Tag Archives: Knitting & Spinning

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!  We had a quiet time with our friend Cosmo.  My parents are in Texas and Dave’s are en route to California, but we did get to talk to everyone on the phone.

We *may* leave the house today (Dave gets a whole week off) but if so it’s only to go to the movies (I want to see Catching Fire).  No way do I want to go to any stores today.  I am hoping to stop by our local SF&F and Mystery bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy, tomorrow for Small Business Saturday (do books count as a necessity? I think they do!).

And of course Monday is Cyber Monday.

Yes, I’m going to have a Cyber Monday sale in my Ravelry store– but just on Monday!  Buy any 2 pattern or eBooks and get one free Dec 2nd (I’m going by PST so you know!), code CYBERCAT

And don’t forget:  any of my single patterns in my Ravelry store are part of the Indie Design Giftalong, which runs through the end of December.

One thing you’re really not supposed to get in the habit of doing as a designer is getting rid of samples. Sometimes it is necessary, when you have too many samples and just not enough space… but invariably you need that sample, whether it’s for new photography, or of course for a show.

Guess who gave the original pair of Mom Socks away? And who needed one for the booth?

I recently received a skein of lovely 4/8′s wool (worsted weight) in Aqua (a new color for this year) from Mountain Colors to review.  (They have a plethora of handpainted colorways, but I requested Aqua because I needed a lighter colored semi solid to show off the cables.  And, oh, because I love aqua and turquoise and all those permutations.)

What better way to get feel for it than to use it? This is a very nice, sturdy wool yarn. It’s soft enough to be comfortable next to skin, in my opinion, but not so soft that it won’t wear well. The color is lovely – a bright semi solid aqua, with areas that barely hint at bit more green than blue.  It’s fantastic for showing off the cables.

I did work this up at the tight end of the recommended gauge, getting about 6 sts/inch in Stockinette on US3 needles.  I’m not the only person to use it for worsted weight socks — here’s a link to some patterns on Ravelry.

I’m sure at a looser (more normal gauge) of 4-4.5 sts/inch you’d get a lovely drapy-er fabric that would still be great for cables. It softened and filled out a bit once I blocked the sock.

I don’t have a before pic, but here’s a couple after photos.  (It is REALLY HARD to try to get a pic of a sock when you’re wearing it. Just sayin’.)

I received my skein directly from Mountain Colors for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.

I’ve been swamped else I’d've posted about this earlier, but the Indie Design Gift-a-long is going on NOW.

All my single patterns in my Ravelry store (and the one that I’m going to be releasing very very soon, a very pretty beaded stole/scarf) are eligible.  Now’s the time to grab a copy of Ravens in Snow Fingerless Mitts (I think that’s the favorite so far!), Don’t Fence Me In, Zylphia Pilots Her Airship, and more!

And, to sweeten the fun, use code

giftalong

in the Rav store of any of the participating designers, not just me! to get 25% eligible patterns.  You can use the code as many times as you’d like between now & midnight GMT November 15th (note that’s 4p PST).  The KAL goes through Dec 31st.

There will be prizes!  Seriously, check out the group, there’s a lot going on.

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Sandwiched in between the house repairs and bathroom remodels, vet work and tech editing and other design work had been my planning for my very first booth of my own, this past Sunday at the annual WEFF show in Torrance.

I knew I wanted the booth to have a vintage-y industrial vibe, with a mix of scavenged, antique & handcrafted items.

So here’s the list!

• vintage glove molds from eBay for displaying fingerless mitts
• sock blockers from Purrfectly Catchy Designs custom made with my logo
• a discounted but lovely dress form
• a variety of lights to make the booth sparkle
• the wooden table that was on our front porch (you can see a pic of it with my Wrought Mitts)
• a rug from home
• curtains from home (we use them instead of a closet door)
• table cover and additional center curtain from fabric I’d had for a long time
• wine boxes we’d had that we stained
• various wire & woven baskets from around the house
• stand up vintage picture frame that I used for the price list
• chair we found on the side of the road
• DIY  garment rack made from steel plumbing pipes
• banner stand out of PVC pipes, spray painted turquoise
• trunk show for Hitch (with new tags)
• trunk show for CRK (with new tags)
• a variety of samples from individual patterns (yep, with new tags)
• black velvet hangers

I had patterns and books for sale and a bit of yarn from Verdant Gryphon and a lot of gorgeous Shetland from Jeane at Elemental Affects.

