Back to School

Today is my second day of law school. It’s going well so far. I’m a little bit overwhelmed, but it’ll be ok.

I had a bunch of reading to do before classes even started so I haven’t done a ton of knitting lately, but I’ve been chipping away on the sleeves for Serrano.

I’m still loving this stitch pattern, even after all this time. I am eager to be done with this sweater though – I want to be able to wear it a few times before it gets too cold.

 In the pattern pictures, the split cuff is a pretty obvious detail, and I’ve decided to keep it.  I didn’t like how floppy the sleeves look though, particularly in the second picture (where she’s adjusting her hair).  I decided to make the split portion of the sleeves only about half as long as it’s supposed to be.

The cuffs will still be a bit floppy, which was the final factor in my decision to make the sleeves 3/4 length. I think the higher up the cuffs are the less likely it is that the flopiness with bother me.

I (heart) my den

We are officially done fixing up the condo! Last week we repainted the kitchen. Here is an oh-so-flattering picture that my husband took of me standing on the kitchen counter, covering the school bus yellow with nice yellow (Benjamin Moore Hawthorn Yellow).

The den was the last room that we did because it presented such a challenge.  It was a gawdawful shade of orange originally, and now it’s a nice taupe/gray. I’m thrilled with the way it turned out.

We used Benjamin Moore paint in “Silver Fox.”  I’m really pleased with the way it looks with the black built-in and with the brick wall.  The rest of the condo is very Victorian, so I love the more modern den.  I especially love the botanical print curtains – they’re from Ikea. 

Law school starts in a couple of days.  I am so glad that this is all finished!

Serrano Update #6 – It fits!

I finished the body of Serrano and blocked it.  I used my new blocking wires for the first time – they really came in handy making clean edges for the bottom and sides.

You can see from the picture below that I omitted waist shaping.

I was on the fence about this for awhile, but I think I’ll be glad I did it this way. I have broad shoulders, so I have a problem with button-up things gapping at the bust. As a result, I almost never wear cardigans fully buttoned. The side seams are very often behind where they should be so waist shaping on the side “seams” might look strange. I decided to go with an unbroken lace pattern so it will look good open or closed.

Elin’s recent post about her Serrano inspired me to join the shoulders and try it on.

It looks a little strange when worn as a vest, but it fits!

Clapotis!

I have finally finished my very own Clapotis. 

I love it. I used Lorna’s Laces Lion and Lamb in Tahoe. The colors are wonderful – blue, teal, and purple. I used about 3.5 skeins, and alternated between two skeins every other row. I think that added to the richness of the coloring of the finished item and gave it a more even look. For instance, the very light blue patches only appeared in one of the skeins, so I’m glad they stretched thorough the middle portion of the item rather than being confined to only 1/4 of it.

I made it a bit longer than called for, mostly out of habit. I’m taller than most so I routinely lengthen items.

I realize that my outfit doesn’t really go with it, but it was in the 80s today, cut me some slack

It looks rather thin in the above photo, but it’s wide enough to cover a good part of my back when wrapped around.

The wonderful thing about this pattern is the way it changes shape. It is great as a shawl, but it also works as a scarf.

This is my third Clapotis. I made one about a year ago for my friend Elizabeth and one as a Christmas present for my mother-in-law. I can’t imagine that I’ll ever make another, as great a pattern as it is. Three is plenty.

This project was a long time in the making.  I bought this yarn more than a year ago and I finished the increase sections by the middle of January.  The straight section killed me. It was so boring.  I only worked on it when I was too tired to work on anything more complicated, so I didn’t make much progress.  The last few weeks of my job were really intense though, so I indulged in several days of zombie knitting to clear my head in preparation for law school. 

I love the way it turned out. I’m sure I’ll use it a lot.

More on Knitblogs

My previous post on Rockin’ Blogs made me realize that my blogroll had become woefully outdated.  Very few of the blogs that I mentioned in the post were on my sidebar, which is silly because I obviously follow them.  I realized that my blogroll was stuck where it was more than a year ago when I entered the land of knitblogs.  Two things have changed since then.  First, I began to drift away from the “superstar” blogroll and more towards blogs with more modest readership.  Second, the pantheon of superstar knit bloggers has changed considerably in the last year or so.

