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Thu - March 27, 2008
Master of the ... knitiverse?
I know...what the heck is a master's in knitting?
Well, mostly it's a program designed to help you learn 'beyond the basics' of
knitting. There are 3 levels, complete with reports due, swatches, projects,
etc. I've already order a book on the history of knitting and have been reading
up on other knitter's experience with the program on
Ravelry.  Oh!
Ravelry...do you know about
Ravelry?! If you are a knitter or crocheter, you will LOVE Ravelry. (You have
to sign up for an invitation, but it doesn't take long to get yours...this is
just their way of adding users for now.) I've heard it described as the
'MySpace' for yarn enthusiasts, but, really, it's nothing like that. There is a
social component...topic groups, forums galore...but the notebook is the
exciting thing to me. Keep track of your stash, your projects (no more trying
to remember to hang on to a yarn band and write everything down for future
reference..it's all in Rav!) You can 'queue' projects for later and have quick
access to the pdf (if it's a free pattern) and easily scroll through the queue
to pick your next project.Even better
is this: search for the pattern you're making, then look at what other Ravelr's
have done with the project, what yarns they used, how they modified it, their
notes about the pattern...You can even
search for the yarn you want and see if someone is willing to sell or trade
theirs. I've already swapped with several people and gotten rid of stash I'll
never use in exchange for stash that I've (mostly) already used
up!Recently an addition allows you to
buy/sell patterns directly through Ravelry. Oh...and there is a library...keep
track of the books and mags you own and, if you've queued a project that you
don't own the book or mag for, the library keeps track of what you need to
purchase.Casey and Jess, who thought
up and created Ravelry are geniuses! Seriously...check it out!
Mon - February 18, 2008
I Love Him...Really
He' so quiet about it! Like he must put on
felted slippers or something to make sure we don't hear him sneaking
away.
It's my own fault. It is. I know that. But
still...
Does Murray HAVE to grab every
ball of yarn in his reach and pull it out of it's ball? He grabbed a lace
weight last night and I spent an hour and a half working to untangle it and
didn't even get one quarter of it untangled. Argh!
Thu - January 31, 2008
New Favs
 For
Christmas Chad ordered a set of the new Knit Picks Harmony
Wood Interchangeable needles and they arrived a couple of weeks
ago.
They are FABULOUS! I once said that the ideal
needle would be Lantern Moon
tips, Crystal
Palace joins and Crystal Palace cables, but THESE are the ideal
needle. They are as smooth and luxurious as the Lantern Moons and, although
they don't swivel like Crystal Palace joins, the join is more stable and doesn't
release the tips. The cord is very pliable and thin enough to not get in the
way. A very worth it purchase. A
friend received the Nickel-Plated
Knit Pick needles and let me try them. They are the first set of metal needles
that I think I actually could knit a long time with! They are hollow, so very
light and are warm to the touch. Although the Harmony
Wood come in smaller sizes, I'll probably buy the
nickle since I seem to be very hard on my needles and the smaller ones
might break more easily.And, did I
mention that the wood (birch) are gorgeous? No? Well...I love to watch them as
I knit...the colors are rich and the clear coating give them a jewel-tone look.
I highly recommend them.So, that means
I'm knitting a lot again. I'm working on a few baby things for new babies that
our friends are all having (ok, so there are only a few, but, still...) and I've
just started MagKnit's Honorine
(can't decide if it will have long or short sleeves, though) and a shrug (which
I'm kind of making up as I go along) for myself. I also have Marna's Gothic
Lace sweater just about finished...I'm adding a neck border so it
doesn't slip off my shoulders so
easily.I keep forgetting to take
pictures of my FObs. I made a great sweater for Chad's niece for Christmas that
I really need a picture of...it turned out so
cute!Anyway...those are the facts of
the day!
Fri - April 27, 2007
Yarn Telling
| What kind of yarn are you? |
You are Mohair.You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.
Take this quiz!
 Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code |
Fri - March 30, 2007
New Section Added
I'm teaching a knitting class at the local college; just a community ed course,
so it's fun and I don't have to deal with grades. I've been putting together
some info for the class and decided it would be good to have online so I can
access it whenever I want. And give a little back to the online knitting
community.
