One of the more dreaded knitting finishing techniques is installing a zipper. I admit it, I’ve never been a fan either. There are multiple helpful zipper tutorials out there, and I’ve used a few of them. I always came back with the same issue though; you lay out the sweater, you center the zipper underneath and try to baste in the zipper. The problem is as soon as you pick up a piece of knitted fabric, it does what knitted fabric does. It stretches and drapes and wiggles out of …

The husband celebrated a milestone birthday this year near the beginning of February. One of those birthdays that couldn’t be acknowledged by a simple Amazon gift card or a new tie. (Does anyone still give ties? Such a lame gift) I wondered for months what to get him, and of course he kept saying he didn’t need or want anything special. I stewed for ages on what the gift would be. Dude is a tough man to buy for.

I have waxed poetic about my love of Valley Yarns Northampton before, and you’ll hear me do it again. There’s a reason I chose it for my two sweaters in Knitting It Old School. For $4.99 a ball, at 247 yds, you can knit up a good sized sweater pretty inexpensively. My version of Rude Girl used 5 balls in the burgundy colour and a couple yards each of the black and white. Total cost if you don’t get it on sale? $25. How rad is that?

Probably time that I officially introduced the sweaters I knit for Knitting it Old School, right?

When we first figured out the different chapter themes and names, I knew I wanted to fit in a his and hers set in the Shake a Tail Feather chapter. I’ve always had a love of dance and ska, and since the two-tone movement started in the 70′s, what better way to sneak in my own influences! In case you don’t know what ska or rudies are, I found youtube vid to explain some of …

After giving shawls the ol’ college try last year and still feeling lobster-bibby about them, I decided to try again but with a pattern more scarf like. I wanted something that would still be lacy and pretty, but that wouldn’t make me feel like asking for more butter and a shrimp fork.

I’ve watched and followed along for years as some of my favourite yarn shops and designers all blog about going to TNNA. It’s only an industry conference, but because it’s knitting, it’s somehow way more fun. If it was a random widget makers conference, I’m sure it wouldn’t be exciting (unless you love making random widgets, I suppose) but a gathering of that many knitting masterminds is exciting. Stitchy McYarnpants and I flew in on Friday, January 7th (yes, I’m behind on blog posts) and kicked off our unofficial promotional …

I am lucky to have a husband who is good about wearing the stuff I knit for him. Winter usually finds him in at least one hand-knit, sometimes two, every day. The original green seamless hybrid I knit way back in 2006 gets more wear than anything I have knit for me. Dubbed The Sci-fi, this is the sweater he would be happy to wear forever after the robot apocalypse. Clearly, this is a man who appreciates a good hand-knit sweater.

Man, I love Rhinebeck weekend. There is just no better time to commune with online knitterly people than at the New York Sheep & Wool festival. The leaves are turning, the weather is cooler and there is so much wool around you’re almost warm by osmosis.

Part of the process of writing a book means lots of talking about writing the book. Conversations are a lot more interesting now because anything can be connected to the joy of being published. Some people ask if it’s changed how I knit. (Not really.) Some ask if it changed how I feel about publishing. (Yes, I have more respect and sympathy for editors than ever before, even with knowing Minty!) To date no one has asked the big one, “How much has your morning routine changed?” (Lots, there’s much …

(My Blogher round up post will have to wait, because dudes! THE BOOK IS IN MY HOUSE!)

Knitting It Old School has officially started shipping and has already landed on the doorsteps of many people. We got an advance copy a few weeks ago and I’m in love. It’s just so damn exciting. I’m also a little overwhelmed with the size of it. 43 projects! I think we must have been insane. And some of those projects should be counted as two, like Minty‘s Sock Hop sweater and knee-high socks set.

And Adrian’s …