Major Knitter

TV Inspired Knits

I recently watched a British TV series called Rosemary & Thyme about two female gardeners - one a former professor and the other a former police officer - who always seem to unearth murders wherever they dig.

But I enjoyed seeing their handknits - at least in the first season - before they moved on to cashmere store bought zippered hoodies and cardigans.  

Rosemary wore this lovely handknit fair isle vest repeatedly in the first few episods.  Isn't it gorgeous?  

So I went on a Ravelry search for Fair Isle Vests and quickly came upon Janine Bajus' Redbud Vest:

_{(photo from her pattern project page on Ravelry)}

See how the colors are similar?  I was all ready to purchase this pattern when I saw this note:

"The Redbud Vest pattern is available as a paper pattern only; please check with your local yarn shop or favorite online vendors."

So now I might have to go on a quest and see if I can find it.  Impossible?  Perhaps.  Anyone want to help me on my quest?

P.S.  I looked through more of the comments for the pattern on Ravelry and discovered that Janine does in fact sell this pattern from her website- so I've ordered it the old fashioned way - on paper.  

Downton Abbey: Cricket Match Costumes

My favorite costumes to date for Downton Abbey were tonight's handknits during the cricket match.  There were so many wonders to see... that it was impossible to see them all!  Some of them were definitely hand knit.  Others appeared to be store bought - pretending to be handknit.  I'll show them to you and let you be the judge.

Lord Grantham and Carson appear in some lovely cable vests with colored trim.  Alfred is in an alternating cable and vertical striped sweater.  It's not a very crisp photo so I couldn't tell if Alfred's was actually handknit.  The first two appear to be machine made.  Sorry to say.

*Note - Actor Matt Milne - aka Alfred - was the only one on the cast that actually had any significant cricket experience before filming!

Molesley appears to shop at the same store - or has the same knitter friend as Alfred.  Nice sweater vest.  It's definitely a classic - and a winner - even if Molesley is not.

Jimmy is wearing an adorable handknit cable vest.  I love how the neckline puckers just a wee bit.  Perhaps there was a bit of time pressure to finish the vest for filming?  Did the knitter have to knit one or two identical vests?

Matthew donned a handknit cable vest with a bit of interesting color in the neckline and waistband.

And speaking of the waistband - check out this unfortunate picture of the sweater as the filming progresses.  The waistband has a few errors:  perhaps the knitter didn't go down a needle size; perhaps the knitter didn't decrease the number of stitches; perhaps the knitter could have chosen a tighter bind-off.  Whatever the problem was, poor Matthew's vest loses its elasticity and is progressively more and more droopy as the filming continues.  It's still a beautiful sweater vest... it just needs a little revamping.  Again - perhaps this was the result of knitting for a film production deadline?  And dare I imagine having to knit two identical sweater vests in case something happens to the first during filming?

Runner up for favorite vest of the cricket match is Thomas' unphotographed vest.  I wasn't quick enough tonight with my camera to actually snap a picture of it.  If I get a chance tomorrow during the replay, I'll snap a picture.  It was beautiful.

But let's talk about the best costume of the night. Top prize for best handknit sweater at the cricket match goes to Tom Branson.  Of course, it seems only fair that that the Irish character would get the most beautiful vest of the day... perhaps knit by his Irish mother?  I like this vest so much, I think I might be knitting one for myself in the very near future.

And there you have it.  The real stars of Downton Abbey - the costume designers and knitters and their handiwork.  Which handknit at tonight's cricket match was your favorite?

 

 

Knitting in the Community

My friends and I went to a little square at 1981 Post Road in Fairfield, Connecticut today.  It was such fun.  

We sat in the Stitch n' Bitch area and had a great time.  A few of us bought some adorable baby gifts before we left.  We all enjoyed ourselves.  I told my friends about Alex's mission to create a therapeutic, helpful community for cancer patients.  If you're in southern Connecticut or just passing through, I hope you'll visit and see the great community knitting crafting area Alex has created.  Maybe you'll even knit up a little square for her Volunteer of the Year (VOTY) quilt.

We had fun.  I'm sure we'll be back again someday soon.  Thanks Alex and our host for the day - Caroline!

P.S.  I've had several inquiries about the "new knitting store in Fairfield" - and I want to clarify.  It's not a knitting store.  It's part gift shop, part Stitch n' Bitch area and part crafting table area. I think it would best be described as a haberdashery.  The vision is really about creating a community location for cancer patients and their caregivers and others who want to help support them.  You should definitely go check it out.

