Present
I got myself a present. I've wanted to make socks with handspun for ages. Alas, my spinning isn't anywhere near up to that standard. Luckily, other people do have this talent, and some of them will even allow me to buy the lovely things they make. This is from Bockstark Knits. It's just unimaginably fabulous. I love it. She's got other yarn on her etsy site, and it's all drop dead gorgeous. I almost didn't want to tell you about it lest you buy all of her goodies and don't leave any for me. But it looks like she's going [...]
Blatant Falsehoods
I'm good at math. I know it's common for knitters to shy away from math, but really I don't mind it. On occasion (and under the influence of an adult beverage or two) I have been seized by the need to understand a particular math problem and have gone and found the calculus textbooks and the graph paper and the calculator and spent a happy hour figuring it out. So I tend to take it rather personally when math lies to me. That swatch-turned-mitt is 32 stitches and 8 inches around. I measured carefully. I can do that math. 32 [...]
This is Still Not a Hat
It is a mitt now though, so that's progress. Alas, it's not the sock for Heather's book. It's not that swirly sock over there pining for some attention on the sidebar. It's not even the hat it was supposed to be. What can I say, I am fickle. And while it's not any of the knitting I should be doing, it has been educational. I've learned a few things. First, knitting on the bigger yarn is wicked wicked fast. Second, mistakes show more on bigger yarn. Third, while the big yarn is fun, I'm not abandoning the sock-weight stuff any [...]
This is Not a Hat
It was meant to be a hat. Then I decided a swatch was in order. Then my loathing of swatching in the round reared its ugly head and it turned into a mitt. So now the hat can be a set (you wouldn't want it to be lonely, would you?), and I can pretend it was a clever plan right from the beginning. Don't tell anyone.
Crazed Chickens
Ya know the end of a big project, when all those little things you've been putting off because they 'will only take five minutes' all have to get done at once? Yeah. We're in that stage for the book. There are photo shoots, which means buying poster board and making that one pesky swatch I forgot about and getting a haircut and doing up yarn samples and spending some serious time with a lint roller. There are final read throughs, which have totally justified my highlighter addiction (it's perfectly valid to need a key to remember which color of [...]
Things That Are True
I have moved past the 'serious pondering' stage of the hat and onto the 'yarn on needles' stage. In the process, I've learned several things. Among them: -Heads come in an impressive range of sizes, and people are far less likely to know their head size than their shoe size. -Hats can reasonably use a much wider range of thicknesses of yarn than socks can. You can totally have a super bulky hat, while socks made in super bulky yarn would be... well...slippers. -The thicker the yarn, the more gauge seems to matter. All this led me to take a [...]
Talk To Me About Hats
I have a friend who is having a really crummy couple of months and needs a hat (hi babe, I'm totally soliciting advice on your behalf, trust me it's better this way). Now I've never made a hat, but I want to try. Not only have I never knit a hat, I don't think I've ever even worn a hat any time after I started dressing myself. I have a big head and a lot of hair. This doesn't lend itself to hats. So I need some guidance. I have two skeins (about 300 yards total) of Malabrigo Twist in [...]
Y’all Rock!
You guys are seriously awesome. Not only have you said encouraging things along the way, and then said complimentary things when I showed off the socks, but now you've actually bought the book. I have to say it was more than a bit nerve wracking putting up the book site. What if I put it up and no one looked? What if I put it up and no one bought it. It's the 'what if I throw a party and no one comes' anxiety except in a very public venue. So thank you for coming to my party. You made [...]
And Now…
Alright. You've been patient. Well, no. You haven't. You've been almost as impatient as I have. But really -- that is even better than being patient, because that means you guys are excited too. So now for the promised information. As of today, we are taking preorders for the book Silk Road Socks: 14 Patterns Inspired by Oriental Rugs! You can place orders over at Silk Road Socks. The book will be available in traditional print form and also in a variety of electronic formats. All the details are spelled out on the book's site (where you'll also find sneak [...]
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