Do you love podcasts? I do--I love them. My quality of life would really take a steep downhill curve without my podcasts. I have a list of podcasts over there on the right side of the blog, cleverly listed under...um..."Podcasts."
Right now, I'm especially loving She-Knits, Never Not Knitting, and the good old standby, Stash and Burn the best. That's not to say I don't love all my knitting podcasts; I do--but there are times when I get on a bender of sticking with a certain few. I'm on jag of listening to these three a lot lately.
I spent a lovely late afternoon today listening to Never Not Knitting. This is a semi-newish podcast that I loved from my first listen. I was sitting on my bed this afternoon, workng on Mr. Greenjeans number two, listening to episode 9, totally entertained 100% of the time. I was totally identifying with Alana as she talked about her Shopping Curse, which I also have. I'm not just a carrier; I have a full-blown case of Shopping Curse myself. I regularly put items in my cart, only to over-think every aspect of the proposed purchase until I either
a) freeze with the inability to decide on a color/style/size or b) talk myself out of it entirely. I may even have a more serious case of this than Alana does, because I do this not only in brick and mortar stores of all types, but also in online store shopping carts. Yeah. Hmmm.
During episode 10, Alana gave a lovely tour through the winter issue of Twist Collective, a drool-worthy treasure trove of patterns designed by lots of the celebrities of the knitting world. Never Not Knitting, the blog in and of itself is a feast for the eyes and the mind with just the right balance of knitting-related prose, informative links, Alana's designs, STUNNING photography, and of course, the podcast. The podcast itself is very well done, with professional-grade sound effects, knitting stories sent in by listeners, contests and humor. Please, please make a point to listen to the ENTIRE theme song at the end of the podcast. If you're a knitter, you'll swear to God this song was written about you. This is absolutely the most clever theme song I've heard on any podcast of any genre. If you haven't listened to Never Not Knitting, you must! You MUST! Leave this blog and go there now!
She-Knits is another of my top faves right now when it comes to podcasts. Sharon Dreifuss is a WONDERFUL podcaster who treats the listeners as her own cyber knitting circle, warmly including us in her daily life as a wife and mother of seven children, as well as her burgeoning career as a successful knitting designer. If you've heard of the Dumpling Bag, that's one of Sharon's designs that was just published in Interweave Knits in the fall issue. This is just one of the designs Sharon has had published in major knitting venue's of late. In addition, Sharon also sells knitting kits for all of her lovely felted bag designs as well as the actual bags themselves as custom orders. Her bags are unique and beautiful. It's definitely worth your time to head over to her website and look for yourself.
Sharon's podcast reminds me with every listen just how much we all have in common as women, as knitters, as wives, as mothers, as....human beings! Like Sharon, I work out of my house and am also a designer who has dabbled in not only selling my own designs directly but also submitting to various knitting publications, experiencing both the dashed hopes of rejection and also the wild elation of acceptance. I LOVE She-Knits. I feel like I'm good friends with Sharon and I've never even met her. You'll feel the same as soon as you listen. I love listening to this one while I'm doing chores around the house, going for walks, cooking, etc. You will too. Go listen to Sharon at your first opportunity.
I know you already must know about Stash and Burn, but what can I say? I love Nicole and Jenny!!! Could there be a more entertaining pair of knitters? I wonder if they know what celebrities they've become in our knitting world? Jenny Nicole are singlehandedly (doublehanded....ly?) responsible for a HUGE amount of the enrichment in my knitting life. If you want a heads-up to be right on the cutting edge of anything and everything in the knitting world, both real and cyber, head over to Stash and Burn. You'll never look back!
Okay--that's enough blabbing for now. I'm at a crucial point in my Mr. Greenjeans and it's time for Ghost Whisperer to come on! Have a nice weekend, everybody :))
Autumn Lattice Beanie
AUTUMN LATTICE BEANIE
When the first chill of fall fills the air, everyone in your family can reach for one of these woolly beanies, offered in four sizes here. Whether you want to pick apples, jump in a pile of leaves, chop wood, build a snowman, ski, or ice skate on a frosty pond, this beanie will keep you cozy and warm!
Pattern Price $4.50
Size
Size US 8 double-pointed knitting needles; set of 4
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle
Patons SWS, 1 skein (80 g/110 yd) each of:
Color A: Natural Coal
Color B: Natural Earth
(***or two colors of your choice in worsted weight yarn to give gauge below)
Gauge: 20 stitches equal 4 inches in stockinette chart pattern knit in the round.
Finished Sizes:
18 months-4 years (head circumference 20 inches)
Child/Adult Small (head circumference 21 inches).
Adult Medium (head circumference 22 inches)
Adult Large (head circumference 23 inches)
Thank you for purchasing my pattern. After your payment is processed, the pattern will be sent to you via email attachment within 24 hours, and most likely lots sooner. If for any reason you find an error (horrors!!) or have a question about it, please leave me a comment or hit the contact button up there on the right and I'll help. Happy Holidays!
If you're on Ravelry, you can get this even sooner by buying this pattern in my Ravelry shop. Just click the "Ravelry Designer" thingie up near the top right of this page and get the immediate .pdf download through Ravelry :)
Despite the fact that I have comments enabled, in order to comment you need to actually click on the title of this (or any other) post. Sorry!
Happy New Year!
So! I've been away from my blog for like....ten million years! Okay-six weeks? Something like that? The holidays were totally joyful and oh so busy for me--you too, I bet. But it's a new year with tons of knitting ahead, yarn to buy, patterns to browse, coffee to inhale....good times!
