Nocturnal Knits

Introducing Nocturnalknits.com!

2009-11-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

Drumroll please...

nocturnalknits.com!

I've been planning on moving my blog to its own domain for a long while now, but other projects and the daily grind have gotten in the way. I hope you like the new design! When I’m not knitting or writing, I work as a web developer, so I wanted to make sure the design and code were up to par. Now that the new site is up, I'm rededicating myself to blogging more regularly.

So check out my brand-new site and check back for updates!

It's Always Sunny... Kitten Mittens

2009-07-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

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A friend of mine just asked me if I could make her a set of these:

As a huge "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" fan, I can't resist!

(Though I'm going to make her sign a waiver so she won't sue me when her cat claws the crap out of her face while trying to administer the mittens.)

Incidentally, I wrote a pattern called Kitten Mittens in Picture Perfect Knits, but they're not quite the same...

Bootie-licious

2009-07-30T15:19:00.001-07:00

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I love it when my friends have babies, not only because it means another little being is coming into the world, but because it gives me an excuse to make adorable knits!(Ravelry link)

I was inspired by Brookyln Handmade's Baby Chucks pattern, and even bought the pattern from her for five dollars. When I started looking over the pattern, though, I decided just to give it a go on my own. I had different yarn requirements (Koigu PPM) and needle sizes (2.75 mm, I think?), so rather than adapt her pattern to my needs, I figured I'd just take a stab at the design. I've knit so many booties in my day that I've memorized the method (based on the Stay-On Baby Booties pattern by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas) and don't really need a pattern to look at anymore. This was especially helpful since I knit both these booties on a plane trip. Fancy that.

Here's another shot for size reference:

These were such a hit that I'm already knitting another pair! Here's hoping I can remember how I made them in the first place!

LYS Owners are Angry

2009-07-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

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I saw this mildly amusing Office Depot ad while watching "The Daily Show" on Hulu:

Notice anything special about this fictional small business owner? Yup, she owns a yarn store.

I have no idea what to make of it. Just thought I'd share.

Girasole - finished!

2009-06-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

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Here's the problem with secret knitting projects...

You have to keep them a secret. This means you definitely can't blog about them, especially if the intended recipient is a regular reader of your blog. This was the case with my Girasole by Jared Flood [Ravelry]. I was knitting it as a wedding present for a good friend, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise!

On March 8, 2009, my Girasole was only two skeins of Fountain Hill Brushed Mohair full of potential.

Over three months later, I ended up with this final product:

Well worth the effort! Look how pretty and sparkly the yarn is.

Now is the time to bow down in deep reverence for Mr. Jared Flood. That man knows how to write a damn good pattern. Girasole was a labor of love, for sure, but its dirty little secret is how easy the pattern is to knit! Jared's pattern breaks each section up into small, easy-to-follow charts. They're repetitive enough to keep track of, but small enough that you never get bored.

I do have to say that I was pretty anxious to get this sucker off the needles after a while.

Lace is so lumpy and unattractive before blocking, but I kept the faith that it would turn out beautiful in the end. A few hundred pins later...

...and you got yourself a pretty lace shawl! Shazam!

Here's some technical stuff for the other knitters out there. I used size 8 (5mm) needles, and all of two skeins of the Fountain Hill Brushed Mohair, which comes out to 1120 yards. I skipped one repeat of chart E because I was afraid I'd run out of yarn.

Turns out I ran out of yarn just at the end of the knit-on edging. I was really pissed off. So pissed off, in fact, that I swore I wouldn't go buy anther 600-yard skein just to use 10 yards of it. I was actually finishing the edging during the Lakers' championship game against the Magic, and my boyfriend's delight at his team winning the big prize inspired me to keep on trucking. I HAD to finish that damn shawl.

So, in an effort to save yarn and get the damn thing done, I proceeded to fudge the edging quite a bit. Basically, I was knitting 3 stitches together instead of 2, and I kinda smushed the ends together. Guess what? It's nearly impossible to see the difference... plus, what's that whole thing about needing imperfections in your work so you don't offend the gods? Yeah, that, too.

I gifted the shawl to my friend and now I have to say I'm kind of itching to knit another Girasole! This time, I want to make the blanket size. What do you think? Should I go for it?

(I'll buy extra yarn this time if I do.)

In L.A.? Come see my new play!

2009-03-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

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Do you live in Los Angeles? If so, you should come see the world premiere of my new play, "Beneath Her Feet" (co-written by Jason Matthews). It's about living and working and loving in Los Angeles, and it's sure to be a good time.

April 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 2009. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm. 4735 Lankershim Blvd, 91602.

It's a 3-week run, so there are 9 -- count 'em: 9! -- chances to come see the play!

Tickets are only $10! Make your reservations today -- don't miss out! Exclamation points!!!
http://www.abovethecurvetheatre.com/reservations.php

Can't wait to see you there!

iPhone Mittens

2009-03-03T11:46:00.001-08:00

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It's cold in Chicago.

I live in Los Angeles (currently 66°F), where it's easy to forget that most of the country is experiencing this thing called "winter." I also don't realize the special challenges that bundling up under countless layers of clothing presents.

For example: my friend Danielle, a PhD student at the University of Chicago, told me she was getting frustrated with wearing gloves all the time. It's too cold in Chicago to go bare-handed, especially while walking her dog. But when she gets a call on her iPhone, the gloves get in the way of her answering the phone. The solution?

The iPhone Mittens! (Ravelry) They have a flap to cover your fingers that can be quickly pulled back to answer your phone:

The pattern is my own, yarn is Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran (Ravelry). I used the majority of two skeins, and cut it REALLY close with the black. If I were to re-create this pattern, I'd use the grey on the finger-flap to make sure I wouldn't run out of yarn.

I'll write this pattern up if there's interest -- let me know if you'd like to see this pattern online!

Warning signs?

2009-03-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

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I've never really considered knitting a high-risk hobby. Sure, my wrists are often sore and I even gave myself tendonitis from knitting too much. As a naturally paranoid person, I have considered the unlikely chance of getting stabbed by a needle while driving or during plane turbulence. But as I had never heard a verifiable story of such a stabbing happening to anyone, I brushed the notion aside as urban legend.

But then I started to read The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood. (On my Kindle -- the original version, not the new spiffy Kindle 2, but oh well.)

The VERY first story of suvival was about Ellin Klor, titled "A Knitting Needle Through the Heart" (click link for excerpt). I had to do a double-take. A knitting needle where exactly? The heart you say? Egads!

The very next day, I was knitting and watching TV, and I stumbled upon Mystery Diagnosis on the Discovery Health channel. After a story about a boy who had breathing problems, they played a piece about a woman who stepped on a crochet hook and impaled her own foot! Yikes! And the scary thing is this injury triggered a slew of other health problems (hence the mystery diagnosis) and kept her essentially bedridden for weeks.

If the universe is trying to warn me against knitting, I'm not listening. Though I'm now being a bit more careful about where I keep my needles when I'm not knitting, lest I sit down on them and pierce my behind.

Whether it's the cosmos trying to put a damper on my knitting or just the result bad planning, I knit the ugliest bathmat in existence recently:

It was supposed to be Absorba (Ravelry), from Mason-Dixon Knitting, but since I don't actually own that book, I decided to ad-lib the pattern. This was not a good idea. Once I realized the color scheme was all messed up, I gave up and just made the edge striped. The good news is that it's comfy to stand on and it absorbs a lot of water, so it's not a complete loss. Since I accidentally bought twice as much yarn as needed, I'm making a new bathmat in a different stitch pattern to atone for the ugliness of my existing one.

Final question for my readers: have you ever injured yourself while crafting? I'm curious to find out if it's as dangerous as reported!

Bathmat-itis?

2009-02-17T18:13:00.000-08:00

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OH HAI!

Last night, I stumbled upon the Ravelry page for Absorba, The Great Bathmat and something snapped in me. I just had to knit it. It didn't matter that I didn't have the yarn or the book containing the pattern. So, I jumped in the car and headed to Michaels and came back with this:

I'm knitting with 3 strands of Sugar N Cream held together on size 15 needles. Needless to say, this is a fast project. Since I don't have the actual pattern, I'm just ad-libbing the log-cabin technique. Maybe not the best idea, since my colors are coming out kinda wonky:

But, meh, who cares? It's a bathmat. My current bathmat is kinda disgusting, so anything will be an improvement.

Post-Valentine's Post

2009-02-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

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Usually I'm not one to think twice about Valentine's Day. It's never really meant much to me as a holiday, maybe because I've usually had very low-key Valentine's nights or because I like to have low expectations to hedge against disappointment.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when yesterday turned out to be an awesome, fun, romantic day! I started off the day by blocking Piper's Jacket:

(I've gotta remember to block on neutral-colored stuff from now on, 'cause the bright pink beach towel is a little distracting.)

I ad-libbed an i-cord flower to use as a button. I think turned out pretty cute:

I figured the flower would work as a closure for the jacket, without it being a choking hazard for little Piper. I made the 0-3 month size, and I finished it in under a week!

Then I got flowers from my special gentleman friend:

I made him "conversation heart" cookies as a Valentine's present:

We then we went out to a fancy dinner, went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages (my friend Anne is a stage manager for the show and she hooked us up with FANTASTIC seats -- thanks, Anne!), and ended the night at the Standard downtown. Now, is that a Valentine's Day or what?

Piper's Jacket - WIP

2009-02-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

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A friend of mine just had a baby. He and his wife named her Piper. So I'm making Piper a jacket:

I'm using a pattern by Debbie Bliss called (appropriately) "Ribbed Baby Jacket" and using some stash superwash wool I've had lying around for over a year. I think it's turning out very adorable, and it's super fast to knit. It's also enabled me to watch a lot of Battlestar Galactica, so I'm grateful for that. (I'm still not caught up, though, so don't tell me who the final cylon is!!!)

I just realized, though, that I think I placed the buttonhole too far down the front. I'm planning on creating an icord flower to substitute as a button. I figure it'll be cute, and it won't be a choking hazard for little Piper.

After this is done I'll have to finish Danielle's iPhone mittens, lest she freeze her fingers off in Chicago. Sorry, Dani—I swear I'll get those done, soon!

Whirlwind

2009-01-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

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Whew! The past two weeks have been quite the whirlwind ride! After an idyllic, relaxing week in Mexico with the family, real life came back with a vengeance. I had a ridiculously busy week at work (both my day job and with freelance web work), and on top of that I had my first book signing at Unwind's anniversary party on January 15.

The party was a blast, and I met some really lovely fellow knitters.

My Obama-rama (Ravelry)/(Pattern) and Armchair Revolutionary were on display.

My book got its own table right in the middle of the store.

The next day, I flew off to Sundance for the weekend with my special gentleman friend.

We had a great time, but trying to get into both 8am and midnight screenings does not lead to lots of sleep. I think it took me all week to recover from everything!

Molly's got the right idea.

On Friday, my aforementioned gentleman friend got stuck at work late, so instead of going out for drinks as planned, I stayed in and designed some fingerless mittens for my friend Danielle:

They're going to have a flap to cover the fingers so she can keep her hands warm in Chicago, but also have easy access to her iPhone. I'm winging this pattern, so we'll see how well they turn out!

Meet me at Unwind!

2009-01-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

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Unwind is having an anniversary party on January 15 and I'll be there signing books!

Here's more info from Unwind:

Unwind celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2009, and we're starting
off the year with a bang! Join us on the evening of January 15 for
this amazing celebration and meet:
• Jess,Casey & Mary-Heather of Ravelry.com
• Beth & Amanda from Lorna's Laces*
• Kelly & Dawn of Namaste
• Laura Birek, author of Picture Perfect Knits
In other words, we've got our own festival of yarn going on! We're
also collecting canned food donations for the SOVA Pantry.

RAVELRY: Jess, Casey & Mary-Heather will be in tow to schmooze and
hand out goodies.

LORNA'S LACES*: Beth & Amanda are traveling from Chicago to spend the
evening at Unwind. They'll preview their new yarns and colors;
showcase the organic Green Line Collection; and offer some tips on
working with hand-dyed, variegated yarns.

You'll be able to special order any of their yarns, in any of their
colors, at 15% off!

NAMASTE: Kelly & Dawn will showcase the entire line of project bags,
needle cases and accessories.

You'll be able to purchase and/or special order from their line at 15%
off.

LAURA BIREK: Laura will mingle and sign copies of her wonderful new
knitting book, Picture Perfect Knits,published by Chronicle Books.

SOVA: Please bring a donation of non-perishable foods or personal
hygeine products as a gift to SOVA. Your donation will enter you into
a drawing to win some very cool yarn-related prizes!

SOVA is a non-sectarian program of the Jewish Family Service of Los
Angeles. It's dedicated to alleviating hunger and poverty in our local
community. SOVA is from the Hebrew word "savah," which means
"satisfied."

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Public Entry at 7:30 (Unwind will close at 5:00 p.m. and re-open for
the event.)

$25 ticket -- ADVANCE RESERVATIONS REQUIRED!!

Your entry fee will be applied to any purchases or special orders made
at the event.

Click here to buy your ticket!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-30T20:50:00.000-08:00

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No knitting going on here...

I purposefully left my yarn at home to give my wrists a rest and stave off my impending carpal tunnel syndrome. Plus, who can think of wool when you're on the Riviera Maya?

I got to see a rainbow over the Mayan ruins at Tulum today. That was pretty cool.

And that's what I'm reading on the beach, Roberto Bolano's "2666." It's supposed to be an amazing work of literature. I'm on page 60 of 893, so I've got a ways to go before I can give my own opinion.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve! Here's to 2009!

On a kick

2008-12-04T18:52:00.001-08:00

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I'm on a fingerless gloves kick. Some knitters call them wristwarmers. I just like them because they're so fast to knit.

Here are some silk garden ones:

And some kureyon twisted-rib ones:

I even managed to sell both these pairs without trying -- the blue ones went to a coworker and K is snagging the twisted-rib ones.

