Rabbit! Rabbit!

End of Summer

Even though it's a few weeks away, and even though it's hotter than blue blazes around here, there is still a strong feel of autumn. Maybe it's just because it's September and school's starting up again. The change of season is more gradual here in Southern California. We don't get a lot of fall foliage viewing, unless we go to the mountains.

Anyway. Last night while I was working on this poncho



I was reminded of the beginning of fall when I used to live in New Hampshire a long time ago. The green of summer is still there but there are a few trees beginning to turn. I'm using Southwest Trading Company's Phoenix, 100% soy, in a colorway called Canyon. It's a braided tape and feels more like cotton than anything. It's very easy to work with, no splitting and very little twisting. There are 175 yards per skein and this is about half of the first one. The colors are not quite accurate in the photo. It's more subdued and not quite so teal.

Everyone must know the Yarn Harlot poncho by now. This is my third one using the pattern as written. I have some wool chenille that I think I'll use to make a more wintery version. I'll probably change to a different increase and maybe add a few more rows to the neckband.

Except for the three rows I worked on the Midwest Moonlight scarf and the five rows I did on the new Sweet Pink top there is no knitting content to be had. We could talk about the weather. I mentioned last week that it would probably be over a hundred by the time Labor Day gets here. Well, it's heading that way. I walked to work in ninety degree heat this morning.

Walking for pleasure and fitness is one thing. Walking because you have to is quite another. But I did get my car back late this afternoon. "You should be good to go," she said. I couldn't resist reminding her that that was what she said the last time. The $738.00 tab rattled me so much that I forgot my knitting stuff and had to go back.

I did have four students today. I didn't realize how many school teachers we have as customers. Three of the four were school teachers just coming in for some last minute help before they return to work on Thursday. There were several last week too, including one who just retired and isn't going back. Man, was she happy!

I'm getting ready to cast on for one more of Stephanie's ponchos. I have some Soy Ribbon that I got to make a shawl but I think I'd rather do a poncho. And Lisa says she really likes ponchos. It's a varigated yarn so I'm not sure how it's going to look but it won't take long to find out.

Happy Birthday, Lisa

Today is the actual day but we celebrated on Saturday night. Everything went well and she loved her gifts, including the newest poncho. And the Broadripple socks. However, due to the humidity and possibly the wine and beer, there are no photos. We went out for sushi. Well, she had sushi. I don't like seafood, even when it's cooked, so I'm not likely to have sushi.

But I did manage a photo of my newest project.


Hmmm. It looked much more in focus on the preview. Oh well. It's going to be a sleeveless top. I'm using the Grignasco Sweet Print that I got on sale at Needle in a Haystack a few weeks ago. I added a lace border instead of ribbing similar to one that Bron did a few weeks ago and I'll do the armholes using a technique that I picked up from Kim Hargreaves in the Rowan Summer Tweed book from a couple of years ago. According to the Sweater Wizard yarn calculation I should have plenty.

I still owe emails and thank yous to lots of people who commented or sent emails about the knitting help pricing as well as suggestions to help with my tingling arms. Just in case I miss someone let me do it publically. I haven't had any more discomfort since I figured out the chair problem but I am paying more attention to my posture and trying to take breaks and exercise.

And the car is with the mechanic for diagnosis. They seemed a little confronted when I mentioned that it might have something to do with the last work they did. I'm waiting for a call, check book in hand.

A knitting injury, sorta

When I woke up this morning both my arms felt like they were asleep. They were tingling, mostly around the wrists and in my hands. Actually this started happening last night and I assumed it was from having knit for too many hours without sufficient breaks.

After I had showered and got myself ready for Skein I noticed the tingling had stopped. So I concluded that it wasn't the precursor of a heart attack but I made an appointment with my doctor. (The earliest appointment for a physical is a little over a month away. I hope it's not really serious.)

Later, at Skein, I noticed the tingling had started again. I also noticed that the chair I sit in strikes me just below the left shoulder blade. I had been feeling like I had a bruise there but again just thought I'd been knitting too much. Now I'm convinced that it's the chair that's causing the problem. I'll have to be careful not to lean back and put up my feet when we're not busy.

And now my car is acting weird again. I walked to work today so I didn't notice it until tonight when I decided I needed to go get some stuff for Lisa's birthday celebration tomorrow night. The mechanic is closed for the weekend so I can't do anything until Monday. I can't decide if I need a new car or a new mechanic.

But, despite all my trials and tribulations, I have made lots of progress on the Midwest Moonlight scarf. I took it to work on today and it motivated a couple of book sales. We're down to three copies now. And almost no poncho patterns. We got the newest Rowan and Jaeger special books today though and there are ponchos aplenty in them.

Lookee, lookee!



It's here already, the two skeins of Wildfoote that I won in Margene's comments contest. Isn't it beautiful? Will it be socks? Or the cutout hearts scarf pattern from Fiber Trends? I have some time to decide. Gotta finish some of this other stuff first.

We got the new Interweave Knits Crochet magazine today. We only got eight and two are gone already. There are some very interesting things in it. Even a few things that I with very limited crochet skills could make. I will probably buy a copy and see if I can work my way up.Most of the designs are from people I only know from knitting. Annie Modesitt, Shirley Paden, Norah Gaughan to name a few. Lily Chin is there too, but that didn't surprise me.

A very slow day today. Not one student. So I finished the foot on the second Broadripple sock and will graft the toe tonight. If I don't start another pair of socks right away I will only have four, or maybe five, pair still in the works. But I think I'll work some more on the Midwest Moonlight scarf.

A little strange

So, this lady comes into Skein today while Ann Mary is having her lunch. When I asked her if I could help her find something she said, "You had a shawl on display when you were in Arcadia. Do you still have it?" I asked her if she could be a little more specific.

"No, I can't. I remember it took two balls." Well, we've only ever had one shawl that fits that description. "No, I remember it was kind of triangular. And I don't think it was this yarn."

I drug out all the shawls I could find and none of them were the right one. Turns out that the first one I showed her was the right one after all. It's a very simple garter stitch rectangular shawl. I don't know what Ann Mary said to her to convince her but I was glad she came back to take over.

Just out of curiosity, what do yarn shops in your area charge for lessons? Are they private lessons or are they more or less drop in? Skein charges $15.00 for an hour and a half. And it's totally drop in. Now, I think this is very cheap. I've seen prices in Los Angeles that are in the $30 to $45 range but I think that's for one on one.

I had a new student this afternoon that came in to have me figure out where she was on a baby blanket she hadn't touched in nine years. I told her the price ($15.00) and said that it was for up to one and a half hours. It only took me a few minutes to figure it out and she stayed long enough to work one row of the pattern. She expects to come back and use up the rest of her hour and a half. I told her it was the same as at the doctor's office. You pay the same price, no matter how long you're kept waiting in the consulting room. I don't think she saw the connection.

What do you think? Should she be able to come back and use up the remaining time? I could, of course, make it take longer to solve her problem. Her yarn wasn't even from Skein. In fact, we've never seen her before.

The right place, at the right time

Timing is everything, or so I've been told. And I have to believe it now. Yesterday Margene decided to run a contest based on her total number of comments. I figured, based on the number of comments that she had already received that I wouldn't have a chance but I wanted to leave her a comment about the Lost Points shawl she's getting ready to start. Whaddayaknow? I won some wonderful Wildfoote Handpaint yarn. Thanks, Margene. This is a rare thing. Go say hi!

I guess we all like comments or we wouldn't have those clever little links that allow us to do it. I usually feel shy about leaving comments, especially when it's a blog I've never commented on before. Unless there's some compelling reason I usually hold back for a while until I feel like I really have something to say. And I do try to respond to all comments, usually via email. I think I'm a little behind right now but I'll catch up soon.

