Got in!

My happy note today: got accepted to both Ravelry.com and the local yahoogroup of "Stitch n' Bitch" Manila.

Yarn heaven

That's where I am right now... my dear brother from Oakland planed in today, and while I had thought I'd get my stuff tomorrow when I'd see him at the hotel (today is reserved for his gf, who's here in the Philippines), I got to talk with him earlier and apparently he had left my goodies at our aunt's place nearby. Our aunt's place is the family's general 'center' since it's big and well, it's where our aunt and cousins are.

Anyway, so instead of working today I immediately rushed to my aunt's to go through my brother's big box and packed off with my goodies in tow. Although... I didn't see the Artfibers' tussah silk I had asked him to get me... maybe he's giving them for Christmas. Maybe. That's okay, I'm kinda yarn-overwhelmed now. Ooh, and I think my other two sisters planing in this weekend might also bring me knitting stuff. I informed one of them of the elann.com organic cotton on sale. Something to look forward to.

I'm kinda too busy to put all my goodies together and take a pic, but basically, what I have in my apartment are:

From Joann.com
A dozen set of needles, dpns and 16-inch circulars, bamboo, metal and balene, for my hats

From Heritage Yarns
Six 8-oz cones of 8/2 tencel yarns, yummy colors

From WEBS
Three 1-lb cones of 8/2 tencel, solids
Three 1-lb cones of 8/2 tencel, variegated

From KnitPicks
4 Shine worsted
3 Shine sport
A ball winder (Royal brand, made in Japan)

From Downbound.com
1 1-kilo of natural, fair-trade hemp weaving yarn (very fine... might need to use 3-4 strands together!)


Whew... I already have a grand idea. I'll probably wind up 100-gram balls of hemp and tencel and sell them. I've already tried out my ball winder once, and I while I didn't have a swift (too expensive), I improvised with a plastic bag, kinda easy since the yarn already came in cones.

This is one way to lessen by stash. I can't think of a name yet for this batch, since they came from different sources...

For a touch of the scientific, I could call this stash Batch B-2007, since elann would be Batch A-2007. Although I do have a bunch of crochet thread, made of mercerized cotton, I also bought this year. I dunno...

Back to work.

My knit-alongs

Having joined a few online knitting forums, I discovered a few things:

1. There's a very small group of knitters who meet either in Makati or Ortigas. They have a yahoogroup and I've already emailed them. On the other hand, early next year I'm also due to form a small public knitting group with Cyrus and his friend, who might find Makati a bit too far for them. So maybe we'll have our group meet in Ortigas instead...as it is, I live in Quezon City which is a good half-hour away from Ortigas, and 45 minutes to an hour away from Makati.

2. One online forum, knittinghelp.com, has 2 knit-alongs (having a common project/purpose in mind) to which I've signed up for. One is the 2008 Year of the Stash where the aim is to use up one's stash before adding up to it... in short, freeing yarns which have been cooped up in Yarn Jail and avoiding reaching SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy).

My basic solution: go on a yarn diet first, no "reward yarn" until maybe later in 2008 when I should have knitted up enough scarves and squares and whatevers from my current stash. Knowing my Oakland-based brother, he's probably traveling back to the Philippines for another visit in June. I have until May to work on my current stash (and paying off my credit card debt!) so I can reward myself.

In my case, I do have a little Yarn Jail which I had thought I had declogged this year by doing some charity knitting, and even dispatching some wool yarn to the States for a charity group, but in exchange , I ordered more stuff online at elann.com plus more tencel et al at WEBS and Heritage Yarn... in short... whatever space was freed up in Yarn Jail is now alloted to my elann stash plus my incoming yarn (which I hope to be laying my hands on this Friday at the earliest... when my dear brother will have unpacked his luggage...woohoo!).

