Ferb, I know what yarn I’m going to spin today.

In keeping with the Month of Love yarns so far, today’s yarn was also suggested by my little brothers, ages 9 + 10.
Phineas + Ferb is by FAR our favorite show to watch together.

2 brothers building amazing creations (a monster truck rally, or a spaceship, or a beach in their backyard), while never getting caught and never lying (their mom just doesn’t believe it!) is enough to make this the favorite show of any two trouble-making brothers.

But add in a secret agent platypus (yes!) and an evil Dr. (who overcomplicates his -inators) and you have the most perfect cartoon ever.

Handdyed stripes of orange and green (the color of Phineas and Ferb’s hair!) are handspun into a squooshy, soft yarn made from mill-ends wool.

120 yards
Bulky
Recommended needles: US9-11

$32

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I’ll be adding a new yarn every single weekday during the Month of Love. Don’t miss a yarn (and get weekly summaries) by signing up for Yarn Love Notes.

Don’t forget: Suggest a couple (or group) AND specific colors in the comments of this contest post and if I spin it, you’ll win 50% off!

This month I’m attempting to knit 50,000 stitches.
Or, a whole sweater.
This is a knitter’s version or NaNoWriMo (whereine writers attempt to write a novel in a month). NAtional KNIt a SWEaterMOnth, in it’s 4th year, is organized by the brave KnitGrrl, Shannon Oakey.

The Sweater

I’m knitting the Featherweight Cardigan by Helen Fettig.
I spent, oh, an embarrassing amount of time thinking about what yarn I would make this in, before settling on the designer’s own kit. It comes with the fabulously squooshy Malabrigo laceweight, which I got it in Pearl.

(photo credit: Knitbot.com)

The Wait

I had hoped to share my OWN pictures of the yarn + pattern today, but sadly, it hasn’t arrived yet. While most of the knitters have already swatched and are ready to go, I’m eagerly awaiting delivery!

The good news: USPS tells me it will arrive today! Yay!

How in the world do I have time for this?

Here’s my theory: I have time for anything I MAKE time for.

The trick is to PLAN for it.

And to help me (and you?) with this, I put together a  accountability and planning group to help us get through the holidays.
During this season of Ultimate Crafting, I think it’ll help us stay a bit sane. You can join us right here.

Accountability

Another part of keeping myself accountable is that I’m about to enlist you all in helping me finish this sweater. I’m announcing (right now!) that I’ll be sharing sweater updates every week on Tuesday.

You?

Are you knitting a sweater this month?
Join us in the Ravelry group or with the twitter tag #nakniswemo.

I have several store-bought pairs, like these:

but I’m craving some handknit, handspun legs.

Inspiration

It never even occurred to me to knit kneesocks until I saw Rachel-Marie’s gorgeous pair last year:

(yarn, sock and photo all by  KnittyDirtyGirl)

She used this fabulous Lifestyle Sock (it’s not a pattern, it’s a lifestyle). Here’s the Raverly link.

When I searched Ravelry, I found even more.

The Shaping Kneesocks (Ravelry link) is a super simple pattern.

Photo and kneesocks by cinemaknits
Another straightforward pattern is the aptly named Kneesocks! (Ravelry link)

Photo, yarn and socks, all by Pixiefarts

Have you knit socks from handspun?

What fall knitting project is inspiring you?

Share in the comments!

While I’m in town, I’d like to hang out with knitters, crafty biz people and, well, YOU.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to best  meet-ups (where everyone is invited, whether we’ve met or emailed or not) + knit nights. I think the easiest way is to just email everyone who wants to hang out. Sign up and I’ll keep you in the loop!

If you’re in the NYC area (or will be 9/24-26), let me know by signing up here or leaving a comment.

I hope to see you soon!

I am so blown away, all I can do is tell you to go there NOW and read the entire thing. It’s the Fit to Flatter series, by Amy Herzog on Stash Knit Repeat.

After you read the whole series (and take pictures of yourself…and measure yourself), check out her Fit to Flatter review of the new Twist. It’s a fabulous explanation of how to take the principles of picking-the-right-pattern and to apply it to the patterns you already love.

If you want to chat about knitting sweaters that fit, check out the Ravelry group (I’ll be there!). And if you’re looking for some sweater patterns that will look great in handspun yarn, check out this list of handspun sweater patterns.

But let’s get personal…

According to some incriminating photos of my in my yoga pants + tank top, I have a slightly bottom-heavy (but just slightly, the line is like, 1 cm bigger on bottom), so I need sweaters that have more interest near my face. Because I appreciate anything slimming, I should look for sweaters that create vertical lines (like, an open cardigan that hangs straight).

Have I been choosing the right sweaters?

Let’s have a look:

My very favorite sweater is my own pattern and I call it Cabled Satisfaction. It’s based on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s bottom-up sweaters. Knit in the round, with big cables up the fronts and little cables at the raglan decreases that join in the cabled top border. I think it fits all the requirements!

Right now, I’m working on the Apothecary Sweater, which has an entrelac panel at the neck and down the front. The bottom hem is plain, as are the sleeves. I actually only have one sleeve left and now that I’ve read the series, I’m going to make sure that the hem of the sweater and the sleeves end at different points (and that it’s not my widest point!)

The unfinished sweater I’m most excited about is Amelia. Her front panels of vertical lines and the fact that I’m going to wear her open (not buttoned at the top like the pattern shows), are flattering. I’ve lengthened the waist band (to hit my natural waist and highlight it). If I had read the series first, I may have skipped the strong horizontal border of garter stitch. (I’m way past the point shown in the photo..I need to take some more pictures!)

What are you knitting? Is it flattering?

Tell me in the comments!

If you missed it then, you can still get a (free) shawl pattern, by purchasing a skein of banana yarn from the Boutique, in the next week. (Offer ends 8/1)

The pattern is mostly the wrap-stitch (did I make this up? I don’t know!) and it’s a little hard to explain verbally, although it’s super-simple to perform.

Here’s how you do it!

And the bind-off is basically a crochet bind-off…but with your knitting needles. Here’s what I mean:

(behind the scenes note: I am wearing the same skirt in the photoshoot for the patterns and in the tutorials. Different days, same skirt.)

If you have any questions or comments (would you like to see more videos?), leave them in the comments!

I want something with charts, with paired increases and decreases, and plenty of challenge.

You can see my current picks here.

Which one do you prefer? Should I pick one from this list or would you start with something else?

(let me know in the comments of right here and not on A Novel Yarn, because I don’t want us to skew the voting over there!)