Next...

I received some lovely King Tut cotton in the most luscious shade of red for Christmas. It is destined to become this:




















after I finish Bill's second hat and work on my Minimalist Cardigan.

(It's the Bias Shell [ravelry link] from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery.)

The rest of the Christmas cheer...

Yesterday, I gifted my family with their yearly dose of knitted love. And we spent the afternoon turning these:



into this:



And the joys of felting were experienced by all.

A little Christmas cheer...

This year I decided to knit gifts again for my family, what with last year's successes. So I present Knitted Christmas 2008, part I:

I knit a lap blanket for my Dad.



It's based on the Ombre Alpaca Blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I used Red Heart Soft Yarn (acrylic, I know, but easier to care for) in chocolate, teal, seafoam and cream. It was a relatively quick knit on US 13, but man... my hands hurt. I knit the entire thing in one week. Merry Christmas, Dad.

Knits of Christmas past, part 2

This was another Christmas knit for my baby sister, from maybe 3 years ago (it's so hard to remember!). I absolutely ADORE this hat, which I made from Sugar & Cream and Kitchen Cotton -- I think it's one of my favourite knits ever. The ties are SUPER long, and end with multi-colored tassels, and look SUPER over my sister's gorgeous, long hair. But she was napping and I needed to snap a picture, so my brother kindly agreed to be my hat model.

The pattern is a modification of two favourites: the Kitty hat from Stitch 'n Bitch, and the rather generic "Kim's Hats" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Lust--Satisfied

Awhile ago I mentioned wanting this. I showed it to my MIL when she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. The result:



This is the best knitting compartmentalizing item I have ever used. The only problem? I think I might need the smaller one, too! I love having all my stuff in one spot and just tossing the thing in my purse when I need to take knitting with me. The medium size is perfect for 10" straight needles and a scarf-in progress or pieces of a sweater. It is especially useful on an airplane because no one can see inside and my scissors are safe from other people's neuroses. A big bonus!



Thank you, Persnickity Knits! Now that I will soon be your neighbor, I am coming to the shop to pick out my Lu-Lu!!

Winter Planning

Dear Knitting Gods,

I know I have not finished either of the two cardigans I have started, but in my defense there were babies popping up in my life. All babies have now been swathed in warm, knitted love and I have even started my hubby's hat that he has been requesting for longer that I care to think about. So I feel free to peruse the interwebs in search of my next project and I think this might be it. I love the outerwear details for a knit. And I think it will be perfect for my new climate...

So... I promise not to purchase yarn for it until my other sweaters are finished. I hope this appeases your fickle nature. If not, oh well, I like to knit... and GAP is only 3 blocks away.....

Birthday!

October 29th was Andrea's birthday. And on November 1, we celebrated by going out for tea at the Horton Grand Hotel with her sisters and her moms. And at tea, I gifted her the AWESOME knitting needle case, notions bag, and project bag that I had sewn for her (per her request roughly six months ago -- I am NOT quick when it comes to commissions). Only I forgot to take any photos!

So, Andrea, I will leave it to you to snap a few pictures once your needles are in place, to share with the interwebs my handiwork.

I'm currently working on a series of these cases which I may one day put on Etsy, depending on how awesome I am. Just don't expect them to appear before the holidays, or you will be sorely disappointed.

The problem with moving is...

... not having access to your stuff. And not having the time to knit anyway! Today is officially Moving Day. The movers have arrived and are loading the truck. I had to cull my knitting stash by half and decide what I would keep with me and what was getting packed. I worried about having enough to knit, all necessary needles and access to books and patterns. In the end though, I think I was able to supply myself with enough sanity to get me through 8 weeks at my parent's house. Wish me luck.

For the next 8 weeks, I will be knitting

• February Baby Sweater;
• BSJ;
• socks;
• 2 pairs felted clogs (for Christmas);
• Lap blanket (also Christmas);
• 2 sweaters for me (these have been started);
• scarf for Bill (needs to be finished);
• sweater for Bill (collar needs to be re-knit);
• hat for Bill.

