It is the second edition of The Principles of Knitting: Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting, an encyclopedia of all things knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt. I preorded this last year as soon as I learned it was being published and then forgot to track the progress. What a nice surprise it is! There is enough knitting knowledge in here to keep me busy for a lifetime. No, I’m not exaggerating.

In case you are unfamiliar with this volume, a bit of background: Hiatt originally wrote it back in the 1980s. It became a classic for yarn addicts everywhere, but went out of print during the grunge years of the 1990s. I’ve actually only seen the first edition of this once, in a library reference section. First edition copies retail for $250-300—well out of reach for most of us.

The new edition is even bigger and better than the old. The author has added about 100 pages of content and gone carefully through every word (according to the preface, Hiatt had to retype the entire manuscript. Gasp!). There are over 700 pages to the book, including a very comprehensive index.

So what will you find in the book? Friends, an easier question might be what won’t you find in the book. When it comes to knitting info, it’s all here. From casting on, to how you hold the needles; from stitch patterns to pattern abbreviations; from choosing yarn to fighting stains in garments—you will find it all in this volume. Hiatt explicitly wrote this book to be suitable for beginners, but I can’t imagine even the most expert knitters not learning something new from it as well.

In short, if I could only have one knitting book on my shelf, it would be this one.

The publishers, Simon & Schuster would be morons to let this go out of print again, but just in case, you may want to get your own while the price is still accessible. You won’t regret it.

Do I need to say more or is the photo enough?

This little cutie is one of the booties I made with the famous Saartje freebie pattern. I think I may be the last knitter on the web to join the love fest for these, but believe it or not, this was my first time making them. What took me so long?

I used my scale and some math to determine that these took only about 50 yards of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn.  This means you could squeeze about 7 pairs out of a skein. That makes them a very inexpensive gift.

These booties were made to go with the hat I made for the same newborn and blogged about earlier this year.

I spent about 90 minutes making the booties from the time I cast on the first shoe to the time I wrapped them up to deliver to their recipient’s parents. Finding and attaching the buttons took longer than the knitting. I was grateful to Ysolda for writing up such a great tutorial on sewn button loops, which made those a piece of cake.

Can you handle one last photo or is the cuteness already killing you? More? Ok, here you go.

Project notes on Ravelry

Nope, I’ve been here all along, just insanely busy and suffering from a minor loss of blogging mojo.

I’ve missed you, friends, and I have some good news and some bad news. The good: I am in my final semester of graduate coursework [she pauses to dance around the room].

The bad: my workload has now turned a corner from merely intense to totally insane. Nonetheless, in order to prevent myself from turning into a Complete Grouch, I’m committed to carving out 20-30 minutes of yarny time each day. This isn’t much, people. I must warn you that the pace at which I develop knitterly things to tell you about is going to temporarily drop off.  My goal is going to be to pop in here at least once a week with an update (but more if I can swing it) until later this spring.

Enough of that drama. Let’s talk about knitting.

I’ve been making tons of gifts for kids! Today I have photos of two to share. These are hats I made for the adorable children of a friend.

Both are made from free patterns I downloaded on Ravelry out of basic wool-blend yarn I bought at Michaels. The red one used the High Line Hat pattern and Caron Naturally Country yarn. This easy, unisex pattern is sized from baby through large adult, so I doubt this will be my only time using it.

The pink hat used the Nottingham kids hat pattern and yarn from Martha Stewart’s new line of yarn in a shade of pink chosen to accommodate the fashion-sensibility of the 3-year-old recipient (read: not my first choice of color…).

This yarn worked okay for this project, but I was disappointed that the cables didn’t stand out more. It also has a very dense, non-wooly feel to it. I probably won’t use it again.

Kids hats seem to be a great way to quickly try new patterns. They are done before you know it. The only downside is that I have no sense of what size they should be. I’ll be eager to hear from the recipients if these fit.

Ravelry project notes for Red Hat

Ravelry project notes for Pink Hat

I went carefully through the entry forms this week to make sure I could credit everyone with as many entries as possible and then I left the prize pull up to the fates and my friend, Random Number Generator.

