Drumbabe's Domain

Well, I've been remiss in blogging for, egads!, six months! I can only say that flying 90,000 miles in 11 months takes it toll on you and your life outside of work. There is little time for other things. BUT I was knitting while on all those airplanes (42 to be exact).

First, I had to start figuring out what my wedding dress was going to look like. Yes, I'm going to knit it. The whole thing from the tip of my toes to my neck. So I did several swatches with different yarns and also decided that I needed to add beads to it (it had to be sparkly since I'm a Abominable). I finally selected a ribbed tank dress in a silvery yarn with sparkly maroon & purple lined beads. I also altered the pattern to make it full length and a little swirl at the bottom. While at Shuttles, Louise suggested that I only put the beads on the dress every other rib since the beads will make the dress heavier and I don’t want it to sag. Good suggestions Louise! Thanks!

So I made some really good headway on the dress while to and forth to HI for work (two 9 hour flights with nothing to do but knit....). But I felt the need to make something for Barbie. She needed a new sable suit for the fall to keep her warm and I needed a quick satisfaction of completing something. the sable suit was just the ticket.

Then back to the dress....I kept carrying it on airplanes until it got to 9" but it just didn't fit in my laptop bag anymore. And then, the middle of November hit me with some things to take care of. Like,
1) get married
2) pack up my Boulder house and prepare to rent
2) move two timezones (and drag the cat with me)
3) knit a few Christmas presents

The presents were pretty light this year in terms of knitting. Asha has already outgrown the pink bunny slippers from last Christmas so I made purple ones for this year. And the purple leftovers made perfect mice for Missy's collection.

Now it is back to the dress exclusively until it is completed. I’ve got about 10” completed so it is about 1/2 way up my calf. I’ve already used about 10 bottles of beads so I guess I’ll order some more. It already weighs quite a bit so I’m really glad that I took Louise’s advice to not use them on every row. I think I’ll make it a little shorter and switch to the next size down on the needle since I want to help avoid any stretching and sagging problems.

Work has almost put me over the edge during the past month (been feeling like I might crack up) but stubborn girl that I am, I HAD to finish knitting ALL the Barbie dresses requested. Asha requested an entire bridal party after looking in the Vogue Knits for Barbie book by Nicky Epstein.

I agreed but after finishing the Bridal Gown I was done. This was a tremendous amount of fiddle work. If I wasn't crazy before I started this project, I felt like I was done after finished the Bridal Gown. I spend 5 hours, non-stop, on a Sunday afternoon just doing the work AFTER the knitting was done. I quickly dressed Barbie in the dress, took a picture and handed it off to Asha. I knew I wanted to have a photo to capture the dress since I knew all the little pieces and parts would probably get lost in short order.

I took a couple weeks break from the rest of the Bridal Party to finish a couple hats but I was determined that I had to finish what I started with the request. It took about a week to do all three of the remaining dresses. Awwwwww, I'm glad it is done and now I wish we had 4 Barbies in the house so I could have a photo with ALL the dresses.

I think the knitting kept me from losing my mind....really...no, I really mean it.

Whew! I finally got ONE of the socks done for Ben. It's been a long time in coming but the ride to and from Spoleto was good for knitting socks.

I brought a bag full of leftovers when I came back this time along with the Knits for Barbie book. I figured the leftovers were perfect for Barbie projects. The first project was the summer tank. I had VERY little left from the sweater for Heather's baby so I needed a small project. Worked great.

Since I designed a poncho for myself with the pink silk a few years ago, it seemed fitting that the leftovers be used for a poncho. The pattern called for multi-colors and fringe but I like it just as it is. Asha loves it because it is PINK!

Next was the one-piece bathing suit which looks more like a jumper now that it is done. While I was knitting it, Asha kept asking me what it was to which I replied that it was a surprise. I held out with my secret and she woke up Sunday morning to find Barbie dressed in a new outfit. A big 'Thank you!' was followed by a hug.

