Heather Narbit learned to knit from a friend a few years ago when pointy sticks first became cool. Since then, she's delved deeper into the world of knitting and crafts, always ready to share her love of all things handmade.

A Lake Charles native, Heather lives in Houston with her husband.

In the Spirit of Tabby Tuesdays*

Posted February 6, 2010 at 12:34 pm
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As most good knitting blogs (but definitely not all) contain some cat content, here you go (sorry for the huge blank space, but WordPress makes the formatting I want almost impossible):

The sun was streaming through the windows by the couch, so I pulled out my camera to take a picture of Madeleine, our torti. She only has one look for the camera.

Hello. You can leave now.

Then our part-Maine Coon, Plato, saw the camera. He LOVES the camera, so he moved from the non-camera part of the couch to get closer.

Iz OK I sit here?

I’m gonna pose gud!

Giv ‘em my moody luk!

Now iz sewius.

Haughty, yes, iz cen spelz haughty.

Supwized, sorta

Come here, sumbeem!

U gettin’ tis? Iz kute!

Make shure dey know I has long arms!

Ok, dat’s enuf.

OK, now, last won. Pwomis.

*sigh*

*Title is an homage to Turtlegirl’s most excellent blog where her cats Calvin and Ripple are even more amusing.

**And happy belated blogiversary to me! January 27 made two years!

Sounds and Smells

Posted January 25, 2010 at 8:40 pm
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My car’s in the shop for the fourth night out of 2 weeks. It sounds so trivial on the grand scheme of things, but I hate being without my car. I have errands to run, things to do, a knitting group to attend, but instead I’m at home. (I love our mechanics, but I really hoped they had fixed it the first time!) I baked a pumpkin cheesecake to perk myself up. It smells wonderful: like a mixture of pumpkin pie and cream cheese. I can’t wait to try it!

Hubby’s upstairs speaking French to himself. More correctly, he’s repeating French phrases. He’s decided to learn a little francais before an upcoming trip we have yet to solidify. It’s a good sign. Myself, I’ve stopped counting the number of years I’ve given to the belle langue without achieving fluency. If you drop me in the middle of Paris, I could find my hotel. I couldn’t do it artfully, but I’d be able to get directions and get home. Do I need more? (I’d love to be fluent, but I’d have to find a way to practice to make that happen.)

Speaking of directions, Rick Steves’ guidebooks are amazing. I started reading his Provence book from the beginning. It’s packed full of really useful information, even for experienced travelers. Do you have any tips for someone heading to the south of France? Please share!

I’ve progressed on the Auburn Camp Shirt. I’m at the bust shaping on the final shirt piece. After this: seaming, sleeves and collars and then I’m done! Maybe I can wear it in the Provencal countryside.

Project photo updates

Posted January 16, 2010 at 6:11 pm
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IMG_5743

Originally uploaded by knitandwit

I finally updated photos for all my works in progress. These are the argyle socks I self-designed. Not sure when they’ll ever get finished. I didn’t think through the problem of argyle socks in the round. The patterns I found on Ravelry were mostly knit flat and seamed, which I was previously opposed to. By knitting in the round, however, I have to move the bobbins of color back and forth, which could lead to some potentially HUGE floats in the back. Knitting flat doesn’t do this because you naturally move your yarn from side to side. In the round, you leave your yarn at the end of the pattern and then it’s not where you need it when you come back around. I’ve added extra bobbins in the longest repeat areas so the floats aren’t as big. It’s still a huge waste of yarn, though. And it’s collasally annoying to deal with the dozens of bobbins I have inside this small tube.

The Auburn Camp Shirt is coming along nicely. I’m on the second front. I’ve put it aside to try to finish up the last Socks That Rock shipment, but I keep going back and forth so neither’s getting done.

I cast on Monday for a calorimetry for a friend and finished it Tuesday evening when a friend came over to knit (special requests that only take a few hours are highly encouraged). I can’t wait to give it to her (hi, Jess).

This has been a musical weekend: “Sweeney Todd” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” both came from Netflix. Any other recommendations?

Brr!

Posted January 10, 2010 at 5:20 pm
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I haven’t had time to take any of the promised photos of my new shawl pins, yarn or project bags, but I wanted to check in.

With this cold snap that’s covered most of the country, have you found your handknits to be helpful? My Calorimetry has been a lifesaver on my evening runs!

Christmas knitting revisited

Posted December 28, 2009 at 11:40 am
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I can finally show you my Christmas knitting and related gifts. First of all, here is something I kept for myself and something I shared:

Those are yarn bowls I had made by a local pottery artist. The potter makes all kind of amazing items, so I almost felt bad when I went to her with this simple request. She did an amazing job! They turned out better than I could’ve imagined. I only have one note for future requests, and that is that the hooks face the same direction so that if you’re using two skeins the yarn is pulled evenly when the bowl is set in front of you. They still work wonderfully, though. One was for me, one was for my mom and one was for my mother-in-law (hi Ann!). Both moms are crocheters.

Here’s a photo demonstrating them in use. They keep your yarn from rolling all over, and they also make your projects look like art while they’re in progress:

Here’s the Flower Basket Shawl I made for my mom from BMFA Laci while it was blocking on my bathroom floor:

And I just realized I didn’t take a picture of the Felt Clogs I made for my dad. (This was an Evelyn Clark kind of Christmas.) His clogs needed a little more felting, so they weren’t 100% done because I wanted to be sure they fit perfectly. I even bought some FiberTrends soles for them! I went for the two-piece because I knitted the bottoms this time.

