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Archive for January, 2011

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He’s Dancing Again…


2011
01.28

Posted in Spirituality | No Comments »

My dear friend’s husband passed into eternity this morning. He had fought cancer for almost a year. Probably longer, but that’s when the diagnosis came through. It sounds odd, but I was happy for her, and happy for him. He no longer has to endure the pain; it was excruciating for the last six weeks. He is no longer bed ridden. She told me that the other day he was trying to get out of bed, but of course he wasn’t strong enough to walk any more. He has been on pain medication which has made him, well, not himself. It was so hard to watch my friend endure this. I think at times she was at the end of her rope. And yet through it all her faith remained strong. You see, we are Christians and she was clinging to the Rock of her Savior probably more than she ever had to. I only pray that she can rest now. She doesn’t sleep well anyway, and she is absolutely exhausted.

Our church family has been visiting, Facebooking and sending emails to her all day. I am so proud to be part of such a community. We have been bringing food since mid December. I just found out today that people who weren’t on the list have been bringing gifts and food. Some are not from our church, but she has great friends. They are wonderful people and it is all because of our common bond in Christ.

I was happy this morning, but now I mourn. I want to cry. When my DH texted me that he is on the plane headed for home, I thought, “What if it were me?” I know I would be a mess. She is so strong. She was married almost 30 years to her sweetheart. Same for me. What a battle she has endured. The Light shining through all of this is the hope that we have that Reggie is now dancing with his Savior.

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Rip Roaring Knitting


2011
01.21

Posted in Movie, Socks | No Comments »

I’m about two inches into the Gordes sock. It’s coming along nicely, though I spent much of today ripping back and correcting some mistakes. It seems that until I get used to the pattern, I make mistakes that I don’t see until much later. I should probably just swatch each chart so that I can learn what is actually going on. I really like how the Gordes chart is laid out. It’s very logical. I’m thinking I might use this cable technique for something of my own. There is a knit-a-long starting on February 1st for this sock on Ravelry. You can learn more at the Silk Road Socks KALS Group. (I hope it’s not cheating that I’ve already started… ;) )

I discovered a new podcast this week thanks to Franklin Habit. It’s called Fiber Beat and can be found at the link. It’s not new. I was listening to some 2009 episodes today. WonderMike interviews lots of my favorite knitting personalities. I suppose you could call them the American Idols of knitting. I  listened to Episode 1 with Meg Swansen and wondered why I haven’t known about all the videos she has done. I’m definitely going to check them out! I love Elizabeth Zimmermans Knitting Workshop. It’s got such a down-home feel.

Speaking of Franklin Habit, I finally caught up on his blog yesterday. He freaking cracks me up! If you don’t know, Franklin is a humorist, cartoonist, knittist – um –  knitter, and photographer.  (Wonder if I missed anything.) He researches vintage knitting patterns and brings them to modern knitters. He has a column called Stitches in Time at Knitty.com. I’m sure you will find it quite intriguing.

I just had to show my husband this:

It made him laugh too.

The other thing I absolutely love about Franklin’s site is the BEAUTIFUL photography. If I ever get the chance I want to take his photography class. The depth of field in the photos and the colors make your mouth water.

Well, I gotta go. My husband made dinner tonight and it smells wonderful!

Till next Friday,

Knitter Ditter

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That’s How I Roll


2011
01.17

Posted in Dyeing, Finished Objects, Socks, Sweater, baby, blanket, shawl | No Comments »

I know it’s not Friday. I missed by a few days, but I was at the NAMM show all weekend and there was no wireless in my hotel room! Can you believe it? I think Holiday Inn Express needs to get up to speed…. Not that I had much time anyway….

We saw lots of cool musical toys and interesting people. I think some thought it was Comic-Con. My husband was there with his company, NewTek, Inc. producing the live webcast each night. If you are interested in webcasting videos, say a video podcast, they have the equipment you need.

Looks pretty in the picture.

