Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I've joined the Sonnet Knitalong

Hi,

I discovered a Sonnet Knitalong so I joined today. Looks like some innovative knitters are on this KAL, with ideas about shaping in short rows and I-cord trim. I've been on several blogs where people are knitting Sonnet and it seems like most people, like me, are thinking BLUE! If I can stop picking up my new sock project, I'll make some progress this week and will post another pic.

take care, sue

Monday, June 26, 2006

Good Nautie, Bad Tutu or My Trip to NYC

Hi,

Just got back from an exiting trip to the Big Apple. I love jumping in my car and going on excursions like this. I had several "dates" set up for this journey. On Friday night I attended the Cornell LGBT Alumni Pride Celebration on the 60th floor solarium penthouse near Wall St. Although I was an hour late because of mind-numbing traffic, I arrived and was thrilled to see so many former students. It was a blast. Kent and his wife Sue were there, too (Sue is a fab knitter!) Although a little rainy on Friday night the view from the terrace was amazing.

Second date on my journey was to visit my brother Tom and his wife Miriam in Brooklyn Heights. I brought Farrell his 6th birthday present, the Nautie!, and HE LOVED IT!! He even brought it to bed with him when he said goodnight. I call that a major success. He loved the fact it was a fossil, and showed us the other present he got for his birthday, a T-Rex model which my brother told me came in a brick and he had to excavate it and put it together just like a real paleantologist (with Dad's help). So cute!

I also told Miriam about Piper's Tutu that I was making and learned some very important information: NO PINK. Miriam makes a point of never putting pink on Piper. I'm not sure what the rationale is for that but I was very happy to hear that!! No biggie. I'll go look up another cute pattern for a sundress for her and I'm sure I'll be able to find another toddler cutie who likes pink. What's the point in making something that won't be worn, I say! That means I can start another project! :-)

Date 3: I met up with my daughter Kate and took the subway to SoHo where she works at NikeID. She designed me some cool sister spirit soccer sneakers and then I had to say goodbye, but I asked her how far away purl soho knit shop was. It turned out it was only 3 blocks away!! I've been to purl's website many times and Kate bought me some purple skeins of Cascade 220 there for Christmas last year. It was POURING rain and all I had was my distrato poncho so I cut under the awnings till I got to sullivan street. The shop was adorable! I was probably there for a little under an hour perusing sock yarn and patterns. I also wanted to look at Alchemy's Synchronicity for the Rock Star pattern but I was underwhelmed. For $24 a skein it already looked a little pilly so I passed it by. I did end up buying some outrageously expensive sock yarn: two skeins of Koigu KPPN for 11.50 each and a set of #2.5 bamboo double pointed needles (I thought 2.5 was a funny size!). I started a Jaywalker sock while I was in Brooklyn and the yarn is luscious! (Although I pulled it out because the size was too big). Here is a shot of the yarn.

I'm sorry I don't have more pictures of the weekend but as I was driving into NYC I was on the phone with Kate getting directions to her Nike shop and my phone went dead! Bummer!! I really need to get a digital camera bad. I would love to show you more shots of the streets of New York in the rain. I really had a lot of fun. Freewheeling!

This week's project is Sonnet. I was thinking about starting a halter top but I want to behave and keep going with the finish project.

Have a great day, sue

Friday, June 23, 2006

Progress this week on Piper's Tutu

Hi,

I thought since I'm working on UFOs week to week I would give Friday updates. I had given myself a deadline of this Friday to finish the tutu so I could bring it down to Brooklyn this weekend when I visit my brother and his family. Well I finished the back. Progress is progress and really Piper's birthday isn't until July 8 so I still have time. That's another problem I have with not finishing projects, especially if I'm making them for a special occasion. I get disgusted with myself if I don't meet a specific deadline (e.g. Christmas presents) so I just chuck the UFO deep into my stash closet and it gets forgotten. I think that if I control myself I could say "ok I missed my deadline, but this could still be a really cute Valentine's day present or a "It's just a Monday" present. Who cares? Just give!

