Knit It Black

Spinning my life away!

2008-05-23T18:14:00.007-04:00

Hey Kate,I LOVE our new layout! It's so pretty! Thanks so much for doing that - it looks so much cleaner and easier to read. :) Your grandfather is now a writer? How awesome! I have a particular fondness for old people, particularly old men (they're so adorable!) and I think it's GREAT when they do things to make themselves happy. My grandfather is a very cool old man and he's currently

2008-05-20T08:33:00.008-04:00

So, My grandfather has taken on a second career as a writer. He's actually quite good and has self published a few books on Amazon! A few weeks ago he asked Simon to help him set up a blog, but since Si is no blogger I'm blogging in order to see which platform might be easiest for him to use.But, I figured that as long as I was here I should actually take the time to respond. First, you looked

Long Time, No Post

2007-10-23T17:40:00.000-04:00

Hey Miss Kate,How are things in your far-off world? I've been missing you and your ideas and your knitting. Now that I am more settled in California, I think I am ready for slightly more commitment to our blog here. Well, I am lonesome and doing a lot of knitting. Or, at least,a lot of thinking about knitting. I have so many ideas and yarns and fibers swirling in my brain... I want to get it all

What's your blogging purpose?

2007-04-04T10:35:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,Our blog has gotten sad. Really, really sad... I still haven't put up pictures from Christmas, and each time I think I should post something else drags me away. Then, I sit down at the computer and I keep reading these other fantabulous blogs, absently looking for the "key", you know that style or thought that keeps you hooked. It seems like I've found it in some places but I

Big feet

2007-02-26T20:08:00.000-05:00

Dear Kristen,I have pictures to show, but work has been so crazy that I haven't had the time to upload anything... :( I completed the Cambridge sweater and gifted it to Si for Valentine's Day. It's okay, but not perfect. The biggest issue is that the arm holes are very very deep. This creates kind of a strange baggy effect under the arms. I'm not sure how it happened, and I can't figure

i hate poverty!

2007-01-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Kate,How have you been? I haven't heard from you in a while. I'm missing my Kate! I just posted a note to Simon about his gallery show - that's so awesome! I miss you guys so much right now. I'm feeling very lonesome and frustrated in Kalamazoo. I have Dan and he's amazing, but I still can't find a job and I still don't have any other friends. Alas. Oh well, I just have to keep

2006-12-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Kristen,I'm in England! It's lovely and cool here with a light cloud cover. Perfect weather if you ask me. ;) On the flight over I started a scarf for my dad in camel coloured Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran. It's not knitting up quite as soft as I thought it might, but the sheen from the added silk content is lovely. I'm hoping to have it finished by the 31st so that I can give it to him as

Soooo Behind!

2006-12-03T16:49:00.000-05:00

Oh Kate,I am NEVER going to finish even half of my knitted presents! Good grief. I guess planning a heavy knitting load during a move to a new city and a job search is a bad idea. Who would have thought? ;) I'll finish the shawl for my aunt Pat and the socks for Dan's mom, but that's probably it. I have some pics of those things and stuff I've been working on, but of course I forgot my

Deal!

2006-12-02T14:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Kristen,I went down to my LYS seeking a few more skeins of the yarn I'm using for the Holly wrap when I came across a brand new copy of the 1996 ed. of Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting. It looks just like the one pictured below. Perfect condition and everything. The incredible deal is that they charged me cover price. $34.95 baby! There are copies on e-bay going for $85-$100!

2006-12-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

Hey K,I started working on the shawl again last night and quickly decided that I didn't like what I had been planning. The color changes I envisioned are too symmetrical and I think I'm too far along to change anything. Bugger! I also only completed one row and quickly got bored. Not sure where that came from, it's been ages since a project bored me but I guess part of it was realizing that I

Arrrg!

