Knit-In at Barnes & Noble

My friend Karen and I went to a knit-in at the local Barnes & Nobles yesterday. It was organized by 5 of the yarn shops in the area. We had no idea what to expect. We were told to bring chairs and that their would be great door prizes. Well, the door prize gift baskets did look wonderful, but unfortunately we didn't get to have any first hand experience with them (i.e., we didn't win!). The store was mobbed with knitters, spinners, crocheters, and maybe other fiber artists, though those are the only crafts I saw. There were groups spread out throughout the store, some smallish (we were in a group of about 9 lovely women--and it turned out 4 of us were librarians, most of the others were teachers. I've noticed this at knit nights at my LYS, too--lots of women in these two professions. I wonder if I might do some sort of study of this seeming link between knitting and careers?), others much, much larger. I am glad we ended up in such a friendly group, though it could well be all the groups were friendly! I felt a bit sorry for muggles who were actually trying to buy books, as some sections were completely blocked by our groups.

My group was located near the mall entrance, with a massive window right behind us. Lots of people stopped to see what we were up to, particularly because we had a woman spinning on a wheel in our group. It was great to see all the interest. The woman who taught me to knit a couple of years ago stopped by, and I was able to show her the fair isle sweater I finished lately. I was glad to have the opportunity to thank her for changing my life, which really isn't an exaggeration at all.

I wonder if the yarn stores and B & N will do it again? I also wonder if the store got lots of complaints by the book buyers.

OTN: I finished the back of the Taconic Sweater, and have just started the front. I understand that the smaller sizes aren't able to follow the chart completely, because there aren't enough stitches. To me, that seems to be sloppy pattern writing, but perhaps it is more common than I realize? I also finally started knitting some Brooks Farm yarn--Mas Acero, in an incredibly simple shawl pattern--perfect knitting while watching the PBS Jane Austen offerings every Sunday night. I have several other skeins of Brooks Farm yarn around, but they are buried deep in my stash. The colors are lovely, I shouldn't have waited so long.

Back to normal knitting!

I finished up the fair isle cardigan early this month, and I am ever so happy to have it out of my hair! I feel like I can relax a bit now with my knitting, towards the end things were getting somewhat tense with it. There are a few areas I am not completely happy with: the button bands, despite close checking of gauge to know how many stitches to pick up, droop a bit. As does the ribbing at the top of the pockets (note to self: find black elastic thread and take care of this). Also, the neck is shaped something along the lines of a boat neck. I know I picked up stitches in the range recommended, so I don't know what the heck happened with it. But let's just call it a design element. Unfortunately, my office at work hovers around the 80 degree mark, so I've only had the chance to wear it once since I finished it. This weekend I'll be going with a friend to a knit-in at the local Barnes & Noble, so that might be a good time to feature it. Here's a picture of it when it was being blocked.

Those of us who joined the skein of the month club from Webs got our first shipment toward the end of January--lovely yarn from Sheep Shop, and a very pretty pattern, too (see Jan. 27 post). Well, it turned out my skein was the skein from hell. Terrifically tangled and matted to boot. After approximately 5 hours spent trying to untangle it (my husband even volunteered to help, when he saw me in deep frustration mode, and a friend did the last part for me, in trade for my doing tassles for a hat for her), it was done, but the yarn was a bit the worse for wear in parts. Still, I am enjoying knitting it--it is very soft. Said friend suggested contacting the yarn company, which I did. They say they've never heard of this happening before, but kindly offered to send me a replacement skein--WOUND! (I don't think they trust me to do it myself, but that's ok.) The end of February is creeping up on us, I guess we'll be getting our next skein and pattern soon.

Other recent projects include a version of the Robin's Egg Blue hat, which was a lovely, soothing knit and a pretty shrug, Cherish, from Kim Hargreave's book Heartfelt worked in Rowan Big Wool.

Additional pictures

Well, I managed to trick my camera and get the latest pictures out. The purple neck band lining is evident here, as well as the area cut away from the neck. The third picture shows the two lines of stitches from the inside that will be joined with the outside stitches to encase the cut area. I used light blue on the outside, light turquoise on the inside, just for a bit of fun.

The Never-ending Fair Isle Cardigan

I CAN NOT wait for this project to be done. I have spent 4 of the last 4 weekend days working on it almost full time. Yes, knitting a body tube without having to worry about purling while doing colorwork is a great idea. Not so great is the machine stitching and picking up stitches. These two activities make the actual steeking look easy and carefree. I am indebted to all the posts at Luna-Knits as she went through the process--I
know mine will be much better for learning about encasing the cut areas so that the mess doesn't show, and reading about how to keep the button band edges from curling, as well as other advice. I found the encasing directions a bit late for the sleeves, but that is ok, as that area really doesn't show. But I lined my neckband (with a new color, just for a little oomph, though my camera doesn't seem to want to disgorge the picture of it), as she describes, and now I am knitting the rows that will encase the front steeked edges. I am a nervous wreck (well, I've been a nervous wreck most of the time over these four days), but the latest cause is my worry that I haven't picked up the right number of stitches, and the button bands won't lay flat. My row and stitch gauges were the same, so I I picked up in every row. We'll see. More pictures to come when my camera decides it is willing to share them.

I passionately long for some uncomplicated, but still interesting, knitting projects for the next few weeks. I feel like I've been challenged enough for now. My goal is to finish it by the end of January. There's a chance... (I think my husband hopes for this, too. He has said he's a bit tired of coming second to a cardigan!)

