sea otter socks revisted

i have been dying to pick this yarn up again but could not figure out a pattern that would showcase the beauty of this yarn. i kept trying different patterns that would either get lost in the colorway or it would just end up pooling like no one's business.

so i went back to a basic...the basic rib that is.


as you can see, i am about 3/4ths of the way done with the first sock.


i may just save the second for our trip to europe next week. i am having a difficult time on deciding what projects to knit while away, three weeks is a long time, i am thinking of bringing maybe three different socks to knit up. the hexagon blanket would be too much to carry and knit on the plane and on trains. a sweater? also pretty bulky. i guess socks it is since i am not in the hat nor scarf mood...


i've also managed to finish putting together the malabrigo vest, all that's left is weaving in the ends and she'll be ready for her closeup.

mystery chest

when this super huge package arrived for me, i couldn't imagine that it could have been my FCS3 package. i was expecting something smaller but to my surprise...behold the mystery chest:



seriously, my pal went above and beyond. first, let's talk about this trunk. oddly enough, a friend and i have been talking about those little cosmetic trunks that our mothers had back in the days of hot rollers and such, and how they would make the perfect knitting case. imagine my surprise when i ripped into the package to find this trunk so carefully wrapped in scrunched paper for protection.

it came over the weekend but i haven't had a chance to take any photos until tonight, so please forgive the lighting. check out it's amazing contents!



there are two hanks of malabrigo worsted in citrus, three hanks of manos cotton stria, three luxurious skeins of royal bamboo, and one skein of life style by zitron; 3 bags of licorice...OMG, i am about to faint over those i love them so much...3 bars of dark chocolate...seriously, someone catch me...some amazing glass knitting needles, a set of 000 addi dpns, "things i learned from knitting...whether i wanted to or not" by the yarn harlot, a cottage cotton collection pattern book by manos del uruguay, some lovely rain dots stickers for my windows, an embroidered "c" initial iron-on (i am having serious thoughts of putting my initial on all my shirts a-la laverne) and last but not least yarn ball cat toys for miusey!! whew.

first of all, how she managed to get all that into that trunk is beyond me, i can't seem to get the top shut again with all that stuff in there.



second of all, there is way more in here than i could have imagined, my secret pal went way above and beyond. thirdly, she certainly was good at keeping her identity a secret, i had to do a little investigative searching to find out who she was...there was no note enclosed!!

a little birdie told me who she was, thanks kathleen (Serya of Duntrune)!!

gauge the gauge

ok, so i guess i am not having the best of luck with the socks these days...i've been knitting this sock up for the past week, with frogging and starting over twice, and tinking back a few times, i finally got on a roll.

today i decided to slip them on to check the fit. as i've been knitting i thought it looked a little small, but with the pattern i was using i figured that was just how it looked in it's relaxed state, with stretching to allow for my calf. well, i quickly found out that it was indeed too small...barely able to get the cuff over my heel.

i've slightly modified ann budd's "elegant ribbed stockings" pattern to be less of a stocking and more of a sock. and left out the eyelet row for a ribbon and a bow. oh, and instead of the sportweight specified by the pattern, i am using sock yarn. so a few calculations were invloved. ergo the problem: i am not a math major. in fact, as a designer i see things visually, so what seems to make sense to me on paper, doesn't always come out in reality. especially where numbers are concerned.

now that i've got the photo snapped and the post up, i am off to rip it all out and start again!

sea otter...in the pool?

back at stitches west, i picked up this stunning yarn



it's baywood yarns' pearly twist sock yarn - 100% superwash merino in medium weight, the colorway is "sea otter". i absolutely was drawn to the hank as it was sitting amongst the 17 million other hanks, the combination of the aqua amongst the shades of brown took my breath away...well, not really, but somehow my eye went straight to it and i don't even remember anything else about what the vendor was selling.

my plans for this little lovely are socks, i swatched up a little square to see what pattern i wanted to do, and how the color would knit up.



swatch looks great, right? so i started knitting up the sock and it never dawned on me that the color might sort of pool when knitted in the round, which it is. i am not sure i am liking it, or rather, like the way it comes across with the stitch pattern i am using.



i may have to put this aside and come back to it again, perhaps i may have a better appreciation for how the colors are pooling together. if it bothers me i will frog and figure what else i can do with the yarn. in the meantime look who was laughing at my dilemma...

go anywhere....ANYwhere

a couple of weeks ago i started working on these fingerless gloves - i thought they would be great to use in the mornings as the office is usually pretty chilly after a night of being empty during the winter time. i also wanted a small project to bring with me "on the road" to knit in free time during the tournaments. well, being that 10 of us shared a house in palm springs, and with all the activities at the LA Open, there was little to no time to knit. although somehow i did manage to lose one of my dpns somewhere between palm springs and LA...grrr



project particulars
pattern: go anywhere gloves from The Knitting Man(ual) by kristin spurkland (i made the fingerless version)
needles: clover bamboo sizes US 2 and US 3 dpns
yarn: koigu's kpppm, color p330; less than 1 skein

these were a breeze to knit, in total time and in difficulty. if i were to do them again though, i would probably knit up maybe an inch more after the cuff before starting the increases for the thumb, they feel a bit short for my lanky, err...graceful wrists. also, just for comfort i may do the little half fingers instead of just one big opening (it just feels a little strange). oh, and maybe plan things a little better - since spring has sprung, it hasn't been chilly enough in the mornings lately to need them in the office.

