” which wasn’t very clear in the FO post.

I spent a lovely day with the twins and their parents last weekend, in a snowy Connecticut. This meant we nestled down on the couch, and my friend and I knit. Or, rather, we had a tutorial. I’d taught her to knit back in college, and she was eager to pick it back up again to make a blanket for each of her girls. So we went over the basics of a log cabin, knitting up a little swatch, and we discussed yarn options. I can’t wait to see her progress–and I hope she knows I’ll be finding a way to feature it on the blog.

We also got to see the dinosaurs being well loved (well, Stegs–Trice must have crawled under the couch or something, because he didn’t come when we called).

I know you can’t tell, but Violet is chewing on his tail, and it’s awesome.

Two weeks ago Rachel and I ventured into Mood for the very first time, and I left a rattled, anxious mess. Last week, however, I went back–that’s right, exposure therapy is the only way to go. I went with a friend who sews but still considers herself a novice, despite having made several awesome skirts and dresses, which was great because we could explore together and each guide the other a bit (it was her first time to Mood).

We ultimately didn’t buy anything there, as decision-making was hard. She knew a place on 39th Street that sells patterns–difficult to find in the garment district–so we headed over there. (I’m sorry, but I don’t remember the name of the place; if I figure it out I’ll update this post.) And I bought a dress pattern. Then we went to another store, and I bought fabric. I even went to one final store, by myself, and got a dead-on matching zipper!

Happily, you guys gave me some great suggestions for further reading for when I feel ready to dive into cutting. I’ve added many of the sites to my blogroll already and am slowly becoming desensitized to my irrational fear of sewing.

Books

• Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe
• Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts
• Sew Everything Workshop
• Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous Fabrics
• Sewing for Dummies
• Amy Butler’s oeuvre

Sites

• Bend-the-Rules Sewing flickr group
• Sew Mama Sew
• Montessori by Hand
• Lotta Jansdotter
• Miss Celie’s Pants
• Erica B’s DIY Style
• Hungry Zombie Couture
• Burda Style
• Wardrobe Refashion Group
• Sew-Mad
• House on Hill Road
• Artsy Crafty Babe
• U-Handbag
• Thimble.com
• Wiksten-Made
• Pink Chalk Studio

Enjoy!