Let's see how my sanity holds out, shall we?

Lust

I totally want one of these.

Best knitting idea in a long, long time.

Circle of Friends Blanket

A few months back, I found out one of my work knitting circle was pregnant. All the ladies wanted to co-create a knitted item for her, so being the leader of the pack and "Teacher", they looked to me for guidance. I selected the Circle of Friends Blanket (Ravelry link) from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. All the ladies could knit garter stitch and I knew changing colors would be no big deal.

So...I finally recieved all needed components and spent the first weekend of the Olympics sewing, weaving in ends and knitting an applied I-cord border.

Pictures tomorrow when I block the thing...

Modern Minimalism: Part 1

A while back, I cast on this. I have been eyeballing this cardigan since last fall. And while I love the original red, my wardrobe is bereft of a black cardigan. On the lookout for some black yarn, I stumbled into my LYS and into their sale nook. Hiding behind some truly ugly novelty yarn, I found 10 (!) balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora at 60% off. All black, all the same dye lot. My only concern is having enough yarn because...

... according to the ball band, each skein is 90 meters, so I have 900 meters; but
... according to Ravelry, each skein has 79 meters, which bring my total to 790 meters; and
... according to the pattern, I need 900 meters to knit the second size with a 35 1/2 " bust.

What to do? Knit on anyway!

I knit a gauge swatch, washed and dried it and weighed it, just in case I need to frog it for the yardage, and bravely started the first sleeve.

This is the back. I'm about 8 inches up and I just started the second ball of yarn. I hope to complete this piece with only 3 balls.

Wish me luck!

Brief Update

In the last 14 days:

Items Knitted on: 11

FO's: 9

Items gifted: 8

Knitting for me: ZERO

Hello, my name is Andrea...

... and I am a bad blogger. To be perfectly honest, I am also a fickle knitter. Fickle in the sense that I have not been knitting for the past month or so. It's very hard to post to a knit-centric blog when there is no knitting to talk about.

In a concerted effort to fix my problem, I cast on this. I have even finished one sleeve. I'll post pictures after I locate my camera. It ran away again.

Not Another Hat!?!?!

June FO #6:

Not Another Hat!?!?! A free pattern for all the clever knitters out there.



This is another simple hat pattern that will grace the Internets. Like all budding designers, I felt the need to re-invent the wheel and actually write down this pattern. It is a simple ribbed brim hat with raglan style decreases. Enjoy!

Download PDF

View on Ravelry

FO Parade: Extended June Edition

So these last few weeks have been very busy and slightly insane for me. And how have I countered the craziness? Knitting of course. I have managed to finish 6(!) things in the last 3 weeks. All baby sized of course, but FO's none-the-less.

FO's 1-3:

A layette set for my co-worker:


The sweater is the February Baby Sweater from Knitter's Almanac. The bonnet is a modification of the Juniper Bonnet (I substituted the Gull Lace for the Feather & Fan) and the booties are Saartje's charming creation.

FO #4:



The Petal Bib from One Skein. This was knit in KnitPicks Comfy in Honeydew.

FO #5:



The Baby Hat from One Skein. (I love this book!) Knit in Cascade Yarns Pima Tencel, an altogether heavenly cotton yarn. Doesn't the lace detail look like bluebells?

Tomorrow, FO #6 and a free pattern!

FO Parade: June Edition

I have been crazy/busy... or maybe just crazy the past few weeks, but there are many FO's to prove my time has been well spent:












Details of each to follow. Or check my Ravelry.

Tag! I'm it!

Helena tagged me with a meme. I find this amusing considering that she is the co-author of this blog. But, I think that may have been the point... anyways, due to that, I am only going to share a few of my knitting quirks. She can make up the difference.

1. I rarely knit for myself. I see things that I want, but can't seem to justify the time or expense. Add that to the fact that anything I knit for myself has to be perfect. If I know there is a flaw, I won't be able to deal with it and I won' t wear or use whatever I knit. And that is a waste.

2. I don't like wearing hand knit socks. Sacrilege, I know, but I do have cause and a possible solution or two. The purl side of the interior of the instep hurts. I don't have particularly sensitive feet, but every time I try to wear my hand knit socks (I admit, I only have one pair) I last about 2 minutes before they come off. They are lovely and warm, so I usually wear thin half socks underneath to protect the bottom of my foot. Solutions? 1) Knit socks at a larger gauge. I think the stiffness might be part of the problem. 2) Knit the bottom in reverse stockinette. Vee's are probably less irritating than the purl bumps.

3. I am very well versed in many different knitting techniques. I know six cast ons, seven bind offs, multiple increases and decreases and lots of crazy construction shortcuts. The odd part of this is that some of these I have never executed and that doesn't particularly bother me. It's only knitting. And I know how to knit.

4. Crochet scares me. I've seen it done. I've seen the results. I've even tried it myself. I just cannot wrap my brain around it. But that's okay. I can live my life without being a hooker.

5. I desperately want to knit a lace shawl. The only thing stopping me is that I have no use for a lace shawl. I can't leave it lying around looking pretty (kitties), it doesn't go with my wardrobe (simple, sophisticated aesthetic, or , you know, jeans) and the yarn is too damn thin (if I want to play with thread, I'll get out my sewing machine.) So, what to do? I may wait until I'm pregnant and knit something to wrap baby in. Babies like lace, right?

6. I have not knit a hat for my husband. I also refuse to discuss this.

Okay- that's it from me. As for the tagging, if you just read this, you're it!

Basic rules are: a quirky number of quirk-isms about your quirky self. Leave us a comment so we can come over and check out all our stalkers. And have fun with it!

Adventures in Whimsy

I knit this for a co-worker. He likes to dress up for his yearbook photo. I can safely say this is one of the coolest and defiantly the quirkiest thing I have ever knit. In order to get a good picture, I took advantage of Mother's Day and had my family model for me.

First up, Older Sister:

(She's wearing the Knucks I knit for her.)

Next we have my younger sister:

She wasn't happy when I told her she was going to be on the Internets. Hi Autumn!

Rounding out the siblings, my brother-in-law:

I think he wants one, too.

Next we have Mom:

Mom insisted on wearing a housecoat for her photo shoot. Doesn't she look fancy?

And my favorite model of the day, Dad:

Cool and collected as always in this wonderful tribute to his three daughters. (We used to style his hair when we were little. The wig seems less invasive and achieves a better look.)

Pattern: Desperate Housefrau from Knitty

Mr. Felker: I hope you like it.

February Baby Sweater, The Conclusion

The February Baby Sweater from Knitter's Almanac

Like every other EZ pattern, this one is fantastic. As I am wont to do, I made some alterations. EZ would approve, I think. Seams were completely eliminated with the following modifications:

On RS row, knit in pattern across first 25 sts (right front) + 28 (sleeve) =54 sts. Put last 28 (sleeve) sts on hold. Continue in patt for next 70 sts [42(back) + 28(sleeve)], placing last 28 on hold for other sleeve, finish row as established (25 sts-left front) . Next row: using backward loop cast, cast on 14 sts over each sleeve gap. Continue on with body.

Sleeves- Starting at midpoint of underarm seam, pick up 7 sts, then put held stitches on needles, and pick up 7 more stitches at underarm. Knit one round, then continue in lace pattern. For the Gull Lace pattern in the round, knit the purl rounds.

This eliminates all seams! Now go run and knit one out of the sock yarn that you will never make into socks. I'm off on button-adventures.

February Baby Sweater, Part 3

It has been completed. It was finished Sunday night. That means that I did finish it over the weekend. Pictures tomorrow when I have better light.

Hatless in San Diego

My wife has been knitting for over 4 years and I still do not have a knit hat. This strikes me as an absurd contradiction. The two most basic knitted items have to be scarves and hats (I am assuming, I don't knit), and I haven't been knitted either. I have been given a pair of socks that don't quite fit and a sweater that chokes me when I sit down (a story for another post), both of which were prototypes for other projects for other people (most of which I don't know).

