Exercising

For a number of years, my exercise consisted of walking around at work, walking my dog, and household chores.  I suppose pushing a knitting machine doesn't count.  I had a treadmill, but needed something with lower impact.  I love to swim, but that's inconvenient and expensive. 

I "read" a great many books, and always have, but for a few years now, I read even more by listening to them on Kindle.  I listen while I commute to work and run errands, and I listen while I knit or put away laundry.  I get ideas from the books, and one idea I got recently was to get a low-impact exercise machine, the Gazelle.  I know they've been sold with infomercials, but I don't watch infomercials and had never heard of it.  This is a fun gadget - I'm finding that I can use it quite a while without getting particularly tired, that I can get my heart rate up into the target range, and that I can do it in the evening after supper (really, the most convenient time for me).  I've been building up and am at a half hour.  The thing is almost silent, so I can listen to my Kindle (and go through more books and get more ideas!  Tonight I was listening to a book about ruthless decluttering.) 

The exercise in the evening is not keeping me awake, but it does perk me up for the rest of the evening so I'm less sluggish.  That is very helpful because I'm a true "morning person" and slow right down at 8 p.m.  So far, I haven't lost any weight with it, because I need to watch what I eat, but I did cut the sugar out of my diet after the holidays.  I was disgusted with all the sweets we'd been knocking down through December. 

The only thing I don't like about it is I can't do it while I knit.  I guess you can't have everything!

Inspiration at Karla's blog!

Wow.  Gorgeous machine knitted Entrelac sweater:

http://karlaknitsknatters.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/delving-into-entrelac/

Never Not Knitting

This song is about a poor, misunderstood lady who doesn't even have a knitting machine. Sigh.

Fraggle Rock Knitting Video

I loved Fraggle Rock when my kids were little!  Probably more than the boys did.

Here's a video where the Doozers do a knitting song:

Pattern Testing Volunteers for Shaped Entrelac - Please Email Me

I have the bulky patterns drafted for the "Wear Your Diamonds" book.  It's a book of shaped Entrelac round yoke pullovers like the one I'm wearing in the photo.  I would appreciate emails from those of you who wanted to volunteer to test the patterns. 

I am seeking a few folks who will provide honest feedback about the clarity and accuracy of the written instructions.  The patterns, written for Japanese bulky machines, include adult sizes 34-48 and kids 2-12.  

Please email diana_knits "at" sbcglobal "dot" net.  Let me know what bulky you use. I will need your full name and snail address (snail address means your street address).  I can't find you if you contact me by commenting here or inviting me to Ravelry or other sites - I really do need a mailing address so I know who I'm dealing with and can send you the pattern.

Thanks!  Y'all are awesome!

22 Years Ago Today...

Happy Birthday, Steven!

Our son Steven was born on a Super Bowl Sunday in San Bernardino, California, considerately fast and early so his grandparents didn't have to miss the game and his parents didn't have to hang out in the hospital for long. 

He grew into this happy, social young adult.  We'll go see him today at Texas A&M.

Steven is so much like his dad that sometimes they say the same thing to me in unison - they both make me laugh!  Love ya, kid!

A Great Way to Reduce Stash

Over at Knotty Knits, check out Tracy's charity knitting accomplishment:

http://tracykm.blogspot.com/2012/01/yarn-confession-time.html

Inspiration at Phil's Blog

His latest two projects, very nice:

http://phil1987.blogspot.com/2012/01/ff-here-are-some-photos-of-what-have.html#comment-form

It's having a community of online knitters that helps keep a lot of us going - many of whom are nowhere near a dealer or a club.  So thank, Phil!

Pile Knitting at Alex's Blog

Hmm, I've been wanting to try this - and I love his edging:

http://alexsmachineknitting.blogspot.com/2012/01/pile-knitting-on-360.html

One More Unusual Knitting Video

Inspiration at Marzipan

Darling baby sweater - great use of lively sock yarn!

http://marzipanknits.blogspot.com/2012/01/machine-knit-baby-sweater-using-sock.html

More Knitting Art

Giant "knitting Nancy"

Garter Carriage Repairs

Does anyone out there have a dead garter carriage motor that they'd be willing to send us for John to play with?