Man, do I need a new camera. I destroyed my ancient digital camera at a friend's wedding in August, and I've been relying on my iPhone and computer's iSight camera for picture-taking. I do love those two pieces of technology, but they don't offer a lot of photographic power. Hopefully Santa will hear my plea...

Oh, and Steven Colbert highlighted the dangers of needle-wielding terrorists on his show last night. Gotta love him:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Nailed 'Em - Radical Knitting

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

It never rains in Southern California

2008-11-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

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With all the fires and 90-degree weather, it seems like years since we've had rain in Los Angeles.

Photo by kristi.nicole

But last night the heavens opened up. I was ecstatic. I love rain. I grew up in a desert during a 7-year drought, so rain is exotic and exciting in my world. Sure, I went to college in Portland, Oregon, so you'd think I'd be sick of rain by now. But I haven't. I still love it.

Last night, I curled up on the couch, listened to the rain, and knit my Noro scarf.

I got to the end of my first two skeins and took a break. I decided to make cakes out of my stashed Noro, just for kicks:

I have two more skeins of the silk garden chunky left for this scarf, but I think I'm going to use half of each and then make a matching hat, or else the scarf will be super long and heavy.

And, before I forget: have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hot But Also Warm

2008-11-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

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Like everyone else in the whole wide world, I'm making a striped Noro scarf.

Molly's helping.

Mine is out of a pink/purple/green and grey/brown/charcoal Noro Silk Garden Chunky. The picture doesn't do it justice: it's looking hot. Hot the way Paris Hilton uses the term, but it will also be quite warm once it's done.

Obama-rama - Free Pattern!

2008-10-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

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I will blog about the process of making this sweater soon, but for now I only have the energy to post the pattern to download!

Download the free Obama-rama pattern!

Check it out on Ravelry

And if you want to learn more about intarsia and get more patterns, buy my book!

Picture Perfect Knits

Obama-rama

2008-10-02T17:22:00.001-07:00

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I am knitting the above into a sweater. See?

I'll be knitting this tonight while watching the VP debates. Also, I'll be posting this as a free pattern once I'm done with it! And then we can all wear it on election night and (fingers crossed) inauguration day!

Subversive Cross Stitch

2008-09-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

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It may appear that I haven't been knitting a lot lately. But this is not the truth. I have been knitting. I just have nothing to show for it. Well, that's not entirely true... I do have a large orange blob to show you:

Don't even ask. When it's ready to be viewed, I'll let you know!

I also have a fun election-related project to blog about soon, but first, some subversive cross stitch:

I made this one as a housewarming present for my good friend Sarah. I was inspired by the glorious pioneers of this genre (their book is published by my publishers, Chronicle Books), but I charted my own design.

And that is all for tonight! Stay tuned for my special elections issue!

Girls Burning Yarn

2008-09-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

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Excuse my absence from the blog: I've been too ashamed by my complete failure at the 2008 Ravelympics to show my face. I'm still less than half done with the Bamboo Garden scarf.

But I learned my lesson: knitting a complicated, double-knit, DK-weight scarf in two weeks is not possible when you have six relatives from Hungary visiting for the duration of the Ravelympics. The good news is that I had a great visit with my foreign family, and I see them so rarely that it was worth not crossing the finish line.

And now I present to you girls burning yarn:

This is what happens when you mix three crafty ladies and a bottle of champagne. Yes, it's so very scandalous. We were celebrating my roommate's birthday, and we got to talking about whether bamboo yarn was appropriate for baby knits because it's supposedly very flammable. This led to our very unscientific burn test. (We had a fire extinguisher next to us, 'cause we're careful like that.)Then we went out to a bar in Hollywood. Then we had a pillow fight in our underwear. Okay, that last one was a lie for the menfolk...

And she's off!

2008-08-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

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My Ravelympics project is off to a slow start, but I think I'm starting to hit my stride. I'm really going to have to pick up the pace if I want to finish it in time.

I designed a bamboo motif for the double-knit scarf—appropriate, since the yarn is made of 100% bamboo. I have seven pages of charts altogether (all 460 rows), which means I have to pay attention to each row.

With the double-knitting, it can get a smidge confusing which color to use, but it looks like I haven't messed up yet! Knock on wood for me! I'm going for the gold!

Ravelympics, here I come!

2008-08-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

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Don't you just love those clever folks over at Ravelry? They've come up with the 2008 Ravelympics, a sort of knitting olympics, where the goal is to cast on and finish a project during the 17 days of the Summer Olympics.

As a proud Angeleno, I am playing for Team LaLa Land in the event "Designers Discus." My plan is to make a double-knit scarf out of some stash Rowan Bamboo Soft yarn I've had lying around for about a year. I'm not allowed to cast on until the opening ceremonies, but swatching is considered "training," so here are my swatches:

I created the charts for the colorwork tonight and I'm starting to wonder if I'm biting off more than I can chew. The chart is 34 stitches wide and 460 rows long, and each row has a colorwork pattern to follow. Gulp.

Check back soon to see if I survive, or if I drop out with a pulled hamstring. (Or, more likely, tendonitis in my wrist!)

Miracle Mitts

2008-07-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

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After whipping out my Kaleigh Kap, I was quickly looking for another project to knit on my brand new set of DPNs from Knit Picks. I remembered Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts and was immediately inspired to make a pair for myself. I work in a cubicle at my day job, and, like in many offices, the air conditioner apparently pipes air in straight from the Bering Sea. Mitts were the answer. I immediately scoured my stash to find the right yarn.

I remembered I had some self-striping Felici in the now-retired Arugula colorway and it occurred to me that it might be the same weight as the massive amounts of Koigu KPM I have lying around. I knit a swatch and, though I had to knit the mitts with a needle one size larger, the Felici and Koigu worked beautifully together!

So I got started:

I think I watched three episodes of Flight of the Conchords while finishing this part:

And soon enough, I had one mitt done!

I had completely failed to plan out the striping pattern with the Felici, so I resigned myself to having the stripes not match on the mitts. Imagine my surprise, then, when the second mitt started matching perfectly! Without any planning by me, the stripes match up nearly to the stitch, and definitely to the row! The knitting gods must have been smiling at me, and thus, the mitts have been deemed MIRACLE MITTS.

However, with each miracle comes challenges. Do you see something wrong with this picture?

It wasn't until I bound off, finished the thumb ribbing, and even wove in all the ends before I realized that I accidentally added an extra repeat of the chart in the base of the second mitt.

Cursing ensued.

And then I frogged:

If the stripes hadn't matched up perfectly, I might have just resigned myself to two mitts of different length. But with the miracle of the matching stripes, I just couldn't leave it be. So I frogged and re-knit, and now they're perfect!

They're good for texting:

They're good for editing screenplays:

And they're iPhone compatible!

One final note: I used the "traditional" tubular cast on as described in Knitty instead of the one suggested by Eunny Jang. I just couldn't get the hang of casting on over the tail, so I opted for the method using waste yarn. It still made a fabulous edge, and now the tubular method is my favorite cast-on for 1x1 ribbing.

Next up: hot pink leg warmers for my favorite neurotic dog.

Kaleigh Kap - Free Pattern!

2008-06-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

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This pattern is available free on laurabirek.com! Also, you can check it out on Ravelry.

One of my coworkers recently became a dad for the first time, and I had been wanting to knit something for his new arrival but couldn't figure out what to make. The inspiration came when two things happened on the same day: 1) he told me his daughter's full name, and 2) my new set of DPNs arrived from Knit Picks. (Special shout out to my awesome roommate, HG, who got me those needles for my birthday!) I wanted to use those shiny new needles and I thought of all the Koigu KPM I had left in my stash. So I got cracking on this pattern, which turned in to the Kaleigh Kap:

In case it's not clear, the recipient has the initials K.M.B. The size seen here is for the 16" baby/toddler size. I've also written patterns for 14" (newborn) and 18" (child) head circumferences. It was very quick to knit—it only took me 3 days or so—and I've charted out the whole English alphabet in the pattern so it can be personalized with any three initials.

Download the patten!

Next in my queue: Endpaper Mitts!

My book, slightly abridged

2008-06-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

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Here's a sneak peek of my forthcoming book, Picture Perfect Knits:

In case you're wondering, I dropped the main text of the book into wordle and let it work its magic. Fun.

If you'd like to read the unabridged version, you can pre-order it today from Amazon and it'll start arriving in stores at the beginning of October.

What I did last week

2008-03-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

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Los Angeles to New York via Austin, New Orleans, Atlanta, Clarksville (MD). 3,300 miles. 8 days. Check out the interactive map.

While I wasn't driving, I was knitting Starksy.

I got the entire back finished and about half of the front left panel. More pictures and details to come.

It will haunt your nightmares

2008-02-28T00:04:00.000-08:00

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How does one get out of a knitting funk? By knitting joke patterns, of course!

This is the famed adult balaclava pattern that has made such a splash on ye olde interweb.

I made this out of some spare Cascade 220 I had in my stash on size 8 needles. It only took a few days, and the results are just fabulous. Check out my friend Panda modeling:

I actually made this for my friend Mr. N, who is also owner of the eyepatch mentioned in the earlier posts.

Molly thinks I'm crazy for making the mask:

But I've found it's good for brainstorming:

So, the official cure for the knitting blues: ridiculous vintage patterns! Take my word for it!

In a funk

2008-02-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

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I am officially in a knitting funk. A deep knitting funk. I keep starting projects and then abandoning them. Or ripping them out. It's getting to the point that most of my knitting needles are functioning as stitch holders on dormant projects.

There are two things I've knit recently. One is a modular scarf for my friend N's birthday:

Here's the Ravelry link and the link to the pattern. It was super-fast to knit, and looks really nice in Patons SWS. Plus, the pattern is super easy and repetitive, so you don't have to constantly consult the instructions while knitting.

I decided to knit another one in a different colorway while I was at the Sundance Film Festival last month, but I only got through a half ball before the malaise set in. I just wasn't feeling that pattern. So I thought I should go back to knitting my Starsky that had been sitting on the needles for months. But after a few rows of following the cable pattern I was feeling uninspired.

I then thought I should try and create something with the enormous bright-orange super-bulky alpaca yarn I've been saving. I've cast on three different times (for one sweater and two bags) and I still don't have anything made. Then I decided I needed a basic black wrap, so I consulted my stitch dictionary and started making something out of my black Phoenix Soy Silk. I've done about five inches of it and I'm bored again. What is wrong with me?

The silver lining is that on my recent trip to Joshua Tree, my friend Mr. N requested I knit him an eyepatch. and I just happened to have the black Phoenix with me, so I made him this bad boy:

It could be better, but it's not bad for something I whipped up in 20 minutes (and after having had a few beers). Mr. N likes it, and that's all that counts.

But I'm still in a funk. I've spent hours on Ravelry, seeking out inspiration, and just feeling blah about everything. It's like clinical depression, but only for knitting. Do they make a Prozac equivalent for knitting malaise?

Sky Birds

2007-11-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

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I've spent the last hour reading TECHknitter's blog and lamenting my inability to knit while at work. I'm not sure why reading knitting blogs and watching TV shows online pass as "work" while knitting looks like I'm a bad employee, but it does. The fact that I do web coding probably accounts for some of it—my job involves staring at a computer screen, after all. I'm just plagued by being quick at my work, which means I finish my assignments before new ones are created for me. This leads to a lot of down time in which I would truly prefer to be knitting, but instead find various distractions online to keep me busy.

I try not to blog from work because, well, it's just a little too obvious when my posts appear between 9am and 6pm. But I guess I'm letting my guard down. If my boss sees this, I suppose she'll just have to find something for me to work on.

For now, I wanted to unveil a secret project: Sky Birds!

I made this hat as a special order for my brother's birthday. He wanted a super-warm, machine washable hat to keep him warm in the wilderness. My brother is a wildlife biologist who has a soft spot for raptors. He spends most of his days getting paid to count and identify hawks and falcons and eagles that fly over his head. His body and, thus, head is often in cold, remote places and needs adequate warmth. And since he's a mountain man, he can't mess with fussy fibers that require flat-drying. The birds don't wait for flat-drying. He takes some really awesome pictures of said birds. Case in point:

(Photo by Jeff. All rights reserved and whatnot.)

It took me a while to come up with the design for the hat. I knew I wanted it to have birds in silhouette, but coming up with the right number of birds in the right shape was harder than expected. I realized that to acheive the warmth Jeff wanted, I should double-knit the hat. Of course, the benefit of doing so is that the hat is then reversible.

I then ordered some Swish DK in Coal and Skyborne (perfect color name, I couldn't pass it up). (The Swish is such a soft superwash wool, I would definitely recommend it for other projects.) I then charted the project to the right gauge and figured out the length of the hat and how the decreases should be spaced. Anyway, I thought I had patterned the pattern perfectly, until it came out just a smidge too short. Ripping out the double-knitting was out of the question, so the easiest answer was to add earflaps. I had to pick up stitches while maintaining the double-knit fabric, which required more brain-power than usual. Spatial reasoning is not my strongest suit. But the mental gymnastics paid off and the earflaps look almost seamless.

Two more pics:

(Excuse the extra fluff on the hat. I hadn't washed it yet, and black yarn just picks up all the stray fibers—whether woolen or feline—that linger around the house.)

And the happy customer:

I've been told his fellow birders are insanely jealous of the hat and have put in orders for their own Sky Birds, but for now, Jeff's is one of a kind.

Box of Goodness

2007-11-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

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Don't you just love it when something like this arrives at your door?

That's one enormous box of yarn. My roommate and I placed a huge order through WEBS last week and had been waiting rather impatiently for it to arrive. It only took a week to get here, but we were getting antsy to start our new projects.

I'm going to be using the stone blue Berkshire Bulky to make Starsky, while my roommate is making Urban Aran for her boyfriend out of the green Berkshire. And, yes, she knows knitting a sweater for the boyfriend is bad luck. She doesn't care. She throws caution to the wind.

The stone blue is a little greyer in real life than it looked on my computer screen, which is a good thing in my opinion. Seeing as Starsky will probably be big and bulky, I don't need it to be a neon color.

