Girl on the Rocks

formerly known as Knit This… Knitting, spinning, crafting - it’s all here.

 

I went for the gold. February 28, 2006

Filed under: Knitting Olympics 2006 — karrie @ 9:25 am

And failed. My current olympic status (two days
after the closing ceremonies) can be illustrated with this
photo:

That’s right. i didn’t pick up my knitting since friday. I couldn’t help it - I was busy with more important things, and i
decided that I wouldn’t be upset if it took me a few extra days to finish the mittens.
So, keep in mind that i did for a very brief time have two mittens finished. and they were both wearable -
even though i had to force my hand into one of them. I could have left it at
that. But I went for it. I ripped them out with dreams of finished mittens….
I just didn’t finish. What do you think… Do i deserve at least a
bronze?

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Olympic update February 25, 2006

Filed under: Knitting Olympics 2006 — karrie @ 1:22 pm

I finished the second mitten (and it fits perfectly), and ripped out most of the first…. I think I can finish everything tonight…

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More Stitches West 2006 Details February 21, 2006

Filed under: Tales of Knitting — karrie @ 5:58 pm

Our adventure started early in the morning. A little earlier than some would have liked, but I am a freak about getting to the airport/train station early. here we are waiting to catch the knitting train at the emeryville station (well not me because someone had to hold the camera…)
note that b and abby are sporting handmade hats, and sarah is wearing a scarf that she knit. As a new knitter, Carmen has only ever made two pot-holder-like squares, so I am kinda glad she wasn’t wearing anything that she knit…. Soon
after this we headed out to the tracks and a zealous knitter announced that the knitting car was already full. I knew it was too much to hope that lisa had saved ~6 seats for the last 2 hours. As the train pulled in, we saw lisa waving to us from the top of the knitting car. indeed it was full. and they were out of goody bags. We walked a ways into the car to find lisa, and man were there some grumps on that car. Lady working on the blue scarf, i am sorry that i bumped into you. That is why I said ‘Oh! Excuse me! I’m sorry.’ You don’t need to make a snit face and roll your eyes. It was clearly a very full area. But on the whole the knitters were a very chatty, friendly group. but we did manage to get one free ball of yarn and some raffle tickets, even though they were out of goody bags. Then we headed farther back in the train and made ourselves at home.

Ingrid inspecting patterns and
carmen eating her needles (note the absence of goody bags on the
table)

Sarah chatting away and Wendy
working on her scarf
Somehow those are the only two pictures I took. I guess I was anxious to start knitting. The ride was awesome. We went past the salt flats in the South Bay and got to see snow on top of the “mountains” (weird b/c they are only about 2000 ft and it never snows here). I loved it! The captain (pilot? engineer?) of the train frequently came on the speaker to say that the knitting car was full and in doing so often mentioned “The Knitting Group.” this had the interesting effect of making everyone on the train think that I knew everyone else who was knitting. I just lied and acted like I did. Shopping was a bit of challenge
since my messenger bag made me a little too oversized for many of the booths. I
had to constantly make sure that I wasn’t going to spin around and knock over a
display of glass needles or soemthing. I detailed most of the shopping in target="NewWindow">the previous post but I did want to also mention
that although i didn’t buy anything from them, but Village Spinning and
Weaving
had some amazing hanks of alpaca and cotton that everyone really seemed to like. I am going to keep them in mind for an alpaca sports-bra sweater… Most of us wrapped
up the day at the bar. we felt much more comfortable around each other surrounded by yarn AND drinks.
sorry for the terrible pictures of everyone, but if someone else would take better pics, i would use them :) So, did you see us there?

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Stitches West 2006 is over for me February 19, 2006

Filed under: Tales of Knitting — karrie @ 10:36 am

First, lets start with shopping. Here is what I got:


Clockwise from the left:

