tangled

blue and green...

2012-01-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

it has always been a favorite combination...

a blue verging-on-turquoise

with a pea-soup green

they are the colors of the pacific ocean

on a bright spring day...

this latest version of the beach sweater

which is currently on my needles

is knit in berroco's wonderful ultra alpaca

the colors?

irwyn green and turquoise mix

i like...

beach sweater pattern...

2012-01-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

it is coming...

albeit slowly

the loss of my pattern notes

and calculations

to the great computer crash of 2011

(yup...hard drive dead)

has thrown me off course

but the delays have given me new ideas

and perhaps will make for a better pattern...

last week i played with this version:

by the way...still only two photos have been received

for the tangled knitter "contest"

where, oh! where are you, you tangled knitters?

don't be bashful

or ashamed (tangles have their beauty)

send in those photos!

you could win a copy of the new pattern...

tangles...

2012-01-24T16:19:00.000-08:00

tangles occur quite naturally...

especially in my stash...

do they occur quite naturally in yours, as well?

then please consider
sharing your tangles...

show us your tangled knitting, your disorganized stash, your incredibly embarrassing scramble of yarn and needles and what-not...

send me your tangled photos!

i will post the photos on the blog

during the remaining days of january...

email your photos to: tangled knitter

please put "tangled knitter" on the subject line

and let me know how you would like me to recognize you

i will gladly link to your blog, if you have one...

your email address will remain private

all who participate

(by submitting a photo or simply commenting on one)

will be entered in a drawing

to be held on the first of february

two thousand twelve

at seven pm california time

soup...

2012-01-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

potato and kale

decidedly NOT tangled...

2012-01-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

...mary's stash is definitely an inspiration to those of us with
tangles

says mary from america's knitting:

"I’m the tidy type of knitter, not tangled. All of my 50 some odd projects are all “on needles” (yep – yikes) and in their respective bags. All my stash yarn is not listed on Ravelry but nicely tucked away in the ‘yarn pantry’. More is upstairs in the apartment armoire. I’ve got all my books in the pantry and the needles are all sized and hanging in the closet with straights looking lovely in two separate fun vases. All loose patterns are in sleeves and organized in a HUGE pink binder with more patterns in a folder on the computer. With my mountain of yarn, way too many patterns and books and needles up the wazoo – I think I’d go crazy for sure if it were all tangled. I did have a panic attack about 5 years ago when I had to move it all – whew glad that’s over."

w o w . . .

inspirational, isn't she?

or do we just hate her?

thanks, mary, for sharing...

and knitters, do check out her website, america's knitting

you can also follow her on facebook

honoring doctor king...

2012-01-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

"Did you ever stop to think that you can't leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that's handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that's given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that's poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that's poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you're desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that's poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that's given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half of the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality. We aren't going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality."

...Martin Luther King, Jr. 1967

oh where oh where...

2012-01-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

...are the tangled knitters?

we have had only one photo to date...

from Anne at talkingtomydog

come on everyone...show us your tangles!

don't have tangles? you can still participate!

details here

tangled is now on facebook...come like the page!

ms. tangled anne...

2012-01-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

our first "tangled knitter"photo!

anne, who blogs here, sent this....

says anne:

"I try I really do... it just gets away from me every single day! I have bags and baskets full of balled up and tangled balls and skeins of yarn. Jars and tins of buttons. Drawers, boxes, jars and rubber bands full of needles. Printed Patterns are in folders and baskets . Hen scratch notes are in an old blue spiral bound notebook. Thank heaven for my blog and for ravelry or I really would lose my mind and all reference to my work.

Does it matter?

Not really. I love to knit and I always find my way through my projects. The only real problem is that sound a needle makes when it drops to the hard wood floor and rolls away under the bookcase.... that....grrrrrrrrrrrrr

:)"

seems we have a truly tangled knitter here...

thanks, anne, for sharing your story!

be sure to visit anne's blog, talkingtomydog.blogspot.com

are you a tangled knitter, too?

check this post

and join the fun!

even if you aren't...leave a comment

and you will be entered in the drawing next month!

a bit of tangled fun...

