smallsmallfaery

2009 LYS tour

Sun, 17 May 2009 07:37:13 GMT

Thursday

The Weaving Works, Seattle
Aubri, Mimi, and I met at Weaving Works; the plan was to meet at 4:30, but I showed up at 5:05, huffed as usual and I ran in to get my passport. The pattern is a for a cashmere lace hood. No way am I spending $37.50 on one skein, so I collect my stamp and free pattern and we go. Mimi made us an awesome google map of all the stops.

Bad Woman Yarn, Seattle
I had just been in Wallingford with my labmate consuming a (margarita) cupcake and chai before I took the bus back to school, my bike back home, and then my car to Weaving Works. Note the poor planning. The free pattern was a cashmere (again?!?) neckwarmer. There were some nice sales on Lopi in the back, but I wasn't too interested and left empty-handed. acapuccina treated me to a raspberry French soda at Trophy. Desiree showed up and despite her hunger, we somehow twisted her arm into coming with us. Since Desiree and I often discuss and disagree on cupcakes, we decided to settle the debate once and for all: Cupcake Royale vs Trophy Cupcakes! We're conducting a "scientific" experiment with Liz acting as PI. Frosting will be separated from cake, similar flavors between the two stores (vanilla, chocolate, red velvet) will be acquired. I'm still always going to choose Cupcake Royale.

Fiber Gallery, Seattle
Onward to Fiber Gallery! I had made their baby sweater from last year so was excited for their yarn and pattern. They had Dream in Color Starry (oooh!) and a cute beret.

Full Circle Yarn, Seattle
I often say that the yarn in this store "hasn't moved in twenty years," but it had a pretty updated selection this year and two cute patterns to boot! The knit pattern was a felted octopus (SWTC Karaoke) and the crochet pattern was a cell phone cozy (Jo Sharp Soho Summer).

Hilltop Yarn, Seattle
Hilltop Yarn had the best presentation of their patterns in full color pages: Karen's crocheted flower mitts in Hazel knits Artisan sock and Jenny's Serengeti Snuggly (cowl) in Curious Creek Serengeti. Hilltop is definitely one of my favorite stores and I almost left with some sale sock yarns. They had a cute sink display for Japanese yarn used in dishclothes.

Seattle Yarn Gallary, Seattle
Last, but not least for Day 1, Seattle Yarn Gallery, where I got Desiree's "Christmas Rock" socks for our holiday yarn exchange last December. Their pattern was a face cloth in Louisa Harding Silk. Mimi saw this great felted radish and got the pattern.

It was 8pm, so I finally let everyone stop and eat. I didn't want to stop until all the stores were closed. Poor Desiree was starving. We found a Mexican place in West Seattle and chowed down. I didn't buy any yarn or patterns on Day 1, but there was much more to come.

Friday

Churchmouse Yarns & Teas, Bainbridge Island
Aubri, Liz, and I met for the 4:40 ferry and wondered if it was just us. Mimi found us on board and I obsessed over matrices on my mac during the ride over. The plan was dinner, Churchmouse and ice cream. We went to the pub and Liz and I enjoyed a (strong!) coconut margarita as we all dug into poutine. We passed a pretty cute fabric store, but it was closed, so we made our way to Churchmouse. The free pattern was a bed sock made from KPPM and I snapped up two skeins to make socks for Seth and the pattern for the Baby Surprise Jacket. We each received a glass of cognac (?) and chose between tea and tape measures for our free gift. Then Mora ice cream and Liz brought a pint back for Bob.

Saturday

Late as usual, I made it to the Park & Ride at 9:40 AM to meet Aubri, Beth, Liz, Desiree, James, and Mimi. We headed north to Bellingham and then worked our way south.

NW Handspun, Bellingham
This place was really cute but a little cramped. I obsessed over a $35 Cricket Loom, but couldn't decide to buy it. The pattern was a little purse in Plymouth Boku, which is a lot like Noro Kureyon. A lot of us got Monarch Lace Wing sock yarn, but I left without purchases.

