Orangina

Thank you Sarah, for posting in my absence! I've been tired and busy, and also the internet here at the Inn has been down almost half the time we've been here (pretty much the entire weekend!)

Here, at long last, is Orangina.


My belly makes the sweater look a bit funny, so my sister Joy kindly modeled it for me. (Thank you!)

STATS
Yarn: Rowan 4 ply (I think the colorway is "blush" -- it's a soft coral/pink)
Pattern: Orangina by Stephanie Japel
Needles: Aluminum #3 circulars -- not sure of brand, I got them at my LYS in NY. For the ribbing I switched to KnitPicks classic circulars #2 because it was way too loose at the larger gauge.
Cast-on to cast-off: Technically I started this last year when I first picked up knitting again, but then I ripped it back entirely before starting it again at the beginning of the summer. So it took a few months. I didn't work on it non-stop, but whenever I would really take time on it, I was amazed at how quickly this worked up.
The lace pattern is very simple, but if this is your first lace project, you'll want to pay VERY close attention at first and count your stitches often. Also, maybe start with something smaller, like socks, and then tackle this.


Here is a close up of the (yet unblocked) lace pattern:


I feel proud, but have no idea when I'll be in the right shape to wear this. Summer in Germany isn't very long, so this isn't the most practical type of sweater for living here. Ah well. I'll probably get to wear it two Summers from now or something. By then my belly should have flattened out enough...hopefully.

Speaking of Germany, we did arrive safely, although quite harried (the flight was overnight, and I couldn't sleep at all. We arrived at 1am NY time, but 7am here, so our day began before the last one was over, etc.) I have to tell you though, forgoing sleep alltogether is one heck of a way to get over jet lag. None of us have suffered from it a bit. The first day we all took a nap, then the first night here we all slept at least 14 hours, which set things right. Now I feel as though it's all normal.

I'll post more about our new surroundings and all in later posts. We just found our apartment, so when we move in, I'll have some interesting pics to show. The apartment is unique, to say the least.

I have yet to check out our new little town, but I will definitely be scouring it for yarn shops!

Finger Lakes Fiber Festival

This weekend I went to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival (this is Sarah(not Faith) the mysterious blogger who jumps in now and again especially when the Flashbang family is super busy like now!).

I dragged along my parents and my husband for what I hoped to be an interesting event for us all! Let me tell you first that I've never been to a fiber festival. I have heard about them, and waited for a whole year to go to this one (I must missed it last year). This being the first and only fiber festival I've went to- I though it was great!

This is my husband and his alpaca friend, just minutes before the alpaca was nuzzling his face!

This is some lace knitting? I'm not sure, it just looked really hard.



This is a sock knitting machine. The picture with the girl in it is a silk wheel thing. She is taking those little cooked silkworms and winding the tiny threads onto that wheel. Wow.



Sheep on a wheel. Sheep in on the run. (These sheep were being herded by an enthusiastic herd dog)




This is Mr. Lama, who I didn't get very close to. This is just one booth out of many, there was tons of stuff, I mean tons of stuff!





The man on top is weaving on a loom- the man on bottom is knitting on a machine



Some cute little guys hanging out. This lady is spinning flax.


The fiber is mine, merino and colorful. I can't wait till I can spin well enough to spin it nicely!

Finally, I was so excited when I got home that I had to do something. So I needle felted this leaf and I made my Dad make me a drop spindle and I spun up some yarn!

The Needle and the Damage Done

News Flash: Faith and family have successfully made it to Germany! Stay tuned for more Flashbanging Fun in the near future, but for now the Flashbang family is resting...

Traveling stitches

We spent last week in PA with my inlaws, but I've been feeling more ill and tired each day from this baby. It's amazing that someone so tiny could make such a huge energy difference, but it's true. It's also kind of frusterating when pretty much the only things that sounds good to eat are pineapple and peaches. Not very filling. It's always hard to be away from home when sick, because even though I have more help with the kids, I don't have my familiar foods and such. I know that I could have written up a little shopping list or something, but I never thought of it (forgetfulness = another thing this baby gives me lots of). Oi. Anyway, now we're at my parent's house in NY, so I'm with familiar food again, and am feeling a bit better. Yesterday I actually ate several slices of my brother's homemade pizza and almost felt full. Shocking!

Anyway, this is not a baby blog, so I'll tell you a bit about what I've been knitting. On the 15-hour car trip, I finished Orangina. Finally! Unfortunately, with my growing potbelly, I look more like a chubby teenage girl trying to look "cool" than anything, so I can't wear it right now. I'll have to get a picture of one of my skinny sisters wearing it though so that I can present it as a proper Finished Object.