To be fair, I have also been given knit cozies for all the miscellaneous electronic flotsam floating around my work bag (Andrea calls it my purse) and a great pair of knit gloves for Christmas (or The Holidays, Solstice, Kwanza or whatever floats your boat). But that is not the point.

The point is, Andrea has knitted more hats for more babies than I thought possible. I think she is now directly competing with China's knit baby hat import industry (and she is probably working for a lower hourly wage, maybe they will start outsourcing work to her).

But the number of knit hats (or scarves) she has knitted for her husband remains steady at zero.

What is up with this? I am a contributing member of society who pays his taxes and, in the words of the great George W. Bush, "puts food on my family". Babies, on the other hand, don't contribute anything but drool and poo, and they get all the knit hats they want. Can you believe this is happening in America?

I am writing this in the hope that the knitting masses who read this will rise up in their righteous fury and force my wife to knit me a hat.

Or maybe not.






It has now been 1521 days since Andrea started knitting and her Husband still does not have a hat.

February Baby Sweater, Part 2

The first sleeve is about 1/3 done.



It should be done this weekend. I may even use the left overs to knit some booties...

February Baby Sweater, Part 1

I recently acquired Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac for the sole purpose of obtaining the 'Baby Sweater on Two Needles' pattern. Aside from the fact that I love EZ for her non-conformist ways, my knit library is woefully lacking in the EZ department. (KA brings my EZ total to 2.)

Upon receipt of the Almanac, I immediately dropped all other knitting (Sorry, Knitting Gods, But I am using stash...) to cast on the baby sweater. I started with worsted weight wool and US8 needles, not realizing that "Shetland" is a much finer yarn. A quick stash diving expedition produced a lovely sock yarn dyed from Zen Yarn Garden that I received as part of the No Sheep for You Swap last summer from my lovely partner Chrissy Gardiner. The yarn is called 'Peachy Mint' and is a lovely melange of white, mint green and deep peach, perfect for a baby sweater.

Thus far, I have finish the main body of the sweater and only have to knit the sleeves and search for buttons. The intended recipient has claimed ultimate button choice, which should result in an interesting shopping excursion.

Baby Sweater #47

I have completed baby sweater #47 (for a co-worker). It is another variation of my favorite baby sweater pattern (Child's Placket-Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts), in my favorite variation (baseball tee). I think I have finally perfected the variation and can now do it with my eyes closed. And I have done this just in time because the next wave of babies that are coming my way are girls and are going to be girly girls. (Sigh.) Back to the baby sweater drawing board...

Atonement, Part 2

The FO parade continues:


Basic Baby Hat
Inspired by Grumperina
I was fascinated by Grumperina's post about helix stripes in the round and wanted to add a hat to the Blue Baby Sweater. It was amazing to watch the spirals form.

See?


I have also completed 1/5 of my Christmas Knitting. Everyone is getting the same thing this year.


FiberTrends Felted Clogs

(They haven't been felted yet. I may wait until they are gifted and turn Christmas into a felting party. Yes?)

I hope this effort appeases the knitting gods. Mostly because I want to knit this.

Atonement, Part 1

In order to atone for my recent bad knitter behavior, I have taken the following steps:

Finished:

Blue Baby Sweater
Pattern: Child's Placket Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Recipient: Work Friend # 37
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted in Wedgewood
This is the seventh baby sweater I have knit in the last 6 months. And I have at least two more on deck. One for a baby that was born a few weeks ago and one for a baby that is still in the oven.


Oatmeal Knucks

from Knitty, Summer 2006
for: Older Sister

I ran out of yarn to finish part of the second hand and cuff, so I frogged the first cuff, used that yarn to finish the other hand and dug through my stash to find pretty colors to knit both cuffs. They are done in 2x2 ribbing and thanks to a great post by TECHKnitter, there are no pesky blips of color in the purl ridges, making them look even better.

There are more FO's the share, but I will save those for another day. Tomorrow, probably.

There's something in the air...

The yarn bug bit me big time today. Like Helena, I was completely enamored with KnitPicks new spring yarns. Especially Comfy. I usually have bad luck with buying yarns online, but the colors, pictures and fiber content of this yarn made me lose my head a little.

I bought multiple skeins of these colors:



















I can't wait until they get here!

An apology

Dear Knitting Gods,

I am truly sorry. I understand that my recent reluctance to pick up the needles has completely emptied my karmic knitting account and that I must atone for my past misdeeds and lack of proper worship. I have taken steps to whip my WIP basket into shape.

First, I bought some new needles.

That's a 16" US 3 for Hubby's Hat. I'm going to double check the fit and switch to the new needles later today.


This is for the body of the Blue Baby Sweater for a co-worker. I hope to have it cast on by the end of the week.

Second, I have been working on the Oatmeal Knucks too. I finished the first and cast on the second, knitting like crazy so I could give them to the recipient (my sister) when I saw her yesterday. I finished the fingers, started the hand, added the thumb and was about 10 rows from starting the cuff when I ran out of yarn. Being an intrepid knitter and trying to avoid wasting $10 and several hours of tracking down another ball, I frogged the first cuff to finish the hand of the second and scrounged through the stash for yarn to finish the cuffs. What do you think?


This is the second incarnation of the cuff. The first had the pale orange next to the oatmeal and the charcoal as an edge. Hubby and I decided this looked better, so I am re-knitting the other cuff. These will be finished and blocked today, then mailed to my sister.

Finally, I understand these are only small steps and more atonement will be necessary to regain your trust and respect. I promise to view my WIP basket as inspiration to knit, rather than an excuse not to.

Your humble servant,
Andrea

PS- Would starting my Christmas Knitting help?

Decisions made for me...

When we last spoke, I was contemplating knitting for a camping trip. Due to unforeseen circumstances (Hubby got a big boo-boo--one that required a trip to the hospital), no camping this weekend.

So I cast on a new project. I have a ball and a half of Rowan Tapestry left over from my Christmas stocking with no plans. I also have a bunch of little canvas bags from Michael's. I buy them at Halloween because they have black(!) and they only cost $1. They are very useful for carry little knitting projects or lunch. But they are very plain. I was 'organizing' my stash and happened to see one of the Tapestry balls snuggling against a bag and I knew they wanted to be together.

So... I swatched, cast on an appropriate number and off I went to knit an outside to my little bag. You know that direction? The one that says, "Join, being careful not to twist"? Yeah. It got me. After knitting 4 or 5 inches, I realized it was twisted. It looked a little big too. I yanked it off the needles, compared it against the bag (which will become lining) and cried. Just a little. It was almost 6 inches to big.

I ripped it out and started over. And to appease the knitting gods, I finished one Oatmeal Knuck and cast on the second. Maybe something will work out now.

Camping Knitting

Hubby and I are going camping next weekend and while my body is going through the motions of cleaning, packing and planning, the only thing occupying my thoughts is the big question:

What am I going to knit??

After carefully considering all my options, I'm completely stuck. It needs to be something that doesn't require too much preparation (see aforementioned packing), a trip to my LYS (no $$, hence camping instead of nice motel on the water) and is small so it can hike with me. But, I'm also a fast knitter and there will be around 16 hours of driving involved too. Hmm...

More deep thought is required. Time to do laundry.

Edited to add: Tangled Yoke Cardi? I can knit another sleeve in a smaller size and knit the second if that works out... Ideas?

Pile o’WIP

I have had a general malaise about knitting lately. I just don’t want to knit. I look through my books and the Spring issues of Interweave Knits and Knitty and itch to cast on something new. But don’t for lack of appropriate yarn or needles. I thought it was just because of the pile of work I have been laboring under, but really, I am a champion procrastinator and knitting is an excellent way to maintain that status. So what could be stopping me from playing with my string? A long, hard look at my WIP basket yielded this:

That’s everything I have on the needles right now. (You don’t want to see the pile of yarn patiently waiting its turn.)

