LimulusKnits

The Cakes Vote for...

2008-11-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

C'mon guys......

In Which I Figure out my Proportions

2008-08-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

FO: Central Park Hoodie

Pattern: CPH, not to be confused with NPH, who is also awesome
Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted in Kamchatka Sea Moss, about 6 skeins (1200 yards-ish)
Needles: size 7 and 6
Size: 40"
Verdict: Well, let me explain. This is a fine sweater. I love it in fact. However, as you can see in the above picture, it is a bit snug. This would be OK, I mean, I can still fit a shirt underneath it and everything, but there is a problem that you can't see there. Let's see if I can explain it.

So when I look at myself in the mirror I see a normal waist, normal hips, small-ish chest, but there is one thing to which I remain completely voluntarily blind, apparently. See my shoulders? They are particularly large for my proportions. They are the reason that the 40" (a size with 2" of positive ease on me) pulls like crazy in the front, and stretches the cables in the back. Now, I love this sweater, and as such I decided that it should go to someone that it , you know, fits.

This one is for you mom.

Enter: The wonder-postdoc. WP has my proportions, but is shorter and has much narrower shoulders. On top of all of that, she has red hair (perfect!). The sweater looks fabulous on her. When she gives me a picture I'll post it to show exactly how awesome it looks on her. Obviously it had to be hers.

Conclusion: Lovely pattern. Really wonderful. However, if you have anything over average-sized shoulders I would make at least 1.5/2 sizes up - something is up with the sleeves.

In other news, my yarn diet is almost over (be afraid - very afraid). Wisconsin Sheep and Wool is but a week away, and I am squeeing like a schoolgirl over it already. I covet Kimmet Croft yarn with the lust of a thousand nuns.

Berlin was great, althought I would have liked to stay longer (don't you always?). Here are some pictures to tide everyone over - Peace!

Mmmm mirrors...

Berlin

The bison in the Berlin zoo live in a lodge surrounded by "totem poles". You know, so they'll feel at home.

Knits Lost in Time

2008-07-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, even though I am broiling in my shell and listening to German pop music, it is blog time! It hasn't gotten too bad here heat-wise, which is good because I would be a babbling mess otherwise, but that doesn't mean that I can't complain like a champ. I cut off a good 4-5 inches of my hair today (or rather had it cut off), the verdict is still out on it, but it is cooler.
I finally uploaded pictures of projects I haven't written about yet, so I'll put them up over some period of time. First up:

Pattern: Pleat by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Thrifted cotton/Linen. I don't know the yardage, but it definitely wasn't as much as the pattern called for.
Size: 38" for my 38" bust
Verdict: I love it. I know people were on the fence about the racer-back, but since I have to wear a tank top under it anyway due to the lightness of the fabric, it doesn't make much of a difference to me. I kind of like it. Also, this project is the first time I have ever successfully added crochet to a knitted garment. I love the result, I started doing it to other sweaters I was afraid to edge before. As always, Norah is a fabulous designer, and I love my shirt, but if you want a pleat as deep as in the photo I would recommend some positive ease, which I didn't really want. However, I think negative ease would have been a problem, since that line you see in the bust? It is the result of a cast-off, so it won't be as stretchy as a lot of other things. All in all I love it - very comfy, especially for these stupid hot days.

Also in the picture:
Pattern: Phiaro Scarf, by Katie Himmelberg
Yarn: Southwest Trading Co. Oasis, 2 skeins and a bit
Color: Natural
Comments: I like it a bunch, but got tired of knitting it, so I stopped early. It is still very nice as a scarf though.

If you were wondering about the German pop music, The Boy and I are going to Berlin for a friend's wedding in August (well, the boy is going on Saturday for "work" - he managed to get sent to a collaboration thing there for the wedding) and we are both trying to brush up on our German, which was never great to begin with. A french teacher that I had once said that the best way to learn a language was through music. While I am not sure that she was correct, I can listen to music while working, so I can always hope that some sort of passive diffusion will occur. Plus it is fun. I have been to Berlin before, but if anyone has any cool things that they love in the city I am more than open to ideas. Peace!

It isn't the heat...

2008-07-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

It really is the humidity.

Playing with our new toy helps though.

In the foreground is Chocolate-tangerine sorbet(I used clementines). It is so chocolatey that it almost tastes alcoholic, with a wonderful fruitiness from the oranges. Recipe from The Perfect Scoop. If you have any qualms about buying a cookbook almost entirely full of ice cream/sorbet/sherbet, lose them. I love this thing. Actual knitting tomorrow.

These aren't the hammer...

2008-07-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Know it. Love it.

Wool Limulus

2008-07-03T01:01:00.000-07:00

Whooo, well I'm obviously not great at this blogging thing, but no worries, there is no way I'm going to stop. I guess I just have to see it as more of an all-encompassing blog than a knitting blog, since apparently I can't remember to take pictures of what I knit. Don't worry though, most of my leisure time is spent knitting, so I may end up being a knitblogger after all, albeit a lazy one.
The Limulusparents are here with Limulusbrother for the week. I'm glad to have them, work has been getting to me lately (having your advisor hint that the whole lab isn't working hard enough when you work seven-day weeks can be demoralizing). I am taking the 4th off (a federal holiday? Madness, you say!) to have a well-deserved shopping spree with Limulusmother. Just when I think that my life is finally somewhat interesting, Tall Limulusbrother goes to Beijing and blows us all away with his chuzpah - he is staying there until December to become fluent in Mandarin. He'll be famous one day, I just know it, even if none of us know how.
In other news, I submitted my first abstract for a major conference a week or so ago. My project is progressing well for a student who has only been in the lab for six months, apparently, and although there was some drama getting the thing submitted to my advisor's standards (no one's fault, just a confluence of crazy events), it has been submitted and I am most likely going to present my first poster in October.

Well, enough with the work stuff. I have been realizing lately that while I never thought of it this way before, I have a knitter "type". I used to only be a yarn snob (i.e., only with natural fibers unless it is reenforcing thread or something), but more and more I am figuring out that I am a wool-pig, to couch it in Yarn Harlot terms. I love wool. All kinds of wool. And in a startling discovery, projects (that I will blog about when I find my camera cable) done in cotton take approximately twice as long as those I make out of wool. This is also true of all other fibers I have worked with. Unless there is some wool in the blend, I simply can't deal on some level. Cotton? Slow. Wool/Cotton? Fast. I would like to say that it is some sort of innate character of the fiber, but I think my brain just likes wool better (cotton doesn't hurt or anything).
In any case, this may become a bit of a problem, since it is now summer and well, I hate the heat. HATE it. I'm the biggest baby ever when it comes to temperatures above 82F, and as much as I try not to complain about the weather (force of nature and all), it brings all the whining out of me. Wool, however, is warm. Say what you will about the Wisconsin winters (I sure have), but they love wool. When it is -20 and you're snow blind, wool is your friend, I don't know how I'm going to deal with this in the summer, but it may involve ice packs.

In a desperate effort to insert some sort of knitting content into this post (I like blogs with pictures - I try to be one), here is a project that I finished a while ago, but somehow never blogged.

Pattern: The ever-popular Swallowtail Shawl, by Evelyn A. Clark for IK Fall 2005
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Tibetan Rose (I don't get it either)
Needles: Size 9s, I think
Mods: Thicker yarn, I didn't to the nupps.
For: Sharill
Verdict: She said that she loved it in her thank-you note, so I guess a success! I love making shawls and lace, but I like feeling of little bit more weight on my shoulders, so I almost always make them out of sport/dk/worsted yarn. Not to say that laceweight doesn't have its time and place (I have much of it), but that is just how I roll.

Finally, I realized (with much help from The Boy) that I maybe have a *wee* bit too much yarn. Therefore I am on a yarn hiatus (I don't like the word diet) until the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival in September. Hopefully this will actually increase my productivity, and I won't have as much yarn guilt. Peace out!

Squid. Blame the squid.

2008-04-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, they're not really a problem, per se. I love the squid. That is why I spend most waking minutes studying them, and why I have been neglecting the poor blog. Which is really too bad, since I have pretty pictures.

Project: Clapotis, by Kate Gilbert, knitta extraordinaire
Yarn: Noro silk garden lite, colour 2010, 6 skeins
Size: one
Mods: I knit until I ran out of yarn instead of following the number of rows on the pattern. Other than that I followed it to a T. Except for the stitch markers.
Verdict: I love it, although I haven't gotten much use out of it yet. Silk garden makes everything better though, I would make stuff out of every colour if I could. What I really want is to get ahold of some of that white/neutral mix though....

