Crafts For Hobbies: October 2015

Enter to win 2000 yards of this gorgeous certified sustainable wool yarn from Patagonia by following the Nature Conservancy on Twitter or Facebook and then leaving a comment under this post by November 15th. Please remember to include your contact information. Only one comment per person please! Three winners will be chosen and announced on Episode 76!

Thank you for listening!

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 67 : Interview With Neesha Hudson

Episode 67

Click here to download the mp3 file for Episode 67

Shownotes:

Pre-order Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf!

Playful Stripes Sweater

Annie's Swiss Cheese Scarf Pattern

Neesha Hudson

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Enter to win a signed Deluxe Edtion of Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf by leaving a comment under this blog post by November 15, 2012. Please do not forget to include your contact information!

The winner will be announced on Episode 68.

Thank you for listening!

Clara

Occasionally I find and knit up a pattern that truly satisfies me as a knitter.

Everything about it is enjoyable and comes together in a beautiful way.

This is exactly how I feel about my most recent knit. The Clara pattern.

Not only was this pattern fun and interesting to knit, but the dress is too adorable for words. It's what I would call.. painfully adorable. The details kill me. I just love it so much.

ALSO... I was able to knit this entire dress with one skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light that was languishing in my yarn stash. It is not often that you can knit an entire garment from only one skein!

I knit this little dress as a present to take to a baby shower this coming weekend for my friend (and Botanical Knits model) Courtney who is expecting her first baby this January.

I hope she loves this sweet little dress as much as I do! :)

Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Tiniest Baby Shoes

One of the very first things I cast on for our new baby are these ridiculously tiny and adorable baby shoes from the pattern, Saartje's Bootees.

This is actually the biggest size that the pattern offers, and they are just SO small. I wondered for a long time whether or not they would actually be big enough, but in the end decided to just complete the pair and hope for the best. It helped that I was reassured by two very kind knitters who provided photographic proof that these shoes do actually fit newborns.

I suppose that newborns are much smaller than I actually remember them being. :)

This is one of the cutest unisex baby bootee patterns that I have come across, and they work up in no time! I would love to make more in different colors and using different yarn weights for some size variation.

I've already planned out our baby's "first outing" outfit. I think these bootees add the perfect touch.

Advice Please

Up to this this point in my life, I've never had a manicure or pedicure. For those of you who have, I have some questions before I go for one.

Questions
I plan on going for a mani/pedi after work some day in the Albany, NY area.

How long would it take for both?
Would you go to a place that took reservations or just a place that does walk-ins?
Any particular type of place to completely avoid (I'm not looking to have air-brushed acrylics with an embedded CZ after all is said and done)?
Standard tipping?
Anything else I should know...things that surprised you when you first went?

Thanks for any and all information.

Current Knitting/Spinning

I finished spinning up the Moonlight and Laughter roving made of milk solids.

I looked through my stash of roving and came up with what I think will be a perfect plying single for it.

This is a blend of Bison, Cashmere and Silk in a soft fawn color that I think will blend perfectly with the bright color lengths of the Moonlight and Laughter singles. The fiber comes from the Fiber Garden, and it is an absolute joy to spin. It's soft and cushy and soft and so freakin' soft.

I've even come up with an idea of how I'll use the resulting yarn...but that'll be a surprise (actually, I just want to make sure it works out before starting to get too excited about it).

I also did some additional work on the Milano Stitch Blanket.

One of these days, I'll measure how far I've knit on this blanket, and how much more I've got to do.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

A Tiny Heart

Ok, so I was forced just absolutely forced..to take a small break from "The Dad Sweater" to do some quick knitting for the shop. Yea... Its been tough not working on that huge ribbed sweater because it's so exciting and stuff, but its a sacrifice that I will have to make.

I'll manage somehow.. I guess... :)

My first order of business was to quickly knit up this cute little heart which is the "Heart Pin" pattern from the book Closely Knit. This weekend Hannah Fettig is coming to the shop for a book signing and the owner of the shop is providing materials for everyone who comes to sit down and make this cute little heart.... Which by the way, Hannah offers the pattern for as a free download off of her blog.

I made a sample to find out exactly how much yarn it takes to make and also because its just so dang cute...

