Knitting blogs



Bagatell :: Knitting in Norway

Sarah's Mostly Knitting Weblog

Yarnaholic Confessions

Have a Cup of Tea

Kippers for Breakfast

Cyndilou's Yarn Utopia

Stephanie's crafting obsession

The Blissful Knitter

She's Crafty

Kalijul Knits

Rocket Science

Knitting Musings

Knitting Park

ChicKnits BLOG

knittyBlog

Confessions of a Hobby Whore

betseeee knits!

creative soul confessions

KnitBlog

In the quiet of night

Close to my Heart

La Gringa Tejedora

minxknits (& knits & knits)

Emma & Co.

Tales from a Keyboard Biologist

SciFiVille Blog

Fillyjonk's progress

the domestic sphere

Wendy's Knitting

Fuzzy Galore

At the Still Point of the Turning World

Stitching for Sanity

martaschmarta

One More Row and Another Latte

Scattered Marbles

Action Hero :: Knitting Weblog

G's random notes

Knit-a-rama

amimono

HappyGoodLuck

Wabi Sabi - by Yarn Planet

Locqueen Knits 2

QueerJoe's Knitting Blog

LoobyLou's Knitting

Someone Keeps Moving My Chair

e's knitting blog

house arrest/crafty bitch

knitting and other stuff

Multi-Crafter

When Knitting Was a Manly Art

Primp! a place to be girly

:: The Knitting Curmudgeon

Booga J

The Red Sweater

much ado about knitting

Fiber Arts & Furry Critters

So much fiber, so little time

fluffa

Compulsively Crafty

The World According To Marney

kerrie's place

Knotology: Ivete's Knitting

Sheri's FiberBlog

orangemami

Indigirl

another knitting blog

the blue blog

Knitdad

knitgrrl

...me & mine...

Clara's Window

Colorjoy!

Pappardele

KudzuParty

Alternative Knitting

bitethis

passionknit

Jo Knits!

Mouse Tales

Cyborgoddess's ssp

Knitting in Color

Siege

Seam Stressed

green.ketzle knits

knitz

the girl from auntie

not martha

Brainy Lady

Digital Yarn

Grumperina's adventures

Jen Knitter

JenLa Blog

Knit Happens Blog

Knits a bit

Knitting Zen

Mason-Dixon Knitting

Moth Heaven

Nashville S&B

Neverending Yarn

Persistent Illusion

Poetic Purl

PSSO

Purl Jam

Ravings from a Danish City at Night

Scarfomatic

the yarNerd battles forces of evil... and acrylic

Southern Fried Knitting

Superstarra-ville

The Knitty Gritty

The Spirit Trail

A little knitting blog

Claudia's blog

craftmuffin

Deb on the Web

Diary of a Knit Knit

Froggy Knits

Fuzzy Noodle Knits

GirlReaction

KnittyWitty

My life in Stitches

The Unbearable Lightness of Knitting

Now Norma Knits

Xtreme Knitting Blog

SuperEggplant

Wooly Warbler

Yarn Harlot

The yarn Junkie

Yentala's

A Mingled Yarn

Purlwise

Gnit at Semaphoria

Nice Knits!