I've made all the guides printable, left off
graphics and such so they are nice and small and print, mostly, on one piece of
paper. Good for carrying around with you in your knitting bag for quick
reference.Hopefully more will be
coming. I've also got a little section of knitting tips that I'll add to as I
think of them! Knitting Help is now listed in the categories
drop down on the right...see? So when this post is no longer on top you'll
still be able to find it!Happy
Knitting!
Wed - February 21, 2007
Ooohhh....Aaaahhhh
What a nice gift these would
make!
I only mention them because I ran across them
while catching up on some online knitting magazines. Aren't they gorgeous? I
know, I know...you didn't know knitters need crochet hooks. We do, though! And
we especially need luxurious, colorful ones!
Fri - January 19, 2007
Love This!
This is too cool! I normally wouldn't destroy a book, but I should have no
trouble find a book with a cool cover that isn't really worth saving. I'm
thinking this would make a good gift!
Tue - June 27, 2006
Knitting Again!
Just a little note to get this part of my blog going again. I've finished Tara.
I changed the sleeves slightly...I prefer them a little flared rather than
tight. I think. I might make another later and use the tighter sleeve...I
don't know. In any case, I've finished a few other things, too, but I need to
get some pics.
I'm getting better at reading these patterns. And
I'm thinking about teaching a knitting class through the local college next
fall. I tried teaching informally, just a 'come and go' kind of thing, but
people come once or twice, don't knit unless they are with me, then need me to
show them how again every time. So I thought, if they pay a fee to take the
class they'll have incentive to do some 'homework,' like knitting 30 minutes a
day. I haven't actually talked to the college, yet, though, so don't get to
oexcited if you're one of those students wanting to register!
I also discovered that my
LYS
has a group that gets together once a month to knit bandages for a leper
community in Louisiana. I've talked to some of the
Knearly
Knitters and we're going to try to
go down and join them.So I'm getting
busy again with all this knitting stuff. Next time I blog I'll tell you about
OCD and using ribbon yarn!
Tue - November 8, 2005
WIP, KIP and VIK
If you haven't seen it, yet, there is a new
e-zine out there for knitters...The AntiCraft. The writing is witty and the
patterns are interesting. No little bunnies on these!
Now, on with my
post. 
So, I'm knitting again. Knitting quite a lot. Well, when I'm not driving my
better
half around. I use to get so much knitting done in the
car...{sigh}
So, I decided to
finally
start a shrug. The above pictured, actually, from Rowan magazine #35. I
finished the back and was working on the left front when I ran into directions I
don't understand. I asked around on the Rowan message board, and several other
knitting boards, but, apparently, I am the only knitter on the web who is
interested in this pattern. Doesn't that just figure?!
OK...so I got one of the questions
answered, then had another question. I got that one answered, eventually, but
then ran into an annoying set of instructions. They are something like: knit 1,
pearl to last one, knit 1 (which I can handle). Next row...repeat removing one
stitch from inside edge every other row. Except on every 4th row. Repeat these
rows 1 million times. Stand on left foot, remove knitting from half of project,
flip, twist, rinse, repeat.
OK...they aren't that easy OR that difficult. But I got annoyed that I was
stumped a 3rd time. So I put it down and started
Tara,
from Magazine #38. Again, I was stumped by one of the direction sets, but after
a quick visit to the Rowan forums, I was off and knitting.
Over half way through the first
sleeve, I realized that I was knitting on the wrong side instead of the right
side and had to rip out 3/4ths of my work. That's ok. I want it to look good.
Then I got the sides reversed again,
but this time I was only, oh, one hour into knitting. {sigh} that part and finally had the problem
figured out. I have the first sleeve done and have just a little more to knit
on the back and I will start on the right sleeve.
I'm knitting as fast as possible
because it's NOVEMBER (what the hell happened to this year?!) and I have
Christmas gifts to work on. Some knitted, some not, but they will all take more
time than I have, I'm
sure.Fortunately, there is a
conference in Macon this week and I'll be able to knit through most of it! That
should get some things done. But first, a sweater for Chad. Well, after
Tara,
of course, then Chad, then...well...everyone else.
Wed - August 10, 2005
Lessons Learned
First of all, don't put your knitting down for a
month without at least making notes at to where you left off.
Second, don't stop blogging about it or you'll
lose your readership, which means your help when things go
wrong.
Third, don't mention yarn sales
when the house is full of yarn that hasn't been touched in a
month.
I hope you've learned your
lessons!
Mon - August 8, 2005
Chair
My chair is broken. My 2nd favorite knitting
chair; the one in the room with the TV. I haven't knitted since it broke.
