2011 Knitting Wrap Up

t's better late than never...

In January, I posted my knitter's life list, updates on a Christmas scarf, and a lovely hat made by my aunt. I mentioned four babies - I've not got ten babies in my life to knit for!

February I was writing, not knitting.

In March I made some progress, mentioned the Royal Wedding, and shared some lovely cowls and scarves made by my mother.

April featured knitting in paintings, and a blanket for my goddaughter.

May was about sewing.

June included World Wide Knit in Public Day, and a post on Lilian Jackson Braun.

July saw me resume work on the scallop-edged blanket - except I've lost the pattern! If anyone can find it, please let me know!

July and August was all about knitting on planes, and Jamie Fraser.

September showcased a book I want.

October was all about knitting in literature, and missing my knitting buddy!

November was all about knitting for penguins!

December featured an inspirational knitter for charity, a blogfest about organizing your stash, and a knitted hotel room in England.

How was your year in knitting?

Pinterest, and a New Diana Gabaldon quote

y latest procrastination tool past time is Pinterest, the image sharing board that's like tumblr but with fewer words. I've got a knitting board on there!

Here's an image I came across on a friend's board:

Speaking of manly men in novels, Diana Gabaldon posts DailyLines on Twitter (and Facebook); here's a recent snip that featured knitting!

"#DailyLines #TheSpaceBetween #novella #thisiswrittenalready #Idontknowwhenitwillbepublished

"What a waste of a wonderful arse," Monsieur Brechin remarked in French, watching Joan's ascent from the far side of the cabin. "And mon Dieu, those legs! Imagine those wrapped around your back, eh? Would you have her keep the striped stockings on? I would."

It hadn't occurred to Michael to imagine that, but he was now having a hard time dismissing the image. He coughed into his handkerchief to hide the reddening of his face.

Madame Brechin gave her husband a sharp elbow in the ribs. He grunted, but seemed undisturbed by what was evidently a normal form of marital communication.

"Beast," she said, with no apparent heat. "Speaking so of a Bride of Christ. You will be lucky if God Himself doesn't strike you dead with a lightning bolt."

"Well, she isn't His bride yet," Monsieur protested. "And who created that arse in the first place? Surely God would be flattered to hear a little sincere appreciation of His handiwork. From one who is, after all, a connoisseur in such matters." He leered affectionately at Madame, who snorted.

A faint snigger from the young man across the cabin indicated that Monsieur was not alone in his appreciation, and Madame turned a reproving glare on the young man. Michael wiped his nose carefully, trying not to catch Monsieur's eye. His insides were quivering, and not entirely either from amusement or the shock of inadvertent lust. He felt very queer.

Monsieur sighed as Joan's striped stockings disappeared through the hatchway.

"Christ will not warm her bed," he said, shaking his head.
"Christ will not fart in her bed, either," said Madame, taking out her knitting."

No knitting, but here's some fan-inspired Jamie and Claire art by Captivated2 (no one's drawing Michael and Joan yet, but I imagine they'll start, once this novella is released):

Two More Finished Projects!

es, this time it's me. I've actually completed both a blanket, and a hat.

The blanket was actually a pattern for a shawl that I found off Canadian Living.

The hat is the ruffle hat I love making.

Coming soon - photos of my nephew wearing the hat!

A Finished Project!

hat? No, not me. What were you thinking? I tried to do a row on my scallop-edged blanket and realised I'd lost the pattern for it.

This is my Aunt Beysun and her lovely sweater:

Scattered Knitters, Roald Dahl, and The Vicar of Dibley

here's a name for my condition!

Karen Gowen calls herself a scattered knitter, and that's just what I seem to be turning into: "Some years I don't do anything but the occasional scarf, other times I'll knit up a storm and try new yarns and more complex patterns."

Meanwhile, I reread a wonderful Roald Dahl quote the other day:

"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." ― Roald Dahl, The Twits

That has nothing to do with knitting, exactly, but maybe it speaks to our intentions while creating, in a Like Water for Chocolate sort of way (which book I haven't actually read yet). If you're knitting someone a gift, it helps to keep your hands clean, your wool untangled, and your thoughts happy.

That said, I think I'll pick up that kilt hose from where I last left off...

In my ongoing look at knitting in the media, I realised I might not have put up Vicar of Dibley clips before! Here are the characters discussing great storms they've lived through, while Miss Cropley knits.

For you writers out there, Cathy Campbell's discovered a great resource on the history of British winters from 1616 till now. The great storm of 1947...

More Knitting in Literature, Sort Of

ex Parker is a cruciverbalist, an 'enthusiast of crosswords'.

