Happiness Is a Warm Girl

Presenting Mariah!

According to my notes, I started this sweater back in February. I remember casting on when I was doing jury duty. In between then and now, I started other projects, made baby gifties, etc. I had the whole sweater finished, seamed, and one half of the zipper installed in the spring. Then I got sick of wool and feeling sweaty when I handled Mariah, so I foolishly set her down on my dresser for MONTHS. Last night I finally decided that it was time to install the last half of the zipper and wear M-m-m-m-my-my-my-woo!-My Mariah!

This is one of the first things I've made for myself that fits and actually looks good. I think that's part of why I take forever to finish things and would rather start new ones... that fear of failure or fear that whatever it is that I'm making is not going to fit. Thank goodness this worked well. I haven't even blocked it yet and it looks great, except for the rolly-inny hood. I'll give it a good steaming before I wear it out.

Mariah, from Knitty.com
designed by the goddess herself, Jodi Green
Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool, Chocolate Truffle
Addi Turbo #6 needles
zipper courtesy of my new best friends at Zipper Stop

What do I like? What did I change? What would I do differently next time?
I like the fit. I'm always looking for something with waist shaping, because you might not be able to see it in this picture, but I am a pretty medium sized girl who has an hourglass shape. I have a waist and I have a big bust. So I need waist shaping or else things look pretty frumpy on me. This sweater doesn't have shaping, but I made a close-fitting size and the deep ribbing helped to bring things in at the waist.

I finished the fronts with Attached I-cord edging, learned from Nancie Wiseman's The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, instead of the garter-stitch-turned-under edges prescribed by the pattern. I thought it looked much more, well, finished! This was inspired by Streets and YOs' Ribby Cardi, by the way. I did all the cabling without a cable needle, which was a fun technique to learn.

If I were to make this sweater again, I would definitely find a way to make the neckline smaller/higher. I'm more experienced now, so I have some ideas on how I would do this differently next time; I can see that I could have simply continued knitting the entire yoke (including cable motif on the sleeves and decreases for the raglan) several more rows. But I'm happy enough with it. In the pictures, I'm wearing a very high-necked tshirt, so it shows more than other tshirts will. Finally, the Peruvian Wool was easy to work with and all (gotta love that spit-splice!), but it's pretty fuzzy and I wonder how long it will take for it to pill like crazy. We'll see.

Now I feel a bit more brave and courageous... will start finishing more of my nearly-done projects!


P.S. Remind me why I asked my husband to be the photographer? Mr. One Track Mind!! :)

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

Not a lot of luck to be had this weekend, looking for buttons at the JoAnn Superstore. I know they have more button choices than the Hancock Fabrics near me, but I still didn't find what I had in mind. I ended up compromising and buying buttons that will probably be okay, but aren't exactly exciting me.

Then I read about Button Shoppe at the Knitty board today. Within minutes, I'd found just what I had in mind and then some. If it's anything like Zipper Stop, I'll be a happy camper.

Pastimes is in the Past.

I was going to spend as much of today in my jammies as possible. I was watching NYPD Blue and knitting when the postwoman dropped off my mail at around 2pm. When I saw the postcard announcing that Pastimes in Kent is not only closing, but having a big going-out-of-business sale starting TODAY, I knew that I couldn't wear jammies any longer.

I haven't shopped at Pastimes much -- there are so many other yarn shops that are closer to me -- but I always thought it was a beautiful space. There are wall to wall windows that let in loads of natural light and the yarn and pattern books are all beautifully displayed in dark wood armoirs. Sadly, Pastimes' business has severely dropped over the past several months and they're closing shop.

I was able to get 10 skeins of Rowan All Seasons cotton in a periwinkle color called Ravish, and 10 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in Graphite. The latter is hoping to become Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan from Knit and Tonic.

I was glad to find Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies and Zoe Mellor's 50 Baby Booties to Knit; they've both been on my wish list. I also picked up a few incidentals: a CHIBI, some stitch markers, and a stitch holder. The basket was just meant to be a shopping basket, but since we spent over an hour together in line waiting to check out, we developed a fondness for one another and the basket was mine for $10. I'm a sucker for slightly irregular, rustic baskets.

