New and Improved

So, I left the digital camera at home, or else I would be posting new and improved photos of the surprise item…but it was not to be. For those of you who looked, it looks very similar to the previous photo, just not off-kilter and with no stray strands peeking out.

I’m off to Chicago this afternoon, just for a quick overnight trip. My friend E. is having a baby, and I am going to her shower. There may be a little time for a yarn store trip before I head back tomorrow, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. I think the only one I’ll be anywhere near is Arcadia Knitting.

Do any of you get the Berrocco Knit Bits newsletter? I am subscribed, and today’s issue introduced a number of their fall yarns. The newsletter also has a feature called “Scarf Central,” which gives you ideas for combinations of yarns that make great scarves. Normally they don’t really interest me – they’re often a little too va-va-voom for my daily life. But when I saw this one, I thought – I have to have this!






This is Air, a fall yarn knit together with Jewel FX. If you click here, you can see the other, possibly even more wonderful color combinations.

Am I the same person who couldn’t stop griping about our rainy, cold spring, and now that summer has finally begun, I’m already excited for cold-weather accessories? Crazy.

Happy knitting, everyone! And don’t forget Knitting in Public Day, June 11! Everybody’s doin’ it…

The Start of Summer

Well hello there! Hope you all are enjoying summer. For me, last weekend felt like the first of the summer in DC – it finally got HOT! (and rainy, but that’s another story) On Friday I went to a bridal shower for my dear friend M. We had so much fun celebrating her, and there was much good conversation (and wine). I also went to the spa on Sat. with my friend A. – so relaxing! I felt very pampered and not a little decadent, but hey – I’m worth it! We then met A.’s friend E. for dinner (tapas) and a movie (Ladies in Lavender). I love Judi Dench (I even watch the re-runs of As Time Goes By on PBS!), so I had to see this. Please don’t let the movie’s title deter you; it doesn't convey very much about the movie at all. It’s a beautiful story, set in a beautiful place (the British Isles, I assume) and provides some food for thought, which is more than I can say about most of the movies that will be out in the next few months. Go see it!

In knitting news, I have part of one sleeve and the trim left to knit on Lucky. The rest of her is blocked and ready for seaming. Oh, how I wish I had tried the seam-as-you-go method…it seems so daunting now.

I’m also working on another small project. Last night I was zipping along on it, and even stayed up late to cast off. This morning, when I attempted to ‘pose’ the item for pictures for you, dear reader, I noticed a definite wonky-ness that could not be ignored. And so – I rrrriiippped! For all of you EXCEPT the person who is going to receive this item (on Saturday, you know who you are!!), you can look here to see what it looked like. So imagine it like this only, you know - not lopsided.

That’s it for me. Once the surprise item is finished, I am looking forward to a new project. Beginning soon on a Southwest flight near you…stay tuned!

Happy knitting, all!

Great New Magazine

As much as I try to buy books at independent book stores, sometimes I find that for knitting stuff, nothing beats a well-stocked mega-bookstore. I was at B & N the other night, and found this new knitting magazine called Simply Knitting. I was blown away by this magazine! A few highlights:

• It has a really fun, inviting layout. They incorporate retro and modern graphics and styles.


• Some of the patterns are from books or pattern collections, which is a great way to preview before you buy the latest DB or Rowan book.


• They seem to have a lot of contests to win free stuff. That might just be because this is one of the first (if not the first) issue, but hopefully they will continue this. Unfortunately, the contests are for the UK only! Maybe that will change.


• They show patterns in yarns at a variety of price points – Sirdar, Debbie Bliss, Patons and Rowan were featured in this issue.

A few pics for you to groove on:









There were several patterns in this issue made with various kinds of fur yarn – a few too many for my taste. But the other really nice patterns and general feel of the magazine made up for it. The only other downside is the price: it was $8.99! And it’s a whopping US$83 to subscribe. Oh well!

Still, after paging through this magazine, I feel the knitting slump lifting! In fact, I have been knitting! A disembodied pose, of my arm with two sleeves:



Have a happy holiday weekend, everyone!

Anybody? Anybody?...Mojo?

Hello out there...I realize I have been somewhat MIA lately. It seems I have temporarily lost my knitting mojo. I am sluggish on Shimmer, lax on Lucky, and remiss on the Rebecca wrap cardi! Sigh. It seems all I can do these days is buy yarn.

