Babes in Knits

Here's my niece, the fabulous Miss Ainsley, wearing the baby cardigan I knit for her shower. Can you believe she's only a month old in that pic? Full heads of hair must run in my family :-)


Ainsley gets her napping abilities from the cat who can fall asleep anywhere!

I'm World Famous!

I received a very special parcel in the mail the other day:


It was Son of Stitch 'n Bitch, Debbie Stoller's latest book consisting of all patterns for men. Turn to page 143 and you will find:


MY PATTERN: RETROPOLITAN CARDIGAN!


Cosette says, "That's great, now let me go back to sleep..."

Look Both Ways Before Crossing the Street


No, this is not a post about me getting run over (knock on wood!). It's to show a pic of one completed Jaywalker. I finished it a couple weeks ago and was gonna wait to post until its partner was complete but I'm suffering from a lingering case of SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) and need some encouragement to keep going. I cast on the second one, did 1 row, then put it aside.

My sock is tired of the single life. He's been mingling with the other socks in my drawer but feels really left out cause everyone else is coupled off. He's even resorted to hoping the Sock Monster will steal one of my Pomatomus's the next time I do laundry. It's quite pathetic actually. Help!

What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

This is a question I ask my yarn before I start knitting. As many of you know I design my own patterns most of the time. I find it much more fulfilling and creatively stimulating than knitting from a published pattern. I don't mean to knock anyone who mostly knits from patterns. I did the same thing for a couple years and think this is essential if you are going to create good patterns. Besides, who would knit the patterns I create if everyone was off making their own?!

Sometimes I still knit from patterns if I need something quick like I'm traveling and want to be knitting rather than sketching on the plane. Or if it's an item I've never knit before it's a good idea to try a pattern. Case in point, my shawl that came out completely lopsided because I assumed I could design one without ever having knit one before. I failed to understand how lace behaves on the bias or what are appropriate intervals by which to increase.

It does take much more time to design a pattern, whether imagining what I want to knit and finding the perfect yarn or purchasing yarn in advance then trying to envision what it wants to be. Sketching items to get a general idea and knitting gauge swatches and samples (then ripping them out and re-knitting them several times) can be a lot of work. Then there's all the math to work out, the measuring to be done, and writing the actual instructions so they make sense to someone other than me at the moment in time when I scribble them down. It's kind of like anything else in knitting. It can be frustrating at times but in the end I love doing it and also the feeling of accomplishment when the FO comes out the way I've envisioned it.

When I was first teaching JF to knit he saw what I was doing and wanted to design items right from the start. While I admired his enthusiasm and ambition, as I predicted he soon became frustrated when he didn't know where to start. As a beginner (or intermediate) knitter you often just want to start knitting. You need a basis in understanding how to read patterns and in how garments are constructed and the way certain yarns behave when knit up.

I've read a lot of knitting design books, articles online or in magazines, and tutorials on other people's blogs. This gives me a good foundation from which to start creating my own projects. The combination of getting a grip on theories and concepts combined with the hands-on experience of practicing and reading patterns is excellent preparation for designing.

JF and I often work together on designs. Sometimes I ask for his opinion on how certain colors or patterns will look together. If it's an item for him or something we're actively designing together we'll sit down and hammer out the numbers together. It's very helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of and to double-check that I'm doing the math correctly.

Unfortunately designing is detrimental to my blog in some ways. Sometimes I'm working on a pattern to submit for publication. One of the criteria for acceptance is always that the pattern cannot have been published anywhere else and it cannot have been shown or discussed in any detail on your own personal blog or online photo album. So if it appears that I often just ramble on about my opinions on knitting topics, or show pics of my vacations, or feature new items in my Etsy shop it's probably because I'm designing something that I have to keep quiet in order for it to have a chance of publication. I promise there is knitting happening on this side of the keyboard!

Single Handedly



JF has been complaining about the wacky air conditioning in his office since I met him. I stayed home sick one day last week and whipped up this custom glove. He said he only needed one for his computer mouse hand which prevented a case of SGS (second glove syndrome) on my part. I used some leftover alpaca yarn I used to make this hat last fall:



Can you see the resemblance? I had triple stranded it and wound it up that way into a center pull ball so there were no problems with tangles. I turned out to have just enough to make the glove and it felt good to use some stash yarn for once.



JF decided the most functional version would be fingerless except for an enclosed pinkie. The the top part of the fingers and thumb would end just before the knuckle. Turns out after 4 years of freezing cold office temps the next day when he brought the glove to work the AC had magically been fixed. Go figure!

Big 'D', little 'a', double 'L', 'A', 'SSSS'!

