Classes and yarn stores

I am so excited--I just listened to episode 110 of the Ready Set Knits podcast from Webs, and found out that Lucy Neatby will be teaching there this spring. I've long wanted to take one of her classes, so I dashed off to the computer, to find out exactly what she would be teaching (though, to be honest, she probably could have been teaching bricklaying and I would have signed up). She's teaching a full day class on circular knitting and steeking, and two half-day classes, one on buttonholes and one on grafting (called "Hallelujah Grafting"). I know, from Lucy's DVDs (I am the proud owner of 7 of them), that I can learn even from what would seem to be basic lessons. Indeed, in her recent interview on the Knit Picks podcast (#77), she makes this very same point. I've only steeked one garment, but I have done lots of circular knitting. I've also done a fair number of button holes, but I'm not sure I've ever been completely happy with them. As for grafting, I thought I was severely Kitchener stitch-challenged until, in a class with Joan Schrouder this past July at TKGA, I found out that left-handed people can start the grafting on the left! Eureka! I can now graft. But I haven't done much of it, so of course there is a ton for me to learn. So I ended up signing up for the two half-day classes. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there won't be a massive snow storm to keep me from getting to Webs on April 1--given the date, I am almost expecting this to happen! And since my route takes me over the Berkshire Mountains...

Speaking of classes, I am working on the Ski Lodge Scoop vest from Twelve Months of Knitting, and the shoulders are worked with traditional stair-step bind-offs. In a class taught by Margaret Fisher, we were taught the use of short rows for shoulders, and I thought I'd give it a try. I've just finished the back, and it looks fine. We'll see when I get to doing the three needle bind-off on the shoulders (another benefit of the short rows--live stitches so I can do this). I normally never give myself deadlines for projects, but since Ravelry prompted me when I put this in my queue, I entered Dec. 31. So I am working hard on it to get it done.

On the day after Christmas, my husband and I took a day trip, aiming for used bookstores, yarn stores, and a favorite restaurant. One of the yarn shops was new to me, Needleworks in Greenwich, NY. It is housed in a lovely space, and was filled with delights. I saw a yarn from Norway that I'm not familiar with, what seemed to be an older yarn from Reynolds, and there was quite a variety of nice yarns from Rowan, Jo Sharp, Dale, and others. I picked up three colors of a Brown Sheep yarn that I'd never seen before, Lanaloft sports weight. It is to make the pretty stranded Inga hat. Luckily, my husband had scored a number of purchases in the first bookstore, so he was happy to sit and read while I browsed. And browsed. And browsed.

Other than working hard on the vest, I finished up the Faux Fair Isle Fairy Socks from Nicky Epstien's Knitting on Top of the World.

Gotta run--my vest is calling!

Amanda is finished!

I've been working on the Amanda cardigan, on and off, since September, and I am delighted that it is now finished. The pattern is from A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd, and it is just the first of several patterns I plan to make from the book. I used Louet Riverstone worsted in a rather sharp yellow green color (officially called Willow) that has not received the approval of my husband, but it is a nice change from the colors of most of my cardigans, and I think it will look good with jeans and black pants. When Webs first put Riverstone on sale, I went a bit crazy buying colors, so this is now the second sweater I've made of it. It seems to soften a good bit once washed, though I don't know if I'd wear it next to my skin.

One of the projects that kept me from the cardigan during part of the intervening months was a pair of cat mittens that absolutely captivated me! The pattern is very well written, though a knit and purl row seems to be reversed. The designer, Jorid Linvik, included red vertical grid lines in the chart that I'd not seen before, but that were a wonderful help in keeping my place. I made these out of Knit Picks Palette, in Garnet Heather and Tan. These will definitely be entered into the Altamont Fair this summer!

Right now I am working on a pair of Fair Isle socks from Nicky Epstein's Knitting on Top of the World. This book fascinates me--there are some lovely patterns, but also quite a few that are way beyond anything I'd consider wearing! The back of the Fair Isle capelet is gorgeous, but have you seen the front? Oh my! (If you haven't seen it, check out page 103 in the book.) The Tyorolean Leg Warmers are stunning! Not that I've ever worn leg warmers, but this would be the pair to start with. Anyway, back to the socks. They are made out of K1P2 Soxx Appeal, a lovely stretchy yarn, and I am hopeful they will fit! This is the first pair of socks I've made in some time, and I am quite enjoying it (well, I am only on the first sock, let's see what I say when I get to the second!). This picture is from a few days ago (I am now well along into the foot), but gives an idea.

What a find! Selbu gloves?

