Monday, December 7, 2009

It's Been A Little While...Working on Mount Cardigan and Setting Up Shop...

Something I am knitting to felt up, stay tuned!!! Nice sparkly darning needle in this photo :o)

I haven't posted in awhile, I have been Facebooking and Tweeting a lot. You can find me on both those networking sites as follows, for my custom knitting business called knit shan knit or follow my personal stitches as I log them........I am also offering knitting classes in 2010 and new knitter kits filled with goodies from Knit Picks and etsy.

knitshanknit on Twitter
knit shan knit on Facebook
knitshanknit on etsy

I know it's really original!!!

So lately I have been trying to get my head around knitting more, taking time for designing projects (not fun because no actual knitting happens) and working in creative time whilst taking care of all my awesome menfolk. There is time to be found and I do find it, but it takes a lot of caffeine and organization.

Tonight if the baby allows it, I will start working on a lace pattern out of the second Mason Dixon book. I am going to use huge needles and bulky yarn. Stay tuned for that. It's the shawl that is doubled over and worked in two colors of mohair. Do you know the one I mean?

Soon, if a certain online shop would get my order to me. I won't mention names because I'm not like that and they are a cottage industry like me. I may give them another chance just to make sure it wasn't just an off day or someone over there. But, soon, I will be starting my long lost cousin's snow hiking hat. I am going for glorious. Her request, chic not hippy, so I think I know where I need to go. I am making sure I am using really beautiful wool and researching the cable sequences I'll use. I can't not put cables in this hat. I am pretty sure it's going to be complicated. I don't care!!! This is my sweet cousin T that lives in Connecticut. She blissfully paints away her Saturdays, carries around her Boston Terrier Bernie Mac and has two great daughters. We have always lived on opposite sides of the states, but thanks to Facebook we are getting to know each other. I am supposed to knit for her little pup soon........I love knitting for dogs. Especially dogs I love or know I am gonna love when I meet 'em.

So tonight I have a sick baby...he is either attached to me or to Blue's Clues this fine evening. I am letting him watch his video a little late due to his feeling bad. I think I am going to steal a few stitches while he's finding some clues with Blue.


I will end on this note...I started reading a really sweet book about fine gauge knitting called: Knit So Fine, Designs with Skinny Yarn. This book is going to act as a support group for my cardigan project I started earlier this year. I bought a huge amount of alpaca yarn from Pancake and LuLu on etsy.......started a top down raglan sweater. It is 7 stitches per inch. It's beautiful. I have 7+ inches knit on the raglan. I have a sanity marker to show how many rows I have completed. It is hundreds of stitches at this point because the body and sleeves are being worked at the same time. Here is what it looks like right now. It is gorgeous and will be worth it in the end.


One thing the fine gauge knitting books says is to blog about your progress, so you may get to join in my cardigan support group. I am a half inch or so away from putting the sleeves on their holders, then this blob will start to look like something. By the way, the roll on the outside edge is 3 inches of fabric rolled up, it will lay flat once I block it, etc, get the sleeves on the holders...........I am getting so close. I had to knit an 8 inch raglan and it has an almost boat neckline. I took the Magic Raglan pattern that you can google and changed it to my tastes....wide neckline with 3/4 length sleeves and cropped. I decided cropped is totally back in so why waste time knitting a whole darn sweater at 7 stitches per inch gauge.

Alright, thanks for being patient if you stop by often and I haven't posted since August like a lame-o. Go join my page on Facebook so you can stay in my loop and see what's up with my etsy shop.

shan
Will Knit For Tattoos!
http://www.knitshanknit.etsy.com

Friday, August 14, 2009

My First Custom Order:: My Etsy Shop


Well here it is, my very first knit.shan.knit Etsy order for my friend, Fancy. I used bright yellow tissue and yarn. I think yellow and recycled brown paper will be my store's packaging.
I have tags that I can write the personal details on, picture below. My logo turned out great and translated crisp even on an itty bitty tag.
I totally got blessed today by the manufacturer of the rubber I use on the soles of my baby shoes. Their minimum order is $150 for the natural rubber sheeting. The rep I was talking to today totally shocked me when she said she would send me a few yards free as samples. I had already had their small samples sent to me......now I will have PLENTY of materials for zillions of shoes. She wanted to see pictures of what I use their product for. I sent her to my etsy shop and she said she'd be back for baby shoes!!! What a cool lady to just make a way for me to have their product and then giving it to me for free.


This is one of my favorite yarns. Lamb's Pride worsted in yellow. I love this ball of yarn.


