In this episode of our video podcast, CAT travels to New Orleans, Louisiana and Monterey, California and stops in on some local yarn stores.
Our special thanks to Audrey for showing us around Monterey!
Yarn stores Visited:
- The Quarter Stitch in New Orleans, Lousiana
- Monarch Knitting and Quilt in Monterey, California
Book review/personal story:
What I am wearing:
- Queen Silvia Shawl knitted in Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool/Silk in Mushroom from Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns, and Traditions
- Gretel Hat from Ysolda Teague knitted in Bijou Basin Ranch Yak/Cormo (don’t forget to use our code LK2G!)
What’s on the set:
Put a comment in this episode for your chance to win this Tofutsies Stitches Collectors edition! Winner will be selected from a random commenter on March 31st!
This episode is sponsored by:
BIJOU BASIN RANCH
Use promo code LK2G at checkout for 5% off. All sales have a 100% no questions asked money back guarantee.
Check out the video of CAT Unboxing her Kindle 2
Aaaahhhh! What a pleasant surprise to catch your latest episode. I LOVE YOU!!! Thank you so much for taking me to New Orleans AND Monterey! I plan to freeze frame the shot of Quarter Stitch and sit there and drool! Yummm!! And I absolutely love the shawl you knit for your mom. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled! If you can, include her reaction in your next webcast! I just found her so endearing during your Christmas episode of way back. Keep up the good work!
Great episode, CAT! Looks like Basil (the cockatoo) got his LK2G cameo/premier!
Cat, I KNOW that your mother loved the shawl, it is BEAUTIFUL!
I didn’t know that there were Yaks in the USA! How wonderful to be able to buy exotic fibers that are produced right here in our county.
I have truly enjoyed your show from it’s conception and I hope that ‘LKTG’ and ‘I’ are around for a long time!
Sincerly,
Ethel
I love the shawl for your mom! It’s stunning and I’m sure that she loves it too :))
hey Cat!
what fun to see the yarn shop in New Orleans…i’ve never been but the colour layout in that shop seem to scream mardi gras! 🙂
i’ve been pining for Knitted Lace of Estonia and that shawl may have just tipped me over the falls, it’s beautiful…i can’t believe you knit it so quickly!
i too have a similar tam blocking story…i made the Boho Beret for my Mom from Ravelry…it was a bit snug so i blocked it over a large tupperware lid…now…the hat completely covers here head from top to shoulders! wish me luck as i try to shrink it back down to a wearable size 🙂
finally…where is the video of you unboxing your knew Kindle?
Beautiful shawl! How can your mom not like it?
Knitting goof? Well, I knitted a lace shawl out of alpaca yarn, but it never got blocked because I want to wear it 🙂
Oh, the blocking gaffs I can talk about…
Wavy from Knitty: I knit this number in Cascade 220 and blocked it a little too much. It went flat. Aggressive blocking much?
Loopy & Luscious from Knitty: Another scarf, this time a scribble lace piece. I really wanted it to lie flat so I blocked it, very gently. But the big loops went flat! They went away! I FAIL! What the crap!
Half my socks: I soak them, shimmy on to them after a shower, and wear wet socks for an hour. Then I carefully take them off and hang them up to dry. The next day, without fail, one sock is HUGE; and the other sock fits perfectly. Always.
At this point, I’ve given up on my own blocking ability. I save all of my important lace blocking for a woman at my LYS; she has a blocking for hire service, and I find it well worth the money.
I knitted my first lace scarf and discovered that I had to learn how to block. I soaked and pinned and ended up with an amoeba/sun-ray creature. Had to re-block with string tied between well secured pins and got a closer idea. Finally ordered blocking wires and have been happy with the result. Needless to say the gift was a few days late.
Thanks for the awesome show that I look forward to every time there’s a new episode.
PS The chart looked just like the old BSG Centurions!!!! How Funny!!!
Great episode! The shawl is absolutely gorgeous. My first blocking experience was a drop stitch vest in bulky, thick/thin yarn. After carefully evening out all the drops, I soaked the vest and took it to the brand new blocking board. Somehow, the vest had stretched and grown til it was way past my knees. (Maybe because I held it up by the shoulders when it was soaking wet???) 2 years and much experience later, I re blocked the vest in warm water and slightly rubbing to get a little felting action going, I now have a beautiful vest! Moral, never give up – take that old project out of the bottom of the closet and revisit it with your new skills!