Actually, I haven't knitted since I went to Kennesaw for training. I keep
meaning to, but I just get busy with other things and never get back to
it.
I'm in the middle of 2 sweaters
right now and have a 3rd I want to start. But how can I knit without my
chair?!
OK...no more excuses. I'm
getting the needles.
Tue - June 28, 2005
Toto, We're Not in Utah Anymore
Don't drowned in the humidity.
I've never seen so many cancelled, redirected,
and postponed flights. I'm sure something was up Monday, but I haven't found
out what, yet. Seems like everyone at the airport was late by two-24 hours.
Missed connections, swapping airlines, staying in airport hotels...what an
adventure.
Luckily, Chad was able to
get an earlier flight from SLC to Phoenix when his original flight was
cancelled. My flight to Houston was delayed over an hour and I missed my
connection, but I still managed to get to the Atlanta airport before Chad did.
He's doing great, by the way. We're
down from an hour to only 30 minutes changing the bandaging in the mornings,
partly due to efficiency, but also because the edges are healing, so they are
getting smaller. Thank goodness. We're spending more on bandages than we are
saving in groceries so far with him off the
bike.
Hey...maybe we'll be able to save
enough from the groceries (at least until he starts riding again) to get more
yarn...
Wed - May 11, 2005
Happy Birthday to Me!
Yes, I had a very nice birthday, thanks for
asking!
Chad and I spent Saturday watching 5 of his
former students graduate from Georgia Tech, then went to Warm Springs for the
night. We wandered around the town Sunday and ate at the Bullock House (yumm!)
and then picked out a bunch of flowers to plant in various planters and gardens
around the house. I'm not a huge fan of dead flowers, so having flowers all
around the yard is nice.
Also for my
birthday we ordered the Apple Airport Extreme! I'm very excited because it just
arrived at work and I'm dying to go home and try it out! No more wires!
Yeah!!
I'm such a
geek.
Oh, but I also got some awesome
yarn from my knitting secret pal! I'll take pictures tonight to show it off.
She also sent me a hand cloth that she made along with homemade soap and flower
seeds! So...all in all...good birthday!
Sun - May 1, 2005
New Techniques, New Stuff!
I have (finally) started something for me! The
pattern is called 'W' and it is from
the (free!) online knitting magazine, Knitty. I'm using a ribbon yarn I
got in a trade a while back. The yarn is Numei's Fluid, in Grasshopper.
I haven't gotten far, yet, but I think it's going to be really
nice!
I learned a new technique, too. Wrap and turn,
w&t. I had to check several sites before I was sure I understood what I was
doing, not because the wrap is hard (if you are knitting, you simply bring the
yarn forward, slip the stitch to be wrapped purlwise, move the yarn to the back
and slip it back to the left needle.) What confused me was that there were
still unknitted stitches on the left needles, including the one I just wrapped.
What I finally accepted was that, yes, there are still stitches left...they will
be taken care of later. Just turn the work, go back the other direction, just
like the instructions say. Again I am told, trust...have faith in the
instructions, do as the say and you'll be enlightened
later.Life is like that. I always
want to know exactly what's going on, what's going to happen, why things don't
make sense at this minute. But God just wants us to have faith and trust that
He knows what He's doing. As the song says, "If he showed me, would I need
faith?"So, I also tried to start
another, more simple pattern, also from Knitty, called Soleil. I'm
probably not using the best yarn for it, since I have a lot of Caron Simply
Soft around I decided to start it in that and see how it looked. But,
alas, my swatch is not the right gauge and I'll have to wait. I used size US 5
(3.75mm) needles, but I need either US 5 1/2 or 6, I'm not sure which. Probably
6, since that's what the pattern calls for. I discovered that I have NO needles
in either size. I have circulars in 0-2,4,5 in whole sizes and 7-10, also in
whole sizes, but I can't make any of them work with that 'huge' hole in the
middle of the range. LOL. Unfortunately, I've discovered that my favorite
circular knitting needles are Crystal
Palace, and I don't want to spend the money on them right now. Oh,
well. I decided to start a newborn size hat for the baby of a coworker,
instead. That will be mindless enough, even if it won't take
long...LOLMaybe I should knit a bunch
of newborn hats and just keep them around as 'emergency' baby gifts. That'll
keep the mindless side of my knitting list full for a while!
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