Knitting baby clothes is where it's at, people. I love these tiny pieces! They knit up so fast! I feel so accomplished! Nothing beats this feeling. However, there is no escaping the sad truth that every project I choose to knit at any one time uses the same sized needles. This time it happens to be US 5. I never use that size! But when I went to cast on for another log cabin square last night, I reached for the needles and they were nowhere to be found. Then I happened to glance in the baby sweater supply bag and noticed that the needles I had bought for this yarn (two sizes bigger than the ones I used to knit these three pieces) were still intact. Which means that I accidentally used needles two sizes too small.

The best part? My gauge is SPOT ON. When does that ever happen? Not often, if you're me. And coincidentally? The gods must be smiling on me.

So for now, my tiny baby sleeves are on holders while I get some more log cabin-ing out of my system. Between the humidity (unthinkable) and my mental to-do list (growing exponentially) I need the loverly garter-stitch knitting.

Posted by Molly at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

My trip to Tokyo was fabulous, but quite a whirlwind. I took the overnight bus there on Saturday night, stayed one night in my favorite ryokan, one night in the five-star hotel where my conference was being held, then took the Tuesday night bus back home and was at work at 8:30 on Wednesday morning. I did SO MUCH that even the misery of the overnight bus doesn't seem so bad. On Sunday, I met up with the lovely Stefana, and we wandered the streets of some cool neighborhoods that I had never seen before. We really weren't thinking--no pictures for the blog. Sorry, Mum!

My work conference was fun and energizing, and I am not feeling as draggy about my job as I had been before. It ended on Tuesday afternoon so I dragged my bags (one small bag for my clothes and one giant knitting bag) to Shibuya for Tokyo Stitch 'n Bitch that night. I was so happy to see everyone--some new faces and some people that I already knew--and really wish I could go more often. But it was fun while it lasted!

The reason that I had an absolutely huge knitting bag is that before leaving, I decided to bring 13 balls of yarn to work on my new log cabin blanket squares. Let me just say that this is not the most mobile project, unless you are willing to haul all this stuff around. But before I left, I was feeling really enthusiastic about the new project and wanted to work on it so I made the sacrifice. It wasn't so bad, and the knitting bag turned out to be a good pillow for the bus journey!

When I was there, I also found some Puppy Soft Cotton that is a good yarn for Trellis, which I decided will be my baby knit for the fall. I'm making two, for two cousins, so I started with the bigger of the two last night. The pink might be a bit much, but Japan is all about super-girliness so I think it will fly. It's so fast and fun to knit!

After SnB I had a few hours to kill before I caught the 11 o'clock bus home. At this point, I was feeling exhausted and just wanted to get on that bus, but managed to do some damage at Book 1st before I left. Book 1st is a big bookstore with all sorts of great treasures, so even though I exercised restraint, there were a few things that I couldn't resist.

This book is called "Order-made skirt" (ISBN 4-579-11006-4) and it has patterns for a bunch of different skirt styles. As I have some really nice fabric that I've been meaning to sew into a skirt for a while, I thought it would be a good investment to have some kind of structure and direction, rather than just winging it like I do with all my other sewing projects. No doubt, I'll have to edit the pattern a little bit, but I hope this will help me to get just the right amount of poofiness in my skirt rather than having a lot of trial and error. We'll see.

Of course, I couldn't resist this book on bags, especially with the cute striped one on the cover! The bag that really caught my eye, and that I WILL make, someday, is a great striped bag that has this panel of woven strips of fabric on the front. I'm not sure if you can really see in the pictures (ISBN 4-391-13146-3).

Finally, I also got this fun book about everyday kimono (ISBN 4-7572-1273-9). I had to get it for the amazing color and pattern combinations inside (forgot to document that part, but I will soon). Even though I have gotten kind of jaded about wearing kimono lately (blame my childbearing hips--made for childbearing that is, not experienced, my mom would like me to point out), this was a must-have. And hey, I can practice reading Japanese, so I'll kill two birds with one stone!

Posted by Molly at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

That's what one teacher at school says when the crazy kids at school pass through. My friends and I had a whole barrel of laughs and fun this week so intense that I totally forgot about international knit in public day. Imagine that! I did do a minute amount of knitting on the trains around Japan, but it was tough. Most of the time I felt like a mom dragging around my two little kids, and was mostly too busy translating, explaining, keeping track of luggage, timetables and weather patterns, and making sure that everyone was happily fed (no offensive foods), ticket in hand, throughout our journey. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed every minute of it, but how do you moms do it?

