Sheepy: Selbu-Baaa-Ter

Remember when I made these mittens for the Knitter's Review Retreat?

Well, the exclusive design clock has finally wound down, which means everybody can have the pattern now!  CLICK HERE to get yours.

This week I'm knitting slippers and a dragon scarf.  Then I'm packing my bags for Littleton, CO, where I'll be playing with the knitters at A Knitted Peace.  

We'll be Knitting Behind the Wheel, Learning stranded colorwork, and planning ahead for a fabulous finish in the "Start to Finish" workshop.  Come over to play with us, if you're in the neighborhood!

Next weekend I'm at Happy Knits, my very own LYS, for 2 Strands=Not Scary.  And then it's almost Thanksgiving, already.  Time really does fly when you're having fun!

What Are You? Scared?

Okay, It's almost Halloween, and I know you're all thinking about things that go "Bump" in the night.  But what about things that go "Snip"?  Yep, the most feared act in knitting is the cutting of a steek.  Which makes it the perfect activity for this time of year.  Who doesn't like to get a little freaked out, and live to tell the tale?  Sign up for Eeek! Steeks! at Knit Fit in Seattle this weekend.  We'll do the deed together, and then spend the rest our lives bragging about it.  And we'll have tales of terror to scare our friends with around the next campfire ("...and then, we CUT the knitting!"-insert screams here-).  Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for "Eeek Steeks", so if you're feeling brave, join the rest of us thrill-seekers for gobs of spooky fun.

In the mood for something a little less hair-raising?  How about Knitting Behind the Wheel, with its super-sexy yarn kit?  We'll knit a modular bag to felt, learn the rules of the color wheel, and then break them.  We'll also learn attached knitted cord and Dorset Buttons.  No better treats than those.

I'm giving the opening night talk at Knit Fit on Friday, so if you are in or around Seattle, come and see me.  I double-dog dare you!

Various Diversions

My Yours Truly cardigan is progressing at a surprising speed.  I have no explanation for this. I would say that I'm devoting more time to it than I should, but I'm not, because I'm also working on the end of one book, the beginning of another, organizing my fall classes, writing a big fat speech, and designing a scarf with dragons on it.  And sometimes I feed the children and the pets.  If they howl loudly enough to bug me.

In addition to changing the gauge, I've incorporated a few of my mom's improvements into the design:  Carrying the raglan cables down the sides and into the ribbing, knitting the sleeves in the round (yep, the original pattern advises us to knit them flat, with seams!), and ignoring the buttonholes completely.  I've never done it before, but I'm going to machine-sew the buttonholes on this baby. Changing the gauge would have forced me to recalculate the buttonhole placement, which is a lot like doing math.  Bleacch. It'll be easier to figure out which rows they belong on after the fact.  

Unrelated to buttonholes: They sure did like their necklines high in the 1960's.  I didn't modify this one, but I'm thinking I will next time - we who are short of neck can't be too careful.  Oh, and did I mention I've fallen prey to the curse of the Yours Truly?  I already have at least 3 more versions planned.  How could I not when it's so fast to knit?  I would never have believed it, but my mom's 10 versions are certainly proof:  You can make this sweater in a hurry, no matter how busy you are.  I'm still puzzling out the sleeve length, which will be decided by when I run out of yarn.  I have one skein left, and I could frog the swatch, too, if I have to.  Stay tuned.

And I'm making a Dragon Scarf.  Really.  Here's a process photo:

Yes, I have actually scotch-taped a pencil drawing to my monitor in order to draw from it in my charting program.  It's a whole new benchmark for number of mediums to be working in at once: you can't see it, but I also have the yarn in my lap in this shot.  Turns out inventing a celtic knot border is not for the faint of heart.  Or the sleep-deprived.  

We're gonna need a bigger coffee pot.

In other news, November Mary-Sightings are planned for Knit Fit! in Seattle, WA and A Knitted Peace in Littleton, CO.  Details to come.  As soon as I knit some sleeves. And stifle a few howling beasts.  Which is faster: feeding kibbles to the kids or giving mac & cheese to the dogs?  This multi-species menu crap is just slowing me down