John is researching the motors and gears needed for our garter carriages and would like to have one to study.  We know that these motors are increasingly rare, that they need replaced eventually on every garter carriage (we've had to replace a couple ourselves, but didn't keep the dead ones). 

All my GC knitter friends and I are very fond of our garter carriages and want to keep them going!  Isn't it horrific that this little motor wearing out could be THE END?  John and I hope to find a source for the motors and necessary gears and stock them.

Pictured:  a good one, our only spare, and we don't want to put it "under the knife."

"The Knitting Machine" Video

Check this out...

What's a Mid-Gauge Machine, Anyway?

For years, the only mid-gauge machine I had was an MK-70.  This is a fascinating, fold-up, portable machine manufactured back in the 80s with an 18-stitch punchcard.  It's a 6 mm machine.

I wanted an LK-150 for several reasons.  One, I believe it is the most widely-owned of the midgauges, so I ought to write patterns and teach on something lots of people have.  Two, it's 6.5 mm, a much more common size.  Three, it seems like an absolutely ideal beginner's machine to me, since it's much easier to use than the Bond and has a lot more features, while it is still more reasonably priced than most Japanese machines.

I am nearly finished with the bulky part of the Entrelac book I've been working on.  I had made some gauge swatches with the MK-70 for a mid-gauge section of the book, but of course, once I got my hands on the LK-150, I made more swatches so I could compare the gauges.  I certainly want my Entrelac sweaters to be practical to knit on both machines.

Check out the difference in gauge between the machines, using a sport-weight yarn:

My MK-70's tension 10 is about the same gauge as my LK-150 tension 3!

My MK-70's tension 6 is about the same gauge as my LK-150 tension 2!

The next thing I noticed was that, even though turning up the gauge dial on the MK-70 had a fairly subtle effect, turning it up on the LK-150 had a huge effect:

• Dial set at #2:  6.4 stitches and 10 rows = 1"
• Dial set at #3:  5.7 stitches and 8 rows = 1"
• Dial set at #4:  5.3 stitches and 7.3 rows = 1"

That's a lot of change in stitch size for just one number on the dial!   There is just one click between numbers, so there's going to be less fine-tuning opportunity with gauge, but you can influence it a little by changing the upper tension dials.  Seems to me that this machine will take a fairly wide range of yarns. 

I think #4 is too loose for this yarn, so I stopped trying out bigger settings. 

I'm Back

I've been rather busy this week - insanely busy, really, and just got back from out of town.  Things are crazy at work with lots of computer issues and year-end tasks, and I had a two-day TSCPA event to attend out of town.  John and I just got back.

I've got some blogging to catch up on and will try and get some machine knitting posts up soon.  I purchased an LK-150 the other day, and plan to film some of my shaped Entrelac work on it.  It's a very nice plastic mid-gauge from Studio, and very popular, as well.  I also picked up a Studio 560 and all the possible accessories while I was off on my business trip.  We have just lugged it all into the house, but the books didn't go to the knitting room yet.  I've been poring over them.

Note that over at http://www.vannaschoice.com/, there's a contest you might want to enter.  You'll need to photograph and describe a project made with their yarn.

Great Idea

I've heard of this, just haven't actually done it - purchased an extra ribber comb to cut into two new sizes so I'd have a much bigger variety.

Check it out at Machine Knitting is My Life:

http://machineknittingismylife.blogspot.com/2012/01/ribber-cast-on-combs.html

Sylvia's Hobby Room - Rolling, Folding, and Creating!

