Monday Pinspiration

Happy October! Fall is one of my favorite seasons, with winter being a close second (I know I'm probably in the minority on that one). I've already started bringing out the hand-knits and wearing some of the new socks and cowls I spent the summer knitting whenever I can. It's a great time of year to be a knitter!

There are so many amazing patterns coming out right now that it's going to make it tough to stick to my holiday gift and baby knitting list. I'm looking pretty good for my holiday knitting, but I have three friends who are expecting - a total of four babies to knit for! It's time to focus, and not let anything bright and shiny distract me.

And yet, my Pinterest account suggests otherwise. I've been coming across such great new patterns and unearthing some previously undiscovered ones along the way, so naturally my Ravelry queue is threatening to return to eight pages once more. Perhaps the only way I've avoided that inevitability is to pin something instead of queueing it.

As of presstime, I've managed to resist startitis, having still only 3 WIPS on the needles: a super-secret test knit, a pair or socks, and a monkey (more on those last two this Wednesday!). But oh! such things I would knit it I had all the time in the world - I certainly have all the yarn in the world!

Here are a few recent highlights from Pinterest to get your needles moving!

Hats & Mitts to Knit:

Scarves & Cowls:

And my newest board, For the Babies:

There have also been some wonderful tutorials my fellow crafters have shared via their blogs & youtube. I have collected my favorites on my Free Advice board:

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Australian Superfine Merino Yarn Review & Giveaway

After more than ten years of knitting, I can still have new experiences - even with well-covered territory such as merino yarn! This recent merino experience actually took me by surprise: I've spun with it, I've dyed it, I've knit with it, and I've even crocheted with it...I was pretty sure I knew all there was to know about merino! Turns out, there are four different classifications of merino fiber, sorted by micron count range . At the bottom of the spectrum is Strong Merino , which ranges from 26-22.9 microns; above that is Fine Merino , which ranges from 20.1-23 microns; next up is Extra Fine Merino, which ranges from 20-15.6 microns; and at the very top of the heap is Superfine Merino Wool , with a micron range of 18.5-15.6. If you're into numbers and wondering how these four classes stack up against other fibers you may be familiar with, here are a few for comparison's sake: BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) has a micron range of 24-28, Cashmere goat down ...

App Review & Giveaway: Stash 2 Go

The developers for a paid Ravelry app for iPad and iPhone called Stash 2 Go contacted me earlier this year to see if I was interested in writing a review or their app on their blog. While I don't own an iPad or iPhone, I was able to gift a download to a knitting friend who had an iPad and was willing to let me play around with it for the purposes of this review! This is the first time I've ever accessed Ravelry via an app (on my Android phone, I typically use the m.ravelry.com site), and I found most of it to be easy to use. Some of the features weren’t intuitive to me at first, but once I got the hang of the idiosyncracies, it was smooth sailing. Stash 2 Go makes the most of API functions Ravelry has opened up to developers (there are still several areas which have yet to be completed in the Ravelry programming interface, so developers can only implement what is available through www.ravelry.com/api ). Most of the app's functionality allows the user to view the ...

A Finished Sweater, With Cat Hair

After losing Tilly and Robin within a year of each other, I sure didn't think I'd be finding cat hair in my knitting any time soon. But the universe had other ideas. Over the winter, a white feral cat adopted us. I'd noticed her when we moved into our apartment last summer - I would see her hiding in the bushes or sunning herself in the grass when she thought no one was looking. I assumed she was someone's cat until I realized how skittish she was around humans, plus she had a tipped ear, which is a universal sign that a feral/stray cat has been spayed. Neighbors confirmed that she was a feral kitty (descended from several generations of feral cats, in fact), and that she has survived on her wits and whatever food various residents put out for her. We had some bitterly cold days over the winter, and I just felt so sorry for this poor kitty! I started offering her treats and slowly gained her trust. She didn't even want to come inside our apartment at first, much le...

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