Fake Isle Finally Finished

2007-10-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

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I love projects that just fly off the needles and still look like I slaved over them. Fake Isle is one of these projects. It looks much harder than it is, and it's a very quick knit. Case in point: I frogged my first Fake Isle on Monday, and it's now Wednesday afternoon and I have already finished my new, unseamed one. Have a look:

This time I knit the larger size. It's still snug, so I'm glad I did. Another action shot:

Here's a shot of the join and the color-jog:

I'm so glad I frogged and re-knit, because even though I still get the color-jog at the join it looks leaps and bounds better than the seam did.

Oh, and my brother got his hat today! I'll post a separate entry about his hat later on, when he's sent me more pictures.

Frogging Fake Isle

2007-10-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

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I thought I had this one in the bag. I finished Fake Isle in two nights and was feeling pretty smug about it. Check it out:

Looks awesome, right? Well, not so much. Look at the back:

(Magnus has helped me with this project all along.) See the crappy seam? No? Look at this pic:

Bet you can see it now, even with the out-of-focus and uncentered picture. (Note to self: don't try to take pictures of the back of your own head anymore.)

Now, Fake Isle is patterned to be knit in the round. I decided it would be easier to knit it flat than to go out and buy size 6 double-pointed needles. I was wrong. Even with a selvedge stitch on each side, the seam looks craptastic. So, Fake Isle got frogged:

Magnus helped me out:

So, I pulled out the yarn and started again, this time knitting in the round. I also decided to make the larger size from the pattern because the small one was just slightly too snug for me. I don't know if it was too tight because my gauge was off (I never bothered to measure... it seemed good enough) or if the pattern runs small, but I definitely recommend making the larger size for an adult-size head, as I have a very small head myself. I do. It's tiny. Borderline microcephalic, I've been told.

Luckily, the yarns (Noro Silk Garden and Knit Picks' Swish DK superwash) frogged nicely:

(Excuse the cat's evil eyes.)

Now I'm about a quarter way done with the hat. Hopefully I'll have it finished before my trip to Portland, Oregon, next week!

Not just any library...

2007-10-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

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I was just sitting here, eating my tuna salad sandwich during a rushed lunch, minding my own business when I saw something that is just very cool. See for yourself:

Holy moly! That's me in the Library of Congress!

Okay, so I know anything that's been published in any way, shape or form is in the Library of Congress catalog. (And the fact that they spell it "catalog" instead of "catalogue" is very distressing to me.) And I realize that when I actually got a book deal from Chronicle Books I should have realized that this would happen. But this is a first for me, so give me my five minutes of giddiness and then I'll go back to eating my sandwich.

Meanwhile, in my actual knitting, I've finished a secret project called "Sky Birds" for my brother (pics will be posted once he receives it), and I immediately started knitting a Fake Isle hat:

Excuse the poorly-lit, low-resolution photo. Yes, I used my iPhone to take the picture. So sue me. I do everything with my iPhone these days. Soon I'll teach it how to knit and everyone will be happy. And by everyone I mean me.

Fake Isle is nearing completion already, so expect an action shot in the near future. Now if only the weather would cool down enough for me to wear it.

You too can be published!

2007-10-25T15:10:00.001-07:00

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Hey everyone! My lovely, wonderful publisher, Chronicle Books, is having a contest for knitters and designers! Check out all the details their blog!

Here's the gist: submit your own intarsia chart and your design could be included in my forthcoming book, Picture Perfect Knits. How cool is that? Plus, you'll get a free copy of the book and MAD bragging rights. If I weren't the author, I would totally submit a design...

SoCal is burning...

2007-10-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

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...and I'm making a double-knit hat. The irony is not lost on me. Thankfully, the hat is for my lovely brother, who lives in the forest for half the year and thus has occasion to wear a doubly-thick hat.

Meanwhile, the local weatherman is using these terms to describe Los Angeles weather:

My roommate mentioned that our forecast sounds like a nice gouda.

My brother is aware of the hat, and he's seen grainy, iChat-relayed images of it half-done. But because this is technically a secret project, I will not post pictures until he has the hat on his head, hopefully sometime next week.

Meanwhile, I have finished a project for myself. Yes! It's true! Something I will keep and have actually worn in public since its completion. Observe, in all its glory, the Leavened Raglan:

From Interweave Knits Magazine, Fall 2007, designed by Carrie Bostick Hoge.

Some detail:

It's comfy and warm. I used Lambs Pride Bulky and it took just under 5 skeins for the medium size. The Lamb's pride sheds a little more than I'd prefer, but in the end this is a good catchall sweater. I've worn it to the movies twice already. It also only took about a week to make, and it positively flew off the needles. I think it only took about eight episodes of Veronica Mars to complete.

Perhaps I should start a system where I measure the time it takes to knit something in number of TV episodes or movies. I know it took me the whole first season of Heroes to knit a project for my forthcoming book.

I'll have to think about that one...

Ravelry and Jaywalker Mitts

2007-09-16T17:25:00.001-07:00

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Guess who finally got her Ravelry invite? This gal right here!

I'm registered as iwriteplays, so all you Ravelry folk should look me up! I'm working on getting my stash all squared away and listed, as well as gathering my WIPs together for pictures.

Also, I've been working on Mr. Jaywalker, but he's taken a bit of a turn:

That's him in progress. Note that he's no longer a sock. In fact, he's now...

...fingerless gloves! (Or mittens or whatever you want to call him.)

Seeing as I never wear socks, I think this is a good development. I also absolutely adore the Knit Picks Felici yarn I chose for the project. I just love watching the stripes develop. I also knit the mitts on size 0 needles because that's all I had in my drawer.

Mitt #2 is on his way...

It's called procrastination

2007-08-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

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I have major procrastination issues. My knitting calls to me when I have some big deadline or a billion chores on my list. It says, "Laura! Laura! Knit me! You know you want to!"

"Knitting, you know I love you," I reply. "But I have other work to do."

"Fine, be that way." Knitting scoffs. "I'll just rot in this crappy H&M bag you've stuck me in, getting moldy and neglected, never to see the light of day."

"Don't be like that, knitting. It's not personal! It's not you, it's me!"

"It doesn't feel that way. I think you just don't like me anymore."

"Aw, knitting, don't say that."

We have these conversations all the time. The knitting usually wins.

Last night, my Felici in Arugula called my name. After an hour or so of false starts (I gave up on making my brother a double-knit hat after three separate cast-on attempts), I decided to go with an old stanby: Jaywalker.

I'm not much of a sock knitter. In fact, I've made two socks in my life, and they were both from different patterns. However, I recently found my size 0 needles in the closet, and I figured I could actually knit socks with sock yarn. Go figure.

So here is the birth of Jaywalker #1:

I knit it while watching "Snakes on a Plane" free on demand. If I ever end up wearing these socks, it'll bring back memories of Samuel L. Jackson and dubious plot points.

The socks seems very intriguing and exciting to knit right now, but we'll see if I even pick it up after my deadline passes.

Here's the other big problem: I wear flip-flops for 90% of the year. It's one of the benefits of living in Southern California. Thus, I'm considering making them toe-less. I can call them my pedicure socks, even though I get a pedicure about once a year.

