Stuff

I do so much other stuff online (mostly Ravelry, etsy and flickr) that sometimes I forget to blog until someone like Kortney or my sister says something to the effect of "blog about something. I'm bored."

So here's a bit of collaboration of what's going on in the other online venues which have caused me to neglect said blog.

The Cupcake Factory

Yarn. Lots and lots of yarn. Here are some pictures of the yarn I've been making:

Frosting (worsted weight merino. Dyed in such a way as not to pool):

(the orange one and the last teal/purple ones are still available...the others have sold. I've 2 more skeins waiting to be photographed and listed in the morning)


Buttercream (Really soft superwash merino/nylon sock yarn in purdy colors...currently sold out)

Sugar Paste (merino/silk blend sockyarn. The purple one is still for sale)

Fluff (American Wool Roving)


(I like this one a lot. If it doesn't sell soon, I may end up spinning it myself)


And Finally...Meringue (a light, airy lace weight).
It's pretty, but I'm not sure I'm the biggest fan of dyeing lace weight. I've got 2 more blank skeins and depending on how they sell, this might be the end of this line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there's all my yarn. I've done some other stuff but I realized I'm lacking pictures (will need to fix that later). Anyway, if you like yarn you might be interested in my very own iGoogle gadget that I made yesterday. It looks like this:

If you add it to your iGoogle page, you'll automatically get pictures and info on my newest yarns fed straight onto your screen.

Right now, it's available by invitation only, but if you e-mail me at carissamarie[at!]gmail[dot]com I can hook you up.

I guess that's it for now. Have a great night everyone!

New Free Pattern!

I just finished writing my pattern for "Jill-Walker socks." They resemble the Jaywalkers of late Mag Knits fame (sorry....no link since Mag Knits has bitten the dust) but in a prettier, girly way. Kind of like the socks Jay's twin sister Jill might wear.

I'm making the move away for posting raw patterns on the blog and will be uploading exclusively to Ravelry...since really, if you're a knitter, you need to be on Ravelry. And if you're not, go join the waiting list right now!

If you can't/won't/don't want to join Ravelry, but still want the pattern, leave your e-mail address in the comments and I'll e-mail you the PDF file.

For those of you who are on Ravelry, you can find my latest pattern here.

I got some new markers

I'm part of the Spring Stitch Marker Exchange and I got these From Debbie at http://fruityspirit.com:

They're even prettier in person. I especially love the "just for you" stars. Thanks, Debbie!

OH!
I almost forgot.....I got this cute little sticky note holder, too! I'm pretty sure she made it herself.

I am never going to hear the end of this

One of the things that drove me nuts about Massachusetts was how late Spring starts there. While the rest of the country gets the start on Spring (marked by the arrival of tulips, daffodils and cherry blossoms) in late February and through March, in Massachusetts, the large piles of snow have yet to start melting by that time and Spring usually waits until May to make its debut.

So back here, in the Pacific Northwest, I've been relishing in the Spring time weather... beautiful flowers, warm weather (it was 80 degrees last week). While there has been the April shower here and there, for the most part it hasn't been too bad despite the meteorologists saying that we've been having record wet weather.

Apparently in the Pac NW, the weather has the same moto as the residents...Go big or go home. Last night, not only did the weather set a record for the latest it has ever snowed in the Puget Sound area, EVER (since they've been keeping track anyways, which has been 100+ years), but this isn't even standard snowfall for Winter in this area...which is somewhere between a light dusting and 2 inches. What did we get instead? 6 crazy inches of snow. The picture above was the view out my window when I woke up. How insane is that?!

Joe is never going to let me hear the end of it.

Wordless, um, Monday

Frequently Asked Questions about Skully

I get a lot of questions both on the blog and via Ravelry about the Skully dishcloth and how the heck to knit with two colors so I figured I'd share my standard answers. Normally I'd love to make my own tutorial, etc., but why reinvent the wheel when others have done so very nicely?

Q: How the heck do I knit with two colors?
A:For learning 2 color knitting, this page is really helpful:

http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques

Scroll down to where it says “How to knit with 2 colors at a time,” which is maybe 2/3 of the way down the page. Because it’s a dishcloth, I didn’t want the back side to be too ugly so I used the “intarsia method”. Some people who’ve made the dishcloth have used the “stranding method” but the back side is not pretty. When you use the intarsia method, the back won’t be such a mess when you’re done.

