knitting &

it's a wrap

2009-12-31T19:34:00.005-05:00

My whole knitterly year is contained in a 4x4x6 inch tote.

I collected my yarn labels here as faithfully as I could. While took some pictures and also uploaded some of my projects to ravelry, this tiny tote is the best proof I have that I did knit something this year:

70 skeins of yarn, adding up to 10,119 yards knitted up. There were one or two skeins in there that I ended up using for tying off my hand dyed yarn. They are included in the yardage because they are gone from the stash, and that is a good thing.

All in all I also dyed approximately 2000 skeins, which explains the rather small number of yards knitted up...the new challenge for 2010 will be to knit up 2010 yards from stash per month. We'll see how I do, because I've accumulated a bit of roving too and it begs to be spun up...

What are your knitterly plans for the new year?

I wish you all a wonderful New Year. May you enjoy your craft in good health.

This is the last post on this blog. You will still be able to go back and read what's here, but from now on I will be focusing on The Periwinkle Sheep blog.

Thank you so much for being here with me this whole time. I hope to see you on the other side -- *

re-group

2009-12-23T15:14:00.004-05:00

Emma donning an elf hat made by Crafty Girl

As my dear knitting friend Cathy pointed out in the comments, this blog has been very quiet. I've been very quiet.

I could say there has been a lot going on, and you could say that that is true -- but who doesn't have a lot going on, especially this time of year?

Tall Son came down with mono at the end of his semester but is now home and on the road to recovery. Thank you for your well wishes. Dyeing has slowed down a bit, since I rely on warmer weather to help me out with it. I am doing quite a bit of knitting, or was, until a major case of tendonitis had me leave the needles idle. No, Christmas knitting was not finished in time. I am taking any and all anti-inflammatory available, icing my elbow, etc. Nonetheless, baking and wrapping some gifts had me nauseous from the pain yesterday so I think I need to re-group a little. Anybody got a new, pain-free knitting style to teach me? Obviously the one I've been trusting for 38 years is not working any more....

Another reason for my relative quiet is that I have come to the conclusion that I can't keep up two blogs anymore. As of the new year, I will focus on the "other" blog, and let this one go idle. I have the sneaking suspicion that I've lost readership in the process of trying to have two blogs - and who can blame you? It's not like I'm offering you one riveting story or project after another over here!

There were a whole bunch of things that I meant to report on but simply didn't have to time to report on. Yes I took pictures and composed blog posts - in my head. Whole lot of good that does you! It's like buying a new knitting book, yarn, and needles, and then not making anything. Can't call myself a blogger if I don't blog.

For now, I would like to wish everyone who celebrates, a very Merry Christmas. If you're traveling, stay safe. We'll be home, taking it easy. I'll try to catch you up on a few things before the year is out, and before I'll move on over to the new digs.

consider this

2009-12-01T10:25:00.003-05:00

All weekend -- and I hope it was a good one for you, this Thanksgiving, with seeing family and friends!! -- I was trying to avoid even noticing the shopping frenzy that everyone was trying to talk us consumers into. Every time I turned on the news it was more stats about how many shoppers went out and shopped and how much they spent.

Stores opening at 5 am, 3 am, midnight even. Trying to lure us with rockbottom prices, on stuff that we really don't NEED. Then I heard about the Story of Stuff. It takes less than a trip to the mall to watch it.

I might be preaching to the choir here, because knitters already know that Giving means Making Something.

Or if you can't make something, consider buying something handmade.

Or if you're already done with making something, bless your heart, maybe you could find half an hour here and there to make some good warm mittens? To give to your local rescue mission?

I also just found this very worthy cause. The deadline isn't until January.

You bet your sweet skein of Lamb's Pride I'll be making some mittens. Thank you Bonnie for bringing my attention to it.

save the dates!

2009-11-18T09:48:00.004-05:00

I am taking the liberty to post this on both my blogs. Need to spread the word about Hand Made!

The holiday season is upon us!! Once again, I am participating in a couple of Holiday open house/art fair events.Mark your calendars -- there are a great many wonderful handmade gifts available at these. And some handdyed yarn, of course...

November 22, 11-2
Holiday Open House
29 Burhans Place, Delmar
(jewelry, art prints, chocolate, handdyed yarn, and more!)

November 27, 5-10 pm
as part of Troy Night Out , with Tight Knit!
Historic Frear Building : 3 floors of vendors!
Corner of Third Ave and Fulton in Troy, NY.

December 12, 12-5
Winter WonderLARK

edited to add: the craft fair is in the giant church basement of Trinity Church. Watch for signs on Lark Street!

Thank you so much for passing this along to all your friends.

Now they tell me!

2009-11-14T20:16:00.004-05:00

Just when I decide to make a turkey for Thanksgiving this year after 20 years of not, I find THIS.
The recipes sound enticing....but I like having a table with food grown near us (Northeastern US).

What do you think? What are your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes?
Do you include ethnic foods, family favorites?

In Memoriam Betty Smith 1909-2009

2009-11-12T12:01:00.011-05:00

In October, I had the great fortune to be invited to a get together for one of my customers, Betty Smith of Voorheesville, NY. She had passed away earlier in the summer at the age of 99, barely missing her 100th birthday and the hot air balloon ride she wanted to go on. Betty's family and friends, quilters and knitters were invited to celebrate Betty. She had been living with her granddaughter, Linda, for the last few years. Linda put together a wonderful party and an exhibit of some of Betty's work.

I knew that Betty had been a prolific knitter since she was taught to knit at an early age, during WW I, when everybody was encouraged to knit socks for the soldiers. I had also heard that Betty was a quilter. But oh boy, I had no idea. None.

I remember her coming to my shop at the time, when a book called Knitted Babes came out. Betty was not only supersmart (a double major and then teacher of both math and art), creative, alert, and all around wonderful soul, she also had a great sense of humor. She literally made everyone she came in contact with smile.

She delighted in making these knitted dolls, including their clothes and flip-flops.

Betty made innumerable pairs of socks during her lifetime.

If I ever live to be over 90 years old, I hope to be able to knit fun things for my grandkids and greatgrand kids!

A series of felted purses.

a sampling of Betty's handwork

And then there was the quilt exhibit. Linda gave me permission to take pictures.

Gotcha! Not a quilt, but a tray of cookies!

The little Flying Geese are 1 inch across.

From a movie being shown that day. Her quilters group had made it.

I have a feeling that Betty Smith made a lot more quilts than that even. Knowing her, she had probably made them for all her kids and their kids and their kids, too.

The exuberance expressed in her work seems to say to all of us: Go forth and craft with abandon!

Thank you Betty, it was an utter privilege to know you.

Dear Thanksgiving Turkey

2009-11-05T21:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Thanksgiving Turkey.

I know it's not Thanksgiving here in the US for a couple of weeks yet, but I wanted to catch you while you still had some time left on this earth. Give you time to digest this news I am about to deliver to you.

O this is going to be hard.

You see, I've been a vegetarian for twenty years, but I think ducks to avoid flying rotten eggs that I am going back to eating....meat. Meat as in chicken and turkey. (The thought of bacon has always grossed me out.)

Please hear me out. I think that avoiding eating 20 Thanksgiving turkeys, and I am not even going to count the Christmas ones at my sister-in-law's house, should at least count for something, and buy me twenty minutes of your time...thank you.

Twenty years of being a vegetarian for political, animal rights, and dietary reasons is a tough thing to leave behind. Repeated reports of meat recalls and E. coli horror had me glad to be avoiding meat entirely. We raised our kids vegetarian too, even though we never "forbid" them to eat meat: if they wanted to try it, they could. When they had questions about the meat and seafood departments in the grocery store, we stood there and visited steaks, hot dogs, and lobster. But they never ended up trying it, until Tall Son went to college. He does have an occasional burger now.

Twenty years of having to explain to one's relatives the reasons why, and why I was doing that to my kids, we felt like oddballs for a very long time. We were labeled as birdfood eating crunchy granola types by some. We were told that we were going to be iron-deficient, emaciated, protein-lacking, miserable people. Honestly I have no idea how Tall Son got to be 6'2" and Crafty Girl at age 12 has caught up with me in height? There were years where we only saw the pediatrician at the annual check-up. Twenty years, and we were never miserable because of our diet. Never.

However. Things started to change for me a couple of years ago, when I found out that I have IBS (probably since childhood) and also a gluten sensitivity. There are 4 celiacs in my immediate family, so the odds are pretty good that I would have an issue there, too. 2006 was a very high stress year for me. Autoimmune disorders are sometimes triggered by stress.

Now my diet excluded wheat, rye, barley, oats, and cow's milk dairy. And still no meat and no seafood. I love my nut butters, and am OK with gluten free foods, and am just fine with goat's milk cheese. (Most of them I cannot afford, but that's another story.)

This spring, I was having more than the usual seasonal allergies, and I finally figured out that eating peanuts in any form makes my chest constrict. Not a fun experience. But I am happy to not eat peanuts. Being able to breathe is more important to me. Switching to almond butter or cashew butter is not an option, as they are made on the same equipment as the one used for peanutbutter.

After several months now of not eating meat, seafood, dairy, grains, and nuts, I started to gain weight in the weirdest way. Was it all the rice? Rice bread, rice crackers, rice cereal. While I was grateful to be eating something that didn't make me sick, I was getting sick of it.

Oh, and did I mention that if I have a full serving of carrot salad, or butternut squash, pumpkin pie, or any other deep yellow vegetabe, I get diarrhea? Did I tell you that eating most legumes has me blowing up like a hot air balloon, but without the exhilarating feeling of floating high in the air? I do love potatoes in all their myriad ways of preparation. I am fond of millet and quinoa. Corn, I am OK with, but it doesn't thrill me too much. I am never quite sure of its nutritional value, either.

I considered being a vegan, but that was an impossibility due to me being restricted in the nut department. I have since found some dry roasted almonds which are like manna to me, which cause no adverse reaction. I need to go purchase some good dairy free, non-grain sweetened dark chocolate to coat them in. A girl does deserve a treat every once in a while.

Always thankful for any kind of food that doesn't make me sick to my stomach, content with my choices, happy to have any food at all in the face of so many millions on this earth who never have enough...I had another piece of rice bread toast the other day with imitation cream cheese, and it suddenly hit me:

I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!

I am so so sorry. I realized that I was spending so incredibly much time thinking about what to eat that didn't make me ill or nauseous or bloated or kept me from breathing. I realized I was sick and tired of tofu and simply could not think of yet another way to prepare it. Already pouring soy milk (thank goodness for SILK!) over my corn chex, I knew I could easily overdo it with the soy protein and then where would I be. Trust me, I had explored many of the glutenfree, allergy free, vegan, vegetarian cookbooks. I knew what my options were.

I was also in the middle of reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, so that may have had something to do with my sudden change in attitude. Yes, I was supremely grateful for the food I had, but all that scrounging for protein was doing something to my psyche. I am glad I can literally just go to the store and find something to eat. (It means spending twice as much time there because I have to read labels all the time, but I've always been ready to do whatever it takes.) I know there are people right around me who have deadly deadly allergies to some of the most common foods. I can truly appreciate what they have to go through each and every day.

But I hit my very own personal wall. I started to fantasize about bratwurst. I know. 20 years. Wiped out. To take the edge off, I went to the market and got a 1/4 pound of all natural turkey breast, sliced thin, and it lasted me for two lunches. That was two weeks ago, and I have since had some tuna salad. (Dear husband and I actually put the occasional fish on the grill over the summer, but that was going to be it. Didn't want to bring that smell into the house.)

The biggest decision I made was that I want a Thanksgiving Turkey. I am going to find a free range one, because I refuse to eat something that had endured torture. Now I need to find a recipe, because I have no idea how to cook a turkey. I do want to do it justice and want it to come out right.