Anywho, that's my most recent story of procrastination. More exciting posts to come!

Random updates

2007-08-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

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This is Laura trying to blog more often. Let's see how she does.

Okay, enough third person. I really do want to blog more often, but there are three things that get in my way:

Lately I've had to knit a lot of secret projects that I can't post online
I've been out of the country sans regular internet access
I'm lazier than all getout

I suppose #3 can be remedied, but the first two are legitimate barriers to blogging.

I do have one or two declassified things to discuss. The first is Panka's bag:

I finished it on the plane to Budapest, and it turned out very cute for something I made without a pattern or any planning to speak of. Apparently she loves it, and I've heard reports that she's been sleeping with it at night. I'm not sure why she has it around her neck in this picture, but kids will be kids. Isn't she incredibly adorable?

I also recently treated myself to a selfish, completely unnecessary yarn purchase. I got myself some of this:

Knit Picks' Felici in the Arugula colorway. I believe I'll be making my brother a cozy double-knit hat with it. I'll keep you up to date on that one.

Finally, a picture for the ages:

That would be me and Marge at the Kwik-E-Mart. I got me a Squishee AND and pink donut. I have more pictures if you'd like to see the Kwik-E-Mart in its full glory. Sadly, it's now turned back into a 7-11. If you haven't seen The Simpsons Movie yet, get into your car and go see it right now. It's amazing. I've seen it three times already, it's that good.

Or maybe I'm just a huge dork.

You be the judge!

Check back soon for more regular blogging!

Stash, Mosaics and My Secret Identity

2007-07-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

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Hello all. I know it's been a long time since my last post, but I swear I have a good reason. First, let me show you what I'm currently working on:

It's going to be a purse for a 3-year-old girl. It's also a great project because I'm stashbusting! Yay! The pink yarns are leftover from the pink hearts baby dress I made a few months back, and the mosaic, upper part is some Noro Kureyon I had laying around. I couldn't let Kureyon gather dust, so I drafted it for this project.

I got the dot pattern from kelp!'s dotty cat bed pattern, which is absolutely adorable.

Speaking of my stash, I got kind of obsessive a few nights ago and decided to catalogue what yarns I had hanging around, and exactly how much I had left of each. Here's what happened:

Blue Sky Blue Sky Bulky (100% Alpaca; 45 yds/100g), Orange, 200 grams remaining.
Lion Brand Wool (100% Wool; 186 yds/100g), Goldenrod, 146 grams remaining.
Lion Brand Wool (100% Wool; 186 yds/100g), Pumpkin, 278 grams remaining.
Rowan Classic Bamboo Soft (100% Bamboo; 224 yds/100g), Cream, 215 grams remaining.
Rowan Classic Bamboo Soft (100% Bamboo; 224 yds/100g), Bamboo, 273 grams remaining.
Koigu Premium Merino Semi-Solids (100% Merino Wool; 350 yds/100g), Black, 230 grams remaining.
Koigu Premium Merino Semi-Solids (100% Merino Wool; 350 yds/100g), White, 39 grams remaining.
Koigu Premium Merino Semi-Solids (100% Merino Wool; 350 yds/100g), Red, 263 grams remaining.
Cascade 220 Plain (100% Peruvian Highland Wool; 220 yds/100g), Various, 552 grams remaining.
Noro Kureyon (100% Wool; 219 yds/100g), dark purples, 100 grams remaining.
Nashua Creative Focus (75% Wool / 25% Alpaca; 220 yds/100g), Zinnia, 780 grams remaining.
Blue Sky Brushed Suri (67% baby suri / 22% merino / 11% bamboo; 284 yds/100g), Pink, 97 grams remaining.

Of course, this was just the yarn that wasn't already in my closet, so I have much more to catalogue. Also, being the nerd that I am, I created an excel spreadsheet that automatically calculated how many yards I had left (based on the weight remaining), and what weight the yarn is based on the gauge. I'm a dork. Oh yeah, and then I put it on my personal website as a database-populated (MySQL for those who care) list. So as I add new yarns to my catalogue (or delete them, hopefully), the list will automatically update.

I told you I was a dork.

The one thing I haven't told you is who I actually am. I've tried to stay as anonymous as possible in the blogging world because it's a) easier and b) safer. You know, if nobody knows who you really are, nobody can kidnap you in the night.

But now, the benefits of staying anonymous are outweighed by revealing my secret identity, so here goes.

My name is Laura Birek.

Whew! That was easier than I thought!

The main reason I want to reveal my identity is that I have a forthcoming knitting book to be published by Chronicle Books in Fall 2008. I hope to encourage readers of my blog to seek out my book when it's finally published, so I decided to come out of the closet!

And, now that I've revealed that bit of information, you can possibly understand why I haven't been posting for the past few months. Everything I've been knitting is going into the book, and is thus top secret! Oh, how I wanted to blog about my projects, but you'll just have to wait to see the fruits of my labor.

I turned the first draft of my book into Chronicle yesterday, so now I'm free to knit whatever I please (for a short time, at least). Check back soon for more updates. If you want to know about new posts right away, subscribe to my RSS feed!

I hope to see you back soon!

Sincerely,
Laura

Entrelac Baby Blanket

2007-01-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

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I believe I'm on a major entrelac kick. Actually, what I'm really obsessed with are self-striping yarns, and nothing highlights the fabulousness of said yarns like entrelac.

I bought six balls of Patons SWS on a whim. My boyfriend's sister was going to have a baby girl sometime mid-January, so I needed a baby gift. I was going to come up with something more elaborate, but then I realized how fun entrelac was and how easy making a baby blanket out of entrelac would be.

Here's the blanket about 3 1/2 balls in:

I was going to stop at 4 skeins, but my mom voted against it and said "bigger is better". She's a pediatrician, hence she's dealt with a lot of babies, so I took her advice.

Meanwhile, the January 15 due date was usurped by a December 28th delivery. Whoops. Mom and baby were both healthy, but the blanket wasn't finished. I ramped up my effort and knit furiously. For the last skein, I decided to try a knit backwards so I wouldn't have to turn every six stitches.

EUREKA! Knitting backwards is brilliant, and a lot easier than previously reported. I wish I had tried it earlier --- it certainly makes entrelac a whole lot faster. Here's how to knit backwards.

I finally finished last night. Here's the blanket before blocking:

Before blocking, the blanket measured about 30" x 21". Here's the blanket while blocking:

Blocking made the blanket measure 37" x 33". Definitely big enough for my mom's tastes.

Now that I can knit backwards, I'm really tempted to make another entrelac project. However, I really have to focus on some other knitting right now, so it'll be a while before I indulge my entrelac itch again.

Self-Striping Hats

2006-12-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

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I've become obsessed with self-striping yarn. It's so fun! Every new row I find myself in anxious anticipation, watching the colors change. It's neat. Here's a hat I made for myself out of one skein of Filatura DiCrosa's 127 Print yarn in color 41:

And I made three baby hats for the Caps to the Capital program out of Moda Dea Sassy Stripes:

(I made two more but haven't taken pictures of them yet.)

