An FO in fabric

I never really know how I get obsessed with certain ideas. Suffice it to say, recently I decided that our bedding needed a facelift. We'd been using a tan duvet cover with a really basic pattern on it, somewhat leafy and flowery without offending Coffeeboy's lack of interest in overly feminine bedroom decorations. The comforter, however, was proving too hot for a house in the south with the heater located in the attic right above the bed, so we'd switched to using a lightweight down blanket covered by a nice quilt. I missed the scrunchy comfortableness of down, though, so I found a lighter-weight down comforter on sale and bought it. According to my measurements, however, it wouldn't fit in our old comforter cover. Of course, I now see that my measurements might have been wrong, which was perhaps simply an excuse to try a new type of project...

... that of making a duvet cover with a quilted top. I decided I didn't want to hurt the nice quilt we'd been using by making it into a duvet cover; besides, it would have been too warm. So maybe if I made a patchwork quilt top and quilted it to the middle layer, leaving the space between the middle and bottom layers to stuff the duvet into, it would work. I searched the internet and found this inspiration. Coffeeboy asked it it had to be so flowery, and I said, no, "not necessarily."  (It's still flowery.  Maybe not as flowery as he hoped to avoid, though!)

I bought some fabric and laid it on the bed to make sure it would look all right.  I bought a yard of each fabric in order to have plenty of material to play around with.  I also bought a white king-sized sheet for the middle layer and a pretty blue sheet for the bottom layer and borders.  The king size would give me room to fiddle with on a queen-sized bed.  (Actually, my first fabric purchases didn't work; they were too dark, so I went back and got others, which you see here).  Magellan, the most frequent denizen of the bed since she's there both night and day, watched on curiously.

I cut the fabric into big blocks (less sewing that way), and laid them out on the bed to see what looked nice.

Not bad, not bad! But now I had to sew.  And sew, and sew.

I don't know why, but the sewing machine sort of scares me. Ok, not quite scares, but it's so much more complicated than a wheel or two knitting needles. All those settings, sharp points moving rapidly... it's never been my forte.  Plus, you have to have the iron on all the time, heating up the room, and the bulb in the machine makes everything around it hot, too.   I also tore around the house trying to find the manual, just to make sure I was using the right needle and so on, and I couldn't find it.  The cats looked on in alarm: why was I running around and tearing into things as if I were as crazy as they are?

Eventually I plunged ahead without the manual, sewing, sewing. My goodness, was it a lot of fabric.

So much fabric that eventually the machine protested and I needed to do some basic maintenance, but I didn't have the manual. Coffeeboy, wanting me to return from the land of obsessive sewing, no doubt, found it online for me, and downloaded it, the better to get his spouse back, I expect. I had been sewing Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday... it was time to finish the thing so we could use it (and so that we could finally watch the Lost series premiere and retrospective, something the sewing hadn't permitted)!

I laid the quilt/duvet cover out on the living room floor, much to Juniper's amusement. "What is this new rug,"  she must have wondered!  Magellan came into the room and demonstrated that it wasn't a rug: she promptly pounced on the fabric just as she often does with our bedcovers.  Was it ever huge! It was as big as our living room rug!  Had I really sewed that much in just a few days?!

A little more sewing proved that the effort was well worth it!

Magellan also checked out her new napping environs, and seemed well-pleased with the results.

The comforter and its cover are cozy, just the right warmth, and such pretty colors! I almost feel that I've never made such a "me" project before. I love the colors; they make me think of daffodils and spring days. The cover reminds me of my favorite childhood blankie, a patchwork quilt with colorful squares. (I swear, that wasn't intentional. I'm not sure what it means that as a grown-up, I've made a patchwork quilt for my bed. I'm sure Freud would have a word or two or three to say. I'm not going to worry about that, though; it's cute and cozy; I made it myself, and I learned a lot while doing so!) 

Coffeeboy seems to like it too; he keeps calling it "folk art." I'm not sure that's a good thing, as such a designation refers to things like my amateur attempts to add snaps, and when those didn't work, buttonholes, using those extra buttons that come with clothes that I've stashed for years on end.

