132 Knitting Everything All the Time

Don't mess with her; she's a black belt. 

Grande: Abby finished Ben’s texting mitts! It took two years, but they’re ready in time for Hanukkah.

Listen here.

Latte: Abby has begun knitting Meadow Socks from Rachel Coopey’s When Vampire Knit Socks. She’s knitting them out of Hazelknits Artisan Sock yarn. Abby might have to wear them with her Transparent Light Up Skechers because much of the patterning is on the top of the foot. She continues to knit her Vanilla Socks in self-striping yarn. After writing to Fly Designs about the knots found in the skein, Fly Designs refunded a portion of the purchase price. They also informed us that they are using new yarn bases now.  Bright and Sunny  is still in process, as is Miss Kalendar’s baby’s Star Trek The Next Generation pullover, now that Abby has solved the question of how to make the communicator badge. (Wool Felt)

Brewing: Abby wants to knit a shawl (or two, or three…) While wanting to cast on everything, next up is most likely Chicknits Alby and a lace shawl by Lily Go, but which one is a mystery. Abby also wants to knit Bigger on the Inside, and Martina Behm’s Miss Winkle. Abby believes that new knitters should use nice yarn!

Caffeinated: Alice Starmore’s Tudor Roses has been reissued! Go get it now; it’s gorgeous. Abby also says a big “thank you” to Pantoffels for gifting her The Art of Felfs: Felted footwear for families by Cat Bordhi. This is a wonderful book and the proceeds all go to breast cancer research. 

Coffee Cart: Abby went to three interesting Portland places this week:

1. The Button Emporium - where she finally got buttons for Shalder!

2. The Pendleton Wool Outlet

3. Pearl Fiber Arts (yet again!) where she met and spoke with Stacey of Thoroughly Thwacked     Yarns, and bought a skein of Self Striping sock yarn from which she intends to knit Skew.     You can find information about Stacey’s yarns here.

Stir: Abby’s Matchless is going home to Schacht to finally get that pesky noise removed. If you are interested in, but unschooled in spindle spinning, or you want to get a child ready for spinning, there is no time like Hanukkah! A dreydel is a wonderful top to learn to spin with; the flick to make the dreydel spin is the same as the one you use when you flick a spindle. Try it!

Sofa: Abby recommends two BBC shows: Orphan Black and Broadchurch. In honor of Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary, Google made  special Doodle that is an interactive game. You can still find it, and play it here. 

Events: Abby and Karen (and many other of our favorite people) will be at Madrona. Abby is also going to Stitches West and will deliver Halos of Hope hats, so get started on them!

131 Dear Abby

Listen here.

Latte: Abby has been working on Vanilla Socks with a Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Ben’s texting Mitts, Bright and Sunny, and Leftie. For Ben’s mitts, Abby learned the Tubular bind off and the Tulip buttonhole; she also reviewed/relearned the tubular cast on. 

Karen is working on Vivian and Uncle Frank socks for her husband. 

Although there was no “official” Brewing segment, Abby said that she’s planning to cast on a pair of socks from When Vampires Knit Socks by Rachel Coopey, a beautiful collection of socks. 

Abby also rants about knitting for oneself and the assumption that anyone is knitting for others. 

Caffeinated: Abby found a video that shows you how to quickly and easily remove the seeds from a pomegranate. 

Karen is quite excited to be taking her Black Belt test in Tai Kwan Do. 

Abby was very stoked when she was interviewed this week and the interviewer was wearing Alice Starmore’s Oregon, which she had knit. See it above!

Abby ordered some custom dyed yarn from Fab Funky Fibres but sadly, Etsy still had Abby’s New York City address. The super of the building is on the lookout for the yarn and Abby believes it will eventually get to her.  

Stir: Karen finished spinning the singles of Dragonfly Fiber in Villianess. Karen is not sure what she’s going to make from it, but it is definitely enough for a project. Now she is spinning 8 ounces of Abstract Fiber two-toned BFL in Big Girl Pink. 

Abby is still having problems with her Matchless, but she is doggedly pursuing a solution.

Sofa: Karen has been watching The Hollow Crown on PBS; four Shakespeare history plays and loving it. Abby went to a poetry reading, and enjoyed the poetry as well as got some knitting done. Abby is not a big poetry fan, but she does like hearing Billy Collins read his poems on NPR. Karen also saw Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing and was distracted by the digital black and white. We mentioned the podcast Chop Bard.  

Events: Abby and Karen are both going to Madrona and we hope you are too!

Addendum: We have thrown our “hat” into the Halos of Hope Podcaster Throwdown. We’re late and not very competitive, but if you want to send hats, Abby will bring them to Stitches West. 

130 - Non-Negotiable Shoulder

David Tennant as Hamlet, Patrick Stewart as Claudius. 

Abby is joined this week by Guest Barista Susan Dolph, formerly of the Knitajourney podcast.

Latte: Susan is knitting Kelmscott by Carol Sunday out of Classic Elite Renaissance. Abby mentioned Carol Sunday’s Acorns Sweater, which she knitted a few years ago. Susan is also knitting a “tutti fruitti” colored hat, scarf and mittens. Susan is using a stitch pattern from the book Pop Knitting. Susan is planning to use braids as well as textured stitches. 

Abby is almost finished with the Lady Grey shrug and is also knitting her first “vanilla” socks, which will have a Fish Lips Kiss Heel.  Abby couldn’t remember the name of Lucy Neatby’s Cool Socks for Warm Feet. She’s thinking about knitting Sivia Harding’s Lady Tryamour Socks from The Knitter’s Book of Socks. 

Grande: Susan has finished two shrugs, since we last spoke. She has also finished Stretching, a pink crocheted sweater by Dora Orenstein. She also finished Garden, a cardigan with silk scarf addition, inspired by this pattern. 

Abby finished Brickless and totally loves it. 

Brewing: Susan talks about hats, braids and how to knit a flat disk.  Abby thinks she will solve her Clapotis problem by frogging and re-knitting it using the “rule of 5” or knitting a Martina Behm pattern, which allows one to knit until the yarn runs out. Alternatively, Miriam Felton’s book Twist & Knit is full of patterns that are written for as much yarn as one has on hand.  Abby’s also planning a Leftie, and she wants to use leftover yarn! 

Bitter Cup: Susan knit an unhappy sleeve cap from some thrift store harvested sweater yarn. Abby suggested knitting set-in top-down sleeves using Barbara Walker’s method in Knitting from the Top. 

Sofa: Abby reminds everyone that new Doctor Who episodes start on November 23rd. Susan is planning a Thanksgiving Day “Cars and Trucks” themed Movie Marathon featuring Car Wash, Cannonball Run, and Convoy. Abby notes that Alice Starmore’s Tudor Roses is about to be re-issued. You can order it here. This led to a bit of a detour into a discussion of stranded knitting, negative ease, sleeves and a rant against drop shoulder sweaters. Abby recommends  the BBC/Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart.  Susan recommends (and reads from) A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. 

Show notes are late, sorry.
Here is an example of what I meant about Z twist and S twist not changing: