Knitionary

Are your knits plagued by pills? I know the answer is yes. If you are a hand knitter, then you cannot avoid pills. All knitted fabric, machine knit or hand knit, will pill at some point, usually only after a few wears. Fabric pilling is the formation of small, fuzzy balls on the surface of a fabric and is in no way an indication that you have a cheap yarn or garment. Even the most expensive yarns and fabric can pill. Certain types of fibers are more prone to fabric pilling than others, but pilling and fuzzing is a normal part of wear and tear. Short or loose fibers on the surface of the knitted garment tend to tangle together and form a tuft or pill. Fuzzier fabrics, like angora, are particularly prone to fabric pilling, since they are characterized by plentiful, loose fibers. The slight abrasion of simply wearing a garment will cause the looser fibers to join together. You'll find pilling mostly on cuffs and under arms and the sides of your sweater.

The good news it that pilling will slow down after a time as soon there are fewer loose fibers to pill up. But in the meantime, we all need an awesome de-piller, and I've found it. I've been using the Gleener for several years. While I've owned many de-pillers and de-fuzzers over the years, the Gleener is by far the easiest and the best. I got my Gleener at Bed Bath and Beyond but they are available at many drug stores and sell for about $20, and well worth the price. It comes with a lint/hair brush on one end, and at the other end is a de-piller with three interchangeable edges, from light to heavy duty depending on your type of fabric. The edges are easy to pop on and off, and truly, works like a charm on natural and synthetic fibers. My entire sweater was filled with tufted pills and it took me less than 3 minutes to brush it back to it's original beauty. For the record, I have used this on even my most delicate knits such as my Kidsilk Haze sweaters and my Angora Haze sweaters. The tool is thorough, but gentle and every knitter needs one.

I wrote to Gleener and told them how much I loved their product and knew my readers would like it too and asked them to send me one as a giveaway. Sure, I know that sounds cheeky, but they kindly sent me three! To enter the giveaway, please be a follower of Knitionary and leave a comment below. For a second chance, leave a comment on the Knitionary Facebook page under the Gleener picture. This is open to North American readers only. I've got 3 to give away and I'll keep this open for a few days. Good luck! Oh, and make sure I know how to get a hold of you. The best way is your Rav ID or leave your email. Thanks!

Before.

We can't avoid pills, but we can fight him!

After: Tough on pills, easy on fabric.

Fuzz and pills are gone from my pretty sweater!


You can throw out the useless sweater stones and those hopeless shavers, the Gleener is the best!

Thank you to the kind folks at Gleener
The Gleener at Bed, Bath and Beyond
The Gleener at The Grommet
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below.
If you are reading this post from an email, go to this link to leave a comment.
For a second chance to win, leave a comment at the Knitionary FB page.

I just found out there are copy-cat "Gleeners" that are cheap and break easily.
When shopping, make sure you get the real thing. I've used mine for 2 years.

While we observe the solemnity of Holy Week, this week also tends to be when my husband and I observe major spring cleaning duties in the garden! Our kids visit Easter weekend and it being California, we will spend a lot of time outdoors and want it to look pretty. While the sun was shining brightly all week, my husband and I weeded, dug, plowed, and planted. I scrubbed the greenhouse inside and out. We also scrubbed every bit of outdoor furniture (he did) and washed every single window inside and out (I did). It's the first big clean up of the year and it's nice to have it behind us. The wisteria is in full bloom and the roses are just beginning. It's green every where, and, while we just heard that we'll be hit with a 25% water restriction...it's not bad at all and totally doable. We will plant a much smaller veg garden and just a sprinkling of annual flowers and I imagine spend more money at the Farmer's Market. Oh, and when we were at the garden center I bought two new pairs of gardening gloves. They're called Wonder Grip and they are fantastic. They have several styles and are sized s-xl. I have these and love them. I think that they're meant for carpentry but are perfect for the gardener too. They're not so clunky that you can't "feel" what you are doing, but they are still super protective. Here's our work in progress:

Below are some pictures I've taken of the house from the back. It's so hard to get a good picture because it's one of those long California ranches. The dear house is 72 years old and we are the second owners. The people who built it lived here for 40 years and with any luck we'll live here for 40 years. It's such a sunny, easy house to live in. We love it so much. The first picture below is our family room and kitchen. In the middle is the dining room and living room. On the right is the master bedroom. Facing the front of the house are 3 other small bedrooms, now my sewing room and two guest rooms that were once children's rooms. Also at the front of the house is a gallery hall that goes from the entry way to our bedroom.

This is a fruitless mullberry that the squirrels love when it's budding in spring, so we put up this metal barrier. It works a little bit at best.

When the family is here we will have a few meals out and a few in. I have an easy dinner planned with my husband grilling a large piece of meat, plus local asparagus that will be roasted perfectly crunchy with a lemon parmesan topping and also some kind of potato dish. Maybe one that uses dill and chives as I have a lot of that popping up. This time of year I love fresh dill in almost everything. When family visits I always like to have this chicken salad in the fridge for quick lunches. I've got chicken chili in the crock pot. It's so easy and so good. One day I'll have to write the recipe down (4 ingredients!) and share it. For Easter brunch I'll make this egg casserole, which is hugely popular around here and they've asked for it yet again. I bought a good ricotta cheese and have nasturtium blossoms in the garden so I can't resist having these pretty things on the Easter brunch buffet too. I think they will get an eye roll or two, but they do taste good! I'll also serve a big bowl of berries and of course, fresh orange juice! I made sugar cookies, this crowd-pleasing shortbread and these pretty coconut cupcakes for dessert snacking. I also made deviled eggs and brought in sodas, nuts, chips and dips; all that yummy kind of food families seem to want to eat when they are together. I imagine we'll all be stuffed!

My Easter decorations are so pretty this year. It's the same ornaments I put out every year, but arranged a little differently. I glue-gunned teensy chicks to some bare branches, placed my pearly pink trees in the dining room and filled the house with fresh roses. It smells like heaven! For the gardeners who want to know the varieties, right now my bloomers are Peace, Pink Peace, First Prize, Joseph's Coat, Knock Out and an unnamed David Austin. I also have quite a lot of Red Simplicity in bloom.

I hope the Easter bunny is good to you and leaves you with something sweet in your basket!

xo Kristen

I thought it would be a good time to update my Rav page with my works-in-progress.

Here they are!

I purchased the yarn for the Floyd vest by Martin Storey. It's for my son's BD in September, so not a big hurry right now. He's crazy over this one. Me too. It will be perfect for San Francisco weather and will look great with jeans.

Phoebe is a test knit that is due the end of this month, so this will get a lot of attention this next week. I had some ancient, but very lovely Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in my stash. I've been saving it for the perfect project, and think this is it.

I know two "all boy" families who are welcoming baby girls this summer. Clara has been on my to-do list for ages. It's a sweet and easy knit, a lot of fun and is lovely in machine washable Rowan Wool/Cotton 4 Ply in Misty.

I've always wanted to try Fine by Spud and Chole, machine washable in the palest pink. It will be an owl sweater for a wee girl.

I've got just the sleeves to finish on this Martin Storey pullover using Rowan Summerlite 4 Ply in Navy Ink.

By the door I keep my two travel projects, my "grab and goes". The one on the left is a smooshy garter lap blanket I knit in the movies in a discontinued Alchemy DK. Our movie theater has been fitted out with luxury recliner seats, every seat in every theater! It's heaven! We go to the movies most Monday afternoons and need something I can touch knit in the dark. On the right is a pi shawl for my car and plane knitting using Handmaiden Casbah Sock.

My most popular post, and the one that still gets 100 plus hits a day, is an old one: The Totally Free, Totally Adorable Baby Cardigan. It seems that everyone likes to make these little freebie sweaters. Here I've gathered up whites, blues and grays in worsted, dk and fingering weights and going to once and for all write my patterns down. The patterns will be free when I get this project done, just wish me luck!