When my friends first arrived, they unpacked all the essentials that I had requested. Face wash, shampoo, granola bars and knitting books. I was casually enjoying Mason Dixon Knitting when I made the mistake of reading "Places We Have Tried to Knit and Failed" out loud. One friend was totally horrified and asked me please not to turn into one of those crazy people. Too late, I chuckled to myself. I just referred to Kay as my mom's friend, and then reminded myself not to take any pictures in public with the knitting for this trip.

I did, however, manage to sneak in some major knitting on fair isle glove number two last night, when we laid around, ordered pizza, and watched Grey's Anatomy until we passed out. It might have been the most simultaneous fun that the three of us had the whole time.

I've got a work conference in Tokyo next week so I'm heading up early to enjoy the city (read: look for jeans that fit as the Gap near me has stopped stocking the "husky" sizes) and try not to blow all my savings on nice yarn. It has been MONTHS since I've bought any, and hey, I've got baby gifts to knit! Possibly the best part about this trip is that the universe has aligned so that I can go to Tokyo SnB again. Yahoo! Be back next week.

Posted by Molly at 05:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was convinced that I would be so busy getting ready for my friends to visit that there would be no knitting going on around here. I underestimated my freshly energized, early morning running, high energy self! Things are falling into place around here so really all there is to do is sit around anxiously awaiting my friends' arrival tomorrow (and all the last-minute cleaning tomorrow after work so that the place is sparkling when they get here).

While I was waiting for my ride to kimono class last night, I decided to go ahead and start glove #2 before it's too late. The cuff is a little tedious as the color changes are every row, but it's still so fun! I conveniently ended on blue so this can be my project spectrum knitting shot for the month.

This a cry for help. Look at the thumb of my first glove. I did everything I thought humanly possible to avoid this thumb hole. But it is gaping and refusing to go away. I was so preoccupied with the accomplishment of finishing my first glove that I had no problem ignoring this for a while. Now time has given me the perspective to see that I need to re-knit this thumb and make these babies perfect with a capital P. Can anyone help me?

I guess there are still a few things to do tonight. You know, IMPORTANT things like starting a new pair of socks for all this upcoming bus, train and boat travel, as well as pre-ironing clothes for work the whole time my friends are here.* This time tomorrow, they'll be here, AAHHHHHH!!!!!!

*Yes, more proof that I'm turning into my mom. Last week a friend was staying here, and after I ironed my shirt for the next day, I actually ironed hers for her "just because the iron was on," something that my mom is always trying to do for me when I am on my way out the door in a wrinkly outfit. I'd taken the role of unappreciative daughter to new heights, refusing any ironing to the point of ridiculousness (sorry about that, Mum). Now I am ironing other people's clothes. Sigh. It's inevitable. **EDITED TO ADD** This doesn't mean I like ironing, either.

Posted by Molly at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Is there a pattern out there anywhere with a double short-row heel like this? This is seriously the most fun and best fitting heel ever. I did, however, knit the sock on too-small needles, hugely overdo what was meant to be a "small roll cuff," and then break a needle so I probably won't be knitting another one anytime soon. Not to mention the lame photography. There are some full-sock photos, but they are just totallly unacceptable.

Even though I have gotten up (and gone running, yesssssss!) at 630 both days of this FAB-u-lous weekend, I have not been too focused on my knitting. But the apartment is mega-clean, and things are falling in place for my friends who are coming to visit this week. We are talking MAJOR excitement of the non-knitting kind. So the knitting posts might be few and a little far between for a while. Who could blame me?

Posted by Molly at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ok, I'm not actually a dollar short, but this is a day late! These are my lovely green project spectrum socks for May that I finished last night. I finished them in May, I swear! I almost can't believe that I took this picture on a blue background AGAIN, so they once again look bluer than they really are. Just take my word for it, they're green, ok? It's that time of year, when I am starting to work up a sweat doing just about anything, so they have already been packed away with the winter wears. See them in the fall!

I've been going to be early with the anticipation of running most days this week, but I only actually made it out on Wednesday. It was hard to do for the first time because I didn't know how much time it would take and used my paranoia about being late for work as a deterrent on Monday and Tuesday. Never have I had such clear thoughts, laying in bed at 645 am. Today was my day off and I am definitely headed out again tomorrow. The running part isn't even that hard, it's just the getting up that kills me!

Although this has been cutting into my late night knitting, I have (per usual) been thinking about what to make next. A friend just had a baby boy so June seems like an opportune time to make something blue for them. But what does one knit for a baby when there are 4 or 5 months of stinking heat and humidity coming up? Any ideas?

Posted by Molly at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)