WIP or UFO?

Is there some standard, a set of guidelines, for determining whether a project should be considered a work-in-progress, or an unfinished object? Is it solely a matter of time? Or perhaps it's relative: for someone who churns out over a dozen projects a year, something that has been hanging around for over a month might be considered a UFO, whereas in the case of someone who works on many projects at once, or takes a long time to finish anything, something that's been in the works for six months might still be a WIP. Or maybe it's a matter of intent: if you intend to finish the thing, then it's still a work-in-progress.

Well, I've been working on this "Sweater with Lace Pattern and Cables" in Rebecca No. 27 since last spring, when I was in Virginia. I bought the magazine and the yarn, a powdery blue Dale of Norway Stork yarn (100% Egyptian cotton), from Capital Yarns. The sales ladies were very helpful in finding a substitute for the GGH Scarlett called for in the pattern.

I remember having a lot of trouble starting this sweater. For the life of me, I couldn't understand the Rebecca instructions and couldn't make the description for the first row fit into the number of stitches that I was told to cast on. The ladies at Capital Yarns sat down with me, a calculator and a notepad and we spent around 15 mintues figuring it out.

But, after that initial obstacle, this hasn't been a difficult pattern at all, just rather tedious. However, the reason this has taken so long is that other gift projects kept coming up, and then I got interested in quilting. When winter came along and other things took precedence it didn't seem a priority because, even if I'd finished it, I wouldn't have been able to wear this spring/autumn sweater right away.

So, this was where I left it way back in September, 2005. I had finished the front and back and had started the two sleeves, working from two separate balls of yarn to make both sleeves at once so they would turn out the same length.

Today, I finally started working on it again. I've always intended to finish this sweater, and it was never far from my mind (unlike some of the projects I just unpacked from storage after my move, that I hadn't laid eyes on in two or three years and had forgotten about!), so I guess it has been - and still is - a work-in-progress. I think my longest running UFO is a baby afghan I've been working on since sophomore year of college. It's been more than 5 years!!! Of course, I mean to finish that, too. It's just more brainless crocheting than my brain can usually handle.

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 4/16/2006 08:32:00 PM

Foraging

It's been almost a week since I moved into my new place here. I've been busily cleaning away, wiping, scrubbing and mopping at every surface I find, and unpacking. Yesterday, I finally found a dresser that wasn't a) butt ugly, or b) overpriced on Craigslist, so Andrea and I went to pick it up today.

After she'd left for work (yes, the poor girl goes into the office on weekends!) I started unpacking my clothes. I was kneeling with my right knee and left foot on the floor (think marriage-proposal stance), my head turned away, when the dresser keeled over and fell on top of my left knee. Yikes!!!! I didn't even see it coming, so it came down full force! I now have a humongous bruise on my knee and a sprain in my left ankle from the force of the dresser - almost completely filled with clothing - falling down on me. Lesson learnt: Don't fill a dresser and have more than one drawer open when you're in an old Victorian house and all the floors slope inwards.

But now that I'm almost settled in, I'm looking to explore the area. I already know where the nearest library is. Check. There's a bus stop half a block away. Check. What a girl needs next (well, what this girl needs) is an asian supermarket!! Somewhere where I can get my fresh fish, a good selection of leafy, green vegetables and all the makings for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian food!

Last time I was up here and went to a Vietnamese restaurant I asked the waitress where they got their fresh produce from, and was told that they go to the China Supermarket on Colvin Street. So, that's where Andrea, Erin and I are headed this evening. We'll scope out the place, stock up on some food, come back here to cook it, and watch a movie courtesy of Netflicks!

Then, the other day, I found this link to a list of ethnic grocers in the area. Complete and utter bliss!!!

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Food at 4/15/2006 04:33:00 PM

The Move

I've been moving this weekend, and what a task it has been!! Moocow and I took the Washington Deluxe bus from NYC to D.C., picked up our 10' U-haul in Arlington, VA, proceeded to the storage facility in Fairfax, VA (where some, but not all, of my stuff was) and loaded my boxes into the truck. Caught a movie and stayed the night at Moocow's boyfriend's place.

Neither Moocow nor I had ever driven a minivan before, never mind a small truck. But needs must, and we drove it - through the rain - back to NYC. Of course, you can't park trucks out on the street at night in NYC, so we had to borrow my aunt's driveway.

The next day, we got the rest of my stuff from storage in Queens and then, with my dad and brother in the truck and me driving the family car, we headed up to Albany.

Luckily, most of my stuff was packed up from Cornell. I had lots of small, but relatively light, boxes because I had to move a lot of it myself, so unloading the truck wasn't a big deal. I shot a picture of my emergency shower curtain before I took it down to replace it with a real one. Last time I came up, I made it out of a garbage bag, tape and some pennies.

