Trish Knits.com

Category: blog

  • Knittin’ with Rhoda

    fingerless gloves made with sock yarn

    Hi again! Today I had a really nice visit with my knit buddy, Rhoda, who has been recovering from foot surgery. It was the first time we’ve seen each other since before Memorial Day, which is saying a lot because we’ve been getting together to knit every couple of weeks for about a year now. I often complain that I don’t get out much and don’t have much contact with the knitting community other than in cyberspace. Rhoda is my one really big exception and it is a wonderful one, to just sit and knit. Sure there is always a bit of show and tell, and sharing of resources. Today, she brought a copy of “Creative Knitting” Magazine (why I have not yet subscribed to this one, I don’t know, but I LOVE it!) and I had the Fall issue of “Knit Simple” (which I am finding increasingly underwhelming) and the Summer issue of “Interweave Knits“. (I am dying to receive the fall issue, which I hope will be coming soon!)

    LOOK what Rhoda brought me! Six weeks of recuperation from surgery meant lots of knitting time, I guess! And she brought me these adorable fingerless gloves! The pattern is Steph’s Sock Yarn Fingerless Gloves, and the yarn is Knitpicks Dancing. They are cotton, wool, nylon and elastic, which means they are warm, but not too warm, and despite the fact that they look small they are very stretchy. This is the kind of thing that is great to wear on a morning that is chilly but not freezing, and LOOK! There’s purple in them! Thank you, Rhoda!!

    While we sat and knat, we listened to Cast On, which continued the Camp for grownups theme, and to Lime & Violet, which had us laughing, but I did have to be careful that my 5-year-old wasn’t in the room!

    I did also re-purchase the Jordana Paige Satchel in Grape. I can’t wait for it to get here!!

    I may be a bit out of touch this week, but I’ll try to provide a blankie update by Friday. Ciao for now!

  • Knot Much Knitting…

    Ok so I’ve grown really slack about knitting this week. I think I’m just bored, bored BORED! with the never ending baby blanket project. I’m already thinking of other things I could be working on, and well, isn’t that just WRONG? I need to finish my blanket!

    Curvaceous Cables by Dawn Brocco

    So I’ve been thinking… I really need to make some sort of pull rope on the door to my new office. One of the things I have trouble with is closing a door behind me as I leave a room… when I turn around to pull a door shut invariably the door will hit my casters and I can’t get a good grip on the door handle. So, I was thinking back to the early 70s when I was a kid and everybody’s mother had Macramé plant hangers in their kitchens… thinking that I need some sort of ornamental rope on my doorknob.

    Then I got to thinking about a book I bought by Dawn Brocco last year — Curavaceous Cables Collection. Instead of tying knots with rope I could instead knit something. Perhaps I will give this a try! And, in doing so, it will whet my appetite again for knitting, since I love cables so much, and it should be a fairly quick project. I’ll have to dig that book out tonight and give it a try…


    The Bag Debate

    Purple Knitters Satchel by Jordana Paige

    Lately I’ve been thinking lots about how much I miss my grapey-colored Knitter’s Satchel by Jordana Paige. This photo is from 2006. I still have the bag, but it had a rather unfortunate clash with my wheels one day, and the metal frame that the clasp is on got severely bent. My DH did try to fix it, but it goes together too awkwardly and just isn’t the same! One of the things I liked best about it, aside from the color, was that fabulous clicky clasp like on my grandmother’s chic 1960s handbags.

    So here’s the thing. Should I replace it? I desperately want to, but it is expensive, and well, I just don’t know if I can justify it. Sigh.


    Knitting While Listening…

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Audiobook
    Ok, so I have Harry Potter fever, just like the rest of the world. I’ve been reading the book, yes, but while at work, or knitting, or whatever, I have also been listening to the audiobook edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Love it! Jim Dale as usual is doing a great job. I wish audiobooks were not so expensive! I’d own a lot of them!

    Discovered a podcast this week that I am absolutely loving! It’s Lime and Violet. I had tried to avoid this one before, but it is hysterically funny! If you haven’t listened yet, give it a try.

    Also, yay! I got an email from Brenda Dayne of Cast On today and she said there WILL be a podcast this weekend. Be sure to look for it!

  • Knitting by Ear

    closeup of clapotis shawl, unfinished

    Here’s the thing. I hate writing posts with no pictures. So I decided to treat your eyes with a project on the UFO bin from 2005. Yes friends, this is my Clapotis. It is made from Rio de la Plata yarn, which is kettle dyed and reminiscent of Malabrigo, but because of its uniqueness in dyeing, I did not have enough yarn to finish the project at the size I was making it. Sure, I had enough balls in the same colorway and even in the same lot, but among the lot that I had there were three distinct piles that I could put my balls of yarn in… and they were all so different! Sigh. Someday I may finish this project anyway, in spite of itself.