Apple Yarns, Bellingham
Apple Yarns had two patterns: a crocheted cowl in Manos Silk Blend and knit booties in Huckleberry Knits Trillium merino. Both were tempting, but I walked out of there with 3 skeins of Plymouth Earth Mainland (baby alpaca/silk) and Lake Whatcom alpaca (local!).

Knot Just Yarn, Burlington
Onto Knot Just Yarn, with a leg warmers pattern in Dream in Color Classy. Liz picked up a pretty reversible cabled scarf pattern and I got a shrug pattern; both for Classy. This place was cute with an adorable greyhound named Winky (after the house elf).

Wild Fibers,Mt. Vernon
The store had fingerless mitts worked in either Tofutsies or Noro Kureyon/Silk Garden Sock. I was intrigued by some Silk Garden Sock that reminded me of Starry Night, but didn't get it. I have tons of sock yarn! Liz almost lost her sock in progress, but luckily we located it before continuing on.

Great Yarns, Everett
This was a cute shop with a huge basement of sale novelty yarn. The shop pattern was a crochet or knit shawl made with a HUGE 200g ball of Marble Chunky ($13). At this point, we split up and Desiree's car (with James, Mimi, and Aubri) headed straight for Village Yarn and Tea, while Beth's car (with me and Liz) headed to Main Street Yarns.

Main Street Yarn, Mill Creek
The shop pattern was a pair of fingerless gloves in some Rowan Tweed that matches a Knitty hat pattern Shedir. Here, I found the deal of the day: 5 balls of Lamb's Pride Superwash in brown for $26. It'll be some sort of sweater, but I haven't decided yet. This was a cool looking store, but we didn't get to spend much time. There was half an hour left and we still wanted to make it to VYT!

Village Yarn & Tea, Shoreline
We made it with a little time to spare. The pattern was a set of elbow-length fingerless gloves in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Tempting again, as was the Plucky Knitter and sale yarns (Rowan All Seasons Cotton and MerLin for Beth). We may return to snatch up these nice summer yarns.

Sunday

Acorn Street, Seattle
Aubri, Liz, and I met at the 65th/Ravenna Park 'n' Ride at 11 AM and headed to Acorn Street. The free pattern was a baby sweater in JJ's Handpainted 10 ply. I almost wanted to get it to make a sweater for Dan Klein's baby girl, but they're in LA and the yarn is wool and that doesn't seem practical. They had the cutest buttons! Maybe I'll make the sweater in a cotton yarn for them.

Tricoter, Seattle
Tricoter's pattern was a LYS tour scarf in Socks that Rock. I picked up a skein in Alina, which happened to look just like my Koigu. Oops. I feel okay with my purchase because Tricoter sounds like they've hit on hard times. They've a 15% off sale since last fall.

Hilltop East, Bellevue
Hilltop East had a knit market bag and crocheted flower scarf, both in tofutsies. I ended up with a reversible lace scarf pattern by Heartstrings.

Cultured Purls, Issaquah
This was a pretty cute store with fingerless gloves in Debbie Bills Baby Cashmerino. I almost bought some to make a baby sweater, but couldn't justify the price. Liz ended up with a pretty cool sock yarn - Wollenboll? - and was tempted by the needle gauge necklaces.

The Knittery, Renton
The Knittery had a sock pattern and lace sampler shawl (Silky Alpaca), both knit. We stopped for lunch in the subs place next door.

Renaissance Yarns, Kent
Renaissance Yarns had a fingerless mitt pattern in Merisoft by Punta Yarns, which was definitely tempting. Aubri picked up 3 purposely mismatched skeins of Lorna's Laces in blues, pinks and purples. Liz ended up with some tweed for a hat. We all voted on chickens designed and knit by customers (and all voted for #4).

