Dude! It’s almost 2012!
Posted by springviolet in Things We Do on 29 December 2011
I have no idea where the time goes. It feels like just yesterday we were drunk in Andrea’s basement or in a converted barn in Tivoli filled with pictures of vaginas.
It’s been a hell of a year for us at Social Knitworking. There were epic road trips, knitting retreats, new jobs, moves, relationship changes, unemployment, and more, all the with knitting holding us together. I feel like I’ve just written a blurb for a crappy chick lit novel, but it’s true.
I’ve had a couple of great knitting successes this year. I finally knit a sweater that I love. It was my House Colors project for Rhinebeck this year, Pioneer in orange Silky Wool. I also knit a lovely scarf for my significant other, the Stained Glass Scarf from Handknit Holidays.
My half success was completing one sock out of a pair of Galadriel. Perhaps for 2012 I’ll aim to finish the second sock. Also plugging along is my Blankie. It’s cozy to knit now, keeping my lap warm as I knit.
We’ve started our 2012 knit planning. I have the aforesaid sock to finish. (The heel has turned, all that’s left is the endless lacy leg.) Jenn and I are planning a Tangled Yoke Cardigan knit-along starting in February. There’s The Blankie to work on and I’d love to add to my basket of weird knitted creatures.
What are your knitting stories of 2011 and your plans for 2012?
Sheep and wool! Sheep and wool!
Posted by freakapotimus in Things We Do on 4 October 2011
Things have been busy around the Social Knitworking parts, so much so that we haven’t posted in almost a year! It seems fitting that I’m blogging about the upcoming Rhinebeck road trip when our last video was shot at the 2010 New York Sheep and Wool Festival.
Each year, our knitting group picks a “house color”, a lovely hue that we will keep in mind when choosing a yarn to knit a project that will be premiered at Rhinebeck. Last year’s color was blue, which we each took some liberties with.
Here’s my project from last year’s Rhinebeck, worn again just last week:
Hmm. I didn’t really like that whole outfit together. Let’s focus on the top portion:
Much better! You can read more about my work-through of this on my Ravelry project page.
This year, our color is orange, and I’ve got a very wonderful Malabrigo worsted in “Sunset” that I bought out of my friend K’s stash. Cadence is my project this time around, and after a few false starts on the sleeves, I’m finishing up the body this week! So far, gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. I will post all about it when I’m done, and I’m sure we’ll have some nice photos of our adventures next week.
Social Knitworking Nugget 015: Sheep!
Posted by freakapotimus in Mini Vidcasts on 19 October 2010
In this installment of Social Knitworking Nuggets:
Social Knitworking attended the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend in Rhinebeck! While a more thorough write-up will come soon (I am now on vacation this week, after my first trek to Rhinebeck) we have this little video. The sheep were quite talkative! We met a lovely new friend.
Episode 4: Demons and Sidecars
Posted by freakapotimus in Podcast Episodes on 2 October 2010
Welcome to the fourth episode of the Social Knitworking podcast!
In this episode, recorded in Jenn’s basement with a coffee table full of alcohol, we drink many beverages of an adult nature, we contemplate hymens of different mammals, Connie calls in to discuss her evening without us (our fault!), Andrea recaps 5 seasons of Supernatural for Jenn and Joanna, we sing along to late ’80s and early ’90s hip-hop, and… oh yeah, we talk about our knitting projects and what we’ve been working on over the past month. With or without alcohol involved.
If you’ve got any comments or questions for the podcast, call our feedback line! The number again is 215.839.6373 (215.839.NERD), or use the handy little Google Voice widget we’ve installed on the blog.
Download this episode, or listen online
New patterns, free for you!
Posted by freakapotimus in Site News on 1 October 2010
I would like to apologize for the rush of posts today, especially with all the new patterns! I’ve been meaning to move my original patterns from my personal website to this blog for… oh, about a year now. However, my personal blog was hacked, and I’m shutting it down for the time being. This leads me to finally do the thing I’ve meant to do for so many months!
So a few good things do come out of this: you, dear reader, get to see a bunch of quick and cute patterns that you may not have seen before, as they were hiding on my site; and I get to cross this to-do off my list, so I can make sure the latest podcast upload doesn’t fail (again!) tonight.
It’s a win-win!
Quick & basic coffee cozy
Posted by freakapotimus in Original Patterns on 1 October 2010
I had some extra Swish left over from another project, and I thought: hey! What could I made with this? Something fast and simple, but also very useful. Coffee cozy time!
I’ve found it best to put the cozy on the cup before filling it with coffee. I may modify the pattern to accommodate this issue.
Materials
- KnitPicks Swish Lemongrass Heather
- set of 4 US size 6 DPN (or 40″ circ for magic loop)
Gauge
6 sts + 9 rows = 1″ on US size 6 needles
Sizes
Stretchy enough to fit one to-go coffee/tea cup
Directions
Cast on 46 stitches and join in round.
Knit 4 rounds in K1P1 rib.
Knit 2 rounds.
Next round: K1 K2tog [K to last 3] SSK K1
Next 3 rounds: K
Repeat the above 4 rounds 4 more times.
