Bum Wrap (Curly Purply)

Dawn had her 4th pregnancy last year and produced adorable twin sons! I sent her a bit of William's left-over premie clothing and now I get to knit a few soakers for them. She has made one for each of the 3 she's got in diapers out of this pattern. I used up some leftover purple Wool of the Andes. I hope they fit! I used some bits of leftover yarn to put a Q and H on them (for Quentin and Hyrum)

last week's socks

These are technically monster socks. Knit from some left over Sock It To Me navy and an unknown German sock yarn that had been gifted, reclaimed and (obviously) skeined backwards. Comfortable and they just went through their first wash. I did a simple 3 stitch cable and ribbing. I ripped them out and reknit them as the first (pictured pattern) was a 3 stitch cable alternating L and R cables and it pulled in too much to be comfortable getting over the heel. The top photos are of the 2nd knit, actual finished and wearable sock.

Sock it TWO me

Over a month ago I CO for a pair of Sock it to me socks of my own design (always). While a long and complicated Kendo tournament was going on, I had long passed the heel turn and was knitting merrily away only to discover that the socks were never going to get over my heel. The twisted cable simply sucked up too much width! I frogged these! Oh the pain.
Now, a month later, here is the completed pair. No cables, nothing fancy. The most boring pair of socks on the planet, but they are very comfy.

Sock it to ME!

The post brought a package from Elann. My friend Tommie graciously gifted me with an Elann Gift certificate last month and when they announced they were debuting sock yarn, we both had to order. Here are some photos of my skeins. I'll let her post her own.

It's time for a left-handed knitting RANT

In the peace and quiet of my life, bursts of stupid people occasionally happen. I try to remain alloof, I try to be calm, but when I realize you are poisoning perfectly helpless new knitters I must speak out (again.) I have ranted about the left-handed knitting topic previously and do not want to beat a dead horse, but the knitting community appears to be tuning an incredibly DEAF ear to this subject. Knitters beware. If I even hear you HINT that a left-handed person MUST be taught to knit right handed because [insert stereotype and myth here] then I will poke you so hard with size 0 sock needles as to make you think you have been to the acupuncturist. GIVE IT UP! That means you knittinghelp.com and you fuzzygalore.com and a few twerps on ravelry who insist it's a curse. SHUT up and KNIT.
FACT:

1. Knitting is 2 handed, with one hand being a bit more active or dominant
2. yarn can be manipulated with either the right or the left hand
3. stitches can move off the right onto the left needle without hell freezing over
4. patterns do NOT have to be reversed except for button bands (and that depends on gender) and occasionally asymmetrical patterns
   
5. shaping does NOT have to be reserved all the time, it depends on how you knit (that rule applies to right handed combination knitters too)
6. it is MORE important to understand how to do something than to blindly follow any pattern (so patterns should say "right leaning decrease" instead of K2tog.
7. Knitting graphs are universal, look for them and use them left to right
   
8. My DVD teaches left handed people how to knit LEFT handed correctly, most websites and books do NOT and one wonders how they've been in publication this long with these errors!
9. ALL knitters deserve to know there's more than one method of knitting out there. Expose yourself to something new, you might like it.
   

Fuzzy Feet for Max

before and after felting. Fuzzy Feet knit on size 10 needles, 2 at a time. Yarn is Moda Dea Cache purchased on insane discount last year. Felts and wears better than 100% wool, but the colors are less than enticing.

New Knitting project; Vintage Sweater

My knitting process is one of pure inspiration. I keep a knitting sketch and idea book to record these bursts and refer back to it when I'm ready to CO another project.



Inspired by this photo from an old Women's Daily, I have sketched and swatched and am embarking on another sweater for me. I firmly believe in using Ann Budd's handy book of sweater patterns for reference and to cut down my math time. Yet I constantly find myself getting gauge that means I still have to do math! I'm getting 4.5 and 5.5 (ribbing) not nice whole numbers. But the stitches are there (waist x gauge=CO) and I'm working it out. I hope to have this done in about 2-3 weeks. I made a nice semi-circle skirt from some fabric I had laying about and this yarn matches nicely. I intend to study the sleeve cap article in Winter 2007 IK to help me sort out the sleeve cap, though I've never had problems with it. I do have to do lots of juggling between hips/waist/bust and upper bust measurements so I jump between size guidelines in the Budd book. I will not be including any of the patterning you see on the inspiration photo. I'm not that cutesy!
*note, one week into the project and i have completed the back, the front is to the armhole shaping as of 10 am Wednesday 12/12/07.

Bar Mitzvah sweater FINISHED!

I don't remember, would have to check email records, but think I frogged this sucker a smidge over a week ago? One of the photos is from before the frog. I actually finished it, had him try it on and frogged it without even taking a photo. It was just too small. Reconfigured everything, panicked, regrouped and CO 2 more times. Here is the FO. It's great. Basically a seamless yoke using some figures from Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. Knit out of Swish worsted weight in "truffle", yoke in "bare" with scraps of swish and WoolWase for the brown. Ribbing on size 5's, balance knit on size 8 's. Sleeves knit two at a time on two circs. Finished size is 38 1/2. He can wear this for a couple of years. Lots of room to grow! He loves it and adores how great it matches the shirt he's wearing to his party. We're counting down the days...tomorrow is his birthday and he gets to go to Texas de Brazil. hey, a guy only turns a teenager ONCE.

