She Knits Shizknits

the allure of the velour

Regular visitors to Chez Shizknits may recall that I have lamented my limited fashion sense in past posts. My usual 'mommy uniform' is jeans + whatever clean shirt I can find that isn't too wrinkly from sitting in the laundry basket (since none of my clothes actually get put away). I might occasionally throw on a sweatshirt or sweater if it's cool out. 

Unfortunately for me, I live behind the Orange Curtain, where even SAHMs wear Juicy and Bebe to the grocery store.  For the past few years I've seen tons of velour tracksuits on women everywhere I go. They're as ubiquitous as blinged out cell phones and nannies at the park. For some reason, despite my love for comfortable clothing, I never had the urge to buy myself a tracksuit (velour or otherwise). I think it's because when I was young, my dad never let us out of the house wearing sweats- he considered sweats akin to pajamas and they weren't to be worn in public.  Imagine his shock when our elementary school required sweats for PE! So I must have picked up some of his 'sweats are too casual for everyday wear' attitude.

Another reason I didn't join the velour tracksuit brigade was my short legs: no matter what size they were, the pants were too long. I wasn't about to spend $$$ on an outfit that I would have to alter, especially since I didn't really think the clothes were much better than the yoga pants and sweatshirt I was already wearing.

Oh, and did I mention that every time I saw one of these tracksuits, they were (IMO) outrageously priced?  What's with paying $40 for just the top and another $40 for the pants?  $80 for glorified pajamas?  No thanks.

And then one day recently I was converted...

I was cruising Old Navy's clearance pages and found these:

They were on super clearance, plus I had a coupon so the whole outfit cost less than $15. I figured even if the pants were too long I could wear them around the house.  And the jacket was cute enough I could throw it on over a t-shirt and wear it with jeans.  So I bought the whole suit and when it arrived I tried it on right away.

And now I can understand the allure of the velour tracksuit:  this is soooooo comfortable!  The all-black makes me look skinny (yay!), the pants actually fit me without being altered, and all it takes to get dressed is throwing on the suit + a t-shirt. Oh and did I mention that it's even more comfy than my jeans and t-shirt combo? 

No wonder everyone I know has one of these tracksuits!  Mine has hardly left my body since it arrived (in fact I'm wearing it right now). I'm afraid I've become one of the mommy brigade for sure, rolling out of the Funbus wearing my velour hoodie + pants to drop Little Man off at school.

Damn that velour allure.

FO report: Mr. Greenjeans

FO Report:Mr. Greenjeans

Pattern: Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty.com

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Red Pearl

Needles: Knitpicks Options in US7 and US8, Clover DPNs in US7

Pattern Talk-Overall, a well written pattern that was easy to follow. The sweater is knit from the top down so you end up with no seams.  I knit the 40 inch size,  thinking that I would end up with a slightly loose cardigan, based on the photos accompanying the pattern. 

Unfortunately, either the sizing includes waaaay too much negative ease or I picked the wrong size because if I had followed the directions I would have ended up with a *very* cropped sweater. My mods included adding nearly three inches to the stockinette section of the body (to accomodate my busty-ness), adding almost three inches to the cable section (or it would have been way too short), decreasing the sleeves by 10 stitches (so I wouldn't get the bagginess that shows up in the pattern photos), and finally, adding nearly four inches to the sleeve length.

Despite adding length to the stockinette portion of the sweater, I still barely got the sweater to close beneath my bust. I also wish I had added at least another two inches to the length of the body- it still feels a bit short. My biggest problem is the sweater feels just a bit too tight.-I almost want to knit it again in the next size up.

 

I'm in love with the yarn of course.  I've used Malabrigo before but this is the first sweater I've knit for myself out of it and it's soooo yummy and soft.  This particular yarn was already knit once into a doomed Hourglass Sweater.  I ripped it out and used it for Mr. Greenjeans and I think it looks a lot better in this cardigan than in its previous incarnation.

A couple more photos: The vintage button I found in my button stash:

Closeup of the cuff with the cable pattern...this is probably closer to the real color of the yarn. The light was really orange-y today so I had a hard time capturing true colors.

Now I just have to wait for it to cool down enough to actually wear a sweater!

Knitpicks Harmony Needles = true love

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?  My new Harmony needles from Knitpicks! I only got two sets of the interchangeable tips (US4 and US5) and a set of US2 DPNs to try out. I thought I'd post a little review for those of you on the fence about ordering these new needles.

First off, let me say that I am a bit of a needle snob; I started out on Addi Turbos and got spoiled by the un-kink-able cord and incredibly smooth join. But I often prefer wooden needles for most of my knitting because wood is just a bit easier on my hands.  Addi makes Naturas, which are bamboo, and I have several well-loved pair of those in my (much too large) needle collection. Naturas also have the lovely Addi cord and smooth join, but they are hard to find and I have had problems in the past with bamboo needles splitting at the tips. My main complaints about Addi Turbos is their blunt tips which make them really difficult to use when doing stitches like K2tog or SSK. Trying to K1F&B with Turbos is an exercise in frustration. Oh, and the cost: Turbos run between $18 and $25 each. Ouch!

