Trish Knits.com

DH and I telecommuted today and for a moment this afternoon we looked out and saw this:

snow clouds hang low and threatening

snow shower

And then? Just like that, it was gone. It would have been great for knitting!

Here’s One from the “Now I’ve Seen a Knitting Book for Just About Everything” Department

I recently received a copy of the book, Knitted Icons: 25 Celebrity Doll Patterns, and let me tell you. Now I think I’ve seen everything. This book features a pattern for a basic knitted doll, and depending on how you accessorize, it can be anything from Madonna to Marilyn Monroe or Abraham Lincoln, or Jimi Hendrix. For some reason, there’s even a Che Guevara doll. If you’re into knitting dolls, or doing knit projects that are a bit off beat or downright amusing, then this is the book for you. Me? I think I need a knitted Audrey Hepburn.

In other knitting news, if I have any, I’m still working on my giant mitered square, and the hat for my daughter. But I really need to get motivated to finish the brown ripple afghan so I can get that one off my plate. Hopefully, I’ll have an update on that project soon. I’m hoping that mentioning it publicly will motivate me. Wish me luck!

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front view of almost finished hat

side view of almost finished hat

For some reason the daughter insisted tonight that I give you a hat update, so here it is! Hedda Hat-Rack is modeling for you my almost completed purple and olive Noro Kureyon hat. I think her head is a bit smaller than mine; the hat doesn’t come down nearly as far on my own head so I do have a bit left to do. I’m down to just feet of yarn left on the first ball, and will be attaching the second ball probably tomorrow. This is my third hat this month and I think I’m finally getting it right! This one is going to be cute. I’ll have to get a couple more balls of this colorway because I feel an acute need for matching mittens coming on!

It’s Here! It’s Here!

I got home from work today and saw the box from Amazon on my porch that contained the long-awaited new book from Stephanie Pearl McPhee: Free Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again. I’ve been hearing folks complain that the book is on backorder and they’re still waiting. I can’t imagine that the folks at Amazon weren’t communicating with the publisher on the amount of pre-orders, which if I know my knitting community, was probably pretty high. On the other hand I was also hearing that some who were told by Amazon that shipping would be delayed received it anyway, so I guess we’ll see how it all pans out.

I’ve been in end of fiscal year hell at work, so I doubt I will have chunks of time to sit and read over the next couple of weeks. And I still haven’t perfected a technique for reading and knitting at the same time. I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, either. (Oh wait… I can’t walk. I forgot.) So, I’m looking forward to a good snow day or a long weekend or something where I can switch back and forth between the knitting and the reading. Can’t wait. Really.

Last week was my first time. My first time shopping at The Loopy Ewe, that is. My impression of the shop til now was that it was mostly about the sock yarns and fibers, and it didn’t have much that would interest an ordinary knitter like me. I don’t know whether my impression was right or wrong, but every time I visited the site I got the feeling that you kinda have to know what you want to find something, and I found it hard to just browse.

But then I started hearing that they were getting in this huge amount of Cascade 220. In like, just about every color. That there would be a WALL of Cascade in their store. A WALL of Cascade is my dream. I want to be rich someday, and have a huge craft room with a Wall of Cascade. So I can go in there on any given day and just pick a color and knit something. That’s not too much to ask, it it? Nah, I didn’t think so.

So the good news is I found the Cascade on the site and looked at every page and had a hard time narrowing it down. Maybe I’m on my way to having my own Wall of Cascade. I’m happy to report that the service was astoundingly fast. It may have been my first time shopping there, but it won’t be my last. On with the photos:

cascade 220 neutrals

cascade 220 dusky lavender

cascade 220 faded denim shades

cascade 220 antique christmas shades

tegan had to get in the middle of the yarn photos

,,,and Zoe thinks she's hiding

Now I just need to convince myself to stop looking at the other colors… help me… Now to finish my hat so I can play with my new yarn.

(Today would have been my Dad’s 66th birthday. It rained all day and I missed him. If it had been sunny we were going to go to a carnival thing at my kids’ school, and I was looking forward to “losing” a balloon and sending it skyward. Oh well, the thought was there. Did you catch it, Dad? Happy Birthday…)

cantaloupe hat almost done except brim

It’s been a few days so I thought I’d update you on the hat I’m making. I think it’s almost done! It’s wider at the top than the bottom, and I’m making it slightly longer than I normally would so that it can have room to be a bit billowy. I’ve been trying on as I go and I’m just about ready to knit the brim. I’m sure I’ll get some weird comments about this hat when it’s done, with all the bright colors and stuff. It’s ok, the weirder the better. One of my co-workers once commented that she never knew what I’d show up to work with on my head. This one will probably get her attention too!

My usual lunch buddy is on vacation for the next two weeks and I was actually feeling a bit anxious about this, but then I happened to discover a knitting group that meets at lunch time every day. I am looking forward to having a group of knitters to eat with. I’ll bring my hat along and do a couple rounds after finishing my sandwich. Should be fun!