(Mini Me)

I had a very busy knitting week. On Sunday, I took a yarn dyeing class with Shannon Okey at Unwind. I had never dyed yarn before. I’m not sure I’m crazy about my results, but it was a great learning experience. I’ll have to see how it knits up. I think I’ll call ‘em, “Crazy Socks.” I like how my sample skein came out much better. I must have left more space between the colors on the test skein than on the big skein so I had a lot more blending of colors. I even have some blue between the purple and green and I didn’t use blue at all! Very interesting!

On Wednesday Sarah Hatton from Rowan taught a class on how to update your favorite sweater. She taught how to take your measurements and figure out the stitch count. Then we worked on figuring the decreasing for sleeves and necklines. She was great, very knowledgeable. Of course I had to get the pattern book and get it autographed! I wish I could visit Rowan when I go to London. They are in the countryside, about 2 hours away.


I worked like mad to get the Baby Shawl done by Wednesday so I could turn it in. I blocked it that morning and even put the blocking boards in my car’s trunk to finish drying while I took my mom to the doctor.

I knew I might not make it back in time to go home and I was right. I was a 1/2 hour late for my class so I was a little surly by the time I got there. I really felt like all my brain power was drained by the traffic between Santa Monica and Burbank. Uggghh. Still, it was a good class. I just wish I had been there from the beginning and had brought a simpler sweater to figure out. I tried to figure this one that I got for Christmas. I think it’s really pretty. But she said I would have to take lots of measurements for it. My head just about exploded in trying to figure it out! I think I’ll stick to figuring out DH’s favorite sweater which is a drop shoulder sweater with straight sides. I brought that too, and no one could figure out the stitch pattern. It must be some crazy machine knit thing. I suspect it is double knit because there is rib on the back side and brioche on the front. At least from what I can tell.

At the end of Sunday’s class Stephanie and Shannon were talking about Stitches West. Stephanie said she doesn’t have any socks for her display. Of course my eyes lit up. I haven’t done any socks in I don’t know how long. I’ve been itching to get started on a pair. Shannon just happens to be working on a new book and I get to make one of the socks from it! Yippee! I’m using Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in a lovely gold color called Ginger. I love the depth in the color, and it really shows off in the pattern that Shannon designed. Since the book won’t be out until March, I’ll save the details until later. My socks should be done sooner than that though. ;)

Two Socks, Two Needles. That's... how I roll!

Happy Knitting and I’ll see you Friday!

Knitter Ditter

New Info: I just found this pattern on Ravelry so I can talk. It is called Gördes and is published in “Silk Road Socks” by Hunter Hammersen, published by cooperativepress.com. That’s all for now.

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Party!


2011
01.07

Posted in Information, Knit News, party | 1 Comment »

Last night was Unwind Yarn’s anniversary party and what a party it was! The place was packed with Ravelers and revelers. Ravelry came, and I always enjoy talking to Casey about the site and techie stuff. Jess is pregnant and so cute! I met Mary Heather and Sarah.Ravelry @ Unwind They brought Ysolda Teague. She is very sweet. She was wearing a sweater that she designed for her new book, Little Red In The City, which will be available in March. I love her design sensibility. A couple of us were examining the side seams on her sweater. I think she’s a knitting genius.

Shannon Okey was there signing her new book, The Knitgrrl Guide To Professional Knitwear Design. It looks like a great resource. She has provided tons of information and advice for a budding knitwear designer.  It was her birthday yesterday, so the shop got her a cake from Porto’s.

Michelle Miller from Fickle Knitter was there displaying her designs and patterns. I talked to her for quite a while about design and publishing patterns. She was very open and willing to give advice too. She designed the shawl I just completed as a display piece for the party and to show off the Silky Alpaca Lace from Classic Elite. Here’s a link to her blog post on the party.

Bar-Maids was there demoing their scrub and moisturizer. I had to get some for my Very. Dry. Hands. I think it’s just what I’ve been looking for. Smells divine too!

