Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas!


(Photo taken at my favorite knit shop, Knitique.)

Holiday Glitter

Simonetta

The Holidays are all about glitter

so I was pretty excited when I saw 

Louisa Harding's new winter collection

Simonetta.  

 I couldn't wait to try Louisa's Simonetta yarn

which has "glittery" metallic fibers
added to the kid mohair.

I was so excited about Louisa's new book and yarn Simonetta,
that I organized a Holiday Glitter Knit-Along
(in the Louisa Harding group on Ravelry)
as a tribute to Louisa Harding
and her new collection.

Madelena

I recently finished my Madelena  scarf for the

Holiday Glitter Knit-Along.

  If I do say so myself...
I think it's the prettiest scarf I've ever knit!

Today is the last day of the Holiday Glitter Knit-Along

and it has been so much fun! 
Knitters have participated from

England, Scotland, Germany, Canada

and the USA. 

I am normally a "flitter knitter" but knew I had to focus

and finish my KAL project by the deadline

 since after all, I organized it. 

Whew, I made it
(with a week or so to spare)
and even with doing my Christmas knitting.  

Teresa's Madelena Scarf

My knitting pen pal Teresa in England

joined in on the fun and

knit the Madelena scarf as well,

only in the two-color version. 

I loved how she styled hers

and wore it with a beautiful blue coat and,

of course, her wellies! 

Holiday Glitter

I styled my Madelena scarf with a vintage rhinestone Weiss pin

that adds just the right amount of sparkle

to the Simonetta yarn! 

Thanks to Louisa Harding...

I'm ready to sparkle for the holidays

and the New Year! 

Happy Winter!

Now, that's a wool coat!

Happy First Day of Winter!

Brixton Plaid Coat

Now this is a wool coat to love! 

Today is also my birthday,
so I'm off to shop...
maybe even for a new wool coat!

(photo credit:  Brixton Plaid Coat: Sundance Catalog)

Granny Square Cookies

Granny Square Cookies

Oh my gosh...

if you're a knitter or a crocheter

you are sure to love these clever crochet-adorned cookies!

These adorable Granny Square Cookies
are the genius of an adorable

baker and blogger

Sugar and Meringue. 

You can find her Granny Squre Cookie 

tutorial and instructions here. 

I can't wait to make these sometime and

bring them to my favorite knit shop, Knitique. 

(Photo Credit:  Sugar and Meringue)

I'm Cable Ready!

 Melissa Leapman

I'm cable ready now...

thanks to Melissa Leapman

 and

her Cable Ready class that I took today.

Melissa flew all the way out from New York City

exclusively for two days of classes for my knitting guild,

the Camellia City Stockinettes. 

I must say,

designer events and classes

are a wonderful perk of belonging to my local TKGA guild.

 Cable Ready

I really liked Melissa's relaxed teaching style.

She has a simple and straightforward approach

to explaining things. 

For her Cable Ready class,
she broke down the basics

 and taught us to knit with charts. 

 She told us,

 "Charts show the way the resulting fabric will look
 and you can knit faster".

 Heart Cable

In our class,

she taught us two simple cable maneuvers (with 4 stitches)

that resulted in mastering the

honeycomb, braid and rope cable motif. 

 Thanks to Melissa's instruction,

I did all my class cable exercises by chart

(a first for me). 

I'm pretty excited to be able to knit cables now by charts.

Melissa also taught us how to knit heart cables,
two-colored cables

and gave us some color stranding tips, too.

The best part of taking a designer's class...

is all the tips and tricks you pick up from them!

Melissa's Books

During class,

I had a chance to ask Melissa a few questions.

She learned to crochet at the age of 4.

She is a "self taught" knitter

who taught herself to knit in high school.

She attributes that to her teaching style. 

She is an east coast gal who ended up in New York in college

 and stayed in New York City.  Lucky her!

Her latest book Stashbuster Knits has just hit the shelves

and she has exciting things planned for the future.
(Sorry I can't tell you about them now.)

You can though keep up with Melissa and her latest news
on her Facebook page.

Melissa is a popular instructor at Stitches events around the US

 and other venues. 

 Take her classes if you ever have a chance! 

It was a pleasure to meet Melissa today

and learn more about cables.

I can truly say...

I'm cable ready now!

Ysolda

 Ysolda Teague

She is just as adorable in person!

 Little Red in the City

I met Scottish designer Ysolda Teague last month

when she was in the Bay Area

for a weekend of classes for her new book

Little Red in the City.

 Fiddler's Mitts

I attended Ysolda's book signing during her weekend classes.

I love her Fiddler's Mitts in the new book
 My Grandmother's Knitting.

Ysolda not only signed my book

but also helped me select the colors of

Jameison's Shetland Spindrift

for my Fiddler's Mitts.

I'm going to knit a pair to coordinate with a

 fabulous Fair Isle scarf

I purchased in Edinburgh, Scotland this year.

Cute!

I couldn't help but comment to Ysolda how cute

her fascinator headband was. 

Guess what knitters...

it's a future pattern! 

Thank you Ysolda for being so adorable

and for visiting California!