Antics | Love Is All You Knit

Nov 03 2013

Antics, designing, Family, knitting, Music, travel, wool, Yarn

On Rock Shows and Knitterati in London

I arrived in London while Joey and the band were at the BBC recording an interview. I made my way to the venue for that night’s show, where the tour bus was parked and unloaded my bags. I decided to venture down Upper Street, knowing that Loop wasn’t too far away. While I was window shopping, I got a text from Joey saying that he was just a couple of blocks away so I headed back in his direction and spotted him quickly. We must have love-radar because he spotted me at almost the exact same moment. We had one of those movie-scene greetings, where time stands still and you’re hugging and kissing in the middle of a busy street in a fabulous city- it was pretty magical. Hand in hand, we strolled down towards Loop and popped in. I got to finally meet Meghan Fernandes and Lydia Gluck of the wonderful Pom Pom Quarterly, and Meghan helped me pick out a British yarn. (I snagged that gorgeous skein of hand-dyed BFL sock yarn from The Uncommon Thread shown above). Meghan also told me that Stephen West was knitting in their upstairs room, so we headed up to meet him as well. Stephen was very nice, knitting away as we all talked about music- it turned out he would be attending the Iceland Airwaves festival that Joey would be playing soon. We left the shop with my skein of beautiful British yarn and, sadly no pics with Meghan and Lydia or Stephen. (I blame the jet lag for not thinking to snap an iphone pic at least). Meghan and Lydia came to the show that night and I had a great time hanging out with them. It was so lovely to meet them both and I hope to work with them again soon.

It’s-a-small-knitterly-world-post-script:

Since I was unable to stay on tour with the band through their Iceland show, I sent Joey with the sole purpose of making sure to snag me some Lopi yarn while he was there. This morning he popped into a coffee shop to ask where he could buy some yarn, and who else was there but Stephen West, knitting away with the WestKnits Fun Squad? I now have a sweater’s worth of Lopi on its way home to the states with my wonderful knitwear-loving husband.

Tagged iceland, knitting, london, lopi, pom pom, yarn

Oct 31 2013

2 Comments

Antics, designing, Family, knitting, travel

Insta October

October was a really great month. I always love it because the change in seasons feels fresh and exhilarating but also because its my wedding anniversary month. I was feeling a little sad when I first realized months ago that Joey would be out on tour during our anniversary, but what better excuse for me to go on a trip to Europe than to celebrate 12 years of marriage with my love? I spent 7 days traveling with the band on the tour bus and had the most amazing time. Some of my favorite parts of the trip were just watching the guys doing their thing and playing some really wonderful music. I squeezed in a bit of knitting backstage and on the bus (the knitting pic above was taken while sitting in the artist’s lounge at the BBC!), but I mostly just soaked up all the sights and enjoyed some quality time with Joey.

Tagged amsterdam, europe, ireland, knitting, london, music, paris, travel

Oct 15 2013

3 Comments

Antics, knitting, travel

Packing

I just booked a trip to Europe and I’m leaving next week! My darling Joey is on tour for the next five weeks and will be away for our anniversary, so I’ve decided to go see him. I’ll be going to London, Ireland (Sligo), Amsterdam and Paris and my mind is buzzing with ideas on what knitting to bring. I have a hat on the needles and a small accessory design that I’m about halfway finished with, but is that ENOUGH? What if I can’t sleep on the plane and I knit my way through both of those and then I don’t have anything else to work on? What if I walk through TSA and they think I’m a lunatic because my suitcase contains more yarn than clothes? What if I map out all the yarn stores in every city on my itinerary just in case?

What knitting projects would you pack for a whirlwind trip to Europe?

Tagged knitting, travel, yarn

Oct 08 2013

1 Comment

Antics, designing, knitting, wool, Yarn

Cold Snap

I just lost an entire week to a cold. I was sick back in March with bronchitis and a sinus infection that had started out as an innocent little cold just like this one, so I tried to take it easy this time and get lots of rest. One night, Joey made me a spectacular hot toddy with ginger that warmed me up and soothed my sore throat. I tried to get lots of knitting done, but my cold medicine haze (and perhaps the whiskey from the toddy) had an undesirable effect on my knitting. I’ve now had to rip back a weeks’ worth of work because it just wasn’t right. Let this be a lesson to us knitters: never design under the influence. I’m back on track with my health and my knitting now and I think this design is going to be awesome.

We’ve also had our first real cold snap with lots of rain and temps in the low 50s. Joey and I were out and about this weekend and got caught in a downpour without an umbrella. We got so drenched running to our car and I came thisclose to slipping in a giant mud puddle. When we finally got in the car and slammed the doors shut, we just looked at each other and laughed. We went home and I made warm potato soup for dinner which was just perfect. Chilly weather, warm soup, knitting wooly things, and laughter with my love. I’m glad that fall is here.

Tagged alpaca, cold, hot toddy, knitting, weather, wool, yarn

Sep 30 2013

Leave a comment

Antics, designing, Dogs, Family, Hats, knitting, Music, Texas, travel, wool, Yarn

Insta September

Wow. I can’t believe it’s almost OCTOBER. Looking back at some of my Instagram snaps from September, I can see why the month passed by so quickly. Joey and Midlake are gearing up for the release of their new album* and just completed a mini-tour of the Southwest which ended with a two-night-stand of performances in our hometown. We also received a test vinyl pressing of the album and sat down with a glass of wine and listened to it in its entirety. It was a nice way to celebrate the end results of a lot of hard work. The band also has a feature article in the October issue of MOJO Magazine and proud wife that I am, I kept harassing the poor people at Barnes and Noble by calling them almost every day to ask if they’d gotten it in stock yet. It has finally arrived and I snagged a copy this week.

