Weekend Widow

I also toyed around with the title: “While the Wife’s Away, the Knitter Will Play” to express what I’ve been up to this weekend. You see, Sweetie is gone hiking with a friend, and while I could have gone along, it’s really hard to knit while hiking a 4,000+ foot mountain. And that’s what I really felt like doing this weekend: knitting and thinking about knitting until I couldn’t wield the needles for a minute more. Then I would switch to crochet.

I’ve been hard at work on my sock, knitting away with focus and the determination to not be pulled away from finishing a pair by another project. I kept at it all through the past few days, turning the heel last night and hoping to finish the gusset this morning.

I still had the urge to start something new, though, so a couple of days ago I went to the stash and pulled out a few of things that were calling me, begging to be worked with. One was the Schaeffer Yarns Nancy that I got in Maine; could you ignore that for long?

I wound it into a ball (nay, 2 balls since the skein comes with almost 700 yards of yarn!) and let it sit until it told me what it wanted to be. Then last night around 10pm, when I would normally be in bed reading, I started messing around with improvising a rustic shawl. I started out in garter stitch with a simple yarn over on each edge, and got a few inches into it before falling asleep. Knitting in bed is a luxury I haven’t really explored before. Do you knit in bed? Will you knit in bed if your sweetheart is also in it?

This morning over breakfast I decided that I didn’t care for the shawl in garter stitch. So I ripped it all out and changed to a garter stitch border, yarn overs, and a stockinette center. Simple, letting the yarn show itself off. I think I’ll call it Grapes of Wrap.

Oop, that’s the purl side…but you get the idea. I’m not sure where this is going, or even if this will be my final decision for this yarn, but I have all day to play with it. Having the house to myself is a pleasure I will enjoy for the day, all the while looking forward to this evening when I will be rejoined by my favorite person.

P.S. I need a little feedback about this new layout. I love the colors and setup, but I’m concerned that the font is too small and light, making it difficult to read. In the above post I put everything in bold; here it is regular. Which do you prefer? Any other suggestions? Thank you in advance for your constructive feedback!

 

What’s Next?

New Finished Object!

This was an especially fun knit because I improvised it as I was knitting. That’s right, no official pattern, just a little sketch and a dream of uniting this turquoise and red cotton into a perfect union. I’m pretty happy with the results.

• Pattern: Improvised. If you’re interested, I’ll translate my notes and share it, just let me know!
• Yarn: Sugar n’ Cream, 1 skein turquoise, about 10 yards of red.
• Needles: US size 7, 4.5m
• Notions: 1 fun button and a tapestry needle

I was on the lookout for a fun button, and happened across this one on my visit to The Point. A perfect match!

So here’s my dilemma: I just finished a project, and I have all this new yarn that wants to be knit. And yet I cannot seem to decide what to make. It’s too hot to start a large project, and I’m experiencing a little knitter’s ADD anyway…Second Sock Syndrom has struck, and while I am a couple inches into Hedera #2, it feels so done. I’m also still working on my granny square afghan, so that is more of a long term project. I need something fairly quick and satisfying that I can knit from my stash. Any suggestions? Help!

 

A New York City Yarn Sampler

Saturday’s activities in Manhattan led me to two local yarn stores that had been recommended to me by friends. The first is School Products, purportedly New York’s oldest yarn shop, located on Broadway between 28th and 29th Streets. It’s up on the 3rd floor, so you have to take an elevator and then ring the bell to be buzzed in to the store. Definitely something you would just happen to wander by!

According to their website, they carry a “rainbow display of yarns for every need and purpose from hand knitting and weaving to machine knitting”. Much of their yarn is imported internationally, from luxurious Italian cashmere to baby camel. They had plenty of interesting yarn, but visually the place lacked warmth, and there were a lot of dusty, empty shelves. I was the only person there on a Saturday, which left me feeling a little akward, but also afforded me with the ability to browse at my leisure.

I also saw a large selection of Koigu sock yarn which may be of interest to me on another trip; this time I told myself I was not going to be adding any new yarn to my sock stash! Mainly I was drawn to the unusual yarns with no labels. Looking through a box labeled Italian Cashmere, I found this:

It’s a subtly variegated lace yarn, and it didn’t come with a label. I bought two skeins thinking I might try to make the Hanami stole from Pink Lemon Twist.

