Q for You: What are your odd habits?

by

Q for You: What are your odd habits?

Do you do stuff like this? When Lauren (aka @suskandbanoo) sent me this photo for her Our Tools, Ourselves feature last winter, I laughed out loud. This is so me. Anytime I’m knitting with DPNs or a cable needle, I inevitably stick whatever I’m not using in my bun. The other night I was knitting with my hair down (this apparently never happens) and I was at a total loss as to what to do with my cable needle when it was not in use. It’s a handy trick; the problem is I often forget I’ve done it and go wandering out into the world. Like when knitting in airports, or the other morning in a busy waiting room. I had a double-point in my hair all day on Tuesday without realizing it.

Likewise, I used to keep one of those white rubber stitch markers on my ring finger at all times. You never know when you’re going to need a stitch marker, right? But while it was invisible to me (unless I needed it and was happy to have it), I got asked about it so often I had to stop doing it.

So here’s my Q for You: Do you have weird fibersmithy habits like this? Do you leave a trail of yarn wherever you go. Have your houseguests found skeins hanging in your shower, or a pair of embroidery scissors on every surface? You’re safe here, you can tell us.

.

PREVIOUSLY in Q for You: How do you store your patterns?

.

Photo © Lauren of Süsk and Banoo, used with permission

Amanda panel progress report: Let’s see these sweaters!

by

Amanda panel progress repot: Let's see these sweaters!

I had originally planned to talk about joining the body and sleeves this week for the #fringeandfriendsknitalong, but am feeling like maybe we could all use a little Information Intermission. And I thought this would be a good time to check in with our panel and see how some of our sweaters are progressing. Rebekka, Amy and Anna are each knitting uneventfully at their own pace.  Anna is nearing the join and will hopefully have photos of that process for us to talk about next week sometime. But for the rest of us, it’s been a little more eventful.

That’s me up top: two front panels is what I’ve got. Notice anything? I’m determined to do ribbon-backed button bands, which I’ve never done before. Plus I want them to be knitted at an even tighter gauge than my ribbing. (I really can’t abide a flimsy button band, and am at risk of taking it too far the other direction!) So I’d been debating about whether to do the bands as written or knit them separately. After spending a couple of evenings studying Brooklyn Tweed’s tubular cast-on and figuring out how to figure out how to calculate my own cast-on for flat, 1×1 ribbing in that method, I then stupidly cast on the wrong number — and didn’t realize it until I’d knitted the whole ribbing. The good news is I had started with a front piece precisely because it’s the smallest piece and I wanted to make sure my tighter-gauge version of a bigger size was going to come out right. Still, I hated to rip it out and start again. But then I realized I actually had the perfect number of stitches if I were doing the bands separately. So I took it as fate making my mind up for me, and forged ahead. Knitting the bands separately will give me lots of leeway to screw them up, pull them out and do them again if I need to, or change them at any time — which feels good to me.

. . .

Amanda panel progress report: Let's see those sweaters!

Meg Strong, Owner of KnitKnotes (Instagram: @knitknotes)

Meg has arrived at the underarms on her seamless body — but there was one notable setback: a dog ate it! Meg and her brother DG (now my right hand at Fringe Supply Co.) share a house and have the most docile pets on the planet. (I mean.) We stayed with them for most of two months this summer and I was stunned to see knitting and yarn left casually all over the living room each night. My cats would not be able to resist such temptation. So while Meg was watching this dog, she trustingly got up at one point to go to the kitchen, and when she came back the dog was standing on her sweater, using her precious ebony circulars as a chew toy. The knitting was collateral damage, and thankfully she was able to restore it. The circs were totalled.

You’ll also notice Meg’s button bands are of interest. At moments when she needs a little mindless knitting, rather than pondering a quick shawl, she’s been working her bands. Smart!

. . .

Amanda panel progress report: Let's see those sweaters!

Jaime Jennings, Co-owner of Fancy Tiger Crafts (Instagram: @fancyjaime)

You remember Jaime had put a lot of thought (and math) into knitting her sweater at a looser gauge than pattern gauge. She ripped a few times to make adjustments and decided she didn’t like the sweater as much with less honeycomb. So she started over and is now knitting with the same yarn at pattern gauge, which is giving her a denser fabric than she at first thought she wanted. But seeing it writ large, she’s liking it! She’s also pretty much the fastest knitter in the West, so even with all of that — and a week off last week for Spinzilla — she’s ahead of me. She has set a deadline for herself of Nov 5, so she can capture it on her next ultra-photogenic trip, and I’m sure she’ll  make that goal.

Also, clearly her early trepidations about the cabling were unfounded.

. . .

Amanda panel progress report: Let's see those sweaters!

