When geek meets knit

As I mentioned last week, I was making my husband's Valentine's Day present. Here's what I did:

For those non-geeky folks, it's a dice bag. But not just any dice bag. It's a dice bag with the Green Lantern logo on it.

I charted the logo myself a few years back, when I made him a pair of Green Lantern Socks. In fact, it's the same yarn for the socks! Waste not, want not - A great justification for your yarn stash.

The bottom I put in short rows. This gave it a nice curve to look more like a bag, and the bottom didn't have to get sewn up.

I'm thinking of writing a pattern up for it. I haven't written one before, so it would be something new to add to my crafty repertoire.

I love knitting "Geeky" things. So far, I've made a Dr. Who scarf, GL socks, GL dice bag, a few Knithulus, and Wonder Woman bracelets. I haven't made a "Jayne" hat yet, or a knit Dalek. I've got a few ideas up my sleeve, however, for some more geekiness in the future.

Now that the present is done, I've gone back to the "mundane" knitting, Pomatamus. I've finished the leg, turned the heel, and in the final stretch of the foot. These will be done and on my tootsies hopefully soon!

Hearts a'knittin'

My sock has been taking a holiday on my computer desk this week, so I can knit my husband a Valentine's day present. I cannot show you progress on that , in case he reads this and then the whole surprise is ruined!

Instead, I'd like to share some fabulous Valentine-themed patterns I've found:

Heart-Felt Necklace found here: Coats and Clark

I love this, because it's not just knit. The mixed mediums of this little piece wants me to rush down to the local craft store to get the materials!

Conversation Hearts Scarf on Crochet Me

I'm a sucker for conversation hearts...and granny squares!

Handful of Hearts from Mochimochiland

must...not...die...from the cute...of leetle hearts...SQUEE!

Lovemeknot illusion socks at slippedstitch's blog

This pattern reminds me I need to try illusion knitting...and what fun on socks, when you see the pattern when you wiggle your toes!!!


If these patterns didn't hit you like Cupid's arrow, try Knitting Pattern Cental for some heart-themed patterns.

And finally, for those who celebrate "Black Thursday," The AntiCraft has a pattern to express how you feel about Valentine's Day, or to get your Buffy on:

Stabbity Stabbity!

Whatever you do on Thursday, be sure to stay warm, whether it's snuggling with a loved one, or some warm wool and needles!

Passing of the needles

One night this week on my way home, I was happily knitting my sock on the subway. Across from me was a little girl, watching. She tugged on her Mom's sleeve and said, "Mommy, that woman over there is doing something wonderful!." I looked up, and said thank you.

"What is it?" The girl asked. I told her it was a sock. To prove it, I turned it upside-right so she could see it in a more sock-like pose.

"WOW," she replied, eyes filled with awe. "How did you learn to do that?" I said my Mom taught me when I was little.

"Mommy," she turned to her and asked, "will you teach me to do that?"

"As soon as I get someone to show me how, sweetie," her Mom answered.

I decided there I would make this week's post in praise of my Mom, the craftster who started me down this path with yarn. When I was little, she taught me to crochet first, then knit. I did both off and on through my life, but it's only the past ten years or so it's become a passion for me.

Mom taught me other crafts as well; sewing, baking, embroidery...except tatting. She kept telling me she'd teach me to tat when I was older. I'm 34 now, Ma, am I old enough? :)

I hear from a lot of people who talk to me about crafting that their grandmother would knit, sew, or crochet, but their mom didn't, and so they never learned. Somehow, fiber arts skipped a generation.

In today's society, we don't need to pass on skills or trades to our children for their livelihood. I think that's why a lot of people in my age group weren't taught these things as kids. Although I am grateful for the advancement of women in society, and the other advancements we've made, I'm sad about this loss. I hope the current "craze" with knitting, and now crocheting, will be passed on, both to sons and daughters (Mom was ahead of her time there, too; my brother was taught cross-stitching, and made a quite a few great bits of art).

All of this makes me so lucky that I had a Mom that didn't skip on the crafting, and was able to pass it on to me. I also realize that I've never asked her how she was taught, something I should rectify in the future.


Until I have kids to pass this on to, I'll do my part by giving lessons, and inspire awe in kids on the subway.

And the sock, so far:

(Picture quality is due to being taken with a cell-phone; my digital camera is in mood, and won't work today.)

Old Trick, New Lesson

Last week I mentioned starting a new sock. So far, I have finished the cuff, and one pattern repeat of the leg.

In one of the knitting panels I was in, someone mentioned when doing lace or a repeated pattern, it was a good idea to put stitch markers in between the repeats.

GENIUS! Of course, I did this with the "I do" shawl, but that's only because the pattern told me to. On the next round I could, I quickly added the stitch markers in between the repeats, and oh man, did it help!
You can see the stitch markers between the repeats, two per side.

This is the lesson this week: What works in one pattern, will work in another. If you always just follow a pattern to the letter, you may not get fearless and take risks in your knitting.

New Year, New Crafting Goals, and Geeky crafting

It's 2008, do you know where your knitting is?

I am coming into this year, as the Year I Get Serious about knitting. Not that I wasn't serious about it before, but just that I would like to make it a bit more of my life.

I started that this past weekend at Arisia, a science fiction convention in Cambridge, MA. I printed up some flyers and business cards, and left them around the "freebie" tables. As I was leaving on Monday, I noticed some of the cards were gone, and some of my name and email addresses were taken as well.