Wow, it really does look like an old school cylon! The shawl is beautiful, I’m trying to work up the nerve to try one for myself.
P.S. Am I the only one hoping for a video tour of yak farm?
The shawl that you made for your mom is lovely. i wish my knitting was as good as yours. Right now I’m making a shawl for my mom too! I’m also stuggling to make socks on one circular needle.
Here’s my knitting goof. I now knit with my right hand but when I started knitting I worked back and forth using both hands! I was knitting backwards and did not know it! I finally went to a yarn shop and asked one of the women what I doing wrong? She was very kind and showed me how to use my right hand. I felt so stupid but she reassured me that she had students who often make that mistake. One I llearned the right way, there was not stopping me. I’m still struggling with sock knitting. Did it take you a while to learn sock knitting? Thanks for the podcasts. They make my day.
I love your show! I was watching the “Spinning for Knitters” episode, and I got myself a drop spindle. It got here today.
like you, my first attempt came out like dreads not because my spindle is bad but because i couldn’t figure out how to draft correctly. I have not put it down all day and now i am spinning lace weight yarn in grey natural wool!
Thanks so much!
Emily
P.S. My little brother told me today “Emy, Mr. Sheep gave you his hair so you can knit me a sweater!.” he is 3 years old and I am teaching him how to loom knit. My loom is purple so he calls it “the purple game”
OMG, that totally is a centurion!! Oh i love it!
i’m not sure i’ve had a fixable goof like that but definitely goofs where i’ve had to frog. i started working on a sweater which was coming out to gauge and i was happily knitting along for 11 inches of the body before i realized the whole thing was 6 inches too wide!! no errata or anything and when i checked my gauge again, it was still right! OI!!!
YAY! I love how often we’re getting episodes. Keep up the great work!!!
I had been knitting my first hat, and was getting to the part where you’re knitting in the round for the brim.
Unfortunately, I decided that while staying home sick was the perfect time to finish. Thanks to my fever, my brain said “If I need 3 more inches in length, and I’m going to felt it, then… I need to knit 2 more inches and then bind off!”
I still ahven’t done anything with it. Might felt it into a bowl.
I have been to The Quarter Stitch before. That visit was before I started knitting though and was into cross stitching. It is a great store. I highly recommend a trip there!!
Great episode … thank you! The shawl ist sooo beautiful.
Greets Ute
Hi Cat,
My last big project was a mans fair isle cardigan from Garnstudio and it went really well at first. I had to knit to the arm hole and start the fair isle there. It wasnt till I started knitting the sleeves that I realised my tension was a little too tight. My husband loves the cardigan and I am rather proud of it.
Also, I’m proud of myself finally sticking to practising the two circular needle method because theres no stopping me now. I have treated myself to Sirdar Hayfield which is a dk variegated and its gorgeous. I am going to finish off my housework and then spend the afternoon knitting socks.
Hi, Cat,
Really enjoy your video podcast. And I LOVE the shawl you knit for you mom. Absolutely gorgeous!
My goof: My latest pair of felted clogs: I decided to defy conventional wisdom and felt them in a front-loader. I’ve done it before–it just seemed to take a long time. But this time, they came out all lumpy and bumpy, but I didn’t dare felt any more for fear of their growing too small. So they are usable, but somewhat sad and ugly. Next time I need to felt, I shall be off in search of a friend’s top-loader.
Love love love the lace shawl, and admire your ability to finish it in such a short time!
On the goofs, well, recently I made a pair of fingerless mitts for a swap, and it was an easy pattern, and I read it and then knit. I didn’t realize I had not done the cables correctly, so I finished the first and made the second mitt. Then I went to try them on, and realized I had made two left mitts (still not realizing I had goofed the cables) so I frogged one and started a right mitt. When I got to the cables, I glanced again at the pattern and realized the cable error, so I decided to correct the cable error. I did the first right mitt correctly, and then made frogged the first left mitt and redid it with the cable correct. I learned to read THRICE!!!
I had a similar dimensioning problem. Before I learned how to cast off ribbing, I cast off normally on a headband I was making for a swap. Needless to say the headband was not going to fit anyone’s head, but it was still pretty so it made a good gift.
If you need more blue sky organic cotton they sell it to Annie & Co. in the city. Plus I love that store so you should check it out!!