I have a ton of cotton yarn for making tank tops, but Washington has hardly broken 70 lately. I have a ton of yarn for baby items, but everything seems the wrong gauge for the wrong project, or the wrong color (too much pink and blue - lesson learned!). I have my MD S & W purchases, but all of that stuff is wool (surprise) and it seems not very optimistic to knit with wool since summer in DC should be getting started any minute.

So. I'll give you a quick pic of my Purl purchases from last weekend. Did I mention that they will wind all your yarn for you? So this pic is what the Lorna's Laces (specially dyed for Purl, don'tcha know) looks like wound. There's also some Louet Gems Opal.

Shimmer is the closest to completion. I did finally figure out the circular yoke technique, which is needed for this pattern though curiously absent from it. Huh. Anyway, now it's just a matter of buying more stitch markers to track the decreases as well as getting over my usual counting problem. There is hope.

I was busy this weekend hanging out with the b.f., with whom I saw Revenge of the Sith. (Yes, I am a closet Star Wars fan!) It was awesome - I think it rivals Empire Strikes Back for the best episode in the series. The dialogue was mostly just mediocre, and not really horrible; special effects were amazing, and the story was very engaging.

Anyway, more knitting content soon, I swear! I'm going to one of my favorite knit nights tonight, so hopefully that will help restore the mojo. Til then - happy knitting!

Weekend in the Big Apple

Thanks for all your comments on my MD Sheep & Wool stash enhancement! I was pretty proud of that photo – the colors in the photo somehow were actually pretty accurate, and it was in focus! A happy accident.

So you may have noticed that I’ve been gone for a while. I was on a business trip, and then I went to NYC for the Broadway show weekend with the b.f. We had so much fun! I sort of fell in love with the city, even as I realized that I would lose my mind if I were to live there. Anyway, we went to see a show – Avenue Q, which was hilarious – and just generally tool around the city. I had no idea the “theater district” is just that – theaters and theatergoers everywhere! I had to take a picture of the sights:



I hadn’t been in about four years – I don’t know why I never get out of DC anymore. New York is so enormous, yet so cramped; so fast-paced, but with terrible traffic; sometimes dirty but always elegant. Have you ever read The Alienist by Caleb Carr? It’s set in New York, around the turn of the century, when the robber barons were making their fortunes and building a beautiful city to show their prosperity. Everywhere I went, I saw buildings, sculptures, and subway stop mosaics that made me wonder what they must have looked like when they were new. Some of course, are very well preserved, like Judson Memorial Church, across from Washington Square Park. This is a closeup of the building’s façade.



I learned after I got back that the church was built by Edward Judson as a memorial to his father Adoniram Judson, the first American foreign missionary. It was actually a Baptist church at the time, and was funded by John D. Rockefeller, among others. Architect Stanford White, stained glass master John La Farge, and sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens were commissioned to design and outfit the church.

Anyway, enough with the history lesson! On to the knitting. While I was in Greenwich Village on Sunday, I also went somewhere else…guess where I went? Guess!



Purl Soho!

As you probably know, the author of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, Joelle Hoverson, is the proprietress of this fine establishment. I had been warned that on the weekends, there is often a line to get in the store, since it is so tiny. Lucky for me, this was not the case on Sunday so I was able to spend as much time as I wanted without feeling rushed.

I loved the way the store was laid out – yarn lining the walls with a long table right in the middle. There was a smaller table near the entrance, with swatches of all the yarns in the store. And when I say swatches, that really doesn’t do them justice – these were dishcloth-sized samples of knitted fabric that gave you a real sense of how the yarn would drape in an actual garment. The yarns were organized by color, but that doesn’t quite describe it; it was more like tonal progressions of color, making it easy for those of us looking for a blue-purple or yellow beige to discern the differences between the many offerings.



And as luck would have it, Joelle was there! She was very busy, yet helpful and attentive – and clearly master of her domain. She smiled delightedly whenever anyone told her they’d made one of her patterns, which happened a lot while I was in there!

Purl has a lot to choose from for such a small store: tons of Alchemy and Lorna’s Laces, simple and fancy Classic Elite (lots of cashmere), Rowan, Noro, Harrisville Designs, Louet (including the linen stuff), Joseph Galler, hemp yarn, lots and lots of Koigu (and Kersti), Blue Sky and probably some other stuff I’m leaving out. A great selection! I left with some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in one of the specially-dyed-for-Purl colors (shoot! I haven’t taken a photo yet) and some Louet Gems Opal for another baby sweater.

A great trip! I love visiting yarn stores in other cities. I realized (too late) that I would not get a chance to get to Habu! Well, I’ll just have to go to NYC again soon!

