Romancing The Yarn

Knitting Accessories

2012-01-17T11:34:00.001-05:00

Everyone who knits has yarns they covet. Lace weight or bulky; wool, alpaca or mohair; multicolor or single shade; we all have our preferences.

Then, there are other items we need when we knit. For example, knitting needles. Some prefer wood, others like plastic, while still others stick with aluminum.

And that leads into the discussion of straights, double-pointed or circular?

But there are other knitting related items that we don’t really need, we just want. These could include fancy knitting totes, stitch markers that are really knitting jewelry, or stitch/row counters that double as necklaces.

For me, the “unnecessary but desired” item is a shawl pin. I love shawls, both knitting them and wearing them, so shawl pins come naturally. Oddly enough, I don’t use them every time I wear a shawl, but still I covet them.

Here’s a picture of some of my shawl pins:

Okay, not the best picture. But you may be able to see that I have metal, wood, and ceramic shawl pins, some in colors to match specific shawls, while others are neutral and could go with most anything. And no matter how many I have, when a new one catches my eye, I’ll buy it!

What do YOU covet in the knitting world?

And to give you a smile today on this cold, snowy Tuesday, I’ll close with a funny:

Supersocke Winners

2011-11-25T08:56:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to kittenwithawhiplash and Suzie B! You've each won a ball of the Supersocke. I've already sent you an email notifying you, so if you'll email me your address I'll get the yarn in the mail today.

Oh, and if you like Regency romance and have an e-reader, I've got my last and longest up now. It's called Miss Rose and the Rakehell and I've linked to Amazon for your Kindle. But it's also available for your Nook or Sony or even your computer.

Happy knitting!

Fran Baker

Shameless Self-Promo and Sock Yarn

2011-11-16T14:30:00.004-05:00

First, the shameless self-promo. I've got two new eBooks, one new print book (hardcover) and one large print book (trade paperback) - all available for the asking at your favorite bookstore or public library.

Up first is my new hardcover, The Talk of the Town: http://www.amazon.com/Talk-Town-Daughters-Great-Depression/dp/1432825399/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315656063&sr=1-1;

Then there's Miss Francie's Folly, the first of my Regency eBook series: http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Francies-Folly-ebook/dp/B004WPW3CW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1315656199&sr=1-1;

(Note: Miss Francie is also available in large print: http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Francies-Folly-Fran-Baker/dp/0984601538/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1315656199&sr=1-1);

Finally, there's Pursuing Miss Pippa, the second of my Regency series: http://www.amazon.com/Pursuing-Miss-Pippa-ebook/dp/B005972D5Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1315656169&sr=1-1.

Now, lest you think it's all writing and no knitting ... I've made a dozen Curly-Q-style scarfs from Universal's Rozetti Marina polyester yarn (easy-to-follow instructions available at: http://www.universalyarn.com/quality_color.php?quality=265).

Last but not least, the Sock Yarn mentioned in the title! My camera isn't working but it's Online Supersocke 100 in Sortierung 97 in color 1056 (check it out here: http://www.covetedyarn.com/stores/coveted-yarn/item-559-Supersocke-Sortierung-97-by-On-Line). To win the sock yarn, send an email with Supersocke in the subject line to Fran at Fran Baker dot com, and I'll draw the winner's name on Thanksgiving Day.

And if I find the other ball of yarn I bought for this contest, I'll draw two names.

Good luck! And happy reading (I hope!)

Fran Baker

String or Nothing

2011-10-16T11:18:00.001-04:00

It’s only for string.

Posted: 15 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT

A Skillet, a Spatula, and a Dream

2011-08-13T17:01:00.001-04:00

Here's what I did on my summer vacation:

Currently 99 cents at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Stories with recipes. Recipes with stories. All for under a buck. How can you go wrong??

Yarnmageddon

2011-08-06T15:23:00.001-04:00

I decided to try to organize my “yarn stash corner” so I can actually see what I have. This would be quite helpful in preventing me from going to my LYS, the Sheep & Wool Festival, and the Wool Arts Tour and buying the same thing I bought the previous year.

First, I had to measure the space in the corner. Since it’s under a sloping ceiling, that made it a little more difficult. But I used a tape measure and did the best I could.

I bought five pink stackable plastic milk crates, figuring I could do a column of two and another of three. I could put them open-side out so I could see the contents.

I should have taken a picture of the corner as it was, but I was so excited to get going, I forgot. Just imagine a towering pile of plastic and paper bags, containing goodies not seen since the dark ages.

I did, however, take a picture of all the “keeper” things I pulled out and put on the bed. Unfortunately, it came out blurry. But it’ll give you an idea of all the loose skeins of yarn, books, needles, unfinished projects, unSTARTED projects, and knitting bags that were stuffed in that corner.

I also pulled our four bags of yarn scrap odds and ends, a huge pile of old magazines, and a decorative bird’s nest. Hmm.

By that point, I was thoroughly weak and exhausted, so I took a lunch break. Who knew it would be such a tough job? I think I burned off at least three hundred calories.

After the nutrition hit my system, I returned and started organizing, which involved storing yarn by weight, swearing, stacking started projects, threatening the milk crates when they made suspicious creaks, and a lot of eye-rolling.

And at last, everything was in place. It’s still crowded and not easy to see everything, but it’s a vast improvement. What do you think?

I’ve learned that I have enough lace yarn, virtually all in pink, purple or blue, to make shawls for the entire Radio City Rockettes. My favorites seem to be Cherry Tree Hill yarn, and Ball and Skein yarn, based on how many skeins of each I have.

I have enough sock yarn for three or four pairs of socks, which sounds about right. And a few skeins of various sport and worsted weight yarn.

And I also have about ten unstarted or unfinished projects. I’ll certainly never run out of things to do.

There! I feel so much better. I think I’ve earned a little snack! Tomorrow, I may open my own yarn store…

Lovely Sweater

2011-06-07T12:52:00.001-04:00

That’s even more impressive than knitting it myself!

Good night. Good morning. Whatever.

2011-06-02T03:51:00.003-04:00

It's almost 4 a.m. and I'm trying to unwind enough to go to bed. I'm in the last throes of deadline psychosis and I can't tell night from day. So goes the life of the working writer.

About three weeks ago I took away my knitting needles and I refuse to give them back to myself until I finish the book. It's very good incentive but it makes me exceedingly sad to be without.

So here's a sweater I knitted earlier this winter for one of our family's new babies.

This is the Seamless Baby Sweater designed by Emily Watts and I found it (where else?) on Ravelry.

I used Noro Silk Garden #8 which was probably a ridiculous choice for a baby but I love it. Totally love it. I think I used a 24 inch US6 circular but don't quote me.

It's an easy, satisfying knit that makes a great gift.

Hit By A Farm and Sheepish, both by Catherine Friend

2011-05-28T00:01:00.005-04:00

You must read Hit By A Farm by Catherine Friend. And after you do, you'll want to read the next book, SHEEPISH.

If you love love stories (both human and ovine -- but not in the gross way [read the books; you'll understand]) these memoirs are for you.

Highly recommended!

When Good Knitting Goes Bad

2011-05-26T13:04:00.001-04:00

And another new baby in the family

2011-05-25T23:16:00.002-04:00

Our next-to-newest member of the family, Kingston, was born earlier this year. (Isn't he adorable?) Now don't ask me why I made a New England winter hoodie for a Southern California baby but knitters sometimes think with their hearts, not their heads.

This is the Easy Baby Cardigan by Diane Soucy for Knitting Pure & Simple and it really is wonderfully easy.

2 skeins Sirdar Crofter DK 0049
US6 needles

You can use an I-cord tie or work buttonholes. Lots of places in this pattern to make your own choices. I ended up making it a pullover hoodie instead of a hooded cardigan. I also made matching socks and mitts with the leftover yarn.

Another highly recommended pattern.

Not that I'm partial or anything but that is one cute baby boy.

Patriotic Baby Stuff

2011-05-24T01:00:00.002-04:00

These were made for a U.S. Marine family's baby boy.

Yarn: Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka, #1776
Needles: US#1
Socks: my own top-down pattern
Hat: Lyric by Laurie Lee

Quick, easy knits.

Cabled Keyhole Scarf

2011-05-20T16:40:00.003-04:00

This is Anne Hanson's Cabled Keyhole Scarf. I celebrated New Year's Eve working on it and I must say a good time was had by all. The friend I made it for loves it and I'm delighted.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran, 1.01 skeins.
Needles: US6

I would probably knit an extra few inches next time I make it. As it is it's a little snug for larger necks.

This is a clearly written, easy to knit pattern with just enough going on to keep your interest. Definitely recommended.

Little Entrelac Bags

2011-05-17T22:48:00.003-04:00

A heavenly project. I loved every second of this. Of course any time I find a new way to use Noro Kureyon I'm a very happy knitter.

This is Jennifer Lawrence's Little Entrelac Bags pattern from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2009. I used a half skein of #40. Very few bucks, very big bang.

Felting just never gets old.

Helena's Dice Bag

2011-05-15T16:26:00.002-04:00

A friend and his wife were expecting their second daughter. I was busily working on some booties for her arrival when it occurred to me that her four year old big sister might be feeling a little left out. Enter the ET Dice Bag pattern by Elizabeth Thomas.

I used less than half a skein of Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Aran Tweed and size 5US needle. (The pattern calls for dpns but I substituted Magic Loop and two-circs depending on my mood of the moment.)

Fast. Easy. Totally adorable. Highly recommended!

I Don't Do Hats

2011-05-14T16:12:00.003-04:00

I'm not a hat lover. I look a total idiot in hats. But I've got to tell you this winter was so cold and so snowy that even I, an avowed anti-hat kind of girl, gave in and yanked one on.

And boy did I pick a winner. Now there are those who might (unkindly) say that I am way too old to wear a Thorpe but when you're digging your way through a few feet of snow in sub-zero wind chill, trust me when I say Thorpe is your only choice!

This is a fun knit. Easy and quick and it keeps your ears worn in a winter storm. What more can you ask for?

SPECS: One skein Noro Iro; size 9US needles

I made this one for my niece in Huntington Beach. When it comes to cold YMMV.

You can find the pattern for Thorpe right here.

Bloomin' Babies

2011-05-11T12:05:00.000-04:00

I don't know about your world but my world seems to be popping with babies. Every time I turn around another relative or friend is announcing another grandbaby on the horizon.

From January through April my needles were flying!

