I took at class at Twisted on Saturday, Designing Lace Triangle Shawls with Sivia Harding. Sivia is the queen of lace, and beads. I took a one hour wonder beading class with her at Sock Summit 2009. This class was six times better, because it was a 6 hour class! And there was some beading, too. We learned about basic triangle shawl construction, choosing a pattern, stitch dictionaries, how to chart our lace, swatching, transitioning between lace patterns, edgings, and beads. Whew! I came home inspired, and spent part of this afternoon working on a design.
Alas, it didn’t quite work out to be what I wanted, but I’m not done yet.
I also played with my camera the other morning; Franklin Habit’s class has inspired me to take more pictures. My camera is just a point & shoot Panasonic Lumix; it doesn’t have a very fast lens. I wanted to see if I could get it to play with depth of field. I’m still not quite sure how to make it happen with this camera. (I miss my film SLR…) I just kept playing with macro and zoom until I got these. I loved the way the sun was lighting the flowers of the dandelions, while the ground was still in shade. It looked like fairy lights, just magical.
Somehow weeds look so much better with a little bokeh!
Have you learned any new skills this summer? How are you using them?
I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this gorgeous book, My Grandmother’s Knitting by Larissa Brown, at Sock Summit.
The book explores the question, “Who taught you to knit?” with 17 designers, including Meg Swansen, Jared Flood, Kay Gardiner, and more. It also features 21 patterns, some by the interviewees, and some not. Not all the interviewed designers have patterns in the book, but all the patterns are quite lovely. I especially liked this hat by Teva Durham, described as “somewhere between a slouchy beret and a milkmaid’s bonnet.” (and hey, that’s Sally!)
And I love these ‘Olina Socks by Emily Johnson, the creator of the Family Trunk Project.
Judy Becker contributed the pattern for this simply beautiful Grandma’s Fan Dishcloth. Of course it begins with Judy’s Magic Cast-On!
I think every knitter of a certain age knit house slippers like these, shared by Wendy Bernard.
Wendy goes further to add her own embellished version.
The book is beautifully photographed, and an easy size to hold and read (oversized books are nice to look at but make me tired!). It’s a perfect tribute to those who taught us to knit. Who taught you to knit? My Aunt Rose taught me when I spent the summer with her family at age 14. She was just here in town to help celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday. Of course we went on a yarn crawl. She was surprised to find that I didn’t own a swift and ball winder, and insisted on buying both for me as a gift. Thanks, Aunt Rose!
I just went looking to find the things she knit for my kids when they were born.
I’m filled with nostalgia. We just dropped our youngest in Orlando, Florida for college. We’re empty nesters! I think this means I’ll have a lot more time for knitting…
Usually it’s all about the blues here. Blue is my favorite color, and a lot of my knitting is blue. But not right now. I’m currently in a red phase. The ruffle tank on the needles is red, my current sock design-in-progress (first sock weight yarn sock!) is a shade of pinky red, and I’m about to cast on Annis in red, too. What does this mean? Must be a reaction to our cooler than usual summer. No need to cool down with blues!
I finally sat down and knit the other swatch from my Designing with Japanese Stitch Dictionaries class. I don’t love it, but I’m pretty sure I did it correctly. It looks kind of like…underwear. One of the symbols on the chart was confusing (the slipped stitch), but this page was pretty helpful getting it figured out. Here’s the first swatch again; I still love it. There are four interesting new stitch maneuvers in this piece that I was very happy to learn.
One of my post-Sock Summit purchases has arrived! This is the most gorgeous book, and it makes liberal use of some of the stitch techniques we learned in Gayle Roehm’s aforementioned class. I’m really impressed by how clear the photos of the knit swatches are. This is the best so far of the three Japanese stitch dictionaries that I own.
Here are the other two, just for reference. A lot of the pictures in the last one are a bit overexposed, or maybe just flatly lit (no side light) so it’s hard to see what the swatch really looks like. But it’s a beautiful book, and still useful.
I’m really looking forward to incorporating some of these new-to-me stitches in future designs. I have several ideas cruising around in my mind, but I’m not ready to commit to any of them quite yet. I’ll finish the red projects and then settle into some lovely autumn design work.
Are you looking forward to fall? I’m not ready. Summer came late this year, and it’s a gorgeous August, not too hot, but blue skies and sunny. Are you knitting for summer or fall? I still have high hopes of wearing the red ruffle tank this month!
