Knot Tying 101; Or, How Wedding Planning Comes Along

...wherein I continue to chat about my wedding, and this time it's about the hair...

Since the last time I talked about my impending nuptials was way back in September, I thought I'd give both a wee update as well as ask some input.

Update: I've got (most of) the biggies nailed down, and now have to tackle the hiring of a DJ, as well as begin the leap into crafting that will be my life for the next few months (and I'm really looking forward to it!)

Asking for Input:

Before I can do work on a particular wedding craft (which I just might share with you all when it's done soon...ish...) I have to figure out what I'm doing with my hair.

For reference, this is what my dress looks like, as worn by a statuesque Spanish model:

From what I gather, there's three basic ways one can choose to wear their hair:
1) Updo
2) Half-Updo
3) Down-do

Each has their attractions and drawbacks.

The Updo

As you can see from this photo, I'm thinking along the lines of a "messy" updo. I don't want anything sleek-to-my-head.

Pros:
-likely the formality will match the style of dress more than others
-can wear that flower pin I've already bought!
-keeps hair off neck in yucky late-July heat

Cons:
-generally, I'm not comfortable showing much of my face, and this style might emphasize certain facial features I'd really rather not emphasize
-I have (what might be an unfounded) fear that an updo will shake loose with what I imagine will be all my move-busting and general hub-bub of the day


The Half-Updo

This would be along the same "messy"/wavy lines as the updo.

Pros:
-compromise between up and down, both in formality and face-covering-ness
-can still wear that flower in my hair

Cons:
-still have the problem of hair-on-neck in July heat
-might be even worse in emphasizing what my heart-shaped face doesn't need to have emphasized

Down-do

Once again, I'm thinking wavy and loose.

Pros:
-works with my hair's natural tendency to be wavy
-covers more face
-I have the long hair, have been purposefully growing the long hair, and want to show the length of the long hair!

Cons:
-might make me feel too hot, and I hate sweating to begin with :p
-might be too informal a look for the gown
-probably can't wear that flower in my hair!

So, what'd you think?
I'm still pretty undecided.

Nom de Plume Goes Up

Well, I've finally gathered up the time to post Nom de Plume, which I finished in October.

You can download it now by clicking here.

Hope it keeps your limbs as warm and whimsically feathery as it's done for mine!

The Sad Tale of Bob the Tree

Ways back whens in September, I bought a sweet wee tree who told me to call him Bob.
I live in a north-facing apartment, and so was concerned for Bob's well being and ability to thrive under such circumstances. I asked the employee at the nursery, and was assured that Bob would survive the winter on the balcony, and be able to take the lack of sunshine with nary a problem.

This is apparently not the case.
I felt sorry and fearful for Bob out on the balcony, where he would have to reckon with whipping winds as well as shelter-seeking pigeons.
Bob came inside.

A few weeks ago, just as I was decorating my arborious friend for the festive season, I noticed his inward-facing side was dropping needles.
Now, his backside is almost entirely bare.

He's retaining needles on the side facing the window, so my theory is that it's the lack of sunshine that's making him go prematurely bald.

Now, I wonder: is this needle loss permanent, and should I be preparing for an impending coniferous funeral?
I need to find a tree doctor.
They aren't that easy to find in the yellow pages :p

Indie Designer Day

Designers: Emma Haigh and Lousie Sisson
Blog: Loumms
Blog: Emma's quelle erqsome...
Rav ID: erqsome and loutheperson
Some Great Designs: erqsome's Rav Designer Page (scroll down to see their joint work), and loutheperson's Rav Designer Page

Inspired by all the recent knit-year-in-reviews I've been reading, I thought I'd present a duo that are not only very talented individually, they're also commendable and demonstrably ambitious with their recently (and successfully) completed Year of Socks.

Design a pair of socks for every month of the year? How awesomesauce is that!
It might be a form of punishment to make me choose which is my favourite, but the most recent Dawn of the Dead socks (pictured) really rock my socks. (heh)

Both these designers have a great understanding of structure and texture.







