IK

Ever since I saw this spring's IK I have been joking with Bobbie, owner of Ewe Knit Kits and Yarns, that I should teach a class on the bra and thong... scroll down.

I love the description of the crochet trim as "underwire". For me, that little bit of decoration would do nothing to provide supportive underpinnings.

It certainly wouldn't take much time...or yarn.

Knit weekend

I am continuing up the slope and neck/shoulders of Starlight, but really, it still looks no different than before. :(

I finished the Guild Vest and wore it to work last week. It looks better on than in the photos displaying it on the chair. I'll have to get TS to take my photo.

The booga bag is also finished...soon to be felted. And I saw another movie, Because I Said So, so the scarf is almost finished too. I know; I know...had I worked on Starlight INSTEAD of these items, I could have another inch or two of not very visible progress.

Yesterday, I took a class with Martha Marques. Her sweater that can be scaled up for any size, from doll to adult, is cute as can be.

Today, I am meeting some people who are knitting the Guild Vest at a local Barnes and Noble. We are going to check the math...

Not so secret info. about me: I don’t enjoy math. Can I do it? Yes...but I have to go slowly...think carefully...eliminate auditory distractions...you get the idea. I look like the village idiot while I am doing it. UGH! And to subjugate myself to doing MATH in public, with several guild members waiting for me...PRESSURE.

To alleviate my stress, and give me a reward, in advance, for this arduous task (OK… it is simple math...the aforementioned IN PUBLIC is what makes it arduous), I am going to Ann Taylor Loft FIRST. Yes, I am getting/giving my reward before I complete the task. Tee hee.

Tonight I go to a fundraiser ceili for the dancers going the Oireachtas from the An Cor Rud, the company with whom my niece dances. Here are a couple of photos.






Can you believe I donated knitted items (hat and purse) for the fundraiser?

Fitted Knits

Have you seen Fitted Knits?

I found it the other day and snapped it up immediately. There are some very cool patterns in this book... all top down!!!! which means, check your fit as you go.

The author, Stephanie Japel, also has a beautiful sweater in the Spring IK.

Grumperina and Eunny Jang have sock patterns in the same issue. So, while I'll pass on the bras... (crochet underwire... tee hee... I think I need a bit, OK well A LOT more support that this yarn confection) I see some socks in my future... and at least one of Stephanie's beautiful fitted pieces...

The Walker Treasury

Have you seen The Walker Treasury Project site? The books are fabulous, but these large, color, updated swatches are pure online inspiration.

The page includes buttons to add to your blog, a list of reversible patterns, a book by book and chapter by chapter break down of photos/swatches, and instructions to knit and photograph your own swatches. This is an excellent resource.


Maybe our illustrious President can entice our Guild into creating and adding swatches to the site.

Totally Non-Knitting Post

Great Big Sea will be playing at Attuck's Theater, in Norfolk, VA on April 16th!!! WHoooo Hooooo. I already have tickets. My son, sisters, niece, and some friends are going. I think we'll stalk the band and beg autographs and photos just like we did last year when they played at GWU in DC.

This year I won't buy a black t-shirt (autographs don't show unless one remembers to bring silver sharpies)!!!! and I will bring my own sharpies. ;) The band members were very kind and signed our tickets and other items.

Would it be VERY wrong to allow the teenagers to skip their morning H.S. classes? What about me... can I stay out late and skip my 8:00 class? ;)

This Newfoundland trio have several CDs and are VERY popular in Canada. Check out their music... My favorite CDs are UP and Play.

Cheating?

Would working on a project that I started before Starlight be considered cheating?

I really don’t think these count as cheating at all:

I finished (except for all the weaving of loose strands) the Guild Vest.



I semi-finished a Norwegian style sweater that I started last year...
and left sitting in a knitting basket for about 11 months. Technically, Starlight constitutes cheating on this sweater. Now it just needs the front bands, buttons, and ...once again...weaving.

Strictly speaking, can these really be considered cheating? After all, they did come before Starlight.

Ahem...then there is this little number.

But here’s a good reason: I went to a movie, and Starlight doesn’t lend itself well to movie knitting. (BTW Music and Lyrics was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. I wish Kristen Johnston had a bigger role...I loved her in 3rd Rock from the Sun).

And then there’s this:

which will be a booga bag…or something close to a booga bag. This one, I admit, is CHEATING. But I need some instant gratification.

Here’s where I am on Starlight...




Honestly, this barely discernible lengthening represents hours of work, and there is very little difference from the last set of photos...SIGH! So, I shall...knit on...

My youngest sister was just here... and she said Starlight looked....square... or blocky! AAAACK. Just last month, I ripped out the Einstein jacket because it looked Sponge Bobish on me! I have curves; this is stretchy. Starlight will be fine. RIGHT?!?!?

Feb. 10
On Wed. evening, I stopped by Ewe Knits for a little knitting.

See this woman?

I call her the Temptress. Before I sat down, she said, “Maureen go look at the yarn on the table under the window.” Like a hound following a scent, I tracked this absolutely fabulous yarn.

I love it. It feels great, the colors are great… I WANT it. But I just bought silk...and I am knitting from my stash unless there is a killer deal.

