Cook-N-Knit

I've moved!

2007-01-15T18:26:22.811-05:00

cooknknit.com is up and running! Please change your bookmarks and all that jazz!

Sorry for the disruption

2007-01-14T00:58:07.377-05:00

Hey, this is Karen's husband. Just wanted to leave a note that we're working on moving the site. The look has changed a bit here to facilitate some code juggling. In that process, we've lost all the awesome buttons from the site bar. So I'm manually inserting them into this post for anyone who needs them. Sorry for the disruption, but everything should be up and running (and hopefully better than ever) over the next couple of days. Thanks for your patience and without further ado, I give you the buttons:

















<<join>>

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the webring links in here. Again, apologies for the inconvenience.

RSS link for the first 100 Posts
RSS link for the next 100 Posts
RSS link for the remaining posts

For anyone having trouble importing from blogger to wordpress, apparently the script on this page can help with that. -Al

Just a quick post

2007-01-06T20:15:35.789-05:00

With the new job starting, I haven't had much knitting or spinning time. Instead of taking the train and getting an hour of knitting time in, I'm now driving to work, about 45 minutes in each direction. The offices will be moving sometime soon, and then I'll be able to take public transportation again, so my knitting will pick up. Right now, I have one sock done and the toe started of a pair of st st socks in Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in Mars Quake, about 8 inches of a sweater I started (all black so far, not very interesting for photos), and the shhhh tea shawl started again in the soy yarn that I originally chose for it (I've just started the second of three charts). You've all seen photos of that in different stages, so I won't bore you with more photos.

The big news today is, hubby bought me my own domain name. As soon as I figure out how to get the blog to transfer over to it, you'll all be seeing my blog on cooknknit.com. Woo! Any information or help would be welcome....just email me (link there on the side somewhere toward the bottom).

Pics next time, and thank you all for the comments on the tea shawl!

The shawl!!

2006-12-31T15:17:00.105-05:00

2006 wrap up

2006-12-28T21:14:36.665-05:00

Happy humbug

2006-12-24T09:48:10.525-05:00

Last week, I cleaned out my desk at work. I got a new job and I start on the 2nd. While going thru 9 1/2 years worth of crap, I found a bag containing a pillow. I must have brought it in to show someone and never brought it back home. See, before I fell into knitting, I was big into cross stitch. This is probably my favorite thing that I made from that hobby.




My current obsession is the #!$#%@ tea shawl. I just couldn't get past that last chart. Well, I perservered, and I made it past it. I'm now on the edging, see?



Proof that I am truly insane? As soon as this one is done, I'm going to cast on again for another one, using that soy yarn that I originally started with. Yes, truly insane.

And lastly, while I don't have much Xmas spirit this year, and my decorations are next to none, there is one small decoration up in my house. Valerie got this for me last year and it's currently hanging from my living room ceiling fan with, what else? Some handspun red yarn.




Happy holidays folks.

Xmas Knitting Part 2

2006-12-18T20:02:14.627-05:00

Last week, I joined Tamara and Valerie at Tania's (no blog) house for some spinning. Great fun was had, and there was lots of wine consumed. My secret knitting project was revealed: a wine cozy for the hostess.


Finished brother socks. I tried to make them match. But they didn't turn out that way, and I'm ok with that.


Finished Broad Street mittens for a friend, minus the buttons to secure them.


Last week I decided that I NEEDED to make a coworker a pair of Fuzzy Feet. But as I needed to felt them this past weekend, I needed to get a jump on things. Luckily, they are a quick knit, and into the washer they went with mom's boyfriend's Fuzzy Feet. Here they are drying.


I decided that I would leave mom's handspun hat as is, and spin up the alpaca for mom. Here is is resting on the niddy noddy. First yardage estimate is just shy of 300 yards. After a good washing, I will remeasure the yardage.