Sooo... part of the 2008 Year of the Stash effort (although there are no rules to follow, we set our own aims actually) is to be able to put some order in the Yarn Jail. Knowing what one has, how much yards per yarn, colors/fibers available. Kinda like having a yarn dossier. Then it would be ideal if you could match the yarn to an actual project, e.g. a scarf, hat, etc.

Which brings me to the next knit-along I joined, so it can help me with my annual effort to declog my Yarn Jail and at the same time, do some charity knitting.

3. The "Squares of MANY COLORS!" knit-along just asks knitters to knit a 12-inch square to be sent to someone who collects these squares and sews them together for blankets etc. to be donated. There have been many similar projects I've read about online, but I never felt like joining any of them until I saw this at the forum.

I like it because there's no deadline, so I need not rush when to send the square to the US (since I would rely on someone traveling there rather than sending it by postal mail, which may never reach its destination). And I get to practice knitting all sorts of stitches! Plus I get to use up my yarn stash. I can only use yarn that's machine-washable so that rules out my tencel, which is handwash only. But this means I can use up my cotton and acrylics.


The funny thing is, I expect 2008 to be a more busy year work-wise, and for stress relief, I would have to do more knitting too.... he he he. My only consolation is being able to earn more money for my "reward" yarn.

Travel pains

My Filati sailor scarf is doing fine... sorry, haven't had time to take pics yet.

I was thinking of my upcoming hectic week right after Christmas, and up to the New Year, when I have to travel to two resorts within the week...

I'm usually OC about my plane flights, I like to arrive way ahead of my flight, not only because I don't want to miss the flight but also because I want to avoid the long line at the check-in counter. I like to travel relaxed, not in a harried, hurried mood.

This means bringing along some of my knitting stuff, since that's all I'd rather do these days.

My concern is that, knitting is not well-known here and the airport security guys might give me a hard time with my hand-carried knitting stuff.

In fact, we have no native word at all for "knitting." The closest local term used for it is the same as the one for crochet--"gantsilyo" (from Spanish ganchillo, the term for crochet) although I just checked now that in Spain, the word(s) for knitting is Punto de malla which I've never heard in our native language, which has lots of Spanish words since we were a Spanish colony for 300 years. Although if I were to Filipinize the term, then knitting would be called "punto de malya".

Anyway, enough of the linguistics lesson. I'm going to be optimistic and take the advice of other traveling knitters (abroad, not in the Philippines): use plastic needles, have some yarn on the needles and pack them in clear plastic bag. Plus, I'm going to bring some yarn for winding by hand, and some unfinished knitting for "frogging".

My only problem now is what plastic needles to bring, since my size 4's are pointy (risky) while my size 11's are blunt (better).

I'll have to decide by the 25th, my last chance to pack for my first trip out on the 26th.

Let the river flow

Correction: The yarn to the left is not Filatura di Crossa yarn, as I had posted earlier, but Filati Italian Collection yarn... got it from elann.com

I decided to knit it on its own, rather than match it with the Camila "chamois" yellow yarn, since the orange/yellow bits in the colorway already brighten up the rest of the yarn... as intended. This makes me curious to see the Italian place that this colorway was named after, Po River.

I remember now why I chose this colorway. I wanted something in blue, to tone down the orange and maroon yarns ... yet I also wanted to have something in orange bits (his favorite color). So there... it was rather hard to choose the colorway. I loved their color combos... trust the Italians for having good taste even in matching colors. I'm sure it's in their genes...

I'll soon post a pic of this scarf-in-progress. As usual, seed stitch played out better than garter. I love how it's turning out.

Only problems I've had with Filati sailor: splitty, and the usual challenges of 100% cotton yarn, making me kiss my metal needles for making the work easy.

Unfortunately, I won't get to buy anymore Filati Sailor yarn, much as I love their other color choices. After buying my elann.com stash, I've opted to buy only nature-friendly yarn, so that means sticking to organic cotton... and tencel, and tussah silk, mostly.

