Another Diana Gabaldon Knitting Reference

iana's posted a new excerpt on her blog that features knitting!

Alpacas!

iven the photos of Sam at the bottom of this blog, I think it's obvious how much he loves alpaca wool. While travelling through Pennsylvania recently, I saw an advert for an alpaca farm! Turns out there are over a hundred such farms in PA alone.

We visited one near Punxsutawney called Flocks by Knight. Unfortunately, they didn't have any wool, but I came away with some wonderfully soft fibre to try - once again - to spin, courtesy of Lucky Pierre (he's the tall black guy if I remember right), and a bag of short bits (un-spinnable), which I'm planning to sew into a pillow for Sam.

Thanks to Tracy for taking the time to show us around!

Also, being a city person, I was just as impressed by the hay and the tractors and the chickens.

Truckers Who Knit

ow awesome is the news in this article from the Wall Street Journal? Truckers who knit! And quilt and sew and... Like shepherds and fishermen of old, a new generation of men are finding ways to keep their fingers busy during their downtime. I've always loved truck stops - someday, I hope to run into one of these guys, like Kevin Abraham-Banks, "a 37-year-old trucker with a shaved head and dragon tattoos, [who] passes time at truck stops with his cocoa and knitting... 'The fact that you can take strands of thread and basically make something out of it, that's awesome I think,' he said."
I agree!

World-wide Knit in Public Day!

h yes, today's the day! Time to take your knitting to the streets!




If you're in Montreal, WWKIPD as hosted by the MontrealKnits Yahoo Group, is taking place at Portugal Park, on St-Laurent, corner Marie-Anne, and there's also one at Effiloche. If you're in London, there's one at the Natural History Museum and one in Parliament Square, among others. Edinburgh, St Andrew's Square. New York, Coney Island. The list is endless - go forth and knit!

Beatrix Potter's Knitting Animals II

his post and the previous post are in memory of my friend's bunny Hortense, who passed away a little while ago.

Cat knitting:

Buying wool from Mrs Flock:

Beatrix Potter's Knitting Animals

uch adorable drawings, I had to share.

Here's a knitting mouse, from Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes:

And here's a knitting rabbit from the Tale of Benjamin Bunny, with a little description of what she knits.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines muffetee as:

"[Apparently irregularly < MUFF n.1 + -EE suffix2, with insertion of -et- (perhaps compare -ET suffix1). Perhaps compare NECKATEE n.] 1. A kind of mitten. Also: a kind of muff worn on the wrist for warmth or to protect the cuff; a wristlet. Now hist. {quotes cut out} 2. A muffler worn round the neck. Brit. regional.rare. a1890 E. WAUGH Tufts of Heather (1892) I. 25 He'd a thick, red wool muffatee reawnd his neck."

Lovely Lace

urry and visit Lottery Girl's blog to meet the lovely Jean Claude! Here he is being prepped, and here he is being modelled. Gorgeous! I can't wait to try my hand at lace.

Another Gift Set

completed this blanket a little while ago but waited until I had the entire baby shower gift set to showcase.
The picot edging came after I learned to do it with the Victorian shawl; now I want to use it everywhere!

And now, for the first time in a long time, I only have two projects on the go - the kilt hose and the scallop-edged blanket. After that, I've got two socks and two sweaters I've promised to others. And then we'll see...

Vintage Knitting

ust had some fun looking up vintage knitting photos through Google...

Here's a McCall's Magazine article from June 1905, on Knitting as Recreation (cross posted from Not Another Knitblog!):

Then there's this fun looking ad I found here. I never thought giving up a tape measure could be so much fun, but then, I don't really use tape measures. I'll pick up a ruler once in a while, but most of the time I use my fingers to (pretend to) measure inches. Two fingers = 1 inch, no?

Knitting on the plane! Ah, back in the day... Taken from Worn Through.

And here's how I feel about using double pointed needles. Trust me, this kid is grimacing not smiling.

Home for a Hobbit

ould you believe I only have two projects on the go at the moment? Only the kilt hose and the scallop edged blanket, that's it!





It's probably time to look through my gorgeous yellow boxes and start some more projects, especially the *cough* socks and sweaters I've *cough* promised to make for friends... Meanwhile, here's a very dedicated lady after my own heart, one who's read The Lord of The Rings about as often as I have!

From The Telegraph: "Dedicated Maddie Chambers has completed her own tribute to J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy by creating a miniature model of hobbit Frodo Baggins home."

Home for a Hobbit on DollsHouseBlog, Part One, Part Two and Part Three.