29 April 2008

This little light of mine

The week of celebration has begun.

I let it shine.
I blew it out.
I ate the cupcake.

Then I took a picture of Kidlet's sweater-in-progress:

pattern: Children's Neckdown Bolero, by Knitting Pure & Simple
main yarn: Adrienne Vitadini Trina (butter)
contrast yarn: RYC Cashsoft Aran (tornado)
needles: KnitPicks Options Harmony interchangeable circular US#8, US#7; Denise interchangeable circular US#8 (40" length for Magic Loop-ing sleeves)

Knit something soft!

Old sock

To be accurate, old sock knitting machine. Not quite as icky.

This is sooo going on my wish list... for when Bill or Warren want to spoil me with a trinket.

Happy heel turning!

28 April 2008

Wanted:

One skein (or partial) to complete a knitting project in the manner planned...

yarn needed: RYC Cashsoft Aran
color: #008 - Tornado

I had every good intention to make this a stash-busting-only project. It would have worked out, too, had I not decided the sweater needed contrasting colored bands, cuffs, and collar; my orphan ball of Cashsoft was enough to do everything but the 2T sleeve cuffs. AARRRGGH!

Aside from the blue shortage, the sweater itself is coming along charmingly. The body is knit in a buttery Adrienne Vitadini Trina (has great sproing, but prone to splitting). I'll try to take some in-progress pictures later tonight.

So if you have a bit of this yarn wandering haplessly around your stash, let me know. It would be well purposed and most appreciated!

UPDATE: How much do I love Ravelry? Let me tell you. I searched the site for Cashsoft Aran, and found a handful of people with this color in their stashes (in varying degrees of project commitment). Claire, a knitter from Alberta, had one ball that seemed to be unpurposed, so I inquired if she could be financially swayed to part with said ball o' yarn. This was her reply:

"Y’know what, how about I just send you the ball. I bought it awhile ago and never did figure out what I’d do with this lone ball... I think it would be better off going to someone who would use it rather than sitting in my stash endlessly."

And the weirdest part of this cosmic knitterly windfall? Claire's ball is the same freakin' dye lot as mine. Woah.

27 April 2008

Chicken pot pie

Here's a little something to get stuck in your brain this lovely Monday morning. If you've never seen this episode of Just Shoot Me (season 3), well, you're missing out. I [heart] Slow Donnie!

I'm back

Wow. Five days and 100 suggestions later, here we are. Dang, it's hard for me to keep quiet that long.

My parents are moving (relocating in same suburb), and Kidlet and I went to help out this weekend. She was so excited to "help carry Nana's baby plants." And carry she did, back and forth from house to car, over and over. She's developing more of a sense of her own capabilities and limitations, and is really is eager to help and participate whenever she can, which is fabulous in my book.

The St. Paul Craftstravaganza came and went yesterday. I had initially planned on attending, but thought twice when I considered dealing with the crowds with Kidlet - she doesn't like the stroller (too confining), is too big to be carried for hours (too heavy), and walking in crowds is awkward (grownups aren't looking out for someone her size). Next crafty event on the calendar: Crafted Together, in White Bear Lake this Saturday, 3 May.

Knit on, earth-friendly ones!

22 April 2008

100 small changes = 1 big impact

Calling all readers of this blog and citizens of Earth:

If you do nothing else for Earth Day today, please leave a numbered comment with ONE suggestion for greener living. Brief comments are welcome, as are full DIY instructions or links to such.

Let's see if we can make it to 100 before midnight. No new posts until we meet our goal, so get creative and go green!

Earth Day 2008

Isn't she pretty?


Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
(more to come...)

21 April 2008

Leftovers

As we bid farewell to Pope Benedict...nataliedee.com

20 April 2008

B is for Blogiversary

Today is my one-year blogiversary. I wasn't sure then what direction things would go; still don't, but hey, it's been an entertaining trip so far.

B is also for Beads, another of my crafty endeavors. "Why would Meema mention this?" you may query...

The B is for Blogiversary Beads Contest!

To enter: simply leave a message on this post before 11:59PM CDT on Friday 25 April with a link to your first blog post and a way for me to contact you (blatant usage of Mari's blogiversry contest idea - hope you don't mind!).

If you place a link to my contest post on your blog, your name gets put in the hat a second time. For every entry by another person who mentions your link, your name goes in another time. You get the idea. The lucky winner will be drawn at random by a non-literate 3-year-old next weekend.