He also has an alter ego as Salmon Gutter/Pop Sensation: "This site is dedicated to my vintage paperback collection. Every couple of days, I pull a book off the shelf and write about its cover. That's it. To understand the spirit of the blog, please read the following: The Great Paperback Project Paperback 88: Suburbia Confidential."

In a recent send-up of an Erle Stanley Gardner novel about Perry Mason, he wrote the following, in reference to an excerpt that featured the phrase 'well-knit':

"'Marilyn Marlow then said, with a predatory coyness, 'You must be Humphrey Bolgard. They said you were well-knit, but—' She ran her eyes down the length of his frame and back up again '—well, there's knit and there's knit, and boy are you knit.'"

I'd like to use that phrase in casual conversation. Boy are you knit!

Other literary knitting posts of mine have featured Patricia Wentworth, Diana Gabaldon, Lilian Jackson Braun, Diana Gabaldon again, Beatrix Potter... and Andy Capp.

Regular posting will resume soon, with photos of two (!) completed projects. Meanwhile, what is this Vogue Knitting Live of which Franklin speaks? Why do we not have such events in Montreal?

Knitted Hotel Room!

've never been to Brighton, but if someday I visit, this is the hotel room I'd love to stay in:

"Deisgned by Brighton local and artist Kate Jenkins, the room features her trademark knitted food – in a wooly fry-up – a knitted telephone, curtains and toothpaste and toothbrush, not to mention the more traditional knitted bedspread. In keeping with the rest of the hotel's rooms, Jenkins' room has its own name – the Do Knit Disturb room." - The Guardian

What Do You Use?

hat do you use?

Madeleine at Knit Purls of Wisdom is hosting a blogfest!

I've shared photos of my two gorgeous yellow boxes before; that's where I corral most of my wool.

Everything else is less organized. There's a plastic bag for all my needles, crochet hooks, stitch markers (thanks Helen!), and so on. But current projects fall into any of five tote bags and my pattern books and photocopied or printed patterns are all over the place.

No one wants to see photos of the mess! I hope to finish the latest blanket soon, and I'll share photos of that. Instead, for now, let's look at Old Navy's Grandmabot:

An Inspiration

ose Larson was featured in the latest issue of Canadian Living.

"The Salvation Army's Christmas hampers from this past holiday season included more than 200 products from the industrious needle of one Grande Prairie senior.

Rose Larson contributed 100 toques, 50 pairs of socks, 45 pairs of mitts and 20 scarves to the Christmas drive held by the Salvation Army Food Bank. The 90-year-old has been knitting warm clothing for Grande Prairie's needy for the last three years, and works on knitting the items year round.

"That's my year's work, now I'm knitting for next year," said Larson. "It's something that I've done all my life. I've got arthritis so bad in my hand now, I can't do any other crafts, so I keep knitting."

She has been knitting since the age of twelve." - Toronto Sun

As for me... the blanket's coming along nicely. Hope to make a hat sometime soon, too. Helen gave me a virtual kick in the rear the other day...

Penguins!

ast month, Skeinz, a yarn store in Napier, New Zealand, put out a call for knitted jumpers for penguins affected by the most recent oil spill.

(image taken from Skeinz, and supplied to them by Charlie, who knit this jumper)

They even had a pattern for the penguin jumpers!

"Penguin Jumper in 8ply - must be 100% Wool Yarn - 1 pair 3.25mm, 1 pair of 3.75mm needles, 1 set of 3.25mm dpn’s or circular
Cast on 36 stitches using 3.25mm needles. K1, P1 to end of row. Repeat this row 7 times Change to 3.75mm needles and K2, P2 rib. Work 4 rows increasing at each end of every row (44 sts)
Continue until work measures 15cm
Decrease 1 st at each end of every row until 28 sts remain
Decrease 1 st. in middle of next row (27 sts)
Leave on needle
Make second side the same
Transfer the 54 sts from both pieces to 3 of the set of 4 3.25mm needles (18 sts on each) and work a round neck in K1 P1 rib for 10 rows
Cast off
Stitch up sides to decreasing to 27sts (opening for flipper). Add elastic to the top and bottom to prevent the penguins getting out of them. Top: 15cm of elastic; bottom 17cm (knots allowed). Flat elastic OK"

Actually, when laid out flat, they sort of look like hot water bottle covers...

This week, Skeinz posted a video of the first group of penguins heading home. So sweet.

And if you want a bit more background on cleaning penguins, and why the jumpers were so useful, Snopes has an article on this issue.