Knits on a Scandal

Yesterday while working on a tank top for the summer issue of Knitty, I watched Notes on a Scandal (Cate Blanchett & Dame Judi Dench).  If you enjoy a well-written, well-acted and utterly juicy flick, I highly recommend this one.  As the title clearly states, this movie is centered around a scandal...well two, actually.  One, as a result of a desperate woman's monumentally bad judgement call the other, an equally desperate woman's psychological warfare spawned from years of self-oppression and related mental illness.  And as if the plotline weren't enough to get thee logged-on to Netflix, this movie is also filled with knitwear!  That my movie-loving friends, is what us stitchers call a win-win situation.  Here are the knits I noted all worn by Cate's character, "Sheeba":

• Pale pink, gossamer lace scarf
• Simple, periwinkle v-neck pullover
• Oatmeal and brown, crocheted scarf
• Chunky, lilac mohair cardigan
• Mosiac, lavender wrist warmers
• Chocolate, machine-knit, cabled, over-sized button down.

Back to the knitting trenches!

xo,

Vickie

Finish this sentence:

My favorite knitting, crochet or craft tool, accessory, book and/or yarn that I can't live without is...

Thanks!,

Vickie

(Disclaimer: I may be using some of the scoop I receive from this post on a future episode of CRL)

Hiya from Stitches West!

Howdy! Just a quick greeting from the convention floor of Stitches West, in Santa Clara California.  More to come once I get back to TX.

Happy Knitting!

xo,

Vickie

Video Blog--Knit Out '08

Hey all. I'm back from the Knit Out at the Mall of Americas in Mineapolis. It was cruisazy--I don't think I've ever seen so many knitter's & crocheters in one place. I think they were estimating something like 50,000! I'm serious.

I brought my new little Flip camera (the one I bought after seeing Jennifer's video blogging brilliance) with me on the trip and made a 1st time attempt at using iMovie today. So, instead of giving my same ol' written account of the road less raveled, I put together this little number.  Enjoy!

(Here's the YouTube link if you want to watch it without it being cut-off on the side from my blog's formatting.  Feel free to grab the code while you're there and embed it in your own blog. :))

xo,

Vic

P.S.  Hey NoCal-ers!  Don't forget, Stitches West is in 3 days.  See you there!

Love & Rockets...or airplane rides. Whatever.

On this day last year, I was in the middle of the Valentine's Day blizzard in Vermont--snuggled up with 20+ DIY cast and crew members. As much as I *heart* all of them I must say, it's good to be home this year! It's 70 degrees in Austin, my husband's at work making me veggie beef enchiladas (I just gave him a tip I learned from my hispanic grandmother about how to keep the corn tortillas from cracking while rolling them--the trick is that you have to dip them in warm enchilada sauce first) and I have a glass of wine close at hand. Life is good. Hope you all are having a happy V-day yourselves, surrounded by the person/people you love most!

My friend and I made leading up to love day, a knit-a-long.  We knit black, skinny ties for our mens--her version adorned with a skully pin and mine with a wee mitred heart.  Pictures (and pattern) to come!

I'm headed off to MN tomorrow for the Knit Out.  First stop will be at my one of my absolute favorite indie stores, Crafty Planet, for a happy hour/stitch 'n bitch session.  The rest of the weekend will be spent at the Mall of Americas amongst all kinds of knitting goodness.  The Craft Yarn Council has the event jam packed with author interviews, competitions, fashion shows and demos.  Look for me, emceeing a couple of the programs as well as teaching how to make your own mitred heart embellishment and otherwise spreading the love. ;) Hope to see you there!

On a different note, I just wanted to give a supportive shout out to my dear friend, Adina Klein.

Adina is the extremely smart, talented and innovative woman who you may know as the editor-in-chief of both Vogue Knitting and Knit.1 Magazine.  A few weeks ago, due to budget cuts within the publisher, her position was eliminated.  As I go over the final draft of my next K.1 column in what will be her last issue (due out in April), I feel really sad.   So much about what I love about both magazines (especially working on the latter) can be credited to her vision. Nobody does it like Ms. Adina Sabrina Klein.  Seriously.  And although she'll always be in my personal life, I will greatly miss her not being a part of the immediate professional one. I love you, my partner in pun-making crime!

