Top ten places to get FREE knitting patterns

Here are my favorite places to get knitting patterns online. If you have any favorite places, please share them in the comments.

1. Knitty.com : Knitty is an online knitting magazine. Knitty offers free knitting patterns and informative articles. There are a variety of patterns from lots of knitters. You can even design a pattern and submit it. You never know, it might be featured in a future knitty.

2. Lion Brand Yarn : This is a yarn company, their yarns are affordable and can be found in stores like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, etc. They have a huge library of patterns available for free from their website. They also have some patterns available at a cost.

3. Interweave Knits/ Knitting Daily: Interweave Knits is a magazine, they also have a newsletter called knitting daily. Sometimes knitting daily has good information and patterns, other times, they send emails that are just advertisements for books they are publishing, or a special magazine. A good feature is that they usually take garments from their newly released magazine and try it on different body types to see how they fit people who aren't models.

4. Various Yarn Companies offer free patterns. This is a great way for them to show you all of the great things you can do with they yarn. Some of the yarn companies who offer (in my opinion) good patterns are: Berroco, Crystal Palace Yarns.

5. Local Yarn Shops: Many yarn shops offer free patterns. They also have patterns for sale and sometimes a pattern will be free with the purchase of a certain yarn. Ask the people working in the shop. They should be happy to help.

6. Your public library might be a good place to get knitting pattern books. The public library in my area offers many nice and new knitting books.

7. Stores like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, etc. often have pamphlets with free patterns available in the yarn area.

8. Blogs: Many bloggers write patterns and offer them for free or for sale on their sites. Look around and maybe your favorite blogger offers some. I don't have any yet, but am working on some to offer in the future.

9. Ravelry.com: This is an online knitting community. You have to be a member to access the site, but this is free and it is a good way to connect with fellow knitters and crafters.

10. Charity Knit alongs: The Knitting for Charity website seems like a good way to find charities to knit for. Other places might include calling your local hospital and asking if they accept hats, toys or blankets for new born babies, or sick children.

I hope this helps and If you have any other suggestions of where to find free knitting patterns, please leave a comment. Thanks!

Review of Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside The Lines

I recently read the book: Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines: Patterns, Stories, Pictures, True Confessions, Tricky Bits, Whole New Worlds, and Familiar Ones, Too by Kay Gardiner & Ann Shayne, the authors of the popular knitting blog: Mason-Dixon Knitting.
This book is a fun read. Lots of interesting patterns. Some of the patterns seem a little strange, but others are very tempting. (But beware, I've heard there are some errors in some of the patterns in this book, so before you start knitting a project, check the publisher's site to see if there are any errors listed. This may save you lots of time and annoyance.) The patterns I found tempting were Belinda (Raverly link, you may not be able to see it unless logged into Ravelry), which is a shawl in two layers that mimics Plaid. Belinda (Ravelry link) is very light and airy, just the right amount of warmth on a cool winter's day. The Errant Socks are pretty, it seems like it would be fun to play around with different cable patterns on a sock. I also really like the Liberty (Ravelry link) throw. It's a Fair Isle blanket that is knitted in the round, then steeked so that it lays flat. Ann and Kay go into detail of how to do Fair Isle knitting, and steeking. Also, they have plenty of knitting humor and fashion humor. Their color wheels are funny, so is their Personal Style: A Look Back, where cartoons portray their looks through the years. Another part that I enjoyed was their Mason-Dixon Knitting Hall of Shame at the back of the book where they show some of the design ideas that didn't quite work out. I think this is a good book, it incorporates Kay and Ann's sense of humor and some very nice patterns. I think there is something for everyone with the different sections of patterns. The description of this book on the amazon.com can be seen by clicking on the following link:
Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines...

Duck two ways...

Lately I have been knitting a lot of toys. And these toys have all been from the book World of Knitted Toys. For the ducks, I made one duck the way the pattern called for, and then I made another using DPNs . I decided that knitting it in the round would be a good way for me to avoid sewing up the seams. It was and I preferred knitting it this way. Using the magic loop method would probably work too, but I actually prefer using DPNs . Here's how I transferred the pattern from knitting flat to in the round: first, I casted on the required number of stitches using the Eastern Cast On (you may want to mute the video, I need to fix the video but havn't had the time). Then I started working the round (I didn't actually mark where the round started, but this would have been a good thing to do at this point) Then I continued the pattern using the same number of stitches that it specified. I followed the pattern to the end and the only things I had to sew were the wings onto the body and the beak onto the head. I knit the beak in the round also, but I think it would've looked better if I would've knit it flat and then sewed it up. What do you think? Which duck do you prefer? Some other toys I have been making from World of Knitted Toys are: Cleo the Clownfish, Zooey the Zebra, and the parrot.