This is a total experiment in the works. I have an easy summer poncho in mind, so giving it a go with Rowan Pure Linen. If it works out, I'll write up the pattern and offer it here for free. I need a bit of luck and patience.

Lastly, mother and I are knitting the Crackerjack scarf in support of the San Francisco Giants. You can read about that project here. No matter what team you root for, this will be a fun project for sure. Join us! Opening day is today, and we're watching the first game right now. We will start our first stripe tomorrow. PS, I'm talking about baseball ;)

Thank you all for reading and commenting to enter my last contest.
The three winners of the GLEENER are:

kitten with a whiplash (jeez, I love that name!)
Amy Calkins
Rita Bhatia

PM me with your mailing address and I'll send your Gleener out pronto.

Below is a modest sample of my Kidsilk Haze stash, which numbers in at about 40 skeins. Yep, it's a small fortune in yarn I admit, but luxury yarn is my vice, no, my obsession. Calling KSH a vice makes my innocent collection seem depraved. You could never make me admit that posessing a large quantity of this sweet yarn is depraved!

So, here 'tis a sample below, with enough of each to make a sweater: Clockwise from top right is the gorgeous hot magenta Candy Girl; I have five skeins. Next is the sequined discontinued Glamour in that gorgeous shade of Heavenly Blue; I have eight. The next one is sparkly Eclipse, also discontinued, in Aquarius and I have ten of those. Top left is the red ripe Strawberry, and I have five here too. Top center is Heavenly and I think I have eight of those. But...that's not all of my KSH stash. I have numerous single skeins and odd balls. I keep it all in a *special* box, my most special knitting stash box: The Kidsilk Haze Box! My obsession for KSH is well documented; on my Ravelry project page I have 20 plus completed projects. I always like to have at least one KSH project going on and right now I don't have nary a one.

So here's my dilimma; what pattern should I knit next? What color? I'm in no hurry to finish and don't need a darn thing. It's just when I pick up my knitting, sometimes I feel like picking up tiny needles and working with a spiderweb-like strand of softy silky mohair. I always have to have an on-going KSH project or I feel...sad. So many of you feel the same way, I know. See my choices below and give me your input! Help! What next?

Bow Cardigan by Sarah Hatton, Rowan Studio 12 has been on my to-do list for ages. I'm thinking the red.

I've already made Jamie by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Loves. I love it so much I want to make it again. I'm thinking the sequined Glamour in pale blue.

This is Kate also from Rowan Loves. Above it's knit with Felted Tweed but it can be knit with KSH too. I think it would be pretty in my gray Eclipse, plus I have 2 skeins of Eclipse in Topaz that would be so pretty as the contrast.

Captivate from Kim Hargreaves North book combines KSH with Rowan Fine Lace.

Garnet, Kim Hargreaves. I made a similar one, Effie, by Kim and love it. Must make this (maybe the magenta?)

Annis by Kim Hargreaves uses Mohair Haze, and while I love that too, Annis would also work beautifully with KSH.

Drift, from Kim's new Echos book also uses Mohair Haze, but wouldn't this be pretty in KSH?

Kiki, another Kim, would be great using up my oddballs.

Mystic by Kim Hargreaves.

I've always adored Anna from the very first Rowan Studio publication. Would love this in KSH Stipe.

A sweetheart neck makes this simple cardigan a beautiful classic. Sweetheart Cardigan, Sarah Hatton, Studio Twelve.

Ella, a fitted tunic with a drape neck is from Kim's Touching Elegance book. I have loved this forever and think this would look great in the gray Eclipse, don't you? And don't you wish you had hours of knitting time every single day?

So those are the ones I'm zeroing in on. What do you think?

The links:
Kidsilk Haze Stripe
Kim Hargreaves
Rowan Loves
Rowan Studios are out of print, but easily found at your Rowan stockist or the internet.

Oh...

I have a secret.

Rowan can usually be counted on to offer up a KSH surprise every year or so.

This fall be prepared to be BLINDED by bling!

I cannot wait to get my hands on it and show it to you!

Bye!

Well over half of our roses are blooming now,

with the others following in a week or so.

Look at them!

Lovely Anja, AKA IamSnowfox, one of the German Rowan Ambassadors is visiting California and is with us for the week. She cannot get over our beautiful weather and beautiful roses! Here she is with my son, who is over 6' tall, so you can see how very big this rose trellis is! These two found they had a lot in common and ended up spending a lot of time with each other! We're all going to miss her!

Climbing Eden, lovely frangrace and perfect form.

Two more pictures of Climbing Eden.

These pictures were taken over a week in my garden.

I'll share another picture of Climbing Blaze next week, when it's in FULL bloom! Here it's just started.

Happy Chappy is a great ground cover rose, but here it is trained as a tree.

Cottage Maid, David Austin, also fragrant. I picked this one to sit at my desk with me.

Gertrude Jekyll, a David Austin with an extreme apple/rose fragrance. If I put a small bouquet in our bedroom, we'll come in at night and the entire room will smell of roses!

Gertrude Gekyll again.

Graham Thomas is lightly fragrant, massive and bushy, with glossy leaves.

A David Austin, but I don't have the name. It's beautifully fragrant with a tight crimp of petals.

Pink Peace Roses has massive blooms.

Iceberg is one heck of a rose. It's a repeat bloomer that just won't stop!

And then I picked a fragrant bouquet!

Last year I grew pears in bottles (original post) then filled one bottle with clear brandy and the other with vodka. They've been resting for a year and this spring or summer we'll have a party and drink them up. In the meantime they're pretty to look at! The bottles I used are recycled Balvenie Single Malt bottles. My husband used to drink Balvenie and I was able to save a dozen or so bottles because I thought they were too pretty to put in the recycle bin. It's easier than you think to grow a pear in a bottle. On your tree, find a healthy young pear that will fit into the neck of your bottle. Remove the surrounding leaves and pears if any, leaving just the one pear. Insert the pear and branch far into the bottle and with string or strips of fabric, tie it to the strongest surrounding branches making sure the bottle opening faces downward so it won't collect rainwater. Allow Mother Nature to take over and with a little luck, at the end of summer you'll have large, ripe pears in each bottle. The survival rate is fairly decent; if the pear sees it through the first week, the chances are excellent that it will continue to thrive. Last year we did 3 bottles and only lost one. We are trying for the same odds again this year and one even has two pears inside! Oh, I really hope those will thrive!

Warning: this is a two person job; one is the steady bottle holder while the other person engineers the secure tying. It takes a wee bit of thought and a few cuss words, but when it's done, you don't have to think about it again for months. Other than your regular tree care duties, your only job throughout the summer will be to check on the lashings every once in a while to make sure they are still secure. Plus you'll want to stop by and admire them every week or so, you know, to cheer them on.

It's a super fun project and I hope you'll try it. You may have seen last year's post and thought you might try it but never got around to it. Try it this year! If you don't have a pear or apple tree, maybe you have a kindly neighbor with a tree? Just make sure you make an extra one for him!

Can you see, this bottle has TWO pears!

Knitionary

Once Upon A Time is a new inspirational book by the talented knitwear designer, Marie Wallin. Take a minute and scroll down to view some of the prettiest sweaters ever designed for young folk. The book will be for sale Friday, May 1st from her website. I imagine you'll start finding the book in the shops in the next few months, just in time for back-to-school knitting. Any one of these sweaters is destined to become a treasured heirloom. Enjoy! Links are at the end.

Ingenious use of stripes and cables in Albert, knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

This young beauty wears Alice, knit in Rowan Cocoon.

Archie is a clean fair isle design knit in Rowan Felted Tweed Aran.

Siena is the girl's jacket version of Archie with crochet trim on the sleeves.

Charlotte, a cabled tunic, is knit in Rowan Felted Tweed Aran.

Cozy Hat and Scarf, one for the boys above, with the girl's version below embroidered with lazy daisies. Both knit in Rowan Cocoon.

Elise Cowl and Tam below, both knit in the round with Rowan Felted Tweed.

