Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Winner of the Never Not Knitting Printed Pattern Drawing Giveaway



Thank you to everyone who entered the drawing for my new printed pattern set
The response was unbelievable! There were over 800 entries!
I am happy to announce that the winner is......

Patterns all lined up

Nancy n Paul! Congratulations!

If you didn't win, not to worry! 
There will be plenty more pattern giveaways happening around the blogosphere. 
I will be announcing all future drawings in the Never Not Knitting ravelry group.


A Risky Bet

It seems the Republican's abdicating their seat to their spin-off group, the tea party, could be very risky for them at election time.

Most Think They're Crazy

Maybe I'm watching too much MSNBC, but it appears that most of the U.S. (and anyone from other countries that follows this craziness) think that the Republicans are nuts...insisting on shutting down the government to try and de-fund a law because they don't like it's sponsor (Obamacare).  It's bad enough that they don't care about the cost to our country of sending out hundreds of thousands of furloughs to government workers who can't be paid if they don't pass the continuing resolution to fund the government...yes, even though we don't pay them for a few days, while the bill eventually gets passed, but all the administrative work of putting them on furlough is more costly than the salary savings).  But if they delay the debt ceiling bill, shit will definitely hit the fan.

Nobody likes when the U.S. has to default on their debts.

Even big business hates that.

So, yes...I think the Republicans are playing a very risky game...this is the kind of thing our country doesn't forget when elections come up again.

Current Knitting/Quilting

With the arrival of the new quilting fabric, I couldn't help myself from beginning to cut it up!


And then I started to sew and lay out the stars to see how it would look.


Sorry about the shaddows and bright spots in the photo...I didn't have anywhere big enough to lay out the design without catching some in shadows.

Suffice it to say, the new fabrics perfectly fitting into the overall design of the quilt.

I have been knitting too!


Yes, I'm determined to finish this blanket, and while it's impossible to show decent progress photos for this project, I have added a few inches to the blanket.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Wee Wildflower In White



I just finished knitting a new Wee Wildflower Cardigan for my almost 9 year old.
The size 6 hangs loosely on her tiny frame leaving her a few years of growing room.
She's such a petite little thing.



This sweater is for our upcoming trip to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck next month! We are so excited to attend and my daughter and I will wear our matching Wildflower Cardigans. :)



I knit up her little sweater in a gorgeous Patagonian wool that I received from The Nature Conservancy a few months back. As far as I know, this yarn is not yet on the market, although I wish it was because I want to buy all of it.. It is sooo wonderful. I am honored by the privilege of getting to knit with it. I spoke all about this yarn HERE.





                 The sweet feminine details are what makes this cardigan special.
I love the heirloom look of it with its sweet picot edging and wildflower pockets.

 I am pleased that my daughter has another of these cardigans to wear this fall.. winter and.... upcoming Spring! I know she will get so much use out of it.



The Wee Wildflower Cardigan pattern is available HERE.
The Adult Wildflower Cardigan pattern is available HERE.




The Power of Connecting

In recent years, the most profound times of growth and satisfaction in my life have been the times where I've been able to connect at a very meaningful level with people.

Plus, I get to wake up on Saturday morning and open my door to this:



The trees had just started to change color, but Autumn wasn't in full bloom yet.  Weather was gorgeous.  I forgot the memory card for my camera (again!) so, I only took these two photos on my iPhone.

Connection Batteries Recharged!

This past weekend I went up to the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival (SAFF), which has turned out to be my very favorite type of these events for a number of reasons.

First of all, it's smaller than Maryland Sheep & Wool and Rhinebeck...quite a bit smaller.  But it's also MUCH less crowded than either of them as well.  The smaller size provides ample time to speak with most of the vendors, shop in a leisurely way for fiber, and not wait in ridiculous lines for food.  I have a feeling, this event will start to outgrow itself within a few years.