Let’s look at the superstars first.  When I say “superstar” I mean the likes of the Yarn Harlot, Brooklyntweed and Grumperina.  Anyone who closely follows knitblogs has heard of them, if only because they’re listed on most blogrolls.  Also, they tend to link to each other.  Many of the popular knitbloggers have very similar blogrolls, all linking to the same group of… popular knitbloggers.  I don’t have any interest in making a statistical study of it, but it does seem that popular blogs only link to popular blogs.  Is this because “good” bloggers have taste that mirrors the taste of the blog reading public in general?  Or does earning a place on the sidebar of a superstar blogger confer a wide readership overnight?  See FemiKnitMafia’s experience being “Harlotized” as evidence that such a thing is possible.  When I first built my blogroll it drew almost entirely from this popular group, because I figured it was a good place to start. 

That list of “popular knitbloggers” as it appears on blogrolls all over doesn’t really make sense anymore.  Several of the superstar blogs have gone dormant for one reason or another.  Take the brightest star of all, Eunny Jang. In August 2006 she posted extensively on two brilliant self-designed sweaters and lots of beautiful spinning. She hasn’t posted at all in August 2007; she actually hasn’t posted to that blog since April.  I assume it’s because she’s been super busy editing Interweave and working on her design projects.  Purly Whites/Sundara rarely posts anymore, presumably because she has a hand-dying business to run.  Apparently bitter purl has a book coming out, which might be why she hasn’t posted since March.  The feed reader I use tells me that thousands of people still subscribe to these feeds, even though they seldom get updated.  I think it’s sort of silly to keep linking to inactive blogs just because they were popular and interesting once, so I removed them.   

So, why do I read the blogs I do?  What I look for, more than anything else, is knitting content.  I know that sounds self-evident, but it isn’t really.  I don’t really get Knit and Tonic, for example.  Wendy has a great sense of humor, and takes really neat pictures, but that’s not what I came for.  I want to see what people are working on.  Neat photography and a keen sense of humor are 100 times better when the subject is good knitting.  Take this post by Grumperina.  It’s just a post about socks, fer crying out loud.  But it is well-written, well-photographed, and about knitting.  Take the series that Cara from January One did about her mitered square madness. Once again, it’s well-written, well-photographed, and about knitting.

I look for the same things in the “mere mortal” blogs (no offense gals!).  Blogs with more modest readership are even more fun to read in my opinion, because the writers appreciate and respond to comments.  It feels more like a conversation that way.  It also feels like you actually get to know people.  It’s fitting that MLE was the one who called me a Rockin’ Girl Blogger, because her blog was the first one that I regularly commented on.  I think I might have first seen her on the Knittyboard, but I don’t remember.  I do remember that I began following her blog because of the kinship that I felt because we are both in our 20s, married, and named Emil(y/ee).  I kept following it because she has what I consider to be similar taste and skills.  It’s interesting to see what she picks to work on, because chances are it’s a project that I’ve considered too. 

Ha!  Are you all still reading?  Fabulous!  Thank you so much for making it through what must be my longest post ever.  There aren’t even any pictures!  I’m really curious about what you think of the knitblogging universe.  Do you tend to follow “superstar” blogs or “mere mortal” blogs?  What makes you decide to subscribe to a blog’s feed?  Do you bother commenting on a super-popular blog if you would be the 182nd person to do so?  Why is a peanut called a peanut if it is neither a pea nor a nut? 

Discuss.

Rockin’ Blogs

I was totally psyched and flattered to learn that MLE named me a Rockin’ Girl Blogger.

