Happy New Year

Well, hello there.  Several months have passed since I  last posted, and you might be wondering 'Who the heck is this?'

It's me.  After a long hiatus,  pleas from a few of my faithful readers and learning that a brand new knitter was looking for my blog, made me decide  to start 2017 off with the resolution to post regularly.  Well, at least more regularly.  We leave next week for two months in Florida, which could put an end to my good intentions.   Finding time to post when the beach beckons?  We'll see.  But for now, I'm home, it's cold outside, so posting will happen.

What is on my needles?  2017 begins the way 2016 ended.  That is, with the same sweater on my needles. Like every cold Canadian, I have a wear-around-the-house sweater.  The one I currently wear, I knit, a few years ago.  I wear it almost daily once the temperatures drop and it is starting to look less than nice.  Enough motivation for me to knit a new around-the-house sweater.

What should I knit?  A cardigan, so I can throw it on over whatever not-warm-enough clothes I am wearing  on any given day.  Top down, so I can design on the fly and knit to fit.  

Into the stash I dove and came up with 6 balls of wool snatched form Sandy's sister Sue's most recent yarn give-away.  4 balls of Patons Classic tweed in taupe and off white, along with two balls of co-ordinating plains - one taupe and one in a shade of white.  The three colours  went well together but when I really looked at them, I realized it would be a pretty dull   sweater in those colours alone.  Not the greatest look for a Canadian winter.  We need bright and cheerful here in these northern climes to get us through some pretty  short,  dark days.

Back to the stash and it didn't take long to come up with several small balls of wildly bright and exciting colours.  Perfect.  Close to the face, a cheery, coloured yoke in garter stitch, followed by  the body and sleeves in the 'dulls'.  And this would also solve the problem of a potential yarn shortage.  I was pretty sure the 6 balls would suffice, but you never know.  With the colours added at the yoke and cuffs, I am confident I will not run out of yarn.

As always for me, when I knit pattern free, I make several starts.  Getting the colours lined up 'just right', getting the raglan increases ' just right',  getting the front neck increases 'just right' all took some ripping and re-starting.  Perhaps the equivalent of re-knitting a third of a sweater.  Without that I would most likely be finished by now.  Instead, here I am.

Below you can clearly see the steek stitches in centre front.  During the planning stage,  I tossed around the idea of knitting back and forth so there would be no need to steek  versus knitting in the round so there would be no need to purl. The latter won.  

This morning finds me with 15 1/2 completed inches. Five more inches to go before the ribbing. Then sleeves, and steek.   Let's see how far I can get before Florida.  This wool sweater is not invited down south.  If not complete before departure, it will go into hibernation until spring.

Changing Plans

Back in January, I started a vest with my Noro stash.

Noro being Noro, that is yarn with wonderful bands of colour - read exquisitely variegated yarn - I looked for a pattern, or at least a vision, that would create vertical-ness to the striping. Sure, many in the world knit Noro normally and it looks fabulous. But I kept seeing those ribbons of colour going 'up' rather than across my body. I found this pattern on the 'net' and ordered it.

As I mentioned in the above-linked post, the pattern is a bit hoky. It's also for a sweater that starts at the cuff, but I'm knitting a vest. That meant I had to search for an appropriate starting point and could only guess that I had found it. I knit about 5 inches on the vest and couldn't 'see' it happening. So it's been resting for a week or two.

On the weekend, having run out of black yarn for Christie's mittens, I did some virtual knitting through blogs and ravelry and somewhere on my tour, saw reference to this pattern.

How perfect is that for a vertically striped vest? Lion Brand # 1168. Still available. Still free on their web site. In fact it's available in two yarn weights. Sport and chunky. Mind you, neither weight is my weight, but that problem I can solve.

I have changed my plans. I'm excited. That pattern will have my Noro performing exactly as I envisioned.

Green Again

Having run out of black yarn for Christie's mittens, and tired of acres of stockinet stitch for my pumpkin pie pullover, I did what my Mother would have been disappointed to see me do. I started yet another project before finishing my previous one. Previous two actually.

A Felted Bucket Hat from Chicknits. Fred and I had a short road trip this morning and what better thing to do in the passenger's seat than knit? I cast on and got this much finished before we returned home.

Can you guess who gets this hat? Your clue? It's green. If you guessed, 'no one but Brenda wears this shade of green', you're right. The hat is for me!! Not particularly pretty in hats, I might, I think, look not too bad in this one. It's the face-framing brim that kicks up the style quotient and makes it a hat I can I think I can wear. And of course the colour suits me well.

