she's just saying...

Knit your chicken a sweater

From the BBC, in honor of Amber and her chickens.

In from the cold: chilly chickens given a winter warmer

" How would you feel? One minute you're in a warm battery shed [laying shed]squashed up alongside someone who's pecking out your feathers - the next you're out in an open field with nothing to protect you from the elements. Thank the Lord for chicken jumpers...

Queenie and her three friends are feeling the cold a little more than most this winter.

Recovered from a battery farm in November last year, they were largely without feathers and - away from the artificial heat of the chicken sheds - have been feeling the winter weather.

Click here for video:	Chickens with jumpers

But owner Brigitte Hawley from Benenden has come up with a clever way of allowing her hens to enjoy the outside world, while being as snug as their more feathered friends.

A knitted chicken jumper - or 'Chux Tux' as Brigitte calls it - is the latest must-have item for feather-challenged chickens exploring the brave new world outside of the battery.

Poultry pullies

The 'Tux' can come in different designs depending on which parts of the bird are in need of insulation. Brigitte can also create poultry pullies in a variety of colours.

These hens have all been re-housed by the Battery Hen Welfare Trust, a charity that works with farmers to give a new lease of life to 'spent' battery hens when their egg productivity starts to take a slide.

The good news is that once out in the open - and with the help of a Chux Tux - the hens soon start to re-grow their feathers. Great news for Queenie and for the next reformed battery hen to inherit her winter coat."

I'm in love...

with my knitting group. A stimulating mix of women from early 20's to late 60's (guessing here!) who have instantly bonded over sticks and string. They're funny, smart, positive, open-minded, nonconformist, creative - all the things I look for in my companions. New faces keep arriving and the group welcomes them in. Not to mention the good wine and food.

I can't say I get a lot of knitting done at our gatherings, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. If you're interested, click on the Bend Knit-Up link to the right. (Or left. Things keep moving around here.)

What's on the needles

Monthly tally of all my WIP's (works-in-progress to you non-knitters).

1. Two socks on two circular needles: Cascade Fixation
2. Two socks on two circs: Trekking
(I can explain why I have two pair started at once - Judy taught a group at my house on Sat. and I had to jump in and participate, of course. But socks don't count anyway - this is something upon which all knitters agree. Just like sock yarn in stash.)



3. The child's guernsey in cotton that will never die or be finished (H now says he wants it, so I have to re-knit the ribbing I started to pull out, never mind the sleeves, etc.) This is threatening to move to the "in hibernation" status.
4. The entrelac scarf which I've got to finish before our entrelac felted bag knit-along starts NEXT WEEK.
5. Various swatches for future projects which of course don't count either, I really don't even know why I'm mentioning them.

Not so bad! Knitting Daily did a poll on how many UFO's (unfinished objects) the average knitter has going. The bell curve average is 3-6, so I'm right in there. Especially as 23% of respondents have 10 or more going.

I've decided that by airing my count monthly, I can't get too far gone - it's keeping me from a secretive casting-on binge. I'm actually one of those knitters for whom UFO's create a bit of anxiety and nagging guilt, but I do like having options to knit among depending on the setting.

OK, all you knitters out there, what's YOUR count?

Labels: knitting

entrelac-less

I pulled out the "Silk Garden" entrelac block. I realized it was too wide for a scarf and too small for a purse or pillow or anything - it was useless, actually. Weirdly, it took all evening to take out, as it got very knotted up and nasty. Started up again much narrower to make a scarf.

It really takes a lot of repetition to understand the stitch. It's all about reading the knitting and remembering the sequences. Since it's widely known I have no short-term memory, this is proving to be tricky.

And the instructions are tedious.
I think I'll have to make a cheat sheet.

Labels: knitting

Anybody? Anybody?

Feel free to chime in with meeting location ideas, or anything else for that matter. I'm feeling a little alone here . . .

Labels: blog

Where can we meet?

Another fun gathering of the Bend Knit-Up last night. The new shop is very cool - old building, great light, more wine choices and good energy. Unfortunately, we don't think it's going to work for us going forward - we're too big for the room! We could easily take every seat in the place, scaring off the walk-in traffic. Plus, we're feeling a little too much pressure to buy food and wine, at fancy wine shop prices.