I have quite a few ideas for this little heart. How cute would it be pinned to my daughters denim jacket, or overalls? Or wouldn't it be so sweet attached to a handmade card for someone? I also thought of threading it on a ribbon and hanging it up somewhere... or I could make several and make a little crib mobile for a baby shower gift. Who knew a little knitted heart could have so many possibilities?

My daughter likes it as is.

She was really enjoying playing with it. I had to wrestle it away from her in order to take it to work with me and things got ugly and all tantrumy after that.

I think I ended up promising to knit up many more hearts to make up for it... I better get knitting.

Hospital Hat

Sometimes simple is good. As is in the case of this tiny, blue newborn hat.

It's knit from Rowan Calmer yarn so its stretchy and soft and a perfect hat for keeping baby's head warm while in the hospital. A very practical knit.

I remember making a special hospital hat for my daughter when she was born. It felt so much more special than the weird, not so soft, machine-knit, gender neutral, hats that they were giving out.

When you are a knitter.. these things matter.

Managing Stress

Over the years, my tolerance for stress has decreased significantly...I used to be able to rally very quickly even when life stayed stressful for months at a time. Those days are gone.

Deny, Defer and Defeat
I honestly think that even when I was young and I thought I had a higher tolerance for stress, it wasn't always true. Stressful times would sometimes build to such a level that I'd have a melt-down.

I've had to learn ways of either avoiding stress, deferring it for a short period of time or letting is dissipate.

Obviously it's not always possible to avoid stress. But I have learned at least a few ways of saying "no" to requests of my time that would add to my stress level. I've also set my life up in ways where big areas of stress like finances, relationship issues and illness don't show up very often. And another way I've found I can avoid stress is to try and make some tasks in my life as routine as possible, so it doesn't require a lot of my attention for the purpose of worrying. An example is my traveling. When I fly (especially to Canada these days), I always keep my passport and boarding pass in the same place, I always park at the same airport parking facility, I try to book the same flights each week, I keep an extra set of toiletries at the hotel in Edmonton, etc., etc., etc.

When I do get stressed, and I don't have the ability to relax and let it dissipate (like when work is crazy and I'm in sleep deficit), I defer it as best I can by doing things that help alleviate stress in the short-run, but aren't long-term solutions. Such as drinking lots of coffee and eating lots of sugar.

Finally, I have found that relaxing, exercising, meditating and getting lots of sleep will help dissipate stress.

Suffice it to say that this week I had to rely WAY too much on caffeine and sugar and ended up being quite irritable with co-workers. I'll relax this weekend.

Current Knitting
I'm honestly not enjoying the crochet scarf project I started. I didn't feel compelled to pick it up even once this week. So I made no progress on it at all. I will finish it, but even my fiber project was irritating this week.

However, a woman at work has asked me to show her how to read knitting patterns. She knows how to cast-on, knit and purl and so I've been giving her lessons in a stitch pattern with yarn-overs, psso's and K2Tog's. She picks it up very quickly.

She also let me borrow some some bright red plastic knitting needles and some crappy acrylic mohair (I call it fauxhair), so I'm making a scarf for her mom with it.

Any Thoughts On This New Book?
Thought some readers might know more about a new knitting book than I do. Anybody heard of Diagonal Knitting: A Different Slant" by Katharine Cobey?

I can always hope that Carol does one of her great "no-bull book reviews" about it.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Regarding theft of political signs, Red853 writes, "It is actually a felony, they are we found out to be the property of the actual political party not the candidate themself. Or so we were told by the state police."

It appears that in most states, it's just a petty crime of trespassing and theft, not a felony, but I still wouldn't do it anyway...Karma and all.

NCKnitter asks about the crochet scarf, "Love the scarf! Your own pattern?"

Yes, although inspired by a Danish scarf with no English translation for the pattern, I thought I might be able to figure it out...mine is very different.

Duffy asks, "Are the socks comfortable? I'm noticing the bunching at the front of the foot where the panel goes up the shin and am wondering if that's comfortable to wear."

I've not worn them with shoes yet, but the fabric is very soft and silky, so I imagine the bunching you noticed won't be too noticeable in the wearing.

Catching Up

My life is a bit fuller than it usually is at the moment, and I'm sad to note that I let an entire week go by without blogging last week.

Pant...Pant...Pant..

So, now as I catch my breath, I can tell you that I haven't forsaken the blogosphere completely. I'm still here.

