Hi I'm sick how are you? I knit Shedir and heavens, what a frustrating knit. I'm glad it's over. It was done over three days of sickness in time to give to my brother's girlfriend who is coming for the New Year.

FIRST it was stressful because of the ribbing and I hate ribbing. THEN it was stressful because of the cables. Cables are annoying. I know how to do it without a cable needle...they're just annoying! THEN it was stressful because it looked like I was running out of yarn and I was panicking THE WHOLE TIME. Toward the cap decreases I had to sacrifice all the rows that didn't have cables which is a shame because the only reason I knit this was so that I could incorporate that pretty star effect on the top of the cap and I had to SACRIFICE HALF OF MY FAVORITE PART that I was looking forward to, so now it looks kind of like a flower AND NOT A STAR. The fourth and final stress was something that was irritating throughout the whole project - I made the decision to twist every knit stitch and that sucked. So there was both acute and chronic irritations throughout this project. Anyway it's a little big and I probably should have used size 2 needles, I probably wouldn't have run out of yarn that way and I could have had my star. I also eliminated one of the pattern repeats and I was glad to have done so! I didn't have time to block this sucka and who cares?

Pattern Shedir by Jenna Wilson. Knitty Fall 2004.
Yarn Calmer from Rowan via Cirilia, in a color I call "lettuce"
Needles Size 3 Takumi Premium DPNs

Yet another photo where I am wearing something I knit for somebody else.

Shedir on the bed-ir.

This is all the yarn I had left!!!

Lastly, here is a picture of a sculpture I did in September next to one I did last year. For those not in the know, I'm doing an art minor where I go to school with a focus in metal sculpture. I used to love it but now I hate it because everyone in the department is a jerk. ONE BIG JERK!

So I made a big ass diamond out of steel this fall and the popsicle is from last semester. I never want to take another sculpture class ever but I have to take one more to get my stupid minor. Remind me to care.

Hi blog! Today I am going to present scarves for the holidays but not the people wearing them.

I knit the first scarf over Thanksgiving, a holiday gift for my roommate and best friend, Ruchi. I used the Multidirectional Scarf Pattern and Noro's Kujaku, which I knew she would totally love because she loves colors and who wouldn't love a little bit of Noro? The Multidirectional pattern is a great way to show it off and it was amazingly easy and Noro is a pleasure to work with. Ruchi got like ten thousand scarves for the holidays but I knit mine and thought about her through every single stitch, therefore I win based on the model of elitist sentimentality (because it's handmade, it's automatically better, even though it might not be).

Ruchi got me a skein of handdyed yarn from the Union Square market and I can't wait to make it into something amazing. She also got me chocolate which I ate all of within 24 hours but this is a yarn blog and not a chocolate blog!

Pattern Multidirectional Scarf, by Karen Baumer
Needles Hard bamboo needles I got at Webs, they're one of my favorites
Yarn Noro Kujaku, gifted from Cirilia, two balls thoughtfully in the same colorway (perfect) and may be discontinued.

The next scarf is the Irish Hiking Scarf for my mom's husband, John. I used three leftover balls from my stockinette Mariah because it was the only yarn I had onhand that was even close to the correct amount. When I envisioned this scarf I was hoping to use Valley Yarns' Berkshire Bulky in their lighter shade of gray, but it was not to be because I only had about one-and-a-half balls. It was blocked aggressively because my mom harangued me about how it was going to be too short and as a result it lost a little bit of it's ability to contract and be "squishy" though I will say it is still squishy nonetheless. I blocked it while listening to older episodes of Ready, Set, Knit!, which I am making my way through.

Pattern Irish Hiking Scarf, from Hello Yarn
Needles Size 7, Susan Bates
Yarn Valley Yarns' Amherst in Charcoal.

I realized one of my favorite things to do is to sit in bed and knit and watch movies. Its' like the ultimate experience. I'm sixty.

The pattern for this hat was easy; modifying it to get the perfect fit took effort. I saw this pattern in the fall Knitty but it didn't register until I saw Cirilia's version and I was blown away by the hotness. In the first trial I knit it flat on size 11s because 11 straights were the only needles I had above an 8. It was a massive disaster. I finally caved and bought some size 10 circulars but they were 29" in circumference, so I cut them and taped them together and knit the whole thing very cautiously while watching The Birdcage and a-movie-which-shall-go-unnamed with my friend Mitali. As per the advice on Ravelry, I knit the crown for the "not-chunky" version and did only 1.5 pattern repeats, though I wonder if I could have gotten away with only one. I decreased every other stitch and then knit six rounds of twisted rib LIKE CIRILIA DID on size 7s. And I'll be honest. I thought this hat came out horribly and I was so disappointed until I straightened my hair (I have very curly, voluminous, and silly looking hair). It/I look a lot better now.

The yarn I used came from a massive sampler donation from Cirilia (I officially have a 'stash' now!), it's this gorgeous chunky olive tweedy stuff, I'm not sure who the manufacturer is but it is absolutely perfect for this hat. Cirilia Cirilia Cirilia!

Pattern Emilee Mooney's Foliage from Fall 2007 Knitty
Yarn It's a mystery.
Needles Size 10 29" circs that became 12" circs through mutilation. And size 7 circs. Susan Bates, I think they're great personally.

Forgive the moroseness of these pictures - I realize it could be construed as adolescent pretentiousness but IT'S WINTER =(

Popping Into Frame

My hat without me.

The best(?) part about this hat is that if I slouch it forward it becomes a newsboy hat!

Also I have a crush on Peter Jacobson, who plays Dr. Taub on House. I think he's just so fine. Date me Peter Jacobson!