September in the rear view mirror

Posted on October 13, 2012 | 11 Comments

DH and I went to Europe last month to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We started in Amsterdam, where we rented an apartment on the Prinsengracht (Prince’s Canal).

It was across the canal about two blocks north of Westerkerk, the church in the picture, and the Anne Frank House. The churchbells ring every 15 minutes, 24/7, which is tough on the jet-lagged. But they were a comfort to Anne Frank, reminding her there was a world outside her hiding place. The Anne Frank House was a very sobering, moving exhibit.

We had a great time in Amsterdam. It has a laid-back, Portland kind of vibe. I love the mix of old and new; many of the houses are from the 17th century. Our apartment was in a canal house on the edge of the Jordaan district, and there was always something fun going on nearby. We stumbled on the Rock Arkiv our first night in town. It’s actually a gallery that sells pictures, but this was going on outside.

What else is Amsterdam/the Netherlands known for?

Delicious cheese.

Bikes as real transportation. These are parked at Centraal Station (train station), and don’t include the 3 story bike parking garage I’m standing on.

Tulips. I wanted to bring some of these ice cream tulip bulbs home, but they’re not cleared for export to the USA yet. The shop owner said I’d have to smuggle them in. Um, no thanks. I’d look too guilty!

I accidentally found a yarn shop when I was walking around the neighborhood. This is De Afstap, a cute little shop. Lots of Rowan yarns, but nothing I can’t get at home. No one tried to chat me up there, so I just made a quick tour and went on my way.

From Amsterdam we went to Bruges/Brugge, Belgium via train.

Unfortunately, DH had a mishap getting off the train in Antwerp, so he ended up on crutches for a few days. (Socialized medicine was pretty efficient. And I went to the pharmacy and pantomimed crutches. It worked!) We didn’t climb the bell tower, which was the one thing we really wanted to do (366 steps). The tower dates back to the 1300′s.

But we did tour the town by carriage. I left DH in the hotel room to rest while I took a quick look around.

Just another beautiful canal view, with the bell tower. (Thanks to Rick Steves, who notes this picture perfect view in his guidebook.)

I love this alley, which reminds me of scenes from the Tudors.

I went to Dumon for chocolates. These were my favorite of this trip. Leonidas was a close second. I think I need a larger sample size, though.

I bought some boots to celebrate that DH’s foot wasn’t broken. (Picture in next post; this one is getting too long…)

Next stop, Paris!

→ 11 Comments

Posted in travel

Tagged ,

To the frog pond…again!

Posted on October 5, 2012 | 4 Comments

Ripping, ripping, ripping. This is the shawlette I completely frogged at the beginning of the week, and I re-knit it with my intended changes. I love it. So why am I ripping again?

20121005-112853.jpg

I have my heart set on a particular edging at the top of this crescent shawlette, and there’s not enough yarn to make it happen. I need at least 28 grams, according to the scale, and I have 25. How will I get there? I’m going to change the rate of the short row decreases to make the curve shallower, with fewer rows, and hope that gives me enough for the 6 rows of edging, plus the bind off. Wish me luck!

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged ,

Be the boss of your knitting

Posted on September 30, 2012 | 7 Comments

Does your knitting know who’s boss? Are you a fearless knitter? Not yet? Here’s your chance. I’m teaching Tink Drop Frog (how to fix your mistakes) at Stash in Corvallis this Saturday morning, October 6. If you’re local, come learn to whip your knitting into shape in this two hour workshop.

stocking christmas stocking

I’m also teaching a Christmas stocking class in the afternoon. You’ll learn stranded color knitting, and turning a heel. A Christmas stocking is a perfect first sock because it’s knit with big yarn and needles, and you only have to knit one! No second sock syndrome. It’s not too early to get your holiday knitting going. Call Stash to register for either of these classes.

I am definitely the boss of my knitting. I knit a shawl while I was traveling in Europe earlier this month, on trains from Amsterdam to Bruges, Bruges to Paris, Paris to Reims and back. Here’s what it looks like now:

frogged

Yep. Frogged it. I didn’t love the finished object, and this lovely HazelKnits yarn deserves better. I know exactly what I want to change. (What, me swatch? The whole garment is a swatch!) I’m knitting on bigger needles, and I changed the motif of the pattern. I’m already much happier with it. I don’t mind frogging; I enjoyed knitting on the trains and I’m enjoying knitting now.

markers

While I was gone, Leticia (Starlight Knitting) sent me these stitch markers to sample.

marker

They’re square! And also snag free. They fit up to a size 7 needle (although I cast on with an 8 and it was fine), and are light and unobtrusive. I love them! Leticia has teamed up with several independent dyers (Sincere Sheep, Knitted Wit, Canon Hand Dyes) to make stitch markers that coordinate with their color palettes. Canon Hand Dyes (Amy Lee) and Starlight Knitting even debuted a Downton Abbey inspired yarn and stitch marker collection. How fun is that? The blue-green markers above are Lady Sybil. Remember her modern pant suit?