Happy knitting, everyone!

I'm Back!

It's hard to believe, but I have only been to the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival once, even though I live in Washington! That time, I was so overwhelmed by the choices that I left nearly empty-handed (I bought two skeins at a booth near the exit, which I never used – I finally just gave them away.) So this time, it was ALL about the wool.

One of the first beautiful booths I saw was called Ellen’s Half Pint Farm, where I sighed over amazing hand-dyed silk and merino blends. Hours later, still empty-handed, I gave in to the temptation and bought this:


You can’t tell from the picture, but this is actually a honking 1450 yards of merino (from Uruguay), enough for a fab sweater. I plan to make the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

And yes - unfortunately, there’s more. I’m unveiling my items one at a time, to give each its fifteen minutes of blog fame.

As I said, I have only been to the festival once before this year. This time was a totally different experience from that first trip. Then, I went with my good friend A., who read about it in the Post. I wasn’t that into knitting at the time. This time, I carpooled with knitters, ran into other knitters I knew from groups around the area, and even met a whole bunch of fellow knitbloggers! It made me realize I really am a part of a community. (Warm fuzzies!) Anyway, I will definitely be making my rounds around the blogs of the great girls I met. Technology is a wonderful thing!

Happy knitting, everyone!

Gone Sheepin'

If you're going, hope to see you there (on Saturday)! (you already know what I look like - look to the right!) If not - see you back here early next week with a report on all my goodies...

The Two-armed Monster

So I was happily working on my Shimmer shrug…first sleeve...second sleeve…started the back (oooh, pretty lace pattern!)…and then –

this happened:





The pattern has you join the sleeves to the body, and then finish the raglan sleeves/armholes in the round. This is causing me no small amount of consternation. I considered it a triumph to get all the stitches onto one needle. I dropped a stitch in the body section while doing it, but I figured I could fix it once I got going again with the lace pattern. Then I did one purl row, which also turned out okay. But then when I flipped it over to knit and do the next RS pattern row, I realized that I was creating garter stitch on half the sleeves! (Of course this makes perfect sense since half of the sleeve stitches are going the opposite way, but still.) I tried reading Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Around, which has a variation on this technique – she uses two sets of circular needles, but I couldn’t figure out which set goes where or how. I am so excited about this shrug – but I’m a little frustrated! I hope I can get this all figured out soon. I emailed the designer to get some pointers.

Another fun knitting related story: my co-worker I. is getting married, and some of us are throwing her a shower. I. and I are both crafty, but she is even more so; she tats, crochets and knits, making her own patterns. We work at different sites, but every time we see each other, we always share our latest projects and ideas. So I was trying to think of a way to link knitting and marriage. Then I remembered this quote I had happened upon:

“knit your hearts with an unslipping knot”
-Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare

So I’m incorporating this quote into a card I’m making with a marriage and knitting theme, which will accompany the LYS gift certificate I got her. Knitting – the gift for all occasions!

Happy knitting, everyone!

Cotton Fest

Cotton Fest: A Maryland S & W pre-party




Who do I have to thank for this? Webs and Woolwinders, which were both having sales last week. On the left we have Classic Elite Provence in Japanese Lilac. This will become sort of tank top from one of Bonne Marie’s many cool designs. On the right is Dale of Norway Svale. Because Lauren spoke so glowingly about this yarn, I just had to get some. I was thinking about Soleil for this one, but am not sure yet. Finally, down in front we have…drum roll…Debbie Bliss Cathay! I was just too curious not to try it. This is going to become the Drop-Stitch Shrug from Interweave (it’s not in the magazine, but available in pdf format here.) The color is actually a regal, true purple rather than the blue-violet which appears here.

So what else is new? Well, I’ve started a new project: Shimmer from Winter ’03 Knitty. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a perfect match for some stash yarn, Crystal Palace Mikado Ribbon. I did my best to take an enticing photo, despite the color:






This is the sleeve cuff, which flares out over the hand. The knitted fabric feels sooo slinky - this is going to be HOT! So, this is going to be my “I’m-cool-and-I’m-in-New-York” item, rather than the Rebecca cardi (we ran into a little problem and it is NOT going to be finished in time). Expect an FO photo soon. Plus, the b.f. will be visiting soon (yay!) and he will help me take some photos.

Take care, everybody!

