New York Minknit

(taken in the window of Purl)

Happy holidays!

Pattern:  Stella’s Razor’s Edge, from Spunky Eclectic.

Yarn: 1 skein of Watermelon Slice, from LoveSticks, on Etsy. (And check out The New York Times Magazine‘s article about Etsy in today’s paper, if you haven’t already.) This skein was a gift from Adam, but I think the skeins run around $20 (not including shipping) or so. This color is also available from LoveSticks at The Sweet Sheep.

Needles: Four size 1 metal DPNs from Susan Bates. I used to have five, but I lost one, so now I use four. No big difference.

Project began/ended: I started these October 1 and I finished them yesterday, December 15. Since my first pair of socks took a year, and the second pair took six months, and these took three months, um, let’s see… y=1+(365 * (0.5)^x), so by my ninth pair, it should be down to a day and a half to finish a pair of socks, at this rate of decay. (I seem to have forgotten how to do even the most basic calculus, including integrals, so please leave a comment if my math is wrong.)

Notes and Modifications:

Modifications: I cast on 77 stitches instead of 66 and I did a ribbed cuff instead of the garter stitch cuff in the pattern. When it comes time to divide for the heel, you will have partial chevrons left for the top of the foot if you use 77 stitches (since you will have 3.5 chevrons each for the top and the bottom of the foot). I decreased the remaining chevrons into stockinette to eliminate this problem. Also, for the afterthought heel, leave at least one column of stockinette on either side of the waste stitches. It will make picking up the stiches for the heel much easier.

This was the first afterthought heel I’ve ever done, and I made them a little pointy accidentally. If I tug a bit though, it fits neatly on my heel. It keeps the striping intact, and is an easier construction than the heel flap–though I kind of like turning the heel with the heel flaps. I also accidentally made one toe a little too pointy.

Random tangent: If you read my 8 Random Things About Me post, you will note that I bragged about my lack of cavities. Clearly, the Higher Powers decided I needed to be punished for my hubris. I went to the dentist last week and was told I have one, and possibly two, cavities. Sigh. A blemish on a previously perfect cavity-less set of teeth.

Notes: This sock yarn seems very soft, and though I don’t know how it will hold up to wear, I would definitely get it again based on the colors. As noted in the post where I named the socks, the colors are very intense, and they stripe so neatly. LoveSticks seems to be an indie brand that’s floating under the radar, so get some skeins now, before she becomes the next Yarntini. I have average sized feet and I could have squeezed another inch or so on each leg, in case you’re interested in yardage.

Photo shoot notes: It was way too cold to take these photos outside, so these are taken at the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I suppose I really should have taken photos of them at their namesake, the Queens Center Mall, but I wasn’t up for dealing with the mall so close to Christmas.

I was reading Lucky at the hairdresser’s last week (<–which makes me sound like some kind of Southern belle, but anyway), and they had this article “The Best Websites You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of” and I read about this amusing site, Net Granny. The site offers 15 Swiss grandmothers who will knit you a pair of socks for $45. I have my own granny, who is, any moment now, going to call and threaten me about her hat that I have yet to knit for her, so I have no need for Net Granny. Net Granddaughter, maybe.

In an attempt to show off my gloves, I have chosen possibly the twee-est pose of all time.

Pattern: Three-spiral hat or the Dairy Queen hat, by Elizabeth Zimmerman, from The Opinionated Knitter

Yarn: Less than 1 skein of Morehouse Merino Bulky, in Silver, $16.50 from Brooklyn General. (There was a lot of straw in this yarn!)

Needles: Clover bamboo size 13 16″ circulars and Brittany wooden size 13 DPNs.

Project began/ended: Day after Thanksgiving to this Monday. So, about a week.

Notes and Modifications: I was frustrated with all of my never-ending knitting projects, so I bought some bulky wool to knit a hat. I was planning on knitting Yarn Harlot’s Unoriginal Hat, but then I saw versions of this hat on Ravelry, and decided this just might be the thing, especially because I already had The Opinionated Knitter.

I was worried that my gauge was off, but it turns out that size 13 needles led to the exactly the right gauge. I did, however, misunderstand one part of the pattern. Elizabeth Zimmerman tells you to make a backwards loop over your needle, and I just thought this meant a yarn over, but actually, it’s a little different. I don’t think it’s a huge change, except that it made some holes along the brim that probably weren’t meant to be there.

I was going to take photos in front of Shake Shack, the closest thing New York has to a Dairy Queen, but it was so cold that I ended up making Adam take photos in the Met Life building across the street instead. I’m sure lots of office workers thought I was nuts. Especially once I started dancing:

I don’t know if you can tell, but my (store-bought) skirt is made of knitted spirals too–I wore it to match the hat. I know, lame.

I like to wear all my knitted items at once. I’m here, I’m a knitter, I’m proud. (Here’s my post about the gloves, in case you’re interested.)

