Marnie, speak! Good girl.

I spent a good deal of my weekend working on some swatches for someone else's book, this weekend, so bloggable progress is pretty scant. I can show you my gorgeous Silky Wool swatch, though.

I am fighting every urge to cast on for this piece right now. But I can't and shouldn't, not until at least one turtleneck is done for Leo and my swatches are finished for the unbloggable items.

I will tell you that I have big plans for this yarn. Oh how I love the Silky Wool. I don't know how it stands up to the test of time, but it's a great weight, comes in a huge assortment of colors, has good yardage, has a delightful texture, is soft enough to wear against the skin and appears to have just the right balance of drape and structure to pull off a lot of designs.

In entirely unrelated news, I thought you might be happy to learn that the next season of Knitty Gritty has been scheduled.

New episodes should start airing next month. You can see what's coming in the next season by clicking here.

The two episodes that I'm in, do not air until later this year.

Well, it looks like I'll be back on Knitty Gritty for another episode. I'm actually co-guesting with the one and only Ms. Stitchy McYarnpants.

We'll be doing an episode in the spirit of her fabby fabby book

The Museum of Kitschy Stitches
That's all I'm telling you for now, so you'll just have to wait.

I may also be doing a little knitster duty while I'm in town. At some point they may have to start charging me rent at the studio.

The great news is that it means I'll be back in LA for almost a week, in early December. My mom and I are going on an SF yarn and fiber crawl the weekend before. It'll be a damn fine vacation, if I do say so myself.

For a vacation week, I've seen a lot of 5AMs, and not the kind that involve hissing at the sun as it rises while you pray to the porcelain god. Nope. this vacation involved a day at the office, and several early call times for Knitty Gritty. It was all good fun and I got to meet some people I'd long hoped to meet and reunite with people I'd met before. First and foremost on the meeting people roster, was the one and only Stitch McYarnpants. I contributed a couple of kitschy patterns to her book, but this is the first time we had actually met in person. If you follow her blog, you probably know that she gnaws her nails like they are carrot sticks, so a manicure was in her immediate future.

She channeled her inner hand model and posed amongst the granny squares of Macy's. After spending the day browsing books, eating food and, having our cuticles bashed about, we headed back to our respective lodging and rested up for a long day at the studio.

My first Knitty Gritty duty was as knitster for Lily Chin. I'd taken Lily's class at Stitches West but this was my first chance to really talk to her and get to know her as a person. She's got a great enthusiasm and energy.

The other Knisters and I posed for a picture with her spectacular boots, but it appears to have come out a touch blurry. I would be the blob on the left holding the green, Lily shaped blob.

To the right of the lily blob is Eevone and Renaissance (forgive me if I spelled your names wrong), my knitsters in crime. We made needle cases using a method Lily developed for producing true crochet stitches with knitting needles. If you want to know more, you'll just have to wait until seasons 7&8 are released.

The same day I got to meet the Glampyre herself, Ms. Stefanie Japel. I even got a peek at the new book, and it looks great.

As Stefanie was shooting her episode, Debbie and I were prepping and rehearsing for our episode the next day.

Ours is a Kitchmas episode, so step one is trimming the fun fur tree. These won't be a project on the show but will be available as a pattern eventually. Nag Stitchy if you want more information since it's her friend's invention.

I'm not saying that the entire cast an crew liked the tree more than anything we did, but I'm pretty sure the cast and crew liked the tree more than anything we did. Having arrived at the set at 7AM, I didn't get out of there until almost 6, so I missed the opportunity to do dinner with folks who had shot episodes recently. It was worth it though, since I was up again at 5:30 AM to get back to set by 8AM.

I'm not sure why I insist on getting to set early every time, but as can be expected, having done so, the earlier episode experienced a plethora of technical difficulties and our shoot kept getting pushed later and later. If I had been late, that show would have wrapped up early and everyone would have been waiting for me. This is just the way of my life.

This left Debbie and me plenty of time to distract the crew. Stefanie, a producer who has been on the show for the last three years, had been pushing to get us beer can themed episode, to no avail. So instead, Debbie brought her samples in and we did our own shoot.

Classy!

Finally it was time for our episode. Deb was act 1 and half of act 2. I took the other half of act 2 and all of act 3.

That's Deb's tissue box turtleneck.

And rehearsing with Vickie.

