Archives for January 2008

I could just sit and knit these squares all day.  I don’t know which is more fun, the knitting or pouring over cable pattern books.  I do know that I love this yarn for the way it pops those cables right off the surface, and its softness as I work.

The squares are going to Maryse for the afghan she is putting together for Elisa’s Dad.

Yarn:  Moda Dea Washable Wool
Patterns:  Bottom from a Japanese stitch dictionary, top from .
Needles: US 7 (4.5mm)
Size: 8×8"

This has got to be quick.  Speedy. Un-edited for lack of time. 
But there is good reason for me to post.

Sarah and Gudrun have both been kind enough to honor me with a You Make My Day Award.  I am very flattered since they are both quite talented.  Sarah is the Plucky Knitter, and if you haven’t seen or better yet knit with her yarns, well all I can say is you are missing out.  Big Time.  Gudrun is a very talented designer.  Have you seen her Slipped Hours?  Fantastic.  Start digging through you stash, because you’re going to want to.

So the idea of this award is to offer it to ten people who make your day, link to them and let them know so they can pass it on, yadda, yadda, yadda.  So this will be my list of ten.   Some of you may have already gotten the award, sorry that I don’t have time today to check up on this.  So if your one of my ten, and believe me it could easily be twenty or thirty, don’t feel obligated.  Unless you want to.

Here goes:

Stacey – On and Off the Needles – She knits the most amazing colorwork socks I have ever seen.  So it only made sense to me to ask her to test knit Sigrid.  (Oh and did you see the that Scout dyed for her to use?)  Guess what, she was kind enough to say yes.  Lucky me, I mean she is a pro!

Scout – Well you all know Scout; her Swag, her yarn, her photos, her amazing kids and all with humor, kindness and just enough of an edge to make her interesting.  I want to be Scout when I grow up.  (Okay, she’s probably about 10 years younger than me, but you know.)

Anne Hansen of Knitspot– She’s brilliant.  I don’t think I need to say more.  How can one woman continuously produce such amazing lace patterns?  I’m convinced that she fell to earth from some other universe with much higher thinking inhabitants.

Cara of January One. Our favorite Bruce loving New Year’s Baby- Always inspires with her amazing photos, wit, and fantastic color choices.  And she’s having a baby!!  Just imagine the handknits that kid is going to have!

Lolly – I know for a fact that she’s gotten more than one of these, but I’m passing it on to her to anyway.  I don’t think there is one individual who does more for knit bloggers than Lolly.  Socktoberfest, Project Spectrum, fabulous tutorials, fantastic photos.  She always makes my day.

Lola and Ava Two Black Sheep – Everyone’s favorite sisters!  Their affection for one another is contagious.  I want in on their family.  Their posts are always funny and interesting, along with lots of delicious knits.   Go over and have a look at Lola’s newest project.  He’s a cutie!  Oops, they nominated me too.  I really should catch up on my blog reading!  Well it’s just the mutual admiration society around here!

Nova of Nova Made – Yummy Pies!  Fantastic Knitting!  Beautiful Photos!  The Cutest Toddler in Knitblogs!  Yup, she’s got it all, and a cool new pair of glasses too!

Nora of Black Dog Knits – Newly Wed and still managed to post inspiring photos right up to the big day.  She is a master of serenity, simplicity and beauty.

Pam of Flintknits – Every time this girl posts a FO, my Ravelry queue gets longer!  A rock star both literally and figuratively.  I was the lucky recipient of one of her socks in a sock exchange last fall.  I am blissfully finishing the second.

Leslie of A Friend to Knit With – Beautiful projects, beautiful photos.  Always an inspiration.  I still want to make a pom-pom tree like hers (scroll down).  I even bought the little pom-pom making gizmo.

So there you have it.  Ten who make my day.  Trust me, there are many, many more.

Now I’m off to pack, pick up DD#2’s contacts, buy hay for the bunny, do laundry, finish editing Sigrid so Stacey can test knit, clean the kitchen, load the car, gas up, shower and pick up the kids by 1:30 so we can get into the city for DD#2’s show.  She’s a-singing tonight.  I love to listen to my baby sing.