Left handed knitting gets reviewed

Theresa, at Garden and Hearth, a fabulous website/blog, has graciously interviewed me and posted a great article at her site. the only thing I take exception to is the techno idea of flipping right handed instructions using a photo or text editor. The mirror image only works for Method B people.

Sock yarn murdered by Wheaten

It was a beautiful day in paradise. Two FO's (finished objects for you muggles) were blocking and drying in the sun on the deck. I had been given free basic sock yarn and was fiddling about with entrelac (because I had a knitting problem and can not be with out a project no matter how pathetic or ill-fated the project is.) I had doors and windows open and took the boys and their friends to the beach to play for an hour. Upon my return I was greeted by our youngest, "You're going to KILL Molly!"
This is the scene that greeted me.It is to her credit that the needle was still in the pathetic big of entrelac. The yarn is pretty much a lost cause. Good thing Ginger arrives with sock yarn and needles within about 36 hours.

My Reviews of Knitting Podcasts

Through our teenage son, I have been introduced to MP3 players. Initially I did not see the benefit of such devices, but during the last month I have joined the ranks mp3 pod-listeners. To be fair, I have listened to Cast On with Brenda Dayne for a year, but on my computer, not an mp3. She is great! I am glad I can listen now without fighting ambient noise in the house. Podcasts put me on an island of knitting and fun friends (when they're done right!)
KnitPicks I started with KnitPicks podcast because I have been a die-hard KnitPicks yarn fan since their inception. The podcast, however, is lacking. Kelly's speaking voice in the podcast is difficult to listen to. It does not flow and interferes with the delivery of information. For some reason she feels she should not use the podcast to 'advertise' KnitPicks yarns. Why is beyond me as the podcast wouldn't exist if it weren't for the success of the yarns. weird. I do love, however, her interviews with some knitting notables. Her speaking voice changes somewhat and the interviewer is the focus. I will give these podcasts credit for continuing to feed my interest in spinning. It also confirms my suspicions that I am a pretty good knitter because Kelly says the noobiest things sometimes.
Lime & Violet OMG, I LOVE this show. What a riot! Dogs barking, lots of banter between friends. Good reviews and information, but I wish they would give the sites and books they are discussing more clearly. Often they are looking at something and gushing, but the listener is left out. I feel left out when they discuss some people as well. I'm not certain if it's a shop, a shop owner, an online seller or friend. Maybe I'm just too noobie to know? :) I would LOVE to be intereviewed by them though!
Stash and Burn is IT. Friendly banter, excellent information given in clear terms, good speaking voices and cadence and good interviews. It doesn't get any better (yet, I'm still new to this). These women seem to share my sense of knit style. The discussion about knitting books you love, but never knit from as well as issues with patterns, fit and schematics sold me on this duo. I want to meet them. Hell, I want them to interview me about Left Handed Knitting!!!
Socks in the City this one is a challenge. Perky and upbeat to the point of wondering if perhaps she should cut back on the espressos, she speaks at a rapid-fire cadence that leaves listeners reeling. That said, her love of all things-sock-fiber is inspirational. As a firm sock lover, I can hang in there and get some serious sock-spiration from this one. But the singing kid at the beginning? I just use the fast foward key. If the intro were shorter, I would listen to it all.
Pointy Sticks
I know there are more. Send me links in the comments section. At least they're cheaper than yarn :)

Knitting quiz, apparently (big shock) I'm a purist!

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Purist. You are an accomplished knitter producing beautiful pieces with a classic feel. You sometimes lament losing half of your local yarn shop to garish novelty yarns. Perhaps you consider fun fur scarves the bane of knitting society and prefer to steer new knitters towards the wool and cotton blends. Some might call you a bit of an elitist but you know that you've been doing this craft long enough to respect the history behind it and honor it with beautiful piece that can last a lifetime. http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Rambling, knitting and sick dogs

The boys have a sleep-over guest last night. One of our kids went to bed as instructed. The other two stayed up until 1:40 when we busted them watching some Halo thing. One of the dogs had been sick (and sweetly on a washable rug, then on his sister's blanket) so we were cleaning up and kicking kids into bed. This morning, amidst the laundry and trash, I began to "see" a new sweater. I have two scarves that I'm slogging away on, but I also have some PayPal money that could be used for secret yarn (avert your eyes Ginger). I have been listening to KnitPicks podcast. I like some of the content, but Kelly Petkun needs to get her speaking voice cadence smoother. She has an odd, paused, exceptionally enunciated, speaking pattern and after 14 podcasts, I'm ready to strangle her! Actually I'm ready to start my own flipping podcast! But I digress. Listening to the podcasts has solidified my yearning for spinning (again, Ginger, avert your eyes). I am not a huge fan of colorwork, but I am also toying with making a Fair Isle jumper/pullover sweater. Maybe just a Fair Isle yoke. I'm yarn shopping, thinking of fleece, wondering where a spinning wheel could be stashed in our already packed home and low and behold another freaking stole/scarf jumps into my line of sight. As if I didn't have enough on my plate! Focus, I've got to focus. Paypal, spending limits, actual projects already OTN (that I'll admit to) and time. Paypal limit is 50. OTN projects: 2 scarves, 2 sweaters. Promised projects: dress for Bjarka, mittens for Mimi. A reasonable person would not purchase yarn for anything else, even if it was this nice stole or a top down, fair isle sweater. I'm sure I'd make the sweater up like i do everything else. But I like this color pattern. The big question is how to smoothly increase and decrease over this pattern without disrupting it over the yoke