Brooklyn General

Address: 128 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Phone: 718-237-7753

 This store used to be on the same block (or fairly nearby) but in a smaller underground space. It used to be cozy but kind of twee, and the new space is much better. It does feel somewhat like a general store, and it has a large selection of yarn, as well as fabrics and other crafty notions. It’s not the most beautifully arranged store (that distinction still goes to Purl and Loop), but it feels comprehensive, as well as offering several types of yarn I haven’t seen at other stores, including a beige/white Noro shade, which was quite beautiful. (I think it’s the same shade as used in this wrap.) It also had a really large book selection, and spinning supplies.

I thought the selection was reasonably priced, though a fellow customer whispered to me, “It’s quite expensive here, you might want to look somewhere else as well,” while I was shopping. I thought it had a nice range of middle-priced yarns actually, but I remember thinking in their old location that it was a little bit on the pricey side, so maybe the old store’s stock was what the other customer remembered.

The store does have one annoying quality though–the staff yarn is not priced directly on the skein. You have to look it up in a little booklet hanging on the shelf, which is kind of a pain. But it’s definitely one of the nicer yarn stores in New York, I think. Definitely worth a visit.

Look, Adam finished his first knitted object: a roll-brim hat!

Maybe I need to stop complaining and keep knitting to have an F(inished) O(bject) of my own.

Lekkercraft tagged me with the random things meme. I actually did a version of this earlier, but I interpreted that one as 8 hobbies I could have had. So, since we could all use more random things about me…here we go:

(1.) I love liver, liver products, preserved meats, and potted meats, including, but not limited to: pate, liverwurst (but only the kind that comes in a can, disgustingly enough. I don’t like the sliced kind), rillete, cha siu, chorizo, pastrami, proscuitto, and salami.

(2.) Every year, I have to buy at least one pair of really ugly shoes. I own Birkenstocks, Mephistos, and Crocs. I had the super-ugly white T-strap Birkenstocks before they were popular. Two years ago, Adam was all “NOOOOOO!” when I said I was going to buy Crocs, but then this summer, he was all, “Hmm, I want to buy some Crocs.”

Our ugly Crocs hang out together. (Actually, I think the lady Crocs are cute…but they’re still Crocs!)

(3.) I used to have this insane dentist who would call everyone by wildly inappropriate endearments. For example, he called all of his female patients (including me) “sweetums” and his black patients “my brothers” (he was white). Despite this, I think he was actually kind of a good dentist, but when I switched insurance plans, I decided I should stop going to him. He was really good about fees though–you could be like, “Hey, can I pay twenty dollars instead?” and he would be like, “Sure, that’s fine.”

(4.) I do not have any cavities.

(5.) I only recently acquired a driver’s licence, thanks to the skills of my driving guru, Steve. I loved Steve. He only spoke to me in epigrams, in Chinese. (I learned to drive in New York’s Chinatown.) Like the time I didn’t slow down in front of a flock of pigeons, he said, “Hey, [complex Chinese phrase.]” I said, “Steve, I have no idea what you’re saying.” (I spoke to him in English, he spoke to me in Chinese.) And then Steve sighed, and said, “What Lao Tzu [or whatever ancient Chinese sage he was quoting] means is, ‘Every living thing’s life is valuable, and we should respect that.'” Seriously, he knew a ton of these epigrams, and he rarely spoke, but when he did, they were always these Deep Thoughts.

(6.) I’m strangely fond of sports movies. They’re satisfyingly formulaic. Movies I have seen on the big screen include: The Replacements, Any Given Sunday, and Miracle. (I am not, however, a fan of watching sports on tv, though I like watching actual sports live, at a stadium.)

(7.) I have been to the Hockey Hall of Fame. My guidebook said it was a place where you would see grown men cry. I scoffed. I saw grown men cry, I cried, my friend with me cried, and whenever I’ve recommended this attraction to other people, they’ve reported back that they cried. It’s very moving.

(8.) I suck at Wheel of Fortune, Scrabble, and Boggle. I seriously cannot rearrange letters for the life of me. Related: Vanna White now has her own line of yarn.

Last time I didn’t tag any other knit bloggers because I was worried they already had been tagged, but this time, I do not care! I am tagging the following:

1. Elemmaciltur

2. The Boy Who Knits

3. Pura Lana

4. Knotology

5. Luxe Loops

6. Sockaholic

That’s only six, but I think this meme started as “Six Weird Things” and somehow became “Eight Weird Things,” so I don’t feel bad.

Since I’ve been going to yarn stores, I’ve realized that this country is running out of pun-y names for their yarn stores. (Not to mention pun-y knitting blog names. Adam’s mom came up with mine–he comes from a pun-y family.)

There used to be a flickr group devoted to yarn stores with pun-y names, but it’s now just a yarn store photo group. I think the best needlework pun I have seen was in an issue of Blueprint. It was a caption for a sewing machine, and it said “I got 99 problems, but a stitch ain’t one.” Ravelry‘s tagline is  “Where my stitches at,” which is pretty good too. Though I’m not sure I should be advocating needlework puns that rhyme with rich, as Barbara Bush the elder would say.

