Real Men Knit

Well, while that Man O' Mine is awaiting employment, what better time than to get him on the sticks? If Yarn Boy can do it, so can Army Man.

After a starter project to get him in the groove of continental knitting, he was ready to take on something more: A sweater for the Pooper. Her little bald tummy gets a mite cold here in the Northwest, so she's never without a handmade warmer. This one is made from Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky, in a lovely shade of red for February.


Man 0' Mine learned to pearl continental-- no small feat-- while tackling this ribbed sweater. The tummy portion has increases, so he learned to knit into the front and back of the stitch, which is why he did that panel in garter... can't take on too much at once. He even added a bit of seed stitch at the bottom, which was intended to be ribbed, but we call those surprises "Design Elements" right?






Anyway, to all you non-knitters all you have to know is how cute they are and how proud he is to have been so clever on the sticks. He's taking on a baby blanket next... and still hoping a job appears soon.


I'm working almost full time at the seafood counter at a local market. It's fun, but no knitting there! Ask me about fish, though! I'm getting to be pretty good at it.

Life changes, but it goes on...

Bleeding heart...

So there's a yarn shop just up the road here on this Puget Sound island on which we live, and I don't know how I feel about it. The owner is very nice, but she's not a business-minded person, nor does she have any sense of presentation for her shop, nor does she have color-sense. The shop is a bit like going into the humane society of yarns. I want to divert her attention so I can scoop up as many skeins as I can carry and run like hell out of there!

That said, there aren't really any yarns there I would knit with. I just feel sorry for them. Does yarn have feelings? Do they know they're being mistreated? Do they shudder at their bin mates who are not anywhere near the same fiber content or complimentary color scheme? Sigh. Call me a bleeding heart for yarn... but not a RED HEART yarn if y'know what I mean.

So this very sweet, albeit not savvy, shop owner has asked me to teach some classes and knit some shop samples. One is this Noni bag:



which is not a bad bag, it's kind of fun... but she picked out the colors and they are NOT fun. I suggested a couple combinations, but she decided she liked her choices, even though in the same breath she said, "Color is NOT my thing!" Having known her for just over a week I could not bring myself to say, "But it's MY thing!" because I was raised right, which means never having to say what you really want to say. Sigh.

The colors are eggplant and ocean blue. I kid you not. They are not in the same family. The eggplant is warm, the blue is of the green family. It hurts to look at it. It also hurts to knit it... seriously, my wrist is starting to swell. It's a cable pattern that makes the lattice, and working with double strands somehow makes my wrist have to contort into an unnatural position.

I'm on round 21. I have to do 53 rounds to get to the top. Then there's the circular bottom. I won't tell you what handles she chose. I'm just going to quietly weep as I persevere through this project and then find reasons to never knit for her again.

The weather outside is frightful...

...but we are having SOME FUN!!

This weekend was the highlight of my year thus far. I know it's only the 16th day of the year, but nevertheless I don't know if anything else is going to top what I did this Saturday in Seattle.

My cousin Tami (of the turned-Jew, liberal, Democrat, vegetarian persuasion) allowed me the privilege of doing a 'Clean Sweep' on what she loosely referred to as her "bedroom."

It only took 12 hours and it was so fabulous when we finished that we were both in awe of the transformation. I will post pictures so you can see the before and after. You don't want to see the during... that would be inappropriate for family viewing. Ha. In the end there was actually a carpeted floor, several chairs, tables, and a chaise lounge... and a bed! It's the best space ever now!

I have Swept a few houses now for friends and relatives and I'm thinking of going into the business. I can't imagine what someone would actually pay to have their life back in reasonable order, but I'm thinking it could be a lucrative effort.

So tell me what you think of the photos and any ideas on starting my own Clean Sweep business.






Oh, doesn't Knitty Bitty look frosty?
The weather here has been frightful!

Before the Sweep...

This is Tami's room before we tackled it...






Don't be too hard on her, we all have challenging spaces! The important thing is that she was brave and beautiful enough to want to make it better!

It's a Dream Room Come True!

Here is the Dream Room...





As you can see, we replaced icky flourescent lighting with lamps, thereby creating 'living areas' for her to enjoy. Now there are pockets of warmth that create her sleeping area, her sitting area, and her computer/sewing spaces.

We reduced her clutter by 100-percent and filled the spaces instead with her collections of art and antiques.

What a great way to start the New Year!

Entrelac Love

It looks like basket-weave, it knits up quickly, it will amaze your mother!

It's none other than ENTRELAC!

And it has never been so much fun!

I'm using Noro's Blossom, color #19. It's perfectly suited for Entrelac, as it changes color at just the right intervals.

My favorite Yarn Guy (see Links) has the Danica Scarf on Knitty.com
Another site that will give you a step by step tutorial is
http://wolfandturtle.net/Yarnpath/index.php/Yarnpath/comments/all_aboard_the_entrelac_express/

When It Rains, We Pour

Coffee... coffee... coffee...
On the eighth day God created Coffee!

Let me tell you all the wonderful things about being back in the Northwest:

1. Flannel sheets, five blankets, flannel jammies and you're still "just right"... not too hot, and never too cold.

2. Coffee. On every street corner, on every ferry, and in every store. And not this Maxwell house crap, either. REAL coffee. The kind that puts hair on your chest.

3. Rain. Blessed, cold, sideways-blown rain. It makes you feel alive! Not one pore of my body has released a bead of sweat since we've been here. Your senses are heightened, you feel the slap of fresh, cold air each time you step outside... it's fabulous!

4. Knitting. Yarn shops abound. Sitting in front of a fireplace, watching the rain pound the windows, and knowing that not only are you safe and warm... you are knitting with a purpose! No vain knits here, Nay! Every tenderly knitted glove will serve a purpose! Each sock will be a hero! Scarves are to be desired and cherished! Knitters here are elevated to a goddess-like status. Not bad for a lowly yarn artisan.

5. Food... oh man, more restaurants, cafes, bakeries, coffee-shops, and vendors than you can shake a fork at. You could eat out three times a day for a year and never hit the same place twice. And the food is amazing and so varied! All washed down with a hot cuppa joe. Oh yeahhhh.

6. Places to go, people to be... you can get in your car here (or on a bus or a train or a light-rail) and end up in the mountains playing in the snow or at the ocean digging clams or in downtown Seattle seeing an exhibit or at the Public Market on the waterfront or on a ferry just watching people. It's just not possible to be bored here.

7. Liberals. They're everywhere! It's crazy, but these people are just fun to watch. One birkenstock-clad woman had a bumper sticker that read: Earth is full-- Go Home. After you, lady. Or how about the job application I put in at a local low-brow eatery: The owner took one look at me and practically tossed my app in the garbage before I was even out the door. I was wearing make-up, you see. Oh, and carrying a leather bag. Oops. I was also smiling. Rats. There goes that job.

So these are just a few of the pleasures I'm enjoying since being home. Each day is brisk and wet and ripe with possibilities. I love it here. So good to be home.