Sylvia's craft room pictures are especially interesting because most of us have other crafts and hobbies besides knitting.  Sylvia is a seamstress and embroiderer, and needs space for her sewing machines, computer, printer, and cutting space.  She also has multiple knitting machines and sewing machines.  Her beastie sewing machine isn't even in these pix - it's a professional embroidery unit that almost needs its own room!

Sylvia has wall cabinets to stretch space, and also plastic boxes on top of the cabinets.  According to the organizing books I've been reading, you put the things you use the most often at hand, and things you use less often farther away.

Sylvia has her knitting machines on wheeled platforms, so she can pull out a machine she's using and push it back when she isn't using it.  Once the machine rolls away from the wall, there's more elbow room for extension rails.

Sylvia has a drop-leaf sewing worktable in the corner of the room.  It's on wheels, and she can either flip up one side and use it where it is, or roll it into the middle of the room for a bigger work area.

Another view of the room shows two sewing machines and a serger, ready to go, with bulletin board space and thread racks on the wall. 

Closer shot of the computer work area, and then one showing her Toyota KM, which is under a cover.  The Toyota is also on a rolling platform. 

One more way to go on up the walls with storage - bins on a high shelf. 

Jo Ann's Great Organizing Idea

Here's a good pic from Jo Ann - using an office paper holder for cast-on combs:

Great Video - The Russian Join

I picked up the link to this wonderful video at the new "Fun With Big Brother" Yahoo group.  This is a group for us folks who love bulky knitting machines (in general, not just Brother), and so far, I like it very much. 

If you're hesitating to join Yahoo machine knitting groups, well, I think you're missing out.  You don't have to write anything, you can lurk, and nobody minds.  The groups contain a wealth of information and are stunningly, almost free of negative behavior (most of them are moderated, too).  Knitters just seem to be nice people!  They are very accepting of both newbies and varied opinions about the craft. 

Here's the link to Fun With Big Brother.

This video is the best explanation  I've seen showing how to do the Russian join, where you can put together two ends of yarn.  I won't go on about the Russian join - watch the video, because she does such a good job explaining its purpose and how to do it:

Look at these hand knit lace patterns

Article:  Pattern Lust over at Feather and Fan

http://featherandfan.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/pattern-lust/

Article on Yarn Shortage Anxiety at Needles to Say

Mary Anne Oger has some good ideas about what to do when you think you may not have quite enough yarn to finish your project, here.

Cute Baby Jacket at Knitting Up a Storm

http://knitting-up-a-storm.blogspot.com/2012/01/project-complete-ribbed-baby-jacket-2.html

Greta's Slipper Sox

Greta knitted these using my pattern and video.

These are warm, and we're finally having some cool weather (Greta lives in San Antonio).  This is a quick little project, nice for times you want to knit but aren't up for a big time commitment.

Marge Coe's Knitting Room

Marge was kind enough to send her knitting room pictures, and they are chock-full of fantastic storage ideas.  She said it's a small room, about a 9-foot square, and look how cleverly she's used the space!

Marge, you have no idea how much I enjoyed your photos.  I'm amazed at what you did with your space and how neat and handy everything is!

This first picture is the view upon entering the room.  Okay, what great storage ideas do we see here?  First of all, I'm fascinated by the shelves behind the machine on the left and the way she stacked an extra machine underneath.  There are tighter shots of these later.  I think she's setting a good example for us by keeping her knitting machines covered when not in use.

 

Marge's second picture was labelled "behind the door book storage.  I love the way she's got her books and magazines organized into binders and holders.  I've been meaning to do that.  I've been watching for deals on the magazine holders. 

Next photo - Marge's punch card files.  I am so impressed with her organizing them by type into the hanging files.  I used to stick them in notebooks with pocket pages, but I like this better. 

This one was labelled, "Behind hall door."  Now here's a great idea.  It's an over-the-door organizer, and lots of different ones are availabe for shoes, accessories, and so forth.  This is on my shopping list! 

This is her pegboard.  Look how she used the pegboard to store her long objects, like garter bars and combs.

