The boss of your knitting…
This is just your friendly occasional reminder that you (not the yarn tag) are in charge of your gauge (and needle size)! This is Malabrigo's Twist, which is a lovely aran weight yarn. They suggest knitting it at around 4-5 stitches per inch, and suggest a needle size around 8 1/2 - 11. All of which is cool, and totally works for something like a hat (though for me to get 4 spi with this yarn, I use something like a size 4 needle). But I'm making slippers, and I want them to be as dense as I can get [...]
Might as well…
So that pretty gray and green hat? The one with the welts? It's coming out later this month. And I needed to take some instructional photos for how you make that little ridge. And I was going to just do it on a swatch...but it seemed more fun to do it on a tiny cuff instead. Because really...that you can use. The swatch, not so much. Plus the yarn (kunlun by Miss Babs) is so soft it's pretty much a crime. And this way I'd be able to use it all up instead of having the dreaded mini ball left [...]
Darn it
I managed to get a funny hole in my sock. It's on top of the toes (not a spot where I usually get a lot of wear), and closer examination revealed that it's just one popped strand. There's no sign of wear (the fabric around it isn't thin), so my guess is it just got caught on something (kitten claws are a distinct possibility) and snapped. This is easy to fix... I started by securing the freestanding stitch with one of my very favorite safety pins/stitch markers (as always, amazon links are affiliate links). The strand that broke is directly [...]
Burgeoning (plus giveaway)
One afternoon, a few days after our move, I took a little walk around the yard with my camera and knitting in hand. I was looking for somewhere to show off these slippers. And what do you know, we have a handy woodpile that does the job rather nicely. The pattern is called Burgeoning, and I think it's a lovely way to start things off in the new house! There's something really satisfying about how these work up. You cast on at the back of the heel, work a few increases for the bottom of your foot, work a few [...]
Business as usual
We're starting to feel settled in. I know where almost everything is (though the basement still holds some mysteries) and we're down to just a tiny handful of boxes lingering in corners. All of which means it's time to get back to work and do some knitting! This was technically finished up just before we left Cleveland, but I've not shown it off, so I'm taking shameless liberties with the timeline and doing so now. I really do like these more than I should...I mean yes, it's just a facecloth. It's the complete opposite of fancy or complicated or flashy. [...]
Landed
Aaaaand we're in! All tucked into the new house in Maine, mostly unpacked, and ready to get back to work. You'll start seeing me around more next week (next up, the pattern for those lovely green slippers everyone has asked about). They'll be the first pattern photographed in our shiny new back yard! Thanks for sticking with me during the move (so. many. boxes), and I promise to show off lots of lovely Maine goodness over the next months as we get settled in!
Departures
We made herb salt this week. If you've been around for a while (and if you pay alarmingly close attention to the nonsense I get up to), you may be thinking it's a bit early for such a thing. And this is totally true...we usually wait until October or even November for this project. But this year? This year that's not an option. We're moving this week (the movers come Friday), and if we wanted to have a batch this year, this was the moment. We've finally managed to pull off that move to Maine we've been working on (we've been [...]
Let’s pretend
We're just going to ignore the bit about how I put this down when there were only a few hours left of work to do on it, picked up a totally different yarn, and knit an entire hat. Instead we're going to focus on how I've now picked it back up. Alright? There really wasn't much more to do at all... Though of course it does need a fair whack of i-cord there at the end... Yes, a good solid foot of it. But it's done now, so all that's left is a bit of ends management and two overhand [...]
So So Nifty (with some goodies to give away)
So remember how I said there were goodies in the first 500 packages of Silk Road Socks that went out? Well I think it's time we show off what they were! But to do that, we need a little backstory. If you've gotten your book, you've probably noticed all the beautiful illustrations scattered throughout. I mean look at that...isn't that cool? And that...how can you not love that? These (and the map, and the inside covers, and pretty much anything else you look at and go ooooooohhhh!) are by the delightful Stephanie Fliss. Early in the production of Silk Road [...]
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