The Knitting Fiend

After a long haitus, I bring you, The Seventh Carnival of Knitting!

Knitting Carnivals
help us discover new blogs
and that’s a good thing!

Here’s how this works: A while back, I announced “The Carnival of Knitting”. Anyone who writes a knitting blog article can submit their favorite one. I then discuss the various articles and post links. I reserve the right to skip some submissions, in case, well.. you know… they are smutty or something. I’ll announce the next Carnival soon!

Now, for “The Carnival of Knitting” entries.

Niki — who as you can see has an eye for color– shows us how to hand paint yarn with Kool-aid. Pretty nifty, especially if you have kids who you don’t trust to handle possibly toxic dye.

KnittingNutter describes the challenge of designing a sock. She finds it difficult enough that she nows says “My respect for pattern designers is now insurmountable.”

Well, if designing were easy, I would get to write haikus for so many interesting “creations”, right?

But, then there are some really great designs. And it’s too bad I didn’t run this carnival before Easter because Scribbit shows us A Handknit Easter Bunny. (And matching hand knit booties, sweater and a full hand knit easter bunny ensemble.)

But you know, if you don’t design knitting patterns, you end up having to read knitting patterns. And that means understanding acronyms. Well, Kim has a post that explains all the knitting acronyms appearing on knitting lists. And she is thorough — you’ll even find “blog carnival!”

Anastacia Knits shows us her works in progress which seem to consist of many unfinished socks. Anastacia also tells of a knitting disaster. (Don’t click here if you are faint of heart.)

Oh. You clicked? I guess I should have warned you. . .

But if you think Anastacia is a bit sock crazed, you should read about the sock crazed beastie at Jen’s.

Catmum shows off some beautiful Pomatomus socks! (Which, we hope did not involve any of the accidents experienced by Anastacia!)

And now, for beauty see Kate’s shawl! (She fully describes the blocking, and tells you where to find the stitches. Many appear in Barbara Walker’s various “Treasuries of Knitting”– but Kate will explain all! )

Lucia (that’s me) submitted her Jenny Shawl Calculator post. You can create a pattern using yarn in your stash! (more…)

Announcing “The Seventh Carnival Of Knitting.”^1.. Carnival entries are due April 20; the carnival will be posted on April 23.

The next topic is:

My Knitting & More Just submit your best post about knitting. I’m going to be generous and accept crochet, spinning and and weaving too.

How to participate

Step I: Blog about knitting.
Blog on topic by the deadline. Please insert this html link at the end of the article:
Submitted to <a href="http://www.thedietdiary.com/blog/lucia/492" >The Carnival Of Knitting</a> ²

Step II: Help me find your article!
After posting your article, inform me of your entry one of two ways. You only need to do one of these.

1. Easiest for me: Visit The Blog Carnival “Carnival of Knitting” entry form. Fill it out!
2. Easiest for you, email me (that’s lucia at thedietdiary.com) directly! Please include the “The Carnival of Knitting” in the title.

I will read all the articles, and write an article summarizing and linking to each and every one! (I will, of course add a few words next to the link, just as I did for :

1. “The First Carnival of Knitting”.)
2. “The Second Carnival of Knitting”.)
3. “The Third Carnival of Knitting”. (Failed Carnival )
4. “The Fourth Carnival of Knitting”.)
5. “The Fifth Carnival of Knitting”.) (The “Instapundit Linked me Carnival!” )

Due Date: April 20, 2007.
Summary Article will appear on or before April 23, 2007.
Carnival Name: Carnival of Knitting.
Topic: My Knitting
Who can enter: Any blogger who posts about knitting, crocheting, spinning, or weaving, and posts on topic.

Caveat: I reserve the right to ignore and not link to any post for any reason. (My intention is to ignore any that are not on topic, contain porn, or which might violate the terms of my agreement with my hosting company. However, since I don’t know what anyone might submit, I reserve the right to not link for any reason at all.)

I’m going to write one. So, please join me, and write your own.

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Notes:
1. This blog entry is edited and redated periodically to announce upcoming carnivals.
2. This creates a link to my site. It should display like this: Submitted to The Carnival Of Knitting
There are several reasons for this link: a) If my spam filter traps your email, I can google and find your article. b) A link is required to get your trackback past my spam filter which also helps me find your article if spam filters are harsh! c) The link also publicizes The Carnival Of Knitting to others who might want to participate. ( If you prefer to avoid crediting my site with links, use a “no follow” tag in the link. You can even email me and I’ll tell you how to do it!)