2012-01-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

dear fellow knitter...

perhaps you are a neat and tidy knitter...

photo from: knitty.com

perhaps your stash is organized, with everything in it's place...

photo from laughingpurplegodlfish

perhaps each of your projects is contained in a cute little bag...

from jenniegee's etsy shop

and you never get tangled in your yarn...

(i'm jealous, if that's the case...)

or perhaps...

just perhaps...

you are, like me, a tangled knitter...

perhaps your yarn is in twelve different baskets

and in every room in the house

your knitting is always tangled

and you are forever searching

for that size 3 circular...

if so, please consider showing us your tangles...

show us your tangled knitting, your disorganized stash, your incredibly embarrassing scramble of yarn and needles and what-not...

email your photos to: tangled knitter

please put "tangled knitter" on the subject line

and let me know how you would like me to recognize you

i will gladly link to your blog, if you have one...

your email address will remain private

the more tangled the better!

i will post the photos on the blog

during the month of january...

and next month we will all vote for

"HER (or his) TANGLEDNESS"

the reader with the most...shall we say...interesting tangles

what an honor, no?

all who participate

(by submitting a photo or simply commenting on one)

will be entered in a drawing

to be held on the first of february

two thousand twelve

at seven pm california time

two of you will win a copy of my

soon-to-be released new pattern

okay?

i look forward to seeing the photos...it will make me feel so much better to know that i am not the only tangled knitter...

kind regards,
pamela

cleaning...

2012-01-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

i found this hat, unfinished, live stitches dangling, as i was cleaning my woefully tangled stash yesterday...

of course, i am easily distracted...especially when it comes to tidying up...

so i pulled out a circular

picked up those stitches

and finished the hat, adding a floppy pom-pom to the top

it's cute...

i think this may be the next

free pattern

yes?

back to cleaning...

oh...by the way...

do come back tomorrow for something fun!

knitting in intricate confusion...

2012-01-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

oh...woe is me!
the mess!

my workspace is a tangled wreck...

you, most probably,

have never seen such a frightful
confusion of yarn and

stuff...

or...
maybe you, too, are a tangled knitter?

if so, stay tuned...you could win something...

tangled is now on facebook...come "like" the page! okay?

a new year...

2012-01-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

2 0 1 2

two thousand twelve

two thousand twelve
two thousand twelve

may it be as bright
and full of promise
as this glorious morning...

happy new year
and

happy knitting

a stocking...

2011-12-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

miss autumn's stocking, revisited...

on it's way to new york...

shhhhh....it's a surprise!

miss autumn's stocking...the foot

2011-11-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

the foot...

The knitting is done! As you can imagine, once you've gotten to the foot, it is just a hop, skip and jump to the toe. On Monday I explained how I knit the heel of miss autumn's stocking...today I'll guide you through to the finish!

As of Monday, I had 24 stitches in white (my instep stitches) and 8 stitches in red (my heel stitches) on my circular needle. I picked up the red yarn (the next stripe color) and knit my 8 heel stitches, placing a marker after the fourth stitch to indicate the center of the heel. Then I knit up 10 stitches on the side of the heel (those 10 slipped stitches), placed a marker, knit across the 24 white instep stitches, placed a marker, knit up the 10 slipped edge stitches on the other side of the heel, and, finally, 4 more heel stitches, bringing me back to the marker. This I considered the beginning of the round.

I had 52 stitches at this point. I knit one more round. On the third red round, I knit from the center marker to 3 stitches before the second marker, knit 2 together, knit one, slipped marker, knit 24, slipped marker, knit one, slip-slip-knit (ssk), knit 11--50 stitches. Knit one more round, then decreased once more, as above, to bring me back to my original 48 stitches. I worked these 48 stitches, in pattern, until I had 4 more stripes (the last stripe was white).

