Knititude

Easily amused

There are a lot of great knitting blogs out there, but not many that provide a reliable laugh (which is probably one reason the Yarn Harlot and Knit and Tonic are so popular). I miss Rachel of Lickety Knit for that reason; she always made me laugh, but since having twins she has (alas) disappeared from the blogosphere.

Anyway, I've decided to start a new "Easily Amused" blog category. I'm sure it won't be daily or even weekly, and I can't promise that anyone but me will find it funny, but hey-- at least I'll amuse myself.

(Don't worry, no more long prologues-- in future "Easily Amused" posts I'll just jump right in.)

Homer Simpson to Marge:

I love watching you knit. It reminds me of watching pictures download on our old dial-up modem.

Overheard from the back seat of the car-- one teenager to another (don't you love how they forget that there is a parent driving?):

No, no, no. That means "talk to the hand," not "give me five."

Onda Wrap photos

Although I picked up the wrap version of Onda from my test knitter a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't until last weekend that the weather was nice enough to get some decent modeled photos. The wrap version is worked in Madelinetosh Tosh DK in the Amber Trinket colorway.

(I've already added wrap photos to the Ravelry pattern page and to the pattern pdf, and if you purchased the Onda pattern before this week, you should already have received an email from me with the updated pattern pdf attached-- if you haven't, contact me!).

 

 

Aran Wrap pattern now available from Vogue Knitting website

A knitter who was looking for the pattern for my Aran Wrap, which originally appeared in the Vogue Knitting Fall 2008 issue, just emailed me to let me know that the pattern is now available for purchase in the Vogue Knitting online pattern store (as a pdf download). Thanks Heidi! At the moment the pattern is on sale, too!

(Note that the website description of the sleeve construction is wrong: the sleeves are not knit separately and then sewn in. Stitches are picked up around the armholes and then the sleeves are worked down to the cuffs.)

Master Holman's Hat

While at Plimoth Plantation on a school field trip last week, we visited the 1627 English village, and were lucky enough to meet Master Holman, a rather chatty fellow who had arrived in Plimoth, not on the Mayflower, but on another ship several months later. (The village is populated by role players who take on the identity of one of the actual English settlers who arrived in Plymouth almost 400 years ago.) I was quite taken with his hat! It doesn't look like the typical Pilgrim hat (which was perhaps worn on ceremonial or dressy occasions?), but I am assuming that it is similar to something a man might have worn back then while puttering around in his garden (which is what Master Holman was doing when our school group interrupted him).

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask him about its construction, but since the role players at Plimoth Plantation actually make many of the items they wear and use, using methods and materials that were available to the English settlers, it is certainly possible that sheep were sheared, wool was spun, perhaps dyed with vegetable dyes, and then knitted by hand to create this hat. I'm thinking I should come up with a pattern for a replica....

I highly recommend a visit to Plimoth Plantation; it includes a Native People/Wampanoag homesite and a replica of the Mayflower, as well as the 1627 village, and provides a fascinating glimpse into what life might have been like in the early days of the American colonies. I like this quote from the Plimoth Plantation website:

The past is like a foreign country.

 

 

Rain, rain, go AWAY!

Pioggia, pioggia, VATTENE!

I picked up the sample of the Onda wrap from Jen, my wonderful test-knitter, last week, but the weather has been so awful that I haven't been able to get any good photos. Yesterday the sky brightened a bit in the morning, so I tried a few shots; not terrible, but the sun is supposed to reappear today, so I hope to have some modeled photos soon. The yarn is Madelinetish Tosh DK, colorway "Amber Trinket," a luscious mix of berry, plum and russet tones, none of which looks quite right in this photo! Oh well.

If you look closely, you can tell that the the colors changed slightly from skein to skein. I had decided to accept this rather than alternate skeins every few rows, since this wrap is reversible, and it would have been very hard to hide the yarn changes.

Ho preso il campione del scialle Onda la settimana scorsa, pero' il tempo e' stato cosi' terribile che non sono stato in grado di fare nessun buone foto. Ieri c'era piu luce nel mattino, e ho provato di scattare qualche foto; mica male, ma il sole oggi dovrebbe riapparire, quindi spero di avere foto migliore presto. Il filo e' Madelinetosh Tosh DK, colore "Amber Trinket," una mescolanza deliziosa di carminio, prugna, marrone rossiccio, nessuno dei quali sembra giusto nelle queste foto! Va beh'. 

Nella prima foto si puo' vedere che i colori cambiano tra i gomitoli. Avevo deciso di accettare questo invece di cambiare i gomitoli dopo ogni 2-3 file.

 

Errata for Lace Cable Rib Pullover

Applied I-cord section: After casting on 3 sts for I-cord, directions should read: *K2 (not 1), ssk. For patterns purchased after November 4, 2010, the pattern pdf has been corrected.

Designer's Studio interview

Faina Goberstein posted a very nice interview of me on her Designer's Studio-- thanks, Faina!