A Fun Membership Opportunity

Well, I was listening to the newest Lime n Violet podcast from last week, when they stumbled upon a fairly new website. The website is Knitters Anonymous, and it's hilarious. The site currently offers a lifetime membership for a total of about $34, and with the membership you get a tote bag, pencils, and a membership card that offers 10% discounts at participating "sponsor" stores, among other things. I signed up as soon as I saw that one of the better LYSs was a sponsor. Plus, that store in particular is the big local Debbie Bliss carrier, and I am dying to break that Knit from Your Stash drought come October. Act soon though! At some point, the site owner, Julia Charles, will be establishing it as a one year membership. I'm excited to see all of the fun products that come my way, as well as the look on DF's face when he realizes that I have truly become obsessed with this "hobby."

-B

What to knit next

I just finished my trivoli sweater, and now I'm looking for my next project. I was going through my yarn stash, trying to use up what I already have. The problem is, I still have a fair amount of old acrylic yarn from when I first started knitting, that I really should use up, but I have to say, you get spoiled with the nice stuff.

been looking at doing another sweater, but have to figure out a good substitute yarn first and gauge it, which I hate doing. So until, than, I'm making a quick and easy baby blanket (which should use up a significant amount of yarn) and maybe some more hates with the yarn I have.

-E

My New Lust Object

Ok, first off, hats off to E and S for the big sweater accomplishments. As someone who has not quite approached the world of sweaters, I am quite impressed. So you may ask what I am knitting? I am still plugging along on DF's scarf from Morehouse Farm. E, S, and I had to pleasure of making a road trip to their yarn shop, Sheep's Clothing, last June, and I am just getting to working with the yarn that I purchased there. The company has recently revamped their website in the last month or so. I am very excited with the fact that they are offering a free "pattern du jour," and have greatly expanded their line of kits. I just love the ingenuity and light-hearted manner in which they design their patterns. But, as much as I enjoy their line, I have to admit that I have a new lust.....

...Berrocco Peruvia. Did you get the KnitBits newsletter last Friday? If not, you missed out on two new free patterns that are haunting my sleep. I am totally lusting after the Pike sweater, which I will be using my "get out of jail free" card on later this year. Also in my dreams is Pignoli , a felted bag that is larger than a normal bag for me, but I'm liking it's weekend bag potential. Plus, I like the Boho sense of style that both pieces offer. Pike will not be the first sweater that I tackle, but certainly it is in the lineup for this year. Well, for now, I am heading back to the Frogman Scarf and to watch the Oscars.

-B

Trivoli sweater finished - finally

So after starting this in the summer and taking it completely apart twice, I've finally finished the sweater. it's not bad, I think I might actually think about wearing it out, but probably not for work.



before blocking



after blocking


Pattern: Trivoli from magknit.com
Yarn: knitpicks Spot Shine - silver sage
needle: size 7 circular

Love this video from YouTube. And spent many a day trying to find it again. What can I say easily amused. I am working on the hourglass and hope to finish up this weekend. Or at least finish the second sleeve, that's been started half a dozen times at least.

-S



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZjMWLqJvM

Knitting Under the Influence Review

I have recently finished reading Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik. I had noticed that some "knitting novels" were popping up on the local bookshelves, so I headed over to the local library to check and see if they had any. This was the only one in stock that they had (I have two others on hold), so I grabbed it and took it home to curl up in bed. The story is about three women in their late twenties who are best friends. The ladies meet every Sunday morning for their knitting group. The story follows the three women as they navigate their way through life and love. One girl, Sari, is a behavioral therapist who falls in love with the dad of an autistic patient. Lucy is a research scientist who is caught in a bad relationship with an uncaring fellow scientist. Finally, Kathleen is a triplet, but her two sisters are like the Olsen twins and star in movies together. Kathleen is the fraternal triplet to their identical duo, so she always feels like the odd woman out. The story is set in Los Angeles and tackles the tough issue of autism and how it's treatment has changed.

However, at it's heart it is a romantic and cute book. It's light and airy, much like a beach read, but the novel is predictable. Which, I have to be honest, is sometimes why I read books like this. Who am I kidding? I keep a database of Nora Roberts novels to make sure that I don't read the same one twice! A unique facet of the book is that the author included a few cocktail recipes at the end of the book that have been paired with the major knitting work in the book. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and simple read that makes you laugh and wonder about your own big life decisions.

