FO: Hats - Part 4

I finally knit a hat for my self!


I loved knitting with the Malabrigo for Husband's hat so much that I decided to knit a mally hat for my self. A purple mally hat. A purple mally hat with swirls!

So I ran over to The Knitting Bee and grabed the perfect purple and got started knitting


Here are the pattern details

Pattern: Hurricane Hat by Andrea Goutier but I called this hat "But you can call me slurricane" because whenever I think of the name of the pattern it makes me think of the song "Hurricane" by The Click. (I know, I know you thought I only listened to country but let me tell you there's lots of mystery here!)
Yarn: MALLLLLLLLYYYYYYY!!!!! (Malabrigo Worsted in Holly Hock)
Needles: US 7’s using magic loop
Mods: Nope! Although I would make it a bit shorter by half an inch next time.


I would like to say that this is the last hat I knit for a while but alas there is one more but at least that one is part of a set… stay tuned.

FO: baby three-fer

I really wanted to do something special for a good friend of mine who is having her first baby boy. I knew of the impending birth in June when I went home to the States so I went on a mission to find the perfect yarn.

I found Rowan Calmer in Portland. I had been wanting to use this for a while because I have heard only great things about it. When I went into the Knitting Bee and saw a whole pile of it, I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it and whoa, the stuff is SOFT! Fortunately the ladies at the Knitting Bee do not frown upon yarn cuddling because all that calmer was irresistible

I saw a beautiful silvery blue color and immediately thought that it would be perfect for a certain little baby boy on the way. They had four skeins left and I bought all of them.


I started pouring through all my pattern books and the patterns available on the internet for the perfect sweater or blanket to make but I just couldn't find anything that seemed right.

I finally decided to come up with my own pattern (if you can call it that) and got to work...

A made it with seed stitch boarder and a cool looking pin stripe


The blanket took just over three of the precious four balls i had...

Then I got started on the hat. I wanted it to have the same pattern as the blanket so I cast on 60 stitches and knit for about 5.5 inches when I realized that trying to figure out how to maintain the pattern but decrease at the same time was too much for my brain to take. So I added another half inch, did a three needle bind off and added the super cute pom-poms. Total used was probably about half a skein.


I was running out of time and yarn but felt I should make my friend matching booties to go with the blanket and hat especially since that was really the only thing she asked for!

I divided what little yarn I had left in half and started with the first bootie and just barely made it. But made it I DID! So the second bootie soon followed!

For this I followed the pattern Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn. The little criss-cross straps were too cute and picked out some black mother of pearl buttons for them!! I was unable to maintain the cute pin stripe pattern from before but I think they still came out fabulous!

Seriously are these not the cutest little booties ever!

I think these will be perfect for little baby to cuddle in

Maiden Dye-age

FYI: This post is going to be picture heavy but it's totally worth it!

I have been itching to dye some of my own knitting yarn for a while. So when my friend decided to buy some Dylon Dye to dye a dress from a champaign color to a rich dark purple and it came out AMAZINGLY. Seeing the results motivated me to dye some yarn. I went to the store and found the perfect shade of baby pink dye.

Then I picked my yarn....
I got this Plymouth Yarn - Dye For Me sock yarn from my LYS back home, The Knitting Bee

I had some left over Fingering yarn from The Fibre Company that is made from alpaca, bamboo and merino

Finally I had some of this Plymouth Encore Worsted in an ivory color laying around. It's 75% Acrylic and 25% wool. I didn't know what to expect with this but figured it was worth a shot to see what happened when I dunked it in!

Then it was time to set up
I got my little dyeing area ready, washed the yarn and got the pink dye ready for use

Then I started dyeing... I wanted the sock yarn to knit up mostly white with little bits of pink so I stuck just the ends in the pink dye while the yarn was still wet. The fingering I wanted mostly pink with a little white so again I hung it over the edge with most of it in the dye.

For the worsted I just stuck the whole thing in because I figured whatever happens happens... since it was mostly acrylic I didn't know how well the yarn would take the dye.

I let the yarn sit in the dye for 15-20 minutes then it was time for the rinse off.... look at how close the color on the package matches the color on the yarn. So impressed!

After a few rinses it was time for the agonizingly slow process of letting the yarn dry. Uggh I wanted to play with it already!!!

But it was totally worth the wait

The Plymouth Dye For Me

The Fibre Company Fingering

The Plymouth Encore

Yum!

Overall I love love love the results... in fact that I'm so happy with the results I ordered some more naked yarn to dye soon.... next time multiple colors!!

FO: First socks!

I finished my very first pair of socks. I started them while I was in the States because I got the pattern book Sock From the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson aka Wendy Knits and then I got this lovely Dream In Color Smooshy and I just couldn't wait any more!


Don't you just love that color?
this pic is the closest to actual color


Socks From the Toe Up is a lovely book and it's fantastic for a first time sock knitter. Wendy walks through all the different ways to cast on, all the different heel types and all the ways to cast off. It was so helpful! And by her showing step by step all the different methods you can in turn customize any of her patterns (or any toe up pattern for that matter) to your liking.

