Twist and Shout

If you haven't had a chance to check out the Winter 2011 Twist Collective yet, I have a pattern in it! And look! There are horses!

Photo by Jane Heller, courtesy of Twist Collective

I'll talk more about it in my next post (I am knitting a pair all for my very own), but right now I just want to jump and point and giggle with glee. I hope you like it!

Little Knitter

Since I am feeling too blah to pose for pictures, here is my Z modeling my (finally!) completed Round the Corner Cardi. It's a modified version of Shiri Mor's Round the Corner Hoodie, and it is lovely and very cozy, and I will tell you all about it some other time.

Really I just wanted to point out that green yarn Z is holding. She picked it up, wound it around herself several times, and announced, "I'm knitting a sock for Mama."

Z Does Not Like Wearing This

Guys, I've been in a knitting funk.

The purple thing, which in my head was this awesome möbius-like vest for Z, turned into this:



Or possibly this:



Urgh. I don't know. It hasn't been frogged, because part of me (probably the same part that thought I could make a vest this way) thinks I can salvage it with a hood and some sleeves. Maybe this is my inexperience showing; no matter how I sketch and swatch, nothing turns out quite the way I imagined once it's knitted.

So, who else has a disaster story to share in the comments?

Something Purple

I haven't been talking much about the whole quest-to-be-published lately. As I've said before, it is largely a matter of waiting. I'm not complaining, mind you: if I were the one putting together a magazine, I'd want as much lead time as possible to make the best magazine possible, too.

(I've had one very nice rejection, from Interweave. I'm not really disappointed. I did my best, and it wasn't good enough; I'll just have to do better next time.)

The thing about the waiting, though, is that even though I'm not crazy enough to want to spew out patterns at the rate I did last year, I'm starting to get that itch that can only be scratched by self-publishing. That glow of (almost-)instant gratification: there is nothing quite like it.

So...



I may  have started a little something on the side.

Knitting in Public is Good Manners

Miss Manners defends knitting in public (mostly).

A disgruntled reader wrote in to ask, "Is it acceptable to knit at a church, synagogue or other religious service? And what about a concert or recital?"

Miss Manners replies, "Please do not -- repeat, not -- make a hostile approach to knitters. Have you not noticed that they are armed with long, pointy sticks? [Me: "Hee!"]

"Of all the multitaskers who could annoy you, Miss Manners would not have guessed that knitters would top the list. There is a centuries-long history of ladies quietly doing needlework while remaining alert to what was going on around them." [Me: "Exactly!"]

She goes on to give the writer the benefit of the doubt--maybe they were objecting to the noise knitting makes. (I highly doubt it. If you ask me they were just jealous that they didn't think to bring along something to keep their hands busy while their eyes and ears were occupied.)

I will fess up to bringing my knitting to church with me. Nobody's ever voiced an objection--in fact my pastor once told me it makes him feel warm and fuzzy to see people crafting while he's speaking. And I'm not the only one. There's a guy who brings along his embroidery hoop (he's in the SCA) most Sundays, which I think is awesome.

How about you? I know it's no big thing for most of us to knit on the bus or in a coffee shop, but do you bring your knitting to events where you'll be sitting and listening to someone else for a while? Do you think it's rude when I do it?