Kaylee!

Took some doing but here it is!

Which Firefly Character Are You?

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Later.

I'm Wash!

Hey Kate!

Which Firefly Character Are You?

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Who are you?

Robin

A Christmas Story

Merry Christmas, Kate!

TBS is showing A Christmas Story for 24 hours. Such a charming movie. And it's like a catalog for knitted and crocheted goods. Most of the garments are knitted, but there is definitely a crocheted ensemble that the mother wears when they get a flat tire and Ralphie doesn't say FUDGE. The knitting varies from simple stockinette to cabled to some pretty complicated colorwork.

That's all I got!

Later!

Robin

State of the Knitting

Hey Kate!

I'm all hopped up on cupcakes, so this may not be very coherent. Here's some of what I've got going right now. I'm just linking to Ravelry from now on because anyone who is interested needs to be on Ravelry anyway. It's just the single best thing to happen to knitters since circular kneedles ... and I'm not exaggerating.

I tried to get a more true to color version of this picture, but this one is still the best. Your urara handbag. It's much more rust as you will see in person on Friday. (Yay!)


And this is where I am on The Spousal Unit's Skully. Yummy yummy Alpaca. I wanted to cast on the sleeves tonight but realized I didn't have any yarn out in the room that does not contain the sleeping preschooler.


And after an infinite number of restarts, here is where I am on the Spring Scarf which is my project for the lovely Jane Austen Ravelry Group.


And I've only done all the planning for my Drawstring Raglan which I will hopefully be casting on tonight. We'll see how that works out. I've got the writing bug.


If I really mean to get any decent knitting done tonight, I'm going to have to calm down a bit from the cupcakes. Seriously.

I hope your trip is boring and uneventful.

Later!

Robin

A list! A list!

Hey Kate!

I'm still here as you know. Thought I'd show up on the blog. You've been a busy bee. Your patterns are teh awesome. Here's a list of links while my tea cools:

• I am mourning the First Lady of Star Trek. Majel Barrett Roddenberry, we will miss you.
• Thanks for the good work, Deep Throat. Our country is better for it.
• How to stop forwarded email misinformation (language warning).
• Nothing says glamour like acrylic and polyester.
• Fun with WoW crafts.

That's all I got. Can't wait to see you in a week!

Later!

Robin

Friends

Hey Robin,
I find myself thinking a lot about how many friends I have via the miracle of electronics... you and I met in real life, but we have maintained a long friendship via various messaging programs over the years. I now have a great bunch of 'friendly's' because of Ravelry and a shared love for Malabrigo Yarn...

Which brings me to a lovely gathering of warmth and camaraderie that I was lucky enough to be a part of last night. A few of these Ravelry friends I mentioned before live in my area. We assembled under the guise of doing some last-minute gift wrapping, but it was really so that one of them could present another with her swap-package. It was so much fun to be there for that. I would have been just as happy to be a fly on the wall as to be a full-fledged part of it. We had good food, good conversation and fun knitting.

I got a little gift too!

It's impossible to see the tag sorry. It read: in case of malabrigo emergency: break glass.

I'm so lucky to be blessed with friends....

Later!

For the Manly Man...

Hey Robin!
I spend a lot of time on Ravelry... which should explain why I'm not here often enough! A little bit ago, there was a lot of chatter on the boards "What should I knit my brother/Dad/FiL/grown-son?" and Lots of times the answer was "A scarf!" or "A cowl!", amongst all the hat suggestions of course. This got me a'thinkin'... Vegas Sands is a pretty feminine pattern, in most colors, but what about an alteration to make it more "Manly"? I'm sure I can do it, I mean the original pattern was for a man!

I noodled around a bit and had the best idea yet, which was to turn it into something more like a neckwarmer, et VIOLA! Feast your eyes:

I give you the Manly Collar! Yes it's a dumb name, but I am definitely open to suggestions. It fastens with a hidden button, which I think is oh-so-stylish.