Friend Nicki, often suggests to me that I should enlarge my colour range -wear colours from outside my colour comfort zone. Although her nagging encouragement hasn't yet put me in blue or pink, it at least makes me question my colour choices. And I've come to the conclusion, that I fall somewhere between a woman who knows what looks good and flatters, and a woman in a rut. Your opinions not required. Thanks just the same.

Since I have this lovely piece of 'black coat art' -

the green again hat should look just fine.

A Weekend's Worth

A weekend's worth of knitting can easily produce a great pair of Chimera mittens. These mittens knit up very quickly - a puzzle to me. Being a double layer, they are actually the better part of two pairs of mittens, yet they knit up quickly. There is something about that layering that is motivational.

Niece Christie, Katie's sister - that's Katie of the red hat and red & black Chimera mittens - requested 'texting' mittens. Yes, you heard that right. Another request. I think, so far, I'm up to four for 2011. A record!

Christie: "Aunt Brenda, could you knit me texting mittens too? I could pay for the yarn"

Me: Masking my extreme delight at another request so as not to appear too dorky
"Sure. I'd love too, and you don't have to pay for the yarn. It will be a gift."

Christie: With a big grin. "Thanks Aunt Brenda."

Me: "Do you want the same pattern as Katie's mittens?"

Christie: Again, with a big grin. "Yes, please."

Me: "And what colour would you like?"

Christie: "Blue and black, please."

Me: "OK, blue and black it is. "

Christie: With another big grin "Thanks, Aunt Brenda. Are you sure you don't want me to pay for the yarn?"

Don't you love 14 year old girls?

Wednesday at work, I picked up the blue yarn but no black. I had lots of black left over from both Katie's mittens and 'Sis' hat.

And my weekend's knitting produced mitten number one.

And then this.

But no more than that, because of this.

Not enough black yarn. My weekend's worth of knitting could have produced the mittens. But only if this knitter had been smart enough to purchase sufficient yarn. The good news is that with the extra black yarn and the leftover blue, I will probably have enough to knit Christie a matching hat. Another weekend's knitting and hopefully another of those delightful big grins.

Knitting 2010

When 2010 began, I decided and publicly declared in this blog to spend the year with Elizabeth Zimmermann. I intended to knit only her patterns and I seem to recall saying only with her yarns.

How did that go? What did I learn? Am I glad I did it?

I learned that exclusivity isn't for me. Although much of what I knit in 2010 was EZ related, there were some other knits that crept into my year. Abi's Vest,the Rabbit Fur Hats, my Yellow Summer Cardi, my Chic Knits Sit Com Cardi, Sally Melville's Shape It Scarf, Dorothy's Hat, and the socks I knit for the Need A Sock? book, all come to mind. Then too, there was my summer vest, my scarfette/mop thingy , Fred's Fisherman's Mittens and all that Black Coat Art.

But there were lots of Zimmermann knits. My Olympic project was
Elizabeth Zimmermann's Green Sweater. A fabulous sweater. A tailored, jacket-type sweater, I wear it often and get lots of compliments.

Then there was Lloie's Cardigan or the 50th Anniversary Cardigan. I love this sweater. The fit is perfect and the fair isle work has an interesting component - the background colour is the one that changes, not the pattern work. I love it!

There was the February Baby Sweater, Bonnet and Slippers, the Spiral Snail Hat - UGH! - and the Thick Woodsman's Socks.

Waterloo Fairisle was a combo knit. I used a chart from one pattern along with Elizabeth's methodology. With the leftover yarn from Waterloo, I knit my first Tomten jacket.

When it came time to knit Peter's Avast, I knit the bottom, horizontal, cable band according to pattern, then switched to Elizabeth's raglan sweater design based on the percentage system for the rest of the sweater.

So. Am I glad I did it? You bet. Without the public, blog declaration, I would never have stuck with it. Stick-to-itve-ness is not my forte. I learned much. I will never knit blindly from patterns again. Ever! I know without a doubt that knitting the garment with Elizabeth's percentage system will give me a sweater that fits. Every time! Without fail! Or doubt!

I learned much about my own figure and measurements. I know the ratio between the upper portion of my sweaters and the overall measurement. I know how big I need to make my upper arms, and how deep to wear my yokes. I know the width of my shoulders for the perfect set-in-sleeve shoulder seam and I know where on my body to take it in a bit, or let it out a bit. And how to do that. Thank you Elizabeth.

