A blog about my life, knitting, and other stuff.

December 31, 2014

Parenting teens, sometimes you need to get creative. #rosekimknits



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December 30, 2014

Interview ready. I even dried my hair. #rosekimknits



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December 28, 2014

Gauge, Finding New Ways to Disappoint Knitters

I had such a nice response to my X-ing X's hat that I decided to write up the pattern. I wanted to reknit it to double-check my work. For the first hat I used leftover Wool-Ease from Christina's Katniss Cowl. I didn't have enough for a second hat so I used a darker gray skein of the same yarn from the same project. I cast on the same number of stitches on the same needles and knit the same hat and look at the results.



So...yeah. I checked the gauge and the first hat came out to 5 stitches per inch. Hat #2 is 4.5 stitches per inch! I thought the dark gray felt a bit thicker when I was knitting it but I never thought to stop and check my gauge because I assumed, incorrectly, that the same brand of yarn on the same needle would yield the same results.

I was wrong.

December 26, 2014

What the Hell Is This? Appliance Edition

I think today I reached the end of the internet. I discovered that there is a product that tracks the age* of the eggs in your refrigerator and wirelessly communicates that information to your smartphone.



I have...so many questions.
  1. How often do people have eggs that go bad in their refrigerator?
  2. If you don't use eggs often enough that they *do* go bad in your refrigerator, why would you invest in a device to help with this? 
  3. Isn't cheaper to just throw out the eggs?
  4. Why eggs? A milk minder would be so much handier? Or a coffee minder! 
  5. How stupid are we?
  6. Why?
  7. How?
  8. What the hell??
*It only keeps track of when you place the egg in the tray. Not the actual age of the egg. Not that it matters. 

December 25, 2014

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

Let's return once again to Hoth. For a muddled, drab "holiday" set of designs.


I guess I should say, "Ho, ho, Hoth."

Or you can just watch The Star Wars Holiday Special.


Merry Christmas, everyone!

December 22, 2014

I kind of want to knit every single one of these patterns. #rosekimknits



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December 21, 2014

Sunday Silly

I'm not much for sentimental holiday mush so this sweet, yet slightly dark, animation by Anna at Mochimochiland is right up my alley.



Anna also worked with Nickelodeon again this year on some holiday spots.

December 20, 2014

Time to turn this mess into a sweater. #rosekimknits #customfit



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December 19, 2014

I thought I had the pattern memorized. I was wrong. #rosekimknits



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December 18, 2014

All the grown ups on my gift list get the Bieber wrapping paper. #rosekimknits



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Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

"That's right, darling. Work it! Be the philadendron!"


December 17, 2014

Holiday Planning, Rose-Kim Style

Wes and I were messaging about dinner plans yesterday for the first night of Hanukkah.


December 16, 2014

Knitting and Makeup Converge


Temptalia has a preview of an upcoming collection from MAC and I couldn't help but notice something special about the eye shadows. They're "knitted."

So is the powder!



December 15, 2014

Making a Big Red Sweater

Tagged for #whatsonmyneedles by @digitalnabi. Just finishing the back of #CustomFit #4 in Manos Wool Clasica. Using my #lilwoodys and #tarboo #burgerbag to hold my knitting. I tag @purlingswine @cirilia and @susanbanderson.

It's been a long time since I showed something that was in progress. I'm still in love with CustomFit and could not wait to start a relaxed fit, long cardigan in some Manos Wool Clasica I bought at my November retreat. Wool Clasica has always been a favorite of mine. That's a skein of it right up there in my blog header. ^^^
 I'm using the Flame colorway which refuses to be accurately photographed.

December 14, 2014

Doubleknit 99

Erin and I just posted our 99th podcast!

December 13, 2014

Where My Hats Went

I've been asked by several people where I donate my hats. This year I gave them to Warm for Winter. A little checking in your own area through your LYSs, guilds or community services groups should turn up places to donate to people in need in your own community.

Here was this year's final pile.

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I didn't even count how many hats were there. Let's just say it was an awful lot plus some scarves, cowls and one pair of mittens!

December 12, 2014

Oh look. I knit a hat. Because I never do that. #rosekimknits



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Hats, Hats, Oh My God, So Many Hats

I never wrapped up my epic autumn hat binge. I took a few photos finally before donating the lot.


Improvised hat knit in Crystal Palace Romance (discontinued).


Game Knitting hat from Knit Fit, in handspun that a friend was giving away because she can no longer knit.


Chevron Hat from knit.wear Spring 2012. I used Cascade 128 in black and a bunch of scraps in handspun, Noro, and other 128 colors.



Slice of Life in handspun.


Gothic Tam from IK Accessories 2011 in Fleece Artist BFL Aran.


Ferns from Botanical Knits 2 in Ultra Alpaca.

December 11, 2014

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

Steel yourself, readers, as we are about to enter the Uncanny Valley. It turns out the Valley is inhabited by crocheted babies.
















Terrifying crocheted babies.
You can make your own.


December 10, 2014

Extreme Couponing

I just have to crow about this somewhere, why not here?
I got a $25 off coupon from Sephora. I ordered a Bobbi Brown Blush Brush that I've wanted for years that costs $52.
So, okay, $52-$25 = $27 plus tax. Pretty good deal.
Then I got a $25 gift certificate from Shopkick.
$52-$25-$25 = $2 plus tax. Grand total on order, $6.94. Go me!
But I also used Ebates and will get $2.08 cash back on my order.
$6.94-$2.08= $4.86 for my beautiful new brush.
Woohoo.

For the Makeup Enthusiasts...

No Repeat Makeup Challenge

I've been doing a "no repeat" month over on Instagram. Although looking at all the eye shadow, blush and lipstick I have I could probably extend it into early spring...

