Continental Style

Today, I finally worked up the courage to try continental style knitting. It feels really awkward right now, but I can see how it will be much faster once I get more practice. I'm happy that my stitches are still pretty even, but the edges look kind of funky. My right wrist will need to get used to the new position. It is a bit sore right now, but again, that will come with time.

I am making a square for Tiffany's ugly square project. I don't think kitties or dogs will mind if my stitches are a bit uneven. I'm using Vanna's Choice (Lion Brand) on size 6 bamboo needles. I will try to remember to check in on this blog periodically to record my progress.

I Do Believe...

it may be time for another yarn-fast. The past 4-6 weeks have seen roughly 20 more pounds of yarn come into the nest. Therefore, I declare the next 30 days to be yarn-purchase-free. Let's see, that means July 22 will be earliest next purchase date - internet or brick/morter. That will be easy to remember, as 7/22 is my mom's birthday.

In the interim, I will knit what I have, and hopefully do some blocking and photographing of the items I've already completed. I'm starting to accumulate quite a "to be blocked" pile.

Give me strength!

I am off to the Wool Market tomorrow. My cash and credit cards will be in danger...

Mid-Month KAL dishcloths

These are from the Monthlydishcloths group mid-month KAL. The yellow and blue ones are made from Sugar and Cream, and the pastel one is Peaches and Creme. The last shot is of Angel(o) helping me block them. I love this pattern and have already made a smaller version as a baby washcloth, but haven't woven in ends/blocked it yet.

Note: I don't know why the first 3 photos are sideways. They are right side up on my computer. I tried deleting and reloading, but nothing. Strangely, the last photo is oriented correctly.

Fetching Wristwarmers

Sale at the LYS

Yesterday, the local yarn shop had a sale celebrating its third anniversary. I managed to help stimulate the economy to the tune of..... no, I dare not say.... Anyway, here's the haul:

How the Kitty Pi starts out

The kitty pi starts out on three double pointed needles. Once the stitch number reaches 144, I transfer to one circular needle. Then the tedious part - knitting 30 rounds, followed by a row with 12 (?) decreases, then another 12 rounds plain, and another 5+ rounds with the fun fur.

Note: that little blue string is my stitch marker - just a piece of cotton yarn.

Cotton claims the second kitty pi

Now that I can post photos again, I will have to get a better shot. Cotton looks so cute when he's curled up asleep in his kitty pi.

Can I post a photo today?

This is the second kitty pi after felting.

Kitty Pi - part II

Since Friendly seems to have claimed the first kitty pi, I started work on a second right away. Hmmm, Easter Sunday, 3/23/08, I think. It is now felted and ready for use. I felted this one longer and it is much thicker and sturdy than the first.

It is made from Knitpick.com Wool of the Andes bulky - color Impatiens Hand Dyed. It took about 2 1/3 skeins of 137 yards each. I am having trouble posting pictures right now. Not sure if it is me or blogger.

The Yarn Harlot's Coming to Town!

Stephanie Pearl-McFee is coming to our local bookstore on Friday. I will be standing in line - knitting in hand - at 6pm. Yippee!!

Success!

With just a bit of catnip as incentive, Friendly tries out the Kitty Pi.

Kitty Pi

I started knitting the Kitty Pi on Monday, and finished it last night. It is currently in the washing machine and I have my fingers crossed.

Dishcloth Mania

These are the Grandma's Favorite dishcloths I knit last weekend. Lion Brand Cotton - color sherbert swirl. I like this pattern for watching TV. I made these on size 6 needles, and they came out kind of tight. I will go out a size next time I knit one of these.

A shamock I knit for a friend at work. And a Daisy for another work friend!

The Fast is Over!

Whew! I almost didn't make it the full 30 days without buying yarn or anything else "knitty"! I spent a lot of time browsing on ebay, etc. but didn't order anything until today. My next project is going to be the Kitty Pi. I ordered some Wool of the Andes - bulky - from knitpicks.com this morning, along with size 11 DPNs. I ordered the Impatiens and Ireland colorways. Lots of cats in my family, so I may have to knit a few of them.

Knitpicks' service can be kind of slow, but at least it is on its way. Yea! In the meantime, I will work on the Yarnharlot's one row scarf that I'm making for my DH for Christmas, as well as a few Easter and St. Pat's dishcloths. Someone at work told me she "just loves knitted dishcloths" so I finally have someone to unload them on. I have quite a stack of them in my Finished Objects drawer.

