Abandoned Baby Birds

What if I told you that you could knit something quick and completely adorable PLUS it would help tiny abandoned baby birds?

(not my actual knitting but LOOK HOW CUTE!)

My friend Melissa turned me on to a nest knitting pattern put out by our Dane County Humane Society's wildlife service. Knitted nests are the perfect cozy place place for abandoned babies to grow or even for nursing a sick bird.

(my actual knitting)

These nests are knitted with doubled or tripled cotton or acrylic yarn so they are really sturdy and washable. For my nests, I used some (leftover from a sweater) Rowan Cotton Jeans from my stash. I had two 50g balls and was able to make a nest from each (with very little left over) when knitting with the yarn doubled on size 6 dpns.

This pattern is so spot on. The bottom sits completely flat and the stockinette sides curl over just right to form a stiff nest with just enough give.

I went ahead and tied a nice knot on the bottom. This way it will be sure to hold up through a washing.

Folks who live here in Dane County can drop their finished nests off at the Humane Society. And for those folks outside of our area, I'm positive your own humane society, wildlife rescue, or Department of Natural Resources would have a use for these as well. A little research will most likely prove fruitful. I can vouch for this nest pattern though, it knit up beautifully.

Knit on friends,

Cassandra

PS - When I say this was a quick project, each nest took me about 3 hours. And that is with talking or TV watching going on at the same time. 

The Snowball Is Rolling...

As Cassandra mentioned last week, we are thrilled that the release of What (else) Would Madam DeFarge Knit? is on the near horizon because, with this book, we become official, published (and paid!) knitwear designers. This prospect is both exciting and scary. We are going to be in the same book as some of our knitting heroes. Yikes!

That being said, we are exceedingly proud of the pattern we designed and are excited to see other people make it. I've nearly broken my fingers crossing them in hopes that there are no bad mistakes in the pattern. But I will accept all errata with grace and work hard to make sure we "clean up" the pattern as people work it.

The potential exposure that our pattern (and we) will be getting from the book has lit a fire under our collective butts. Cassandra and I have been talking, for a long time, about expanding our little online world and taking advantage of other crafting sites in order to reach more folks. To that end, we set up both Ravelry (DistractedMinds) and Craftsy (Mighty Distractible) pages. Starting immediately, we'll be loading all existing and new patterns to Craftsy (knitting/sewing/embroidery/etc) and all our existing and new knitting patterns to Ravelry. (It might takes us a bit so please be patient.) For those of you who have downloaded links to our Google Docs page for our existing patterns, those links will still be active.

Please visit our new pages and let us know what you think. Since we're still fairly new at this, any feedback will be appreciated. :)

In celebration of our new pages, today we're going to add the actual, final, tested "Hipster Hat" pattern that I started designing a couple of weeks ago. You may have read the original post (where I jumped the gun and posted the pattern before I'd actually finished test knitting the piece) or the update (where I THOUGHT I had a solution but still hadn't finished the second test knit). Well, I finally finished the pattern and I'm really happy with the result. It achieved exactly what I wanted - a loose-fitting hat with a large crown that would accomodate all my hair and not leave hat-marks on my 'do.

Hat pattern #1 resulted in a hat that was too shallow. Even though it had the large crown I wanted, it wasn't long enough and didn't cover my ears. Also, the decrease I used was too severe and, as a result, left big holes in the crown that had to be sewn shut. (annoying). I gave the hat to the smallest-headed person I know - Sara from my knitting group. Here she is, sporting the first test knit:

So, to fix it, I made the "cuff" over 2" long instead of 1" and I changed the decrease to both add some depth and also to close the holes that were created by the earlier severe decrease.

Here's the final hat:

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! I've been wearing it a lot and have gotten quite a few compliments on it. I used a random, left-over skein of Cascade 220 but I think I'd like to make it again in a more exciting color. :)  Not that there's anything wrong with mushroom brown but...