Miss Popularity Contest

A very dear friend of mine is absolutely bonkers over those damn Blythe dolls. She's been collecting and photographing them for a few years now, and one of her photos has been selected for publication in an official Blythe postcard book, very exciting for her!

Naturally, there's a popularity contest, and the winning photo gets to be on the cover of the book. Friend's photo is #40. If you're interested in voting, click on the banner and place your vote! Voting goes from Sept. 16 - Sept. 27 and the winner is announced on Oct. 3.

Accountability

Well, there you have it. I told all of you about my plan to start running after having done it only once. Then a bunch of you said, way to go! and hey, thanks for motivating me to do it, too! and yeah, let's all go running!

So now I have to continue.

Last night, it happened to be raining cats and dogs when I wanted to go running, so I struck a deal with myself: I would stay home and knit if, and only if, I promised to go the next day, no matter what. So I stayed in and finished seaming Raspberry Jacke! I even crocheted the front opening, complete with buttonholes. Now I just need to go out and find some suitable buttons, weave in 1,487 ends, and wear a minimizer bra when I wear the thing. Yep, it might be a tad small. I'll see what it looks like with a better bra and a light steaming.

Now I have to go run!

Oh, one more thing, and I promise I'm not procrastinating. Okay, well, maybe a little. I saw this cool new site called Postcrossing -- like Bookcrossing, only with postcards -- at Lolly's site and signed up today. I'm sending my first postcard to an interesting woman in Dusseldorf! Das finde ich ausgezeichnet!!

Okay, now I have to go run!

Blowin' Off Some Steam

Cara's talking about starting her running program again.

The middle school a block away from my house is newly remodeled and has a brand new track.

I have back-to-school-stress.

What else is there to do but go to Target [tar-zjay] Boutique and hook myself up with a new watch with a timer so I can start training?

I feel much better. :)

After running, I got a few inches done on my Vogue short-sleeved top. At this rate, I'll be done just in time for winter! hee hee! :)

Are You There, Karma? It's Me, Blog.

Dear Karma,

Since school started, I've noticed your attention has -- temporarily, I'm sure! -- shifted away from yarn and your blog and toward crayons and spiral notebooks. Just thought I'd check in and see how you're doing. I wonder what it's like to teach 4th grade instead of 1st or 2nd. I'll bet the kids are just the same, only taller.

I noticed, too, that you've been spending more time in front of the TV than usual, upset by images of New Orleans, and I would be jealous of that ugly box but I know you have fond memories of jumbalaya and beignets and jazz music in the Quarter, so I've quietly been sitting here waiting for you. The politics have been overwhelming, the humanity and lack of dignity for the survivors heartwrenching, and you're always looking for ways to help. Don't forget that blogs can be a good source of news and information, too. In fact, you might be interested in this slide show of NOLA before, during, and after Katrina and the Waves Flood hit the Crescent City.

At least you've been knitting quite a lot while watching all that horrible news. It's always comforting to feel the rhythm of the needles click-clacking in your hands when emotions run high or low. Your Aprikot Raspberry Jacke is so close to being complete, and your Vogue short sleeved top looks like it's coming along well -- aren't you almost done with the back piece? Maybe you'll let me post some pictures soon.

I noticed you went to an award winning play called Intimate Apparel with your friend Nichole. Sounds like fun; you went out to dinner at a new restaurant called Crow, there was a stitch 'n bitch beforehand where you met lots of other knitters, and you gave the play a great review. The stitch 'n bitch was organized by that new yarn shop downtown called So Much Yarn you've been meaning to go to; now that you've met the owner, Lauren, and seen how friendly she and her employees and friends are, I'll bet you'll go check it out!

While you've been away, you've had some interesting visitors. Naturally, I took messages. One of them came by looking for "obsessed with my boobs;" thought you might get a chuckle out of that one.

