Mini Update

Just a quick update here. Things have been super busy between work, visiting family and a vacation. Joel and I just got home from a very quick vacation to Florida last night (1:30am!), so between that and our recent trip to Yosemite, I have lots of photos to show. Now I just need to sort through them all!

I thought I'd give a small knitting update, since the knitting has been a little scarce around here lately. For most of May, I was in a big slump and hardly picked up the needles at all. I think it was due to frustration with a few project not working out quite as planned.

Right now I have lots of half finished or nearly finished projects, but I seem to keep casting on for new ones. So I haven't been the most productive. For the trip to Florida, I cast one to a new pair of socks...

Faceted Rib Socks
from The Little Box of Socks

These socks are a little slow going, but I love the way they are turning out. They even look good from the inside out...


Apart from the socks, I've also been working on my Soy Cardi. I just have to finish one button band and the collar. Hopefully, I'll have a new FO by next week. It's been a while!

I also started another new sweater, which is progressing fairly quickly. More on that later.

Finally, I've done a little yarn shopping, thanks to the Webs Anniversary Sale. I managed to restrain myself fairly well, but did get yarn for three sweaters...

Cascade 220 The Heathers
for Side-to-Side Sweater (Knit Simple Holiday 2007)

I've wanted to try a sweater with side to side construction, and I love cables, so this should be fun.

di.ve Zenith
for Twist (hoodie version) by Bonne Marie Burns

More cables, and this yarn is so soft. I can't wait to try it!

Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre
for the Shawl Collar Cardigan from Jo Sharp Knit Issue 1

I've wanted to knit this cardigan for quite a while now, so I was really happy to find the called for yarn on sale. This should get a lot of wear.

That's about it. I'm hoping to finish a project or two before casting on for anything new, but we'll see how long that lasts!

Catch Up

Hmm... I started this post on April 28, and somehow got sidetracked! Here's a little bit of what I've been up to.

I'll start with some wine tasting. This is one of our favorite things to do when the weather is nice here. So a few weekends ago, we headed up to Napa Valley. It was the first time I'd been to Napa--we usually go to Sonoma, which is closer.

Joel recently finished The House of Mondavi, and he had to see it all for himself. First we headed to Robert Mondavi Winery. The wine was OK, but the grounds were beautiful.



The Mondavis are quite the drama and scandal ridden family. Joel had fun telling me stories from the book as we walked around.

Next we headed to Charles Krug Winery, which is still owned by a member of the Mondavi family and is where the Mondavi family rift started. No pictures here, but we enjoyed the wine and the man who poured for us was great. He had lots of information and stories to share, along with a little Mondavi family gossip.

On our way home we made our final stop at Domaine Carneros Winery, for a champagne and cheese tasting. The grounds and winery were both very beautiful, and we enjoyed the sunny patio.


I think I could spend every weekend this way! I enjoyed Napa a lot--it definitely has a different feel than Sonoma, which I think is a little more laid back. There was a lot more traffic, too!

We also spent a little time in the Bay on a big sailboat.

Passing under the Bay Bridge

I'm not really sure I'm the sailing type. It was a little terrifying at times, and I didn't have the most confidence in the crew (for some of whom it seemed to be their first day on the job). Plus, I'd mentioned the trip to my boss, who is a nurse, beforehand and the first thing she mentioned was all the boating accidents she's seen. That really didn't help!

Raising the Sails

It was really cold and windy. At one point, I was wearing 3 mismatched handknits--a hat, scarf, and Joel's mitts--which I stole. I definitely broke the don't wear more than one handknit at a time rule, plus a few fashion rules, too.


This was before I broke out all the knits. Also before I got a face full of water (notice that I'm already wet). Good times!

The night ended with fireworks, which was really the reason for the trip. As you can see, it was a little foggy. All in all, it was a good experience, but I'm not sure I'll rush back out anytime soon!

Last week we had another heat wave in San Francisco, so we headed to the park for a picnic on Saturday.



We enjoyed some wine, cheese and other snacks, talked and listened to music. Very fun and relaxing. The day ended when the fog started rolling in. You can always tell the weather is about to change in San Francisco, when the fog starts rolling over the tree tops.


