August 2006 Archives

I always do end up just squeezing these in at the end of the month, despite good intentions of having this up earlier this month. Ah well, here it is- the final installment.

August's Neutrals

This is the final sari I wore during our marriage ceremony. The matching blouse piece is the lying on top. The embroidery work is some of my favorite, sprinkled with little multi-colored jewels here and there.

The Boy's outfit

Silk so incredibly fine it wrinkles if you graze it, let alone goes through international travel in a stuffed suitcase.
It's a long kurta like top and dhoti. These were worn for the end of the ceremony as well (the rest of the ceremony he wore a western suit).

Detail close up
You may notice the discoloration on these in places, that would be due to the pounds of turmeric stained rice that you dump over each other as part of the ceremony. Great fun, though not so good for light colored garments unfortunately.

I've really enjoyed Project Spectrum and the chance to share these saris. Thank you again to Lolly for such a great idea and project! May we all be more aware of the hues around us.

See all Project Spectrum entries here.

Not much knitting to show but the Scarlet Woman pattern is off to the test knitters. Along with working on that is a new pattern for MagKnits - look for it in the November 1st issue! Here's a tiny peek.

Stitch n' Bitch today at Cafe Express on McKinney - see all you locals there!

I could resist no longer.

I picked up a little spinning book at the library to read more about the different types of wool and fiber and how it affects the yarn. Oh knitty gritty details! I was hooked! How the fiber's work to create different types of fabrics, how it all relates to design, choosing a yarn, so many things to explore.
The spindle is a Greensleeves Barebones amongst the sampler of Corriedale. So any spinners out there with some good spinning links? I'm devouring everything I can find.

Scarlet Woman Tank

Thank you thank you to everyone who offered to test knit!! You all are too awesome. This pattern will be well tested!
As for my progress, I was cruising along on the back, pass the beginning of the armhole shaping, when I actually stopped to look at it. Then that little inner knitter voice said, "this looks a bit larger doesn't it?" Counted the stitches, ok those are correct- get out the tape measure and measure it. Yeah, the ruler doesn't lie- it's almost 2" wider than the front! Well that's a new one. Apparently, I was cruising along a little too relaxed. So it has been ripped back to the end of the ribbing, sigh. I was all proud of myself for making good progress- that'll teach me.

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Emily over at SugarKnits has started her Grape Hyacinth Scarf in a gorgeous Noro colorway- go check it out!

So. so. yummy. And with the "frosting" baked right in you won't even need a Cup-A-Cake carrier (although they're a darn clever invention). I used Nutella for the topping but I have seen several variations on this popular food blogger recipe. This is my kind of Eye Candy Friday.

Self Frosting Cupcakes

• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream together butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Add in eggs on at a time, until fully incorporated. The batter may not look smooth, this is fine. Add vanilla.
Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder until batter is smooth and all flour is blended.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. Cups should be 3/4 full if you're not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, folding a little batter up and over the Nutella as well.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool. Makes 12.

Scarlet Women/Bra Friendly Tank's status



I know, it's not very interesting progress but the front is done and about 2/3 the way through the back's ribbing. I'm trying to focus on just this, being it's technically the tail end of the season and all. Bonus that it's a good TV friendly knit.

I have the pattern all worked out and am working on writing up the other sizes. I'm hoping to size this from around a S-3X (54" bust) along with optional short row bust darts. Which brings me to a question I'd like to pose. Anyone out there who's interested in making this pattern that would like to be test knitter? That person would receive a finalized copy of the pattern when it's finished and a choice of one of my other patterns as well. Please e-mail me at jen@pieKnits.com if that sounds interesting!

As promised, the Harry Potter love...



The very generous Laura was kind enough to grant permission for me to post this variation of her brilliant Harry Potter Bookscarf. When I saw the pattern, I thought "Aha! Here would be a great place to use my new best friend Double Knit". (Yes, I do make lame exclamations in my head- moving on)
The original pattern is worked in the round with very fine yarn; while beautiful, I'm just lazier than that. With double knit it can be worked flat and still have Stockinette Stitch on both sides, no seaming and nothing more complicated than slipped and knit stitches. Made up in Red Heart Sport weight yarn it whips up even faster (and cheap too!).

Fill the void between books and movies with the pattern over here.

Progress on the Yet Unnamed Bra-Friendly Tank is coming along swimmingly. Though now it's really the Now Named Bra-Friendly Tank, well actually - 'Scarlet Woman' with much thanks to Kathy of Minxknits for the excellent suggestion.
Otherwise, I've been browsing, also known as Window Shopping. Therefore, here are some things that have been tempting me.

A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker - Oh how I covet thee, sweet stitch dictionary. I speak untruths; for I truly mean dictionaries, as the thought of the whole set makes me weak in the knees.

Check out these cool journals! Ex Libris Anonymous makes journals out of recycled book covers. Some are made with original vintage covers, others screen printed like this cool knitting one. $12 including shipping!

KnitPicks has all kinds of things going on. We all know about the needles by now but have you seen the new knitting bags and yarns? I was rather annoyed that they added this Chart Keeper after I had already placed a recent order, dang. So on the wish list it goes.