Cleo the Clownfish

This clownfish pattern is from the book World of Knitted Toys
by Kath Dalmeny. This is knit from some of the yarn my Grandma gave me from her stash and a ball of orange yarn leftover from the time I made a hunting hat a few years ago. All of the yarn is acrylic. It is usually very relaxing watching fish swim around in an aquarium. Clownfish have a way of taking cares away and cheer me up with their bright orange stripes. I’m sure Clownfish became more popular as a result of the movie Finding Nemo. It was a good movie, sad at points, but it had its happy times too. I don’t completely agree with the “Fish are friends not food” mantra that the sharks kept saying. Some fish taste too good not to eat. Like Trout and Redfish and Halibut. Yum! You can tell I come from a place where locals love to fish almost as much as we love to eat. What is on your needles? What kinds of projects are you currently working on? Please leave some comments with your current projects, they don’t have to be knitting projects, can be anything. I’m just curious about what my readers are up to. To see other projects I've made from World of Knitted Toys, see Zooey the Zebra, and the Ducks.

Presenting Zooey the Zebra

Zooey is from the book World of Knitted Toys by Kath Dalmeny. I decided to name her Zooey after the actress Zooey Deschanel, who was in movies such as Elf, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galley, Failure to Launch and the TV miniseries Tin Man.

Zooey the Zebra was knit with some yarn that my grandma gave me, she asked me to go through her stash and take whatever I wanted. I figured a lot of the yarn she gave me would be good to make toys with. All of it is acrylic, so if the toys get dirty, they can be washed easily. The first white yarn I used was some sort of old Phentex yarn. I couldn’t knit with it; it literally sent chills down my spine. I have the same problem with the cotton that used to come in medicine bottles. Yuck! Anyway, I switched to another acrylic yarn and was fine.

Knitting Zooey made me remember my least favorite part of knitting, having to sew everything together. I am really not a huge fan of sewing, either with a machine or by hand. I am always a little apprehensive when using a sewing machine. I just never wanted to catch my fingers with the machine’s needle; I’ve heard this happens when you sew with a machine a lot. Hand sewing is tedious, which I don’t mind too much, the other thing about it is that I am really not good at it. My mom is good at all sewing, but somehow whenever I try to sew seams, I end up with something that looks pretty bad. The stitches are uneven and the pieces never lay flat. Maybe sewing will come with practice, but it seems like no matter how much I sew, I still end up with something that just doesn’t look right. I know a lot of people who are really good at sewing, maybe I should ask them to help me out. Or maybe it’s just not one of those talents I possess.

A twelve step program for dealing with yarn addiction.

After writing yesterday’s post, I realized that I might be addicted to yarn. Not that there is really anything wrong with that, I mean, yarn isn’t really hazardous to your health. Unless you are allergic to it, and I guess some people can be accidentally strangled by it, but besides that, I can’t think of anything that would be all that adverse about owning yarn. My problem is that I own a small house and large quantities of yarn. I’ve been pretty good about keeping the yarn stored in just a couple of rooms of my house, but I have noticed that the yarn keeps multiplying. Whenever I go stash diving, I find all of this really nice yarn I must have bought last time I had a yarn binge. Anyway, I’ve devised a strategy to handle my growing yarn collection. This would also work for pattern books or almost anything that is taking over the space of your house.

A twelve step program for dealing with yarn addiction.
Step 1: Admit that you are addicted to yarn.

Step 2: Believe that yarn will not take over your life.

Step 3: Make a decision to go on a yarn diet. Set a budget of the number of skeins/balls/hanks of yarn you will buy in the next year.

Step 4: Make an inventory of all of your yarn. Really just sort of count how many balls of yarn you have. Also count the number of projects that are on the needles.

Step 5: Admit to the skeins of yarn that are hidden in strange places around your house and anywhere you have decided to store it.

Step 6: Be willing to go through your stash and either use up some of the yarn that has been sitting there for years, or give it away. Give away anything that you know you will never knit with. You know what I’m talking about, the skein that sends chills down your spine whenever you touch it. The balls of yarn you bought for 25 cents per ball, but soon realized that you paid too much.

Step 7: Humbly ask someone to help you with this process

Step 8: Make a list of all of the projects you want make with your yarn. Match yarn to pattern. Ravelry is a great resource for this.

Step 9: Stop ignoring the partially finished projects that have been on your needles for ages. Either vow to finish them very soon, rip/frog them and make them into something else, or cast off and find a new use for whatever it was. A lot of knitted things are flat, maybe get a bunch of these abandoned projects and sew them all together, making a blanket for those cold winter nights. If you have some sleeves from an unfinished sweater, sew them on your blanket too, you could make one of those blankets with the sleeves like the ones seen on TV. Be Creative! Have fun!

Step 10: Continue to take inventory of your yarn stash. It is probably overwhelming and a little scary, but it can be overcome.

Step 11: Knit a little of something you seriously want to knit. Change takes time, and if you work too hard at all of this too quickly, you might get overwhelmed and disgusted with the whole process.

Step 12: Have a yarn awakening, think about what you like in a yarn and what you don’t like in a yarn. If you know that you absolutely hate knitting with cotton, or silk or wool or acrylic, stop buying it. Even if the yarn is on sale for an awesome price, avoid it, if you know that you won’t ever enjoy using it.

Just remember, there are worse things to be addicted to than yarn.

Might as well face it, you’re addicted to yarn…

Top 10 ways to tell if you are addicted to yarn:

10. Your yarn stash takes up more room in your house than your bed.
9. You go to a yarn shop one weekend, buy sock yarn, then the next weekend, when you are at another yarn shop, you see sock yarn ½ price and have to buy it, even though you have lots of sock yarn at home.
8. Even though your yarn stash takes up a very large amount of space in your home, you still have the need to take any yarn that is offered to you.
7. You have this fantasy that involves owning a yarn shop, or developing a line of yarn.
6. You secretly wish you could move to the country, buy a few acres of land and raise any animals whose fur/wool/hair can be made into yarn. Alpacas, Llamas, and Merino sheep are on the top of my list for this.
5. You wish they would sell yarn in your grocery store, it seems like they sell everything else.
4. Whenever you buy new skeins/hanks/balls of yarn, you have to tell your significant other to sit before you tell him/her how much you spent, or how many new skeins/hanks/balls of yarn he/she is the new owner of, because you share everything, right?
3. You knit a sweater for someone who is much smaller than you, but when you try to give it to them, its almost impossible. Not because you need this sweater, but because you wonder if this person will really understand how amazing this Alpaca yarn is.
2. You take up spinning so that you can make more yarn.
1. You carry yarn around with you at all times. Never know when you will get stranded somewhere and need something to do.

Check out the follow up to this: A twelve step program for dealing with yarn addiction.

Taking a break for the Hands

I hadn’t blogged for a while. This was for a few reasons, time is a big one, but not the biggest. From knitting, my hands started hurting, I guess I was on the verge of a repetitive stress injury, but now I'm feeling a lot better. I was probably being over cautious, but still, I decided to pursue some other hobbies for a few months, hoping that my hands would feel better. I do have some worries about being able to knit and work with my hands when I get older because there is some history of arthritis in my family.

I started drawing and painting again. I read some books and started Geocacheing with my husband. He just started a blog to tell about our adventures with Geocacheing. It also explains what Geocacheing is in case you were interested.

A month or so ago I decided to start knitting again, not knitting as much as I had at one point, but starting off slow. I started on a scarf from one of the One Skein Wonders books, either 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders: A world of possibilities inspired by just one skein
or Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences
, I can't remember which one. I used a couple of skeins that I bought sometime back from the yarn shop on Metairie Road. It was a variegated light blue color, very pretty, very soft merino wool. I can’t believe I didn’t take pictures before I gave it away. The pattern is called Winter Windows; it’s a nice basket weave pattern with some lacy portions. The lucky recipient of this scarf was my grandmother’s sister, Juliette, it was her 80th birthday present.

I’m glad I took a break from knitting; it gave me an opportunity to miss the actual click of the needles and the feel of the yarn between my fingers. I’m hoping that I will have more time to blog and more material to blog about soon. Right now I am working on a Zebra stuffed animal, I’m thinking about calling her Zooey. I will tell you more about Zooey next time on KnittingKel!