This was made for my old friend Pat's first grandson, Ryan, who arrived early this year. Pat and I lived a block and a half from each other back in Queens. We chased the Beatles together. She even caught the bouquet at my wedding! I can't express how sentimental knitting something for her first grandchild made me feel.

SNUG by Hinke can be found on Ravelry.

The mitts are Wee Baby Mitts by Christine Vogel. They also can be found on Ravelry. (Is there anything that can't?) The booties are Greemy Booties by Machelle Salmeen. The cap is Welcome to the World Newborn Cap by Nona.

The cap, booties, and mitts are all worked in leftover Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color #4008. The snug was Sirdar Highlander Chunky trimmed in the Fortissima.

I have to admit I started to understand why everyone loves knitting for babies. The FOs come fast and furious and there's something unbelievably satisfying about seeing a tiny person wearing the garment you knitted.

For awhile I couldn't stop making those Greemy booties. I think I was obsessed with them to be honest. Is there a baby item you just can't seem to stop knitting?

Knitterly Milestone

2011-05-10T21:38:00.004-04:00

I know I've been very quiet but that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting. (Or writing for that matter but that's for another post.)

Last month I had the absolute pleasure and honor of being one of Dusty Mills's test knitter. If you don't recognize her name, I'll bet you know her from The Knit Life. I volunteered to test knit CHIPPEWA, a stranded hat that I knew would definitely stretch my skills.

What a terrific pattern! (And I'm not just saying that because I'm part Chippewa.) Even better, a portion of the proceeds will go to Friends of Pine Ridge.

I have so many things to show you. I did a ton of knitting during our long, cold winter here in central NJ. Mostly baby items because it seems that suddenly everyone I know is expecting a grandbaby.

This may not be a long post but it's a start. Hope to see you again tomorrow.

Free Pattern: Magic Loop Eyelet Mitts

2011-05-05T11:59:00.001-04:00

Here is a free pattern I hope you’ll enjoy. Please don’t sell the pattern or sell the mitts…it’s for your personal use only.

These came out pretty nicely and were easy to make. Let me know if you have questions!

MAGIC LOOP EYELET MITTS
by Elizabeth Delisi

Materials:
1 ball Jojoland Melody Superwash fingering, 220 yards
40" circular needle size 2

Size:
One size

Eyelet Lace Pattern:
Multiple of 8 sts.
Row 1 (right side): Knit.
Row 2 and all other even rows: Knit.
Row 3: *K6, yo, k2 tog, rep from *.
Row 5: Knit.
Row 7: K2, *yo, k2 tog, k6; rep from *, end with k4.
Row 8: Knit.
Repeat rows 1-8.

Directions:
Cast on 56 stitches, divide in half on both sides of the needle. Join into a round.

Work K2, P2 ribbing for 16 rounds.

Work rounds 1-8 of Eyelet Lace pattern, then work Rounds 1-4 once more.

Thumb Gusset:
Round 1: M1, K2, M1, place marker, knit across round as established in pattern.
Round 2 and 3: Knit to marker, slip marker, continue in pattern as established to end of row.
Round 4: M1, knit to marker, M1, slip marker, continue in pattern as established to end of round.
Repeat rounds 2-4 until there are 20 stitches before marker, which should end on row 5. Do rows 6-8 in pattern.

Knitting Hand:
Place first 20 stitches on holder for thumb. Cast on 2 stitches, continue in pattern to end of round 1. Continue in pattern for 15 rounds, ending on knit round. Work 8 rows of K2, P2 rib. Bind off.

Knitting Thumb:
Join yarn, knit 12 stitches in first end of needle. Knit remaining 8 stitches with other end of needle, pick up and knit 4 stitches across open area of thumb. You now have 24 stitches. Work 8 rows of K2 P2 rib. Bind off. Weave in loose ends.

Kitty Helper

2011-04-26T09:33:00.001-04:00

And to add a little written knitting content…I’m going to my LYS today to yell for help. The hoodie I’m working on is coming out way off gauge. No, that’s not right. The gauge seems fine but it’s still going to be way longer than it should be when the side shaping is done. So I’m going to go whine and cry and see if there’s an option beyond starting over! Wish me luck.

When Good Plans Go Bad

2011-03-30T09:28:00.001-04:00

Monday Gripes, 3/21/11

2011-03-21T12:55:00.001-04:00

First day of spring.

Snowing heavily outside.

Ugghhh.

Kitty Knitting

2011-02-05T11:30:00.001-05:00

Just add a couple hundred Christmas lights, and you’ll have the Griswalds’ Christmas vacation! Hah.

So, on the needles. Or to be more precise, on the hook. I’m almost done with the crocheted project “Zaubertote” from the book “Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders.” Only problem is, one skein of the Zauberball wasn’t enough despite the book title, and it costs $19.99 per ball, so now instead of a basic $20 tote, I’ll have a $40 tote! I’d better get lots of use out of it.

At least I’m having fun crocheting for a break from knitting. And the yarn color changes are awesome, shades of purple, pink and orange.

Once the tote is done, I’ll return to the shawl I’m knitting, the Water Turtles Shawl from the book “Wrapped in Comfort.” It’s going slowly as each row is so long, and it’s hard to see the pattern yet as it’s only 6 or 8 inches long. It’ll be a challenge to block, I suspect.

What’s on your needles…or hook?

And the Sierra Quatro winner is...

2011-01-18T15:47:00.006-05:00

...Sara B. from Claremont, NH! Congratulations, Sara! You are the proud owner of this gorgeous yarn. I'll be emailing you to confirm your snail mail addy. Thanks for visiting RTY!

All other entrants: remember you are still in the running to win the silver heart pendant from my website!

Sock Yarn Winner

2011-01-08T19:39:00.002-05:00

Lynn R, my DH picked your name out of the well-shaken box. Congratulations. I'll contact you for your s'mail addy so I can get the yarn out to you before it snows.

I've got another ball of sock yarn in the stash (somewhere!) and will keep everyone else's name for another drawing after I finish proofing my galleys.

Fran

Prize: too much yarn for my baby blanket!

2011-01-06T16:54:00.003-05:00

My niece had a bouncing baby girl so now I can share pix of the baby blanket I knitted for her. She lives in Florida so I wanted a cotton yarn in sunny colors. I found this gorgeous Cascade Sierra Quatro in Color #80, a combination of buttery yellow, mint green, and rose. It's 80% Pima Cotton and 20% wool and washable. Perfect for a Sun Belt Baby!

I found this fast-knitting pattern for free here: http://www.theyarncottagefairhope.com/patterns/4ballblanket.pdf . I'm a sucker for a basketweave.

Here's the closeup of both sides, which are different from each other, but equally attractive, IMO:

Here's the whole blanket. I expanded the dimensions slightly so it would be useful a bit longer.

And here's your prize because I overbought yarn for the project: two skeins of the Cascade Sierra Quatro, color #80!

Go to my website http://www.nancyherkness.com/ and enter my contest there. Just include the word "yarn" in the comments, and I'll know to enter you in the drawing for this fiber. As a bonus, you'll be entered in my regular website contest for the silver heart pendant.

Good luck and Happy 2011!

Beware the Soul Stealer

2011-01-05T10:38:00.001-05:00

Just had to share this:

Catching Up + Sock Yarn

2011-01-02T09:47:00.005-05:00

Oh, my, things are crazy here in Internet-land, and it's taken me forever, it seems, to get back to RTY. Besides finishing all my Christmas-gift knitting, I started a new blog at http://www.DaughteroftheGreatDepression.blogspot.com/ to sort of kick off the release of my new hardback, The Talk of the Town, in September 2011. I wanted to announce it here, but for some reason Google refused to let me sign in to do so. Oh, well, I hope you'll read and follow both blogs now--like you don't have anything better to do. LOL

What else? I've finally joined Facebook. Look me up if you'd like - I'm under my real name, Fran Baker with a new black-and-white photo posted - and send me a Friend request so I can add you to the list when I do another contest.

Okay, down to business and then the sock yarn contest: I changed the covers of two of my eBooks and my company published a new (and gritty) post-Civil War book by Ken Casper. I'd post all the covers but things are still wonky with my log-in here. So feel free to check it all out at http://www.delphibooks.us/ and let me know what you think.

I've posted a photo of the Trekking sock yarn I'm giving away. Please ignore the fact that it looks pink laying on the airplane plant. It's actually a pretty reddish color. If you'd like to enter to win, send an email (and smoosh everything together) with Sock Yarn in the subject line to fran baker 05 at g mail dot com. I'll draw the winner's name and post it here (if I can check in again) on Saturday, January 8.

Let me close by wishing you all a happy and healthy 2011.

Fran Baker

Free Cowl Pattern

2010-12-02T13:43:00.001-05:00

I decided to get my hair cut on the spur of the moment. Since it would be my last visit to my hairdresser before Christmas, I wanted to give her a gift. But what?

I browsed the shelves at my LYS and found a bulky weight yarn I really liked—Plymouth Yarn “Multiplicity.” At first I thought it would make a nice scarf, but then I opted for a cowl—a little more style than a plain scarf.

I didn’t have time to search my books and Ravelry to find a pattern, so I just cast on and started knitting. It came out great, only took a few hours to finish, and my hairdresser absolutely loved it. So I figured I’d share the ultra-simple pattern with you! Enjoy.

BULKY COWL

One size fits all

1 skein Plymouth “Multiplicity” yarn in color 3167 or your choice

1 pair size 15 knitting needles

Cast on 20 stitches.

Pattern: K1, *K2tog, YO. Repeat from * to last stitch, K1.

Work in pattern until you’ve used up all or nearly all the yarn, and ending with a stripe of the opposite color than you started with.

Bind off. Flip one end over to put a twist in the cowl; sew or crochet ends together.

Can be worn around the neck, or pulled up over the head as a hood.

Merry Christmas!

Blogging with Windows Live Writer

2010-10-30T15:56:00.001-04:00

I’m trying out Windows Live Writer to blog. Since I have several blogs, I figured I’d check to see if this was easier.

First, you have to set up all the blogs you want to use by providing the website URL, user name and password. Then you can create a blog post and just click “Publish” and it does the rest. The blog you wrote stays on the screen until you close it, so if you want to post it more than one spot, there’s no cutting and pasting or rewriting involved.

Adding photos is easy, too. Here’s one of some semi-recent knitting:

I adjusted the photo using Windows Live Photo Gallery, just using the auto-correct feature, and it did make the colors stand out more.

