Wanted: Rebecca #38 Pale Blue Jacket

Because I don't have enough projects on my wish list (insert sarcasm here), I thought I'd add this one. I could use another non-wooly cardi in the mix, something that could work most of the year-round. Now I'm thinking of using the Jo Sharp Soho Summer that's on sale at WEBS right now.

Which color do you like best:

1. sailboat


2. currant


3. rockpool


4. paprika


I'm leaning toward sailboat, but is that just because a) I'm in love with light blue lately and b) the original picture is in light blue? I also like rockpool; I don't have a lot of green in my wardrobe, but then again my Lucky cardi is being made in a peacock color, which is more blue than green. I love just about every shade of purple. And I always get compliments when I wear things in the rose-coral-salmon spectrum.

I polled a couple of my second graders and they agreed that Rockpool would be a good choice. One of them also suggested that black would be good. You see, 8 year old girls are good yarny fashion advisors! :)

What's a girl to do? :)

goodkarma go again

Someone asked if I'm a "real Karma" or if "Karma is my stage name". As much as I like the idea of a stage name, I am a real Karma. That's really my name. Usually when someone meets me, they ask one of two questions:

1. Were your parents hippies?

2. Are you Buddhist?

I get these kinds of questions a lot, and it's okay, it comes with the territory. I usually mess with people and tell them that my brother's name is Dharma. (It's not.) Yes, I guess you could say my parents were hippies, or at least very, very young when they had me in 1971. I'm not officially a Buddhist, but am very interested in eastern religions and Buddhism in particular, which might be precipitated by growing up with my given name.

Here's another travel photo. This one is from Amsterdam in 2003. I've been to Amsterdam a few different times and love it more and more each time. It's a really diverse city with a completely different experience for each visitor. I've done the "museum Amsterdam" with a girlfriend, a more "red light Amsterdam" while traveling during my honeymoon, and this last time it was more of a "snapshot Amsterdam" while on a day-long layover on the way home from India. There are bicycles all over the place (parts of the Netherlands are made up of reclaimed land, and are therefore very flat and condusive to bicycling), and flower pots on everyone's doorstep or window.

Zipper Order

Psst... I just ordered my zipper for Mariah (18", color #916, deep brown) and for Ribby Cardi (21, color #546, sky blue). Please, Mr. Postman, bring them to me soon!

Sneak Peek

The fact that I haven't posted for a whole week means that a) my work world has been shaken up and busy, and 2) I wanted to post a finished Mariah the next time I posted here (let's get real!). The weather this week has been fantastic, though, with thunder storms, hail, wind, heavy rain, and sunshine inbetween it all. I get really excited during thunder storms! ooh! ahh!

I spent the week (knitting-wise) finishing Mariah's hood, which I thought would take an evening in front of Law and Order, but who was I kidding, it took several sessions to knit. Hoods are big. Yes, they are. But guess what? I not only finished that hood, but I also got about 1/3 of the seaming done. I'm planning to order a zipper for it and for Ribby today, and have a couple of finished sweaters soon soon soon.

I was out and about yesterday and took a chance at my neighborhood Hancock Fabrics to see if there was any more Cotton Ease. It's now 30% off, so I got 6 skeins for around $17. Not bad, eh? This color is called Blue Ice; it's a soft blue with a little lavender tint to it. Periwinkle? We'll see what it decides it wants to become.

I took an even bigger chance and dropped by my neighborhood yarn shop, Seattle Yarn Gallery, to see if they had the new Rebecca. I've been dropping by or calling every week or two for a couple of months, just for this reason. They finally got it in! The day before! I was so happy. I don't know why the whole Seattle area got their magazine shipment so much later than the rest of the world, but I'm over it now. :)

This afternoon I'm taking my grandma to see a play... The Seattle Shakespeare Co. is putting on an all male version of The Taming of the Shrew, and I've heard good things about it so far. We'll have lunch somewhere first... should be fun!

And how could I possibly end this post without the big news of the week? Mr. Goodkarma and I finally bought our tickets for our vacation in Hawaii this July! I haven't been to Hawaii yet, but Mr. has. His parents have a condo on the big island, so we'll stay there with them for a week, and we're also going to visit Oahu for a week, where I have a dear friend to visit. Are we excited? Oh yeah! I'm already starting to think about airplane knitting. But mostly, I've had a rough couple of months at work and am really ready for some beach time. This will be my first relaxing summer in a few years... the last two years I've done major travel that hasn't been very relaxing at all. Hawaii, here we come!

