NYC Yarn Crawl

Darn it! I'm going to be up in Maine next weekend for the first New York City Yarn Crawl. Sigh. Everyone have lots of fun for me and plan to do it again next year, 'k?

Knitting Daily TV

Do you get Knitting Daily TV? Frustratingly, I don't, but I did just download their new PDF with 13 helpful hints for knitting, which is nice and runs the gamut from cast-ons to the basics of spinning to a lace primer. And I say "frustratingly" because my Time-Warner cable box has a listing for Knitting Daily, but it's on channel "-1". I don't know about you, but I can't seem to get channel minus-one.

We do get something called The Knit and Crochet Show, which is ... pretty basic. Knitty Gritty was, too, but Vicki Howell was enjoyable, and they did a good job photographing people in such a way that you could understand how they were knitting, which is particularly helpful when you are looking to expand your range of technique.

I'd love a knitting show that went beyond the basics, and it sounds like Knitting Daily TV could be it. They are also offering a free download of the Cleo Kitty Slippers from Kristen Rengren's popular book Vintage Baby Knits.

This Week in Purly

I've been battling the bugs this week, the daycare, kindergarten, first grade bugs. But I'm almost better now. Luckily, at the beginning of the week I acquired a birthday present - the iPod Touch (I stumble over the name every time and found myself practicing what to say while waiting in line to get mine at the beautiful Apple Store in Soho). Anyway, love it! But in synching my bookmarks, contacts, etc., I've discovered that my bookmarks are an absolute mess, so this afternoon I've been working away to clean things up. So, I have some links to share. These are new discoveries for me. Hope you enjoy them.

Knitfinder: knitmag pattern indices, lace links - pretty cool and growing
Knitting Lace by Susanna Lewis is being reprinted by Schoolhouse Press - pre-order by 15 October and get free shipping - this lace book has been OOP for over a decade and sells for beaucoup bucks on ebay.
Textile composed of spider silk is on display at the Museum of Natural History, here on the Upper West Side. May have to drag the kids this weekend when the weather is uncooperative (looks like Sunday).

Guess that's it for the moment. I have some belated September birthday presents to mail to my niece and nephew, and then I'll have some FOs to show you.

Back in the Saddle Again

Ugh! It's that time of year again; the time when school children and their parents come down with the new round of bugs, and we are no exception chez Purly. Isobel threw up on my birthday, then Nick was home with the stomach bug and a fever, then Penelope had a fever for two days, and not-as-invincible-as-she-thought Mommy got the stomach bug, then the fever, and finally a whopping head cold. Whee! Needless to say, not much has been happening around here; I'm still knitting away on the center square of my Stonington Shawl - love a good bit of garter stitch and even worked on it during Curriculum Night at the kids' school yesterday.

KSA: Ravelry

Just in case you're a fibery type that's been offline for the last few years (it's possible, I suppose), check out Ravelry, an amazing online community space for all fibertarians (knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, dyers, designers). Some say it's like Facebook for knitters, but I say it's more. The site is still, technically, in beta, so sign up now for your invitation (I'm pretty sure they've caught up with the backlog of requests, so you should get your invitation right away) and enjoy! Be sure to "friend" me (RavelryID: Purly) once you're in.

The Job Search

So, I'm looking for a job, most likely outside the house, that pays money. Not too much to ask, but, you know, it takes time to find the right thing, both from my perspective and that of an employer. I check various job sites that focus on book publishing, since that's my area of expertise (mediabistro, Creative Hotlist, Publishers Marketplace), I've got my searches set up on Indeed, and I continue to expand my "network" on LinkedIn. It takes time, and it's not the most fun I've ever had, but every once in a while something good comes along, or at least something plausible. And then there are the clunkers: responsibilities include "creative ideation" - at least they've stopped mentioning that we should "think outside the box" (when was English replaced by Business-speak?); my Indeed search on "knit" that mostly comes up with nannies wanted for close-knit families or the frightening-to-a-handknitter "cut and sew knits". Something will happen, eventually, and I appreciate you, my Purly cheering section, for all your supportive comments and pleasant distractions.