Keep knitting and don't forget about me.
Yours,
Blog

Misti Alpaca Sport

Cross posting what I posted at the Union Square Market Pullover Knit-a-Long, for anyone who might be interested...



Hey KAL friends,

Just a quick post to share my yarn news. I just swatched for my USMP with Misti Alpaca Sport and found that I got a pretty close gauge on Addi Turbo size 3 needles. So happy!

I'll be using the lovely grape color for the main color, and pistachio green for the contrast. Sadly, Misti doesn't make the pistachio in sport weight, so I'll be carrying three strands of lace weight together instead. The color combination is really fun, though, and there isn't so much contrasting color, so I think it will work out just fine.

I got my yarn at Little Knits, which is good for two reasons. 1) They are making a serious effort to make a large contribution to Hurricane Katrina victims and 2) they're offering free shipping for Misti orders of $50 or more. Go check it out...

I won't be starting my pulli for a little while, though, as I finish up other projects, but am excited about the progress everyone else has shared!

Last Post of the Summer

Tomorrow is my first official day back to work. Forget all the hours I've already spent cleaning out the last guy's crap from my new classroom and all the hours I accumulated throughout the summer taking classes to prepare me for a new grade. Like Food Chemistry. That was a fun one! I'm a bit sad that the summer is ending, but I'm also excited to meet my new students.

I fully intended to have a finished project to share by now, and it's coming soon, very very soon. While I'm finishing it, I'm also swatching for a couple of new projects and getting very excited about them. Union Square Market Pullover from IK, Short Sleeved Wrap Top from Summer VK, and Hopeful by Jenna Adorno are all on my list for next projects. I love starting something new!

I've been contemplating switching away from Blogger and trying something new. Pretty Posies? Typepad? Any feedback from any of you? I like that Blogger is so stinking easy to use, but I also like that other options have, well, other options. So if you love your blog and its hosting, etc., please leave me a comment.

Inquiring minds want to know.

P.S. Check out the galleries at My Cat Hates You. Snort!

My Husband Will Not Be Surprised

By way of ChicKnits...

Sweetness

Dear Erika Knight,

Are you insane? Or are you a genius?

The first "Dainty Baby Bootee" I made, of the pair, propelled me to use not so dainty language. Cut yarn here, pick up stitches there. Create a free-form sculpture that somewhat resembles an octopus. WTF??



But the second one went along much, much more smoothly. I started seeing the logic behind the insanity, and the final result made me think that perhaps you knew what you were talking about after all.



Fortunately, the "Lacy Bonnet", which I made before the "loony bootees", made complete sense from stitch one and was a joy to knit. The rosette shape at the crown is absolutely gorgeous. The lacy pattern that makes up the rest of the bonnet has a wonderful repetitive flow; I started wondering if the lace were something like Orangina's. The only problem was the ribbon. The example in the book has one attach a head-sized ribbon rosette on each side, which is very beautiful to photograph, but very unrealistic for most of the babies I know. Also, it was tough to find a ribbon color that I liked with this dusty pink yarn, so I went with the antique white to pick up the pearly buttons (stitched on so firmly that no baby will ever be able to pull off) on the bootees.



Thank you for your designs, Ms. Knight. I'm sorry I thought you were crazy.

Sincerely,
Karma

P.S. The gifties were a big hit at the baby shower today. Everyone thought I was a genius.

P.P.S. Lacy Bonnet and Dainty Bootees,
Knitting For Two by Erika Knight
Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, pink, 1 skein for all
#4 bamboo straights (that's another agonizing story in itself, what the heck am I doing with bamboo straights anymore for goodness sake, pass the addis!!!)

Ask Me, I Know

In the last few days, new people found this blog by searching for:

1. How to pack a suitcase

2. How to have good karma

3. How do I know if I have good karma or not?

I think the "how to pack a suitcase" one is pretty funny. Mr. Goodkarma is packing for a business trip as I type and he's clueless. So maybe I *am* the right person to google about suitcase packing.