Congratulations to:

Prize #1: SpinSpanSpun gift card

This prize goes to Evelyn L.  who entered with a cabled hat she made for Ohio Binky Patrol (if you aren’t already reading it, check out Evelyn’s wonderful blog here).

Prize #2: Three Bags Full notion bag

This prize goes to Yvonne C. who made several baby cardigans for Bundles of Love.

Prize #3: Norajane gift card

This prize goes to Melissa M. who made a prayer shawl for a project run by her church in Texas.

I will be contacting all three winners immediately with details.

Congratulations to everyone who participated for using your yarn skills to do something great for others!  And many thanks are due to our contest sponsors, SpinSpanSpun, Three Bags Full, and Norajane.

In case you’ve forgotten, the idea of the charity challenge is to reward people who knit and crochet to help others in need and to encourage knitters and crocheters who have never made things for charity to start.

The concept is simple: knit or crochet a project of your choice for a charity of your choice. Each project earns you an entry in the prize drawing and big projects count for two (up to 10 entries). The contest is open to anyone in the world, non-U.S. yarnies welcome! More info and prize details are on  my contest page.

To enter the contest, you must complete two simple steps 1) fill out a quick online entry form  and 2) submit a photo of your finished project(s) to me via Flickr, Ravelry, or email.

It’s not too late to get your needles and hooks going on some baby hats or afghan squares. If you need ideas, try my past charity posts, or head to Ravelry.

Happy knitting!

Here is a case in point. On Sunday, I had the pleasure of meeting Baby Keegan, who was born last week. She weighs something less than 10 pounds (read: she’s a tiny little bug!). Remembering a post where the Yarn Harlot raved about this magic baby bonnet pattern, I fished out some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock—the softest and most durable superwash yarn in my stash—and went to town.

Soon I had this:

After a little bit of sewing, it turned into this:

But, friends, this thing looks so much bigger than little Keegan’s newborn baby head!

Check out the dimensions:

Am I wrong, or is this thing not going to fit her for weeks? Should I save this for later and make something else?

Even if it is more than newborn sized, it sure is cute. Next up, booties with remaining yarn. Baby knitting is great for instant gratification!

My project notes on Ravelry

This is a scarf for moi, made from Lexy Lu’s free Foreign Correspondent pattern and a single skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Stovepipe colorway. I had this pattern in my queue forever and the Loopy Ewe’s 2011 Fourth Quarter Challenge was just the push I needed to get started on it.

The pattern is simple and well-written, but it is not mindless. I had to pay some attention (so no reading). I worked on this while watching TV and listening to audio books. Credit is due to author David Grann, whose book The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon is so compelling that it pulled me through at least the last two feet of this scarf. I’m hoping the second half of the book can work its magic on my Laar sleeves this week.

Stovepipe is not the softest colorway of Tosh yarn I’ve worked with. I think this gorgeous navy shade comes at a tactile cost. It softened considerably in the blocking, though. The scarf used all but about 8″ of my one skein of yarn. The finished, blocked product is 7″ x 75″—plenty long for me.

While the scarf has an obvious right and wrong side, I was pleased to see that the wrong side looks okay, especially in this dark color. See:

As you may have noticed, the color looks different every time I photograph this yarn. I think capturing the color far exceeds my photographic ability and may not actually be possible, so if any of you want to see the color accurately, we may need to meet in person. Please let me know when you are free.

Project notes on Ravelry

The new deadline to enter the Charity Challenge Contest is January 15, 2012, 11:59 P.M.

All other rules will remain the same: simply knit or crochet an item of your choice to donate to a charity of your choice, fill out a simple entry form, link to or send me a photo (for proof), and potentially win a great prize from the following awesome sponsors.

SpinSpanSpun @Etsy

Three Bags Full @Etsy

Norajane on Etsy

Don’t forget: you may also enter the contest with items that you made for charity anytime in the contest period, which began November 1, 2011.

Spread the word with your knitting/crocheting friends!

We’ve got some great prizes lined up and today I have the privilege of announcing another: a $20 gift card to Norajane on Etsy.