I feel much more connected with knitters of old. The knitters that just 'knew' how to knit the sweater. How to size the sweater, how to correct their mistakes and how to know which mistakes didn't need correcting. Thank you Elizabeth.

I learned much about steeks. Not just the straight, plain, centre front steek, but the kind used when the end result is a square neckline or set in sleeves. Thank you Elizabeth.

In some ways, I feel the year was not long enough. There is still much Elizabeth I want to knit. The Three-In-One Sweater, the Mitred Garter Stitch Blanket and another 'Green Sweater' to name a few.

In other ways, the year seemed too long. I am READY to knit some trendy designs, current fashions and silly, fun stuff. Will I follow a pattern? Not likely. Show me a picture. Walk past me in the street. Describe your vision. I have Elizabeth in my head. That's all the pattern I need. Thank you Elizabeth.

Still At It

Having been upbraided by an 'anonymous' commenter that sounded awfully like Peter, the recipient of the dark, grey, plain sweater, for spoiling his Christmas surprise by blogging about the sweater, I give you a shot that only a knitter could figure out.

Knitters know what this means. It means Almost There! I think I will make it.

I have decided however, to test my blood pressure pills, - what good are they if they don't work under pressure - by starting another Bucket Hat. In my extended family we have a $10 gift exchange. Each person buys a $10 gift for a person like themselves. I, being an adult female buy a gift for an adult female. The gifts are all piled on the table and gifts are selected as names are drawn.

Then we fight over them. Well, fight is too strong a word, but we allow the gift to be 'stolen' three times. It's great fun. Good after dinner entertainment, doesn't cost anyone much and keeps us thinking all year of what we might like to give. Except me. I just decided after finishing a hat for Dorothy that I want to give a bucket hat. So bring on those pills!

Decorating The Hat

Look what arrived in my email box yesterday afternoon. Knitting daily sent a free pattern for the perfect flower to adorn Dorothy's hat. How lucky is that? I can't wait to try this flower.

However, with knitting time at a premium, considering I still have a sweater and a pair of Fisherman's mittens to finish before Friday, in the case of Dorothy's hat, the dollar store worked better. A Christmas bauble - reduced to 42 cents! - nothing too good for Dorothy:) - a bag of craft feathers and look at the result!

Dorothy will be the best 'hatted' Red Hatter.

Dorothy's Red Hat

Despite the hours spent knitting Peter's sweater on the weekend, I did manage to finish Dorothy's red hat.

It was so much fun to knit. An easy-to-follow pattern and a quick knit. A perfect antidote to the monotonous, dark grey, plain, stockinet sweater requested by Peter.

The hat is delightful and will be even more so if I can find a chunky purple decoration for the side. This is Bonnie Marie Burns pattern - Felted Bucket Hat, knit 100% according to pattern with red Rejuvenation yarn. Felting time was 10 minutes. I love it. Thanks for the inspiration, Sharon.

Red It Is

Copying is something I do well. Once having seen Sharon's MIL's Red Hat Society red hat, I came home and ordered Bonnie Marie Burns pattern for the Felted Bucket Hat.

Using a ball of bright red Rejuvenation, I started the hat at knit group yesterday. It is a quick knit and in between bites of goodies, I managed to do this.

This hat is not for me - red is so not my colour. This hat is for Dorothy. Fun loving Dorothy of the bright and cheerful socks. I will see her on the 27th . Hopefully the hat will be done and decorated with some very creative purple ornament by that time. Suggestions?

Have a great weekend everyone.

James Socks

James socks were out the door when I realized I hadn't given you details. Never too late for details, here they are.

When last I spoke of the socks, I had failed miserably to do a correct heel flap. Instead of the 28 (50%) stitches required, my mis-count gave me only 26. Of course, I didn't count twice, but proceeded to complete the flap. And the heel turn. Or at least I tried to turn the heel. Without the correct number of stitches, it was quite one-sided.

But done now and off to Hearst in the Christmas box, here are the details.

Pattern - Sock 101 from Need A Sock? Using 56 stitches to fit a shoe size 5.

Yarn - Waikiwi in dark green. This yarn is by Naturally from New Zealand and contains 10% Possum Fur.

Ribbing - My favourite. A 2 X 2 rib.

Heel Flap & Turn -Again my favourite. The SL 1, K 1 heel flap with a round - start short rowing at two past centre - heel.

Toes - Round toes. Favourites?? You bet. Decrease every other round until 50% of stitches remain, then decrease every round until 25% remain before grafting.