Kate Gagnon Osborn, Co-owner of Kelbourne Woolens (Instagram: @kelbournewoolens)

If we were knitting on a schedule, or there were prizes for speed, Kate would be winning. She redesigned her back to have three diamonds and two braids, which looks great, but then she wasn’t liking how it played out with the raglan shaping. So she converted it to set-in sleeves! She’s a maniac. And no, we won’t be trying to teach how to do that particular alteration! But I can’t wait to see how hers turns out. I think she’s about 10 minutes from done.

So that’s the panel recap. Fill us in on your progress below! And remember there’s another big prize coming this Friday, so keep those photos coming!

.

PREVIOUSLY in #fringeandfriendsknitalong: WIP of the Week, week 3 (plus new buttons!)

New Favorites: Pure

by

New Favorites: Pure shawl pattern by cabinfour

So after my post last week about the Woolfolk debut collection, I got two skeins of Far in the mail. (Thank you, Kristin!) They were meant to be for a Knop hat, and oh man it would be delicious. But from the instant I pulled the yarn out of the envelope, all I’ve been able to think is I want that around my neck. 284 yards of pure luxury. Combine this with my latent nervousness over the fact that there’s nothing mindless on my needles right now, and I’ve suddenly got kerchiefs on the brain. Specifically that little garter-stitch kerchief I made for a my mom a couple of years ago. Thoroughly simple, it was really the perfect showcase for such a delicious yarn, and I just loved having it tucked around my neck for those snapshots. But then I’m thinking, isn’t there something equally spare I could knit with it — something mindless but not so mindless? (Don’t think I haven’t considered another Textured Shawl. But I already have a big grey version. In fact, I’m wearing it as I type.) What about a mini Lola? Or a Romney Kerchief? Then a quick trot through Ravelry led me to Pure, the latest from “cabinfour,” who has a way with ultra-spare shawls. I love the subtle progression of textures, and always love a big garter edge, but I wonder if I would love that if I scaled it down? Hm. Either way, it’s got my attention right now.

[DISCLOSURE: cabinfour frequently sends me copies of her patterns, unsolicited. No joke, not an hour after I finished writing this post (before it went live) Pure landed in my inbox. It’s like the universe knows!]

.

PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: the Woolfolk collection

I’m three!

by

I'm three!

This weekend was my third knitting birthday — 3 years since that fateful trip to Nashville to visit friends, who taught me to knit while I was there. Er, here. Now not only does my life revolve around knitting — with this blog and Fringe Supply Co. — but I also live in Nashville! Life is strange, ain’t it? If you were reading last year, you’ll remember I spent the month of October doing a series of posts aimed at new knitters and those wanting to expand their skills. This weekend, in honor of the anniversary, I organized it all neatly onto one page (along with a couple of other applicable posts), so you can now find it all right here: Beginning to Knit.

There’s general guidance — from how to learn to knit to how to gradually expand your skills — along with some very basic techniques and then a set of posts revolving around pattern recommendations for those wanting to give something new a try, including cables, colorwork and pullovers for first-timers. I’m always saying my favorite thing about knitting is how little you need to know to expand your knitting abilities exponentially. If all you can do is the knit stitch, learn to join those stitches in the round and suddenly you’re making a stockinette tube. Insert your needle into two stitches instead of one (knit two together, or k2tog) and you can decrease, which means you can turn that tube into a hat. And on and on — such incredibly simple little maneuvers turning your knitting into cables and then lace. But I also I love that I still have so much to learn — new tricks, techniques, construction methods, and on and on. Knitting is a neverending opportunity to amaze yourself, the way I see it. So if you’re a new knitter or you’ve been knitting for ages but haven’t quite gotten past basic knitting and purling, I hope you’ll find encouragement and enlightenment in those posts.

I’ll be continuing to add to that page over time. But for now, can I ask you for a little knitting birthday gift? If you find Fringe Association valuable, will you take a minute to tell your friends and/or followers about it? Pin your favorite post, tell your Facebook friends about the Beginning to Knit page (there are no doubt people wishing they could knit), whatever the case may be. It means to world to me.

And thank you so much for constantly egging me on and making me a better knitter!

.

p.s. Pictured above are a sampling of my own projects, clockwise from top left: my first (of two) Orlane’s Textured Shawl (June 2013); my Acer Cardigan (Jan 2014); some simple stockinette armwarmers (Feb 2012) (at sport weight, still the finest gauge thing I’ve knitted!); and giant lace in the form of my State Street Cowl (Jan 2013). Most of my FOs from the past three years are documented at Ravelry.

WIP of the Week, week 3 (plus new buttons!)

by

WIP of the Week, week 3 (plus new buttons!)