Not much new on the knitting front. Just working on the projects that I've already written about. The week started well for me. Four students on a Tuesday isn't all that common. It's feeling like autumn around here but I don't expect it to last. It's always over a hundred on Labor Day, a couple of weeks from now. More and more fall yarns are arriving. A huge shipment from Rowan today but it hasn't been opened yet. And we got the latest "Knitters". I'll leave it to you to judge.

A most pleasant and quiet weekend. I just got home from Phebie's, one of the few yarn shops that are open on Monday, at least around here. I stopped on the way to help my friend Dorris with the gauge on her newest project and then picked up my friend Carol. Neither of us really had to have anything but we went just for the fun. I did get a US13 circular I needed and three skeins of Araucania Nature Wool in a dark, mottled burgundy. I tried to get a picture but neither of them were worth the editing time. We stopped at China King on the way home and gorged ourselves on their buffet.

I spent a few hours yesterday working on the Midwest Moonlight scarf from Scarf Style.



It's an easy pattern and I like the yarn, Grignasco's Sweet Print.

I'm about 20% done. Now for the hard part, making myself finish it. I don't know what the opposite of startitis is but whatever it is I have it.

Razzleberrymatazz

It appears that there's no such thing as a razzleberry per se. According to my search a razzleberry pie is a combination of raspberries and blackberries with lots of sugar and cornstarch, baked in a two crust shell. It was a relief to me because I thought there might be strawberries in there and I hate strawberries.

We got the additional copies of Scarf Style this morning. So if you're looking for a copy, and don't want to wait for Amazon, we have eight left.

Six students today. One was the husband of one of the others. I don't get a lot of male students. The few I've taught seem to be much more analytical in their approach. I can only think of two or three who've stuck with it once they understood it. It's hard to say but I think today's student will probably stick with it. Will have to wait and see if he comes back next weekend.

It's been one of those days

I spent more time undoing my knitting than knitting. I tried to do the gusset on my Broadripple socks while I was at Skein. Somehow I've decreased at a different rate on one side than on the other. Ripping Fixation is tedious. I still have four or five rows to go, one stitch at a time.

I also managed to work six or so rows on the Feather and Fan scarf, on the wrong side. Ripped them and started over. Repeated the same mistake a few rows later.

Started a new scarf from Scarf Style tonight at knitting group. Had to rip three different times. I kept getting the two sides mixed up.

On the up side though, I had four students today and we had razzleberry pie for dessert at the knitting group.

Mid-week yarn shopping

Last week it was Unwind Yarns. This week it was Needle in a Haystack (no web site). They are having their end-of-summer clearance. Thirty to forty percent off their summer yarns. I didn't know what they'd consider summer yarns so I wasn't sure what to expect. They had several Plassard yarns that were tempting but even at forty percent off they were more than I wanted to spend. I ended up with thirteen skeins of Sweet Print. Three skeins in the same colorway I got a few weeks ago plus ten in a pink to white color.

So why was I so conservative? Well, Mendy is going to going to Albuquerque next week and will be dropping by Fiesta Yarns with my shopping list. And Alamitos Bay Yarn Company is having their fourth anniversary sale at the end of the month. And we just got a bunch of new stuff from Cherry Tree Hill at Skein. I might be a spendthrift when it comes to yarn acquisition but there it a limit, no matter how abstract.

Scarves - the Next Generation

Just when I thought the scarf craze was beginning to taper off, along comes this book: Scarf Style by Pam Allen, editor of Interweave Knits. Partly I was surprised because I hadn't heard any chatter about it. Skein got five copies on Friday and they're all gone. Ann Mary said she had ordered more so there's hope.

There are thirty one patterns by twenty nine different designers, including some of my favorites, Annie Modesitt to name just one. And the range of difficulty is wide. Some are quite simple while others are pages long. There's a section to help with designing your own. Each pattern has a brief introduction to the scarf and its origin or inspiration.

I haven't read all the patterns yet but so far they seem clear and easy to follow. Certainly there are some scarves in this book that I'm not likely to make but there are plenty that I'd like to.

Here's one that I started yesterday, from the Design Notebook section:

It's a knit on the diagonal garter stitch. I'm using some Soy Chenille that I got at Unwind Yarn and a carry along that came from Velona's. The soy is easy to work with but the color seemed a little flat. I was looking for some metallic that I know I have in my stash but I came across this one first. It has almost the same colors as the soy chenille but a little brighter.

And here's the one I'm making using the Jo Sharp Feather and Fan pattern:

I've had this angora/merino in stash for several years. I made a shawl from it originally. I'm pretty sure I have enough to finish this scarf. Just have to find it.

I know these are pretty simple but I'll get to Annie's scarf just as soon as I can.

Still life with cat



This may well be the kind of crochet that gives crochet a bad name. I freely admit that I know slightly more than zilch about crochet but I had to try this yarn and the pattern promised quick results. I think the colors were taken from an old Wurlitzer jukebox. The yarn is Plymouth Outback Mohair. I used a size Q hook. It was, indeed, a fast project.

I pulled out an old scarf project and worked on it this weekend. Very relaxing except for the part where I realized I wasn't going to have enough yarn. And I can't get anymore. Not sure what I'm going to do but I'm thinking of adding some crocheted flowers on the short end.

One of our customers the other day said she was a crosheter. Another customer tried to correct her and told her it was pronounced croshayer. She said,"Yes, I know. But I like saying crosheter." And when I was working on the shawl the other day, KC said to me, "Oh, you're croshetting." I have to agree, it is kind of fun to say.

I'm going to see if my friend Carol can give me some pointers on crochet. Like how to figure out what to do when you turn and work back. I wasn't sure where I was supposed to start the next row so I just improvised. I think I did it wrong because the shawl drecreases pretty rapidly. But I didn't run out of yarn.

The operative word

Whenever I take photos it's always a bit of a crap shoot. You can guess what the operative word is. But, because I promised, and because this is a knitting blog, and you're supposed to have photos if it's a knitting blog here are some.



This poncho really looks much better on a body but there aren't any here, except me and Patrick and that really doesn't work. Thanks, Stephanie for a fun, quick project.

A close-up of the fringe.

We had our yarn distribution session as planned. I think everyone was pleased with the selections and with what they took home. Here's mine.




On the left, some stuff from Mystical Creations, at the top, some Schaeffer Anne, already wound in balls and a skein of Trendsetter Sonoma, for a hat.

On the right, sock yarn, woo hoo!. Two skeins of Fortissima Colori in a grey and Easter egg color "tweed". And two contrasting skeins of Stahl Hobby Kids sock yarn that I will use to make mismatched socks. I've been thinking about this yarn ever since it was brought in, months ago.


"Can we play now?"

The Phoenix Fable (yarn)

I didn't notice the literary connection when I purchased these two yarns yesterday. But I thought it was kind of a nice coincidence. Oh well, anyway.



This is Phoenix from Soy Silk in the colorway Canyon. For a medium sized, triangular scarf. Well, that's the current plan.



And this is Fable from Artful Yarns. You can't really see the subtle colors but there are actually four plies, one each of olive, old gold, light olive and what may be a grey. This is for another poncho.

Tonight is Knit Night and we're supposed to be having a stash redistribution. We've been trying to do this for a couple of months now. I think tonight we'll at least have the majority of the group there so everyone (almost) will have an equal chance. I wonder what I'll find.




The Brighter Day socks in process. I'm thinking of ripping these and finding a more interesting use/pattern. The Opal yarn is incredibly soft. I just think it would show better with some texture. Any ideas?