Hi CAT and Eric! Another great episode! Thank you so much.
I have a knitting goof almost every time I knit! haaha However, my biggest one so far is when I knit a pair of socks for myself. I lost my dpns on a trip and I was just going to start my second sock so while I was on my trip I purchased another pair of dpns in the same size but a different brand. I didn’t think it would matter but for some reason it did. Or at least I’m blaming the needles rather than myself. I ended up with one sock that was at least a half a size bigger than the other one. I still wear them and love them. They remind me of that trip. 🙂
oh my god that shawl is absolutely beautiful!!! I am sure your mother will love it. thank you again for the new episode.. it made my day when I came home and found that you had another uploaded on the website. I am working on my collection for my fashion show at the end of June here in Paris. I am incorporating knitting and crocheting.. I am still learning and please keep those knitting updates coming! I miss New York very much and hope to watch the new episode soon!
So beautiful!!!!!! I loved it!
Cat, I love your shawl. It is so beautiful! Eventually I will probably attempt longer projects but for now I love the thrill of starting up and finishing projects quickly.
One of my knitting goofs is the very first time I knitted a pair of mittens. I was so proud! They had a nice cable running down the middle of each. The problem? I hadn’t made a gauge swatch, so the result were mittens much too big to fit anyone, including my boyfriend I had made them for!!
Really enjoyed your latest video-cast. The yarn-shops look so unassuming on the outside–but so full of colorful yarns on the inside. And it’s a nice idea to visit the local yarn shops when you travel, each one can be so unique.
Your shawl is absolutely beautiful-and I’m sure your mother will be very pleased to receive it–I know I would be!
I’m an advanced beginner knitter, so have made plenty of goofs. A blocking goof I made was to block the ribbing on a vest. By the time I had finished blocking the item, I realized that the ribbing should not have been blocked, but too late! The vest turned out pretty well aside from that.
@michael
It took awhile to upload CAT’s Kindle unboxing video and for a time, we didn’t have the link for the show notes. The link is there now right at the end of the post. Or you can go right to:
http://vimeo.com/3588138
The shawl for your mother is awesome and I’m sure she’ll be pleased. Your work/vacation sounds wonderful. It must be nice to meet up with other knitters and have them show you their local shops and sights.
My latest “goof” was in knitting a pair of socks for Christmas for someone – a daughter-in-law, niece, whoever – I didn’t bother at all about checking the gauge. I figured it’d fit someone. Well, when my husband tried the completed 1st one on, it fit him. None of my female relatives’ feet are that big, so I frogged it. No biggie, I’ll just knit it with smaller needles or reduce the number of stitches.
Your shawl and gretel are beautiful! For goofs, once I knit a stocking without a pattern. I forgot to decrease after the heel turn so the foot was huge!!!!!
I love your show!
Thanks for the great episode! The tam and shawl are so beautiful! for a mistake-once I put a scarf in the dryer so it would dry in time to give it as a present and, of course, it felted!
Beautiful shawl!
Would love to win the yarn.
The only project snafoo was a scarf I knitted. I blocked it but the darn thing still wouldn’t lay flat. Probably had something to do with the pattern.
I enjoyed this episode. What a great way to explore yarn shops! I just looked at that book at the bookstore last night…but ended up getting something else. It’s on my wish list though!
Goofs…well, how about gauge goofs? During my first month of knitting (ever…I had just learned), I promptly tried to make mittens for my son. I used the needles the pattern called for, spent about an hour looking for just the right yarn listed in the pattern, and then proceeded to knit a mitten fit for Bigfoot. On the second try, I knit a lot tighter…same needles (I only had the one size), same yarn….and ended up with a mitten hand the size of a 5 year old and the thumb the size of a 14 year old. Sheesh…it finally dawned on me that that was what “getting gauge” was supposed to prevent. (sheepish grin) Here are the two recorded for posterity:
http://pics.livejournal.com/bookwyrm40/pic/00014dc0/
http://pics.livejournal.com/bookwyrm40/pic/00015rsc/
In case you were worried…he did get a pair at last. Fingerless this time…at his request. Thanks again for such a great vodcast!
http://pics.livejournal.com/bookwyrm40/pic/0005g386/
http://pics.livejournal.com/bookwyrm40/pic/0005t89w/
Your shawl is stunning! I’m sure your mother will love it and your knitting is outstanding 🙂
The shawl is gorgeous! I know your mom will love/loved it! The Gretel looks great too. I had a lot of fun knitting that last November. In cozy warm Malabrigo it’s been lovely to wear all winter! Now that it’s almost spring (over 50 here today!) I think I might have to get some of that organic cotton for some cooler weather pieces. Thanks for suggesting it! Thankfully I don’t have any “oops”s to share that come to mind, but I know I’ve messed things up before! I think I just block them out of my memory!