My Christmas was great! I got lots of neat toys, books and amusements. My next post should be a list of the knitting-related gifts I received! What was your favorite gift given or received?

When you have no words

Posted December 10, 2009 at 6:08 pm
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It’s taken me awhile to come to write this. I feel like I have nothing new to say. Grief is a universal fact, and my share is no worse than anyone else’s. In fact, it’s quite light compared to some. It’s a particularly sad time for those of us who love journalism. The news paradigm is shifting, and newspapers are scrambling to find their place in the brave new world. Coupled with that persistent underlying stress in the American Press‘ newsroom are two very recent, very poignant deaths.

When Brian Guilbeau, award-winning sports columnist, passed away on Nov. 13, everyone who ever encountered him felt the loss. Cystic fibrosis is a hell of a disease, and he beat the odds to make the life he had: living long past doctors’ predictions and fathering a beautiful daughter. It doesn’t make it easier, though. Those who worked so closely with Brian felt like he was family. I remember Brian and his laugh very well. He was a wonderful person and a great co-worker.

And now Hector, our award-winning investigative journalist, passed away on Tuesday from leukemia. I worked more closely with Hector, and I remember his thoughtfulness and his love of his craft. He could write a detailed front-page story with half the words it took his peers. In the midst of his personal mission to keep City Hall honest, he almost always found the time to pick his kids up from school. He was the fastest walker, the fastest talker I ever knew, and he personified the stereotype you see in the movies of newspaper people, down to the sharp wit.

I treasure my memories of both Brian and Hector, both too young to say goodbye to. I have incredible sympathy for their families, as I can’t imagine the pain they feel. Included in that is their American Press family. My heart is with all of you, and it’s full of grief. Both men are irreplaceable in our hearts and in the newsroom. Their deaths are a blow to the art of journalism.

Hector’s obit

A video on Hector: It’s so strange to see so many friends talking about another.

Fellow blogger and great friend Sunny Farley’s tribute to Hector

Year End .. almost

Posted December 6, 2009 at 4:10 pm
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Socks That Rock’s Rockin’ Sock Club has ended. I got my sixth and final shipment about a week ago. At first, I was disappointed. I thought the yarn was just black. It was OK, but not exciting. But when I took it upstairs to wind it, I saw what a difference lighting makes. It’s a beautiful dark yarn with red and green and purple and navy blue throughout. The Cookie A. pattern that came with it is easy to memorize, so I’ve been breezing through it. I’m working on the heel flap of the first one. This in addition to improvising an argyle sock pattern while finishing up the right side of my Auburn Camp Shirt. Lots of work getting done here!

I won’t be rejoining this sock club. It’s expensive; I had problems with yarn pooling with almost all of the patterns. I think there are other clubs out there I’d like to give a go. I’m still a huge fan of Socks that Rock, though.

Baking and knitting

Posted November 25, 2009 at 9:21 pm
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I’ve been baking all day. That’s a batch of rolls to the left; my tired Kitchenaid in the back. In the front? That’s two yarn shipments: one from Woolgirl, the other from The Loopy Ewe. My husband hinted that he’d like some socks for Christmas, so I ordered some Dream in Color Smooshy to comply. Since we settled on an argyle pattern, these skeins will make multiple pairs.

I’ve raved before about Sonny and Sheer’s customer service, so I have to give a shout out to both Woolgirl and The Loopy Ewe. Woolgirl included a project ruler and a sample of Soak with a handwritten note. The Loopy Ewe also wrote me a note and tucked in needle inventory cards along with some small yarn samples.

I love the meaningful freebies and the personal touch. I bought from both of these companies because neither had all four colors I needed. I was thrilled that both shipped almost immediately, both arrived within days, and both were wrapped up smartly. I’m over the moon in love with the yarn, too. Yay for wonderful yarn sellers!

November already?!?!

Posted November 7, 2009 at 3:04 pm
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The holidays are often stressful for knitters. Who to knit for? What to make? Will I have enough time? I sort of backed into my own method of deciding: I only knit for two people each Christmas. It’s my mom and dad’s turn this year as I realized that they’re the only remaining family members I haven’t knit for! It’s also convenient that my mom saw the Flower Basket Shawl I knit myself and instantly said, “I can have one.” She picked out a brown lace, and it’s already nearing the half-way point.

My dad is a little harder to figure out. He’s the type who just gets whatever he needs or wants and is thus very hard to shop/knit for. Living on the Third Coast (I’m personally trying to get that to become THE term for the Gulf Coast), he doesn’t have much need for winterwear except for business trips where it’s often necessary. He’s not big on accessories, though. My mom’s advocating for felted slippers (like these and these), but I’m not sure they’re the win. I thought about making him a nice scarf for those work trips or even a pair of socks, but mom didn’t think those would go over as well. I’ve already got the yarn for the slippers, so we’ll see how this goes.

In other holiday news, I’ve got a tree skirt I began cross-stitching … oh, I don’t know … like eight years ago that I haven’t touched in six or so years. I should finish that. I’d also like to knit my husband and me our own stockings, but that may wait for next year.

Who are you knitting for? Any holiday knitting traditions out there? Any patterns you want to share?

And because I don’t have any knitting photos: some gratuitous cat photos.