Gathering yarn in downtown Los Angeles

What a delightful find in downtown LA!  Gather yarn shop located upstairs from The Last Bookstore. Both just a block away from Gorbels restaurant of 'Knife Fight' fame, on the cooking channel. A small yarn venue, soon to be expanding, she has a terrific selection of very nice yarns. A delightful space that really makes you feel at home in DTLA. 

Knit up some warm confidence.

Get A Backbone shawl

Get A Backbone. A shawl pattern.

Here is the pattern for Get A Backbone.  A lovely shawl that can be knitted in any yarn to any size.
This link currently goes to ravelry.  I will be posting the pattern here soon.
It is an easy enough shawl, with just a bit of fun in the center with the cable.  A gentle cable, great for cable newbies or experienced cable-rs alike.  

Fast on size 11 needles with bulky yarn.  I hope you enjoy it!
If you leave a comment, please leave your email address so I can get back to you, or send me an email at the address listed above, or on ravelry. 

Get A Backbone, a shawl.

Need a bit of a shore up?  Just not feeling able to put up instead of shut up?  Legs a bit shaky?  Well have no fear, a backbone is here. Yes, a knitting pattern for your very own portable backbone. 

I have had this pattern clanking about in my head for much too long, now it has finally come out. I used a lovely BFL yarn by Feederbrook Yarns, Entropy, blue faced leister. Still working on it at this post, but it will soon be published on ravelry, free even. 

Strength and warmth, what a great combination. 

Another sneak peek.

Here is a close up sneak peek of another pattern from my upcoming ebook 'Stoplight Knitting'. These are the One Way Wrist Wraps. Worsted weight yarn, size 7 needles and quick as a bunny to knit. I knitted the models in Malabrigo Rios, one of ny favorite yarns.  

A rough road

I am currently writing a new ebook of knitting patterns. Hoping to take it to print as well. It has patterns that are portable and only take one or two balls of yarn. Some if the patterns have attention level options from easy to intermediate.

The title? Stoplight Knitting.  Yes we can see a theme.  

Here is a sneak peek at one of the projects. This one is 'rough road' lap mat. 

I am looking forward to showing more sneak peeks soon. 

You can find me on ravelry as hestiasfire to keep out a closer eye.  

Instagram: hestiashands. 

Neapolitan baby

Several friends are having babies for which I love to knit. New mom"s color choices just add to the fun. Here is a baby blanket and matching dress I knitted for a coworker who is due soon. I used Classic Elite 'sprout' for the blanket and 'seedling' for the dress. 100% organic cotton and wonderful to knit with. The blanket is 'baby sunshine' and is a semi-circle.  Brilliant for so many reasons, it is my new 'go to' baby gift.  The dress is a modified version of 'orange creme', a simple and fast top down that whipped up in an afternoon...delicious. 

a delicious looking baby blanket

this little dress makes me want to get ice cream!

Krake, a hat

Here is a hat I designed for Alamitos Bay Yarn Company's 'Holiday Sparkle' party in October.  It is inspired by the texture of an octopus' skin when it is camouflaging itself against a bumpy surface.  They are so clever those cephalopods, and adorable to boot!  The pattern for this will be available on Ravelry sometime in December, so if you are a knitter, are on ravelry and would like to make this hat, then you can! 
If you are not a knitter, and are not on ravelry, get thee to a knitting class (preferably the one offered by the city of Long Beach Department of Recreation and Marine, which I teach) and learn!
Go knit, it's delicious.  

scarf in 225

That one skein of gifted yarn, lovely, alone.  I had one of those (I actually have many, but let's focus) in a delicious cranberry color, waiting.  It is still summer here in Southern California so a heavy project just would not do.  I searched for a pattern, I do not generally wear hats, so I came up with one for an airy scarf.
scarf in 225 (yards of worsted/aran yarn that is).
a link to the ravelry.com page:   scarf in 225.


