Duck Feet!

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.

Voodoo Handwarmers - Bonne Marie Burns

This is one of those patterns I've wanted to knit for literally years but never quite got around to casting on. I'm a huge fan of Bonne Marie Burns (Chicknits) and found this pattern on Knitty not long after I started knitting again.

It's dead easy, elegant (all of Bonne Marie's patterns are elegant), and quickquickquick to knit up. Not that any of us is up against a ticking clock, you understand. I'm just sayin' . . .

This pair is leftover Noro Silk Garden from Wavy. Shade #8. US5 32" circ. The thumb hole is a six-stitch buttonhole. I added a picot bind-off to girly it up a little.

Highly recommended!

In Progress: a knitter's report

Remember The "Famous" Fiesta La Boheme shawl I made last year? Remember how I swore I would never, not in a million years, knit with La Boheme no matter how beautiful it was? Remember how the mohair strand kept getting away from the sparkly strand and made me crazy?

I lied. I fell in love with a dark green and purple shade that would be perfect for my friend B. S. for Chrismas and I cast on. I'm already regretting it but oh is it gorgeous in person.

Plain old garter stitch and lots of fringe. Sometimes that's all you need.


That bunch of pink spaghetti is my third Vintage Velvet in progress. It looks loopy, wormy, and formless but just wait until it gets run through the washer and dryer. If you've ever doubted that knitting is a magical experience, this will put those doubts to rest permanently.

And this is a completed (except for the felting part) Vintage Velvet. I can't wait to see how it looks post its run in the washer and dryer. Both scarves are Muench Touch Me. I wish you could see the big fat juicy reversible cable running up the middle.

This is Wavy from Knitty. I'm about 1/3 of the way finished. Noro Silk Garden #8, Addi Turbo Lace US4.

I had quite a bit of white Berroco Comfort left over from the Baby Surprise Jacket and decided to make a pair of plain vanilla (in every sense) socks for Goldisox. Knit Picks Options US3. I'm working both socks simultaneously but photographed one.

So what's on your needles?

An Explosion of Metaphors

When I first got back into knitting (August 2003) I was struck by the parallels between looping yarn over needles and writing. It got to the point where I had to close my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears, and start humming really loud to keep them at bay.

And then it stopped. Knitting was knitting. Writing was writing. Two separate activities with absolutely nothing in common but me. One was wordless. One was (God help me) sometimes a little too wordy. Both had the qualities of an addiction. Unfortunately only one could pay the mortgage. (Unless you count the two-scarf contract from Penguin that Goldisox likes to tease me about.)

Just when I thought I was over the worst of it and the metaphor monster had been put to rest along with the Ab Fabs and the multi-directional scarves and novelty yarns, it came swooping back in at me thanks to Susan Wiggs and the terrific workshop she's holding this week over at the Romance Divas Forum. Susan is talking about Plotting From the Inside Out (a technique I definitely hold close to my heart) and she asked a fascinating question. What type of writer are you? A quilter? A sculptor? A knitter?

You guessed it: I'm a knitter through and through. I work line by line, row by row, and have to frog the whole damned thing each and every time I find a mistake. I long to be a rough draft kind of writer, someone who powers through the story from start to finish in an explosion of heat and enthusiasm and then, when the passion cools, goes back and layers in detail, dialogue, changes in direction. But I'm not. I can't move forward without taking at least two or three steps backward. How can you know where you're going if you're not sure where you've been? I have to know where I've been, know it in great and excruciating detail, before I can take that leap of faith into the next page, the next chapter.

Kind of like where I am right now with the never-ending What Am I Going To Do With This Gorgeous Noro Silk Garden series of scarf attempts. That's Take #3 (WAVY from Knitty) up there. It's longer now.

Fortunately, so is the book in progress.