We practiced setting up the booth in our dining room the day before.  A couple things got moved around on Sunday for the actual booth, but having set it up ahead of time helped so much.  Tear down was super quick as well.

In November we have two fantastic KALs starting — both with FOs that will make just gorgeous gifts!

First up is Elizabeth’s San Juan Bautista Shawl.  She did a neat post on this for the blog tour here.  This shawl has really fun construction; it’s one of those high glory to work ratio types of patterns, where the outcome looks way harder than it actually is.  The yarn is Shibui Staccato, which is a really fun yarn to work with.  (I did my Stolen Jewels mitts in it, too.)

Next we have Dani’s Alicia Mitts and Tam.  (Check out her blog tour post here!)  These are a great intro to colorwork, worked in lovely soft shades of grey and splashes of crimson.  These are done in Brooklyn Tweed LOFT, which is just wonderful.

The KALs are being run in the Hitch group on Ravelry here.  Join in!

Hoo boy this has been quite the busy month! Hitch was set free into the world. Our bathroom went from this (beginning in August) to this (a week or so ago) over the course of nearly two months (and yes, that’s bathroom, singular). (There’s actually a towel bar now above the toilet for hand towels.)

And now we’re having (much needed) repairs to the plaster walls & ceilings in our bedroom, hallway, living room, dining room & dining nook.  (The only rooms not being repaired are the bathroom (already done), 2nd bedroom, and kitchen/laundry area.)

The painting for the bedroom, hallway & living room SHOULD be completed today, which means we can move everything back into those rooms tomorrow, and move everything from the dining room & nook into the living room and wherever else we need to stash stuff.

Initially all the plaster & paint work was supposed to be done in less than a week;  no surprise that it’s going to take at least, I figure, til Wednesday.

At the same time, I’m getting stuff ready for the Torrance WEFF show.  I’ll be having my very first booth that’s just mine, so I’m pretty excited about it.  I’ve been printing out patterns, ordering booklets & books & yarn, and gathering accoutrements for the booth.  I’m going to be making a garment rack & a banner stand.  I have twinkly lights, antiques, a magazine/book rack, a dressform, and more.  Yes, I’ll take pics!  (More details to follow – this deserves its own post, lol.)

Congrats to Debbie H! I’ve emailed you.

We have two KALs beginning today: my Exakta Hat & Anne Podlesak’s lovely Bodega Bay Stole.

Join in the fun in the Ravelry Hitch group!  The threads are sticky-ed at the top of the group discussions, so they’re easy to find.

The rules are pretty simple: cast on on or after today, bind off & post a pic in the FO thread on or before November 30th.

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Don’t forget to check out the blog tour!

Where does the story begin?

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When I’d only been designing a year or two, I decided I wanted to do a few small collections, of maybe 5 patterns each, each designed around a theme that intrigued or interested me.  (Yes, ‘small’ went out the window.)

The first was what grew into California Revival Knits.

The second is the set of patterns I’m currently working on.

And the third was Hitch.

I realized, after getting CRK published, that I wanted Hitch out sooner than when it would be if I just did it myself, especially since it was going to be after the second collection.

I’d watched Heather Ordover a bit, with her Defarge series. I’d helped out with tech editing and giving feedback to Jaala on submissions at Knitcircus.

I thought…why not do Hitch as a multi-designer collection? As editor, I would get to choose the designs that fit my idea of the aesthetic for the book. I could limit the palette to creams, greys, black and red. I could still do a few designs myself, but I wasn’t saddling myself with doing 18 or 20, and the time required to do that many patterns. And Hitch would be published in a timely manner.

And so it was. I’m thrilled by the designs in the book — I think the designers did an incredible job. I hope you are too!

Leave a comment on this thread, with what you’d like to knit up first from Hitch, by midnight PST October 2nd, for a chance to win your very own PDF copy of Hitch.

Make sure to visit the other blog stops, and check back — there may be more added!

