New Pattern Alert

Today's the day!

Knot Tuned: The Symphony.

If knitting were music, the stitches would be the keys and the repeats would be the time signature. If knitting were music, a simple two-by-two rib could be translated into the Key of C (No sharps or flats, just natural notes), in 2/2 time, (or cut time). Changing just a few stitches (the notes) to cables or lace (sharps or flats) the entire musical world is at your knitting fingertips. Before the orchestra is ready to play, while the audience is still in their cars driving to the theater, the instruments that have been carefully packed and stored in the theater for the performance are waiting. Nestled in cases lined with felt, their strings slightly loose, their reeds in separate pouches and mouth pieces not attached, they sit, not tuned, until the musicians arrive.

This ribbed and cabled sock is available in two sizes, an 8 and 9 inch [20 and 22.5 cm] circumference, with an adjustable foot and leg legnth.

Yarn:  I have suggested Knit Picks Stroll Fingering. 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon for this sock, but any fingering weight sock yarn would work.  (A pair of socks takes 2 50 g [1.76 oz] balls of yarn.

Needles: US Size 1 [2.25mm] or size needed to obtain gauge, double points or circular for working in the round.

Notions: A cable needles, large eyed tapestry needle for weaving in ends, stitch markers and (optional) sock blockers.

 

 And it is available right now in my Ravelry Pattern Store. (No account needed to buy and download the pattern, but Ravelry is such a great place, if you are not a member...join already!)

This sock, along with Simple Melody, Fine Tuned and Disco Tuned, all take their inspiration from music.  Both the music itself and the performers on the stage.  Next up?  Well my knitting socks to music will continue at the Ballet (which is in testing now) and then I think it might be time for something different!

What do you think?  Shawl?  Top? Hat?  More Socks?

Leave a comment and tell me what you think I should work on next!

Happy Knitting!  And, enjoy your trip to the Symphony!

~M

As always, if you subscribe to the newsletter you will get discount codes for all future releases...Right up there at the top right of the blog. 

Time Keeps Getting Away From Me!

Ever notice how each time you think that life is settling down into a new, more peaceful routine, someone or something comes along and rocks the boat?

Yeah, me too!

But, there has been quite a bit of knitting done, a lot of it in 10 to 15 minute increments waiting one place or another.

(Excuse the coffee drips on the car seat, I really should go clean my car out!)  This cotton shawl was the perfect travel knitting.  Very basic stitches, no need to drag the pattern around with me.

Some massive increases before the lace border meant I could even do that without needing to worry about where I was in the pattern.

And why yes, even though the astute will notice those are pins and the shawl is blocking, it isn't finished until the pattern is ready for testing and publication...so she still counts as a Work in Progress for a WIP Wednesday post.  :)

But, as you can see, the shawl came to the edge, so the next thing got to travel with me...

 Got started and

finished before I knew it.

And me with another day to wait until some yarn for a top arrives.

What's a gal to do?  TDQ reminded me she wanted another hat.  Assured me I had enough time to knit it before the expected yarn shows up...so this jumped on my needles.

Do you think she will believe that hats come with heel gussets and toes?

What are you working on this week?

~M

Just Another Silent Sunday

Not What You Were Expecting

I bet you were expecting a Finished Object Friday post...

yeah, me too...

I couldn't get it together!

Not that there weren't finished things, some that are on the "hush-hush" and some that are perfectly public, just I don't have the pictures in the right places, or they haven't been blocked or photo'd at all...or....or...

But...

No excuses, right?

Getting finished object pictures was not my priority this week.

There, I said it.

This week on my mile long to do list, photos were (at best) a B item, on a list full of A-1 priority, you gotta do this today, kinda things.

A-1, each and every day?  Do not *hit self in head with mallet, repeat from* until brains leak out of ears.

The jury is still out on if the brains leaked out of my ears yet or not, so for today....

Go play with google...It's fun she said.

~M

A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

After my whirl wind, busier than I like them, week last week, this week things are going to have to slow down to a more sedate pace!

I did get some knitting done, and some quick updates to patterns started...wanna see what I can show you?

Yeah, I figured you did!

My birthday present to myself, a tank top with a slightly sexy back in merino yarn from Land O Lace.  (It turned into an exercise in grading garments through multiple sizes, and then trying to double check my excel formulas with pen (yes pen!) and paper!.)

I am not 100% sure I trust either of us for the middle sizes and as merino in  summer is not everyone's idea of the perfect tank I might have fallen off the yarn diet long enough to purchase some fingering weight cotton blend to give it another go!

While I wait for that yarn to come in, I finished up a doily and have got myself well on the way to being near the end of a cotton shawl.

That is a new base from Unplanned Peacock, Peacock Pima in fingering weight. The color is called Clematis and I think I have a serious crush on it!

Happy Summer Solstice!

As you can see my thoughts turn to different knits rather than no knits, when the weather is warm and the days are long.  Do you craft all year?  Do you change what you craft on during the long hot days of summer and the cold long nights of winter?

~M

Father's Day

~M

Extreme Lace

So I mentioned that Andrea Jurgrau has a new lace pattern in the Knit Picks Book Luxurious Lace.

I had the great pleasure of test knitting it for her!

Oh this one is a beauty, she has hex mesh, nupps, novel increases...mine took 3 and a half skeins of Alpaca Cloud in Papaya Heather and is an absolute dream to wear!

I think I will just let the photos speak for themselves!

Can you tell it was a while ago I finished this one?  (Shh, don't tell anyone, I still haven't taken the modeled shots...but I have a photo shoot tentatively scheduled for next week!)

I am off to play with my friends now!

What are you working on this weekend?

~M

Just a couple of Public Service Announcements

Not that there aren't WIPs to talk about but instead today...two things that both involve Knit Picks!

First....did you get the message the Summer Sale is going on!  Some fabulous new colors of Felici Sock Yarn...in value packs even!

And, my friend Andrea has a new lace pattern out.  You can buy the book from Knit Picks or, like and share on Facebook to enter to win a copy!

I got to test knit that one, and I will tell you all about it on Friday!

~M

Not Silent at All...

To those who know me "in real life"....Thank you for all the birthday wishes!


For those who don't know me "in real life"...this post I made in one of the groups I belong to pretty much summed up my day...

"Thank you! I have had a great day.
 
It’s funny, all my life people have been trying to give me things that go in a box to make my birthday (or any day really) special…and today….no boxes at all. (My request, I am at that age, where if there is anything I really want…I bought it for myself before you could, and things just don’t have the same appeal they did when I was much younger.)
Listening to my kids cooking together (they made a cake , carefully dividing up the recipe so that each one contributed as much effort as the other two, so that it was a true group present), along with the birds that were singing in my garden, warm sun, slight breeze…a just complicated enough chart from a designer friend of mine (she writes what I would consider extreme lace, this one isn’t extreme but kept me on my toes).

This, this is what people had been trying to put in boxes and it isn’t something you can put in a box.

I probably need to stop reflecting on myself so much….but…darn me, it was the perfect birthday! And perfect days don’t happen to anyone very often.
The kids keep saying I need to find them some candles to put on the cake  so I can make a birthday wish…but honestly, all I would wish for is that for everyone to have a day like I just did."

~M

Reminder - Knit in Public Day is Tomorrow

I am one of those knitters who knits at every opportunity, no matter where I am!  So every day is Knit In Public Day...but just in case you needed a reason to grab your knitting and get out...

June 10th, 2017 has officially been designated Knit In Public Day...so do what I am going to do...

Get out there and Knit!

~M

Maybe I am a Zombie

I really hope she couldn't count!*

Look at that pulse!

But on the positive side, that isn't a bad blood pressure for someone who is about to hit the big five oh. (even if for me it is a little higher than normal.)

