Wish list 08!

Here it is! Categorized into yarny things and non-yarny things.

YARNY THINGS

• interchangeable circular needles (example)

• I have a gajillion big projects I'd love to get great yarn for (wool, silk, bamboo, depending on pattern). Take me to a yarn store and I get exactly what I need for the project! Things I drool over include this cardigan, this tank, this skirt, and oh, another cardigan.
• Sock yarn! Solids, stripes, weird colors ... I love socks :)

NON-YARNY THINGS

• Aladdin (I used to have it, but it got lost and I've been looking for a year)
• Firefly
• Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
• Inuyasha (I've recently gotten back into it -- I have the first 3 volumes and both movies)

Long time, no post!

So! I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Close, but I got my "withdraw passing" form in before the deadline, so I'm down to only 2 time-consuming classes (plus swing stuff plus applying to student teach plus paying attention to Erik plus everything else like sleeping), and financial aid has promised that my scholarships won't notice!

Here's what's going on in my world of knitting, since I'm a little bad at annotating Ravelry with priorities and such.

Finished, but not?
The Hat They Call Jayne -- have to remember to take home for Dad!

On the needles:
Fever -- needs to be finished by December 5!
Bjorklunden vid Sjon -- almost done!
Druid mittens -- barely started, low priority (except I wants 'em!!)

Queued for gifts:
Microbes for all!
Beer sweaters for M&D
Lacemats for G&G
Jayne Zunecosy (not in Q)

Further future:
Hey, Teach! (start when Xmas gifts have end in sight)
Short-sleeve cardi for me (frog ToE pullover, make ToE cardi!)

Need to figure out:
Something for Katy, Amanda, Matt
ideas:
Katy and Amanda -- fancy yarn (Noro?) and a microbe
Matt -- ??? not something knitted

Comments from all are welcome :)

Festival Fussili

First, I want everyone to appreciate that typing is hard right now: I changed my keyboard to Dvorak last week (after many years of QWERTY mastery), and I'm super-caffeinated right now!! So I'm typing the wrong letters really fast.

Yesterday was my first Friday in my new (and completely awesome!) room -- no more dorm!! To celebrate, I got out the wine and headed down to my fantastic small-house kitchen (for those who don't know, it's essentially a frat house, just without the frat). I call my creation Festival Fussili because I was celebrating the weekend and most of the ingredients came from Festival Foods (my favorite grocery store). This is an easy and delicious half-hour meal! Impress your friends!

You will need:
1 lb box whole wheat fussili (or other bite-size pasta, like rotini or penne)
1 bottle white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio)
3/4 to 1 lb whole shrimp, peeled (mine had tails)
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 green peppers, chopped into bite-size pieces
5 roma tomatoes
olive oil
parsley, oregano, rosemary, black pepper, salt
grated cheese (parmesan, romano, etc.)

Put the pasta water on to boil (salted, naturally). Heat a few tbsp of oil in a big frying pan (mine's ~14"), then add the shrimp and cook gently until they're fully pink. Remove to a plate, and take any stray bits of shells or tails out of the pan.

By now the water should be boiling; add the pasta and set the timer. Open the wine and pour yourself a glass, but don't drink too much yet!

Add a few more tbsp of oil to the pan, and saute the onions and garlic until the onions start to soften (1-2 minutes). Then stir in the peppers, half a glass of wine, and a cup or so of water (so it's about halfway submerged -- this will cook off).

Get your tomatoes, slice them in half on the equator, and squeeze the guts into your other veggies. Yum! Give that a good stir and make sure it's simmering happily. Then dice what's left of your tomatoes and toss them in along with the parsley, oregano, rosemary, black pepper, and salt to taste (don't over-salt! you can always add more at the table).

Let that cook, stirring occasionally (add more water if it gets dry), until the pasta's done. Drain, and add it and the shrimp to the veggies. Mix it all together, and take it off the heat when most of the liquid is gone (which shouldn't take more than a minute).

Serve sprinkled with cheese and a glass of wine.

