Welcome to Tiaga Ranch

The new home of news about Andrea and Bill and their adventures in the Pacific Northwest.

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A timeline of events to bring you up to speed...

September 2008: Bill is offered a job in Seattle.

October 2008: Bill, Toby and Teri move to Seattle and live in a small, awkward apartment with no furniture. Andrea and Zeke move in with Mom and Dad.

December 2008: Andrea and Zeke move to Seattle. The awkward apartment is even more awkward with all the furniture and another cat. Seattle experiences the worst snowstorm in 50 years. Downtown is dead in the week leading up to Christmas. Andrea accepts responsibility.

February 2009: 17 days in a row with no rain. We thought it rained here....

March 2009: Andrea finally gets a job! The awkward apartment becomes unbearable.

April 2009: New house, with a view...



Hope you enjoy the ride!

Solution

The solution to blocking fear and stalled knitting?

Garter stitch!!!

(Imagine "arty" photo necessary to preserve project anonymity. )

Stalled

Have you ever been afraid to block something?

My Bias Shell (ravelry link) has been causing problems. The first time I started it, I screwed up the directions. The second time, I went up a needle size, thinking it would be better, but it wound up big enough for a baby orca. The third time is the charm, right? Well, I have the front finished, but I am afraid to block it because I don't want to find out it is wrong. And I don't want to start the back until I know the front is the correct size. And I'm using my Christmas yarn, so it has to be perfect.

The net result? My knitting languishes. All of it. Guilt and worry over one project has completely stalled everything. Which is not good, seeing as I have a nephew to knit for. Maybe some garter stitch....?

The Funk

I have been in a knitting funk for the last week. Its kinda like every other funk where you just don't feel like doing anything. I'm on day 8 of a 10 day house sitting gig with two rather easy golden retrievers to care for. I brought 5 knitting projects and was sure at least 3 of them would be completed. I was wrong. The green scarf/bonnet is just a scarf. The baby gift still needs a bind off and ends woven in. The socks were ripped (pre-planned), restarted on larger needles and languish at 1.5 inches. The other baby gift was looked at, then shoved in the bottom of the bag and the red vest is still in time out after its last gauge snafu.

I simply cannot summon the mental energy required to fix issues or knit lace. Maybe I should lay off the Sudoku...

Modern Minimalism: Interlude

The cardigan is finished.
With yarn to spare.
Pictures to follow after my photographer arrives.

Modern Minimalism: Part 2

Last June I cast on this. And in August I mentioned it. When I moved in October, it was one of the projects that stayed with me. And was promptly shoved in a drawer in favor of Christmas knitting, a baby sweater, socks and necessary accessories. Recently, it was resurrected because two unfinished sweaters seem silly in my PNW environment and with only one income, yarn acquisitions have come to a standstill. Time to knit from the stash.

So... when the sweater was last seen, I had one sleeve completed (balls #1 & #2), one ball's worth of the other sleeve (ball #3) and the back completed up to the armhole shaping (balls #4 & #5) for a total of 5 balls used (I only had 10 to start with and yardage/math issues.)

I have since completed the back (ball #6) and the left front (ball #7 & 1/2 of #8). I'm working on the right front now. I hope to finish it with the rest of ball #8, leaving me all of #10 to finish the second sleeve. If not, I do have 2 small balls left that equal 1/4 of a ball, which should be enough to top off the sleeve. If it comes down to it, I will frog my swatch for seaming.

Let's get to it, shall we?

ETA: Thanks to the sharp eye of 5elementknitr, it was brough to my attention that the location of ball #9 was omitted. It is located in the right front section. I was knitting with it and forgot to include it in the count. Thanks, Ruth!!

It's that time of year...

Baby Season....

When it hit me last year, I ended up knitting 7 or 8 sweaters, 4 pairs of booties and 3 bonnets. This year I will be knitting a little closer to home. My older sister will be welcoming her first child in August, one of my best friends from high school is due in June and my younger sister just requested a pair of sweaters for her boyfriend's sisters-in-law. And at some point I'd like to finish a few sweaters fir myself. Good thing I have lots of time on my hands....

Knitting Graffiti

Plans to conquer the world continue.....

Knitting as Necessity

I knew moving to Seattle would affect my knitting. Not the actual process, but rather the types of things I would create. Over the past few days, it have become shockingly clear how little I was prepared for a Pacific Northwest winter. Granted, the weather we have been experiencing has not been seen in fifty years. Still, snow and freezing temperatures at sea level have prompted me to take drastic measures.



That's a hat. For me. The first I have knit for myself. An entire hat in one evening is not a terrible accomplishment. It's Hannah (rav. link), formerly of MagKnits and now available on Ravelry. I like it for 3 reasons. 1) Bulky alpaca; 2) Ponytail hole; 3) Snowflake buttons.

Let the snow fly!

Next...

I received some lovely King Tut cotton in the most luscious shade of red for Christmas. It is destined to become this:




















after I finish Bill's second hat and work on my Minimalist Cardigan.

(It's the Bias Shell [ravelry link] from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery.)

The rest of the Christmas cheer...

Yesterday, I gifted my family with their yearly dose of knitted love. And we spent the afternoon turning these:



into this:



And the joys of felting were experienced by all.

