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Flat Stanley volunteers needed!

This is my niece, Hannah. She is doing a Flat Stanley project for school, and since I’ve got friends and contacts all over the world, I thought we could give Flat Stanley a nice trip around the globe.

Time is tight and Hannah needs the accounts of his adventures back by the first week of May, so we are doing it a little differently. I’ve made a bunch of copies of the Stanley that Hannah colored and I’ll send them out to the people that volunteer, so instead of one Stanley, we’ll have lots floating around in the postal system. We’d love to send Stanley around the country as well as the world, so if you have time to go take a picture with Stanley somewhere and send a response back, that would be wonderful.

If you’re interested in helping out, send me an e-mail with your mailing address and I’ll start sending out Stanleys.

Thanks!
Mim

ETA: The deadline is looming, so we have stopped sending Flat Stanleys out. Thanks to all those who volunteered!

Posted 09 April 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (14) °

Revisions, the end is near

I’ve been nose-to-the-grindstone working on pattern revisions for about a week (although the project started long before that). Getting everything standardized, and making sure that the patterns are as complete and clear as they can be. There are a lot of things along the way that I have learned I like to have in patterns (i.e. US AND mm needle sizes; fiber content of the suggested yarn; a span of years from the first year the pattern was published to the most current). Those things I have added as I went along, but there are some things I am adding now to make the patterns more accessible.

1. Text translations of all charts. This is a big one. For all those knitters who prefer written directions rather than charts, this is for you. Or for those knitters who are trying to learn charts, but don’t want to mess up a complicated lace chart while learning, now you can work from either or both for all of my patterns.

2. Each pattern will have wpi for the suggested yarn, as well as weight and yardage requirements. This is for all the handspinners so you can spin with intent. Or if you’re not a handspinner, this will also help you substitute yarns.

3. Each pattern has a commercially available yarn listed. For Seraphim this required having the piece reknit and rephotographing it, and resulted in the slightest of gauge changes.

4. Every measurement will be listed in inches and centimeters to keep the non-US knitters from going bonkers trying to convert everything.

5. There are also overall format and layout changes to make the patterns more consistent and clear.

I am just doing a final once over with my checklist for each of the purchasable patterns (except Icarus, which is still being reknit for some photography), and then I’ll be putting them all up on the site to replace the older downloads. Once the revisions are up, I will send out an e-mail to everyone who has purchased through my online store to let you all know that revised patterns are available and how to get a new download authorized.

At that point I will also be putting the patterns up for sale on Ravelry and will begin taking wholesale orders again. If you could all tell your local yarn stores to carry my patterns, it would make me mighty happy 🙂 I will also be putting the patterns up on the Stitch Cooperative website, which will allow LYS’s to sell my patterns via the Affiliate Program.

YAY! I am so excited to have this project so close to being done!

Mim

Posted 03 April 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (6) °

Books are up on etsy

Thanks for all the input on the Isabo yarn. I’ll keep spinning, it sounds like another set of 3 bobbins should at least be a pretty good place to start from.
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I’ve got a bunch of the books up in my etsy shop. Please take a look. There are 2 embossed books on there now, and I’m working on a copper one to put up. Here’s just a sampling of some of my favorites.

Posted 26 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (5) °

Enough?

I’m working on some other projects, including a whole host of books to go up in my etsy shop this week. Here’s a look at one.

It’s a lightweight aluminum sheet that I’m embossing. Then it will cover the bookboard and be bound into a blank journal. At the time of writing this, I’ve actually finished one cover and I’m working on a second one. I might even get a copper one out this week in addition to the aluminum ones. If you’re interested in one of these, but have a special request as to size, let me know.
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If you’ve been following along, you probably remember that I bought a fleece back in “ought seven”, with the plan tospin the yarn and design the sweater, so that it was mine from start to finish. It’s one of my “do before I die” projects.

I’ve been working on the spinning for a while now, with some long stretches of inactivity between, but on Sunday I finished plying another 3 bobbins (it’s a 3 ply sportweight), and weighed what I had. 490 grams, 10 more grams and that would equate to a full bag (10) of 50 gram skeins. So here’s where I need some input.

I have a 38-39″ chest (depending on the day and the bra), and I want to make
1) a Cardigan, with
2) a nice and rather bigger than normal sailor-type collar. Floppy and easy going.
3) Enough negative ease that I could wear it over anything in my wardrobe and also so it doesn’t pucker if buttoned.

So the question is…. is 490 grams enough to do that with or do I need to keep spinning? I washed and wet finished the skeins I’ve already completed, but haven’t started another spinning project in case I need to do up some more of this. Input is welcome.

M

Posted 24 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (11) °

Predictable, Yes. But warm

I mostly wear dark, neutral colors. Most of my wardrobe is black or gray, with some splashes of navy or brown for good measure. Over the last year or so, I’ve been trying to add other, brighter colors in. But I still have my comfort zone that I tend to default to.

Given that, it shouldn’t have been a shocker when I went to block my 2 most recent sweaters and (amazingly) realized that they were basically the same color.

Manon, and Imogen, done, lovely, and warm.

Raveled Here
Pattern: Manon from Norah Gaughan, Volume 1.
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool, 2 skeins.
Needles: 4.5 mm, US Size 7
Modifications: I knit the peplum in the “correct” size first, but it was a good 7 or 8 inches too large, so I ripped it out and started reknitting it in the 30″ size, which would normally be SUPER tiny. I also added length to the upper body so the horizontal ribbing would sit below my bust. I also blocked the peplum out a bit to make it fit over my hips a bit better.
Verdict: I love it beyond all reason. I’ve ordered some clasps to put on the horizontal ribbing to hold it closed.