Pattern: Uptown Boot Socks, by J. Appleby, from Favorite Socks, from IK
Yarn: The ever-fabulous original sock yarn from pigeonroof knits, in "Nighthawk". The yarn makes me extremely happy, check it out. All of her stuff is fabulous - I've been collecting it like its going out of style, which of course it never will.
Size: sasquatch
Mods: None, although I made the second sock using the first as a template, since I misplaced the book at that point.
Verdict: I love them more than logic would ever let me. Just check the number of pictures of them I have up on ravelry. Here is one of them:

They have many cable twists. Every one was worth it.

In other news, there may have been much yarn added to the household. Passive tense may also have been used. See, I found out that I got an honorable mention for the NSF instead of actually getting the money (sidenote: Hey NSF - there are oh, a gazillion micro grad students out there. Maybe you should fund more than four of them. Just saying.). And I found this out on the same day that the WEBS anniversary sale started. I may have fallen down.

Hard.

That would be yarn for three sweaters. It was a bad day. Shoes may also have been involved.

On the upswing though, the boy did get the NSF for physics-monkey stuff, so in general the NSF likes us, it just didn't have enough money for me. Which is not its fault. I would rant about whose fault it is, but that is territory that has already been trod, flagged, and claimed by writers more eloquent than I.

Today was fun because April is here, and April means sheep-shearing season here in Wisconsin (and most of the northern hemisphere I guess). Today Bethany the wonder-postdoc and I went to Rainbow Fleece Farm for its annual sheep shearing open house. Bethany spins like a spider and got fleece from a BFL that we were assured is a very fine animal indeed. I, not knowing how to spin, instead got yarn.

It should be enough for a stripey sweater, if I am careful - about 1,000 yards when all is said and done. I just couldn't resist it - it is good, soft, local wool, and any one of those three would leave me weak in the knees on a normal day. All three was too much to resist. Before and after the wool-getting I managed to get us lost, break half of the stuff in Bethany's car, and almost leave my checkbook at the farm. Never let anyone say that an afternoon out with me isn't interesting.

Well, cats and kittens, that is the limulus report for this week. I promise to get more blog action in now that there is natural sunlight (!). I am also looking forward to vegetables and riding my bike to work to get rid of this *ahem* curviness that crept up over the long long winter.
Peace out.

A Bird in the Hand

2008-03-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Done! Finally!
Well, actually, they were done a week or so ago, but time makes fools of us all.

Specs:
Pattern: Bird in Hand Mittens, by the incomparable Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Harrisville Highland in Hemlock and Aster
Size: Size in the pattern - I guess mine are large-hand size
Needles: Knitpicks size 2 metal dpns (love these things)
Mods: If by "mods" you mean "mistakes", I left out one row of the body chart on the right mitten
Verdict: I love them. The embroidery didn't come out perfectly, but the picot hem and the prefect fit make up for it. I haven't blocked these yet, and I might not until I don't need them anymore. If I actually get around to it I'll post pictures. As always, the birds are one of the best parts, along with the flowers.

Other knitting is still being done, but I've been a little noncommittal lately because I'm going to Hawaii for three days (yes, I know only three days) for a conference soon, and so my brain has been split between knitting for the snow here and knitting for Hawaii. There is also the planning for flight knitting and such. But fear not, the next post will have pictures of all of these things, and lots of them. I suppose that I should apologize for not posting more frequently, but the posts would most likely have been whiny and full of stockinette (I have a scarf project that refuses to be finished), so it is probably in everyone's best interest that there has been some blog silence. In any case, the banana slugs say hi, despite the fact that they don't exist in Wisconsin.

In Defense of Yarn

2008-02-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I don't know why I'm going with the college humanities class titles today either. I just had to show this though.

Until February 20, The Sanguine Gryphon Shop is donating half of its yarn sales to an unfortunate family in its area who recently lost almost everything due to a fire. Go to the website to check it out, and if you were planning on buying some of her stuff, this is the time to do it. However, what you really want to know is "how is the yarn?"

Well, it is gorgeous. I got a skein of Gaia, which is a silk/cashmere blend and is amazing and soft, just as anyone would expect from a silk/cashmere blend. The colour, poppy, is a bright, happy, one-day-I-will-be-able-to-go-outside-and-not-be-wet red.

Plus that Gryphon is a little cheeky. We like that here at Limulus headquarters.

On Winter

2008-02-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

I was born and raised in a place which got winter. I went to college in a place where they got more winter. I like cold. I like snow.

I'm not sure that what is going on can be classified as winter anymore. More like blizzard season, or tundra-tastic, or something else in that vein. The boy aptly described the capitol as a "bus graveyard" when he got home. When I took the bus the driver pointed to one of the sorry group and said "See? Thats why I'm not pulling up to the curb."

That my friends, is the majestic lake Monona. Can't see it? I couldn't either. Let's be honest, oh favorite season of mine: if you have done something to make a pretty solidly midwestern town think that it is not an act of cowardice to shut down the public university and bus system, maybe you've gone a bit overboard.

However, I don't have to take Lucy the limulus-mobile out for a while (well, I won't, but who is counting, really?), and so I can kick back and enjoy the snow, since after all...

it is rather pretty.

For Ivan

2008-01-31T19:27:00.000-08:00

You know how some things just make your hormones go out of whack, just from looking at them?

Yeah, me too.

Pattern: Placket-Neck Pullover, by Joelle Hoverson from LMKG
Yarn: Cotton-Ease in Light Blue (2 Skeins) and Lime (1 Skein)
Needles: size 7 bamboo 24" circs and dpns

One of my mother's college roommates just adopted a 2 year old from Russia, named Ivan. I thought that the boy should have at least one handknit sweater, since I'm sure otherwise he would have to take guff from the uppity NYC babies. I also was entranced by the idea of a baby sweater. A sweater? A small one? Genius! I am yet too young for my friends (or me, for that matter) to be popping out kids, so welcoming Ivan to our crazy if loving extended family with a sweater seemed appropriate.
The pattern is wonderful - the only changes I made were to give it stripes and to not fasten the placket all the way. My brothers and I all had huge heads, so while I wish the best for the boy, I wanted to plan for all contingencies. I hope Ivan has a wonderful and warm first year here (and the rest of his life, for that matter.)

And me?

I recommend knitting baby sweaters. It really takes the edge off.

In other news, do these pictures look better? They were taken by our excellent Nikon D50, which I am in love with and will one day actually know how to use. And its not just great for handknits...

The noble California burrowing owl says hi.

Of Course

2008-01-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

When I am at work, I am perfectly capable of focusing on one thing at a time. For example, I am currently working on two experiments, giving each its due consideration each day and never ignoring one for the other. I definitely don't sit around all day thinking about how I am bored with my experiments and that there are all of these other experiments that are not only more interesting, but may actually bring more light and joy into my life and I have to start them RIGHT NOW.

However, that is how I seem to feel about my knitting.

With a considerable number of WIPs, (hint: I'm embarassed to put them all on ravelry) including the one that I cast on last night because I have to go to the dentist this morning and I hate that dentist and I should have whatever I want when I have to go get poked my metal things, I still somehow can't be happy with them. Some of them are beautiful, almost all are warm, and I would be proud to finish any of them and wear them with the happiness that they are due. However, even with all of that, all I can think of is this:

Link

Damn you knitty. Damn you and your beautiful extra projects that would look amazing on me and probably be great to knit.

I want that sweater. I may even have yarn in my stash for it...

No sleep makes limulus go crazy

2008-01-26T12:45:00.000-08:00

So after an overnight experiment in lab (the squid aren't on the same day/night schedule as I am) I am a little crazier and probably coming down with a cold. I would whine more, but I a) got data and b) am in lab right now, so I can't complain because I'm obviously a glutton for pain and am doing this to myself. Right now I'm washing specimens, so I have time to post about some things that I haven't posted about yet.

FO:
The Unoriginal hat:

Name: I was going to make up some pithy name for this project, but let's be honest here. It is called the unoriginal hat, and I'm going to keep the name. My brain isn't built for creativity right now. By Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Ravelry tells me that I made this out of Farmhouse Yarns Woodland Spun in Natural. Gotta love that website. The yarn is also great. It is a little itchy for my freak-out skin, but it is wonderful and wooly and I love it and wears like iron.
Size: Big-headed. (23")
Needles: size 11 bamboo dpns.
Verdict: it is stretching out a little bit, but I love it. Everyone should have one - and according to ravelry, that eventuality is progressing apace.

WIPs:
1. Tangled Yoke Cardigan:

This is a perfect case study in why I'm obviously a singularly confusing individual. The yarn (Rowan Felted Tweed) is amazing, as is the colour (Rage). However, I haven't been working on it because...I don't know. By the way, I don't have any clue why this colour is called rage. Because its red? It is this perfect cherry red with light blue and brown flecks. Amazing.

2. Central Park Hoodie:

Hello. This colour in no way represents real life.

