Post Stitch 'n Pitch

here's my stitch n pitch swag, post swaps with others at the game.  there was plenty of acrylic flying through the air - literally -  but there was also my kind of stuff. there was TONS of yarn this year, i don't think attendance was what they expected.  in addition to the loot bags the organizers were throwing yarn into the crowd. 

Good things included the Mission Falls 136 in the picture above, Kertzer gave away 100g balls of their 'on your toes' sock yarn in some very bright colours, Soak sent some packets, Diamond Yarns gave away a little bit of alpaca, and some of the Lana Grossa pattern books from Estelle Designs were really nice (the one with the brunette with the bangs on the cover is GREAT!).

people got a little crazy and a little greedy because of all the free stuff flying all over the place, but nobody got physical. one lady left with 30 balls of some kind of shiny railroad yarn and everyone was giving her the evil eye, thinking "how dare she", but the stuff was not attractive and is very difficult to knit with, so i don't begrudge her new stash. i received a ball of the exact same yarn in my loot-bag and had a hard time giving it away. 

unfortunately, i missed the speed knitting contest at the start. i'm still not sure how much we would have seen from our seats. there were some very nice people sitting in front of us with a really cute little boy, Joshua. he kept trying to catch a ball of yarn with his little-kid baseball mit but we were sitting in a 'blind spot' and the yarn-pitchers didn't get anything to him. i finally scored an extra ball of acrylic and threw it to him. he was so sweet! 

This is what i made last night at stitch n pitch, a Tulips baby cardigan for the store. the colours have not been working out the way i had hoped and i have been re-jigging them, originally i had included Spring Tickle and Go-Go grassy. i'm not as happy with this combo but it is still very cute and the sweater will look great. i'll oder some more colours this week.

Not related to to stitch n pitch, but we finished the cotton MinKim this week! it looks great in the Mission Falls Cotton. I especially like the subtlety of Dusk 771 and Coastal 773 (above).

Finito!

I finished the Rocketry Baby Cardigan and the kit for it today! With my revisions the sweater looks great! I could have made the increases look prettier but I did not want to make the kit overly complicated and of course the sample has to match the product for sale. I also managed to get the kits finished too! It is the most comprehensive kit I've created. I've tried to provide as much information as possible on the label so clients can grab it and go up to the cottage/on a plane, etc. I also included both of the patterns, the original from Dream in Color, and my revised version. Now I must turn my attentions to the Tulips Baby Cardigan, again revised because I know that most people are uneasy with colours like peach and bile yellow, but also because of the taboo against dressing a boy in pink or purple. I think I have devised the colour scheme and I'm going to set out and test it tonight.

Able New Camera!

i can has new camera!  my dad, who is camera aficionado, lent me one of his older, lower end digital cameras that he's bored with/out grown. regardless of it's lack luster identity, it is beautiful in my eyes and far exceeds my old camera. poor old camera, it served me well. long live the new camera!  all it needs is a new battery, the old one is recalcitrant and will not hold a charge. i hope it is not too hard to find an Li-ion Ll-10B Battery.



my second dishcloth was finished a little while ago, it's called Pink Floyd!

Liane finished the most recent store project, a bulky shrug/bolero/mini-cardie from knitting pure & simple (286) in Lamb's Pride Bulky (m225 Elderberry wine). It only took 3 skeins, if you wanted to continue the arms it wuold take 4. great little fall project!  The Variegated Lamb's Pride looks great!

This is the project I am working away on this very minute. It is a Rocketry Baby Cardigan in dream in color classy, a smaple for store kits. So far so good! The pattern is basically the Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Cardigan with some colourwork and a change in the edging. I knitted it up until the almost end of the border but had some issued with the way it looked when finished - mostly i knew that cleints would not be pleased with the way the bottom sits when it's done. I revised the pattern it a bit and will put my revised pattern along with the original one in the kits. I also found that my gauge was not the same as theirs, and i am a consistent knitter, so that is updated in my revisions.

