Thursday, July 26, 2007

Life of a Knitter





Hey there! It's Thursday, which means I'm at home with the kiddo. Still plugging away on the shawl from Wrapped in Comfort, it's looking very pretty. I'm thinking about my poor Monkey socks (Cookie A. pattern). I really need to finish those so I can see if all the hype about hand knitted socks is really true. There are just a TON of great sock patterns out there, I must be missing something big.

I'm wanting to do one of the sweaters from the new Knitscene magazine http://www.knitscene.com/ . I really like the Cactus Blossom Pullover by Kate Jackson and the Road to Golden Pullover by Lisa Shroyer. David of course doesn't like either of them since they have colors in them. (He's a dark, solid color type of guy.) Well, phooey on him. Am I really ready for Fair Isle?? I don't know. If I had any type of willpower I would finish poor Arietta first. We'll see. Plus I need a substitute yarn if I do Road to Golden, since the yarn used would be over $120, and I can't really justify that right now.
I have this huge, beautiful Rose of Sharon bush in my backyard. It's blooming now, and that means I've been back in NC for almost 2 years. It's blooming earlier now, since it was in bloom when we moved here on August 19th of 2005. Boy, was it hot that day, I think it was over 90, which is high for these mountains. Wherever our first home is, I want to plant on of these bushes. It's amazing how the birds/bees/butterflies all love it.

On another note, I finally got to teach David how to knit....look at him!! Isn't it great?? I figured I had to take a pic in case it was a one time only event. So I taught him, he picked it up right away, his stitches were so even and nice it really looked like he was a seasoned knitter! I'm sure my first attempts did not look that good. The best part was that he took a break to take a shower, then when he came out, he picked it up again! We'll see if I can convince him yet of the wonders of being a knitter =;) At least I have a picture.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Pink Shawls, and Lace, and Bears, Oh My!

Yes, it’s another shawl picture. Oh, Kathy’s Shawl, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. The funny thing is, I don’t even know who this pretty pink shawl is for….if it’s for me, (since Alison Hyde http://spindyeknit.com/ and I are the only people left who love the color), or someone I haven’t met. We shall see. I’m just enjoying the process so much. Every time I finish a row I feel like I should be pushing a button with a little cheering section at a baseball game or something. And NO, I’ve not had any wine today, in case you were wondering. Here’s a little pic of the progress, I’m nearly done with the first body repeat. Each row takes, well, a while. It’s 381 sts after all. I just hope the DK weight yarn wasn’t a bad idea.

As if I wasn’t already in over my head, I’ve been repeating the “I will not buy yarn” mantra all week. Which is crappy, since I joined my LYS sit ‘n’ knit night, and c’mon, I just HAVE to buy yarn from her! I rarely go to her store, since it’s in the center of town and a little hard to find parking to go there. Bleh. Well I have to get SOMEthing if I keep going to this thing.

So I was being a good girl and all, resisting the sales that are seemingly everywhere online…..then….. (big dramatic pause)….I found this: http://knitspot.com/?cat=18 - OH My. Went right over and bought the kit. Oops. I found this through http://www.januaryone.com/ – another knitter whom I bow down to, with her awesome knitterly powers. Alright, now I PROMISE I’m going to go on an OFFICIAL yarn diet…..right after I buy something from my LYS. I need another project like I need a hole in the head. Yet, I am admitting this right here and now, I like lace!! A LOT. It’s really cool watching your knitting progress.

We had a black bear running around in our yard today, so I may be hiding out. I mean, do they actually attack people? Don’t they need to be provoked first or something?? It’s just weird, we saw a mama bear with 3 cubs when we first moved here, and it was always at nighttime. I thought it was odd that this bear was out wandering in a public area in the middle of the day. Phooey. I wanted to see Sydney doing her karaoke with the hose again in her little pool. Now that’s a funny sight.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Great Summer Knitting.....


