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There isn’t much that’s more happy-inducing than getting a KnitPicks box in the mail.
 Delicious Felici goodness. Two skeins each of two Felici self-striping yarns, Time Traveler and Abracadabra. Felici is DELICIOUSLY soft and smells like fresh wool. The most exciting one, of course, is the Time Traveler colourway:
 Wibbly Wobbly. The Pirate and I have decided on the Jaywalker pattern for the socks. We both adore Jaywalkers, and they are appropriately wibbly-wobbly while still maintaining the integrity of the stripes.
Also, I only had to chop a small amount of yarn to make the skeins start in the same spot.
 The small clump is the sacrificed yarn. Woo! So excited to start these!
First off: I finally found my notes for Jack’s Beanstalk Blanket! This means the pattern cannot be far away.
My sister the Pirate and I are up to our usual shenanigans. She has recently gotten into Doctor Who, which makes me love her all the more. KnitPicks recently unveiled the new colours in their Felici sock yarns, and there is one that piqued my interest, the Time Traveler colourway:
 Photo belongs to KnitPicks.com The description from KnitPicks:
Wear these brightly striped socks whether you are going to the office or traveling through time and space. Time Traveler is a colorful mix of purple, tan, red, gold, ivory, and gray stripes. While you can knit some really really long socks, this colorway will not create socks that are larger on the inside than they appear on the outside.
It is evident that I require it. Sister agreed. Not to mention, the colours are nice enough that we both wouldn’t mind wearing such colours of socks on a regular basis.
So, Pirate and I are knitting matching socks! Most likely going to be simple stockinette socks, to prioperly showcase the stripes.
I’m going to be so sick of these colours when all is said and done! :P
I need to do two questions today! Yesterday got madly busy, and today was, too, but tonight is nice and calm and relaxing, and I can finish up the week with a double post. Enjoy!
Saturday:
Revisit a past F/O
Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…
I’m sort of revisiting two past projects: My first socks ever, and my favorite socks ever.
My first socks ever were simple stockinette, top-down, flap-heel socks. Knit with Invicta Coloris, which was not a fantastic yarn but self-striped nicely with entertained me, and slightly loose around the ankles, they were my Very First Socks and I wore them to the end. Well, one to the end. It got a huge hols in the toes and repair proved impossible. Sad, considering the remaining sock is still very intact and wearable.
 
My absolute FAVORITE pair of socks, the ones I wear all the time and not a sign of wear yet, are my second pair of Jaywalkers.
I knit these a few years ago, from Regia sock yarn in the colourway “Canyon”. I made sure they lines up all symmetrical and pretty-like, and tried them on the whole way to make sure they fit right. They are dream socks. Snug, comfortable, warm, durable. Very little sign of wear yet, and I wear them as often as my store-bought socks. Easy one of my favorite, most-worn FOs yet.
 
So yeah. Socks. :)
See what others blogged about for Day 6!
Next… today, Sunday! The Sunday given topic, a yarn you love, didn’t really interest me (I don’t love any one or two specific yarns, I love many equally) I decided to choose the wildcard topic:
All Tooled Up
Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of? Write about what you love it.
I loveloveloveloveLOVE my Denise knitting needle set.
I got it secondhand from a friend of a friend, in great condition. I was a bit skeptical when I purchased it, as I had never used the needles and have used some plastic needles before with little success… but I adore them. They warm to the touch and are just a bit flexible like bamboo, but with slickness like aluminum needles. The interchangeable-ness is so useful for so many projects, especially now that I tend to knit most straight items using circular needles. Now that I have a good interchangeable needle set, I never want to be without them.
See what others are blogging about for Day 7!
Knit and Crochet Week was a HUGE success! I had a blast reading other bloggers, commenting, and making some new e-friends along the way. I hope those of you who caught my posts enjoyed reading them, too! I did my best to crack my blogging knuckles and keep the posts mostly interesting. :)
Keep blogging!
Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of? Write about what you love it.
Location, Location, Location
Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?
The short answer is this: I like to knit anywhere where it is feasible!
The long answer:
The place that I most often find myself knitting is on my couch in the rec room, watching television or a movie with my dog. I like this arrangement very much. I usually tote a small project waiting rooms. My slew of health issues means I’m in waiting rooms a lot, which makes for tons of knitting time, and often conversation starters. Pubs are also a great place to knit sometimes, depending on lighting and space.
I enjoy going to the local knitting group sometimes, though I don’t go near as often as I’d like to. Knitting with other knitters is definitely the best.