I also kept going back to the box of yak and camel yarn, trying to decide what I could do with it. At various moments I had about 7 different colors in my hand, but I finally settled on two neutral shades that I thought I could strand together to make mittens.

A short train ride took us to our next yarn shop stop in Greenwich Village. The Point is a knitting cafe located on the charming Bedford Street that beckons you inside with its large window into the shop. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a young woman behind the cafe counter. She could tell it was my first time there as I was openly gaping at both the delicious baked goods and all the yarn. She told me about the setup of the store and offered help if I needed any. There were several groupings of knitters within the small space, all knitting and chatting away. The atmosphere is very warm, friendly, and cheerful. And the yarn selection wasn’t half bad, either!

Here I am literally drooling over the sock yarn…Lorna’s Laces, Cherry Tree Hill, Claudia’s Handpainted, Alchemy, and a few others were calling my name. Instead of buying more sock yarn, I got a piece of luscious blueberry pie and sat down with my own sock in progress to contemplate.

Maybe it was the setting, or maybe I was just really hungry, but that was the best slice of fruit pie I have ever tasted. It didn’t hurt that I ate it while knitting in the sock yarn corner, either! I was also within easy view of this:

That’s Classic Elite Yarns Jil Eaton Minnow Merino. It’s a single ply worsted weight and that’s machine washable! I bought 2 skeins each of the fuscia and orange. By the way, isn’t that a fantastic way to display yarn? Not only is it visually stunning, it’s quite practical as well. The skeins don’t get tangled, mangled, or worn out from being on display. When you want to buy something, you just grab the hook and you’re good to go. They also had some metal baskets affixed to the wall by their bottoms, yarn stacked neatly inside. This is where they have all their Noro…

The whole time we were at The Point, I felt like I wanted to stay there forever. The staff were so friendly, the seating and knitters were comfortable, and it had such a creative, fun atmosphere. Next time you’re in the neighborhood, I would highly recommend taking your knitting and your sweet tooth and sitting for awhile. Maybe I’ll be there too.

That concludes my brief NYC yarn crawl. There are plenty more yarn shops to sample, and if you’ve been to any of them I would love to hear about it!

 

Whirlwind

As my sister so kindly pointed out to me, I didn’t write a blog post yesterday. That is because I walked the dog, went to the gym, packed for a night away, and left the house by 11:30am and just couldn’t squeeze one more thing into the morning. Oh well, that’s how it goes some days and I’m sure some of you can relate… Onward and upward, I say!

Sweetie and I went into Manhattan yesterday for a quickie visit. A dear friend from college in Idaho (or The ‘Ho, as she calls it) is leaving the city after 7 years. She has been a beacon of hope for Westerners coming to the city with their dreams for the future, providing tours, insider information, and a friendly face. She was the one who previewed our first apartment in Jersey City, the one I found on the Internet and rented, sight unseen. She is also the one who pried the elevator doors open and saw parts of an airplane in her office that awful day in 2001. She has been a great friend from Home to share the East Coast with, and we will miss her terribly.

Last night was her going away party, and instead of going in and out in the same night as we normally would, we decided to have a mini-weekend getaway.

We divided the 24-or-so hours we were in town fairly equally between eating, sleeping, yarn shopping, and museum touring. There was plenty of walking in there too, of course, and time on the steam train (aka hot ass subway), but those are much less exciting. We visited The Museum of Modern Art, the birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt, School Products, The Point, Republic, Bistro Moderne, and The Jewel of India (whew! that’s a lot of links). It was a packed weekend to be sure, and I am pleasantly exhausted tonight. I will fill you in on all the gory yarn shop details next time. Until then, here’s a little something to tide you over:

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend with all the yarn crafting time you can handle.

 

Proof of Life

Some good friends of ours recently hit the road for a cross country move to the Southwest. My friend has an extraordinary green thumb, and I always admired her large, healthy population of houseplants. I have a few plants of my own, and while they all seem hearty now, each has had its own brush with death under my care. So when my friend told me that she wasn’t going to be able to take some of her larger plants with her, I felt both excitement and trepidation at the prospect of inheriting them.

