skipschool2knit

Tea anyone?

2005-12-28T13:26:00.000-06:00

Check out this gift from my secret santa! It is the most beautiful piece of thrift store crap I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I like to think I'd look a little something like this if I were a piece of thrift store crap. The best part? It's filled with fancy tea!! And that is coming in handy because my family is strictly coffee, no tea. So I brought my own. And see those needles behind the tea? I'm wishing I had brought more of those. I thought I picked out a good selection, but I (very stupidly) didn't bring any circular needles! And some things do not fit on DPN's. Like the poncho I wanted to knit for my cousin Megan. It's only about 6 inches long, but there is no way I can continue without a circular needle, and there is no way I can buy another one since I have two at home in California.

I took the Needlepoint Joint gift certificate from my Aunt Myra and bought some pretty virgin wool to make Ella (which by the way is totally the new clapotis). It's coming along nicely, although it is getting HUGE--another reason I should have brought circular needles. Also I made some mittens! My sister has a new digital camera so hopefully she'll show me how to use it and I can post some pictures of what I've been working on. I hope everyone's holidays have been like mine--relaxing and fun with plenty of time for knitting. And tea.

Knitter's Block

2005-12-23T16:55:00.000-06:00

I'm at home in Utah, with nothing to do but wrap a few presents, drink tea, and watch television. So why haven't I been knitting? I brought yarn with me for a few small projects but I have been too lazy to start any of them. That's weird because usually I LOVE starting new projects. I think the problem is that I am in the mood for a big project--maybe Ella? After Christmas I'll go to the LYS and see what I can find.

My mom told me a funny story yesterday. She said that when she was a little girl her mom saw crocheted jumpsuits on the cover of a magazine and thought they were "cool." Problem is, the y were on the cover of a CROCHET magazine--almost never cool. She paid her friend to crochet them for my mom and aunt, and they were forced to wear full-body croched jumpsuits! My mom says they were hella ugly and weighed about 100 pounds (I wish there were photos). Just another example of the oh-so-important rule: Just because it can be made with yarn doesn't mean it should!

Warm Wrists!

2005-12-20T23:10:00.000-06:00

Here are the presents from the last post, unwrapped now because I gave them to my friends last week. From left to right: diagonal rib for Phia, eyelet lace for Ayla, cables for Nuria, super-professional ribbing for our almost-lawyer Erika, embossed hearts for Gaelen, and a slip-stitch ribbing pattern for Lauren. Oh yeah, and the bit of pink there is the beginning of my seed stitch wristwarmers, which are finished and on my wrists as I type. They are all made with Brown Sheep Co.'s Cotton Fleece which is a BEAUTIFUL yarn--trust me I've been working with it for months. I made them using the two circular needles technique, which is definitely worth learning. Everyone really likes them--Lauren said they make her feel like a superhero and Nuria said she wants to nibble on hers, whatever that means.

I've been staying in San Francisco for a few days before I head home to Utah. Today I stopped by ImagiKnit and (for the first time ever!) I didn't buy anything. It was a strange sensation to walk out of there empty-handed, but sometimes it's a little overwhelming in there y'know? Anyway, I'm living out of a suitcase (no room for stash!) and soon I'll be at The Needlepoint Joint.

Holiday Knit-o-Rama

2005-12-14T00:59:00.000-06:00

This is most of my holiday knitting, all finished and wrapped up just in time for the grown-up holiday party my friends are having Thursday night. The thing about this holiday knitting is that it's overwhelming and addictive. The other day at Article Pract a few ladies were chatting about the Holiday Knitting All-Nighter, of which I can now say I am guilty. The last week of school I had 3 finals and a thesis to hand in but I never did work past 4 p.m. and I was in bed by 11 every night. See, around 4 p.m. my brind starts to wander and Ellen is on and then it's time for dinner and after that it's dark. I finshed the finals (yay!) and handed in my thesis (YAY!!) and never had to stay up late. But the holiday knitting? I was up waaaay past midnight lastnight and that hardly ever happens. But it's all done and I can't wait to warm the wrists of all of my friends.

I'm going to be doing some long-distance blogging for about a month. I'm going home to Utah for winter break and I don't want to bring my laptop. Don't worry, I'll keep some stock photos on flickr and whip them out occasionally so I don't bore my faithful readers.

By the way, if you find yourself knitting all night, might I suggest staying hydrated and taking breaks?? I had a bit of an eye strain headache this morning.

Come back in a week.

2005-12-03T12:47:00.000-06:00

I don't have much time this week to write or knit anything that is not my thesis. I have two finals on Thursday and my thesis is due Friday, so after that I can go knit and blog crazy! The super secret friend project needs to be finished on the 15th...and I'm a little more than halfway done. And then all of the other holiday knitting! Wish me luck. And come back in a week.

Yarn Shoes

2005-11-28T15:47:00.000-06:00

Here are my feet, pre-Thanksgiving. If I took a picture now they might look a little swolen, because I feel like I ate at least 18 Thanksgiving dinners. Phew! Thank goodness for the salad bar here at school.... I think it's time to do a little detox. But Thanksgiving was really fun. I went home to Ogden, Utah and saw lots of family and old friends. I also stopped by The Needlepoint Joint, the first yarn store I ever went to. It's bigger now, and more knitting focused. I bought lots of beautiful stuff which will magically be transformed into presents in the next few weeks.

Anyway, the point is that the shoes look like yarn. They don't even match up right, like two skeins of hand-dyed wool. Cool huh?

Oh, also my mom has a blog!! I made it for her birthday. She is a great writer with an exciting life, so go read it!

I love knitting! And you!

2005-11-20T18:35:00.000-06:00

Like my new hat? I don't usually knit hats because I don't usually wear hats. But I decided to knit this one, and I wore it to see the new Harry Potter movie a couple nights ago. Great sweaters, those Weasleys. But I don't think Ron, Jennie, and the twins really appreciate their mother's handiwork. Ever since I started knitting, I've been afraid of turning into the relative who everybody fears will knit them something AGAIN this year. But the truth is, knitting for people you love is really fun. So if you're reading this and I love you, too bad. I'm probably knitting you something. Again.

And speaking of people I love, my aunts finally had their baby!! I guess I'd better get my act together and sew the snaps onto that baby sweater so I can mail a super-special package to Ian Robert, Jackson, and their mommies.

Knitting is Everywhere

2005-11-13T16:06:00.000-06:00

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Clay Aiken concert with Marc's mom. It was so much more than a concert--it was a whole Christmasy production with a plot line involving a cranky old lady who has lost the spirit of Christmas because she's all alone. In this scene, Clay (as the geeky guardian angel) watches her as she pathetically knits away (she's really knitting--I checked with binoculars). By the end of the show (thanks to Clay's crooning and an annoying kid named Tommy) she realizes that it's important to love Jesus even if you are all alone. And she never knits again.