A Baby FO

Hello there! I have been busy, a-knittin’ and a-stashin’. First, I am proud to say that I finally finished seaming the sleeves on Poppy. I just could not figure out the seaming for set-in sleeves, so she has been languishing for some time now. Knitting has taught me that I am a really visual learner, so I usually need more than one knitting book diagram to figure things out. But this time, I read every knitting book I have, and none of the descriptions or diagrams really clicked. Luckily, I have recently subscribed to Interweave Knits, and had access to the Subscriber-Only Content. They have a section called “Beyond the Basics” where there are tutorials on lots of aspects of knitting. The one called Perfect Seams, Part II was my key to finishing this cutie:



Pattern: Poppy, Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora magazine
Yarn: Blue Sky Dyed Cotton, Color 618
Difficulty: Harder than it looks! Lots of picking up stitches. May have been more of a challenge because the yarn I used had a larger row gauge than the yarn specified in the pattern.
Completion Time: I knitted the pieces in a weekend – the finishing took much longer!

The Dyed Cotton (at least the skeins I bought) has a really odd smell – this garment will need a good washing before I can send it off to its recipient. But, I can see now why set-in sleeves can make a really nice-looking garment. And now that I’ve done it in baby size, maybe I can tackle some me-sized set-in sleeves!

In other knitting news, I have made a good start on the Rebecca Wrap Cardi. Apparently, I have a purple fixation going on - check it out:




This pattern lays out a really nice road map for the stitch pattern – it’s so easy to follow and you don’t have to worry about partial motifs, because they’ve already figured out how many will work on a row. My goal is to finish this before the second weekend of May, when the b.f. and I will be going to NYC. We are going to see Avenue Q, and just generally enjoy ourselves. I have never seen a show on Broadway! It will be great fun.

Anyhoo, I guess that’s it for me today. Next post – stash enhancement! Why someone who is going to Maryland Sheep and Wool in two weeks would buy yarn is beyond me. But it’s cotton, so that’s okay, right? ;-)

Happy knitting, everyone!

Happy Endings

Yesterday, as I trudged home from work feeling somewhat under the weather, all I could think about was getting home, putting on some sweats, and curling up to watch a movie. I was somewhat dismayed when I remembered that I had eaten my last Edy’s Whole Fruit popsicle and thus had no sweet movie-watching snacks – but I was too tired to battle my way through the checkout line at Safeway.

So I continued home, and found this:
Godiva chocolates,

and long-stemmed roses.

From whom, you ask? Only the world’s best boyfriend! I keep him anonymous because I assume he would want it that way, so suffice it to say – sweetheart, you’re the best! I love you.

I then settled in with some knitting and a movie, and chomped on the chocolates. Bliss!

On to the knitting. As promised, a photo of the completed baby sweater. Let’s just call it “Rainbow Brite,” shall we?




Pattern: Daisy, from Knitty. (Written by the infamous Yarn Harlot.)
Yarn: Schaefer Yarns’ Little Lola (it’s the same as Lola, just a smaller skein).
Difficulty: Easy peasy! Just lots of ends to weave in.
Completion time: About one week for knitting and sewing up.

This will be for my friend A. On a suggestion from a co-worker, I plan to customize it for a boy or girl by choosing more gender-specific buttons. One baby gift down, two more to go! I am going to try this pattern in my continuing quest for the world’s easiest, best baby sweater.

I have completely stalled on Lucky! I will try to get back into it and work on the sleeves this weekend. Meanwhile, I have finally started working on the Rebecca Wrap Cardi. I have also begun to organize my stash – perhaps there will be more on this later. And Lauren, I have considered being a librarian! In fact I’m still deciding what I want to be when I grow up, and this is still in the list of possibilities!

Happy knitting, everyone – may all your purls be perfect!

Spring Cleaning

As all you knitters know, it can be hard to keep track of all your
knitting stuff: stash, needles, notions, patterns, swatches, ball
bands…the list goes on and on. So I decided to start taking control of
the growing knitting chaos in my apartment and do a little spring
cleaning.

Step 1: Corral the list of projects and materials used into one
place for easy reference.

Months ago, I purchased Char Loving's Knitting Journal for this
purpose, but I hadn't taken the plunge. I somehow decided that I
couldn't put anything in unless it was in the exact
order the projects were completed. (Type A? Me? Naah…) But when I
finally decided it didn't have to be *perfect*, I started putting
stuff in there. Now, I realize how useful a book like this can be for
organizing all those little project-related doodads and details. Here
are a couple of samples:




I don't think this journal will accommodate gauge swatches, but that's
not such a big deal for me since I rip them out half the time anyway.
Mainly it just helps me know what I've made, what I made it with, and
what I thought of the yarn and pattern. And of course, it makes me
proud to see photos of all the neat projects I've made with my own two
hands!

