Tintern Abbey Toe Up Sock Class

I enjoyed the Tintern Abbey Toe Up Sock class I took from Brenda Dayne at Knots, Knitting on the Square.
Being a knitter who finds patterns more of a suggestions rather than rules, the Sherman Toe and Heel will fit my visual style. I like to read my knitting. I think after I knit the second little learning sock and my own pair, I won't need the directions anymore. This is empowering.

This is my finished little learning sock. I think it looks good.

Brenda passed this sock around for us to see the finished toe and heel on an sized sock. She said we could try it on so I did. I like the fit. I now know what size sock Brenda wears. Perhaps I could knit her some pink socks to match her pink pajamas.

Thanks to Knots Knitting on the Square for bringing the Cast-On 2012 to Ohio!

Top Down Raglan

I took the top down raglan class with Brenda on Saturday. It was a great class and provides me the information I need to design sweaters!

Extra Yarn Book Review (sharing)

Wendy sent me a rather cute book. I wanted to share it with you.

Perhaps a library near you has the book? Check Worldcat.org here.

Cascade Colorwheel

Last Friday, I visited Loopy Yarns in Chicago. During my visit, there was a customer selecting yarn to make a colorwheel of Cascade Yarn so she could knit a knock-off version of an Adult Surprise Jacket. I wandered the store, enjoying the yarn options I don't have at my LYSs while listening to her struggle with getting it "right."

You know I used to work at an LYS, right? I'm really good at color. I'm also a good salesperson when needed. I believe the staff had helped her as much as they could before I arrived. I listened to this customer struggle and decided to find out where she was stuck. There were two colors she wanted to get in the circle and couldn't make the transition smooth enough...a bright yellow and bright blue.

I like a challenge. I ended up taking out two colors and adding four. I went lighter to help transition instead of brighter. She was thrilled. I'm pleased with the result. What do you think?




I count 35 skeins of yarn in my (poorly) photographed result. The customer spent over $350 for this yarn. She was shipping it back home to the UK. She knew she has more than enough yarn for her sweater. I think she could knit each of us a sweater with all that yarn.

I wonder if the staff were glad to have me help.

I walked out with three skeins of Miss Babs Yowza I intend to use for a vest.



The dark skein is called Black Bird and is dark blue, almost black with hints of navy. I think it looks right next to the white based yarns with the black, gray (Ansel) and red (A Day atPowells), black and gray.

note to self: design a vertically striped vest, write up the pattern and become a well-known and wealthy knitwear designer.

A Fanboy Prepares

I'm taking two classes with Brenda Dayne this weekend and I'm looking forward to it. I've blogged about Brenda before. With any luck, I'll vlog some over my classes.

Cheers!

Tag, You're It!

Tag, You're It!, a photo by knittingbrow on Flickr.

This is Matt.
He was in the Sideways Stories from Wayside School production I did props and ran backstage. During one of the performances, I asked Matt to help me "tag" my friend Trixie.

Matt's character wore a clipboard around his neck. He put different things on the pages for different scenes. It was a lot of fun to watch him figure out what to write.

Trixie and have been playing "tag" through the mail for almost 20 years. It's been fun.

So the night Trixie came to the performance, I had Matt "tag" Trixie. It was early in the performance and Trixie saw it. She laughed.

And yes, Trixie is still "it."

Lacy Baktus Backstage

I'm knitting on a lacy Baktus backstage using Marks & kattens Fame trend in color 653 Party lot S5320.

Mike's Thorpe

I finished a hat for my brother Mike in January. It is the Thorpe Hat by Kristen Kapur. (ravelry link) I recommend the pattern.

Mike wanted a hat that covered his ears. This one does that! I snapped these photos of me wearing the hat. They aren't the best picture of me but I kinda look like my brother here. It's weird thinking I'll look like him when I'm his age.

this picture shows the true color of the yarn. I think it is perfect for him.

I'm wearing the flaps up in this picture.

Trisha Mitts completed!

Knit using the Berroco Jacoby pattern.

The yarn is Just Our Yarn Travelor (Ravelry link).

I thought I was knitting them using a US size 1 (or 2) but i was using two zeros and two ones. Ugh. I think they fit beautifully.

Modification: I extended the thumb to please the recipient. I wish I had trusted my instinct and put the thumb stitches on holders and knit them longer. Instead I had to pick up the bind-off edge and knit more ribbing. There were a total of 14 thumb stitches but I picked up 18 stitches to close the gap and to allow me to follow the 2x2 rib correctly.





I have some yarn left and will keep it to use when I knit with the other skein I bought at Maryland Sheep & Wool.

Mary Ann Crago

I walk around the Visual Learning: Connecting Readers to Art display by a co-worker and great artist, Mary Ann Crago.
She has a blog I think you should visit. Go ahead and click the link. I'll wait but please come back.

What did you think? I am inspired by her process. I'm lucky because she encourages me to make some "art" and has recommended a few books to help overcome the blocks preventing me from creating. She might even be willing to trade a piece of her work for some of my knitting. That makes me feel really good and I believe she would value the knitting as much as I would value her art.

I have Mary Ann's permission to post the photos I have in a flickr set. Enjoy.