Ok, I'm off to pack. Give yourself a big Valentine's Day hug from me!

xoxo,

Vickie

Ravelry Files

I love seeing other knitter's interpretations of my designs and whenever possible, giving those people props. A couple of years ago, we added a "Knitter's Gallery" to the photos section of my site to do just that. We dig when people share their FO shots with us! 

Now however, there's another cool way for me to get to see how people are using my patterns, books, SWTC yarn line and such: the Ravely Projects section. Oh, how I *heart* this feature!

Today, I thought I'd post some of what I found:

Market Bag

Pattern: from Knit.1 Magazine '07 Green Issue

Yarn: VHC CRAFT

Kit Available now on my Etsy Page

Hand Like A Hole

Pattern: Free Blog Pattern

Yarn: VHC ROCK

Mae Day Sundress

Pattern: Free Gift with yarn purchase on-line or at LYS

Yarn: VHC CRAFT

Lana & Clark Ascot

Pattern: Free Blog Pattern

Yarn: VHC LOVE

Knight Rider

Pattern: from New Knits on the Block

Oh Scrap! Wrap

Pattern: Free Blog Project

(I wore mine on Knitty Gritty--I can't remember which episode)

Greatest American Hero

Pattern: From New Knits on the Block

I'd love to see what you're up to, too-- Add me as a friend on Ravelry (VickieHowell) and join the Knitty Gritty group!

xo,

Vickie

Politics, Podcasts & the Paranormal

Happy Super Tuesday, fellow political fanatics! Texas primaries aren't for another month but we'll be watching the 24 states who do get to participate today, with bated breath. I swear, election coverage has become like addictive reality television for me.  I've had the "Yes We Can" video playing constantly on my laptop all morning.  What can I say, some people love a good football game, I love a good race for office.

Unrelated to politics, the other programming that I'm obsessed with is all of the ghost-related shows that have been popping up all over TV world lately. When I was a kid, while other children wanted to grow up to be doctors, teachers and firefighters--I wanted to be a parapsychologist. Seriously. I'm still fascinated with anything having to do with the paranormal, so the new line-up on the Discovery, History and Travel channels is totally my new B/F/F. ;) Has anyone been watching the A Haunting series? The "A Haunting in Connecticut" episode totally freaked me out! Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters are also great. But I digress.

So the real reason I'm posting today is that I'm gearing up to start pre-production on Season Two of my podcast, CRL (Craft.Rock.Listen).  Since it was the first season, the last time around I just basically begged a few of my friends to come on as guests/sponsors/resources, etc.  This time, I'd like to open it up a bit to include an even wider range of peeps that might be interested in being a part of the show.

Here's what I'm looking for:

GUESTS

Anyone doing something cool in the craft world.  Got a book coming out?  Working on a new project?  Got a topic you're passionate about?  Great!  Have an art/pop-culture/music/eco tie-in?  Double great!

E-mail suggestions or pitches to: podcast@vickiehowell.com

BOOKS/MAGS/Cool Stuff

Publishers & craft companies: send me new books, issues or craft-related tools that you'd like reviewed for the T3 segment of the podcast.

PO Box 151386

Austin, TX 78745

SPONSORS

Both On-Air and web ad space available that will run for the entire season!  We offer both indie & corporate sponsorship options for the podcast as well as very affordable Blogad space (look to your right to see examples of current advertisers).

E-mail: rebecca@vickiehowell.com for rates.

I'm aiming to get this round of CRL up and running by late March/early April so, I'll need to get episodes in place within the next month--please contact us by NO LATER THAN February 28th if you're interested in being a part of CRL, season 2.

If anyone missed Season One which included guests: Kathy Cano-Murillo (Crafty Chica), Adrienne Armstrong (Atomic Garden/Adeline Records), Will Forte (SNL), Jennifer Perkins (Craft Lab/Naughty Secretary Club), Adina Klein (Vogue Knitting), Debbie Stoller (BUST Magazine/Stitch N' Bitch books), and Kelley Deal (The Breeders/Bags that Rock)--it can still be heard on my website or iTunes.   Give it a listen!

xo,

Vickie