So watch the intarsia video there. I do everything the way she does except that she tells you not to twist the yarn when you go a particular direction (you’ll see it when you watch the video). I, however, ALWAYS twist the yarn, so if you get confused whether “to twist or not to twist” it’s okay to twist.

Q: Why is the back of my dishcloth do ugly?
A: You were probably stranding the yarn across the back ala Fair Isle method. If it really bothers you, you can try again with intarsia.

At the end of the day, though, I don't think your dishes will care. ;-)

What I've been up to

I won this in a blog contest a while ago.



I spun it up and turned it into this:

(it's the green fiber from above and is a soy/sari silk blend)


And I decided to mix with some of this:

(this is purple corridale I got from Northwest Wools in Portland yesterday. The spindle is from my Etsy shop, The Cupcake Factory)


And I got this:

(spindle, again, from The Cupcake Factory)



Which, when skeined, looks like that:



Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. I'm not sure how much is there but I ordered a little scale earlier this week so soon I will know, which will make it easier to figure out how much I've got.

Just because they both start with an 'O'....

View Larger Map


Our car has been having some squeaking problems so today I brought it to the dealer to be looked at. Among other things that are wrong, the squeaking problem is being caused by our front passenger side brake being completely worn down. Luckily we got new brakes right before we moved from Massachusetts to Oregon and they came with this fabulous lifetime warranty....we're never supposed to have to buy new brakes again.

So I call up the place where we got our brakes fixed. Talk to the guy, he confirms that they will replace our brakes, we just need to get to a local service center. I checked the website before I called, however, and the closest store to us is in Ohio. More than 2000 miles away. I tell him such. I ask if there are sister companies that are owned by the same larger company I can go to. He says yes and gives me their websites. I thank him and hang up.

I check these two companies' websites and unfortunately, they are no closer than the store in Cincinnati. I call the guy back and tell him.

Guy: Where are you at again?
Me: Oregon
Guy: So do you think you'll be able to make it to that Monro?
Me: (confused) The one in Ohio?
Guy: Yeah
Me: (laughing) No! Ohio is a 4 day drive away (In my head: Oregon, Ohio...just because they both start with O does not mean they are near each other. *sigh*)
Guy: (surprised) Oh. Uh....let me call someone. I'll give you a call back....


So, no. I will not be driving to Ohio with worn down brakes to get new ones. I am also glad I have basic American geography skills. Public school just lost a few points today in my ongoing debate with my husband about school systems.

(in happier news, the guy called me back and they told me just to get my brakes fixed and they will reimburse me. Hooray! Hows that for fabulous service?)

New FO's

I've got two of my latest Finished Objects to share:

#1: Chunky Stripes Cropped Cardi


Pattern: Anthropologie Inspired Capelet by Julia Allen

Links: Free Pattern Pattern's Ravelry entry My Ravelry Entry

Needle size: 11 (I'm a tight knitter, so it's about the equivalent of a lot of knitters' size 9)

Yarn: Two balls each of Purple and Black Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky

Yarn Source: Gift from Dawn for last Punk Rock Gift Exchange

Conclusion: I LOVE it! It's my favorite piece of knitwear to date and I love LOVE love the yarn



#2: Jack the Easter Dog

Before:

During:


After:


Links: My Ravelry Entry

We were going for purple but got magenta and pink. This is how I did it:

1. Made a vinegar / water mixture and saturated the white spot on the back of his neck with it. Put a square of plastic wrap over it and put his collar back on to hold it in place. Let sit for about 30 minutes
2. Using purple wilton’s cake dye (you know, the kind that’s like a paste that comes in a jar?) and a paint brush, I painted it on his spot. Re-covered in plastic wrap as above.
3. Held a blowdryer on low over the plastic-wrapped spot for about 5 minutes (moving it around and testing with my hand to make sure it wasn’t burning him). Let sit for 20 minutes. Repeat once more.
4. Bath time! I filled the tub with about 1-2 inches of water and poured 1 cup vinegar over the spot. Wet and washed with dog shampoo in all places BUT the spot. Rinsed well.

Results
Due to not being able to marinate Jack in a crock pot like real yarn, his fur didn’t have enough time/warmth to suck up all of the purple dye, leaving us with a magenta spot instead. Rinsing the spot with vinegar worked to both help set the dye on the spot and added water to the tub Jack was standing in…helping the rinsed-off dye adhere to the white on his chest and paws.
Jack is quite the happy punk rock pooch.