Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I've been updating my Ravelry files with some older projects. I realized I needed to add the Jester Tentacles Bag from Cat Bordhi's Second Treasury of Magical Knitting when someone wanted to trade for the four skeins of heathered Cascade 220 in my stash. Ummm, well, I don't really have four skeins of it anymore. I must admit that I initially passed on the whole mobius knitting thing. The First Treasury of Magical Knitting is nice, but it is mostly scarves. Granted, what I didn't understand on a quick glance is that some lace patterns do very interesting things when you put them in a mobius. But when the sequel came out with its felted bowls and this crazy bag, I jumped in and bought both. I had felted Cascade 220 before. This was a good thing, because I had written down the before and after numbers, so I could do the math to figure out how big to knit before felting. In the pattern, Cat Bordhi has the straps as separate long tentacles that are tied together after felt...

Cat Bordhi taught two workshops at The Whole Nine Yarns over the weekend. Of course, I and my undivided attention were there. For the non-knitters who read this blog (the knitters already know this) Cat's second book in her current sock series releases this week. This title has been on my wish list for more than a year. You'll recall from the Interlocking Leaves socks last spring that I really enjoyed foxglove architecture from New Pathways for Sock Knitters . I think I might still prefer that architecture over Personal Footprints, but both certainly have their merits. In the Saturday workshop, we made a personal footprints discovery sock. This is basically what's in the book, but it was so very nice to have Cat on hand. Especially if you do not knit socks very often (raise my hand), it is nice to have someone who has knit many, many socks to help you with fit. I also suspect that only podiatrists have thought about or looked at as many different feet as Cat. As yo...

Really. I'm not a sock knitter. I know people who are. You know them too. They always have a sock in progress. And their sock yarn stashes take up a whole closet. I understand the appeal, too. Socks are not too expensive. There are lots of fabulous sock yarns to choose from -- great colors and dye patterns that do amazing things even if you only knit stockinette in the round. And for more advanced knitters, a pair of socks can be a great place for playing with patterns and trying new techniques. Mostly I'm not a sock knitter because I'm not a sock wearer. About the only time you'll see me in pants is when I am doing something grungy and have to wear jeans and a sweatshirt. Otherwise, I'm wearing silk skirts with beads, cute tops, fabulous wraps, and coordinating jewelry. Generally, socks don't go with the silk skirt look. But, I could use a pair or two of nice knee socks for winter wear with the wool skirts. In this case, I chose Interlocking Leaves...