Here's a cool link

I only have a minute, but wanted to pop in and post this link to a nice little online magazine. Their 6th issue is out and here is the link to it. Knit on the Net is a fun read and cute patterns. It is a UK production and I quite enjoyed looking at this issue. Thought you might want to have a look.

Day trip, new book...

Took a day trip today. My hubby and I just had to get out of the house and go somewhere. We drove to Bainbridge Island and I got to visit Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, one of my fave knit shops. I took the socks I am knitting for keeping busy in the car while Danny drove.

These are my two at a time socks. Plain grey socks knitted with Fortissima Socke for Josh, my new son-in-law. He won't wear any socks but Plain Grey Socks. So here they are. And no, I am not knitting them on two cirular needles, or even one long circular needle. I am knitting them at one time on DPN's. The "old-fashioned-and-yet-comfortable-because-circular-needles-for-socks-drives-me-crazy-way". I really have tried. More than once. And it isn't that I can't do it. Even just the plain Magic Loop drives me nuts. I can do it. But do I want to? No. Let the knitting world make all of their socks on circs. I am resisting. And my daughters will tell you how hard it is to change my mind once I have made it up. *grin*

Ok, enough of sounding so defensive! So, I'm in the car, knitting. The perfect day. And 45 minutes at Churchmouse. I bought two small skeins of the Regia Kaffe Fasett sock yarn, in the Landscape Caribbean 4260 colorway. I browsed, picked up some tea for my daughter, Corinne, and also bought a book I'm quite excited about. It is Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush. The book has beautiful projects in it, nearly all of them stunning colorwork-mittens, gloves, socks. Hilia's Mittens on page 75 are so sweet and so pretty. Also intriguing me are Anv's Christmas Gloves. I have never made gloves OR mittens, so it will be fun to pull this out one of these days when I am through with all the socks in my plans. Here is the "thing" that sold me on this wonderful book however. More than the patterns and the pages of history (which I always love to read in any knitting book) was an Estonian Folk Song titled Beautymaker. I won't type out the whole song here because of copyright, but here is one line: "Joy tucked between burdens." What a wonderful way to describe knitting. Of course, knitting can also be a joy "tucked" between joys. But when I think of the joy that knitting brought to me when I first had learned it, while I was still so challenged by the burdens that I had to bear, this song fits so very well and makes my heart glad.

Secret Desire

I have an unspoken theory. It is my personal belief that everyone secretly wants to be a knitter. There. I said it. I have thought long and hard about this and yes, I believe it to be true.

There are several reasons I have for thinking that knitting is the secret desire of every person. For one thing, since I began knitting I have made it a habit to work on my projects on every break at work. Instead of sitting in the employee dining room, I like to sit in the break room, plug my Ipod into my ears and knit. I knit on socks, shawls, sweaters, whatever I am currently knitting gets spread out over the table as I while away my 30 minutes. This attracts a certain amount of attention as most of my co-workers are not knitters, but secretly desire to be one. They will walk by on their way to the smoking "porch" and sneak looks at what I am working on. Or openly check it out. Sometimes a brave one will sit down and begin asking questions. "What is it?" or "That looks complicated...I don't know how you do it!" or the classic, "I would never have the time to do that." (Never mind that they see me working at the same full time job as themselves-guess they think I sit around on my keester when I'm off work.) Then, most times, they get reminiscent about a knitter that they know and love...a grandmother, a mother, a favorite aunt. They speak lovingly about a knitted item that they treasure. See where I'm going with this? Deep down, they have the heart of a knitter. An appreciation for the time and effort that went into that sweater or scarf that their loved one made them. Deep down, they would like to knit.

When I give someone a knitted item, it is appreciated much. Non-knitters who receive knitting often marvel at it's complexity. Mind you, that means a simple garter stitch scarf. But I still remember those days when even the simplest knit patterns seemed like magic to me. (Come to think of it...they still do!) They wish they had the ability to make such a wondrous thing. And for one fleeting moment, they wistfully contemplate knitting in a way they never did before. Time seems to stand still as the thought is formulated in their minds.

"What if......?"

Then, almost as quickly as it came, the look is gone as they dismiss it as impossible, thinking, "I would never have time to do that!" But I know that deep down, they would like to knit.