I've even done a little knitting. I finished up one of my Swirly O socks. Now I just need to start the second one.


I also started a new project--the soy cardi. It's almost finished. I just need to buy some buttons and add the button bands and collar. The buttons are holding me up though, as I need to determine how many buttonholes to make.


That's about it. We have family visiting from Wisconsin for about a week, starting tomorrow. I'm really excited to see them, and I'm also looking forward to a three day weekend--starting now. I hope you have a great weekend, too!

Weekend Knitting

My weekend started off very nicely, thanks to my husband...


He knows I love flowers, and often brings home a bouquet at the end of the week. Very sweet!

We had a heat wave in San Francisco this weekend, especially Saturday. The temperature climbed into the 70s which, if you are used to 50s and 60s all the time, can feel very hot. It can seem like the whole city is outdoors when it gets that warm here, because as we joked all weekend, it only happens about five times a year. That's actually not far from the truth though!

Our apartment felt like an oven, so we grabbed a blanket, my ipod and some wine and headed to the park for some shade and a lazy afternoon. I also brought along Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan, which hasn't seen any action in quite some time.

I made lots of progress on it Saturday, and by Sunday evening I had finished the body.


Unfortunately, after all that knitting, I'm worried that it's not going to be very flattering on me. For one thing it's a little boxy, which could be OK, but it's also cropped. That's usually not a good combination for me.

I don't have enough yarn to add extra length without shortening the sleeves quite a bit. So I'm feeling a little stuck at this point. I also hate to go through all the effort of knitting the sleeves, and end up not liking the cardigan. That seems like a major waste of time.

One thing that did turn out well is the hem.


Instead of binding off and sewing it up later (as the pattern suggests), I knit the hem up as I went. This took forever, but I love the way it looks. Definitely much neater than my sewing would have looked. Now I just need to figure out what to do about the rest of the sweater.

More Progress on Joy

I'm happy to say that I've finished the back of Joy. It actually went pretty quickly--a little over a week.


It looks slightly deformed here, but I promise that it's not. The pattern has lots of waist shaping, which is nice. I really hope that it fits.


I'm really enjoying the pattern that is formed by all those purl bumps--sort of a zig-zag. Watching the pattern emerge has really kept my interest in this so far. Hopefully, I can keep up the momentum. I'm going to work on one of the front pieces next.

I also need to pick up my socks again, which I haven't worked on since mid-March. They need to be finished a pair by the end of April for the Sock a Month KAL.

Quite a few people in this group knit multiple pairs of socks every month. I am not that fast or dedicated, however. It has been a great KAL though. I love seeing the different patterns and getting ideas. My Ravelry queue/favorites has definitely grown because of it!

Beginnings of Joy

I picked up some Brooks Farm Solo at Stitches, and ever since then I have been looking for the perfect pattern. The yarn didn't work for any of the patterns I had in mind--the gauge was just too small. So I started looking through my books and came up with Joy from Vintage Knits.

I have wanted to knit this sweater for quite a while, although it has never been at the top of my list for whatever reason. In any case, I am so glad I thought of it for this yarn.


I am making surprisingly quick progress considering the size 3 needles. I've come to realize between the Purl Scarf (done on size 13 needles) and this sweater though, that I knit a lot faster on smaller needles. Of course, that means there are a lot more stitches, so it probably evens out in the end. It feels faster though!


I've finished the peplum and have started the body. I really enjoyed working moss stitch on the peplum. The texture is wonderful, and the yarn feels so sproingy (is that a word?).

For the body, I'm substituting a purl stitch for the beads. I'm not really a beaded sweater type person, although I do love the look. Also, I think I might go slightly crazy if I had to pre-string 5,300 beads! Other knitters have done it though--you can take a quick peek at Ravelry for the results. Very impressive.

Apart from knitting, I've spent a lot of time outdoors, enjoying our neighborhood and the park. One of the things I love about the park is it's size--even on crowded weekends you can find quiet areas with no one else around. For a minute or two at least.