Article about Lane Lefort - The Photographer

This post doesn't have anything to do with knitting, but be patient, I have some new knitting posts in the works.

In the July/August edition of the Acadiana Profile magazine, there is a feature article about the photographer, Lane Lefort. You can see the article The Natural Beauty of South Louisiana as seen through the Lens of Lane Lefort here: http://www.acadianaprofile.com/gallery_story_28_6.htm

His website is at LaneLefortPhotography.com. Feel free to look through his online gallery and maybe even buy a little piece of Louisiana as seen through the lens of Lane Lefort.

Andean Folk Knits - A Book Review

Everytime I go to the library, I seem to take this book home. Andean Folk Knits: Great Designs from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador & Bolivia by Marcia Lewandowski is a knitting pattern book and a history lesson about the present day countries of Peru, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia. The culture of descendants of the ancient Incan Empire is hilighted in the text and secton of the tools and techniques used in this book follows. The next section is broken down by country. The section that is broken down by country has patterns and informative sections about the people and places of each area.

The Patterns – There are 25 patterns for bags. The other 10 patterns are of accessories such as mittens, gloves, and a hat. My favorite bags from this book are the Bolsa De Llama (Llama Purse), Bolsa De Atacama (Atacama Desert Purse) and Bolsita Pez (Fish Bag).

The Author – Her name is Marcia Lewandowski and she spent eight years in Bolivia 1989 to 1992 and 1996 to 2000. She saw that local handknits were being replaced by mass produced fanny packs. She went on a “crusade” to collect and record bags in this area. Stories and folklore gained from the locals is found throughout the book.

Techniques – This section gives descriptions of basic things like increases and decreases; more complicated techniques such as the Kitchener Stitch and seams. There are also tips of how to keep stranded knitting from having a messy wrong side and how to read charts. There is also a good explination of how to make embellishments such as Tassels, Pom-Poms, and cords. This section also explained how many of the locals use bicycle spokes (sharpened on both sides) as double pointed needles.

The Countries – The countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru are described in detail. Small descriptions of the places, people and animals of each area are given in text boxes sprinkled through the patterns. Some of the more interesting descriptions were the theraputic uses of the coca leaves, the Inca Trail and a charming legend of how the llama was created. The Legend of the Llama was a sweet story of forbidden love. Another intersting story was of the Fish Relay. The Fish relay was a way for inland Royalty to always have fresh fish.

The book in general – I enjoyed reading all about the Incan Empire and the many beautiful things in this area of South America. I also liked the patterns. I am planning on making the Bolsa De Llama (Llama shaped purse) the Mitones (Mittens with a star motif) and the Bolsita Pez(Fish shaped Bag). I also might make the Mitones Del Trotedor (Jogger’s Mittens), these are made without any thumbs, to mimic the natural shape of a hand while jogging.

Project Profiles - Bunny toy and Baby Hat

We have a new addition to our family, my nephew! Here he is:
This gives me a great excuse to knit more baby things. And here are a couple of the things I have made for him:

A Hat - from an older issue of Knit1 Magazine. One thing to remember when knitting for babies, is that they grow really fast and they typically have heads that are larger than you would think.

The Bunny Toy is called "Blanket Buddy". It is from the 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders Book.

Dickinson Sweater revisited.

The other day I was searching for something to knit. I went through almost every book and magazine I own to find something I wanted to knit. It had to meet a couple of requirements, it had to be something useful, and it had to be something that only required a yarn I already had. I searched for a while, made a couple of guage swatches, but nothing that I started on made it past a coupld of hours. Everything was ripped out (frogged) right after I started on it. Then I remembered a sweater I had started on a while ago. It's the Dickinson Sweater from Fall 2007 Edition of Interweave Knits Magazine. I loved knitting that sweater, it consists of many cables all ove the place. I fell in love with the picture in the magazine and had to make it. The best part is that I found some really nice yarn at Michael's on sale for $2 a skein, it's merino wool and a really pretty red. I bought every skein of the dye lot they had. I thought it was amazing that they had all of these skeins of yarn in the same dye lot.

I had made some good progress with the sweater the last time I worked on it, I'm almost finished with the back. I am a little nervous because I have read on Ravelry that the sweater tends to come out a good bit bigger than the pattern says. But I'm optimistic because I like big sweaters, I'm just hoping that it isn't too huge for me.

