Fall Renewal

(Jordynn here)

For many, spring is the season that best represents renewal. But for us knitters, autumn is the time we find most rejuvenating: a time for new projects, new yarn, and another chance to break out our favorite knits. Here at KnittyProfessors, we are celebrating fall with a refreshed blog design.

This fall also marks a renewal for Katie and I, as we are finally finishing up a monster project that has been in the works for over four years: our textbook, How Writing Works. With this project done, we'll be able to cast on (hrr hrr) for some new endeavors.

As we near the final stages of this project and a few others, I finally have a few hours to sit down and take stock of some knitting projects that have been on hiatus for a while. My cat, Leo, graciously offered to help model.

First up is the Fisher Queen. I've been looking high and low for years for a top-down, in-the-round Fisherman's sweater pattern and finally found this one by Jennifer Dassau. I can't believe it hasn't been knit more often. It calls for bulky yarn so I'm using some Paton's Classic Wool I had from a frogged project, held double.

The construction is neat: you start with two rectangular shoulder saddles and then knit down from there, eventually joining to work in the round. I'm finally finishing up the body of the sweater, and just need to finish the arms and neckline. Hopefully I'll be done in time to enjoy it this winter--if more deadlines don't derail me. 

Check out my Ravelry page for this project here. 

The other project is a design I'm working on for a toddler Fair Isle sweater. My designs often come about when I'm looking for something in particular and can't find a pattern that suits. In this case, I wanted something colorful that my daughter can wear on top of a variety of different outfits, and I thought polka dots would be a fresher take on traditional Fair Isle. Here it is so far, with Leo modeling it as a cowl. 

Did I mention I have the most patient cat ever? 

And here's the lovely view out my back window. 

Sedimented Pouf

Jordynn here.

I've been obsessed with Katie's Sediment pattern forever, but haven't had the chance to complete one of my own--until now. I took the Sediment stitch pattern and combined it with the Pickles Puff Daddy pattern.

I worked with about four strands of worstedish weight yarn at a time, and honestly did not pay that much attention to the number of stitches I cast on. It was more than the Puff Daddy indicated--maybe 75 stitches? Then, I just kept knitting in the sediment pattern until I was tired of it. 

I like how it turned out! I love that the Pouf Daddy pattern suggests an old duvet or comforter for stuffing--it works perfectly well, and is a good way to make use of something you might otherwise throw away. 

This is actually designated for my work office, which needs a little softening to make it look less institutional. But it also looks quite nice in my family room! 

Check out this project on Ravelry here. 

This Baby Quilt is Totes Adorbs

Jordynn here.

It turns out that somehow most of my friends are amazingly talented crafters. Want some evidence? Check out this adorable quilt for P. that my semi-regular crafting group put together.

Everyone in the craft group made a couple of squares. Notice the "Hey Diddle Diddle" theme? L., our crafting coordinator and guru, came up with that idea and machine pieced the quilt. Then, we had a couple of quilting bees to finish it. It finally came together right around P.'s 1st birthday and will be perfect for her transition to a toddler bed. 

The quilt also features a snake, since P. was born in the year of the snake or "Little Dragon."

Here she is checking out the cat and the fiddle.

Like I said, talented friends. And lucky baby!

OMG It Is SCARF WEATHER

Katie Rose here.

Finally!

 

Hello Madame Luscious Noro Mobius Scarf (free pattern!). I've knitted so many scarves over the years, but I keep coming back to this one—the one I knitted on my honeymoon in Tokyo back in 2007 for the love of egg salad.

Paired with some simple Cascade 220 Tweed handwarmers. (Pattern to come.) I only knit and wear handwarmers (well, unless it's snowing), mostly because I'm married to my smartphone. 

(Oh, and to that guy I went to Tokyo with. Don't forget about him. I'm still married to him, too.) View #2:

That cold morning sun felt so good on the wool that I was finally permitted to wear. I'm convinced that southerners make good knitters because we appreciate it more—less of a chore, less time of the year to do it during, and dang it if I didn't wear the scarf home that afternoon even when it was 68 outside.

Circular Needle Storage: A Mystery of the Universe

Katie Rose here.

As long-time readers of this blog already know, Jordynn and I rarely knit with straight needles. In fact, I don't think I even own them any more. I do, however, own three different sets of interchangeable needles (Denise still being my fav), and a bazatrillion (that's a real number) of regular circular needles. 

I also keep buying cases in which I try to store, in an organized fashion, my circular needles. And yet they always end up looking like this.

I've tried everything to keep them organized, and I always fail. 

And you can see all sorts of really nice needles in that picture: Addi Turbos, Addi Lace, some of those square bamboo ones that I can't remember the name of but feel really cool when you are knitting socks. 

Whatever. Organizing circular needles is like folding fitted sheets or figuring out what happens when something goes into a black hole. 

Point is, I give up. 

To the first person to solve this problem in the comments, I'll send a free pattern of mine of your choice. (If I've already tried your suggestion and/or already own the case—like my Della Q one that is gorgeous, way expensive, and didn't work either, then your entry doesn't count.) 

At her wit's end, but very excited to hear some suggestions,

Katie Rose

Things to come!

Katie Rose here.

It's officially September, which means that, although it is 90 degrees here in North Carolina, it's time to start knitting again.

I have a number of patterns I'll be writing up for free to share on the blog here, so check back soon for that.

Here's some photographic evidence of my business this summer. School started last week. Momma has time again.

We're also thinking of moving over to Wordpress for our blogging needs. Blogger has been great for the past 6 years (or 7, or, man, whatever but that's a LONG TIME), but now we've outgrown this platform for real.

We'll give you lots of warning before that happens, though. The URL will be http://knittyprofessors.com, which we already own.

Also, I'm not sure if Jordynn and I ever mentioned this, but we're both pretty active on Twitter. I'm at @krgpryal and she's at @jordynnjack. Come check us out online. (She's very professional. I'm kind of a maniac.)

Stay tuned!

FO: Baby Cowl

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of finished projects I knit for Pod.

First up is this baby cowl, which I whipped up last week during a final blast of winter weather.

I used some army green Plymouth Encore that was left over from Iva's Poodle Sweater.

Is it practical for a baby? Does a baby really need a cowl? Um, no.

Is it adorable? Um, yes.

See more details on my Ravelry project page.

 - Jordynn