March 2006 Archives

It's "WIP it out" Day! As decreed by Elspeth over at Multitasking.
Insert "Show me yours and I'll show you mine" joke here.




I feel I have so many things I want to start, are in the planning stages and are one the needles I needed to sit back and take stock. Each of these projects I've realized has taught me a little something along the way.



Starting with the lower left hand corner working counter clockwise:

Sweater swatch for design submission - This poor little guy has been being tested and ripped in countless cycles. It's been on my progress bar haunting me for ages but keeps getting pushed back by other items. I now have the pattern all worked out and just need to work up the damn finished swatch to send off.
What I have Learned: Dolman style construction. Researching on how to submit design packages and pushing myself to develop a cohesive design presentation.
Yarn: Berreco Cotton Twist

Jesse's flames sweater - This is still all I have on this black hole of a sweater. I've only barely made it back to where it was before Aejaz had destroyed it.
What I have Learned: That knitting in black (and especially 6x1 beaded rib) takes a certain level of patience. And good lighting. That I should probably focus on this more when not sitting in the dark with the boy playing Xbox.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-ese

Branching Out scarf - This is a well traveled project, worked on sporadically here and there. I really do like it and enjoy knitting it but it too keeps getting put on the back burner.
What I have Learned: Tinking of a mastery level - or how to royally screw up something and still fix it. This was my first lace and it has been invaluable in really learning how stitches work together and relate to one another.
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool

Celtic cable purse - I can't wait to get back to this one. I have some construction ideas I really want to try out with this.
What I have Learned: Making my own cable charts- really not too hard!
Yarn: Recycled and dyed with food paste

Lace leaf pullover - I'm liking how it's looking but it's currently on a time out. Reason?
What I have Learned: That wine, me and knitting really, Really do not mix. I should have learned this by now, but this one finally sunk it in. Apparently it causes adding impromptu short rows and working increases on only one side instead of both. Damn false confidence. It's resting while I get over my self-irritation
Yarn: KnitPicks Sierra in Bud

New pattern design - This is my current pattern I'm designing and rushing to get under a deadline.
What I have Learned: I would like to say I've learned better about procrastinating, heh. How focusing entirely on one project that I can't really show makes for boring blogging. Hey 'in progress' means I'm still learning right?
Yarn:Lion brand Jiffy? I think.

Ok seriously, running out of yarn at the bind off row is just supremely unfair.
Of course this is with some mystery yarn, that tracked down from the memory of the ball band appears to now be discontinued.

I repeat, ARGGGG!

Looking through all the beautiful saris I was fortunate enough to get while in India for my marriage I realized I have pretty much the whole rainbow covered. Not surprising considering the wonderful riot of colors India has to offer. I find them a great source of inspiration. So with March coming to a close, I thought I'd squeeze in the kick off of Project Spectrum- Sari Style and feature some of my saris with the corresponding months colors.

March Pinks!



The top one was worn for some the the family ceremonies surrounding the wedding. On both these silk saris the designs are woven in. I just love the intricacy.

A little story of our dog, or as I deemed him "The Cutest Puppy in the World"
I'm not at all biased or anything.


This is Aejaz on the day we adopted him from Operation Kindness at 9 weeks old. We were told he was a Sheltie "mix" and the last of his litter that had been abandoned at 3 weeks.


As you can see, he doesn't have much in the way of a tail which may have been why he was the last one. I love his little fuzzy knob tail, I think it's one of his cutest features!


We named him Aejaz which is Indian meaning "One who performs miracles", or his full name written in Mr. Pieknits' native language of Telugu as ఏజెస్ తల్లపనేని.
He quickly proved to live up to his name when shortly after he came home with us he fell extremely ill. At first it was believed to be Distemper (nearly always fatal) but it turned out to be a severe case of Kennel Cough which he developed pneumonia on top of. The photo above was taken while he was sick- you can see how miserable the poor guy was. It didn't look good for awhile but he thankfully made a full recovery and is a crazy energetic nine month old puppy now.


