All freaked out!

This is my last post before leaving tomorrow to spend the holidays with my family. I'm all freaked out!. I haven't packed (my flight leaves in about 17 hrs, that's plenty of time, right?) and I didn't finish knitting all the presents. I still need to pick out my "travel project" and I have 2 movies from the library that I haven't watched, 1408 and Premonition.
At least I managed to finish the bear booties from 50 Baby Booties to Knit, right? This are for one of DH's coworker. She's pregnant (thank god! 'cause it would be weird to give her baby booties if she wasn't) and we were supposed to take her out for drinks as a thank you for helping DH with some work...but now she can't drink, so booties it is!
The pattern is pretty straight forward, all the mistakes I made were my fault. The yarn is what I had left from another pair that I made 2 years ago for my godson, I think it's Dale of Norway's Baby Ull, but I'm not 100% sure. I would had like them to be a little more symmetrical, but I can deal with it. Aren't they cute?

Este es mi ultimo post antes de irme a pasar la fiestas dicembrinas con mi familia. Ando toda vuelta loca! Me falta empacar, no termine de tejer los regalos de navidad, no he escogido el proyecto que me quiero llevar para el camino y quiero ver 2 pelicuals que saque de la biblioteca.
Al menos acabe estas botitas. Son para una compañera del trabajo de mi esposo, como agradecimiento por ayudarle con un trabajo. Esta es la segunda vez que las tejo, la primera fueron para mi ahijado. El estambre es el mismo, ya hace tanto tiempo que lo compre que no recuerdo el nombre, creo que es este. Me hubiera gustado que quedaran mas simetricas, pero ahorita ya me doy por bien servida al haberlas acabado. A poco no estan muy monas?

Nos vemos en Juarez!

Cold!

I'm no stranger to snow or cold weather, but something tells me (OK everybody keeps telling me) that Minnesota winters are different. It's being snowing here and by the looks of it, Minnesotans will have a white Christmas, not me, I'll be south of the border telling people how it's not really cold there, how they would be freezing their traseros off in Minneapolis.

Thankfully its' been cold , but I haven't been cold...could it be because I spent most of my days indoors? Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'll be knitting lots of socks, mittens and scarves to keep ourselves warm and toasty. I'm actually looking forward to knitting for myself, right now it's all about the Christmas presents and Locapalooza. I really doubt that I'll be able to knit everyone a present, we'll see.

One thing that I have noticed is the absence of snowmen, I guess people are so used to the snow that they don't play with it, and they must be used to driving in the snow, because it takes more than 24 hrs to start plowing the streets, at least in my neighborhood.

And for those who are keeping track, I knitted 3 more Christmas presents, yey!

Long time, no post

I figured that if I was going to blow off NaBloPoMo, I might as well not post for more than one day. It was incredibly easy not posting, but I can't do it forever, so here it is, the long post.

Pues me canse de escribir tan seguido, despues de un rato se acaba la inspiracion. Asi que ahi le va el resumen:

Here's a recap:


We had a really nice thanksgiving. In Mexico Thanksgiving is not a Holiday, so for us, it would had been like any other day, thankfully, one of DH fellow resident took pity on us and invited us to dinner. Everything was delicious and we had a really good time.

Celebramos el Dia de Accion de Gracias con un compañero de Robe, se apiado de nosotros y nos invito a cenar a su casa. Su esposa cocino el pavo y toda la cosa. Cenamos riquisimo y la pasamos muy bien.


On Friday I went shopping. I bought some things that my sister asked me to and some things for me, pants and memory cards for the camera. It wasn't as crowed as I thought it would be.

El dia despues de Thanksgiving es famoso por sus ofertas. Yo acabe iendo a comprar unos encargos de mi hermana y unas cosas para mi. La verdad yo esperaba qeu hubiera mas gente, pero no, todo estuvo tranquilo.


Later on Friday we had some friends over. Remember Ambica and Mike? along with CL and Ed (from Illinois), visited us. It was so nice seeing them again! We had dinner at a Red Sea, which serves ethiopian food, a first for me. It was really good!. After that we had a beer at Town Hall Brewery, we sat near the fireplace and had a really good time. The Masala Mama was a little too bitter for me, but after a while you don't notice anymore ;-)

El mismo viernes por la noche vinieron a visitarnos unos amigos de Bloomington, bueno, los conocimos ahi, pero ya todos viven en otros lados. La pasamos muy bien, fuimos a cenar comida etiopie y a hecharnos unas cervezas. Eso es algo que me gusta de aqui, puedes encontrar un restaurante para todo tipo de comidas!
El sabado se regresaron y nos quedamos flojeando todo el domingo.