But for lots of us, knitting and the holidays go hand-in-hand. I have been working on a mass project for my friends, and trying to decide what to make for family members. The problem with holiday knitting is that you can't post pictures of presents because what if the recipients read your blog? I promise I have been knitting, but only super-secret projects. I'll try to keep some other things going on the side so I have something to post about.

The Fat Duck and The Skinny Marc

2005-11-10T16:05:00.000-06:00

Well, London was GREAT. I had lots of fun talking and riding the bus and napping with Marc. Look how handsome he is!! This picture was taken in the woods on our walk from the train station in Maidenhead to the B&B in Bray. It was nice to remember how cool it is to be together in person. It was also nice to see what his life is like there and hang out and cook with some of his friends. Marc bikes 25 miles a day but luckily I didn't have to do it at all--I get confused with all the cars coming from the wrong direction, etc.

The highlight of the trip was our sixteen course four hour dinner at The Fat Duck. I never thought I'd eat dinner at the best restaurant in the world, but there I was!! The craziest things I ate were probably smoked bacon and egg ice cream, snail porridge (Marc said they were mushrooms but I knew better) and pigeon. Can you believe fancy people eat pigeon?? Weird. Everything was delicious. Here are some pictures of what we ate. (Click here to see some more!)

This is the "forest course." An oak strip (like the listerine things, but tastes like oak--Marc made it!!!), a piece of toast with tons of truffles, and in the little bowl was pea puree, jelly of quail, langoustine cream, foie gras. Whoa.

One of many desserts: Mango and douglas fir puree with bavarois of lychee and mango and blackcurrant sorbet!!

Thanks to Marc for a wonderful visit, and also for being so awesome and working hard in the crazy chemistry lab that makes all this stuff. Also for being the best.

Handmade vs. Homemade

2005-11-02T15:44:00.000-06:00

A wise knitter/blogger once said something about the difference between Handmade and Homemade. Handmade means that it looks expertly crafted, whereas Homemade looks like it may be the product of a preschool craft class. As knitters, we are always striving for Handmade--we only want to be asked "Did you make that?" by our friends who know that we knit, not by strangers who know they've never seen anything that ugly in a store. Anyway, I think the Grown-Up sweater looks pretty good and I'm proud of it, even if the sleeves are a little too big and the ribbing around the neck looks a little "homemade."

Have you ever tried to take a picture of your own back? This was the best shot of like 40. Trust me, the cable looks good.

I will bring the sweater to London when I go there to visit Marc tomorrow (YAY!!) so maybe he can help me take a better picture. With the queen or something.

Self-Reliance

2005-10-28T15:36:00.000-05:00

My cat is the cutest, smartest cat in the world. I know that every knitter/blogger thinks that, but in my case it is actually true. Look:

Ali, can you help me get the treats out of this cabinet?

Oh forget it, I can reach.

Ha!

I know they're in here somewhere....

I ate them all??! Oh yeah.

Marc's parents are letting me borrow their car for a few days. Looks like I'll be making a trip to the kitty treat store. Also the yarn store.

winter!

2005-10-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

Yes, I think it is officially winter in the Bay Area. That means that it is beautiful and sunny all the time (at least in the East Bay), but it is FREEZING cold (at least by East Bay standards). The trick is, if you get dressed inside and base your wardrobe decisions on a quick look out the window, you might freeze to death in that tank top and short shorts ensemble.

Luckily for me, the Grown-Up sweater is almost done. I just need to figure our how to pick up the stitches around the V-neck to make a nice little bit of ribbing, and then I'll post lots of pictures of me wearing it and being really warm in that KnitPicks Sierra.

So, what will I knit next? The Picovoli definitely. I have some cool green Lana Grossa merino I'd like to use, but I don't know if I have enough. I might have to bribe Phia for that ball I know she is secretly hiding in the dorm room next to mine.

What is everybody doing for Halloween? Party in the Castro? Crazy costumes? Critical Mass tomorrow? I think I will bundle up somewhere and knit...maybe with some orange yarn, but probably not.

Almost a Grown-Up

2005-10-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

Here is a Grown-Up sweater progress shot:
(this is the back)

Yay! Now for some sleeves....I had planned to do them on double pointed needles but now I realize that's just silly. I'll go to the yarn store tomorrow and get some circular needles. This sweater is going to be so warm!! I can't wait to snuggle up in it with some tea (I used to hate tea, but now I love it) and watch Sex and the City (which is on EVERY NIGHT on KRON4, aka the best tv station ever).

Today is an important day here at Mills College. I finshed the 0th draft of my thesis. You know, it's a real draft with less pressure than a 1st draft. I think I'll spend the rest of the night recovering.

Hey you! Go look at Phia's blog!!

A sister's shrug and Sara's scarf

2005-10-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

My sister Bethany is a beautiful dancer. I went to Utah a few days ago to watch her perform with Children's Dance Theater which is always good--if you live in Utah and are reading this, you should sign your kids up for CDT. Thing is, they have this rule that you can only wear black dancewear at rehearsals, and sometimes it's cold in the studio and theaters. So I made her this:

It's made with Brown Sheep Wool Co.'s Cotton Fleece and it is so soft!! I just knitted a rectangle in stockinnette stitch with some seed stitch trim, and sewed it up. The truth is I finished it over the summer and I just got around to seaming it up and giving it to her. I told you I hate seaming! The important thing is that she likes it and she can wear it to dance. Her friends said they liked it too, which is a serious compliment because those girls know their dancewear.

This week I also made a scarf for my friend Sara who is going on a trip to look at graduate schools--and not just any graduate schools. She's checking out Princeton and Columbia!! This scarf is gray and sophisticated-looking. Perfect for a beautiful genius who loves sociology more than Erving Goffman himself.

The Grown-Up sweater is coming along. Other than that I'm working on a whole bunch of wrist warmers (for everyone I know, basically) also made with Cotton Fleece.

The Cousin Sweater

2005-10-10T15:28:00.000-05:00

My mom says that my aunt Bridget could have her baby any day. Good thing I finished this lastnight:

It is made of Sinfonia cotton yarn with the "Baby's First Tattoo" pattern from Stitch'n Bitch Nation. Originally I wanted to use buttons to close it but then I remembered how much babies like to pull things off and put them in their little punkin mouths...So I'll use snaps. I hope my new cousin and her/his family will like it. The family rumor mill says that if it's a boy his name will be Ian, and if it's a girl...well, girl names are easier to think of so they're not worried about that yet. The important thing is that either way, that baby will be freaking adorable, especially in a Winnie the Pooh cardigan.

That tiny sweater was pretty fun to knit, but I remember now how much I hate seaming. I never want to knit anything in pieces ever again!! Luckily my other main knitting project is circular and seamless. It's my very first real life grown up sweater! I started it lastnight and so far I like it. I decided it needs a V-neck and a pretty cable down the middle of the back. I'll post a picture once I have some noticeable progress.