It took the three of us almost all day on Monday to find a captain's bed and a twin mattress to fit my budget. We ended up getting the bed, with a bookshelf headboard, from Walmart. That thing weighed a tonne and was around 7-feet long, and Walmart wouldn't deliver!!! Well, we managed to get it, and ourselves, into our Honda Civic and up the stairs to the apartment. *gasp wheeze*

Now, the challenge is figuring out how to arrange the furniture Andrea and I have, and where to put all my belongings after they come out of the boxes!! I think I'm going to have to hold a garage sale! I thought I didn't have much of a yarn/fabric stash, but that's because it was in divided up amongst two storage facilities and home. Now that it's all in one place.......!

No time to knit and use up some of it, though! I have to find a job, and soon!

sSimple skirt

When I was living in Boston, I bought a bunch of really nice orange-red material at a yard sale, but haven't done anything with it until now.

Then recently I found this website. It contains step-by-step instructions on how to make a pattern for a simple skirt. It's really detailed.

And this is the result. I modified it a little. Instead of being completely straight, I made it a very slight A-line. I made it flat-fronted instead of putting darts in it, which I think looks a bit daft. This involves a bit of mathematical fudgery. All the space you'd winch in with front darts, you transfer to the sides.

And then I had a bit of trouble with the back. I realized a little late that it is not a good idea for a skirt to have three darts in the back. (Oh LOOK! A delineated butt crack!) So I took the middle one out, and the skirt ended up a bit too big. So I had to unpick part of the waistband and add a little elastic.

And then I added the little button tab. I didn't realize my mom's sewing machine could make buttonholes, so I ended up hand-binding it. Looks like a mess, but whatever.

But hey, not bad for my first measured garment. It even has my first zipper installation and it doesn't look too weird.

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Posted by Kea to Bumbling Bees - Sewing at 4/06/2006 05:11:00 PM

Hippocow (of Plaid)

Several years ago, my brother bought a couple of stuffed moose. (Mooses? Meese? I prefer "meese".) Well I think it's supposed to be a reindeer, but I like to think of it as a moose.

The moose body is a pillow folded in half and held together by velcro. I thought it was quite clever, really. The corners of the pillow even seem to be making little legs.

So I decided to copy it. It seemed simple enough - you make the head and then sew it onto a big rectangle. I looked at the way the pieces were put together, and drew up a version on newspaper.

I cut the pieces out of the newspaper and taped them together to make sure the seam lengths matched and they fit together right. Then I carefully snipped the tape and then used the newspaper pieces as my pattern templates. It worked all right for the most part. Except I made the piece that formed the back of his neck too wide, the result being that he has a couple of darts (er, gathers?) at the back of his head for it to fit onto the body properly. Plus, I would have preferred him to have a shorter, wider snout.

As it is, he looks like a hippocow. I intended him to be a cow*, but he looks more hippo-like. Except hippos don't have horns, do they? Oh well, he's still cute. I had some leftover black yarn from my Blue Backpack of Doom so I gave him a moptop. He also has a tassel tail. I actually had to sew the hairs onto his head two at a time! (There's gotta be a better way to do this.)

There's another picture him opened out flat below. I really have no idea where to get toy stuffing in Hong Kong, so I ended up buying a cheap pillow and cannibalizing it. Problem was, the pillow turned out to be mostly foam with a thin layer of stuffing wrapped around it. The stuffing looks almost like the stuff people use to line fish tank filters! It was that cheap. So hippocow's body is stuffed with four side-by-side strips of foam partly disguised in a stuffing sandwich. He's a bit lumpy. Man, am I a hack or am I a hack?

* This is my second cow. The first I made during Christmas for Boyfriend. His nickname is Ngau Ngau because I can't pronounce his last name (Nguyen). I started calling him Ngau Yuen instead, and the cow thing stuck.

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Posted by Kea to Bumbling Bees - Sewing at 4/04/2006 07:51:00 AM

Shower emergency

I was helping my roommate, Andrea, move into our new apartment in Albany this weekend. The move went so well, we decided to stay at the new place, even though there were some odds and ends left at her old place.

It was pretty late - and we were completely exhausted - when we realised that we didn't have a shower curtain for the shower stall. I just can't go to sleep without taking a shower at night, and I'd gotten all hot and sweaty moving huge, heavy pieces of furniture.

So, I "sewed" a temporary shower curtain. Our moving buddy, Erin, just happened to have a huge, black garbage bag in her purse. (Please don't ask me why, I was just greatful!) I slit it down the sides, but kept the bottom intact, so it formed a long rectangle. Using some scrapbooking tape (it's just double-sided tape) that Andrea had in her desk - which we had moved that morning - I taped the curtain by one end to the curtain rod. Then, to prevent the curtain from billowing, I attached some pennies to the bottom with more tape. It took me all of three minutes, but I had a nice, hot shower that night!

