Heroes For The Holidays

I am pleased to report that I received the company of two of my knitting heroes for the holidays: the commemorative edition of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac (complete with an Introduction by Stephanie Pearl McFee, a third knitting hero of mine!) along with Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

I have already delved into both volumes, and am happy to report that I am already busy incorporating one of the patterns from Walker's tome onto the sock currently in progress on my needles.

I always enjoy reading EZ as well....she is so liberating!! One cannot help but become more self-confident as a knitter after reading her encouraging words. (I think that confidence spills over into other areas as well.)

In non-knitting (and non-photography) news....DS and I went in search of our first geocaches today. I also received a Garmin GPS unit for the holidays with which we can now take part in the fun that is geocaching. We did an earnest search for three caches today, finding two. (I am convinced the third one was not meant to be found in the winter with snow on the ground. We will have to try again in the spring.)

If you don't know about the sport/game/fun, check it out at Geocaching.com!

Here's another photo from my forray into the woods a few days ago. (No caching involved...we were only out to take photos!)



Happy knitting and shooting and caching!

Happy B-Day EZ!

Today is Elizabeth Zimmerman's 100th Birthday! Here's to the icon of fearless, "can-do" knitting!!

Love's Limits

If you look back to May 6 you'll see my initial post regarding the Elizabeth Zimmerman blanket I intended to knit.

It started out swell! I was so full of enthusiasm and love for all things EZ, after all Elizabeth is one of the knitting elites....a pioneer, an inspiration, a revered oracle of all things knitted.

Well, I can tell you, row upon row of nothing but garter stitch is d@mn boring!

Over the summer my love for the project waned.

The blanket languished at the bottom of my WIP(works in progress) pile.

Until one day in November I realized that there really were a limited number of days left until Christmas and if I truly intended to give the #$@^& thing as a gift, I'd better pull it out and get busy.

So here it is, finished at long last!




I'm afraid only a knitter is going to look at it and realize how much time went into the thing. But I do hope when my nephew cuddles up with it he might one day realize his Aunt Kim's love for him has no limits, not even endless rounds of boring garter stitch and more finishing work than she's ever put into any other project!

I decided I can't leave my niece hanging when it comes to hand knits for the holidays, so I started a quick pair of socks for her as well. Fortunately six year old feet aren't all that big and this pair will take me about 4 evenings of knitting while watching t.v.



Do you suppose I should've been making something for my own kids??

EZ Blanket

(In the interest of full disclosure: it's very possible I haven't laid this out correctly! This photo is for demonstration purposes only and should not be confused with whatever the finished object looks like. Thank you.)

Here's what I have so far on the baby blanket I'm knitting from Elizabeth Zimmerman's The Opinionated Knitter. I am really loving the feel of the organic cotton yarn from Knit Picks. And the colors.

While I was knitting with my knitting pals this morning one of them was looking at the thing quizically. When I showed her the design sketch for the finished project, she drew in a quick breath and said, "That would be perfect for my autistic grandson! A puzzle piece is the emblem for autism and that looks like a puzzle pieced together to me!"

One regret. I wish I had gotten the worsted weight yarn rather than the sport. Other than that, it's good, mindless knitting whenever I get a few moments. (May is VERY busy!)

Happy knitting!


ps...I also find "vacuuming" with photoshop highly entertaining!

My First BSJ!

Well, I just completed my first EZ Baby Surprise Jacket. I made it with the intention of giving next April for a 2nd birthday, but it's so darned cute, I may add it to the Christmas gifts!

I knit it with CotLin from Knit Picks, in the Kohlrabi color. My guys thought it wasn't a "boy" green, so to give it an added masculine touch I trimmed it in brown and added football buttons.

Everyone was right. Elizabeth Zimmerman = genius.