I guess basically I want to make sure that I can be grateful and mindful again of whatever I'm eating, and not spend all my time worrying, because that just seems wrong and serves nobody.

Dear Thanksgiving Turkey. Thanks for hearing me out. Now go live out your life with wild abandon.

a child's sweater

2009-10-29T13:40:00.007-04:00

About a year ago, Blue Sky Alpacas donated a bunch of their superbulky alpaca/merino blend to Afghans for Afghans, to pass along to knitters who'd be willing to make a garment. I got some of the yarn, missed the deadline for knitting at the time and felt miserable about it.
Another deadline came up and I finally managed to finish the sweater up yesterday and mailed it out to them.
The age group they are delivering warm winter garments and accessories to this time is 7-14, and I am hoping this 34" chest size will fit and warm an Afghani child.
I used 10 skeins and so the sweater weighed one kilo, that's over 2 lbs - nice and heavy.

Size 15 needles yielded a gauge of 2 sts/in. I didn't follow a pattern, but I checked my measurements against some size charts.

FO: handspun mittens, and some plying action

2009-10-26T20:13:00.007-04:00

I finally finished a pair of mittens for myself the other day where all that was missing were the thumbs. I guess the recent cold weather nudged me along. These are the first complete project with my own handspun. I don't even remember where I got the fiber, but I think it was a 2 oz Grafton Fibers batt I got ages ago. The yarn came out very soft to the touch and vibrant in color, and I used up almost every bit of it.

I didn't have the sense to wash the skein first, so some of the stitches show a distinct slant. So much need to learn.

Which brings me to...the lovely spinning group I got to visit with on Friday. Kay* met me in a parking lot 20 minutes from the meeting point, so I could follow her and not get lost, according to her words.

Well I may have gotten lost. We were meeting at "Fred's" and I had no clue who Fred was.

Let me tell you. After about a 20 minute drive through the most picturesque landscape around Crooked Lake, we suddenly turn left at a driveway that was studded with faded plastic flamingoes. The small parking lot was generous enough to hold about 10 cars; we were the first ones to arrive. There was some ornate scrolled iron lawn furniture outside of a long rectangular building. A mailman looked like he was stuck head first in the grass -- I liked this place. Impromptu art everywhere. The mailman turned out to be the bottom half of a mannequin complete with an old mailman's trousers and shoes. I guess he had delivered one bill too many....

When we entered, we were greeted by

a) a roaring fire in the world's biggest fireplace

b) an aging dog

c) the delicious scent of freshly roasted coffee

d) and Fred himself.

We were inside a coffee roaster's. There were cafe tables strewn about and bistro chairs. Old overstuffed chairs and sofas, one of which was on a stage (!) on the other end of the room. There were canisters of coffee and tea, brownies, coffeecakes, and cupcakes under domed lids. Antiques on shelves and handmade pottery.

As the spinners and knitters were filing in with their wheels, fiber, and various bags of accessories, everybody
felt at home and made me feel at home. I had been very nervous since it was my first outing at a spinning group, and these were mostly seasoned spinners. But it turned out that I knew at least half of them already, from when I had my shop, from other shops, and from fiber festivals.

Much chatting, spinning, knitting, plying, and even occasional singing ensued. One person brought a partially assembled wheel that was not engaging, and we now know that it takes 5 spinners and a headlamp to assemble the final parts. (Don't ask. I couldn't explain it to you. But the wheel was soon whirring away.)

Meanwhile I was spinning up what I had left of some roving, as this was the day I was finally going to learn how to ply properly. Laurie* pulled out her Katie a go go (OK I admit I googled this later) and got me set up. Only I had so much yarn on my bobbins there was not enough time for me to ply it all. Looks like I'm going to have to get me one of these nifty lazy kates....for all these singles I have on the bobbins that I didn't know what to do with. Laurie also explained how I can make a lazy kate for about a dollar, but then she spoiled me with the best tool and now I feel like there is no going back.

However a week from Friday, I'm going back to Fred's. How can I not? His last name is Cashmere.

PS: *you can see Kay and Laurie in pictures here.

Photography Exhibit

2009-10-09T08:50:00.010-04:00

Yesterday, I re-visited a photography exhibit by my friend Laura Glazer. I've been meaning to go back to the Little Gallery in Rathbone Hall on the Sage Campus in Albany, NY. I've been meaning to blog about it so more people would hopefully go and take a look at this astonishing project.

My only comfort now is knowing that the story is ongoing still, that there will be a book, and hopefully more exhibits as time goes on.

Leaf Prints on the walk to the gallery.

The floor in the exhibit room.

How does one take pictures (with the permission of the artist!) of some of the most exquisite photographs? I am forever fascinated by lines (of writing, knitting), and this exhibit captivated me.

View from the gallery entrance.

Please run over there today if you're in the area. They are open from 12 to 4. Otherwise, keep checking Laura's blog to find out more, and clamor for another exhibit!

more quilt pictures

2009-09-29T19:48:00.006-04:00

Sometimes life happens to such an extent that one is required to spend more energy on dealing with it than planned. Consequently these additional pictures of the Bennington Quilt show of 2009 are a little late.

I hope you'll find them no less inspiring.

Of course, there were some vendors there, too. Fabric. It's how it all begins...

Large, or small, primitive, or artistic...I love them all.

crazy quilt

2009-09-22T11:02:00.005-04:00

I went to Bennington VT this past weekend and spent a lovely day with my dear friend Amy. We went to the annual quilt show there. I only took about 85 pictures, hehe...here's a small sampling. I may put up more pictures later.

I'll start with one of our favorite ones. This quilter took the book Goodnight Moon and made it into a picture quilt. We both enjoyed reading that book to our kids when they were small.

The cranes were pieced!

The description on the Poppy Quilt said it usually hangs on a red wall. Stunning.

Exquisite hand stitching on a crazy quilt.

Wouldn't you love to have one of these on your bed?

We really liked the colors and the border on this one, and put our vote in the ballot box for it.

Ok who wants more pictures?

it keeps me going and going!

2009-09-07T12:08:00.004-04:00

Interrupting my knitting to tell you that the yardage on that yarn is blowing me away! Saturday I said to myself, 'Oh, I'll just knit to the end of the skein.' It took me a whole 'nother day to to finish it.

I got 10 and one quarter inches of sweater back out of one skein (247 yds!) of Valley Yarns "Northampton", knitting the 44" chest size on that sweater.

Some of my cables need to shape up a little, and I'm working on that. Mostly the right-leaning ones have stitches that are a little too open, or loose, for my taste...I have now gone to cabling without a cable needle, except for the ones what require you to cross 4 over 4 stitches (see the big snake-like cable? That's the one.) I'm hoping the rest will settle in when I block it.

Onward!

when the going gets tough...

2009-09-05T10:29:00.002-04:00

...the tough go stash diving and start a new project.

"St. Patrick" from the book a fine fleece, in Valley Yarns 'Northampton', color: Forest Green.

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone.

What's on your needles?

news

2009-08-28T11:50:00.003-04:00

Due to the after effects of the economic downturn,

I lost my job this morning. My boss is closing her personal chef business.

All the Best to you, Lori. You did what you could, for as long as you could. You are a professional who did everything right, and by the book, putting your tremendous energy and creativity into every day. I was proud to be your first employee after you flew solo for five years, and it was great fun while it lasted.

ETA: Lori had two businesses. She also owns a cat sitting business, and will continue running that.

important

2009-08-20T11:42:00.002-04:00

I just couldn't go without letting you know one more important thing.

While I was away in Portland, my boss at Great Capers Cooking LLC was in a car accident and her kitchen has been idle. She is ok, but has cuts and bruises and whiplash. We have not been able to go to the Wednesday market in Troy and are not sure how soon we will be able to return.

Please send Lori some good thoughts and well wishes, so she may recuperate quickly and return to her usual self! If you leave comments here, I'll be sure to pass them along to her. Thank you so much.

turns out

2009-08-20T10:40:00.006-04:00

It has been brought to my attention that I have not blogged here in a long while. Some of you are getting worried about me. Fear not! This blog is still alive and well, however I took a long time blogging about Sock Summit '09 on my other blog, http://www.periwinklesheep.blogspot.com/

Thanks for going over there. I started the Periwinkle Sheep blog to keep track of my dyeing, designing, and knitting adventures....the more professional side of this knitter.

This blog will still feature my knitting, the kind I do for friends and family.

Or the kind that I receive!

To tell this story right, I have to go back to where Tall Son goes to college and finds a beautiful, bright, sweet, young woman and asks her out.

When he goes to visit her family (who live in the same city as where he goes to college) at Easter, I send along a skein of my sock yarn, because it turns out that his girlfriend's mom is a knitter.

Then it comes to pass that his girlfriend visits us over the 4th of July weekend. Bearing a gift from her mother to me: a beautiful handknit scarf

combining my sock yarn with one of her yarns.

In a pattern, it turns out, that is is actually one of my most favorite fancy-but-not, lace patterns.

Last night, Tina and I spoke on the phone. I am to go see her this Saturday at the yarn shop in Rochester, NY, where she works full time (!), with some of my sock yarn (!), where they will take a look at my colors, and may order some of it (!).

Meanwhile, Tall Son's girlfriend is knitting her first sock with some yarn she took a liking to while she was here, and which I gladly gave her with a set of needles.

This may just be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and more than one heart will break if those two kids ever decide to end their relationship :0 . Not only are the women knitters and spinners, they also speak German and the grandparents are originally from Bavaria, like me. My mind is boggled with the similarities every time I ponder them.

So. While we are truly away for a few days (the cat and neighbors minding the house), do take time to stop over at the Periwinkle Sheep blog, if you need to catch up.

I will not be bringing my laptop with me this time, but will cherish all your comments upon my return!

Knit Nights

2009-07-28T16:41:00.003-04:00

Just to remind everyone, we will have Knit Night this Thursday, July 30th, and also on Thursday, August 13th, from 7-9 pm at Panera's in Glenmont.

The first meeting is to help me get over my pre-Sock Summit jitters, and at the second one I will report on how it went!

Thank you Knit Night Knitters!! (Pictured above actually all crocheting, helping me put together a blanket for Afghans for Afghans in May). You are amazing!!

tech difficulties

2009-07-22T11:08:00.001-04:00

posting from tall son's computer right now before he goes away for 5 days -- i am having technical difficulties with my computer and also lost my cell phone -- hang in there with me -- i'll be back soon i hope.

Farmer's Market

2009-07-19T21:21:00.019-04:00

Every Wednesday, my boss Lori and I go to a weekday farmer's market in Troy and set up the booth with our goodies.

There is live entertainment. Every week a different artist or artists show up. These two were some excellent jazz guitarists.

Right next to us is the most colorful, beautiful booth. Last week, we finally had good weather, and I brought my camera.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

EDITED TO ADD: the market runs from 10 am to 2 pm every Wednesday until sometime in October, at Monument Square in Troy, NY. It is near the Center for the Arts and City Hall.

We will NOT be in attendance this Wednesday, July 22nd. We'll be back next week!

colors of summer

2009-07-13T08:42:00.004-04:00

Yarn delivery to The Spinning Room

4th of July cupcakes made by Crafty Girl

One of the Bocce ball sets we played with on the 4th, with friends.

We had such a great time. If I even were to start talking about Tall Son's girlfriend, I would do nothing but gush...so let me just say that we love her. Beautiful, smart, sweet, funny. Aside from that, she knows how to spin on a drop spindle, and she knits, too...

If you don't hear from me much over here, it's because of this.

I hope you are surrounded by friends and family at least some of the time this summer!

what's new with you?

2009-07-02T15:48:00.002-04:00

Over here, we have lovely company for the holiday weekend: Tall Son's girlfriend is visiting, and my sister-in-law is here, too!
I have a few days off from work and dyeing yarn, Knit Night is moved this month to next Thursday. I hope you are all well and knitting away on a project wherever you may be.

