ANTM and knitting

Hollah, all you ANTM fans! If you have been living under a rock recently, you might not have noticed that McKey is gracing the cover of Vogue Knitting this season. Apparently, she learned to knit from Paulina.

Knitty Fall 2009

Did you know the new Knitty is up? I went over yesterday to look up something and saw all the new patterns and redesign before the announcement email hit my inbox.

I'm not even going to try to list favorites, as there are so many beautiful projects, and I've found over the years that my tastes change - patterns that I had no interest in will suddenly become my passion. There are various reasons for this, though I know one of them is when I feel I've more fully mastered a technique and can do a pattern justice. Of course, another is seeing beautiful FOs that show a pattern in a different light than the original photography.

I will just mention that I've met Anna, designer of Ruby Red, at Purl Diva's Knit Night. I've been very keen to see what she designed, and it is a lovely sweater. Frankly, I have a difficult time resisting any project using Madeline Tosh Sock yarn!

FO: Lena's Matryoshkas and Sweater

Pattern: Matryoshka Japonais [Ravelry link]
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Marron Oscuro, Shocking Pink, Natura, and Paris Night
Needles: US6/4.0mm
Notions: Needle felting fiber for stuffing from Halcyon Yarns
Mods: Using a smaller needle to make a tighter fabric

Well, I like the pattern ;) Actually, I'm happy to report that I followed my pattern blindly, and they worked out just right. If you're interested in the pattern, you can follow the link in my sidebar to my Etsy shop or buy it directly on Ravelry.

I made this set for my new niece Lena (Nick's sister's baby) and hope she finds them as cuddly and soft as Penelope did. P kept wanting to appropriate the dolls while I was finishing them, so they have her stamp of approval. The color choices grew out of the lovely yarn I used for her BSJ.


Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann from The Opinionated Knitter [Ravelry link]
Yarn: Merino 2/6 by Fleece Artist in a beautiful chocolate-covered cherry colorway specifically requested by Ellen, the clever owner of Purl Diva
Needle: US5/3.75mm
Notions: Five lovely little pink buttons from Purl Diva

Apparently, this is my fourth BSJ, though I think my first is languishing in the UFO bin. Such a wonderful pattern, and a great garment with all the squishiness of garter stitch. This really has become my go-to baby pattern, especially as it's a great excuse to use some new-mom-friendly superwash sock yarn. I knit Lena some of Ysolda's tiny shoes, too, with adorable, little, pink bunny rabbit buttons, though I neglected to take a picture of them before giving them to Lena. Hope we'll get a picture of the recipient in her finery soon.

E.T.A. I almost forgot that Ellen had taken a picture of the sweater and booties in her lovely lightbox.

As you can see I'm doing my best to catch up on some belated posts, trying to get back in the groove.

KSA: Knitter's Review

Just in case you've been knitting offline since 2000, a great place to find reviews of yarn, books, and tools is Knitter's Review, maintained by Clara Parkes, author of The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn, which is an amazingly informative resource on fiber and yarn and how the one gets turned into the other, as well as some nice patterns. If she gives something a good review, you can be sure you'll be happy with the yarn. There are also some busy forums on the site. Sign up for the weekly newsletter and never miss another review.

FO: Fair Isle Hat (for Isobel)

Pattern: Fair Isle Hat from Fiber Revival Two-Handed Fair Isle class [Ravelry link]
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Marron Oscuro, Shocking Pink, and Natura
Needle: US7/4.5mm 16" circular
Mods: None

Isobel saw this while it was still OTN and claimed it for her own. How could I object to my daughter wanting something I knit? She's modeling it right before bedtime, and this may have even been the night she wore it to bed. I'm glad she likes it, and I'm so glad to have conquered two-handed fair isle knitting, thanks to Isobel (Abelson, my teacher).

The purl rounds are interesting, giving a little dimension, though I think if I were to knit this chart pattern again I would probably omit the purl rounds. However, I am very interested in experimenting with purl bumps of color as shown in the Bohus sweaters.

OMG!

Trisha Malcolm commented on this little blog. I was so excited that I could not fall asleep last night (and should have come out to the computer and posted a few belated blog posts: Door County yarn crawl with mom, Isobel's new hat, EZP progress - soon!). Instead I lay in bed thinking about knitting and blogs and publishing. I've been lucky enough to meet Amy many moons ago at a Circles event, have Stephanie mention that she'd seen my blog at a book signing, drank tea with Mary Jane Mucklestone at Ysolda's book signing, hung out briefly with Julia and talked about how great Franklin is, and then the following week took a class with Franklin and talked about how great Julia, Veronik (who, of course, has an adorable french accent), and the rest of the clever folks at Twist Collective are, talked shawls with zee Joan Schrouder. Of course there is also a long list of knitting luminaries that I long to meet.

I'm striving to be a capital K Knitter, and not just because of my stash but because of my ongoing apprenticeship to this craft. That's why I'm working on the EZP. There is always more to learn. It's exciting to be a part of the knitting community right now, especially when our rock stars are also real people. OK, time for this fangirl to get back to the real world of laundry, back-to-school paperwork, and my nephew's unfinished sweater (luckily, he doesn't know it's his first birthday tomorrow!).

Thank you for the comment, Trisha!

Photographing Your Knitting with Franklin Habit

Loopy Yarns Wall of Koigu I

Loopy Yarns Wall of Koigu II

Ayre in the lightbox

So, I had a great time at my class at Loopy Yarns with Franklin Habit. Of course in my desperate attempt not to seem like a crazy fangirl I didn't even snap a pic of clever, witty, knitter extraordinaire Franklin. Though I know something about photography, having taken a class at the Museum School a couple of lifetimes ago (and being an Art Director), I signed up for the class to give me a kick in the derriere and to learn how to make my own lightbox at home. Mission accomplished! Franklin reminded me about the properties of light, depth of field, and presenting objects to highlight their best qualities (and hide their flaws). Everyone was very nice (knitters almost always are, though, aren't they), and near the end we found ourselves talking about Manor House.

How did I miss out on the "House" series? I so want to see Colonial House! Carole went to the Adams National Historic Park recently, and now I've had to add it to the long list of New England places we'll have to drag the kids when they're a little bit older.

Anyway, back to the photography. The shots above were from the shop, and it was fun to play with perspective. The class was also a chance for me to play around with my camera and all its settings. I'm usually a little lazy when it comes to the camera, leaving it on "Auto" far too often.

So, hopefully you will see an improvement in my photography going forward. I plan to start a Year In Pictures (YIP) on Sunday. It was going to be a Self-Portrait 365, but I'm not sure I'm up for 365 self portraits at this point. I'm excited and need to go spend some more time with my camera manual. And I've saved a Fresh Direct box from this afternoon's delivery - just need some white posterboard and clamp lamps to build my lightbox.

Thanks, Franklin, for a great class!