Category Archives: Knit

In the wake of Sandy…a fundraiser

Posted on November 13, 2012 | 6 comments

Sandy the Superstorm feels like it was a long time ago given the short life cycle of headline news, but it’s going to take a while to get everything back to normal on the east coast. Two weeks after the storm, there are still people without electricity, heat, and even homes. I just read a great blog post by Mary Mooney of the Oregonian. She details why you shouldn’t knit for Sandy’s victims, at least not directly, if you’re not local to the scene. As knitters we want to help, but the best way to help is with dollars, not items that have to be shipped and managed.

In this spirit, I’d like to offer up Ruffle Kerfuffle. All proceeds from online sales of my Kerfuffle Cowl and Ruffle Kerfuffle Scarves and Cowl patterns from now until December 15, 2012 will be donated to the Red Cross. I’ll pay the Ravelry and paypal fees myself; 100% of the purchase price will go towards disaster relief.

What is a kerfuffle, anyway? According to the dictionary, it’s commotion, disorder, agitation. I think that’s a good description of what happened. I hope things get back to normal there soon.

The cowl pattern is just for the cowl; the Scarves and Cowl pattern includes the cowl and the steeked scarves.

Click here for information on how to purchase the pattern. Knit one for you and one for a friend! Two 100 gram balls of yarn will make two cowls in opposing colorways. And thanks for helping out.

6 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged kerfuffle, red cross, sandy

Knitting, knitting, knitting

Posted on November 7, 2012 | 7 comments

I finished the cowl from the previous post, thanks to Dee in Orlando. I was visiting CollegeGuy and forgot the smaller needle for the ribbing. I didn’t want to take time from our visit to find a yarn store, because we were headed for the beach!

Because of Dee’s kindness in lending me a needle, I finished the first cowl and started the negative image one on the flight home. Details on these in the next post.

On Sunday, I stood in the surf at Cocoa Beach with my boys (young men!) and watched the pelicans diving for fish. So cool! The weather was perfect, 84 and sunny. DH read his kindle. While we were gone, it looks like someone Rumpelstiltskinned my back yard. Here’s the view from my office.

Thank you, Dee! Your needle is on its way back to you, along with a goodie. Hope you like it!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged kerfuffle

Winner!

Posted on October 31, 2012 | 12 comments

I’ve been knitting like crazy, but I had to step away from the knitting for a little bit. I can’t see my chart.

This is another Kerfuffle Cowl, this time in Knit Picks Swish Tonal; the colors are Inkwell and Pearlescent. I should be able to get two cowls out of the two skeins of yarn, but I may have to reverse the colors for the second one. The scale will tell me when I’m done with the first one! Do you use a kitchen scale for your knitting? It’s really helpful for me when I’m designing and need to know if I have enough yarn for what I have planned.

I’ve also been doing a little crochet lately. Just chain stitch. I’ve been making beaded bracelets, and I’m going to lead a workshop on these at Twisted on November 10, noon to 2 p.m. We made some of these at a birthday gathering of Crafty Moms on Sunday, and everyone did great, even the non-crocheters. Come to class and see how!

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The winners of the stitch markers are Katnipon and Judi. Congratulations! I’m emailing the winners.

I wish I had enough stitch markers for everyone. Here are links to my tutorials if you want to make beaded stitch markers of your own:

Stitch markers made with wire pins (flat head or eye pins)

Stitch markers made with flex wire

Have fun!

12 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit, pattern design

Tagged crochet beads

New knits, stitch marker giveaway

Posted on October 22, 2012 | 60 comments

I’ve been knitting like mad these past few weeks. I’ve been swamped with new ideas, and I want to KNIT ALL THE THINGS. And why not?

The most recent knits are two versions from one idea. Remember the lovely Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Hoppy Blonde?

Knit. Blocked. I wore it yesterday, even though I’ve never worn this color before. It’s so enticing that I’m willing to go out of my color comfort zone!

The second version has a lacier border, and is 6 rows from completion in Hazel Knits Artisan Sock Jam Session (the red), just 819 stitches away. No picture yet, but soon. The pattern is written and charted and needs proofing and test knitting.