Cat, love the show. The shawl was just gorgeous. The hat was beautiful as well, glad to know that you could fix the goof. I have had many of goofs, usually with gauge and sizing being to big even though gauge is right. Can’t wait for the next pod cast, thank you for sharing your trips with us.
i love the yarn! thanks for your work
The shawl is quite beautiful. I’ve only worked with the Tofutsies yarn once, and my needles were a bit too big so naturally the project is hibernating. It’s definitely nice to work with though. 🙂
What a great podcast. My five year old daughter (who is just learning to knit) and I, eagerly await the episodes each week.
I was so pleased to see that Bijou Basin Ranch ship internationally. I will be placing my order this week. I long to live in a cold climate instead of the Australian heat, only so I can feed my yarn addiction all year round.
Mmmm now I have been deliberating whether or not to reveal my blocking boo boo and decided why not were are all friends. I was making my first granny square baby blanket and began blocking squares as I finished them. I made the error of not being certain of the size I blocked the first few batches and blocked the last half of the squares almost an inch larger. Needless to say they would not fit properly so they could be joined. My solution was to re-block the smaller ones to make them fit the larger ones. Blanket was a bit over stretched, but a lesson well learned.
My hat is off to you Cat & Eric. You are doing a fantastic job.
CAT, I recently found this video blog and have totally enjoyed them all. I just wish there were more!!! I’ve learned so much and been able to visit places that I probably will never get to go to. I live in a small town in Alaska, have 8 children, and am a knitter. How cool that two lives, so different, can have a common bond with their love of knitting. Thanks for the fun and informative videos.
Carolyn
CAT – even though I’d like to imagine we are about the same age — can I be your mother?? You do such lovely work.
Maybe I’m just unobservent but did you get a new hair cut? it looked wonderful
Cat & Eric, Love the podcast. The Shawl is so beautiful. Great knitting. The gentleman from New Orleans who sang, such charm and a wonderful voice. Thanks for the episode with the yaks. I checked out their website and online store.
Gorgeous shawl! Your mom will love it completely.
I loved the peek inside New Orleans and Monterey. Thanks for those!
And, ahhh, the Tofootsies. Such lovely colors. Thanks for offering them to a commenting viewer, when you could keep them for yourself and make lovely socks out of them. And thanks, too for considering me in the drawing. It’s the perfect sock yarn for Florida, where wool is usually just too darned hot.
Knitting and owning a kindle can be both wonderful and aggrivating. I like to use my kindle to listen to audio books while knitting. I was knitting a baby blanket while listening to the last book in the Twilight series. All I had left to finish on the blanket was one more pattern repeat then 17 rows of straight knitting. Anyone who has read Breaking Dawn, the last book in the series, knows there are some suspensefull scenes and I was listening and knitting intently. When the audio was finished I did the bind off, washed it and blocked it.
Only while blocking I noticed that I didn’t do 17 rows of straight knitting, I did more like 117 rows of straight knitting. It all worked out in the end. While I frogged out the error and bound off again, I started listening to the Charlaine Harris audiobooks.
Hi there! Cat, your shawl is just amazing! I’ve been interested in doing an Estonian shawl for awhile now, and your is certainly inspiring!
As far as knitting goofs, my favorite seems to be making my tops too big. I just haven’t wrapped my head around the idea of positive versus negative ease, so I over-estimate the chest size on things, and make them extra large. I’m also bad with doing math sometimes, which can lead to buying the wrong amount of yarn. Once I needed 600 yards of yarn for a project, and it came in skeins of 75. I multiplied 75 by 2 and got 150; multiplied that by 2 and got 300; and multiplied that by 2 and got 600, so I was about to purchase 4 skeins—only half of what I needed!
Hi Cat
I just love your podcast’s . Dont you love knitting for your mom. I do…. my mom always gets my projects when i’m done making them …lol..