I’m sure there are features I haven’t found yet. Anyone have any tips? I do like the ease of posting to more than one blog.

Checking In At Long Last

2010-10-28T10:59:00.003-04:00

I've sure been missing in action these past couple of months. Have been going through a rough time...was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in August. As you may imagine, that brought my entire world to an abrupt halt.

But after a couple of months of carefully chosen exercise, music, reading, whining, and of course chocolate, I'm more or less on an even keel again. I'm doing all I can to keep the symptoms from getting worse, and I've finally resumed my knitting. At first I was too anxious and distressed to do *anything,* including knitting. But I dipped my toe in the water, just knitting one row at a time, and now I'm back. And it feels good.

The first thing I completed was a Christmas item, so I can't mention it here. ;-) The second thing is a stocking for my grandson Aaron, and it's not a surprise, so here's a picture:

It's an old, out of print pattern that I used to make stockings for my three kids when they were small. Now I'm using it for a new generation!

Currently I'm working on another gift, so can't mention that, either. All these secrets! But that's a big part of the holiday fun.

I can truly say knitting is therapeutic. I know it's helping me keep calm. Thank goodness for yarn and pointy sticks!

Knitting Therapy

2010-09-29T10:35:00.009-04:00

My stress levels the last few days have kind of been through the roof, and I don't really know why. I've just been tense tense tense. I'm behind on everything, but that's nothing new -- it shouldn't be making me stressed. But it is. So I find myself sort of freaking out, tossing Anand in the stroller, and going on hour-long walks in the evening, which do help me calm down.

And also, if the kids go to sleep when they're supposed to (they wouldn't last night, and I ended up falling asleep with Kavi in her bed around 8:30, I think), I have an hour or two afterwards for tv and knitting. I'm too tired to do any real work -- even dishes or grading or e-mail, and certainly not writing. But knitting lets me feel productive, and like I'm not actually wasting time while watching an hour of tv. It calms me.

That's the ribbing for Kate Davies's Owlet sweater; I'm hoping it'll fit Kavi this fall, which means I should make it fast. :-) And then, if it survives, it can be passed down to Anand for next year and/or the year after. I'm working with a new yarn, Spud & Chloe, a cotton-wool blend. So far, I'm enjoying the feel -- I usually find cotton a little irritating to my hands, but this has enough wool in it to be comfortable and soft. And since Kavi hates being too hot, I'm hoping the blend will end up a good autumn weight for her.

The ribbing feels nicely stretchy; I hope it fits. I once again failed to swatch -- I know I'm going to need to at some point -- actually measure things and make calculations and figure out exactly what will fit where. When I make a sweater for myself (someday), it'll be a necessity, since I'll want it to be well-fitted. But so far, I've had pretty good luck with the kids with just making hats and scarves and sweaters and trusting that it'd fit will enough. They shift sizes so fast anyway...

Knit your own furniture

2010-09-14T22:36:00.005-04:00

Every year I read an article declaring that knitting is the new "in" thing in fashion, something all us Yarnies have known forever. However, this is the first year I've been informed that it's the latest trend in furniture. Evidently high-end furniture designers have discovered that knitting is cool for household goods too. (We've been knitting bowls and boxes and washcloths for years, of course!)

This link to a Wall Street Journal article has some fun whimsical objects, including the chair above, knitted lampshades, poufs and a vase. Check it out (and boggle at the prices)!

Which one would you like to have in your home?

Dear Reader Guest Column

2010-09-01T11:05:00.001-04:00

I'm filling in today for the incomparable Suzanne Beecher at Dear Reader and invite you to stop by and read about my Grandmother, a thermos of gin, and the day I almost floated across the Atlantic.

(If you're not familiar with Dear Reader, take a moment to check it out. Suzanne offers a wonderful book sampling service ...and the best daily letters on the internet.)

(And if you haven't read her book MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY [IF DISORDERLY] LIFE, what are you waiting for?)

I really should be embarrassed...

2010-08-22T00:39:00.004-04:00

It's been a little crazy around here the last few days. Three weeks ago I broke my toe for the second time. The first time I broke the toe was six years ago when I was hurrying out of the bathroom to get downstairs in time to see Regis & Kelly's host chat. How embarrassing is that? Well, this time I was walking across the family room to give Groucho a Cracker Jack and crashed into the hassock. How embarrassing redux, right?

A broken toe is more of an inconvenience than a catastrophe and I was getting around great when The Husband made a running dive to catch a forty pound upright vac that was flying down the staircase under its own steam. He lunged left, vac sailed right, he pivoted, caught the vac but did something ugly to his back.

Moral: Save your back. You can replace a vacuum cleaner. Backs? Not so easy.

So the last few days have been filled with wifely duties, lots of teasing, and lots of knitting while I kept him company upstairs. He's about 80% back to normal and I managed to cast on and complete the gorgeous Burning Embers designed by Kristy Howell.

What a beautifully written, clearly designed, delightfully absorbing project! I can't say enough good things about Kristy Howell or Burning Embers.

Here it is in the just-beyond-cast on stage:

Here it is hot off the needles:

And here it is right now, post-blocking and drying on top of the washing machine:

Next time you see Burning Embers, it will have buttons and be all ready to face the fall with lots of knitterly attitude.

A few details: Knit Picks Harmony US6. Noro Silk Garden #84 - 1.25 skeins.

You have to give this pattern a try!

Yellow Mohair: We have winners!

2010-08-22T00:36:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Alexis H and Rachel C, winners of the gorgeous yellow New Zealand mohair.

I sent emails to both of you. All I need are your mailing addresses and we're in business. You can send them to me here or at barbarabretton AT gmail DOT com.

Mohair Winners!

2010-08-15T18:34:00.002-04:00

Yes, two winners!

One Sheep Short
Kacy Ellis

I sent emails to both.

Since the pretty pink mohair was such a success, how would you feel about a soft lemony yellow?

Same gorgeous NZ mohair, same talented spinner/dyer and two lucky winners.

Send me an email here or here at barbarabretton AT gmail DOT com with YELLOW in the subject header and the wise RNG will pick the winner on Tuesday night.

Good luck!!

Mohair, anyone?

2010-08-13T01:01:00.004-04:00

How about some 12-ply mohair from New Zealand handpainted by Jan Gilray? 100 grams, 200 meters of luscious yarnage to enjoy.

Type NZ MOHAIR in the subject header and zap it off to me here or here at barbarabretton AT gmail DOT com and Saturday night I'll announce the winner.

I finished Thermis the other night but I'm not too thrilled with my choice of needle size or yarn. The truth? The thing is humongous. It's blocking right now (the photo was taken in the laundry room) and maybe the addition of buttons will help but I've always said I loved drapey cowls and now it looks like I may have to eat my words.

BTW, that's trick photography. Sixty percent of the blasted thing is folded underneath...lurking. An easy, fun knit and one I would do over again in a heartbeat. I used Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed Aran and US7 needles. I should have used US5 or US6. Live and learn.

Another winner!

2010-08-12T13:43:00.001-04:00

Sara B from NH won two skeins of Regia Square.

Stay tuned for another giveaway later today. (And more knitting angst.)

And we have a winner

2010-08-10T21:49:00.002-04:00

The winner of two skeins of gorgeous Regia Square is Marsha C! Now all I need is a mailing address and we're good to go.

And I'll pick another winner tomorrow!

Thanks for the terrific storage ideas. We all seem to have the same problems, don't we? I never thought I'd have an appreciable stash. Stop laughing. I mean it. I thought I'd be a one-project-at-a-time kind of knitter who finished a project before moving on to buying yarn for her next project. Who knew that the yarn itself could be so deeply satisfying...or so beautiful? Some skeins just beg to be left alone in all their pristine glory, displayed in a pretty basket or a glass bowl or just lying around all nonchalant on a bookshelf.

In your dreams, Bretton...

Did I tell you there's a sneak peek of Spun by Sorcery available on my website? Click here and then here. Enjoy!

HELP!

2010-08-09T17:45:00.003-04:00

I am not known for my organizational abilities. In fact, if I am known for anything it's for my lack of same.

Which means the state of my knitting supplies lies somewhere between appalling and downright tragic.

I've been trying to squish everything into my mother's old picnic basket and it's not going well. Some of my circs are currently in zip-lock bags. Some (the Knit Picks Options and Harmonys) are in their little Knit Picks case. Or they would be if I hadn't overstuffed the poor thing so much that it exploded. With the exception of dpns, I've pretty much purged the house of straight needles which is kind of funny since straight needle storage was the one thing I had down cold. (Empty Quaker Oats cylinders. Funky, adorable, practical. Why isn't all of life so easy to contain?)

How do you store your knitting hardware? One of those over-the-door fabric thingies? A taboret like The Wendy uses? Once upon a time I tried sliding my circs into page protectors then filing them in four-inch binders but it seemed ridiculous to use so much shelf space for maybe four ounces of aluminum.

Help!

Somebody Stop Me

2010-08-08T22:01:00.003-04:00

I need an intervention. Seriously. I can't seem to stop knitting Baby Uggs.

They keep popping onto my needles when I'm not looking and a couple of hours later, there I am embroidering the white fluffy parts and wondering how I ended up with another pair of finished Uggs.

Believe me, they're cuter than the photo would lead you to believe. I should've stuffed the toes with cotton and done all the stuff a serious knitwear photographer would do but I'm a writer, Jim, not a photographer and sometimes the best I can do is point, shoot, and pray.

Speaking of socks, there's still something to be said for the thrill of knitting a very plain sock in a very fanciful yarn. That's Regia 4-fadig Square below and I can tell you it was a pure joy to knit with. Bright juicy colors, fun patterning, Regia quality. Square made plain old stockinette fun.

Did I mention my cowl obsession? It started late last year with Tudora and continues apace. That's the start of Thermis below. I'm about 80% finished now so a (bad) finished photo should be coming in the next day or two.

Don't say I didn't warn you!

GIVEAWAY WINNER: Kathy M won the evil baby yarn. (Say a prayer for her, okay?)

NEW GIVEAWAY: If you'd like to win two skeins of Regia Square in the colorway shown above, drop me a note here with Square in the subject. Winner will be announced Tuesday evening.

Tiny Tea Leaves Cardi from Hell

2010-08-05T18:18:00.008-04:00

Oh, I know it looks all innocent over there, wide-eyed and pink and oh-so-sweet but don't you believe it for a moment. That cardi is the devil's workshop.

