by Kat | Oct 7, 2016 | General
Most of the time a short week is a good thing – but a short week after a vacation was perhaps not the smartest idea. My list barely has a dent in it! (However, laundry is almost done and yogurt is made!)
I had what I thought was a brilliant idea to get one of Steve’s socks for length so I could perhaps finish sock numero uno yesterday. That might have worked if he cut his toes off. Seriously, I thought about suggesting it for more than half a second! Today will find me ripping back the toe and knitting another inch (really, I am knitting WAY more than an inch and hoping they will be just a bit too big!!) Promising him and his size 14 feet a pair of hand knit socks was perhaps the most epic disaster of my knitting life. Really. I will persevere and finish these suckers, however painful it is. And trust me, it is plenty painful! I am trying to avoid the urge to put these socks in Knitting Time Out.
Rather I am going to focus on the beauty that is the Frankfort, Michigan beach.
Instead of feeling bogged down like these poor benches, buried up to their necks in sand!
How about a double dose of Friday Links?? There has been plenty of good stuff over the past couple of weeks:
That is all I have this week. Tonight, there will be a Grand Traverse Distillery Manhattan or two to usher in FriYAY and Steve is taking a half a day – so while it is technically not a “long weekend” it will be starting a wee bit early! The weather is calling for a backyard bonfire too!
I hope your weekend is fantastic, see you back here on Monday!
by Kat | Sep 23, 2016 | General
When one of my absolute favorite designers collaborates with some friends and they put together a collection of “Drop-Dead Easy Knits” I was excited to see what the collection would include. I pre-ordered the book and it was delivered on Tuesday – at which point, I dropped everything and started to page through.
Paging through turned into reading and before I knew it an hour had passed and I had a list of items to add to my Ravelry queue.
I had foolishly assumed the book would contain a collection of accessories, and while it has some really lovely accessory knitting pieces, there is so much more. Sweaters, baby items, and even a MDK Log Cabin blanket!
The thing I love the most about the book though is how the patterns are written.
How many times have you begun knitting a pattern and wished that some parts were highlighted boldly with the read ahead instructions? For me this has happened numerous times and it generally means frogging back several rows to correct the thing I have either omitted or kept doing but should have stopped.
In Drop-Dead Easy Knits the patterns have a special call out for “Concentration Zones” cluing you in to what is coming ahead. Likewise, they clearly mark areas where you can click on “Cruise Control” and knit on without worry (and it even tells you how long you can knit without worry!!)
Another bonus for knitters everywhere is the reference section where they give “alternate yarn suggestions by pattern”! Yes, really. And, the list is not compiled of one alternative – there are multiples for every project!
I was especially happy to see that it is number one on the Amazon Best Sellers in Knitting list this morning so if you buy only one knitting book this year, this would be an excellent choice. Seriously! Your knitting library will thank you!
Now for some Friday Links:
That is all I have for today! Have a fantastic week and see you back here on Monday!!
by Kat | Sep 16, 2016 | General
It has been a full week here in my house – although, my list still has a couple of things still lingering on it, but I will not be overly stressed if I do not get them all done.
I did indeed get the second Triticum front completed, I hope to cast on the first sleeve sometime this weekend. Seems like the perfect thing to do while watching the Michigan Game!
Plus, there were a few moments spent spinning this week. I am working on getting my Shetland from the Sheepspot Fiber Club finished. I was unsure of what I would do with this, but Ysolda provided a fantastic idea and gave me a problem at the same time! What did I have that would go well with this purple yarn?? I did some stash diving and found some “sport weight options” – imagine that! At first I thought that this Top of the Lamb might work. It looks nice in color but, as you can see in the black and white image, there is not enough difference in the hues of the two colors. Therefore, not a good choice. But, luckily I also have some Rauma Strikke-garn that works well as far as color theory goes. I will know for sure when I swatch and see how they play together.
Next week will be another full week, but I am going to spend some time today making some lists for our upcoming vacation. It is much easier to pack from a list; don’t you agree? If not, I tend to forget lots of things!
The Friday Links today have lots of good things, and not all of them are fiber related:
Today is “Read an eBook Day” – I mean, is anything even remotely more important than that?? (Psst, there is a contest involved too with a great prize…)
Finally, this is totally off track, however Steve is sending me Links of Torture – Pumpkin comes to Williams Sonoma – yeah, I reallllly want, but do I need… that is the question!!
That is all I have today – have a fantastic weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!!
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by Kat | Sep 9, 2016 | General
Tomorrow someone special has a birthday.
Happy Birthday, Heidi! I love you so much!
Now on to the Friday Links:
That’s all I have for the week, have a fantastic weekend! See you back here on Monday!