Oh, you guys, it was SO HARD to pick a #fringeandfriendsknitalong WIP of the Week this week. I wish I had at least four prizes to give out, and I’m certain it’s going to keep getting harder every week. But in the end, I decided this week’s prize goes to Catherine Wendland, who goes by “wendlandcd” both on Instagram and on Ravelry. Catherine’s Amanda has become a Flat Stanley of sorts, and I’ve been enjoying seeing it at the hardware store and on a city bench and, in the case of the above photo, at what does appear to be a very lovely park. So Catherine, you’ve won a $150 gift certificate to the brand new Fancy Tiger Crafts online store! Please let me know how we can get in touch with you about redeeming your prize.

Congratulations to Catherine and to the wonderful Fancy Tiger ladies on the launch of their beautiful new site! (Make sure you update your bookmark or RSS for their blog, by the way.)

I want to make sure everyone knows how to see all of the amazing sweaters that are happening as part of this knitalong. Photos are mainly appearing at Instagram and Ravelry. If you’re in the Instagram app, you can search on the hashtag #fringeandfriendsknitalong. Otherwise, it’s been brought to my attention that there are third-party websites that will allow you to see hashtagged Instagram pics (since their own website does not), e.g. Websta. (It ain’t a pretty page, but at least you can see the pics.) And for Ravelry, you can see all of the tagged project pages right here. If you’re blogging about your WIP, please remember to link to it from the comments here!

Keep those photos comin’! There’s another awesome prize to be awarded next Friday.

. . .

NEW! Buttons worty of your handmade garments

In Fringe Supply Co. news, I have a bunch of buttons that have been patiently waiting for me to photograph and post them, so this week I picked out four varieties that happen to come in Amanda-appropriate sizes. I know none of us are anywhere near the buttonbands-and-buttons stage, but I love having buttons picked out in advance — it’s like the carrot on the end of that stick! Clockwise from top left, they are: concave cream bone, a beautiful tea-stained looking bone; soft concave corozo, in ivory, navy and black; concave horn disc in horn (obvs), bleached horn and extra-bleached horn; and narrow rim grommet corozo in navy, crimson, black and plum.

I’m thinking of pale buttons for my ivory Amanda, and am debating between the concave cream bone and the soft concave corozo in ivory, both of which would be gorgeous. But it would also be amazing with the contrast of the horn or the black with the gold grommets! Right? So many great choices.

And of course, lots of options there for all the other projects of the world, as well. I also received a few baskets this week — natural and patterned. And the cable needles are finally available in ebony again.

Have a stellar weekend everyone! I’m planning to get my clothes out of the suitcase finally, hopefully look for a couch, and then I shall KNIT!

.

PREVIOUSLY in #fringeandfriendsknitalong: In pursuit of sleeve perfection

Next of the best of Spring 2015: Lace cardigans

by

Next of the best of Spring 2015: Lace cardigans

The Spring 2015 collections have been soooo mesmerizingly beautiful. If I hadn’t already sold or donated nearly everything I owned, I’d be inspired to do so now, and to start over with all sorts of pretty, girly things, like those seen at Chloé and Sea in particular. So I’ve loved looking at these shows — really, one of the best overall seasons in ages — despite their having been almost entirely devoid of knits. Sob! So tragic.

What few sweaters did appear have been forgettably basic, and maybe that’s why these two stood out from the, umm, crowd. But however you want to look at it, if you want to be on-trend sweater-wise for Spring, think in terms of a sweet lace cardigan, as seen at Michael Kors and A Détacher.

.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Tomorrow morning I’ll be announcing the third winner of our WIP of the Week for the #fringeandfriendsknitalong. So don’t forget to share you knits!

Elsewhere

by

Yarny links for your clicking pleasure

Before I get into this latest batch of tasty links, I just want to say I know I’ve been pretty tight-lipped about our move and how things are going in Nashville. I put up a little post about it on Instagram last night, for anyone who’s interested.

Now! Let’s get to the important stuff—

— Did you know it’s UK Wool Week / Shetland Wool Week? I, for one, am wishing I was at the Knitting and Stitching Show.

— Related: Melody at Mandarine’s is hosting a knitalong of the beautiful (and free) Shwook Hat, the official pattern of Shetland Wool Week.

— Semi-related: Entrancing video by Kathy Cadigan for Gudrun Johnston’s lovely new pattern collection, The Shetland Trader Book 2

— Very very tangentially related: I would like this deluxe reproduction of Weldon’s Practical Needlework from Victorian England, please.

— Unrelated, but related to you know what: Anna pointed me to this One Jumper Project. Marvelous.

— Cable-licious: Loved seeing Bristol Ivy’s charts and creative process for her Maeve cardigan at the Kelbourne blog.

— And in case you haven’t heard, the Mason-Dixon ladies are blogging again. Hooray! I was blown away by Ann Shayne’s post that kicked it back off, Poverty and Luxury. So good.

.