Mandy Moore's Blog, page 117

Knitting Monday: What's On Our Needles and a Winner!

Coming in at random number 629 Brittany is our winner of the huge Fiber Buzz gift basket.

Congratulations to Brittany and many, many thanks to our Fiber Buzz advertisers for contributing such a lavish prize!

Here's what we're knitting right now:

Kate's making good progress with Project Black Sock. The Schoeller wool/cotton blend pair are complete…

One pair down, several to go!

… the Koigu pair is underway (at the same time, on 2 circulars), and I'm ready to cast on with the Regia.

Up next.

So far, my eyesight remains unaffected.

look at that lovely, non-saggy skirt! (also, nice tush.)

Jillian is crazy about the Lanesplitter skirt. Here's what she says:

I went to Toronto this past weekend and met Lynne from Shall We Knit at The Purple Purl. She was wearing a Lanesplitter. Now, Lynne is not 20, not 6 feet tall and not a size 2, but she looked fantastic in the skirt. It fit, she looked stylin' and it hugged her in just the right way, if you know what I mean. She'd also been sitting in a car all day  and it didn't sag one little bit.

It's a quick knit (or so Lynne says) and perfect for this transitional time – sick of winter clothes, but not ready to bust out the linen skirts yet.

I wasn't the only knitter smitten with the Lanesplitter, but when Kate mentioned that there was a new shipment of Noro Kureyon in at The Purple Purl, I was the first to fall.

fabulous from the front!

 

the hotness that is Lynne in her Lanesplitter (Jillian averts her eyes in the back..."the hotness! my eyes!")

Noro Kureyon color 170 M

Spring Forward!

Those of us in the northern hemisphere have had a long, hard winter, and we're all looking forward to this news: it's officially spring! Not coincidentally, we're starting to crave some springy sorts of knitting… Join us!

There's the Spring Forward Socks

Sproing.

There's Spring Fling

Just the thing to brighten up your wardrobe.

And it's been a long time since we've seen any flowers….

perhaps some socks?

Tiptoe through the tulips...

And for babies, too!

A bouquet of baby shoes... nothing could be cuter...

Of course some flowers to embellish the inevitable rain hat… ?

One for every hat!

And the Nagano Sakura scarf, featuring Japan's beautiful cherry blossoms.

Thinking of those in Japan, and their families and friends around the world.

Here's a page with a variety of ways to contribute to disaster relief in Japan.

WWW: For Japan

They have brought us so much wonder; we want to help restore their peaceful daily lives.

Knitting Fever, the US Distributor of Noro Yarns, has announced a donation matching program for funds donated to the American Red Cross for their relief efforts in Japan. Mail checks made out to the American Red Cross to Knitting Fever, and they will match the donation from their own funds (up to $50,000), and take care of delivering it all to the Red Cross. More information here, and a letter from Eisaku Noro here. The Noro company itself was not affected, as they are far away from the epicenter of the damage.

Mitered Crosses Blanket

Kay Gardiner of Maxon Dixon Knitting has released a new log cabin blanket design using Noro yarns, with all proceeds to be donated to Mercy Corps for relief work in Japan. The blanket is absolutely beautiful, and already over $2200 has been raised.

Whatever it is, it will be beautiful!

Laura Nelkin has announced a new mystery knit-along project. She says "It's got beads and you wear it around your neck! I think this would be a great first beading project, and will be a great challenge to those of you who are looking to build upon some of your knitting skills." Laura does beautiful work – you will not be disappointed in the finished product, and the project will be a wonderful experienced. Between now and March 31, 25% of the proceeds will be donated to AmeriCares for their relief efforts in Japan.

Other designers have announced new patterns with proceeds to be donated to organizations doing relief work in Japan…

Janel Laidman's "Eike" shawlette.

Alexis Winslow's/Knit Darling "Caring Cowl".

Wendy Johnson's "Japanese Garden" shawl.

 

Stitch Diva Studio announces the Offhand Designs Studio Sale, in Oakland, CA, Sunday April 3, 10am to 4pm. More details here. In additional to being an excellent opportunity to see and buy Offhand Designs bags and Stitch Diva patterns, this event also features classes in Hairpin Lace and Tunisian Crochet taught by Jennifer Hansen, the Stitch Diva herself.

Apparel design company "Peruvian Connection" is celebrating 10 years of collaboration with Kaffe Fassett. There's a lovely interview on their website. He provides some insight into his design process and sources of inspiration, and you can see the sweaters he has designed for the company here.

 

Spinning Tuesday: More marling with color and naturals

I couldn't keep my mind and hands off of the marling this week. I doubled the number of naturals tried, I couldn't help myself. That means this week we have yarn to look at; swatches will come next week.

I spun the other three fibers with four different naturals, instead of just the two I used for Briar Rose. Let's see what they look like

First up Abstract Fibers. Here it is nestled in the circle of fiber.

