JenLa

Okay, so I’m cheating a little bit. I done Effed this Oh a while ago, but I’m only just now getting around to posting about it.

Stats:
Pattern: Noodle Cozy (free pattern by yours truly!)
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky [104yds/50g] 1 ball Alpine Pearl
Needles: US Size 9 [5.5mm] Addi Turbos
Started: April 1, 2008
Finished: April 5, 2008
Mods/Notes: Well, since I wrote the pattern as I went, I guess you’d call the whole thing a mod. It’s just a basic 2 x 2 ribbed beanie with symmetric decreases at the crown. And as you see, it took me only 4 days to knit it, which means, it’ll take an average person 1 day. Or if you’re Jen, 1 hour.

I whipped this bad boy up after realizing that my sweet, frail (Ha!) 81-year-old dad had a beautiful hand-made Washburne scarf…

…but nothing to keep his melon from frosting over. With only a few days to make it, I knew simple and chunky was the way to go. And voila!

The yarn is bulky weight without LOOKING like a messy,cheating chunky bulky piece of sh knit. I like that! This is the first time I’ve ever worked with Malabrigo, and I really enjoyed it. Not as much as some of you, who would marry it, and then name all your children Malabrigo because you love it so much. YOU know who you are. But it IS a nice, soft yarn, with good body and lovely colors, so I can appreciate that love, even though I don’t quite share your complete enthusiasm…devotion…OBSESSION.

The pattern is a free download. You can either Ravel It!, or click the button below to be taken to my free patterns page.

P.S. Have you had a chance to enter the contest? July 4 is the cut-off date, so get your entries in soon! Wanna witness a good heaping serving of irony? Read. Watch life have a good laugh at La’s expense!

Back in 2006 I got a wild hair up my ass to make socks for the DH that, through average wearing would self felt. It succeeded. In fact, it felted so well that, even though the foot of the sock became a perfect fit, the legs of the socks became too short.

Thank wool I was able to find more of the yarn here, because my LYS no longer carried it. And since my discovery of magic loop, I was able to whip these puppies out in record (well, record for me, that is) time.

Of course, I wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t La-ify them. You see, on close inspection, I knitted one of the socks in-side out. And when did I discover this oh-so-shining moment of brilliance? After I had cast off both socks and was weaving in the ends, of course. Not gonna tell the DH though. He’ll never notice, and after another year’s wearing during Roman reenactment, I won’t either. Can you say dumbass? Sheesh.

What’s next? Glad you asked. Remember that Mission Possible thing I signed up for, but haven’t posted about in a long time because I haven’t really done much of anything on it? Well, that’s because all the fast and easy shit is done. Well, almost. All I have left on #7 is the shaving, the setting the grommets, and the attaching of the handles. Then it’s getting shipped to it’s new home. But while I’m procrastinating on that, I’m going to start tackling the bigger stuff, starting with…

12. Use up, throw out, burn (with video footage) or otherwise cause the scrap heap unexist.

(crap, I’m still missing a pic of the leftover superwash sock yarn…oh well…note to self)

The top row is all feltable, therefore the sock yarn, doubled on 4s and the worsted on 8s should make for some rather quick knits in the form of bags and pouches of indeterminate ugliness…pouches and bags that would be used to hid modern-day necessities at, say…a Roman reenactment event…happening in a country other than the one in which we live and the heart of the current contest I’m running here.

CLUE BY FOUR Why, yes folks, that was indeed clue #7 to the contest.

Anyhow, I’m gonna start with these yarn cupcakes…a nice baker’s dozen, and see just how many I can turn out before we leave.

Here’s clue #8

Email your entry to Jenla(dot)contest(at)gmail(dot)com by midnight Pacific time on July 4, 2008. Please include your Blog URL, Ravelry ID and your name in the body of the email. Please do not leave your contest entry in the comments section. Why would you want someone else to benefit from your cranial calisthenic? Only one entry per person, so make it count. Don’t forget to visit Fibercrack’d for bonus clues and for contest clue recap.

Have a great weekend!

Stats:

Pattern: Winged it:
Toe-Up
Magic Cast-On
Encroachment Heel
2 x 2 ribbed

Needles: Size 2 [2.75mm] 32″ addi lace (LOVE!)

Yarn: 1 ball Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Multijacquard [100g/462yds]

Thoughts: I was going to do the Kaylee Socks as a tribute knit to Monkey Toes, but the yarn wasn’t right for the pattern. Besides, I think I want to knit those socks for me. Yeah, I’m selfish that way. Instead, I did a simple 2×2 ribbing. I’m LOVING how quick and nice these socks turned out. Hell, I was even able to overlook that fakeisle crap in the colorway. What made my day on these socks? 2 words. Magic Loop. WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME MAGIC LOOP WAS TEH SHIT??1! OMG. So fast. So flowy. SO workin’ it! Yup, no more octopus wrestling for me…well, except for when I’m doing Rometard events.