So this is what I've been working on instead of the tangled yoke, since I obviously have somehow developed a deep and undying need to make the most popular knitting projects around. Obviously after all of those years of not understanding popular culture I have stumbled onto a culture where I do. In any case, this thing is fun to knit, and amazingly enough, easy enough to keep track of that I can knit it on the bus, much to the chagrin to the people standing next to me who stare enviously at me, somehow thinking that the precious space that my knitting occupies could somehow be given to them. Sorry dudes, I don't think physics works that way. Also, you're not getting anywhere near my lap.

I'm knitting this sucker in Peace Fleece, which while not exactly being next-to-the-skin material, is a beautiful, beautiful yarn. It is a deep teal heather/tweed which the old camera can capture worth a damn for some reason. Lame camera, very lame. I finished the back and hopefully I will finish it in time to chase some of the super-cold away.

3. Phiaro Scarf:

The crappy picture fairy strikes again.

Right now this a stockinette tube of soysilk. I hope one day it will be a beautiful, drapey scarf which will make me look like a movie star at the conference in Hawaii in March and will distract everyone from the fact that I haven't done any sort of physical activity in a while that doesn't involve swearing at the snow or broken elevators. Right now though, I just keep looking at the picture in knitscene and hoping that I can keep at it for long enough to see it be come a scarf. It has a really neat construction though. You basically knit a tube, then drop about half the stitches (in an artistic way, of course) to make it long enough, and then cut the last column of dropped stitches and make it into fringe. Pretty neat, eh? That Katie Himmelberg is one smart cookie.

4. Placket-Neck Pullover:
OK, I just figured out that I brought the wrong cable and therefore can not show you the picture of this almost-finished baby sweater. All I have left is the underarm seams. The UNDERARM SEAMS. I'm obviously a lazy shmuck. I hope that I get it sent out before Ivan is old enough to buy a ticket and fly out here to tell me that it is too small.

In other exciting news, The Boy and I have procured a Nikon D50 for ourselves as a Christmas present, which means that soon the pictures on here will get a whole lot better. However, I'm still scared of breaking it, so it may be a while before you get to see the results.

Peace out my lovelies - I'm off to go wash samples. And tonight there will be cosmic bowling. That should help my crazy, right?

New Year

2008-01-03T21:27:00.000-08:00

Well, The Boy and I are in CA for the new year, after having Christmas in CT, so I haven't had much chance to tend to the blog. I do have time for a quick Christmas gift update, however.

Pattern: Misty Garden by Jo Sharp, from Scarf Style
Yarn: Mountain Colors Mohair, 1 skein in Evergreen, I think
Needles: Size 9 bamboo circulars
Verdict: This was for mother-of-The-Boy, and he reports that she loves it especially, since she had just misplaced most of her scarves in the big move of 07-08. One skein nicely gives a decent-sized scarf (about 5' before blocking). I originally was a little miffed that a simple feather and fan scarf would get published in a book, but it worked out beautifully and the purl rows stop it from curling, so I loved it. Went right quick too.

Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf, by Adrian of Hello Yarn
Yarn: Random bulky Merino
Needles: 10.5 U.S. bambooo circs
Verdict: MY mom liked it. I felt bad since it was a little shorter than my mom likes her scarves, but since it was a little thick, she said that it was perfect. Yay! The yarn was great, but since I can't remember exactly what it was, that statement is useless.

Sorry for the crappy pictures guys - Transferring pictures from the new and fancy camera efficiently hasn't quite been worked out yet. Rest assured, the boy and I will have things up and running once we get back to Wisconsin. (BTW, the boy hat is in 100 queues and has 33 projects in Ravelry! Boy howdy am I excited! P.S. - Yes, I am nerdy enough to say boy howdy)

Political diversion: Can I get a congratulations for Barack in Iowa?! I don't know how the man did it, but am I glad he did. He's kind of my hero and I hope he goes all the way, especially since I'm tired of this 50s era "I'm a woman and lived in the White House so of course I'm fit for the presidency" BS that Hillary is spewing out. If that were the case then Ms. Lewinsky would probably be eligible too. Speaking as a woman I would like the first female president to be a) competent, b) not evil and c)confident. Can Congresswoman Pelosi please stand up? In short, I'm behind you Barack, and I hope most other people are too.

I hope everyone had a great set of holidays, and a further update will be coming soon.

Peace out.

Falling off the Wagon

2007-12-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

I know I said I would be good. I put the cabled socks on hold, I've been knitting on nothing but Christmas presents for a week, but Kate Gilbert, well, she got the best of me.

Bird in Hand Mittens, by the incomparable Kate Gilbert

Sorry about the craptastic photo; there isn't even light to be had in the day here lately. Ice though, we have lots of ice.

The Boy Hat

2007-11-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

The boy has granted permission for me to post this pattern, so I figured that I would, since I know that simple as they may be, hats that boys will actually wear are few and far between.

The Boy Hat Pattern

*Thanks to The Boy for getting on the matrix and letting me have a place to put the file. It will take a couple of minutes, since there are pictures, but I figured you would want to see the hat before making it, right?*

Tilted Duster

2007-11-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

Pattern: Tilted Duster, by Norah Gaughan, from IK autumn 2007
Size: Made the 36" size with a different gauge to get about a 40" bust
Yarn: About 5.25 skeins of Beaverslide McTaggart Tweed in Big Sky Heather
Needles: size 8 and 9 bamboo circs
Modifications: I went down a needle size for the cuffs and got creative with gauge, along with adding a hook and eye closure below the buttons, but otherwise none.
Verdict: I love it! The yarn is wonderfully squishy and next-to-the-skin soft for a great price, and I'm a sucker for light blue. It also fits like a dream, despite the high likelihood that I would screw up since the yarn knits at a larger gauge than the peruvia that is called for. Instead of a drapey sweater you get a more substantial sweater-coat cardigan, which is delicious, especially on a day like today. And the buttons?

I love the buttons.

Now is the time on Sprockets where we BLOCK!

2007-11-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

The tilted duster, she is finished (except for buttons). The yarn is even softer after blocking, and it was plenty soft before. Like my blocking board?

Of course you do. As the boy said when I exclaimed the finished-ness "And now you can learn the alphabet!"

4 Years

2007-11-16T18:34:00.001-08:00

I have a lot of projects going, but a week from today is a very special day, specifically 4 years from the day that the boy first asked me to have dinner with him. The fact that I was in a cold-induced haze I think makes it even special-er.

Well, the boy lost his hat, and so for our anniversary I thought I should show my love with wool and I made him one from a pattern that I made up myself. I'll write it and post it later, I think, even though it is simple. I particularly love the crown decreases:

Pattern: my own, for the boy.
Yarn: less than 1 skein Malabrigo worsted, in Vaa
Needles: Size 7 bamboo 16" circs and dpns.
Verdict: He is still wearing it, so I guess good!

Knitting for Nerds

2007-11-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

OK, so I know full well that I have many knitting works in progress. Five, according to my ravelry queue, but I probably have more stashed away. And I have been good. So good! You should see how far I am along on the tilted duster. Its just that it is now about 10 more inches of ribbing, and it is unwieldy. And the mittens? I actually... well.. they're around here somewhere. Needless to say, I need to finish stuff. Which means not starting stuff. Which means swatching.

I know, I know. This was not one of any of the designs from the new IK that I said I liked. However, my previous caveat stands, and once I got the issue I fell in love with the sweater (I'd get rid of some of the bobbles though). I've been in a cable mood lately. I even bought enough Kathmandu Aran from WEBS (it is on sale!) to make Demi, from Rowan Vintage Knits. Anyway, back to the task at hand...

I swatched for it with some Jo Sharp silkroad tweed dk (colour autumn, if you're interested). I didn't want it to work, really. It is the wrong gauge - so very off, but it is wonderful, wonderful yarn. The colour is even perfect for a forest-inspired pullover (I'm a sucker for pattern names) and I've been wanting to use it for a while. Such a beautiful yarn shouldn't sit around in my stash. SO I want to use it. However, I really hate altering patterns unless I am very confident that I know what I am doing. I don't right now, and my brain is fried from grant proposals, so I want to make one of the sizes as written. So there is only one solution. Math!

The yarn called for is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which gets a gauge of 29 stitches to 4 inches in the rib pattern (which you see in my swatch). If you divide 29 by 4 you get 7.25 stitches per inch (for a sweater? please.) Now, I did my swatch on 18 stitches since the pattern repeat is 9 stitches, but through the power of fractions it will all be ok in the end. My swatch measured approximately 3.12 inches on size 4s, slightly stretched, giving me a gauge of 5.54 stitches to the inch (now thats more like it). The ratio of what I have to what the pattern calls for is 5.77:7.25 = 0.80

Now for the sizing. I have a 38-inch bust, but for a sweater like this (and because I would rather it be a little large than a little small, blocking aside) I would like to shoot for a bust size of about 39". Using MATH (!) all I have to do is multiply the size I want by the ratio of the gauges to get that I should make the pattern for a (39*0.80 = ) 31" bust. The smallest size is a 31" bust (yay!), so it should be great. Also, I checked and the row gauge should definitely be fine, since that is easy to take into account. And it even means I have enough yarn. Yay math!

