Knitty

I've loved Knitty since I started knitting. Knitty was the website of the day on my SNB calendar yesterday and it stirs up fond memories of my first discovery of Knitty. I know that the Spring Issue has been out for awhile, but I thought I'd post the patterns I fell in love with at first sight of this issue. Right now these patterns are on my To Knit List. (I don't have a paper list - it's all in my noggin, but maybe I should start one. It's a long list, and some days I feel my brain is pushing maximum density!) Maybe revisiting these patterns will give me the little extra inspiration and motivation I need to bump these up on my priority list.

Isabella... So lovely...

Meet Ribena. One question: where was this picture shot?



Can you just picture this Bauble wrapped around your wrist as you furiously work those needles?

Thrift Store Find

I love thrift stores! I've had a love for a good resale shop since I was a little girl. So many fond memories (and great finds) when visiting my grandparents in Wisconsin and going to the Goodwill... In fact, when I was in Phoenix, I exclaimed in excitement at the sight of the Goodwill, which got quite a few snickers from my cousins. Some people just can't appreciate a thrift store, and what can be found at a thrift store...

I found this lovely silk/rayon yarn at $9 for 9 hanks! Absolutely GORGEOUS! And definitely enough to knit up a cute little summer top.

Sedona

The scenery in Sedona was amazing...

... So was the cute little knit shop we visited along the way...

Thanks to Red Rock Knit Shop, I snatched that perfect button for my felted bag, as well as some pretty light blue Touche.

I have some grand plans for this Touche. I purchased Wendy Bernard's (of Knit and Tonic) The Somewhat Cowl. Not having a swift and ball winder are really becoming a drag. I desperately want to start swatching, but have no motivation to wind up one of these hanks by hand. Soon, very soon...

& After

I finished my bag 2 weeks ago, but didn't have time to post it before I went to Phoenix. Now that I'm back to reality, and over the blues of wishing I were still on vacation, I finally took photos of it.




I took it to Phoenix with me, although it was buttonless at the time. Just hadn't found the right button. But at the yarn store in Sedona (more on that next post), I found the perfect accessory for this felted baby.

And here's Murphy, starving for attention...

Before

I finally sprung for a camera. I really was jonesin' to take some pictures of this bag in progress, but no camera, no photo...

I'm happy to say that the purchase of my new gadget coincided quite nicely with the completion of this future-felted bag. So, why not take a few photos before I throw this baby in the wash?

Murphy's not at all pleased that Mama's asked for an impromptu photo shoot. All things considered, it's the least he can do.

Stitches Midwest Is A-Comin

I got my Stitches Midwest brochure a few days ago. Stitches isn't coming til August, but my anticipation is already hard to contain. Last year I didn't attend any classes (no moolah) and I only bought a ticket for one day (big mistake - I'm still regretting it!). So, this year, I promised myself 1 class and a two-day pass. I'm such a nerd: I even put the early bird registration on my calendar so I could register AS SOON as physically possible. BTW, early bird registration starts today.

So, what class did I register for? Pattern Writing 101 with Edie Eckman. Oooooh, I'm SO excited! With this description for the class, how could I possibly pass it up?

"If you have a design you’d like to get published or just want to share your
design with other knitters, you need to be able to write it so others can read
it. Learn how to take your idea from concept to written pattern, avoiding
typical mistakes along the way. Explore the joys and pitfalls of grading
patterns for a number of different sizes, and pick up tips for getting your
designs accepted for publication."

As you may know (or not, considering my blogging has been pretty sporadic), I would love to start designing and submitting patterns for publication. I have all these ideas in my head and have no idea how to go from concept to fruition. So, this class is going to be ultra-helpful, chock-full of information and all that good stuff. Did I mention I'm excited?

BTW, I posted last year after I visited Stitches, and if I remember correctly I had a list of do's and don'ts. Better revisit that list before I go to the Market...

Knit Your Bit

I came across this website, thanks to my SNB daily calendar: American Red Cross Museum. Many of you know that the Red Cross inundated women with huge propaganda campaigns in the hope to mobilize them to do their part and knit. On this site you can find a mini history lesson, check out the vintage propaganda posters (including the one shown above), and even check out 9 vintage patterns available as PDFs.