And here I am with our Knitsters, of the San Diego Craft Mafia

Of course, no kitschy set would be complete without a creepy clown.

After that, we met up with Jen of DomiKNITrix who shoots an episode on Monday. As a blogger, I should have photographic evidence of this, but I do not. You'll have to check her's and Deb's site for proof that I am not liar. We had dinner and chatted until we were sure the waitstaff would kick us out. I've been a huge fan of her work for years and I was so excited when I saw her book the other day.

Well, I'm completely exhausted and in need of a vacation but wouldn't take the week back for 20 lbs of cashmere fiber.

Oh man, how cute is this?

I have finished the hat and gloves I've been knitting from my handspun, and they have already helped me keep out the chill as I did my errands today.

I'm hoping to finish up writing the pattern by the end of the weekend. It'll be available for free, and will contain suggestions for using different weight yarn.

As a side note, I wanted to show you how great store bought variegated yarns can look in slip stitch patterns. If you like the pattern but don't spin your own yarn, or prefer not to spin such fine gauge yarns, you can definitely substitute any variegated sock yarn.

Obviously, the stitch pattern is a little different but the effect is the same. The yarn is Socks That Rock in colorway, Carbon. If you'll notice, there is some definite flashing going on but the slip stitch sort of breaks that up.

Oh and here's hoping a few of you out there got to see Miss Panda on TV today. She was a natural, I tell you.

From the folks of Knitty Gritty:

Screen Door Entertainment and "Knitty Gritty" are looking for unique knitting groups for a one-hour special. We are looking in the Los Angeles area AND NATIONWIDE!!!!

It may be a formal group or informal, but we're searching for groups with a "story" or extra-special quality. Maybe a sports team/league who knits together on the bus rides, a group of Harley bikers who knit together, a group who hit various pubs and knit while they visit, OR people who knit for a purpose/cause (whether a charity or simply to keep their community beautiful by decorating trees, stop signs, etc.)

If you are a member of such an intriguing group, know of a group (locally or in any city,) OR even if you know of other online knitting groups in other cities we can contact - send me an e-mail ASAP. We'd love to hear more!

Joy Wingard
jwingard@sdetv.com
"Knitty Gritty"

I spent a good deal of my weekend working on some swatches for someone else's book, this weekend, so bloggable progress is pretty scant. I can show you my gorgeous Silky Wool swatch, though.

I am fighting every urge to cast on for this piece right now. But I can't and shouldn't, not until at least one turtleneck is done for Leo and my swatches are finished for the unbloggable items.

I will tell you that I have big plans for this yarn. Oh how I love the Silky Wool. I don't know how it stands up to the test of time, but it's a great weight, comes in a huge assortment of colors, has good yardage, has a delightful texture, is soft enough to wear against the skin and appears to have just the right balance of drape and structure to pull off a lot of designs.

In entirely unrelated news, I thought you might be happy to learn that the next season of Knitty Gritty has been scheduled.

New episodes should start airing next month. You can see what's coming in the next season by clicking here.

The two episodes that I'm in, do not air until later this year.

Well, it looks like I'll be back on Knitty Gritty for another episode. I'm actually co-guesting with the one and only Ms. Stitchy McYarnpants.

We'll be doing an episode in the spirit of her fabby fabby book

The Museum of Kitschy Stitches
That's all I'm telling you for now, so you'll just have to wait.

I may also be doing a little knitster duty while I'm in town. At some point they may have to start charging me rent at the studio.

The great news is that it means I'll be back in LA for almost a week, in early December. My mom and I are going on an SF yarn and fiber crawl the weekend before. It'll be a damn fine vacation, if I do say so myself.

Oh man, how cute is this?

For a vacation week, I've seen a lot of 5AMs, and not the kind that involve hissing at the sun as it rises while you pray to the porcelain god. Nope. this vacation involved a day at the office, and several early call times for Knitty Gritty. It was all good fun and I got to meet some people I'd long hoped to meet and reunite with people I'd met before. First and foremost on the meeting people roster, was the one and only Stitch McYarnpants. I contributed a couple of kitschy patterns to her book, but this is the first time we had actually met in person. If you follow her blog, you probably know that she gnaws her nails like they are carrot sticks, so a manicure was in her immediate future.