Happy Fourth of July weekend!

sew skilled

2009-06-25T07:33:00.014-04:00

During the last couple of years, I've developed a sincere love for small hand made items that are not knitted. If you know me in person, you'll realize that I would hardly ever put a colorful print on myself. But I love cheerful fabrics in small doses, and if they come in the form of knitting accessories, so much the better. If I can find something either locally made, or on etsy, I go for it.

Last fall, I bought a box bag by JessaLu, who is also a friend of mine. It was my virgin etsy purchase. :)

I love this bag because I can carry it around by the handle, with a sock project inside. It holds all of my stitch markers, tape measure, the needle gauge, you know, all those little gadgety things that float around in your knitting bag. I can put the bag in my knitting basket, but mostly it just sits out because it looks so good ;)

The inside is lined and the bag stands up on its own really well.

Now here's the point where once again I need to apologize for my poor photography skillz - my camera was at the complete wrong settings while to took all these pictures.

Anyway. The other day it was time for me to send myself a little present. It arrived on Monday.

I am going on a pretty big trip in about a month from now, and of course I am trying to think about my knitting project and what needles I'll bring and how I will transport it all. Hehe. I'm going to the Sock Summit, of course I'm bringing a sock project, but I'll be with about 270 other vendors who have gorgeous yarn for sale and what if I get some and have to swatch it right then and there?!

OK back to my package. It contained this:

to hold this airline approved (fabulous for the traveling knitter: row counter, tape measure, folding scissors, thread cutter, stitch markers, point protectors) all in one kit -

-- a circular needle case

-- a straight needle case

Everything is lightweight, super well made, and totally beautiful.

s*** hits the fan

2009-06-22T11:57:00.004-04:00

I had a nice litte post almost ready to go about some etsy goodies I got.

You all know I'm dyeing a truckload of yarn for the Sock Summit.

After what happened, I need a whole lot more of this:

I'll have to ask you to go to the other blog, since that covers my "professional life". Thank you for obliging me.

welcome to my garden

2009-06-20T20:56:00.005-04:00

Ten days ago, seemingly all the flowers in my yard were blooming at the same time. We've had a series of gray days with lots of rain, so it's kind of nice to look at these and be cheered.

FO!

2009-06-14T21:31:00.007-04:00

My mother always says,"You never finish anything!"
Well. First of all, I did finally give birth to BOTH of my children at the time so I did finish the two pregnancies.
And, my kitchen is finally done being painted, though dear husband may have had something to do with that, also.

In addition, when I have a concussion and am forced to sit down for longer than half an hour, and being on the computer gives me a headache, then I finish other things, too!

Like this baby sweater, for example.

The intended wearer is now going on 6 weeks, and it's the middle of June and who knows if he wants to wear a little wooly sweater, but I did finish. Maybe there is a resident teddy bear in the house that needs a cardigan. I AM sending this out tomorrow!

It weighs all of two ounces including the buttons, after a wash and block.

The yarn is Brown Sheep's Nature Spun Sport, knitted on size 4 /3.5 mm needles, after this pattern.

take a look!

2009-06-13T09:54:00.003-04:00

There, I did it. Two blogs. Read one, read both, leave comments, leave comments!

The new Periwinkle Sheep blog is up. Are you up for it?

blog re-birth

2009-06-10T11:49:00.002-04:00

I am going to re-name my blog very soon. Don't tell me I didn't warn ya.

Since I am selling my yarn under the business name "The Periwinkle Sheep", I still have a website (though it's under construction right now), and it's generally time for the good ol' sheep name to be resurrected, this blog will soon be found under the name "The Periwinkle Sheep". Which used to be the name of my yarn shop. Good times were had by all at that shop, it was the basis, the foundation, the start of my professional fiber obsession, so here goes: long live "The Periwinkle Sheep!"

PS: thank you for all your well wishes. Turns out I also had whiplash. My trusty chiropractor is on it. I fell like I am beginning to turn a corner.

i'm a blockhead

2009-06-08T10:53:00.004-04:00

On Friday, I was finally going to put the finishing touches on my kitchen, which I had been painting. I hoisted myself up onto the top step of the ladder with elan, in a fairly tight spot, and suddenly it was my head vs. the door jamb.

Concussion.

Dear Husband later insisted on the ER, where they did a CT scan and pronounced it normal.

Which I feel very far from.

Mostly I feel very stupid, for taking up room in the ER where there were little and big people who really needed help. Whereas I should have just looked where I was going.

It has taken me three days to form this post in my head, my mind feels so numb. And if anyone could explain to me why my ears hurt? (I hit the top of my head.) The doctor who saw me didn't seem to pay that any mind.

I am dyeing some yarn today simply because I HAVE to, but after lunch I'll be hitting the couch. Slowly and carefully.

testing, 1-2-3

2009-06-03T21:41:00.004-04:00

The Sock Summit is exactly two months away, and the dyeing will be in full swing starting next week. (First I need to finish painting my kitchen, but that's a whole 'nother story!)

I have about 30 colors that are going to be my staple for now, and then there are a bazillion pretties in between that are going to be part of an amazing, full rainbow of color by the time I am done. 600 skeins is the goal, and I am hoping for more if I can squeeze in some extra.

There will be photos up soon on a website, and to that end have been taking pictures.
That part is not going so well. I have a Canon Powershot A630, which has served me well, but seems to have been discontinued. If there is anyone out there that can give me some helpful hints and tips as to the best way to photograph yarn and get the color right, I'd appreciate it a lot!

Here are five examples; the original background was a white pillowcase. Most of them came out OK, but I have a lot of trouble with blues/purples/greens.

'Strawberries and Cream'

no idea, I can't tell the color. I think it's 'fresh lavender'.

'Caramel'

'Roasted Eggplant'

'Spilled Wine'

Just so you're prepared, there will not be much else going on here during the next two months, other than getting ready for "the greatest sock show on earth"!

...and she cooks, too!

2009-05-28T17:11:00.009-04:00

This is my boss Lori who is the owner of Great Capers Cooking. I started working for her about 2 months ago. Three days a week I get to do something like what I am showing you today.

I bake fresh bread. I used to knead it all by hand, and I loved that. Then Lori got a new mixer, and it makes life just a tad easier.

The sandwich fillings are made from complete scratch:

Cooked white beans, mashed with salt, pepper, parsley, and a touch of olive oil.

Broccoli rabe sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

Sundried tomato spread (soak the tomatoes, puree them with - of course! - garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, smidge salt)

Ready to assemble:

You can find these on most Wednesdays and Fridays at the Honest Weight food co-op in Albany, in their deli case. Sometimes I make pita breads filled with roasted tofu, mashed avocado, cucumber slices, and a soy ginger vinaigrette topped with sprouts.

Guten Appetit!

winners

2009-05-26T20:00:00.002-04:00

April and Pat W. both guessed right: there is Amy from Spunky Eclectic in a throng of people; Jonathan Bosworth of Journey Wheel demonstrating a charka; and Tsock Tsarina sock kits.
(I bought the Imbus and the Octoberfest kits. They looked the easiest. I am not sure I am up for any of the other ones yet, maybe in the next decade... Got them at the lovely Holiday Yarns booth.)

What nobody guessed is that a real life knitty designer and model of her own Convertible stopped right at our booth: Rebecca Hatcher. You couldn't meet a nicer person.

So if April and Pat W. would please send me their addresses, and a general idea as to what color they like...I will get your sock yarn out to you on Thursday. What'll it be? Purple? Green? Pastel? (Yes I do need to get pictures up...my bad.)

karinmaagtanchakATnycapDOTrrDOTcom

Massachussetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair 2009

2009-05-25T19:45:00.025-04:00

It was a glorious weekend.
I'll let the pictures do the talking.

See if you can spot three celebrities of the fiber world. And I mean people, not animals. A fourth one is represented by her product. If you get at least two right AND one bonus, I will send you a skein of my handdyed sock yarn.

Happy sleuthing!

warm welcome

2009-05-21T21:12:00.010-04:00

This basket of my handdyed sock yarn will be on display and for sale at the MayFest this Saturday in Bennington, VT. Melanie of Dye-namics Yarn is there with her yarn and graciously took a basket of mine with her today. Thanks Melanie!! She is also hard at work getting her website re-vamped, so our yarns will both be for sale online!

This lovely lady is Liz Cassidy, the owner of The Spinning Room in Altamont, NY.

She recently began stocking my handdyed sock yarn. Prior to this armful, she had already sold 12 skeins within 5 days, and more orders were being placed by customers.

Today I went back because she needed more!

This is the new pile --- of you are in the area, go check it out.

I am glad my yarn has found yet another nice home. Thanks to all my and Liz's faithful customers!!

On Saturday I will be at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair in Cummington, at the Sliver Moon booth. I do hope you will stop by and say hello!

Pretty soon, those of you who live further away from me, also can order up some Roasted Eggplant, Spilled Wine, Stawberries and Cream, and a bouquet of Hydrangeas or Fresh Lavender...(Yes, I've been having fun with color names.)

comings and goings

2009-05-14T19:26:00.014-04:00

Sometimes life happens faster than one can blog about it. I'll catch you up on some recent comings and goings around here.

Last week on Monday, I went to see a wee little newborn. I only got to hold him for an hour and a half before grandma intervened. :)

On the way, I stopped to talk to my friend Melanie. She is offering me space on her website (thank you!!) to help me sell my handdyed yarn online. Here she is with some of her charges on her farm.

The Saturday before Mother's Day, Crafty Girl and I went to the 61st Annual Tulip Festival right here in Albany, where we saw some of the 209,000 tulips the city had planted.

Meanwhile, Dear Husband retrieved Tall Son from college, since his freshman year was over already. Time. Flies.

He came home all scraggly looking because evidently there are no hairdressers where he goes to school. Not that I cared what he looked like!

He even brought chocolate.

The backyard is having a bloomfest.

Goings:

This little earflap hat is going to a friend's little guy.

Since his dad is a pilot, I landed a wee little plane button on top of the hat. The pattern is from knitting pure & simple, #253 It is available at your local yarn shop.

Thes two blankets went to afghans for Afghans. The squares had been arriving during the last two weeks, from knitters from all over the country. I then sat and assembled them. Thank you so much to the Thursday Knit Night Knitters who helped me crochet around each block. (This first blanket still looks a little wobbly and unblocked, because it is.)

These were made and donated in memory of Peter, Kay Gardiner's husband.

In other news, I sent the book proposal out on Monday. It is now in the agent's hands for review. The wait is on.

I am also waiting for the result of a RAST screening. I'd been having breathing trouble and finally needed to figure out what I am allergic to. I have a strong suspicion that I've developed an allergy to peanuts, but I have never wanted to be wrong about something this badly. I hope there was something in those 9 vials of blood for the lab to go by...meanwhile, I carry an epipen and take antihistamines daily.

And I think that's all the news that's fit to print for now! More soon.

the little tree that could

2009-05-07T17:08:00.008-04:00

The weeping cherry is front and center this week. I have never seen it bloom like this. It rained yesterday when I took these pictures, but today it's drier and the bees are all over it.

We also have two wisteria and they are in fierce blooming competition with the cherry in the front yard!

This one's right by my neighbors' fence-

This one's next to our house.

I wish you could stand next to them - the scent would make you delirious.

rare spring

2009-05-04T21:11:00.005-04:00

There is something happening in my front yard that I just have to share with you!
We have a weeping cherry tree that is getting ready to simply explode with bazillions of flowers. This morning when I left the house, it looked like this:

Just try to count how many flower buds there are in this picture:

Then try to imagine how many there are on the whole little tree!

I'll take more pictures in the coming days as the flowers open. Also it is a rare spring that the flowers below it bloom at the same time!

