3.26.2009

Knitter's Survey

Allison posted this on Facebook, but since I haven't blogged in a bit and my blog is connected to my Facebook I am just going to post it here.

How long have you been knitting? Technically since 1998, but I didn't start doing it hardcore until around 2003.

How did you learn to knit? Who taught you? I taught myself from a horrible booklet that contained lots of bad 80's sweaters.

Have you ever taught someone else to knit? I used to keep a tally of how many people I have taught to knit, but I got lazy in the early hundreds. If I had to guess I would say that I have taught about 200 people to knit.

What is your favorite project to knit? Hats. I love to knit them and I love to wear them.

What is your favorite fiber (cotton, wool, etc)? I have always been pretty partial to cottons, especially Blue Sky organic and Manos del Uruguay cotton stria.

What is your favorite yarn company? This is a tough one since I have several favorites depending on my mood and the season. Right now I am really into Noro sock yarns, but not for socks.

What colors do you like to work with? I tend to gravitate toward reds and oranges, but I am trying to move into a blue and green zone.

What needle size do you use most? US5 is my favorite size for most things.

Circulars or DPNs? DPNs for small circumferences and circulars for everything else.

Wood, bamboo, metal or plastic? Wood or Addi turbos. I love my turbos!!!

What tools are in your project bag? Stitch markers, scissors, measuring tape, point protectors, crochet hooks, safety pins, darning needles, a needle reference, corks from wine bottles, and a Virgin Mary pin.

What's on the needles right now? A pair of vintage socks, a lace shawl, and a cabled sideways hat (though it is MIA)

Do you knit mostly for yourself or others? About 50-50.

What's your favorite knitting book (pattern or otherwise)? I love Going Straight by Woolly Wormhead.

What is the weirdest thing you have ever knitted? I guess the Immaculate Heart of Mary or the tampons I knitted and crocheted for the tampon tree that never happened.

What is your dream project? I am not sure, but it is a sculptural project that is bigger than me. I'll let you know when I know.

What's your favorite finished object? My Abalone hat, I wear it all of the time. I also really like my chevron scarf made from two colorways of Mountain Colors' Bearfoot.

Do you listen to or read anything while knitting? I don't like to read while knitting because I have to stop to turn the pages, but I usually listen to music, NPR, or watch TV while knitting.

Have you ever sold something you knitted? I have done several commissioned jobs and I've sold a few non-commissioned items.

Have you done any of the following - spinning, dyeing, needle felting, hot water felting? All of the above. I love dyeing and spinning in the summertime when I am not in the mood to knit.

What is the maximum number of colors you have used in one project? I have no clue, but at least seven.

What other crafts are you into? I also like to crochet, sew, restore vintage furniture, and blend batts for spinning.

What have you learned from your knitting? I have learned not to get frustrated when I have to rip a project back and I've also learned to trust my measurements.

3.17.2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

So in honor of St. Patrick's Day I bring you last night's dinner, green chili. Okay, I know green chili isn't Irish, but neither am I and it seems a little weird to celebrate a country to which I have no connection.Anyway, the recipe came from Rhymes with Vegan, episode 3. For those of you who haven't yet seen this great online cooking show, I highly recommend it. You should also check out Meagan's blog which features 1-2 of her new recipes a week.

I also made three more tams (actually I made a fourth, but I haven't photographed it.) I am on a bit of a tam streak right now because they sell well, use up yarn that I need to get rid of, and are a project that I can work on anywhere. Since the shop has been low on tams for a few months, now seemed like a good time to replenish the supply. All of these and a few others are available at ReBelle.

3.15.2009

Just in time for the warm weather

The weather is supposed to start warming up tomorrow so naturally I decided to finish up my chunky cable mittens yesterday.


The pattern is the Bella's Mittens from the Subliminal Rabbit blog. I was really happy with this pattern, it was well written and easy to follow. I had to go down two needle sizes to get gauge (actually I should have gone down just one size, but my US7 dpns are bamboo and I hate bamboo knitting needles so I opted for my US6 birch needles instead.) I also added an extra cable repeat to the hand to make room for my ridiculously long fingers; I have to add an extra inch to any mitten patten I try. I am not a Twilight fan (I didn't really like the books and I didn't see the movie,) but I love these mittens. They are made so that they go up your arm almost to your elbows which makes them the perfect companion to my bell-sleeved coat.

3.12.2009

Today must be a rainbow day

I still haven't blocked my sweater, but I did finish a couple of other things so I will show those off. First, I made a dreadie sack to sell at the shop. The yarn is a hand dye that I created for another project and then changed my mind. I am trying really hard not to stash yarns so I decided to crochet the skein into a dreadie sack (I wanted something that could use the entire skein so I wasn't stck with a bunch of leftover.) If you have know me for any length of time you have probably seem me turn out hundreds of tams and dreadie sacks so this one isn't a lot different except that it has nice hand dyed color changes.

The next project is a headscarf that uses leftover sock yarn. I always end up with 25-40grams of sock yarn leftovers so I like to find ways to use them up. This headscarf uses about 30grams of sock yarn to make a 48" scarf and about 40grams to make the 60" version that I made and the great thing about the pattern is that you can just go until you run out of yarn. As long as you have at least 25grams to start with the scarf will be long enough to wrap your head and tie.

Sock Wave Head Scarf

Materials:
25-50grams sock yarn
US4 knitting needles
Tapestry needle

Gauge:
25st and 36 rows= 4"

Pattern:
CO 22st
Rows 1-4: Knit
Row 5: k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2
Row 6: k2, (k2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times, k2
Row 7: k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2
Row 8: knit

Repeat rows 5-8 until you reach the desired length or you only have 3 yards of yarn remaining.
Knit 3 rows.
Bind off.

Block scarf and weave in ends.

3.03.2009

Sometimes it's great to be a Southerner

I have been working a lot lately so I haven't had much blogging time (much less cooking and knitting time.) I finished up a few top secret projects this weekend that I will be allowed to write about in a few weeks and I finished the knitting on my February sweater (but it still needs to be blocked.) Since I don't have anything shiny and new to show off I will make this a cooking post about our yummy dinner last night.

I love tempeh and even though the tempeh monster often attacks new packages of tempeh before I can cook with them I still buy it with the hope that maybe I can prepare it before he attacks. I bought two packages on the last grocery trip and hid one in the depths of the fridge and miraculously it survived the attack. Last night I was in the mood for some Southern comfort food so I made the hot sauce glazed tempeh from Veganomicon and served it with mashed potatoes and mixed greens (collard, mustard and turnip greens.) The potatoes were made with a bit of Bryanna's homemade chicken-style broth powder to give them a little more flavor. I made a double batch of the broth powder around Thanksgiving as an alternative to the expensive faux chicken broth we were buying at the co-op and since then we have been throwing it in all kinds of stuff. As a general rule I like to keep things simple when it comes to greens so they were simply steamed and served with a bit of red wine vinegar, tamari, and nutritional yeast. The entire meal took about 25 minutes to prepare (not counting the marinating time) so it was a quick and easy meal, perfect for a busy evening.