Friday, February 08, 2008
Here are some better photos of HRM the Kooch.
(Love my little Duck to pieces, but the guy cannot for the life of him take in-focus photographs.)
I jumped the gun with all the seaming. That photo in the magazine is misleading. The awesome belt which really is the whole reason why I started this 2-year knitting sojourn, is not actually belt. WHAT? you say, if not a belt then what? Well, they are actually ties which end at either side of the waist. One tie for the right, one for the left. The right tie is attached to the waist seam of the front right panel, and vice-versa for the left. THEN the left and right front panels are seamed to the back panel.
Does not that sound entirely nutters to you? And how odd would that look, a cardigan with a half-belt? And how empty and naked the back.
So screw the instructions and the design, I'm making a full belt.
Here are some more photos of Rambling Rose to fill up space. I blocked the back and fronts and let us now bask in the glory of the awesome stitch definition. Go STR Go.
Filed Under: Rambling Rose | Rowan | Kooch
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
 Sorry for the horrible photo (used Photobooth on the macbook), but LOOK!
It's KOOCH!!!!!
ALL. SEAMED. UP!!
I have the neckband and the belt to do and then this thing is oh my god done!
I don't even care that the sleeves are turning out to be too big or that the yarn is as itchy as a rash. It's going to be finished! Woooooooot!
Filed Under: Rowan | Kooch
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
My BFF, the recipient of the red Monkey socks and the one who gave me my nickname "Cat," became engaged back in October. Since then she's kept me appraised of all details - the church, the possible reception locations, the food, the color scheme, her dress.
However there was one very important piece of information missing from all this. And it wasn't until yesterday that I found out what it was.
"We need to discuss what flowers you will have..."
"Me?"
"...and will need to pair with your dress. Yes you get some flowers - "
"Me?"
" - either as corsage or bouquet or hair."
"But...am I..."
"Are you what, kitty?"
"I don't know!!"
"I had flowers at YOUR wedding. You get flowers at MY wedding."
"Yes but - "
"Why are you worried kitty?"
"You were a bridesmaid. Am I a bridesmaid?"
"You are a matron of honor."
"HAHAHA YOU NEVER TOLD ME."
"YES I DID. First thing!"
"No you didn't."
"Right?"
"You did?"
"Didn't I?"
"I don't think so."
"OH MY GOD."
Flashback to October 2006 when BFF's engagement was first revealed...
"FINALLY!!! I can be BRIDESMAID! Heh."
"Yes you can!"
"HAHAHA!"
"I've had it in my head that I wasn't 100% bridesmaid because I invited myself. And then we never talked about it after that. So I just assumed I wasn't..."
"Yeah I said yes you can and I thought that was it. Dude that's hilarious."
So at long last, hooray! I am officially BFF's bridesmaid! This will be the second time I've been asked to be maid of honor, but the first time that I will actually perform the task. The first time my relationship with the bride-to-be - who I'd known since 9th grade - completely dissolved months before her wedding. Needless to say it was ugly, and ultimately very sad. There was just no other way around it though. But that's another story for another day.
Right now I'm very excited to officially be my BFF's Cat of Honor. Thank goodness this comedy of errors has ended. During my recent trip to NYC in February she assumed I was there to shop for a bridesmaid dress. Ha ha! I wasn't! Which explains why she thought I wasn't really "into it." Imagine though if I had bought a dress, and it was all gold and shiny and low-cut and bedazzled with rhinestones. Imagine if we had kept up our assumptions until 2 weeks before her wedding?
Communication is key, people.
**********************
In knitting news, at long last I am on the sleeves of Kooch! This thing is far from being close to finished though. After the sleeves there's the collar to knit and attach. Then the border for the front, including button holes. Then the buttons to sew. Then the belt. One day my friends, one day.
**********************
The deadline - this Friday - for the Knitterly Letter Swap fast approaches! Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far. There are lots of you (yay!), and I am so pleased to have my organizational skills tested in this way. Heh. I have tried to reply to each person as "confirmation" but have lost track here and there. So if you haven't heard from me, don't worry. I have your info. Woot!