So that does it for Goal #9: Knit self-striping socks for SIL Sophia. Woo! They’ve been mailed, and hopefully in my SIL’s hot little Denver hands any day now.

Next up? Extending the shaft (teehee) of these:

Self Felting Roman Socks of Love

They felted up just like I had hoped. In fact, they felted up so well that the leg is now too short, and the damned socks keep sinking into his shoes. Too smart for my own damn good I tells ya. Thank wool I was still able to get a hank of the Inca Alpaca in the correct colorway! Time for me to cut into my knit for the first time. YIKES!!!!!

I also need to give some love to my stalled Central Park Hoodie, which is languishing at 85% done: Hood’s knit, and all that’s left is the button band, the weaving and the sewing, and then the wearing. I’m sure hoping to get off my ass and get it done for our exciting vacation at the end of June. Shhhh, the three of you who already know about it. I’m going to run contest soon. If needs be, bribery/blackmail could be involved to keep youse quiet. Here’s my initial offer…a little sampling if you will.

v.2.0

Pattern: Clamber(Ravel It!) by Moi!

Yarn: Misti International Misti Alpaca Sport, (Less than) 1 ball -146 yds

Needles: US 4 Addi Lace 16″ circs

Notes:

Back in Feburary I made a hat for my mom’s birthday. The hat was just the initial downpayment for a scarf-hat set that she proclaimed dire need for because she and my dad were going on an Alaskan cruise. I had decided early on that I wanted to make her the Irish Hiking Scarf, the beauty of it’s simplicity and sturdiness a perfect match for my mom’s own personality and style. Well, I didn’t really like any of the hats others have designed to compliment the scarf, so I decided to take it upon myself to design one of my own. My first attempt?

…Less than stellar, I have to admit. It was quite snug, and the woman does NOT have a huge melon. Then there’s the unfinished-looking rag-tag looking edge. So it was back to the designing board, where I came up with this…

…with which I am quite happy. Tickled actually. It made a for a beautiful set, and Mom was so thrilled she was speechless, and if you knew my mother, you’d know that’s saying something…well, actually…she wasn’t saying anything, hence speechless. Anyhow…I even caught a peek of her trying it all on again from the trunk of her car as dad was finishing packing up to go home. She wore it home. In California…in upper-70-degree Southern California weather. Yeah, I think she liked it.

The pattern is free and available on Ravelry (see where it says “Ravel It”? click there), as well as on the Dizzy Blonde Designs page at Fibercrack’d, you know, for those of you who have been hiding under a rock and are not on Ravelry. Just click the button below and it’ll take you right to it.

Yes, my fellow geeks, put yer flags in the air and wave em like you just don’t care. Phase 1 of Operation: Big Damned Sweater is finally complete. Voila!

Stats: Washburne 2.0

Pattern: Washburne by Dizzy Blonde Designs that’s me!

Needles: US size 5 [3.75mm]

Yarn: Jo Sharp DK Wool [98 m (107 yards) 50 g (1 ¾ oz) Color: 011 Heath, 4 balls

This is just one of the fired irons of which I last spoke. I really enjoyed the intricacies of sussing out the cable pattern when all I had were screen-shots to work from. Now, upon closer examination I noticed that the termination points on the small “parentheses” cable are just an illusion. I chose to leave them in my design, anyway. Partially to not step on any (Shawna Trpcic’s) toes, but mainly to satisfy my sense of natural progression: There must be a beginning and an end. Cables that start out of nowhere and then disappear make my head explode and completely futz with my sense of symmetry.

As you can see in comparison, there are no termination points on the original.

They work for me and only add to the appeal of the pattern instead of detracting from it, uniquifying it. Now, your coat doesn’t necessarily have to be brown to enjoy knitting this scarf, but it sure don’t hurt matters at all!

Another one of those fired irons? This site. When I decided to sell some of my designs, I didn’t want to do so from here. That’s not what JenLa’s about. Bitchy, snarky, sarcastic, whiney, and opinionated, and often grammatically incorrect? Definitely. Capitalistic and oppotunistic? Not so much. (we hope)

So, being the absolute techtard that I am, I’m rather proud of my little design & dye corner of the blogiverse….except one thing. The main purpose for it’s creation is the one thing I can’t do because I’m using a free bloghosting site.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So, until I can get my shit moved over to my own domain, the only way to get Washburne is through Ravelry. Just click on the button below, or visit my Dizzy Blonde Designs page for the link.

and now for something completely different…FLICKR DOES VIDEO!!!!! Check it:

BTW, That’s my mom and the DH chattering in the background. And if you watch to the right of the pair of black-clad legs, you’ll get an idea of just how huge Saber is. Keep in mind, he’s an AKC registered Sheltie. WTF?