Monthly Archives: January 2009

January 28, 2009 · 10:53 pm

Quickie update

I present my Ubernatural, WIP:

You’re seeing the use of all my bulky scraps, from top to bottom:
Cascade Lana Grande
Rowan Bulky
Colinette Shimmer 5
Wool Ease Thick and Quick

Quite a mix, huh? I realized I’ve got heaps of bulky yarn, and Ubernatural is perfect to use it up with. Don’t attempt to knit w/out reading these notes over on Ravelry. There are mistakes in the pattern/

The only changes from the pattern would be adding the stripes, and I’m doing K1P1 rather than K2P2, only because I didn’t have the pattern and couldn’t remember which it was. This is the second time I’ve knit a top down raglan, and find that both times I’ve had trouble deciding if I like the fit under the arms. I’m starting to think that the next time I knit top down I’ll knit to the arms, knit a few rows on the body, then go back and knit the arms a ways to see if I like the fit. The last sweater I knit top down still sits in the closet because I knit the entire body (thinking the fir under the arms was okay) only to go back and start the arms and find them too tight. Any tricks for preventing this?

Oh, and Radiant Knits was AWESOME!! I wish I had the $$ to plop down for a sweater kit. I got to meet Ellen of Lazy Daisy Knits. It’s always fun to meet a blogger you’ve “known” for awhile face to face. And I now feel like I’ve got a good grasp pf the whole Bohus “thing.” Before this weekend I pretty much knew they were lovely sweaters with Swedish roots. Now I am in the know and wishing I could knit one.

4 Comments

Filed under knitting, sweaters

Tagged as bohus, stephanie japel, ubernatural

January 21, 2009 · 11:42 pm

Swap’s open!!! (Or, The Blog?)

Coffeeswap Four sign-ups just opened up tonight!

As of now, there are still about 30 spots left. I’m surprised at how slow going it’s been so far. I’m guessing it’s a combination of the economy and people still being on a post-inaugural high*, perhaps? I know I am! But I think last time I had 50 people in about three hours. Hmmm…
Anyway, this will probably be the last swap I run, so join up and have one last go if you’d like. It’s funny how blogging trends go. It seems that a couple years ago there were so many swaps people could barely keep up, now I see fewer and fewer. I know a lot of them happen on Ravelry now. I considered running this one over there but decided to keep it on Blogger so there is a little more accountability.

Which makes me think about the future of knit blogging in general. I love Ravelry, I really, really do. But I hope that the blogging community keeps up as well. I read this article ages ago and had meant to write about it but never got around to it. Where do you think this online knitting community is headed? Swaps? KAL’s? Contests? Blogging in general? Something new?

I’ll admit I’m as guilty as the next of letting the detailed project notes slide for more of a quick “look what I made” post. But for me, blogging has also expanded beyond knitting to just the general domestic pleasures and my family. And I think that’s what keeps drawing me to blogs. Those I frequent tend to be very professionally detailed, such as Brooklyn Tweed or Sock Pron. Or, they are blogs that tend to mirror my own life…a bit of sewing, a bit of knitting, maybe a few cookies and lots of kidlets, such as Funny Magic or Craftlilly. (Moms who make stuff:-) Either way, there is personality and craftsmanship in them that keeps drawing me back.

And now I’ve realized this post has gone WAY off track. I meant to just say “hey, come swap” and now I’ve gotten too deep for 10:30 at night. So I’m done writing, I’m going to bed and I look forward to reading your comments on my jumbled, past-my-bedtime thoughts.

* Yesterday was fabulous, wasn’t it !?! Little Man was pretty impressed, although he couldn’t quite understand that Bush is done and gone back to Texas. He kept asking, “So do we have two presidents now? But what is Bush going to do now? So only Obama is our president? Can we go to the White House?” And finally…”Can I watch Arthur now?” A five year old can only be entranced for so long….

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

January 19, 2009 · 11:06 am

Knitters’ Coffeeswap Four

For those who have been patiently waiting, sign ups for Coffeeswap Four will be on January 21st, 6pm central. Directions will be posted here. Limited to only 50 so I can keep my sanity!

5 Comments

Filed under swaps

January 17, 2009 · 8:48 am

Knits are not scary.

Wow, it’s been a week. We’ve had brutal cold, and I usually don’t mind cold. But this was a bit too much for me.(What does it say about me that -40 windchill is “a bit too much?” Must be the wool). How do we keep warm around here in this cold? Roasted apples, of course:

I love what they come up with. I hate having to use my flash.

Spinner’s been busy rolling over and has been working hard to roll across the living room. That’s good news. The other good news is that he is sporting some new soakers and longies due to the fact that I’ve finally gotten over my fear of sewing with knits. I’ve had 5 yards of gorgeous wool interlock hiding under the bed. Why this fabric was so scary to me, I don’t know, but here are the results:

I need to tweak the pattern I came up with. I started with a pajama pants pattern in six 6-12 months, modified the length and added the cuffs. I then added on a waistband. Unfortunately the top is still too big. Since the waistband is added on top and the original pattern requires you to fold over and use elastic, the measurements are still off, but not my much. I’ll keep playing with it.

