littleturtleknits.com

Y’all, Columbus is where it’s at.  Once a year, the yarn industry people descend on the Ohio muggles in the most awesome exhausting exhilirating and inspiring weekend of the year:  TNNA’s Summer Market.  For those of you who live under a rock and haven’t already read the awesome recaps, this is the industry’s biggest event of the year.  It’s a trade show, education session, networking and bonding extravaganza!  I can’t even begin to list all the fabulous people I have “known” online that I was finally able to meet and have face to face conversations with.  But, of course, I’ll have to mention just a few highlights:

• Ysolda’s tea + cake every day.  Need I say more?!
• Kate: my partner in crime walking the show floor; it was so comforting to have a fellow first-timer to learn the ropes with (here’s me, Kate + Ysolda in the photobooth)
• Allegra + Brandy (and LG!): love the energy these two had!  Seriously, screen printing in their room on Friday night, and then pounding the concrete show floor with seriously cute Petite Purls media kits (and even more adorable baby-in-carrier).  Brandy even forgave me when I gave away her drivers license and credit cards (and yay for Ysolda, who promptly returned it!)
• AKD -from finally meeting the Board members I’ve worked so closely with (Jill + Kim) to the thoughtful and thought-provoking AKD Panel (“Achieving Mutual Goals in the Yarn Industry”) and getting re-energized with some strategic planning meetings
• Seriously considering babynapping the most adorable carrot-topped baby from Stefanie (who, despite being about 14 taller than me, could possibly be my long lost twin sister according to about a dozen TNNA attendees; including one very sweet Mission Falls guy)
• delicious tapas after an exhausting first day, with my roomates-turned-new-friends Chris + Jenny,  their friends turned my new friends (and yarn pushers!) and friend-turned-new-test knitter Mary Catherine (rumor has it that she’s a super speedy knitter!)
• testing my AKD “elevator speech” out on Laura Nelkin (who, for real people, I want to be when I grow up!  Her designs are lovely, no less than 8 people told me how fantastic her classes were at both TNNA and Squam, plus she is design director for a yummy yarn company, and is gorgeous on top of all that.  If she weren’t so nice, I’d hate her)
• Stitch Cooperative – those gals know how to paartay!
• Amy Polcyn might be the most prolific designer I’ve ever met.  Walked hte floor with her, and seriously – every other booth she’d point and say “That’s mine!” “That’s my design”  “I did that”  I swear, she must not sleep.

The booths were all so colorful and inspiring, it was hard not to get sensory overload!  Ysolda’s booth was a sea of tranquility and comfort (couches!  Cupcakes! fun little toys!) in which to rest, getting energized to go back out and see the sights.  Blue Sky had a bed that I wanted to curl up and sleep in, surrounded by that scrumptious yarn.  Amy Butler’s new yarns – oh, my, they’re divine.  Madelintosh and Dream in Color right across from each other – ever which way you looked, it was YUMMY YARN! New-to-me yarns like Mountain Meadow, Bijou Basin, and Pear Tree Yarns have all found a place on my to-be-knit shelf.

It was a whirlwind few days; I arrived Friday morning around 10 and was back home in Philly by 11 Sunday night.  Next year I’ll stay longer, and most importantly – wear more comfortable shoes! My poor toes were brutalized by Friday evening, and there were still two l-o-n-g days of walk, walk, walking the show floor.  Seriously folks, if there’s one lesson I don’t need to learn twice, it’s that if you have to choose between the gorgeous shoes and the comfortable shoes; go for comfort.  Your feet will thank you!

Have any of you been searching for the perfect tubular cast on?  One that can be worked in the round, without the tightness of the “cast on half” methods.  One that actually looks great, has great stretch, and doesn’t require starting on straights and then seaming up that little bit once your join the round?  I know I have! I like the Italian tubular cast on, which this one is obviously very similar to, but I always despised that half the stitches were mounted wrong and needed to be knit through the back loop.  I also really wanted to be able to join the round immediately and not do that wee bit of fiddly stitching. So, since I haven’t been able to knit for a while, getting this cast on just right i’s all I’ve been thinking about.  I’ve been imagiknitting it in my head for days, but never quite getting it right.  This morning, the pieces all came together and the needles in my head clicked.  I was so excited, I actually took off the wrist immobilizer and risked the pain to try it out.

Verdict?  Wrist didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, and the cast on rocks.  Totally worth the twinge!  Check it out and decide for yourself (I suggest watching the video first before trying to wade through the written directions.  This is definitely a “read a hundred times and still not get it; watch it once and know it forever” kind of things!)

For your wordy learners, here’s the written directions!