The Yarn Stash, Burien
The ladies at The Yarn Stash were super nice and gave us coupon booklets for discounts all through the summer. The featured patterns were a crocheted jewelry bag in Zitron Savanna and knitted/felted clogs in Cascade Eco Wool ($15 for natural and dyed!). I may have to go back and pick up two for a sweater. Liz picked up two for a wedding present and Aubri got some Mochi yarn and something else. Bonnie and Beth were so nice that they gave us a map from their store to Seattle Yarn Gallery. We went back to Seattle Yarn Gallery so Liz could pick up her stamp and pattern. Then we dropped off Aubri and headed to Fiber Gallery. Sadly, they were out of cashsoft. I think I have enough yarn anyway!

So ends the 2009 LYS tour. 21 stores (10 new to me, 4 faves: VYT, Churchmouse, Hilltop, The Yarn Stash), 11 skeins of yarn (2073 yards), 30 patterns (3 bought, 6 crochet), and $127 later, I ended up with:

From crafts

I call that a success!

ETA 10:54 PM knitmi has a great post with maps of our travels and commentary on the food.

lace rectangle sewn into a shrug

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:28:14 GMT

lace rectangle sewn into a shrug
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my lace rectangle I started in Boston. Now that it's gone colder, it seems awfully impractical as anything but a scarf.

pincushion

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:42:42 GMT

pincushion
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

After Nicole and I "debugged" my sewing machine tonight, I came home and made this!

sock yarn pocket

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:07:18 GMT

sock yarn pocket
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

My mom got me an awesome vest. It even has a small pocket in the front that holds sock yarn well!

Simulating Knitted Cloth at the Yarn Level

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:47:01 GMT

This is some pretty fabulous research going on at Cornell by Jonathan Kaldor, Doug L. James, and Steve Marschner.

Skim through the paper and you'll see all your favorite stitches. Watch the movie. It's a simulation and it's amazing.

bird embroidery

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:04:48 GMT

bird embroidery
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

I got a free kit at the Craft: party in Boston, so I got some napkins to try it out.

day 3 in Allston

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:38:34 GMT

I got into Somerville on Monday morning at 3:30 AM and then moved into my apartment in Allston in the evening. Boxes I shipped here arrived on Tuesday included bags of yarn and my ball winder. I miss my swift and spent a long time winding, tangling, and untangling my Schaefer Heather:

I used a back of a chair, tried to go slowly, but really, it was a pain in the butt. I don't really want to have my swift sent - what if it breaks? The first swift I ordered from Joann's arrived broken!

Later, I cast on for a single-skein shrug pattern from the LYS tour.
The pattern was free, and in fact, the yarn was something I won in an online contest at Eat.Sleep.Knit. so the whole thing is a free project!

I stopped into a yarn store A Good Yarn in Brookline as they were closing and made a new friend on Ravelry. I'll be heading to the Brighton Knit Brunch on Saturday.

The knitting picture was taken with my mac; the yarn store picture was taken with my phone and I purposely left my camera with Seth (it's his too). I plan on getting a good camera as soon as my first paycheck comes.

Adi in her new sweater

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:05:22 GMT

Adi in her new sweater
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

It fits!

Meeting the Yarn Harlot

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:09:02 GMT

Meeting the Yarn Harlot
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

OMG The Yarn Harlot is holding my first baby sweater! It's a christening of sorts!

I'm on her blog too!

sock yarn obsessed

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:23:23 GMT

Here is my attempt to use up some sock yarn.

Before. I was going to make matching socks for robogock and myself.

After. Tada! A baby sweater and socks for Moneta and Ethan's month-old baby, Adina. Moneta hasn't seen this yet and I'm giving this to her on Wednesday.

This is the back. I wanted the stripes to occur at the same frequency so knit it from two balls, switching in the middle (where you see the seam). This took a whole bunch of tries and is still visible, but I like the effect.

Front and back of a sub-par attempt.

The beginning: the front.

And, of course, a close-up of the socks.