The pattern was beautifully simple, clear, well-written, error-free. You couldn't ask for more. So why oh why did I struggle so much with the #*@*!@( thing?

I'll tell you why: the yarn. Plymouth Baby Boutique (also spelled Boutic on some ball bands) (See what I mean? If the yarn doesn't know its own name how can you trust it?) made me totally crazy. I swear it has a life of its own. It's not meant to be a stretchy yarn but some end-of-row stitches stretched out to three and four times their length. And let me tell you, that's one scary sight when you have almost 300 stitches on your needles and no desire to tink, frog, or jump off a high building.

It's a mystery, that's what it is. A knitting mystery. Stretchy yarn shouldn't stretch like that. And it shouldn't spring back into position as if it never happened. Shouldn't there be a calling card left behind? Some little hint that the knitter at the helm isn't crazy? That the whole now-you-see-it-now-you-don't thing wasn't a figment of her imagination?

Don't answer that.

In case you were wondering, I have been sucked into the Facebook universe and am struggling to return to the land of Blogger where thoughts can be expressed in more than three sentences. But oh how I've come to love Facebook and if you're over there too, please friend me. (I never thought I'd type that sentence. "Please friend me." Friend as a verb. Oy.)

SPUN BY SORCERY is set for release in November and my anxiety attacks are gearing up in preparation. I'm hard a work on Sugar Maple #4 and struggling to come up with a title that combines magic and knitting. And that's a whole lot harder than it sounds.

Because I've missed you (and have an inherently evil streak) drop me a note here with Baby in the subject header and you'll have a chance to win some of that possessed Baby Boutique yarn. But don't say I didn't warn you.

So what have you been up to?

Elbow Bursitis + Low-Fat & Luscious

2010-07-15T12:14:00.003-04:00

I've had an ongoing and painful case of elbow bursitis. It's kind of like tennis elbow, I suppose, but, boy, being red and swollen and terribly tender, it makes for one ugly elbow! Anyway, there's no knitting allowed yet and I'm just now getting back to keyboarding my new book with lots of breaks and rest for the still-inflamed joint. Next time I post I'll be giving away a couple skeins of sock yarn, but today I have a great low-fat dessert recipe that's easy as 1-2-3 and luscious to boot. So here goes:

YOGURT PANNA COTTA
Serves 4-6 (depends on serving dish)

2 Tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2 6-ounce containers of your favorite flavor yogurt (I use Anderson Erickson's Yo-Lite)
1/2 Cup fat-free evaporated milk (or heavy cream if you're not watching fat intake)
1 Tablespoon honey

Small pieces of fresh fruit to top if so desired

1. Pour cold water into a microwave-safe cup and sprinkle unflavored gelatin over it. Let sit 5 minutes and then microwave for 15 seconds.

2. Gently whisk yogurt, milk or cream, and honey together, then stir in the gelatin.

3. Divide the mixture among 6 espresso cups or 4 small dessert glasses. Chill for at least 3 hours. If using espresso cups, run a knife around the edges of the cups to unmold the panna cottas onto plates and spoon a little fruit beside each one. If using dessert glasses, top with a little fruit and enjoy.

Copyright 2011 by Fran Baker

1776 The Musical - The Egg

2010-07-05T21:39:00.000-04:00

Wishing you a very Happy Independence Day, albeit a day late. I have lots to tell you and plan to be back tomorrow to start doing so. Now I'm off to stick my head in the freezer and pray for winter.

Elephant Bib

2010-07-01T06:36:00.001-04:00

Here's an adorable elephant bib I crocheted for an Indian friend's baby shower. The end of the trunk hangs freely, and in the pattern, you're supposed to attach a piece of Velcro to make it a pacifier holder. Which is a cute concept, but kind of impractical, since I only put bibs on babies when I'm feeding them, and they don't have their pacifiers then. Maybe they think you're going to pop the pacifier back in as soon as the feeding is done? Anyway, I skipped that part.

This went over pretty well at the baby shower. Handmade + elephant is hard to beat.

The yarn is Berocco Vintage, a machine-washable wool-acrylic blend in Cracked Pepper and Wasabi. Love all the non-pastel colors in that line, and the softness of the yarn; I think it's going to be my new default for baby yarn gifts. I'm using the leftover yarn, plus I think their Crimson, to make the elephant stranded hat for Kavi / Anand. Cracked Pepper is a perfect elephant color.

Help! Translation needed!

2010-06-07T16:10:00.004-04:00

This sweater, the Sunshine Wrap from August's Knit 'N Style Magazine, is my first project for myself in a long time. I am a little nervous because it needs to fit and I don't know anything about fitting patterns. But I loved the crossover tie and decided it might provide enough adjustment to counteract my shortcomings on that front.

I'm not making it in yellow, but in a lovely russet yarn our buddy Barbara Bretton gave me. I cast on and have navigated the first set of instructions without too much angst. However, I was reading ahead (as my teachers trained me to do in school) and came across this sentence and I am confused.

"Cont in St st, inc 1 st at each end of next and every foll 4th row twice, every RSR 4 times."

Could someone please tell me how many rows I'm supposed to increase on? I keep rereading this and I can't figure it out.

(Also any advice on the best increase method would be much appreciated. I feel like I read somewhere that it's better to increase on the second stitch of a row--but maybe that was in reference to decreasing instead.)

I'm depending on the experts here to unbefuddle me.

FO: I beat the baby!

2010-05-24T10:00:00.002-04:00

That headline got your attention, didn't it?

However, my blog has nothing to do with child abuse. I'm just very pleased with myself because I finished blocking the baby blanket one week before the baby was born. This is a first since usually I am woefully behind when it comes to baby gifts. Often I have to give them to the NEXT arrival in the family because the baby the gift was intended for has long outgrown it.

This one though is right on time. The recipient was born at 1:00 a.m. this morning. Mother and baby are both well. Sadly, my nephew the daddy hasn't met his new son yet because he's in the Navy and is currently at sea.

This is the blanket I made by adapting the pattern for my Darling Daughter's Boundless Blue Blanket. I think it's really pretty and very practical.

Closeup detail below.

Next up: I'm going to attempt to knit a top for myself with some gorgeous yarn a red-headed knitter whose initials are B.B. gave me. The top and the yarn seem meant for each other but I don't dare try to knit a top to give away. I'm afraid it wouldn't fit.

Signing in the Waldenbooks by Parnell Hall

2010-05-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

Painfully true and very funny. Enjoy!

Six Degrees from Sonny Fox

2010-05-19T21:14:00.011-04:00

<== Sonny Fox, host of Wonderama on WNEW out of NYC.

Once upon a time there lived in the Borough of Queens in the City of New York a frizzy/curly-haired kid named Barbara who had a wonderful talent: she was a very good speller. Words like encyclopaedia (and encyclopedia), antidisestablishmentarianism, all sorts of crazy words. She could spell all of them.

But that wasn't what set her apart from the crowd of other frizzy/curly-haired kids who were great spellers: our heroine could spell them backwards. Now no one quite knew where that ability came from. She learned to read and write at a precociously early age (reading at three; writing at four) and seemed normal in all respects until the backwards stuff kicked in and life got interesting.

# # #

Okay, okay. I'll drop the third person nonsense. We all know who our frizzball is, right? And you're probably wondering how spelling backwards ties in with Sonny Fox and Wonderama and knitting so here goes.

Spelling backwards came as easily to me as spelling the normal way. My parents used to create both word and number games for me to play on Saturday morning while they slept in and I guess I took them one step beyond where they were supposed to go and started flipping them. (I see patterns in numbers everywhere I look. Show me a phone number and I'll be linking those digits to other numbers in the blink of an eye.)

I was an only child and only children are endlessly fascinating to their families so my backwards abilities garnered a lot of attention and laughter. My spelling abilities had already landed me in any number of city-wide spelling bees (they hadn't become quite the pressure-cookers they are today) and I'd done pretty well every time.

But what I wanted more than anything was to take part in the Wonderama Spelling Bee.

I wanted to meet Sonny Fox, the sleekly dark and handsome host. I wanted to dazzle everyone with my spelling abilities. And I wanted to win dinner at the Luau 400, a little touch of Hawaii in midtown Manhattan.

Now it wasn't easy to get on Wonderama. Every kid in the early 1960s wanted tickets. And, trust me, a lot of those kids could spell just as well as I did. But could they spell backwards? No! So in the summer of 1961, my mother took me and my friend Dorothy Cullen into Manhattan where we were part of the audience and entrants in the spelling bee.

I'm not going to keep you in suspense. I won! Yes, it was a dream come true. Not only was I on live television, but I won dinner for my parents and me at Luau 400 by winning a spelling bee by spelling backwards. I still smile ear-to-ear thinking about it! So what does all of this have to do with knitting? Up until a few months ago I would have said, "Nothing at all," but it's actually the key to my problems with charts and sewing cuffs on sleeves and the dreaded pattern instructions Reverse Shaping.

A friend and I took dancing lessons once. I absolutely couldn't follow the instructor. I kept reversing everything. I sewed cuffs on a shirt in some crazy upside down way that even I couldn't explain. My husband had to show me how to do it correctly. I can't watch someone demonstrate how to use a spindle and then recreate her actions without great trial, error, and sweat-inducing concentration. And then my mind and muscles forget what I learned within five minutes and I have to struggle all over again.

And then I realized: the same little glitch in my brain that makes it easy for me to see words frontways and backways and sideways makes it very difficult for me to interpret patterns, architectural drawings, or how in the name of all that's holy they managed to stick a new road near the bridge and still keep the same landmarks. What's up with that anyway?

Spatially dyslexic is what I'm calling myself until I come up with a better term and it goes a long way toward explaining so much of the way I relate to the physical world.

Knitting charts? Don't get me started. They were the bane of my existence. They made this grown woman weep with frustration for most of the years of my knitting life. Or at least they did until last year when something in my brain clicked and I grabbed onto them like Velcro and wouldn't let go. (Okay, so maybe I have to keep a ruler underneath the working row but still . . . ) I don't know why or how it happened but it's opened up my knitting to a whole new dimension of possibilities and I'm delighted.

And yes I can still spell backwards! Life is good.

Picking up the needles again

2010-05-19T00:03:00.003-04:00

One of the best things about finishing up the book (at last) (it seemed like it took 100 years) is picking up the needles again.