For the first time I got a test-knitter to check out my pattern before putting it upon you guys... good thing too because I did the button-hole instructions wrong! The pattern:

Manly Collar

Materials: 1 skein DK weight yarn (I used Knit Pick’s CotLin and at 123 yards I still had some left); Size 7 needles (straight or circular but I found the circs easier to maneuver) or size required to get-gauge; Tapestry needle

Gauge: approx 5 sts/inch in stockinette, approx 5.5 sts/inch in pattern

Finished size: about 6” wide by 19” long blocked.

Pattern stitch (adapted from Grumperina’s Shifting Sands Scarf):

Worked over 4 rows:

Row 1 (RS): *1/2LC, K2, repeat to end

Row 2 and 4: purl

Row 3: *k2, 1/2RC, rep to end

Pattern:

CO 105 sts loosely using whatever method you like to give you a nice-edge, I like to use the cable cast on because I can keep it nice and loose.

Knit four rows, purl one row (WS)

Next row (RS): K5, start pattern and repeat until 5 stitches remain, K5.

Next Row (and all WS rows): K5, follow pattern to last 5 sts, K5

Next row (RS): K5, start pattern and repeat until 5 stitches remain, K5.

Next row: K5, P2, bind off 3 sts, purl to last 5 sts, k5

Next row: K5, continue in pattern to your bind-off gap, use backward-loop cast on to add 3 sts, k7.

Continue following pattern, adding the knitted 5 stitch border on each edge. When piece is approx 5” tall ending with a row 1 or 3, change to garter stitch again for four rows.

Bind off in your favorite manner.

Finishing: Block and then weave in ends. To sew on the button I folded the rectangle in half lengthways and wrapped the collar around my model’s neck, then placed a small pin (careful not to nick your model!) where the button hole is. Then I sewed the button on where the pin was. (Don’t forget to remove the pin).

Abbreviations:

1/2LC: slip 1 st to cable needle and hold in front, k2, then knit1 from cn

1/2RC: slip 2 sts to cn and hold in back, k1, then k2 from cn

Note: If you take the time to learn Grumperina’s “Cabling without a cable needle” you will find it worth the time spent! Trust me!

I seriously hope that many people will try this pattern and let me know what happens! It's only been tested the one time (other than me) so please let me know if you find errors!

Later!

march of the FO's

Hey Robin,
I see my last post date and hang my head in shame. I wish I was doing better at keeping this up! But I wanted to post a few finished items because it just makes me feel good. Here goes:

These are the result of a test-knit for my good-friend-in-Malabrigo: Nina Machlin-Dayton. She has designed the soon-to-be-famous (I hope) Faberge line of knit wear. We all begged for mittens and she let me test the knit. I love them! They have been worn quite often here as it has gone the way of the chilly... Malabrigo Worsted in Stonechat colorway... just sayin'. NEXT!

Finally got the BYOB done! It's a good knit really. I wish it was a little faster.... but the bag is HUGE! Seriously it will probably hold more stuff than a single person should carry... but it's tres stylish. I can't wait to give it to the recipient. Lion Brand Cotton Ease was the yarn, much nicer to knit with than the kitchen cotton I gotta say...

Little Guy's sweater is finally done! I wish I had posted more while this was in progress because it was an interesting journey. I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's seamless sweater formula from Knitting Workshop. It's really fool-proof. I chose the shirt yoke shoulder type. I like it a lot but when it was completed the first time, the neck hole was far too small for my youngling's head. He's got a large noggin. What can I say?? So I had to rip back and open it up a little... and now it's a little large, but at least he will always be able to put it on lol. He wore it to a party yesterday (actually ASKED to wear it!) and it fared well with the rough-n-tough crowd. The yarn was Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in blue with hem-facings in red from Aidan's sweater. It's a nice combo I think!

I will leave you with this:

It's the back of a certain garment which shall remain nameless until after Xmas. Certain persons have been known to check this page to see what I am up to and I don't want to give anything away! This one is not an FO yet... but it's so pretty I had to share :)

Next up I hope to share a new pattern with you all! Cross your fingers that I can get it written-up well enough ;)

Later!