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.