Category Archives: Knitty Goodness

So much to talk about!

 

Wow. I have had this post in my head for days but life keeps getting in the way. This past weekend was the first weekend of soccer. Both kids played on Saturday and I play on Sunday. This weekend was also the last bike race for T. as well.  It was a great weekend for all of us. All three of us won our soccer games and T. won his bike race! It was the NM State Champion Road Race which means he’s the state champ! Not bad for a 41 year old dad of two kids who works full time. He actually got second place but the person who won was from Mexico so he didn’t count. He was also a pro and TWENTY years younger than T.  We’re all very proud of him.

In other news I’m working hard to balance my life. I usually do a pretty good job of it, but sometimes get a wee bit overwhelmed by all of the things I need to do on a daily basis and now, on top of everything, I’m writing a book. Two days ago I had to get a bunch of custom yarn dyed before I could do anything else and it just took way longer than I intended. There was this one new colorway that sort of created a dyers block over the past month since I took the order. I’m the type that stresses out when I’m forced to be creative. Do you know what I mean? It’s hard to just create art out of nowhere. With my colorways sometimes it’s really easy for me to figure out the proper dyes and other times it’s nearly impossible. Those are the times I email or call Symeon and scream “HELP!” I’m actually glad she didn’t get right back to me the other day because it forced me to work this one out on my own. The colorway was for a customer who wanted camouflage yarn.  Maybe this doesn’t seem like anything too complicated, but I really wanted to get it right. After a month, studying other camo yarns online and racking my brain I finally figured out how I wanted to do it. And man, I love it. I usually don’t like browns and greens but this yarn is absolutely gorgeous. It was almost impossible to get the colors right in this shot, but it’s pretty close. Isn’t it pretty? ***Yes! I can dye more of this colorway! I’m just currently out 4-6 weeks on all orders so know that if you ask me for some!***

In other news, I’ve been trying to finish knitting this chemo hat for a few weeks and I’m finally to the decreases. I need to finish this and get it to T.’s step-sister-in-law now that it’s getting cold back east. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this but she was diagnosed with cancer in May. She is doing really well now and just have to finish out her chemo. I think she has about 4 rounds left. I’m using this Mission Falls 1824 and I really love how soft it is. I’m making A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie. I hope to finish it this weekend. Here is what it’s looking like so far.

I think that’s about it for now. I need to go drop Gus off at the groomers, run, ship some stuff and then WRITE! Send me some good writing vibes. kthnkx. Have a good day my friends!

Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard

One of the coolest things that happened when I was in NYC meeting with Melanie Falick was being one of the first people to see Wendy’s new book - Custom Knits, before it even hit the shelves. She is both of our editors so I spied a copy of it while I was her office and asked to see it. But when Melanie told me that she didn’t think Wendy had even seen it yet I told her to put it away because I didn’t want to see it before Wendy did!  We found out before I left that Wendy got the book the day I was there so it was okay for me to look through it.  I called Wendy and left her a message telling her I had seen the book before she did just to mess with her.  I’m so mean.  But I adore Wendy and am so excited for her that it’s finally here and you can all see it!

Here is a link to it if you want to buy a copy. I can’t wait to get my own so I can look through it again.  It’s really gorgeous and think she seriously rocked every pattern in this book. Hooray for cool new knitting books!

Also? If you would like the spread the word I will allow anyone to use this collage. Just say you got it from me and we’re cool!

Baaaaaaaa!!! Scout’s will be in the Rhinebeck Hizzaouse!

(image from the Sheep & Wool website)

Yep. 100% for sure. I just need to buy my plane ticket. But, wanna know why it’s for sure? Because I’m flying into Newark to stay with my dad, then will borrow his car and on my way up to Rhinebeck I’m picking up my girl Amy Singer! We’re going to drive up and back together and sister already got her tickets so it’s an absolute GO! Can I get a woot woot!?!?  We are so Thelma and Louising it minus the cliff jump. We haven’t decided who gets Brad Pitt yet.  :D  I’m so excited, to finally, after all of these years, meet a whole bunch of you. I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around the number of people I will finally get to meet. I’m sure it will be completely overwhelming. I’m not staying in any of the hotels because some good friends of mine live in Bloomington. I can handle a 20 minute drive to save on a hotel room. Amy and I were such total dorks this morning getting all excited about it. The plan is that I’ll/we’ll be up there on Friday all the way through Sunday. She has a book signing on Sunday from 1-2 so we will leave a little bit after that. So who do I get to meet??? Huh!?!?!