• Make a slip knot, with long tail (roughly equal to the tail length if you were doing a regular long-tail cast on) and place it on your circular needle with the working yarn (attached to ball) over left index finger, tail hanging between index and middle finger. This yarn will be called the “index yarn”
• Place the long tail yarn over your thumb, with tail hanging on outside of thumb. This yarn will be called the “thumb yarn”
• With yarn positioned as outlined, hold both tails loosely at the base of the palm with the remaining three fingers of the left hand.  Hold the working needle with the right hand. This is your “base position”

Step 1
Bringing ndl clockwise over the index yarn, under both, and up counterclockwise to catch the thumb yarn (forming a loop over the ndl with the thumb yarn), then under the index yarn counterclockwise, return to base position
(one “purl” stitch made)

Step 2
bring ndl counterclockwise under the thumb yarn, and then clockwise over the index yarn (forming a loop over the needle with the index yarn), then counterclockwise around the thumb yarn, returning to base position
(one “knit” stitch made)

Repeat these two steps until the desired number of stitches is cast on, ending with a “purl” stitch (step 1) The slip knot will be a knit stitch.

If working in the round, carefully stretch the cast on around your circular needle, being sure that it isn’t twisted.
Place a marker to note the beginning of the round and work as follows:

Rnd 1: *knit 1, bring yarn forward, slip one st, bring yarn back, repeat from * to end of rnd.(check once again at the end of this rnd to be sure that your work isn’t twisted around the ndl; if it is you can untwist it now, letting the twist fall between the needles into the yarn from the join.  Once you knit the first stitch of the second round, the twist will be set and there’s no way to fix it except for ripping out!)
Rnd 2: *bring yarn back, slip one st, bring yarn forward, purl 1, repeat from * to end of rnd.

If you plan to continue with a 1 x 1 ribbing, the cast on is complete at this point.  If you wish to continue with a 2 x 2 ribbing, work the following round:

Rnd 3: *knit 1, right twist (knit second stitch on ndl, purl first stitch, and then remove both), purl 1, repeat from * to end of rnd.  Your 2 x 2 ribbing is now established, and you may continue in your pattern.

That’s it!  It’s really a lot easier than these complicated instructions make it sound.  Watch the video a few times, and I’ll bet you’ll be hunting down projects to use your nifty circular tubular cast on!

Several weeks ago, in a fit of desperation I laid in bed and prayed for God to give me patience.  My kids were all in various stages of driving me bonkers, and rather than asking for them to change, I thought that maybe it was me who needed an adjustment.  Since that whispered prayer, however, I have suffered a variety of annoyances, large and small.  (a moment for perspective: I accept and acknowledge that my moaning about these annoyances that are not even blips on the screen of world suffering, is more than a bit shallow and self-absorbed.  I’m still going to write about it,in the hopes that at least some of you can laugh at my small suffering)

First, I tore three ligaments in my right wrist.  The hand I write with.  I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.  (The Brainiac’s response when I walked up to him, cradling my wrist and crying?  “You weren’t watching where you were going.  You always tell us to watch where we’re going!”  I would have strangled that child of mine, except I couldn’t move my hand.  Lucky for him)

Having my wrist immobilized for 6 weeks means that I can’t knit for that whole time.  I don’t know about y’all, and your various reasons for knitting, but I suspect I am not the only one who knits so I don’t kill people.  Stress from painful wrist+stress from not being able to do stuff+no knitting= one jacked up mama.  Not good, people.

So I’m cruising along, voraciously reading every book I can get my hands on and trolling the internets as meager substitutes for what used to be knitting time.  And then my computer charger dies.  And then I get a massive sinus infection.  And then my fridge dies, and the installation guys shove a too-large replacement in a justbarelytootight space, laving me unable to open half the fridge. And then they convince me that all I need to do is trim the counter down 1/4″ and it’ll be fine.  (As is I’m going to bust out the circular saw with my one good hand!)  And then the handyman who came to do said trimming instead pulls out the baseboard molding, jacking up my wall twelve ways to Sunday.  And the fridge still won’t open.  And then my washing machine starts alarming some bizarre error message that no one can figure out.  The door’s locked, with two of the boys’ baseball uniforms held captive inside.  Uniforms that they need to wear tonight. Repairman (covered under warranty, one bright spot in an otherwise dark day) won’t be here till Monday.  So now I’ve got half the kids not speaking to me, and I get to schlep to the laundromat with 3 days worth of laundry (and have to do it all one handed, mind you!)

So I’m left wondering who’s got a voodoo doll of me under their pillow?  I’m crying uncle here!  Of course, the real moral of this story is – Don’t pray for patience cause you just might get loads of opportunities to use it.