On saturday we had Indian food and went grocery shopping. We had a really good time, it was nice seeing them after so long.










Most of the "Usual suspects"



I'm still knitting, not necessarily what's on my list. I finished another koolhaas. It came out a little bit smaller, I used the same yarn as before (Lion Brand's Wool-Ease in Blue Mist) on smaller needles (my mistake). I like it, it's warm, fast and easy, while looking very-hard-to-knit.


Here's a picture (ignore the pajamas)















I'll keep knitting and counting my blessings.

Sigo tejiendo, no lo que deberia (me faltan todavia regalos), peor al menos sigo con la viada. Termine otro gorro Koolhaas, mismo estambre, mismo patron, diferentes agujas y por lo tanto mas chico, peor no importa. este patron me gusta porque es facil, pero se ve como que es muy complicado.
Por lo pronto seguire tejiendo y dando gracias a Dios por todas nuestras bendiciones.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hoping you have a lot of thing to be thankful for this year, I now I do, family, friends, health, love, residency, and so many blessings more.

Enjoy your turkey! Wobble, wobble.

Edited to ad: Ha, Ha, Ha! I guess my sister is right, it is goble goble! What was I thinking? LOL!

Lo prometido es deuda

Ayer dije que hoy iva a terminar de tejer algo, la verdad esque he empezado varios proyectos, pero no los he acabado. De hecho, hoy casi se me olvida escribir en el blog. Ya iva a acosdtarme a dormir cuando me acorde y ya no pude hacerme loca.

Asi que voy a mostrarles alguans cosas que me gustaria tejer en un futuro inmediato y que ya tiene un buen rato circulando el internet.

Tatami Kimono El puro patron cuensta lo que un libro, y al parecer ahora ya esta agotado y el estambre recomendado cuensta una fortuna. Pero apoco no esta hermoso?

Image Copyright Sundra Yarns

Interweave Knits Fall 2007 issue Minimalist Cardigan. Lo unico qeu me detiene son las mangas que se tejen aparte y la ultima y unica vez que he hecho eso no me resulto muy bien. A mi me gusta hasta en ese color.

Copyright Interweave Knits

Tilted Duster.

Cuando vi este no me llamo mucho la atencion, pero he visto fotos de otras personas que lo han tejido y se ve muy padre.

Copyright Interweave Knits

Y todavia quedan un monton! Pero si me pongo a buscarle nunca acabo, y mejor paso a pasito, priemero acabo lso regalos de navidad y luego tejo para mi

Chase's Calendar of Events

Sorry, no knitting stuff today.
When I worked as an Assistant Librarian, one of the things I liked doing was checking this book, to find out what was being celebrated on that day. Since I couldn't think of something more interesting to blog about, here's what I found out.

~ Mexico's Revolution day 1910( I knew that! No school, no work and a parade)

~ Name your PC day My sister's laptop has a name, Matilda. My husband decided to name ours "that's stupid"

~ Anniversary of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials 1945

~ The Sheik was released. I don't think I'm ever watching this movie.

~ Lucerne Piano Festival runs from Nov.20-25. My sister should go and have a look.

~ United Nations Universal Children's Day. In Mexico is celebrated on April 30. Schools have festivals on that day and it's really fun.

I promise, tomorrow I'll have some knitting done.

Random stuff

Huevo

I don't have any new FO's and I'm running out of knitting things to write about, so here are a few random things (Huevo one of them).



Como hoy no tengo nada nuevo que mostrar en cuanto a tejidos y se me estan acabando temas que escribir, he aqui algunos datso al azar acerca de mi.


1.- I'm reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the time of cholera in spanish. I decided to read it before watching the movie.


2.- I'm currently watching season 5 of Six-feet Under. I get the dvd's from the library and I love the fact that all the episodes are there. I only watch them while on the elliptical machine.


3.- I didn't watch my usual six-feet under episode today...you can guess why.


