Some Socks Just Don't Want to Be Born

Yes, I admit it. I am now spending a lot of my precious knitting time reading pregnancy books and guides. But hey, childbirth is serious business and I am not going to take it lying on my back! (I crack myself up, bahdum ching!) But I am giving it my all to finish up a few more projects before my arduously  enjoyable stitching is constantly interrupted by the crying, er, um, cooing of babes.

As with most things in my life right now, even knitting has become a analogous with my journey through pregnancy. In quite a few books, I have come across the idea that babies are born when they are ready. That miracle of biochemistry, hormones, and infinite spiritual connection between mother and child prompts both bodies into the dance of labor (can't wait to go to that sock hop...).

I think of all my knitting projects as babies somehow. Some are born quickly and painlessly; some are the worst back labor you can ever imagine. And then there are some that just don't want to be born. A point in case: the black socks which weren't meant to be (at least for the moment).

First, I always cast on at least twice with every first sock. I don't know why, but I think it has to do with the fact that I just can't count. Then, I picked several different challenging patterns thinking that I might actually be up for some lacy action. Thought wrong on that and dropped far too many stitches to decipher in a haze of black fuzz. And reduced to the reality of only being able to do some kind of ribbing or basket weave pattern, I cast on again....six times. And then it dawned on me. These socks are simply not meant to be born right now. I guess that means I better start knitting a baby cardigan or some booties real soon.

Knit well and knit often.

My Next Article in Knitting Magazine

So, if you don't flaunt you achievements on your blog, than why have one in the first place? I mean, that is what knit blogging is all about, right? So, I am plugging my new article which appears in this month's Knitting. 

The article is about how wool is processed from "Sheep to Skein" (also the article's title). I am really pleased with how it turned out. The editor commissioned the piece when I met with her at Twisted Thread at Ally Pally last October.

My next article was planned to run next month, but due to the abstract subject matter, I haven't yet been able to source enough high res images to support it. So the editor pulled it. Another baby not yet wanting to be born - but more on that topic tomorrow.
Keep your eyes peeled for the April issue, when my next article, "The Knitted Isles" is slated to appear!

Check out my writer's blog  for a link to the article, but go out there and buy a copy. There are some nice patterns again this month and another great feature about the up and coming knitwear designer, Louise Goldin.

Knit well and knit often.

I'm a Winner

I used to complain about what crappy luck I had. For most of my life, I have never won any raffle, drawing or contest unless I entered it on behalf of someone else (like when I was 10, I entered my brother's name into a draw for a massive lego set at the local McDummies and he still pulled the heads off and scalped my dolls!)


For some reason, my luck has changed. Maybe it is because I joined a giving campaign for the next month (check it out - it is a really cool project) or because I bought a special booklet of blank postcards and religiously send them to my one of my favorite knitmags.....

This month, I have been the lucky winner of not one but two drawings from Knitting magazine! I can hardly believe it! Feast your eyes on what I've won:

Yes, I have won knitlit author Debbie Macomber's latest book, Twenty Wishes, and a Twilley's Knitting Fun Kit (those are sprites in case you are wondering). Now, I have never been so inclined as to actually purchase knitlit for myself nor have I been possessed by the urge to knit sprites. But I guess there is a first time for everything.

One thing I find very interesting about all of this is the strange coincidence (which in my eyes ceases to remain coincidence and becomes rather an instance of synchronicity) that Debbie Macomber was born in the same small town in the armpit of Washington State as I was. Knitting, writing, Yakima...there is a connection here. I feel it.

Knit well and knit often. And leave Yakima as soon as possible after birth.

Reader Giveaway at www.crochetandknitgiveaways.com on October 11, 2008

This is my second post on this fantastic site ! This time the ladies have developed a super clever scheme to create a monstrous portal to numerous crafty freebies. It is the perfect opportunity to win stuff and/or promote your blog or crafty business. To participate, you will need to do the following:

• Have a blog (Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, Moveable Type, Live Journal, or similar)
• Have goodies to giveaway
• Be willing to pay to send the said goodies to the winner
• Go to the Crochet and Knit Giveaways website and post a link to their blog entry announcing the giveaway.

Further details can be found here . Now, off to figure out what I can part with from the ol' stash.

Knit well and knit often.

Christmas Knitting Already?

Clearly the country I come from goes way off the Christmas deep end far too early in the year. My only consolation is that most of the countries I have expatriated to are guilty of the same heinous crime.

I am nowhere near putting on my Christmas music (an act strictly reserved for the month of December) nor can I bare the thought of all the red and silver foil packages and tinsel lining store shelves. I was just starting to ease into autumn mode and deciding where to plant my cabbage and Santa is already taunting me at every shop.

Yesterday, the web was a whirl with posts regarding the frenzy of holiday knitting which has begun. It got me to thinking and I realized something: I knit for Christmas nearly all year round. I usually start brainstorming early in the year about whom I've recently gifted and with what. I also take into consideration those folks who are not glad recepients of knitwear (ie my husband) and what I have got in the ol' stash that I can bare parting with.

Last year was not a year of knitted gifting. I got the hairbrained idea to start sewing reusable shopping bags out of calico about ten days before we found out that we would be moving internationally within six weeks. That was at the beginning of December and we still had to survive the holidays which included a visit from the German in-laws for their first American Christmas with my family (that was interesting), a last-minute New Year's trip to San Fran, and getting life in order to leave the grand country of Canada. My head spins just recalling it. Through our best efforts (Matthias is actually more skilled with the sewing machine than I), the bags were sewn, but unfortunately not embellished or gifted. They still await their fate, which is still a mystery to me, lying in a cupboard in the craft room. 

This year I was lucky and clever enough to pick up a bunch of really nice Sublime wools at a warehouse clearance sale in early Spring for half price. I had a few simple patterns andtheir respective recepients already in mind. So actually, I had started plotting out my gifting a little late this year. The good news is I am only doing small things for five or six people. The bad news is that I still have four babies to knit for and there still is all that regular gifting to be done. Time to stop blogging and start knitting I guess.

Knit well and knit often.

Sock Monkey Girlfriend Pic Courtesy of The Rainy Sisters

Forgot my Ravelry button at Creative Stitch and Craft...

This weekend saw the biannual Creative Stitch and Craft Show at Manchester Central which apparently was once called GMEX. Being new to the area and a craft addict, I thought I would toodle around for the day there while I waited for my final German guest (this month) to come back from his speaking engagement in Liverpool.

Manchester Central is a really impressive venue for shows: it was once one of three major train stations in Manchester. For me, there is just something about the massive expanse of the slanting roof, complete with cast iron, milky glass and a big fat clock at the apex. Then again, I am always taken by repurposed buildings. I wish we did more of that in America. Pictured here are some random skeins. I thought they were purdy.

I must say that I was slightly disappointed with Creative Stitch and Craft. It was heavy on the card making, scrapbooking and jewelry making, but left much to be desired in the way of fibre. Nonetheless, it was creatively inspiring and in the end, less tempting for the yarn junkie that I am. 

Yes, I managed to walk away having only bought a package of rubber point protectors for my sock DPNs. Can you believe it? I barely can. The point protectors were a need, not a want, since Bearski's Caribbean Socks were literally jabbing me in the hip through my purse. With my RSI, I don't need any other knitting related injuries. The stand I bought them was a really cool little shop called Web of Wool that specializes in self-patterning yarns. Cool concept, nice people, nifty yarns.

I was also really inspired by the booth featuring a Japanese embroidery group. There were some amazingly beautiful pieces on display and I was really dazzled by the kimono hanging behind the embroiderers. See for yourself:

Very nice, very nice. These works are so beautiful, I may just have been persuaded to pick up another needleart form.

I was also really happy to run into Serena, a campaigner at Oxfam who has organized a knitted petition: a blanket of individual squares, each representing a mother who has died due to lack of adequate health care. I chatted with her about what else she has planned for the blanket's presentation and stitched together a few bundles of squares. The organizers of the show, Trident, should be commended for their support of the campaign, allowing Oxfamers and their volunteer stitchers a contingent of free tickets and the space to do it. 

The last highlight of my day was the workshop I attended on a whim. An announcement came around 2:45 for "Knitting for the Home". I didn't know what it was, but though 'what the heck'. In a really small group of 3, we got a private lesson in knitted home accessory design from the fabulous and talented designer Jo Hoddinott. For a whole hour, I got to soak up design tips and learn to look at things the way a designer does. It was really interesting and Jo is a great teacher. If you read this Jo, thanks! I had a great time.

