Mandy Moore's Blog, page 93

Want to be *in* Knitty?

We’d love to have you.

There are two openings that we need filled, and maybe you’re just the person for it!

Are you a knitting savant, crafty and clever and good with a video camera? Then perhaps you’d like to be our new Techniques Video Columnist! All the details are at the link, include what we need you to do and what can help you make a successful entry!

Or perhaps you’re really great with a pen and ink, paintbrush, computer illustration program or camera? Well, then enter our Artwork for the Knittyshop contest! Again, details at the link.

We’ve already had a few entries in both competitions, and can’t wait to see who else wants to step up and join in! The deadline for both competitions is about 2 weeks off, so there’s still time for you to prepare a kick-butt entry!

Good luck to you all!

 

The undead have moved in.

What do you do when an undead Puritan woman is dropped on your doorstep?

oh dear.

meet Goodie Temper. she’s dead.

Simple. Put her to work.

she got quite a lot done. must have been bored in there without anything to do for so long.

You may have guessed that this fabulous, creepy thing is a promo for the upcoming movie, ParaNorman. You would be correct. I decided that I should make a [crappy but heartfelt] little movie of my own as I opened this amazing present. Here. Watch.

WWW: Knitters Doing Good, Lessons from Nanny Olive, Sheep at the Olympics

Ms. Byrnes, knitting for more than 80 years.

100-year-old Ruth Byrnes has been recognized for her contribution to a “knit for newborns” program in Windsor, Ontario. Ruth, who has been knitting for over 80 years, knits because she finds it “keeps her mind sharp and allows her to do something for someone else”. But most of all, it’s just about the knitting… she says “I just want to get at the wool”. I think I love her!

The local town Council has apologized to yarnbombers after a workman removed and threw away a flower-themed yarnbomb installed around the town of Paignton in South Devon, UK. Local residents complained after the work was removed, and the council admitted that they had made a mistake.

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Medal-worthy?

The mammoth Olympic-themed yarnnbomb that was installed earlier this year on Saltburn pier in the UK (and sadly vandalized) has been reinstalled. Great slideshow.

Another Olympic themed yarnbomb, this one government-appproved: covering the pillars at the entrance of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery with the colors of the Olypmic rings.

Go Steph!

The Power of the Knitters to Do Good: I’m proud to be a knitter, part of the group that has shown such incredible support to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarnharlot. Steph is part of a team participating in the Friends for Life Bike Rally, cycling this week from Toronto to Montreal – a distance of over 660km, over 6 days. The goal of the rally is to raise funds for the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, an organization that provides support to those living with HIV/AIDS. Stephanie, her best friend, her sister and her daughters have together raised nearly $90,000, and their team total is well over $150,000. We’re cheering Steph on as she takes on this personal challenge, and we know she’ll do us proud.

A lovely profile of designer Larissa Brown on the Oregonian blog in which she talks about being taught to knit by her grandmother, Nanny Olive.

Quick hits: a knitter talks about working with the hair of Samoyed dogs. The Olympic Torch, as part of its travels around the UK, dropped in on knit night in Great Sutton, near Liverpool. And director Danny Boyle nods to knitters with the inclusion of sheep in his Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Makes me happy!

Hats in Hot Weather; Giveaway

Several of my favorite things to do….

This is how I’ve been spending time of late… Yes, that’s right. I’m knitting hats. In the summer.

Hats are ideal summer knitting, for a number of reasons: they are small and very portable, easy to throw into your beach bag or suitcase. And hats are mostly plain and simple knitting, which means they are well suited to knitting in the car on a roadtrip, or by the soft light of an evening campfire, or while distracted talking to friends or enjoying a frosty beverage.

Yes, that’s right. Hats. Woolly hats. Several of them.

Hats are also excellent summer knitting because you know you will be ready the moment the weather takes a turn for the worse.

If you’re so inclined, we have a giveaway for you, for a pack of yarn to make the beautiful Anja Beret, from our First Fall issue.

The prize comprises 2 skeins of Quince & Co. Chickadee, with a value of $14.40.

Ready for cold weather in style!

The usual rules apply for our giveaway: Leave a comment on this post before midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday, August 1, 2012. A comment will be chosen at random to answer a skill testing question. If s/he answers correctly s/he will win our prize. If you have already won a prize from us in the past year, please do give other knitters a chance.