I'm noted it before, but I often find knit-blogging to be twice as hard as blogging about other topics, since I want to be able to show some progress in my fiber pursuits as well as wax poetic on an issue of importance to me. Doing both requires more time than I had last week.

But...I'm back.

Current Knitting/Crocheting/Spinning

Three things going on in my fiber-world these days:

Trying to finish a current WIP and cross off a New Year's goal for 2013
Continuing work on the Koigu Granny Squares blanket
Working on a secret project that I can't blog about or mention publicly...kind of like the Fight Club of fiber pursuits, whereas the first rule about this project is that you don't discuss it.

The Kid Alpaca Blanket/Coffin Cover

Yes, believe it or not, I've been doing quite a bit of work on this blanket. If I am to even attempt to get this thing done by year-end, it will require a lot of my knitting time.

I still have a couple of feet more to knit and it takes FOREVER to do just an inch of knitting on this project. And I can't carry it with me (it's getting way too unwieldy). And, the minute I start working on it, Nico is in my lap.

Koigu Granny Square Blanket

I've done a few more squares for the blanket.

I'm thinking I'm going to need about 60 total squares for this blanket, so I may be doing about 43 more of these squares before I'm finished. Fortunately, this project travels easily...just need to make time to crochet while I'm away.

Rare Knitting

I find it fascinating that some things in the fiber world get to be extremely valuable.

What is The Holy Grail of Knitting Collectors?
I have always found it difficult to believe that folks would pay ridiculous prices for certain things related to knitting.

I own The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons-Hiatt.

It's a relatively impressive book, but is it really worth $200 or so for a knitting book?

I own an antique sock knitting machine made in 1900, and it still has the ability to create socks including ribbing and heel and toe-turning. It's an amazing little antique. For this item, I can kind of understand folks desiring it and paying high prices.

But then there's all things Alice Starmore. I'm seeing paperback books of hers like Stillwater going for over $100. I actually like Alice's designs and think Stillwater is a good book of hers, but honestly, it's not worth $100. And then of course, there's "The Scottish Collection" which includes the design for "Marina"...which I consider to be mediocre as far as Starmore designs go. Although, in that same thin pamphlet (yes, the thing is just a flimsy pamphlet!) you can also find a chunky entrelac pullover in pastel colors designed by Carol Lapin.

Anyway, I've been thinking that I should try and see what I can get for this little gem.

This is a project bag that was given out to people that came to a traveling tour of Alice Starmore conducted by Tomato Factory and Broad Bay Company (the original promoters of Alice in the states). I can't imagine there are many of them around anymore...although I did see a Broad Bay "On The Road With Alice Starmore" bag during my google searches to research this blog entry.

And then of course, there's the "pink chibi" craze...

Current ~~Knitting~~ Spinning
I have done some knitting on the sleeve for the Expedition Pullover, but I also started a new spinning project.

I have been inspired by a few things. First of all, at Rhinebeck, Knitterguy Ted had a beautiful lace-knit scarf that he made used hand-spindled laceweight yarn and it was just delicate and beautiful.

Second, I had my two new purchases from Rhinebeck to play with...the Bosworth niddy noddy, and the drop spindle from Robin Wheels.

Finally, I was mostly inspired by a gift from knit-friend, Loraine (fiberninja).

Her husband started making drop-spindles, and as they downsized on their recent move to Florida, she gifted me with this lovely spindle. Thanks Loraine!

So, using some naturally dyed Coopworth roving from Black Bunny Fiber (dyed with cochineal), I decided to start spinning up some laceweight yarn of my own.

It will end up being a two-ply yarn when all is said and done, and then I'll try and make something nice looking from the result.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Aviatrix

One of my favorite things I have knit for the baby is this sweet little aviator style hat.

This is from the free pattern, Aviatrix, and it's knit using Blue Sky Alpacas Sport.

It's hard to capture the hat's unbelievable cuteness with it just laying flat like this... It seriously needs to be modeled for the full effect. Unfortunately, there were no teddy bears around with the appropriate head size, so we'll just have to wait until baby arrives to get the perfect shot.

I know this hat will be warm and cozy and I love how it buttons around the chin. If I had more time, I would love to make this in every size and in many different yarn and button combinations.

Did you know that this pattern actually comes in 7 different sizes with options for 3 different yarn weights?!? Amazing, right?

Flamingo

I am very happy to report to you that I finished the design project that I was working on out of the
fabulous yarn that I shared with you in the previous post.

