Saturday 11 September 2010

Episode 20 of the Podcast

(It may be a few hours before episode 20 shows up below. Click here if it isn't showing.

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First Block of Interviews are from....
Explanation of swiss darning.

Second block of interviews are from...
Try twitter.com and search for #iknit. Click on that last link to go straight to that search on twitter (no log in needed). Tutorial on "Twitter for Knitters" will be on my blog soon. Plus Follow Me on Twitter.

SkipNorth knitting holiday - more information here.

Third block of interviews are from...
Extra links:

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Competition Winner & Your Go To Books

Following my review of Knitting Green last week, all those who commented before end of Sunday were entered into a draw to win it in return for giving us their go to book. Here is what was suggested (click on the pics to go to the book's amazon page):

From Annette: A true classic. I also go to this one all the time.
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"The first book I used a pattern out (tomten jacket) and when I have knitting question I almost always can find the answers in that book." 


From AlisonK: Another classic. SPM is a genius and she's working on a new book....

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"Set out in clear terms a lot of hints & tips I just hadn't known with being a self-taught knitter who mainly works in isolation. This book is also responsible for the fact that I ever succeeded in knitting a sock, as the first one I did was to Stephanie's recipe." 

From Charlotte and Nocton4: One that got a lot of people back into the swing of things. 





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"The book that got me back into knitting as a twenty year old. Now I pass it on to all my friends who want to knit, and we use the diagram pictures for them to learn a new technique. I can leave the book with them, and then next time we meet for a knit session, suddenly they have finished an item! Still occasionally look up kitchener stitch in it myself... "

"Always to hand and so great with clear advice."

From Katy: For £4.50 this has got to be a must-have book. I love my copy.
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"So many projects of different types, so many useful hints and tips (though the instructions for a circular cast on defeated me!) It's the book I took away with me this summer and I didn't feel the lack of any other knitting book."


From Becky: An unusual one this but I can see that it would be handy.
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"I knit stuff from that book all the time - when I need a quick gift, there is always something in there to help me out."


From Me! This is another by Ann Budd and I really do use it *all* the time.
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So....without further ado the winner is....
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Which is Nocton4 according to the list of commenters on that post. I've left a message on your blog so email me your address and the book is yours!

BTW - I am destashing some books and patterns myself at the moment on ebay. Pop over for a look and grab a bargain. All with free postage.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

These are a few of my favourite things

There have been some brilliant blog posts recently. Here are my favourites.

Knitting Hearts for Haiti 11-21-09 2

I foolishly thought the KnitCamp saga had come to an end but no, it rumbles on. Many people without refunds and the organiser went on a two week holiday straight afterwards and has posted a rather odd summary post on the official blog. But what was it really like for people who were there? Liz has written a 5 (so far) part review of the different elements. All are very well written and have brilliant photographs with them. I've linked to part 1 but you will easily find all the others. Stick around for her book reviews too. 

I've seen patterns from this book creeping into the friend activity screen on ravelry and Sister Diane gives us a very good review of the book itself along with lots of pictures. 

Naughty cat
I genuinely thought this was my idea and have often talked to Pooch about wanting to create a haven for people who adore cats but can't for whatever reason have one at home. Am so gutted this is a reality in japan. Don't suppose anyone knows of any UK ones? Katie is also a brilliant photographer.

In my teens I had these wrist to elbow on both arms and was constantly making holes in cushions having safety pinned a bracelet to it. This is a Flickr set rather than a blog because it was featured in a CRAFT blog post. I'm really tempted to make one now. Mine were nearly as good as hers when I was at the height of my powers - but she has taken it to the next level.

Yarn Skeins City Knitting 11-21-09 9
I absolutely love her illustrations. Her description of how she draws this converse trainer left me open-mouthed. The first step, which I am not giving away, is so simple and easy to do but I can hear generations of art teachers turning in their graves. But hey, it certainly works for her. 

I tweeted about this yesterday. Craft seems to assume there is some mechanism unravelling it but I can only assume a non knitter wrote that. The only good thing about frogging is the tactile 'tink tink' as each stitch pops as it disengages from the last as you gently pull.

First Kanzashi Flower Hair Clip
In an addition to this post...at the Romford knitting group on Sunday we discussed this briefly and the very good point was made that the best designers are often not the best teachers. But I suspect that also the best and most knitable designers are not paid anywhere near as much as the 'knitting royalty'. Makes me feel positively anarchistic!

You may have noticed that I have interspersed this post with images that are pretty much unrelated to the text. Why? 
  • Purlpower - Diagnoses and the psychology of images and comments
The long suffering yet consistently witty Purlpower has had another diagnosis. The text in itself is dryly funny and engaging but she makes a good point towards the end as to why she has interspersed it with those images. But you have to read it to find out what it is. 

 Two of Arts - 2000 Visual Mashups
All photos via Flickr under Creative Commons Licensing. Please click on the photos for creators' credits.