As I took the pictures, I realized there was something wrong with everything there.

Tangled Yoke Cardi?

Too big, have to rip and go down one size. And my yarn is from two very different dye lots, I’m going to try and hide that with the ribbing.

Hubby’s Scarf?

Miles of 1x1 ribbing. Miles.

Oatmeal Knucks?

Kitty #1 chewed on a DPN, so it’s scratchy, and I’m to the point where I have to add the thumb and then I have to pay attention.

Argyle slippers?

Still trying to figure out the gauge.

Lady Ming?

Another needle issue, one end is über pointy thanks to Kitty #3 and some sand paper. It is bugging me.

Hubby’s Hat?

The yarn is very fine and requires a US3. And Hubby has a big head. I had to cast on 200 stitches and it’s more 1x1 ribbing. On metal needles. I hate metal. They hurt my hands, so after only a round or two I have to put it down.

Baby Sweater?

Both sleeves are done but, I need the cable Hubby’s hat is on to knit the body. Which means that will also be on metal needles. Ick.

Mystery project?

This requires some hooking and more planning. I hate hooking more than planning and so it languishes.

The results? I’m surrounded by knitting, but I have nothing to knit. Maybe I’ll cast on this.

I have to knit another one?

It seems that it is the year of the baby at my workplace. In the last 6 months, there have been 8(!) babies born to co-workers or friends/family of co-workers. And since everyone is aware of my oh-so-innocent hobby, there have also been requests of knitted things for said babies. To be fair, none of those requests have actually come from parents of said munchkins, but with another sweater to knit, who wants to be fair?

All in all, I have knit 5 sweaters, 4 hats and a shrug. All baby sized, of course, but all in the last six months, along with finishing Christmas knitting and a few small projects for the hubby. And just yesterday, I found out another baby was born. I happen to really like and respect his daddy, so he definitely gets a sweater.

The score: Boys-6, Girls- 2

Andrea knitting for herself? ZERO

Success!

That’s right. I did it. I knitted the Baby Bolero. Maybe not entirely like the pattern said, but it is DONE. But first, pictures of the second major screw up…

When last we spoke, I had re-knit the back twice. I had to do it a third time. The first time, the center eyelet motif was too high--it ended in the neck ribbing. The second time, it was too low--only a third of the way up the back. The third and final time, it was still a tad low, but looked fine. And I was sick of it. Time to move on.

I finished the other front and chose to use a three needle bind off on the shoulder seams after all. It lent stability to the final sweater and I was worried about the yarn. Didn’t want it to stretch too much. I knit both sleeves, correctly, the first time and was so excited to attach them. But I suck at seaming and the yarn is very drapy. The last thing I want is for this thing to stretch out of shape, so--- three needle bind off to the rescue! I can do this! I love a three needle bind off! I’ll pick up stitches around the arm opening, undo the bind off on the sleeve and then bind them off together. Ta da! The first sleeve went perfectly. See?

But the second…

See that? That is a sleeve perfectly attached using a three needle bind off on the PUBLIC side of the sweater. Don’t ask me how I did that. I still don’t know. But I do know I was not happy. I marched it in to my DH and told on it. He was very good and didn’t laugh. Even when I gave him permission to. But he did smile. It is a good spouse who can enjoy your foibles while supporting your endeavors.

In order to teach the sleeve a lesson, I refused to pull it out immediately. I knit the ribbing, (after picking out the cast on, having missed the direction that said “Provisionally cast on…”) seamed up sleeve one, wove in all my ends and put the thing in time out for three days to think about what it had done.

But look at this…

That’s right. Fixed and beautiful. That’ll teach me to follow directions.

Am I Deficient? or Why can't I follow directions?

I'm one of those knitters. You know, who reads a pattern and then immediately changes something. Usually something simple like gauge or yarn or needle size starts it off. Sometimes, I go crazy and rewrite patterns for a completely different make up order or converting it from flat knitting to in-the-round. I wasn't always so willy-nilly with my knitting and it left me feeling stagnant, with no desire to pick up the needles. I have found that my off the cuff changes have made me a more proficient knitter. Which leads me to my dilemma.

