Shut Yo' Mouth!

Have you ever seen something new in knitting that just leaves you talking to yourself, shaking your head, and your mouth dropped open?  I just had one of those moments, and maybe you will too:  Know It All (Use THIS LINK to see the whole business + YouTube explanation.)

Yep, this bag knows everything. It knows your row number, the chart for your stitch pattern, and where you are in that stitch pattern. Unlike the other know-it-alls in your life, it will gladly share information with you by displaying your row number and a chart for the current row of your stitch pattern in lights! (Though of course there are limitations; you can generate a custom chart for the bag, but only for stitch patterns up to 10 stitches wide that use k, p, k2tog, ssk and sk2p). The bag is part of a growing project category called “computational textiles.” Computational textiles is a scary phrase often applied to projects that are complicated, difficult and fun but don’t do much. Still, I found myself obsessed with the idea of mixing knitting and technology after making an origami crane with light-up eyes at a computational textiles workshop at Indiana University.

This bag is the result of that obsession. The 10 LED lights act as a row counter and a charted pattern. And more important: just about any knitter could pull this off. Really. Any knitter with a thirst for adventure and a few projects under their belt can do this. You can make and use this bag if you can: Knit Purl Seam using whipstitch (not even mattress stitch!) Thread a needle without poking yourself (for the sewing, and my weakness) Poke yourself while threading a needle (for the needle felting; in fact, this was my first-ever needle-felting project!) Read knitting charts Sync an iPod or cellphone with your computer

It's just so out there that I need to try this!

By the way, I have startitis...  I'm trying to limit myself to an hour of websurfing because I come up with new ideas every 15 seconds...