She's Never Not Knitting. . .

. . .or so goes the song by wonderful Alana Dakos of NeverNotKnitting fame! Alana has a podcast and a blog, and she designs and sells knitting patterns for children's clothes and more! Recently, my Etsy shop was featured on NeverNotKnitting, and I want to take a moment to say thanks to Alana (great podcast and blog post, Yay!) and her listeners, many of whom have visited my shop in the past few days! Again, Yay! Don't forget. . .Free Shipping for anyone who leaves a message mentioning "Never Not Knitting" during the checkout process!

In conjunction with the mention, I have designed a line of knitting row counters with three of Alana's designs in mind. . .Spring Garden Tee (pink), Watermelon, and Playful Stripes! Here is Alana's picture of the sweaters with their matching counters.

If you knit, please take a moment to visit Alana's blog, or check her out on Ravelry! She even has a Never Not Knitting group on the forums! I am there from time to time, and I would love to "meet" you there sometime!

And I promised you all more knitting content this time around, so here it is! Below is a photo of my finished Adorable Baby Cables sweater, finished just a few days ago for a baby who has yet to make his or her appearance! Note the neutral cream color, and the softer-than-soft Cottontots yarn used in the knitting! Yummy! It will also get a button, I am waiting to see if I will know the gender before the gifting! (Note: this worsted, cotton yarn knits up at slightly fewer sts/in than it;s counterpart in wool, acrylic or blends with the same size needle. . .for me anyway!)

And here is a picture of the very start of a cardigan for me in fingering weight wool. It is the versatile Simple Set-in Sleeve Cardigan found at http://www.knittingfool.com/, and I have used this pattern for sweaters in all sizes! I love the versatility, and the fact that the website does all the math for me - yippee! The yarn is Knit Picks Palette in gray (maybe heather?) and the carry along lace-weight is Knit Picks Shimmer in the discontinued colorway Happy Dance!

Everything about this sweater makes me happy enough to dance. . .except that my cat loves the Shimmer yarn! This is the lace-weight yarn I knit, single-stranded on size 2 needles, into the doomed Clapotis. After finishing the shawl, I laid it out on the pool table to block the thing, and the cat chewed a giant hole in the cast-on corner!?! I was twitched, to say the least! And it has taken me almost a year to rip out the clap and wind the yarn, and pick a new project for it. . .sigh! Stupid cat!

I have also started another hat project for a friend recently diagnosed with cancer. . .this is the first of at least two hats, knit from the Race For Life 2009 pattern. This one is in Wool-Ease (gray heather) and the one I have not taken a pic of is the same Cottontots (with fewer stitches around) as the baby sweater above. I hope they feel nice and soft and comfy.

And finally, while this next item may not look knitted, it is. I have had a picture in my head for some time now of an angel pin knit in wire with glass beads. . .and here is my first one! This one is a gift, and the recipient may read my blog, though it won't arrive at her home for a few days. . .so I will not give away who's house she is merrily traveling to!

There! Honest-to-goodness knitting content. A little late (sigh), written with a slight case of insomnia (I love the middle of life!), but knitting content, nonetheless. Saturday's post may also be a tad late, as we are taking the Skinny Girl to her college dorm that day. My heart is with all of the other parents out there watching their darlin' babies take flight from the nest for the first time. . .it should be such a natural thing. . .or so I have heard. . .

Knit in good health, everybody!

Here's the Story. . .

Here's the story
Of a bag with cables,
That was knitted for a very Skinny Girl

It was knit of wool, in cream,
And then I dyed it -
And took it for a whirl! After spinning in the washer, it got pinned out -
To block the cables flat as flat could be. . . Then I lined it with some very stripey fabric And added pockets here, you see:
Then I hung it on the door to take some pictures
And the Skinny Girl came 'round to take a look,
And we knew, at once, it might get lonely. . .
Can I make a cabled bag for her books?A Cabled Bag,
A Cabled Bag -
Can I make a Cabled Bag for her books. . .?
Well, says Pretty Knitty, this is the third bag I have knitted from this pattern. Don't get me wrong, I love the pattern, but I have grown a little weary of it for now. . .perhaps I have another bag you can take for your books? You like the everlasting bagstopper?. . .I like the everlasting bagstopper!. . .Oh, well! I can always make another one! lol
In other Knitting Knews this week, I have done another bracelet. . .this one in silver, with multicolor beads. I am going to add these to the shop at some point. . .still researching price, etc. What do you think? On the fashion side of things, I have also finished another pair of socks. (You are probably cheering now. . .it means you won't hear about these again in the next blog. . .I have been going on and on for some time about loving this Knitty pattern and the Destination Yarn!)
With all of that said, I now return you to the regularly scheduled baby knitting, hat knitting, scarf knitting, sweater knitting and holiday knitting that is appropriate for the end of summer! I hope you all are having a good one!
Knit in good health!

New Adventures!

Remember when you were a kid? How an adventure sounded so. . .well. . .adventurous? Well, now that I am in my . . .well, never-you-mind how old I am now. . .but I am noticing that my adventures are a little more tame. And really, now that I think about it, I am not sure that is absolutely true.

I mean, I never was the type to go out on a limb to try a new physical challenge like going out on a limb!. . .or rock-climbing, or white-water rafting, or even kickball usually. I was a reader growing up, and all the grown-ups were terribly impressed that I could read so well. But let me tell you that kids my age were not! Still, for me the adventures came in the pages of a book, and I imagined how I might react in situations like those I was reading. . .but I never looked for a way to go there. Boring, but safe. No broken bones as a child, just a paper cut or two.

Reading that, I guess it's fitting that my latest adventure involves books! Well, book covers at least. I was on Ravelry, in an Etsy Shops Forum, reading an ISO (In Search Of) thread. There I saw the request of a teacher who was looking for a Lesson-Plan Book that was a little off the beaten path. It seems this teacher is tired of the apples, school buses, and pencil motifs you find on all teacher/school-related materials out there. I suggested a fabric book cover for her run-of-the-mill book, and she took me up on it! Here are the results!
(Note: This item sold by PrettyKnittyJewelry on Aug 4, 2009. If you are interested in a similar item, please contact me!)

And on the inside flap is a pencil pocket. The cover is shown with a regular spiral-bound notebook, because I did not have a lesson-plan book to go from. Based on the measurements she gave me, it should fit hers pretty well!

I actually made two covers, but the first (the Treasure Island Map fabric in the background) came out a little smaller than I think she needs. . .I may send it to her anyway. . .it is pretty cool fabric, and it might fit another book. . .and it is adventurous!

Then, after the sewing, I picked up the Sunday Swing socks again. Loving them in my Destination Yarn! Working on the heel on sock #2 now! Yay!

And then I decided to try something new that I have never done before. . .I wanted to knit with wire! After all, my blog and Etsy shop are called Pretty Knitty Jewelry, and I know it's been done, but I want to try it. So, I did! I don't know if I will ever make any to sell in the shop. . .there are sellers who specialize in this already. . .but it was fun for a first try. So here are some pics of the two bracelets I made this morning, with 24-gauge, gold-tone wire and glass beads.

No too bad. . .one is a little longer than the other, and I am not sure I love how the clasps work, but they are workable. Perhaps I will play with it a bit more to see where this new adventure takes me! But, until then, I will knit with yarn a bit more. . .it is way less stressful on the fingers!

I hope that your life is filled with great adventures! And knitting!

Knit in good health!