Sorry, no pictures! I didn't have my camera with me. But I'll be moving in myself next weekend, so I might take a picture then.

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Sewing at 4/03/2006 05:05:00 PM

Dress needs home

My friend is an impulsive shopper. Not a compulsive shopper, mind you, an impulsive one.

And if you've been shopping in Mong Kok's Fa Yuen Street, you'll know that the boutiques are full of all manner of bizarre and ill-advised garments. And one day, she bought this dress. And decided it was a bad idea. And couldn't get an exchange or a refund. (In Hong Kong? Are you kidding?)

You see, it didn't originally look like this. It had one of those bunched up froofy hems. Like the bottoms of harem pants. Or a gigantic puff sleeve. You know, the ones that make you look like a mushroom. And on the front, there was an ugly brown gauze ribbon with a poorly-made swirl of beads and sequins.

I took it home, let out the hem so that it would fall straight, and replaced the brown ribbon with this stripy netting I acquired from one of my friend's previous fashion mistakes. (That was the Strangest Skort Ever Made. Some of that skort has since become a small purse.)

And guess what? After all that work I did, she still didn't want it. So now it's homeless. It does not fit me, and even it it did it's not my style. I have a tomboy reputation to maintain, you know. It looks white in the picture, but it's actually cream. It is a Hong Kong size medium, or a US size small. I think it's got what's called an "empire waist", which is elasticated. On me (height 5'3") it reaches to just below the knee. Those things on the straps are wooden beads. It's cotton, with a nylon lining inside. If you want it, it's yours. I will even mail it to you for free. Just leave me a comment.

Blue backpack (of doom)

This is the backpack I made. I didn't use a pattern, just made it up as I went along.

It's all done in single crochet, using two big discount bin Red Heart Super Saver balls of double worsted (I think), and one large ball of unidentified black fuzzy stuff I bought off the street in Mong Kok. I crocheted it using a 6 mm hook with two strands taken together - either 2 blue strands, or one blue and one black, to create the stripes. I don't think it matters what you use as long as it's pretty strong. Pick a hook that gives you a pretty tight weave. The goal is to make the holes as small as possible. Cotton would have been a good idea, but I had all this leftover stuff. I also put the hook through both the front and back of the stitch, which makes it sturdier.

I first crocheted a rectangular base, about 11X10 inches. Then I went around and around to make the body of the bag, about 13 inches high. I put the seam in the middle of the back so that it can't be seen when the backpack is worn. I also discovered that if you turn the bag around and crochet back the other way with every line, the seam won't creep diagonally. (Does that even make sense?)

Then you do the flap (line the centre up with the seam). I made mine 6 inches wide and 6.5 inches long. It's tapered up towards the end. (Decreased 1 stitch on either side for the last 6 rows). Then make a loop at the top for the toggle button to go through. I haven't really figured out a good way to do this. I braided some yarn and wove it in, but it comes loose sometimes.

I did the straps by attaching (doubled) yarn to the bottom corners of the bag and making a chain 24 inches long, and attaching the other end to the top. Then you crochet into the chain, chaining both ends into the body of the bag as you go along. I made them 4 rows wide.

Then thread in the drawstring, sew on the toggle, and it's done. I also recommend sewing a lining for it, just in case.

I wouldn't put anything really heavy, like books, in it. But it does fine for my wallet and keys and moisturizer and pens and lip balm and business card box and the other junk I carry around every day.

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Posted by Kea to Bumbling Bees - Crochet at 4/01/2006 11:38:00 PM

Knitting with resolve - Part 2

Here's a continuation of how I do my gauge swatching. I left off with my gauge swatch still slightly damp after having been rolled up in a towel and having the excess water pressed out.

While it's still damp, pin your gauge swatch out in a square. You can stretch it more or less, depending on your needs. You'll want to measure it now to check, but keep in mind that, after being stretched out while drying/blocking, it will shrink back a little bit again when you unpin it. I couldn't be bothered to get out my very nice, but very heavy, blocking board for this, so I just pinned it onto a piece of foam board I got at a craft shop a couple of months ago to block my mother's shawl. Those nice, strong T-pins aren't really necessary for such a light yarn, but are great for holding down heavier ones. Leave the swatch pinned out until it's completely dry. Yes, I have cheated before by using a blow-dryer. Just don't dry it under direct sunlight - bad for the colours and bad for the fibres.

Here is the dry swatch, unpinned. Now is the time to do the final measurement. Do you have the right number of stitches and rows to four inches? Count half-stitches too, because even they add up if you're talking about a sweater circumference of more than 30 inches! If you have too many stitches/rows, your needles size is too small, so go up a size and try again. Yes, again, from the beginning. Now you see why I had to make resolve to do this, because it sure as heck doesn't come naturally! If you have too few stitches/rows, your needle size is too big and you need to go down a size. If it's way off, of course, you can guess-timate and go up or down two or more sizes.

