knitting blog - yarnagogo

 

new favorite knitting blog that I found -  Yarnagogo.com. This is a knitting blog the same way my blog is a typography blog. I talk about type and anything else that strikes my fancy and she does too. Of course the how-to blog books will tell you that is a mistake and confuses people coming to your site but, well, it is my blog. Anyway Rachel's blog is full of knitting and yarn and fleece. She is also a writer and travels and chats about food and it appears whatever she wants to talk about. She also had some interesting book recommendations too. I am looking forward to following her.

brenda dayne of cast on

  madison Knitters, do you want to take a class from Brenda Dayne of Cast On fame? Brenda is teaching her way across the states this Spring. If you want her to come to our lovely city call The Sow's Ear or The Knitting Tree or Lakeside Knitting and ask them to host her. She is finalizing her schedule so we need to act fast. And if she comes I have dibs, she is staying with me.

And if you don't listen to her podcast you should. It is a delightful mix of knitting, and music and her musings on life in Wales. If you are new to her podcasts then you are in luck because she she now has over 100 of them. There is a link to the right.

Oh and I designed her logo above.

Let's bring Brenda to Madison! Plz forward this post to any knitter you know who may be interested.

handy knit and crochet apps

 

a collaboration between expert knitter Ann Budd and Interweave brings you these handy little apps. I have the knitting one. I don't crochet but I assume it would work much the same way. I love having this on my phone so I can do some basic math on the fly in a store when trying to figure out how much yarn to buy. It will help me not over buy... (I have tons of aqua chenille that I have never used) or worse yet under buy. At least I will be making some kind of educated guess.

The Knit Handy app delivers the yardage requirements for eight of the most popular knitted items: sweaters, vests, mittens, gloves, socks, scarves, tams, and hats. The Crochet Handy app provides yardage requirements for basic caps, scarves, bags, afghans, ponchos, baby sweaters, skirts, and tops. Both apps show all sizes ranging from baby or toddler to large adult, using five standard yarn weights—from fingering to bulky.

Knit Handy and Crochet Handy apps can be used to quickly show measurement units in imperial (inches and yards) or in metric (centimeters and meters), and to determine the yarn needed when a knitter or crocheter changes their gauge in a pattern.

Both apps are an easy-to-use portable tool that calculates how much yarn is needed for whatever someone wants to knit or crochet. All it takes is three easy steps:

1. Select the measurement units in imperial (inches and yards) or in metric (centimeters and meters);

2. Select a project type, then choose gauge (ranging from 3 to 9 stitches per inch) and size;
3. The yarn amount is calculated.

For sale in the app store for iPhone, iPod, and iPad.

knitting gone wild

 

my knitting is out of control. I do not have the ability to knit a sweater. I don't wear them and they are too much of a commitment. But for some reason I wish I knit sweaters. So I knit small things. Unfortunately it is way more fun the minute I get a idea for something that I start it, knit for a bit and then start something else. Right now I have on the needles...

1. lovely mohair scarf almost done. 2. 2 pair of socks. Both about half done. One pair I am losing interest in as now it appears to be the same colors as another pair I knit recently. You really can't tell what sock yarn is going to look like until you knit part of the sock. So this will be a gift pair. 3. shrug that is barely started but would be nice to wear at my desk as I work. This is out of nice yarn that I have tried to knit many a time with no luck. 4. the above half mitts. I had 2 skeins of this pretty peachy pink color. I started to make myself a pair and then it was my friend Dao's birthday so I am giving her the first pair. Then my friend Amber wanted me to knit her something so she is getting the cabled pair. So now to try and make a 3rd pair for myself I am knitting those magic loop method and adding some mohair in the same color. I think I can squeeze this 3rd pair out for myself.

I am forcing myself to focus and work on only one thing until it is done. Period.

Readers what do you do with the leftover sock yarn that you have? I have A LOT. Sometimes I reknit a pair of socks when they wear out if I really like them. I then use that yarn but I have a lot of odds and ends and wonder if anyone has something interesting that they do with that yarn?

Other knitting news... the new issue of knitty.com is out and that is always full of good ideas http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEdf11/

And don't forget their blog http://knittyblog.com

And while you knit the night away you can listen to Brenda Dayne with her Cast On podcasts. Go to my links at the right for hers. Personally I listen to her when I walk which is equally enjoyable. Check her out. I heard someone refer to her voice as velvet... and it is.