You have givin me another reason to visit New Orleans that shop looks wonderful you must have had a ball. Cant wait till the next podcast . See you soon
p.s. love the new hair cut
I agree about the Yak farm show…is the yarn soft? I would imagine that it would be more coarse, just because I imagine a yak would have coarse fur. Of course I’ve never petted one! ‘Though your hat looks soft and warm.
I hate the long wait of your episodes but when I get to see them, it always makes the long wait worth it !!!!
Please do more reviews on yarn and books! If you can do an episode on pet clothes, like dogs, it would be great!!
thank you for posting knitting videos~
Hi there!
Great show! You did an incredible work with the shawl, it is very beautiful!
Rebekka from Denmark
Knitting goof – I was a new knitter and determined to make a sweater, I used alpaca, in a bulky weight, and that sucker could fit a linebacker, as I knit I kept thinking, hmmm it looks a bit large…..well, needless to say it was beyond GINORMUS, and really would have fit a linebacker, provided his was 4 foot 10 and 3 feet wide w/foot long arms!!! Yarn has since been reclaimed and is getting knit in other various projects…..LOL
The site was down for a while but it’s back now. Leave a comment for a chance to win the Tofutsies extravaganza!
Just wanted to say that the shawl is beautiful. Your mom must love it. Nice job with the hat, too. Awesome Tofutsies prize!
Jean in Maine
I absolutely loved the shawl! Your mom will love it. I have a burning desire to make one now, it is so beautiful. I love your show and look forward to watching each time. Thank you for all of the hard work you do.
It was fun to see the yarn shops you visited. What a gorgeous shawl. Your Mom must have been overjoyed. I must add Knitted Lace Of Estonia to my library. My worse blocking episode happened when I blocked my Clapotis and I stretched it so much that it snapped the yarn. I had used laceweight. I always enjoy the show, thank you.
Love your show–the shawl is beautiful! My most recent knitting goof is I recently made a beret, but had to enlarge the hat quite a bit. When it came time to decrease the top, instead of figuring out the number of decreases per round, I decreased every 9 stitches, just like in the original pattern. So while the original had you decrease 8 times per round, I was decreasing 15 times per round! I did finish the hat quickly that way!
Thank you so much for an interesting and valuable tour of two cities’ yarn shops. Lovely podcast, today was my first visit and I am looking fwd to more. The shawl is simply wonderful. I am working my way up to real lace rather slowly, and my first big undertaking was the Flared Lace smoke ring from Heartstrings Fiber Arts. Although I did not read the pattern carefully enough before beginning (a common failing of mine) and ran out of yarn, I just bound off early and have a shorter cowl that looks better than I deserve. I am heartened and plan to carry on with exploring lace knitting.
Hey CAT, I love how you incorporate livestock and & spinning into your videos. You have no idea how much you’ taught me to knit. Keep up the amazing work!
Just recently found your podcasts on iTunes and have watched all your episodes. Thank you for all your help with some of the techniques you’ve featured in your episodes, especially your recent one on binding off toe up socks. I also enjoyed watching your Sock Wars episodes.
What a fun trip! I live only an 1hr 1/2 from Monterey. I will have to check out the yarn shop you went to. I’m glad you had such a fun trip!
Hi!!
Oh, my…how I wish I had known you were in New Orleans (and, of course, it is New Ahw’lins rather than New Or-Leeens’ :-> ) I live very nearby now, and since I lived in the city for a long time, I would have loved to have shown you some great things that “tourists” usually don’t know about or get a chance to see/experience.
The shawl is so lovely. There is much love knitted into that wonderful gift.
Thank you for what you do.
~Sara
Thank you for the closeups on the shawl. The detail is stunning.
Also, New Orleans and Monterey looked fun! knitting by by the ocean looked so peaceful!
Spectacular shawl! Looks like fun! I’m so glad you make this show!
I loved this episode, you might have actually inspired me to try knitting socks again 🙂
The shawl is amazing. Would love to see how your mom reacted. (Like the Christmas show at your in-laws’).
I enjoy your podcast so much. I watched every premiere and have developed my own rerun schedule and now feel like I’m watching in syndication. I love the “how to” sections and the dialog with Eric after the credits is so funny. Keep up the great work.
Lovely shawl!!! I have the book & the same yarn(in Pewter), but haven’t been able to decide which one to make:)
wonderful shawl — can’t believe you took it as a “travel project” — brave woman! but what a result!
