Dallas - More Fun than I Thought

We had a good time in downtown Dallas yesterday watching a dragon parade. Happy Year of the Pig!

There was a long line in the chilly weather to get into the Asian art exhibit, so we all pulled out our scarves to keep warm. It was a proud day in Hipp Crafts history -- all three scarves were hand knit by yours truly!

Mr. Hipp is wearing a Gryffindor scarf I made for him in the summer of 2005 while reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Notice the tiny "A" (his first initial) embroidered into the first red stripe. My mom is wearing a stockinette stole (bunched up) I made for her birthday in 2004.

And of course, I was wearing my entrelac scarf. One of my favorite knits ever!

Entrelac Scarf...OC Style!

The entrelac scarf is all done. Yay! It has been chilly in Southern California lately, so the timing could not have been better. What to wear with a fabulous, warm, and wooly entrelac scarf when in Orange County? Why, shorts and Uggs of course!

Tree-hugging is optional, but highly recommended.

Don't worry, I am far too old -- and have way too much sense -- to really dress like this. But if you have ever been to the OC when the temperature goes below 70 degrees, then you know that this is look is laughably common.

Here are the specs on the scarf:

Pattern: Entrelac scarf, a shrunken version of the Lady Eleanor stole in Scarf Style. After seeing how huge Lady Eleanor is, I knew it would be unreasonable for me to embark on the full pattern given my knitting speed (slow) and the local climate (generally warm). But a scarf I can do!
Yarn: Noro Big Kureyon, Color 1, about 2.5 skeins
Needles: US 10 Clover bamboo circulars
Modifications: Used only three base triangles instead of seven for a narrower scarf. The knotted fringe is shorter, too.
Size: 8" wide by 60" long, not counting the fringe

I LOVE this scarf. The preliminary uncertainties in width seem to have worked themselves out. The fabric is sort of stretchy in all directions, so I think the stitches just needed to get settled. It was also a lot of fun to knit. The directions in Scarf Style were excellent; it only took a couple of rows of rectangles for the pattern to click. Then it was easy street all the way.

This scarf looks pretty on the "right" side (left) and the "wrong" side. Brilliant!


BTW, I am hugging our own Hipp little magnolia tree, generously given by my in-laws. Talk about a great Christmas present!

Beer and Knots

My goodness, I am almost done with the entrelac scarf. I finally made it to the end of the knitting! (Woo hoo!) For a slow knitter like me, this is a big deal. Can you believe cosmicpluto knits! did roughly the same amount of knitting in just 18 hours? Amazing.

Now it is on to the knotted fringe at each end. The scarf kept slipping off the table while I was trying to tie the knots, so I had to use my beer to hold it in place. Maybe one day I will be sophisticated enough to sip a kir royal while doing finishing work on my knits. Until then, Sapporo will do just fine!

From The OC to The NC, Part I

When I make plans for a trip, I get excited about my destination and the people and places I will get to see while there. But I have to admit -- I also get pretty excited about the trip itself.

I firmly believe that a knitter was on the design team of the modern commercial aircraft. Free movies? Ear phones? Seat-front pockets to hold your yarn? Belts that keep you seated for hours on end, requiring that nice people bring drinks and snacks to you? It is none other than Knitting Paradise!

The right airplane project(s), however, must undergo thorough screening before being allowed to board:

• Lightweight
• Small
  
• Quick and easy to take out and put away
• Requires no pattern, or have long stretches of easily-memorized sections to minimize the amount of time referring to a pattern
• Not require double-pointed needles (I am more skilled at losing them than knitting with them)

The following additional criteria is nice but not mandatory:

• Requires minimal finishing
• Requires little to no blocking
• Can be worn during the trip

So what fits the bill? Socks! I received some beautiful Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe for my birthday this year and it has been waiting until just the right airplane trip to make its transformation into a pair of socks for me-all-me.

Vacation Day 1: Layover in Washington Dulles Airport
Start a short-row toe. Overhear guy whose flight to New York City had been delayed make an angry phone call to United, tells United rep that he's missing has bachelor party because of the delay. At first feel pity for him then decide he's just smarmy enough to lie to weasel a free flight out of them. Shake my head and return to sock toe.

Vacation Days 2 & 3: Hipp In-Laws' Home in NC
Zip along on foot. Decide to add 1x1 ribbing at the arch for a super-huggy sock.

Vacation Day 4: Drive to Raleigh to Meet SIL's New Beau
Turn heel using toe-up heel flap method adapted from Widdershins socks. Become very excited. Force others to share excitement with me. (By the way, SIL = Sister-in-Law.)

Vacation Day 5: Hipp In-Laws' Home in NC
Work on ankle of sock while watching "Cool Hand Luke" in TV. Decide Paul Newman was once The Cutest Man in America -- he was relegated to second place, of course, in 1996, when Mr. Hipp turned 18.

Vacation Day 6: Drive to Lenoir to See Friends
Finish sock #1! Spend remainder of day showing sock to anyone within arm's length. Tell a 2-year-old that it's a "Magic Sock" in hopes of planting the seed for a future knitter.
Truth be told, I actually also brought the entrelac scarf to work on. I did make some good progress on it from LAX to Dulles, but it still basically looks the same as the last time I posted about it, just a little longer. C'mon, that's not nearly as interesting as a Magic Sock!

Happy Thanksgiving 2006

Happy Thanksgiving! Mr. Hipp and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our little home this year, partly to bring together friends who are far from their families, and partly to satisfy Mr. Hipp's desire to cook a big ol' feast. He made turkey, oyster dressing, sweet potato casserole, chocolate pecan pie, macaroni and cheese, sausage balls (shown below) and rice - one of the surprisingly many food items shared by Filipino and Southern cuisine.
Our charming guests also brought food and drinks - apple nut muffins, pumpkin martinis, baked ham, and so much more. You would have thought 40 people were eating dinner at our place instead of just six. We finished the evening with board games and laughter. We are so thankful to have good friends, plentiful food, and a safe place to have fun.

Back to the crafting - I want to share the prettiness of the yarn I got at Purl. Clockwise from upper left: Koigu multicolor sock yarn, two skeins of white/olive Lornas Laces, and blue Koigu. Homie at Purl was a bit sloppy in winding the yarn into balls.
And because someone noted that my first two posts were about buying yarn rather than actual knitting of yarn, here is one of my current projects:
It's an entrelac scarf using Noro Big Kureyon. It is just me, or does it seem to be getting narrower? Either the yarn is a bit thinner here (Big Kureyon is not a consistent thickness) or my gauge has changed (I am not a consistent knitter!). I think a little blocking will even things out the end. And if it doesn't, oh well - no one can tell when it's wrapped around my neck. Many Noro yarns change colors within the same skein. This color change usually results in stripes, but in entrelac it ends up looking like pieces in a stained glass window.

I love it! Once a few necessary household chores are done today, Mr. Hipp and I are going to plunk down on the couch with "The Office, Season 1" on DVD, some candy, and the entrelac scarf. Hurry, laundry, hurry!