And here is her picture labelled, "Below Pegboard."  More books in magazine holders.  Little plastic drawers.  Boxed items.  Books.  We machine knitters store a lot of odd-shaped items.

This one is "Cupboard under TV" and I like the way she has a television on a corner shelf and then tucked additional storage underneath.  You have to put those ribber weights on something sturdy.

Next, a closeup of those little shelves behind her 360 knitting machine that we saw in the first photo.  Super handy storage for small items.

Here's what's under the 360 - another machine packed in its box and sitting on the table braces plus a cone holder with some yarn currently threaded.  I use cone holders - they keep the cones from tipping over and an workworker might make one for you!

Here's another little storage spot in a corner.

Shelves of coned yarn. 

LK-150, set up for knitting.

And, below the LK150, Marge has equipment stashed in boxes. 

This yarn tree is sometimes called a "double" yarn tree - it holds more than a tree with just one pole up the center.  At my house, I have a single and a double in my bedroom.  My double looks just like Marge's - and mine rotates, so hers probably does as well.  I have a lot of cones of yarn that were given to me and didn't come with clear plastic bags, and I was able to find some rolls of small wastebasket bag liners at a big box store, which I use to cover yarn that didn't come with a plastic cover. 

Here's Marge's bulletin board.  This is a good idea - a place to tack up idea, swatches, and general things to think about or things in the works.  I have tended to leave them lying near my machines, which gradually just creates a mess.

Inspiration at Yet Another Canadian Artisan

Check out the wonderful scarves knitted for the Special Olympics (by two machine knitting clubs):

http://cutlermac.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/a-job-well-done/

Trying on the Entrelac Sweater

It fits.  In worsted weight yarn, it is very warm.  I have the charts done for the mid-gauge, so maybe that's next, but I was going to do a toddler-sized one first.

There is some "bubbling" in the yoke on these; the Entrelac is a very three-dimensional, textured look, and the stockinette body, in contrast, is flat.  I prefer the 3D look, but you could block the whole thing flat.  If you did that, you need to block the swatch as hard as the sweater, or else you'd get a nasty surprise trying to make it fit.

I was going for a coming-out-of-nowhere look for the Entrelac on this one by using the main color at both the beginning and ending rows of the yoke.  Some of my sweaters were done this way, and the others have a light color to begin the yoke trials for a distinctly round look to the yoke.

Deferred Gratification

This one's mine.

John was with me when I purchased the yarn, and he questioned the wisdom of combining the rose and the mouse brown, but I told him it would be fantastic - just wait and see.  (I am good at combining colors.  I am terrible at arranging furniture; everyone has these mental differences.)  I got the yoke done pretty quickly, but then the holidays were upon us.  Steven got home and admired the shaped Entrelac sweaters (he usually doesn't say much about my knitting).

So - my project waited while I knitted Steven's sweater, wanting it done before he went back to college and usable in this winter's cool weather.

When I finished Steve's, he remarked on the neck rubbing in front.  He didn't really mind, but it would be better if it didn't ride high in front.  Oftentimes, round yoke sweaters are the same back and front, but I knew that was not really the best way to do it.  I didn't want a loose, gappy neck, either, on such a warm sweater.  I thought, as I hurried around working and doing Christmas tasks, that I ought to rechart the sweater with the whole yoke moved so the front neck is lower than the back. 

So - it waited while I recharted the sweater and all the sizes, modifying front, back, and both sleeves to accommodate the change.

Next, it waited while we celebrated Christmas.

I rehung the yoke and knitted sections downward, getting some of the knitting done on holiday days off, and realized I didn't have enough yarn to finish the brown sections.