Brilla busted, Pegasus pegged, Sailor-Camila paired

Unfortunately, I had to frog my Brilla scarf... it just wasn't working. But I remain hopeful I can still knit up what I've dreamt for it: seed stitch for a certain number of rows, interrupted by 1 rib row.

Now I'm figuring out what to do with the Elann Pegasus cotton-viscose yarn... in red magenta. Just like Brilla, I'm dreaming of a unisex scarf ... but the seed stitch rows would be interrupted this time by garter stitch. Maybe. I'm tempted to do something in basketweave. I'm also tempted to wait for my tencel yarn to arrive (the 20th! that's when my brother arrives with my loot...next week... can't wait)


Another option: knit up another nice classy scarf, combining these two, Filatura di Crossa's Sailor cotton yarn, Po River colorway, with Elann Camila's cotton-linen yarn, Chamois. I want the Chamois yellow to liven up the Po River's subdued colorway... there's a bit of yellow in the colorway, which would be played up if I knit it with the Chamois. At least this time, I do have enough yarn for my peace of mind...

Brilla by itself

I decided to knit a scarf using Brilla only, without the green tea hemp. I thought it was a shame to tone down Tangerine Dream, when I consciously chose the color because of its brightness. That, and it was the only color left at elann.com! In fact, up to now it's still available, but this time along with Brilliant Yellow... very tempting to break my yarn diet... but no, this time it's my credit that's on a diet until I pay off some stuff this month.

Brilla's indeed soft, but slippery on the needles, making it feel like mercerized cotton yarn. A bit splitty but only when I'm careless. Maybe because it's four-ply, Brilla certainly doesn't feel like it's fingering weight... I ended up using size 7s.

As expected, seed stitch turned out better than plain garter stitch. I love seed stitch. It is predictable in its flatness and beauty. I'm loving the sheen of Brilla...

The coloring is turning out nicely. Since I can't decide on the ultimate recipient, I'm making the design unisex. I hope to dream up a 6-inch wide scarf that's at least 60 inches long. I just have 2 balls of Brilla, and if more colors are offered on elann.com, I might get some more. Mmmm...

I'm using a pattern that knits an interesting fabric, based on my experience with an orange-and-black scarf, knitting rows in seed stitch, and one row in rib. It produces a subtle stripe effect, to break the texture's monotony.

Here's a pic of what I got to knit up so far with Brilla. Notice the "stripe" produced by one row of rib stitch (technically, that would produce two rows since I'm just knitting and purling according to the previous row). I think I'll try it with a 2-row rib next time:



Anyway, my elann stash being the first time I ever ordered yarn online, I've learned something since then. If my budget allows it, I should always get one more ball than I really need. That way I need not worry if I'm gonna run out or not. I'm very bad at math, so I can't rely on my calculations at all.

I've decided to just wait for my tencel yarn to arrive and experiment pairing it with the Zahir, for Beng's scarf. There's no real hurry anyway plus my deadlines are killing me.

So for now... I'm still dreaming up various Zahir permutations and starting to eye my other yarns... especially my two balls of Filatura di Crosa Brilla, "Tangerine Dream" which is a blend of cotton, viscose and rayon. The photo below doesn't show the subtle sheen of the yarn, which makes the actual yarn brilliant in texture and bright in color.



It would make a cheery, summery scarf... the colors don't seem appropriate for a guy.

Well, I could tone down the sheen by pairing it with my hemp yarn, the Canapone, in green tea. I'll think about it and wait for my dreams to show the way...

Trying to knit Zahir

Arggh...I've lost the number of times I started and stopped and re-started my Zahir scarf for Beng. I'm experimenting on the needle sizes, the number of cast-on stitches, the number of garter rows before the drop-stitch row, and the number of yarn-overs to make the drop stitch. I can't believe how OC I'm getting over this...