This weekend I went to Article Pract here in Oakland for the first time. Whoa, it's the best yarn store ever. It has a good balance of fancy schmancy yarns and cheaper basic stuff too. The ladies working there were really nice, and I discovered my new favorite yarn. It's handspun, kettle-dyed in Uruguay (but it's not the one you're thinking of). It's called Malabrigo and I like it better than Manos del Uruguay. It's MUCH softer, the colors are more exciting, and it's only $11 for 215 yards!! My friend Phia got some too, and she is making a beautiful orange and green hat which totally doesn't look like a pumpkin. I taught Phia how to knit Continental style (which is weird since I don't do it that way) and she's been a crazy hat-producing superknitter ever since.

Soon all of my friends will be knitting and this blog will be taken over by pictures of their projects!!

warm and fuzzy

2005-10-06T16:07:00.000-05:00

Marc got his package in the mail so I can show you what I sent him:

These wristwarmers were supereasy to make--just a ribbed tube with a hole for the thumb. They are really warm and soft, made with some yarn I had sitting around. Marc says he wears them even though sometimes they get snagged on the gears of his bike . . . I'm sure he'll work it out. I want to make some more of these with cables and other fancy things!

This week has been crazy with midterms and I also have a cold, yuck. I'm looking forward to a weekend of homework and shopping (I'm going to the yarn store!) and then Monday I'm going home to Utah for a few days. It should be beautiful and autumnal there, unlike here. The Bay Area has a weird weather thing where just when you think it's fall there's a heat wave. Oh well, the heat wave makes it hard to knit anything with wool, so I am forced to finish the baby cardigan--maybe even today.

ps~Thanks to my friend Lauren for modeling!

hardly strictly dolly

2005-10-03T18:42:00.000-05:00

See that tiny blonde turquoise bedazzled blob with the matching guitar?? That, ladies and gentlemen, is Ms. Dolly Parton. She is my personal lord and savior, and I saw her perform yesterday at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park. She was amazing (I cried at least twice). Her voice is so beautiful that the children sitting behind me literally couldn't help being lulled to sleep. And she dances too. I also saw EmmyLou Harris, Split Lip Rayfield, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Gillian Welch . . . And oh my heck, so many women knitting!!! The only women who weren't knitting were crocheting. It was like an epidemic. Two bewildered-looking men came up to me and asked "What's the deal with all the knitting??" I chatted with lots of people about their projects, and I even ran into Rachael and Lala! Let me tell you, it is weird to run into people who you only know from reading their blogs. They were very sweet and I watched them knit fancy socks on two circular needles!

And now it's back to the real world of school, et cetera. By the way, thanks for all the help on the button band! I've definitely got it figured out now and the sweater should be finished soon. Oh, and look what came in the mail today! A whole bunch of KnitPicks Sierra to knit into my very first grown-up sweater for myself. It is supersoft and superpink, and I can't wait! I just need to make a trip to the LYS for the right size needles, and I'll be on my way.

Biking and Button Bands

2005-09-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hey, this is my cute bike! I like it a lot. It gets me where I need to go, which is something my car no longer does. I like biking because I can exercise, go down hills fast, and even get to places faster than cars sometimes. Mostly I'm really enjoying it because I feel like I live in this city more now that I go on streets other than the freeway. On Sundays the storefront churches have beautiful music, on weekdays there are lots of commuters around Lake Merritt, and the taco trucks of Oakland smell delicious every day. Also, that's a scarf I finished knitting about a week ago. I used the Katia Pisco yarn I bought in Paris, and a ribbing pattern that is cushy and lies flat.

The baby sweater is coming along...I finished the back yesterday. Today I got all set to start on the two fronts (it's a cardigan), and I have a little problem:

I want the button band to be a different color but when I knit with the red yarn, the button band is totally disconnected from the yellow (the body). I don't get it! I need help! I know this is possible because the pattern in the book is done just like this, except theirs is connected. I know there is a genius knitter somewhere on the internet who can help. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions! Thank you thank you thank you.

hum dee dum

2005-09-26T13:24:00.000-05:00

Ah, what a nice weekend. I spent lots of time with friends and managed to get a little work done (thanks to an iced chai with a shot of espresso from Gaylord's). Friday I went to the San Pablo flea market and bought some shoes, and saw a huge lavendar sparkly coffin for sale. I love Oakland. Yesterday I went to San Francisco to spend the day with Hmoob. Since I live in a dorm, she has to live with Marc's roommates while he's in London. SHE IS SO CUTE! I know how annoying it is when people only blog about their cats, but seriously. She's so cute. I think Marc's roommates thought I was crazy for riding my bike/taking BART just to see my kitty, but whatever. It was nice to do some homework in a setting other than my room or the library. And do you like my pedicure? It's a couple weeks old but I still feel fancy for having one.

As far as knitting goes, in between researching the role of Spanish in Latino ethnic identity and assimilation, I have been working on the companion baby sweater to the Jackson sweater. I'm using the "Baby's First Tattoo" pattern from Stitch'n Bitch Nation. It will be yellow with red trim...I'm going for Winnie The Pooh but I'm scared it might look a little Ronald McDonald if I don't find the right buttons to tie it all together. I also knitted a surprise for someone but I can't post pictures until they get it in the mail, so you'll have to wait.

OK, it's time to head up to the cafeteria for some fried goodness before my Spanish Literature class. Bye bloggie.

Jackson's Sweater

2005-09-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

My cousin Jackson might actually be the cutest kid ever.

He has more energy than the rest of the universe combined I think. He spends so much time running around and screaming that the few moments when he is snuggly and affectionate feel even more special. His favorite toy is a set of kitchen tongs named Pinchie, he sings a lot, and he uses his pregnant mommy's tummy as a slide sometimes. Once when his Ema was crying about an old tree being cut down, Jackson said, "Don't cry Ema, we're a family!" They certainly are. My aunts Chelsea and Bridget are having their second baby soon, and I'm knitting them a bunch of stuff. Here is Jackson's sweater:

I made it using the Incredible Custom Fit Raglan Sweater Pattern, which is GREAT. I'm even going to use it to make a grown-up sweater for myself soon. The yarn is that Sinfonia stuff I bought so much of in Mexico. It is soft and machine washable--I hope it is strong enough to handle Action Jackson!

bye bye boyfriend, hello scarves.

2005-09-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

It is getting chilly around here, and I have been busy knitting things to keep myself and people I love warm. This semester I have a cinema class, so that means at least 4 hours a week that I can sit in the library and watch movies and knit--and it counts as homework!! It's great.

In non-knitting news, my super-incredible boyfriend left for London yesterday. He got a job at a fancy schmancy restaurant there--did you know there was such a thing as Molecular Gastronomy?? Crazy. He will be there for at least three months, learning lots and biking everywhere. Hmoob and I will miss him like crazy! Look, Hmoob even tried to go with him:

But he will be back before we know it. Meanwhile, I have lots of knitting to do. This picture contains some needles, a Virgen de Guadalupe lamp that I bought in Mexico, the scarf I just finished with one skein of Rio de la Plata yarn, and three skeins of lusciousness from ArtFibers, soon to be another scarf.