And, with that, my holiday knitting/spinning is done. Next up? Finishing that @#$%#$^! tea shawl if it kills me. I'm currently on row 8 of the last chart, but you'll forgive me if I don't talk about it....I'm hoping that if I keep my mouth shut, the knitting will go smoothly.

Knitting and spinning and dyeing, oh my!

2006-12-12T20:40:28.373-05:00

The knitting:

Sweaters

2006-12-09T15:57:16.174-05:00

Yay! The sweaters are done. They were actually done on Tuesday, but I'm a lazy girl and didn't get around to posting til today. Pic is a little dark, but I think it's a nice shot. Props to hubby for taking the pic to represent the true color.



Last night, Tamara and I went to the Point for the re-release launch party for Knit 1. There were door prizes. Look what she won:

Guess who won the second copy of the book? Me. I didn't win things before I became a knitblogger.


We hit a the Caliente Cab Co. afterwards for some dinner and some drinks. Yum. No, the similar sweaters were not planned.



Trekking socks for the brother are moving slowly...I'm not quite done with the first one yet. But then again, I picked up another project...it's secret though. I will share that it's being made out of stash yarn! :)

She's got the big guns

2006-12-04T21:12:47.803-05:00

Oh, how I love Skid Row. Unlike my coworker who the day after Thanksgiving turned her radio to 24/7 Xmas music on it's highest volume and is trying to make me jump out the window.

Anyways, a finished handspun superfine alpaca hat for mom. It's plain, and I'd like to jazz it up a little bit. Any suggestions? I'd like to use regular stash yarn or handspun stash if possible. If I can't jazz it up, I'm hoping to finish spinning up a good amount of some lovely brown alpaca I have to give to her. Heck, I may do that even if I jazz up the hat.



Also done are Fuzzy Feet. Not felted (obviously). Mom's boyfriend has size 8 1/2 feet, and they look fairly large....I hope that they fit properly once felted. Yarn is Wool of the Andes (2 and a smidge of a third ball), leftovers from my Rogue. Gotta love stash busting.



Progress on the brother's sock...Trekking from stash.



Also started....Broad Street Mittens for a friend...Knit Picks Sock Memories from...where else? Stash!



Any guesses on when the next "finished Xmas object post" will go up? :)

Xmas knitting - part one

2006-12-01T17:00:13.470-05:00

The knitting portion of the aran sweaters all done. Seaming remains.

A closer look at the sweater bodies...


And one more item knocked off my Christmas knitting list: socks for the sister. Woo!

For some reason, the entire sock matches stripes, except at the toes. Hmmm...


Next up, a handspun superfine alpaca hat for mom, and the same socks as above, but in a different colorway for the brother. Fuzzy Feet may make an appearance for mom's boyfriend, depending on if I can find something suitable in stash. Poor Lulu is being neglected as I work on all the Xmas projects. Can you hear her crying?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T12:07:00.316-05:00

Merino/tencel. It started life like this, became these singles, and now it is a 2 ply yarn:




Approximately 410 yards, 19 WPI and balanced!

Yesterday I met up with Rosi G. I won her blog contest and she gave me my prize, a hank of Lisa Souza Sock! Merino, in Mars Quake. Isn't it yummy? Thanks Rosi!


What do I plan to do this Thanksgiving? I hope to finish a pair of socks for my sister for Christmas. I'm taking a break from the aran sweaters....seaming on two need to be done and the knitting of the last one. I deserve a break, and socks are a good way to go. Here's the start of Spey Valley socks in Trekking for my sis.


Happy Thanksgiving folks! Eat lots of turkey and do lots of knitting.

Spinning

2006-11-19T18:14:47.313-05:00

I'm making progress on the aran sweaters. The largest one (size 6) is done, minus seaming the sleeves and sides. The back and front are done of the middle sized one, and the sleeves have been cast on. Since it's the same exact photo as before, and I have nothing else to show, I thought I'd show you a video of "how I spin". Tamara has seen it and asked what technique it was, and I have no clue. It works for me, that's all I can say. In it, I'm spinning up the Sno Cone roving.