Abstract Fiber

That green is fantastic but will it contrast too much?

Abstract Fibers plied with naturals

As plies I used (from left) oatmeal, light/dark brown stripe, middle brown and dark brown. I really love how it looks with the dark brown and light/dark stripe in the skein.

Now to Spunky Eclectic this color is called Diesel

Spunky Eclectic

I don't want to stop with this color way. I used the same four naturals on the brown side, but I still want to try black gray and white with it. I loved them all.

Diesel with naturals

I predict they will all look great as knitted swatches.

Now Fiber Story.

Fiber Story

I'm not sure I have the right colors of naturals for this one.

Fiber Story skeins

I used the same four naturals as the others: oatmeal, light/dark brown stripe, middle brown and dark brown. To me they are all missing warmth. I wish I had some honey colored alpaca to ply with it.

Next week we'll see how they look swatched.

For those of you who asked to see the Briar Rose fiber plied and swatched with the dark brown.

Briar Rose and dark brown

I couldn't resist. I like it very much as yarn, but not as a swatch.

 

 

 

We could use a little brightness today

Mondays are often challenging. So it's time for a big contest!

One lucky person will win a FiberBuzz Gift Basket, including prizes from all of our FiberBuzz sponsors. Take a look at this yumminess!

Quick Fitted Wristlets &

Cabled Turban patterns

by Stitch Diva

prize value: $14

Empire State Gloves kit

by Van der Rock Yarns

prize value: $21CAD

Leather-covered measuring tape

by Debra's Garden

prize value: $18

Sheep Needle Gauge

by Goose Pond/elegant knitter

prize value: $15

Beaded Smoke Ring kit

including pattern, luxury yarn and beads

by HeartStrings

prize value: $25

 

A copy of Timeless Knits for Kids

by Timeless Knits

prize value: $24.95

2011 club membership

by Jane Thornley Knitter's Club

prize value: $75

1 skein of yarn

by Red Barn Yarn

prize value: $24

3 Patterns – Chloe, Haltermelon,

and Spring Garden Tee

by Never Not Knitting

prize value: $15

Here's how to win: leave a comment to this post by Friday, March 25, at midnight eastern time, and you could win! We'll choose a winner at random, make them answer a skill-testing question, and post the results next week.

Happy knitting, and good luck, everyone!

Obsessing over knitted toys

I finally get to meet a little girl I last saw when she was still on the inside. And I want to knit her something huggable, so I sent out a call today on Twitter for well-received toy patterns, and got a flurry of great recommendations! I thought I should share my favorites with you…

Flo, recreated by Franklin Habit for Knitty

From Knitwhits:  Bramble or Sakura [30% goes to Japan Quake relief, btw]

From Rebecca Danger: just about the whole catalog got recommended!

From Knitty: Flo and Sheldon

From Debi Birkin: the whole shebang

From Hansigurumi: the Anglerfish

From Penwiper: Extermiknit!

From Blue Sky Alpacas/Bobbi Intveld: Baby Bobbi Bear

From Ysolda: Poppy

From Barbara Prime: everything, but I did actually squee at the Alpaca in bikini!

Now how do I choose? What a fun problem to have.

WWW: Yarnbombing; Getting tangled up with the law; More assembly than usual required

Always wear the appropriate safety gear when yarnbombing.

Knithacker features a lovely photo-essay on the yarnbombing of the cherry tree at the childhood home of writer Joy Kogawa in Vancouver. The yarnbombing celebrates the declaration of the home as a historic site, and will be removed in time for the tree to blossom naturally in the spring.

Our own Mandy was involved in this wonderful work.

The New Police Chief of Langley, Whidbey Island, Washington State created quite a fuss in his second week on the job by investigating the activities of local yarnbombers, and removing a couple of street sign cozies.

Always have knitting handy to pass the time during travel.

And in more yarn-bombing news, likely to make our police chief friend even more uncomfortable, a knitter in the UK is seeking collaborators to create and install breast-themed yarnbombs for International Breast Cancer Awareness Day, October 1st, 2011.

A lovely profile of knitters in the US Army stationed in Afghanistan, from the Washington Post. Never again will I complain about having to travel across town to buy yarn… these knitters have to have it shipped around the world.

Knit your own royal wedding.

A toy company in the UK is selling a kit to knit your own Prince William and Kate dolls [pic at right]. Video story on the BBC.

And a designer has released a book with patterns for the entire bridal party, right down to the corgis.

The Spinning Loft in Howell, MI, is hosting Anne Hanson and Beth Smith for a 4-day retreat, May 11-14. The focus of the retreat is lace: the mornings will be spent on the intricacies of spinning for lace, and the afternoons will be spent with Anne working on the techniques of lace knitting. More info here.

