Archives for May 2011

I've got two new patterns in the latest issue of St Denis Magazine, the Bird Mittens and Hat (Ravelry Link). I designed them just about a year ago, inspired by the swallows building a nest in the eaves of my front porch.

As I type this those same birds are maddly working, building this year's nest in the same spot. When we walk out the door they let us know we are not welcome by swooping over our heads complaining loudly.

I only have photos of the hat to show you, but you can see photos of the mittens in the magazine, on the St Denis Website and on Ravlery.

The yarn is St Denis Nordique in Chalk Blue, Eggplant & Champagne. I used US 2 needles.

Thanks for your comments on the baby blanket in my last post. As promised, here's a finished photo of my second Abby's Blanket. I used scraps of Karabella Aurora 6 & Aurora 8 that have been in my stash for years. The last few colors took about 2 balls each. The pattern should be ready in about a month.

 

Kiran's brother and his wife Elisabeth are expecting their first child at the end of June. This is the first baby born in our family in many, many years so you can imagine how giddy I am about the potential for baby knitting.

The baby shower was last Saturday, and being the last minute sort that I am, I waited until the Monday before to cast on for the blanket that I planned to give as a gift. After several days of non-stop knitting I managed to finish in time. I will admit to wrapping the gift as my girls and I walked along the street, dodging other pedestrians and jaywalking on our way to the shower. But the blanket was blocked, photographed and all ends were woven in so I consider it a success.

I will be publishing Abby's Blanket, and no doubt more baby patterns in the near future. This design is worked from the center outward and will be easy to make larger or smaller. The blanket pattern is in the hands of test knitters. It should be ready in a month or so. I'm working on a second, slightly larger version for Izzy. This one will be a lap blanket in much bolder colors. I should have photos of the second version sometime next week.

The best part of the day though wasn't the knitting. It was the delicious cupcakes that one of the hosts made for the party. After meeting Tina, The Occasional Cook at the shower I checked out her blog. Wow. Beautiful photos, fabulous recipes. I only follow a few food blogs but this is one I will keep a very close eye on. I made her scones on Sunday, then liked them so welll that I used the scone recipe again on Tuesday to top a cobbler.

I got very little sleep last night so this will be an *almost* wordless post. The photos are from my kids' show last night.

I have just returned from a wonderful weekend of teaching at the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling. I met more smart, fun, inspiring knitters than I could ever list here. I was having so much fun that my camera only came out once or twice. I did manage to get a shot or two of Sheri's amazing store. If you ever find yourself in St Louis, be sure to stop in to The Loopy Ewe. The amount of must-have yarn in that place is staggering.

You'd think a weekend spent with 135 or so enthusiastic knitters is enough excitement for one week. But my life these days is filled with good times. Sofie & Anders' band, was released today!! The album is available on iTunes and Amazon.

They've put in 2 years of hard work to get to this day and I am very proud of them. The record release party is tomorrow night at the Knitting Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you happen to be in the neighborhood come out and check them out!