As if I didn’t get enough knitting in with Sock Summit, on Monday I took Amy Herzog’s Fit to Flatter class at Twisted. The class was fantastic. We learned what looks good on us and why. We took measurements and photos(!) and had the opportunity to try on lots of sample sweaters and figure out how we would modify our knitting of them. I highly recommend this class if Amy comes to visit your town, too.
I want to knit these: Lucette (oh, the beads!), Ayana, February Fitted Pullover. All a little shorter than the samples, of course. Can someone order me a few more hours in each day?
It was great to meet Amy; I’ve been following her blog for years. I wish I had a picture, but we ran out of time. Sorry.
One thing that was highlighted in class: zero or negative ease is a knitter’s friend. If you knit a boxy sweater that’s bigger than you are, you’ll look boxy wearing it. Knits are very stretchy. If the garment is smaller than you, it will hug your curves. Knitting shaping into the garment is another way to get around the boxy look. My ruffle tank is a good example of what negative ease can do. It doesn’t have waist shaping, but it is slightly smaller than I am. (This picture is from last year.)
I’m currently knitting a second ruffle tank in deep red; it’s coming along swimmingly. I’m knitting it in the round this time, and I’m up to the armhole shaping. I’m looking forward to wearing it. Here it is chillin’ on the hammock.
I arrived early before my morning class so I could see the sheep for the Fleece to Foot Challenge. It was before 9 a.m., but the sheep were already being prepped for shearing. Apparently belly wool is removed before the actual shearing because it’s messy.
I couldn’t stay for the shearing; I had a class, Designing with Japanese Stitch Dictionaries with Gayle Roehm. I learned several new stitch techniques, and also learned that I’ll be needing another book to help me decipher the charts in the stitch dictionaries I have, and the ones I’m planning to buy. Japanese knitting symbols are fairly standardized, so the new book will help a lot. (eta: Clear and Simple Knitting Symbols, ISBN 9784529024136) This is one of the swatches from class. It has lifted stitches, wrapped stitches, crocheted bobbles and more.
By the time I returned to the marketplace after class, the Fleece to Foot challenge was proceeding in earnest. Yarn was being carded, spun, plyed, knit. Here are the two teams from Portland: The PDX Puddlejumpers team:
Sock Summit was great, and now I have to process all the information I took in, and figure out what to do with it. I’m even knitting a sock, with sock yarn, and live to tell the tale. It’s only 56 stitches around; I have small feet! Skinny yarn on skinny needles is not so scary after all. These are Lantern Moon ebony size 1 dpns.
I was pretty restrained in my purchases; I still don’t really stash yarn! But there were a couple things I had to have. Another skein of Alpha B Luxe, but this time in red. My gray Zen Rain that I wore all weekend is made with this yarn; I love the drape that the silk adds. The other yarn is Penny Farthing Sock, color Fathom by Little Red Bicycle. The marine blues sucked me right in. This is a mega-skein, so it’s 500 yards/150 grams of merino/cashmere/nylon (80/10/10).
I also bought Intwined design software, and am really looking forward to playing with it. I’d been thinking about it for a while, but it really helped to see the demo at the show. Review later! And my first purchase, the little Cthulu Turkish spindle from Jenkins Woodworking.
Since I gave away Lady Baa-Baa and her unnamed replacement, I picked up another sheep. This time it’s brown. I think I’ll call him Lambert. We’ll see where in the world he ends up!
Were you at Sock Summit? What was your favorite thing? And if you weren’t at Sock Summit, come in 2013!
Saturday was my favorite day at Sock Summit. It began with a delivery of more Zen Rain and Pacific shawl patterns to the Knitted Wit booth. Running out of patterns and needing more is a very good thing.
I then headed to Anna Zilboorg’s lecture on The Deeper Meaning of Sock Knitting. I could listen to Anna talk about anything; she’s warm and witty and wise. Some of her remarks: Sock knitting is intensely personal; once you know how to make a sock, you can put your favorite stitch pattern on it. Knitting is cooperative rather than competitive, and cooperation creates love, not envy. It is not hierarchical; anyone can knit a sock. We make necessary things beautiful. Knitting can be a spiritual exercise; we do it because we are searching for happiness, and knitting makes us happy.
After the lecture, I showed her the Turkish socks that I made in 1997. I had taken a color knitting class with her at Stitches that year, and she taught me to carry two colors in my right hand. (Video tutorial here, if you want to know how to do it, too.) These are the socks I was working on then. They’re thick and warm, perfect slipper or bed socks. As she did 14 years ago, she commented on the pattern and background colors (she sees pink as the pattern; I see it as the background). She also signed my copy of her book, Fancy Feet. I was thrilled!