Some additional assembly required.

And in the it's-not-knitting-but-still-supremely-cool category comes this hack of an inexpensive Ikea table into a fabulous work of yarny-art.

 

Spinning Tuesday: Making your fiber go farther by marling on purpose

I'm still thinking about marling, but now I'm marling for a purpose.

More often than not I buy my fiber in 4oz increments, especially when I don't know what I'll make with it. Then comes the time when I pull it out to spin a 2-ply with it, and I want more yardage than 4 oz can get me.

What's a spinner to do? This spinner stretches fiber by marling on purpose.

When I have fiber that has  colors I love, I marl with a natural color, it makes a variation on the colorway.

When I have I fiber whose color combo no longer makes me sing, I marl with a second color or colorway to create a new visually complex colorway. I love playing with both of these techniques, they are full of surprises.

Today I'm playing with making a two ply yarn using a natural color fiber as one ply to make a variegated top or roving go farther yardage-wise.

I pulled a variety fibers I have that: I like the colorway, I wish I had more, and I want to make a two ply yarn out of.

Remember that plying with another color, even a natural will make a variation on the original colorway. If you are in big love with a colorway and don't want to change it one little bit – this is not the playtime experiment for that fiber.

Why didn't I buy more?

There's some Briar Rose, Spunky Eclectic, Abstract Fiber and Fiber Story, all I think are gorgeous.

I also pulled undyed fiber in a variety of colors

 

Pretty, pretty fiber flower

 

I'm going to start with the Briar Rose fiber. How do I choose which natural would work with it?

 

Compare and contrast

I compare them visually. What do I think would blend best with the colors in the Briar Rose? I keep in mind that the bigger the contrast between the Briar Rose and the natural I choose makes the type of candy cane marled yarn that I don't like. I like my marl more blended.

If I'm having trouble choosing, or am just too giddy with possibilities I take a picture and look at the choices in black and white.

 

This is what Michigan looks like in the winter

For me it's easier to see what is closer to matching my dyed fiber when I take the color away. For me it's the middle brown on the right (about 3:00, if the wheel of fiber was a clock), and an oatmeal brown (about 11:00). I'm curious about the striped roving (1:00) but not enough to sample.

 

Two browns to sample

There is no right or wrong choice, it all about what you like. The possibilities are endless and limited only by how much you are willing to sample.

 

Mid-brown and oatmeal, can you tell which one I didn't like?

Here are the yarns that came from the middle brown and the oatmeal plied with the Briar Rose. I didn't like the look of the oatmeal when I was plying, my brain started yelling, 'barber pole, barber pole", so I stopped.

But when I knit the lighter sample

 

yummy oatmeal

I liked it quite a bit.

Here's the darker which I like too.

 

This is the yarn equivalent of drinking stout

But when I put them together, there was a clear winner for me.

 

Which wins for you?

I love the darker version, but I like the lighter swatch so much more than I liked the yarn.

I love how the original colorway is in there, close but not exactly, more like kissing cousins.

This makes me want to try more combinations, especially ones that I'm not quite sure of. I'll be working with the other brighter colors next, seeing what happens when they are plied with natural colors.

If you're going to try this at home remember to go with your instinct, try at least two naturals with your variegated fiber, and maybe a third that you are sure won't work. Just see what happens, you'll be surprised, I always am and that's exactly what keeps me playing with fiber.

Monday Knitting: What's on our needles, plus a winner!

Winner winner chicken dinner! [snicker] Who was the lucky winner of Friday's huge contest? Lynne, who wrote, "I just gave my friend the book titled The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman. This book was a well written mystery, involving greek mythology, classic literature and art. My friend loved it! (I did too, of course.) Would highly recommend." Congrats to Lynne, and thanks again to everyone who participated last week!

it's growing! how many scoops is this?

Amy's just finished Annette, and is really happy with it. It was a long slog that started on a whim last August, when — somehow — she cast on the wrong size, two sizes too large. Not noticing this until she got near the sleeve section [aka 2/3 finished], she ripped it with the encouragement of her fellow knitters at The Purple Purl and re-cast on right then for the correct size. It was a demoralizing turn, and after chugging away on it blindly for as long as she could stand it, she put it aside for a few months.

Picking it up again in January, she realized she wasn't that far from getting to the sleeves, and with a little concerted effort, it was done in a matter of weeks. Pictures to come…it still needs buttons.

Moral: sometimes the knitting needs a break. Sometimes it's the knitter. Just don't give up permanently unless there's a good reason to.

The Calmer Leftovers vest [aka the ice cream sweater -- see pic above left] is coming along well and underarm shaping will soon be achieved. Amy does not want to think about the weaving in of ends that will be required. There's no spit splicing without wool, you know.

