La Cumparsita Completed!

I finally finished the knitting portion of La Cumparsita! Hallelujah! Of course it still needs the ends to be woven in, to be dyed and to be blocked but I'm soooo much closer now! Honestly, I'm not really sure what I will be doing with this shawl. I may give it to my mother, haven't decided. But I will document the dying process since it will be a first for me.

Last night I cast on for the Cable Chapeau from Debbie Stoller's new book Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics. I completely forgot that I pre-ordered this book and it just showed up in the mail yesterday! Nice surprise on a Monday, especially since I didn't think that it was being released until November!

I'm using up some old Cascade 220 that I've had in my stash for quite some time. It's a lovely heathered plum color. Hope it's not too itchy for me to wear. I really need a quick, instant-gratification project after the last 2 shawls that I slugged through!

Leaf Yoke Top and it only took me 7 months (haha)!

Well, tonight I finally put the finishing touches (applied i-cord edging on the neck and arm holes) on my Leaf Yoke Top. It turned out beautifully.

This top was my first project using short-row bust shaping. The short-rows created an extra pouch of fabric for my busty top half. What a difference it makes. It is so much more comfortable when there isn't any pulling across the chest. Not only is it more comfy but it looks soooo much nicer when the pattern isn't distorted when I squeeze the DDs into a B-C space.

Naturally, I'm planning on wearing this top tomorrow-- no need to block LB Cottonease. I even have the perfect shoes to wear with it!

True Blood Love and Short-Rows!

Ok, I have a True Blood obsession. Can't help it. Love it. That said-- I'm obviously attracted to everything True Blood (see this post if you don't believe me). I ordered the 8-book Sookie Stackhouse series and am on the second book. And I have no will power because yesterday I bought this:

I know, I have problems.

I bought these over the weekend:

I'm actually not 100% sure why I bought these because I've been planning on being Joan Jett for Halloween all this time but I'm so enamored with vampires these days that I just couldn't help myself.  I think I may have had a change of heart. Sorry Joan!

On to the short-rows...

I've used short-rows before. I get the concept. I was just always to afraid to use them for bust-shaping. Pretty dumb for a girls with DDs, huh!? Well, finally I took the plunge. I used this article to guide me. After figuring out my calculations, the knitting began. Short-rows are super easy; it's just a matter of knowing where to place them and how many to knit. See the wedge of fabric I've created using short-rows? Hope it's big enough for my boobies!

Leaf Yoke Top...why do I rip thee?

I've been working on this on and off for the last couple of weeks. The yoke knit up incredibly fast, but I've had to rip the front and the back a few times. The instructions in for the first section after picking up stitches from the yoke are no accurate but there was no errata to speak of. Oh well.

I plan on replacing the folded hem with a simple lace pattern at the hips. When it's done it'll be too cold for a sleeveless top but I'd like to wear a long sleeved tee underneath. Hopefully I'll finish it this month!

Ishbel for Michele!

My Ishbel is finito! I wet blocked it last night and it was dry by this morning! So of course, I'm wearing it now. Couldn't resist.
On a seperate note, I got and drank this last night:
It is delicious blood orange flavored soda inspired by HBO's True Blood series! Love it.

The 9th Anniversary of My 21st Birthday!

Well it happened today...I turned 30. My entire family came up from NY and surprised me at Douzo yesterday afternoon. My Dad and Ilise came to visit and Jorge coordinated a family surprise party for me. My Mom and Ed, Jonny and Sam, Kristin and Gram. I've never been surprised before but I was totally shocked (and confused at first!) when I saw them all at the table.

Not only did everyone travel up to Boston from Long Island but they brought me fabulous gifts.





I can't believe that I'm no longer in my 20's. I feel like I was just celebrating my 21st birthday and here I am checking the 30-35 box. How time flies.

In knitting news, I'm almost finished with Ishbel. Just have charts C, D, and E left. Then to the blocking board.

Back in the game

I actually want to knit. I cast on for Ishbel the other night. I'm using 1 hank of Handmaiden Sea Silk in Marine.

I'm on the first lace section right now. I decided to make a size medium-- the stockinette section in the small size and the lace section in the large size-- since I only have 437 yards to work with here.

I'm using un-waxed dental floss for my life line. I figured that I would place a life line after each lace section. Just in case...

On another note, I was contemplating reviewing make-up and other beauty products here. Would anyone be interested in this? I love to buy and play with makeup and thought that it might be fun to share. I know you're saying, "but isn't this a crafting blog?" I do feel like make-up is an artistic medium and that techniques used to apply it can be very creative. We'll see. I have been test driving several different eye makeup looks as of late. I'd like to start photographing my work. I know that it's tough to take pics of yourself but think I'm gonna give it a shot.

April Lady Sweater?

I started my FLS back in March, planning on bringing it to Puerto Rico and actually finishing it. Turns out that I didn't knit one stitch while I was in San Juan, only on the plane on the way down. Once I was home, I sort of lost interest for a bit and decided to just set it aside until the mood struck once again. During that hiatus, I was able to start and finish Owls and I was just dreaming of casting on Liesl. I told myself "project monogamy is the only way I will get these pieces done!" So I limited myself to casting on (and finishing) Owls and then back to the FLS!