Here are pics from the trip JF and I took to Texas in early October. We stayed with his sister and her family for a few days in Plano (a suburb outside of Dallas).



We went to the State Fair of Texas. It's one of the largest state fairs in the country!



Just as we were having unseasonably warm weather here in New York it was also summer weather in Texas. It felt like 95 degrees in the shade!




Here's a shot of 'Big Tex." All the kids seemed to like him but I found him a bit creepy especially when he starts waving his hand!



They had an petting zoo with many exotic animals. For a couple bucks you could buy some grain and seeds to feed the animals. In addition to the usual sheep and goats they had ostriches, kangaroos, large tortoises, a mama pig with her piglets and this giraffe. It seemed a bit cruel to have the animals in relatively small pens in a hot room but it was interesting all the same.



After the weekend JF and I hit the road and drove the 5 hours to San Antonio. Here's the famous Riverwalk. We ate at that restaurant on the left 'The Republic of Texas.' The waiter was really nice and gave us tips on what to do while we filled him in on what's it like to live in New York City.



Here's a daytime view of a bridge passing over the Riverwalk.



These Mexican tiles were everywhere in San Antonio. I loved the bright colors and interesting shapes.



We stopped at the Goodwill in San Antonio to get out of the sun for a minute. I found a bunch of acrylic yarn that looks like it's from the 80's.



Our hotel was right across the street from Texas's most famous landmark-The Alamo. I became an Alamo expert during the course of this trip after watching an IMAX movie then taking the tour of the actual site. After learning more about the history of Texas I understand why Texans are so proud of their state although I still find it obnoxious at times!



We went to the top of the Tower of Americas. It's kind of like the space needle in Seattle. We saw a "4-D" movie inside that was really cool. During a part where you were supposed to be in a helicopter your chair vibrated and the room got real windy. Then during a scene at the rodeo you felt a bull 'horn' jab you in the back and bull 'snot' was sprayed on your face. Gross but definately felt like you were in the moment!



The entrance to Hemisfair Park where the World Fair was held in 1968.



We visited an artist's village aptly named "La Villeta" Most of the stuff was more 'art' than 'craft' so a bit out of our price range. I was shocked to see these handknit scarves made from Lion Brand novelty yarns selling for $50 and $60! Yes, that red scarf IS made out of Fun Fur. Maybe I've been missing out on a big money-making opportunity. More likely it's too hot for Texans to ever wear scarves so they have no idea how much one would actually cost!



From San Antonio we drove another 2 hours to Austin, the capital of Texas. We were so tired from walking around in the sun our first stop was to pick up a swimsuit for JF so we could relax in the hotel pool and spa. Next door to the sporting goods store REI was one of my favorite browsing stores, Anthropologie, where they were selling these knitted bears.



Many of the Mexican shops featured knitted and crocheted finger puppets. Here are a few sheep I though were cute and well designed.



Speaking of sheep here's our mascot, Woolly, who likes to come along on our travels. We took Wendy's advice and dined on authentic Texas BBQ at Stubb's our first (and only) night in Austin. It lived up to its reputation. The next week after we had returned home and were food shopping we found Stubb's BBQ sauce being sold at a grocery store on Long Island! It was a bit surreal. While in Austin we heard some live music on the famous 6th St and played a form of bar shuffleboard that was really fun.



This is a hat I cast on at the start of the trip. The yarn is a silk bamboo variegated blend I bought at the Garden State Sheep and Wool Festival. For some strange reason when I knit it up as a hat it formed this moon pattern.



Look, the back is just all brown except for the brim. Weird!

As you can see the Texas trip was a lot of fun. Glad I could share the highlights with my faithful blog readers :-)

Guilt-Free Blogging

A big pet peeve of mine is bloggers who start off their entries apologizing for how long it's been since they last posted. This bugs me for two reasons. The first is that it may be a new blog I'm checking out and if I've never read it before I really don't care that it's been 2 weeks since the last post. I probably have months if not years worth of entries to catch up on.

The second reason is that being a sensitive kind of person I feel as though I'm shouldering some of their guilt for infrequent blog publishing. When I go to read someone's blog I view it as a leisurely escape from other things in my life such as working, cleaning, and paying bills. I have enough guilt for not spending enough time on the things I'm supposed to be doing that I really don't need to feel anyone else's guilt.

It's especially bad on podcasts where they really belabor the point. I've heard podcasters go on for 5 minutes on the air about how busy they've been with school and work and kids and blah, blah, blah. Here's news for all you bloggers and podcasters out there. Unless you're a friend of mine I really don't care about what's going on in your personal life that's preventing you from posting frequently. I just want to know about your knitting life. If you want to throw in something interesting or life-changing such as pics from a trip you've taken or you just had a baby or got married or started a new job that's cool but don't apologize endlessly for it.