This lovely little girl wears Eva, a classic fair isle pullover knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Freddie, simply beautiful in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Feminine and elegant, Grace has oodles of knitted and crocheted texture with Rowan Felted Tweed.

Cute little lacy, cabled swing coat. Isabel is also knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Two beautiful examples of traditional round yoked fairisle sweaters. Laila above and Isaac below, both knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Lucy is perhaps the prettiest in the collection? What do you think? Knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Lastly, a teddy with his own built in fairisle sweater! Simply knit in two pieces, then sewn up!

Links!

Marie Wallin's website

Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Rowan Felted Tweed Aran

Rowan Cocoon

I've used all the above yarns and can vouch that they are fantastic. Felted Tweed seems to be on everyone's list of favorite yarns. It's very easy to knit and easy to achieve even stitches. If you haven't tried it yet, give yourself a treat and find out why it's so popular. Designers like it so much because of the extensive color range and because it showcases lace, cables and colorwork so beautifully, but also makes a fantastic stockinette fabric. This fall I'll be knitting a long car coat with the Felted Tweed Aran, and I have some yellow Felted Tweed DK to make some sort of cardigan. But right now it's mostly summer knitting here at Knitionary. What are you up to, knitting wise? And how many of you are going to buy this book for some fab fall knitting?

Kim Hargreave's newest book, Echoes, should be on the shelf of your local yarn store already, but if not, it soon will be. In Kim's hands, the newest trends turn elegant, timeless, and classic...but not before she adds a dash of her trademark lady-like edge. Here's a sample of Echos, and it doesn't disappoint.

Aqua, an open eyelet pullover knit with Rowan Cotton Lustre, new for spring/summer 2015.

Pretty Beaches with tiny cables is knit in the new 100% cotton, Summerlite, a new favorite of mine.

Kim has two designs knit with Rowan Panama, a yarn I love for it's texture and cool feel on the skin. Coral, above.

Cove, Rowan Original Denim in Memphis.

Dune, also in Original Denim

Ebb, one of several open-fabric designs is knit with Kidsilk Haze held double.

I'll have to burden my poor queue with the gorgeous Drift. Soft open fabric is achieved by knitting elegant and soft Rowan Mohair Haze with big needles. This will be heaven to wear.

Harbour, also in Panama. What a gorgeous blue; it's called Darkness.

Surf caught my attention. I always love a deep V and big collar. The Rowan All Seasons Cotton white is one of the prettiest and brightest whites for summer.

Lagoon is so elegant, even though it's just two boxes of garter stitch sewn together. Rowan Cotton Lustre.

I think Ocean would be a practical summer knit. Rowan Creative Linen in garter stitch.

I showed Reed to my 14 year old granddaughter and she loved it. We choose the Cotton Lustre it calls for in an olive green. This, could very possibly work for older gals. I often wear a short skirt in winter with tights and boots. It could be made longer too, while shortening the fringe. I'm glad I'm knitting it for her first, I'll try it on and see if I could adapt it for me. It will look darling on her with a tank top and sandals.

Hooded Reef in that lovely All Seasons Cotton.

Shore is a familiar Kim design, here knit with reverse stockinette stripes in Summerlite 4 ply.

I started Splash already, using Creative Focus Linen, but in a hot pink.

More open-work in Spray, knit in Rowan Cotton Lustre, new yarn for spring/summer 2015.

I love Kim's take on the oversized beach sweater, here in Rowan Handknit Cotton.

Must knit Wave, open fabric knit with Kidsilk Haze held double. It would be light as a feather and cozy warm.

Knitionary

I always loved to sing and when I was 8 or 9 my mother signed me up for a summer school choir. It was just one hour in the morning, I could walk to the class and be home well before lunchtime. I only managed a few classes before I announced that I couldn't go anymore, I simply didn't have the time. We had an active neighborhood filled with kids and we had the neighborhood's only in-ground pool. Our backyard was busy with swimmers all hours of the day. But we also roller skated, played hide and seek, and rode our bikes for hours, only returning home when we felt hungry or noticed that it was getting dark. My summer days were also filled with self-imposed monumental projects, all crafty, and so time-consuming that I needed every spare hour of my entire three months vacation to get everything accomplished.

I wasn't satisfied with making macaroni necklaces and dried bean mosaics, I turned my nose up at anything as prosaic as that. Instead I dove right into the messiest and most challenging projects. One year I made perfume. I picked rosebuds and somehow, I don't exactly remember how, extracted their rose juices. I had enough brown, cloudy, liquid to fill half of a tiny bottle. I spent hours designing a gorgeous, Frenchy-looking label. My mother's best friend was over for coffee and I proudly offered it up for her to whiff. She smiled brightly and said, "It smells!" I took that as a compliment and beamed with pride, although I was aware that it had an unpleasant, grassy smell. One year I made paper; a smelly, gooey mess that when dry, became brittle and shattered. I don't remember being disappointed with that either. I rarely remember having directions for anything. I learned how to knit, crochet and embroider from a handbook, but I know I didn't have any other craft books. Were there any? I suppose yes, but if I had an idea to make something, I also had to come up with the how-to.

At the beginning of summer I would write down my list of must-dos that would have looked something like this:

     make jewelry
     make candles
     make soap
     wash all doll clothes with this soap
     figure out to make some Barbie furniture
     learn how to do book-binding and while I'm at it, write a book too, why not?

One of my favorite projects was when I made gold doubloons. I rolled a length of clay and sliced thin coins with fishing line. Using my mother's and my charm bracelets, I imprinted tiny ships, guns, anchors and other Spanish looking things onto the coins. I baked them, then painted them metallic gold with paint I borrowed from my brother's airplane model kit. My homemade doubloons were gorgeous, truly gorgeous and I kept them for years. Perhaps in a move in my twenties and feeling very grown up, I must have tossed them. I'm sorry for that now, as I'd love to see them; I remember how pretty I thought they were at the time.

When I was 9 or so, my Great-Aunt Cytha told me she had made rose beads when she was young. It sounded like a wonderfully old-fashioned craft and I knew when summer came, I would have to add that to my list. I still have them and come across them every few years or so, and marvel that they still smell faintly of roses, even after some 50 plus years. Last week my husband was on a golf trip, and my red roses were in full bloom, and I don't know, but out of the blue it just came to me that I should make rose beads. Here's how:

Gather ye rose petals, mostly red ones, and make sure they are fragrant of course. The next step is to grind them. Long ago, before food processors, I used my mother's meat grinder and it took forever. These days use a processor or blender and whirl until smooth. Put the mash in a pot and add a cup or so of water. Let it simmer, not boil, stirring constantly for 10 minutes or so. Whirl it through the processor again to get a finer mash. Spread the pulp on a baking sheet and set in a warm place for a few days until the moisture is mostly evaporated, but still moist enough to roll into a bead shape. Make the beads twice as big as you want them as they will shrink quite a bit. If you plan to string them later on, let them dry a few days more, poke them through with a t-pin and let them sit until fully dried. This drying part could be made shorter by setting them in the sun. I've also heard you can add rose oil or rose water to the mash to aid the fragrance, but I've never tried that. It's a fun summer project; something that will keep kids busy for hours. Old ladies too.

My husband came home when they were drying, took one look and asked, "What on earth?" I explained what they were, and how I remembered making them as a girl. He squinted his eyes and said, "So admit it, you were that weird kid on the block, right?" Oh, he's said that to me before and it doesn't faze me a bit as I know he is teasing. But I will admit to being that kid who needed alone time. Back then I didn't realize why it was so important for me to make things, I just knew I simply had to. Who can explain that sort of thing? My parents always supported my endeavers and never once gave me the impression that I couldn't design my own city or graft an apple branch onto a rose bush. When I think of my childhood, one of the gifts I credit my parents with most, is their encouragement. Any idea of mine was worthy of time and attention. I was allowed free reign of the garden, the kitchen, my tiny world, to do whatever I wanted. My fails were often, and mostly epic, but I never remember being chided or embarrassed and rarely remember being disappointed. I think some of my best qualities come from those early hours of being left alone to make, create, and to occasionally fail.