So, please visit our Craftsy or Ravelry pages to download this new, free hat pattern! Thanks for continuing to read Mighty Distractible and for supporting us as we grow.

- Alex

UPDATE #1: Back to Basics (Free Hat Pattern)

Update #1: So, I finished the pattern and there were a few issues with the final product. For one, it was WAY too shallow for my head. It fit the bill in terms of being big enough to fit over my hair without making marks in my "do", but it only covered half my ears. This is fine if my hair is down because my hair insulates my ears but, really, I want a hat the fits properly and does its job. Secondly, I wrote in a severe decrease at the end because I wanted the hat to have sort of a "flat" top (like a mushroom almost). I got the desired effect but the super-fast decrease ended up leaving a lot of "holes" in the top - almost as if I'd intentionally made eyelet. I used a loooooong tail of yarn to sew all the holes closed which was, as you can imagine, really tedious and frustrating.

So, I'm working on version 2 right now. I've increased the cuff at the start to 2 full inches (actually, it may be more - I need to measure) and I'm adding some buffer rows in the decrease at the top. If these fixes work, I'll be updated the pattern below. If they don't, I'll be making another one until I get it right. I'm nothing if not tenacious. LOL

We talk a lot about being distracted here - of being waylaid by shiny objects and the constant need to do something different. It's the basis of who we are. It's our shared trait that gave us our name.

Unfortunately, for me, the same trait that makes me want to try everything and be challenged is also the one that also makes me, occasionally, "burn out". Reading is a regular victim. At my reading peak, I belonged to three book clubs. Most of the time I can keep up pretty well with the responsibilities of one club plus some additional reading that's just for fun. But, every now and then, I just stop. I don't read anything accept online articles (blog post length - not NY Times length) and the backs of cereal boxes. These reading droughts can last months, or weeks. Regardless of their length, they are painful dry spells where I can't muster any interest in reading at all. As a matter of fact, when I'm in one of these lulls, I can't even imagine caring about reading ever again. And then, one day, I pick up a book and I'm back.

A visual representation of my craft drought

Since Cassandra and I began crafting in earnest, I've had a couple of small knitting droughts. Nothing major really - until recently. In case you haven't noticed, most of my posts lately have been about everything BUT knitting and/or crafting in general. The good news is, I picked up my stick again this past weekend and designed a little hat so it looks like the dry spell may be over.

It's no secret that I love designing. I'm not a huge fan of making the same thing twice but coming up with an idea and capturing the instructions in such  a way so that others can make it too is incredibly satisfying. Even when I was a beginner knitter, I would often go "off book" and try varying the pattern I was working. Now, with "easy" projects like hats, scarves, mittens, etc. I usually just look at a variety of patterns, try to find the commonalities in the creation of the item, and then put the common elements together with the stitch patterns, finishes, decorations, etc. that I know or can dig up from design books.

So, this is a really easy pattern. I had a random skein of Cascade 220 in my stash and a need for a hat that was the right shape to wear without leaving at marks on my stylish hairdo. You've seen this style of hat - all the hipster boys wear them.  If I were 20 years younger and wore skinny jeans, I'd fit right in. LOL

Here's the pattern as it exists in my head right now. If you decide to make this (should be an easy weekend project), please let me know if you find any errata in the pattern that I can correct. Enjoy!

