2008 - really?

Yup, it's really January 4th already. Happy 2008, everyone. (Better late...well, as usual.)

I have been knitting. Robyn picked up some of my knitting today. It's (or was?) available in her January sock kit - the pattern I mean. What this means in return is that I can't show you my knitting. I tell you, it's a vicious circle.

I bet a lot of you come by and want to see pictures. I'll do my best to deliver some soon. Keep your fingers crossed. Oh, and I've already had enough of snow this Winter. We had to shovel out the car again after the New Year's Day surprise, but at least today our side of the street got cleared.

Wait, there was something else I wanted to tell you. I got an e-mail today from Interweave Knits. My "Tweedy Vest" is No 7 of Knitting Daily’s Top 10 Most Downloaded Patterns of 2007. Who'da thunk?

Here's the whole scoop:

1. Modern Quilt Wrap — designed by Mags Kandis for Folk Style (Interweave Press, 2007) in Rowan Kidsilk Haze, this wrap/oversize scarf is very loosely based on the traditional Log Cabin quilt block and worked square by square in the easy and satisfying mitered-square method of color knitting. This is as effortless as working in stripes, but the results are far more impressive.

2. Knitting Needle Knitting Bag — designed by Pam Allen for Bag Style (Interweave Press, 2007) in Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Chunky, this quick-and-easy knitting bag was the most popular handbag on Knitting Daily in 2007.

3. Icelandic Lace Shawl — designed by Sigrídur Halldórsdóttir (adapted for publication by Carol Rasmussen Noble) in fingering-weight wool yarn, shown in 100 percent wool Jaggerspun Main Line 2/8.This previously out-of-print pattern originally published in the July/August 1996 issue of PieceWork magazine is called the Thórdís shawl. The original of this traditional Icelandic shawl is part of the Icelandic Craft Council’s collection of textiles. It is thought to have been knitted by Thórdís Egilsdóttir, a resident of a small fishing village on the west coast of Iceland.

4. Tomato — designed by Wendy Bernard for No Sheep for You (edited by Amy R. Singer, Interweave Press, 2007), this sweater is knitted in Blue Sky Organic Cotton but worked at a tighter gauge than the ball band suggests to improve the drape and wearability. It’s designed to be close fitting, with waist shaping and a flattering scoop neck.

5. Corset Pullover — designed by Robin Melanson in Filatura di Crosa Elena, this feminine top combines lace, stockinette stitch, and twisted ribbing. The bodice is shaped with short rows and fitted with cinch straps, just like the corsets that Robin’s grandmother wore. (Robin is doing another design for JCA for Fall 2008 - I am thrilled.)

6. Knitted Cuddlies — designed by Louisa Harding for Natural Knits for Babies and Moms (Interweave Press, 2006) in Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort (cat), Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton (rabbit), and Vreseis Fox Fibre Chenille (teddy bear), this exclusive KnittingDaily.com excerpt offers one of the easiest patterns ever written for a knitted toy animal.

7. Tweedy Vest — designed by Mona Schmidt in Tahki Donegal Tweed, this vest can be worn as a knit tank. The tweed yarn and ribbing give it even more character.

8. Connections Red Scarf — designed by Sandi Wiseheart in Filatura di Crosa Zara for the Orphan Foundation of America’s Red Scarf Project, there are two ways to make this scarf: with the cabled border ends (for the more adventurous) and without (for those wanting an easier pattern). Wiseheart designed the scarf with its intertwined stitches as a meditation on family, connectedness, and the many ways we can say “I care” to those around us.

9. Pine Cone Scarf — designed by Robin Melanson in Mountain Colors Mountain Goat. Melanson used the familiar Old Shale pattern for this fringed scarf, but worked just one pattern repeat with a double strand of dark, richly variegated yarn to produce a chunky effect.

10. Broken Cables Socks — designed by Ann Budd in Regia 4 Fadig, this is the only sock pattern to make Knitting Daily’s 2007 hot list. The ingenious cable design is one that knitters will want to create over and over again.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Heiligabend

What's there to say? Still keeping with German tradition we'll unwrap our presents tonight. There's a package from my Mom and one from my sister.

Our present to each other (and a bit to the environment) was a new car - a Honda Civic Hybrid. We already unwrapped (used) it and we both are enchanted. Having to dig it out of a heap of snow last week was less so. It still is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I am woefully behind everything. After a baking marathon on Saturday - we baked four different kinds of cookies - I still have to finish (decorate) half. Christmas knitting? What's that? Honestly, there's nothing like that going on here.

Everyone, happy holidays!

Shop Talk

One thing I never felt compelled to knit is baby clothes. I can't really say why, it just did not appeal to me. Now that I come to think about it, I rarely knitted small things but socks. I say "knitted" since when my job required to design some baby/kids garments, it wasn't as difficult as I'd thought and now that I have to think of some more I find myself enjoying the process.

One reason - or rather: four reasons - is the yarn I get to work with. Reynolds came out with a Kids line this fall, and there are four different yarns that really give you every excuse you want to knit small things.

- Wash Day Wool (psst, my favourite!) is a superwash 100%, very soft wool yarn in a fingering weight

- Sunday Best is a 51% cotton/49% viscose mix in a fingering weight, soft and shiny

- Cottontail is a worsted weight, 60% cotton and 40% microfiber - which gives the good ol' cotton a new, soft twist

- Play Time is a very reliable and soft worsted weight mix of 80% acrylic and 20% wool

There are 12 colors of all four of them, you'll find the pastels (cream, light pink, light blue, yellow), brights (red, orange, pink, green) and, of course, neutrals (indigo, charcoal, chocolate brown, camel), to mix and match as desired. All the colors go well together, there's almost no end to the variety of combinations.

To celebrate the newly created kids' yarns we have a whole book with 42 designs - accessories, toys and garments, ranging in sizes from 0-3 months to 4 years.

The coolest thing I haven't even told you yet: when choosing the yarns we made sure that they can be substituted with each other. Any design in Cotton Tail can be knit in Play Time and the other way around, or, and I've tried it, in Wash Day Wool doubled up - and I get gauge with two strands of Sunday Best, too. Any Wash Day Wool design can be knit in Sunday Best and vice versa. (No, we couldn't think of a method to substitute the fingering weight with the worsted weight yarns, but you didn't really expect that, did you?)

The Kids line is dear to me,  and I do hope you will enjoy looking into it, too.

BTW, the yarn works also well with "adult knitting". Wait, that doesn't sound right...Well, you know what I mean!!

Snow and more snow

With much dread I watched the snow falling yesterday. There's a lot of shoveling to be done yet.

See:


That would be our car in that big honking heap of snow. That's the top of the car with a rearview mirrow sticking out, just in case you really can't see it.



That's our deck. Good thing we don't want to have a BBQ any time soon, eh?

Knitting content is soon to recommence chez "Knit stricken".

Isn't she lovely?

Though spindles do not tend to have a gender, to me it's always a 'she', just like boats are always female. Looking at the size of this particular she, I just cannot imagine her to be a 'he'.



I got this one at Golding Fiber Tools for which I've had a weakness for quite some time now.





This particular model I chose since I wanted to make sure I'd be able to spin as finely as I wanted to - and boy, it works like a charm! I wouldn't call the outcome 'thread' but it's close. "Tsunami" (that's how the spindle is called) weighs only 0.5 oz, and spinning the merino/bamboo mix is as easy as pie.




This is my first trial with the new spindle. I don't know what the fibre is, I was given a sample with the merino/bamboo mix but I suspect it's a superwash 100% merino. It is sooo soft - and I managed to get a 2-ply laceweight.