Grind or whril the petals in a processor, simmer with water for 10 minutes, then grind again.

It will have a mashed potato consistency and will need to dry for a day or two.

Roll into ball, lets dry another day or so. When they are firm, pierce them with a toothpick or t-pin and let them completely dry.

I ended up stringing two strands and hardly knew what to do with them. That's the way it is sometimes with crafts. Still, I love them, and can't help but think they are a sweet, old fashioned craft.

5/24 Edited to add: A reader, Nancy, sent this picture to me. This strand of rose beads was made by her great grandmother and have little gold beads between each hand made rose bead. The beads now are quite black but still have fragrance. Nancy says she will wear them, in fact, she could only inherit them if she promised to wear them and not hide them away! A good lesson to us all! The beads here are so shiny and smooth. Mine are dull and rough. I think that after time, and after wearing them and touching them, they become more beautiful! Thank you Nancy, for sending me this picture.

While it's still fresh in my mind, I wanted to write a little recap of my visit to the 2015 Spring/Summer National Needleart Association convention held last weekend in Columbus, Ohio where yarn manufacturers and designers gather to show their new fall and winter products. I'll try not to gush too much, but I do have stars in my eyes because my weekend, and this week too, has been this knitter's dream. First, my roomie was the adorable Jen Geigley of the popular Hey Jen Renee blog and the designer of the crazy-famous GAP-tastic Cowl. We had so much fun getting to know each other and got on like gangbusters. That we are both such knitting freaks made the show a slice of heaven. We got to see and feel, and just b r e a t h e in all the new and beautiful products we'll be seeing in the retail stores this fall.

What will we be seeing? Luscious fiber, and lots of it. I saw little of the wild and crazy art yarns of the past, and more yarn that focused on bringing soft, washable, long wearing, knitable yarn with natural fiber composition to the home knitter: yarn that is both opulent and easy care. We are lucky. I don't know if I noticed a color trend, but my eyes naturally fell on the beautifully muted soft colors that I love. There are some gorgeous tweeds and natural blends that will make you melt. We'll see some swank sparkle, a bit restrained, more Grace Kelly than Las Vegas showgirl. I felt the sweater designs to be focused more on fit and structure with minute details that whisper elegance. With that said, there was still plenty of the slouchy, weekend wear that we all love; but to be on trend, make that boyfriend sweater in an opulent yarn. You'll easily find one that is machine washable and hard-wearing. Amazing, right?

I wasn't surprised to find that Rowan's large booth, smack in the middle of the room, was the most beautiful. Their new fall yarns were elegantly displayed surrounded by a dozen sweaters on mannequins. Champagne and strawberries were served while brand manager Kate Buller showed their new wares. Maybe it sounds silly, but I felt the need to pinch myself, how did I find myself here in this knitter's paradise? I was having way too much fun! As for Rowan, their new designs were simply the most beautiful; both Jen and I were ready to cast on for a least a half dozen. In July I'll be able to share more yarn and pattern details, but be prepared for elegant blends and next-to-skin softness combined with easy care. There is some twinkly, glimmery sparkle to be sprinkled in a little or a lot, you'll swoon. Can't wait.

Show highlights include meeting Isolde Teague who is a bit firecracker and a lot genius in the form of a chatty sprite. The sweater she is modeling below will be out soon and has some amazing knitting techniques for fit. She explained her ingenious raglan shaping, and while it will be easy to execute with the pattern, I just do not know how she managed to think it up. I asked just that, "How in the world did that technique come to you?" Her answer was simple, "I don't know, I'm just lucky and that sort of thing just pops into my head!" She is absolutely adorable and a knitting Einstein we are lucky to have. We met Olga walking through the show and stopped her to admire her latest wrap that she was modeling. She explained it's modular construction, and again, she is another knitting genius. She was with Meri, a very sweet and gentle lady and the owner of the beautiful online knitting magazine, Amirisu. Nicki Epstein had a charming booth and was a total doll. A very talented knitwear designer, to me she is best known for her popular knitted flower and embellishment books, and her sweet American Girl Doll fairytale doll clothes book. She had every one displayed and Jen and I spent a good amount of time ogling! Oh, and we met the Ravelry gang and they are just as fun and friendly as you would think. Jen is posing below with the gang, only missing Jess who was outside with her baby! Only five people run the entire Rav empire! How can that be?

Nicky Epstein

knitted patchwork tee pee

Isolde Teague

Me and the completely lovable Martin Storey.

Wait, there's more! Martin Storey, one of the head designers at Rowan, and the consummate English gentleman, and possibly the sweetest, kindest man on the planet, came to my town and my local yarn store, Uncommon Threads, right after TNNA. He taught two workshops over two days, and being the groupie I am, I took both! That night my husband and I took him out to dinner, then next day after class, my girlfriend Leah of the stylish Yarn Stylist blog, and I squired Martin around San Francisco, ending up at the Cliff House overlooking the Pacific for dinner. To share time with this special guy, whose creativity never ceases, was a thrill. He has some awesome books coming out this fall and next year. We had so much fun, but not enough time, but he promised to come back!

Martin sharing tips.

Hard to tell, but Golden Gate Bridge is in the background.

One class was about fair isle and making these little trees. More on that later.

The other class was about beading and no-cable-needle cables. Beading is easy peasy. More on that later!

If you are a reader from Columbus, Ohio, I want you to know that I loved your city. It's beautiful!

My blog has been a bit neglected these last weeks, perhaps months, and things continue to be busy until July. Any blogger will tell you that when things get crazy, the poor blog is the first thing to go! This summer I plan on getting back to regular blogging, I miss it! I have some fantastic giveaways planned, and new things to show, so stay tuned!

Long time readers might say, uh-oh, Kristen knit another owl sweater! But I never tire of this pattern! When I ask a new grandma what sweater she would like for her newest grand-baby, she almost always says, "The owl, please!" This little sweater shows up at a lot of baby showers and always gets oodles of ohs and ahs. I especially like it in gray, because it's a nice color for any time of year and it's sweet for either boy or girl, so it can get passed on down easily.

Even though making owls from cables has been around for decades, the first person to write it into a pattern was Janice Straker, Penny Straker's mother. I knit my first one 30 years ago for my son, and I knew even then it had been around for ages. A classic like this never goes out of style. The pattern uses simple cables to make the adorable owls. The pattern I used is written for babies, and there is also one sized for children. I have both patterns and have knit them many times and I highly recommend them. Both are shaped so perfectly, with a round tummy for the baby size, and a more trim, longer shape for the child's sizes. This one is the 12 month size. It's my favorite size to knit for a baby gift because by the time babies fit into a 12 month sweater, they are sitting up and smiling and showing off their hand knits nicely! This yarn is the popular workhorse yarn, Rowan Wool/Cotton 4-ply. When I give a sweater as a gift, I give care instructions. I cannot imagine asking a busy young mother to hand wash a sweater, so when I knit for baby, I only knit with machine washable yarn. The right buttons are super important. Next time you go button shopping, if you find tiny, two-holed buttons, buy quite a bit and keep them in your button box for the next time you make an owl sweater. Because I know you will make one or two. It's too adorable, right? I personally don't think a baby's wardrobe is complete without an Owl Cardigan! Shopping links are at the end.

No matter how precise you try to sew on the eyes, they alway have such individual personalities. Their expressions crack me up.