And the toe up socks (this episode and #43) — great timing as I am just finishing my first 2 socks at a time on 2 circulars, and need to think about the bind off soon! thanks!!
Congrats on the sponsorship! Such a great thing for sure! Loved the episode, and loved “traveling” with you! Looking forward to the next episode 😉
Hey Kat,
If your journey ever takes you to Western Canada, I would love to meet you for some tea and a knit session!
I love the shawl you made for your mom! Just beautiful!
I am really glad that you have episodes that involve knitting stores in other cities. Not only does it help the small shop owner, but it lets us know where some great stores are when we travel.
What a great idea to start visiting yarn shops in different cities CAT! I loved the way you talked about the stores and their owners.
This episode made me want to get yarn from your sponsor ‘BIJOU BASIN RANCH’ and use a nice pattern to try that beautiful yummy yarn.
Love your work!!! Thank you!!!
Maria from Toronto
Great episode – I loved the singing man, I can only assume he’s from New Orleans!
Hi. I’m a new viewer and I just wanted to say how much I love your show. I found you via the interview you did with the girls from the Yarncraft podcast, a couple of weeks ago, and have now watched almost all of your episodes.
Good luck with future shows. And thank you for doing this.
– Pam
I love watching the program. Thanks for all the great information.
your mom’s shawl is wonderful!!! I am trying to get my head around some “real” lace soon, the wonderful things I see that people make with lace knitting both make me want to try and scare me away!! I made a hat for my Dad for Christmas, when I finished it it fit my head so I blocked it a bit biger, well my dad’s head is about the same size as mine when he has not had a hair cut, but he went out and got one just befor Christmas to look “cleand up” and the hat was way too big 🙁
Wow….if only I could have the patience to knit such extravagant work. I have trouble with any yarn smaller than worsted. Your mother’s shawl is gorgeous!
My first goof was pretty major. I decided to venture into knitting a sweater with bulky weight yarn, completed all pieces and put them together to find that I knitted the armholes incorrectly because they gathered (and weren’t supposed to :)) I disassembled the entire project and re-knitted it correctly. It looks great until I put it on. I don’t have the heart to get rid of it so it just hangs in my closet as my first sweater.
I would really like to learn seamless sweater knitting.
Your mother’s shawl is beautiful….absolutely beautiful!
That is so neat that you were able to meet up with Audrey! Love that you showed us some sights of New Orleans and Monterey! My son recently moved to Dallas and I had the chance last weekend to visit. He is 10 minutes away from Woolie Ewe. The ladies who work there were so kind to show me around the store. They have so much wonderful yarn packed into their store that I needed to make a few laps around the store to become acclimated. Happy future road trips! Thanks for all you do!
Delores aka Knitted Zebra
Cat,
Thanks for continuing to produce your wonderful podcasts. Don’t you love nupps?
Goof – my most common one is overshooting the length of foot to knit for toe-up socks. The good news is my feet are the shortest in my family or my husband’s family, so there’s always someone who will volunteer for a pair of handknitted socks (they weren’t sure at first but now they ask for thme). That means I get to knit more for me (or keep trying…). Will the sock yarn stash get exhausted in my lifetime???
I really enjoy watching your show. I learn to knit from a friend. I still don’t know how but I’m trying. Please continue to enjoy what you. Thank you for having a show like this it keeps my mind off of hard times.
If your Mom doesn’t absolutely LOVE that shawl she is blind. Your workmanship is phenomenal! I am impressed not only with your ability, but your speed as well! I knit as fast as cold honey! I have just rushed out to buy Nancy Bush’s book! My son is getting married in 2012 and I hope to have his brides shawl done by then! Lol!
I never realized you could “over-block” until I inadvertently did it with a lace shawl! My yarn overs became shapeless gaps and my nupps flattened out to nothing! A good re washing helped.. but the initial blocking ruined a beautiful piece! 🙁 I will never “eye-ball” a piece again!
I love your dancing man! he is so excited to sing for you! Your Bloopers always delight me and give me a grin for the day!
I can tell you about a goof I did while knitting my 2nd pair of socks. I did toe up socks and when I got to the cuff I had to rip out and redo the cuff 3 times, because I couldn’t get it stretchy enough to fit over my leg. Trying different techniques, by the third time it was a success. I was very frustrated and wanted to throw them in the river. I walked away and came back and it was all good. I love your podcast and find it not only very helpful, but also entertaining. Keep up the great job.
