Waxing Needles

I love love love knitpixs needles.

I have the interchangeable set and use them almost exclusively.

They have several finishes to choose from. My default choice is the Harmony wood ones. They feel so nice in my hands, smooth, they are really beautiful, they have wonderful pointy tips and you cannot beat the price!

The smaller sizes, size 3 and under, don't come in the interchangeables so you have to buy them separately. The needles are too small to fit into the screw join on the interchangeables.

Most of my fellow students have these needles and we all love them.

The smaller wood ones are prone to splitting and breaking. I find that any wooden needles in the thin sizes have this tendency. They are like knitting with toothpicks!

But all you have to do is call knitpicks and they will send you new ones. No questions asked and you don't have to mail your back!! What a deal.

We were talking about this issue some and Christine (Unraveled) commented that waxing them before you use them could help them not break. The wax will fill the in pores and that should make them stronger.

So I have a beeswax candle that I am going to use. I suppose you can use any kind of wood wax or candle wax. I will report back in a few months and let you know how it is working.

Family Fun

The Last few weeks have been great for both Wes and Josh.

Those Two Babies have all Grown Up into

Two Wonderful Men

Wesley Graduated from the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco.

He has a BFA in New Media.

In other words, he is a mean artist on the computer. He knows how to use all those really hard and very very very time consuming programs and creates magic with them.

Some of his portfolio is up on his website.

He has one more class this summer to finish putting all the rest of his work on the website and in all the other forms it needs to be in for prospected employers to view.

Great Job Wes.

We are so proud of you!

And then My Baby turned 23 this week.

That little one is now Tall and Muscular

Very Athletic and Brilliant

Talented in oh so many things

With one of the kindest Hearts around

We wish you a Fabulous and Prosperous year.

What's on My Needles

I have started knitting up the class samples for the classes I am teaching this summer. There are some great projects in my future.

First up is the beautiful Shawl that was on the cover of the spring Vogue Knitting Magazine. Chris M. had to make this and drummed a class full of people so I would offer it as a class. She is really good ay rallying people.

Yup, that "Egg Create" looking thing is lace. It is funny how lace knits up all crumpled like.

The orange edge is a crocheted provisional cast on. I did it like this instead of the way the pattern calls for. It is much easier to take out and your don't have to pick up stitches in the back of 100 or so crochet bumps. That is really tedious. It is there for adding on the boarder that goes around the shawl. I am going to that different then the pattern says too. Hey, that is way my students pay the big bucks to take a class. To see how many times I am going to do it different then the pattern does. Hopefully my changes makes things easier.

How does one make the green crumples look like beautiful lace you ask? Buy blocking the "heck" out of it. You soak it and then when you pin it down you stretch within an inch of its life. I love blocking lace. It is almost magic to see the pattern actually appear.

Next on my needles? A Lace Bag made with chunky yarn! That should be a lot of fun and fast.

Happy Mother's Day

My Grandmother, My Mother, Me and Wesley 1986

Before I was myself you made me, me

With love and patience, discipline and tears,

Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Allowing me to sail upon my sea,

Though well within the headlands of your fears.

Before I was myself you made me, me

With dreams enough of what I was to be

And hopes that would be sculpted by the years,

Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Relinquishing your powers gradually

To let me shape myself among my peers.

Before I was myself you made me, me,

And being good and wise, you gracefully

As dancers when the last sweet cadence nears

Bit by bit stepped back to set me free.

For love inspires learning naturally:

The mind assents to what the heart reveres.

And so it was through love you made me, me

By slowly stepping back to set me free.

~ Nicholas Gordon

Josh and Me 1987

Spring Retreat

My oh My what a weekend!!

Perfect Weather

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Toe-Up Socks I Love You

I have not been a real sock knitter. I have about 4 pairs and I love wearing them. I get tired of knitting them so I just don't do it that often.

Enter Toe-up socks. I learned how to knit these for a class I was teaching and they have changed everything. I love knitting socks from the toe up. They fit perfectly. All the "hard" parts of knitting a sock is gone. I used up all of my yarn, no left overs. They seem to go faster. That is probably in my own head but what ever works.

I have knitted 3 pairs of socks in the last month!!

Berry Toe-Up Socks - "Lifestyle Toe-Up Socks"

The stranding pattern was easy to figure out and fun to do. With stranding you have to be careful that the sock doesn't end up to tight to go over your heel. There isn't much stretch. I went from a 1 1/2 size needle to 2 1/2. It is still a little tight getting it on but I love them.

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Knitting, Lot's of FO's

I have been finishing a lot of projects lately. Feeling the need to find all my needles missing in action or held captive on different projects. Finishing projects and gaining back needles is much more fulfuilling then buying more needles because I can not find the size I need.

Botanical Hat by Stephen West

I made this for Wesley. It was sort of an add on christmas present I made when he came down mid January for a visit. I used Casacade for the black and Noro silk garden for the color. This is a really fun hat to make. I think there are at least 3 of them in the knitting group now. The guys seem to really like it too. It is reversible and designed from a really cool architectural design. Very guy like.

Barb's Koigu Ruffle by Kit Huchin

I was looking for something fast and with a lot of color. This has been in my queue for a while. I went stash diving into the Koigue corner and come up with this. The pattern is a really easy knit as long as you can get past the idea that you cast on and cast off a crazy number of stitches (648!!) But you are knitting two together right away for the ruffle...... It was a great addition to my wardrobe.

Hemlock Ring by BooklynTweed:

This has been in my queue even longer then the ruffle scarf. I used the Knitpicks City Tweed in Brocade. I love this yarn. It is really soft and the tweed is wonderful. I made mine bigger then the pattern so I could use it as a lap blanket. I had a hard time getting the blanket to block perfectly flat. I would go up at least 3 sizes needles sizes bigger to cast off and use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off for the k2tog sections and a regular bind of during the yarn over sections. I really enjoy using this as a lap blanket in the evenings while I knit.

Byzantine by Susan Pandorf

This was one of the most fun projects I have done in a long time. Mosaic knitting is really easy and fast and watching the colors change made me happy!

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

 This is one of the most knit projects on Ravelry (14,735 as of this post). The pattern came out in Knitty the Fall of 2004. I resisted knitting this one for years and then within a few of months I have now finished my second one. Why did I finally fall you ask?

Because of Noro sock yarn and Noro Scarf Stripping. I love love the way this turned out and the silk garden sock yarn is pretty soft.

Whirligig Shrug by Stefanie Japel

 I knit this up really fast for a class. It is another great instant gratification knit. The pattern is from Interweave Knits Weekends 2009. I used Soft Wave Cotton from Queensland. I think it was a closeout yarn from Webs at some point. It was in my stash. Of course Miss Claire will end up with this at some point. It sure is fun having a little princess to knit for after having boys of my own.

Last, but the most fun of all, is Mr. Bender, a character from Futurama. This is a B-day gift for Wesley. We used to enjoy watching this show together when he still lived at home. As an art student he has great appreciation for such creations.

I have most of my needles back and the knitting is a bit quiet right now. The only thing really on my needles is Baudelaire by Cookie A , my second pair of Toe-up socks. I am already on the second sock in less then a week. The pattern is easy to memorize, learned a new heel and I just love knitting these. Socks may be back in my life just in time for summer!

How many needles are missing in action at your house?