Photo Op

When there's very little else to write about, it's a good time for pictures.



Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn. 370 yards of incredible merino softness. This will most likely become a scarf rather than socks. You just need to see this. It was hard to choose just one. I got it at Velona's last Monday. I also got a cone of an anonymous carry-along that defies photography.




Four skeins of Kureyon 128. If there's orange in the yarn I will probably fall for it. Lisa likes orange, too. This will either be a Multi-directional diagonal scarf or a variation of that pattern. Art Yarns has a pattern that is similar but enough different that it will be fun to try. They call it the Zigzag Modular Scarf. Got this yarn at Phebie's on the same shopping trip. And I bought the pattern at Skein.

The new sweater begins.

That's actually the last line from a haiku I've seen around a few times but I don't know the rest of it. Something about autumn and the click of needles. Anyway, my new sweater begins.



This is the neckband and the start of one shoulder. I have some concern about the weight of the yarn. The gauge swatch was fine but the yarn looks a little thin. On the other hand that might be a good thing. It's not exactly the Hebrides here, even in mid-winter.

No more kvetching

So, I'm done with complaining about my computer and my lack of knowledge. I've received some very helpful suggestions and am moving, slowly, but moving toward getting things under control. But just as a sidenote, AVG found nine infected files that Norton had not identified. I don't think I had the actual virus, just the stuff that would have enabled it to download. Could be wrong about that but all traces have been healed or put in a vault so I'm feeling better about the new protection system.

What am I knitting? I've made a small start on my aran sweater. The gauge was right on. I've started the neckband. It's slow going because of the number of stitches and the PTbl that happens on every other row. I think I have about and inch to go. I managed quite a few rows on the Koigu sweater today though while I was at Skein.

It was pretty slow most of the day. Strange after such a hectic day yesterday. I did have three students show up about an hour before I was supposed to leave so I ended up staying about an hour over. And I had a couple of people earlier in the day. So it was pretty good overall, for me at least.

Stressed

I can't think of anything that stresses me more than when my computer starts doing unfamiliar things. Even six beginning knitters gathered around the table doesn't get to me like this.

A friend of mine who knows a thing or two about computers decided I should have a different virus scanning system. I've always had Norton but now I have AVG. It's a free download and he said he had replaced Norton with it on all three of his computers. So I said okay. Well, the install took a lot longer than it was supposed to and I was half an hour late at Skein this morning. That didn't help my stress level a whole lot. And I keep getting a message when I open that there's a Trojan Horse hiding somewhere. He thinks that's a mistake but I don't know. I keep telling it to heal and I can keep going but it always comes back when I start up again. And now there's a soft clicking sound coming from my CPU that wasn't there before, and a little blinking light next to the on/off button that I don't think was there before.

Some of my email ended up in Outlook Express instead of Yahoo and I haven't figured out how to get it moved. I can survive that. And I've changed the default back to Yahoo, so at least that's back to normal. Now I just have to get used to the new type size that he set. I also know how to change that back if I want to. Oh well, enough about that.

When I finally got to Skein today it was packed. Ann Mary and I didn't even say more than "Good morning" until after 2:30. I had students the whole time. The back stock area is so full of new inventory, still in boxes, that we have to stand to have our lunch. You have to keep moving so the stock person can keep doing his job. I was really glad when 4 o'clock came.

But I had a nice evening. A friend took me to dinner at a Mexican place that I hadn't been to before. The food was excellent. We went to Starbucks afterwards and worked out some details of a sweater pattern that she's using. Just the kind of thing that I love. Good company, good food and good knitting.

Technology

One of the many things I like about knitting is the simplicity of the technology. A couple of pointed sticks and some kind of fiber is about all you really need. There are other things that ease the process: a swift and yarn winder, some markers, a row counter, stuff like that. But all you really have to have are the yarn and needles. Most of this stuff is readily available either from a specialty store (LYS) or on line for many of us or a craft store such as Michael's. With just these basic supplies you can amuse yourself for hours and have something to show for it.

I spend several hours a day sitting in front of my computer. Well, I guess it's really the monitor. I don't understand the technology. I can push and click and make things happen but I don't know why they do. And when there's a problem I have no one to turn to to help me fix it. What's really bad is when something happens that I don't think I caused. Many of us are familiar with the blue screen that tells us we didn't shut down properly etc. I'd love to shut down properly if my computer would let me. It just doesn't want to do that.

I've been having some trouble with my DSL connection too. Sometimes I'm just booted off. No idea why. At least with knitting I get to stop when I want to. Nobody just comes and takes it away from me. And I can usually start up again without getting a lecture about how I shouldn't have put it down that way.