I can't tell you how much I missed knitting last month. Being the all-or-nothing idiot that I am, I had to ban knitting until I turned in the manuscript. (When it comes to sticks and strings, I have no will power. Absolutely none.)

On Monday I sat down and reached for Knit Picks Harmony circs, Berroco Suede in Hopalong Cassidy, and some Plush in creamy white and whipped up another pair of Baby Uggs.

Did you hear the sigh of pleasure where you were? It felt like coming home!

It's a terrible picture. (They're much cuter in person.) But here they are:

Now it's on to -- ? My knitting books are scattered all around me. My binders filled with pattern print-outs are stacked on the floor next to me. My stash beckons.

But what's next? Which of the eight zillion projects should I start?

What are you working on right now? Any suggestions?

It's so good to come out to play again.

Full Moon on the Jersey Turnpike

2010-04-30T17:54:00.005-04:00

We got crazy on Tuesday and made a manic eighteen hour up-and-back research run to Salem. Originally we had planned to do it -- well, last year to be honest. But life happened and we put it off until this March when more life happened and suddenly taxes were upon us and the book needs to be turned in but I still was desperate for first-hand info and chaos ensued.

Hence the up and back trip that right now, a few days later, seems utterly surreal to me.

This is a tiny peek at the end. We had planned to come home through Connecticut, along the Saw Mill River Parkway in NY, over the Tappan Zee, then happily down 78 etc. to home. Well, it didn't turn out quite that way. We relied on our Magellan. Our Magellan broke our hearts. We ended up on the Major Deegan, the Hutch, the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, the GW Bridge, and then trapped on the Jersey Turnpike near the Vince Lombardi Rest Stop.

Join me on another fun-filled trip with the Brettons!

And I didn't even get any knitting done.

Absolutely Nothing To Do with Knitting

2010-04-30T00:06:00.004-04:00

This photo is just so wonderful I had to share. Wonder if they liked handknits.

Brenda Novak's Auction starts Saturday!

2010-04-29T11:25:00.003-04:00

I wanted to remind everyone about Brenda Novak's fabulous auction to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes research. You can click on the graphic above to go straight to the auction site. She offers items for readers, writers, and everyone else. It's an amazing array. And all the money raised goes to a great cause.

I donated an "Indulge Your Inner Reader" gift collection. Just search the auction for my name and you'll find it.

Here's what's in it:

Check it out! You'll have fun just browsing!

One Finished Object

2010-04-26T10:25:00.003-04:00

Okay, I confess I haven't posted here recently. I've been busy with, oh, all sorts of things. For instance, keeping an eye on the road a few houses up from us. You see, our road sits high above a river, with a steep bank. Recent heavy rains caused a landslide of dirt and trees to slide down into the river, thereby endangering the road. Another rainfall, or too-heavy traffic, could cause the road to follow right after that landslide.

And what is the town doing about it? Well, they've closed the road. And they're thinking about it. Oy.

So, what else have I been up to? I've been working on finishing the Dragon Shawl, made with Jojoland Melody yarn. Here's a picture of it blocking:

It was a fun knit. The border is knitted on sideways, so with...what...about 569 stitches on the needle by then, and you pick up one of those on every other border row...mutter, mutter...that's about 1138 rows for the border. Give or take.

And then there's always WORK, but we won't talk about that and all the hours it's consumed.

So what are YOU up to?

How To Do a Russian Join Instructional Article at Jimmy Beans Wool

2010-04-23T13:35:00.000-04:00

How To Do a Russian Join Instructional Article at Jimmy Beans Wool

I'm a big fan of the Russian Join and this video (courtesy of Jimmy Beans Wool) is terrific. Enjoy!

Duck Feet!

2010-04-08T18:01:00.005-04:00

I'm in love. Take a look at Jeny Staiman's Duck Feet over at Knitty then tell me that's not one of the most adorable patterns you've ever seen. (And yes, I'm talking to you, TriciaB.)

You're in love, right? I thought so.

PS: Thanks to Jeny for giving me permission to post her photos.

Feather and Fan-tastic

2010-03-21T10:31:00.004-04:00

Here's the feather-and-fan blanket I made for my new great-niece, Violet. It's folded and ready for the box to ship to TX (along with some other sweet baby things).

In case you can't distinguish the colors, it's pink and Violet (actually, it's lavender but we'll use a little poetic license here), with a hint of orange/pink/yellow in it.

Just curious: What's your favorite baby blanket pattern?

Fran

In Praise of the Ordinary

2010-03-12T15:07:00.003-05:00

I call it my Everything Shawl. I've worn it daily all winter long and believe me when I say that's the last thing I thought I'd ever do. I mean, it's mohair. I love mohair, love to knit with it, but mohair itches and I have the type of skin that loves to make me crazy.

The shawl started out as Road Trip Knitting (should that be trademarked??) and it was originally intended to be a cage cover for one of the parrots. I intended to make three huge covers because mohair traps the warmth beautifully, is feather-light (no pun intended), works up fast and looks pretty.

And I had a lot of it in my stash. (Outback Mohair, if you're wondering.) Anyway the plan was to cast on three stitches, knit them, then do K1 YO K1 K rest of row for as many rows as it took me to reach the desired width of the blanket then start decreasing in similar fashion until I was back down to three stitches. Bind off et voila! A finished blanket that would be light, warm, pretty, and useful.

So I started knitting. And knitting. And knitting. And suddenly the wingspan on the thing was well over seven feet and I was sooooo tired of all that garter stitch. What the hell, I figured. I'd loosely bind off. Maybe fringe it one day. And I'd end up with a shawl I'd probably never use in a color that, while pretty, wasn't really me.

Oh well.

Then came the first cold day. I was looking around for something light and unobtrusive to drape over my shoulders when I saw the shawl. Now if you're like me, you haven't made many things for yourself. For some reason most of my knitting goes to someone else. Especially the pretty knits. So I grabbed my huge, kinda ratty looking, shawl (still unfinished! lots of loose ends!) draped it over my shoulders and laughed as the point scraggly ends puddled on the floor at my feet. (Which isn't easy since I'm 5'9" tall. We're talking a lot of shawl here.) What to do? Why not harken back to my European ancestors and wrap the ends across my chest, bring them around back, then forward again to knot them at the waist. Hey! I kind of liked it. The shawl was securely in place. I was warm but not too warm. And it didn't look half bad.

And that was when I fell in love. The shawl isn't pretty. it isn't fashionable. It isn't even finished. But I love it beyond reason. I love it so much that I slept with it over my shoulders every single night. I wrote with it around my shoulders every single day. (I'm wearing it right now.) I draped it over my head to run out for the mail on snowy days. I plunged my fingers through the big accomodating garter stitch holes when I didn't have my hand warmers right next to me.

If anything ever happened to the shawl I would throw it a big funeral and sit right down and knit up another one.

The picture below shows my other two comfort knit favorites of 2010: the socks are from Wendy Johnson's Knit Simple pattern, knit up in Regia Softy. Fun to knit with, incredibly soft and cozy, but they shed inside like a chinchilla so beware when you wash them. The hand warmers are my favorite default pattern - Bonne M. Burns's Voodoo Handwarmers from Knitty a few years back - done up in good old Lion Brand Wool-Ease in denim. I can't tell you how many times they've been through the washer and dryer. I would be lost without them.

Do you have any well-worn favorites?

PS: Thanks for all the great Road Trip suggestions! I'll contact you over the weekend w/questions and hope to mail out yarn next week. xoxo

Unfaithful

2010-03-10T02:21:00.005-05:00

Yes, it's true. I've been unfaithful. After years of fighting it, I finally succumbed to the lure of Facebook and I've been posting like a crazy woman the last few weeks. Not my knitting, strangely enough, but cooking photos.

I know, I know. What's up with that? I'm not exactly sure but I've been posting photos of stir fries and homemade granola and all sorts of goofy things and having a lot of fun. My theory? I think I'm posting photos and recipes because that's far easier than actually stringing words together to tell a story. I'm deep in deadline psychosis right now on Sugar Maple #3, SPUN BY SORCERY, and I don't have so much as a syllable left over when I'm enjoying down time. Sometimes the writing is easy; sometimes it's like pulling teeth. I've been having dental nightmares lately so I leave it to you to draw the inference.

I'm starting to put together the back material for SPUN BY SORCERY and am putting out the call for your thoughts on road trip knitting. Do you love it as much as I do? What's your favorite road trip knitting project? You can let me know in comments or email me here and we'll talk.

My favorite road trip knitting? Socks, definitely. Magic Loop. DK weight. Simple stockinette. Nothing taxing. Nothing fiddly. Just lovely round and round as I watch the world roll by the window and let my mind run free. (That makes my mind sound like it normally needs a leash, doesn't it?)

Send me your comments and I'll send you some yarn. (No, I'm not above bribery!) Snail mail addresses go here with ROAD TRIP as the subject.

I can't wait to hear from you.

And The Winners Are ...

2010-03-07T21:16:00.002-05:00

How appropriate the yarn is going out on Oscar night, huh?

And yes, you read that right. There are two winners because it turned out I had an extra Sockin' Sox in the blue/beige color (Color #1).

Congratulations to Sharon Spaulding and Kim Helmick! You've each won the sock yarn I just described. We'll expect pics when you're finished knitting.

Stay tuned, peeps, because I've got more giveaways coming!

Fran

How To Knit A Love Song

2010-03-01T20:21:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited! Our own Rachael Herron's first novel, HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG, hits the stands tomorrow and you really, truly owe it to yourself to pick up a copy ASAP.

Am I biased? Yes. Definitely! I'm a shameless fan of Rachael's blog and was thrilled beyond measure when I had the privilege of reading a review copy of HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG last year.

I loved it. Honestly loved it. I loved it so much that it was my favorite fiction read of 2009. It's the one I can't quite get out of my mind. And trust me, knitters, you are going to love it too.

Rachael doesn't know I'm posting this. I may even embarrass her. But there's only one first novel and there's only one Rachael Herron and I couldn't let the moment slip by without shouting from the rooftops: "You've gotta buy this book!"

Mazel tov, Rachael. Enjoy every second of the excitement.

And please write fast, okay?

xoxo from BB

Help! Looking for a pattern

2010-03-01T10:24:00.002-05:00

I have some lovely bamboo/cotton blend yarn I want to use to knit a summer sweater. I'm looking for something with short sleeves, fairly form fitting and not a crew neck. No lace, please. Can anyone point me to a good pattern? Thanks! Cindi

A Crash, A Celebration, and A Contest

2010-02-28T21:33:00.004-05:00

February has been a strange month, to say the least.

