Guerilla Knitting on the Road

 

Kennebunk, Maine Rest Stop South Rt 95

Cracker Barrel, Rt 84 just inside Massachusetts heading north again

Rest Stop Kennebunk, ME, heading north on Rt 95

Pattern used:

Cast on 34 stitches (I used size US8 single point needles) and work in K1,P1 rib for five rows.  Increase one stitch at both ends of row 6, which is knit. Purl Row 7. Continue in stockinette stitch for three more rows, ending on wrong side.  Increase one stitch at either end of Row 11, using K1, P1 rib. Row 2-5 are worked in K1, P1 rib.  Row 6: Bind off loosely in rib pattern.  Use extra yarn to sew into an open-ended cylinder.

Use bright colors!  Be happy! Spread knitted joy!

This is a quick & easy knitted coffee cup cozy that makes an excellent "pop-over" knit bomb ready-made.  You need open-ended poles to install these if you decide to sew them up prior to installation - or you can leave the piece open until bombing time. (I tend to bomb in full daylight so I favor sewing & swift placement.) These also make cute cuffs just to wear on your wrist.  Of course, anything goes yarn-wise, length-wise, width-wise etc.  Just play! Make yourself smile! Others will too!

Thanks to Knitting Out Loud  for transportation, laughs & encouragement over the past year.  If you find out where to buy Yak Butter Tea, Kathy, I'm going along for the ride!

Sweater Quest by Adrienne Martini

Needles in hand, I cast on 357 stitches.  I count again - 359.  No problem.  I rip two stitches out.  Count again - 356.  Cast on another - 356. Again. Crap.  Pull needle out of work & unravel all of it, because my counting mojo is not on my side.  Steps must be taken.  p.75

Ms. Martini had me at the opening sentence: "Had I not discovered knitting, I would not be the paragon of sanity that I am today."  But the above quotation from deeper within the book nails it.  This is me and my knitting as of April 2010.  My "counting mojo" has abandoned me.  Luckily, I had Sweater Quest on my bedside table the week my left brain decided to shut down.  Reading about the author's "Year of Knitting Dangerously" was just the tonic my sore knitter's heart needed.  

In the book, a memoir, Martini's tackling an Alice Starmore sweater, the Tudor Rose. Never in my wildest dreams would I try such a thing, but being a book dealer who has seen a few Starmore books come & go, I know how incredibly beautiful & complex a Starmore sweater is.  I am in awe.  Then I'm jealous - because, along the way, Martini gets to hang out (have a sleepover even!) with Ann Shayne & Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting fame and Stephanie Pearl McPhee, the Yarn Harlot.  (And Clara Parkes sounds exactly as I imagine her.) The sweater goes everywhere, receiving oohs & ahs as it grows ...and grows...and grows.  Whether it fits or even gets finished is for me to know & you to find out when you read this delightful book.

Sweater Quest made me laugh out loud. That will, I'm sure, go a long way towards luring my recalcitrant knitting skills back from their unscheduled vacation.  Short version: buy or borrow this book!

Black Locust Farm, Washington, Maine in Spring

 Up at Black Locust farm here in Washington, the babies are starting to be born! Cindy & I got to hold this one day old kid.

Adorable AND cashmere!

This farm has become one of my favorite places in the world.  I just sat down in the field with the does & wethers and listened  & watched.  

Next time I'll bring my sketchbook.

www.blacklocust.com

Visit My Other Blog

Please see today's blog at  www.villagebooksmaine.blogspot.com.  This is where my head's at these past three weeks or so...  And my knitting is suffering.  How do you knit garter again?

A Goodly Group: Knit In at Waterfall Arts

Look at these wonderful people!  All of them trusted me to lead them down the path of 3-D, free form knitting!  Bravo to all!