P.S. So much happening at Blue House!

Just a quick little P.S. for today: There are some great things happening at Blue House Ann Arbor this week! There are still a few spots open in the beginners knitting classes I'm teaching on Wednesday:

Let’s Knit Together
Wednesday, May 26, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m., $26
Designed to get kids introduced to knitting, this workshop is great for parents or caregivers to take with their little one. You’ll learn the basics, including casting on, the knit stitch and binding off. All materials included.

Knit One
Wednesday, May 26, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., $26
A small group gathering to get you started with the basics of knitting. You’ll learn to cast on, knit, bind off — and purling depending on how things go. All materials included.

For more info or to register, visit bluehouseannarbor.com, email bluehouseannarbor@gmail.com, call 734.780.1762 or drop by and check out the space! 1026 Main St. in Ann Arbor.

MakersMARK! Handmade Nation screening
There’s also still room for the Handmade Nation screening at Blue House this Tuesday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m. Handmade Nation documents the new wave of art, craft and design that is capturing the attention of the nation. It is the feature film debut of director, author, artist and curator Faythe Levine. Levine traveled to 15 cities and covered more than 19,000 miles to interview artists, crafters, makers, curators and community members. Email Siobhan Lyle at bluehouseannarbor@gmail.com or call 734.780.1762 to reserve your seat!

Hope to see you around the Blue House this week!

Casting off: Knitting at the Blue House

Doesn't she look like an old pro? Rory was one of the students in my first Knit One/Intro to Knitting workshop at the Blue House last week. In just two hours she, along with Julie and Kaylee, were casting on, knitting, casting off like they were born to it. We even got to some purling and laughing. I'm pretty sure they would all do it again. There's another workshop coming up next Friday evening, so if you're in the area and looking to learn how to knit, why not join us? Stay tuned for more dates or you can check out the Blue House web site for more workshops and info.

Come do arts and crafts with me

I was at a party recently with a friend who was wearing knee-high black leather boots with a sizeable heel. After a few drinks, someone made the suggestion that she was wearing "Come f*@%! me" boots. After a bit of stammering and gasping, she thrust her arm out pointing down at my colorful, chunky clown-like shoes (artfully shown above) and said, "Then what are those?"

Without missing a beat, he replied,"They're 'Come do arts and crafts with me' shoes."

Hey, what can I say? My shoes may not be sexy, but at least my message is consistent. Because that's my message for you today: Come do arts and crafts with me. Literally.

I'll be teaching a two-hour Intro to Knitting workshop on Friday, April 23 from 7-9 p.m. at the Blue House in Ann Arbor. We'll be making funky, modern accessories like a sassy knitted cuff or reusable sleeve for your coffee cup. I'll show you how to cast on, knit, check your gauge and cast off. We may not get quite as sassy as the cuff seen above by Dull Roar on Etsy, but I'll show you the skills to do just that. You might even pursuade me to teach you to purl if the group is game. Now doesn't that sound risqué?! The class is just $26 and includes yarn as well as a set of needles to take home. We've only got room for six students, so head on over to the Blue House website and sign up now.

And when you get to the Blue House, you'll know me by my shoes!

The year-long scarf

Around this time last year I was coming off a bout of knitting madness. I had knitted something for just about everyone in my family for Christmas and after the holidays started in on a project for myself: a lovely, leaf-patterned scarf. I shared a peek at it with you here. This was to be no ordinary scarf. This was a 6 1/2 foot long, lusciously thick, incredibly soft, alpaca and wool scarf. Yes, that's right. 78 inches of wooly wonder. It knit up quickly on size 15 needles and I worked on it here and there. But then there was that first glimmer of warmth in the air. I stopped cold. I don't knit in spring. That's all there is to it. I lose all desire. So I packed away the scarf and moved on to spring.

The urge to knit finally returned about a week ago and I busted out that luscious leaf-patterned scarf. As I reviewed the pattern trying to figure out where I had left off, I stopped short. I had already knit 76 inches of the dang thing. How did I not realize this? Well I picked up that scarf and finished it off, lickety-split. I had waited eleven months to finish two inches. Oy vey.