Oh, and another friend at work asked me to teacher her mom to knit. She is new in town, and her husband (friend's dad) was just diagnosed with cancer, so she is spending a lot of time waiting around at doctors' offices. I met with her on Monday and we covered casting on and the knit stitch. Next lesson will cover the purl stitch. After she practices those for a week or so, I will steer her toward an appropriate project. I suggested dishcloths or a scarf.

What type of yarn are you?

Take the quiz and find out.

My results:

You are Shetland Wool. You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a little on the harsh side. Though you look delicate you are tough as nails and prone to intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are widely respected and even revered.


I took the quiz as my non-crafting mother. Her result:

You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.

Perhaps Mom will take the quiz herself and let me know if her results are the same as mine.

Yarn Fast Update

While I haven't actually purchased any yarn since I declared my yarn fast on February 8th, I am the current high bidder on 2 yarn auctions on ebay. Does it count a cheating if I don't actually win? What if I win, but don't pay until March 8th? Or if DH pays and gives it to me for my birthday? (See ticker at bottom of blog.)

Too Many Library Books

Ok, so I'm straightening up the house, and have come to the conclusion that I have way too may knitting books checked out of the library. Problem is each book has at least one pattern in it that I wish to make. But with so much inspiration, there is no time to actually, you know, knit. So, I will list here the books I have out, what I like in them, and then when I'm ready, I can check them out again. Sound good? I may just list a few whenever I feel like it, instead of scouring the house for them.

The Knitter's Bible - Knitted Bags by Claire Crompton. Lots of cute bags, but the main one is When the Cows Come Home which is an intarsia cow pattern which reminds me of Cotton and Angel(o). Page 60.

101 Designer One-skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. Some cute hats, but the main attraction is Magic Loop Minis - tiny sweater, sock & hat Christmas tree ornaments. Page 60. I'm putting this in the pile to be returned ASAP. I don't even really like the magic loop method that much.

Lion Brand Yarn Just Bags edited by Stephanie Klose and Cathy Maguire. Again, lots of cute bags. Maybe they're even from lionbrand.com? Anyway, the Log Cabin Tote is what is attracting me. I've been anxious to try a log cabin anything since I learned to pick up stitches. Page 48. Oh, and half the patterns in this book are crochet, which I don't even do.

Lion Brand Yarn Just Gifts edited by Shannon Okey. Several cute dishcloths (pages 35-37), more holiday ornaments (page 47), and a felted coffee cozy (page 72). P.S. I don't even like the coffee cozy stitch pattern, just the idea of wrapping an occasional latte in a sweater.

Lion Brand Yarn Just Hats edited by Nancy J. Thomas and Adina Klein. (Seeing a pattern here?) Cute Rocky Raccoon hat on page 61, but it is crochet!

The Weekend Crafter: Knitting 20 Simple & Stylish Wearables for Beginners by Catherine Ham. Baby Socks on page 33. Stripes, polka dots, bumble bee, etc. with no heels to turn!

Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne. One-piece baby kimono (page 23), Felted Boxes (page 57), and more Log Cabin Knitting which starts on page 62.

Fabulous & Flirty Felt by Darlene Bruce. Lots of cute bags with instructions on felting and dying. Do I even want to get started on dying?!?

There are more books laying around the house, but I'm sick and pooped, so that's it for now.

30 Day Yarn Fast

I have spent several hundred dollars in the past week on yarn and knitting related purchases. (Signed up for an entrelac class, and bought a sock knitting DVD, among other things.) As a result, I am beginning a one-month yarn fast (ie: won't buy any more). I started yesterday and go until March 8th.

Tomorrow, I start the new class. Here is the excerpt:

Tea with Lady Eleanor

This is a beautiful shawl out of the Scarf Style book and you know you have always wanted to make it. You will learn the awesome technique of entrelac knitting and if you are interested Kathy will teach you how to knit back backwards...yep you read right! This will look wonderful in any self-striping yarns, i.e. Noro Silk Garden, Kureyon or Trendsetter Tonalita. You will need the book, size 9- 10.5 needles depending on gauge. 3 sessions…oh and yes we will be sampling tea and cookies!

I was able to find some examples on Flickr, if anyone wants to take a peek:

Shawl in Multicolors

Shawl in Browns

Shawl in Pinks

Another Dishcloth

This is the monthlydishcloths mystery KAL for February. I started it on 2/1/08 and finished on 2/6/08. Knit with Sugar 'n Cream color rose pink. Can you tell it's a heart-shaped box of candy?

Another finish!

This was the November KAL project on Monthlydishcloths. I stalled after day 5 for some reason, and just picked it up again on Sunday. Finished days 6 & 7 in less than an hour, I'd estimate. I got the ends woven in and blocked it Sunday night, or was it Monday? Anyway, it's done!