Now I'm back to knitting an entrelac baby blanket out of Patons SWS. I'm seriously addicted to self-striping yarn!

Photo Quilt

2006-12-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

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So, I know this isn't technically knitting, but it is crafty so I think it belongs on my blog. Plus, I worked on this for three days nonstop, so I figure I should show it off.

Here's what I'm talking about:

I made a photo quilt for my mom's 60th birthday. I decided it would have 60 photos (for obvious reasons), but in the end I had to make 62 blocks. Technically there are only 60 photos, 'cause one block says "Happy Birthday, Mom!" and one block is a drawing of DNA. (My mom's a geneticist.)

I didn't have time to order the fabric sheets you can print directly on to, so I had to use the iron-on transfer paper. It left the quilt with a kind of plastic-y feel, but it was all I could use at the time.

So I printed out 60-some pictures (extra for the ones that got messed up) on an ink-jet printer and ironed them all on to off-white 100% cotton fabric. Then I joined them all together using the 4-thread safety stitch on my Elna serger. I could have done it on my sewing machine, no problem, but I the serger made the wrong side really clean.

Then I serged the borders on, sewed the batting to the fleece backing, and then sewed it all together. It literally took three days of nonstop work. I was tired. But it was worth it—my mom really loves it. Here are a few detail shots:

And here's mom checking it out:

(Her hat is a birthday cake that says "Over the Hill." She doesn't normally dress like that.)

Self-Striping One-Skein Hat

2006-12-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

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I felt like making myself a hat. So I went down to Michael Levine's in Los Angeles and found some Filatura DiCrosa's "127 Print" yarn in color 41. I bought two skeins, but was lucky to get away with only using one for this hat:

I took these pics using my fabulous built-in iSight camera. The camera is fabulous because it's convenient, but it's less-than-fabulous when I'm under artificial lighting (like I was tonight).

Of course, I have a small head, so most people would probably have to use more than one skein to make a hat.

By the way, my new obsession is self-striping yarn. I can't get enough. (See my previous post about my Noro Kureyon scarf for more.)

So, here I am left with a lonely ball of 127 Print. Any suggestions of what I should do with it?

Baby Dress and Entrelac Scarf

2006-12-06T00:21:00.000-08:00

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All behold the return of Nocturnal Knits! It's been a while since I've posted any new creations. The simple explanation for this is because I haven't done much knitting in the past few months, shame on me. I was going through a bit of a dry spell. After graduating from my Master's program in May, I immediately jumped into a full-time job that, sadly, wouldn't allow me to knit at work. (I only broke that rule once so that I could knit my coworker some fingerless gloves to combat the overactive air conditioner in our office.)

But then, a few months ago, a good friend of mine asked if she could commission me to make her a baby gift. She didn't have any requests, other than it be awesome so that she could be the baby's favorite aunt, so I was able to create something brand new.

I decided I wanted to make a baby dress with a knit bodice and a sewn-on eyelet skirt. I would use a similar method as the previous baby dress I made for my niece a few years ago. However, I wanted to spice this one up a bit. Here's what I came up with:

I started by making the waistband with the intarsia hearts. I then made the two top pieces and sewed them on to the waistband. The top straps go all the way down to the back of the band, so it's kind of like a tank top. I got the eyelet fabric at Michael Levine's in downtown L.A. Even though you cant really see it, there's a pink cotton lining underneath the skirt. So that it would be really gathered, I used a whole yard of fabric (though not the whole width) to make the skirt.

After I finished the dress, I decided I needed to make somthing for myself. I'm going to be going to the Sundance Film Festival in January, so I wanted a nice scarf I would wear while waiting in line for movies in the snow. I had seen on Craftster a lot of the Lady Eleanor entrelac stoles and they were very intriguing. However, I didn't want to spend a million dollars on Noro yarn, so I decided just to make a thinner and shorter version. Here's what happened:

I used three balls of Noro Kureyon that I got on eBay, so I wasn't quite sure how long it would be or how the colors would look. In the end, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Here are my foster kittens modeling the scarf:

And all on its own:

I'm really into the self-striping and self-patterning yarns right now, so expect a few more entries on this theme.

Knitting Projects of Yore

2006-05-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Since I have nothing better to do, I'm going to post some pictures of older knitting projects I have completed.

Toddler's summer dress. Bodice hand-knit from cashmere/cotton blend in "butterfly" stitch with a gathered cotton eyelet skirt sewn on. Original pattern inspired by a design by Melanie Falick. (Note: long-sleeve shirt not part of the pattern.)

Wool baby sweater using fair-isle color-knitting technique. Knit from a pattern in "Knitting For Baby" by Melanie Falick.

Acrylic baby sweater in stockinette stitch with wool remnant embroidery. Original design.

Peruvian-style alpaca baby hat. Knit from a pattern I found in a small yarn store in New Zealand. Note the adorable baby modeling the hat.

Toddler's sweater using chunky wool in a ladder rib stitch with white mohair trim. Original design.

Test swatch for the Isabella Fiore company. Inspired by Peruvian "Chullo" hats. Approximately 18" x 36". Isabella Fiore contracted me to knit this up, and it turned into this bag.

I can't say it's my favorite ever. I kind of agree with this person about it.

Two New Bags

2006-05-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I haven't knit anything since the entrelac hat. Instead, I've been sewing a lot. I'm actually in the process of figuring out what type of serger to buy. I desperately want a serger---so much that I'm considering going to buy one after work today. If I do, I'll post pictures and whatnot here.

For now, here are two bags I made recently.

The first is a bag I made for my friend's 25th birthday. Her birthday also happened to be the day we both turned our master's theses in, so it was a special occasion! All the fabric was leftover from a skirt I made almost 2 years ago. I held on to the fabric, hoping to make something awesome out of the remnants, and here is the result:

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You can just barely see the green through the eyelets. The only thing I would do over is the zipper -- I sewed it in well, but I wish I had used a zipper longer than 9". This bag was the first of its type that I had made, and I decided to try and make another.

I went fabric shopping with my stepmom at Michael Levine's in downtown L.A., and she picked out the fabric for this pink stripes and dots bag. I think it looks good, and I have to give her props because I would have never chosen those fabrics. Here it is:

I really like the little bamboo rings I used. I also reinforced all the fabric with fusible fleece, so it's stiffer than my other bags. Incidentally, this bag is for sale at my etsy store.

The other notable feature of the above photos is my duct-tape dress form! I got my boyfriend to wrap me up in red duct tape and now I have a pretty good form to use for sewing.

I've been sewing skirts, too -- I'll post those once I bother taking pictures of them.

I have an Etsy store now!

2006-03-23T03:29:00.000-08:00

People are always telling me that I have to sell my knit and sewn items. Well, I'm finally doing it. I set up a shop at etsy.com. You can find my shop at http://iwriteplays.etsy.com. I'll be adding bags and other knit items as I make them, so check it out!

Entrelac Hat for an Infant

2006-03-05T02:58:00.000-08:00

Here's my first finished entrelac attempt:

This was my unofficial entry into the knitting olympics. It only took me about 3 days of work to make, so it didn't exactly take me the whole time. I think it's actually a more fitting entry than those that took the whole 2 weeks because most events only last a few days in the actual olympics. So, this is like the equivalent of a one-day event... freestyle snowboarding, say.