So I have two grant proposals due this week. One is actually for money, which was submitted about 2 days ago (more than 36 hours before it was due, thankyouverymuch). I figured out a mistake I made on it this morning, but I can't do anything about it now, so I'll just hope no one notices. The second is a fake NIH proposal for a class I am taking and is due tomorrow. It is currently being proofed by my partner, so everything is cool. I also actually got a protein gel to cooperate well enough to transfer to a membrane today. All in all, everything is pretty great. Tiring and at times demoralizing, but great.

Ok all, I'm off to knit other stuff. Peace out.

Limulus Rules for Today

2007-10-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Rule #1:
If it is cold enough to wear Ugg boots, it is too cold to wear shorts.

Rule #2:
Waving at me does not restore karmic balance to the world after almost running me over.

Rule #3:
Berets are awesome.

Pattern: Estella, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Mirasol Yarns Miski, 2 skeins
Needles: size 7 bamboo dpns and 16" circ
Mods: I used size 7 for the ribbing instead of size 5s; I have what appears to be an inordinately large head.

Preview!

2007-10-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

Sooo I have been knitting, oh the knitting, but there is really nothing to report. The first sleeve of the tilted duster is almost done, and while I started an Estella beret yesterday, the band would not fit over my gigantic head and so had to be frogged. I will try again tonight with bigger needles since I really want that hat. It is getting cool here.

Although there is no news with my knitting, the IK winter issue preview is up! : http://www.interweaveknits.com/preview/2007_winter.asp

This issue is supposed to have an emphasis on classic designs, which I usually love, since I'm not usually an avant-garde kinda gal. However, a lot of these pictures were taken in some sort of creepy library, and some of the designs are kind of stuffy-looking. However, since I have no pretty pictures to show you, I will instead go over the projects I like (so far) from this issue - the list may change after I actually get the issue in my hot little hands.

Alicia Tabard, by Louisa Harding

I'm kind of in love with this one. I'm not usually a big fan of vests, but I love the cable and the neckline. It just kind of...grabs you. Plus it would look great over a plain long-sleeve T and jeans. However, it is bordering on tunic-y, and I don't exactly know how the tunic and the booty would interact.

Colette Pullover, by Veronik Avery

I love the simple colorwork, high collar, and flared hem. It looks sturdy and sexy all at once, and warm to boot. I also always love Veronik's colorwork because she usually uses raglan arm shaping, which not only looks fabulous on the shoulderly gifted like me, but lets you do colorwork without steeking if you do it right. The one reservation is this, which might not be a reservation at all:

Robots in Disguise?

Am I the only one who sees transformers? I'm still not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. I also am not going to spend $120 on the sweater, but there are totally ways of making it on the cheap (hello knitpicks?)

Gathered Pullover, by Hana Jason

This looks great - fitted but with raw edges, and fun cable detailing. The only issue is that I don't know how the cable bit would look on an actual person (no offense model-people). Also, this is a new model for IK this issue, and she seems to be sneering at the camera every chance she gets.

Ivy League Vest, by Eunny Jang

Eunny sure hasn't been slacking off since she was made editor of IK. First the Tangled Yoke cardigan, and now this. I looooove the colorwork, although I think I would make the ribbing a darker color. Again though, it is a vest. I am a grad student, and so do not have/wear collared shirts to work, but.... I love it... it is so...complicated. I might have to pass on this one, but it will be hard.

*SCIENCE DIVERSION*
So in other news, I learned a new technique this week in lab! After much bothering the other grad-monkeys, near-poisoning myself, breaking glass all over the place, having equipment break on me,and figuring out where everything is, I have successfully run my first protein gel! (Well, we had to run one in biochem, but they did almost everything for me, so it doesn't count). It is currently staining overnight in lab, and I am feeling very proud of myself. I did research in undergrad, but I was strictly a whole cell/DNA gal. And I was good at it. And now I have to learn protein stuff. Its OK, I can do this. The only thing is that protein gels are thin. Very thin. I kind of miss agarose.
*END SCIENCE DIVERSION*

Ok, I'm off to see if I can make a beret fit my gargantuan head. Peace out dudes and bettys.

Pumpkin Time!

2007-10-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

Stats:
Pattern: Wheat Ear Cable Yoke Pullover, from IK Summer 2006.
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Hollyberry, 11-12 skeins I would guess
Size: 40"
Needles: 6,7,8, bamboo circs.
Mods: I knit the body in the round
Verdict: I really love it. I don't have a picture of me wearing it, since the boy was having issues with the camera, but it really is quite nice.

Now, in with the new....

So I got some beaverslide McTaggart Tweed a bit ago, and decided that I wasn't crazy about what I ordered it for, so it is now becoming a tilted duster! I wasn't nuts about the pattern before, but I saw some examples on ravelry, and they were great. The only problem is that Gauge was not going to happen, so I am knitting the 36" size to get a 40"-ish bust, and so far to the best of my calculations it is working out splendidly. We'll see what kind of mess I make out of it.

So the NSF is due soon (FUN!) as is a class project, so I should go and make sure that they don't suck. Also, I should cook the pumpkin in my kitchen (in my family pumpkins are for eating, not carving). I have a recipe for pumpkkin bread pudding. It should be awesome.

P.S. - I just bought the Holiday issue of IK today, and it is awesome. Go check it out, especially Brooklyntweed's rockin' hat.

Peace out!

Ravelry!

2007-10-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

I finally got my ravery invitation!

My name is biomusicologist, if you want to friend me. I'm not sure that I will ever ger work done again.

The Wheat Ear Cable Yoke is almost finished - it just needs some blocking. Pictures soon!

October

2007-10-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, so what have I been doing? Well,

1) Making food.

Oyster Mushroom Tart and New Glarus: A winning combination.

2) Working on The Sweater.

The wheat-ear yoke sweater has been upgraded to The Sweater since it is now almost done. It even looks like a sweater, fancy that.

3) Celebrating socktoberfest.

One finished hedera, in Claudia's fingering weight in "Passionfruit"

A beginning of an uptown boot sock, in pigeonroofstudio's fingering weight. I love it. A lot. I can not express the love I have for this yarn in words. I may have to do it through interpretive dance.

4) Being a consumer whore.

So I got paid the other day, and The Boy got PAID, by grad school standards. We bought wonderful food, and I went a little nuts with the yarn. Specifically, two sweaters worth, and this:

Dream in Color smooshy sock yarn, in "Blue Lagoon"

I got it from the Loopy Ewe, which is one of my favoritest online stores, and it came with this:

I am now a "Loopy groupie", which includes a tote bag, candy, and FREE YARN! Specifically, Panda Cotton in "roses". I am way pleased. You can call me whatever you want, if there is free yarn involved.

5) Listening to the new Bruce album. I love it, but then again, being a bit too young, I am not a purist. Check it out.

6) Winding yarn. In my own house.

Yes my lovelies, I have finally acquired a swift and ball winder. The ball winder was procured with my new monies, but the swift, well the swift:

The boy glowing in his victory

Yes, The Boy finally got around to making me a swift (I say finally because it was supposed to be a Valentine's day present). He asked me if this act of creation made him the sexiest male ever, and yes The Boy, it does. He is very pleased with himself and his new drill, and I am just plain happy. See?

Still life with pepper and apple

This is Dream in Color smooshy sock yarn (Chicago Pride!) in "Chinatown Apple" I bought it with a specific project in mind, which I'll talk about if I ever start it. It is officially the first yarn cake I made with my swift and ball winder.

Oh, and Mother-of-The-Boy recieved her socks, and proclaimed them to be too short and slightly too small, but thanked me graciously through The Boy nonetheless. *sigh*

Well peace out my darlings, I'm off to forage for dinner.

Mmmmmm socks...

2007-09-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

So there hasn't been much knitting content here lately, and that is because I have been knitting these:

Pattern: Plain socks, top down, 68-64 stitches, short row heel, wedge toe
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Alpine, 1 skein
Needles: size U.S. 1.5

These are for Mother-of-the-Boy, who is having a crappy time right now, and these are the fastest socks I know how to pump out (school gets in the way though). Plain sock in progress pictures are rarely riveting, and so these are the first pictures I got. They are marvelously fuzzy though, so hopefully she will like them. I have knit socks for her before, and she has the same shoe size as me, which makes it waaay easier.

This is my I-can't-take-the-socks-anymore project, the wheat ear cable yoke pullover from the last IK with yarn from my stash (ye gods!). It isn't so interesting, but I am enjoying it. And soon there will be cables!

So I need to go knit, sleep, or watch the second season of Bones (the mailman brought it yesterday. Squee!) Peace out lovelies.

Hee Hee

2007-09-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

*Ahem*

Not even one bio grad student?

