FO: Yarmulke

Pattern: Yarmulke by Jenny White from Greetings from Knit Cafe
Yarn: Madeline Tosh Sock in Lapis from Yarns in the Farms
Needle: US2/2.75mm
Made for: Daniel (Peter's father)

This was a quickie, but a goodie. Be sure to check the errata, if you have the first printing of the book.

And the yarn! Love the semi-solid colorway. Such a jewel-like radiance. Since this project took about 40 yards, I can use the yarn for another project, too!

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Favorite Things to Do During "Me" Time

This week's 10 on Tuesday is a little late, but that's OK. I was too busy 2-ing yesterday to 9.

1. Knit
2. Design knits
3. Ogle/fondle yarn
4. Watch "bad" TV (ANTM, Real Housewives), though I do that with Nick, too
5. Bake
6. Read
7. Watch movies
8. Get a pedicure (no point in a manicure, I just knit the paint off)
9. Blog/Facebook
10. Sleep in

WWKIP 2009 - Save the Dates

Don't forget! This weekend is World Wide Knit in Public Day, as is next weekend. In the future WWKIP will be on the third weekend in June, since TNNA is on the second weekend, and there are a lot of fiber craftisans who don't want to miss out on the celebration.

We'll be in New York this weekend and Maine next weekend, so I will get to celebrate in both places this year! Not sure what I'm going to do in NYC, since we're gearing up to head to Maine, but I'll try to do something, perhaps hit the Yarntopia sale. And next weekend I imagine I'll spend a little time with the Purl Diva herself, Ellen, at Purl Diva in Brunswick.

FO: Tempest

Pattern: Tempest by Ann Weaver from Knitty Spring 2008 [Ravelry project]
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Impressionist Sky (color is pretty accurate in first image)
Needles: US6 (4.0 mm)
Notions: seven buttons from Mood Fabrics
Modifications: Didn't slip first stitches and used one color of yarn, but two skeins so followed the stripe sequence in case the two skeins proved to be too different

Love it! Love it, love it, love it! This sweater is just great. The fabric has a nice, crisp feel to it, thanks to knitting this fingering-weight yarn at a loose gauge. I've been too busy wearing this sweater to even blog about it, and, of course, when I get around to doing so my faithful photographer is off suffering through Working Parent duties at Isobel's school (evidently, she had a hard time with Daddy being there, harder than the time she usually has with me as WP on Thursdays). Anyway, this is a great little sweater, and I will get lots of wear out of it.

And can you believe it only took two skeins of sock yarn? I even have some left over that I've contemplated adding to the sleeves for more coverage (right now they're just slightly curly stockinette of the cast-on edge, which I'm satisfied with) come Fall. For now it's just a lovely summer sweater. I'll try to get a picture of me in it soon.

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Great Songs from the Last Year

I didn't even blog last week's Ten on Tuesday: Celebrities You're Tired of Hearing About, since I didn't want to give those people any more exposure (hehe) and since I like Angelina Jolie (long brown hair, plump lips, loves her kids - we could be twins!). And this week I don't even know any songs from the last year. I mean, we fast-forward through the musical guest on SNL unless it's Madonna or Beyoncé or someone like that. Even then we might FF. I will definitely have something to say next week, though: 10 Favorite Things to Do During "Me" Time. Of course, the Top Five are "Knit".

Summer Portland Yarn Crawl

E.T.A. This is Portland, Maine. Keri's comment reminded me once again of the East Coast/West Coast Portland confusion.

We are going to spend much of the summer up in Bath, and I think Maine may be the land of yarn, at least the Midcoast region. Thanks to Ysolda's recent visit to the area, I am inspired to plan a Portland Yarn Crawl.

Here's what I have so far:

Tess' Designer Yarns: Home of beautiful hand-dyed yarns, the indie-dyer has a bricks & mortar store, which is great for me since I don't have plans to attend any of the shows where most people encounter this yarn.

Seaport Yarn: No, I haven't been to the Wall Street location yet, perhaps an NYC crawl in the Fall. From what I've seen on the interwebs, this is quite a venerable store.