Thanks much to Quince & Co. for the prize.

All About The Roundtables

You’ve probably seen this link, and you might have been wondering what this “Roundtable” thing is all about…

A Yarn Roundtable is, to quote Amy, like a wine tasting, but with yarn.

About once a month, a team of adventurous knitters gets together (most often in Toronto at Amy’s LYS, The Purple Purl, but we have been known to take the show on the road) to play with yarn.

An excellent way to spend a Friday evening!

The purpose of the Roundtable is for knitters of all tastes and interests and skill levels to actually test out the yarn – knitting with it, not just looking at it in the skein – for a more complete review.  The results are published in Knitty. After all, we all know that you can’t always tell what a yarn is going to be like just by looking at it. For many things, the yarn needs to be actually knit: the stitch definition, fabric texture, and how the coloring looks. And so our knitters knit these yarns, and tell you what they discover and experience.

Our knitters knit, and then fill in the all important-form: how does it feel in the skein? how does it feel to work with? what does it look like knit up? what does it feel like knit up?. The most important question is the last: “what’s the one thing you couldn’t know about this yarn until you knit with it?”

The all-important form.

Knitters make a small swatch with each of the yarns being sampled… Regular attendees keep their swatches, and are growing a rather eccentric but intriguing scarf…

Maureen’s Roundtable Swatch of Fabulousness

A special guest.

In addition, there is lively conversation (although talking about the yarns being sampled is forbidden, and we have been known to pelt offenders with gummi bears!), there are snacks (gummi bears leftover from the aforementioned pelting), and prizes!

We welcome new participants – and we love visitors from out of town! In the spring, we were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of the inimitable Lucy Neatby. Visit this page to sign up.

WWW: Woolly Weddings, Knitting the News, Something to Knit While Watching Sports?

The winner of the Longitudinal yarn pack is Rachael from East Chatham, NY. Thanks to Skacel for the prize!

Fabulous!

Yarn shop owner Lydia Pears in the UK made her own wedding dress. ‘The dress is the hardest, and most important, garment I have ever made but I’m so glad I did it.’ It’s stunningly beautiful, out of what looks like a fab laceweight mohair. It took 4 months of knitting, and was clearly worth the effort.

Love it!

While we’re on the topic of woolly wedding dresses, have you seen this one? In 2009, sheepbreeder Louise Fairburn was married in a dress made from the locks of her favorite Lincoln Longwool sheep in her herd.

The city of Guelph in southwestern Ontario, Canada, has announced that it is organizing a yarn bomb art installation in St. George’s Square for September. The city is seeking knitters to participate, and donations of yarn and needles for those knitters.

“Zero Impact Global Art”

I Knit the News Today: Artist Ivano Vitali recycles newspaper by working strips into long thick strands which he then rolls into massive balls of ‘yarn’. Created without glue or scissors, these are themselves fabulous scupltures. But then he takes the yarn and knits and crochets with it! The artist’s website, in Italian. Thanks to paper blog Scissors and Paper Rock for bringing this to our attention.

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Knit your own Olympian.

Still looking for a project to knit while watching the upcoming sporting events on television? Radio Times magazine publishes a pattern for a doll version of runner Usain Bolt, an excerpt from the book ‘Knitlympics: Knit Your Favourite Sports Star‘.

A drama in two letters: a letter to the editor from a resident of North Vancouver who is not enjoying the yarnbombing. And a reply from a knitter.

Quick hits: I adore the sweater dress in the picture on this article about the Benetton 2012 fall line. An audio interview with an Australian knitter, who proclaims the benefits of knitting as a stress-reducer. If you’re in the UK, watch this BBC program from 1976 on knitted fashions.

Spinning Tuesdays: What Do You Do with All of It?

A whole bunch of yarn

I’m starting to drown in handspun yarn. The photo above is just a portion of what I have squirreled away around my house.

 

I was never going to keep more than what the basket beneath that pile of yarn could hold, but, clever me, I positioned the basket in a corner so the yarn could climb the wall and still be technically in the basket.

I’m thinking I should just sort by weight and start knitting. All of my finished things will find their way to someone, right?