Path around Stowe Lake

Path in the Botanical Gardens

Mystery flower in the Botanical Gardens

Having lived in San Francisco for a little over a year now, I can say that spring is my favorite season. I always loved fall in the Midwest, but here I think spring is the best. It's lush and green, and the rains have almost stopped. The weather is sunny and cool. Hopefully, this weather can stretch a little longer into summer this year--I'm not ready to face the fog again!

Seasonal Knits

Before...



After...


Pattern: The Purl Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay and La Gran Mohair

OK, so this is not a seasonal knit. Spring has arrived in San Francisco, but you wouldn't know it from my latest FO. After I completely ran out of yarn for Forecast (with a quarter sleeve and the button bands to go!), I decided that I needed a quick and fun project.


Ravelry to the rescue. I've been looking for a project for this mohair yarn for some time, and I had the Manos del Uruguay on hand, too. The colors were a perfect fit, so I thought why not?

This scarf was started and finished in one evening--what a super fun and quick project! It is soft, too. Thanks to the mohair, I'm sure.

This only change I made was to shorten it quite a bit--the original is 104 inches long!


The picture is pretty bad, but you get the idea. Plenty long enough, and I only used half the yarn called for. Now I just need to decide what to do with that other ball-and-a-half of bright pink mohair!

Up Next

I'm at a sticking point in both of my current projects.

I've picked up Forecast again. I haven't really blogged this sweater much, but it's almost complete. This is a really quick knit--I just haven't focused on finishing it. I'm half done with the final sleeve, then it's on the the button bands, and I'm done.

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to run out of yarn. This has never happened to me before, but it would take something of a miracle to finish this sweater with the little bit I have left. I purchased the yarn a couple of years ago, so finding the same dye lot at this point would be difficult. I'm going to see what happens, and unravel part of the body, if necessary. I did add lots of extra length--hopefully, I will be able to block it longer if I need to.

I've also started a new pair of socks.


My first sock is turning out fairly well. I learned a new technique, the provisional cast on. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out with lots of frustration involved. Joel seemed to find this very funny. I had to warn him not to laugh at me with such sharp objects so close by! It was actually fairly easy once I figured it, and I used it for the picot edge.

Now I'm stuck on another new technique--the short row heel. I've always done socks with heel flaps. I was sailing along, but I was less than happy with the result when it came time to pick up the wraps. I need to rip it out and find a good tutorial.


I'm dying to cast on for another project, but I'm trying to be good. Last night I wound up the Sea Silk and Solo that I got at Stitches. I have a pattern in mind for the Sea Silk, but I'm not sure about the Solo. I need to swatch that for some sweaters.

My goal is to finish Forecast before casting on for anything new. We'll see how long that lasts!

Snicket Socks Complete!

Finally, I can check these socks off my list!


Pattern: Snicket Socks from Magknits
Yarn: Rio de la Plata kettle dyed sock yarn -- Love this yarn!
Started: July 2007!
Finished: March 2008

I am so happy to have finished these socks. Toward the end, I was really starting to hate them--doing a million little cable twists on size zero needles just got tedious--but I am very pleased with how they turned out. Thankfully, I was able to ignore my natural inclination to move on to another project!


I started the pattern way back in July, but most of the knitting was done in the past month. These socks were supposed to be my Sock of the Month for February, but I just couldn't finish in time.


I made a few modifications to the pattern. The first was doing a heel flap instead of a short row heel. I was inspired by this version, and I love how the heel looks with the twisted stitches running down it. (Don't look too closely, because I made a mistake. I saw it at the time, but just kept going!)


I also did a slightly different toe. The pattern tells you to decrease every 4th row until you have a certain number of stitches. At that point you are to decrease every row until 8 stitches remain, pull the yarn through these stitches and tie off.

I did this toe on the first sock, but I ended up dropping a bunch of stitches while trying to pull the yarn through (I'm still not sure how that happened!) and having to go back. Long story short, I decided to do kitchener with 36 stitches remaining. I'm glad it did this--the toe is roomier and it was also getting a little too long.