It's not that I haven't been knitting; I have. I have pictures to prove it. The first thing I have to tell you, though, is that I was given a new slurp machine/coffee maker for Christmas! It's a Bunn and it works like m-a-g-i-c. MAGIC, did you hear me? I swear on a full bag of Rowan Kidsilk Haze that it will make 10 cups in a minute and a half. :) Life is good.
I started and finished several goodies since I last posted here. Did I mention my friend who worked in a freezing cold office and wanted fingerless gloves? Yes--Yes I did, in the Violet Dahlia post. Well, I made them. The only thing is--she doesn't have that job anymore. Grrrr. Let's cross our un-gloved fingers that she will find a better job in an even colder office. Anyway, here they are:
I also made two of those Ribbed Lace Boleros for my daughters. I'll only post photos of one of them because let's face it--do you really want to see two identical black boleros? I didn't think so. I think I discovered something about Vanna's Choice Yarn from Lion Brand. Depending on where you buy it, it seems to be of different quality/softness. I bought this at Wal-Mart and it felt pretty okay, but I've seen touched that brand in Michael's and Joann's, and it felt markedly softer there. It seems that whatever Wal-Mart has is not as good. Maybe that's relative. Maybe this yarn just is not very good. For one thing, it's fatter than worsted weight yarn, which is how it's classified. It's at least aran and on the road heading to bulky if you ask me. Another thing--after wearing her shrug for half a day, my daughter's shrug grew and stretched by leaps and bounds. I washed it it make it go back to its original shape and IT PILLED. Yeah, people. Lint ball city. Ugh. I'll never use it again. The shrugs still look good from a distance:
What else....OH!!!! I made one of my daughters a Mr. Greenjeans. That's a sweater--a hugely popular pattern from Knitty. I did make some modifications. I made it longer, for one thing, and also gave it long sleeves. I guess teenagers aren't that much into the 3/4 length sleeve when it comes to cardigans. This had to be the fastest sweater I ever knit. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Mushroom and She.Loves.This.Sweater. So do I. In the photo, she is not the one wearing it because she's the photographer, so her sister is modeling it for us. It's a wee bit big on this model, but it fits the recipient to a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee; like a glove, baby.
I have such a love for this sweater that I'm in the midst of making one for myself as we speak/read/write/knit. I'll show it to you pretty soon.
I made a black Scrunchable Scarf for a friend of my daughter's for Christmas, too. See the picture? You don't? Guess why? The Caffeinated Knitter got stooooopid and forgot to take a picture of it. Have you ever done that? And it's not like you can call the person and say...um...can you come back with that scarf I made you so I can maybe tie it to a tree or lay it on the grass to take a picture of it? No. They would think you were insane. So that one is picture-less. Bleh.
There's more, and new patterns coming too, but this is a novel already. Are you still reading all the way down here? Bless ya. :))
It's not that I haven't been knitting; I have. I have pictures to prove it. The first thing I have to tell you, though, is that I was given a new slurp machine/coffee maker for Christmas! It's a Bunn and it works like m-a-g-i-c. MAGIC, did you hear me? I swear on a full bag of Rowan Kidsilk Haze that it will make 10 cups in a minute and a half. :) Life is good.
I started and finished several goodies since I last posted here. Did I mention my friend who worked in a freezing cold office and wanted fingerless gloves? Yes--Yes I did, in the Violet Dahlia post. Well, I made them. The only thing is--she doesn't have that job anymore. Grrrr. Let's cross our un-gloved fingers that she will find a better job in an even colder office. Anyway, here they are:
I also made two of those Ribbed Lace Boleros for my daughters. I'll only post photos of one of them because let's face it--do you really want to see two identical black boleros? I didn't think so. I think I discovered something about Vanna's Choice Yarn from Lion Brand. Depending on where you buy it, it seems to be of different quality/softness. I bought this at Wal-Mart and it felt pretty okay, but I've seen touched that brand in Michael's and Joann's, and it felt markedly softer there. It seems that whatever Wal-Mart has is not as good. Maybe that's relative. Maybe this yarn just is not very good. For one thing, it's fatter than worsted weight yarn, which is how it's classified. It's at least aran and on the road heading to bulky if you ask me. Another thing--after wearing her shrug for half a day, my daughter's shrug grew and stretched by leaps and bounds. I washed it it make it go back to its original shape and IT PILLED. Yeah, people. Lint ball city. Ugh. I'll never use it again. The shrugs still look good from a distance:
What else....OH!!!! I made one of my daughters a Mr. Greenjeans. That's a sweater--a hugely popular pattern from Knitty. I did make some modifications. I made it longer, for one thing, and also gave it long sleeves. I guess teenagers aren't that much into the 3/4 length sleeve when it comes to cardigans. This had to be the fastest sweater I ever knit. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Mushroom and She.Loves.This.Sweater. So do I. In the photo, she is not the one wearing it because she's the photographer, so her sister is modeling it for us. It's a wee bit big on this model, but it fits the recipient to a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee; like a glove, baby.
I have such a love for this sweater that I'm in the midst of making one for myself as we speak/read/write/knit. I'll show it to you pretty soon.
I made a black Scrunchable Scarf for a friend of my daughter's for Christmas, too. See the picture? You don't? Guess why? The Caffeinated Knitter got stooooopid and forgot to take a picture of it. Have you ever done that? And it's not like you can call the person and say...um...can you come back with that scarf I made you so I can maybe tie it to a tree or lay it on the grass to take a picture of it? No. They would think you were insane. So that one is picture-less. Bleh.
There's more, and new patterns coming too, but this is a novel already. Are you still reading all the way down here? Bless ya. :))
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