Knitting in Action

On Friday a few knitters ate some delicious chili at the Globe Med fundraiser. I guess you could say we showed our handknits off around town. Or campus.

I am in love with Madeline's socks

Allison and her super sweet shawl.

My "Give a Hoot" mittens

In honor of the holiday here is some truly terrifying knitting. Happy Halloween!

Alright, I'm a slacker

So...it's been awhile!

I had an excellent midterm break, it just didn't involve blogging. It did involve knitting! I finished the Tonks socks. Woot! Thankfully I finished them in an area with plenty of hardwood floors. Celebratory and, in my opinion, obligatory sliding transpired. I didn't snap a photo, so just imagine another sock identical to the one I pictured last time.

I also hit up Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe in Columbia. I was extremely impressed. Their ratio of wool to acrylic was much more respectable than my local yarn shop. Besides picking up some yarn of my own (gray and green, naturally) I helped my friend Emily buy her first skein of wool yarn. She sped through a garter stitch scarf and started on a hat last night.

As per her request, I omitted any head shots of Emily. If you think you can figure out who she is with a bit of facebook stalking, the joke's on you! I know multiple Emilys!

I've showcased a few of Alex's handspun skeins in the past (behind the blog title, for example). Last week I got to see him spin in person!

Drop it like it's hot

Yeah, he's got skillz.

Kat finished some sweet fingerless mittens last week. Or should I call them wristwarmers? Oh well. As you can see they extend from her forearm to the base of her fingers. Call them what you like. They are awesome.

We had a great turnout for last night's meeting. Four new people, if I remember correctly. That included our youngest member ever.

Imagine the kind of knitting I could be turning out now if I had started at nine years old.

In other knitting news, Jordan II's squirrel mittens are FANTASTIC.

Seeing her awesome colorwork made me really excited to start Selbu Modern. Madeline's pickle stitch marker helped too.

For the record, Alison was there last night looking fabulous (I wish I got a shot of her shoes) but not knitting.

John was also present and not knitting. I don't recall his shoes. I'm going to go with my gut and say they were black. Or gray.

Newbs

Look how we've grown!

This week, I taught three people to knit. Simultaneously! Here's some photographic evidence:

Don't they look jazzed?

I also showed Katherine how to bind off. She finished her first scarf! Right after she finished the yellow stockinette number, she surprised everyone (0r at least me) by pulling out a second scarf (a black garter stitch number). She's already stealth knitting like Alex!

Where did that come from?

It looks like she's my knitting progeny as well as a knitting prodigy!

(I've been hanging out with a lot of english majors...)

My friend Lauren came by this week (the girl I mentioned meeting during the cob house building) and brought some beautiful handspun yarn for us to ogle. Curiously she spins but does not knit. I think we can change that.

Alex's rodekool turned out fantastic. He explained the brioche stitch that enables the scarf to be reversible.

I can't wait to show you what Jordan II is working on (in involves mittens and squirells!) but until then I'll just share a pair of socks she's "breaking in" for her grandmother.

Speaking of socks, I finished one! After much trying, I've discovered it's difficult to take flattering foot pictures in a dorm room. Here are the best:

Right after I finished the first sock a wave of knitting fever hit me. Suddenly I wanted to knit every pattern I came across on ravelry. Needless to say, little actual knitting was accomplished when the fever took hold. After sleeping on it, I finally cast on for the second sock and decided I would knit Selbu Modern in some Gryffindor colored fingering weight I happen to have (assuming I'm able to obtain the proper needle sizes).

And after that there will be a hat for a lucky sister, some thrummed mittens, maybe a sweater...

Oh man! I've got so much to knit! That's enough blogging for now!

Madeline is trying to fatten me up

Last Tuesday we headed to the Nash residence to celebrate Alex's birthday. There were cookies! Delicious, gluten-free cookies. Although the raw dough tasted "beany" to some, the finished cookies were delectable. I got to take some home. They were gone within 48 hours.

Instead of shamelessly people watching during the meeting, we were

entertained by Tilda and Bella.

Would either of you ladies like a cookie?

I also provided a bit of entertainment by catching a moth. Madeline helped. A lot. I don't have the greatest insect catching skillz. Looks like I'm not going to be an entomologist.

Here's a shot of the impromptu gas chamber we created. Notice the copy of Charmed Knits on top. Madeline will be knitting her very lucky husband a Slytherin sweater.

Here are a few KIA shots (knitters in action, get it?)

Birthday boy and a very excited Madeline.

Diligent crafters and a curious Tilda.

I've made a great deal of progress on my AWESOME Tonks socks. I worked on them during a typical Friday night college gathering and discovered that inebriated people can't wrap their brains around self-patterning yarn. I also discovered that I can't pronounce "patterning" very well. My favorite was probably a girl who just kept saying, "You're really doing this!? This is really happening right now?!" Yes, Jill. This is the real world and I am, in fact, knitting. Time after time I had to explain that it was a lot less complicated than it looked. Try as I might, there are probably ten people in this town who now think I am some sort of knitting prodigy.

Knitting, Knitting Everywhere!

My knitting radar has been going off constantly this week. On Tuesday we had a great SnB meeting. Katherine perfected the purl stitch and Kat is approximately 1/3 of the way through her Alice embroidery. We had a few new crafters join us and our circle continues to grow.

Don't make any sudden movements. You might scare the crocheter away.

Madeline and Alex showing some sock love.

A close up of Allison's sock-in-progress.

Jordan II working on a pillow for her sister.

Katherine is such a fast learner. It took her about five minutes to perfect the purl stitch. I find this pleasing because it makes me look like an exceptional teacher. In hindsight I should have told her to incorporate some ribbing into that stockinette scarf to counteract the curling.

My bad.

I swear this thing is almost done! I knitted while watching three hours of the Golden Girls Saturday night (obviously I lead a fast-paced and exciting life) and only have to bind off.

On Thursday, a certain campus paper ran an article on the group. No big thing. They mentioned Alex's cookies and how generally awesome we are. I may have grabbed a copy for my parents. Or four. Now that I've infiltrated Truman's radio and print media, I'm setting my sights on television. KTVO, here I come!

At the Red Barn Arts Festival this weekend, I ran across some yarn work. There were a few booths with scarves and one with piles of crocheted afghans. And then there was the poncho booth. So many ponchos. So much eyelash yarn. I went home and picked up my snugly wool and thanked the heavens to be far from that surely flammable, synthetic mess. Maybe I'm a wool snob. So what?

My final knitting encounter of the week occurred Saturday afternoon. While helping a family build their cob house, I befriended a fellow Kirksville resident. As we were stomping on a tarp, mixing a batch of cob, I tentatively asked, "Do you happen to...knit?" Turns out she does! I swear, I could sense it. She's also interesting in hand felting and yarn spinning! She seemed appropriately pumped about SnB.

This week's meeting should be a blast, particularly because it's ALEX'S BIRTHDAY! We'll be meeting in the SUB at 7:00, then heading to the Nash residence for general yarn tomfoolery.

In case you were wondering, it's officially cold enough to bust out the wool.

¡VIVAN LOS HAND KNITS!