And here is a link to my fav needles. I especially like to knit socks on these HiyaHiya needles. Nice sharp point. I knit mine on a 0 needle, 40 inch magic loop. Very reasonably priced. I fight the urge to buy 10 pair because if I did I know I would have 10 pair of socks all started but none finished.

Happy Knitting!

diy knitted stocking stuffer

 

Gwen is one of my Tuesday night knitting friends. She had mentioned knitting these as little Christmas gifts. Really easy and something you can finish in one night of TV watching.

I used Sugar and Cream cotton dishcloth yarn from my stash. You knit a piece of knitted fabric in whatever design and color you want and then stitch it around a bar of soap. I got some really nice goat's milk soaps from Anthropologie. This knitted piece was a swatch I had in my cotton yarn stash.

Since I already had the swatch for gauge I knitted this khaki soap cover to fit the soap exactly. I added a second novelty yarn and well frankly this turned out looking like hand knit Spam. Not a gift giving look anyway you slice it. But I thought I'd share anyway. Sometimes good knitting just goes bad.

The bonus is that I once again was able to knit from my stash and I even used an old swatch that I have no idea what it was for. I have been trying to knit this year from my stash since I had 7 wicker bins of yarn, plus skeins in baskets here and there. I must be on track as I have condensed my bins from 7 to 6 and the 7th one now holds all my knitted items so I can easily find them and actually wear them.

amazing art

 

Jennifer Collier's work is mesmerizing. She is a UK artist so I have only seen her work online.

Here is her artist's statement. I create innovative textiles and craft pieces using natural and found materials. Through methods of weaving, waxing, trapping, embedding and stitching I create unusual materials, which are then developed into garments and accessories. I often utilise plastics, papers and fabrics into my pieces. The works have the power to communicate ideas about recycling, as well as themes exploring the body. My work is often inspired by literature.The work is non-functional and aims to encourage people to speculate on the nature of value. I enjoy the idea of working with disposable organic materials that are transient in nature, imbuing them with worth and creating something intriguing and of great beauty.

‘Jennifer Collier’s work… uses the symbolic form of clothing …it is used to provoke thoughts about the fragility of the human body, but also makes us question the value we squander looking for something other than the ordinary and everyday - objects that only become painfully precious when we lose them’ Dr. Jane Webb- foreword ‘Threadbare’ catalogue.

Check out her gallery here to see the wide range of her creations... shoes, dresses, ties, hats and jewelry.

My picture today is a mohair scarf that I knit. My neck is always cold in Winter so I think I should knit a bunch of these. The first one was a gift and is on its way to the birthday girl.

We've been having problems with our 1 and 3 year old iPhones. Making phone calls from home is getting more and more difficult. And yes we do have the micro cell. Yesterday we went to research Verizon and to talk to AT&T. Nathan at AT&T changed the sim cards in both of our phones. He said that they degrade over time. That may have solved our problems. Phones seem to be working better. The cards were free. If your phone service has been getting worse over time I suggest you try this.

7-day free trial to lynda.com

7-day free trial to lynda.com

chemo hats...

 

Unfortunately I have a friend who is looking at a Summer of chemo. When you lose your hair your head gets cold. This is the third person I have knit a chemo hat for. The blue hat is a very soft Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep Company. While this is very soft it has no stretch. The black and white hat is a cotton/lycra yarn so it has some stretch. Probably a better fit but may be warmer as it is a thicker hat. I knit the second hat because I was not sure about the blue one. It is hard to knit these hats for many reasons. I am never near the person so I don't know how big their head is. I also don't know if this should be a nondescript hat or a more interesting hat. But it is a small amount of comfort I can provide and I always think about the person and say some prayers and send good energy their way as I knit.

If you want the pattern just go online and Google chemo hats. There are lots of patterns. I would give you mine but I really improvised and didn't have one.

I am very happy that a small amount of my stash got used up making these. If you go with the Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep Company I got 2 of these hats from one skein. The other 3 yarns used in the second hat were odds and ends and had no ball band.

I am going to take the rest of the black and white and add some hot pink and make a baby hat for another new baby that I know... wide stripes I think. Cute baby hats make such a nice little gift. Easy and fun to make too.