-B

knitting on I-78

another reason to have knitting handy with you...for about 1 hour on Thursday I was dead stop on I-78 in PA, as part of the traffic nightmare. Lucky for me, I had my knitting with me and just knitted in the car while waiting for the traffic to go again. Actually got several rows on my sweater done before I had to move again. My normally 3 hour drive from Harrisburg, PA to NYC wound up taking me 6 hours, but I was one of the lucky ones. Not like the people stuck overnight.

-E

Comps!!!

It's official, I've taken my last test ever and I am ABD (all but dissertation)!!!! Sorry for the non-knitting related post, there is knitting happening, but the celebration has begun until I start my writing for the dissertation!

S

Cable Knit Purse Pattern

Dawn posted a comment about whether the pattern was one that she could find or if it was exclusive to the class. I believe that it was exclusive to the class (it was just typed up in a Word document), although I have seen similar bags on the web. So, if you search cable knit purse, they should pop up. Thanks for the great comments! We're just starting out in this whole blogosphere, so it's great to hear from folks.

-B

Cable Knit Purse

This purse was a big acheivement for me, both for its technique challenges and for my confidence as a knitter. I started the bag in class this past summer at my LYS. I signed up for hte class becasue I wanted the opportunity to learn the cable technique. I didn't quite realize the variety of other techniques that I would pick up along the way. I learned how to sew in a lining. Although the lining itself was sewn by my instructor as I do not have a sewing machine. I learned how to weave in ends since before I used to just tie a knot. Oh, the horror! I also learned how to stain wood. Yes, the project required just the smallest woodworking skills. ;) The most difficult part was making certain that I had all of the stitches accounted for as I wound the yarn around the dowels. I definitely became comfortable with starting over on this one! I definitely would do this project again in another color combination, seeing that if I did it start to finish without any procrastination, I might be able to do it in two weeks total. Overall a great project.

Yarn: Cascade Venezia (70% Merino Wool / 30% Silk) in Colorway 119
Pattern: Cable Knit Purse from my LYS
Ribbon: Pure Color from Morex Corp. #996 Grosgrain
Started: July 2006
Finished: February 8, 2007

-B

First adult sweater for me

I promised a picture. Unfortunately, I was having some issues getting a flattering picture of me in the sweater, so it's just a flat picture of the sweater and some detail. The detail picture shows the increases and decreases for the waist shaping. I'm not sure I'm thrilled with wearing it by itself, but I think it'll look nice under a suit.

Pattern: Tivoli from Grumperina (at Magknits)
Yarn: 5 skeins of Knitpicks Shine Sport in Cloud
Needles: Clover, bamboo circular, size 5

Forgot to take pictures of the mitered squares that I've finished so far. Maybe in the next week. I started the Hourglass Sweater in a blue, that almost matches our bridesmaid dresses. Very pretty and very easy so far.

S

some more sweaters

The lastest in the sweater marathon. This is the Hedgehog pattern for toddlers that I got from Morehouse. Another pretty easy pattern, plus it's a quick knit since it uses the super chunky yarn. Now I just have to figure out who I can give this too.
-E

Pattern: The Hedgehog - morehouse farms
needle: Circular #11
Yarn: morehouse merino bulky natural oatmeal

Semi-knitting related post

WOO HOO!!! Comps are done, pass or fail, I don't have to think about them until they give me my score.

I finished my first sweater last night. I still need to weave in the ends and block it and eventually take a picture of it. That'll be a project for this weekend, since I'm not studying! Can you tell I'm somewhat excited to not be studying?

S

Non-knitting related post

Quick break from my last night of studying before Day 2 of evilness....Go Colts!!! It's about time two Midest teams made it to the Super Bowl and about time we had a Super Bowl winner from Indy!!!! There will be posted knitting progress at some time when I have appropriately recovered from the end of comps.

S

Joined two knit-a-longs

I recently signed up for two knit-a-longs. In keeping with the Stash Diet, I have signed up on the Yarn-Diet-a-long 2007 and Stashalong. Both links are available on the sidebar. I like the idea of working through my stash since it keeps me focused on completing my work. I'm not as apt to get sidelined with this new system, since I have made it a goal to get some of my WIPs done by April. The "diet" will only be without "cheating days" until October. At that point, it's time for Rhinebeck and all bets are off. Last year, I just went and observed since this was a fairly new hobby, but this year I have some yarns in mind that I can't get at the LYS. Brooks Farm and Briar Rose are the two major ones to which I am looking forward. I'm going to reading up on maintaining and designing blogs tonight since I got a great book on them for my birthday. I should have some new features up by the end of the week. Lord knows I'll be knitting during the big game tomorrow.