Almost

Hi Knitters,
Well, this week has most certainly gotten away from me. I was planning a couple posts but the time flew by and I've had so much knitting to get done and then there's that fantastic Patchwork Sockalong that is going like gangbusters and needs tending to. I didn't get to the posts but I know you'll understand.

Click here to see some of the finished Patchwork Socks from the knitalong! It's pretty amazing.

I did get to taking a couple of quick photos of TC and her little buddy (our neighbor) who is like the little sister TC never had. Little Buddy is about 4 years younger than TC and they are friends to the end. In fact, the girls have a yodel they yell out the back door and if the yodel is returned by the neighbor friend they run into the other's yard. It is really funny and cute and it beats a cell phone by a mile in my opinion.

It seems like this is the time of year where the word almost is in almost every sentence. We're almost done with school, summer is almost here, finals are almost here, the weather is almost warm enough to swim, the sun sets at almost 9pm, the pool is almost open with regular hours, swim team is almost starting, graduation is almost a week away.... You get the picture.

And yes, I do have another son graduating from high school this year. It is a bittersweet time for us. I have to start imagining having two sons going off to college next fall and when I do I quickly push it to the back of my mind. Only two girls at home next year? I don't have to think about it quite yet. I still have a couple of months of contentment. I am a homebody and therefore I like it when all of my chicks are in the nest but I know it can't stay that way forever. Of course I want them to go on and have fabulous lives (but not too far away). I really am proud of all of them, my kids and my siblings' kids. They are a cool bunch to follow.

Little fairies were sprinkled about TC's fairy garden this afternoon. The girls worked on this for quite awhile after school. I'll take some photos soon to share the fairy garden in all its glory. It is quite sweet back there. TC has been planting flowers and ferns and ground cover. We have to re-do her bird bath fairy gardens soon. Click here to see her birdbath fairy gardens from last summer.

The day ended with fairy sprinkling in the garden and a popsicle in a sunny hammock. Honestly, the other thing you can't beat besides a backyard yodel is a pair of printed tights with a comfy dress.

It all sounds pretty good to me.

I'll be back soon with some fun knitting stuff, I promise!

Happy weekend, dear Knitters.
best, susie

Vogue Knitting Live in Chicago!

Hi Knitters,
This week is flying by so fast. I have lots to share on the knitting front but first I want to be sure to get this information out there about Vogue Knitting Live in Chicago this fall. I will be at the event teaching a couple of different classes and I hope to see lots of you there.

I am only teaching on Sunday, October 28th, because I have family obligations with my kids on the other days of the event. Since Chicago is pretty close to Madison I can make it down and back in one day without much trouble at all so that works out great.

I will be teaching two different classes on Sunday, one for a fantastic one-piece seamless toy I have designed just for the event (the pattern will include variations for three different animals - it's super fun and cute!) and the other class is for a top-down baby cardigan. I am providing the patterns for the projects in both classes when you get to class, just bring your yarn and needles and off we will go. There will be lots of skill-building and technique demonstrations, plus we will just have a good time knitting together for a few hours.

It should be loads of fun and I hope to see you on that October Sunday in fabulous Chicago! I am really looking forward to it. The registration opens very soon. Oh, and if you get a chance, let me know if you are able to join me for a class or two. I love hearing from you ahead of time.

Click here for the Vogue Knitting Live website for descriptions and registration!

I am putting the VKLive link and logo on my sidebar if you need to check back at a later date so you can always find it there. I am hoping to be teaching at Vogue Knitting Live in New York in January 2013, too, if all works out okay, not sure yet. I'll keep you posted on that.

I'll be back tomorrow with a post filled with knitterly goodness old and new! See you then.
best, susie

Mornings with Jennie

Hi Knitters,
It is a dark and stormy Saturday morning. My house is full and everyone is asleep but me. It is my favorite time of day. It's so quiet. A little knitting with a little coffee in my favorite mug is the best start to any day. Our plans were to head down to the square for the farmers market this morning but unless the skies clear up that won't be the case. I wonder what you are doing on this long weekend?