I gave her my new Lantern Moon sheep tape measure (Lady Baa-Baa’s replacement). She seemed pretty pleased with it, having talked about “the sheep people” during her lecture. (That would be the knitters.) And Tina brought her striped sock cookies!
Meeting Anna again just made my day. But there was more fun ahead. I went to the marketplace to stand in line. Rachel was first!
What were we waiting for? A free preview copy of Larissa Brown’s new book, My Grandmother’s Knitting. I had seen a preview copy of this at the pre-summit luncheon, and really wanted a copy NOW so I could spend more time with it. It is gorgeous. I’ll tell you more about it in another post after I get a chance to sit down with it.
Could my day get any better? Amazingly enough, yes! I had a PDXKnitterati meet-up in the Knitted Wit booth at noon. It was great to meet lots of people that I previously only knew online, including Stacy. Her international cat hats caught my attention several years ago, and I’ve been following her knit and food blog ever since.
Pat from the UK brought both her Zen Rain and Pacific shawls!
We had a Zen Rain photo op.
These are some of the people who participated in the Zen Rain KAL, or test knit. I loved seeing all the versions of Zen Rain. Thank you, Lorajean, for hosting the meet-up!
I went home during the afternoon for a nap and skipped the flash mob. Too tired to even stay to watch it! But here it is, in case you need to know.
I gathered enough energy to help Glenna celebrate her birthday that evening! She finished her Peacock Feathers Shawl the day before and blocked it on the hotel bed.
I also met Meg, who was knitting her wedding veil at the last Sock Summit, and had some of the teachers knit on it then, too. She brought it along to this Sock Summit.
So why was this my favorite day? I think because of all the personal interaction. I’ve been enjoying my classes, but meeting up with people I’ve known from blogs and previous real life meetings is the icing on the cake!
If you came to Sock Summit, what was your favorite thing that made it special for you?
Have you seen and/or knit on the world’s largest sock? This baby has been traveling from event to event since 2006. It’s sponsored by Skacel, and is being knit with their yarn and needles. The initial cast on was 1500 stitches; who knows if that’s still the stitch count now!
It’s a congenial gathering place for knitters to sit and knit a bit in the company of other knitters. The cuff is currently 7 feet long, and the heel turn will occur after the cuff reaches 12 feet. I think second sock syndrome could be an issue here.
While at the sock, I got a peek at a preview copy of Judy Becker‘s new book, Beyond Toes: Knitting Adventures With Judy’s Magic Cast On. It’s gorgeous. Twenty-three patterns using her famous cast on (originally for socks), and not a sock pattern in the bunch. Rachel is holding the book in this picture; her daughter is the model pictured. And Bobbie, on the right, was hosting the giant sock.
And Michelle showed me the Lorna’s Laces yarn that is the exact colors of the Portland Race for the Cure theme colors. There was no way she wasn’t buying it, and to be safe, she bought two! Click here if you’d like to donate towards her race/walk. She participates every year to celebrate being a survivor.
I had a class in the afternoon, Choosing Among Choices with Laurel Coombs. We were supposed to come with a swatch in the yarn we wanted to use. I didn’t bring any extra yarn that wasn’t engaged in needles, so when Laurel began with teaching us the Turkish cast-on for a toe up sock, I sidled out the door and ran back to the Knitted Wit booth to borrow some yarn. I knew there were some balled yarn in a jar as a display, and thought I’d make off with one of those, since there was no time to wind. But Lorajean cheerfully gave me her little sock start (colorway Snapped Dragon) and told me to knit from the other end of the ball. This is what I ended up with. I didn’t cut the yarn to practice the sewn bind off, so she can just frog it and carry on…
When I got back to the market, I ran into the cutest hobo ever. Doesn’t Stevanie look like she’s running away from home? But really, she was bringing the trunk show for the Created in Oregon datebook to the Twisted booth.
I haven’t seen many knit hats being worn, this being summer. But there seems to be two other types of headgear being worn at Sock Summit. Tiaras, sparked by a conversation on Ravelry, I think. This is Kellie, who is really pleased with her new yarn! She was in the class I taught at Twisted on Tuesday.
The other headgear is…knitted Viking helmets! I love the flower buttons on the right.
Pico Accuardi Dyeworks hosted a pre-summit cocktail party, and I attended as a local designer.
I love a party where you can sit down and knit!
Marisol made this gorgeous shawl with her handspun for Deb’s birthday.
