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April 25, 2007
two photos to show
Currently I love baking cakes as anti-stress activity rather than knitting, and I produced this the other day:
This is chocolate-marbled baked cheese cake. Quite dense and heavy, but tastes good. Normally I don't make cheese cakes but it happened to succeed accidentally.
BTW, Did I mention before I have subscribed for Rockin' sock club?
Today I've got my second package unexpectedly....it is just a-m-a-z-i-n-g!! Sorry that the photo is too terrible to show this gorgeous new yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, but the yarn is their new line and it is perfect for coming warm season...it is 3ply silk and wook brend. In the photo the pattern is in the blue envelope, for I was too excited to take the photo of yarn and I opened the envelope after the photo shooting....but it is fabulous too! I have not yet knitted the first pattern with Monsoon colorway, but maybe I will skip that and cast on right away this to try the nice spring yarn...difficult to resist, really. The pattern is knee-high lacy socks, and I've never liked lacy socks before, but it is so tempting. Oh. Looks like I became sock knitter...but I have tons of spring projects awaiting!!
Posted by trico at 12:52 AM | ???? (1)
April 18, 2007
stockinette pleasure
This is the mentioned socks in the last post:
Pattern: generic stckinette top-down simple socks
yarn: Sunshine yarns handpainted sock yarn
needles: #1 for rib and #2 for the body
And it turned out that it is quite confortable and warm socks, absolutely no problem with the quality of yarn...probably I was too suffered by PMS to be so fussy with such a good yarn! Now, almost everyday it rains in Tokyo and today the temperature even went down to around 10 degree(celsius) like winter, it is just apt socks for now. I love to wear it. It is actually on my foot just now.
And within 5 minutes or so after cast off this socks and completed the toe grafting, I casted on this:
What a colorway....I cannot take away my eyes from the yarn in knitting. This is Posh yarn's Emily, one of their gorgeous sock yarn, 10% cashmere, 10% angora and 80% lambswool. This colorway is "Hammock", and it is quite thick yarn as a sock weight. The more is knitted up, the more I dream its warmth and coziness...it looks sturdy and thick. and beautifully pooling...I love it.
And yes, I am knitting slowly the shifting sand socks too, but just for now I obsessed stockinette rounds and rounds....it makes me relax and I need this kind of knitting. Any cabling WIPS so far are waiting aside for awhile.
Posted by trico at 10:47 PM | ???? (0)
April 14, 2007
confession
Actually what I write today is knittery issue: relation of yarn and stash.
When I knitted CactusFlower sweater last winter, there are two things I don't like: circular knitted, and the substituted yarn. Finally now I admit I was beaten about this sweater...I cannot anymore knit this, even I finished the whole body and one sleeve. It is just too irritating to knit it...and for the designer's honor's sake, I want to say clearly that it is NOT AT ALL the pattern's fault. Even now I dream one day I could knit again this sweater with delicate silky mohair cowl. I sadly reached at the point where I could not bear anymore: I hate so much the yarn(the pattern calls Kid silk haze and Summer Tweed togather throughout, and I substituted summer tweed to another crappy yarn).
For the same reason, I cannot make pair for Roza's socks. The yarn was my first experiment yarn for dyeing and it EVEN contains some cashmere, but it hurts my fingers! It is itchy yarn and I though completed the first sock, now I cannot anymore bear to knit with the yarn.
Another example: currently, I am knitting very plain stockinette socks with handpainted yarn from quite famous handdyer, and I like the color's gentle appearance, her creation, but I just don't like the yarn's feeling...it is normal superwash wool. Not at all bad quality.
So far seriously I am in trouble...does my yarn requirement go up unbearbly outrageously unreachably high?? How could I be so judgmental and arrogant? It really annoying me, but it is true, it looks I became quite fussy about yarn...
The real problem is, if once I pick up "wrong" yarn for a project, I can never ever complete my project. You know what I mean...the life is short, we don't want waste our time, we should use what we love the most anytime.
But can you? I mean, can you use the most precious stuff for you always?
I can't.
I confess now that I posess so-much stashy self, I guess...desparately. I stash my most precious stuffs. I'm not brave enough to consume it, quite regularly. As a result, I use always something kind of "second" for me (the mentioned handdyed sock yarn isn't second for me, though) and sometimes it works out, sometimes not, and recently quite often it doesn't work.
It makes me think maybe I am not knitter, simply I am a yarn obsessed dark stasher/collector...if I am just happy to get them and stash it without knitting.
Please let me know how you handle that kind of self? Or, maybe it never occured to you ever?
Under this depressing situation, my arangansey is very slowly progressing.
I like the yarn. Jo sharp's Silkroad Aran Tweed.
Posted by trico at 01:51 AM | ???? (1)
April 12, 2007
No knit life
Recently I scarcely knit...and I am now suffered by PMS...sorry for the poorness of this blog. I put though a photo just for your grin:
This is originally chocolate-rasberry cake, but as I could not get any fresh rasberries, I substituted with strawberries. I've got anyhow nicely pink cream.
I will try to get some knitty contents next time...
Posted by trico at 10:19 PM | ???? (1)
April 03, 2007
rush updating
These Days there are many things happening around me and it is just enough to go through. Regardress I have started to try out some serious dyeing and making the appropriate yarn with the manufacturer for the purpose, now I just cannot share with you about the details. I though show you my hand-dyd yarn:
So, instead of my own news, let me introduce you an another knitting blog which belongs to a Japanese lady, but in English like mine.
As far as I know, her original blog was the first Japanese blog about knitting, tatting and another needlecrafts some years ago, and for some reasons she stopped her blogging completely. We who knows her and her blog have been thinking about her and her amazing FOs and sorry for the loss.
However, people, she finally reopened the door to the knitter's blogsphere recently, and we can see now after all she didn't give away any of her interests and urges for knitting and crafts since then, that she has been always very productive. Here is it:Little Stitches
The blog name isn't change so some of you might recognize her blog again, though we cannot see no more (sob) all of her previous amazing contents now.
I am very happy of her coming back in blogging. Enjoy her story!
BTW this week, the world around me is the most beatiful period of the year so I should report it anyhow:
The very best moment of cherry blossoms in Tokyo!