No New Knitting

I have 2 projects on the needles right now, but unfortunately no pics. My camera is down and out - not sure what's wrong - so until it recovers from whatever is ailing it, I'm pictureless And, no, I don't have one of those cool camera phones! :-(

I can tell you what I'm knitting, though: Project #1 was started 4 weeks ago, although I maybe have 6 inches done. I'm knitting a cabled purse in the round. The cables are intertwining, I think it may be called the "relief" cables or some such name. I found the stitch pattern in The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches. I figured out how many stitches to cast on after I made a swatch (a must!) and went from there. I love this cable pattern because it's so easy, yet looks so difficult (as cable patterns tend to do): it's a 12-row repeat, and you only use the cable needle on the 3rd and 9th rows. Doesn't get much easier than that. I'm knitting it up in a beautiful teal wool yarn, perhaps you may remember it from the turtleneck I *was* knitting. That story will have to wait for another day, as it's still too painful to relive right now.

The other project on my needles is a purse pattern found in the first Stitch 'N Bitch book. I can't recall the exact name, but it's something like Marsupial Bag. Basically, it's a large felted bag. Quite cute, really, and I've been searchin' for something to carry my books/knitting/miscellaneous crap in while commuting. You know, something that will make me look even hipper than I already am (that won't be too hard.) Can't recall the brand of yarn (what's up with my brain today?), but I do remember the colors (senility hasn't hit yet): navy, chartreuse, raspberry, teal, and burnt orange. I can't wait to have it finished and usable.

The only problem is I'm finding less and less time to knit, and blog, for that matter. Between work, my growing list of hobbies (my newest hobby is my journey to spiritual enlightenment, which can take up a good chunk of free time), and so my knitting has taken a spot on the back burner for awhile. If only I could quit my job and pursue all those things I want to do... but alas, I can't. That's what retirement's for, right? Yeah, well, with the way things are going in this country, who knows if our generation will ever be able to retire, at least not the middle and lower classes.

But, I'll save my political rantings for another post. And, trust me, sooner or later I'm going to get to that.

Anywho, hopefully I'll have some pics up as soon as I: a) attempt to fix my camera, although I don't know where to start; or b) bite the bullet and buy a new one. I can definitely justify the latter option considering my tax refund should be here soon and I heard Target's having a sale on digi cameras.

Lovely Gloves

My SNB daily calendar pointed me to www.sweaterscapes.com today. They have beautiful sweater and sock patterns that look like rural landscape paintings. Gorgeous stuff, although not suited to my knitting taste. They also have a free pattern for opera gloves. Again, not something that would be on my Have to Knit List, but very cool just the same.

How Appropriate!

Did my SNB daily calendar know Da Bears would make it to the Super Bowl this year? I performed my favorite Friday ritual: tearing off Thursday's page to reveal this Friday's new pattern, and lo and behold, a pattern for orange/blue mittens!

This free pattern can be found at www.kpixie.com. Love it!

Da Bears!!!

Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

Our Bears made it to the SB!! Not normally a football fan, I can sure appreciate our winning team making it all the way! Today at the law firm we're having a Bears Super Bowl party with a prize to the biggest Bear fan.

Remember SNL's Bear Superfans? Watch them talk to another of Chicago's greats.

If anyone's planning a trip to the Windy City on Sunday, you'll have no problem getting around town. The streets will be deserted as everyone sits backs with crossed fingers as they watch our boys in Blue and Orange hit the turf vying for that big gold ring and THE title in football.

GO BEARS!!!

Knitting History 101

Today my SNB daily calendar pointed to a bit of interesting knitting history that I thought I'd share:

"Wartime knitting initiatives witnessed huge spikes in production after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when it was reported that more knitting projects were begun in the two days following the attack than in the preceding three months. The knitting center of a college for women in New Jersey ran out of wool within 48 hours."

Hmm, I wonder how they gathered the data for that statistic. And - colleges used to have knitting centers!! What fun!

I Feel Gypped!

My Pattern-A-Day Calendar disappoints once again...

From the self-explanatory title, one would assume you would get just that - 1 pattern for each day of the year. Today I sat at my desk in anticipation, ready to flip to January 30, and what do I find? A chart for the mittens that were featured for yesterday's pattern! Ugh! This calendar is definitely not living up to my expectations. Oh well... few things do.

Calendar Girl

Christmases come and go, and usually no one in my family acknowledges my favorite hobby and my request for all things knit-related. However, this Christmas was a little different. I was gifted with two page-a-day calendars.

The Stitch 'N Bitch Calendar was practically a gift to myself since I was with my mom when she bought it and I had to tell her "that's what I want!" The Pattern-A-Day Calendar was a gift from M's cousin, or my cousin-in-law. (She also bought me a cool knitting pattern book, but the name escapes me right now.)

I really look forward to getting to work in the morning to see what each day brings. I love the SNB calendar - every Monday it reviews a new yarn, Tuesday it has a helpful tip, Wednesday it gives you a knitting website, Thursday it gives you a tidbit of knitting history and each Friday - NEW PATTERN!

