Wendy Knits

Announcing . . .

The WendyKnits Message Board!

I’ve installed a message board on my site for all of us to use. It works pretty much like any other message board you’ve seen. I thought it might make it easier for some of you who would like to chat amongst yourselves to do so.

Right now there’s just a “General” Forum. If you have any ideas on what kinds of Forum topics you’d like, leave me a comment and I’ll create them.

I don’t know if this board will see much action, but I thought it would be fun to try it out. The link to the board is in my sidebar, and will remain there for easy access. There’s a FAQ section there to help you out if you get stuck.

A Pleasure to Know!

I was surfing through blogs yesterday and read this on Kerstin’s blog:

While the cyber world can be a creepy place and full of miserable people, I have personally found that for every nut case out there, there are at least 100 fine people who are a pleasure to know.

Amen, Kerstin! I receive proof of this over and over! The latest proof:

Monday afternoon I got a package in the mail, from a blog reader, Karin in Princeton, NJ. Inside:

A set of dpns, with a note. Karin had read on my blog that I spent part of my childhood in Pinner, a small village in England. Coincidentally, she passed through Pinner a couple of years ago, and bought some knitting needles in a charity shop there. She sent me one of those sets as a souvenir.

I’ve never met Karin, our only contact is through her reading of my blog. How’s that’s for a kind and generous act?

Q&A!

Lisa asked:

When you are doing colorwork such as you are now with Abalone, do you have to look at the chart for each row, or do you memorize it and just know when to change colors by looking at your work on the needle?

I look at the chart at the start of most rows. I don’t for the small 6-row pattern in between the large pattern repeats — that’s easy as pie. But at the start of each row of the main pattern I glance at the chart. That gets the pattern repeat stuck in my head, so I can complete the round without referring back.

Gratuitous Sentimental Cat Photo du Jour

Lucy, in weird lighting.

Scary Sighting du Jour

Seen (and heard) out my office window:

An open truck loaded up with Lyndon LaRouche supporters, blaring the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.” I think Handel must be turning over in his grave.

Not that I’m making a political statement here, mind.

The challenge:

What would you knit from 200 yards of handpainted dk/light worsted cashmere yarn that looks like this?

Email me (one idea per person, please) using the contact me link in my sidebar your entry. The prize will be awarded to the individual who comes up with the most creative/useful/fun/cute/clever idea for what to make with 200 yards of yummy cashmere.

The prize? Uh . . . 200 yards of yummy cashmere. The very 200 yards that are pictured above! The colorway is “peaches” and it is the same yarn that I used to make my feather and fan scarf — purchased from Danette Taylor Designs.

I’ll be choosing as the winner the person who sends me the idea I like the best. Subjective, I know, but what have you got to lose?

You can describe an idea, send me an original pattern, or a link to a free pattern. Creativity counts.

Please note that the winner is not obligated to knit his/her submitted idea with the prize yarn!

Entries due by 5:00pm EST, this Friday, January 16, 2004.

Abalone

I did get a bit of knitting done on Abalone over the weekend. An update photo:

I’ve got less than 30 rounds left til I start the armhole steeks.

Lucy

Is primping — getting ready for the week!

Have a good Monday!

Cold here. Cold, cold, cold. Yesterday’s commute was a chilly one, but I was prepared! Because on Tuesday night I finished this:

Uh-huh. My cashmere feather and fan scarf. Nice and snuggly warm! Scarf details and the pattern are here.

I bought a lovely black cashmere coat last month, so I am quite the fashion plate.

The photo is lightened to show detail.

And to top it all off, (Get it? Top it off! I slay me!) I wore my Lopi Light Bucket-o-Chic.

You need to know that this is probably the second time in my adult life that I’ve worn a hat when there wasn’t a blizzard. I am a martyr to hathead.

But the hathead with the bucket hat wasn’t too bad. (What hathead I had was probably exacerbated by my overzealous application of Sebastian Molding Mud.) And no static electricity! That was probably thanks to the new anti-static ion hairdryer I got for Christmas.

Leprechaun Blankets!

When L-B sent me the buttons the other day, she included a couple of leprechaun blankets she knitted.

This one is Peruvian Collection Baby Silk, courtesy of Elann.

And this one is Peruvian Collection Baby Cashmere, also courtesy of Elann.

The top one is a swatch for Alice Starmore’s Nova Scotia, from Fisherman Knits. L-B was concerned that the yarn was too soft for this design, but I think the pattern shows up great! I also suggested to her that she could make a larger size and go down a needle size to knit it to a tighter gauge. That would be going down to a US size ONE, btw. Tee-hee. I’m evil.

The bottom swatch is Cape Cod, also from Alice Starmore’s Fisherman Knits. Pretty!

L-B also knit a swatch for Norfolk (same book) from the Baby Silk that didn’t photograph well, but looks great.

Coincidentally, I have a boatload of these yarns. Baby Cashmere in the color “Viola Phlox.”

Baby Silk in “Cajun Rose.”

And in “Butter Pecan.”

And I’ve never knit those designs.

And they’d be light enough to be comfortable to wear indoors, methinks.

Need I say more?

Felted Kitty Bed Gallery!

Someone asked me the other day if I were going to start a gallery of photos of kitty beds knitted from my pattern. A great idea, and I’ve been spurred on to action, courtesy of the first photos I’ve received, from Cat. The new gallery is here.

So if you’ve knitted a kitty bed and would like me to post a photo, please send it to me (email link in the sidebar) along with any info you’d like included (like the type of yarn used, the kitty’s name, and your website URL, if any). Thanks!

Here’s Lucy in one of her new favorite perches.

I think she considers our home a Kitty Day Spa and she’s under the sun lamp.

Once again, I didn’t put in much time on Abalone last night — I got a new toy that I needed to play with for a couple of hours. No, not knitting-related — I switched my mobile phone service and got a new and different phone. So of course I needed to play with that!