The USPS is my friend

2007-09-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

This came in the mail today. The Fibre Company Khroma (worsted) in blood orange. I love it, and it was on sale to boot. (I got it here if you are interested. The DK is on sale here)

Curious?

Sometimes you need a little superhero in your life. Or your socks. Now if only there was a batman colourway.

Speaking of Batman, how about Christian Bale and Heath Ledger in the new movie? *purr* There are so many reasons I'm going to go see that one. (P.S. - and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent? Not to sound like a cheerleader, but what is with all the hot bad guys? Not that Harvey Dent is bad in this one...)

And finally...

I am insured. Fear me.

Sorry about the lack of knitting content, but after a disappointing urchin-making last night (how was it too big for my head? My row gauge was tight on purpose! *growl*) all I have going in earnest is a pair of plain-jane socks for the boy's mother since her life is kind of crappy right now. More pictures later.

Peace Out.

Minimalist FO post

2007-09-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

Pattern: Teva Durham's Ballet Pullover, from IK
Size: The one that is supposed to fit up to a 42" chest
Yarn: Wisconsin Highland Farms bulky, about 550 yards
Needles: #11 bamboo circulars and Dpns, #8 bamboo dpns for ribbing at cuffs
Mods: I made the body a little longer, the sleeves a little shorter, and did some ribbing at the cuffs, since I like to know that they are out of the way.

Verdict: I love the fit, especially after blocking (this picture is pre-blocking). However, I would do the ribbing on 9s if I did it again, since the cuffs aren't too tight, but they flashdance the collar a bit. I could fix this by doing the crochet border, but I kind of like how it looks. We'll see how it goes.

Pattern: Vog on! from knitty, by Aleta Fera
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight, in Algae
Needles: Knitpicks #2 metal dpns.
Mods: None, other than upping the yarn weight

Verdict: I love them. They're warm, are in some of may favorite colors, are girly without being annoying, and the colourway has a nerdy name to boot. Who could ask for more?

In other news, Leanna and I went to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival yesterday. I was an excellent girl and kept in my budget, and then promptly blew the crap out of my promise to myself by buying yarn on my mom's dime today at the Sow's Ear. I would beat myself up about it, except that a) my mother in a fit of angelic behviour said that it was OK, and b) it was a result of hearing some bad/shocking news in a yarn store, causing me to have a desperate need to buy warm fuzzy sock yarn for people. No worries, everything is probably under control, and I will have a post about the pretty shinies I acquired.

Peace out my lovelies.

Beware choosing a physics grad student as a partner

2007-09-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

An exchange that happened but five minutes ago:

The Boy: I was in the physics museum, and there were these girls talking about boys they had crushes on, and they weren't even looking at the awesome magnet in front of them!

Limulusknits: Well, sadly most teenage girls find boys more interesting than magnets.

TB: *humpf*

LK: I'm sure there was a time when you found girls more interesting than magnets.

TB: Awww, you're more interesting than most magnets.

*sigh*

On another note:

www.xkcd.com

I would totally see that movie.

Limulusknits: Dipteran Hunter

2007-09-05T20:43:00.001-07:00

So I haven't been updating. I would like to say that it was grad school (well, I would *like* to say that it was that I have, in the last week, become fabulously wealthy and left the country for some place that is permanently 70 degrees and full of invertebrates that don't bite me, but I digress...) but I am really just hot and lazy and running around about dining room tables. What have I been doing knit-wise?

Mmmmmmm Wool...

This is actually wool from black sheep at Wisconsin Highland Farms, and on top of being delicious, it is from sheep raised on organic feed, so I can be a reused bag-toting dirt-worshipper about it. It was purchased at the Madison Saturday farmers' market, where it ambushed me and my food budget for the day. (I still maintain that clothing materials should be on the food+shelter tier of the budget, but I have been having trouble convincing others of this.) That is what the sweater (Teva Durham's Ballet Pullover) looked like a week ago. This:

Only the finest in Road Warrior knitwear for me

is what it looks like now. It would look far more impressive if I had not had to cast off FOUR TIMES. More on it when I'm feeling less bitter.

On the sock front:

Thanks to a West Wing marathon witha future lawyer friend on Saturday, there is now almost a pair of my vog ons. I am very excited because a) they fit and b) they are pretty.

Thanks to a particularly shitty day, this somehow found itself in my possession:

I am weak

I'm not sure it needs explanation. Althought I must say that I love it.

Finally, there is this albatross:

Holy shitty pictures Batman!

This little innocent-looking thing is a sweater in Debbie Bliss cotton angora, and it is finished except for the BUTTON BANDS. I'm serious - it is seamed, it fits, the whole deal. I just hate sewn-on button bands. Maybe this would be a good factoid to put away in the ol' memory banks for later.

And finally, a little light reading:

Do you know anything about invertebrate leukemias? I do!

As a non-sequitur, the boy just said that his nerves have so much steel that Magneto could pick him up. I would make fun of him, but he has to sit quals on Saturday, so everyone should be nice to him. Do you know what I am doing on Saurday? Not quals! Specifically, the Wisconsin sheep and wool festival with some other SnBers. I am very excited, not only because I went on a yarn diet and DIDN'T CHEAT (I'm serious - even after the new room at the Sow's Ear ambushed me. I wouldn't even have bet on myself that day.) but because it will be an awesome day, hopefully with some puppies. I am a sucker for small mammals.

Also, I can't stop thinking about this. are any SnBers or anyone else interested in starting a knitalong? I'm just seeing it in some of the new Claudia fingering they have in at Lakeside fibers...and...and....

Ok, off to start my campaign to destroy the mosquitoes in my house. We will fight them in the kitchen, we will fight them while reading about prokaryotic genetics....

John Nolan Drive has become the amazon

2007-08-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

I'm wet.

Everything in the apartment is wet, and nothing will dry. I am convinced that everything in my life is becoming a huge, mildewy mess because Madison has inexplicably become the first rainforest in the midwest. Soon there will be snakes hanging in the trees and awesome frogs everywhere and maybe I will finally find that plant that you were supposed to get in the Amazon Trail.

If you can't tell, I'm getting tired of the rain.

I am also tired of the drain in the bathroon not draining, making things even wetter, the fact that I am too lazy to do what needs to be done, and that this paper needs to be written up so that Dr. Mentor can say that it is too late to be published because I am a dumbass.

So since it is so very gray and wet outside, this will be a very special limulus edition of things that I like right now:

1.Trader Joe's Buffalo Jerky

Don't judge me

Now, I am not a backpacker, wannabe cowboy, or any other jerky stereotype out there, but I like this stuff. Maybe a backstory is in order. I have hippie tendencies and would love to be a vegetarian or vegan sometimes. However, I was raised in a household where a meal was not a meal without meat, and sometimes I just crave it. When I had a little sit-down with myself I realized that I have little problem with eating meat. I have studied evolutionary biology long enough to be able to tell, through many different signs, that humans have evolved to have part of their diet come from animal protein, and that since evolution has been good to me, I don't necessarily need to fight the meat cravings, since many other members of the fine animals kingdom do the same. I know many say that we need to rise above our primal instincts and stop eating meat, but for me putting morality in my eating is making sure the animal has a good life. However, this does lead to interesting eating for a graduate student. Cruelty-free chicken is easy to find, and as long as a fish is caught wild its natural instincts haven't really been infringed upon. However, beef is an entirely different story. After many biology classes and reading The Omnivore's Dilemma (which I recommend wholeheartedly) I gave up corn-fed beef. However, grass-fed beef is hard to find and at wonderful places where you can find it (such as the Willy St. Co-Op it is MAD expensive. A maybe once every three weeks, or I've sold a kidney, or gave up yarn for 3 months kind or thing. So there is a hamburger every once in a while, but for other red meat cravings, there is the jerky. It is free-range, and damn, this is good stuff.

2.Yes to Carrots

Bad picture!

My hair is dry (unlike the apartment) and I only buy cruelty-free beauty products. This has been a problem in the past, and the roomie said last year that we should have been paid to test all of the stuff we tried to find the best one. Well sweet holy hand grenade, I finally found it. Yes to Carrots is an Israeli company which is only sold in Walgreens here (yeah, I don't know why either), and while I have only tried the shampoo, conditioner, and body butter, they are all fab-u-licious (thats right, they're so good I've veered off the english beaten path here). I have never had a conditioner work this well before since I stopped using Pantene. And best of all they help to support sustainable agriculture!

3.The Orton Park Festival

It is the only happy thing outside. If you're in the area, stop by! I hear there is a beer garden (that might be tomorrow...) in any case, I get live music in my living room! The boy and I are going to check it out in a bit.

4.My new sock.

Apparently mountain fires are very colourful

OK, so we all know I have the attention span of a fruitfly, but that is not what this is about. Right now I am working with exactly three colours, and I needed more than that. Many more. So I pawed through the stash and came up with this. Have I mentioned how much I love socks that rock? It is so... substantial. Even in the lightweight. Love, love love. This project made me feel better almost immediately.