20 Questions

The flu has hit me, and hard. I’ve done pretty much nothing for the past 48 hours, except make myself some chicken soup, knit, and surf the net looking for ideas and inspiration for my December Daily. I literally gasped when I saw this:

on Etsy. Seriously, is it not the most adorable vintage christmas goodie you’ve ever seen?! You must go buy this pdf (super cheap, by the way!) from TayloredArts and plop one on every single gift you give out this season. Bonus points if it’s a knitted gift you’re giving.

And because I’m feeling a bit loopy from the flu drugs, I’m even going to give away one of these PDFs. Leave a comment telling me all about the knitted gifts you’re planning to give this season, and I’ll have the boys pick a name out of a (knitted) hat. I’ll buy a set for the winner and have it sent to your email so you can give some Christmas Cuteness!

The Giveaway will close Sunday, Nov.8th at midnight. For a second chance to win, join Little Turtle Knit’s facebook fan page.

yup, I think that’s about right, too.

You are bamboo.

Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and
enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You
love the craft and beauty of traditional
things, and you value the comfort and
experience of knitting as much as the results.
But while you are reveling in your warm cozies,
don’t get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is
the whole wide world!

What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

So, I’ve been swatching like crazy for lots of spring/summer designs. Loving on Mission falls 1824 cotton right now, and surprising, also loving on TLC’s Cotton Plus (way cheaper that the 1824, LOL!) Will have some goodies to show in a week or so.

Motoring along on Rogue’s sleeve. Using the yarn I have on the site, in bark, and it is truly stunning. Me like!

In other news, we just got news yesterday that our bid for a new house (our first that’s not rented!!) was accepted, so on May 26th we officially become homeonwners. Here’s a link to a pic (too big to put here and bore you all) so if you want to see, check it out: Our House

That’s it for now, folks!

You are Schroeder!

Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

So I hate that blogger just deleted the entire post I wrote. Ugh-now to rewrite it. It’s never as witty the second time around, yk?

What a day! Ethan’s asthma has taken us for a ride the past few days, since he got croup. When his coughing made him throw up his OJ this morning, I knew it was time to bundle up for a visit to the Emergency Department at Children’s Hospital. So, off we went. Ethan got four breathing tratments and a shot of steroids, and now we’re happily cuddled back at him. He’ll be on Orapred for a few days, but I think we’ve weathered this storm pretty well. Last time, we had to stay at CHOP for 5 days. Man, how I love those steroids and the magic they cast on my little guys lungs!

I did manage to get a bit of progress done on his gansey while he slept at the ED. It’s for Christmas, so the center motif is little trees, which you cannot tell from the pic. He’s already grown quite attached to it, and treis to cuddle at every occasion. I’ve had to rescue at least half a dozen droppes stitches from his attempts at “lovin”, but if it makes him happy, right now that’s fine by me.

I managed to also get the second bootee doen in this cute pumpkin pair. The yarn is Wildflower DK, and if I haven’t mentioned it before, I loathe this yarn. It splits like the Dickens, it’s like knitting with 8 strands of thread, held loosely together. Yuk. But the finished product is awfully cute (or will be, once I seam the second bootee).

And finally, one more pic that I promised a few days ago-my little turtle stitch markers. I hope they make you smile as much as they do me

Dh took the boys to the Y to swim before I even woke up this morning, so I’ve had 3 hours (and counting) of blissfully quiet knitting time. (Gotta love that man o’mine!) Finally got a chance to sit and figure the details on the Pilot Cap pattern everyone has been bugging me about, so now it’s finished. Here’s the hat:

I’m not sure what I’ll do with that sample one, since there’s a definite lack of girls around here, but that’s the yarn that was salvaged from the swift incident the other day, I couldn’t bear to waste it.

I think I’m going to start a gansey sampler today, for a new pattern. I’ve been itching to do matching ones for Ethan and AJ to wear for Christmas pics, and since the house is quiet and all the cleaning is done, I feel like it’s okay to start another project (let’s NOT talk about the half dozen or so that are sitting on my workdesk to be finished, ok?) I’ll be using some of the yummy 2 ply yarn I carry, in the hunter green shade. Very Christmas-y, me thinks. I’ll post pics tomorrow when there’s some progress.

Well, I’m posting pics, so I think that means the yarn came out well! I am in love witht eh autumn colorway I talked about this morning. It’s going to my friend Tanya, for her little Fae’s booty, and I hope she loves it

And here’s the rest of my “inbox” that I dyed today. I love being a knitter, all these fun colors!

ANd finally got the boys to model the hats I did for them over vacation. Notice the ingenious shaping at the ears to keep those little lobes warm and cozy? I’m planning to write up the pattern for the site, but it’s slow going, so if y’all want it, pester me about it and I’ll try tog et it dne faster. Ethan’s (the white hat) has a tree pattern in purl on it, and Aj’s (the green one) has a diamond purl pattern on it. Pretty cute, huh? (that hats aren’t so bad either!)