Almost done

Hipster Hat

Use a worsted or DK weight yarn
Size 10 double-pointed needles
Gauge: 4 stitches = approx 1"

Cast on 75 stitches. If you need a larger or smaller hat, size your cast-on (up or down) in multiples of three (60, 63, 66, 69, 72, 75, 78, 81, etc.)
Place marker before you begin knitting in the round
K two rows, being careful not to twist your stitches
*K2, P2, repeat from * until piece measures 1.5 inches long
K one row
*K3, YO, repeat from * to the end of the row (this will leave you with a row of "eyelets")
K five rows
*K4, M1 (using the backward loop method), repeat from * to the end of the row
K five rows
*K5, M1 (using the backward loop method), repeat from * to the end of the row K five rows
*K6, M1 (using the backward loop method), repeat from * to the end of the rowK five rows
*K5, K2TOG, repeat from * to the end of the row.
K one row
*K4, K2TOG, repeat from * to the end of the row.
K one row
*K2TOG, repeat from * to the end of the row, do this twice (2 rows)
*K2TOG, repeat from * until the last stitch. K the last stitch

You should have some stitches left at this point (I'm not sure how many because I haven't actually gotten there yet!). Cut a tail and then your thread through the remaining stitches and pull tight. Weave in any loose stitches

Create an icord (see YouTube for video) or get a length of ribbon. Run the icord or ribbon through the eyelet holes at the top of the "cuff" and tie a bow.

E voila! You are done.

I may need to update this in a day or so when I finish the hat. Keep your eyes peeled for the word "update" added to the title.

Hope you like it.

- Alex

Woodland Creatures Redux

Hi gang!

I have recently decided to update our popular Woodland Series Embroidery Templates. There are small copy tweaks to make the directions clearer, the artwork has been fussed with a little bit here and there, but the biggest change as been the addition of a second design transfer option. Each animal can now can be embroidered in a rectangular or a circular design. Here is an example of both versions of Fox:

The amount of downloads and mentions for this series we've had across the online crafty community makes us blush with pride. The thought of someone taking the time and effort to stitch one of our designs is really an honor. Please don't hesitate to send us pictures of your finished objects! We'd love to see them.

Speaking of finished objects. I've chosen to sew a little fabric around my embroidery before framing. Sort of like it's matted. Here are some quick camera-phone photos I snapped in Little Bear's room this weekend.

So, if you're a stitcher, check out all four updated designs from the Free Patterns tab above. Bear, Fox, Hare, and Owl are all available individually as printer-friendly pdf downloads. Also, if you're new to embroidery, please check out our Embroidery Lessons to help you get started.

–Cassandra

Bad Patterns

Regardless of how one encounters them, bad instructions make for a bad experience.

Exhibit #1: IKEA "assembly instructions" for putting together any piece of furniture.

Ouch! My head hurts.

Who of us hasn't cursed the Swedes while in the throes of trying to make a chest of drawers actually look (and work) like a chest of drawers? The complete lack of words coupled with the pretentiously well-intentioned illustrations are really just harbingers of doom. They speak to the fact that, if you misinterpret a picture (god forbid you're not a visual person) you may end up with a chest of drawers that falls to pieces the first time you try to use it.

IKEA's a big company. You'd think they could afford to make instructions with words - in various languages.

In recent months, I've had a run of bad luck with knitting patterns. The same basic issue applies as with the IKEA example - if I misinterpret the pattern, my finished object is going to be seriously wrong. And, when you spend time and money to knit something by hand, you want it to be right.

So, what does one do when faced with a bad pattern?

In my case, the minute I realize that the pattern is written badly, I shift my entire approach to the pattern itself. A well-written pattern means that I can sail along without paying much attention. I simply read the next row and do what it tells me. But, if I encounter a line of confusing instruction, I immediately put down my work and read through a big chunk of the pattern to see if the writer repeated the offending communication. Generally, they have. Then, depending on how badly the instruction is written, I either rewrite it or make a mental note of the writer/designer's particular tic (often its the same thing over and over) and just adjust my knitting when I encounter it again.

I have, more than once, contacted a designer and asked for help. My success rate with this approach has been 50/50. Sometimes the designer will say, "Oh yeah... that's a common problem. I need to rewrite the pattern." But, just as often, the response is equally as confusing or (even worse) seriously defensive because I questioned their pattern.