The tail today- you can see how his coat has come in and the fur makes a little tuff at the end. I love it and his crooked ears- this is what makes adopted mixed pets so unique. The excess of fur on his hind quarters has also led to him being dubbed "furry britches".



My view most nights while knitting. Aejaz will bring his ball and quietly set it on the couch next to me as I knit. He then sits and looks at me as piteously as he can until I can no longer take it, pick up the ball, and throw it for him. This repeats though out the night.
Note the look of concentration once I pick up the ball. He is rather ball obsessed.

A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, big or small, young or old. He doesn't care if you're not smart, not popular, not a good joke-teller, not the best athlete, nor the best-looking person. To your dog, you are the greatest, the smartest, the nicest human being who was ever born. You are his friend and protector.
--Louis Sabin, All About Dogs As Pets

Visit all the wonderful adoptable pets available at petfinder.com

I am, unfortunately, a terminally slow reader. I am also one of those people when I start reading something I can not. put. it. down. These traits can have some adverse affects to, say, anything in my life that happens to need doing. So with the exception of any new Harry Potter book, (which I just commit myself to a 24+ hour no-sleep marathon) I tend to purchase more instructional type books. These I can pick up and read bits of randomly. It's much healthier this way.

So one of my recent acquisitions is this book, Knitter's Handbook - A Comprehensive Guide to the Principles and Techniques of Handknitting



This is a really valuable book as long as you know what it is and what it isn't. It is not a beginner Learn How to Knit book, a pattern book or a stitch dictionary. It is however a very good reference book on an impressive amount of areas. Three different short row techniques? Numerous cast-on and bind-offs with benefits and illustrations of each? I'm sold.

This thing is also indexed up the wazoo. It can sometimes be almost a bit much when nearly every other word is bolded but mostly it's a large help. Especially since I find different books tend to use different terminology for common things and I end up having to look up terms that are used in passing. As I said, there are a lot of topics covered, but not all are in great depth. For me this is fine, since when I find something I have more interest in I simply turn to the lovely internet and it has put me on the right track to find what I need. If you'd like more exhaustive descriptions all in one place I'd point you to finding this book - The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt at your local library (otherwise it's shelling out the $250+ to score a copy).
For $13 I'm damn happy with this handy reference though.

The wrist warmers I've been knitting along with the Norwegian KAL are completed! Alas, no pictures as I have submitted them for publication and final photos aren't allowed. I have yet to hear back on their acceptance, but if they aren't chosen the pattern will be posted here. ETA (again): They were accepted! Look for the pattern in the upcoming May April issue of MagKnits!
So, in keeping with the spirit of Scandinavia I whipped up these Scandinavian Almond Bars instead!


I found this excellent recipe in an old cookbook I picked up at the thrift store. It stated the editor's Norwegian grandmother had handed it down. For quality assurance this recipe has been taste tested, uh, extensively. I'm happy to say it passed with flying colors producing a tender, fragrant and perfectly sweet cookie. As a plus, the non-sticky dough was very easy to handle and roll out.

Scandinavian Almond Bars

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature is easiest


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 egg


• 1/2 tsp almond extract


• Milk


• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped


• Almond Icing (below)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixer bowl beat butter or margarine till softened. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg and almond extract and beat well. Add flour mixture and beat till well mixed.

Divide dough into fourths. Form each into a 12-inch roll. Place two rolls 4 to 5 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten till 3 inches wide. Repeat with remaining rolls.

Brush flattened rolls with milk and sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 325°F for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. While cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal into 1-inch strips with a sharp knife. Cool on wire rack. Drizzle with Almond Icing. Enjoy!
Makes 48.

Almond Icing
Stir together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and enough milk (3 to 4 teaspoons) to make icing of drizzling consistency.

