A sickness I tell you
So when last we left the hat it had gotten pleasantly tall. But it whispered to me that we weren't quite done...it needed one more little thing... Yes, it's true, I've fallen prey to the dread pompom sickness. From what I can tell there's no cure. Luckily, with the right treatment, it's a fairly manageable condition. And the symptoms aren't even that bad when the yarn is this pretty! For anyone wondering, the purple one is Entrapment, the pink one just came out this week and is called is Misprision, and the blue one should be out later this summer, [...]
Misprision (plus giveaway)
If you've been around for a while you know I'm scared of proper colorwork. The sort where you use two (or more, eep) colors in one row. But I don't want to be left out of all that multicolored fun, so I've started playing with ways to use two different yarns, but keep it to one yarn per row. Misprision is one of the results of my experiments (and through Friday, it's 10% off with the code POMPOM)! It's also more fun than it has any right to be. The background is just lovely, mellow stockinette (can't ask for anything [...]
Tall enough
So we've talked about this before, but it's helpful enough it bears repeating. If you're doing a hat with fast decreases (and a lot of mine use those), my favorite way to know if it's tall enough is to get all the stitches on two needles and try it on. Fast decreases distort the fabric (and that distortion uses up some of the fabric you've made), and arranging it like this does a good job of mimicking that distortion. If it's tall enough on two needles, it will be tall enough when you've done the decreases. Here I needed a [...]
Shhhh
Are you on instagram? I am, and rather to my surprise, I totally love it. I seem to have found the right group of folks to follow so that I see a never-ending stream of yarn and sheep and cocktails and knitting (and very very little drama and strife...making it a much more mellow place than many other social media outlets). I'm going to start doing little flash sales there every now and then (I'm doing the first one today). I'll put something fun on sale, for one day only, and I'll only mention it there. If you want to [...]
Prepping caked yarn
You know those beautiful cakes of yarn? The ones that flirt their way right into your cart with their glorious slow color changes? Yeah, I love them too. But, sometimes they require a tiny bit of extra work before you start knitting. And, since I'm spending some serious time with yarns like this for Curls 3, I thought I'd show you how to do it. So, when you pull out the center of a lot of cakes, you'll probably see something like this. See how the yarn is a bit kinked? It's sort of twisty and just doesn't lay straight. [...]
It grew
So there's this nifty thing where, if you keep working on something, it will usually grow. That does seem to be happening here. The hat is getting markedly taller. It still needs another inch or two (I have a few things in mind for the decreases here, but any of them will need the hat to be pretty tall first), but the end is in sight (this is the inside, because some folks have asked...though honestly that feels a tiiiiiiny bit like asking to peek in my medicine cabinet...). Then? Then I think maybe it will need a pom pom...
Mosaic & Lace Knits (review and giveaway)
So have you noticed how I tend to say things like 'don't worry, it's not really colorwork' or 'it's ok, you only ever work with one yarn at once' when I talk about my projects? Yeah, that's because I'm sort of scared of having to manage two strands of yarn on one row (and just possibly a little in awe of folks who can pull it off it). Judging from what I hear from you guys, I'm not alone. If you're with me in the one-yarn-at-a-time camp (or if you're one of those fancy two-at-a-time folks and want to try [...]
Ensnared (plus giveaway)
Do you realize how long it's been since we had a shiny new sock pattern around here? It was back in November. That's just not cool! We need more socks, and I think Ensnared are just the ticket. That's a nice classic sock to jump back in with, isn't it now! There's just something about a perfect ribbed sock that's hard to beat. They fit so well and feel so good on your feet and you can totally get away with them if your sock target insists on fairly sedate socks. And, if you have a yarn as beautiful as [...]
Good Mail (yes, more!)
This really is one of the most enjoyable parts of any book...the yarn shower that comes at the beginning... Because really, how could you not love finding that in your mailbox? That's the Magnificent DK base from Knit Circus in their Brass and Steam colorway, with an extra skein of the yellow that comes at the end (the KC folks are super flexible and will totally help you get the amount/color of yarn you need for whatever scheme you've cooked up!). Or this...it's just pretty much going to make your day no matter what. I swear it just about glows! [...]
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