Field Trip

Saturday rocked. I drove alllll the way up to Everett to find Great Yarns. It took me an hour to get there, and on the way I was hoping it would be worth it. It was so worth it!

The shop is housed on a very busy street amidst strip mall quality businesses (check cashing company, day labor business, car parts shop, smoke shop, etc.) in an old craftsman style house. On the porch were racks of bagged up sale yarns, and as I made my way inside I felt like I were in a less glamorous version of Hilltop Yarn: green shag rug in the old living room where the cashmeres and Debbie Blisses were, all the sock yarn and novelty yarns were in a side bedroom (lots of Koigu! none on sale!), another bedroom had baby yarns and lots of books and magazines, the kitchen had sweater kits, Noro, more Debbie Bliss, bulkier yarns, and the dining room had a great big table full of sale yarns as well as a good assortment of all kinds of fibers on the walls and on the floor in bins. The shop had a good assortment from cheaper acrylics up to fancy lux cashmeres and all things inbetween. Sale signs were sprinkled throughout the store. The staff and customers were all very friendly, approachable, normal unassuming people. It was a great experience.

Score #1: 6 skeins (660 yds.) of La Lana Del Cigno Nero Tatiana 2 100% Egyptian Cotton from Italy, reg. price $28.50, mine for $15. I'm thinking Soleil, maybe?




Score #2: 10 skeins (appx. 1360 yds.) of Schachenmayr Extra 100% superwash wool. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it was marked down from $45 to $25, it's a color I like, I'll think of something.



Score #3: 10 skeins (1380 yds) of Classic Elite Waterspun 100% felted merino, in Aqua Ice. Marked down from $62.50 to $32.50. This was my happiest score; I've seen this yarn before and felt lust but didn't buy. I *adore* the color and will definitely find something to make with this!!

So for $75, I think I did pretty well. I don't know that I'll be going to Great Yarns very often, because of the distance, but it was a great little shop with good deals. If they have another sale in the future, I'll be there. On my way home, I was feeling the need to get a pedicure. Much better.

Later that evening, I met up with 4 of my girlfriends at one of their condos downtown... we had a fabulous dinner, lemon drops, did facials, read trashy magazines, stayed up late and watched Saturday Night Live. Here's a snap Kristina and I (that's me on the right in all my green glory) with our LUSH Mask of Magnaminty faces (so fresh and so clean!). We stayed the night and woke up to a fabulous Belgian waffle breakfast and discussion of our book of the month, Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner. Next month, we'll go to a real spa for massages (to celebrate V's birthday! to celebrate the end of the school year since most of us are teachers!) and discuss Joanne Harris' Holy Fools.

I could not have asked for a better weekend! Now I need to get some knitting done. Mariah, here I come!

Kindness Revisited

Things that made me a happy girl yesterday:

1. Grumperina sent me this sweet little thing as a thank you. It's a drawstring bag, in case you couldn't see from the picture. She's really been paying attention: she said it was a little something for goal #5. That means organizing my house. :) It's perfect for me! Now I just have to think of the perfect use for it. Thank you, Kathy! I love the colors.

2. Karen sent me this:

I noticed that she used the Knitpicks Andean Silk for Branching Out (go see her blog, it's soo pretty!) and I asked her how she liked the yarn. She promptly offered to send me her leftovers to knit and play with! The cute thing was that her husband so very generously cleaned up for her, so all that was left was the ends that she had to weave in, but you know what? IT WAS ENOUGH. I'm sold. This yarn is soooo soft. I even adore the color she used. Is that Sangria? Too bad there's something wrong with my camera right now and I can't use the macro. Anyway, I'm thinking an Hourglass Sweater (need to buy the book) or else Subway Knitter's V-Neck Bell Sleeve Top. Oh. It would be like buttah. Thank you so much Karen, for enabling me! You are so sweet! And we both have K names; the notecard was v. cute.

3. Becky came by and told me not to frog my Purple Peppermint Twist. The Becky who designed it! Wow, how in the world did she find my little blog? Anyway, after reading several comments suggesting that I try to save PPT, I think I will. But Mariah is *still* number one on the hit parade, and I'm going to try to finish her up this weekend.



