Of Press, Vintage Sweaters, and Baby Knitting

I'm back from a wonderful and restful vacation -- it's amazing what a little time off will do for your energy. It's also amazing what the ocean air can do for you when you have nothing to do but knit in front of the sea for 6 days. Dreamy!

I came home to the new issue of The Knitter -- in which is featured an interview that Meg Swansen and I conducted with the wonderful ladies of The Knitter while in the UK. If you don't know this magazine, it's a great one - a bit hard to come by in the US, but getting easier, so I hear. The article features a few sneak peeks at some of my upcoming designs which will be out next month.


And you know I can't take a trip with acquiring a few woolly souvenirs, despite trying desperately to pack light, and keep it that way! Behind the scenes here I run what I like to think of as a Sweater Rescue Program - searching thrift stores and flea markets for beautiful woolen cast-offs that have been slightly damaged, dirtied, or just plain overlooked. I like to take them in, mend them with matching scrap yarn, clean them up and give them new life. I do this rather often, which explains my large collection of machine knit sweaters (on top of all those hand-knit ones), which some people find puzzling. I say: Good Knitwear is Good Knitwear, right!?

That said, I found a real BEAUTY in Portland at my favorite thrifting locale: "The Bins" (aka Buying-Sweaters-By-Weight-For-Change). This here is a vintage shetland pullover with great details and wonderful wool. It has plenty of small moth-holes and a few little stains that can be easily taken out with a good hand-washing. And since I seem to have somehow acquired every possible shade of Shetland Grey in existence all under one roof, I figured I'd be able to find a pretty good match for this one.


Mending commences this week!

In vacation-knitting news, I got some work done on new designs, but mostly zoned out with my stockinette project for the baby ... enjoying these beautiful shades of gold and soaking up the sounds of the ocean. I love knitting by the sea just after dusk and into evening - stockinette is nice cause you don't really need to look at your knitting, at least not that much.


The leggings are in need of one more leg, which should be quick work for car knitting that will be happening in the next few days (passenger, not driver.... although I've been known to try. Keep that one quiet.)

Stick around in the next week or so for some big announcements and blatant eye-candy. Until next time!