Cravings

I would say that since I've been pregnant, one of the most frequently asked questions (besides "Is it a boy or a girl?" or "You're not shutting down the Knit Nook, are you?!") have been about cravings.

I have had two very strong cravings, but neither has been food related. No pickles and ice cream cravings striking in the middle of the night. Which is odd. If you know me at all, you know that I already have disgusting food habits. I drink pickle juice straight from the jar. And that's when I'm not pregnant.

My first craving has been for cigarettes. Almost every single night, I have had dreams where I am smoking. And in these dreams, I am pregnant, but I somehow convince myself that "one or two cigarettes won't kill the baby." Obviously, I have not indulged this craving in my waking hours.

The second craving is less hazardous, so I've been indulging with abandon.

(Ripple stitch blanket out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton.)

Crocheting.

I seriously can't get enough.

Candy Babies by Candi Jensen is one of the best books for baby crochet projects. When I saw Victorian Charm, I got a SERIOUS craving.

Made out of 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss Eco Baby [rav link] in color 14009 and US G/6 hook. I just love it and she's going to look so cute in it!

Unfortunately, sewing on pieces of lace trim has not been one of my pregnancy cravings.

It's a Mini Pini!

It's a Mini Pini!

It's a February Baby Sweater!

It's a Confection Shrug!

It's a GIRL!

Summer Sale!!!

(gratuitous picture of me knitting on the beach a few years ago. cause what's a blog post without a picture?)

I hope everybody had a wonderful Fourth of July. I swam, ate a few burgers, drove over 1000 miles. God Bless America!

But if you thought that the festivities were over, think again! What better way to celebrate this great country of ours than to buy some beautiful yarn on sale? (Yes, I know that the connection between liberty and yarn is a stretch. But I'm talking about yarn. On sale. So you'll forgive my clunky segue.)

Our Summer Sale is this Saturday, July 10! I know, I can't believe it's here already! Everything in the store will be 15%- 75% off. That includes books, patterns, needles, bags, yarn, everything (except gift certificates--but feel free to spend your horded stamp cards and gift certificates at the sale.) We're opening at 10 am so be here early!

Also, our Fall 2010 Class Schedule is posted on the website. I'm going to try my very hardest to get some hard copies in the shop by Saturday.

See you all then!

Audrey in Unst

Just because I wasn't blogging doesn't meant that I wasn't knitting. Here's one of my FO: Audrey in Unst from the Fall 2009 Twist Collective, knit out of Misti Alpaca Tonos Pima Silk DK in neon yellow. I made the fourth size and it took 3 skeins. The real color name is "Roasted Corn" but I don't think that conveys just how loud and obnoxious this color really is. Hey, I'm a child of the eighties--I love me some bright ass yellow!

This was one of those situations where I fell in love with the pattern and the yarn separately. I would dream about this cardigan, wondering what yarn I could possibly use. Simultaneously, a skein of this yarn would end up sitting next to me at the table. And a few skeins were even squirreled away in the back. But it really took me a while to make the connection.

Despite the tiny needles (the pattern calls for US 4 but I used US 3 because those were the only needles I had at the time--it was late at night and I wanted to get started so I told myself that 3 and 4 were practically the same needle--and then later I wondered why the sweater was a smidge too small...hmmmm) this was a really fast knit. The body of the sweater is done from the bottom up and the sleeve stitches are picked up from around the arm hole. The pattern incorporates ingenious short rows to shape the cap. And the lace was fun and easy.


Tonya was good enough to model the sweater for me. She even wore a green shirt and everything. (In this picture I told her to "do a Kevin pose." Not enough muscle-flexing, but good attitude.) Can you believe that it was only four months ago when Tonya has a baby? That's right, Johnny is four months old and Tonya is looking and feeling great. I'd like to say that it is all the sweater's doing because it's just that fantastic, but I'm sure that it has more to do with breastfeeding and Johnny finally sleeping mostly through the night.

Here's a close up of the unst. It's a great stitch with an awful name. Reminds me of smocking and it's very easy.

You can also see that I still haven't put the buttons on it. After I finished it and realized that US 3 needles are in fact smaller than US 4, I also realized that no amount of cajoling could get my pregnant boobs into that cardigan anyway. So for now, it's button-less, but no less wearable. It's the perfect summer sweater--great over a tank.

Tangled up in Yarn

I've been trying to get some knitting done, but it seems like every time I get going on a project, I turn away for a second only to find this:

Tangled yarn all over the living room. Chewed up needles. I find myself spending more time untangling than I do knitting. Needless to say I've learned to put my knitting up high when I'm not around.


Because who knows when the beagle will strike!

Gorilla Knitting

And now for some Gorilla Knitting....

Okay. It's a bad pun, I know. But I've been meaning to blog about this sweater for a while. And then the gorilla was wearing it. And the last post was about Guerilla Knitting....yeah, it was lame.

But not the sweater. This Presto Chango [rav link]. The smallest size took one skein of Cascade Sierra.

The thing that I love about this sweater is that panel. The idea is, that babies are messy. But this sweater is part bib. (Does that make it a swib? OMG, what the heck is my problem today! I'm seriously being so dorky!) Anyway, the baby pukes all over the front and PRESTO CHANGO, you replace the panel!

And the panels can all be different. Just think of all the various combinations. Instead of making a sweater for every holiday, you make one sweater and three or four panels. Or it you aren't sure if the baby is a boy or a girl, make the sweater in a neutral color and gender-fy the panels.

I also think you could remove the panel entirely and it would make a cute shrug.

Well, there were a few Presto Chango's made in the Baby Sweater class and those knitters seemed to enjoy it.


And the gorilla seems to enjoy wearing it. He hasn't taken it off yet, has he?

Guerilla Knitting

Paul sent us this picture from Austin, TX. That is a knitted argyle street lamp cozy. And I thought knitting my Christmas stockings was bad enough...

For more, check out this Flickr group for Guerilla Knitting. I know our own Irene has attempted to start the trend in the Highlands, but unfortunately, no pictures were ever taken. I guess Irene and her Guerilla Knitting are now only the stuff of legends.