goodkarma... go?

No one has asked me about my blog's title, but I thought I'd tell about it anyway. The "go" part points to my love of travel. When I started this blog, I imagined it to be a place where I would document my travel experiences, but it soon turned into a knit blog instead.

Here's a snap I took in Kolkata ("Calcutta"), India. This is the only city in India where foot powered rickshaws are still allowed. (In other regions, bicycle rickshaws or "auto" rickshaws (motorized) are very common.) This man just seemed like a relic of an older time, still plugging along, trying to make ends meet, living life harder and faster than any of us can imagine.

goodkarma

Mariah Update

I feel bad; Mariah has been sitting in my knitting bag because I'm worried about how the yoke will fit. Lots of people are having issues with the stitch/row counts and the neckline shaping, etc... I guess I just didn't want to deal with any of that.

I just pinned Mariah's side & sleeve seams together and tried her on. Even though I still had my circular needle through the top live rows, I was able to visualize how things were going and SHE LOOKS HOT! OOow baby! Paris would say, "that's hawt." Anyway, it's quite the fitted number and looks a lot like Jodi's does in the picture on Knitty. I've finished the prescribed number of rows (as per the pattern) but it's not quite high enough on my shoulder/chest. Probably my row gauge is different from Jodi's was, too. So I'm going to just keep knitting the yoke and decreasing at the front/sleeve/backs for another 4 inches or so.

I'm still debating on hood vs. collar. Arg. Can't decide. Will have to keep thinking about it.

The Elann Peruvian Highland wool is quite dense and very warm. Nice to be finishing it up right in time for spring, eh? haha :)

Sunday Evening Blues

Here I am, Sunday night, with barely any knitting progress to show for my week (or other random productivity, for that matter), and facing Monday morning with a pout. I was barely home all week! Didn't get enough sleep! Didn't knit much at all! Waaah! I did get a few more inches done on Lucky's back, but that's about it.

I have to share a couple of things that I did do this extra busy busy week. On Wednesday night I went to Teatro ZinZanni with a dozen ladies I work with. If you live in (or visit) Seattle or San Francisco, this is a real treat. It's basically dinner theater or cabaret in a big "tent" and while you are served fantastic courses, a whole staff of acrobats, singers, comedians, jugglers, tumblers, etc. pose as the wait staff and entertain you all night. It was a hoot to be there with girlies from work. Martha Davis of The Motels is currently a guest... that voice is instantly recognizable!


Thursday night I hung out with sisters and niecey, she's so stinking entertaining at 14 months, you just wouldn't believe it.


Friday we had an event in the evening at school... let's say it was 70 degrees and gorgeous in Seattle and it was *really* hard to be there! So afterward, about 5 of us went to a neighborhood pub and made up for the sorrows and stresses of the week. I found out, for the second time this month, that I am a serious Lightweight Cheap Date who can't handle her booze. I had two pints of hard cider over 3-4 hours and was totally goofy. And had a headache the next day. Bah!

Here's hoping that the week to come will have more time for knitting and other homey pursuits.

goodkarma

p.s. I would love to learn how to write pop-up windows for my bloggity blog. I'd also love to learn how to write pop-up slide-shows, a la fluffa!. Does anyone know of decent tutorials for learning these skills? I have a feeling that they're really simple and I just don't know how. Spanks!

Kickboxing and Socks

Busy, busy day. I have a student teacher who is very eager and wanting to do well, which is fantastic, but it takes a little more energy on TOP of the energy it takes to actually do my job. Whew.

So it was really nice when the library notified me that some knitting books that I'd requested had come in!



I've been trying to take advantage of my library tax dollars lately (can you say stacked iPod?) and thought I'd preview some knitting books before buying them. Lately, I'm interested in socks.

I also got a Kathy Smith Kickboxing DVD. Gotta sweat regularly to counteract the couch/knitting time, eh? I like Kathy Smith. I have this one on VHS but our VCR isn't connected right now... Mr. Goodkarma has set up some elaborate media connections that are so complex, he doesn't even know (want to deal with?) how to connect the VCR. Riiiiiiight.

