My Knitting

I'm not sure if ya'll have noticed, but Alex and I haven't really talked about our knitting in a while. We've shared everything from quilt blocks, recipes, and our thoughts on movies or products...but not much in the way of knitting. Although we have been doing A LOT of knitting, there is actually a good reason for the absence of conversation regarding sticks and string here.

The first rule about knitting designers club: you can't talk about your knitting.

As we've mentioned before, we have a design featured in the soon to be released What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit and two designs in the upcoming Defarge Does Shakespeare. Interesting designs take time so we haven't been indulging in personal knitting for quite a while. So we have been silent on the subject.

But I have been sneaking in a stitch for me here and there. Shhh. It's our little secret.

Remember a while ago I asked for some feedback on which cardigan to knit for myself? Well, between here and Facebook the result was overwhelmingly The Crocus Cardigan. I actually cast this on sometime in May and have picked it up here and there when I needed a break from designing. Sometimes a girl just wants to produce inches upon inches of stockinette. No thinking, just knitting.


I decided to knit this sweater one size smaller than required from my measurements. This notion was born out of the fact that every time I knit myself a sweater, it always seems too big once it's finished. If it works out, great. If not, my smaller daughter can have it, still great.

I am using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in a gorgeous green and brown blend called "Cilantro Heather". Not the most expensive yarn in the world...but it's a natural fiber and sure knits up nicely. I'll be curious to see how it wears. The stripes are leftover Nutmeg Madeline Tosh from my Tea Leaves Cardigan. The green and the gold are really pretty together (in a non-Packer way).

Crocus is a top down raglan. The pattern is well written and the construction is easy. This project is not complete but hopefully I will have the sleeves and the button bands done soon. Just in time for fall!

Now remember, this is our secret. :)

–Cassandra

There Was Another Cat in the Bag!

When Alex and I began this blog over a year ago, we had no idea where the journey would take us. The plan was simple: create a place for us to chat about our crafty pursuits and hopefully entertain our readers. Since then we've made friends with people from across oceans, connected with those in our own community, tried our hands as exhibitors in a trunk show, and even seen that folks read our blog by google searching terms as random as "as seen on tv" and "eating". Ahhh, the internet is a weird and wonderful world.

I am pleased to tell you today that another opportunity has arisen for us Distractibles...one that fits us well...one from the world of the printed page.

Do you remember when we recently reviewed What Would Madame DeFarge Knit? Well, that book was apparently quite successful because almost immediately after it's release they announced that they were looking for submissions for a sequal. We decided to throw our hat in the ring and send in our idea for a pattern. Guess what? Mighty Distractible will have a knitting pattern and two essays included in the upcoming What Would Madame DeFarge Knit? Vol 2! Squeal! I think we actually held hands and jumped around in a circle when we got the acceptance email from Heather Ordover.

Obviously, mum's the word about the details of our pattern. I can tell you that the concept is right up our creepy alley! We will be so proud to share it with everyone. (I'm not sure when the book is scheduled for release, but I am guessing it will be in Q1 or 2 of next year.)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...I think we all have a lot to be thankful for this year. :)

–Cassandra

Hey, listen up people!

It has been a cold, windy week here in Wisconsin. Not being too outdoorsy of a gal, I spend a lot of my time going from house- to car- to work- to car- to home. It makes the time ripe for 2 things in my world - crafting and listening to podcasts.

In lieu of running errands or doing anything that requires being out in the elements for too long, I choose to knit at my desk (or a cafe) at my lunch hour and listen to a podcast or two. And, if it is completely necessary for me to run an errand through this frozen tundra, I can plug my ipod into my car stereo and listen while I'm driving around and waiting for the car to warm up.

Even this bird on my window feeder looks cold as hell.

So, since I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, I thought I'd tell you about my knitting top 3.


Cast On by Brenda Dayne
Brenda's show about knitting (and there is also some talk about cooking, dying, designing, sewing, etc.) is produced so beautifully. She obviously puts hours an hours of time into each segment because the show listens like someone is reading to you from a really good magazine. And Brenda's voice... smooth yet expressive. I could happily listen to this woman read the dictionary. Luckily, she just tells stories about her life as an American ex-pat in Wales and reads essays on making and life that always have me riveted.


CraftLit by Heather Ordover
This show is so much fun. Heather spends the first half of the show talking about her life and her crafting (usually very knitting focused), and the second half of the show is her teaching us about the chapter of a classic novel that she plays directly after. She does a wonderful job of introducing the chapters and gives us great insight on the more interesting aspects of the book. Heather is a teacher, and it is really cool the way she teaches to her audience. She knows she's not talking to teens in this podcast, so the things she chooses to point out are always relevant to her very crafty listeners.

Electric Sheep by Hoxton Handmade
Maybe it's because I'm a Midwesterner. I dunno. But man, Hoxton's life in London seems so darn glamorous. She tells us about trips to the Victoria and Albert Museum, biking around the streets of London, the London theatre community, and more, along with her knitting talk. She has this lovely, posh (Mary Poppins like) accent so anything she says sounds so sophisticated. She's witty and clever and a whole lot of fun to listen to. She is also an excellent knitter with very good taste.

Now, I know I promised to share some of my recent sewing adventures with you today... but, you might just have to wait until next week for that. I would like to get a little further along on what I'm doing so that I can give you a more complete view of the projects. But, here is a little peek from one project...

Soon-to-be pocket!

Pockets!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I intend on hitting the sewing machine pretty hard and sharing it with you... wish me luck!

–Cassandra