B&N Knit-In

To anyone checking in here after meeting yesterday - welcome! Please come back and check in again sometime. And, a reminder that tonight (and every Monday evening) is SnB night at Catalyst Coffe (SE corner of Horsetooth and Shields) from 6-8pm. Come when you can and stay as long as you can. Everyone is welcome and we *love* show and tell

Thanks for the heads up from Amanda, and her sharing the existence of the FTC SnB yahoogroup with Ann McCauley, I found out about a “knit-in” taking place at our Barnes & Noble yesterday afternoon. Often it is kind of hard for me to get away during the weekends, but DH is getting ready for NANOEDMO which starts tomorrow so I had no trouble sneaking away for a bit.

In the information we had, we knew that Ann McCauley and Donna Druchunas would be there. They are the authors of The Pleasures Of Knitting: Timeless Feminine Sweaters and The Knitted Rug, respectively. However, there was discussion that we should have all brought our entire knitting libraries had we known who all was going to be there! Also there were Ann Budd, Vicki Square and Deborah Robson. It was quite the who’s who of knitting book authoring

It was also hard to keep control of my pocketbook with all the authors there willing to sign their books for us. I ended up choosing to pick up The Pleasures Of Knitting: Timeless Feminine Sweaters and Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns : Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges. I use her The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges often and had been eyeing the sweater version for some time now. Despite the fact that the largest chest measurement in Ann McCauley’s book is right around 40″ if I recall correctly, I opted to pick that one up as well because the designs are great timeless designs and I don’t think any of them would be too difficult to upsize. She also has some great information in the front section about ergonomics when knitting that I haven’t seen in any other knitting book. I think it will be a very inspirational book.

I was *really* tempted by Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters, however, I didn’t have the money and most of these books are much cheaper online. Also, our local library has two copies of this one on their shelves so I think I’ll be taking it for a test drive first, but Ashley picked it up. I think I will end up getting it in the future as it looks to be the type of book I’m more drawn to than books filled with complete patterns. There was talk of repeating this sometime in the future so hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to get a copy signed at some point.

It was a fun afternoon and I really enjoyed meeting everyone. I’ll have pictures tomorrow, I swear! I have some significant stuff to look at on Clapotis and of course there is the stash organization to share and items for trade/sale coming later this week as well.

Thank You!

Thank you everyone for your insights on your stash organization!

My plan is to go in and group the roughly sorted yarns into projects. And, for small amounts of left over yarn from projects I’ll break it down into 3-5yd lengths and RAK them to my art friends who like to use fibers in their art work.

Using KnitAble, I got all my needles cataloged (or most of them, I think there might be some lingering in various bags in my studio, but the vast majority are cataloged). It was no small feat as I had inherited many, many needles from my grandmother when I last visited in June. I learned some things from this as well…

- I have a huge number of Sz 1 7″ DPNs - like three sets of 5! Plus 3 sets of straights (2 9″ sets and 1 14″ set). None of these were purchased by me. Though, there should be a Brittany Birch set (of 4, I broke one) somewhere…
- I have a large amount of Sz 7 needles in various formats and there are two I didn’t even catalog because I want to trade or sell them, LOL!
- I have nearly as large of a collection of Sz 10 needles!
- I’m thinking a nice purple and green fabric organizer for the circulars that I can hang on the side of the mesh cubes might be called for…

Also, I discovered many changes I’d make to KnitAble, though I don’t have the time or PDA programming knowledge/experience so I guess I’ll take it as it is. My biggest gripe is how the different tables of inventory/information don’t talk to each other. There is a table of needle conversions, but yet when you are cataloging you have to look up the mm size that corresponds. Then when you enter a project and choose yarn and needles, it doesn’t allow you to choose them from your inventory. That doesn’t make any sense to me. Perhaps it is fixed when I get my registration key? I thought the only restrictions were 50 sessions in 30 days. It’s been two days since I bought it and CountAble and I still haven’t gotten my registration/unlock keys for them either. I need to write to them…

Today we get our first ever brand new piece of furniture delivered and I am soooo excited I can’t even express it

There will be knitting related pictures at some point in the near future - Clapotis, hopefully the Spearfish Sock #2 (still haven’t started it - yikes, I need to get going on that), DH’s long finished Multi-DIrectional scarf, the stash… I promise! But, I’ve been kind of busy with taxes for my business and wrapping up a term of courses and then of course the super sekrit project (SnBers know what I’m talking about).

