Crazy Aunt Purl comes to town

Ms. Crazy Aunt Purl at the downtown Seattle Barnes & Noble, 10/17/2007

I was happy to catch Laurie Perry reading from her book Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair this week. As you can maybe tell from the above picture, there were not enough chairs. I stood for her her whole talk with my chevron scarf draped around my neck, knitting from one end. (Laurie thought that was funny when she signed my copy of the book, but hey, it's a convenient way to knit!)

Laurie was as sweet and funny in person as she is in her blog, and I have to say, as cute as a button. I mention this especially because she often writes about body image issues (which of course I can relate to) and I think she's just so pretty so I wanted to say that here.

I've already finished the book. It's Laurie's story of what it was like to have her husband leave her and grow into a happy life with a little help from the passage of time, knitting, and friends. She's a humorous writer (I highly recommend the blog) and it's a quick, enjoyable read with some knitting patterns in the back.

Baby Knits

I'm blessed to have many babies in my life to knit for. Aren't they cute?


Umbilical Cord Hat that I knit for little c, picture taken by his mama 10/7/2007
[aside for Wanderlust Lost Knits ... yes, this is R's baby! Can you believe it?]


Strawberry Hat I knit for my dear Peanut, at the pumpkin patch, 10/7/2007

I finished the 13th repeat of the kimono shawl and am temporarily putting aside while I push on through to the end of the chevron. But, in case I start to go crazy, I've also cast on for the stitch-sampler baby blocks in this gorgeous Cascade 220 rainbow:



I could just take pictures for hours. There are more on my Flickr too.



I started with the purple heather. OMG, I love this yarn (color, texture, knitting with it) so much I want to knit a sweater in it. Me, a sweater. I don't wear sweaters, especially ones made of wool. I live in the Pacific Northwest, sweaters are too hot here. I don't look particularly good in sweaters. And it would take a lot of yarn and stitches to knit a sweater that would fit me well. But wouldn't Rogue as a cardigan or Arwen look just lovely in this yarn?

WIP Updates

It's that time again. To tell you about my progress with two projects that just don't want to be finished. If I had had any clear idea that both would just keep going and going, I would have realized that casting them both on in the same week - the first week of July - was not a good plan. I snuck a little hat in last week just to be able to finish something.



Pattern: Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock medium weight in Thistle and Nodding Violet
Needles: Knit Picks Options in US size 5

I'm 42 inches in. I have to confess that the thought of going on to 77, or even 66 inches, just makes me want to cry. Can't I be done already? Seriously, it's like a slap in the face that this is from a book called Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Yeah, she says it will take a while. And, yeah, I've put it aside for long stretches of time because I'm burned out on it. I can't believe that some of you have knit more than one! Of course, I did buy enough yarn to knit two in different colorways...



Speaking of yarn, I adore Socks That Rock but find that there is noticeable pooling, especially of the lime green, and I just don't like that. I've actually considered frogging but think I will more likely give it away. What's your opinion?



Pattern: Kimono Shawl by Cheryl Oberle
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Burgundy
Needles: Addi Lace Turbo in US size 5

I am exactly halfway through my Kimono Shawl. That's 33 inches of unblocked lace. I adore this pattern and I love the yarn and I continue to enjoy the knitting, but at this rate (one 24-row repeat per week), I'll be done in December. And I really want to be wearing it now!

I thought the Kimono Shawl would be a good first lace project since I wouldn't have to deal with shaping for a triangular shawl. But I think the triangular ones would go much faster. Also of note, I substituted fingering weight yarns (Gloss is 70% wool, 30% silk; the patterns calls for 100% silk). I ordered the same yardage of yarn as the pattern called but, at the rate I'm going, I'm only going to use about 60% of it. Amusingly enough, I'll have enough leftover to make a triangular shawl!

Strawberry Hat

I'm glad to report I got by auntie knitting mojo back, and I've already completed the strawberry hat for my little nieceling. Since I'm in the middle of two projects that just keep going and going and going, it was really, really nice to do a quick little project and have a finished object already! This knit up so quickly I didn't have time to take pictures in progress.



Pattern: Ann Norling Kid's Fruit Cap
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Needles: Clover bamboo US size 7
Size: Six months (16 inches diameter)



This was my first stranded project and once I figured how to wrap the extra yarn when there was a long stretch of red in between the "seeds," it was easy going. It's a great little project. It's super cute and people love it! I've already had three friends ask me if I can make it in an adult size.

Pattern available for sale here. Similar pattern available for free online here.

I had a little falling down

I had a little falling down. Now, when I write those words, I assume you know what I mean, because I assume anyone reading knitting blogs is reading the Yarn Harlot and she writes fairly often about her fallings-down and, as far as I know, the term "falling down" as it applies to yarn comes from her. But I'm not sure she's ever technically defined it, so let me 'splain what I mean by "a little falling down."