And lookie lookie. I need a good name for this little chickadee cowl, designed by the super talented Kirsten, because I started it on the flight to Italy and finished it on the flight to San Fran. last month. It’s been all over the world and back. It’s a really fun and easy pattern and just needs one skein of something chunky. I used a skein of #117 Manos del Uruguay. I can’t wait until it’s actually cool enough to wear it. I wish I could share the story about what happened on the plane to Italy with this but I can’t because I gave that woman my card. Let’s just say I had a very nice woman who took my knitting from me to *show me* how she could knit. And let’s just say I had to rip the whole thing out and start over…..yeah just what we love to do right? Riiiiiiiight.

I also have two one skein of this really pretty yarn for sale. SOLD! I have been playing around with some immersion dyeing and these are a result of that. They range from little bits of white all the way to a gorgeously dark crimson. This is also a one of a kind dealio. I don’t think I wrote down what I did. Or maybe I did? Wait, I could do it again I’m pretty sure. Yeah….that’s the ticket.

For anyone looking for the new Namaste Cali bags I have another order that should be here anyday. I’ll try and get here and announce it when then come in. Okay, all this excitement has me exhausted already and it’s only 9:30am. Any travel agents out there? Who’s really good at getting cheap tickets? I am flying from Albuquerque to Newark. I can’t seem to find anything for less than 417 before taxes and that is just so dang steep! Let me know if you are a good flight getter.

Have a good one my friends!

Looking for Some Cool New Stuff?

It’s that time of year when everyone I know is compiling their knitting wish-lists for their loved ones and I wanted to help make it easy by telling you about a few things to add to your list. First up are a few new knitting books – Knitspeak: An A to Z Guide to the Language of Knitting Patterns, Knitting New Scarves & KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knittng’s New Wave.

knitspeak: An A to Z Guide to the Language of Knitting Patterns, by Amanda Berman-Price. I love how little it is and how conveniently it fits in even one of my small GoKnit Pouches with my knitting. Pattern Language Demystified - Finally! Knitspeak, a knitter’s dictionary that disentangles the mysteries of pattern language and translates into plain English. Hello!? How much more perfect could that be? You own cute little teeny pink knitting dictionary? Sorry, but the geeky teacher in me adores this. The Knitspeak website can be found here.

I saw that Lime & Violet already did a review on their Daily Chum about Knitting New Scarves, by Lynne Barr. I’ll wait for you to go read it…..you back? Yet? Okay. This book has the most fantastic patterns. If you are tired of the same ole patterns you see everywhere and love knitting scarves I highly recommend this. The two that immediately caught my eye are called black pearl & circles. Check out the gallery at Melanie Falick’s blog to see some of the other scarves. See. I told you. There is also a knitalong blog too!

KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knittng’s New Wave by Sabrina Gschwandtner. Do you ever take the time to browse around a bookstore? Do you ever find a book and as you flip through the pages you get lost in the images and the words? All of the sudden you realize you have been looking through the book for a very long time and have been almost transported to another world outside of the bookstore? This is that type of book.

All over North America and Europe, a brand-new generation has taken up knitting—and is transforming the venerable needlecraft by blurring the boundary between craft and art. In Copenhagen, Denmark, Isabel Berglund hand-knit an entire room. In New England, Dave Cole constructed an enormous “knitting machine” (he used excavators and utility poles) that knit an 800-stitch, 35-by-20-foot American flag. But the projects aren’t all of a monumental scale. In Los Angeles, Bridget Marrin knits little dollhouses—complete with lawns, shrubbery, and smoke-filled chimneys, all made of yarn. Using surgical wire, Indiana-based knitter Althea Merback hand-knits sweaters smaller than a dime.

Five years ago, Sabrina Gschwandtner founded a ’zine to tackle the blurry edge between craft and fine art. Now, her book KnitKnit brings together profiles of 27 of the most talented artist-crafters knitting today. But KnitKnit does more than just document their ingenious creations. Each of the profiled knitters has contributed a project—a sweatshirt kimono, a mohair and metal belt, a pair of high-heeled boots, a geodesic-patterned cap, even a teddy bear knit from fiberglass insulation—meant to inspire you to find and follow your own creative path.