Jillian's knitting another Thorpe hat. This time out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky, color Carrot. She says, "It's my first time knitting with this yarn, it's fabulously soft and squishy.  I want more. None of my local yarn shops carry it –anyone online carry it?"

Soft, squishy and carroty!

Kate's working on Project Black Sock:

Bad for the eyes, good for the feet.

As an inveterate sock knitter with a passion for interesting sock yarns, I have a drawer-full of bright colored, insanely striped and wildly variegated socks.

But sometimes a girl needs a pair of dark, sensible socks.

For some years, my sock drawer has been divided into two sections: handknit, and black socks. All the black socks were commercially made.

My favorite black socks are wearing out, so I've decided that the other side of the sock drawer should also be filled with hand-knit socks. Hence: Project Black Sock. I've been quietly collecting black sock yarn, and this winter I started knitting in earnest.

I've already got a pair in Shibui Knits sock yarn, a pair of Socks That Rock in one of the colors from the Raven clan, a pair in some mostly black tweed I found in the bargain bin at one of my LYSs, and a pair in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (really warm and wonderful).

Up next: 3 more pairs of the Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (because it is so warm and my feet get so very cold), a pair in Koigu, a pair in Regia, a pair in Paton's Kroy, a pair in Briggs & Little Durasport, a pair in KnitPicks, another Socks That Rock pair, the TARDIS colorway from IndigoDragonfly, and an odd ball of a Regia grey and black variegated number that will work nicely with black heels, cuffs and toes. If a sock yarn comes in black (or very dark grey, or some interesting variegated black/grey/midnight blue mix), I want it, and I will knit a pair of socks in it.

Crazy? Maybe. Ask my optometrist in a year's time! But by then I won't have a single pair of machine-made socks in my drawer.

The fabulous Friday of LoooooooVE!

We've planned today's post all week and are going ahead, but we cannot go forward without a mention of what's happened in Japan today. Our thoughts go out to everyone affected and we send you strength and love. If you are concerned about someone in Japan who you haven't yet heard is okay, Google has provided this Person Finder page that may help. This page has a roundup of places where you can help financially.

This wraps up the week of LooooVE, celebrating the release of Rachael Herron's new book. We've never done this before, and we've had a blast. We hope you've had fun too!

Business first: The lucky winner of yesterday's "Name your fictional heroine's job" contest, chosen by Rachael and Amy, because this one was too hard to judge alone: Brenna, who wrote, "Elementary school teacher by day, professional roller derby star by night. Her roller derby name can be Miss Take, because every good teacher loves word puns, and every woman over 40 probably would feel roller derby is a Miss Take after the first injury." Congrats, Brenna — you'll be receiving a copy of Rachael's brand-new book, HOW TO KNIT A HEART BACK HOME!

Although there are no prizes to go with them, Honorable Mentions go to these three entries:

Katy Rose: My fictional heroine is a medical librarian; sometimes she runs across journal articles detailing a brain injury due to knitting needle puncture, but that's not enough to deter her from her hobby. 746.1! (that's Dewey Decimal for "Yarn preparation and weaving")

Anne: My heroine would get to do all the wild stuff I haven't done. She worked with a vet at the zoo, and as a tight-rope walker at a small traveling circus, and as a fire dancer at a RenFaire. When the book I've been thinking about writing starts, she is actually desperate to find a position as far from her family's occult store as possible, and waitresses at a roadhouse in a podunk Southern town, and sings karaoke in her spare time.

Liz in Ypsilanti: My fictional heroine would be like me: A middle-aged administrative assistant who knows a gazillion things off the top of her head, but is able to stop everything, close the door, and let someone have a good cry.

So we promised you two things today: a present for everyone and the biggest contest yet. Ready?

From Rachael's own needles, a brand-new pattern inspired by her new novel: Heart Back Home fingerless mittens!

Which is cuter, Rachael or the mitts?

A simple, fun knit that avoids traditional colorwork by using duplicate stitch. I personally am a big fan of duplicate stitch. [I'm a fan of anything that looks like it was harder to do than it is.]

Where is the pattern? Guess. Yup, it's in the magazine, and you'll find it right here!

Ruby's Bookstore Sweater, from HOW TO KNIT A HEART BACK HOME

And now, it's time for the final contest of the week, and we think you'll like it.

Remember this sweater —> ?

It's the pattern included with her new book, and we're giving away a kit so you can knit one for yourself. Of course, you'll get the book, too!

How do you win this time? Leave a comment to this post and tell us this: What's your most favorite recent book to give to a friend? Entries close Saturday, March 12 at midnight eastern time.

One lucky winner will receive a copy of HOW TO KNIT A HEART BACK HOME and a sweater's worth of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted so they can make Ruby's Bookstore Sweater. Value of yarn: $114.00. Our sincere thanks to Lorna's Laces and to Rachael's publisher, Avon, for the prizes this week!