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My boyfriend asked me to babysit his virtual kitty here. :)
You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.
http://marniemaclean.com
What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
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| Busy week! |
| 06.28.04 (8:54 pm) [edit] |
Forgive me if I don't post very much this week, or this month for that matter!
I'm getting into crunch time with my class that I'm taking. This Friday is the midterm, term paper is due the 16th (and I'm having trouble finding sources) and then the final is the following week! So I'll be tearing my hair out a mite, and my blog and email and knitting will probably gather a bit of dust. But as soon as class is over I shall try and make that up with tons of reviews! :D
OTK: An attempt at a shawl (designing it as I go), and lots of other stuff (afghan, slippers, purse, mittens, etc.) Did just finish off a Wool-Ease mitten that fits even BETTER than the one I made with Sugar and Cream and it's WAAAAAARM!!!! :D
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| Quicky reviews |
| 06.21.04 (7:42 pm) [edit] |
Haven't had time lately to do much reviewing :) So instead I'm going to post some of my notes.
As I checked out books I tried (keyword TRIED) to write down the title, author, source I got it from (my library or Interlibrary loan), and whether or not the book is worth re-requesting. Oh and I used smiley faces to note how I felt on the book too :)
So I'll post my notes verbatim little by little.
Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook by Lynne Vogel :(
Mostly focuses on dying and spinning wool with a about a third of the book on knitting socks. Not too helpful if you're not a spinner.
Adventures in Knitting: Breaking the Rules and Creating Unique Designs by Brenda Shapeero :(
Not too crazy about the funky designs, not my style
Kids Can Knit: Fun and Easy Projects for Your Small Knitter by Carolyn Clewer (pub. Barrons, 2003) :D :D
Excellent beginner projects including finger knitting, spool knitting, and with very clear instructions. Great projects too, including such ones as egg and sausages :)
Celebrity Scarves by Abra Edelman :(
A whole bunch of scarves knitted by celebrities along with the patterns used. Not bad, but not super exciting. A few cute designs though.
The Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques by Debby Robinson :(
Good reference for definitions of knitting words but otherwise blah.
Universal Yarn Finder by Maggie Righetti (OK)
Good reference for information on yarns. Good info on other stuff like needles and measurements and yarn distributors too. May be outdated, though.
Wild Knitting by Angela Jeffs :(
Really screwy stuff. Certainly wild -- wildly odd! Yuk!!
American School of Needlework The Great Afghan Book :(
Seems to be quite heavy on crochet. Knitted afghans are nice but seem quite difficult, with lace techniques on knitted or double pointed needles. Experienced knitters only!!
More later! This is just page 1 of 10! :)
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| Lion Brand Homespun Yarn |
| 06.11.04 (9:23 pm) [edit] |
Busy day so I don't have a book review so instead I'll expound on my new favourite yarn! :)
So far I'm in the midst of my first project but already loving it! I'm making an afghan, it's 7 strips 22 sts wide by 53" long. My first strip is now 35" long and it looks gorgeous! It also feels so soft and snuggly, I just can't WAIT to get it done!
I've heard some people complain that it's hard to knit with, which is somewhat true. It does take getting used to. It's untwisted fiber, with a string-like core, and a fine thread twisting it up. It has to be knit loosely but the end result is worth the hassle. It's a very soft yarn, I can't stop touching it :D :D
I also just purchased the Homespun color card from Lion and that's already giving me way too many ideas!! Already I'm going to be making another afghan, this one in Desert Rose and I haven't decided on the second color for my parents bedroom (the Desert Rose is an exact match for their walls). There are some gorgeous colors in this yarn, and I can't wait to make more items with it!!
Anyone else have comments on this yarn? I'd love to hear about other people's pros and cons of it!
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| Knits from the Heart book review |
| 06.10.04 (3:42 pm) [edit] |
A new book that just came in for me, I saw it in the Patternworks catalogue and I had the ordering person at my library get it for me.
Knits from the Heart: Quick Projects for Generous Giving by Kristin Spurkland. ISBN#1-56477-503-8, list price $22.95.
Projects include:
Booties
Ruffled-edge hat
Rolled-edge hat
Eyelet baby blanket
Earflap hat
Appliqued purse and scarf
Embossed heart blanket and matching scarf
Felted friends
Bastille's bed
Patchwork blanket
Horizontal scarf
Striped hat
Stripy mittens
Stripy socks
Holiday stocking
Everything is awesome. I especially love the embossed heart projects -- the hearts are made simply with reverse stockinette stitch in the middle of stockinette stitch. The eyelet baby blanket is very pretty, though I think I'd use different colors (the book shows it with lime as the main color).
