The Chronicles of Auntie M

Just how many…

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:57:00 +0000

bamboo spoons does one person need?

I apparently need more than most. As I unpacked my kitchen boxes when I moved earlier this year, I discovered several items of which I had multiples. My name is Mycki and I'm a kitchen gadget buyer.

Other things I found: three whisks (two exactly the same), four pie servers (two styles), three paring knives, three can openers, three bar boards, two scallop-edge slicers, three potato mashers, three slotted spoons, five nylon serving spoons, several spatulas (at least two exactly the same), and four bamboo tongs.

My kitchen is not very big and I can't help but think I would have more room if I get rid of my duplicate implements, but I have a feeling that I might need them someday!

Jumpin' Jellyfish!

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:07:00 +0000

I'm on vacation again. This time, I'm in Southern California. I came to visit my sis and to go to the Happiest Placed on Earth! The day we planned on going it rained (but it never rains in Southern California, right?) so we decided to go the the Aquarium of the Pacific. Can I tell you how much I'm mesmerized by jellyfish? This aquarium has several different varieties (?) of jellyfish. Also, not all of them are dangerous to people. The second picture above are moon jellies. Their sting is not enough to harm. Another thing I fell in love with during this trip are stingrays. I'll post a picture of them later. Right now I'm off to have Thai food with my other sister. Laters...

Harry Potter UK Cover Yarn Club

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:36:00 +0000

September: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

October: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

November: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban

These are the first three colorways of the first Sock Yarn club I've joined. I've been hesitating to join any clubs because you never know what you'll end up with. This club seemed like a safe bet because I know which colors would be used and I've seen other colorways by this dyer. There are a total of seven skeins I'll be receiving in this club. Each one is based on the cover of one of the Harry Potter books released in the UK. The cover art for those editions is vastly different than the US Scholastic versions. If you look closely at the ball band you can see a picture of the actual UK cover that colorway was based on. I am so pleased with my skeins so far. I think Dharmafey (Ravelry name) from Cosmic Fibers does an excellent job matching the dye colors to the cover art. She also includes a little extra something with each shipment. With my first skein I received an HP trading card, with the second I received temporary tatoos of all the covers, and with the third I received a matching stitch marker. I can't wait to see what I get next!

Time to Dye

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:09:00 +0000

This post goes out to Knitvicious! Cause she's tired of the lake...

Way back in September, I got together with a couple of fellow Chicks to try our hand at dyeing our own yarn. Okay, it was not my first or even fourth time dyeing yarn, however, it was my first time using the dip method and my first time dyeing a sock blank.

The top photo is the result of dipping the ends of a pre-wound skein into two canning jars, one with pink dye and the other with chestnut dye, then microwaving the whole shebang. Hot Stuff! (By the way, Felted I still have your jars) The resulting skein has a deep chocolate color fading to tan and then a vanilla middle and light pink darkening to a perfect strawberry ice cream color. Neopolitan!

The bottom photo is the sock blank. This was a little harder to dye than I supposed, but only because my dye bottles were leaking. You can see little spots of blue on the pink and purple sections. I had a pattern picked out for this yarn before I dyed it so you would think that now, being two months later, I would have finished this project and could post an "after" picture. You would be wrong.

I spent the rest of September finishing old projects and working on WIP's. I didn't want to start any new projects until I'd done something about my total WIP count. I can't seem to bring it under 13. (I haven't decided if that's good or bad luck) So, while I have finished some projects (Mystery Stole 3, Carmen sweater, Marie Antoinette sock #1, Baby Ripple Blanket) I did not start my socks in September.

For October, my focus was all Halloween... (check back for my next post)

A Little Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:19:00 +0000

Ever since I can remember, my favorite part of summer has been going to the beach. It was always the Pacific Ocean when I was growing up, but now that we live in Northern California, we are trying something different. (Besides, I did go to Dohene in So Cal a couple of months ago so I don't feel like I totally missed out this year!) We went to Lake Tahoe last week. It was a great getaway and the lake is gorgeous. We stayed in Tahoe City at a pet friendly place (because we took the dog). The room had a nice woodsy decor featuring black bears. There was a lovely grassy area leading to the beach across the road from where we stayed. I spent a lot of time there reading Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. I got a sunburn my last day because I was so into the book I forgot to turn! Overall my time there was relaxing and I plan on doing it again, but the lake, no matter how beautiful, doesn't compare to my beloved Pacific!