First, there is the enormous jade tree that was part of her mother-in-law’s plant and is about 3 feet tall. Karla nursed this thing back from the brink and it has thrived and created many more little plants. I am particularly terrified of hurting this plant given its family history. We got off to a bad start when, on the move to our house, it tipped over. It fell on its side, leaving a wake of potting soil and leaves. Not good. For the first 2 weeks or so, one side of the plant was very droopy and soft. I staked up the larger branches with some bamboo poles, put it in a sunny spot and hoped for the best. I also followed her advice to “water from the bottom”, which is simply to keep the trays under the pots full of water so the roots can pull up moisture as needed. I am thrilled to say that with a little sun, water, and tlc, the jade seems to be recovering nicely!

The next plant, a Norfolk pine, is also enormous, this time in height. It’s about 5 feet tall with a wing span of 4 feet. This plant surprisingly did not tip over on the curvy ride home, and is enjoying its new life in our sunroom. The cats also enjoy the cover it provides! I am planning on knitting some wee socks and sweaters to decorate it with at Christmas time.

And finally we have the robust and fragrant rosemary plant. This found immediate peace and happiness on the back deck, where I have been enjoying its perfume on a daily basis as I sit next to it and knit.

Karla, thank you for entrusting the lives of your beloved plants to me. I am doing my very best to keep them healthy and happy!

There is something else thriving around my house. Aside from the myriad of insects in and around the house (a fact of life living next to the woods, I suppose), we have a population of tiny frogs. They’re about the size of a small piece of mulch, which is exactly what they look like when not in motion.

The first time I saw one was when I was weeding the garden and it hopped right past me. Then I kept seeing them leaping out of the grass, or along the sidewalk in the mornings. While my friend Elisha was here, we went frogging and tried to identify what they could be. At first, we couldn’t find any images that looked anything like this little guy. Being the scientist that she is (just got her PhD, holla!), she pointed out that it might be a juvenile and could change its appearance over the next few years. So we decided it’s probably a young Pickerel frog.

Do you have any interesting creatures visiting your backyard? What’s your secret to keeping houseplants in good health?

 

Yarn Worship

It’s official: I’m in love with a new yarn.

We first met at WEBS in the sale corner. She was on a lower shelf, easy to overlook, but something about her colorway got my attention. When I picked her up for the first time, I noticed a unique softness and drape that I had never felt in a yarn before. And the colors were unique, painterly, stunning.

I’m talking about Araucania Pomaire, 100% pima cotton hand dyed in Chile. It took me a little while to find something to knit with it, but when I did it was wonderful. This yarn is so soft and stretchy, unlike most cotton yarn I have worked with. And the colors–hand dyed in unusual combinations and interesting colors. So it came as no surprise to me that the next time I happened across this yarn, I simply had to buy some. This time I got 3 skeins, hoping that I could make another summer top.

And then a couple of weeks ago, while I was innocently shopping for some sock yarn for a gift, I was once again wooed by something out of the corner of my eye. Araucania sock yarn, on the top shelf, in the most delicious colors. After picking each one up, I eventually settled on this one.

It reminds me of a tie dye t-shirt, which I’ve never had yet always wanted. Again, it’s hand painted and made of 75% wool and 25% polymide, so it’s soft and machine washable! I cast on for a pair of Hedera socks and we have been knitting along very well together. Until last night, that is, when I started decreasing for the toe.

Can you see it? The top needle has 15 stitches, which means I had one more decrease round to go to get down to 13 stitches. But then count the bottom two needles: 26! In theory, there are supposed to be the same number of stitches on needle 1 as there are on needles 2 and 3 combined! I took a wrong turn somewhere, probably way back when picking up stitches for the heel gusset. I always approximate the number of stitches the pattern says to pick up and knit. I just go along the heel flap, picking up a stitch for each row of the flap, then a couple more up by the leg to close any holes. This means that I occasionally end up with weird numbers and have to improvise my decreases to get back to the right number.

So I decided to try just knitting the stitches on the top of the toe, and decreasing on needles 2 and 3 every round until the numbers matched. Finally, I got down to 13 stitches on top and bottom, and it doesn’t look weird at all. Best of all: it fits!

