patternlove <3

In the spirit of Halloween, I bring you the work of Anne-Marie Dunbar of thingsandideas.wordpress.com, who makes some really kick-ass knitted monster masks. I love the sculptural detail she brings to her creations; they are truly marvelous.

Cthulhuclava

Dracoclava

Baalaclava

Jack-o'-clava

Halloween is 12 short days away! Start knitting, folks!

patternlove <3

I cast on for Hawthorne on Monday, and I'm already in love. The lace is intricate, the yarn is so, so soft...and the construction of this shawl/scarf is pure genius. This is flying off my needles; I warrant that I'll have it finished by the weekend. :)

an autumn agenda

Autumn is here-here, and I've finally embraced it. I'll miss summer days and short-wearing, but at least now I can do the following unapologetically:

...eat scalding hot homemade chicken noodle soup by the gallon.

...curl up on the couch with my puppy and smooch.

...oogle at the pretty leaves outside my bedroom window.

...cast on for a new fall scarf with some sumptuous Malabrigo Worsted. I'm thinking cables...lots of cables.

Ahhh, autumn. Welcome back, old friend.

patternlove <3

A day late, I know. I was up until 1 am last night, obsessed with the concept of pooling shawl patterns. I've never been a fan of variegated yarn; the beautiful skein that caught my eye in the shop, with its distinct and often contrasting colors, looks gorgeous in the hank, but once I wind it and start knitting, I realize that the different colors are a detriment, rather than an asset, to whatever I'm knitting. The colors get muddy and lost, or they're entirely distracting and, let's face it, ugly.

So when I stumbled upon the concept of intentionally pooling a hand-dyed skein of yarn, I was instantly hooked. The basic concept is to figure out how long the "repeat" of color in your yarn is, and then figure out how many stitches it will take, on your chosen needle size, to get all the different colors to line up. Sounds confusing, right? It's okay, I have pictures.


See how the colors of these yarns line up, like magic? I think it's pretty nifty. So nifty, in fact, that I purchased this tutorial to help get me started. It's a really helpful guide to choosing the right yarn, and for calculating your gauge and stitches against the length of the color repeat. Which is great if you're math-impaired, which I most certainly am. In addition, the guide came with three patterns, and a bunch of stitch patterns that work well with the pooling technique, with "choose your own adventure" instructions on how to customize a pooling shawl. So, so cool. I couldn't wait to get started, and so I cast on last night, tweaked my gauge a few times, and then finally went to bed, my head spinning with the possibilities. Needless to say, I dreamed about color pooling.

wordless wednesday

vintage inspired knit + crochet

bad things in threes

I've always been mildly superstitious. I balk at opening umbrellas indoors or walking under ladders, and I'm not overly crazy about black cats, either. The logical, intelligent part of me insists that these are just old wives' tales, persnickety fears brought on by culture's insistence that there has be a reason for everything that goes wrong. Sometimes, there just isn't.

Still, it seems that Zach and I have hit a "bad things in threes" slump again. First, he's had two expensive car repairs within two weeks (brakes and some other part I can't remember) that have cost a total of $1200. Then, when we got the car back yesterday, it was stalling out at stoplights. Double sigh. Finally, when we arrived home last night, Hector was coughing up blood. Again. Poor baby was so confused, and was wheezing, and it was very troublesome, but we tried to keep our cool; the last time we took him to the vet for this, they did nothing to help him, couldn't diagnose the problem, and charged us 600 bucks. Still, I hate seeing him like this. He's kind of listless and sad, and mostly stays huddled up in his box, a sure sign that he isn't feeling well. We're keeping a close eye on him. At least he's eating.

Poor Zach is stressed to the max. Here's hoping that once the bad things are over, we get three really good things (I'm still holding out for winning the lottery).

patternlove <3

I found these adorable colorwork mittens designed by Sadie & Oliver. Their website holds a treasure trove of whimsical and delightful patterns, but I fell in love with these.

P.S. September 26 is International Rabbit Day. Hmmm...maybe I'll knit these up to celebrate?