May
get this monkey off my back! or, maybe not…
Posted by Shannon in yarn, socks, knittingi have a confession to make, folks. i have a monkey on my back - a BIG one. i blame a good friend and fiber-enabler-extraordinaire for this addiction. she got me started on this road. whether or not she knew how low my resistance is to this kind of thing is beyond the point, because she got me hooked.
what the heck am i talking about? a little pattern that has been making the rounds - the blog-land rounds, the ravelry rounds, and has definitely been making rounds on my size one addi lace needles these last 5 or 6 months. the MONKEY SOCK PATTERN by the insanely talented COOKIE A!! the girl wasn’t lying when she said, in the intro to the sock pattern on knitty, that “the true driving force behind these socks was ADDICTION. There was no other way to get them off my back than to knit them.” many of us have fallen into the monkey-sock-addiction-trap. i am 8 pairs in, and not sure it is over for me. i start to get a bit…shaky and nervous, fondling fingering-weight yarn and picturing it knitted up into monkeys if i haven’t had one on the needles in a while. geez, people! the monkey sock has become my vanilla sock pattern - if i am not sure what to do with a pair of socks, chances are they will end up as monkeys!
and the saddest part of this whole thing? i’m not even sure i want help for this addiction. in fact, i may just want to dive further in…
a smattering of monkeys socks:
from left to right: STR Lightweight in Algae, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in African Greys, Dream in Color Smooshy in Deep Seaflower
Apr
Think Outside the Sox
Posted by Emily in socks, contests, knittingHave you heard about this yet? Knitter’s Magazine, XRX Books, Skacel, Cherry Tree Hill yarn, Addi Turbo needles, and many other sock-yarn-related companies are coming together for a great new contest – Think Outside the Sox! If you’ve always wanted to be a sock designer, then now’s your chance.
The contest started in February at STITCHES West 2008 and will run until January 1st, 2009 (just before STITCHES West 2009). There are a bunch of different categories for different yarns, techniques, and styles. The sponsors have contributed over $20,000 in prize money, with the grand prize worth $6,000! Imagine how much totally guilt-free sock yarn that could buy! The winning sock designers are going to win prize money AND get the chance to be featured in Knitter’s Magazine as well as in an upcoming book from XRX Books. Big time, baby!
So, long story short, come on down to Twisted and pick up an official contest entry form, or check it out at the Think Outside the Sox website. As an official Sox Hot Spot, we’re here to offer you help designing, knitting and entering your sock in the contest. Portland is waaay crafty enough to have at least one, probably more, winners hail from our fair city, so start swatching, folks.
Apr
Tonight!
Posted by Emily in socks, events, knittingA quick notice that the Blue Moon Socks that Rock club is having a meetup at the store tonight! Come on by from around 6-8pm to work on your new green yarn and Leafling pattern!
Apr
March Haiku Winner, April Theme
Posted by Emily in contests, knittingMarch’s haiku contest winner was crafting for pets, and the prize was the book Stylish Knits for Dogs, by Ilene Hochberg. The winning entry is from Alessandra, Faye, and the Sockettes (the nom de guerre of our Sunday Studio Class).
As ardent readers of our blog will already know, I have a much-adored, much-pampered French Bulldog named Carat who is the dirty, shedding, vomiting, slightly smelly center of my world. Alessandra also has a Frenchie, named Bucky, who is similarly doted upon. For the past few weeks (months?) Alessandra has been trying to persuade me to knit Carat a lacy “party dress” from the book Dogs in Knits by Judith L. Swartz - photo to the right.
She has even gone so far as to start planning Bucky’s “bark mitzvah” so that Carat will have an occasion requiring formal attire. I am currently knitting a sweater for both myself and my mom, so one - especially a lace one - for my dog has gotten on the Ravelry queue, but hasn’t made the top of the list… In any event, here’s the haiku:
Bucky’s sweater rocks.
What about his naked friend?
Carat needs a dress!
 Bucky, in the lovely sweater Alessandra knit him. |
 Carat, naked and alone in this cold, cruel world. |
Now for April! Your theme: crafting and the weather. Does it inspire you? Thwart you? Lure you outside in the summer? Trap you indoors in the spring? Click here to enter your best haiku. This month’s prize: The book Knitty Gritty Knits, by Vickie Howell.
And, last but not least, here are all the other crafting for pet themed haikus from March. Thanks for entering!
There’s a trail of yarn
With suspiciously wet ends
Leading to kitty
spayed, funny cone head
fancy, stylish puppy paws
sedatives, sleepy
As the rising sun
Peaks over the horizon
The day has begun.
Only reason to
get a dog is to knit it
cute little sweater
Black cat, yellow yarn.
Untangle, must knit my socks.
Now he hunts the pair.
the monkey climbs tall
his tail a string in the wind
he is really hot
Chihuahua winters
garbed in thick handspun jacket
knit with dreams of sun
Nice dog, lots of drool
My sock is covered in slime
Where is your owner?
He ripped all I knit,
entwined paws and tail in twist;
called ‘Brave Dachshund’ this!
I love that cotton.
Hidden? Ha. My nose will find.
Hung from fan? You win.
Your dog will love you
Whether you get gauge or not
Bark! Bark! Bark! Knit on.