After a while, you'll get a sense of whether you're a loose or a tight knitter. Moocow is a tight knitter. In fact, she snapped one of my Crystal Palace Bamboo double-pointed knitting needles. I'm a loose knitter, which means I usually have to go down two, even three needles sizes.

There, you see? I had to do two swatches before I got the right gauge. The first one (on the right), knit on 3mm needles, turned out too big (with too few stiches and rows per inch). The second one, knit on 2.75mm needles, is just right.

And, just so you know, both swatches are 40 stitches wide, so you can see what a big difference even 0.25mm in needle size can make over a short 4 inches.

As a finishing touch, I write the wool, needle size and gauge of each swatch onto a sticky label and stick it on the back of the swatch so I can refer to it later. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the Baby Cashmere is really soft, and has very nice drape. If I can get the colours I want, I think it'll make a great Union Square Market Pullover! I just need to finish my other projects first......!

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/28/2006 02:51:00 PM

Knitting with resolve - Part 1

I've been trying to put these pictures up for days....almost weeks, now! Since Blogger refuses to let me put them all up in one post, I'm splitting them up.

Here's the Union Square Market Pullover I so adore from the Fall 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. I should have been doing other things, such as working on my aunt's scarf (finished, now. That's how long I've been trying to post these pictures!), or finishing one of my sweaters. But the yarns from Elann had arrived, and they were so soft and touchable, I couldn't resist. Since I'd made a New Year's resolution to make proper gauge swatches for all my sweater projects, that's what I proceeded to do. I'm trying out the Peruvian Collection Baby Cashmere in cashmere blue.

Here's the first step: knit a square using your chosen yarn and the stitch pattern called for in the gauge description. For example, the USMP calls for 27 stitches and 39 rows to 4-inches in stockinette stitch. You want to case on more stitches and knit more rows a) in case your gauge is too fine, and b) so that you have a good-sized area to measure. I knit 40 stitches and 45 rows. Since stockinette stitch tends to curl up at the ends, and to the back at the sides, I knit a couple of rows of garter stitch to start, and began and ended each row with a couple stitches in garter stitch. Once you have your square knit up, cast off.

Next: Wash the swatch the way you intend to wash the finished sweater. This will let you know if the colours will bleed, if it will shrink, pill outrageously or otherwise fall apart on you. If it does, well, you probably want a different yarn. Here I'm just soaking the swatch in some lukewarm water with a bit of laundry detergent added. Then I rinsed it in several lukewarm baths of clean water until no soapy residue remained. The other nice thing about washing and then blocking is that you can usually stretch it a bit (if the size of the piece/gauge isn't quite right). In fact, it probably will grow a bit, it you don't felt it, which is why you shouldn't skip this step. Also, this tends to even out any unevenness in your stitches.

Then: PRESS out the water. Don't wring the swatch (or, God forbid, your sweater). Support your sweater so that the weight of the water doesn't stretch it and pull it out of shape completely. Once you've gotten a good amount of water out, lay it out on a clean towel, roll it up in the towel, and press more water out. Once it's damp, but no longer dripping wet, you can probably stop. If you're blocking something like a shawl, where the yarn is really fine and it's likely to dry out before you can pin it all out, you can always re-wet it by spraying it with water.

As you might have noticed, this is not a set of explanations for knitting a gauge swatch for something you intend to felt. That's a little different. I'm moving to a place where I'll have my own washer soon, so I intend to do some felting then. Now, onto the next post for the follow-up!

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/28/2006 02:22:00 PM

A shearing we will go...

My friend Andrea and I were invited to our advisor's farm in Knox, NY (just outside Albany) on Saturday to see his sheep getting shorn. Andrea has been -and I will soon be - enrolled as graduate students in the Biodiversity, Conservation and Policy programme at SUNY Albany. Gary Kleppel, the programme director and our advisor, owns a small farm where he has four wool sheep (his wife, Pam, spins) and he is very active in the area trying to help local farmers hold onto their land in the face of high land taxes, competition from commercial farms and encroaching developments.

I arrived in Albany late Friday night, so Andrea and I overslept Saturday morning to arrive a little over an hour late to the sight on the left......the second to last sheep being sheared. That one isn't actually one of Gary's. Barb, the lady who trained his sheepdog, brought her sheep along, too. She has quite a variety, since she trains sheepdogs for work and for competitions, and a dog can be assigned any kind of sheep to work with during a competition. I've actually seen sheep being shorn before, in New Zealand, but I think this young man (17, if I heard correctly) is still apprenticing with his mother. You could really tell, as he nicked the sheep and the fleece came off in bits rather in one piece.

