Kyoot. We haz it.

Oh boy, look what the Brandt dragged in! Kittehs! The 2 back yards that run perpendicular to mine are totally overgrown messes, and there is a shed that serves as breeding ground for alley cats. We noticed the Kittehs a couple of days ago, and since yesterday afternoon, Brandt has made it his life’s mission to get them. This morning, under pretense of ” bringing in the trash can” he did get them, I turned around from yarning, and there he was with a big box of kitteh goodness. They are now temporarily living in my big bathroom. My own kittehs would be pissed, not to mention what these babies might have that I don’t want my cats catching.
They are cuter than buttons, and very healthy looking, probably well under 2 months old, and all are good weights. I tell ya, if I didn’t already have 4 cats, I would have 4 cats now! It’s also a good thing I iz immune to their kyoot. Srsly.

Stunned by his own cute. U iz now hypnotized.

Soft focus, but still cute! This is Brandt’s fav, and she is shy!!

So, if you live in the Pittsburgh area, and would like a kitteh, keeping in mind they need a full medical workup, you can have one. We will have them until tomorrow, around 11, when I’ll be taking them to the animal shelter, Pittsburgh’s Animal Rescue League. I might keep them a little longer, but we’re off to Michigan for Mother’s day.

*anybody else finding lolcat speak in their everyday vocab? it’s addicting.

Filed by Julia at 2:39 pm under General, Meow Mixers
21 Comments

I still knit, I steal a few minutes with my morning coffee, and a few at the end of my day. This is the start of the Aprés Surf Hoodie from the current Interweave Knits, Summer 2008. I love love love it. Bonus, I had most of the yarn in my stash, Rowan’s Cashcotton 4ply. I’m using color 91o. I love it also. I started it last Friday, and now I’m about 4 or so inches in, I also modified it to be knit in the round. Srsly, I’d rather knit across 234 st a round, than have to purl back across 117! On US3 needles! Eek.

PS- The shop is updated! This is a short week for me, going to visit the Moms for Mother’s day. I tried, but the Wee Kits update will have to wait for next week, but for now there’s a ton of variegated, and some striping too!

Filed by Julia at 9:55 pm under Knitting, Get Your Yarn!!, New Project, Aprés Surf Hoodie
3 Comments

Wee Skein Sock Kits are up!! I had a lot of fun putting these color combos together, and I hope you’ll all love playing with them too. Here’s the run down on how they work.

There are two varieties of Wee Kits. A 2 colorway kit, and a 4 colorway kit. Each kit contains a total of 100g. In the 2 colorway kit, each skein is 50g, and in the 4, each skein is 25g. In the 2 colorway kit, each skein has 16 repeats of the stripe pattern, and in the 4, each skein has 8 repeats.

These colorways can be combined when knit into any striping pattern you can think of. Alternate one stripe repeat, or two or three! Knit one sock of each color! They can be identical, or fraternal, depending on your inner control freak!

Each kit includes an idea card, I recommend picking your favorite basic sock pattern, and going for it. When I knit my socks, I cut and pasted, and used a lot of Wee scraps. I also recommend toe up knitting, to use every last bit of yarn, and to avoid running short!

Every week I’ll have more kits available, color combos will depend on which colorways I dyed up during the week, and of course I’ll repeat popular combos too. This could get interesting!

Filed by Julia at 11:48 am under Get Your Yarn!!, Wee Skeins
7 Comments

I have not knit in two days. Not a row, not a stitch. Instead, I have been diligently reskeining yarn. Reskeining. Reskeining. Reskeining. Winding lovely big fat skeins of pretty sock yarn down into Wee Skeins. It’s Wee Skein madness. Pandemonium even.

Those of you who saw my Wee skeins and my teaser sock photos, and guessed at kits were exactly correct. Oh yes, the idea has been bumping around my brain for a few weeks now, and after thinking out the details, I went for it. The Box O Wee overfloweth!

I’ll have more details very soon, and hope to have the first run of these babies up on Saturday.
I know, it’s MDS&W this weekend, but it turns out I don’t get to go this year after all, so this is my little gift to those of us who have to stay home, trying not to be bitter.

Don’t worry, there will be more weekly! For now, I’ve just updated the shop, a little later than I would have liked, but I had an internet connection malfunction, and had to fix it. I’m good now, so go look at all my pretty variegated yarns. Seriously, it was so hard to part with some of them, I wanted to keep them and pet them all for myself! Hmm, maybe if they’re still around tomorrow…Hee.

Filed by Julia at 9:58 pm under Get Your Yarn!!, Wee Skeins
8 Comments

I don’t really remember the last time I finished a pair of socks, or even knit on a sock, for that matter, but in the last couple of weeks, I got hit hard with the sock bug. And it all started with those Wee Skeins. I turned out the first two socks in record time, I swear, about 5 days. Then I started with the dyeing variegated yarn. So I had to knit a skein of that up too, quality control and all, you know. Then I had another idea along the lines of the Wee Skein socks, so now I’m working on that.
Today though, variegated socks are on the menu, or sock. I only had one skein of the Rainbow in the Dark colorway stolen from the shop put away for myself, so for now it’s a single sock indefinitely.
Truthfully, I’m not the biggest fan of variegated yarns. They pool. They puddle. They can get muddy. But boy do I have fun dyeing them! And on occasion they can be very pretty, so for this skein, I decided to work it up in a stitch pattern that kind of blends the colors, and reduces the severe pooling look. So says I.
I used a very simple Mistake Stitch Rib, the interlocking garter bumps between the columns of Stockinette is what I like.

