Trish Knits.com

Month: May 2009

New Stuff in the Knitting Bag!

It’s been a mundane Saturday at my house. But, perhaps I’ve needed one. My DH let me sleep in til 11:30 this morning. I can’t remember the last time I did that! I got quite a bit of knitting done on my scarf in progress, but I am not going to show you that. Let’s just say it now looks like it’s going to be a scarf when it grows up, but realistically, there’s no chance in you-know-where that it’s going to be done by next Sunday. So instead, I thought I would show you some of my latest knitting-related acquisitions. First, I’ll start off with a wonderful new book I got while at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year.

Everything Old is New Again for Baby

This adorable little book, Vintage Baby Knits: More Than 40 Heirloom Patterns from the 1920s to the 1950s is really no little knitting book. It contains a plethora of patterns for babies. My mother had some old knitting books from the 50s in her collection–I remember reading them and not understanding a thing about what they were trying to tell me to do. Many years later, I of course became a knitter, and you know what? I went looking for those patterns, and was dismayed to discover that I still didn’t understand them. This book attempts to solve that problem. The author, Kristen Rengren, is a lover of vintage knits and has translated some classic baby wear designs from decades past into modern knitting language and modern yarns.

The photographs in the book are just too adorable for words; who could resist all of the adorable wee babes wearing beautiful knitwear?

There are many cardigans to choose from, and cute little booties and soakers, and pullovers and blankets, and an adorable hat or two. There are even some toys tucked in there, so just about everything you could ever want to knit for a baby is contained within the pages. An adorable sailor sweater and classic argyle are among the vintage looks… and lots of lacy, delicate little things that just make it so fun to dress the little one. There’s even a gorgeous christening gown, that maybe if I start it now, I’ll be done by the time my 13-year-old daughter becomes a mother (sometime in her 30s, of course!).

I see that Amazon has this book for a very reasonable price, so if you love to knit baby things, go get this book now! You won’t regret it. I paid list price, but I don’t mind. I got to meet the author at the festival, and see? Mine is signed:

Kristen Rengren signed my copy of Vintage Baby Knits

You Spin Me Right Round

Also while at the festival I bought one of these:

Golding Drop Spindle

It’s a drop spindle by Golding and it is a beautiful thing. Now, I’ve tried my hand at drop spindling a couple of times, and I haven’t had much luck with it yet. I bought some practice roving at the festival for a very good price, and I’m going to learn how to spin if it kills me. Why, do you ask, am I so thusly determined? Well, wouldn’t YOU be determined if THIS was waiting for you???

purple, olive and brown roving

Uh huh. I thought so. When I start something, I dive in with both feet. I wasn’t content just to have my little inexpensive scratchy roving. I needed an incentive, and this is it. It’s a Lorna’s Laces Wool Top Roving in the “Purple Iris” colorway. It is SO soft. I’m half tempted to stick some wiggle eyes on it and call it a stuffed animal and let it be. Who am I to think I can make some pretty yarn out of that? I hope I can do it some bit of justice. Meanwhile I’ll practice away on my gray Icelandic roving. I’m sure my yarn will have some interesting textures, but isn’t that half the fun?

Meanwhile, I’ve got a scarf to finish. Better run. See you soon!

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May 16, 2009
Knitting Ruts and Why We Love Them

It’s true; I am a slave to my knitting habits. This week I realized in horror that one of my best friends, who I have not seen in FOUR years, will be in town for a visit in just two weeks. And I’ve wanted to do something special. But what?

Then I realized I had a ball of Socks that Rock in the Hot Flash colorway sitting on my ball winder. (OMG is this a discontinued color? If so, WHY oh why did I not pick up the skein that I saw in a bin at MSW??? Kicking self, now!) Fate stepped in. You see, my friend loves Hello Kitty so much that she even has a Hello Kitty tattoo on her leg. And the Hot Flash yarn is, well, Hello Kitty pink and red. What could be more perfect?

beginnings of hot pink scarf

So I grabbed my copies of my red and blue Barbara Walker books, and began to look for a lacy pattern that would fit the bill for this yarn. In the end, I didn’t choose a lace pattern. I chose Twin Rib. The thing is? I always choose Twin Rib. But why? Well, it’s easy, albeit a little boring, and it does make a lovely fabric. In this case, I am knitting the mediumweight yarn on a size 7 needle, which for me, with my loosey-goosey knitting, makes a very loose, drapey fabric. Other times I’ve knit it much tighter, to make a very dense, warm scarf. But it’s almost summer now, and the yarn is shockingly pink. Loose, drapey and fun seemed the right thing to do.

I wish at times that I would branch out more. I have all of the world of knitting in front of me, and I tend to go back to the same, simple patterns, over and over. Why is that?

If there’s time, I’ll knit a red, Hello Kitty-shaped bow and sew it to the scarf, just for added cuteness. I doubt there will be time. But I can dream.

So, this whole thing has got me thinking. Am I the only one who is a slave to my knitting ruts? What are yours? Please let me know I’m not alone. Drop me a line and tell me all about them. I know you must have them. Please tell me that we all do.

Meanwhile, wish me luck in my quest to finish a whole scarf in the next 10 days. Sleep? Who needs it? Gotta Knit! Ciao for now…

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May 13, 2009
Just This One Thing…

There’s just this:

New Knitting Bag

Namaste Laguna. In eggplant. Nirvana. That is all.

