off to the Bazaar

For the last few years I've spent an hour in line outside the Cyclorama one Sunday in December waiting for the Bazaar Bizarre to open. This year was no exception. It's an alternative craft fair but, really, there's something for everyone. Here are some of the things I enjoyed looking at this year.

Hedgehog bags from slaPPhaPPie



Matrioshka pillow from Hambone and Jennicakes



Adorable stuffed creatures and hoodies with furry linings and horns from Diane Koss





And this awesome tweed triceratops from MIAOW



I don't know where this lampshade made out of cocktail umbrellas came from, but it was adorable.



And the things that actually came home with me: awesome city prints from JHill Design





(I bought the small prints of Amsterdam and Chester since I've actually been to both, and love the things she chose to iconize them, but I was also tempted by Kiev and Albuquerque. And Champagne. And Malibu. They're all beautiful. I requested that she make a London one, too.)

And this baking print from Flowers in May



Apparently I was very into prints this year. :)

fall festivals

Last weekend we took a road trip out to the inaugural New England Fiber Festival in W. Springfield. It was pretty nice, a lot smaller than Rhinebeck, but all indoors in one large building. That included the sheep and alpacas and even the sheepdog demonstrations. We saw a lot of familiar vendors and pet lots of animals and looked at lots and lots of yarn and fiber. Some pictures:





Herding ducks



A happy Fiber Festival goer

twist and shout

Last year Kate convinced me to do the October Mystery Sock knit-a-long. That sock turned out pretty well, so when she mentioned that it was coming up again I decided to cast on for another mystery sock.



Pattern: Through the Loops Mystery Sock 2010
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Merino/Nylon Fingering (0.8 skeins) dyed with icing colors by me
Notes: Got impatient at the end and didn't wait for the final clue and just did a regular toe.



I'm not as big a fan of this year's sock as last year's, but it fits and I like the colors. Which I should since I did the dyeing. I've named the colorway "Lemon-Lyman" after a particular episode of The West Wing.



The one thing that I did like about the pattern was that it got me to figure out how to do twists and cables without a cable needle! I was going to throw the whole project out the window if I hadn't been able to do that, as it was just too fidgety for me. The way I did it means there are a good number of twisted stitches on the back sides of the cables but they're not visible in the pattern and I can definitely live with that.



Now back to gift-type knitting!

head of the class

I've been knitting hats lately.



Pattern: Picot Cloche, by Carol J. Sulcoski
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica (0.9 skeins) on US 8 needles
Notes: I knit an extra inch before the decreases, and then knit a plain round after each of the first two decrease rounds.



This lavender one is for me, but the second one is for my mom.



Pattern: same
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in glazed carrot (0.62 skeins) on US 8 needles
Notes: same as above



This was actually my first time knitting with Malabrigo, and it was a dream to knit with. Just lovely.

braids

I've gotten a lot of knitting done in the last week, mainly because really thick yarn knits up really quickly!



Pattern: Braided, by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Yukon (2.66 skeins) in a dark purple on US 13 and 15 needles



The pattern was quick and easy. There were lots of ends to weave in, but it wasn't too bad if you did them as you went along. And I love the braids!

And since I had yarn left over, I wanted to make a hat to match, so I tried to find a pattern with a braided cable like the braids in the scarf.



Pattern: his black cabled hat
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Yukon (1.33 skeins) in dark purple on US 13 needles
Notes: I doubled the length of the ribbing so that I could fold over the brim.



And these wintry things are looking very cozy now that it's getting cold outside!

warm toes

There's always more sock yarn waiting to be knit.



Pattern: Uzume, by Monkey Toes
Yarn: Claudia's Hand Painted Fingering in Purple Earth (about 1.5 skeins) on US 1.5 needles



These were actually a pretty fast knit, and even I memorized the pattern before the end of the first sock, which made it even faster.

Here's a detail of the stitch pattern. It would look better in a non variegated yarn, but you can still see the little loops the stitches make.



Even so, I still like these socks, even if I can find the one mistake I made.



And I have no idea what's up next. Hmmm...

roll it up

An online friend of mine is currently packing up her life here in the States and getting ready to move to England. She had seen some of my other sewing projects and asked if I could make her a jewelry roll. I didn't know if I could, but I was willing to give it a try!



I used the tutorial here, with a few small alterations.

It has a band to attach necklaces to, with pockets to store them in.



And it has an attached zippered pouch for storing loose items, like rings.



And here it is, all rolled up!

wrap yourself up

Knitting a heavy wool cardigan probably isn't the normal thing one does during a hot August. But I wanted to use one of those sweater quantities of yarn I've had hanging about for a while, and bulky yarn usually means fast, so I did some sweating. And here's the result:



Pattern: Ariosa Back Lace Panel Cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald
Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky in Chestnut Heather (9 skeins, almost exactly!) on US 10.5 and US 10 needles
Notes: Because I was running out of yarn toward the end I reduced the number of rows on the button band, buttonhole band, and collar.



A sweater knit out of bulky yarn is never going to look fabulous on my body type, but this came out pretty well, I think. And the back is just so pretty.



I also got to pick out some fun buttons.



And now back to some smaller knitting for a little while...

a little piece of fabric

I'd wanted to try Spoonflower for a long time. It's a company where you can design and print your own fabric. So, their Free Swatch Day this past month seemed like a perfect opportunity. I fussed around with a lot of ideas, but none seemed to work the way I wanted them to, so I started going through photographs.

This is a photograph I took in London two years ago:



I loved the set up of the picture, and all the things it brought together in one shot, but because it was taken at twilight and I didn't have a tripod, it was too blurry to be any good as a photograph. So I started playing with it in Photoshop, and I eventually had an image to submit.

This was my resulting 8x8 swatch:



I love it. I have no idea what I'll use it for, but it's just nice to have something I created like this. And hopefully someday I'll come up with something else to use Spoonflower for--they're great!

stop and smell the roses

Or, in some cases, sew them.

When Cat and I went on our field trip to Lowell, I mentioned that I picked up a couple of pretties at the Quilt Museum that you might see later. Well, later is now, since I finally sat down with my sewing machine and turned them into a finished something.



My Mackintosh rose bag! The outside fabric is a Japanese fabric fat quarter that I got at the Museum, which is where I also found the pink polka dotted purse handles.



I've been a big fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh ever since I went to Glasgow, about six years ago, so I couldn't resist the rose fabric.



And the purse handles were just too cute.



The lining fabric is just a small pink print that I found at Winmill Fabrics; I wanted something that wouldn't take away too much from the outside.



I based the shape and measurements for the bag on this One Hour Bag pattern. I'm so pleased with how the whole thing turned out!

Shaun meets the knit-o-matic

It's been almost two years since I was in London, and that Shaun the Sheep kit I picked up as a souvenir has gone unknit all of that time. Until now, that is.

Shaun explored the local flora. He was disappointed to find that the pumpkins were glass.



Pattern: Shaun the Sheep kit, from Patons UK
Yarn: Patons UK Fab DK in black (1 skein) and Patons UK Fairytale Velvet DK in white (about 6/10 of the skein) on US 2.5 needles

Shaun was more pleased with the orchid.



Shaun explored further.



Shaun is a lovely little souvenir, he is.