Knit Love – Cables!

Tags

Arts, Cable knitting, Crafts, Crochet, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Sweater

I’m sure the theme for Knit Love this week comes as quite a shock. *wink wink*

Here’s what I’m loving this week:

Powder Eights by Haven Leavitt

 

Tapestry by Carol Sunday

 

Green Cables: The Knitter’s Tool Altoid Tin for your Knitting Project Bag by thesexyknitter

 

Winterberry by Cecilia Brandner

 

 

Little Green by Isabel Buxton

 

St. Columba’s Scarf by Dorota Maria Kowalczyk

What are you loving this week? 🙂

 

Free Pattern Friday – Bath-puff Pot Scrubber by Salihan Laugesen

Tags

Bath Puff, Crochet, Free Pattern, Knitting, Knitting Pattern, Pattern, Pot Scrubber, Scrubber

This week’s Free Pattern Friday is a super clever way to re-purpose your bath puff once you’re done with it.

Bath-puff Pot Scrubber by Salihan Laugesen:

New Online Magazine -Tangled- Knit & Crochet

Tags

Arts, Craft, Crochet, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Knitting Patterns, Online Knitting Magazine, Pattern, Tarn, Yarn

There’s a new magazine online for knitters and crocheters: Tangled.

Tangled is a magazine which describes itself as “Proud to Be Bi-Craftual” which is a reference to their patterns and content being equally divided among Knitting and Crochet. I have mixed feelings about this. As a knitter who only learned basic crochet so I can knit patterns which use crochet embellishments and edgings, when I hear that it’s only half about knitting, I am immediately wary. It can be very disappointing when you see a project that you like and then you look closer and realize that it’s crochet. However, not wanting to be quick to judge, I decided to check them out anyway.

I’m glad I did.

They have just released their Premiere Issue :Fall 2010 and I already found a couple patterns which interested me.  Here are my favorites:

Orange Twist by Marina Orry

Acacia by Talitha Kuomi

Ponder by Talitha Kuomi

They also had an article about TARN (t-shirt yarn) and a cool project to make with Tarn in this issue, which was really fun. 🙂

There are not a lot of projects in Tangled compared to other Online Knitting Magazines, but the projects they have are unique and of good quality, which is more important to me.

Will this become one of my new favorite magazines? The jury is still out. I would like to see more articles: designer interviews, yarn reviews, techniques, etc. However, if the quality of their projects continues to be this good,  it will become a staple in my knitting library.

For now, I’d say they’re worth checking out and I will keep them on my radar in the months to come.

Keeping Time with Knitting

Tags

Arts, Crafts, Crochet, Knit Calendar, Knit Clock, Knit Fashion, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Knitting needle, Scarf

I came across this online and thought I’d share it:

Calendar Scarf

How it works: You pull the string to take away each day that goes by.

I love this idea because I am essentially creating an ever-growing ball of fiber which I can then knit up into a gorgeous lace stole once the year is done. Genius!

Here’s a video of the calendar in action:

Also, I found this Knitting Clock on-line recently:

It knits the time and produces a 2 Meter Long Scarf at the end of the year! I love the idea of watching time progress in a physical way. Genius!

WIP Wednesday – Textured Knots by Norah Gaughan

Tags

Arts, Berroco Comfort, Crafts, Crochet, Knit Afghan, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Norah Gaughan, Pattern, Textured Knots, Yarn

For more crafty goodness, check out: Work In Progress Wednesday.

I have had a special project on my needles for a while and I thought I would share it with you: I am (slowly) knitting Textured Knots by Norah Gaughan!

Here’s my progress so far:

Here’s an Up Close and Personal look at the pattern.  It is a 32 Row repeat and it is in chart format, which I love because it is very easy to see where I am in the pattern on the chart. Also that makes this a half-page sized pattern which is very convenient for travel (not that blankets are ideal traveling knitting projects, but I am weird and drag the hugest of projects everywhere with me).

One of the things I love about knitting this blanket is the pattern looks very complicated, but it is very manageable once you get into it. I love knitting this blanket in public because so many people stop and want to touch it and ask me about it. It is an excellent project for inspiring non-knitters to take up knitting. 🙂 This blanket is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, because I am knitting it for myself and I have not given it a deadline. It will be done when it’s done, which is very freeing for my Type A self. I have never not had a deadline before, and I think I like it!!!

This is going to be a 25% larger blanket than the pattern calls for because I am knitting it in Berocco Comfort Chunky, but with the same amount of yardage. I hate blankets that are too small, so I am hoping this 25% increase will make it big enough.

I have run into a small issue with knitting this blanket: April. This is April:

April is my miniature dachshund, and she loves to suck on blankets. It has been quite the challenge to keep her away from this project as it grows. She tries her best to stay away, but blankets are a bit of an obsession for her.

Her brother, Alex, loves curling up under this blanket when I knit it, which makes it a little difficult to juggle…

In the end, I think the dog trouble is worth it… How can you get mad at dogs who appreciate a quality knit?

Free Pattern Friday – Koolhaas Mitts

Tags

Arts, Craft, Crochet, Free Pattern, Knit Hand Warmers, Knit Hat, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Koolhaas, Pattern, Ravelry, Rem Koolhaas

It’s Free Pattern Friday!!!! Before I dig into this week’s pattern, here’s a special message from me about some changes we are making to Free Pattern Fridays:

Please feel free to comment on how you feel about the new system for Free Pattern Friday.

And now, without further ado, I present to you: Koolhaas Mitts by Meghan Coakley!!!