The best part of this hat is that it was made from FREE yarn! Nice, hand-painted yarn, too. The colors just pop in real life. Hopefully the recipient's parents will like it. Now I have to send it off before the baby grows too big to wear it!

Gold Hobo Bag

2005-11-17T02:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay, I know it's not a knit item. But, I've been feeling the need for sewing-machine craftiness lately, so I decided to try and sew some bags. I've seen these really trendy metallic hobo bags EVERYWHERE lately, so I thought I'd try one of them. Here was my result:

I'm actually pretty impressed that I didn't mess it up. It has a functioning zipper and everything. I warmed up with some other bags - one easier square-shaped bag and another hobo that I did mess up slightly (though not too noticeably). Anyway, now I feel more confident about the bags and I think I might make a few as Christmas presents. After all, the fabric is super inexpensive. I want to figure out what to do with all the lovely silk my stepmom gave me last year - I'm thinking of making my square bags with zippers now... more to come on that.

Moebius [sic] Basket/Bowl

2005-10-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

I thought I had tried just about every knitting technique there was out there. But then I learned about Cat Bordhi's "Magical Knitting" technique, where you use a special cast on and wrapped circular needles to knit Möbius strips. She calles them "Moebius strips," hence the spelling in the title of this post.

I'm going to be a "knitster" again on the TV show "Knitty Gritty" and I'm going to be on a show about Moebius knitting. Because of this, they gave me two great sets of addi Turbo knitting needles, a whole bunch of 100% cashmere yarn (...ahhhhh....), and the Second Treasury of Magical Knitting book. I wanted to practice the new technique before using the beautiful cashmere, so I decided to try and make one of the felted Moebius baskets from the book. Here's how it turned out.

The felting was very easy - I did it in my washing machine and it took maybe 10 minutes. I used a bunch of left over 100% wool Lamb's Pride yarn.

Tomorrow I have to go film one of the "Knitty Gritty" shows (I'm going to be on at least 4 of them), so I have to get busy knitting that project. I'm probably going to play poker online and knit all night! :)

Fingered Mittens!

2005-09-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

So, knitting with bulky yarn can be really rewarding! Mostly because I can finish a pair of gloves in less than an hour. Fancy that :)

Like the neon green? They're really comfy, too.

That's all I have to say about that. More to come later.

Fingerless Mittens

2005-09-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

Living in Southern California isn't the best for a knitter. Luckily, my love for fair weather is enough for me to forego knitting with copious amounts of extra-bulky wool.

But I still buy the stuff! Well, to be fair, I bought a huge stash of Brown Sheep Wool Company's "burly spun" wool at some point last year, and it's been keeping the rest of my yarn stash warm, waiting for its moment to shine.

In honor of my oldest friend moving out of California to the windy city, I decided it was time to break out the heavy wool. I didn't have enough to make a scarf, so I made a hat (not pictured here) and then decided to try some fingerless mittens. These are a total prototype - I had never even made mittens before, so I was kind of guessing as I went along. They turned out fine in the end, and now I know how to make some good fingerless mittens. Of course my next pair will be more elegant, but for a first try, I think these are okay. I'm sure my friend won't mind the first time she has to fidget for change when trying to catch the el-train in sub-zero temperatures.

Argyle and Aran

2005-07-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

I finished my argyle hat last night out of the Cotton Angora yarn (using size 7 double-pointed needles), but there was a little problem with the sizing. My intention was to make a hat that would fit a 9-12 month old. The argyle pattern needed a repeat of 12 stitches and my gauge didn't really fit that too well. Rather than make a teeny-tiny hat that not even a baby could wear, I opted for the larger size, but it turned into a just-smaller-than-normal-adult size hat.

Luckily, I have a pretty small head, so it fits me (just barely). I guess I made myself a hat. Oh well - I can't give everything I knit away!

Not satisfied with having finished two projects in the past week, I've embarked upon another. I'm now making a toddler's aran sweater with Sirdar Denim Chunky (size 10 straight needles). I have so much of this Sirdar yarn that I don't feel bad experimenting. I actually got 12 large skeins of it on eBay for close to nothing over a year ago, so I need to do something with it to free up space. I've only been working on the sweater for a few hours and here's how it looks so far:

It's essentially my own design - by essentially I mean that I'm using aran patterns from a book but I decided how they should all fit together. I do think I was pretty crafty because I put together my own little chart in Fireworks (thank you, web design skills!) that has been incredibly helpful. (No flipping back and forth through my aran pattern book, no siree.) This aran book I'm talking about is the Harmony Guide for Aran and Fair Isle. It's worth checking out if you're interesting in designing your own funky garments.

Side note: I was knitting this while playing a freeroll tournament at pokerroom.com. Got my QQ beat by 97 offsuit that made a four-card flush. Sigh. Knitting and poker do not mix!

Peruvian Baby Sweater

2005-07-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

My pseudo-stepsister is about to have a baby. In honor of this momentous occasion, I decided to knit her a cute little baby sweater. I knew the baby was going to be a girl, so pink was a viable color choice. Below see the finished product.

I used size 7 US circular needles and Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora yarn. That's a fabulous yarn, might I add. It's light like cotton but so soft.

I modeled the design off of Peruvian Chullo hats. I had a bunch of different types of designs charted out at the start, but I didn't know which ones I'd use. I basically picked the designs on the fly, but it seemed to work out in the end. I must say, it is pretty adorable. It's sized for a 3-month-old. My pseudo-stepsister lives in Seattle, and the baby will be 3 months in October, so it should come in handy. Not too warm, but snuggly enough.

Now I'm using the remnants to make an argyle hat. I'll post those pics when I'm done.

Yay knitting for babies!

Welcome to Nocturnal Knits!

2005-07-13T01:07:00.000-07:00

Am I right or am I right when I say that everyone and their cat has a blog these days? (You know I'm right.) Well, I've decided it's nigh time for me to start one of my own. But I'm too paranoid (and lazy) to post all kinds of personal information about myself online. So instead of a regular blog, this will be my knitting blog.

I knit like a fiend. I was once interviewed by Interweave Knits Magazine when I was one of the resident knitters on my college campus. My tendency to knit in the middle of the night — in fact, to do everything in the middle of the night — led to the journalist bestowing upon me the moniker of the "late-night knitter." Hence "Nocturnal Knits."

I really do knit in the middle of the night. I'm not sure why I'm nocturnal, but for now I'm able to pull it off. As a graduate student with a part-time web-design job, I can basically sleep whenever I choose. Lately I've been choosing to sleep between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. My family used to think there was something seriously wrong with me, but they've come to accept my nocturnalism. It's not that I don't like the daytime or the morning — I seriously just don't feel like sleeping until the early morn. Apparently there's a name for this: Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. Who knows why I'm like this. My dad grew up in Transylvania, maybe I'm part-vampire. A knitting semi-vamp. That's me.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy my blog. God only knows how you found it in the first place, but if you're here drop me a note! I'll be posting images of my knitting projects as they progress. Stay posted.