I started the Baby Bolero from One Skein and liked everything about it. Thats right, I didn't want to change a thing (except, maybe to use a three needle bind off for the shoulder seams.) I'd resolved to knit the thing as written because I am knitting on a deadline and don't have the time to fiddle around with changes. I even knit the dreaded gauge swatch (and washed and blocked it) as well as bought an extra insurance skein ($13 extra, I might add). Nope, wasn't going to change a thing. Follow the pattern to the letter. The result? I'm sure you've guessed it by now.... I've had to re-knit the body twice, simply because I cannot follow directions.

Conclusion? Changing things make me think about my knitting and make fewer mistakes, thus more FO's for less knitting. Not a bad compromise, considering how many WIP's in my basket are there because somebody wants the end product...

About cleverknits

Cleverknits is a collaboration between Helena and Andrea, good friends, good knitters, and good people. We met in the sixth grade when Helena cut over 18 inches from her hair, and subsequently Andrea remarked upon the drastic nature of the cut. Since that day, we have been very best friends. In high school, people often assumed we were sisters (though that may have had something to do with the fact that Helena called Andrea's dad "Dad" and Andrea called Helena's mom "Mom"). Interestingly, we learned to knit completely independently of one another at the exact same time. At the time, we were living in different cities, and neither of us had any knowledge that the other was picking up this wonderful hobby until months later. Needless to say, this only strengthened the bond of our friendship.

Helena: I'm a self-taught knitter, which means I probably do everything the wrong way. Oh how I wish that 'wrong way' included knitting continental style, but I'm not quite there yet. My mother taught me to crochet when I was five or six years old, but in grad school I got this idea in my head that knitting was a far superior craft (at the time I was living with my mother, so that may have been a form of rebellion on my part). One night when I should have been writing a final paper, I stayed up all night figuring out garter stitch and finishing my very first knitted creations. The bad news is: I never actually finished graduate school (I am, as they say ABT, short for "all but thesis" -- I finished all the coursework, but I never actually wrote my thesis). I generally tell people that the not finishing grad school is because I was working full time and so work got in the way, but the real reason I never finished is because I became obsessed with knitting and would rather knit than write a thesis any day of the week. Knitting stuck, graduate school did not, and now I am a fanatic knitter without a master's degree.

Andrea: I learned to knit from my mother-in-law. I had just gotten married and was playing housewife for a few months. It didn't take too long for me to be bored out of my mind and learning to knit became my escape. I knit four scarves that first Christmas, then put my needles down. On a trip to San Anselmo, I wandered into a bookstore and found myself in the knitting section surrounded by pattern book with vision of sweater in my head. A quick trip to Joann's and I was hooked. Again. I haven't put the needles down since.

Our goal with this site is to share our knitting and what we've learned with the rest of the knitting community. We hope to build a mini-community here on this site, and encourage you all to comment, participate, share, befriend, and enjoy!

About cleverknits

Cleverknits is a collaboration between Helena and Andrea, good friends, good knitters, and good people. We met in the sixth grade when Helena cut over 18 inches from her hair, and subsequently Andrea remarked upon the drastic nature of the cut. Since that day, we have been very best friends. In high school, people often assumed we were sisters (though that may have had something to do with the fact that Helena called Andrea's dad "Dad" and Andrea called Helena's mom "Mom"). Interestingly, we learned to knit completely independently of one another at the exact same time. At the time, we were living in different cities, and neither of us had any knowledge that the other was picking up this wonderful hobby until months later. Needless to say, this only strengthened the bond of our friendship.