Step 2: Unsnarl and tame the circular needles

I also (finally!) got a needle holder. I plan on getting several, but
I started with one for circs because they get so tangled and I can
never find the right one. I ordered it from an eBay store, EHwa
Aprons. The package came quickly and when I opened it, I was
amazed:

(the outside)



(a close up of the inside - the top is satin!)



The stitching is expertly done, and the fabric was so beautiful! I got
to work stuffing all of my needles in, and I am pleased to report that
all but one pair of 13s and one loooong pair of 19s fit! Not only
that, but when I folded and tied it with the attached strap, this is
how small it was:



Awesome. I plan to order more, more, more from this eBay seller! I
think the stash is the next element of knitting organization to
tackle.

So, that's it for today. I took pictures of the rainbow baby sweater,
but alas – the digicam batteries died before I could upload them. That
will be my next post!



Happy knitting, everyone!

Just a Little Knittin'

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments on Lucky! I am pleased with how it is coming along so far. And Melissa - no worries about the trim! I know it will look great.

I've been hunting around for more cool spring patterns, and I have a few more to share:

• Orangina from Glampyre: I haven’t bought the pattern yet, but I will soon! It looks like it doesn’t have much shaping, if any, so this would be a pretty quick project. And can we say – “I’m a 4-ply convert!”
  
  
• Crumpets from Chiagu, a new online magazine. What a sweet dress! Baby girls get all the cute patterns! I think it would be nice even without the beads.
  

The great thing is that you can buy these patterns on-line, and then download a pdf of the pattern. So easy! Oh, and also in blog-land: there is a Knit-a-long for the Nothin’ but a t-shirt pattern from MagKnits! Go here for more info. I am planning on it!

Continuing in my break from Lucky, I am working on a baby sweater. I bought a skein of Schaefer Yarns’ Little Lola when I was in Philly in January. It is the best baby yarn!! It looks like this in the skein,



…and it knits up like this:



I love how the colors blend one into the next – and they don’t pool, from what I’ve seen so far. I am in awe of hand-dyeing in general, and Schaefer’s method in particular produces beautiful results. I should have an FO picture of this little gem shortly.

Happy knitting, everyone!

New Season, New Duds

It's a new season, which always means... new patterns! I've been thinking about what I'd like to make this spring, and I've got a few ideas:

1. Bolero Jacket
I bought the new Vogue Knitting, which I think is better than the last several issues. I really like the bolero sweater trend. I'm still trying to decide, however, whether it's one that works for me, a long-leg, short-torso, broad-shoulder kind of chick. But if I made one and it didn't work for me, I'm sure I could find a willing friend to take it off my hands! There’s also a cool shrug from Knitty that I think would work well – and I can make it out of stash, which is always a good thing.

2. Nothin’ but a T-shirt
I love this pattern from Alison, published in the new Magknits. This is a classy tee-shirt sweater, but it’s especially fun because of the ringer style. I am envisioning a very modern color choice, like the Blush (hot pink), trimmed with Coffee (dark brown). This would be great with jeans, which I am rarely without.

3. Hourglass Sweater
Since I am always cold, it’s not too late to think about an Hourglass Sweater, made in silk or even a wool/cotton or wool/silk blend. I love the Himalaya Wool Silk at Knit Pixie – but there are too many beautiful colors to choose from! I’m narrowing it down, though - never fear!

4. Rebecca Wrap Cardi
This item is languishing in my Upcoming Projects list – I feel a little guilty because I’ve had the yarn and pattern for a while, even before others who’ve now finished their cardis! I think this will be a great little item to kick around in – but the swatch made my wrists hurt. Hopefully I can overcome this and get on with my cute sweater!

By the way…have you seen those new RY Classic pattern books? They are billed as "a new collection of handknits for the style conscious knitter." So this leads me to wonder whether the Rowan magazine will get less “style conscious.” Sort of makes me think I should wait to re-subscribe.

Otherwise, the Lucky cardi is coming along nicely:



Although, I almost had a heart attack when I read that I have to make 62 inches of ribbing for the trim!! That means 62 inches of sewing, my friends, and if you have gleaned anything from reading my blog you know I am not a seamstress. But I am so excited about this cardi that I'll just have to make it work.