It waited until I could get to the store for more yarn.  I lucked out - you cannot tell where the wrong dye lot yarn is.  Don't try this, darlings!  Every other time I've made this mistake, I've been sorely disappointed in the finished project.  In fact, I often study balls of so-called "no dye lot" yarn to make sure I'm getting the same dye lot.  The yarn shop helpers might suggest you buy one extra ball, but I like to buy two extras!  I often return the unused yarn, but that doesn't save any money, because I usually purchase more yarn on the return trip.

Then, it waited while we set up the knitting room (ah, I'm still on a high about that, what a glorious luxury to have my own knitting space!).

This morning, I finished sewing it up.  I couldn't resist snapping a picture, even before I do some light steaming on the transition area. 

And it's mine!

The color scheme is terrific - in fact, Francesca, who works for us on Thursdays, told "Mr. John" that she loves the sweater, especially "los colores!"  I think Francesca has wonderful taste, so I was flattered; and even though it still had horrible contrasting waste yarn all around the yoke, it caught her eye and she admired the color combination.

Note that, to avoid my pulling it on backwards, I sewed a few chain stitches inside the back of the neck with the rose yarn. 

I told Barbara that I'll demonstrate shaped Entrelac at the Knit Natters meeting on the 14th.  I'm going to work up some sort of simplified pattern and knit some samples partway, plus show my friends all my samples.  This will be a dress rehearsal for one demo I plan to do at Knit Knack shop in the spring.  I wonder if I can squish the demo down enough to make a YouTube.

Keep On Keepin' On

Each evening this week, I'm coming home and working on the mess I created moving everything all over the house to make the studio.  Yesterday, I helped put our little office back together.  You couldn't walk in there, because the small room needed serious rearranging once we put the twin bed in there instead of the Brother knitting machine.

Tonight I moved more small things to Steven's own room and got more knitting stuff out of my bedroom and into the studio.  He's supposed to turn up tomorrow, and he has a bedroom with all his clothing.

I am facing up to the space shortage, and here is a fantastic Singer 9000 knitting machine (a Superba design with elaborate electronics, a motor, table, and its own little TV set for pattern design), if anyone is looking to buy one.  You'd have to pick it up reasonably near Central Texas.  This wouldn't ship easily; would require a number of containers and I'm afraid to risk damaging such a rare machine.  I did a brief video showing the machine's basics some time back. 

Let's Share Studio Ideas

I was thrilled with some of the feedback I got from friends and readers about my studio project.  Marge wrote and said her knitting space is a small room, maybe 9 feet square, and she has three machines set up with other machines underneath and pegboard on the walls.  Marge, I would love to see photos of your space.

Tom, in the past, sent gorgeous pictures of his studio with real cabinets and marble countertops.  Tom is a neatnik who says he's getting some clutter now.   "Some" clutter - gee, I think my clutter is terminal!   I have dug through my email and can't find those pictures now, hint, hint, Tom. 

Sylvia wrote and sent a picture of the rolling platform her husband Doug devised, which lets her pull out the particular machine she's working on.  The platforms only roll forward and back, so the machines don't move around with the sideways knitting pressure.  Sylvia uses the platforms to hold tools, as well. 

Alex suggested an umbrella stand for cast-on combs.  I did a web search for umbrella stands, which aren't as common here in Texas as on his side of the pond, and discovered that you can get very attractive ones, some of which are oblong and would give you plenty of space for lots of combs.  Totally cool idea.

Greta suggested stacked coffee cans for a wonderful cast-on comb holder.  She took the bottoms out of #10 coffee cans, stacked them and taped them, then covered the thing with contact paper, and says 4 tall works great.  I had heard about fancier ones made by gluing various lengths of big PVC pipe.  I am thinking about drilling holes as needed and hanging the nasty tangly things.

Greta was describing a shelf her neighbor made her that sits behind her machine.  She says it's moveable.  I couldn't picture it, and asked for a photo of that.

You probably noticed my little rolling carts.  They are quite nice for small items like measuring tapes, calculators, transfer tools, pens and tablets, and ribber weights.  I took the wheels off one of my carts to make it short enough to fit under the motor frame on my Brother motor. 