Here's Gary giving us a demonstration with his sheepdog, Tory. His other dog, Hope, is a lost cause and is a house dog, as she isn't willing to bite the sheep, and the sheep know it. After this, Barb gave us a demonstration with her dog, Rhett, and it was pretty amazing to see him driving the sheep away, and then herding them back into their pen so effortlessly. Rhett is going to be competing soon.

After all the sheep are shorn, the fleeces have to get skirted. That involves removing all the heavily matted, dirty and poor quality wool from the topknot on the head, the tail, and the legs. That's Barb at the skirting table teaching Pam how it's done. Andrea and I pitched in, too, pulling away the nasty bits (and let me tell you, the tail region is NASTY!) and removing as much of the grass, twigs and other plant material from the fleece as we could. All in all, it was great fun for a Saturday morning.

Then Andrea and I headed over to her friend Betty's place for lunch. We had homemade pizza in Betty's pasive solar house, which she designed and built herself. In fact, Andrea and I almost rented another of Betty's houses. It was lovely, and the sun room in front was delicious in the cold winter, but it was just too far from school and work.

Andrea and I have signed a lease on an apartment on the second floor of a yellow Victorian in another little town just northeast of Albany city. It's the cutest place, with the original tin ceilings, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two living rooms! I'll be helping Andrea move in first this weekend, so maybe I'll have some pictures soon.

Gary says the news isn't official yet, but he thinks there will be good news regarding funding for me in the BCP programme! I'll hear from him on April 1st.








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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/28/2006 02:11:00 PM

Striped Wooly

Quick and easy to knit up in seedstitch. My first pom pom is on it (a little wonky, but good enough to hide the hole at the top...) I came up with the pattern as I went along. You can just make out the slightly rolled rim. It took a couple of tries before I found the stitch pattern that I wanted - something stretchy, that would show up with a subtle textural pattern, and NO GAPS. What's the point of a hole-filled winter hat, after all?? What's really special about this hat is the lovely, chemical-free and environmentally-friendly Green Mountain Spinnery yarn that was used. Their Green Mountain Green is 40% kid mohair, and 60% fine wool, which makes a very soft, warm, and stretchy hat that doesn't bind. The color is all-natural. It was a joy to work with the yarn - so much that I bought two more skeins to make something for myself!

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Posted by MooCow to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/27/2006 08:11:00 PM

Wisdom Woes

I need to get a wisdom tooth out, but my last experience with a wisdom tooth extraction was so traumatising, I didn't want to go back to the same oral surgeon. It took him over an hour of drilling, pulling, and bearing down until my jaw was about to pop out of its socket, and afterwards I could barely open my mouth for days.

So I went looking for a different oral surgeon, and I thought I'd found one who was experienced and trustworthy (doesn't it seems a lot of dentists these days do all sorts of procedures on you that you don't need so they can charge your insurance company?). I called the dentist's office to check whether or not he accepted my type of insurance (even though I'd gotten his name from my health insurance directory), and was told by a rather curt receptionist to call back at 11 a.m. when the insurance lady would be in. So I called back, and was assured that they accepted my insurance. Okay, then. I made the earliest appointment I could, for a whole week later.

I called them again the day before my appointment to verify the procedures for insurance, and they told me everything was in order. I took the subway (almost an hour's trip) out the next day for my appointment at 1:30 p.m., and my mother took time off work to be with me. I got to the dentist's office and was told by the singularly unrepentant dental assistant that they had stopped accepting my dental insurance as of that morning!!! I asked them (quite reasonably, I think) whether they hadn't had my cell number, which I knew very well I had given them. No smile, no apology, just, "We told you, we only found out this morning." Call me funny, but I consider "morning" to be between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. Being that the appointment was for the afternoon, I don't think a call would have been too much to ask for. And who was this dental surgeon? David M. Blank, DDS, at 120 East 34th Street in New York, NY.

So, I'll need to make a new appointment somewhere else, and probably have to wait at least another week before I can get this tooth seen to. Just when I'd gotten my gumption up to get it out.....now I have who knows how long to scare myself thinking about it. All of you out there with smaller teeth/longer jaws/wisdom teeth that don't need removing, you don't know how lucky you are!!

Pat's Christmas present

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Posted by MooCow to Bumbling Bees - Crochet at 3/26/2006 11:06:00 PM

3/24/2006 01:09:00 PM

Finally! I haven't been able to post photos for several days. I stopped by the library a couple of days ago and picked up a couple of books. From bottom of the pile to the top there's a non-Mary Russell mystery by Laurie R. King, Keeping Watch. And then there's the second book in The Ladies' No. 1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, Tears of the Giraffe. The next three are by authors I haven't read before. Two by Quinn Fawcett - Mycroft Holmes Mysteries - Against the Brotherhood and Embassy Row. And, last but most definitely not the least, a book I've read about and have been dying to read called The Briar King by Greg Keyes.