And then I checked my email and received this message from Daily Knitter, a site that I stumbled upon just days ago:

Hi Good Karma -

 One of our readers recommended your blog. Great site!

 Have you visited the Daily Knitter?  http://www.DailyKnitter.com

 And if you are interested in adding a link to our site from yours, we are offering a giveaway right now. On May 20, 2005, we will randomly select a linked site to win three skeins of yarn. To enter, email us with a link to the appropriate webpage.

Sincerely,

Corinne
The Daily Knitter
http://www.DailyKnitter.com

How sweet is that? Someone recommended my young little blog. Wow. Now I feel like I'd better get some knitting done so I'll have something quality to write about. I ripped a few pattern repeats back on Lucky the other night. I'm back up to where I was and then some. I found out the hard way that Lucky isn't the best portable project after all. Once I got flowing, I got cocky about how easy the lace pattern was, and brought Lucky to work with me. Unfortunately, I have a very short lunch break and only got in a couple of rows at a time. Lucky is better to work on when you have a good hour (or more!) to *really* flow! Like right now!!

Lovely Little Earthworms!

The sun finally shone here in Seattle, it's been a lovely afternoon, so Mr. Goodkarma and I spent a few hours or so pulling weeds and digging in the dirt. I've kind of been dreading it, because we have loads of weeds, but it was actually nice and meditative. I met several nice, fat earthworms and got some exercise.

But here comes the good part:

Oh lovely Avobath. Ahhhh... my husband destroyed my gardening gloves, so my hands are disgusting. I bought two new pair today in women's size SMALL, so he wouldn't be able to use them even if he wanted to. So Avobath, here I come. I'm going to go soak in the tub for a looooong time and scrub my hands back into shape at the same time. I think I'll do a Mask of Magnaminty as well. Can't wait!

A couple of people have asked how much Koigu I used for the Berry Baby Booties. I used about half a skein per pair. I'm confident that I would be able to two pair from a skein, using that pattern.

I Heart Kitchener Stitch!

Yeah! I actually finished something! I've been admitting to myself that I have a teensy problem with starting projects and not totally finishing them. Unless it's a small giftie that has a deadline, then I'm your girl. We're having a double baby shower this week for two of my coworkers. I made these booties for them, inspired by Fig and Plum's Sheik Yerbouti post. Clearly, I used a different pattern, but the idea came from her. Mine have a garter stitch sole. The pattern I used also calls for a garter stitch cuff at the top, but I opted for stockinette stitch so they would roll. Thanks for the inspiration, Jessica!

Sydney's Blackberry Booties and Gracen's Blueberry Booties
Pattern: Free Circular Seamless Baby Bootees
Yarn: Koigu P#408 (Blackberry), P#124 (Blueberry); 100% merino
Needles: #2 Brittany Birch DPN
What did I learn? This was my first use of kitchener stitch, the miracle stitch! Yay! I also learned that Koigu PPPM is dangerously gorgeous and fun to knit with. This will certainly not be my last dance with Koigu.


Another view of the Koigu for these projects.

Postman Delivers Summer 2005 IK

How did the next IK come out so soon? Didn't we just get the spring one? Can you tell I'm a little manic about all the projects I've started and all the projects I'm dreaming about? haha!

Fortunately, sadly, howeverly, there really aren't any patterns I *must* knit. There are some cute cami tops but they're not bra friendly, so they're also not goodkarma friendly. And what's with ALL THE SHRUGS lately? Go see Girl From Auntie for a good explanation of why shrugs are not flattering for many women.

I promise to have some good product to show you v. soon. I finished Sydney's booties and am halfway done with Gracen's.