The ongoing search for a good meeting spot in Bend continues.

Our criteria: good lighting, guaranteed seating for at least 20, parking, not noisy (we make our own), ability to bring in food and drink or get it there. Oh, and cheap (or free!) as we meet weekly.

Places we've tried or that aren't available: Starbucks, the Tea House, library (unavailable), Athletic Club, Barnes & Noble (we meet there on Friday mornings - that's enough for them).

Does anyone have any ideas for us?

Labels: Bend, Knit-Up, knitting

it's growing, slowly...

I'm kind of obsessed with this entrelac scarf. I can't wait to start the Entrelac Bag Knit-Along. (teaser - more info to come!)

Very cool yarn (Noro Silk Garden).

Labels: knitting

the Knit-Up tonight

Bend Knit-Up
Originally uploaded by Meltrier

Wow - we used every chair in the house except for the kitchen stools. Lots of fun, food and wine. What a wonderful group of women -- they keep telling me how great it was I started this, but I think how great they are for participating so openly and enthusiastically. I hope we'll meet together for a long time to come.

Labels: Bend, friends, Knit-Up, knitting

I can haz entrelac!

Sitting down yesterday to knit - something I actually rarely get to do. I took a deep breath and broke out my first skein of Noro Silk Garden - beautiful stuff. Several hours later I had about 5 x8 inches of a shaky but cool-looking piece.
Normally I'm a product knitter vs. process - I can't wait to get the darn thing done so I can give it or wear it. But this entrelac thing is more like working a fairly easy but satisfying puzzle.

A friend told me the other day that blogging is my new sudoku. I think entrelac may be as well. Though my sudoku addiction goes unabated.

Labels: knitting

the Bend Knit-Up

I need to explain. In January, I started a meetup.com group in Bend for knitters. We grew very quickly and are now at 91 members. Over half of those have not come to a knitting gathering, so I'm not sure why they joined, but never mind. We meet weekly Wed. evening and on Friday mornings and sit and knit, basically. It's a wonderful group of warm, funny, quirky women of all ages. If you're a knitter, you get it.

We started some 1-2 session classes led by various talented members, and the first one was entrelac at my house. We'll be doing some sock seminars next.

(Again, if the phrase "sock seminars" sounds utterly Martian to you, just hang with me til I move on to another topic.)

You can find us if you push the button down there on the right and sign in.

Labels: Bend, Central Oregon, Knit-Up, knitting

Entrelac -ack -ack -ack -ack

Entrelac is a knitting technique that is incredibly cool (alright, if you think "knitting" and "cool" don't belong in the same sentence, you can stop reading right now). this is not my work, believe me
Megan blew our tiny little knitting minds last night, teaching this technique. Of course, PJ, the new knitter, took off with it and I expect a completed bag by next week. It was a lot of fun and a great group.

The Juniper sale goes through Saturday. I know I'm not the only one who's going back - it's calling to me, saying: "Addi turbos" and "handspun," as well as many many other sexy words. Just missed Cindy there, but probably a good thing, as we knitters tend to encourage each other in our stash acquisitions.

[Addi Turbos are the Porsches of the knitting needle world. So sleek and fast.]

Labels: Knit-Up, knitting

Stash Enhancement

Everything in the store is 30% off, including needles (Addi Turbos!), books, and of course:
I guess I'm in a multi-colored mood. If I only had time to knit.

Labels: knitting

Juniper Sale!

I hesitate to blog this until I get there and buy the place out. Juniper Fiberworks, our local yarn store (LYS to you knitters) is having a big sale. The first one I can remember. Going shopping . . . photos to come.

Labels: Bend, Central Oregon, knitting

What are you knitting?

I'm now finishing the sock project my mother handed off. I like working with the cotton/elastic yarn (Cascade Fixation) - easy to knit. I'm getting the second sock to where the first one ended so I can put them both on two circulars - new technique! But unfortunately same old stockinette stitch sock. Once I finish these, I'll start on some patterned ones.

I think I say that a lot in my knitting: Once I finish this [interim/forgotten/gift/stash-busting] project, I'll get to the one I really want to do. Hmmm. "Obligation knitting." I'll have to think about that.

Another photo from the trip: ya' think this limo is long enough?

Labels: knitting