I'm really excited about finding this Mycroft Holmes series, now that I've read through all the available Mary Russell books. I think Laurie R. King is going to be concentrating on her Kate Martinelli books instead for a bit, so I might have a while to wait for the next Russell book.

Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, is an interesting character who appeared very little in the original Sherlock Holmes stories (known as the Canon). An immensely important and influential figure in the British government at the time (as the story goes), he's always struck me as a much staider individual when compared with some of Sherlock's more Bohemian ways. Not to say that he isn't brilliant because, according to Sherlock, Mycroft is most definitely the superior brain. But whereas Sherlock is a man of action and rather high-strung, Mycroft rarely leaves his rooms, his club or his place of work, and his work seems to consist mostly of processing and retaining huge quantities of information. I can't wait to see how his character develops in this series! I already have the impression that he'll be allowed to get out and about more in Fawcett's rendition. I also know that Moocow would not approve.

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Books at 3/24/2006 01:09:00 PM

Fuzzberry

When I received my fuzzi felt in the mail I wanted to get started right away with a Blackberry. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the right gauge with the needles I had (I tried 6mm and 6.5mm). I figured I needed 7mm needles, and they're not a size that US knitting needle manufacturers make.

So I went on Ebay and ordered a pair of Pony 7mm circulars. There they are, courtesy of the Royal Mail and ArtofYarn! Now, I'm sure there are a lot of wonderful knitters in Hong Kong but, when I was living there, it wasn't the easiest thing finding quality yarns (i.e. not scratchy acrylic) and needles. I learned how to knit and purl when I was in Hong Kong, but never really did anything with my knowledge (and had to teach myself all over again later) until I came back to the U.S. for college, and I think that is the reason. That and the fact that there weren't many good knitting books written in English available. Aaaaaaanyway, what I wanted to say was that my first pair of circular needles was a pair of Pony needles (manufactured in India), which I used to knit the Peppermint Kimono Scarf and a shawl for my mom. I do miss the food in Hong Kong but, for books and knitting, I'm glad to be back!

I started the Blackberry in R2 Fuzzi Felt yesterday. This is going to be for my supervisor at work (even though I've quit, YAY!!!). I believe I will christen it Fuzzberry, for obvious reasons.

The Fuzzi Felt is kind of cool. It's constructed from two strands, one which has an almost suede-like feel and is fuzzy, the other which looks a big like lopi yarn, and they're twisted together. These two very different strands make it kind of difficult to splice ends when I'm joining in a new ball of yarn, but I've been managing. However, I've knit two balls of it and found two knots already. I think I'll keep a knot count. My knitting yesterday produced the back piece, which I will now place on stitch holders. I think I'll do the sleeves next, since they take the longest. After I finish the sleeves, I can also sew them to the back piece first (because of the raglan construction), and thus break up the task of finishing. It looks kind of charcoal-grey in the picture, but that's just overexposure. It really is black.

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/22/2006 08:46:00 AM

Peppermint Kimono Scarf

Is it just me, or is there something very wrong with Blogger's picture-posting function? For the life of me, I can't get it to post more than 5 photos in one post. I know it isn't a file size issue - I checked. And I can't even use the "Blog This!" button in Picasa, because something is wrong with that, too!! I had all these pictures I wanted to put up but, with all the problems I've been encountering, I decided to show you some pictures of the lace scarf I just finished blocking today. (That's a picture of it pre-blocking, all scrunched-up looking.) I've always loved lace, but serious lace-envy caused by reading Eunny's blog is what motivated me to start knitting a lot of it. Now that Eunny is having her series on lace techniques, I couldn't resist blogging about some of mine.

Isn't it pretty? I used the stitch pattern from the Kimono Shawl designed by Cheryl Oberle (in the book Folk Shawls), but pretty much went my own way with how many horizontal and vertical repeats I did. I used almost every last single bit of one skein of KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud.

This is going to be for my aunt Jean. I bought Alpaca Cloud in pink and in blue, and ended up using the blue for a shawl as a Christmas present to my mom. Then I found out that my aunt wanted a pink scarf, and I was itching to start another lace project, et voila!


Pattern: Adapted from Kimono Shawl by Cheryl Oberle in Folk Shawls.
Start Date: 14 January, 2006
Finish Date: 20 March, 2006
Yarn: KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud (100% baby alpaca) in Peppermint
Yarn Source: KnitPicks
Cost: $3.99/skein, I used 1 skein. Gotta love KnitPicks!!
Needles: 3.25mm Pony circular, 80 cm
Finished measurements: 16" x 42"

About the pattern: This particular lace pattern was very easy to memorise. It wasn't difficult but, by the same token, it wasn't exciting knitting, either. But it was something pleasant to do and touch during my morning and evening commutes to and from work! I like the simplicity of the pattern. I'm thinking of knitting one in natural-coloured silk to send to my tea ceremony teacher in Japan.