Time to Unwind

Just got home from Guys Knit Night at Unwind in Burbank. Check out their site to see the new shop hours and the special events that are planned. We went on Wednesday night because that's the night that men get a 10% discount on any purchases, or for anyone who buys yarn to make something for a male can also get 10% off on that item. Plus Mendy had a birthday card from them that entitled her to a discount on her purchases.

I didn't buy very much this time. Three skeins of Soy Silk Ribbon and three hanks of Artful Yarns Fable. It's too late to try for pictures but I'll try in the morning. I'm almost done with the Stephanie poncho, just need to finish the fringe. When I finish this one I'm going to make another, similar one, with the Fable. The Soy Silk Ribbon is for a simple triangular shawl. Skein doesn't carry either of these yarns and I've never worked with them so I'm looking forward to that.

I'm closing in on filling up my discount card. I think I only need about $50 more and then I'll get a $30 discount on my next purchase.

I had six students today which is very nice. They all came at the same time. That was not so nice. The youngest one, she's twelve, is terrific. She's making socks for the first time and you can just tell she really gets it. Her mom, meanwhile, is still struggling with knit versus purl. Everyone else was somewhere in between, except the one who can't figure out the slip knot. She has signed up to take knitting classes at one of the local high schools. I wish them well.

Quiet and hot, i.e., quite hot!

It seems the current hot spell has wiped out most of the knitters. Even our usual noontime rush was reduced to just a few people. I did have a couple of students late in the afternoon.

The shop was quite uncomfortable as well. It's an old building and not adequately insulated. The air conditioning just couldn't cope. It seemed cool when I first got there but by the end of the day, ick!

I did get some more yarn today.



A gift from one of my students. There's actually another skein of it that's wrapped in a ball. She said she couldn't knit with it. It's actually a lot prettier than it appears in this overly dramatic photo. I guess it wasn't really a gift since, in exchange, I undid a big, tangled batch of Noro for her. She said she didn't realize that you needed to put it in a ball as you ripped it.

Hmmm. I see Blogger has tweaked its format again.

It's anon.

So the sun is out and it's plenty hot here. Patrick and I are taking it as easy as possible.

I don't know what happened in my post yesterday but the two links that I typed ended up pointing to Blogger instead of where they were supposed to. I was very pleased to get a quick reply from Blogger telling me what the problem was. So I've fixed it.




This is two pattern repeats of the Yukon Leaves socks. The yarn is Regia 4 fädig Color (1937) that I've had in my stash for a while. These are definitely for working on at home. But I think I'll enjoy knitting them.




These are the ones I finished yesterday. Fortissima Colori Socka Color (9048). The solid stripes match pretty well but the patterned stripes are all different. Amazing what a slightly different starting point can do. I actually started these a long time ago but I had lost track of a stitch and it took me a while to find it. I had done a K2tog without realizing it.

Here's the beginning of the poncho that Stephanie posted on her blog a couple of days ago. I really like the Araucania Nature Cotton (the web site is still en construction) but I'm not sure how it's going to behave knitted this loose. Probably long enough for the current poncho craze to pass. I just finished the second skein. It's too bunched up on the circular needle to get a decent picture but I hope in a day or so I'll be done and then I'll show you the finished piece.

I might have gone to Long Beach today to visit Alamitos Bay Yarn Company, or I might have gone to lunch with a former co-worker, or I might have stayed home and worked on the poncho I started yesterday.

I ended up not going to Long Beach. It's too hot and gas is too expensive and I wasn't planning to buy anything. I didn't go to lunch because I had already turned it down because of the trip not taken. And I didn't work on the poncho.

I decided to do a few rows on the second sock of one of the pairs I currently have in the works. I just kept going. Those self-patterning yarns are sort of like a cable pattern. Just one more repeat or one more stripe. Anyway, I finished the sock. Pics anon.

And then I started another pair of socks, the Yukon Falling Leaves. Pics anon. But tonight I'm working on the poncho. Stephanie left instructions for us to make her latest poncho while she's away on vacation. I'm using the Araucania Nature Cotton that I bought specifically to make a poncho but I didn't know until I saw Stephanie's poncho which one I was going to make. Pics anon, when there's enough to show.

You did what?

I couldn't believe it either. I actually taught someone to crochet today. I don't usually admit to knowing how to crochet mostly because I don't think I know it well enough to teach it. And until recently I haven't seen anything that I'd like to make using crochet.

I had a student today who knows a little, very little, about knitting. She wanted to make a knitted flower that she had found a pattern for.(for which she had found a pattern.) It required working with dpns as well as keeping strict count of stitches. She made a pretty valiant effort but finally gave up. "All I want to do is make a flower!" She had another pattern, a crochet one, for a very simple flower shape. We got through it and she was pleased. So was I.

I got my car back. I had to get a new fuel injector, a part that had been replaced earlier this year. They did discount the part but it still cost me just under $700. It's a good thing I have a large stash because there won't be any enhancing for a while.

Waiting

My car had been with the mechanic since early yesterday morning. I still don't know what it's ailment is and have not heard a word. I did call late yesterday and was told that they're still checking it out. I do not like the sound of this. I hope they're just too busy to find out and not just finding lots of things that need to be replaced.

So I'm walking to work. It's not far, maybe a mile, but it's hot and humid here. I don't look my best by the time I get there. But we survive. I'm covering for the Wednesday night teacher again today. This is a good thing as I get her share of the take which, while not large, will partially defray the car repairs.

Yesterday was a more than usual fun day. My friend Mendy was able to break away from her day job and spend the afternoon at Skein. We worked on a couple of projects that she's been stalled on until she could find the time to take some lessons. And then we went to dinner. And what a dinner! Bruschetta, arugula with shaved mozzarella salad, ravioli di pollo with grape tomatoes and flourless chocolate cake. And a couple of glasses of merlot. Gale of the eponymously named restaurant stopped by to show us pictures of her newest Welsh terrier. What a great lady! And what a great day!

On the knitting front. Not much happened. I turned the heel on a sock and got started on the gusset decreases. I now have a copy of the Fibertrends Landscape shawl pattern and am considering using it for the Cherry Tree Hill lace weight merino that I showed a couple of days ago. I'm also considering the Pacific Northwest shawl pattern. I know I have that pattern around here somewhere.

Death by chilis

I've been gradually testing these chilis that Mendy's husband gave me. So far I'm doing okay, except for the hiccups. Those bright red ones though really push the limit. The others, so far, are tasty but they do leave a little tingle.



And in the Be Careful What You Ask For category. I went to Needle in a Haystack today. I just needed to pick up a couple of skeins that Mendy had on hold but I thought I'd look around. I tried for nearly an hour to find something to buy. It's not that they didn't have lots to choose from but I guess I just wasn't ready. I did pick up another skein of the Araucania Cotton to add to the four that I got last month, just in case, and a couple of skeins of Grignasco's Sweet Print.



It's a cotton/polyester/acrylic blend. I think I have something in stash that will work for a simple scarf. And while I was there I did help a new knitter figure out her pattern instructions. She's promised to come to Skein tomorrow for a class.

On the way home my car was acting strange. So I guess I'll have to leave it with the mechanic tomorrow. I'm thinking clogged fuel line or something like that. Good thing I didn't spend a lot on yarn today.

rabbit! rabbit!

Kofi

My friend Robert used to have an African Grey named Kofi. He didn't look a thing like this.




This is African Grey lace weight merino from Cherry Tree Hill. You'll notice the prominence of orange.

