tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145585632024-03-13T14:10:05.628-05:00JD's jazza (mostly) knitting blogJDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11653562362193382538noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14558563.post-11814327073656152008-04-30T14:38:00.002-05:002008-04-30T14:41:36.667-05:00okay, so you should never start a new blog in the week before you're going on vacation. It takes FOREVER to get back to it!<br /><br />So I'll ease in. Just saw this on another blog and took the bait:<br /><br /><table width="350" align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"><tr><td bg align="center" style="color:#EEEEEE;"><br /><span style="'color:black;font-family:Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><br /><strong>You Are An INFP</strong><br /></span></td></tr><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/infp.gif" height="100" width="100" /></center><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><br />The Idealist<br /><br /><br /><br />You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.<br /><br />Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.<br /><br />It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.<br /><br />But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop.<br /><br /><br /><br />In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards.<br /><br />You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings.<br /><br /><br /><br />At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values.<br /><br />You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.<br /><br /><br /><br />How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual<br /><br /><br /><br />When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak<br /></span></td></tr></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/">What's Your Personality Type?</a></div><br /><br />Right now I'm absorbing the idea that people who don't get me see me as "Unrealistic, naive, and weak". Could be a great explanation for things my dad tells me sometimes! :-)<br /><br />still, it feels pretty accurate-- it's been a long time since I took the long-form version of this test, but I think the result was the same back then.<br /><br />Anyway, much knitting continues... too much to do at work today to show pictures, but I promise to get updated and current this week. Much to show since last July!!<br /><br />cheers,<br />JDJDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11653562362193382538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14558563.post-8576906113556250132007-06-27T21:51:00.001-05:002007-06-27T21:59:26.572-05:00Ravelry goodness and Tuscany dreams<br /><br />I got my invite! I got my invite! Ah, all the Ravelry goodness! it's fantastic-- if you're not on the list, get on over there to Ravelry.com and sign up! it's just the coolest thing.<br /><br />And it's what I've been doing with all my time practically since the moment I got my invitation. So fun! The most time-consuming part is cataloging the stash-- taking pictures, entering specs, etc., etc. But very satisfying stuff! And I've already managed to set up a swap with another Raveler, so soon I'll have 3 lovely lovely skeins of Handmaiden Silken. Yum! For a Tuscany for my very own. In forest greens and coppery colors. Tasty.<br /><br />And speaking of Tuscanies... after seeing amyKnitty's swatches of the original Tuscany and two subsequent ones, I was no longer confident that mine (out of Elann Callista, a rayon, cotton, linen blend) will block out to be as lacy as it should be, so I emailed her and asked for some advice... She very kindly answered and said that because cotton and linen are tougher to block than silk, I should try to get the look I want as I knit, and that this one looks pretty tight to her. SO-- I will re-swatch on larger needles and take EZ's advice to knit more loosely (so that I don't have to find another hobby!). So that's the update on that. It's too bad, too, because I was a little further along than in this picture.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9410099@N08/633749834/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1328/633749834_6fce7cec15_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9410099@N08/633749834/">tuscany1</a> </span><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" > Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/9410099@N08/">JD's Jazz</a><br /><br /></span>so I'm off to swatch! Going to try size 8 needles this time...JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11653562362193382538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14558563.post-90695620261680472362007-06-24T14:20:00.001-05:002008-12-10T00:32:00.891-06:00<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >So I was reading an old post on <a href="http://bigsister.typepad.com/bigsis/">Nicole's blog</a> the other day in which she said that when she'd started her knitting blog, she thought she was the </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >last to do it. I totally understand that feeling, because I think it's actually me! (and yes, I mean that Nicole, of <a href="http://stashandburn.com/">Stash and Burn</a>. Love her and Jenny!)