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Life | Rowan | Kooch
Monday, March 12, 2007
I have had this annoying, inexplicable habit of buying single skeins of sock yarn, the ones that are no more than 175 yards and obviously not enough to make a full pair of socks. See this. And this. And also this. There are more bachelors and bachelorettes hanging out in the stash. When I approach that wall dripping with those Koigu colors, fighting the urge to grab every skein and stuff them in my mouth, I think to myself: Why buy two skeins in one color when for the same price you can have two skeins in two colors? More for your money! I'm so smart! Not a bad shopping practice in general, but when the whole point of buying sock yarn is to uh make socks, full-grown socks, which you now can't do because you don't have enough yarn, well then really how smart are you? I tried justifying my single purchases by convincing myself that I only wanted to knit anklets. But again. Wool anklets. What's the point? In the end you end up wasting. These Spring Anklets I made in that buttery Sundara yarn has been worn maybe all of five times in the last year.
So I'm totally loving this Chevron Scarf craze. It's the perfect way to use up the single skeins of sock yarn, and to pair up colorways that are not particularly matchy-matchy. In fact the less matchy the colors are, the better! I'm also trying to wean myself off of making socks, and the Chevron Scarf is the perfect in-between project. Still using yummy sock yarn but not making socks. Yay!
I'm using Sundara yarn in "Troubador" + Louet Gems Pearl in the lightest green. Instead of the fan-and-feather pattern I'm using this simple chevron pattern with eyelets:
Across 33 stitches:
RS rows: [k4, yo, k, yo, k4, double-decrease] twice, then k4, yo, k, yo, k4 (35 sts)
WS rows: p2tog through the back, p to last two stitches, p2tog (33 sts) Double-decrease is: slip 2 stitches knitwise together, k next stitch, pass the two slipped stitches over. This makes for a skinny scarf. For wider chevrons increase the 'k4' part to your liking.
After the first foot of the scarf I switched up the height of the chevrons by knitting 4 rows of one color and then 4 rows of the other. So it'll be 4x4 for the middle, and 2x2 for the ends of the scarf.
I'm using US3 needles on the fingering weight yarn, and as a result the fabric is loose, but not lacey, and the sides aren't curling in. Woot! Very pleased with how this is turning out so far.
P.S. I also finished the back of Kooch. Just the sleeves left...I see the light! Slow and steady wins the race, right?
Filed Under: Chevron Scarf | General Knitting | Rowan | Kooch
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
In case you missed this really important headline, here's this morning's Breaking News from cnndotcom:
"The musical 'Dr3amgirls' led today's Ac@demy Aw@rds contenders with eight nominations, but was shut out in the best picture category for which it had been considered a potential front-runner."
Stunning. I mean. 8 nominations - but no best pic? I knew it - there is no god. I'm completely shattered.
Even so, I'm not quite as shattered as I was when I read this truly Breaking News-worthy breaking news from Nov 7, 2006. It's possible you fellow Americans might have missed this one because you stepped away from your desk to perform more pressing matters, like to refill your cup of coffee. Or to pee. Or to vote.
"Br!tney Sp3ars files for divorce from her husband...citing irreconcilable differences."
I caught it though. As soon as it happens, I know about it. Thank you cnn.
 Here's my own very exciting breaking news: Hatred for knitting by hand convinces handknitter to buy knitting machine.
Slow, torturous progress on my Kooch. I've decided it needs to be a given a more flattering name and will now call it My Albatross.
Waaaah you guys waaah. Finishing this is going to be a huge struggle. I want the coat a million times more than I want to knit it. After knitting with fingering weight yarn for so long, the chunky is doing a number on my hands, not to mention the return of Reynaud's on my ring and pinky fingers making chunky knitting that much more unpleasant. I've been fantasizing about a knitting machine more and more. If I had a knitting machine I'd use it in a heartbeat. If I had a knitting machine I'd have a sweater coat in another heartbeat. No more languishing as a WiP for a year...the whole thing would finally be done.