9/28/2013: Sunset Cat Designs (you’re here!)
10/5/2013: Knitting Kninja
New! 10/05/13: Knit One, Heart Too Podcast
10/7/2013: Herrlichkeiten
10/8/2013: Knit and Travel
10/9/2013: Knit & Knag Designs
10/10/2013: Wooly Wonka Fibers
10/11/2013: Verdant Gryphon
10/15/2013: Impeccable Knits: Shifting Stitches
10/16/2013: Rewolluzza
10/21/2013: Knitwear Designs by Carolyn Noyes
10/22/2013: Peacefully Knitting
10/23/2013: Dark Matter Knits
10/24/2013: Turnknit: Dani Berg Designs
10/25/2013: SweetGeorgia Yarns
10/28/2013: doviejay knits
10/29/2013: Triona Designs
10/30/2013: Tactile Fiber Arts
11/4/2013: A Knitter’s Life
11/5/2013: Catchloops
11/6/2013: Yarn On The House
11/07/2013: Ramblings
11/12/2013: Hazel Knits
11/13/2013: Knitcircus
11/19/2013: indigodragonfly
11/9/2013: Fyberspates
11/22/2013: A B-ewe-tiful Design
11/25/2013: knittingkirigami

Hitch is officially released!

And of course there’s a blog tour, full of insight into the design process, reviews and of course giveaways!

Tomorrow I’ll be talking about the inspiration behind the book & how it came about. I’ll also be hosting a PDF giveaway, so be sure to check in tomorrow!

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9/28/2013: Sunset Cat Designs (you’re here! check back tomorrow for my post!)
10/5/2013: Knitting Kninja
10/7/2013: Herrlichkeiten
10/8/2013: Knit and Travel
10/9/2013: Knit & Knag Designs
10/10/2013: Wooly Wonka Fibers
10/11/2013: Verdant Gryphon
10/15/2013: Impeccable Knits: Shifting Stitches
10/16/2013: Rewolluzza
10/21/2013: Knitwear Designs by Carolyn Noyes
10/22/2013: Peacefully Knitting
10/23/2013: Dark Matter Knits
10/24/2013: Turnknit: Dani Berg Designs
10/25/2013: SweetGeorgia Yarns
10/28/2013: doviejay knits
10/29/2013: Triona Designs
10/30/2013: Tactile Fiber Arts
11/4/2013: A Knitter’s Life
11/5/2013: Catchloops
11/6/2013: Yarn On The House
11/07/2013: Ramblings
11/12/2013: Hazel Knits
11/13/2013: Knitcircus
11/19/2013: indigodragonfly
11/9/2013: Fyberspates
11/25/2013: knittingkirigami
11/22013: A B-ewe-tiful Design

Big Foot Knits, Andi Smith, Cooperative Press, 2013, 134pp.

I was so excited when book came out!  And it’s not just because I love Andi & am thrilled for her — this is the sort of book that, if you’re even thinking of knitting socks, whether you have big feet or small, should be on your shelf.

I’m a big proponent of altering your knits (whether it’s my pattern or someone else’s) to fit your body.  There are a ton of resources out there to do so (if you don’t have it yet, check out Amy Herzog’s Knit to Flatter – I reviewed her PDF series here, but the book is even better), but until now there wasn’t anything like that for socks.

One of my pet peeves for socks is someone offering only one size then saying “change needle size to change sock size”.  To me, socks, regardless of how big or small, need to be at a firm gauge; if that gauge is, say, 8 sts per inch, it needs to be 8 sts per inch for size small and for size large.   Now, if you want to work a pattern that has only one size, and you were a little iffy on how to alter it to fit you, Andi’s book is there for you!

Over a third of the book is devoted to how to properly measure your feet and how to alter the socks at various points to fit your foot. There’s an entire chapter on making your toe shaping follow your own foot’s shape.  Ultimately you complete your own Custom Sock Worksheet (top down or toe up, your choice), in which you specify all the different techniques, stitch counts, gauges, etc that you will use.

I’ll admit I’m a cuff down, heel flap & gusset gal.  Andi prefers after though heels, and all the subsequent patterns have after thought heels.  But of course, as she points out, you can apply her principles to any sort of heel.

The remainder of the book is devoted to 12 lovely patterns.  Each pattern includes tips on customizing, including working toe up or cuff down.  Stitch patterns range from cables & twisted stitches to textured & lace.

The photography is fabulous, as is the styling — Fluevogs galore.  But more importantly, each photo clearly shows details of the various stitch patterns.

Marama, above, is one of my favorites, with a lovely intricate cabled pattern.

I also love Arundhati — the pattern works harmoniously with the gradient yarn.

General comments:  Stitch patterns are charted.  Three sizes, generally ranging from about 10-13″ (sometimes larger) foot circumference, are given for each sock.

I received my review copy from Cooperative Press. All opinions are my own.