I've spent all day looking at other people's stashes (on Ravelry) for sock yarn. I'm utterly obsessed and really don't need any more. This is my sock stash as of July 3, 2007. There's a bit more now and some of it is gone.

Clearly, I need to knit faster.

my first "quilt"

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:16:03 GMT

I've been thinking of making a quilt for robogock and gustaf's wedding but I've never quilted before. Yesterday I tried my hand at my first "quilt": a quilted pot holder.

Definitely could use some improvement. I'll probably make another one for practice. If it works out, I'll make a bunch for the holidays. I want to believe that sewing is so much faster than knitting, but it really wasn't for the pot holder, but probably because I was learning.

Also, I'm still working on my friend kris10p's thrummed mittens.

I totally missed her birthday and now I'm scrambling to finish before it becomes warm in Chicago!

crafty gifts

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:53:17 GMT

I forgot to blog about the finished Odessa.

I ended up finding hook size 10 that fit into my 4 mm beads. This was easier than my bent wire method. I finished it in time for my mom's birthday on February 7th, which was Lunar New Year. I had stopped after the hat was 5 inches rather than 5.5 in and later regretted it after I did all the decreases. Instead of undoing the crown, I picked up stitches along the brim and added another half inch. I think I'd like to make my mom a beret too; she has biggish hair.

Also, I've received some cool homemade presents.

For Valentine's Day, Seth got me a cool robot hand towel.

It's hand crafted and distributed by an indie company Shana Logic. It's a little dirty in this picture, but it's because I'm using it!

Also, Seth's sister made me this great robot softie.

Look at the fantastic details from the arms and hands to the shiny buttons. Emily is very talented and has made several animals, especially notable is a minotaur.

Last week I bought myself a macbook to replace my 4.5 year old dell. I had to make it a case so it didn't get scratched.

I'm pleased with how the pockets carry my charger and extension cord.

I don't want to blog about new projects without giving too much away, so they'll probably only be posted as I finish them.

Christmas presents

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 07:20:47 GMT

I got through the knitting crunch and finished some presents.

Clogs for Seth's sister, Emily:

A scarf for Seth's mom, Beth:

A scarf for Leo:

With an illusion Tux (in the previous picture, the penguin goes up to my navel):

Potholders for Kristen and Geoff (they're in the mail, they haven't gotten them yet!):

Of course, now I have some projects in progress.

New toe-up socks in garter rib:

My first toe-up sock was a bit tight and has a hole in it:

Odessa hat for my mom:

For the Odessa hat, I tried beading by stringing all the beads on first, but pushing the beads along, but the wool broke as I did that. I also wanted to try to the crochet method, but I didn't have a hook small enough to fit into my 4mm beads. So, I made a make-shift hook with wire and it turned out all right.

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:28:19 GMT

Stripes...

Penguin!

I'm (almost) halfway done with my linux illusion scarf. I need to finish off the crown of Tux's head and then continue with simple striping. The pattern includes a linux logo, but I'm going to omit it. If you recognize Tux the penguin, then you'll already know it's linux and the recipient already does. I see him on Friday, so let's see if I can finish by then. I also have to fix the mistake at the top of Tux's feet.

I have never felt the holiday knitting crunch before. (See the Yarn Harlot's blog for an example.) I completed Branching Out on Saturday but didn't think it was long enough.
After calling to locate a skein of the right color, I found one in Bellevue. I didn't really want to go get it and I didn't think I'd have enough time to knit another whole skein, so I called it finished. It can tie nicely at the neck like an ascot or cravat, much like this pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas.

After that, I want to work on the Odessa hat for my mom. I picked up beads today (pictures to follow). It would be nice to finish the hat by the 26th, but we'll see how the scarf goes.

clog one

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:37:23 GMT

clog one
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

Clearly, I'm not getting much work done if I'm getting this much knitting done.

