Socks indeed!

All it took was an infusion of sock yarn.

Here are my very first ever socks -- finished, and being worn by a very happy little dude.



I've realized that they are really already too small -- no surprise there. I considered re-doing them completely, but the happy dude was so excited to have knitted socks that he would have been devastated if I ripped back "his" socks. He has quite wide feet. Perhaps next I'll knit and felt him some slippers.

I've already cast on the next pair of socks for myself -- I'm going for the columbine socks in Cat Bordhi's book. I was going to try using dpns next, but my dpns are bamboo, and knitting socks on bamboo was rather slow going. I like the dpns, but I was getting tired of forcing the stitches up the line. Perhaps one of my dear relatives coming to visit will bring me some nice tiny steel dpns, hint hint. Size 1. As long as I'm hinting, I should make it less cryptic -- dpn = double pointed needles. They come in sets of 4 and 5. I don't care which. Nice pointy needles. Check 'em in your luggage.

A Grand Success!

Our auction was a huge success, both from the fun perspective and from the financial perspective. The gorgeous quilt was sold for just over 5 digits $US, over 7 digits in yen! Bidding was hot and furious! The quilt itself looked absolutely amazing hanging in the ballroom at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo. Here it is -- how cool is that? Some of the people thought that it was part of the Ritz Carlton ballroom decor. How great is that?



Even better, the highest bidder is a friend of mine, so I know it will be loved and cherished.

Of course, since the auction I've done nothing but reconcile the accounts on the bidding, and the reciepts. For 4 straight days I've been in the Endless Tunnel of Accounting.

For my own inspiration, another picture of the quilt:


I'm off again to the accounting of the whole event. Numbers are all adding up, and it's going well. Hopefully I'll get a chance to knit soon (I haven't picked up my knitting in an entire week -- I think that's the longest I've gone without knitting since I STARTED knitting).

Back to the Endless Tunnel -- at least I see the light at the end....

Sock-o-rific!

Okay, who laughed at my theory that if only I had ENOUGH sock yarn I'd be able to knit socks like a madwoman? Well, I'm doing the laughing now. Just a week after my brother-in-law's lovely gift of FOUR, count 'em FOUR hanks of sock yarn, I have finished the first child's sock, and turned the heel of the second. It's simple knitting from here to the toe, and they'll be finished before his feet grow any more! Then, MY feet get their turn.

The Evidence:
April 14 (not changed since Oct 06):


April 17:


April 19:


Bring it on!

Giving my hands a break from the fingering weight and the size 1 needles, I also worked on (and quickly finished) this:

My dear husband is a happy enabler of my knitting, and is a great sport about hunting down LYS wherever he might be. This lovely skein, assembled from a variety of different novelty yarns, was purchased at Needlepoint and Knitting in Boston, and the owner's directions are so simple that she wrote them down in a tiny space on the ball band for my husband. "Cast on 180. Knit, knit, knit." I think she assumed that I would know enough to cast off.

I did end up writing her an e-mail -- believe it or not, I had a question about the "knit, knit, knit" part. I was unsure if each row should be only 1 type of yarn, or if I was meant to continue throug until it ran out, meaning that I could potentially have two rows of a certain yarn on one half of the scarf, and none of that yarn at all on the other end of the scarf. I was told to just keep going. I guess that should be explicit in "knit, knit, knit," but then again I'm a bit obsessive and that perfectionist thing was coming out. In the end, I decided that I LIKED the unevenness of the colors and yarns.

"It's a FEATURE, not a BUG."

One sock down, one to go!

One sock is finished!!! Yippee! My first "real" sock! (Not including the big Christmas stocking I knit last month.)

The model is our rather timid cat named Mousie. We also call him Skitter Kitty. He tends to flee at the unknown. Putting a sock on him and then taking a flash picture had about a 50/50 chance of success. Still, the room was dark, and I needed a light background for the sock -- Mousie was my only option.



Luckily, he was pretty relaxed, and even posed when I put the knitting needles on his paws. I thought that this would send him running for sure. Nope, he actually purred. The cat knows good knitting when he sees it.



(See, I followed the instructions that say to cast on the second sock if you ever want a matched pair.)