2012 - The Year of the Big and the Little

At year's end, I like to review my knitting accomplishments for the past twelve months and see what I've done.  A quick look at my Ravelry 2012 project page reveals a lot of FOs - 188 to be exact.  Of course when one knits more than a project a week, that implies a lot of quick knits.  I was actually on four different tears this year (surprise!  surprise!) followed by some very, very large projects:

• 23 hats - mostly baby hats for charity
• 12 Let It Snowmen! ornaments
• 12 Owls, owl ornaments and owl hats
• 6 Chichester the Pigs
• 4 Cross Stitch Santa Christmas ornaments
• 66 drawstring gift bags
• 1 eternity scarf
• 31 miniature Boy Scout vintage sock oranaments
• 5 mini cashmere socks
• 3 pairs of BF's cashmere socks
• 7 miniature chickens
• 4 pairs of socks
• 2 mini Wallabys
• 1 Wonderful Wallaby
• 2 pairs of fingerless mitts
• 3 baby blankets for charity
• 1 hand woven scarf
• 4 full size sampler blankets
• 1 epic Faery Ring jacket

Whew!  I'm tired just thinking about that.  My favorite projects of the year, other than the mini projects, of course, are:

The Faery Ring sweater

The four different Sampler Blankets (especially the two that were friendship blankets done as a group)

And finally, Grace's Wonderful Wallaby and wee Wallaby - because you know I just love knitting this sweater!

So there you have it - my year in review.  2012 was a very productive and fun year for knitting.  Here's hoping that 2013 will bring lots of joy and happiness to you in all your knitting (and other crafty) endeavors, too!

 

Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular

Ever since I moved to the New York City area, I've tried to go to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.  It's been 18 years and I've seen the show probably nine times.  It really makes me happy and I love how festive it is.  

We went to the 9:00 a.m. show and beat the crazy holiday foot traffic.

The theatre lobby is a treat by itself.

The Rockettes tin soldiers are always a favorite.

The Santas!  Santas!  Santas!  always bring a smile to my face.  They're so very holly jolly.

The showstopper is always the grand finale with a living Nativity complete with sheep, a donkey and a camel.  People who work near Radio City Music Hall might get a sneak of the trainers taking them out for their early morning walks!  While that's fun (hey!  It's not every day you see someone walking a camel in NYC!) the living Nativity is fabulous and really puts me in the holiday spirit.

So here I am wishing you a very blessed Christmas.

Happy Hanukkah!

You've known about the ugly Christmas sweaters for years now.  Perhaps you even secretly own one (or two).  But what happens if you're Jewish and you don't really want to go to a party wearing an ugly Christmas sweater?  That's what happened to Carin Agiman.  So she took matters into her own hands and started Geltfiend Chanukah Sweaters! business to share the ugly sweater with all her Jewish (and even non-Jewish friends).  The only problem - the sweaters are adorable.  Check out Carin's very clever kickstarter video from this summer where she sought capital to get her business off the ground.  She did it!  She raised enough funds to get her sweaters into production and get her business off its feet.  Perhaps you've already seen her Hanukkah sweaters out and about.  If you haven't maybe you'll be the first one in your family to own one.  

 

Happy Hanukkah my friends.  Congratulations Carin on such a great business model.  Here's wishing you every success.  

P.S.  You can buy your own Hanukkah sweater at Geltfiend.com

Foiled Again

I had some great plans for progress pictures today... but God had other plans.  I think he's telling me to slow down and I haven't been listening.  In the last 24 hours he took a few more drastic steps.  I sliced open my forefinger on my swifty new kitchen gadget (that I had warned everyone else about being careful).  That should have stopped me... but NO... I simply put double bandages on my pointer finger and knit on.  This morning I was already reviewing which project to finish and I burnt the thumb on the other hand while making chocolate chip pancakes.  Who knew melted chocolate chips were like molten lava?

So... I think I'll find something else to do today.  Something that will make me slow down.  I'm listening.  I'm listening.  

Hope everyone has a wonderful Columbus Day Weekend.  Do you get Monday off?

Jimmy Crack Corn

I have a love hate relationship with candy corn.  

• I love it.  It is so sweet and colorful and evokes wonderful happy childhood memories.
• I hate it.  It's sugary sickening sweetness makes me ill, literally.  Also, I swear it's crack.  You really can't eat just one (or two, or three...).  It may possibly be the single most addictive candy ever.

But it's October, my favorite month of the year, and it's out.  Candy corn is everywhere.  My friend Lori even found these hand knit candy corn on The Purl Bee.  I think they might be as addictive as their edible counterparts.  What's a girl to do?  

 

PS - Since the Jimmy Crack Corn song came to mind, I simply had to google it.  Surprising what I found. I had no idea about the backstory(ies) on this song.  

Happy October!

Must Be Back to School Time

I love fall.  I love back to school time.  I always forget what comes hand in hand with those two things -- Cold and Allergy season

Here's our survival kit:  Kleenex, Tylenol, antibiotics, NyQuil and DayQuil.  

And after a few days, we're all starting to feel a little better.  With lots of rest, medicine, and knitting, life is looking rosy again.  Whew!

Beep Beep

There are certain phrases that I always find funny - because they are preceded by something that negates them, sort of like a disclaimer.  For example "No offense, but that dress makes you look fat." ergo, prepare to hear something offensive.  It's as if this statement gives the speaker permission to then say whatever they want.

Here's another one of my favorites:

 

So, having said that, and not being one to toot my own horn (Ha!):  I wanted to share a link to our local newspaper where one of our gifted local writers, Dan Woog, interviewed me for my retirement from the Marine Corps this past month.

A Well-Deserved Salute for This Westporter's Service

Thanks Dan for such a lovely article.  I love living in Westport and being involved.  And I love reading Dan's 06880 blog and Woog's World.  Let's all continue to stay involved and motivate others to do so as well.