For the toe, I knit 2 rounds in red, then decreased six times evenly every other round until I had 18 stitches left, then every other round until 6 stitches were left (I changed to double-pointed needles when I had 42 stitches, of course!). Broke the yarn, and pulled it through those stitches (just like finishing the top of a beanie!). Now to weave in the ends...

miss autumn's stocking...the heel

2011-11-21T09:33:00.000-08:00

the heel...

Miss Autumn's new Christmas stocking now measures approximately 20". It has 14 stripes of 10 rounds each. I have ended the body of the stocking with a white stripe and have just turned the heel...

The heel was worked on half of the body stitches...in this case, 24 stitches. These stitches were knit back and forth on the circular needle. I placed the final 12 stitches from the last round of white back onto the left needle and picked up the red. Then I knit the next 24 stitches, back and forth, in stockinette stitch, slipping the first stitch of each knit row knit-wise, with yarn in back, and each purl row purl-wise, with yarn in front. I knit 20 rows, ending on a purl side.

Shaping (turning) the heel is easy...I wanted 8 heel stitches, so I knit to the middle of my 24 stitches, then three stitches beyond (15 stitches), and I decreased one stitch by slip, slip, knit (ssk). (So, if your following along, knit 15, ssk) The work was then turned and I slipped one stitch, purl-wise, purled 6 stitches, purled two together (p2tog), and turned my work again. I continued in this way, always slipping the first stitch, then working 6 stitches, then decreasing with a ssk on the knit side, or p2tog on the purl side, until 8 red heel stitches were left on my needle (as pictured above).

Now I am off to finish the foot of the stocking...more tomorrow!

miss autumn's stocking...stripes, stripes, stripes

2011-11-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

stripes...

the stripes are each 10 rounds in length

(except for the first stripe, which I worked for 17 rounds,

to allow for a nice roll at the top...)

seven so far...the stocking now measures 11"

tomorrow...the heel

miss autumn's stocking...the beginning

2011-11-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

today I will start knitting miss autumn's stocking...

It will be long and skinny--about 4.5" wide (9" diameter) and 28-30" long--and will have a simple rolled edge at the top...

I will knit it in Berroco's Ultra Alpaca, a 50/50 blend of wool and alpaca that is well-priced and lovely to work with...two skeins--one in winter white, one in red--will be more than enough...

I know from experience that this yarn, knit on US size 6 circulars, will yield a gauge of five stitches and seven rows per inch. I've decided, therefore, to cast on 48 (5 x 9"= 45, plus 3 to bring my total stitches to a number that is easily divisible by 2 and 4, which will come in handy when doing the heel).

So...beginning with red, I will cast 48 stitches on to my 16", 4mm (US6) Addi turbo circular and knit...

miss autumn's stocking...

2011-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

my friend, donna, owner of monkey moo moo, wants a christmas stocking for her adorable daughter miss autumn...

so...over the next few days, i will be knitting
a this simple striped stocking

in yummy berroco ultra alpaca
(which i bought, of course, from my local yarn shop)

why don't you join me?
grab a couple skeins of lovely wool in two or three (or four or five or...) colors,
a size 16" circular

and

follow me as I knit a
stocking for autumn

you'll be glad you did

the stocking...

2011-11-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

blocked and ready for father christmas...

just off the needles...

2011-11-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

now to weave in all those ends...

boo...

2011-10-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

an apple a day...

2011-10-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

crisply juicy

a new leaf...

2011-09-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

i knew that this little hood would have a leaf...

my usual leaf, made back-and-forth on two needles...

but then i found just a leaf

by fellow Raveler hinke (a talented artist, whose work can be seen here)...

simple, clever construction...

love it...

a cloud in my heart...

2011-08-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

John Thompson

rest in peace, gentle one

the bridge...

2011-08-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

on the way home from the city...

love these colors...i want to knit them up into something lusciously soft and deeply textured...