Finally, some progress



The start of the Celtic purse using the yarn I recycled and dyed. I like the textured look of this yarn but was worried the lack of any loft or resilience wasn't going to allow the cables to pop- but I think it's working out ok. It's also holding up well after countless froggings. During finalizing the chart I felt I was doing the knitting equivalent of running in place.
Next is a redrawing of the entire chart before I forget what the heck I ended up doing and picking up the stitches along the edge to work the rest of the purse. The cable section will be the front flap with a button closure. Oh yeah, that means button shopping too. Any suggestions for some good button vendors?

In Texas it is already feeling like Spring. Sun shine, warm weather, and flowering trees- it is this incongruous time my body picks to come down with a cold. So while I've been doing my best impression of a lead paper weight there's unfortunately not much knitting to show. I did however, come across my portfolio and to distract from lack of other photos, here's a couple of pieces I've done.


Looking through my work I realized I always did lean towards the technical/realistic side of creating. I've discovered that this marriage of creative and technical is what I enjoy about knitting as well. I love creating things, working with color and style yet working to get each little detail just exact and perfecting a technique. I always was the odd kid who's favorite classes were Art and Math. I never thought I'd actually find anything to do with those skills combined. Now knitting has taken over both sides of my brain.


Oh and yes, the car piece is actually done in markers. They're "graphic artist" markers at $5-$6 a piece. That was a kick in the pants starting college and having to shell out $400 for markers.

The little eyelet. So simple, just a Yarn over and compensating decrease, yet the basis of such intricate lace and eyelet designs. I was intrigued while looking over some stitch patterns how just combing different eyelet methods could create whole designs. To get a better look at what each version produces I whipped up this little test swatch.

1. Left Smooth Eyelet
   • Row 1: YO, k2tog
   • Row 2: Purl


2. Right Smooth Eyelet
   • Row 1: SSK, YO
   • Row 2: Purl


3. Left Broken Eyelet
   • Row 1: YO, SSK
   • Row 2: Purl


4. Right Broken Eyelet
   • Row 1: k2tog, YO
   • Row 2: Purl


5. Smooth Half Double Eyelet
   • Row 1: SSK, YO, k2tog
   • Row 2: Purl, working a Rib Increase (K1, P1) into the yarnover


6. Broken Half Double Eyelet
   • Row 1: k2tog, YO, SSK
   • Row 2: Purl, working a Rib Increase (K1, P1) into the yarnover


7. Smooth Double Eyelet
   • Row 1: SSK, YO, YO, k2tog
   • Row 2: Purl, working a Rib Increase (K1, P1) into the yarnover (work each loop as 1 stitch)


8. Broken Double Eyelet
   • Row 1: k2tog, YO, YO, SSK
   • Row 2: Purl, working a Rib Increase (K1, P1) into the yarnover (work each loop as 1 stitch)

As you can see, the smooth eyelets lay flat where the broken versions create a little ridge to one side. A great example of using several of these is this Mixed Eyelet Rib pattern shown here from The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt.

So there you have it, the building block of lace patterns. To move on to the whole big picture - head on over to Eunny's new Majoring in Lace series at See Eunny Knit! It's promising to be a comprehensive look into all aspects of lace knitting.

Cherry Love



My first completed cross stitch in about 10 years. The pattern is from the little kit I picked up for Project Spectrum. It came with a small frame and mounting board I have yet to attach to it. While working on this I was happy to find everything pretty much came back to me. Not that it was very much in the difficulty department but I enjoyed doing something a little different. I'm thinking it might be keeping me company in my cubicle once it's mounted.

Knitting projects
After a few rippings and recalculations I've made some more progress on the Lace Leaf. 'Fairly confident' is what I'd have to say I am currently feeling about all further calculations being accurate.

The yarn I dyed is holding up to repeated swatching and ripping cycles as I work out the last of my celtic cable charts. Hoping to have something photo worthy here soon, I'm really pleased with the way they're coming out. The design sketches for them are a purse with a worked-in reinforced bottom that I'm eager to test out.

