Inspiration: Dogs!

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Did you watch the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show yesterday?  Because I sure did!

I realize it’s super silly, but I just love seeing all the breeds.  Isn’t it amazing how different they all are?  And the pups just look so happy out there running around with their heads held high putting on a show.  Delightful!

I think my favorite aspect of the show (other than when a dogs jump on their handlers, which makes me feel less guilty about our dog jumping on us when we get home from work) is how each breed seems like they have a totally different personality.

A personality that I can interpret through the medium of knitting patterns.  Because I’m me.

Best in Show this year was a German Shorthaired Pointer named CJ.   Pointers are hunting dogs, and can’t you just see him running around a little pond lined with cat tails, and retrieving a duck for his owner?   2016_bis_winner[1] And, in this scene, I imagine his owner would be wearing a cream-colored sweater with leather buttons and a shawl collar.  Something with a lot of cables.  It would be preppy, yet functional.  Warm, yet stylish.

Something like this:

Snoqualmie by Michele Wang Snoqualmie_04_medium2[1] The Best in Show Runner-up was as Borzoi named Sassy Girl.  I feel like Sassy Girl would not like getting her paws dirty.  I could see her accompanying her owner on a trip to Saks Fifth Avenue to get a new rhinestone collar and a silk pouf for her to lie on in front of the fire.2016_bis_runnerup_winner[1]I think this pretty girl would appreciate a beautiful square shawl of Orenburg lace, as they both hail from Russia.

Gaïa by Marie Adeline Boyer14023700106_f5601136ef_z[1]My favorite breed, though has to be the Tibetan Terriers (not that I’m biased or anything, but my dog, Ollie, is a Tibetan).  They’re such happy little dogs, and when they’re shown, they have such dumb little haircuts.  (How can they see!?)

Little Diamond Hunter won his breed (and of course he did- look at that shiny coat!), but was sadly beat out by a bulldog for Best in Group.

NP29619004[1]Ollie was devastated.WP_20160216_005But he consoled himself by burrowing further into the couch and tangling himself in a blanket.  Because that’s what Tibetan Terriers do- they’re champion couch hanger-outers.

In fact, if Ollie (and probably Diamond Hunter) could pick a knitting pattern, I bet they’d pick this gorgeous blanket- it’s the perfect combo  of comfortable and fancy,  just like Tibetans.

Ribbon Weed by Kate BostwickThrow_Hero_2_medium2[1]

What was your favorite dog?  What pattern would you pick for them?

I’m Three!

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It’s official!  On the Needles is out of its terrible twos!  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It’s been three years of three-days-a-week blogging, sharing patterns and writing in excessive detail about the fluffiness of yarns and the drape of knit fabric.  Thanks so much for coming along with me on this adventure, I really appreciate every single hit and “favorite” and I love hearing about everyone who tries one of my patterns!

Speaking of patterns!  I just checked over on Ravelry, and apparently I’ve published 44 patterns-  that’s more than one pattern every month since I began this whole knitting-as-a-job thing!  And, I’ve been included in 5 pattern collections from KnitPicks!  (And there are more in the works!)

I absolutely love sharing my favorite activity with you guys, and I’m constantly surprised when people actually show up to read what I write!  So, thank you for reading (and knitting)!  Here’s to 3 more years!

Pattern: Split Back Tank

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As promised!  Another brand new free pattern!  This one’s a little different than my usual knits.  You know I love bulky yarn, and anything with wool.  I love big winter sweaters, cozy socks and fluffy blankets.  Basically, I like anything that you would hibernate in.

This pattern, on the other hand, is a definite departure.  It is light and summery, drapey and girly.

It’s the Split Back Tank!55759220_mediumKnit in a lovely washable cotton-linen blend at a nice big gauge, this tank top is both fast-knitting and lightweight.  The Split Back Tank is worked from the bottom up in a single piece with literally no sewing-up!  (A three-needle bind-off finishes the straps and a row of single crochet closes up the neckline and arm holes.)  And, the A-line shape and open back makes it flattering on just about everyone, yet incredibly comfortable.  I like to wear mine with jeans and sandals for a cute-yet-put-together look!55759220_5_medium2Get the free pattern here!

Inspiration: Valentine’s Day

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It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend, and I haven’t gotten my husband anything.  To be fair, we said “no presents” this year, but I always have trouble with doing “no presents.”  I think it must be a knitter thing.  Or maybe it has something to do with my Midwestern upbringing.  Either way, I feel a compulsion to make something. It’s a problem.