As for the PAD calendar, I'm a little less than enthusiastic. It's a great concept, really; a fabulous concept, in fact. Unfortunately, this concept is only appealing when the patterns are of things you want to knit. For the past 19 days, I've revealed the pattern, sighed in disgust, and then spent time throughout my day contemplating on who would knit such hideous things. To be fair, this is only the 19th of the first month of the year, so good things may be coming. Let's hope.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's been almost two months since, my last post. I've been pretty busy with the holidays, personal issues and work. I hope to start posting more often soon, but for now all I'll say is:

Happy New Year!

May Your Knitting Be Merry and Bright!

Also, I know there aren't many people who read my blog. Most blogs out there are more for the blogger than the reader anyway, right? But, to those who read my blog, whoever and wherever you may be, THANK YOU!

Objects May Appear Smaller When Ribbed

I'm not posting as much as I would like to, but while I've been neglecting my little blog, I have been knitting. I'm working on the ribbed turtleneck from VK's Fall 2006 Issue. I'm working with a 100% pure virgin wool made by Iceland. I really enjoy working with this yarn. It's soft, yet wooly and it's knitting up quite beautifully, if I do say so myself.

Here's the back - worked completely in 2x2 rib. It looks teeny-tiny when unstretched, but such is the nature of ribbing. It is extremely stretchy, which is great considering the holiday weight I'm bound to put on in the next few months.

I'm halfway done with the front - it has such a great cable panel - and I plan to be done with that by the weekend. But, you know what they say about the best-laid plans...

GET OUT AND VOTE!

Election Day is upon us. Today we have the opportunity to vote for the government officials we feel will best represent the American people; the government officials we feel will do our country good; or at the very least, not fuck up our country any more than it already is. Anyone who has ever complained about the way our country is run should be out at the polls today. And for anyone who passes up this right to vote, well then, tough shit, shut your mouth!

During this campaign season (and like most campaign seasons in the past), we’re inundated with negative campaign ads. I’m sick and tired of all these negative ads, just like the rest of you. If I had a dime for every time I heard someone suggest that candidates should run ads about the issues they stand for rather than slinging mud at their opponent… well, I’d have a heapload of dimes. Face it, people, the negative ads aren’t going to go away. Instead of being annoyed and agitated, get proactive. Find out what the candidates stand for. Visit their websites. Read the newspaper. Gladly accept the flyers the volunteers are handing out. In the age of information, there is no excuse for ignorance. Get out their and do your homework!

As you may have guessed by my “Days Left in Office” countdown, I’m a democrat through and through. As much as I could go on and on and rant and rave about the state of this country and how our current administration has royally fucked up things, I won’t. But, I will say this: a change needs to be made. Our deficit is escalating daily. Casualties of this illegal war are escalating daily. Corporate bigwigs are creating our policies. The 1% of the population – the richest of the rich - are getting richer, while the middle and lower class people are paying the price. I can’t stand it any longer. Can you? Do your part – GET OUT AND VOTE!

Scenes from Starved Rock

I haven't posted in a while, partly due to feeling under the weather, partly due to laziness. On the weekend of October 20th, I went to Starved Rock, a state park in Utica, Illinois, for a weekend of R&R, hiking and to check out the beautiful fall colors. The natural beauty was breathtaking. It's hard to imagine such a marvel of nature is only 2 hours away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. I took a shitload of pictures, but these are my top picks.

Ms. Fix It

My husband's cousin has commissioned my help in repairing 2 sets of knitted slippers her mom made for her years ago. Sadly, her mom passed away a few years ago, so you can imagine how much more these slippers mean to her.

This task is a daunting one, to say the least. At least 3 of the 4 slippers are in bad shape. To start, I found a matching RH yarn. I gathered my tools and sat down to get to work. Here's the before picture:

Starting out, I didn't really have any plan. My goal was to mend the slippers without my work being a complete eye sore. After fiddling with different methods of mending, I ended up attaching the yarn with some slipstitches and crocheting chains, back and forth, to create the new fabric. Then I whipstitched the crocheted chains together and voila! Here's the mended slipper.

I think I did one heck of a bang up job, considering what I had to work with. One down, two to go...

Yarn on the Brain + Work = No Productivity

I'm sitting at work, trying so very hard to concentrate, but I have yarn on the brain. Have Ewe Any Wool (my LYS) is open 'til 8 pm tonight, and I've planned a shopping trip on my way home from work. I settled on the cabled turtleneck (scroll down to previous post to see a pic), and I'm on the search for yarn. Not sure what color I'm looking for. Hopefully I'll see *the perfect* color and it'll sing to me.

Alright, back to work...