Apparently pickling is the new knitting. Does this mean we’ll start seeing more pickling blogs and less knitting blogs? Oh well. Regardless of the what the Daily News says, something tells me the end result of knitting will always be a bit prettier than the end result of pickling.

I think I’ll stick with this hobby, thanks!

I’m not sure I love the illustration on this t-shirt, but I love the expression on the front sheep’s face. They’ve even got a wolf and sheep combo in the clouds! Actually, now I love this t-shirt. Ba-a-a-ah!

Double points for being my favourite colour.

OMG, I love this too:

They’re Transfarmers! There’s something about farming that I’ve really fallen in love with recently. I think it’s my move to the big city, I miss rolling hills and sheep and 3-storey buildings.

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If you are knitting or have already knit a pattern that I’m talking about, leave me a comment and I’ll update my post with a link to your version. If you’ve written up a pattern and you want me to link to it, send me an email or leave me a comment and I’ll post it! It makes the list longer and my job easier.

• These Paper Nautilus Shells would be great to keep in a little bowl as a centerpiece or something. They’re quite pretty.
• These Earl Grey Socks completely escaped my attention, but I’ve gotten to them now, have no fear.
• The Colleen Stocking looks a little tight to fit presents and a little loose to wear, but the cable along the side is really pretty so the chart might be useful.
• The Best Friend Cardigan from Twinkle’s Big City Knits is now available for free from Canadian Living. And what’s more, this version has yarn substitution recommendations! See, it only took a few canucks to put Wenlan Chia in her place and force her to offer some patterns in other yarns. Finally.
• This Burridge Lake Aran Afghan is gorgeous. Just gorgeous. And the photo has been styled nicely, too.
• Man, there’s quite a few popular books that are giving their patterns out for free. Here’s a Mini Cardigan from Fitted Knits by the lovely Stefanie Japel. I really need to buy this book, I adore the patterns.
• Have I posted about these fingerless mitts yet? I LOVE THEM. I want to use this cable everywhere. I also love that it’s offered in both German and English. Germans represent! (Wow, I’m being so multinationalist today.)
• The name “Lace Slant Hat” isn’t the most brilliant, but it’s a delightful hat. So slanty. And lacy. Well, at least it’s appropriately descriptive.
• This Ophelia cardigan looks very Interweave Knits-y.

I felt bad that I haven’t been taking many pictures for you guys to see what I’m doing, so I went crazy with my camera today. Colchique was tossed around every which way. I’m surprised she still trusts me to carry her around. (Yeah, this sweater is a girl. You wanna fight about it?)

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I felt a bit weird knitting in a lecture, seminar series and committee meeting yesterday, so I’m glad that Sarah-Hope recently put up a great post on The Fine Art of Knitting in Meetings.

The best advice here is #1:

Speak up early and intelligently. The best way to keep people from resenting your knitting or viewing it as a distraction is to make it clear from the get-go that you are fully engaged with the non-knitting activity at hand. When I bring my knitting to a meeting, I carefully look for an opportunity to contribute a worthwhile idea or comment early on. Help those around you realize that knitting does not limit your ability to participate.

My addition: A big thing I always do is make eye contact with the presenter/prof/other folks at occasional moments while I’m knitting, even just for a few stitches, which lays it down for them that I’m actually paying attention and that the knitting is automatic. If they think I can knit with my eyes closed, they’ll believe that I can knit and participate in a meeting at the same time.

What tricks do you use?

Once I start my mom’s Somewhat Cowl, it will become the ideal meeting sweater. Not only will it be tiny because it’s for my mom, but it will also be plain stockinette so I would barely have to look down at all. Ribbing doesn’t distract me at all but sometimes cables do, which is where I am right now with my Colchique.

Oh yeah, by the way, I started Colchique! I’m past the waist, a few cm from the boobs. I’m knitting it in the round so that I don’t have to seam! And it’s looking mighty good.

At first when I saw this picture (a close-up on the girl in the middle), I thought they were trying to go for a hip, “with it” Marie Antoinette look. Makes sense, because this ad campaign seems to be going for a French historical feel (maybe? I don’t know anything about French fashion). And yarn is hip, right? So we combine the hipness of yarn with the hipness of self-indulgent French queens and bam, fancy hip ad for fany hip clothes.

But looking at it now, I realize with falling spirits that… they’re wearing hairnets. Yes, girls, newsflash: knitting and yarn still makes people thing of grannies with hair nets.

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