2006-11-30T09:48:00.000-05:00

Kristen,The pirate Arrrg-yles are done! I'm quite pleased with them although they are a little bigger than I expected...while knitting the first one I stopped short because I was worried that they migh not be large enough around the calf. Boy was I wrong!Yarn: Dale Baby UllNeedles: US 3 40in circular Addi TurboPattern: A combination of the Moth Heaven Aarg-yle chart and the more detailed

2006-11-20T10:18:00.000-05:00

Kristen,Knitting has been good even if I haven't really been keeping up with the posting. Simon finished getting our computers to network last week and since then I've been trying to free up space on my 5 year old iBook so that it will run a little better (and upload pictures to blogger). Last night I had a dream that I recieved a check for $8000 which I immediately used to purchase a new

Dream Diary

2006-11-11T20:38:00.000-05:00

Dear Kristen,Last night I dreamed that I was purchasing a drop spindle so that I could make my own laceweight yarn... This fiber infatuation, it's a sickness, a disease I tell you! I think about the fiber at work, I worship the fiber at my LYS, I DREAM about the cursed fiber! If anything keeps me out of heaven it will be that whole thing about trying not to covet another's wool silk blend...On

PICTURES!

2006-11-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Kristen,I'm totally excited! The picture function is working... Wahoo! So, here you go, a bunch of ancient projects that I'm still very pleased with. First up is the shawl that I am actually wearing today. It's from the IK Summer '06 staff projects. This is the summer shawlette. I added a few rows to the bottom as I wanted it to be a bit longer and I am very pleased with the results.

2006-10-31T10:21:00.000-05:00

Dear Kristen,I am back to work after a VERY long weekend of work with a Monday off for good measure, so in an effort to remind myself that a one day weekend really is enough I thought I would list Tuesday's finer points for you.1) It's Halloween!2) I have a jack 'o lantern in my house.3) My car is getting an oil change.4) Tonight is the student knitting group at my house which means I will

Pastoral Provocation

2006-10-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,The muse 0f blog maintainance has not been kind to me and refuses to allow me to put up any of my FO or UFO images so instead we must be content with this particularly pastoral photograph which torments me.When I visited CT for my ordination Simon and I took his parents to Old Surbridge Village. It was wool dying day and I fell in love with a small skein of yarn (photographed in the

one skein pal strikes again!

2006-10-10T16:14:00.000-04:00

kate!oh my word, i just got the coolest package from my one skein pal! he knit me a pretty noro tea cozy and just had to send it complete with tea pot, mug, and some tea! i'm soooo excited. i'm pretty sure you already know how much i love tea, but if not, I LOVE TEA. and i've never tried the stuff he sent, so i'm uber-excited about it! isn't it all gorgeous! i can't wait to use it. today's

kristen's christmas knitting

2006-09-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

dear kate,ok, i'm posting this all here so that i can keep track of it all. and also so i can get your input/approval/disgust at my choices. :) i have most of my gifts figured out, and some of them have even been started. woo. so here we go. as i start them, i'll italicize them and as i finish them, i'll cross them out. i'm very visual - i need coded lists of things. :)brian (brother) -

oh my!

2006-09-18T13:58:00.000-04:00

dear kate,have you SEEN the new sock pattern that eunny wrote? it's the most stunning thing ever. i think everyone's getting a pair of these for christmas this year. :) i'm tempted to try out the new knitpicks sock yarn, gloss. it's a merino-silk blend that looks absolutely delicious! (i know you're not as big a knitpicks devotee as i am, but have you tried it yet? i'm hoping to find some

2006-09-13T16:11:00.000-04:00

Wahoo! Kristen is back!Boy has it been quiet around our blog over the last few weeks. Sorry that I've been away but the start of the academic year is always crazy and while I've been knitting like a fiend I haven't had a chance to take pictures or post. So, here's the whirlwind written tour of my knitting life... For a girl who is usually a project monogamist I've got a lot of projects on the

oh, fudge.