4.- I'm a Libra and a Rabbit.


5.- I'm afraid of going bald.


And now in Spanish (different of course!)


1.- Empece a ir a primero de primara a las 4 años porque no me gustaba el kinder.

2.- Si pudiera tener un perro, seria un perro pelon como este o este.

3.- Cuando era chiquita queria ser veterinaria.

4.-Termine siendo Medico

5.- No soy muy buena para tener plantas, tiendo a regarlas de mas. Ahorita tengo dos que estan sobreviviendo y eso me hace pensar que la de la culpa era mi hermana (no te creas jazy!)

Done!

The koolhaas hat is all done! It was a very quick knit. Here's DH wearing it.





















I used Lion Brand's Wool-Ease, I figured it was a good yarn for a test knit and easy to care for if I give it as a gift...which hasn't been decided yet. He really liked it! I used 2 oz of a yarn in Forest Green Heather (about 132 yds).

Let's see, what else? It was knitted on 2 8US circulars. I forgot to change needle sizes for the ribbing and messed up the pattern, you can actually see it in the picture, but it looks as part of the hat. I did 4 pattern repeats and decided to decrease to 6 stitches before closing the top. Oh! and the best part? I didn't use a cable needle! I followed this tutorial.

I was planning on making one for DH in Misti Alpaca Suri/Silk that I got on sale, but now I'm not sure I got enough yarn. I'll definitely knit another one in a different yarn.

Koolhaas

I started a koolhaas hat yesterday, just as a "test". As my sister said in the comments, I'm knitting more than one. I just want to make sure I understand the pattern before I use a nicer yarn.

So far, I've used a different yarn, didn't change needles for the ribbing and messed up the pattern, but I think it's coming along

What do you think?

Again

Once again I forgot to post. It really doesn't matter because I had been out of the contest since day two. I was out of my apartment most of the day and totally forgot about the blog until now, half an hour to late to count for today (or yesterday).
I'm still posting twice, just so I can say I posted 30 times in November, he he he.

Today, while waiting for DH, I started "test" knitting koolhaas. Test knitting, for me, is knitting something in a different yarn than stated in the pattern, just to see how it comes out and if I can stand the pattern, whatever the outcome, I'll find a recipient. But I have to say, so far so good. I'm doing cables without the cable needle and knitting it on 2 circular needles, oh! and I'm using Lion Brand's Wool-Ease. I'll post pictures later today.

Edited to say: OMG! It looks like I'm in a different time zone than blogger and it's still Nov 16 there! por un pelito de rana.

A day late

Yesterday was my Martes 13. I had a little accident while making this:

Ayer fue mi Martes 13. Mientras teñia este estambre tuve un pequeño accidente.

I really like it! I think the blue makes all the difference, don't you? The stripes are much longer (1 yd each). I'll knit another swatch to see how it works.

El estambre me encanto como quedo, mucho mas que el anterior. Yo creo que el azul hace la diferencia, no? Estas rayas son mas gruesas. Me queman las manos por tejer una muestra para ver como quedan!

Anyways, as I was saying, I dyed this yarn with kool-aid in the microwave and this happened

Pues como les decia, tuve un accidente mientras teñia el estambre en el microondas

Thank god it was the last part I had to dye. It was all done in sections, one by one.

This is what my hands looked like... I swear, my husband is still alive!

Las manso me quedaron rojas. Ya casi se me quita, solo me quedan las uñas.

After that I had another accident, one that involved an FO and scissors, but more about that later, once I figure how or if I can fix it.

Despues de ese percance tuve otro. Despues les muestro lo que pasa cuando mezclas un tejido terminado con unas tijeras, ayayay! Espero poder componerlo.

Back to reality

Yesterday, the Yarn Harlot posted on her blog that there are 42 days until Christmas, now 41. I gotta say, it hit me hard! I don't know why to me a month sounds much longer that 42 days, I know, it doesn't make sense. I need to start turbo knitting.
One of the reasons that I haven't made that much progress is because instead of concentrating on the bigger gifts , I'm knitting the one pattern that is small and I already know, so it makes for wonderful mindless knitting, no checking or looking at a pattern. Today I'm going to start one big project and hope I can finish on time.