Cassandra and I strive to make our patterns as clear and understandable as possible - whether it's knitting, embroidery, sewing, or anything else. This is at the top of my mind right now because I'm in the process of editing two patterns that are going into a book. We wrote them as we created them but now they have to be "cleaned up" to match the publishers style guide and to ensure that we're consistent with how we reference certain instructions. For example, I might write this:

Row 10 and all even rows through 20: K

Cassandra might write the same instruction like this:

Rows 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20: K

Both are understandable, but we have to be consistent in how we say it. So... I picked my way, of course. LOL

Regardless, we want to make sure that anyone can understand what we're trying to get across. Interestingly, trying to make a pattern easy-to-understand can also come across as "dumbing down" a pattern. If you've been knitting for twenty years, you've probably seen every iteration of how to write an instruction. However, I feel like we have to write for the person who may not be as adept at interpreting pattern writing. Hopefully, we can strike a balance so that everyone understands the pattern and no one feels like we're pandering.

So, if you ever download one of our free patterns or end up owning one of our patterns - regardless of what craft we're writing about - PLEASE don't hesitate to contact us if you can't understand an instruction or if you have a suggestion for how to make an instruction easier to understand. I swear, on the graves of my foremothers, we will never get defensive, we will listen to your concerns, and we will accept all constructive criticism with grace. In the end, the most important thing is that we become the best pattern writers we can be.

- Alex (a writer and editor 'till the end)

This has nothing to do with today's post but I thought you all might enjoy it since, you know, it's Thursday and we knit.

C'est Si Bon! The Quest

On March 14, 2011, I was searching knitting patterns on Ravelry.com and stumbled upon a scarf that I immediately fell in love with. Now, I'm not prone to "love at first sight" when it comes to knitting but, for some reason, the look of this particular piece was captivating.

Unfortunately, all the viewable projects (about 7 at the time) were in French.

It even LOOKS French, doesn't it?

So, with the help of Google Translate (and a few years of high-school French), I emailed one of the French knitters to see if she could help me secure a copy of the pattern. Fortunately, she responded in excellent English which she, like most Europeans, claimed was "not good." She sent me the email address for the shop that created and printed the pattern. Achievement unlocked: Find the Source.

I promptly emailed the shop, again with the help of Google Translate, and received no response.Ever. Fail.

At that point, I went back to the photos of people's work-in-progress and finished projects to see if I could suss out the pattern myself. I mean...it's a scarf. It's not like it's rocket science but I was stumped about how the stitch pattern was created. I'd never seen anything quite like it before. Fail.

In order to not drive myself completely insane, I let it rest for a long while. I didn't taunt myself by looking at the scarf or obsess about the fact that I couldn't have it - although I really, really wanted to. Achievement unlocked: Patience.

A number of months later, I was browsing my Ravelry Favorites, saw the scarf, and the old love was renewed. I decided to take up the quest again.

My English-speaking friend's scarf.

By this time, the number of completed projects had more than doubled and - lo and behold - there was one in English. I emailed the English-speaking knitter and explained my plight. I told her that, if she could just provide me with the stitch pattern, I could fake it from there. Again, it's just a scarf - a great, big triangle. Unfortunately, she had just moved and couldn't find her notes so she attempted to remember it as best she could. She provided a couple of very valuable pieces of information that helped explain the elusive stitch pattern. Unfortunately, once I started knitting, it was obviously not quite right. First Actual Attempt: Fail

Now I was obsessed. I wracked my brain trying to think of ways I could get my hands on an actual copy of the pattern. I could deal with translation after the fact. I thought of friend-of-the-blog, @pinkundine, a crafty-blogger who lives in the UK. Maybe, just maybe, closer proximity to France could facilitate securing the pattern. So, off went a long, convoluted email about my quest and, while she couldn't find a way to purchase the pattern for me, she did LOADS of internet research in an attempt help. Honestly, she went above and beyond. Achievement Unlocked: Secured Awesome Crafting Friendship.