Do you use stitch markers? I like using them when casting on a lot of stitches, to mark off groups of 50 so I don’t have to re-count them, and to mark off pattern repeats when knitting, or just to tell my fingers that it’s time to pay attention to something. I’ve made some of my own before, but I don’t think you can ever have too many. I’ve even made them from a cut up drinking straw, in a pinch, but pretty is better. It’s like jewelry for your knitting. How about you?

→ 7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged ,

OFFF 2012

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 8 Comments

DH and I went globe trotting to celebrate our 30th(!) anniversary: Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris. I’m finally starting to catch up with myself after jet lag plus a busy week at home. We arrived home on Friday night at 11, and I went to Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival the next day at noon. I didn’t want to miss my favorite fiber festival of the year, and I couldn’t go on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and warm.

Untitled

This is the first year since I started going to OFFF that I didn’t help Lorajean (Knitted Wit) set up her booth. Looks like she managed to get it done without me; set-up day was my travel day.

Untitled

It was Brooke’s (Sincere Sheep) first OFFF; she came with a beautiful rainbow of yarn and fiber. She and Lorajean are launching more Among Friends fun; check it out here.

Untitled

I took my half pi shawl to Abstract Fiber to show Susan what I had made with her lovely laceweight Hepburn yarn. This was the shawl I made for my birthday, but really it was for our anniversary dinner in Paris. Dinner and the shawl were both lovely.

Untitled

Yvonne (Lavender Sheep) and her new little one were there. Yvonne is a dyer, and also the organizer of the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival, coming in April.

Untitled

Chrissy Gardiner was at the Lavender Sheep booth signing copies of her new book, Indie Socks. This book is full of Chrissy’s beautiful and clever patterns for socks using yarn from indie dyers.

Untitled

I caught up with Jen from Andersen Fiber Works. (Love her sweater!)

Untitled

And my friend Sarah, who is the fastest knitter I know. And very accomplished, too; her knitting knowledge is encyclopedic. (Do I look a little dazed? Not bad for 4 hours of sleep, after being up 24 hours traveling. Oy!)

Untitled

Nadine showed me her handspun sweater project. I last saw it in our steek class last spring. Yes, she cut her handspun knitting! I had a nice chat with her friend Midge, too.

I didn’t make it to the animal barns. I came home with just a little yarn. I wanted some browns, which I’ve never worn before. I’m branching out!

Untitled

Lovely warm browns in this Eponymous Sock yarn, color Mulch, from Three Fates Yarn.

Untitled

And this cool brown Shine from Knitted Wit.

Untitled

This plummy Icicle Creek yarn from Rain City Fiber Arts. I fell for the color, and the golden sparkle of the stellina.

Untitled

Did you go to OFFF? What have you been up to while I was gone?

I’ll tell you about my travels in another post. This one is long enough already!

→ 8 Comments

Posted in Knit, yarn

Tagged

I bought yarn I didn’t need

Posted on September 14, 2012 | 21 Comments

But wait, I can explain! I did it for the experience. Yes, the experience!

I went to La Droguerie, in Paris. I had read about them online, and it’s a very different experience than visiting a US shop.

Untitled

This shop is located at 9 and 11 Rue du Jour, just off Rue Rambuteau, right next to Les Halles. It’s a 15 minute walk from our apartment in le Marais. Pictures are not allowed inside, but here’s a view from across the street.

Untitled

You can see that the yarn hangs in hanks along the walls, but these are just samples of the yarn by type and color. I decided I wanted linen, which they carry in about DK weight, in a deep purple (violet, but I think of it as eggplant). I asked for it in French, 200 grams. The clerk went to the back wall, climbed a ladder, brought down a cone, and wound off the required amount.

Untitled

It’s really not this blue; I can’t get the camera to capture the eggplant-iness of it.

The rest of the store is lovely, too. There’s a wall of buttons, and if you want some, they get them out of wooden boxes and drawers for you. There are jars of beads, and you have to ask for them; they’ll get those out for you, too. Definitely not US do-it-yourself, but a fun experience. And now I have some lovely French linen to play with!

→ 21 Comments

Posted in travel, yarn

Shawlette inspiration

Posted on September 8, 2012 | 6 Comments

I have an idea for a shawlette, and I think it’s working out. I’m inspired by the color of this yarn. It’s HazelKnits fingering, can’t remember which version, or the color name. Geez, I’m a lot of help, aren’t I?

Untitled

It’s zipping along since this picture. And this fingering weight yarn feels really phat after knitting the laceweight shawl. Just sayin’. More later…

Oh! Don’t forget, my birthday pattern sale runs through tomorrow, Sunday September 9. Celebrate!

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged

Ruffle Kerfuffle is live!

