I have left you... for Twitter (kidding!)

... but not really kidding...

I've been neglecting the blog, and I apologize. You see, after denigrating it for years (ok, months), I've caught the Twitter bug. Turns out Twitter is a lot more interesting than it sounded. It helps that now that I'm in the Phatfiber group, I've got a bunch of other fiberistas to "follow" - and some of us end up having little conversations over tweets. If you're on Twitter and want to follow me, I'm knitwithkt. See you there!

(If you just want to follow the blog, scroll down. My tweets get posted to the sidebar.)

Cleopatra Bath Set

It is said that Cleopatra nurtured her beautiful skin by bathing in fresh milk and honey. You can do her one better by using a milk/cotton or pure milk yarn for your bathing accoutrements. Milk fiber is soft, silky, has the same pH as human skin, and is naturally antibiotic.

This bath set consists of a quick and fun soap sack and washcloth. The stitch is an adaptation of the Roman Stripe - Cleopatra did love her Roman men! - made to be reversible for the washcloth but not for the soap sack. Instructions are given for the sack to be knit either in the round or flat. This set would make a great gift, but remember to keep one for yourself!

Available in my Ravelry Shop (no registration necessary; pay by PayPal) for $4

add to cart show cart

Gauge: 21 stitches and 33 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch.

Materials:

- 80-120yards of DK weight cotton/milk blend yarn. The testers also used worsted weight cotton (such as Sugar and Cream) with good results.

- US 5 (3.75mm) needles, or to make gauge.

- 1 stitch marker for the soap sack knit in the round.

- Tapestry needle.

Inspired by the eXtreme Spinning July 2009 spin-along club selection - 100% milk fiber. Join the club at http://extremespinning.etsy.com/.

Many thanks to my pattern testers, CarolSch (Carol), MrsFife (Swapna), and TheNoviceKnitter (Jenessa).

Inconceivable! KAL

I've mentioned the Inconceivable! wrap a few times in my latest posts - I'm now happy to announce that the Inconceivable! KAL group has a home on Ravelry!

Why is it called Inconceivable!? Well...
It is inspired by the embroidered pattern of Vizzini’s coat…
The original yarn (Inconceivable! by ExtremeSpinning) is a golden green, also inspired by Vizzini’s coat…
The pattern looks good on both sides, which is inconceivable! in a wrap…
The wrap can be worn at least five different ways, depending on how you choose to lace it with ribbon through the border, so it may not mean to you what I think it means…
TPB is my all time favorite movie, and I’ve been dreaming for years of designing a wrap fit for Buttercup…
And finally, you’ll keep using this wrap!

Please come join the Inconceivable! KAL group on Ravelry. Pattern will be released by Katherine Vaughan Designs on July 1st at a discounted price for KAL participants.

Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the contest winners (chosen by random number generator):

Turtle wins 2 skeins of Plymouth Royal Bamboo in the silver colorway. I'd like to see what people say when you're knitting with this lovely stuff on top of a mountain!

Darcy's Knotty Knitter wins 1 skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Purple Mystery. She has fond memories (also painful ones) of Sheep Sheep.

Sharon Rose wins 3 skeins of Filatura Di Crosa Regina Print. Her favorite pattern is the ever popular 1x1 Noro striped scarf.

More summary later on the contest. I really enjoyed reading everyone's comments!

Midyear goals

Skeins Her Way is holding a contest for people to declare their summertime knitting goals. I'm a sucker for both listmaking and contests, so of course you can image that I'm all over this one. It seems like June is a good month for taking stock of one's yearly goals (remember, I don't do resolutions). Here were my January goals:

1. Knit a gift a month. - Doing pretty well. I've completed three gifts for family, two swaps, and have started two more gifts for family. So not quite on pace, but close.
2. Knit two preemie/baby hats a month (on average). - Doing very well. I gave Dad 10 hats in May to take to Hopkins, and sent 6 to Charlotte today. That's 16 over 6 months, which is above my target average.
3. Write up at least one pattern for publication (formal or self) each month. - Doing very well. I've had two patterns published in magazines (Nixie's Net and Pearl), plus finally got the three Stitchjones patterns up (Peaks, This End Up, Good Day Sunshine), plus several self-published patterns (Malcolm and Harris blankets, Comfy Cape), plus several still-secret patterns for publication (total of four), and then there's Inconceivable in testing plus the Phatfiber bracelets and hair accessories getting ready to test. That's 12 patterns completed in 6 months. Yay!
4. Knit something for myself. - Yeah, or not. I'm keeping Inconceivable, though, so that will count!
5. Knit something for the husband. - Again, not so much. But I've bought (more) yarn to make a vest, so hopefully this will get underway.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well, other than the knitting for the husband and myself.