The wisteria on the side of the house is ready to open, too, so if you are in my neighborhood, come by and take a peek. Our house is very humble, but the flowers and trees are something to behold.

those two pictures

2009-05-04T18:54:00.003-04:00

...in the last post were :

- yes: the crab apple tree from the back yard blooming like crazy. Tall Son, you are so observant!

- not "Phlox of Sheep" like Alison tried to point out, though that made me laugh and chuckle.

- two picures of the same thing.

We were talking about doing swatches, remember? To translate that into my pictures, when I do take them, I don't just take one. I take several of the same object. Then I upload them and look at them on my screen, to see which ones I'm going to keep, and which ones I'm going to delete.

When you bake cookies, make a cake, or try out a new recipe, you taste it and make sure that it's good enough to serve.

When you buy a new car, you testdrive it.

When you...oh, I think you get the picture.

When you buy yarn to make a sweater, SWATCH! To see what needle size is best to use with it, to see what kind of stitch pattern shows the yarn to its best advantage. Etc.

The end.

that swatching business

2009-05-02T07:49:00.006-04:00

Remember the other day, how Donna Druchunas and I were talking about swatching and designing? Melanie had more questions about it, and I think they warrant a whole post. I didn't want to wait until Monday - I'm going to a trade show in Sturbridge, MA, and won't have time to write.

Melanie sent me an email with her own set of interview questions.

Melanie: I was never taught to swatch. Granted, I did not have nearly the early childhood exposure to knitting that you did - did they teach that in school?

Karin: I don't remember! I don't think so. We made potholders. :) We learned how to crochet by crocheting an edging around the potholder, which was half garter stitch, and half stockinette stitch.

I did not discover it until I "rediscovered" knitting as an adult. One or two of them taught me that I basically knit to gauge, although I lean slightly toward tight. I like my clothes to fit loosely, so I usually opt to make a large size in any knitted garment, and the two work themselves out. But I have also learned that swatching lies (as confirmed by the Harlot) so does it really serve the purpose it was intended? What do you think?

I hear you, and I know what you are saying. However a lot of people often get GAUGE mixed up with FIT and SIZE. They think that they can just sub for a different size if their swatch is off. I am glad that this works out for you, but oftentimes it does not.
I agree that swatches often are not reliable, as they are not a substitute for the whole garment and how it hangs and wears and stretches over time. Too often my sweaters became too big with wearing even though my gauge was right on. I now pick a size smaller than I used to - but also my fit preference has changed over the last couple of years....but swatching is still crucial to me. I won't know if the yarn I chose for a particular project (and I substitute yarns a lot, meaning I will use a different yarn from what the pattern says) is the right one until I swatch it.
Which of course is a little tricky if you're standing in a yarn shop and you're about to drop a lot of money on yarn for a new garment....hopefully there's knowledgeable staff on hand to help you out if you're substituting yarn, or buying for a pattern that simply says, " use worsted weight".

Now, when designing, does the swatch serve another purpose, such as revealing the texture or flexibility of a chosen yarn? Has a swatch ever caused you to change your design?

Yes, and yes. When I am about to write a pattern for a new design, I spend more time than usual on the swatching process. Even then, sometimes I will knit half a sleeve to see how the yarn behaves or a particular stitch pattern develops, or how the color of the yarn works with the stitch pattern, or, if it's a handdyed yarn, how the colors fall. If any of those don't look the way I want them to, I'll rip it out and start over. Swatching allows me to figure out what I want in a design, because some of it is a matter of personal preference! When design a sweater, for example, I know how I want it to fall on a person (fit), I know how I want the stitch pattern to highlight a certain line, and I want the yarn to balance it all out. As I am writing this, I realize I am quite demanding of my yarn...I need there to be a balance between fit, wearability, and aesthetics.

I wonder if swatching gets more emphasis today because of the much wider variety of fibers available (vs. when we were young) They never had bamboo, buffalo, hemp, rayon or all those exotic fibers when I first learned knitting...or if it is just a disclaimer so that pattern designers can't be held accountable for sketchy directions - after all, they do warn you to swatch for gauge!

I don't know how to answer that, but you may be right. It certainly is a good idea to swatch with the new yarns. When I made the Berthe Collars for the book "No Sheep for you", they sent me two different yarns: one was bamboo, and the other was a nubby rayon bead. They knitted up vastly different from each other! (And I don't want to get into the 'sketchy directions' discussion. I know what you mean. Definitely.)

As a store owner, what did you tell patrons who asked about swatching? Do you think most people bothered to do it, or not? I find that it squashes the excitement of new projects and creativity if I have to slow down to knit a boring little square. And then again, how helpful is swatching if you want to knit art? (like my sheep, and your covering for MassMoCa?)

I always told my patrons that they have to swatch. A lot of people were reluctant to do it. Sometimes they came back and had me measure, which I love to do, and most of them were OK doing several swatches. Others wanted me to say that a bad swatch was OK, or wave my magic wand to make it all better. I still think to this day that it pays off to spend half an hour making a boring little square, rather than end up with a sweater that doesn't fit you. And wouldn't you want that afghan to hold together for more than a week? How about your socks? I don't LIKE doing the swatching too much either, but I always pay the price when I don't...

I do however wish I had known a little more about fit. As you know, I am not a fashion follower for the most part...I like classic designs better. There sometimes were issues with ease, meaning how loose or tight a garment fits on a person. Now I know better, I think. So much of it is a matter of personal preference, and it's worth spending time on figuring out how a certain garment will look on a particular knitter.

As far as knitting as art, I would say it's a toss up and again depends on the project, because even if I want to knit a whole house cozy, I still need it to fit that house...or you can go in the complete other direction and go freeform. As far as your knitted sheep, well, how big or small do you want it to be, and how proportionate?

Anyway, I always check your blog, even if I don't always comment, and I enjoy the photography and the politics as well as the knitting. So keep it up! Hope I get to see you soon-

melanie

Thank you Melanie for talking with me!! We should do this more often. :)

PS: why do you think I put those two pictures up there? Anyone?

PPS: If the above interview appears all smooshed together, I am sorry. I tried my darndest to separate them, but that stupid blogger program won't let me do it.

spring

2009-05-01T19:08:00.004-04:00

This week, we had some uncommonly high temperatures around here. Tuesday we went all the way into the upper eighties! All my flowers suddenly started blooming at the same time.
Some of these tulips are usually more staggered, but they just had to come out and see what was going on.

I looked back at last year's pictures, and these Virginia Bluebells and my Bleeding Hearts are one month early.

Thank you to everyone who inquired, but I am feeling much better today. Whatever was bothering me must have finished blooming. I do wish we would get some decent rain though.

Have a good weekend! I am trying to finalize my book proposal, so you may or may not hear from me for a couple of days.

thank you!

2009-04-30T08:01:00.002-04:00

Thank you everyone for the compliments on the yarn colors. I am hopeful that very soon, my handdyed yarn will be available online for purchase. Melanie and Alison of Dye-namics and I are trying to figure out a way. They are an established dye company with a website. Please check them out! I have had socks from their yarn for years and they are holding up much better than some of the Very Famous Brands.

Some of you inquired about my new job. My new boss, Lori, and I actually were co-workers for a while at the Honest Weight Food Co-op, then she cut back on her hours because she also had two small businesses she was running. One of which is a personal chef business. She has a professional kitchen, her business is expanding, she needs help....one day we got to talking. I needed better hours to be able to write my book. She could use my help. The rest is history. I am still a member of the co-op, putting in 3-4 hours a week, thus getting my 26% discount on groceries I buy there.

What can I say. It was a little serendipitous. She's a knitter and a spinner and a weaver.

Speaking of work, today I am actually home, simply trying to breathe. This sudden and intense onset of spring - summer, really - has made my seasonal allergies so much worse. I got new drugs yesterday, and an inhaler. The new drugs are knocking me out just a little, this post took me a very long time to write....I'll talk to you tomorrow.

where some of my sock yarn now lives

2009-04-28T22:47:00.007-04:00

I'll do a proper post on Thursday, about the shop and what cool things I saw there. For now, this will have to do. I still have more of most of these colors - all in all I have around 30 colors now. (You'd think I'm getting ready for a Sock Summit or something).

still here

2009-04-28T00:28:00.003-04:00

I didn't mean to not blog.

It's just that I've dyed 95 skeins of sock yarn during the last few days, added several paragraphs and revisions to the book manuscript, and generally kept things flowing smoothly around here.

Also, and I can't for the life of me remember if I've told you, but I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. Basically rearragend my life a little so I would have more time to dedicate to the knitting book I'm writing. So far it is working out beautifully, with the added bonus that my new boss is a knitter and a spinner and a weaver. We make healthy food from total scratch together AND I can talk knitting while we cook! How cool is that.

Tomorrow, I am headed up to Saratoga Springs to visit with a local yarn shop owner who is interested in looking at my sock yarn.

I'll talk to you when I get back. Meanwhile, check this out!

Earth Day!

2009-04-23T07:30:00.001-04:00

I know.

Sounds like I'm a day late, right?

Earth Day is every day.

The end.

blanket project

2009-04-21T14:02:00.002-04:00

I am home dyeing sock yarn today but keep running over to ravelry. There is a lot of activity going on in the Fans of afghans for Afghans forum. I am volunteering to put two blankets together (12 squares each, 10x10 inches per square). If you are on ravelry and are checking that out, I am hosting US blankets number 2 and 4. (There are Canadian ones, too, if you read this and live in Canada.)

These blankets are being made in memory of Kay's husband Peter. Kay had requested that if knitters wanted to do something for her, to make a contribution to a4A.
I'll keep you posted as soon as those squares from all over the country arrive at my doorstep! The deadline is May 1st; then I have about 10 days to put them together.

I tell you, every time something like this happens, I am just glad I can pick up my needles and DO something.

hmm...

2009-04-20T16:45:00.004-04:00

I am puzzled.

Evidently I had the wrong commenter yesterday when I notified the winners.

Would the real emcknits please step forward? I owe you some yarn....which I already gave away! But if you're willing to accept a different shade, then I could sleep better again at night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, please stop by the Mason-Dixon blog if you would. I had no idea what was going on when I wrote my "end of life" post this morning.

ETA: thank you emcknits for writing to me. I am so sorry about the mix-up! (One little letter in an ID was different. My fault for having the wrong name recognition.) I will mail your yarn out tomorrow.

in my wake

2009-04-20T08:46:00.003-04:00

Last week, an elderly member of our church passed away, and I went to her funeral service on Saturday.

It got me thinking, like those kind of events tend to get you thinking. And I realized what I want my wake to look like. You guys have to PROMISE me that this is what you will do for me:

Come together and bring your knitting. Bring your knitting and your spinning and have yourselves a knit & chat, a good old fashioned stitch & bitch. Sit around like we always have, and talk about the kids and what it's like to have to care for one's elderly parents. Talk about your jobs and the upcoming vacation, if you're lucky enough to be able to go on one. Best of all, talk about yarn and knitting, patterns and stitch patterns and books about knitting. Bring in some new knitters, and guide them when they need it.

I will have already asked my loved ones to take what yarn and books they want, and pile the rest up for you. Since I already know right now that I will have yarn left over at the end of my life, I would like you all to sit around my stash for an afternoon and check it out. When it's time to go, I want you all to divy it up and take it home with you.

I won't be able to tell you what to do with the yarn, but my wish would be that you make something for yourself, and make something for my favorite charitable organization, Afghans for Afghans.

To my knitting lawyer friends: I had better put all this in writing, right? I don't think a blog counts as a legal document...

Until the day of the wake, let's knit on together.

we have a winner!

2009-04-19T14:44:00.004-04:00

On this stunningly beautiful day in April 2009, we had a drawing in the backyard. Crafty Girl assisted.

The winner of Ethnic Knitting Exploration and four skeins of Nashua "Julia" is: Melanie! CONGRATULATIONS!!! THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!!

But wait.....what's this??

Could there be a second prize winner? A runner up?