2006-09-12T10:56:00.000-04:00

dear kate,i'll do the regular "i'm back" stuff in a minute. i just got off the phone with my grandmother. *sigh* my grandmother doesn't knit. a few months ago we went to the yarn shop near her house. she'd been there a few times and really wanted me to go with her and look at yarn. i went and offered to make her whatever she wanted as long as she bought the yarn. she picked out some manos

2006-08-23T10:21:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,I was hoping to have something to say that was intelligent and memorable about my ordination but my mind has only managed to hold on to a series of snapshots and I am at a loss for words. Instead I direct you to "The Ice Floe" on the sidebar. The author is a good friend of mine and has written the post about my ordination that I never could have composed. I am incredibly honored

Exchange land...

2006-08-17T17:03:00.000-04:00

Kristen,It's been awhile since I participated in an exchange, but the pictures from your last exchange inspired me so I joined the International Scarf Exchange. I'm hoping to recieve a giftee who is interested in lace because I'd love to do something a little lacy...maybe the "Trellis" lace scarf in the Fall 2006 IK. Although that might be a bit much for a month long exchange. In other news

And...We're back

2006-08-11T10:47:00.000-04:00

Or at least I am.Kristen, where art thou?The beach was beautiful. Seven days filled with my favorite life routine. Wake up when you feel like it. Eat breakfast in your bathing suit while your sunblock soaks in. Wander out to the beach. Wander into the house for lunch. Wander out to the beach. Wander into the house for dinner. Read a book. Knit a little. Repeat.The days were hotter than

Knitting APB

2006-07-28T10:23:00.000-04:00

Hey friends,Just wanted to let you know that our favorite incredi-knitter, Grumperina, is leading a needle revision charge. The vice president of Skacel, makers of the Addi Turbo needle has stated that she would be willing to consider offering a second line of Addi Turbos with a pointier tip. That's right Lace and Cable knitting fans. Addi Turbos with a pointier tip! But, she needs to know

Panic! at the knitting disco

2006-07-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,I'm about to finish the Neil Gaiman socks and on Sunday I head to NC for a week of beach time (and 8 hours of un interrupted knitting on the drive there and back). I'm in a state of panic. I have a bajillion projects I want to start (ok, that would be 3) and NO APPROPRIATE YARN for any of them. I need help. I need recommendations. I need someone to tell Simon that adding to the

When life sucks knit.

2006-07-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,This summer has been full of stuff "to do" and completely lacking in down time. The stress of it all is about to undo me so I've been knitting to stay sane. Thank God for knitting. Here are a few more finished objects. This is a finished "Perdita" in the correct size blocking (the previous Perdita is now a rather lovely bookmark). Luckily it's so tiny that it blocks in no

Socks!

2006-07-18T10:53:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen, I'm back to what I like best! Knitting socks. :) While gaming last night I finished 2! Wahoo! First we have the fabulous stitch pattern of the Carousel Lace Socks from a little company called "Saratoga Knits". I don't know much about this company and it might be something you can only get in that area. I purchased this pattern and the yarn (Fortissima Cotton) at the

fini!

2006-07-13T10:22:00.000-04:00

This photo heavy post is brought to you by the letters F, I, N, the Cast-On podcast by Brenda Dayne, and coffee.Dear Kristen,The wedding afghan is FINI! Wahooo! It turned out much better than I ever expected, although it was still much narrower than it should've been. Ah, well. Meg and Kirk were appreciative and kind. It is soft and stretchy and should cover either of them from shoulder to

2006-06-29T16:31:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,A few new things for your perusal. I just remembered that there are a couple of fantastic blogs that I wanted to point out in my last post. Oops!www.soapturtle.blogspot.com - Laura is a part of a Knitting group in MD that I keep intending to join. She's a fun person and a great knit blogger....www.mamaespot.com - Same as above, except Erin is also a fabulous dye maven. I have a

2006-06-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

Hey Kristen!I'm so sad that your tubey doesn't fit. :( It's a beautiful knit. Your sister-in-law will be so pleased to receive such a lovely gift. (If she isn't she should be kicked. :P ) IThe wedding afghan is proceeding very nicely. I spent a LOT of time knitting it this weekend. On the way to the bridal shower, after the bridal shower, on the way to my meeting in Ohio, at the meeting in Ohio (

all sorts of things!