<br /><br />So I decided, in preparation for my <a href="http://ravelry.com/">Ravelry</a> invite, which I know is coming any day now (<a href="http://www.nerdle.com/blog">Casey</a> was kind enough to tell me that I'm #223 on the list right now), to start a blog that will help me keep track of my progress on projects and hope</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >fully get tips and share problems or fixes that I've dis</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >covered while doing a project. I'm a relatively n</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >ew member of the online knitting community, and I'm really amazed at how large and ex</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >tre</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >mely cool that community is. I started listening to lots of p</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >odcasts (especially <a href="http://stashandburn.com/">Stash and Burn</a>, by Nicole and Jenny, and <a href="http://sticksandstring.com.au/">Sticks & String</a>, by David Reidy), and then I started reading lots of blogs, and fin</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >ally the blog bug had bitten me, too. It's so nice to know that I'm not the only one hoarding... um, I mean <span style="font-style: italic;">collecting, </span>yarn and having a stash, or that I'm not along in being ever so slightly psychotic about my knitting (oh, and <a href="http://limenviolet.com/">Lime and Violet</a>!), having sometimes as many as a dozen projects on the needles at once. It's comforting to know that there are other people out there who love yarn as much as I do! :-)<br /></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >So without further ado, my current projects. First, I'</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >m showing off a little baby sweater that I just finished the other night. It has a bit of a shameful story behind it-- namely, that it has taken me this long to finish a gift for a good friend's son</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > who was born last August!-- but now that it's done, I c</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >an't wait to go down to St. Louis and </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >present it to her. I'm hoping that the fact that I sized it for a 2-year-old will help assuage my guilt-- it might be late, but she'll be able to use it for probably a year or so, especially since right now her son is small for his age (from what I can</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > glean without giving away that I've been planning to make something). T</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >he pattern is from <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596680105?ie=UTF8&tag=jsj-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1596680105%22%3ENatural%20Knits%20for%20Babies%20and%20Moms:%20Beautiful%20Designs%20Using%20Organic%20Yarns%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=jsj-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1596680105%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">Natural Knits for Babies and Moms</a> </span>by Louisa Hardin</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >g.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7IZ4KCxoI/AAAAAAAAAAM/7h6ImsrXk6Q/s1600-h/harding1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7IZ4KCxoI/AAAAAAAAAAM/7h6ImsrXk6Q/s320/harding1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079717776617293442" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7IaIKCxpI/AAAAAAAAAAU/tl0bqd8-rPc/s1600-h/pattern.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7IaIKCxpI/AAAAAAAAAAU/tl0bqd8-rPc/s320/pattern.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079717780912260754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > I love this book, though I did use some Porto Cervo 100% cotton that</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > I had in my stash instead of buying organic cotton. Still, I think it's gorgeous in Technicolor:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7I5oKCxqI/AAAAAAAAAAc/YeIXfdzD-bQ/s1600-h/jacket.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7I5oKCxqI/AAAAAAAAAAc/YeIXfdzD-bQ/s320/jacket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079718322078140066" border="0" /></a><br />And can you believe I found buttons in exactly that color green? I guess it's hard to tell with the reflection, but trust me, they're just right!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7JeIKCxrI/AAAAAAAAAAk/pGqf3qNsS-I/s1600-h/buttons.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cYN_l9nk3_g/Rn7JeIKCxrI/AAAAAAAAAAk/pGqf3qNsS-I/s320/buttons.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079718949143365298" border="0" /></a><br />I sewed them on so they'd be like diamonds, but now I'm wishing I'd done them flat on as squares. I guess I'm still trying to decide whether to take them off and redo them-- I hate sewing on buttons, and if I leave them, it's done! So I guess I'll have to see how I feel in the next couple of days.<br /><br />So, WIPs:<br /><br /><ol><li>I just started, after several false starts, a Tuscany shawl from Amy Singer's <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596680121?ie=UTF8&tag=jsj-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1596680121%22%3ENo%20Sheep%20for%20You:%20Knit%20Happy%20with%20Cotton,%20Silk,%20Linen,%20Hemp,%20Bamboo%20&%20Other%20Delights%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=jsj-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1596680121%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">No Sheep for You</a>.</span> (Since I didn't prepare well enough by doing the images first, I'll leave pictures of the rest of these until later.)<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></li><li>I have a little baby jacket out of self-striping sock yarn that just needs buttons and the ends to be woven in. Finishing! It's my downfall. This one's been at this point for probably 2 months!</li><li>A yellow sweater with duplicate-stitched ladybugs and stripey hems for my niece, who's 5. It's from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193154347X?ie=UTF8&tag=jsj-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=193154347X%22%3EFamily%20Circle%20Easy%20Knits%20for%20Kids:%2050%20Knit%20and%20Crochet%20Projects%20%28Family%20Circle%20Easy...