Going Home

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Who says you can't go home again? I recently went to visit my sister in Laguna Niguel and since Bakersfield is on the way, I stopped for a short (one hour) visit with my cousin. My mom was with me and she suggested we drive by our old high school. Yep, I went to the same high school (and junior high!) as my mom, exactly twenty years later. Above you can see one of my favorite spots, the East High Auditorium. I was in Drama (so was my mom, does the apple fall far from the tree?) so I have many fond memories of plays and musicals held there. I can still see the lines of people waiting for the doors to open. I can even remember snippets of conversations as we hurried by to get into our costumes and make-up. Oh, the memories!

In Da Hoodie

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:40:00 +0000

It's finished! I am completely done with my Neck Down Hoodie. The pattern is from Knitting Pure & Simple. I used fabulous Brook Farms Yarn wool and silk blend Four Play yarn and size 7 and 9 needles. It feels great on and I can't wait to wear it. You might be thinking I'll have a long wait for cool weather since I live in California, but not so! I work in a very cold office and so I'll be wearing it later this week...ahh! I started this project in March, soon after coming back home from Stitches West where I bought the yarn. I wove in the ends and attached the button on Friday. It was a pretty fast knit considering I didn't work on it for much of March and April. I recommend it to anyone that doesn't mind lots of knit stitch.

Waiting for Habu

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Last month I went to Petaluma's yarn shop Knitterly with some of my fellow Chicks (Hi Cathy and Janice! ) and their friend (Hi Shar!) We had a great time learning to read Japanese knitting patterns and trying on all the great samples. I spent my life savings (well, not really but it felt like it) on some sweater kits. Now I'm impatiently waiting for my swell yarn to arrive. I've been checking the ~~porch~~ patio everyday to no avail. I believe my package is 3 business days overdue. I would absolutely love to order more kits, one for a bag in particular, but I need faster gratification. Okay, I've got go research Habu retailers...Bye!

Fawkes in Socks

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:44:00 +0000

This is the yarn I dyed to make Gigi Silva's (Monkey Toes) Fawkes pattern. The pattern was inspired by Dumbledore's phoenix from the Harry Potter series. I looked and looked and searched high and low for a colorway reminiscent of the mythical bird that rises from the flames.
Finally I decided to dye my own to get the exact colors I wanted in the exact order I wanted and the exact stripe size I wanted.

Considering that hand dyeing at home (by a someone new to the process no less) is not an exact science, I am well pleased with the result.

I am finished with the first sock and well on my way on the second. I'm trying to finish them before the end of May to enter them in Socktopia's May theme "Hot Feet". Wish me luck, please!

April is for Anklets

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:08:00 +0000

This year I committed to finishing one pair of socks a month for the Sock-a-Month group on Ravelry. For April, that pair had to be anklets. I chose a pattern that I received in a swap last year. The yarn I got from a sock kit swap a couple of years ago. The yarn is Marion's Sock Yarn from Germany. I like this pattern and think the yarn was a good fit for it. The toe is not my favorite, but I wanted to, for once, work a pattern exactly as written!

Single Sock Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:51:00 +0000

I never thought it would happen to me. Okay, it has happened to me before, but I never thought it would happen again. I like to knit and I like to finish projects. I also love symmetry. So how could I fall victim to SSS (Second Sock Syndrome)? I blame it on my iPod and Ravelry. There are so many great patterns out there in the knitting world, especially for socks. I hear about this pattern and see that pattern and find these oh-so-convenient links. Last month I had five socks on needles at once. I finished one complete pair (see post below) and one sock each of the other 4 patterns I was working on. Leaving me 4 mates to knit up. Now we're in April and I have committed to knitting at least 2 new sock patterns this month. See how my dilemma grows? I will faithfully cast on one pair tonight (the Nutkins) and another pair tomorrow (April Mystery Sock) and when will I work on my second socks from March? Now that my training time at work is over, I have four less knitting hours each day. I predict knitting insomnia for the next few weeks.

This Just Woven-In

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:55:00 +0000

I just finished my Jaywalker's. I joined a group on Ravelry to knit one pair of socks a month. Each month has a theme and Jaywalker's was February. I duly cast on in February but so late in the month, I couldn't have finished them. I was working on the No-Purl Monkey Socks with my local CWS group. Now that both pairs are finished I can cast on my March socks. Yes, I know it's beyond the ides of March, but it is earlier than when I started in February!

About these socks:
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Fingering 100% Merino hand-dyed by me
Needles: Knit Picks DPN's size 1 (2.25mm)
Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina on Magknits
My rating: Love them! The fit is great and the color is very eye-catching (I'm calling them my Gigi Jaywalkers because they remind me of Gigi's grandmother's house in the 1958 musical)

Monkey, see? Monkey deux!

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:58:00 +0000

First off, nobody die of shock, yes, I posted something new...

My first Monkey is done and the second is not far off. My knit group decided to have a Monkey knit-a-long this month. I chose to knit the no-purl Monkey's in Fixation. I love that they look so smooth compared to the regular Monkey's I knit last November. Of course, I went down 2 needle sizes for these so that could be the reason they fit so well. I can't wait to see everyone else's finished socks.

I also can't wait to see again what everyone got at Stitches last weekend. I must say the Stitch-n-Ride train this year was excellent. None of the glitches that plagued last years ride. The market worked out better for me this year as well. Last year I was the proverbial deer in the headlights and came home with almost nothing. Not so this year. I have Brooks Farm yarn for my neck-down hoodie, ShiBui yarn for socks, a great sock yarn I bought from Beehive, some hemp/wool blend for a hat (pattern, too!) plus a few more things. Cher and I also got to meet Vickie Howell at the SWTC booth. Knit On!

My new toy this month is an iPod. I have spent much time today loading more music on it. Still trying to play with iTunes so I don't have to sync every time I want to add a few songs. I also spent computer time today emptying my camera so it will be ready for...uh huh, another trip to Disneyland (I'm taking my nephew on Saturday.) Now I'm kinda burnt out on the computer. I had planned on adding pictures to my flickr, but I may save that for another day.

Ladies in my knit group, guess what is drying right this minute? Yarn I dyed myself! Yep, I finally took the plunge and mixed that toxic dye. Scared me to death and I thought I had poisoned myself last night because I had trouble breathing (no worries, I just forgot to take my allery pill!) It came out okay for my first dye job. If it dries by tomorrow morning, I'll take it for Show and Tell.

Ta Ta For Now!

Starsky Struck

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:24:00 +0000

The picture above was taken earlier this year at Panera's during one of the Chick With Sticks meetups. I had only completed the back and one of the front panels at that time. I loved the way the Banana Tree cabling turned out and decided then and there that I needed to finish this project before fall had fully set in. I started knitting on my Starsky exclusively for the next month. By October 25th, I was done! I loved the way it turned out. Since our group didn't meet on Halloween, I wasn't able to Show and Tell until November. Here is Felted modeling the finished project:

This project was made from the Jordana Paige pattern "Starsky" on Knitty.com using Cascade 220 in Charcoal Heather and size 8 needles.

Scones and Skeins

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:17:00 +0000

Today I met with a few people from my Wednesday night knitting group for Scones and Skeins. This brainchild of my friend Cher is a get together (not on Wednesday) at one knitter's house to which you take scones and other baked goods along with your current knitting project(s). Maybe because it was just Thanksgiving or maybe because we think alike, most of the baked goods featured pumpkin. I took pumpkin cranberry scones. There was also pumpkin cream cheese muffins and pumpkin raisin bread. Things that weren't pumpkin- croissants with Nutella and asparagus frittata!

Right now I have 13 WIP's that I'm counting although only 4 are on needles. The other 9 are projects I started but have since frogged back to skeins. Projects I'm currently knitting are Tweedy Vest from Knit Scene, Mystery Stole 3, Monkey sock (2nd one!), Toe-up sock using Lombard Street lace pattern. The projects that are waiting are a moebius, a tie, a Clapotis, Meadow Flowers shawl, Andean Treasures Sampler vest, a Malabrigo sweater, a Whiskey vest, a project made from leftovers, and the original Homespun Pants.

Note to My Dear Readers: I've been trying to upload my knitting photos to Flickr to no avail. So when I see you later this week, don't give me grief about my Ravelry page.

Leaf Lace

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:32:00 +0000

Here is a picture of my recently completed Leaf Lace shawl. I added beads to the points in the same color as the shawl. I've been wanting to work with beads since one of my fellow chicks (Hi, Darla!) started a beaded project from Romantic Style. My own first beaded project was mystery stole 3, but I'm not finished with that. Someday! This is one of my last year projects that I wanted finish up. As I was reading the finishing notes, I saw an option for adding beads in the last row. Hurray!

