Hknits

The new Twist Collective is up, and I am in it!

It was a great experience working with the staff of one of my favorite knitting magazines!

Woohoo!

Vougue Knitting Live was everything I hoped it would be. The Palmer House is beautiful:

My classes were great. I took a technology for knitting class from Lily Chin, and a photography class from Franklin Habit. Here is my attempt at creating a shallow depth of field (in institutional lighting):

Here is a hat that I made-up, in Franklin Habit’s makeshift light box:

And on some cheap black rayon velvet:

I got to meet Fiona Ellis, who designed the Gwendolyn that I was wearing:

And someone knit all the presidents:

Along with one president wanna-be, and his little etch-a-sketch.

or two,

and maybe a couple of thumbs.

Mitten pattern from Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Patterns (again!) – the book that was SUCH a good idea.

The yarn is leftover Quince Lark (blue-green), Cascade 220 (white), and Paton’s Classic Wool (grey). The use of leftover yarn means a larger potential for the purchase of NEW yarn next weekend at Vogue Knitting LIVE Chicago.

Yes, my stash-enhancing potential is HIGH

Can’t wait!

I feel so hip and rugged in this hat.

It is from Knitscene Accessories 2012, and it was the first thing I’ve knit in awhile in which I’ve enjoyed the process as much as the product.

The really cool part, however, is that the mountains in the background are REAL. We went to Colorado for a weekend wedding, and had one day to explore the mountains. Only one day. Only one, totally awesome day.

With one totally awesome hat.

I haven’t been blogging much, but I’ve been knitting! My Lace Back Hoodie is now hooded.

I hope to wear it to Vogue Knitting LIVE in October. I have registered for classes with Lilly Chin, Franklin Habit, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and I can’t wait!

I knit my first shawl.

It is called “Sugared Violets”, by Rose Beck, and it is available here. Nice design, well written.

The yarn is hand-dyed sock yarn by Miss Babs. I don’t know why I waited so long to knit a shawl. This design is so modern and cute. It was a good starter shawl, too, using just 400 yards of yarn. It looked like a wad of tangle until I blocked it, though.

I also made another of my own pattern, Petal, from Knitty Spring + Summer 2012. The yarn is Classic Elite Premier that has been in my stash for years. I have tried to make it into other things, but it was destined to be this:

I am especially fond of the vintage button that my sister-in-law gave me. It is just the right finishing touch.

bloggable

Pronunciation: /ˈblɒgəb(ə)l/
adjective
suitable or sufficiently interesting as a topic for a blog:

(courtesy of Oxford Dictionary online)

I have been knitting. A lot. I have been writing, too. A lot. But since I have been preparing a pattern and sample sweater to be published next winter, I’ve been short on bloggable material.

I don’t anticipate that I will ever be a full time designer, but my experience so far has given me a taste of what it might be like. I can see pros and cons:

Pros:
1. I don’t have to feel guilty about knitting, because it is “work”.
2. I get to see other people enjoy (I hope) my designs.
3. I get some mad money from doing what I love.

Cons:
1. I feel guilty if I knit something that isn’t “work”.
2. It still takes me a HUGE amount of time to write a pattern in multple sizes, with charts and schematic.
3. It is difficult to get work done at home. Dirty cleats and hairy counters are very distracting.
4. Designs to be published are not bloggable material. “Bloggable” is fun to say, though, isn’t it?

So now that the deadline has passed, I am bak to my recreational knitting, which means that my Lace-back hoodie finally has sleeves.

And of course a lace back:

Now I’m hoping I have enough yarn for the hoodie part. If not, it will be a lace-back collared cardi. That is fun to say, too, isn’t it?

I might run out of yarn. Knowing this makes me knit faster,

as thought that will ultimately make a difference.

Even if I do it will be O.K., because this sweater is supposed to have a hood, which could become a collar, and long sleeves, which could become 3/4 length sleeves.

It just means I have to make a decision.

Long sleeves. There, I did it.

I’ve been going to a lot of really cold ball games lately. It has been depressing to get out my winter woolens again, so I thought I would make something a bit springier.

The pink yarn is Rowan Cashsoft Cotton, leftover from a vest I knit a long time ago, along with some green yarn of the same type, stolen from my current sweater project. The pattern is from the Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns.

Handy, indeed. But today the temperature is in the 80′s.

It is spring concert season, and baseball season, and travel soccer season, and school musical season, and there isn’t a lot of knitting going on,

but I have gotten a start on #24 from the Vogue Spring/Summer 2012.

I am using some Rowan Cashsoft cotton from my stash. It is soft and feely.

And even on days that I can’t knit it, I can look at it, touch it, and think about it. For now that will have to be enough.

I LOVE my new scarf. I wear it every chance I get. It is perfect for a Chicago spring, when I want to wear new, spring-y clothes, but the weather still calls out for wool. My scarf kept me warm during a cold rehearsal this morning. It will probably keep me warm for the performance tomorrow night. And then there’s Easter, another great excuse to accessorize. (I feel so grown up when I accessorize.)

It is #14 from the Spring Vogue 2012, knit with Classic Elite Premiere yarn, and it was a good idea.

Since I finished it I seem to be out of good ideas, though. My Knitting mojo seems to have gone on Spring Break without me.

Until it comes back, I will just enjoy wearing my new scarf.