Tempting

2005-09-08T18:20:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting this (way too dark) picture of my finished Tempting sweater. I think it counts as my first sweater even though it has short sleeves. I like it, but I finished it in July and still haven't worn it. The yoke is a little baggy and I wish I had used smaller needles. Other than that, I'm pretty impressed that I made it with my own two hands and some sticks. Maybe I'll wear it once it gets a little colder.

Lastnight I went to see and hear some AMAZING musicians named Gentlemen, Mandarin Dynasty, and Leyna. They are going on a month-long tour and if you live on the west coast or a state close to the west coast there's a good chance that you might be lucky enough to hear them play at your favorite local venue. Check out knockknocklauren.com for tour dates--trust me, you need to hear this music.

Today I went to ArtFibers for the first time and I LOVED it!! Their yarn is beautiful, and it's cool because you know it's the only place to find THAT exact yarn. The ladies working there were extremely helpful, offering free patterns even before we asked for them and encouraging everyone to sit in their comfy chairs and try ANY YARN WE WANTED!! YAY!! I picked up a few balls of a beautiful turquoise cotton/wool blend called Liana to make a scarf for myself. See, somewhere in all the moving I've been doing lately I lost a big box full of sweaters and scarves and other warm things... so I figure it's time to buy lots of yarn and knit like crazy!

Katrina

2005-09-01T16:24:00.000-05:00

. . . sending my love to everyone affected by this whole mess via the magic of the internet. . .

Click here to read about the knitting community's efforts to help, and how you can get involved.

Time to learn Japanese

2005-09-01T01:39:00.000-05:00

I spent some time at San Francisco's Japan Center last weekend. It's an amazing place full of tiny, adorable, sweet (yet completely unnecessary) things like boxes, paper, and noodles . . . and look what I found in the HUGE bookstore there:

Why is everything cuter when it's Japanese?? I couldn't stop looking at these books. The photography is so beautiful that the knitted stuff even looks soft. I especially liked the children's books. What kid wouldn't want to snuggle up with twenty or thirty of these things?

While wearing this sweater? And these shoes?

I LOVE THE SEQUINS!!!

There are a lot of seemingly great Japanese knitting patterns on the internet. Someone (not me) needs to put some energy into translating them so we can finally enjoy the cute, flattering patterns I think we are all longing for. Any volunteers?

almost there

2005-08-26T01:29:00.000-05:00

OK, OK, I know I promised pictures and overall better blogging but...

1. I started school this week and have been SUPER BUSY trying to get settled, etc.
2. The internet sucks in my fabulous dormroom.

But seriously, I'm working on it. I'm also working on a sweater for my cousin Jackson using the Incredible Custom Fit Raglan Sweater, which is so awesome. The pattern is so straight-forward that I find myself second-guessing it, only to find out that it really works just the way it's written!! So cool.

There are rumors in knittingblogville about the "August Blogging Blahs," so maybe I'm subconsciously waiting for September to come. We'll see.

brrrr

2005-08-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

Hey, I am back in San Francisco and it is COLD. If anyone reading this has been tricked into thinking that California is warm and sunny all the time, I am warning you: BRING A SWEATER. Most of my warm clothes are packed away in Marc's basement so I think I'll swing by the new Buffalo Exchange on Valencia and buy a jacket or something today.

We finished up our Europe trip with a week in London, staying with friends and being very chill. We stayed with Marc's friend Tenyen who is an avid cyclist. He found a cute girly bike in the dumpster and fixed it all up so we could spend the week training me to be an urban biker! It was definitely scary at times, especially since I never got over the confusion of cars being in the wrong places, but it was very exciting and I was pretty comfortable with the whole thing by the time we left. It's such a great way to see a city--faster than walking, more hands-on than any sort of motor transport. We ate some delicious food, went to house parties, and slept almost enough.

It is very, very good to be back. School starts next wednesday so until then I will be frantically packing, unpacking, job-hunting, and trying to figure out which classes I am taking. It's been an insane summer and I am really looking forward to settling down in my fancy dorm room and staying there for a while.

As far as knitting goes, I have been working on a scarf/shawl for an ill aunt. Problem is, it needs to be finished soon but I really hate the yarn and pattern and everything....It might be time to start over with different yarn and much bigger needles. Did I mention I finished the Tempting sweater?? I'll post a picture someday.

WHOA, does everyone know that DOLLY PARTON (aka my personal lord and savior) is coming to San Francisco as part of the Strictly Bluegrass Festival FOR FREE??!!?? Along with EmmyLou Harris, Gillian Welch, Splitlip Rayfield, and about 1000 more other great acts. I can't wait.

Paris!

2005-08-08T10:51:00.000-05:00

After a wet, rainy week at What The Hack we headed to Amsterdam for a couple days. What a cool city!! We had yummy Indonesian food, walked along the canals, took a nap in front of the Van Gogh museum...it was great. Let me tell you that when the whole world starts crumbling because there is no more oil, Amsterdam will still be standing. Seriously, they have more bikes than cars. And not just regular bikes, but crazy "minivan" bikes with 1 or 2 carseats for babies and shelf-like seats for more grownups. So cool.

And now I'm in Paris!! Le sigh. We have been staying with some super nice (and French-speaking!) friends, Leslie and Jorge. They left this morning for the south of France and are letting us stay in their adorable apartment for a few more days. We have been taking lots of walks, seeing the sights, and basically pretending that we live here. Yesterday we went to a huge open market where there was a big ol' Katia yarn booth!! I was so excited, but there wasn't really anything spectacular and I ended up buying 2 skeins of a cotton/wool blend to make a nice scarf that I can always call "the Paris scarf," even if the yarn is from Spain. We bought hella groceries and Marc made a delicious FANCY FANCY meal with scallops and Bress chicken (like, the rockstar of all kinds of chicken apparently) and fennel and mango and MMMM!! Today we've been napping and stuff. I just went for a walk through our temporary neighborhood, which is full of Chinese ladies' stores with hundreds of kinds of belts or hats or purses or whatever. I LOVE IT. The only problem is that it's wholesale only--minimum purchase of 100 Euro. Merci, non!

I'm hungry!! Hopefully I will be able to find some delicous food somewhere in this city...heh.

Marc's been taking lots of pictures and someday I will put them up :) Au Revoir!

hack hack hack

2005-07-29T16:11:00.000-05:00

Guess where I am NOW!?! I am in a huge tent listening to the loudest rain I have ever heard. I am in Southwest Holland in a beautiful forest full of 3000 (I think) hackers from all around the world. I, as you all could probably guess, am not a hacker, nor do I really know anything about computers. But Marc is, and he promised this would be fun and I really like it. Where else can global geeks gather to unabashedly spread their laptops out in the "bar" where no one is standing, let alone dancing, and at least 75% of the people are staring at computer screens? Yet somehow the vibe in here is totally social--people are sitting next to friends they've only known online until now, and they are cross-pollinating ideas about free software, security, political activism, and spreading the internet in places like the freakin' Amazon. Marc says he feels like he's in an incubator--actually, I think he used the word "thinkubator."

