Look what Michelle made to congratulate us!
Something magical happened this week. A bit like the Velveteen Rabbit becoming real, Knitting Daily started
to become a real community over the past several days. You commenters
were having a rollicking good time, the blog tour was a blast, and
then, just when I thought things couldn't get any better,
Kristin-of-the-great-emails comes to the office to introduce herself in
person and show me her knitting. (We had so much fun chatting that I
forgot to take a photo.) And my friend Michelle put this adorable "yarn
bouquet" on my desk! Suddenly, the dream of Interweave's online
Knitting Town was becoming a reality, thanks to all of you fabulous
knitters. Here's a few more highlights, plus some Q&A from the
comments:
Many, many thanks to the Fab Five KnitBloggers who graciously invited me to be their guest this week. My visit with Crazy Aunt Purl was a hoot and a holler, and she did a darling photo montage to go with the interview. Kathy and Steve of WEBS had me on their Ready, Set, Knit! podcast and were such gracious hosts that they didn't even bleep me when I said "online knitting party" three times in a row. Lolly
did an extremely polished and professional interview, and I spent so
long answering her interesting questions that I turned them in barely
in the nick of time. Ashley of DoggedKnits asked me about my dog Buddy (amongst other things), thus endearing herself to me forever. And Natalie of CRAFT
asked me a question that made me just sit and stare at the keyboard for
a very loooong time...How do you answer, in less than a tome, and
without sounding like an idiot, why knitting is such a rockin',
Here's what the tag says
fabulous craft?
Seems like that one ought to be easy to answer...but knitting runs
deep in us knitters. All you have to do is read the comments on these
little posties here, and you can see that something special is going
on, something we here at Knitting Daily did not really expect
when we were sitting in meetings all last year, planning the colors and
the fonts and the layout of the website. All I can say is: Thank you.
(Plus: You knitters ROCK!)
From The Comments: Questions And Answers
How do you measure using waste yarn? Take a long piece
of smooth cotton yarn (called "waste yarn," since you can toss it out
afterwards--but I re-use mine), thread it on a tapestry needle, and
slip the live stitches of your knitted piece onto the tapestry
needle--slip them purlwise, so that you don't twist them. Do this until
all the stitches have been threaded onto the waste yarn. Remove your
knitting needles, tie the ends of the waste yarn loosely together so
the stitches don't fall off, and presto! You can lay the piece flat, or
try it on, and get much more accurate measurements. To continue
knitting, slip the stitches back on the needles, being careful not to
twist them, remove the waste yarn, and you're ready for more knitting!
How about some other knitbloggers on your tours? What if I want to interview Sandi, too? It's so kind of you to ask! If anyone would like to have me as a guest on their blog/podcast/world tour, please contact Marvelous Jaime, our publicist, and she can talk about all the details with you.
Where can I find the pattern for Sandi's little green top? I must have it! That is the
Measure this! Live stitches on waste yarn
Lacy Little Top from LanaKnits Hemp For Knitting, and I adore it. Yes, I knit it out of her lovely avocado green hemp. What size did you make?The upper two sizes are 40" and 44", so I did a teeny bit of math and knit a 42" for myself.
Why rule out short rows? Oh, short-rows rock for creating room for dangerous curves! (If you don't know about this technique, Amy and Jillian wrote a fab book
just for us big girls.) In fact, when I started, I sat down and worked
out all the math for inserting short-row darts into my little orange Tomato.
I started knitting...and they were great, but they weren't the effect I
wanted. I ripped them out, started thinking about sewing darts like my
mom taught me, and there you have it. Which kind of darts work best
depends on what shape you are, the pattern you are knitting, and how
you want your finished project to look. As any gal who has ever shopped
for a bra knows: One style does NOT fit all. We curvy gals (and those
with other sorts of non-standard body shapes) are just starting to
explore all the ways in which we, too, can have knitting patterns that
flatter and fit. We're on a mission!
Next week: We're moving on to talk about lacy things, like shawls. I've had so many emails from y'all about the Summer Shawlette and the Comfort Shawl that they need their own posts! Have no fear: I'm getting close to being done with my Hot Tomato, so I will be sure to share the PDF with the bust dart info, plus the end of the Hot Tomato story, very soon!