Along with Puggie I also made my big boy (just turned 12!) this amigurumi. He named him Mr. Happy. My son came up with the design for this little guy. He feels great and was fun to make. The picture below is our amigurumi family minus Mr. Happy. He wansn't completed when I took the 'family' picture.


So, left to right we have Sagelei's 'Wasabi', 'Puggie'-Li-Jo's Pug, 'Junior'-Shiny's bear and 'Monkee'-Baby Ya Ya's wittle monkey amigurumi.
Li-Jo and Puggie...


Big Boy and his Mr. Happy the rotund monkey amigurumi.

Ok, there's hope, two blog posts this week.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Holy Moly, I have neglected my blog, but not the kids or stitches....

Introducing my Pug Amigurumi....His color is a little muted here. He was Eli's bday present and is very loved.

So, here I am posting to my blog, who would have thunk'd it.

Here's a couple pictures because I am up way too late tonight but the insomnia is helping fuel this post.

Below is my 'studio' most days while I'm trying to make time to clean an work in my actual studio...
Here is Sage's Monkee....he put in a special order for this little guy. I think Monkee turned out great.
Planning a sweater, I think for my friends Zech and Bethany's baby::to be born soon...so sweet!!! This isn't all the colors that the sweater will have, but it's a good start!
More Puggie, kicking it on the couch!!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009



Hi there,
I have neglected my blog lately...it's sad, but baseball, school and our family has taken precedence over any blogging I could even hope to do. Now that schools done and baseball is finished I have been catching up with my own crafting ambitions.

I got my etsy shop set up. The graphic above will click through to my site.


I hope you had a glorious first day of summer today. We started the day with clicking on the heat a couple times, weird!!! Now at least our spinach in the garden will grow a little taller with this break from the heat.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding my shop or custom ordering.


Warm regards,
shan
p.s. Most people know that Sit and Knit is on break for the summer. We'll be meeting in September through the following May.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Amigurumi Family



Here is my little amigurumi family I have been working on since Christmas. Learning to make these little dolls has been such a fun experiment......and a totally new hobby for me, for sure....

From left to right we have Mousy, Junior, Egg Cozy, Penguin and Chloe the Chihuahua. Mousy, Chloe, Egg Cozy and Penguin all live at my friend Stef's house with their family. Junior, the large bear amigurumi lives here with my 3rd oldest son, Shiny.

You can find all sorts of patterns for amigurumi by google'ing or looking on ravelry.com. You do need to know how to crochet. It was hard to find amigurumi with knitted instructions.

BTW: Amigurumi are japanese crochet dolls.

I hope you're having a great sunny, spring day like we're having here in Washington State.

shan

Friday, April 3, 2009

Busy Bee...

Balls are fun to knit and felt. I put a jingle bell inside to make it extra special.One of my offerings waiting to be listed on etsy.com. My etsy and ravelry id is knitshanknit if you wanna check-me-out! I am also available for custom orders. This scarf is knit in the Dream Swatch pattern from Manos de Uruguay wool. Rustic and cheerful!
The humble beginning to my knitted wool/soybean soaker. It is a newborn size, I think and will most likely be for sale on my etsy store.
And last but not least, here is a ballband washcloth from the delicious Mason Dixon Knitters. I am using a mysterious multicolored yarn from friend's stash donation. I think it has a bit of cotton in it. The white is Peaches and Cream. This pattern is actually from the company that manufactures Peaches and Cream.
That's all for now friends. Please stay tuned. I took some pictures of our last Sit and Knit nite and the process of blocking my Manos de Uruguay scarf.

I am thankful for the new knitting friends that God has brought my way. You know who you are M, S, R, K and J. Thanks for bringing the party to the last Sit and Knit...... 5 people that have come before couldn't this time, get it on your calendar so we can hang out and not get pre-empted by other activities.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Cabled Baby Hat Finished and Sunshine...

The cabled hat torture is over. I worked VERY hard to get this hat just right. Ann from Mason Dixon Knitting dot com compared a sweater that she is working on to backyard wrestling. You should check it out it's hilarious. They are hilarious.

I completed, CONQUERED this cabled hat. Completing it once (ie: hershey kiss baby hat in earlier post here) Started again, ripped it out 6 or more times halfway. I FINALLY completed it with help from a cable hat tutorial here..Link..bless you Bohemian Knitter Chic.

Please enjoy a couple photos of Baby Yaya in his handsome hat.


A picture of a happy Momma with her baby boy, who gets to knit something else for a change! Thank you God!


Add Image

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Sit and Knit:February and other fun...mostly pictures...