There are SO many people here from everywhere. Today I have heard people speaking English, German, Dutch, Slovak, Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, Spanish, French.... It's insane. There are families here with kids and everything. Today a bunch of kids took a golf cart, hung a pirate flag on the top of it, and drove around squirting people with waterguns.

These hackers aren't what most of you are probably thinking of. Yes, they are geeky kids who could get into any computer system and ruin it, but what they're doing and talking about and presenting on are ideas of equality--breaking the barriers between everyday internet users (like us!) and the huge corporations who have a monopoly on a system which controls SO MUCH in the world. They think everybody should have some say in this whole technology thing. Seems to me, hackers are not the enemy who want to steal your credit card numbers, they are more like adorable, brilliant, sweet superheroes with extension cords who want to save YOU and ME from evil. Personally, I appreciate it.

So, anyway... Not a lot of knitting. I pictured myself knitting in the corner during this whole thing, but I've been busy trying to learn from and follow conversations which sometimes contain more letters/numbers than actual words. We'll be here until Sunday, then we're going to Amsterdam for a bit. Later, we are going to France where our awesome friend Leslie is leaving us the key to her apartment in Paris for a week!!

Bye for now--by the way, wouldn't you like to know which computer is most common among the computer geeks of the world??? I should take votes and give a prize to the winner, but I'm not sure anyone's reading this blog lately so I'll just tell ya. Ready?? IBM ThinkPad. yep.

what blog??

2005-07-23T21:17:00.000-05:00

Here I am in Utah again. We went back east for 10 days and it was really fun. First we visited my Grandpa in New York, where we took a tour of the Rockefeller Mansion and I bought a *spool knitting* device. Interesing. Then we drove to Maine and spent a couple days at my family's farm there. We picked blueberries and swam in the lake every day!! It was so relaxing and good to see lots of family. I taught my aunt Chelsea how to purl (she could already knit) and went through my great grandmother's yarn and needle stash. Here is a photo of my mom, my sister, and my aunts Bridget and Chelsea with their adorable son Jackson.

Somewhere along the line I finished Tempting, which is pretty cute. The only thing is that it's a little wide around the yoke and a little too off-the-shoulder, I think. Has anyone else had this problem??

Tomorrow I fly to California, and to London on Monday. I will be in Europe for three weeks and be back just in time to start school! At that point I will have lots of procrastination time in which to put up pictures and write more exciting blog posts!

home at last (for a minute)

2005-07-12T08:45:00.000-05:00

Phew! Marc and I pulled into my parents' driveway at 8:30 Saturday night. Marc continued on to San Francisco and I have had a nice couple of days with my family. Yesterday I got my driver's license renewed and went to the local yarn store here in Ogden, UT. It's funny to see how much "novelty yarn" they have now, and just a better selection in general than a couple years ago. It used to be about half knitting and half needlepoint, but now the needlepoint section has shrunken. I picked up some cotton fleece yarn to make a shrug for my sister. That and the Tempting top will be my projects for the next 10 days--In about an hour I am headed to the airport. We are flying to New York to spend time with my grandpa and other relatives. I'll be back on the 22nd, just in time to meet Marc in California and head to Europe!! Sheesh. When did I become such a traveler??

Sorry I can't post pictures, my parents' computer doesn't have the software for my camera...

Keep knitting! ~Ali

here I am!!

2005-07-08T23:20:00.000-05:00

I'm in Albuquerque! I'm having a great trip and it's pretty fun to be "tunneling through realities," as Marc says. We drove all the way to Monterrey, Mexico the first day. The second day, we waited in line FOREVER to cross into the United States at Nuevo Laredo, where the border patrol people glanced at the color of our skin and practically asked no questions. After that, we spent 3 beauful days in Austin, TX--I LOVE that place. It seems like the perfect mix between hipness and realness, y'know?? We ate delicious sushi, spoke Spanish, and watched fireworks at Zilker Park on the 4th. Then we headed to Fort Stockton, TX (exactly in the middle of nowhere, West Texas) where my grandpa lives. He's an old Texas cowboy who says great things like "Have you got a sweater? I'm 'fraid I might freeze out there!" when it's 104 degrees outside. He's really fun to hang out with, which is a good thing because our car broke down and we ended up spending 3 nights there. Here is a picture of the two of us.

Today we made it to Albuquerque and are hanging out with my friends Ayla and Lauren, who I haven't seen for way too long!

mmm, turkey burgers are ready!! Thanks for reading, I'll post more when I can :)

Adios, Guadalajara

2005-06-30T17:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we're leaving in the morning. I can't believe I've already been in Mexico for 6 months! I will definitely miss the land of delicious street meat, institutionalized naptime (siesta!), popsicles in the park, hip dance songs about asses (culo!), and yarn stores where I can spend less than $25 and walk out with:

2 sets of straight needles, 3 circular needles, 5 balls of cotton, and 3 balls of colorful nylon stuff.

Also, check out this handmade basket/treasure chest I bought in Tonala to hold my yarn:

I've been spending most of my time packing, cleaning, and making phone calls in Spanish (which I HATE). But I did manage to finish the One Skein Wonder (I know, the outfit doesn't quite match. Leave me alone--everything else is packed).

While it may be true that everyone and their dog is knitting these right now, that doesn't mean it's not a great pattern with really cute results. My only suggestion for anyone who hasn't made this yet is BIND OFF WITH BIG NEEDLES. Seriously, this sucker is hard to wiggle in and out of. Mine is a little tight around the arms, probably because I used a yarn with a much smaller gauge (yay nylon stuff!). But honestly, after my recent incidents with FREAKING HUGE knitted clothing, the almost-but-not-quite-cutting-off-the-circulation feeling is kind of nice. I still have tons of yarn left and just bought un chingo* more, so I think I will be making more of these!!

OK, I posted to my blog. That means I can now pack the computer and camera stuff. As of tomorrow I will be on the road for at least a week--if there are any killer yarn stores that I should stop by if I have time in Austin, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, or anywhere in between let me know! Thanks.

*translation: fuckload

Oh, Mexico!

2005-06-27T14:04:00.000-05:00

I have been out of blogland for a few days, soaking up my last days in Mexico and hanging out with my mom and sister. Aren't they cute?? First we hung out here in Guadalajara for a couple days. This photo is of the Rotunda of Ilustrious Men (and one woman), with the cathedral in the background. There are statues of poets, artists, and revolutionaries from Guadalajara, and the people are buried in the middle of the rotunda!!

Here is my mom on the bus, with a Playboy bunny sticker in the window, of course.