2006-06-27T18:22:00.000-04:00

hey kate,love the little hat! so adorable! congrats to your friends on the baby. :) and your afghan is coming along really nicely! i forgot - what yarn are you using? it looks great. :) well, needless to say, i haven't been getting a lot of knitting done over here. i've been spending lots of time with that boy and have been neglecting the yarn. but i'm completely ok with that. ;)

Whoa Doggies!

2006-06-23T15:48:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,Long time, no post-y. Life has been busier than I thought it would be. Work is much easier over the summer, but I find the time for self reflection to be, well, a little overwhelming. I think I like more work and less self reflection better!Knitting is good! And I have proof of its goodness in pictorial abundance (or something...). Here we have the hat I made for Sebastian, the

Thoughts

2006-06-06T12:08:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,There could be pictures, but today there are not. Suffice to say that the wedding afghan has risen like a phoenix and it is beautiful. The untwisted YOs leave a beautiful little pattern of holes., and the afghan is now 2 inches or so under the proper width. Sighs of relief abound, I did not frog without reason! I'm working on it daily, making good progress and constantly looking

Finally! There are pictures...

2006-05-31T09:19:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,Finally, pictures of the completed Whitby socks! As you will see, Simon loves them. Loves them so much in fact that his feet are doing the happy sock dance of joy...(He is insistent that these poses are merely an effort to show off their marvelous construction...)And finally, a pose with the cast off store bought. They do pale in comparison, don't they?Thus ends another project

Sans Photographie

2006-05-24T08:10:00.000-04:00

Hey Kristen,I was so excited to read your fanastic post with the wedding shrug and tubey photos! So excited in fact that I was determined to create an equally fantastic photo filled post. Then the camera conspired against me. Cannon sells a lovely little camera that uses AA batteries to take it's beautiful photos. It's masterful really, no tracking down the charger when you want to shoot,

tubey and le wedding outfit

2006-05-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

hello miss kate!ok, this is going to be mostly pictures. first WIP is my tubey sleeve in wool of the andes coal, hyacinth, tulip, and hush. second, i'm posting pics of me actually WEARING the dress and shrug i posted about a few days ago. a few folks asked me for them so here they are. (ignore my face and hair - i'm sick today!)i hope you're feeling better! i seem to have caught your sore

swoon

2006-05-18T07:41:00.000-04:00

hey kate!ok, i don't have any pics to show yet (though i might post part of my tubey later on today), but i just had to show you these amazing afghan patterns! you know how much of a science/math dork i can be, and all of these mathematical afghans are just incredible! i'm also rather keen on the labyrinth ones since they match my labyrinth tattoo. :) anyway, some of them are also rather

shrug

2006-05-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

hey kate,oh man, it looks like you guys had a GREAT time at the festival! i'm so jealous! your yarn looks amazing, too... i can't wait to see it knit up! if you want to talk about lace knitting, let me know! lace is my very favorite thing to knit. it sounds like you met some really cool knitters. i really hope i'm able to go to one of the midwestern fiber festivals this summer. they're all

2006-05-12T11:03:00.000-04:00

Dear Kristen,Here is my VERY belated Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival update. It's now been more than a week since the event and I am still sorting through everyting I saw. The fair grounds are amazing and completely overwhelming. There was a sea of kintters...And you could see fiber everywhere! In one of the first booths I saw this woman. The picture isn't the clearest, but she has an

it's derby day!