Erqsome's Euonia Tunic shows this off wonderfully; the shape and simple detail harmonize wonderfully with the pretty attention-grabbing cowl perched at the top of the sweater. Ruching, buttons, tunic and cowl all work together to create a lovely, wearable garment.




While technically this season has passed, it's also technically never too early to start thinking about holiday gifts (or just treat yourself to a mid-winter treat!) with loutheperson's German Christmas Market Gloves and Scarf Set. The yarn looks cozily scrumptious with this basketweave and seed stitch texture.

Clearly I, too, am being ambitious in taking on two talented designers for one post! Make sure to check out both their pages (and their joint designs as well). There's much more to see that I haven't touched on here.

Skating Socks Rocks

I proclaimed wide and proud that I wasn't a sock knitter.
Lies! Lies! (well, sort of).
I might not be a sock knitter¹, but I seem to, indeed, be a knitter who knits socks.

Witness my Log Cabin Socks, or, The Skating Socks.

Pattern: Log Cabin Socks, from Handknit Holidays
Yarn: 1 and a teeny bit of a second hank of the ever lovely Cascade 220

I let loose a bit here and chose a colour I would certainly never do for a sweater. Generally blue isn't for me, but my skate-clad feet are another story.

The fancy took me to have a pair of these for the first go-round I had on the brand new skates, and so I whipped these off in just a few days.

Me and the family went skating at my dad's farm, the pond having frozen over quite nicely.

While I didn't get to see any of the fish or muskrats who were purportedly swimming below the icy surface a few days ago, I did catch a Mr. and Ms. Cardinal feeding in the backyard.



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¹This be a footnote because I believe true sock knitters are those whose main passion is the creation of said garment. I'm still a very far way off from that. I still love me my sweaters mostest.

Gift for Cat; Or, Not All Care For Catnip

Aaaand I'm back from the holidays.

There's more to tell and show, but the first bit I'd like to share is the wee catnip mousie I made for my parent's cat, Dante.
Here you see him in his resplendent feline glory, being very co-operative and posing with his new gift. Being used to photographing flightly canaries, Dante's sleepy, apathetic attitude towards having a camera stuck in his face was both surprising and refreshing for his human photographer.

As this post title suggests, the prezzie didn't really go over so great.
That's ok - there was other, more successful knitting, over the break.

FO Archives: 2009

In an attempt to speed the front-page download time, here I present the FO Gallery of 2009

Completed 2009
Click on picture and title - some include links to original pattern

Apiarius	Nom de Plume	Stag	Campaniform
October Glory	Bonfire Briar	Swirlette	Aeolian
Lady Warmer	That 70s Sweater	Dolce far Niente Due	Herringbone Slouch
Arethusa

Merry Times...

...from the sanctuary to you!

Apiarius; Or, Flight of the BumbleCanary

Pattern: Apiarius
Yarn: KnitPicks Stroll Kettle Dyed Sock Yarn in Timber and Gold

I knew what I wanted this sweater to look like - of course, nary do my plans come to accurate fruition. I'll put this one down to a lack of foresight, but there are other aspects of the knit that I'm quite pleased with.


Happy about: this being the teeniest-gauged sweater I ever did make. It didn't really take as long as you might think. This is rather encouraging, and methinks there are plenty more sock-yarn sweaters in the near future.

Unhappy about: the fact that the honeycomb doesn't line up all nice-like. This is because I had a brain blip and didn't factor in all the raglan decreasing I'd have to do. I think I was a little more focussed on designing the fracking honeycomb pattern :p
You can see this boo boo pretty well in the pic on the left.

Happy about: the yarn. Once again, KnitPicks comes through and makes purty yarn with purty colours work very well. I've slipped the sweater on a few times now, and it feels super awesome to have a sweater in this gauge. I'd encourage one and all to give it a go.