We went to a performance of Ballet Folclorico Infantil--adorable children in poofy skirts doing traditional dances (apologies for the bad photo, but you get the idea).

We spent some time in Tonala, a historical town for ceramics and general craftiness. I bought some things and got a tip for where to look for hand-spun Mexican wool (I swear I've already looked there, but we'll see). Then we headed to Manzanillo, a sleepy beach town about 3 hours from here. It's a beautiful drive through palm tree forests!

Three lovely ladies and a One Skein Wonder, chillin' on the beach.

These waves will kick your butt.

It was a great week! It was so good to see my mom and sister. It was also nice that they came at the end of my time here, because it forced me to go outside and do some of my favorite things. We are heading north Friday morning, so until then I will be packing and takin' care of business. Sad. Hopefully I'll have time for one more trip to the mercerias to stock up on cheap yarn and get the needles I need to finish the One Skein Wonder.

. . . Lelah who??

2005-06-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

Oh man. Lastnight I bound off Lelah, and as she made her way off the needles it became apparent that she was huge. Like, twice as wide as I am huge. Seriously, what is my problem?? How did I not notice that?? I mean, sure it was all bunched up on my needles, but damn! Anyway, blocking helped a little but not enough. I decided to unpick the bind-off and do a 1 over 2 bind-off, as the pattern's designer suggested. Still too big. Then I decided to frog it back to the eyelets and just knit the boob-cover section over. At that point, I did something really dumb. I remembered how cheap the yarn was and that I had only used half of what I bought to make this huge monstrosity. So, I picked up the scissors (!!!) and before I knew it the whole freakin' thing was sitting in a big pile of partly knit, partly frogged, and partly cut-up bits of yarn. Now it's in the garbage.

I full intend to re-do this sweater, following the pattern with much more care and much smaller numbers. I figured out my crucial mistake: my gauge worked out to be about 5.5 stitches per inch. I rounded that up to 6, forgetting the fact that no knitted item in the history of the world has ever turned out *too small.*

Lelah and I will be taking a little break from each other for a while I think. In the meantime, I bougt the pattern for the One Skein Wonder today, hopefully I won't be able to screw that up so badly! Also, I've been working on designing a top with the yarn from the last too-big disaster, the Chevron Rib Tank.

Maybe I need a break from knitting in general for a couple days! My mom and sister are on an airplane right now on their way to visit me, and that is so exciting I've almost forgotten all about my latest misadventures in knitting.

pajama pants vs. crazy pants

2005-06-18T22:55:00.000-05:00

Why isn't anyone talking about the fact that Tom Cruise is way crazier than Michael Jackson these days?

Exhibit A:

Sad? yes. Deprived of a childhood? it appears so. Cute PJ's? sure.
Crazy? not so much.

(photo taken from here)

Exhibit B:
Oh My God!! Look at this crazy, crazy man!! Why does he want to squish Oprah?? AHHH!!
Crazy? Definitely.

(photo taken from here)

I think the evidence speaks for itself. Ahem. Now back to knitting.

ps~How come nobody blogs on the weekends? Am I committing some kind of afwul blogging faux pas??

late night with Lelah

2005-06-17T15:50:00.000-05:00

I was up until after 2a.m. lastnight working on Lelah! I was determined to get through the lace section (size 10 needle) and start on the stockinette (size 8), which I did. However, around 1a.m. I panicked. "oh shit," I thought, "when I did the gauge swatch I must have used the size 10 instead of the size 8. That means that if I keep going like this, the top part will only be 28" around and definitely not cover my boobs!!" So I thought quick and added some increases where the pattern instructions actually had decreases. I knit a few more rounds and then went to bed thinking everything would be fine. But when I woke up this morning I snapped out of my crazy fit and remembered that I *did* use the size 8 needle for my swatch and that everything would have been perfect if I had just followed the freaking instructions and if I kept going with the increases I would end up with a boob section way too big. GRR! So I unknitted a few rounds (this yarn is real splitty so I was afraid to just frog) and now everything is ok. sheesh.

too much time

2005-06-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

OK, it's official. I have too much time on my hands. I have spent the past few days knitting this:

. . . even though it is well over 90 degrees here all day, every day. But at least it's cute. It's a keyhole scarf--my first one, and I think I'll be making more.

Also check out the dessert I fixed for Marc yesterday:

RECIPE: that, my friends, is canned fruit cocktail + honey + coconut shavings + candy sprinkles. Look delicious? Well, not so much. It's a little sweet. It's still sitting in the fridge if anyone wants to come over and kill it off!

In other news, we got the car back!!! PHEW. Now we can drive to really fun places when my mom and sister come to visit in a few days.

In knitting news, I am going to try to make some serious progress on Lelah today before casting on for the One Skein Wonder. Usually I'm too cheap to pay for patterns on the internet, but this one is so cute and I think I will use that pink and brown stuff. I figure I can afford the $3.75 for the pattern since I spent less than a dollar on the yarn.

Hey, maybe I'll even go knit outside today! It's been kind of overcast and rainy lately. Even if it's only for a few minutes, I love it.

now this blog is FANCY!

2005-06-14T00:37:00.000-05:00

Hey, check it out! I added hella buttons and links....look over on the right and then have fun clicking on stuff!

bootielicious

2005-06-13T21:21:00.000-05:00

voila!

I like these booties a lot. I used the free online pattern for Bev's Stay On Knit Booties. They're folded over at the top so they won't fall off the little punkin's feet!!! I think my new cousin will be adorable in the ensemble.

Here's another photo, less sweet but much more hilarious.

Marc bought that creepy skull thing at a tianguis (flea market) and now it lives in our fireplace. Its tusk thingies looked cold.

I've been working on the Lelah top (designed and shared for free by the wonderful Christine ) for a few days. I tried taking a picture but it didn't work out, so you'll just have to trust me that it's hecka cute. This is really my first project with lace and I love watching the pattern appear more and more clearly as I go along. The only real problem I've had is that after a couple inches of lace, I realized that the whole freakin' thing was twisted on the circular needles. WHY DIDN'T I NOTICE THAT BEFORE? Who knows, but now I'm about two inches in (again) and I check obsessively/compulsively, just in case.

Has anyone else fallen in love with lobster pot yarns? Apart from just having a really cool name, the colors are super-beautiful and the internet says the yarn is amazing. But at 40 bucks a skein I think I'm content to keep dreaming. If anyone finds a cheaper way to get it, let me know.

Well, looks like it's back to work for Marc, which means back to looking at expensive yarn and clothes on the internet for me, while snacking on fresh mangoes of course....we have a pretty rough life down here.

it itches!

2005-06-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

I just had a nice popsicle in the park, and when I got home I noticed a big white bugbite--it looks really weird, and it has a little black dot in the middle of it. Hmm.... I thought about posting a pic but I think you'd rather I didn't (trust me).