Then there’s the slight issue of the too-long heel flap. I had read that some other knitters thought it was too long, but knit it as described and it turned out fine. I decided to do the same (trust thy designer, especially when she is as fierce as Cookie A.), but ended up with a weird nipple at the end of the heel. It’s just a little too long for my foot.

Otherwise, I’m quite happy with how these socks have turned out, and look forward to wearing them soon. You know, after I knit the second sock. Which could be sometime in October if I’m not able to resist casting on my other Arucania Ranco sock yarn:

What is your favorite brand of yarn? Do you stick to certain brands or types of yarn? Basically, how do you decide which yarn to buy?

 

Workin’ on My Fitness or, Can You Tell I’m Wearing a Thong?

I’ve hit that inevitable moment in a woman’s life when she realizes she no longer has the body she used to. Sure, I knew that I had some soft bits creeping in around the middle, but I rarely weigh myself and had no idea what had happened. That is, I had no idea until yesterday when Sweetie dragged my to our new gym for a workout.

The past couple of years have been challenging personally, as I have struggled through infertility and a miscarriage, plus a pretty serious back injury. I used to be reasonably fit and healthly, and at the beginning of trying to get pregnant I maintained that lifestyle. But as the months wore on and the disappointments increased, so did my weight and reluctance to exercise. Then last fall I nearly herniated two discs in my lower back and was told not to exercise at all. Add some hormone shots and more failed fertility tricks to that, and I slowly started swelling up. I could eat all the ice cream I wanted if I took the prenatal vitamins, right?! Knitting counts as exercise, doesn’t it?!

On our recent camping and hiking excursion, I reconnected with the physical strength within me. Turns out, I have the ability to power myself up a hill and back, and that is empowering beyond measure. I decided to try to get my body and soul back in shape and feeling strong again, even if it was going to be painful! So I have joined a swanky new gym with a steam room and 3 different types of yoga classes in an attempt to reclaim my body and invigorate my spirit.

Speaking of asses, I also recently started wearing a thong. I’m not talking about the footwear here, I’m talking about that intimate t-strap of fabric some people refer to as underwear. You see, I like to wear skirts in the summer but don’t like having a panty line. Somewhere I heard that the only solutions to that problem are to wear a body slimming device (aka Spanx) or a thong. Since it’s hotter than a sauna outside, I have opted for the latter.

Yesterday, while out at the grocery store of all places, I became extremely preoccupied with the thing. I felt like it was all hanging out back there and that I was making an arse of myself. So I asked Sweetie to walk behind me and let me know if she could tell I was wearing a thong. Fortunately, she said “No” and we moved on. But I couldn’t help feeling like everyone in the store knew I was wearing one! I can’t be the only one who has thong insecurity, can I?

When it came time to dress for my yoga class that evening, there was no way I was going to take any chances. I’ve heard other people complain about being behind that woman in yoga class with the inappropriate undergarments hanging out for all to see, and I didn’t want to be that gal. So I put on my black yoga pants, got in front of a full length mirror and did this sort of contortionist bend/twist (not a yoga pose that I know of) so I could see myself in the mirror. You know, so I could see with my own eyes whether or not my g-string was on public display. It was. My solution: wee shorts over the pants.

 

New Zealand Swap Goodies

First thing’s first: I have challenged myself to write a blog post every day for the next seven (7) days. This is a challenge for a couple of reasons:

1. I try to keep this blog mostly about knitting. When I’m sick or busy or doing non-crafty things, I tend not to write about it. I haven’t shared any of the more challenging bits of my personal life with y’all, and this week I might offer up a couple of tidbits.
2. I may not have finished objects to share right away. Usually I keep something under wraps during the process and save it for a Big Reveal once it’s finished. This week I’ll fess up about all my works in progress.
3. How much can I talk about my day-to-day life before it gets boring or self-indulgent? Who knows if anything interesting will happen, in life and/or knitting?

So while I can’t guarantee that these 7 posts will be dramatic or revelatory, I can promise that they will be a real slice of my life, a virtual tour of my week, and all the knitty gritty things that happen along the way. I hope you enjoy this little experiment!