I wasn't sure how the orange would blend in with the other, very muted colors. I think it looks pretty good. Now I just have to find something to do with it. There are 2400 yards. I'm thinking shawl. Any other suggestions or patterns for shawls that would work with this yarn?

I've been wanting to go visit some of my favorite yarn shops but events have kept me from doing so. We got this yarn in at Skein a few weeks ago and I've been waiting for someone to buy this hank so I wouldn't have to. But no one did. And since I haven't bought any yarn in at least a month it seemed the thing to do. And besides, I used a store credit I had for making a sample. But I still want to go yarn shop hopping.

Enough already?
 

The current batch of socks. Except for the Broadripple, in the foreground, they're just plain ol' socks and only the Broadripple has one sock complete. I try to work a little on each pair everyday. I like them all and enjoy watching the patterns show up.

There are at least two other pairs of socks around here somewhere that I've just barely started. They'll move into the current line up when I finish some of these.

The Wednesday night class went well and there were no requests for crochet help. Well, except for one special knitter who made the trip in to give me a hard time. She brought her charming mom though so it was okay.

Photo finish
I lugged my camera and tripod to Skein today to try one more time for a photo of the Lost Points shawl. 


It looks better on the mannequin than I expected it to. But it's really more of a scarf than a shawl. 



You can see the diagonal line of increases, if you look carefully. But maybe it's easier in this shot.

But that's it. No more.

It was pretty quiet most of the day except for the usual flurry around noontime. And that was pretty intense. I did have a couple of students in the mid-afternoon, a mother/daughter combo. They were a lot of fun to be with. Totally different in their ability to grasp the concept. The daughter really had difficulty understanding the step where you pull the yarn through the stitch, you know, back through the window. I've noticed that lots of people have trouble at this point and I can't figure out why. But anyway, by the time they left they were both comfortable with the knit stitch, casting on and binding off. And we had had some good laughs.

I'm covering for the Wednesday night teacher tomorrow. She usually teaches crochet as well as knitting. I hope there aren't any crochet students. My crochet technique is pretty free form. I never crochet except to set in sleeves or maybe put an edge on something. Don't ask me about shaping. But I may try it again just so I can make a hippy shawl on poncho.

 

 

Another post with no pictures
 
I tried to take a picture of the Lost Points shawl but none of the three were usable. I spent part of the morning trying to block it to see if I could stop or reduce the curling. As soon as I spread the towels on the living room floor Patrick came and stretched out. Then he was very interested in all the pins I was using. But I got it all laid out and then noticed a loose stitch that was starting to run. Out came the pins. I fixed the loose stitch and decided to try steaming the shawl instead. It helped some but wasn't a permanent fix. So I'm taking it to Skein tomorrow and giving it to Ann Mary. I'm done.

I finished the main section of the mañanita poncho and have started the border. It took me a while to get started because I thought the border would be worked counter clockwise. But it isn't. I don't have many repeats done but I'm beginning to remember the pattern. There are only a few stitches per row so I have to turn the work all the time and that's kind of irritating. I think I'm going to see about getting this blocked professionally.

Tonight it's sock knitting, for sure. Too hot to handle anything bigger.

 
 

Public Service Announcement
This is a pretty neat feature of the new Blogger. You can select color from a drop down menu and it just does it for you. For me that's a big deal.

But the public service announcement I really wanted to make is here. Lisa sent me this link a week or so ago. If you're in the San Diego area, or anywhere really, you might be interested in helping out.

It continues to be hot and humid around here but that doesn't seem to deter the knitters. It was slow for a while this morning but then the crowds arrived. I had four students and two kibbitzers most of the afternoon. We're still selling the ponshawl like mad. Poncho mania. I may have to practice my limited crochet skills if this keeps up.

We had our Thursday night knitting group last night. We haven't met for a couple of weeks so it felt great to be back together. Smaller group than usual. Summer does that. Next week we're having a yarn re-distribution. I've already seen some of the available yarns. I hope there's no fighting.

Way done!
 
Did you hear any trumpets last night at 10:31? Well, I didn't either but I certainly wanted to. I bound off the last stitch of the Lost Points shawl. I must say the shawl is even less interesting than I thought it was going to be. Also, it's way smaller than it's supposed to be. I'm going to try to block it out a little. Plus the edge is rolling. A lot! Given the pattern instructions that should not be a surprise. If you work stockinette all the time that's what's going to happen. I have a few ends to weave in and then, that's it. There may be pictures later.

So now I can get back to the mananita shawl. And the moving cable sweater and my beloved socks. I'm also looking around for my barely started heart patterned scarf. I know it's here somewhere. Serves me right for trying to tidy up my projects. I know someone who could really use a little scarf with hearts on it right now.

 

Sweltering!
How many days 'til winter? Pity the poor firemen fighting the Santa Clarita blaze. It's hotter up there than Pasadena, even without the fire. That blaze is not close to where I live but there are hills and mountains above Pasadena that are as subject to wild fires as anywhere. So far, so good. We're just hoping that no one does anything stupid like go target practicing or even worse something malicious.
 
I thought I'd finish the Lost Points scarf today but didn't quite get there. I have another two rows plus the bind off. The last of the yarn is badly tangled so I spend most of the time undoing it. I now know, thanks to a friendly email, that the Melody yarn should be re-wound into a center pull ball before beginning to work with it. Should there be a next time, I'll be prepared.
 
The mañanita shawl has been stalled for a couple of days. Hope has finished hers and it's fantastic. If I can get anywhere near that one I'll be happy.
 
 

Orange you special!
 
When a friend, remembering how much you like sock yarn, and further remembering how much you like orange in your sock yarn, spies some, buys it, treks to the post office in the heat and humidity of summer, stands in line so she can send it priority and it arrives overnight, it seems meet and right to do something with it right away even though you said you would not start anything new until you had finished something else.
 

 
And so I did.
 

 
Thanks, Greta. These are my Brighter Day socks.

Even though I've been knitting there's not much to talk about. The Lost Points shop sample shawl is still giving me fits. The Melody yarn is without a doubt the most difficult yarn I've even knit with. The yarn just slides off the ball into a tangled mass. Patrick was eyeing it last night and I was sorely tempted to let him have at it.
 
I haven't touched the mañanita shawl for two days. I really want to get rid of the Lost Points scarf so I can forget about it. And I'm still trying to get back to the Artful Yarns Celebrity poncho I started last month. Who has time to even think about holiday knitting? The Broadripple socks are still at the one and half sock point. I wonder if I'll be able to remember the pattern. And I have two other pairs started that haven't been out of the bag for at least a month. The red Mexican Wave shawl isn't exactly stalled but I only work on it while I'm running the Ad-aware program. I'd better stop this list right now, before I get depressed.
 
I see that Blogger has changed their format once again. I wonder which font will show up when I hit publish.
 
 

The air is on

and I'm just waiting to feel the effects. I should have left it on this morning but I forgot that it was going to be so hot. I hope Patrick will forgive me.

I haven't heard any more about the fire except that it was put out fairly quickly, relatively speaking. There appeared to be another fire the next day but it turned out to be a house, not a brush fire. The speculation is that it was a meth factory that blew up. I'm waiting to hear on that.

I spent a large portion of yesterday working on the mañanita shawl. I finally stopped because both of my wrists were aching. They seem okay today. I started another row this morning but kept messing up the pattern repeat so I'll try again tonight. It's hard to stay on track when your cat keeps talking to you.

Busy day today at Skein. I went in an hour early because I was expecting my bi-polar student. Haven't seen her in a few weeks. She was there and ready to go. She gave me five balls of Gedifra Barocco to play with.