Owner Mollie makes adorable rubber stamps and pillows. I own several of her wonderful stamps, including my own set of the sheep pictured (of course!), and I was also excited to learn that she’s based in Cary, NC. We’re neighbors! One lucky winner will win $20 to spend in her Etsy shop.

So are you eager to enter now or what? I’ve been delighted to see some entries come in already, but I know you are capable of even more, so here are a few ideas to jumpstart your efforts.

Got wool? Knit for Kids in Central Asia or Canada (wool)

The awesome folks at Wool-Aid team up to provide warm wool hats, socks, mittens, blankets, vests, and sweaters to children who need them in Tibet, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Canada. Information on their ongoing efforts as well as requirements and mailing address can be found on the Wool-Aid website or at their active Ravelry group.

Make Warm Hats for U.S. Navy Sailors (superwash wool)

Those of you who are based in the States may be interested in supporting the troops. Hats for Sailors is on a mission to provide handmade hats to sailors serving on ships in the U.S. Navy. Hats must be machine washable wool (superwash). Information on their project can be found on their blog or at their Ravelry group page.

Make a Square, Help Warm AIDS Oprhans in Africa (any yarn)

KasCare’s international Knit a Square project teams up to make, collect, and distribute blankets and garments for children in South Africa who have lost their parents to AIDS. Even if you have a busy schedule, you can fit in time to make one square, right? Find full details on knit-a-square website. If you want some more inspiration and ideas, you may enjoy checking out Robyn’s blog, minimalist knitter, and seeing photos of all her cheerful squares.

Send Scarves to Comfort Victims of Abuse (any big yarn)

Handmade Especially For You is working to provide a handmade scarves to women in California shelters to honor their bravery in leaving abusive environments. They have teamed up this holiday with the charity organization of actor Alexander Skarsgard to provide a scarf to every woman in the shelters in southern California, which means they need 15,000 scarves by December 29. They ask for scarves to be made on big needles or hooks (15-17 or K, N,P) with soft yarn. Dimensions should be 4-5″ wide by at least 60″ long. Look for details on Skarsgard’s website.

Prefer Animals to People? Make Security Blankets for Homeless Pets (any yarn)

Animal shelters around the world are in need of blankets to make their spaces a little more friendly and warm to the cats and dogs that pass through. If you love animals, this is a great way to use up odds and ends or practice new techniques (the animals don’t care what it looks like!). Snuggles Project offers lots of information about how to get started, including a pattern for an adorable cat blanket that uses fun fur (seriously, fun fur). Based on the photo of the recipient on the webpage, cats love fun fur. Who knew?

So what are you waiting for? Get started! I can’t wait to see what you make!

Not much progress has happened since you last heard from me, though somehow I’ve made it to the bottom ribbing on my Effortless Cardigan. That sweater must be magic because it is basically knitting itself. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to send it home with my sister when she visits this weekend.

I’m looking forward to having some time before New Years to finish up my other lingering UFOs because I’m getting a little sick of them. So far I’ve been able to hold off on starting new things, but it isn’t easy. Look what I have to anticipate:

From left: Plucky Primo in Hope is a Good Thing, Springtree Road Muscadine Sock in Nautilus, Plucky Primo in Goin’ Courtin’, and Quince Tern in Back Bay.

The Plucky was scored as part of the Plucky Knitter yarn club, a spot in which I somehow lucked myself into this summer. I think both of those yarns are destined to be new hats. The Springtree Road yarn is a very beautiful semisolid that will be either socks or a small shawl. I’m keeping the plans for the Quince Tern to myself for the moment, as that finished object will be a gift.

One good thing about being so busy? I haven’t had much time to buy yarn. I’m a little stunned to report that it has been more than 50 days since my last yarn purchase (for exact time since I last succumbed, check the new counter I added on the sidebar to keep myself honest). I was so inspired by Mooncalf’s success going “cold sheep” that I tried it myself, and so far it’s working. I’m not counting the Plucky club in this.

Now if I can just hold out against the 12 Days of Dizzy sale. That will be the real test, right?