Video is here.

Hello and how are you?

2006-11-14T22:54:25.900-05:00

Front to the first aran sweater finished. Sleeves, both at once started.


I'm on the last increase row on the tea shawl. 6 more plain rows and I start the last evil pattern chart. Lacevember is for 2 months, yes? I may need both months to get thru that chart.

Valerie presented me with 4 oz of hand dyed (by her!) superwash merino this morning. Yum. I can't wait to spin it up.


Speaking of spinning, there is a merino/tencel blend on Lulu at the moment. I'm quite proud that the singles are 36 wpi. It's the Autumn colorway from The Sheepshed.


Also done is the Sno Cone roving, all plied up (navajo ply). I have approximately 140 yards of it. Now, what to do with it?


Bonus points to whomever can tell me what tv show song the title of this post comes from.....

A whole bevy of things

2006-11-09T20:52:23.216-05:00

Pink Merino/Silk all spun up. I have a little over 350 yards of it. It's so purty that I don't want to use it, just look at it and pet it.Christmas knitting. Yes, I've already started. I told my oldest friend that I would make her kids matching aran sweaters. She's got three. I don't know what I was thinking. But, I found a pretty easy pattern (Julia's Aran Pullover from the premier issue of Knit It!) and got some Knit Picks Swish and with my new KP options needles, the knitting is going pretty quickly. In fact, I already have the back of the largest size sweater done. I like this view the best, but you can see a wider shot here.Socks. I love socks. I pulled out all my IK issues and looked for socks that I might not have done. Apparently I haven't done most of the socks. So I started. I started the Simply Lovely Lace socks from Spring '06, in Gems Pearl. I'm using 0's, and they hurt my hands if I do more than a dozen rows at a time, so they're going slowly. But they're really pretty. And I like the picot edging.Lacevember. I'm a joiner, what can I say? My project? The tea shawl. I will finish it. I'm determined as heck to get thru it. The lacevember questionniare:How long have you been knitting? A little over 5 yearsHow did you learn to knit? Books and the web.Favorite thing about knitting? The creation of garments/objects.How long have you been knitting lace? Less than 5 years, more than a year.Favorite thing about knitting lace. The tiny needles, the delicate stitchesThe yarn questions, or flash your stashFavorite lace yarn? I don't have one yet.variegated or solids for shawls? I don't have a preference.Favorite lace color? I like all colors, but lean towards pink.Technique, or show us your skillzCircs or straights? Circs.Favorite lace knitting trick? I don't think I have any tricks.Lifelines? If so with what? I have never used a lifeline. But I have unwaxed, unflavored dental floss for in case....Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet? I normally use pins, but I used blocking wires for the first time a month or so ago and I loved them. I must get me some of my own.Pattern, or can you follow directionsshawls or lacey items? Bothtriangle, rectangle, or circular shawls? I've only done triangle, but my lacevember project is circular.Charts or printed instructions? Charts please!Favorite lace you've knit? Icarus, hands down.Favorite lace you want to knit? I want to finish the damn tea shawl!Just Fun, yup that's right, just for funFavorite jelly belly flavor? Pear!Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red..... And he would be....?Coke, classic or with lime? Classic, but lime is good.Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves? Sing along, but I can't do it 24/7.What is the definition of irony? "It's like rain on your wedding day, it's a free ride when you've already paid, it's the good advice that you didn't take....."How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? I'm not allowed to have tootsie roll pops with my braces....Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door? Boys rooms are funny smelling...What is your superhero power? I can knit a sweater in 10 days.If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be? Rainbow.What's for dinner tonight? LeftoversWhat is clogging my children's bathtub drain? You really don't want to know.[...]

A whole lot o' nothin'

2006-11-07T17:47:21.216-05:00

We have a winner! Penny Karma, email me or pm me with your address. PK's entry made hubby laugh out loud.