I walked into the local consignment/resale shop recently, hoping to find something that would catch my eye. And better yet, something I actually need. I've found a few things at this rather nice store over time--including a lovely quilted bedspread and some old knitting pattern booklets, not to mention a couple of sweaters from LL Bean. Sometimes they have yarn, but usually not of a very good quality. This time, they had quite a garish selection of eyelash yarn. But what did I care that the yarn was disappointing? Look what I found:

The tag was marked "late 19th century Swedish gloves." Swedish? And were they really that old? When I inquired, the owner said that the person selling them had said they were, and that the family had come to the US many years ago and settled in Kansas. They do feel very old. They are in pretty good condition. There is one hole, a few inexpert mending attempts, and some discoloration, particularly on the fingers, which you can see in the photo. (I wonder if it would be safe to gently wash them in one of my wool wash products?) But how fabulous a find!

I question the Swedish designation. I've read Selbuvotter by Terri Shea, and they sure look Norwegian to me. In fact, her Annemor #4 mittens have a very similar dog design on them. This pair has what looks like the number 8 under the dog's chin--I wonder what that signifies?

I thought it quite a coincidence that the only pair of gloves I've made using a pattern from Selbuvotter (Annemore #8) are green and cream--the same colors. And the patterning on the thumb and palms aren't that different from this old pair. The glove I made is on the right below.



It is intriguing to wonder where this old pair of gloves has been--it seems to be a very well traveled pair. And I am tickled pink with my find!

Twist Collective Trunk Show/Patterns by Robin Melanson

Last night a friend and I had the opportunity to go see Kate Gilbert, who'd brought a Twist Collective trunk show to Trumpet Hill yarns in Colonie (Albany), New York. She was delightful, and obviously very enthusiastic about Twist and the quality of the patterns that are being offered. Not only did Kate bring a selection of garments from the fall patterns, but some from the winter batch! This was quite a treat, getting to see them before they are made available on the site. She asked us not to post any pictures on blogs, etc., but since I didn't have my camera along, that is a moot point. I think I've found at least a couple of patterns from the winter selection that I'd like to buy--stranded items both. But I won't say any more than that. It turns out Kate's grandmother doesn't live at all far from the store, so perhaps she'll come again?

I don't know if this is just a quirk of the items Kate brought along, but sweaters and socks seemed to predominate--for both fall and winter. I've recently made two items designed by Robin Melanson, the Negative Space mitts from Knitting New Mittens and Gloves, and the fingerless stranded mitts she designed for Classic Elite. I've liked both patterns, so I am pretty sure I'll be getting her winter item from Twist. There is an interesting interview with Robin Melanson here. She mentions the Negative Space mitts a couple of times during the interview. I picked these because there were several techniques that were either new to me, or things I've not done much. They have a provisional cast-on, and since I'd just happened to watch a Lucy Neatby DVD, Knitting Essentials 2, a couple of days before, in which she explains a crochet cast-on technique around a knitting needle, I felt ok in that regard. Robin suggests crocheting a chain and then knitting into the loops, something I've not been very successful with in the past. The method Lucy demonstrated was much easier for me, particularly with mitt two, when I didn't switch the places of the first and last stitches for knitting in the round (it makes it much harder to unravel the chain if you do this!). The mitts also had an I-cord bind-off and applied I-cord. The mitts were a lot of fun to knit, and a great learning experience.

My friend and I went to another LYS, Wool 'n Word in West Sand Lake, in the afternoon. I've only been there a couple of times now, but the selections of yarns are most interesting. This time I bought some Jamieson's Spindrift for some stranded mittens, an orphan ball of Galway worsted for stranding projects, and a pretty moebius scarf pattern. I was hoping to be good, since the New York Sheep & Wool Festival is tomorrow in Rhinebeck, but no such luck. (Don't even ask about the yarn I bought at Trumpet Hill, or the box that came from KnitPicks today!)

Well, I expect I'll be reporting on all the tempations I succumbed to at Rhinebeck soon...

Olympic Challenge Project Finished!

I am not sure who is more pleased that my gloves are finished, my husband or I. I was so intent on finishing them in time that I was impossible to live with. But they are done, and I feel free! I think I did a pretty good job on them, but there are some, well, let's call them design elements. Like a few fingers without a column of plain white stitches on one edge on the palm side. However, there is a genuine design element on each thumb--a pretty band of alternating green and white stitches that carries up a similar design from the thumb gussets.

So what am I knitting now? A plain beret, all in stockinette stitch, made out of bulky yarn. It is for a class I hope to teach at The Spinning Room the weekend after Labor Day. At first there were no sign-ups, but now that two people are enrolled, I'd better have the hat ready. This is something of a trial balloon--a series of classes, all knitting hats, to teach a variety of skills. The first is to teach knitting in the round and decreases (it is the Rollin' Beret on the linked page), the second teaches cables (I love making this hat), and the third stranded knitting . I hope the classes all get enough sign-ups to run!

