Hello? Are your fingers working? Nope...

Okay, blog stalkers. You may have noticed that there has been a lack of craftiness and blogging. That is because I’m working like crazy. I got home from Milwaukee in late May and after a week of being a zombie I started working my summer job. What do I do? I manage the bookstore for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore visitor’s center and it’s awesome. I work with a great bunch of people and I get to talk with and meet all kinds of people from all over the world. But I also decided (for some self-destructive reason) to take summer classes. So between driving to work, work, driving home, working on homework, and then all those little pieces that make life life I have very little time to craft. I knit a bit on the Fourth of July and I finished my purse one night. I also started a cross stitch project…sooooo I have no life. Hopefully I can squeeze in some crafting here and there. I’m still working on those socks…never going to finish at this rate. I hope you have more crafting amazingness than me. Love to you all and I’ll write more soonish…(less than 2.5 months from now).

Pink, Interlace, Lace, Gauge and My Dream Job

Hello my lovely blogger stalkers! I hope you are all well and happy and have plenty of yarn around you during this hectic time of year. For me, knitting has been my salvation as I only have two more weeks until I complete my first year at graduate school. I'm starting to stress: headaches, stomach aches, sobbing uncontrollably (okay, maybe not the last one, but the urge to sob is there). To help me through it all I dedicate a good chunk of my time to knitting. This is a requirement for my well being. I get my work done, so I'm not neglecting anything. Fact: I spent close to 6-8 hours on a PowerPoint presentation with a recorded voice over for one of my classes. A project only worth 10 points! But I had to spend that much time to get it right and somewhat acceptable. Therefore, I need to spend equal or more time knitting or holding yarn. Life is all about balance. Anyway, here's what I've been working on:

Pretty pink fingerless gloves for Erin!

It's like Thing...only in pink!

They're a bit small on me, but Erin is small.

These were quick to knit up. I finished the first one in less than 5 hours. And that's with interruptions. I won't tell you where...

So pretty!

Then last night I finished knitting Sara's cowl! But I had to block it. Since it's wool it stretches a bit and the finished piece has to measure 24 inches. So I took it into the bathroom and gave it a quick, gentle rinse under the sink and then lightly squeezed out the excess water. I then pinned the cowl onto a piece of cardboard I saved for such blocking excursions (I don't block too many pieces, otherwise I'd invest in blocking boards. Cardboard works well enough). Blocking your knitting is important because it flattens the work. For this cowl, the "weaved" joins were a bit bunched. Blocking helped to flatten it out so it's easier to wear. Most people block lace pieces and sweaters. It can also give your piece shape depending on how you pin it. I had a purse I felted and I pinned the handle into a lovely curve.

I'm so artsy! (I can almost feel my photography friends shudder).

I just adore the colorway!

And that leaves the sock I'm knitting! It's a beautiful lace pattern (I won't block it though, no point when it's just going to stretch out a bit anyway from wear!) made with a gorgeous purple yarn! I described the yarn in an earlier blog post. It's lovely and makes me so incredibly happy that I purchased a different shade of purple for another pair of socks. What's really surprised me knitting this up is how well the Harmony circular needles are working! The last few pairs of socks I've tried to make with the Harmony needles was so excruciating that I gave up after about an inch or so. I'd have ladders (gaps in my knitting where the tension wasn't tight enough) and the yarn would catch on the needles! All sorts of issues. But for these socks, it's working beautifully.




And finally, dear bloggers...here's a question I received from Ginger about gauge:

"My primary knitting projects have been afghans and Christmas socks--both years ago. I have a problem already with the gauge. The pattern says 4" square. On #7 needles, I knit two gauges, one in stockinette and one in moss, the pattern stitch. No stitches per inch are indicated on the pattern. My pieces measure 4 1/4 inches. Do I need to use another needle size to make the right size garment? (#8?)."