I received loads of entries for “The Sixth Carnival of Knitting: Knitting and Pets! It’s no suprise; after all, our pets enjoy, help and interact with our knitting in so many varied ways.

There are the yarn loving pets.

Some, like Erika’s Kimble and Brady, hunt stash. Hearing, any activity in the yarn stash area, they rush to the room saying “I heard yarn. I smell yarn. Is this it? It doesn’t smell like yarn. Where’s the yarn?”.

What do yarn detecting cats do with yarn once they find it? That depends. Itgirl reports her cat, “Beans likes to play with the fun yarn.” In contrast,
Kylie’s cat just steals it. Then, what does she do? Who knows?

Maybe these yarn stealing cats will escalate to yarn destroying beasts like Whit’s “Spot”. Or even more horrifying, turn into yarn-a-holics like
Tammy’s cat.

Imagine arriving home to this:

“I came home to the sight of Rosco laying on the couch, drunk on yarn! His eyes were glazed over, he was breathing long & shallow, you could HEAR the pur from across the room, I SWEAR to you all, he was smiling! There was an evil satisfied grin on that cats face!!! “

So, cat owning knitters, beware. Don’t let yarn loving cats get hooked. And dog owners, beware as well. Dog owner and knitter RubyPlaid reports:

“This is Shannon. I never knew this until I went home for Christmas, but she likes to chomp on yarn.”

Scary! Luckily, there are some “at peace with knitting and yarn” pets.

Karen’s well behaved cat graces the weaving loom by just snuggling up and sleeping. Similarly, Jen’s assorted pets all live in harmony with knitting:

The pets know that when I pull out the knitting it’s time to settle in. Jack likes to lie down nearby and enjoy my nearness. Wyatt knows it’s going to be awhile before we go for that walk. Ed knew that the string was going to start moving and making that delicious noise. They gather around. They all lie on my knitting bags from time to time.

There are also benevolent guiding hand type pets:

Eileen describes Rascal:

“He’s my supervisor, sitting next to me and watching every move I make with the needles. Never hesitating to correct my technique with a brief swat at them or a tug at the yarn. What a guy”

La’s cat also helps with knitting– when not hiding under curtains! And surely, guidance is Ashe’s goal:

“Ashe, my friends, is a prankster, a comic, an acrobat, a friend to children, and a lover of knitting, not so much the yarn (as my other cats are partial to), but the movement of the knitting needle.”

Or, maybe he is truly is one of the “interferes with knitting pets”. After all, there are other knitters who report ways pets can interfere with knitting. Knits with Cats tells us she will not be joining “The Knitting Olympics”, in part, because: “… the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show falls on 2 evenings during the Olympics, which is another chunk of time I’d lose to something else I love! “

Bood luck in the show! But, before showing your dog, check out the “hand knit wearing pets”.

Dog sweater models include Lindy, Sue,and Popcorn’s dogs and Sourire’s currently invisible dog.

If you can bear the horror of seeing a cat modeling a dog sweater, visit Elizabeth’s knitting blog. (Yes, the cat looks just as angry as the one shown in a bunting, here. Well, at least neither cat had to model this which I hope will grace a poodle or chihuahua. )

Hat modeling cats can be seen at Jeanne’s blog K3tog!

Though, we know that there are also “I covet your knitting” pets. Here Chris shows us his lust for socks by refusing to budge during a picture taking session

But, sadly, there are also, “I reject your knitting” pets. Gail, who having knit her cat a Kitty Pi bed, now laments: “I knitted it with love, out of Big Kureyon, but does she use it? Nope. “

Lucky for Dee’s her dog Biggs appreciates his hand knit “Darth Maul” blanket! Teresa shows us how her pets Dot and Sade inevitably nestle right in to the pile of sweaters she clearly knit just for them!

Because, as we know, no matter what type of pet we have, we do everything we can for them. Knitting and pets go hand in hand.

That’s the end of The Sixth Carnival of Knitting. But guess what? I’m going to make “The Sixth Carnival Of Knitting, my submission to “The Carnival Of Crafts”! With luck, her readers will read about our pets, and my readers will read about sewing, tatting and crocheting pets!

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This and other carnivals are listed at The Conservative Cat!