It's bigger than the NJ Sheep Breeders Festival. I love the NJ event, because its 10 minutes from my house, but the small size of the event doesn't allow it to have the same range of independent dyers and interesting vendors as some of the larger events.  SAFF has a wider variety of excellent vendors and I always end up finding items that I can't find at my local yarn store.

But more importantly than the size of the event, is the fact that SAFF takes place in the same town where the annual Men's Spring Knitting Retreat is held, and I get the chance to spend a night at Easton Mountain when I go to SAFF.  We always get at least a couple of the guys from the retreat attending SAFF and this year was no exception.

I got to see Aaron and his brother Steven and Steven's son Darius (not a knitter yet).  Also, I got to see Steve, Dave, Kirk and his husband, Matt.  And Rob and I spent a great night at Easton Mountain before the event and hung out on Saturday at the event.  I also got a chance to meet and chat with a blog reader, Jeff who was a delight as well.

SAFF

In addition to the knitter-men I communed with, I also found two new vendors to me, who I needed to by yarn from:

I couldn't have been more thrilled with some of the colorways in Pat's yarns, so I bought three hanks to make two pairs of socks.


I'll use the orange as the contrasting toes and heels yarn and to extend the amount of yarn in the green colorway to make a decent size man's sock.

Michael was a delight...and his yarn was beautiful as well (and rather inexpensive, I thought).  I bought a sweater's worth of worsted weight yarn in two colors that have inspired me lately when I've seen them mixed.


His mill is about 2.5 hours drive from Easton Mountain, but I would love to drive out there before the retreat to get a tour of it.

Monday, September 28, 2015

NeverNotKnitting Podcast : Episode 6 : The Untrained Train Knitter

Molly- A Grown Up Version


Here is my Molly hat all completed. I'm very glad I chose to make the solid color version for myself.
I am in love with this yarn Artesano Alpaca 4-ply, and this color Fern is gorgeous. I love the heathery flecks of blue and yellow tones.. but then again I have not yet met a shade of green that I didn't like.

Click here for the pattern. Click here for the yarn.


The patterned brim doesn't stand out nearly as much as it does on the striped version, but I think it's pretty just the same.
Just a nice subtle detail to add interest.


I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of use out of it this Fall.

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 74: The Matching Sweaters

Episode 74







Shownotes:















 


Enter to win a copy of these two books, One + One Hats, and The Ultimate Hat Book by leaving a comment under this post by October 15th. Please remember to include your contact information. Only one comment per person please! The winner will be announced on Episode 75.

Thank you for listening!




Wisdom From Charles

My friend Charles, has lots of great quotes, many of which aren't suitable to post here on the blog, but one of them brings a lot of comfort in a very Republican/Ayn Rand sort of way.

What Me Worry?
My favorite quote from Charles is, "Never worry about anything that money can fix."

Given that you've made it past one of the biggest worries for many people, which actually IS money, this advice can be very comforting.  So, when I have anxiety over packing for a vacation, that I might have forgotten to pack something, or that my refrigerator might be on the fritz or that the gutters on the house are clogged...I can always take comfort knowing that money will fix all of these things.

Of course, there is always worrying about health or family or Thaddeus, etc. etc. but at least I can have my mind freed up from less troubling things in my life.

Now if I could just get to the point where I had unlimited money, I might find myself with unlimited ability to not worry.

Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival Purchases
For such a manageable number of vendors, the percentage of interesting, high-quality, indie vendors at the festival was higher than I expected.  As such, I spent a bit more than I expected I would!

The first booth I saw, was Ball and Skein Yarns...gorgeous hand-dyed, stunningly beautiful yarns...but I couldn't justify purchasing something at the very first booth I came to...so I went all around the entire festival before coming back to buy some.  You'll have to wait until the end of this section to see what I got there!

First up was some spectacular Icelandic wool yarn from Sweet Dreams Farm in a natural silver color.




I usually find Icelandic itchy and scratchy...this is soft and silky...plus the luster of the yarn makes it actually look silver...totally amazing.