The quick and simple answer is, yes, adjust your needle to get the correct gauge. Her gauge is most likely off because of her tension. Her tension isn't wrong; everyone's tension is just different which is why they include gauge instructions in patterns. Gauge is defined as the "tightness (or looseness) of your knitting" (Radcliffe, The Knitting Answer Book). In this case, you should switch to a bigger needle and repeat the swatch in the moss stitch instructions (20 stitches/28 rows = 4 inches) and in stockinette stitch (19 stitches/26 rows = 4 inches). The pattern doesn't include stitches per inch, but it should be around 7 stitches per inch. Try a #8 and see what you've got.

That is all my knitting friends! Remember to knit and/or crochet this week! If you have a question regarding knitting, please drop me a line! I'd be happy to find the answer for you!

Ps. I just visualized my dream job: reference librarian in a knitting library! How magical would that be?!

BFFFL Weekend O' Fun and Knitting Enticements

I had the most awesome, amazing, fun time this weekend and it's all because of one epic person: Jen. I haven't seen her in a year! A year! Too freaking long. She recently moved to Chicago and so I asked her to come up and visit before I head back up north for the summer. We knit, watched movies, talked, ate amazing food, knit, drank to excess, ate hangover food, knit, went on a hike, fondled yarn, and had a grand ol' time. Here are some pictures of our adventures: 

BFFFLs!

Jen cuddling with Rajah.

Jen skipping rocks.

To say the least it was a fantasic weekend. I miss her already! My mood and happiness levels shot sky high when she walked through the door. What's great is that even though we hadn't seen each other in a year, we kind of picked up where we left off. It's wonderful...

Okay, so knitting! I worked on the socks I posted about earlier. I have about 5 repeats done on the pattern and it's looking lovely! I'd post a picture but I misplaced my camera after I uploaded those photos. Trust me, it's beautiful. The only problem I'm encountering is that I want to knit instead of do homework. My knitting surrounds me in my room and it ogles at me, beckoning me to pick up those needles. I have yarn and a pattern from 1977 that I swear crinkles the plastic Michael's bag it's in to get my attention. I may be going insane. It is nearing the end of my second semester in grad school. Here's hoping between the burst of joy of Jen's visit and the fact that only three weeks remain will motivate me to get things done in a timely manner. 

Pride & Prejudice + Sock Knitting = Happy Bekky

Guess what!? I finished the sweater! It took a lot of time, frogging, knitting, freaking out texts to Jen, and movies to complete it. I'm happy with how it turned out, though I am worried about the fit. I'll send the sweater to Memo this week and once she has it, she can have her boyfriend take pictures of her wearing it. Wanna see it? I know you do...

Isn't it lovely? I really like how the cowl turned out. I still think it's inside out, but it was one of those occasions where all was well. Mistakes can turn out okay. Lesson learned.

So now what am I going to knit now that this sweater is done? The red cowl? Yes, but I'm pretty sure it's an unwritten rule that once a knitter finishes a project she has to start another despite how many WIPs are collecting dust. I know a lot of knitters who will corroborate this. So instead of doing homework, working out, or anything remotely productive I pulled out some sock yarn, my Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave book, and set out to start some beautiful lace socks. Did you catch it? One lil super important piece is missing...needles! I knit socks using the Magic Loop method (DPNs are annoying. (Oh, right...DPNs=Double Pointed Needles) For more information on Magic Loop see http://www.knittinghelp.com/video/play/magic-loop). I use Addi Turbo size 2 circular needles. They are my joy, my salvation, my dream come true! Sadly, I left them in Northern Wisconsin. At least that's my theory since I tore my room apart looking for them. So I settled for my Harmony Wood needles from KnitPicks. They're pretty and rainbow, but I haven't had great success when it comes to knitting socks. My guess is because certain yarns catch on wood needles and my tension is rather tight. I decided to give it a try regardless since I was desperate to start these socks. I'm using Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Weight yarn (50% Superwash Merino Wool, 25% Rayon made from Bamboo, and 25% Nylon) in a beautiful variegated purple or "violas" as they call it. It's going well so far. This is my day in a nutshell:

Nothing like knitting socks and some Pride & Prejudice. The good one with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle *swoon*. I have about an inch done on the socks, but I should stop since I have some homework to finish for class tomorrow. I wish I were independently wealthy so I could just knit all day. Oh well. Such is life.