I’m telling you, this book is absolutely fabulous. It gets the Scout’s Stamp of approval for sure. I can’t wait to have some more time to look through it. Melanie has a gallery of a few of the images from the book so you can take a peek. Sabrina will be in San Fransisco tomorrow for a book signing. Who lives there and can go!? Let me know if you go or have been to one of her signings. I’d love to hear about your experience and see pictures if you got any. You can see more KnitKnit pictures here on Flickr too.

I am also so excited that Shobhana’s new book is out and I have some yarn in it! Yarnplay at Home: Handknits for Colorful Living, by Lisa Shobhana Mason can now be bought everywhere. The new book features cozies and cushion covers and afghans and lots of other things for the home. There are projects for every budget and skill level. I dyed her a custom colorway called blue in green that is up in the gallery she used for a french press cozy pattern.

I can’t wait to see the book in person. But yet again another really fun book by Shobhana. She is also looking for looking for participants for a blog tour for the book (tentatively scheduled for mid-January) and you can email her (mylifeinstitches at gmail dot com) if you are interested in hosting.

And finally I have an Etsy shop for you to go visit. I met Deatria when I was up in Taos for a weekend with T. last year. She and I ended up chatting for a while and I told her what I did. I gave her my card and promised her I would let all of my friends know about her when she put her work up on Etsy. Gogy’ is her shop. Her work is stunning. She also just had some pieces worn during NY Fashion Week by some folks in the industry. Pretty cool. Since I know what it’s like to start up a business I am more than happy to link everyone I know over to her shop! Definitely take a peek and read about her. She is such an interesting woman and I am so glad to have met her.

Well folks. That’s about all I have for now. The kids are asking for dinner so I need to figure out what the heck we’re having. I just got back in stock a whole new stack of signed Cat Bordhi books and still have plenty of the cute Haiku Grab Bags. I should have a new order of GoKnit Pouches in any day. Hope the Holiday season is treating you well so far. Which reminds me…..it’s the last night of Hanukkah and I need to see what Harry Hanukkah brought for the kids. *cough*

Until next time my friends!

Look! I knit some socks!

Psyche! Haaaaa! Fine. They aren’t mine. But did I get your attention? These belong to John/YarnBallBoogie from his newest pattern he just put up today. It’s called *Stalkers*. Run over and buy it! Y’all know how much I love him and support everything he does. So go ahead. Ill make it easy on you and you can just here to buy the pattern. (downloadable for $5.50)  You know you have been looking for a new sock pattern! Right? He did these with Wollmeise. Oh! I just remembered I have that skein from Elemm. Maybe I should do this one? Or maybe I could send the skein to John and he’ll make me some? Wait. He just made me a blanket…..I’ll wait a bit before asking him for socks. Heeee.

Chevron Eye Candy

Chevron

I’m definitely digging this pattern and was able to knock out quite a bit during Supergirl’s gymnastics yesterday. It’s nice to have such a portable project that’s easy to pick up whenever I have a minute to work on it. I think my favorite part is how the tencel rows are shiny and stand out from the rows of the more solid STR. Yep. Definitely liking how this is looking so far. I also really like my new medium size GoKnit Pouch. It’s a perfect size for a project like this.

pinI updated the shop with a few new things yesterday and still have some Pippi roving left. I think there are four Springtime Choco Birds left. (not for long!) She sent me some unbelievable colors this time. Thanks Pippi! I also have a whole shipment of GoKnit Pouches and sock blockers on their way here and should arrive by early next week. I think I forgot to let you know that I’m completely restocked with Designs by Romi shwal/scarf pins including the Exclusive Martini Pin. I have three Martini Pins in stock. This was a pin that Romi and I designed together and I only sold a few of them last year. I also marked down all of the Modern Yarn t-shirts. They will be 30% off until they are all gone. I’m sure I’m forgetting to tell you about something, so just cruise around the shop to see what else is there. I’m working on getting some new swag and can’t wait to tell you about them.

Another busy weekend is in store for my family. Two soccer games tomorrow, a running race for the kids on Sunday morning and then my soccer game in the afternoon. The ankle seems to be doing better. I walked on Wednesday and was able to get a little jog in yesterday. It’s no where near 100% but definitely better than it was on Monday. I need to be able to play on Sunday since three other women won’t be there. They need me! I’m going to try my hardest to not get pummled. We’ll see. Have a great weekend everyone.

New Knits

new knits

I’m still working on the Cabo Hoodie for Supergirl but I also felt the need to start something new, easy and portable. I was on the phone with Carole when these two pretty girls called to me. They said I needed to jump into the Chevron Scarf Pool. Who could deny them of this wish? The top yarn is STR - Azurite and the bottom one is my own Strawberry Quick in tencel. I think they’ll look pretty damn gorgeous together.