%29%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=jsj-20&l=as2&o=1&a=193154347X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><span style="font-style: italic;">Family Circle's Knits for Kids</span></a> (and it's the sweater on the cover). Front and back pieces are done, but don't line up, so I have a bit of rescuing to do before I start the sleeves, which I will definitely do at the same time to avoid this type of issue!</li><li>Another sweater for my niece, a rosy pink ballet (surplice) sweater out of angora/cashmere/wool yarn (recycled yarn I got on eBay-- great cash saver!). I only have the front of this one done, and if I'd known when I started it what I know now about knitting in the round (and converting patterns for same), it would have been a natural pattern to do that way. May still consider frogging that front and starting over. Plan is to also make matching leg warmers (traditional, ballerina-style ones, not the chunky kind that I'm not a big fan of, having lived through the legwarmer craze when I was in high school in the 80s).</li><li>A cotton, broken-rib sweater for my nephew (2.5 years old), back piece and shoulder/elbow patches done. (I think it's from a Vogue magazine, but I'll have to look up the exact issue. Guess I haven't listed the exact patterns for any of these, but I'll surely put them up on <a href="http://ravelry.com/">Ravelry</a> when I get there...) Still, I love this pattern because it's made with Peaches & Cream cotton, so the whole sweater will have cost about $8 and will be able to be washed and dried like a dishcloth. Genius!<br /></li><li>A cabled sweater for myself (!) from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579908578?ie=UTF8&tag=jsj-20&linkCode=as2&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1579908578%22%3EKnitting%20Simple%20Jackets:%2025%20Beautiful%20Designs%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=jsj-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1579908578%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><span style="font-style: italic;">Knitting Simple Jackets</span></a>. I love this book- there will definitely be more on this later. The pattern is a very simple cable, but it's the first cable project I tried so that I could learn how. I think this is much of my problem with flitting from project to project-- I'm so impatient to learn all kinds of techniques that once I know how to do something, I move on to another type of project. I think now, though, I'm getting into a "finishing" phase, which will be a good way to move on to some new projects I've been planning.</li><li>A reversible double-knit scarf for my brother, who lives in Fargo. I'm planning some glove/mittens to match-- you know those ones that are gloves underneath but have a mitten part that wraps over the fingers? I have a pattern for that kind, though they look pretty complicated and I haven't done any mittens or gloves yet, so we'll see how that works out. I'd also like them to go with the scarf, which is a pattern from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157990582X?ie=UTF8&tag=jsj-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=157990582X%22%3EAndean%20Folk%20Knits:%20Great%20Designs%20from%20Peru,%20Chile,%20Argentina,%20Ecuador%20&%20Bolivia%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=jsj-20&l=as2&o=1&a=157990582X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><span style="font-style: italic;">Andean Folk Knits</span></a> that I've mildly modified (just because I haven't always been paying attention when it's time to do a color pattern change, so I'm just exaggerating it and making it look like I did it on purpose). This was one of those technique projects, too, though I know my brother will love it-- I was really wanting to learn double-knitting, but the class at my LYS was cancelled because I was the only person who signed up. When I found the instructions in the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157990582X?ie=UTF8&tag=jsj-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=157990582X%22%3EAndean%20Folk%20Knits:%20Great%20Designs%20from%20Peru,%20Chile,%20Argentina,%20Ecuador%20&%20Bolivia%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=jsj-20&l=as2&o=1&a=157990582X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><span style="font-style: italic;">Andean Folk Knits</span></a> book, I figured I'd just go for it. I'm glad I did-- more money for yarn! :-)<br /></li><li>I've also got a false start of an Elizabeth Zimmermann Baby Surprise Jacket, but I think I'm going to frog that and start it over-- it's only a few rows in, and since I started it and put it down, I have much better colors to use for babies than I did when<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>I was starting from yarn in my stash. After all, even if I would dress a baby in a cream, olive, and black BSJ, not everyone would! I guess I'll have to have some kids of my own if I want to push the non-pastel envelope that far.<br /></li><li>oh, and I have all the yarn for <a href="http://www.knitty.com/issuespring04/PATTanouk.html">Anouk</a>, which I'll probably be starting in the next day or two, so I might as well mention it. oh, and<br /></li><li>I'd also like to get some socks going because I've been buying LOTS of sock yarn (can't seem to get enough of it), but I only have one sock going at the moment. I want to try this whole two-at-a-time method, as I think I'm going to be very susceptible to SSS (Second Sock Syndrome). So we'll see if I get some going this week, as well.<br /></li></ol>Well, this is surely long enough for a first blog post! I don't know whether anyone will actually read it, but I'm going to try to make sure to write it so that it's safe for public consumption (except for the people that I will try not to tell about it until they've gotten their knitted gifts safe and sound!).<br /><br />More soon--<br />JDJDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11653562362193382538noreply@blogger.com0