The Knaughty Knitter

Two pretty cool finished things

Here is my Olympic Knitting project Shawl from Swing, Swagger,  Drape that I totally love now.  The colors were so strong it was a bit intimidating even for me, but I think it worked.

Several ways of wearing it and changing the effects of the colors

and here's the back... and then there are these.  my new favorite socks, that can be worn with sandals I guess cause there is no way i am going to cover them up with shoes....

 
 
 

Weaving something besides scarves

Here are some pillows I wove and made for Doyle's granddaughter who just bought a house.  She wanted primary colors.

The warp was a red Galway chunky and the weft a variegated boucle form Ironstone yarns - Madrid.  They are very soft and were a quick weave too.

This is perfect knitting weather

I can't wait to get home and curl up in my cozy chair and knit.  What is this, locust winter? Hot chocolate may be in order - though probably the last one for a while.  I'm hoping to finish TWO projects this week.  The modular shawl I started for the Knitting Olympics is three squares away from done and a pair of fair isle socks only lack a bit of cuff and the afterthought heels to be done.  I plan to concentrate on finishing things between now and June (when the Dianna Shawl knit along will start).  If I can get one more thing done between now and then there will be no guilt to starting some new things. 

I forgot the camera at home so no pictures today...

Happy Earth Day!
Knit something with recycled yarn, knit a container for your recycling, knit a tree or just hug a tree, Celebrate! Go out in the garden, plant something, have fun.
And just so you know. We have MORE Buttons - a bunch more, oh dear, but they are pretty and some look like flowers. There are more booklets too from Leisure Arts - some of those are crochet books too, for doilies even, that also look like flowers.....

Here are a couple of cool sites and amazing knitters

Reina Mia Brill does the most adorable figures dressed in things knitted with wire.  The pictures I saw in a book were of whole figures done in knitted wire. Amazing.  Knitting with wire is not easy.

And Kathryn Alexander is pretty inspiring too.  I love all that color (and she spins it too)  

I have been busily preparing for being away Saturday at Cannonsburgh - for Pioneer Days - 10-5.  It's free and good edutainment (educational entertainment) for the kids.  I am a little overwhelmed - what with sewing clothes to wear, getting things ready and making signs and such.  But it should be fun and will give me a chance to work on the fleece that has been sitting in my craft room for a year now.

Have you heard of the 3/50 project? It is a project to help people become more aware of what happens when you support your locally owned small business.  For every $100 spent in a locally owned independent store, $68 is returned to the local community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures.  If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here, and spent online,  NONE of it comes back to your community.  The project asks you to think about this when you shop and if possible pick 3 locally owned businesses and spend just $50 dollars in them each month.  This could catch on and if more folks do it could generate lots of money for schools and roads and our parks and city services.  For more go to The 3/50 Project and check it out. 

The new newsletter is out and posted on here too.

so here it is...

Hi

Yeah, Spring is finally really here.  The dogwoods are gorgeous and our fruit trees are blooming.  This year we are doing a square foot garden (that old method from the 70’s that might be easier to maintain, and produce better than the really poor soil where we are)– well, and still planting a field of corn and squash out in the bigger garden.  We – really Doyle – planted clover in the garden last fall and it is coming back out.  Usually by May 1^st it is blooming and there’s a small field of scarlet flowers that the bees love.  Then it gets plowed under and helps improve the soil. This morning Doyle is out in search of good compost – he says he found some worm castings and mushroom compost in Hendersonville.  He and Skip are going. Tomorrow I get to spend the day digging the weeds out of my garlic patch and the flower beds and everything else.  If you are gardening there is a great little site – One Million Gardens – where you can interact with other gardeners, blog about your garden and show off your stuff too.

Mine is at Ty’s Grandma’s Garden……

 

And then there’s the knitting - It is Dyeing Time again for me, now that I can hang the great skeins and bits of roving outside to dry.  I have a couple of skeins I did the other day at the store and there will be more to come.  There is less knitting time for me this part of the year.   But I still do plenty in the evening – really the dishes can wait – plus air conditioning makes me soooooo cold when I am sitting still. 

 

New yarns and books have come in pretty regularly over the past few weeks.  Cascade’s 60 Quick Projects from Cascade 220 book is here and full of delicious little things – all of them would make awesome presents later in the year.

 

Classes this month are a little sparser – Knitting 101 starts April 15^th (Thursdays at 6pm) and Crazy Lace starts April 24^th at 10:30.  Crazy Lace is a great beginning lace class.  The first class will focus on basic techniques of lace knitting – and we’ll pick a few patterns to do a sampler scarf.  The next session will be crazy lace – lace that is freeform and flowy and requires no pattern once you have the skills to do some basic things.  The class schedule is up through July but is subject to a few additions between now and then.

 

April 17^th is Pioneer Days at Cannonsburgh from 10-5.  I will be there in a booth with some unprocessed (but already washed) fleece – combing and spinning it.  And of course I will be dressed in not very authentic pioneer garb that I threw together mostly last week. I still have finishing touches to add to it. Although the head covering I have is borrowed from Lisa and is a really nice authentic reproduction.  I think I will dig through my stash of vegetable dyed yarns and maybe sell a few of those too.

 

And just a reminder that our hours have changed a little.  I am closed Wednesdays and Sundays, open Mon, Tue, Thurs from 10-5, Friday 11-6 (groups is 6-8 and we are open if there is group)  Saturday changed a little too – now we are open 10-3 (though sometimes classes run over that)

 

Happy Knitting and Gardening too

Meredith

 

I know I haven't said it this month

I love FAIR ISLE.  I started these socks in sock class, got home and realized I would need way too long a toe to do all the increases, so started over with more stitches on each needle.  I am 2/3 through the first one and love every row - I generally don't knit socks cause I find them completely boring and tedious, but not these.  (This is even true for lace socks, sadly) This may be the solution to my sock dislike - do them all fair isle.  These are not in sock yarn and will have to be hand washed - I did them out of some Norwegian yarn from the stash and JCA Whiskey from the store.  Even though I had a solid red sock yarn I like the heathery look of the Whiskey.  The socks are from a German book Socken aus aller Welt, Strickjournal (Socks from all over the World, A Knitting Journal.  My grammer school German comes in handy but mostly just the chart is necessary.  I was initially going to do this one on larger needles and with sport weight yarn, but ended up on #1s and they fit nice and snug, but not too much.  Here's the top so far

And here is the bottom

And then here is the little entrelac crochet pillow I finished last week.

Oh and yesterday I spun a while and made pretty yarn (now for sale) 

And lastly there are violets everywhere on the lawn in front of the store.  This might be color inspiration for something later.
  
 
 

Oh Darn It

I love the colors in this shawl.  When I lived out in the country, driving to work on a Spring morning I sometimes was greeted by these colors as I topped the hill.  The sky would be grey & white, with giant billowy clouds and the spring green colors would be dressing the trees.  I've carried the colors around in my head for a while and every spring I am reminded of them.  So I finally get them knitted up and it is a design (free from Ravelry) that is really unwearable.  This is the 28 Row Scarf - I knew it was too long and so I shortened it a bit - from CO 160 to 150 and should have done only 100.  The scarf is too narrow to hold the weight of the front which falls way too long.  The only way to wear it is wrapped around twice, which I will cause it is just too hard to rip mohair.  And so the lesson about being wary of free patterns and needing to trust my judgement about them is learned again. Or at least I hope I have learned it.  Other than that it was a fun knit.