(Picture coming soon!)

beer + shaping = long hours of damage control

Last night was Friday, so I had a beer, and then went and watched Sunshine with my physics friends while I worked on the back for Mrs Darcy -- specifically, my little gather shaping and then beginning the cabled rib. Everything was peachy-keen until I got back to my room, the buzz wore off, and I realized that instead of decreasing 8 times centered, I had decreased 8 times on each side of center. WTF. So this morning at the coffee shop I had to rip back about 10 rows and fix my stuff. 4 rows later I realized I had placed the decreases off-center, and had to go back and fix that. THEN I screwed up the ribbing because for some reason I decided to put a p4 where there should have only been a p2, so I had to tink back and get that straightened out. So now I'm finally in the 3rd row of the ribbing (I made it up to the 8th while I was watching the movie .. ugh).

So that's my story and why this is going sort of slowly. It should be smooth (but long) sailing from here. I think I want to find a cabled celtic knot medallion or something to put on the back, to go with the celtic knot buttons I hope to find. Whoo!!

Mrs Darcy -- modifications

My modifications follow.

SLEEVES

CO 48 +2 for seam allowances, which are always K at the end of rows and slipped at the beginning of rows.
Work 40 rows in 2x2 cable rib, cabling every 4th row
Increase once at each end of next row
Work 39 rows in st st
Increase once at each end of next row
Work 39 rows in st st

Sleeve cap shaping:
1. (RS) BO 4, k to end
2. BO 4, p to end
3. BO 4, k to end
4. BO 4, p to end
5. K to last 4, k2tog, k2
6. P to last 4, p2tog, p2
7. K to last 4, k2tog, turn (short row)
8. P to last 4, p2tog, turn (short row)
9. K to last 4, k2tog, turn (short row)
10. P to last 4, p2tog, turn (short row)
11. K
12. P
13. K
14. P2, p2tog, p to end
15. K2, k2tog, k to end
16. P
17. K
18. P
19. K to last 4, k2tog, k2
20. P to last 4, p2tog, p2
21. K
22. P
23. K
24. P2, p2tog, p to end
25. K2, k2tog, k to end
26. P
27. K to last 4, k2tog, k2
28. P to last 4, p2tog, p2
29. BO3, k to end
30. BO3, p to end
31. BO4, k to end
32. BO4, p to end
BO all remaining sts.

FRONTS

I have widened the fronts to get my size, kept the tiny cabled 2x2 rib, and added another buttonhole (total of 4) and several more rows of ribbing, which will sit at my natural waist (just below the bust).

Right front (left front)

CO 42 +1 for seam allowance
work 4 rows in seed st.
*** from here, all instructions keep a 3-stitch seed stitch border at the right edge, or left for the non-buttonhole side (e.g. - RS row: K, P, K, k to end; WS row: p to last 3, k, p, k). Omit buttonholes on left front; work those rows in the established stitch pattern.

Work 4 rows in st st
Buttonhole row 1: In border: K2tog, yo, k1; k to end.
work 7 rows st st
work 2 rows in k2, p2 tiny cabled rib every 4th row (I did p1 next to the border, then the first k2)
buttonhole row 2; do first cable here.
work 9 rows in rib
buttonhole row 3; no cable
work 9 rows in rib
buttonhole row 4; cable
work 3 rows in rib
work 2 rows st st
begin scoop neck decreases:
dec 1 st next to border next 5 rows
dec 1 st every other row, 6x
work 3 rows
dec 1 st in next row

work 20 rows in st st

armhole shaping; worked at beginning of WS rows for right front (except where indicated). Switch RS and WS for left.
BO 4
BO 2
BO 2
dec 1
next row (RS): dec 1
dec 1 next 3 WS rows (18 sts remain)
work in st st even for 30 rows, place sts on holder.


BACK

CO 88 sts
Work 4 rows seed st
Work 10 rows st st
Next row (RS): K 36, ssk 4 times, k2tog 4 times, k to end.
Next row: P 36, p2tog 2 times, ssp 2 times, p to end.
Work 26 rows in cabled rib.
Work 40 rows in st st.
Armhole shaping:
1 (RS): BO 4, k to end
2. BO 4, p to end
3. BO 2, k to end
4. BO 2, p to end
5 and 6: repeat 3 and 4
7. Ssk, k to last 2, k2tog
8. P2tog, p to last 2, ssp
9. Ssk, k to last 2, k2tog
10. Purl
11. Ssk, k to last 2, k2tog
12. Purl
13. Ssk, k to last 2, k2tog
Work even for 30 rows; place sts on holder. *Note: I put a Celtic knot design on the back of mine, starting right after the arm hole shaping -- it should have been a few rows sooner, but what can ya do. If you want a chart, comment and I'll post it, though it may be a copyright violation since I kinda tried to copy it from somewhere.

