Short Story Long

I haven't posted a lot of knitting on here in the last few years.  Not much to say about it but I still knit.   I knit because I love to create. I knit because I love sweaters. I knit because I grew up with a mom who is artistic beyond the acknowledgement she receives, and it's in my blood to do something creative. I knit because I love the good things God grows, like sheep and wool and muskox and cotton. I knit because I love colors. I knit because my boys wear what I knit. I knit because I like the rhythm. I knit because it has a beginning and an end, and they are achievable.  I knit because when my hands are busy, my mouth slows down, and it gives my brain a chance to make better decisions. I knit because I'm really, really good at it, and it's one of the few things that others acknowledge, and we all need that. I knit because I love to knit. I'm working on a colorful shawl in alpaca. 

  Apple pie for Thanksgiving, pretty new turkey plate, Christmas decorations in Olde Town and in our home, big and little knitting projects, and cutting homemade marshmallows. 

Another blogger used to have a monthly "what are you reading, what are you knitting?" post,  but she's moved on to raising new babies.  I'm posting mine today for posterity.   Before my local yarn shop closed its doors, I bought a bunch of yarn with the intention of making an "advent calendar" of mittens.  I thought I'd make one a week, no problem.  As it turns out, I've gotten more like two a year finished!  One of the reasons I didn't race to the end is because I liked some of the stitch designs more than others.  I knew I would be able to come up with some alternative stitches, but I need to set aside time to modify the charts.  Luckily, I left off the number on the first one, so I've stitched the ones I like, regardless of their order. Pattern:  Mitten Garland Advent Calendar Yarn:  Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Wool in 114 Maraschino , 086 Dark Oak , 002 White Sand , and a bit of 083 Sapling Green Needles:  US1/2.25mm, 40" (I ...

I've been looking through some of my old knitting pictures, posts, magazines.  Directly and indirectly, many things have changed in my home and heart over the past few years that have affected my knitting.  It's that time of year that I used to love so much - back to school for my kids, and back to teaching knitting for me!  Most of that is gone, and I'm thinking about how I can connect with the spirit of that but in new ways.  I'm looking to knit a sweater in/by September, and time to meet up with stitching friends.  Perhaps a sweater for a son or two.     Yesterday, I cast on for a Kildalton sweater by Kate Davies, the restyled version .  I wanted to keep it simple and not overthink it, but I'm already splitting it in pieces and thinking maybe I'd rather have a pullover.  Easy changes, but then that will affect the collar.  I'm starting with the back, though, so I can think about it awhile longer.   In 2020, I knitted ...

There's only so much time for knitting and limited space for yarn stash.  Instead of buying so much yarn, I'd rather buy better yarn: yarn I love to work with and is long wearing.  Here are some pieces that I've knitted and loved and loved, even repaired to keep wearing!  In other words, pieces that were worth the time and money.   All the patterns in this post are my own.  I will chalk it up to the fact that I have knitted sooo many hats and mittens, that I have honed my patterns to what I really like!   Now With Thicker Frosting! mittens I have several pairs of mittens and fingerless gloves that I've knitted over the years, some I have designed, some experiments.  The ones I use every time I go out, though, are these.  I love this yarn, and I love that they are light.  Since they are stranded they are a bit warmer than just one layer would be.  Originally knit in 2013, I have worn a hole in the left thumb where I slide it ...

I've learned over the years that not every project was worth my time and money.  Of course I want to knit all the things, but if I expect to use the knitted item over and over and hey, possibly be warm or fashionable, then I need priorities.  Instead of buying so much yarn, I'd rather buy better yarn. And while it would be terrific to knit every color, I'm really not going to wear every color.  So here is a piece that I've knitted and loved and loved!   (I believe in real community and try to buy yarn from my local yarn shop.  But if you can't, I'm linking to lovecrafts because they carry some of my patterns and I couldn't find Juniper Moon's website.)  COBBLESTONE TRENCHCOAT Designed by Veera Valimaki, found in November Knits book . Finished in fall, 2015 Originally, I knitted this sweater to showcase new yarn in the shop where I taught.  I altered several things, most specifically the pockets and the hood.  The hood was based on an idea I...

I spent a couple of months this year on some Christmas presents, but as my family was all together at Thanksgiving, it was more fun to hand them out on Thanksgiving evening.  They were a big hit!   Last year, I made a couple pairs.  They turned out nice, but I realized they weren't going to be as quick as I'd hoped; I gave those to my mom and my aunt.  I worked the snowflake chart that came with the pattern on the first two pairs, but I didn't want to do it over and over again.  This year, I used my Pinterest board to find lots of inspiration for stranded knitting ideas.  Many snowflakes!  I wrote up a list of my people, what colors I thought they'd like, and an idea for the picture - and hunted down some shoe sizes!  The list made it a lot easier to keep track.  All the soles are different, too!  Eighteen pairs, and yes, I did block them all!  Project details  Basic pattern - Uppsala Slippers by Ram Wools Yarn Co-op Yarn...