Once I completed Owls, as I mentioned in my previous post, I bought the perfect buttons for my FLS to motivate me to finish the bugger. It must have worked because it was done within the week! I <3 how my FLS turned out!


It's not the best pic but it's gray and raining out so I had to use the flash. I'll attempt a better pic on a nice day. Here's a close up of the buttons.


The other night I cast on for Liesl. I decided to do the short version with the lower neckline, which isn't very low at all. I'm using Dreamweave, which is a wool/silk blend in an avocado green. I'm on on the 11th row of the yoke but it's already 2-2 1/2 inches long, so I think that once I get into it I will be able to breeze through. I only have 3 skeins in my stash (318 yds) but the sweater only calls for 260, so I'm cutting it close and really wish that I had an extra skein due to my track record. Well, I'm just going to jump in with my fingers crossed. Wish me luck!

Tuscany, Puerto Rico!?

Gee, that doesn't sound right at all! Okay, that's because it's not. What I meant to say is that I'll be bringing my newly finished Tuscany shawl to Puerto Rico next week! I really didn't think that I'd have it finished but here she is...

I used a lovely cotton blend yarn the I bought for another project, for which my desire fizzled, a couple of years ago from Elann, which has since been discontinued. It's called Elann Endless Summer Luna and it is a fiery red colorway! It's has a shimmer and a great drape, but is a bit too splitty to work with in my opinion. I only did 9.5 repeats of the lace pattern because I used a larger needle size than called for and a heavy weight yarn.

All in all, it was a pretty easy and quick project. I think it turned out beautiful for my first lace project of this caliber. I hope that I get to wear it!

Birthday Fish & Vacation Shawls

I've been slow yet steady with the shawl knitting. I'm more than half way at this point! It's turning out lovely and I can really envision what it will look like with my cute black dress. I also cannot wait to block it. Blocking lace = knitter's high! The color is off in this picture-- truly it's a more fiery red!

I also started a knitted Angler Fish as part of Jorge's birthday present. I ordered this pattern from Etsy ages ago but never got around to knitting it for him. This pattern isn't a difficult one just lots of row-by-row instructions. It has tons of short-rows which, luckily, I taught myself to do recently. This is a quick and fun knit and I can't wait to give it to him!

New Yarn, New Project and, yet again, another Bad Haircut

So the weekend before last, I had a Saturday appointment to get a haircut, my first since I was traumatized back in November 2008. By some ridiculous circumstances, I ended up missing the appointment and was totally bummed (this should have been a sign!).

I rescheduled for the next Wednesday (last week) and took a few hours off from work. When I arrived my stylist was giddy over getting her new shears and texturizer-- the scissor guys was still there. I told her that I essentially wanted the same cut but was open to suggestions for a bit of change. She went totally scissor happy and chopped soooo much hair off my head, of already short hair, making me look like a demented little boy. I just don't get it. We discussed how different did NOT equal shorter. I'm gonna chalk it up to a one-time bout of crazy due to her new equipment, but if it happens again I'm outta there.

Good thing is: hair grows. And mine seems to grow fast. I'm really sick of walking out of the salon with tears streaming down my face though. This should not happen when you articulately describe what it is that you're looking for. Maybe I'll post a pick but no promises so you can all see my misery.

I was feeling so bad after my haircut appointment that I decided to got over to Windsor Button for a pick-me-up. I was in search of Malabrigo Silky Merino in teal. I couldn't find it out on the floor so I asked the sales lady. I do NOT usually do that there because they're pretty weird and not usually too customer service-oriented, but I was in a desperate place.

To my surprise the lady was kind and outgoing. She found more stock, and specifically the color that I was in search of. I purchased two beautiful hanks of this heavenly soft yarn. I plan on making a Reclamation Scarf , Stephanie Japel's newest invention, out of each-- one for me and one for my bff.
Though I have been working on the second sleeve of my CPH, I'm at a standstill with this project. I'm just really bored of knitting it. I wondered why so many people took an average of a year to complete this project and now I know why. Though it's got more interest than a straight up stockinette project, it's still very rhythmic and boring to knit. I need more instant gratification. I decided that I'd start a new project while I was in NYC this past weekend to awaken my mojo.

I cast on for Tuscany from No Sheep for You. I'm using my stash of Elann Endless Summer Luna in red which I bought ages ago for another project that I never got around to (and lost interest in). I've always thought that this was a pretty shawl but had no desire to knit a lace project of that magnitude or knit a shawl, for that matter. But then I had this vision of me in Old San Juan, wearing a black dress with a red lace wrap around my shoulders so I figured that maybe it was worth a try. We leave for PR March 12th...less than a month away. I'm not sure if this is going to be possible to finish in time but I'm going to give it a shot.

I work on it on the bus home yesterday afternoon until it got too dark and I got a massive headache. It seems to be working up fast. I guess we'll see.