So here are the goals for the next few months:

1. Finish Inconceivable! (July 1st).
2. Knit several things for the daughter for summer/fall wear: Purple camisa, kindergarten skirt (Sept 1st).
3. Knit something for the husband.
4. Make three hats for the UNC Hospitals Heart Felt Hats drive (Sept 1st).
5. Develop new connections with two indie dyers and one yarn company.
6. Publish at least 3 new patterns (Inconceivable!, Cleopatra, and Phat Wrists)
7. Clean out my house, take stuff to Goodwill.
8. Paint the powder room trim.
9. End maternity leave and go back to work.

Don't forget my own contest, closing today at noon US Eastern time!

Good Day Sunshine

Knit totes are fabulous items. They are simple in construction but carry a lot of wow! factor. They allow you to play with a stitch, yarn, or color that you might not pick for a sweater but still love. And to top it all off, they’re useful! Good Day Sunshine will brighten your day while knitting it and while carrying it. At 11 inches square by 2 inches deep, it’s a good size for toodling around town, without being so large that it’s unwieldy.

Fans of cabling, here’s a new challenge for you: this tote IS cabled, but not in a traditional roping pattern. Instead, the cables on the sides cross one knit stitch with three purls, forming sunburst checks. Just for a fun contrast, the strap is a super-traditional woven braid. This is a great project to practice cabling without a needle!

Available for $6 in the Stitchjones Etsy shop.

Materials:

• 2 skeins Stitchjones Dyepot BFL Worsted (100% wool) Solid Gold Colorway [100g/3.5oz to 200yd/183m] OR 350yds (320m) worsted weight yarn.
• US8 (5.0mm) needles (or size to get gauge).
• Cable needle
• Tapestry needle
• Lining material, coordinating needle and thread, sewing machine (optional)

This pattern was created as a partnership between Stitchjones and Katherine Vaughan Designs. Many thanks to testers AlaskanSass (Sarah), CarolSch (Carol), FaeriesandPixies (Connie), Corirallen (Debi), Jani22 (Janet), and Nanarector (Evelyn).

WWKIP

I always forget about World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIP Day), even though it's always the 2nd Saturday in June, I have the Yarn Harlot's calendar on which it is marked, I'm on several lists that announce gatherings, and I have a lot of knitting friends. True to form, I forgot about it this year until my erstwhile roomie mentioned that she'd just gotten back from her local event. I think part of my problem is that I often knit in public anyway - because I knit everywhere - and so it's not such a big deal to me to take my knitting somewhere public.

So here's where I knit today:

• In the car on the way to the Durham Farmer's Market and Morgan Imports. I did not knit while wandering around the market because I was working on a baby hat on dpns, and I thought it might be challenging to handle those while carrying the baby and a bag of broccoli.
• In my brother's back yard. He claims that law enforcement considers his yard public (long story involving his interesting neighbors with the mitotically dividing ice cream trucks). It was hot, and there were lots of flies, but I enjoyed hanging out with my sibs and their other next door neighbor (who is not nearly as interesting to the cops).
• In the car on the way to and from my brother's house.
• In my living room. Clearly not a public space, but necessary in order to finish the hat.

I'm nearly done with a group of six baby hats that I'm sending to a 10 year old kid near Charlotte who is collecting hats for his local children's hospital. The kid's mom put out a call for help on one of the big Ravelry boards, and now he's on track to get more than 500 hats in a month. I feel like my 6 is a paltry contribution, but it's all I've got time to do right now. Plus, 6 hats in a month is pretty good for me!

How did you celebrate knitting today?