I was on ravelry, when I came across this website Knitmap.com As a knitter, I know that when you travel (or not) you want to have as much S.E.X (stash enhancement xcursion) as you can and this website is going to make a lot of traveling knitters happy. Look how many yarn stores are in my area!

*that kitty used to live outside my parents home in Mexico. She was sweet and in love with Huevo ( a dog). We don't know what happened to her, one day she was gone.

Triscadecafobia

Tu la tienes?

Martes 13 es el equivalente al Viernes 13 en la cultura Americana. Yo no me concidero supersticiosa, pero un poco de precaucion no esta de mas ;-)

Pero de donde viene? y donde se concidera de mala suerte?

Me puse a buscarlo y encontre esto, esto y esto. Muy interesante, no?

por si acaso

Knitting Meme

I was wondering what I would blog about today, so I googled "knitting meme" and this came out. I'm giving it a shot. I might be late to the party...but better late than never!

~ What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?

I can't say I tried a lot of yarns. As long as it's soft, in a nice color and doesn't break my bank it'll be my favorite. Right now I have a thing for alpaca yarn, its' soo soft.


~ Your favorite needles?

I like using circular needles to knit everything! I have tried using DPNs, but I just don't get it, that's why I use 2 circulars to knit in the round.


~ The worst thing you've ever knit?

(sigh) So many things. The one that comes to my mind right now is a hat that I made for SIL. I used needles that were too small, so it ended up being too stiff and I ran out of yarn and it ended up being to small.


~ Your most favorite knitting pattern ( maybe you don't like wearing it, but was the most fun to knit)

I felt very accomplished when I made Clapotis. I'm happy with anything that turns out remotely similar to the original.


~ Most valuable knitting technique

I don't know, knitting continental? The last technique that I learned was color knitting. There are a ton that I want to learn! Double knitting, enterlac (and purling from the front), intrasia, Kitchener stitch, oh my!


~ Best knit book or magazine

I tend to buy VK and IK magazines. I like nice pictures, like the ones in Rowan, but that's too expensive. Book is another thing, I currently have an EZ craving. I'm starting to lean more towards books that teach you how to do it and improve it, rather than just give you a pattern. I haven't had a chance to use my Knitting from the top, but I'm glad I have it.


~ Your favorite knit-a-long?

Zimmermania, but just because it's the only one I'm a member of.


~ Your favorite knitblogs?
Lets see: Yarn Harlot, Knit and Tonic, Skrilla Knits (I usually visit most of her blog list), Buenas Puntadas ( I like reading about knitting in Spanish), Batty's, Bezzie's, I have to make my own blog roll.


~ Your favorite knitwear designer?

I would loooove to say ME, but, I haven't design anything...soon I hope. Right now EZ is my favorite, I would like to knit everything on her books.


~ The knit item you wear the most?

My first Clapotis. I don't knit for myself that much, actually it was one of my New Year's resolutions (it's in Spanish, but it's in there) and here I am, doing Locapalooza.


I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this. I would love to read your answers! leave a comment with your link.

Yarn Cafe

Surprise gift #2 Done!

Yesterday was my first visit to a LYS (Local Yarn Store). I got invited by a group of Knitties, which I thought knew each other, but turned out they didn't. I had such a nice time! We sat there knitting and talking for 2 hrs at Yarn Cafe. It's not close to were I live, but it was well worth the trip.

Before going I decided to break my yarn diet and I did ;-) 15 min. before closing I stared looking around and found 2 balls of Misti Alpaca Suri Silk yarn. My label says it's Worsted 4 ply, but it does look like DK, just like the website. I got one in Expresso and another in Hematite, both very manly colors. I hope its enough to make DH a hat. oh! did I mention that they were $3.50 each!!!

I definitely would go back to Yarn Cafe, the staff was very friendly, they help me find the group (there were several), helped find some super wash wool that I didn't buy, we were the last to go and everyone was very nice about it.

I have to say that this was also my first knitting group experience, I mean, I had knitted in groups, but I was the only one knitting. Now that I think about it Kate and I would knit together while watching Gilmore Girls, does that count?