First Finish Since my Proclomation

Last night, I had the house to myself and was able to finish the palm tree dishcloth. I even wove in the ends and blocked it. Yippee! Today, I am working on finishing up the squirrel cloth, which was the November KAL on the monthlydishcloths yahoo group.

Several days ago, I finished a blocked a flamingo cloth. It was knit on size 6 needles with Lion Cotton, I think. I took about a dozen photos of the flamingo, but just couldn't get the pattern to show up as clearly as I'd like.

The palm tree is compliments of Rainy Kimbrough. The flamingo is from Enid Danforth. Thank you for sharing your patterns with me.

I Hereby Declare February to be...

Finish it Up Month!!!!

How, oh how, have I created so many knitting UFO's in such a short amount of time?! I am spending this evening trying to locate all the started projects and match them to their patterns. So patterns are missing, so projects are mislaid. By tomorrow, I hope to have everyone matched with his partner, so I can spend the rest of the month finishing up some of the quickies.

Off the top of my head, I have OTN:

Washcloths:

Snoopy
Christmas house scene
Palm tree
February mystery KAL (at least I'm up to date on this one!)
Squirrel KAL from November

Scarves:

One row handspun in navy blue for DH for Christmas
YO/Drop stitch ribbon scarf for co-worker
Alpaca basket weave in white
Long stripes green & tan

Other stuff:

Red mini Christmas stocking
Purple & pink (to-be) felted bag
Blue homespun baby blanket
Cat toy made of fun fur
Ribbed black scarf to be blocked
Tan fun-fur scarf that needs ends weaved in

Keep in mind that this is just the stuff I can remember or see from here. Figure there might be a few more laying around too. Sigh. Ok, enough moping. Let's see if I can finish at least half of these before March 1. Luckily, we get an extra day in February this year!

A Quote for Today

"Heirloom" is knitting code for "This pattern is so difficult that you would consider death a relief."

~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

January KAL dishcloths finished

This it my Monthlydishcloths January 2008 KAL. I used Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Naturals yarn in color new natural. I don't love this yarn. It doesn't have the smoother texture of P&C or S&C, but I bought a 14oz. skein, so I will be using it again. On the plus side, this yarn seems stronger than the others. I tried to break a piece with my hands and couldn't. I guess it will be good for scrubbing dishes, but I wouldn't want to use it as a washcloth.


This is the mid-month knit along made with Sugar 'n Cream Stripes, color Lime Stripes. I like the way the stripes look. I prefer it to the ombre yarns. I learned some new stitches on this. I has the combo YO Sl1-K1-PSSO. I've always been nervous about patterns with these seemingly complicated combos, but I figured, hey, it's just a dishcloth. Now that I've had practice with this stitch combo, I won't shy away from other/bigger projects using it. Oh, and I learned how to do the combo by watching the video on knittinghelp.com. I am finding this website to be invaluable, as I like to watch before I try.

A Quote for Today

For people allergic to wool, one's heart can only bleed. ~Elizabeth Zimmerman

Knitting Podcasts

My DH bought me an mp3 player for Christmas - a strange gift (or so I thought) since I'm not a big music fan. Last weekend however, he downloaded 33 knitting podcasts from knitpicks.com onto it. I have been listening to one or two a night before bed and they are very relaxing. Kelly has a nice voice with good diction, and of course the topics are very interesting to a knitter.

The middle of the podcast is devoted to reviewing a few recently released knitting books. I have been able to reserve some of them from the local library. The website shows the topic of each podcast (when you click on it) as well as listing the books reviewed, so there's no need to frantically scribble down the title of any potentially interesting books.

I'm sure there are other knitting-related podcasts out there, just waiting for me to discover them, but right now I am quite content to listening to Kelly before bed. I guess this is like a bedtime story for adults. The link to the knitpicks.com podcasts is at the bottom of my blog.

Meet Angel(o)

He is Yarn Inspector #1. He tests for yarn durability.

Why did I buy a pattern book?

I borrow scores of knitting books from the public library, however I saw this book in the knitpicks.com catalog and just wanted it. (Also, they didn't have it at the library.) So, yesterday, I ordered it from Amazon.com and am now (im)patiently awaiting its arrival, although I don't need to start anymore projects.

The book is called Ocean Breezes: Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea by Sheryl Thies.

A New Year

This year, I resolve to improve my knitting skills! I will be doing all 24 dishcloth KAL's as well as the Barbara Walker afghan. I will learn Ravelry! I will not be afraid of the heiroglyphics that pose as knitting patterns. I will not fear charts. I will knit, rather than think about knitting.