The Yarn Harlot is a Genius!

Maybe you haven't seen this post of Stephanie Pearl McPhee. She shares a wonderful little technique of crocheting across a piece of knitting, especially useful at the back of the neck when you don't cast off and cast on.

Not only did she share it, she also wrote and photographed a whole d@amn tutorial. Seriously, when does she sleep? She produces amazing cable sweaters with no sweat off her back, and the tutorial appears within a few days of the clamour of the blog for MORE DETAILS.

Said tutorial pushed me over the edge. Since I've just finished the Juliaca sweater (I literally sewed on the button yesterday that I bought at Stitches West on Saturday) in which I did not cast off for the neck and collar, I decided that I would see if it works. Now, it was a test to start, because the Harlot showed the technique with stockinette, and I was dealing with 2 by 2 ribbing. Would it work? Would it look ok?

So, here are my photos.

From the inside, it is reasonably neat:



And now for the outside:




Even though it's ribbing, it looks ok! (and it doesn't have to because of the fold of the collar, but isn't it great that it does.)

And now I'm not worried that the sweater is gonna slip down!!!

Stitches Hangover

This is my fifth year attending Stitches. Every other year, I've taken classes as well as go to the Marketplace. There are so many things that I've learned that I haven't had the opportunity to apply, plus, I've bought a ton of books this year, so I decided to just do the marketplace.

Between joining a knit night, discovering the "online" community of knitting, and the buzz of Ravelry, it was a very different experience this year. I went with friends (thanks Leslie and Lisa for the carpooling, so much nicer!), and joined my wonderful pal Liz in the shopping as in years before. For the first year since attending, I had a clue about what is new and interesting.

But the other reality is that I also already own a ton of yarn. My stash is bigger than ever, and I have two great sweaters in my cue for spring/summer, a plentiful amount of sock yarn, etc. The only thing I truly needed were a closure of some kind for my Juliaca cardigan, which was blocked and all but done.

So I enabled my friend Liz (knitcrazy) who bought tons at really great prices. My only fiber purchase was a couple of skeins of Colrain at WEBS because I wanted to test it out with a hat for the Christian Seamens groups.

High and first on the list was checking out the Ravelry booth. Casey, despite being on the third day, was gracious in letting us take our picture with him in front of the Ravatars banner:





And lunchtime was the time to check in with other Knit Nighters, including Lindsay, Judy and Alison, who shared their experiences as well:



And I did find the perfect buttons, thanks to shopping with Liz, who wisely said, "Hey , there are button here, why don't you check it out?" I found the perfect buttons from South Africa. I've sewn on the button (one for now) and it is perfect! Photo to come when I can get someone to take my photo while wearing the sweater.

Today? I'm swatching for the sweaters that come next, and playing with the Colrain. Perfect timing for a stormy day with plenty of TV time thanks to the Oscars!

Travels with Knitting

Well, it has been an extremely busy few weeks, with two major trips. The first one took me to the East Coast, where I managed to go through seven states in eight days. Admittedly, a couple of these were "drive throughs) but still!

The second trip was an amazing trip to Northern Ireland, Ireland, as well as England and Wales. More to come on that experience.

I worked on socks, including this wonderful Kaffe Fassett colorway:



I actually finished one on the first trip, and the second one on the second trip!

Along the way I visited my college roommate Lolly, who taught me to knit continental - for which I am truly grateful. I had sussed out that Stitch DC is the knitting place to go, so I went in the pouring rain and got some beautiful Jade Sapphire 100% cashmere to make a lovely scarf for Lolly:



And I'm totally excited to return home because I was able to finish by Juliaca cardigan.



Since I'm heading to stitches tomorrow, I will be able to find a totally great closure for it, so stay tuned for a real modelling job.

Feline Approval

When I'm knitting, my cats sometimes get involved -- you know, playing with the yarn and the needles, although they are pretty well-behaved most of the time, but seriously, I get a lot of cat curiosity around here:



The best is when I get feline approval, such as here:



and here:





and when it is something specifically for the kitty, the love is very evident!



It is a good feeling!

Turning the (Knitting) Work

Over the holidays, I got a lot of knitting to give, receive and work on. The holiday time is now a festival of extra time that I totally indulge in.

And the knitting Gods sent us awful weather with major traffic issues -- basically all major highways around me went defunct yesterday, so staying home and knitting was a good thing.

Ok, so some of the fun was in the giving -- some sock yarn (6-ply Opal in a lovely black, white and rosey red) and the very good Interweave Knits Getting Started Knitting Socks (which is now out of stock 'til March, so I'm glad that I bought it in December). This is a very good book for beginners -- it has ton's of photos, a sample sock, and lot's and lot's of text to explain the things you need to know. My friend Nhien has now knitted a pair of the sample socks, and is on to bigger and better things.

Other progress: I knitted with Zitron's Trekking Pro Natura, which has a lovely feel, wasn't splitty at all for me. The pattern is from Sensational Socks -- the Slipped-Stitch rib, which works well for a variated yarn. I also tried a new heel the "forethought" heel, which works so well for a variegated yarn, and allows one to finish the sock at the toe. I will definitely do this again.



I also finished a hat that will match a scarf that I have had for about 5 years -- and it looks really cute. Yeah! I love it when I finally figure out how to work a yarn.



BTW, I'm grateful to Judy for her great idea of getting the Schurch book cut into a binding format so it now sits nicely flat. SO much better. And I've got to get my Moosewood Cookbook (now over 25 years old) to go through this treatment.

And I'm working hard on a blanket for Afghans for Afghans -- using the Mason-Dixon Moderne Baby Blanket, with some extra color for fun. A nice, mindless knit. I'm getting close to the minimum size needed, we'll see how much yarn is left when I reach that!



And the other project OTN is Juliaca by Jane Ellison (the bottom sweater) -- a ribbed cardigan with some small cables at the bottom of the body, sleeves and at the collar. It's perfect for a short girl. I'm using Goddess Yarn's Ellen, a 50/50 wool/cotton blend, so I'm hoping that it will not get too draggy by the end.


And then, it turns out that my Karabella Empire Silk, a purchase made possible by a gift certificate by leaving my last position. Apparently, it is in the perfect color that will be "fashionable" to those who spend time worrying about these things. I am glad, and maybe that will help me get more organized for this yarn.

The color is very close to this:

I am so glad to have turned this page!

Christmas Knitting

For the past several years, I picked a new thing to knit each year. One year it was scarves, another it was hats, a third year it was socks and the last time I did this it was felted bags.

Now I've mastered enough stuff that I pick out things for particular people. I'm not on the Yarn Harlot's kind of schedule, knitting amazing quantities of socks, hats, and other amazing things in great quantity. I have modest goals.

For my little cousins Allison and Rachael, there is a shrug and a pair of fingerless gloves, respectively.





Ok, the shrug doesn't look like a shrug here, and the kitties, Isadora and Brandy, were definitely intrigued!

My Mom is getting the Carlsbad scarf from Wrapped in Comfort in a lovely Bombyx silk from Ellen's Half-Pint Farms.



It's all knitted now, but not blocked yet.

My friend Lesley is getting these wonderful socks (the second one is now done too):


There is no guy knitting this year. Last year, I knit my brother and cousin socks, but they were not all that enthusiastic, so I'm passing. Life is too short to knit for folks who are polite about it, but not thrilled.

I've also got some yarn loveliness for my friends who are knitters. But they are web-savvy sneaks, so I'm not posting any photos.

For my cousin Marie, there is a secret knitting project that cannot be shown - it's the last one that is being worked on!


But the biggest Christmas knitting project is turning out to be Knitters for Critters -- between organizing (go here) and knitting ornaments like this:



We've already raised about $750 for those non-profits that have and will continue to help with the oil spill. What a great knitting Christmas it is turning out to be!

December Cheer

This year is an odd year for me. For the first time in nine years, I won't be a pastor-type this holiday season. Added to that, I'm actually taking time off work for most of the month. Advent will truly be a time off for me.

On the knitting front, that won't be the case, of course. I'm involved with Knitters4Critters which is taking up a lot of time. And my Christmas knitting is going well. There are secret projects for my cousins Allison and Rachel, and I'm almost finished with wonderful scarf project out of the Bombyx silk for my mother and I've frogged the Jaywalkers that I was doing in the Regia bamboo because they were fitting me funny and I didn't think they'd work for my friend either, so I got some lovely yarn by Pagewood Farms in a wool superwash:

My cousin Marie has a surprise project too. Not too bad for December.