She said she thought she had some more at home somewhere and that she just couldn't work with it. It has a thin central core with tufts and strips of fabric attached. I've no idea what I'll do with it but I do have the Gedifra book that featured this yarn last year.

As weekends go

this one was exceptional. After a fairly busy day at Skein on Saturday I went home and spent the evening with Lisa. She came over to borrow my digital camera. Then she came back again on Sunday evening to load the pictures. We usually get together about every two weeks so being able to spend two whole evenings with her was extra special.

She needed to borrow the camera to take pictures of the new minister at her church. She also got this picture.



A brushfire had just started in the hills near where her church is. I haven't seen or heard anything in the local news about this fire so I don't know if it's been stopped or contained.

Summer seems to have finally arrived. It's supposedly going to be in the mid 90s for most of this week. I was planning to go out to lunch with a friend today but we had to postpone. So I'll be spending most of today on the mañanita poncho. If I can keep my focus, i.e. not start anything else, I'll be done with it this week. I'm not sure how I'm going to block it. The only space I have that's big enough is the middle of the living room floor. I'm not sure I can keep Patrick off of it long enough for it to dry.

Trash!

There are four sofas lined up on the curb in front of my condo. It looks like a cross between New Year's Day on Colorado Blvd. and a parking lot sale. These sofas, as well as the mattress across the street, have been left by people who no longer want them but don't want to take the responsiblity to dispose of them. Who do they think is going to haul them away? I know at least one of the sofas belonged to one of the tenants living in my building who moved away in the middle of the night. The owners of the unit have listed the condo for sale and are apparently cleaning it out.

I hate this kind of disregard of others. The idea seems to be that if one leaves it on the curb it's no longer one's problem. Anymore than the trash that flies out of car windows or the food containers that are dumped in the parking lot or thrown on the lawn or shopping carts left in the middle of the parking lot instead of returning them to the collection points or the store are problems. Who do they think ends up paying for this? These people are the true trash.

So much for the rant.

We had the good sense today to eat lunch early. And it was a very good thing. I don't think we stopped from noon until around four. I had a few students for most of the afternoon but I was able to work on the shop sample scarf for most of the time. I'm almost back to the point where I was when I had to start all over. The Bamboo yarn is a pleasure to work with but the Melody is terrible. Railroad yarns are bad enough but this one is also limp and saggy. I have to watch every stitch to keep from dropping one of the "rails" or slipping a stitch.

The mañanita shawl is progressing. I only have another 25 rows to go and then the border. But those are some very long rows. I'll probably get three or four more rows done tonight it the cat will leave me alone. He's been gorging himself for the past week. I have to walk him to his dish every time he wants to eat. I know that's dumb on my part but otherwise he just sits and wails pitifully. I can't stand that. So, anyway, I'm up and down most of the evening. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing.

I managed a few more rows on the mañanita shawl last night and this morning. I'm finally up to 500 stitches which I think is the max number. I may have dropped a stitch on the last round. I won't know for sure until I start the next set of repeats. Fortunately the Wildfoote holds on to stitches pretty well so if I did drop a stitch it should be easy to find and pick up. Or maybe I just miscounted.

We had an invasion of pregnant Chinese women today. Just as we were finishing up the early morning rush and were getting ready for lunch a group of ten or twelve women came in. Of the group at least six were pregnant. Ann Mary said they were probably all staying in the US waiting for their children to be born here. They weren't buying yarn to make baby things but instead were buying yarn for scarves and shawls. They were there for at least two hours. I was happy that a new student came in for a lesson which took me out of the mob. And I had a second student before it was all over. Neither of us had lunch until after three o'clock. I didn't even get the shop sample scarf out of the bag.

My friend Renee came in to look over the new yarns. She and her husband and son just moved into their new home this past weekend. We're all very pleased and excited for her. There were so many delays and fiascos along the way that I imagine she's just glad it's all over. I hope she can relax now and begin to enjoy it. We went for an early dinner at Amigos and had sangria and margaritas.

No knitting night this week. Mendy and her husband went off to celebrate her birthday and their wedding anniversary over the weekend so she's home catching up on all her paperwork. Next week should be fun.

Mañanita, maybe

Thanks to Lynn H I now know how to insert a tilde. And I can tell you that I only completed two rows on the mañanita shawl last night. The rows are long but that wasn't the problem. There are just so many other things to get done before I can sit down and knit. Errands that I don't get done in the morning, playing with the cat, answering emails and phone calls. And dinner and dishes. But I did get those two rows done.

I had four new knitters today, not quite all at the same time but they did overlap. A school librarian, an elementary grade school teacher and a mother/daughter combo. Two of them were really quite comfortable with what they were doing in a fairly short time. The other two, well, it will take a while longer. Even though it's summer the shop continues to be quite busy. Most of the traffic is in the afternoon now. More shelves have been added but the yarn just keeps coming in. A few fall/winter things and more books. Some gorgeous hand painted skeins of Cherry Tree Hill lace weight that will make beautiful shawls. There's a couple that I'd like to have but I don't think I'll get them. Or maybe just one.

I know it looks like a messed up ball of kitchen twine



but really it's the current status of my Mananita shawl. I've just started row 27 so I have less than 40 to go, not counting the border.



Here's a close-up of the big holes. These are interesting to make. I sure hope when the shawl is washed and blocked that the stitches will look neater. Using a size 10US needle with yarn that calls for a size 1 makes for some loose knitting.

I know there's a special code for creating a tilda over the first "n" in mananita but I don't remember what it is. Anyone?

Happy 5th of July!

I hope you had a great 4th! This extra day that many people get due to the holiday falling on Sunday is one of my normal days off. Skein is closed on Monday so I never really get those extra holidays that I used to get when I was working in the real world. So it's not much of a holiday since I still have to do all the usual chores that I do on Monday. And I won't be getting any mail.

But I don't have to go anywhere so I'll be able to spend several hours on the Mananita poncho/shawl that I started yesterday. The pattern is in Shawls and Scarves from XRX and is a Meg Swansen design. I'm using Wildfoote sock yarn from Brown Sheep. The pattern calls for a 24" size 10US circular. I thought I had every needle size known to mankind but apparently I don't. So I'm using a 16" which seems to be okay for now even though I currently have 250 stitches. I'll probably switch to a 29" later today if things get too tight.

The pattern is not very difficult but it's a lot more fun than the plain knitting scarves I've been making lately. It's definitely one of those just one more row type of things. It took a while for me to figure out the charting though. And creating 18 stitches on three yarn overs it a little fiddly until you get the hang of it.

So, even though I have several other projects that need attention, this is my holiday knitting.

Happy 5th of July!

I hope you had a great 4th! This extra day that many people get due to the holiday falling on Sunday is one of my normal days off. Skein is closed on Monday so I never really get those extra holidays that I used to get when I was working in the real world. So it's not much of a holiday since I still have to do all the usual chores that I do on Monday. And I won't be getting any mail.

But I don't have to go anywhere so I'll be able to spend several hours on the Mananita poncho/shawl that I started yesterday. The pattern is in Shawls and Scarves from XRX and is a Meg Swansen design. I'm using Wildfoote sock yarn from Brown Sheep. The pattern calls for a 24" size 10US circular. I thought I had every needle size known to mankind but apparently I don't. So I'm using a 16" which seems to be okay for now even though I currently have 250 stitches. I'll probably switch to a 29" later today if things get too tight.

The pattern is not very difficult but it's a lot more fun than the plain knitting scarves I've been making lately. It's definitely one of those just one more row type of things. It took a while for me to figure out the charting though. And creating 18 stitches on three yarn overs it a little fiddly until you get the hang of it.