Several times, I have inspired someone to take up knitting again. Perhaps they learned to knit as a child or teen, sitting at their grandmother's knee. They see me knitting and it get's them thinking about knitting again. Next thing I know, they are showing me their latest project, having a blast knitting a scarf or a pair of socks. You see, deep down, they wanted to knit and yet it was repressed for years. Only after being a witness to someone elses knitting were they set free. Deep down, they wanted to knit. (Yes, I know that this sounds a bit like Sleeping Beauty, but you must remember that Sleeping Beauty had been spinning when she fell into her deep sleep. That proves an "intent to knit" and I'm sure she was up and searching the castle for some fleece when she was awoken from her sleep! A knitter cannot be detered, even by an accidental hundred year nap!)

I'm sure you are thinking, "But not everyone knits. Some people never think of knitting. What about them?" Here is the thing. Knitting itself creates a peace of mind-a state of being that is enviable. When knitting, the knitter finds him/herself relaxing and allowing the troubles of the day to melt away. No, not everyone has found this out. Yet.

Many, many people are still searching for that kind of peace. They plug into music or watch TV. They play video games or walk the dog. But we who are knitters know that it is only a matter of time. One day, when they least suspect it, someone will hand them a knitted item as a gift and the wheels will start to turn. Because it is an irresistible force, knitting. Deep down...yes. Everyone wants to knit.

Monkey on the Fence

The fence that divides our yard from our neighbors was the perfect place to hang the Monkey Socks today when I wanted to photograph them. I have been having fun knitting these socks once I got the yarn sorted out. It is such a fun and interesting pattern. The heel is sort of baggy.
I am hoping that it will block nicely and be a better fit. Here is a close up of the stitch pattern. My camera cooperated today! Yaaaay! Close-ups are usually not a thing I can accomplish!
Ok, this next shot is crooked so you can see a bit of the trees in my neighborhood. These trees are on the other side of our house, too. Even closer, though. So you can imagine my nervousness when there is a wind storm!! A big piece of one them fell into our backyard only a couple of months ago.
Other acquisitions....the cute knitting bag is from Josh and Lizzie. They honeymooned on the Oregon Coast and found this little basket bag in a shop there. Perfect for a pair of socks in the works! The mag from the UK and Charlene Schurch & Beth Parrotts' Little Box of Socks is a purchase I made today in Seattle when my sweet hubby and I went for a nice knitting drive. No, I didn't say I "knit and drive". He did the driving. I did the knitting. A knitting drive! Sounds more exciting than "a knitting ride", don't you think?
As soon as I get wedding pics, I will post them, I promise. The wedding was wonderful, marvelous and more. But I will wait to tell about it until I have photos.

Happy Independence Day, and happy knitting!!


PS....I linked The Little Box of Socks to Knit Picks for a reason! 40% off all books right now. Their big Summer Book Sale. And free shipping with purchases over $50. Need I say more? Now get over there and shop, people!

PS....sorry for the advertising. But whoa! Good deals like that can't be ignored, right? Right?

Monkey in the Middle of the wedding craziness!!

Just a quick visit to the blog today...we are so busy getting ready for the wedding. But I took some pics of my current project "on the needles".
This is a "Monkey" sock, a pattern made famous on Knitty in the Winter 2006 issue. (Link here) Cookie A, the designer did a terrific job of making lace look exactly like cables, don't you think? I love the pattern so far, however I have had problems with the yarn I'm using.
The yarn is Socks that Rock by Blue Moon Fiber Arts in medium weight. It is a colorway called "Barney Rubble". First of all, it pools. R-e-e-e-e-a-l-l-y pools. See that pink? It is all pooled together in that one spot. The back of the sock is blue and yellow. The biggest problem I had with this yarn however, is its tendency to twist on itself. I wound it in to a center pull ball using my ball winder and started knitting. Before the cuff was done, it had twisted on a piece of itself and begun to tangle. I didn't realize the extent of what tangling was happening, though. I kept knitting and pushing the twist back into the center of the ball. Then I decided to pull the center of the ball out and rewind just that. Mistake. It was a tangled mess that took me about 1 1/2 hours of work to fix. And I had to cut the yarn in two places. Yuck! I have it wound in a regular ball that pulls from the outside now, so I shouldn't have any more troubles. Hopefully!
This is the little turtle stitch marker I got from Yarn Lust. Isn't he cute?

A Shawl for an Important Day

I have been hard at work since February knitting a very important project. A wedding shawl. Josh proposed marriage to Lizzie in December and she said "Yes!" They will be married on June 28th at our church. Shortly after they became engaged, Lizzie asked me to knit her a Pi shawl that she would wear instead of a traditional veil. Of course I agreed. We began searching for shawl patterns that would work well for this purpose, finally settling on the Shetland Tea Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. The picture that convinced Lizzie was a photo of the completed shawl we found online by Knitabulous. This very nice person had substituted the Spider Webs and Diamonds pattern for the Diamond Madeira pattern that is in the original shawl. I corresponded with her a bit to find out where she had found the extra pattern, and low and behold, she had gotten it from the very next pattern in the Gathering of Lace book, which is a Sampler Stole. We decided I would add this pattern to the original, in order to make the shawl a bit larger. So, I was "off and running". It was February. I have been knitting lace like a Granny on steroids since then, barely stopping to breathe, hauling that shawl everywhere I went, praying that I didn't spill tea or Starbucks on it, hoping that I was a clever enough knitter to pull it off. Finally, on the last weekend in May, it was completed, and last weekend I blocked the thing.

The photo up top is the pre-blocking photo. It looks all small and shrivel-y. Now here are some shots of the "after blocking"...

I purchased Knit Picks "Bare" yarn for this project, and loved working with it. It took one whole 880 yard hank to knit all of the body of the shawl and a small part of the knitted on edging. I had ordered two hanks just in case, so I had more yarn to finish with. It is a lovely merino wool laceweight and was just right once blocked for the shawl. We wanted something that was heavier than a cobweb weight, but still delicate enough for wedding wear. After knitting the "horseshoe pattern" which is this one here at the bottom of the photo,

I got a bit worried about the size of the shawl, which I was knitting on size three circular needles. I changed to a size 4 and completed the shawl on those. It turned out to be about 69" in diameter when finished, which was a few inches short of what I would have desired, but still fine.

This is my second Pi Shawl and is much more "intricate" than the first, most of it being true lace knitting. I didn't use a lifeline, but only frogged back once during the whole thing, and that was because of the needle size thing, and only lost 5 rounds of work.

The funny thing is, having just finished this shawl and spent nearly 4 months on it, you would think I would be tired of it. But really, after blocking it, praying over it ( I wanted to pray during the knitting of it for an enduring and blessed marriage for my daughter and her wonderful Josh, my new son) I really was thinking to myself, "Gee, don't I have some pretty JaggerSpun Zepher Silk Wool laceweight that would look fantastic in this pattern? Hmmmmmm..." So you never know. I may end up knitting a fraternal twin shawl for myself someday!

If I have left out any info you'd like to know about the Shetland Tea Shawl, please leave a comment and I will be glad to try to give it in my next entry or email you if you leave your email address. Thanks so much to "Knitabulous", and to Meg Swansen, and of course, to Dale Long, the designer of this spectacular shawl. Lizzie's wedding will be all the more memorable because of you.

Blurry Socks

Ok, that first picture is EXTRA blurry. I need a new camera (or a photography course, maybe). But you can get the general idea of the socks I am knitting. It is Cascades Heritage handpainted sock yarn in Isle of Skye Paint #9825. I bought it at my Ben Franklin and am very happy with how beautifully it knits up, however, it is a fine fingering and I am using size 1 needles, instead of my usual #2's. I guess the yarn I usually use for socks is a bit thicker. So these socks are going to take a bit longer than usual, but I like the colors. Plain "vanilly" type...no real pattern, just measured my gauge, and my leg, and cast on.

Yes, I have been slacking off when it comes to blogging again, but I have been knit, knit, knitting away. Next time I will share the big project I have been devoting all my time to. It was finished at last after 4 months of work, just this past weekend.

I got to knit this past weekend as I visited my Mom-in-law, Sylvia. So nice to sit and knit together. She is knitting socks and I wish I had had my camera with me since the cute pair she was working on were turning out so wonderfully. We also got to visit her knit store there in Crescent City, CA. It is called "A Perfect Stitch". Just a small small store, but I couldn't believe all the wonderful yarn they had managed to fit into that small space. Mom bought herself some great sock yarn and also made a gift to me of the yarns I had chosen! So you will see those yarns on the blog one of these days.

Meanwhile, I have been asked to reproduce a pair of socks that I knit for my Dad a couple of years ago. He wore them out finally, and needs a replacement pair. So it looks like socks are the summer projects for me this year. And since I just finished the shawl, (whoops! there is a hint...) I am ready for smaller projects for a while.

More about that shawl next time. Happy knitting!