2006-05-07T00:43:00.000-04:00

hey k,ok, i have 8 million things to say to you because i haven't responded to your last couple of posts yet. i've been waiting to take pics of my latest project but i keep forgetting. oops. so i figured i'd better just post and i can put up the pics later.so. thing 1. I <3 YOUR FREAKIN' LEXIE BARNES BAG!!!!! i'm so jealous. you have the best husband ever. does he have any, uh, friends he

FIBER

2006-05-03T22:44:00.000-04:00

Hey K!I'm goin to a big honkin' fiber part-ay this week and I am so excited! (Si is less excited, but we'll just leave him out for a little bit...) This weekend is the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and for the first time EVER my new home is actually close to something cool. Rock on! I'm hoping to catch the sheepdog demonstrations and purchase some fabulous yarn. And...I'm feeling a little

2006-04-24T14:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday afternoon Miss K!I wonder if the people who read this believe that we are the same person with a rather split but similar personality? Maybe we should start using our names...?Knitting is mostly good. I've lost a bit of my enthusiasm and thus the rabid must knit at all times woman has checked out, but I'm still doing pretty well on the wedding afghan front.Okay, so maybe not that

2006-04-22T13:43:00.000-04:00

Hey K!The yarn I used for the socks pictured two entries below was a Fiberspates sock yarn sent to me all the way from England. It was a gift from my wonderful secret pal. My feet love the bright colors (too many pairs of black socks make them a little sad) although they are still getting used to ordinary wool. Too often they are the recipient of Marino socks and so they are still learning the

yarn pr0n

2006-04-20T18:01:00.000-04:00

hey k,i love the pics of simon and of your very DOOMy boots. i have some new rock boots too and i love them but they hurt my feet! *sad girl* your glowy socks are so fun, too... what yarn is that? i'm so curious. and it's really funny that we're both knitting wedding afghans right now. how bizarre is that?well, since i have no knitting to show you at the moment, i thought i'd share some

On the slow train...

2006-04-12T23:40:00.000-04:00

Dear K,I'm on the slow update train. I know, I know. I should be making up for your absense (and we do miss you)! It's clearly a fault of the job. If the students are busy, I am busy. Luckily Si and I finally were able to take a break this weekend and while I did very little knitting I indulged in the second passion of this knitter, clubbing!We headed to DC to dance, drink a little, stay in

2006-04-04T11:06:00.000-04:00

Dear K,I really liked your last post. So much in fact that I will reply in kind. :)I don't usually knit for other people. I know I should, but I really get more joy out of knitting for myself. Is that selfish? The strange thing is that I really like giving gifts to others, especially knitted gifts, but I like to do the actual knitting for myself. I think that it works to my advantage when I

knitting success?

2006-04-03T16:03:00.000-04:00

so, i was reading this post on the livejournal knitting community today, as well as a post that K2Knits made a few days ago. it made me think about success in knitting. what does it mean to you to be a successful knitter? there are a lot of different components, the most obvious certainly being the execution of difficult patterns. but for me, it's more than that. let me preface this by

how true is this?

2006-03-28T23:58:00.000-05:00

hell, i know I would. as for my own knitting... i'm starting a new project as soon as my yarn gets here. i'll post more about that later. :)(image from nataliedee.com)

Return

2006-03-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,I've returned. The week spent in D'Iberville Mississippi was harrowing, wonderful and mostly devoid of knitting. So, I'll share with you a few photos and things that I learned along the way.1) The Mississippi coast line (and by extension the Lousiana coast) is still in a state of utter destruction, but the people are full of hope.2) Southern hospitatlity never ceases, even in the

wyvern socks - finally finished!

2006-03-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

i'm super happy about them! i wore them to work today. i've knit so many socks, but this is the first pair for ME. they make my feet happy. now that they're done, after weeks of being too sick to knit, i get to start on something new! hooray! i'm making a gift (as usual): a lace doily out of marianne kinzel's first book of modern lace knitting. i'll post pics as i go, i promise! i'm still

knitted rug

2006-03-13T13:02:00.000-05:00

so, i'm sure everyone's seen this by now, but i just have to post it anyway because it blows my mind. i want to make one!