The prize: a custom-crafted set of beaded stitch markers in two sizes (Medium to US#10, and Mega to US#17). Each set has six "regular" markers and one glamour "beginning of round" marker. We will consult about what color/type of beads you'd like. If you are a non-knitter or have a strange loyalty to markers already in your possession, take heart - we will come up with an equivalent prize just for you.

Thanks for reading, as always!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Where did my baby go, and who is this big girl calling me Meema?

19 April 2008

A party for Grammy

You know you're at a good birthday party when the cake can double as chocolate pr0n is delicious.

It's terribly handy to have a self-appointed gift assistant at all family birthdays.
After lunch, an overcast but pleasant walk/trike ride.
Happy birthday, Grammy!

Happy Passover!

18 April 2008

Ooh - free patterns!

The public has spoken.

The Best of Interweave Knits Readers' Choice Awards is a collection of FIVE patterns voted on by Knitting Daily readers:

Sunrise Circle Jacket, by Kate Gilbert
Cable-Down Raglan, by Stefanie Japel
Swallowtail Shawl, by Evelyn A. Clark
Nantucket Jaket, by Norah Gaughan
Tweedy Aran Cardigan, by Norah Gaughan

This group will be available as a free (!) download from Knitting Daily's web site until 5 pm MST on May 15, 2008.

Go get 'em!


Shameless commerce

For anyone who has been in a sensory deprivation chamber for the last week or so, this news is for you; everyone else may consider it a gentle reminder.

The Yarnery's spring inventory sale is going on now through April 30. All in-stock merchandise (yarn, patterns, books, needles, and so on) is 20% off, with some clearance items at 30% or more. Make you list, check it twice, and go shopping.

I need a new nametag: "Hi, my name is Meema, and I'm a professional stash expansion enabler. Oh, and a geek."

17 April 2008

Learning new tricks

Looky here - Meema made a Magic Cast-On beautiful sock toe on her lovely 40" Harmony needles!

All together now: ooooh, aaaah! And the best part? NO KITCHENER! That makes me seriously happy.

Addendum: The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Stile (80 wool/20 polyamide).

The bard in my pocket

In honor of April's National Poetry Month, today is the 6th annual Poem in Your Pocket Day in NYC. So slip a little something in your pocket to share with coworkers, family, friends...

I meant a poem, people. Sheesh. ;-D

Feel free to leave your favorite gem in the comments for today's post.

Iambic pentameter ROCKS!

16 April 2008

Word travels fast

I'm amazed (and a bit weirded out) how the Harlot songs have been making the rounds in the knitting sphere. I wrote them just to serve as a funny little thang before Stephanie Pearl-McPhee took the stage last week in St. Paul. Now the video clips have had thousands of hits on YouTube, kind words are flying about, and we were even mentioned on Lime & Violet's Daily Chum. (If you don't know these two ladies, check out their podcast here - I think they're hilarious. The DC is their daily blog of knitting tidbits.) Dang.

In knitting news, I just frogged my Chevron Scarf morsel. Ah, sweet freedom! I wasn't happy with the appearance of the scarf (not a fan of scarves that have a distinct wrong side), and the color combination I chose wasn't knitting up with the contrast I was hoping to see. Sometimes it's a relief to put an unsatisfactory project out of its misery and liberate the yarn for another project. Maybe a pair of socks with the Claudia Hand Painted? We shall see...

Knit on!

15 April 2008

Prada loafers not pictured

I thought this might be appropriate on His Holiness Papa Ratzinger's arrival in the U.S. today.

nataliedee.com

p.s. Happy Tax Day.

14 April 2008

Wool on the hoof

As a knitter, I love the feel of different fibers while I'm knitting. The way different yarns respond and perform is a constant source of intrigue for me; a person can knit the same pattern over and over and, depending on the fiber chosen, the entire character of the piece shifts and evolves. Seriously, how cool is that?

Wool is the foudation, walls and roof of my own stash. In my knitting fantasies, I develop a relationship with the sheep that is about to be shorn, whose fleece will be spun into the ultimate skein of goodness for my waiting needles.