Why not start with Baby Ya Ya, he's amazing and brightens up any ol March day!!! My gift to you is his magnificent smile!!!
My birthday gifts were delightful.....I am complete now with both Mason Dixon books! I can't wait to try the mitered square/quilt.
A couple of my new best friends bought me this ball winder. What a neat surprise and so handy. I feel like a professional now that I have this piece of gear!
Gretchen's heart valentine to me. I love her and her knitting.
My birthday card to Gretchen. A crochet hand dyed heart........
A fun red cross cable, easier than I thought, still challenging though......I made a index card cozy out of the swatch for my dear friend Gretchen.
Christmas yarn and my new book...
A french press cozy I knit. I had started a log cabin blanket and lost interest, so, i felted the little bugger and added some velcro straps to the back to help it stay on the french press.
Voila, hot coffee a little longer.
Sit and Knit:February. A find gathering and another proper knitting circle.
Project roll call:
K: impossible but possible because you are doing them booties
G:Royal purple shawl, I honestly cannot remember what you were working on that night....lemme think!?!? wow!!!
L: Pink, brown bag, very cool crochet stuff
L: Grocery bag double strand cotton
M: Felted purse/bag
Me: my alpaca cardigan
M: shawl/scarf thingy, our new knitter!
C: Hat/scarf, used the new ball winder for the first time!
Gretch brought banana cake and Ms. L brought yummy chicken enchilada dip. It was heaven!
Here's our ladies, we were missing some fine folks this time, but we'll catch up with you in March.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Superbowl Live Blog:Knit Along...

6:59 See you all later, this live blog is concluded for now.......................big hugs..........

6:37 Baby Ya Ya is still on my lap and I am trying to knit. He's zonked. I am on Facebook
right now too. Add me: Shannon Stainer mention the blog and I'll add you to my
knitting group on there.

6:29 Superbowl preempted by boys wanting to play Halo. Hub and Saugelei going to youth
youth group. Thanks to all who stopped by on the live blog. Hat unfinished, but I'll
continue going this evening. Email or Facebook me if you finished anything.
God bless.

6:27 Getting tired. Brain softening, hulu.com
Missing my usual Superbowl nap.
hahaaa, hulu commercial is icky and hilarious.


6:20 Score the same, baby ya-ya asleep on my lap.
I'm thinking about a recap post for last night's Sit and Knit.
My sweet Mommy is making dinner while I blog and hold the sleeping ya ya....

6:11 Heinken is yucky.

6:05 Pittsburg is up by 13............

6:03 reboot and we're back
careerbuilder.com commercial haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

5:53pm even live blogs must pause when the live blogger is a mom of 4. Hubby and Sau-ge-lei have to go youth group. Itty bitty baby wants to wack my keyboard
with his teething tablet bottle.
He is not goiNG To put up with live blogg\ing]] much longer. He's adding to this post with his \wee little handS.........]p
Babies and keyboard.s
The score is unchanged.

5:44 pm Here's my Superbowl project. I am trying to finish it. We'll see.
Omgoodness, the Office commercial. hahaa......
Here's some of my men watching the game. Li-Jo is feeling better about watching the game. Shiny is playing legos in the background.
The Budweiser Scottish commercial was dumb. Sheesh. Someone got paid for that? Hmm....

Bridgestone commecial was wicked awesome. Cyprus Hill: Get up, Get up, Get Down!!!!!!
Denny's commercial, haaaaaaaa Free Breakfast this Tuesday.
Monster.com Moose butt. hahaaaa..........

Knit Shan Knit Live Blog Knit Along...Superbowl Knittttting......

5:26 also, buffalo chicken strips (by Tyson, yucky) the honey bbq ones are to die for.
Li-Jo and Shiny had regular chicken nuggets. I am fighting disappointment over not
refrigerating the chili ARRRRRRRRRGH. I hope I can recover and make dinner tonight.
Oh, I'm gonna knit now. Li Jo cannot handle how long it's taking for us to watch the
Superbowl....he's really disappointed.

5:24 Menu today: Forgot to refrigerate chili last night after Sit and Knit, so no chili today HOORAY!!!!!!! Renee's trail mix, green grapes, and a Mighty Arrow New Belgium. Good combo.

5:19 The cool thing is the musicians in the Boss' band have been doing their thing for most of their lives, they are good at what they do.....they couldn't look happier. I love Rock and Roll.
More fun commercials.
Priceline commercial: hahaaaaa..................."The language of the deal"
Overstock, AWESOME!!!!! Great message.


5:14 Li-Jo and I are eating the "trail mix" Jule's Renee made for the Sit and Knit. It's fantastic. The only way to improve it is make it peanut butter and powder sugar covered chex mix. That would taste good on the gummy fish. It has Lucky Charms, Ju Ju fish, cransins, mixed nuts, Grandma's Iced Cookies, and M & M's. Bruce is still at it. Oh, they are singing in the mic just like when they did it back in the day. Oh man that guy Steve was rockin'.

