Archives for April 2007

I enjoy checking in on the Walker Treasury Project.   I own BW’s Second Treasury, and turn to it all the time for stitch patterns.  The Walker Treasury Project is such a brilliant idea.  It is so helpful and inspiring to see those beautiful color photos of stitch patterns.

Being the visual sort, I find it much easier to graph the patterns before I knit them.  All of those, "row 1: k1, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, k2tog. . . "  instructions make me dizzy.  I could never. never. never. knit lace that way.  When I find a pattern I like I put it in my handy-dandy Moleskine grid notebook.  A few rows into knitting I am usually able to see the pattern clearly enough to dispense with the chart.  Then it is just the lovely flow of the pattern.

This stitch is the "Gothic Leaf" from BW’s Second.  I knit it on US size 6 Addi Lace needles.  The yarn?  Oh the yarn, lets talk about the yarn. . . mmmmm.  It is Jade Sapphire, 2-ply Mongolian Cashmere, colorway Tourmaline #71, purchased on a whim at Purl a few months back.  One of the women working at Purl was wearing a gorgeous green scarf knit from the stuff.  Once I saw how hers had bloomed, I just couldn’t stop myself.  This yarn isn’t cheap, but from one skein I was able to get a scarf that is 6" x 66", and still have a nice bit leftover.

The fabric is so light and airy that it will make a fine spring scarf.  It was all I could do to keep DD#1 from trotting off to school with it today.   I have been loving the Chevron photos I’ve seen of as was my 2,000th commenter.  (I hit that number on my blogiversary!)  I’ve already sent a package off to her.  So many of you commented that  I’ve decided to draw another name randomly and send out another package.  I’ll let you know who that lucky winner is tomorrow.

This week I plan to finally write up the pattern for Linea as well as the golf club cover.  Thanks for your patience!

Today is my first blogiversary.

It has been an amazing year.  I’ve met some smart, funny, kind, generous and creative people.  Thank you to everyone who has been reading, commenting and keeping me inspired and motivated.

Last night it occurred to me that I should have a wonderful new finished object to help celebrate.
But, I’d spent the entire day playing tennis and golf and generally enjoying the beautiful weather.
So I did the only logical thing.
I made a sock for my King Cobra driver.
This is a big club and it deserves a flashy cover.

Cobra Cover

Pattern:  My own, if there is any interest I will write the pattern up.  I just don’t know how many other knitting golfers are out there. The pattern is now up on Ravelry.  Enjoy!

Yarn:  Laines Du Nord, Dolly Maxi 100% Superwash Merino – purchased from Elann about two years ago.  Sorry, I’ve lost the tags and can’t be sure of the colors.

Needles:  US size 9  Knitpicks options – one pair, magic looped

I call this club my grapefruit, because that pretty accurately describes the size of the club head.  Naturally I choose the yarn in my stash that was as close to grapefruit colored as I could.  Then I just knit and had fun with pattern.

Thanks again for a great first year of blogging!

Kirsten

PS  I’m really close to my 2000th comment.   I will no doubt send yarn to whoever crosses that milestone for me. . .

I think I have mentioned in the past that before I had this knitting obsession I had a passion for plants.
I would start pouring over plant and seed catalogs in January, placing orders in February and March, and by early April the hunt would be in full swing.  I knew every local and not-so-local nursery.  I remember many spring days driving home with every available inch of the car packed with perennials, shrubs and trees, my girls in their car seats, little faces peering out from between the foliage.  They loved it, riding home inside a mobile garden.  My neighbors knew me as the crazy one who would go outside, a baby strapped to her back and trim the roses. 

As I learned more, my taste in plants became more sophisticated.  Just as knitters quickly outgrow the flashy allure of novelty yarns, I began to loose interest in the garish flats of annuals that fill neighborhood garden centers.  I started to see the diverse beauty in foliage.  I loved the variety of color, texture and form I found in leaves. 

Lolly has appropriately assigned green as one of the colors for April and May.  As we watch the leaves and plants emerge, we can appreciate the spectrum of greens that nature presents.  In photographing my two scarves today I was struck by how these two projects, so similar on the surface – both long, narrow, green, lace scarves, are as different as the leaves of two families of plants.  One is the vibrant yellow-green of spring grass ablaze with dandelions, its handspun yarn and textured stitch pattern giving it a lively rugged feel.  The other is the soothing blue-green of newly emerged lambs ears*, the downy-soft, hand dyed cashmere adding to the refined effect.

I still love plants and try to find time to tend my gardens.   But the knitting now must be given equal time.  The ideas that get me excited about both endeavors are, in the end, so much alike.

*Since most who read this are knitters I must point out that I am referring to the silvery ground-hugging plant and not the fiber animal that we all love so well!