First, this is not a falling down:

Cascade 220 Superwash Wool in color #809 (red) and color #801 (green)

You didn't think 2 skeins was a falling down anyway, did you? But here's why: I was recently at the half-birthday party for my favorite six-month old, whom I'll call Peanut. Her Nana had sent her a really cute pumpkin hat which she was wearing. But the pumpkin hat was store-bought and made from cotton jersey fabric. Now, if there is one thing that can be knit well, it's baby hats that look like fruit and vegetables. In fact, I purchased the pattern for such hats when my little Peanut was one month old. Seeing her in the little store-bought pumpkin hat made me realized how derelict I was in my aunterly duties. And I know how fond her mama is of the strawberry hat, and in fact, I've been promising a hat since Peanut was a month old. So, off to the LYS for yarn for a strawberry hat - which I've already cast on and am two inches in.

See, perfectly justifiable, overdue even - not a falling down. This isn't a falling down either:

Cascade 220 Heathered Wool in color #9454 (purple), #2447 (blue), and #9461 (green) and Cascade 220 Wool in #4147B (yellow), #9465B (orange), and #2413 (red).

It may look like a falling down because of the lascivious way in which the yarn is photographed. But again, it's a well-thought-out, overdue purchase. See, at this half-birthday party, little Peanut was holding court, sitting on the couch, playing with her many toys. Grabbing them, pulling them to her, chewing on them. And I thought back to a darling knitted baby block pattern that I've had in the back of my mind for probably a year now and realized that they should have been done already because six months is the perfect age for playing with them. So, on the same trip to the LYS I also got the yarn to make blocks.

See, not a falling down. Plus the yarn in such great colors will be good fodder for photographs, and that's a worthwhile cause too, especially since I've signed up for a photography certificate course that just started.

I have this rule that I only buy yarn with a project in mind. Technically, I've only broken that rule once (well, until yesterday, anyway), and that was handspun camel down and only one skein and it would have been a crime to pass that up, right? Then there is the yarn bought for projects that didn't work out and ended up making a home in the stash without a project attached that somehow don't count against my little rule. The truth is, I don't really like having a lot in my stash, because it stresses me out to have yarn nagging me from the closet and the closet really isn't that big. And I'm not big on consumerism (despite my falling down) and don't really want to present myself that way. But, beautiful yarn is beautiful yarn.

To me, a falling down is an impulsive purchase, most likely extravagant, and without a project in mind for that yarn. Not exactly blatant consumerism, but closer to that than I'm really comfortable with. Perhaps the Yarn Harlot's definition differs, but that's what it means to me. My falling down is that I signed up for Sundaras' new "Seasons" Yarn Club yesterday.

I occasionally flip through her "currently available" list and dream, but without a project in mind, I haven't been able justify the cost. I have no desire to get caught up in the drama of the competition for a limited yarn when she makes an update, so oftentimes the yarns I really like are gone when I go looking. I don't knit socks (yet) so the sock club hasn't appealed. But Tiennie posted yesterday about the new Seasons Club, so I clicked on the link to check it and bam! a falling down, and I had subscribed.

Somehow, it feels better to share the good news.

PS I chose Winter.

The Yarn Harlot Comes to Town

Yes, her visit was a week and a half ago. But my father was in town (and agreed to be dragged along - lucky for me, as he had his tourist camera on him, and I had forgotten mine at home) and so it's taken me a while to process my pictures and find the time to write even this short note.

I was afraid Third Place would run out of chairs, so we got there about half an hour early. (It didn't, but there were a few hundred people there to see her). It's a lovely venue which endeavors to be a community gathering spot - the bookstore is only part of it - so we had a bite to eat before the show started. My partner and father then wandered the bookstore while I sat down with my shawl and listened.

Man, the cameras went crazy when she did her standard shots of the crowd with the traveling sock. Of course, I was one of them:



Stephanie talked with us for a while, and was witty, funny, and enjoyable. She made me swell with knitterly pride. I'm not sure if it actually was a book reading - I've read the book and didn't recognize her piece as being from it - but her talk belongs in print, IMHO. Beyond the humor, one point that stayed with me, and impressed my father, was: 100 years ago, it was considered a waste of money to buy something that you could make. Now, it's considered a waste of time to make something you can buy. I'm quite pleased to be part of the movement that is taking back the value of making.

I tried to take some pictures while she was talking, but the lighting was poor. Here's the best I managed:


Pretty awful, huh?

With family in tow and a big crowd, I didn't stay for the book signing. But I did hover around the stacks to get a better picture of her in person:


I love that she's wearing Birkenstocks, because I was wearing my own pair that night.

Shawl update: I took Stephanie's message to represent for knitters to heart (although frankly would have done this whether or not I had made it to see her) and took my shawl to a two-day training I attended for work last week. I completed almost a full repeat and a half in two days and the training was much more enjoyable. And I've churned out another repeat since then! I've now finished 11 repeats, which is 45% done! With autumn upon us in earnest, I am eager to be able to wear the shawl soon.

Kimono Shawl

Lovely Kimono Shawl,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1. You are my first lace project, and I'm learning so very much. Like the correct way to do SSKs. How yarnovers and decreases go together like peas in a pod. That purling Continental style is a breeze. Why it is important to pay attention on the purl-back rows. How to fix missed yarnovers, and how to fix mis-placed yarnovers four (count'em, four!) rows down. The value of lifelines, even though I haven't needed to use one yet.



2. You are being knitted in such a lovely yarn. (Knit Picks Gloss in the burgundy colorway). You have all the elasticity and warmth of your 70% merino side and the sheen and softness of your 30% silk side. Your color is a beautiful deep red that doesn't want to be photographed despite my many attempts. And you smell yummy too.



3. You are rectangular, so I don't have to worry about increasing to make a triangle or shaped for shoulders. (The next project or two, perhaps).



4. Your pattern looks like leaves and petals and feathers all at once. You are gorgeous.



5. I love you more with each repeat I knit. And I've finished seven now! (Of twenty-five.) I can't wait until you are done and I can wear you all the time!

Knitted Utility Bags

I finished these some time ago, but since I've been using them, I hadn't gotten around to photographing them until over this past weekend.


A sunglasses case, a radio face plate case, and a little camera bag. I was inspired by this gorgeous bag (without knowing she had made the pattern available online - I had only seen the picture on Flickr). Of course, the yarn I wanted to use was much bigger.

I knit them in the round on US size 9 DPNs with a three-way bind off. I used three strands of Silk City Perle 3/2 Cotton in different blue-purple colors, knit tripled. I love the way the three strands of yarn make a beautiful heathered fabric. (It kind of reminds me of the Artfibers Coat that Amy R. Singer is knitting, except of course the fibers are very different.)


Sunglasses case: I lost my sunglasses case, so knit myself one. It's a little big for the glasses and the things that go over your ears (what are they called?) have a tendency to get stuck, but I lurve it. I stuck a couple yarnovers a few rows down from the cast-on edge to run the drawstring through.


Face plate case: I got a new radio for my car, which came without a face plate case. So I took half of the old one (which had fallen apart) and knit a little bag to fit around the whole contraption.


Camera case: I began with some ribbing, but it totally failed in the cotton yarn and size 9 needles. When closed, I tie the strap around the end to hide the terrible ribbing. (I started this bag about 7 times, so was unwilling to frog and try again.)


Each project only took a couple of hours, but I only knit them when I wasn't interested in knitting anything else, which was rare, so it took a while to finish them.

I used the yarn from the cabled baby blanket that I frogged, and still have a small yarn cake left over.

Ravelry

I got my invite last week. I've started to post things to my account, potentialofyarn. I've also gone through my blogroll and tried to add as many of you as possible. Feel free to leave me your Ravelry user name if you have one. (FYI, if you are still waiting, the latest info on their blog is that invites will be going out much faster within a week or two).

Now for the eye candy:





These beautiful cotton scarves were woven by my knitting mentor as a fundraiser for the Seattle AIDS Walk. He also hand painted the multi-colored yarn. I'm taking pictures for him because he's thinking of setting up an Etsy shop. They are gorgeous and I really hope he does. They deserve a wider audience.

WIP Updates

I've been on vacation this last week, at home, doing projects around the house - painting the home office (which left me without internet for almost a week) and making jam. Plus an emergency root canal, oh joy. And, of course, some time for knitting. So here's the update on my two main projects:



I'm 28 inches into the Chevron Scarf. Which means I still have 7-10 inches to go to be halfway through, depending on how long I end up making it. The lime is a little more lime - vibrant lime - than the picture shows, and it's pooling a little more than I'd like - despite the yarn changes, the pattern of the lime is very noticeable. But I can think of several people who would really love this scarf, and I expect to be making one of them happy come the holidays.

This is a great knitting project to take with me when I'm out and about, and I'm looking forward to trying it in some of the other yarns I have - which is partially why I'm leaning towards a 70, not 77, inch final scarf. I'm also happy to report that I'm doing a lot of Continental knitting on the scarf - pretty much everything except the k2tog and kfb rows. (I've found the knit front and back to be very hard to do left-handed.) This is making the tendinitis in my right arm happy.



Almost done with the third repeat of the Kimono Shawl. I put a lifeline in after the second repeat. Luckily, I haven't had to use it, but I have had another instance or two of tinking a few rows. When I do the purl rows back, I have a tendency to somehow drop the yarnovers. I have to be much more vigilant with lace than I'm used to. Despite that, I'm still passionately in love with this shawl.