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May 11, 2009
Spring Knitters

Today was the monthly meeting of the Bowie Borders Knitting group. We met a week later than usual, because most of us attended the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. There was much new fiber and yarn to look at, plus some new books. And tales of rain, and muck, and mud. Lots of mud.

Happily, today we were all dried and sunny, and enjoyed a good time in the cafe, sipping yummy concoctions (we were about split on cold versus hot, but it’s that time of year). And knitting and crocheting. It’s always about the yarn, and the amazing things that we all find to do with it.

Here are some shots from today’s gathering. As usual, click to embiggen.

Heather brought her sister Jennifer along

Heather models her sweater

Jennifer knits a Clapotis

Trish knits her February Lady Sweater

Tammy is working on a baby shrug

Rhoda is knitting a felted bag

Molinda joined us today, too

Leslie shows her project

Jo is knitting an anklet sock

Amber joined us for the first time today

Alice was crocheting a rainbow-y afghan today

Ileana models her recently completed cropped shell

We were happy to welcome Heather’s sister, Jennifer, whose husband is a marine and between assignments. Hopefully we’ll get to see her again before she heads off to Chile! We really enjoyed meeting and spending time with her. Also a first timer today was Amber. I hope she’ll be joining us regularly because she seemed to fit right in as if she had been with us all along. (Our group is like that; everyone is always welcome and it’s easy to feel right at home.)

Dina was also there and working on a lovely mobius cowl with her Kauni yarn. (I have some marinating in my stash, too. The rainbow colorway. For That Cardigan. Someday.)

It was also great to see Jo again after such a long winter break. As usual, I was sad to leave. I’m already looking forward to next month!

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May 9, 2009
Coming In from the Rain

Hi all, I’m finally resurfacing… to tell you all about my time at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! It was great fun this year, as usual, but soggy. The rain has been going on for 8 days now and frankly it has me a little down. Hence the blog silence. I’m sorry! But I wanted to talk about the festival before the week was out. So, here goes!

I was all set to go on Saturday, but I wound up being sick during the night in a most unpleasant way, so could not go to the festival until Sunday. Of course, it was POURING rain the whole time. I guess I should consider myself lucky, as this was the first time in my five times going that we’ve had weather that bad. It was cold, wet, and muddy. Ick. I’m surprised I’m not sick! But the festival itself makes me happy and it was still worth it to go. But, I will say that now that I’ve done the festival once in the rain? Once was enough. I don’t think I need yarn that bad!!

Trish with Jess, Casey, and Mary-Heather from Ravelry

The first stop was the Ravelry meetup in the Rabbit Building. I’m not sure I would call it a “building.” It’s more like a covered pavilion with a gravel and dirt floor. The mud getting into the place was horrendous, and if I had had any sense, I would never have gone, but since when have I had any sense? No way was I going to miss the Ravelry crowd. It was great to see everyone again, and this year they were all modeling designs by Ysolda Teague. Jess had on this amazing little purple shawl that was so lovely! She took it off and showed it to me. It was beautiful, and it even looks like something that I could do, even with my limited lace skills. There were pictures all around, and it was great to see everyone again.

Ysolda Teague and Trish
And why were the Ravelry folks all wearing Ysolda Teague? Why, because we had the pleasure of being in the company of Ysolda Teague herself! How wonderful! She was adorned from head to toe (literally!) with examples of her beautiful knitwear, and oh my gosh it was SOOOOOO beautiful in person! Ysolda was modeling another version of the same shawl that Jess was wearing, along with the matching hat. Both are available in Ysolda’s book, “Whimsical Little Knits.” I was so enamored of each of these patterns that I got the book right away when I came home. Luckily it was available for immediate digital download. I am all about the instant gratification.

Ysolda was also wearing her Coraline sweater, which she told me even comes in my size, and oooh did I get excited. It’s lovely and now I want to make one. She was also wearing a pair of long, lacy socks which might have been the Rapunzel Stockings. I hope she didn’t get them ruined in the mud!

Speaking of mud, the rain was so persistent and the ground so wet and boggy that boy oh boy, did I ever get stuck in the mud while trying to get out of the Rabbit Building. I can’t believe the size of the hole my wheelchair dug into. I was mucky and muddy for the whole rest of the day after that! But hey, it was fun! Except that I don’t think my wheelchair is a huge fan of water. I started having an electrical short early on during the day. So once again I am in my old, clunky chair that makes me generally grumpy. Sigh.

Here is a collection of images from around the festival that day:

basket weaver in action
There was a guy weaving handmade baskets,

a collection of sock designs
and a plethora of sock designs and sock yarns.

bags of colorful yarn on a shelf
And of course, there was lots of yarn!

Oh, and lots of cute sheep to pet:

Baah!

Baah!

Baah!

And there was music! That’s one of my favorite things about the festival. The sounds of music filled the air from just about everywhere. Here was where Maggie Sansone usually performs, except that the one time I got close enough to film, she had actually stepped away. Maggie’s Celtic music is a real highlight of the festival. You can check her out on iTunes, among other places. But here is some of what I got to hear:

Of course, I bought lots of yummy fiber and yarn. More about that… but in another post. Right now it’s past my bedtime, and there’s a new episode of Lime and Violet calling my name. I’m glad I’ll be listening to a podcast while going off to sleep. It’s storming again. Ugh.

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May 6, 2009
Bowie Borders Knitting Meetup

Date: May 9, 2009

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Location:
Borders (in the same strip as Target)
4420 Mitchellville Road
Bowie, MD 20716

Phone: 301.352.5560

See you there!

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May 6, 2009