Mods - With 56 stitches, I was able to put an easy, seven-stitch pattern on the leg of K6, P1. It's great how that seven stitch pattern not only flowed nicely from the 2 X 2 ribbing, but also fit into my 56 stitch sock a perfect eight times. Four for the front of the leg,. Four for the back.

All in all, a favourite pattern,

knit in lovely yarn, for my favourite (and only) grand son.

Socks And Mittens

I'm close. But the box won't go out today either. I stopped last night just as the needles approached the toe area.

Today, toe decreases, grafting and then James socks go into the box.

Knitting to a deadline isn't the most fun I've ever had with my needles (you'd wonder why I do it so often) so to alleviate the boredom factor, I started a pair of mittens for Fred.

Directly opposite the socks on the yarn scale, these are knit with local, Grey County yarn, unsophisticatedly spun and still containing much barn matter. Perfect for fishing mittens. Fred asked!!! for a pair of mittens to keep his hands warm while he fishes in sub-zero weather. Since his hands are so cold as he practices his 'haven't brought home a fish this year' kind of fishing, you'd wonder why he does it so often. Guess we both have our passions.

These mittens, I will make with both the thumb and index finger separate from the rest of the fingers. In less 'aware' times, they were called smokers mitts. Now that we are so enlightened about life's bad habits, I call them fishing mitts. With them, Fred can engage in another of life's dangerous habits -standing on the icy rocks along the side of the frigid river, throwing his weight behind a line toss into the rushing waters. I'm an knitting enabler!

A Finished Morgan

Morgan's Cardi - known in this house as Abi's Cardi - is finished.

Blocked overnight

and ready for the tying in of ends, it's finished! Buttons, hopefully on the weekend. Notice the very loose definition of finished here.

It fits my vision perfectly. A cute, little, cardi vest knit especially to show off the Dragon Fly necklace I am giving Abi for her Christmas Day birthday.

This pattern is from the Cabin Fever book Teens & Tweens. I made the second size - with a 31 inch finished chest but shortened it to 16 inches as per my instincts and Mom & Dad's confirmation. Other than sizing and the two-colour version I knit for Abi, the only major modification I made was to knit a smaller collar. The pattern calls for a five inch collar. That seemed to me that it might overwhelm little Abi, so I made it three inches instead.

The purple Zara yarn photographs poorly, looking drab and more pink than purple. In real life, it's a delightful purple heather. Purple being Abi's favourite colour, it made sense to couple it with the blue Cantata Crepe for the body of the sweater.

The pattern was well written and easy to follow, but I would make a couple of changes if I were to knit it again. Knit top down, the sweater begins with the collar. To help keep the collar from tugging tightly across the back of the neck, the collar cast-on is done with a large needle. Next time I would not only cast on but also knit a row or two before switching to the smaller needle. Just to really relieve the tugging problem.

The only other change I would make is to re-locate the buttonholes. The pattern calls for nine stitches to be knit before working the buttonhole. A few less stitches would put the buttonholes closer to the edge which IMO would be a better location.

Otherwise, great pattern, nice yarn, perfectly envisioned. Nice knit.

PS. You might have read the comment from Kim, Abi's Mom and my DIL a few days ago. I incorrectly mentioned in my post that Abi will turn ten! Not so. She will be nine this Christmas Day. Mom commented that I must have too many grand kids because I can't keep their ages straight. I'd like to ask who's fault is that? :):) LOL!

Close, But ---

Close! But, as the saying goes, no cigar!

Aib's cardi is now at 13 inches.

Mom and Dad confirmed, during Sunday's weekly phone call, that 16 inches is indeed the target. Three more inches.

That might have been accomplished over the weekend, except that I ran out of readily available yarn. You see, the blue yarn is left over from a previous project. I thought perhaps there was enough still in the ball to complete this little cardi, but at 13 inches, I ran out.

Not the brutal, needle-gnashing kind of 'run out'. Just the not so easily-accessible kind of 'run out'. The extra yarn I needed was still in a summer top I knit a couple of years back and never wore. Access available through ripping!

Let me tell you, I am a very good finisher. Nothing I make will ever fall apart. It can barely be taken apart. Perseverance pays off though, and by a late, bed-time last night, I had managed to rip back the never-worn top and now have enough yarn to finish. Today, back to knitting.

I have learned that each four row repeat adds one half inch to the cardi. Three more inches equals six more repeats. Somehow working that out makes it seem much more achievable. Will cigars be in order by tonight? Maybe! This type of pressure can sometimes make my needles fly.