Back to the regularly scheduled blog post:

A little while back I was reading a post on my blog buddy Sweet P’s site about yarn. Somewhere in there she mentioned that where she lives in New Zealand she has never had the pleasure of seeing Malabrigo yarn in person. “How could that be?” I asked myself. I see it every week at my LYS and had started taking its deliciousness for granted. So I decided to contact her and offer up a trade: I would send her some Malabrigo in her favorite colors if she would send me some yarn from New Zealand. She readily agreed and before I knew it I was at the yarn shop looking for the right colors.

It’s quite intimidating picking out yarn for someone else. Choosing a yarn to knit with is such a personal experience, full of intangible criteria for softness, saturation of color, smell even. So I did my best at guessing what she would like, put together a package, and crossed all my fingers. You can read about her reaction here.

I got her package in the mail just before the 4th of July, and boy did it feel like a holiday present! I tore open the Air Mail envelope so fast it made my house guests wonder what could possibly be inside. They seemed a little less than excited when I squealed “It’s yarn! From New Zealand!”, but I wasn’t affected. Inside I found an array of goodies:

There was a whole lotta NZ wool, plus some sweets to enjoy while knitting, writing about knitting, or for grabbing whenever I walk through the kitchen and see them…yes, I like the candy very much! One back of Minties, a chewy minty little tidbit, and Pineapple Lumps, delicious chocolate-covered taffy-like bites. Delicious!

Back to the yarn…

There’s a skein of Ashford tekapo, which is pure New Zealand wool in some great colors. I can’t wait to see how they relate to each other when knit up.

3 lovely skeins of Patons Jet, a wool and alpaca blend made in Australia. I have 150 grams altogether, and am not sure what I should make. And suggestions?

Touch 4ply merino sock yarn, made with “pure NZ Merino”. This is so soft, and the colors are great. Definitely something I would choose for myself, so kudos to you, Gabes!

This swap was a great experience. I have participated in a handful of other swaps through swap-bot, but never had very satisfactory results. I found that I usually felt a little disappointed when it was all over, like my money and time would have been better spent picking out things to keep for myself. But this was a totally different experience. I think the difference came in the fact that we know each other through our blogs and on Ravelry, and are therefore a little more invested in what we put together. There was no anonymity to hide behind: we were both accountable for our swapping actions. And I think we each held up our ends of the deal with style and class! Thank you for agreeing to the fun, and I look forward to trying it again sometime!

 

Not Just a Weekend

It was more than a weekend; it was several days that were more like a family reunion than Independence Day, really. You see, on Tuesday my mom flew in for a much-needed visit. We live across the country from one another, so every time we see each other it’s special.  And to make things even more special, on Wednesday my oldest friend and her mom arrived after having driven something like 18 days across the US and Canada together. You know how sometimes when you’re a kid your parents try to force you to be friends with the children of their friends? More often than not it was awkward and forced, but occasionally, and these moments were rare at best, you found a true friend. This is what happen with E and me.

We have been friends since we were naked on a farm in diapers, and though the years have taken us farther and farther away from each other, that bond remains. There’s just something worth preserving in a friendship where there is no judgment or competition, where you know what you were both like in elementary school, where the other person knows what your parents are really like. The friends we make as adults have to take our word for it when we describe our pasts. Childhood friends know the truth and don’t hold it against you.

And the 5 of us (me, E, our moms, and my Sweetie) get along magnificently. We ate and drank well ( I was introduced to the Mudslide), played games together, and definitely laughed a lot. I want to thank all of you for taking the time out of your busy summers to spend some time in our neck of the woods. Love you!

While writing this I realized that it would have been great to get a photo of all of us together this weekend, which didn’t happen with my camera. Since I have a hard time publishing a post without a photo or two, I’ll leave you with some pics from the weekend.

Yes, there was some knitting at a baseball game. It was a great way to pass the time between innings when there was nothing to watch besides kids playing musical chairs and racing each other on scooters. Why can’t there just be baseball at a baseball game? It seemed like every 5 minutes there was some annoying commercial interruption a special activity brought to us by a sponsor. I know I was irritated, and it even seemed to affect the players. Sometimes they would be ready to keep playing and had to wait for the other stuff to die down. Grrr. Anyway, our team lost, but I got a couple of inches knit on a new project I am designing. More on that later!

 

Just Because

I have some photos to share from our vacation. Enjoy!

From wildflowers in the mountains to neon at a beach-side carnival and everything in between, it was a wonderful trip.