Off to Sleeve Island (cue palm trees, ukelele, mai tais)…

Happy Easter

Just a short post today to show you my favorite Easter bunny:



The pink sweater was knitted by moi! And this little bunny (my coworker's little one) has worn it quite a lot, as I understand. I am tickled pink.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Can we talk?

So I’ve been blogging for about seven months now, and I’m thinking about what I might do to spice things up a bit. Blogger is cool and all, and it’s great that it’s free – but it is clearly limited unless you know a lot of html. Then there’s Typepad, which you have to pay for – but you can set up some really cool looking blogs that way. Of course, for the truly adventuresome (or computer-savvy) there is the option of using MT and doing everything yourself. Photo storage is also an issue, since I am knocking at the limit of my free Photobucket account.

Clearly, I am at a blogging crossroads. So I’ve put together a little poll to get some input from you all. If you don’t think either of my choices are the best option, leave me a comment or send me an email with your suggestions. I would really appreciate it!

Which blogging software do you recommend?
	Blogger
	Typepad
	Other
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The Wearing O’ The Green

Paying homage to Bonne Marie, I stepped out in limey-green style for St. Patty’s Day:



I made the scarf first, and then decided that a lime green shirt would be just the thing to make the shades of blue in the scarf *pop*. So far so good!

Last weekend was full of debauchery – a grown up slumber party, bridal shower and bachelorette party in less than 48 hours! Needless to say, I didn’t do very much knitting, lol! I am, however, now finished with the right front of Lucky:



It looks okay so far, but that whole no-room-for-a repeat-at-the-neck-edge is a little weird looking in my book. Hopefully the finished product will look good. Onward to the left front!

Everyone is going nuts over this Martha Stewart poncho business. Someone referenced a design that looked very similar to the Marth-cho, and thought that the name “Freedom poncho” was a reference to the newly-freed style maven. In fact, the pattern is from Twilley’s, and the yarn is called Freedom. Just wanted to clear that one up.

Finally, I leave you with a photo of an item from the Ram Wools catalogue. Is this scary or cute? Let me know what you think!

Blogger Problems

I have heard that some of you have been unable to leave comments; turns out Blogger is having some sort of problem. So, I thought I would add an email link in the sidebar. I look forward to hearing from you, whatever the method!

I Guess I Could Take Up Knitting

Says an ad for Asics running shoes:


"I guess I could take up knitting.
People who knit seem happy.
But then, I’m too competitive.
It seems like highly competitive knitters are frowned upon.

What would you do, if you couldn’t run?"


You know, I don’t pick on runners; why should this running ad pick on knitters? And there’s nothing about knitting that says you have to be anti-competitive to enjoy it. In fact, I think knitting would be a good activity for a competitive person, because you can make it as challenging as you want it to be. You don’t compete with other knitters, but with yourself; I think many runners are this way as well. The average person buying Asics running shoes doesn’t plan on winning the Boston marathon; he/she hopes to finish it or have a personal best time.

As for the broader issue, not just about knitting: this ad is a sad commentary on how women in our society are pigeonholed. You can’t be an athlete and practice “domestic arts,” be a successful CEO and not be a b**ch, excel as a mother and as a worker, etc. When will corporate America acknowledge that we aren’t easily categorized, that we are multi-faceted, multi-talented, and deserve praise and credit for what we attempt and succeed to do every day? It’s really amazing that we get shat upon like this in the media, especially when you consider that women buy or influence the purchase of 85% of all products and services sold in this country. A sobering thought: we fund the companies that publicly denigrate us.

March is Women's History Month. So go do something womanly: go knit, go running, get a subscription to Ms. or Bust or Essence or Bitch. Better yet, write a letter to a particularly egregious company of your choosing and announce that you will boycott their products because of their shameful portrayal of women.

No knitty photos today. Or maybe later this afternoon if I get around to it.

A Small FO

No, not the wee Poppy (I'm still fighting with that one)...just a scarf for moi:



This was made with Noro Lotus in Shade 152. I used a pattern from Stitch n Bitch Nation - thank goodness there are designers out there who appreciate people like me - i.e. who want patterns for even simple drop-stitch scarves. So anyway. This yarn is difficult to photograph due to the shimmery rayon thread running through its center. Obviously the yarn changes colors, but what is not so obvious is that this shimmery thread changes colors too. If I were a better photographer I would show you this! But alas, nighttime knitting does not make for good photographs. Anyhoo, I'll be back again soon. Hope everyone is having a good day!