Emilee Knits

 
Today’s swatch is Fir Cone Lace, which I added to the WTP a very long while ago. I chose to revisit it this week because it is the lace pattern featured in the ever-popular Shetland Triangle, which I just started today.

I’ll be using a Cherry Tree Hill mill end that I got from my awesome SP Fiberfool more than a year ago, and I’ve been wondering what to make with it ever since. I’ve always thought of this color as “spruce” so a pattern with Fir Cone Lace seemed perfect!

It is coming along nicely so far.

Lucky number 13… Robyn of Robyn’s Nest and Knit & Purl Mama.  Congrats to Robyn!  If you haven’t been to her blog you should go today.  She has an impressive garden and two adorable boys.

I will bookend my bloggiversary week by talking about one of my favorite patterns in the Walker treasuries: Openwork Leaf Pattern. As you can see, I love it so much I used it for my banner image above.

I’m a huge nature lover, and I really enjoy botanical motifs. This is my favorite of the lace patterns that are supposed to look like leaves or ferns, because I think it best approximates a real leaf. The double decreases mimic the vein at the center of a leaf, and the yarn overs that separate the leaves give the appearance of a serrated edge seen on many real leaves.  I can’t imagine a better way to render a leaf like this one in yarn.

This is the pattern that I used in Foliage, and it has had numerous other uses.  Brynne of All this by Hand has a lovely scarf pattern that uses it.  A slight variation is used in the famous Forest Canopy Shawl.  I know I’ve seen it as the turtleneck on a sweater, but I can’t for the life of me find that now. I have a bunch of ideas for it rattling around in my head, I hope to have some of them out for fall.

I started this blog two years ago today.  I have the pointy sticks in hand, ready to keep it going for years to come. 

Two years ago thee was an awful lot going on in the knitblog world.  It was the Golden Age of See Eunny Knit.  Grumperina was locked in battle with Mountainash.  Some of my very favorite of Cara’s photos appeared on January One.  Gale of She Shoots Sheep Shots was making miters. Kelp was making (and fixing) beautiful lace. MLE’s blog was one of the first ones I followed, in large part because of our shared name and age, and she started her blog not long before I started mine.  Ruth of Knitting on Impulse was going strong, but I did not follow her blog until she moved to Whistler and started taking those amazing photos.  Nicole was cataloging sock yarn, but I did not get to know her until she started the Walker Treasury Project.

A lot has changed in the last two years.  Some of my favorite blogs two years ago have since gone dormant.   Some of my favorite blogs today did not exist in their current form two years ago. There is always change, always new blood, which is what makes this such a fun place to be.

In honor of my second bloggiversary I am holding my first blog contest. Please tell me about your favorite new thing to happen to the knitblog world. It could be a new blog you really love, or a new craze sweeping the knitting web. If you leave a comment I will enter your name into a drawing and one week from tonight I will randomly pick a name. The winner will receive this exceedingly festive Karabella Gossamer.

I will also offer to knit you a Foliage in your choice of color, if you’re interested.

To all who read this: thank you for making the land of knit blogs an awesome place to hang out for the last two years.

I am working on my first true deadline project, so I have not made much progress at all on my other knitting goals.  I am extremely excited about the secret project though, so it’s worth it.

As I’m beginning my Bloggiversary week, I want to introduce a new weekly feature: Swatch Saturday.  In this feature, I will take a swatch I’ve knit for The Walker Treasury Project and discuss various uses for it.

This is Seed Stitch. It is an oldie but a goodie, a true classic pattern.  It is just as easy to work as K1 P1 ribbing, but has a completely different look.  Since it is such a contrast to stockinette, it can be used to emboss shapes on fields of stockinette. It can also be used as a background to cables, as a border, or as an all-over texture. 

Seed Stitch is also a beautiful New Hampshire-based knitting and fiber blog.

These are my law books. CLOSED. I finished my first year of law school.

These photos show Ivy Day, which is my favorite college activity. It was a million times more special this year because it was my sister’s graduation.

Knitting content to follow eventually. I’m excited for a nice relaxing holiday weekend.

The Hemlock Ring blanket was for my grandmother, and the trusted couriers who delivered it were my parents. While they were in Illinois they also visited my cousin and her new baby. I made a Sheldon for him, and they delivered that also.

I’m surprised that it took me this long to make Sheldon, considering the fact that I read Ruth’s blog regularly and I’ve made my share of knitted toys. It’s a great pattern, and I would encourage anyone to make it. I’m particularly impressed at how the relatively easy pattern on the shell captures the look of a real turtle shell.

I used Mission Falls 1824 cotton, which was a good choice. I think the rustic texture is particularly suited to a toy reptile, and I had plenty of it around the house. It did come out a bit bigger than called for as a result, but that was not a problem.

Thanks Ruth, it’s a great pattern.  I hope baby Walter likes it!

I had long and bumpy road with my first attempt at Red Light Special.  Towards the end of that attempt I watched this video on stranded knitting with two hands, and it finally clicked.  I decided to make another Red Light Special using that technique, as practice towards my 2008 fair isle goals.

I think it turned out a lot better.

I used Knit Picks ambrosia for the liner, and it is delightfully soft. I knit the whole liner with the yarn in my left hand so I could get used to the feeling, and I’m glad I did. I’m still getting used to it, but I know it will only get easier with practice.

My tension was a lot better this time, as this photo shows. I don’t like the color scheme as much as I did on the first one, because I think the blue and green are close enough that the pattern gets a bit lost. This is a useful lesson for further projects.

In general, I’m pretty happy with it.

I was undecided in the Presidential Primary until recently, but I’m starting to really like Obama.  I made a knitting chart of his logo, and I’m going to try to knit it into a hat before our primary on Feb 5.  In honor of today’s New Hampshire primary I’m putting it up for any other knitting Obama supporters who might like it.  Feel free to use it if you want!

Today would be the perfect day to do nothing but sit and knit.  Sadly, I need to study for my three remaining finals.  We were supposed to have Criminal Law this afternoon but it was postponed to Saturday because of the weather. 

 I’m sorry that I’ve been neglecting you little blog.  I HAVE been knitting, but it’s all gifts and design ideas that I need to keep secret so I can submit them someday.  I’ve also had miserable start-itis lately.  Good think I’ll have a nice knitting-heavy break soon!