So, even though I have several other projects that need attention, this is my holiday knitting.

All better

Thanks to a lot of help and suggestions from friends and readers (plus Lisa) I'm now clear of pop-ups. The puny pop up blocker in my SBC/Yahoo is once again blocking. I installed Adaware and it found 367 items to quarantine. I will also install a couple more that will provide some backup to Adaware.

We celebrated Mendy's birthday tonight. What an incredible chocolate cake that was! It was all a lot of fun with perhaps a lot less knitting than usual. I know I didn't make much progress on the red shawl or the current poncho. We'll be skipping next week though. It's a good thing we had a second cake. At least I won't be behind on desserts.

I taught a couple of 10 year olds today. I thought they did well and they seemed pleased with their efforts. So were the grandmother and great aunt that brought them in. I had one other knitter going at the same time so it was a little intense for about an hour. Kids are fun to work with when they're really interested. Generally they don't have any of the "I can't do it" attitude that many adults have. I think it's also their ability to focus on what they're doing without all the other mental distractions that most adults have.

We're already receiving some of the fall yarns. They're not out on the floor yet. But it won't be long. From what I've seen so far I'd say the colors are deeper and richer even than last fall/winter. Still plenty of novelty stuff though. But I've been seeing some interest in more traditional looking yarns and traditional knitting. More classic shaping. I tend to believe that fashion is an emotional reflection of the times. I'll be watching to see just how conservative things become.

Pop ups all over the place

I don't know what happened but two or three days ago I started getting masses of pop-ups. And I'm suddenly not able to link to my comments, at least when I'm using my regular SBC/Yahoo browser. I seem to be okay on Mozilla. And then I get disconnected from the internet for no apparent reason. I'm not sure what to do. I'll be calling TechSupport at SBC as soon as I finish this. Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a while it's probably because of this problem.

I've been busy with students at Skein for the past couple of days. Some brand new knitters and some just looking for some help. Either way works for me.

Final fling

No, I'm not on hiatus or ill or anything like that. It's just been busy around here. Most of my projects look pretty much the same as they did the last time you saw them. Some progress but nothing worth using up battery for. There is this new poncho though.



This is Artful Yarns' Celebrity that I got when we went to the customer appreciation sale at Needle in a Haystack. I'm using a free pattern from Crystal Palace. It's a simple pattern of alternating reverse and plain stockinette.

Yesterday was a fun day of yarn shop hopping. Here are few of the things I got.



Two skeins of Steadfast Yarn, hand dyed using Brown Sheep Worsted.





Nine skeins of Rio, because it was on sale, and five skeins of Wildfoote for the Mananita shawl. The rest are still in the bag.



Seven skeins of On Line Summer-Mistral. Probably for a poncho or a shawl.



One hank of Schaeffer "Anne" for some socks or a small scarf.

I also got five skeins of Araucania Nature Wool in a dark, dark green varigated. The picture was worthless. You can still smell the vinegar in this one. They were still unpacking it when I spied it. I don't know what it's for just yet.

So I'm done with buying yarn for the month. But there's a month long sale at Bishop's in Chatsworth coming up.



Patrick is a big cat. He's almost two now. I was going to throw this box out but he claimed it as his daytime sleeping post.

Oh, wow, another scarf.



What you see here is three hours of teeth-grinding torture. It's a new scarf kit from Southwest Trading Company. The scarf is called The Lost Point Scarf, but I don't know why, except it will have three long points on each end of the scarf.

I've worked with other railroad type yarns but this one is the most tedious I've run across. It's nylon and rayon and is limper than the other railroads I've used. Right now there are 156 stitches, and that's just the center stripe.

The second yarn, still in the box, is 100% bamboo and is called, appropriately enough, Bamboo. I haven't tried it yet but a friend did. I thought it was a little stiff on the smaller size needles but on the US8, which the pattern uses, I thought it was all right, not soft but not stiff.

I must remember to tell Ann Mary that this pattern and yarn are definitely not for the new knitter, unless he/she is very determined and strong willed.

Where did it go?

I had this post almost ready to go and went off to check a link. When I came back the post was gone. I hate it when that happens. I've never quite figured out just how Blogger does things so it's always a guess, in this case a bad one, as to how I'm supposed to proceed. But anyway...

Skein reopened yesterday after being closed for a week and a half for vacation and TNNA show. It was a good day, made even better by one of those "small world" experiences. I was talking with one of the customers about some Cherry Tree Hill Suri Alpaca. She mentioned that she had a shop in the Oakland area but it didn't carry this yarn. I wasn't sure if she meant she owned a shop or if there was a shop she frequented. So we keep talking and pretty soon I figure out that she did indeed own a shop. And the shop is Article Pract.
You may remember her from Rachael's post from a few weeks ago.

And even more small world, she used to shop at Poobah's, the music store that used to be in the space where Skein now lives. We had a wonderful time discovering this and that she "knew" me via the blogs.

Speaking of Rachael, have you made your contribution yet? She's getting close to her goal so , please, go do it if you haven't already.

I'm getting closer to the finish line of the moving cable sweater. Two more decreases to go one the front and then on to the neck shaping. I'm having some pain in my right arm that I think is related to working with the Cotton Classic. It's a great yarn but it's a little stiff compared to wool and I think I'm a little tense with it. I may have to leave it alone for a day or two and work on some socks.

Good day/bad day

I always figure it's going to be a good day when I can read all the sixty plus blogs I read everyday without my computer shutting down even one time. That's the way it was this morning.

But SBC/Yahoo is having some problems with the email and I can't get in. I did read the messages this morning but now need to respond to a couple of them and can't access anything. They have sincerely apologized for the inconvenience, of course, but still. So I'll have to try again later today when I get home from Skein.

My faithful alarm clock, Pat the Cat, has been slacking off for a few days. I've come to rely on him to get me up somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30. Now he's just sleeping until I wake him up. So I've been a little behind schedule for the past few days. It's a good thing I don't typically have to be anywhere very early.

I managed two complete repeats on the moving cable sweater yesterday. Three more rows and I'll be at the armhole decreases.

And to finish off my vacation, one more yarn store trip. Last night we went to Needle in a Haystack for their customer appreciation sale, 30% off on all full price yarns. I got some Artful Yarns "Celebrity" to make a poncho. So far I have at least four ponchos planned but none of them started. I'm really trying to stick to the moving cable sweater until it's totally done before I start anything else or go back to any of my other projects.

Last day of vacation

I was planning to go on a yarn shop trip today but things didn't quite come together so I'm spending this last day of vacation working on the moving cable sweater. There's still not much sunshine but it's very pleasant just sitting in my favorite wing chair and calmly adding stitches and cables. So far I've added one full repeat of the pattern, 16 rows. I might get the knitting part finished by the end of the week.

I managed to get almost all of my stash put back in the storage/tv room. There are still some projects that I need to finish sitting around but at least there's room to play with the cat now although he seems to prefer playing on the bed.

Gloomy day

Literally. It's almost eleven o'clock and there's still no sign of the sun. It's very pleasantly cool though. I'm sure come Labor Day and the temperature is 110F I won't remember how nice it was back in June. But it does make taking pictures and telling what time it is a bit difficult.

We, Mendy, Judy and I, went back to Unwind yesterday and had a blast. It turns out they knew exactly where the shop is because it's right across from Sheridan Gardens, a plant nursery, where they used to go buy Christopher Radko ornaments. I bought Hot Knits by Melissa Leapman. I've always liked her designs and this book is full of great things. I have already picked out one top to make and for which I have the yarn in stash. That's pretty amazing right there. And I got some yarn too. Unwind carries Lana Grosso which I haven't seen much of around these parts. So I had to have some of that. And I got some Plymouth Prato, enough to make a poncho. I forget the particulars but they have a card program where after you spend a certain amount of money you get some special discount or something. I'm already halfway there, or more, in just two trips.