John and I got into a discussion about pegboard.  I used pegboard at my shop, and it's just wonderful for tools and miscellany.  I went over on Amazon found this terrific-looking pegboard system for craft and sewing rooms, which comes in a whole bunch of fun colors.  Of course, if you search over there for pegboard, you find galvanized steel and all sorts of heavy-duty peg systems.  When I had the shop, we purchased the big, cheap sheets of pressboard pegboard and John put them up with spacers and an electric drill.  Then we rolled beige paint on them and added an edging around them (it was some plastic stuff that we just pushed on, very easy to do).  It looked perfectly nice and enabled me to display all those zillions of little packages of needles, hooks, hoops and so forth neatly.  We didn't have trouble with that pegboard warping or wearing out, because the items weren't all that heavy.

So - here's an appeal - email me photos of your cool, works-for-you studio ideas to diana_knits "at" sbcglobal "dot" net, and I'll post them!   Please don't be too humble - we all love great knitting space ideas.

I always wanted a knitting studio - and today, I got one!

I am so happy that I finally got my knitting studio!  We worked hard on this today, and it feels so good that I'm blogging about it even if it is quite boring.

This bedroom was my son's.  It's a fairly large room, and to the right where the beds are, there's some wall space.  On the left, there is very little wall space - there's a closet and a door into a "bonus room," which is like a walk-in closet.  There is enough room for a desk in the corner.

The room has good light and was only being used when Steven was home from college.  He told me during Christmas week that he didn't mind if I took it over for a knitting studio, as long as I got the knitting stuff out of the guest room, which will be his room.  The guest room has a much more comfortable mattress, which suits him fine.

I am not particularly good at arranging furniture, but John and I took a crack at this today.  The dresser went to the guest room and the beds got put back together (they're a trundle thingie) and put into the den.  We will probably get rid of the beds, which were comfortable for kids but not so great for bigger people.  At that point, we have to figure out another guest bed that is comfortable for adults. 

I didn't want to spend money at this point, just see what we could do by rearranging.  I don't want a big modification of the house, because we will probably sell it in a few years, and this would be purchased for a bedroom.  Most people who buy in our neighborhood are raising children.

The Passap came from our bedroom, the Brother 270 from the guest room, and the Brother 965i came from our office.  The contents of two closets had to be swapped so Steve has a closet where he sleeps.

This second photo shows it in quite a mess, with John taking a break to answer the phone and junk lying all over the place.  See my cute little dog, who sneaked into the picture?  He's a mutt, a chihuahua-terrier mix.

And, finally, the finished room, with a mid-gauge by the door (I don't plan to leave that there), around the corner, the Passap E6000, against the wall under the picture, the Brother 965i on a motor stand, and with a chair pushed up to it, the Brother 270.

The desk is still in the corner left of the shot, only we moved my "knitting computer" to it.  That is an old computer that I only use for Design A Knit software and typing out patterns.  It is so old and so slow that nobody wants it for anything else.   I do most of my blogging from a laptop, and most of my bookkeeping from another computer in our office, and now that DAK has a version for the newer operating systems, I can ditch the antique.  John and I think the beat-up old desk can go and that I would be better off with a folding work table, where an oddball machine (mid-gauge, USM, or 970) can go for temporary use and where I can use my laptop.   Another change I will probably make is the addition of shelves along the long wall, at least partway up the wall, and behind the machines. 

Did I get the knitting supplies out of the rest of the house?  NO!  There are still cones of yarn in two other rooms, a big machine downstairs, and two circular sock machines downstairs.  Maybe with some serious cleaning out of the adjoining bonus room, I can get everything together in one general area.  There are even a couple of machines around here that I probably won't keep.  I am trying to stick to owning the most common, most popular machines that my readers likely use. 

What did I learn from this exercise today?

