Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

More than three years ago, I started this blog because I knew I wanted to break into knitting designing and teaching. I saw that most people who published had a blog or a website, so I thought I'd better start a blog. In those 1000+ days, the blog has given me a chance to practice pattern writing. And it has given me a place to share new ideas. It has forced me to learn how to use certain types of software. And it has forced me to learn at least a little something about shooting digital pictures and video. Today I finally sent a submission to Knitty. I'm only 1000 days behind schedule. To all my knitting friends out there, thank you for being so supportive in my creative endeavors. I wish you all a happy, prosperous, and knitterly new year!

It has been a rare week indeed. On Monday night, we had a lunar eclipse that coincided with the winter solstice. This happy coincidence occurred most recently more than 450 years ago. This evening, it is snowing in Atlanta. My understanding is that the last white Christmas in Atlanta was in the 19th century. The photograph is a nearly current view out my studio windows. On this sacred day, it pleases me to think happy thoughts of those I love. Some are past, some are present, some are future, and some never were. The Cuddly Hubby reading a book or running a D&D game. The Yarn Pimp spinning or knitting with a cat or two close by. The Bard eating a gourmet meal somewhere in France. Carole decking her halls. Ginny hosting Thanksgiving. Andy playing a game. Elalyr & Tegyrius' wedding. Dana & John's pirate wedding. Vincent eating tuna. Brûlée pouncing on the feather toy. My grandmother sewing something beautiful. My other grandmother cooking somethi...

There are some days when you just can't put a value on the networking on Ravelry. I've been knitting madly on a pink shawl during the last week. By about Friday, I could see that maybe I was going to be just a wee bit short on the yarn. When I cast off on Monday morning, I came up short. My usual approach is to go find other people who have finished a project with the same yarn. In this case not so much luck, as they are in Italy, France, and Finland. But I did find someone in Ohio who had started a project with it. And I am figuring she'll still be able to finish hers, as I'm only needing about half a gram of yarn out of the 100 grams she has. And it is nice to be able to talk to knitters about this, as these are the sorts of people who understand. Thank goodness this particular shawl needs to be done before the new year but not necessarily before Christmas. My rescuer has a very crafty and creative blog and an Etsy shop called Maiden Jane . Her blog is full of...

Some places have snow days. Today isn't a snow day here, but it is a cold day. The temperature in Mableton right now is below freezing. This is in the middle of a sunny afternoon. A typical mid-winter day in Atlanta involves dipping just below freezing overnight but climbing into the mid-40s Fahrenheit during the day. I have no idea how much snow removal equipment is owned by Cobb County, but I've heard tell that the city of Atlanta has a -- yes, one single -- snow plow. I'm sure it is meant only for emergencies. Cuddly Hubby advised me to stay indoors today, and I've taken his advice. The house needed a good cleaning, and all the moving about kept me warmer. I put five Christmas CDs in the player, lit some frankincense and myrrh incense, dug out the wrapping paper, and went to work on wrapping the gifts for the nephews and niece. And now I'm here, at the computer, with a nice cup of hot chocolate to keep me company. Even the cats are hiding someplace warm...

It's that time of the year. No, I'm not referring to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, the great triumvirate of cool-weather dark-day holidays. No, it's time to start signing up for all the great knitting offerings in 2011. Registration has just opened this morning for STITCHES South 2011. Because of where Easter falls on the calendar, STITCHES South will be a week early on 14 through 17 April. Good for us, as the spring flowering trees should be in even better blossom than the previous two years. XRX will be setting up the party at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel & Cobb Galleria Centre, just off I-285 and I-75 on the north side of Atlanta. (Clicking the link at upper left will take you to the STITCHES main portal page. Clicking the link at the top of the sidebar will take you to the description of my class.) Once again, it is my privilege to teach at STITCHES South. I'll be teaching "More Than One Way to Skin a Sweater." This is an overview o...

North Georgia Knitting Guild has been hosting an annual auction as a way to raise funds. This year's auction was held during the October meeting. This is one of the advantages to being in a smaller guild. Atlanta Knitting Guild has too many members for something of this scale, although AKG is planning a yarn swap at the December meeting. I was being pretty tight with money this time, partly because I was in the midst of closing an old checking account and opening a new one. I didn't have the new checks yet, I didn't want to write any more checks on an account I was about to close, and my money was split between the two, so that kept me well-behaved. I spent between $20 and $30 for what you see in the photograph. The three small booklets were all one lot. I find it interesting to browse even simple pamphlets. Sometimes you find something just a little interesting and out of the way. And you never know what will be lurking inside a stitch dictionary. I was pleased ...

The Whole Nine Yarns has a sock guild. This is a sock club that meets once a month for social time and for education. Each month is a different, exclusive sock pattern and hand-dyed sock yarn to go with that pattern. It is a very cool idea and has proven to be a good way for sock knitters to try different techniques. Some socks are knit toe up, some top down, some lace, some texture, some cables. For January, JennaB the Yarn Pimp designed a sock with beautiful cabled Saxon Braid cuffs knit sideways. I'll get to that in a couple paragraphs. First, I want to draw your attention to the yarn. Yup, that's it. It really doesn't look like all that much, does it? It is mostly still the same undyed white. There is a little bit of pale grey at each end, and some pale rusty orange in the middle. When it first showed up in the shop, I noticed it for how quiet it is compared to some of the complicated sock guild yarns. This is a yarn you have to knit up to understand. JennaB...