Throughout the process, Asha is going through the book repeatedly. Each time, she asked for the bridal party. I finally relented and decided to use the yarn that Pam bought for me somewhere in FL about 5 years ago when I was searching for yarn for my own wedding dress. This yarn didn't make the cut but it turned out perfect for Barbie. I pretty much spent ALL day on Sunday working on this. It took an incredible amount of fiddle work to get done. I think Asha may have to wait a little bit for the bridemaids dresses to appear.

Throughout all the Barbie stuff this week, I guess I've been channeling my grandmother, Gertie. She very recently passed away at the age of 96. She used to knit Barbie clothes for me when I was little and I miss her very much.

I need to knit something for me now. Maybe I'll finish the blue-green snood since it will be nice for summer.

Do I really need to say much about this? Asha and I have matching PINK bunnies slippers!

I noticed in the photo that I put my bunnies' ears facing down while hers go up. Never mind that mine look like pink puppies, they are still awesome!

I've actually been busy knitting the past few weeks and got a couple projects done.
The baby sweater for Heather's baby got finished last week before I left Boulder and I mailed to her. Since he is about 9 months old, I made the large size. Heather called to say that it showed up right before a big family gathering and everyone ooooo-ed and ahhhhh-ed over it. She loves that it is perfect for the spring in Milwaukee.
I worked on the cashmere for a couple days and the sleeves are done. I put the shoulders together and started the collar. I'll finish this up in the summer so it will be ready to wear next fall.
Then I had to take off for Kansas City prior to going to Atlanta for 3 weeks. I needed a smaller project to work on while on the plane. Despite the fact that spring is coming upon us fast, I grabbed the beautiful yarn we bought in Pistoia for the hat w/ flaps. I started the hat on Wednesday and finished the knitting Sunday night. I was bored while on a conference call today, so I put the braids on it. It turned out very beautiful and the yarn is soft to the touch.

I have about 3/4 of skein left of the yarn. Wonder what I could make with that?

Ahhhh, a few more projects checked off the list. I've been making some progress on the stash lately. Mostly out of necessity.

First, I flew back to Boulder on the 8th so a few items got put on hold:
1. One more time socks
2. More bunnies!
3. Italia Capelet
All these items are at the Atlanta house and so will have to wait until I return in April. There is some colorful, novelty yarn that Asha got me for Christmas too that I think I'll make into a skirt for her. There are about 4 skeins so I should be able to make a cute skirt for her with that.

On the way back, I worked on the Cowl since the Cashmere sweater has gotten too big to really work on while on the plane. The Cowl was a quick and easy project. Missy graciously agreed to model it.

I worked on the sweater again for a few days but then had to got to Chicago. So I picked up the Baby Sweater again since I would like to get it done for Heather before the baby gets too big to wear it.

Of course, once I got back I needed to work on Mom's birthday present so I could ship it prior to leaving for Vegas. I made the Moebius in a few days from the yarn we got in Pistoia, Italia. The yarn is quite beautiful and is in a green/white combination that Mom will love. Green is her favorite color.

In the middle of all that, I ordered and received my new circular needles kit from KnitPicks. I got the colorful wooden ones and am really loving them. They feel so nice in my hands and the Denise needles can't come close to being so nice.

The other items still on the list:
1. Funky Caradigan
2. Cold Ears Part Quattro

Leaving for Vegas tomorrow so I'll take the Baby Sweater with me. I'll have some time with Dad at the end of the week and get some time to knit while with him. Probably while we watch 'The Great Race' (our annual tradition in March).

I finished the Valentine present for Ben and delivered it ON Valentine's Day! He loved it! It doesn't really DO anything but it is a special gift.

Now I'm back to working on other stuff. I'm determined to finish the Cashmere Turtleneck to wear to MKE on 3/3 but I don't think that is going to happen. Damnit! I really, really want to get that done before I go back to working on other projects. It is a warm sweater and I want to wear it at least ONCE this winter. The sleeves are almost done but then I've got to put it together and knit the collar.

The other thing that needs finishing but fast is the bunnies slippers for myself. I've been stealing Ben's slippers (his AREN'T bunnies) to wear around the house and that creates a few problems:
1. Ben's feet get cold which is why I made the slippers in the first place
2. I can't walk up or down the stairs in the slippers because they are too big and I trip on them
3. My bunnies can't come to life and hop around the house with Asha's bunnies

One thing I have noticed is that when I'm in Atlanta, I tend to have other things to do other than knitting. I need to carve out a minimum of 30 minutes each day to knitting. At least!