And today it's better that I only have mommy employment, as Penelope is home with a fever (she's going to daycare two days a week now, which gives me time to search for a job and gives us a leg up on care for her when I do go back to work). Never consciously think how great it is that she finally sleeps through the night! Inevitably she will wake up with a fever and need a lot of Mommy in the middle of the night. I'm going to do some more searching while she's sleeping and work on the garter-stitch center of a Stonington Shawl - knitknitknit is about all I can handle today.

Door County Yarn Crawl 2009

While on vacation last month (I know, how do you go on vacation when you don't have a job? Well, it's not much of a vacation with the kids, you know. Kidding!) up at my parents' place in Door County, Mom and I went on a little yarn crawl, since there are two new yarn stores on the Peninsula.

First, we visited Red Sock Yarns (no website, that's the link to the Ravelry page) in Fish Creek. I didn't bring my camera, so you'll just have to use your imagination on this one: a nice, spacious store with yarn displayed mainly on freestanding shelves, a lounging area with couch, armchair, coffee table, and a pile of pattern books to browse through, and lots of yarn. It's all sort of a blur now, but some luscious, red Skacel Lace Merino came home with me, as well as some Crystal Palace Merino 5 in black for a hat for mom (custom designed - what's the point of a daughter who knits if you don't get exactly the hat you want?). I don't want to say it was all standard yarn, as they had a nice selection, good variety, but it was almost all stuff you can find most anywhere. Until we got to the counter, where I noticed one skein of sock yarn that looked to be hand-dyed. Turns out it was from a local indie dyer. Now, to my mind that is the stuff that should be piled up all over the place. Door County is, after all, a vacation community, and knitters like souvenir yarn, something we can't find just anywhere, something that will remind us of our leisurely days by the Lake. Anyway, we'd already made our purchase, so the sock yarn was left behind (just as well for me, as I need another skein of blue sock yarn like I need, well, another skein of blue sock yarn). The shop is tucked away at the back of the Fish Creek Top of the Hill shops, so keep going towards the back - it's there!

A couple of days later we went down to Spin in Sturgeon Bay (don't you love the names of Door County towns?), which is housed in an old bank building. I'm happy to report that they kept the beautiful pressed tin ceiling and bank vault.

Lots of sock yarn, lots of Rowan, Misti Alpaca, a wide variety of baby friendly yarns (in addition to being a vacation spot, Door County is also a popular retirement destination, at least for the summer), and a nice selection of books. I came home with The Art of Fair Isle Knitting: History, Technique, Color & Patterns, a couple of Cottage Creations booklets for Irish and Ukrainian dolls, and some pretty mother-of-pearl buttons for Penelope's unfinished birthday sweater (what? she doesn't know, and it hasn't really been cold enough for a sweater yet). Why did I come away without any yarn? Everything I was drawn to was pretty much like something already in the stash (see sock yarn, blue). And, again, they didn't really have any souvenir yarn. But I'm happy about the things that did come home with me.

And then we hit the place that does have souvenir yarn, Whitefish Bay Farm. I bought yarn for a yoke sweater there a couple of years ago, four natural-to-the-fleece colors, and they are still waiting for me to knit them up. I hope to do it this winter and have some groovy ideas for how to use the colors. They also sell roving, some hand-dyed yarn, as well as hand-spun yarn. I controlled myself and bought a couple more skeins of the palest, sheepy color - not sure if they will be insurance for the sweater project or for something completely different. Apparently they have their yarn processed by Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill, also in Wisconsin, and really like the way the yarn and roving turn out, so if you are looking for a processor, they might be your place.

While there I also visited the upstairs gallery, where I fell for this beautiful rug woven out of locks. Not quite in my budget these days (nor small enough to fit in my suitcase), but maybe next year.

So, that's it for this year's Door County yarn crawl. There are a few other fibery places up there, including some spots on Washington Island, but with little Miss Penelope taking two naps a day, it wasn't really feasible to get there this year. Next year I plan to knit some August Fiddle Faddle in the Woods a la EZ. Won't that be fun?