Reading my sister the Pirate’s post today, I have to agree with her: My favorite knitting time is still Worldwide Knit In Public Day 2007, where she, myself and our brother hung out on the outdoor patio of Highlander Pub with beer, knitting, and great company.
 Fab. See what others are writing about for Day 5!
A New Skill
Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.
There’s a number of things I hope to learn. One of the biggest is learning how to properly crochet. I can do single crochet without a problem, but I still haven’t learned much about other stitch types, or how to read crochet patterns. I enjoy crochet for reasons different from knitting, and I’ll pursue it more one day.
One of my other big ones is proper spinning. I am very much a spinning newbie. I have two drop spindles and a lot of fibre to play with, but I’m no good at tension, or any terminology. I’ve played on a spinning wheel twice, but still don’t really get it.
I have some other smaller ones, which are more of a “haven’t done it yet because it’s daunting” kind of thing. Intricate lacework, intricate colourwork… I love how they look but to be honest, the thought of doing either still scares me, especially lacework. It’s so delicate.
I will be able to do all of this one day, though. :) Than I will set higher goals!
This post is decidedly photo-free. NExt post will be more interesting!
See what others are writing about for Day 4!
One Great Knitter
Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.
There are a number who inspire me, from the simplicity of friends who encourage me to the knitting “celebrities” that continue to do great things with our wonderful craft. If I had to pick one that inspires me like no other, it would have to be…
The Yarn Harlot.
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a writer, mom and blogger living in Toronto, Ontario. She writes knitting humor books, goes on book tours, and takes photos of her current Traveling Sock (in progress) on landmarks, with knitters, and with random awesome folks. She blogs about Knitting Olympics, her knitting triumphs and failures, her love of a good sock/sweater/fibre/yarn, and about the small joys of the craft we all know and love.
I had the pleasure of meeting her twice at her talks, and almost once at Winterlude when her daughter got lost (I was working Lost Children Services at the time and choked on my water when her daughter Amanda told me her mum’s name). I have a pic of me with her, her Traveling Sock, and one of my majorly failed socks.
 Do I look proud or what? She inspires so many knitters in the same ways she does me, but that’s part of why she’s so awesome. She makes knitting more accessible, more real, and more heartwarming than any other knitter has come close to.
Thanks Steph, for making the world of knitting that much more awesome. Keep rocking.
See what others are writing about for Day 3!
An Inspirational Pattern
Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!
Mine might be obvious to regular readers of my blog: My current project I’m aspiring to complete is my Doctor Who Scarf. First, a bit of background on the scarf’s origins…
Doctor Who is the longest-running sci-fi series ever. It airs on the BBC, and began in 1963, continuing to the present day (with a hiatus from 1987-2005, and a TV movie in 1996). The show follows The Doctor, who is the last of a humanoid alien race called the Timelords. He travels in his spaceship, the TARDIS, which has forever been stuck in a cloak of a Police Public Call Box from the 1950s.
 The TARDIS, the Doctor's ship. The Doctor, like all Timelords, has the ability to regenerate himself into a new form when he dies, a total of thirteen times. This allowed the BBC to keep the show running for as long as it has; when an actor needs to resign, another can take his place through “regeneration”. The doctor has regenerated ten times to this date; the series is currently on the eleventh.
 A chronological line-up of all eleven Doctors. This entry pertains to the fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker. His Doctor reigned from 1974 to 1981 and had the longest career of any doctor in the series. He is also generally the favorite Doctor amongst the majority of Doctor Who diehards. This snippet from doctorwhoscarf.com explains how the scarf came to be:
When Tom Baker was cast as the Doctor, costume designer James Acheson picked up a load of wool and asked a knitter called Begonia Pope to knit a scarf for Tom. She inadvertently used all the wool Acheson had given her, resulting in a scarf that was some twenty feet long. This unusual scarf was well received by the cast and crew and after being shortened slightly, it was worn by Baker beginning on “Robot.”
 A great picture of the scarf, and the Doctor himself. Oh, and Daleks. (click to enlarge) Chris Brimelow, the creator of doctorwhoscarf.com and the designer of the various scarf patterns, has placed them all on his site in great detail. I chose to make the duplicate scarf featured in Season 15 onwards, as it’s thicker than the original. It needs to be 16-17 feet long… I am currently 2.5 feet in. It is knit entirely in garter stitch, and the mind tend to fry after awhile. I combat this by multitasking, watching television or reading e-books while I knitknitknit away at the long, odd-width stripes.
