World-Wide Knit in Public Day

This Saturday, June 9th is World-Wide Knit in Public Day. Check out the huge list on the right-hand side of their page to see if there's a public knitting group near you, or just pack up your knitting and find a comfy cafe or park bench.

My local (Seattle) event sounds like a lot of fun despite the forecasted rain: they're knitting in the newly minted Olympic Sculpture Park. Too bad I'll be busy taking my dog to the vet and then celebrating my grandparents' 65th anniversary on Saturday. I'll just have to make up for it by knitting at the veterinarian's office and the restaurant.

Marzipan Yarn Ball and Knits Tutorial

It looks like in response to the overwhelming response VeganYumYum received for her awesome vegan cupcakes topped with marzipan knits, she posted a tutorial on how to make the yarn balls, as well as how to create the knitted texture. You can see her detailed step-by-steps and clear pictures at the post How to "Knit" Marzipan.

Edible Vegan Knits

While I love cheese and ice cream too much to ever be vegan, I have been drooling over the delectable veggie dishes at VeganYumYum for a little over six months now. I really hope she reaches the world-wide acclaim of Chocolate and Zucchini some day, because her darling petite deserts and inventive veggie dishes are just too amazing. And if that cooking ninja ever lands a book deal for her recipes, her book will have the honors of being the first ever vegan cookbook to end up on my dedicated vegetarian cooking shelf.

And I dare you to say "no" to these cupcakes with "knitted" marzipan! So cute!

Knitwiki

While bored at work, I stumbled upon this knitting resource that has potential to be truly amazing: Knit Wiki.

They already have a number of vintage patterns that are most likely public domain, though I'm not entirely sure as that requires they were published before 1923 or before 1963 and not resubmitted for copyright later. My favorites of their current patterns are the Lacy Gloves, the Tulip Gloves, and the Gwen Cardigan (above).

Also not to miss are the techniques, which are a quite handy and free resource for those just learning to knit, as well as those who need a refresher on a technique they don't commonly use.

But the one section I'm most excited about would have to be the listings for local yarn stores in the states and abroad. It's a sparse collection so far, excluding the Seattle-area (mwahahaha!), Australia, and Canada. If you have a bit of extra time, please do help add to the section. As any fellow yarnophile knows, the most exciting part of traveling is popping into the local yarn stores and picking up a number of goodies for their homeward-bound flight. Having shops in Rome listed would be handy right about now, but I'll have to make it my duty to do the grunt work while I'm there.

Octopus Charm

Awww, this octopus charm found via the Craft: blog is just so darling that I had to add it here if only to keep track of it for a future project. And what a great tutorial it is, especially for someone like me who seems to be cursed in the ways of claymanship.

Forecast Finished

Ze Sweater

Took me a while to get a picture, but I've been loving and wearing it for the past month. After a huge and undocumented manhunt for the perfect buttons, I finally found these glorious vintage glass Czech babies. They really make the sweater pop and are absolutely perfect for what I wanted.