Knitting News Website

When I take my morning walk, I have podcasts on my iPod and I listen to them and think and design patterns in my head and sometimes even learn things.

Yesterday's walk was spent listening to Yarn Thing podcast with Marlybird.  I listen to this quite a bit as it comes out twice a week and I love the contests she offers at the end.  The episode I was listening to was with Cathy Carron and Carolyn Noyes.  They have started a knitting news website called KnitCliks.

Sometimes when I'm walking I wish I had an iPhone as I would have been clicking onto the site immediately but I had to wait til I got back home (maybe it is a good thing as I walk faster when I want to get home to explore what I've listened to and learned about).

The website has an option for a newsletter - yup, sign me up.  It had a series of short articles with hyperlinks - some of the headings are "Knitters In The Know", "Fashion Flash", "This Just In", and "Free Pattern Find".

I found a cool cast on technique in yesterday's issue and went online to find it today and it wasn't there as the website had already been updated.  So, I emailed Carolyn and asked for the link to the cast on technique and half expected to hear from her in a few days.  No, within the hour I had my answer and an explanation that she hopes to archive previous "issues".

So, check it out - well worth  your time!

"Mom, You're Taking Over The House!"

Two weeks ago I decided to warp my loom again for a set of 6 placemats.  To do this I had to set up the kitchen table so that the warp ran through a doorway to the warping peg on the kitchen counter.  Our kitchen is set up so you can walk directly into the family room and this path was disrupted by my warping efforts.

When my daughter wanted to go into the family room from the kitchen she said "Mom, you are taking over the house!"  My response was to deal with it and if she needed to go into the family room she could do the limbo under my warp.

I've gotten to the point if it is a solid color warp I can bang it out much quicker than I did the very first time I warped so my "taking over the house" didn't last too long.

For this set of placemats I focused on the stitch pattern I loved in my last set of placemats.

I decided to make the whole mat out of this texture.  I also learned that the edging wasn't as neat as I would like so I made sure I had an edge stitch worth of warping on either side.  It was an "up down" pick up so I did "down up" ending with a "down" that way the edge was consistent.

I chose two shades of blue and realized halfway through they would look fantastic in my friend's kitchen at the Jersey Shore.  She is definitely weave-worthy and so they will head her way over 4th of July weekend.  

RAOK Pattern Winners

I have so loved all your comments on my RAOK post.  Some of my favorites include:

• "In my opinion, any act of kindness is good for the soul, for the giver, and for the receiver."
• "Kindness is such an overlooked virtue in today's "grab and go" world that I am always happy to hear stories that it still exists!" 
• "I always do my best to help someone in any way I can. It makes me happy to see other people happy."
• "RAOKs are a perfect way to may the giver and receiver feel fantastic. It's my favourite thing to do, pay for parking or a coffee for the next in line."

Thank you all!  I went to the handy random number generator and the winners are:

#5  - Goodfruit
#6 - Knittingdancer

Funny but both of them have asked for a copy of my Tiffany Toque pattern!  Goodfruit, I need your Ravelry name!

Thank you all for your comments and for participating.  Now it is your turn to do a RAOK and pay it forward.

RAOK

RAOK - Random Acts of Kindness.  Yesterday I was the recipient of a RAOK.

Every Tuesday I work at my LYS from 10-2 then go home for a few hours and return to teach an evening class.  While I was home I started working on another set of placemats on my loom.  My daughter interrupted me to show me something on Facebook which kind of left me with a sucker punch to my gut (long story not worth going into).

As I drove back to the store, I was ruminating on the news I had read on FB and was hurting in my heart.  I walked into the store and the owner was there to teach a workshop.  She took one look at my face and asked if I was okay - you see I don't have a poker face.  I kind of wear all my emotions all over my face.  So I told her the tale and decided to move on - isn't it amazing how sharing something takes the burden away?

Then she said someone had come into the store and anonymously purchased me a rigid heddle for my loom.  She handed me a 10 dpi heddle and said she was under strict orders not to reveal the identity of the donor.

After getting over the complete surprise of such a RAOK, I explained I had purchased one a few weeks ago and was in fact weaving with it right now.  Simple solution - switch it out for a 12.5 dpi heddle...now I have all the heddles to work with a variety of weight yarns!

My afternoon/evening went from hurting and heavy to feeling cared for and loved.  Kindness is such an important thing.  It is simple and it means so much.  One of the graduation speeches at our daughter's graduation this past weekend was about kindness - it is ours to give and sometimes when you need it, it ours to receive.

So, anonymous donor, thank you.  Your kindness means more to me than you can imagine.  

With that in mind, I'd like to pay it forward.  (BTW if you haven't seen the movie, Pay It Forward, it is well worth your time).  Leave a comment with your Ravelry ID saying which of my designs you would like, and on June 20th I will draw 2 names to receive a gift of my pattern.

Lastly, if there is a little something kind you can do today for someone, just do it!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

After a few weeks of brainstorming, Debbie (spinningrn on Ravelry) and I have a big announcement. We are starting a collection of patterns called Cobblestone Designs.

Our mission statement:

We aim to bring you a range of patterns with classic, timeless qualities.  Should you purchase our patterns, you will always have access to any addendum we create for our patterns.  Our goal is to not only design using certain yarns but to also explore alternate yarn choices to keep the patterns fresh and new.

Our first design on Ravelry is Bellini Cowl.  This is a pattern I designed to for a new Classic Elite Yarn called Santorini.  I paired it with their Sanibel to create a cowl that shows off both yarns - it only calls for one skein of each.

We have a Ravelry group and a Facebook page - join them please!  And stay tuned as we are hoping to release another pattern in the next day or two.

Textured

After finishing my scarf, I immediately re-warped my loom for another set of placemats.  I consulted with a book on weaving how to use a pick up stick and work it to create texture.  Again I had a huge learning curve with this experience and am already planning the next set.

I used a 10 dpi heddle which I was worried was creating too open a we've.  Then after taking it off the loom and washing it, the fabric compacted nicely.

The one on the left is the "right" side but I decided I prefer the wrong side pattern.

I am envisioning a placemat of just this fabric and think I will reverse the colors so the background is white and the weft is green.  I also have two shades of blue which could work too.

Our daughter graduates this weekend and my mother in law arrives on Saturday - weaving will have to wait as we will need the kitchen table (my weaving spot) for the next few days.

Where Did May Go?

It is strange how some months fly by and others drag on and on.  For me, February is the longest month.  May seems to be the shortest.  This is the time of year with a flurry of activities - Memorial Day weekend, school stuff and for our family, high school graduation this coming weekend.

Of course the knitting and weaving continues - not a lot to show here but I did finish another scarf on my loom.

I warped it the same day I finished the scarf for another set of placemats using a 10dpi heddle.  I think I should have stuck with the 7.5 one but it is all part of the learning curve.

I'm working on a new design - this one is going to take a bit of time to knit as it is lace weight yarn but I'm holding it double.  Bad photo but just a hint so you can see.

After a few weeks of unseasonably warm weather, we have a few unseasonable cold days (45 degrees this morning).  So glad I can break out one of my spring sweaters that I didn't get many chances to wear this year.