Now I hear there's this new thing called Bloglines. Lots of bloggers are praising it and I'm pretty sure it's a good idea. But I have no idea how to begin. And while I'm at it, what's a RSS, or is that RRS?

The thing about knitting is, you can start with some basic information and that's all you need. Knit! Knit! Knit! With computers though, at least for me, you have to learn a whole bunch of stuff just to access the Internet. Now I'm supposed to know what they're talking about and they're using all this jargon and acronyms. I'm not satisfied to be "just making a scarf" when I'm knitting and I don't want to be at the same level when it comes to me and my computer. Sometimes though I think I should just stick to my knitting.

Corina comes back

You don't know Corina. She's one of my students from last spring who just evaporated. We didn't know where she'd gone or if something had happened. It turns out that she just took the summer off. Now that the weather's cooler she's ready to get going again. And that seems to be the case with lots of folks. We had about two hours of pandemonium today. New people, returning people and well as lots of regulars. I only had Corina as a student so I spent most of the day selling people lots of gorgeous, expensive yarn.

We finally got some of the new Trendsetter yarns last night. I was selling out of the back room a lot of the time. Stuff that's not even marked yet. Trendsetter doesn't have a web site but you can see most of the stuff here.

I started a new shop sample today using some of the Koigu. Using one of their patterns for a child's pullover. The yarn is nice enough but the colors are what makes it so exceptional. I did have some splitting problems but generally it's a breeze to work with. So I'll be spending some time on that tonight. And the baby poncho.

Busy

We're at that wonderful time of year just between "Man! It's hot outside!" and "Man! I can't believe how cold it is!" It's not quite officially autumn but it's close enough for me.

The kids being back in school and the cooler weather has meant an increase in traffic at Skein. I've been averaging five or six new students per day plus all the people who are just picking up their knitting and don't know where they left off. The new fall yarns continue to arrive. Today we finally put our first shipment of Koigu on the shelves. Personally, I'd have chosen a wider color range, more brights and clearer colors, but I wasn't involved. We're just glad to have it. It's taken almost nine months for it to get here. I think Ann Mary said there were ten different colors.

We had our Thursday night group on Wednesday this week. Such a genial group! I worked on three different projects, all of which I managed to mangle to some extent. You know you're in trouble when a garter stitch scarf goes amok. And the I turned and went the wrong way in the hood of the child's poncho, stockinette stitch. I did get the ends woven in on the two scarves I just finished so it wasn't a complete loss. Came home to a ball of yarn wound around all the chairs in the living room. Patrick doesn't usually bother my knitting but I think I must have knocked the ball off the table as I was leaving and that was just too tempting. We've had a talk about it though.

Just another scarf



This is the second multi-directional, diagonal scarf of the ones I swatched last week. I used Fiesta Yarns Pebbles in the Amazon color way with a carry along of Rowan's Sea Breeze. I used a size 13US needle to give it more drape and show off the yarn a little more. It's just about six feet long. Do you know how hard it is to photograph a six foot long scarf? There's another picture below that I would have used up here but I have to stop and figure out how to wrap type. That's for another day.

Catching up

No. I haven't been away or ill or anything interesting. Just distracted. My weekend, which begins on Sunday, was pleasant and hassle free. And I had a great day on Saturday at Skein. It all started with a plate of muffins, some bran and some blueberry. They were brought by one of my on-going students. She even included a ziplock baggie for me to take home the leftovers, in case there were any. And there were a few and they made a great breakfast on Sunday.

Then in the afternoon, Article Pract's very own Christina came in to visit. She's such a delight. She is also generous and caring. She brought me this:

A very effective ointment for temporary relief from the aches and pains I've been having in my wrists. I've been using is for three days now and it really is a big help.

Anyway, we had a grand time gushing and oohing and aahing over all the new yarns and books.

On Sunday I finished the Fantasy Naturale MD scarf.

It's not a long as I might have liked. Just over four feet but that's where the yarn took me. I still have to weave the ends but it's not Christmas yet. I have another couple of feet to go on the Pebbles/Sea Breeze scarf.

I felt so good yesterday after getting my laundry done early, for a change, that I took a couple of hours and went to a couple of local shops that are open on Monday. First it was Needle in a Haystack in Montrose, about fifteen minutes drive. I picked up a couple of poncho patterns. Then I went to Stitch in Time in San Marino, about ten minutes from my house.

Stitch in Time has always been known as a needlepoint place. They started getting into knitting yarns earlier this year, or maybe it was the end of last year. It's still an incredible resource for needlepoint. The knitting has really expanded though. I talked with the owner for quite a long time. She's just learning to knit and is doing great. While I was there I picked up a copy of Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet. And a couple of skeins of Lana Grossa Meilenweit sock yarn.

