Exciting News Here in Knitty Professor Land

I got an email on Thursday from Jordynn. The subject line said "Guess what?"

And this was all there was in the message:



Congratulations JJ! He's such a nice--and lucky--guy.

(Her nail polish matches the cowl in her most recent post.)

--Katie Rose

This used to be a cashmere sweater... or two

Here's another recycling project. I used two old cashmere sweaters that had holes, fit issues, etc.

I made them into yarn, using the same method as used for the scarf I posted last month:

1) Lay out your sweater flat.

2) Cut off the body underneath the armpits, and make yarn using the same technique as my t-shirt yarn.
3) Cut off the arms, and make yarn out of those in the same way, cutting horizontally across the arms much like the t-shirt tube.
4) For the remainder of the sweater, cut in a spiral, creating one long strip of fabric, starting at the outside edges and going around the neck.
5) Wind "swarn" into balls.

Two sweaters yielded nine balls of swarn. (Four for sleeves, two larger ones for each body, two for the yokes, and one from the turtleneck of the yellow sweater.)

Then, I cast on approximately 300 stitches on a 17" circular needle, joined in the round, and knitted. I started with a small gray ball, and then just alternated yellow and gray as I went along. Then I cast off. Easy.

Voila! A smooshy cowl.

Sunday WIP

The pattern is Graystone... Loving it so far!

Only I think I'm going to make it into a short-sleeved dress instead of a long sleeved sweater... we'll see how it goes.



















I'm using some Cascade 220 from my stash. I've been attempting not to buy new yarn. Aside from a Ravelry trade, I think I'm yarn purchase free in 2012. Recycling doesn't count.



















More info on my Ravelry page.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Someone save me from myself

I have mocked knitblog posts about cats for years. They're a cliche. Plus nobody cares about your cat (even though you care very much).

But I keep caving. Maybe when Orville is no longer a kitten (and no longer does crazy schtuff) I'll be able to control myself.

Here's the deal.

I was spinning some of this luscious roving into some thick yummy yarn to knit yet another cowl with. So I decided to do a little photo shoot with the roving, the singles, and the final plied product.

Here's the beginning of said photo shoot:



And then, Orrie jumps up on the table and grabs the roving (not the yarn, the roving):



And totally makes off with it before I can take another shot of my still-life-with-yarn.



STINK pot. I have to keep all of my fiber arts work under a blanket on a table. He inevitably ends up sleeping right in the middle, like a nest. But at least he's not chewing holes through my yarn and shredding my roving.

Fairway & Fuzz-Ball Patterns Now Available

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've released all of the patterns from Knitting Like a Professor for individual sale.

This means that you can get Fairway as an individual pattern. Fairway is a cabled cardigan worked from the top down in raglan fashion.



This cozy pattern can be worked in any worsted-weight yarn. I used some hand-dyed yarn for this one.



The cables-and-bobbles integrate nicely into the raglan increases.



You can buy the pattern on Ravelry for $6.00



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You can also get your hands on Fuzz-Ball, baby bootees that have caused more than one stranger to stop me in the mall and ask where they can buy them.



Fuzz-Ball only costs $3.00.

Yarnbombing Comes to My Town

Yarn artists have brightened up dreary February days with colorful work all over my town, on sculptures, benches, and trees.

The artist in charge actually got permission from the town to do this for one month.

This may tell you something about the town I live in.

Or you can watch this video.

Manava & Many-Worlds Patterns Now available

I'm enabling the patterns from my eBook, Knitting Like a Professor, for individual sale. I've had lots of requests for this, and I've finally gotten around to it. I'll feature the patterns over the next few days.

The first is Manava, a baby cardigan knit top-down in the round using raglan styling. Add colorful buttons and you have an adorable sweater for a new baby.



Read more on Ravelry.



Manava costs $5.00.



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The second pattern now available for individual purchase is the Many-Worlds Cable Blanket, a reversible cable blanket that is super-cozy and gorgeous to display.



Read more on Ravelry.



This one is made of Cascade Pastaza, but any aran-weight yarn will do.



Many-Worlds costs $4.00.