December 9, 2014

Eleven Years!

Today is my blog-iversary. Wow.
Thank you all for stopping by, reading my rantings, giving me support and making me laugh. This would be worthless without you.

December 8, 2014

Landscape Cowl

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Pattern: Landscape Cowl by Cecily Glowik Macdonald
Yarn: Everything! I'll explain below.
Needles: US8
Notes: The day this pattern went up on Ravelry I bought and cast on. That never happens. But when I saw it I knew I wanted to use all my sport and DK scraps and make a "magic ball" and knit it with that. I took all my scraps--even the shortest lengths of yarn--and tied them end to end and wound them in a ball. At some points I felt like a single yarn had gone on too long so I would break it then join it in later,
I made a few unintentional changes to the pattern. In the first lace repeat I only did one pattern row before jumping back to the garter stitch. I didn’t want to take it all out so I forged on. I also just the final garter section short because I didn’t have enough yarn.

December 7, 2014

Custom Fit 3

(This photoshoot did not go well.)

Pattern: CustomFit, deep v-neck cardigan, long sleeves, deep twisted ribbing
Yarn: Moonbeam by Dicentra Designs in Charcoal, Island and Royal
Needles: US4 Addi Turbos
Notes: For this sweater I wanted "boyfriend" sweater look. The two accent colors I had weren't strong enough for colorwork and I was worried about running out of Charcoal. I opted for a 20 row stripe pattern (2 B, 8 A, 2 C, 8 A) and choose to knit the body in one piece to minimize seaming the stripes. I also drove myself nuts trying to make the stripes on the sleeves match the body stripes. They line up perfectly even up through the sleeve cap. (I didn't manage to get a decent photo of this so you'll have to take my word.) I had so many ends to weave in but I really love the subtle striped look.

December 6, 2014

Game Knitting to Oregon

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Way back in October when I went to Imperial Stock we did some "game knitting" on the bus on our way there and back. We had a list of triggers, things we'd see as we drove. When we spotted one, we'd shout it out then do an action in our knitting.

I chose to cast on about 200 stitches in some crazy, candy cane, barber pole handspun and knit in 2x2 rib. My action was to travel 2 knit stitches, usually to the left but sometimes not (dependiing on my mood and what was already going on in my knitting). About 2 hours into our trip I realized I had twisted my cast on. Oh well. it was now a moebius (actually not a true moebius, a twisted cast on results in a full twist in your knitting and not the half-twist that creates a true moebius). I continued knitting, shouting out when we passed orange cars, crossed bridges and spotted cows. 

At some point I realized that I had put down my knitting, picked it back up and began knitting in the wrong direction. I'm supposed to be a pretty good knitter, right? Oh man. It was an easy mistake to make since I was trying not to look at my knitting since that makes me motion sick and my knitting was all irregular ribbing which made the inside and outside of the cowl look pretty much the same. So I carried on, it's now a fully reversible cowl. Yeah, that's it.

I cast off the last stitch just minutes before arriving back in Seattle. I thought the cowl would be a humorous souvenir of the trip but it's actually a fantastic cowl to wear. I can double it up and wear it snug against my neck without feeling choked. I wear it as a loop. I can even pull it down over my shoulders. Love this thing!

December 5, 2014

Christina's Katniss Cowl

How cute is she?

I have the most wonderful hairdresser. Over ten years ago, one night at knitting, a fellow Purlygirl mentioned that she had found someone who excelled at cutting her curly/wavy hair. If you have curly hair you know how difficult it is to find someone who understands how to properly cut it. I took her recommendation and meet Christina and she's still my hairdresser today.

A few visits ago she saw me knitting and asked if I could make a cowl like Katniss wears in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I said sure I could. The next time I saw her she asked if I had knit her cowl. Uhhh. I thought we were having a theoretical conversation.

When I went to Fort Worden I grabbed up several skeins of Wool-Ease in two shades of gray and a some Patons Canadiana, also in gray, at the stash sale. I tried to knit The Huntress Cowl but my gauge was completely different plus I was not going to do the whole rope-inside-the-neckline thing. So I began winging it. I moved up to size US36 (20mm) with four strands of the worsted yarn. I then knit the two triangles from the original pattern. Or so I thought. I wasn't paying attention and didn't do my knits through the back loops for the herringbone so instead I got...something different. I was not going back so I forged onward. I picked up along one triangle edge, cast on some stitches (five, I think), picked up along triangle two, cast on and joined in the round. I then knit the herringbone stitch (got it right this time, yay me) for 7-8 rounds. I threw in some decreases at the end to bring the neck in a little. I was aiming for less authentic but more wearable. I then switched to much smaller needles. I though they were 13s but they may have been 11s. (Don't you love how careful with my note-taking I was?) I knit welts of reverse stockinette and stockinette. I bound off then crocheted a bit of the bottom of the long sides of the triangles and did a smidge of neatening and I was done.

I tried it on for some people at Purlygirls and the Knitters Guild and they all struggled to find kind but non-committal things to say. I pointed out repeatedly that Christina is both much taller than I am and much narrower.

I went in for a haircut today and presented her with her cowl. She put it on immediately and proclaimed that she loved it.

December 4, 2014

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is this?

Today is for the color lovers. Like you really love colors. All of 'em. At once. And how.




December 2, 2014

File under Insult to Injury. I got laid off today. I wasn't in the mood for dinner and made myself some coffee. Then this bug landed in it. Screw you, Tuesday. #rosekimknits



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Well, That Was Unexpected

I am unemployed. After working for over ten years as a devoted employee, today I was laid off.
I'm still in shock.
One upside, more time for blogging.