Ayer me junte con un grupo de tejedoras que conoci por Knitty. Fue muy agradable. Nos quedamos de ver en una tienda de estambres que se llama Yarn Cafe. Si alguna vez estan en el area visitenla, el staff es muy atento y tienen un monton de estambres. Yo me compre 2 madejas de estambre de alpaca, estaban rebajadas y no me pude resistir. Me fieje que tienen un estambre 100% lana de de Merino, 210 yds por bola y costaba como $5.50, en un monton de colores, pero no me puedo acordar del nombre. Tendre que regresar a buscarlo! Buscando un poco lo encontre! resulta que no era lana de merino, pero cuando lo toque se me hizo tan suavecito que yo core por eso lo recorde asi.

Rainbow Brite

( I know! I thought it was Rainbow Bright, too!)






















If Rainbow Brite was a member of my family, this is what she would get for Christmas:




















Calorimetry made with self-dyed yarn . I liked how it turned out, I only wish I had added some blue or green to the mix to balance out the reds. I still have a lot (and I mean a lot) of yarn left. I'll try knitting something small, to see if I can get complete stripes. That would be nice.



Se acuerdan de las caricaturas de Rainbow Brite? Bueno pues si ella fuera parte de mi familia, este seria su regalo de navidad, un Calorimetry (si una mas!) hecha con el estambre reciclado que teñi yo misma con kool-aid. Quede contenta con el producto final. la proxima vez que tiña algo le voy a poner un poco de verde o azul para cortar tanto rojo. Despues de navidad les cuento a quien le toco este regalo.

Links

I decided to post early today and just get it out of the way. I realized how fast you can post if you're not uploading any pictures, so today I give you the no-pictures-just-links post.

Here's a list of some of the pages I visit regularly

-My sister's blog
-Yarnharlot
-Ravelry
- Knitty
- NY Times daily sudoko
- Not Martha
- Craftster
- Zimmermania
- Craftzine
- Library

I do read a lot of blogs, but that will be another post ;-) gotta stretch the material!

Killing acrylic

I was telling you yesterday that there's a downside when you buy yarn at thrift stores and garage sales: NO LABELS!





You have to look at the yarn very carefully, touch it, smell it, rub it together, sometimes (if they're not looking) burn it a little and try to identify if it's a animal, plant or a synthetic fiber. Sometimes you kinda know what it is and other times you have to decide if you like the yarn enough (because of its color, price, quantity) to not care what it is.



This particular yarn I bought thinking that it was wool. I liked the color, it came in a cone, it was $5-6 dlls, but (big but, just like mine) it's lace weight and If I had known it wasn't wool, I would had passed.


So what do you do with a cone of lace weight acrylic? Do you knit with multiple strands, thous making it DK or worsted, or do you knit lace and try to block it?

I went ahead and asked the very knowledgeable knitters at Knitty.com and someone suggested to knit a swatch and wet block it and another suggested "killing acrylic" which means using hot steam to block it.

I used Wisp's lace pattern to knit 2 swatches, here are the results:

















First swatch before blocking
















Swatch 1 & 2 during blocking. Can you see I lost 2 stitches on swatch #1?



















Swatch #1 after wet blocking (completely dried). I'm not sure if I did it wrong or what. Maybe I could have pulled the swatch a little bit more? It's not as open as swatch #2, but it feels softer and I think has more texture, like it gives in a little.


















Swatch #2 after blocking with steam a.k.a "killing it". It's flatter, lighter, it drapes and is a little bit less soft than swatch #1. It doesn't give, it doesn't stretch nearly as much as #1. (I'm still thinking that maybe I didn't block swatch #1 properly)


















The "drape test" swatch #1 on the left and #2 on the right.

Conclusion: It depends what you're looking for in your FO. I would start with wet blocking and then if that didn't looked nice, serve acrylic one last meal, grant it a wish and then KILL IT.

Update

I haven't knit a swatch with the rainbow yarn yet, but I will...soon. The yarn that I swapped came in the mail today, Yey! Thanks to someone on the knitty boards I can continue to knit one of the Christmas presents in my list.

I'm currently swatching some lace weight acrylic yarn. When I bought this yarn, I thought it was wool :-(


By now you probably know that I like cheap yarns (as in $$ not quality) and this particular yarn I bought at a thrift store for a very low price, so It doesn't hurt as much that it didn't turned out to be wool, but more on that tomorrow.


