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by Alison on May 25, 2010
I finished my City Tweed sweater last week, and it was hard to wait for it to finish drying. I wanted to wear it right away! I had wanted to knit “Salina” (Ravelry link) from Vintage Knits (Ravelry link) for ages, but I hadn’t found quite the right yarn that was still within budget. I’m a sucker for basic pullovers with clever details, and I really liked the split neck, tailored collar, and the seed stitch edgings. I love neutral colors (to the point that it’s become a joke in the office), and I picked out Tabby in City Tweed DK. It’s a gently warm nut brown, and some of the fibers in the heather look almost copper in the sunlight. The neutral tweedy nebs are plentiful, and they stayed put in the yarn while I knit (out of ... |
Category Archives: Inspiration
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by Kelley on May 25, 2010
I confess that I have not ever been happy with short row heels on socks. I love the concept but the execution left a lot to be desired. Well, it left a row of tiny holes going up the heel no matter how carefully I wrapped. Thanks to my podcast interview of Cookie A. and reading through her book, Sock Innovation, I have been intrigued by her mathematical mind. I suspected that her designs would be things of analytical beauty. Thanks to the Sock Innovation KAL, I’m happily exploring Cookie’s sock patterns. I finished the short-row heel on my Lindsay Sock and it is absolutely fantastic!!! So easy! I am back to loving this heel style. No issues of picking up heel flap stitches and shaping a gusset. Isn’t it a lovely thing? ... |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
I don’t think it’s a big secret that Sheldon is my favorite turtle ever. Obviously, I’m not the only one who is enamored with the little guy, our kits for his career outfits and animal costumes sold out much faster than we’d anticipated! To keep up with the demand, we’ve now released all 9 of the patterns for Sheldon’s costumes as free downloads. You can easily access all 9 here, or you can look for them on the free patterns page on KnitPicks.com. Happy knitting! < |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
Here’s a pic–the project looks nicer than my gloomy pic shows Actually I finished it this weekend while watching the scariest movie I’ve ever seen, “30 Days of Night” about vampires that attack an Alaska town in winter. I was alone and it was dark and I was gripping my needles with all my might. It’s quite a bit smaller than the original tote pattern called for because, well, I’m short. I made the the body about 10 inches instead of 12, and I made the handles shorter. And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I accidentally knit it wrong side out–the bottom panel has the “wrong side” on the outside of the bag, but I’m ok with it. I’m very, very happy with it. I promptly threw it on the floor in the back seat of my truck, so I’ll always have it when i go ... |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
This is a huge step for me, starting a Knit-a-long: Knitting Goes Large KAL … I’m like one of those people with grand ideas, tell everyone what I’m going to do, and then never do it. Not because I don’t want to, but because I just had another idea – and went flitting off in another direction. Well, now I’m being held accountable by all who join this KAL… I’ve decided to knit the Cabled Vest in Cotlin… I started it this last weekend, and for me it’s not too bad of a start! I did find out that there’s an errata on this particular project… as soon as I get the new link, I’ll pass it on… So onward I go… come and join me! < |
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by Kelley on May 25, 2010
I only took yarn and instructions for the Lindsay sock on vacation this last week. We had family with us so I didn’t think there would be much time for knitting. The airplane trips to and from Mexico provided lots of focused time. While we were in Mexico I became quite fond of the Quiver I bought at the Aurora Fiber Festival the weekend before we left. I could easily knit and watch grandson, Fritz, crawl around. During the flight from San Diego to Portland I began the garter stitch short row heel. I love the stitch design so much that I decided to make the socks knee high. That means a bit more knitting but it is worth it. It took just a few rounds for me to memorize the lace pattern and feel comfortable toting the sock around with me. As usual, it came along when we went out ... |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
By now, many of you have seen the Nonna’s Garden Shawl. But in case you were wondering, here’s a little insight into how it came to be! Last winter, we put the final touches on City Tweed and decided that we wanted to make a kit that would feature every color of the DK weight. 14 colors is an awful lot to manage, and it’s unlikely that a garment with that many colors of such heavy yarn would really be wearable! So the decision was made for a shawl. But still – fourteen colors? How exactly do you make 14 colors ‘work?’ It just so happened I was planning next year’s garden at the time (which is now happily growing and green!), and I realized that the colors had a very floral overtone when grouped together. And then – it started snowing. So, stuck at home for ... |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
We’ve received several questions about the development of City Tweed and especially how we chose the colors for the DK and HW (heavy worsted) lines, so we thought we’d have a little fun and film a short video about it! < |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
I was eagerly looking forward to the release of Simply Cotton, our new organic cotton yarn, so I snapped some up as soon as it was available. I had visions of a sturdy, everyday tote bag knit out of it. But when I got my yarn, I was seduced by the incredible softness of the fiber into scrapping that plan and choosing a garment to knit out of it instead. This is some soft cotton, and I couldn’t stand the idea of carrying it around with me instead of wearing it next to my skin! Of course, my tote bag plan had conveniently circumvented the necessity of swatching, because a bag can turn out any number of sizes and still be useful. But if I’m knitting a garment, I want it to fit me, and since this yarn is machine washable, I wanted to make sure I knew exactly how it ... |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 25, 2010
I took a quiz online this week to find out how green my diet is. It turns out that since I don’t eat meat, I’m going to prevent 165,000 lbs of CO2 from polluting the environment in my lifetime! Crazy!! Since I eat a lot of vegetables, I’ve also been trying to do my part by getting my veggies locally whenever I can. Christy and I went to the farmer’s market in downtown Vancouver last weekend, and it was tons of fun walking around and seeing what is in season. Last year, I belonged to a CSA (community supported agriculture), but this year I’m going to try growing some fruits and vegetables myself. You can’t get much more local than your own backyard, can you? Here is my little raised bed with my broccoli, kale, and spinach starts. I’m giving the square foot gardening method a ... |