Abi's Cardigan

Abi's Dragon Fly Cardigan is moving along. The charm has arrived. Finally.

My gauge is still off, but I'm trying very hard to knit loosely and so far my bigger-than-required size seems to be compensating for my finer-than-required yarn. Fingers crossed.

Last night saw me zoom past the 'great divide'. Sleeves are now on hold and I am working only on the body. My limited supply of purple Zara - two balls only - got me this far

with just enough left to 'cap' off the little, cap sleeves. The rest of the cardi will be blue - just like the dragon fly necklace. I envision my little grand daughter being the height of Grade 4 fashion!

Ever since buying Sally Melville's book The Knitting Experience, Book 1 The Knit Stitch, when working a colour change, I copy the method of striping Sally used in the scarf on the cover. Change colours. Work two rows. Revert to the preceding colour and work two final rows, then on to the new colour. The transition from colour to colour is more interesting than just going from colour A to B. That is what I did here. Purple, then two rows of blue, then two rows of purple, then on to blue for keeps. I like it.

This shouldn't take too many more knit hours. I hope to have it done by the weekend. Should the charm stay with me.

The Elusive Charm

Third time is supposed to bring on the charm, but the 'sweater to match the Dragon Fly necklace' (STMTDFN) I want to knit for Abi is testing that point.

Once I realized my sizing was way off, I looked for a different pattern. Thank goodness, I suppressed my knitterly denial on this one, otherwise I would have finished the sweater, not simply the yoke. Not to be fussy, but I decided to look for a pattern with the same gauge of yarn as mine and a pattern sized for a child, not an adult.

That took a few hours of magazine reading research.

In the end I settled on Morgan's Cardigan from Teens & Tweens. It is definitely for a child and is 'close' to the same gauge as mine. Using a slightly larger needle, I think I can make it work.

Searching a bit early for that charm - after all it was only the second attempt - I cast on.

It's a top down pattern, with the cast on being at the edge of the collar. Ingeniously, the cast on is done with a much larger needle to give the collar enough fabric to turn without resistance or rolling. I remembered the larger needles but managed to work about 2 inches of the collar, before I realized I was working the wrong size. Abi is bigger than the doll-sized sweater previously started, but at nine, she sure doesn't have a 40 inch chest. Rip!

Third time's - well still not so charming. I was only into the collar by an inch this time when I realized I had forgotten to cast on with the larger needle. Rip.

Fourth time's - well, just too late at night after a tiring day to be correct. Rip.

Fifth time's on the needles now

and I'm sure the charm is just around the corner. Elusive it might be, but not impossible. Of course, that could be my knitterly denial talking.

Plan B

Abi, my youngest Grand daughter, will be nine years old on Christmas day. She is enamored with all things 'buggy' but especially the Dragon Fly.

I spotted this

a lovely, little, blue, Dragon Fly necklace at the Meaford Craft Show in October. A perfect birthday gift for Abi.

Then ambition set in. How nice would it be to knit a little sweater to show of the Dragon Fly necklace. I envisioned something with short sleeves, cardigan style, a couple of dramatic buttons and texture. Cables, perhaps? Or garter stitch?

Of course the sweater needed some blue, but my inner designer told me that all blue would only camouflage, rather than show off, the necklace. Hmmm. Abi's favourite colour is purple and . I just happened to have some lovely Purple Zara. One of the many yarny gifts in my goodie bag from my day in Ancaster last spring.

I settled on the pattern Shalom. Of course Shalom is an adult sized pattern and Abi isn't. Shalom calls for quite chunky yarn and mine isn't. But knitters, for generations have been turning out smaller sweaters simply by knitting with a smaller gauge yarn. Haven't they? I'm sure I've read that somewhere.

Mind you the details were a little sketchy. In fact, there were none. It was definitely a 'well, let's see what happens' kind of approach.

And what happened is that the size is WAY! off. I have a doll size sweater happening here.

Tonight, Plan B. Beginning with a search for an appropriate pattern. I'm thinking maybe Elizabeth Zimmermann can help me here. Maybe a 'yoke' sweater done EZ style, purple body, blue yoke. Keep the sleeves short. Instead of a yoke with colour work, a yoke with Shalom's twisted rib pattern. It could work.

All my 'vision' boxes ticked, I'm ready for round two.

More Fun With Fur

Both rabbit-trimmed hats are finished, ready for the Christmas box. One just slightly larger than the other.

