Knotty or nice?

I figure since I never post things in progress, I might as well start. These are the Knotty gloves I've been working on for the last couple of days. The graduation cessation of the purls gave me some trouble (and about 3 hours of fixing, cursing, and re-fixing, finally ending in Total Rippage) but it's been smooth sailing since then. I just can't get over how well they fit, and how this experience opens up the big world of gloves. I like mittens, but I find that I prefer a more fitted garment to cover up my hands during the winter. Plus, at small gauge gloves like these could even fit under mittens - ingenious layering, indeed!

I'm also partially excited because, during my travels through vintage stores, I've found a number of insanely pretty dress gloves, but they're always too small for my hands. Understanding the structure of knitted gloves could be very useful for this. Can't find elbow-length white silk gloves? No problem - grab some US 0s and knit those suckers. Now, what I would wear elbow-length silk gloves to I can't really say... but the idea is pretty intriguing nonetheless.

In closing, here is my absolute favorite part of this project:


Look, ma! No holes!

Printed silk

In Chicago, Bethany and I went to a great thrift store near her house, where she found an amazing bomber jacket and I found a brown and white print silk dress. Yesterday was incredibly warm, and since I have a long day on Fridays, I like to dress up a little.



Dress: Kate Hill (?) 100% silk dress, found at the Brown Elephant in Chicago, IL
Cardigan: Random thrift find in Issaquah, WA
Shoes: Free from swing friend
Jewelry: Glass pearls (?) given to me by my mom when I was probably 6. I'm pretty sure there are some awesome pictures out there involving me, those pearls, and a velvet polka dot dress with a red sash at Christmastime.
Socks: Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern by Nancy Bush, from Knitting Vintage Socks.
Truly, would any of my outfits be complete without a little hand-knitted something?

Speaking of which... I have recently discovered the joy of knitting gloves. My research partner from this summer requested a pair of gloves, so I grabbed some red Ranco from my stash and cast on. Turns out that his hands are the exact same size as mine, so I can try them on as I go. He also gave me full approval of the color last Thursday.

It's funny, actually - for some reason, up until now I've had an aversion to knitting gloves. Too fiddly, too many ends. I think what it really comes down to is appeasing my ridiculous perfectionist standards: big yarn makes bulky gloves, makes joins sloppy, and does not give me the delight of not having any ugly holes to patch between fingers. It turns out that gloves knit in fingering weight make me swoon a little. How perfect is that, to knit a glove that fits your hand... like a glove? (You'll have to excuse me - sometimes I hurt myself with the terrible punnage.)


As a last note, when I went to Japanese History dressed like this, my professor looked around the room and said, "Well, it looks like maybe no one has dressed up for Halloween today. Except maybe Cory." I suppose that I could have grabbed a ladle from the kitchen, walked around knitting, and proclaimed myself a demented housewife, but the truth is I have no talent for baking, my yarny skillz are purely selfish, and I dress... let's face it, kinda weird.

Happy weekend!

when things don't quite work out

I started these cabled gauntlets in January of 2008, in the midst of a Fair-Isle lull. I was watching six hours of Lost every day, and occasionally slipping downstairs to watch people swing dance in the basement of my dormitory. This was my portable project, the one with only one color and one pattern, for when I wanted to knit but didn't want to lug around my increasingly heavy bag filled with size 3 Addi circulars, 12 different colors of Shetland wool, and my battered copy of Knitting Classic Style. So cables would be comparatively easy, right?

But it became neglected as the months went on. I found mistakes, both in the pattern and in my own knitting. And, once I finished the first one, I realized that the pinky finger popped up unpleasantly. The gloves, in short, did not fit like a glove. And the long, gauntlet cuff? How, exactly, was I supposed to fit those under anything? Back into the UFO pile it went.

I finished the Fair Isle sweater in mid-July, and although I always meant to pick these back up and finish them, it just didn't happen. But today I pulled out my bag with the needles and stitch markers and mess of yarn, and I found a big glaring error in the middle of one of the hands, and decided, like hell I am going to fix these. Not during finals, and not ever.

So I cut off the fingers, and wound the yarn. Gulp.

So they - sorry, it, a big hank of purple spaghetti, is soaking now, and visions of a pink-and-purple striped v-neck are dancing in my head. (Plus, said v-neck uses some other dk-weight cashmerino I have left in my stash. Boo-yah.)

After almost four years of knitting, I find myself back where I started: one project on the needles; mind swirling with ideas of what's to come.

Oh hey, I'm alive!

A lot has been happening here in Ohio since I last wrote. First off, the fact that it's Ohio and not Seattle. Surprise!

But moving on. We're about halfway through the semester, with fall break sweeping in on Friday afternoon and taking most of us to New York, Chicago, New Orleans, or some other exciting place. I'm staying here, knitting, watching movies, tinkering with some Silky Wool for a jacket, and doing organic chemistry... and I'm actually looking forward to it quite a bit. I will definitely appreciate some quality Oberlin squirrel-bonding time, if nothing else. For some reason, the roly-poly red squirrels that start going nut-crazy this time of year are charming to me. Sometimes I'll be walking along Tappan Square and happen to see a squirrel perched halfway up the trunk of a tree, glaring and chattering at me as if I greatly offend its squirrelly sensibilities.

There has been a lot happening on the knitting front, but very little photographing of said knitting. I finished the Fair Isle cardigan about a month ago, and have finished two pairs of socks in the last three weeks. I also cast off a simple basketweave scarf for the man friend in some squishy Malabrigo. He is still from California, I reasoned, and has but one scarf. Even if it is one that I made him. Cough.

Malabrigo Delicious Scarf

I knitted up both skeins of Colinette Jitterbug in my stash, which made two gorgeous pairs of socks. I love the colors, and I found out that the skimpy yardage is actually just enough for a pair of my plain 3x1 ribbed socks. Perfect for raising some swing partners' eyebrows.

Doin' the Charleston, in Jitterbug (how fitting!)

Some friends and I are planning an FO party soon, where we will photograph our finished objects, chat about yarn, and maybe watch some X-Files. In the meantime, I'm working on a cowl pattern from some handspun wool/tencel yarn from a local studio, a kicky red vest a la Father Dougal McGuire from Father Ted, and a match to the cabled gauntlet I finished back in July. It doesn't want to knit itself, dammit.

Summer - The Perfect Time To Knit Mittens!

While I've been away, there has been dancing....

(In the boondocks of Santa Cruz, CA, we did a little swing dancing.)

And knitting:

Basic panties from Knitting Lingerie Style in Cascade Fixation.
Love this book, love this pattern.


Cabled gauntlets from Holiday 2007 IK in baby cashmerino.

Mitered Mittens in Silk Garden color 226; thank you, Elizabeth Zimmermann...

Malabrigo laceweight, colorway cognac, pattern Arctic Diamonds Stole from IK Winter '06.

It's been a productive, if not busy, couple of months. I flew into San Francisco at the end of June to visit the boy person and took the train home. Since getting home, I have a renewed obsession with Malabrigo (see gigantic lace project in progress) and a lot of time in which to work on it.

I'm working on watching as many good films as possible, and I'm heading out to swing class right now. It's a little tough being home with nothing to do but knit... but I think I'll manage.