Trish Knits.com

Category: blog

  • Knitting Helps

    Last week’s time change means that we all of a sudden have been plunged into darkness–the deep, gloomy black kind of sky that sets in even before I get to leave work for the day. I really hate it because the skylights in our new building at work, though they show the light brightly when the sun shines, they also accentuate the deepness of the darkness at dusk.

    It is at this time of year when I find myself turning to the knitting even more. Thank goodness for the knitting. Perhaps this is why I gravitate toward bright colors generally; they counteract the effects of winter darkness. Yes, that must be it. But then again, what is my most favorite color? Deep, dusky purple. Almost, but not quite, black. Go figure!

    I’ve decided that I need to pick back up on my daughter’s hat:

    my daughter's school spirit hat
    my daughter’s school spirit hat

    I posted my problem about having an extra stitch on Ravelry and on my KnitHatsNow group. Most folks who responded said that one stitch isn’t that big a deal, and that I can ignore it until I have to adjust for the ribbing. Even Sarah Bradberry, whose book on hats I really admire, said she would ignore it, adding the encouraging phrase, “when this happens to me…” It happens to her? Wow. If extra stitches happen to THE hat lady, and she feels good about ignoring them, then hey, it’s good! I’ll live to knit another day. My daughter is especially thrilled that she will be getting her hat sooner rather than later. Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts; I truly appreciated them all.

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    Listen to this article

  • A Tale of Stitches

    Yesterday I had the good fortune of attending Stitches East in Baltimore, with my friend Dina from knitting group. I really had a great time! It was different from attending the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, because that show has a decidedly more local, and small farmer, flavor. This was fun because I got to meet so many people, vendors and friends, who came from all over for the event.

    Almost right away I met Tina Whitmore from KnitWhits, which is one of my favorite pattern stores. She happened to have the blocking tiles set on hand, which I purchased and I also picked up a pattern and a little kit for a felted flower. It was great to meet Tina, too… whose work I have admired and much want to learn how to do. She and I seem to have a similar sense of color, which is, I think, what attracts me to many of her designs.

    Trish and Alison Hyde
    Trish and Alison Hyde

    At long last, I got to meet the one and only Alison Hyde! Finally! We’ve been writing back and forth online for years, so it was really great to meet her at Lisa Souza’s booth. It was clear that this wonderful lady has many fans! She’s the author of Wrapped in Comfort: Knitted Lace Shawls, and I have the book already and aspire to knit something from it someday. In fact, one of the ladies who she made a shawl for was also there, and she was wearing the actual shawl from the actual book. That was fun to see! Anyway, it was fun to finally meet Alison and the great Lisa Souza.

    At some point while I was in line at one booth, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that Vivian Hoxbro would be on hand to sign her latest book, Knit to Be Square: Domino Designs to Knit and Felt. Well, since I am a newly converted fan of Domino Knitting, I decided to make a break for it and head straight over. Vivian was a delight to talk to, and she was even wearing the abstract stole (Ravelry Link) from the book. It was cool!

    I got the new book and she graciously signed it for me:

    Knit to Be Square book cover
    Knit to Be Square book cover
    Knit to Be Square signed on the inside
    Knit to Be Square signed on the inside

    I even had my very first Vivian Hoxbro square from my Mitered Square Babette Blanket in progress in my purse, and I was able to show it off. She commented that my fist square was HUGE (it is!) but I am going for a really big blanket. I guess we’ll see how it turns out!

    Of course I got lots of yarn! There’s one more hank I got that isn’t in these photos, because Dina has it (phew… I thought I forgot it somewhere!) but I’m sure I’ll see her soon. As always, click on the photos to see a larger version and to read more details about each photo.

    Knitters Blocks blocking tiles
    three different shades of Noro Kureyon
    Lisa Souza wool in purple and periwinkle
    Valley Yarns, burgandy and cream
    Silk Garden Chunky
    felted flower kit and spool of gold tinsel thread
    TessYarns Merino Superwash in Purple

    This was such a great day! It was my first time at Stitches and I found out on Friday that next year, the convention is moving back to Hartford. So it will probably be my last time at Stitches. So, I’m glad I have so many fun people and yarn memories. I guess they’ll have to last me a while.

    Thanks to Dina for taking me to Stitches East! I had a blast! I just wish I could say that I can’t wait for next year.

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  • Stick to Your Knitting, Trish

    mitered square in progress
    mitered square in progress

    You might be wondering why I haven’t been focusing on my knitting in this blog lately. The truth is, there hasn’t been much knitting to blog about!