First, the crash(es). My camera-phone went kaplooie. Which means I'm going to have to use links instead of pictures to illustrate my post. Then my computer started acting wonky and I couldn't get online but maybe once a day, first thing in the morning. The rest of the day - pfft! Name the error message, I got it. Now it's fine. But who knows for how long?

Second, the celebrations. February 11 was my birthday. Yay, me! No sooner did I blow out the candles than I finished my book, The Talk of the Town, and sold it. All on the same day! It's a historical, set in 1933 America, and it'll be out in hardback in 2011. So please stay tuned.

Third, I joined a number of other novelists at A Writer's Work. We're each putting some of our books - a lot of old favorites and new discoveries, some romance, some mystery, even some nonfiction - in eBook format. We launch the site on March 1 and you're all invited to stop by.

Still celebrating now, my nephew and his wife had the sweetest little baby girl on February 22. Her name is Violet and she weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz. I live in MO and they live in TX, but I'm heading south in March and can't wait to get my arms around that little Yellow Rose.

While I was kicking up my heels, I put some more of my books in the Kindle format. (ACK, I can't get the links to work, but read on.) When Last We Loved was a launch book for the Silhouette Desire Line as well as a worlwide bestseller, and can be found at Amazon. Then there's Love in the China Sea which was also a huge bestseller. And then there's Romeo, Romeo, the original contemporary romantic comedy that I've flacked here before but which I sincerely hope you'll take a look at.

Finally, the contest. I'll start by saying I made my niece the cutest top down cropped jacket from Encore Tweed with Plymouth Pattern #1720. And while I was messing around with the Plymouth stuff, I got a great ball of Sockin' Sox yarn for one of you, lucky readers. It's in Color #1, which is in various shades of blue and beige.

If you've registered for a contest with me before, I've got your email in my Contest file. If not, just send me an email at Fran@FranBaker.com with Sock Yarn in the subject line and I'll add you to the pile - I mean file. I'll draw the winner's name on March 7. Good luck!

Whew! I don't know about you, but I'm tired!

Holy Frog Pond, Batman!

2010-02-25T15:46:00.001-05:00

Holy Yarnover, Batman!

2010-02-20T15:40:00.002-05:00

To make you smile on a greying afternoon in February.

Love from Anonymous

2010-01-29T23:47:00.005-05:00

Back when I was a starry-eyed, idealistic teenager, I read a book by Lloyd C. Douglas. I can't remember the title but it had something to do with charity. Now I'll admit I'm not a fan of the word "charity" -- it's a tad too noblesse oblige for my taste but the idea of giving freely to someone you don't know with absolutely no expectations attached is both compelling and seductive. (Note: It was Magnificent Obsession.)

And I know you all understand exactly what I'm talking about. Knitter are givers. We can't seem to help ourselves. Maybe it begins from a selfish place (please please help me reduce my stash!) but it quickly becomes something deeper. More intimate. More necessary.

Anyway, the point of the Lloyd C. Douglas book was that giving only had true value if the donor remained totally anonymous and that idea stuck with me all these years. Crazy, I know, but admitting to making those shelter blankets was a big deal for me and I did it only because I wanted to encourage other knitters of like mind to give it a try.

There's more. I make baby blankets and booties and tiny socks for various hospitals and organizations and I'll bet most of you do too.

Let's talk! What do you knit and where do you send it? What organizations are in need? To hell with LCD . . . let's share the info.

And even more FOs . . .

2010-01-28T23:11:00.004-05:00

I know what your thinking. "Did that woman do anything but knit last year?" The answer is hidden beneath a mountain of Malabrigo . . .

These are Cable Footies from ONE SKEIN by Leah Bradford. I used Filatura Lanarota Luxury Cashmere that I bought on sale from Smiley's On-Line. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get a decent photo of them. They look all floppy and formless but, trust me, they're soft and cozy. In retrospect, I probably should have used either thicker yarn or smaller needles but my niece was happy and that's what counts.

And then we have the Kumara Bed Socks from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2009 - pattern by Andi Clark. And oh what a pattern it is: quick and easy. Totally intuitive once I made my Magic Loop adjustment. Pure knitting pleasure. I used more Filatura Lanarota Luxury Cashmere on size US7s. I couldn't get a decent picture of these either. (Are you beginning to see a pattern here??)

And some more shelter blankets.

Is it melodramatic to say knitting saved my sanity?

Spreading the Word

2010-01-27T10:53:00.007-05:00

I have to say, I'm really feeling pleased with my yarn-prosletyzing lately. I saw Simone last week, and we did some crocheting together at a cafe; I saw Lori recently, wearing a cute double-ruffle tea scarf she crocheted. Both of them knew how to crochet before me, but I helped talk them into picking it up again. (I think mostly with the adorableness of amigurumi, since they have little ones to make toys for.)

And then at the show on Saturday, Nikhil showed up wearing a beautiful hat he'd crocheted -- he asked me last summer to teach him how to crochet, and he came by for an hour and I showed him stuff, and I didn't know if he'd really follow up with it, but he apparently did, making not only a hat for himself, but holiday gift hats for his nieces, and I think he said something about also making them some legwarmers on the plane. Woohoo! And now Venu wants to learn, so I'm hoping to teach her next week.

It's incredibly satisfying to pass these skills on, and so easy -- I can teach someone enough crochet to get them going on a scarf in about an hour. I haven't tried teaching knitting yet, but I think that would take 2-3 hours. And once they have that, they're basically good to go, and can make all sorts of fabulous things for themselves, relatives, friends. Yay!

In theory, I could also teach the basics of stained glass, bookmaking, candle-making, collage, acrylic painting, glass etching, etc. and so on, because I am a craft addict. But yarn is easy, portable, inexpensive (if you're careful and don't indulge in the fancy ones), and super useful for day-to-day life -- I think the only thing that might be better for me to teach folks is basic cooking skills, and most of my friends do have those already.

Anyway, I guess this is my way of saying I like teaching yarn. Little effort, high reward. Maybe I need to offer a basic crochet class? I wouldn't charge for it, because really, the basics are so easy. (I learned from a book.) We'd just need people to bring their own supplies -- about $5 worth of crochet hook and yarn. I wonder how many of my friends would be interested in coming by Oak Park some weekend soon to learn? I think I could reasonably teach 3-5 people at a time; more if Lori or Simone came by to help teach. :-)

Some more '09 FOs

2010-01-26T23:24:00.006-05:00

Okay, so these aren't pretty, but they're useful. I love to crochet "Snuggles" for shelter animals waiting for a new home. (Two strands of bulky yarn, humongous hook, single crochet or hdc, depending on my mood and the yarn itself.) You can find out all about Hugs 4 Homeless Animals by visiting this link. Click on Snuggles Project on the right under "Please Help." If you love animals and want to help, this is a terrific way to do a little stashbusting. I've done many more but haven't uploaded the photos yet.

My Red Scarf for the Red Scarf Project. This is from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. It's the Men's Cashmere Scarf, knitted in burgundy cashmere on US9s. The truth? The sides curled and the endless length made me despair for my sanity.

And what's the point of all these winter holidays if you don't knit up some handwarmers. I went back to the wonderful, simple, tried-and-true Voodoo Handwarmers by the incredibly talented Bonne M. Burns. Noro Kureyon yarn, of course. And yes, I'm a fan of fraternal twins. Why do you ask?

Some interesting socks and a giant realization next time.

On the needles: another blanket

2010-01-18T13:21:00.001-05:00

My husband's fertile family is expecting another new arrival in April, this time a little boy. I was bored with bibs so I decided to try a different project. What did I choose? A baby blanket!

You'd think after all my whining about my DD's Boundless Blue Blanket I'd stay away from blankets for awhile, wouldn't you? Instead I seem to have become addicted to them, even using the same darned pattern for the baby project. The truth is I like the texture and neatness of the pattern and it's easy to knit without concentrating on it.

Also, a baby blanket takes about one fifth the amount of yarn that DD's B.B.B. did so it seems quite manageable. I'm making excellent progress and enjoying it so far.

My one disappointment is the softness of the project. Because the expectant parents live in Florida I chose a cotton yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton in color #602, a pretty pale mint green. When I squeezed the skein in my LYS, it seemed quite squishy. However, as I'm knitting it up on #7 needles, it is coming out a bit stiff. Not that it's scratchy or anything like that, but it doesn't have the lovely drape that my DD's blanket does. I'm kind of sad about that and wondering if it's because I'm using smaller needles for this project. Would that make it seem stiffer?

FO: Boundless Blue Blanket in use

2010-01-13T21:16:00.003-05:00

I finished the Boundless Blue Blanket in time for my Darling Daughter's birthday. Yay! To prove that it is appreciated, here's a candid photo of DD wrapped in the warm turquoise baby alpaca while Facebooking in her bed. Can you tell she gets cold easily?

And she can bake too . . .

2010-01-07T15:20:00.002-05:00

You already know I'm a big fan of Dawn Brocco's designs but what you didn't know is that I'm a big fan of her cookies too!

This is what remains of my wonderful Christmas 2009 surprise package:

Sweet, spicy, chewy, glittery . . . just plain delicious. THANK YOU, Dawn! Now, in the interest of full disclosure among knitting friends, I need the cookies' official names and--umm--maybe a recipe or two?? xoxo

Some 2009 FOs - part 2

2010-01-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

I couldn't get a decent shot of the Cable Footies from Leigh Radford's book One Skein so ended up clipping them to a winterkilled bush next to the house after the requisite tree shot bombed. They're indecently soft and squooshy - Filatura Lanarota Luxury Cashmere again. (I bought up an armful of the stuff during a Smiley's sale about two years ago. Very smart move on my part!) They'd be more shapely if I'd used a less supple yarn but what I sacrificed in form I more than made up for in comfort. (They went to our niece Laura. The Kumaras went to our niece Tricia.)

A very simple pair of super-soft socks that went to D for her birthday. Regia Softy is a delight to work with. It feels fabulous on the feet. But it sheds. Oh man, does it shed. After washing, you have to reach deep into the toe and pull out a golfball-sized wad of Softy fuzz.

The red Softys I made for myself. Both socks were made using a slightly modified version of The Wendy's top-down pattern from Knit Simple magazine. Highly recommended technique.