Knitting Olympics

My LYS, The Spinning Room, has a Knitting Olympics challenge on. Start during the opening ceremony, finish by the end of the Olympics. I like challenges. So I thought I would give it a try. The first project I picked was a cardigan. That's a challenge, yes? To get done during the time allotted. So I ran it by a friend (you know who you are!). She was dismissive. Very dismissive. Said the cardigan was rather small. And the yarn was big. Who was I trying to kid? Ok, back to the drawing board, a bit sad, because I'd really like to knit this cardigan, and having a deadline hanging over my head would be perfect. Well, how about stranded mittens? I've done a couple of pairs, but with worsted weight yarn. And one of the pairs was really simple. How about if I challenged myself by using fingering weight yarn and a complex pattern. I hate using tiny needles. This would be a challenge, indeed. Friend with high standards thought perhaps, but making stranded gloves with tiny yarn would be a better challenge. So guess what I am making?!?! And pulling my hair out over? Yup, you got it, gloves with fingering weight yarn and tiny needles. Here's the first one. This is Annemor #8 from the Selbuvotter book. The second one only has half of the pinkie done. It probably wasn't a bright idea to leave most of the fingers and both thumbs to the end, but on Saturday I needed something less challenging to knit than fingers, for some knitting with friends, and succumbed to starting the second hand.

Actually, I shouldn't be blogging, I have to get back to knitting fingers! There is less than a week before the Olympics end, and I am not sure if the fingers are going to drive me insane before then. There is a pretty good chance they will.

But before I go--you may want to know what my friend with high standards is knitting for the Olympic challenge. Or can you guess? NOTHING!!! (But I'm not really mad--she keeps me on my toes.)

TKGA Show in Manchester, NH

I've been terribly negligent in writing to this blog, I guess I have to chalk it up to summer laziness. It isn't that I haven't been knitting, or dreaming about yarn, or buying yarn...

Last week I attended The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA) show in Manchester, NH. I took an all-day and a half-day class, and learned an incredible amount. Knifty Knitted Kneckline Knowhow was taught by Joan Schrouder, who seems to know everything there is to know about sweater knitting, and more! She brought some fabulous sample garments to illustrate lots of different techniques, and I was impressed to find out that she knitted one of the garments in Poems of Color about Bohus knitting. We had made rather extensive swatches to work on in class, to try out a square neckline, a v-neck, and a shawl collor. We learned Kitchener (well, those of us who didn't already know it, and she demystified it for me, who is left-handed) and short rows (for the shawl collor) and I-cord edgings, and a fair amount more. The next day, I took Advanced Finishing with Margaret Fisher, who is one of the most organized knitting teachers I've ever learned under. We learned the tubular cast-on and bind-off, short rows for shoulder shaping, cutting your knitting to lengthen or shorten it (scary at first, but not at the end) and some other techniques that I did know, such as duplicate stitch.

The pace of these classes is so quick that having a chance to breathe and relax during the few things I already knew was much appreciated. I hope to attend more classes by both of these instructors, and I recommend them to you if you get a chance to learn from them.

Several of the vendors I had hoped to see at the Market at the show weren't there--I had heard from a couple that sales last year were less than hoped for. But there were some new ones, too, and plenty to look at.

I used my trips to and from NH to splurge a bit. On the way out, I stopped at Green Mountain Spinnery and Harrisville Design, as I did last year. I hadn't really planned to buy anything at the former, but saw some of their store models for the Stained Glass Hat, and had to buy the pattern. And since their Mountain Mohair yarn is so lovely and shimmery, I treated myself to three colors for the hat--I am afraid the other colors will have to be represented by more mundane yarns. The store samples were absolutely inspired in their color choices--and unfortunately, none of them are given on the pattern (not that those aren't pretty). So I hastily took notes and will see what I come up with. My very first stranded knitting project was their Painted Hat, and I felt like I'd just entered a fascinating new world, so I am looking forward to making this more complex hat.

At Harrisville, I found quite a few things, but the one definite on my shopping list was a skein of New England Shetland for the crochet border for my new sweater. The lace weight yarn called for in the pattern just wasn't showing up enough, but this seems to do the trick. This pattern is from Shear Spirit, and was a pleasure to knit up in Louet Riverstone (currently on sale at Webs).

Speaking of Webs, that is where I stopped on the way home, and I am quite proud that I only spent 75 minutes in the store. However, as readers will know, this is enough time to do serious damage to the budget. I came with a longish shopping list, including yarn for Loppem in Norah Gaughan's new pattern book (collection 3). And guess what--they had a sample of this and several other items right there. So I tried it on--and found it doesn't really look too good on me. But I'd far rather learn this with a garment someone else made, rather than one I made! So I tried on Eastlake, my second choice from the book, and loved it. So there were 11 skeins of Inca Gold in my shopping cart, amongst other things!

Currently on the needles: the Cozy V-Neck sweater from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits, in RYC Soft Tweed.