I love the lace shawl you made for your mother. I’m sure she will love it too! A story of a goof I did was working on my first ever hand knit sweater. I was also teaching myself cable knitting for the first time. I think I ripped out the back (which I did first) about 3 or 4 times till I finally got the cable part right. After that, the rest of the sweater was easy. Following the pattern exactly though made my sleeves to short for my comfort. After wearing it a couple times, I picked up stitches at the cuff and extended them. It turned out good and I get compliments on it all the time. Sometimes you need to veer away from the pattern to make it “fit” you and your style. 🙂 Love your show!
The Estonian shawl that you knit for your mom is absolutely beautiful! My knitting goof wasn’t in blocking, it was in a toe-up sock for my DH. He hadn’t wanted a snugger pair of socks around the cuff, so I knit the boyfriend sock and when he tried on after one was complete, he popped the whole cuff in trying to get it on as it was so snug.
I only recently discovered your podcast – but I am all caught up now, and have enjoyed it very much! Thanks for all of your hard work. It shows – you are putting out a really great product! I especially like the episodes about the Sheep and Wool show – they made me feel like I was there!
Wow! What a beautiful shawl!! Gee, what do I have to do to do for you to adopt me and knit me a shawl?..lol.
I just found you podcast a couple of weeks ago so I am busy catching up but I really am enjoying it.
First–what a beautiful shaw! Amazing!
My knitting goof is a Clapotis story. My local knitting guild held a yarn swap at which I grabbed (yes, I know, very rude of me) a bag of recycled Lorna’s Laces. That’s all I knew about it–that is was Lorna’s Laces–not that it was a superwash. So I’m knitting the clapotis with it, but I’ve got lots of small balls of yarn because it was recycled from a sweater. I think to myself, “Well I’ll just spit splice the yarn to do my yarn joins.” Okay–superwash. SUPERWASH. I’ve got like 18 little balls of this stuff and I’m going to need all of it. Every time I have to join the yarn, I rub and spit and rub and spit some more, quite literally until the skin is rubbing off my palms and it never once occurs to me during the entire knitting of the project that I might have me a superwash yarn here. Of course, several of the many joins seemed to work for a time but later came apart. Also, several of the joins were at a drop stitch point. When I wash this scarf it’s going to disintegrate. Ack! I’ve had to go back and put tiny little hand stitches in these joins to keep the whole thing holding together. That’s my biggest knitting gaff. That’s what I get for grabbing yarn.
CAT,
Another fantastic episode !!!!!!!!! I know you mom will love Sylvia !!!! It is a beautiful pattern, and u have really done it justice. Love the yarn store visits as well. It is so nice to see the knitting community come together and help one another out, as did the ladies from the 1st store, and Audrey in Monterey. I also feel like when u visit places, like I am visiting as well. Keep the episodes coming, and may you continue to have much success with them.
Izzy
Cat,
Thanks for another wonderful episode. I am going to check out the Estonian Lace book from my library. See you next episode!
Michelle
I love LK2G and always thinking “Ohh its over already?” at the end. The shawl is spectacular and I love it when you feature knitting events and yarn stores from your travels. Also, the outtakes at the end are great.
Hello! I am new to your videocast and have enjoyed watching so many episodes. I am a bit sad that I am now up to date. Oh well, I guess I will have to watch them over again. I have been inspired to learn how to spin, thank you!
As for blocking goofs, not to many, I believe though you have to block your items to be able to have a goof. I had such poor outcomes from my first blocking experiences that I have yet to truly block any of my newly knitted items. My first knit project is still a bit lopsided. It was a beautiful cabled baby blanket, meant for a friends baby and in my knew knitting excitement I pinned the blanket to the floor, noticed a slight lopsidedness, re pinned left for awhile, re pinned and then re pinned some more aaaaaaah! Luckily I had time to fix it, the blanket is almost straight. I also learned a good lesson and that is to appreciate the unique qualities of handmade items.
Hi Cat, thanks for another great show! I’ve enjoyed all your podcasts, and I wanted to tell you what a great job you do 🙂
Yeah – I just left comments on the wrong show. Oh well. Love all of the shows anyway.