(And what shall I do with the skein of Splish Splash?)

I love stitch markers for keeping things orderly. Leticia at Starlight Knitting sent me samples of her square stitch markers last month, and they have served me well. She sent along some extras to share. I did share with some of my knit night peeps, but I have enough extra that I think we should have a giveaway here on the blog.

This is a set of Color Play stitch markers that she designed for Sincere Sheep, a favorite indie dyer.

And this set is inspired by Downton Abbey. Can you tell which colors are for Lady Mary, Lady Edith, and Lady Sybil?

I’m giving away both of these sets. Leave a comment below and I’ll do a random drawing for two winners. Because we could all use a little bling for our knitting!

60 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Starlight Knitting, stitch markers, webfoot filigree

To the frog pond…again!

Posted on October 5, 2012 | 4 comments

Ripping, ripping, ripping. This is the shawlette I completely frogged at the beginning of the week, and I re-knit it with my intended changes. I love it. So why am I ripping again?

I have my heart set on a particular edging at the top of this crescent shawlette, and there’s not enough yarn to make it happen. I need at least 28 grams, according to the scale, and I have 25. How will I get there? I’m going to change the rate of the short row decreases to make the curve shallower, with fewer rows, and hope that gives me enough for the 6 rows of edging, plus the bind off. Wish me luck!

4 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged design, shawlette

Be the boss of your knitting

Posted on September 30, 2012 | 7 comments

Does your knitting know who’s boss? Are you a fearless knitter? Not yet? Here’s your chance. I’m teaching Tink Drop Frog (how to fix your mistakes) at Stash in Corvallis this Saturday morning, October 6. If you’re local, come learn to whip your knitting into shape in this two hour workshop.

I’m also teaching a Christmas stocking class in the afternoon. You’ll learn stranded color knitting, and turning a heel. A Christmas stocking is a perfect first sock because it’s knit with big yarn and needles, and you only have to knit one! No second sock syndrome. It’s not too early to get your holiday knitting going. Call Stash to register for either of these classes.

I am definitely the boss of my knitting. I knit a shawl while I was traveling in Europe earlier this month, on trains from Amsterdam to Bruges, Bruges to Paris, Paris to Reims and back. Here’s what it looks like now:

Yep. Frogged it. I didn’t love the finished object, and this lovely HazelKnits yarn deserves better. I know exactly what I want to change. (What, me swatch? The whole garment is a swatch!) I’m knitting on bigger needles, and I changed the motif of the pattern. I’m already much happier with it. I don’t mind frogging; I enjoyed knitting on the trains and I’m enjoying knitting now.

While I was gone, Leticia (Starlight Knitting) sent me these stitch markers to sample.

They’re square! And also snag free. They fit up to a size 7 needle (although I cast on with an 8 and it was fine), and are light and unobtrusive. I love them! Leticia has teamed up with several independent dyers (Sincere Sheep, Knitted Wit, Canon Hand Dyes) to make stitch markers that coordinate with their color palettes. Canon Hand Dyes (Amy Lee) and Starlight Knitting even debuted a Downton Abbey inspired yarn and stitch marker collection. How fun is that? The blue-green markers above are Lady Sybil. Remember her modern pant suit?

Do you use stitch markers? I like using them when casting on a lot of stitches, to mark off groups of 50 so I don’t have to re-count them, and to mark off pattern repeats when knitting, or just to tell my fingers that it’s time to pay attention to something. I’ve made some of my own before, but I don’t think you can ever have too many. I’ve even made them from a cut up drinking straw, in a pinch, but pretty is better. It’s like jewelry for your knitting. How about you?

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged classes, stitch markers

OFFF 2012

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 8 comments

DH and I went globe trotting to celebrate our 30th(!) anniversary: Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris. I’m finally starting to catch up with myself after jet lag plus a busy week at home. We arrived home on Friday night at 11, and I went to Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival the next day at noon. I didn’t want to miss my favorite fiber festival of the year, and I couldn’t go on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and warm.

This is the first year since I started going to OFFF that I didn’t help Lorajean (Knitted Wit) set up her booth. Looks like she managed to get it done without me; set-up day was my travel day.

It was Brooke’s (Sincere Sheep) first OFFF; she came with a beautiful rainbow of yarn and fiber. She and Lorajean are launching more Among Friends fun; check it out here.

I took my half pi shawl to Abstract Fiber to show Susan what I had made with her lovely laceweight Hepburn yarn. This was the shawl I made for my birthday, but really it was for our anniversary dinner in Paris. Dinner and the shawl were both lovely.

Yvonne (Lavender Sheep) and her new little one were there. Yvonne is a dyer, and also the organizer of the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival, coming in April.

Chrissy Gardiner was at the Lavender Sheep booth signing copies of her new book, Indie Socks. This book is full of Chrissy’s beautiful and clever patterns for socks using yarn from indie dyers.

I caught up with Jen from Andersen Fiber Works. (Love her sweater!)

And my friend Sarah, who is the fastest knitter I know. And very accomplished, too; her knitting knowledge is encyclopedic. (Do I look a little dazed? Not bad for 4 hours of sleep, after being up 24 hours traveling. Oy!)

Nadine showed me her handspun sweater project. I last saw it in our steek class last spring. Yes, she cut her handspun knitting! I had a nice chat with her friend Midge, too.

I didn’t make it to the animal barns. I came home with just a little yarn. I wanted some browns, which I’ve never worn before. I’m branching out!

Lovely warm browns in this Eponymous Sock yarn, color Mulch, from Three Fates Yarn.

And this cool brown Shine from Knitted Wit.

This plummy Icicle Creek yarn from Rain City Fiber Arts. I fell for the color, and the golden sparkle of the stellina.

Did you go to OFFF? What have you been up to while I was gone?

I’ll tell you about my travels in another post. This one is long enough already!

8 Comments

Posted in Knit, yarn

Tagged OFFF

Shawlette inspiration

Posted on September 8, 2012 | 6 comments

I have an idea for a shawlette, and I think it’s working out. I’m inspired by the color of this yarn. It’s HazelKnits fingering, can’t remember which version, or the color name. Geez, I’m a lot of help, aren’t I?

It’s zipping along since this picture. And this fingering weight yarn feels really phat after knitting the laceweight shawl. Just sayin’. More later…

Oh! Don’t forget, my birthday pattern sale runs through tomorrow, Sunday September 9. Celebrate!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit

Ruffle Kerfuffle is live!

Posted on September 5, 2012 | 15 comments

It’s my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to add new designs to my pattern collection?

This is the Ruffle Kerfuffle scarflet. It was my original idea for this design, knit in the round with a steek to cut, and the ruffled ends and criss-cross buttons. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I also knit a longer version, the Ruffle Kerfuffle Scarf.

So cute! But what about those knitters that don’t ever want to cut a steek?

No steek, no ruffle. Something for everyone

You can find more information on these patterns on the Ruffle Kerfuffle page.

To celebrate my birthday, I’m having a sale! $1 off any pattern in my Ravelry store, no limit. This includes Ruffle Kerfuffle! The sale is through Sunday, September 9.

And if you’re interested in a Kerfuffle KAL, and virtual hand-holding for the steeking, let me know. I’m also teaching a steeking class with this pattern at Twisted in Portland on the Monday after Thanksgiving. C’mon, you know you want to!

15 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged kerfuffle, ruffle kerfuffle

Three year socks

Posted on September 3, 2012 | 10 comments

I did it. It didn’t take long at all. Why did it take me three years and four months to finish these socks?

I did graft the toe of the second (left) sock. It’s not that I don’t know how; it’s that I knit socks so rarely that I always have to look it up. But I did, and it’s done. It looked enough like the right sock (draw the yarn through the remaining 8 stitches) that it wasn’t worth going back to re-do the first one.

These are a heavily modified adaptation of Cookie A’s Kai-Mei socks. My Chinese name is Lai-Wah, so I named them for myself. You can see a description of the changes on this three year old blog post, if you’re interested.

Now what should I knit? More socks? Another shawl? I want a relatively mindless, portable knit…

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged grafting, kitchener stitch, lai-wah sock