  • 2 Skeins of Socks that Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in colors ‘Carbon Dating’ and ‘Marbles.’ i bought the carbon dating first, and then went back later in the day to get the second skein…. by that time, the selection was dwindling and i got the heavyweight so that i could still have a color that i wanted.
  • The Denise Needle Companion set is a set of extra extenders, cords and end buttons. I hadn’t yet seen these and i snatched it up. I had been thinking about getting some extra cords, and this set was cheaper than buying a few cords individually.
  • From Full Thread Ahead two balls of 50% soy silk 50% wool. It says on the label that it is ‘karaoke’ from SWTC , but it was discounted for some reason, and had a full thread ahead ball band on it. I don’t care what the reason is, I am just happy to try out his yarn at a little bit of a discount. I like how tame the balls look from the outside, and how they are full of color on the inside.
  • oh the goodies that they had at the Brook’s farm booth…. they have GIANT (8oz) skeins of the most beautifully dyed mohair blends…. Soft mohair. i forget who it was, but while i was looking around their racks, someone said “it is nice just to be standing in here,” and it was true. The red and black skein is ‘Duet’ a kid mohair/wool blend 500 yds/ 8 oz. the blue and gold one is ‘Primero’ with 100% kid mohair. They are SO SOFT. And shiny. Gen had said “let’s meet at the Brooks Farm booth because we all want to go there,” and i thought ‘who the heck is that?’ But she was right!
  • Next, I got a bunch of Jaquard Acid dyes from the Rug and Yarn Hut. (Honestly, dyes were included on my hand-written list even though i forgot to include them on the list I posted here…)
  • Finally I got a free magnet from V.I.P. Fibers. If you have never heard of them, it is a truly fascinating place and you should check out their link.

Not pictured i did get my Bryspun #4 DPN’s from Carolina Homespun. I had a heck of a time finding someplace without a hug line that had the two sizes of addis that i wanted, so i didn’t get those
yet.
More on the train and other fun in the next post!

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The eve of stitches west February 17, 2006

Filed under: Tales of Knitting — karrie @ 10:40 pm

I guess technically Stitches West started on Friday, but because I am not arriving until saturday, tonight is the eve of
stitches west for me. As with last year i will tell you about my shopping list, and we can see how well i
do…

  • Socks that Rock -
    It looks so pretty. and as a geologist, i feel i am entitled to try it out and give a little geology lesson
  • Addi turbos for socks - i have some, but I need more. Size 3 to be exact.
  • Bryflex #4 DPN’s - These are by far my favorite DPN’s. The plastic is a little flexible, the needles are the perfect pointiness… i just wonder if in 15 years they we be all brittle like the vintage plastic dpn’s i have.

i
am clearing the memory stick on my camera, so expect a buttload of photos from
the train, and the event.

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test February 15, 2006

Filed under: Karrie's Current Projects — karrie @ 3:27 pm

test

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Shameless plug February 14, 2006

Filed under: Karrie's Current Projects — karrie @ 11:12 am

First, a shameless plug for myself. It is my 2-year blogiversary. hooray! In real life, it is also my half birthday. hooray!Secondly, a plug for stummesding. How cute are these.
Tiny little charms destined to be zipper pulls. They are enamel on copper and are sooooo nice. I have been waiting to tell everyone about them because i wanted to get first pick of the new batch. But i have, so head on over to her etsy shop and buy the rest.

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I don’t feel like an olympian February 13, 2006

Filed under: Knitting Olympics 2006 — karrie @ 11:08 am

I feel like I want to give up. Quitting is in the Olympic Spirit, right. Here’s the
story: I cast on during the opening ceremonies. That in itself was a challenge because i was constantly yelling at
the television trying to figure out what was going on. That was some weird shit. I just kept telling myself that it was art, and these were professional dancers, and I didn’t appreciate it because i am all about science. but really, it was weird, right? i sped through the
first part of my first pirate mitten and made it to the thumb placement. then i picked up the pattern and noticed something. My skulls were black on a white background. halfway through the project I realized i reversed the MC and the CC. who cares, really? this project was speeding by so quickly that I will certainly have to make the hat too, and i don;t want them to match exactly.
Crisis averted. At the end of the weekend, I am a mere 4 stitches from finishing the first mitten. Here she
is.


Then I have a revolutionary idea. I will try the mitten on. Guess what. it is WAY too small. and i have small
hands. See how my hand totally covers up the mitten….

t is just way too tight. True, I didn’t do a gauge swatch, but I seem to be at the 6 stitches/inch… I guess
because i knit so tightly I probably don’t have the required elasticity so there isn’t much stretch. I am going to have to RIP IT OUT. First, I am going to do a gauge swatch on larger needles. ugh.

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Cupcakes are cute. February 8, 2006

Filed under: non-knitting related — karrie @ 5:52 pm

I made these for a superbowl party last
weekend.

Directions: Make a cake mix according to the directions on the box. Instead of pouring the
batter into a cake pan, pour it into ice cream cones. only fill them 2/3 full.
Bake according to the cake mix’s directions for cupcakes, and
decorate!
Let me tell you, this is not how they looked when I arrived at the party…..

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Thanks Denise! February 2, 2006

Filed under: Tales of Knitting — karrie @ 6:45 pm

Every nice thing I ever said about the Denise Needle company is true! They sent me a replacement cord for the one that broke!

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