All She Wants to Do is Knit

Welcome to knitting addicts anonymous. Here is where I post snippets of knitting inspiration from all over the Interwebs. Let me know if something here inspires you.

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My favorite spinning accessory (it doesn't get much more low tech)

My favorite spinning accessory (it doesn’t get much more low tech)

Tour de Fleece continues. I’m making steady progress on my second 4oz of fiber and will probably finish it up tonight.

I am currently spinning a hank of polwarth/silk from Into the Whirled. I’ve been a member of their fiber club for a few years now and am consistently impressed with their fiber prep and their colorways. Sometimes I think about switching to another fiber club, just to spread the…

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Yes, that’s a reference to a Queen song. It just pops into my head when I think about this new spindle. Can’t help it.

Spinning on my new bottom-whorl spindle is such a joy. It seems less twitchy than the top-whorl spindles I’m accustomed to. I need to experiment with some other bottom-whorl styles as I’m not sure if this is a function of the whorl placement, or if it’s just this specific spindle.

Anyhow, I’ve been spinning on this thing whenever I have a free moment over the last few days, and I’m almost done with my first 4oz of wool. I’m off to a pretty good start for Tour de Fleece 2018. 

    I love my new fat-bottomed spindle. Yes, that's a reference to a Queen song. It just pops into my head when I think about this new spindle.

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Tour de Fleece Starts Tomorrow

Tour de Fleece Starts Tomorrow. Fellow spinners, join us!

Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow and for once I’m not out of town or suffering from a hand or finger injury, which means I can participate. Yay me!

For those who are unfamiliar, Tour de Fleece is an annual event for fiber spinners that coincides with the Tour de France cycling race.  We set goals for ourselves, share our progress, and enjoy online fiber camaraderie.

I’ve joined Team Akerworksthis…

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Bite Sized Sweaters

Sweaters for small ones are so satisfying. You get the enjoyment of knitting those hems and collars in record time (the beginning and end that I always look forward to). You get the thrill of small lace or colorwork patterns that last only long enough to be fun, not long enough to question your sanity. And you get the immense sense of accomplishment that comes with knitting two complete sleeves.…

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Mom and Baby Hats

Mom and Baby Hats

Whenever someone I know has a baby, I have to knit them hats. The basic set is a hat for the baby and a hat for Mom in matching yarn. But if I have extra time or extra yarn, sometimes I’ll knit 2-3 sizes of baby hats as well (because baby heads only stay small for so long), plus one for Dad. And for some reason I seem to have an aversion to making these hats from a pattern. I have to knit them…

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So much lack of posting

So much lack of posting

  But I’m back. I feel like so many bloggers take breaks, and then spend their whole next post trying to explain why they were gone for so long. I’m not gonna do that. Here’s why I didn’t post: I didn’t feel like it. And not in a bad way. Just that. I didn’t feel like it. So let’s move on… Lots of spinning has happened since we last met. Most of it spindling with my little Akerworks travel…

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NaKniSweMo Yarn Acquired

This year I’m preparing for National Knit a Sweater Month in advance. I’ve already identified a couple of patterns that will suit my husband to a T. And last weekend, I managed to find a sweater quantity of the right kind of yarn. Knitters, you know how hard it is to find a sweater quantity of yarn at an LYS. So often, they have 5 or 6 hanks remaining of a particular color. But when you need 10…

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I'm thinking about #NAKNISWEMO2016 already

I’m thinking about #NAKNISWEMO2016 already

I’m one of those people who gets annoyed at seeing Christmas decorations come out right after Halloween.  I like my holidays low key and in discrete, small chunks. But uncharacteristically, I’m getting excited about a holiday early this year. A knitting holiday — NAKNISWEMO: National Knit a Sweater Month. It all started when the Brooklyn Tweed Fall 2016 collection came out earlier this week.  I…

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Succumbing to KAL Peer Pressure