Ahoy, Mateys!

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:55:00 +0000

Today, being a holiday from work, I pronounce to be a "catch up on my blogging" day. The picture above is from about 4 months ago (yep four) when "Punk Knits" Share Ross went to Knitique. She had a mini-class on controlled-drop stitches.

Do you recognize this yarn? I purchased it to complete my Malabrigo Rich Chocolate ribbed sweater but not having the sweater with me, the dye lot was way off. I unravelled my sweater and started a new pattern that would take less yarn. It was not to be, again one skein short. Not one to be discouraged, I ordered a skein from Yarnzilla (very nice and prompt shipping to boot!). The dyelot is much closer but still requires unravelling and blending the yarn.

In the meantime, I started some new projects and finished a few others.

This is a lace scarf pattern from Louisa Harding, knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I liked this pattern even though I had to back up a row almost everytime I picked it back up. The yarn was so soft and slippery, the stitches fell off my needles in my knitting bag!

I finished my Leaf Lace Shawl (Hi, Teresa!) finally. I started this last year during the shawl knit-a-longs at Frog Pond, along with the Flower Basket Shawl and Shoal Water (Both finished!) but only just finished this one about a week ago. I even put beads on the tips. That was an inspiration from my first use of beads on the Mystery Stole from this year. My MS3 is only 1/3rd finished. I've been on quite a few flights lately and MS3 was too hard to work on while travelling, hence the finished Leaf Lace.

Here is another now finished project. My Cascade Fixation socks. I used a simple rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. I turned out great and the elastic in the yarn keeps them up nice and snug!

Okay, here's a list of other recently completed projects (to make me feel good):
- Phoenix Tears Scarf (from Charmed Knits)
-Ravenclaw Beanie (Also from Charmed Knits)
-Plum wristwarmers (My own pattern!)
-Knitted Babe

Darn! I thought there were more!

Here's a list of my WIP's
-Malabrigo ribbed sweater (Based on Lucky from Knitty)
-Homespun pants (From Interweave Knits Spring or Summer 2004)
-Meadow Flowers shawl (From Knitter's Stash)
-Loopy (from Knitty)
-Spiral Boot Socks (From Interweave Knits Summer 2007--started out as Clessidra from Knitty and then went to Anniversary Socks from Favorite Socks before Spiral took over)
-Andean Treasure Vest (From Knitpicks--this is my first stranded knitting project!)
-Clapotis #2 (From Knitty)
-Knit Tie (From Interweave Knits)
-Simple Stripe socks (self-striping yarn from Knitpicks in a rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks
-Mystery Stole 3

That makes 10! Not bad if I say so myself, but still got to get knitting, Ciao!

Red Mohair Scarf

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:37:00 +0000

I got this pattern at the Yarn Shoppe in Elk Grove. I thought I bought the yarn there to make it but when I looked at the ball band, the yarn was from a different store. Still can’t figure that out. I made the ruffles a little longer than the pattern called for because I wanted a “new romantic” look (remember Simon Le Bon and the Taylor boys?). Knit in Crystal Palace Kid Merino Red Cinnamon with size 8 and 10 needles.

Kim Possible doll sweater

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:40:00 +0000

This is the second sweater I completed, but the first one I started. I wanted to try out an idea I had with something that would knit up fast. Also I wanted to use yarn left over from a sock project I had just completed for my niece. Since I had given her a Kim Possible doll for her birthday, I thought a sweater in the same yarn would be a fun gift (shown on a Bratz doll). It’s knit in Knitpicks Dancing (discontinued) with size 0 needles.

Bohemian Rhapsody Poncho

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Wed, 16 May 2007 01:14:00 +0000

I started this project in September 2004. Then restarted it January 2005. Then moved it to a stitchholder until April 2005 when I ripped it out. Recall that the impetus to knit had only hit me around January 2004. Recall that I had problems going beyond a garter stitch even into 2005. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that when I got not much farther than the cast on, I was completely lost in the pattern. My previous forays into knitting never advanced beyond garter stitch squares and rectangles. Even the No-Sweat Pants, in a simple stockinette, gave me a problem when it came to increasing (BTW, thanks Violet and Cher for demonstrating various increase methods way back when). Can you imagine trying to figure out "yf" "sl1" "psso"?!

