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

July 28, 2011

Interweave Knits Preview

The Fall issue is about to ship. What do you think?

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Thanks to Sharon I. who sent me the following photo.



It is clearly a loom-knit turtleneck sweater for a doll with three arms. Oh no, wait. The pattern says it's "I love you" in American Sign Language. Right...

And then there's this decapitated blue chicken.



Wait, no, my bad. It's "praying hands." You can see how I'd be confused.

But my! Loom knitting sure is versatile, isn't it?

July 27, 2011

Idylewylde



Pattern: Idylewylde by Melissa Wehrle
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Seattle Knitters Guild colorway
Needles: US4 Addi Turbos
Notes: I knit this exactly as written. The fit is perfect. My only issue is that the cuffs curls up. If I had it to do all over I would hem the cuffs as well.

July 26, 2011

Treasure

Camp was a little odd this year. A few key players are having health issues and that changed the feel of the camp. I knitted like a maniac on my Knit, Swirl jacket but didn't finish the knitting until last night after I got back to Seattle.

One camp tradition of sorts is to wear the sweaters and shawls around the classroom. Items knit and worn by Meg Swansen and Elizabeth Zimmermann. Meg was discussing the pockets on a Bavarian jacket knit by Elizabeth when a camper mentioned that while she had been wearing it she discovered an old fortune cookie fortune in one of the pockets. Intrigued Meg dug into the pockets and found this lost treasure.



It had been tucked into the pocket by Elizabeth who knows how long ago. We were all very touched and charmed by this discovery and Meg sweetly tucked the message back into the pocket, presumably to be rediscovered some time in the future.

July 20, 2011

Greedy

I love that you all assume that I will not be at Sock Summit just because I'm heading to camp. I get home on Monday then leave again on Friday!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

That Time of Year

I'm headed to knitting camp. I finished my Idylewylde last week but I haven't had a chance to take any photos of it because I've been frantically knitting on my Plum Perfect. I'm only through one quarter of the yarn and have no real hope of completing it by Sunday Show and Tell but I'm going to pretend that I do still have a chance and knit, knit, knit on it.

So long and take care. See you next week.

July 19, 2011

Giveaway Winner!

The winner is Sara! Congrats to you. Please send me your mailing address and your prize will be sent to you.

Thanks everyone for entering.

July 18, 2011

Questions Younger Son Has Asked This Morning While Reading Mad Magazine

  1. Who is Captain Kangaroo?
  2. Who is Captain Morgan?
  3. What is the Mile High Club?

Time for that magazine to go back to the library.

July 14, 2011

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Oh my, is it Lingerie Boxing season again?

July 12, 2011

A Prank and a Giveaway

You may have already heard about this prank. While filming Larry Crowne, Tom Hanks organized a prank on co-star and knitting lover, Julia Roberts. Hanks arranged to have the entire crew gathered, knitting for when Roberts arrived.

I heard about this and thought it was cute but it's much funnier to see it for yourself.



I love when she says, "That's all you need in knitting is just a girlfriend to get you started." I also enjoy the varying degrees that people are attempting to actually knit there little swatches.

I have been given* a $25 Fandango Gift Card and a Larry Crowne t-shirt and notebook to give to a reader. So please just leave a comment on this post and check back in one week to see if you're the lucky winner. My commenting does not show me your email so leave me your Ravelry name and I can send you a message if you win. Or just check back here in one week and see if you're the winner. This contest is open to residents of the US and Canada. Good luck!


*I have never done a sponsored giveaway before but I figure we all love a good prank and we all love movies.

July 11, 2011

Random Cable Baby Cap




Pattern: Improvised like the Karaoke Hat on 90 stitches
Yarn: Leftover Butternut Woolens from my Clothilde
Needles: US4 dpns
Notes: We have a new nephew and I was headed to karaoke so I decided to do another random cable hat. These are really fun to knit and totally mindless.

July 10, 2011

So Close, So Far



I'm really close to finishing my Idylewylde. I feel like I have been knitting non-stop for months but that's not really true. I have it all done except for the hem. Oh, the hem!



I was fine sewing in the sleeves but sewing down the hem is so slow and tedious. And when I'm done there's a stockinette button band that will also need to be sewn down! I couldn't take it any more.

I started a new sweater.



This squiggly coil of knitting will hopefully turn into Plum Perfect from Knit, Swirl. I'm using two colorways of Malabrigo Worsted, Stone Blue and Paris Night. I think it's highly unlikely I will be able to wear this for Show and Tell at Knitting Camp but I may try.

Speaking of Knitting Camp, I'm stunned that it's nearly here. I fly to Wisconsin a week from Wednesday.

July 7, 2011

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

This post is kind of a continuation of last week's. I was so intrigued to learn more about the designer, Walter Van Bierendonck.






My assessment: Dude is crazy.

July 6, 2011

See Me Tonight at the Seattle Knitters Guild

I will be giving a talk on using Ravelry tonight for the Seattle Knitters Guild.

Ravelry, Tips for Beginners and Pros
Do you use Ravelry? You really should. It's an amazing tool for any yarn-fancier. Part database, part social network, Ravelry brings the world of knit and crochet together to share information and ideas. Programming co-chair, Jessica Rose, a Ravelry user since April 2007, will walk you through getting started and show you some of the great tools available. Manage your stash, know your needles, get inspired and get organized.


Hope you can make it.

July 2, 2011

Goats Again?

If you've been reading the blog for a while you might remember that three years ago we rented to goats to come and eat our backyard. For two weeks Speck and Spot dutifully nibbled at all the blackberry, ivy and anything else they could reach. The transformation was nothing short of astonishing. I put in a huge amount of work too and we finally had to hire someone to haul away all the vines and trash that was left behind. We never really completed one side of the house because that was the side our complaining neighbor lived on and we didn't want to further agitate her. We also ran out of steam for digging up blackberry root-balls and sheet mulching. So one side of the house had regrown into a blackberry jungle. I went at it this afternoon with some loppers and barely made a dent. We need goats. I'm already thinking of emailing the Goat Lady and wording a nice letter to our neighbors.

July 1, 2011

Maile





Pattern: Maile by Nikki Van De Car
Yarn: My handspun 2-ply merino, fiber bought at OFFF several years ago
Needles:US4 Addi Turbos
Notes: I made a a lot of changes to the sleeves on this pattern. I knit mine in the round and started with 42 sts and did two increases pretty quickly. I made my sleeves much shorter too using Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater as inspiration. I held stitches on the sleeve and body underarm like a regular EPS sweater then grafted them when I finished the sweater. Kim suggested to me to do the buttonholes every 112 rows instead of 10 so that there would be a button on the collar band.