Mother’s Day

May 14th, 2007

I just have to say, I talked to my mom on Saturday. She received the scarf I knit her for Mother’s Day, and she loved it. That is one of the coolest things about knitting for other people. The appreciation they show for receiving a handknit item (for presumably you won’t be knitting for those that don’t have an appreciation for handmade gifts, correct?) always feels wonderful. However, it feels even better when they are excited about the gift, and plan to actually use it.

She was telling me how she planned to wear it, and she remarked on how it was exactly the same color as the shirt she was wearing when she opened it (her favorite color of course!). She went on about how great the fiber was, and she was surprised that it was bamboo. She talked about once mentioning a preference for cotton (I think this was a hint), and that the bamboo was similar but had a nice sheen. She went on about it enough that I think she really liked it

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I Splurged

May 12th, 2007

Corey and me went to a local bookstore yesterday, and I just couldn’t resist buying a book or two…or four. So far I am quite happy with my purchases.

A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker

I’ve been coveting one of her four treasuries for a while now. I’m mostly interested in the lace patterns, as it takes a lot of time to come up with original lace patterns to suit a project. I used A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns to find the lace pattern for my most recent kerchief. Now I don’t need to keep checking out copies of the second and fourth from the library all the time! I’ve already looked through some of the stitch patterns, and will sit down sometime browsing through them all. This book contains quite a lot of inspiration! My only disappointment is that they weren’t selling hard copies (who knows if they’re even in print!).

Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.

I’ve read a little bit about this knitter from other bloggers, some who seem to admire her work greatly. I was drawn to this book for the obvious reasons of course: socks. However, I am also very interested in history (in general, not just knitting). I majored in it in college after all I must say I wasn’t disappointed as I read through the beginning of this book. I enjoyed the little history lesson on sock knitting, and early knitting.  It wasn’t too lengthy or facty, but informative and enjoyable.

On a side note, I’m (trying to) reading a book called No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting by Anne Macdonald, which I checked out of the library a week or two ago. It’s taking me some time to read through it, as I’m taking frequent breaks. However, I’m really enjoying it, and was very tempted to pick it up at the bookstore when I saw it. I decided that since I can read it from the library for now, I should get something else.

Another thing that I’m really excited about in Knitting Vintage Socks is the section explaining some different heel and toe variations. This has reminded me of my Heel Compendium project, which has been on temporary hiaitus. I need to write up for one last heel that I’ve knit, and start knitting a few more.

Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Of course you’re probably familiar with this knitter/author (although you’re likely familiar with all of them). I’ve read my way through a considerable portion of this book, and it’s no wonder Elizabeth Zimmerman is such an icon in the knitting community. The bookstore clerk even commented on the book as he was checking me out, “This is a really good one, a lot of people who teach knitting classes recommend buying it.” I find her knitting philosophy refreshing, and her tips/techniques enlightening.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off by…duh, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

I almost resisted buying this one, because I knew it was pretty much prose about knitting. Then I thought over the other book I own by her (Knitting Rules) and remembered how much I enjoyed the anecdotal nature of her writing. I haven’t opened this one yet, but I think it’s from a need to find a time where I can sit back, open the book, and get a good long read. I’m looking forward to it

I will note, I did not exceed my budged allowance for personal spending money! I just don’t have much left to spend this month.

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Happy Socks

May 9th, 2007

I’ve been putting off writing about this sock that I’ve been trying to knit since I started. The first attempt wasn’t so great, so I ripped it. Then I wasn’t so sure I liked the color anymore, and wasn’t excited about it much, and blah blah blah.

I decided to just get over it and start knitting, rather than agonize over getting it perfect. A simple comfy sock was just perfect, and I still love knitting this Socks That Rock yarn.

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Clapotis – Done!!

May 6th, 2007

I was thinking about my probably-dry-still-pinned Clapotis scarf all day at work today. I was so excited to unpin it and just watch how it drapes. I knew it would drape, and let me tell you I was not one whit disappointed. I’m going to have to fight to keep myself from getting another skein of green to knit myself one.

This scarf ended up just about 5 feet long (I know because I held it end to end, with my hands stretched wide. It’s about my wingspan, which I’m told is similar to my height, which is 5’2″.) It took two skeins of Plymouth’s Royal Bamboo yarn, and it’s about 5″ wide or so. If you haven’t tried knitting the Clapotis pattern yet, I highly recommend it. I did the minimum width I could get based upon the pattern (basically by not repeating the increase or decrease section at all). If you don’t have enough money to get the 8 or so skeins it would take to make the full version, try a small one like this!

It’s got a beautiful dull sheen, a wonderful silky feel, and it just feels so great to wrap around my neck and drape over my shoulder. I really hope my mom likes it. I know she’ll appreciate it at the very least.

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Need…More…Yarn

May 3rd, 2007

Remember yesterday’s post about not having enough money for a sweaters worth of yarn, and blah, blah, blah?

Check this out.

Can’t…resist…the sweater. Elizabeth Zimmerman. Must knit. Easy sweater. Knitting Without Tears. Must have.

And look at those hem facings, absolutely beautiful. Inspirational you might say!

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No Change Yet

May 2nd, 2007

So I mentioned in this post a few months ago that I was ready for a change in my knitting. I wanted to start doing some larger projects, and some more complicated things like sweaters. If you read my blog regularly (does anyone??) you’ll note that I have not yet talked of any such project, nor does it seem like I’ve kept my word to change. It’s not like I’m doing the same-old same-old, and I’m still learning something with each project. However, I still have this thought in the back of my mind that I need to do something more.

One of the reasons I haven’t knit that vest I mentioned (what vest? Check that link above and read the post) is because I don’t really have the money to spend on large amounts of yarn at once. I finally have some monthly spending money, after not really having any in a long time. I just haven’t found anything that has really driven me toward it as a first-garment-knit.

In other words, I’m still knitting the little stuff. Some of it is such cute little stuff though! I had some handspun left-over from knitting my kerchief, so I decided to whip up a quick little MP3 player cozy. It’s just stockinette in the round, started with a figure-eight cast-on for a sealed bottom, and a row of k2tog, yo, k3 for eyelets. I had just a yard or so left over, and I love that. For some reason I have a hard time thinking of projects to knit that don’t use up all of the yarn. Now when I wear my kerchief and carry around my MP3 player I’ll match!

Of course I kept knitting on the mini-clapotis, which has been wonderfully smooth going. Once you start listening to your yarn, you’ll be a much happier knitter. Tonight I spent some time by myself, unwinding a bit after work, knitting away on this beautiful bamboo yarn…and I ran out. I knew it was coming, but didn’t think it’d come so soon! I realized about halfway through the skein that I couldn’t knit a whole scarf, so it looks like I’ll have to go buy another skein. Darn!

Did I mention this is for my Mom? I hope she likes it. It’s probably the most I’ve ever gotten her on Mother’s Day, and she completely deserves it. Look how well my camera caught the stitch definition on this thing, and the wonderful sheen! I swear this camera is a fickle old thing, but it still works so I’m going to eek every last photo I can out of it (would you believe it’s probably 6 years old? Back when 2.1 megapixels was a pretty high number for mid-range cameras. Now I’ve heard of camera phones with more than that!).

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