Book Review: Domino Knitting

I just got the book, Domino Knitting, by Vivian Hoxbro, and I have one thing to say: where, oh WHERE has this book been all my life? I’ve read other mitered square tutorials, and what has stopped me cold from just diving into the mayhem is all the finishing. Why did I avoid buying the book all this time, when in fact the answer has been there, for the entire time I’ve been a knitter and even longer than that? I’m having a super-huge “duh” moment here! The concept is that you make blankets (or lots of other things) out of mitered squares that are knit on as you go. No seaming! Wow.

But even more than that, I’ve been clamoring for a long time for techniques for a no-sew afghan that is knit in strips where you can knit on the strips as you go. I’ve always wanted to do a blanket showing different panels of cables and other stuff, but I didn’t want to mess it up at the end with sloppy seaming. (I’m REALLY bad at seaming!) Well, several of the designs in the book are for pot holders knit in strips as you go. Voila! Again, the answer was there all along, Dorothy… you had the way to get home all along… just click your heels three times and say, “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…”

Ok, I’m losing it. Goodnight.

I’m always finding myself explaining to my daughter why she really needs all that math they teach her at school. Well, kid, here’s an example! It seems I have a problem making hats that fit me just right. I’m all about the guessing, and usually they wind up too big or too small. Well, duh. There’s math that can fix this problem. Really.

hat progress

My friend Lola came over for lunch today and measured my head while she was here. I’m 22 inches, just like I thought. Now, just so you don’t think I’m all remembering my math from Jr. High and stuff, I had to go look it up. Luckily it was pretty quick work finding a website that talked all about circles. Turns out that to figure out how wide to make my hat circles, it’s a simple division problem:

22 in. ÷ π = 7

So if I make the top of my hat have a diameter of 7 inches, that is the size that will fit my head exactly. Not bad, eh? I thought so too. Please let me bask in the glow of my brilliance for a while, eh? Don’t let me down for a day or so at least, by telling me that any 8th grader could do this. K?

Baby Yours

When the Yarn Harlot recently made a pair of baby sweaters for the owner of her favorite local yarn store, I must say I fell in love with the “boy” version. Just look at those cables!

baby yours sweater pattern and yarn

And the yarn is such a lovely shade of blue! It’s Nyame, in Socks that Rock mediumweight by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Love it! I might have to make this one up and dress a doll with it. The yarn is soooooo pretty! Sigh. I definitely am not on the market for another baby. I will queue this one up on Ravelry very soon.

Gotta run; it’s getting late and Kelley Petkun has the Mason Dixon Knitting ladies on her podcast this week. I am dying to listen to them talk about their new book!

Ciao for now, knit friends!

Ciao for now!

Knitting row marker

When you knit something as small as a baby sweater on size 2.5 mm needles, progress can seem slower than slow, and very ungratifying. Especially for a sometimes hyper ADD knitter such as myself, who wants it all, and wants it all, NOW. Some time ago I read on Kelley Petkun’s blog that she uses a row marker to help her track her daily progress. She was particularly impatient with the progress of her plain black socks for Socks for Soldiers, and this little row marker thing seemed to help.

So I got myself some row markers, and I’m giving it a try. What you see here is my progress since this morning, which doesn’t seem like a lot, until you remember that I work full time and so I only have had some commute knitting and a wee bit of time after dinner so far today. And, need I say it again? This sweater has more stitches per row than my giant brown ripple afghan (sadly, still in progress). Big blankets are a challenge to do because of the size of the project. But, I’m discovering, so are tiny baby clothes in sock yarn with small needles. These itty bitty miracles of knitting are actually, quite deceptively, enormous.

Did I mention that the shower is on the 24th? That’s right folks, 11 days to go. Yikes.

And, for the record, here is today’s shot of the whole sweater. See? I am really getting there:

baby sweater progress report

But alas, this is my own personal Olympics. Finishing this would be as good as gold to me.

To add to yesterday’s post about the book on knitted tams, here’s some of the yarn with which I hope to unlock my creativity! I’ve always been tempted by the Knit Picks Palette family of yarns, but have never actually bought any before. I am envisioning lots of pretty tams and mittens with these. I love the purple yarns in this collection, but was surprised to find that I am particularly enamored of the pale pink color.Soooooo pretty!

Tonight is one of those nights where I am just falling asleep while sitting here trying to blog and knit. Gonna knit for a bit more now and then maybe make an early night of it. Ciao for now! *Edited to Add*–it’s 2:00 a.m. and did I make an early night of it? No, I’m just stressed. And colossally stupid. See you in the coffee line in the morning.

