Bags that Rock!

Hey Breeders fans! Kelley Deal has written a knitting book, Bags that Rock: Knitting on the Road with Kelley Deal. It'll be out this fall. Check out the article here.

You know it's spring when...

...even the yarn store owner has given up the needles to play in the dirt. So in lieu of any knitting-related content, I'll just borrow a trick from Holly and give you a picture of Iris.

Actually, there is something knitting-related. She is modelling a sweater vest that Whitney made from a Debbie Bliss pattern out of RYC Cashsoft. Man, those redheads can sure pull off green! (Even though, who am I kidding? We could wrap that kid in Kroger bags and she would still look adorable!)

Mary Beth's Central Park Hoodie!

Mary Beth finished her Central Park Hoodie. Doesn't it look fantastic? She knit it out of Rowan Calmer, a wonderful cotton and acrylic blend. It's got just enough stretch to make any garmet fit like a dream.

For those of you who would forego knitting a CPH since it's a "winter" sweater, try knitting it out of a cotton blend. Jessica and Erica both knit theirs out of Blue Sky Dyed Cotton, and it really worked up wonderfully. (Then you can just knit a winter version out of wool later.)

Liz's FO!

I've never posted any of Liz's Finished Objects on this blog. This is absolutely amazing considering how many objects she has finished (just think about the socks alone!) and how I've been blogging for about a year (can you believe it?). Maybe it's because until very recently Liz had her own blog. Maybe it's because I've been less than consistent about taking pictures at the shop. Whatever the excuse, Liz pointed out the fact that her achievements have been absent on the Knit Nook blog, so it's about time that I correct such a egregious error.



So here goes.

The new All Season's Cotton book is full of wearable sweaters. Nobody noticed this sweater until one got sent to the shop.

Maybe it's the powder blue color that looks good on everybody. Maybe it's the stretchy cotton and acrylic yarn. But this sweater looks good on everyone who tried it on. No joke. We've been referring to the phenomenon as the Sisterhood of the Travelling Sweater.

So Liz decided to make one herself. She chose the powder pink from the book ("Liz knit pink? What a shock!" she wrote sarcastically) and after struggling with her gauge ("Liz obsessed about her gauge and used much smaller needles than was originally called for? I'm so surprised!" she noted in a snarky parenthetical aside), she finished the sweater. And it was too small.

But not really. As you can see, Liz looks lovely in her Lacy Sweater. The color is very flattering and so is the fit. But Liz fidgeted like nobody's business in her sweater. She was even afraid that she looked like a hoochie. ("Yes, Liz, you look like such a hussy in your long sleeved hand knit sweater with a shirt on underneath," we responded in the most mocking of tones.) But as you can see (because I'm finally blogging about it), Liz knitted a very adorable object. And I think she eventually realized that she did, too.

An Easy First Sweater--Really!

Christy signed up for a few weeks of Beginning Knitting and she finished this sweater! A top down cardigan, this sweater is a perfect introduction to sweater construction and colorwork. The pattern is Drive-Thru from Knit and Tonic knit out of Cotton Fleece, my favorite yarn for kidswear.
Now her son wants one, too. Excellent work, Christy!

Cobblestone: Kevin vs. Jane

The Cobblestone by Jared Flood has been a favorite around here (think boy version of the Central Park Hoodie). Jane and Kevin both started a Cobblestone around the same time. So Jane decided that they were racing.

First, Jane was a head (which is probably what prompted her to announce the race, since she was winning already). But hubris got the best of Jane when she forgot to add the garter stitch details along each side of the sweater and she was forced to knit the body of the sweater over again.

Despite his indecision at the get-go, Kevin is a hardworking knitter, and he was soon in the lead. (Check out his progress here.)

But then we received this email:

At ten last night I finished the cobblestone. I spent a while this morning weaving in ends ... still a few to go. I was trying to send a photo but for some reason I cannot get it to load into the computer.

Please be sure to tell KEVIN that I finished first! HA HA!

Jane

Unfortunately, Kevin didn't like the wrap and turns on his short rows, so he was in the process of re-knitting his yoke. Since his sweater was off the needles anyway, he tried it on--and after some hilarious Flash Dance moves--he asserted that his sweater fits. Phew! One less thing to agonize over!


But even if he didn't win the race, Kevin still will end up with a pretty awesome sweater.

Tis the Season

Seems like every spring, babies are in season around here. That means knitting for babies.

Vi made this colorful cotton blanket for a friend of her daughter's. She knit strips, changing colors every five or six inches, and crocheted the strips together to create the checkerboard pattern.

Not to be outdone, Fran has crocheted this bright baby blanket out of every cheerful cotton we've got. This blanket isn't finished, however: Fran still needs to crochet the rosettes (can't wait to see it!)

Courtney knitted this adorable hat from Itty Bitty Hats for a friend's daughter. But now that she knows that she's having a boy in August, Courtney has started making an adorable blanket for her own baby. Congrats, Courtney!

And speaking of baby boys, Sam was kind enough to model the baby sweater Whitney made for her friend's son. The pattern is by Debbie Bliss.

And not to be out done, Kevin tried to model the sweater, too. Sorry, Kev, you're just not as cute as Sam!

Even Iris can't get enough of Sam.

And he seems pretty receptive to her advances.

Don't get me wrong: the babies around here are adorable. But I think Cindy and I will stick to the animals! (Cardigan and Vanilla, respectively.)