A new kind of thinking

Now that the sweater is finished I have nothing to do.

I thought I was going to be SUPER busy working on some fashion week stuff but I - for the first time ever - said no to the project! I feel so relieved. The project was doomed from the start. The timing was bad. The direction was unclear at best. And I just didn't want to deal with designer angst (hers not mine). So I said no.

I feel so liberated! I feel so guilty! I feel so liberated! I feel so guilty!

I'm going to give this new thinking a try. Maybe if I say no to a few projects along the way I won't be so insane all of the time. I'm getting really tired of juggling!

So, now that I have some free time I think I'll graft the underarms of a sweater I made last year. And maybe, just maybe I'll actually knit the button band onto a gorgeous sweater that I made a year ago for my sister in law for her birthday (obviously I missed it!) I'll post a few pics when I finish them!

I also need to make a couple of hats for a friend. Some really AWESOME hats. Innovative, cleaver, gorgeous, unique, hats. Pics to come.

On a sad note, I'm shocked by how many yarn stores have closed. So many stores opened in the early 00's. It was alarming then. I couldn't believe that NYC could sustain so many shops. But now the reality of rent, inventory and a crappy economy have settled in, people just don't have the kind of discretionary income needed to buy really expensive yarn. I don't buy yarn that often. When I do it's usually Jade Sapphire cashmere (because I can't get enough of it in my life). So I don't frequent local yarn stores often. But I like knowing that they are there in case I need something. The other day when my son was having his teeth put back together I wanted to grab a couple of dpns. and I remembered a little yarn store around the corner from the dentist's office. I got there and it was GONE. It had been there since the late 80's. Now it's a dutch book store. Really?

Anyway, happy New Year. I'm going to Montauk where eating, drinking and knitting are on the agenda!

A Minor Alteration

The drama is over. The teeth are restored (bonded for a couple of years).

Christmas came and went.

Soho has been a mad house for 2 days. Honestly I've never seen it so crowded on broadway between Houston and Broome. I guess everyone is determined to bring up those retail sales!!

The down and dirty quickie sweater is finished! Well, I actually just need to graft the underarms. I'm also adding two inches to the bottom. I'm accomplishing this by snipping the rolled bottom edge, knitting backwards and now knitting down for the intended distance. I'll be done within the hour. It fits perfectly! So though it wasn't done in time for Christmas, it is finished and it is being received with a smile!

Get this...

I'm working with Irina, the winner of Project Runway on her knitwear for fashion week. Pretty crazy!

More to come...

All I want for Christmas!

Well, I hit a road bump yesterday with the sweater!

My son knocked his 2 front teeth out at school. So I had to deal with all of "that"! Emergency dental work, worrying about a concussion, etc, etc. He's a little sore today but oh to be a kid. Boy, they just bounce back.

Anyway, so I'm back on the sweater this morning. I have 2" to go until the underarm. I've mapped out the sleeves (sort of) and then the raglan. So basically, I'm where I left off yesterday! waaaaa!

Maybe I WILL be able to finish this sweater!

Here we have 3 balls completed. It's measuring in at just over 12". If I knit up one more ball that will make the body just over 16" to the underarm. That sounds good to me. I'll then start on the sleeves. Once they are knit up I'll just join all the pieces and work on the raglan decreases. Then I think I'll do a mock turtleneck. and bam, I'm finished!

The only problem is that I'm working tonight and tomorrow night which means NO KNITTING! I'm feeling pretty good about this though. I'm staying positive (for now).

Not much to see

Well, instead of writing the pattern last night I decided to stay up and watch Mission Impossible 2. Don't ask me why!

So this morning I grabbed my size 6 circulars and cast on the guesstimated # of stitches. I didn't want to waste my time with a gauge swatch so I listened to the ball band did a simple multiplication task and came up with the hypothetical # of stitches to cast on.

An inch or so into the knitting I grabbed my gauge reader and realized I was about 3.75" too narrow in my circumference. Hmmmm. I got out the 8 circs and continued on. I'm now at gauge (I think). I've decided that if the bottom inch is too snug I'll just snip those stitches off and knit down from where the 8's started. SIMPLE! FAST! If the recipient loves that the bottom goes in a little and keeps the sweater down then that's awesome too.

I'm thinking that I don't have enough yarn. I'm almost finished with one ball and I think I'll have about 3.5" (maybe 4") per ball. I'm guessing I'll need about a ball and a half per arm which will leave me with 7 balls for the body... 7 x 3.5 = 24.5". If I could get closer to 4" per ball then I should have just enough. For now I think I'll keep knitting.

I hate ribbed cuffs and ribbed sweater bottoms. I hate that the sweater goes in under the belly and creates this weird shape. I much prefer a jersey roll where it's that same circumference as the rest of the sweater body. This sweater will definitely go in at the bottom. I'm kind of interested to see what it looks like. I'll probably hate it though!

Off to work.

I'm Starting a Sweater

that I plan on finishing by Christmas!! It's 12:28am Monday morning....I wonder if I can do it....

I'll be knitting it in the round (obviously). It will be B A S I C ... No frills, No cables, No big, crazy collars, nothing. Just some delicious cashmere, merino, silk blend in a nice oatmealy tweed on about a size 6 needle.

The two VK pieces are being delivered tomorrow. All the parties at work have happened. I just have to work during the day tomorrow and then Tuesday and Wednesday night. We'll see just how far I get with this sweater. I'm off to design it now. Then bed. I'll start knitting in the morning.

Stay tuned.

And wouldn't you know

As soon as I get back on the blog a VK preview comes out!

This is a fun knit because it's made using tons and tons of short rows. It's actually a nice pattern to practice them on. Plus there is a fun little thing that you do where you take the yarn over the needle and spread the stitches and create a nice detail. Easy + simple.

381 Days Later...

About this time last year I left my old job because my employer couldn't seem to pay me with real checks. They preferred ones made out of rubber! I fortunately had a few connections and a decent reputation in the industry and seamlessly ended up at my new residence! I agreed, finally, to becoming the boss and it's been a rough year getting things in order but I'm sailing in calmer waters now! And since the waters are calm I decided to take on another bail out situation. This one is more recent and it's not so rocky. Same employer, two locations, one gal. Oy!

As for the knitting, I have to be honest, it's been spotty. I've continued to do a piece in each of the Vogue issues since I was last here. Or most of them anyway. Sometimes it's super stressful but at the end of the day I love it! I'm currently working on 2 little things that are due on Monday. Of course I "lost" one of them yesterday somewhere between Dumbo (in Brooklyn) and Soho (in manhattan). But crisis averted, the bag was found!

But here's the real reason I'm back on the blog....I was riding uptown on the 1 train the other day. I looked up and saw the cutest beret on a girl standing in the doorway. (To be honest, I didn't love the color but the hat was SUPER cute). So I'm sort of staring at her in that creepy trance-like way. The train pulls into the Houston St. stop and as she's exiting I realize.....That's my pattern from the Knit.1 cover last year!!!!! So cute! It looked great (well, again to be honest, she could have used a bulkier yarn but really, who cares besides me?). It was pretty cool. So that got me thinking and I headed over to Ravelry (another 381 day lapse) to check out things...interesting what's happened over there in 381 days! phwew!

So here I am on the interweb. I'll upload some photos as soon as blackberry fixes their nationwide problem.

The photo up top is a wreath that I made. The nice man at the Christmas Tree pop up sidewalk store wanted 250.00 for a real wreath that would get all dried out and become a fire hazard. So for 10.00 he sold me the frame. I wrapped it up in some lights and voila! an awesome wreath!