Posts Tagged ‘Knitty’

On the Road

Monday, July 16th, 2012

While I am sticking close to home for the next month or so and designing madly, it seems like everyone else is hitting the road! Vancouver is wonderful in the summer but who doesn’t love a road trip? Getting up early, hitting some fast food or coffee joint, letting the breeze (or AC) blow through your hair. Lucky for me I don’t get car sick and my hubby likes to do the driving. It’s a knitters dream!

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It seems that summer road trip knitting falls into 2 major categories: accomplishments, and small practical projects. First category is the accomplishment. This is something larger, perhaps a garment, that you hope to finish or nearly finish on your trip. A sweater knit as your wind through the Rockies, or maybe a pair of lined mittens, ready for gifting in the winter to come. Try a Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fetig. It’s a lace weight so it’s easy to carry around and a nice light weight item for summer nights.

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The second category is the small and portable project. I find socks a go to on this one. There’s something simple about a sock, with just a few interesting points to keep me going. I cast on and I can knit away until I’m ready for a heel. Once that’s turned I’m ready to knit up a foot on a particularly long stretch. Then it’s just a toe and I’m done! It’s also easier to be diligent on the road. If you only have one or two projects, that’s all you can knit! Try out a pair of Tootsie socks, I’m thinking Spud and Chloe Fine or perhaps some Handmaiden Casbah is just the ticket for these cozy socks.

New Knitty

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

New Knitty is up! What is Knitty you ask? Really?!

Knitty is a great free online magazine full of patterns and some great features and articles. This issue has some fabulous Zauberball socks and a new shawl pattern from Emily Wessel, the Estuary Shawl.

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The socks are made with a construction I’ve never seen before, which is saying a lot since there are so very many sock constructions! The Longitudinal Socks are made from side to side, utilizing the rainbow-stripe fabulousness that is Zauberball sock yarn!

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Estuary Shawl: “An estuary is a fertile place, a junction between riverine and ocean habitats, where the mixing of fresh and salt water creates a gradated ecosystem which nurtures thousands of species”. Doesn’t that intro say it all? A pretty shawl that draws from the beautiful land/water form of it’s namesake.

Toasty Mittens

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

I just came across some seriously gorgeous mittens. I was just minding my own business and BAM there they were. They took me by surprise. They are Borough by Veronica O’Neil and they look amazing! These mittens can be found amongst a fabulous collection of patterns in the latest Knitty. I was just starting to think that perhaps the photographs of carrying wood were what won me over (I always miss camping in the middle of winter), but no, the mittens are awesome.

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I realize they are probably technically designed for boys but I say, not to worry! Is there really a gender to mittens?! And the best thing of all? They are knit in one of my favorite indulgences, Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes. The yarn is soft, it has excellent stitch definition and it’s nice and warm on the hands for those windy days out there.

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