5. The boy.

Here he is, trying to fix the internet for me and setting up the printer. Apparently we have IPV4 and 6, and appletalk, which means that we have a multi-something network. I have learned that he needs more techie friends. I appreciate him in his entirety. They will appreciate his computer genius-ness more. Of course, the local internet provider should send him a card, since if he didn't exist, my closet would most likely be filled with the pleading voices of the technicians that were sent over to fix the internet and eventually got snippy with me about my internet incompetence. That will show them. Where is their precious internet now?

I love him, and he still thinks that the fact that I can cook is amazing when he routinely makes machines do his bidding. I would be even more grumpy without him. He even said that one day I will be allowed to make him a sweater.

Peace out to all. The boy and I are going to explore the possibilities of beer across the street...

Grump grump

2007-08-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

I would really like an invite to ravelry. I used to think that oh, maybe I didn't need to spend any more time on the internet, but now you can't spit without getting to a picture you can't see without ravelry, or people in your knitting group asking why you aren't on ravelry, and I just need to have a four-year old moment and say *whine*.

OK, now that is out of my system, I get to say that the boy and I were just accepted as adopters for Wisconsin guinea pig rescue! We're going to get a pair, and I am excited. They are wonderful animals.

In an effort to grump a little less, I give you one of the cutest inhabitants of Copenhagen:

Hi, I'm a mollusc

The rain, it never stops

2007-08-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

There is a flash flood warning for Dane county from today to Saturday. And it was sunny for a bit this morning too. Le sigh. Well, at least this is bright:

I have some major love for this hat. The cables aren't perfect, and no hat looks fabulous on me (I have a HUGE head), but I love the yarn, love the pattern, love, love, love.
Anyway, here are the specs:
Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda, size medium.
Yarn: 2 balls Rowan Felted tweed in "rage", held double
Mods: mistakes, no mods.

Verdict: I love it. I have been looking for a cable-y hat pattern that I liked for awhile, and this fits the bill. And my gargantuan head. (Zim? anyone?)

Next on our tour:

I should really be patient and wait until the boy comes home to take pictures for me

Pattern: Cactus Blossom, by Kate Jackson, from the latest knitscene (also, you know you've been spending too much time looking for knitting stuff on the internet when you google search nothing but "cactus blossom" and fully expect a knitting pattern to be the first result), 40" chest.
Yarn: 4 skeins beige plymouth galway worsted, 2 skeins Patons SWS in natural earth.

Verdict: I think my shoulders are built in wuch a way that maybe yoked sweaters are not the best option. However, blocking helped a lot, and if I decide that I just can't deal with it, it will fit someone. I do like the colorwork though. This was by far my quickest sweater ever (about 6 days) due to a cold in July that made me want to do nothing more than watch Bones and knit all day. The colorwork with self-striping yarn is a faux-isler's dream.

Gray.

2007-08-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

It is gray outside, and has been for awhile. While I'm sure the rain is good for something, it wasn't for our groceries while the boy and I walked back from the Co-Op yesterday.

In drier news, I went to my first SnB Madison group meetingy-thingy yesterday at a coffee shop near my apartment, and had a wonderful time. The SnB ladies are fantabulous, and I found out about the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival (Sheep? Wool? Festival? I'm totally there. And I will be wearing dorky socks.) which I am very excited about.

This morning, however, I had a little sit-down with the internet about how it and my computer should play nice, and how the internet should man up and just apologize, since my computer owns me and so gets to do whatever it wants. After my clear and cogent argument, the internet said this:

Logic Fails

Now, nothing was compromised. The wireless antenna is approximately 5 feet from my computer. I can actually pick up signal without the antenna attached. My computer obviously just hates the internet for some reason unknown to me. Something about packets? The boy woke up and fixed it, but said that it was only a temporary fix, since it was my operating system's fault. So apparently my OS hates the internet, and REALLY hates iTunes. I <3 electronics

You will all rue the day that I learned to put captions on my pictures.

Yarn: Austermann Step Color 21 (petrol), 1 skein
Pattern: Jaywalker, my Grumperina for magknits, largest size (of course)
Needles: size 1.5 from knitpicks (love these things!)
Changes: They're a bit shorter than the patter, but otherwise the same.
Verdict: I. love. this. yarn. It is durable, super-soft, and only gets softer after a bath or two. The only thing I would hve changed would have been to make them longer. I tend to be a little on the conservative side when making socks since my feet are large (10N), and yet always end up with extra yarn. I guess I don't need to worry as much in the future, eh?

No matchy!

I like not having the stripes match. Not only is it easier, but it makes them feel unique to me, at least.

Watch today or tomorrow for an honest-to-goodness recently finished object (I finished it last night!). I just need batteries for my camera. (What is it about electronics today?)

New Apartment!

2007-08-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Hello from Madison!

As always, it has been awhile, but moving is always annoying, especially when a particularly annoying thief steals all of your clothing out of your car and throws it in a gigantic puddle of ...something... in the basement of the parking structure (none stolen though - I guess he/she was looking for cash or jewelry. In my suitcase? Not likely.) The biggest achievement so far, is this:

A couch! One of our fabulous new neighbours (we have many! - the boy and I now live in a mansion full of grad students, as far as I can tell) discovered that it could not fit in their apartment, and so we got to buy it! (for much less than we were going to pay at ikea for a crap-tastic couch) And what is sitting on the couch?

Why yes, it is a half-finished Norwegian Stocking, from Folk Socks. (love this book) I am in love with this project. The yarn is nice and wooly (Knitpicks Telemark), and it knits up quickly. This is my first large-scale stranded project, and I am continually entranced by the grid-like nature of the pattern. My first crafty activity (if you don't count my initial disastrous foray into crocheting - I think one of my elementary school teachers is still trying to figure out what to do with an abstract looking acrylic scarf) was cross stitching, and the same patterning still appeals to me.

In any case, I am very excited about being here. I joined the Madison Stitch and Bitch web-thing, and there is also a knit night at The Sow's Ear on friday (I think) which is great, since the Sow's Ear is one of the happiest places I know of. I also went to Lakeside Fibers yesterday, which is probably the only place I know of where the rules of time and space do not apply (I once spent 2 1/2 hours in there and thought it was 30 minutes. Oops.) They also make the best chai around in the coffee shop. Try it out. Knitting, yoga, couch, it was a very restful Sunday.

Must run, Chipotle is calling, FOs from the summer to come. Peace Out.

Europe!

2007-08-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

Hello all, it has been awhile.
A couple of weeks ago I got back from a two-week trip to Amsterdam and Copenhagen, which was wonderful. I could spend all day writing about it and showing you my pictures (mostly of snails) but since the name of my blog has knits in it, this post will be yarn-heavy.

First there was Amsterdam.

Ok, ok, you caught me. This isn't in Amsterdam. This wonderful shop of breien is in Leiden, a beautiful university town not far from Amsterdam, where the boy and I went to have some time away from my family and to go to one of the nerdiest and best museums ever. I got to go there first, since the boy (for some reason) figured that he would get no peace until I got to go in, since I already knew it was there. I procured two skeins of Colinette Parisienne mohair in the "jay" colourway, and one skein of kidsilk haze in "trance" to go with it for a pattern that the wonderful ladies in the store gave to me with the yarn. The only catch is that I do not, in fact, know any dutch, the language that the pattern is written in. However, it is a lace stole, so hopefully as long as I can get the chart straight everything will be fine. Right? Ahem, moving on...

The museum I spoke of before was the Boerhaave museum, which is chock full of items of wonderment for those more scientifically inclined. First up on our agenda:

These may look humble, but they were alll built by the hands of Antony van Leeuwenhoek, the first man to ever build one. Blew my mind, to be sure. Next up:

Some of you may not recognize what this is. I sure didn't. But the boy nearly fainted (well, not really, but I wouldn't have been suprised, with his reaction to it). This is the electromagnet which was used by Peter Zeeman to discover the Zeeman effect while he was a grad student under Lorentz. See those letters on the display case? Those are his letters from the nobel committee. While he was a grad student. Sigh.

Back to Amsterdam:

This is a giant porcupine at the Amsterdam zoo. While it is extremely cute, that was not the most notable aspect of the exhibit at first. Instead, when we got there, it was the 14-year old boy jumping into the cage in order to get a look at the animal. I don't know why he couldn't understand that it = pointy. It isn't even covertly pointy. All the pointy bits are right out there. Whatever. tourists are stupid.

This is a coati. They like apples. They are also extremely cute and when they get mad, they emit a high-piched "mimimimimimimimi!" noise. I like them.

