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June 25, 2006
no progress but a news
I have not been in the mood for knitting...I have not knitted A STITCH this past week.
So far no update. Other than that, we just found this week-end that DH first got sick again and have fever, I have to stay at home tomorrow. Maybe I would sneak some time to knit...
However, friends, I have a news actually. I've received a new issue of Knitscene from Interweave Press on Friday, for I have appointed as a Knits Spotter in Tokyo from the magazine. Please see that page, find nice mittens, a knitted dog mask, and beautiful scarf from "Scarf Style", spotted in Tokyo. You can also find them online too!
Posted by trico at 06:25 PM | ???? (1)
June 18, 2006
red tank
Now I can hear cry and shout of neighbors through the open window...right now there is a soccer match of Japan vs Croatia, 0-0, last half time. I don't have a TV set( though I can see it by my mobile phone) so I just listen the people during this world cup season.
Today is originally my deadline to complete Coast tank, but I cannot make it as expected...ugh. My secret project is making a bit progress though. This is "Striped Vest" from Vogue Knitting 2006 S/S, design number 25. I am making a uni-color version:
This poppy-red shimmering yarn is Japanese but I don't have th label. Composition is silk 80% and polyester 20%, the weight is around fingering/DK, so I use it 2 strands togather. I have had this yarn since 2 years ago, and never got the appropriate project for it until now. Besides I have dougted this is not my color.
I chose this design for a friend, and I showed her the swatch and she loved the color, so I kicked off. The gauge is perfect, thank God, but this design requires a seed stitch & YO combination pattern, along with its holizontally working way. It is intriguing and at the same time it is new experience for me. At first I had to struggle a bit to get used to the pattern, and I made mistakes of reading size, pattern, so I had to frog some times...it is a reason of this very slow progress. want to see the pattern?
Looks very different in uni color compering with the original stripe version. With this photos its texture looks very thick, and it is, but you cannot see the YOs which make it more windy tank.
I have two weeks by the end of the month now, I try to work...
Posted by trico at 11:15 PM | ???? (1)
June 11, 2006
summer dream
Officially Tokyo is now in to the famous rainy season "Tsuyu" until summer, from last Friday. My boys are exchanging the batons of sickness and my knitting doesn't make much progress.
I have no photo of Coast tank but I have finished the back and casted on the front. My current project plans until end of July are as follows:
1)Coast tank => complete within a week
2)go back to secret tank, try to finish by the end of June
3)Seahorse tank => odd time job, maybe put aside until summer vacation
4)Start a shell for MIL on July 1st, resolve to complete by July 26
5)When I finish MIL shell, let myself cast on Tulip. I fell in love with this pattern recently and now look for the appropriate substitute yarn like crazy.
And my summer vacation starts on July 27. I've ordered and got my exclusive vacation project:
It is easy Ponchette pattern for Hemp yarn. It looks like perfect for me for relaxed vacation knitting at poolside. So I start to dream it now, aside of sick boys at home, in these rainy day....Awww!
Posted by trico at 10:39 PM | ???? (1)
June 04, 2006
Ziplocked
Last week I wasn't in mood for knitting so much...maybe because it was a very hot week (scored 30 decrees celsius on June 1st here in Tokyo), and my DS second got rubella and I locked up with him at home for full week, and he is very fine except his rashes so he runs all day at home, or....maybe there is no reason.
I just didn't feel I could knit with a very fine and stern yarn for a rather boring simple pattern. (BTW: I imagined if I put a Kaffe Fassett's 13-colored intarsia flower on the top left side of the tank, instead of funny-faced seahorse. Just a thought.) And the other secret project requires me some concentration to follow the pattern.
As a result, I casted on another project....oh-ah...
I happened to find this yarn, Celeste from Jaeger, 4 balls, when I looked into my stash. I have bought them last year to make this Coast tank from their JB17 book and forgot it. This tank requires only 4 balls of the yarn, and the yarn is soft, wide ribbon yarn and call 9mm needles. Before noticing, I have casted on.
The photo has been taken yesterday, and since I have finished the first ball. It is just half of the back, easy.
By the way, now I am kind of liking this "ziplocked" knitting. You know, there is some yarns, often it is summer yarn, which cannot be pulled the yarn end from center. So as a result your ball is rolling anywhere during knitting and it is always annoying me. And I found this way. People, this is not so bad. This keeps the form of the ball and let the end pulled, as it should be. Normally I am the one who don't use Ziplocks for storing yarn, so maybe this kind of use might be well known for those who use the bag as standard knitting equipment...do you?
And the yarn. Wanna see close up?
This is a blend of Linen, Viscose and Polyamide. Mine is very linen-like color with blue-green nallow stripes. I think this yarn has been discontinued but you can find yet. The knitted texture is like that:
It is quite thick and uneven. Well, we'll see which project progress more for next time...