And really, that was my day out. Next Friday is I Knit London Day. To go or no to go. That is the question. And then there is Twisted Thread in Birmingham in two weeks. So many shows in such a short span of time. Yes, that was a squeal of delight you heard in the background.

Well, only a few more hours til Knitty.com with my article goes live. I will attach a link tomorrow. Knit well and knit often. 

Domestic Miss Give Away Contest: Addi Turbo Needles and Artisan Buttons from South Africa

Yes, I know it has been over a week since my last post. I am a lazy blogger, but a binge knitter and that has led to some strange RSI symptoms. RubbishKnitter at BornKnitty suggested paracetamol (European equivalent to acetaminophin) before bed and seconded my learning Continental style.  And I spent 3 days on the back of a motorcycle ogling sheep and the amazing Welsh landscape. Hence I have been off the needles for nearly five days until today.

I had my first internet date today with DomesticMiss, one of my first friends on Ravelry, to check out her LYS, Fibre + Clay in Knutsford, Chesire and its biweekly knit-in. We had a pre-coffee and a post-coffee and talked about so many things we are both passionate about (writing, knitting, etc).

In celebration of the impressive completion of her first big knitting project, a lace scarf, Domestic Miss is giving away a pair of Addi Turbo Needles and 4 artisan buttons from South Africa. Congrats, Steph. Well done.

Fibre + Clay, BTW, is absolutely amazing! I cannot even tell you how inspiring it was to be surrounded by so many beautifully crafted objects, amazing wools, haberdashery, bags (squeal!) and an incredibly library of borrowable books. So good. Can't wait to go back. More in my next post.

The BSJ is in its second incarnation. I have changed needles and wool and am having a much easier time with the aid of Dawn Adcock's notes (hat tip to Knitlist). I am not good at reading conventional patterns, so a little help understanding the method of EZ's (ingenious) madness is most welcome. Will post pics soon once the one-piece wonder has taken a more concrete shape.

Be nice to those wrists. Knit well and knit often (but remember to take breaks!)

Check out what Wordle.net made from my post

Stich on the Pitch: UEFA Euro 2008 and Creative Freedom

For the last two weeks, I have been obsessed with two things: soccer and deliberating if I should give my sweater baby a rest to start on something new.

Stitch on the Pitch

For all you Americans reading this, let me introduce you to two new concepts. First, I think Americans are the only English speakers who refer to a grassy area designated for sports play a 'field'. Here in the UK, sports are played on either a 'ground' or a 'pitch'. These two expressions are part of my newly found and gladly adopted British vocabulary.

Second, there is a somewhat recent phenomenon in the US called 'Stitch n' Pitch' where a group of knitters get together and take their knitting projects to baseball games. I mean, how ingenious is that? What else are you going to do with all that downtime between pitches and innings? Here in this part of the world, baseball is not as prevalent as say, lawn bowling or snooker. So being as clever as I am, I decided to knit while watching sports taking place on a 'pitch'. And this time of year, that is UEFA's European Football (Soccer) Championships.

For the last two and a half weeks, Matthias and I have been watching sometimes up to three hours of soccer a night! And for a while there, I had to put my sweater aside because the pattern was too daunting to follow while watching steamy ripped guys sweat buckets while running up and down a 'pitch' for 90 minutes. No, seriously, it was the sweater that was distracting me and not my lecherous voyeurism.

This is only one part of the sweater break conundrum. You see, I have been working this pattern for over three months now. I frogged (unravelled) the back panel because the sleeves looked crappy and then I frogged the front because, even though the sleeves looked much better than the ones I had originally done for the back panel, it still was not what the pattern had exactly called for. I am a perfectionist. I am frustrated. I am bored. I am obviously distracted by sultry soccer studs and need some instant gratification project like a scarf or something. But, no way José was I going to let myself off the hook and do something different for a while. I keep such a tight leash on myself sometimes! I was going to finish that sweater come hell or high water. But not when the football is on. And, well, I am obsessed as I probably made clear in my last post. I just have to knit. 