Helena: I'm a self-taught knitter, which means I probably do everything the wrong way. Oh how I wish that 'wrong way' included knitting continental style, but I'm not quite there yet. My mother taught me to crochet when I was five or six years old, but in grad school I got this idea in my head that knitting was a far superior craft (at the time I was living with my mother, so that may have been a form of rebellion on my part). One night when I should have been writing a final paper, I stayed up all night figuring out garter stitch and finishing my very first knitted creations. The bad news is: I never actually finished graduate school (I am, as they say ABT, short for "all but thesis" -- I finished all the coursework, but I never actually wrote my thesis). I generally tell people that the not finishing grad school is because I was working full time and so work got in the way, but the real reason I never finished is because I became obsessed with knitting and would rather knit than write a thesis any day of the week. Knitting stuck, graduate school did not, and now I am a fanatic knitter without a master's degree.

Andrea: I learned to knit from my mother-in-law. I had just gotten married and was playing housewife for a few months. It didn't take too long for me to be bored out of my mind and learning to knit became my escape. I knit four scarves that first Christmas, then put my needles down. On a trip to San Anselmo, I wandered into a bookstore and found myself in the knitting section surrounded by pattern book with vision of sweater in my head. A quick trip to Joann's and I was hooked. Again. I haven't put the needles down since.

Our goal with this site is to share our knitting and what we've learned with the rest of the knitting community. We hope to build a mini-community here on this site, and encourage you all to comment, participate, share, befriend, and enjoy!

About cleverknits

Cleverknits is a collaboration between Helena and Andrea, good friends, good knitters, and good people. We met in the sixth grade when Helena cut over 18 inches from her hair, and subsequently Andrea remarked upon the drastic nature of the cut. Since that day, we have been very best friends. In high school, people often assumed we were sisters (though that may have had something to do with the fact that Helena called Andrea's dad "Dad" and Andrea called Helena's mom "Mom"). Interestingly, we learned to knit completely independently of one another at the exact same time. At the time, we were living in different cities, and neither of us had any knowledge that the other was picking up this wonderful hobby until months later. Needless to say, this only strengthened the bond of our friendship.

Helena: I'm a self-taught knitter, which means I probably do everything the wrong way. Oh how I wish that 'wrong way' included knitting continental style, but I'm not quite there yet. My mother taught me to crochet when I was five or six years old, but in grad school I got this idea in my head that knitting was a far superior craft (at the time I was living with my mother, so that may have been a form of rebellion on my part). One night when I should have been writing a final paper, I stayed up all night figuring out garter stitch and finishing my very first knitted creations. The bad news is: I never actually finished graduate school (I am, as they say ABT, short for "all but thesis" -- I finished all the coursework, but I never actually wrote my thesis). I generally tell people that the not finishing grad school is because I was working full time and so work got in the way, but the real reason I never finished is because I became obsessed with knitting and would rather knit than write a thesis any day of the week. Knitting stuck, graduate school did not, and now I am a fanatic knitter without a master's degree.

Andrea: I learned to knit from my mother-in-law. I had just gotten married and was playing housewife for a few months. It didn't take too long for me to be bored out of my mind and learning to knit became my escape. I knit four scarves that first Christmas, then put my needles down. On a trip to San Anselmo, I wandered into a bookstore and found myself in the knitting section surrounded by pattern book with vision of sweater in my head. A quick trip to Joann's and I was hooked. Again. I haven't put the needles down since.

Our goal with this site is to share our knitting and what we've learned with the rest of the knitting community. We hope to build a mini-community here on this site, and encourage you all to comment, participate, share, befriend, and enjoy!

boo!

Just a quick stop to say that I am alive and I know I did not post last week, but I have a really good reason. I was frantically knitting my first comi$$ioned piece and I was supposed to deliver it today, but alas, that did not happen.

I know my knitting time is going to be drastically cut for the next 16 weeks, but I am working toward a goal eight years in the making. I should be there soon, as long as I don't let me off the hook like I did last time. Bad me.

In a transparent attempt to distract you: Look! Knitting!
This is the Rugby Sweater I knit for a co-worker's baby last September. Details here. (if you are a Raveler...)

I'll post pictures of my comi$$ioned piece as soon as it is finished and has sat for its portrait.