Posted on September 5, 2012 | 15 Comments

It’s my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to add new designs to my pattern collection?

This is the Ruffle Kerfuffle scarflet. It was my original idea for this design, knit in the round with a steek to cut, and the ruffled ends and criss-cross buttons. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I also knit a longer version, the Ruffle Kerfuffle Scarf.

So cute! But what about those knitters that don’t ever want to cut a steek?

No steek, no ruffle. Something for everyone

You can find more information on these patterns on the Ruffle Kerfuffle page.

To celebrate my birthday, I’m having a sale! $1 off any pattern in my Ravelry store, no limit. This includes Ruffle Kerfuffle! The sale is through Sunday, September 9.

And if you’re interested in a Kerfuffle KAL, and virtual hand-holding for the steeking, let me know. I’m also teaching a steeking class with this pattern at Twisted in Portland on the Monday after Thanksgiving. C’mon, you know you want to!

→ 15 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged ,

Three year socks

Posted on September 3, 2012 | 10 Comments

I did it. It didn’t take long at all. Why did it take me three years and four months to finish these socks?

IMG_2817

I did graft the toe of the second (left) sock. It’s not that I don’t know how; it’s that I knit socks so rarely that I always have to look it up. But I did, and it’s done. It looked enough like the right sock (draw the yarn through the remaining 8 stitches) that it wasn’t worth going back to re-do the first one.

These are a heavily modified adaptation of Cookie A’s Kai-Mei socks. My Chinese name is Lai-Wah, so I named them for myself. You can see a description of the changes on this three year old blog post, if you’re interested.

Now what should I knit? More socks? Another shawl? I want a relatively mindless, portable knit…

→ 10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged , ,

Birthday Pi…

Posted on September 2, 2012 | 20 Comments

may be even better than birthday cake. No calories!

half pi done

It’s my birthday later this week, and I wanted to have this shawl finished to wear. Done! I’ve decided I’m not a fan of knitting with laceweight yarn, but the result is so lovely. The pattern is the EZ 100th Anniversary Gull Wings half circle (Rav link). I knit this on Hiya Hiya sharps, size 4. Loved the pointiness. Didn’t like the slipperiness; not enough control for this loose knitter. But I was afraid to change needles in the middle of the project, for fear of changing gauge. When I went to bind off, I used a larger needle anyway, so I went back to my Lantern Moon ebony in a size 6. Just enough texture to keep the slipperiness at bay.

IMG_2784

I did most of the binding off at Waterfront Park the other night, which is like Portland’s living room. (Some would say that Pioneer Courthouse Square is Portland’s living room, but I like the view from this one better.) The Portland Symphony plays a free concert to open the symphony season, and it always ends with the 1812 Overture and fireworks. A lovely evening.

sunset glow

It’s a party!

waterfront park

But I digress. Here’s the shawl, just off the needles. Kind of scrunchy and unimpressive.

scrunchy pi

I wet blocked it on my ancient cardboard cutting board in the back yard. The radius is 26 inches, so the diameter is 52. Heh, math.

IMG_2797

It was so warm out, the shawl kept drying out before I was done. I couldn’t find a spray bottle, and the sprayer on my iron doesn’t work. So I turned the hose on it after I finished pinning it out. Gently. With the spray nozzle. Pointed up in the air.

more pi

It dried really quickly! I gave the rest of the yarn (47 grams out of 100) to my friend Claudia; she doesn’t mind knitting with laceweight and the color is great for her. Now I’m finishing my 3 year sock.

3 yr sock

I took that picture yesterday, and now I’m down to the end. Do I graft the toe, or do I finish with my usual “run the yarn through the needles and pull tight because I’m too lazy to look up kitchener stitch”? If I kitchener, I’d have to undo the first one and do that, too; I want them to match. It might be a good exercise, though. What do you think?

→ 20 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged , ,

How long does it take…

Posted on August 30, 2012 | 4 Comments

How long does it take to knit a pair of socks?

ribby

I started this pair of socks on April 15, 2009, according to Ravelry. I even blogged about it that week. Apparently I finished the first sock and blogged about that, too on April 21, 2009, so 6 days for a sock.

Soon after, I started a new project, and set the socks aside. Just for a while, I thought. And then I forgot all about them.

Last week, a reader emailed me and asked about the twisted edging on the top of the sock, and I sent her a link. I told her that I hadn’t finished mine, and she encouraged me to do so. I found the sock, figured out where I was in the pattern, and here we go.

lai wah

Let’s see how long it takes!

Oh, what’s that underneath? I bought a project bag from Slipped Stitch Studios. I love the Eiffel Tower, and this struck my fancy.

DSC00340

This drawstring bag is really nice; it has a squared bottom and is lined with a contrasting fabric. And it has two pockets inside!

DSC00341

I think I’ll put my socks inside, and take them knitting en plein air. Voila, La Tour Eiffel is getting to me already!

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged , ,