For those who think knitting is just for girls ....

... may I introduce Maury the Knitting Mouse and our new mascot here at By Hand, With Heart.

Don't you just love him? My dear MIL got him for me at Thanksgiving -- something she normally doesn't buy and something I normally wouldn't like, but this guy is just so cute. And not only does he knit, he sings "Deck the Halls"!

Merry Christmas to all my knitting buddies! May Santa bring you lots of great knitting stuff ... let me know what he brings.

Books: Great Christmas ideas ....

... or uses for your Christmas bucks!

I haven't posted since October 1st ... but I have been knitting up a storm (primarily for Christmas gifts, but also for another knitting book that should be out this Summer/early Fall). I've also been reading lots of the new knitting books that have exploded on the market lately. Here are some ideas for your reading and knitting pleasure:

1. Knitting history -- do you love it as much as I? I love reading about knitting, especially if the book can lay flat and I can knit while I read. If you've already got the classics: Richard Rutt's A History of Hand Knitting, Anne McDonald's No Idle Hands: A Social History of Knitting, and Susan Strawn's Knitting America: A Glorious Heritage from Warm Socks to High Art than your shelves REALLY need Nicky Epstein's latest opus, Knitting on Top of the World: The Global Guide to Traditions, Techniques and Design. This book is destined to be a classic in the knitting history panoply. Epstein's designs are a bit outre for me, but the information and the suggestions and just the shear inspiration of this work make it worth the money! The pictures and coffee-table styling of the book make it a great read-while-you-knit kind of book.

2. Technique books -- I'm sure you own all the classic stitch dictionaries like the Barbara Walker A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (vol. 1 thru 4), the Vogue stitchionaries (vol 1-3, vol 4 is [shudder] crochet!), or the Harmony Guide books from Interweave Press. Melissa Leapman has managed to go WAY beyond any of these with her latest two books, both on cable knitting: Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting and Continuous Cables: An Exploration of Knitted Cabled Knots, Rings, Swirls, and Curlicues. The first does a great job of dissecting cables and proving once and for all that cables are NOT hard to execute. The projects within the book cover the variety of hand-knit items where cabling looks great. The second book explains how to make design your own cable panels and pieces by explaining how to make cables grow from nothing (by hiding increases and decreases within your knititng) and how to design cables that imitate fancy celtic knots, braids and even nautical rope! Again, the projects are a great variety, using the techniques described earlier. But both of these books go beyond just being simple pattern books ... and this is why I'm highly recommending them for Christmas gifts (or Christmas money spending) ... the last one-third (if not more) of each of these books contain a cable dictionary -- smallest bits of cable pieces that can be joined together to create your own cable patterns. I predict that Melissa Leapman, based on these two books, will soon join the ranks of Barbara Walker and Vogue Knitters as classic authors for knitting designers.

Merry Christmas -- and let me know if you get any knitting books for Christmas that can compete with these.

Check this out!

CHC, a well-known home-educators' resource catalog, is now carrying the book!

Shawls: Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor Day -- shawl and knitting
In the comment section for yesterday's post on my home-school blog about Tasha Tudor Day, Carmie mentions that the instructions for the TT Shawl look pretty un-mindless to her. I thought I'd post what the pattern is basically -- you start with 3 stitches, and purposely add holes and increase a stitch every row until the shawl is wide enough.

This is the mindless part as you do the first 4 stitches each row the same way; all those other stitches are just knit stitches.Here are some pictures and explanations of those first 4 sts:

The first stitch -- and you do this EVERY ROW -- is simply wrapping the yarn around the needle to "make a stitch". This is the second stitch -- knit the first two stitches on the left-hand needle together as if they are just one stitch. You will now have 2 stitches on the right-hand needle. For the third stitch, bring the yarn forward between the two needles as if you were going to purl a stitch. Instead, wrap the yarn around the needle and you'll knit the next stitch. Here are the first four stitches on the right-hand needle.[NOTE: The first two rows don't have you do the k2tog, just the wrap at the beginning of the row.]

Again, this is the mindless part ... and takes a while as the finished shawl is 60" wide. You can stop at any time and make this shawl a doll shawl or one for a child (should be approximately the length from wrist to wrist when arms are straight out). This is the nice thing about this pattern as you can stop when you're tired.

Once I get to a suitable length, I will post close-ups of how to do the lace border/bind-off. If the lace part scares you, you can always leave the shawl without the lace edging, binding-off the top as a normal bind-off. It's a very elegantly simple shawl either way.

Oh, and as far as circulars go ... they're easier to use than straights as you don't have the knobs that catch on your clothes, pulling out the stitches you've worked so hard to put on the needles (this has happened a bit too often for me so I almost always use circs). They take a bit of getting used to and I'd recommend a 16" or 20" to start out.

Baby Knitting: Knitted Blanket

Here's a blanket I just finished the other day for a friend. It's a fun design that I've played with before ... but I particularly like the edging on this one.

Spread out, the heart bands make a cross -- which is a very cool motif!

This was made on 10s using 2 skeins of TLC Heathers. You start at the center and work your way out ... so it's pretty fun knitting. Also, since I've charted it, I can change the edging by the time I get that far!

Here's another version of the same blanket ... this time done for a boy in "Blue Moon" (a TLC Heather color) and on 11s (so it's a bit drapier than the one above). Here you can see the cross made by the hearts.

This pattern is charted and tons of fun to do!

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How cool is this?

By Hand, With Heart ... and DAUGHTERS?

Check out what 17yod, Kotch, designed for String Bean's "Molly" doll -- hoodie, mailbag, mittens and cap! String Bean today made a matching scarf to complete the ensemble! Guess I should bring 'em into the business, huh?