So last Wednesday I started again. Today during my morning break, I wove in the ends. Amazing how far I've come in two years. Not only could I understand the pattern, I knit pretty darn fast!

This pattern is from Paton's in a booklet just for Bohemian. It took 3 skeins of the main color (really should have had four because I ended up doing the collar out of one of the coordinating colors instead of the main as stated in the pattern) and 1 skein each of two coordinating colors for the stripes. It is knit on 10.5 needles.

Dear Chicks, You'll see it tomorrow. Unless my book club meets tomorrow, I'd better check that out.

No-Sweat Pants

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Tue, 15 May 2007 01:45:00 +0000

This is the pattern I learned to knit for. I saw these in the Spring 2004 issue of Interweave Knits (I bought it because it had a crochet insert). As soon as I saw them, I knew that my previously disastrous knitting attemps must be overcome. One year later, I felt I had advanced enough to try something bigger than a skinny garter-stitch scarf. One year after that, I ripped out the two leg pieces I had completed because I found out my stitches were twisted. One year after that, I started again. One month into them I thought, "Why don't I knit these in the round?" Hence the state they've been in for the last three months. Should I rip or should I knit now?

This pattern was designed by Joyce Wang in Lion Brand Homespun using size 10 needles.

Oh the Voices! (or Where Have all my Needles Gone)

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Mon, 14 May 2007 03:04:00 +0000

I am posting because the voices in my head are insisting. (I am not usually prone to hearing voices in my head, but after weeks of badgering from my fellow Chicks, I'm starting to.) This is a picture of all the projects I have cast on. This includes WIP's and Orphans (worse than UFO's-UnFinished Objects, these are projects I didn't even remember starting!) but does not include PIW's (Projects-In-Waiting, for which all materials are gathered but nothing is cast on) or TaDa's (Behold the finished project). There are twenty projects pictured above, including one poncho, one tie, one pair of pants, one doll sweater, two me sweaters, two wristwarmes, three shawls, three scarves, five socks, and another clapotis (not quite a shawl, not quite a scarf). I shall post about these individually in the days (weeks?) to come.

What a Tangled Web!

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:46:00 +0000

I thought I found a way to only re-do the cuff on my socks. I would put in a life-line right afer the cuff (no problem), then undo my knitting up to that point, then pick up stitches from my life-line and knit the cuff from the bottom up. Sounds like it would work, right? The snag: undoing the cuff is proving to be very time consuming and messy. See picture above. I think I knit a whole sock in less time than I've spent so far picking out the cuff. My consolation is that I will have knee socks that stay up when I'm done.

All that work!

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:10:00 +0000

I was so excited to start knitting these knee socks I didn't take the time to check my gauge, or really measure my calf. Apparently, my legs aren't as fat as I thought. So while they look great if I'm not moving, they start inching down with every STEP (They're made from STEP sock yarn with jojoba and aloe vera). Remedy? Rip them out and start again with fewer stitches. The bright side is they will be quicker to knit and have a smaller number of decreases. I don't quite have the heart yet to start unravelling them, though.

Thanks, Wreatha!

noreply@blogger.com (Mycki) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:51:00 +0000

I haven't had very much luck with internet swaps lately. As a matter of fact, I just sent the last package for an internet swap in which I received only one of three sends, and that one was from an angel assigned after my own pal flaked out. All this I have lamented during my Wednesday night knitting group meetings ('Hey' all you Chicks with Sticks!) several times. I decided not to participate in anymore online swaps because of these allegedly uncommon experiences (alas, all too common for me). So when my group decided to swap I was thrilled. After all, I know where to find any one of these people should they try to flake.

I put together a nice little package for my kit-ee expecting something similar from my kit-or. Imagine my surprise at the extra-special package I received from Wreatha. She, being sensitive to my lamentations, put together a wonderful gift. First, a pattern for legwarmers and a pattern for a scarf (she thought the yarn might work better for the scarf). Second, three skeins of Elizabeth Lavold yarn in a lovely shade of blue. Next, some matching ribbon (in case I chose the legwarmer's). Plus some beautiful blue bead stitch markers and ... homemade caramel! All that would have been great in itself, but the goodies continue. I love to read, so she included a mystery novel involving a knit store! In the book, I found a knit bookmark. And all of this bounty was in a vintage-inspired box with the Singer sewing machine logo on it. It reminds me of my Grandmother's treadle Singer every time I look at it. Thank You, Wreatha for a sweet swap!