Oh, and did I mention that I need to work on Mom's birthday present too!?! I have to have it done and mailed before I go to Vegas on the 22nd. Sigh.....so much yarn, so little time.....

I finished the bikini with beach wrap last night. It looks great and I'm sure it will look great on Barbie too. I did the wrap with one strand and it turned out much, much better. I remade the bikini too with one strand and it is fab! Now, to the mailbox!

Ok, seriously. I have eleven, count 'em ELEVEN, WIPs (Work in Progress). How did this happen!?! I know I'm actually working on these but I don't think I've ever had this many going at once.

1. Funky Caradigan
2. Elegant Cashmere Sweater
3. One more time socks
4. Cold Ears Part Quattro
5. Italia Moebius
6. Italia Cowl
7. Italia Capelet
8. More bunnies!
9. Barbie Spring Bikini
10. Baby VP Sweater
11. My heart belongs to you...

Now 5 of them only have gauges done thus far but this is silly.

I have to get the Barbie bikini done in the next day since I need to ship it to Atlanta for Asha's birthday so I guess I know what I'm doing on a Friday night.....

While in Milano, Ben and I went to the top of the Duomo and walked around enjoying the amazing architecture as well as the sights of Milano from high above. However, since it was late December, it was cold up there. And windy. And poor Ben's ears practically froze off.

Armed with that knowledge, I insisted that we make a trip to a yarn store so I could make a hat. As mentioned previously, there were no LYS to be found that were open between Christmas and New Year's. The first chance we got to track one down was in Firenze, where I made great use of Silvia's map (see typesetter on Ravelry or go click here for the map). During our visit with Sylvia and Flavia, we discussed the dreaded Love Sweater Curse and found that Silvia felt that way about hats for her beaus. Undaunted, I was in search for hat yarn.

The first store we tried to find in Firenze was Carlo Chiti Merceria. Closed during the 3 hours we found it on Saturday. Oh well, off to the next one. We almost missed Agomago due to our confusion with Italia street addresses but we did find it. Thank goodness for Google Maps and my iPhone! After thawing ourselves out, we discovered loads of pretty fibres just begging to be made into a hat. Ben selected a variegated bulky yarn in grey. Since he had been so patient in walking all over Firenze, I suggested he pick another color. Orange it was and we were ready to go. Wait! Needles! The pattern called for 11 US double pointed ones but the store only had huge straight ones. Ok, I'll make it work. That night, I knit the hat in about two hours, to Ben's amazement. It surprised me too since it felt like I was knitting with tree trunks. Somehow, I mis-read the pattern slightly and it was too short for his head. Ben ended up suffering with cold ears in Italia.

As we were leaving Firenze, we walked past Beatrice Galli's shop. We had searched for and not found it. Beatrice herself was very kind and I shared (in my poor Italian) that I had read about her closing the shop and was delighted to met her in person. She was so touched that she gave me a needlepoint canvas of the Firenze Duomo as a gift.

The next LYS stop was in Pistoia. A small Medieval town of 80,000 residents recommended to us by Silvia. We were very happy we went AND found several yarns stores. In fact, we saw store fronts for about 8 closed shops and there are 3 in the town total. This must have been the yarn capital of Italia for a while. The woman at Filati Borselli was very happy to see us and gave Ben a short lesson on Italian pronunciation. This is where I hit LYS overload. I bought MORE yarn for ANOTHER hat for Ben. Did I stop there? No. I bought some beautiful yarn to make something, I wasn't sure at the time, for my mom. Was that it? Heck, no. I bought some pretty maroon/pink wool for a hat for me. I had to get something for me while I was there, didn't I?

I found another site with Italia yarn shops listed after our return. Lucky for Ben.

I finally knit the hats for Ben upon our return to the States and am working on the rest for the next month or so. Ben mentioned that he likes the black hat best since it is warmer and I explained that the grey and orange yarn was not only variegated in color but in width too. Still, he loves the color and wears the hats in the house.