So here are the much awaited details:
Pattern: Van Dyke Socks from Socks From the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson
Size: 8
Needles: #2 Addis in a magic loop (Love the magic loop!)
Yarn: DIC Smooshy in Pansy Golightly from The Knitting Bee in Portland Oregon
Mods: I didn't make any modifications to the pattern. I used Judy's Magic Cast-on and this video helped immensely in figuring that out. I also used the sewn bind-off. Ohh and I'm not sure how I managed this but I only used half the skein of Smooshy so I can make a whole other pair of socks! woot woot!

Portland, Oregon

ok ok sorry i have been so lazy but this whole working-5-days-a-week thing is hard to get use to again.... oh and BTW this will be a bit picture heavy

so after having a fantastic time in Texas and a spectacular experience in the Dallas Airport we headed off to my home town. PORTLAND!!! Woot woot!

I was so excited to get home and even better was that my dad was waiting for us as we walked out of the airport. I turned into a little kid again as I ran up to him to get a big bear hug. We arrived pretty late at night so he took us straight home where we promptly fell asleep after exciting hello's to my mom.

The day after our arrival we did something so exciting. Something that I took for granted when I was younger and living in the States. We went to Safeway and Costco! I know!!! It was so much fun.

In Safeway we went up and down every isle and oooed and awwed over all the exciting things like red onions that are bigger than a golf ball and darker in color than watered down pink lemonade. There we giant cucumbers and rice mixes in al flavors. There was an entire isle dedicated to cereal and another to salad dressings. There was all kinds of milk and sour cream. You should have seen all the yogurt flavors. They even had blackberry my very favorite!!! It was fantastic!!

Then in Costco we wandered around looking at the bargain packaging of dish soap and tortilla chips then looked at all the reduced price books (that would make them nearly half the price of the same book here) and oooh the packages of socks!!! We even got a jumbo size bottle of vitamins. Then on our way out I got a hotdog and a coke for a dollar fifty! $1.50!!! Why cant we get hotdogs made with beef out here that are that good. Seriously. I know they exist and I want them. Now! So tasty.

The next day we headed over to my dad's where a bunch of family had come over and we had a proper barbeque. We had barbecued chicken with pasta salad and fruit. YUM! It was great to see all the family as it's been sooooo long! All the kids grew loads while I have been away.... Apparently kids grow whether you are there or not. Go figure.

Monday was Knitting Bee Day! My all time favorite LYS... Need I say more?
Dream in Color Smooshy in Pansy Golightly - Used this for my very first pair of socks (stay tuned)

Plymouth Yarn Dye For Me Happy Feet will be for my first Kool-Aid dyeing attempt. And my brother came to town from Oakland to hang out with us while we were in town

Tuesday it was off to the Oregon Coast where we had lunch watching the surf break and then headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory . Then we headed over to one of my favorite places, the outlet mall! Oh that was good times... although for some reason my husband wasn't as excited as I by this last stop.

On the following day Mom, husband and I headed downtown to my all time favorite bookstore, Powells and we roamed around there. All I can say is that it's a good thing we had luggage that was already full otherwise I could have bought hundreds of books. Hundreds I tell you! Then we headed over to Knit Purl.
Fleece Artist Woolie Silk. I just couldn't resist these colors! The pic doesn't do them justice

Artyarns Regal Silk

The Fibre Company Canopy Fingering which I used for the Knot Hat - more on that later

My sister came to town as well! It was so much fun to see everyone and hang out. We (sis, brother, hubby & I) went and wandered all around downtown again. I just can't get enough of that place. We ended up at a little cafe that has fantasic juices and get this: Sheesha! Hahaha!

Finally after more days of lounging around, eating and chatting with all my family ooooh and there was shopping. Lots and lots of shopping we headed over to (drum roll please) Twisted!!!! They carry Blue Moon Fiber Arts and I had been itching to get there the entire trip.

Look at all that yarny goodness!!! I got four skeins of BMFA Socks That Rock in different weights (if you are interested in colors and weights you can check out my stash on Ravelry) and I got another skein of Smooshy and the Monarch on the end in Green & Yellow.... My schools colors. How could I pass that up!?!? I'm going to knit socks that represent the Ducks! Woot woot!

Overall the trip was great. I got to see everyone. The weather was fantastic and I went to all my favorite hangouts. It was just so nice to be home. It made me realize just how much I miss my family. I think it's a feeling I try to surpress a lot because when you live on the other side of the world there isn't a whole lot you can do about home sickness so you just try not to think about it. But to be home, seeing everyone, talking to everyone whenever we wanted, just made me realize how much I miss everyone... How much I miss home.

I think I'll go cuddle some of my new yarn to cheer my self up now....

10 days off!!!

I have 10 consecutive days off of work and I'm so excited! I don't think I have had this much time off since my wedding in April. I don't think I'll even know what to do with all this time! Oh yeah, I know eat, shop, knit and go to Starbucks!

Today we went out to Festival City in Dubai and wandered around for a few hours and ate at the Macaroni Grill. I had the spaghetti and meatballs... YUM! and then we headed home.
Here are some pics I got on our way out of Dubai.

