Portable Knitting

How clever

I brought that kitchen cotton with me and finished a dishcloth with it yesterday. Then I realized that we could use it in our rented apt. Much nicer than using the sponges that were by the sink.

Indie Crafter Summer Opportunities

From I Heart Rummage...

Hey vendors - we have more crafty opportunities for you this summer!

Capitol Hill Block Party

Traditionally IHR has participated in the annual Block Party with a booth of its own.  Although we won't have a booth this year we encourage our vendors to participate in this great event!

Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party

July 28th & 29th (Friday and Saturday)

Music and art festival averaging 10,000-15,000 people with over 50 bands on 4 stages

Sponsored by The Stranger & KEXP, 107.7 The End

Booth spaces are 5 x 5, 10 x 10, or 10 x 20

Deadline for applications is July 10th

For more info about the event go to:  www.capitolhillblockparty.com

For info about being a vendor and for booth rates contact David Coe at  dcoe@fuzedmusic.com or 206.352.5375


Flowmotion

The 6th annual Flowmotion Summer Meltdown is excited to bring indie crafters to their event.

Flowmotion Summer Meltdown in Darrington (Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater)

August 11th - 13th (Friday through Sunday)

Three days of music, art, camping, and community (all ages)

Sponsored by The Weekly

For more info about the event go to:  www.flowmotion.net or to www.myspace.com/flowmotionmusic

For info about being a vendor go to:  http://www.flowmotion.net/meltdown-vendor.html


Plus - don't forget the Tacoma Urban Arts Festival (Sponsored by Urban Craft Uprising) on June 25th

There are vendor spots still open for this weekend!  For more information go to:  http://myspace.com/urbanartsfestival

mitered square knit how to

So many people find my blog looking for instructions on how to knit mitered squares (due to my posting so frequently about my rug) so I thought I would try to help them out by posting what I know about it.

My first attempts at mitered squares were for the Mitered-Square Rug pattern from Interweave Knits Summer 2004 issue (available free online, see link below). I've got various photos of progress on that pattern in the UFOlympics category of this blog.

For that rug pattern you cast on 41 stitches and then knit one row. The next row you knit 19, slip the next stitch over to the right needle by putting your needle into the loop as if you were going to knit it (but don't throw the yarn to make a stitch) then knit the next two stitches together (K2tog) and then pass the the slipped stitch over the last stitch (PSSO) finish knitting to the end of the row and then knit the next row. So, every other row you do a Slip 1 knitwise and K2tog then PSSO in the middle alternating with a plain knit row to make a mitered garter stitch square. So it goes K19 on the first row until you do the decrease, K18 on the third row, K17 on the fifth row and so on until you get to the end.

About.com has a Mitre Tutorial you can check out

Here are some nice mitered square knitting patterns links for you to check out:

Mitered-Square Rug (PDF) from Interweave Knits

Psychedelic Squares Afghan -- so fun looking but knit using stockingknit so the technique is a little different

Mitered Dishcloth

Mitered Dishcloth with eyelets

(PDF) Knitted Happy Baby Blanket

Merino Stripes Mitered Squares Triangle Shawl

Felted Bag with Mitered Squares

Spike - Mitered Lace Scarf from Winter '05 Knitty

Sunday

I continued working on the Airy Scarf today for my French teacher and I'm making good progress. Our last class is a week from Tuesday.

I also cast on yesterday for Topi from the new Knitty and it's just not coming out right. Something about the increases coming too quickly and its creating a wavy fabric -- knit from the top down. I'm going to have to try one more time.

I was also looking at dishcloth patterns today on the Monthly Dishcloth Pattern list on Yahoo Groups. Mostly just designs using alternating knit purl to create patterns. I think I'll just cast on 48 stitches (the most common cast-on I've seen) and just start making one and figure it out from there. Perhaps I can design some new and fabulous dishcloth designs. That would be really funny coming from someone who has never used a dishcloth and who hates to wash dishes, eh?

Strange(r) Knitting

From the cover of this week's Stranger comes a tree cozy, this one found in the Eastlake neighborhood.

Mitered Square Rug - Knitting done

Here's a shot of the finished rug with the ends, so many ends, needing to be woven in.

Down to the last two squares

I've finished block 13 and I'm on my way to the end of this Mitered Square rug.

I've not been knitting anything else though I've been thinking about using my my Sirdar Snuggly on preemie hats for charity, and my Jaeger aran yarn for an aran cardigan. After I'm done with this rug though I'll be back on the Malabrigo scarf which I've been carrying with me everywhere in my shoulder bag.

Then  there are some sewing projects and some art/craft projects, plus renovating the kitchen, getting the outside of the house painted, taking a french class and a drawing class over the next few months.

I better just focus on getting this one thing done.

Second Row Done

I finished square number ten last night which completes the second row. See, the UFOlympics were good for something as I hadn't made that much progress in many months on the rug.

Now I just have a million ends to weave in before I start on the next row. It's looking really cute and now that it's big enough I've tried standing on it and it is nicely soft under my feet. It should be nice to use in the kitchen for in front of the sink.

I've also continued to make progress on my Malabrigo scarf and I'm nearing the end of the first skein.

I asked ZipperStop about that YKK Zipper color of Goldenrod that I saw in a garment zipper at the sewing store. It sounds like they don't have it but they said if I send them a yarn sample in the mail they will help me find a good match. If I'm going to send them something anyway then I might see about returning the bright yellow zipper and doing it as an exchange.

Mitered Square Rug More Than Halfway

The Inaugural Stitchin’ Up a Storm Night

We asked for it and the Seattle Storm came through with a S&B night.

Wednesday June 7th 2006 at 7 p.m.
Seattle Storm vs. Chicago Sky

The Seattle Storm welcomes knitters to KeyArena this June to the inaugural Stitchin’ Up A Storm Night to donate a special project to a local non-profit, meet and mingle with other knitters and enjoy WNBA Basketball.

• All knitters will be seated in the 100 level of KeyArena at a special group price! (while supplies last)
• Knitters will be honored throughout the game.
• The first 100 people to purchase tickets will receive a Seattle Storm T-Shirt.

Knitting Drive:
All knitters are encouraged to bring a homemade item to donate to a local charity (TBD). The Seattle Storm will recognize all the knitters for your generous donations during a special half time ceremony.

Seattle Storm Ball Exchange:
The first group to purchase a block of 100 seats will have the opportunity to participate in BALL EXCHANGE! Thirteen honorees from your group will receive an autographed ball from a Storm player during the pregame show on the court.

Seattle Storm High 5 Tunnel:
The first group to purchase a block of 50 seats will have the opportunity to have 15 kids participate in the pregame High 5 Tunnel! The second group to purchase 50 seats will have the opportunity to send 10 kids to participate.

Concourse Booths for Businesses:
Please contact Megan Cifala (206-272-2532) to arrange for your company to have a booth on the KeyArena concourse during Stitchin’ Up A Storm Night!
*minimum ticket purchase required.

Contact Megan Cifala (206-272-2532) for more info.

Go Storm!