Knitting in the Sun

As I posted about briefly before, I have a pattern in the new book Knitting in the Sun (Amazon link; Rav link). As is becoming fashionable, Kristi Porter decided to do a blog tour to promote the book. Several of the other pattern designers (and maybe some friends) agreed to write up something about the book on their blogs, and I am apparently the last one to go. I was very tempted to do an interview with some of the other designers, or maybe start a project and do a solo KAL-type posting, but of course I neglected to plan ahead for those. Instead I'll treat you to a totally self-serving and uncritical review of the book.

Honestly, it would be hard for me to do a critical review of this book. For the first time in a long time, I have a book in my hands that has a lot of patterns in it that I either want to knit (nearly) exactly as they are or that open up new ideas for me. So many project knitting books are boring for the truly creative knitter - they're just more variations on the themes of hat, glove, scarf, sweater, sock. This one is not. In addition, there are 32 projects total in the book - and given that the book is only $30 at full price, that's a pretty good deal!

I have to admit that my own contribution to the book, the Monaco driving scarf, isn't all that inspired. The cool things about it are a: the material (bamboo, very light and breathable), b: the shape (knit lengthwise with increases/decreases to make it a parallelogram shape), and c: the stitch pattern (reversible!). But this pales compared to some of the other projects.

Here are my favorites:


Windansea. This is a knit hat with wire in the brim to make it stiff. The yarn used is very light, and knit at a loose gauge to allow for more airiness. I'm totally entranced with the idea of brimmed knit hats, rather than beanies and slouch hats, and will make this. Plus, bonus! It's available online as a free teaser pattern!

Cinnamon Bay. You should have seen the excitement on the faces of my knitting group friends today when I was describing this: "It's a blanket, right, but with eyelets around the outside and a really long I-cord, and when you're ready to go in from the beach you just, like, pile all your crap in the middle and, ZIP! pull up the I-cord, and voila! beach bag!" Again, will make.

Bordeaux. Lace shawl with patterning at the ends but not in the middle. Somehow it just never occurs to me that I don't have to do lace all the way from one end to the other. This one is really pretty, easy, and would go pretty fast!

I am not a sleeveless type of girl - I dislike the look of my upper arms, plus who wants to shave that closely? - but in knitting group we all agreed that someone (probably Libbet) would have to make the Anna Maria tank with the Quimper capelet. I may make Quimper without Anna Maria - it uses one of my favorite hourglass lace stitches (the one Barbara Walker thinks looks like baby elephants on the reverse) and has a really interesting construction.

Aviara. I love Marnie MacLean's patterns anyway, and this one is another winner. The surplice top is forgiving to varying shapes, and given that I'm hoping that my shape will change (for the better) over then next months, this may be the short-sleeve top that I've been hoping for. Plus the ruffled sleeves and hemline are great. I'll probably have to up the neckline a bit. Also, nursing friendly!

Montague. I really like the stitch pattern - sort of like the drop-stitch snowshoe one, but more manageable - and it strongly reminds me of my mother in law (this is a good thing). I may make two - one for me and one for her. But not in pink. See, I can be critical!

I like all the cardigans, but particularly Yehliu. It's a very Asian construction, but with cables and lace that are more traditionally European. Also the color is one of my faves (normally I can see past color, but apparently not tonight). My only change would be to graft the sleeves/back rather than seam them. Keep in mind that I will do almost anything to keep from seaming something!

The Ravelry pattern page for Vernazza shows someone (I assume the designer) wearing it while very pregnant. This caught my eye! It's a sleep set, and I've been looking for something like it for a long while. I am not inclined to knit pants or shorts for myself for public wear, but it seems like they'd be great for lounging and sleeping. Plus, clearly this pattern has a lot of give. It's very cute, with a little lace detail at the hem and picot at the bust bindoff. Must make.

So that's eight patterns - plus mine - that I really love and can remember without the book nearby. As a resident of a hot climate - it was over 90F today in North Carolina - it's so refreshing to have a collection of wearable and knitable items designed specifically with warm weather in mind. Plus the photos are wonderful (all shot in California) and the layout is easy to read and follow. This is one of my favorite books in my whole knitting collection, and is sure to get worn out very quickly!