:: fluff & hustle

Nov

2011

metal on metal

finished 2011, knitting, scarves

05 Nov 2011

let me tell you about my brother.

he’s kind. he’s pretty. he takes me to heavy metal gigs and refuses to let me pay for anything. in fact, he’s just so freakin’ awesome that it transcends all of my usual pseudo-witty commentary. so without any further gimmicky introduction i’m just gonna blurt it out that he wanted a grey chunky modern-looking scarf, and i made him one.

anvil scarf by me

ravelry link

size 17 x 160cm

lana grossa alta moda cashmere (150g / 6mm)

the name comes from the kick-ass documentary anvil! the story of anvil which served as some sort of inspiration when i was designing and swatching the scarf. check out the woolly headgear of the uncompromising canadian metal heroes and you’ll see what i mean.

i love the finished diagonal (and reversible!) look and apparently the dear bro likes it too. for once i totally nailed a custom order!

i decided not to block it to keep it as rustic and unpolished as possible, and to make sure the yarn retains its volume. again it would’ve smoothened some of the unevenness of the stitches, but i think the rough and bulky look works better here.

it was a super fast knit too, only took two nights with 6mm needles. the yarn is really soft and the chain structure makes for an interesting texture, but for some reason it feels like acrylic to me even though it’s supposed to be 80% merino and 20% cashmere. i’m thinking the infamous debbie bliss scam here. surely the germans wouldn’t lie..?

the pattern is available if anyone wants it, so leave a comment if you’re interested.

otherwise he will come and EAT YOUR BRAIN

Nov

2011

workin’ in a coal mine

liisa

misc

02 Nov 2011

so they just gave me a job at the local yarn store.

me. a job. at the local yarn store.

they didn’t have to. but they did. because they’re awesome. and now i get to spend all day sticking my fingers into the enchanting little orifices at each side of the lovely balls of yarn, you know, the thing yarnaholics do when they want to feel the texture properly – a finger or two just fits there so nicely – which to the untrained eye may seem like an exercise in some kind of warped sexual expression, but really, it’s not.

it’s not.

oh and the customer service part, i’ll probably have to do that too, but only if my hands are free.

anyway. i got a job. at the local yarn store.

which is just about as awesome as things can get right now. so for this one time, and i promise i shall never ask for this again, please allow me to say..

WOOT WOOT

Oct

2011

babe in the woods

liisa

misc

31 Oct 2011

knitty told me to buy this. so i did. and it’s awesome.

i miss patrick swayze.

Oct

2011

saffronian success

liisa

finished 2011, hats, knitting, misc

29 Oct 2011

you know that feeling when you’ve entered a project thinking, “there’s no way in god’s name this thing is ever gonna work out”?

and the amount of sheer ecstatic orgastic joy when you realize that, against every single possible odd in the universe, it does?

saffron by me (!)

ravelry link

rowan creative focus worsted (60g / 4mm)

i had absolutely no expectations of success when i cast on the stitches. i didn’t even know how many i would need for a good fit. if you’ve read any of my previous posts regarding my giant trapezoid head, you know that fitting hats for my head is an epic exercise in futility. none of the supposed slouchy models work for me. i just end up with six tons of excess fabric in the neck. and a couple of self-inflicted broken bones.

but after approximately 15 years of making hats that don’t fit it occurred to me to use short rows to make the front longer than the back. which i did. and added a nice braided cable to the side. and ended up with the single most awesome piece of headgear i’ve ever owned. it’s so freakin’ gorgeous that i’m in a compulsive need to get undressed and run back and forth main street wearing nothing but this hat and the curly winter hair on my legs. i don’t know what else to do with these waves of completely unexpected pleasure rushing through me right now.

i may look calm but inside i’m going OH YEAH GIVE IT TO ME BABY

everything just went right with this piece. the yarn is awesome and has the exact right tone of yellow. blocking made it drape beautifully and smoothened the stitches except for some of the wrap&turn rows that are more prominent than others. but then again, hand-knitted items won’t look as polished as machine-knitted ones, and why should they? this one screams “NO CHILD LABOR USED” from a thousand miles away.

ravelry has more detailed info on the construction. i will be writing the pattern out at some point so leave a comment or something if you’re interested.

oh, and here’s something i picked up at a local book fair.

http://pulpcovers.com/?tag=drugs

why yes, that is a picture of me taken around three weeks ago. although i’d be inclined to leave the question mark out.

props to miss M for the photos!

Oct

2011

thermis

liisa

finished 2011, knitting, scarves

27 Oct 2011

as promised, here’s some actual knitting i’ve been able to finish lately.

my friend turned 26. i wanted to make her something nice for the winter. enter thermis.

thermis by kris knits

ravelry link

size small

cascade 220 (90g / 4mm)

the pattern infamously has gauge errors that still haven’t been corrected, but having a decent level of common sense helps. the finished piece is pretty nifty, although next time i’ll probably cast on a few stitches less to make it more close-fitting. i couldn’t find the right type of buttons in any store, but sort of accidentally came across an age-old cardigan in my closet that had exactly the ones i was looking for. off with their heads! they look better now than ever.

and blocking made the 220 look really good too. the surface is smooth and even and makes the thermal stitch more visible. not all yarns actually benefit that much from blocking, in my knitting at least. or maybe it’s just that i can’t see the difference with my beady little eyes. yeah. that’s probably it.

but anyway, the recipient seems happy (notice how you can’t see the shotgun pointing at her?) so i guess this one falls unexpectedly into the job-well-done category.

but i’m still in a desperate, frustrating need of a better camera. not a single photo comes out that doesn’t need 20 minutes of color tweaking. it drives me insane. so someone please fix my fuckin’ ass (positively no pun intended) for good so i can finally get a job and money and a killer EOS or something. thank you.