In other news, my ankle is not cooperating. I am being a good patient and not going for a run today. Instead, it’s beautiful and Carole and I are going to walk the Academy and do a few errands. We rarely get time to just hang out together, sans kids, so I’m really looking forward to some girl time. Plus, it’s absolutely beautiful outside today.

I’m also really excited about a new project John and I are working on together. You’ll have to be very patient as we won’t be able to really talk about it for another month or so. Trust me, it’s way cool. You can have a little sneak peek on his blog today. He’s my new partner in crime so watch out.

A New Knitter On the Block

Do you recognize these hands?

supergirl

Supergirl learned how to knit this afternoon. It actually took about five minutes for her to get it and off she went. The only problem is that she’s a lefty. If you look through the pictures you can see she wants to do everything with her left hand. Advice please? Any other moms out there with lefty kiddos or just left-handed knitters in general?  What do you do? She seems to be able to do it, but I just want to do the *proper* thing. And I know. There really isn’t a right and wrong way if it works. I just don’t want to pay the therapy bills later. “I really wanted to knit like my mom but she taught me how to knit with my right hand when she knew I was left-handed. I wasn’t able to do it very well which made me feel like a failure. It truly changed me as a person when I couldn’t master knitting….” Can’t you see that!??! Oh okay, I know I’m being overly dramatic but I would like to know what most left-handed people do. I read somewhere that lots of left-handed people actually still knit with their right-hands? I mean, look how damn cute she is. I don’t want to mess with her knitting mojo.

girly

I really look forward to see what y’all think.  If you think I should teach her left-handed knitting I will find someone to teach her. She is patiently waiting for me to help her right now. She wants to make a whole scarf tonight to put on her pig. Actually, she wanted to start with a hat. Then she said socks. Hey, aim high sister!

Knitting Eye Candy

I’ve been busy over the past few days. My Eye Candy for today is the almost finished yoke of Supergirl’s Cabo Hoodie. I love the colors. And I really love how they are pooling.

hoodie

I struggled a bit with the first part only because I’ve never done a top down raglan before. Thanks to Clothesknit, we worked it out and I cranked out this much already with only a few hours of TV time. Here’s a closer shot.

close up

Nala needs to lift some weights to fill out the shoulders in this a bit better. Supergirl was so cute last night. As she kissed me goodnight she looked down at the knitting in my lap and asked, “Will it be done in the morning when I wake up Mommy?” I know. I laughed too. This morning the first thing she said to me was, “Wow. You still have a loooooong way to go huh Mommy?” Uh yeah.

I am really enjoying this so far. I’m such a visual learner I’m having a hard time picturing how it all works. I know that soon the shoulders will go onto stitch holders and then I’ll just knit down the body. I just can’t really envision exactly how the sleeves work but I’m sure I can figure it out. Or beg someone to help me. I want to have it finished within a week so she can still wear it while it’s chilly.

Also? Yes the sky is really that blue.

Mini-Calorimetry, Snow Bunny & Strawberry Quick

While Supergirl took a nap yesterday, I knit a mini-calorimetry for her. When she woke up, it was done. Gotta love a quick knit. We ran over to Village Wools to pick out a button so she could put it right on and boy is it ever adorable on her. The first thing she did this morning was ask me to do her hair and put on her *headband*. She wore it proudly to school today telling everyone, “My mommy MADE this for me!”

mini

I did it with the leftover Manos from mine and cast on 64 stitches. It was actually too small so I simply made a button loop at the end of one side to give it a teeny bit more room and it fits her perfectly. I’m going to make her another one with 72 stitches and it should be the right size. I see a few more of these in our future. Such fun!

I have two new colorways I love so much I’m going to add them to the gallery. The first one was deisgned by Carole to match her new ski/snowboarding jacket. She hasn’t even seen it yet as I’m about to go bring it to her at work. You get to see it before she does! She sent me a picture of a little snowbunny on a mountain with a blue sky. It’s called Snowbunny. Cute huh?

snow bunny

This next one is similar to Cookie but has much lighter pinks and browns. In Cookie, there is a dark orchid color and the browns are much darker. When this customer told me the colors she wanted, all I could think of was Strawberry Quick. Hence the name.

quick

Crap. I need to git. Orders to get ready to ship, pick up Supergirl from school, nap time, laundry, dye yarn??, gymnastics, dinner, pass out….