Does anyone recognize this? It's my lovely Aprikot Jacke from Rebecca, and it's blocking right now! It's about time I finished something, eh? Well, don't speak too soon; it's not finished until I can wear it. It looks quite red in these pictures, but it's more of a raspberry color called "Kiss". From now on, I call this sweater Raspberry Jacke.

And while I'm waiting for that lovely Rowan All Seasons Cotton to dry, I'm whipping up a little something for a baby shower I'm going to on Saturday. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll have a finished picture of this very soon. Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, baby. So pretty!

Stranded the drive-in...

Branded a fool.
Wonder what they'll say
Monday at school?

Oh, Sandy, baybee.

Okay, pardon the Grease flashback, but I took my fella to the drive-in last night and I feel a bit nostalgic. My parents used to take my brother and I when we were kids and I have all these good memories. We'd wear our pjs and bring a pillow and blanket, 'cause we'd inevitably fall asleep in the backseat. Mom would make a big grocery bag full of popcorn and sometimes we'd stop off at the A&W for burgers beforehand. Good times.

Mr. Karma has never been to the drive-in! Impostor! How un-American!

We saw Wedding Crashers, which was goofy and fun, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped it was but it sure showcased Angelina Jolie's assets well. I like men, a lot, and I should've been drooling over Brad, but my eyes were glued on Angelina the whole time. She has the whole package. Dang.

I Have Super Powers

Note to self:
Never, ever, ever let Mr. Goodkarma take away the computer to "upgrade" it until you've done the following:

1. Uploaded the vacation pictures

Here are a couple of shots from the big island on the day we explored the volcano park. We looked all around at the vista points in the daylight and, as the sun was coming down, walked further down past this threatening sign to where the lava flowed over the road (and a town) a couple of years ago. You can hike down over the "old lava" down to see the molten lava flowing. The actual flowing lava was still a couple of miles away but we could see it spewing into the ocean, and the park ranger let us look through her telescope for a better view. It was really cool. There are daredevils who hike much much farther down there at night, which I think is crazy, because the terrain is difficult... lumpy, cracked black lava, with deep ankle sized niches and nearly 50% silica content (read: glass, so don't fall down and catch yourself with your hands unless you want grated skin). In fact, a few days later we heard about a guy (tourist, prolly) who got lost by himself and was rescued after a few days out there. He flashed a mirror at a little airplane and a kid on the plane saw the light.


Say hello to my little friend. Sea turtles are so big! And cool! And they love to bask in the sun.



On our anniversary, we went on a sunset sailboat dinner cruise. It was gorgeous and fun and romantic. There were only about 6 couples on the boat and we chased the sunset together.

Here's a shot of the Mokulua Islands just off Oahu near Kailua. This was one of the views from our apartment! No kidding.



Okay, just one more: this one's for Cara. This little sweetie lives in the Orchid Garden at a botanical garden near Hilo:

2. Blogged about The Yarn Harlot's visit

As you've all read on other blogs, many, many times, Stephanie Pearl McPhee is hilarious. I'll give a quick synopsis of my surreal evening at Weaving Works. The strangest thing was walking into that classroom chock full of knitters... I've never been in the presence of so many people knitting at once! There was a buzz in the room, the energy of people who were excited to see/hear The Yarn Harlot that they'd all come to virtually know and love.


She spoke about knitting and about how her "book tour" was really an excuse for a North American yarn crawl. She told the funniest stories and we all nodded along when she said things like, when someone says that knitting is boring or not fun, they're just not doing it right!

After the chat, everyone filed downstairs for a gorgeous cake and lemonade while they stood in line and waited to get their bookbookbooks signed. While in line, I finally spotted and spoke with Carry, met Jessica and her friends Debbie and Pat, and sighted Diana, but didn't get a chance to say hello. When it was my turn to meet The Celebrity, she saw my name but didn't ask what everyone else asks*. Instead, she said, "Karma, that's your name? Wow, then you have Super Powers." Then I had a photo taken and that's about it. It was so much fun. Oh, yeah, and Jessica and I dropped my camera into the garbage. No biggie, it was "lovely, soft garbage," according to the Harlot. ;)




While I was there, I bought this Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn (color: Winter Sky) for the Knitting on the Road knitalong... right now everyone's working on the Friday Harbor pattern. At the rate I'm collecting new projects, I'll have these finished for my future grandchild's college graduation.