I'm joining an Aran knit-a-long that Bess is hosting starting next Monday, the 20th. I haven't decided once and for all which pattern I'm going to use but this

is the current frontrunner. It's from Two Sticks and a String by Kerry Ferguson. I've had the yarn for more than ten years. Pingouin Fleur de Laine. It's a little more green than the photo shows. I have to get busy and wind it if for no other reason than to make sure there are no moth binges. I've done top down sweaters before but never one so elaborate. I'd like to have this done to wear to the Knitters' Retreat the first weekend of November. More realistically I'll be taking it along to work on while I'm there.

Misc

Thanks to Cindy and my friend Lisa for the current link to the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. The pattern has been slightly revised and an alternative ending triangle has been provided. The new ending is very much like the one I devised for myself. I'll have to try it and see which one I like better.

There's really nothing new on the knitting front. It was a slow day at Skein so I made some progress on the toddler poncho with hood that I'm making as a shop sample. Maybe I'll finish tomorrow or some time over the weekend. I spent most of the evening at the Thursday night group working on my third Harlot poncho. I've just started the second skein so I'm not quite half way.

And I heard that there was a little rain here and there around town but none over here. And it's still in the 90s.

Mythic

There are some knitting patterns that are so well known that they are almost mythic. Stephanie's Harlot Poncho comes to mind. I've made three so far and have a few more planned. And almost everyone in my Thursday night group has done at least one.

Then, there's the multidirectional, diagonal scarf. (I tried to link to the pattern but it seems to have been taken down.) I have made I don't know how many of these scarves. I remember well enough how to make it but I wanted to tell one of my students about it and use it to teach her about short rows and decreases. So instead of the pattern I made several samples of the scarf at different stages and took them with me today. They were a big hit.

The student I made them for wasn't all that interested but her mom, also a student, started one right away. One sample I made used two yarns held together on a much larger needle that I would normally use. It's a lot less rigid and more open. And the very textured yarn creates a much different look from the ones I've made before.




This one is Fantasy Natural from Plymouth. A nice worsted weight that is pleasant to knit. I like this well enough that I'll probably finish it and add it to the holiday gift stack.



I tried the Fiesta Pebbles that I got last week. I didn't think the striping showed very well and the yarn is harsh. I'll probably rip this one and use it for

this one. I added a strand of Rowan's Sea Breeze, a cotton yarn that I think was discontinued about ten years ago. It made the Pebbles much easier to work with and, even though it's hard to see in the photo, made a much more definite stripe. I'm using a US13 here. I like the way it drapes. So another one for the stack.

One Oh Two, in the shade

At least that's what's predicted for today. Much better than the original projection of 106. It's very normal for Labor Day Weekend. I hope the weather people are proved wrong just like the earthquake predicters. We were supposed to have earthquakes on Saturday or Sunday according to a group of serious scientists. I haven't seen anything in the news about this for a while but I'm very happy that it didn't happen.

I pretty much took the day off from knitting yesterday. My wrists and the back of my hands were hurting to the point that it was unpleasant. I have a shop sample that I was hoping I'd get done this weekend so I'll try again today. I'll try working for shorter periods and take lots of breaks. Several people have suggested yoga but I don't know anything about that. I've always relied on conventional medical approaches to take care of my aches and pains. I thought of yoga as some sort of weird alternative witch doctor thing. Right up there with snake charming and sword swallowing.

I'm willing to give it a try though. I will talk to my doctor as well. I don't want to rely on pills and I don't want to give up knitting, even for a short period. So we'll see.

Recent acquisitions

Here at the Museum of Aquired Stash (MAS) we never say no when someone wants to leave us some new stuff. This week we didn't have to go out to the open market to get our fiber fix. We had it hand fed to us.

First some new yarns from Lammia, one of our Thrusday night regulars.



Three skeins of Paton's Grace. I already have thirteen in this color way and dyelot. Plus two skeins of Sirdar's Rio in a shocking pink. I am sort of on a pink kick right now so this will find a project very soon.



Six skeins of 100% silk from Estelle Designs. I don't know anything about this company but the fiber is beautiful. Maybe a top.



Trendsetter's Bloom. Ten skeins in a soft gold. First time I've ever actually seen this yarn. No ideas yet.

And then another round of acquisitions from Mendy, close friend and hostess of the Thursday night group.



This is Fiesta Yarns Pebbles in the colorway Amazon. It's mostly cotton but there's a little bit of rayon to make it shiny. I think Pebbles has been discontinued.



More Pebbles but in the colorway Salsa.



And finally, six skeins of Fiesta's Chamisa in Australia. Another possibly discontinued yarn. It's 100% rayon and is sort of a cross between boucle and chenille.

No MAS.

I hope this doesn't get eaten by Blogger.

And everyone have a great Labor Day weekend.

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.