I couldn't really start any thing new because I felt guilty and undisciplined. I leaved through websites and my collection books and patterns, but all to no avail. I kept returning to that crusty old thought pattern that said: 'You have to finish what you have started'. I deliberated for nearly two weeks about starting something new.

And, then like a knitting needle falling from the sky, it hit me straight in the eye and I saw. Through all my deliberating, I was actually de-liberating, or taking away, any creative freedom I was giving myself. I was deliberately (god, what a loaded word!) stifling the very thing I am consciously fostering in myself. I was just telling someone from my knitting group the other day that working multiple projects is just like reading several books simultaneously - something I know I am guilty of and I am sure you can relate, too. 

Immediately after being struck by this insight, I actually got around to finishing a project that I had started almost four months ago and required very little other than a wicked mattress stitch: my OM Yoga Mat Bag. Finishing up this little project gave me back that creative freedom I had been depriving myself of through my old rigid thoughts on self-discipline.  

And, as life would have it, I still was not able to find 'the' right pattern, so I decided to design one up myself: The Spumoni Scarf. It will still be a WIP for another little while. I am planning on attaching some wicked fringe and I have a few more soccer games to take in before next weekend. Let's go, Germany!

My advice to you: if you have the inspiration to start something new, just do it. Don't worry about if, when, and how it will get done. Your project will just tell you what to do next and

 when it is ready to be finished. By debating and deliberating over the birth of an idea only wastes the energy you could be spending knitting a Spumoni scarf. Knit well and knit often.

WWKIP Day, Fiber Frustrations and Perpetual Inundation...It Must Be Love

World Wide Knit in Public Day, Manchester

My knit and natter buddy, Kate, organized a KIP for the knitters of greater Manchester last weekend. Everyone was in prime form, the weather was cooperating and we made the world a little more aware that knitting is alive and kicking. Everyone brought some kind of goodie to share. Cake and cookies abounded. We were approached by who we assume to be an LYS owner with a voucher for 10% off our next yarn purchase. New friends were made. I got to know 3 other Yank expats. We dished on our knitting groups, yarn shops and favorite threads. Here are the ladies who stitched:

     

Fiber Frustrations and Perpetual Inundation
This part of today's post is more along a personal note. Once and a while posts have to be. I have been having these strange feelings over the last 6 months or so. They have been growing steadily and emerging slowly over the last six months. I don't know what is coming over me. It is tormenting. It is titillating. It is absolutely consuming. It is knitting.

I started my first big, intermediate project about two and a half months ago. I have posted about the Cap Sleeved Sweater aka the misshapen Frankenstein sweater. I frogged the back panel after I had knit the front and produced two lovely little sleevelets. It was then I realized that I had misread the pattern and the sleeves came out like everyone's favorite Victorian monster. The third time was the charm and the sleeves came out stunningly and I am confident this time that I interpreted the pattern correctly. But, to my dismay, I didn't quite get the decrease right on the front panel. So, I guess we will be frogging again, this time the top of the front panel. Hopefully my husband is available to roll the wool and there is some schmaltzy documentary on British monarchs on the tube.

 I will not be frogging as much as an entire panel, it really seems like this is the never ending project. I have thought about doing some smaller instant gratification jobs like scarves for girlfriends and sisters-in-law, but I can't bring myself to find a pattern, let alone begin knitting one other than my beloved sweater. 

Working this sweater is a taste of mothering an insolent child. I am so infuriated by it and the whole process of forming it. And at the same time, I house an inexplicable love that conflicts with all the frustrations I experience. Sometimes gladly, sometimes spartanically, I deny myself the joys of other odysseys and adventures, just so I can bring this sweater to full fruition. What is a girl to do? Keep knitting, sister.

The good news is that the universe has brought me an abundance of new ideas, passions and friends, so that I am perpetually inundated my new mags, websites, blogs, and all the fibery, yarny stimuli a girl could ask for. I was luck to find a dress form at a charity shop. It was a steal! It is wonderful, but often accompanied with feelings around lack of time. I have a stack of 6 new magazines I want to devour every inch of. There are six books novels collecting dust on my night stand because I can only read so fast before I fall asleep.  I have a mental queue of projects, yarns and other crafty projects I want to do, but I can't. Not until I finish what I have started.

