Short Story Long

Of the many ways that learning to knit has changed my life, one of the most obvious is through physical warmth.  (I was surprised what a difference a real wool hat made over the cheap imitations I'd been wearing.)  And then, there was the hot water bottle cozy.  After seeing them on Ravelry through the years, I bought the first hot water bottle as a gift for a friend who is always cold.  I thought, maybe I need one, too.  I knit hers a snugly cocoon before giving it, but I never got around to knitting one for mine.  Until now!   This basic little invention has warmed my bed, my chair, my feet, while I read, knit, sleep; in the car on a cold, early drive, and in a hotel room when my roommate likes the A/C cranked!  I use it when I'm sick, and every now and then, I surrender it to a sick little boy, who humbly asks if he can borrow it "just for one night."  I fold up a woolen blanket and place it under my desk, and throw the hot w...

Donna was my mom's friend, but she was my friend, too.  She was an incredible crafter.  She did everything from knit and crochet to ribbon embroidery, beading, and was a beautiful quilter. Quite a collector, she gathered fat quarters, of course, and miniature perfume bottles, Jim Shore figurines, antique hand mirrors, thimbles, and steins.  She was great fun on a shop hop! Her son was my first boyfriend - we were three!  Donna's mini perfume bottles In early 2013, Donna passed away from breast cancer.  It was at least her second battle with the disease; she had also had it many years before.  At her funeral, her casket was draped with a gorgeous quilt. In October of 2013, I had been working with Windy Valley Muskox for a couple of years, and wrote a hat pattern for them in honor of Donna.  I started a post about this, but I just didn't know what to say about Donna.  I did not want to give the impression that I would profit from h...

February has been unseasonably mild.   It's President's Day.  Everyone has the day off except, well, my day is the same as usual.   I spent the morning writing up a new hat pattern for Windy Valley Muskox .  At shows, we often have customers ask whether we have men's patterns.  Many of our patterns could be unisex, depending on the color it's knit in, but this was designed with the guys in mind.  Of course, it would look equally nice on a woman, in my opinion.  Anyway, this one's photographed on a man, so hopefully that will answer the question!   Once I get the pattern posted on Ravelry, I will come back and add a link.  For now, a few details and a picture: Yarn:   WVM's Australian Merino in 7014 Bering Sea, and WVM's Luxury Blend in 7015 Celestial Blue Needles:  US 3/3.25mm and US 4/3.5mm, both 16", and US 4 dpns.   It's lined - the qiviut blend is on the inside for extra warmth and luxury.   ...

In case you've ever wondered what drives me...   Almost from the time I began knitting, I've been putting my own twist on projects.  I was reading knitting blogs and joined Ravelry before I was a knitter, so I was already seeing that knitters modified patterns to suit them before I could do it myself.  In fact, this is one of the things that drew me most to knitting - being able to make the sweater I want in the color I want.  In my observation over the past seven years, I see that many knitters make small modifications to patterns based on their own needs - making the sleeves longer or shorter; adding or omitting pockets; using a cast on, decrease or buttonhole that they prefer.  I came into this thinking that was part of the fun - being able to make it my own.  The first pattern I ever wrote and published was a cabled hat, Glacier .  I may go back and edit that pattern, now that I've learned a few more tricks!  But at the beginning, I just ...

I posted the other day about one of my patterns, Margin .  Here's more technical info on that!  The pattern is available from Windy Valley Muskox but we are working on the website - hopefully wrapped up shortly. Yarns I used: -purple is WVM Merino in 7015 Thai Basil, one skein.  This merino is heavenly, I also have stranded mittens in this fiber! -gray is WVM Majestic Blend in 5030 Fog Bank, two skeins.  This yarn is a blend of silk, merino, and qiviut .   I have designed a cute hat with this one before. This pattern uses just about every inch of these yarns!  That's a total of about 650 - 670 yards.   You can find more info on the Ravelry pattern page, here . I also had it test knit.  Olivia did beautiful work with this, including lovely in-progress and finished pictures.  So pretty, I had to share with you: Here's her finished shawl, I swiped this picture from Ravelry (with permission.)  Gorgeous, right?

I've been meaning to post a lot more about my knitting projects, but it always seems like I have too much or not enough to say.  So today's the day! If you know me at all, you know I LOVE knitting.  I like it so much, it might be a problem.  I wash the dishes so I can use the sink to soak finished pieces; I do the laundry so I can have towels to block my projects on.  I clean the house so I can find all the yarn I've left various places!  I found my Thing in life; that Thing that makes me feel like I was born to do something specific.  I definitely knew it was not science!  I'm good at a lot of things, and I know not everyone can say that.  But for me, knitting is the thing that I'm great at, that flows with little effort and lots of joy. Along with personal fulfillment, knitting has opened up a world of opportunities for me - meeting people, making money in several ways (teaching, test knitting, contract knitting), expanding my photogra...

I've got a new pattern out!  The Gingerbread Men Mittens pattern is available for purchase on my Ravelry pattern page here !! A couple of years ago, I made some Fair Isle mitts for my sister-in-law and just fell in love with this technique!  There are so many beautiful patterns in the world for this project.  However, what I really wanted was a pair of mittens with gingerbread men.  Alas!  There was no such pattern.  So I wrote my own, bought some yarn, and got started on knitting them.  As it tends to do, life got busy and I set this project aside.   Fast forward a year, and I began to work with Dianne at Windy Valley yarns, going to all the Stitches conventions.  One of my tasks as part of Dianne's team was to sit at the "yarn tasting" table and knit with all the yummy yarns, and encourage other people to try them.  As I was knitting with her merino yarn, I realized it would be a perfect match for this pattern that I h...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!   Someone told me they were waiting to see the next installment of last year's knitting projects.  Let's see if I can get all my 2011 projects on here before the end of March.  Wouldn't that be nice! MAY Radian Yoke Sweater Pattern: Radian Yoke by Wendy Bernard  Yarn:  Shibui Sock yarn in Chinese Red Made for: me! I knit myself the Radian Yoke pullover / tee.  Lace is not always my friend and I kept losing track of stitches, so I ended up ripping and redoing the yoke - probably more than once.  Once I finally decided I could live with it, the rest went quickly.  I like the vents on the sides of the bottom and added them to the sleeves, which I modified.  I haven't worn this much; there are still ends to weave in because I'm not sure I'm not going to frog it, but the pattern was well written and it was fun to knit. Pinkerton Shawl  Pattern:  Pinkerton Shawl Yarn:  Lorna's Laces yarn i...