Here is the pattern:

225 yards of worsted or aran weight yarn, I do suppose you could do it with less but it would then be shorter, or you could make it wider or thinner if you choose, simply add or subtract stitches by 2's. 

I used size 10 needles.

Cast on 24 stitches, knit 2 rows.

Row 1: slip first st, k1, *yo, k2tog* repeat btwn *'s  to last 2 sts, k2.
Row 2: slip first st, k1, purl to last 2 sts, k2.

repeat these 2 rows until you are almost out of yarn, knit 2 rows, bind off.

I added a crochet chain loop of 15 chains and a button on the opposite side of the scarf.
this is optional...of course.

Now...go knit.......delicious.

I have a two teens, and need to get out of my head...so:

My knitting for the 'living spindle' before it got onto my arms.

Marco as the 'human spindle' and black moth from Pierrot

I participated in a knitting performance art piece in Long Beach on the weekend of the Convergence.  There was a special artwalk in downtown to entertain our weaving visitors from out of town and we decided to make a splash.  It worked.  What an amazing time we had in our 'Carnival of Knitting oddities'.  There was a barker, a 'human spindle' (the photo of Marco above).  The black moth from Pierrot, the 'largest knitting needles in the world' being used as the knitter walked with two assistants.  There was (me) knitting with 'human arm' knitting 'needles' (I did the knitting on my arms instead of using needles), a huge knitted undulating tube filled with people, the 'mad' needle dropper and all of this was encased in sound being created by the performers via electronic hook-ups.  wow, it was spectacular!  Loved every minute of it. 

life, gets in the way of blogging...

me, after coffee

my new amazing sock bag, that fits on my wrist so I can knit...anywhere!

my son Logan, second from right, rowing in Tennessee for Nationals, they came in 4th.

Yarn bomb!  on the Wyland dolphin sculpture in front of McKenna's by the bay in Long Beach.

twitter: @hestiashands
facebook: Sandra Dee
tumblr: yarnivore.tumblr.com
the above 3 items have been spurned by both peer pressure and the acquisition of  an iphone.  gads, I cannot believe I have succumbed.  'one of us, one of us' continues to ring my head.  true, I am now...one of you.
and, dailymile: hestian (running bloggish site).
so, as things become more instant, you can follow me on the above sites!
No fear, I will continue to blog, when I can sit down at a 'big' computer.
now, I think I will go and knit. 

yarnivore bites in the east village

clown patches

more clown patches, soon to be installed.

So, my friend says; this artists group I am in is having a thing on Saturday night in the East Village and I told them you would be happy to participate....all righty then.  As it happens I will be out of town this Saturday so I cannot 'participate'.  Instead the yarnivore will be installing these cheerfully colored  nauseous 'clown patches' on Linden Ave between 1st street and Broadway, a 'clown bomb' if you will, on Thursday evening.  I do so hope some of them will remain until Saturday so my art can 'participate' in the goings on.  Photos of the installation will follow.
Clowns, yucky, yarn bombs...delicious.

Yarnivore bites 500 hearts

on a tree in the middle of the street

it does not say, no 'heart' parking

Scratch bakery love

two hearts on a pole

uh...scratch

hearts on a bike rack and a heart on the bike

meter with a heart

Luna's door has a heart

bite a crepe

bite a Jamba Juice

It's my birthday and there are 500 crocheted hearts gracing the streets in Belmont Shore.  Oh what a lovely morning, 4:30 a.m. found the yarnivore hanging hearts at Scratch bakery and in front of Twig & Willow.  We were then on to 2nd street, Belmont Shore.  My youngest (16) son and a friend in yarn (Nancy) were there to assist.  Luna, Battalions of Beauty, Pussy & Pooch, Jamba Juice, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Mira di Bello, and even the Grunion Gazette were some of the businesses bitten by the yarnivore's heart bomb.  The hearts were hung perfectly from so many perches, each one oh, so adorable...and delicious.