I'm really glad I tried out the buttonholes; this forced me to use the buttonhole foot on my sewing machine and realize that it's really not that hard, at all, to do. Maybe I can actually do this sewing thing after all! Next time, of course, I'll have to measure more carefully, get a little bit better at sewing a straight line, and well... I'm not at all known for my spatial and geometric abilities, to put it mildly, so if a lack of right angles, a slightly too-snug comforter cover, and some funky buttons make something "folk art," then so be it.  I'm quite pleased with the results; they are oh-so-comfy, and I'm a little bit surprised I did it at all! 

Spring sweater

As promised, here's my latest FO, the mohair sweater! After several amusing modifications, I can finally put it out there on the 'net! Although for some reason, I felt like making this a faceless post; not sure why. This way you can see that the neck edge is rolled (using where I picked up stitches to stop the roll), the sleeves roll, too (except there's ribbing to stop the roll), and the waist edge is crochet. A bit schizophrenic, and there are some funky pooling issues in places I'd rather them not to be, but other than that, it's not bad for a cozy, lightweight spring sweater!

First, you see, I had to redo the bind off on the collar. You should have seen me trying to pull it over my head at the knitting group meeting. You could see a little bit of blond poking out the top, but that was about it! Several women kindly suggested that I bind off more loosely (more loosely?), which worked well. Then, of course, there was the rolled hem. Now, I have several sweaters with rolled edges, all machine-made, store-bought, and their rolled edges don't seem to add bulk where it doesn't belong, so I was foolishly unworried about the plan to knit myself a rolled edge. What a mistake that was, even after blocking!! This meant that on a Tuesday evening listening to election coverage on the TV, I found myself crocheting the bottom edge of the sweater. Yes, listening to the TV because I couldn't not look at the little hook at the end of a stick.

The Stats:
Pattern: The raglan pattern in The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
Yarn: Brooks Farm Primero, about 1.5 hanks
Time; Ravelry tells me it took about a month and a half or so
Needles: size 5 for the body

I've been doing a lot of dissertation work - most of it inside, in the study, all previous posts and photos to the contrary - and have actually been making progress. Well, at least, the progress of a quote strung together here and there with another quote plus a possibly off-topic analysis of a few photographs, all added up to make a few really long sections scattered over several MS Word documents... and it's starting to feel like a chapter draft is taking shape in my mind, even though I can easily see many more pages of typing before it gets printed out in something resembling a coherent document on a date with a red pen. (Or pencil or blue pen - it depends what's lying around). Given that May is about half over and I haven't had any drafts to show since January, like the funky pooling on the sweater, I'll take what I can get! I'd like to have an actual draft-to-show-the-advisor by early June, which is when I'll be driving all my books to my home school so they can be renewed. In person. All several shelves of them. Given that Coffeeboy and I'll be gone for a week or so in late May, this just might be a dubious goal. But one can always hope for the best, right?

Real-live finished objects

I wasn't kidding! I actually have two whole FOs to show you!

First, the socks - the monkey socks! They're done! Each sock took a very small amount of time to knit, it was just the small matter of the second sock and, oh yeah, the move that got in the way! Well, here they are:

Pattern: Monkey Socks from knitty.com, by Cookie A.
Yarn: Woolbearers sock yarn in (the yummy colorway) "Autumn Moon"
Needles: K-P Options for magic loop, size 0
Thoughts: This is indeed the fun pattern everyone says it is! I loved making these socks, especially since each one of the pair was knit at an outdoor musical event of some sort! I do think they turned out a bit tight. I'm thinking I might need to size up to 1s for future sock-making purposes, that maybe my gauge on small needles has tightened up. This should be easier to do now that I know that Knitpicks has two versions of size 1 circulars, at 2.25 and 2.5 mm. (I've been wanting the 2.25 size). Nevertheless, I'm in total and complete love with the colorway - lavenders, pinks, purples, oranges, with tiny hints of green and maroon. Yum yum.

Close-up of stitch pattern

In other FO news, a long long time ago (try about a month or so), I finished a feather-and-fan shawl/scarf. But for reasons unknown, I didn't manage to photograph it until this week, right before sending it off to my mom for her birthday.

Pattern: basic feather and fan stitch, repeated 5 times across
Yarn: Three Waters Farm superwash merino fingering weight, colorway "Lilac"
Needles: Size 5 Bryspun circulars (pointy tips, not too slippery)
Thoughts: This shawl was truly a dream to finish and block. The feather and fan pattern opened up beautifully and gave the shawl amazing drape and softness. My mom opened her birthday present yesterday, and was full of compliments about it! Yay!