    So, on to the real reason for my post today. I want to talk about the podcasts I’ve been listening to while knitting. I am sorely missing Brenda Dayne of Cast On at the moment, so I went in search of other things to occupy my ears whilst I am in waiting. I did find several worth sharing:

    • Sticks and String — a podcast by an Australian bloke who knits. He goes for the tried and true format pretty much defined by Brenda Dayne, but I do find it enjoyable. Especially since he is a relatively new-again knitter. It’s fun to listen to what he finds in the bottom of his knitting bag!
    • Stash and Burn — a podcast by Jenny and Nicole, which is very entertaining!
    • Lime and Violet — very fun! I think this one is worth a listen as well.
    • Let’s Knit2gether — this is a way cool video podcast that gets updated about once a month. This weekend, they have the second half of their essay on the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival up. Check it out!

    Truly it is so hard to decide which podcasts to listen to and which to pass up, because there are so many. I almost listen to podcasts more often than straight music on my iPod.

    Not much knitting in the cards today; I am going to see Hairspray with my daughter and Steve, then to Johnny Rockets for dinner. Then, alas, I have some actual work to do for my job… sigh. It never ends!

    I hope everyone is having glorious, breezy summer weather like we are today. Later!

  • A Different Perspective

    vertical view of striped blanket

    Hello again! This time I decided to photograph my blankie-in-progress vertically so it would be easy to see how big it actually is. Wow! No wonder it is taking me so long to work on this. I think even I didn’t really know how big it was or how well it was progressing. Now I have renewed energy and I do think I can get this done!

    (I’m still glad I have 28 hours in the car coming up in August…. lots of knitting time! I talked to the expectant mom last week and she said that the doctor thinks she’ll go early, so it may not be done in time, but I will get there!)

    I’ve been knitting to a new (to me) podcast recently. I finally subscribed to Quirky Nomads after hearing host Sage Tyrtle participate so much in Cast On. (Where are you, Brenda? I’ve only been listening for a couple of months and I’m all caught up, and I miss you!) Quirky Nomads is definitely different, but fun. Check it out!


    Sennheiser MX 75 Headphones

    And to enhance my listening experience, I replaced the standard earbuds on my iPod with these, the MX75 Sport Earbuds by Sennheiser. Generally I dislike earbuds, but I find myself listening to the iPod while falling asleep at night very often, and the earbuds are less fussy… except of course that they always fell out of my ears. These Sennheisers have an interesting little doohicky at the top that helps to anchor the earbuds to the ear. They also come with rubber disks of varying sizes so you can mix and match and find the sizes that provide a perfect fit. And, they work! And sound great, too.

    I’ve ordered my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on audiobook, so with the iPod and my new earbuds, and lots of knitting to do, I’ll be set for a while.

    Happy knitting!

  • Oh How I Am Longing…

    To hold some soft and snuggly yarn and knit something new!

    I cannot decide which to do:

    The answer? I’ll tell you the answer! None of the above! I’m still working on that striped baby blanket, and it is mocking me. I will persevere! I will, I will!

    (wish me luck–and a little willpower. Please?)

  • Wow, Lookie What I Got!

    Purple striped afghan with photo of woman holding baby inset into the corner

    Today at work I received a surprise gift from a fellow fiber lover! Jonni mostly does lovely, delicate needle work, but she used to be an avid crocheter. She said she was going through some boxes in her house, and came across this afghan, and well, because it was purple, it just had to be mine! Wow. We just moved into a new office building and the general consensus is that the temperature is freezing cold. I guess it could be my abundance of self, or perhaps my middle-aged internal thermometer, but the cool air conditioning is a welcome change for me! Still, I plan to keep this gem thrown over a chair in my office. What a lovely, purple-y gift!

    I photographed it from the vertical angle but the rows go in the horizontal direction, I think I can emulate this idea with knitting, by doing the same traveling stitch technique as in the ball band dishcloth, a la Mason-Dixon Knitting, just stair-stepping the distances of the vertically traveling stitches. I may have to try this look on a dishcloth after I finish the baby blanket.

    That’s Jonni, by the way, in the corner of the photo, holding my son Steven on the day I first brought him to the office. (Steven is 5 now.) Jonni also crocheted a beautiful, white lacy baby blanket which became part of his baptismal layette. I still have it and treasure it to this day.

    Thanks, Jonni! This blanket is so ME, and a wonderful addition to my office.