I'm back to working on the cashmere sweater for me for the next few weeks since I MUST finish it before it starts to get warm in spring!

P.S.: For more about our trip check out Ben's Footstops page.

What an awesome day! My emails to Ravelers in Milano paid off and I got to meet a couple this morning for caffe. Ben and I were a little late (ok, 30 minutes, so NOT my norm) since we got all caught up in the banking system here but it worked out ok. Flavia and Silvia waited for us outside the Central Stationze in downtown Milano.

They quickly ushered us to a local coffee shop with the best caffe in Northern Italy (I wish I could remember the name now - dang!). And it was quite fine. The best I've had. Ever. My new friends brought me gifts. Flavia can crochet amazingly and made me this very cute octopus pin. The detail is amazing given that it is about an inch wide. It is also in my favorite color.

Silvia was the translator and she brought me some fabulous merino wool in green and purple. I think I'll have to make hats for Ben and myself from it. If I don't have quite enough for a hat, I'll get some more Italian yarn.

I must admit that I was a little foolish when we first met because I didn't make the connection between "typesetter" and Silvia. I started to tell Flavia and Silvia about this great website that a Milanese woman had created for yarn shops in Italy. That woman was Silvia! Silly me, I should have recognized her from her photos on Ravelry. Regardless, I was excited to meet her since she rivals Pam for number of projects posted on Ravelry.

We then took off to visit a groovy yarn store. We walked a bit only to find that they were closed for vacation/inventory this week. Apparently, many shops/restaurants close the week between Christmas and New Years. After we left them, we tracked down another yarn shop near the Duomo but it was closed too.

Oh well, next time we get to Milano. Better yet, next time we'll go to Silvia's yarn store which she plans to open soon.

More traveling yarn tales later. Ciao,
Katharine

P.S.: For more about our trip check out Ben's Footstops page.

I'm done with all the Christmas projects! I finished felting GMs slippers last night. I can't figure it out but for some reason, all the felting projects I've had this season (ok, it's been two) haven't felted enough. Asha's slippers seem a little big, although I won't know until she tries them on Christmas day. IF they are too big at that point, I could stick them in Debi's washer and see if that makes a difference. Of course, Asha could grow into them but I would rather she be able to wear them now. I really hope she likes them. I think they are the coolest and I'm going to make myself a pair in the new year for the Atlanta house.

I had GM try his on last night and they are just too damn big. I washed them in HOT water THREE times and even tried cooking them in the dryer. To no avail. They are about 2 sizes too big so I told him to wash them in his mother's washer when he got back to Baltimore. Hopefully they will shrink some more then.

I departed this morning for Chicago and started on the front of the cashmere turtleneck (the back was done several weeks ago). I got about 5 rows in when I realized that I used a different cast-on for the back so I ripped it out and started over. I've caught up with where I saw since I'm knitting in my hotel room tonight. I'm glad to be working on this again and would really like to have it completed either during the trip to Italy or shortly afterwards.

In the meantime, I've been looking up Italian yarn manufacturers to see if I could get a tour of a real old-world yarn mill. I've found a few possibilities:
Pozzi Electa - In Milan
Campolmi Filati - In Florence
Ilaria - Yarn mill AND LYS in Florence. Gotta go!
Luigi Boldrini - In Florence but makers of evil chenille so pass.
Filatura di Crosa - In Florence and I LOVE this yarn! (Via de' Guicciardini, 21 r., 50125 Firenze)

Of course, finding some LYS would be groovy too. I found a couple blogs on yarn shops in Italy:
Milan
Florence

After reading the blog about Beatrice Galli's yarn shop, I check out her site and found out she is closing in March 2009. OMG! We have to go. And give her some of my money in exchange for yarn. I didn't buy any yarn the last time I was there (I was very subdued on that trip) so I have to make up for it this time.

I found a TON of knitters from Italy on Ravelry and have been sending messages to them. I've been asking for LYS and mill tips/locations in exchange for coffee. OR whatever. Anything to feel more connected to the communities while I'm there. It was good last time to feel the energy of the cities (except for Venice - ICK!) but it would be really cool to meet some locals.