Think about when you watch a television series. Often a weekly drama series won't air for two weeks or more because of a sporting event or awards show. When the show comes back on the air does a big disclaimer flash across the screen at the start of prime time apologizing for making you wait? No, of course not. They just get right into the action. There's only so much time and what we really want to know is whether George is going to leave his wife or stare at Izzie all season with those puppy dog eyes of his.

I've often been tempted to fall into the same trap with my posts. Instead I remind myself that no one wants to hear it and just start in with the good stuff. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

Rhinebeck Recap



So I went to Rhinebeck today and it was awesome as was to be expected. JF and I got off the day to a bad start with horrendous traffic (& sleeping in didn't help.) We ended up splitting up for most of the time with JF going off with his parents (a whole knitting family, isn't that cute?) and I went yarn shopping with Monica. We had fun checking out all the vendors.



When it was time for her to go home with her ride I ended up running into Melody who had just arrived. It was yarn kismet! So we walked around together for awhile. She was a sheep and wool festival virgin so it was fun "showing her the ropes." It didn't take much convincing for me to get her to pose for a pic:



Afterwards JF and I grabbed some dinner with his parents at The Daily Planet diner in Poughkeepsie then hit up Grandma's Pies in Yorktown for dessert (The peach pie is highly recommended).

Here's my makeshift Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo bag:



I barely got in on the game as I emailed to be a square a few days after the deadline. Fortunately someone else had dropped out so I got to take their slot. Since I didn't have time to order any of the Cafe Press merchandise I printed out the logo, enlargened it on a copier (is that the right word?), colored it in with colored pencils, and pinned it to my tote bag. It got the job done though. Six or so people came up to me but unfortunately I didn't seem to be on anyone's cards. Oh well, it was fun all the same.

Now on to the loot:



Despite my best intentions to make only non-yarn related purchases I bought this Silk Seductions Yarn at the Seaport Yarns booth. I had actually seen it in their store last week but it seemed more enticing at the festival as they had many skeins of it (there was only one in the store as they had the rest on hold for the festival) and it was discounted. Yarn enabler Melody put me over the edge but at least she bought some in white so I was not alone! I'm going to use it to make silk flowers-can't wait to see how they come out!



This is some handpainted alpaca that was a Show Special. I can't remember the name of the booth. It doesn't look all that great in this pic but the violet handpainted color looks really beautiful in the sunlight. Not sure exactly what I'm gonna make with it but probably something along the line of hat/scarf/mitts.



My official 2007 New Sheep and Wool Festival Sweatshirt. For the second year in a row they were out of t-shirts by the time I got to the souvenirs booth. Last year rather than settle for a sweatshirt I filled out a mail order form to have one delivered to my house. After three months and no t-shirt I received a check in the mail for the $$ I had paid. Guess they realized they had no more in stock and figured they would refund the money which was cool but alas no shirt. Anyway, I learned my lesson this time!



I found this adorable stuffed lamb simply irresistible. "Dutchess County Fairgrounds" is embroidered on her tummy and she has an ear tag that says Dutchess County Fair. I suppose it's the generic toy they sell at other events but I thought it seemed fitting not to mention that she could join my stuffed animal sheep collection (wow can't believe I just admitted that on the air!)



This is a really pretty sterling silver charm bracelet I purchased from one of the jewelry vendors called Millpoint Emporium. I was wearing a green sweater and the bracelet matched so perfectly I couldn't resist. While the lambs with bells on are super cute the kicker for me was the sexy little shepherdess in the middle.



Finally I picked up some handmade saps from Barrytown Soap Works. One is Annandale Apple and the other is simply called Violet. The Chocolate Mint lip balm smells incredible and makes my lips feel so soft.

I'm passing on Sunday's festival as I have plans to go up to CT to see my sis and the new baby. Since JF isn't much of a baby person he decided to keep himself busy cooking a week's worth of meals for the new parents to eat during the week. Isn't that sweet? How did I luck out with a fiancee that both knits and cooks?!

Make Way for Baby!



I'm officially an aunt! Let the baby knitting begin...



Stats

Name: Ainsley Isabelle
Birthdate: October 16, 2007
Birth time: 3:48 pm EST
Weight: 7 pounds 15 oz
Length 19 1/2 inches

Need I say more?