I’d like to recognize some more rockin’ gals. Since I believe in spreading the wealth, I focused on people who did not already have the Rockin’ Girl Blogger button up. There are obviously a ton of rockin’ bloggers, but here are five more in no particular order:

- Nicole from All Buttoned Up. Nicole is a really neat person who has made some beautiful stuff. I admire her most for an ongoing project of hers that is becoming one of the most valuable resources in the land of knitblogs, and becoming even more useful by the day.  The Walker Treasury Project  was her idea.  I think it shows off some of the very best aspects of our community.  Which reminds me, I had planned to do a few more swatches…

- Robin from Yarncrawl. Robin cranks out beautiful work at an amazing pace, especially considering she works AND takes classes too. She’s also always there with supportive comments and advice.

- Ruth from Knitting on Impulse. I would be absolutely shocked if no one else had nominated her, but I haven’t seen any mention on her blog. Perhaps blog memes aren’t her style. If you’ve never seen her blog it should absolutely be your next click. She creates beautiful things and her blog is full of stunning photography. Her series on creating color schemes from what you find in nature is a must.

- Batty from Batty’s Adventures in Spooky Knitting. I first became aware of Batty on the Knittyboard, and she’s a hoot. She’s also a prolific commenter on other people’s blogs, which I really admire. I don’t comment as often as I should, and blog comments create the great sense of community that we have. Plus, bats are awesome.

- Kelly from Kelp! Knits. Check out these socks, and  this shawl and this cat bed. Beautiful stuff!

These two gals have already been nominated, but I had to mention them too:

- Mel from Pipe Dreams and Purling Plans.  Check out her design in the August issue of Magknits. I was lucky enough to hear about the design in the planning stages, and I’m SO impressed.

- Ruth from Ruthless Knitting. Ruth also has some awesome designs, and her Sheldon is currently the MOST POPULAR toy in Ravelry! Ruth also provides a really interesting mix of knitting and non-knitting content. Check our her series on the adventures of Florence.

So, these are some of my favorite bloggers.  If you’ve never visited them, you really should! 

Serrano Update #5

I divided the body at the arm holes ages ago, but I haven’t made much progress beyond that.  The shaping got a lot more complicated, and I was totally fried from work and moving.  Now that I’ve finished up my job and I have more time on my hands I want to finish Serrano before it gets too cold to wear it.

Back when I first started this project I decided that since my gauge was a bit small, I should make the next size up and just not block it to the full measurements.  I’ve been worried this whole time that it might have been a mistake, that the lace would open up the moment it got wet and be way too big. Today I couldn’t handle the suspense anymore, and I got it wet to see what would happen.

It will fit! I stretched it into shape, and it went to 42 inches. Just what I had planned!  Hooray!  Now that I have confirmation that it will fit, I am even more excited to get back to work.

I also love what the blocking has done to the texture. I’m so excited!

I’m sorry Clapotis, I still love you

I’m a bit ashamed that I wrote that last post.  I wrote it at the office when I was done with my work for the week but couldn’t quite sneak away yet.  I had all of those yarn pictures on flickr because I had added them to my ravelry stash, and I figured that I might as well lay out my thoughts for what was next.

When I got home, Clapotis stared at me reproachfully. Serrano was so angry that we’re still not speaking. I should not have planned out my future projects when I have so many things in progress, so I’ll buckle down and finish a few things before I start any others.

Clapotis is the worst – I’m only about three quarters of the way through, and I started it in JANUARY.   While I only ever really work on it as zombie knitting, it is getting a bit silly that it still isn’t finished. I made some good progress on it this weekend.

This will definitely be my last Clapotis. It is my third, and while I had fun with the other two, knitting the same easy pattern three times is a bit draining. I just love the way it’s turning out though.

I get the sense that the law school classrooms are drafty, so I’ll probably end up wearing it quite a bit.

I’m working on several secret projects at the moment, so my WIP basket is even more full than I’ve been letting on.  I feel bad hiding so much from you, but you’ll see it all soon enough.  There is one particular thing that you’ll see relatively soon, and I’m thrilled about it because many more people will see it too.  But that’s all I’ll say for now – it won’t feel real to me until it actually happens, and I don’t want to jinx it!