The cable photos are of an afghan square for Maryse.  She is putting together an afghan for a friend’s father who is in a VA hospital far from loved ones.  The yarn is Moda Dea Washable Wool.  I’ll be knitting more cables in this yarn.  Squishy, Yummy.

Oh, and for those of you who wondered, yes DD#2 was freezing in her tank top when she posed for the Bainbridge photos.  But I’m her mom and she’s got to do what I say.  Right?  Trust me, she makes me suffer way more than I make her!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your kind words about Dr. G’s Memory Vest.   Each story of families affected by Alzheimer’s and Dementia motivates me to get this pattern finished.  It is heartrending how many have had to watch a loved one fade away from these terrible diseases. 

Since knitters are such honest types, I will be using the honor system when I offer the pattern in exchange for donations to Alzheimer’s and Dementia research.

I knit up a little Cap Karma last Thursday.  It was a particularly cold and blustery night in NYC, so I wandered uptown to String and treated myself to a bit of cashmere.  This stuff is delicious!  So soft!  I used Brooklyn Tweed’s modifications for this hat to continue the cabling onto the crown.

It has taken awhile, but I have finally chosen a winner for my "help me find a pattern for my homespun" contest.  I swatched, and swatched.  There were so many wonderful suggestions.  I think I tried out about 6 or 7 of them before finally settling on Bainbridge.   I modified the pattern a bit by eliminating the ties and using a button to close it. 

Since three people suggested this pattern, I used a random number generator to select one.  The roll of the die picked Nova.  Send me your address Nova and I will send a project bag and some fiber-y goodness your way.

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Bainbridge works up beautifully in handspun.  The simple broken rib of the pattern shows the yarn off to perfection and softness of Kim’s fiber (silk, angora, merino) deserves to be draped around the neck.  I wore my new Bainbridge on my schlep into the city tonight and it kept my neck toasty warm!

Thanks to everyone for all of the incredible suggestions.  My Ravelry queue has grown quite a bit as a result!  If you haven’t looked through all of the comments, go have a peek.  There are some fantastic, quick knits listed.

I started this vest back in August to honor my father who was suffering from Vascular Dementia.  The idea from the start was to create a pattern to sell and to donate the proceeds to Dementia and Alzheimer’s research.  When my father passed away in September, I just couldn’t face working on the vest.  I don’t know if it was the mental challenge that during a time of grief I was unable to meet, or just the idea that the vest was about him and that was too difficult for me at the time.  I do know that I let the thought of details bog me down, like how to arrange for the donations, and how many sizes to offer the pattern in.  So it sat, waiting until I was ready to pick it up again.  Work re-commenced around Christmas, and Dr. G’s Memory Vest is finally complete.

I hope to have the pattern ready in another few weeks.  If anyone has had any experience arranging for donations of this sort to go to charity, I’d love any advice you have to offer.  I want the maximum amount possible to go directly to the organization which I have chosen.  To me this means not going through Paypal, since they take a cut.  One thought was to let folks go directly to the organization to donate any amount that they are comfortable with.  Then it would be up to the individual to send me an e-mail, telling me that they had made a contribution and I would send them the pattern.  This relies on the honor system, but my experience with this community  of knitters leads me to believe that I can trust folks to be honest.  Opinions?  Ideas?

The yarn is Skye Tweed, but any worsted weight would work.  The gauge is 5 stitches to the inch.  The vest I made will be the smallest size, the chest measures 38".  My plan at this point is to go up to a 50", but I need to make sure the math works to my satisfaction for that.  I’ll have modeled photos for you as soon as I have a model home in daylight.

I leave you with a paper cut that my daughter, DD#1 – the "Reader", did last night.  She constantly amazes me with her artistic ability.  (Yeah, I know, I’m more than a little biased!) Her response when I complimented gushed over the piece was, "It’s only construction paper".  Always humble, that one.

Oh yeah, did I mention that my girls turned 14 on Saturday?  I’m still numb.  How did they get this old?