To celebrate the occasion, I knit this flamingo.

Because.. everyone knits flamingos when they want to celebrate right?

Wow. I just realized how incredibly boring I am.

Moving on..

It has been a couple of months now since I indulged in knitting a toy for my daughter. I absolutely love the satisfaction of toy knitting. Toys are fun, fast to knit, and my daughter loves them. They are also great for using up scraps of yarn. Most toys I've knit have been from scraps, and that is a satisfying thing in itself.

This little flamingo used up some scraps of Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn that I had leftover from my recently knit Chloe sweaters. The orange legs are from leftovers from my daughters knitted chickens from last year.

If you like this little flamingo, you'll be happy to know that the pattern can be found for free here.

It's another design by Susan B. Anderson. I just can't stop knitting her toy patterns.

This flamingo is cute and all, but lets get back to the point... there is an occasion to celebrate! My new pattern is done. And I am seriously so excited about it! It's with my graphic designer and test knitters now and I'm hoping it will be ready to release soon.

It's a beret pattern. A beautiful cabled leafy beret. And it was hard to do. But now its done.

I can't wait to show you!

Sprig

Oh how happy I am to say that my new Sprig sweater pattern is now available to purchase.

This pattern has been in the works a long time and I am so excited that it is finally ready!

This is a top-down raglan pullover with a very unique construction. One that I think is fun and will catch you by surprise.

The raglan itself is knit asymmetrically and also paired with an asymmetrical neckband. All of this asymmetry when paired together.. results in a symmetrical sweater. It is tricky that way!

It also includes dart like waist shaping for a flattering fit.

Here is the pattern information for those of you interested:

SIZE

33.5 (36.75, 40, 43.25, 46.5)[49.5, 52.75, 56, 59.25]” / 85.5 (93.5, 101.5, 109.5, 118)[126, 134, 142, 150.5] cm

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Chest: 33.5 (36.75, 40, 43.25, 46.5)[49.5, 52.75, 56, 59.25]” / 85.5 (93.5, 101.5, 109.5, 118)[126, 134, 142, 150.5] cm

Length: 24 (25, 26, 27, 28)[29, 30, 31, 32]” / 61 (63.5, 66, 68.5, 71.5)[73.5, 76, 79, 81] cm

Shown in size 33.5” / 85.5 cm. To be worn with 1-3” / 2.5-7.5 cm of positive ease.

MATERIALS

Quince and Co. Owl [50% American Wool, 50% American Alpaca; 120 yd / 110 m per 3.5 oz / 50g skein]; color Chamomile; 7 (8, 9, 10, 11)[12, 13, 14, 15] skeins or approx 825 (925, 1025, 1150, 1250)[1375, 1500, 1650, 1775] yds / 750 (850, 925, 1050, 1150)[1250, 1375, 1500, 1625] m of a dk or light worsted weight wool or wool blend.

Alternate Yarns: Cascade 220 Heathers

1 US6 / 4 mm 24” / 60 cm circular needle

1 set of US6 / 4 mm double-pointed needles

Stitch markers

Stitch holders

Cable needle

Tapestry needle

Two 3/4" / 2 cm buttons for optional button-loop closure on the sleeves

Sewing needle and matching thread for optional closure on the sleeves

GAUGE

20 sts/ 28 rows = 4” / 10 cm in St st on US6 / 4 mm needles or size needed for accurate gauge.

Keeping with the botanical theme, a sprig of foliage begins on one side of the neckline and gracefully wraps around one side. My favorite sweater detail is how these little leaves drape over one shoulder.

The other special detail is on the sleeve cuffs. The leafy sprig is mirrored on the cuffs of the sleeves with the leaves wrapping towards the back just like the neckline.

The pattern also offers an option for a button-loop closure on the sleeve just for fun.

This is a special sweater full of all sorts of fun little botanically inspired details that I hope you will enjoy!

Please remember that this sweater is just a preview of my collection for the upcoming book, Botanical Knits 2. This pattern will only be available individually for a limited time only.

I have arranged for the entire cost of the pdf to be applied towards your future purchase of the new book once it is released next year. Please note the following instructions so that you can receive this discount in the future:

After purchasing Sprig, PayPal will send you an email as a receipt.

PLEASE KEEP THIS EMAIL. YOU WILL NEED IT LATER.