Finally, Cassandra said to me, "Doesn't your friend Mary speak French? Why don't you have her call the shop and see if she can convince them to ship internationally?"  *face palm* How could I have forgotten that one of my best friends in the world is a proficient French speaker (although she claims her French is "bad"). So, one morning after brunch I asked. She looked at me and said, "Why don't we just ask Carrie to pick up a copy for you at the shop? She'll be here in a couple of weeks and she can bring it with her."

Seriously....my head nearly exploded. It's one thing to forget that you have a friend who speaks a foreign language. It's entirely another to forget that you actually KNOW a person who lives in the city that you need something from. And, she was traveling to us within two weeks. Could it be more perfect?

Mary emailed Carrie. Carrie agreed to secure the pattern for me and bring it with her. This past Saturday, at exactly 7pm, I completed my quest. The pattern is mine. QUEST COMPLETE!

Now, I just have to get it translated*.

- Alex

* If any of you know of any proficiently French-speaking knitters, PLEASE get them in touch with me. Thanks.

Crafts Gone Wrong

Y'all remember last week when I posted about doing our Crafting for Charity day? Well, let me tell you... our normally laid back event was an adventure in pure frustration.

As I mentioned, three of us decided to make baby kimonos this time around. We've been using the book Craft Hope by Jade Sims for months and have really liked everything we've made from it so far. For example, the Take-Along Quilt pattern was super-easy and allowed three non-quilters to get our hands wet with a new craft. So, the baby kimonos seemed like the perfect project - small supply list, weirdly simple pattern, and only a few steps in the actual instructions.

Lesson #1: Never assume that, because every other pattern you've worked from a book is good, that the one you're working on now is going to be good.

Seriously, the "pattern" itself should have been a big red flag.  I sew. Cassandra sews. Our third charity crafter sews. Why any of us thought that THIS pattern was remotely complete is beyond me:

Please note that the pattern instructions say to "Enlarge 500%". Yeah. This is all fine and good except that the average office copy machine will only enlarge 400% and there's no standard paper large enough to accommodate the full-sized pattern.

Now, I'm sure that our math-inclined readers (or our readers with better abstract analytical skills) will immediately have a solution to this little problem. In the aftermath of our sewing adventure, I've managed to think of a variety of ways we could have approached this dilemma. However, in the throes of having to have this pattern ready for a scheduled event, I took the "easy" route and enlisted the help of someone at Company X who has access to a plotter.

We arrived at our local fabric shop and set up in the big sewing room. Then, the three kimono makers started to cut our fabric. In the middle of cutting, we realized that something was amiss. The description of the kimono mentions "...special features, including fold-over sleeve cuffs that will protect a baby from accidental scratches." Unfortunately, there was no pattern piece for the fold-over cuff. No worries! We can improvise the pattern-piece. And we did.

Our next hurdle came when we started piecing the pattern together and begin sewing. The instructions were just short of gibberish - leading us to wonder aloud if anyone had bothered testing this pattern before it was published.  Let me provide a sample of what we experienced:

3. Lay the back piece right side up on your work surface. Note: if you're making the version with the envelope, lay the folded envelope on top of the back piece with the raw edges aligned. The fold will be facing toward the top of the garment. Lay the front pieces, right side down and one on top of the other, over the back piece (and envelope, if applicable).

Again, I'd like to direct your attention to the actual pattern pieces. Does anyone see instructions for a "fold" on the envelope piece?? So... how is the envelope supposed to fold and why? If we fold the envelope and align the raw edges, they'll be sewn into the garment and the envelope won't turn correctly.

Oh! and pattern has you finishing the the raw edges AFTER you sew the entire kimono together - which makes absolutely no sense.  Of course, we learned (the hard way) that, if you finish the edges BEFORE you sew this wonky pattern together, the pieces don't fit properly.