In the above picture, by the way, I'm standing on our new back patio-area, with the oh-so-threatening creek behind me in the trees. It's an amazingly lush, tangled area right now, with weeds and trees and flowers and invasive kudzu all mixed in together. I can't wait to see how it changes as we move from summer into fall!

Finished socks!

I even have a finished object to show you! What's even crazier is that Coffeeboy was excited enough that he tried them on in hot weather! Not outside, mind you, but still! Given his aversion to the heat, it was a true sign of appreciation.

Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Socks, from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote, color "Mums", 2 skeins plus a bit of black yarn for the toes
Needles: Size 0 DPNs
Thoughts: These were a fun pattern to knit for the future professor. they had enough patterning not to be boring, but not so much that I didn't memorize it. Designed to be long, they'll sure keep him warm this winter! I added the little black toes because in both cases, I ran out of the skein at the very end, and decided he'd probably think the contrasting toes were neat. (I did have a third skein, but didn't want to use only a small bit of it, preferring instead to have a contrasting toe color).

I've also finished my first Monkey sock; I need to cast on for the second! (Do I smell some second-sock syndrome here? Hopefully not, but moving is mighty distracting.

The weather is hot and heavy. We've been packing and packing. I shredded years worth of old bills and so on yesterday; the more I shred, the less we need to move. You won't believe what I was still carrying around! I found health insurance plan details from jobs I left years and years ago, credit card statements for cards I don't have any more, and possibly the most telling one of all: pamphlets of information on deep vein thrombosis, or a blood clot in the leg, one of which I had in college.

I know I still "carry" that episode around with me in a lot of worrying, so I wasn't too surprised to see just how much I still had from that experience. I kept the important stuff but ditched lists of symptoms, instructions on how to inject anti-coagulating shots, and the like. Maybe if I can ditch the paperwork, the same will happen to my mind? I doubt it, but it's worth a shot nevertheless!

Stream of thoughts

How's everyone doing in the heat? I can't wait for it to be over, I can tell you that much! I've been keeping cool in the AC... in fact, I even have a finished object to show you!

How did I make so much progress? I joined Audible.com and downloaded a book, listening to it on my iPod this past Saturday. We were at Borders and I meant to do work, but instead, the very yarny cover of The Friday Night Knitting Club caught my eye, and I read it in the store for about an hour... and I got hooked. Not hooked enough to pay market prices and take time out of knitting for it, but enough to decide I'd listen to the book and knit at the same time! The book is, well, entertaining enough, but that's all I'll say for now since my wrists are in pain from the knitting, fiddling with that little microfilm wheel, and answering a bundle of email.

It's a good thing I'll be stuck in a car for much of tomorrow, heading off to Boston & Camberville for another research visit. (I can't knit in a car; it makes me ill.) Hopefully that will give my wrist time to recover - not to mention more to say about my dissertation proposal progress.

I was up in the middle of the night last night, from about 4-5:30 alternately writing down thoughts and surfing for pretty handpainted yarns. I'm never up in the AM with insomnia. It was very, very weird. At least I got back to sleep for a bit.

This is getting long. I will have to show you my FO pics once I'm home next week, once there are pics to show!

Why hello there!

Hi everyone... It's been a long time, but I'm still here! I can't really believe it's been so long. I've been, let's see, trying to keep my head above water for my class, work on my lit review, figure out a dissertation, thinking about moving. The usual. Somewhere in there I stopped feeling like blogging. I think it's because I don't really know what to say about, say, the family gathering in Florida that followed immediately on the one to Colorado. Or about my weekends. Usually they're not all that exciting: maybe I'll get together with some friends, usually Coffeeboy and I spend a night in watching something on the TV. Often I'll be doing schoolwork during the day. It doesn't exactly make for exciting Monday-morning reports about my weekend, but maybe people enjoy those posts? Or they're a necessary part of the blogging ritual?

Needless to say, though, I've been knitting, and I have a finished shawl!

Pattern: Kiri
Yarn: K-P Shadow in "Jewel"
Needles: Size 5
Time: March 18-April 22 (not at all bad!)
Size: 25x51 before blocking; 30x60 after blocking.