My lovely notecard I just received for the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap. Thanks to Zarah at Beauty School Dropout for such a sweet card! I am definitely signing up for next month too. Who doesn't love getting (real) mail?

Also, I was photographing in Aejaz's "spot", so he decided to join the photo shoot too (again).

I am nowhere near the realm of some of the fantastic food bloggers out there, but I do love a soft cookie more than is probably wise. The perfect chocolate chip cookie seems like a quest for many a person, and for each it varies some. For me, it's a soft, chewy cookie that's thick but not underbaked with a rich flavor. I have found my Holy Grail, and thus felt I should share.
If you are at all interested in the how's and why's of cooking/baking I really recommend the Best Recipe. I call it my cookbook to teach you how to not need a cookbook.


Bestest Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from the Best Recipe)

• 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour


• 1/2 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 3/4 cup butter (12 Tbsp), melted and cooled until just warm


• 1 cup brown sugar


• 1/2 cup white sugar


• 1 egg


• 1 egg yolk


• 2 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar cut into chunks)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, followed by chocolate chips.
Drop by (scant) 1/4 cups onto the baking sheet.
Bake at 325F for 15-17 minutes, until just turning light brown all over. The edges should only be very slightly more brown, if at all, from the rest of the cookie. If using 2 sheets at once, rotate from top to bottom shelves half way through baking time. Allow cookies to cool before removing them from the baking sheet.
Makes 18-24 large cookies

These will actually keep soft for several days, if they last that long.

So finally getting my shtuff together. Here are some of the things I have lined up for March.
Newly found thrift store sweater for recyling yarn- coincidently in a fantastic shade of red. It was even 60% off- so just meant to be. It's 100% cotton and knit double stranded, so I hoping to get some pretty good yardage out of it. Now what to make with it... ideas?



When I was younger I use to do some cross stitch. My parents still have a decent sized framed piece on their book shelves but it's been forever since I've done it. I just happened to find the cutest little kit for $1 in cherries and pie! So a little needlecraft branching out this month.

If you happen to look over to the progress bar you'll notice a rather sad amount on the Jesse's Flames Sweater. Poor Mr. Pieknits was promised this longer back than I'd care to remind myself and it has been languishing in the knit bag. The tons of 6x1 beaded rib in black is just not all that fun to do. So, in an effort to motivate myself and use some color I thought I'd start on one of the flame sleeves. That way I can alternate and hopefully make some progress because I really do like the look of the finished garment.

I also have several ideas for the postcard swap I plan to do this weekend. Photos on that soon!

His and Her's wrist warmers



First wrist cuff is basically done minus a little bit of duplicate stitching. Now I'm onto the boy's version. My pattern repeat math and charting all worked out- huzzah!
I'm using Dale of Norway Baby Ull for the first time and really liking it. The skeins are little dumplings of yarn. Everyone who picks one up can't help but give it a squeeze.

Had a fabulous b-day this weekend. The sister was here to help celebrate along with the hubby and lots o' knitty goodness was received. I was spoiled with some gorgeous Lantern Moon items, a new umbrella swift ( soon to be used with some more sweater recycling for Project Spectrum! That chair back system just not cutting it) and some beautiful journals for my design sketchbooks. Thanks everyone!

With the beginning of March comes the Project Spectrum kick off! Stay tuned for things of a Red and Pink nature. I'm also participating in the Postcard Swap and looking forward to playing with some print materials again.

ETA: I've put up a page on postcard specs/regulations to help out anyone participating in the swap. Click on the image or here to go to the page with full size template and other details.



Additionally, I've signed up for the Norwegian Knits-Along over at yummyyarn. It's great watching so many interesting patterns emerge. My wee little project quails in the face of so many impressive sweaters.

And also joining the gang over on the side bar is What's your skein? Great inspiration for using up those stray balls of yarn.