Also, I finished my mom's socks, and she loves them! She especially loves the fact that Sarah dyed the yarn and then I knit them for her. (Sarah, you'll have to see them in person on Saturday!)

Last night I finished a Baby Suprise Sweater (by Elizabeth Zimmerman) in a pink fingering/sportweight two ply Merino that I spun up a while ago. It's the first successful project that I've completed out of my own handspun, and I'm very pleased with myself. The sweater is soft and squishy, and the mitered angles of the sweater work perfectly with the multi-colorway.

Since I've been so sick and tired, you'll have to forgive the current lack of pictures. I will post them as soon as I get a chance. I figured that I'd better post somehting though so that you'd all know I was still alive and clicking. =)

Next week we'll be in Germany!

pack out

Last night was my last night at Stitch N Bitch, and it was kind of sad. We've only been meeting now for...well, I can't remember exactly, but I know it can't be longer than 8 or 9 months or so. But there's something about sitting and knitting that draws people together. I've never felt more part of a community of women then on those nights. Some of the ladies generously showered me with knitterly gifts, which I have photographed but don't have time to show at the moment. Will have to post at a later date.

Packing, packing, packing! And also napping and back aches. But any pain means that the baby is alive and well, so I'm not complaining. My next blog will probably be from NY in about a week. See you all then!

miss-matched socks and other such things

I finished the Brenda Dayne/Sarah socks earlier this week, only to discover that the second sock, although containing the same ammount of pattern repeats, was about an inch longer than the first. Arrrrggggg!

Here's a close up of the heels.

Goodness gracious. I didn't have the heart to do it at first, but yesterday I ripped back the toe and started re-knitting it properly.

In other news, it seems that I'm going to need a bigger car.

We're very excited!

I'm 6-1/2 weeks right now, and due on April 8th, 2007.

a knitting clip

I promise that I'll post about my knitting and spinning progress soon, but for now, here's yet another link. He should win the award for "cutest host, producer, of knitting show ever".

Michael Wang's Knitting Show

Smug

Knitpicks has a bunch of new yarn lines on their site! Some of them look REALLY tastely too. Now all they have to do is start offering roving...

I've joined Orangina in the round. The math seems to be off -- I'm having to fudge a little to make it work, but shhhh, don't tell.

For now, a quote:
"Perhaps this is where the public discomfort comes from? A woman knitting in public is self-possessed, she almost flaunts her ability to be productive when others can't, to create when others can only consume."

I often feel exactly that smug.

Read more here.

Duro Dress Delight

Sarah (the mysterious other blogger who drops in from time to time) posting... I don't know about you all, but we've had a heat wave in the northeast- no knitting for me. My residence has reached 90 degrees (on the inside) yikes! I have been scoping out this dress for awhile. I saw it first at Joann's and didn't think it was that great. Then I saw it here, here, and here. Most importantly I saw it at A Dress A Day, which is a pretty good blog if you really like dresses as I do. After two trips to the store I finally bit the bullet and bought this pattern and these fabrics:




Just to be clear, I have sewing experience and I do come from a long line of expert seamstresses (but I am no expert at all). The dress was not too bad. The cutting was tedious, as was pinning all the pieces veeerrrry carefully.
I also did as much ironing as I could as I made the dress. I left out the interfacing (blah interfacing), and I interpreted the instructions to the best of my ability. As you can see the dress is not that bad! Actually, I really like it! Except the little bunching in the front. You can't see it very well in these pictures but somehow I didn't sew the bodice pieces together exactly right. Still, I made a whole dress, and it's close enough! ps. it still needs to be hemmed and ironed.

feeling orange

Sarah, my blogging partner, turned 23 today. Happy birthday Sarah! I hope that you're having a great day. =)

With all the things I've been working on, there's something I forgot.

I forgot how quickly something can work up if focused on exclusively.

This is the front and back of Orangina. The one panel has been done and sitting on a stitch holder for about 2 weeks or so now. On Saturday, I finally cast on for the other side, and as you can see, I only have a few more inches to go! Once it's completed, I sew up the sides, join the work in the round, and knit a ribbing for as long as I want the tank top to be. That'll probably take longer than I'd like, but I feel like I'm finally on the home stretch.

It feels unreal that I'll actually be able to wear this soon; I've been working on it since last year, (well, I've been casting on occasionally and ripping it all out), so it's hard to believe that I've gotten even this far.