5:11: Bruce told us to put down our guacamole and chicken fingers. Is he prejudice against avocados and poultry. We need to do our part for the economy.
Kevin said Bruce slid into the camera. He's giving that telecaster guitar a work out.
Go old guy!!!

5:04 Half time
Nextel Commercial cute, Sobe commercial cute, too...

5:00 Meet Chihuahua. Another Amigurumi I finished this week. This fine orange fur ball will go to my niece Lizbeth. Much coveted at the Sit and Knit, in hindsight was Chihuahua (pronounced Chee-huah-huah all annunciated) in danger of being stolen??? Probably.......
I need to watch those knitters more closely next time.........I let my guard down. LOL


4:55 almost half time, and TOUCH DOWN....Kevin is sleeping, so I guess he won't mind that Pittsburg is winning.

4:49 Welcome Peru, 43 countries now on my ticker. Thanks for stopping by.
I can't wait for Greenland to stop by.

4:48 I just had a chicken nugget. Mmmm, sort of.
The Cheetos commercial was a little creepy.

4:45 I have really bad hiccups and Ezra is clingy. No sitiches made.
I bet Julie is getting some crochet done.
4:42, Cars.com and E*Trade best commercials so far. Love those babies
Teleflora, inappropriate.

4:37 Kevin just said "Oh no" to something. I am not sure why he is disheveled. I asked him and he said, "The guy dropped the ball."
4:34 Did you know you can knit two things at the same time? I am knitting two spitty bibs, you can learn to knit two socks at a time on the one set of double points. Here's the link if you would like to learn this method. Click Here

4:32 Are you knitting with me, you can leave a comment or send an email:
knitshanknit@comcast.net

4:31 would like to get my knitting under way. now that blog is going..........

4:30 AZ got some points now. Totally fun.
Sage is rooting for AZ
What I'm working on. Ezra's cabled hat. Oooo Pit 10 Az 0.... I don't know who I'm cheering for.....Kevin is voting for the Cardinals. Go Az I guess! I watch football to knit. This is no mystery I have made this public knowledge before.

Live Blog, Well, I'm A Little Late..........Hello


4:14pm
On my favorite site Mason Dixon Knitting, they have live blogging events. So, because I wanna be like them.......here I am. I am a little mad because I'm late. We were playing Halo 3 on xbox live with friends. I thought the game started at 6pm. I was misinformed.

Hope you're enjoying the game.

I finished Mousy the Amigurimi last night at the Sit and Knit.......

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Sit and Knit:January

Hello All,
January Sit and Knit is almost here. It's this Saturday, January 31st at 4pm. Pre-knitters please come at 4pm with size 10 needles and a bulkier yarn. Or, whatever supplies you have around the house. We'll make it work. The Sit and Knit goes from 4-10pm. We might hang out longer if we nightowls are up for it.

We are meeting at my house this time. Please rsvp and I will send you directions.
knitshanknit@comcast.net

Bring: food to share (would you like to bring a main dish so we can eat something substantial and not just chocolate?)
Needles, yarn, projects. Size 10 needles and bulky yarn for beginners.
A big pillow or folding chair. I think there will be quite a few of us this time. We'll be happy together.

***Charity Knitting Opps*** I will be discussing some altruistic (thanks Gretchen for the adjective) knitting opportunities for us to ponder. If you can't wait till Saturday, please email me and I'll send you the three opportunities I have.

Sit and Knit is a time to do exactly that. We are all so busy in our day to day lives. Let's make time, yes make time, to sit, talk, and work on something with our hands. Proverbs 31 in the bible talks about a virtuous woman who was very crafty indeed. She worked with fiber and fabric, a resourceful and steady woman. If you are a hand crafter like me it's fun to read the industrious woman's description. Check it out.

I look forward to sharing stitches with you. Being in the present and just hanging out.

...shan...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Meet Wasabi...

Here's my sweet son and his knitted friend...
This is the infamous Wasabi. He is a knit monkey. Sort of like a sock monkey, but not made of socks. He is handknit in alpaca wool. His face plate and tail have some lambs wool in them. Sage, his happy new owner is tickled to have his monkey finally, it took me two years I think to finish him. Not because I worked on him continuously, but because I finished him once, did not like how he turned out. I completely unstuffed him, due to the white poly fiber peeking through. I redesigned his head, because I HATED the way the first head turned out. Too cartoon like. So here he is, in his glory.