 The scarf so far... (click to enlarge)  We're at about 2.5 feet unstretched. (click to enlarge) This scarf is the biggest undertaking I’ve handled since my first foray into knitting. To complete one is a goal I’ve had since I started knitting, and is one of the reasons I began to knit in the first place. To complete it is to remove an item from my Bucket List, and to complete something great in my knitting career. When it is completed, I hope to dress up as Tom Baker’s Doctor for Halloween. :D
There are other patterns I certainly want to tackle one day that I don’t yet feel comfortable tackling… (these all link to Ravelry, so you need to have an account to view!)
A Bohus sweater, a beautiful lace shawl of some sort (examples: Laminaria, Ishbel), things involving heavy colourwork or involved cabling… Lots of daunting projects ahead, and I will get there!
See what others are writing about for day 2!
Starting Out
How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?
I officially “began” knitting when I was about 14. I liked watching my mom make washcloths out of cotton and asked her to teach me to knit. Now, let it be known that while my mother was a wonderful teacher and mother, she just couldn’t teach me crafts. She taught be the ins and outs of laundry, ironing, cooking, cleaning, and all that important domestic stuff… but, as soon as I wanted to learn to sew, knit, crochet… suddenly she failed at teaching entirely.
I wanted so badly to learn these crafts but I just couldn’t grasp it. I was knitting plastic acrylic on aluminum needles, knitting too tightly and hurting my fingers, dropping stitches and gaining stitches mysteriously and having no clue what I was doing. It was frustrating and annoying. I gave up.
Fast forward a few years, to when I was 18. I was talking to a friend online about wanting to learn to knit properly, expecting her to tease me about it. I was met with “Oh! Cool! I knit, it’s tons of fun.” She recommended a book to me: Stitch and Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller.
I bought it the very next day and started devouring the information inside. I loved Debbie’s take on the stigmas knitting has/had, the history of knitting, the creative patterns inside, and most importantly, the clear, concise instructions that made me get it. Finally.
I knit swatch after swatch, practicing all the various stitch patterns, incresing, descreasing, casting on, binding off, making buttonholes… I practiced until the cows came home. My first official projects were a few wristbands, a kerchief and a headband. Instant gratification and I just wanted MORE. Debbie also went through different fibre types, different needle materials, sizes and types, things to include in your toolbag… there was all this background to knitting that I never knew existed. I was raised knowing of acrylic, cotton and itchy wool. Not anymore. I was buying nice wool. merino, alpaca, cashmere… there were so many options! And don’t get me STARTED on the deliciousness that is bamboo needles.
So there I was, transformed. Now that I understood knitting, I loved knitting, and I haven’t stopped since. I still have so much more to learn, so many things I want to try (which will be the subject of other blog posts this week). I’ve knit so much already, and yet I’ve only seen the top of the iceberg. That’s how knitting rolls. I love it.
See what others are writing about for Knit and Crochet Blog Week: Day 1!
Yep, I’m doing it!
Basically a fun excuse to do a blog post a day, answering the daily questions put on by Eskimimi. Great idea! I’m looking forward to it. I start tomorrow, so keep an eye out!
Fun thing I never mentioned: Ravelry member Alatheia used my Jayne Hat pattern to knit a hat for Wil Wheaton. She gave it to him at PAX East, and took photos of him wearing it with a Doctor Who scarf. I died of geek a little. Good job, Alatheia!
(obviously, credit for the above photo belongs to Alatheia. I wish I was there for it! I’m a total Wil fangirl.)
I’m also happy that I was able to push my progress bar on the Doctor Who Scarf to 10%. I may actually be closer to 15%, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I think it’s going to be the subject of one of my psots this week, which will mean new photos. Stay tuned!
It’s been quiet on the homefront!
I’ve been very busy with managing my home businesses. It’s extremely rewarding, but certainly doesn’t leave me with much personal time. The personal time I do get HAS been spent knitting, and the stress relief is incredible.
First off, some standard washcloths.
Knitting these for some friends who have recently had children, and a few new ones for me. I have way too much wash cotton sitting around, it’s time to use some!
Next, we’re up to 2 feet, unstretched, on the Doctor Who Season 15 scarf.
I’ve been knitting this between other projects. When I get tired of garter stitch, I move on to something else for awhile. It will eventually get done this way, no idea when! I like how it’s coming along.
Finally, I knit an anglerfish for the boyfriend.
He bought me the book Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh, and in exchange he asked for an anglerfish from the book. Happily obliged, and knit in his favorite colour, green.
More pics below, showing the bioluminescence along the back and other angles. The lure is bendable.
  
Next on my pattern list is a new pair of socks, a new summer hat, and possibly a hermit crab. Stay tuned!
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