What should I blog about today? Should I blog about the stuff I'm spinning?


Or should I blog about the very bright yellow merino that I spun and combined with this to make this:



Or do I blog about the yummy yarn that I got with the Point gift certificate that I won?


Or....do I go play with my new Knit Picks options needles? Eh...I've got 3 kid sweaters to knit for Xmas...I'm going to go play and enjoy my birthday.

I have nothing.

2006-11-03T17:32:48.200-05:00

I haven't knit anything. I've spun up all the pink merino/silk and the twist is being set now, as well as some yellow merino. But I don't have pics. So, you get 48 Things You Could Care Less About. (Also, don't forget to put in your caption for the contest!!)1. First name? Karen.2. Were you named after anyone? Nope.3. When did you last cry? Yesterday, the day before, the day before that. It's not a complete day if I don't cry.4. Do you like your handwriting? It's ok.5. What is your favorite lunchmeat? Boar's Head Bologna6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I guess.7. Do you have a journal? Yes8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.9. Would you bungee jump? Yes. As well as jumping out of a plane.10. What is your favorite cereal? Captain Crunch is the first that comes to mind.11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Not usually.12. Do you think you’re strong? Physically, no. Mentally/emotionally....depends.13. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Mint chocolate chip or Rocky Road.14. Shoe size? US Women’s 8 1/2 - 9 (pregnancy does strange things to your feet....)15. Red or pink? Pink!!16. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I’m too trusting.17. Who do you miss the most? My father.18. What color pants, shirt and shoes are you wearing? Is it bad I'm still in pjs at 5pm? It's a pink nightgown.19. Do you want everyone to send this back to you?20. Last thing you ate? A garlic knot dipped in marinara sauce.21. What are you listening to right now? The chirps of Trillian and knitty chat.22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I always liked the color periwinkle.23. Favorite smell? Fresh baked brownies, fresh cut grass, Drakar cologne (I know...soooo very 80's, sue me).24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Hubby...he called to make sure he got my subway sandwich order correct.25. The first thing you notice about people you are attracted to? Eyes.26. Do you like the person you stole this from? Of course.27. Favorite drink? Woodpecker Cider.28. Favorite sport? Tonsil hockey.29. Eye color? Boring brown.30. Hat size? Don't know31. Do you wear contacts? Not since I had lasik surgery in Dec. '05.32. Favorite food? I'm most happy with Chinese or Japanese.33. Scary movies or happy endings? Both.34. 35. Summer or winter? Fall and spring36. Hugs or kisses? Both37. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake38. Who is most likely to respond? 39. Least likely to respond? 40. What books are you reading? I just finished Life on Planet Rock by Lonn Friend.41. What’s on your mouse pad? Don't got one.42. What did you watch last night on TV? Uhm, Grey's Anatomy, CSI, Veronica Mars from last night, and something dvr'd off HBO that would get me too many hits if I put it on here.43. Favorite sounds? My son's laugh44. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles45. The furthest you’ve been from home? Las Vegas46. What is your special talent? Wouldn't you like to know. :)47. Where were you born? Technically? Brooklyn. But I lived most of my unmarried life in Queens.48. Who sent this to you? I stole it from Maryann[...]

Yarn! A contest!

2006-10-30T21:09:30.936-05:00

Thanks for all the comments on Madge & Anastasia! I finally got around to setting the twist on some hanks of handspun. For your viewing pleasure:




100% Merino Wool, 2 ply (spun on Val's Joy), approximately 142 yards


100% Finn, navajo plied (spun on my precious Lulu), approximately 32 yards


50% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Silk, singles, approximately 140 yards

Onto the contest! My birthday is next week, so I thought I'd have a fun game. Because I did the driving to/from Rhinebeck, and we left so early, I brought some energy drinks with me just in case I needed them. Below is the pic of me and the energy drinks.