I ran into Erica from Kollage last night at Twisted when I was teaching, and sent her and Carrie to Lucca for dinner. Today I saw her at the pre-summit luncheon, and then again this evening at the cocktail party. I think that means we need a picture since we’re shadowing each other.
I saw someone wearing this beautiful shawl, but I can’t remember her name.
I had my first peek at this 2012 datebook project from Pico Accuardi. Twelve knitting patterns from Oregon designers, twelve recipes using local ingredients, lots of Oregon stories and facts.
It’s officially out, so now I can tell you that I have a project in it! It’s the Rockaway 2-Way Beach Beanie/Cowl. You can wear it either way.
There will be a limited number of calendars available in Twisted‘s booth beginning Friday, and a bigger print run is coming in a few weeks. I’m really happy to be part of this project! I’ll blog the datebook later when I have a copy.
Oh! There were drawings for door prizes, and Erica won this bag of spinning fibers. Luckily, she’s been bitten by the spinning bug, and has a wheel at home, and her drop spindle here.
But she did let Noriko and Rachel fondle the fiber.
And she even shared some with Marisol (who made Deb’s shawl, above).
Full day! And now I have to go to sleep. I’m helping Lorajean set up her booth in the morning, and taking Photographing Your Fiber with Franklin Habit in the afternoon. Looking forward to it all.
helping her block her Marrowstone Shawl this morning (half done and you can see what blocking does for lace!)
blocking and weaving in ends of my last Zen Rain (Alpha B Luxe yarn, 50/50 merino/silk) so I could wear it
to Deb Accuardi’s pre-Sock Summit luncheon at her restaurant, Gino’s, today. What’s in the goodie bags?
I’ll tell you in a bit. First, I have to say that lunch was beyond fabulous. All vegetarian, with a wine and a pattern for each of six courses, from the amuse bouche at the beginning (complete with yarn and beads)
to the panna cotta at the end. The purple knitting next to the panna cotta is a luscious scarf/stole pattern by Larissa Brown called Ankeny and Ash. We also received patterns by Anne Kuo Lukito, Chrissy Gardiner, Kathy Zimmermann, Beth & Cindi at Left Coast Yarns, and Stevanie & Deb.
There was even a commemorative cupcake (chocolate with cream cheese frosting).
Each participant received a Pico Accuardi tote bag which had some sweet swag including this beautiful yarn that Stevanie dyed as an exclusive for Sock Summit luncheon participants. The colorway is Nude. Stevanie was inspired by a Radiohead song by that name, and she wanted the yarn to evoke a first crush or fresh love. I think she captured it perfectly.
Knit/Purl also donated some of their new sock yarn, Staccato. Looks and feels wonderful!
Lantern Moon donated these cute rulers
and their 10th anniversary pin and some assorted buttons. Beautiful!
This post is pretty picture heavy, so I’m going to break here and tell you about the pre-summit cocktail party in the next post…are we having fun yet? Why, yes!
The Zen Rain KAL is done! Thanks for knitting along. I look forward to seeing several of these at Sock Summit on Saturday! I’m having a meet-up in the Knitted Wit booth from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, with a Zen Rain photo op at 12:30 p.m.
I had a little giveaway drawing for KAL finishers on Ravelry. princessruffian wins a set of stitch markers made by moi (guess I should go make them!) and Alyssa wins a Lantern Moon needle case. Congrats!
What else is going on here? Lots and lots of this!
I have five blueberry bushes, and each one puts out a gallon of blueberries. They all came ripe this week, and I’ve been picking, picking, picking. Mostly they go into the freezer for later use, but I’ve made two blueberry cobblers (recipe here) this week. One was for the piano & pinot party last night at my house. Beautiful music, lovely wines, and a plethora of desserts (cheesecake, caramel bourbon sauce, chocolate raspberry torte, butterscotch chip shortbread, chocolate dipped strawberries, and the aforementioned cobbler, with vanilla ice cream).
The other cobbler went in a picnic to the Indigo Girls Concert at the zoo.
Portland sparkles when the sun comes out!
I spotted this person drop spindling behind me, and introduced myself.
Her name is Sari, and she was spinning up some lovely fiber from Abstract Fiber. Sari will be at Sock Summit next week, too. She’s participating in the fleece to foot contest. Knitters and spinners are everywhere. Small world!
Find my patterns on Ravelry: Michele Bernstein Designs
Here are some of my favorites, and the newest. Many of my designs are also available through my Payhip store.
PDXKnitterati 