I was teaching a client how to make a top-down baby sweater in a private class and figured i'd cast on on for the store too. Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett 6 ply Sock Yarn (5952 Landscape Twilight) , the pattern is just the Knitting Pure and Simple Top-down Baby Cardigan.

i accidentally used needles that are too small! if using this yarn use 4mm needles! i used the 6mo size but because the tension is too tight it fits about 3mo. also, the body of the sweater only needs 100g/250 m of Dk weight yarn, but to match up the colourways for the arms i had to rip into a 3rd.

I actually finished this a week ago but i'm waiting for the yarn to come in for the trim - i ordered some regia 6ply in a contrasting solid colour.

I have also been working on a little bulky weight cardigan for fall based on the pattern above (KPS 286), using Brown Sheep Lanaloft Hand Paint (LL200 Platinum Plum). It will have sleeves and the neck will be wider. The lanaloft is like Lamb's Pride Bulky except without the fuzz/fluff from the mohair. Or a better description would be thinner Burly Spun that knits on a 6.5mm to 8mm needle (this project is on 8mm).

Liane is working on a second Min Kim for the store in the 1824 Cotton Whirl (773 Surf).  So far so cute!  The colourway knits up beautifully!  I love their tone on tones, they work niiiiiice!

disabled camera

hi all! well, i'm sorry for the late post. i'm always sorry. i sat down yesterday to get to it. i took a bunch of pictures, i've got lots going on. the pics look good on the camera. i connected my camera to the computer, and nothing. nada. niente. nilch. looks like little mister easy share doesn't want to share anymore. thankfully it is not the computer, but it seems like it's time for a new camera. anyway, i don't have any pretty pics for you :-( rosie suggested that i make some drawings of my projects for you. my dad said he's lend me one of his cameras so i might be back up and runnig really soon!

addictive

addictive

 finished my first ballband dishcloth!

and a second ballband dishcloth on the go! an excellent project for anyone who has little time to follow patterns & do much knitting (ie. my mommy friends) or has summer knitting lethargy. it is a very fun way to play around with colour and use up bits & bobs - I have been using some Mission Falls 1824 Cotton that got a little bit too much sun.

projects updated

Liane finished the store kimono!  now i just have to put up the wall mount to display it. unfortunately, i can't find my power drill. dis i lend it to you?

My mod little log cabin baby blanket is coming along nicely. it was smaller than i anticipated so i kept adding blocks and we'll see how it works out.

as a diversion i started a Ballband Dishcloth with some 1824 cotton.  it is a very easy & fun pattern, the slip stitch colour work is not hard and the results are heartening.  although, it is so nice that i'd rather die than wash dishes with it. my face will have to do.  i am actually thinking about making some Ballband Dishtowels - cute and unique.

Wedding Shawl Update: the Wedding

this is how the wedding shawl looked in situ.

On (& Off) the Needles This Week

As always, all roads lead to Ravelry. if you don't have a free account yet you can use mine: login - knitomatic2, password - knitomatic

I really liked my little blue ceramic bolero. On the mannequin it looks like a short cardie, but I'm a couple sizes larger than little miss inanimate-made-of-fiberglass-foam-that-feels-very-satisfying-to-stick-pins-into. On me it looks like short, 80's style bolero and it's pretty cool. The drape really makes it work.  I've been wearing it on the wrong side because the ceramic catches on everything.

Anyway, long story, I thought it would be fun to make a bulkier, fall weight bolero based partly on the same pattern (Bella Sera Shrug), the Anthropologie Inspired Capelet,  and the Knitting Pure and Simple Bulky Shrug Pattern #286  (yes, we have it at the store).  You know me, I can't leave well enough alone ;-)

But it's all just an excuse to try out the new Brown Sheep Lanaloft Bulky Handpaint (LL200 Platinum Plum). I do not think that Brown Sheep  has updated their online shade card yet, there are a few colours missing. To get a better idea of the colours you can browse the projects and stashes for Lanaloft on Ravelry.

As it is summer, I decided to embark on a fast summer baby blanket. I'm using Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (2 strands together) on 6.5mm needles. The design is based/inspired by the Mason Dixon Moderne Log Cabin Blanket.  I'm not following the text in the pattern, but I know that some of you are analytically inclined so I am writing down my instructions as I go.

If you want to work with colours and don't want to worry about stitch patterns or counting, you can't go wrong with the log cabin!