And I couldn't let the year pass without at least one Red Scarf Project scarf, could I? I used some unnamed burgundy cashmere from a long-ago eBay purchase. The parttern was Men's Cashmere Scarf from Joelle Holverson's Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. My advice: 1) check for errata. My first go-round with this pattern ended in tears of frustration. I thought I was the world's dumbest knitter. Turned out World's Dumbest Knitter wasn't as dumb as she thought. There was an error in the pattern. And 2) It curls. It shouldn't but it did. Big time.

I also discovered that endless seed stitch variations bore the crap out of me. That scarf felt like solitary confinement. I missed the fiddly fun of knitting lace, the crisscrossy goodness of cables! Who knew!?!?

And there's still more . . .

Some 2009 FOs - part 1

2010-01-02T17:46:00.005-05:00

I may have been silent, but I definitely wasn't idle!

Kumara Bed Socks - pattern from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts edition
Filatura Lanarota Luxury Cashmere

An unbelievably quick and easy knit. The pair took less than a week. The first sock took less than a day! Highly recommended.

Close-up of Kumara

The photos don't do the finished socks justice. Great pattern!

Baby UGGS - pattern from Fiber Nooks & Crannys in Corvallis, OR
I ended up adding extra lines of fluff to make them UGG-ier

Berroco Suede and unidentified white fluff

A two-hour knit. Great fun!

O Tudora! How I love thee!
Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed

More dangerous than potato chips! Once you start knitting, I dare you to stop after one Tudora. I resisted this pattern for over a year and then something clicked and I was off and knitting. Completely irresistible.

Pure knitting pleasure!!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-01T23:42:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you but 2009 couldn't leave soon enough for me. And did you notice it left on the night of the blue moon? Gotta be good luck. I refuse to accept anything less!

So here's to fresh starts, fresh ideas, fresh ways of looking at old problems. Here's to being happy with what we have while we're lucky enough to have it. Here's to aiming high and hitting the mark.

And here's to knitting. It kept me sane these last few months. Seriously. The simple act of making loops and knots with pointy sticks soothed my soul and kept me from playing in traffic.

Did I tell you my big news? I finally finished a lace project. Okay, it's only Branching Out but I did it and believe me if I can finish a lace project anyone can. (Don't tell anyone but I actually had fun. There's something mesmerizing about all those YOs and K3Togs.

We take our triumphs where we can get them! I can't wait to see what 2010's gonna bring.

So what have you been up to? I've missed you all more than you'll ever know.

FO: Bib for a new little girl

2009-12-28T17:22:00.005-05:00

Just to prove I'm not a total waste-of-life as a knitter these days, I wanted to show you an FO:

Thanks to Mason-Dixon knitting, I have a bib all ready for the imminent arrival of my nephew's new baby (due tomorrow!). It's made of Frog Tree Picoboo which is lovely and soft to the touch.

I took the advice of a brilliant person on this blog and used the Fibonacci sequence to determine the number of rows per stripe (1, 1, 2, 3, 5 and then back down). The mom's a math teacher so she'll really appreciate that. Not to mention the fact that I like the way it looks.

I tried a not entirely successful experiment with the edges. In previous bibs, I didn't like the way the color change bled up a row every time, so for this bib I cast on and knitted one edge with both colors of yarn. Then I whip-stitched the other edge with both colors of yarn when I was done. It looks okay but not great (probably a function of the fact that I'm a lousy whip-stitcher). Anyone have a better suggestion for that particular problem? I'm all ears!

P.S. I finished the Boundless Blue Blanket at last! Wahoo! Photos to follow.

New Jersey: Winter Wonderland

2009-12-21T09:27:00.003-05:00

Snow, snow, snow, snow! We got about six inches and it's lovely: light, powdery and pristine. This is my holiday card to all you wonderful folks here at RTY: my house in the snow.

And Brodie the Snow Dog in full gallop (carrying something in his mouth he wasn't supposed to have, of course):

I hope your holidays are merry and bright...with just a touch of the white stuff!

My trip up North

2009-12-12T19:52:00.006-05:00

I just returned from a trip to see my daughter and grandgirlies, and it included a visit to a lovely LYS called Yarn Boutique in Rochester, NY. Amelia, the proprietress, could not have been more helpful, and the selection of yarns in a place where you actually need warm clothing for real winter (unlike where I live) was breathtaking.

I selected a Cascade Heather to make my daughter a shawl from a cool free pattern they were offering called the Weekender Shawl. I'm including a photo of its beginning, though I'm much further along now.

A couple of very cool acquisitions besides the yarn:

1) a shawl pin handcrafted by Amelia's wonderful husband Brett (who was working in the store and is every so charming.) He has Pheasant Hill Wood Works, and I urge you to check out the beauties he creates. I'm including a photo of the one I bought but there were all sorts of intriguing shapes made out of gorgeous hardwoods.

2) these amazing square needles! When I saw them, I couldn't resist! Amelia told me that among their attributes is that you have better control of the yarn (you sure do!) and that you avoid a lot of the twisting that can accompany circular needles. Photo also attached.

Lawsamercy, if I lived in cold country, I would knit myself into a coma! Fabulous, gorgeous yarns (a whole wall of Noro) plus alpacas, baby alpacas, etc., etc....a selection of yarns to die for, one such as this Southern girl has never laid eyes on before!

Jean

Not a creature was stirring...

2009-12-10T18:27:00.004-05:00

I was looking for free holiday knitting patterns and came across these adorable little guys so I thought I would share. I especially like the fellow wearing the jaunty beret.

Here's the link to the instructions on the appropriately named blog Fuzzy Thoughts, Knitting Cuteness:

http://blog.fuzzymitten.com/2009/11/holiday-mice.html

I'm a sucker for mice. I even think the live ones I catch in my Have-A-Heart traps are sweet. I just don't want them living in my house, so I relocate them to a lovely local park.

Of course, I don't have time to knit these for Christmas because I'm still working on the Boundless Blue Blanket--but I'm on the LAST SKEIN! Wahooooo!

Faithless blogger

2009-11-30T13:01:00.001-05:00

I wanted to let all you nice folks here at RTY know that I've deserted you temporarily and am guest-blogging at Heidi Betts' blog Must Love Yarn on Tuesday, December 1st. Here's the link:

http://www.heidibetts.com/MustLoveYarn/

There will be a PRIZE giveaway so you might want to come on over and take a peek. You'll also get to see my current very large WIP. Oh, and did I mention there will be a PRIZE?

Hope to "see" you there!

The other scarf

2009-11-29T22:18:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure the close-up photo is good enough to show the effect of that same lace stitch worked in such a different yarn, but here it is. I only worked it in the center of the rows because otherwise it resulted in this pronounced dip in the edges of the scarf. It mostly lends texture in this incarnation, but still, a fun experiment!

Finished the gift scarf and one for me!

2009-11-29T16:09:00.005-05:00

Yay! Finished the gift scarf but not sure you can see the beads in the pic below--I kept them in the same color palette so they just add a little shimmer but don't stand out. I like the lace stitch I learned well enough to try it on a mongo big velour yarn scarf for me--fascinating how different the results were. Only used it a little bit for interesting emphasis. Here's a photo of the gift scarf but haven't taken one yet of mine.

Ah, the Editing

2009-11-21T15:58:00.003-05:00

I'm heading into round one of serious edits, folks, and that also means round one of the serious edits on the sweater pattern that goes with my book.

And that means new yarn.

It's hard see how luscious this color is here on the screen, but this is a brown with a ruddy undertone:

It's Lorna Lace's Shepherd Worsted, color Echo, and it's the second prototype for this sweater. Book Two of the Cypress Hollow Yarns Series needs a little more internal conflict on the heroine's part, and Book Two's sweater needs a better neckline, I think. I need to write it more clearly. So I'll be working on both of those things over the holiday season. I like it a lot when my knitting and my book writing parallel each other, when my hands and my mind are working together.

I think in the future, even when my books don't have knitting in them, I think I might keep this tradition. It's nice to be working problems out in the yarn.

I might be cheating, but...

2009-11-17T20:09:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I mentioned this gift scarf...

I wanted to do lace, but Barbara and I were having trouble getting me back on the blog, so I couldn't come to you all and ask for an easy starter lace pattern, and time was of the essence, so I went online looking. The first three or four looked a little scary for a first-timer on a tight schedule...and then I found this one called Cheater's Lace. I grabbed it and cast on. (Had to create my own needles from bamboo dps with a cap on the end because I didn't have the right size on hand.) Yarn is Linie 135 Goby in red, a cotton and viscose mix.

Here's a photo of the beginning. I'm much further along now, but I don't have a photo yet. I'm winging a little with the pattern (my Waterloo...I really prefer making things up on my own, but this behavior is not without peril. My whole family laughs when I say I found a new recipe, for instance, because I just about never follow them. The problem being that it might turn out a disaster, but even if it's a huge hit, I can never remember exactly what I did and so can't repeat it. Living life hanging on the edge does exact a toll. ;) And knitting is much less forgiving than cooking, IMO. Or maybe I'm just a better cook than knitter.)

The improvisation is that I created this diamond pattern of purling several rows in, only it's not crisp due to both the yarn and the lace pattern and I'm liking it less and less, but I'm way too far past to rip out (plus the aforementioned tight schedule) so my next idea is to bead this area after I finish. Yep...story of my life: improvise, pay a price, rush like the dickens to salvage...I'm pretty sure life would be simpler if I'd just stick to the directions, but this little demon on my shoulder...

Dropped stitches...SCARYVILLE!!!

2009-11-12T20:15:00.004-05:00

Okay, so here's the next step in my (gulp) sock journey--a whole needle full (okay, so that's only 15 st, but it took years off my life) of stitches dropped and picked up wrong and had to unravel seven rows down and...sob.

BUT the good news is that I'm back in business. Except, of course, for one scarf I decided to start and then a second one (in my first attempt at lace--what is WRONG with me?!?) I have decided to do as a gift that has to be done ASAP...so the socks, well...I'm still working. but not very fast.

Therapy knitting -- again

2009-11-12T15:59:00.007-05:00

Many years ago, my grandmother tried to teach me to knit. After a tortuous month, she gave up, repossessed the knitting needles, and pulled out the embroidery supplies. My daydreaming childhood self was much better at embroidery. One needle, no dropped stitches. You understand, don't you?