Next up on the Christmas knitting programme are socks. Ten year old grandson James requested !! socks - green socks to be exact. I spent much time this fall searching for green sock yarn. It had to be plain green, not striped or patterned. Ten year old boys can be quite specific with their requests.

Eventually, I found Waikiki sock yarn by Naturally of New Zealand. Plain green.

Your basic sock yarn except --there's fur in it! Yep, fur. 10% Possum. Machine washable fur, no less. In this particular yarn there is also some Alpaca so the socks should be very warm.

I think I might wait a couple of weeks and start these socks with the Need A Sock? KAL we are hosting at the store and on ravelry. That will give me time to start what will likely be my last Elizabeth Zimmermann project of my year with EZ. As yet, I'm not sure what it will be, but it will involve no fur.

Silver Linings

Remember the fiasco of the black slippers inadvertently felted with tissue? I had wanted to knit those felted slippers so I could trim them out with rabbit fur. The fur 'yarn' had been purchased at a trade show this fall at the Paula Lishman booth. She had such gorgeous things on display

and I - silly me - thought I could so something just as spectacular.

Those felted-with-tissue slippers almost proved me wrong, but rare the cloud that doesn't have a silver lining. It occurred to me that it was not the best idea to put rabbit fur on sippers anyway. Why not a hat? A non-felted hat. Doesn't this look much better?

With Mission Falls wool and 4 1/2 mm needles, I started with cast-on numbers for my size and yarn as given in the Need A Hat? book and worked a reverse stockinet rolled edge as per pattern #10 in that book. Next I worked a band of my own design, bordered top and bottom by 5 rounds of plain stockinet stitch. In the middle of the band, I placed two rounds of
'YO, K2tog' stitches separated by another 5 rounds of stockinet. The yarn over holes gave me a spot to thread the fur through.

Because both my Grand daughters have lots of hair, after the band I increased adding eight stitches for Abigail - age 9 - and 16 for Sarah - age 13.
Hopefully, that accommodates the pony/pig tails. The top of the hat was finished as a normal hat - decreases made in multiples of eight - until just enough stitches remained to thread the yarn through and pull tightly.

Personally, feeling and working with the fur gives me the creeps, but I think my grand daughters will be enthralled. It is soft and soft does have it's appeal.

Tissues Versus Hankerchiefs

My father always used cotton handkerchiefs. My Mother washed them weekly. Yuck. Not for me. We use tissues at my house. Always have. Always - - - well, maybe not.

Christmas is coming and thoughts of sugar plums hand-knit gifts dance in my head. First on my list was felted slippers for my Grand daughters. This fall, I purchased some very special trim - rabbit fur yarn from Paula Lishman. My vision was to knit something to show off the fur. Felted slippers with fur trim seemed a good idea. The grey fur looked best against black, so black slippers it was. Late last night I finished the first pair. Silly, I know, to felt just one pair, but what knitter can resist seeing the results? Not me, obviously.

Felters know that things felt best when paired with something else in the machine. I chose Fred's jeans. Felters know that it is best for the machine to place the knitting in a bag - a pillowcase, perhaps.

But it was late. I was in a hurry. And I couldn't readily find an old pillowcase. Big mistake.
Fred had a tissue in his back pocket. Of course, the late hour and my haste meant I didn't check.

Take it from me. There is no mess quite like the mess of black wool slippers felted with a tissue.

I think Fred will get some cotton hankies for Christmas.

Can You See A 'But' Coming?

Bloggers who use their bog for self-promotion are not my type of blogger. Using the blog mainly to advertise the latest for-sale pattern, or promote the most recent book tour is not my idea of good blogging.

Blogging about knitting, to me, means sharing ideas, sharing successes and sharing trials about knitting experiences. In this way, bloggers further the art/craft of knitting and that benefits all knitters.

Knowing that self-promotion is not something that I do often, here comes my 'but'.

But, readers are aware that over the last several months, I was working on a book. Deb Gemmell from Cabin Fever and I worked together to produce a book on how to knit socks. Titled
Need A Sock? it was released in mid-September.

The book is a tutorial, a recipe, a formula on how to knit socks. It encourages the knitter to become intuitive about sock knitting. Our hope is that once the sock knitting formula is mastered, sock knitting will be second nature to the knitter. No patterns will ever be required to knit socks.

With that in mind, Deb and I are organizing a KAL. For knitters wanting to knit a first sock - or - for knitters wanting to learn to knit socks using the percentage formula, the KAL will run on ravelry starting in early November.

If you are interested, you can check in with the Cabin Fever ravelry group here.

I now return to my regular programming blogging.