What I've been up to...

My sister Erin is having a baby and I wanted to do something to mark the occasion. I received this nice - amazingly soft - yarn from Ashe for my birthday. I couldn't for the life of me think of something I could make for myself with this green color though. I'm rarely a green kind of person. So I thought and thought then remembered that my sister was like popping out a baby at that very moment and started a'knittin'.

I came up with a baby blanket and a little pushy kitty cat. The blanket has a hood for the baby's head, which I think is so cute, and the plushy has no arms or legs to get in the way of massive cuddles! Here's Meow checking out the new kitty (if you're very observant she's actually in every picture so far ^_^). She was mildly suspicious:

I also knit a hat for an old Professor of mine and when taking a picture of it I realized my life in a nutshell was shown in the picture with me.

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Anti-Hipster Scarf - FREE PATTERN

Hooray, my first pattern. I thought because this was my first one, I'd give it to all y'all for free. Yeah, I'm cool like that. Plus... I've never bought a knitting pattern before, so why should I expect anyone else to? Soooo, here it be! Anti-Hipster Scarf Gauge: 6 sts = 1", 6 Rows= 1" Needle Size: 5 Yarn: Main Color (MC)- Poems 100% Wool Yarn in Pink/Purple/Gray/Gold (Poems has a great selection of self striping yarn, so really any of the color-ways would look nice in this pattern) Contrasting Color (CC)- Cascade 100% Wool in Black -- Cast on 30 sts. Row 1, 3, & 5: (K1 MC, K1 CC) 3 times, K6 in CC, (K1 MC, K1 CC) 3 times, K6 in CC, then (K1 MC, K1 CC) 3 times. Row 2, 4, & 6: (P1 MC, P1 CC) 3 times, P6 in CC, (P1 MC, P1 CC) 3 times, P6 in CC, then (P1 MC, P1 CC) 3 times. Row 7, 9, & 11: K6 in MC, (K1 MC, K1 CC) 3 times, K6 in MC, (K1 MC, K1 CC) 3 times, then K6 in MC. Row 8, 10, & 12: P6 in MC, (P1 MC, P1

Staghorn Scarf Pattern

Staghorn The yarn you use and needle size probably doesn't make a lick of a difference. I used Vanna White's line of yarn because I loved the color, it was super soft, and cheap. It took 1 1/2 balls of yarn. I used size 10 1/2 needles (6.5 mm). Abbreviations: k: knit p: purl sl1kw: slip 1st stitch knit-wise sl1pw: slip 1st stitch purl-wise BC: place 2sts on a cable needle in the back, k2, k2 from cable needle FC: place 2sts on a cable needle in the front, k2, k2 from cable needle Cast on 30 stitches. Row 1 (WS and all other wrong side rows): sl1pw, k2, p2, k2, p16, k2, p2, k2, p1. Row 2: sl1kw, p2, k2, p2, k4, BC, FC, k4, p2, k2, p2, k1. Row 4: sl1kw, p2, k2, p2, k2, BC, k4, FC, k2, p2, k2, p2, k1. Row 6: sl1kw, p2, k2, p2, BC, k8, FC, p2, k2, p2, k1. Repeat rows 1-6 until desired length.* Cast off while following the WS of the pattern, it looked most natural casting off after Row 2. *My fav

Happy Holiday and New Year!

The new years is next week and that means new products! My most important resolution for the new year, like ever year for the past 4 years, is to grow my business. I realized recently that a great way to do that is to branch out into different areas in my niche market. I have yarn, yes, but what else can I do for my fellow geeky knitters? I have a few ideas but I'd love to hear from you too! Here are a few things I have come up with: Lotion Bars! Knitters get dry hands, especially the knitters I know that have to live through these harsh Wisconsin winters. Even when it's a nice 40 degrees out, like it is currently (which is unseasonably warm for this time of year, last year it was -20 degrees out and my car wouldn't start), if folks are like me their hands start to dry out to the point of cracking and bleeding at the knuckles. Just BECAUSE. Some winters it looks like I get in fist fights each night, and that level of dry skin makes knitting almost painful. So I pla

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