    So I thought I’d show you the progress on my giant garter stitch mitered square. Believe it or not, that bit has about one and a half skeins of Noro Kureyon in it, and it has a ways to go! I think I will put a complementary color of Wool of the Andes in the center when I run out rather than try to find a third skein of the same color in the Noro.

    I plan to make a sort of rainbow-y patchwork of squares, picking up stitches along the sides of existing squares to create new ones. There will be several different sizes of squares. I’m using the layout chart from the Babette Blanket as a guide. Of course, though, it’s just in my head for now, because I haven’t yet begun to add the second square. But I do think in theory it will work. In any event, I am finding the endless rows of garter stitch to be a nearly foolproof comfort.

    Even the hat I am knitting right now, the one I am knitting for my daughter? It too is plagued with problems. I am just noticing now that one of the wedge sections has an extra increase in it that the other sections do not. I am thinking I should just ladder down to that extra kfb and get rid of it, hoping that the surrounding stitches will eventually take up the slack of the bit of extra yarn that the extra stitch created. Or should I just rip back? I do hate frogging so the thought of this has caused me to put the hat aside, much to my daughter’s disappointment. I could knit two together somewhere in that wedge and pretend the extra stitch never existed, but I am afraid that the hat will look lopsided in some way.

    Does anybody out there have thoughts on this? Which method should I try? Thanks for the input… my daughter would be forever grateful.

    I am planning to attend Stitches East for the first time this weekend. Who’s going? I hope to meet you there!

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  • And the Letter of the Day is…

    O.

    Way to go, America!

    I went first thing this morning to vote. They said on the news that the lines were terrible and many people were already waiting for hours by 7 a.m. when the polls actually opened in Maryland. The parking lot at our polling place was more crowded than I have ever seen it and the line actually snaked around the entire inside of the school building. I had never seen that before, either.

    I had my knitting, and I was ready. Mindless garter stitch is good for stuff like this, waiting in lines. It was going to be a long haul, I thought. But then, a poll worker came up to me and told me I could go to the front. I guess being in a wheelchair does have some perks sometimes, but really, waiting in lines does not bother me. I told them it would not matter to me if I went through the line if my DH could not, since we came together. But they let him come up, too.

    Turns out they have provisional wheelchair accessible parking on Election Day and they wanted to keep turning it over. So, in the end, while I was a bit disappointed to be deprived of being able to tell my “I waited in line for two hours” story, we spent the time by going to Starbucks afterward. So, it’s all good. Only 20 stitches were knit today. But there’s something much bigger unfolding in front of us. I am so looking forward to the ride.

  • The What-I-Was-Doing-Instead-of-Attending-My-Niece’s-Inaccessible-Wedding Report

    Today is Kristen and Mike’s wedding day. While I am very sad to be anywhere but there, circumstances prevented my attending. Still, that didn’t mean I was going to stay home and feel sorry for myself, even if in my heart of hearts that’s what I most wanted to do. So instead of heading to Western Maryland for the big event of the day, I instead went with my family to my boss’s annual fall chili party at her family’s horse farm.

    As you can see in the video, there was this one horse who was very, very friendly. Let me tell you, you’ve not yet lived until you’ve been licked behind your ears by a horse! I rather felt like Fred Flinstone when Dino greets him at the end of the workday.

    Here are some other shots from our time on the farm:

    parrot
    Steven rides the pony
    Steven rides the pony with Diana leading
    brown horse peeking out of stall
    white horse
    white horse
    Trish and Steven petting horse
    woolly bear caterpillar

    As usual, please click the thumbnail to see a bigger version of the photo and read the caption.

    All in all, it was a great day! Perfect weather. Yummy chili. And an excellent way to spend an Autumn afternoon.

  • Boo.

    halloween light fixture in the rain
    halloween light fixture in the rain

    Today was one of those days where the sun just refused to shine. It’s that time of year where the sun doesn’t come up until about 7:30 in the morning, which is bad enough by itself. But today, it seemed like daylight just never came. The sky was heavy and gray with the beginnings of autumn colors in the foreground. And it was cold. I waited, certain that the sun would come streaming in my window by mid morning, but there I sat, cold and dejected as if I’d been stood up on a blind date.

    It was cold and dark, a perfect match for my rapidly worsening mood. We went from summer to winter in the space of one day. Perfect knitting weather, but I have to get out of my slump first. I’m still working on the simple hat I started last week and the garter stitch mitered square. Alas new photos of either one at this stage would be too boring to show. But I do think that the mindless knitting required for each is just what I need right now.

    The sun will come out…. tomorrow… bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow…. there’ll be sun….

    Harumph.