another recovery

i am just about recovered from yet another weekend of tournament tennis (i was sore all day monday and could hardly stay awake while at work). this time, it was the LA Open where i entered in both singles and doubles, this being the first ever tournament i played singles in. although i lost first round of the main draw, and then went into consolation round (where i also lost) i had a lot of fun and it was a great experience, oh and of course i was able to watch all of the LB crew in their matches.

the tournament started on friday and was held at the vermont canyon courts, burbank tennis center, and the riverside courts. vermont and burbank are pretty nice places to play for different reasons. vermont canyon is in griffith park, so you get the trees and you play right up against the hills with a very nice backdrop. the burbank tennis center is a real tennis facility with a pro shop, and show courts for the exciting matches. riverside? that's a different story. it's right up against the 5 freeway so you can hardly hear any of the line calls or scores being said by the server. and nasty bathrooms. hello, how is a world class athlete supposed to prepare and change outfits?!?!

the group of us from the lakewood (LB) league stayed in a hotel in beverly hills, the Thompson (where the help all look like they are right out of some 20-somethings drama series) so that the drive to the courts at 7am weren't a nightmare.

we all attended the "banquet" saturday night at the sportsmans lodge where they had "entertainment" and "food". uhm, next year let's skip this event and therefor skip the unnecessary trips to the restroom the next day from the mystery meat. the swans were nice, but oddly enough when we left there seemed to be a lot less of them in the ponds. i love dennis to death and he did a great job organizing the tournament, but that banquet killed.



g and i once again paired for doubles, where we made it all the way to the semi-finals of the main draw. unfortunately we had to meet our good friends there, since they were also in the same part of the draw, and lost to them. we were happy though that they made it into the finals where they beat their opponents.



in all it was a great showing for us aside from the whispers about our outfits as we walked by about how we looked like we just broke out of prison, as our group went home with 5 trophies. way to go us. this is it for the month but there a still quite a few more tournaments in the works being that this is only march, but we're already talking and starting to plan the tournament schedule for 2009, there are a lot of fun places we'd like to go play in nationally and internationally.

FCS3

i know, it's been a while since my last post. i have just recovered from the Palm Springs tennis tournament where we made it into the quarterfinals...only to be kicked out with a loss at 6-1, 6-4. luckily they had a consolation round, where we made it to the finals but then again lost to the #1 seeds. thankfully, we had a crowd of adoring fans (3 of our friends) and looked fabulous in our matching outfits.




Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

1. What are your top three favorite colors?
as a designer and creative person, my favorites are constantly changing. i guess it depends a lot on what i see around me, and the mood i am in. right now, i am totally into citrus-y colors: blood orange, tangerine, lime, lemon, grapefruit, etc. and perhaps it's the season but right now my eye is drawn towards deep rich pinks and reds.

2. What crafts do you really enjoy?
my absolute favorite has to be knitting. i have been known to also design and make cards. i'll do a sewing project every now and then.

3. What products do you really covet?
yarn. yarn. and yarn. hahahahah. and anything from apple.

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things?
tennis. digital photography. cooking. baking. designing.

5. Is there anything you collect?
nothing really, unless you consider an ever growing yarn stash as a "collection".

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol?
scorpio and ram/sheep

7.What are your favorite…
…scents/smells?
scents...i guess would have to be citrus scents. my favorite candles are still the lemon and grapefruit kitchen candles from williams-sonoma (they also had a really great tomato one). they're so fresh smelling and not heavy and perfume-y. i guess there are some floral scents that i like too. it all depends what is producing the scent...i usually stay away from the fake, chemical smelling stuff...like the glade plug ins and things like that. i tend to like things that smell more natural.

…types of music and/or bands?
i really like all genres of music. except maybe gangsta rap and headbanger heavy metal.

…authors?
don't really have any favorites

…animals?
don't have any favorites.

…places to shop?
are you kidding? the gucci store. the gucci outlet store, even better. i LOVE places like sur la table, or surfas. i always go hog wild in a yarn store, oh and in target too.

…season?
like different things about different seasons. maybe the best answer would be the "rainy season"? since i love the rain so much. oh, and i hate the cold.

…yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies?
anything actually that is natural fiber content. oh, and as long as it's not alpaca, mohiar, angora....too itchy for me.

…candies or goodies?
chocolate, most definitely. and maybe some black licorice. or those peach penguins. peanut M&Ms (dark). salt water taffy.

8. Do you have any wish lists?
yes, i do

9. Are you allergic to anything?
no allergies.

10. Do you have any pets? What are they?
cat named MIUSEY

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy. Also, if you have a Ravelry ID, please include it here.
i am really picky. i know, this is not a good trait to post on a secret pal questionnaire, but seriously. i am. i tend to like things that have an artistic or designer-y quality to them. if it's something that looks like a designer or artist made - things that are not mainstream tend to catch my eye. but then again there is also a fine line of looking too crafty and home made as well, i am a stickler for craftsmanship and attention to detail. unless it's funkified, then there's the exception. you know, there are ALWAYS exceptions. oh, and don't forget shiny or sparkly. i gotta love it. oh, and i am skogknits on ravelry