...is a shawl from the very sweet Alison Hyde's new book, "Wrapped in Comfort". If you don't have one, you should get one, if simply for the stories and beautiful pictures alone. I'm venturing into the world of knitted shawls, and I'm so NOT a shawl person. We shall see. Don't knock it 'til you try it, right? I do love long flowy dresses, and what better compliment than a lovely hand knitted shawl.

I'm very happy with the way it is turning out so far. I'm knitting "Kathy's Clover Chain Shawl", using a DK weight yarn, which is helping it to progress fairly rapidly. It's Silky Tweed by Elsebeth Lavold, recommended by a lace lover at my LYS. She also was recommended that hemp yarn (Hempathy maybe?) that I was surprised and the nice feel and look of that. (She had both yarns OTN in her knitting bag and whipped her progress out to show me.) My only concern is the yarn making the shawl too big.

Went for a nice hike this morning along the Blue Ridge Parkway, close to the Applachian Trail. Saw a poor Luna Moth on it's last day. We moved it out of the path so it wouldn't get crushed, since it couldn't fly anymore. Noticed lots of really interesting trees, ever notice how they sometimes look like they have faces? Pretty cool. Sydney hiked and talked a lot and did her little happy girl thing. A nice day, there is nothing better than doing the things you love and spending time with those you love.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

In which she spends the day wasting time......




Alright, I’ll admit it….the housework isn’t really getting done today =;) Today is official “goof off on the internet day”. At least for a good afternoon, c’mon, you deserve it!

Anyway, if you can’t do that and are all being good and doing what you’re supposed to, I’ll share some things I’ve discovered today.

First of all, http://www.knittingdaily.com/ - is a new site you can sign up for that has a hilarious moderator named Sandi Wiseheart. She’s going to soon post a tutorial about bust darts, specifically for the pattern from “No Sheep for You”, called Tomato (free download when you sign up.) They have new free patterns every week.

Blogs. My goodness, there are so many great ones! This post over at http://www.crazyauntpurl.com had me cracking up today as she states her evil arch nemesis is the ice cream man. Boy, do I miss having one of those! (Not too many coming down my gravel dead end road.)

Interweave is having a sale on their back issues, buy 4 get a 5th free. This includes all their different publications. I also discovered some free patterns when you click here http://www.knitscene.com/back_issues.asp - and check out the table of contents.

If you have a little boy you have to knit this sweater: http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/freeKnittingPatternPondemonium.asp - they have a monthly pattern contest and this is last month’s winner! How often do you see a sweater with frogs, FLYS & WORMS on it!!

MagKnits – not quite as big and popular as Knitty, but they do have some great patterns over there! Check out this new one: http://www.magknits.com/July07/patterns/jellyfish.htm - a really cute, lacy shrug.

On a more serious note: Annie Modesitt – who I’m sure the vast majority of you know of, since her patterns are seemingly everywhere – is selling a pattern and asking for donations for her husband, who has Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer. It’s a lovely corset to gown pattern, and Annie seems to just be one of the sweetest people in the knitting community. Here’s the link: http://www.anniemodesitt.com/patterns/rcc.html.

I’ve started the second sleeve of Arietta, imagining by some miracle that I could actually finish this in time to submit a photo to the Knitty calendar contest: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/2008contest.html . Surely, you jest! Well, a girl can dream!! My online search for others making Arietta didn’t prove very successful. I’m curious to see some other color combos.

Yet another knitting thing to get addicted to…..podcasts. I realized that you don’t even need one of those little ipods, I can listen with my old fashioned Windows Media Player just fine. Here’s one I found that I really thought was informative AND funny: http://www.stashandburn.com/.

So what do you think of my Double Scoop sweater?? Sydney looks pretty happy in it. She loved her 'photo shoot'. It's a great sweater for summer/fall since we still get some of those chilly moutain evenings here in Asheville NC.

I’ll leave you with a link to some really dreamy yarn. Someday….someday….. http://sundarayarn.typepad.com/sundara_yarn

Have a great weekend.