OK so I was feeling generous, alright? These four skeins of purple "Julia" go to: emcknits. I think that's Elaine. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Please send your mailing addresses to karinmaagtanchakATnycapDOTrrDOTcom so I can get these out tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the posts, and to comment. I hope you will keep stopping by to say 'hi'.

Now back to our regularly scheduled knitting. :)

Interview with Donna Druchunas, part 2

2009-04-18T08:03:00.004-04:00

Here is part 2 of the interview with Donna Druchunas. Thank you so much for reading!

DD: Although I love the freedom of being able to design my own projects, I also sometimes like to just follow a pattern instead of thinking about designing something. However, I find that I can never make a project exactly as written -- I always find something I want to change: the armhole shaping or depth, the sleeve cap height, the neckband, changing a pullover to a cardigan. So knowledge about garment construction and knitting design frees me to alter patterns when I do knit from them. Do you ever knit from patterns or do you always work up your own designs? Why?

KMT: I am LOUSY at following directions as written, I always want to change something!! And the few times where I swore to myself that this time I will follow the directions as written, there’d be something wrong with them. Funny enough, I do not always work up my own designs. I should! But when I do, I work things out as I go along, and do not bother to write anything down.

DD: Recently I've been buying crochet books and I'm even working on my first crochet design for publication right now. I don't see crochet ever replacing knitting as my first fiber-arts love, but I do think I'll be making more room for it in the future. Have you ever considered working in crochet?

KMT: I did learn how to crochet as a kid, and my hands know how to do the most basic crochet stitches. While I learned how to read and write English/American knitting patterns very well, the same did not happen for crochet patterns. And believe me, people have tried! I have a number of learn to crochet books, but I just can’t seem to get the hang of the pattern language.There. You found me out. I really only have one talent: knitting.
But you know what? I'll definitely run to the book store and buy your crochet book when it comes out.

DD: It's my obsessions that turn into large projects, like books. A topic grabs hold of me and I can't stop learning more about it. It's not so much inspiration as it is a compulsion to learn everything I can and share the information with other knitters. What drives your creativity?

KMT: Oh my goodness. Call me crazy, but I think in terms of knitting (and these days, dyeing yarn) pretty much everywhere I go. I see string at a hardware store, I wonder what I could make out of it. I see rolling fields, I wonder how I could express that in an afghan and dye the yarn for it just so. I see brick walls such as at MassMoCA, and I want to cover them in giant felted pieces.
Pretty much every skein of yarn I look at, I immediately wonder what it could become. Every stitch pattern I study, my mind goes to making a garment, or something for the home…

One of my dreams is to make more knitted art….either for the human body or environmental art…I have a movie called ‘Rivers and Tides’, about Andy Goldsworthy. I would love to have a whole series of knitted items and garments based on his artwork in that documentary.
But for now, I’ll stick with clothes and items that real people can actually use! There is so much possibility.

DD: Thanks for being part of my blog tour. I'm not sure which is harder in an interview: asking the questions or answering them!

KMT: Thank you ever so much for visiting with me. I do hope that some day soon we will meet in person! Since we didn’t talk about your book here, but rather got an insider’s view of your creative process, I would like to mention that this particular series of books is very user friendly for knitters who want to design their own sweaters. I like the different templates you offer, for different learning/reading styles. As soon as I have a minute, I'd like to sit down and design and make an Icelandic sweater....I've never made one of those.

Please welcome Donna Druchunas

2009-04-17T07:18:00.004-04:00

Here, then, is the first part of an interview with Donna Druchunas.
Notice how Donna says the words "inspired by a pattern stitch"....and "pattern template".
There is a reason for that. YOU can do it too. YOU can design your own sweater! If you can make and measure a swatch, you can design and knit your own pullover or cardigan sweater. I promise.
Read more about the book on this blog tour.

Donna Druchunas: What got you interested in knitting and knitwear design? I learned to knit from my grandmother, but then didn't pick up my needles for years and years. It was a yarn shop full of new, gorgeous yarns -- wool, alpaca, novelty yarns -- that got me itching to knit again in my mid-30s.

Karin Maag-Tanchak: I learned to knit in grade school (growing up in Germany). I simply cannot remember a time when I wasn’t knitting. When I grew up, I knitted everything without a pattern, with lots of trial and error. I remember learning how to make socks without a pattern when I was a teenager. Every time I came to a spot where I didn’t know how to go on, I’d ask my mother, and she told me. I still have my first pair.

DD: I have a very seat-of-the-pants type of design process: I get inspired by a yarn or a pattern stitch or a garment shape, and I just start knitting and make things up as I go, taking a few notes along the way. Then I plug everything into a pattern template when I'm done. It's only when I have a tight deadline and need someone to help with the knitting that I write a pattern before I knit something. What is your process for designing a garment and writing the instructions?

KMT: I think I was still knitting a lot of things without a pattern pretty much until I opened my yarn shop, which I had from 2002 to 2006. Believe me, there were lots of disasters along the way! But when customers came in and asked me how I made a certain scarf or hat, I had to write it down for them. Naturally, I also sold a huge bunch of commercial knitting patterns and books, and help folks through their projects. I learned to speak knitting then, and soon after began to write patterns. I write them just like you. But when I have a certain assignment, I start with swatching and sketching, and then the knitting and writing happens almost simultaneously.

DD: I love exploring complex textures and intricate garment constructions, but sometimes there's nothing better than knitting a garter stitch scarf or shawl out of a luxury yarn on big, wooden needles for relaxation. What types of projects do you prefer to knit? Do you design the same things you personally enjoy knitting?

KMT: That’s a tough one to answer, because I seem to be all over the place with my knitting. Sometimes I wish I could just focus on one thing! But I love it all so much…I’ll start a garter stitch shawl or log cabin squares for an afghan, then I’ll get sidetracked by a gorgeous skein of yarn or a new pattern while surfing the web…or a new knitting magazine will arrive in the mail, and there’s something in there I want to make…I’m hopeless in the face of all that yarn and the books and patterns.
As far as designing, I am relatively new to it....I loved making the the two designs I have in your next book, and would definitely want to wear them, too. (more shameless plug coming up) In the book I am writing, I am including designs for everyone, and yes I am enjoying every single one of them.

Part two of the interview will follow tomorrow.

ready, set,...

2009-04-16T15:42:00.003-04:00

....tomorrow: go!

Friday, April 17th, will bring the first of a two-part interview with Donna Druchunas, author of Ethnic Knitting Exploration: Lithuania, Iceland, and Ireland.

Technically, though, Donna is interviewing me! As we were discussing her new book in connection with the blog tour, we got to talking about designing and why we knit what we do. Donna then asked me some questions, her being the true pro at this.

You can see my answers here tomorrow and Saturday, April 17th and 18th.

Remember to leave a comment for us here. It will give you a chance to win a copy of the book, and enough Nashua "Julia" yarn to make a pair of fingerless mitts with traditional Lithuanian stitch patterns.

The drawing will be on Sunday, April 19th, sometime in the afternoon.

Stay tuned! Leave a comment! Win a book and yarn.

Margaret's Shawl

2009-04-15T08:31:00.004-04:00

Last fall at Rhinebeck, Margaret Klein Wilson gave me four skeins of her sportweight Mostly Merino yummy delicious yarn. Just handed them to me, asking, could you make a shawl from those? I said, sure, I'd love to! She had seen some of my shawls on this blog. I felt honored.

Well I finally did it! This is what I did during most of the month of March. Another top-down shawl, this time with a small ruffle at the end. It was to be a very simple design, using the 4 colors. Final size after a gentle blocking was 72 inches across, and 34 inches down the center.

Let us know what you think! The yarn and pattern are be available at Margaret's booth at this year's East Coast sheep and wool festivals and Stitches conventions, and while you can order the yarn from her on her website (check it for her classes and show schedule), the pattern is not up there just yet.

While I was in the yard getting pictures of the shawl, these flowers were looking on. I finally believe that spring is indeed here!

Easter was:

2009-04-14T09:46:00.007-04:00

So we're back home, I am at the computer, uploading all kinds of pictures from a project I finished, and the trip.

What do I find but pictures of all four (!) eggs we dyed for Easter. Hey there were only the three of us, Crafty Girl, Dear Husband, and I, that morning, and four eggs made a nice egg salad after church and before we hit the road.

Crafty Girl took my camera and took a few pictures of the eggs. The lovely background is our yellow formica countertop.

Remember, your comment will put you in the drawing for the book Ethnic Knitting Exploration, and enough yarn to make some 2-color Lithuanian fingerless mitts.

PS: to Melanie from the comments: yes all the yarn shops were closed. But I am NOT looking for more yarn. I'm not. Believe it.

PPS: to answer Pat's question from the comments: we started with brown eggs, and we always leave the eggs in the dye for a long time. Some of these are dyed twice, like the green/teal one, which Crafty Girl did, and used a rubber band to get the stripe.

These make me want to dye yarn really badly.....

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T09:58:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and Sunday. We are off to Western New York State for a couple of days to visit Tall Son and Dear Husband's family.

I'll be bringing this laptop, so keep the comments coming! (If you're dying to say something to me but do not want to be entered into the drawing, please let me know.)

Happy Knitting!

watch this space! leave a comment! win a book!

2009-04-10T22:14:00.004-04:00

Donna Druchunas is one of today's most prolific knitting book authors. I don't know how she does it, but she simply cranks out one volume after another. I am sure you have heard of Arctic Lace? Or how about Kitty Knits, a fun book she said she had to write to take a break from all the research-heavy ethnic knitting books she was writing.

Out right now is the second in a series of three books on ethnic knitting. Exploration was preceded by Ethnic Knitting Discovery, which of course I also own. Each of these volumes covers three countries and their distinct sweater styles.

Donna has organized a blog tour of the book, and I want to strongly encourage you to check it out. All the links to the various blogs are on Donna's site, Sheep to Shawl.

Next Saturday, April 18th, the blog tour will stop by here! Donna and I will be talking about our design approaches, what things we like to design and knit for ourselves, and all kinds of other good stuff.

So watch this space! Leave a comment! And win a copy of this very book:

Here's how it works:

- Leave a comment here on this blog and give me your name, or at least some initials.
- You may leave one comment per day all the way until Sunday, April 19th, 12 noon EST.
- Since I get to moderate the comments first, I can also delete them. No spamming, no rudeness. Be nice, please, and leave a comment for Donna, will ya?
- I will enter your name into the lottery as many times as you leave a comment, which means more chances for you!

On Sunday, April 19th, after I have had a lie-down and a cup of tea, I will literally put all the entries into a hat and have Crafty Girl draw a winner.

The name/identifying initials of the winner will be announced right here on the blog, that same day, if the creek don't rise. At which time I will ask the winner to email me his/her address. I might also throw in a skein of yarn or two to sweeten the deal. Who knows!

Ready, set, comment! I don't care where you live. I'll send the book to Australia, if I have to!

more NYC

2009-04-07T16:19:00.005-04:00

I actuality, I found these images/impressions in the reverse order, but I am putting them up here like this because most everyone always thinks of New York in terms of Times Square,

famous skyscrapers,

and famous baseball fields (here, the former Shea Stadium):

But there is also a lot of quiet and introspection,

beauty in the parks,

and stately old buildings from 150 years ago.

( Quaker Meeting House on Stuyvesant Park)

The magnolia trees were already in bloom.

I walked for many hours, and found some small neighborhoods.

Keep walking with me on this blog, won't you? Soon, we will speak of yarn again, and the famous author who will be visiting here on April 18th. Stay tuned.....

New York City

2009-04-06T14:18:00.007-04:00

I'll tell you the yarn store part of my visit. First up: purl SOHO. A tiny shop with the nicest sales people and floor to ceiling yarn. Nothing but color. It was crowded in there, so I got only a few shots.