Purple Angora Shawl has a home!

I've been musing about the likelihood (or unlikelihood) of anyone actually wearing a purple angora shawl. A thin purple angora trim on something fun -- yes. But a whole shawl (albeit a small one) of purple angora? Shedding little purple angora fur all over oneself?

I tried it on. I liked the color. However, I already have a purple pashmina shawl that I wear all the time (just look at my pic on the right). It seemed a little over the top to add the angora.

I could think of a few people who might claim to want it, and only afterwards realize that bright purple was just not their thing. The answer came yesterday, as I had finished fiddling with it, and left it momentarily on the dining room table.

I came back, and Purple Angora Shawl was no longer on the dining room table. It was in the kitchen, and it was coloring. It was happy!



Know who will wear a purple angora shawl? A seven-year-old. And she'll love it!

So, what is the deal with socks?

Sock yarn -- my new passion. And why? Not because I knit socks up like a storm. No, it's much simpler than that. It's that:

Somewhere deep inside, I believe that I WILL BE ABLE TO KNIT SOCKS UP LIKE A STORM *IF* I have enough sock yarn.

Have I been knitting socks long? Ummmm...that depends on if you expect me to actually finish a pair.

When I was in the US this summer, I stopped into a lovely LYS in Rochester, Minnesota called Kristen's Knits. The employee there happened to be knitting a sock on 2 circulars, and I asked, "What is the deal with socks? Everyone keeps raving about knitting socks. Is it really that great?" Being a particularly excellent salesperson, teacher, and just general great woman, she proceeded to walk me through the store, picked out Cat Bordhi's book Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles, two kinds of sock yarn (actually, she picked one to start me off, and I asked for a second), and two pairs of circular needles. (I also purchased enough bamboo, linen, merino, etc to come very very close to filling up a punch card.)

Here is the very first sock I ever started -- on those same circulars and the yarn that she started me on. I found that using Cat's "simple sock" pattern I needed 1s, not 2s or 3s. I began the child's sock. I got this far last October, and finally convinced my son (4) to let me put them on his feet. It took a while, since he didn't want "the needles to poke his feet." Understandable. I got them on him -- and realized that the sock was too narrow. (Fast forward 6 months to this week, and I yanked them wider and got them on his feet without a problem. In 6 months, he's realized that I've knit him a "Lightning McQueen" vest, a hat, and a blanket, and socks have got to be great. He has willed them to fit!)



After I realized that my yarn was perhaps thinner than what was required in the pattern, and I had no access to the kind specified, I wondered if I should knit a Christmas stocking -- only ONE sock, big stitches. I started in March -- understanding that it had to be done by December. Two weeks after starting, here it is (minus some embroidery). By the way, the fuzziness where the name would be is where me, the privacy freak, has erased out my kid's name in the picture.



With that under my belt (and intarsia in the round is NOT for the weak), I began a new sock, this time for ME! Unfortunately, I realized that a 3 is totally not the right needle size for the combo of this yarn, this pattern, and my knitting style. The yarn is not wound very tightly, and I figured that it knit much smaller than I had supposed.






Luckily, my brother-in-law arrived, bringing goodies and beautiful sock yarn with him. I cast on again (using 3s, I must be a VERY slow learner, but the 3s were the only ones not already in a project), and found that it knits like a dream, but I do need to use 1s or 2s.



That brings us back to my FIRST sock, which is holding said 1s. Now I have to finish his socks before I can start mine. It's a very very good incentive.

Oops -- update. I couldn't wait. I finished the first of his socks, cast on the second, and....I couldn't wait. I cast my own socks on in the beautiful Cherry Tree Hill on dpns. Just to see what my gauge is, mind you. I have to finish his first -- his feet are still growing!

Blockhead

Blocking is very new to me. I blocked a lace rib scarf I made for a friend as a test, and I was amazed at the difference it made. (Yes, I know the books all say that you'll be amazed by how professional it suddenly looks, but somehow I was still surprised.)

So, when I blocked my purple angora shawl (and again, I ask, who is going to wear a purple angora shawl?), I was THRILLED to see the arrowhead pattern (Interweave Knits staff projects, Summer 2006) appear so nicely!