On a cheerier note, I received my first shipment from the Webs/Storey Publishing Skein of the Month Club. I am impressed. It is Sheep Number Three from Sheep Shop Yarn, and a pretty pattern for a scarf. A friend wonders how well the pattern details will show in the variegated colorways--I guess we'll find out! (Once I get to my post-cardigan life...)

Changed Store or Changed Knowledge?

Several months after I started knitting, I visited Amazing Threads, a yarn shop in Lake Katrine, NY (near Kingston). It isn't a very large store, but I was really impressed by the unusual yarns and the lovely sample items and the patterns they had available. When I had a chance this weekend to finally get there for a second time, almost two years later, I couldn't wait. However, this time I wasn't overwhelmed by what was available. Lots of Plymouth yarn, and Alchemy Yarns of Transformation, and some others. (They also had a box of a beautiful plum/copper/brown yarn, labeled "Amazing Threads Special," which I couldn't resist (only $3 for 77 yards!) and which is already being made up into fingerless mitts.) There were very nice people working yesterday, but overall, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I'd had such fabulous memories of my first trip. But after thinking about it for a time, I realized the store and its stock probably hasn't changed all that much. What has changed is how much I know about yarns, and how many more yarns I've worked with since I was an absolute novice. I will cherish that memory of my first trip, and instead of being disappointed about the second, I will celebrate how much I've learned and how much I've gotten from this wonderful craft in the last 21 or so months.

New Year challenges and a new book that caught my eye

I hate New Year's resolutions such as losing weight or eating fewer desserts or that kind of thing. I am sure this is because I know I have no intention of doing such things. But I am happy to try to find a couple of knitting challenges that might fit as resolutions. I wonder if it is fair to put one on my list that I mastered in the last week, before I firmed up my resolutions? I am pretty proud of it, since while I was still learning, I wasn't a very happy camper, and I think my husband would have been pleased to move out for a few days. To explain: As I mentioned in my last post, I went to the Webs book launch for Melissa Morgan-Oakes's book 2-at-a-time Socks in mid December. I was thinking of getting the book, but wasn't completely decided. It was, however, a great excuse to go to Webs! Well, you know I won the kit and bought the book. I was off from work last week, and thought this might be a good time to concentrate on learning this technique, rather than starting some evening when I come home from work ultra-tired. The first day I worked on it, it didn't go well. I was misinterpreting what to do with the needle after finishing the first half of the first sock, and what should have been K1P1 ribbing turned into two knits in a row, moving from the last stitch of the first half of sock 1 to the first stitch of the second half. I contacted Melissa, who suggested just doing some stockinette practice rounds. Something clicked when I tried this, but then it took another couple of sessions to get the hang of moving the socks and/or cord around and not getting totally tangled up. But as is said in My Fair Lady, "she's got it, I think she's got it"! I am still working on the practice toddler socks, but feel much less clutzy now. I am actually a fan of double-pointed needles, but I do suffer from second sock syndrome, so I think I'll try knitting a pair of adult socks this way next.

In Borders yesterday, I found a new book that really caught my attention: Knit Tricks by Rebecca Wat. The garments, which run the gamut from scarves to vests to shrugs to sweaters, are all made out of rectangles, but a number of them use really interesting wrapping techniques. The author is very interested in origami, and that shows in some of these designs. There are 3 or 4 I'd like to make right away, but of course there doesn't seem to be anything appropriate in my stash. I think there is another trip to a yarn store in my near future!

Besides the socks, I have just started working on a short sweater, Cherish, by Kim Hagreaves from Heartfelt, and my Celtic Cardigan and Fair Isle Sweater continue to languish (though I did finish enough of the Celtic Cardigan to wear it as the Celtic Vest for the time being). The multidirectional scarf in Noro Aurora is moving along. However, my second knitting resolution is to finish the Fair Isle Sweater and do the steaking! It would be nice to wear it this winter, and there aren't many inches left on the body (the sleeves are both done, one is below). Wish me luck!

Expensive Trip to Webs

A friend and I went to Webs in Northampton yesterday. It was her first time there, and I wanted to go to the book launch for 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oates. We spent close to 4 hours there (it was a really good thing they had some very nice refreshments for the book launch!), but we were really delighted with the multitude of yarns we picked out. We each had some projects we wanted to find yarn for, and we came away with everything we needed. That was something of a shock in itself. Our find of the day was a new sale item, Zenith by Di.Ve', which is a supersoft superwash worsted-weight merino. Between us, we got enough for one sweater(Erin in the new book Heartfelt by Kim Hargreaves), two hats, two scarves, and a pair of cabled mitts! And I may be forgetting something. We also bought other yarns for lots of other projects! If you have never been to Webs, it is well worth the trip if it is a manageable distance for you.

There was a drawing for prizes connected to the book launch, and I couldn't believe it when I heard my name being called. I won Addi Turbos 40" size 4 needles, two skeins of Valley Yarns Superwash, and a package of stitch markers. These are all the supplies needed to knit the pair of sample socks that start of the book. I'd been uncertain as to whether I'd actually buy the book, but of course I then had to, so I could try the sample socks out. I think it will be fun. I tend to suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, so I'd love to learn this way of kntting two socks at once on one long circular needle. Webs and Melissa offer an extra pattern to those who buy the book at Webs, an incentive not to go to Amazon for this title!

Today is miserable--snow earlier (and due again later), sleet, ice pellets, high winds expected--a perfect day to stay in and knit. So I'd best get back to exactly that. I am working on a couple of small felted bowls for a friend for the holiday. Good thing they don't take long to knit!