1. The machines are bigger than they look.  You need room to work around them, too, and you need to be able to get to the plugs to unplug them (we have big thunderstorms here sometimes).  My girlfriend lost a Passap to lightning last spring, so now I'm finally more careful.
2. I still need to de-stash quite a bit.  I found myself moving things I really don't use.
3. I need a tall wrapping paper canister or something like that for all the cast-on combs.  I have them in cardboard mailers now, and am tired of that.
4. I am thinking about some pegboard.  The machines aren't pretty anyway, and pegboard is fantastic for odd-sized items.
5. I still love putting spare parts in the machine lids, which are sitting on the back of the stands.  The wooden stand is better for a machine with no lid, which is the case with my mid-gauge.

Inspiration at Rhythm of the Needles

Check out this adorable little guy in his brand new sweater!

Doesn't this cute sweater get you thinking about knitting some fun kids stuff, using bright stripes.  You could not only use odds and ends (I'm getting some very fun scraps from the color schemes for Entrelac where I only use about half of each ball of yarn). 

Happy New Year! And, Best Blog Entries, 2011

It's a beautiful New Year's Day here in Austin, Texas!  After another whole year of machine knitting blogging (and almost all my posts are about knitting, not my husband, dogs, kids, job, or whatever), I've had a good look back through the year.  When you write a machine knitting blog, there's not much danger of losing track of what you knitted last year!

Here are MY favorite posts of 2011.  I'm not sure what YOUR favorite posts are, so chime in if I missed a good one.

January:  A Baby Blanket video  A fast, short-rowed, 2-color pinwheel baby blanket in worsted weight yarn that you could easily whip out in an evening for a baby gift.

February:  I refilmed and reedited a Mattress Stitch Video, determined to make it ridiculously clear and simple.  I even got one angry commenter who said it was too slow and I must be assuming people are stupid!  I took that as a compliment, since mattress stitch is really a little difficult to learn, but so worthwhile, and I wanted to make it completely clear for all the beginners out there.

Also in February, I wrote Click! A Small Big Improvement in Machine Knitting.  It was basic, but several knitters found it helpful.

In March, I wrote an article about what to do when you can't get gauge - that is, how to rechart the project.  It's my personal fave for the month, but I was prolific in March.  Don't know if it helped anyone else, but I wrote an article about starting and maintaining a knitting club.  Then there was my Do a Better Cast-On article and my Rippit article.

April was the month I went to Colorado and taught.  How fun!  Also, I wrote an article about yarn weights and my heart-broken report on my dear friend's house getting hit by lightning and her knitting machine ruined. 

In May, I was playing around with old notes, looking for a demo for club, and retried a trim that I liked so well, I made a video of it:  Easy Ruched Heart Trim.  I also wrote a piece with lots of photos about measuring a gauge swatch.

My favorite June item is a pattern from Barbara Deike, an afghan to knit for the troops.

In July, Tom sent me the recipe, detailed instructions and photos of his Amazing Machine Transformation.  This is a safe way to take the yellow out of your old plastic machine, and his before-and-after pictures will blow you away.  It appearss that July was the Tom Month, since the other don't-miss post was a video of how to make Tom's seamless hat for the troops.

In August, I designed a fast slipper pattern to knit for the soldiers, and here's the video.

In September I wrote Things the Ribber Manual Didn't Tell Ya, an article about gun oil for machine knitting, and published my microwave brownie recipe, which is about proper nutrition for MKing, I suppose.

In October, I wrote an article about the upper tension unit.

In November, I did some "time lapse" pictures of a shaped Entrelac project.  I'm still working on that book, and I'm knitting them from the neck down now.  But check out the photos!

Who has time to blog in December?  I did it anyway.  I wrote out instructions for Knitting a Necklace.  I re-ran all the old project videos that I thought would make great, fast gifts in a pinch:  child's sweater, bulky lined slippers, very quick afghan, warm child's hat, socks, hand knit dishcloth, felted slipper, and mitten.