In other news, I went downtown today to pick up some yarn for lelah. I was all set with some dark red yarn when I spotted a gorgeous teal color. I had a whole debate with myself that went something like this:

Me: but I LOVE red! and I could add a pink ribon!
Me: yeah but everything I own is red.
Me: and everything else is pink.

In the end, I bought the teal (good choice, I think) but I will be adding a pink ribbon as a compromise. I also got some lavender Sinfonia cotton yarn to make tempting a little later. 3 skeins of Sinfonia at $3 each, and the teal yarn is acrylic and SUPER CHEAP. I got about 500 yards for $2.50 all together. How will I survive when I get back to California where nice yarn is so expensive??

Whoa, Hmoob just brought in her 2nd cucaracha to be masacred for the night. Well done, kitty.

awww!

2005-06-08T15:04:00.000-05:00

Whoa, this baby hat is *cute*. It's also adjustable and reversible. Here are some pictures (thanks to my knee for modeling).

I can't wait to make some booties to match. A couple days ago I posted to the knitlist asking for pattern suggestions, and so far I've received like 16 emails! Thank you thank you thank you. There are a lot of good patterns out there...I'll start trying some out today.

Meanwhile, I'm still staring at this yarn I bought last week:

It's so beautiful!! It's pink and brownish-maroon with some little silver sparkles. It's really thin and I usually don't use yarn that's more than one color, so I'm still not sure what to do with it. Any suggestions (other than socks--I'm not into that yet) would be very welcome! I paid less that a dollar for both balls (I LOVE MEXICO) so I could easily go back and buy a ton more.

Man, it is so hot here. Hmoob and I have been napping a lot while Marc works really hard on the software he's writing that will change the world. Still not sure when we'll make it to Oaxaca and Chiapas... In fact, I'm going to look at bus schedules/prices right now. Adios.

My life is a birthday card.

2005-06-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

Yep, I'm 21 today! I think I'll change the *21 shots on your 21st birthday* tradition to 21 tacos. That's more my style. I'm having a great day, although it started with a bunch of car bullshit. See, we went to Silao to pick up the car but as we were driving away that lovely little *check engine* light came on. Great. Now there's a misfire in the 3rd cylinder of the engine... we managed to drive it all the way back to Guadalajara without any major problems (probably a good sign) and now it's with a competant (I hope) mechanic in our neighborhood. BUT I WANT TO DRIVE TO CHIAPAS NOW!!!! We'll see.

While I was walking home from dropping the car off, I was chatting sweetly to my mom on the phone when a HUGE FREAKING IGUANA plopped down from a tree right in front of me! It stared at me for a few seconds, then climbed back up the tree. I have definitely never had that happen to me before. My mom said, "I guess the iguana was just dropping in to say happy birthday!" Hahaha.

Kitchen sink bag!

2005-06-05T16:20:00.000-05:00

Phew! The kitchen sink bag is finally finished. Here is Hmoob trying it out:

My 9th grade English teacher taught me the importance of the phrase "fake it till you make it." Never have I found more wisdom in those words than while knitting this bag! Case in point:

No, the top of the bag is NOT supposed to look like that. Also I ran out of yarn so the strap is hella short and worked in garter stitch instead of basketweave. But it's not so bad from far away (right??). Here it is casually slung over Marc's shoulder while he's working.

All in all, I am happy with the way this bag came out. I might even make another one (more carefully) for my Aunt Myra. It was fun to have a challenge, but I also cast on for this easy hat for my aunts' new baby.

I'm making the pattern up as I go, and it's going well considering I don't have a baby to measure. Maybe I'll have to borrow the neighbor's!

trouble

2005-06-02T14:54:00.000-05:00

My friend Phia came to visit for a few days, and we had a blast. We drove to Guanajuato, and then my car died. We talked to three different mechanics before figuring out that it needs a new water pump. (Mechanic #2 actually took something out of the radiator and said "Here's your problem. Don't worry about replacing it . . .You need this in America, but not in Mexico." Sure). Turns out Hyundais aren't too common in Mexico, so my parents mailed a water pump from the states to the mechanic. Hopefully it'll get there today and then everything will be fine. We spent a night in Silao, a quaint but boring pueblito, and then decided to rent a car and drive to the freakin' beach. Zihuatanejo was amazing, again, and everybody had a great time. If anyone reading this wants to go on vacation to Mexico, Zihua is the place. There is even a hostel there where you can get a bed for $7.20 a night!

Still working on the kitchen sink bag . . . It's going pretty well but I'm getting antsy and I'm not sure what I should start next. I should work on fixing the chevron rib tank, but the truth is I'm not sure it can be done. Hmm.

I'm off to check the fedex site to see if the auto parts have arrived in Silao. Wish me luck!

finally, some knitting

2005-05-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

After a wonderful weekend in Florida (with lots of Polish food, ocean-swimming, and airport/plane time) I've got one finished object to report:

hey look, it's me!

in the bathroom!

with a shrug!

I like it a lot. One of the ruffles is a little bit....well, less ruffly than the other one, but whatever.

And here is some progress on the kitchen sink bag. The first photo is flat, the second one is with the side of the bag "standing up."

This pattern is TRICKY!! The herringbone, basketweave, and mesh stitches require a lot of concentration and show mistakes easily. But it's knitting up nicely now that I'm a few inches into it.

My friend Sophia is coming to visit tomorrow!! We are going to drive to Guanajuato. Maybe I'll work on fixing the chevron rib tank on the way...I have some ideas.

k 1 row, read 1 page, rep from

2005-05-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

That is the deal I've been making with myself for the past few days. But today I had my last day of classes!!! It's a relief. I'm glad I'm staying in Mexico for a few more weeks and now I have lots of free time to travel and do whatever I want.

The ribbed shrug is about half-finished, and I think it will turn out really nice. I like the ruffles and it's a very simple pattern. Tomorrow I hope to make a trip to the mercerias with my friend Ana before she goes back to Minnesota. I want to pick up some needles to make the kitchen sink bag.

Pictures in the next post!

no hago nada.

2005-05-13T15:17:00.000-05:00

I have had so much homework this week that I haven't been able to do any knitting. I played around with some of the stitches for the kitchen sink bag--pretty tricky, but fun. I have two essays to write today (in spanish!) and I promised myself I'd finish at least one of them before I start making a swatch for the ribbed shrug. Next week is pretty busy too, but then Marc and I are going to Florida so I'll have some quality knitting time on the airplane.

. . . back to work . . .

dangit!

2005-05-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

I finished the chevron rib tank and it fits great!

Just kidding, it's huge and baggy and I will never wear it.

I'm trying to decide if I should just unravel the whole thing and make it into something else, or try to fix it somehow...any suggestions?

On a happier note, our road trip was great. Morelia is a really cool city--the plaza was full of people dancing for Cinco de Mayo, and I'd say at least 65% of them were over the age of 50. Lake Patzcuaro is beautiful, we took a boat ride to the island in the middle and climbed up a 100' statue of Morelos. Zihuatanejo has gorgeous beaches, really friendly people, and just the right amount of "city" to be comfortable and exciting.