I got to wear Kiri to my subfield's party this afternoon, and it received many compliments. I finished it last night and blocked it overnight, in time to wear today. Thankfully the weather's been just right for a new shawl! I also got to use the new shawl clasp Coffeeboy gave me a while ago; it works very well to hold the shawl on. This was a very fast knit, with an easily memorizable pattern. Highly recommended!

It's finally spring, and our garden is in full daffodil form. We've also started thinking about spring vegetables!

Despite the nice weather, though, I'm spending my days in the library or in other places conducive to studying, trying to figure out what I'm going to write my dissertation on. I thought I had some ideas, but right now they're, shall we say, on hold. I just have to assume that one day, as I keep working though stuff, things will fall into place.

Missions: accomplished

It's been a week of accomplishments here in the Lazuli-Coffeeboy household. Most importantly...

1) Coffeeboy finished his dissertation!
2) Coffeeboy received an email from a press, expressing interest in considering his dissertation for publication!
3) Coffeeboy ALSO had a good phone interview for a tenure-track job AND 3.5 hours later was asked to campus for an on-campus interview, to be held the day after his dissertation defense!

Wow, what a week, huh?

My week wasn't quite so accomplished, but then a week like finishing your dissertation can only come once in a lifetime, right? This past week, I

1) Turned in a draft of my third exam to my advisor
2) Finished Clapotis #2!

Project specs:
Pattern: Clapotis, of course
Yarn: Cestari sock yarn from Woolbearers, in the color "Tuscany"
Needles: Size 7 K-P Options w/ the 24" cord.

This one has much thicker fabric than Clap #1, given that it's a pretty thick sock yarn. I can't really wrap it around my neck without looking like a chipmunk! (I might go for the chipmunk look in the next day or two, given the cold weather we're supposed to have!) However, it works great tucked under my coat for extra warmth, and it also wraps nicely around my back and shoulders for warmth. I haven't blocked this one yet, because I don't want to ruin the twist, but it may help it drape more nicely and fit 'round the neck better if I do. We'll see.

In other knitting news, I'm down to the toes on my cabled blue socks; news of them coming soon!

Finished Hanukah knits!

I can't reveal several Christmas knits yet (besides, they're still being worked on) - but I can reveal two finished Hanukah items!

First, the one that has been gifted, my husband's socks. He loves them so much he won't allow a proper photograph so I had to capture the socks hiding on his feet, under his jeans and slippers. I guess that makes them a partial revelation of holiday knitting:

Pattern: plain ol' stockinette, 60 stitch circumference, 2" ribbing on cuff, heel flap, wedge toe, kitchenerned off.
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in the color "Yellowstone" (isn't it pretty!)
Needle: Knitpicks Options size "1" (so, 2.5mm or 1.5 by "normal" reckoning)
Thoughts: I love the colors on this yarn! It's so soft, with the wool, mohair, and nylon. Maybe that's why he's barely taken them off his feet since I gave them to him on Friday? The softness made it a delight to work with, and there was definitely no awkward pooling or striping. The colors are gorgeous, browns and deep reds with little bits of gold flashing through.

Secondly - The recipient of the super-secret-sock is now in her car winging her way north for a brief visit en route further north, so I can post her socks now!

Pattern: Red Herring by Knitty
Yarn: Elann's "Sock It to Me" yarn (4-ply), in colors 7139 and 9800, a black and a burgundy red. I used one full ball of the black and only part of the red ball, with one full ball of black left over.
Needles: size 2 for the colorwork, size 1 for the rest.
Thoughts: This is such a fun pattern! (Thanks, Cookie!) The colorwork - which was a new experience for me - was really fun. I think it was made easier by none of the floats being more than 3 stitches long, making it easier to keep tension even. I do think that I probably pulled the floats tighter than necessary. They've evened out some with blocking, and will do so more, I expect, with wearing. You can see the floats here, on the left:

I hope she likes them! But now, back to work and to Christmas knitting! I'll have a few Hanukah gift pictures to show you over the next few days, pretty yarn and intriguing new needles from Knitpicks (oops, did I say what it is?!). Did you know they use paper from Babies R' Us as protective shipping material? They do. I have pictorial proof coming in the next post!