Raveled Here
Pattern: Imogen by Adrienne Thomas from Perl Grey
Yarn: Kraemer Yarns Mauch Chunky
Needles: 5.0 mm, US Size 8
Modifications: I started with the large size, but got halfway done with the back before I realized it would be too long that way. I reworked the back to use the large width, but the medium length. Then when picking up the fronts had to use the medium numbers for the fronts, while still using the large numbers for the shoulders/neck. I had to rework the numbers for the short row fronts.
Verdict: It’s super warm. SUPER Warm. I love the way it fits with the buttons (which I got from Josephine’s in Portland when I was there in November.

M

Posted 20 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting § My FO's ‡ Comments (18) °

Pattern Release: Evolution Mitts

This fingerless mitt pattern follows the lace principles illustrated in the swatches from the lace structure tutorial presented at MimKnits.com. The pattern begins with pyramids of eyelets, then illustrates how moving the decreases changes the flow of the fabric. When you alternate the lace motifs, the pattern evolves into leaf lace.

These mitts can be made either long or short to fit a multitude of uses. The short version would be great for spring, or a drafty office. While the long version would be elegant and warm under a dress coat.

This pattern is To fit 7.5 (8.5) inch or 19 (21.5) cm hand circumference. Short version is 7.5 inches (19 cm) in length, Long version is 13 inches (33 cm) in length and 10.5 (11.5) inches or 27 (29) cm circumference at arm. These fingerless mitts are knit in the round from the hand to the arm, with thumb stitches knit onto waste yarn between rows 24 and 25. Thumb stitches are picked up above and below the waste yarn and the thumb is knit in the round. The Short version is knit using only Chart 1, while the Long version is knit by inserting Chart 2 at the indicated point. Chart 2 gradually increases in size on the under-side of the mitts, using repeats A & B as needed to get across the added stitches.

More detail and purchasing information available in the store, or on Ravelry.

Posted 17 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , ,

Hands, hands, my kingdom for some hands!

This is the post in which I am reminded again of how difficult it is to take pictures of your own hands, even with a remote for your camera.

I’ve got a fingerless mitt pattern (in 2 sizes and 2 lengths) ready to go up for sale tomorrow if I can only get some pictures of them on some actually hands. Or at least modelled pictures that don’t look like random cell-phone-from-the-hip mugshots.

Here is the least-horrible one of the bunch to whet your appetites. You can read a bit more about it if you click through the photo to flickr.

The Evolution fingerless mitts pattern should be ready to go tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on when I can find a willing hand model.

Posted 15 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting § My FO's ‡ Comments (2) °

Sweet, Sweet Georgia!

Felicia of Sweet Georgia Yarns sent me some really lovely Cashmere and Silk lace weight. It was swatch #4 in the last post.

I LOVE this yarn. I flows through my fingers and it slinks into stitches. When I set it down, it calls to me to come back and wrap my hands in it.

The piece I’m working on has some interesting construction. It’s started from one corner, then grows to a certain width, then begins to shift diagonally. Decreasing at the beginning and increasing at the end of every right side row.

It’s not going to be the same stitch pattern through the whole piece, but I’m still not solid on how it will evolve. I’m thinking about it as I knit.

M

Posted 13 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting § My FO's § Reading § Spinning § Tutorials ‡ Comments (13) °

Swatching like crazy

Having finished the piece for Make 1 (I love it so much I could marry it, and I wish I could show you!), I’ve been sort of floating…. I don’t have a project in mind, and I’m trying to rest my arms and wrists after doing them a bit of injury in the marathon knitting. So I have taken to swatching. I recently put all of my yarn stash in one place and realized:

1. I have a lot of yarn.
2. I had a lot of crap yarn leftover from the early days (I say HAD because I got rid of it, mostly by way of the dumpster)
3. I have lot of really awesome yarn that was meant for designs that I have been neglecting for the new shiny thing.

In light of #3, I hauled a bunch of it out and began to play with it. The minimal knitting of the last few days yielded these.

Clockwise from top left we have:

1. Yarn: Dream in Color Baby in Good Luck Jade.
I <3 this stitch pattern. I'm working up something awesome to showcase it, since I think it deserves that 🙂 The yarn is squishy and wonderful, and I love the color.

2. Yarn: Habu Textiles A-1 Tsumugi silk in color #47.
I love the stitch pattern and this yarn, but I’m not really sold on doing a LARGE something with this yarn. The texture feels very much like cotton, and I HATE knitting with cotton. It blocks out nicely though and would make a beautiful piece.

3. Yarn: Habu Textiles N-6B Konyaku Sizing Silk in Copper (?)
The hand on this yarn is amazing! It’s a result of the structure, which is 10 thread-sized strands of silk held together with sizing. The yarn has the feeling of a silk ribbon yarn unwashed, but once the sizing is rinsed out (and it takes a couple of washings with cloudy water as a result), then the yarn sort of rounds up, and gets super drapey.

4. Yarn: Sweet Georgia Cashsilk Laceweight in color Hydrangea, shown skeined here.
This yarn is super light and like buttah to work with! I want to roll around in it naked! I love the way it shines and how the colors play off each other in a stitch pattern with a lot of movement. This will probably be my next project. I’ve got an interesting way to use the stitch pattern working out in my head.

M

Posted 11 March 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (16) °

A Thousand Words on Vimeo

C sent me a link to this beautiful short film. Totally worth taking 5 minutes out of your day for.


A Thousand Words from Ted Chung on Vimeo.

Hope you’ve all had a good weekend!
M

Posted 22 February 2009 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (7) °