Knitting and design-wise I’ve been squeezing in a bit of stitching whenever I can, during my lunches at work and early on Saturday mornings with my coffee. I’m working on the Rekaviður hat pattern by Bristol Ivy and its coming out really nice. I also spent a day knitting with a couple of my lady friends, getting them both up and running on some fun fall knitting projects. I’m looking forward to a couple of calm days where I can work on a new design using some lovely Quince and Co Owl and all I can say is that THERE WILL BE CABLES.

I’ve really been enjoying the change of the seasons lately, even though its a rather slight change here in Texas. The skies are darker and darker every morning as I’m leaving for work and the evenings have a bit of a cool breeze wafting about. I’m very excited for fall to get here, and I’ll be clicking my needles making something warm and wooly when it arrives.

(*Antiphon is out in the US via ATO Records on November 5th and in the UK via BellaUnion on November 4th. You can pre-order it here and I highly recommend you check it out. It’s AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL.)

Tagged denton, fall, harvest moon, knitting, midlake, texas, wool, yarn

Sep 25 2013

Leave a comment

Antics, baby knits, Family, Hats, knitting

Baby Bushwick Beanie

My fabulous sister in law Heather asked me the other day if I thought it would be easy to modify my Bushwick Beanie pattern into a baby/toddler sized hat. Heather is a fly-by-her-needles sort of knitter and has no qualms with ripping back if something comes out all wrong, so I figured she wouldn’t hate me too much if I led her completely astray. I suggested that she might try using a worsted weight and smaller needles instead of taking the time to refigure the numbers and the cable pattern.

Two days later I received these heart stoppingly cute pictures of my lil nephew Healy, modeling a baby Bushwick Beanie. I think the sizing she obtained is pretty much right on. Healy is not quite 3 months yet, and there’s plenty of slouch for now (so it’s Brooklyn style), and it leaves him plenty of room to grow into it for some time to come.

Heather used I love Cotton yarn and US 7/4.5mm needles to make her baby beanie.

Tagged babies, beanies, brooklyn, bushwick, hats, knitting, yarn

Sep 23 2013

Leave a comment

Antics, baby knits, CRAFT!, Embroidery, Hats, knitting, Other Crafty Things, Scarves/Cowls, Texas, Yarn

A Crafty Saturday

The Autumnal Equinox arrived this weekend, and here in Texas we finally felt the first break from our 90+ degree heat. Saturday was such a lovely day with temps in the 60s in the morning and peaking in the mid 80s in the afternoon. I met up with some lady friends for a nice brunch and all around crafty day.

We stopped by The DIME Store, a brick and mortar store born out of the Etsy Denton collective. DIME (Denton Independent Maker Exchange) opened up shop this spring and I have been really wanting to visit and take a peek at their handmade wares.

These burlap pillows by Home Again were really cute, and even though the “I heart US” is surely referring to the United States, I really loved the idea of a pillow that says “I love Us” referring to the identity of a couple.

There were some really adorable bags and clutches made by Rachel Elise that I was too busy drooling over to get a picture of and these cute little knitted baby hats by Cassie Arnold Art.

Afterwards, we went back to my friend Felicia’s house for a little bit of knitting ourselves. Felicia cast on for a Hill Country Hat, and Bri started up a slightly modded version of my Infinity Cowl pattern, having given the one she previously knit away to a good friend.

We had such a good time talking knitting all day and I look forward to seeing their finished knits.

Tagged cowls, denton, DIME, diy, etsy, etsy denton, hats, knitted baby hats, knitting, wool, yarn

Sep 06 2013

1 Comment

Antics, designing, Hats, knitting, wool, Yarn

Fuzzy, Wooly, Alpaca-y

I’m usually not a multi-project sort of girl but I’ve recently started knitting a hat, Rekaviður by Bristol Ivy. I am knitting it with Classic Elite Mountaintop Vista, which is a natural undyed yarn that’s 50/50 wool/alpaca which is just lovely.

I cast on last weekend with my morning coffee and then spent a little time Saturday afternoon knitting away while I waited on an oil change for my car. I did get a few strange looks at the auto shop, but what else are you going to do while stuck there for two and a half hours?

I recently got a shipment of a few gorgeous skeins of Quince and Co. Owl, which I will be using for a new design. The colorway I chose is Tawny which is one of their natural shades, and is also 50/50 wool/alpaca. I may be a bit obsessed with these natural wool and alpaca yarns!

Aug 31 2013

Leave a comment

Antics, birds, Books, bunnies, designing, Dogs, Family, knitting, Music, travel

Insta August

August brought me a little bit of downtime to finish up a design that I’m very pleased with and time to start plotting my next few designs. I’ve been looking at lots of yarns online and trying to keep myself from always picking heather greys, though they are my favorites. Joey had a two week trip to Europe with the band and I got to watch one of his shows that was live streaming online. I watched it with another of the band wives and we clapped and cheered and even snapped a few pics of our husbands onscreen looking like badasses and it was almost like we were there. I even snagged one of Joey’s instagrams to share here—just look at that crowd! Once he was back home we had a couple of lazy days together, strolling around town after a nice brunch and later him puttering around in the studio while I sat within earshot knitting. I’m hoping for a similar couple of days this weekend!

Aug 28 2013

Leave a comment

Antics, squirrels

Fauna

It was definitely a squirrel that wreaked havoc on the potted cacti on my front porch. Saturday morning I was enjoying a nice cup of coffee and doing a little knitting by my window, when I looked over and spotted this guy, AKA The Cactus Crusher.

He’s lucky he’s cute. He won me over with that little belly lounge act.

Category Archives: Antics