Balmy
As I write, we're about 4 hours (and 4 inches) into a nice proper snowstorm. (The picture was taken yesterday when the porch was free of snow. At the moment, it's rather a lot more snow-covered out there, and I feel no obligation at all to go out and document it for you. You'll have to use your imaginations instead.) I'll be alright though, as I have a lovely and hugely warm new hat. See? That, plus a bit of work on The Boy's sock, was all my knitting over the birthday/holiday weekend. The rest of the time was spent [...]
Brisk
So the stars worked (or, alternatively, it just got to be far enough into December that snow was inevitable, take your pick). It got cold outside. And then, because we don't believe in any of that new-fangled nonsense like windows that haven't lasted through two world wars or insulation composed of something other than 90-year-old wadded up newspaper, it got cold inside. How cold you ask? Well, that's the inside of the storm window right there, and that's also some lovely, icy frost. The kind that makes a hugely satisfying skritching sound when you scrape it with your fingernail. [...]
Birthday Laze
I am hard at work on the traditional birthday laze fest. I am wearing warm wooly socks, eating tasty food, getting to know a new board game, and generally hibernating all tucked up at home with The Boy (which is exactly how I like to spend the day). As is also traditional, I'm having a wee birthday sale. Now through December 26, 11:59pm eastern time, buy one pattern get one free (everything except the books). To take advantage: 1) Visit my ravelry store find 2 patterns you like, and put them in your ravelry cart (you have to use the [...]
Well it’s About Time
You know that moment on a hat? The moment where all you need to do is keep going around and around and around as you've been doing for a while now? And there's nothing else to be done, you just have to put in the stitches? Even if you've lost all will to live (or at least to knit)? Yeah, that's where I was on this one. It was not leading to much in the way of forward momentum. At least it wasn't until I noticed how inescapably nifty the inside of the hat looks. See? This discovery has left [...]
Uninspiring
Sorry folks, I'm being shamefully uninspiring at the moment. You see, the first laid out draft of the book is here. That means I'm up to my neck in editing...the sort where you match your pens to your highlighters and your postit notes and call upon all the focusing capabilities of a cup of your strongest tea and just power through. It makes for a shamefully boring blog really. I will do my very best to actually put some yarn on some sticks and do something clever with it as soon as possible. But for now, could someone please hand [...]
Warm
As discussed the last time this hat gripped me in its obsession, these hats are mindbogglingly simple. The vast majority of the time, you're just knitting. Just plain old knitting...nothing fancy at all. Every now and then, you do a little magic trick for one quick row, then slip back to the lovely soothing plain knitting. The resulting fabric is both charming and impressively warm. Take a look at this. That's after a nice stretch of stockinette and just before the next row with the magic trick. See the difference between the bottom part and the top part? See how [...]
Book Yarn, Part IX
And finally, Vice. I got to know Lizzy, the brain behind Vice, on Ravelry. She's been helping me test my patterns for approximately forever. She even knit both of the sample shawls for the first volume of Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet (which is a lot of knitting). When I heard she had started her own yarn line (and isn't that every knitter's dream), I was thrilled. I'm so excited to have two of her lovely yarns in the next book On the right is Chubbie in the color Lauren. This is my kind of sock yarn. It's got 8 tiny plies, [...]
It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
Well bummer. Remember when I said the hat obsession had returned? And I showed you the two yarns I wanted to use? Yes. Well. I seem to have fallen under the sway of Malabrigo's lovely but occasionally sporadic colors. Somehow the yarn that looked all blue and green and gray with hints of yellow turned out to be yellow with bits of evil thrown in. Well no, I take it back. The yarn itself is lovely, it just wasn't playing well with that gray and that stitch pattern. Not really at all. So I did what any reasonable knitter would [...]
Priorities
What was that? Something about having promised you socks? Yes, yes I do recall something like that. Alas, our weekend didn't quite allow for daylight sock photography. We had an epic, two-day game of Carcassonne instead, and I'm not at all sorry. But never fear, there was knitting. I had to do something while I waited for it to be my turn. See, sock. And while we're here, let's just take a moment to see what a difference blocking makes. That's the same yarn (String Theory Merino DK), same needles, same stitch, same knitter...totally different look before and after blocking. [...]
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