Right now I want to show you one of the many reason why I like to shop thrift stores and garage sales















Six skeins of Berga 100% ren ull (that's wool, right?) for $5 dlls! The needles are still in the WIP, what more can you ask for?

Este post es de por mientras. Aun no hago una muestra con el estambre que teñi ayer, yo creo manana lo hago, la curiosidad me esta consumiendo!
Hoy teji unas muestras de calos (lace) con estambre acrilico, a ver como sale eso.
La foto muestra una de las tantas razones por las que me gusta comprar estambres en tiendas de baratijas y en ventas de garage: Una bolsa con 6 madejas de estambre 100% lana, aun con las agujas y por solo $5 dlls!

Rainbow yarn

Yesterday I dyed some yarn with Kool-aid...it didn't go as smooth as planned. I had used it before, but not for self striping yarn and definitely not using steam, but for some reason I decided to do both at the same time.




These are the colors that I used. From left to right: Piña, naranja, fresa, cherry, black cherry, uva ( I used mexican kool-aid, same results much cheaper price!)











After dissolving the powder in a little water (turned out it was too much), I applied the color with a brush to each section.






This is what it looked like before I used steam to set the dye. You can already see that the black cherry looks a little brown and the uva (grape) looks gray. I think that I didn't wash the brush enough and that the colors got a little mixed.












While steaming. You can see how the yellow has fresa (strawberry) stains. I didn't think of putting plastic wrap on the bottom of the colander, the grape/black cherry colors dripped and ended up being much lighter.























Final product. Yellow doesn't look bad, it has some darker stains, but I like it. The grape looks grey-ish in some parts, I'm thinking that it might not look as bad once I knit a swatch. It didn't turned out as I had dreamed, but it might still work for some fake isle hats.

Old FO's

I'm still dyeing the recycled yarn (more on that sad story tomorrow), so here are some FO's from last year that I never got a chance to post. The pictures aren't good, not that I take good pictures, but these were taken while I was packing for our move from Bloomington, In. Some of this are still missing, packed away in some box that I have yet to unpack.

Aun estoy pintando el estambre reciclado, no esta saliendo muy bien, mañana se enteraran de lo mal que quedo :-(
Asi que hoy les voy a mostrar algunas coas que teji el año pasado, por angas o mangas nunca tuve oportunidad de mostrarlas. Algunos de estos tejidos estan todavia empacados, mas vale que los busque porque aca ya empezo el frio.
















Moebius scarf following instructions in "A Treasury of Magical Knitting" , I've never used it. It's too short to wrap around twice, not wide enough to use as a shawl. I might frog it, we'll see after I unpack it and try it on again...maybe it just needs more blocking (?). Knitted in Andean Silk , I think the color is Chocolate.
Esta es una bufanda estilo Moebius que no tiene principio ni fin, un concepto muy interesante. El patron que use esta en en este libro. No quedo lo suficientemente larga o ancha, asi qeu a lo mejro la deshago para reciclar el estambre.















This is Craftster's Circular Shrug . I made it 10 lbs ago, so I'm not sure it still fits. I really liked it, it's soft and warm, but the malabrigo yarn pills a lot.
Este shrug lo hice siguiendo estas instrucciones. No estoy segura de que todavia me quede. El estambre usado fue Malabrigo.
















My first Clapotis. I used Pingouin Mousse yarn that I got at (where else?) a thrift store. It's an Acrylic/Polymide mix that looks like mohair. I think I made it shorter. I like it and have worn it a lot.
Mi primera Clapotis. Este patron me encanta y ya voy en la segunda (luego pongo fotos). Use estambre que ya esta descontinuado y que compre en una tienda de baratijas. Yo creo que este patron se ve bien sin importar el tipo de estambre que uses.

















Watchcap for my husband knitted in Cascade 220. I think I used the "Watch Cap" pattern on pg. 75 of Vogue Knitting Caps & Hats. It turns out DH is "sensitive" to wool, but he still wears it.
Un gorro que le hice a mi esposo. Es de lana y resulta que a el le hace reaccion la lana, pero de cualquier manera lo usa (pobre! solo por darme gusto)


















I made this as goodbye gifts for some of the staff when I left my last job. For the tissue cozy I just knitted a rectangle and seamed up the sides (in different styles). The little bags were made using Meg Swansen's instructions for Turkish Cast-on and were filled with chocolate. I used Patons SWS, really soft and shiny.
Estos son unos regalitos que teji para algunos compañeros de trabajo. Los de arriba son para guardar los paquetitos de pañuelos desechables y las bolsitas de abajo estaban llenas de chocolates. La construccion de las bolsitas esta muy ingeniosa, aqui puedes encontrar las instrucciones.