What do you do with all of your handspun?

 

 

TNNA Giveaway – Offhand Designs Bag!

You read that right.

Larissa from Offhand Designs has donated a beautiful Iris bag for a KnittyBlog Giveaway!

Iris from Offhand Designs

It was one of our favorite things from TNNA. You can read about it in our TNNA round up.

To win this beautiful Iris bag for yourself follow our usual rules.

Leave a comment on this post before midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday, July 25, 2012.

A comment will be chosen at random to answer a skill testing question.

If s/he answers correctly s/he will win our prize. Prize value, $110.

If you have already won a prize from us in the past year, please give other knitters a chance

A huge thanks to Offhand Designs for making beautiful things and sharing one with a lucky Knitty reader!

 

Best KnittySpotting Ever?

Knitter and Doctor Who Fan Lisa Pinedo, made herself a really rather nice Bigger on the Inside shawl recently. And that shawl went on to very big things.

Lovely!

I’ll let Lisa tell the story herself…

“I originally made this for myself to wear to San Diego Comic-Con 2012. But while I was there, in line for the ticket drawing for the Doctor Who signing, and realized there was a chance I might actually MEET them, I made a spur of the moment decision to give the shawl to Karen Gillan as a going away present if I drew a winning ticket. I didn’t draw one but my friend did!

I gave him the shawl to pass along while I waited in the front of the crowd watching the signing. When he got up to the table he gave her the shawl and pointed me out. I got a big smile and wave from both her and Arthur Darvill (I couldn’t see Matt Smith from my angle). One of the volunteers that was working the signing snapped a picture of Karen in the shawl with my friend’s camera.”

Wow!

“I gotta say, it was a little tough parting with my shawl, but at least I can always make another one.”

Yes, that’s right. That’s Karen Gillan, the actor who plays Amy Pond, wearing the shawl. On behalf of all Doctor Who fans everywhere – and especially me – a massive thank you for making such a cool moment happen.

WWW: Fastest Knitter at a Lobster Festival, TTC Knitalong, Being Invisible?

The winner of our Stitch Red prize pack is Lori from Columbus, Ohio.

Thanks to Soho Publishing for providing the book, thanks to Berocco for providing the yarn pack for Norah Gaughan’s Cable Cardi… and most of all, thanks to Laura Zander for starting it all & reminding knitters to get up off of our bums!

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Gold-medal caliber?

A knitter in the UK has created her own woolly version of the London Olympics, in her front garden. Suzanne Haggerty started knitting early in the year, and has created 30 figures with various sporting accessories. The slideshow is great, and I particularly love the swimming scenes.

The band The Savoy Ballroom puts the Knitters Curse to music… love the video, even if there’s an awful lot of crochet. Charming and catchy!

Image courtesy Torontoist/Glenna C.

Torontoist writes about last weekend’s TTC Knitalong. This festival of public transport knitting takes place every summer in Toronto. This year, 80 knitters participated, with proceeds going to the charity Sistering. Six teams of knitters travelled around Toronto, visiting many of the wonderful yarn shops, and enjoyed special sales, refreshments, prizes and general knitterly merriment.

The cow seems oddly nonplussed. Yes, yes, I know it’s a statue, but still…

Nice feature about a yarnbombing at the Orange County Fair. I loved the video!

Joy Kündig-Manning writes about her experiences knitting while travelling. Her perspective is interesting, as she is totally upfront about admitting that she knits infrequently, and poorly. Although I disagree with her statement that knitting isn’t sexy, I don’t disagree with her about sitting quietly with knitting in public can allow you to become an invisible observer to the world around you.

Implausible but wonderful crossover of the week: the UK animal rescue organization The Donkey Sanctuary in the UK is hosting knit nights. Inspired by this summer’s unseasonably rainy weather to provide indoor entertainments, the many knitters in the organization’s staff and supporters decided to put the event together.

Ravel-rouser? A knitter was the focus of police attention at the Occupy Wall Street protest at Zuccotti Park in New York. Marsha Spencer was told she couldn’t have a chair on the site, and was escorted off the site…

The 65th annual Maine Lobster Fest, being held August 2nd in Rockland, Maine, has added a new event: a fastest knitter contest! I would that think trying to eat lobster while knitting would slow you down…