(angora booties from "last minute knitted gifts")

Just a few doors down: purl patchwork. I wanted to move to Sullivan Street right then and there, by the way. Love that neighborhood.

The next day, I found a bedroom size habu textiles shop on the 8th floor of an office building:

(psst: that's pure silk, fine as hair)

(silk and merino)

(linen paper yarn)

School Products is a completely different experience: an old-time yarn shop, importer of fine Italian yarns. I selected a 2.2 lb cone of merino tweed and had it shipped home. It was a bargain at $30/lb. and 940 yards pp! I haven't photographed it yet.

Some more images and impressions tomorrow. Completely yarnless.

Knit Night, etc.

2009-04-01T11:22:00.003-04:00

I'm back from my trip, feeling strangely jet-lagged though I only went a couple of hours south by train. Now I am playing catch-up with laundry and emails. Then work.

Today is Tall Son's 19th birthday! Yes, my April Fool's baby. I love him so much, and am not afraid to admit it.

Knit Night is tomorrow!! My dear local knit sibs, please come and knit.
Panera's in Glenmont, 7 to 9 pm.

a spring day

2009-03-28T20:26:00.007-04:00

Crafty Girl was picking crocus in the yard today and artfully arranged them in a small clay pot.
Then we got a sheet and had a little photoshoot, just for fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I am going to New York City for three days visiting with an old friend, sightseeing, yarn crawling, eating out...I'll see you all back here on Wednesday, April 1st.

Meanwhile, enjoy the flowers.

Now I'm going to turn off this machine in honor of Earth Hour.

turn off the lights, will ya?

2009-03-28T13:55:00.002-04:00

Just got a reminder in my inbox for EARTH HOUR.

Wherever you are, and you have lights (and any appliances that you can spare) on, turn them off for one hour tonight at 8:30.

If you can't do it tonight, why not try another night? Once a week, or once a month?

It's a good time to learn how to knit in the dark.

first in a series

2009-03-27T10:12:00.011-04:00

Sometimes, you have to just go for it and buy yourself a present.

This one comes in installments, four times over the next year: my spring parcel just came in the mail.

I bought a Sheep Share from Foxfire Fiber in Shelburne, MA.

The package was beautifully wrapped with tissue paper

-- protecting this treasure inside:

I went for the whole "Farm Yarn Stash" in Natural, and I don't care if you know how much it cost. It is worth every single penny to me. Because someone out there is taking the time to lovingly raise sheep, shear them, and have the yarn processed naturally. If you go to the link above, you will see the line-up of precious skeins that will come my way over the next year.

Leah and I have been tossing an idea around as to what to do with it. The words "slow knitting" came up.

I will keep you posted.

habitat

2009-03-22T19:31:00.009-04:00

As we all know, knitters and spinners are at home practically anywhere, but it's especially nice if they have a knit-in at an arts center.

This one was sponsored by 4 area yarn shops.

I stayed for a little while to soak up all kinds of good vibes.

After I got home, I checked in my yard to see what was coming up.

And speaking of habitats, I made this hat over the weekend. A completely addictive knit.

I took this picture as the light waned, so it looks a bit pale. The yarn is Jamieson's Shetland Heather, in the color "horizon". The hat got a bath and is now blocking. I need to get it in the mail for my mother's birthday!

disagree (1), agree (1)

2009-03-19T09:01:00.004-04:00

This year, I applied to get into the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair on Memorial Day weekend.

I did not get in.

Also, I applied to go to the Sock Summit.

I got in. Portland, Oregon, here I come.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T08:48:00.012-04:00

I am the least Irish person around, but I like parades and music and celebrations. Also, this time of year, I take my green wherever I can find it!

This past Saturday, we had two St Patrick's Day parades to go to. One small one in North Albany, which spanned about a half block, but was not short on fun.

Then we went on the the big parade in Albany, which on that gorgeous day drew many thousands of people.

Here is our Crafty Girl, who is a member of the Color Guard and Marching Band, getting ready for step off. Note the green bands she had put on her braces.

The streets were so crowded that Dear Husband and I missed about a third of the parade, but what we did see was amazing enough! I took a million pictures, but I'll spare you the fire trucks and local officials.

This little girl was my favorite parade onlooker.

St Patrick working the crowd.

After the parade, I went looking for some green in my yard.

I also have green knitting on the needles! Here's the back to THIS. I can't wait!!

Enjoy your day, wherever you may be, and the luck o' the Irish to ye!

spring preview

2009-03-14T15:50:00.003-04:00

some writer I am

2009-03-10T08:21:00.003-04:00

Relating to my previous post.
I want to blame the fact that I had been sick and out of commission.

Yes it's a knitting book, 18 designs.

I think that's all I can say right now. :)

did you say something?

2009-03-09T12:06:00.003-04:00

At the beginning of the year, I swore to myself that I would only post about finished projects here on this blog. No more "this is what I'm working on". A lot of those works in progress didn't get finished (yet), and then I get disappointed with myself and worry that I disappoint you.

I am currently working on a commissioned shawl for Mostly Merino 's Margaret Klein Wilson. She gave me 4 of her sportweight skeins at Rhinebeck last year and I have been plugging away at a top down garter stitch shawl which will be displayed in her booth to show off the yarn.

The other thing I have been working on is writing a book. There. I said it. Knitting the beautiful expanse of the garter stitch shawl has given me ample time to ponder (and stop and write and keep tweaking designs) what I want to say in the book.

So far, what I have is an agent who wants to see a proposal, and the whole thing is still so much up in the air I can barely even grasp it. Some days it feels more real than others. On the days that it feels real, I tell myself that this book will be written whether I can find a publisher or not -- it's that important to me.

Then I try to hold on to the importance of it all, for me, and I tell myself that I can totally do this. I was desperately trying to work it all out that I would do this book and then tell you, in a year or so, "Oh, by the way? I have a book coming out!". I didn't want to jinx myself; disappoint myself or you if it didn't work out in the end. So I've only told very few of you. In the meantime, it was getting harder and harder not to talk about it. Over the weekend (being sick in bed may have helped a little) I've come to realize that I can't do any of it myself. I need you.

It is costing me a huge amount of effort to tell you and to ask you. But I'll need you to tell me that I can do this, I need you to prop me up when I'm too tired from working my job and still have a deadline to fulfill. I need you to be my knitting companions like you've always been, my enablers, my questioners, I need you here with me, my dear friends. Especially when and if I get the rejection letters, I'll need someone to hand me a box of tissues.

I have no clue if there is anything I can ever give you in return, other than my boundless gratitude. Can you deal with that?

Knit Night

2009-03-04T11:32:00.002-05:00

Knit Night is tomorrow, Thursday, March 5th.
7 to 9 pm at Panera's in Glenmont!
Come one, come all!

finished blankets

2009-03-04T08:49:00.006-05:00

Do you remember?

My dear friend Amy finished the acrylic one weeks ago, and donated it to a local agency in Bennington, VT, that helps teenage moms. Thank you Amy!

Meanwhile, the measurements for the a 4 A blanket were falling short of their requirements. Pat, a workshop participant, made 10 (!!!) more squares. I made 2 more, which added up to two more rows of squares.

I finished last week and mailed it out. The final dimensions were 32x42 inches after blocking.

For each row, I crocheted 6 squares together. Then I crocheted 8 rows together into the afghan. It was nice having it on my lap while I was working on it, and was imagining the little child it would eventually cover.

I used single crochet throughout and finished it off with two rounds of it. After a wash and block, I mailed it out last Friday.

feeling honored

2009-02-24T22:54:00.004-05:00

Dawn Brocco is one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet (albeit through the interwebs, and when I had my shop). Now she has topped even her own niceness and graced me with the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Thank you so much, Dawn.

Readers: you should go to Dawn's blog and check the company she put me in. Oh. My.

As per the rules, I need to nominate 8 blogs.Here are the rules for the nominees:

1. Copy the award to your site.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.

3. Nominate 8 other bloggers.

4. Link to those on your blog.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

I hereby nominate (in no particular order!) -- truth be told, it was hard to choose. There is so incredibly much creativity out there, expressed in words, photographs, work, caring, knitting, child rearing, cooking, ... well, here's my selection.

Leah's Our Yellow House -- just read read the blog for a week, and you'll see that 'creativity' doesn't begin to cover it.

Amy's Bag of Chocolates -- she knits, she bakes, she makes cards, she translates. I'm sure I've missed something.

habit. There is no comment section on there, but I have grown addicted to reading it.

Contemporary Textile Art. I don't think Lisa knows I'm a reader. I admire the discipline she brings to her work.

Mare's Moon & Stars Studio -- everything Mare makes is made with her heart, not just her hands.

near:far -- a project by Kyrie and Grace, whose blogs you may know. There is a strong quiet creativity at work here.

Mason Dixon. I just had to throw in these two lovely ladies, whom I met at Rhinebeck last year. They knit, they quilt, they sing, and keep us in stitches all the while.

And for sheer spinning, dyeing, and sock knitting madness, check out Socks Street. Let the pictures speak for themselves, if you don't read German.

That's my list.
Now go nominate some of your own faves!

knitting art

2009-02-19T21:38:00.002-05:00

I've tried to avoid merely linking to other people's blog as an entry lately because if I've got nothing to say, why should I go steal someone else's words?

But this is just too cool to pass up. Please go read Franklin's The Panopticon, Feb.18, 2009.

a day in the snow and sun

2009-02-18T11:25:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I took Crafty Girl to Jiminy Peak, a ski resort less than an hour away from us.

The whole resort is powered by a giant wind turbine.

Crafty Girl was even sporting her 'I heart wind turbines' t-shirt!

I rented some skis, boots and poles, and after 22 years of not skiing at all, it came right back to me! My dad taught me how to ski when I was a wee one, and I got to be an expert skier by the time I hit my teens. The day brought back many happy memories for me.

However, I did NOT make it up to the summit!

I am too out of shape to risk spending $58 for a lift ticket...besides, Crafty Girl would certainly not be ready to negotiate real runs.

We stuck with the bunny hill at the bottom. I got a good workout climbing up a few times and gliding down while she was in her first snowboarding lesson ever, which I gave her on the occasion of her upcoming birthday on Satuday.

She took a few falls and is sore today. But I am very proud of her for trying! As for playing sports, she decided she likes soccer much better. :)

sweet love

2009-02-14T07:47:00.007-05:00

Box of chocolate covered strawberries by Crafty Girl for friends.

Red roses from Dear Husband.

yarn survey

2009-02-10T10:11:00.004-05:00

I am wondering if you could help me out with something.

I would like you to write to me in the comments and tell me if you have a local yarn source. I DO NOT mean your local yarn shop, unless they carry locally produced yarn. This is all about where the yarn came from, and who made it, and if there are knitters out there using it.

1) Have you ever gone to a local farmer's market/sheep and wool festival/farm and fiber tour/other local to you source and bought yarn there? Do you ask for locally produced yarns at the yarn shops you visit?

By local I mean a 100 mile radius.
If that does not apply, think of yarn that may have come from your state, or the state you visited.
If that does not apply, did you seek out yarn from a domestic spinnery, such as Bartlett Yarns or Blackberry Ridge?

2) Do you remember the name of the farm/spinnery/producer the yarn came from? Details?

3) What do you remember about the yarn (weight, colors, softness, durability, the project you used it for, anything)? Would you buy such yarn again, or would you rather buy a name brand? Why?

I need primarily North American sources, but I'd also love to read about all others. To be honest with you, I am not entirely sure where this information will lead me, but I have been talking to a lot of producers in the last year. Now it's time to talk to some knitters, the consumers! If there is anything about yourself that you would like me to know, such as: "I have been knitting since I was two and I buy only undyed yarn from the farm next door"; or "I only just started knitting last year and all I know is malwart yarn. Yarn comes from sheep??" -- add that information.

If you have a blog, please spread the word for me. I would like to get as many answers as possible. I'll leave the survey up until 2/16/09, post the results, and see if I have enough material for an article.

If you know of any threads or groups on Ravelry on the subject, please let me know.

THANK YOU!!

orchids

2009-02-06T13:55:00.002-05:00

My sister has many talents, and one of them is growing orchids.
She sent me a picture this week, and I'd like to share it with you. (Click on it to make bigger.)

Have a good weekend!

retreat (part three: project)

2009-02-04T08:28:00.017-05:00

For the retreat, I put together a booklet of 21 knitting patterns that had a 5x5 inch template in the front, for easy measuring. We didn't swatch because the squares were practically a swatch unto themselves, and if the number of stitches was wrong we could just rip and start over within minutes.

The knitting patterns were of varying degrees of difficulty, to accommodate a range of skill and inclination. There was no pressure at all as to how many squares everyone was supposed to make. After all, this was a Retreat. We were retreating from our daily cares for one weekend, to help us slow down and process recent upheavals that we were all exposed to, good (new president) or bad (economy; war). We had comfy beds to sleep in and had the luxury of being served extraordinary food that was lovingly prepared.

The meditations led by Elaine Yuen helped us calm our minds, stay in the moment, and direct our thoughts towards others who are less fortunate than us. The premise going in was that we would make squares, which would be assembled into a blanket or two, which in turn would be donated to people in need.

While I realize that many many knitters do this on a daily basis, it was fantastic to see what 12 women could do over the course of one weekend. As we all sat around a big table, the conversation ebbed and flowed, there was lots of laughter, and community was palpable.
Story after story was shared, while colors and patterns were selected, new techniques learned.
To me, it was a distillation of what knitting is about. There was a huge sense of gratefulness for the abundance of yarn, for each other, and for each other's accomplishments.

I had brought my blocking board so we could block the squares as they got finished.

We had divided the yarn into wool/natural fibers, and acrylics/machine washable.

By Sunday morning, there were enough squares for me to begin assembly. Amy and I crocheted squares together into rows; Angela and Jen wove in ends, taking care of the wool blanket.

Dina and her helpers (forgive me, I can't remember who they were!) took care of the acrylic blanket.
There was actually one more row than is shown here.

In the end, we had made 72 squares. A brandnew knitter, who was a volunteer at the retreat, added #73 at the end, which will be added as a little pocket on top of the acrlylic one for a child to put a toy inside.

Arranging and flattening felt like we put our blessings on the blankets one more time.

Group portrait in the shrine room.

Thank you ever so much, everyone!

(front row: Nancy, Elaine, Barbara, Amy, Abby. Back row: Gretchen, myself, Angela next to me, Patrice in back between us, Pat, Dina, Jennifer, and Annie our beginner standing tall behind Pat.)

I am finishing and blocking the wool blanket as we speak, it will go to afghans for Afghans *.

Amy took the acrylic blanket home to finish and donate to an agency in Bennington, VT, that helps teenage pregnant girls and their babies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* I just read the guidelines for the current campaign. There is a rolling deadline. The blanket as it's sized now is too small. I will add another row or two of squares to comply with the requirements.

retreat (part two: people)

2009-02-03T08:33:00.010-05:00

The retreat was called "Knitting as a Peaceful Act".

Elaine Yuen, meditation instructor, modeling one of her creations.

Coming together.

retreat (part one: place)

2009-02-02T10:44:00.014-05:00

Ed. to change title.

today

2009-01-30T08:12:00.002-05:00

I'll give you a riddle today:

What does this blogger have in common with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Vanessa Redgrave, and Phil Collins? (hint). Not much, I'll tell you that, except for one thing...

See you on Monday! I'm off to the Catskill Mountains to teach at a knitting retreat.

just so you know,

2009-01-29T18:15:00.005-05:00

I was linked by the blogessa par excellence today, Ms Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot.

All I did was inquire about a recent knitting project, and her welfare.

Now you may carry on with whatever you were doing. I'm not so sure I can. My heart is beating too fast.

In other news, I found 4 more skeins of the wonderful merino sport as I took it to wool n word today. Call that Stephanie (Olivo is her last name), pester her to sell you that yarn. There are 11 colors.

The superwash lives over there now too. I know you want to go and take a look.

The yarn goes by the title of "Periwinkle Sheep", merino sport, and merino superwash worsted, respectively.

Me, I'm just going to try and calm down now.

hiatus shmiatus

2009-01-28T15:53:00.006-05:00

I can't hide anymore, it's too boring, besides Leah blogged about what she made with my yarn.

:-)

We have storm #6 going on right now, I'm home from work all week, and today turned out to be a putzing around kind of day. Sorting yarn, unraveling old projects, gathering leftovers for the retreat this weekend.

Leah's projects are so wonderful they make me cry, and then I have folks wondering how they can get at the yarn. She used my 100% merino sport weight yarn, it has a whopping 400 yards per skein. They retail for $18/skein.

Here's full disclosure of what I have left. Since these skeins are no good to anyone just sitting here, waiting for the next craft fair, I am bringing them to my friend Stephanie's yarn shop in West Sand Lake (outside of Troy and Albany) TOMORROW, JAN. 29th, and you can go look at them in person and pet them and take some home if you want to.
Two of these would make a beautiful lace shawl...

Color names below each picture.

caramel

grasshopper

lavender

poiple

sky blue

sun yellow

reds

orange

cotton candy pink

Not THE biggest selection ever, but you get the idea. If even 3 people buy a couple of skeins, I'll feel like I can order more of the yarn and get dyeing again.

I will also bring a bin of the superwash merino worsted, ( 270 yards, $18/skein) and we will see how much room Stephanie has in her shop to display it.

Later! Stay warm.

self-imposed blog hiatus

2009-01-23T09:09:00.003-05:00

I need to go on a self-imposed blogging hiatus for about 10 days. There is a lot of knitting I need to do on commission, well actually I am knitting a small sample sweater for Beth Brown-Reinsel for a new book she is writing.

Also, I need to prepare for the workshop I am teaching at a retreat next weekend.

Thank you for all your kind comments, I will keep reading and posting them, of course.

Meanwhile, please if you would, keep sending good thoughts towards my friend Alison, who is not out of the woods yet.

And to balance things out, here's a fun link my Dear Husband found.

I hope you all have a great weekend, week, and weekend again, before I'm back to blog. There should be lots to report when I come back!

Keep those needles clicking!

nervous

2009-01-21T21:37:00.013-05:00

Turns out I stink at skein portrait photography. And of course I can't dye yarn worth the water in the dyepot. I get nervous because "real" dyers read this blog.

The colors look a lot better in real life.

Please stop by Trumpet Hill , if you're in the neighborhood.

That's where these are for sale.

Periwinkle Sheep "watercolors" hand dyed sock yarn.

80% superwash merino 20% nylon, 420 yards, $22.

I thank you for your support with my whole heart.

O Happy Day

2009-01-20T08:55:00.003-05:00

It's Inauguration Day.

I am prepared to get very emotional during the ceremony, alone at home, glued to the television.
While a dark cloud lifted the day that Barack Obama won the US presidential elections, today is the day that reality sets in. It is really happening.

I am once again proud to be living here.

my sister's socks

2009-01-17T12:12:00.007-05:00

My dear sister loves it when I make her socks. She has always been a grateful recipient of my socks, so I am happily on the look-out for yarn that she might like.

At last year's NYS sheep and wool fest in Rhinebeck, I found this:

Supersoft merino sock yarn. The colors were unlike any I've seen. My sister loves sunflowers, and this colorway looked to me like a field of sunflowers under a blue and white Bavarian sky.

As I was knitting with it, and looking at the label again, I realized that the yarn was NOT superwash. I debated with myself, and debated some more.... and then decided that while I do not mind handwashing knitted items, and neither does my sister, socks are not one of them. That's where I draw the line.

So I finally, reluctantly, pulled the needles from this sock, and begun a pair with my own handdyed. One of the first sock yarn skeins I ever did.

Vastly different in color.

They came out OK, and she loves them.

That's all that counts.

My sock yarn, which is 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon, is now available at Trumpet Hill. It is called Periwinkle Sheep watercolors sock yarn. I dye it so that stitch patterns won't get lost in it...also, it is suitable for lace projects.

It has been selling steadily, so I am off to dye more!!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

more socks

2009-01-17T12:04:00.007-05:00

My sister-in-law and my niece both requested socks for Christmas 2008.
I was happy to indulge them!

SIL wanted heavy socks for relaxing around the house. One skein of Encore worsted, size 7 needles, plain vanilla pattern, shoe size 10. I had a tiny ball of Encore left, so used just under 200 yards.

These were for my niece, finished while in the car and at their house.
She wanted a bright color: I had some Opal 4 ply in my stash; size 1.5 needles, size 7 shoe.

They were well received!

more mitts

2009-01-17T11:47:00.007-05:00

I am unable to settle on the right term for these: fingerless gloves, fingerless mitts, or just mitts.
Any other ones I am unaware of?

These are the Maine Morning Mitts from Clara Parkes' book The Knitter's Book of Yarn.
Made on January 1st, with 1/3 of a skein of malabrigo worsted, and size 7 needles.
Crafty Girl loves them so much she says "I'm never going to take these off". I drew the line at mealtimes.

These next ones were done before Christmas 2008, I gave them to Elissa Halloran (mentioned in the previous post). She makes astonishing jewelry, and these allow her to work with her hands while keeping off a chill.
My own handdyed, to test it out. Worsted weight merino superwash, size 7 needles, pattern in my head.

This picture taken by Crafty Girl.

I am piling up the posts a little so you have something to read. I'll be very busy next week, including being glued to the TV on Tuesday, Inauguration Day. On my day off. What could be better??

every project has its moment

2009-01-16T19:43:00.009-05:00

I made this pair of fingerless gloves today, a commission. The woman who ordered them from me wanted long ones that extend halfway up the arm. She had bought this scarf from me at Elissa Halloran's shop, where I have warm winter accessories for sale on consignment:

She asked Elissa if I could make her fingerless gloves to match.
Alas, I didn't have enough yarn left to do it. It was just as well, since I had my doubts whether she would still be able to use her hands with gloves that thick...

So I went to plan B: try and match the color. I would see what I could do with the bit of yarn left over from the scarf.

I made these up as I went along. Bulky thick and thin wool, size 10.5/6.5mm needles.
They came out OK. They fit well. The whole time I was making them, I was hoping the customer would like them.

But they didn't grab me. No excitement going on here at all. (In case you are wondering about a slight difference in size, the one on the right had been tried on a few times.)

How could I embellish them...I tried whipstitching, and didn't even take a picture it was so boring. I ran the yarn through at the wrist, and ditto. Nothing.

Then I went and got a huge crochet hook, and single crocheted around the bottom, one round.

Eureka! The super thick and thin yarn worked its magic. It almost looks like a scalloped edge now, and I am much happier.

I hope the customer is, too. I dropped them off this afternoon.

guess what?

2009-01-14T00:20:00.003-05:00

I finished something!
Lately it has driven me slightly nuts to have unfinished projects lying around. (Don't tell my mother. She decided when I was a teenager, and hopping from one project to the next, that I am unable to finish anything.)

Some of you may remember the color...

...or the name of the yarn...

...or the name of the project...

....or which book it's in...

"Rhinebeck Cardigan" from a fine fleece by Lisa Lloyd.

Valley Yarns "Northampton", 5 skeins

colorway Merlot Heather

needles: 7 and 4 (which is a change from the pattern; she used all 7 all the time) /4.5 and 3.5 mm 3 buttons instead of 6.

Even Crafty Girl, who's almost 12, says this cardi looks "very cute" on me. With the top button open.

patterns

2009-01-13T08:18:00.002-05:00

I love patterns. Not just knitting patterns. I look for them everywhere, and they find me.

Sunday, 1/11/09, after the snowplough came through.