And since I’ve only got a couple days, any gifts I make will have to be very small.

I could go completely silly (yet adorable), and make a herd of these tiny heart-carrying bunnies.  But, I don’t think I can translate this pattern before Sunday.  If only I’d taken French in college, instead of German!  Dang.

Valentin by Anisbee Anisbee20_medium2[1]Or I could make something marginally more useful (again, the Midwesterner in me is showing- I love a useful gift!), like these adorable nesting baskets.

Heart Nesting Baskets by Sonya BlackstoneHeart_Baskets_3wm_medium2[1]But my husband is not the kind of guy that likes cutesy little things like heart-shaped baskets.  Maybe he’s the kind of guy who likes miniature little cupids on strings?

I could knit up one of these guys (sans halo):

Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi Angels by Anna Hrachovecangels2_mail_medium[1]and add a teeny bow and arrow:

Valentine Cupid Bow and Arrow by Linda DawkinsValentine_medium2[1]And, hey presto!  Cupid!

Oh, I don’t know.  That’s probably too silly a gift for my husband, too.  I suppose I’ll just get a bottle of something yummy and make him dinner.  You know, like a boring grown-up.

(But that doesn’t mean that I won’t make a teensy Cupid for myself!)

Do you have any Valentine’s Day knitting plans?

Yarn spotlight: Lindy Chain

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Aah, nothing like curling up on a cold Februrary morning with a big basket of chunky wool and a pair of needles, ready to make that oversized, insanely cozy sweater.

So, that’s why I’m currently thinking about fingering-weight linen, and light, gauzy garments.  What can I say, I’m fickle.

I want to introduce you to Lindy Chain!  (Fair warning, KnitPicks gave me a bunch of this yarn for free when I did some design work for them, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I swear I’m telling the truth!)

5420254[1]Lindy Chain is an interesting yarn, perfect for summery, drape-y things like tank tops and light sweaters.  I could even see making a sun dress or skirt out of it!

This yarn isn’t just spun, like a regular yarn, it’s actually a teeny tiny thread crocheted (or possibly knit) into  a chain, like this:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis open, loose structure give the fabric you knit with Lindy Chain a beautiful, summery drape.  It’s gorgeous!

Interestingly, though, when you wash and dry this fabric, it shrinks up like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  (And I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to hand-wash a tank top.  Sorry, but I’m not made that way.)  So, be sure to wash and dry your swatches if you plan on washing and drying your finished product.

So, there it is!  Lindy Chain!  (And later this week, I’ll have a free pattern for this pretty-cool yarn!)

I’m Stricken

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Stricken with that dreaded Second Sock Syndrome!

I’ve managed to avoid it for years.  All my pairs of socks have been either completed finished or completely frogged (except for those socks in Mardi Gras colors that I stopped working on because I realized I would never wear socks in Mardi Gras colors, and really, who would dye yarn in those colors.  Honestly.)

But, I can no longer say that I am unaffected by Second Sock Syndrome.  Observe:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOne sock, perfectly completed (in less than a week, mind you). Bound off, ends woven in, ready for blocking.  Look at that lovely shade of hand-dyed blue.   The yarn is beautiful and squishy.   It’s delightful!  And I’ve already done the toe on the second sock.  The fiddly part is done.  Now I just need to knit.

Unfortunately, I started the second sock almost a month ago.  While it’s been sitting in my WIP pile, instead of working on the sock, I have completed:

What has to happen to make me finish these socks?  I want to wear them… I want them to be finished… I just don’t want to pick up the needles and work on them.  Ugh!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat do you do when you’ve got a wicked case of Second Sock Syndrome?

Shrinky Dinks!

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Every year for Christmas, my mom and I do a craft together (don’t judge- Christmas Crafts are the best).  One year we got a bunch of teeny MochiMochi Land patterns and spent Christmas week knitting up an army of little dudes.  Another year we broke out all of Mom’s papercrafting things and made dozens of little notebooks.

This year, Mom got a big pack of Shrinky Dinks!sq-bright-bulkI love Shrinky Dinks.  They’re so easy to do, and always delightful (I use them with one of the kids’ classes I teach- they’re always a hit).

If you haven’t played with them before, Shrinky Dinks are sheets of plastic that you draw/color on/stamp/decorate, then cut out, and put in the oven.  As they bake, they get all wiggly, and when they settle down, they’ve shrunk to about half their original size.