Things I'm happy about today:

1. Laura emailed to say she got her Cotton Ease in the mail today! She couldn't find any left in her city, nor online, so I did the neighborly thing and went shopping for her! Hey, sometimes it's easier to go hunting for yarn when you're not spending your own dough. Go check out her blog; she has a finished Soleil that's gorgeous.

2. I just went to yoga tonight for the first time in months. I've been doing other kinds of exercise, so this was a good switcheroo and it helps me meet Goal #4 (getting back into yoga).

3. I'm having a slumber party with my girlfriends Saturday night! One dear friend is going soon to live in Tanzania for two years; another is coming up from Eugene, Oregon with her little 5 month old sweetie, Anya. Five of us are getting together to read magazines, paint our toes, drink lemon drops, you know. We have to start Anya out on the right foot in life, right? Gratuitous Anya shot:

4. A new (to me) yarn shop, Great Yarns! is having a sale right now and I'm going to drive up there in the morning and check it out. It's about 35 miles north of me in Everett, and that sounds like just the thing for a solo Saturday morning jaunt.

Hopefully, my next post will be announcing the completion of Mariah.

Second Thoughts

Comments about Purple Peppermint Twist are causing me to have second thoughts about frogging. I think I'll spend a few minutes with the pieces I have and see if I can make it work. I was most concerned about the stretch factor. I know that twisted knits stretch less than untwisted ones do. But the place I would most need the stretch would be in the bust, and I'm not up to the bust yet on the piece I've got started. Maybe that piece could be the back, and a new, more perfect piece could be the front? We'll see. Mariah and baby bootees are top priority this week.

Talk amongst yourselves:
a thigh-master is neither a thigh nor a master. Discuss!


Carolyn tagged me with the book meme this weekend. Little did she know, I am a book fiend. (Especially B.K.... before knitting!) I even used to write reviews for MostlyFiction.com. Anyway, I have a lot of books. :)

Here are the questions:

1)Total number of books in your house:
There must be 1000+. Most are literature, some are travel guides, cookbooks and knitting books, and there are a few other how-to or reference books. Mr. Goodkarma mostly reads business or investing books, but only 1-2 a year.

2)The last book you bought was:
Fodor's Hawaii. We're going in July. Yay! I told you my blog is called goodkarmago for a reason!

3)What was the last book you read?
Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner. I've been in a book funk or a rut of some kind, and nothing I've picked up over the past year really rocked my boat. I've probably been giving too much of my free time/attention to knitting. Anyway, this book renewed my love affair with literature. Brookner's language is elegant. Her observation of characters, human behavior and social mores were both intelligent and subtle. What should a woman hope for or strive for? Social acceptance or integrity? A businesslike marriage or independence and a career?

4)Write down 5 (or 6) books you often read or that mean a lot to you.

Well, that's tough, but here goes:
Possession by A.S. Byatt
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis DeBerniers
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

A few of my favorite authors:
Margaret Atwood
Barbara Kingsolver
Salman Rushdie
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Philip Roth
Jhumpa Lahiri
Ian McEwan
Kate Atkinson
Joanne Harris

I love to read about different cultures, especially Latino, African American, African, and Indian literature.

5)Who are you going to pass this onto and why?

I've seen this meme at many blogs lately; if you haven't been tagged yet, please consider yourself IT!

Purple Peppermint Twist, aka: I Need a Ballwinder

One of the first "real" projects I attempted was Becky's Peppermint Twist from SNB. I loved it and I thought it would be a great challenge for me. I'm not usually a pink girl, so I chose black, white, and two shades of purple (Lavender and Antique Plum) Endless Summer Collection Lara from elann, which is actually back for sale this week.

I put the project down when I left for a month in eastern Europe. Before I left for that trip, I learned that I had been twisting my knit stitches. I relearned the knit stitch and brought a different project along with me.

That Purple Peppermint Twist(ed stitches) has been languishing in the bottom of my knitting basket ever since:

See here one finished 3/4 sleeve, another sleeve on a needle, and about half of the front piece. Looking at it today, I'm proud of how even my stitches were, even that long ago. I'd only been knitting for a couple of months at most when I started this puppy.

I almost asked for advice re: would you rip it out and start over, but I already knew the answer. Not only am I a better, more uniform knitter now (who doesn't twist her knits!), but I'm also more privvy to the importance of gauge. I don't think I paid enough attention to gauge a year ago.

So... I need a ball winder and a martini so I can tear this baby up! In the meantime, I'm working on Mariah's hood and want to finish her up this week.