I'll have to do some more yarn research in the next week to get ready for the trip. Don't tell Ben I'm doing it. (opps, too late, he probably read this - "Oh wow, look at that honey. A yarn mill/store on this road I suggested we walk/drive down. Imagine that. Well, since we're here now, we should go in and check it out. Pretty please?")

Grin

The past few weeks have seen me working on a number of projects, mostly Christmas gifts. I was determined to finish the back of the turtleneck before tackling some Christmas knitting. I worked on that during Thanksgiving since I couldn't work on the bracelets while Mom was here. She would have insisted that I make her one and I didn't want her to know that I already had one for her completed. I saw the kit on Ravelry and ordered the mystery color kit (it turned out to be green). But seriously, it is SO damn easy to make that I went and got the beads (fun to pick out a mess of 'em), the metallic thread, clasps and whipped out four more. I naturally made the purple one for Granny since it is her FAV. The rest are for...well, you'll hafta wait until Christmas day to see if you are one of the lucky girls. Grin
Once those were done, I started on the pink bunnies. I was inspired by my own bunny slippers and really wanted to make these white. BUT for anyone that has tried this, white yarn does NOT felt (something to do with the way they bleach and dye the yarn for lighter colors). Anyway, that only meant that they HAD to be pink or purple (Asha's favorite colors). I simply took the Fibre Trends Felted Clogs pattern and attached ears. I totally guessed on how long to make the ears and didn't do a felted gauge for the ears. I know, I'm bad, very bad. So they are a little long but that makes them more interesting....right? I'm waiting to put the goggly-eyes on them until I get to Atlanta since I have a stash there (from when we finished the flamingo).

Now I'm trying to decide if I want to work on something for me or work on the slippers that GM requested. Hmmmmmm, I might have to be a little selfish for a couple days....I think....

As is typical for me, I've got several projects going on at the same time. I've been working on the pink cashmere sweater but had the itch to make something quick. Something that provides quick satisfaction. Knits for Barbie! Barbie stuff is always good for quick fix AND has the added bonus of making both Asha and I happy. Since my grandmother knit so many Barbie things for me as a little girl, I LOVE making anything for Barbie now.

Once I got Barbie set with a new skirt, I knit a few rows of the pink turtleneck but still felt the need to start something else. I busted out the WASHABLE sock yarn to go for round two of socks for Ben. I didn't get too far along as you can see but it is started. Probably won't get them done in time for Christmas but will make a good project for the long plane ride to and from Milano.

I FINALLY got eyeballs for Pinkie, the pink felted flamingo, and we glued 'em on this weekend. Asha LOVES the flamingo and carries it around all the time. However, she and I have a disagreement over his name (yes, he is a he - I should know - I knit him!). Asha thinks his name should be PenguinO the Flamingo. Which, of course, sends me into a fit of "He CAN'T be called PenguinO when he is a FLAMINGO". This statement naturally makes Asha, who is six, more determined that his name be PenguinO. Ben finds it all quite amusing, which, of course, it is.

While we were purchasing googly-eyes for Pinkie, Asha saw a knitting kit for a purse. She wanted it so she could learn to knit too (like Ms. Katharine). For a split second, it occurred to me to check the age recommendation on the box and then somehow I got distracted (probably from looking into the eyes of my sweetie, which makes all rational thought leave my head). Anyway, I forgot to look, we purchased the kit and upon arriving home, I realized it was for Ages 9+. Asha was VERY excited to start on it and we pulled it out of the box. The first bit required knitting some novelty yarn (furry yarn for those of you not knowing the knitting lingo) which is tough for beginning adult knitters to do. Never mind trying to get a six-year-old to do it. So I quickly cast on the furry stuff and had Asha read the instructions to try and keep her amused/interested until I could get 12 rows in and she could start with the plain yarn. It worked fairly well and we're on our way to get her started on the regular yarn. Wish me luck in getting her to stay interested and engaged enough to get the thing done.

I also got some good knitting time in on the cashmere sweater while I was hangin' with my sister too this weekend. I've almost got to the point where I start to set in the armholes for the front side. I love the little ruffle that is on the bottom and it will be on each sleeve and the turtleneck too.