About the yarn: This is my second project with Alpaca Cloud, and I do like working with it. There are several nice colours to choose from (my only beef with KnitPicks is that I think they should offer more yarns in less intense colours; I like pastels, tweeds and heathers!), and the price really can't be beat. It's feather-light, but very warm. My mom wore her shawl in New York in February, and she said she was sweating! I'm not sure whether to believe that or not, but it illustrates my point. ^_^

Anyone who knits lace will know the incredible change brought about by blocking. I think that's part of the magic of lace knitting. I have to say, though, that I'm not terribly fond of the smell of wet yarn!

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/20/2006 08:33:00 PM

Road to Enlightenment

I don't know when it started, but I've branched out a lot in my reading. Maybe this is my way of making up for all those years of reading mainly textbooks and journals. I used to be much more of a fantasy fan.

It seems to have been with the whole Da Vinci Code craze, and not having a lot of English language material available when I was teaching in Japan. Usually, I tend to resist reading those books that "everyone's reading," but beggars can't be choosers. I really enjoyed it; not having been much of a mystery/thriller reader, it wasn't all old-hat to me. It was fun enough not to require too much brainpower, but intelligent enough not to put me to sleep. Then I went on the read everything of Dan Brown's.

After that, I began having withdrawal symptoms. I'd become a page-turning adrenaline junkie. Then I found Jeffery Deaver. Instead of starting out with The Bone Collector (which was made into a movie, with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie), I decided to read The Coffin Dancer first. There were so many plot twists, so many unexpected developments, that my head was reeling afterward, but what a rollercoaster ride!! Of course, now that I've read all of the Lincoln Rhyme books, and a good many of Deaver's other ones, there is a familiar pattern developing. But they're still smashingly good reads when I'm in a certain mood!

Then there were endless hours sitting in front of a computer at work waiting for work to come my way. And so I downloaded some e-books and started reading the complete Sherlock Holmes. We had a copy at home when I was younger, and I'd read a few in abridged form, but they hadn't really captured my imagination. I think maybe it's been watching all the CSI stuff on TV lately that has gotten me hooked into the whole forensics and detecting thing.

Oh, was I sad when I came to that last story. I can sympathise with the English public that repeatedly wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle imploring him to write more Sherlock stories. Unfortunately, that isn't an option for me now. But then.....Ah! but then! Then I stumbled across The Beekeeper's Apprentice. (I think it might even have been the inspiration for the name of this blog.)

Moocow vehemently believes that fictional characters shouldn't have alternate histories written of them, that they should never be resurrected by anyone other than their original creator. In general, I tend to agree. But I truly feel that Laurie R. King has preserved the integrity of Sherlock's original character, whilst at the same time improving on it, giving him more depth, more time, more adventures, and a young, female apprentice (Mary Russell) as intellectually brilliant as he is. Add to that the fact that King writes delightful (and grammatically correct) prose, and who could resist? You know, it really is a pet peeve of mine, but I abhor people who use "that" when they should be using "who." After all, people are human (one would hope)! You can debate over descriptive grammar versus prescriptive grammar, but my sentiments still stand.

Now I've read all the Mary Russell books and am anxiously waiting for the next installment. But the ravening beast must be fed! So, what have I been reading lately? Maybe it's all the ruffles, lace and retro elements in fashion recently, but I've found I really like reading Victorian-era books. Anne Perry has two great Victorian mystery series, the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels and the William Monk novels. I prefer the Monk books; they're meatier, I think the character development is handled much more deftly, and there's a significant element of courtroom drama thrown in as well, with the character of Oliver Rathbone (an attorney), that is missing from the Pitt novels. Kind of like Law and Order in Victorian London.

Boy, was I shocked when I found that Anne Perry (nee Juliet Hulme) had been convicted of murder when she was sixteen. (You can read about it here, I kid you not.) Maybe that's why her treatment of motive, guilt and consequence are so profound in her writing. I really recommend reading something of hers.

(Sorry about the lack of pictures, but I didn't want to infringe on copyright, or steal someone else's bandwidth.) And for Puri-chan, I've added some links to free e-book sites, since you asked abuot them.

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Food For the Soul at 3/17/2006 01:11:00 PM

Knitting with Noodles

I wrote in a previous post that I would be starting my second Blackberry (this time actually in black) as a present to my supervisor soon. Well, here is a picture of my first effort. This also happens to be my first completed (though not the first to be started) adult-sized sweater.

I don't know about you, but I really like cardigans, shrugs and boleros. Perhaps it's because I feel the cold so easily. When I was living in Hong Kong I'd catch more colds in the summer from air-conditioned rooms than I would in the winter. (There was a study published recently supporting what the Chinese have believed for centuries: feeling/being cold can weaken your immune response so that you are more likely to catch a cold.) When I saw the Blackberry pattern I knew I would be making it. Then I went to Smiley's annual yarn sale in Manhattan and got 4 bags (12 balls) of Lion Brand Kool Wool for $2/ball!

