Rebecca Danger

Knitting Workout

It can be hard to be in shape when your hobby and job is knitting. Generally Mr Danger, the pugs, and I do a 4-7 mile walk every day to make up for the hours of sitting on the couch I do. Right now though, with the book due way too soon, I have sort of given up all hope of getting out and getting a walk in every day. So, I have a new scheme for how I can get my exercise in without leaving my needles:

I'm sure I can keep knitting while sitting in this chair and use this patented Hula Technology to get a workout in at the same time. 

I thought this would be a good thing to share with all you other knitters out there who might also be concerned with your figure. In fact I don't know why the Hawaii Chair people aren't target marketing us knitters, we seem like we would be their ideal customers! They should be talking to LYS's and going to the knitting trade shows. I can see every yarn shop in the country carrying these to sell to us knitters, can't you? 

Alright, off to my ultimate favorite activity, drinking WHILE knitting, and see if I can't convince Mr Danger of my amazing knitting workout plan and find the $375 it is going to cost to get one of these chairs into my living room.

I See Light!

There is light at the end of the tunnel: I have finally made it through all of the patterns for my book! Woot! I feel like I have had a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. This means that I am sitting down right now to get all my patterns onto the computer and do the actual *writing* of the book part. I know I am cutting it pretty close, but after I finished this all I have left to do is knit through all the patterns one more time as I go through and correct what I have typed. Phew! In many ways I never thought I would be to this point, but right now I am feeling like I can actually get through this thing!

In celebration of finishing up the last pattern Saturday night Mr Danger and I took the day yesterday and just sort of noodled around on a field trip day. All I have in my wardrobe right now is 2 pairs of jeans and one skirt that fit me, and since this means I have to do laundry just about every day and never feel like I have anything to wear, we went down to one of the local outlet malls around here so I could find a nice simple pair of black pants. It was a successful trip, with much relaxing (and coffee) and I am feeling rather refreshed as I sit down to type this morning. I am coming to realize that I am a complete and total work-a-holic and if I am to just take a little break I can get twice as much done the next day. Or at least that is the theory that others have told me, so we'll see how realistic it is as I get to work today.

Alrighty, gotta save my fingers for a full day of typing.....deep breath, and off I go!

Magic Loop: The Mystery, De-Mystified

So the single thing I get the most questions on with my patterns is Magic Loop. I had a couple people the last couple weeks under the misconception that Magic Loop takes two circulars needles, so I did some digging and realized the video was coming up incorrectly on www.knittinghelp.com (one of my favorite websites). This of course inspired me to do a post about Magic Loop to clear things up for every one.

Magic Loop is a different way of working in the round than double pointed needles. It involves taking one long circular needle, making that loop in the middle, and knitting in the round that way. Here is a correct video of Magic Loop in action:

I use Magic Loop for just about everything, I actually prefer it to dpn's (or even just normal circular knitting) and here are the reasons why:

*It is easier and quicker to knit across 2 needles instead of 4-5 (as with dpn's)

*It is less pokey than dpn's

*There is no worry of dropping stitches off your needle (as with dpn's)

*It's cheaper since you can buy just one long circular needle per size and have the right needle 95% of the time

*It doesn't create the dreaded "ladder" in the sts as easily as with dpn's

*It is more flexible with the long cable (especially in my toy patterns) than with stiff dpn's

*It is safer way to transport your knitting around than on dpn's

*I love the ingenuity, and breaking-of-the-rules-ness of it

I recommend it in my patterns because they are written to be knit on your choice of yarn and Magic Loop easily accommodates any size project, unlike dpn's which can cause the terror of dropped stitches on large projects. However, all of my patterns can be knit using dpn's instead, no adjustments to the pattern whatsoever.

So there you have it. I hope if you haven't used Magic Loop before this will inspire you to go out and try it!

Belated Christmas

So Mr Danger and I did our Christmas yesterday (New Years) since we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with our families, and we wanted to celebrate just us and the girls (er, pugs).

I got just about the greatest Christmas present ever:

Photo from JordanaPaige.com

It's the Knitter's Satchel from Jordana Paige and I have been coveting one for years. It is just as amazing as I had hoped and I am totally in love with it. Mr Danger got it for me in the dark brown (which I couldn't find a picture of and was too lazy to take one of my own) which is perfect since it matches these:

  

Photos from LexieBarnes.com

My Lexie Barnes Dottie and CoCo which I bought a couple months ago. When we moved I now don't have enough room for my coffee cup needle storage system (I had coffee mugs lined up on top of a shelf, one for each size of needle. The DPN's went in the cup, and the circulars hung through the handle. It was genius.), and my circulars were a nightmarish mess in a bin, so I pre-ordered the CoCo from Webs back in October. Since I was already ordering the CoCo, I realized the Dottie would be much more practical than the fraying felt roll from Michael's I was using for DPN storage, so I closed my eyes, and swiped my card for it as well. I am so glad I did since it is perfect, and I reach for it about 25 times daily.

Alright, I've been on the computer too long! Back to the final crazy month of knitting before I turn in my book. 
  

Good Morning 2010

And just like that another year has gone whizzing past, leaving me sitting here thinking about how time flies. Sometimes it seems like just as I get settled and comfortable in a year, it quickly becomes the next year, making me scratch my head and try and get comfortable and settled in a new year. I suppose it is a great thing though, since the only constant is change and you can't truly be your best self if you are getting too comfortable. It does seem that things must feel slightly awkward to make the most progress in your life, but I have come to find I am a creature of routine and don't do so well if my routine is disturbed.

That being said let's say we take a look back at 2009 and what it meant here in the Danger world:

*I liquidated my old business and sold off or threw out everything associated with it.

*I started putting out knitting patterns for sale in February.

*I put out 18 patterns (16 on etsy and 2 freebies here) in 11 months.

*I wrote patterns for 2 other people's books.

*I was approached by a publisher and now am writing my own book.

*I was approached by a distributor who now sells all of my patterns and my knitting bags wholesale to yarn shops.

*I made 1487 sales in my etsy shop in 11 months (plus tons of Ravelry sales) 

*I received amazing customer support and have "met" incredible people through the internets. Thanks guys, you rock! I never thought I would be able to support myself writing knitting patterns, but because of all of you amazing folks who like what I do and support me, my dream is a reality.

*I knit enough that my yarn from the year could probably wrap around the earth at least 2 times.

That's just the highlights too, there are so many other amazing things that have gone on this year-like the fact the Mr Danger quit his 9-5 job to become his own boss, I participated in my first craft show in 2 years, I got an amazing knitting tattoo, we moved to a new city, I lost 25 lbs, and so many more-that if I listed them all out, not only am I sure to forget something, but I am also sure that I would cause a bunch of head injuries from my readers getting so bored mid-post that they fall asleep, fall out of their desk chairs, and hit their heads on the floor. So, with your best interest and safety at heart, dear danger reader, I will conclude by saying:

Thank you 2009, you were great and exactly what I needed. 2010 you better watch out, 2009 is going to be a hard year to top!

Happy New Year every one!