There is one tip, I'd like to share with you, I'm sure some of you already do this, but when I am knitting from an intricate pattern, like lace or cables, I like to use post-it notes to keep track of my place in the pattern. I just line up the post-it with the line of pattern I am on and move it everytime I finish the row. I've also found that cutting the post-it to the length of the pattern's row is very helpful.

I hope everyone has a great day and a happy holiday season!

A Snowy Day in New Orleans

Northerners might think Southerners are funny, but we really do get excited when it snows here. Of course we don't usually have the messy chores associated with snow, because it just melts away in a few hours.

It was funny this morning when I arrived at work, I was greeted by a group of people watching the snow on the porch in the front of my building and another bigger group standing in the lobby looking outside, trying not to get too cold. When I went inside, a small group actually inspected my coat to see if it was snow or ice. Then one of them told me I should get inside and dry off because I would catch pneumonia. A guy from somewhere up north who is working on my office laughed when I asked him if Southerners were funny. Then he told me how his wife had to shovel seven inches of snow recently.

Its really nice to see grown ups acting like little kids, to see older people with huge smiles on their faces.

The worst part of this morning was that I didn't know it was going to snow, so I didn't bring my knitted gloves or any scarfs. It was the perfect weather for knitted things. Oh well, maybe we'll get a lot more cold weather this year and I'll get to wear lots of warm knitted items. The last time it snowed here was Christmas Day of 2004.

The Golden Swatch

This post sort of compliments the one entitled "The Gauge Swatch" which was released on December 6th. I couldn't decide which way I wanted to present the information. The previous post gives a good description, this one tells a story about Swatches.

There once was a knitter who saw the most beautiful sweater in a magazine. It had cables in all the right places and the elegant way it hung on the model would be perfect for her son’s wedding. She only had a year until the wedding so she decided to get started soon. She went to her yarn shop and found a very soft Alpaca yarn, in a beautiful golden hank. This yarn wasn’t the exact yarn the pattern called for, but she fell in love with the Alpaca and knew it would be unbelievably gorgeous with the dress she planned on wearing to the wedding. She picked up the yarn (the amount called for and an extra skein, just in case) and told the sales lady all about her son’s wedding and how she wished she could see into the future. She wanted to know that the yarn would really be as perfect for the sweater as the picture she had in her mind. She wanted to make sure that when she washed it, the yarn would still have the same shine. She wanted to make sure that the pattern would look as glorious in the cables as the yarn used in the magazine’s version. That’s when the sales lady said “Why don’t you do a Gauge Swatch?” The knitter looked at her like she was speaking another language, being the kind of knitter who always knitted blankets and scarves and asked “What’s a Gauge Swatch?” The sales lady explained that a gauge swatch is a small representation of the knitted project. A swatch is usually knitted in the same pattern as the majority of the project. The Sales Lady then explained that the swatch is sort of like a crystal ball to see the future of your project. A swatch should answer most of your questions about what the finished project will look like and what it will do when it gets washed and blocked (stretched into shape).

The knitter bought the yarn and went home to make a Swatch. Her first attempt was definitely much bigger than the Gauge called for in the pattern, and she knew that washing it wasn’t going to make it any smaller. Then she switched to a smaller needle and the next swatch was just about perfect. She washed it and blocked it just as she had planned on washing and blocking the actual sweater. The swatch looked a little different, but it was even more beautiful. She measured the washed, blocked and dried swatch again and it was just the right size. Very excitedly, she started knitting her sweater. In just a few days she had made great progress on the back. She knitted every free minute that she could and in a few months, she had a sweater. She tried it on for her son and he was very impressed with her work. He was so impressed that he wanted her to make a white one for his fiancé’s going away outfit.