WAH! I still want it.

But Tilli Tomas isn’t likely to go out of business before I finish knitting from my stash, is she?

Starlight

What a busy week this has been!
Starlight is growing, but not as quickly as I’d like.



The back shown below, is the truest color...at least on my monitor.


I keep worrying that it will be too tight. Doesn’t it look small...well I am making the small, but you know what I mean? I even swatched...both stockinette stitch and a whopping 6” of the cabling because 4” of it didn’t give me enough of an idea how it would work up. It looks great, and I am still getting gauge, yet...I don’t want it clinging to me. I keep telling myself to trust the gauge...and remember the miracles of blocking, but the overall dimensions are tormenting me.

Reminder to me: there are many ways of fixing this little problem that totally avoid ripping, aren’t there? ;)

Ultimate Blog Party

Shall we? All you lurkers and those of you leaving comments, let's do it.

I guess you now know, I have yet to figure out how to post buttons. *sigh*

Swag

Swag

It is 1:50, and I’m home from the Super Ball Sales. Here’s the swag purchased at Ewe Knit Kits and Yarns:



Most of it is Punch, an alpaca blend purchased at get this... 70% off because I bought more than 10 skeins. I'd call that a killer deal.

An then there is this: Purled Llama silk that I have been coveting for over a year.



Yes, my friends, it was a killer deal, but I still spent my yarn allowance for the sales. The silk will be a tank shirt some time in the future...

Here’s the swag from the Hook and I. My sister bought the yarn, but I'll knit the sweater... so this doesn't even count against me. It is Cascade’s Sierra Quatro. Youngest sis is having surgery on her jaw and mouth, so her mouth will be wired/banded shut for about 6 weeks...this means she’ll lose about 50 lbs. She wants me to wait until she loses the weight. Makes sense to me...and it gives me much more time to knit my stuff. ;)

Super Ball Sunday

Today I went to the TKGV's winter annual Knit-In for Charity. There were about 18 of us there... but I forgot my camera!

Did you know that our LYSs (Yes... we have 5 fine yarn stores here in VB... check out the links) can't call tomorrow's yarn sales Super Bowl Sales? Some call them Super Sunday Sales... but today a guild member and fiber artist Martha M. suggested Super Ball Sale. Apropos or what?

Anyway, tomorrow will be another yarn related day.... Two in a row! I am wallering in it! (Wallering is far, far worse than wallowing... wallering brings up images of pigs and mud; whereas, wallowing brings up images of petite maidens pining away because of unrequited love).

Even though I am trying going to participate in Knit from Your Stash 2007, I have to visit at least one, or two, or three of the LYSs ....

Come on, I could be a lucky winner, or score some excellent swag... like cashmere at a fabulous price... OR this will be my exception to the rule... Purchasing yarn at killer prices is permitted. :) I have enough sock yarn to knit a year's worth anyway.

Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading

Bummer.

I must have placed Tom William's book faceOFF in a nice safe place. The title poem is one of my all time favorites. It is witty, yet has bite... but it still shows his love for his daughters. Cool stuff. I think my signed copy is in the room where my husband is sleeping... think he'd mind me flicking on the light and digging through the bookshelves?

Yeah... he probably would.

But Tom's newest book, Bombing the House of God is online.... so, I can still post one of his poems.

god as we unserstood him
too many commandments,
"thou shalt nots." don't get it
right the first time, you only

suffer. questions?
don't ask, don't tell.
that's our story, and we're sticking to it.

that's how you find
damnation, how things become
interesting in hell.

who wouldn't kill a boy
hitler, given the right time, the right
knowledge? there can be too much

organization. give me
someone who accepts
any crime commited

to avoid a greater evil, give me
an idol, an old testament
jove, chaotic and insecure.


Want to see another? Check out: Poetry Southeast.

Go check him out at All Nations Press.

Mittens

Have you seen the mittens of Rovaniemi yet? WOW!

My first thought was, “Not for me.” Then I read Stephanie’s description: “mittens, knit in several colours in the round, in intarsia, only continuing in the round (never turning back to purl), without carrying any colour at any time (with the exception of the base colour) and without ever twisting them together.”

ooooooooo! Intarsia in the round... now that sounds interesting...

One of the main reasons I don’t like intarsia, is that it doesn’t easily lend itself to knitting in the round, my favorite way to knit. And there’s an added benefit with these mittens; even though it looks like Fair Isle, there's no twisting... I don’t mind twisting the yarns for Fair Isle, but it does take longer.

So, of course, I became excited and intrigued…

Until I saw Susanna Hansson’s photo (third photo down). I am still laughing. Had I been the knitter, that nice neat set of spooled yarns would quickly become a giant, snarled knot. Even though Susanna lives in Seattle, she still had to pack this knitting for travel to the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat in Tacoma.

One question: How long did it take her to untangle those balls?!!! Maybe I am projecting, and just thinking of what the spools would look like had they traveled with me.

That said, I am really curious. How is this technique done? I wonder if TKGV would consider this as a class...or am I the only nut willing to work through tangles to learn a complicated technique to create an item that wouldn’t have much use in Virginia?

Not much growth on Starlight... teaching and grading interfered!