So I take it back. There were a few things I like in IW Summer 2005: all the cute baby gifties, since you know I'm in the Baby Vortex right now, and the Go With the Flow Socks. I have big feet, though, so size 7-8 prolly wouldn't fit and I don't know if I want to deal with re-engineering socks. Will keep them in mind, though, for smaller footed friends.

Ciao, dahlings.

Red Sweater Project

Please check out the Red Sweater Project.

Even if your political views don't match the organizer's, the story about how she started the project is interesting; she was inspired by WWI and WWII sock knitters who wanted to do something for the troops.

This is the first time I've wanted to buy Red Heart yarn since I was 8-10 years old and my mom was making enormous crocheted afghans (c. 1980).

Seattle Lullaby

It's late and I'm sleepy, but enjoying the rhythmic sound of the rain hitting my roof and my window. I could listen to that sound every night for the rest of my life.

No matter how many people move to Seattle for tech jobs and end up opening new Pho restaurants, I love my hometown and love that I know its nuances and streets and rain as if it were a member of my family.

'night.

Happy Knitterversary to Me!

Yay me! One year ago today, I bought my first skeins of Lamb's Pride to make my first (very tightly knit) garter stitch scarf. The year has gone by so quickly! And in that time, of course I've become completely obsessed. And I usually knit to gauge. I remember how stinking tight I knit at the beginning... that first scarf is stiff! haha

I spent the day in a knitterly way so far. I let myself be hypnotized by my loverly Mac as I surfed knitting blogs and the Knittyboard. Then, my SNB met today at a local coffee shop. I'd love to say that I got a lot done on Lucky, but mostly I chatted with my knitty friends about projects and travel. Which was nice and relaxing. Besides, I have all week (didn't I tell you? I'm on Spring Break!) to wrap up some of my nearly done projects. After SNB, I went to Seattle Yarn Gallery (the scene of the crime one year ago!) (they still don't have the new Rebecca! WTF? Other peeps out there are already finished with projects from Rebecca #29! Grrr...) and bought a couple of skeins of Koigu KPPPM to make baby booties for the shower coming up. I'm trying to decide if I want to get another set of addi turbos and do the socks on two circs thing.

Blueberry for little Mr. Gracen, Blackberry for little Miss Sydney

Last night, Mr. Goodkarma and I watched Vera Drake. Vera's daughter knits in one scene (or at least holds a ball of yarn and some needles...). If you haven't seen it yet, you really should. I just read that none of the actors, except the woman playing Vera, knew that the film was about abortion until their characters did. That's such an interesting (and successful, in my opinion) strategy for the actors and director. It became so engrossing toward the end that I just let Mariah fall into my lap and I was 100% into the storyline. Speaking of which, I only have about 6-8 rows left to do on Mariah's yoke and then I'll try it on, see how it looks, and decide what to do from there. Lots of Mariah knitalongers are having issues with the yoke/neckline/hood and I need to decide if I want a hood or a ribbed collar.

Welp, I think I'll wrap up my Knitterversary by winding my Koigu into balls (heh heh, she said, "balls") and picking up where I left off on Mariah.

Have a good week, everyone!

What Kind of Yarn Are You?

You are Merino Wool.
You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

New Spring Knitty

Now this is what I call a great magazine. Oftentimes, I'll buy a magazine and end up only truly liking and wanting to knit one design. Here's a free magazine with more than a few things I really, really want to make, plus tons of fab articles (especially Jenna Wilson's article about choosing the correct size, which has been my biggest concern when knitting for myself) that will really help improve my knitting skills. And what's up with Kristi Porter's sculpted back? Holy cow! What a hottie!

I like the issue so much that I came home tonight and knit a few more rows of Mariah's yoke. It's grey and rainy here in Seattle, so the 100% wool shouldn't be a problem, but my brain is soooo on Spring Break, and I really want to move on to more springy knits.

Did someone say Spring Break? Oh yeah, baby, Spring Break starts tomorrow at 3:10 when I send the munchkins home to their families for the next week! Woohoo! Knitting galore! Oh. I guess I have to do some housework and weeding and stuff, too. But I'll get to knit!

I just placed a hold at the library on 50 Baby Bootees to Knit because I keep going back to Jessica's Sheik Yerbouti post. Since I've fallen into The Baby Vortex over the past few years (nearly EVERY one of my girlfriends has a baby somewhere in the 0-4 year old zone), I'm always on the lookout for knitted cuteness. I think I'll make up a couple pairs of booties for a double baby shower later this month for colleagues. Whew.

Vogue Knitting Spring 05

I picked up a copy of the new Vogue Knitting this week. Here's a site that has preview pictures of each of the projects. There are some interesting ones, but this short sleeved slipped/wrapped waisted top is the only one I could see myself wearing. In a really rich deep turquoise or sapphire color. Ooh la la.

Progress Report

It's been a long week since I last posted. I got over a disgusting cold/flu thing, worked on my students' report cards, went to the annual Sock Hop at school, went to a 1st birthday party, visited a friend and her 2 week old baby girl on Vashon Island, saw Meet the Fockers at The Admiral, etc. etc! Loads of work and socializing, not a lot of time for knitting. However, I do have something to share, including a dirty little secret.

First up, progress on my Ribby Cardi. This poor little guy was put on hold as I started Mariah and then Lucky. I had it all seamed up except for setting in the sleeves and knitting up the collar, and just kind of put it aside. Why? My husband keeps asking me why I start new projects when I have some that aren't finished yet. I've definitely become a *process* knitter, too excited by all the projects I want to make to finish up the ones I've started. I know, I know, my mother would give me that look. So last Sunday, while feeling quite flu-y, I camped out on the couch, watched Steel Magnolias, and got 'er done. Ribby still needs a zipper and some ends to be woven in. This picture makes her Aubergine sleeves look quite dark. Also, I realized after all my seaming that I stretched the ribbing too much when I blocked it originally, so it turned out a bit boxy. I'll be reblocking Ribby this week before getting a zipper. Soon, I hope to post a finished-and-modeled pic!

Here's my progress on Mariah. I've got about 4" of the yoke finished. At this point, I'm finally starting to feel like the rows are getting shorter. Whew! And what's that safety pin doing there, right near the raglan decrease line? Well.... after doing many, many rounds of the yoke, I noticed that I'd dropped a stitch right near the decreases. ACK! There was no way I was going to frog back thousands of stitches. I'm going to carry it back up as far as I can with my crochet hook and then tack it into place on the backside, carefully. I suppose a more dedicated or perfectionistic knitter would have ripped back the two or three inches (we're talking over 300 stitches per row), but not me. I am determined to make it work.

Next, I've been plugging away at Lucky now and then. It's the best project I have right now for portability, so it comes to work with me for lunchtime stitching. It's good to have different projects going at once, especially if they're at different gauges so your hands don't get bored! I've got 6" of the back piece done. That's all. But for a busy week, I'm satisfied with what I was able to accomplish.

Finally, here's my dirty little secret. I've had this Surplice Cardi on my "Current Projects" sidebar for months. I started it in October on a train ride to Portland, and of course it's been *this* close to wearable for months and months. The original pattern called for 3/4 sleeves, and I lengthened them to full length sleeves... in fact, I went overboard and need to rip back some length! I need to reblock it, too, though, and that's just not as exciting as the cables of Mariah or the clover lace pattern of Lucky, so it's been sitting in my knitting basket for all this time. Poor thing. Also, I hate the thin crocheted ties prescribed by the pattern, so I want to take the sweater out on the town with me and find a nice ribbon replacement. By the way, the color here is really flashified (washed out). Lichen Cascade Lana d'Oro is a really rich olivey foresty color. It's heavenly to work with, too!!

Finally, I leave you with a little something cheerful and springy from my back deck. It's impossible to be gloomy when these happy daffs are smiling at you! Have a great week, everyone!




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