The knitter went to her favorite yarn shop and bought a beautiful silk and wool blend yarn. She knew that her future daughter in law would love the decadence of the silk. Ignoring the need for a Gauge Swatch, the knitter went home and started on the sweater. As she was working on the back of the sweater, she realized that something was not right. She knew that there was no way the huge sweater back would ever fit her petite future daughter in law. At this point, she realized that the yarn was a little thicker than the Alpaca she had used for her sweater and knitting a gauge swatch would’ve been a very good idea. She couldn’t bring herself to rip out the knitted sweater back, so she picked up another ball of yarn and some smaller needles and started on her gauge swatch. After she was finished, she took great care to wash the yarn exactly as the directions on the ball band told her. She was a little flabbergasted when she realized that the yarn seemed to have grown. It was bigger now and she knew she would have to go down at least another needle size. She went down two needle sizes, hoping that would give her the right gauge. She carefully repeated the knitting, washing, blocking and drying of the yarn. This time when she measured the swatch, it was a prefect four inches, just like the pattern had called for. Ecstatic, she started on her future daughter in law’s sweater. This sweater went much quicker, she could tell she was becoming a better and much more efficient knitter. This sweater was finished in a couple of months. She washed and blocked and let the sweater dry. Then it was time for the moment of truth. Would the sweater fit her son’s finance? She immediately called up her son and told him she wanted to take the happy couple out to lunch. They agreed to meet at their favorite restaurant for one pm. Then she carefully folded the sweater and placed it in a box. After lunch, the three of them went out to the knitter’s car, where she presented the beautiful bride to be with the sweater. It fit perfectly, and at that point, she realized why her son loved this girl. Her future daughter in law was actually giggling because she was so excited that someone would actually spend all that time to make her such an intricate sweater. She told the knitter how amazing this sweater is. How she wanted more than anything to learn to knit.

At the wedding, everyone knew how much the bride loved the sweater, so no one was exactly surprised when at the reception; the bride put the sweater on over her dress. With a big smile on her face, the bride gave the knitter a big hug and said that this was the best day of her life! When it came time for pictures, the photographer asked if the bride wanted to take the sweater off, so she could show off her lovely wedding dress, but the bride said “no, I want all of the pictures to have this sweater in them.”

After the knitter’s new Daughter-in-law and son left, she started getting compliments, on how beautiful both sweaters were and how talented of a knitter she is. That night she went home and started knitting a new sweater, a smaller version of her sweater, just in case the newlyweds were blessed with children.

The Gauge Swatch

My absolute least favorite part about knitting is the Gauge Swatch. I know it’s important on many projects, and it is knitting, which I enjoy, but it takes so much time and in the end, it’s just a little piece of fabric. The annoying part is when I pick the wrong size needle and have to start all over again with the Swatch. At this point, some of you are probably wondering “what is a swatch?” Well a swatch is a small representation of the knitted project. A swatch is usually knitted in the same pattern as the majority of the project. On most projects, there is a small paragraph that reads something like this. Gauge 30 stitches and 36 rows to 4 inches/10CM over the pattern. And there is usually, a sentence that says something like this “TAKE TIME TO CHECK YOUR GAUGE” And yes, the sentence is usually in caps, to show just how important this step is. A knitter, who is making something like a sweater will realize this and probably start the Gauge Swatch before she starts the actual project. This knitter will slave over this swatch; bind off the ends and measure to see if the swatch is the four inch square like the Gauge section shows. At this point, the knitter will either realize that the swatch is the right size, or that a different size of needles is needed. If the swatch is definitely the wrong size, the knitter can either be really optimistic and try washing the swatch as the garment will be washed and blocking it or the knitter can unravel the swatch and try a different size of needle for the swatch. After washing the swatch and measuring it again, the knitter might be very happy that the swatch is the perfect size, or it’s back to knitting another swatch with a different size of needles.

The swatch is actually really useful; it’s usually a good representative of your finished project. It helps knitters get to know their yarn and what it will do when you wash it and stretch it out (blocking). It’s a great way to find out the limits of your yarn. It is also nice to see how the yarn looks with the pattern of your project. Swatches are just a way to prepare for knitting. To be honest, I’ve made things without a swatch and they turned fine (probably just luck), and there were other times when I took the time to make a swatch, and the finished project was not the right size (I probably made an error in measuring or something). So, swatches aren’t a guarantee that the project will be perfect, but they are a small way to look into the future of your project. If you absolutely hate the thought of swatching, there are a couple of options. You could just knit things that don’t have to fit. Things like blankets and scarves don’t really need swatches. Or you could knit using the same yarn and needle size as the pattern calls for, and hope that you knit with the same tension as the designer of the pattern.

Good Luck and I hope you can find a way to have fun with Swatches, if you do, please let me know. And if you can't find anything else to do with your completed swatch, you could always use them as coasters.

Read More Books!