I picked up some yarn along the way!

Hopefully the gray merino will become a ribbed shrug from the latest issue of Interweave, and the green cotton will be a kitchen sink bag from Knitty.

I've got a ton of school work to do this week, but hopefully I'll have some time to knit--and read, which I hardly ever do anymore!

Cinco de Mayo!

2005-05-05T12:20:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I started the Chevron Rib Tank from Interweave Knits (click here for the PDF version of the pattern) and I finished the back within a couple days. Here's a photo:

So far I like this pattern a lot and it's going quickly. A few people who have used this pattern have written that it turned out too big and baggy, but I'm using smaller needles and made some adjustments for size, so we'll see what happens. I am using Sinfonia yarn (again).

Here's what weekends usually look like around our house:

But Marc and I are going away this weekend because I have a few days off from school due to Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day. We're going to drive through the state of Michoacan (just south of us here in Jalisco). I've heard the food, scenery, and indian artisans are amazing in Michoacan. We're going to visit the Patzcuaro lake and town, the capitol city of Morelia, and then hopefully we'll drive down to Zihuatanejo, a beach close to Acapulco. Should be gorgeous!

raspberry scarf

2005-04-30T12:49:00.000-05:00

raspberry scarf
Originally uploaded by mexiknitter.

Last week I made this scarf for a friend's birthday. Marc said it smelled weird and then he had the idea to fold it all up with some raspberry tea bags overnight. It smelled delicious, and he proved his genius status once again.

Meanwhile, I've had to put the honeymoon cami on hold. I don't have enough yarn so I'll wait till I go back to the states to buy it or have my friend Sophia bring some when she comes to visit.

We went to a horrible play lastnight. Apparently, one-man-shows have a propensity to suck worldwide. But afterwards we found a delicious German restaurant and ate lots of sausage and cabbage. Somehow it gave me energy to stay up and knit for hours once we got home!

Mercerias

2005-04-29T14:01:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share a little bit about what it's like to go shopping for yarn (or fabric, beads, needles....) here in Guadalajara. Near the city's Centro of mercados (flea markets), museums, and a huge cathedral there are a few blocks with mercerias, huge stores with everything related to *los artes manuales*. They are crowded, fast-paced, and dirt cheap. There is definitely a sense that this is serious business--there are wedding dresses to sew, baby blankets to knit, and all kinds of crafty materials to be bought, all before siesta time when husbands and children return from work and school for a home-cooked lunch. Here are some photos.

Most stores that carry yarn have aisles of humongous slabs like this:

They'll wind it up into a ball of however much you need!

Others have bags of itchy acrylic yarn for as far as the eye can see.

Some ribbon:

How do you say stitch'n'bitch in Spanish??

. . . and for dessert . . .

In conclusion, come to Mexico!!!!!

honeymoon at last!

2005-04-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

OK so I finally made it downtown to the *mercerias* to hunt for some size 6 circular needles, but I forgot that the sizes here would be in milimeters! I couldn't decide between 4 mm and 4.5 mm, but since they were less than $2 each I bought them both. I have been so excited to start this project--honeymoon cami!! I am using some Lana Grossa merino wool that I bought last time I was in San Francisco. I love the green color, and the texture of the yarn is really nice--it's really....round.

Anyway, I finally got started. I decided to try the smaller needles first, but my stitches were so tight that I got really frustrated and ended up cutting the plastic part of the needle! Haha, needless to say, I'll be using the bigger needles. Here is a photo of the completed eyelet rib section:

I really like this pattern. It's my first attempt at circular knitting AND shaping, but so far so good. One of these photos is a little too light, the other is a little too dark. You get the idea.

Well, I'm going to go eat some delicious Mexican food. I'll post more soon!

Clapotis #2

2005-04-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

This one is for a friend who just got married. I am making it with Manos del Uruguay, hand-spun kettle-dyed wool. It's so pretty, but very different from the cotton one I made.

It's almost done, but I've been putting off finishing it because the next project I want to make is the Honeymoon Cami (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/PATThoneymoon.html) but I don't have the right needles for it, and it might take me a while to either order them online or find them here in Guadalajara.

handy caddy

2005-04-09T10:37:00.000-05:00

I knit this caddy as a quick birthday gift for a friend. I got the idea for this pattern from frugalaus.com, it's just a cover for any sort of old leftover can. It was really fun to knit, I got to use up some of my stash, and my friend can do whatever she wants with it! I think I'll be making more of these. . .

This one shows the colors a little better:

Can you tell what my favorite color is?? Haha. Just so you know, I am also working on something green AND something blue.

Gorgeous.

2005-04-09T00:13:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by mexiknitter.

Hey, Marc looks good in it too!

Clapotis

2005-04-09T00:12:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by mexiknitter.

It wouldn't be a knitting blog without a Clapotis, right? This is, of course, the pattern from knitty.com, worked in Sinfonia cotton by Omega. I love the way it turned out! I hope I get a chance to wear it...It's already 90 degrees here!

some recently FO's

2005-04-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Here are the legwarmers I made for my sister a while ago, modeled by my boyfriend.

And here is the adorable Ms. Hmoob, in her kitty bed from Stitch 'n bitch.

here i go!

2005-04-08T21:22:00.000-05:00

Well, today I skipped school to knit and ended up reading knitting blogs all day....I guess it's time to start my very own! My name is Ali and I've been knitting for a little over three years. I currently live in Guadalajara, Mexico with my boyfriend Marc and our cat Hmoob. I'll upload some pictures as soon as I figure out how....

skipschool2knit

Tea anyone?

Knitter's Block

Warm Wrists!

Holiday Knit-o-Rama

Come back in a week.

Yarn Shoes

I love knitting! And you!

Knitting is Everywhere

The Fat Duck and The Skinny Marc

Handmade vs. Homemade

Self-Reliance

winter!

Almost a Grown-Up

A sister's shrug and Sara's scarf

The Cousin Sweater

warm and fuzzy

hardly strictly dolly

Biking and Button Bands

hum dee dum

Jackson's Sweater

bye bye boyfriend, hello scarves.

Tempting

Katrina

Time to learn Japanese

almost there

brrrr

Paris!

hack hack hack

what blog??

home at last (for a minute)

here I am!!

Adios, Guadalajara

Oh, Mexico!

. . . Lelah who??

pajama pants vs. crazy pants

late night with Lelah

too much time

now this blog is FANCY!

bootielicious

it itches!

awww!

My life is a birthday card.

Kitchen sink bag!

trouble

finally, some knitting

*k 1 row, read 1 page, rep from*

no hago nada.

dangit!

Cinco de Mayo!

raspberry scarf

Mercerias

honeymoon at last!

Clapotis #2

handy caddy

Gorgeous.

Clapotis

some recently FO's

here i go!

k 1 row, read 1 page, rep from