Designing

Oh my Gosh! My pattern for the Hill Country Yarn Sock Pattern Contest is finished, I think. I have to give it to a few test knitters to work out the kinks, but for the most part it is done. You should see all the notes, sketches, and re-sketches I have done for this pattern. I have so many slips of paper with notes and numerous sheets of graph paper used to plot out the pattern. I am sure a seasoned designer has a much better process than I used with this pattern. I think I need to invest in some spiral notebooks so I can track my progress with future designs. That way it will be much easier to see where I started and how it all ended up.

Anyway you look at it; I had lots of fun designing this pattern. It forced me to try new things and think outside the box. This process encouraged me to pave my own path rather than to follow someone else’s lead.

And you wouldn’t believe the brain power it takes to write out the pattern so someone else, even a novice knitter, can understand it, MUCH MUCH harder than actually coming up with the design itself.

Not so welcome to spring..

Okay, so I had planned on posting a welcome to spring picture today, but when I got home from work today, we were having a thunderstorm. And as much as I love my blog readers I had no desire to stand out in the pouring rain to take a picture of my spring bulbs, which were starting to sprout. If I had I would have been soaked even before I could get to the flower bed, because the rain drops were so huge. The proof is in the fact that there is currently a river running down my street.

Anyway, instead I will talk about knitting in public day. I was listening to Sticks and String, an Australian PodCast, and he mentioned that the World Wide Knit in Public day is Saturday, June 9th.

Does someone know if anyone in the Detroit area is organizing an event for this day? If not I think we should plan and event of our own. If nothing else it is an excuse to knit, right.

Yay for Podcasts!

So as much as we may like, many of us can’t sit around and knit 24/7. The house needs to be cleaned, meals need to be prepared and money is to be earned. Okay, so maybe a clean house isn’t so important, but one must have food to sustain the body for knitting and one must have money to buy more yarn. But who is to say that we can’t think about knitting when we can’t actual be knitting. Well, we all know about knitting blogs, or you wouldn’t be here right now, but how much time can one spend in front of the computer.

One way I deal with the lack of knitting time is to listen to Knitting podcasts. If you are new to knitting or new to podcasts in general, then maybe you don’t even know that knitting podcasts exist. I found these by accident through another knitting blog, but I am so glad I did.

Knitting podcast, what is that, you ask? Well, let me tell you. Some really wonderful people have taken blogging to the next level and produced an audio file that can be downloaded and listened to off line, and on the iPod no less.

Each knitting podcast has a different theme or agenda, but many of them discuss the project or projects they are currently working on, knitting patterns they have found on the web or elsewhere, new yarns, new knitting books, and knitting news in general. Some even have interviews with other knitters, knitwear designers, authors of knitting books and yarn manufactures. There is even a video podcast with lots of great tips. And some of the podcasters even hold contests to get their listeners involved.

How do you find these podcasts, you ask? Well I found most of them through iTunes, but you can also download many directly from their website. I have only downloaded them through iTunes so don’t ask me how to do it through the website, but I am sure it isn’t hard.

Some of my favorite podcasts are as follows with their website links. I like to have their website pulled up while listening because they often times refer to other websites and they typically have the link posted in the episode notes.

Craft Borg
It’s a Purl Man
Let’s Knit2gether (video)
Lime & Violet
Pointy Sticks
Stash and Burn
Sticks & Strings
Unwound

There are many more out there, but right now I am have been listening to these and getting caught up on all their episodes. Some of these have been around for over a year. I can’t believe I never knew about these before. Needless to say, I am addicted. I hope these podcasts go on forever and I hope new podcasts continue to pop-up. They definitely keep me entertained while I am working or knitting.

Enjoy!