Now off to Denmark:
Now, Copenhagen is a wonderful city. It is full of very nice people and tourist traps up the wazoo. However, I was not looking for them. I was looking for this:

Those are two skeins of Drops Alpaca, resting on my lap out in the sunshine. I have eight skeins of the grey and two of the red to make the Union Square Market Pullover a la the fabulous Ms. Jang. I couldn't leave it there, it was on sale. On Sale, people. In Copenhagen. I am excited about it.

So I am tired, and so I will gloss over the rest of the trip, but there was knitting. I started a vog on! in STR, and it started as this on the train:

And has turned into this:

The lighting is un-good, but the sock is wonderful. Peace out to all.

Short Post

2007-07-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all -
So I graduated (yay!) with honors in my major and the college, and then proceeded to move all of my earthly possessions out of my apartment, and now I am home in CT. I have been knitting a lot, but not so much with the pictures, so I only have this little guy to show you:

Pattern: Nautie, from knitty
yarn: cotton from Michaels. Sugar and Cream or something?

This was for my invertebrate biology teacher as a present for you know, making sure I went to grad school and such. The nautiloid is a little lopsided, but I like him just the same.

Well, I am off to Amsterdam and Copenhagen for two weeks. Pictures to follow! I don't think I will be bringing my computer, as wonderful as she is, so Peace out for a couple of weeks. Pictures when I get back!

Matchy

2007-05-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

OK, it should worry me that it took me 3 tries to spell matchy correctly. Especially since it is not technically a word.

Here is the Lutea Lace Shell. She stole one of my beers, but I guess I'll just grab one and join her instead of whining about it. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Lutea Lace Shell, IK Summer 2007
Yarn: 3 balls + a little Blue sky Organic Cotton in "bone" (about 500 yards)
Size: 40 in bust
Time: exactly a week
Mods: I only did two of the increase rounds near the top instead of 3. There was also the lace saga....

So these straps. They're pretty. I like them. I knit them at least 3 times for the back. Problem? The lace chart is wrong in the pattern. The pattern tells you to knit 2, then do a 4-stitch repeat. Over 21 stitches. I originally thought that I was just being slow, but 21-2 = 19, which is not divisible by 4. It is, in fact, prime. So OK, after thinking I just k1, then did the 4-stitch repeat. OK cool, that is for the right side. The left side asks you to do the same thing, changing the k2tog to ssk. Thinking that everything was cool, I did.
It did not look good.
It biased toards the right and made the neckline look asymmetrical, and the two sides didn't match. I can deal with a little bit of no matchy, but it bothered me. So after some aggressive swatching, I did the mirror image of the right instead with different ssk, so I did this for the left side instead of what was written for the pattern:

Round 1: [k3, yo, k1, yo}k1
Round 3: [ssk, k3] k1 - Here I did the slipping purlwise instead of kwise.
(rounds 2 and 4 are purling across)

I hope this helps someone, if in fact anyone needs it. It is entirely possible that I missed something major.

In any case, I still love it. The cotton is super-soft, and there was minimal stretching. I haven't yet blocked it, but I wore it all day on Saturday and the boy said that it looked nice. I offered to make him a sweater out of the same stuff in another color, but he has this thing against sweaters, I don't get it, it must be some weird California thing.

Anyway, my brain is on autopilot today. Yesterday I spent 15 hours in lab. FIFTEEN. On a Sunday. I hate doing growth curves, I really do. I got some sweet data out of it though. I need to go write now. Peace out lovely people.

Meditative, or a Sign of some sort of Decrease in Brain Activity?

2007-05-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hello. I am a tube of stockinette stitch. Am I not intriguing? Gaze upon my mysteries.

This lovely tube of boring is going to be the Lutea lace shell, from IK Summer 2007. I actually cast on for it the day after I got the magazine in the mail, with Blue Sky Organic cotton that I had in my stash. The thing about it is that I knew that it should be boring, but I couldn't stop knitting on it. Maybe it was the yarn (I love this stuff, just don't wear black while knitting with it) or my needles (addi turbos, I'm a convert), but I have pretty much been addicted to it. That is until I got to the unboring part, namely the lace. What do I find? An error in the lace charting. The thing is, there are a couple of ways to resolve it, and I don't know which one looks the best, so it has taken a lot of swatching. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to show you how I got through it - I'm almost there.

Well, off to lab my lovelies.

Peace,
Elizabeth

YPF

2007-05-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

It is Friday. Let us dance!

Yes, that is malabrigo, and yes, it makes me very, very happy. I must confess, that I may have hugged the yarn when I got it yesterday. I may be sitting next to me now. I know that it pills, but it is soft and pinkish-brown (applewood colorway) and I will love the sweater it will turn into (I also loved the price. $6 a skein? Be still my beating obsessive heart). As well as the sweater stone I will purchase for it. Want to see more? I know I do!

mmmmmmmmmmmm wool.

In other news, lab didn't suck today! I have learned the secret of the Real-Time PCR machine, also known as the machine of many graphs. I am so in love with it that I would feed it wool if I had to. Not my new wool, some other wool. I would show you a graph, but they are all in lab.

Lady E continues apace, I love her still.

Peace out, noble readers.

P.S. - should I be worried that the boy has the John Updike poem about neutrinos as his away message? Oh, it exists.

So I'm a big fat liar

2007-05-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

So not so long ago I made noises about perhaps, you know, going and doing something useful. This obviously didn't work, but one fruit snack and reorganizing my Flickr set later, I am back with more pictures, this time of works not yet finished.

Here is the magnificent lady Eleanor, from Scarf Style. I'm knitting it on US 9s, with Noro silk garden. Now, "Elizabeth," you may ask, "How can you afford such nice yarn for this shawl?" well, the answer, dear reader, is that I have a very generous mother, who for Christmas procured this yarn for me. I love it. You might also ask "but Elizabeth, you don't wear shawls" and by you, I mean the boy, and to that I say, be quiet. When this shawl is done I will wear it and I will look beautiful, because if Noro makes a project that is pretty much all stockinette look like one of the more interesting phenomena in this world we live in, it will make me look like a freaking movie star.

So tell me if my math is off. 1 sock + 1 sock = 2 socks = pair of socks, no? Well, almost, I guess. The left sock is yet another jaywalker in Austermann Step, in color theballbandisallthewayinthenextroom, which is a fabulous yarn. I used to think that self-striping wasn't random enough to keep my cicada brain focused, but I was very wrong. The sock on the right is an embossed leaves sock in Lorna's Laces shepherd sock in Purple club. I love the pattern, but the Lorna's laces kind of obscures it. Whatever, it is what my roomie requested, and so it is what she shall have. She is going to med school next year to save the world from itself, and wonderful people deserve pretty socks. You may think that I have a fairly serious case of SSS, but you will be happy to know that I am halfway through the second jaywalker, despite the socks that rock that are calling me from my stash. I can hear them still. Oh garnet dreams, how you haunt me.

*Ahem*

Anyway...

In an effort to become a well-adjusted knitblogger (and because the Blue Heron Cotton was whining at me from my stash), I have started a purple (and fuzzy-looking, apparently) clapotis! I love it, but the knitting of it does get tedious at times. Luckily the recipient is not slated to get it until August, so since I started it two weeks ago and am at the halfway point, I am pretty sure that everything will be ok. Of course now that I have said that lighting may strike. Let me go get a large metal pole. Or at least someone taller than I am.

Peace,
Elizabeth

FOs!

2007-05-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

Blogger keeps shutting down my web browsers (thats right, I tried two). This is not making me a happy camper. In any case, without any more delay, here is Sweet Lady Turbulence:

Specs:
Turbulence Pullover, from Knitting Nature in the 40" size.
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk in Cream, about 2 balls under what the size called for in yardage (obviously you shouldn't use that as a guide). The yarn worked well though, it is soft and hasn't pilled yet, if in fact it will at all. I have a feeling that it resulted in a thicker fabric than the yarn called for, but I got gauge and I like thicker sweaters anyway.
Mods: Just that I made the body an inch longer, and I am really glad I did.
Verdict: I love it! It fits me perfectly, and the yarn shows off the unique cables well. I also really like using twisted rib as a border.

The sweater loving life outside. Spring has finally come in the midwest, and it is so sweet (or choice, as Mr. Bueller would say)

Also enjoying the great outdoors is Ms. Patrick's Provincial Waistcoat from IK 2006, knit with Knitpicks wool of the andes in lake ice heather, double stranded. The buttons came from The Sow's Ear, probably my favorite knitterly store near Madison. Oh, did I forget to tell you? I am going to UW for a microbiology PhD starting this fall (!). I'm very, very excited. Anyway, this little beauty (it is also warm to boot!) is going to my mom for mother's day - I hope she likes it! This was a very fun knit, the only mods I made were to knit the fronts and back at the same time after the armhole split instead of separately as the pattern called for, since I didn't trust myself to make them all the same length. I think it worked out just fine.

