* elletrain knits *

Log Cabin Cork Socks

2008-07-05T21:08:00.001-07:00

Log Cabin Cork Socks
Originally uploaded by elletrain

I LOVE these socks. They'll be great house socks...sitting-around-watching-movies socks. Surely there's a yarn out there similar to Rowan Cork since it's been discontinued. Why would they stop making something so cozy??

Regardless, these are one of my favorite projects I've made. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. A great gift too!

World-Wide Knit in Public Day Nashville

2008-06-18T20:39:00.001-07:00

sporting our tees
Originally uploaded by elletrain

The day was quite successful! It stopped raining at about 12:30 and the weather was great after that. We had a great turn-out and had fun chatting, laughing and knitting. It was great to see everyone!

Here's a pic of all of us that wore our t-shirts to the event, with the lovely Parthenon in the background. I know my sunglasses are HUGE but it makes my head look smaller...a good thing.

Thanks to all who came out and supported knitting in public and thanks to Charisse, my hard-core knitter friend who braved the rain with me... See everyone there again next year!

lady eleanor wrap & wwkip day

2008-05-13T15:55:00.001-07:00

lady eleanor wrap
Originally uploaded by elletrain

So, this is the latest project. I've always wanted to knit this stole from Scarf Style. I splurged and got some Silk Garden and have really enjoyed knitting this. Entrelac is so great because it looks hard and is interesting to knit, but it's not hard and is great to take along to work on. Love this!

Also, new updates about WWKIP Day for Nashville. I've got t-shirts, bags, and mugs on cafepress! Check them out here: http://www.cafepress.com/elletrainknits

Hope to see you on June 14th! It shall be fun. I hear we'll have a Catfish Rodeo going on at the park to entertain us :)

WWKIP Day!

2008-04-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well folks, the latest is that I felt the need to organize the Nashville World Wide Knit in Public Day gathering. Check out their site for details. www.wwkipday.com

We'll be hanging out in the park and knitting together. There's rumour of going's-on at Angel Hair that day to coincide with WWKIP. Hope to see all my knitting friends there!

pom pom weekend & great new book

2008-04-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

pom pom weekend & great new book
Originally uploaded by elletrain

This weekend I'm making a pom pom rug to put by my bed. It's a great way to use leftover yarn. I heard about it on Stash and Burn's podcast. It will be nice and warm on my toes when I wake up b/c I have really cold floors.

I also bought "knitalong" at the bookstore today. It's a great book celebrating knitting together. It has cute patterns as well. The design and photography are superb and it's really a nice refreshing take to a knitting book. Definitely check it out.

tiffany mitten

2008-03-28T09:26:00.001-07:00

tiffany_mitten.jpg
Originally uploaded by elletrain

Fair isle! I'm currently making the Tiffany mittens from knitty.com and it's my first attempt at fair isle. I'm LOVING it. Of course, I love the bits that are true fair isle better than the areas where I have to do a bit of intarsia, but overall, this is a super-fun technique that I will definitely continue to do.

These mittens are quite colorful and lovely. I'm using Jo Sharp DK Wool in 5 colors. (see ravelry for the complete list) I've really enjoyed starting these, especially because I'm on Rosewood needles. If you haven't used Rosewoods, you better! They will change your life. Even more than the Shins.

snow day mittens

2008-03-09T07:37:00.001-07:00

snow day mittens
Originally uploaded by elletrain

I started these mittens last night just before it started snowing. About the time I reached the thumb of the first mitten we were getting snow at 2" per hour. Unfortunately, it only snowed for another hour. It's a lovely snow though it's melting now. I lucked out and got the day off of work because of it. All in all, a great snow day.

lace socks

2008-02-26T08:36:00.001-08:00

lace socks
Originally uploaded by elletrain

I am loving socks now. I never thought I'd love socks and never really wanted to get into them, but I made my first pair for Alex for Valentine's Day and now I'm hooked.

I've declared Sunday Sock Day. Not that I don't work on them at other times too, but Sundays are especially for socks. I definitely recommend this book from Interweave Press "Favorite Socks." I gave it to myself for my birthday and love it.

I'm using Rowan Wool Cotton and size 1 needles (yes, they ARE very much like toothpicks.)

tree jacket sweater

2008-01-27T19:15:00.001-08:00

tree jacket sweater
Originally uploaded by elletrain

Finally finished! I loved this pattern. And I looooove Malabrigo yarn. I changed the sleeves a bit and made them half garter half stockinette. Top down sweaters are the way to go my friends. If you like top down construction, check out www.zephyrstyle.com and www.glampyreknits.com. Two of my favorite sites!

apparently I'm mohair

2007-10-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

I took an online "what yarn are you" quiz and here were the results.

You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.

Pretty fun. You can take the quiz here

fitted cardi finally finished!

2007-10-14T09:44:00.001-07:00

fitted cardi finally finished!
Originally uploaded by elletrain

Yay! Finished my first shop model for the store. I really like how the cardigan turned out. Only thing I'd have done differently is to go down a needle size for the body. I usually do that after I get my gauge out of yarn, but I forgot this time. It still fits pretty well though and I can wear a button down underneath or something. I'm into the tailored preppy thing right now for some reason :)

jo sharp cardi and ravelry!