It’s fun!  (Despite the boring way I’ve explained it.)

Anyway, this year, a pile of pristine Shrinky Dink material and a box of my mom’s fancy art pens in front of me, I tried to come up with a project that would end up being useful- after all, most things made with Shrinky Dinks are pretty silly- lots of ornaments and pendants.

Because I’m a knitter, my mind jumped to stitch markers!

I cut out a stitch marker (a circle about 2 inches in diameter, and about a quarter-inch wide, decorated it, and popped it in the toaster oven.  And would you believe, it worked!

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the afternoon manufacturing as many stitch markers as I could.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANow, they ended up a little large- the smallest one could probably fit on a US13, but I bet you could totally come up with the dimensions for tinier stitch markers.   I should probably go get some more Dink material, and start experimenting some more.  For science.  Yeah…

I’m definitely not just looking for an excuse to play with Shrinky Dinks.

Have you ever made your own stitch markers?  What did you use?

Apparently It’s Leftovers Month

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I feel like I’ve been talking about using up leftovers a lot lately.  I suppose, I have been trying to use up my stash before I go buy more (I’m almost out of space in my yarn bins).

And this week isn’t any different.

Over the years I’ve collected a bunch of Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool in a selection of natural heathered colors from off-white to dark, chocolate brown.  I’ve used this yarn in a bunch of projects- mostly blankets, and no matter how carefully I plan, I always end up with a bunch of half-skeins leftover.  I even had several half-skeins of the same colors, but different dye lots.

I had to figure out what to make with this ragtag bunch of yarn.  Anything fancy, like a sweater, was out because of the weird amounts of each color yarn.  Anything that took a lot of planning was out, too- I wasn’t in the mood to do a lot of math on this one.

So, I arranged the yarn in a gradient from lightest to darkest, dug out my crochet hooks and just started making a granny square.

And kept on going- using up one skein after another.  (The little bits leftover are going to turn into another Mother Bear– I think I have a problem.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe blanket ended up about 4 feet by 4 feet- a nice size for a lap blanket or maybe a baby blanket (though I don’t know if I’d give a baby an itchy wool, non-washable blanket).OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOllie seems to like it.  He saw me taking pictures and came over to give it the official “Dog Seal of Approval.”OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA And then he fell asleep- because he leads a very high-energy, stressful life.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat have you been doing to use up your leftover skeins of yarn?

A Passel of Pigs

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Remember how I made all those teddy bears for the Mother Bear Project (which is still accepting bears).  I used a bunch of leftover KnitPicks Swish that I had laying around-little bits that weren’t enough for a sweater, a scarf or a even pair of mittens.

Well, after the bears, I still had little bits left- tiny little balls of yarn the size of a golf ball.  So, what’s a girl to do with amounts of worsted-weight yarn of 5 grams or less?

Make some Pigs.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAChichester the Pig by Helen Apocalypse is one of my favorite I’m-bored-and-want-something-quick-and-easy-to-do projects.  It has virtually no finishing, and I can blast my way through one of these tiny pigs in about a half hour.    And, they’re flipping adorable.

In worsted weight on US6 needles, the pigs work up to just under 2 inches long- think just smaller than an egg.  The pigs’ little ears and tiny trotters are all worked as bobbles- so there’s no futzing with sewing on little bitty arms and legs.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd they’re a fun way to play with my collection of tiny safety eyes.  I’m a particular fan of my evil pig with the red eyes.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo, if you ever find yourself with a tiny bit of leftover yarn, a handful of stuffing and a half-hour of time, think of Chichester and all his little piggy buddies.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut, now what should I do now with them, now that they have taken over my desk?

What’s Old is New Again

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We’re going back. Waaay back. Way back to a month after I started the blog, and the first pattern I self-published.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It’s the Lace-Edged Shawl! (I was pretty literal with my pattern names back then… I’m still not great at naming things, but I like to think I’ve improved a bit.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This bad boy was my first attempt at writing out a pattern… and holy cow, did that show. So many typos! So many poorly worded sentences! So much incorrect terminology!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

So, I’ve rewritten this and fixed a bunch of formatting stuff. It’s amazing how much my pattern-writing has improved over the last three years (if I say so myself)!

You can get the *New and Improved* pattern Lace Edged Shawl-Updated!