Classic Elite had their trunk show (is that what you call it? ) with the new Spring 2011 designs and yarns. It seems like we were the first to see them. The patterns are not even published yet, but I have my eye on a cute little cardigan in Cricket. It’s so new I can’t even find it on their website. They are releasing the new yarns at TNNA today, so I expect it will be there soon. Of course I forgot to take a picture. :(

By the way, my picture taking sux. I’m too shy about asking people to take their picture so I get very candid shots and bad angles and forget to take some important stuff. Then I get home and go, “Why didn’t I get that picture?!?” Sigh. The cardi I’m talking about is the second from the right. Next to the green sweater. Sorry, I only got the back. Ugghhh.

Ok, I have a confession. I think I’m addicted to yarn. It’s like a drug. I mean really. When Stephanie announced that there were a few seats left in Shanon Okey’s Hand Dyeing class on Sunday, I jumped right on it. I know I’ve seen emails about this, but being there I got all caught up in the excitement. How silly I am. Earlier in the evening I was telling Jim, the Classic Elite rep, that I was afraid to get into dyeing because I might become obsessed. Am I weird? Yah, a little yarn obsessed.

I’ll be back there tonight to hang with some of my new friends and get to know them better over some wine and knitting.

Next time I’ll show you pictures of the Not-So-Alpaca Baby Shawl. I stand corrected. I’m making it in a superwash merino. Duh! I kept insisting that it was Alpaca because that’s the title of the pattern I’m making. Sheesh!

I’ll let you know how the dyeing class goes and whether I’ve got a new obsession.

See you next Friday!

Knitter Ditter

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New Year New Goals


2011
01.05

Posted in Finished!, Lace, party, shawl, wrap | No Comments »

Happy New Year!

I know, it is January 5th already, and I’ve neglected to post since November. I could say that I’ve been real busy, but haven’t we all? No excuse, but I seem to have that one all the time. So….

My new year’s resolutions for 2011 are:

Post to blog once a week. Maybe I need a specific day? Mmm, I’ll pick Friday. ‘K.

Write 6 new patterns. (I’ve got a couple in my head and notebooks. Time to get them out there!)

Promote my web biz. What web biz you ask? The one that’s been in my head and all the books I keep buying.

Knit every day. Uh, is that a goal? I sort of do that now.

Invest 15% for retirement – CONSISTENTLY!!!

Give beyond the regular church tithe, to outside charities – REGULARLY!!! I mean monthly. (You have to be specific with these goal things. Otherwise they flit around with a mind of their own.)

Study Web design DAILY.

Bible study daily.

Study guitar DAILY.

Save for a home on the Central Coast.

Travel to exotic places once a year.

Go to NM & CO to see where my Great-Great Grandparents lived.

Follow FlyLady’s recommendations DAILY!!!

I know there’s more, but that’s all I can think of right now. There I’ve written them down!

KNITTING PROGRESS -

I finished the Simple Triangle Shawl for Unwind’s Ravelry event. It’s this Thursday. I can’t wait! I was telling DH about it last night and he wishes he could be here to go to the party! I don’t know if he would really have fun, but it was so cool that he is excited for me to be succeeding.

DSCN0956Sm
DSCN0957
DSCN0960Sm


I should expound on how much I love the Silky Alpaca Lace from Classic Elite. I do, I really do. It is very easy to work with and never splits. I got this whole shawl from 1 ball! Can you belive it? This stuff just goes on forever! There are 440 yards per 50 gr ball. 70% alpaca, 30% silk. Mmmmmm.

I also made a scarf from the brown colorway and some fingerless gloves for a Christmas gift. I’ll post those pictures another time. (I think I have enough left to make myself a pair of fingerless gloves.) :)

I’m now working on Alpaca Baby Shawl in True Love Fiber Merino Superwash.Alpaca Baby Shawl Pattern Here’s True Love’s Etsy Store – Yummmm! I love how squishy this yarn is. I’m working with Sorbet which is a yellow and peachy/pink variegated and peach. It is coming out quite nicely if I say so myself. Pics to follow.

Since I will be posting Friday, I’ll tell you all about the Ravelry Party @ Unwind!

Till next time,

Knitter Ditter

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