This morning I randomly selected a winner for a copy of Knitting Everyday Finery by Mel Clark. The winner is..... IK2 (rav id) or Beth White from Collierville, TN. Congratulations! I have messaged Beth to get her mailing address. Thanks to everyone for entering. I'll have another giveaway very soon.

In case you are interested, the mug in the photo is one of the best things I have ever purchased. I have had this mug for awhile now. I make sure it is clean and good to go every morning so I can enjoy my coffee in this particular mug. It is made by the famous Jennie the Potter. She is located in Minneapolis and she attends a lot of the major knitting festivals and events. Jennie makes specialized mugs and things for these events and I've heard that they sell out immediately after the doors open.

I ordered my mug from Jennie on her etsy shop. It really is the best mug I have ever owned. I love the shape, the size, the handle, the heft, the glaze, the indentations, the sheep, the ball of yarn with the knitting needles on the other side. I also love her buttons and bowls. She is an amazing talent. Someday I will own more of her fantastic work.

Here are the links to Jennie the Potter:
Jennie's feature on Knitty.com
Jennie's website
Jennie's Etsy shop

Have a wonderful holiday weekend with your friends and family.
best, susie

Knitting Everyday Finery ~ Book Giveaway!

Edited to add on May 26th, 2012: The giveaway is now closed! Thanks for entering and a winner has been selected. No further entries are being accepted.

Hi Knitters,
Today I have a wonderful opportunity for you. I am giving away a copy of the lovely Mel Clark's newest book. I have been a longtime follower of Mel and her knitting designs and blog. Her blog is wonderful and I highly suggest you take the time to check it out if you haven't yet. Mel writes an informative, knitterly and lifestyle blog with gorgeous photographs included. It is a treat.

Click here for Mel's blog, Slip Slip Knit.

Mel also wrote another book you may be familiar with called, Knit 2 Together, which was written with Tracey Ullman. You may get a kick out of the book review I wrote for Knit 2 Together back in 2007. Click here to see my review.

Now onto this new beautiful book, Knitting Everyday Finery. The projects really speak for themselves. Mel Clark is a stylish, comfortable, clever designer. I just love the way she knits, writes and puts things together. Her knits are right up my alley and I think you will love them, too.

Click here to see the book projects on Ravelry in one spot! The shawl on the cover is beautiful, it is called, Mrs. Lovechild, which Mel explains in the introduction. Each project has a brief story introduction which I love to read. The yarns Mel uses in the book are readily available. She is the former owner of a yarn shop and knows how yarn accessibility helps a knitter out.

This is the Everyday Cardigan knit in Cascade 220. I see this one is already quite popular on Ravelry.

The Daisy Dachshund is one of my favorites. It can be knit as a toy or as a pencil case with a lining and  zipper. Either way it is adorable. The construction is quite clever as well and the instructions are well-written and clear. This is Cascade 220 as well.

These striped hoodies, called the Family Hood, are cute, fun and practical. The hood comes in sizes for kids through adults. One for everyone and Cascade 220 is the yarn of choice. Doesn't everyone have Cascade 220 in their stash? I sure do. This book is perfect for Cascade lovers.

I love this reversible hat called, H@T. It is made in Koigu and this is the best part...

The inside is as good as the outside. I think this is a winner.

I love a whisper of a scarf made in Rowan Kidsilk Haze. How could you not? This one is called Lulu and it is gorgeous. I love this model, too.

Last but not least, Mel included these fantastic tights in this collection. I really love these tights. They are called, Tangerine Tights, for obvious reasons. They are made in Koigu Premium Merino. I simply adore tights..... TC would look so great in these tights.

This is a terrific knitting book by a smart, lovely, seasoned and talented designer. I am a big Mel Clark fan. You don't want to miss any of her work and especially this collection. The book includes, hats, mittens, gloves, fingerless mitts, scarves, a shawl, cowl, a croissant bag, a tam, beret, slippers, shorts, socks and tights and even more!