Unhappy about: my lacklustre attempts at colourwork. I've done it a few times now, but clearly haven't polished those skills off yet. There's also a place or two where I mussed up the honeycomb, and haven't decided yet what I'll do about that (truthfully, probably nothing!)

Happy about: my bottom-up raglan construction. I actually made the sleeve caps sit decently this time! Very pleased with that.

Happy about: the photoshoot!
I went out earlier today with a willing photographer (I've recruited my mom this time) and had a lovely brunch by the waterfront and frolicked around while the snow happily fell.

If you look real close at the photo below, you can even see some pre-melty snowflakes sitting gracefully for their portrait.


We were also joined by a sizeable number of mallards, a seagull or two, and this paddling swan.



I really enjoy the subtle colour shifts in this Tonal yarn; you can sort of see them at work in the honeycomb, particularly the ones that I "filled in".






I now have a considerable amount of these two shades leftover.
I believe they're heading for bee-striped sock territory!

And yes, I am *that* much of a geek that I purposefully wore my bee locket necklace for this here photoshoot.
Along with something of a goofy grimace :p







And finally, the detail I added because it makes me smile:
there's a bee on my left arm!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Samia Buchan
Blog: fkdiary
Website: French Kit
Etsy Shop: Sassy Knits
Rav ID: frenchkitty
Some Great Designs: frenchkitty's Rav Designer Page

With a last hurrah until 2010, I end the year with the textural cable fun of frenchkitty's designs.

Pictured you see Bliss, a saddle-shouldered classic-cabled fantasticness. For all my ravings about my love for the beautiful cabled sweater I've still yet to make one; this one, I must say, is very high on my list!

Frenchkitty's cables can also be flowing, organic and very modern - witness the chic Crazy Cables. I love that this sweater and Bliss have come from the same designer! The ability to plot long, meandering cables like this makes me a touch envious.

She also has great examples of lacework, and Discovery is a very pretty, retro-esque design that makes me want to dig through both my yarn and my ribbon stash (indeed, I have one of those too!)

I've highlighted a few sweaters here, but take a moment and check out her rav designer page - she's also got some very pretty mitts, hats and other accessories!

Jingle Jingle; Or, Sugar Delivery!

Happy December Holidays to Everyone!

This month hasn't brought me my Christmassy weather,¹ but my oven has certainly been delivering results.

I've had something of a cookie factory going on here for the past couple weeks, and it'll continue to chug along for a week or so more. This is how I'm accounting for the lack of original knitted-related content.
I thought I'd try a bunch of new-to-me recipes this year - my favourite so far are the "White Chocolate Dream" cookies, a tasty collision of oranges and white chocolate chips. Yummers.

Quick poll: if presented with a cookie that had chocolate-covered coffee beans in it, would you be

a) happy and gobble it up directly!
b) politely accept said cookie but nibble around the coffee beans
c) have a mini tongue-revolt in your mouth at the thought of ingesting such a bitter "treat", and turn down said cookie (with all due formality and politeness, of course.)

I've made me some of them this year; I think they're quite fantastic and a little "sophisticated" (if a cookie can be said to be so). My concern is that many people won't really be a chuffed as I am about it, and my impulse is to warn every cookie-recipient that they may be biting into a coffee bean sometime in their near future.

¹Incidentally, if there's any Houston area readers, I'd much appreciate if you'd send your snow this way. I understand this precipitation has lost its way and in a rather unusual move migrated to the southern US.

Indie Designer Day

Designers: Anna & Heidi Pickles
Blog: Pickles
Rav ID: picklespatterns
Some Great Designs: picklespatterns' Rav Designer Page

Serendipitously¹, our profilee for this week is the talented pickles.
Here pictured is the lovely ensemble of Hello New York - Scarf, Hat and Mittens. I love the simple combination of an unexpected colour combination, along with the variation in pattern and texture. This makes the three patterns "go" without being matchy-matchy. I'm very inspired!
(Incidentally, I recently heard that 'you can always tell a knitter because her winter accessories never match'. I must admit I'm guilty of this charge meself. Perhaps this holiday season will see me make up a lovely set of Hello New York accessories!)