(There should now be 36 stitches on the needles.)
Knit 1 more round.
Knit 4 rounds in K1P1 rib.
Finishing
BO all stitches and weave in ends. Enjoy your coffee!
No sweat!
Posted by freakapotimus in Original Patterns on 1 October 2010
It’s too hot to worry about getting sweat dripping into your eyes during rock shows. So… no sweat!
Materials
- 1 ball Cascade Fixation 2706
- 1 ball Cascade Fixation 3794
- set of 4 US size 5 DPN (or 40″ circ for magic loop)
Note: I used about half the blue, and way less of the red. I’m sorry I didn’t figure out exact yardage.
Gauge
Approximately 5 sts + 10 rows = 1″ relaxed (unstretched) on US size 5 needles
I had a bit of a time with gauge on this project, because I’d never worked with yarn so stretchy before! Must be all the elastic in the Fixation. I’m a tight knitter, so keeping the yarn slack and relaxed was quite a chore.
If you knit this pattern, find your gauge and use this pattern as a guide. Work with the guage that works for you, remembering to not tighten up that yarn!
Sizes
Stretchy enough to fit one medium sized head—mine is 21″ around.
Directions
Cast on very loosely 75 stitches and join in round.
Knit all arounds in the following color pattern:
- Rnd 1-12: Color A
- Rnd 13-14: Color B
- Rnd 15: Color A
- Rnd 16-17: Color B
- Rnd 18-23: Color A
- Rnd 24-25: Color B
- Rnd 26: Color A
- Rnd 27-28: Color B
- Rnd 29-40: Color A
Finishing
BO all stitches very loosely; I followed Wendy’s variation on a Russian bind off. Weave in ends. Leave a very long tail, about 6-8 times the length of the band, to use to seam the piece. Your piece should look something like this:
Now fold the cast-on and bind-off ends together, and seam together:
Adjust the folds on the band so the seam is in the middle of the inside, and the stripes at the top and bottom of the front/outside:
You may want to block lightly; check Knitty’s reference on blocking cotton. Wear proudly and worry-free!
School spirit striped scarf
Posted by freakapotimus in Original Patterns on 1 October 2010
A bit late for Back to School month, but here is the pattern for the scarf I knit in my brother’s high school colors. Go team!
Materials
- 2 skeins Color A: Red Heart Super Saver Economy Gold (321)
- 1 skein Color A: Red Heart Super Saver Economy Black (312)
- 1 skein Color A: Red Heart Super Saver Economy White (311)
- 1 16-inch circular US size 8 knitting needle
Sizing
Gauge: 5 sts + 6 rows = 1″ on size 8 needles
Dimensions: 8″ x 84″ without fringe
Patterns for Each Block
Pattern for Block 1
Rnds 1-36: Knit all rows with Color A.
Pattern for Block 2
Rnds 1-3: Knit all rows with Color B.
Rnds 4-9: Knit all rows with Color C.
Rnds 10-12: Knit all rows with Color B.
Pattern for Block 3
Rnds 1-3: Knit all rows with Color B.
Rnds 4-9: Knit all rows with Color C.
Rnds 10-12: Knit all rows with Color B.
Rnds 13-18: Knit all rows with Color C.
Rnds 19-21: Knit all rows with Color B.
Directions
With Color A, cast on 80 stitches.
Follow the rounds for each block in this order:
Block 1, [Block 2, Block 1, Block 3, Block 1] x4, Block 2, Block 1
(Note: To make the scarf longer than the length listed here, just repeat [].)
Finishing
BO all stitches. Turn inside-out and weave in ends. Turn right-side-out, wash, and block.
To add tassels to the edges of the scarf, follow this article at eHow for a great explanation of creating fringe for tassels. Make enough fringe for 9 tassels on each edge of the scarf, 5 in Color B and 4 in Color C.
At the bind-off edge, attach one Color B tassel to the middle of the scarf, through both layers of knitting. Then attach two more Color B tassels on each end. Using the middle and ends as a guide, eyeball the locations of the remaining tassels.
Repeat this on the cast-on edge. Wear!
Spam attack!
Posted by freakapotimus in Site News on 23 August 2010
We were recently hit with a rash of spam users signing up for the blog, and I mass deleted a whole bunch of them. We love when you guys sign up to post comments and connect with the community, but if I accidentally deleted your account, please let me know!
This may happen occasionally—the risks of being on the internet, sadly—so if you ever find yourself locked out of the site, don’t take it personally. Shoot us an email or call the hotline, and we’ll fix you up right good.
Episode 3: Back to School
Posted by freakapotimus in Podcast Episodes on 21 August 2010
Welcome to the third episode of the Social Knitworking podcast!
In this episode, recorded unfortunately too close to the speaker at our local coffee shop, we discuss going back to school, taking classes, knitting during lectures, and the sexiness of professors.
If you’ve got any comments or questions for the podcast, call our feedback line! The number again is 215.839.6373 (215.839.NERD), or use the handy little Google Voice widget we’ve installed on the blog.
Download this episode, or listen online