Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Day 5

Location, Location, Location

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

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I feel inspired by Dr. Seuss...

I would knit in a house.
I would knit with a mouse.
I would knit with a fox.
I would knit in a box.
I would knit here or there.
I would knit anywhere.



Most of the time it's train knitting as I commute via Metra into Chicago. This gives me 45 min each way to indulge in fiber.



If the planets align for my lunch break to meet with a beautiful day then I go to the park to knit for a bit.

At home I really wish to have a chair to call my own, but a spot on the couch does quite well. I also bring my knitting in the car and knit while my husband drives... or knit at the park while the kids play... or in the dentist chair waiting for the doc.

I think by exposing the public to fiber, we are waking them up to Our World. This isn't some behind closed doors kind of lifestyle. Be proud, be true and hold those hooks and needles high!



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Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Day 4

A New Skill

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

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Steeking. That would be the next big challenge for me. Ever since I took the steeking class at Stitches Midwest I've been secretly wanting to cut my knitting. The class was more educational and lecture based which was interesting. At the end the teacher, Nancy Bush who was amazing, let us take some scissors to knitted fabric. Hooked-I tell ya!

I would also love to learn to crochet and to read crochet patterns. I can do some very simple stitches, but ultimately pumping out a few afghans would be kinda nice. Heck, knitting blankets Takes. For. Ever. Ask me how I know!!


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Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Day 3

One Great Knitter

Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.

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Melissa Leapman. {swoon} Where is my fan because I'm flushed;)

What is it about Miss Leapman? Just checking on Ravelry she has 409 designs spanning from her own published books to magazines... it was the cables that made me fall head over heals for ML.

Stitches Midwest 2008 was the year I was introduced to her and her witty yet sassy New York charm. The celtic cables class was a hit and I loved how well she embraced the teaching roll. The class focused on her newest book that was coming out the following month Continuous Cables.

As it turns out, she's had another book launch: Color Knitting the Easy Way just hit the book stores yesterday in fact. Another cool thing about this is she's also teaching a class based off of this book at this coming Stitches. I think it will be hard to NOT take her class;)


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Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Day 2

An Inspirational Pattern

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

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What do I aspire to? There really isn't a pattern I can say that I'm building up to. Every project I've set out to complete has always tested my skill or added to my list of "need to know" things I wanted to learn.

I don't think people should limit them self's because they feel their skill sets aren't up to par. That's bunk. If you have the will and means, then go for it. Don't let a pattern intimidate you.

Yet, I am also of the mind set that you shouldn't jump ahead to far. First time knitters who want to make a sweater and not a hat, have some balls... but yet I admire them for being so ambitious on their first time out. Ultimately, I do believe there are those baby steps that need to be learned in order to set the foundation of future skills.

Yet keep this in mind, all knitting is made up of Knits and Purls. The variations of those two stitches might seem like a challenge but when you break it down to its basic component then it's not so much a challenge anymore.



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Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Day 1

Starting Out

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

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It all started perhaps 8 years ago (gosh time flies) when our family had plans to dress up and see Harry Potter in the theater. I really wanted something special for my son and searched online for a great Gryffindor scarf but was disappointed in the selection and price.

So, why not make one myself? It can't be that hard. I then taught myself how to knit from the book Knitting Pretty. It was full of projects that were rated by a difficulty range of 1-5. I went and purchased some Red Heart and had at it. That was way before I had any clue that Yarn Stores existed.



Here is a very young Eric sporting my handknit. As you can see he was very much into Harry Potter.



All these years later and it's still around... a little tattered, but very much loved.


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Join The Fun!

Next week starting April 26-May 2 is The Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and the mastermind behind it all is Eskimimi Knits. Feel free to join in the fun.

Each day you blog about a topic, which is already lined out... talk about taking advantage of Awesome-Pre-Dated-Posts!! This feels like a great idea to help me get back into the swing of things. I have tons I want to blog about but get distracted by many things... there usually very shinny;)

Also, Happy Earth Day!!

Did You Miss Me?

I love going on vacation. I love it even more when it's for a full week. I love it double when it's full of un-planned events. What stinks is coming back to laundry, bills and dentist appointments.

Since time slips and I want to keep you folks in-the-now, I've got pictures:



We discovered Geoffrey likes to surf the internet.



We ate tons of this.



We made funny faces into cameras.



We discovered fish the size of Miss Mac.



We fell in love with Kara all over again.



We caught bubbles by sunset.



All while knitting on my Feather Weight Cardigan.