Stylish, casual and interestingly constructed, the Baggy Bolero made my list of pickles patterns to point out (amongst the many wonderful ones she has). Perfect for this time of year, and easily adaptable to the warmer weather, this knit is simple and attractive.

Finally, I'll also draw your attention to her Warm winter mitts. The wee bit of colourwork along the cuff gives these winter essentials a subtle touch of class.

Check out her designer page on Rav - it's bursting with loveliness!
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¹You can read about the supposed German Pickle ornament of legend here.

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Kayla Dyches
Blog: The Yarn Bearer
Etsy Shop: The Yarn Bearer
Rav ID: TheYarnBearer
Some Great Designs: TheYarnBearer's Rav Designer Page

For a long time I've admired TheYarnBearer's designs. I knew I'd found a kindred spirit when I read the sub-title on her blog, "In yarn, we lust."

First is her shrug Gaia (pictured right). With a brain-teasingly beautiful construction, this simple, multi-directional knit is lovely and wearable.

I'll also draw you attention to the comfy, cozy (and free!) Darkwood Cardigan. With bulky yarn, a seamless design and interesting cable details this cardigan is a perfect accessory to holiday-time fire-side maxin' and relaxin.

Horizontal cables always catch my eye, and TheYarnBearer's Elfin Cable Cardi is a wonderful example of how to use this technique to very pleasing ends! Personally, I can't believe there's only 5 people who're knitting it on Rav. It should be up there with the superstars of sweet indie-designed patterns.

Finally I'll mention the sweet wee Spritely Hat. While the image is of the child's version, fear not; it's also sized for adults, and will be available in the 2010 pattern-a-day calendar.

The Riddle of the Interlocking Honeycomb Pattern

Myth: You need good math skills to design yourself a sweater.

Fact: They would certainly help.

I laboured an entire evening trying to figure out a simple geometric colourwork pattern. It took several incarnations, but finally I arrived at the appropriate honeycomb shape.
Subsequently, I have incorporated said laboured-over chart into a sweater I'm currently knitting up, fancifully titled Apiarius.

As of this moment I've gotten up to the arm joins (Apiarius being a bottom-up yoked sweater), and now have only to cross my fingers and hope the honeycomb pattern will line up nicely when all sweater bits meet.

Being the lazy, math-fearing knitter I am, I have laughed in the face of preparedness and scorned the preliminary work of creating an accurate chart as to placement of said honeycomb patterning for the entire yoke section.

This post, it must be added, is implicated in aforementioned preparedness-scorning, and may very well be scorned itself when the knitting gawds get wind of my haughty trot into the wild unknowns that are colourwork yokes.

You'll be able to tell how I've gotten on with this sweater by the number of creative Shakespearean curses I do, or do not, include in my next post.

Til the morrow!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Brigitte
Blog: bridorangi
Rav ID: bridorangi
Some Great Designs: bridorangi's Rav Projects Page

This week brings a splash of fruity whimsy with the knitter bridorangi's lovely design, Banana Socks.
I'm telling you, if I were a sock knitter, these would be the ones for me!
I love how she's combined a simple design with some very creative dyeing to create a lovely foot-warming replica of a ripe banana :)

Her instructions: "I knit simple yellow socks (knit 7, purl 1) and later painted them with ashford dyes."

Another wonderful use of colour can be seen in her manipulation of the genius of Noro in Abhilfe gegen Eiszapfenfinger.¹
I always enjoy seeing how people get creative with simple patterns, and this marriage of flip-top fingerless gloves and Noro makes me smile almost as much as her banana socks.

¹btw, babelfish tells me this title translates as "Remedy against icicle fingers". Awesomesauce.