5.27.2009

Chicken Family

Great news! "Mama Chicken" has a found a rather plump, polka dotted "Daddy Chicken" to share her life with! They met and fell in love while spending some time together in the knitting bag. Before I knew it 2 little babies flew off the needles.

Finally the chicken family is complete!



I was really attempting to differentiate between the hen and the rooster with this pattern. As I mentioned before, the Mama Chicken has eyelashes and no tail feathers. The Daddy Chicken has the white tail feathers and I knit one extra in orange and sewed in to the top of his head to make his comb more prominent and rooster-ish. And of course I knit the small size for the Mom and the medium size for the Dad. I think it works.

I think they make a fine couple.



I used the Spring Chick pattern to make the baby chicks. Now this was a fun pattern! So fast! It was great. It took like an hour to make both of the babies. Also I felt good using up some of the yellow I had. I had only taken a little bit from the skein to make the chicken beaks and had nearly an entire ball left over!!! So it was nice being able to use some of that up. I had planned on making more babies but then got kind of sick of chicken knitting. I'm really feeling excited about my next knitting project so I was eager to just be done with these.

But who knows? Maybe they will expand their family in the future?



I shot these photos at one of my favorite locations. Avila Valley Barn. Its a little farm you can visit to buy fresh produce, feed farm animals and eat corn on the cob. I put the Watermelon sweater on my daughter because I felt that it was quite festive for the occasion.

It also was a great place to photograph the new chicken family. All that hay and stuff. But we unfortunately went on Memorial Day and it was packed! So many people. So you can imagine how insane I looked taking pictures of knitted chickens in front of tons of onlookers.

It was kind of normal feeling when my daughter was there, but she soon tired of the chicken pictures idea and left to go get a snack with my husband. So there I was, now alone. Just me and the chickens. I seriously looked like such the "crazy chicken lady" rearranging and posing my little chicken friends for all to see.

So weird.




Oh the things I endure for the sake of this knitting blog... :)

5.24.2009

Something Red Sweater


Well. Here is it. My new favorite. I love the style. I love the color. And I love that I finally chose the right size for a sweater project.

The 34 fits perfect. Not too loose and not to tight. Just fitted the appropriate amount. Love that.



Just like any sweater project though there is one thing I wish I would have done differently. Well two things if I'm being completely honest.

The pattern for this sweater is a little off in the raglan shaping department. It says for the size 34 to keep working the raglan until it measures 10.5 inches. Ok. That is a deep armhole. Really deep. It makes me wonder what kind of arms the designer has.

So fortunately I realized the huge armhole situation in time and only knit mine to about 8.5 inches before I divided for the sleeves. So that was a good choice on my part, I mean I shudder to think of how bat-wing-esque it would have looked without this adjustment, but frankly I didn't adjust enough. There still is a bit of puckering around the armhole area and the sleeves are a tad too big around for me. This sweater is supposed to have a nice fitted sleeve. So if I were to knit it again, I would stop at 8 inches definitely!!

OK, another thing. I could have made it a smidgen longer. But that's not as big of a deal.



The good news is, with making these pattern adjustments, I saved yarn and have an entire skein plus some left over. So that's always nice.




This is such a versatile piece. I know I will get a lot of use out of it! The yarn is spectacular as well. Blue Sky Organic Dyed Cotton. So soft and squishy. I feel the need to make a sweater out of every color.

5.19.2009

"Something" Is Nearing Completion



Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Knit and Crochet
Show
in Portland, Oregon with my wonderful friend Audrey.

I couldn't have had a more fabulous time! I took a bunch of great classes by talented designers and learned so many things.

The traveling part was interesting. I never travel. Hardly ever. Truth be told, I haven't been on a plane in nearly a decade! And I have NEVER EVER traveled by myself! It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

So I'm super glad that I went and that I didn't die.

I'm also super glad that I had so much time to work on my "Something Red" sweater!
I'm almost done!




I only have to finish this sleeve and do the button band!

AND I also happened to find the most perfect button at the show!



What are the chances of me finding "THE button" right when I needed it?

That never happens!


5.15.2009

NeverNotKnitting Podcast : Episode 19 : Mitting

Episode 19





Shownotes:

Dancing Ewe Yarns

Something Red Sweater

My First Knit Chicken

Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Dyed Cotton

Featherweight Cardigan

Suri Elegance

Ethnic Knitting Exploration: Lithuania, Iceland, and Ireland

Audrey's Lithuanian Fingerless Mitts

Ellen on Ravelry


NeverNotKnitting Ravelry Group


The winner of the Knit Chicken supplies from Dancing Ewe Yarns is Hopalong!
Congratulations!!!!