I can't remember whose blog I originally read this on, but I like the idea of this LED Ear Light for knitting in less than ideally lit areas. (Read: sitting in the near dark next to the Boy playing Xbox). I'm also just amused by the mental image of him sitting there with his gaming headset on and me with this. Yeah, I'm amused by things like that.

Knotty Mouse has some uber cute stitch markers at her new shop- Mousie Masala. Check out the popular Llama, Llama, Duck set to see the FIMO goodness.

Spinning- so many beautiful looking spindles! I had thought I would not be tempted by spinning. Like I need another hobby and more things to spend money on. But the starter kits, under $20! Ahh, I'm trying to resist.

Words fail me for these awesome skull stockings. Leggings, skulls, lace! Severina is also the creator of this fantastic choker in the new AntiCraft. I will learn to crochet for this, such is my love of chokers.


Back to the knitting- I do actually have an FO to show. A little Harry Potter knit and complimentary pattern coming in the next couple days, gotta spread the HP love around. Thanks for all the nice comments on Grape Hyacinth too!

So what that it's 100+ degrees out? I feel I may just have to ignore the weird looks and wear this out already, I luuurve it.



Strong diagonal lines of slanting decreases and yarn overs create a striking pattern that neither gets lost in the beautiful complexity of Noro's Silk Garden nor competes with it. Drooping bell shapes appear to hang from diagonal "stems" in varying shades much like the Grape Hyacinth.
Instructions are provided in the pattern for both wider and/or longer sized versions. The sample shown is worked as the narrow version.



Yep, it's the whole instant download thing- you know how that works. After payment via Paypal you will be given a link to download the pattern. This link will also be emailed to you and will expire in 48 hours. For any questions about the pattern or whole download process please feel free to email me at- jen@pieknits.com
Just a note that my camera refuses to capture purple, which is a shame as this colorway is more beautiful shades of purple then indicated.
Pattern: Grape Hyacinth Lace Scarf
Diagonal Spanish lace scarf in self striping Noro Silk Garden. Pattern provided in 3 sizes in written and charted instructions.
Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows = 4" in St st.
Finished Size: 4[4, 6]" wide, 40[60, 60]" long
Needle size: US size 8/5 mm
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden (45% Silk, 45% Mohair, 10% Wool); 110yds/100m per 50g skein) Color: #037 (Purples); 1[2, 2] skein(s)
Skill level: Advanced Beginner (Lace patterning on every row, p2tog-tbl)
Price: $3.00
Format: PDF instant download

I love this counterpart to the regular long tail cast-on. It's so simple to work them in combination and cast on anything in ribbing! The long tail cast on actually casts on and makes the first row of knit stitches (which is why you purl the first row when starting in St st.) To start with a seamless 2 x 2 rib, for example, you would cast on 2 sts in the usual method, then 2 in this purl variation, then 2 in regular knit, etc. I used this technique in my Zombies Need Not Apply pulse warmers in the April '06 issue of Magknits. It works particularly well there where the cast on and bind off rows are so close to each other, thus more noticeable if different.
This technique is also perfect for casting on for double knit fabrics. Alternating between knit and purl sets up the stitches so every other one is facing in the opposite direction.
I had more success in illustrating this with a simplified drawing than photographs. With so much going on visually I decided to indicate the movement of the needle with a green arrow.


To make a purl cast on stitch start by holding the yarn in the usual manner. Pick up the strand of yarn on the index finger farthest away from you by coming from behind it.


Move the needle towards the strand on the far side of the thumb and go under it coming from behind to catch it on the needle.


Pull the needle back towards the index finger pulling the yarn through the loop around the index finger. Slip loop off index finger and tighten the stitch.

You can view comparison swatches of this method in my post here (FO: Chunky Newsboy Cap).

Looks a lot like a larger swatch, no?





This is the front piece of the Yet Unnamed Bra-Friendly Tank. Yeah, the supposed creativity does not extend to words. The ribbing section and diagonal band are complete and started in on the stockinette section last night. The form hugging ribbing looks more like corset boning than I had originally anticipated, so I'm thinking a more square neckline to match the look. I did go back and forth on the specifics of the neckline, but after some "sketching" I settled on something like this.

It's a funny thing when something jogs the memory. Especially when without this certain thing to suddenly throw open the mind door, one would've never known it was there, ever. Whilst cleaning out a drawer the other day I came upon some embroidery thread and a memory of a particular hand weaving technique I did as a child suddenly popped up. I remember doing it once but have no idea when or how I had learned to do it. Enter the lovely internet; I do love it for things like this. So I was googling along and stumbled onto a page showing 'Finger knitting' on 'Finger weaving'. It wasn't what I was looking for but when I looked at a photo of it suddenly several memories just hit me of doing this all the time as a kid. It struck me that I would have never remembered that otherwise. Looking around a little further, I found I somehow missed this entire article about it in the new Knitty, duh.
I had quite a bit of a ball of yarn left over from the Beaufort hat, you know the too much to throw away but not really enough to make something - and this headband/wrap was born.



It took all of 15 minutes and works really well actually. I'm thinking this will be a great solution for those left over half-skeins from other projects. Now I can have a matching headband for each sweater or top.