When Knitpicks introduced the metal Options interchangeable needles last year, I bought some and was an instant fan. I loved the sharp tips, wonderfully smooth join and the cords that never kinked. I have plenty of Options needles- at between $4 and $8 each, it's easy to build a complete set or buy extras of my most-used sizes.

Then Knitpicks came out with the Harmony wooden needles. OMG Let me just say that these are now my most lurved needles ever. They are smmmoooooth, and just *right* in the slippery-ness department. Here's a shot of the DPNs:

These are US2 in a six inch length. I knitted a swatch with them last night and they are perfect for socks...flexible but not as bendy as bamboo. They seem stronger than the Britteny Birch needles I normally use for socks.  Another bonus? They come in sets of six! So if you lose or break one, you still have a set of five to work with. Nice! I also ordered two sets of interchangeable points: here are the US5s:

Notice how the color isn't quite as garish as it's portrayed on KP's website?  In person they are much more muted and quite pretty. Some posters over at Knitter's Review claimed that they might get headaches or be unable to knit due to clashing yarn and needle color, but I highly doubt that would be a problem.  The Harmony needles are just as pointy as the metal Options.  I tried to show that here...The top metal needle is an Addi Turbo, then the KP's Options and finally the KP Harmony (all the same size needle)

The Addi is quite a bit blunter and th tips aren't as long.  The Harmony needle is nicely smooth, without being too slippery.  They are also very light compared to either of the metal needles.

And the join? Smooth as buttah!

I'm knitting with some plied cotton on these Harmony needles and it doesn't catch at all. The join here is much nicer than most other circular needles I've tried (Byrospun, Clover, etc.).  I would certainly compare the feel of Harmony needles to the Lantern Moon Destiny needles.  The Harmony's don't have the 'heaviness' of rosewood, but they slide a bit better and the flexible cord is so nice that I'll lean toward the Harmonys every time. Oh, and the fact that a set of Harmony needles (tips and cord) would be less than $9, while a set of Addy Naturas tops $15 and the Lantern Moon Destiny circs are *gasp* over $22.

If you haven't ordered a pair of the Harmony needles, give them a try. Knitpicks' shipping is very reasonable- if you only order something small like needles, it will cost you just a few dollars to ship (in case you don't get to $45 and get the free shipping). I definitely forsee more Harmony needles in my stash!

bookish friday

I've been on a bit of a book binge lately....actually buying books that aren't about knitting (gasp!). We receive a lot of Barnes & Noble gift cards for holidays/birthdays and I always love getting them because that means 'free' books!  I thought I'd give you all a peek at what the popular reading material is around our house these days:

-Monkey Boy loves loves LOVES Chugga Chugga Choo Choo with a passion; he asks for this book almost every night. The pictures are gorgeous and very toddler friendly: lots of bright, saturated colors in a realistic but still blocky style.  The words are in simple rhyming pattern and lend themselves to being repeated over and over.  Some books are annoying to read, but this one isn't. I usually get into the "whoo whoo" bit and so does Monkey Boy.

Other books Monkey is currently 'reading': This Train- another book with simple narration ("this train is yellow"  "this train is red") but lovely artwork.   Dinosaur Train- cute story about a little boy who loves nothing but dinos and trains. More colorful pictures that include dinos dressed in clothing and eating veggie burgers in the dining car.

Little Man always asks to read his Beginner's Bible before bedtime, but we usually add at least one more book to the routine.  Lately we've been reading  This Rocket (by the same author as "This Train").  LM likes the many different paintings of rockets, space ships and space shuttles.

And both small ones enjoy Stop That Pickle! which features some pretty hilarious scenes such as the pickle being chased by a gang of raisins and a PB&J sandwhich. A childhood favorite of mine that they have fun reading is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It's the story of the town of Chewandswallow, where food falls from the sky instead of being bought at the supermarket. Great illustrations of hamburger 'storm fronts' and orange juice 'rain'.

And what have *I* been reading? Well I picked up this adorable book about making softies
called Plush O Rama. Lots of wonderful ideas for making cute and whimsical stuffed animals. I'm sure you've seen some of them around the blogosphere or on Flickr, but this is a great collection of new (to me, anyways) designs.  I picked the book up not so much for the patterns - because even a beginner seamstress could figure those out by just looking at the photos- but for the inspiration of seeing all the great softie ideas in one place. It's a cute book that's well photographed with great instructions even for the sewing challenged. I also really liked that they gave you measurements of the photographed projects so you know how big they should be.

I also got Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book. Again, not so much for the patterns as for the inspiration provided by the great photography and designs. There's a cute reversible apron that I am planning on making if I get some crafting time soon.

And if you're looking for a parenting magazine that isn't full of your typical "make your kid smarter, prettier, better" crap, check out WonderTime.  I found this mag a few weeks ago and really like the way they seem to emphasize the creative and questing spirit of childhood instead of pushing ideas about how to make your child into something else. The issue I have has a short article on teaching your child how to skip rocks, for instance. The layout reminds me of Real Simple (another mag I love)- including a tear out page that has space for ideas for journaling about your child. Very cute. Melissa at Buzz Off featured a great deal on WonderTime ($4.95 for a year's subscription) if you want to check it out.

What are you reading this week?