I just can't find the perfect width and I get so critical of the uneven stitches... although later I read online that even if the tape yarn, which is flat, twists and folds, the knitted effect remains the same... so that means I need not worry of having a weird looking but gorgeously colored scarf on my friend. I'll give it another go when I knit tonight. These days I knit before and after I do my bread-and-butter day job at home... only way to keep me sane!

Maybe it's because Beng wants to wear it while singing onstage that's making me nervous. I'd rather make her something dramatic and beaded... yet I want to put a touch of the tropics there, like the seashells I used on my sister Marie's yellow scarf, one of my first ever scarves. Marie loved that teeny detail, which I knew she would... I wanted to give her a touch of home.

I just have to find seashells to match the Zahir yarn... or maybe I'll get to find some nice ones when I hit the beach later this month... in Palawan and Bohol. Let's see what Nature dreams up for me and Beng's scarf... :-)

Zahir Scarf for Beng

Yarn: Laines du Nord Zahir ribbon yarn, called FIESTA by elann.com but a.k.a. 4012 Turquoise Gold, a mix of 51% cotton, 4% polyamid and 45% silk. Each ball is 119 yards.

For my first entry to my knitting blog, let me report my first project with my elann stash: a drop-stitch scarf in ribbon yarn for my friend Beng, a fantastic jazz singer who belts out Ella Fitzgerald in the glitzy Millenium Bar in Singapore.

Fresh in Manila for a much-deserved vacation, she dropped by my small and messy apartment. We exchanged gifts: I haven't opened hers yet, since her daughter had insisted on wrapping the stuff in holiday gift wrapper which automatically meant I cannot open it until Dec. 25 (yeah, I'm an OC about such stuff...) and I handed her the wool-rayon drop-stitch scarf I had dreamt up for her in blue and green yarn. I don't know how she'll ever get to use it in Singapore, which is even nearer the equator than the Philippines, but she said she does work in a cold, airconditioned place to accommodate the mostly Western crowd.

Then I told her, like some 7-year-old schoolgirl, that I was expecting more yarn coming in from the U.S. and I proudly even showed her, from my PC, the yarn pics I took from the elann website, so I'll know what to expect. She fell in love immediately with the Laines du Nord Zahir ribbon yarn, in Fiesta. She could already see herself wearing it at work, as an accent piece. So I told her I'll make her another scarf soon as I get hold of the yarn.

So here I am now, with Beng about to leave in five days, and I doubt if I'll finish the yarn even if I'm using size 13 needles and it's a simple garter drop-stitch pattern like what I had made for her first scarf. I didn't know ribbon yarn was pure hell to knit until I read online other knitters' experiences. Yet I loved how the fabric was knitting up, so I'm sticking to it, a few rows a day. I'll have to tell Beng she'll get her scarf next time she's in town, about mid-year next year. I can't rush this. A lovely scarf like this takes time to dream up well.

Anyway, one of the ribbon yarn patterns that inspired me came from
http://www.keyboardbiologist.net/Patterns/DropStitchScarf.htm and here's a detail pic:

My yarn stash from elann

Actually, there's more to this stash but this is the one I bought online from elann.com two months ago, which was then delivered to my sister's home in Connecticut and which she sent in a bigger box that she sent to me in the Philippines along with other stuff. This bigger box was then shipped across North America by land and then across the Pacific Ocean... whew! I just finally got hold of these yummy yarns rather recently... What a wait. Of course, that meant saving about twenty dollars (yarn money!) if I were to have ordered international shipping instead.

It's a sign that I have become a serious knitter who spends money on yarn, to knit stuff to give and maybe sell... well, maybe I'll knit myself a scarf or two. But most of the yarn I ordered here were for others, not for me.

To distinguish this from my old stash, I'm calling this batch the elann stash. I have more coming soon... tencel from WEBS and Heritage Yarns, mostly. Yummy. Can't wait!

And now, I start to knit... having already dreamt of patterns, in my heart.