I love your podcasts!!! I am fairly new to the knitting world having cast my first stitches on in november of 2006 (lovenly taught by my mother in law) now i can’t put the needles down…nor can i stop my obsession with buying yarn 🙂 God help my husband 🙂 anyhoo..i just recently discovered your podcasts and have sat down and watched darn near all of them…you have created so many wonderful items :0)…The shawl you made for your mother is stunning. Sigh…someday i will get to that point 🙂 thanks for all you do !!!
I love the show. I wish I could have been there. Keep up the good work judy from Kansas
LK2G has given me the courage to knit toe up socks! And spin! I am one of those! The bind off for the toe up sock is exactly what I was needing. Are you psychic? My goof may be my ‘organic’ way of knitting…. I just keep going! It works out. I have yet to block more than a hat, but I guess a hat counts, right? LOVE LOVE LOVE your show!
Great show! That shawl is amazing!!! It’s inspired me to try knitting something lacy (But much smaller, to start with;0)).
My latest knitting goof? Not reading my hat pattern properly and having to rib 30 rows to correct it!
Oh no, you named your dog She She? But that’s my nickname! lol Very weird feeling to hear you say that! :0)
I want in on the sock yarn package please!
Your video podcasts are so interesting to watch; Eric does such professional work! Your Estonia shawl is lovely. I’m sure your mother will cherish it.
I learned to knit watching Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop on PBS. Since I didn’t have any patterns back then, I decided to knit a pullover turtleneck sweater using her percentage system. I had no problems with it except that I forgot the number of decreasing rows I had knit. It turned out to be an off-the-shoulder sweater which is not my style. I was too new to knitting to know how to correct it. My solution was to give it to the Salvation Army with the hope that some young woman could make use of it. It was, after all, handmade!
The only knitting goof that wasn’t just frogging something into oblivion (which has happened a lot) was when I started knitting my first stole. I had gotten up to row 13 of the chart and it was going great. Looked like it was supposed to and everything. Took a picture so I could upload it into Ravelry.
Then, reread the pattern beginning when I realized I had left all the even rows out! That was so funny to me that I didn’t even mind having to start it over.
I love the shawl you made for your mother – it inspired me to RUN out and buy Nancy Bush’s book. I quickly cast on the Lilac Leaf Shawl from the book in a cream-colored yarn called Socrates (by Alpaca with a Twist). I want to give it to my mother-in-law, but her birthday is April 9th, and I’m only about a quarter of the way finished with it. Agh! Hopefully I can make it… 🙂
Wow, I stumbled in through searching for knitting pod casts–I am enjoying the catch up.
The shawl is beautiful–as all those knitted items I seen worn.
So a goof up. Only three years in and the sock bug hit and stayed -so making my husbands fourth pair of socks with recommend yarn that was to be superwash–I confindently toss into the cold water wash and now I have mini socks to cry over –I have a true dislike for felting and don’t know if I ever will deliberately shrink a piece I knit. So I do not know where the goof was me or the yarn but I will not buy that brand again. I have mad many Tofusties –joined the LT sock club for both seasons-great yarn great patterns and what an experience-joy.
Knitting on—Wilma
Yet again another wonderful episode. I havent had access to the net for a while and its good to catch up on some ep. Your shawl is just beautiful- your mother will definitely love it Cat.
We have a winner of the Tofutsies Extravaganza!
Vanityphare!
Hi Cat,
I have to tell you that I so look forward to your shows. My daughter (8 years old) knits and spins (as do i) and we watch together. Tonight we popped popcorn and it was late for her around 9:30pm, when I realized she hadn’t done her homework. She missed it (..couldn’t wait for her) but I’ll catch her up tomorrow. The quality is so professional and such a joy…i’m in reruns…
I know that your Mom LOVED her shawl! It is gorgeous!
I so enjoy your podcasts! Thanks so much for all of the care that you always put into each episode!
one knitting mistake, eh?! A doozy was knitting a top for a friend on 2 circs and i didn’t check each needle with a needle gauge….yep, the front was knit on size 7 and the back on size 6!!! I was elated to see that the final product looked nice in that the front was patterned and the back stockinette – therefore my mistake wasn’t evident to anyone but me! i’m very thankful that the person for whom I knit the top wasn’t a knitter and loved the top!
I visited the Quarter Stitch in New Orleans last January. I too have not opened my yarn because it is too pretty in the package. I guess I will have to go back and buy more and tell her not to wrap it up because I want to use it this time!