Same thing with a baby poncho I made for a friend. The garter stitch edge was not holding the stockinette properly, and it was curving to the back, and I blocked it -- VOILA! It looks awesome. (Yarn is a Japanese one with 10% mohair, 90% wool called "make, make". Not kidding. Make make yarn. I'm gonna make make me a poncho.

The Knitting Bug, and how it infected me....

So, why knitting? Because it's portable, it's relaxing, it's rewarding, and I can choose to knit something spectacular and complicated, and I can choose to knit something simple and repetitive.

I started knitting (again) in January 2006, after a 17-year hiatus, and taught myself from the "Stitch and Bitch" I checked out from the library. I decided NOT to purchase anything, but to get a library book, and use the pink wool and needles I purchased in 1988 when I had almost no extra cash, and not enough money to buy an additional pair of knitting needles so that I could Knit To Gauge.

Since I am by nature a confident and ambitious person, I began (in 1988) with a sweater (one with a cabled ribbing, no less). I was also confident enough to ignore gauge, I just bought what the pattern said. I ended up with a front and back of completely different sizes, and it would have fit a wrestler. A wrestler who liked pink cabled sweaters, that is. I've kept this 19 years thinking that I'd finish it someday. I know better now -- but just CHECK OUT the difference between the top piece and the bottom piece! Egads. This is what I frogged to practice anew.



My initial foray into knitting in 2006 was just to busy my hands. I played with the yarn, tried it in my left hand. I went to the knitting store and just "looked around." Really. I found some squeaky acrylic in the back of my closet and knit a square. I went back to the knitting store, and this time bought fuschia pink and black-and-white fun fur yarn, and knit the keyhole scarf in SnB. Then I knit 2 more, for my mom and daughter. Matching 3 generation fuschia, white, and black scarves!

Then I bought a circular needle, and began making baby hats. Did I mention I also bought 15 balls of Zara (all different colors) and 2 knitting books?

A little over a year later, I have a stash worth hiding, purchased all over the US and brought back home to Tokyo because "I just don't know if I can get this in Japan." (Note to self: Zara, Rowan, Anny Blatt -- all available. Sock yarn? As rare as a rainbow zebra.)

Doin' the Happy Dance -- AGAIN!

I'm a-doing the Happy Dance!

The Auction Quilt is FINISHED (I know I said it was finished before, but now it has the hanging sleeve, so it's REALLY REALLY finished), and is hanging in the school! It will be auctioned off April 20 -- can't wait to see the bidding! My heart is pounding with adrenaline already.

Here it is:



AND, as if there wasn't enough joy in my life with the completion of THAT project, we also finished our class project: the Chinese character for PLAY (asobi) done in washi paper. It's amazing.




Since I'm on such a roll with finishing projects, I also managed to finish my shodo (calligraphy) monthly submission and begin the annual "test," ** AND ** I finally managed to block the purple angora shawl and the pink baby poncho. Look out baby, I'm on a roll!

The best visitors come armed with PRESENTS!

Look at these presents! Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and a beautiful Rowan Kid Silk Haze! These are what my delightful brother-in-law brought for me!! (Granted, I did send a list, along with a map of a LYS in his immediate area -- Stitch DC, which is (not surprisingly) located in DC.)



How gorgeous is that stuff? So gorgeous that I couldn't wait to start a pair of socks on the jewel tones of the Cherry Tree Hill skein.

Japanese Garden pic

Just a picture from the lovely Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo.



This was at the tail end of cherry blossom season, and there were almost no people in the park at 9:05am on a Friday morning. Compare this to LAST week, when there were 60,000 people in the park!

This week, there was one handful of photographers surrounding a single tree:


Last week, there were dozens at each and every tree:


This is how many picnickers there were this week:


And this is one small area of a very large park last week:


You haven't seen crowds until you've been in the immigration line entering Japan at Narita Airport on May 5th, or during cherry blossom season in Tokyo. The great thing about cherry blossom season is that people aren't trying to GET anywhere, they just want to sit, enjoy a beer or a cup of sake, and look at flower petals floating down in the breeze. Smiles all around!

Doin' the Happy Dance!