The shaping seems a bit funny up close, but otherwise, I think it'll be ok.

felting: a gauge lesson

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:45:13 GMT

I started swatching for Fiber Trends felted clogs and I couldn't get the specified gauge: (size 13 needles) 9 st / 4 in unfelted, 12 st / 4 in felted. My results:

unfelted:
size 13 English 12 st / 4 in
size 13 continental 10.5 st / 4 in (20 stitches across)
size 15 continental 9.5 st / 4 in (14 stitches across)

You can imagine my surprise when my first swatch (size 13 English) came out as the same gauge as the felted piece is supposed to be!

felted:
size 13 continental 13.3 st / 4 in
size 15 continental 10.5 st / 4 in

The squares felted very little even after two tries in the washer (warm/cold) in tied a pillow case, washed with other laundry. Afterward, I stuck them under hot water in the sink and rubbed them together and they felted a lot! It looks like my best bet will be either size 15 English because it will be a bit tighter or size 13 continental with less felting. I think I'll go with the size 13s because I bought them specifically for this project. :)

Also, I made Ann hand warmers and she liked them. :)

toe-up sock

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:31:46 GMT

toe-up sock
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

I think I'm going to rip it out; at least past the heel.

a homemade chalk bag

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:59:11 GMT

Based on this tutorial on how to make a chalk bag I've made my own.

I started out with a tank top that was too short and a sweater that I felted in the wash.

Here's the bag closed. I bought the elastic and cord stop from Joann's Fabrics.

I tried using metal eyelets as indicated in the tutorial, but I chose fabric that was too thin and they didn't grip well. I sewed around the holes so they would keep their shape.

I took the belt from my old chalk bag and threaded it through loops made from the tank top straps.

I can't wait to go climbing tomorrow!

I'm fish-nished!

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:50:06 GMT

What started out as
...

turned into

yarn: Caron Simply Soft
pattern: http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-hPoyIeslcqobrefmpVg-?cq=1&p=7
needles: 7 straight
modifications: crochet border on each fish and entire blanket
start: April 2007
finish: October 2007

This is far from perfect, but I'm pleased with it. I should practice more joining techniques because I wasn't satisfied by my first crochet join (not pictured), which is why I ended up adding a crochet border to each fish. However, I crocheted around the fish too tightly instead of following the shape with increases and decreases. As a result, the fish are a little bumpy.

I'm tempted to write up a pattern where one makes strips of fish: start at the head, knit to tail, continue without breaking yarn, start new tail decreasing to head.

Fraternal socks?

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:29:36 GMT

Fraternal socks?
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

Bah, my dyelots match but my socks don't.

my so called scarf

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:12:25 GMT

my so called scarf
Originally uploaded by smallsmallfaery

Is the green too bright? Am I going to make it to the end with the grey?

smallsmallfaery disambiguation page

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:58:07 GMT

I'm making a lj for this name because it's what I use for my crafting identity.

my email

my ravelry

my flickr

knittyboard

Today, I'm my own seven dwarfs: Sneezy, Itcy Eyes, Stubby Toes, Bitchy, Lazy, Boring, Slobby. I've been frogging an old crocheted Cascade 220 scarf and dust and dander have been flying everywhere. Guess I haven't stored it too well. As a result, I've been sneezing and rubbing my eyes all afternoon. It doesn't help that the bf and I acquired a dusty old (free!) queen sized mattress yesterday. I don't feel like working on my paper even though the deadline is this Friday.

Been working on the knitty xback tank:

Trial 1: Too wide! Like many bloggers, I found that casting on the original number of stitches for the recommended needle size made a tube that was far too wide, even though I got gauge. I ended up doing a swatch and measuring only after stretching it out. I'm using Tahki Capri and I like how it's turning out otherwise.

Trial 2: I had gotten 6 balls of Tahki Capri in a swap: 4 blue and 2 white. I've been toying with stripes or just making the tank the two colors without stripes. Here's my first attempt at striping. I don't like the way it's coming out in seed stitch.

Trial 3: This time, I inserted a knit round before proceeding with seed. I'm very happy with the results!