If I get one though would that be like going over to the knitting darkside? My mom has one and I always poo-poo it. Because isn't the fun of knitting doing the actual knitting? The yarn, the color of the yarn, the feel of the yarn through your fingers, the clicking of needles, the mechanics of it all motivate us more than whatever the outcome will be.
But not in this case! Stockinette stitch to infinity, scratchy yarn, chunky needles...Kooch is officially Not Fun to Knit. I have no tactile motivation; I just really really want to wear it.
This is where the practicality of hand knitting comes into play - as in, it's just not there! So to machine-knit or not to machine-knit...that is the question...
Filed Under: General Knitting | Rowan | Kooch | WTF
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Discrepancy
Some of you recognized in my last post that I finally picked up Kooch again after more than a year's hiatus. I can't explain why the motivation to finish this piece has been so lacking, especially when I so absolutely love the pattern. Every now and then I'd spot a sweater coat (or 'coat sweater?') not unlike Kooch on the racks of some high-brow boutique on Newbury St. And then I'd look at the price tag. And then I'd choke on my own tongue, and then I'd yell to myself GIRL YOU CAN MAKE THIS JUST FINISH THAT KOOCH ONCE AND FOR ALL WOULD YOU PLEASE?!
(God what a horrible name! A whole year and I still can't get used to calling it that without feeling dirty)
So I had finished the back some time in November 2005. I started the left front panel last week. It was half-way done when I superimposed it on top of the back panel to check measurements, and. Well. As you can see in the photo the hem width is off by a whole mile. The gauge differential between the hem of the back and the hem of the front is a whole 2 stitches per 4 inches. La. Fun.
I am 10000% positive that I used the same needles. As a rule I always go down a needle size than what is called for in the pattern, so in this case I knit in a size 8, and I used Susan Bates aluminums of which I own only one pair. So is it possible between last year and now, I am knitting what, 50% more tightly, without having changed my knitting mechanics? Seems funky. I can't account for it. Other than I did mistakenly switch needles. But I'm so sure I didn't. Did I? Must have. But.
Anyway, this is all really more confusing than it is horrible. I wanted to redo the back anyway to get rid of the vents - don't like the vents - and make it shorter in length. With the rows and rows of stockinette, I'm also using Kooch as an opportunity to learn how to knit differently. More on that later! It's very exciting.
So with any luck, I'll have my own $1400 sweater coat to wear by the time winter gets here. If it ever does. I'm not a huge fan of cold, but this mild New England winter is kinda freaking me out...
Filed Under: Rowan | Kooch
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Instead of going to a real sporting goods store for those biking shorts I so desperately need, I decided to knit a pair myself. Why the hecks not. The super chunky factor will make for a more padded, gentle riding experience, while the pure wool factor will keep her toasty in this chilly fall weather.
Or...This is the beginnings of Kooch from Rowan 38. Very unfortunate name I know.
Isn't funny though that there is this designer knitting magazine featuring things such as "Kooch" and "Kid Acne" at the same time? Can it sound anymore unknitterly? But let's not dwell.
These are the back vents. Later there will be a moss stitch border added to each side of the vent, which will hopefully get rid of the bike-shorts-with-roomy-crotch look.
We haven't ridden our bikes in ages. First it rained for like eight days straight. Then we had 40mph winds for several days, still ongoing. I was doing some downtown shopping recently and while walking between two tall buildings (aka Wind Tunnel of Hell), I was actually lifted airborne for the longest 0.5 second of my life. And then I ran the rest of the way. Not voluntarily though.
I have so much to talk about but so little time to make it coherent. I've been trying to shop for something to wear to a wedding I'm going to this weekend, back home down South. I can't find ANYTHING. This season's inspiration seems to be the balloon, in the deflated state. It's disgusting! For 4 whole hours my credit card was straining to break out of its wallet confines, whining to be swiped and swiped good, I had do something to shut it up.
So I went into a yarn store.
I'm on the Electra bandwagon. Fall is the color. And being the crafty cheapskate that I am, I went for "generic" brands - Grignasco Tango instead of Rowan Felted Tweed (exactly the same material composition), and Kathmandu DK instead of Rowan Yorkshire DK. Kathmandu is a merino wool, silk and cashmere blend. Ooo la, doesn't sound so generic does it? I only call them generic because they were around $6 per skein, as opposed to $10 per for Rowan.