I recycled a sweater too:

I used the Little Comet Tails pattern for this one. What a well written, excellent pattern! I can whip one of these out in 30 minutes. I made one other out of the interlock with some trim from another merino sweater I recycled. And to think all I needed was a ball tip needle on my sewing machine. Now if I only had a serger….

So my bad news? Poor Knittykid needs another attempt at having his cavities filled , as well as a crown. I’ve been busy sorting through the world of children’s dental work/sedation/anesthesia + dental insurance, medical insurance, three-tiered systems…Crap, it’s complicated and I just want my poor guy’s teeth fixed the in best way possible for him. It’s looking like the dentist with no patience who originally tried to fill his teeth is going to cost us a about $2500 and a lot worries for Knittykid.

So I’m hoping for a relaxing weekend. I’ve also been back at work now the last two weeks…thank god I only work part time and the Skeptic is home those days. I’d really be stressed if I actually had to get the kids out of the house too. But The Grandparents will be making an appearance later this morning and will be here ’till Sunday. Time to fold laundry, knit a bit by the fireplace, bake cupcakes and enjoy some good company. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

8 Comments

Filed under family, kids, pants, soakers, Uncategorized

Tagged as Little Comet Tails, longies, soakers, wool interlock

January 12, 2009 · 8:36 pm

In Print

I love books, I love magazines, yet I rarely take the time to talk about them here. Today, however I want to share two little gems with you.

winter_09_cover2 The first is a magazine, Living Crafts. A magazine that caters to all areas of natural crafting, the latest issue covers everything from knitting to woodworking. Beautiful projects and patterns (tons of knitting!) make me want to curl up and work on them all day. While not just for the family, I did feel that children and families are heavily considered, at least in this issue.

The other book is Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner. I’ve always loved her fabric and projects so I expected wonderful patterns when I ordered this book. BUT, this is also the book I needed when I began sewing. Not only are the patterns beautiful, but the first part of the book is dedicated to sewing basics and the instructions are top notch!

6 Comments

Filed under books, Uncategorized

Tagged as anna maria horner, living crafts

January 7, 2009 · 10:31 pm

2009

All I can say is thank goodness, although 2008 did give our family a lot of happiness, including our newest little guy. Lots of love in 2008, that’s for certain and I expect even more in 2009!

The felt ball?? Well, I’ve yet to take finished pictures of the Skeptic’s Christmas socks, or the new soaker I’ve cast on for (man, this baby is growing!), or the mittens I’ve finished up for Little Man. But I do have this picture of the felt ball Knittykid helped to make, and he was very insistent I take a picture, so there you go! (This would be a great pic if it weren’t for the potholders on the floor.)

Now I’m not a big resolution person. But I do like to take some quiet time in the new new just to think a bit, about what I’m happy about and what I might like to be more mindful about. And I do like to set some fun goals, especially for something I’d like to learn or get done.

Let’s look at 2008:

1. Try to get back to my one night a week spinning idea. I sew enough now that I don’t think I need to stick with a specific night for that. Did pretty good on the spinning.

2. Speaking of sewing, I’ve got 13 (13!!) windows that need new curtains. Think I’d better get to it. I sewed 8 curtains for the sunroom, gave up and bought the rest for the bedroom when I realized I was 2 yards short and had a baby due in two weeks.

3. Knitting? I’m got plans for the first few months:

January: the month of small things. Kind of. I did get a few small projects done, not as many as I thought.

February: Sweater for me and one boy. Not even close

March: Sweater for another boy and the Skeptic. Ha! Definitely not even close. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t even stay awake. I my defense, I didn’t know I was pregnant yet when I wrote these!

April: Finish up the Skeptic and hit the lace Nope!

I also want to keep plowing through my sock yarn stash. Barely. I was distracted by soakers!

Let’s just say I was a bit overly optimistic. I do spin quite a bit more than before, so let’s just say I did reach that goal. And I DID have a baby! 🙂

Okay, so here goes for 2009. Honestly, tell me the truth if my head is not on quite right with these….

1. Expand my spinning techniques. I’d like to expand beyond my typical bulky/worsted weight and try cabled, three ply and sock yarn. Maybe a couple more…beaded??

2. Dye some yarn. Even if it’s just one skein.

3. Mindful stashing. (Thank you Clara!) I like this idea, and I’ve already dug through the closet and listed around 40 balls of yarn that I like but don’t LOVE. I just don’t see myself getting use out of them anytime soon. I’ve put them up on my local swap group and I’ll be listing the stuff that doesn’t sell on Ravelry as a sell or trade item in my stash.

4. Sweaters. I really, really want to knit sweaters. I’ve spent a lot of time knitting socks, soakers, hats, mittens. I want a sweater. I want my boys to have sweaters. The Skeptic says “just knit me socks.” So I don’t have to worry about him yet. But sweaters, yeah, sweaters….

5. Sew pants and shorts for my boys.

Realistic??? I look forward to reading what you hope to accomplish in the new year!!!