Baby Owl Cardigan Pattern

Child's Owl Cardigan Pattern

Rowan Wool/Cotton 4 Ply in Misty

My Ravelry project page

Well, hello! Knitionary has been a bit quiet this spring and I have missed you all so much! It's been hectic for me these last few months, with what seemed like a year's worth of activities and deadlines smooshed into two months. All that is mostly behind me now, and I'm looking forward to a slow paced July and August. This morning I'm heading off to my knitting group for two lovely hours of knitting and chatting with some very lovely ladies I've know forever. We started this group years ago when we had school children. We'd send the kids off to school, play a few sets of tennis, then head to the coffee shop for coffee and knitting. Now we are all grandmothers, most have given up tennis (I have) and the group has grown to a dozen old friends. We send out an email Sunday night to see who is coming and today it looks like we have a good group. So nice, can't wait! Next, my husband and I are going to see a movie. He's going to pick it...either Entourage or the new earthquake movie. We go early afternoon most Mondays and have popcorn and candy for lunch. I love it! After that I think we are heading to Costco to stock up. Now doesn't that sound like the best day ever?

As for this blog, I like to post twice a week. That seems to be a manageable pace where I can keep my content blog-worthy, at least, that's what I think! I have some great posts planned, full of knitting, parties and giveaways. I felt this Father's Day table was a good way to ease myself back into blogging. I was really happy with the animal theme. The place mat set is from Belle Banquet. I have a few sets of these for different seasons and they are sturdy, shiny and gorgeous. The saffron buffet plates are from Pottery Barn. I have them in several colors, just fantastic for entertaining: cheap, big and sturdy! It looks like the saffron is no longer available but they come in many other beautiful colors. The bee glasses were found at World Market. We have all three sizes and use them for every day. The botanist's vases and holder is something I found a while ago in a cute store in my little town. I hemmed and hawed over buying it, but did, and now it's something I use almost every time I pick flowers. It fits perfectly on my small table, and a few blossoms make a big show! Check out this site (sorry, you may have to give them your email address, but they swear they don't share it) for some very fun, similar vases. I like this one and this round one and this teensy one. As for food, we had a very dad-friendly menu: salsa and chips, steak and taties, veg and salad, and an ollalieberry crumble for dessert. The best thing about the table is not pictured, and that was the lovely people sitting around it, five of my most favorite people in the world. Yep!

xo Kristen

For the flower lovers, from left, orange nasturtiums, lavendar, magnolia blossoms and a wild yellow lily.

This morning I lounged outside in the sun and read the entire newspaper, a luxury I hadn't enjoyed in quite a while. As I sipped a second cup of coffee I thought, "This is the day. Today I will write that post about saying no." It's a subject I'd been pondering for the last month. Like many--maybe most--women who grew up in the 50s, I always had an aversion to saying no. Why was it so difficult? Perhaps it was wanting to be perceived as well-behaved and nice or just wanting to be liked. Whatever the cause, my reluctance to say no eventually became a problem. And I suspect it's still a problem for many women today, whatever their age.

Recently I spent a long girl’s only weekend with my 40ish stepdaughter. We talked and talked the days and nights away, and the subject that got the most attention was setting boundaries and saying no. She is struggling with this very issue and I was happy that I had some encouragement and insight to share.

Last month, as I was rushing around trying to plow through a long list of tasks, my husband and son walked in from a game of golf. My 31 year old son, who we see once every week or two, said, “Mom, why are you always so busy these days?” It took only a second for my husband to pipe up with his daily mantra: “You have taken on too much. You don’t know how to say no. You are going to get sick.” He was partly right because I did get sick. I found out the hard way that pneumonia is nothing to ignore and has an ugly way of sticking around if you don’t take care of it. But on the other two issues he was dead wrong. I won’t admit to having taken on too much. Normally, the simple things I’d signed on to do would have been done easily, quickly, and joyfully, but some last-minute out-of-town trips and a series of unexpected out-of-town guests threw my timing off. When I finally did have the time to get back to these commitments, time was running out and I had to bust in and give it my all. But my husband was most wrong about the not-knowing-how-to-say-no part. I do know how to say no, but I didn’t always. I learned this about 10 years ago, out of necessity, and learned it from the one person whom I didn’t expect would ever teach me a life lesson: my son, who at the time was in his early twenties and struggling with his own personal issues.

But, first, a little background: I'm pretty good with time management. I can allot a reasonable amount of time to a project and then move on without getting OCD over perfection. I have high energy, frequently multi-task and can re-focus quickly when necessary -- all skills I've worked on over the years. I have to credit my parents for nurturing these skills in my brother and me since childhood. It's simply the way they ran our family. Having a lot of interests and being good at most of them were the family standards. What made it work, I think, was that we were given freedom to do things our own way. Criticisms were rare; helpful suggestions were there if we needed them. I remember praise, but not a lot; being competent was just expected. I loved growing up this way as it gave me self-confidence. As a girl, I had always loved to sew. When I was in 6th grade, my parents bought me a sewing machine, signed me up for sewing classes and expected me to start making my own clothes. I did, and my entire junior high and high school wardrobe was proudly made by me. My parents weren't being stingy, they were being kind. I was small for my age and this was the era before the petite section. They knew I dreaded entering junior high with my childish wardrobe. Now even a toddler can dress like a Kardashian, but not so in 1964!

When I got out into the world I was surprised that not everyone approached tasks the way my family did. At my first job I saw someone say no to a task because she was afraid of failure. Being afraid to fail had never occurred to me; I'd been taught that failure was just part of learning to do something right in the long run. What was the big deal? I watched another co-worker continually miss deadlines because she was seeking an impossible perfection. I'd learned that there are times to pronounce something "perfect enough" and move on. I quickly fell into the role of the go-to person, taking on more and more responsibility. My boss loved me and I loved sitting in my own office, only 21 years old but certain I could do my job well.

So then, 30 years later, how did this fabulous can-do spirit with all this reliability and competence start to feel wrong? It took a while I know, decades I guess, but I started to feel a bit put-upon. Was I being taken for granted? Were friends and family dumping things on me that they didn’t want to do? Was I hearing, “Kristen, you do this, you can do it so well!” and, “Here, you can do this so quickly, it would take me ages!” a little too often? Once at a party, a man whom I admired was in charge of a Christmas bash to raise funds for an organization I admired. He put his arm around me and beamed down and said, "Kristen, I can only trust you with this, as you are just so creative and competent." The next thing I knew, I had agreed to made 200 individual desserts and deliver them on the same day I was having my own Christmas party. Things had clearly gotten out of control. I felt like a victim. I was tired. My husband was nagging me: “Why did you agree to that? Why didn’t you just say no?” and, “Why are you doing that again? Why can’t anyone else do it?” I didn’t know why I didn’t say no. I had no answer for him.

My son had heard these arguments before, then one day he said something so simple, but it changed my life: “Mom, when someone asks you a question, any question, you don’t have to answer. A question is not a command for an answer. Your answer is voluntary. And if the question involves a yes or no answer, don’t commit right away. Say, ‘Let me think about it.’ Then take a day or two to think about it. If nothing else, this will buy you some time. Half the time the person won't come back to you and ask again. If they do ask you again, you’ve had some time to think about your answer. And it’s ok to say no. And it’s ok not to have a reason.” Period. My 20 year old son told me that. Why hadn’t I thought about that before?

I realized I desperately needed to start responding differently to requests for my time, not just once in a while, but habitually. I'd like to say it was easy to change my habits, but that would be a lie. Little by little I turned myself around. I got into reading about setting boundaries, set a few and stuck to them. I have two wise girlfriends who would hear me out when I needed to talk. It was cheaper than therapy and they gave me courage. After a time, new, good habits replaced old, bad habits. My family supported me, even though they were hearing “no” more than they’d ever bargained for! As for saying no, I will admit that I like to give a reason, I think it’s nicer that way, but it’s a simple, non-committal reason such as, I don’t have the time or I’m feeling too tired.

Ten years later, and how do I feel now? I feel free. Competent. Happy. Helpful. I like to help, I like to say yes, but I know I don’t always have to.

How about you, dear reader? Have you had to deal with this? How have you coped? Do you have victories you can share? Words we can learn from? I know there's many wonderful stories out there. Please don’t be shy, I’d love to hear from you. (If you are reading this in an email, please click here and scroll to the bottom to the comments section.)

Today I received the OK from Rowan to start previewing the 2015/16 Fall/Winter yarns and books. As a Rowan Ambassador, I receive a preview pack each season containing sample skeins of the Rowan new yarns and the supporting pattern books. It's HEAVEN! I was swooning and you'll be swooning too, so stay tuned because in the next two weeks I'll share them all.

Alpaca Merino DK has a chain construction of 83% baby alpaca and superfine alpaca, 7% extra fine Merino wool and 10% nylon added for strength. Whenever you see the words baby, superfine or extra fine, it means it will be super soft, and this yarn is indeed super soft. Alpaca is warm, and because of the chain construction, it is very lofty and lightweight. I imagine it will be very comfortable and lightweight to wear. There are 10 colors in the shade range; two whites, several warm autumn colors and several jewel tones. Winterscapes by Sarah Hatton has 12 designs supporting the new Alpaca Merino DK. I'm adding 3 to my queue!

Rhodeswood above is perhaps my favorite. I love full dolmen sleeves when they neatly finish at the forearm with deep ribbing. Because the Alpaca Merino DK is so lightweight, this big blousey sweater will feel like a cloud to wear. I will be making it in either these two colors shown; the body is a deep purple and the ribbing is in navy, or I was thinking of making it in the two whites! Hmmm, must give this some thought!

Langsett below has side insets of a ridge pattern that I think will make a very flattering silhouette. In my stash I have some Rowan Fine Art and Rowan Kidsilk Haze, that when knit together get perfect gauge for this pattern. It's almost the same lovely shade of blue. I like the wide neck opening too. I've already cast on.

The textured vest above is Longdendale, knit is a gorgeous shade of gold. I love gold and should have more of in my wardrobe.

Toost below is knit in one piece from the bottom up. At the armholes, the sleeves are attached and the yoke decreases begin with short row shaping added for a better fit. The look of fairisle is achieved by slipping yarn, a method I've seen Sarah use before, and much simpler than fairisle.

Swooning over Ewden above, the 3rd one I'll be making from this book. I can't help it, I adore the tiny cables surrounded by eyelets and that ribbed inset: very flattering. Has to be this color too.

Mickelden below, even with all the cables, would still feel lightweight in this yarn.

Above is Millstone.

At first I thought it was a vest, but nope, it's a sweater. Ingenious use of fairisle colorwork.

Below is the Wheatland Hat and Cowl.

Above is Crowden with a classic cable pattern. Etherow below is quite gorgeous. First, love the color (Hoby) but also love the vintage ski-party look. It is worked bottom-up in the round up to the armholes where you'll join the sleeves. The yoke decreases are next with some shaping, then fairisle technique for the white snowflakes.

Above is Padfield, a peplum jacket
and below is the cover project, Wedenshaw Hat and Scarf.
Wearing this yarn around the neck would be heavenly.

And speaking of covers, too bad this model is not simply GORGEOUS!
I love her haircut! Her hair color is very retro. Reminds me of Kim Novak.

I couldn't find a shade card, but above is a beauty shot of a few of the shades. If you are familiar with Rowan's Lima or Lima Color, this is exactly like it in content and construction. It will knit to a sport of DK weight instead of Lima's worsted weight. I like to call it Lima Jr. or Son of Lima, ha.

Hope you enjoyed my first tour of the new patterns and yarns. Expect to see the new Rowan yarns and supporting books, including their beautiful fall/winter magazine, in mid July. Next preview on the blog is Hemp Tweed.

Today is HOT and I'll be staying in all day finishing my color block baby sweater pattern. I was going to just offer it in one size, 1 year, my favorite size for baby knits, but then decided to see if I could size it to fit a 2 year old. That has been quite an adventure and has taken longer than I expected. But I'm really super duper happy with it and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with the pattern to share. In the meantime, stay cool and happy knittin'!

--> This pattern was inspired by a little baby I met in San Francisco who was wearing a similar sweater. A Ravelry search came up with nothing except a years-old out-of-print publication, so I decided to recreate it myself and offer the pattern to my readers for free.
I made my sweaters from scraps of Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted leftover from the Martin Storey Afghan KAL and the Kaffe Fassett KAL. In the model sweater above, I used a fourth color for the back, but the pattern is written for three colors. This is meant to be a real scrappy sweater and as long as you make gauge and use a soft, machine-washable yarn (it’s for baby after all), you can be thrifty and raid your stash using 3, 4, 5 or more colors. The color possibilities are endless and I can't wait to see what you come up with! If you would like a summer sweater, I suggest Rowan Handknit Cotton or Rowan Softknit Cotton. Both will give you gauge and both are machine washable.

I've sized Gingersnap for one year, which is my favorite size to knit for baby. Hear me out: At one year old, babies are sitting up, walking about, smiling and laughing, clapping their hands, and generally causing a lot of commotion and attention to themselves, and thereby, giving a lot of attention to your nice sweater! I'm also going to size this for an 18" doll because I love to knit for dolls and know a lot of my readers do too. Give me a few weeks for that, so stay tuned. Gingersnap is available as a free download on Ravelry. If you don't belong to Ravelry, it's free, so sign up right away! This pattern is suitable for a beginner.

Even a baby sweater deserves a bit of fine finishing attention. The direction of your increases and decreases make a difference in appearance, see the neck decreases above. The pattern explains which way the decreases should go so they will be neat and tidy. Professional looking seams, below, take a bit of practice, but they are easily achieved. This sweater is a perfect project to practice your finishing techniques. YouTube has some excellent video tutorials.

Close up of the sleeve seam.

Get your free Gingersnap pattern here.

The yarn is Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted

in colors, Granite, Gold, Soft Cream and Moonstone on the back.

The colors used in the sweaters below are Candy, Charcoal Gray and Soft Cream

and Gold, Bottle and Soft Cream.

Me: I finished something pink.

Him: Nice!

Whenever I make something in pink, my husband says, "Why don't you just knit everything in pink?" It's nice that he likes me to wear pink because I like to wear it too!

The pattern is Goldie from Kim Hargreaves' Honey book. I've knit this pattern before using one strand of Kidsilk Haze Eclipse (the sparkly KSH) combined with one strand of Rowan Fine Lace. As soon as I finished it I knew I would have to knit another for summer. This yarn is Rowan Panama, which for me knits up at 25 sts. per 4 inches. The pattern calls for the gauge to be 23 sts. per 4 inches. By making my gauge smaller I was able to bring the sweater size in a little bit so it wouldn't be quite as blousey as the model. Even with that modification, I decreased the stitches in the width and made the dolman sleeves less wide. The V is very deep, which I like, but I'll often wear a cami underneath to be on the safe side.

Panama is sublime. It's my second time using it and I love it for summer--it practically floats on your skin and is a yarn I can wear even in the hottest weather--it always feels cool. It's a nubby, fingering weight combination of viscose, cotton and linen. Simple stockinette in Panama has a lot of texture and beautiful drape. Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I put the sweater in the washer and dryer and it comes out perfect each time. I'm pretty certain the ball band does not recommend this, but it works for me. If I put any sweater in the washer I turn it inside-out and use a mesh sweater bag and use cool water. If I put a sweater in the dryer, first I would lay it flat until it's half dry, then put it in the dryer on low for 10-15 minutes, maybe less, then take it out while still a teensy bit damp and pat it flat to finish drying.

As much as I like to touch knit stockinette, (knitting without looking) I don't recommend it for this yarn, I found that I dropped stitches too often. But if you look at what you're doing--and I know that probably sounds funny to recommend actually looking at your knitting--you'll find it easy going on your hands and your needles. I liked using my sharp, wood, Knit Pick Caspians as they had just enough of a point to dig the stitch without snagging and the slick wood has just enough "grab" for the yarn. The right needle choice for Panama is a must, so I would experiment to find what works best for you.

I am absolutely loving wearing this style of sweater. Martin Storey has a similar pattern new for fall that I plan on making soon in the Alpaca Merino DK, the new yarn that I previewed last week. I think it will be a perfect yarn/pattern match.

