From the Library Shelves

I have found the saying, "Too Many Books, Too Little Time" to be my motto lately. Patrons are checking out books asking me, "Have you read this?"  . . . my co-workers are having book discussions and I have to cover my ears from hearing spoilers. Then I remember . . . oh that's right . . . I spent the summer reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

I was hooked on the first book and proceeded to plow through the rest, spending my summer in the Highlands dreaming of kilts, whiskey, natural medicine and of course, Jamie. Then when I discovered there would be a Starz TV series, along with the release of book #8 (Written in My Own Heart's Blood), I made it a mission to read them all.  

What do you think, some type
of a homespun yarn?

The TV series quickly hooked me in too. At first I just wanted to see the characters come to life, but then I started to pay closer attention to what they were wearing. Sure, there is plaid galore, great leather boots, and beautiful woolen gowns . . . but who is doing all the knitting?! Mrs. Fitzgibbons wears wrist warmers that go to her elbows and I swear I saw boot cuffs on Dougal. Claire is going to make shawls the fashion piece for winter and her cowl has every knitter out looking for size 50 needles! 

Doesn't it make you want to run to the
 yarn store for tweed yarn?

What do you think, is that a
felted shawl on Geillis Duncan?

I can't wait for Saturday night so I can see what other knitted items appear. But come on . . . let's have the pattern book! There are currently 4 different Outlander groups on Ravelry and I can only guess how many people have been googling 'Outlander knitting' . . . I know I have!! Clearly the demand is there!!

I'm going to make my cowl in black.







If you haven't read Outlander . . . well I'm not sure what you are waiting for.



click here to place a hold






Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

Monday Night Knitting Group

I realized last night that our Monday Night Group has been meeting for over a year . . . wow, that time went by fast! Last night went by fast too! Take a look at some of our projects -





Marguerite's scarf is almost done . . .























Audrey's Christmas stocking only needs the name added . . .



















 Joan's scarf just needs to be bound off . . . 













Lizzie's sweater
just needs sleeves . . . 
















Peggy just needs to block her Christmas stockings . . . .

She is also like a human knitting machine. Not shown are two other stockings she made since we met last month!!















 Linda brought in her Boston Strong hat . . .















And here is a table of industrious knitters that did not mind their working fingers being shown, but wanted to remain anonymous.








Joan also came and worked on her sock and a scarf (how did she escape my camera??).

We'll meet again on October 20th. In the meantime I've been given the assignment of searching for a pattern for Claire's Cowl. Don't worry . . . I'm on it!

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

A Visit to a Local Yarn Shop

The visit to Worcester was a success. It was a beautiful day for a football game and more importantly, Knitscapes proved to be a charming yarn store. Janet was welcoming and had plenty of skeins to entice me. 

It works up really quick too! This is only a
weeks worth of knitting . . . and I've been
 working on Judy's sweater too!

I went in thinking I would pick up some black sport weight to knit up Talcott. It's a pull-over pattern from Berroco's website, designed by Amanda Keep Williams. I have some left-over Seduce in a purple/black blend that I thought I would use for the lace bottom. Well, I had the black in my hands (I know, how boring is it to buy black sport weight. Worse, how boring is it to knit with black sport weight!), and then I noticed Bella Lino . . . in a beautiful colorway that reminded me of a sunset in desert (I don't know why, I've never seen a sunset in the desert). It'a a  blend of linen, cotton and viscose so I thought it would have a nice drape. I have a vest pattern that one of my favorite patrons gave me (thanks Joanne!!) . . . . So needless to say that's what came home with me. . . along with a new shawl pin . . . and of course sock yarn for my mother.

There was a nice visit with my sister, a bottle of Carmenere, and oh yah, Holy Cross won. (But who really cares about football when there is yarn to be discussed?). 

So if you are ever in Tatnuck Square in Worcester, stop in and see Janet.

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

Have a Little Faith.

Have you ever done something and even as you are doing it you know you are wrong, and yet for some unfathomable reason . . . you keep doing it? (I'm sure there is a definition of stupidity that could be inserted here!).  I was working on the button band for Judy's sweater and as I was knitting I thought to myself, 'I'm not going to like this'. And yet, I kept knitting.

By adding an extra stitch to the left
of the cable, I can leave the cable
undisturbed when I seam the band to
 the fronts.

 It's a 13 stitch band that is part of the peplum, but after the peplum ends it is knit separately and then sewn to the front. But the band ends with 4 cable stitches. There isn't a stitch on the end to use for seaming the band to the front. I realized this and yet I kept on knitting . . . even though I knew that when I sew the band to the fronts I am going to have to go into the cable . . . and I know I won't like it. 

I won't tell you how many rows I did before I had the 'duh' moment. ("Duh Karen, just add a stitch after the cable to use for seaming'.) So I ripped it out, added the stitch and now I am a happy camper.

Then I realized this is the second time I 'tweaked' the directions for this pattern . . . and both times I had to really think about it and convince myself to do it. 

Why is this? Why can't I just have enough faith in my skills to go ahead and change things without over analyzing it? It's just yarn after all. If it doesn't work out it can be easily ripped out. Hmm . . . maybe it's symbolic . . . maybe it's not just knitting. Maybe I'm just not a risk taker for anything. Maybe I am the type of person that would never go white water rafting or bungee jump off a cliff without debating it for a week. Maybe I'm over analyzing now.  

What do you think? Is your knitting style a reflection of your life? 

Maybe I'll go home tonight and do something really out-of-the-box, you know - like wear white after Labor Day.  Just to show that I can. I think I'll think about it.

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.