Dangers of Stash Control…

Some Insight…

- I have a scary-large amount of cotton or cotton blend yarn, especially for someone who decided cotton is not good her her hands. Though I think that is mostly the 100% cotton that is an issue…

- I have a major softness for purple or green yarn…

- I have a large amount of mohair in my stash…

- I have enough novelties to last a lifetime I think… I’m kind of over the eyelash and other novelty yarns I think…

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So, yes, I think I got most of the yarn in my studio put into my new crates and roughly sorted. I want to do some better organization. I have 4 pretty decent sized clear zippered bags from when we bought our living room drapes for some of my larger project yarn stash and I’m thinking I’ll pick up some more Zip-Loc backs (perhaps the dollar store variety though) for the rest. Though I have to say I love the unobstructed view of the colors and textures. But a lot of the wound balls like to come unwound, especially if they are kind of slick with rayon or silk content so I think ultimately putting them in bags will be a good thing.

Curious minds want to know how you’ve organized your stash? By color? By weight? By fiber content?

I ended doing it somewhat by weight and somewhat by fiber content. I have an entire cube of cotton and contton blends, then the wools are seperated into sock, sport, worsted and specialty (boucle and mohair), then there is a cube of novelty/synthetics and one of bulky.

In the coming days I’ll be posting some stuff that will be available for trade. Mostly some books I think, but perhaps some yarn as well.

Stash Control Time…

My studio is a complete disaster area. There is hardly any place to walk in there and the desk is piled high with things as well. A quick look around says the majority of the floor issue is bags of yarn with no home.

Part of DH’s Valentine’s present to me was to rearrange the main room in the basement so I could sit more comfortably to watch TV. Previously we had two futons, with one on a platform (yes, we’re geeks enough to have stadium seating). But, there is something about the wideness and the angle of futons that bother my back if I sit on them for very long. So, we moved my chair from the studio corner into the main room. That left an open corner that had more storage potential.

I laugh so hard at my idea of using an over the door shoe organizer for my stash when I first started knitting. How naive I was! Fit an entire stash in only 20 shoe pockets?? LOL! Yeah, right! It didn’t take long for me to outgrow that, or the combination of that and a two cube stack.

So, yesterday I purchased two packs for 6 mesh cubes. I’m not sure yet, but I might pick up a third set. But, we’ll see. I’m having to really pace myself on doing this organization/cleaning as I’m having a fairly major pain flare. But, I’m trying to not make huge changes to my daily routine and give in to the pain. I *really* hate being dependent on DH to do the house cleaning and such and it’s not that he doesn’t still do the vast majority of it, but I want to do my own cleaning in the studio and I want to be able to help out with the general house stuff as much as I can.

I made good progress yesterday on the super sekrit project and should be ready to go on to the next major step soon, though I might not get there today. We’ll have to see. I’m debating on whether I’ll go knit at Textiles A Mano for a while this afternoon. Aside from SnB, I think that is my favorite group to knit with these days and I haven’t been there to knit for a long while.

This evening we help a friend celebrate his birthday I guess. So, no game night knitting and Claptis isn’t exactly bar knitting. Now, if I’d get my butt in gear on the second Spearfish sock I might be able to do some knitting while there. In fact, I should maybe make that a bit of a priority for today, as I don’t often get a word in when we go out with this couple. I just sit back and observe. They all know each other from grad school and he and DH are music geeks and often going on about obscure groups I know nothing about.

Busy, Busy

I’ve been busy working on a side project, that is sort of cross-disciplinary. I’ll share more about that later this spring, but it has been taking up the majority of my time at the moment.

I’m ramping up to start my first sweater design project and I’m itching to get started, but I’m trying to be disciplined and want to wrap up the second Sockapalooza sock before I start that. Though ideas have been floating around in my head as far as shaping and such.

I got to drop my first stitch for Clapotis last night. I ended up using my second ball of yarn and casting on the needle size higher and decided to keep going with that one. So, there has been a fair amount of reknitting going on in this project. We watched quite a few movies this weekend so I got a fair bit of knitting done, probably more than I’ll get done this week.