2007-09-27T21:20:00.001-07:00

jo sharp cardi
Originally uploaded by elletrain

So, finally got my invitation to ravelry.com. Very exciting. It's taking a while to get things entered, but I can see that it will be a GREAT community for knitters. I love looking through other people's projects, especially ones that I'd like to add to my to do list.

This is a WIP pic of my cardi from Jo Sharp Knit Issue 3. I'm on the second sleeve right now. Then, sewing in the sleeves and picking up the button band and the neck and I'm done! I think it's something I'll get a lot of wear out of. It's my first shop model for Angel Hair.

Steph and Laura

2007-08-01T14:35:00.001-07:00

Steph and Laura
Originally uploaded by Shosha

My knitting friend and guru...she lives in London now, but was my knitting inspiration...and now, I'm going to work at my LYS!!! I'm so very excited. But, please, send money.

Love you Steffers...

a knitter's list

2007-07-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

This is apparently THE knitting list of accomplishments: (items in blue I've already done)

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL (knit a long, this where a group of people knit the smae thing and talk about it)
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book (I WANT to do this!)
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting (?)
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting (?)
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards (is this thru the back loop?)
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere (blend)
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn (but now I'm a yarn snob!)
Writing a pattern (sort-of)
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting (?)
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (bleck! ew!)
Hair accessories (ear warmer/headband)
Knitting in public

simple knitted bodice w/changes

2007-07-15T07:29:00.001-07:00

simple knitted bodice w/changes
Originally uploaded by elletrain

This is a Stefanie Japel pattern from Stitch Diva. I used only one type of yarn and made it just capped sleeves instead of 3/4 or long-sleeved like the pattern called for. I used GGH Safari yarn, which knits more like a cord than most yarns I've used before. I added slits at each side on the bottom and made it a bit longer than the pattern suggested.

knitted top

2007-06-16T17:51:00.001-07:00

knitted top
Originally uploaded by elletrain

mine fit better with the long ribbing at the top. i still may add some straps, but i wear it over another tank anyways. I used the Pima Cotton/Tencel yarn the pattern called for. It's from Stefanie Japel's "Fitted Knits"...one of the best knitting books ever! (i think it's a little crooked in the pic...oops!)

yourface_birdie

2007-05-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

yourface_birdie
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

another drawing for your enjoyment.

new shrug

2007-04-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

shrug_back.JPG
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

a short sleeved shrug from the new book "Lace Style"...I used Oasis bamboo yarn, 2 skeins. I always go down a needle size for all my projects. It always fits better! this one was nice b/c to decrease you just change needle sizes. Here's another pic of the shrug. Photos courtesy of Alex McCollough.

pandas make everything better

2007-04-05T16:23:00.001-07:00

pandas make everything better
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

pandas help with stress. I truly believe it. I have the Panda Cam widget on my dashboard. They weren't around today though so I had to draw my own.

collar

2007-03-07T13:06:00.001-08:00

collar
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

Here's the collar to the bolero. I'm ALMOST done. I'm hoping to finish in the next couple of days and then do the long-awaited search for the NEXT PATTERN!

I am teaching my second knitting class this weekend. The first one went really well...5 ladies who were awesomely nice and caught on really quickly. I think at least a couple of them are in the purl class this Saturday. One just emailed and said she's already addicted! That's what I love...created more knitting addicts :)

Happy Knitting!

bolero progress

2007-02-09T13:02:00.001-08:00

bolero progress
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

This was at the end of the vacation. I finished 5 of the 11 pentagons that make up the bolero. This is actually turning out to be a pretty quick project.

the cardigan loves the beach

2007-02-09T13:00:00.001-08:00

the cardigan loves the beach
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

Finished the cardigan while on vacation. Wish I could finish every project while enjoying the Caribbean ocean. I love the beach!

next project

2007-01-29T07:12:00.000-08:00

I am about to finish a cardigan this week from Jo Sharp. I'll upload pics soon. But, here's a pic of what I'm making next...this is the vacation project. Headed to Mexico on Wednesday. I plan to do three things 1. sit on the beach, 2. knit, 3. drink margaritas. I can't wait. I need recharging.

Anyhoo, so this is the project I plan on working on. First time to do modular knitting and I'm very excited to see how it turns out. I got a nice mustard yellow/gold yarn to knit it out of, from http://www.knitpicks.com because it saved me $40 :) I'll post pics soon!

warm hat

2007-01-26T09:35:00.001-08:00

warm hat
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

this has become my favorite hat ever. I knitted it on a snowy Saturday last winter. it's nice and warm! Rowan Big wool was the yarn and the patter is from, you guessed it, Vogue Knitting.

knitted shrug

2007-01-24T14:54:00.001-08:00

knitted shrug
Originally uploaded by elletrain.

this was one of my favorites to knit. It's also from Vogue Knitting. one of my friends calls it my "knitted muscles" :)