With the economy so messed up lately, you may be wondering how to save a little money, but not give up the things in life that you enjoy. If you enjoy reading, an option that you may want to look at is your local public library. I came to a realization one day that my house isn’t getting any bigger, and the more things I have, the less space I have in my house to walk around. The library is helpful, because it saves me money and space. When I am done with a book, I just return it. I don’t have to worry about where I will store it, or if I should give it away to someone or a charity. I always feel sort of guilty buying a book, then getting rid of it, but I seldom read the same book twice, so its really not necessary that I hold onto it for a long time. There are exceptions, I do still buy books, one reason is that my library doesn’t have every single book I want to read. My library is connected to a bunch of different libraries in my parish (ya’ll probably call them counties), so there is a huge selection, but not every book ever written. Another reason is that sometimes I like a writer’s or artist’s work so much that I want to support them, so that they will be able to produce more books. This is true in the case of Stephanie Pearl McPhee, the Yarn Harlot and Stephenie Meyer, who wrote the Twilight series. I just enjoy the Yarn Harlot’s sense of humor and the way she points out that a yarn stash the size of mine isn’t really abnormal for real knitters. Actually the amount of yarn that I own is small in comparison to many other knitters’ stashes.

There are other knitting book authors that I enjoy reading, these include Wendy Bernard, who has a popular blog, Knit and Tonic, and recently released a book full of patterns and helpful knitting tips, called Custom Knits. Crazy Aunt Purl, and Lolly knitting around, are two blogs that I enjoy reading also. Crazy Aunt Purl, her real name is Laurie also has a book out too it’s called Drunk, Divorced, and covered in cat hair. I also like to have lots of pattern books at hand so that if I want to start a new project, I'll have many choices.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and if you aren't from the U.S. I hope you had a great weekend.

Upcoming Events

This Saturday November 29th is Arts Council of New Orleans - Art Market
From 10am -4pm at Palmer Park - at the Intersection of S. Carrollton and Claiborne

After that:
December 5, 2008 Festival of Lights
4-9pm at the Baton Rouge River Center Plaza
December 6, 2008 Baton Rouge Art Market
8am to 12 noon at 5th at Main Street in Downtown Baton Rouge
December 13, 2008 Baton Rouge Art Market
8am to 12 noon at 5th at Main Street in Downtown Baton Rouge
December 20-21, 2008 Arts Council of New Orleans - Art Market
From 10am to 4pm at Palmer Park - at the Intersection of S. Carrollton and Claiborne

The Swift and the Yarn Winder.

There once lived a knitter, who went to a yarn shop and found a beautiful Hank of yarn. The knitter loved the way the yarn’s colors looked in its beautiful Hank. When she arrived home, she realized that this yarn was so precious that she couldn’t waste it on some project that wasn’t worthy. So, for months she searched through knitting books, magazines and the magical internet for the perfect project to make with this precious yarn. One day, when she had almost given up on finding that special project, a pattern fell out of a book and onto her lap. It would be perfect!

The knitter triumphantly took the Hank of yarn and removed the tags from the Hank. She untwisted the Hank and realized what a Hank really is. The Hank looked like a big loop of yarn. Remembering that a big loop of yarn can to easily be brought to the dark side and tangled, she twisted the yarn back into the Hank’s Pretzel Shape.

Her quest began. She knew she needed to find a way to wind the yarn into a neat little ball of yarn. She knew that in the book Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook
there were some instructions for winding yarn into one of those perfect little balls, but having a Hank of yarn would probably get messy. She thought “I could get someone to hold the yarn on their two hands like in some old movies I’ve seen.” She asked her husband for help, and he said “there has to be a better way!” So, off to the computer he went to look up alternatives on the internet. His solution came quickly, in the blink of an eye. He learned that there is something called a Swift , which is used to hold up the yarn so that it doesn’t tangle. But there must be a better way to ball up the yarn into a center-pull ball. Suddenly he found what he was looking for. It was called a Ball Winder

It was so simple, but would solve his Knitter’s problems. He found plans to build a Swift online and also saw that he could easily purchase one from many stores. He found that Ball Winder
aren’t so easy to make, they are usually made of plastic, with a crank and a cylindrical part to hold the new yarn ball. The cylinder moves in a planer motion when the crank is spun around.