Ocean, old and gray.
My girl you’ve been, loyal true.
Fall dog socks, fall down.
Made you a cat bed
But, well, you seem to prefer
Anything but that.
Perfect dog sweater!
(The chihuahua disagrees
And rolls in the mud.)
New puppy is here
Two skeins of Lorna’s Laces
One eaten, short scarf!
You liked chewing it
until I knit your sweater -
Why growl at it now?
Knitted dog coat just so cute;
Itzie will keep warm.
She’s hiding under the bed!
Apr
Everyone loves a clown… I mean sale area
Posted by Emily in the shop, yarn, knittingIn fact, clowns kind of creep me out, but I digress.
The real point of this post is to make sure everyone knows that Twisted has a clearance area. It’s in the back, near the classroom. It’s chock full of yarns that we love but, for one reason or another, aren’t going to carry anymore. For example, Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK has been discontinued by the manufacturer (they’re keeping the aran weight only), so we have it marked down from $9 to $6 a ball.
Another great deal over there right now is the Zealana Yarn. Zealana is machine washable and comes DK and chunky weights in four blends: 100% merino, alpaca/merino, cashmere/merino, and delaka/merino. I’m doing Euny Jang’s Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits magazine in the red cashmere/merino blend. I’m done with the body and ready to start the sleeves. Let me tell you, this yarn is heaven to work with.
We’ve had people snagging sweater quantities of all the blends like there is no tomorrow. After all, how often can you get an superwash cashmere blend for $8 a ball? My personal favorite might be the delaka blend, but we didn’t have enough of that in the color I wanted so I “settled” for cashmere. Ah, I know, it’s a rough life.
Although, we just realized last weekend that 8 balls of the chunky blend would be perfect for the new Zephyr Style pattern Juliet that we just got in… maybe I’ll have to get some of that delaka blend after all…
Other things in the clearance area at the moment are Nature Wool worsted and chunky, Ella Rae Classic, Debbie Bliss Stella, Debbie Bliss Soho, Feza Baby, Skacel Supercotton, and Araucania Magallanes. Supplies, of course, are limited to stock on hand and there are no returns on sale purchases. Come take a look!
Apr
Bergere Magic
Posted by Emily in yarn, knittingNo, that isn’t an overly dramatic blog post title - it’s actually the name of this yarn!
Bergere Magic (yes, if you follow the links you’ll notice that the Bergere website is in French, but I’m amazed how much of it still makes sense) is a 50/50 wool/acrylic blend. It’s machine washable and dryable and knits up at 4 stitch per inch. It’s a wonderful yarn and a good price at $9.25 a 50g/80m ball.
The sweater pattern we have to go with this yarn, though, is beyond wonderful and into the realm of absolutely out of this world.
The “Trapeze Swing Jacket” uses between 10 and 13 balls of Magic, depending on size. It has great details, a stylish fit and seems to flatter everyone who tries it on. The acrylic keeps the bell sleeves and flared body light and flow-y, whereas all wool could get pendulous in the same style.
We currently have 10 colors of Bergere Magic with one more on the way. We’d love to have you stop by to check out this new yarn and try on the model. Several folks have already fallen madly in love at first sight!
Mar
Knit for a Cure
Posted by Emily in yarn, socks, knitting, charityWe have received the “Booby Sock Kits” from Trekking/Skacel! The kit includes a limited-edition Breast-Cancer-Awareness-Pink Trekking yarn, a pattern incorporating a nipple-shaped toe, the Breast Cancer Ribbon, and beads, AND Skacel is donating all net proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Center. Come on by and snag one of these kits ($20.00) before they are gone, and Knit for the Cure!
Mar
Bear mitten incentive
Posted by Emily in blogging, knitting, charity
Attention all bear mitten knitters! Tess, of the blog TessKnits.com, has offered to give first 25 people who knit even one bear mitten (and show her some kind of photographic evidence) before the end of March 2008 a free pattern from her line, Polar Bear Patterns! She’s got lots of cute patterns, like a felted Easter basket or felted dog bones. Check out her blog post for all the details. Yet another great reason to get cracking on those bear mittens. Yes, they’re large, but use chunky yarn and you’ll be done and enjoying your Polar Bear Pattern in no time!
Mar
Another bear mitten
Posted by Emily in patterns, knitting, charityA quick update to share an adorable photo that my mom sent me. She knit up a bear mitten! And, appropriately, this photo shows it being modeled by my parents’ lovely and talented Golden Retriever, Ozzie Bear. He’s a gentle giant himself at over 100lbs, but still swims in this mitten. Thanks, Mom!
If you’re interested in the bear mitten pattern, you can find all the details on our bear mitten page.
Feb
KGW link
Posted by Emily in the shop, knitting, charityFound the link to the KGW video, thanks to my mom. Although she says, “The best part is that when the clip is playing, there’s a fast forward slide so it can be ‘all Emily, all the time’.” She’s biased, of course. You can tell because she also wrote that she loved, “getting a good look at your new hair cut. I love it. ( I see that this topic is thoroughly covered in your blog and associated comments.)” So true.
But I digress. Here’s the link:
http://www.kgw.com/video/animals-index.html?nvid=221536