Bad blogger.

I need to get back to knitting so I have something interesting to show you. Photos of me studying probably just won't cut it.

But, two lovely knitting-related things have happened:
1) My SP really liked the package that got to her last week! Woot!
2) The final bit of yarn for Baby Bobbi Bear's arms arrived. Now I can finish him, which is wonderful; I don't think he likes being in my drawer.

I got spoiled...

Well, after the big opera debut this weekend, I've come home to celebrate my birthday.

Before I got home, I got a lovely package from my SP5, who revealed herself! Of course, all of the stuff is back at my apartment and I am not... so that will have to come next week. (But it is all wonderful, and worth the wait, believe me!)

It seems that people here have caught on, and are getting me knitting-related stuff. Cool!

First, I came home to a lovely package from my friend Lisa, who was my SP4. Not only was there a great looking John Irving book, and a cell phone charm, there was yarn, and a handmade teddy-bear (made by her MIL)!


And my parents seem to have understood the knitting thing. They found me a fabulous pattern book from Jane Ellison, who is now one of my favourite designers. The book I have is Queensland Collection, and I swear to you, I want to make everything in it.


That pink thing is actually of one of the fluffiest, softest yearns I have ever felt. It's all fake, but it's so lovely. It is kind of like a mohair with strands of boucle-y bits... really, that doesn't sound appetizing, but it's lovely. And it's going to make me a very fashionable scarf!

Knitting? Next week . . .

There hasn't been much knitting this week, as I've had rehearsal every night from 6-11pm. Ouch.

But it's all in preparation for my opera debut, (which happens to occur on my birthday) tomorrow night -- YAY!

Hold thumbs for me!

Wristwarmers

Well, I don't know if it's the season for wool/silk, but man is this stuff nice to work with!

It's the nonokitty wool/silk blend in the hibiscus colourway. Yumm.

So far, I have some ribbing with a hole in it...


What is it you ask?
Why, it's the start of a pair of wristwarmers! Check it out:


(They even look like they're done in this photo:)


And I think the ribbing will look a little straighter with some good ol' blocking...

Holiday KAL!

I have joined the Holiday Gift Knit-A-Long hosted by the lovely Alison from The Blue Blog.

See:


Hopefully this will keep me on schedule . . . now if only my yarns would show up!

Knitting References for Beginners

By special request, here are my (somewhat disjointed, please excuse the 1am rambling) thoughts on references for learning to knit:

Instructional Knitting Websites:
I taught myself to knit from an assortment of websites. Googling terms such as "how to knit" or "learn to knit" will get you some good results.

I particularly like StitchGuide.com - it has knitting videos that show you step-by-step how to do specific stitches. It's also got a great section on common abbreviations.

About.com has some good knitting stuff, and a ton of patterns as well. It even has a new knitters FAQ. I don't love their website though.

The Livejournal Knitting Community is very active, and is a great place to ask questions (once you have already searched their archives for similar posts). I can't believe much I learn from them!

Books:
The book Vogue Knitting is my very favourite. It's got everything you need . . . from casting on to the basic knit and purl stitches, to increases and decreases, to an entire library of stitches and patterns all the way to binding off, finishing and even designing! Well worth the investment, and I got the "old" one, (from 1989) for cheap off of eBay. I pulled it out this afternoon to learn a new cast-on, and used it last week to design myself a sweater.

Once you get into knitting, I like Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac for spurring on creativity and design. But it's not for the complete novice!

Real People:
Some people can only learn to knit by learning from a real person. Most knitters I know are happy to hook a newbie into the dark ways of knitting. You can find a friend, colleague, or teacher to help you out. Your Local Yarn Store may also be able to give you some help. I personally needed to use diagrams, but I think I am in the minority on this one!

Free Online Patterns:
Knitty.com is probably the biggest source out there. They have stuff for knitters at all levels.
They also have a message board with some of the nicest knitters on the planet.

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And of course, I learn so much through other knitting blogs. Some of my favourites are in the sidebar.

Do you fellow knitters have any wisdom to share?

Cable cast-on

Wow. I've learned something new.

Cable cast-on is definitely not as scary as I'd made it out to be.

And since I'm waiting on the yarn to finish Baby Bobbi Bear as well as the yarn for Christmas prezzies, I'm knitting some little wristwarmers for me out of my nonokitty wool/silk blend.

Yum. Photos soon.

Baby Bobbi Face

And a cute little face:

So close and yet so far . . .

Baby Bobbi Bear has a head.


No arms, but a rather nice head.

I've run out of both yarn and stuffing. Doh.
So this is what you get so far.

Baby Bobbi Torso

Check out what I've got so far:


And even pretty good looking leg decreases:

Yummm

I bought the new Vogue Knitting Holiday 2005 to make this:

One leg... almost?

So, apparently, if I don't knit for a while, I come back at it with a vengeance.

I stayed up way too late last night working with the softest fibre I have ever touched.

And look what I've got:

Baby Bobbi Bear

I got the stuff to make Baby Bobbi Bear today.


Seriously? Isn't he the cutest?

I'm making him out of the 100% sportweight alpaca in "natural light tan" from Blue Sky Alpacas. It is really the softest yarn I have ever felt. I definitely need to knit more with their stuff. Yummmm.

Teaching

Today was a stormy day. There was a whole lot of wind, as well as very ominous skies. So it was a good day to sit inside and knit. In fact, I taught my friend, Sarah, to knit.

She's working on a garter drop-stitch scarf. It's going to be fabulous, and very yellow.

Last week I taught one of the girls in opera to knit and she will be working on her scarf on stage in our production that we put on in two weeks' time!

I have also completely updated my sidebar... now there's a big fat queue. Hmmm, once Christmas is over, I think I might be able to tackle some of these projects for me.

What's with the lack of posting?

Hmmmm, life has been busy again!
I've been designing a sweater for my Brooks Farm mohair, and I keep changing my mind on what I want.

And my swatch looks like a condom.

Back to the drawing board.