Sorry about these poor, grainy photographs. It's just me and my computer some days and it's either that, or no picture at all. I have several more sweaters--and two of those are pink--and two cowls to share too. I'm so behind in blogging about FOs and I hope to correct that this month. So this summer there are more FOs, lots of reviews of the new yarns and some cool giveaways. Come back soon! xo

Read about Rowan Panama here.

The pattern Goldie is from Kim Hargreave's Honey.

My Ravelry project page for Pinkie

Knit Pick Caspians/Rainbows, my must-have go-to needle.

Rowan is introducing three new DK weight yarns this season. I previewed Alpaca Merino DK last week and today's previews are for Pure Wool Superwash DK and Super Fine Merino DK.

Pure Wool DK is similar to their Pure Wool Worsted in every way except weight. PWDK will knit up to a standard DK gauge of 22 sts. per 4 inches. It has the same even stitches and is of course machine washable. I consider this a family type yarn suitable for garments that will get a lot of wash and wear. I am finishing up a baby sweater knit with this and the stitches are very even and the yarn is very well behaved. I'll show you next week. This is a sturdy, hard-wearing yarn.

Rowan has come out with three weights of Super Fine Merino: 4 ply or also known as fingering weight (28 sts. per 4 inches), a DK weight, and an Aran weight (19 sts. per 4 inches). We often see merino on a wool label and knitters know that to mean a high quality yarn. Merino wool's elasticity and softness make it popular for knitters. But of the worldwide production of merino, only 5% can call themselves superfine. Superfine is next-to-the-skin soft and even the most wool sensitive will want to give this one a try. The fingering weight is great for baby sweaters and when Martin Storey was in town he showed me his newest book of baby designs featuring this yarn. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Both of these yarns will remain crisp when knit in cables or colorwork. Both are machine washable, but always use care when machine washing your precious hand knits. I never fail to use a mesh sweater bag with cool water and a gentle cycle. The ball bands on both yarns say to dry flat. I'll be honest and admit I often sneak a superwash into a low temp. dryer. My method is to dry it flat until it's half dry. Next, it goes in the dryer on low for 15ish minutes to fluff it up but I'll take it out before it's bone dry. Then I pat it flat to dry the last bit. I generally think the ball bands tend to be more cautious than is necessary. Even when clothing labels say to dry clean, I often just don't see any reason why I can't hand wash, so I will and have success. I think you just have to be practical.

The 12 designs below are from Martin Storey's supporting book called Easy DK Knits. The look is casual and the knitting is easy. Let's begin!

I saw Barbican below at TNNA. The entire sweater is just reverse stockinette with stockinette and garter stitch stripes. It was stunning and the color, Marl, is soft and heathery.

Brixton above has large sideways cables sandwiched between ribbing.

Dulwich below, with deep dolman sleeves, is in my queue.

At first glance I looked past Greenwich, above. But then I thought, what a comfy slouchy weekend pullover! The texture is easily made with a simple rib-like stitch. It would be heaven in the Super Fine.

Hampstead below has rolled stockinette hems and neckline. It would showcase the even stitches that hallmark a bouncy merino like Super Fine Merino DK.

Holborn above is my favorite. I have perfect yarn in my stash: one strand of KSH Stripe and one strand of Fine Art Lace held together. It's going to be pretty.

I really do love cables, but sometimes wonder if I really look all that great in the bulk. Here is a nice way to add cables without adding bulk. It would be easy to lengthen Hampstead, below.

I have some Kidsilk Haze Eclipse in a dark charcoal in my stash that is a perfect sub. KSH held double makes a perfect DK gauge, plus it's heaven to knit and makes a gorgeous fabric. Sometimes I just need something small to wear over my shoulders and I'll be happy to have this in my wardrobe.

A few of the new books have a yarn conversion chart at the end of the book! So handy when substituting!

I just finished a fun project this morning. Even though I'd made these tiny trees before, when Martin Storey came to my town and my local yarn store, I couldn't resist taking a class from this amazing teacher, knitter, designer and gentleman. I'm a fan! The little trees are addictive to make and are in his book, Easy Fairisle Knits. This book is not available in North America, but Martin said he has expanded the book to double it's size, and this new version will be available everywhere in late 2015 or early 2016. I'll be on top of it and let you know when it's out; he says there are some great new designs he's really happy with. He said, "I know you're going to love it!"

In the class Martin shared his tips for holding and carrying the yarn when doing fairisle. Also, he is a big fan of beading and showed his very easy beading technique. I am now a big fan of beading too, and can't wait to get to beading this fall when Rowan and Swarovski debut their collaboration of knitting with crystals just in time for the holidays. What Rowan and Swarovski have come up with is completely gorgeous in every way. As soon as I can share more, I will, believe me.

Back to the trees: I'd made the tiny trees garland from the book; there's also an adorable pillow and afghan that use the trees, but I thought this time I'd make Christmas ornaments. Whenever I have a fiddly project like this, I like to gather my supplies on a lipped tray and set it next to me. The little bits are easier to find than if I'd used a basket, and the lip keeps things from getting lost in between the sofa cushions.

The yarn used was Rowan Felted Tweed DK. A few people in the class hadn't used it before and it was a big hit! If you haven't knit with it yet, it's one of those yarns that is very easy to handle and makes a beautiful fabric, even if your tension is less than perfect. For the backing, I used 100% wool felt from Purl Soho that I treated myself to when I was in NYC last year. I whipped stitched knitted trees and felt together and stuffed with a tiny bit of batting. I left the cast off end for hanging and took a picture of them dangling on some branches I have in a large vase in my kitchen. These bare branches are great for showcasing different holiday themes: at Easter I glue-gun tiny baby chicks on them and on July 4th they get tiny flags. As much as I don't really care for Halloween, in October I do like to glue-gun black spiders on the branches and it's been know to house a scary web too.

Just for the class, Martin had directions for a beaded (my favorite) and striped tree.

The book has several fairisle patterns to choose from.

I was in my sewing room all morning; glorious, as it had been a long while since I'd had a chance to spend quality time in my favorite room in the house. My husband poked his head in and said, "Playing in your room this morning, hon?" Why, yes. I was in the middle of an extremely important project. On Sunday I'd taken an old, unused gray organizer from the attic and spray painted it white. This morning I reached for my impossibly-difficult-to-keep-tidy button box and COMPLETELY organized all my buttons by color and style and put them into separate drawers. It made me so happy--I was all smiles and singing when he popped in again. I explained what I was doing, and I must have had a crazy-mad smile on my face, because he came over and kissed my cheek and said, "You're weird." No matter what he says, I know I'm not.

This afternoon we saw the movie, Max. My husband and I love dogs and have had several fantastic German Shepherds bless our lives over the years. We don't have a dog now, but we are going crazy deciding if we should or should not get a dog at this time in our lives. We know what it means, the time, the commitment, but the reward is very great. We'll see--we've been debating this for years, but it seems to come up more frequently now. Back to the movie: Max is a Belgium Malinois, which looks similar to a GSD. Just out of curiosity we looked up the breed because neither of us were familiar with it. What a fantastic breed! I also came across this interesting article. It made me sad. I had no idea people were so capricious that they would commit to having a dog, a 15 year commitment, on a whim.

Last night we had a dinner party for six that was meant to be a much bigger party. Last week we sent out emails to the 12 guys that my husband plays golf with on a regular basis. We were punished for our very short notice as half of the people were either hosting out of town guests or were out of town themselves. Three were attending a bridge party (bridge is very big around here) and another was at a wedding. Our four friends who could come were long-time and very dear friends, and one just happened to be celebrating a birthday. She likes champagne, I like champagne, we thought it was a good idea to pop open a bottle of expensive champagne. I never think that's a bad idea!