Later, I realized that not only did Stephanie remember who I was and include me in her blog entry (see the picture of the group? Above the picture of Cassie? Look at the sock, then look straight up and there I am, smiling like a big dork), so did Jessica. So I wish I had not given the computer to my husband, because all those nice people who clicked on the links didn't have much new to read! ha!

3. Shared other goodies:

I bought this Madil Silky (it's made out of Lenpur! That's plant material! See, Atouria, I bought vegan yarn!) at Little Knits to make the Wrap Front Short Sleeve top from this summer's Vogue Knitting. You like?



Well, that's about all she wrote. I'm *this* close to being done with Aprikot Cardi. Working on the last sleeve. Yippee! I'll share pictures soon.

*whenever someone learns that my name is Karma, they ask one of two things: 1) Were your parents hippies? or 2) Are you Buddhist? Otherwise, they make comments like: Are you *good* karma? Don't worry, I'm used to it. I've heard 'em all. :)

The Yarn Harlot

Anyone going to meet The Yarn Harlot at Weaving Works Thursday night? I'll be there! Introduce yourself to me... I don't bite! :)

Hey Luuuucy! I'm hoooooome!

Ahhh. What a glorious two weeks of fun in paradise. We spent a week on the big island and a week on Oahu... I enjoyed the big island but WILL be going back to Oahu, again and again. Some highlights:

- trillions of goofy self portraits with amazing backdrops


- high speed catamaran ride from Waikiki at mid-day = wet and wild fun in the sun

- snorkeling for the first time ever and LOVING it so much that I did it 4-5 times

- seeing fabulous sunrises like this one looking out over Kailua Bay:


- night hiking down at Volcano National Park to see the lava spurting out into the ocean

- sunset dinner on a sailboat for our 5 year wedding anniversary

- finding out that boogie boarding is not only fantastically fun and exhilarating, but is also an awesome triceps workout

- basically hanging out in places like this every day:



Remember that Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock I bought to make socks with while travelling? Yeah. I knit about an inch of one sock on the way to Hawaii, and that's it. No kidding. I haven't done any knitting for TWO WEEKS! We were so busy the whole time. Which is good. I did read The Kite Runner (excellent), About a Boy (hilarious), and Talk Before Sleep (don't bother).

Today I got to visit with Fulay at Little Knits -- she was having a sale and I offered to help out a bit -- I got to meet Samantha (I hope to see her again soon!) and bought 10 skeins of Classic Elite Gatsby in this pretty robin's egg blue tweed... yummy... bought it to make the Diagonal Twist Princess Seam Jacket from Loop-D-Loop. Little Knits has the best price on it ANYWHERE (41% off!!) and Fulay prides herself on speedy delivery and spot-on shipping fees. Go check it out!


Now I feel the need to knit. Good to be home, even though I had 872 Bloglines posts to catch up on... You guys are chatty! :)

Pack Your Suitcase

Getting ready to leave for Hawaii. Aaaaahhhhh...

Leah asked what yarn I'm using for the Union Square Pullover. I did kind of tease and then drop the ball, didn't I? Well, I'm going to be using Misti Alpaca Sport in grape for the body and lime for the contrast. Sounds fun, eh? I'm getting it through Little Knits. They don't make sportweight in lime, so I'm going to experiment with double and triple strands of laceweight to get gauge. The contrasting color is so minimal that it shouldn't be too big a deal, right?

Misti Alpaca is like buttah. No kidding. And Sue has the color cards for all the different weights so you can see all of your options if you decide to use this yarn for Union Square or anything else, for that matter.

