i love mail!

i had some good ideas for some fun sewing projects buy i couldn't really find any fabric that matched what i saw in my head, so i took a look around online. lucky me, i found a delightful little shop called purlsoho.com, which is apparently the online home of two shops in New York, NY. they have a good selection of all kinds of fun and funky fabrics so i ordered a yard of a several fabrics.

they arrived yesterday in an unassuming little brown box, but inside it was wrapped up all pretty in blue tissue paper with a purlsoho.com sticker on it.

i tore it open in excitement before i thought it might
be nice to take a picture

the fabrics are great, and should work perfectly for the project i have in mind for them... and the receipt even had a hand written thank you on it. i would definitely recommend checking them out if you're looking for fabric.

aren't they purty??

there are also some knitting and wedding crafts in process, including favor tags and programs for the wedding and some baby knits for a friend... along with the never ending saga of the orange wraps. once there is enough progress to be worth showing, i'll get to posting some pictures. in the meantime, i'll be busy admiring my fabric (i am going to have a hard time parting with any of it... maybe i should have ordered more!)

something derelict

that's pronounced "dere-leekt" for those that haven't seen zoolander. and it refers to Mugatu's fashion line inspired by the homeless (again for the zoolander naive). why do i bring this up? because i think this clutch would fit perfectly in the derelict line.


this little beauty was handcrafted by the one and only jen. (jen don't be mad that i posted this... i only did it because i love you. and the clutch!)

jen was technically my sisters friend until i moved to new mexico for the summer and they adopted me. so now she's my friend too, and she's bloody f-ing hilarious. to explain the ridiculousness of the clutch, she was a bit intoxicated when she made it. (in the true spirit of gallup) the stuff around the button is actually a massive quantity of hot glue, according to my sister who sent me the picture text. i don't think i've laughed that hard since i was actually in new mexico.

but i'm sharing this delightful little bit of handcraftiness because i can actually see a lot of potential in this purse. just think how fabulous it could be in a version constructed while not under the influence! or at least slightly less influenced, if you will. i think i hear etsy calling your name girl...

PIF dilemma

i think that i have had three people sign up for my PIF. two of them are the same that signed up on knittycrafty's blog, and one's comment is sort of ambiguous, but i'm pretty sure the list stands as:

1. knittycrafty
2. lorah
3. nuttnbunny

since other people are signing up for more than one blog, i'm tempted to do so. after all, you can never have too many handmade goodies. i know there are folks in the ravelry group that still have openings, but that feels kind of greedy. so on the off chance that there are more visitors to my lonely corner that want to join in, i'll take more than three people to PIF to. (that makes it ok to sign up to get more pressies... right?)

in other news, the wedding "construction" continues unabated, if somewhat lower in intensity than before. at this point, the invitations are about half put together and the programs are designed, though not printed. we still have one more song to decide on, then they can be printed and i can figure out how to embellish them. exciting, the flower fabrics have been received in NJ and the ribbon for pew bows made it to New Mexico. all that remains of those is to wait for the finished products to make it back here, and i can't wait to see how the roses look when the mysterious therussian is done with them.

the pattern for the third wrap has been selected and i'm three repeats in, which equates to about five inches or so. the stitch pattern is finally starting to reveal itself and its quite pretty i think. its more complex than the other patterns and the repeat is a lot longer so its going more quickly.

pattern: Michaela by Berroco yarns
yarn: KP shadow in campfire heather... again

the color is a bit off, but its the same as the rest of the wraps. like the others, it will be more or less rectangular, but the stitch count varies from row to row so the sides will be sort of wavy.

the frog pond

in an attempt to keep myself from going crazy from the monotony of knitting hundreds of yards of orange laceweight, i busted out an old project that has been collecting dust in my knitting basket for months. Norah Gaugan's snapping turtle skirt is the project in Knitting Nature that convinced me to buy the book, in fact i liked it so much that i even got the suggested yarn. i made it through the first four hexagons before i set it aside in favor of my mom's Lady E and i haven't touched it since. last night i pulled it out and finished the last two hexagons in the first row. they went by so quick, i don't know why i let it sit for so long. BUT (why is there always a but??) i blocked it this morning to see how it looked and i discovered two things.


