How early do you get started making Christmas gifts? Are you one of those super plan-ahead people like my friend, who started back in February? Or do you wait until November? August or September tend to be my ideal time—when school is starting and fall is arriving and winter’s approach is inevitable, that’s when it […]
knitting
Easy Color Block Brioche Scarf
I won’t deny, brioche looks complicated. That’s why I chose a scarf as my first project—it’s straight, there’s no shaping, nothing complicated to mess around with, I could just learn the stitches and practice, practice, practice. I love the colors of the Caron Cakes, and how they change, making color blocks without me having to […]
Charity Block #9: Granite Stitch
I’ve liked the look of the granite stitch ever since I first saw it on Pinterest, but I like it even more now. I knit this block as another swatch to see if it would work for a future design. It won’t work for the one I had in mind, but I love how simple […]
Charity Block #8: Ravenclaw Stripes
I finally got around to the last of the Hogwarts house blocks: Ravenclaw! (I’m a Ravenclaw, and my favorite color is blue, so I was looking forward to this one.) I wanted to do broad rugby-type stripes, but with a 9-inch long block, there’s not a lot of room to work with, so the stripes […]
All-Season Blanket Shrug
I hate bandwagons. If something is trending, I stay away. I don’t consider myself a non-conformist, necessarily, I just avoid doing things simply because they’re popular. (I suppose that’s a very non-conformist thing to say, though, isn’t it?) This applies to my knitting too. I was knitting long before it became a cool thing to […]
Charity Block #7: Knotted Openwork
One of the reasons I like knitting blocks for Warm Up America is that about halfway through my big projects I get bored or frustrated and need a break, and these blocks are just the right size to knit quickly before going back to it. Another reason, though, is that sometimes I want to try […]
Munchkin’s Toddler Socks
Last year I knit a pair of winter socks for Munchkin’s tiny little baby feet. This year my toddler-Munchkin is running around with much bigger feet. He doesn’t need thick socks to keep his feet warm in the baby swing so much, but he does need them to help him keep his winter boots on. […]
Finnley Hat
Years ago I was in a yarn shop near Lancaster, PA, and I saw an intricate Fair Isle hat knit with two colors of ombre yarn. The colors shifted and changed throughout the hat beautifully and played against each other in such interesting ways. I couldn’t help thinking (and I still do, in a way) […]
Sunset Shawl
I last saw my grandmother on Thanksgiving a few years ago, before we had kids. We drove eight hours into a snowstorm (it dumped about a foot of snow on the east coast the day before Thanksgiving) so that we could be there in time to have Thanksgiving dinner at the nursing home. It was […]
Mossy Cable Christmas Stockings
“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…” Okay, to be honest, we don’t really have a chimney. We’ve hung our stockings beside a door frame and across the top of our french doors, depending on which room we’ve put the Christmas tree in. But there’s something nice about having a set of […]