Crayonbrain's Knitting Drivel

Della's Knit Knacks

Fickle Knitter

Fidget

Firebrunette Knitting

Good Clean Fun

Gromit Knits

Marta's Knit Blog

Needlegirl

Sauvageblue

schmeebot

Sobsister

Stitch Marker

Sweet Georgia

Needlecase.net - a compilation of knitblog feeds

dirty purls

AngelKnits

Hello Yarn

Creazitivity

Grupmerina goes to local yarn shops and Home Depot

Yet Another Blog

Fruitcakes Here a-Knittin

zibibbo is good

Knit and tonic

Random thoughts from a Dysfunctional Brain

Stream of Consciousness

Confessions of a Craft Addict

finally waking up

sit and knit

crafty brainwave

Streets and YOs

Knitting Solo

Big Sister

Knitamazoo

Kirsti Knits

twisted stitches

BeanKnit - Daily Insanity

knitpicking

Stitches on Ice

GlittyKnittyKitty

Kiss my Knits

goodkarmago







Other blogs I read



A La Carter - Hau & family

AfrIndie Mum

Blogging Baby

Blue Oregon

Butterfly Wishes

CityMama

Starry Charlie

Greek Tragedy - stories of my life

oMama

Portland Urban Mama Website

pictures @ neverGirl

childbearing hipster

PDX parenting forum @ craigslist

My Whim is Law

MamaLoo a Go Go

The Zero Boss

Cafe Mama's Not-So-Secret Pregnancy Blog

Heavy Things don't Fly

Phaedra's Dream

Semaphoria

Bob @ Semaphoria

WarmMilk

Time to come out of the closet! My new site is slowly taking shape at www.shetha.com. I found it to be a bit tedious to keep two blogs at once so I will be making further blogging entries at my new blog called Simplicitly Stitched. Please bear with me as I learn more about html and css so I can make a decent looking website. If things look funny or you can't see them with your settings please feel free to contact me so I can know what things look like from the other end.

See ya there! Oh yeah -- I will be re-entering the knitblog ring if Ivete lets me, and you will need to update links! I will be working on lots of things coming up including a photos page, a links page, and some graphics, including a button for the blog. Photoshop here I come!

Woohoo! Squares came in the mail today! Wait, today is Sunday. Yes, today is Sunday and I have no idea what is going on with our mail. We didn't receive any mail on Friday or Saturday and then Sunday things show up (important things nonetheless like quilt squares and hospital bills... and oh yeah, W2s).

I've not been knitting much sadly. I tried some sewing yesterday but my machine is 100% kaput for now. Well, not 100% but it's bad enough I won't use it til it's fixed (finally). Made some good chili from scratch last night though. It's in some cooking light magazine I have sitting around and it's called "all american chili." DH said it was quite possibly the best chili he'd ever eaten... which made me feel good because I fudged a lot of the way through the very long ingredients list.

I still haven't picked up the Mt Rose yet. I'm thinking I may need a quick trip to the yarn store to fulfill this strange obsession I have in my head about some socks my roomie has been wearing around the house. Should be fairly easy to figure out... I hope!

Anyhow, I'm chewing on some Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate as I wait for DH to take a walk with me to the coffee shop. Life is good -- the sun us shining, and I'm hoping it will be a good Sunday! Perhaps I will work some more on my up and coming site... we'll see! (Oh yeah -- movable type is kinda cool! Very confusing at first though...)

Well, I have to admit... I didn't avoid knitting altogether last night. I thought maybe I should take a small break in order to grow some "fresh eyes". Instead I picked up some thrift store yarn (for plastic canvas, not for knitting) and started making something that I designed in my head nearly a year ago.

I also made up another batch of lotion last night. It was a completely different experience than last time. When I blended the oily mixture into the water/aloe mixture... it got REALLY thick... like a rich pudding. And it kept separating as it was cooling... I was getting so worried. I had said before that I wouldn't add the second helping of water because I was afraid it would be watery like the last batch. Instead... it was much thicker and acting very weird. I was also mixing up dinner on the stove, and at one point I turned around (for 5 seconds) to stir my soup. When I turned BACK to the lotion... it was completely liquid! I was freaking out then. I was SURE I screwed up the batch somehow. I kept letting it cool til it was "warm" like the recipe said... and decided that even though it was already the consistency of water, I was going to add the second helping of water anyway. I had added a touch of borax and glycerin to the water to help it emulsify better, and warmed it up to be sure that they dissolved. When I added the water, while mixing... it magically turned into a white, creamy mixture that looked like the perfect lotion! In fact, I think it came out better than the last batch. I'm not sure things happened the way they did but I'm VERY happy with the results. I already have each bottle spoken for though. The next batch will be unscented.

Last but not least, I may be reinventing my online self. My hubby has been rebuilding our webserver using Linux and I think it may be able to support movable type, something I've always wanted to try. He has sort of set up my spot here and here but it may work for some and may not work for others, due to it needing to propogate the recent change. I have several ideas and I think after a year of blogging, I may not be a craft-aholic anymore... I may become something totally different ;-)

Minor disaster. I had just gotten past binding off the neckline and almost completed a full round after that... when I realized that I had totally screwed up the pattern starting 3 rows prior. Since I had no desire to tink 882 stitches (in 2 colors no less) I decided I would have to rip out stopping 4 rows below... the 3 color row (I'm not ripping that one out!). The bad news was I had already cut some threads (just prior to the bindoff) and since I was at a stopping point... I had already woven those ends in. Ugh... now my yarn is too short to even complete what I did last time and this time I will have 4 more fun ends to weave in. Luckily... I found the 3 color row pretty easy to thread through with my size 2 needles and it's all ready to go. Hopefully this time I won't get off-pattern.

Totally random link for the day:
Q&A by Hook & Needle. This enlightens me a little... I am just going to have to be bold and go for it I think... just take it stitch at a time.

I'll start with this: I did not knit a stitch on the Mt Rose.

Now... I feel better to have gotten that out. Instead I made Pork Chops, Mashed potatoes and Spinach salad for dinner while I worked up a felt test swatch with all of my potentially feltable yarns I could find in the house.

I decided not to litter my blog with more thumbnails so I will just provide links.

Before pictures:
Whole swatch

Detail of blends


So here's the rundown from top to bottom:
1) Black Cascade 220, 2) Black Cascade 220+artful yarns portrait, 3) Black Cascade 220, 4) Black Cascade 220+thrift store yellow mohair 5) Black Cascade 220, 6) Black Cascade 220+ estate sale orange boucle wool, 7) Black Cascade 220, 8) Black Cascade 220 + thrift store tan loopy mohair, 9) Black Cascade 220, 10) Pink Lamb's Pride (with dale heilo X stitches), 11) Black Cascade 220, 12) Creme Lamb's Pride, 13) Black Cascade 220, 14) Estate sale Irish wool, Natural, 15) Brown Heather Lamb's Pride, 16) Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, 17) Brown Sheep Naturespun, Black, 18) Checkerboard black/green Naturespun, 19) Green Naturespun.

I will confess that I have a front loading washer and I don't think the water was as "hot" as it claimed to be...so the results were actually quite interesting.
After Felting

Detail of blends after felting

Detail of other yarns after felting


As you can see in that last image... the Brown Sheep Naturespun REALLY felted! The white wools didn't do so well except for the Lion Brand Fisherman's wool which is really cool... cuz I have TONS of that.

Anyhow, here is the summary... Before. After.

And just to preview a few of the things I will be felting... Fuzzy Feet and some Handpaint Originals (w/ flash) (w/o flash).

OK so if I could, I would kick myself right now. I found out that brown sheep Naturespun felts (this is why everyone should read knitty, and closely!), and I have a couple of balls sitting around. AND I have some leftover pink Lamb's Pride (and offwhite and brown), and I have some black cascade 220 (Which I've used for a felted project before). Now I know that making the fuzzy feet should have quenched my felting urges... but I haven't quite made it to the felting step yet and I am really feeling the urge to make a felted bag... a little cute one. BUT -- when I go to find that cute pattern that I purchased months ago for cute felted bags (Fiber trends I think)... I can't find it ANYWHERE!!!! I have no idea where it has gotten to and it's really frustrating! I do have the yarn ready to go, though...

I decided I shouldn't start anything new until I finish the body of the Mt Rose anyway. I'm on the row where the neckline is to be bound off. I wonder if there are any online resources that have info on binding off in 2 color knitting. I can't imagine it would be MUCH different than regular binding off... but then does that mean I have to start working the pattern back and forth instead of in the round??? I mean I can only assume that is true... but I've never worked the WS of a 2-color pattern. Maybe I even forgot how to purl... this is going to be interesting.

Oh well -- I'm sure you'll hear of the adventures as they occur...