It's Been A Long Long Time...

Hey everyone. It has been far too long since my last post. Lots of personal knitting to blog about, but I wanted to start with my new batch of knitters! Today is the first day of second semester and I have 16 returning knitters and 16 brand new knitters. I paired them up today and the advanced kids are teaching the new kids how to do a slip knot, cast on and knit/purl. Next class the advanced kids will begin DPNs. Very exciting.








I designed this canvas tote bag a few weeks ago. I have been wanting to try stenciling with "freezer paper" and it was a huge success.




Seen recently at Anthropologie at the Grove. A knitted clock. Super cute and really easy to make. I was shocked by the $150 pricetag.

Shark Seen In the Palisades!

This week, the big news at the beach was a great white shark that was photographed jumping out of the water! Local surf shop owner Randy Wright took all of the pictures from a kayak. Check out that height!



In honor of our newest neighbor, I crocheted a shark. Not nearly as cool as the real thing but the pattern (found at ravelry.com) was pretty easy to follow. I changed the fins to better reflect what they really look like.



This is Griffin, who comes in and has lunch with me a few times a week. If I am lucky, he brings his knitting and we eat and knit for our lunch break. He is in my Knitting class and is a beginner, but I think if he really tries he can get really good.


And finally, my Oregon Ducks flew into town and beat UCLA 24-10 yesterday. We have a 5-game winning streak and I love Saturday afternoon football games. Way to go DUCKS!

I Learned How To Crochet

As a teacher, one of the best parts of my job is getting the summers off. A few summers back I built a deck off the back of the house, before that I built a knitting room in our garage. This summer I decided no major construction jobs were in the cards, but I did have a few projects in mind to keep myself busy. I wanted to learn how to crochet. I have been avoiding it for years, thinking I never needed to learn. So I sat down with Beverly at Stitching is an Art and she gave me some pointers.


These two little guys were gifts for the teachers in my summer Botany class I took at The Huntington Library.

I knitted a few gifts for them as well.
Here is another DNA baby toy for Martha, who is a DNA expert. The anatomically correct flower is a teaching tool for Mike, the other professor who is a plant expert. The coolest part of the flower model is that each part pulls down to reveal the next layer. Sadly, I didn't make one for me and I didn't write down the pattern.

Paris Yarn Shop

This summer I spent some time in France. While in Paris, I was told I had to visit La Droguerie. Once we were settled I set out to find this mythical yarn shop. It was 100 degrees that day and very few places in Paris have air conditioning, so I trudged all over using weird directions I had found on the internet. Then, after 30 minutes of wandering around near St. Eustache Church, I spotted it on a tiny side street. Once inside, I was blasted by a hotter-than-outside air, but I pushed the door open. What was inside?

PARADISE!!!!
This is what greets you when you enter the shop. Both walls covered in yarn. Each hank of yarn has a #tag. You write down the # you want and go to the counter and they disappear in the back to get your selection. There are cute samples knit up with each yarn. Not just squares, but actual baby sweaters and tops. Awesome stuff! Look at that great one with the star on the chest.




This is a multi-colored bench with more yarn hanging over it. I sat down and just soaked it all in.



This is a wall (floor to ceiling) full of buttons and beads. All in perfect jars. I was tempted to run my fingers through each, just like Amelie.


FInally, jars of feathers and threads. Everything was displayed perfectly, and I wanted to buy it all.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

After a LONG hiatus, I am back at this blogging thing. School started 09.09.09 and the kids were knitting by the end of the week. I have so much personal knitting to post, but can't wait to show you what my kids have been up to. My students will be starting off with blanket strips to get the hang of knitting and to start on their community service right away.





And your eyes do not deceive, there are actual BOYS in my class this semester! We are up to 5 boys now, and they are all doing a fantastic job of casting on and knitting blanket strips.

Speaking of fantastic knitting, here are some pics from last semester.




This first hat was done by Sarah (who is off to college this week...). It is double knit, with a pattern showing on both sides. She got the pattern from a Stitch 'N Bitch book. I love the way it is gray one way and black the other. She knit it for her dad who LOVES it and can't wait for it to cool down so he can wear it.


Next up is a hat by Gabby.

She designed it herself, wrote the pattern then knit it in a few days. I told you these kids are awesome!

Final awesome hat is by Michelle.

She designed it, using the cable book by Vogue Knitting, wrote a pattern and knit it quickly. The little bobbles (berries) are so cute!

I have more of my stuff to show off soon, as well as some Paris knitting store pics. Drool.

My Students are AWESOME!!!!!

This week my students are finishing up lots of projects for themselves. Finally. I am so glad they are knitting stuff to keep. They donated over 50 baby hats and 11 bunnies to Stitches from the Heart last week. Their baby sweater final project is coming soon. It will be a set with a hat, booties and a baby sweater.

Here are a few of the finished projects this week. This is Lizzy. She is a brand new knitter and was "over" the bunnies (after making 3) and decided to tackle cables. She made this super-cute purse and even went to Michael Levine's downtown to shop for the perfect handles.


Here is a close up of her black cable purse. Super cute!


This is Iliana. She is a beginner who is such a fast knitter that I keep having to come up with new projects to challenge her.

Here is a close up of the purple cable purse. Love it!!!!


Here is Hannah in a hat she knit out of chenille yarn. Very pretty.

And finally, here is Erin. My most advanced knitter. I wanted her to try entrelac knitting, so she did this headband. The pattern is from Knitty.com It was foggy and chilly yesterday so her headband kept her ears nice and warm. I love this pattern and plan to knit a few as x-mas gifts.

Buddha and all things felted

A few weeks have past since my last post. I went out of town to visit my cousins and family in Arizona. I delivered all of the fair isle hats and am now finished with the big project I have been working on for the past few weeks. I love felting and I have recently learned to love fair isle, so I decided to combine these 2 into one monster project. First, I charted a buddha image. Then I ordered yarn for the job. I chose Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. This stuff felts perfectly. I have never had a problem, and it comes in all sorts of colors. Next was to start knitting the bag. Oh yeah, I decided to put the Buddha image on the face of a purse. Reading the chart was really hard since there are no repeats! Just follow it row by row. 122 rows in all! As the bag grew, so did the pile of knitting on my lap wherever I went! This project reminded me why I like to knit small things. My favorite project is one that fits in my purse.
Here is Charlie with the bag before felting...



And here it is after felting. It measures about 13" x 15" and is the perfect size for my gym clothes or a knitting project.

This afternoon I was thinking of a way to combine knitting with beads and felting. I decided to knit a swatch of the leftover wool with some chunky beads I got from Ellene. My idea is to design a bag with the beads embedded in the felt, to give it a bumpy feel.

The swatch before felting...


After felting.

Not the exact result I was hoping for, but it is interesting. The beads are on top of the fabric (except the one that was pushed through to the purl side and felted that way). I don't think this would look good on a purse. They look sewn on after the fact. Definitely not what I was going for. Oh well, back to the drawing board. If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them along.

Ahh, Halloween. This year I dressed up as part of a group costume. 3 students and I were the dance crew Jabbawockeez. That is me on the far left with the handkerchief around my calf. All of the kids at school knew who we were...none of the adults did.


Here is a picture of the Obama lantern I carved this year. I didn't get any good pics of it lit up.


My class has knit so much lately. I have 2 huge bags to drop off at Stitches from the Heart this week. I will try to photograph it at work tomorrow so I can post their donations. Up next for them is to begin working on holiday ornaments. There is a "holiday tree" in my classroom (goes up right after Thanksgiving) that they can decorate. I encourage them to make ornaments to put on top of gifts they will give this year. People love that!

Happy crafting.