Hello September!  In anticipation of Ginnie's yarn-along , I included a picture of my most recent book.   Just finished reading:   Cassius Marcellus Clay: Firebrand of Freedom , by H. Edward Richardson In my family history research, I came across a 4th-great-uncle, Cassius Clay Easton, b. 1845.  This uncle could not be named after the famous boxer (b. 1942) and I was curious about the namesake who must have inspired at least two families to name their sons after him.  I dug around a bit and found this book.  Along with being a staunch abolitionist and member of President Lincoln's cabinet, Clay was infamous for some of his fights with a Bowie knife.   I enjoyed learning more about history and politics, but the author does address some of the more unsavory facets of Cassius Clay.  Written in the 1970s, the author had first-hand acquaintance of some of Clay's ancestors and includes some more personal perspectives.  Clay spent so much ...

Reclaiming some remnants of my former life at a yarn shop. Reclaiming the original meaning of a rainbow - a divine Promise, not human pride. Reclaiming the joy I found once in knitting. When my local yarn shop closed, one of the things I inherited was a plethora of small-yardage color samples.  I didn't know what I would possibly do with them.  Fair isle came up several times; that would have been lovely but I didn't want the planning, especially when the yardage was inconsistent.  So I put it in a bag.  Skip to 2017, I was working on this Koigu Oriental Jacket (below) and the construction struck me as something that would work well with the bits of yarn. For this blanket, every square starts with a new color and when that runs out, I finish it with black.  For the black, I started with half a skein of Cascade Heritage Silk  in solid black.  I wish I had sought out more of it to do the whole blanket.  I found some...

I was looking for a photo of an old knitting project, in my files, and sorting through the pictures, I was over-washed by a flood of memories.  Woven into all of those sweaters, hats and mittens are the memories of what was happening at the time: why and where I bought the yarn, who I was with, if I was in a class or teaching a friend, things happening in my personal life that made me laugh or cry through the stitching.  I miss the knitting world that  was  in 2008 - 2018.   When I came into knitting, I was a mother of three little ones, and needed a place where I was something other than a jungle gym or food service.  I took a knitting class, made friends, found I was great at knitting, and teaching, improved my photography a lot!  I needed that place.    In the last few years, my local yarn shop closed down, which caused my knitting group to splinter a bit; several of my knitting friends either stopped knitting or moved away. J...

I'm feeling like I should contribute the sort of beautiful, interesting, positive, crafty things that I'm craving right now.  There was a time that I found regular craft-soul sustenance from the internet, lots of beautiful crafting blogs of gardening, quilting, fiber, and all manner of positivity.  Today, I have to hunt, and I do.  I still have a few blogs I'm hanging on to!  For now, my current projects are about finishing and growing.   I'm on the last row of my Reclamation Blanket, and considering writing a post about this project.  Are you interested?   Mending a vintage flag has taken me longer than I anticipated but I'm about two-thirds done with the big gash that was here when I bought it.  I started working on this last year, didn't get far, and hung it back up.  I didn't feel like I did a good job, but the mending I did manage looked better hanging up than I first gave myself credit for, (you can see ...

The other day, I found half a sock that I'd begun in a meeting.  Busy hands slow down my words, I find, and sometimes that is a good thing.  I finished the sock and made a mate in about two days.  Green ish socks, not quite in time for St. Patrick's Day; still, new socks.  I love the bind-off row of multi-colored knitting.  Those stitches are not shy, they don't blend; they make sure they get noticed!   Unless something specific is called for, I usually do my binding off with a needle a few sizes larger than the one I was knitting with, and I just mind those stitches to keep them loose.  I haven't found a "stretchy" bind-off that was truly stretchy unless it comes with a whole lot of effort, and sometimes ending up too stretchy. I have another several projects I'd really like to do but they take thinking, so I find that I keep coming back to my Reclamation Blanket.  I'm almost done, one more row, maybe two.  I am counti...

I've been trying to "lie low" for the month of January, and establish some foundational habits.  I'm still working on it.  And I'm still knitting.

In February, I published a mitten pattern with  Windy Valley Muskox .  It takes about 1 1/2 skeins of this fabulous yarn so you'll have to buy two.  Of course, you could make the cuffs longer!  I'm thinking I need a version with fingers (aka gloves).  It's on the back burner, for the moment.   In the meantime, let me tell you how lovely it is to work with qiviut!  It is one of the softest fibers, definitely the lightest, and so warm for the weight; it's best as a light layer under others, and luxurious close to the skin.  Sometimes, people misunderstand and think that qiviut comes from the inside coat (I'm not sure how to imagine that), or the underbelly of the muskox; that's because it is often described as the "under coat."  What this actually means is that it's the down layer, and grows during the cold months, closer to the skin, all over the animal; it's like down feathers on a duck.  I worked for WVM for several yea...

When I started working for Windy Valley Muskox , I had the pleasure of traveling with and getting to know the owner, Dianne.  She is a fantastic spinner!  Originally, we were introduced through some of my knitting friends who are part of her family.  I started out with WVM designing a pattern .  Once Dianne saw my finished pattern with modeled shots, she hired me to reshoot several patterns, and eventually I shot all of her product photos, provided pattern support, and went to several trade shows.  Traveling together to yarn shows, we became friends.   At one of the yarn shows, we discovered the Glenfiddich Wool Swoncho in the booth across from ours, and thought it was really cute.  One size, easily modified, it looked great on everyone who tried it on.  Later that summer, I was visiting Dianne's ranch, and she gave me a bag of her handspun yarns to knit with.  She can knit, but doesn't spend as much time on it a...