I just got the book, Knitted Tams tonight, and let me tell you–if you’re interested in knitting tams, this is the book to get! I really wanted to learn how to make my own designs, rather than follow someone else’s. And this book gives me enough tools to send me well on my way. There’s even a basic blank chart showing various gauges, and an explanation of how to chart the wedges to achieve various shaped designs on the top. I’m going to have fun creating something fun and colorful.

Or at least I’ll be thinking about it… and dreaming. For now, I’ve got a baby sweater to knit. See ya!

(Happy Birthday, Grace!)

I’ve been chugging away on my baby sweater this week. Once, on Monday night at the swimming pool, I managed to drop a cable again, though not as bad as the first time and only had to knit back one row. But then, this afternoon, I was knitting in the car (as usual) and I managed to doze off (as usual), and I let my needles slip out of the cable section in mid-snore. ARGH. I haven’t fixed it yet. I haven’t got the strength.

The thing is, I think I’m just too tired. I’ve had lots of stress at home AND at work this week, and I’ve been averaging only about 2 to 3 hours of sleep each night. It sucks! But rather than bore you with the hot, salty tears that are my knitting existence this week, I thought I’d share with you that which lifted my spirits as I came home from work this evening:

It was my birthday present from my friend Carrie! Carrie had sent me a gift certificate to the Yarn Market and for the longest time I couldn’t decide what to do with it. I decided to get a bunch of different colors of Noro Kureyon. I plan to make a bunch of wild tams using Charisa Martin’s Lifestyle Top Down Hats formula and some wild color patterns. Should be fun! I haven’t knit a hat in such a long time, and perhaps this is what the doctor ordered to set my mood right again.

Also in the box was this wondrous little doohickey:

Wonder Knitter by Clover

It’s the Wonder Knitter by Clover (OMG! Have you ever SEEN their website? So many fibery gadgets to behold!) I have another cord maker by Bond, but I’ve never even taken it out of the package because it is limited to using thin yarns, and for playing with something like this I probably will prefer doing so with bulky yarns. In fact, I’m starting to feel the urge to collect cord makers (or spool knitters, or knitty noddies, or knitting nancys, or whatever you want to call them). Having a few antique ones would be fun. Guess I’ll keep my eyes open…

Finally, my daughter wanted to share what Tegan was doing today:

Tegan the cat sits on my photo drape and poses

Tegan is the one who always has to be in the middle of everything. I usually photograph my blog stuff in my kitchen, where the light is good, by throwing a tablecloth over a chair. Lately, Tegan has been beating me to the punch and jumping on the chair before I can ever get my knitting ready to shoot. I get the hint. Tegan wants attention. Happy now, cat?

I’ll see you when I’m more awake and my knitting is set right again. Ciao for now…

I was having a great day today. I went shopping with my mom, who bought me some really gorgeous amethyst earrings for my new earholes. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to go shopping together but I think she finally feels well enough and that feels really great to me.

Then I took Diana to the pool where she met up with a friend and I settled in for an evening of knitting.

That’s when I saw it. a dropped stitch, right at the cable cross of my baby sweater. I managed to rip back to the row with the dropped stitch:

closeup of cable after ripping out

But am doubting my fortitude for picking up ladder by ladder and re-knitting. This yarn is so splitty and hard to do cables with. But tonight, I got some encouragement, of a very high order.

I did a search on Ravelry for fixing cables and up popped a message by Janet Szabo, the Queen of Cables, in my book, where she stated that she’s about to have a DVD come out on cables. In the DVD are techniques for fixing them She invited folks to drop her a line and say if they wanted to be informed when the DVD is released, which of course I did. I mentioned that I am in the middle of trying to fix my first cable. She must have been online because she replied within minutes and offered to look at a photo of my poor cable if I had one. (I had taken the photo for this blog post not 10 minutes before… LOVE my macro photography settings on my camera!)

So I sent her the photo, and basically she suggested that I do what I had been planning to do, that is, re-knit, ladder by ladder, but she also suggested that I use some straight cable needles, like the Brittany cable needles, so I ordered some. Hopefully they should be here soon. In the meantime, I’m stepping back from the sweater.

Thanks, Janet!

Just When I Thought my Birthday Was Over…

My DH told me before that something he got for my birthday didn’t come in time. Well that was two weeks ago, so I was starting to think it was becoming a non-issue. But then, today, this came:

Namaste Newport bag in the peacock colorway

It’s the Namaste Newport bag in the Peacock colorway. I know folks are simply rabid for this bag in this color so it must have been backordered. I’m going to love it… it’s smaller than my others but it does have a firm bottom. Great for knitting in the car, which is where most of mine gets done.

It does, however, have an imperfection:

closeup of bag handles showing excess threads

It looks like it got caught in the sewing machine! It has several places where it is stitched with several layers of thread and there are extra strings. I’m going to try snipping them and see if it holds up. If it doesn’t, I’ll send it back… but I think this bag and I are going to be fast friends. Thanks, hubby!