On the email you will see an 16 character code called a "Receipt No." or a 17 digit character code called a "Transaction ID".

These numbers will serve as your coupon code to receive $6 off of the Botanical Knits 2 purchase price when it is released.

I wanted to offer this as a way of saying thank you for all of your patience with me as I have been working so long behind the scenes on this new book. I felt bad having so much time pass between releasing new patterns!

I really hope that you will enjoy this one. Be sure to pop into the Botanical Knits Group on Ravelry to share your pictures!

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 84 : Stories In Stitches

Episode 84

Shownotes:

New York Sheep and Wool Festival

Moto Jacket

Stormy Day Jacket

Sweet Pleat

Sunset Cardigan

Wildflower Cardigan

Wee Wildflower Cardigan

Coastal Knits

Donna Druchanas

Stories In Stitches

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Enter to win a copy of Stories In Stitches Volumes 1, 2 and 3 by leaving a comment with your contact information under this post by November 15th. Only one comment per person please!

The winner will be announced in Episode 85.

Thank you for listening!

Factors in Choosing Yarn

I buy a LOT of yarn, and much of it isn't purchased with a specific use in mind. Here are some of the factors I use in deciding what I buy.

QueerJoe's Yarn Buying Factors

Color - I try to stick with deep, saturated, smokey, broody colors. Even vibrant jewel tones can fit into this category if the colors are rich and deep enough.
Tactile Pleasure - The yarn has to have a pleasurable feel. Soft, silky and drapey or ruddy, coarse and satisfying. I just need to know that I will enjoy knitting with it.
Fiber Content - Mostly, I go toward lamb's wool. It's generally got more loft and has a structure to it. Silk and alpaca are more drapey and create a less structured garment or fabric. I tend to keep away from cotton or other plan fibers unless they're blended with something else. Even acrylics can have a nice effect on plant-based fibers.
Company - Unless I have some specific project in mind, I will always try to buy from independent yarn producers/dyers. I love yarns like Cascade or Dale of Norway, but I can find them readily any time I need them. I would much prefer to support smaller businesses trying to make their way in the world of yarn.

Recent Favorite Yarn Company

MJ Yarns by Jonathan Berner has recently caught my attention.

His colorways first caught my eye. They have the rich, deep colors I love (and which mix well with the rest of my stash).

I also like his choice in base yarns. Two in particular held a lot of interest...his Opulent Fingering weight in Merino (80%), Cashmere (10%) and Nylon (10%) and also his Light Fingering Weight in Corriedale (75%) and Nylon (25%) sounds like an ideal sock yarn.

I opted to start out with his Opulent Fingering Weight for my latest scarf project. I'm always looking for stitch patterns that will blend two colorways of variegated yarn in an interesting way, and I like how my latest one came out with two yarns in MJ Yarns Opulent Fingering Weight.

Current Knitting

Finished up a scarf using the two MJ Yarns, and it allows me to review the yarns, and how they work when they're knit up.

Here's how I rate the yarn in various areas:

Durability - Very high. This pattern is knitted lace or lace knitting...whichever one requires that you do increases and decreases on both sides of the fabric. I had to rip it out and re-cast-on the entire project about 12 times. I was also able to machine wash this particular scarf with no ill effects.

Uniformity - Very high. MJ yarns gets a very high quality base yarn for this particular fiber

Color/Dyeing - High. At first glance, I thought some of the colors intermixed to give the individual yarns a slightly muddy look, especially in the purplish colorway. But the colors maintain distinct differences once knit up, and Jonathan's sense of colors is really quite fine.

Put-Up - Very High. 100 grams, 416 yards, spun with a medium twist and twisted into a hank that didn't tangle at all when I wound either of them into cakes, and not one knot in either of the two hanks.

Retail Availability - Good. Not currently available in any of my local yarn stores, but readily available via the web at one of my favorite Rocky Mountain area yarns stores, Gypsy Wools.

Tactile Pleasure - Very High. The merino, cashmere aspect make this yarn lofty, warm and soft. It was a pleasure to knit with, even doing wrist-twisting stitches like purling to back of loop. The resulting fabric has a wonderful drape, an no itchiness factor at all when worn directly near the face.

I plan on ordering some Simple Sock yarn from Gypsy Wools to see how I enjoy knitting MJ Yarns up into socks...I think the Corriedale/Nylon blend will be a perfect sock yarn.