I'm finally up to date on reading old Knitlist messages and they had an interesting discussion on knitting guilt. I never feel guilty for knitting fortunately. I have a relatively clean house (as clean as it can be with all these pets) and plenty of time that I'd prefer not to spend on housecleaning. I think the key to keeping a house clean with the minimum amount of work is to be organized and reduce clutter. I have friends with cluttered houses who spend hours and hours cleaning each week and I can never really tell. I purposely don't have a lot of furniture and decorative doodads and everything has a place. Of course moving a lot helps you get rid of stuff also.





DH wants to get me an Ott-Lite for my birthday and it is definitely about time because there are already many knitting tasks (like seaming) that I've given up doing at night. I'm off to look at all the different styles and see if I can find a sale somewhere. Here's a photo of the view I look at from my knitting spot on the couch. The Russian olives have leaves on them now finally.

Bunny Fun Felted Rabbit

I am a huge admirer of Katharine Hepburn's work. She always played intelligent, fearless women and Bringing Up Baby and Philadelphia Story are two of my favorite movies of all time. She will be greatly missed. I'm hoping they'll rerun some of her movies this week in her honor so I can knit while enjoying her talents all over again.




I have received word from Jackie at HeartstringFiberArts and Bev Galeskas at Fiber Trends that I can use their designs for my rabbit shelter knitting project (Jackie's Knitted Bunny from a square and Fiber Trend's Bunny Fun felted rabbit - photo above). I'm impressed with the nice responses I've gotten from the four designers of rabbit-themed patterns and how happy they were to let me knit some of them in honor of Flip the big black wonderbunny.

I also received a note from John & Hillary Benish at Alderson Hospitality House. Here it is verbatim: "Dear Nanette, Thank you so much for the donation of yarn and materials for the women at the prison. We know they will occupy idle hours, learn skills, and give back to the community. Gratefully, John & Hillary."

If you would like to donate yarn or magazines or patterns (any kind greatly needed including partial skeins of any fiber yarn) to be used by women prisoners to knit for various charities, please send it to The Prison Yarn Project, Alderson Hospitality House, P.O. Box 579, Alderson, WV 24910.

Norwegian Selbu Star Gloves

Every now and then a knitting project comes along that I really enjoy and that works out really well. These are the Norwegian Selbu Star gloves from Knitting in the Nordic Tradition by Vibeke Lind (page 112) done in Country Garden DK made for DH. They are my favorite FO of 2002. They are soft and warm and I really like the way they look on DH.



One of my pet peeves is the way glove patterns have all four fingers start on exactly the same row. I've never seen a hand that looks like that so I changed the pattern so that the gloves will be more anatomically correct. You can see that the pinky starts right at the end of the hand pattern but that I did extra rows of black to accommodate the other fingers.

What will be my favorite FO of 2003? So far it is St. Enda but the year isn't over. Could be Malin, could be something else I haven't even started yet. I'm finally past the ribbing on Malin and am really getting into it.

It seems I spoke too soon about the fires in Albuquerque being out - tonight they started again in several places (arson) along the bosque and are bigger and threatening homes and livestock. We're far away on the other side of the Sandia mountains so no smoke here yet.



I did get a little work done today on Malin's ribbing. I do really enjoy using Cascade 220 for textured work and am going to buy some more for another Starmore sweater soon. I am also on my third bunnies & carrots hat. I'm still working on my handspun cat fur scarf and it is really going to be pretty. I've also tried to spin some of Snickerdoodle's fur and can get something halfway decent from his short fur if I use a spindle. It isn't a great yarn but is certainly durable enough to make something to remember him by. I may make a little bell and then do the same with some of Flip's fur I've saved. I think it is kind of neat to have something tactile to help remember a beloved pet.

Currently the beautiful bosque along the Rio Grande river is on fire (they suspect fireworks). I think it is contained now but all those beautiful centuries-old cottonwoods are gone. And in a tree-deprived place like Albuquerque that is really a loss. We used to enjoy walking there and visiting the Rio Grande Nature Center where they had to evacuate a lot of rescued wildlife tonight. Fortunately no occupied homes burned but I should really close the windows because I can smell smoke.



I'm amazed at how much more time I now have. I guess I was spending several hours a day tending to sick Flip. I'd like to adopt another special needs rabbit (disabled or chronically ill) that needs more attention one day but not for a while. I think maybe I'm going to like all this extra knitting time and we'd like to do more traveling to see all our friends in Colorado.



I've been impatiently waiting for my Sweaterscapes landscape socks pattern book so I can start an intarsia project. Now I'm also noticing a craving to do some real Fair Isle. I may order the Shetland 2000 to make the Ron Schweitzer Pine Forest vest pattern or perhaps the new Kirman sweater kit from Nancy's Knit Knacks. Kirman is knit on size 1 needles though and I'm not quite sure I'm up for that right now. Isn't it pretty though? I really like the colors and it is a decent price also for a sweater kit with that many different colors.



Jack the cat is thoroughly sick of all the focus on rabbits and feels only extra-large cats named Jack should be discussed from now on. Our cats aren't outdoors cats but I put him outside to take his photo with my outdoor only camera.

Here's a bag I made years ago from Euroflax Linen. Patternworks included the pattern free when I bought the yarn and it was called the French market bag. Boy is Euroflax strong - we've loaded this up with heavy library books many times and there is no sign of fraying.









I need to get to work on the bottom patterning of Trondheim. Then I'll have all that boring plain solid color stockinette for mindless knitting for an upcoming trip to Colorado. I'm still doing the Malin bottom ribbing (I'm working on both front and back simultaneously) but finally have the concentration skills back to finish that up and get started on the main patterns of the body.



I started the Blackberry Ridge pet socks in some stash Country Garden DK and I've decided to duplicate stitch the rabbits this time. The main color for the socks was on sale at Smiley's Yarn and is called "shrimp". A truly odd color. I'm using this charity knitting to try to get rid of lots of odd colors in the stash.

I had an email conversation with the Chapter Manager of the Colorado House Rabbit Society where there are hundreds of pet rabbits awaiting adoption. I asked her about ways I can help the shelter bunnies from afar and she asked for bunny-themed knitted items for their gift shop, auctions, and fundraisers. Now that I can do. If any of you know of any rabbit-related knitting patterns of any kind, please email me at nanetteb@compuserve.com.



I've already contacted several pattern writers for permission to use patterns to knit and send to the CO HRS. I was lucky enough to receive permission from Anne Bosch of Blackberry Farm to knit and donate the rabbit socks from the Pet Socks Pattern and from Barb Telford of Woodsmoke Woolworks to knit and donate her adorable bunnies and carrots hat. Barb also said I could use her other patterns for this purpose so I may also be making her bunnies and carrots baby sweater once I order the pattern.



While searching for more rabbit-related patterns to knit, I chanced upon the most interesting web site called VIP Fibers. They have a whole page of free knitting and crochet patterns for your handspun pet fur HERE including a knitted picture frame. VIP Fibers is a business with 4 employees that does custom pet fur spinning, knitting & weaving. There is a gorgeous Persian cat fur woven pillow. They also sell yarns so this is your big chance to buy a skein of Cocker Spaniel yarn.



Here's my first attempt at the bunnies and carrots hat in Lamb's Pride. As you can see there are tension issues with my stranding efforts between each rabbit. This weekend I made two more versions of this hat and I've decided not to strand but instead to leave long floats instead. I figure long floats really don't matter in a hat as much as they would in mittens or socks.

I am really grateful for your wonderful responses on the loss of my beloved house rabbit Flip. It really means a lot to me. I will be back with some actual knitting content in a few days.

GOODBYE SWEET FLIP









Yesterday my lovable black bunny Flip died peacefully at home. He was my favorite pet of all time and had been sick for quite some time. Oddly enough the day before he died he rallied and I was thinking he was going to get better so I put him back on his antibiotics. He had a great life with 24 hour nursing care (me, of course) and the best gourmet greens. He was really sweet and affectionate (we called him the love sponge) and he came when you called him. I am just amazed at how much I miss him. I can't knit (or do anything else) yet.