Then I ran into a friend of Kathy Hatori (the amazing natural dyer that gave the class at MFKR on indigo when I was there and the natural dyeing class this year that I envied with my whole heart), the owner of Tidal Yarns



Her yarns were just fantastic, but I opted for this beautiful combination of rovings...she didn't have as much of the antique gold color, so I figured I'd ply these two together.

Next up was Moonlight and Laughter.


Thinking that I was picking up some beautiful silk roving, I was surprised to find out this was actually fiber made out of milk solids...huh?  Yes, and it has the luster and softness of silk and it takes dyes at least as well.

Realizing that I was always losing my orifice hooks when I was working on my spinning, I was shocked to find these hand-turned  hooks were selling for $10!



I bought two!  One in Osage Orange and the other in some other wood that I already forget the name of.

Finally, returning back to Ball and Skein Yarns, I realized I should have bought her yarn right at the start of my tour.  They are fantastic.



This is her "Glissade"...a fingering weight yarn made of 50% Silk and 50% Merino and the colors are...well, you describe it.

Current Knitting
Keep making evolution-speed progress on the Milano blanket.




Interesting that even though I got a chance to hang out with Selma fromWoodstock, I didn't end up knitting a stitch.  I was MUCH more interested in gabbing and getting as much Selma darma as possible.

It's That Time Again!


It's podcasting season!

Getting Ready!

Please join me October 1 for the beginning of Season 5 of the Never Not Knitting podcast.

I've been planning this season for the past few months and its going to be a great 10 episodes! 
This season will be full of special guests! 
Look forward to hearing from many of your favorite designers and book authors, great giveaways, 
and a few surprises too!
 It's going to be a lot of fun!


The Beauty of Handmade


As many of you know, we are going to be welcoming a 
new baby boy into our family in November...which I am so excited about!
A little over a week ago, I had my baby shower and received so many wonderful gifts from family and friends.

Among these presents, were some very special handmade things given to me by my two sisters-in-law.
These two girls are amazingly talented and thoughtful.

My one sister in law, Erica, knit this beautiful sweater for our baby boy. This is the Rufus Textured Cardi from the book Vintage Baby Knits knit from Knit Picks City Tweed dk. So adorable!
 And in my favorite color too!



She also made this AMAZING mermaid for my daughter as a "big sister present". This mermaid is seriously one of the cutest knitted things I've ever seen. There is so much detail.. I know she must have put a lot of time into it. 

The pattern is called Mermaid from the book Dream Toys. I love this book and everything in it. 


My daughter's 4 year old dark-haired cousin has a matching doll with brown hair so that they can play mermaids together. So very sweet.


And as you can see.. my daughter loves it! They have been inseparable friends lately. 
There was a moment of panic in our house when mermaid fell tragically behind my daughter's bed.. but she was soon rescued.. and all is well again. :)




My other talented sister-in-law, Malaree, made this amazing handsewn jacket for our new little one.


But I should mention... it also came with matching appliqued onesies...


AND reversible pants...


Yes. And EVEN matching shoes.


Does it get any cuter than that?

She seriously outdid herself with this one. I cannot wait to try this outfit on our baby!

These handmade gifts mean so much to me. It makes me feel so special that someone would spend the time to make these beautiful things for us. I truly appreciate all of the time and effort that went into each of these items, and they will be treasured for years to come.

Thank you so much!



Sunday, September 27, 2015

Hotel Living

I think I've probably mentioned before that I like staying in hotels...but there are somethings for which hotel living is woefully inadequate.

Times Not To Be in a Hotel
Have you ever been stuck due to weather at an airport?

Checking in for one night at a airport-based hotel can really suck...especially when you have to get up at 4:00 am to get back to the airport to take the earliest flight home.

Have you ever been sick in a hotel?...I mean the "I-just-want-my-mother" kind of sick?