Anyway. I’m going to merge two yarn store reviews into one, both of which have pretty good names, Loop, in Philadelphia, and The Point, here in New York.

I went to Philadelphia for work a few weeks ago, and I scheduled myself onto a late train coming back, so I could eat something there and visit a yarn store. Yarn stores, yay!

This was really a wonderful and inspiring store. It reminded me of Purl, here in New York. Whoever orders their yarn has an amazing sense of color, and their store is filled with plump yarns in wonderful hues. They had just gotten a shipment of Koigu and it was spread all over their sofas, and there was yarn! Everywhere!

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I judge fairly harshly on how stores are styled. First of all, they need have to have some sort of color palette. Both Loop and Purl sort by yarn brands, but it almost feels like they sort by color. They both offer a ton of jewel- and candy-colored tones. Even if a store offered beautiful neutrals, I think I could be lured. What I don’t like is when you go into a yarn store and it looks like you’ve wandered into someone’s storage area in their garage. I’ve been in some yarn stores, and they have a combination of baby pastels and dust bunny-ish yarns, and it just seems like someone’s attic. At Loop, the yarns seem like pigments–inspiring materials to paint with.

Photo from Loop’s flickr photo stream–their blog post about it is here.

(I loved this sweater…and look at those colors in the back! Don’t they look great?)

My second criteria is that there has to be a lot of yarn. I hate going into yarn stores (or any sort of store, actually) where there’s only a few skeins here and there. I want to feel a sense of abundance in a store. (I told this to my mom once, and she was worried that this made me sound like I grew up in abject poverty, and that I ran around saying, “Please sir, I want some more.” Don’t worry, I had plenty to eat growing up. It’s just that I like stores to have a lot of stock.)

And here I must now discuss The Point.

I know many many New York knitters like The Point. It is always well-reviewed when New York yarn stores come up, but I am here to complain. Many years ago, before I learned to knit, I remember walking by The Point at night and thinking it looked like the most wonderful place. I said to my friend, “Wow, that yarn store looks so nice–it makes me wish I could knit.” But since I have actually become a knitter, I realized that this store has some problems. I think it has to do with the way they display their yarn, which is in baskets (as you can see in this photo). There’s something weirdly skimpy about the selection in those baskets, and they’re difficult to get yarn out of. You need one of those trash-picker claws to get the yarn out of the top baskets, and it’s hard to see the different colorways available in each basket. In the back, the skeined yarn is held up by hooks, and once agin, there’s something unwelcoming about the display. There’s something uninspiring about the way they display their yarn and it never wants to make me buy stuff here. 

That being said, they have a lot of tables here for people to sit and knit, and their staff always seems nice. I think they need to carry more yarns and display them in a better (perhaps more conventional) manner, and have a more inspiring selection.

Loop 

Address: 1914 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Phone: 215-893 9939 or 877-893-9939

The Point

Address: 37a Bedford Street
New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-929-0800 or 877-60-POINT

Here’s an update on old finished objects, now that it’s finally cold. The Ugly Socks, shown here in my dirty clown shoes (it was raining, which is why my shoes are wet), need some extra darning on the heel. I knit the short row shaping loosely, and once the socks are on my feet, the loops stretch to the point where I think they need to be fixed.

The chevron fingerless mittens are great, but I need to finish my mittens, because soon, it will be too cold for fingerless mitts.

Here’s Adam wearing his Odessa hat, given to him on his birthday.

And lately, Adam has been learning to knit his own hat. He is doing quite well. His gauge is even and he’s been clicking along! He even has a Ravelry account–check him out as Hatchback Knits!

I once had an argument with a friend (this was probably in 2001) about whether the term “emo” was a well-known term. I said that if *I* knew what emo is–and I am someone who owns 5 CDs and no iPod–then it was a well-known term. We then proceeded to poll random strangers at the now-defunct Tower Records about their knowledge of “emo,” and shockingly, only one person knew what it was, and claimed it “was an obscure term.”

On a related note, I was reading Vanity Fair (the mag, not the novel) today, and in their letters section, one of their readers wrote, “Can you explain ’emo’ and ‘frenemie’?” Apparently, emo is continuing to confuse people across the land.

Anyway. If you take emo to mean “emotional” or “overly emotional” rather than relating to a specific era of music, the sock went to see various emo acts this week. On Tuesday, it went to see Morrissey at Hammerstein Ballroom.

I have two friends who love Morrissey with a deep and intense passion, so when I heard Adam was going to see the Moz, I invited myself along, to experience the madness firsthand.

The sock also went to see Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, the former famous for being featured in Godfather III (amazing what you can learn from the program notes!) and the latter for being in a Seinfeld episode. Both are also very emotional. Pagliacci is about clowns, and on the subway home, I sat next to someone reading a flyer for the New York Clown Theater Festival AND who had small stuffed clowns hanging from his backpack. I was overcome with a desire to whisper, “Laugh, clown, laugh” when he got off, but I restrained myself.