My Knitting Heroes - Brooklyn Tweed

In the last of my little summertime series on my knitting heroes I'm ending with the shortest and most direct of these posts - this one on blogger Brooklyn Tweed (Jared Flood). This knitter extraordinaire is so obviously a knitting hero of the highest order, his inclusion in the list barely requires explanation so I'll just list the illustrative facts...

• Jared's knitting is impeccable.



• He inspires by sharing the products of his needles and spinning on his blog using lighting, props, staging and photography that shows off the beauty of his work and the fiber of which its made.



• He writes clearly and with great attention to detail when sharing information about his projects.



• Jared champions process (even guage swatches!) - something of which I need to be more mindful.



• Jared seeks out, explores, designs and redesigns with what seems like a constant eye for clever, elegant construction.



• He seems unrelenting in finding the best yarn for the stitch as well as the drape and fit of the garment.

There you have it! Brooklyn Tweed - one of my knitting heroes.

(BTW his design work also made the cover of the Fall 2008 Issue of Vogue Knitting!)

TTFN

Its been a week of getting ready for that nasty "Back to School". We've taken care of business in that regard so now I can transport my charges back up north to enjoy their last extended stay of the season at the cottage.

The rain this summer has the forests up north looking very lush and green but last week some red and orange started to appear at the edges of some of the maple leaves around our cottage. I choose to view this not as a sign of autumn but rather only late summer which I do love. After all August is...

• Corn on the Cob Season
• The time when the bugs at the cottage are largely gone
• The best sailing season of the summer
• Ideal for bon fires by the lake because its getting dark earlier so they don't have to start at 10:00 pm.
• An opportunity to rather effortlessly enjoy the garden at home and the boats at the cottage since the back breaking work required by each early in the season has been done.
• Unlike July, when the kids are unwinding from the previous school year, in August they're relaxed and fun to be with.
• When the fall issue of Interweave Knits comes out on the 19th!
  

And speaking of knitting ...

• I've got that new yarn from yesterday's outing for a couple of baby gifts that should be pretty fast and fun and a change from the other more plodding stuff I've been doing this summer.
• I've been to the library for knitting books to scatter about the cottage for "atmosphere" and anytime vicarious thrills.
• I've got the new Vogue Knitting already packed.
• I've been on line looking at everyone else's cue and reading about their plans for maximum inspiration.
• In the knit blog rhealm there's going to be some radio silence around here until that first week in September - not because I won't have lots of knitting fodder but just because I'm not planning on being around here much or possibly at all.

In the meantime, happy knitting everyone. Enjoy the best of whatever late August means in your part of the world!

A Question in the Morning. The Answer in the Afternoon.

Can a frenzied knitting nut with an almost EMPTY knitting basket make a return to the LYS of a single ball of leftover yarn and come home with nothing but a credit on her account?

The answer this afternoon!

Please imagine "Jeopardy" Theme Song Music in your head for a moment (or click here to listen) to symbolize time that did pass between the post above and the following...

In real time its now afternoon. The idiot knitter was so giddy at the prospect of yarn shopping she left the #!?X&ing yarn that needed to be returned at home! After realizing this I made a quick turn and headed for the nearest LYS (Its great being a knitter in Toronto!) rather than my intended target LYS at which I could have secured the credit for the yarn above. (Oh well I should look on the bright side - I guess that means another LYS trip sometime soon!)

And what did I get? (Other than no store credit!)

Yarn to make baby gifts for two new parents who work with My Beloved. I want to knit them over the next two weeks in which I will be hosting/cooking/tending bar/parenting/operating as boat captain pretty much on a solo basis. So I need something mindless, essentially devoid of shaping or even much counting. I've decided to make the Boat Sweater from Debbie Bliss Family Knits.

The shop I went to is moving in two weeks, they are in packing mode and their stock of the Cotton Yarns called for in the pattern was essentially limited to shades of orange, violet, lime green and black - not exactly baby colours. So I switched to wool - Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran - and got enough for a navy version (#004) and and one in cream (#101). I'm pleased at having to make the switch because two cotton sweaters in size 2 is not what my hands are aching to do - if you know what I mean. (The new parents didn't have babies two years ago, they both very recently had babies with birth weights close to 10 lbs. so I don't want to risk making newborn sizes.)

Its not very exciting as yarn goes but the knitting will be a pleasant and necessarily slight diversion when the cottage is full. I'm not only tight with my knitting tension - its essentially a constant state of affairs with me so anything to keep me relaxed and going with the flow will be great to have on hand. As I've said before Ms. Bliss is my go to gal for baby knits so I'm confident in my expectations of this pattern and the yarn.

As an aside, yesterday I endured multiple disasters, false starts and time wasting dead ends in my quest to deal with my lengthy list of back to school errands. The misfire on the yarn return today though was no problem. As soon as knitting or yarn are in the mix, its like oil on the water!