I did make one other mistake. Because the pattern was written for a short row heel, I had to figure out the heel flap for myself. When I distributed my stitches for the heel, I centered the pattern on the instep for one, and on the other I didn't! So the pattern is off by a stitch on one socks, which is hard to tell from the front, but the from the side I can tell. Of course, I don't think anyone is going to look at my feet that closely, and if they do I should probably be afraid!

All in all, this was an excellent pattern with an impressive result. I don't think I would knit these socks again, but I'm happy that I did. On to the next pair...

Lunchtime Fun

Work has been totally crazy for the last few months. There is so much going on, and I have been going a little nutty trying to keep up. So a few weeks ago, I decided to head over to Japantown for a little pick-me-up, lunch and some book browsing.

First, I stopped at Sophie's Crepes for a quick lunch. Sophie's is tiny little shop, and you can watch them make your crepe from your seat. The crepes are the handheld kind and are pretty good. Sadly, they only have one vegetarian option, which is pretty rare for a crepe place, but I'm sure I could get creative or just go straight for a dessert crepe!

After that, I headed next door to Kinokuniya, a Japanese book store. I've been there a few times before, but have never purchased anything. Lunchtime during the week is the perfect time to browse their huge craft section, because it's pretty quiet.

Of course, I picked up a few knitting books/magazines...


I had to limit myself--everything is relatively inexpensive, so it's hard to say no!

ISBN978-4-8347-2617-6

Did I mention that I don't speak Japanese? I'll call this one the Mitten Book. Here are some pictures from the book, which is mostly crochet.


I especially love the mittens on the cover and the handwarmers. I think it would be fairly easy to create a knit pattern for the handwarmers. My crochet skills are pretty sad. I have wanted to learn though, so maybe this will motivate me.

ISBN978-4-529-04477-6

The second thing I picked up is the Autumn Winter 07 magazine from the Let's Knit Series. This one has tons of cute patterns, some crochet but mostly knit.


There really are too many cute patterns in this one to show everything. I love that hat, which is a mix of knit and crochet. This one also has some cute granny square accessories--an apron and bag. (Not that granny squares are really my style, but I like the look of these!) I also really like the cabled wrap and the cardigan. So cute!

The final book, which I'll call the Hat Book (ISBN978-4-529-04487-5), is the center book in the first photo. Yes, this one is all hats...


Again, way too many cute hats to show them all. This book is also knit and crochet, and it makes me wish I lived in a slightly colder climate--I obviously need more hats! I really love the cable newsboy hat on the bottom left.


All the books are in Japanese, but every pattern has a complete chart, so conceivably I could just knit from the chart. I'm really curious to try something, probably a simple pattern. I will save the sweater and crochet for later!

Wonderful Weekend

We had some unusually warm weather this weekend. It wasn't tropical or anything, but high sixties can feel like a heat wave in San Francisco. You really have to take advantage of warm, sunny days here, so Joel and I spent to most of the weekend outside.


Saturday we went to the beach for a picnic and some wine. It was so beautiful!


The beach wasn't crowded at all, which was really nice. People came and went, but it was pretty empty. The coast here is pretty windy and cool--I was wearing a wool coat and Buttony--and as a result, it usually doesn't get too crowded. At least that is my theory!

Perfect for lounging...


and enjoying some wine and cheese.


Can't forget the chocolate!


It was relaxing and fun. Even the stairs were beautiful, although it was hard to make it back up after all our lounging on the beach!


This was one of those weekends were I didn't get anything done, because on Sunday, we decided to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. This was actually the first time we've done this, so it was a lot of fun. Long though!


Also, a long way down...


San Francisco is a small city mileage-wise, and you can see just about the full length of the city from the bridge. The views were pretty amazing.


This is looking toward downtown, the Bay Bridge and the East Bay. The Bay was full of boats, although for some reason there aren't too many in this photo.


We made it! The Marin side of the bridge is the prettiest, I think. You can see Angel Island in the background.

The walk back across went much more quickly, not as many stops. After a delicious, late brunch and some shopping, we headed home. All in all, a great weekend!