Above is a peek at the marvelous sweater baby I love to hate upon reaching the end of its adolescence.  I will be back soon with a few more of my web knitting finds. Until then: Knit well. Knit often.

Vintage Knitting Patterns Online

Sunday was one of those days I made it clear to my DH that I intended to spend most of the day on the couch and do nothing else than read, knit and doze; all of which I  did quite successfully. I spent an hour or so looking for a shrug or cardie pattern to compliment something out of my stash. Low and behold, the pattern I found was vintage - thanks to Glamarama.net. So I decided to be a nice girl and share my findings with you. Today's post features some of the best vintage pattern freebies on the net.

Glamarama.net has a small collection patterns, mostly women's wear and a pattern for a baby soaker. I have added the Bernat cardigan  (below) and the hooded poncho (above) to my queue. Can't wait to start those two. I wonder if there are any sites that tell you how to achieve such a small waist and super pointy boobs all the models in the 50s and 60s seem to have? Wowie zowie. 

        The Costumer’s Manifesto brings us a few very cool turn of the century patterns (1900-1920). I am especially keen on the Knitted Coat Sweater.

Free Vintage Knitting is brought to us by Purple Kitty Yarns and has 8 categories of vintage patterns including women’s and children’s wear, hats, scarves, gloves, along with holiday and home accessories. I just love this Dutch Tile afghan. Mostly late 60s I’d say. 

Vintage Purls is a site out of NZ and offers up some stellar patterns spanning the 1930s to 1950s. The Sunshine Tube Top and Bolero are fabulously cute and seemingly easily knit.

Vintage Knitting is Rhiannon's blog on exactly what the title alludes to. For all of you wanting some vintage knits inspiration, check it out. Rhiannon hasn't posted for a while, but we want her to do so again. Very soon. The Colombia Diamond Lace sweater that she finished is drop-dead gorgeous. She also has a resource page of other vintage knitting resources.

Vintage Connection has got all of those frilly, lacey little knits from Victorian times. Some of these patterns could totally adaptable and may even inspire a few modern retakes. My fav by far are the knee warmers. I mean, come on, don't your knees get drafty? They would be adorable over tights.

Yarn Lover's Room is a compendium  of ‘antique’ knitting patterns from the 40s to the 60s for women, children, men and lace. I totally dig the super starlet modeling the Ski Sweater in the Round.

· Y

 

 Do you have any favorite links to vintage patterns? Let me know in the comment sections.  Knit well and knit often.

World Wide Knit in Public Day is Saturday, 14 June 2008

Hello all you readers out their in Knitland. Today's post is just a public service announcement reminding you that World Wide Knit in Public Day is quickly closing in on us.

Pack a picknit - e.g. picnic plus knitting gear - and join fellow knitsters of all ages as we show the world the power of our community and represent our peeps.

For more information on WWKiP Day events or 'kips' near you, check out www.wwkipday.com/find_kip.htm. Can't find a local kip? Then organize one yourself. The site provides information on hosting and tools for promoting your kip.

A little background information on WWKiP Day: The unique event has taken place on the second Saturday of June and is an entirely volunteer, locally run event. Since its inception by Danielle Landes in 2005, the number of organized public kips has more than doubled  

each year.

This is not a granny-bashing event; no, no. This is our outing as a com-munity, a chance to get closeted, solitary knitters among our public ranks and an opportunity to demonstrate the diversity, enthusiasm, and array of talent in our community to the rest of the world.

My knitting crew, Absolute Knitters, will be descending upon Exchange Square in the heart of Manchester in two weeks time. I will be reporting back in a few weeks. Be there or be square!

Knit well and knit often (in public).

BrittKnit's KnitPicks: Best Online Knitting Resources

The World Wide Web is a virtual cornucopia of information for the knitter about town. In fact, seldom have I met a knitter who is not electronically connected to the global community (albeit I don’t have much contact to those who still live in the world of typewriters and telegrams- no offence Oma Bauer). So, for this post, dear Reader, I have assembled what I deem as the ten best online resources for knitters, whether rookie or veteran, including online publications, reference pages, and blogs. And there is one very attractive common denominator: every site offers free resources. Who doesn’t love that? So surf to your heart’s content, but be warned: clicking the following links may result in hours and hours gratuitous and pleasurable surfing. Knit well and knit often.