Same tracks, with my shoes for scale. Those were some giant treads.

Tracks from our neighbor's snowblower. He's always so nice to us, clearing the path.

More patterns to come throughout the year, as I happen upon them.

storm #5; socks; Alison

2009-01-11T10:26:00.004-05:00

The fifth storm this winter hit overnight, but it finished just in time for Dear Husband and Tall Son to drive across the state. It was time to say good-bye as the spring term starts on Wednesday.

Tall Son had asked for socks. Mind you this is the first time he asked me to knit anything since the 7th grade, when he wanted me to make him a hat. I took too long getting the hat started. He finally made it himself.

But I got right on it with the socks, and finished them last night. Yes there was some procrastination in there. I'm really good at creating deadlines for myself....

Size 13 feet. He said, just pick a yarn that you have a lot of. I had some Opal 6 ply in my stash, in a burnt orange color, and used size 3 (3.25mm) needles. 54 stitches. I used a 2x2 rib for the ribbing, then went to 3x1. They fit him well.

It felt good to be able to send him off with these on his feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Alison is gravely ill. I know so because for her to be writing such an incredibly short post, which took a lot of effort, means she is very ill.

I felt moved to send an email to Caremark last night. I mean, what they're doing, that's just not right.

Please send prayers, good thoughts, strength, love, hugs, whatever you got, her way. Thank you.

gift knitting revealed

2009-01-06T09:46:00.004-05:00

Lest you were wondering if I would ever blog about knitting again, here's some gift knitting I've done. I'll start today with some baby sweaters.

This red one is made with my own handdyed superwash merino worsted, a wonderfully sproingy, soft yarn. I am test driving it to see how it behaves before I start marketing it further. So far, I've only sold it in small quantities at the NYS sheep and wool fest, and at the recent holiday craft fairs.

The bright red color is difficult to photograph. I think the picture below does it justice the most. Notice the natural habitat for sweaters, my wood floor.

The parents of the baby who will be gifted this sweater specifically asked for red. I hope it's red enough. :)

I used Knitting Pure and Simple Pattern # 982, with the no hood option. I worked ribbing on all the edges, rather than ribbing and garter. I like all my edges to be the same.
I was hoping to make this sweater out of one single skein of yarn, 270 yards for the 6 month size, and would have been able to, had I not lengthened the sweater body by 1.5 inches. Instead, I ran out of yarn on the last row before the last bind-off. Thank goodness I knew where to get more yarn...:)

This next one was started last September, and the sweater was too small for the intended recipient from the beginning. I finally finished it the other day, and it's going to a different baby girl who was born on the wee small side. Now that we're in the midst of winter, it should keep her nice and cozy.

The pattern came from a Morehouse Merino kit, but I used a superwash merino wool Filatura di Crosa yarn I had in my stash instead.

I love the sprinkles buttons:

Both sweaters used size 8 (5mm) needles, and were done seamlessly, the red one from the top down, the lilac one from the bottom up with sleeves picked up and knitted in the round from the top down.

More gift knitting to be revealed within the next few days!

a flower for Alison

2009-01-04T19:57:00.006-05:00

The other day, I felt compelled to bring home an amaryllis plant. I have never done this, but I kept thinking of my friend Alison, who loves amaryllises.

Alison is sick, sicker than we like her to be*, and I am hoping that these will cheer her up a bit.
It started blooming on Friday, during her "procedure".

There are at least 3 more flowers to come! To cheer her on the road to recovery, is what I'm thinking...

If you can find one of these, I can highly recommend bringing one home. They're an amazing sight, as they bring beauty and grace into your house.

* ETA: of course that might sound strange. I do not ever ever "like" anybody being sick, ever. But the fact is that autoimmune disorders stay with you your entire life, and some days are better than others. Some days the beast can be tamed, other days, not so much....

new snow, new day, new year

2009-01-01T11:36:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year!

this just in

2008-12-31T08:49:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to let you know that I will be teaching a workshop in conjunction with a meditation teacher at the end of January. Here are the details; and I want to add that I am expecting this to be a wonderfully relaxing weekend...the food at the lodge is outstanding and lovingly prepared.
Can you imagine a weekend of meditation and knitting, good company and good food in the snowy Catskill Mountains?

I hope to see you there.

Contemplative Knitting
at Sky Lake Lodge

"Knitting as a Peaceful Act"

Elaine Yuen: Shambhala Meditation Instructor
Karin Maag-Tanchak: knitting teacher and designer

January 30 through February 1, 2009
Fri, Jan 30 evening; Sat, Jan 31, 9am-9pm; Sun, Feb 1, 9am-2pm

Part of what makes knitting so appealing is the way it enables us to slow down. By focusing our mind on the yarn and needles we find ourselves more relaxed and at the same time more present.
This program will serve as an exploration and deepening of the natural mindfulness inherent in knitting. Instruction will also be given in simple yet profound mindfulness/awareness meditation technique, suitable for beginning meditators.

The last few months have been an upsetting time, whether we were directly affected by current events, or not. This workshop is designed to help us slow down and let go of some of the anxiety or stress we may have felt; to help us become accepting and grateful for what we have; and through the act of peaceful, mindful knitting, look beyond our own lives, towards others.

Our project will be making afghan squares using a variety of stitch patterns; some of these will be assembled into a blanket to be donated to a local shelter. Please bring a great variety of leftover yarns and needles! Each participant will receive a specially prepared booklet of patterns and instructions to use and take home.

Light yoga and various sensory appreciation exercises will be offered, plus ample periods of knitting time.

$200 Commuter Rate (includes program, lunches on Sat & Sun, dinner on Sat)
$250 Lodging Rate (includes above, Fri & Sat lodging and night lodging and breakfasts)

Click Here to Register

Sky Lake is just 2 hours north of Manhattan in the Mid-Hudson River Valley
and easily accessible by regional bus.

Sky Lake, 22 Hillcrest Lane, Rosendale, NY 12474, 845 658-8556

happy holidays

2008-12-26T08:56:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, as we were going over the river and through the woods by New York State thruway, to Syracuse, I kept pondering what I might say to you here, about this holiday. I sat in the back seat with Crafty Girl, Tall Son was driving, DH co-piloted. I was knitting (a gift that still needed to be finished on the way). We were hollering chistmas songs and carols, from "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" to "Frosty the Snowman" to "Jingle Bells Rock" and "So this is Christmas". (Dear Husband had made this crazy compilation CD.)

I took pictures all day, of snowy roads and my sister-in-law's cozy home. All of us together. None of which I will post right now, except for the one above, because I am getting this feeling that none of them really captured what the day felt like...especially since there was so much sincere gratefulness. It was apparent when some jaws dropped over an unexpected gift; it was obvious when the kids, who are growing up so fast, reached over with open arms and gave hugs of thanks. Food was abundant, as were the cookies.

Kids, grandparents, good food, christmas distilled. I could say it was one of those really good ones, that I want to remember for a long time, and I will. But there is something else I am trying to get at. It wasn't just that we managed to get the right gifts. This past year, we had all gotten together more often than usual, and had celebrated other milestones. My parents had been here (let's not talk about my homesickness at this point); we had a graduation and then a son sent to college; my niece turned 16 right after she got her appendix out - she is well; and a fine young lady. My other sister-in-law lived through a hurricane that blew through Houston. My mother-in-law also had had a little surgery to take care of some things, and she is fine. All this passed and we were there for each other, calling and making sure; getting together when possible. Getting together for this holiday was a coming together and an appreciation of each other.

Maybe it's always been like that, and I am just now waking up to it. Hopefully you had somewhere to be, or you had folks over to your house, and you got that hug, and someone looking at you with sparkle in their eye and saying "Thank you!!"

To all of my family and relatives in Europe, I miss you terribly and I do wish I could be in two places at once.

snow storm - take (2)

2008-12-21T18:28:00.003-05:00

The second snowstorm in three days hit today, and I'd say we have about 16 to 18 inches now.

Here's Crafty Girl and a friend having loads of fun in the white stuff. They were out there for hours and hours.

We're supposed to get arctic cold and strong winds tomorrow, and I expect this dainty pattern on my rose trellis to be gone:

I always leave the dried sedum in the fall, because I look forward to the little snow hoods in the winter:

Our neighbors' bushes have snow blankets on.

We're all home safe and sound. Tall Son is off visiting with friends, of course.

We baked another batch of cookies today and I knitted a few rounds on a sock. I can't show you most of my knitting until after Christmas, though. :)

instant winter

2008-12-20T17:38:00.003-05:00

Just dropping in to say that we got instant winter yesterday, 10 inches in as many hours, measured in our back yard. It wasn't blowing or drifting snow, just the nice white fluffy stuff, coming down constantly and heavily.

Between the baking, picking up the house and cleaning and a girl's soccer game (indoor!) thrown in, no time for pictures. And just a little bit of knitting.

They're saying more snow tomorrow, which is good, it gave Dear Husband the day today to go retrieve Tall Son from college 220 miles away. I'll be glad when they walk in the door tonight, then it can snow all it wants. We're on Christmas break!

wwyd?

2008-12-15T20:29:00.000-05:00

I am posting today because I truly need you to help me understand something.

Do you remember this felted bag I made in September?

I brought it to this past weekend's craft fair, thinking that someone might like it and buy it. In the end, it didn't sell, which did not break my heart. But I also didn't want to take it back home, so I decided to give it to my craft fair neighbors. (Earlier in the day, I had also given away some kid's hats and a little girl's scarf to another fellow crafter who has two children. Everyone there was happy.)

So I'm walking to the next table, holding up the bag, and asking the young couple if they'd like a free felted bag. They took a look and told me, "No thank you, we're vegans." They had been selling vegan wallets made from recycled feed bags and part of their proceeds were going to an animal rescue place. I proceeded to tell them that no sheep or alpaca had died in the making of this bag, indeed all the animals simply get a haircut once or twice a year and then they are on their merry way.

The vegans said, "Yeah, but they die eventually." I suppose they meant that they will not support anyone who will use animals for human gain. They eyed the bag and me with a mixture of revulsion and an 'I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole' kind of look.

I guess in all the years of sort of knowing about veganism, it never occurred to me that it is possible to turn down human kindness over the supposed suffering of a sheep. If you can't be humane and kind to your craftfair neighbors, how can you be humane and kind towards animals? I realized later that almost everyone at the fair had stopped by my table and commented positively about the yarn and the knitted items. My vegan neighbors had barely said hello.

I was a bit stunned -- and trust me I work with vegans, I am familiar with the philosophy of it all. I am not naive, nor ignorant. Heck, I'm a vegetarian. But I was stunned nonetheless. I managed to turn around and ask another crafter if she would have any use for the bag; and she said, with a smile, that she would not but today was her mother's birthday and if it was OK...? I said, "Yes, of course! And Happy Birthday to her!"

So it was all good in the end.

ice storm

2008-12-12T12:26:00.000-05:00

tree in our back yard on 12/12/08

We had a major storm coming through yesterday and overnight, resulting in a snow day for the kids (and hubby, as he is a teacher).

Ice storms are a little eerie to me. First, it rains and rains for hours, and wherever the rain falls, it forms ice. Every surface, stair, car, sidewalk, tree, grass blade is covered in ice. It is eerily quiet during all this. The trees' branches are bowing lower and lower under the weight of the ice.

Then the rain stops, and the wind starts.

The ice is starting to snap off of the power and telephone lines, unless they have already come down...there is a line down on our street right now, and a police car has blocked access to the street from one side. Wind and icemelt are working together in loosening the built up ice, and every once in a while we hear chunks of it falling off the roof or a tree. I am hoping that the old crabapple tree in the back yard will live through this one, too.

We are very lucky in our neighborhood because we haven't lost power. I am staying in today to re-organize my yarn and finished projects for this weekend's craft fairs. And knitting until my hands fall off.

I hope you are warm and safe wherever you are!