Here is the last photo I took of him a few weeks ago.

I've been spindling madly to make a few skeins of mixed cat fur by Saturday night. Cirque du Soleil's newest circus, Varekai, is premiering on Bravo and I wanted something totally mindless to knit. My stockinette stitch cat fur scarf is just the ticket. I've been pretty encouraged with this yarn as I don't have a lot of experience blending fibers. I've been saving fur from my two house rabbits and now I feel I can blend their fur (about 1 1/4" long) with something else and get some sort of usable novelty yarn. I like the idea of remembering a pet with something knitted from their fur, especially as both bunnies are now senior citizens.







No photos today as the new version of Blogger isn't letting me upload them. Sigh.

I try to spread out my knitting purchases so that I can look forward to them and savor them each individually. Instead yesterday all my purchases arrived on the same day. I got a used copy of Alice & Jade Starmore's Children's Collection for my AS collection and because I may want to make the elephant pillow. I also plan to buy Jade's book, A Collector's Item, because I really want to make the Maxmilian sweater. It is currently out-of-print but the Virtual Yarns web site says it will be back in stock in a month.



I also received my Denise needle replacements for my set. The new Denise needles take a bit more oomph to snap into place and the cables are a different color but otherwise they seem the same. Last but not least, I got Ron Schweitzer's Appalachian Portraits. I've heard Ron Schweitzer compared to Alice Starmore and I can only agree. In his designs he's working with a much more limited palette of natural Shetland colors (In AP there are only a total of 9 colors used) and he's doing some seriously wonderful fair isle. I am planning to make the Pine Forest vest and was happy to see I didn't have to buy the biggest size which is almost $40 more than the medium size.

I enjoyed getting together a box for the Prison Yarn Project - it is always cathartic to reduce the stash. I got rid of all my extra Emu Superwash DK (except what I need for Trondheim), a cone of Cotton Fleece, some Socka sock yarn, the Philosopher's Wool sock kit, some children's patterns and some other oddballs of yarn. I hope they can use some of it.



While re-organizing everything I found several patterns I want to make soon. These include the mitered mittens from a recent Cast On, the Debbie New Better Mousetrap Socks from Interweave Knits, and the Heartstring Fiber Arts' Maple Leaves lace scarf. I already have some handpainted silk/rayon yarn for the scarf and I'll see what I can find to make the other two projects.



I didn't accomplish much knitting this weekend but I'm still working on the scarf from handspun cat fur. Here's a close-up photo of the actual yarn and the purpleheart Bossie.

PRISON YARN PROJECT



A few years ago I sent some Wool-Ease and other odds and ends to Alderson Hospitality House in West Virginia. AHH is a residence for families visiting women prisoners at the nearby Federal Prison Camp. Women prisoners use the yarn to knit and crochet items for charity. In return, I've been on their mailing list for a newsletter with interesting statistics and quotations. I'm currently getting another shipment ready to send (most likely my remaining Emu Superwash DK) because they need more yarn. Here's the info from the newsletter for those of you who are interested in contributing:



"Prison Yarn Project --- We need your help in providing yarn for the prisoners at FPC Alderson. Each year, women at the prison take donated yarn and transform it into sweaters, hats, blankets, scarves and mittens for the needy children and senior citizens in the Alderson area. It's a project in which everyone wins - the women learn a new skill, occupy idle hours and provide warm clothing to needy people. Skeins of yarn that may be sitting around your house could keep somebody warm this winter. Please send yarn to: Alderson Hospitality House, Box 579, Alderson, WV 24910."

I saw Jeanette the knitting wunderkind today in the parking lot of the bank. She states she is making the Spontaneous Scarf in green and is going to email me some photos of her knitting to post in this blog. She is also working on a fringed Latvian mitten kit in Satakieli yarn from Finland.