Here I am trying to take a photo of it in the bathroom mirror. Don't I look serious?

Isn't it lovely? (The pattern is from the Vogue Knitting: Accessorize book available at the Ann Arbor library.)

Nothing's for free

What to do with all of those plastic bags piling up in the kitchen, under the sink, in the coat closet? A while back I decided I would knit them together into a tote bag. Clever me would be able to tote my groceries in a bag of grocery bags. I had just read through Mason-Dixon Knitting and was inspired by a rug made by looping together cotton potholder handles into one big ball of yarn. That would be fun, but at $5/bag of loops, the rug would cost $100. Not such a good deal. Hence the bag on the cheap: free in fact.

I became extreme — rinsing out the thin little produce bags, saving the bag from the carrots. We had damp, limp plastic bags draped over every available surface in the kitchen. Slipped over the utensil jar, hanging off the pot rack, propped up by the soap dispenser. I didn't pay close enough attention to the fact that in the book, the author had her children loop together the yarn. Hmm, I realize now that this was for a reason. IT'S DAMN TEDIOUS!

You flatten out each bag and then cut it into horizontal slices. these slices are then connected by slipknots forming a chain. The chain is then wound into a ball. Four months later, and I am stuck on this step. I spent several hours one evening hunched on the floor connecting the loops. By the end of this session, I could barely straighten my back and was cursing the plastic. (OK, so maybe next time I should sit with better posture. Whatever.)

We are still saving bags. the difference now is that I wad them up and shove them into a bigger bag — complete with water, mud, etc. still clinging to them. This makes my next session of chain-making even less appealing. But dammit, I want that bag. The boy had generously offered to help cut them up and loop them together while we watch movies at night, but who really wants to do that? Me reclining on the couch with a pair of scissors and a beer doesn't seem like a good idea, non?

But I did just check online and found a great-looking knitted plastic bag bag at DIY Network and they say to cut the bags in one long spiral from top to bottom and then just knot together with next. I may have to try this technique since it entails just one cut and knot per bag… hmmm, I'll keep you posted.

Two for you, one for me

After quite a frenzy of holiday knitting, I had to put down the needles cuz I'd had enough. But after a month's hiatus (other than some sweater finishing), I'm back at it and happy to say that I'm knitting something for myself. It feels like it's been a while since I did that — not through great acts of selflessness, but rather budget-conscious gift-giving efforts! My mom gave me some beautiful blue Blue Sky Alpaca yarn for Christmas that I'm finally putting to use to make a 78" (yes, that's right!) leaf pattern scarf on big ole size 15 needles. You can see the start of it above.

6 days to knit, 60 to finish

For those of you following along at home and wondering whatever happened with that lovely Morehouse wool I posted about back in December, here is the answer: In my frenzy to finish the sweater for the boy by Christmas (the Berkshire sweater from Weekend Knitting), I did the knitting in 6 days flat. It's such thick beautiful wool that it went really fast. But then I had so many other gifts to finish, that I never did the real "finishing." I wrapped it up under the tree with loose ends hanging everywhere (shameful, I know!) And then, sadly, yet predictably, it took over a full month (ok, not 60 days) to get back to it. But yesterday -- I finally wove in all those ends, fixed the sleeve that was too long and voila! It's done. My first sweater!

Crafty gifts

I wanted to make as many of Christmas gifts as possible this year -- since I had some extra time and NEED to save money! I decided to go with a cooking theme, since it's something my family enjoys doing together and that I've been doing a lot of these days. I made my own recipe books with my favorite recipes from 2008 and packaged them with felted potholders that I knit. Yippeee! They turned out pretty well, though these pictures are quite crappy.

Baby blanket knitting completed—finally!

I am pleased to say that I finally finished knitting a baby blanket I started more than a year ago (said baby is now 1 1/2 years old—oops!) I think I actually finished the knitting in November, but it took December to get the finishing details. In the end, I'm very happy with it and still like the pattern. Have a look at left.