FemiKnitMafia

UPDATE: The knitting stationery is available! Go see, it’s wicked cute.

I just found this great LiveJournal called Limelady and the corresponding bizsite Sewing Stars and I’m simply tickled by these knitting cards. I must admit I’m in awe of super crafty people. I’m the craftiest person in my group of friends and am continuously harassed for it. But I am downright banal when compared to some of the amazing crafters that I’m finding out here in cyberland. And I’m terribly impressed by the mini-businesses these folks start. So much fun! So impressive.

For those Secret Pal folks out there, these cards would make a great knitter gift.

Hi there “World View.” You are fucking up my layout. Perhaps its only on Macs that you misbehave so thoroughly. Unfortunately I don’t know enough HTML to smack your ass into submission, but I’m heading off to find a nice strong chick to beat you down. I’ll be back with a computer goddess. You better be ready.

Here’s the inside peek at my first attempt at fair isle. I’m pretty proud of myself. Neat little rows. Evenly spaced weaving. Yarn carried across with just a bit of tension and no slack. Hooray, Mafia. You done good.

Little Missy Grace had her 2nd birthday party this weekend, and after slaving over this project for weeks, I was able to hand it off. I followed the directions for the Fiesta Tea Set almost to the letter. The directions for the tea set were excellent. However, this strange little placemat was a pain in the ass. First of all, there was no picture of the placemat in the pattern instructions, so I didn’t know if I’d like it at all. Then, after working through the fair isle (my first stab at fair isle, by the way), I discovered that the entire piece measured abut 3 inches wide. With a gift deadline looming, I asked the all-knowledgeable gals for help at my SnB on Thursday. They suggested ripping out and knitting stripes (nope, I’m not frogging my first fair isle), repeating the pattern until I achieve the desired length (no time for that), or knit a big swath of a solid color and do another fair isle section on the other end (good idea … let’s go with that). After knitting a swath of blue, I realized that the dimensions were completely off. The whole piece was too small to function as a placemat. So I threw in the towel and did some “free association” knitting and turning the damned thing into a bag. Mind you, the entire time, my feminist self was hollering about showing up to a 2 year old girls birthday party with a tea set and bag. But … it’s colorful. It’s functional. She can throw it against the wall and it won’t break. And we bought her a green wooden toy truck for Christmas. So there. Back off you overly p.c. self righteous inner voice.