There were highlights and lowlights during the evening. The highlights were: the weather was lovely and we sat outside for before-dinner drinks and after-dinner coffee; the vegetable tian is now officially my all-time favorite party dish for it's ease, beauty and taste (see it below); my house looked beautiful dressed in green; and lastly, Nigella cracks me up. As sophisticated as she is, she never minds some low-browish shortcuts. For an appetizer, I made her potato pancakes made with processed potato flakes, which I didn't even know they sold anymore, I remember them being a gluey mess. But they do sell them, and the recipe was good! You make them in advance then top with smoked salmon before serving. My addition was to add a dollop of sour cream spiked with horseradish. I'll be making them again.

The lowlight was the main course! I made a new-to-me chicken dish that looked better on paper then it actually was. Something with almonds, rosemary and lemon zest. Meh, it won't ever appear in my recipe rotation again. To start we served an old fashioned wedge salad with homemade Roquefort dressing and bacon and finished with a fresh ollalieberry sorbet and Bob's GF brownies from this mix. I love that gluten free baking mixes, pastas and breads are so much higher quality these days, and so easy to find!

For the pretty side dish, I use Ina Garten's Vegetable Tian recipe for the most part. I make this often in the summer, and each time it's similar, but changes with what's growing or what's on hand. Everything was from the garden except the potatoes and cilantro, which I didn't end up using anyway. After slicing the vegetables, sprinkle with salt, then start layering in a dish. It calls for a sliced onion that I didn't have so I sprinkled on some chopped green scallions that I did have. I think Ina has you layer the veggies a different way, but I think the arrangment below is prettiest. Douse with a few tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle with fresh thyme, salt and pepper and cover with foil and bake in a hot oven for about an hour. When tender, sprinkle with grated gruyère cheese, perhaps a cup, and bake uncovered until melted and browned, another 15 minutes or so. It's really popular and perfect for this time of year.

I'm having another party next week, this time for my knitting group. We will have more people as I actually gave them two weeks notice, not just one! I'll be serving the vegetable tian again, but don't know what else. Maybe I can get my husband to bar-be-que as I'm planning to eat outdoors.

I hope you are having a great summer.

Go Giants!

Knitting top-down, set-in sleeves is a technique I learned years ago, and from that first time it became my go-to sleeve construction. It is the best way to get a perfectly fitted sleeve. It occurred to me that many experienced knitters aren't familiar with this simple and fool-proof construction. This sleeve technique can replace any standard sleeve that has a bell shape at the top. I've only used it for stockinette, and in fact think it would only have success with stockinette, but I'll show you the how-to, then you can decide for yourself.

So here I go with fit again. It's my thing, and I want to help you to make it your thing too. Getting a good fit is one of the bonuses of hand knits and each fit technique we master, the nicer our sweaters are, right? For many of us, realizing we can change the length of our sweaters was a genuine eureka moment. What? Such freedom! I could actually add length to accommodate my long waist, genius! My next eureka moment came with adjusting the width of my sweater depending if I wanted negative ease (tighter fit) or positive ease (roomy fit) or no ease at all (body skimming). But we don't have to stop there: adding more or less waist shaping and adjusting the neckline are two more ways you can make a better fit. But today, it's all about the sleeves, so let's get started.

When I start a new pattern, I like to pull out a similar style sweater that I already own; one whose fit I love. The sweater's measurements are what I'll want to recreate in the sweater I'm knitting. Compare these measurements to those in your pattern, making use of the schematics that are usually at the end of every pattern. Make your adjustments and get knitting, measuring as you go along.

The same is for the sleeve. The sleeve scythe, or the opening where the sleeve goes, is totally customizable. Measure that opening and adjust from there. It this is a sweater you will be wearing right next to your skin, you might like the look of a more fitted sleeve. If this is a sweater you will most likely be wearing over a shirt, such as a cardigan, you'll likely want the opening a little larger to accommodate for that. Top-down set-in sleeves give you even more freedom. You'll never have too much sleeve and not enough sweater or vice versa, avoiding any potential puckers once and for all. And, this sleeve will fit your arm. First things first; knit the sleeve scythe to the size of a sweater that fits you. The pattern may say 8", but your perfect-fit sweater may say 8 1/2". Remember, the pattern is giving you a basic size, and it's the rare person that fits that model exactly.

To knit the top-down set-in sleeves: Knit the front(s) and back, then seam the shoulders. Seam up the sides from bottom up, leaving the last 2-3 inches under the arm un-seamed for now. Using a circular needle with right side facing and starting at the underarm, pick up stitches all around the back arm scythe to the shoulder seam (the ratio is 1 stitch per 2 rows). Place a marker at the shoulder seam and pick up the same amount of stitches down the front arm. If you have 30 stitches up the back, you will need 30 stitches down the front.

Now you will begin using "wrap and turns" to knit short rows to shape the bell.

Directions for Wrap and Turn:

On knit side: Knit to the stitch you want to wrap, bring yarn between needles from back to front. Slip stitch from left needle to right needle purl-wise. Bring yarn between needles again, from front to back. Slip stitch back to left needle, purl-wise. Turn work to begin next row.

On purl side: Purl to the stitch you want to wrap, bring yarn between needles from front to back. Slip stitch from left needle to right needle purl-wise. Bring yarn between needles again, from back to front. Slip stitch back onto left needle purl-wise. Turn work to begin next row.

If you are familiar with wrap and turn short rows, you're probably used to "picking up the wraps". In this sleeve technique, you DO NOT pick up wraps.

Row 1: knit stitches up the front to 5 stitches past marker, wrap and turn,

Row 2: purl to 5 stitches past marker, wrap and turn.

Row 3: knit to your last wrap and turn, wrap and turn next stitch.

Row 4: purl to your last wrap and turn, wrap and turn next stitch.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until all stitches have been incorporated into the bell.

If you knit your sleeves in the round, join for working in the round.

If you knit your sleeves flat, cast on one stitch each side for seaming and continue working to end.

For either way, you can add any sleeve shaping desired. Generally the decreases are made every 2 inches, but try it on frequently to get it perfect. Knit until desired length, adding what ever finish the pattern calls for, ribbing, lace, or whatever, at this point it's like any other top-down pattern.

So you won't have to keep looking at this post when you're knitting, I've just uploaded printable instructions on one page, get it here!

Well, that's it! Look at the pictures below for more help, but I do think you'll be able to make this work for you, it's quite easy and it looks fantastic.

As I was writing this post I happened upon this book from Quince and Co., Top-Down by Elizabeth Doherty. I haven't seen the book, but it looks very promising and I'm sure would give you lots of detailed information.

One more thing, a little birdie told me there will be a Knit FIT KAL soon. That's all I know, I don't know the gauge, the yarn, the style or the when. I just know it's in the works and I also know I will definitely jump on board that knit-along. As soon as I know more I will let you know.

This color does not represent the color at all, it's a very bright and cheery navy blue. In this picture I've finished the short row shaping for the bell and now knitting down the arm and just starting my decreases.

A close up. This sweater may not be the best one to show off the technique as the body has ridge panels on the side, but I think you can still get a good idea. See, no puckers, and no seaming!

This picture shows the very beginning; I've just picked up the stitches and getting ready to knit the short rows. The yarn is Rowan Fine Art in the most gorgeous shade of blue, just hate that it's looking so washed out and gray. I'm pairing it with a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in navy. The fabric is incredible--it just about glows. V. happy.


This shows just a few of the short rows at the beginning. Again, maybe not the best sweater to show this technique because the stitch pattern on the body hides it a bit.

I'm making Langestt from the Winterscapes book by Sarah Hatton. I had the FA and KSH in my stash and knew it would be perfect.

"tough on pills, easy on fabric" giveaway

Happy Easter

winners revealed and another w-i-p parade

my kidsilk haze obsession

roses

how to grow a pear in a bottle

Once Upon A Time

echoes

capturing summer

Recap of TNNA

be my baby

dad friendly

How I learned to say no and like it.

Winterscapes

Gingersnap

Pinkie

Easy DK Knits

early Christmas

big parties and little

the perfect fit: sleeves