The Polar Bear

Okay, Bekah emailed me these pictures weeks ago. In fact, she finished the Polar Bear months ago. She even brought it in, along with her adorable baby Seth. There she was, in the shop, bear and baby in hand. It was a perfect opportunity to take a picture for a blog post.

Bekah, never shy about bossing people around (she's a teacher as well as a girl after my own heart) told me to get the camera and take a picture so I would have something to blog about.

"But my camera is way over THERE!" I whined, pointing to the office that was precisely five feet away. (And we wonder why this blog isn't updated more frequently. Hmmmm....)

Luckily, Bekah took the initiative and sent me pics of the Polar Bear herself. Here he is.



I believe she knit him out of Blue Sky Organic Cotton. And she used safety eyes, I remember, because I marveled at such technological advances (I don't get out much). No clue where she got the pattern (Was it a book? Something about knitted toys? Is it at the Louisville Public Library?) but I know for a fact that the pattern was British because this bear is constructed from no less than five hundred little pieces that must be sewn together.

Of course, it took Bekah forever to knit it. Never mind that she was pregnant and working full time, and then caring for an infant. It took her almost a year to complete this project and I'm blaming it on the pattern. So now I don't feel so bad about taking a few weeks to blog about it. This bear has been a long time coming!

Our Stuffed Animal class just started last night, so hopefully this will be the first of many stuffed animals to make its way onto the blog. If you're interested in knitting a bear, I really recommend Otto by Ysolda Teague. He is made all in one piece, in the round, so there is absolutely no finishing (except for putting his face and ears on). Ysolda is Scottish and so she is much more practical than the British designers. Except she loves crazy cast ons. It must be a UK thing.

St. Tropez

Remember this sweater?
Yeah, I barely remembered it either. I entered it in the fair last year and then I brought it over to Cindy's to block and I never saw it again. That is, until I went over to her house to watch the Oscars and I wore it home.

I wore the sweater yesterday (yep, still unblocked). It's comfortable and as flattering as any hand knit I've ever made (which means, it's still wonky, but pretty much wearable--hey, maybe BLOCKING might solve some of those issues!) But it's a cotton sweater! With short sleeves! And it's called St. Tropez which sounds so tropical! So wearing my wonky, unblocked St. Tropez, I felt intoxicated. I ate some questionable sushi, drank too much wine, and almost adopted a dog over the phone.


I had so much fun making bad decisions, that I decided to wear it again today!

Stats:
Pattern: St Tropez by Sarah Hatton (Rowan Mag #45)
Yarn: Cotton Glace (the gray was frogged from another sweater, the red was from the shop--I don't remember how much. Aren't I so helpful?)

He is Knit-worthy!

It's a serious topic of discussion at the Knit Nook: as we're pouring hours and days and weeks (months!) of our lives into making all the little stitches that convert a ball of string into beautiful handmade objects, we wonder out loud who in the world could possibly be deserving of such a gift. The question is, is the person knit-worthy? Mothers usually are, even mother-in-laws on occasion. Grandmothers almost always are knit-worthy. But what about husbands?


I made Jonathan a sweater for his 30th birthday.

"When did you have time to make this?" he wondered.

And I thought back to all the times when I was sitting right next to him, knitting away on this gray furry monstrosity, wondering if it would be any good, wondering if he could ever appreciate such a gift, promising myself that I wouldn't resent him no matter how he acted because who wants to get a box of guilt for their birthday, even if it is made out of wool and alpaca?

"It's perfect!" he said. "Just what I always wanted!" And he put it on immediately. He even wore it to work the next day despite the fact that it still needed buttons on the collar.

So I gave my husband a sweater for his birthday, but the greatest gift was mine. My husband is KNIT-WORTHY!

Naana Naana Boo Boo!

Guess who I got to meet last night?

Heeeeereeeee's Johnny!

And he had some new sweaters to show me, both by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Here is the Surplice Jacket made out of Corntastic. (This would be a great sweater to make in our upcoming Baby Sweater class that starts Sunday, April 11.)

And here is the Baby Surprise Jacket made out of Dale of Norway Baby Ull. (The BSJ is going to be a class in June!)

I thought the sweaters were wonderful, but Johnny wasn't too impressed. He could barely keep his eyes open.

Alright, Shizknit, I give you permission to steal these pictures!

Knitting Olympics

Dum. Dum. Dumdumdumdumdum Dum dum-dum dum dum dum dum dum!


(That was supposed to be the Olympics music, just in case you don't recognize it.)

So you had all weekend and two snow days: how's your knitting Olympics project coming?

Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday, we received some flowers at the Knit Nook. Aren't they pretty? With all this snow, this was a lovely reminder that spring is on its way.


But nothing can compare with the card:


Thank you, Steven, for giving us one of the best Valentine's Days ever!

And don't forget to cast on for your Knitting Olympics project tonight!

SALE!!!

Super Bowl Sunday isn't until next Sunday (February 7), but Becca had a great idea for this Sunday: impromptu yarn swap! So if you want to clean out your stash before you fill it up again, now's your chance. Unwanted yarn will find a new home and you will be able to buy guilt-free come Sale Day. It's a win-win! This thing is super casual, so I didn't even ask Becca about a time. Let's say noon or one.

And because I'm tired of blogging without pictures, here's something cool that I stole from my friend Louisa's amazing blog The Portland Pickle.


Yay! Crocheted oysters (so much preferable in my opinion than the real thing). And that granny square blanket is awesome, too.

Read more about Clare Crespo's crocheted food here.