Succumbing to KAL Peer Pressure

I’m attending the January Thaw retreat in 2017 and I’m struggling with retreat KAL peer pressure. The KAL is to knit one of Laura Aylor’s patterns using Sun Valley Fibers Yarn (the host of the event). Ordinarily, I can get behind a KAL that gives you a choice of designer OR yarn. But this KAL is for designer AND yarn…and some stubborn, non-conformist part of me rebels. However, I’ve decided to…

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Spinners love to share their tools

Spinners love to share their tools

My little Akerworks spindle is my favorite travel spindle. It fits into my purse easily. And because it’s made out of carbon fiber and plastic, it’s pretty hard to destroy. I’ve been carrying it around for over a year and the only damage it has sustained is a little bit of bending of the hook (the one part of the spindle made with a softer metal). Believe me, I’ve dropped this sucker dozens of…

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Knitting with no particular plan in mind

Knitting with no particular plan in mind

There’s something very freeing about not know what color is going to come next. I’m knitting a Lamina Wrap and I decided to do it using two magic balls. The first magic ball I purchased at the ZK retreat from Sophie’s Toes. The second magic ball is composed of bits of scrap sock yarn from my stash. In order to keep it all pretty random I’m trying hard not to peek. I want to relish the surprise as…

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Fickleness, Thy Name is Knitter

Fickleness, Thy Name is Knitter

I’m in a CLEAN ALL THE THINGS phase at home. Organize, organize. Sweep, vacuum, dust, cough. I’m de-cluttering as fiercely and quickly as my husband will permit. Out go the old snow boots, too small by 1.5 sizes. Out go the rock-hard tubes of epoxy and shoe glue. Out go the college notes from classes I barely remember taking. Out go the VHS tapes, unwatched for nearly a decade. Out go the stash…

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3 Unexpected Mothers Day Fiber Encounters

3 Unexpected Mothers Day Fiber Encounters

I wasn’t expecting a fiber-filled Mothers Day visit when we drove to La Crosse today to visit my mother-in-law.  But in one four hour visit we encountered three splendid, unrelated displays. No discernible Mothers Day theme, here, other than the joy of serendipity. 1: Seen while driving to Mothers Day lunch at Taste of India. We stopped to talk to the homeowner. He said the blanket had been…

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Designing a Knitworthy Vacation to Ireland

Designing a Knitworthy Vacation to Ireland

My family has been talking about a trip to Ireland for a few years. Mom and Dad, us grown kids, plus the SOs. I’m in research mode right now, trying to break down very large guide books into much smaller lists of things I want to see and do. So daunting at first, but once I grab onto a particular thread of interest, it all gets easier. To the surprise of absolutely no one in my family, the first…

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Destashing is Good for the Soul

Destashing is Good for the Soul

I have a tendency to horde yarn. When I buy yarn, I invest it with possibilities: a story of what it will be someday. It’s hard to give up those stories. So I tell myself a new story. The story of a woman discovered smothered in her guest room by her own stash. And all that yarn, once full of possibilities, is now full full of vomit and maggots. Useful to no one. Except, possibly, the maggots.…

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Lots and lots of spinning and knitting, plus wine

Lots and lots of spinning and knitting, plus wine

I’m surprised how much spinning and knitting I managed to accomplish on my trip to California. In between hiking, wine tasting, sight-seeing, eating, and more wine tasting I managed to squeeze in plenty of quality fiber time. I nearly completed this mitten. I’m testing out some ideas for a mitten design.Have discovered I am going to have to tweak the flower motif at the top in order to get it to…

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Few Things are More Annoying Than Trying to Cast On While Flying Coach

Few Things are More Annoying Than Trying to Cast On While Flying Coach

In just over a week, my mother, my sister and I will be traveling to California together for our first-ever Girls Trip. We have an itinerary all mapped that will take us to various hot spots in Sonoma and Napa where we plan to try lots of wine, squeeze in some hiking, and enjoy the mild spring weather. Predictably, we’re also planning to hit one or two yarn stores. Yarns on First in Napa is…

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