Someone Else Likes Knitted Food

Yup, I have been away for a week attending a professional conference in sunny Anaheim (you know Disneyland), California. I've come back to work ready to roll all revved up with new ideas. I did take some knitting with me, but at 30C or 90F degrees or so, it was just too hot to knit. Perhaps a few photos from my adventure will show up here, but it was a business trip not a personal trip, so interesting photos are scarce.

Hot dog with Relish and Chips

Just before I left one of the blogs I follow showed the picture above. It doesn't take a genius to recognize that this hot dog looks a lot like the one I posted last year. I knew it had to be Susie Johns', Knitted Fast Food and sure enough it was. I knit a second hot dog recently and added ketchup, easily made of red yarn and relish, made with green yarn with beads sewn to it with black thread. Great minds must work together because the Lenox dog added relish, not something Susie included in her pattern, like I did and it happens to look a lot like mine:

My Hot Dog with my own version of Relish

All credits to Kristin Nicholas who writes on her blog called Getting Stitched on the Farm; you have direct access to it here on my blog. (See the link on the right-side.) Kristin is a regular knitting expert on Knit and Crochet Now seen on PBS. Kristin's best known for her colour work in knitting; she has her own line of yarns and lives on a sheep farm called Leyden Glen Farm, in western Massachusetts.

Kristin interviewed Bonnie Burton, the creator of "A Knitted Taste of Lenox" and co-owner of Colorful Stitches in Lenox, Massachusetts. Do check out all the photos on Kristin's blog. If you own Knitting Fast Food you'll note many of the items Bonnie created for the windows in her shop are from Susie Johns. You'll also note you have seen many of these same items knit by me on this blog. The cherry and blueberry pieces of pie, yup, I've made them as well from a free pattern.

My piece of cherry pie

Oh, but Bonnie's work has little flares added to each item to make them all her own. In addition to the relish on the hot dog she's added potato chips, an invention of her own making. The fried egg has a lightly browned edge, not included in Susie's pattern. And the sandwiches have an added pickle on the side. The pizza is done in more vibrant colours than mine making it look more delicious. I haven't finished although they are started, the kabobs and ice cream cones. Finally, the photos taken by Colorful Stitches are indeed very well done.

Bonnie in her interview with Kristin goes on to talk about being surprised so many people enjoyed and some others disliked her work. This is the same experience I have had. Some find it laugh out loud amusing and others find knitted food a waste of good yarn and time. After this review I am inspired to pick up on these little projects and make some more. My great-nieces need more food for their restaurant.

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or h...

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