I got distracted. I got distracted near yarn. I got distracted near yarn and needles and now I'm oddly obsessed with these little bits of foolishness.  I'm doodling around with how best to make them (the goal is no seams, only two ends to weave in, and not too fiddly).  Because from what I can see on instagram, some of you might want to play too!   [pextestim pex_attr_set="looking-for-this-pattern" pex_attr_autoplay="false"][/pextestim]

I think we're due for some socks, don't you?  Propitiate are (back) out, and I have a feeling they're the sort of socks that a lot of us sock knitters secretly most like to make (and wear).  They're 10% off with the code COZY, and there's yarn to give away, so read on! There seem to be two sock factions.  There's the Let's Make This As Complicated As Possible camp (lace! and brioche! and quite possibly some beads! and three different colors of yarn! and they start in the middle of your foot and go together some really weird way!).  [...]

So this was going to be a post about how I'd been getting rather a lot of a particular question lately (briefly summarized as "Knitting patterns are stupid and easy to make, so it's basically a crime that anyone charges such an outrageous amount for them.  And I don't have enough money to buy both yarn and patterns, but I don't like the thousands of free patterns that are out there, so how about you give me your patterns for free because I like them better than the free ones?  Not enough to pay for them mind you, because paying for [...]

And so it begins... Now, as knitters all know, if you're worried about running out of yarn, the trick is to knit really fast so you outrun the end. Totally valid approach...not at all insane, sure to work. Now, to be fair, I'm also doing things like not using a folded brim (don't want to anyway, the leaf pattern will make a lovely little scallop it would be a shame to hide) and using big needles to make a relaxed fabric that takes less yarn.  And at some point, I'll measure and do some math (and probably come back and [...]

So you know I've been feeling the slipper love lately.  They really are fun to knit (and wear...and don't try and convince me you don't need a slipper wardrobe because I just won't believe you).  But taking pictures of them has always been a little tricky.  I used a pair of shoe stretchers, but they didn't quite have the volume I wanted (and they were a little smaller than my feet, so I sometimes had to pad out the toe a little to make them really show off the slippers.  But no more. I went on etsy and found two [...]

So that book? The one I was flashing about the other day? Yeah, one of the things in is is a mini stitch dictionary.  As I was working out the stitches I used in the patterns, I did lots of swatching.  And while I did eventually have to pick one version of the stitches for each pattern, the other versions were too good to throw away. So I did the only reasonable thing and decided I'd include a few of them in the book as a mini stitch dictionary.  Totally reasonable, right?  Let's pretend it is! I've never done anything [...]

I have a bin on my office bookshelf of Things To Be Photographed.  It's where stuff I'm done knitting but can't yet wear because I haven't taken pics of it yet hangs out while I get my act together.  And sometimes...sometimes things hang out in there way too long. A little blog sleuthing (because what is the point of having a blog if you can't use it to go back and figure out when you did what) shows me I finished these in November...of 2016.  I've even got the pattern written and tested and I could release it whenever I [...]

So those slippers? The ones that somehow manage to make even my somewhat...ah...substantial feet look very nearly shapely and elegant?  Yeah, they're called Calceiform, and they're out on ravelry today!  You can get them for 10% off for the next day or two with the code SHAPELY. I just love how you put these together.  You start by knitting a heel flap and heel turn, just like you'd do for many top down socks.  then you pick up stitches around the heel flap and knit back and forth making all the pretty lacy bits, until the slipper almost wraps around your [...]