Appalachia KAL Recap

The May KAL for Appalachia is finished. I am so happy and proud to have so many people knit one of my designs. And I was impressed to see that every color combination that was chosen looked amazing. The overall feedback the pattern was that Appalachia was fun to knit. It is a fairly easy introduction to stranded color work. Here are a few hats in no particular order that came out of the KAL (used with permission of course)

Amy Herner did this with Crystal Palace's Mini Mochi and Plymouth Yarn's Happy Feet. I am impressed with how bright the black is with the pastel colors. It is a really snazzy hat.

ememknits did this version with Mini Mochi and Patons Kroy Socks 4ply. I love the subtle purple and green that shows up in the sea of blue.

Hooknneedler did her hat with Bernat Softee Baby Solids & Marls. Although I didn't mention it anywhere, I was secretly hoping someone would choose a yarn with short color repeats. I'm so happy Hookneedler did. I think it looks wonderful!

Jessica Myers did this version with knit Picks Wool of The Andes and Noro Silk Garden. I can honestly say that I would have never thought of pairing the warm orange with the cool grey. But both colors really play off of each other well. (Jessica also said, "It was a really fun knit and the decreases on the crown are really cleverly done." on her blog, which really made my day. I spent a lot of time making sure the decreases were well incorporated into the pattern)

Lily Giddings did her version in Mini Mochi and Malabrigo Sock, which were the recommended yarns in the pattern. Although I love that she chose completely different colors than I chose.

LizzieHelen did this version with hand dyed Red Heart Ltd. Heart & Sole. I wouldn't have thought about hand dying the yarn for this hat. I'm so impressed with the colors that LizzieHelen was able to get!

Donna Kinkead did this version with Knit Picks Chroma and Knit Picks Bare. Even though I recommended that the variegated yarn be the counter color, I think I might like it as the main color even better! (Donna was the first to finish the KAL. I was so stoked to see this hat pop up in the KAL thread)

Sandyham did this version with Lana Gatto Wool Gatto and Noro Silk Garden Sock. She ended up using three different noro balls in the hat to get the colors she was looking for. I think that was a clever idea.

This version of Appalachia was also done with Online Supersocke 100 and Zitron Trekking (XXL). I liked seeing another hat with a short color repeat variegated yarn. And that color combination is stunning.

Some hats did turn out a little small, which probably happened because some people do their stranding a bit tighter than I do. But the pattern is flexible enough to allow for extra repeats of the triangle to be put in the hat without affecting the shaping at the crown of the hat.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

The first movie in my Summer of Sci-Fi is...

Everything is quiet in the quite town of Santa Mira, California. Lovely weather, friendly people. But something is a little off.

People start claiming that family members aren't actually family members, but rather they are impostors. They look the same and sound the same, but there is something amiss.

Dr. Bennell thinks there is something a bit off, but it isn't until copies of people start showing up that his suspicions are confirmed. The copies look the same and act the same as the people they are impersonating, but they lack emotion.

They are born from seed pods and they are spreading fast. The pod people plan on taking over the world!

Can Dr. Bennell save his sweetheart Becky, Santa Mira, and the world, or will he be too late? Will the pod people take over? Watch to find out!

The Summer Of Sci-Fi

I watch a lot of movies. I'm not going to tell you how many I watch a week, but it is more than you. Despite the high volume of movies I've seen, I've only watched a handful of classic monster movies. Of the small handful, I have been incredibly impressed with the quality of the lessons that are in each film. Some of the lessons are rather profound, such as "the scariest beast is the one you battle inside yourself". I've decided that this summer I am going to make more of an effort to watch these old films, and while I'm at it, I'll share it with all of you. Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting a new series called:

I quite like the posters for the old monster movies too. Although they all seem to be a remix of each other. To make a monster movie poster in the 50s, you just need to add these ingredients:

1. Blocky letters with warped perspective

2. A screaming or fainted lady

3. A monster or a concerned looking man near the lady

4. A reference to outer space

Don't Sweat The Sweater

How long does it take to block a sweater in the Bay Area during the month of June? An hour? Two? Not even close. It took THREE DAYS for this to dry because some how I managed to choose the only weekend in June that it has EVER stormed to block the sweater. In my entire memory, I don't remember it ever raining in June around here. Ever. After the storm we had a day of hot, sticky, mugginess. Another thing that doesn't happen here. Not until I tried to block my sweater. My very first sweater. Go figure. Maybe it'll rain again when I finish the sleeves.

In Training To Be Even More Awesome

I'm taking my new hobby very seriously. And no it isn't running from giant hand monsters... I'm training to bike from San Jose to Santa Cruz. It's a 30+ mile route (with hills!) Why, you ask? Well, I'm either crazy or highly competitive. My brother's done the ride before, so I'm going to go with the latter. And who knows after that. Maybe I'll bike to Canada.

Anyways, after my ride on Thursday, I thought the old bike could use a tune up. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find it enjoyable to change gear at the bottom of the hill and have it change before I make it to the top of the hill. I'm not going to even pretend I know any more about bikes than that. But when you take your bike for a tune up and start hearing things like, "How attached are you to this bike" and "$200 to tune up this year", the suggestion of buying a new bike doesn't seem so far fetched. So I got a new bike. (A Specialized Sirrus)

I think I need an awesome nickname. Batman is the Dark Knight, Manfred von Richthofen was the Red Baron. I believe there is an unwritten rule that you can't give yourself a nickname. This is where I need your help. My biking outfit is black. The new bike is black. What shall I be called?

Scooter's Love Affair With Biscuits

It's been awhile since I've done a Scooter post. Scooter is doing very well. He has already grown all his hair back, so he'll need another haircut for summer.

Scooter's current favorite game is to get a biscuit out of his Kong.

I love when he holds it like a people. I'll bet he wishes he had opposable thumbs.

He's pretty smart about getting the biscuit out, though. He tries pulling it out, but if that doesn't work, he'll pick up and drop the Kong for a bit to dislodge the biscuit. And although it doesn't happen very often, sometimes the Kong gets stuck on his fang teeth when he throws it about. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate all of my giggling when that happens.

Wooly Me

Thanks to everyone who gave me some ideas about beating the blues. I ended up spending a bunch of time with Scooter in the backyard sunshine. I also gave myself a break from designing. Instead, I started a new project.

I spent a day trying out needle felting. It took a few hours, but I made a mushroom and a seagull. It was easy and hard at the same time. It's easy to felt the wool into a shape. But I had the worst time trying not to poke red wool through the white side of the mushroom. Although the actual process is pretty relaxing.

I've also decided that I am going to knit a few things that I haven't designed. This sweater for one. I just have half of the back and two sleeves to finish. I'm a bit worried about it being too small.... but I think blocking is really going to loosen up the fiber. I also want to give socks another try. I still haven't managed to make a pair that fit. (Justin and Dad haven't minded though. They each got a pair of socks out of my poor swatching)

I also started reading Black Beauty. I haven't really read anything in such a long time, it's been nice to dive into a good story.

My parents came back from New Zealand yesterday as well. They brought all sorts of goodies. Some were from them, some were from friends in New Zealand.

My Mum told me that one of our family friends had sent something that fully represented me. He had it since 1964, but thought I ought to have it. Admittedly when she said that it was essentially me, I thought to myself, "It would have to be a picture of someone knitting for it to be 'Me'." I'm glad I only thought it, because this little wooly knitter really is me. In fact, it might be a better representation of me than a self portrait would be.