Knitting on the beach

Here are the beach projects this year. I'm slogging away on Mimi's scarf and occasionally picking up the Bess lace scarf. I think I'll finish Mimi this week. That leaves Bess for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll finish that as well. I tried shooting some photos for the book, but ended up scrapping them all. I'll try again later. Wouldn't it be neat if the next DVD had surf sounds for transition in between shots and if the intro were shot on the beach!

Mimi's scarf

Knit from recycled yarn in a wool, alpaca, cashmere and angora blended from 2 different sweaters. This is knit on size 3 needles and the "Alternate broken ribs" pattern from Vogue Knitting copywrite 1989 p 156. This is hopefully going to be a very soft, but durable and functional scarf for the mild Memphis Winters. NO fringe, no tassles :) Tailored, right Mimi? A gigantic hug and thanks to Mimi who designed the cover for the DVD and logo. She wants a scarf, mittens and a pair of Trekking ProNatura socks in the Blue Ginger pattern as payment. What fun! The mittens will have to be swish or something equally washable though and not this luxury blend. I'll have to figure a way to make them coordinate. I guess the socks will have to be the Red Hot Mimi's!

the latest socks

These are done on size 1 US, toe up, 2 at a time. Trekking XXL from Astrid and I am annoyed with the yarn! Notice that the socks don't match? I tried 3 times to find the repeat. I have about decided there is none. One entire sock appears to be heathered while the other has some heather and some more solids. this is from one skein, weighed, re-wound (3 times, did I mention that already?) and finally I gave up. The socks fabric is nice and manly, which was the goal. Guess who they're for...(GINGER!)

Latest sock, "tilting windmills"

Today's FO (finished object) is the Tilting Windmill socks from Scheepjes Invicta Coloris from Holland. The pattern draws the sock in and it is the tightest sock I have made to date. Ginger swears they still fit. When she saw me cruising the latest KnitPicks fall heathered yarns and swooning, she said "I don't know how many more socks I need". I shall pretend she did NOT say that!
I am not quite ready to admit defeat. To weaken her resolve, I am CO for another pair for her out of Trekking XXL. Surely she will succumb and continue to pick fun yarns for me to knit for HRH? I do not wear socks very often and certainly not in the summer except to exercise. These are not exercise socks! The only other people to knit socks for (in the house) are the teenage boys. Ask yourself how well teenage boys take care of their socks and then imagine how reluctant I am to knit socks for them, though I do adore them.

Left-handed knitting

It's my blog and I'll rant if I want to!
Dear Fuzzy Galore, EZ and every other knitter who has ever said disparaging comments about left-handed knitters (knitting off the right needle onto the left)

You are a clueless right-handed knitter who needs to keep your mouth SHUT on things you know nothing about. How DARE you say that left-handed knitters who knit from right needle to left needle are "illiterate!" and that learning to knit this way is "too difficult for beginners". Hogwash! Learning to knit is not something everyone takes to like a duck to water, but once the basics are grasped, knitting often begins to slide through our dexterous fingers much as water does. Please do not insult left-handers by thinking every stitch in a pattern has to be reversed. I wish all right-handed people would back off and leave the comments on left-handed knitting to left-handed knitters. How presumptuous can you get??? The ONLY thing that has to be reversed in a knitting pattern (for people who knit from right needle to left needle) is the shaping. Period. And just sit there and contemplate that for a moment. If you are a right handed knitter (knit from left needle to right needle) but you knit in a combined method, is it too complicated for your poor brain to sort out how to make a decrease or increase match the pattern AND accommodate your chosen style of knitting? Or perhaps you knit like the masses, do nothing different (by the way, there is no one way to knit) but your pattern says "for right side, repeat as for left but reverse shaping". Can you sort out how to reverse the shaping without rewriting the entire pattern? Then for the sake of all that is fibrous, let the lefties have a chance. Enough of this condescending "our way is the only way" drivel that has dominated the knitting world. A resurgence in the love of knitting is time to embrace all knitters.

Okay, I feel better now. I have almost wrapped up making the DVD for left-handed knitting. In it I show only 2 of the many ways knitting can be done left-handed, but I do clearly document how to make flat knitting. No twisted stitches here. I am stunned at how many knitting sites supposedly say they have illustrations for left-handed knitting, yet their instructions would result in twisted stitches every time. That's what happens with right handed people assume they know the left-handed world. shut up and knit!