 

1.          Ravelry.com Praise be to the creators, Jessica and Casey, for consolidating the labyrinth that is the online knitting world and giving us yarn junkies an online presence of our own. Still in its BETA version with a waiting list for membership (not too long at several weeks in spring ’08), it is well worth the wait and the tech wrinkles! This is Facebook of yarn craft, but goes far beyond the usual applications one expects of social networking sites. Whereas such sites feature apps allowing you to send gifts and play games, Ravelry allows members to catalogue and showcase their projects, stash and needles. Members can check out how other members’ projects have turned out, which modifications work, etc before embarking on the same pattern.  Groups connect members to others who share specialized interests, geographical location or similar life situations. Designers, spinners and dyers are able to feature their work. There are yarn reviews and forums on a multitude of subjects. I think I best like the fact that it provides a connection to our global community 24/7. Ravelry rocks. Check it out.

 

2.          Knitty.com is an online knitting publication out of Toronto, Canada. Since the fall of 2002, Knitty has been dishing up a free quarterly serving of feature articles and independent designs with a dollop of quirky humor and fresh perspective.  Feature articles include everything from technique tutorials to personal accounts. Patterns are unique, beautiful and like your favorite curry restaurant menu, categorized according to spiciness: mellow, piquant, tangy and extra spicy. Yum! The Knitty shop also has some pretty cool knitster gear if you happen to be in the market for a t-shirt to represent our clan. Word.

 

3.          KnittingDaily.com As the online incarnation of Interweave Press, editor Sandi Wiseheart and the KnittingDaily.com team bring you fabulous, sophisticated and free knitting patterns (available upon registering for a gratis membership and newsletter) from their array of fiber arts publications. The site also features live forums, galleries (in which staff model featured patterns – you guys rock!), a blog and some raging how-tos beyond the basics. My recent how-to favorite: Frogging and reusing yarn. Brilliant.

 

4.          KnittingHelp.com Who can’t dig well-done knitting how-to videos and more free patterns? This labor-of-love site is now many a knitter’s oasis in the internet desert of decent tutorials. Additionally, there is a fantastic glossary of all those crazy abbreviations most of us have not yet committed to memory, as well as a forum, and a photowall.

 

5.          Craftster.org Not to bail on my Ravelry sisters and brothers, but Craftster.org is a must-mention in this list. A self-proclaimed repository for all things craft, this site is perfect for all you crossover crafters. Craftster.org places a little less emphasis on the social networking aspect and concentrates on showcasing the endless amount of craftiness, talent, and experience in all genres. The site has lots of bustling forums, so you are sure to find any project or DIY tip you seek. Membership is free.

6.          Patternlinks.com A relative newcomer to the arena of online pattern collections, Mr. Ben Rosenbaum has created an assemblage of 2,671 (and counting) links to online knitting and crochet patterns with photos. Rock on, Ben.

 

7.          Brooklyntweed is one of the two knitblogs I am featuring in this list. Brooklyntweed is currently my personal knitblog fav because the author Jared

a)  is an Elizabeth Zimmerman devotee,

b)  posts about spining his own and repurposing found yarn,

c)  writes incredibly well and doesn’t get too personal, and

d)  includes killer photos and presents a wonderfully formatted blog. May Jared be a lesson to us all.

 

8.          Knittingpatterncentral.com is another site listing links to free patterns on the web. There are patterns for nearly every category imaginable. KPC also features a pattern of the week along with some down home tips and tricks, testimonials and words of encouragement for the virtual knitter.

 

9.            Knittingforcharity.org Bless her heart, Nellie the Knittin’ Nut has put together a page devoted to the topic of philanthropic charity. She posts about different charity knitting projects, gives practical advice on charitable knitting, and covers other (albeit sometimes random) topics.  If you are looking to start or join a project, consult Nellie.

 

10.      TECHknitting.blogspot.com is the last of the two knitblogs named on the list and my final pick. This truly the ultimate in technique tutorial sites. Lucky us there are so many knitting techniques trying to escape from TECHknitter’s mind. Check out TECHknitter’s two years of archives for virtually any how-to imaginable. The latest post is a how-to on pom-poms. Three cheers for TECHknitter!