In other news, Jen's coming to Milwaukee this weekend! She recently moved to Chicago and I bugged her to come visit me before I head back to Northern Wisconsin for the summer. I can't wait to knit and drink beer at the bar like the good ol' days. Until then...keep knitting!

Fairy Tale Friday the 13th

Guess what everyone? It's Friday the 13th! Spooky. Anyway, you'll feel some type of emotion (sad, thrilled, unmoved, etc.) to hear that I have not completed the cowl of the sweater. Homework, drinking, and The Hunger Games trilogy have interfered with my attempts. There is a little story of tribulation that goes with the cowl. Allow me to indulge you...so once upon a time there was this beautiful blue sweater that the dark haired librarian was knitting for her dear friend, Memo. Now the librarian worked hard on the sweater for several months. Finally, she was at the part of the beautiful ribbed and open ribbed cowl. She knit and purled and yarn overed and clicked the needles until she had 9 beautiful inches. She gazed at her work lovingly only to realize that the cowl was inside out! The WS (wrong side) was facing outwards! Surely a mischievous gremlin switched the knitting during the night for how could have the fair librarian made such a grievous mistake? She shook the needles towards the sky vowing revenge! After a cup of tea and the comfort of her yarn side kick, Rajah the cat, she decided to fix this most terrible of knitting woes. She started ripping, despite the protests of the Knitting Goddess Jen, and frogged 2 inches of the open rib pattern leaving the 7.5 inches of rib pattern. Carefully she placed the stitches back onto the needles and knit a row. Then she started to knit the open rib pattern so when the cowl was finished the WS of the rib pattern would show on the RS (right side) and the open rib pattern would have the RS facing. She worried about the aesthetic quality of the sweater, what Memo would say, how others would judge her knitting skills. She sought the approval of the Knitting Goddess and she bestowed her blessings. Then she asked the fair Kayla, Keeper of the Kitten Gus, and she praised the change. Megan, the beautiful and talented crochet librarian, also gave her support. And here we are today...the cowl half completed and safely guarded against gremlins. It happens in knitting...we can only learn from our mistakes and frog it. And that, dear friends, is the triumphant tale of the librarian and the cowl. Let's hope I have enough time to finish it this weekend so that I can finally start on those socks! I have less than a month to knit them up.

In other news, I'm reading The Hunger Games trilogy and I'll admit I was a bit hesitant about it. Sometimes, and I'm ashamed to admit this, my inner English nerd gets a lil snobbish and says "puh" to YA fiction. Which is ridiculous since I read books that could hardly be considered great pieces of literature. So I was on Amazon and found the first book, The Hunger Games, on sale for $5. Okay. Read it in a day or two then bought the second book, Catching Fire, on Tuesday and I'm almost done with it. It's really interesting. I have not read a lot of dystopian literature, but I find it most intriguing. Mainly because I'm cynical and angsty towards our current society. Anyway, I highly recommend it. I want to see the movie that just came out too...any takers?

Well, that's all that's new on the knitting front. I'll keep you posted on how things go for our fairy tale sweater.

Bunny Cake, Sweaters, and National Library Week

Good morning! (Don't worry, I'm not usually this perky in the morning.) I hope you all had a lovely weekend -- a lovely Easter/Passover/Peep holiday. My weekend was rather chill. I went to an Orphan Easter party at my friends' place complete with ham, and cheesy potatoes, and deviled eggs, and cupcakes and every good alcoholic thing. I made a bunny cake for the event. I don't think Duff from "Ace of Cakes" will hire me anytime soon, but it was funfetti, delicious, and well liked by all. Our Orphan Easter party was originally going to feature that epic of tales, The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston. Instead we watched Ghost Busters and Tales from the Crypt, which I honestly don't remember being so sexual. But then again, I was between 3 and 10 years old when it aired. I didn't get home until 3ish (I know, I'm such a party animal).