Click here to see the book on amazon! 

To enter to win a copy of Knitting Everyday Finery, please leave one comment that includes your rav id or email address on this blog post. I will randomly select a winner in a day or two. I will then contact the winner to gather a mailing address and send it to Mel Clark herself. She will then get you your book!

Good luck and let the comments begin!
best, susie

Patchwork Progress

Hi Knitters,
I finished my first pair of Patchwork Socks a couple of days ago. Make no bones about it, they are pretty darn fun and cute. These literally flew off the needles because the switching of the yarns is insanely motivating for some reason. I think partly because you have no idea how they will look in the end so that makes it more exciting along the way.

I have always loved the mismatched sock, mitten, glove... but these kind of take the cake.

I finished on a day where the temperature was over 90 degrees and humid but I wore them for a little while despite the heat. How could I resist?

I have cast on for my next pair using only Noro sock yarns in different colorways and these will be quite a different looking pair as I am using a different stripe sequence. I will tell you more about the new sock later once I get it going more.

The Patchwork Sockalong is going like gangbusters on my Ravelry group. I think we have close to 100 Patchwork Sockalong-ers at this time and the thread has over well over 1,000 posts so far. This is incredible to me. Thank you to everyone for so wholeheartedly joining in!

I have just been emailing a few of my favorite sock yarn-y people and have already lined up some amazing prizes for the drawing at the end of the sockalong. People are generous. Much more on this exciting news to come.

Here are the links:
Itty-Bitty Knits
How I make my socks (free pattern I am using)
The Patchwork Sockalong thread
My Patchwork Socks project page

I have a new book giveaway coming up next so be sure to keep your eye out.
best, susie

A Day with Liz

Hi Knitters,
I want to share my beautiful surroundings from yesterday with you. I am so excited that in my next book we are including photographed tutorials which is wonderful. The tutorials will be actual photos of my hands doing the techniques. I'm definitely not a hand model but I know the knitters won't mind the images of my hardworking hands in the shots. It will give the book a more personal touch and mostly, I think these tutorials will be incredibly helpful. We had quite a successful day of shooting!

I have been working on organizing and knitting step-outs (partially knit projects for technique demonstrations) for a couple of months now. On Thursday I flew to Minneapolis to spend time with my favorite photographer extraordinaire, Liz Banfield.

Liz has photographed all five of my books and I hope we get to do more together in the future. She is a talented and imaginative photographer. Plus, she really has a way with photographing babies and kids which has been perfect for my books. I was happy to finally get to spend some time together in person, not just through emails and phone calls. What a treat, even though it was a long day of hard work. It was fun to get to see her in action with her camera.

Click here for Liz Banfield's website and be sure to look at her portfolio, you'll recognize lots of stuff in there.

I knew her studio would be beautiful and bright. Everything looked so fresh and light. Liz has a way with things, from people, to texture, to color, to textiles, and basically all aspects of design in general. She has an eye that is enviable.

Liz even had yummy snacks to keep us going throughout the day. It all looked so good. We had a delicious lunch brought in. I had haddock with pickled beets and watercress and it was perfect and small, and there was a salad on the side with the lightest, kind of tart, dressing that I am still thinking about. It was a needed break in the day.

Now, I'll let you quietly take a look around.....

And finally, here is the fabulous Liz. Her children have been included in the photographs for all three of the Itty-Bitty books, with her son appearing on the cover of Itty-Bitty Toys with the giraffe. This next book is going to be the best one yet, at least that's what you always hope for.

Thanks to Liz and her lovely assistant Heather for the jam-packed day of good hard work and great company. 

I'll be back soon with a Patchwork Sockalong update! I can't even believe the number of people joining in (it's not too late to join). We might be getting close to 80 people (?) knitting patchwork socks together at this time. I thought I might get a dozen or so. 