She channeled her inner hand model and posed amongst the granny squares of Macy's. After spending the day browsing books, eating food and, having our cuticles bashed about, we headed back to our respective lodging and rested up for a long day at the studio.

My first Knitty Gritty duty was as knitster for Lily Chin. I'd taken Lily's class at Stitches West but this was my first chance to really talk to her and get to know her as a person. She's got a great enthusiasm and energy.

The other Knisters and I posed for a picture with her spectacular boots, but it appears to have come out a touch blurry. I would be the blob on the left holding the green, Lily shaped blob.

To the right of the lily blob is Eevone and Renaissance (forgive me if I spelled your names wrong), my knitsters in crime. We made needle cases using a method Lily developed for producing true crochet stitches with knitting needles. If you want to know more, you'll just have to wait until seasons 7&8 are released.

The same day I got to meet the Glampyre herself, Ms. Stefanie Japel. I even got a peek at the new book, and it looks great.

As Stefanie was shooting her episode, Debbie and I were prepping and rehearsing for our episode the next day.

Ours is a Kitchmas episode, so step one is trimming the fun fur tree. These won't be a project on the show but will be available as a pattern eventually. Nag Stitchy if you want more information since it's her friend's invention.

I'm not saying that the entire cast an crew liked the tree more than anything we did, but I'm pretty sure the cast and crew liked the tree more than anything we did. Having arrived at the set at 7AM, I didn't get out of there until almost 6, so I missed the opportunity to do dinner with folks who had shot episodes recently. It was worth it though, since I was up again at 5:30 AM to get back to set by 8AM.

I'm not sure why I insist on getting to set early every time, but as can be expected, having done so, the earlier episode experienced a plethora of technical difficulties and our shoot kept getting pushed later and later. If I had been late, that show would have wrapped up early and everyone would have been waiting for me. This is just the way of my life.

This left Debbie and me plenty of time to distract the crew. Stefanie, a producer who has been on the show for the last three years, had been pushing to get us beer can themed episode, to no avail. So instead, Debbie brought her samples in and we did our own shoot.

Classy!

Finally it was time for our episode. Deb was act 1 and half of act 2. I took the other half of act 2 and all of act 3.

That's Deb's tissue box turtleneck.

And rehearsing with Vickie.

And here I am with our Knitsters, of the San Diego Craft Mafia

Of course, no kitschy set would be complete without a creepy clown.

After that, we met up with Jen of DomiKNITrix who shoots an episode on Monday. As a blogger, I should have photographic evidence of this, but I do not. You'll have to check her's and Deb's site for proof that I am not liar. We had dinner and chatted until we were sure the waitstaff would kick us out. I've been a huge fan of her work for years and I was so excited when I saw her book the other day.

Well, I'm completely exhausted and in need of a vacation but wouldn't take the week back for 20 lbs of cashmere fiber.

From the folks of Knitty Gritty:

Screen Door Entertainment and "Knitty Gritty" are looking for unique knitting groups for a one-hour special. We are looking in the Los Angeles area AND NATIONWIDE!!!!

It may be a formal group or informal, but we're searching for groups with a "story" or extra-special quality. Maybe a sports team/league who knits together on the bus rides, a group of Harley bikers who knit together, a group who hit various pubs and knit while they visit, OR people who knit for a purpose/cause (whether a charity or simply to keep their community beautiful by decorating trees, stop signs, etc.)

If you are a member of such an intriguing group, know of a group (locally or in any city,) OR even if you know of other online knitting groups in other cities we can contact - send me an e-mail ASAP. We'd love to hear more!

Joy Wingard
jwingard@sdetv.com
"Knitty Gritty"

I have finished the hat and gloves I've been knitting from my handspun, and they have already helped me keep out the chill as I did my errands today.

I'm hoping to finish up writing the pattern by the end of the weekend. It'll be available for free, and will contain suggestions for using different weight yarn.

As a side note, I wanted to show you how great store bought variegated yarns can look in slip stitch patterns. If you like the pattern but don't spin your own yarn, or prefer not to spin such fine gauge yarns, you can definitely substitute any variegated sock yarn.

Obviously, the stitch pattern is a little different but the effect is the same. The yarn is Socks That Rock in colorway, Carbon. If you'll notice, there is some definite flashing going on but the slip stitch sort of breaks that up.

Oh and here's hoping a few of you out there got to see Miss Panda on TV today. She was a natural, I tell you.