Finishing: I did a 3-needle bind-off to attach the fronts to the back, and then did a crocheted picot bind-off for the stuff in the middle because it was way small. Sew up seams, weave in ends, block, and add buttons.

fun with tickers

Mrs Darcy

Since Ravelry isn't actually a blog, I'm remembering I have this and now it's time to move on to planned mods.

For those of you joining the program late, this is Mary Weaver's Mrs. Darcy Cardigan.

DESIGN

• Add tiny gather at back, just below ribbing, so there is ease in hips but waist is still tight. -2: (K2tog)4x, (ssk)4x (or whichever gets them slanting how I want -- if anyone is using this for reference, be aware that I knit really weirdly). -1: (P2tog)2x, (ssp)2x (same note). 0: ribbing begins.
• Change twisted rib (I don't much like how it looks) to 2x2 rib with tiny cables, for a little more elasticity. Also, I love tiny cables :)
• Lengthen waist ribbed section slightly (make it up as I go, and don't forget to count!)
  
• Shorten garment to place ribbing at natural waist (counting!)
• Seed stitch borders instead of garter stitch (I think it looks more polished).
  

SIZE
I am not a Small.

• Back: CO 88 sts (with gather decreases, this makes 78 for the rest)
  
• Fronts: CO 42 sts each.
• Sleeves: CO 48 each.

SHAPING
This pattern seems to have shaping problems, mostly in that the armhole shaping is very tight. These are my preliminary ideas to help out with that.

Body (each instruction is worked once on each side):
BO4
(BO2) 2x
(k2tog) 2x
(k2tog every other row) 6x
work even in st st for 28ish rows?

Arms (full instructions)
1. BO4, k to end
2. BO4, p to end
3. BO2, k to end
4. BO2, p to last 4, p2tog, p2
5 and 6. work to last for, k/p 2tog, work 2
7 - 10. work to last 4, 2tog (short rows)
11 - 13 (and possibly beyond?). work in st st.
continue starting with row 10 as written in Mary's pattern.

This is what I have for now. Swatching is complete, and I'm just waiting to actually finish my last project before I jump on into this one :)

ETA: switched some k's to p's -- this is stockinette stictch!


7/11: Cast on the first sleeve! I was going to do them both at once, but I realized that would be pretty crowded.

Tiny cables every 4th row.

Goal: Be able to wear it to the first day of Computational Physics, weather permitting :) If all goes REALLY well, be able to wear it when I visit Moine!

playing with the internet

maybe you've seen this thread, where you use randomizing features on the web to build your "debut album." anyway, here's mine:

Delcastle Technical High School -- Strangers to Kill Again

stashbusting ideas

StumbleUpon just gave me this page where you can buy plush subatomic particles! These would be SO MUCH FUN!!

Major updates

Woah! I know I don't really have any readers, but it sure has been a while. Let's go with the current projects status.

• red summer halter top with lace or openwork bottom --- red sweater yarn, #6 circ, #2 for cables.
• mohair lace shawl --- #10 straight needles, fuchsia mohair yarn, "diagonale" pattern
• Nautiloid, from Knitty --- #8 DPNs, denim wool-ease
• big-needle sweater --- #19 straight needles, red heart casual cotton yarn w/ acrylic filler
• felt purse --- just needs assembly now
• very low priority: maroon capelet
  

Future projects (in the works)

• fisherman's wool something-or-other (wrap? shrug? sweater? ss cardigan?) --- designing. some ideas here.
  
• bday present for Katy???

That's really it for now, I suppose.

EDIT April 28:

Decided to knit some beaded wire napkin rings for Mary for her wedding, based on the Knitty pattern "Venezia". I'm using 2 of my #8 DPNs (scavenged from Nautie), the 24 ga. wire and drop beads from the Evenstar, and some colored beads from the beaded bobby pins kit. 24 is very hard to work with, but it's turning out neat. Maybe after this I'll attempt something with the 28 ga. that came with the kit.