I had a blast yesterday celebrating World Wide Knit in Public Day with a couple local groups. I met new people, worked on a toy net I'm improvising for my son (I'm taking notes and will be posting the pattern in a week or so), and even tried hand spinning. It was cool seeing so many knitters/crocheters in spot and seeing what they're working on.
There was one woman who had a piece of ribbon with the exact measurements marked (kind of like a personal ruler) of the various parts of a sock to get the perfect fit. That's a very cool idea that I'll have to try as I work on the "Girls Best Friend" and "Movie Socks" this month.
There was another who was knitting a bag out of plastic bags; I especially loved the purple she found from a local chocolate shop.
There were people working on sweaters, socks, scarves, and outfits for a baby. People from different generations and different locations with other artistic talents. More and more people trickled in early afternoon. For once the weather man was right; there was a nice breeze and the sun was hot high in the sky. My hubby affectionately refers to me as lobster cakes... a play on my nickname combined with the color my arms turned. I was glad I had picked something that doesn't require much thought because socializing in a knit together would have been hard if I had chosen something more complex.
WWKIP Day is celebrated globally from June 12th through the 20th. Find a local celebration in your country at: http://www.wwkipday.com
June 13, 2010
June 06, 2010
Active Works in Progress: A Sad Update
Until we had all of our things out of storage, I had been keeping my "Girls Best Friend" WIP in a white grocery bag tied up so my son couldn't get at it. We were cleaning up and my hubby must have accidentally thrown it out with another trash bag. Unfortunately there were a couple other skeins of mystery yarn I intended to make a bikini set out of from a favorite thrift store and two of my favorite reference books in it as well. The organizing and cleaning is still a huge task... especially with a super curious 13 month little boy around getting into things he sometimes shouldn't. I'm hoping he hid it somewhere but so far it doesn't look good.
I checked the LYS I got the yarn from originally and they still have that color in the same dye lot... phew. At $11 a skein, I'm glad I put the other two with my stash so I'll only need to replace one skein, the needle set and the 10 hours of work (and learning: my first pattern with short rows) already invested in it. Needless to say I was a little crushed but it could have been worse and there's still hope it might turn up somewhere.
Until I actually replace everything in the next few weeks, I found a skein of some nice crimson red sock yarn (Pattons Kroy) I was gifted after my son was born. I'll be working on the "Movie Socks" by Kate Blackburn. Both patterns are from one of my two favorite sock books, "The Joy of Sox." The other is "Sock Innovation."
Anyway, so lesson learned... never leave projects in plastic bags unless they are clear or clearly marked.
I checked the LYS I got the yarn from originally and they still have that color in the same dye lot... phew. At $11 a skein, I'm glad I put the other two with my stash so I'll only need to replace one skein, the needle set and the 10 hours of work (and learning: my first pattern with short rows) already invested in it. Needless to say I was a little crushed but it could have been worse and there's still hope it might turn up somewhere.
Until I actually replace everything in the next few weeks, I found a skein of some nice crimson red sock yarn (Pattons Kroy) I was gifted after my son was born. I'll be working on the "Movie Socks" by Kate Blackburn. Both patterns are from one of my two favorite sock books, "The Joy of Sox." The other is "Sock Innovation."
Anyway, so lesson learned... never leave projects in plastic bags unless they are clear or clearly marked.
June 03, 2010
On Needles and Hooks: Active Works in Progress
My family and I recently brought all of our things out of storage and among the boxes I found my stash and the supplies I couldn't take with me. This past year has been all about crochet until I knitted a pair of yoga socks for my mother. Right now I have a few things on the go (all links below go to a Ravelry page):
"A Girl's Best Friend" by Star Athena
While visiting my parents in the US, I picked up "The Joy of Sox" and instantly fell in love with this pattern. It wasn't until I got home that I purchased the necessary quantity of yarn to finish this project. I also had never had experience with short rows but a couple youtube videos later and it's coming along. I'm still on my first sock, working my way up the ankle but loving how handmade socks fit so perfectly! I have large feet so finding one in a store that looks good, fits just right and goes up so high is hard for me.
"Blissful" by Keridiane Chez
Among the boxes I found one of my favorite books, The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. I had bought some yarn in a beautiful Forrest green for a different project but when I started working on it, it felt wrong for the pattern. Then I found this one:)
"A Girl's Best Friend" by Star Athena
While visiting my parents in the US, I picked up "The Joy of Sox" and instantly fell in love with this pattern. It wasn't until I got home that I purchased the necessary quantity of yarn to finish this project. I also had never had experience with short rows but a couple youtube videos later and it's coming along. I'm still on my first sock, working my way up the ankle but loving how handmade socks fit so perfectly! I have large feet so finding one in a store that looks good, fits just right and goes up so high is hard for me.
"Blissful" by Keridiane Chez
Among the boxes I found one of my favorite books, The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. I had bought some yarn in a beautiful Forrest green for a different project but when I started working on it, it felt wrong for the pattern. Then I found this one:)
I'm currently 6 months pregnant with my second child and it's summer... if you have ever been pregnant in the summer... you know how your body temperature goes through the roof! The the lace in the skirt of the shirt would allow me to keep cool at home and would allow my baby bump to grow. Then when the baby is out, I can lace up the back like MariaTheresa's Blissful.
I also found another edit that I like in LittleO's Purple Bliss. She used the Queen of Hearts bikini top pattern from one of Debbie's other books, Stitch N' Bitch for the bodice. It looks so much more elegant than the standard hdc rows the original pattern calls for.
Knit a Square
Around the time that I found out about Ravelry, I found this charity group. Knit 8x8" squares to send to South Africa to be sewn into blankets to keep the 1.5 million plus orphaned children warm. They do accept other things but recently there has been a call for more squares because people have been sending in too many hats and sweaters that are size specific which greatly slows down the distribution process. Summer is also their cold season so the need is even greater.
Since I'm on the bus lots or in waiting rooms or places with time on my hands, this is my mobile project. Squares can be knit, crochet or felted from old sweaters. I've also used this to try new techniques. You can sew 4x4" swatches together or add borders to make it 8x8" if you like as well.
I also found in my projects on Ravelry that I have a lot of FOs without pictures so I'll need to update those in the next little while. I made a blanket for my friend's son months ago that has his name on it. I intended to design the letters for the rest of the alphabet and post them on here so that's another project I'll be working on this month. Anyway, I better get back to my needles, hooks and boxes. Still plenty of stitches to stitch and plenty of boxes to unpack.
I also found another edit that I like in LittleO's Purple Bliss. She used the Queen of Hearts bikini top pattern from one of Debbie's other books, Stitch N' Bitch for the bodice. It looks so much more elegant than the standard hdc rows the original pattern calls for.
Knit a Square
Around the time that I found out about Ravelry, I found this charity group. Knit 8x8" squares to send to South Africa to be sewn into blankets to keep the 1.5 million plus orphaned children warm. They do accept other things but recently there has been a call for more squares because people have been sending in too many hats and sweaters that are size specific which greatly slows down the distribution process. Summer is also their cold season so the need is even greater.
Since I'm on the bus lots or in waiting rooms or places with time on my hands, this is my mobile project. Squares can be knit, crochet or felted from old sweaters. I've also used this to try new techniques. You can sew 4x4" swatches together or add borders to make it 8x8" if you like as well.
I also found in my projects on Ravelry that I have a lot of FOs without pictures so I'll need to update those in the next little while. I made a blanket for my friend's son months ago that has his name on it. I intended to design the letters for the rest of the alphabet and post them on here so that's another project I'll be working on this month. Anyway, I better get back to my needles, hooks and boxes. Still plenty of stitches to stitch and plenty of boxes to unpack.
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