The Quilt is FINISHED!

Our fearless quilting master has finished the last few stitches, and now it is up to me to attach the sleeve as the final final piece before we hang this lovely thing!

Of course, I tested it out first -- here the dragon is reclining on a queen size bed:



And here, our dragon is enjoying a bit more room on a king size bed:



It's amazing, it's beautiful, and it's going to be someone else's in 11 days. Highest bidder wins!

Washi -- Japanese hand-made paper craft

Industrious souls embarking on a wild ride -- what kanji character will we use? What size paper? What type pen or paint? Do too many cooks really spoil the broth? NOT HERE! We ROCK!

Our initial forays into art - we are blurry because we are thinking so fast!


Here we are -- ASOBI, the kanji for "play." This is the test run. We subsequently tried "Wa," or harmony, and went back to asobi, and then we decreased the size. We'll use the paper that the kids create instead of this.



Washi is a traditional Japanese art -- hand-made paper. Sometimes the paper will incorporate other natural elements (straw, flowers, grass, etc), and we are having the 4 and 4 year olds rip black washi paper, dribble gold paint on them, and then we will assemble them in a character meaning "PLAY." It's very appropriate, don't you think?


Here we apply a combination of Japanese rice school glue and "bond," which always makes me think, "Bond, James Bond," but is actually GLUE in Japan, and water. The consistency is rather runny, and we pretty much soaked the washi paper to apply it to the laquered washi board. (By the way, a big hooray to the washi shop owner who came to a private home to help apply the gorgeous lacquered paper to a board -- HOORAY!)



And, applying the glue combination, the ladies are making sure that the top piece of washi is carefully glued to the board -- and no bubbles allowed!


You guys are awesome! (Any guesses as to what this project will go for at the auction??)

Look for more detailed pics on the final product next Wednesday.


The Dragon Quilt

The Quilt -- for the 2007 school quilt, we chose a blue and white antique fabric puzzle with a dragon appliqued over it for our theme.

Initially, we set out to find fabrics:






And then arrange them -- I like to call this one "Do ya see the vision?"





Putting the "puzzle" together, we've added the paper dragon template.








And finally, our bold beloved dragon is ready to be appliqued on top.













Appliqued, quilted, bordered, and binded -- just a few stitches left to completion, and 2 weeks ahead of when we'll be auctioning it off.






Over 30 people worked on this, and 1 person (not me) did the lion's share (the dragon's share?) of the work. What an incredible woman!

Blogorama?

First post: so new, so bewildering. Where to start?

I'm an American living in Tokyo, with some serious craft-itis.

The Tokyo part: It's cherry blossom season, the perfect image of Japan. This is what you see when you aim your camera carefully:





What you don't see are 300 other people taking the exact same picture, either with their huge digital SLRs or their tiny pocket digitals, or else their phones.



Craftiness? Isn't this about STITCHING for goodness sake?


Right now, I have 4 knitting projects on needles, one getting frogged, 2 waiting to be blocked, and several in my head.



A few months ago, I made a toddler hat (modeled by the doll with the biggest head). The pattern is of my own making, and the hat is knit in Zara merino. I was particularly pleased with my ability to decrease so neatly and evenly while keeping some sort of pattern. I got so excited that I forgot to write down exactly what I decreased, and in what order.


I love the stitch definition in the Zara.








Recently I made the same hat using a gorgeous Malabrigo yarn (yum) in autumn colors, mainly to see if I could re-create the decreases and this time write them down (I met with moderate success). The Malabrigo is a totally different feel, not much twist to the yarn, and a much thicker feel. It's incredibly soft and yummy merino. I found it at The Knitter's Nook in Minocqua Wisconsin, and Linden Hills Yarns in Minneapolis and The Yarnery in Saint Paul carry it as well. (I like to buy yarn wherever I go, supporting the LYSs all over the place.)

I'm also working on a queen sized quilt that will go into the school auction getting its binding on now (I took a break), a twin top finished, and a wall quilt nearly finished.


School quilt pic -- be very impressed, and no, this is not all my work (hardly), but our school quilting group's work:

Next: more pictures of school quilt as it continues, and hopefully pictures of our class washi project!