The Dubai skyline

The Burj Dubai. It never looks that big until you get close to it. Yeah, it's seriously massive.


Also today, I started a new knitting project today! The Jane Austen Dress from Mason-Dixon: Knitting Outside the Lines.

This will end up being a great stash buster for some Rowan DK that I have had in my stash for a few years now. Even better I will have enough left over to make the matching shrug!

I'm really hoping to have at least one of the two, if not both (fingers crossed) done by the end of the 10 days because i just ordered the yarn from Knit Picks to make the Windowpane coat from the Fall 08 Interweave Knits!!!! I'll keep you updated on the details of the coat once I get started.

And don't worry I'm still chugging along on the Phiaro. It just doesn't look much different from the last time even though I'm half way through my 4th skein or Wendy Pure! But I will say this: it's a fantastic project for long drives in the car!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!

more yarn!

first i want to say thank you to everyone for your support in me vs. the bank. i think i have prevailed! but seriously considering closing my account and going to another bank... especially after i ordered my new card and told them i would pick it up (after a long painful discussion) only to have DHL call me today and ask what address they should deliver my card to!
:::sigh:::

but on to brighter and shinier things... my mom sent me more yarn! an extended birthday present! i'm so lucky. my stash here is now over flowing and it feels great!

fist she sent me this cascade 220 in a plum heather (sorry don't know the official name but you can get the color lot on my ravelry page)
i think i'm going to use this yarn to make the February Lady Sweater i'm so excited. this is a project just for me and in my favorite color too!


second she sent me some of my stash from home (woot woot!)
i had made a baby blanket out of this. it was one of my first blankets and i had gotten WAY too much yarn. but that just means i can make something fab out of it now! and i am really enjoying knitting with worsted weight yarn. it just seems so virsital


this is left over from another baby blanket i had made. it's in a creamy yellow and gorgous


this is the most special of all from my stash. this is from my grandmother's stash! she had never gotten around to crocheting with it and after she passed away it just sat in storage. when i started knitting my dad dug it up and gave it to me. i haven't been able to make anything with it so far cause what ever i make i want it to be special and something that will be passed down. also it's quite a thin yarn so i'm not really sure what i can make with it.... perhaps a shawl? any ideas? (oh also there may be more of it but i'm still waiting for confirmation of that)


my mom also sent me ho ho's and twinkies! yum! i think my mom and my sis are trying to tempt me back to the states with sweets! and it just might be working ; )

thanks mom for all my yarn and sweets!

yippy!

Knitting Bee (my LYS from portland) has come through for me! they are fabulous! it turns out that they keep a history of what everyone buys! so they matched the pic i sent them of my hubby's scarf with a purchase of mine in december and wa lah they knew the yarn!!! even better they have one skein of Noro left! yup just one! and it's all mine muahh haa haa haa. so i'll post updated pics when the new skein arrives and i can get back to work on my hubby's scarf

who's buying the books?

a friend of mine here in Dubai is going home to New York for a visit next month and has been beyond kind enough to offer to bring me some knitting supplies back with her. i'm so excited it's better then purse shopping. i have been scouring the internet looking for the best deals and trying to fulfill the needs of some patterns i have been eyeing so that i can finally knit them. i've gotten 30 skeins of yarn, 2 books, and set of needles from Knit Picks! i know i'm beyond excited too!!!!

but the process has reminded me of just how frustrating it can be to live somewhere where you cant find the things you need (i.e. knitting supplies).

let me ponder something with you... perhaps you may even have explanation for this quandary. why do all of the bookstores (Magrudy's, Barns & Nobels, etc) sell knitting books, yet i can't buy knitting supplies ANYWHERE!!! does this make sense to anyone? really, there must be a demand if the knitting books are in the stores no? so where is all the stuff to make the things IN the books. who is buying knitting books if they aren't able to go right out and buy the supplies for their very favorite pattern inside? that's my very favorite part of getting a new pattern book! i directly pick my favorite pattern (that i think i can knit) and buy the necessary skeins and needles so i can go home and get to work! all though, in all honestly, i usually let the new pretty balls sit at the top of my yarn basket and eye them for a few days before i get started.

i miss my local knitting shop (the Knitting Bee in Portland, Oregon) where i could go in and look at all the beautiful yarns and pick out what i wanted to work on next. sometimes buying yarns that i just wanted to buy because i thought they looked and felt amazing! or buying yarns cause i was having a bad day : ( i miss having people to ask for advice and just somewhere to go and browse.... nope not here in the uae! not ONE knitting shop!

ok i will admit there's a guy that has a textiles shop at the bottom of Carrefour along Airport Road in Abu Dhabi who sells a minimal selection of knitting supplies... this includes to different kinds of yarn each available in 4 - 10 colors (depending on his stock) and he has 3 different sizes of straight knitting needles. now this is as close as i have found to a knitting shop so every time i go in i encourage him to expand his selection but seriously fellow knitters would this satisfy your knitting needs?

oh well thanks to my good friend i will soon have enough yarn to last me a year!
my poor husband