The next day I managed to wake up after 8 hours of sleep which is partially a miracle because I usually get grumpy with only 9 hours of sleep. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and birds chirping that I started to feel guilty about staying inside. Judy and I went for a lovely 3-mile walk along the Milwaukee River. Brisk and refreshing! When we returned home I picked up my knitting, of course. I finished the strange rib pattern for the cowl and just completed the first row of the yarn over pattern when I noticed I didn't end on the right number of stitches. So in a bit here, I'm going to rip it and see where I went amiss. Here's a fun fact for you knitters that I didn't know until I worked on this sweater: yfwd (yarn forward) is the same as yo (yarn over). Yarn forward is the British term for a yarn over. It drove me nuts when I first started this pattern because I didn't know what a yfwd was. I thought it was when you bring the yarn to the front, but you usually only do that to purl or slip a stitch. Thanks to the magic of Google (yes, librarians use Google) I found a page that explained this English to English translation conundrum. I'm hoping to finish knitting the cowl tonight so I can assemble it tomorrow. I want it completed so I can send it off to Memo while there are still some chilly days before summer.

Oh, I also remembered another WIP I forgot to mention. BFFFL blanket! Jen is my BFFFL (Best, Friends, Forever, For Life) and we thought it would be an awesome idea to create a blanket knit by the both of us. So we're both knitting squares: different patterns, different colors for each two squares. For example, I knit 2 6x6 squares with cables using a lovely blue worsted weight yarn. I kept one square and I sent the other to Jen. She'll (one of these days) knit some squares and keep one and send the other to me. By the time we're done, we'll be 64 and have enough squares to create a patchwork blanket knit by both of us. It's kind of cutesy but a good remnant buster. I've only made two squares. I blame work and school for not giving me enough time to devote to my knitting excursions.

But I'm off today, I just have to head to campus for an hour or so to help out at a table display to show off National Library Week! That's right! It's an entire week to celebrate the wonderful things your library does for the community and the world! Check out the American Library Association (ALA) site celebrating libraries: http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek After tabling, I hope to get home and work on that cowl and if I have enough time, I want to CO (cast on) a pair of socks. We'll see how it goes. To all of you I wish you a Happy Library Week filled with book scent and shhhing!

Entry no. 1

Hello all! Welcome to my soon to be spiffy knitting blog! This is my first attempt at keeping a public knitting blog, so we'll see how it goes. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Bekky. I reside in the great city of Milwaukee as I work on my Master's in Library and Information Science (a knitting librarian?! Oh, there will be more clichés revealed later on). At college I majored in English and writing with minors in Native American studies and gender and women's studies. I've always been interested in a variety of subjects (math being the exception), so librarianship seems like a fitting profession to go into when you can't make up your mind. I won't be an expert professor in anything, but I'll know how to find almost anything. That's almost like controlling the world as I see it.

I'm mildly obsessed with knitting. I say mildly because I have a dear friend, Jen, who is even more obsessed. Her knitting blog is extremely witty and can be found at: http://www.knittingweatherbarista.blogspot.com/. Since we’re talking about knitting, allow me to give you a review of my WIPs (Works In Progress). First, there is a beautiful sweater for my friend Memo that will be finished as soon as I find a long enough movie or television show to hunker down to and just finish it. I’m working on the cowl portion of the sweater, so more pictures to come when it is assembled. It should be finished just in time for summer -- perfect for those chilly Chicago summer nights. =/

Next is an interlace cowl from the book Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting by Rosemary Drysdale. The pattern is designed for a cashmere/silk yarn, but I found a beautiful variegated British yarn at Pine Needles Yarn Shop in Cable, Wisconsin (perfect location for a yarn store) that I chose to use instead. I made one with blue yarn for Jen and this red cowl will be for Sara. Those are the only active WIPs that I have around…I’m sure there are others. Can’t give everything away just yet…

That’s all for now my lovely knitting blog stalkers! Please leave a comment if you so choose. Suggestions for future knitting topics are encouraged. If anyone is having a knitting problem or if you non-knitters are curious about anything knitting related (What's with this yarn fondling or "just one more row" you keep hearing from your knitting friends) ask away!