I had food poisoning or some stomach virus (the kind where you just KNOW you're going to die) for about 22 hours once while staying in a hotel, and let me tell you, it sucked. I mean it's not like you can order chicken broth, saltine crackers and ginger ale from most hotel restaurants at 2:00 in the morning.

With all the media attention on bed bugs, hotels can get a little itchy...even if only in the imagination.

I check the bed in every hotel room I go into now. I can't even imagine what I'd do if I brought bed bugs home with me some day.

And of course, there's the loud adjoining room neighbors, the less-than-clean places behind some commodes, and the ever-dreaded toilet paper touched by a housekeeping staff just so they could fold it into a triangle for you. Uh...thanks.

Current Knitting
Now that things are calming down a bit and get a little more routine, I've picked up the cashmere lace project again, and I have decided to make the Black Bunny Fiber sock my traveling project.



You'll see I finished another repeat on the lace project. It took me a row or two of nupps to get back into the swing of doing them again.


This sock pattern (from a Regia/Kaffe Fasset bookelt) is a bizarre pattern where you knit everything except the top of the foot, and then go back and do a mitered rectangle insert. You'll see I'm almost up to the toe on the first sock. BTW, the pattern is almost indecipherable. Each time I come to a new section of the sock, I have to read it three or four times to try and figure out what it means.

Barilla - Italian for Asshat

Anyone that follows me on Facebook has probably already read about the hateful, bigoted comments made by the Chairman of Barilla pasta.

Ways To Apologize

I honestly don't think I could read or hear an apology from this man that I would find acceptable.  He stated with grand, Italian pride that his company would never use a gay couple in its ads.  Barilla America issued an apology, but honestly, they didn't do anything wrong except get stuck with an ignorant CEO of their Italian-based company.

You don't usually just get over those feelings of hatred  overnight, and apologizing on behalf of a bigot doesn't really work for me.

So even if he personally apologized for his comments, I would find it a convenient business ploy to stop the shitstorm of negative social media that's happened since his comments were brought to light.

We just had some delicious DaVinci Whole Wheat Angel Hair pasta. for lunch today.

Current Quilting

While planning out the design for the star quilt, I envisioned three repeating, diagonal rows of stars in the three general colorways of the star fabric...blues, orange/yellow and purple/green.

I realized  I wanted about 10 different fabrics in each general colorway, and didn't have that many.  So, I ordered more fabric.


I know as a knitter, this might be heresy, but there is nothing more exciting than getting a package or gorgeous fabrics in the mail!



I'm using two muted shades of yellow/gold as the background for the stars...you see one of them in the center of the pile.  I also got a couple yards of the other one, which isn't in the photo.

Couldn't wait to start chopping up new fabric!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

NeverNotKnitting Event

Tomorrow, September 27th I will be meeting with the local knitting group at Woodstone Market in Avila Beach 2:30pm. Ill be there with all of my design samples answering questions and talking about the process of designing your own handknits.

Join us if you can!

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 83 : The Knitted Leggings


Episode 83





Shownotes:



















Enter to win a printed copy of both the Adult and Children's Playful Stripes Cardigan patterns by leaving a comment with your contact information under this post by October 15th. Only one comment per person please!

3 winners will be announced on Episode 84.

Thank you for listening!







Combining Favorite Things!

It's always great when you get to have one of your favorite things, but when two of them combine in one, it's like winning the lottery!

Fiber Excitement!

At least twice a year, I get the opportunity to go to Greenwich, NY.

In May, it's for the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat at Easton Mountain Retreat Center.


In September, its' for the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival

Today, I travel up to Greenwich, NY to stay at Easton Mountain for the night and to spend all day tomorrow with fiber friends looking at sheep and buying yarn.

Life doesn't get much better than that.

Current Spinning

I've made a bit of headway on the second bobbin of singles, spinning up the llama fleece from Lulu at Wunsapana Farms.


Two things about this...one, I didn't wash the fleece quite well enough, so I will need to scour the resulting yarn pretty well.   And two, I will have some fine yarn when I'm finished.