1. its too big around in spite of making gauge. so much so that the problem is easily solved by making each row one less hexagon. easy peasy.

2. something is really wonky with the picked up stitches on the top triangles. i blame this on the fact that when i started this i had never picked up stitches before and i don't think i did it right. its unfortunate that i did not knit the lady E before this, since it involves picking up like a BILLION stitches. no, seriously.


i read on another knitter's blog that the skirt looked so horrible the whole time she had it on the needles that she thought she'd never wear it but that it turned out great. i thought the same thing until i blocked what i had. it does actually look pretty cool, and i'm definitely going to finish it, but i think i'm actually just going to frog the whole thing and start it over. especially now that i remember how quick the hexagons go by. i've also decided that its definitely going to need an elastic waist and a lining.

and another frogger


this was knitty's calorimetry. i've never seen a project with so many knitters having wacked out gauge issues (except maybe that crazy capecho thing on the cover of the winter 06/07 Vogue knitting... that shit was messed up) i used the same adjustments that a lot of other people used, though i have no idea what they were now. fewer stitches cast on and fewer rows or whatever, and it worked great.

we had a good relationship, calorimetry and i. i wore a pony tail and calorimetry kept my ears warm without making my hair all crazy. it was cute and colorful and matched many an outfit, but alas, it was but a one winter affair. the pattern says to be sure to use a yarn that won't lose its shape. but i was a new knitter and all yarns were the same, and people were knitting calorimetry out of everything (which probably explains much of the problem). the yarn looked great in the project but after about a year of use, it stretched a little more each time and never quite went back to where it was before. so finally it was gigantic and washing and drying would be no help for my superwash (damnit!) calorimetry. i had to admit that we were through.

doesn't it look all purty back in its yarn form though? i think i have a second skein somewhere, and i really like the colorway so i guess i have to come up with a project thats worthy of it. not socks though... i don't do socks.

its a wrap

w00t! i finally finished the second wrap. i think its even prettier than the first one, though i am quite pleased with them both. here is the newest one in action.

Pattern: Knit Picks Fishtail Lace Scarf (free download at knitpicks.com)
Yarn: Knit Picks Shadow in Campfire Heather (just a tiny bit more than three skeins)
Mods: Cast on 180 stitches and knit until approx. 50 inches long (i think)

hopefully the girls like them. i'm not sure if they are all the wrap type, but as they say; tough shit, its my wedding. i'm just trying to be thoughtful in case its chilly. but anyway, here is a close up of the stitch pattern, followed by a close up of the first wraps stitch pattern for comparison.


now i have to pick a pattern for the next wrap. i want to stick with rectangular for symmetry's sake so i've been perusing the internet for patterns (preferably free) that will work. i contemplated the Artic Diamonds Stole from IK Winter '06 but i'm just not sure it fits with the ones i've already done. something a little more organic and a little less geometric i'm thinking. though in all honesty, i shouldn't be thinking about this at all. i should be studying for the two finals tomorrow... nah.

It takes a village...

... to dislodge a COTA bus stuck in the snow. and even then sometimes you have to admit defeat.


the sad thing is, it was sitting at the light as we walked up and there was a pile of snow in front of it from where the tow truck had clearly gone down the cross street, and i even thought "gee that doesn't look good." sure enough, he made it about six inches into the intersection before his ass end slid sideways and he got good and stuck. there were a surprising number of people out walking around considering the sad state of the sidewalk, and everyone made a valiant effort but in the end i'm pretty sure we only made things worse.

the snow is still falling and its really pretty out. considering the amount of snow on my car though, i'm really glad that i don't have to go anywhere today.


on an unrelated note, i'm pleased to say that i finished the second bridesmaid wrap. i am now officially half done with knitting the wraps. i'm less pleased to report that, since i was blocking the wrap, i thought i would go ahead and try blocking my koolhaas. i keep reading how much the malabrigo blooms when its blocked and the blocking always helps to even out the stitches so i figured what the hell. now i remember why i never bother to block hats. if you keep up with the half-assed knitting blog, you may have seen the hatboob that ate her head. that's pretty much what happened, only unlike her I decided against chronicling my loss with a photo.

she seems like a far more accomplished knitter than i though, so that made me feel better about my rather novice boo-boo. some time in the dryer may have saved me the need to reknit it, but the ribbing has lost a bit of its stretch. once it dries we will see if its still wearable. for what its worth, the cabling does stand out quite nicely now.