I want to knit a shawl for my mother. She still oohs and ahhs over a horrible garter stitch shawl I made her from Wool Ease many years ago. I think I'm going to go to make the Lucy Neatby Fir Tree Shawl without the tassel but I am still looking for other possibilities. I also want to order some yarn for Na Craga for DH. And yes, I did manage to order Ron Schweitzer's Appalachian Portraits despite my best efforts not to buy more knitting stuff.

Spin-Off Entrelac Socks

Here are the Spin-Off entrelac socks done in handspun Kool Aid and Easter egg dyed yarns in 10 different colors. They were fun to do but they are most significant because they are the first socks I've knit in years. I guess I just got burnt out on socks.

Still plugging along on all that K1P1 ribbing and trying not to spend too much money on knitting books. So far in the past month I've purchased Folk Vests and the Anne Feitelson Fair Isle book and The Children's Collection by Alice Starmore. I'm pretty bad about knitting books and always have a few more I want. I think I'll get the Ron Schweitzer books next - at least Postcards from Shetland and Appalachian Portraits.

I'm procrastinating on the Trondheim and Malin sweaters. Can you believe I'm not thrilled about doing 3 inches of K1P1 rib with size 2 needles on 250 stitches? Instead I've been working on spinning up more cat yarn. It is a blend of fur from Bosco, my white flame-point Himalayan and Pumpkin, my black Persian. These two cats absolutely hate each other's guts so it is ironic that their fur works so well together. First I started the mitered mittens in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac with the cat yarn. I thought the yarn was too compressed in feel. So now I'm knitting a stockinette stitch scarf in size 13 needles which shows off this yarn quite well.



Here is a photo of the cotton cards I use to blend the cat fur fibers and the purpleheart Bosworth spindle I'm using to spin the yarn. The resulting yarn is kind of tweedy and soft. This gorgeous spindle is not exceptionally fast or long-spinning but it almost never back spins. I wonder if those two things are related. Perhaps the speed demon spindles are also more likely to back spin? The Bosworth is perfect for this project and I'm quite happy at how uniform the yarn is with my relatively slapdash methods of carding and spinning.

Do you have a knitting fantasy wish list? I'm talking about things you will probably never have for various reasons. I do enjoy dreaming about all these things though.



1. A copy of Alice Starmore's Pacific Coast Highway for under $50. It is the only remaining AS book I want. There are a few sweaters I'd like to make from it but I actually saw it for $575 online yesterday.



2. A Rio Grande great wheel from Weaving Southwest. These spinning wheels are so gorgeous and I've touched them and seen them demonstrated. Alas, they are way too big for any house I'll ever live in.



3. The Virtual Yarns yarn kit for Lismore. I'm not sure I'll ever fork over that much for a sweater kit even though it is gorgeous.



4. Enough cashmere yarn for an entire sweater - maybe even something cabled.



5. Silk worms to raise my own silk. I am fascinated by insects and love the concept of raising my own (this is discussed a lot in Spin-Off) but know I'd hate all the work involved.



6.. A Patrick Green drum carder - I don't even know why as I don't buy whole fleeces anymore.



Now that I've listed those fantasies, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm already living my knitting/fiber fantasy. I live in a terrific passive solar house with quiet and privacy along with killer views. I sit on my couch and look at the view out the windows and knit and spin to my heart's content. My husband is a wonderful and loving man who enables my fiber fantasies and doesn't even mind if I'm too busy knitting to cook dinner. I have zillions of wonderful knitting books and fiber tools and too much yarn. I know I'm blessed to be able to indulge my passion so fully.



Here's a close-up of the Malin sleeve.

I finally finished both sleeves from Trondheim and both sleeves from Malin (about a week later than I had planned). I'm looking forward to getting started on the body of both sweaters. I'm going to work both the back and front of Malin simultaneously on the same (long) needle to keep my progress on Malin and Trondheim equal. It is the only way I'll ever finish Trondheim. I am amazed at how the Emu Superwash DK I'm using for Trondheim is already pilling. Fortunately my friend Brad won't care at all and will wear Trondheim frequently as he is quite addicted to wool.



Here is one Malin sleeve (from Alice Starmore's In the Hebrides) in Cascade 220 color 8885.