Last spring I knit a Stripe Study, and I followed it shortly thereafter with a Different Lines, both patterns by garter-row genius Veera. I knew it would not be the last time I knit either pattern. In fact, since then, nearly every yarn purchase has been made with Stripe Study vaguely in mind (“Do these two colors coordinate well?”) Recently on Twitter it came to light that some friends were all going to knit SS, so I wound up some yarn and joined in!
When you’re trying to pick a name for your unborn child, it’s always recommended to suggest a few “out-there” options. Throw people off the scent of your actual top name choices, you know? But did our friends realize that “Mixtape” was going to stick? It did, so this quilt, designed especially for the baby, has been named in its honor.
I may have broken all my previous records with this latest knit. When I saw the pattern at TNNA in June, I immediately pegged it as a fantastic Rhinebeck sweater. It was clearly ambitious, it was new and different for me (I’ve never knit a dress before), and it would show off a design by a real-life friend of mine, Anna Cohen (who designed Emily’s wedding dress, when I knit the bride a shawl). But the pattern from Imperial Knits Collection wasn’t ready yet, and the kit yet to be put together, so I had to wait and hope that I’d have enough time to finish. As September was passing me by I got more and more nervous. October 15 was coming up fast.
The kit was in my hands on September 27. A Tuesday. Two weeks and four days from the Saturday of Rhinebeck. It was do or die!!
This is the summer/year of weddings! Back in July we went to the first for my family, out in Jersey. It was the Friday after the wedding weekend in Boulder, which meant two weddings in less than a week. That is too much wedding for any sane person, let me tell you! But luckily this one was closer to home, and we could take a train there. The weather was iffy so I actually knit a shrug for the first time in my life, to toss over my dress “just in case.” I’m glad I had it, too, as it was rainy and on the chilly side for early July.
I showed you photos of my neighborhood after Hurricane Irene blew through, but I wasn’t yet ready to show you the real results of the storm: I started weaving! I’ve been kind of obsessed with becoming a weaver for years and years, but never had the equipment to make it happen. I got my hands on a brand-new Cricket Loom by Schacht and was sure to bring it home for our weekend trapped in the house. I figured I would set it up on Saturday so that if the power went out, I’d have something easy to do by candlelight.
12 
Tags