...MonkeyKnits... A Knitting Blog

Loverly

I'm in lurve.

Three little skeins, all in a row.

Downpour. Socktopus. Little Bunny Foo Foo.

One skein is destined for my Sockapalooza friend. One skein is destined for my Monkey Sock Swap pal. And the third skein... Well, that one is all mine!

p.s. Thanks for the kind words about the new 'do. After a whole week of wearing it, I'm still loving it! If you're ever in Duluth, MN, and you feel the urge to get a new look, you must visit this salon and ask for Lyndsay. That's "Lyndsay with the Dreadlocks" Lyndsay. Tell them Jen sent you!

Purple Bronze

John and I spent the weekend in Kansas City with our good friend, Lee. He is one of the smartest people I know, and he is such a nice guy. He can also work magic with a barbecue grill. We never go hungry when we're visiting Lee. The only thing that would have made our visit better would have been a couple of extra days. We got there on Saturday afternoon and left first thing Monday morning -- it was a quick visit, but we had a great time!

Here are the men on top of a parking ramp in downtown KC. We were checking out all the construction going on down there. There's a new performing arts center, the Sprint Center, and about a million lofts. The amount of money in that city amazes me. Where does it all come from? And how can I get my hands on some of it?

We also saw Damien Rice at the Uptown Theater on Sunday night. I had only heard his first album (O) and I didn't realize that his newer work is a bit... umm, heavier. Some of it was pretty loud (I sound like my Grandma! Hi, Grandma!). But I did like the show. He has a beautiful voice.

So, now for the important stuff: YARN. A trip to KC wouldn't be complete without one or two stops at the local yarn stores in the vicinity. This time it was The Studio (about 4 blocks from Lee's house) and String of Purls (in Omaha -- we stopped there on the way back home).

This lace weight yarn is hand-dyed 100% silk made by a woman in Merriam, Kansas. Her business is called Crafty in a Good Way. It doesn't look like she's selling online, yet. This beautiful skein was purchased at The Studio in KC.

I also bought two skeins of Koigu at String of Purls. Sorry no photos -- they're for my Sockapalooza Pal, so I'll post photos when they become a WIP. The women who were working at this store yesterday were extremely friendly and helpful. I would recommend a visit to this store if you're in the area. The yarns are organized by color,which isn't very functional, and they have a lot of novelty yarn (isn't that craze over!?). But they also have a wide variety of gorgeous multi-purpose yarns and unique hand-painted or harder-to-find yarns. I was restrained, and I kept my purchase under $30.

Now we're back home for two days and then it's on the road again. We're heading up north to visit my family. My littlest brother is graduating from college on Thursday, and I'm looking forward to some R&R R&R&K at the lake. I just have to make it through one more day at the office... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Monkey See, Monkey Knit

Pattern: Monkey socks from Knitty.com
yarn: Koigu KPPPM color P516
needles: Addi Turbo US size 2

I'm knitting these for the Monkey Sock Swap. This pattern is pretty fun -- it's easy to memorize, but not so easy that it's boring. I'll probably knit another pair for myself when these ones are finished. A girl can never have too many Monkey socks!

Quick Update

Hello. Did you think I'd vanished without a trace? Have no fear... Here I am! The usual excuses apply. I have been knitting. I just haven't been blogging.

Here's a photo of the state of the Anemois. One hand finished - the other one started. Can you spot the weirdness in this photo? If you said that it's the straight needles in my circular knitting project, you would be correct. I made an error in the pattern and ended up ripping back several rows. The stitches were too small and squinchy to get them right back on the slippery Addis, so I stuck them on these little straights for a bit. I just haven't gotten back to it, yet.

And here is my second Clapotis. This has become my "PTG" (project to go). This one is Malabrigo, just like my first Clapotis - just a different color. I love this yarn. Love it!

And that's the quick update! While I'd like to tell you that I'm going to try to post more often, I think I should be honest and say that I may or may not post more often. I'd really like to. The thing is that lately I just don't have enough energy and focus to put together a comprehensive blog post. But I'm working on it. So I guess we'll just see what happens!

Future Projects

Where, oh where, does the time go? It's been weeks since my last post, and I don't really have a good explanation for my lack of posting. Let's see... there's work (busy), crafting (knitting + quilting = busy), and family/friends (missing you!).

Way back in December, I started to put together this list of the knitting projects I wanted to tackle in 2007. Let's take a look-see:

• Sunrise Circle Jacket - I love this jacket, and from all the finished ones I see on blogs across the world, it looks like it's flattering on a wide variety of body shapes.
• Sapporo 2007 - or something similar
• Socks that Rock club - on the way! (must.be.patient)
• Anemoi mittens - one down, one to go (and yarn purchased to make at least 4 more pairs!)
• alpaca/Noro Transitions blanket - almost done (started in '06)
• Noro Kureyon blanket - almost done (started in '06)
• socks for middle bro - 1/3 done (promised to him two Christmases ago)
• new scarf and pulse warmers for me

I guess I didn't get very far, huh? It's a pretty short list... It will be interesting to see how this list grows over the next 11 months. I've really been cleaning up the WIPs and try to fall in love with my stash again.

To be honest, my knitting levels have dropped a bit lately. I get home from work with about enough energy to throw something together for dinner, tidy up the house a bit, and watch a little tv before it's time for bed. I think it's a little bit of the winter blahs. How many weeks until spring?!? At this point, I'd settle for temperatures in the double digits!

Right done - Done right.

Alternate title: Mitten as Art.

I posted before about how much I love this pattern. I really do. The pattern itself is well written and easy to follow. The finished mitten is so lovely. No chance of "second mitten syndrome" with these babies. I'm casting on tonight while watching AI, and last night's Heroes. My idea of a fabulous evening!

Thanks to those who gave photography suggestions. We actually have a light tent set up in our family room -- we have been trying to take photos for my parent's website. So today's photo is "a la" light tent. The colors are fairly accurate. But what I really want to be able to do is to take photos like the ones I see on some of my favorite blogs. Someday!

Oh, Noro-oh-oh!

Squares. Squares. Squares.

One square short. Almost but not quite. Back to work.

Anemoi - v2.0

    

I apologize for the poor photo quality - anyone have any good advice for photographing hand knit items indoors in the dead of winter? If so, I'd love to hear them!

With that out of the way, I present to you Anemoi v2.0. The pattern, of course, is Eunny Jang's Anemoi mittens. The yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed. It was difficult to capture the true colors - what with not being home during daylight hours. The colors are aubergine and electric robin's egg blue (teal?). Have I said it? I *love* this pattern.

Now, I just need to finish a pair!

It's in my genes...

When I was little -- I'm guessing I was 10 or so -- my mom knit a sweater vest for me to wear on Christmas eve. I don't remember her knitting it, but I'm sure she put a lot of time and love into it. The only thing I remember about it was that I didn't really want to wear it. I wasn't a fashion diva at age 10, but somehow I knew that wearing a handknit sweater made by your mother was the antithesis of cool.

But I did wear it, and I lived through it. (I'm not sure why I thought that the vest was the problem, when clearly it was the hair that was dragging down the coolness factor.) And now I can look back on the whole thing and truly appreciate the love that went into that little sweater vest. Thanks, mom! I love you.

Anemoi - v1.0

I am in love.

   

These are done in Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport weight. I have another pair started in Rowan Felted Tweed, and one more pair started in Koigu PPM + Rowan 4 Ply Soft.