Guerilla Knits in NYC

My sister and her family moved to Manhattan in January. Since then, I've been receiving funny photographs on my cell phone from my sister.

Like this:

And this one:

The tricycle is located at Lafayette and Spring, for those of you up there who might want to go see it.

I don't know anything about the group of crafters who are doing these projects--anyone out there know? Hats off, regardless.

Free Pattern: Christmas Sweater Pillow Conversion

I recently received a request via Ravelry message for a tutorial that I promised back in January. Kudos to the blog readers with good memories.

The Ravelry member wrote:

Sweater pillow pattern
Sent at 12:11 PM August 7, 2011

Hi Katie Rose:

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blog. I wanted to ask you about the sweater pillow pattern that you had mentioned back in January. I thought that yours was so cute, and when I was cleaning thru a stack of sweaters, set aside some that I’d like to use to make pillows. You had mentioned posting the directions/ tutorial for how you did it - any chance that you’ll have time to do that in the near future?

Here's a picture of the finished pillow:



Yeah, sure. I can do that.

Christmas Sweater Pillow Conversion

Materials:

1 - Awesome Old-School Knit Christmas Sweater, the squarer, the better (the example in this pattern was made by Eagle's Eye; search Eagle's Eye sweaters on Ebay for some gems). No V-necks. Cardigan is OK--you will sew down the front seam like I did here. Two-sided patterns are even better; here's the back of the sweater:



The 360-degree pattern makes this pillow rock especially. Look at that cute fawn.

1 - Sewing machine.

1 - spool of thread to match the sweater.

1 - pair super-sharp large scissors (like tailor's shears).

1 - pillow form to fit inside the sweater (just take the sweater over to your craft store and stick pillow forms in the body to measure.

1 - sewing needle for hand-finishing.

Instructions:

Step 1: The Front. If your sweater is a cardigan, sew down the front seam in between the buttons. I used my machine for this. I sew between the buttons with a zig-zag stitch, like this.



Step 2: The Sleeves. Turn the sweater inside-out, including the sleeves. Cut the sleeves off of the sweater. Now, using your sewing machine, sew the sleeve-holes shut. (You probably want to pin the sleeve-hole before sewing.) I used a straight-stitch. On the inside, this might look a little rough, but on the outside it looks great. Just make sure that you stitch straight in line with the side-seam of the body. Here's how the sleeves just disappear into the side seam:



As you can see, we are in the process of turning your sweater into as square of a piece of fabric as we can. If you need to make adjustments to this process to ensure that your pillow looks square (such as cutting away more or less fabric) then do so. The top and the bottom are a little more tricky.

Step 3: The Top.

This is the hardest part. Here's what I did: I set my machine on a basting stitch. I stitched straight across like this:

Turn the sweater right-side-out--does the top look okay? There might be a slight dip in the top, that's okay, especially if you need to preserve more of the sweater by stitching around the neckline more, rather than bypassing the neckline altogether. My sweater has a bit of a dip, but you'd never notice unless I pointed it out:



If you like how the basting comes out, then stitch again with a solid straight-stitch to secure it.

Step 4: Bottom/Zipper.

I recommend installing a zipper on the bottom opening so that you can change out the pillow and/or hand-wash the wool cover. I'm not going to teach you how to install a zipper. Here's a tutorial for how to do so. I do recommend using a bigger/chunkier zipper than the one in this tutorial.

Here's a tutorial on how to install a zipper.



Lastly, slip in the pillow form and zip the pillow closed!

If you have questions, put them in the comments, and I'll revise this tutorial!

--Katie Rose

Writing Retreat Results

Last year, I purchased this beautiful Miss Babs yarn from the local yarn store, Spin a Yarn, Weave a Web, in West Jefferson, NC--our favorite writing retreat location. One year later, I've finally got pictures of the sweater I made: Jordana Paige's Sylvar.
























Unfortunately, the yarn store has closed (although the owner still lives and works at Foxfire Holler). I'm glad I'll have this sweater to remind me of the wonderful store and our favorite little mountain town.


















Mods: I added short rows to the back so it sits a bit higher than the front. Other than that, nothing.

See more pictures on my Ravelry page, here.

Blog Absence Apologia Post

Not sure if you guys know this, but Jordynn and I both study a field of rhetoric called "genre theory." A genre is a set of communications that share certain qualities (or "conventions") because the similarities of the situations in which the communications arise.

For example, if a couple is getting married (like, in New York), then they might send out a wedding invitation. Now, a wedding invitation can be mailed or emailed or even announced on Facebook, but they're all still recognizable by us as wedding invitations and function as such.

The point?

I think that the "blog absence apologia post" should be recognized as a genre. People write them all the time. We all groan when we see them. Here are the shared conventions:

(1) The author of a blog
(2) has been absent from the blog for a period of time
(3) and wants to make excuses to reader as to why she has been absent. So,
(4) she writes a post in which she explains her absence,
(5) believing that her reasons (usually tough times) for not posting justify her absence
(6) and hoping that her readership agrees.

Here's the thing. People blog through some really tough times. So, tough times don't actually excuse an absent blogger.

However: do we really mind when someone takes a hiatus? It's like not seeing a good friend for a while. When the friend reappears (like, returns from a fulbright or something) you're really happy to see her. (No, I haven't taken a fulbright.)

So, here's my apologia.

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. My new baby has wicked bad colic.

He's cute though:



There. Done.

Sigh.

--Katie Rose

Edward and Manava

One of the patterns in my pattern eBook, Knitting Like a Professor, is the Manava Baby Cardigan [ravelry].



Manava was an Indian mathematician who lived around 700 B.C. He wrote a famous treatise on geometry. The standing collar on this sweater invokes the collar of what we Westerners like to call the Nehru jacket, after the former prime minister of India. The bold stitch patterns of the jacket, such as the 90 degree angles of the raglan increases meeting up with the garter stitch stripes, invokes old-school geometry. The variety of buttons is just fun. Bust out that button stash.

I put the sweater on Edward and it fits him great. He just didn't want me to put him down. He's a very hold-y baby:



Rear view (and check out all of that blond hair. Where did THAT come from?):



And here's a happy Edward, being held by Mommy:



I guess I could just live on the couch.

Wait, I do that already. Can we say "Mad Men"-reruns?

Adrian and the Goats

Check out this hilarious video of Adrian at the petting zoo last weekend. The baby alpacas were especially sweet. Oh, and the mini-goats. The mini-goats were AWESOME.



Question: Anyone know why Easter seems to equal "petting zoo"?

In our city, we can have chickens, but not goats or any other farm animals. I've been wishing for some mohair goats of my very own, but not until the laws change. Seriously, how can those mini-goats be as annoying as an incessantly barking dog?

F.O.: Edward Arthur Pryal

He came 1 week early, weighed in at 9 pounds and 3 ounces, and arrived with head full of blond hair.