Purlewe

dribs and drabs

Of projects that are finished.

Shibui Shawl. After years of not understanding why folks like to knit with Kid Silk Lace (or similar), I finally get it. There must have been a lightbulb that went on over my head while I was knitting this luscious shawl.

A great pattern. I wish I had made it bigger tho. I had some yarn left over, but I didn't want to deviate from the pattern. Next time I will knit until ALL THE YARN IS GONE.

The Selbu Mittens are finally done. 

 

I finally put thumbs on the poor dears. And now they will be a fantastic holiday gift. 

A hat for a nephew is done.

 

I heard he likes dinosaurs. 

almost, not quite, very close to done.

The only thing left on that puppy is the back neck. I am too excited and can't wait to be done with this. I wanna see it on the kid like YESTERDAY!

 

finished objects!

I have more finished objects, but none of them have photos. Which, for me, is about as weird as it gets. I love taking photos and yet I find it hard to take photos of myself. ACK! I need to remedy that, stat.

I do have photos of 2 projects I finished. One I finished awhile ago and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE.

My own very large, and cuddly, Spectra. I did the exact same pattern, same numbers, same everything except I used Schoppel-Wolle Gradient and Shepherd's worsted weight wool and US8s. This gives me an extra large sized scarf that wraps around me several times to keep me safe and warm.

It is as long as any Doctor Who scarf I've seen. Which makes me think it would be AWESOME to do a play on a Doctor Who scarf.. with windows of color and a solid outline. Ah heck.. who am I kidding. Getting the colors together would be a pain in the arse, but the execution of it would be fantastic.

I also finished something while away on my knitting retreat.

A slouchy hat for gift giving season. I think this one was very successful. I like the easy, repeatible design. I also like the color. It still needs a good blocking tho. I think that would make it even slouchier.

Shakti pattern by Dori Mondon. Shepherd's Wool Worsted. US 7s.

More finished objects as soon as I get myself to take photos. And I need to start assembling what I am taking to knit over Thanksgiving weekend. I get so much knitting done that weekend.

All the TARDIS you need...

Been wanting one of these for years, but never had the right space for it. Made this one for my work this year and it was BRILLIANT!

It would be even more fantastic if I could find a way to light it up and have the light on top glow. (which I didn't even put on b'c I was bummed it wouldn't glow.) My coworker went as Amy Pond and I went as Rose Tyler and we gave out candy to the kids on Tuesday*.

*My work has a homless shelter group come in with their children before the actual day so we can give them costumes to use for Halloween AND they get to go trick or treating and have candy before the big day. 

Pebble | Peak Hat

I got so excited when this new pattern came up on Ravelry. This hat was such a great construction! I knew I wanted to knit it immediately.

I asked Lisa if she wanted one for the store. And she had the yarn in that the pattern called for: Shibui Knits Pebble.

It was a little confusing to me on the Shibui site. This yarn is called both fingering and laceweight there. It is definitely laceweight! But you hold it double to get fingering for the hat.

The hat construction was fantastic. Slouchy enough for those slouchy hat lovers, cool construction for those wanting a bit of something challenging, fast knitting for those who love to whip up a quick present in the round.

When I make this again I will maybe make the keyhole at the top a few rows longer to get the optimal keyhole effect. I had plenty of yarn left over. I could have made it even slouchier.

And the colors in this tweedy yarn are fantastic. I knit Pebble|Peak out of Shibui Pebble in Pollen on US5s. I loved looking at all the colors in the yarn as I knit it up. I wish I had a decent photo to capture all of the colors in this yarn, but this will have to do for now. You can't really see the blues and greys and greens in it, altho you get a hint of how tweedy it is.

 

big finish

I've been teaching a sweater class at Lisa's store. And what is nice about that is that it means I get a sweater for me out of the bargain. I haven't knit myself a sweater in so long I am thrilled just typing that sentence. I was even more thrilled by gettnig the sweater done this weekend while at the beach.

All. For. Me. Fable Sweater by Kate Osborn, US 7s and 9s, Fibre Company's Terra yarn.

I also have finished 2 other projects that I haven't blocked and a 3rd project I just haven't photographed. I seem to be a big finisher lately.

This weekend Sue and I also had another big event. We had our 5 year wedding anniversary. And to celebrate we went to Rehoboth Beach to get legally married. It may seem a bit strange to celebrate your wedding by going back to and getting legal, but it was important to us to do it. We know our lives are meant to be together. And it only makes sense to us that they are done right. PA still doesn't allow gay marriage, but DE does. And having that little piece of paper now means that we get the federal benefits (estate taxes, etc) that we couldn't get before. WE GOT MARRIED on our 5 year anniversary!

A before and after look at our weddings.

Before: big family wedding with all the trimmings including CAKE!

After: Eloping outside in a nor'easter. Bonus item: wedding shawl is actually used at a wedding since it wasn't finished 5 yrs ago.

Thanks sweety! You know how people say they would marry all over again? Well, we HAVE!

A big party is brewing

So it has been a year since Lisa opened Hidden River Yarn. I can't believe how fast the time has flown.She is planning a big shindig for First Friday in Manayunk from 6-9pm on 10/4. I hope to see you there!

It has been so much fun watching Lisa go on this adventure. I love how she has created a store that sticks to her ideals and aesthetic (only wool products folks, if you want something other than wool you might want to shop elsewhere. Also, she tries very hard to have American based products in her store.) as well as has a great vibe for crafty folk. Many times I have seen people walk in and breath deeply, their shoulders loosen a little, and they realize they have found their people.

I have been very fortunate that Lisa has let me knit for the store displays and also let me teach classes. I am planning on teaching a new Intro to Knitting course in October and another sweater class in November/December. Look on the bottom of her webpage for more info.

To celebrate this momentous occassion I have felted and sewn her a giant '1' for her first anniversary. It is a bit silly, but at the same time it is exactly what we need. A GIANT #1 to show what a giant leap of faith this was. To create a new store takes a lot of chutzpah, and to celebrate it's first anniversary is only fitting to celebrate it BIG.

 

Copious amounts of knitting

This week I have finished all the pieces for the sweater I am teaching in sweater class. This means I have lots of parts and no body. Much like a Frankenstein monster. It is all bits and pieces laying about with strings hanging everywhere.

I wanted to get it done before class last nite b'c I wanted to give a lesson in seaming and picking up sts. Not everyone is as far as all that, but I wanted to be ahead of them and have something to show them in class. Seaming and finishing is a bit of a process. If you take time with it you can have an amazing finished product. It can make or break the project and will affect whether or not you are going to wear the item. Not to mention how many people I know who have never picked up sts, or go about projects and never complete them b'c they don't know how to pick up sts or seam. So teaching seaming and pickup up sts was a big part of last nite. Also getting people on track with their projects, answering those pesky questions, and giving everyone some confidence about their knitting. I think it went well.

While I was there I got to see the sweater I finished for Lisa in the shop. I had left it with her without the buttons b'c I just hadn't the time to get them on. We used buttons from Lisa's grandmother's button box. They are real beauties. Black cut class. They really make this sweater look like a million bucks. I really believe buttons can complete a project, and these really do make this a sophisticated little number.

Yarn was Quince & Co chickadee. I sadly can't remember the needles. But I think this is a lovely pattern. I have again knit it as a test knit for Yellowcosmo. We have a wonderful working relationship.. I get test knit her patterns, Lisa gets something for the store, and she gets feedback on her designs. I will let anyone who wants know when the pattern is up and running. I know her ginkgo shawl I made is a huge hit. Everyone who has seen it at the store wants one of their very own. In fact, I have been toying around with colors in my stash to make another.

consider the ball dropped

I feel bad, leaving like that and not saying anything.

I had all these great plans. I went away for vacation. A REALLY AMAZING vacation. And I planned on getting home and putting photos up and just dazzling you with them (over 2800 photos). And I got them on my computer and....

The computer stopped talking to the monitor. Yeah. It was crazy. And so I waited for a friend to come help. And I am SO GLAD she did. It wasn't just the computer stopped talking to the monitor.. it was the computer had stopped b'c an entire section of it had just given up the ghost. She compartmentalized it.. I've still got 8+ gigs of free space.. so there was a whole day of just working on the computer and getting it to recognize that it wanted to live.

Then I started school.

Yeah. Just like that.

And I started teaching a sweater class one night every other week. Sweater class is brilliant. And if I wasn't teaching it I don't know if I would be knitting right now. Thanks goodness for sweater class! But this also means that what I am doing is work. Making worksheets and taking photos to help folks LEARN about how to make their very first sweater. So when I could be making up a blog post I am pouring that energy into making up a worksheet on something like blocking. Which is why I haven't written.

So, um. Hi!

knitting away

I've been plugging away on a test knit. It is a lovely little number. Reminds me of moroccan themes or arabesques. I wish I had knit this faster, but that seem to be the nature of knitting.. things you think will fly off the needles take longer. Things that you think will take forever fly off the needles.

It is funny tho, as I let Lisa pick the yarn and color and she chose this very hot pink color called Rosa Rugosa in Quince & Co's sportweight chickadee. Not my typical color.. altho I could see this in a dreamy blue or a sunshiney yellow! But I think it is growing on me. It is a lovely blue-red, instead of an orange red. But couldn't you see this in a firey orange-vermillion?? oooooh.

And I had a setback yesterday. I took out my finished meadow shawl to show Lisa at the store. I had worn it throughout France and I wanted her to see how nice it was.. and Quincy had eaten part of it since I got home!

I am truly torn on what to do. Rip out those 12 rows and re-knit them? Pick up those stitches and just knit a patch? I do have yarn left.. the pattern left me plenty, but I am so upset and angry I can't think of what to do. Any suggestions?