After that. we went to Needle in a Haystack in Montrose. I hadn't been there in a couple of years. (There's another shop named Needle in a Haystack but it's up in Alameda, near San Francisco.) They still only have a small knitting yarn section but it's a lot better than it used to be. A young woman I used to work with at another shop now works part time at this shop. I imagine she had something to do with their upgrading their yarn selection. I got four skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton. I'm anxious to get started using this. It think it uses from 5mm to 6mm. I'll start with the 6mm and see how it looks. I only have 660 yards (600mts) so it'll probably be a poncho.

We had a terrific lunch at an Italian restaurant that is across the parking lot from the shop. Sat on the balcony and enjoyed the sun (which we had yesterday) and dodged the bees and cicadas.

I wrote about some old yarn a couple of days ago. I was considering making a poncho and I tried it out. I've since thrown it all away. Not only did I realize I didn't have enough for a poncho but it just had this really odd smell. I'm not good at throwing away stuff, especially yarn. At the current acquistion rate, however, I'm going to have to do a lot more of this if I'm going to have room to move around. I went to the market this morning and got some more of the two gallon size freezer bags to help organize my yarns so I'm planning to spend several hours today working on that.

A word about cats and candles

If you burn candles watch out for what your cat is doing! Patrick lost a little fur on the tip of his tail this morning. I don't think he even felt it. I guess I'd better use my hurricane lamps instead.

Started another poncho yesterday and worked on the red shawl at Mendy's last night. We're going back to Unwind. I think I love this store. I wonder if they got anything new since last Saturday. I gave away some odds and ends of Lamb's Pride worsted yesterday so I think I have room for something new.

Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. I took Patrick to the vet/groomer in the morning. While he was getting all done up I went and had breakfast with Mendy. Then home to clean the floor while Patrick was out of the house. And I moved some of the stash that has been sitting around in the living room back into the stash room. Then back to the vet's to pick up Patrick. He was very suspicious about the new arrangement of the yarn boxes. And the clean floor totally mystified him. It took several hours for him to relax. But when he did he gave himself a bath. Guess he didn't think the groomer did it properly.

Here's a photo of the poncho I knit yesterday. Well, I started it on Tuesday night but most of it was done on Wednesday.



You can't really tell much about it. The yarn pretty much hides the detail. Basically it's a big roll brimmed hat but with more stitches.



This isn't much better but you can see the yarn and the stitches. I used some yarn I bought a couple of years ago at Needle in a Haystack in Montrose. Linen and synthetic blend. It's probably a little too wintery for right now but it will look good on Lisa with her dark hair.

I found some yarn this morning that I don't remember buying. It was probably at a thrift store since the skeins have a handwritten price of 25cents. The label doesn't give fiber content or yardage. Just says aiguille/breinaalden No. 3 and laine d'aoust. The name appears to be Imosa and the logo has the initial G.D.G. Anyway, I'm wondering if there's a way to tell if yarn has been eaten by moths as opposed to just being old and weak. I rewound the yarn so I could get rid of all the short pieces that kept showing up when I tried to work with it. If a yarn has been invaded by moths does washing the yarn do any good? Will that take care of the problem? I'd like to use the yarn for another poncho but I don't want to if there's a danger of moths. Anyone have any information about this kind of thing? The yarn is very nubby and I think if I use it double that it will look kind of like Persian lamb.

Another day, another yarn shop hop

I didn't manage to get the pictures taken but I will. I have a few more purchases to add anyway. I went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company this morning. It's about an hour drive from here but it is so worth it. They always have great samples and lots of new yarn. I didn't buy much, just some token sock yarn.

On the way back we stopped at Stitches in Time at their new location. More sock yarn and a pattern book of ponchos. The new space is bigger but just as funky as the old one. And they're carrying some more fashion-forward yarns than they used to. I forgot to get a business card or ask if they have a web site.

I'm well underway with the second Broadripple sock. And I did a couple of rows on the red shawl. I'm about half way on that I figure since I still have five of the original ten skeins. I'm trying to decide what to use for a fringe since I don't think a self fringe would do much for the piece.

Happy Father's Day, to me anyway!

I know. It's next Sunday but Lisa came over last night for the festivities since she'll be away at a conference next week. (Is it just me or do Methodists really have more conferences and meetings than anyone else?) We had a wonderful evening.

It's really nice to have a kid that knows stuff. Not only did she bring me some rolling plant stands for my lemon tree and rose bush but she pruned both of the plants for me. I usually just lop off any old branch that I think looks like it's going the wrong way. She, however, studies the plant and makes informed decisions and the lops off appropriately.

She also brought me four grey tee shirts, which I had mentioned I'd like to have. All in the new and improved larger size that I now require. Ahem! And a Sunset book about container gardening. And we went to dinner at El Portal, a more upscale place than Amigos where we usually go. The margaritas are tasty but not as powerful as the ones at Amigos.

I spent most of yesterday, and will do the same today, working on organizing my yarn stash. Patrick is getting very nervous as cats do when you move stuff around. Half of the boxes are now in my living room waiting for me to go through them. I haven't found much yet that I'm willing to part with. Mostly I'm packaging the yarns individually instead of just letting them all mix together. I've ripped several abandoned projects and have put the yarn into hanks so I can wash them and get rid of the wrinkles. (I wish that worked on me.)

Let's see. What else?

Oh, I went to a new yarn shop on Saturday with my friends Carol and Renee. What a treat! It's in Burbank, near the airport, in an area that looks like it's being revitalized. The yarns are arranged by color and everything is priced, two things I really like.

I don't remember all the brands but there was lots of Tahki/Stacey Charles, including my current favorite Cotton Classic. And plenty of novelties from Plymouth. But, new to me, Southwest Trading Company yarns. I got some chenille looking stuff that is made from soy. I didn't get any but they also have a yarn made from bamboo. Renee bought some so I'll be waiting to hear how she likes it.

The shop is well laid out. I wouldn't call it minimalist but it leans that way. There's a "club chair" area right in front before you get to the yarns. Lots of waiting and relaxing room. Then there's the yarn area. At the back is a large table where they teach. I'm really looking forward to going back, maybe later this week if I can talk Mendy into it.

Unwind
818 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505

818-840-0800

Unwind


If you're in the area, give them a visit. If you're not in the area, the airport is close so you could just do a fly-in.

If there's any sun later today I'll try to get some photos of my weekend shopping.

On vacation!Hooray!!

I did manage a little bit on the Broadripple sock yesterday while I was at Skein and some more in the evening at Mendy's for our regular Thursday night group.



I like it.

Skein is closed for a week or so. I'll be heading out to visit some new shops and revisit some old ones. I hear talk of Temple City Knits reopening sometime late this summer. New owner, same location. And then there's a rumor that Monrovia will be seeing a shop sometime soon.

Anyway, today I'm going to Bishop's and Happy Hooker 2, both shops that I've been to before but that was about a year ago. And I'm going back to the same two shops tomorrow. Two different friends want to go but we couldn't make the schedule work. So it's two trips for me. I'll browze today and if I see something I like I'll have a chance to think it over before committing. Of course I might buy something today and then get something else tomorrow that I saw today but didn't buy.

Broadripple

Have you knit these socks? I've been meaning to ever since they appeared in Knitty last summer. I finally got around to it this morning. I worked on my cable sweater last night for about three hours and didn't feel like picking it up again this morning. So, I already had the yarn, Cascade Fixation. I've used it before when I made Lynn H's Fast Florida Footies. The stretchiness of the yarn is a little unsettling at first. But once you get used to that it is fun to use.