Announcement: Dancing Ewe Yarns has extended the special discount offer for the Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton for the month of June as well.

You will recieve 20% on the entire selection of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton
and free shipping for all orders that include this yarn.

This offer is exclusive to the NeverNotKnitting podcast listeners and blog readers for the rest of May and all of June.

In order to receive your discount, click on the Dancing Ewe link and in the checkout process enter in the special code " NNK1 "

Click HERE to download the MP3



5.12.2009

I Have A New Favorite Color

RED.



Here is my "Something Red" sweater in the works. I started it not too long ago and am making fine progress.

Since this picture was taken, I have divided for the sleeves and am now knitting my way down the body.

Its going great! I cant wait to wear this one. It's all soft and cottony and ... red.
I think that every woman needs a good red cardigan in their lives. It's such a boost to an outfit.

For me red is the new green and you'll be seeing lots of knitted red projects popping up shortly.

But for now.. I'm just loving my Something Red Sweater and this delicious red yarn.


5.06.2009

The First of Many...

Presenting.... a new knitted chicken friend.



This little stuffed chicken is so sweet. It is so soft and squishy.

This is knit from the pattern Knit Chickens by Susan B. Anderson, using
Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Dyed Cotton.

I wanted this chicken to be, in the words of my daughter the "Mama Chicken" so I excluded the tail feather instructions and included eyelashes for a more "feminine" look.




I just love how it turned out! And as you can see, my daughter agrees!

But truth be told. I'm afraid "Mama Chicken" might be a little lonely.




She needs a "Daddy Chicken" in her life.

5.01.2009

Spring Garden Tee





Announcing the completion of my new design project! The Spring Garden Tee!
I just love it! It is so feminine and girly!
Here are some more shots of it that wouldn't fit into my photo collage.





What I strive to offer with all of the patterns that I put up is a nice size range. Just like the Watermelon pattern and also the Playful Stripes pattern, the Spring Garden Tee is sized from 3 months- size 6. Just perfect for daughters or granddaughters of different ages.


Also this pattern, like the others, offers simple construction. The Spring Garden Tee is worked in one piece from the top down with no seaming whatsoever! I think that the instructions are easy to understand and this project works up fast. This top could easily be knit up in only one weeks time!


Nice Sleeve Closeup


Here is some more pattern information for those who are interested in knitting this design:



SIZE
3 months [6mos, 9mos, 12mos, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] (shown in size 2)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Chest: 17 [18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25] inches (0 inches of positive ease)

Length: approx 10 [10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16] inches after blocking

MATERIALS
Rowan Calmer [80% Cotton. 20% Polyester Fibre; 175 yd/160m per 50g skein; color: #482; 2 [2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3] skeins or approx 270 [285, 300, 315, 330, 350, 370, 390, 420] yds of any dk weight yarn.


1# 16” US #6/4mm circular needle for smaller sizes
1# 24” US #6/4mm circular needle for larger sizes
1# 16” US #5/3.75mm circular needle for neck and sleeve edging.


(You may need to use US #5/3.75mm double pointed needles for smaller sizes).
2 pieces of scrap yarn to serve as stitch holders
Tapestry needle
Stitch markers

GAUGE
24 sts/36 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch on size 6 needles



I love how this pattern takes no more than 3 skeins of Rowan Calmer to knit! Rowan Calmer is one of my new favorite yarns. Its so soft and springy and easy to work with. The softness of the cotton blend is ideal for sensitive baby skin.


I hope that you enjoy knitting this pattern as much as I did! Remember that if you ever have any questions or problems with any of the patterns that I offer, I am always here to help.


Please also email me if you are a yarn shop owner and are interested in carrying this or any of the NeverNotKnitting patterns. Contact me at nevernotknitting@gmail.com for wholesale pricing information.


This pattern is now available in French. Click here to purchase the translated pattern!




NeverNotKnitting Podcast : Episode 18 : The Murphys Law Felted Clogs

Episode 18






NeverNotKnitting Ravelry Group

*Dont forget to enter this episodes drawing!


For the month of May, Dancing Ewe Yarns is offering a special discount of 20% on the entire selection of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton
and free shipping for all orders that include this yarn.


This offer is exclusive to the Nevernotknitting podcast listeners and blog readers.


In order to receive your discount, click on the Dancing Ewe link and in the checkout process enter in the special code " NNK1 "


Click HERE to download the MP3