A little Christmas cheer...

This year I decided to knit gifts again for my family, what with last year's successes. So I present Knitted Christmas 2008, part I:

I knit a lap blanket for my Dad.



It's based on the Ombre Alpaca Blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I used Red Heart Soft Yarn (acrylic, I know, but easier to care for) in chocolate, teal, seafoam and cream. It was a relatively quick knit on US 13, but man... my hands hurt. I knit the entire thing in one week. Merry Christmas, Dad.

Knits of Christmas past, part 2

This was another Christmas knit for my baby sister, from maybe 3 years ago (it's so hard to remember!). I absolutely ADORE this hat, which I made from Sugar & Cream and Kitchen Cotton -- I think it's one of my favourite knits ever. The ties are SUPER long, and end with multi-colored tassels, and look SUPER over my sister's gorgeous, long hair. But she was napping and I needed to snap a picture, so my brother kindly agreed to be my hat model.

The pattern is a modification of two favourites: the Kitty hat from Stitch 'n Bitch, and the rather generic "Kim's Hats" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Lust--Satisfied

Awhile ago I mentioned wanting this. I showed it to my MIL when she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. The result:



This is the best knitting compartmentalizing item I have ever used. The only problem? I think I might need the smaller one, too! I love having all my stuff in one spot and just tossing the thing in my purse when I need to take knitting with me. The medium size is perfect for 10" straight needles and a scarf-in progress or pieces of a sweater. It is especially useful on an airplane because no one can see inside and my scissors are safe from other people's neuroses. A big bonus!



Thank you, Persnickity Knits! Now that I will soon be your neighbor, I am coming to the shop to pick out my Lu-Lu!!

Winter Planning

Dear Knitting Gods,

I know I have not finished either of the two cardigans I have started, but in my defense there were babies popping up in my life. All babies have now been swathed in warm, knitted love and I have even started my hubby's hat that he has been requesting for longer that I care to think about. So I feel free to peruse the interwebs in search of my next project and I think this might be it. I love the outerwear details for a knit. And I think it will be perfect for my new climate...

So... I promise not to purchase yarn for it until my other sweaters are finished. I hope this appeases your fickle nature. If not, oh well, I like to knit... and GAP is only 3 blocks away.....

Birthday!

October 29th was Andrea's birthday. And on November 1, we celebrated by going out for tea at the Horton Grand Hotel with her sisters and her moms. And at tea, I gifted her the AWESOME knitting needle case, notions bag, and project bag that I had sewn for her (per her request roughly six months ago -- I am NOT quick when it comes to commissions). Only I forgot to take any photos!

So, Andrea, I will leave it to you to snap a few pictures once your needles are in place, to share with the interwebs my handiwork.

I'm currently working on a series of these cases which I may one day put on Etsy, depending on how awesome I am. Just don't expect them to appear before the holidays, or you will be sorely disappointed.

The problem with moving is...

... not having access to your stuff. And not having the time to knit anyway! Today is officially Moving Day. The movers have arrived and are loading the truck. I had to cull my knitting stash by half and decide what I would keep with me and what was getting packed. I worried about having enough to knit, all necessary needles and access to books and patterns. In the end though, I think I was able to supply myself with enough sanity to get me through 8 weeks at my parent's house. Wish me luck.

For the next 8 weeks, I will be knitting

• February Baby Sweater;
• BSJ;
• socks;
• 2 pairs felted clogs (for Christmas);
• Lap blanket (also Christmas);
• 2 sweaters for me (these have been started);
• scarf for Bill (needs to be finished);
• sweater for Bill (collar needs to be re-knit);
• hat for Bill.

Let's see how my sanity holds out, shall we?

Lust

I totally want one of these.

Best knitting idea in a long, long time.

Circle of Friends Blanket

A few months back, I found out one of my work knitting circle was pregnant. All the ladies wanted to co-create a knitted item for her, so being the leader of the pack and "Teacher", they looked to me for guidance. I selected the Circle of Friends Blanket (Ravelry link) from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. All the ladies could knit garter stitch and I knew changing colors would be no big deal.

So...I finally recieved all needed components and spent the first weekend of the Olympics sewing, weaving in ends and knitting an applied I-cord border.

Pictures tomorrow when I block the thing...

Modern Minimalism: Part 1

A while back, I cast on this. I have been eyeballing this cardigan since last fall. And while I love the original red, my wardrobe is bereft of a black cardigan. On the lookout for some black yarn, I stumbled into my LYS and into their sale nook. Hiding behind some truly ugly novelty yarn, I found 10 (!) balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora at 60% off. All black, all the same dye lot. My only concern is having enough yarn because...

... according to the ball band, each skein is 90 meters, so I have 900 meters; but
... according to Ravelry, each skein has 79 meters, which bring my total to 790 meters; and
... according to the pattern, I need 900 meters to knit the second size with a 35 1/2 " bust.

What to do? Knit on anyway!

I knit a gauge swatch, washed and dried it and weighed it, just in case I need to frog it for the yardage, and bravely started the first sleeve.

This is the back. I'm about 8 inches up and I just started the second ball of yarn. I hope to complete this piece with only 3 balls.

Wish me luck!