What you need to do is come up with a caption for the pic (Thanks Amy for taking a good pic of me!). The best one will win 3 skeins of this:


That's Alchemy Yarns Synchronicity in Texas Bluebonnet. It's 50/50 silk and merino, 110 yards per skein. So, put on your thinking caps, come up with a great caption, leave me a comment or send me an email (link in the sidebar). I'm really looking forward to the captions. Contest ends 11/6, winner to be announce on 11/7, my birthday.

Madge and Anastasia

2006-10-29T15:32:06.056-05:00

As promised, pics of Madge:

Stats:
Pattern: Madge, from Knittyspin
Yarn: Handspun (by me!) New Zealand Wool in Lusty Lady (bought off Etsy)
Needles: size 5 Crystal Palace circular
Modifications: My yarn was a lot thinner than the pattern intends, so I cast on 10 extra stitches, and did chart A twice. I'm very happy with the results.

More spinning:
Merino/silk blend that Kristen sent me for the spinning sp. I love the way it's spinning up, love the pink color. I've just started on the second bobbin and should be ready to ply soon.


What do a rainy day, some movies, a cup of tea, needles and a new ball of yarn add up to? See for yourself.

Stats:
Pattern: Anastasia socks
Yarn: Intertwinement.com's Portrait of a Girl
Needles: size 1 Clover dpn's
Started 10/26, finished 10/28 (ok, so the second sock was the only one done on the rainy day....)

Next time, more handspun, and a blog contest!

No pics today

2006-10-26T13:16:16.706-04:00

Been spinning. I've spun up a small amount of the Finn that came free with my wheel (who's name is Lulu, btw), and navajo plied it. I also spun up all of the alpaca/merino/silk blend that I bought at the Yarn Tree awhile back. It's going to remain singles, because there's really not that much of it to be plied. I have a lot of plied stuff that needs to have the twist set. I will definitely do that this weekend, as the hubby goes back to work this weekend and I will have more alone time than I really care to have.

Knitting has not been abandoned because I now have Lulu. I have finished one of two Tulip Toes for an ex-coworker's new addition. I'm finally using the one lonely skein of Sock Candy that I bought last year at Rhinebeck. I've also knit up Madge, copying my downstream Spinning SP Cathy, using some of my very own handspun. I, like Cathy, had a smaller gauge yarn, so I had to adapt the pattern. Pics to come.

Also to come, a contest for my birthday. Put on your thinking caps folks....I'm going to give you a photo, and you'll have to come up with a caption. The best caption wins a prize.

And yes, the background of the blog is now brown....It almost matches one of the cookies in the header, right? Right!? :)

Rhinebeck Recap

2006-10-22T21:49:41.600-04:00

The day started at 4:15am, when I awoke to start getting ready to pick up three lovely ladies, Tamara, Amy and Val, for the ride up to Rhinebeck. We arrived before they were "officially" open, making The Fold our first stop. I did not purchase as much as I had anticipated purchasing, but was very happy to have been in the booth first to have a grand array of yarn for selection.After wandering about for a bit, Val, who had wandered away to do her own thing, found us telling us she had found a Majacraft wheel 50% off. We all booked it back to the building and I tried the Suzie. It wasn't for me. They also had a Lendrum DT for a very reasonable price and I asked to try that one as well. The second I started spinning, I knew. It was instant. This was my wheel. So, by 10am, not even 2 hours into the festival day, I was the proud owner of a Lendrum. I'm still thinking of a name....any suggestions?The rest of the day was just as fun, fondling the many, many different types of roving and oohing and aahing over the different colors. I sort of missed everyone who showed up for the Knittyhead meetup (sorry folks), but got the chance to catch up with one of my favorite bloggers, former downstream SP, and recipient of the mystery socks (hopefully she'll post them soon, as I forgot to take a pic), Sarah. Sarah, as I have said before, has an Etsy shop, and I bought the coolest roving from her. It looks EXACTLY like a sno cone, and makes me wish Mr. Softee were still out and about so I could get a sno cone.The trunk filled up quite quickly, what with my wheel purchase and Val's warping board....this is what it looked like sometime in the middle of the day.I got everyone home at a reasonable time, and I was home taking my haul pics and itching to play with my new wheel by 9pm (yay for parking spots directly across the street from the house!).My haul, minus the lovely wheel:Gypsy Girl Creations in AngelaMy only Socks that Rock purchase, medium weight in BerylThe Sheep Shed's Merino/Tencel in SunriseThe Sheep Shed's Merino/Tencel in AutumnCloverleaf Farms Wool/Silk in DragonNow, I have to figure out a way to not work so I can spin, spin, spin!![...]

Rogue

2006-10-18T21:01:10.273-04:00

Rogue is finished. It's a smidge short, but I like it. It fits well and I have no complaints. Bad photos of me:



I am most proud of the set in sleeve seams....I always seem to mess them up, but this time, they are near perfect. See?


All the stats:
Started: 10/7/06
Finished: 10/17/06
Pattern: Rogue, 39" size
Yarn/needles: 11 1/2 balls of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Addis size 7

Still working on the mystery socks...but here's a peek...


I got my last Spinning SP box the other day. Kristen sent me a great package, take a look.

I have to remember to bring the cookies and the tea to work with me tomorrow. Mmmm.

And for all you fiber pr0n fans....merino/silk fluffy goodness....

Socks, socks, and an almost sweater

2006-10-15T00:09:09.956-04:00

I completely forgot to take pics last post of the wonderful socks that Tamara made for the little guy for his birthday. He loves them immensely.I signed up for Sock Wars a while back. I got to kill two targets and when I received my next target's socks, I got killed. I love the 2 toned colors.My mystery sweater? Laura guessed correctly. It's Rogue. I finished the body of the sweater in 3 days. The sleeves took some time, as I did them both at the same time. And the hood. I started the hood this morning. And I got cranking on it this evening.....and then I realized I forgot to do increases. I only have to rip back about 15 rows, but it's enough to make me want to cry.Some time ago, I went to the Yarn Tree and bought some merino in colors that the little one picked out to make him a scarf. Now that it's getting colder, I thought it was time to start spinning it up. I took some time out of knitting Rogue to spin up 3 oz. of the red merino. It's all spun up and plied and waiting for the twist to be set.I should still have Rogue done by next Sat., as well as some mystery socks. More on that later[...]

"If you love me and you know it...

2006-10-10T18:36:53.206-04:00

clap your hands!" Ok, you don't have to clap your hands, but do go vote for me. I joined the Knitflix swap, and my package to my pal is a finalist for a prize. Go here and vote for me....I'm package #2.

Pics of Sock Wars socks, cute little boy socks and the new sweater to come. Go vote! Please? :)

Six

2006-10-08T19:30:37.523-04:00

Thank you all for the wonderful compliments on the shawl. It's one of the few things I've made that I'm head over heels in love with.

Shortly after the shawl's completion, I put the needles away and started to clean house. Clean house for the annual birthday party for the little guy. He turned 6 last week, and it's been difficult for me. His two requested birthday gifts were not baby gifts, or even little kid gifts. They were truly big boy gifts and I've had to come to terms with him getting older. The two gifts? A guitar and Lego Star Wars. He got the guitar from us, and he will get the video game next weekend from his aunt.

The party on Saturday was fun. I've got pics, but as they have other kids whose parents may not want their faces plastered all over the net, you get only a couple. But they say oh so many words:




That's Tamara's littlest one, by the way. Right after everyone but Tamara and her kids left, I broke out the needles, swatched and cast on for a new project. I'm hoping to have it done by Rhinebeck, which is in two weeks. Any guesses on what it is?


Off to keep knitting.

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