Knit Wit: I visited this LYS last summer and really liked it. I have yet to knit up the yarn I bought (some GGH Wollywasch that I plan to turn into a Fairisle yoke sweater), but that doesn't mean I can't check them out again. The shop is in a neat neighborhood with other cool shops, a tasty cafe (can't remember, but it may be vegan), and a great antiquarian book shop for Nick.

Portland Fiber Gallery: Just down the street from Knit Wit, I visited this shop last summer, too. I'm not ready for a wheel yet, but in addition to wheels, looms, and fiber, they have dyes and finished yarn. If you can't make it to Portland, be sure to check out their Etsy shop for beautiful hand-dyed yarns and fiber.

Central Yarn Shop: They bill themselves as "Brand Name Yarns for Less", and it would be great to find workhorse yarns at discount prices. We shall see.

And Classic Elite seems to have some sort of office in Portland (Google lists them as Yarn Wholesale). Maybe I could convince them that they need me in some capacity or other: yarn tasting, tech editing, design.

Anyone want to join me? I need to document the Bath area LYSes, too, which also make for a good crawl. I'll have to start thinking about that NYC Fall Yarn Crawl, too.

Favorites

This is based on House Beautiful's Favorites questionnaire in the June 2009 issue. I enjoyed reading all the designers' answers and kept replying in my head with my own. What are your favorites?

flower peonies, roses, lilacs, violets, ranunculus, hydrangeas, freesia (I know! I can't pick just one)
sofa shape traditional three-cushion or comfy equivalent (though not one of those with cushions you get lost in) without too many Cheerios under said cushions
stationery leetle note cards from Paper Source
comfort food home-made Tollhouse cookies with a bit of Kosher salt sprinkled on before baking & sushi
lamp one of those beautiful blown glass ones from Simon Pearce - I've never been able to decide which shape/size I like best so am still without one (well, that and they aren't exactly free)
alarm clock Isobel and Penelope - I'd sleep 'til ... 7:30 without those girls
mattress a great one from IKEA whose name looks/sounds like all the other IKEA mattress names
bed pillow extra firm one with mostly goose feathers, not down
car color varies but always with that green dot on the side
everyday dishes I'd like to say my Tiffany Nature china [PDF link] (sadly discontinued) but we're not quite ready for that chez Purly (despite its being microwave and dishwasher safe and all), so Nick's bachelor dishes and the plastic stuff from IKEA that every family with small kids seems to have these days
color robin's egg blue
coffee table book The Natural Knitter
all-purpose glass "Working Glass" from Crate and Barrel, though I'm thinking of changing to CB2's Marta
soap Lush Sea Vegetable soap - sea salt, seaweed, lavender, lime - what's not to love?
ice cream B&J's Chubby Hubby or Peppermint Stick
towel fluffy white ones from LL Bean
chair Louis Ghost - I have no idea if it's comfortable but I love the shape and lucite-ness of it - even better is the little Lou Lou!
scented candle I prefer the no-smell of a clean house.
wallpaper toile, pretty much any toile
sheets white damask stripe since college, just keep replacing them when they wear out
cleaning supply Mrs Meyers All-Purpose Cleaner, Lemon Verbena or Geranium or Lavender
toothpaste Crest Whitening Expressions Extreme Herbal Mint - dumb name, awesome toothpaste
showerhead Speakman Anystream
vacuum Dyson - the yellow upright one, had it for years
lightbulb We've gone to CFLs for the most part, but I still like those "natural light" incandescents
coffee or tea Zabar's or Fairway's French Roast or the equivalent - the darker and richer, the better; one of my personal failings is an indifference to tea
kitchen gadget footed end-grain cutting board and Wusthof Santoku
workhorse fabric don't have one yet but expect to shortly, now that I'm getting to know my sewing machine
pen Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine Rolling Ball in black
artist John Singer Sargent (wish he could have painted my portrait), Vermeer (what is there to say?), Van Gogh (oh, the impasto)

And a few questions that were oddly omitted from the HB list:

yarn Malabrigo Merino Worsted - such a joy to knit even if it might pill all over
needles Bryspun circulars and short DPNs, though I'm coming around on Addi Turbos for some projects
notion black sheep tape measure and silverplate leaf stitch markers (from Knitty City)