I was so excited when I came across this pattern on Ravelry last week! This is exactly what I wished for when I discovered the Koolhaas hat 2 years ago! (Click Here for Koolhaas Hat Pattern Page Link)

I am adding these to my MUST-KNIT LIST. Are you?

2010 Christmas Knitting List

Tags

Arts, Berroco Comfort, Christmas, Craft, Crochet, Knit Afghans, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Knitting Patterns, Ravelry

I have been pouring over pattern books and stalking the Christmas Knitting Forum on Ravelry for weeks. It has been quite the journey and I fear that I will never stop “second guessing” myself. Christmas is 114 days away. It’s time to make this official. Here’s my list:

Mom will be receiving an Aran Afghan from the Berroco Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans book.

I really loved this blanket as is, so I will be knitting it in Berroco Comfort CHUNKY in the color pictured: Hummus.

Dad will also receive a blanket from the Berroco Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans book. It was pretty tight competition between Retro and Herringbone, but in the end I thought Herringbone would be a better fit.

I wanted to do a “Manly Neutral” so I chose a deep chocolate brown: Berroco Comfort CHUNKY in Bittersweet.

My sister, Kelly, will get Magnum Cable Mittens by Karen Clements. These mittens are a SUPER quick knit! This will be my go-to knit for emergency gifts this year.

I am knitting these in Twinkle Soft Chunky Scarlet.

My brother, Bob, will receive the Extra Warm Men’s Scarf by Cotton & Cloud.

Color: TBD. I really love that silvery-grey…

My Aunt Sue will receive the Cold Mountain Stole by Kieran Foley.

I will use KnitPicks Shadow in Vineyard for this lovely project. So pretty!

Vicki, a family friend, will receive the Honey Cowl by MadelineTosh.

I will knit this in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Pea Soup.

Finally, Richard has requested a blanket this year. I was a little sad about that, because I have knit him a scarf every Christmas. I was pretty excited about this tradition, but he seems to think he has enough scarves. (I was a little shocked that he thinks there could actually BE such a thing as too many scarves. I thought he understood???) I have not chosen his blanket pattern yet, because unless I am suddenly able to knit more than 150 yds a day, he will not be receiving it until January anyway. I will keep you posted on that decision…

Now that this is Official, I have a lot of knitting to do! I would love to hear what all of you are knitting for the holidays this year, so if you have a list or if you wrote a blog post about it, feel free to drop your list/link in the comments!

 

Book Review: Berroco Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans

Tags

Afghan (blanket), Arts, Berroco, Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans, Craft, Crochet, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Knitting Pattern Book, Pattern, Yarn

I recently picked up a new knitting book, Berroco Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans, and I am in love with it! I have felt the urge to create beautiful afghans for my loved ones for a long time, almost as soon as I learned to knit. I have been relentlessly hunting for patterns which I thought would fit modern decor, but were classic enough to last through the decades. My hunt has finally come to a close as I picked up this book, because I have found an afghan for every family member in it. It has gorgeous design features, the photographs are stunning, and the patterns are not pages long.

As someone who has never crocheted more than a single chain, this book even gives me fleeting urges to learn crochet so I can knit some of those afghans as well. I say fleeting, because let’s face it, I am much more likely to try to create a knit design which looks just like the crochet one than I am to learn crochet. I have nothing against crochet, I just love knitting too much to put it down.

The yarn, Berroco Comfort, is a familiar friend of mine. It’s soft, comes in tons of beautiful colors, and it’s machine-washable. I think making an afghan easy to care for is really important because I want it to last and look as beautiful 25 years from now, as it does now. I also appreciate the low price!

There are a few designers that have come together to create this book, but for me, Norah Gaughan has taken the cake! Every pattern that I noted I wanted to knit was a Norah Gaughan design. Perhaps I am just very predictable, but I think she is a knitter of exquisite taste and skill whose designs make me want to run to the LYS and cast on NOW.

Here are a few of the afghans I am adding to my knitting que:

Retro is an awesome textured afghan made with mock cables and inspired by designs from another decade. I love it because it has a distinctly masculine feel to it, IMHO, and I have found it especially challenging to find male-friendly designs. In some on-line photos, this afghans appears to be a blue color, but the yarn they used is actually a grey. I think it would look awesome in a Denim Blue, but the grey is also nice.

Because I have a person in mind for this one, who is a very tall guy, I will be adding panels and also lengthening them. In truth, I found a lot of the afghans in this book to be on the small side, so I will be editing the designs myself to make them bigger.

I am also hoping to knit this in one piece, so I will be creating a new chart for myself to allow for that. Wish me luck!

Textured Knots was an immediate favorite of mine. It was truly love at first sight, I saw it and I knew I will just have to knit it. It looks modern, yet classic. The cables are gorgeous and this yarn defines cables well.

This afghan has the timelessness I have been so avidly searching for. I might knit two. I don’t think I could not have one of these for myself. 🙂

Aran was another beauty that caught my eye. I saw this afghan and I instantly thought of my mother. The woven cables might as well have been calling her name. I have already been surfing the collection for the perfect color to compliment her taste (and her living room). I hope she will love it as much as I do.

Finally, Mindful, which is not a knit design and not Norah Gaughan, has been haunting me. I love it. I have no idea how to crochet, but I really want an afghan which looks like this. I am toying with the idea of charting it out as a double knit design, but please do not feed my insanity by supporting these thoughts. What kind of crazy knitter would double knit an afghan???

There you have it. Aside from the afghans being a little small for my taste, these patterns are inspiring and lovely. I think this book has finally given me the designs I need to be able to swath my loved ones in afghans they will love forever. Thank you, Berroco.