Kindness

Have you read grumperina's blog this weekend? I think she has a really good point. I think that Secret Pals and RAOK are really cool games to play, but I'm kinda glad I didn't sign up for them because I keep seeing these very extravagant packages being swapped and I'm sure I would be nervous that my gifties weren't generous enough, "right", useful, etc.

She received the vintage needles I posted here a couple of days ago (the #5s are still available! anyone? anyone?) and guess what? My karma is instantly returned: I casually asked another blogger today how she liked using the Knit Picks Andean Silk that she's just finished using, and she offered to send me the piece she had left over from her project, just so I could play with it myself!

The people in the knitting community are just so kind.

Baby's First Meme

From Yarn Yoga:

Please list 5 things that you may or may not have done before that you would like to learn or try again. This may just get you to try them or give you some renewed interest!

1. Parenthood. Mr. Goodkarma and I are hoping to start this new hobby within the next year. There's a lot of preparation and practice involved, which we are thoroughly enjoying at the moment.

2. Running. For the past year, I've dabbled in a little jogging and I've found that I need to do a lot of building up and training if I ever want to run a marathon or anything insane like that.

3. Composting. I have a friend who's a Master Composter and she has inspired me to want to learn more about making my own compost so my yard (I just typed yarn) and garden will be super extra healthy and rich.

4. Yoga. Last year, there were several months where I was going to a yoga class at my gym every single Friday night. It really didn't take too long before I felt much more tall and strong. One thing led to another, travel, life, etc., and I stopped going. I want to get back on that wagon!

5. Staying Organized. I've never been good at having a clean, tidy house for a long period of time. It's not filthy, just cluttered. I think I get easily overwhelmed if there's too much to do and I find it's much easier to procrastinate than to deal. One day last month, Cara blogged about housekeeping and joked about FlyLady. I had no idea who that was, so I googled it and now I'm hooked. She's helping me get my house in shape in really easy steps each day. So thanks to Cara's joke, I'm already working on Thing #5.

Who will I tag? Hmmmm... How about loulou, CJ, and Knitin Chick, three of my partners in Mariah, all of whom I would like to get to know better. Did you see Knitin Chick's FO today??? Ooh la la!

More Book Reviews and a New Project

Oh how I love my library system! I checked out two more sock books this weekend:

Socks Socks Socks: 70 Winning Patterns From the Knitter's Magazine Contest

Hmm. All the winners are very talented, but who is really wearing all of these crazy socks?? Did you see all the cutesy intarsia sockies with little piggie toes or the striped rainbow socks with 24 colors? Woah. There were a couple that I would consider making, but nothing that I couldn't find somewhere else (like Knitting on the Road! I think I'm falling in love with that book!)

50 Baby Bootees to Knit, by Zoe Mellor

Cuteness! Cuteness! I've heard criticism that there really aren't 50 patterns, just several variations on a theme. But dang, the variations are sweet. I don't like paying $25 for this book, but on the other hand, it would be really handy to have around for baby shower inspiration. Must keep an eye out at Overstock.com.

Another good thing about this book is the package... it's hardback with a spiral binding. I love that.

I'm going to make a pair of the teddy bear booties from this book for my dear friend Stasie's boy, Dylan, who was just born Friday. Here's the yarn I ordered for Dylan's teddy bear booties; I tried a new online yarn shop called Fuzzy Mabel and my package arrived super quickly, contents packed with a cute purple ribbon and then wrapped in purple tissue paper. This is an 8-ply washable wool. Of course the colors aren't accurate; use your imagination!

Geez, how many times is Law and Order on in one day?

I had a gloriously uneventful weekend, no plans, so hubby and I got lots of house and yard work done, and I got to knit a lot. Especially on Saturday. There were a couple of times when Mr. Goodkarma came upstairs and noticed that I was watching Law and Order and knitting. After a few hours, he huffed, "geez, how many times is this show on in one day???" Come on! You know it's a great show to knit to! All that snappy dialogue is great for those times when I have to look down and just listen. And besides, I *finally* finished the back of Lucky. Here it is in its unblocked and side-curly glory:

Binding off Lucky's back felt like hitting a major milestone. Lucky is not a quick knit in any stretch of the imagination. The fabric that elann's Baby Cashmere is creating is soooo yummy. I can't wait to wear this. And the rich teal peacock color is so beautiful... hard to photograph, though.