Pattern: Blackberry by Jennifer Thurston in Knitty's Fall '05 issue
Start Date: 1 December, 2005
Finish Date: 21 January, 2006
Yarn: Lion Brand Kool Wool (50% Merino, 50% acrylic; 1.75 oz/60 yds) in Ivory (#098)
I used 10 balls.
Yarn Source: Smiley's annual Manhattan yarn sale
Needles: 6.5 mm Aero single-pointed, Size 10.5 (6.5 mm) Denise Interchangeable Needles
Gauge: 11 sts & 14 rows/4 inches-squared in st st
Size made: XS

About the Yarn: This was my first time knitting with Kool Wool, but it probably won't be my last since I bought 4 bags each in black and a deep, wine red whilst at the yarn sale. It was a fun yarn to knit, kind of bouncy and noodle-like. In fact, with the cream colour I was using, it really did resemble udon-noodles! I've had a couple of months to wear the finished product now and, unfortunately, I have to report that Kool Wool pills an awful lot, even with gentle wear. It's a good thing that this was such a quick (and inexpensive) knit, otherwise I would be a lot more upset. I wouldn't use this yarn for any heirlooms!

The pattern: The pattern was very well written and easy to follow. I particularly like the extensive sizing (from XS to 4XL; good thing, too. My supervisor is rather well-endowed), and there are notes to help you figure out which size you should be making. I love cables, but find cable needles too fiddly (perhaps I've never learned to use them properly - they slow me down considerably), so I just cabled without a needle. Not a problem, with such a bulky yarn. This really was a quick and easy knit. Don't let me start and finish dates fool you. I was knitting gifts like crazy this last Christmas, I usually have quite a number of projects going at once, and I'm easily distracted for weeks on end by work, or good books, or something.

One other thing to note: the raglan sleeves and extra bulk added by the cables and bobbles probably isn't a good idea for anyone with broad shoulders. Moocow wanted a Blackberry, too, but after trying mine on we decided it wasn't really for her. Fortunately, I have my eye on a pattern in the Holiday 2005 issue of Vogue Knitting. I can't find any pictures of it online, so I'll have to snap a picture of my magazine later to show you.

My Knit-o's: Yes, I did make some mistakes on this one. I must not have joined the yarn correctly in the middle of a row on the back piece, because there's something that looks sadly like a hole. Just a little one. I let it go, since I'd already sewn the whole darn thing up by the time I noticed it.

I also didn't pick up stitches around the edge (for the ribbing) as evenly as I should have. I picked up too many stitches at the bottom-side edges, which has caused some gathering, which affects the fit. This is especially obvious if I try to wear it with the front edges closed with a pin, the way Jennifer models it. It's a good thing I prefer to wear it open!

I'll get it right the second time 'round! Stay tuned for more pictures (dare I show you a picture of the fuzz on my poor Blackberry?) and updates on my second attempt!


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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/17/2006 10:02:00 AM

Food and Culture in post-Katrina New Orleans

Just arrived in New Orleans! First time this far south, although New Orleans isn't really considered part of the real South. Coming in for landing, we could already see that the roofs all over city was dotted with the blue FEMA tarps indicating where Katrina had made her mark. It's muggy and warm, and threatening to storm. My travel buddy Jaime and I hailed a cab straight to the hotel. When we asked how business has been, our driver, Carlos, told us he'd been waiting since 10:00 am for customer. It was 12.30. After he was done with us, he said he was giving up and going home, coz it wasn't worth it to hang around for another ride. On the way in he pointed out the long yellow line that marked the water line....we followed it all the way downtown like the Yellow Brick Road. This picture is kinda dark, but the faint line can be see on the sound barriers along the highway. Before he dropped us off at the hotel, he gave us his cell number, and we both promised to call him for rides when we leave New Orleans.


Driving downtown, many of the skyscrapers had wooden panels boarding up windows that had been blown out.

Around the corner from our hotel is Mother's Restaurant. We bumped into the Mayor of New Orleans having lunch in the back room with his posse.

I didn't have enough moxy to take a picture of him, but I did take shots of my first New Orleans po'boy (all right, it was a weakling version of chicken, but I figured I have all week to do this!), and the incredibly long lunch line that just kept going and going.










Our hotel is quite nice, with lots of old beams, exposed brick walls, and a light-filled atrium in the lobby. Everything's in working order, except the snack shop is half empty, there was a sign announcing that the ATM has just been reinstalled, and the Omni down the street is boarded up. Several restaurants around us are still closed. Right outside is a streetlamp that was knocked over and hasn't been taken away yet. You can see it in the left foreground, right before the green newspaper box.


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Posted by MooCow to Bumbling Bees - Food at 3/11/2006 05:06:00 PM