Lisa Kay Knits... and Quilts!

Hi, Having a child has made me appreciate simple things. Mitchell likes soap and lotion. When I travel, I like to bring him something back, and I have found that one of the most appreciated tokens is the free soap or lotion that the hotel provides. Last week, I attended a conference in the LA area. The conference booked rooms at the Four Seasons, WestLake Village, for a reduced rate (lower than most local hotels' regular rates). I felt a certain guilty pleasure at staying there, but it was less expensive... I've never stayed at a Four Seasons, before, and I lapped up the luxury. I don't suppose that's what they mean when they say, "The lap of luxury." Did you notice that the logo looks like the "Tree of Life" Fair Isle knitting pattern? Does everyone see knitting patterns everywhere, or is it just me? I secreted away the soaps every day, and they always gave me more, so I got three day's worth of really fancy French soap. The bath soap ...

Hi, I combined the Serpentine Sock pattern (Ravelry Link) from "Socks From The Toe Up," with instructions from " Formula Toe Up Sock For All Sizes ," (Ravelry Link) for the heel. With Fleece Artist Somoko yarn, I had an in-between gauge, and I used 56 stitches around (8 repeats of seven stitch pattern), which is an unusual number of stitches for a sock. I used the Formula Toe Up instructions for working the heel (N=28). I like the Fleece Artist Somoko (colorway, "Piñata"), though you can really see a difference in the color distribution between the socks. One has more of the blue background color... Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Hi, I bought Sarah Palin’s book, “Going Rogue,”(1) for Chris for Christmas. As he was reading it, he mentioned highlights to me, and I was eager to read it by the time he was done. His assessment was basically: 1) The writing was great. 2) He likes Palin even better than before. 3) His general comment was, “It wasn’t very presidential.” Hmmm. I asked him what he meant by it not being presidential, and he said that Reagan or Bush would never write such a thing. Well… so? She is different from anybody else. That’s part of what I like about her. So, I read it myself, a few pages at a time at bedtime. It is hard to put down. I enjoyed the writing and stories very much, and I found her to be an impressive governor. I had a few general twinges of discomfort that led me to sort of understand what Chris may have meant by “not presidential,” though I wouldn’t have put it that way. In general, I thought she, “took no prisoners.” In some sense, it comes across as pointing fingers. On th...

Hi, Mitchell likes to take various toys into the bath. One of his Pet Shop pets is a dinosaur. After getting him all covered with bubbles, Mitchell called him a Sudsasaurus. I thought that was pretty clever! Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Hi, I took a break from Fair Isle to finish up some socks I started in December. The yarn is Jojoland Melody, which is a little bit finer gauge than most of what I use. Ironically, I had a size larger needle than normal because I was on travel with just one set of needles... which were larger than normal because I was working with my homespun yarn. After finishing my homespun socks, I found a local yarn store. (Oak Harbor, WA), and I found the Melody. I was astonished at how fine it was when I started using it. Because of the larger (size 2) needles, I reduced the number of stitches, and with the thinner yarn, it worked up at a looser stitch gauge. They ended up fitting a bit snugger than most of my socks, but they work. The stitch pattern is "Van Dyke," from "Socks From The Toe Up." I had already made one pair with the pattern, and it is easy to modify the number of stitches, and I could work it out without having the book with me in WA. I also used a gusse...

Hi, Mitchell still enjoys his Playmobile figures. He asked specifically for a Playmobile sperm whale when he visited Santa last November. Together with the Bat Cave, Santa had very specific requests (which were met). "This is a girl cow. See?" The fairy is attempting to tame the buffalo. Buffalo: 1. Fairy: 0. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Hi, Have you seen the articles on Elizabeth Zimmermann's "Green Sweater?" Last year, a lot of hubbub occurred over this sweater. It was an unknown design, knitted by EZ for her goddaughter, and worn for three generations. It was starting to wear (understandably), and the owner took it to someone to try to have it copied. Well, the owner wrote an article, "The Tale of the Green Sweater," about it (on Twist Collective ), and the original was sent to Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed to photograph (pictures on Brooklyn Tweed , posted 9.15.2009), and there was so much buzz that School House Press (run by Meg Swansen, EZ's daughter) published a pattern . I've got mine! The copy used Berocco's Ultra Alpaca, in a similar heathery green called Peat Mix, and School House Press has also had a run of the original wool, which is available, now, though perhaps not indefinitely. They also offer kits in both yarns. I've elected to use the Ultra Alpaca, but in...