According to the comics and tv series iZombie, zombies have very low blood pressure and heart rates..... I think they both got it wrong though...it isn't brains I want, it is skeins!

~M

Stash Enhancement Tuesday

This past weekend it was a pleasure to get to go to the Mid Ohio Fiber Fair, in Worthington Ohio.  (It actually worked out very well for me, one of the minions needed to be dropped off in Dublin for a party, so with a little bit of a detour I was able to combine two trips into one, browse to my heart's content and then go back to Dublin to pick said minion up.)

The Mid Ohio Fiber Fair is a very small show, but gave me a great opportunity to chat (in person) with some indie dyers about their yarns, their process, their colorways and get to see people I am starting to consider to be "old friends" like Natasha of  Unplanned Peacock.

And get to know some other crafters a little bit better, like Michele of Michele's Assortments.

I also met a "newbie" dyer, Liana of Red Bird Yarn Studio , who was skeining yarn for her table while we chatted.  She had samples knit up for nearly all of her available at the show colorways, which I think was a fabulous idea as so many knitters cannot envision how self striping or variegated yarns will look when knit up when they only see them in the skein.  (I of course picked out the one she didn't have a sample of!  It is a gorgeous colorway called Peony and it is being ever so well behaved and just gently whispering that it would like to get knit up!)

Every year the fair has a raffle for various baskets containing donations from each of the vendors who attend.  The raffle supports a local food bank and I always buy a few raffle tickets (and view it as my entrance fee as it is a free event!).  Just as I was about to leave I got a text from the minion that had opted to stay home...."Someone just called to say you won basket number 2 in the raffle."  I guess habit had me writing down my landline number not my cell phone.  (I never expected to win, so hadn't given a thought about needing to collect the prize if I had already left for the day!)

Want to see the goodies that were in that basket?



























 



















And then, the three skeins of yarn and the shawl pin that I did purchase!

So how was your weekend?  (Yes, I know it is Tuesday, my weekend got away from me!)

~M

Forgotten Finished Objects - Well, Unblogged

I thought I was going to share a different finished object today...but I might have underestimated how long the edge was going to take, and overestimated how many stitches can comfortably fit on a 60 inch circular needle.  Maybe by next week!

But, luckily I don't think I have told you about this one, so I do have something to share!

Presenting :

Ostrich Plume Baby Bonnet by Ranee Mueller.

Baby Bonnet with dishes, gift bag and paper hyacinths

Her version was knit in a decadent cashmere/merino blend...I knit mine in a merino/angora blend. (So not something you would want to leave on a baby too long, all those pesky fibers, but suitable for a newborn picture prop!)

Different gift bag

The pattern stitch, Ostrich Plume is an "old standard" in the knitting world.  One of many, many, variations of feather and fan, and truth be told, possibly my favorite variation.  Added to the natural colored yarn and all my "this is a good baby thing" buttons are being pressed.  There is just something about an old fashioned, pretty, stitch pattern, a plain colored but decadent yarn that warms my heart.

Pink Hearts for Girls

The bonnet is ever so quick to knit up, once you have the rhythm of the ostrich plume stitch it makes good "chatting with friends" or "watching a movie" knitting, and an elegant baby shower gift, if you should be in need of one!

Stats:

Ostrich Plume (my project page)
Yarn:  Knit Picks Bare Hare
I used 88 yards (80 meters)
Needles: US 2 and US 3 (2.75 and 3.25mm)
Some random ribbon from the sewing box.

Overall thoughts...go ahead knit one, or two or even three!  A very quick, fun knit.  Not quite mindless but very relaxing and you never know when you will need a baby shower gift.  Knitted to gauge it is a true newborn size...if you wanted it to fit longer choose a slightly heavier yarn and larger needles. (And if the opportunity for a baby shower doesn't appear many non-profits and hospitals will take baby items as donations.)

I have a fiber festival to attend this weekend, which will be fun, although the last thing I need is more inspiration for projects!

What are your plans for the weekend?

~M