Fear of a Female Planet

Harrisville has become my favorite vendor at Rhinebeck. Every year they have limited edition patterns that I drool over. The sweater I'm just finishing is from them and I picked up this pattern this year. It's pretty basic, but I've never done grafting like this before, so I'll learn something new too. I'm going to go with cheaper yarn this year though - what do ya'll think for a color? I'm almost inclined to go basic heather grey? Maybe something from KnitPicks? Other than DK weight, I'm open to anything.

 

It's November, which seems to universally mean KNIT ALL THE THINGS to many of us. Every year I have high hopes of knitting all my holiday gifts, but at this rate, I might actually accomplish that. I'm focusing on using up yarn that I have lying around, some of which is of dubious quality and often means patterns that don't require a lot of yarn. The presents are for people who don't knit, so I don't want to invest really nice yarn or a lot of time in something they may throw in the dryer on high heat. Yesterday I spent the day on the couch knitting this:



Also, it's snowing here!

Finished Nick's socks!





If I ever suggest knitting with black yarn again, smack me.

This weekend I finished the X's and O's baby sweater! I've blocked mom and dad from seeing it here and on FB. I started it in March and it was a rather hard pattern, but by the end I had I had it memorized. antarcticlust did the finishing button holes for me because it was a crochet pattern.

Done!


Close up of the buttons (I couldn't get leather ones small enough, but these have the same look):


Mistakes and all:

As I start in on making holiday gifts I was thinking about the dilemma of being a crafty person as the object of gift-giving by non-crafty people, especially around the issue of knitting, so I came up with a little guide:

How to shop for a knitter:

10. If you are not a knitter, do not buy them yarn.

9. Hence, you may be tempted to buy them a knitting book - only buy them one that they explicitly asked for - in print - like their Amazon Wish List or written down on a piece of paper. You may think that the Celebrity Knits book on the Borders 20% off table looks cute, but the knitter knows that Julia Roberts knits and DOESN'T CARE. Same goes for fiction that uses knitting as a gimmick - just because we knit doesn't mean we like crappy gimmicky books.

8. The best gift for a non-knitter to get a knitter is a gift certificate to a LOCAL YARN STORE (not JoAnn's, not ACMoore, not Michael's, and definitely NOT Hobby Lobby or Walmart). Find a locally owned store or well known online yarn retailer and get a gift certificate.

7. If you insist on buying a knitter yarn there are some things you can do to lessen the forced display of appreciation that she will have to endure. The number one thing you can do is buy yarn from the LOCAL YARN STORE.

6. Buy more than one skein/ball. A knitter can't do much with one skein of yarn unless its a novelty yarn and a non-knitter should stay away from novelty yarns. That is a path that you should not tread.

5. When buying more than one skein of yarn you need to make sure that they are the same DYE LOT (not just the same "color"). If there is no dye lot and/or the clerk tells you that yarn doesn't have dye lots - do not buy it. You may think that yarn looks pretty, but the knitter just sees "RED HEART."

4. You'll notice that if you are following these rules, it's not cheap - if you insist on buying a knitter yarn - get over it. We do not knit to clothe our families cheaply.

3. Do not buy us needles or other notions. We probably already have them and have very specific preferences when it comes to them. You may hear "I need some new needles" when she really said "I would love a set of Denise interchangeable circulars." Some knitters only knit with wood needles, some only with bamboo, some only knit with certain brands, like Addi, and some only knit with certain types, like Double Pointed Needles.

2. Don't forget about things that knitters need other than yarn and patterns - like ribbon (for baby booties or drawstrings), buttons (buy us at least five - think about it), price/gift tags (for selling at a craft fair and/or labeling with the yarn and care instructions), graph paper (for making our own patterns), etc.

1. Just buy a gift certificate.


*Disclaimer: I am an intermediate knitter, for a beginner knitter these rules may not be as big a deal and for an advanced knitter they hold extra.

ILLINOIS STYLE: Male knitting a case of boy meets purl
KATHALEEN ROBERTS, Associated Press


ST. CHARLES, Ill. - When Mark Hensel pulls out his lunchtime knitting needles, his hard-hatted colleagues cast doubts about his manhood as quickly as he casts on.

"Right off the bat, they think I'm gay," the St. Charles electrician said with a laugh. "Sometimes I roll with it. What I usually say is, 'Before I started knitting, I really liked women and now I look at men. I'd like to see you after work and hold hands and talk about my feelings.'"
( Read More )