Hi, I finished knitting the body of the cardigan, and I'm reinforcing the steeks, now. Chris saw this and gave me a disgusted look and said, "Is that the edging?" No. It isn't the edging. This green crochet will reinforce the cut steek and be turned to the inside. Just be patient! I'm anxious to try the sleeves. That means I have to get my scissors out and get cutting... Here's a close up of the crochet reinforcing. Five stitches to the left and right, you can see the "edge" stitch, almost always in green, a column of stitches that defines the edge of the steek. The bands (or sleeves) will be "picked up" at that column of stitches. It will be cut between the columns of crochet, and the five stitches between the cut and the pick up will be turned to the inside as a facing. (It gets sewn down... or whipped down, if you prefer. Ha!) Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Hi, Well, it may make perfect sense to everybody else, but I'm surprised and oddly pleased to announce we put away our Christmas things, today. The odd thing about it is that we have had them up since the first weekend in November in 2008 . Last year, whenever I mentioned putting them up, Mitchell would say he wanted them to stay out. It was just enough of an excuse to keep me from dragging the boxes out of the basement and doing the chore. By the time summer rolled around, we used the excuse that it was already closer to "next Christmas" than to "last Christmas," and we knew the stuff was up for the year. So, I tried to not allow any procrastination, this year. Mitchell initially said he wanted to leave them out, but he didn't protest after I really got going. After all, now he has another little space for toys! (Much needed...) Maybe sometime soon I can take the baby-proofing padding off the edge of the hearth bricks... Happy Knitting, Lisa Ka...

Hi, The garden fairy in my front yard always makes me smile. I have many yard ornaments, most of which are frogs, but the fairy always makes me take a second glance and feel a weird sense of rightness. I'm not sure why. It doesn't have a particular story behind it. I saw her on a "gardening supplies mission" at Wal -Mart, and just grabbed her on a whim. It was during the period where my mom and I were doing a lot of landscaping on the house, in the first 2-3 years of the Millennium . (That sounds funny, doesn't it?) Anyway, I normally just purchase frog things for the garden, but this fairy struck me in some way, and I recall just grabbing her without even really stopping my momentum as I walked by. I think my mom even made a comment along the line of, "That isn't a frog." She sits in the front garden on the northwest side of the house, stuck around the corner of the garage such that she only gets sun in the late afternoon. She faces the sun at ...

Hi, We went to see a matinee of The Princess and The Frog , today. Mitchell says he didn't like the movie, but I think he did. Must be a boy thing. We got into the theater 15 minutes early, and Mitchell went to greet the few people that were there. Then, he greeted each person that came in. When a mom and daughter sat in front of us, he went around and sat by the girl and asked her what she was drinking. She was about Mitchell's age. Her mom said, "I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this for a few more years." He's not shy. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

One of my many 2009 fiber indulgences was a year-long monthly club of "Cuckoobatts" from Art Club . Whenever they came in the mail, it made my day. I put together a 2009 collage of the monthly batts. They are arranged in monthly order, right to left, then top down. December was called, "Santa Baby." Very cute. The "Halloween" looking colors came in the months before and after October. :) There isn't going to a be a monthly club this year, at least not right away. (I can understand taking a break.) But you can buy individual fibers at the etsy link above. Also, I'm set to make some of my own, because this is what Santa brought for Christmas: Happy Carding and Spinning! Lisa Kay