2006-03-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

This week I am taking a group of 15 students down to Mississippi to do some home repair for victims of Hurricane Katrina. This means that since the end of the Knitting Olympics and my crazy two week so of travel I have done almot nothing but catch up on work and plan for this trip. Knitting has been almost completely absent from life. *pout*Ahhh, but all is not lost, I have 40 hours on a bus

socks socks socks

2006-03-06T19:45:00.000-05:00

ok, so my chronic illness has been bad lately, as has my work schedule, so my wyvern socks are going slowly. i'm already working on the cuff, though, and i've still got a LOT of yarn left. i need to decide whether to make these knee socks (in order to use up all the yummy lorna's laces yarn) or to find another project for the remainder of the yarn. i will NOT let this stuff sit around unused!

Olympics!

2006-02-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

The past two weeks were INSANE! I traveled all over the world. (Well, not the world, per-se, but definately all over the eastern part of the US.) And I still managed to complete my knitting olympics project. All Hail a Knitting Olympian (or 2).That's right dedicated readers (do we have any of those?), I am a knitting olympian, and I scored a gold! Oh, and even better, so did my mother the

happy sock dance

2006-02-27T08:33:00.000-05:00

so, i gave up on the olympics. i think i threw in the towel sometime on saturday. instead, much to my mother's chagrin, i started making some socks for MYSELF. (she's just mad because i still haven't finished her christmas present. silly woman.) anyway, i'm using the lorna's laces that i posted a while back. i was going to make pomatomus, but after i started i remembered two things: 1) i

let's try again

2006-02-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

so, i started to post the other day, but the emotional situation around my house kind of exploded and i gave up. but i'm back! ha! 1. my olympic knitting is in a sad, sad state. i've conceded defeat. i could have finished it if i hadn't gotten that second job, the flu, and didn't have to take care of my mother post-surgery. alas, that is not the case. here's a pic of the poor little shawl,

2006-02-17T22:18:00.000-05:00

So, while I don't have pictures to share at the moment, my olympic knitting is going very well. I finished knitting the first pulse warmer and overal I am very pleased. It's a bit tight, but I think it will loosen up with some blocking. I'm doing a better job of keeping the floats in my second pulse warmer nice and loose. I think this will lead to a much better finished result. I'm about 3/4

Testing

2006-02-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

Hi!Ok, just testing the waters here... I think I'm "Friend of the Baby-Eater" for the moment although maybe I named myself.In any case, here's my Knitting Olympics progress as of Day 3 (I started a day late) and a real post with details will follow.K2

yarn love + olympic progress

2006-02-13T18:20:00.000-05:00

so, today i got my order from little turtle knits. ^_^ i managed to find some lorna's laces sock yarn on SALE, which was great. see, none of my LYSes have any in stock right now. totally weird. so anyway, i got that, as well as some regia cotton surf, which i've never used before. *happy sock dance* i want to make some socks for ME for once!on olympic news, i'm on row 93. i'm a little

the games have begun!

2006-02-10T19:27:00.000-05:00

so, i cast on for my olympic project today: the fibertrends peace shawl. i'm not thrilled about knitting at the moment (*gasp!*) because i have the flu, and nothing kills the moment like coughing and puking and aching. but i've knit myself 30 rows so far and i'm rather proud of it. and in true olympic spirit, i'm pressing on. i have gathered my materials and a glass of bourbon, lemon & honey.

hello? (echo...)

2006-02-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

so... it's our first post. we're very excited. we didn't quite meet our deadline of being up and running by the knitting olympics (i should have cast on 38 minutes ago), but we're close. anyway, i hope you enjoy the show.*bows*