Return of the Knodcasts



My next favorite knitting podcast I'd like to review is the Knit Picks Podcast. As most of you know Knit Picks is a website that sells their own line of yarn and needles in addition to knitting books and accessories. Through some magic of either smart business practices or child labor (my theory) they sell their yarns at 1/3-1/2 the price of name brand yarns of the same fibers. I was skeptical of this knodcast when it first came out as I figured it was just another vehicle to push their yarns.

I was pleasantly surprised when I first listened to the knodcast to realize it was nothing of the sort. It's hosted by Kelley Petkun who owns the company. Her voice is very warm and comforting and sounds to me like the kind of aunt who would give you good advice but not judge you. The knodcast is obviously scripted and while some may argue that takes away from the spontaneity of the episodes I've actually come to prefer it. I find that without a script the speaker tends to ramble on and I end up fast forwarding my iPod until they (finally) get to the point.

Recent episodes I have enjoyed included how to teach someone else to knit, the properties of wool produced by different types of sheep, and the technical differences between balls, hanks, and skeins of yarn. She also throws in a couple book reviews and briefly discusses what she has on her needles at the moment. On one episode she did biographies of Knit Picks staffers but I found it interesting to hear about their career paths and how they ended up working at an online yarn store.

In short: a well thought out pleasant knodcast.

Rating: 4 out of 5 dpns

Knodcasts



What's better than knitting? Knitting while listening to someone talk about knitting, of course! Now that I'm an official subway commuter I've gotten more into listening to knitting podcasts, or "knodcasts" as I like to refer to them (Ok, I just made that up but am going to start calling them that from now on!)

My favorite knodcasts currently are Sticks & String, Knitpicks, Knit Science, and Stitch Stud and his Bride. I'm going to do a brief review of each one in upcoming blog posts.

Sticks & String is hosted by David Reidy, a teacher and knitting enthusiast who lives out in Australia. While the content is decent I'm a bit ashamed to admit I mostly enjoy listening to his accent. It makes it a little more interesting to hear him talk about "blokes" rather than men and "jumpers" instead of sweaters. He manages to strike a good balance between discussing his personal knitting projects and general knitting content. I especially enjoy the "essays" he reads on air about his opinions on knitting topics. The only slightly negative thing is the offbeat instrumental songs he includes to break up the first and second part of the podcast. The music is often hit-or- miss but you can always speed through that part if you want to.

Rating: 4 out of 5 DPNS's.

Mystic, CT



JF and I went up to Mystic, CT over Labor Day Weekend for our engagement party. We tried to visit the LYS, Mystic Yarns, but it was closed by the time we got there.



All I got to see was what I could make out through the window. It was a very sad moment :'-(



On the bright side JF's parents put out "engagement toys" for us alongside the cake. (No, sicko, it's now what you're thinking.) As you can see JF got a little NASCAR model car and I got this Ty sheep stuffed animal. On closer examination it looked a bit like a rabbit so I named her, of course "Sheeprabbit." Every now and then she likes to strip off her dress and run around the apartment yelling "Naked sheep! Naked sheep!" but that's a story for another post.



Speaking of sheep I have an amusing ancedote. In one of my wedding magazines they had a photo shoot with a bride holding a little lamb. That got me obsessed with the idea of having "wedding sheep" at the ceremony. Where would you go to rent one out? Anyway, I called a florist today to try to make an appointment to come in. The lady on the phone was like you'll have to call back because "the owner is out with the wedding sheep." I got all excited and exclaimed, "OMG, I was just saying that I really wanted wedding sheep at the ceremony! That would be awesome if you could provide sheep in addition to the flowers!" It was later that I realized she had said "wedding sheet" as in the piece of paper where they wrote down all their appointments. Oopsy.

Oh Baby!



I finished my Feather and Fan Baby Cardigan last weekend just in time for my sister's baby shower. It was up to the wire with me sewing on the buttons, weaving in the ends, and blocking the sweater the day before the shower. I used Tess' Designer Yarns baby/fingering weight yarn and adapted a pattern for a basic baby cardigan to include the feather and fan edging at the bottom and cuffs.



I found these beautiful lavender pearl buttons at the store Tender Buttons on the Upper East Side. Thanks A-M for telling me about this store. I put off my button finding expedition for weeks since I never could found time to trek over to the Garment District. It's a lovely (but pricey) store that has thousands of beautiful buttons all neatly organized. I had heard the staff could be a bit snobby. I found the older woman working there was helpful and seemed interested in helping me choose the right buttons for my project. They're sticklers for closing on time though and will not hesitate to tell you they're closing soon and you need to make your final selection.



Here's a close-up of the feather and fan edging. It's not too hard to do. The most difficult part was figuring out how to work the pattern repeat into my stitch count.

You know what that means....time to cast on a new project!