KSA: Triangular Shawls (Knitter's Service Announcement)

Want to make a triangular shawl? Only have a limited amount of that delicious yarn in your stash? Check out the exhaustive list Vicki of simpleknits put together organized by yardage; free patterns are in boldface. Summer is the perfect time for a little lace, and there are still a couple of weeks left! [link]

FO: Grandma's Birthday slippers

Pattern: Amy March's Slippers by Tiny Owl Knits [Ravelry link]
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky from Purl Diva
Needles: US10/6.0mm
Notions: Hot pink ribbon from Joann's
Mods: Judy's Magic Caston and my version of the short row heel, which is just a little different than that in the pattern

Another pair of Amy March's slippers! This pair is for my grandmother, as she wore out the pair I sent her last mother's day. Love these! And the lipstick-red-with-touches-of-hot-pink yarn really is that bright - the hot pink ribbon which is for the straps on a dress for Isobel (should I ever hem it) is perfect. Grandma likes bright, cheerful colors.

Fiber Revival and Twist Collective

Momma and baby alpacas
Can I get an "Alpaca, Amen!"?


Jill/Tink and Carolyn/Wink in their floofy skirts
I had a fantastic time at Fiber Revival yesterday down in Newbury, Massachusetts. Such a good time that I only took a few pictures. But I got to see deardear Tink and Wink with their traveling version of the best little yarn shop in Massachusetts, along with Knit Night pals Joanne and Suzanne who were doing their best stash management by buying fluff instead of finished yarn - takes longer to use it up if you have to spin it first!


The beginning of my two-handed fair isle hat in Malabrigo Merino Worsted - though my little Isobel has already claimed it for herself
I took a two-handed fair isle class from Isobel Abelson (yes, spelled like my daughter Isobel), who was great. And now I get it! Weaving as you go is so much better than wrestling with floats. All sorts of new ideas are bubbling around in my brain. It was fun to talk Knitting with someone so knowledgeable. And we had a little two-person Joan Schrouder fan club. To top it off, Isobel had a great idea to fix something elegantly on a design project, rather than having to rip out the neckline and reknit it. In the small world files: Isobel and her husband lived one block away from our apartment when he was at Columbia Law School ... with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom she said was a mensch, which I heartily agree with even though I've never had the good fortune to meet the lady. To make the class more fun, it was held in "Screen House B", which was one of those mesh screen tents. Ours was set up around back of the house near the chicken coop, which was also home to a big, white tom turkey who stalked around our tent with his tailfeathers unfurled.


The chicken coop by Screen House B

Tom Turkey

There was only a tiny bit of stash enhancement, but it was so pretty it had to come home with me: Sereknity Ayre Laceweight in Blue Lagoon (4 oz./1250 yards of 50% merino wool, 50% tussah silk). I'm mulling over ideas of just what to do with my new pretty...



And I got to meet Julia. I was having such a good time talking to her (and then had to dash to drive the two hours home) that I didn't get to look at the binder she casually mentioned. The binder with pictures of all the new Twist Collective projects. [facepalm] What?! Seriously? I felt like such a doofus last night. Thank goodness the new issue launched today, so I only had to kick myself for twelve hours or so.

So, have you seen the anniversary issue? Go! I'll wait... Really lovely, eh? Very nice patterns and a great mix.

I thought Cher Underwood Forsberg's men's sweater Urbanite was really handsome. Loved the Rococo gloves by Julia Mueller (I knit her Knotty Gloves for my grandmother last year). And I am adding the Cottage Garden pullover by Cheryl Burke to my queue right away - perhaps just for the adorable double-picot hems, though I'm itching to try my two-handed colorwork skillz. And let's not forget Mari Muinonen's Luminen - my problem is I have a white, wool, long jacket, but it doesn't have a hood, or those amazing cabled pockets, or those snowflakes on the back, nor is it out of Mountain Mohair. What's a knitter to do?

But the sweater I really want to knit isn't a pattern in there - the sweater Elizabeth Zimmermann knit for her goddaughter. Jared Flood's photographs are lovely, aren't they? I'm crazy about the sleeves. I've already sent an email off to Schoolhouse Press asking about it (see the article). You should, too!

Knits in Action: Impressionist Tempest

I finally have a decent picture of my Impressionist Tempest in "the wild" when we went to the lobster dock the other night. This sweater is my favorite at the moment - light yet warm. Of course the "action" is not very active. Quelle suprise.

Whew

Finished my submission in the nick of time, since it turns out the deadline was today and not tomorrow as I had thought. I must have gotten the date all mixed up with the Fiber Revival date, which is tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the two-handed fair isle class with Isobel and seeing/meeting people.

Tomorrow is also my grandmother's birthday, and I'm a little behind on her present, but I think she won't mind when she sees her new pair of Amy March Slippers. I'll finish them up to mail on Monday.

And on Monday I also hope to mail some presents to my new niece Lena (after photographing them, of course).

Keep on Blogging

I'm trying to blog more regularly, but it's not as easy when you want to include pics but are working on seeecret projects (well, projects that shouldn't be photographed before they are accepted/rejected to online publications). And internet access is only working on Nick's laptop, while I like to keep the pics on mine (where Photoshop lives). Plus, I prefer blogging FOs with pics, much prettier than jumbly in-progress shots.

Anyway, I'm close to finishing up the project I want to submit this week and am pretty psyched with how it's turning out. The gals at Knit Night approved. I would only need to submit a swatch and sketch this week but really wanted to knit it up to make sure it will actually work, since I don't want my doodles to write a check my needles can't cash. If it is liked I can spend the model knitting time grading the pattern, which I have yet to do.

And I'm kind of waiting for my dear sister-in-law to have her baby to show you the things I've knit for said baby.

As an aside, I've read a number of blog reports from Sock Summit, and I just have to say that it's Meg Swansen (not Swanson). I'm sure it's just jealousy on my part, but if you get to meet the lady (wonderful in her own right *and* the daughter of Elizabeth Zimmermann), spell her name correctly. They'd better have another Sock Summit next year, and I'd better figure out a way to go.

I Do Not Like Magic Loop

I'm working on a sweater for Penelope for her birthday (why, yes, it is today, and I started on Sunday, with sock yarn, but it's August, so she doesn't really need a sweater *today* today). Anyway, it's a top-down raglan cardigan that I'm winging. Apparently, I don't have a set of US6/4.0mm DPNs but do have an Addi Turbo (cue light saber sound effect). I think the problem is that I only have 44 little stitches on these needles, so I am constantly having to shift the cable. Gah, I think I'm going to frog the sleeve and knit it flat - the sleeve is small and the yarn dark (BMFA's Socks That Rock Lightweight in Lenore from the 2007 Rockin' Sock Club) and practice seaming is always good.

Ah, that's better. I can purl far faster than I can wrassle cables. Off to figure out rate of decrease on the sleeves. Or should I leave them full and decrease rapidly at the cuff for a little puff?