FOs: oatmeal and ginger

These are both from two weeks ago but it took awhile for me to set up a tripod. But they're both done! The Ginger Skirt is done! Please excuse the wrinkled skirt and the extremely awkward poses (and don't look too closely at the seams); it's far from perfect but it's the first thing I sewed on my new sewing machine and I'm proud of it enough that I'll probably wear it in public and just hope no one stares at it too critically. 

My plan is to make a few more of this pattern as I get comfortable using the sewing machine - I love the high waist and the A line cut and would love to see how it looks in some more conventional fabrics (I used quilting cotton here, which probably wasn't the wisest choice.) And, also! While I didn't make the shoes, I did, sorta, design them in Vietnam, in that I picked the heels, colors and laces out at one of the many shoe-makers in Hoi An, so, yay for that! 

The second FO in this post is a return to much more familiar waters - the Oatmeal Pullover is a quick, satisfying knit that definitely restored my occasionally flagging knitting confidence. Like many other Ravelers, I knit it using Puffin by Quince & Co in Carrie's Yellow, and like many other Ravelrers, I added an extra row between the shoulder increases, and I'm pretty happy with both the color and the fit. I could definitely see myself making more of these in the future, because bulky yarn + nice loose gauge = crazy fast satisfying knitting.

Raveled here. 

happy happy valentines!

fo: p u r l s c a r f for maggie

Hooray, it's done! The congratulatory purl scarf for my sister is done! 

I used Malabrigo Worsted, madelinetosh merino light and Rowan kidsilk haze, and I love the way they look together. I stopped measuring it, though I suspect it's not quite as long as the pattern calls for - but it's still taller than me, and definitely long enough to loop comfortably around her neck. 

The photos don't really do the pretty yarns in this scarf justice. Not the most thrilling project to knit, but I could definitely see making one for myself in the future - perhaps with bigger needles and casting on a few more stitches, since this one is a lot skinnier than I pictured. So, yay scarf! Yay for managing to finish projects despite working round the clock!

Raveled here. 

blue skies

Saturday was all early morning drives up the PCH to Malibu and playing with this: 

... which came in the mail on Friday night. I knew how to sew years ago, before I left for Vietnam, but was never really good at it; I'm much worse now than I was back then, which is frustrating. My first foray back into sewing is a cute but very simple a-line skirt pattern: 

Simple as the pattern is, I still managed to make a dazzling array of stupid mistakes (see below for the perhaps the stupid-est one) - fortunately I still have my old seam ripper? 

Mostly I just love the sky blue fabric with its' birds, which reminds me of the big vast California skies from my early morning drive up the coast.  I've lived in Los Angeles for almost a year now and do not do this nearly enough. 

It was dark by the time I finished sewing (I took lots of breaks to avoid getting too frustrated - it's like the opposite of riding a bike, forgetting everything you used to know)  so I don't have any pictures of the skirt yet, but, yay for sewing and lazy sunny weekends!

wip: p u r l s c a r f

My baby sister is getting a children's book published (!!!) so as a congratulations present, I'm knitting her a scarf in her favorite color. She picked the base yarn (Malabrigo Worsted in Sapphire Magenta) and I picked the complimentary yarns and the pattern - the Purl Scarf, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. This was one of the very first knitting books I ever bought, and though I'm not a big scarf knitter, I've always wanted to knit this one. I'm knitting it on size 13s rather than 15s, mostly 'cause I don't have 15s, and it's definitely thinner than I expected based on the photos - if I made it again, I might add a few stitches to get a bulkier scarf. But I love the loose open rib and the way the colors all go together, so, here's hoping she likes it too? 

wip: o a t m e a l

I keep meaning to take photos of this in progress but the knitting is going so fast that this is the first change I got. Massive needles = awesomeness, especially because work has ramped up the craziness lately, so coming home to something mindless feels pretty damn good. 

In other news, my mom sent me a giant box of photos from my childhood this weekend, which gave me an excuse to play with the scanner. Good to know I still have the same awkward dance moves.

And also the same haircut. Yay, bangs.

fo: i n t h r e e s

First FO of 2013 is also my first ever knitted gift for a baby! I don't know many people with babies - or at least, not people I know well enough to spring a handmade knitted gift on - but two friends of mine that I met five years ago in Vietnam had a baby girl a few weeks ago. Knowing nothing about babies, I can only hope that this fits and is the kind of thing she can wear maybe in the Spring when she gets a tiny bit bigger. 

The pattern is In Threes, and I used Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted in sage - which looked greener on the website (I'd been aiming for gender neutral, though no one could possibly care about pink or blue for boys and girls any more, right? Please say yes?) It's more of a robin's egg blue, though, which works for me since that's one of my favorite colors, and hopefully it works for the baby (or at least her parents). Also, it's crazy soft and superwash. 

The only modification I made was that I didn't include the garter bands that run down from the arm pits. This sweater knit up in five days of lazy knitting (babies, it's awesome how tiny you all are!), and I flagrantly disregarded my New Year's resolution to watch exclusively quality TV programming by devouring probably about ten episodes of Once Upon a Time to keep me company as I knit it. 

Raveled here. 

wip: i n t h r e e s

Way better at starting projects than finishing them lately: also on the needles is this cute baby sweater for my friends' new baby girl - In Threes, knitted in Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted.  Oh my god, babies are tiny, and this is going fast. Here's hoping I can finish it this weekend, maybe? 

wip : l a u r e l

I've had this skein of madtosh vintage (in Glazed Pecan) for years now - I bought it when I lived in Japan on one of my sporadic yarn binge international orders from WEBS - and am finally doing something with it. The only problem is that because I've had it for so long, somewhere along the way I wound it up and used an unknown amount of it, because now that I've reached the decrease section of the hat, I'm running precariously low on yarn. Damn you, self of the past! So here's hoping the madtosh community on Ravelry bails me out in my quest for Glazed Pecan remnants, because buying another full skein just to finish a hat would sort of defeat the purpose of knitting from your stash... 

vietnam

Absolutely nothing to do with knitting, but a few more snapshots of Vietnam... 

Whistles for sale! I bought one for my sister and she can't figure out how to make noise with it. Suggestions welcome. 

Lanterns and cyclos abound in Hoi An. 

Hoi An, be prettier! 

It felt beyond amazing to visit Vietnam again, even if it was only for a few days (three in Hoi An, three in Hanoi) - and extra awesome that I managed to work a little travel into the tail end of 2012! So here's hoping for a little more adventure in 2013 :) 

wips: y e l l o w

Some snapshots of some very early-in-progress works-in-progress and also from last month's whirlwind trip to Vietnam, because, yellow! 

They're not much to look at yet but I have high hopes for these two sweaters, because I love yellow and it goes with everything I own. The first, above, is a cozy Oatmeal Cardigan by Jane Richmond, which I need to finish soon or else it'll be too hot in LA to wear it. 

... and this here will someday be a Cria by Ysolda. 

And, more pictures of Vietnam to come - remember when this blog used to be about knitting AND traveling? Me too! That was awesome!