We are three, intelligent, educated women and yet it still took us about an hour and a half to figure out how to piece this craziness together to make something that resembled a giftable item. Once we divined the answer, Charity Crafter #3 managed to knock out two of them. I did 1.75 (I have to lay in the ribbon and fix the mislaid fold-over sleeve envelopes. Cassandra finished one.

Cassandra was so angry about the pattern that she, quite literally, couldn't blog about it. Once we've both calmed down, we're going to write to Ms Sims and suggest that she either remove the pattern or fix it before they publish another edition of this book. We also going to suggest that someone TEST every pattern before they go to print.

My issue is with the people who wasted over and hour of our time, including: a pattern designer who wrote a crappy pattern (inexcusable), an author who didn't bother to read/test the pattern before it went to print, an editor who either didn't know or didn't care that the pattern was crap, and myriad other people who touched this book before it went to print. They are directly responsible for putting out a bad product and creating frustration where there should have been harmony and good-will.

Is it wrong to expect people to deliver a basic level of quality? I don't think so. Maybe if we were talking about subjective quality - like, is the finished pattern pretty. But this is not "subjective" this is "does it work or does it not work." It's pretty simple to get that right and incredibly lazy to allow something so ineffective to be part of an otherwise brilliant book.

Quality is important to me and Cassandra. It's one of the things we bond over. This experience is the kind of thing that really upsets me (in case you hadn't noticed) because I know that someone, anyone, could have taken a 1/2 hour of time and prevented the ripple effect that caused us to have a bad experience.

So... my two cents... Always do your best to ensure the highest quality you can provide and remember that your output is going to affect someone, somewhere. Maybe even a little crafting group from Madison, WI.

- Alex

Back in the Saddle

At the end of last winter - March, I think - Cassandra and I attended the Madison Knitter's Guild Annual Knit-In. It's a one-day event with vendors and classes and speakers. We shopped and learned and we got to hear the Mason-Dixon Knitting gals speak, which was not only fun but also the inspiration for starting this blog.

A lot of good things came out of that day. We met some cool people and got to know others better. We bought some gorgeous yarns and patterns. I even went overboard and bought my favorite, but expensive, piece of jewelry - a sterling silver needle gauge.

It's always fun to be around a bunch of like-minded folks. I just wish there were more knitting men. Sometimes all that estrogen can get overwhelming. But I digress...

In the marketplace that day, one of the vendors had finished samples of the patterns she was selling. This was a brilliant marketing ploy because, if you liked the item, you could buy both the pattern and the yarn it was knit with right then and there. I fell in love with a particular shawl. It didn't hurt that the pattern was by Two Old Bags which is, in my world, a trusted pattern source. But honestly, if I'd had to buy it based on the photo on the pattern, I never would have. I didn't like the color or the ruffled edge.

The sample was made in a color I love and with a piquot edge. The real conundrum came with the yarn though. The sample was knit with a raw Irish wool that was so scratchy it felt like an SOS pad. This yarn gave the shawl the weight and shape that I loved but I couldn't imagine having that wool against my skin. So, I bought the pattern and went on a hunt for the right wool.

Fortunately, I didn't have to look very far. At the second yarn shop I visited, I found a wool that was almost identical in color and had a stiffness that would mimic the Irish wool a bit.

I started the shawl in May, but only worked on it for a few weeks. It's tough to knit with 100% wool in the summer. It's just too hot to have sitting in your lap and touching your hands. I got about 40% of the project done before it was retired for the season. But now, with the weather cooling off here, I'm feeling the call of the shawl and will be picking it back up starting today.

Here's my progress to date:

Hopefully, I can knock out the rest of it in the next month - just in time to wrap myself up against the brutal northern winter. I'd also like to be able to wear it to the next Knit-In so I can show it off to the vendor (who I'm assuming will be back.)

Next blog from me will be a progress report and any tips/tricks on the "features" of this pattern - eyelet and piquot edge. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get derailed by a warm front.

- Alex