Finally, here are my jaywalkers, my first pair of socks. I actually finished them in December, but who is counting. They are in FA merino sock yarn in the Hercules colourway, and I love them - they are only getting softer and softer as I wear them. The pattern is great too, I just prefer socks with a little more ease since I have big feet. Eh, what can you do.

In other news, I have developed the worst case of senioritis known to man. I am graduating in a month, and I can't seem to do any work that doesn't involve knitting or going to the gym. *Sigh*. I am going to go nap on the couch. I mean work. On the couch.

Tomorrow is for WIPs!

Peace Out, Lovely people.

Quatro de Mayo

2007-05-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hello imaginary readers, and may I apologize for my lack of posting as of late. I would blame my schoolwork, busy schedule and such, but the real culprit for my laziness I think, is the fact that my camera is broken. Ummm, or out of batteries. Either one. And a pictureless blog is not a fun blog, fair blog-readers. No worries though, I shall have pictures soon, including a FINISHED (!!!!) turbulence sweater, and many other things.

Peace Out!

Swoon.

2006-12-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.soysilk.com/Yarns/Tofutsies.html

It is soy silk sock yarn with CHITIN in it. Chitin! I can't believe it - now I just have to find it....

No sound and fury, signifying nothing

2006-12-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! I hate it when I lose my voice. It always seems like some sort of divine retibution or something, I just don't know what I did. It makes me super-sad because I'm going to WI tomorrow, and I want to be healthy *sad face*. On the happier side though, the mittens are indeed superb at insulating. They let more wind in than I'd like, but hopefully that will be solved by the felting of the thrums over time. The first Jaywalker is almost done. Yay!

le Sigh

2006-12-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

Soooo life is silly. And by silly I mean full of finals, papers, applications, and advisors yelling at me about my projects in lab. If she only knew that I, in fact, do not go out and party all the time, but instead spend almost all of the time I'm not in lab sleeping or knitting or working. Speaking of knitting.....

Thrum mittens!
Stats:
Pattern: Thrummed Mittens by Jennifer Appleby from Winter 2006 IK
Yarn: Harrisville Designs New England Highland in Midnight blue, 1 skein, 1 oz. Fiber in Iris from the same. (Same yarn used in the pattern! I love when people use yarn that I can afford, and now I have warm mittens for less than $15!)
Size: Adult
Time: In actual time spent on it, they only took about 3 evenings, (not many hours) totally worth it. With the number of colors this yarn comes in, you can make yours as "yours" as you want. I wanted to make some for the boy, but from the face he made, apparently mittens aren't physics-manly or something. Oh well.
And the inside....

Thrums! I love them. They're super-warm, but will they stand up to a Chicago winter? Who knows. I hope so. The boy thinks I look like a crazy person petting them to (hopefully) even out the felting. I believe IK when it says that they will felt evenly, but still, I can't help but think "what if they don't?" (especially since I may or may not have run out of fiber at the very end of the second mitten. I have the worst eye for estimating EVER. At least that means that the first one should be extra-cozy, right?). So I may be crazy, but never underestimate the power of crazy people with warm mittens. One day we shall rule the earth with wonderfully cozy iron fists.

Aand....

One Baudelaire is done! I need to finish the other one by Christmas... I loove this pattern, but am still suffering from some SSS, mostly because of papers and finals and focusing on other things, like:

Thats right, I have ripped up my crazyribs sock (it was too big, never thought I'd see the day with my size 10s) and it is now enjoying life as a jaywalker! I love the FA yarn, but I have no idea if it will stand up as well as I'd like. Oh well. I think I prefer toe-up socks, just because I can be anal and try them on a million times as I'm knitting them more easily.

So after my final final exam today (Molecular Evolution; please save me) I'm hoping to get some serious knitting in, especially since the boy and I are going to Wisconsin for the weekend (yarn and beer here I come!). The roommate is also helping me host a Big Lebowski drinking party, which I am looking forward to more than anything but Wisconsin today. Also, I bought Handknit Holidays, by Melanie Falick when I went into 57th street books to go get Christmas presents (I got a book for my brother too! Don't look at me like that.) I love it, and the boy is even letting me knit him cozy boy socks from it (yay!) I ordered the yarn from Jimmy Bean's wool in an appropriately manly color. (On a nerd note, the color is called "lichen" how awesome is that? Yay for symbiosis!) I also ordered yarn for the over-the-knee socks. It sounds fabulous, there may be yarn porn when it comes.
In an effort to have absolutely no money for food, I also purchased the pattern from Eunny Jang's website for her anemoi mittens: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/12/anemoi_mittens.html I couldn't resist. They're so pretty, and I have to just dive into colorwork at some point. Je ne regrette rien!

Anyway, I should go and, you know, be productive. And by be productive I mean maybe training myself to knit continental. If I can't improve my french I can at least be knitting bilingual, eh?

Peace!

WIP it good...

2006-11-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

WARNING: I am a crappy photographer, and since there is no natural light in winter Chicago after 4:20 P.M., these unfortunately get the horriblest of indoor lighting treatments. Forgive me!

So I promised pictures, and lo here they be. This is most of one of a Baudelaire sock from knitty. It will be for my Mom, who asked for black socks. Given my mild knitting ADD, I was worried that they would never get finished, but they're moving along at a nice clip. I give all credit to Cookie A. for her wonderful pattern. I can't say nice enough things about it. Also, my Brown Sheep Wildfoote is being very cooperative. Good yarn, you get a biscuit.

Here is my precious, my pride and joy, my Turbulence U-neck pullover from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature. I knew as soon as I heard the title that the little nerd that I am had to have it. And lo, it had a wonderful cable placket! I was sold. It is being knit in Knitpick's Andean Silk in cream. I love the yarn, it is soft as anything. However, I am not being as productive as possible due to little things like my B.A. and ribbing done on #4 needles. I still love it though.

This is my sad start to another Norah piece, the Pentagon Aran Pullover. I love it, and the yarn (Kamchatka Sea Moss worsted from Peace Fleece ) is fuzzy and lovely. It just requires the chart for most of it, and well, I am not always next to the chart. Still, it is for the boy's mother and so will be done as soon as possible! I also love the cables, which are fun and ymmily different.

Not very impressive, is it? Well, everyone needs a stockinette piece, and here is mine: Viveka from Knitty, in Knitpick's wool of the Andes Hollyberry with Brown Sheep's cotton fleece in Cavern for the trim. It may not look like much, but it is a nice quick knit, and hopefully will be stylish and warm (Warm!) which in Chicago equals a winner.

And the fuzzy beginning to a sock of my own design, toe-up, with crazy ribbing. I fell in love with the Handmaiden sock yarn in the Hercules colorway, from the Loopy Ewe and so when I submitted my NSF fellowship application I treated myself to a hank. I love it muchly. The Inoxes, not so much. They do their job though.

So as you can see, I'm kind of a knitpicks ho. Ah such is the life of an undergrad. As soon as I get some extra cash, there will be some Kool-aid dyeing and maybe the Gatsby girl pullover from the fall Interweave knits. Who knows! As is, I should probably get back to my work and my uncooperative bacteria. Peace!

Window Shopping, of Sorts

2006-11-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I am in lab (shh) waiting for things to PCR, so I thought that I might as well glory over the upcoming issue of Interweave Knits. How excited am I about this?

Answer: Very excited. Especially about the Nantucket Jacket. First of all, it is a Norah Gaughan piece (lovely!) which means that the sizing won't be idiotic, and it is full of cables (cables!) which make my little biologist-in-training heart very happy. I even have yarn for it which I was going to use for another Norah project, but since this one is super-cabled it wins.

Kate Gilbert's Equestrian Blazer:
Simple, yes, but very pretty, and does nipped waist = small looking waist? We shall see. Maybe. I love it, and it would be wonderful in something pretty for grad school interviews, but do I have the attention span to complete something done entirely in stockinette? Probably not, but maybe I'll improve in time, and I should work on my waist shaping anyway.

Mari Lynn Patrick's Provinicial Waistcoat: I'm not usually one for vests, but this one looks fun (again, with the cables) and might look good over a more tailored shirt or something. I would love to use the reccommended Yak yarn, but can I afford $100+ for a vest? Most definitely not. Maybe I can find something just as weird but less expensive. I've been dying to try out SWTC's aMAIZing yarn, which is not only kind of weird, but also machine washable AND DRYABLE (gasp!). I'll think about it.

Of course, I should probably finish some of my other projects first. I'll post pictures of them once I get home.

And now, a gratuitous picture of E. scolopes, the cutest glowy animal in the world:

Is it not amazing?

Peace,
the girl who should be working on her NSF grant application....

Obligatory First Post

2006-10-30T22:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I'm part of the blog-o-verse now.

I just finished my top-down raglan today (pictures to follow). I kinda love it, even if it is a little heavy. I also love the fact that there was the minimal-est of minimal seaming involved. Anyway, I should go and try to be productive.

Peace!