The felted friends are also nice, they're little mouse hand puppets. The other felted project is Bastille's bed, which is sized for a cat bed or a dog bed.
The patchwork blanket is mentioned as good for group charity projects, as it is simply several long strips of colored blocks of garter stitch.
The back of the book has a list of different charitable organizations that the projects could be donated to.
I'm quite pleased with this book, and I'm glad I bought it! I can't wait to get my order from Smiley's Yarns so I can make the embossed heart scarf with the DK cotton I ordered! :) I totally recommend this book. Very worth it if you do charity projects or need ideas to make for gift giving.
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| Principles of Knitting |
| 06.05.04 (8:05 pm) [edit] |
I'll do a better review later but I just finally got to skim through The Principles of Knitting. I've heard a lot of talk about it on the KnitList, and I see why. It is an excellent resource, very thick and packed with good information.
In other news, I discovered yesterday that Lion Brand Homespun does NOT like bamboo! I picked up my second pair of bamboo needles, because so far those are the only ones I can find in a short length, so that I can knit in the movie theatre and not elbow my mom :) But Homespun slides on aluminum way better than bamboo so the next task is to find either plastic or aluminum needles in a 7" length.
Still working on the same projects, getting the first afghan stip done bit by bit.
More reviews later! :)
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| Book review #1 |
| 06.02.04 (8:23 pm) [edit] |
Okay, gotta get myself motivated on this...got a week to get myself into the habit of being online daily now because I'm taking a web course this summer (I've been lazy about my email lately :)
First book review:
Knitting by Wendy Baker
ISBN#1-56847-146-7, pub by Thompson Learning (no date found); hardcover, 48 pages in length; listed price $16.95
This book is very basic. There are brief overviews of many techniques, some not enough to learn the how (such as cabling, which is described but not with photos on how to make a cable), but the book is nice and heavy on the photos. There is a nice, well-written two page spread on French Knitting (which is not found in many books), including how to make a spool from scratch. There are two very brief, simple patterns (scarf and hat), and a short overview of reading patterns (with a list of abbreviations).
I would recommend this book for someone who wants to see what knitting looks like, what kinds of effects are possible, and a brief idea of how to begin. The marked price on the book is a bit steep for the length of the book and the amount of information, so I would recommend this more as a library book read once than something purchased for a knitting library.
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| Busy weekend! |
| 06.01.04 (10:27 pm) [edit] |
Been busy this weekend, haven't had a chance to sit down and work up a book review yet.
Current knitting:
Still working on the sweater, up to 5 inches worth of the first piece. It is, however, too wide. I was getting 3 stitches to the inch and I calculated my cast on stitches by that. But now I'm knitting at the called for gauge of 4 stitches to the inch and it's 30" wide instead of 23.5"! Oh well I'll just make the back smaller I guess.
Didn't do much on the afghan.
New projects from the weekend:
Started a tote bag with my Kool-Aid dyed yarn. I'm using the Zeeby's Bag pattern from Stitch'n Bitch as my base, but I've made the gusset 6 times as wide because I'm going to felt it and I want it to be as big as possible! I'm actually going to make two of these, the other one won't be felted, it'll be with Berocco Chunky I ordered.
The other one is a little glittery clutch bag from Kids Can Knit that I already have around 30 rows done on. It's with one strand of regular yarn and one strand of glittery crochet thread, and it starts with a contrast color, then changes to the main color and after a while has some YO's for a little lacey effect that lets the contrast color shine through. Mine is blue with a purple contrast, and even though the only glittery thread I found is white/silver it still looks awesome so far!
I did get a lot of knitting done on Sunday, I went to my boyfriend's house and got there JUST before the rain started up. I was there from 9:30 AM or so and he waited to take me home until almost 10 PM when all the storms had left the area. We watched both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 and I knit through much of both races.
Brief book review:
Stitch'n Bitch : It's a great book with good explanations, and some really cool patterns. The Zeeby's Bag is the second pattern I'm trying from it, the first was the Fireworks Scarf (that was my first finished object, it's two shades of Fun Fur, light blue and dark blue, and looks cool!)
More book reviews soon, promise! I have a hectic weekend coming up but I'll try my best. And I will try and either find my old sucky digi or swipe my boyfriend's and post some pictures of my knitting.
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