We leave on Wednesday morning and will be gone a couple of weeks. I'll leave you with a couple of travel photos from a different part of the world. Last summer I traveled all around eastern and southern Europe; part of my mission was to visit the small village of Komiza on the island Vis in what is now Croatia.

When my ancestors left there at the beginning of the 1900s, it was considered Austria. This is a picture of the family shortly after arriving in the United States. The little boy, who was named Mateo, would grow up to become my great grandfather John. So ridiculous how folks changed their names to sound more American.







His mother, also seen here in this photo where she's enjoying a visit to Vashon Island, was named Tomazina, and was probably Italian.

My mom met me in Budapest and traveled to Komiza with me -- it was her first time abroad. We stayed a week in the Dalmatian Islands, not just on Viz but also visiting the isles Hvar and Bisevo. Here's one of my favorite shots from our hotel room in Komiza.



And below is what the much of the town looks like... very small windy lanes with a little shade (it's HOT there in the summertime!) and little flowerboxes. It's a little bit like what I think Greece is like; the island is very arid and rocky with no real chance for agriculture except for vineyards. The economy depended upon wine and fishing, politics and wars affected this area quite strongly, so over the years, a good number of families left for better oppportunities. The population took a dramatic dip after World War II. The island was used as a military base until pretty recently and tourism has been nil until the last ten years or so. Which was nice because the water and beaches were still pristine. Gorgeous.



Enjoy and I'll post again in a couple of weeks!

Baccarat Player

Have you seen this?

Did it catch my eye because of the India connection? The shaping? The neckline?

Little Airplane Knits

Yesterday, I went to visit my friend Sue at Little Knits. I'm looking at two great yarns for a couple of projects I want to make, including the Union Square Market Pullover from the most recent Interweave Knits. If her rep can get the two colors I want, I'll show and tell... if not, that just means I get to go back over and play with yarn some more!

In the meantime, I joined the Union Square KAL, because clearly I need more projects.

While I was at Little Knits, I picked up a couple of skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport. I love this colorway, called Georgetown. It has blues, greens, aquas, purples, all blending together.





I think it will make a great pair of Conwy socks from Knitting on the Road. So this just might be my airplane knitting for our trip to Hawaii that's coming up quick.

I just noticed that my little blog has 50 subscribers already. Wow! Hi everybody! I hope you don't all think I'm obsessed with my boobs. I was chuckling to myself that I should've called my blog Bustline or something. But I've lost a good amount of weight over the past year or two, and I'm still getting used to what I look like and what sizes I wear. Too bad my brain takes longer to get used to it all than my actual body does. Body image and all.

And try applying that to choosing the right sizes for handknit sweaters...? That's where the obsession lies, if there is one. Especially after yesterday when I found out that my bra size has changed again. My band size has finally gone down to 34. But guess what? You can add another D to my Bustline.blogger.com (ha ha). I've changed alphabetically to an F! Gah! The woman who was helping me was really great, but when she offered me a G, I said, "NOOOO!". Thank goodness I tried it anyway and it was way too big. So now 50+ perfectly nice knitty strangers know all about my boobs. Isn't that swell. :P

In other news, tonight we go to an Independence Day party on a house boat on Lake Union. It's the perfect place in Seattle to see the fireworks. Have you seen Sleepless in Seattle? That's the house boat! No kidding!

The Kindness of People

I won a Rebecca magazine from a German seller and I assumed I could use PayPal, since I've used it tons of times with UK sellers. This seller had never heard of PayPal.

After some digging around, I found that sending money via Western Union ($20 fee), doing a wire transfer from my own bank ($45!), etc. would be too expensive relative to the purchase. So I asked her to either sign up for PayPal or allow me to send actual currency in the mail. Risky... Or, if it's too much of a headache, to cancel the auction. :(

She said, oh don't worry, send the US currency, and I know you're a sincere person, so I'll send the magazine today, trusting that the money will arrive.

How cool is that?

Mostly, it points to my feeling that people in the US are not very trusting in general. I can't imagine an American eBay seller doing the same.