I’ve mentioned before that I have the best knitting group in the history of man-kind right? Yeah, the west akron Stitch N’ Bitch is probably full of the coolest ladies I’ve ever met.
Well a weak-ish ago it was the annual Art on the Square in Highland Square, Akron. And my friends organized a Yarn Bomb for the event. I could go on and on about prepping, but really I think the photos should just speak for themselves!
Remember the hat I made for Olivia, and then promised to make her a matching sweater? Well, here it is!
Sorry for the quick-before-school photo!
It’s not perfect, but it’s complete. And that is really saying something. This is my largest finished knitting project to date, which shows that I have really grown comfortable with the craft, since I don’t like doing frustrating things for a long time. I am looking forward to gifting some really lovely hand knit items for Christmas this year.
Olivia loves the color red. So I thought I’d knit her a hat to wear to school in the fall to go with her adorable school uniforms.
I sort of just made this hat up on the fly using techniques I’ve learned in my Stitch N Bitch group and from the Tech Knitting site. Plus, I finally learned how to do a yarn over, and that made the lacy stripes which were kind of my inspiration for wanting to try the hat. I wanted to do a small project to see how it would look and knitting a swatch just sounded boring.
Now Liv wants a sweater to go with her hat. Which I could do because the yarn (Bamboo Ewe in Geranium) is all over the place at Jo Ann’s. I could easily find enough to finish a kid sweater. If I did it, I’d do the yarn over motif at the hem and the cuff to match the bands on the hat. I think I see some inspiration happening and an expensive trip to Jo Ann’s in my near future.
Yes, I know swappiness is not a word, but it makes for a good title and that’s all that matters.
I was showing off some of the knitty goodness from my Stitch and Bitch’s Birthday Swap in my previous post. The owl cowl has made repeat appearances this week as the weather has changed a bit. And I’m also 2/3s done with some fingerless mitts made with Moonlight Fibers 100% Baby Alpaca, also gifted to me from Stacey. Looking around that site makes me want to road trip!
But this post is really about the books. I stalked Amy’s Amazon wishlist to see if there were any books she’d love to have. I assumed that she would have books on there that I wanted to have myself, and I was right. Sew Retro is right up my alley. It was combination pattern book/inspiration book. Looking through the pages before I wrapped it up I found myself really wanting to wear aprons and sew a tea length skirt.
In my gift bag I found this history of the Ohio Knitting Mills book. The book had patterns and everything. It actually has some very complex patterns in it, things I wish I knew how to knit, which is why it makes such a great gift. The Ohio Knitting Mills site and store also sell vintage knits, so I might also want to road trip up there. I would buy this sweater.
Last Wednesday was our akron Stitch n Bitch group’s annual birthday swap. Our group has this fantastic way of spoiling each other, all at once. Rather than trying to remember to gift one another on our birthdays through out the year, we all sign up for the swap in September and celebrate everyone at once. Amy was my swap partner, which meant that I knitted and gifted for her. I made this circular knitted pillow with a silk reverse pillow for her gift because I loved the pattern (available on Ravelry here, you just need to sign up for a free account).
The way the swap worked, though, Amy did not knit for me. Stacey did, which was a boon for me, since she excels at the “owl cowl.” The first time I met Stacey she was wearing her own owl cowl and I was so jealous. Jealous not only of her cowl, but of her skills, since she made it herself. Well, she couldn’t gift me her skills, but she did make me my own owl cowl, in my favorite colors, too! Can’t you see on my face that I really love it?
The small sock knitting has continued in earnest around our house. This little white cotton sock is the outcome of the tutorial from Wednesday. I have almost commited the infant sock pattern to memory, and I am enjoying the little portable projects. No sweaters are safe in these parts anymore, now that I’ve found an affordable way to knit!
The pattern I am using (with some very slight variations and mistakes) comes from 50 Baby Booties to Knit, by Zoe Mellor. It’s the striped sock pattern, but of course I am not striping it. I also used the kitchener method to close the toe.
As you can tell I’ve been on a knitting kick. My temptation is to go get super wonderful, and expensive, yarn so that I can knit and knit and knit. But that’s not how I like to craft and honestly I can’t afford it. So I’ve been working on a way to do what I usually do: take apart things I have around and don’t use to make it into something I will use.
This tutorial will show you how to take an already knitted up sweater like the one shown and get it ready to be knit into something else. In this case, I’m planning on knitting a cotton sock which I will then dip dye after it is knitted.
I finally stumbled into a realm of knitting that suits me. There are so many countless cast-on yet unfinished projects in a basket in my craft room that I have shied away from attempting anything more than a quick hat. But simple stockinette hats in the round get really boring, really fast so I rarely knit anything at all.
After watching my Mother-in-Law knit socks on a regular basis I decided to give it a go, planning an infant sock project to use up a ball of light weight alpaca/wool blend. It went so well that I bought a cheap ball of sock yarn from the local craft store and downloaded a 
toddler sock pattern by Needles and Wool and cast on. Everything in the pattern was similar enough to the first socks I’d knit that I was really flying through the pattern and getting excited watching the yarn self-pattern into bold stripes.
Then I made it to the last direction: “Kitchener the toe closed.” That about did me in. I have never even heard of that term, and my knitting book had a terrible explanation that left me with a large stiff knot on the toes.
I cast on the second sock and sent a questioning email to the ladies from Stitch N Bitch, and was sent to TECHknitting to find a better technique for the kitchener stitch, AKA a grafted toe. Success was mine in one attempt, so I pass this tutorial on to you at the beginning of knitting season. Make yourself some warm woolie socks, and if you follow this technique, even a beginner like me can make a seamless, comfy toe in no time (OK in about 15 to 30 minutes per sock).