In sad knitty news, one of my coworkers' mothers passed away recently, and I found this little bundle on my desk the other day with a note asking if I could use some of her knitting needles:

Of course I accepted, and then later remembered how much more I love using circs than straights. So if anyone out there is fascinated by vintage pink packaging and aluminum 14" straights the remaining pair of #5 vintage aluminum 14" straights, sans packaging, let me know. Our dear friend, Grumperina, who really isn't grumpy at all, in my opinion, was the first to respond to my offer. There's also an interesting wooden pair of #35s that I will probably hold on to for now, just because I don't have anything nearly this size and I might want to knit a scarf for Shaq someday. haha!


Finally, I submitted to the Cotton Ease craze a few days ago. Here's what happened:
1. I saw this Scoop Du Jour pattern by Bonne Marie.
2. I saw a picture of the pattern, knitted up modeled by Heidi in Vanilla Cotton Ease (she's started her own in Manos and is hosting a KAL, too!) and thought, wow, that looks so cute and comfy on her.
3. I started hearing about Cotton Ease being discontinued, and folks were going out of their way to buy up whatever they could get their hands on.
4. Even though I usually go for natural fibers -- even way before I became a knitter -- I suddenly HAD to have 6 skeins of Cotton Ease.

Isn't it funny how we suddenly want something we never wanted before, just because others want it and it's not going to be easy to get anymore?

I picked up Blue Popsical (sic), mostly because it was one of the only colors the local Joann had that wasn't a (as Jodi says) sucky baby color. It's really intensely turquoisy summery blue:



I figure, the Rowan All Seasons Cotton I got for my Rebecca Aprikot Jacke is a cotton acrylic blend, this is similar but cheaper, no? So we'll see how I like it after all!

Finally, I got my color card in the mail from Zipperstop. I need to order zippers for my Ribby Cardi and my Mariah; I figured I might as well pay for a color card to have on hand for all the future cardis I'm going to knit, right?

Book Reviews

I've checked out three books from the library recently; here are my impressions:

Vogue Knitting On the Go: Socks Two:

Vogue Knitting books always have well illustrated tips/how-to sections, and this one includes tips on short-row turns, kitchener stitch, etc. The patterns are good, nothing really caught my eye enough to buy the book, but it's a good book for someone who wants some cute basic patterns, maybe good for beginners, too.

The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook; Dyeing, Painting, Spinning, Designing, Knitting: It's obvious that the women who created this book are a) very skilled artisans and b) are from Eugene, Oregon.

a) very skilled artisans: The book is divided into three sections:
1. color and dying
2. from fiber to yarn
3. knitting socks
So you're getting a lot of bang for your buck if you buy this book, if these are things you're interested in reading... There's good info here about dying and fibers that was interesting to read, even though I'm not going to do it. The resulting socks are:

b) obviously from Eugene, Oregon. Okay, so the author lives in Virginia. The socks in this book are very hippy-dippy, wear with your Birks to a Dead (Phish?) concert after the Farmers Market sort of look. The Twisted Sisters are a bunch of women who come together in Eugene to spin, dye, knit and wear colorful, gorgeous socks with their Birkenstocks. The patterns are great, there are discussions about knit as you go heels vs. afterthought heels, etc. There's even a pattern for toe socks! You know, like foot gloves! :) My mom had a stripey pair in the late 70s or early 80s that I remember fondly.

Knitting On the Road by Nancy Bush, is last, but sooo not least.

Let's just say I fell in love with this book and I don't really want to return it to the library, except that some previous borrower let their 3 year old scribble on a page or two and so, of course, I NEED to buy my own, pristine copy.

This book has a hard cover with a spiral binding. So it's going to stay open, nice and flat, to the page you're working with, without any creases or bending. The shape is long and narrow, so if you really were Knitting on the Road, it would easily fit into your backpack or carry-on luggage. (Nancy Bush even includes a photo of her knitterly backpack.)

The patterns are superior, or at least they are presented beautifully. There are patterns inspired by everywhere from Whidby Island (not far from where I live!) to Scandinavia and all sorts of places inbetween. These are finally socks that I could imagine myself and Mr. Goodkarma wearing.

The book also includes a good list of sock yarns, including info about fiber, gauge, yardage, manufacturer, etc., so that yarn subs can easily be made. Without having knit any of these patterns, I can say I've definitely found a sock book that I want to own!

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!




.

Show and Tell!

I've spotted a couple of goodkarma pieces around town and I thought I'd share...

First up, we have a lovely picture of my sis, bro in law and niecie Alyssa at bro in law's swearing-in ceremony for the police department. We are all so proud of him! And then we notice that niecie is wearing her Christmas pressie! Look at the yummy Karabella Aurora 8 yarn and how it matches her cheeks. Holy cow, I want to pinch them as I type. Lucky for her, she's walking all over the place now, so even if she were here she would be able to run away from auntie.

Then, while I was looking through photos from our school's Lunar New Year Multicultural Parade, I noticed that Luna was wearing her Haiku! Here she is with her gorgeous mama.

So, okay, neither sweaters fit their intended lovlies just yet, but they're growing so stinking fast that the next time I try to get a picture, the sweaters will be too small.

More sharing to come this weekend, I promise. I have a yucky cold and all I want to do is stay in and knit. I'm a bit stalled on Mariah (want to re-check my math before I get too deep into the yoke), so have got a bit of progress going on Lucky.

You Must Be Yoking!

This has been a really sucky week. I'm a teacher in the public school system and we've been having yucky, horrible budget talks all week, which have been stressful, emotional, and frustrating.

Although much of my stress was relieved with great workouts, I can almost scientifically attest to the wonders of therapeutic knitting. Exhibit A: Mariah. In the past week, I've finished up all of the pieces, connected them, and knit a couple of inches of the yoke. Much of this was done during American Idol (Why did Mario have to drop out?!), I must admit, and various and sundry DVDs, thanks to Netflix.

So far, this has been a really interesting project. I've become very comfortable with the cabling pattern and doing it without a cable needle. It's the first project I've done like this, knitting the pieces from the bottom up and then connecting and knitting the yoke as one. At first, each of those rounds felt like it was 8 miles long (and the thing weighs 50 pounds!), but the raglan decreases are helping to speed things up, I promise. I hope to finish the yoke this week and then I'll have to make a decision about the hood. Do I want a hood? Do I want a collar? I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam I Am!

I also cast on Lucky and have knit the ribbing for the back. That's all. I really want to finish up some of my other projects before starting something new, but all of them are so ginormous that they're not practical for bringing places, like awful budget meetings.

So I bring you my lovely friends, Julian and Lennon. They make me happy when skies are grey. Truly. They follow me around the house -- well, Julian does -- and we have kitty conversations. Meow? Meow!

Julian says, "Hey, mom, put that camera away
and play ribbon tag with me some more!"

Lennon says, "Hey, why ya gotta wake me up?"

I'm sure this week will be better!

The Manolo No-Poncho Pledge

Oh yes. I do swear. I will nevah nevah be seduced by the poncho.

Baby Cashmere

I just noticed that elann has more Baby Cashmere.

The peacock color I'm using is more of a blue teal; on this page it looks more greeny.

I feel Lucky tonight.

I think I'm suffering from Start-itis.

Ever since the Lucky Along started and everyone began talking about the pattern, showing their pictures, etc., I've been eyeballing those 18 balls of Peacock Baby Cashmere set aside for my own Lucky.

I swatched tonight. The pattern calls for #3 (3mm) needles. My #3 (addi turbo) needles are 3.25mm. So I gave 'em a try. It felt loose and baggy, like the way your fat jeans feel on you after you've lost a bunch of weight. So I switched to my #2 (3mm) addis... so amazing what a difference .25mm made! That felt much better.

Lace pattern? Fun! Baby cashmere? Delicious! It's so soft and yummy, I want to kiss it. I think my husband would give me weird looks though. Ah, what's new?

Here's a scan of my swatchie.
The top part is knit with the better fitting #2 addi. Too bad the scanner doesn't fully appreciate the beautiful color of this yarn. It's more of a dark teal, hence the name (Peacock). That's okay, my digi camera understands my sense of color much better and I'll take photos later as I progress.

Mariah Progress Report

You know that part in the sleeve pattern when you take a break from cables for a few rows and then increase and start cabling again? Well, that part with the multiple increases always gets me. I have to be *really* paying attention or I have to rip back and try again because I goofed up and didn't increase enough times. That's the only part of the whole graph that's still challenging for me.

But sleeve #1 is almost ready to be put on a holder... then all I have left to do is sleeve #2 before I connect all the pieces and knit the yoke! Yeah!