I'm waiting for the yarn to dry. Tomorrow we'll se how it turned out, but it doesn't look like I imagined it.
Mañana les enseño como quedo el estambre que teñi.

Make up post

I'm trying to make up for not posting yesterday by posting twice today, what do you think? does it work?

Ayer se me olvido escribir en el blog, asi que estoy tratando de revindicarme haciendolo dos veces hoy. Como la ven, funciono?
Aun sigo tejiendo los regalos de navidad. Complete uno, no les puedo mostrar una foto completa, pero aqui esta una probadita.

I'm still knitting away for Locapalooza!. I have finished one, of the many gifts that I have to knit. Here's a teaser.

I ran out of yarn for another one that I was knitting, fortunately, I found someone willing to trade for it on the Knitty boards.

Se me acabo el estambre de otro de los regalos que estoy tejiendo, afortunadamente, encontre a alguien en Knitty que estaba dispuesta a hacer un trueque.

I'm also making a bunch (as many as I can knit from now until Christmas) of Calorimetries (is how that you spell the plural form?). Everybody loves them!

Here's sister #2 modeling hers

Made with Knit Picks Andean Silk in cream and pitch. I like the way it turned out. I don't remember how I didn't exactly, but I remember that I had to weave in a lot of ends. I guess that with better planning I could avoid cutting the yarn...I might try again, I still have some yarn left over.

Otra cosa que voy a hacer es tejer un monton de Calorimetries, tantas como pueda de aqui a navidad. A todo el mundo le encantan!

En la foto mi hermana esta modelando la que le teji para su cumpleaños. La hice con Andean Silk, en 2 colores. A mi me gusto mucho como quedo, yo creo voy a hacer otra mas porque me sobro estambre, pero voy a tratar de planearlo mejor para no tener que cortar el estambre cada vez que cambio de color, es una lata atar los cabos sueltos!

Tomorrow I'll be dying some recycled yarn with Kool-aid. I'm planning to make some fake isle hats with it. I'll either post about that or I'll show you some FO's from long ago.

Mañana quiero teñir el estambre que recicle con koo-aid. Luego les cuento como quedo, si esque no se me vuelve a olvidar el blog ;-)

I can't belive it

I can't belive I forgot to post yesterday. I remember in the morning, but tought to do it later and then I forgot.
In my defense, I was busy all afternoon. We had guests for dinner and I was making this:



















Chiles en Nogada with rice

and this
















Pico de gallo with avocado

and this


















Flan (I'll post a tutorial before the end of November...if I don't forget)


Buen Provecho!

Dia de Muertos

"La Catrina" por Jose Guadalupe Posada

Hoy se celebra el Dia de Muertos. Extrañamente en mi casa nunca se celebro. Yo creci en el area de la frontera con USA y la cultura es bastante americanizada, asi que celebrabamos Halloween. Siempre tuve la impresion de que las verdaderas celebraciones por el Dia de Muertos se llevaban acabo en el interior de la republica. Yo creo que parte de la razon por la que no celebrabamos el Dia de Muertos, era porque (gracias a Dios) no teniamos a quien "celebrar".

En la escuela siempre trataban de hacer algo relacionado con la celebracion, como concursos de altares o calaveras, siempre haciendo burla o rision de alguien famoso o en caso de la escuela, de los maestros y directores. A mi el Dia de Muertos me intriga, se me hace tan extraordinario que se pueda hacer toda una celebracion en torno a algo que a mi me asusta, pero a la vez eso es lo que me atrae de ella.

Algo que nunca puedo dejar pasar, es comer Pan de Muertos. Aqui donde vivo hay panaderias Mexicanas, asi que no tuve problemas en encontrarlo.

El pan, poco antes de ser deborado

Por mas que busque, no pude encontrar donde ir a festejarlo aqui. A lo mejor el proximo año me entero de algun concurso de altares o algo asi.