So here’s a basic recipe- executed toe up style.
Using your very fav toe up cast on, I like the Turkish Cast On, though I’m sure it has other names, I found it in the Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting, and have been a big fan ever since. This is a good tutorial.
Once you’ve got a good closed toe cast on figured out, cast on some stitches. I cast on 32, or 16 wraps if your using the turkish cast on. Then you’ll need to increase 4 stitches every other row until you’ve got 56 St (what I used), or a multiple of 4 stitches. Once you have that, knit a couple of rows for good measure.
Then, pattern as follows:
Row 1: Work K2 P2 across stitches that will be the top of your foot, Knit all stitches on the bottom of your foot.
Row 2: Knit all stitches.

Continue on just like that until you’re ready for your heel. I use a short row heel, the one that can be found in Simple Socks Plain and Fancy, by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. She also has a more basic pattern, Priscilla’s Dream Socks, in the Interweave Press book, Favorite Socks.
Work short row heel over half your stitches, the bottom half, to be specific. When you’re done with your heel, count your stitches to make sure you have a multiple of 4, then continue rib pattern over your entire stitch count.
Row 1: K2 P2 around
Row2: Knit around.
Cast off when you’re sick to death of the whole thing. Voila!
Simple enough, and pretty, vanilla socks with sprinkles, if you will.

Filed by Julia at 3:01 pm under Knitting, Socks!
7 Comments

Wee Skein Carnage! Oh The Humanity!
Oh the weaving in of a bajillion ends!

Mmm.

Short rowed to perfection.

Filed by Julia at 8:56 pm under Socks!, New Project, Wee Skeins
24 Comments

I’ve got an inkling of an idea, and it involves these wee skeins.

All about 1oz each, leftover from the cones of yarn I use.

Hopefully in the next two weeks I’ll have this idea all wrapped up, and ready for you, and the shop. In the meantime, I can’t stop photographing them.

I love the wee skeins!

Filed by Julia at 2:53 pm under New Project, Wee Skeins
17 Comments

Hey all! Just a line to say The Shop is updated!
In addition to the ever popular Vesper Self Striping Sock Yarn, I’m trying out a little something different this week! Vesper Variegated Sock Yarn!
Some colorways~

“Limelight”

“Living After Midnight”

“Sugar Magnolia”

All are 100% Superwash Merino, the same cushy, awesome yarn base I’ve been using since the beginning of the year.
Not to worry though, I’ll never stop dyeing the striping yarns, and in the next month or so I’ll be debuting a new fun something to the shop, so stay tuned!

Filed by Julia at 4:12 pm under General
4 Comments

Yes, yes I do. I now have the buttons (not to mention the stash!) to prove it.

If you have purchased anything from my shop over the last couple of months, you already know about these. They are 1″ buttons, the kind I like to call “punk” buttons. They have a pin back, and are awesome. I made a bunch up to ship out with orders, and now I’m ready to offer them to the public.
Not through the shop though, the automatic shipping calculator wanted to charge about 2.16 for shipping. On one button. Unacceptable I say! If you glance over to my sidebar, you will see the button, along with a handy dandy add to cart button, making purchases of these guys very easy.
Right about now they cover just about everything I own. Okay, not really, but close!

Filed by Julia at 1:19 pm under General
3 Comments

That’s right, no more Mehs. In fact, I’m fighting off a case of startitis! The first half of the Feather and Fan bodice is done, and I’ve started the second.

I’m pretty excited to put the top together and pick up the body, I’m not going to do as many increases, I decided, and reduce the A-line-ness of the body. It will still be cute and swingy, just not so much.
In anticipation of having this done, I’ve decided (at least for the second) that this will be my next sweater.
It’s designed by the very fab Laura, of Cosmicpluto Knits, if you don’t know her, go over and get acquainted. Check out her sidebar for some other very awesome patterns too!
Bonus,(I’m big on bonuses) I’ve got the perfect yarn stashed for it.

I deemed this frog worthy, and rip rip rip I went. I figure if I started it well over a year ago, (thank you archives!) and haven’t touched it in almost the same, go it must, and quit guilting me to finish. I had the fronts and the back done, I think I ripped the sleeves awhile back. It will work perfectly for Roam. I’m even looking forward to all the seed stitch. Bring it on!

So now this kinky crazy yarn is soaking in a bath, and hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll be knitting it. Yay.

Also, in trying to keep up some regularity, it’s Wednesday, and the shop is updated, enjoy!

Filed by Julia at 7:10 pm under Feather and Fan Cardi
2 Comments