The next night, when the knitter came home from work, she noticed two boxes on her chair. The smaller box had a card, which read, “Because I love you.” She opened up the first box and inside was the ball winder her husband showed her on the site last night. She opened the other box and found a beautiful New Wooden Swift . It was a light colored wood and was made up of many triangles. Just then, he walked through the door. She started to cry, they weren’t sad tears, just happy ones. He looked at her wondering why she was crying, and she said “I’m just so happy that you actually remembered our anniversary!” He thought for a moment and realized just how lucky he had been, because he actually did forget about the anniversary, and just wanted to make her happy, not fulfill any gift requirements for a special occasion. The husband smiled to himself and promptly set a reminder on his cell phone for next year’s anniversary. He didn’t ever want to disappoint her on their anniversary again.

The knitter later learned that most yarn shops who sell Hanks of yarn do have ball winders and swifts in store and if you ask, they will usually be very happy to transform your Hank of yarn into a beautiful and less messy ball of yarn.

The images are from KnitPicks.com. They have a great variety of yarn and knitting tools.

The Stitch Dictionary

I've always thought it was amazing how two little stitches, the knit and purl could combine to make all sorts of things. Actually it's the combination (Knit 2 Together) and lack of (Yarn Over) these two stitches that creates numerious stitch patterns.

People have been creating different stitch patterns throughout the years and written books which contain many of these stitch patterns. Why would they go through the effort to figure out all of these combinations? One use for these guides is for anyone who wants to create a pattern to have some inspiration. Another use for these books is the fact that they give knitters semi-easy way to modify patterns to the stitches that they prefer. This may take a little effort and some math, but may take a pattern from ok to perfect for it's recepient.

In the past few years, Vogue knitting has released some very good stitch dictionaries. These books have very clear directions and good photographs of each of the stitches so that the knitter can get a good idea of what the finished pattern will look like. There are currently three books:
Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume One: Knit & Purl
The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Two: Cables
The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Three: Color Knitting
There are other stitch dictionaries out there, but these are my favorites. Their presentation uses very nice yarn in neutral yet beautiful tones, which makes it easy to imagine the pattern in any yarn.

Has it really been that long?

So, it’s been a while. I just got to a point where I had no desire to knit anymore. I think I just needed a break from knitting. One reason was that my hands were starting to hurt. I wasn’t sure it was the knitting, but I didn’t want to take a chance. Another thing is that I somehow messed up on my gauge swatch (should’ve washed it before measuring) and the hat I was making for Patrick for Christmas was huge. The hat more closely resembled a sweater than a hat, even after I did another swatch (that I didn’t wash) and took away 40 stitches. The entire time I was knitting it, people made comments that it was too big, or looked at me funny when I said I was making a hat, and I didn’t want to listen, I kept thinking, this is merino wool and I can just full or felt it and it will somehow magically become the perfect size. I really believed it, but then I was scared that what if I did that and it just didn’t turn out right and I wasted this beautiful yarn. So, I have learned my lesson and will wash the swatch before I measure it to see how many stitches to cast on. Wish me luck with this.

Well, I’m back, and I’m hoping that I can keep the blog up. I’m still learning about what exactly I should include on my blog. I’ve gotten comments that I shouldn’t include so much personal information on the internet. That was one of those points when I really reconsidered the whole blog thing. I really didn’t think I was exposing myself to the world too much, but there was still a question, what is too much information? I mean I’ve told ya’ll some things about myself, and about interesting things to do and places to see in New Orleans. I was just trying to help tourists see the New Orleans that I know, its not like I go to any of the places I featured on my blog constantly. Patrick actually cooks a lot, so eating out is more of a special treat than something I need to keep from starving. I cook occasionally, but not as much as him. I try not to include pictures of my friends and family, just to keep their lives private. I don’t include a lot of pictures of myself, there are some, but they usually don’t show me completely.

I’m not really sure if this blog should be just about knitting, but I really don’t think so. Maybe mostly knitting, but I still like to write about things that non-knitters will find interesting. I want people to come here and to be able to learn about knitting. If someone doesn’t know how to knit, I hope that my instructions are clear and my videos really do illustrate the concepts well. I’m thinking about redoing the videos in the tutorials because the video camera I was using flips everything around and I worry that it might be confusing to someone who wants to learn. I’ve deleted a few posts which didn’t really have anything to do with knitting and didn’t really add to the blog.

I’m going to try to keep the same schedule as I once did with the blog:
Mondays: Upcoming Events
Tuesdays: Knitting Tools
Wednesday: Random thoughts or Rest
Thursday: Tutorials
Friday: Project Profiles

Thanks and have a great weekend!