In the early 1990s, I picked up the knitting needles again at the urging of my physical therapist. I'd lost much of the use of my hands due to repetitive motion injuries. It was therapy, so I concentrated on doing it right. It took some time and effort, but my hands gradually got better and so did my stitches. That time, the knitting habit stuck. As my knitting skills grew, I graduated to lace knit wool shawls, socks, and sweaters.

Then, this summer, along came the big, black steer that refused to get into the stock trailer. While that might seem to be completely unrelated to knitting, it's the steer's fault I haven't knitted in months. Sort of. The short version of the story is I wasn't careful enough, a rope slipped, and three fingers on my left hand were pinched so badly I thought I might suffer permanent nerve damage. I still have some small numb spots, but I can type normally again and do all sorts of things that require moderate finger agility. But knit? Not so much. I'm back where I started, knitting dishcloths for physical therapy and gradually recovering my fine motor skills.

And the steer? He's gone on to a better place.

I'm baaaaaaack!

2009-11-11T15:05:00.005-05:00

Hey girlies! Long time no see! My wrist problems aren't over, sadly, but when I saw Nancy at RWA this summer, she made me reeeeeally want to try to come back. Life got in the way for awhile, and I still have to be careful how much knitting I do after writing all day, but....

Okay...deep breath...I'm trying to overcome the dreaded

FEAR OF SOCKS eeeeeeeeeek!

I tried Magic Loop last year or so when I was on here and fell flat on my face. Then I was visiting with Deb Dixon about a new book I have coming out with Bell Bridge Books (Belle Books' womens fiction imprint...the book is called THE GODDESS OF FRIED OKRA--you wanted to know that, right?;))

Anyway, somehow we got off on talking knitting, and I brought up the aforementioned FOS. Deb assured me she had a sock pattern ANYONE could knit, so I said "Show me!" She sent it...I started hyperventilating...I exchanged 483 emails (okay, 2) and I pulled out the set of 2.5 mm bamboo dps I had on hand plus some gorgeous Brown Sheep Wildfoote Symphony I'd optimistically bought in the Magic Loop days and....

I cast on 15 st each on 4 needles, tried to knit a row...had to lie down and breathe deeply.

Then I got on knittinghelp.com and saw a video where all were cast onto one and divided after...so I did that, started working on the first row...and had to lie down and breathe deeply. :) (You see how much I love you guys and want to be Barbara or Fran when I grow up?)

Another email or two with DD, and after about five rows, I started feeling like, hey! Maybe I can do this! So here's a couple of pictures of my oh-so-humble beginnings!

Jean

Low-fat and Luscious

2009-10-30T10:33:00.004-04:00

Pistachio Nut Bread

1 (18 oz.) package yellow cake mix
1 small package of fat- and sugar-free Jello Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix
1 Cup low-fat or fat-free sour cream
1 Cup Egg Beaters (or 4 eggs slightly beaten)
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup water

4 Tablespoons Splenda brown sugar (or regular brown sugar if you prefer)
3 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or any other kind of nut you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, eggs, oil, and water. Beat well until smooth. If batter seems too dry, add a few more drops of oil - but just a few!

In a small separate bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts. (Keep the nuts separate if anyone can't have them.)

Spray two 9"x5" loaf pans with the canned baking spray that includes flour.

Divide the batter between the two pans, alternating layers of batter with sugar and nut mixture. (Make one loaf with and one without nuts, if need be.) End with a sugar layer on top. Bake for 1 hour or until loaves are done. Remove from pan and either serve or wrap and freeze for up to one month.

(c) 2009 Fran Baker

Note: For some reason, blogger won't let me upload a picture, but it makes a very pretty loaf.

A perfect gift for scarf mavens

2009-10-26T22:43:00.003-04:00

In my new Knit 'N Style Magazine, I found this marvelous gadget: the Scarf Fold-up, from Nancy's Knit Knacks. (How appropriate that another Nancy sells this!)

As your scarf gets longer, you fold and wrap it round the tool. The scarf stays neat and compact: no twisting and tangling. In addition, the Scarf Fold-up has a pair of 8" rulers, a 4" X 4" stitch and row gauge, and a US-Metric needle conversion chart. It holds knitting needles too. All for a mere $11.99. Evidently, a customer suggested this idea and Nancy's 88-year-old mother refined the concept.

Here's the link for any scarf mavens or friends of scarf mavens: http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/Scarf%20Fold-up.htm

You know how I love to knit scarves. This baby is going right on my Christmas wish list!

Yarn Bombing

2009-10-03T10:06:00.002-04:00

The Denver Post last week did a story on Yarn Bombing -- anonymous knitters who carry out a kind of textile grafitti by decorating trees, light posts, signs, and other public spaces with pieces of knitting and crochet. It's whimisical and a little weird and certainly surprising.

So -- anyone done any yarn bombing? Ever felt the desire to knit a tree cozy or dress up the local lamppost?

Scarf in use

2009-09-21T08:19:00.003-04:00

I had to share this photo of my handsome nephew on his way to a big game, wearing the scarf I lovingly knitted for him. It's always gratifying to see one's FO being used and enjoyed. Go, Demon Deacons!

What's Known as a Teaser . . .

2009-09-18T23:19:00.002-04:00

Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you what these socks, Sonny Fox, Wonderama, a backwards spelling bee, and the Luau 500 all have in common.

Really.

Wanna Enhance Your Sock Yarn Stash?

2009-09-15T20:19:00.002-04:00

I've come across a terrific way to greatly enhance your sock yarn stash--the "Sock Yarn Knitting Exchange." (And it's also open to crocheters.)

First, you receive a letter (from me) with two names and addresses on it. You send a 100 gr. ball of sock yarn (or two 50-gr. balls--enough to make one pair of socks) to the first person on the letter. Then you send out a new copy of the letter to six knitting (or crocheting) friends with the first name and address from my letter removed, the second name and address in first place, and your name and address in second place.

In short order, you should receive enough yarn to make 36 pairs of socks! Cool, huh? And just as much fun will be seeing who, and where, the yarn comes from.

Now, I know these things often don't pan out exactly as expected. Somewhere along the line, someone usually drops the ball. (Of yarn. Hah!) But I figure if you even receive only one ball of sock yarn, you've broken even. Anything more than that is a bonus.

As it happens, though, I don't know a lot of knitters here. So I'm throwing this open to all of you in yarn cyberspace. If any of you would like to participate in this sock yarn exchange, please e-mail me at elizabeth@elizabethdelisi.com and I'll get your address and send you the info. BTW, this is only open to those in the US and Canada, because of the difficulties of mailing elsewhere. (Not my rule.)

Hope to see lots of you participate!

Bragging on Barbara

2009-09-12T20:01:00.003-04:00

Laced with Magic by our own wonderful Barbara Bretton is one of the Top Ten Romances for 2009 on Booklist, which reviews for the American Library Association. The Booklist blurb says: Chloe, owner of a popular knitting shop and mayor of the supernatural village of Sugar Maple, Vermont, continues to battle evil forces in Bretton’s poignant and magical story of love and sacrifice.

Not that I'm surprised because it's a fabulous book, but "Wahoooooooooo, Barbara!"

Finding your level

2009-09-10T18:08:00.007-04:00

I was browsing through my newest Knit 'n Style magazine (just started subscribing and love it) and found an advertisement for a pattern I liked. Except it was marked "For Experienced Knitters". Hmmmm, does that mean me? After all, I've knitted for a lot of years. Does that qualify for experienced?

It's easier when they define the levels of difficulty as Easy, Intermediate and Advanced because I know darn well I'm not an "Advanced Knitter". I consider myself a Low Intermediate because I have a) knitted several sweaters (not difficult ones but still...), b) made a fair amount of progress on a lace scarf, c) worked out my own stitch charts for intarsia and d) knitted short rows.

However, there's a lot of stuff (like cables and socks) I have not done. In the case of socks, I never intend to do them ever, ever, ever. So do I dare to order a pattern for an "Experienced Knitter?" Or will I founder on the shoals of my hubris?

All you Yarnies: how do you define your level of expertise as a knitter?

Sock Yarn Winners!

2009-09-08T13:40:00.001-04:00

And the winners are:

Theresa N
Marie

Congratulations! And if the others who entered don't mind, I'll keep your entries for my next sock yarn contest, coming soon.

Fran Baker

Pink-Orange Shill-Shell Blankie

2009-09-07T14:54:00.008-04:00

My toddler is going to be moving into a big girl room in a few months, which I'm planning to decorate in bright pink and orange. I bought some yarn in those colors (plus a few more) (Painted Desert, #1289), without much idea of what I'd do with it; I just wanted something for her room. I ended up with a blankie.

Sock weight yarn was a little fussy to crochet with -- I hadn't tried it before -- but I just loved the colors on this. Plus, the wool-nylon blend is super-soft and silky; feels lovely in your hands. And machine-washable, which is key for kid items. Ty-Dy apparently makes a 10-ply worsted weight cotton version of this color (#289); I'm not normally a fan of working with cotton, but people claim this yarn is really soft. Maybe I'll seek it out at some point.

As it was, I didn’t have the patience to crochet a whole blanket out of this yarn, but I ended up with a cute little blankie for her dollies, or a cape, or whatever else she comes up with…

The Shill Shell Shawl pattern was easy to memorize, and had enough variety in its three rows to keep it interesting. It only uses two stitches (single and double crochet), so totally do-able for beginners as long as you can count. :-) I'd recommend the pattern to others; I think it'd make a pretty summer shawl, and be much easier to work up in a slightly heavier yarn, like the recommended 5-ply sport weight. (My yarn was 3-ply).

If I decide I want the blanket to be larger, I might do three more squares (probably in different patterns, maybe one more crochet and two knit) and attach them to this square. But not sure I have the patience to do that in this yarn.

The rest of the August winners

2009-09-06T22:34:00.002-04:00

The list is long. The apologies for the delay is even longer. But I promise the yarn is worth the wait.

Cathy S
Jennifer M
Joanie R
Cheryl S
Carolyn C
Libi
Susanne
kittenwithawhiplash
R3
Liz B
Marsha B-B
Carla B
Gina B
Yvonne
Jaymi
ozknitter

Congratulations to everyone!!

More Stephanie Plum's New Jersey

2009-09-06T15:49:00.002-04:00

I didn't forget. I have more winners to announce. Honest!

But while you wait, enjoy this slightly goofy video.