trying, once again, to get published in knitty

Why is getting published in knitty, of all places, a slight obsession of mine? I've no idea. It's just something that a part of me feels I need to accomplish.

I haven't blogged about this all that much, if at all (I'm not prepared to reread my entire blog to look for this info) ... but I've submitted a number of patterns to them and have yet to get something published. Now, if I were able to design a pair of socks or a sweater or a shawl or something lacey, maybe that would get my foot in the door. But, I'm not a sock designer, nor do I have patience to knit lace (let alone design something) ... and designing a whole entire sweater is just arduous. Possible, but much too time consuming. And, truthfully, shawls are really not my style, plus they fall under the "Why I Don't Knit Lace" rational. (Ignore, of course, the latest {and only} shawl I've knit for myself ... that was done in exception, since I'm attending a wedding this summer, it would be appropriate to wear there.)

Besides, I love more instant gratification projects. I love scarves and hats and mittens. My affinity for scarves is the reason why I wanted to learn to knit in the first place. I know that knitty has published many non-sock, non-lace, non-sweater, non-shawl items. So, the question is, am I ever going to be able to create something knitty-worthy?

Well, I love cables. If you haven't noticed already, I knit cables into as many things as I possibly can. I wonder if I could put together a scarf or hat or wrist warmers with a fun and different cable pattern, that could get published?

I was inspired last night, while watching tv, to cast on another scarf onto my knitting needles. Despite it being May, despite the warm weather, I'm knitting ahead for the cool weather. Plus, the current deadline for the next issue is July 15th, for the October issue. Fingers crossed, I can come up with something that appeals to the knitty editors.

sock monkeys finished

How ironic is it to make sock monkeys not from socks? Weird, right? lol... But anyway. I knit a couple sock monkeys, as my Holiday-Headstart knitting begins. The dark grey one is for my nephew, and the light grey one will be for my neice.

I have a hard time sewing things evenly, which is why they look slightly different... but they are the same design. The pattern is from Patons, and each measure about 18" tall.

custom order completed

These are the front and back views of two custom order pillows that I was asked to knit via my etsy shop - I just finished both of them yesterday. Made both out of Lion Brand Thick & Quick, and heavily cabled too, which I think look fabulous. 

Love, love, love cables. On anything and everything. 

finished a vest for my dad

Made a vest for my dad:

I hope he likes it... I'm going to gift it with the shawl for my mom when they arrive for their vacation here next month. I used a basic vest pattern with pockets, and intergrated the cables in with it, because I love making cables. There's just something abundantly classic about making cables, they're so fun, and they're so nice to look at. Whenever I see cabled anything, I automatically think of those aran sweaters from Ireland or something. :)
Also, I finished a shawl for myself:

It's not the full picture, obviously, but the center of the shawl... so you get the idea. The pattern is called Gail (aka nightsongs) and I used a yarn called Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, which is one I discovered @ my LYS that I thought had a really fun colourway to it.
As much as I hate knitting lace (hate it!) I must admit that I love the way it turns out. I think I need a good break from knitting lace for a while! ... I have a wedding that I'm attending in July, so that's where I plan on wearing this shawl. I just need to find the right dress to go with it!

spun another ball of yarn!

This took me forever, but I finally finished it.

Was:

WIP:

Is:

Yay!

I'll miss theanticraft's blog

A couple weeks ago, the folks over at theanticraft.com posted on their blog that the blog shall no longer be. Not entirely surprised, considering how rarely it had been updated since facebook, ravelry, and the publication of their book. But I'll still miss it. Their blog was one of the main reasons why I went online. I don't know why, but I always found their blog contributions very entertaining and informative.

Facebook updates are just not quite the same.

But I digress. Such is life, and such is the evolution of the internet. I suppose blogs are becoming less "cool" when you can do instant updates on facebook, twitter and other places.