turbines

Turbines, a cowl, draped

Turbines, a cowl, folded

Turbines, a cowl, folding

I bought some yarn, enough I thought for a vest.  My calculations, sadly, were a bit off in the negative direction.  I love the yarn, Rowan Cashsoft Dk in a wonderful smokey gray so I decided to knit up a cowl of my own design.  As of late I have become enamored with the stitch pattern of YO, K2tog and the opposite, K2tog, YO.  This makes what to me looks like a trellis or a turbine.  Using these patterns in a circular fashion with the dark gray yarn it just looks so industrial, Steam Punk even.  I love it.  So I wrote down the pattern and it is available here, on ravelry as a free PDF download. 
Gray turbines to warm your neck, delicious.

oh look! shiney!

toe up sock on magic loop

toe up sock, yarn colorway: Zombie Barbeque

I must admit that I am easily distracted.  (this is an understatement).  I do so adore things like the internet because I can click and hop from place to place, from blog to blog and image to image.  There are always new things I want to do, items to make, things to knit and objects to buy.  It is quite a feat for me to commit to knitting a garment, much less an entire pair of socks (you mean I have to make a second one that looks just like the first one that I just finished?  Really? really, Really?).  Because of this I have what is termed in the knitting world as SSS, or Second Sock Syndrome.  Alas there is no cure aside from intestinal fortitude to press on to make the second sock and complete the project or to actually knit two socks at one time,.  I have attempted this but along with my Attention Deficit Disorder comes a touch - well, maybe a bit more than a touch - of Dyslexia.  This poses a unique issue for the 'two at a time' concept wherein I became quite fouled up with the endeavor and many curse words were flung about.  As you can see in the photos above there are socks, an actual pair of socks and another on the way, I have found my sock mojo and it is called 'The Magic Loop'.  It is a process where the knitter uses one long circular needle instead of two circulars or 5 double pointed needles.  I am enamored with the 'toe up' option and see many more pairs of hand knit socks in my future, there may just be a few new sock bombs to come!  That is a yummy idea.

granny guerrilla

granny bombs

granny bomb hanging

granny seat bomb

toast bomb

toast bomb installed on 'fork'

granny bombs installed above Egg Heaven door

a cozy granny bomb installed

Granny guerrilla's bombs hit 4th and Ximeno tonight, late, hoping to catch the eyes of early morning patrons of Egg Heaven in Long Beach.  Granny is hoping to make those waiting for a seat in this popular eatery more comfortable, cozy and yarn aware.  This place has terrific food and a hippy atmosphere from the early '70's.  Egg heaven is a little bit of breakfast heaven on 4th street, a true local's choice. 
My citrus slices are long gone from the 'fork' in front of the now named 'Scratch' baked goods bakery (not open as of yet) and have been replaced by ... toast!  C'mon, who doesn't like toast?  Toast, all warm and buttery, yeah, toast rocks. 
Yarnivore + toast = happy face.  Tasty!

citrus guerrilla

guerrilla citrus

citrus yarn bomb

'fork' bike rack with slices

handle slice

granny bench cozy

Ah, successful citrus!  The slices went up with ease as did the delightful granny square bench warmer.  The slice of orange door handle addition lead me to an interesting find.  My lettuce leaf yarn bomb disarmed, abducted and now being held in solitary confinement inside the still undone 'bakery' shop.  As I installed the door handle slice I looked into the building and there she was, just lying there on a bench, limp, next to a roll of blue painters tape and drywall dust.  Perhaps they are saving her, holding her for later use as 'fork' decoration, one can hope.
Citrus yarn bombs...juicy!

lettuce leaf, disarmed

no more cookies

several summer citrus slices for the fork

citrus yarn bomb

slices...for a fork/bike rack

an adorable, non threatening granny square yarn bomb.

the cookies are gone, the fork stands bare once again.  I will remove the dangling cupcake that is worse for the wear of hanging on the still unoccupied establishment door handle, to be replaced with a luscious orange citrus slice. 
there is a nearby (just doors down) business with a lovely green bench out front.  a granny square bomb will soon grace it's seat if all goes well.

all to be installed on the morrow.