I thought I'd be able to get a lot done on it today at Skein but I had a couple of students that needed a lot more attention than most. I had completed the Garter Ripple pattern at the top and had done a few repeats of the main pattern before I went in. I did manage a few more rows but not enough to photograph. Maybe tomorrow.

I've been trying to get some pictures of Patrick but haven't had much luck. His eyes are very blue but I always get gold. I'm trying to figure out how to set the red eye mode on my camera. It's supposed to be there but I'm having trouble finding it.

Well, it's something.

I haven't had much time, or inspiration, to knit the past few days. But I did finish this pair of socks.



Regia Cotton that I got at Velona's. I had a differnt sock a few weeks ago but the pattern I was using was just going to be way too big plus the stripes looked a little over the top in the lace pattern. I have another skein of this yarn in another color way. Once I've used it I don't think I'll knit with it again. It's easy to split and doesn't have much give. I do like the colors though. They're really a lot clearer than they look here. No sunshine available.

This is the first time I've deliberately made a fraternal pair. I wasn't sure I would have enough yarn so I didn't want to waste a lot looking for the matching point. The color transitions are soft enough that the difference between the socks isn't all that apparent. And I had plenty of yarn after all.

I'm trying to get back to the cable sweater. I did manage to wind three more balls today while I was at Skein but I didn't have any time to actually work on it. Tonight is looking pretty good though.

Just so you know.

Skein will be closed for a few days starting Friday, June 11, and will reopen on Tuesday, June 22. Ann Mary is going to Columbus, Ohio, for the annual trade show and will take a few days off to try to recuperate from some of the stress and overwork of having moved the shop. The move has been very successful, at least from what I can tell. Seems to be a lot more traffic and I know I have had more students.

So I'll have a few days of vacation. And what am I going to do? Well, what does any knitter do when given the chance? I'm going on several yarn shop hops with Mendy and some of my students. There's a new shop called Unwind that I think is in Burbank that I want to check out. And we'll be going back to some places I haven't been in a while. I don't have anything in mind to buy but I'm sure there'll be something. And on the days I'm not shopping I'll be knitting on some of the still incomplete projects and maybe explore some more unopened stash boxes.

I've been so busy the past few days at Skein that when I get home I haven't put much effort into my own knitting. I almost finished a pair of socks last night but I managed to put my decrease at the wrong end of the needle and had to rip a couple of rows. That wouldn't have been so bad but I lost my place and undid some decreases that I shouldn't have so had to go back a few more rows. And then I just put it aside and played with the cat.

Except for the warmth it could be February here. It's especially dark and overcast this morning. We do have June Gloom but this seems drearier that usual. And Humid!

Carmen Tamed



When Don Jose first meets Carmen he pretends to be indifferent but succumbs to her charms, with dire consequences, before you can say "ouiseau rebel". (I hope I spelled that correctly. It's been a long time.) I reacted much the same way to this yarn when I first saw it but I was, well, seduced by its obvious sensual qualities. I should have been suspicious when I saw the small swatches that the yarn shop had made. This is one wild yarn! Definitely has a mind of its own, including a tendency to be quite loose.

I tried working with it several times. I only had one skein so a scarf was the obvious choice. Just like Don Jose gives up on Carmen, I gave up and let the yarn go its own way. But it sat around tempting me back time after time.



I didn't take a knife to it though. I cooled it off with some Berroco Glace. I held the two together and knit another simple "drop stitch" scarf. I'd never recommend this yarn to anyone. It sheds, it is overspun. I had to cut it a couple of times just to release some of the twist. (Well, that's sort of like taking a knife to it.) A lot of its original appeal is lost because the Glace really dominates. Looks like something Escamillo might have worn to work.

Rabbit! Rabbit!

Well, I did get the sock done and am a little ways past the ribbing on the second one. I also got the cast on and a couple of rows done on the moving cable sweater. I could have done more but Morpheus came by a few times during the day. I generally enjoy it when he shows up. Sometimes, though, when I'm really counting on him he stays away for hours. Especially when I have Diet Coke.

Anyway, I had a very relaxing Memorial Day. It started with a bang. I thought it was a gunshot but I guess it was just an early firecracker. (Patrick doesn't do well with loud, sudden noises. I'm kind of dreading the Fourth of July.) And there was a formation of planes that must have been part of an airshow that I was able to watch from my living room window. And later in the day a firetruck went up my street but I don't know why. Just more or less an ordinary day.

For some reason I've been wanting to have sauerkraut and hot dogs. When I was a kid my mother used to fix this for us once in a while. It's probably been over forty years since I had this. So I decided to make it for dinner. I don't know, must be something about the way I opened the can or cut the hot dogs, but it just wasn't what I remembered. But I did find out that sauerkraut will really deglaze a pan. I've been trying for months to get the scorch marks out of that pan. If I'd only known about the cleansing qualities of sauerkraut I'd have saved myself a lot of time.

Saturday was a record day for me. I had thirteen students, most of them in the afternoon. Six of them were brand new knitters. Fortunately most of the others were just there for a little help with their current projects. I like it when it's busy but this was a little more than I'm used to. I'm glad I had yesterday to recover. Today looks like another easy day too.

All last week it was very cool, never above 75. But that all came to a screeching halt yesterday. I think it's already over 90 and it's only a little after seven. I don't think I'm going to be doing anything very strenuous today. I spent most of yesterday on a sock. I think I'll be able to finish that today and get started on the second one. I need to start the front of the cabled sweater which I may do if the heat doesn't get to me.

It was the kind of night that makes you wonder why you ever tried to knit in the first place. And secondly, should you just give it up and stick to bowling.

I took three projects with me to the Thursday night group. The first one, a multi-directional scarf, I have managed to lose a stitch somewhere. We're talking mindless knitting here, right? Well, I haven't found the stitch yet. I put it aside an worked on the current, very mindless knitting, sock. I'm also missing a stitch there, and even though I know approximately where it should be, I cannot see it. Un-knitting row after row of tiny stitches really wears me out. I didn't even try to work on the third project, casting on for the front of the moving cable sweater.

As if all that wasn't bad enough today I find that Teresa has decided to leave Blogland. I'm so sad.

The Floosie Scarf

We finally got the Mango Moon recycled silk that was ordered last January. It's kind of neat stuff but really needs something carried along with it. Most of their patterns call for something to be worked with the yarn. Of course we could have used something sedate and subtle but I thought we should tart it up a bit.



You'd need to see this live, in the flesh, to appreciate how wonderfully gaudy and delightfully tawdry it really is. One skein of Mango Moon recycled silk with one skein of Trendsetter Aura. I really expect we'll sell a lot of these this weekend.

Four hours from winding to weaving. 17 stitches on size 17 US needles. Garter stitch with occasional extended stitches (aka drop stitch). The scarf is about five feet long. I expect the weight of the yarn will cause it to stretch some.

I put the yarn in heavy plastic bags to keep them from tangling. I still had to keep an eye on it though. Not because Patrick bothers my knitting but he does love to lick and chew on plastic bags.

Some more finished socks

I finished the Gull Wing socks last night. The pattern is from Socks, Socks, Socks, designed by Vivienne Shen. I made the leg an inch and a half longer because Lisa likes her socks long.



I used some Socka that I got at Velona's a few weeks ago. Now I've started another pair in one of those self patterning yarns. I have to be careful not to buy any more self patterning yarn. To me, they usually look better in the skein than they do knitted up.