NaBloPoMo

I'm in!

National Blog Posting Month is happening in November. I know this is a very lame first post, but I decided to join at the last minute. Lets see if I can do this. Anyone up for the challange?

Le entre al reto! Noviembre es el Mes Nacional de Escribir en tu Blog, NaBloPoMo por sus siglas en Ingles (si alguien sabe de una mejor traduccion para el nombre diganme). Basicamente hay que "postear" en el blog todos los dias por el mes de Noviembre. A ver si aguanto!

Reciclando Estambre (3ra y ultima parte)

Aqui puedes encontrar la primera y aqui la segunda parte.

Despues de que ya tienes todo el estambre en madejas hay que lavarlo, en parte para limpiarlo y en parte para quitarle lo chino (ondulado).

Lo primero que hago es ponerlo en un recipiente lleno de agua con un poco de jabon para los trastes o shampoo. El agua debe de estar fria para evitar que el estambre se arruine (Agua, calor, jabon y agitar no son una buena combinacion al menos que quieras encoger tu tejido).




















El estambre esperando su baño
















Un poco de jabon...


Lava el estambre agitando un poco y enjuaga hasta que le agua salga limpia. Por lo general yo repito esto dos veces, a veces tres, dependiendo de que tan sucio este el estambre.















El agua sucia en la primera lavada

Ya que esta lavado y enjuagado el estambre, lo exprimo
hasta que casi no salga agua.














Listo para secarse o teñirse

Lo cuelgo en el balcon y espero a que se seque.





















El estambre se puede teñir antes o despues de secarse.

Ya una vez seco, lo hago bolita. Lo hago asi porque no tengo un "yarn ball winder".
Aqui hay fotos de como hacerlo, pero esta en ingles. Ya les enseñare en otra ocasion como hacerlo.

Espero estos ultimos post les hayan sido utiles. Regresamo ahora a nuestra programacion habitual ;-)

Reciclando estambre (2da parte)

Aqui puedes encontrar la primera parte.

Una vez que ya estan separados los lados continuamos con las mangas. Una vez mas busca hacia donde "corre" la costura y descose en esa direccion.

Asi es como queda sin una manga. Repite esto en el otro lado.











Ahora vas a desbaratar la costura de la manga. Basicamente vas a repetir lo qeu hiiste para las costuras de los lados. Buscas el hilo y lo cortas y "corres" el hilo, si no corre, entonces te vas al otro extremo y lo vuelves a intentar.

Esta es la manga un avez que le quitas la costura. No se aprecia muy bien en la foto, pero los puntos de arriba no fueron desmontados (cast off), asi que por ahi vamos a empezar a desbaratar la manga.

Ahora solo quedan las costuras de los hombros y el cuello.

Igual que con las otras costuras, encuentars el hilo y lo corres, facil, no?









Antes de que se me pase, no se te olvide quitar las etiquetas. Por lo general estan cocidas, tomate tu tiempo y usa unas tijeritas muy chiquitas.












Aqui ya estan separados los hombros y el cuello.

Y aqui ya estan todas las partes listas para ser desbaratadas. Dos mangas, un cuello, el frente y espalda, mucho estambre por tan poco dinero!











Este es el banquito que uso para enrollar el estambre

















Lo volteo al revez y Ta-da! Tambien puedes usar la parte de atras de una silla o un swifter. Yo tengo uno que me regalo mi hermana y no lo uso hasta que voy a hacer las bolas de estambre, porque? no se, la costumbre. No se te vaya a ocurrir empezar a desbaratar el estambre y no envolverlo o enrollarlo en algo porque lo mas probable es que se enrede todo y batalles mas.




Un video pra que veas que tan facil se hace








Aqui ya se acabo la manga, todo fue una sola pieza de estambre. En ocasiones hay nudos o el estambre se rompe. Si ese el el caso, debes de decidir si quieres hacer otra madeja de estambre o seguir con la misma. Una vez que ya tienes completa un madeja la amarras con estambre de color contrastante y ...














esto es lo que queda! El estambre sale muy ondulado, por eso recomiendo que lo enrolles en algo conforme lo vas desbaratando. El chino se le quita una vez que lo lavas, pero a veces no del todo.












En el proximo post les mostrare como lavo y hago las bolas de estambre.