stitches

STITCHES Midwest!

The past few weeks have seriously felt like a whirlwind.  Vacation, followed by crammed-in hoouse projects, a baby shower, my sister and family in town, and this past weekend I went away to Chicago for Stitches Midwest.   I am now welcomed home by a more than crazy work week and cannot wait until Friday evening.  I actually think I may have some time to start designing again- what fun!

As I assumed it would be, Stitches was a blast.  Most of this was due to the awesome people I got to share the experience with. From left to right: Erica Owens of Kollage Yarns, Me (and little baby Bernardi), Jill (Knitterella), and Allegra of Petite Purls.

I also had the pleasure to meet and get to know Carrie of Irishgirlieknits.  She was there with Kollage yarns signing her new pattern Bellingrath (which I did walk away with a copy of!).

We had so much fun attending the market and fashion shows.  I unfortunately missed the Ravelry Pajama Party, and I kind of regret it.  It was Friday night after dinner/fashion show, and Jill and I were anxious to get to bed after the drive into town and a long week of work. I wish I knew more about it- I probably would've fought the fatigue!

On our way back home on Sunday, Jill and I decided to stop by the Michigan Fiber Festival because it was (kind of) on the way home.




I'm sure that you, being the yarny-type you are, are interested in what purchases I walked away with from both Stitches and the Fiber Festival. Well, we must save some fun for tomorrow (and I still need to take pictures!).  Until then...

Before and Almost-After

Although things are still a work in progress for the nursery, I wanted to show you the work that was done last week.  Quite a transformation in just a few days (remember?... I'm lovin' the second trimester!). 

Before:



After:




Obviously this was post- shower and things have yet to be put away, but at least this gives you a little idea of what I've been up to!

I still plan on getting an overstuffed swivel-glider in a bright yellow color (much like the inspiration room), but that still needs to be ordered.  From there it will be finding a place for everything and getting things up on the walls!

For those of you who have heard the rumors- yes, I will be attending Stitches Midwest this weekend!  Jill (Knitterella) and I will be heading down later today and spending the weekend in Schaumburg.  Not sure if there are any meetups going on, but I would love to attend.  If you are there and want to meet up, email me at melynda [at!] frenchpressknits.com.

Testing Texture




This weekend I decided to do a swatch test. The pattern I'm working on is drawn up, I've made a couple small 'practice items' to help me decide what kind of construction I would like to use, and it is finally time for the best part- the knitting.

The stitches you see, from bottom to top, are as follows:

1. The back side of the Bramble stitch fromA Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker, pg 129 (oops... the rest I did the wrong way, you'll just have to look it up to see what it looks like.)


3. 2x2 rib, this will be the rib along the bottom and the cuff- just wanted to see what it looked like next to some of the textures



6. Not sure of the name, but I'm sure it has one. I was making it up as I went, but basically it was a seed stitch with a knit row between every texture row.


I think I have a winner- what is your favorite texture stitch to knit up?