Author Catherine Friend, a fellow Minnesotan, currently lives the life I don't think I could: she and her partner run a working sheep farm. Her memoir, Hit By a Farm, is a wonderfully entertaining read about daily farm life (which was not her first choice, BTW). Her accounts remind me of my dad's stories of growing up on a dairy farm. I laughed out loud often, sometimes uncontrollably. Even though Catherine isn't a knitter, and their flock isn't purposed for wool production, I loved reading about the lives of these women and their sheep. If you're looking for a humorous nonfiction read, stop and pick this up.

13 April 2008

12 April 2008

Yarnover and out

Wow, what a weekend. Thursday and today were my first large-scale knitter events. My people! The Minnesota Knitters' Guild Yarnover was held today, and though I didn't attend any sessions, I enjoyed myself immensely (read: crazy shopping opportunity). Showing much personal restraint, this is the sum total of my haul:





Guild Bling, in the form of project bags.

Colorful stash: green and blue angora/merino blend from Kimmet Croft Fibers, and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock.
[note: the Kimmet Croft web link is not working, so here is the analog contact address: 5850 Schudy Rd., Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 54495; phone: USA+1-715-421-012 for Janice Kimmet; and e-mail: jkimmet@wctc.net]


A long-coveted mug and demi bowl from Jennie the Potter.


The highlight had to be The Yarnery's guest for the event, Franklin Habit. I tried to meet with him this fall as I travelled to Chicago, but our schedules did not line up. Then, like today, he was nothing but gracious and friendly as all get out. I sat for his 1000 Knitters Project, which with the participation from today's shoot now totals over 600 knitters. Yay, Minnesota!

Knitterly frustration

This is sooo me. I (almost always) "ectomize" excessive amounts of yarn from a perfectly good center-pull ball in trying to find the end.

Feel my pain.nataliedee.com

Thanks to Jess for saving the dignity of my purple 1824 Cotton on Thursday night; maybe this could be your next class at The Yarnery...

Off to Yarnover - see you there!

11 April 2008

Harlot tunes

Music is fun. Knitting is fun. Music about knitting is downright goofy.

How Do You Host a Knitter Like the Harlot, part 1

How Do You Host a Knitter Like the Harlot, part 2

Our Favorite Things


Stephanie

(footage by The Heathen Housewife - thanks, Shelly!)

10 April 2008

Represent!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a.k.a. The Yarn Harlot, rocked Saint Paul tonight. Get ready for many a photo...

The Harlot photographs hundreds of knitters with her sock. My parents even came (mid-picture, in the black shirts).Future knitter... and current Men's Knit Night-er Bob.










The Rainey Sisters and The Heathen Housewife.















Beautiful new felted birds by Marie Mayhew (pattern available later this month).

Divas of The Yarnery.

Partners in crime Eric, Scott, and Jess.
















The Harlot with my mom, then me and Kidlet's Log Cabin.















Talent abounds in Minnesota - look at the projects!













A sock yarn door prize finds a new home... and balcony knitters.















Knitters are the most patient people. Look at all the books!



Hopefully I'll have some music for you tomorrow. Good night!

09 April 2008

Busy, busy, busy

We are officially in the throes of Celebrity Weekend Mania. Really, it couldn't get much crazier and exciting. Squee!

Tomorrow evening The Yarnery is hosting Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a.k.a. The Yarn Harlot, in Saint Paul on her whirlwind book tour. I didn't see her when she came to town last year (scroll to her April 8 blog post), but I understand it was an amazing event. This year there are over 600 pumped-up knitters waiting to soak in every word that tumbles from her Canadian face. Jess, Eric, Scott and I will be providing a musical appetizer to her presentation; more about that tomorrow or Friday. Heh heh heh...

The second Friday each month is Men's Knit Night at Ye Olde Yarnery, under the gentle tutelage of the aforementioned Scott and Eric. In two days our next celebrity visitor will hopefully arrive in town in time to join them: Franklin Habit, another amazing wit and knitter with a penchant for photography. This Chicagoan's blogging makes me LOL ATDT.

Saturday. Ah, Saturday. The Minnesota Knitters' Guild is holding its annual Yarnover at Minnetonka High School in Hopkins. The Yarnery is bringing Franklin to the event to photograph willing subjects for his 1,000 Knitters Project. If you are interested in participating, there is still room on his schedule. Call The Yarnery ASAP to reserve a time - I'm guessing any remaining spots will be filled immediately by walk-ins on Saturday.

All right, knitters. Synchronize your watches. And come Monday, I don't want to hear anyone saying there was nothing to do this weekend.

Hope to see you out and about and proudly knitting in public!