Go figure.

best, susie

Patchwork Sockalong!

Hi Knitters,
Well, I am brimming with ideas about having this scrappy sockalong. I posted here about the socks I am knitting right now. This post also includes ideas and links for different ways to put together a pair of socks using your leftover sock yarn. It seems there is a lot of interest in this fun project which is always fun to see. There were many, many name ideas for these socks. Here are some of the name ideas you all came up with and they are all so good. Thank you, everyone!

Timeline Socks
Patchwork Socks
Memory Walk Socks
Scrappy Socks
Nostalgia Socks
Reminisce Socks
Time Warp Socks
Auld Lang Socks
Reflection Socks
Flashback Socks
Hold Dear Socks
Cotton Candy Socks
Storybrooke Socks
Daydreaming Socks
Time Traveler Socks

Any of these would be perfect but I think I will be using the simple name, Patchwork Socks, offered by Idiosyncraticeye in the last post's comments. Thank you. I love her ideas behind the word patchwork. Here is her post:

 idiosyncraticeye said...

I'm thinking of something along the lines of 'patchwork' because quilts traditionally are all about memories, saved scraps of fabrics from this or from that and also because of the sense of community involved in such works, something shared.

But memory patch sounds like a computer update.

:)

May 11, 2012

 

As you can see, I am almost done with my second Patchwork sock. I used my pattern, How I Make My Socks, (click here for the pattern). I started with the 12 rounds of rib, then I switched the yarn and started the stockinette cuff where I switched colors every 10 rounds. I worked to about 6 1/2 inches from the cast on edge for the cuff and then switched the yarn for the heel flap and turning the heel. Then I went back to switching the yarn every 10 rounds for the foot. I switched again and finished the toe in one yarn.

I have a video tutorial on my Youtube Channel for how I weave in ends when I switch yarns. With socks I weave through around 8 purl bumps on the inside and I leave a little longer end when trimming. Everything else is the same.

Click here for the tutorial on weaving in ends!

Here is the group of yarns I used to complete my Patchwork Socks. The yarn on the far left is a special one. I knit the original pair of socks on my first book tour for Itty-Bitty Hats and I used a photo of the socks for the very first blog post I ever wrote. Click here to see the first post ever! Isn't that funny?Making these socks have really brought me back to some different times.

So here we go if you want to join in!

1. The Patchwork Sockalong starts now and will last through the last day of June, which is June 30th. It's okay if you already started and you can join in any time!

2. All you have to do to join in is knit a pair of socks or even one sock, any pattern you use is fine, and use only your leftover sock yarn from other projects. I am using my How I Make My Socks free pattern to make my socks, switching yarns every 10 rounds.

3. You have to post a photo of the scraps you are using and a photo of ONE finished sock to the Patchwork Sockalong thread in my Ravelry group (see link below) to qualify for prize drawings on July 1st. I will be gathering prizes for lots of winners but we will all win with our original Patchwork Socks that use up our sock yarn leftovers. Be sure to read the next guideline!

Click here for the Patchwork Sockalong thread in my Itty-Bitty Knits Ravelry Group!

Note: If you want to participate and you don't belong to Ravelry just send me your photos and I will post it in the thread so you are entered in the drawings. My email is on the blog sidebar. Please only do this if you are not a member of Ravelry (I know there are a few of you out there!).

4. Anyone who finishes a complete pair of socks (that means 2 socks) and posts a photo of them on the Ravelry thread by June 30th will get to select any one pattern from my Ravelry pattern shop as a gift from me in addition to being entered in the drawings for prizes.

I will have some fun surprises along the way and I will post about the prizes I gather for the drawings along the way!!!

Please feel free to comment on here and also on the Ravelry thread. I am planning on knitting more Patchwork Socks trying some different techniques so I will keep posting on the blog about my progress over the next few weeks.

I hope you join in! We will have some patchwork-y fun together.
best, susie