My flyers were to offer help on knitting, or to give lessons, or to even take commissioned work. I created an email address for it (knittingkumqat at gmail dot com). We'll see how it goes.

What I didn't do this year was sit on any crafty panels. Due to the wedding that sucked up a majority of my time (a reason this blog has been neglected), I did not want to overextend myself going into this con. It was hard for me to sit in the audience of the panel, and not want to chime in with my two cents every few seconds. Instead, I concentrated on the set-up row of my sock.

I also had a bristling run-in with a crafty vendor. The last run-in I had with this person, they sat in on a panel I was on, and kept interrupting and trying to sell their yarn during my panel. This year, I went in looking for some yarn, and I asked about a skein I was holding up. The vendor came over, grabbed the skein from my hand, and scolded "Let me tell you how to read a band on a skein of yarn!" And proceeded to do so in the most condescending tones imaginable. I walked out of their room, vowing never to buy a bead or a stitch marker from them, ever.

Now that the con is over, I'm going to get the name "The Knitting Kumquat" out there more. Look for me here, and also on Ravelry!

Newletters, shrugs and harems

On Fridays, Berroco sends out an e-newsletter, with latest patterns, new yarns, and so on. Usually, the patterns are not to my taste. Okay, they're not to many. The company was mocked quite a bit in the old "You Knit What" blog. And I have to say, it was deserved. I mean, look at this:


I think they must have found out. We liked the yarn, hated the patterns. They recently hired Norah Gaughn, of Knitting Nature fame. Since then, the patterns have improved. GREATLY. This week, their newsletter advertised her newest book of patterns with them. I am in LOVE with this book. Here's a peek at some of the patterns:



This scarf is just adorable! There's something about the ribbing, and the knitted bobbles on the bottom, and the diagonal of the design.



Now, I usually see skirt patterns for knitting and groan. They look bulky, and just uncomfortable. It's made with their merino yarn, so I can see this in the winter with tights and a light knit top. The other reason I groan at skirt patterns are cost. I don't even want to begin to calculate the cost of this. So I will adore is from afar, until I've lost more weight and I won't need as much yarn for the pattern.

I will be adding this book to my collection. Probably during the next Knitter's Breakfast. Right now, I'm too busy on other items.

Speaking of which, the "I Do" shrug is coming along well. I'm past the elbow, heading towards the shoulder of the first arm:




I flexed my creative brain beyond knitting and the 15-page newsletter I finished this week. E & I went out dancing on Friday night, and the theme was "Arabian Midnights." Think goth belly dance, because that's what they had as entertainment. I didn't have anything gothy-middle eastern to wear, but I had an idea. After work (half day Fridays during the summer, YAY!), we headed to the local thrift store, and I bought two panels of sheer curtains. Stopped into Jo-Ann's Fabrics for some elastic, and headed home. I traced out the patten into the curtains, and in one hour, VOILLA! Harem pants! Total cost: about $10.



Because I didn't reinforce the hem, or surge or burn the edge of the material before sewing, there was some rippage along the seams. But, they lasted the night, and that's all I wanted.

Making pants was SO EASY! I used these instructions as a guideline. I am so going to be making pajama bottoms, and comfy bum-around-the house jammies now. For some reason, I hadn't made pants before this. I always made skirts, shirts, dresses.

What I want to do next for sewing? I want to make a corset purse. I have one I bought a few summers ago, which is beyond cleaning. I'm thinking of pulling it apart, make pattern templates, and see if it can be done. I may also go see if someone on Craftster has done it yet.

But again, it's on the back burner. For now, I have a lacy shrug to get back to.

I do...not like abbreviated patterns! [knit]

I decided to create a blog that would be solely for my two hobbies writing and knitting. I'll be adjusting this as I get more savvy with the Blogspot interface.

For now, let's get into knitting.

Right now I'm working on the I do pattern from Knitty to go with my wedding dress. I had a week down at the Cape to work on it. This is 45 rows of knitting:
(click on photo for larger version and detail.)

I'm using Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool (color 01). It's really soft. I'm knitting them on my Denise needles. Not always the best choice for lace knitting. While I was in Woolcott, I looked over at the Addi turbos. and contemplated it, but I decided against it. I wanted to knit this on the needles that my fiancee gave me. It makes it a little harder to knit, but worth the effort in the end.

There are markers between each lace repeat. This was recommended in the pattern, and it has made the lacework easier to keep track of. The pattern is over a repeat of 12, so I know if I don't have 12 between each one, I'm in trouble.

I do not like the way the pattern was written. I have never been a big fan of the patterns that to save space give you directions for the next 20 or so rows, then say "at the same time..." and then give you more directions. I've found this most common in decrease row patterns. The first time I came across it, I had NO idea how to wrap my brain around it, and I called my knitting Help Desk - Ma. Ma did the math over the phone without batting an eye.

I, however, am not as quick as that (yet). I created an excel spreadsheet for the pattern, with row-by-row instructions, and put at the end of the row how many stitches I should have left. I was pretty impressed with my effort.

Until I got to working the decreases. The decrease section will have one less stitch each round. I wrote the decrease section directions like there will always be 12, and I'll only be decreasing one. Trying to work in pattern, and figure out the decrease was a difficult task. But, I got through it without having to pull out any stiches. Phew!

I'm almost at the "Elbow to shoulder" section. I'm hoping to get this done soon, so I can move on to bridesmaid favors. I want to get all the wedding knitting done early, so I when I need to knit to relieve stress before the wedding, it won't be something that HAS to be done.