Ok, so here is the back of the tutu finished:

Speaking of giving, yesterday while I was knitting I was reminiscing about my brother Tom (Piper's Dad) when he was 2. He was such a cute baby and I was 10 years older than him so I remember a lot about when he was that age. He clung to a blanket and sucked his thumb just like Linus from Peanuts. We actually loved Peanuts at that time and at Christmas time I would paint our back sliding glass doors with the ice skating scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I googled Linus blanket to see if any savvy knitter had created a pattern, and came to the Project Linus website. I think I remember Brenda Dayne talking about this charity on her podcast. I thought about designing a pattern that would be just like the classic wool satin-trimmed green blanket that my baby brother carried around religiously when he was a toddler. Well, if I pursue this idea, I will keep you posted. Now I have to plug along with the tutu on the off chance I can finish it before I get to Brooklyn tomorrow!

Have a great day!!

sue

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Finished Objects and Another Sweater!

Hi,

I've created a finished object section so you can see what I've been working on for 2006. It was actually a satisfying task creating that section because I realized I did get a couple of things done this year. In the meantime, I started another sweater ...

I went out with my mom on Saturday to go to see the DaVinci Code and have lunch. I had to take her over to the new location for my LYS "Knitting Etc" because she lives very close. We had a lot of fun checking out yarn and Hickory had a sale basket with seven skeins of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Tweed in purple (favorite textile:silk, favorite color: purple). $4 a skein. Had to have it, and my mommy bought it for me (i love my mommy).

When I got home I pulled out one of my Vintage VKs from Spring 1964 for a lacey shell I was hoping to make some day. The yarn is taking to the pattern beautifully, so I guess I'm going to have to adjust my "Project Finish Knit" goal list and add another sweater. Here is my progress so far:


I had to rip this out twice because the lace pattern, although fairly easy, needed more attention than I was giving it. It turns out that I really have to count along with the stitches so I don't start day dreaming. the pattern is

Row 1: k2, *yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k1* yo,k2
Row 2&4: p
Row 3: k3, *yo, sl k2tog psso, yo, k3* k3

If I count in sixes, I keep to the right pattern. Mind control at its best.

take care, sue

Friday, June 09, 2006

Progress on my Vass Sweater

Hi,

So I mentioned the other day that I joined the Finish Knit-a-long, which is another knitting self-help site in which you contract to stick with 3-4 projects until they are FINISHED! What a concept. So of course I'm on a sweater that I started this week (instead of keeping to the four sweaters I started earlier in the month!) which is kind of like a drunk who knows she's going to rehab tanking it up before the white coats arrive. :-)

I've been admiring this pattern for a while. It's a ribbon yarn sweater designed by Joan Vass from the Spring VK 1996 issue. Last year when I discover the Yarn by the Bag site, I bought a bag of Patons Fresco for 12 bucks. (that's 10 skeins!) I've started at least 3 different projects with this yarn and ripped out each of them. I really like the feel of the yarn. It's almost like cut up strands of tie-dyed t-shirt! As I mapped out the yardage I discovered I was probably going to be about 3 skeins short (and of course this yarn is discontinued). Off to ebay where I posted a "want it now" message. In a couple of hours, I had ordered my three skeins!! (love ebay) So I like the way the varigated colors are mixing in the pattern (like a wavy diamond intarsia pattern), and I think at this point I have no excuse as to why I wouldn't be able to finish this sweater! Famous last words!

The other three projects I've committed to finishing are Piper's Tutu, the Spring Scarf, and the Sonnet Cardigan. We'll see if I can stay out of the bar!! :-)

take care, sue

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Thanks for your comments!

Hi,

I am very happy that people have been visiting Cloud Heights and leaving comments! I love receiving the support for my knitting projects and even one person who liked my tonka poem! What is most exciting is hearing from other bloggers so I can visit their sites, too. Michele wrote me about her new blog Project Finish Knit which is like a heavenly gift for me. I just finished two months of Stashalong and this project, to limit the number of projects on the needles, could really help me to break out of my unfocused obsession with starting yet another knitting project. GREAT!

I hope this helps me to start my Finished Objects page! :-)

take care, sue