And for the KSH component I plan on using some leftovers I have of Pearl and/or Liquer. Tink tink tink I hear money leftover in the piggy!
The only problem was, I didn't have the book with me when I picked the colors, this being an impromptu purchase and all, and the store didn't have a copy either (grrrrrrrrrrr). So though I tried mightly to recall the color pattern in my head, in the end the colors I picked were not the wisest.
The gold will be the main color, so the accent stripes will be the cream and the wine. Which are the exact same colors as KSH Pearl and Liquer. Which will be used with the cream and/or wine color for the fairisle component. Which you won't be able to see because DUH they're all the same colors. ERGH! I tried different combos and it's all the same. At some point the cream colored yarn will be adjacent to the KSH Pearl, or if I use Liquer, then at some point the wine colored yarn will be adjacent to it, etc. etc.
So instead of exchanging one of the yarns for a more opposing color (making exchanges - or anything involving the cash register for that matter - at this certain LYS is a NIGHTMARE. But more on that later), or buying a different colored KSH, I have decided to use something from the stash. It will be ORANGE! But. Red yellow orange cream...Will it look too Fall crazy? Or worse, too Ronald McDonald?
By the way guess what I did today? I subscribed to Rowan International! I'm officially a Rowan fan. Free gift! A couple more skeins of KSH never hurt nobody either. Also they're jacking up the price of admission soon, so get it while it's good.
Before I sign off, thanks for your very kind comments on the bolero. Many of you are the type of conscientious bloggers who take time to reply personally to each commentor. It is very polite and so charming. Unfortunately I am no such blogger. :(
I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow for my high school buddy's wedding. Hopefully I'll find something non-balloony to wear at one of the many strip malls near my parent's house. See ya'll later!
Filed Under: Rowan | Electra | Kooch
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Bolero Jacket from DB Simply Soft
So far I've only worked this in the car. Don't know what happened, but I'm not so ga-ga for it anymore. Figures. But I'll finish it, to get my money's worth if nothing else. I have only the sleeves to do, and then, the Endless Ribbing. Since I'm a renegade/lazy knitter, I did not alter the pattern to account for using Aran rather than Chunky. It's going to turn out smaller than the smallest size. It'll be fine, because I too am smaller than the smallest size.
Aimee from Rowan Vintage Style
 
I am officially President of the KSH Fan Club. Just had do to a couple of rows of this to get my KSH fix. For awhile there I was debating using some of the Liquer to make another Butterfly, and some of it for a shawl. This color is so delicious that I am overwhelmed with the urge to eat it. So, please, pass me the goat hair.
Our favorite gal, Kooch from Rowan 38
 
More Rowan! I just love this coat. By the time I finally decided that yes, I will pay for Rowan 38, they were out of stock everywhere. Everywhere being the one local yarn store that I can get to without driving. (The LYS in Boston which I deemed sometime back as MY LYS doesn't even stock Rowan, so it doesn't count as a reliable source.) A couple of weekends ago, on our way back home from Stowe, VT, we stopped by the ultra-bucolic little town of Woodstock, and as we strolled down the main street I said aloud, "A place like this ought to have a yarn shop, for sure." I had not even finished my sentence when we passed the last store on the street, et voila! Yarn! Fate! Ha Duck was thinking he was in the clear. Little does he know, I'm like the pig sniffing out his truffles. If there is yarn, I will find it.
The pattern for Kooch asks that you purchase 11 skeins of Yorkshire Tweed DK and 11 skeins of Tweed 4ply, and hold them together for a chunky gauge. That's 22 skeins of yarn. Ha HAA you cannot sucker me into paying $170 for two types of yarn, when I can instead pay $65 (shipping included! All the way from the UK!) for 10 skeins of Rowanspun Chunky in Fern on eBay and use the rest of the money I saved to buy shoes.
Filed Under: Debbie Bliss | Bolero | Rowan | Aimee | Kooch
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