DH is home from work today and I’m kind of occupied with the side project mentioned above, but I am determined to cast on for the second Spearfish sock tomorrow! I swear!

Does anyone have a pill for second sock syndrome?? LOL!

SnB Tonight! Though I’ll only get to stay for about 40 minutes because I have book club tonight. We’re discussing The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother tonight. Next meeting in April, I have to lead the discussion!

Happy Birthday!

Tuesday was Emma’s Adoption Day. We got her from a rescue two years ago. Since we do not know her exactly age or her birthday we celebrate her adoption day as her birthday. She was my Valentine that year and I’ve never had such a great Valentine - before or after! If you go by the information we got when we adopted her, she should be about 3.5 years old. We think she’s probably closer to 5 years old.

Here is Emma enjoying her present, and boy has she been enjoying it!

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Obligatory knitting content - I ripped out what I had done at SnB on Clapotis because I somewhere had forgotten to do an increase and I ribbed back several rows individually and I still hadn’t found it, so I frogged it. I’m now up to 11 stitch markers in the increase section, but am contemplating ripping and moving up a needle size.

Question: Given that the yarn is 52% Rayon and 48% Cotton am I better off having a slightly tight gauge to keep it from growing over time, or should I go up a needle size? How much does dropping the stitches change the drape? If it’s feeling a bit stiff will it loosen when I drop those stitches?

Forgot, DH’s Multi-Direction is Done!

I finished the knitting on it on Friday evening before the midnight showing of Casablanca. I had roughly 4 yds to spare I think. Not much anyway.

I wove in ends on Sunday and I blocked it yesterday and he got it as a Valentine’s present. He’s wearing it at present (or rather, he wore it to work today) because it is snowing big time today. I’m so glad. He just about left without it, but then he remembered he had a scarf and put it on. Had he left it, I’d have a photo for you. But, I’m glad he wore it.

I was all worried that my getting it done would seal us having 50 degree weather for the remainder of the winter like we’ve had for the majority of the new year so far. So, hopefully I’ll talk him into a photo shoot over the weekend sometime when he’s home during daylight hours.

YAQ

Here is my Textiles A Mano Cotton Rayon Tape Yarn that I’m using for Claptis. I took a box, pushed a dowel through it and have these balls on them so I can pull from the outside and not twist the ribbon too much. It’s working pretty good, though it is awful slippery and when it gets to the very edges of the ball it likes to slip off and wrap around the dowel. I got cast on and through two increase sections at SnB last night. I didn’t get a ton done as we were busy talking about the job market and husbands and sweater design etc. But, it is looking interesting. I figure we’ve all seen a hundred pics of Clapotis in progress around the blogs so there is no need to show you one of this one until there is something more significant to look at.

I will get to the second Sockapalooza sock. I write my final lesson for the new class at Designedly, Kristi today, so I’m planning on focusing on the sock later this week. That top just requires so much concentration that I don’t have the opportunity to do so expect when DH is at work and I’m trying to be really good and work while he’s at work. I think I’m also having a hard time picking it up because I know there are things I’ll change the next time I knit this sock, but for the second sock I have to match the first one and not make those changes. I think that is causing a bit of stumbling block for me. This is only my second case of second sock syndrome!

This is the yarn steal I got off of Ebay last week. It arrived on Friday. It’s Cascade Sierra #8, an 80/20 cotton-wool blend. It’s a worsted weight. I guess I got the killer deal because they were miss packaged and the tags say they are 192 yd, but they are 170 yds according to the auction. I figure this will make a great spring and summer night sweater. I’m going to design it myself. I have some ideas of details I like, but I’m no farther than that.

In fact, the yarn is still in its bag because I’m not going to let myself open it until the second Sockapalooza, Spearfish sock is completed. So, since I have some time, I’d love to have suggestions from any of you on sweater styles that flatter a pear shape with an ample chest (DH loves the ribbed turtle nexk sweaters on me, but a gal can only have so many of those, right?). And, your favorite books to reference when designing. I’ll probably invest in one or two, but will go to the library and use ILL for what I need as well. So, bring it on!

I want YOUR comment!

Yeah, I’m fishing for comments…

Valentine Goodness from My Secret Pal

Dear Secret Pal -

You are too kind! That yarn you sent from Be Sweet is sooo full of yummy textures!* I can’t wait to wind them into balls, but I wanted to do the photo shoot with them in their original hanks. And, Twizzlers! Thank you! Thay are my comfort and snacky food of late. I was down to only one and I just couldn’t bring myself to eat that last one and here a new pack arrived. So, DH ate the last one for me And those pens are awesome colors. I’ve been admiring the new Sharpie colors, but hadn’t played with them yet and I’ve never tried the Identi-Pens in my art journaling so I’m quite excited. I write my last lesson for a while today and tomorrow and then I should have some “play” time once again The lotion is great! I actually had gotten the exact one from SIL1 last year for my birthday and it’s been gone for a while now. And, the container is so usefull for other things when empty too. The Braille card it really, cool! I still can’t believe you work with blind people. What are the chances that someone with a blind mother would randomly get paired up with someone who works with blind people??

Thank you so very much! Oh, and the lovely paper you wrapped the yarn in - I’ll be using that for a journal cover at some point, I’m sure!

:-) Kristi

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Look at all the various types of fiber in these hanks? Just a quick superficial look turns up some mohair boucle, standard mohair, various ribbons and a novelty slub yarn. I can’t wait to ball it so I can see how it is put together and so I have an idea of the yardage present. I’m suspecting it’ll make a nice sized scarf.

I’ll be back later today, or perhaps tomorrow with the latest yarn acquisitions that I spoke of on Friday, but I don’t want to dilute the wonderfulness of my first SPIV package

Cutting It Close . . .

Wow, I think I’m cutting DH’s scarf close….

We’re having some puppy issues with the dear Emma (okay, she isn’t really puppy and really don’t know how old she actually is, if we listen to the rescue she’s 3.5 years old, but we’re expecting more like 5 years old) so I was up before dawn and knit on it while I took in The O.C.

I attached the last (#4) skein yesterday. I’ve completed 1, plus a bit of one triangle, then got to the half-way point where I needed to decide whether to start the decreases for the final 1/2 triangle or if I could continue and finish this triangle and then do the final half one. So, when I got to that point I weighed the remaining skein on the scale and I was at 21 g/50g. Looking at past skeins it looks like I get *just* under 3 full triangles per skein so I’m gambling and finishing this triangle and then doing the final triangle. I think I’ll make it. But, just in case, I put in life lines on each half at the mark where my knitting stitch would change to the decreases. So, I’m mostly set if I do run short.

My Ebay yarn arrived (I’ll post pics next week, batteries are dead)! Yippeee! 1700 yds of Cascade Sierra in #8. It is scrumptuous. I can’t wait to start designing my own spring/summer sweater for it.

I also made a purchase other than the needles to continue the multi-directional when I went to Textiles a Mano on Wednesday and I’ve swatched for Clapotis. Okay, so Clapotis doesn’t *really* require swatching, but I did it anyway just to get an idea. I chose a cotton rayon tape (my colorway is not in that pic) that knits at a worsted weight. It’ll make a great all-season fashion accessorie. Laura tried to talk me into this really bright orange, but I went for a multi-color that is pushing me out of my comfort slightly - it has a fair bit of blue. But it also has gorgeous greens and a tiny touch of coral. I think it’ll look really great with this J. Jill outfit I bought with my birthday money last year. Other than that, I’m not really sure what it goes with. Though I suppose it would dress up a simple tee and jeans too. I need to fashion a spool to pull the yarn from though so the ribbon doesn’t twist like mad. Oh, and it was a bit of a bitch to ball because it was so slick. But, I love the splash of shininess the rayon gives it! *swoon*

Tonight, the midnight showing of Casablanca - on the BIG SCREEN! I’ve never seen it on a big screen and we haven’t upgraded that one from VHS to DVD either! And, it’s like a double date because we’re going with another couple (whom I met through SnB too), LOL!

Have a great Valentine’s Weekend to those who celebrate (DH and I are just cooking a more elaborate meal than we normally would on Sunday evening, so it’s non-commercial and quality time together)!