Paying it foward

in my greediness for presents and handmade goodies, i signed up to get a handknit gift from ms. rosalindea. (ros, you should know the christmas scarf from the ecfans secret santa exchange is still one of my favorites!) but this gift exchange is a little different. in order to receive a gift, i have to pay it forward and will make a handmade gift for the first three people to comment on this post. according to the site meter, i get at least three visits a day but not a whole lot more, so hopefully this doesn't fall flat on its face. here's the info from the pay it forward group on ravelry which i actually just stole from ros.

"It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Please remember, you don't have to knit or crochet to participate, anyone who can make a nice handmade gift is welcome to join :)"

ok so maybe i missed the part about not wanting anything in return.

my PIF participants...
1. knittycrafter
2. lorah
3. nuttnbunny

and since i wanted to have a picture in every post i will leave you with this moment of zen from back in the days when i had more camera equipment than even I knew what to do with.


and no that's not winter time, its infrared. man i miss that filter.

something new...

i know certain people have been waiting to see the wedding jewelry i got from etsy's opheliax. based on the earrings, which were already in her shop, and another necklace that i really liked but that was the wrong color, she came up with the necklace. its perfect. the bracelet was also in her shop and is the same color crystals as the other pieces so i bought it on a whim, thinking that some wrist bling would be nice. they are gold with swarovski crystals in a color called "golden shadow." She also added some pearls to the necklace to add interest and make it a little more substantial.

You can click on the picture to see a larger image

they are really tiny and delicate, far more so than i expected from the pictures. but even being smaller than i thought, they are just the right size. the pictures really don't do justice to how much they sparkle though. they are clearly faceted in the pictures, but when you get some sunlight hitting these babies, they look amazing.

Something old...

when i was at my grandma's over thanksgiving, somehow we had come upon the topic of cameos. i always remember her wearing them in some form when we were younger. she had rings and earrings and necklaces, you name it. and i've always liked them. they make me think of elegance, of a time of big swishing skirts, and gentlemanly courting, and all things pride and prejudice-y for some reason. anyway, i don't know if i asked to borrow one for the wedding or how it came up, but she ended up giving me two. actually she gave me one and is letting me borrow the other because i couldn't decide on which one i liked better. she did qualify that with the statement that if i forgot to return it, then she guessed she just let me have both. i picked this one...


she said it was given to her by a boyfriend (prior to my grandfather i assume) which makes it worthy of its position as something old. she later showed me her engagement ring, which was also a cameo. it is slated to go to my mom at some point and would have been PERFECT for the something old, especially since it was actually from my grandpa. but i thought that would have been far too cheeky to ask for that. the plan is to have the stems of my bouquet wrapped in dark brown ribbon and then having the brooch pinned to it.

and speaking of my bouquet, i have committed to going with the fabric roses. i'm sure that i will continue to waffle back and forth on this decision, but i decided that i really liked them and to just go for it. mr. z was sweet enough to allow me to drag him to the stitching post this evening and i actually found several fabrics that i really liked.


from left to right there is a sort of rusty orange silk, a champagne silk, an ivory material of some sort, a burnt red silk, and a brown faux suede. they were kind of expensive but its not like i was buying huge quantities so it wasn't too bad. i contemplated for a long time whether or not the red and orange colors were too close (but too far apart) to look good together but i think with the other colors mixed in, it should be fine. i think we will mix something else in with the roses but i haven't decided what yet. maybe some curly twig type things or something along those lines.